Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The shrill sound of the whistle echoed throughout the cold natatorium walls.

The swimmers dove into cold water, their bodies adjusting to the sharp needles overtaking their bodies.

_Better._

There was four swimmers in the water, it was clear that a blonde was in the lead.

_Faster. _

Naruto Uzumaki had only three thoughts in his mind at the moment.

_Stronger. _

He pushed his arms skillfully against the water, kicked his legs as fast as he could. He had to finish first, he had to push his body to its limit.

_One more lap, come on, come on!_

The adrenaline rushed through his body, it was fresh and pumping in his veins with each stroke.

_Almost there, come on, I can do this!_

His arms continued to stroke, going faster each time. His hands began to get sore, but he couldn't stop, he wanted to feel the burning sensation that he loved.

_Ten feet away, come on!_

Just as his hand was about to touch the edge of the pool, another shrill sound rang. He stopped and looked in front of him, he had been inches away.

_Ugh I was so close!_

Once again, the familiar sound of a whistle rang throughout the room.

He looked up to see the shadow of a grin on a man's face.

"Time's up Uzumaki, looks like you're out of shape. Don't forget your cap tomorrow or you'll give the team extra laps." A deep voice said. He could hear a collective groan around him.

"Aw come on coach, I was almost there by a second."

The coach gave out a hearty laugh.

"Oh yeah, tell that to the judges." The man said, rolling his eyes.

The blonde pouted, mentally kicking himself.

"Come on everyone, out of the water, class starts in 30 minutes!" The coach's voice echoed across the room as he got up and walked towards his office.

Naruto swam to the pool's stairs, thinking back on his routine. He got out, looking dizzily for his towel.

"Hey looser, nice leg work out there." A low, sarcastic voice said behind him.

Naruto turned to see the familiar face of his rival, Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hey Sasuke, didn't see you in the water." He groaned inwardly, turning back. "Well, at least I finished first, now who's dead last?" He said triumphantly, grabbing his towel.

"Hn." He heard behind him, Sasuke roughly bumped his shoulder on Naruto's as he walked by. Naruto scowled, walking behind Sasuke to the locker rooms.

The sound of cell phones turning on filled his ears as he entered the windowless room. Chatter soon followed, the opening and closing of lockers ringing throughout the room.

"Hey blondie! Where have you been? I called about 50 times!" Naruto turned to see Kiba, his hyperactive, dog loving friend running towards him.

Before he knew it, he had an armful of _wet _hyperactive boy.

"Woah there Kiba!" He pushed away. "Personal bubble, **this **big." He said spreading his arms.

"Ha, sorry man, I forget. I'm just so excited to see you, we have to hang out soon, I have loads to tell you! So where were you?" He said, grinning at the blonde.

"Oh you know…just went to visit some relatives." He quickly lied.

"Hope you don't mind me cutting in, but the bell is going to ring in about 15 minutes, if the coach finds out any of us was late, we'll have another hour of practice tomorrow." A boy with pale eyes walked by, his uniform immaculately in place. A crisp white towel was wrapped around his neck, his long hair still damp from the swimming session.

"Oh shit, we better hurry up!" A panicked mood went throughout the room. Naruto quickly put his grey towel around his shoulders, his Speedos went swiftly down his legs, fresh underwear replacing them. He quickly dressed himself in his school uniform; black pants, a white collared shirt and a tie bearing the school colours. There was just one thing missing…

_Aw man, don't tell me I forgot it!_

"Here." The blonde looked up from the mess he had made.

"I knew you would forget it." Kiba handed him a fresh white undershirt.

"Wow thanks, I owe you one." He said, putting the shirt over his head.

"Or a hundred." Kiba smirked at him and sat on the bench, waiting for Naruto to finish dressing.

Naruto quickly buttoned up his shirt, his tie quickly going into place.

"How do I look?"

"Oh, quite dashing." Kiba replied sarcastically. "Come on, let's go!"

They both grabbed their backpacks and their sports bags, and dashed towards the doors.

"First period, Orochimaru?" Naruto asked him as they made their way through the crowds.

"Maybe if we're lucky we can sit all the way in the back." Kiba said, almost bumping into a purple haired girl.

They made their way to building 6 just on time, and much to Kiba's luck, there was two empty seats in the second to the last row.

They went to their seats, the bell ringing as soon as they sat down. The room went dead silent as soon as they heard footsteps from the teacher's office.

"Everyone to their seats, no more chatter." A cold voice was heard. Naruto raised an eyebrow, _what chatter?_

A tall , pale man with long hair walked in. "Now everyone look at the person sitting next to you. Take a good look at them, they probably won't be sitting there by the end of the year and you'll find you'll have a chair for your backpack." Everyone looked at each other oddly.

"You think I'm joking?" No one made a sound.

He walked slickly down the rows, making the students shudder as he walked by. "I've seen many smart kids make it this far to just throw it away because its their last year. Do not make that mistake. One semester, how well you do will affect your whole future." He said to the silence.

"Advanced Physics, if you thought last semester was hard, just wait to see what I have in store for you now. I'll assume that all of you can still read. As always, the principal makes us go over the rules and the blah, blah, blah…"

This was all Naruto heard, he was already looking out the window, trying to find a distraction. Before he knew it, a group of girls wearing track suits ran by, a pink haired girl in the lead.

Naruto smirked as he watched Sakura Haruno, one of his closest friends, run by. How they became friends was still a mystery to him, it had been hard to make friends in the beginning for him.

His first day at school had been enough to scare him…

_SWIM TRYOUTS AFTER SCHOOL. _

_A young boy looked up at the black and white flyer on the board. He had been staring at the same flyer for over fifteen minutes, not sure if he had enough courage to go. Out of pure impulse, he headed towards the school's locker room._

_He spoke briefly with the swim coach, a tall man with a beard and an unused cigarette in his mouth, who had told him to go change into his swim trunks and meet everyone out by the pool. He was pushing his backpack into an empty locker when all of a sudden he heard voices. _

_BANG!_

'_What the….'_

"_Idiot, what did you think, you'd be accepted here?" A mocking voice rang. Naruto walked carefully towards the commotion. _

_He heard another bang, this time accompanied by a grunt. He rushed towards the noise, he could hear someone's quick breathing. He slowly turned his head into the row of lockers._

_The sight before him made his stomach turn. A young boy around his age was being held back by brunnete, there was another in front of them, with pale skin and dark eyes. What concerned him most was the boy, his lip was bleeding and his eye was turning an alarming shade of red. _

_He turned his heel to go get help, but it was evident that they had spotted him. _

"_Hey you, come back here!"_

_Naruto stopped in his tracks and remained silent. _

"_You saw nothing, understand?" His sinister eyes bored into Naruto's. He quickly nodded, trying not to show his fear. _

_The brunette haired let go of the other boy, who fell to the floor, shaking. _

"_Let's go Kankuro, they're waiting for us." The boy known as Kankuro nodded and spit on the other boy before following the other out the door. _

"_Don't bother showing up tomorrow, this was just a taste of what we can do."_

_As soon as they were out of the door, Naruto rushed to the boy. _

"_Hey, you ok man?" The boy was on the ground, shaking. _

"_Yeah," He said, coughing into his hand. Naruto grew alarmed as he saw blood on the boy's palm. "Looks like I'm going to have to find another school." He said, laughing bitterly. _

"_What are you talking about? You have to report this, they can't go around beating you up!" He said, helping the boy up. _

"_You must be new to the system. So you don't understand yet…, not that any of you actually care." The boy said, reaching for a towel to wipe the blood away. _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_I'm…I'm not like you, ok? I'm the poor kid, the 'scholarship kid'. They warned me this would happen, I was just too stupid to listen. So much for being smart, huh?"_

"_You're here on a scholarship?"_

"_Yeah, the fifth one in history, there's two of us this year. I wonder how the other kid is doing." Naruto gulped and looked away. "Yeah, me too. Listen, I can go with you to repor-" _

"_You really don't get it, do you? Their parents own this school, it doesn't matter what they do, everything would be covered up and it would be my fault in the end." Just then, Naruto noticed the boy's arm was bent at an awkward angle. _

"_Yeah, I think they broke it too." He watched speechlessly as the boy walked out the door. _

_Maybe that wasn't the only thing they had broken. _

"Naruto? Earth to Naruto!"

"Huh?"

"Come on, the bell just rang." Kiba's voice broke through his thoughts. He looked around, the classroom was almost empty.

"You're lucky Orochimaru loves you, he'd probably give me detention for a week if he saw me daydreaming."

"Ha sure, maybe he'd back off if you flirted with him."

"Man, that's gross."

"Well, it worked for Sasuke."

Kiba rolled his eyes, they walked out the door and into the chaos of the hallways.

"Later." They both said, going separate ways.

Naruto looked down at his schedule. Why they even bothered to print out the same schedule again was a wonder to him.

AP Physics- Orochimaru

AP English - Kurenai

AP Calculus - Umino

AP French- Shizune

Lunch

AP Art- Kakashi

(On/off) Athletics Swim- Asuma

English had been a bore, Kurenai had also gone over the rules, and given them a thick Hamlet assignment to work on.

Before he knew it, Naruto found himself in third period.

He sat down in a seat next to the window, he took out his notebook and began working on the problem on the board.

He had only been working for about 10 minutes when he heard his name being called.

"Naruto? Can I see you for a minute?"

Naruto looked up from his work. "Of course, Mr.Umino."

"Follow me." Naruto gulped, was this about the prank they had pulled on Sasuke?

He walked over to Mr.Umino's office, wondering what he would say.

"Naruto, I hate to say this, but looks like there won't be a spot for you on the swim team this year."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean?"

Mr. Umino sighed and began slowly. "Your grade in this class is not acceptable for someone like you. I know you're smart, but with the way you're going, there's no way you can pass this class. If you quit the swim team, it'll allow more time for-"

"No, Mr. Umino, you don't understand! I need to be on the swim team, the scouts are coming to the final meet-" Naruto's voice grew panicked.

"Naruto, your grade in this class simply doesn't allow for it. I won't allow you to waste your potential." He said, his voice raising.

Naruto took a deep breath, "Please, Mr. Umino, isn't there anything I can do? Extra credit or something?'

"You know I don't give out extra credit." He said, pointedly.

"Please, this is something very important to me, please."

"Let me guess, your parents are making you pay for your tuition in college, so now you need a scholarship?"

"Yeah, something like that." He said, not quite meeting his teacher's eyes.

"Well if you really want to keep your position on the swim team, I'll give you this month to get your grades up. After that, if you haven't improved, I will talk to Asuma about this."

Naruto sighed. "Thank you! Trust me Mr. Umino, you won't regret this." He said, smiling.

* * *

_Okay, okay, calm down Uzumaki, we can figure this out. _The blonde thought to himself. He walked slowly to the double doors, trying to solve his dilemma.

_What to do, what to do…Okay, I could get a tutor… _Naruto winced, just thinking about how much a tutor cost made him uneasy.

_I could just…what? Not sleep? Yeah I could try that... _Naruto mentally kicked himself, who was he kidding? He needed those few hours of sleep.

_Kiba? No, he already has a tutor… _

"Naruto! Earth to Naruto!"

Naruto looked around, his eyes met a pink haired girl waving her hand at him. She was sitting on a bench under the shade of a tall tree, alongside was Kiba, already digging into his sandwich.

"Hey guys." He said half heartedly. "Sorry, just thinking about something." He said, sitting down next to Sakura.

"Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself." The pink haired girl said, smirking.

Naruto rolled his eyes. That was Sakura for you, she could be as sweet and sarcastic as her bubblegum pink hair, yet if you got on her bad side, well…you don't want to know.

"Here I brought you lunch, the line was full." Sakura pushed a tray towards him.

"Thanks Sakura, I'll pay you back." Sakura shrugged him off, and began to eat her sandwich.

"So tell us, what exactly was your oh so great mind pondering?" Kiba said through mouthfuls.

"Mr. Umino called me into his office today, he said I can't be on the swim team unle-"

"Wharf?! Hir canf foo dat!" Kiba said, clearly outraged.

"Ew, Kiba!"

The messy haired teen practically choked on his sandwich. "What do you mean you can't be on the swim team? You have a better chance than Sasuke to be team captain this year!"

"Ugh, I know! It's just, well he basically said that my grades weren't good enough and he thinks if I quit the team then I can have more time for school." He said wearily.

"He does have a point, I mean, what exactly do you do after school? You're always so tired around this time of year." Kiba looked at him pointedly. Naruto avoided Kiba's gaze and began to open the wrapper on his sandwich.

Sakura took a quick look at Naruto. "What you need is a tutor Naruto." She said, before Naruto could answer. "I would tutor you myself, but I don't think I'd be that good. You should get that guy, what was his name Kiba?"

"Which one?" Kiba said, confused.

"The one that put up flyers about a week ago, you were going to look into him."

"Oh! That Sai guy! Sasori said if I still needed a tutor to go to him, since Sasori graduated and all."

"Ugh I'm not sure, I mean, my parents probably won't like it, they'll think I…"

"Come on, it won't hurt to try it out. My parents are going to hire someone anyways, so it's no problem!"

Naruto looked down at his untouched sandwich. "Yeah I guess it couldn't hurt."

"I'm going to go look for him." He said, throwing his lunch into his backpack.

He threw his backpack over his shoulder and waved goodbye to them. He headed towards the library, where else would a tutor be?

As Naruto climbed the staircase he couldn't help but think of how much this was going to cost him, his money supply was already a bit thin, he couldn't afford to…

Naruto winced as he felt a heavy blow on his shoulder.

"Watch where you're going, idiot." He heard a cool tone say. Once again he turned to see the face of Sasuke, the idiot who wouldn't let him be.

"Maybe if _you_ knew where you were going, you'd probably know one end of the pool from the other." He said, trying not to rub the ache in his shoulder.

"You better watch your back Uzumaki." He said venomously.

"Whatever." Naruto said, turning towards the library. Naruto laughed to himself, that was all Sasuke was, all bark and no bite.

He walked into the bright room, the room was filled with the sounds of keyboards clicking and the sound of pencils meeting paper. The walls were lined up with endless bookcases, this was pure heaven for bibliophiles.

He looked around the library, hoping there was some sort of arrow pointing towards this 'Sai' character. He went around the room, walking towards the study tables. There was a pale boy with short dark hair surrounded by piles of books. There was a flyer on top of the piles of books that read:

NEED A TUTOR?

LOOK NO FURTHER!

PRICES VARY FOR THE VERY BEST.

ASK FOR SAI.

"Um, Sai?"

The pale boy looked up from his notes with a vacant expression on his face. "Yes?"

Naruto wasn't sure what it was, but something made him uneasy about the pale boy. "Er…I was wondering, about the tutoring…"

"Oh yes. You would like to sign up? Any questions?" He said, his face never giving off any hint of emotion.

"I was actually just concerned a bit about the prices, er…my mother just wanted to know so she could…write a check and all." He said rather quickly.

"I charge depending by subject and times." He said, his eyes lingering on Naruto. "Also the pace you learn at." He added.

"The pace?" Naruto questioned curiously.

"Yes, you see, if you're a complete idiot I might charge more to relieve me of stress."

_Oh that's nice…_

"So tell me…" Sai said, looking at him questionably.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He added quickly.

"Take a seat Uzumaki. We have time to discuss this a bit further." The boy said, moving his books to the side as Naruto sat down.

"So what do you need help in?" Sai took out a black notebook and began to scribble.

"Calculus." Naruto sighed.

"Ouch, high up in the scale, are we?" He continued scribbling.

"Ok, if we meet here everyday after school, and I'll _assume _that your learning pace is average…" He trailed off as he continued to scribble. "I'd say about 200 a week."

"Oh wow." Naruto whispered.

"Not going to be a problem, is it?" Sai said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'll have my mom write you out a check." He said, smiling nervously.

"Meet me here after school today, I can evaluate you to see if I can tutor you or not."

"Er…ok then." Naruto said slowly, awkward silence falling between the two of them.

"…Well I better get going, I'll meet you here after school?"

"Yes, don't be late, I charge extra by the minute."

Naruto laughed, picking up his books.

"I'm serious." Naruto's smile faded as he walked away from the library.

Naruto sighed as he walked to class. With tutoring, the next few months were going to be rough on him. He had made it this far to keep his secret…now there was only half a year to go, he had to do whatever he could to get that scholarship.

He walked into the classroom, his eyes overlooking the magnificent art room. There wasn't a space on the wall that wasn't covered with sketches or artwork from students, and occasionally, a rare sketch from Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi." Naruto waved hello to his teacher, who was currently working on a complicated painting set on the floor.

"Yo." He said, his eyes never leaving his art work.

Naruto went to his usual seat, he knew Master Kakashi wouldn't go over the rules like the other teachers. Kakashi was…different.

Naruto set his bag down by his chair and went over to the racks full of canvases, looking for an obnoxiously yellow one.

Once he found his canvas he quickly went over to the stock room, hoping the yellow pain the had hidden was still in its spot.

He frowned once he realized the bottle must have been discovered.

_Hmm…ok if I was a bottle of yellow paint…where would I be?_

He went outside to the classroom, which had now rapidly filled up with students. It wasn't loud like Naruto's other classes, it was…calm.

Everyone had an escape in this room. It was a chance to be yourself and express yourself through different media. You didn't have to be good at it, Naruto of all people knew that, you just had to enjoy yourself.

Plus, Naruto really liked the smell of paint.

_Yellow paint, yellow paint, yellow paint…._

His eyes scanned the classroom quickly, hoping the bottle would jump into his hands.

_Aha! There it is! _He went to the front of the class. The bottle was sitting awkwardly on a desk that was occupied by a boy with a dark jacket and red hair.

"Hey!" Naruto said, facing the boy. "Er, do you mind if I borrow this? I'll bring it back." He smiled at the boy.

The boy shrugged, his eyes not drifting from his sketchbook.

Naruto swiftly took the bottle from the table and walked back to his desk. _Weirdooo…_

Naruto looked down at his canvas, and sighed with contentment. He squirted a blob of yellow paint onto his palette and began to work.

* * *

Naruto jumped, surprised by the sound of the bell. He had gotten so immersed into his painting that he had lost track of time. He didn't want to look at the clock, he knew he was going to be late.

_Damn it, how much does he charge for being late… _He pondered as he put his supplies away.

He ran to the library, almost knocking by an innocent bystander.

Sai was in the same seat as he had been in at lunch, in fact, most of his books were still in the same place. It was as if he hadn't moved at all.

"Shall we get this started then?" Sai said as Naruto approached the table. "Oh, you're five minutes late by the way." That's 20 dollars."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. Part of him hoped Sai was joking.

"Shh!" He heard voices say around them.

"I said I was serious about this, you should be too." He said, taking out various notebooks and a very complex looking calculator.

_Aw man…twenty dollars…that's like two weeks of food already…_

"Let's see, we can start on mathematical inductions, if you can't do this..." He paused. "You're hopeless." He added with a smile.

"Er…actually, that's something I'm really not-"

"Ok, so here's this worksheet, I'll be back in 5 minutes." He swiftly got out his chair and went over to the back of the library, and out of sight.

_Ugh! What the hell is this… _He thought as he looked down at the worksheet. He took out his pencil and began on the worksheet. _What…none of these are equal to each other, stupid Sai is probably laughing at me right now…_

"Done yet?"

Naruto jumped, had it been five minutes already?

"None of these equations are equal to each other." Naruto said, exasperated.

"You have to do the first proof…first." Why did Naruto get the feeling that he had said that with a smirk?

Naruto looked down at the equations to see that Sai, that jerk, was indeed correct.

"Maybe not completely hopeless." Sai said below his breath, sitting down.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but was immediately interrupted. "Ok, since these are already factored, what do you do next?"

"Er…I'm not really sure…we haven't-"

"Wrong answer." Sai said, his smile still intact.

_Man this guy is weird, how am I supposed to learn?_

"You have to do the first proof, how do you do that?"

"Um…" Naruto looked hard at the equations, he'd never even seen these before! "I suppose it has to equal to something to make it true?"

"Make both sides equal then." His face impassive once again.

"But…there's two variables in this-"

"Stop interrupting and do it."

He looked up at Sai, though hoping for a bit more guidance. "I knew it." Sai sighed dramatically.

"What?!" Naruto asked, confused.

"You're a complete idiot." He said, rather loudly.

Naruto could feel the blood going to see his face.

"Well maybe if you showed me how to do it, I'd actually learn something." He accused.

"Are you questioning my tutoring techniques?" Sai's eyes narrowed.

"And what if I am?"

"Whatever. Just make it equal to one already."

"But I don't understand, and you didn't give me any other equations…"

"Make X equal to one." A cold, lifeless voice said behind them.

Naruto turned back to see the red headed boy from his art class. He was…surprisingly scary when you saw him up close.

"Sabaku, thank you very much for spoiling my student. Now please, run along." He said, waving him off.

"You two are making too much noise. Especially this one." His eyes glared at Naruto's back.

"Oh! I got it!" The blonde said triumphantly, holding his paper up to Sai's face. Sai's eyes quickly scanned the paper to see that Naruto had proved the equation correctly.

