A.N.- Hello everyone! It has been so long hasn't it? So much has happened... Most of it crazy! XD Anyway, long story short I got really sick (like almost a year of sick-it was terrible!) and then my mom got really sick (she still is technically but things have gotten slower despite this) so I was busy for a very long time. I forgot many things, my fanfics being one of those things.
Anyway, I thought about my unfinished stories one day and went to check on them and I saw all these lovely sweet wonderful people asking me to please update them and I felt terrible for completely forgetting them.
So I dusted off my fanfic folder (Cyber dust naturally lol) and I went searching for my tidbits I'd left behind to tell myself where I was going next with them. XD Granted my bread crumb system was usually just for like having a week in between not a year (maybe more...heh...) so it took me a day or two but I got back on track.
So now, here it is! My attempt at reclaiming what I lost. I have updated my big three. If Anybody regularly follows Sakura's College Adventure, House of Second Chances, or Judge and Jury I have new chapters for all of them! I am going to get my butt back in gear and finish them. So even if it isn't quite regular I intend to update these more often and finish these stories for my readers who have been incredibly loyal and patient (and my characters who have sat frozen in time for far too long).
I worry that my writing style may have changed... so please let me know if these came out alright! I can honestly say that you amazing people out there are the reason I came back to fanfiction writing (I've started my own book!) and I genuinely adore hearing what everyone thinks!
So read! Smile! Tell me if you did! Tell me what you think!
I love you guys! Sorry for the long (really long) wait but now I happily present to you chapter 11 of Judge and Jury!
Disclaimer- Naruto isn't mine :(
Puffy blue eyes cracked open suddenly and Naruto shot up, heart racing in his chest. He'd had a terrible nightmare about his past and could barely keep his chest from exploding...at least that's how it felt.
His now wide eyes darted around his room and he relaxed a tiny bit upon seeing the familiar objects of his bed room. Slowly his gaze drifted down to the sheet covering his lap, mind lost in thought, he stared absently at the thin fabric. Something caught his eye wrapped up in his sheets by his leg and he reached for it, pulling the object from the tangle he saw that it was his cell phone. The screen had been lit up from him touching it as he unraveled it from his bedding and he could see that he was still connected to somebody.
Somebody was still on the line with him? He squinted his tired swollen eyes- man, had he really cried last night? What a wuss move...-he read for the identity of the person on the phone with him.
Gaara.
Naruto read it again.
Gaara...
Electric blue eyes doubled in size, widening as far as humanly possible.
Gaara!
He'd called him last night! After crying and barfing and probably becoming delirious with fever he called Gaara?! God only knows the crazy retarded things he'd said last night.
Nervous and afraid to hear what was bound to be a very unhappy red head tell him all the stupidity that had bubbled from his unguarded mouth last night, Naruto sighed and put the phone to his ear.
Not really expecting a reply, truthfully hoping there wouldn't be one because Gaara had put the phone down and walked away before anything embarrassing had happened, Naruto hesitantly asked, "Gaara?"
"...Mm?" was the soft graveled grunt on the other end of the phone.
He was still on the line?!
Naruto drooped and marveled at his horrible luck. Nothing ever was easy for him, life apparently wouldn't allow that simple mercy.
"Uh, hey, Gaara...um, sorry...I guess I must have passed out last night, huh? Heh heh heh..."
Naruto smacked his forehead, could he be anymore lame? How could he fall asleep on the guy?
"You didn't have to stay on the phone all night because I fell asleep though...sorry I called so late anyway." He mumbled, too mortified to ever leave his house again. He'd have to become a hermit now.
"...You asked me to..." Gaara's soft voice rumbled over the line.
He...asked him to...?
Naruto sat back up from his hunched positioning and stared at the wall in front of him trying to remember the night before. His head hurt so bad he felt he'd throw up and that scared him. Had he...drank last night? He wouldn't have right? He wouldn't have... but then why did it feel like he was suffering from a hangover? Maybe because he'd been really sick yesterday...he rarely got sick so he wouldn't exactly be an expert on the matter.
