Author's note: Well, this is it :) I hope you've liked my lil' story so far, and I really hope you like the ending ^-^

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, the genius who created them in the first place :D

Gaara leaned against the wall, listening to Naruto chatter as he checked his e-mail on the public computer. They were in the café on the Ruda site where Gaara and his siblings got breakfast every morning. Naruto had joined them today, and Temari and Kankuro had been astounded by how much Naruto contrasted their little brother. I mean, for one thing, the kid just did not shut up!

But when they'd seen how the two of them seemed to speak to one another without saying a word, they'd smiled to themselves and Temari had unceremoniously shoved Kankuro out of his seat and out of the café, telling Gaara they were headed to the beach to soak up as much sun as they could before they headed home.

Headed home…

Gaara flinched. That's right… We're leaving today…

He looked over at Naruto, absorbing as much of him into his memory as he could. He didn't want to leave yet, but it couldn't be helped. Naruto caught him looking at him with a funny look on his face and the blonde's smile dropped from him as his eyes became just as sad as Gaara's.

"Don't look like that, Gaara… Please?"

Gaara let a sad little smile tug at his lips, but Naruto wasn't convinced. The blonde pouted at him, then forced himself to look back at the screen in front of him. Gaara wasn't fooled by that, he could see that Naruto's eyes weren't scanning the screen anymore and they shimmered with the tears he was stubbornly holding back. He knew the feeling.

"He's excited… About You."

Sakura's words echoed in Gaara's mind and he shook his head to rid himself of the questions he wished he'd asked her. Watching Naruto holding back tears, Gaara wondered…

Am I really making him happy?

"I'll do all I can."

Gaara clutched at his head, clenching his teeth as he fought against his memory. He wanted to make Naruto happy, but the blonde was clearly nothing of the sort. Gaara felt completely lost, he'd been doing everything he could think of in the last few days, anything he could to keep that smile on Naruto's face. Why had he suddenly… it was as if someone turned out the lights.

"Gaara? What's wrong?"

Concern. Gaara opened his eyes and they were locked instantly to the blue ones which fixed him with a worried gaze.

Stupid! Selfish! Selfish!

Gaara felt the door press into his side again and threw a deadly glare at the staff member who was appearing from the kitchens. The young woman flinched, hurrying to the tables and doing her best to hide behind the screen in the centre of the café.

"Gaara. Gaara, look at me. What is it? 're you worried about going home? Is that it?"

Guilt. Gaara couldn't stand it! He could see what Naruto was doing, he knew what Sakura meant when she said he did nothing but worry about everyone else. Naruto was unhappy, but he was worrying about Gaara. He couldn't stand it! Naruto should be the one being worried about, Why am I letting him neglect himself?

"Naruto."

The blonde's eyes never left Gaara's face, he felt them even though his head was turned.

"Has this all been for my sake?"

"Huh?"

Gaara clutched at the fabric of his shirt, over his heart. He could feel it beating heavily behind his skin as he desperately clenched his eyes shut to restrain the tears which fought to escape. He bit his lip, trying to distract himself from the pain which grasped his chest in a tight grip and threatened to crush him. He'd never felt so vulnerable.

Naruto, who'd watched this silently, slowly dipped his head and frowned at Gaara's shoulder.

"You spoke to Sakura, huh."

His voice was cold, and when Gaara glanced at him, his eyes were steely hard. Guilt added it's venomous ache to Gaara's torment and the red haired boy almost let out a strangled cry when he nodded his head sharply and saw Naruto's eyes drift up to meet his own once more.

Not only were they hard, but they shimmered with hurt… and fear. Gaara screwed up his face once more, and that tiny strangled cry he'd barely held in last time passed his lips, forming the sounds of Naruto's name.

The blonde suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair as he stepped around the desk and stood right in front of Gaara, staring at Gaara's face until the red head finally dared to meet his eyes. Both pairs of eyes, pale green and blue, showed how afraid they were…how sad they felt.

Naruto took hold of Gaara's hand and dragged the shorter man behind him as he strode out of the café. He ignored the chirpy farewells and waves of the staff, and Gaara, who received no such sentiments, was the one who waved over his shoulder at them as they disappeared through the doors.

Gaara knew that there were tears streaming down Naruto's face, even though he couldn't see it. Every time one fell from his sun kissed skin, it sparkled in the sunlight before staining the pavement beneath their feet. Gaara's throat constricted, he almost choked on the guilt.

"Please don't… Naruto please don't cry!"

But the blonde didn't hear Gaara's pleas. Or he couldn't stop. When Gaara squeezed Naruto's hand, the force with which Naruto squeezed back almost broke Gaara's delicate bones and Gaara could see the shoulders of his kind friend tremble, could hear the shuddering breath he took.

Gaara was sure his heart was breaking.

Naruto continued to tow Gaara down the road, past the beach, past the field where the market had been and finally into a field and up onto a path. Gaara looked behind him, and realised they were climbing the hill behind the Ruda site. He'd seen several people walking this way from his spot outside his tent, but he didn't know where it went.

They climbed over a stile, and suddenly the bushes on either side of them became tall walls, stretching into a canopy above their heads in places. If he looked close enough, Gaara was sure he could see the sparkling sea between the branches, far below.