"See? I told you I just needed a little guidance."

"I'm sorry Uzumaki, this isn't going to work out. You're too much of a pain to teach." Before he knew it, Sai was putting his books into his backpack, motioning to leave.

_Um…what the hell?_

"Maybe the great Sabaku here could teach you." He said as he headed towards the exit, his voice strangely filled with a hint of venom.

Once Sai was out of sight, the red headed boy began to leave, Naruto acted on impulse. He took the boy's hand, not sure if he was doing the right thing. The boy quickly pulled his hand away, his face completely blank. Naruto didn't fail to see the moment of shock that had gone through his face.

"Er…'Sabaku'? I'm sorry, but do you think you could help me out with this?" Naruto asked shyly.

"No." The boy said, walking away.

Naruto quickly grabbed his bag and began to follow the redhead.

"Come on, please? I normally wouldn't ask a stranger unless I was-"

"Desperate?" The boy looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. Naruto quickly looked away, daunted by his gaze.

"-in a great need of help." He finished slowly. The boy began to gather his things into his backpack.

"I'll pay you!" Naruto said quickly.

"I don't need your money." He said, his voice giving off a hint of annoyance.

Oh, obviously Uzumaki! Naruto thought, mentally slapping himself.

The red head began walking out the library, clearly wanting to get rid of him.

"Please, I'll do anything!"

The boy remained silent as he walked away, the sound of his footsteps filled the corridor.

Naruto tried to catch up to the taller boy. "Anything you want, or any-"

"Stop it already!" Naruto came to a sudden halt, the red head's face was inches away from his, his dull green eyes glaring holes through his. Naruto took a step back and looked down, he decided that his shoelaces had become quite interesting at the moment.

He heard the boy sigh, he looked up to see him rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Look," He heard him sigh. "I just don't have time for this."

"Oh…I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have bothered you, I don't even know your name…I'm sorry." He apologized, he put his backpack down, arranging the papers that he had hastily put in his backpack before.

He heard the sound of footsteps retreating.

"Monday after school." He heard a deep voice say.

Naruto looked up to see the boy standing at the end of the hallway, looking at him. "Wha...really?!" He grabbed his backpack and walked quickly towards the boy.

"Thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed.

"Oh wait! Monday after school…that's…" He looked up to see the boy glaring at him.

"A great time! It's perfect!" He said smiling at the other boy.

"Don't be late Uzumaki."

* * *

_Authors Note: Hi there! It's been a while since I've posted something here. I thought I'd give this a try. Review if you like. Critique/suggestions/thoughts/questions are welcome. :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz!_

Uggh, what now? I was just getting to the good part of my dream….

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz!_

Naruto's blonde hair could be seen sticking out of a mess of blankets, one of his legs sticking out from the other end of the small bed. He groaned and turned over, hoping to get five more minutes of sleep.

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz! _

_Fine, fine! I guess I'll get up now…_

Naruto gave out a loud yawn and sat up slowly, his head spinning a bit.

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz! _

"Stupid phone!" He said, sleepily grabbing his cell phone and turning off the alarm.

"Oh shit!" His body shot up as soon as the screen flashed the time, he was half an hour late. His body was so entangled with the sheets that his face soon met the cold hard floor as he fell.

After a quick fight with his sheets, he ran to his closet, looking for his work uniform. Black slacks and a white dress shirt, followed by a black vest. He turned his head towards the bathroom, debating whether to shower or not.

_Damn it, there's no time for this! _

He went into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of bread and stuffing it in his mouth.

He quickly put on his shoes and grabbed his wallet from the dresser. There was no way he would catch the bus now!

_Come on, think positive, the bus has to be there!_

He locked the door behind him, and ran off into the street to the nearest bus stop.

_Come on, come on, please be there!_

He turned a sharp corner and saw a flash of blue and white.

_Yes! _

He ran to the bus, which was loading its last passenger. Naruto smiled to the bus driver, showing him his bus pass and took a seat in the back.

_Ok, maybe he won't be that mad, I mean…only half an hour late…_Naruto cringed at the thought of his boss, Kisame, he wasn't someone to mess with.

After half an hour of fidgeting, the bus made way to Suna, a rich, seaside city. Naruto sighed, thinking of the long day ahead of him. He worked as a bus boy at a restaurant in a high class country club, serving rich business men.

Eight hours a day, minimum wage.

Naruto sighed and got off at his stop. He began to run towards the country club, slowing down a bit when he neared the place. Didn't want to look like a 'hooligan' after all.

After showing his badge to the security guard, he made his way towards the back of the restaurant.

"NARUTO!" A voice greeted him as soon as opened the back door.

"I'm sorry Mr.Hoshigaki!' Naruto said immediately. "I didn't mean to-"

"Blah, blah, blah, just get in here, we have a busy day ahead of us. I'll yell at you later for being late." He grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shoved him through the door.

"For goodness sake, thirty minutes!" They went through the complicated aisles of people running back and forth, trying to complete their orders.

Kisame turned abruptly towards Naruto, making Naruto bump into him. "Ok, here's the deal. I'm making you head bus boy tonight-"

"But I don't-"

"No, buts! I'll make you head bus boy tonight, and if everything runs smoothly, I'll 'forget' that you came in late today, deal?"

Naruto sighed, there was no other way around this. "Fine." He sighed.

"Alright then boy, get out there." He paused, flashing a mouth full of pointy teeth. "…or else."

_Stupid Kisame! _He thought. He knew he couldn't say no to him, he knew Kisame would report him.

"Your apron is in the wash, it should be dry by now."

Naruto went over to the laundry section of the kitchen and quickly grabbed his apron, tying it at his waist.

He went over to the main kitchen, avoiding all the chaos around him. He looked down at the schedule.

_Alright, tables 3, 7, 9, and 12. Sure, no problem. _

"Hey Naruto! Table 3 has 4 people, they've been waiting for about 30 minutes." Naruto peeked at the dinning room, he looked over to table 3 and saw 4 business men, not looking happy at all.

Naruto sighed one last time before he put on his trademark fake smile. This was going to be a long night…

* * *

"Naruto?"

"Mmmm…"

"Naruto! It's closing time, hurry up."

"Ughhh…" Naruto groaned, his feet were aching. He had dozed off while counting the drawer.

"Come on kid, suck it up."

"I'm exhausted, I just pulled a double."

"Better a server than a bubble dancer." Kisame said, giving a hearty laugh. Naruto stood up, his drawer was complete and balanced, nothing to worry about. (1)

Naruto clocked out and began to walk towards the gates. He knew the bus didn't get there until a bit after midnight. He laid down on the bench, not caring what anyone thought if they saw him.

He could see the lights in the distance. He sat up and pulled out his bus card when the bus arrived to the stop. He looked around to see that there was only one person on the bus, a boy with a dark jacket sitting by himself in the back.

He heard a grunt of a reply from the bus driver and sat in the middle, his back towards the window and his feet on the other seat. He sighed, he didn't know how long he could keep up with this, maybe he'd have to ask for less hours.

He wasn't sure how he made it, but somehow, half an hour later, he was on his bed, his body limp from exhaustion.

* * *

_Late two days in a row, way to go Naruto. _Naruto ran along the road, his feet pounding with every step on the concrete. He could see the school buildings in the distance, with any luck, he'd only be 5 minutes late.

His brows furrowed in confusion as he saw that most of the students were still arriving.

"Hey Naruto! What are you doing here so early?" He walked towards the bench where he saw Sakura sitting, along with a very unconscious Kiba. Drool included.

"Sakura? Wha-" And then it hit him. Kisame had been playing around with his cell phone last night, that explained why the bus driver looked at him oddly.

"Just wanted to…you know, jog a bit for a change."

"Jog?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, exercise my lungs and stuff." Damn it, Sakura knew he hated to run. She wasn't one to forget small details.

"Ok, well I'm going to go see if I can talk to Mr. Umino about something." He waved goodbye to Sakura, who shoved Kiba off her as he started leaning on her shoulder.

He didn't really want to talk to Mr. Umino, there was time for that later. He might as well go to first period already. As he rounded a corner, he heard whispers.

"Naruto as Captain? Get real." A cool voice said.

"I'm serious! I heard Neji talking to Asuma about it. Well they actually said it would be better if Neji stayed as captain, and made one of you two co captain."

"Stupid Neji, he's so full of himself. Everyone knows he's just a second class idiot. I'll find a way to get rid of both of them."

"You don't mean…" Kankuro's voice sounded weary.

"No, of course not. He's smart, he'll figure out we're up to something. As for that other looser, his friend Sakura would notice."

"Dude, you're still into her?"

"Shut up! Argh, let's get out of here, someone could hear us."

Naruto flattened himself against the wall as they walked past him. He sighed in relief as he saw them turn a corner.

_Get rid of us…? Why does he want to be captain so bad?_

Naruto jumped in surprise as he heart the bell ring above him.

_Guess I'd better get to class…_

* * *

Lunch time was a relief for Naruto. His whole morning had been nothing but notes after notes. He was glad to finally escape the classroom.

He saw Kiba in the distance, who was wolfing down a rather delicious looking pasta. The sweet aroma of the spicy sauce met his nose as he sat down in front of him.

"Woah, where'd you get that from?"

"Cafeteria, it's only 15 bucks for the whole thing, go get some before they close!"

"Nah, I'll pass. I had a big breakfast anyways." _Please don't let my stomach growl!_

"Hmfph, if yoo ay ough."

"Where's Sakura anyways?"

"Went to 'beautify' herself, like she doesn't already look good."

"Hey I heard my name!" Sakura said behind Naruto.

"Oh yeah, Kiba was just saying how beau-"

"How pink your hair is today, I mean, its like wow!" Kiba grinned sheepishly.

Sakura eyed him curiously.

"Sure you were." She said setting her plate next to Kiba's.

"Want some?" Sakura said, pushing her plate towards Naruto.

"Er, no thanks."

"So how did tutoring with Sai go?"

"Ugh, don't remind me of him." He said, holding his head between his hands.

"That bad? Really?"

"Well let's just say I wasn't the right student for him, he quit being my tutor."

Kiba laughed. "So you mean to tell me that you were so bad he quit on you?"

"No! It's just…he said I was hopeless or something.." He said under his breath.

"That's just him, I've heard he drives everyone insane."

"So what are you going to do now? You're screwed!" _Thanks Kiba, thanks. _

Naruto sat up suddenly. "Oh wait, I didn't tell you guys! There was this guy, 'Sabaku' is what Sai called him. After Sai was being a jerk to me, Sabaku-"

"Wait, you mean Gaara Sabaku, the red head freak?" Kiba's face had lit up.

"Gaara? That's his name?"

"Forget his name, haven't you heard the story?"

"You mean the rumors, no one knows if its true." Sakura said, smirking.

"No Sakura, I'm pretty sure its true…"

"Oh Kiba…" Sakura said under her breath.

Naruto met Sakura's smirk. They both knew that Kiba always had crazy stories to tell.

"Ok as I was saying!" He said, getting their attention. "…I heard he went crazy at his old school." He started slowly. "Some kid went up to him and said something, something that threw him off…"

They both looked at him intently, waiting…

"…Couple of minutes later…that kid was dead."

"Man! I thought you were serious!" Naruto laughed.

"I am being serious! He's a schitz!"

"Oh Kiba, you just made that up didn't you?" Sakura said, holding back her laughter.

"Well...it could be true! I mean, just look at him. Pale skin, dark circles around his eyes, never talks to anyone…the signs are all there!"

"Naruto don't listen to him. Gaara probably just likes to keep to himself, he's not some crazy murderer."

"Hmpff, well you never know!" Kiba said, going back to his lunch.

_Ugh now stupid Kiba got all these weird images in my mind. But he's kind of right, I don't even know anything about him! I didn't even know his name until 5 minutes ago…He's right…he does look kind of scary. No, wait! I don't even know him, I can't judge him. _

"Naruto, you don't really believe what he's saying, do you?"

"Huh? No, of course not! Pfft, Kiba…no one believes him."

"Hey! I'm still here you know!"

"I'm kidding, Kiba."

"Gaara is a smart kid, don't worry, you're in good hands."

"I sure hope so…" He said, looking off into the distance.

* * *

Naruto found himself dazed in art class. Just thinking about the hectic weeks ahead of him made his head spin.

"Alright everyone! Stop what you're doing." Naruto looked up to see Master Kakashi, his clothes splattered with paint.

"I've decided it's time for a new assignment, since most of you are done with the previous one." His face was covered by a medical mask, he often said the paint fumes got to him whenever someone asked why he wore it.

"So for your next assignment, I want you all to draw a total stranger. It doesn't have to be a portrait, it just has to have a person in it. If you have any questions, come see me in my office." He said, going back to his painting.

_Hmmm, a total stranger? It could be anyone…no. I need someone interesting. _

He looked over to the other students, most of them seemed to know what they were going to draw already. His eyes drifted over to Gaara, he could see his hand scribbling away madly onto a sketch pad.

With a fresh piece of paper in hand, he began to doodle.

* * *

Just as he was getting a good idea on what exactly he was drawing, the bell rang. He quickly gathered his things and looked over to Gaara's seat.

_What? Where is he…the bell just rang!_

He swiftly went out the door and into the chaos of the hallways. He turned his head to see Gaara, walking up the stairs. He walked hurriedly to catch up to him, being careful not to bump into anyone.

The hallways had almost cleared up by the time he caught up to him. He stayed a few feet behind him, feeling a little wary.

As they were nearing the library, Naruto felt something in his stomach as he approached Gaara. _Man, I should have accepted Sakura's food!_

"Gaara?" He slowly said.

"Hm?" He said, glancing at him.

Naruto followed him to a table deep in the library. It was in the middle of four bookcases, a simple square mahogany table. He took a seat in front of the red headed boy, unsure of what to say.

"Homework." Gaara said coolly, taking out a binder of his own.

"Oh yeah, of course! Er Gaara?" The boy looked up to meet Naruto's eyes questioningly.

"Er, my…mom was actually wondering how much-"

"I told you before, I don't want your money."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you're wasting your time and you're not getting anything out of this." The thought of having extra money for food immediately cheered up both himself and his stomach.

His eyes met Gaara's for a short second before looking down at his hands and fidgeting with them.

"I mean, well, if you ever need anything…I'll be more than willing to help!"

Naruto quickly turned to today's notes, which were, embarrassingly messy. Gaara raised an eyebrow in question.

"Right. I'll take better notes."Naruto's cheeks flushed, it was true, he tended to not look down at his paper when he took notes, thus educing the mad scientists scribble.

He flipped to his homework problems, which he had, thankfully, written down carefully.

"Er I started this problem, but I don't get how to apply the double angle formula."

Gaara looked intently at his paper for a couple of seconds, his pencil going through the steps that Naruto had scribbled before.

"No matter how weird the equations get, both sides _will_ always equal to each other. The only thing you have to do is memorize the formulas and plug them in, one of them will fit."

Naruto looked down at his sheet, trigonometry functions were easier said than done, but he'd give it a try.

"Think of it this way. 212-6/3." Gaara said, his hair covered his eyes as he looked down at his own homework.

_What is he talking about? That equals the same…OH! _Naruto, afraid to say anything, began to work on his problem.

_2 tangent theta over 1 minus tangent squared theta?! What! Ugh I knew it, stupid Sai was right, I am hopeless. _He thought, quickly erasing his steps.

"That was correct." Gaara said, not looking up from his paper. "It equals cosine 2 theta."

"Oh…right." Naruto mentally slapped himself. _How could I not see that! _

"Double check your work, Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded and continued on his worksheet. _Maybe not so hopeless after all…_

* * *

Naruto smiled as he looked down at his worksheets. He was almost done with his work, and thanks to Gaara, he was sure all the answers were correct. He reached for his pencil sharpener when all of a sudden…

His stomach growled.

Rather loudly.

Naruto smiled sheepishly at Gaara, who had looked up to glare at him. He began to sharpen his pencil when he heard a sigh and shuffling. He looked up to see Gaara holding a rather sharp looking pocket knife.

Naruto's heart began beating wildly. _Oh my god, oh my god, he snapped for no reason!! Freaking Kiba was right! _He shut his eyes tightly, he would run-

"Here." He heard a thud in front of him. He opened his eyes to see Gaara looking at him in confusion, sitting on his sheet was half an apple.

"Oh! Er…thank you." He took the apple and bit hard into it, it wasn't much, but it would keep his stomach quiet for another hour.

_Wow, I feel stupid. How could I think that he…wait, what is that?!_

Naruto's eyes were watching Gaara's hands, which were holding a rather sharp looking protractor.

"Is something wrong?" Gaara asked, breaking Naruto from his trance.

_Ugh, Gaara probably thinks I'm some sort of freak…_

"Er, no, sorry. I was just thinking about…Fuck!" He gasped as he saw the time on the library clock.

He was almost half an hour late for practice.

"I'm sorry Gaara, I really have to go. Same time tomorrow?" He said as he hastily shoved his homework into his backpack.

"Bye! I'll see you tomorrow!" He said, rushing to the exit.

_Man, coach is going to kill me. Stupid Sasuke is probably going to be all on my case. _

Once he arrived to the locker rooms, he stripped as quickly as he could and changed into his Speedo.

"What the hell Naruto!" Naruto frowned as he heard angry murmurs as he walked into the natatorium. His frown turned into a smile when he saw Kiba waving energetically.

He grinned sheepishly at them, hoping they wouldn't be too mad.

"Thanks a lot Naruto, now we have to stay an extra hour." He heard Kankuro's voice in the background as he put on his cap and goggles.

"I did it especially for you, you need the extra practice Kankuro." He grinned as he heard laughter around him.

"Alright! Now that Naruto has graced us with his presence, I want 16 hundreds, butterflies." A booming voice echoed through the walls.

_Great, just great…_

* * *

"Alright everyone, awesome job today!" Naruto clutched his head as Kisame's voice still rang in his head. He prayed he had Advil at the house, he knew his head would be pounding by the time he woke up. He was really regretting not sharing Sakura's lunch at school today.

The afternoon had proved to be more tiring than Naruto had expected. Asuma had really worked everyone harder than usual, giving everyone hints that the team captain would be chosen soon.

His back was on the bus seat, his legs hanging in the aisle. He sat up slowly, knowing his bus stop would arrive soon.

_Don't worry, school is almost over, this is all going to be worth it! _He thought, trying to cheer himself up. He had Gaara now, he really was a good tutor, despite how quiet he was.

Naruto looked away as the bus came to his stop. He dragged his body from the seat and went out into the cool night air. As he walked into his apartment, he didn't bother to take off his work clothes as he collapsed onto his bed.

* * *

(1) A bubble dancer is a dish washer.

Sorry it took so long to update! Next update will be up much sooner. I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed, your comments are really great!

**Also**, I know there's not much Gaara/Naruto interaction, but they just met, so bear with me. Next chapter will definitely have more

_Review if you like. Critique/suggestions/thoughts/questions are welcome. :D_


	3. Chapter 3

It had been one week since Gaara began tutoring Naruto, and his grades were already showing signs of improvement. Naruto had enthusiastically shown Gaara his C- on his recent test, to which Gaara had given Naruto a hint of a smile.

They were currently sitting on the school's front steps, the library had been temporarily closed due to refurbishing.

"Gaara?"

Gaara's answer was silence.

"Gaaraaaa?" The red headed boy was staring off into the pages of a book, off in his own world.

Naruto sighed, he knew there was no way to get to him once he started reading.

_Hmm, ok, I can be patient..._ Naruto tapped his fingers against his notebook, looking at Gaara expectantly. _Who am I kidding?_ Naruto grinned to himself and waved his hand in front of the red head's face, still no response.

_Maybe if I poke him..._ He held in his laugh as he went behind him, getting ready to-

"Don't even think about it."

Naruto grinned nervously at him.

"Sorry, just got kind of bored...these equations are lame, they all have the same answers!"

"Hm."

"Is that book any good? What is it about? Is it action, romance...sci-fi? Is there a movie on it?"

Gaara's eyes did not leave the page.

Naruto sighed in defeat. He looked down at his work sheet, trying to concentrate. After a few minutes, his head began pounding, the numbers on the page began to blur together, his head was becoming light...

"Here." Naruto's vision became focused once again as he looked up at Gaara. He had put his book down and had taken out two carefully wrapped sandwiches.

"Oh! Er...I kind of already had lunch." Gaara paused and gave him a strange look. "But I guess I can't let that go to waste." Naruto quickly said as he took the sandwich.

"They gave me an extra one in the cafeteria." He said, gathering his things to leave.

"Well I guess I better head home too, my mom is probably wondering where I am." Naruto gathered his books, he needed to get to work on time, Kisame had been getting on his case since last week.

"Do you need a ride?" Gaara said, rather suddenly.

Naruto was caught off guard, his books slipping out of his hands. "Oh I brought my car today, thanks."

Gaara eyed Naruto from the corner of his eyes. "Let's go."

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah, the parking lot." He said, hesitantly walking behind Gaara.

Naruto looked down at Gaara's shoes, thinking of how he could get out of this. Gaara didn't seem like the type of person who would care about money, but it was better to be safe.