Slowly he began recalling the events from the day before and night before. The blonde fell forward, face meeting his open palm in a most dramatic way.
It was all coming back to him now... he'd had a pretty good reason for calling Gaara. He had indeed asked Gaara to stay on the phone with him! Sort of. He'd said it was nice having someone there... Gaara had just taken that as a request for him to stay. Which, was a surprisingly kind gesture from the guy.
"Oh! Right, I did!" he quickly tacked on a little more hoping he hadn't upset the red head again. "Sleep makes me forget stuff sometimes. Heh heh, sorry..."
With nightmares like his, soaked in terrible memories from his past it was no wonder that he tended to wake knowing nothing else but fear and sweaty sheets. Gaara didn't know any of that though. He didn't need to yet, if ever.
"Did you sleep?" Naruto asked, trying to make conversation while he settled the wickedly awkward feeling engulfing him.
"No." It was possibly the softest grumpiest reply from Gaara yet.
He didn't know what all to say now.
What did one say to a guy who stayed on the phone with somebody all night just because he was asked to? That was a level of friendship Naruto hadn't expected Gaara ready for.
Naruto rolled his eyes at himself. He hoped this didn't give Gaara any weird ideas about him, like that he was a needy friend or cry baby boy.
Yet, for some reason he doubted Gaara thought that way about people. He didn't seem the type to jump to conclusions.
Keeping that in mind, Naruto tried to calm himself down. He needed to relax so he didn't freak out the newcomer to all things social.
That was it! Maybe Gaara didn't know what it meant to stay on the phone all night for a friend; he just did it because Naruto had asked him to. He didn't have to know it was weird even for friends, he didn't have to know it was an odd request.
Nah, who was he kidding? Even if he didn't have other friends Gaara would be able to sense the awkward rolling off of Naruto and put things together. Well, now that he was sufficiently mortified the only thing left bothering him was why he had even asked Gaara to do it. His answer slowly came to mind as he remembered how miserable he'd been, how terrible he'd felt, how alone...
Not to mention he'd been irritated with Sasuke and his good news about some girl...though, Naruto still couldn't place why exactly that pissed him off. He'd think more on that later, when his gut wasn't churning.
He suddenly remembered the embarrassment of chucking all over Sasuke. What a night.
Naruto sighed quietly.
"Thanks, Gaara, really, man, I know it was out of the blue and kind of weird to ask that of you but...really...thanks."
A short grunt was the redhead's reply.
And...once again Naruto didn't have a clue what else to say.
Scratching his head, stifling a yawn, Naruto climbed out of his bed and immediately plopped back down on his mattress. His knees had buckled right out from under him.
"Whoa..." he breathed, holding his head, waiting out the waves of nausea as they rolled over him.
His world slowly settled back down off the Tilt-O-Whirl it had gotten on and his stomach calmed a bit.
Gasping he realized he'd left Gaara waiting for a good ten minutes and quickly put the phone back to his ear, "Gaara?!"
There was a long moment of silence and Naruto cursed softly, angry at how many times he was fucking up everything. What was wrong with him?
"What?" Gaara's soft grumpy voice huffed.
The rush of relief Naruto felt at the sound of his voice made him suddenly sick and he ducked his head down between his knees, clenching his eyes shut.
He'd stayed. Again. Damn, how was it that the guy he was trying to teach about friendship was a better friend than he was? Maybe it should be the other way around, Gaara should teach him a thing or two.
Still ducked down, Naruto spoke into the phone, breathless, "Sorry about that, I got a little dizzy. I fell back on my bed and sort of dazed out there for a bit. I don't mean to keep leaving you in silence like this."
Putting voice to his self deprecating thoughts he whispered, "Guess I actually suck at being a friend..."
Despite how softly he voiced such bitter words Gaara still caught them and on the other side of the phone, aqua jade eyes narrowed.
Sitting on his bed against the wall with one leg drawn up, Gaara fumbled with his confused thoughts.
Why would Naruto think himself a bad friend?
