Hi there! :) I am happy to say the next chapter is out! Yay! I love this story, I've always wanted to play with this couple and I am having the best time doing it now. I had a little fun exploring Gaara's jealousy at the end of this chapter. Not too much, they've only just met but who knows how it could develop from here after this.

Thank you everybody for your wonderful reviews! They helped me so much! They were all supportive of my first yaoi attempt and I am so happy to hear that it's going well! It almost brought tears to my eyes to find out I'd done it well. I'd been really nervous about it, not wanting to give such a great couple a bad story. So really thank you everybody! I appreciate the reviews and would really really love more!

Thanks for reading this story and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Love FanggirlX

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

Gaara pulled to a stop outside of Naruto's small house.

Hopping off with surprising agility Naruto turned and waited for Gaara. "Come on! You're gonna love this movie. It's amazing."

Skeptical of the blonde's words Gaara dismounted his bike and followed Naruto to the door.

"Why?" he asked, his deep voice soft and unsteady. Naruto had brought him to his home and was letting him in. This was… strange. People most often shut doors in Gaara's face and locked him out. They never let him in.

"Why is it great?" Naruto asked. Misunderstanding Gaara's single word question. "Well because it's about this guy who is like unnaturally nice. He lives in this small town where he knows everyone and actually cares about them. Then his uncle, like, dies in this weird freaky way and he's really, really rich. Like talkin' stupid rich. And this small town nice guy inherits everything cuz he's the only heir. So he goes to New York City to do some paper work with the board people and he meets this really nice girl but she's actually faking being nice and is a reporter trying to get a story about him. Anyway it has this butler who is hilarious and the whole movie is just great!" Naruto opened his front door and looked at Gaara. He instantly quit rambling about his favorite movie when he saw the vacant stare on Gaara's face.

"You still in there?" he asked, waving a hand in front of Gaara's face. Naruto's hand was quickly caught in a death grip, piercing aqua eyes glaring at him.

Naruto smiled uneasily, "Eh, heh heh, sorry, man. I was just making sure my rambling hadn't bored you to death."

Gaara released his hand and looked away. He studied the interior of Naruto's home. It was small and looked homey, warm, and comfortable. The layout wasn't wide or spread out but there was sufficient space to get around easily. The decoration was a little dated but well planned. It was clearly done by a female, at least in her late twenties to mid thirties. An educated guess based upon the simple and clean maturity of the style. Perhaps…his mother?

The walls, the furniture, and the few decorational items were all in a soft neutral color scheme of soft greys and whites with a few sparse blues thrown in for color. Though here and there, all over were a few random…colorful additions. A red overstuffed chair sat in the corner, well worn and a little ratty. There was a mirror on one wall that was shaped like a person's head…

Against one wall stood a tall black bookcase filled with an assortment of books and magazines. Judging from the titles there was a definite contrast from one half to the other. Car and motorcycle magazines. Romance novels. How to fix it manuals. Cookbooks. Out dated gaming guides. Travel books with stickie notes poking out of the edges. Home decorating magazines.

It was strange, because none of this…actually screamed Naruto. It was as if he lived in a someone's home and didn't want to leave any imprint of his own in it.

"Heh, it isn't much but welcome to my home." Naruto said with an almost shy smile.

Gaara turned and stared at Naruto for a long moment before turning and entering the house. Carefully examining everything, being careful not to touch any of it though.

"Uh, the living room is that area over there, with the couch. Go on and make yourself at home. I'll grab us some sodas and popcorn. As promised."

"Water." Gaara mumbled as he headed into the living room area.

Gaara stood in the center of the room and took a deep breath, calming his nerves. It was natural to feel uneasy in a new environment. Also, he was sure it was normal for a being to feel nervous upon entering a …a friend's house for the first time.

Naruto came into the room, "Hey, popcorn's popping."

He handed Gaara a glass of iced tap water. The red head took the glass and took a cautious sip. No poisons or mysterious additions; it was just water.

This display actually made Naruto laugh, "What? Did you think I would poison you or something? Aw, come on man. You're not still sore about the brain freeze are you? I said it was an accident already ."

Gaara shook his head and sipped his water again to prove he was ok with it.

Naruto watched Gaara stand awkwardly in the center of his tiny living room. The gothic red head didn't stand very tall, he was actually rather short considering he was shorter than Naruto who on a good day was just about five foot eight; however, something about Gaara's presence made him seem larger, his attitude made him seem bigger. So though there was plenty of room, it seemed crowded with the red head standing there with one arm in his pocket while the other held a glass of water he occasionally sipped.

Finally Naruto chuckled and motioned to the couch he was on and the two other chairs in the room.

