Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the keyboard I'm typing this on =D

This is something I wrote when I should have been revising for my A-levels. Mmm, Naruto distraction ^^ It's purely the result of a month's worth of obsession, an increasing love of Gaara and the realisation that yes, Kiba is hot.

Actually, this pairing started off due to myself and a friend RP-ing (or as close to it as we get, anyway) and deciding that a) Gaara was gay and b) he needed love. Due to the fact that Naruto and Sasuke were already paired up (as were Lee and Neji...but not with each other...although I kinda like that pairing...), Kiba seemed to us to be the obvious choice =)

I'm thinking about turning this into a little series, sort of several little one-shots (?) showing how their relationship progresses. If you think this would be a good idea then please let me know. Right now I have a little collection of stories that might be good for this, but I'm not sure whether they would be well-received ^^ I'll probably end up posting them anyway, but if even one person would read them then I would be more inclined to do so.

Anyway, on with the fic =D

Btw, yeah, I know the jokes are awful. But they ARE courtesy of a dinnertime brainstorm. Which, OK, doesn't make it any better, but I thought I'd better conjure up some defence, even if it isn't as good as Gaara's.

Apologies, I have no idea wtf I'm talking about XD I'm just going to shut up now.

Reviews are appreciated as always.

Kiba Inuzuka was sure of three things:

1. Naruto was an idiot. So was Lee. In fact, pretty much everyone he knew was stupid. Even Sasuke and Neji were idiots, although admittedly in a slightly different way.

2. Metro Station were awesome.

3. He was in love with Gaara.

The first two weren't really of any consequence. He'd realised long ago that it seemed to be his fate to be surrounded by morons – the only exception he could think of was Shikamaru, but dating Hinata was slowly turning him into one too – and the discovery of a new band, no matter how great their music, couldn't really be described as life-changing.

No, it was the third one that he was having trouble with.

I mean, the more he thought about it, the odder it seemed. Even discounting the fact that they were both guys, this was Gaara, who could kill in an instant and who'd frightened Akamaru so badly he'd had nightmares for months.

Despite these things, he still found himself watching the maroon-haired boy when nobody else was looking, wanting to reach out and somehow save him from the constant loneliness haunting his eyes.

The worst part of this was that it was his own fault. It had begun with a series of stupid knock-knock jokes that should never have been started in the first place.

~***~

"Hey," said Kiba, absentmindedly stroking Akamaru as he lounged on the sofa. "Knock knock."

Several pairs of eyes turned to him, including those of Gaara of the Desert, who still freaked him out. After all, seeing someone crush a human life with such cold apathy wasn't something you forgot in a hurry.

"What?"

"Knock knock! Come on, someone say 'who's there'!"

"Why?" asked Shikamaru, stretched out opposite him with one arm lazily draped around Hinata's shoulders. "Knock-knock jokes are such a drag."

"Someone just answer him," Sasuke said, sighing deeply. "You know he'll keep on for ages if we don't."

"Man, I love knock-knock jokes!" Naruto cried, voice roughly a thousand decibels too loud, as usual. "Who's there, Kiba, who's there?"

"You."

"Me who?" This answer came from Neji, sitting in an armchair a little further back from the rest of them, the brush in his hand betraying the fact that he had been quietly styling his hair. (Maybe he should try a plait…?)

"No! Dammit Hyuga, you said it wrong!" Kiba pointed an accusatory finger at the other, whose white eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Right, we're starting again and this time Neji isn't allowed to answer. Knock knock. Come on guys! Knock knock!"

"Oh God, who's there already?" Sasuke groaned, shifting so that his slim arm dangled over the side of the couch.

"You."

"You who–? Kiba, that's awful."

"What?" Naruto frowned in confusion. "I don't get it."

Amidst all the groans and death threats (and Naruto's idiotic whining), another sound reached Kiba's ears, making him jerk his head up in surprise.

The sound of stifled laughter, barely audible, was coming from Gaara, who had one hand clamped over his mouth.

OK, that was just bizarre. None of the others seemed to have noticed. Curious, he decided to try another one.

"Knock knock."

"Look, Kiba, we answered one. Surely that's enough."