At least for now.

His body soon met something very firm, and he found himself on the floor. He looked up to see Gaara, offering his hand to him, a hint of an amused smile hanging from his lips.

"Thanks." He smiled, taking his hand and lifting himself up. Gaara's hands were like ice against Naruto's warm ones.

Gaara walked over to what Naruto guessed was his car. A rather expensive looking black car.

_Figures. _

"Oh yeah! I parked my car down the street. I always forget. I like to walk, and stuff." He suddenly said, looking towards said street.

_Nice save, idiot._ He mentally slapped himself.

He began walking away, hoping Gaara didn't think anything of it.

"I'll see you around!" He said, waving goodbye.

* * *

"Naruto! There's a table of four in the VIP section!"

"Ugh, the last thing I need is a VIP, this sucks."

"Naruto! Hurry up! Don't keep them waiting."

"Fine! Fine! I'm on my way." Naruto walked towards the schedule, looking for his VIP table.

_Ok let's see, VIP tables for 6:30 P.M...table for four...in table one. Hmm, must be really high class. _

Naruto hummed a familiar song to himself, trying to hype himself up. He warmed up his smile and began walking towards the table.

"Good evening, my name is Na-" His voice became stuck in his throat as he looked up. Familiar eyes met his own blue ones, his heart began beating rapidly.

"My apologies, I seem to have forgotten something, I'll be right back." His voice had gone dry, it was hard getting keeping his façade calm.

_Oh my god. Oh my god._ His heart was racing, his nails digging into the palms of his hands.

He made his way through the dinning room and into the kitchen, his legs shaking with every step he took.

"Naruto? What in the world-" A rather surprised Kisame said from the corner of the room.

"I'm sorry, Kisame. I don't feel so good."

"I can see that, you're beyond pallid." He said, pushing him to a nearby chair. "You!" He said, pointing to startled waiter. "Take over his table."

"Go take your break, if you don't feel good in 10 minutes, I'll send you home."

Naruto nodded, surprised by his kindness. Once he was sure his legs wouldn't give out, he made his way over to the bathroom.

His hands gripped the edge of the sink. _Okay, calm down...breathe..._He looked down into the sink and took a steady breath.

He heard the bathroom door open, He saw him leaning against the wall, a wicked smile on his lips.

"Well, well, well..." His cold voice echoed in Naruto's ears. "If it isn't the great Uzumaki at his lowest. Or should I say highest? Your outfit could surely compete with Cinderella's."

"Please Kankuro." Naruto turned to face him, his eyes begging. "Please don't, just..._please._"

"What do you mean, buddy? I can keep a secret..." His gave Naruto a bizarre crooked smile.

"...for a price."

"What do you want? I don't have money."

"Obviously not." He laughed.

Naruto turned to face him. "I'll do anything. Just don't tell Sasuke...or anyone." He whispered.

"Let's see, what do I want...what _do_ I want?" He looked up after a few moments, smirking. "I want you to be my _slave_."

"What!" He exclaimed, outraged.

Kankuro swiftly took out his cell phone, his fingers playing momentarily with the buttons.

"Hmm, really? Gee, Sasuke, turns out the great Uzumaki was nothing but a mere pleb." Naruto looked at him in disbelief.

"What would that mutt, Kiba say?" He snickered, looking straight into Naruto's eyes. "What would sweet Sakura say?" Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the phone ringing.

"_Hello?_"

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it." He said, quickly closing Kankuro's phone.

"So I thought." He said with a smirk. "Meet me outside of the courtyard tomorrow after school, you can start by doing my homework."

Kankuro walked out, a wicked grin plastered on his face.

_What now..._ Naruto sighed, throwing his apron on the floor.

* * *

"Hey Naruto! Did you hear...woah, man. What happened to your face?"

"Ugh couldn't sleep."

'Why? What happened?" Kiba sat down next to him.

"Just stuff, stress, school...wo-" Naruto eyes went wide, sitting up.

"Wo?"

"Wo...men, you know. My mom and stuff." He quickly lied.

"Speaking of women..." He said, looking off into the distance.

Naruto smirked, watching Kiba look at Sakura.

"So when are you going to tell her you like her?"

"Uh...I don't know, not yet." He said distractedly.

"So you admit it. Oooooo!" Naruto teased.

"No! That's not what I meant." He became flustered, his cheeks turning a bright shade of red.

"Hey guys! Oh man, what happened to your faces?" Sakura said, taking a step back.

"Kiba was just telling me about this girl he really likes." Naruto said, earning a death glare from Kiba.

"Oooh really? Who is it?"

"Er, um, this one girl. I don't know her name." Kiba said, suddenly finding his fingernails rather interesting.

"Oh what does she look like? Maybe I know her."

"Nah, I don't think you would know her." He said, waving her off.

"Well try me, maybe I do."

"Nah, um, er...she doesn't go to this school! Right, Naruto?"

"Oh, yeah! Sure...why not." Naruto said, distracted.

"Thanks, buddy."

"What are best friends for." Naruto smirked.

"Hey look, you guys!" Kiba pointed behind Sakura. "I'm changing the subject."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "So, what's your story?" She said, giving up on Kiba's _mystery_ girl.

"Er, can't sleep. Insomnia, I guess." He said, putting his head down on the table.

"Been hanging around Gaara too much?"

"Haha, very funny."

* * *

"...so if you apply this property, the equations should cross out, leaving you with the answer of one."

"Oh yeah! I get it, it's so clear now." The blonde boy said, holding back a yawn. His whole body felt like it was still underwater, his limbs felt heavy and his eyes were begging for sleep.

He looked down at his notebook, his pen resting near the top. He looked besides him to see Gaara, his brows furrowed in concentration with his own work.

Today had been a disaster. Naruto decided on that as soon as he saw Kankuro's face in the morning. Everywhere he went, it was as if he was just around the corner. He would smirk every time they made eye contact, reminding him. At the end of classes, Kankuro had given him a load of homework that Naruto knew was going to take him forever to finish.

_I hate this...if it wasn't for Kiba and Sakura...and Gaara..._ He paused, wondering why the red head's name had slipped in there. _If it wasn't for them finding out, I wouldn't even care, I've dealt with worse. _

Naruto's eyes went wide as he realized his eyes had been closed for the past minute. He turned to look at Gaara once again, who eyed him back from the corner of his eyes. _Hmm, maybe a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt, Gaara probably won't even notice..._

There was complete silence soon after, the only sound coming from the typing and clicking a few rows away.

Gaara turned towards the blonde, who had his head resting on his hand, his pen leaking ink over the once white sheet.

_He's been quiet for a while now..._

Gaara inched closer to Naruto, looking over his worksheet, which was close to being halfway covered in ink. His hands made his way towards his, smoothly taking Naruto's pen away from the sheet.

Or so he thought.

As soon as he took his hand back, he felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise, looking at Naruto resting on his shoulder.

_I should wake him..._ He looked at the blonde, there was a light shade of purple forming below his eyes, his skin not its' usual tan. The redhead sighed defeated, reaching for his book carefully, trying not to wake the sleeping boy.

Gaara found himself at ease soon after, allowing his body to relax in the hard wooden chair.

"Hey guys, how's the studying going?" Gaara straightened himself, looking up to see amused green eyes looking at them.

"Mind if I sit down?" The pink haired girl said, approaching the table.

Gaara shook his head, and waited for the girl to speak.

"I'm Sakura. We have Psychology together."

"I sit near the front?" She added, seeing the blank face on the other boy.

"What a dork, falling asleep in the middle of this." Sakura chuckled nervously.

"Not that you're boring or anything!" She added quickly, her smile becoming forced. "I mean, I'm sure you're...a...fun...person?"

Gaara's eyes lingered back to his book. The space around them becoming more tense by the second.

"Please don't give up on him." She said suddenly, her eyes lingering on Naruto's sleeping form.

Gaara looked up at her, lowering his book.

"He's just...been tired lately. I-" She turned to look at Gaara. "I really worry about him sometimes. He doesn't always realize when enough is enough."

"He' been having trouble sleeping." She continued silently, pushing back a stray hair from Naruto's face. "The circles around his eyes have been getting darker since last week."

Gaara laid his book on the table, his eyes unwavering from Sakura's.

"He never says anything about it, and I know he probably has his reasons for it. " Sakura said more enthusiastically, glad that he was listening. "Still, I worry..."

"But I won't watch him go through this. He's going to crash before we know it."

"I know we barely know each other. But I can't do this alone." She sighed, and looked away.

"What I'm trying to say is..." She shifted in her seat, trying to find the right words.

"You want me to help you reveal whatever it is he's hiding." He said, his voice monotone.

"That is, one way to put it, I suppose." She said with a crooked smile.

Gaara nodded. "I'll help."

Sakura flashed a brilliant smile. "Thank you! I was hoping you'd agree voluntarily."

Gaara raised an eyebrow, his eyes cautiously scanning her face.

"The first thing we have to do is..."

Sakura stopped when she noticed Naruto began stirring.

"Wha...Sakura?" His azure eyes were full of sleep, a yawn escaped his mouth.

His eyes quickly darted next to him. "Gaara!" He exclaimed, bolting upright. "I didn't mean to...I mean, it's not that you're boring or anything, I just sort of fell asleep! Er...I'm sorry?" He said flustered.

"It's fine." Gaara said, his voice slightly breaking.

Sakura stared curiously at the two blushing boys.

"Crap! It's 4:30! I'm late, they're going to kill me!" He began to stuff his notebooks into his bags, ignoring the curious look Sakura was giving him.

"See you guys later!" He said, running out of the library, earning him a glare from the librarian. And so the red head and the pink haired girl began their plans.

* * *

"Naruto! Late again, this isn't acceptable."

"I know Kisame, It's just I had to-"

"No! I don't want to hear your excuses boy." _So much for the kind Kisame reappearing..._

"Now, you'll be on cleaning duty from now on."

"What! Why?" Naruto knew cleaning duty meant being demoted, his bank account wasn't going to be too happy about this.

"You're obviously not ready for head busboy, the boss was rather angry when he found out what happened. Mr.Yashamaru forgave you for your rudeness, but his _guests_ did not."

_Stupid Kankuro._ Even at work it felt like he couldn't escape him.

"You can start with the laundry, then windows, then you can water the plants. Oh and you can wash the dishes at the end of the day." He said in a rather happy tone.

"Well get at it! Those aprons aren't going to wash themselves!" He said, shoving Naruto towards the laundry room.

* * *

1:47 A.M

His clock was mocking him, he was sure of it. All it did was blink, blink, endlessly teasing Naruto. _This is getting ridiculous._ Ever since Saturday he had been having trouble sleeping. First it was just tossing and turning, then he just couldn't sleep at all. _Come on, I have to wake up in 3 hours! Just one hour of sleep, please. _

Naruto felt like crying, it wasn't fair, all he wanted was to sleep, it didn't matter if it was restless. Was that too much to ask? _Ok, ok, two hours, that's all I need..._His eyes began to droop...

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz!  
_

4:45 A.M.

Naruto sighed and sat up slowly, his shoulders hunched. He took a second look at his cell phone, just to make sure he hadn't read the wrong time. Three hours of sleep sure felt like 5 seconds.

He went to the bathroom, washed his face with cold water to wake himself up. He changed into his Speedos, wearing his worn out track suit over. He gathered his things into his sports bag, his backpack ready by the door.

He walked for about five minutes, reaching the bus stop just on time. _What the hell, wasn't that guy on the bus when I got off work?_ He said, staring towards the back of the bus.

He got off the bus once it was close enough to the school and began walking. He made his way towards the natatorium, the sound of splashing water getting closer and closer. _Crap, I'm late. _

He sneaked his way towards the lockers, hoping no one would see him.

"Naruto! There you are." Asuma's voice nearly gave Naruto a heart attack.

"Coach! I'm really sorry, I overslept, I'll do extra laps...there's no need to punish everyone." He said, knowing everyone would be pissed off at him.

"Well sure, if you want to. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? It's not?"

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about this year's captain."

Naruto's ears perked up at the mention of team captain.

"Well actually, Neji will be captain this year."

"Oh, of course, he really deserves it..." Naruto frowned, his heart sinking a bit.

"And we've decided to make you co captain." He said, smiling.

Naruto knew he must have looked like a fish that couldn't breathe.

"But I thought that Sasuke-"

"Yeah, he did look a bit upset when Neji told everyone a couple of minutes ago. So Naruto, do you accept? You've been looking kind of tired lately, I wouldn't want to add extra stress to your schedule."

"No! I mean, I accept. My schedule's not that busy."

"Well if you're sure. I bet your parents will be thrilled when you tell them."

"Yeah, they sure will." He said with a fake smile.

"Now come on, get in the water. Neji will tell you after practice what to do."

"Thanks coach, you don't know how much this means to me." Naruto said, he could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest.

* * *

To say that Sasuke Uchiha looked upset was an understatement. He looked downright ready to murder someone as soon as the blonde walked into the room.

"Naruto, way to go man!" Kiba said, getting out of the pool to meet the blonde. "That reminds me, I've been meaning to tell you-"

"Gee Uzumaki, wonder what you had to do to get co captain. Or should I say _who_ you had to do." Sasuke said pushing Kiba to the side, making a splash as he landed in the pool.

"Excuse me?" Naruto said, taken aback.

"Sasuke, what the hell man?" Kiba said, after rising from the deep.

Sasuke smirked, looking pointedly towards Neji. "You heard me."

"Whatever." Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Like I said before, watch your back." He whispered, walking past him.

"Stupid Sasuke, wonder what's gotten into him?" Kiba said, shaking himself dry.

"Who knows? What were you going to tell me?" Naruto said, changing the subject. He didn't want Kiba to get too involved in this.

"Oh yeah, I've been hearing that Sakur-"

"Uzumaki, a word." Neji's voice could be heard behind them.

"Sorry Kiba, it'll have to wait until lunch. I'll meet you in class."

"Ugh, fine." Kiba said, clearly annoyed at being interrupted for the nth time.

"Go change and meet me in Asuma's office in 5 minutes."

"Sure captain!" Naruto said, taking Neji by surprise, giving him a bright smile.

Naruto turned and began to walk towards the locker rooms.

_Maybe things won't turn out be so bad..._

* * *

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! First of all, I'd like to thank my amazing beta, jacadenilla. I can't believe I forgot to thank her all this time! She really is amazing, helping me out with this story even though she doesn't really like yaoi.

And of course I'd like to thank everyone that takes the time to review, you guys are extra awesome!

More Gaara/Naruto coming, of course, and more of Kankuro along the way. (I love him, there just had to be a bad guy in this story, and he was perfect.)

Once again, critique/suggestions/thoughts/questions are welcome. :D


	4. Chapter 4

_"Minato, you're driving too fast, Minato you should- MINATO, WATCH OUT!"_

_Two bright lights shone strongly across the windshield. There was a sudden thunderous jolt followed by many violent shakes. _

_And then there was darkness. _

Naruto's body shook as the bell startled him awake. He groggily closed his French book, his mind still spinning from his dream.

Nightmare would be a better term for it.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, hanging his backpack over his shoulders. As he walked towards the familiar lunch table, he heard a sudden high pitched squeal.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

He looked up to see an excited Sakura next to a confused looking Kiba.

"Naruto, guess what!" She said, practically jumping on the balls of her feet.

"Er, Kiba finally realized he's not funny?"

"What!"

"Wha-no, that's not it." She said, smiling. "Principal Tsunade just told me I made Captain!"

"Of the track team?" Kiba asked, looking at Sakura with awe.

"No, Kiba, the football team, Sakura's the linebacker. Of course the track team!"

"What about you Naruto? Any news?"

"Yeah! He made co captain! Sasuke was so pissed, you should have seen his face."

"Man Kiba! I wanted to tell her myself."

"Ah! Who cares! This is awesome!" Sakura exclaimed, grabbing Naruto's hand, resuming her jumping.

"Yeah it is! You're going to be the linebacker!" Kiba smiled, joining them.

"We should go out to celebrate tonight!"

"I don't think I…whoa!" He suddenly found himself on the grass with a strange sharp jab on his stomach and another body tangled with his.

"Woah! Are you guys ok?" He heard Sakura's voice above them. He looked over to see an annoyed red headed boy recovering his scattered books.

"Are you ok?" Naruto said, recovering the other books.

"I'm fine, the books got the worst end of the fall." He said patiently.

" Naruto is such a klutz, he must have tripped on his shoelaces and took you guys down." Sakura said jokingly.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry. Here." He said, handing him his books.

"You know Gaara, why don't you join us for lunch?" Sakura said, giving Gaara her sweetest smile.

"Unless you have somewhere else to be? Like, you know, a dungeon or something." Kiba said offhandedly, looking at his fingernails.

"Shut up Kiba." She chuckled, weakly punching him in the arm.

"Ow! Sakura, you punch like a ogre."

"Excuse me?" She turned, her smile replaced by a forced grin.

"Er, what I mean was…I'll go get lunch!"

"Come on Gaara, we sit over here." Naruto said, taking his hand cautiously, dragging him towards the bench.

"Sorry about Kiba, he was just being…Kiba." Sakura said, sitting in front of them.

"It's fine." He said, putting his books on the table.

"Like last time, he has this crazy theory that you're-"

"That you're a robot!" Naruto interrupted. "Yeah, a robot…in a dungeon thing_. __Right_, Sakura?"

"Yeah, Kiba sure did say something like that…"

_Wow, that was so lame…_

"Here you go guys, this is all they had left." Kiba sat, setting down the sandwiches and sitting next to Naruto.

"Ooo thanks man! I was starving."

"You need it, physical's are coming up today. What are you at, 130?"

"Er, I haven't really checked in a while." He said, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Ugh, don't look now, duck butt and puppet boy coming over." Kiba groaned.

Naruto stiffened at the mention of Kankuro, he took a quick glance Gaara, who was watching Kankuro and Sasuke cautiously.

"Hey Princess," Sasuke said smoothly as he approached them. "Still hanging out with bunch of losers, I see."

"Hey _honey_, still have that stick up your ass, I see."

"Haha, very funny. I just came over here to congratulate your lovely self on making captain. And this looser over here."

"Yeah, Naruto, how does it feel to be _co_-captain?" Kankuro emphasized, grabbing Naruto's shoulder.

"A whole lot better than being in Sasuke's place." Naruto smirked, shrugging Kankuro's hand off.

"I'm right behind you in time, I'll have you know." Sasuke glowered.

"Wow, third place? That's impressive…" Sakura smirked.

"Hey! I'm right behind Sasuke, Sakura! Did you know that?" Kiba said, raising his eyebrows.

"Trust me Uzumaki, you're going to be wishing to be in my place after the next meet."

"Yeah Naruto, something tells me you won't be so fast that day." Kankuro said giving him a twisted smirk. The blonde looked down, avoiding Sakura's questioning look.

"Kankuro, shut up." Sasuke said, giving Kankuro a strange look. _Good, it looks like he really hasn't told anyone…_

"Let's go." He said haughtily, walking away, Kankuro stalking behind him.

"Ugh sorry about that, Sasuke is always looking for trouble with Naruto."

"Either that or trying to flirt with Sakura."

"I know! Like he has a chance, Pfft." Kiba said, gesturing towards him.

"I still remember freshman year, Naruto was in last place, and I mean like, dead last." Sakura said, looking pensive.

"Thanks, Sakura." He said, hiding his face in embarrassment.

"But then he started staying after school a lot, practicing with Kiba."

"Yeah, that's how we became _best_ friends." Kiba said, glaring towards Gaara.

"So Gaara," Sakura said, breaking the silence. "If you're not too busy, maybe you could meet up with Kiba and I and go to Naruto's meet?"

"Yeah! It's next Thursday. You can come check me out." Naruto said, earning weird looks from the others.

"I mean the team! You can check out the team. I mean, I'll be there too, but…yeah." He said flustered, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'll go, I don't have any plans." Gaara said, fumbling with the book in his hands.

"Ugh! Great…I mean, that's great!" Kiba added quickly.

* * *

Naruto turned his head to look at the clock for what seemed like the 100th time. Kankuro had told him to meet him right after school to drop off his homework.

The last thing he expected was to be on the ground for a second time that day.

"Get up, you looser."

"Idiot, you're the one that pushed me to the ground." He said, getting up.

"For someone so smart, you're such an idiot! What were you thinking?"

"What are you talking about?" He rubbed his throbbing shoulder, unsure of what to say.

"Yesterday's english assignment…100? You made it look like I cheated. They were about to call my parents, I looked like such an idiot."

"Trust me, you don't need my help to do that."

"Uzumaki, do you have any idea of who you're talking to?" He grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt, shoving him roughly against the lockers.

"What were you expecting from me? You said do the homework, and I did. You never said anything about scores, so its your own fault!" Kankuro glared, thinking Naruto's words over.

"Nothing higher than a C in English, the A's in Math are fine. The rest can fluctuate between B's and C's." He said, letting go of Naruto, who had been struggling for air.

"Here's the work from last week. I saved it all for you." He smirked, tossing a thick binder at Naruto.

"Have fun looser."

