"Hey! Gaara!" Gaara looked up and furrowed his brow at the sight of Naruto. What was he doing flagging him down? "Wait up!"
"Yes?" Gaara situated his bookbag on his shoulder correctly and turned to Naurto expectantly.
"Hey, Lee wanted me to let you know that Kakashi is going to be picking you both up." Gaara seemed confused.
"Why?" Naruto shrugged. "Why didn't Lee tell me before?"
"Just found out, I guess. He would've come to tell you but Sakura kind of dragged him out of the school." Gaara nodded stiffly and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You okay?" Gaara had never really talked to people much to know that when most people were asked if they were okay, the normal response was yes even if they weren't. Which led Naruto to a surprising admission.
"Not really. I think I may be jealous." Naruto stared at Gaara for a minute before he realized he was being impolite. Now, had Lee said something like that, Naruto would have laughed and made fun of him. Since it was Gaara, he honestly had no idea how to react.
"Jealous why?" He said slowly and Gaara shifted on his feet and stared at the floor.
"I suppose I'm not a fan of Sakura." Naruto gave a nod.
"Yeah I see why. She's pretty annoying sometimes. Plus, it must suck to have her take away your best bud." Gaara frowned at that and Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to rub salt in the wound. Anyway, you can talk to Lee about it later. You going to work?" Gaara nodded. "Awesome, I'll tell Kakashi and Lee to meet you there. When will you be done?"
"Around 8." Gaara said with conviction even though he'd never stopped working at that time ever.
"Alright! See you around!"
Gaara stood in front of the stove and was whisking a mixture that would soon be pudding. He was zoning in and out and just wanted something to keep his hands busy. He supposed he could use this as a shop cake filling. He didn't care at this point.
"Gaara?" Temari walked into the kitchen slowly, as if approaching a harmed animal. "Gaara?"
"Yes, Temari?" Temari quickened her steps and stood by his side.
"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything but I assumed you'd take a break from here for a while."
Gaara put down his whisk and put both hands on the sides of the stove, leaning on it, tensing up his shoulders. Temari rubbed his back slowly.
"Lee..." Gaara pursed his lips and she noticed the confusion in his face. She wondered if they finally admitted they liked each other yet. Temari tried not to smile.
"What about Lee?" She asked and Gaara averted his gaze and looked back into the pot. "Gaara, are you ok?"
"He's on a date right now." Temari felt a coldness she didn't know she could feel and pulled Gaara in for a hug without saying anything. Gaara felt a small sense of comfort but didn't feel any better in the end.
"Do you want me to fire him?" Temari half joked and Gaara looked up at her and the corner of his mouth tugged up slightly.
"Then you'll have to come in early mornings." She frowned at that and rubbed her brother's hair.
"I'd do anything for you, Gaara. Even wake up at 4am." That was the most touching thing Gaara ever heard his sister say.
Later on, after they closed, Gaara sat on the couch waiting for Lee. He sent a text message to his bank to receive his account balance (old school, yes. Flip phone still.) He wondered if Temari was able to sneak in some money to his account so he could buy new shoes. He finally ruined them completely when they got stuck on the floorboard and the bottom of the shoe ripped mostly off.
When he received a text message that said [Acct Bal: 4,802.78], his hands started shaking. Where the hell did that money come from? He quickly called Temari, trying his best to keep the phone to his ear and not drop it like the bundle of nerves he was.
"Hello?"
"Temari, why is there so much money in my account?" He asked quickly and heard Temari move around on the other end.
"Well, dad and I got into a huge fight when you went to the hospital. It ended with me telling him to pay you for all of your work since we've been here. I was able to get you 15 an hour and I know you worked more than 80 hours a week but that's all I was able to get him to pay you. It's the least he can do for not even letting you live at home. I'm sorry it took so long Gaara. And I tried to fight him on paying you for everything back from Suna but this was all I could do. I'm sorry."
"Don't." Gaara said quickly. "Don't apologize... Thank you." He quickly hung up the phone and laid down on the couch and nervously tapped the antenna on his lips.
