Hello everyone!
Oh my gosh, I could not get this scene out of my head! So I sat down and started writing and it quickly became this next chapter, not to mention a little of chapter seven came out too. But it isn't quite ready for release lol so be on the look out for it, ok? I'm having so much fun with this story right now!
A little warning: some of you may feel that in this chapter and probably the next to come, that Gaara is a little out of character. Allow me to defend the reason for this. He is uncomfortable with all the new changes, he is being forced out of his comfort zone, and his quite flustered like most people would be due to the situation at hand.
That is all. Please just go with it. :)
Thank you for reading! Please review, I love them so much!
Please enjoy this next chapter!
Love FanggirlX

A full water bottle splashed against the wall of Gaara's bedroom. The water sprayed the grey brick surface like blood splatter from a gunshot. The frustrated redhead stared down at the spot the, now half empty, bottle had landed and was sloshing out the last bit of water it could in small waves.

His intense aquamarine eyes narrowed as they focused on the mess, but truly they were not seeing the mess. They were actually looking beyond the mess and into his soul.
It had been hours since he'd gotten that message from Naruto. Shit, it had been hours since he'd come home from school.
Why could he not get the damned thing out of his head? How could a few words in his phone matter this much?
Was it because the blonde had been the sender of the offending message? Or was it the actual message itself that was getting to him?
The problem was Gaara had no fucking clue which it was.

He flipped his phone out and read the message, yet again.

Hey. Thanks for closing up last night. Sorry I fell asleep. Let's try a movie night again when I'm not so sleepy so I can actually watch the movie too lol. (that means I'm laughing) I'm skipping school today cuz Sasuke had a rough night so we're just gonna chill. Didn't want you thinking my absence was your fault or anything. Its not. I had fun. No worries. Anyway have a good day and call me or text sometime we'll make plans. If you want.

It was a plain and simple straightforward type of message. It said nothing great, it conveyed nothing of importance. Yet, it had given him a strange, unrelenting feeling; a nice feeling. However, it had also angered him. Naruto would not be at school, where he was, because of someone else.

So, one source of his frustration was evident, he knew it with no problem, no doubt. He was bothered by the fact that Naruto was with Sasuke right now. The two were old friends, therefore they knew more about each other, they possessed a stronger bond than that which Naruto shared with him.
Simply put, he was jealous… as odd a realization as that was.

In a single day, he'd gone from having no friends, to having one he felt jealousy over.

Gaara cursed and stood up. He paced the short length of his bedroom a few times and with a sigh plopped back down on his bed. Shoving his hands into his hair he sighed once more.
Why did this plague him so?
It had been a single day. An enjoyable, educational day, but a mere day. Fuck, not even a full day. Just a few hours after school. …Unless he counted all that time they'd shared up on the school rooftop… which he shouldn't, considering Naruto had slept through that entire part. But…that alone meant something to Gaara; the fact that Naruto had gone to sleep with him just feet away…pleased him.

The blonde did things to Gaara, of that he was certain.
It was those eyes; those paralyzing blue eyes. It had to be. They were the reason his throat tightened. The reason his palms sweated. The reason his heart thundered inside him. They were what had first caught his attention, the first thing that had captured his interest.
The first day he'd attended that pitiful excuse of an education facility, he'd seen Naruto. He hadn't known his name, nor had he cared. Gaara had little care or concern for anything then.
But as he was crossing the campus, in search of his locker, he'd caught a glimpse of Naruto sitting on a picnic table, his feet on the bench where one was truly meant to sit.
Gaara hadn't intended to stop, he hadn't wanted to stare. Yet, from where he'd stood on the breezeway sidewalk, he'd seen something in Naruto, in his eyes; that Gaara often saw in his own mirror: a barrage of emotions fleeting through anger, hate, loneliness, hurt; basically, pain.
This blonde was angry. This blonde was lonely. This blonde was hurting…like him.