* * *

Naruto sighed in relief, looking down at his complete homework.

"Check it out, I finished!" He said, flashing his homework excitedly towards Gaara's still form.

The red head looked up from his work, his eyes wavering over the clock. "So quickly?" He said, slowly taking Naruto's work and looking it over.

"Hey, why don't we go to Kakashi's room? He leaves it open after school, I don't think anyone's there right now." He said, watching Gaara's pencil slowly go over his answers.

He looked at Naruto hesitantly.

"Come on! We can mess with the paints he hides in the back."

Gaara nodded slowly in agreement, gathering his sheets into his bag.

"Don't worry, he won't notice. I don't think he minds, really." Naruto put his homework in his bag and began to walk towards the art room.

There was silence, and Naruto was glad that for once it wasn't awkward.

"I always see you sketching, but I've never actually seen any of your work."

"Hm." The red head said, walking besides him.

Gaara reached the door first, after jiggling the handle a bit, it finally opened.

"Told you." Naruto grinned, setting his things down on his desk.

"Here, I need some advice on something I'm working on right now. I'm not much of an artist or anything, it's just for fun." Naruto could feel the redhead's eyes watching him as he walked towards the back of the room.

He looked through the racks that were holding many drying canvases. _Yes! It's dry. _He walked back to Gaara, who was slowly swiveling on Kakashi's desk chair.

"It's missing something, but I just can't put my finger on what it is…" He held the canvas for Gaara to see.

"Try mixing red with the oranges." He stoically replied after taking a long glance at it.

"Hmm, I think you're on to something…Oh! I remember what I wanted to show you. It's in the back."

Gaara got up and began to follow him. "I found this about 2 years ago, in the trash can. I know it's kind of like stealing, but no one wanted it, right?" He looked through his folder, taking out a large sheet of matte paper.

"At first I thought it was Kakashi's, but his style is way different from this…" He could see Gaara's eyes examining the colorful image.

"It's nothing great." He said, looking away.

"Are you kidding? Look at the way he used the strokes, the way he mixed the green with the violets of the sky. It's…" He looked up at Gaara, his jade eyes looking at him curiously. "It's…beautiful."

"Er, I'll just put this back into…the thing." He said flustered, his cheeks burning.

"You know what?" Naruto asked after a moment, avoiding the red head's eyes.

"Hm?"

"We could come here, I mean, instead of going to the library, it's a whole lot more quiet."

"I suppose we could…"

Naruto looked down at his vibrating cell phone, reminding him that he was late for his physical. "I have to get going, I'll see you…the day after tomorrow!"

* * *

Naruto shivered as his feet made contact with the cold tiles of the locker room. He was currently in Asuma's office, completing the physical.

"Naruto, you're coming in kind of thin, maybe the scale busted." He said, double checking the scale.

"It's ok though, right? I mean, I'm supposed to be thin anyways, I burn up all the calories when I swim."

"Even then, your muscles should make up for that." He said, looking thoughtful.

"Let's try again." He said, motioning for him to get on the scale.

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed before getting on the scale. _Maybe its broken, probably when Sasuke got on it with his big head. _He snickered to himself.

"Stop moving Naruto…"

Naruto opened his eyes to look at Asuma's worried frown.

"You're at the same weight that you first started in your freshman year." He said, looking over his files. "Naruto, have you been feeling sick lately?"

_The other day with Gaara, I was just feeling a little weak and faint because I didn't sleep that night. But the other times…I really need to start eating more. I'll just have to cut out some things, other wise I'll loose this. This is just for a little bit longer. Everything will fine after this. _

"Not that I can recall of." He finally said.

"Is everything ok? At home, with your parents? Stress?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, if anything…maybe it's school work and me being nervous for the season."

"I see you've been having trouble sleeping."

"What?" He said a little to quickly, his heart beating against his chest.

"The circles under your eyes."

"It's nothing, just school stress."

"Just school? Anything more than that?"

"What do you mean?" He asked warily.

"If there's anything going on with your family, you know you can tell me, or anyone you'd be comfortable telling."

_If only it was that easy._

* * *

Naruto began cleaning his 30th window for the day, he wasn't aware that he had been counting until he hit 15. He sighed, taking the scraps of newspaper and pungent cleaner bottle to the next room. He walked quietly into the sitting room, the only occupents were two men in suits, discussing quietly.

The blonde bowed apologetically before heading towards the nearest window.

"How is Gaara doing? He hasn't shown me any of his artwork lately."

The bottle escaped his grip.

"That rubbish?"

"That painting he gave me about a year ago, I hung it up in my office. One of my patients, an art collector, was so impressed, said he'd never seen anything like it! You have to admit he has talent, he could achieve-"

"Talent?" He interrupted. "This so called 'art' is a waste of his time. Disgusting things he paints, he does it to spite me, that ungrateful brat. I'll beat it out of him if I have to."

"What do you mean?" He sounded shocked. "He is showing great interest in this, I think he was looking into going to Europe?"

Naruto felt the mood shift around. "Europe? If he wants to go there, he can be a street urchin.

"After this, I'm sending him off to Harvard, he will become the company's lawyer. Learn all the tricks and things for everything that is currently planned."

"Oh, yes, of course." He heard a more timid voice respond.

Naruto could feel their eyes on his back, he quickly bent over and recovered the forgotten bottle.

"Bring us an ashtray, boy!" He heard a sudden sharp voice.

He nodded before hurrying to get it. _This man…Gaara's father? I didn't get a good look at him... _

He quickly shuffled into the room, only to find that both men disappeared from the room.

* * *

Hey guys! This chapter came out later than expected, I had this chapter actually finished some time ago. I sent it to my beta, and she basically said it sucked. And, I had to agree. So I re-wrote, and I'm so glad I did, here is the result, a bit short, but its here.

Also, this version is a little un-beta'd. So anything that sounds off, it's my fault.

Reviews are loved :D

Now that the everything is settled plot-wise, it's time for some action . See you guys next chapter!

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey guys! Just wanted to apologize first for the wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Oh yes, the Gaara/Naruto ship has set sail. **

* * *

"Come on Uzumaki! Is that all you've got?!"

Naruto bit back the urge to get out of the pool just to give Neji a piece of his mind. Not only did his arms feel like they were made of lead, he could feel his leg warning him to stop.

"Don't you dare stop now Uzumaki, stop slowing down." Neji shouted at him.

_Slowing down!? I'm going as fast as I can, jerk! _A sudden intense pain suddenly hit his left calf, his body paused mid stroke, causing him to sink. He regained his balance quickly, slowly heading towards the edge of the pool.

"What the hell was that? Come on, get out of the water." He could see Neji staring back at him incredulously.

Naruto held on to the edges of the cold linoleum floor, pushing himself up and out of the water. He sat on the cold floor, massaging his throbbing calf. His breathing was ragged, his lungs were burning, but he couldn't let it show .

"You forgot to stretch, didn't you?" Neji's eyes squinted at him in annoyance.

"What do you take me for, an idiot?" Naruto spat back.

"You _are _an idiot, you forgot to stretch and you're lying to me!" Neji hissed.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto paused. "Well…pfft, what kind of swim captain has hair longer than a girls?"

_Nice comeback Naruto… _

"You know I can't-" Neji started.

"Enough!" A dark shadow could be seen walking towards them from the lockers. "What will the team think if they see their captains fighting?" Asuma's deep voice was unmistakable.

"They'd think Naruto was jealous of Neji's girly hair." Kiba said behind Asuma.

"Kiba! You're here early." Naruto smiled at his best friend, who had a red towel draped around his shoulders, his black speedos and…black socks on his feet.

Naruto sighed, grinning at Kiba's antics. "Uh Kiba let's go to the lockers, yeah? You can put your socks back." He stood up shakily, earning a glare from Neji.

"What?" Kiba looked confusedly towards Naruto. He looked down, a look of genuine surprise crossed his features. "Aw man, I always forget." He said, removing his socks as they started walking back to the lockers.

"Sakura called me last night. Says she wanted to invite _Gaara_ to go to the movies with us after the meet." He said, spitting out his name.

"Come on Kiba, he's not that bad."

"Or so you think! He's trying to fool us, then when we least expect it, BAM!"

"Bam?" Naruto laughed. "Well, maybe if he heard you say that, it might provoke him." He said, waving his fingers.

Kiba shuddered, looking around as if Gaara might appear behind him. "Ok, so here's the plan. If he does go, we sit in the middle, Sakura on my side."

"Is that what this is about? You're…jealous of him?" He smirked.

"Wha? Pft, no! Of course not!" Kiba sputtered. Naruto rose an eyebrow at him questionably.

"Well, I mean…they've been spending a lot of time together, don't you think?"

"Er…no? Don't they have Psychology together or something? They're probably doing a project together."

"A _secret_ project? Every time I see them, they're talking…and not just Sakura, I've seen his lips move too! And then when I get near them, they immediately stop talking."

"You're just seeing too much into this Kiba…Come on, let's get in the water."

"I can prove it to you, I'll can spy on them!"

* * *

The first time the power went out, Naruto pretended not to notice.

He went by the window, sitting on the windowsill, allowing the moonlight to light the paper in his hands. His English essay was due tomorrow, and he had tried his best to convince himself he had all the time in the world to finish it.

Apparently not.

It was now Wednesday, Naruto looked at his watch.

Scratch that, it was now Thursday morning.

Naruto sighed in defeat, his eyes were dropping, his feet were aching, and his stomach had been growling at him for hours. He looked to what he supposed could be called a kitchen. He scoffed, knowing his only snack choices were between peanut butter and mustard.

The last time he had gotten groceries was about 2 weeks ago, his next check should cover him for the next grocery outing.

_Ugh, I'll just worry about this tomorrow…. _It had been nights since his body actually allowed him to sleep, he wouldn't pass this up.

* * *

Sakura turned to look at Naruto's sleeping form on the wooden picnic table. The circles under his eyes were getting darker by the day, almost enough to compete with Gaara's. A frown adorned her lips as she wondered what her friend could be keeping from them.

She glanced towards the redhead sitting next to Naruto, and decided this was the best time.

"Hey Kiba, can you go get me a drink, please?" She asked in her sweetest voice, knowing he'd fall for it.

"Yeah, of course…" He said warily glaring at them. He walked away, glancing back every few seconds before tripping.

She looked back at Gaara, who was preoccupied with a rather thick book.

"Ok we have about three minutes." She said, checking that Naruto was still asleep.

Gaara placed his finger in his book, marking his place, then looked up to meet her gaze.

"I've come up with the most obvious things you can ask him."

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly, but Sakura kept on.

"His address, house number, his parents…"

"And you've never asked him this yourself because…?" His deep voice finally broke through.

"Well…" Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "It _has _come up before, but he always finds a way to avoid it. He'll find it a bit strange if we start asking him again out of nowhere."

"Coming from me, won't it be more strange?"

"Well you just met him…if he asks why he's getting the third degree, just tell him you want to get to know him better."

Gaara raised a non existent eyebrow.

"Just figure something out, it'll be…easy!" She exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up.

"Why doesn't that mutt do this?" He said, looking behind her.

"That _mutt_ is my best friend." She said in a warning tone. "Plus, he'd probably blow our cover." She admitted. "He's already getting suspicious over us talking."

"Hey you guys, watch this." Kiba's voice suddenly appeared behind them, his voice full of mirth. He was holding Sakura's drink in one hand, and something that appeared to be melting on the other.

He set the bottle down and went behind Naruto, who hadn't moved an inch since he left.

"Kiba, what are you-"

"Sshhh!"

He slowly lifted the collar of Naruto's shirt before sliding three melting ice cubes down his back.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Ahh!" Naruto shot up, his hands trying to reach his back. Kiba started laughing, bending over and holding his stomach.

"Kiba! What the hell!" Naruto yelled, realizing that the ice cubes had melted before he could reach them.

"Now my shirt is going to be all wet, you jackass." He said, unbuttoning his shirt, glaring at Kiba's laughing form.

Sakura sighed. "Idio-" She stopped, noticing Gaara was no longer paying attention to his book, his eyes were shifted to his side, looking towards Naruto, who was now clad in just an undershirt.

Sakura smirked, her mind working away an evil, _ahem_, clever scheme.

* * *

"Man, I'm never going to get this, just forget it." Naruto threw his pencil on the table, his frustration had been growing by the second, he just felt like going home, quitting.

_Ok calm down…take a deep breath…_

"I'm sorry…" He looked up at Gaara, who was looking at him strangely. "It's just all this stress is getting to me."

"It's fine. Is something bothering you?" His voice sounded strained, yet worried at the same time.

"Our first meet is on tomorrow. Neji has been pressuring me so much to practice, and him telling me that I'm getting worse is just not helping. When it comes down to it, I know I can do it."

"Hmm."

"I'm sorry…again, you probably don't want to hear all this." He said sheepishly, taking his pencil back.

"I don't mind."

"Really?" He looked up at him hopefully. "I just don't really have anyone to vent to."

"Your parents?" He met Gaara's jade eyes for a second, before looking away.

"Er, they're not really the talking kind. They…they're away most of the time." He said, almost bitterly.

"Really?" Gaara stated.

"Yeah, you know…business trips and such." Naruto winced.

"So they won't be at your meet?"

"Well, maybe…They're just really busy most of the time."

"Hmm." Gaara looked down at his work.

"Anyways, I just hope a lot of stress will be off by tomorrow. After I turn in all my assignments, those stupid tests, not to mention freaking Kankuro's homework, such a pain. And then the m-"

"Kankuro?" Gaara's bemused eyes met Naruto's surprised ones.

"Huh?" _Crapcrapcrap._ His throat constricted, Gaara's gaze had never looked more intense.

"Why are you doing his work?" Gaara's voice sounded different, Naruto couldn't quite place his tone.

"It's um…rather embarrassing actually." He said after a second. "I lost a bet to him a while ago, so now I have to do his work for a while." _Ok! That actually works…_

"What kind of bet?"

"Sheesh Gaara, what's with the third degree?" Naruto said jokingly, trying to ease the mood. Gaara remained quiet, looking deep in thought.

"I have to get going, I'll look this over when I get home, maybe it'll make sense then." He tried his best to keep a steady smile.

* * *

"What! That's all you asked?" Gaara held his cellphone further away from his ear, the girl's shrilly voice ringing in his ears.

"Yes." He replied with as much patience as he could gather.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely sure?"

"I'm hanging up."

* * *

Naruto couldn't sleep.

The first swim meet of the year was tomorrow, his stomach wouldn't stop doing flips, he almost felt like throwing up. Maybe that was the expired milk talking…

He'd worked so hard for this, all the lies, the deception, how much it had all escalated.

He turned over in his bed, reflecting the past couple of days. He had skipped work twice to finish homework, calling in sick, which….wasn't exactly a total lie. It had been hard, knowing his bank account wouldn't be too happy with his paycheck.

Constant headaches, inability to sleep, his swimming time for the 100 freestyle had increased by 3 seconds. Neji wasn't too pleased by that, Kankuro on the other hand, looked as if Christmas had come early.

_I'm loosing it…_He thought. _I even had to lie to Gaara, oh god. I'm a liar. I'm a liiiiaaar. _He winced, the lack of sleep was making the voice in his head sound like a whinny 5 year old.

_Ok if I don't fall asleep in…._

_3..._

He looked out to the moonlight, wondering if its' brightness was mocking him.

_2..._

His eyes drooped slowly, and sleep finally came.

_1..._

* * *

A buzzer sounded from the outside of the locker rooms, making almost everyone in there jump. Naruto rubbed his hands together, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

"Naruto, over here." He looked over to see Neji calling him over. He must've been nervous as well, he never called him by his first name.

"Ok, I'll just say a few words to everyone and you just stand there and nod."

"Don't tell me you wrote a speech." Naruto teased, looking down at the white cards in Neji's hands.

"I didn't." He denied, crumpling the paper.

Naruto grinned despite Neji's glare. Neji turned quickly towards everyone else, managing to slap Naruto in the face with the end of his long braid.

"Alright everyone listen up!" Neji's voice boomed. Everyone went silent, and turned to look towards them.

"It's the first meet of the year, your times must be better than what I saw in practice or we're doubling the practice hours."

"Hehehe…he's just kidding you guys." Naruto said, grabbing Neji's shoulder. "That's his way of showing that he cares. As long as you keep your mind focused, your times will be great."

"Yeah it will!" Kiba said enthusiastically behind Sasuke.

"Do not worry Naruto! We won't disappoint you or Neji."

"That's the spirit Lee!"

* * *

"Oh! Look, here they come."

"KIBA!" Sakura screamed loudly, causing the other boy to wince next to her. The team was walking out of the lockers, everyone looking out and waving to their families.

"Ugh, he heard me, he just can't find me. You'd think we would stand out." She told the boy, raking her fingers through her shocking pink hair.

"Well Kiba's mom and sister are here. I think Naruto's mom has red hair or something…" She said, wildly looking around. "Man, the only one with red hair here is you." She said minutes later, pouting.

"I'm…sorry?" He replied, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

* * *

"Ok Naruto, you're up." Asuma's voice broke into his thoughts, pulling him towards the many set up diving boards.

"Wait! What stroke is this?" He had been so focused on keeping track of the other's times, they were doing great. Sasuke and Neji had the best times, and the others had been so close.

"400 meter Medley, come on Naruto, you know this."

"Ok 8 laps, I can do this."

_I can do this, I can do this. _

He secured his cap, making sure his hair was in place. His goggles went next, illuminating the room a shade of blue. He looked besides him, a tall boy with chiseled muscles and not a hair in sight, on the other side besides him, a lanky boy who was shaking from head to toe.

He could hear the crowd cheering, knowing his name was being called from somewhere. He didn't want to look, to see Kiba's mom, Lee's enthusiastic mentor, heck, even Sasuke's stoic parents and his brother came. He didn't want to look up expect _them _to be there, only to find that it was a figment of his imagination.

"_Naruto! Over here!"_

A familiar voice broke through his thoughts, he turned towards the stands, shocking pink and red hair drawing his attention. Sakura was standing up, waving feverishly, Gaara's usual stoic face in place, waving calmly.

_You guys…_

A bright smile broke through his features, he waved back, feeling the adrenaline finally kicking in.

"Aburame Shino, Nara Jang, Uzumaki Naruto, Zaku Abumi, up for the 400 Medley!" A deep voice was heard through the speakers.

_Better, faster, stronger. _

"Take your marks."

He bent over to touch his toes, measuring the angle to dive in.

The strong beep was heard and they were all in the water the next instant. His body knew what to do, every stroke, every muscle movement was memorized. It was all second nature now, all he had to do was push it to an extreme.

_I guess I do owe it to Neji…_

He went up for air before doing a flip turn into his third lap, switching from butterfly to backstroke. The temptation to look at the competition was strong, he kept his sight focused, not daring to distract himself. He slowed down a bit, knowing the next stroke would require most of his energy.

_Ok fifth lap. Fifth lap, right!? Oh god, tell me I didn't get something messed up. _

_Three laps…_

_Two laps…_

His body kicked into overdrive as he did his last flip. He was going to be first, he could feel it, nothing could go wro-

Except the cramp on his calf deciding to reappear.

_Crap, crap, crap. _He sped up, ignoring the growing pain in his leg. He looked in front of him, 2 more strokes and….He grabbed the time bar, relieved to hear the annoying beep for once. The cheers were loud, he could hear the crowd buzzing, waiting for the times.

"Uzumaki, I warned you about those stretches!" He looked up to see a Neji kneeling towards him, with a frown on his face.

"Neji, quit hassling him, help him out of there." Asuma's cackling voice said behind Neji.

"I'm fine, it's just my stupid calf that keeps acting up." He said carefully lifting himself out, trying not to put pressure on his right leg.

Of course, he failed miserably.

"Ow, ow, ow." He cringed and found himself on the floor, clutching his leg.

"Come on Naruto, let's get that checked out." Asuma looked at him worriedly.

"Hold on, they're about to announce the times!"

"Aburame Shino, 3:37:29. Nara Jang, 3:45:24. Uzumaki Naruto…" Those 2 seconds of waiting felt like an eternity.

"…3:37:33. Zaku Abumi, 3:54:15."

"Yes! Five milliseconds Naruto!" Kiba came over and slapped Naruto on the back. _Ouch_. "Wait, five…right?" Kiba looked up thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"You would have been faster if you listened to me during practice." Neji said, crossing his arms.

"Kiba, help Naruto to the lockers."

"It was 5 milliseconds, right?"

* * *

"Naruto! Kiba!" A rush of pink could be seen running towards them, many boys covering up, some flapping their towels more than usual.

"Sakura, you can't be in here! You're a girl."

"Oh please, like you have anything to hide." She sat down on the bench next to Naruto, some boys looking over curiously. "How's your leg?"

"It's just a cramp, I don't think anything is _really _wrong with it."

"Still you might want to get it checked out." Kiba said walking away, trying to put his clothes on under his towel.

"Speaking of checking out…I think Gaara was eyeing a blonde swimmer today." She said in a sing song voice.

"Really? Who?" Naruto said offhandedly, tying his shoelaces.