For some reason the money made him feel even worse.
Kakashi got there before Lee did which Gaara felt a piercing stab of disappointment. He'd been anxiously waiting for Lee all day, hoping he'd show up. He was unsure why he wanted Lee to ditch Sakura so badly. He knew Lee would never do that but the hope was still there. Now it was 7:46, they'd been closed for nearly an hour and Gaara felt alone watching Kakashi walk up to the door and knock on it.
Gaara let Kakashi in and noticed Kakashi examine the shop.
"Where is Lee?" He asked and Gaara frowned. Didn't Lee tell him?
"Uh, he'd been with Sakura all day." Kakashi paused and turned to Gaara confused.
"Sakura?" Gaara nodded. "He left you alone?"
"I worked. He didn't. He didn't leave me alone. He has more friends than me." Kakashi frowned. Something about the situation with Sakura didn't bode well with him.
"Where's your bag from home?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject and Gaara tilted his head to the side. "Lee told you that you were staying with us tonight, right? You went home to get your stuff?" Gaara's confusion turned into slight embarrassment. Lee didn't say any of this to him.
"Yes. My bag. Let me go get it." Gaara quickly disappeared into the back and opened the door to his room. He grabbed a plastic bag and put the few articles of clothing he had in the bag and sighed when he still had room. He grabbed the charger for his phone and looked at the empty room with a hallow feeling in his heart.
"What the hell is this?" Gaara jerked back and turned his head to see an irritated Kakashi.
"It's my..." The sentence died on Gaara's lips and Kakashi's frown creased his face. "...relax room. For when I don't have time to go home... I just sleep here." Kakashi looked at Gaara and Gaara's eyes couldn't meet his in shame.
"Gaara." Gaara didn't speak. "I have a teenage son. No one can lie to me. Is this your bedroom?" Gaara felt more shame and his face burned and he gave a curt nod. "Why don't you live at home?"
"...What home?" His words cracked and Kakashi stared at Gaara with too many emotions flashing across his face. This man- no. Not a man, this child in front of him looked so ashamed and broken. Standing in the only room he knew was his own and the room was sad. The bed didn't look even slightly comfortable. He didn't have any possessions in the room, there was no window, it was dark. This wasn't a room, it was a storage closet big enough for a futon and some hangers.
Kakashi gave Gaara another look, really looked at him. He saw the clothes that were too big on him, the shoes that weren't even together, Gaara's attire was homely. Kakashi didn't want to look at him anymore. He took a step forward and hugged Gaara tightly, trying his best to portray that someone cared about him. That's all Kakashi needed was for Gaara to understand not everyone was going to not care about him. He was worth something.
"Come on, kid. You're going to stay with us a while." Kakashi said quietly and Gaara nodded and they broke the embrace. Gaara stared at his plastic bag in his hand.
"This is all I have besides my school bag." Kakashi had fostered kids in the past. One of the things that always broke his heart was the first day the kids got to the house, they had all of their stuff packed in a garbage bag. Just seeing someone put their things in a garbage bag upset him, he didn't want them to think that's all they were, just garbage. He now realized there was worse things to see kids with. A plastic bag. Gaara couldn't even fill a garbage bag.
Kakashi wound up texting Lee to find his own way home since he wanted to be late (in reality Lee was only going to be about 5 minutes late but Kakashi was hyped up on negative emotions and just needed to get out of the shop.
When he brought Gaara home, Guy sat at the dining room table with a smile to greet them, which quickly melted off his face when he saw Kakashi's expression. He went to ask and Kakashi shook his head and led Gaara up the stairs. Guy was curious but knew that Kakashi for whatever reason was upset and would let him know what was going on when he had the chance.
Lee walked in the door a few minutes later which confused Guy even more since he assumed they all traveled together and Lee looked pretty upset too.
"What's going on, Lee?" Lee shrugged his shoulders.
