A/N: Like I promised, this is the second to last chapter and the last one is coming up!
Dinner that night went as expected; Temari doted on the blonde like he was her own child and Shikamaru inadvertently made him feel stupid just by speaking. Also, there was Kankuro, unable to hide his occasional disgusted glance yet trying extremely hard (it was easy to tell) to be on his best behavior.
Shikamaru and I often exaggerated about how bad Temari's cooking was, we were all perfectly able to eat and enjoy our food as if it'd been made by the most dedicated chef, Naruto practically shoving forkfuls into my mouth.
"Try this Gaara! It's amazing!"
I had already reminded him four times that we had the exact same servings on our plates, something he blatantly ignored.
I'm sure that between my plate and his, I ate enough food to last me for several meals; something Temari was not quiet about noticing.
"I can't believe you cleaned your plate!" She gushed, taking it from in front of me to wash with the others.
"Temari." Shikamaru bit, giving her an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, forget I said anything." She fumbled, looking everywhere but at me.
"I agree! He used to hardly touch his food." The loud statement came from Naruto, earning the shocked expression of everyone but myself. "That is not acceptable, so I make his ass eat, don't I Gaara?"
I thought back to all the time's he shoved spoonfuls of food into my mouth on our outings together, never really explaining why.
"All the time."
One thing this household did not talk about was my eating habits; it was almost as taboo as my lack of sleep or eyebrows. With the help of the blonde, the taboo had become nothing but another 'once upon a time'.
Maybe that's why Kankuro stopped glaring at him and took to the bottle, passing out on the couch. Temari looked about ready to scold him when Naruto hushed her, sneaking to the fridge and getting out a raw fish.
"This…" He whispered, slipping the whiskey bottle out of my brother's hands and replacing it with the dead creature. "is for those nasty looks at dinner."
We all got a good laugh when he sleepily tried to take a swig only to wake up screaming and spitting and throwing the poor thing right into the wall.
Naruto became part of the family that night in the eyes of the household, even Kankuro.
But most importantly, in mine.
"You know, for the first time in my life, I feel happy." I admitted when Temari and I were alone, my blonde and Kankuro wrestling (which resulted in Kankuro in a head-lock and being beaten with the dead fish).
"I know Gaara."
She smiled at me and thankfully her eyes were dry.
.
.
.
That night I heard Naruto before I saw him, swear words echoing outside my window with the occasional kick against the wall. When he actually made it to the glass he tapped it softly, trying to be discreet.
It was so absurd.
Part of me was compelled to leave him out there to marinate in his punishment for being so loud but I knew I never could.
"Hi." He mouthed, pressing a kiss into the glass. I raised an imaginary eyebrow at the gesture, staring at his flattened out fish lips.
He pulled back only enough to pout, his eyes suddenly glistening in a way that pinched a nerve in my chest.
Then he was back at the glass, lips puckered and pressed flat.
I rolled my eyes but played along, leaning forward and pressing my own into the glass, right where his would be.
Immediately I hated how cold it was, I'd much rather the glass not be between us.
I opened the window and helped him climb in, the simpleton unable to keep himself from laughing at the sight of Kankuro out cold clutching his trademark bottle.
"Does he ever put it down?" He whispered, abandoning his shoes.
"Not willingly."
I turned away for a moment and he was gone, now nestled rather anxiously under my comforter.
"Psst, I'm tired." He whined, nose peeking out from under it. "Let's go to bed."
I opened my mouth to protest that firstly, I had been in bed and his stumbling around outside had woken me, second, that was my bed he was currently curled in. unfortunately the energy for words escaped me and my feet brought me to the edge.
"You coming?" Even in the dark his eyes were bright; maybe they had just plain started glowing.
How was I supposed to refuse those eyes?
I slipped under the cover next to him, something he took as an open invite to curl into my chest. He was not much smaller than me but our bodies merged comfortably, something I could even get used to.
I thought about telling him 'goodnight' or something equally endearing but the sound of his breath evening stopped me.
He was already asleep.
For the first time in my life I didn't wake with the sun, I wasn't even out of bed until sometime near noon.
Imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes and saw a head of wild blonde hair just beneath my nose.
"Naruto… Wake up." I prodded, running my hand down his side unintentionally.
He inhaled sharply at the touch, sending pink to my cheeks.
