Do Over

I am sorry it's taken awhile to update this chapter, but I wanted to make sure that I was happy with what happened in this chapter unlike the last one where I ended up rewriting the entire thing. I am really happy with how this chapter turned out. It makes me think of the phrase, "The calm before the storm." Why do I say that exactly? Well, there are some things that are going to happen that aren’t exactly nice… I would tell you more, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. So instead I hope you look forward to what is coming. Thanks to Lady Chimera for her guest editing.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi holds that honor. We can only hope he gets a clue and gives us loyal yaoi fans our bit of fanservice.

Do Over-Chapter 14 by Kitsunefun

Gaara could feel the cool slight dampness of the grass seeping up through the fabric of his jacket as he lay on his back staring up at the midday sky. His hand made its way into the lone pocket he had sewn into the lining of his school jacket where he normally kept his peppermint sticks, but, instead of the slightly sweet mint treat he had become accustomed to, he pulled out the lone cigarette that lay waiting for a moment like this.

Moving the thin cylindrical item to his lips, he rested it between them and sighed at the remembered weight. He could feel an itching in his skin to light the inanimate object, but he refused to travel with one just in case he gave into the temptation to actually smoke it. The desire still remained however, biting at the back of his conscience to let loose and enjoy the burning sensation as it entered his lungs. The need had become stronger due to recent events.

Gripping at the grass and pulling in up as he thought about the incident, Gaara wondered again about his decision and if it was right to give Naruto space to potentially leave him. His eyes took notice of the darkening blue sky above him, reminding the redhead of how his boyfriend had looked that morning straddling him from above with his blue eyes full of lust, eyes that had darkened full of passion for him…only him.

It was surprising what could happen within a short period of time. Gaara had to believe that Naruto wouldn’t leave him for the Uchiha…that what he had seen that morning had been real because the blond couldn’t lie since every emotion showed so clearly in his eyes. So he had given his boyfriend the opportunity to prove him right and that once Naruto had the opportunity to see that Sasuke wasn’t the same person, that the feelings weren’t the same, then the blond would come back to him.

Maybe it would blow up in his face, but this was Naruto. He was different than anyone Gaara had ever met; someone who believed in his word and told the truth no matter what.

This afternoon was the closest he’d ever seen the blond come to lying, and that was about his ex boyfriend. Even then, the redhead had known the truth and hoped that Naruto would tell him, which he did eventually much to Gaara’s relief, but whose to say that was the end of it.

The redhead felt a heavy weight settle down next to him, and he turned his head in surprise to see Shino. His former second in command had taken off his glasses and pulled down the mask till it lay resting against his neck before lying next to Gaara. “Why are you here Shuzaku?” the brunette finally said while staring up at the sky thoughtfully.

Gaara snorted at the remark while turning his face away from his companion to stare back up at the sky, “I should ask you the same… Why aren’t you in detention with Naruto? I heard even the great Uchiha was going to be there.” He couldn’t hide the sneer of contempt that entered his voice at the mention of his rival.

The brunette gave a quiet laugh, “Well, something very unusual happened…” He pulled the cigarette away from Gaara’s lips and smashed it as he continued to talk, ignoring the annoyed look the redhead shot him at the destruction of his lone cigarette. “Detention was cancelled when someone let off the fire alarm, which in turn set off the sprinkler system getting everyone wet. Can you imagine that?” Shino said in a dispassionate voice while clucking his tongue in disapproval.

“Indeed…” Gaara turned his head to face Shino again, his green eyes sparkling with mirth over the very convenient occurrence, “I wonder who could have possibly done that?”

Shino shook his head slightly and with a fake tone of innocence in his voice he related to the redhead what he had told the teacher earlier, “‘Really, Kakashi-sensei. It could not have been any of us in the detention room. You had your eye on us the whole time.’ In fact,” he grinned, turning to look at Gaara for a moment, “I think he really liked the wet look. He even took a couple pictures of a very wet and hot-looking Goldilocks,” he waggled his brows, “Kakashi-sensei is such a good role model…”

Gaara laughed full out then, leaning his head back while gripping at his belly, “Ah gods… I would have loved to see that. I bet even the Uchiha looked like a wet dog.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he smelled like one to,” Shino made a scrunched up face of disgust over the raven-haired boy before throwing a thin, red piece of folded metal and plastic on top of Gaara’s stomach, making the redhead sit up in surprise and stare down at it in confusion. Picking up the device, he turned to look at Shino oddly, “Is this...?”

“Kakashi’s phone…” Shino gave a slight smirk. “Yeah…, like I would deny you the pleasure of seeing Goldilocks in all his glory.” He sighed while making a tisking sound with his teeth and lips as he shook his head in mock wonder at the redhead, “Leader is getting so forgetful in his old age.”

Green eyes narrowed in anger at the comment, “You’re one to talk, Devil-man. I am not the one who sounded like a girly boy this morning while kissing up to his brother…”

Shino’s hand lifted to his chest as though he was wounded by the comment, which he wasn’t, “My liege, you hurt me with your cold words,” he gave a dramatic sniffle, “Poor Goldilocks would have thought his unfortunate brother has been ignoring him if I didn’t play with him a little.”