"You know, you can sit down."

Gaara glanced at Naruto and then came over and sat beside him on the couch, as far away from the blonde as he could be.

Gaara looked around the room from his new vantage point. As he was slowly scanning the room again he noticed Naruto staring at him. Quickly he snapped his head back to attention and stared straight ahead.

"You…alright?" Naruto asked, noticing that Gaara acted very much like an abused dog brought home from the pound. He was safe, but just didn't quite believe it.

Gaara answered with a single curt nod.

"Ok…" Naruto said, not truly convinced.

The microwave beeped, alerting the world that the popcorn was finished. Standing up to go retrieve it Naruto handed the movie to Gaara, "Hold this for me?"

He started for the kitchen then stopped and turned back, "Actually, if you don't mind dude, can you put it in? When I'm done in here my hands are gonna be covered in artificial butter flavoring. I don't want that all over my movie."

Gaara stared at the DVD case and nodded.

With a grin Naruto thanked him and went to the kitchen.

Gaara set his water on the table to the side of the couch and stood to turn everything on and put the movie in.

He was sitting back down in the same exact spot when Naruto came back with the popcorn.

"This is gonna be great. I promise you'll like this movie. It's really funny." Naruto said as he plopped down on the couch with a big round bowl of popcorn. He set the bowl between them so Gaara could comfortably reach it. Swiping the remote from the table on his side, Naruto pressed play.

Gaara sat watching the movie that Naruto swore he'd like wondering why he'd like it. The small town man was very dense. The up scale New Yorkers were, of course, stereotypically money driven and rude. The very independent heroine of the film was ambitious about her career and truly would have never given this egg head the time of day, much less this amount of attention.

The plot seemed ridiculous and fairly unrealistic. The small town simpleton got away with more than he should, money didn't always buy absolute power. Fear was needed to make that rule true. And no one with a brain would fear this Deeds person.

Yet, though he clearly saw all this, he was trying to watch it as Naruto did. With joy. With laughter. With genuine amusement and entertainment.

It was just…difficult.

Naruto laughed and chuckled through the whole movie.

As the credits were scrolling Naruto looked to the boy who'd been silent through the whole movie-guy hadn't even laughed or smiled once-and he asked, "You didn't really enjoy that did you? I guess…humor isn't your thing?"

Gaara shrugged once.

Man, this guy acted as if words and movements were currency and he was on a really, really tight budget.

"Sorry, Gaara. I'd really thought you'd like it." Naruto said apologetically, smiling slightly.

Naruto was sorry he had wasted his time? He was sorry it hadn't really been enjoyable?

Trying to return the kind gesture, Gaara stared at the floor as he said, "It was intriguing."

Naruto smiled a little brigher, "Oh, ok. So you're just not used to comedy? I get it. That's good."

Gaara watched Naruto stand and go to the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later Naruto came back with two cups of ramen, "Here. It is technically dinner time. So it's only right that I feed you. Right?"

Gaara took the proffered cup of steaming noodles. "Thanks." he mumbled.

Nodding as he sat Naruto replied, "It's no problem. But hey since it's only eight thirty, you want to watch one more or play video games or something?"

Gaara stared into the swirling noodles and asked, "You're not ready for me to leave?"

Naruto grinned and shook his head, "Even if it is really, really quiet company it is still company. And I like your company actually. I wasn't sure if I would, but honestly I do. So yeah. I still want you to hang out with me."

His answer had been refreshingly honest. Exposing the fact that he hadn't been sure he'd enjoy Gaara's company actually made Gaara feel a little bit pleased. Naruto had been unsure and yet now he was sure. This implied that Gaara had some how done something right, he'd been good company. Without even really trying.

Which was…surprisingly nice…to succeed without trying.

Gaara nodded, "Another movie then."

Naruto got up and went to tall black bookcase and pulled out the drawer on the bottom. "Here they are. You can come pick one that, uh, intrigues you."

Naruto went to throw away his empty ramen cup while Gaara rifled through the drawer.

Being completely unsure of any of them, when he heard Naruto coming back, he said as he continued to study the movies, "Name one that is…dark but interesting."

The blonde thought about his answer and then said, "Like dark as in gory and bloody or dark as in depressing and mind bending?"

Gaara sighed, "Let's go with bloody…"

Naruto leaned over the squatting Gaara and sifted through the DVDs to find one. He lifted it up and Gaara read the title. Friday the 13th.

