This chapter took awhile to write as I needed a plot and didn't have one. After finishing Twilight I think i have now devised a plot as you will see this chapter because it is mostly set up for the chapters to come as well as a bit of back-story and GaaNaru goodness.

In regards to the next chapter I have no idea when it will be out. I know what I'm going to put in it but I go back to school Tuesday and should be revising for exams. This will hinder the writing process so beware. And now on with the story!

Chapter 5

Naruto awoke slowly from his deep sleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes wearily before stretching. A dopey grin slid onto his lips as he recalled his visitor from the night before. His hand came up lazily to the place on his neck where he had been bitten. That was an experience he hoped he'd never have to repeat.

As Naruto continued to caress his neck his eyes widened in realisation. Instantly he was on his feet and rushing to the bathroom. He slammed the door open and shut before dashing to the mirror. To his absolute horror his neck was covered in love bites. "Shit," he hissed, wondering how he was going to explain this to Iruka.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

Speak of the devil. Naruto whirled around to stare tentatively at the closed door. "I'm fine; I just really needed to go."

"Alright then."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief when Iruka left without checking on him. He returned to staring forlornly into the mirror. "Stupid vampire," he muttered as he prodded the marks.

After staring for another few minutes Naruto relieved himself before searching the bathroom for anything that he could use to hide the evidence of his midnight activities. Finding nothing he hurried back into his room before Iruka saw him. He changed quickly, putting on a sweater with a high neckline. He then headed into the kitchen to find breakfast.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at his unusual ensemble. "Are you cold Naruto?"

"No, I'm fine; I just thought I'd wear something different today," Naruto replied with a wide, disarming grin.

Iruka let it go, instead posing a different question. "I thought I heard some strange noises in your room last night. Were you talking in your sleep again?"

Naruto laughed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, probably."

Iruka chuckled and shook his head. "I thought you'd grown out of that but apparently not."

Naruto chuckled uneasily. He felt bad about lying to Iruka. The man had given him a home after his parents died and since then had done everything in his power to make Naruto happy. It didn't feel right to lie to him, even though it was probably in Iruka's best interest that he remained unaware that Naruto now had a social life. He'd freak out if he found out that Naruto had an older boyfriend. It wasn't that he was homophobic or anything, he was just overprotective. He'd jump to the conclusion that this older boyfriend was forcing Naruto to have sex with him and then he'd ban Naruto from seeing Gaara. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that Gaara would take such news very badly. Naruto had no desire to see his lover use his unknown powers to get Iruka to agree to let them be together.

Naruto must have shivered because Iruka was once again giving him a funny look. "Are you sure you're alright Naruto?"

Naruto forced another smile onto his face. "I'm fine – honestly!"

The blond hurriedly began making some breakfast. Iruka continued to stare worriedly at his adopted son's back. There was something off about Naruto's smile. Iruka could see quite easily that there was something Naruto wasn't telling him but he didn't think he should press it.

It was drawing near to the anniversary of the death of Naruto's parents. Around the time of the anniversary Naruto often acted withdrawn and secretive. In years past Iruka had found Naruto crying in his room quietly, hoping not to be noticed. Iruka knew he was mourning his parents and had offered the boy a hug to help. Naruto always denied that he was crying; always felt that he shouldn't let his past affect him. He didn't want to appear ungrateful, didn't want Iruka to think he didn't appreciate what he did for him.

Iruka smiled sadly. Naruto was too kind sometimes.

"Hey Naruto, why don't you go visit Haku; I'm sure he'd be glad to see you."

Naruto spun around in surprise. "I thought I was grounded?"

"It's alright; I think you've learned your lesson."

Naruto whooped in joy before throwing his arms around Iruka in a hug. "Thank you Iruka! You're the best!"

"Wait Naruto! What about breakfast?" Iruka called after the retreating boy.

Naruto meekly returned to the kitchen, laughing softly at his own eagerness. Iruka joined in with his own laughter. No matter how old he got Naruto would always be the same clueless blond that never failed to make Iruka smile. At least, he hoped Naruto would always be the same. That thought made Iruka stop laughing and for the first time he wondered if perhaps it wasn't his sadness over his parents' death that Naruto was trying to keep hidden.