Was this because of the phone call? Or last night? All of it?
Did such a small amount of mistakes permanently make one a bad friend?
Scowling at his sheets, Gaara thought with dark amusement, he was doomed to be a bad friend then. There was no way he'd be able to do better than the usually happy bouncing blonde bundle moping on the phone right now.
Remembering how Naruto had been one of the only people to talk to him, even before he'd decided trying to be friends, Gaara's scowl deepened, his mouth twisting down to one side.
How could somebody who tried so hard for others be a bad friend? Was that not the main point of being friends, having someone that will be there in a time of need?
Gaara could recall a time, back before Naruto had ever decided to try this 'let's be friends' attitude of his.
That time in class when he had been assigned to Naruto as a science partner. He'd been having an especially rough month with assholes around town testing to see how much they could get away with. He'd shown them real fast they couldn't get away with shit, but at a price.
Fighting every night against various groups of people was exhausting and eventually they'd worn him down, which he supposed had probably been their aim from the start. The fucktards had landed a few good swipes and he'd had some cracked ribs, at the least, his collar and one of his wrists had suffered some too.
So he hadn't exactly been in the mood for school or any of the work it involved, but due to the deal he'd made at the beginning of the year with his old man he had to attend and at least pass most of his classes. Even still, Gaara just hadn't had the energy or drive to try. So he'd just sat there, leaning on the table, glaring at the wall, refusing to do anything.
Naruto had just continued on, taking the brunt of the work without complaint, without so much as a frown. He'd simply smiled and kept going, talking to Gaara, involving Gaara; even after he'd basically growled at the blonde, Naruto had not given up. Which, Gaara had begrudgingly respected.
It was around this time he'd discovered the powerful hold that Naruto's emotion filled eyes had on him.
In the end, he'd attempted being nice, dropping a few short comments in between the long strings of speech Naruto energetically spouted. He even did his half of the project after a grumpy threat from Naruto spurred him to contribute and show him he was no slacker.
This had made the blonde ecstatic and even said it showed Gaara was trying, and apparently trying was a good thing.
Gaara had never forgotten how warm Naruto had made him feel, or how his throat would squeeze shut when he looked at him, when he looked into those bright blue eyes. Even knowing all this, Gaara hadn't given it much thought. People steered clear of him, he'd just naturally assumed Naruto would too.
Yet, when faced with the options of sleep with Gaara around or go somewhere else, Naruto had stayed. So after seeing Naruto trusted him enough to sleep in his presence up on the roof- or that he seriously didn't give a fuck about his personal safety- Gaara had grown too curious for his own good, he'd found a way to interact more with the guy. He'd actually put forth an effort. His reasoning still baffled him at times, but the last few days had flown by so quickly he'd more or less just been running on instinct; offering him a ride, going home with him, calling him to skip school together, helping him while sick.
He'd even actually hid for the moron. Gaara never hid. Ever. Yet he'd sat still and quiet like some pathetic loser for the longest time simply waiting, pushed up out of the way, hidden like he was part of some sick sordid affair while Naruto had been downstairs with Sasuke.
Even with the blonde's sincere apology, that last bit still stung.
Reaching for his cigarettes, Gaara slid one between his lips before digging through his jacket pocket for his lighter.
"Gaara...?" Naruto's quiet winded voice called over the phone line.
Speaking around his cigarette, Gaara grunted, "Yeah?"
"Are you always this nice?"
Gaara scoffed silently. Him, nice. What a strange thought. He was never nice. Stranger still, Naruto was right, he was in fact, being rather nice. Seems that he was doing a lot he never did all of a sudden. Damn blonde muddying his life, making it confusing.
After a long pause he sighed, finally lighting his cigarette, "Dunno."
"Oh, yeah..." Naruto mumbled, probably remembering that Gaara had never attempted any of this friendship shit before.
"Mhm." he sounded around his sweet nicotine source.
"Is there something in your mouth?" Naruto asked, sounding a little less weak. Maybe he was feeling better.
