Chapter 47
Naruto
It was warm, warm enough for me to feel beads of sweat pour off my forehead when I finally stirred in bed only to find that I was wrapped in two comforters and an arm around my waist.
When did I get here? I had asked myself. I remembered I was on the couch with Gaara, crying onto his shoulder and being a pathetic piece of dirt when Tsunade gave me a pill, then fell asleep. I just don't remember how I got here.
"You're awake?" I heard Gaara's voice behind me when I felt someone move.
"I thought you were sleeping still." I groaned, my eyes having yet to open when I felt him move his arm and I rolled onto my back whilst kicking the blankets off of me without hurting myself. "It's too hot."
"I'm sorry." Gaara said.
"Don't be sorry." I said, waving him off slightly. "How long was I asleep?"
"It's about dinner time, Itachi just stopped by a moment ago to tell me it was almost time." Gaara said.
"Did you sleep at all?" I asked as I got myself to sit up with Gaara's help and threw my legs over the side of the bed as he moved to sit next to me. I wanted to stretch so badly, but Tsunade said it wasn't wise to do the deep stretching I normally do for a few more weeks or so. God, it felt like my whole body was stiff as a board.
"I slept for probably two hours, I didn't want to move much in case I woke you up." Gaara said as he wrapped an arm around my waist, giving me a small hug before he got up off the bed and turned to face me, sliding between my legs and making me blush when I felt his hands on my hips. Then I blushed a little more when he rested his forehead on mine.
"You feel really warm, are you feeling okay Naruto?" He asked a moment later.
"I'm fine, I just got too hot is all." I said, which is pretty much the truth. "Right now the room feels like it's eighty degrees."
"Then lets take your sweater off." Gaara smiled, his hands now hooking under the rim of my sweater and started pulling it up. I lifted my arms over my head, letting him pull it off all the way before he laid it on the bed and pulled off the long sleeved shirt I had on underneath it to where it was only the tank top I wore to keep the back brace from rubbing my skin raw.
"That feels so much better." I sighed with relief that I felt a cool breeze on my arms and the back of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.
"I can tell." Gaara chuckled, resting his forehead on mine once again as he wrapped his arms around me. "Naruto, can I ask you something?"
"Sure." I said, gulping lightly because I was scared of what he'd ask of me.
"If your father does come home Sunday, may I be here when he does?" He asked. "I won't do anything, I swear, I just want to be here to make sure you go home safely."
"If your father says it's okay." I nodded, and I trusted him on his word, only because Gaara would never do anything to hurt my father unless I told him to.
"Thank you Naru." Gaara smiled, kissing me lightly on the lips just as the door opened and I heard a gasp that sounded like it came from Sasuke.
"God, next time I'll remember to knock." He chuckled. I knew he was joking around, but I don't know if Gaara did.
"Please?" Gaara said, though his tone was slightly dark, made me flinch just hearing it.
"Don't worry, I will, I was just wondering how the blonde was doing." Sasuke said as he opened the door some more and leaned against the door frame as he crossed his arms while Gaara stepped out from between my legs into a more, less awkward, stance still with his arms wrapped around me.
"I'm doing fine, woke up sweating though because Gaara had both comforters on me and his body heat against me as well." I said, resting my hands up on Gaara's arms as I leaned against him a little bit.
"That's good news." Sasuke smiled, apparently he wasn't too pissed off with me today after listening to those tapes.
"Well, lets go eat, I don't think I ate lunch before taking my nap." I said as I stood up, Gaara's arms gently releasing me after helping me up and the three of us went to the kitchen where I saw the table was set for four people, and the kitchen smelled great! This is why I love it when Itachi cooks. Don't get me wrong, Sasuke's a good cook too, but he likes his food too bland for my tastes.
"Well, did no one tell you that you have one nasty case of bed head Naruto?" Itachi chuckled when he saw us walk into the kitchen, me using Gaara as a crutch and I glared at Sasuke and Gaara for not telling me.
"Well, I'm going to leave it because I'm going to probably go back to bed after dinner." I said, crossing my arms as I pouted. But I knew that wasn't going to happen, I took a four hour nap, I'm never going to sleep before midnight tonight, so I'm going to use that time wisely and do my homework.
"At least flatten it down a little bit." Gaara said, now trying to fix my hair, but I think he learned the hard way that my hair just gets worse when you try to fix it. "And this is the only thing I hate about your hair."
"I like it when my hair is messy." I pouted with a smile, but Gaara grunted and sat down in his chair as Sasuke sat on my other side and Itachi placed food filled plates in front of us before sitting down himself.
"I decided to make something I haven't done in a while, so I hope everyone likes it." Itachi said before we all picked up our spoons.
"It looks like chicken curry." Sasuke said before he took his bite while Gaara took his. I took my time taking a bite, because knowing Itachi, it didn't matter if he hadn't made it in a long while, it was still a masterpiece! And it fucking was when I finally took my bite. Hell, I couldn't help myself from drooling before I started shoveling it all in my mouth until I couldn't swallow correctly and started choking on it.
"Slow down you moron." Sasuke said as I felt two hands patting my back a little hard, but not too hard to hurt until I could swallow what was in my mouth and gasped for air.
"That's why you eat slower you dork." Gaara sighed and sat back down in his chair.
"You two are so mean, Itachi's cooking is just too good." I said before digging back into my food, but making sure I chew and swallow before the next bite.
"That's why you savor it, not inhale it until you choke." Sasuke said.