As Naruto hurriedly inhaled his breakfast a small seed of something akin to dread was planted inside Iruka's heart. The only thing that stopped the seed from growing was the belief that Naruto would tell him if there was something really wrong happening in his life. At least, he prayed he would.

It was Haku's foster mother who opened the door when Naruto knocked. She was a nice woman with a kind, smiling face. She allowed Naruto to come in even though Haku wasn't home and offered him some homemade cookies. Seeing as her cooking was almost as good as Sasuke's mother's Naruto gladly accepted the offer. By the time Haku arrived home half the plate had been devoured.

"Naruto what are you doing here, I thought you were grounded!?" cried Haku in delight as he walked into the kitchen to see his friend.

"Iruka decided to end my punishment early and actually told me to come visit you. Crazy huh?"

"Indeed," Haku said as he removed the plate of cookies from Naruto's reach.

Naruto pouted at being denied the rest of the treats. He followed Haku to his room so that they could talk in private. As soon as the door was closed Haku started interrogating Naruto on what happened. Naruto's answer was to pull off the sweater and reveal the love bites.

Haku giggled at the sight. "Naughty, naughty Naruto – what have you been up to?" he sing-songed as he leaned over to prod one of the marks.

"It's not funny Haku; Iruka got all suspicious about me wearing this sweater, I'm pretty sure he suspects something."

"Everything's fine as long as he only suspects something is wrong; it's when he knows that problems arise."

"You seem to be speaking from experience."

Haku smiled sadly. "My parents forbid me from going out on Friday nights because they were convinced I was getting up to mischief. Zabuza came round to convince them that I was safe but they freaked out because he was eight years older than me. The whole incident had to be wiped from their memories."

Naruto shivered. Gaara had said that he could erase Iruka's memories as well. It was an option Naruto wanted to avoid if he could. "So does he have to keep erasing their memories?"

Haku shook his head. "Zabuza's only done it once as far as I'm aware. He may have to do it again soon though because my father's suspicion is being aroused again."

Haku looked thoroughly depressed by the thought. Naruto struggled for a way to comfort him. "It doesn't hurt them though does it? It doesn't give them brain cancer or anything."

Haku shrugged and Naruto's spirits fell. "Vampires avoid doing it because it takes a lot of energy. Nobody's ever thought to test the effects of prolonged exposure on humans. And as for hurting…Zabuza wanted me to leave the room when he did it. I think because he was trying to erase two people's memories at once it was harder on him and so they were both aware of what was happening. They were both very distressed – my mother was screaming and crying – and then they both fainted. When they woke up the next morning they had no memory of what had happened."

Naruto slung his arm around Haku's shoulders in a comforting gesture, both feeling disturbed by the story. It was the down side of dating a vampire – you couldn't tell anyone about it and those who found out had to be dealt with. It was an issue both teens were keen on pretending didn't exist as it put a strain on the happiness they felt when they were with the ones they loved. Even though they knew they would have to face up to reality sooner or later for the moment they were fine ignoring the whole awkward situation.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Naruto removed his arm, a grin upon his face. "Hey, I bet I can whoop your ass at Final Fantasy X!"

An identical grin split Haku's face. "When the score stands at 5:0 to me I don't think that's possible."

"We'll see about that!"

With that the two rushed over to Haku's PS2 and readied themselves for battle, deciding it was better to hide in the realms of fantasy than face their problems just yet.

Gaara glanced at the clock and noted the time. The sun should have set by now so it was safe to head out to Club Secret for his normal Friday rendezvous with Naruto and the others.

The redhead put down his book and headed over to the kitchen counter to grab his keys and wallet. He turned to leave but was stopped by the ringing of the phone. Gaara contemplated letting it go to voice mail but then decided better of it. "Yes?"

"Hey there baby, did you miss me?"

Gaara froze at the voice. Then he snarled down the phone, "What the fuck do you want Deidara?"

"Temper, temper Darling. I finally manage to track you down and that's all you can say after all this time, un?"

"Yes, seeing as I didn't want you to track me down," Gaara hissed venomously.

"You're so cruel Gaara," Deidara smirked on the other end of the line, adding, "and that's why I love you."

