Temari had been frightened, but now that it was over, she felt so relieved, so light and happy. She thought something very important had just happened, and that things with Gaara would be even easier now. So the scare was worth it - to be able to tell Gaara she loved him and for him to accept it, it was worth it. And Gaara seemed glad too. Her arm hurt like a bitch, but she didn't really care. Besides, she knew Gaara had been hurting so much more, and she thought some of the pain probably left him now. That pain would fade soon enough, especially after she got a chance to lay a healing on herself. It was such a small price to know Gaara wasn't being torn apart anymore. She knew it wasn't over, but it felt like such a huge step!
Gaara noticed the bruising on her arm and winced, looking down in shame. "Temari... I hurt you... Gomen nasai."
Temari put a hand on his and shook her head. "Don't wory about it. I've been hurt worse. The important thing is that you feel better now, and that we're really family now." She grinned brightly.
Gaara looked up and his eyes brightened. "Yeah. We're real family now, not just people with similar blood..." he said. A thought struck him, though, that took some of his happiness away. "Temari... are you still afraid of me?" he looked away, afraid of the answer.
Temari looked nervous, and her hand fidgeted over Gaara's. She couldn't, wouldn't, lie to him because if he realized the truth it would only make things worse. She just had to be very careful. "Not most of the time, these days. Just, now and then... But it's okay. I'm working against that and you're changing so much, so fast. You just have to give me time to get used to it. Kankurou too," she added as an after thought. "Old habits die hard, you know," she said, trying to bring back a little cheer.
Gaara smiled grimly - he could manage smiles when they weren't truly happy, after all. He just didn't know which muscles to use when he was happy yet. The rest he knew. "Yeah. Yeah, they do," he replied sadly.
Temari looked apalled and sorry, "Oh my gosh, Gaara-kun, I'm so sorry! I didn't think about it! I know you've been getting rid of your old habits though, and you've been working so hard!" She rubbed his hand and bowed her head. "I'll try harder, Gaara-kun! I'll make you as proud of me as I am of you!" she said.
"Proud?" Gaara asked, his eyes widening yet again. Temari was full of surprising revelations today.
"Of course I'm proud of you, silly! Look at how much you've changed, the control you've gotten, so quick! Now eat!" she said, laughing and beaming. Gaara's eyes were so bright they could have lit the darkest part of Konoha's forest in a new moon. He ate happily.
"Temari, would you just talk to me? About anything you want. Just talk and let me listen?" he asked her between bites. He didn't want to eat in silence anymore. It would be the same as eating alone.
"Okay, but you better not regret it later!" she joked before she began talking about some of the other Konoha girls her age she'd met and a couple of cute guys too. Gaara enjoyed listening to her talk, even though he wasn't really interested in the topic and she was mostly rambling. It was nice knowing that Temari was willing to talk to him at all, especially about something like this. He felt warm. He liked that feeling. Is that what family is? What love is? I like this, whatever it is.
Gaara found Lee very easily, and the first thing Lee said to him, rather than the usual, "Konnichi wa, Gaara-kun!" was "Naruto's back!" Over the past few weeks, Gaara had explained briefly to Lee why he was there and why he was trying to change himself. So, when Lee found out Naruto was back, he'd been waiting eagerly for Gaara to show up so he could tell the Suna-nin of Naruto's arrival.
That was welcome news- Gaara was glad to here something positive after Kankurou and Temari fighting. "Where is he?" Gaara asked. Lee had finally gotten used to the fact that Gaara, for whatever reason, wasn't big on greetings. Regardless, he could tell (already!) that Gaara was glad to see him and hear that Naruto was finally back.
"He's at the hospital right now, I think. I have to stay and train some more, but you can go on down and see him!" Lee said, grinning and giving a thumbs up, a pose that would soon become very familiar to Gaara.
"Domo, Lee-kun. I'll see you again later…" About to leave, Gaara turned. "You can't skip this one time? Naruto and I were not on the best of terms; last we met…" he stated, looking vaguely unsure of himself.
Lee scratched his head. He did train a lot, but he didn't really want to break habit or skip out on a session…But Gaara was right, and Lee did want the Suna-nin to do well in Konoha… After all, he considered Gaara a friend. In the end, friendship won out even over the training for his dream – he'd make up for lost time throughout the week. "Well, I told him about you helping me when I fought Kimimaro, but I suppose I can come anyway, just in case…" he shrugged.