"Yeah." Gaara took a long drag from his cigarette and added, as he blew out a long cloud of smoke, "Why?"
"You sounded...um...muffled?" was Naruto's tired response.
They sat silent for a while before Naruto spoke again, "You're getting a lot better at talking, conversation wise."
Gaara rolled his aquamarine eyes, great he had been so terrible to begin with that this pitiful excuse for speaking was better.
Sarcasm lacing his deep rasping voice Gaara said, "Good. I practiced on you after you passed out last night."
Naruto's rich laughter filled his ears and the shiver that tingled down his spine nearly made Gaara gasp. What the fuck was that?!
Shaking it off, ignoring the warmth settling in his gut he waited, listening as Naruto continued to chuckle at Gaara's lame attempt at humor.
"I wasn't expecting jokes from you." Naruto admitted, sounding a little ashamed for not thinking Gaara capable of being funny.
Which, the red head had to be honest, it was a surprise to him too. He'd never really tried being funny.
No need for it.
"Me neither." Gaara shrugged, though Naruto wasn't there to see it. "Maybe I've been a funny motherfucker all this time, never knew."
Naruto laughed again, which had been Gaara's intent and as another shiver traversed the length of his body he marveled at what such a great feeling it was, making somebody laugh, making Naruto laugh.
He could make people scream, shout, whimper, or beg. He could make people cuss and make people cry. He'd never made anyone laugh.
It felt so much better than causing pain or anger, or even fear, which was quite exhilarating. Was it always this way? Or was it this way simply because it was Naruto?
He was not an idiot. Gaara was perfectly aware the boy on the phone made him act different, made him want to be different. He was still working out the why, but he could gather that it at least had something to do with him being his first friend. Maybe that was it, something as simple as that. Maybe there was more.
Honestly, he could care less about the why right now. He was not even a week into having a friend, he was just going to enjoy it and not over think it to hell.
If only he could control the bitter jealousy he kept having little bouts of. Those were a serious pain in his ass.
"Want to sleep?" he asked the blonde, noticing Naruto wasn't talking anymore.
Naruto sighed heavily, his breath causing a crackle in the phone speaker, "I don't think so. I'm just...I don't know..."
Gaara scowled at his bedroom wall. He was no expert on emotions. Hell, two days ago he'd only had two, angry and pissed. But, it sounded like Naruto was sad.
Did he still feel bad about before? He should, it pleased Gaara to no end that he was still bothered by it, and yet, he also wished the guy wasn't.
Were feelings always this contradicting? Were emotions always so fucking confusing?
Finishing off his cigarette, Gaara tossed the bud in a nearby ashtray before asking, "Want company?"
There was a long pause as he guessed Naruto thought the offer over.
Finally, over the phone, Naruto's tired voice sighed, "I smell."
The red head felt his brain glitch for a moment. He sat pondering the complexity of such a sentence, waiting as his brain rebooted.
What the hell kind of answer was that?!
Finally, his brain, even after rebooting could find no reference as to what that meant or how that applied to the question posed.
"The fuck?" he mumbled, pulling out another cigarette, lighting it as his brow furrowed in thought.
Naruto chuckled, "Sorry, I just meant you might not want to come over. I smell bad, really bad. Side effect of sickness."
Gaara felt his heart stutter and sink. Was Naruto declining his offer? Did he not want company? Did he just not want his company?
Would he have said yes if Sasuke had asked?
Why did this notion upset him so much? It was the very lowest level of rejection, so trivial it shouldn't have even mattered whatever he answered.
Then he realized Naruto hadn't really answered the question, just avoided it. Well, fuck that puss shit, Gaara wanted a clearer answer.
Sighing, sending a cloud of smoke billowing out into the room, Gaara said, "Idiot. Just answer the fucking question."
He heard soft laughter on the other side again and he wondered if maybe Naruto was high on medicine.
"Yeah, sorry. I should have known." Naruto's weak voice answered, "I was just making excuses."
Feeling his breath hitch in his throat, Gaara ground out, "Why?"