"No, what you love is the fact that I look like Sasori. Now piss off and don't you dare ever call me again!" With that Gaara slammed down the phone and stormed out of his apartment.

By the time Gaara got to Club Secret he hadn't yet reined in his anger. He decided to postpone going into the club until he had calmed down and so set off on a circuit around the block, shouldering fellow pedestrians out of his way and ignoring the angry stares that were aimed at him.

It was on Gaara's fifth lap that Naruto, Sasuke and Haku arrived. Naruto smiled when he noticed the vampire and shouted, "Gaara!" to get his attention.

Upon hearing his name shouted by that familiarly appealing voice Gaara stopped, turning to see his blond running towards him with friends in tow. A weight lifted from Gaara's chest and he almost smiled. When Naruto was close enough Gaara pulled him close to him, burying his face in Naruto's hair. The smell lifted a second weight from Gaara's chest so that he felt much calmer than he had before. Gaara released a soft sigh, more than content to stay in that position with Naruto pressed up against him for the rest of the night.

Naruto chuckled at Gaara's unusual (but not unwanted) display of affection. "Hey Gaara, I'm glad you're happy to see me but don't you think we should take this inside? I think we're creeping out a few people."

"Very well," Gaara replied quietly, releasing Naruto from his hold but keeping a protective arm around his waist. Naruto smiled self-consciously and allowed himself to be shepherded towards Club Secret.

Zabuza and Itachi were waiting for them expectantly in the VIP lounge.

"There you are Gaara!" Zabuza cried as the red haired vampire came into view. "Where have you been? We thought you'd been attacked or something seeing as you're usually the first one here."

"Deidara called me," Gaara muttered quietly as he passed the other vampire on his way to his seat.

"Ah, that explains it," Zabuza replied knowingly.

"Who's Deidara?" Naruto asked curiously.

"My ex," Gaara muttered, his voice laced with disgust.

Naruto's first reaction to hearing that Gaara had spoken with his ex was to feel like he was going to be sick. The blind panic subsided quickly though as Gaara's tone registered. Naruto need not fear Deidara stealing Gaara back if the redhead continued to speak of him with such repulsion in his voice. Nor did he have to worry about being compared to Deidara and coming out as a disappointment to Gaara. From the sound of it whatever good there once was in that relationship it had been forgotten.

Gaara motioned for the bartender to get him the usual. Once the glass was placed in front of him Gaara picked it up and downed it in one go. He motioned for another before beginning his rant. "Deidara is the ex I split up with years ago because it turned out our whole relationship had been a lie; the only reason he was with me was because I looked like his dead lover Sasori.

"I tried to break it off gently but he wouldn't have any of it. He actually thought I was Sasori and told me I couldn't leave because we were soul mates. In the end I packed my bags and left. I thought I'd made sure he wouldn't find me again but apparently he has and he still thinks he loves me."

Gaara downed the next glass and ordered a third. Naruto watched him intently before asking, "How did you know he thought you were somebody else?"

"He screamed Sasori's name while we were having sex."

Everyone listening in on the conversation winced. Sasuke smirked. "That should reassure you Naruto – whatever performance you give can't possibly be worse than that."

"Shut up Sasuke," Naruto said, shooting a glare at his still smirking friend. He then turned back to Gaara. "So what did this guy say to you?"

"That he's still in love with the person he thinks I am."

There was a moment a silence before Naruto's resolve was set. "Well he can't have you because you're mine and I'm not willing to give you up that easily."

Gaara gave him a sidelong calculating glance. His eyes locked onto Naruto's and he saw nothing sinister in the teen's sincere possessiveness. Gaara's eyes softened and his lips turned up into a hinted smile. He leaned over and delicately captured Naruto's lips. He kept it short and sweet but left his hand lingering on Naruto's cheek. Naruto leaned into the touch, smiling contently as Gaara's thumb caressed his cheek.

The romantic moment was cut short when Zabuza cut in by saying, "You're going soft Gaara."