"Knock knock," the shinobi repeated stubbornly.

"Who's there?" Gaara answered unexpectedly, taking them all by surprise.

"Er…Gaara?" Naruto fixed the desert nin with a suspicious stare. "You feeling OK?"

"I'm fine." Green eyes glanced at the blond briefly before his attention was returned to Kiba. Lying across the majority of the floor beside him, Akamaru whimpered and Kiba stroked his head reassuringly. "Who's there?"

"Little old lady."

"Little old lady who?"

"Wow, I didn't know you could yodel."

A barrage of derision met this punchline.

"That was even worse than the worst one!"

"Kiba, your sense of humour totally sucks!"

"I still don't get it!"

In the midst of the group, Gaara was laughing, shoulders shaking with suppressed humour. This was the only noise that Kiba was paying attention to. He had a nice laugh – soft and musical. Something about it was strangely intoxicating. The moment it ended, Kiba wanted to make him do it again.

"Knock knock."

"Fuck off!"

"Knock knock!"

"Look, if you're going to carry on doing this, then I'm going somewhere else. It's way too troublesome." Shikamaru stood up, offering a hand to a blushing Hinata. "Come on Hina, let's go and watch the clouds outside."

"Wait up, Shika, I'll come with you."

"Yeah, me too."

"I might as well go and train some more."

"My ninja centrefold could use some more work so I'll go do that. Your jokes are boring, Kiba."

One by one, the Konoha nin disappeared until finally only Gaara was left, staring at him with a strange expression on his face. What was it?

"Tell another one, Kiba. Go on."

My God, it was expectancy. His eyes had actually lit up, like a kid at Christmas. It was almost too weird.

But he really wanted to hear that laugh again.

"OK. Knock knock…"

With every joke, Gaara laughed more and more (one that he seemed particularly amused by was the one which ended with "Euripides trousers, you buy me a new pair") until eventually he was actually lying face-down on the floor, banging the rug with his hands.

"That's…that's brilliant…" he gasped when he could speak again, wiping tears from his face. Kiba looked at him with fascination.

"Haven't you heard those jokes before?"

"Nobody has ever told me a joke until now."

Kiba considered this prospect. It sounded pretty crappy. "You really liked them?"

"Yes. Very much."

"Alright, well, whenever you want to hear more just come and ask and I'll tell you some, 'kay?"

"You will?" The look of incredulity on Gaara's face made him want to laugh far more than any joke had ever done.

"Yeah sure, if you like."

He'd been expecting a nod at the very most. The last thing he'd anticipated was the (surprisingly attractive) smile that softened Gaara's face.

"Thank you!" he said, with more warmth than Kiba had heard him use towards anyone before. He hadn't even addressed his own siblings with anything near this tone.

There seemed to be affection in it. Kiba wasn't sure that he was ready to address that possibility yet, so he decided that it was probably safer to just leave.

"Well," he said, getting to his feet, "I've got stuff to do so I'd better go. Guess I'll see you around."

"OK, bye then."

The leaf nin happened to glance backwards as he moved towards the room's exit. Although Gaara moved quickly, the slight blush in his cheeks gave him away. Kiba was sure that he'd been staring at him with a weird look in his eyes.

It had looked like…

Nah, it couldn't be.

But…

Shaking his head to clear it of the confusing emotions that were conjured up by the prospect of the Kazekage crushing on him (no pun intended), he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

~***~

Now all those stolen glances, all those late-night talks, all that longing, had led him here. Facing a door that remained obstinately closed while snatches of laughter and drunkenness drifted from downstairs.

They had both told each other things that probably no one else knew. A week ago they had come very close to kissing. It was those moments of closeness that he was holding on to right now. He wouldn't – no, he mustn't – let everything they were unravel just because of one stupid comment.

Someone had to cross the line into something more than friendship, and he knew that Gaara sure as hell wasn't going to do it.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Who's there?"

Only this time it wasn't funny. If he laughed…if Gaara laughed right now then Kiba would die.

"Gaara? It's me. Please let me in. I need to talk to you."

Thanks for reading ^^ If you want a series then please say.