Immediately Gaara had shaken the thought away and continued on with his life, never once again thinking of the emotional blonde or the emotional response he'd unwittingly pulled from Gaara.
Naruto had never crossed his mind again, that is until he walked into his classroom and sat one desk over from him. It had surprised the gothic boy. That strange feeling from his first day came back and again set him on edge. Gaara had known that with the size of the school of course he'd eventually see the blonde boy again, it was nearly impossible to not. Yet, he'd still been surprised to see that the boy was actually in a class of his. Then, as fate would of course have it, he became Gaara's project partner.

Naruto had behaved unlike anyone else Gaara had ever encountered. He'd been kind, yet fiercely defensive. He'd been friendly, all the while, secretive. He'd been polite, but not spineless.

The boy had actually threatened Gaara to not fail in doing his half of the project.
That project had been the first time Gaara had tried in the class. It had been the first time in a long time that Gaara had tried hard at anything. For some reason, he'd wanted to prove he could and would fulfill his half of the work without error.

His reward? The first smile, in his entire life, meant solely for him; brought on by something good he'd done.
After that moment, when Naruto's striking eyes had gleamed because of him, Gaara had been intrigued by the blonde, more so by a tenfold than on the first day he'd seen him.

So while it made no sense, Naruto meant something to Gaara, without having ever even truly tried. Therefore, on the day when the boy actually tries to win Gaara's favor and become his friend, when Naruto actually tries for Gaara…of course he'd succeed fairly easily.

In conclusion, it was all Naruto's fault that Gaara was upset right now.
The redhead couldn't quite put into words why that was, but it was definitely Naruto's fault. Damn that motherfucker for it too.

Emotions, and allowing himself to feel them, experience them, experiment with them and learn about them… it was all still very new to Gaara. He'd only made the change a short time ago, when he'd moved to this tiny suburbanite town on his own. A new life called for a new Gaara. But since he'd known nothing about it, he hadn't made much progress.
Honestly, Gaara was hoping he could learn more about it from Naruto. Naruto was expressive, sometimes overly so. Surely, he could show Gaara how to experience life the correct way, emotions included.

With a frustrated huff, Gaara pulled out a pack of cigarettes and slipped one out. Snagging a metal lighter from his nightstand, Gaara lit the cigarette and laid back on his bed, trying to relax.
As he eventually wound down to the end of his cigarette, Gaara didn't really feel much better.
He knew the problem.
He was jealous. He wanted to spend more time with Naruto himself. He wanted Naruto's attention.
Naruto was with his long time friend, Sasuke. Gaara could not, would not, join them and be an awkward addition to the two friends. Besides, he didn't want to be friends with Sasuke, he wanted to be friends with Naruto.

Gaara slid out another cigarette, lit it and took a long drag from it. Releasing the smoke he stared up at the ceiling.

Such a strange notion that he should have… to be friends with someone, much less an outgoing spazz like Naruto… If he'd thought such a thing were possible even just a few months ago he'd have considered himself truly certifiable. Yet here he lay, trying to calm himself from his fit of jealousy after a single evening with the boy. Such a strange notion indeed…

Gaara pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with two fingers and held it up above his head like one would hold a playing card.
Flipping it open, he went to the message again, but didn't open it this time. He simply stared at Naruto's name. He could reply to the message. Or even…call… but what if he interrupted something? What if Naruto- Gaara cut his thought off. There were too many damned what if scenarios to psyche himself out with. It would be a fool's thing to do if he allowed himself to get swept away by the lot of them.

Gaara stared up at the phone. But…
Should he? Message? Call? Which was better?

Moving on to his third cigarette he decided that it didn't truly matter and he'd prefer an actual phone call. Perhaps because there was a voice to go with the words

Highlighting Naruto's name Gaara selected options and hit call. The phone began ringing.
No cowarding out now.

Naruto answered the phone with a soft gravelly, "'Ello?"