Sakura slapped his shoulder. "You, who else?"

"What!" Naruto squeaked, looking incredulously at her.

"I mean, you're not leaving much to the imagination with those Speedos, if you know what I mean?"

"Nope, no idea. The chlorine fumes must be getting to you, Sakura." Naruto pretended to be struggling with his sweater, he could feel his cheeks burning up.

"Come on, hurry up Kiba. Gaara's going to be waiting for us a the movies." She called to him.

"Oh well we wouldn't want to keep him waiting now would we?" Kiba said sarcastically, earning a punch to the shoulder from Sakura.

* * *

"Oh look, there he is!" Naruto looked around to see Gaara sitting on an empty bench, holding an mp3 player in his hand, headphones in place. He was wearing all black, complimenting with his pale features. Dark denim jeans, a soft looking black coat that went well with his tee shirt and scarf.

Oh yes, Naruto felt very self conscious in his old jeans, tee shirt, and _oh god_, and orange jacket!

"Let's ditch him." Kiba said, dragging Sakura back.

"Kiba, shut up, come on." She pulled him forwards with greater strength.

"Hey I'm just saying. Come on, before he see's us…Oh darn it, he spotted us."

Naruto found his heart beginning to pound faster as he made eye contact with the red head's jade eyes. He looked away quickly, suddenly finding Sakura's pink hair rather interesting.

"Sorry if we kept you waiting long, Kiba held us up." She smiled.

"What are we watching again?" Naruto asked, looking at the movie times.

"I got the tickets." Gaara said, reaching into his pocket.

"Ooo, this is perfect." Kiba said, snatching his ticket from Gaara before he could hand them out.

It absolutely didn't help that Gaara's cool hands touched his own.

Naruto looked down at his ticket, feeling a bit uncomfortable that Gaara had paid for them.

_Wait a minute…_His brow furrowed, reading his ticket.

_A scary movie. _

_In the dark. _

_Sitting next to Gaara. _

He swallowed, and couldn't help but think that Sakura had planned this.

He looked over at her, and saw a smirk adorning her lips.

Oh yes, Sakura had very much planned this.

* * *

**AN: Hey, me again! Review if you have the time. Seriously, it means the world, plus it makes me write faster! Critiques welcome. **


	6. Chapter 6

Midterms happened. My apologies! :(

* * *

Just as Kiba had planned, he had ended up sitting between Sakura and Naruto, Gaara on Naruto's right. Sakura had gotten about 40 dollars worth of snacks for all of them, which really wasn't all that much in the end. Not with Kiba being there, at least.

Naruto looked calmly at the screen, trying to be as casual as he could. He glanced back and forth between the screen and Gaara, hoping to read an expression from him.

Apparently, he wasn't being discreet enough. Shortly after, Gaara caught his gaze, his green eyes seeming to glow in the dark lit room. Naruto's heart sped up, but he couldn't help but to keep staring.

"Psst, pass these to Naruto." He heard Sakura whispere, breaking their gaze.

"Oi, Naruto, share this with Panda boy over there." Kiba said loudly.

Naruto held the box of popcorn in his hands, gesturing it timidly towards Gaara, who shook his head.

The lights dimmed soon after the trailers ended, and Naruto suddenly became aware of how close Gaara was to him.

The movie started off as a normal zombie movie, he couldn't help but notice that the main actor, Sasori Akasuna, looked an awful lot like Gaara.

_Ok, maybe this movie won't be so scary…Just remember…zombies don't exist! Right?_

_Right?!_

_

* * *

_

A girl was running through a dark forest, followed by a night vision camera. Naruto's breath hitched as he heard running footsteps approaching the girl. She turned suddenly towards the noise, looking around in desperation.

_Keep running! Keep running! Ahhh! _Naruto grabbed the armrest next to him, closing his eyes as he heard the girl scream.

He opened his eyes, sighing in relief as he saw that the thing that had been chasing her was one of her friends.

_This armrest is really cold…oh! _"Sorry!" He whispered quickly after realizing his hand was on top of the red head's. Gaara shrugged, keeping his hand in place.

Naruto sank down in his seat, wondering if the seat could swallow him and save him from further embarrassment.

_This nightmare of a movie is almost finished, woo! _He thought, looking at the dim light of his cell phone. He looked back at the screen, the-

"OH CRAP!" Popcorn went flying everywhere as he jumped, he covered his eyes quickly with his hands, burying his head into Gaara's shoulder.

_Stupid freaking zombie popping out of freaking no where!…_This was why he hated scary movies. Thrillers he could do, comedy's were hilarious with Kiba, and even on occasion, he'd even put up with Sakura's chick flicks, but zombies...they were something else.

"I can't feel my arm anymore." He slowly looked up to see bemused jade eyes looking back at him.

"Oh yeah, sorry! I thought you were Sakura." Naruto said.

"Not that you look like a girl, haha." He added quickly, going back to his normal position.

_

* * *

_

"Don't tell me you were scared Naruto! I don't think I've laughed so hard in weeks!" Sakura said, wiping invisible tears from her eyes.

"What? Pfftt no…" The blonde started. "Just a little bit, you know how much I hate zombies!"

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't scared at ALL." Kiba said, looking at the people behind him with suspicion.

"Really now? Is that why you were holding my hand and whimpering throughout the whole movie?" The girl said, smirking triumphantly at him.

"Whah, what! I have no idea what you're talking about Sakura." Kiba said smoothly running a hand through his hair.

"What'd you think, Gaara?" Naruto asked.

"It was…entertaining." Gaara's lips held a hint of a smirk.

"Ew! Is Gaara actually smiling?" Kiba exclaimed.

"Ooo look! A new photo booth, let's take pictures!" Sakura began skipping towards said photo booth.

"Ugh, not again." Naruto and Kiba groaned. Gaara looked at them questioningly.

"Sakura always makes us go into those photo booths every time she spots one." Naruto explained.

"Ughh Sakura, those things are so girly and lame." Kiba whined.

Sakura turned to them with a dark look on her face. "I said, we're taking pictures." She stated slowly.

They all exchanged nervous glances, "Haha, yes, of course, Sakura." They began walking after her, looking at the strange contraption.

"Er, Sakura? I don't think we're all going to fit in there." Naruto said, entering the booth.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course we'll fit." She said, putting the bills into the machine. Their image was soon reflected, all of them looking expectantly at the screen.

"Ok, Kiba and Naruto can kneel down and I'll stand behind you guys with Gaara." She pulled an impassive Gaara into the frame behind Naruto.

"Ok, we get 3 pictures I think, wait when does it tell you-"

_FLASH._

"Ugh! I wasn't ready!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Haha, Sakura, your face!" Kiba sniggered, holding his hands against his mouth.

_FLASH._

Naruto began laughing as Sakura and Kiba continued their bickering. He looked up to see Gaara, who had kept up with his impassive expression.

"Come on Gaara, smile or something!" The blonde grinned.

"Yeah Gaara, smile!" Sakura said, slapping Gaara on the back, making him sway forward onto Naruto.

_FLASH._

* * *

Naruto was still holding his stomach, he hadn't stopped laughing for the past 5 minutes. After he had untangled himself from Gaara, the foursome had waited the set 3 minutes for their pictures to print, and well…Sakura's first picture wasn't quite the most flattering.

"Hahaha, ok, ok…I can breathe now." Naruto said, releasing another shaky breath.

"I don't see how this is funny." Sakura said, pursing her lips and crossing her arms.

"Sakura! Your face, there's just no way to describe it." The blonde buried his face into his jacket, unable to hold in his laughter.

"Even panda thinks its funny." Kiba said, still clutching his stomach. It was true, although Gaara hadn't laughed, he had bitten his lip and turned away from Sakura.

"It was bad timing! Ugh, you guys are never going to let this go." She said taking back the image strip, yawning softly.

"Ugh, it's almost midnight, we should get going." A sudden smile hit her lips.

_Hmm, it is getting late…wonder when the last bus gets here…_Naruto thought, his eyes unfocused on Gaara's hair.

"Gaara? Do you think you could take Naruto home? I have to get home soon and Kiba lives near by..." She asked coyly.

_Traitor. That absolute traitor! _The blonde's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at her.

"What are you talking about Sakura? I live like on the other side of to-"

"Hehehe, don't be silly Kiba." Sakura laughed nervously, slapping Kiba in the stomach.

"I can take you home." Gaara said, turning to meet Naruto's eyes.

"Thanks so much! Bye guys! See you on Monday." Sakura said, quickly dragging Kiba away from them.

An uncomfortable moment passed between them.

"It's ok Gaara, I can walk home." He said taking a step back.

"Don't be absurd." He said, pushing Naruto gently towards the parking lot.

"It's really not that far, really." Naruto said. "5 minutes at the most!"

"You could get mobbed, robbed…" He said in a low voice, taking out his keys.

"I can defend myself." Naruto smirked.

Gaara sighed, their footsteps echoing in the parking lot. They approached the familiar black car, Naruto keeping his distance.

"Get in." Gaara said, unlocking the doors.

"I'll just be wasting gas, plus, I need the fresh air." He said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Sakura would be upset if you caught a cold." Gaara grasped Naruto's shoulder, pushing him closer to the car.

"But…ah!" He cried out as Gaara's cold hands met his warm neck.

"Sorry. Hand slipped. Now get in." Gaara said, giving him a final push towards the car.

_If I get away with this, it'll be a miracle. _

Naruto sighed, opening the door and taking a seat in the leather finished seat. He clicked his seat belt, his hands starting to shake as he realized the situation. The car suddenly started, soft classical music filling the car.

"You can change the music, if you like." Gaara said, pulling out from the parking lot and into the dark streets.

"It's fine." He whispered, afraid his voice would give out.

"Where do you live?"

"Er…" His mind drew a blank, unable to think of any plausible lies. His phone suddenly started vibrating, Kisame's name appeared on the screen.

"Sorry…" He smiled apologetically towards Gaara before pressing the answer button.

"Hello?"

"_Naruto, I've taken the liberty of changing your schedule. You have a double shift tomorrow, well today, starting at 5_." He could hear Kisame smirking.

"What? Why?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"_Are you questioning my ways? I just felt like it. Deidara will be waiting for you in the morning, Naruto. And don't be late, you already have enough points against you."_

He took a deep breath, reluctantly agreeing as he hung up.

"So?" The familiar deep voice broke through his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh yeah!" He shook his head. "It's by the…by the…" _Oh god, what do I say…I live in north Konoha next to the crack house? _"By the country club!"

The car came to a soft halt at a red light, Gaara turned to look at him. "More specifically?"

"It's um, you know…I'll just show you when we get there. Where do you live anyways?" He said nervously, trying to change the subject.

"West of Konoha, almost by Suna." Gaara said, subconsciously lifting an eyebrow at Naruto's actions.

"Oh…" _Of course. _If you were someone important, you lived near Suna.

Naruto looked out the window onto the strange streets. He looked over at Gaara, who was calmly driving, his slender fingers slowly tapping on the steering wheel.

"Gaara…" He began, fiddling his fingers. "What do you think about… about liars?"

He looked over at the red head, who had remained silent for a few seconds.

"I think…liars begin by imposing on others." He paused, jade eyes metting his own. "But only end up deceiving themselves."

Naruto could feel his heart sink, his shoulders slumping forward.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just…" His breathing was beginning to quicken, he needed air. He looked out the window, they were driving past an expensive looking neighborhood. "Oh! There it is!" Naruto pointed at the nearest house.

"Thank you Gaara, for dropping me off. I'll talk to you later?" He smiled at him and turned away, unable to meet his eyes.

He opened the door and stepped out into the cool night. He looked up at the house, it was a white 3 story Victorian house with an enormous front lawn, and of course…a gate.

He looked back at Gaara, hoping he would leave soon.

"Er, bye?"

"Aren't you going in?"

"Hm? Yeah, of course I am." He looked back at the gate, suddenly feeling incredibly small next to it. He placed his shaking hand on the knob, unsure of what to do…

_If it doesn't work, what am I going to do?! _He closed his eyes, his heart beating against his ribcage as he slowly turned the knob.

_Oh my gosh, it's open. _

He took a step into the lawn, looking around for any dogs. As soon as he heard Gaara's engine take off, he quickly stepped out of the lawn and back onto the sidewalk.

_Need to find a bus station before the last bus leaves…maybe I should have just…what? Spilled everything?_

He looked at the road ahead of him, it was going to be a long way...

_

* * *

_

Green eyes studied the rear view mirror carefully.

_Something here isn't right…._

He had gone around the back end of the street, discreetly parking a safe distance from Naruto's.

Gaara sat up in his seat, his eyes observing Naruto as he walked away from his "house".

* * *

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

_5 minutes away, more like an hour away!_

He had grown tired of waiting for the bus and decided to walk home, miserably regretting the decision at this moment.

_Bed, sleep, ugh…_

His hands were fumbling for the keys in his back pocket, finally finding them in his jacket.

"Finally home I see." A sudden voice made him jump, waking him up from his stupor.

His keys dropped to the floor, he turned slowly towards the voice in the hallway.

"Oh, Gatou, hey…"

"I know what you're trying to do." The moonlight was behind him, the light hitting his cruel smile.

"Er, what?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"Don't play stupid with me, boy. Your payment was due 2 weeks ago." He said viciously

Naruto did a double take between his hands and Gatou.

_With everything going on, I must have forgotten to turn it in…_

"I'm really sorry, it really wasn't on purpose…I'll have it by tomorrow!" He said, quickly opening his door before Gatou could say anything else.

* * *

"You didn't follow him all the way?"

"He might have become suspicious, I stopped following after he passed the theatres again."

Silence passed.

"Sakura?"

"I think…I think I know what's going on."

* * *

"Wait for me." A voice whispered into Naruto's ear. He looked behind him to see Kankuro walking away towards another row of lockers.

"Are you coming?" Kiba asked, swinging his bag over his shoulders.

"I think I'll stick around a bit, I-I want to ask coach something." Naruto said, taking out his shoes from the small locker.

"Want me to wait?"

"No, no, I'll meet you up in class." Naruto said as casually as he could.

"Ok, see you. That girl Hinata wanted to tell me something anyways." Kiba gave him a thumbs up and walked away.

_Scouts are coming next week, I need to be at my best. Hopefully my stupid leg won't act up. _

Naruto played with his shoelaces, trying to look busy as his teammates walked out of the lockers.

Finally, he could feel Kankuro walking towards him. Naruto reached into his backpack, taking out various pages of homework.

"Here's everything." He said, shoving the papers towards him.

Kankuro leafed through them quickly, stuffing the pages into his backpack.

"You know Naruto, I was thinking…"

"Which is never a good thing."

Kankuro glared at him before continuing. "…I was thinking, I'm keeping a pretty big secret for you, and…I just don't think I'm getting what I deserve for it." He shrugged his shoulders, his face feigning innocence.

"Are you kidding me? What else could you possibly get?"

"Your times." Naruto gave him a look of confusion. "You should know, I'll be doing the medley and you'll be doing the 400 butterfly that I did last time. You're going to have to be slower."

"What?!" Naruto said, furiously standing up. "No way! You know the scouts are coming, this is the only reason why I'm having you keep quiet."

Naruto wasn't prepared for the dark look that came over Kankuro's face. His scowl turned into a crooked smile. "Of course…" Kankuro stated slowly. "What was I thinking?"

"Ok then…" He said, looking at him curiously. He gathered his things, and started to walk away before he was pulled back hastily.

"Wait. There's something special I need you to do for me."

Naruto turned back and looked quizzically at Kankuro.

"Turn around."

"What…"

Kankuro pulled him back from his backpack, he heard it zip open, and then quickly zipped closed.

"I'll see you _later_." Kankuro said, his dark smirk in place. "Oh, and I trust you can take over my pool cleaning duties, right _captain_?"

* * *

"Gaara, pssst!"

"What." He finally turned towards her.

"This…" She took a shuddering breath.

Gaara continued to stare stoically at her.

She passed him a slip of paper as the teacher's back turned.

Gaara's shoulders visibly stiffened.

* * *

"Cosine of pi over 6?"

"Hm…one half?"

"Correct. Sine of pi over 4?"

"Er, root two over three?"

"Incorrect."

"Ugh! Hold on, it'll come to me." Naruto stared at the calm blue water in front of him.

Following Kankuro's 'instructions', he had come after school to clean the pool for him. Gaara, who was now laying down on a bench, had willingly followed him, insisting that he needed to study.

He grabbed the skimmer's stick, looking for any dirt in the pool.

"Ew, why is there a piece of lettuce in the pool?" Naruto grimaced, picking it slowly from the retrieved skimmer.

"Hey guys!" A voice said from the far end of the room. He turned around, seeing a pink haired girl entering from the girl's locker rooms.

He looked up to see Sakura, taken aback by the serious look on her face.

"What's up?" He asked passively, looking back down to the pool.

"Nothing, just wanted to come and _talk_." She said, looking pointedly towards Gaara.

"Ok?" Naruto smiled, confused by his friend's unusual behavior.

"Naruto, I-" She began.

"Sakura, don't." Gaara's cold voice interrupted.

Naruto turned back abruptly to look at his friends, Gaara had stood up from the bench, crossing his arms as he looked at Sakura.

"Gaara, it needs to happen now."

"I disagree."

"What are you guys-" Naruto tried to say.

"Don't pretend you know what's better for him, Gaara."

Naruto looked confusedly back and forth between them, both glaring at each other. His head began to suddenly spin, his grip tightening around the skimmer as he struggled to keep his balace.

"_Guys…_"The blonde tried to say, the edges of his vision begining to darken. He took a shaky breath, trying to regain his stance.

He could barely hear them arguing as he closed his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow.

He didn't even get the chance to hear a splash as his body hit the water.

* * *

Wow, you guys really floored me with all your reviews! I felt so bad when I was studying that I wasn't able to write...

So um...how would you guys feel if this took a small dark turn? (No character death or anything too drastic...lol.)

Please review, I'd love to hear what you think and thought of this chapter!

**FAQA:**

Gaara and Kankuro are brothers, unknown to Naruto.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

I hope I still have readers by the end of this D:

Hope you guys had great holidays!

* * *

It was like looking through a stained glass window.

Or being heavily sedated on a nameless drug.

He was suffocating, obscure cruel hands pressing against his throat.

And just as suddenly as it had all started…

…It stopped.

He was suddenly on his side, his stomach dry heaving, trying to empty the contents of his stomach. He could feel someone's hands on his back, gently slapping him.

"Oh god," He tried to say in between coughs. The blonde started to sit up before being pushed back to the cold floor.

"Naruto, can you breathe alright?" He heard Sakura say, her voice full of concern.

He slowly nodded, and opened his stinging eyes. Sakura was looking down at him, her green eyes were lined red, as if she had been crying. Gaara was on his other side, his eyes holding a look of concentration, his school shirt sticking to his skin.

"I have dry clothes in my car." The red head suddenly said, standing up and heading towards the exit.

Sakura stared suspiciously at Naruto, as if looking for serious injuries. "I'm calling 911, your lips are starting to go blue." She said, flipping her bright pink cell phone open.

"NO!" He practically shouted. "I-I'm fine Sakura, just give me a minute." Naruto said, clearing his throat. The room was wildly spinning, even though he was sure he was laying on the floor.

"Naruto, you were drowning!" Sakura exclaimed, a strange tone of hysteria in her voice. "You need medical attention!"

"Sakura this happens all the time. I was being careless and slipped, you know how I am! There's really nothing to worry about." He said as casually as he could.

"I heard you guys arguing, what was that all about?" Naruto asked, sidetracking.

"Don't try to change the subject, I'm being serious. Now take off your shirt, you're going to get hypothermia."

Naruto sat up, beginning to unbutton his shirt. Sakura snatched it from his hands as soon as he had it off, wringing out the chlorine-filled water from it.

Goosebumps rose from his skin as he caught Sakura's staring at him. "What the hell Naruto, you look so thin. Why are you loosing so much weight? Hasn't Asuma said anything about it?" Sakura exclaimed, staring at his back.

"Pssh, don't exaggerate! He…he said it's quite normal, I'll start putting it back on soon, my metabolism is just going crazy right now!" He began, putting his black uniform pants back on, turning abruptly as he heard Gaara walking towards them.

"This is all I could find." He said, offering Naruto a black and grey striped hoodie.

"Gaara, I…thank you…and thank you for saving me!" He exclaimed, welcoming the warmth of the cloth.

"Sakura gave you CPR, I just got you out of the water." He said, sounding unusually reserved. Naruto could have sworn he saw a pink tinge on the boy's cheeks.

"Sakura, you…you saved my life." He said, his voice full of admiration.

"Does it matter though? You still look like death…" She looked away, biting her lip.

A strange chill went down his spine. "Sakura, what do you-"

"Naruto…what's going on with you?" She stated softly, looking straight into his eyes.

There was a pregnant pause, almost as if time stopped for a matter of seconds. Naruto set his jaw, he knew he had been slipping lately, it was only a matter of time before his situation became obvious. It was useless to continue lying to try to fit in.

"NOTHING is going on."

But it didn't stop him from trying. He didn't have a choice.