"It's the newer one, which actually isn't that bad. This was an older series that came out back in the eighties and nineties, but now it has been redone so that the graphics and the gore and the overall picture is basically better looking." Naruto explained as he went to put the movie in. "So in short they ran out of ideas for the year and so they decided to take a classic and make it prettier." The blonde laughed at his own joke and came over to sit on the couch, where Gaara was now sitting once again.

Gaara nodded, taking the information in. things with gore and blood definitely interested him more than good hearted idiots with lying spies for girlfriends.

As the movie started Naruto got settled in comfortably. He took his cell phone, a pen, and a pack of gum out of his pocket and set it on the floor, he then drew his legs up to his chest and sat with his arms around his legs, his chin in his knees.

Gaara actually watched the suspenseful story with amusement. Again, quite an unrealistic plot, but when he'd voiced this thought Naruto made it seem as if all movies were for that purpose, to be an escape from true reality. Which, to Gaara, was an acceptable reason; reality could sometimes become the heaviest burden to carry.

They were half way into the movie when Gaara noticed Naruto's commentary had slowly faded away.

Looking over to the blonde he was stunned to see the boy had fallen asleep, right there tucked into his knees.

Uncertain of what to do Gaara continued to watch the movie. He wasn't sure if he should leave, but he wanted to see if Jason taught those annoying people to not trespass.

Just as the protagonist's would be girlfriend was dragged away by Jason, Naruto fell over. He'd steadily been tilting more and more to the left, towards Gaara, until he finally fell over. It did not wake him up though. He just resituated himself and cuddled his head towards Gaara's thigh.

The red head stared down at the sleeping blonde.

He felt something inside him. It felt like…a fever. And a tickle. It was…not bad.

The cause for the feeling, however, was uncertain. It was either the fact that Naruto had actually fallen into a deep sleep with him present or it was the fact that Naruto was subconsciously cuddling his thigh, which sent an involuntary shiver up his spine every now and then. It had been a long time since he'd been touched so…innocently.

Gaara watched the rest of the movie, being careful not to even breathe too loosely, for concern he'd wake the blonde. Though he tried to assure himself that it was to avoid the awkward discussion on how the position had happened and why he'd allowed it to continue Gaara knew that it was actually mostly for the fact that he'd seen Naruto sleep on the rooftops earlier, and it was evident the boy did not get enough rest to sustain himself well.

The commanding rock music for the credits started and Gaara watched the TV until the screen went black and the credits were done.

Debating upon what to do next Gaara noticed Naruto's cell phone buzzing and lighting up.

Wanting to silence the buzz before it woke the slumbering boy Gaara stretched his foot out and lightly kicked the phone over to his side of the couch. Slouching a bit he managed to pick it up without really moving much; evident in the fact that Naruto slept on.

Flipping the phone open to press the end call button Gaara read the name of the caller on the screen.

Sasuke.

Gaara knew of this person. It was a black haired boy who claimed attention from mostly everyone he came in contact with. He was in fact seen quite often with Naruto. They appeared to be close. And apparently, judging by the fact that Sasuke had Naruto's number and was calling him this late at night they were at least on friendly terms with each other.

The buzzing ended before Gaara turned it off.

Frowning at the words missed call. Gaara opened the phone's menu. He scanned Naruto's phonebook. He had a lot of numbers. Most were numbers from students at the school.

Naruto was…popular? How unexpected.

Deciding that he didn't like not being in this list of numbers, Gaara added his own cell phone number to the list. Few people even knew he had one, much less what the number was. His number could be vital information if placed in the wrong hands, yet he wanted to trust this boy at least with that much. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't handle the trouble it would cause if he were betrayed.

Perhaps it was petty jealousy but Gaara didn't want Naruto having anything with anyone else that he didn't at least have with him too.

Naruto was truly…his first friend. He wanted the blonde to understand how important that was. How…vulnerable that made him.

Letting out a soft sigh Gaara stood up careful to not wake the boy.

He found a pad in the kitchen and wrote a short note to Naruto.

Jason was interesting. Tonight was good. Thanks. Gaara.

Leaving it where he knew Naruto would find it, Gaara let himself out, locking the front door with the key hidden by the door.

Gaara got on his motorcycle, started it and left.

The sound of the motorcycle's engine starting woke Naruto inside the house.

He looked around and saw that the TV was off, the movies were put up in the drawer and the two glasses and the popcorn bowl were in the sink, rinsed off.

The front door was locked and there was a note taped to it.

Naruto read the note and smiled looking around his home one last time. Gaara was…actually really considerate. Who knew?

With a sleepy smile Naruto returned to the couch and stretched out on it, not even bothering to go upstairs and go to his bed or change clothes.

He fell asleep again no problem. The couch smelled of Gaara's subtle cologne.