"Whatever, so is Gaara staying until my Dad comes home?" I asked, wanting to bring the subject up about the up coming weekend anyway.
"I don't know, Naruto." Gaara said before Itachi could even think of an answer for me.
"Then talk to your Dad tonight Gaara, please?" I begged, but somehow, I knew that Gaara wouldn't be able to stay away from home that much longer.
"I'll talk to him after dinner, okay?" Gaara nodded before eating some more of his curry, and now I suddenly lost my appetite, and I still had a good amount of food left on my plate as I started pushing my food around with my spoon.
"Sasuke …" I sighed, suddenly remembering that I still didn't have my crutches.
"Yes?" He said after swallowing the bite of his food that was in his mouth.
"Where in the hell are my crutches?" I asked, glaring at him as the words spilled from my mouth before I took a bite of my curry before pushing my plate away.
"Oh, uhm, they're in my closet." He hesitated.
"Could you get them after dinner please?" I asked, leaning back in my chair as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. I was actually eager to get started on my homework as soon as I knew if Gaara was staying or not.
"Sure." Sasuke said as he finished his plate.
"Are you done eating Naruto?" Gaara asked, and it sounded shocked to him that I didn't eat all of my food.
"Yea." I nodded, hoping Gaara wouldn't be too pissed off at me because I did this, this morning and totally skipped on lunch all together.
"You need to eat, you didn't eat much this morning, and you totally didn't have anything for lunch." Gaara said, almost in the exact words I thought he'd say.
"I know, but I haven't been hungry." I pouted and Itachi pushed the plate towards me.
"Eat at least a little bit more, you don't have to finish it." He said, but I sighed heavily and slouched in the chair a little bit before grabbing my spoon and ate a few more bites to make them happy.
"Thank you Naruto." Itachi smiled before he took the plate away and he and Sasuke got to work on the dirty dishes while Gaara finished his dinner and scooted his chair over closer to me before wrapping an arm around my waist. I leaned against him, closing my eyes and welcoming his warmth again. I was now cold, despite the food being spicy since Itachi kept the food mild for Sasuke and Gaara and made it spicy for the two of us.
"Sasuke ... Gaara …" I sighed after a few minutes of hearing nothing but the washing of dishes and Gaara's breathing, and in those few minutes, I've been having plaguing thoughts from earlier today cloud my mind, and I had to ask before I lost it again.
"Yea?" They said in unison, Sasuke turning to look at me with soapy hands leaning over the sink because he was the one washing and Gaara rested his head on mine, letting me know he's listening to what I have to say.
"Do you guys hate me … after listening to those tapes?" I asked, and I could feel the tears forming in my eyes as the words left my lips, though when I spoke it was like a whisper, so I don't know if Sasuke was able to hear me at all.
"What kind of question is that?" Gaara asked me before Sasuke could open his mouth.
"I'm being totally honest with you two, do either of you hate me?" I asked again, now wanting a straight answer as I got up out of Gaara's reassuring touch, backing away a few feet as I looked between the two.
"Of course I don't hate you Naruto, I never could hate you." Gaara said, and he looked hurt.
"I don't hate you, it's your father I fucking hate." Sasuke said, the exact words I expected to hear from him.
"Then why do I feel like you two are just acting like nothing happened?" I wanted to yell, but it only came out in slight sobs as I wrapped my arms around myself. My bare arms rubbing against the rough fabric of the brace because I forgot that I didn't wear a shirt over it like I usually do.
"Naruto, please believe us when we say we don't hate you, there's no possible reason for us to even hate you for." Gaara said as he got up out of his chair, walking over and wrapping his arms around me trying to comfort me.
"Gaara's right Naruto." Sasuke said as he walked over and hugged the two of us, shocking me but I don't think he noticed. But the hug in itself was very awkward since Sasuke joined, hell, I've never seen him give hugs before in my life since we were in elementary. "We have absolutely no reason to hate you."
"You sure?" I asked, wanting to make it perfectly clear that they really mean what they say.
"Yes, we both mean it Naruto." Gaara said while Sasuke remained silent and nodded in agreement before he broke from the hug and went back to the dishes with Itachi, who seemed to have taken the break from Sasuke to dry and put away the dishes he had washed and also put away the food.
"Do you want to go and lay down while I call my Dad?" Gaara asked, and I shook my head.
"No, I've laid down all day, I have a shit load of homework I really need to get done. I'm already failing this quarter as it is." I said, pulling back enough from the hug to dry my eyes and face before I wrapped my arms around Gaara, burying my face in his shoulder and taking in his scent, which reminded me of oranges and cherries, my two favorite plants during the spring and summer.
"Alright, well I'll be out back for a few minutes." Gaara said a few minutes later, pulling back as he kissed my forehead and went through the kitchen past Sasuke and Itachi and onto the back porch.
"I'm going to my room and get started on my homework." I told Sasuke and Itachi.
"Wait a minute, Sasuke, dry your hands and go get Naruto's crutches." Itachi said a few seconds later.
"I'll be right back." Sasuke sighed and walked past me a moment later and went down the hall into his room, emerging a few minutes later with my crutches in hand.
"Sorry I put these in my closet." He said as he handed them to me and started walking past, but I didn't let him go without hitting him in the head a few times with them. Not hard, but it was enough for him to duck for cover yelling curses at me.
"That's for hiding them!" I said with a smirk and went to my room before Sasuke could come after me, but I heard him grumble behind me and went stomping into the kitchen to finish the after meal chores. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to doing any of my homework, so I decided to sit at the computer and read my English assignment instead of everything else.