Gaara quickly glanced at the clock and realized with a somewhat divided feeling that it was already two AM. The divided feeling being, a mix of amusement that he'd called so late and Naruto had answered and also of a dark pleasure that Naruto, half asleep and completely vulnerable, was at his full disposal.
For a brief second Gaara wondered if Naruto had known it was him and not Sasuke when he'd answered. He also wondered what he should say. Talking wasn't really his thing, so idle chit chat was out and he'd had no true purpose for calling…

"Gaara?" Naruto's confused, and still sleepy, voice asked.

Ah, so he had known it was him and not Sasuke…

"Do you skip school often?" he decided to say.

Confusion stayed in the sleepy boy's voice as he replied, "What? Gaara, you do know it's almost two thirty, right?"

"You didn't nap today? I presumed you would."

Naruto sighed softly, it sounded as if he were sitting up. "Ok, so you wanna talk…I get it. But, is it at least important? I did, actually nap today but then I had to deal with a grumpy sour Sasuke all day which just tired me back out. So it's like my nap never even happened."

"Grumpy people tire you."

Naruto chuckled and yawned at the same time before replying, "Well, yeah, most times. They tire most people."

"You didn't answer my first question." Gaara said, his voice a bit tight, making him sound mean. He was a decidedly grumpy person, so he was tiresome? What a pity…he'd never be winning that enjoyable company award after all…

"Which was what?" Naruto asked, honestly clueless.

"Do you skip school often." Gaara repeated for him.

"Ah. Well, prob'ly more than the average high schooler. Why?" Naruto asked. It sounded as if he were moving.

"I don't feel like going."

Naruto connected the dots and asked him, "Are you saying that we should skip tomorrow?"
The sound of a refrigerator door opening was heard and Gaara heard a clink from a glass bottle. That was Naruto's root beer.

"I'm saying I am. Will you join?" Gaara said tonelessly, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"Well…I usually don't skip two days in a row. But I actually don't feel too good so it may be a good thing if I skip again… what is the normal temperature for a person, again? Do you know?" Naruto popped open the root beer and took a swig, letting out a soft 'ahh' in Gaara's ear.

"98.6 F. 37 C."

"Oh…" Naruto's voice trailed off. "98 huh?"

Gaara didn't feel the need to repeat himself, so he waited.

"Then yeah, I'll skip with you tomorrow. Where do you want to meet?" Naruto's voice sounded rougher late at night. Gaara thought that perhaps he preferred it to the boy's normal day voice.

"Your house."

"My house?" there was a pause, as if he were debating it and then Gaara could practically hear the nod, "K, sure. What time?"

"Don't care."

"Well, I think I'll sleep in, since I'm so tired…so how about lunch time? That's around twelve by the way." Naruto's voice was fading.

Feeling a twinge of concern, Gaara paid closer attention to the sounds coming from the other side of the phone. Naruto's breathing was heavier than it should be. His speech was slightly slurred, and Gaara was beginning to doubt it was from being sleepy as he'd first thought.

"Are you sick?" he asked outright, not being one for tact or subtleties.

Naruto chuckled a little, but it sounded weak, "Nah, just really, really tired. I haven't been sleeping much these last few weeks."

"Why?" Gaara asked, though his tone clearly wasn't asking.

"Well, between Sasuke's problems with his dad and some rough nights myself I just haven't been sleeping much." Naruto let out a short nervous laugh, it was soft and breathy. "It's no problem, though."

Anger bubbled up in Gaara, Sasuke was the reason Naruto was sick? Fucking bastard took Naruto for granted.

But the second half of that sentence caught Gaara's interest more than his new found reason for hatred towards Sasuke.

"Rough nights?"

Again, he could practically hear the nod, "Yeah. Nightmares and stuff."