Naruto's tears had finally stopped, but his pace didn't let up as he continued to lead Gaara by the hand further and further up the hill, never once taking in the view as Gaara did. Gaara desperately wanted to stop his friend and comfort him, but Naruto obviously had a reason for dragging him all the way out here, so he waited. Each moment that passed adding it's guilty weight to the invisible load on Gaara's shoulders.

Finally, they emerged onto a bare expanse of grass, sweeping up only a little further before the hill levelled out and reluctantly dipped into a decline. Naruto dropped Gaara's hand as the red haired man took the last few steps up to the top and looked over.

To his left lay the sea, a long way below them. Several metres from where he stood, the ground fell away steeply into the sea where the rocks which supported it lay exposed to the elements. In front of him, Gaara was surprised at how far the coast went. He'd thought this hill was a one off, that there'd be another beach on the other side, but what he saw instead was grass, rising and falling with the ground beneath it as the hills rolled on and on into the distance before finally dipping below another tall hilltop. He wondered if that was the last of them, or if, should he walk there, there'd be more beyond them. He followed the coastal trail with his eyes, spotting a few walkers weaving their way along the little path.

Naruto stood where he'd been when he'd let Gaara's hand slip from his own, watching the beautiful man take in the view. Naruto pushed his palm into his forehead, muttering to himself as he walked, brushing past Gaara's left arm and coming to a stop a few paces away, staring out to sea. Gaara turned is head and suddenly all that weight came back and he was crushed by the deflated way Naruto held himself. Carefully, Gaara stepped towards his friend, but he was stopped by the soft, trembling voice which drifted toward him on the breeze.

"I know what she told you. And I guess… I guess she's right."

Gaara remained frozen where he stood, three steps behind Naruto, and reminded himself to breathe.

"I keep myself busy… as much as I can. It's stressful as hell but it's better than…" Naruto's voice began to falter and he hugged himself tighter. Gaara felt the words Naruto meant to say in his heart and didn't realise he'd spoken them until Naruto's tear streaked face turned towards him in surprise. Naruto swallowed, his eyes falling from Gaara's sympathetic face to the grassy ground as he confirmed,

"Yeah… it's better than… than being alone."

"It's true that I spend a lot of time with friends, there's nothing more important to me than their happiness. They're the people who… who keep me from the hell that's loneliness. It's the least I can do to thank them for putting up with me. And… It's the only way I…" Naruto's eyes pressed themselves closed, tears squeezing their way past his eyelashes.

"It's the only way I can make sure they stay. If I can make them happy… they won't leave me."

He laughed, a bitter laugh which made Gaara's already aching heart clench painfully.

"They all think I'm the most selfless person in the world… but I'm not." He looked sadly at his feet. "I'm just being selfish… They don't really know me at all."

"Naruto, you're not…" Gaara was cut off as Naruto held up his hand, he wasn't finished yet.

"It's ironic, right? That I put all my time and energy into keeping friends, to fight off the loneliness… and yet I still feel alone. There's no one around me who really understands me, and that's a very lonely thing to live with. But it's better… than really being alone. Being misunderstood it better than being alone. Anything's better than being alone."

Gaara's own tears now ran down his pale cheeks as he listened to Naruto pour all the things he kept inside into the palms of Gaara's hands. The Naruto that Sai drew… the sad look in that Naruto's eyes… this was why.

Naruto was as lonely as Gaara had been.

And now, it was Gaara's turn to eliminate that loneliness.

He slowly approached his crying friend, gently cradling Naruto's hand between both of his own. Naruto turned again, his sad, sad eyes melting Gaara's heart until yet more tears filled his soft, pale eyes. There was a question in Naruto's eyes, and Gaara gave Naruto's hand a gently squeeze as he answered,

"You're not alone anymore… I'm here. I understand."

Naruto's face transformed, a happy smile lending a sparkle to his eyes. He turned into his red haired companion, leaning his head on the shorter man's shoulder. Gaara wasn't sure what to do, and timidly wrapped his arms around the blonde man, rubbing his hand in large circles across Naruto's back.

"It wasn't… just for your sake." Naruto whispered against Gaara's shirt, sending a shiver through the red haired man as he felt Naruto's lips moving against the fabric. Naruto brought up his own arms, holding Gaara tightly as he struggled not to cry again. "Approaching you… was probably the most selfish thing I've ever done."

Gaara's eyes shot open, What? What does he mean? Naruto chuckled softly when he felt Gaara tense in his arms and leaned back to look into Gaara's bewildered eyes. With a strange look on his face, Naruto lifted his hand and softly stroked Gaara's cheek. The tender contact sent Gaara's arm into autopilot, and he soon found himself cupping Naruto's hand against his face.

"When I saw you… sitting on that fence… You were just staring out at the sun. The way the light hit your face, you… You looked beautiful."

Gaara's cheeks flushed, and he was sure that Naruto could feel the increase in temperature beneath his palm, because the blonde smiled at him, a strange sparkle in his eyes which made Gaara's chest feel light, like all the air in his body had forced itself into his ribcage and intended to lift him from the ground, weightless.