Gaara's hand quickly left Naruto's cheek in favour of clutching his glass. Naruto sent the interrupter an annoyed glare before shuffling closer to Gaara. He dropped his head onto the vampire's shoulder, smiling when Gaara put his arm around his waist. A minute later Gaara turned to look at Naruto. They shared a short kiss before Gaara ordered Naruto a drink. They sat in contented silence for awhile, allowing the music to drown out all their problems.

The rest of the night was spent as the previous Friday nights had been spent: talking, drinking, teasing and occasionally dancing. Everyone forgot about Deidara and the problems his appearance represented. At least, they forgot for that moment anyway.

It was well after midnight by the time the three couples parted ways. Gaara had had a lot more to drink that night and Naruto had the pleasure of seeing his boyfriend tipsy for the first time. The drink gave Gaara (like most people) a boost in confidence. When they arrived at Gaara's apartment there was none of the awkwardness there had been the first time Naruto came to stay. This was partly because they'd been through the routine once before. However, that didn't account for Gaara's behaviour once they were in bed together. Instead of staying as far away from Naruto as possible Gaara had crawled next to him and started raining kisses upon him. Naruto had responded eagerly once Gaara found his lips.

Gaara kept their make-out session brief which gained a mixed reaction from Naruto. On the one hand he had been enjoying himself and hadn't wanted to stop. On the other hand he was tired and needed sleep after a hard week of school and playful remarks about the love bites that had thankfully now faded. Sometimes Naruto really wondered why he chose sarcastic smart-mouths as his best friends.

Gaara gave Naruto's lips a final peck before rolling onto his back. His arm was aligned with Naruto's – it was the only contact between the two. Gaara quickly decided that it wasn't enough. He turned onto his side, wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist, then rolled onto his back. Naruto's body rolled with him, the blond managing to brace himself with his arms before his face crashed into Gaara's.

Before Naruto could ask what Gaara was doing the vampire had moved the teen's body so that his cheek was pressed against Gaara's chest. Naruto smiled, then, as Gaara firmly embraced him before stilling. Naruto closed his eyes and whispered, "Goodnight Gaara."

Gaara's reply was a tightening of his arms around Naruto's waist as he pressed a kiss into blond spikes of hair. Naruto's smile grew a fraction. With his eyes closed his other senses were heightened. Pressed up so close to Gaara he could smell the vampire's musky scent and hear the steady rhythm of Gaara's heart. It was soothing and reminded Naruto of when he was a child. His mother used to hold him like this when he had nightmares. Back then her comforting presence always calmed him, now the loss of that presence depressed him.

Hurriedly Naruto forced back the memories of his parents. The anniversary would be upon him soon and then he could reminisce to his heart's content. Until then he would concentrate on the present instead of the past.

Gaara waited patiently until Naruto's breathing evened out in sleep. For him it was still too early to be going to sleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't stay with Naruto until the time came. He really was beautiful, this human boy who Gaara should have had no interest in. Throughout his life as a vampire Gaara had tried to have as little to do with humans as possible. The one who had sired him had told Gaara that humans were vile, disgusting creates that were only good at being dinner. Gaara had been inclined to agree after his few short attempts at relationships had ended badly. From then on he had only sort the company of vampires but those relationships had also ended badly. Deidara had been the last straw – after him Gaara had decided he would give up on relationships.

Then Gaara had found Club Secret. He met Itachi and Zabuza who wanted to bring him into their community. He'd refused their offer and at first they were fine with that. Then they found out that he was the Sandman – the serial killer who was plaguing the city. They didn't agree with his method of killing to get the blood he needed; their ethos was to let their prey live and not draw suspicion to themselves. They'd told Gaara that he either started doing things their way or they'd force him to leave the city. Gaara hadn't taken any notice of their threat; he arrogantly believed that he was strong enough to defeat both of them. He'd been surprised to find that he couldn't. Even though Itachi had only recently been turned and Zabuza had been a vampire fewer years than Gaara, they still somehow managed to defeat him. They'd nearly killed themselves trying to do it but they had managed to show Gaara the strength of their convictions.