"You're over thinking everything Sakura, just like you always do. A little cough here and there and you think I'm dying. You think I'm hiding something from you just because you don't see everything I do. Forgive me if I don't tell you everything that's going on." He winced inwardly, almost wishing he hadn't added the last part.

"Well, forgive me for being concerned about my best friend's well being! It's not everyday that you just faint out of no where and then claim that nothing's wrong!" Sakura's voice echoed.

Naruto folded his hands in front of him, his hands turning into fists as he started shaking. He wasn't too sure if it was just from the cold.

Sakura brought her hands together, a nervous habit that Naruto recognized. "We wanted to wait until-"

"We?" Naruto glared.

She stayed silent, as if thinking of what to say next.

"She was referring to me." Gaara's voice broke the silence, Naruto had almost forgotten his presence.

"What…the hell." The blonde thought out loud.

"Gaara…and I wanted to wait until you told us something on your own, but I knew that you wouldn't until someone confronted you about it." She said, her tone still bitter, yet soft. "And I knew I had to do it soon, and especially now that I've seen how thin you are."(1)

_This is too much right now._ The blonde thought, standing up carefully, his legs shaking slightly.

He made his way towards the bleachers, spotting his orange backpack next to Gaara's.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura said, seeing he was trying to walk away.

"What?!" He shouted, angrily swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

He swore as he saw papers flying, pencils scattering, a small orange bottle rolling its way towards Sakura's sparkle green tennis shoes…oh shit.

There was a pregnant pause in which all three of them stared at the small bottle. Naruto remained frozen, his heart drumming against his chest in cold fear.

Bright green eyes looked up at him in disbelief as Sakura picked up the bottle. "Are you…are you doing drugs?" She whispered.

His palms began to sweat as he looked back and forth between them, struggling for an answer.

"That's ridiculous! Sakura, Gaara…Those aren't mine…I…I'm holding them for a friend!" He said, suddenly realizing where they must have come from.

"Naruto you don't have to lie to us. We won't tell your parents, we-"

"Listen. I don't want you guys in this." He gritted out. "Or anything, as a matter of fact. I'm not going to be friends with people who don't even trust me enough to know that I'm telling the truth." He walked towards them, leaving his papers behind.

"And you know what Sakura? You need to stop being so fucking nosy." He took the bottle from her grasp, feeling a pang of regret after seeing her unshed tears.

_What the hell am I doing, I'm being such an asshole, but they have to understand…_

Naruto turned to look at Gaara, he could feel his heart beating wildly against his chest again.

"It's fine Sakura, he's just being unreasonable." The red head said, crossing his arms.

"Shut up!" He shut his eyes tightly, covering his eyes from the too fluorescent lights. "Just…just don't." He said walking away, his ears not making sense of whatever they shouted after him.

_I'm not hiding anything that they need to know, I'm doing just fine on my own!_

It wouldn't take long to find out just how wrong he was.

* * *

_Great, just freaking fantastic. My best friends think I'm a drug addict. _

Naruto sighed, slamming his locker closed. Opening, slamming it closed, Opening, slamming it closed, Opening, getting his finger caught in the door before slamming it closed.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck. _

"Oi, captain!" The blonde cringed, recognizing the taunting voice walking up behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you said you were busy." Naruto gritted out, he was really not in the mood for this.

"Naah, I just wanted you to clean the pool. I was having a little fun with some smoke." Kankuro said, his usual crooked smile on his lips.

"Thanks a lot. What do you want?" He sat down on the bench, an unsteady feeling washing over him.

"Just wanted to get my gym candy back from you." Kankuro grabbed Naruto's bag and began looking through it.

Naruto furrowed his brows, suddenly remembering he had the bottle in his hands.

"Kankuro, why the hell did you put this in my backpack?!" He began furiously, tossing the bottle at his forehead. "Sakura and Gaara found it, they think I'm-"

"Woah, woah, woah…woah." The brunette began crazily, holding up a hand. "The freak?"

"This isn't the time for stupid rumors! Sakura has been on my case for a while. She somehow convinced Gaara to go along with her and find out my secret. UGH! Why am I telling you this, am I that desperate?" The blonde grabbed a piece of clothing, harshly stuffing it into his gym bag.

"Kankuro, I can't do this anymore." He sighed, bowing his head.

"What! Hahaha, this is rich. Your friends confront you and you suddenly can't take a little bit of pressure?" He said mockingly. "You're as weak as I thought." He continued, slowly shaking his head.

"Just shut up." Naruto said, picking up his gym bag, motioning to leave.

"Oh, make sure your schedule is open for Saturday night, I've got plans for us." Kankuro said, his smirk back in place.

"Whatever, I'll see you at the meet tomorrow." Naruto's eyes watered as he yawned, almost considering falling asleep on the spot.

* * *

**Friday night.**

Today, Naruto decided as he walked up to his apartment, was officially the worst day in history.

_Ever._

It was barely 8:00 PM.

He motioned to turn on the lights, only to be welcomed by the same darkness. He pressed his back against the door, sliding down to the floor.

Taking a deep sigh, he tried to block out the day's events.

Tried being the key word.

His classes had all been a mess, he had walked with his head bowed the whole day, trying his best to avoid Sakura and Gaara. He spent lunch with an oblivious Kiba, who had offered to pay him in food in turn for some extra raining to improve his backstroke. The worst part had been skipping art, not being able to face Gaara he had fled to the roof tops until the final bell had rang.

It wasn't so bad until the meet.

After quickly scanning the stands at the meet, he hadn't seen any sign of pink or red hair. Not that he had expected them to show up after what had happened.

He didn't know what happened when he was in the water. It was like someone was holding him back, his whole body felt like heavy lead.

"_Uzumaki Naruto, 1:00:39." _(2)

The wetness on his cheeks surprised him as he buried his head in his hands. His times had been the worst in the group, leaving everyone silently disappointed in him, including himself. Sasuke's smug face and Kankuro's condescending smirk made him want to beat them senseless.

_I can't believe I did so bad, I-I thought I had it together. It felt like my lungs were on fire. There has to be something I can change… Maybe if I just had more sleep…_

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz! _

He jumped, startled by the sudden noise, his head hitting the doorknob.

"Hello?" He said slowly after clearing his throat, making sure his voice wouldn't break.

"_Naruto, it's Kisame. Listen kid…the boss just called in and well, I had to majorly twist the whole schedule." _

"So when do I go in?" Naruto asked, running his free hand through his hair.

"_Er…well that's why I called. You won't have to come in this week."_

"What! Come on man, I need the hours!"

"_Hey, don't get snippy with me! We're really overstaffed right now! It was either you or me. Just call in next week to see if there's hours for you, I'll try my best to fit you in kid. Oh! Have to go, someone just dropped something." _

Naruto stared at his phone, hearing the dead tone before flipping it shut.

_What the hell am I going to do? I don't even think I have enough to cover next month's rent…_

_Brrrzzz! Brrrzzz! _

He looked down at his phone, UNKNOWN CALLER flashing through the caller I.D..

He flipped it open staring cautiously, before answering.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Cinderella, what are you doing?"_

"Ugh, Kankuro, what do you want now? Did you call to rub it in?"

"_Aw, why would I ever want to remind you that your times were the worst in history ever since-"_

"Enough! I get it…"

"_Anyways, change of plans. I'm bored, my siblings both have someone over so I thought you could come over and clean my room."_

"Kankuro are you high? It's almost 10, _normal people _are getting ready to sleep."

"_See? There's no problem with you coming over then. I'll go pick you up, where do you live?"_

"Fine, but you better have food ready."

* * *

_20 minutes at the most, yeah right. _

Naruto had been sitting outside the buildings for half an hour, waiting for Kankuro.

He looked up, a small black car suddenly in his view.

"What took you so long?" Naruto said after opening the door.

"What is this, a date? I went to get some candy." Kankuro said, laughing.

"Man, this is where you live? Suuuucks." He said in a high pitched voice, beginning to drive off. "I _almost _feel bad for you."

"As if I need your pity. Why am I cleaning your room anyways? Don't you have maids or something?" Naruto said, looking out the tinted windows.

"Pffft, I wish. My dad fired them, hoping to teach us more discipline or something stupid like that." He scoffed.

"Us?"

"Yeah, me and…my half brother." He had paused, turning to smirk at Naruto. "My sister still lives with us, but my dad leaves her alone as long as she keeps his paperwork neat."

"So compared to my crack house, where do you live?"

"By the beach."

"Suna?"

"The one and only. We're almost there. Hope you don't mind sneaking around, I'd rather keep your presence a secret." Kankuro said, driving up to a gated property.

"Gee, sorry my third class self isn't up to par." The blonde rolled his eyes.

"Shut up. Come on, we'll go through the back door." Kankuro said, parking next to many extravagant cars.

It was almost 11 o'clock, the darkness made it impossible for Naruto to make out the huge mansion in front of him. He could see, however, that there was many windows, only two of them lit up.

A bright green Volkswagen beetle had escaped his view.

"Hurry up, Cinderella!" A voice in front of him said, followed by a jingle of keys.

"I can't even see, you idiot. Ooof!"

He stood up, dusting his clothes off before being pulled into what looked like a kitchen.

"The cook is gone whenever dad is, ugh I can never find anything in here." Kankuro said in the darkness, rummaging through drawers.

"Maybe if you turned the lights on?"

"Can't risk them coming downstairs. Here." He said, shoving a plastic container into Naruto's hands.

"Eat up, bitch."

"Shurrup." Naruto had already began digging in to what tasted like cold pasta. _Damn, this is good. _He couldn't remember when was the last time he had anything besides microwavable noodles. Not that he minded entirely.

Minutes later, Kankuro led Naruto up the stairs in the darkness. The hallway on the second floor was lit by a small lamp at the end of the corridor. It was eerily silent, he wondered if all the walls were soundproof.

"In here." Kankuro whispered as he shoved Naruto into a room.

Naruto thought _his_ apartment was messy. His was nothing compared to this. There were pieces of clothing thrown everywhere, magazines and books, junk food, and where those puppets?!

"Woah, when was the last time you cleaned in here? Is there even a floor under all this?" Naruto asked, picking up a dark purple sock that clearly had something green growing on it.

"I don't know, a month or two ago, maybe? There's cleaning stuff and a broom over there. I'll be back later, no one should come bother you." Kankuro said nodding towards the hallway, spinning his keys with his index finger.

Naruto nodded as Kankuro left, glaring at a blue bottle of Mr. Clean. He looked around the room, not having any idea where to start.

_I should've brought a flame thrower. _

* * *

"Hahaha, Cinderella fell asleep on the job!"

Weary blue eyes slowly opened, his vision clearing up by the second. A pair of black boots filled his view when he realized he was on the floor.

"Wha…what time is it?" Naruto yawned, his eyes continuing to droop as he fought to gain consciousness.

"It's time for you to do me another favor, yeah?"

"What? No, it's probably late, I need to get home." Naruto said. His eyes went wide as he located the clock on the wall. He sat up, only to be pushed down to the floor, a steel-toed boot on his chest.

"Wait…I have an idea." Kankuro said holding up a finger to his lips, his voice reminiscent of the Joker.

"This isn't funny. Get off." Naruto said, annoyed.

"No, I don't think so." He looked up at Kankuro's blank stare, and he knew something was wrong. His heart beginning to race. The horrific smile on his lips didn't quite match his blank stare. And his eyes…his eyes were bloodshot.

Kankuro grasped Naruto by the collar, kneeling down to his level. Naruto took hold of Kankuro's hands, trying to pry himself free.

"Listen, you do me this one last _favor_…and I'll pretend I don't know your secret. I'll…set you free, like a bird." He said, snickering into his fist.

Naruto paused, staring at the brunette quizzically. "What is it?" He asked slowly.

Kankuro let go of Naruto, who stood up abruptly. He took off his jacket, throwing it on the now clean floor, then kicked off his shoes before beginning to unbutton his jeans.

Naruto looked away uncomfortably as Kankuro removed his shirt and jeans, leaving him only in his briefs.

"Suck it." He said, gesturing towards his briefs.

Naruto stared at him, his mouth slightly open in shock.

"You're kidding me, right?" The blonde asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Do it." He began walking towards him, Naruto backing up into the wall.

"Kankuro, you're obviously high as a fucking kite, you're not thinking clearly. Listen, I'll just lea-" His sentence was caught in his throat as his back met the wall.

"You're going to do it!" Kankuro's voice took on a deep tremor, it would have made him laugh if he wasn't being choked. Naruto's eyes began to water as he struggled to breathe.

Kankuro leaned in close to, his lips close to the blonde's ears. "You've got no other option than to do what I say. Even if you tell them yourself, you're fucking screwed. What will poor innocent Sakura say when she finds out that her best friend has been lying to her face for _years_? She'll hate you, she'll despise you." He spat out. "What's the team going to say? No one will be your friend anymore, not even that faggot Neji(3). The psycho freak will forget you exist, you'll be doing everyone a favor actually. That stupid mutt Kiba will dump you, you know how much he hates liars. Liars and thieves."

Naruto pushed him back with all the force he could gather. "What are you talking about?! I've never stolen from anyone, you sick fuck!"

SMACK.

He could feel the warm liquid filling up in his mouth, he wasn't aware that his hands were shaking as he reached up to touch his jaw. He spit out the red liquid onto his palm, a small relief when he saw no teeth.

_Oh fuck, I need to get out of here! _He looked around the room, the only way out was the door. _I'm cornered in, there's no way… _He looked up at Kankuro, his crooked smile and wild eyes making him look animalistic. _As soon as he looks away I'll run for it, I can make it somewhere public. _

He was 2 feet away from the door when was thrown onto the floor. His jaw throbbed from the collision, the warm liquid reappearing. He made to stand up before Kankuro forced him on his back, holding his wrists over his head and his gripping legs with his knees. Naruto struggled to kick, but knew it was futile. _He's so heavy, I can't move at all! _

"You're out of your mind Kankuro, you say my friends are crazy, you should take a look at yourself. You're a psychotic freak!"

"Shut up!" He growled, shaking Naruto's shoulders, causing his head to repeatedly hit the floor. His vision was filled with hazy black dots, his breathing scarce.

Naruto tried to scream, Kankuro covering his mouth as soon as he realized what the blonde was trying to do.

_Oh god, no one knows I'm here…_He suddenly realized.

"Come on loser, just do it. It'll be over before you know it. I'll take you home and we'll never speak again."

"No! Just let me go, please!" _I feel so weak, even now when it matters I can't defend myself! _

"Are you crying, Uzumaki?" Kankuro smirked. "You're so fucking pathetic."

SPLAT.

Naruto blinked, stunned by his own actions, red liquid running down from Kankuro's eyes.

"You're going to regret that."

Naruto groaned as Kankuro took hold of his hair, harshly making him stand up. His legs were shaking as he tried to stay up, he stumbled backwards, falling on his knees.

"That's right, it's about time the message sunk in."

_NO! No…I don't want this, this is wrong! _(4)

His head felt light as he swayed. He watched as Kankuro slipped his half-erect member out of his briefs.

A deep feeling in his stomach made him think he might be seeing that pasta soon. _I can't go through with this, I should have just let him beat me senseless._

"Don't…" He begged weakly.

CRACK.

"What the hell is going on?"

Naruto had never been so glad to have someone see him dirty, crying, and covered in blood.

* * *

(1) I used to be on the swim team when I was in my freshman year of my first high school. I dropped about 5 pounds and I ate A LOT. I think I weighed about 90 pounds, I was short back then, so it was a pretty healthy weight! So imagine what Naruto would be like…

(2) I'd say a good time for any high school student for the 100 butterfly is about 57-59 seconds.

(3) Neji isn't gay in this story. Apologies if the term I had Kankuro use offended anyone reading this.

(4) Wrong as in…sexual assault. (Maybe it's just me, I thought someone would misinterpret what he said.)

* * *

Notes! First I'd like to thank my super awesome amazing beta, **Jacadenilla**. Without her, half this chapter wouldn't even be here, she totally flipped it 180. And then I'd like to thank **you guys** for the great support and understanding, I love reading your reviews! Which, I will be replying to as soon as I click submit :)

And if anyone cares about my grades (since they were the cause of my absence)…I got 2 A's, 2 B's, and ahem ahem ahem ahem ahem ahem….a D. ::cries::

The main reason that this chapter took such a long time is because of how much the mood changes and how important it is that the above scenes were done "correctly", since this is the turning point in the fic. So, I hope that my efforts came through!

Please review, I really want to hear what you thought about this chapter.

P.S. Someone mentioned a mailing list? If you'd like me to send you an email when I update, either note with your email or comment here :) Example: eckeltricity gmail


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry guys :( Hope this chapter is worth the wait, if not, feel free to yell at me!

(Thanks to my amazing beta, Jacadenilla!)

* * *

It was as if time had stood still. No one moved, no one took a breath for an entire second.

The door was now wide open, the hallway's bright light illuminating the dark room. Naruto could feel a strong tension beginning to fill the air.

"Kankuro…what…what the fuck are you doing?" A low growl came from the door.

_Please let this be over, let this be some cruel sick joke. Fuck! Whoever it is, just make this stop! _Naruto shook his head, biting his bottom lip. He slowly tilted his head sideways, catching a small glimpse of the familiar stranger. Unwilling tears continued to form.

"Oh hey little bro, want to join? I was just teaching this little bitch here a lesson." Naruto winced, feeling _it _pressing near his lips.

"Kankuro." The voice warned.

"He's so easy to mess with, you should have seen him, haha! He was…he was…oh man, this is too good. He was crying for his mommy!" Kankuro laughed unnaturally.

"Kankuro. Get away from him." The voice said with more force.

"Woah, someone's a little cranky tonight. The moon's full, don't you have someone's blood to suck tonight?"

A slight growl could be heard from the door. "This is no time for your idiotic jokes, I said, get away from him."

"Wha-?" Kankuro looked up, his face full of confusion. "Forget it, this doesn't concern you, don't let the door bitch slap you on the way out."

"This very much concerns me, you idiot. You're disgusting." He spat out.

"Concerns you? Puh-lease. Just who do hell do you think you are?! You've done worse, so don't even thing about preaching to me."

_I can't take this any longer!_

"Just get out of here Gaara, this is none your damn business!"

_Gaara?! _Blue eyes opened wide. _No, no, no…it can't be, this is all a dream, I'm still sleeping on Kankuro's floor, he'll come back and wake me up any second now!_

Naruto let out an involuntary whimper as Kankuro fisted at his hair, forcing him forward.

_Any second now…_

"Get away from him _now_…or else." Gaara threatened, his footsteps slowly approaching them.

_Any second now!_

"Or else what? You'll hurt me?" Kankuro laughed, turning back to Naruto, forcing himself onto the blonde.

_Any second now!!_

"_Please_, don't make me laugh. You're just as pathetic as he is!" He laughed, releasing the grip on Naruto's head, holding his hands to his stomach.

_Wake up Naruto, wake up! _He pressed his eyes together, his breathing becoming erratic. _Please wake up! Oh god, this can't be real, please, please! _Naruto cautiously opened his eyes, met by the image of the hard wooden floor and too familiar black boots. _This isn't a dream, it's a nightmare… _

"Naruto, move."

_I can't-I can't move! _His whole body was shaking, a fluttering, sick feeling coming from his stomach. _I don't feel so-so_…

"Oh man, that's sic-ARGH!" Kankuro was interrupted as Gaara's fist went flying towards his face. Kankuro stumbled back, his face in complete shock, his hand flying towards his wounded cheek. The redhead took advantage of the moment, throwing a punch to his stomach, the brunette stumbling back further as he gasped for air.

_What's going on? this can't be real! I want to go home, I want to go home! _His breathing was becoming worse, taking small gasps of air that didn't quite reach his lungs.

Gaara had pinned down Kankuro to the floor, his fist repeatedly connecting to his face. The color red soon began to mar the brunette's face, his hands struggling to stop his younger brother.

_There's no air in here._

_There's no air in here! _

Naruto clutched his chest, each intake making his heart clench painfully. He could feel his heart rate increasing with each breath, his vision slowly fading, his finger tips were becoming numb as he continued to grip the cloth around his chest.

_I just need to- _He let his body go, hitting the ground roughly as his grip became loose around his shirt. He could feel a cold sweat slide across his forehead. _I…just…outside…air!_

"Naruto!" Strong hands were shaking his shoulders. "Naruto, breathe!"

_NO, can't you see?! There's no air in here, no air! I'm scared, I'm scared!_

"Don't be afraid. There's plenty of air in my room." Gaara said softly as he kneeled down besides him, holding Naruto's trembling hand.

"Breathe Naruto…slowly." Gaara took a deep breath in demonstration.

Naruto nodded, his breaths shaky and uncontrolled.

"You're safe now, everything is going to be okay."

Naruto looked up into Gaara's eyes, seeing him clearly for the first time that night. Gaara's expression was full of calm and concentration.

Naruto nodded again, feeling his breath slowly return to normal.