Excuses were for when people didn't want something. So he didn't want company. Huffing, Gaara leaned against his wall again, letting the solid surface meet his back with a hard slap.
"I guess I still feel bad. I've been kind of awful. Especially to you. First yesterday, then calling you and falling asleep, now being weird on the phone like this." Naruto laughed, there was a quiet bitterness in his tone, "Maybe I should just lock myself away for a while. Seems all I'm good for right now is fucking up."
Confused, Gaara sorted this answer out in his mind.
Naruto felt bad. About things he'd done. To him. So he was making excuses. He wanted to be alone. Because he deserved it?
So...he was just embarrassed and being a coward.
Now, how to address this without offending him?
After a short silence, when nothing came to mind, Gaara shrugged and grunted, "Puss."
Again the sound of Naruto's dejected laughter filled his ear and Gaara wondered why he laughed if he wasn't feeling it? He obviously didn't think it funny. So why?
"Guess I am..."
Naruto was acting far too strange. Something was clearly wrong. He barely knew the guy and he could see this.
Maybe it had something to do with those rough nights he'd mentioned last night. Something had him feeling sad and useless.
Gaara sighed, finishing his second cigarette he stretched to squish it into the ashtray on the floor.
"Stay in bed." Gaara growled at the blonde before hanging up.
Idiot wasn't taking care of himself right. And now, something was going on with him and he wasn't even trying to fix it.
It bothered Gaara.
Naruto's laughter, Naruto's joy, his smile and his strange humor; they were what made up a big part of who he was.
Thinking back to the first day he'd ever seen Naruto, Gaara huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. The sadness in those damnedable blue eyes had been so deep, the loneliness and anger had been out on the edge where anyone could clearly see it, yet, hidden under the surface was a quiet rage that wasn't shown.
He'd been alone by choice that day.
Was that his typical response to bad feelings? To close himself off?
Getting to his feet, Gaara walked out of his room.
What made the effervescent Naruto choose to be alone as he felt such dark feelings?
Gaara grabbed his keys and shoved his feet in his boots before stalking out of his home.
Naruto sat staring dismally at the cell phone, the small screen had gone black from inactivity.
He couldn't stop thinking about Gaara's angry voice as he snapped at him and hung up.
Had he upset him again?
Sighing, Naruto lay back and rolled to his side, for once oblivious to the pain in his stomach. He'd really wanted to be friends with Gaara. He'd had a naturally calm air about him that had been kind of nice to have around.
Maybe once he was feeling better he could try to patch things up with the grumpy goth.
Closing his eyes, Naruto staved off the sudden tears in his eyes.
He felt so hopeless. So weak and so sad...
He'd sworn he'd never let himself feel this way again and yet here he was...wallowing.
Which never helped, yet he didn't stop himself. He wasn't sure he could if he wanted to.
Clenching his eyes tighter, Naruto fought the feelings assaulting him, crippling him. Harsh bitter memories cascaded through his defenses and suddenly he broke. Thinking about everything behind him, in his past, broke his remaining spirit.
Naruto stared at the phone in his hand. He knew he should call Sasuke, but he just didn't feel like being yelled at right now. Sasuke would yell at him and scold him for letting these thoughts take over. It was just so hard not to when his body hurt like it did. The feeling was so similar...it made it hard to distinguish between reality and memory.
Sasuke wouldn't understand. He just always said memories could be controlled if a person tried hard enough.
That didn't feel true though. Naruto was trying. He had tried. He'd tried not to let it get him down.
But he'd made himself weak to the bad feelings when he'd gotten sick and then made them worse by wallowing in guilt and self pity over what he'd done to Gaara. Because really, he was trying to show the guy that having friends was worth the while and he goes and treats him like that... How terrible he must have felt. But still he sat with him on the phone all night.
Naruto's eyes popped open. Wait. He'd sat with him on the phone all night?! Naruto knew for a fact he'd dreamt about bad things last night. He'd woken with a sense of panic like he did when he had a nightmare, like his mind was desperate to get away. And he also knew that he tended to...not sleep quietly. Naruto flopped over on his back, throwing a hand over his eyes, he lay there fearing the worst, feeling more embarrassed by the second.