Gaara had been puzzled as to why two vampires as strong as them cared about the welfare of humans. He had decided to stick around and try to figure out the mystery. Until Naruto had arrived he'd only solved half of the mystery. Part of it was they wanted to hold onto some of their humanity by interacting with humans so that they didn't sink too deep into the primal madness that was brought on by their vampire blood. The other part was that there were some humans that didn't deserve to die. Some humans were compassionate and understanding towards vampires; they saw vampires as people who were just trying to live their lives without conflict. Some of them even went as far as falling in love with vampires – these were the truly special humans.

Gaara smiled and looked down at Naruto. Even if he wasn't special to anyone else, Naruto was special to Gaara. The vampire didn't understand fully why the boy was special; all he knew was that there was something about the boy that was very attractive to him. It wasn't just his looks or the taste of his blood (though that did play a big part in the grand scheme of things) or the deliciously unique scent that was all Naruto. The boy exuded a sort of charm that Gaara couldn't resist. It brought out the nicer side of Gaara's personality that he had tried to suppress for so long in order to get by in the world. Naruto made him want to let out that part of him, made him want to do things that would make the boy smile. The blond boy truly was a unique creature.

Gaara released a sigh as he felt his eyelids getting heavier. He settled down in the mattress, smiling slightly when Naruto mumbled incoherently in his sleep. Then Gaara closed his eyes and before long he had joined Naruto in the land of slumber.

When Naruto awoke the next day it was already afternoon. Upon realizing this fact Naruto did not panic. Instead he smiled at his own stroke of brilliance at telling Iruka that he would be spending his Saturday with Haku. Now Naruto didn't need to rush around like a maniac, he could take his time waking up and maybe even hang around until Gaara woke up.

Quietly Naruto made his way into Gaara's kitchen and began hunting for something to eat. To his intense disappointment there was no ramen. There was plenty of healthy fruit but Naruto ignored this in favour of toast – the blond would be damned if he ate fruit or vegetables unless he was faced with starvation.

After that Naruto headed for the living area and watched TV. There wasn't much on so Naruto decided to see if Gaara had anything good in his DVD collection. As the blond ran his finger along the titles his hopes of finding anything sank. Nearly everything was an 18 horror film or something boring to do with law. Since Naruto wasn't in the mood to be scared to death he gave up on looking for films and instead began exploring Gaara's apartment.

The place was incredibly neat and tidy. Legal documents were stacked orderly on Gaara's desk, books were arranged alphabetically on shelves and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. It was all very impersonal, more like a showroom than a place where a person lived. Naruto wanted to change that but he wasn't sure how to without doing something crazy like painting the walls bright orange. Naruto was very sure that Gaara wouldn't be very pleased if he did that.

Once Naruto had thoroughly explored Gaara's apartment he collapsed in front of the TV. Flicking through the channels he was disappointed to find that there still wasn't anything on. Seriously, what was the point of having 1000 channels if all they ever showed was crap?

Naruto turned the TV off and headed to the bathroom. He was sure Gaara wouldn't mind him using his shower as long as he kept it clean. With that in mind Naruto took extra special care to put everything he used back in its proper place once he had finished with it. After that Naruto headed into the bedroom to change into his clothes.

There wasn't much light inside the bedroom (like the rest of the apartment) because the windows were blacked out. It must have been a brilliant day outside because the sun had managed to fight its way inside the room and provide Naruto with enough light to get dressed.

"Naruto?"

The unexpected sound in the silence made Naruto jump. Spinning around he could just make out Gaara sitting upright in his bed. Naruto placed a hand on his chest, hoping to calm his frantically beating heart. "Don't do that; you nearly scared me half to death!" Naruto could just imagine the grin that was tugging at Gaara's lips. The blond huffed before realizing that Gaara should still be sleeping. "Did I wake you?" he asked with an apologetic air.

"No, I was already contemplating waking up. The fact that you were naked and wet was just encouragement for me to do so."

Naruto blushed. "Pervert!"

Gaara chuckled. "Don't worry, I didn't give you more than a cursory glance to establish that you weren't a certain undesirable someone." When Naruto gave him a blank look Gaara said, "I wouldn't put it past Deidara to break in here and use my shower without permission."

"Really? Wow, that guy must be really desperate to do something as weird as that."

"He is, he's desperate and deluded – a bad combination."