"Gaara?" He groaned, opening his eyes slowly to meet mine then shift down to the hand I left resting on his hip.
I'm sure he turned just as red as I felt.
"Sorry." I swallowed heavily, removing the offending appendage quickly to seemingly both our disappointment.
I didn't get far before he was kissing me again, dragging my upper half practically over with him an unrealistic strength.
Whoever deepened the kiss I was thankful to; his tiny tongue so daring as it coaxed me in, teeth nipping graciously; I was consumed.
Moaning, either he or I it was loud and shared between our pressed together chests, reminding us both how real the other was.
His mouth was off mine too soon, traveling down to the base of my ear and cruelly abusing the trail it took.
The feelings were maddening, his heat pressed beneath me plain unfair.
Not to mention our breathing was so heavy.
I pressed my hands into the mattress, lifting my torso enough to detach and take a good look at him. He was flushed from nose to neck to the hidden skin beneath his wife beater, mouth red and slick and eyes wild.
"Wow." I exclaimed, drinking in the sight sprawled out on my bed.
I immediately glanced down to my pants, both surprised and not by the obvious bulge.
I looked back to Naruto to see he had looked down too, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he brought a knee up to none-too-subtly grind into my crotch.
"Na-Naruto!"
"Gaara are you- Oh God your fucking kidding me!"
I leapt out of bed quickly; managing to get my foot tangled in the covers enough to take me down. Unfortunately, the blonde had been just as tangled in them as I became and was dragged quickly to the floor and on top of me.
Any chance of salvaging the situation was long gone and all I had to be grateful for was that Kankuro could not see my raging problem.
"When I got up this morning and 'e was still here, I let it slide! But really Gaara! Do you 'ave to do that in my room!?" The way he spoke was much more mortified than it was angry, a positive for the situation.
"Hey, this is also Gaara's room." Naruto stated factually, making sure to pull the blanket over his crotch when he finally got free.
"You're not helping." I whispered.
"I'm gonna go set my eyes on fire, thank you very much baby brother." The dry sarcasm in his voice left Naruto in a laughing fit as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
"That wasn't awkward at all." The blonde managed, wiping imaginary tears from the corner of each eye. Needless to say my brother's intrusion had violently murdered the mood, something for which the blonde and I both seemed irritated with.
Not that I really knew what to do past that part anyway.
We snuck out of the house soon after, being incredibly careful to avoid Kankuro at all cost. I'm not sure why we were so cautious, the man obviously long gone after what he had sort of witnessed.
Well, I wasn't even sure what to call it.
Naruto didn't bring it up so I took his example, letting our trip to Tackle and Things remain silent. Halfway there he took the leap to grab my arm, resting his head against my shoulder in a way I doubted could be comfortable.
He didn't seem to mind and neither did Tsunade when we managed to squeeze the two of us through the door, the blonde unwilling to part.
"Look at that!" He exclaimed, pointing to the painting above the register, as beautiful as I remember it being. "That's amazing."
I looked at him with a gentle expression.
"Yeah."
He didn't let me pry him free for a while, when I finally managed he took off to search through some old boxes. I let him do as he pleased, leaning against the counter and watching him bound back and forth.
"I like that kid, he's got real spirit." She admitted, resting her chin in her palm. I think she felt that way because he reminded her of her youth; I could easily see the similarities. "A mouth for sure, but, spirit."
I nodded, that was one way to describe him.
Another would be boisterous, blatant, and downright addictive.
It didn't take long for the two blondes to fall into their usual argument, Naruto insisting that he get an ice cream scooper for half off because it had a broken slider. Why he wanted a broken ice cream scooper or even a proper one was beyond me, I just tried to stay out of it when Tsunade went off on how the listed price was the on sale price and that Naruto was stingy with his money.
In the end he got the damn thing for a dollar less than the woman wanted, didn't matter much because she took money whenever she could get it, that's just the way she was.
"Naruto." I interrupted his gloating. "I have to pick up something for Temari, I'll meet you at the pub in half an hour." The blonde gave me a small pout but nodded anyway, bagging the scooper.
"Yeah yeah, I'll meet you there then."
I always hated going separate ways.
.
.
.
I was finished in twenty minutes, sitting down at a table that faced the door, waiting for my blonde to show.
To my slight irritation, Kakuzu and Hidan beat him, sitting down across from me and giving careless greetings.