Gaara doubted he could get Naruto to talk about them, he was unsure as to why he was curious. Maybe because of his own violent nightmares. They'd gotten so bad, he'd eventually slipped into the world of insomnia just to escape them.
Thinking about it now… he got fairly sick the first month or two he'd gone without sleeping enough.

Lack of sleep opened the human body up for many viral attacks, one major one being the cold or worse, the flu. Which Naruto probably had caught one of the two, hopefully the former rather than the latter.

"How much have you slept recently?" Gaara asked, becoming irritated with the situation. He'd wanted to skip school and become closer friends with Naruto, but it seemed he'd be spending his skip day helping make a sick Naruto feel better.

"I dunno, Gaara… a few hours here and there. Why?" he sounded weaker.

Was his moving around making it worse?

"Sit still." Gaara barked.

"What? Why? Am I making some kind of noise on the phone?" Naruto asked, sincerely concerned that he was.

"No. You need rest." Gaara nearly hissed. How could Naruto be so stupid as to let his health get this bad?

"How long have you been feeling unwell?" Gaara demanded.

"Uh…" Naruto trailed off, there was a soft thud and then random noises as if the phone had been dropped.

"Hey." Gaara urged. "Naruto!"

Cursing, Gaara held the phone to his ear with his shoulder and he tugged his boots on. Stuffing a few things into his pockets he hurried out of the house.

Fucking moron had probably collapsed somewhere in his house. Purely exhausted from lack of sleep and then pushing himself too hard. It was weird though, there had been no sign of Naruto's not feeling well at any time when they'd been together yesterday.

Remaining calm, Gaara jumped on his bike and roared off into the night, speeding to Naruto's rescue.

When he approached the house Gaara searched for a hidden key outside the front door. Most people had one stashed somewhere in case they locked theirs inside.
Naruto did not however…
Letting out a string of curses, Gaara went back to his motorcycle and flipped open the small cubby container under the seat.

Inside he kept a few basic necessities, one of them being a lock pick set.

Stalking back over to Naruto's front door he worked quickly to open the door. Throwing it open he rushed inside, slamming it shut, not bothering to lock it.

He searched for Naruto.

Not in the kitchen or living room. So upstairs. Taking them two at a time Gaara checked the first door he came to and saw that it was a bathroom.
More importantly he found Naruto. Laying prostrate on the tile floor breathing heavily, the poor blonde looked paler than he should and was clearly in agony.

Gaara knelt beside him and reached his hand out to touch him. Pausing momentarily, Gaara shook his head and forced the insecurities aside. Now was not the time.

He touched Naruto's back, his touch still slightly hesitant.

"Naruto?" he asked, keeping his deep scratchy voice soft and calm, "Its Gaara."

Naruto let out a soft whimper, but didn't move. Gaara hoped that was him saying help me, because that was what's going to happen.
Scooping the blonde up into his arms, Gaara stood and carried the boy down the hall to the open doorway that was clearly Naruto's bedroom.

He entered the room and laid Naruto on the bed.

Gaara frowned down at the blonde. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat, so much that his clothes were damp with it.
That was not good. He needed dry clothes so that his condition did not worsen from the chill.
Sighing Gaara strode to the dresser and pulled out a drawer. Rummaging through the clothing he found a pair of grey boxers and a faded light blue t-shirt.

Gaara returned to Naruto's side and he let out a long breath. This…this night would either make or break his friendship with the blonde… considering the things he was about to do… yet also considering the reason for which he had to do them… it was going to be a long night for the both of them.

As gently as he possibly could, Gaara lifted Naruto's arms and slid the shirt he was wearing up over his head and off his damp body, it was actually damper than Gaara had expected.
Naruto's fever must've been fairly high…

Hurrying back to the bathroom Gaara grabbed a small wash rag from the towel rack and wet it and then hurried back to Naruto.