He wanted to call him back and ask him. But what if he hadn't heard? Then he'd want to know what Naruto was talking about. Or worse. What if he confirmed that he'd heard things, terrible things? That'd make everything incredibly awkward, more so than his own mistakes already had. Naruto sulked, staring at his cell phone with intense watery eyes.
But even if he decided to risk calling and asking, Gaara had hung up on him, after snapping at him. So he was probably the last person on Earth Gaara wanted to talk to right now...
A heavy sadness settled over his heart and Naruto fought the deepest hardest feeling to fight. The feeling that could consume him if he wasn't careful. His thirst. His desperate need to be numb.
It wouldn't be hard...just throw on his hoodie and walk a little ways down the street. Maybe he wouldn't need much. It had been so long since he'd given in, years actually, it probably wouldn't take much to turn his brain off... Then he could forget his fuck ups, his nightmares, even Sasuke's new girlfriend; all of it.
No. Naruto shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut again. He couldn't go back. He'd promised he wouldn't.
She wasn't here to stop him, or help him. She'd wanted nothing more than for him to be happy and healthy, to escape the evils of his past and never look back. Conquering his demons she'd called it. Naruto cried, a soft sorrowful release of emotion with slow tears and silent sobs. He always missed her, but it was times like this when he felt so weak that the missing her became more, it became bigger than just missing someone.
Fighting his urge to drink, Naruto curled up on his side crying softly. He hated getting sick, it always made him so emotional. There was so much discomfort in his body. His stomach ached, his head throbbed, his muscles were sore from falling in the shower, his eyes hurt from crying, his chest was tight with anxiety, and he was wracked with bouts of intense nausea.
He felt so angry that Sasuke was suddenly finding a person of interest and moving on, without him. How could he?
It was childish, Naruto knew, but he had always thought he and Sasuke would find love at the same time. Maybe a nice pair of sisters or something.
He also felt awful for how he'd upset Gaara, after just offering to be his friend no less.
Now, on top of it all, he was being bombarded by sad memories and severe cravings that had him sweating more than his nightmares had.
Needing to do something to distract himself, Naruto crawled out of his bed and headed for the bathroom. A shower to wash away the sticky sweaty feeling should help him, as long as he didn't slip again...
Twenty minutes later Naruto was cleaner, wetter, and pitifully dry heaving over the toilet begging inwardly for this to end. He hadn't even eaten anything yet but already he was this sick? Moments later his stomach eased up, he righted himself and stepped over to his sink, washing his hands before splashing cool water in his flushed face. His hair was still dripping water but the cold water on his face was a nice cooling refresher.
Naruto scowled at his soggy disheveled reflection.
He knew it was probably just his being sick that had him feeling this way... but his life kind of sucked. He messed up so much with everyone, no one took him seriously, and he hardly ever did anything social in fear of seeing alcohol and not being strong enough to turn it away. None of his friends really knew him, the whole him. Except Sasuke. But he was moving on, finding happiness in some girl.
Naruto was happy for him, honest he was. He was just so angry that it was happening at the same time while he was happy for his pal. Wiping his face on a towel, Naruto sighed and left to get dressed.
He needed to go out, he needed medicine that could break this fever and something to eat that his stomach could hopefully handle, gelatin maybe. Orange gelatin would be amazing right about now.
Once he was mostly dry and fully dressed Naruto slipped on his sneakers and hoodie and trudged down his stairs, leaning heavily on the railing, praying the world stopped swaying around soon.
Taking a moment at the bottom to catch his breath, Naruto walked the few steps to his door and leaned against the wall, needing another break. And he'd thought it'd be easy to go buy a bottle of something earlier. Ha, his ass couldn't even make it through the house without getting winded. And now he was going to have to walk... If he found out Kiba had indeed "borrowed" his bike he might actually just murder the guy.