"Do you think you can stand?" Gaara asked, cocking his head to the right, trying to see Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto?" He squeezed his hand, trying to get his attention. The blonde looked up at him slowly, their gazes locking before the blonde looked down again and shook his head. _Kankuro was right…I'm so pathetic. _

"Come on," The red head stood up, extending his hand towards him. Naruto took it and began to pull himself up, bracing the wall for support. His legs were shaky, but Gaara kept him up.

_Just leave me here…pretend nothing happened tonight. Please…lie to me. _

"Ah!" Naruto yelped as Gaara turned, taking his hand over his shoulder and pulling him over his back. If he had been thinking clearly, he would have blushed. Chills went down his spine as he closed his hands around the redhead's cold neck and pulled his knees up.

A slow beating rhythm began from the back of his head, each beat becoming stronger than the last. He pressed his head against the other's neck, the coldness offering a strange sense of relief. He felt movement below him and his stomach began to churn uncomfortably.

Naruto opened his eyes as he felt himself being lowered onto a soft surface. He released his hold from the other's neck, the throbbing in his head starting up again. He took a quick glance at his surroundings, only to see outlines of various furniture lit by the moonlight.

"You should lie down." Gaara voice interrupted the silence, resting an arm on his shoulder.

Naruto nodded, absentmindedly following his instructions. His head hit the soft cool covers, the only sound were Gaara's footsteps retreating.

He shut his eyes tightly, a flashing pain suddenly hitting him from the back of his head. He bit his lip, suppressing a moan as it suddenly went away.

A sudden warmth near his cheeks made him gasp in surprise. He looked up to see a washcloth near the bridge of his nose.

"There's blood." Gaara explained.

Naruto nodded, sitting up slowly, trying to disguise the pain. His chest tightened, his mind flashing back the images of the previous events. _Am I still asleep? That must be it! That-that didn't just happen…But…no. I can't deny it…Gaara, he's going to ask questions and-and-…and I can't let him find out, not like this…_

He winced as the washcloth went near his cheekbone.

"What…What happened?" Gaara asked slowly, breaking the silence.

"What?" His own voice took him by surprise, it sounded so carefree, as if nothing had happened. Gaara had sat back, holding the now-red washcloth in his hands. "Nothing!" He smiled as wide as his cut lip allowed him to, a strange laugh escaping his lips.

"No-nothing happened, not really…I-I came over because Kanku-Kankuro's room was dirty! We made a bet…loser had to clean the other's room. He even called me Cinderella, hahaha! I didn't want to go back on my word, so I had to come! His room was so dirty, I think one of his pants grabbed my leg! I fell asleep after I finished and then he came back and…he…he wasn't the same." The blonde paused, his smile faltering.

"I have no idea what just happened. I'm was just…so tired. This is all a bad dream…Sakura isn't mad at me, I-I didn't hurt her feelings, I would never do yell at you guys…I don't know what's wrong with my head, why would it come up with such a horrible nightmare? I should get home, I want-I need to get home. My parents…they-they could be home, or they could be halfway across the world." He stopped, something caught in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak again, though nothing came out.

_What's- what's wrong with my throat? _He stared down at his hands, small transparent droplets appearing on them.

_Is Gaara crying?_

He looked up, his brows furrowed confusedly as he stared at Gaara, brilliant jade eyes watching him cautiously.

"Ow! Something must have gotten in my eyes, they're so freaking sensitive it's ridiculous!" The blonde exclaimed, rubbing at his eyes.

"Damn this stupid thing in my eye!" He said shakily, bringing his hands to his cheeks, trying to hide his tears.

"I'm sorry, I really need to get going…" He stood up brusquely, the blood suddenly swimming to his legs. His vision momentarily flashed white before he tumbled down to the floor.

"Naruto…" Gaara began to reach for him.

"D-Don't. Please." He whispered.

Naruto wasn't usually a disheartened person. A crooked smile was still on his lips as his mind raced, not having any idea what do to. The pain was becoming overbearing, his head was pounding against his skull like a heavy drum line, his body felt like a rag doll that had been repeated thrown by a careless child, his heart…his heart hadn't stopped racing. Everything just…hurt.

It was all crashing down.

He knew life had always been less than amazing. It was painful, struggles always came up, but in the end, he knew he would always have his pride…and his friends. And now that it had been ripped apart in a matter of minutes…it was just too much. When would it stop? _Will it ever stop? _

He could hear hysterical sobbing, and it took him a few minutes to realize that he was the source. He pushed away as he felt arms wrap around him, but gave up quickly, having no energy left to fight.

The tears kept rolling down, one after another, no matter how hard he tried to suppress them. He didn't think he would ever be able to stop, every time he came close to stopping a new wave of anguish came over him.

It must have been hours before he showed signs of slowing down, his heart beat began to slow down and his screams became hoarse. His breathing slowly regained its pace, a small rubbing on his back began to calm him down.

"Gaa-ra…" He began. "I-"

"Don't force yourself." Gaara said, pulling away. "You must be exhausted, it's better if you to rest before you do anything else."

Naruto nodded slowly, wiping the tears away from his eyes. He watched Gaara movements becoming clear as his eyes began to focus.

"I would welcome you to stay, but I want you as far away from…that _thing _as possible." Gaara said through gritted teeth. "I also don't trust myself to be around him at the moment." He added, moving towards his closet, taking out a long black trench coat along with a dark brown bomber jacket.

"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly, suddenly taking notice of the red head's attire. Black sweats and a white WWF shirt with a small panda on the back. "I probably interrupted your sleep, I-" He stopped, noticing the bed was already made, several books lying on the bed.

"Sleep was the furthest thing on my mind, don't worry about it." The corner of his lips twitched as he shrugged on his coat.

"And I let you keep the other sweater for a reason." He sighed behind Naruto, slipping the jacket over the blonde's shoulders.

_For a reason…?_

"I-Thank you." Naruto said, bringing the jacket closer to himself, a slight warmth reaching his cheeks.

"Come on," Gaara moved towards the door, picking up keys from the a dresser. Naruto stood carefully, hesitantly following the red head towards the door.

"He's probably still knocked out." Gaara said, noting his hesitance. Naruto nodded, closely following the redhead as he began walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Naruto's shoulders were stiff, a paranoid feeling of being followed on the back of his head. They made their way down the stairs, beginning to approach the white kitchen, a feeling of nostalgia washing over the blonde.

CLICK.

Naruto winced, shielding his eyes as sudden white lights flashed above them. He bowed his head, trying to make himself invisible to the stranger.

"Gaara?" A tired voice said from the door. "Where do you think you're going?" There was a rustling of plastic and clacking of heels as the small figure shuffled about, settling in.

"Out."

"You do realize it's almost three in the morning? Didn't you tell me your sleeping med…who's that?" The voice suddenly paused. Naruto looked up in reflex, his eyes meeting the figure of a tall blonde girl, her brows furrowed, squinting towards them.

"Temari-" Gaara began.

"Ohmygosh!" She gasped as she caught a second look at Naruto's face. "What on earth…what happened?"

"I'm taking him home, Temari. I'll be spending the night." Gaara said, moving to stand in front of Naruto, blocking Temari's view.

"What! But is he ok?" She nudged the redhead to the side, taking a better look at the blonde. "His cheek is swollen up pretty badly, why didn't you get him some ice!"

"I-I'm fine rea-" Naruto's tried to say, his voice too hoarse to hear.

"He-"

"Never mind!" She waved her hand, interrupting the redhead as he began to speak. "He needs bandages, gauze, and ice! His lip is swelling up like a balloon…Has he eaten anything? Look at him! A skeleton is fatter than him! Never mind, he'll have to eat anyways. I think we might have some more blankets, it's always cold in your room." Both Gaara and Naruto watched her as she went throughout the kitchen, pulling out random items, stacking them on her arms.

"Temari, I'm taking him home. I'll be spending the night." Gaara reminded her, catching a box of band-aids as it fell from her arms.

"Oh no you're not! Have you taken a good look at him? He looks like a zombie, he shouldn't even be standing." She argued, settling the boxes on the counter.

"I've thought of that, but it's for the best. I don't think _these _will help the wounds much." The redhead said lowly, handing her back the box of pink band-aids.

Temari paused, her eyes slowly shifting, catching the meaning behind his words.

"Oh…" She paused, staring at the box. "Why didn't you say so?" She said, frowning at Gaara. "I don't see why he can't just spend the night in your room, you have plenty of-"

"I don't think he'd be comfortable with the culprit just down the hall." He hissed just loud enough for her to hear.

Temari bit her lip as she took a deep sigh, shaking her head. "I see."

"I'll go pack something for you guys, put these on him anyways and take him to the car." She placed the bandages in his hand.

"Clothes, pajamas, your toothbrush, money, blankets…Do you think you need blankets? Ah, I'll get some anyways." She continued, walking out the door.

Gaara stared dumbly at the band aids in his hands as she walked out of the kitchen, unsure of what to do. He slipped them into his pocket before going over to Naruto.

"Naruto?" Gaara looked over at the blonde, who was swaying on the spot.

"Uh?!" Naruto jumped, stepping backwards. "Oh, sorry…just feeling a little sleepy."

_I can't feel my toes…_

Gaara allowed a slight smile to cross his lips as he watched the blonde fighting sleep for several minutes. He stared down at the floor as the blonde began to sleep. "If you'd like, I can carr-"

"Oh, I thought you'd be in the car by now. I put some extra clothes and underwear in here, just in case." Temari held up a small suitcase, taking both of them by surprise.

"Yes, well…" Gaara cleared his throat, taking the bag from her, nudging Naruto towards the door.

"Call me if you need anything. Make sure you guys get enough sleep, no staying up doing who knows what!" She said, her hands on her hips.

"We'll be fine, stop worrying." Gaara walked Naruto through the threshold, noting the slightest bit of light in the horizon. He opened the car doors, setting the suitcase in the backseat while Naruto sat down on the passenger's seat.

"Wait, wait!" Temari said.

"You've got some dirt on your chin, here." She licked her finger, rubbing it against his chin.

Gaara shrugged her off, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Er…thank you." He said, clearing his throat. "I'll call you later." He reassured her, starting the car.

"Ok, be safe!" She smiled, waving as the car drove off.

* * *

"I live in North Konoha."

"Ok."

Naruto's eyes drooped, his eyes staring ahead of him. All he wanted was sleep, even an hour would be fine. But the images kept flashing through his mind, he could almost feel the ghost of Kankuro's hands on his neck.

Naruto could feel the familiar feeling starting in his throat, he bit his lip harshly, looking out the window.

"It's okay to cry." Gaara said, noticing the blonde's movements. "I won't think any less of you."

Naruto nodded in thanks, his eyes feeling cried out.

"Do I really look that bad?" He asked after the car stopped at a red light. The sun was low in the horizon, it was probably four in the morning.

Gaara tilted his head towards him, staring at him until Naruto felt a slight flush on his cheeks.

"Like Sakura and my sister said, you look like death. You bruise easily as well." He added, pressing his foot on the gas.

"Oh." Naruto said dumbly.

"Where do you live?"

"Keep going straight until you hit the playground then turn right."

"Is anyone at your house?"

"I-I live on my own." He admitted.

"Is this it?" Gaara asked, looking towards gray apartments.

"No, that's abandoned. It's the one next to it, you can park around the back."

Naruto held his hands together, a cold sweat running through him. _What is he going to say? He's going to be so disgusted, he'll leave as soon as I open the door!_

"Naruto?"

"Huh?" He looked over to the empty driver's seat in confusion.

"Over here," The blonde turned to his right, Gaara had opened the door for him and had the suitcase hanging over his shoulder.

"Oh, right." Naruto hesitated, tempted to ask if they could just sleep in the car.

Closing the door behind him, Naruto led Gaara into the building, feeling like a dead man walking.

He could hear a screaming couple on the first floor, glass breaking included. He tried his best to ignore the grey and yellow wallpaper tearing off, the wobbly steps, and most of all, Gaara's face.

They reached the fourth floor, Naruto almost surprised by the unusual silence of his floor.

Naruto stared at the red faded door, a white sheet taped to the front. He ignored it, fumbling for his keys.

"I must have dropped them when he-" _When he pinned me down…_

"Yeah I dropped them." He thought out loud. He hit the door on three separate spots before it cringed open.

They stepped into the apartment, only the moonlight lighting the room. _Thank god the lights don't work… _

They entered the apartment, the kitchen consisting of a small table, a fridge, and a stove.

"This way." Naruto said before Gaara could take a better look. They passed the narrow hallway into Naruto's room, a queen size bed and a wooden bookcase at the edge of his room. Most of his school things were on the floor, a cereal box that he had been munching on was on the bed.

"It's not as dirty as it looks, it's mostly the mess that makes it look like that." Naruto said.

"I always imagined your room would be perfectly immaculate." Gaara said stoically.

"Haha, very funny." He said, sitting down on the bed. "What do you have in your bag? I didn't see you packing."

"Just extra clothes and supplies. I keep it in my car, just in case." He said, taking out what looked like a blanket.

"Does this happen oft-OW!" Naruto blinked back tears, the strong pain re-emerging at the back of his head.

"What's wrong?" Gaara dropped his backpack, going over to him.

"My head just hurts a little."

"It could be a concussion. Did you…hit your head?"

_About fifteen times!_

"Uh, just a little." Naruto said, smiling weakly as he laid down on the bed, clutching his head.

"Wake me up when this is all over." Naruto moaned.

"Just take these, if it continues, you'll have to go to the hospital…or worse, call Sakura." The red head mumbled.

Naruto nodded, too dizzy to complain. He took the two small pills from Gaara, tilted his head back and swallowed them dry.

"I had water, you know."

Naruto laughed, a bit crazily as he looked at the water bottle Gaara was holding. Pressing his head against the pillow, he sighed happily as his back began to ache in appreciation.

He glanced over to the foot of the bed, Gaara shifting around the room, setting his shoes and jacket against the wall. His eyes started to become heavy, the pain present, but slowly edging away.

"I'm guessing you don't sleep with your shoes on."

"Mmmm." He groaned, not wanting to move. _It's already warm here…I'll just put my feet over the edge…_

He felt a tugging at his foot, curling his toes as they became exposed to the cold air.

"..." The blonde moaned against his pillow, smiling droopily.

He felt warm covers go over him, and then sleep finally came.

* * *

Please, please review! I am having such a tiring life at the moment, you guys have no idea how happy your reviews make me! So if you can, take a moment and leave me a lenghty review! (Or short, haha, either way)

::sigh:: I have to go to work now...for 8 hours! If you guys have any ideas, or anything you would like to see in the next chapter, feel free!

Oh yeah, I'll reply to chapter 7 reviews tonight!

Thanks you guys 3


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry guys, things happen. Thanks jacadenilla :)

.sunday morning

Silence.

If only for this moment, there was complete untroubled silence in the small square room. The only sound that one could hear was the soft and even breathing of two tired boys. A slight amount of sunlight peeked into the room through the heavy blinds, leaving the rest of the room lit with undisturbed shadows.

A small shift on the bed broke the silence seconds later. Blonde tresses peeked out messily from the dark blue blankets, a strange sigh escaping the boy's chapped lips. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the warmth underneath the covers, his nose wrinkled as fresh air hit his previously warm cheeks.

There was no movement from the boy next to him besides the slight rise and fall of his chest. The boy looked uncomfortable in his sleep, sitting in a plastic chair with his arms crossed against his chest. His head was bowed down, his red messy hair covering his eyes.

Blue eyes began to open, his vision slowly focusing with every blink. Naruto winced slightly as he turned on his side, his whole body aching in protest. _Owww…those painkillers don't last much, do they?_ He thought, remembering how pain-free and serene the first few hours of his sleep had been.

Naruto stared ahead of him, feeling a twinge of guilt as he noticed Gaara's awkward sleeping position.

"Uggh…" He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut for a second, the slight pressure at the back of his head returning. He frowned, taking his hands up to his head before rubbing at his temples. _It's just as bad as it was yesterday, I really, really, really hope this goes away with time. _

He sighed with relief as he felt the pressure slowly egging away. _It feels like I barely had any sleep…_He thought, continuing to rub at his temples. _What time is it anyways? _Pushing the sheets off his legs, he began to feel how sore his muscles _really _were. He sat up slowly, his body strangely refusing to go at its regular pace.

Grabbing the edge of the mattress to balance himself, he turned to his side, swinging his legs over the bed. He looked down at the faded blue carpeted floor, his cell phone staring back at him. _It's probably out of battery by now, not like it had that many minutes left anyways. _He sighed, picking up the phone regardless.

Unsurprisingly, an unlit screen greeted him as he flipped it open. _Aiiish, stupid phone…stupid dead battery…stupid electricity! _He tossed the phone to the side in frustration, sending it sliding across the room before it lamely hit the wall.

_Oh! Gaara has a watch, duh. _He mentally slapped himself.

Naruto stretched out his legs, allowing the blood flow to circulate before he stood up shakily. _Dang, this is what an old man feels like? SUCKS. _He shook his head, walking the short distance across the room towards the redhead. Naruto tilted his head, doing a double-take as he saw the expression on the boy's face. _Wow, he looks so calm. _Naruto thought as he began to see Gaara more clearly. _I can't believe he went through all that trouble for me last night, er, earlier today. _He sighed, blowing the hair out of his eyes._ This is so confusing, what time is it?! _

He bent down, taking hold of Gaara's cool wrist, twisting it to get a better view of the watch.

_Wow, it's almost going to be noon. Good thing I don't have to go anywhere…wait, do I? _He thought, biting his lip, starring at the small silver hand turning towards the next minute.

"Can I help you?" A voice came from above him.

Naruto jumped at the voice, letting go of Gaara's as if it had suddenly burnt him. He caught himself, his balance betraying him a bit before he looked up, sleep filled green eyes starring back at him in confusion.

"Oh, um." Naruto began, curling his hands back towards his body. "I was just looking at the time. I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's fine. I'm surprised you're up though, I almost thought you were going to sleep through the whole day." Gaara said as he slowly lifted his hands above him to stretch, a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

"No way!" Naruto said, pretending to look outraged. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea…let's just go back to sleep." Naruto said, walking back towards his bed stiffly.

"Hm, not in this chair. Besides, you should eat something first." Gaara stood up, fixing his shirt down.

_Eat something? Oh man! I don't think I have anything…at least not anything that's can be considered breakfast. Wait, there might be something behind those cereal boxes… _

"I'll make breakfast, I think I can make something edible from what I have." The blonde said, slowly edging himself towards the hallway. "You can use the shower meanwhile if you want, the water's really cold though." He smiled, signaling towards the bathroom.

"I'll help."

"Really? Sure, if you really want to. I'd go with the shower though." He said, scratching the back of his head.

Naruto turned towards the hallway as Gaara nodded. He winced, stepping on his right foot a little too strongly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just a cramp. Mind opening up the blinds for me?" Naruto asked as he headed straight for the pantry. _Let's see, let's see. _Naruto thought as light suddenly bled into the room, opening up the main cabinet and looking for something edible.

_Okay, there's bread, and there's tomato sauce, baking powder, kool-aid… _"How does a peanut butter, tomato sauce, and blue cake sprinkles sandwich sound?"

"Delicious." Gaara replied, leaning against the counter.

"Oh, you know what? There's some eggs I just got the other day in the fridge. Can you get them for me?" Naruto asked, getting out a bowl as a thought occurred to him.

Gaara nodded, taking out the carton of eggs from the fridge, handing it over to the blonde, who had mixed peanut butter and what looked like bacon bits in the bowl.

"What?" Naruto asked as he noticed the odd look from Gaara. "Oh! Yeah, it looks weird, but trust me, it's going to be sooo…" He trailed off, remembering how his friends had previously reacted at his food choices. "Well, it'll be edible." He smiled.

"I turned on the stove, you can toast the bread while I beat these eggs." Naruto said, taking out a fork from one of the cupboards.

Naruto cracked the eggs, beating them in with the previous ingredients until he was satisfied with the result. He poured half the mixture into the pan, enjoying the aroma that the mixture was created. Gaara had placed the bread on a plate and was watching Naruto from the table.

Naruto turned down the dial on the stove, mixing the eggs one last time before taking the pan off the stove.

"Oh, thanks for setting the table." Naruto said, placing the pan in between them. Gaara nodded, watching Naruto place half of the omelet in front of him before taking his half.

Naruto watched Gaara as he took the first bite, watching for any signs of choking.

"So what do you think?" He asked nervously after chewing.

"It's above edible."

Naruto grinned, continuing to eat his omelet. The silence around them was calm, not as awkward as Naruto had imagined minutes before.

Naruto began to nibble on a piece of toast as his mind slowly began to wander. _I think now's a good time to say something. But what exactly do I say? 'Heeey…so your crazy half brother…' No, nothing good can come from that. This is all so complicated, making my head hurt… Well he's kind of acting like it didn't happen, so maybe I should do that too? But…after last night, I think I owe him an explanation. Yeah! I owe him this at least. Okay, here I go…_

"…Gaara?" Naruto began, as he looked up into green eyes. He stopped, suddenly feeling unsure of himself. "I'll take your plate." He finished, quickly looking down.

_So much for that plan…_Naruto frowned, gathering his plate, disappointed in himself.