"I think I upset Kakashi." Guy pondered for a second before saying,
"Well that explains his mood." Lee looked damn near devastated. "What happened?"
"We were supposed to meet at the shop at 8 and at 8:01 he told me if I was going to be late I should find my own ride back. I feel terrible. I would have been at the shop by 8:05 at the latest but he was very upset with me. Should I go apologize?" Guy shook his head.
"No, he's busy with Gaara." Lee's demeanor brightened.
"Gaara's here?" Guy nodded.
"Don't go up there just yet. I don't know what they're doing." He insisted and Lee frowned and looked up the stairs longingly. He missed Gaara all day! He was excited to come home to see him, he was nervous that he wasn't going to come but now that he knew Gaara was there he felt like it was unfair that he couldn't go talk to him. What did Kakashi have to say to him anyway?
Kakashi led Gaara up the stairs and walked down the hallway. Gaara gave a longing glance to Lee's bedroom door, feeling the familiar ache in his chest from missing him. Almost directly across from Lee's bedroom door, Kakashi opened another door and turned on the light.
It was a small, but cozy looking room. The carpet was dark blue, the bedspread was an abstract design with varying shades of blue and white, the headboard was a light brown and so was the matching dresser and bookshelf. Across from the bed, there was an average sized flat screen mounted to the wall, and the nightstand had two remotes, a lamp and a clock.
"This is your room, Gaara. Make yourself comfortable." Gaara heard the words but couldn't exactly believe them.
"What?" He asked quietly and Kakashi led him inside the room. Gaara now noticed the room had a windowsill padded with cushions as a makeshift chair. It could easily fit two people. The window was huge. Kakashi sat down on it and gestured for Gaara to sit on the bed. Gaara looked around awkwardly to find a place to put his bag of clothes. He nervously set them down on the dresser and slowly sat on the bed, as if he was afraid the bed would swallow him.
"I wasn't lying before, Gaara. I want you to stay here. We would love to have you. You can think about it if you want. But for now this is your room until you want to leave it. Tomorrow, after school, I'm going to bring you shopping for some clothes and shoes, ok?" Gaara didn't know what else to say. He just nodded.
Kakashi didn't take the lack of words as Gaara not being grateful. If Kakashi knew Gaara like he thought he did, (or at least kids like Gaara) right now he was really overwhelmed and just couldn't express himself. The best thing he could do right now is leave the room and let Gaara decide what he wanted to do.
"Guy has dinner made downstairs, I know it's late but you're more than welcome to come down and eat with us. Take your time." Kakashi stood up and walked to the door. "And Gaara." He turned to face the small teen. "If you ever need anything, you can talk to any of us. Me, Guy and Lee. I hope you know that." Gaara didn't move but Kakashi left the room anyway, shutting the door softly behind him.
Gaara looked around the room for the umpteenth time and pressed his hands on the bed, feeling the softness of the mattress. Today had been one of the luckiest days of his life, if only it hadn't also been the loneliest too. There was a soft knock at the door. Gaara walked over and opened it.
A part of him wasn't expecting Lee. Almost like he forgot he was in Lee's house. Lee was smiling at him with the kindest expression he'd ever seen. For whatever reason that made Gaara's eyes burn. Lee saw Gaara's eyes start to water and quickly pulled him into a hug and closed the door behind him. Gaara clung to Lee like a lifeline. His whole life got better when Lee came into it. Gaara was hit in the face by the deep smell of Lee. The most calming smell to him, personally. But it was strange, something smelled different about him. It dawned on him and Gaara held Lee tighter, hoping the smell would go away.
How close would you have to be to someone for their smell to linger on their clothes, their skin? When does the smell fade? Is it something as innocent as just sitting next to someone that spreads their scent to the next person? Was it a hug? Was it more? Why did Lee's skin smell so sweet? What if Gaara held Lee closer? Would the smell fade and in its stead turn into Gaara's smell on Lee's skin? None of that mattered now that he was holding Lee. A Lee that didn't smell like Lee.
Gaara knew he was smelling Sakura.