Taking a deep breath, ignoring the burning pain in his chest as his lungs filled with air. Damn, he was really fucking sick... Letting the big breath out, Naruto pulled his hood up over his still slightly damp hair and reached for the doorknob. The door pulled away from his grasp just as his fingers were curling around the metal knob. Stepping back in shock, stumbling a little, Naruto was shocked to find an angry looking red head in his door way.
Staring wide eyed at the last person he'd expected to see, Naruto licked his suddenly very dry lips, trying to make sense of what was happening. Was his fever playing tricks on him?
"G-Gaara...?" Naruto whispered, still stunned.
The responding glare seemed real enough. Maybe the guy was actually standing in front of him.
"The fuck are you doing?!" Gaara snarled, aquamarine eyes wide, doubled in fury. "The fucking hell does stay in bed mean to you?!"
Naruto sputtered, unable to form words, he was caught off guard by the usually quiet boy screaming at him.
He noticed Gaara was holding a handful of grocery bags, and something smelled good...
As the sick Naruto and his sluggish fevered brain worked to piece together the puzzle of Gaara and his mystery bags of good smells he found himself suddenly heaved up and flung over Gaara's shoulder in a fireman hold.
Stuttering, tongue tripping over syllables, Naruto tried to argue this treatment, fidgeting as best his exhausted body could manage.
"Sit your ass still or I'm chucking you over the railing." Gaara growled, his voice softer now, closer to normal but still shaking with barely contained rage.
He kicked Naruto's bedroom door open, splintering the painted wood as the abused door flew off its hinges.
Blue eyes bulged out, Naruto protested as best he could, "Hey! No, door!"
He realized it was a pathetic attempt at indignance but considering he was draped over the red head like a sack of potatoes he felt proud to even muster the ability to sound angry.
"Nn." Gaara grunted, completely nonplussed by Naruto's righteous anger for his broken door.
Suddenly, he was tossed unceremoniously onto his bed, landing with a soft thud.
"Fucking stay." Gaara bit out through clenched teeth, shooting Naruto with the deadliest glare filled with promises of pain if he disobeyed.
Deciding not to risk it, Naruto nodded and sat entirely still, barely blinking as he watched the angry boy stomp out of his room.
He heard as Gaara's boots clunked down the steps and to the front door, which he heard slam much harder than necessary. Naruto flinched at the sound, seriously feeling a little scared at how angry Gaara was behaving. He listened for more clues as to what Gaara was doing, catching the faint rustle of thin plastic as the red head must have moved the bags he'd brought.
Tears gathered in Naruto's tired blue eyes. Had Gaara come with the intention of taking care of him again? The tears fell as he had the realization that either there were things to help him get better in those bags or Gaara had brought the necessary tools required to kill and dispose of a body properly, plus a delicious lunch for himself afterwards.
Naruto smiled a weak ghost of his usual smile at his lame little personal joke. Of course Gaara had come intending to help him. Naruto just hadn't been expecting to actually see the red head again until he went and hunted him down at school in a few days begging for another chance to be his friend.
Pots clanged down in the kitchen and dishes clinked as they were set out. Gaara was cooking for him...
Sitting still, stunned and wide eyed, Naruto sat numbly as he listened to the small basic cooking sounds coming from the kitchen, where Gaara was fixing him lunch.
It really was almost too much to accept. Had he passed out on the stairs earlier? Was this some strange fever induced dream or hallucination?
Naruto absently rubbed his sore stomach from being thrown over Gaara's hard shoulder moving down to his tender butt from landing on the bed after being dropped. He doubted hallucinations left bruises.
Hadn't Gaara hung up angry with him? Or did he just tend to sound pissed most of the time?
No, he'd definitely been upset, Naruto reasoned, but somehow he hadn't been angry enough to hold a grudge and ignore Naruto's existence.
Sighing, finding a small smile sitting comfortably on his lips, Naruto lay back in his bed and closed his eyes. He listened to Gaara work, relaxing into his pillow. The muffled sounds of life elsewhere in his house comforted him and lulled him into a light sleep.