"Ja ne, Neji, Tenten! I'm going with Gaara to visit Naruto. I'll be back later!" Lee called to his teammates.
"uh- Ja ne, Lee-kun!" Tenten said. Both she and Neji were surprised – Lee never took off, and usually couldn't be kept from training. Still, he was a sweetheart, and he was helping out the new kid, so… Although they were still a bit surprised that he'd befriended Gaara, but that was Lee for you… The two shrugged, finished their break, and went back to training.
Lee and Gaara fell into their usual pattern of Gaara listening with the occasional comment and Lee babbling on about training, Gai-sensei, his dream or whatever he happened to be thinking about at the time. This time, he was going over the news of Naruto and co.'s adventures in Rice country. He had the basic idea right, though rumor, of course, had distorted some details to make the tale yet more harrowing.
Gaara was actually a little worried. He knew Naruto would be alive, since he had the Kyuubi, but he was apprehensive about what state he would find Naruto in when they got to the hospital.
Naruto was much better off than Gaara'd expected, to both his relief and dismay. When Gaara entered, Naruto had jumped up defensively. Yeah, he had been told that Gaara and the suna-nin had helped Konoha later, but he had kind of forgotten… And Gaara was still creepy, even though Naruto knew that, when it came down to it, he could hold his own.
Lee had jumped in around Gaara and waved his hands frantically. "Naruto! Oi, we came to visit you!" He said. Naruto looked surprised and then grinned. Well, if Lee was hanging out with Gaara, it was probably cool.
"Ummm, kay… Konnichi wa, Fuzzy-eyebrows! No-eyebrows!" he greeted, plopping back down onto the bed. "Oi, oi, did you bring me food, 'ttebayou? Like, maybe, ramen, dattebayou?" he asked, adapting a conspirator's mien.
Lee laughed. "No, no ramen, but we can go get some, if we can sneak out!" he said, smiling.
Naruto nodded. "I haven't eaten at Ichiraku in-"
"Gaara! There you are!" A voice called, and a moment later Temari showed up in the doorframe. Gaara actually seemed mildly surprised, though this was not an unusual occurrence since moving to Konoha.
By now, Lee had gotten used to Temari suddenly popping up around Gaara, but Naruto was confused. "Oi, Lee," he whispered, tugging Lee over to him. "Anou sa, where did that pretty girl come from, and why is she anxious about Gaara, dattebayou?" He seemed to forget a moment ago he'd been a little 'anxious' as well…
Lee muttered back, "That's his older sister, Temari. Recognize her from the chuunin exams?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! She had the fan! And she fought Shikamaru!" He nodded confidently. "She's okay now, too?" Lee nodded.
"Gaara, I couldn't find you and Lee and Lee's team mates said you'd gone with Lee here to see Naruto, so I thought I'd…" Temari noticed Naruto and Lee watching her and Gaara intently. "Oh, Konnichi wa, Lee. You're Naruto, right?" she asked, pointing.
Naruto felt warm and nodded, grinning. "Yup! Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage!" he said, giving a thumbs up as though to confirm his words. He must have picked up the habit from Lee…
Temari nodded. "Nice to finally meet you under peaceful circumstances. Arigatou, Naruto. Temari, of the Sand village, if you forgot," she said, smiling softly.
Naruto laughed. "No way! I never forget a pretty girl's name!"
But… I just reminded you, Naruto-kun… Lee thought. Oh well, it was such a Naruto thing to do. Lee didn't really care.
Temari wasn't exactly sure how to take that. "Right then… domo…"
"Oi, Temari," Gaara said, speaking for the first time since he'd entered Naruto's room.
"Hai?" Temari asked, turning her attention back to her little brother.
"I hadn't even said hello yet and you've already thanked him for me…" he sort-of grumbled. Grumbled as much as Gaara ever did…
Temari turned red. "Oh… Oh, Gomen nasai, Gaara. My bad," she said, looking a touch worried now. Gaara probably wouldn't go ballistic like he used to, but the comment troubled her. Was he angry?
"Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi! Can we talk over a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku! I wanna' go, dattebayou!" Naruto said, unsure of what was going on between Gaara and his pretty sister, but not particularly interested so far as it didn't affect him.
"Yeah, let's go!" Lee said, triumphantly leading the way.