He steeled himself for the next task. The removal of his pants.
Refusing to let his hands or fingers tremble, Gaara unbuttoned the jeans the blonde had stupidly fallen asleep in and unzipped their zipper. Prying the damp jeans off the blonde's hips and thighs, Gaara worked to slide the pants off his legs without jostling him awake.

Reaching a hand out he stuck his index and middle fingers under the waistband of Naruto's boxers, testing to see how sweat soaked they were, hoping he could be spared at least this much. But of course, logically, he knew it not to be so and he sighed as he dragged the stretchy garment off of Naruto's now, very naked body.

Gaara noticed off handedly, Naruto was tanned everywhere… so he either walked around naked a lot during the summer or he had some lineage in his bloodline that naturally gave him this complexion. Gaara was betting on the latter considering Naruto's character didn't seem like the streaking type really.

Taking the wet cloth Gaara washed Naruto's face and forehead, down his throat and along both his shoulders, trailing it down each of his arms and onto his hot palms. Returning to Naruto's throat he wiped down the blonde's chest and along his sides. Gaara was stunned to see that Naruto was actually almost all hard muscle, he kept his body in nice shape.

Gaara rose to his feet and went quickly to the bathroom to rinse the rag. He returned to Naruto and steadied himself once more before moving onward down the lower half. He wiped the hips, tracing along the protruding hip bones and directly under the navel before traveling downward to the thighs, down the calves and down on to the feet. Reluctantly, he came back up and rubbed the rag along the inside of Naruto's thigh, which elicited a soft gasp from the blonde.

Intrigued, Gaara washed the same spot, inching it a little higher this time.
Again, Naruto hissed with pleasure.
So…this was a sensitive spot for Naruto. Naturally, of course it was. The thing that shocked Gaara was how damn responsive the guy was to a single touch; not to mention an innocent touch, something inside him screamed, a response probably from his feeling somewhat guilty for touching Naruto the way he was, and for looking at Naruto the way he was.

Quickly he rubbed the cloth over Naruto's private area, doing a fast but efficient job. He dropped the cloth on Naruto's bedside table and pulled the boxers onto Naruto, with minimal struggle. Then came the shirt, which went over his head without much fight.
As Gaara was leaning over, tugging the shirt down Naruto's torso, the blonde quickly encircled him and tugged on him rubbing his hips against him, his sick body having little strength to actually pull Gaara all the way down. A soft pink filled Gaara's cheeks and he tried to get away from Naruto before something he'd regret happened.

Naruto nuzzled him and sighed, his eyes clenched in pain. Gaara studied him a moment and then he realized, ah, he is seeking comfort for the pain.
Feeling sorry for the guy, Gaara brought one hand up and brushed Naruto's hair off his forehead, stroking his face, much like his sister once had for him.

Naruto relaxed almost immediately to Gaara's touch and he sank back into his bed with what could possibly be mistaken as a sigh of relief or joy.
Feeling empowered by the reaction, Gaara continued to stroke the blonde boy's face and hair. It was nice to discover he actually had enough humanity within him to pull off something as complex as soothing.
"…Sasuke…" Naruto sighed.

A lead weight landed in the pit of Gaara's stomach.
No. He was not Sasuke. That fucker wasn't here helping him, Gaara was! So why did he sigh Sasuke's name like that?
Logic could explain it away, but Gaara was in no mood for logic. He was angry.

He stood and left the bedroom. He threw the wash rag into the bathroom, not caring where it landed. Stomping down the stairs he went to the front door and locked it, finally.

Anger coursed through his lithe body as he returned upstairs. When he breeched the top he could hold it in no longer. He punched the wall, puncturing it, leaving a fist sized hole.

Regretting it instantly, Gaara cursed. Great, now he'd damaged Naruto's house…

If only he'd been able to hold onto his logic…then he'd have been able to remain calm… Gaara's anger intensified again and he let out a frustrated huff. Fuck logic! How could that idiot think of Sasuke when Gaara was here trying hard to help him? Granted, while Naruto knew none of this, and had only known Gaara one true day…while he'd known Sasuke for many years…none of this mattered to the red head. None of it! Naruto should know who was helping him! He should recognize who was with him!