Naruto frowned at the bleakness in Gaara's voice. The blond made his way over and ambled onto the bed. He then gave Gaara a peck on the cheek before saying, "Let's not talk about him anymore; it'll only give him more reason to think you're still in love with him if you're talking about him all the time."

"You're right," Gaara said, giving Naruto a kiss of his own. He then seemed to realize what time it was as he asked, "Why are you still here?"

Naruto smiled brightly as he replied, "I told Iruka that I was spending the day with Haku so I don't need to be home for awhile yet."

"That still doesn't explain why you're still here. You could have woken up and left but you chose to wait. Why?"

Naruto blushed and turned away. "Because I wanted to be here when you woke up."

Gaara was perplexed by his answer. "Why?"

"Because it's something couples do, you know, staying with their partner until they wake up. I know it's a stupid thing to want to do but I just wondered what it would be like. I know it didn't work like it's supposed to but that's because I don't have a lot of patience and I thought you'd still be sleeping for at least another hour so I got up and-"

"Naruto, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Naruto was thrown off track by the interruption. "What?"

"Tonight, after sunset, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Gaara couldn't believe he was doing this. As soon as the words had come out of his mouth he'd regretted it. He didn't do dates, he didn't do quaint evenings in restaurants and candle lit dinners – that just wasn't him at all. But Naruto had looked so pitiful with his eyes averted and his cheeks aflame as he tried to rationalize wanting to do something that happened in normal relationships when both partners were human and one wasn't a vampire. The blond shouldn't have been embarrassed for wanting to do something romantic like that. Watching him had made Gaara feel terrible and he'd been willing to do anything to stop that feeling. Apparently he was willing to go as far as go on a date. Maybe he hadn't slept off the alcohol after all.

The smile that lit up Naruto's face was enough to make Gaara stop regretting opening his big mouth. "I'd love to!" Naruto cried enthusiastically, flinging his arms around Gaara's neck. The blond was practically bouncing on the bed as he released Gaara. "Oh wow, our first proper date. This is going to be awesome! I can introduce you to Iruka and then I can stop lying to him about where I'm going Friday night and he'll stop worrying and I can stop feeling guilty and everything will be great!"

"Are you sure you want to introduce me to your guardian?" Gaara asked carefully.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Because if he knows you have a boyfriend he'll be suspicious about what you do on Friday nights. Are you sure you want him prying into your affairs?"

Naruto stopped bouncing. Gaara was right – Iruka would probably assume the worst and become an over-protective parent. It was what had happened when Haku had introduced Zabuza to his parents. Naruto internally shuddered at the thought of Gaara playing with Iruka's memories. That wasn't what he wanted to happen, that wasn't what he wanted at all.

Naruto deflated. He rested his head on Gaara's shoulder, muttering, "Maybe it'd be better if I didn't tell Iruka after all."

Gaara nodded in agreement as he put his arm around Naruto. They sat in silence for a moment, each contemplating their own thoughts. Then Gaara leaned down to kiss the crown of Naruto's head. "I'm going to get dressed now. Stay if you want to but you're free to go home and start coming up with what you're going to tell your guardian."

"I think I'll stay a little bit longer," Naruto said with a small smile that soon turned into a depressed frown. "I don't like lying to Iruka," he admitted.

"And you think your friends like lying to their parents? It may not be fair to lie to them but it is something that must be done. The vampire community prefers to have as few humans as possible know about us. Most of us live a peaceful existence but if we were revealed to the wrong people that peace would be shattered. We would be hunted more viciously than we are now because we are perceived as a threat when most of us that live in the cities are not. Trust me when I say that it is better for your guardian to not know of my existence until he has to."

Naruto nodded, though he still seemed slightly put off my Gaara's answer. He forced a smile onto his face anyway and leaned up to kiss Gaara. The blond then scrambled out of his embrace. "I'll let you get dressed then," he said before heading to the living room.

Gaara watched the boy go silently. He didn't like seeing Naruto upset but he had to follow procedure. Sighing in frustration Gaara climbed out of bed and began searching for clothes. He'd make it up to Naruto tonight though; he'd make sure that this was the best damn date Naruto ever went on. He'd make his blond smile. With that thought in mind Gaara finished dressing and headed into the kitchen for some much needed fresh morning coffee.

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