Despite having waited a while to talk to Naruto, Gaara found he couldn't talk, at least, not around the others. That wasn't necessarily so much due to their presence as he'd never get a word in edgewise between Lee, Naruto, and Temari. He would have to contrive away to talk to Naruto alone, now that he knew Naruto would be willing to trust him, at least, to an extent. As usual, he remained quiet while he listened in, now and then trying to say something but generally giving up – with just Lee he could talk but with the three of them… it's not like he had anything that interesting to add usually anyhow.
However, the waiting didn't sit well with Gaara. As he'd told Naruto and Shikamaru before when he'd almost killed Lee in the hospital, he'd been spoiled, and when people came to fear him, they gave in very quickly to his demands. He was not used to waiting for anything he wanted. "Naruto," he said abruptly, pushing his bowel away. No one seemed to hear him. That was irritating. He forced himself not to get angry and said, louder, "Naruto!"
"Ah-, hai, Gaara-kun? Nani?" Naruto asked, leaning forward to look around Lee and see Gaara. He looked vaguely perplexed by being addressed all of a sudden and he seemed to have been caught half way between getting the ramen to his mouth and swallowing it, resulting in several noodles hanging from his chopsticks into his mouth. Had Gaara any perception of 'cute', he might have called Naruto that at that point, but such things Gaara knew little, if anything, about.
"May I talk to you?" Gaara asked. Temari appeared a little perplexed – what did Gaara want? His eyes looked cool like before and his voice was blank. Temari couldn't help but wonder, worry. She pushed it away. Gaara was good now; he was learning to control Shukaku better and not be a murderous psychopath. He was her brother, and they were real family now – she should trust him.
Naruto swallowed and nodded. He shoved the last of the ramen into his mouth and got up, pushing his chair in roughly. "Sure, but I want to go back to my apartment for a while, so can we walk and talk?" he asked.
Gaara also nodded and stood, falling in step with Naruto. Temari pushed his chair in for him. Lee waved with his chopsticks. "I need to go back and train, dewa!"
"Can I join you, Lee?" Temari asked. She wanted to try and find some partners to train with, although she wasn't sure Lee's team would be very good opponents for her.
"Sure, Temari-chan!" Lee said, leading the way.
Naruto waved. "Ja ne you guys, dattebayou!" he yelled, grinning and shoving his hands in his pockets. "So, what's up, Gaara?" he asked, glancing at the sand-boy. He seemed… stable. Or stable enough. Naruto wondered what Gaara could want. It was really weird just walking with him – Like Lee, Naruto was too easy-going to carry a grudge long but he still couldn't help be a little on his guard, and a lot curious.
Gaara was quiet a few moments, his attention more on the ground a few meters ahead than anything else. It was hard for him to find the words. "Naruto… I need to thank you…" He was quiet several moments.
"You mean, for what? Kicking your ass at the chuunin exams, dattebayou?" Naruto asked. He seemed rather surprised.
Gaara turned an interesting, uncertain color. "No, for talking to me… for understanding. No one else has ever understood, or even tried to. I've… I've been trying to understand what you taught me, about important people. That's why I came here, to learn."
Naruto scratched his head. "Oh. Well, I'm glad you've changed! I was wondering why you weren't… y'know… trying to kill me and Lee…dattebayou…" He grinned off-handedly.
Gaara nodded. "… Right. I had hoped…" Gaara was unsure what to ask first, now that he had found Naruto again. "Your monster – How do you stay so… cheerful? Carefree? Doesn't it bother you?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What, the Kyuubi? He's sealed up; he can't bother me. My friends help me feel cheerful and all, dattebayou. 'Course, I wasn't happy for a long time because I was alone like you've been, but then Iruka and I became friends, and then I made friends when I was assigned to team seven, so I've been a lot happier than I used to be." Naruto grinned. He had some great friends – although Sasuke's defection had been quite a blow. He sobered again.
"You mean… He doesn't talk to you? Can you sleep normally? You don't look like an insomniac…" Gaara pointed idly.
"Well, sometimes, but only when I come to him. And yeah, I can sleep normally! Can't yo-, oh, no, I guess not…" Naruto recalled. He'd forgotten what Gamabunta had said about the tanuki.