Again, granted, Naruto was practically delirious from his fever, but excuses were good for nothing.
Gaara searched the bedroom for a thermometer and finally found one over on the dresser.

He slipped it inside Naruto's mouth and steadied it before he went back to the bathroom.

He needed a new wash rag. Gaara glanced at the fallen one from before. It would serve the ingrate right if he used that thing on his face! He should take the rag he'd wiped his stupid balls with and lay it on his face!
Huffing angrily, Gaara tore open a cabinet and snatched another wash rag. Fortunately for the sick boy, despite Gaara's current emotional distress, he was still a very practical, very logical person. He could see and understand why Naruto had called Sasuke's name. He could see the logic in the fact that should he use the ball wash rag, it would have no affect on Naruto for two reasons: A) the boy was unconscious, and B) he'd have no clue the rag on his face was once on his testicles even when he did wake up.

Gaara wet the new cloth and returned to Naruto, laying the damp cloth on the blonde's sweaty brow.

Naruto stirred but did not wake.

Gaara left the room and went throughout the house turning off all lights. He came back into the bedroom holding a bottle of aspirin he'd found in the living room. He'd also brought a glass of water.

He set the glass and pill bottle down on the nightstand. He removed the thermometer and checked the temperature. 101 F.

Frowning, concerned for the blonde, Gaara sat beside Naruto on the bed and using one arm to lift the sick blonde up into a sitting position, carefully fed Naruto the medicine helping him wash it down with some water.

While setting the water glass on the night stand Gaara switched off the lamp and moved to stand up. Naruto gripped his long black sleeve.

"Don't…" he whispered.

Gaara pried the clammy fingers from his clothing.

Naruto whimpered as he had in the bathroom, "Please…"

"What?" Gaara snapped quietly, unable to hold his anger from his voice.

"…Stay here…" Naruto begged, his blue eyes hazy and only half opened. Gaara seriously doubted the blonde was even actually conscious.

"Go to sleep. That is what caused all of this." Gaara growled, "You not taking care of yourself. Idiot."

Naruto gripped Gaara's sleeve again. "Please…"

Naruto's eyes held something that caught Gaara's breath and held it like a ball in his throat. Fear. Naruto was afraid to be alone. In his eyes was pure and utter fear.

Letting out a weary sigh Gaara nodded, "Fine."

Again, Naruto relaxed back into his bed with a soft sigh. Yet he still refused to release Gaara's sleeve. Several moments later, Naruto was actually snuggling Gaara's entire arm, and was slowly inching onto his jean clad thigh.

Releasing a soft sigh, Gaara stroked Naruto's face and hair again. It seemed to calm the boy and keep him still. Which was what was needed. Neither of them needed for the blonde to wake up tomorrow morning in Gaara's lap.

After nearly an hour, Gaara's back began to get stiff. He shifted a bit and that caused Naruto to stir once more.

"Sasuke?" he asked, his voice soft and unsure.

"No." Gaara replied tightly. Dammit, why was this Sasuke guy so fucking great?

Naruto looked worried, even with his eyes barely open.

"I won't hurt you." Gaara sighed, feeling more than a little disappointed. "I'm helping."

Naruto relaxed a fraction, "Helping…"

"Yeah." Gaara whispered, looking away, completely unable to meet Naruto's hazy gaze.

Naruto relaxed and snuggled up closer to Gaara. "Mmm, thanks…"

The redhead sighed, he was beginning to think no back ache would be worth this. Especially if Naruto was going to wake up thinking it had been Sasuke who'd rushed over to save his ass…

Naruto murmured something inaudible in his sleep as he cuddled with Gaara's arm but the gothic redhead caught one word, he'd heard it very clearly.

"Gaara."