"I'll take them." Gaara stood up, taking his own plate. He reached over to take the blonde's plate, his hand accidentally taking hold of Naruto's hand instead of the plate. Naruto reacted immediately, he took his hand back as if it had been burnt, his breath caught in his throat.

Gaara looked down at Naruto, his figure looking childlike as he brought his hands together under his chest. The redhead frowned, setting his plate back down on the table before taking a seat.

"I don't mean to be blunt," Gaara began softly. "But what exactly happened last night?"

Naruto kept his head down, his suddenly mind unable to process his mind into words.

_This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be…_

"Naruto?" Gaara tilted his head to the side, trying to read the emotion of Naruto's face.

"Di-didn't I tell you last night?" Naruto spoke up, his voice shaky, staring at his lap as he intertwined his fingers together.

"Not…not exactly. Ever since last night, something is very different about you." Gaara said cautiously, trying to meet Naruto's eyes.

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair, chewing on his bottom lip as he tried to think of what to say. "Most of what I said was true. I just…I just never finished telling you everything." He began, looking up to meet Gaara's unreadable expression.

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to hold his hands steady as he felt them begin to tremble.

"The reason I went over last night, actually _was_ to clean Kankuro's room. Though… it wasn't because I lost a bet." He sighed, pausing to hold his hands tighter together.

"About two months ago, Kankuro found out something about me…something that I've been trying to keep a secret ever since the day I entered Konoha High. If he told anyone, especially Sasuke, my school life would be over and I'd probably be run out by the ice prince himself."

He shook his head, looking anywhere but at Gaara's face.

"That day…when he found out, we made a deal. If Kankuro kept my secret safe, I would…I would be his personal slave." He whispered the last part lowly, he wasn't even sure if the redhead had heard him.

He swallowed, quickly taking a glance at Gaara's face. _He looks upset, even I can tell, has…has he figured it out already? Oh man…he's going to hate me. What if he…no he wouldn't do that, he's not like that. I can trust Gaara, can't I? _

"This is why you were doing his homework?" Gaara rested his elbows on the table, his expression hard.

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, that was part of it…"

"Were there other things?"

"Just…just the homework, carrying his things around, getting in trouble for him so I could do his detentions, that only happened twice though. I got tests answers from teacher's desks and also asked me to lower my times during our last meet." Naruto bit his lip. "He didn't have to ask for that though, I sucked anyways." He spat out bitterly.

"You did look distracted."

"All I could think about was how much I hurt you guys that day. Especially Sakura, I can't believe I made her cry." Naruto frowned at the memory. "Wait, you were at the meet?"

"And Sakura. We hid behind the bleachers, she thought you were still mad at her."

"I'm such an idiot." He shook his head. "Those pills that fell out of my bag, they weren't even mine…just so you know. Kankuro, he's taking steroids, besides whatever else he's doing. Anyways, he called me last night, saying he'd pick me up so I could go over and clean his room. One of the reasons I accepted was because he said there'd be food, and the last thing I had eaten that day was half a bag of chips someone had left in the locker room." He muttered, his cheeks turning red with shame.

"After we got there, I started cleaning and he said he was going somewhere, he didn't mention where he was going. After I finished cleaning, I guess I fell asleep on the floor, then-"

"You guess?" Gaara interrupted.

"Yeah, well I don't really remember thinking about falling asleep, but that's where I woke up." Naruto looked off into the wall, trying to recollect his memory.

"You fainted." Gaara stated, a bit of concern reaching his expression.

Naruto slowly nodded in agreement, feeling embarrassed. He looked away from the wall and sighed, knowing the hardest part was coming.

Naruto cleared his throat before beginning again. "I'd say he got there about two hours later, then he woke me up. He saw how much I wanted to go home, so I guess in a moment of desperation, he offered me freedom." He put his elbows on the table, taking his hands and covering his eyes from seeing Gaara.

"Freedom?" Gaara asked, furrowing his brows.

Naruto nodded.

"With one condition though." He gulped.

"In exchange for my freedom, he wanted me to…." He stopped, the words caught in his throat. "He wanted me to…."

Gaara clenched his jaw, feeling a murderous intent growing within him. He could feel something inside him snap, as he silently watched Naruto's thin shoulders holding back a tremble.

Naruto took a small gasp for air, covering his mouth with his right hand. "I won't lie and say I didn't consider doing it, because at one point, it was all I could think of." He swallowed, holding his shoulders dejectedly.

"'If I do this, everything will go back to normal' is something that went through my head. But I just-I just couldn't let myself do that. Even at that moment…I just felt so humiliated." He looked up for a slight second, red rimmed eyes not going unnoticed by the other boy.

"Once he realized I wasn't giving in, he tried to force me. I quickly made up my mind to leave, but he caught me by surprise." Naruto rubbed his neck, the ghosts of Kankuro's hands still lingering on his skin.

Gaara watched him carefully, eyes widening as he saw small hints of handprints around the blonde's neck.

"He started saying all sorts of things, he wanted to make me feel like I had no other choice, I guess. I was starting to believe him at first, but then he said some really stupid things. I called him a sick fuck and he punched me." Naruto pointed at his jaw. He hadn't taken a look in the mirror, but judging by the tenderness he felt earlier by pressing it, he could tell a major bruise had formed.

"I almost had to convince myself not to do it. The things he was saying…they made sense. And if I did this small thing, everything would be over. But then again…I've known Kankuro for years, and I may not be close to him, but I know how he is. If I gave in, if you hadn't shown up-" He took a short pause, collecting himself. "I have a feeling things could've gone much farther than he originally intended."

Naruto's hands were shaking almost uncontrollably as we waited for an sort of response from the redhead. He waited a few seconds, recollecting his breath before looking up towards Gaara. He was looking away, his jaw clenched and his knuckles gripped tightly.

"I'm pretty sure you've figured out my secret by now." He stood up, feeling slightly awkward, taking their plates towards the sink. He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve. Forcing a smile on his lips, he tried to ease the air around them. "I can't believe Sakura thought I was doing drugs…that's like if Kiba-" He stopped as he heard a crash, his vision suddenly filled with a strong bright light, a hot white pain bleeding into his skull.

He could hear his labored breathing as his senses began to come to, feeling hands prying him up against the counter's wall.

_Wha-what, how did I get on the floor?_

"Naruto…" He heard a huff above him.

He tried nodding, feeling his head swaying as he was lifted from the ground.

_Gaara…just-just knock me out, I can't stand this pain! _He moaned against what felt like Gaara's shoulder, a strong feeling of déjà vu hitting him.

He felt a small bit of relief as his head hit the cold pillow, he brushed his hair away from his eyes, feeling a cold sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

"Open your eyes for a second." He heard Gaara say above him. Naruto winced as he opened his eyes, a bright light hitting his vision. His brows furrowed, staring up at Gaara as the light adjusted to his vision.

"Gaara, what-"

"I think you might have a concussion." Gaara frowned. "Did you get hit in the head?"

"Er, yeah, a little…" Naruto admitted, closing his eyes. A bright ball of light still following his eyes around.

Gaara's eyes narrowed as he stared ahead of him, thinking. "If you do have a concussion, you shouldn't have gotten out of bed or moved around that much, that's probably why your head hurts so much."

"Are you sure that's what it is?" Naruto asked, holding his hand up against his head, watching Gaara sit at the edge of the bed.

"Your pupils are uneven."

"Woah, really? I want to see! That must look so…totally not cool." He had paused as Gaara turned to look at him, raising a non-existent eyebrow incredulously.

"You need to rest as much as possible, or it could become somewhat serious." Gaara explained, a slight frown appearing on his lips.

"I guess so…" Naruto thought out loud, the thumping in his head decreasing at what seemed like the slowest rate possible. "Hopefully it'll be gone tomorrow, otherwise school is going to suck with this headache." Naruto sat up, reaching for the blankets around his feet to cover himself.

Gaara stood up, pulling the blankets over to the blonde. "Actually," He started. "I don't think going to school tomorrow is the best idea."

"Wha-why not? I mean, I have homework to turn in, and besides all that, I have practice!"

"Exactly. You haven't exactly looked in the mirror yet, but…it might be better if you waited until your bruises started healing a bit more, at least to a point where they're concealable. Teachers would ask questions…isn't fighting outside of school against the rules?"

"Oh, I didn't even think about that…" Naruto thought out loud as he massaged his temples.

"You should get to sleep." Gaara said, picking up his bag, searching through the contents.

Naruto nodded, settling himself into bed. "Are you leaving?" He asked quietly, watching Gaara fixing his bag.

Gaara shook his head. "I'm looking for something."

Naruto watched as the redhead found his book, and as he began reading after finding a comfortable spot on the floor. Before he knew it, the weight of his eyelids had become too heavy to stay open. He could feel his limbs sink against the mattress by the second. "Gaara?" He asked, the sound of pages turning had stopped a few minutes ago.

"I'll be here when you wake up." Naruto heard from below him. The blonde attempted to smile, already half asleep.

"I promise."

And for the first time in months, the blonde had escaped from his troubles…if only for a few hours.

* * *

.sunday evening

Gaara sighed as he turned to the last page of the heavy book. _How disappointing. _He frowned, setting the book down on the floor. He looked up to the bed, the blonde had been sleeping for almost three hours, the only time Gaara had ever heard complete silence coming from him.

He leaned against the wall, quickly scanning the room. Naruto didn't have a lot of furniture, which was probably why mostly everything was either scattered or stacked up on the floor. _Out of all the possibilities, this scenario never crossed our minds._ He thought, thinking back to all the crazy things Sakura would come up with. _But…why would he hide this? Aren't we…aren't Sakura and Kiba his close friends? Surely he could trust them with something like this. _

_But…it was me he confided with first. Does that mean something? _Gaara set his chin on his knees as he folded them up to his chest.

_Does that mean he trusts me more than them? No, no…it's just because I was the one that was there…It was my own brother who caused him this pain though. _The redhead bit his bottom lip, anger seeping into him, remembering Kankuro's smug face as he was gripping the back of Naruto's hair the night before. _That fucking bastard…_

He balled up his fists as they began to shake from the strong rage that hit him. _He'll pay for this eventually, but for now, it's Naruto I should focus on. _

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his bag and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

.monday morning

Sakura frowned, looking around at the empty seats around her. _Where are those guys? I could have sworn I saw Kiba earlier in Tsunade's office…_ Well, it wasn't completely empty, two guys from the class below were sitting in the next bench over, giving her stares and suggestive looks. _Ugh, pigs. _

_Should I wait for them? _Her stomach growled at that very moment, making her freeze as she looked over at the boys in the next bench, making sure they hadn't heard. She brushed her cheek off, feeling the heat radiating from the embarrassment. She picked up her sandwich slowly, taking a small bite, not seeming to enjoy it with the silence around her. She sighed, the fight from Friday night still lingering in her head, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

She looked around the courtyard one last time, looking for any signs of her friends. She pushed her plate away, her appetite disappearing. _Naruto never misses school, maybe he's just avoiding me, that inconsiderate jerk! _She balled up her fists lamely, knowing her anger wasn't true._ Should I call him? _She sighed again, resting her chin on her open palm. She shook her head. _No! Sakura, be strong, you're still mad, er…annoyed at him. Right? _

_But what if something happened?_ She thought to herself. _He was horrible at the meet on Saturday, and he looked so crushed afterwards…_

_Okay, okay! I'll just call really, really quick! I just need to hear his voice and make sure he's okay. _She nodded to herself, flipping open her cell phone and pressing speed dial number one.

'…'

Sakura took away the phone from her ear, looking at the screen to make sure she had pressed the green button.

"_We're sorry, the number you have reached is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording…" _

_WHAT. No, no, I must have dialed the wrong number. _

Sakura dialed the number once again, double checking every button before pressing 'ok'.

"_We're sorry, the number you have reached is no longer in service. If you feel you have…" _

She could feel her heart sink, leaving a heavy feeling against her chest, something was definitely wrong. She stood up suddenly, causing the boys to stare back at her strangely. She ignored the looks, taking her plate and throwing it away into the nearest trashcan.

The phone charms jingled against her sweater pocket as she hurried off into the school building, a plan quickly formulating in her head.

* * *

Naruto, Gaara learned, was a sleepwalker. Naruto had twice woken up spontaneously, sitting up in bed, looking around the room carefully with half lidded eyes before falling back onto his bed in a deep slumber. What had surprised Gaara the most was how many hours the blonde was capable of sleeping. It was almost 24 hours since yesterday's incident and Naruto had only gotten up once to use the bathroom.

His watch began beeping obnoxiously, drifting him from his thoughts, reminding him of that lunch time was over. He pressed the 'OFF' button, sighing in annoyance. Gaara had been sitting by the kitchen table, drinking cold tea as he calmly worked on a few chemistry problems in his notebook. He stopped his pencil mid-stroke when he heard footsteps approaching.

He looked up to find a sleepy blonde starring back at him with almost closed eyes. He was wearing his tennis shoes on the opposite feet, long shorts on top of his pajama bottoms and his sweater was only on through one arm. His skin was sallow from sleep and his messy hair made him look wild. Gaara stayed still, waiting for him to make the first move.

"I'm late for school." The blonde muttered, walking towards the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Gaara smirked against his hand in amusement as he watched the blonde tilt his head as if deep in thought.

Naruto patted his pockets slowly, searching for the unknown item. "The toaster?" Naruto guessed as his eyes landed on the counter.

"Not quite."

"Spoons." Naruto said, his face full of determination as he grabbed three spoons from the drawer and stuffed them into his pockets. Gaara stood up and followed him, seeing that Naruto was unlocking the apartment door.

"Naruto, wait."

"I'm late for school." Naruto repeated, his hand on the door knob.

"But they cancelled school today, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…I remember." Naruto dropped his hand from the knob, his head swaying forward. Gaara sighed, starring at the sleep-deprived boy, resting a careful hand on his shoulder as he guided him back towards his room.

* * *

"Now, let me get this straight." The secretary starred back at the young girl, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "You think you dropped an earring in between one of the student files?"

"Yes!" Sakura exclaimed, trying her best to look distraught. "I was cleaning up the file room for Tsunade last week after school and when I went to practice, I realized it wasn't there anymore! I haven't seen it since." She sniffed, looking down at her shoes. "And I just HAVE to find it! It used to belong to my great-grandmother, if my mother ever finds out that I lost it, she will be so upset with me!" Sakura turned around as she yawned, her eyes instantly filled with fresh tears.

"Fine, fine." The older woman waved her arms as she caught sight of her fake tears. "There's no need to make such a fuss, I'll help you find it." She moved around some files, standing up to get out of her chair.

"Oh, oh, thank you so much! But really Shizune, that's not necessary," Sakura urged before she got out of her chair. "I mean, what kind of lesson would you be teaching me if you helped me? No, no, I think finding it myself is a punishment in itself!"

"Hm, yes, I suppose…" The woman glared, not fully convinced. "I'll give you five minutes, I have to lock up the office before I go to a meeting."

Sakura smiled as she thanked her, wiping the corner of her eyes as she ran off into the dark room. She flicked the lights on, watching them blink to life as she made her way through the room. She smirked, locating the cabinet labeled O-U at the end of the room.

She looked carefully out the door, making sure Shizune was distracted as she carefully pushed the knob in to the cabinet. Sliding it open carefully, Sakura began looking through the names. _Not him, not him, not- Hey, it's Uchiha's file!…hmm, shall we change a grade or two? Ah, distractions…Umino…Uzaki…that's it? Did I skip it? No, no, it's in here somewhere... _Sakura frowned, starting again from the end of the files.

"Name, name, name, aha Uzumaki Naruto!" She took out the fat vanilla folder, opening it as quickly as she could. A smile formed on her lips, a picture of a much younger Naruto smiling up at her. Flipping open her cell phone, she typed the address as quickly as she could, the time reminding her that almost five minutes had passed.

"Miss Haruno? Did you find it?" Shuffling could be heard from outside the room, the whir of a computer fan becoming silent.

Startled, Sakura fumbled with the pages as they slipped to the floor. "Ah, just looking in this spot one last time!" She called out.

Her hands began to sweat, the papers unwilling to go back into the folder. _Oh, come on! _She stuffed the folder back inside the cabinet, papers askew, then slid the cabinet close with a _click. _

Sakura took a deep breath, covering her mouth, taking a deep yawn. She messed her hair a bit, walking out to the secretary. "Oh, Shizune, I didn't find it...I'm so sorry for wasting your time."

"It's fine, it's fine." Shizune said hurriedly, picking up stray papers from the other side of her office. Sakura took a quick glance at the desk, a pad of golden passes starring back at her. Her fingers ran along the edge of the silver desk, carefully locating the passes, ripping one carefully before Shizune could hear.

"What are you still doing here!" Shizune looked up suddenly, surprised to see Sakura still in the room. "Come on, get to class, young lady!"

"Yes, of course! Thank you!" Sakura clutched the note to her side, walking out of the room as quickly as she could.

_Damn it, now to flirt with the security guard…you better have a good excuse for this Naruto…_ She smacked her lips together, feeling blood rush through them, giving them a tinted rose color. Straightening her uniform and combing her fingers through her hair, she nodded to herself, stepping outside the building and towards the parking lot.

* * *

.monday afternoon

Naruto frowned at the cereal box staring back at him. He began peeling off the plastic from a rather wet carton of milk before setting it back down on the counter, turning around to face the redhead.

"Gaara, I'm going to pay you back."

"That's unnecessary." Gaara said immediately, placing empty plastic bags inside another.

"What's unnecessary is you buying _my _groceries."

Naruto scowled, he was pretty sure he was loud enough to be heard, yet Gaara remained silent. The blonde crossed his arms, watching him begin to put away many of the boxes from the table and into the cupboards. Naruto had woken up feeling almost completely better, and after a rather cold shower, he'd remembered that there was close to nothing in his pantry. _After all, I do have a guest_. Naruto had thought after informing the redhead of the trip. But apparently, Gaara thought otherwise, suggesting he should go for him. After arguing five minutes straight about his health condition and some pouting later, Gaara had finally caved, slipping his coat on and following the excited blonde out the door.

Despite the previous events, Naruto felt completely energized once they were outside the building. There was still a feeling of discomfort at the back of his head, a small detail Naruto decided wasn't worth telling the redhead. While they were shopping, Naruto realized how comfortable he felt with Gaara. It was a strange feeling, it wasn't what he felt when he was with his other friends.

"_That'll be $65. 36, sir." The woman stated, popping her gum. _

"_Oh ok, hold on, I think I have enough change instead of a hund-"_

_CRUNCH. _

"_Oh Gaara, you dropped this." _

"_Here's your receipt sir."_

Naruto had been confused at first, to say the least. Though as soon as he saw Gaara slip the small plastic card into his back pocket, he understood. Naruto frowned, he didn't want Gaara to start see him as charity, another small reason why he had kept his financial status to himself.

"Go back to sleep." A voice interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto scoffed, once again. "But it's one in the afternoon! Besides, I already slept long enough to cover me for the whooole week."

"Yeah, except that not how it's supposed to work." Gaara finished putting the last of the groceries into the cupboard.

"Gaara, I had enough to pay for all this, I told you all those things because I trust you, not because I want you to start pitying me." Naruto said meekly.

Gaara starred at the blonde, his green eyes vibrantly starting back at him, his expression unreadable. He turned away, trying to form the right words.

"Naruto…we're friends, right?" He said slowly, almost unsure of himself.

Naruto furrowed his brows, starring back quizzically at him. "Yeah…of course. Wh-"

"Isn't this what friends do? Help each other?" Gaara cut him off.

"Yeah, but-"

_Knock, knock, knock._

A small timid knock interrupted him, Naruto turned towards the door, almost unsure if it was coming from his. _Oh crap, yesterday was rent day, wasn't it? _

"I think it's my landlord." Naruto whispered loud enough for the other boy to hear. "I forgot to get those stupid money orders for the rent!"

_Knock, knock, knock_

The knocks sounded more forceful this time. "He goes away after the second time, he'll realize that I'm supposed to be at school."

_Knock,knockknock_

Naruto frowned, normally Gato would've left by now, if it wasn't him, then… _Kankuro?! _Tiptoeing across the room, he pressed his hands carefully against the wooden frame, squinting his left eye before hovering the other over the peephole.

_UGH! Can't see anything! This thing is so dirty. _He took his index finger, rubbing at the peephole.

"Naruto?" A small voice came from the other side.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat, the familiar voice connecting to the blurry pink blob he was seeing.

_Sakura. _

_

* * *

_

Well, it's not really a cliffhanger, right? I do have a reason why I took so long for this, but let's hear something else. I really, really, tried my hardest with this chapter, it's actually my longest, about 6000+ words, but I cut it off after the confrontation of next chapter because it didn't fit right with this chapter.

I'll be out of town for the weekend, if you guys could tell me what you thought of this chapter, what you hated, what you liked, what was out of character, what confused you, suggestions…anything! I just really want to hear your opinions, after all, I mainly write this for you guys ( 3!!!) other than to keep myself busy.

Much love and looking forward to (any) reviews :)


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Naruto, Drama, Romance