Gaara shoved his hands in his pockets. He was beginning to wonder if Naruto was simply luckier than he was. He glanced up momentarily. "You live in those apartments?" he asked, pointing. Naruto nodded, grinning. "Me too."
"Really? That's weird…" Naruto seemed to ponder this a moment. "Oi, oi, Gaara, I just had an idea!" Naruto said out of the blue.
Gaara gave Naruto his attention. "Well, Granny-Tsunade is a healer – maybe she can… I don't know; fix you! So you can sleep and stuff! Come on, let's go!" Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand and dragged him towards the Hokage's tower. Gaara fell in step after a moment of surprise. Naruto didn't notice the suna-nin's flinch at the unexpected contact. Naruto's hand was rough and warm. Gaara didn't mind.
They met up with Tsunade-sama on the way. She'd been shopping. "Oi, oi, Granny-Tsunade!" Tsunade sighed – that could only be Naruto or one of his Academy posse.
"Oi, Konnichi wa, Naruto-kun. What is it this time?" she asked, confirming at a glance who it was.
"Granny, can you help Gaara-kun? He can't sleep because of the tanuki sealed in him and he generally could use a little help and apparently the tanuki causes him a lot of trouble and-"
"Woah, slow down, Naruto-kun." Tsunade threw up her hands to back her words, and spoke calmly. "Healing is not necessary here, sealing is, and Jiraiya is better at that than I am. Or at least, for the kind of seal needed here…" she said. "By the way, Konnichi wa, Gaara-kun," she added, smiling warmly at the suna-nin. Gaara nodded and waved a little.
Naruto looked surprised. "Ero-sennin? Really?"
"Hai, and you know you really shouldn't call him that… And you shouldn't call me Granny!" she said, thwacking him on the head. He winced and clutched his head where a bruise was rapidly forming. "AND you should also know he would be the one to ask about this. After all, he taught Yondaime, and Yondaime sealed your Kyuubi," Tsunade explained dryly.
Naruto nodded. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. Okay, let's go find him to help Gaara!" Naruto said and a moment later he'd dragged Gaara off again. Gaara followed, still confused but not knowing of anything better to do. Besides, if this could help him sleep…
Tsunade-sama shook her head. "He has too much energy… But it's just as well he helps that boy, Gaara. I'm not sure how good a teacher he'll be, but maybe Gaara can learn by example."
Ero-sennin was very easy to find – he was at his perch in the woods where he watched girls in swimsuits play at the waterfall. "Hehe, research!" Naruto heard him cackle.
He groaned, "Oi! Ero-sennin! I need your help."
Jiraiya waved his hand at Naruto, gesturing 'go away'. "I'm collecting data."
Naruto sighed. Did he always have to do this to get Ero-sennin to pay attention to him? He formed the seals for sexy no jutsu, to Gaara's great surprise. "Ero-sennin, please help me…" Naruto purred, resting soft, feminine hands on Jiraiya's shoulders. "Dozo…" he added, pressing his breasts against Jiraiya's back.
Ero-sennin turned red and turned around. "Okay, you have my attention!" he said. A moment later Naruto poofed back. Jiraiya groaned. "You always do that to me! No fun!" he growled.
"You always make me use my Sexy no jutsu to get your attention!" he growled. The two engaged in a brief glaring contest and then Naruto sighed. "Anyhow, I need you to help Gaara-kun."
Jiraiya finally noticed the sand-nin. "Oh, you're the trouble-maker from the chuunin exams, aren't you?"
Gaara looked away. He didn't understand all of the talk and emotion passing between these two, but that was clear enough. He nodded once. "Yeah, he's the one but he's okay now, or I think so, anyhow. Anyhow, the demon in him won't let him sleep, and I thought Tsunade could help, but she said to ask you to lay a seal on him." Naruto nodded confidently. "See, I thought it was just a healing issue but she says it's about the seal."
Jiraiya nodded slowly. "That stands to reason. I should be able to seal the demon up so he won't bother you, Gaara."
Gaara's eyes brightened, and he had hope. To have the Shukaku locked up so he wouldn't fight his control anymore, to be able to rest and get a grip on reality… "Could you?" he asked hesitantly.
Jiraiya's nod was more confident now. "I believe so! Can you show me the seal originally used to lock the demon up?" he asked.
Gaara's eyebrows (or lack there of) knit. "Show you?" he asked.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, don't you have a seal mark? See," he lifted his shirt and jacket to show the seal that was usually visible at his stomach, "Here's mine."