"Then you wrapped your arms around yourself… and you looked around. You watched all the families settling down for the night, and there was this look in your eyes… Then… Your face just collapsed, and you clutched at your head and curled up on yourself."

Gaara recalled feeling the cold throb of unbearable… isolation… before Naruto'd placed his jacket around him.

"I knew… that you understood what loneliness was like. And I…" Naruto's gaze dropped to the ground between their shoes. What little there was.

"I wanted… someone to hold… someone who'd understand… who would know me, for all that I am. And… When I wrapped my jacket around you and you brought it up to your face like that… I felt like you'd turned on the lights inside of me. I hoped you could… I hoped…" He shook as he struggled against his fear… of being left alone.

Naruto watched as the grass between their feet disappeared under Gaara's shoes. The older man had stepped closer, pulling Naruto into a hug and pressing himself securely against the blonde's chest. Naruto's eyes welled up and Gaara felt the damp spot on his shoulder as Naruto hugged him back.

"I know it was selfish, but I so badly wanted you to be the person I could hold in my arms and feel at home with, like this... I saw you and I… I…"

"Shhh.. Naruto, you don't have to explain anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Gaara… For forcing myself on you like that. I was so, so selfish! It was so selfish of me to assume that you'd… that you could…"

Gaara held his fingers to Naruto's lips, but the blonde just carried on talking.

"You deserve so much better than me! I'm just a selfish jerk! I should never have…" He groaned and squeezed Gaara so tightly that the redhead gasped. "I can't do it! I know it was wrong of me to be so selfish, but if I could go back… I'd still do it again. Even if I only ended up making you unhappy, even if you… if you left me… It's better to have loved and lost, than to've never loved at all, right?"

Better to have loved...

Loved…

Loved…

Gaara felt a smile spread across his face as his whole body filled with warmth. Love. He really meant it! He laughed, a soft chuckle which overflowed with joy as he stepped back and cupped Naruto's face between in his hands. On that face was an exquisite expression mixed with confusion and beautiful, beautiful hope. Gaara smiled up at his kind blonde stranger, who was a stranger no longer, and slipped one hand around to rest behind Naruto's head.

"If that's the case," He murmured softly, still smiling, "If that really makes you selfish,"

He slowly pulled Naruto's head towards him, leaning up on his tiptoes and whispering as Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara's thin waist,

"Then I guess we're both being self-centred."

When Gaara brushed his lips against Naruto's, it was as if something inside of him finally fell into place. When their lips moved together, it was slightly clumsy, but all the sweeter for it. Softly… softly… they revelled in the feelings which flowed through them, uniting them as only a first kiss could.

"Gaara…" Naruto whispered, pulling away only enough to rest his forehead against Gaara's. His eyes flickered up, and his smile spread into a cheeky grin as he brushed Gaara's fringe to the side and gently pressed a kiss onto the letter scarred into his forehead.

Love.

Gaara smiled, a tender little smile which lit up his eyes.

"Gaara?" Naruto smiled, resting their foreheads together again, his arms still around Gaara's waist, Gaara's still cupping Naruto's face and stroking the hair on the back of his head.

"Mm?" came the hummed reply, sea-foam green eyes, outlined in a black line which only emphasized the way they overflowed with affection, turning up to look at him.

"Can I give you my e-mail address?" Naruto asked, grinning happily.

Equally bright grin on his face, Gaara shook his head.

Naruto's head jerked up when he felt that gesture against his forehead. "What? Why? I thought…"

Gaara pressed his fingers to Naruto's lips, and this time the blonde shut up, his eyes never leaving the bright smile which was lighting up the pale, red headed man's beautiful face.

"I already have it."

"What? How?"

Gaara slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. He held it up for Naruto to see and felt his heart swell at the adorable confusion which followed the flash recognition which flickered across Naruto's face.

"I found this in my bag."

"Eh? But how…" Naruto's eyes suddenly widened and his mouth hung open as he realised, "Sai! That sneaky bastard!"

Gaara began to chuckle, and Naruto, finding the sound contagious, giggled. They both laughed, and they continued to laugh. They laughed at each other laughing until they were leaning heavily on each other just to hold themselves up and, unfortunately, they both hysterically fell over, laughing and laughing until finally, hiccupping and chuckling a little as they calmed down, they just lay quietly in each others' arms, watching the clouds waltz slowly across the sky. Naruto pointed out shapes, laughing when Gaara frowned, trying to find them. They were happy, and they were together.

No longer strangers. No longer alone.

They pretended that they didn't hear the phone which rang in Gaara's pocket.

"Five more minutes…"Gaara murmured as he turned the device off and snuggled back into his kind, blonde, giggling partner's side. Five minutes… He was sure Temari and Kankuro could afford to wait that long.

Author's Note: Hehe, well there we go ^-^ My little one-shot turned eight-shot's all finished. Thank you very very much for all the reviews and for making my story a favourite, it means the world to me, it really does :D This story owes itself to the reviewers who read the first chapter and wanted to see more, because without them, it would have been the only chapter so THANK YOU! Thank you for reading everyone, and goodnight! :)

The author, Emma x