"Gaara, I haven't seen you here in a while." Hidan chimed, red eyes glittering as he waved over a waitress. "A round of three please."
"Four." I corrected, brushing my hair out of my face.
"Shizune says not to serve 'im Alc'hol'" She murmured in a heavy accent, flinching when Hidan burst out laughing.
"Still a puppy I see, having your sister watch over you wherever you go."
"Fuck off." I bit, turning back to the young waitress I recognized as Hanabi, younger sister of the missing blue haired woman. "Three beers and an apple cider."
She nodded and gave a half a smile, rushing off.
"Who are you waiting for?" Kakuzu grumbled in the way he usually did, even as a monotonous person I found him unpleasant to be around.
"That would be me, I hope."
I looked up and saw Naruto, looking the same as I'd left him earlier only with a stony gaze.
"Well…" Hidan smirked darkly. "Aren't you a pretty little piece?"
The blonde in question grimaced and sent the white-haired man a glare; something he took with grain of salt.
Kakuzu rolled his eyes at the scene, obviously unable to care less about the blonde joining us.
"Ignore him, he's a tart." I stated simply, standing to pull the chair next to me out. Naruto gave one final pout before accepting the offer and seating himself, letting me push him in.
"So now you're a gentleman?" I ignored the comment and sat back down, gratefully accepting the cider Hanabi brought. She looked Naruto over twice, looking as if she were about to card him.
I was genuinely surprised when even the freshly eighteen and eager girl scurried off, not saying a single word.
"Something you've never been."
Hidan looked outright appalled, slamming back half his mug in one go.
"So now you're a talker!?"
"Shut up Hidan."
The man quickly obeyed Kakuzu's obvious threat.
I watched Naruto's expression change throughout the scene, finally satisfied when he settled into one of amusement.
It might have helped that he grabbed my hand midway the exchange.
"Since introductions are in order, this is Naruto." I gestured, not liking how Kakuzu leered at him the way an old man would.
"And Naruto, meet Kakuzu and Hidan, but don't worry yourself trying to remember their names."
"Ouch Gaara, right in the chest." He hissed, clutching away at himself. "I've only known you for years and you're already holdin' that blokes hand? I'm shattered."
I squeezed the hand in question and glared like I hadn't in a while.
"Continue."
He flinched a bit at my tone, trying to put his smile back in place. It was immediately wiped clean though when the man beside him let out a dark chuckle.
"We should leave red and his fishcake alone." His statement was in no way a suggestion, standing with finality and expecting Hidan to do the same. Like a good lapdog the younger man obliged, sticking his tongue out at my blonde one final time before they left.
"Lovely friends." Naruto bit, flipping the bird to Hidan's retreating back. "Do they have kennels or do they just sleep in alleys?"
"I think it rotates." That had him laughing a bit, something that disappeared as his expression grew serious once again.
"Do you think I'm a piece?"
I just stared at him. Had that comment really offended him so much?
"Of… treasure?"
He just stared for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Oh my God that was too cheesy!"
I just gave him a half smile; sure that Shikamaru would be proud at my ability to avoid possible disaster.
"Sorry, I guess I'm just in love with you."
I was up in a flash to help Naruto clean the drink he'd knocked over, the blonde a shade of red I'd never seen before and unable to look me in the eye.
I was very happy I'd managed to say it.
Shizune made her way to the table quickly with a hand towel. "I'm surprised! Usually it's the older folk who be makin' messes every day." Naruto probably apologized five times before she shushed him, gathering the empty glasses. "Don't worry yourself over it hon, will we be seeing a lot more of you around here?"
I'd never seen the blonde speechless before but he just stood with his mouth open like a fish.
"Hopefully." I answered for him, smiling at the brunette woman.
Why was everyone so shocked lately? Wasn't I allowed to be happy too?
After a moment of surprise Shizune smiled back, gathering the rest of the mess and rushing off, leaving the two of us alone.
"Do you mean it?" Naruto whispered, not sitting back down.
"Of course, it's nice having you around."
Part of me knew that that wasn't what he meant but I promptly avoided it, heading for the door.
"Coming?"
He gave me an exasperated look, something along the lines of 'what am I going to do with you?', but followed anyway.
My heart nearly stopped when I saw the waves, wild and crashing like monsters against the docks.
What if my hopes were for nil?
What if he left with the coming storm?