Gaara thought. "I… don't think I have one of those…" Naruto was, again, surprised.
Jiraiya thought a moment. "Well that's odd…" What a crude technique… He thought.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Shirt off!" Jiraiya demanded.
What…? Gaara looked at Naruto. Naruto shrugged. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Jiraiya asked, crossing his arms.
Reluctantly, Gaara unbuttoned the mandarin-style brown shirt he wore, and slid it off. It would be worth it if Jiraiya really could seal up Shukaku. "You're really, really pale… How do you get so pale living in the desert?" Naruto asked.
"I never thought about it," Gaara said honestly. That was a good question… even assuming he didn't grow tan because he was out so little in the day, he should have darker skin by virtue of his heritage…
Jiraiya seemed to be collecting chakra in his hands. Gaara had only a moment to wonder though, for in the next moment Jiraiya had thrust his fingertips against Gaara's stomach, around his navel. Gaara groaned, his hands snapping to wrestle with Jiraiya's – it hurt! But – but he could feel it working to seal up Shukaku. He could see the Tanuki fighting, and the seal pushing him back. He dropped his hands forcefully, realizing it was Shukaku using him against himself. He would not be the Tanuki's puppet!
Naruto looked worried – Did Ero-sennin really know what he was doing? But at last he pulled away. Gaara winced, gasping.
"Sorry kid – If I'd warned you, you might have stopped me… But the seal's in place – The Tanuki's power is under your control now." Jiraiya grinned. "So, now that that's taken care of, what's your first order of business?" he asked.
Gaara rubbed at his stomach where a spiral mark similar to Naruto's now lay. After a moment, it seemed to fade away. "Sleep…." He muttered, already becoming irresistibly drowsy. He'd been able to use Shukaku's energy to fight back the sleepiness before, but now that the power no longer roamed freely in his body, the exhaustion of the years took its toll on him. He fell backwards.
"Ah!" Naruto yelped, jumping forward and catching him before he fell onto the ground. Gaara's eyes fluttered open once and then he was out. Naruto and Jiraiya looked at each other, surprised, and then laughed. "Oi, hand me his shirt, Ero-sennin… Eh, now what…?" he asked, looking perplexedly at Gaara.
Jiraiya gave him the shirt and shrugged. "I guess get him to his home and in a bed."
Naruto sighed. "I don't know where he lives yet, though…. I guess he can use my bed…" With that he turned and left, carrying Gaara carefully. When he got to his apartment he laid Gaara down gently and shifted the covers up, figuring the suna-nin would be used to being hot, and probably prefer it, and then he went to the kitchen to make some ramen.
Gaara seemed to sleep forever. Naruto had expected him to maybe nap for a few hours but by nightfall he figured Gaara hadn't really slept in years apparently, so maybe he was due… Sighing and standing at the bedside, he scratched his head and wondered what was best to be done. After a few moments, he shrugged, pushed Gaara to the side and clambered in next to him to go to sleep. After all, he really didn't want to shake the sand boy awake – he'd been deprived enough, and who knew what he'd do after waking up suddenly for the first time in ages…
However, when Naruto woke up the next morning around nine and Gaara was still there, sleeping peacefully, he decided it was really time to wake him up – otherwise he'd probably get sore and stiff anyway.
He yawned and made a couple of bowls of ramen for breakfast and then gently shook Gaara's shoulder. "Oi. Gaara-kun. Wake-up."
Gaara's eyes opened a notch. "Never…" he declared resolutely. And here he'd though sleep was over-rated all this time… It seemed he was wrong, which was actually heartening even as it was disconcerting. Sleep was the best thing he'd ever done…
"Come on, Gaara, wake up. You have to eat, and if you stay like that you'll get cramps and stuff…" he said, shaking Gaara a little harder. Gaara sighed and sat up slowly, blinking drowsily and wiping his eyes. "Here," Naruto said, offering him a bowl of ramen.
Gaara looked at it curiously a moment and then at Naruto. "… For breakfast?" he asked. That was an unusual first meal of the day.
Naruto grinned, "Yeah, why not, dattebayou!"
Gaara stared at it another few minutes and then ate with abandon, discovering after the first few bites that he was starving and could have eaten more. He put his bowl down when he finished, "Domo."
Naruto nodded. "No problem."