“Pansy…” Gaara snorted in amusement as he took out a peppermint stick, this time, and starting sucking on the end of it. It felt good to try to ignore the clamoring in his heart for a moment and just hang out with his friend. The peppermint he was sucking on briefly reminded him of the lube his sister left on the nightstand beside his bed last night, and he tried to fight down the blush that stained his cheeks over the memory of Naruto preparing himself for Gaara when he entered the room that morning with the pancakes. He had almost dropped the pancakes in shock at the sight before promptly tackling the boy.

“Oi…” he felt a soft sensation on his cheek as Shino poked him slightly, “Don’t space out over naughty thoughts of Goldilocks yet. I have a question to ask.”

Gaara already had an idea where this was going because he had never known Naruto to keep his mouth shut when he was upset over something, and since Shino had conveniently been in detention with him it was only natural that the blond would expose his heart to his foster brother. “What is it…?” he tried to focus his mind away from the remembered pain he felt when Naruto told him he had liked the kiss and instead tried to focus on sucking on his peppermint stick instead.

The whole incident over the fire alarms going off had probably been Shino’s attempt at getting out of the detention so he could speak to Gaara as soon as possible.

“There you go again…” Shino shook his head slightly in disappointment, “The Shuzaku I know would never have let someone like the Uchiha get to him like this.”

Gaara who only sighed interrupted him, “He also wouldn’t have fallen in love at first sight, which seems to be a curse my mother and I share.” Memories of his mother and the lack of relationship she had with his biological father had ended up killing her in the end, almost taking the redhead’s life along with her own. It was something Gaara would never forgive the man for since he had only come in enough time to save the redhead’s life but not his mother’s.

It was stupid to compare relationships, but, other than the ironic love at first sight (considering he had always thought he was a-sexual), his relationship with Naruto was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt he was truly loved by someone, and it wasn’t always passionate. It was sometimes hard, especially during the rare times they fought, but, even though they had their difficulties, Gaara ultimately felt safe with Naruto.

It was as if his heart was encased in a protected shield from the outside world that wanted to see him suffer; it was everything warm, soft, and passionate in his life. The redhead would kill to protect that feeling, but more than anything he didn’t want to loose Naruto to Sasuke and the way he could do that was by making sure to set him free to make his own mistakes in hopes that he will return and never worry about what the Uchiha might do.

“Gaara, you can’t let what happened to your mother destroy your relationship. Letting the Uchiha have his way isn’t a good thing.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Shino?” Gaara glared over at the taller boy, wanting to hit him to ease his frustration but knowing that wouldn’t solve any of his problems. “You didn’t see how he looked when he told me about Sasuke… He looked so sad and alone,” he lifted a hand to run it through his hair in frustration, “I don’t know what exactly he needs from that bastard, but it’s not something I can give him,” He shook his head, “I wasn’t the one who broke his heart. All I can hope to do is protect it like he has mine.”

“I hope he doesn’t make you regret that decision, Gaara…”Shino felt at odds with the whole situation. He wished that Naruto had chosen him over the redhead, but it was already too late when he realized his feelings, and, because they were the most important people in his life, Shino had instead given his support to their relationship. Hoping that Naruto was happy was something he and Gaara both shared, but, unlike himself, the redhead would be devastated if Naruto chose Sasuke over him. ‘Please…’ Shino thought for a moment, ‘If there is such a thing as god… I pray nothing like that will ever happen to him.’ He didn’t think the redhead could take any more betrayals.

“Do you think I should break up with him?”

Shino turned his head in shock at the mumbled question. He knew nerves caused it, but he never believed the redhead would ever contemplate such a thing. Naruto was someone, even at such a young age as they were now, that Gaara could see himself growing old with.

“Stop being an idiot,” Shino could feel his heart thumping fast in partial fear over the situation and a little excitement since it could mean he had a chance, but he shook his head over the idea. ‘I have to do something to help them, but what...?” he thought while leaning his head back again to stare up at the sky.

Shino’s mind drifted to a few minutes earlier when he had excited the detention room and saw Sasuke talking to an amused-looking boy–probably one of his band mates–with short, spiky, chestnut-colored hair who was wearing the school outfit, minus the jacket, with the top three buttons of the shirt undone and had wrapped the tie around his bicep. The pants were loose and were held up by three layers of leather belts in different styles. ‘Overall,’ Shino thought, ‘he looks like a punk, yet,’ his head tilted to the side as he studied the animated brunette’s lithe and tone body, ‘he looks a lot like Naruto… Minus the makeup, brown hair, and brown eyes, he could very well be Naruto.’ The prospect of getting to know this boy was exciting, and it could potentially give him access to the band. Killing two birds with one stone...make that three if he could convince the brunette that helping him break up Naruto and Sasuke was a good idea.

Kiba, who was oblivious to the machinations of Shino’s mind, continued to laugh at his band mates predicament, “Dude if I had known you were going to have a wet t-shirt contest, I would have joined detention a lot sooner.” The singer ignored him in favor of changing into his black sweatshirt and pants that he kept in the school PE locker.

The raven’s eyes narrowed in anger towards the guitarist of his band, “If you don’t shut up their won’t be a next time idiot…” he turned away from the other boy in disgust becoming easily annoyed with his presence.

The brunette’s attention was drawn by the sound of wet tennis shoes slapping against the concrete floor of the gym’s changing room, “Ah come-on Sasu… you have to admit…” Kiba stopped speaking suddenly and instead let out a huge whistle at the sight of a dripping wet and therefore sexy blond that entered the locker-room door, “Don’t you think your in the wrong room hot stuff.” As usual the guitarist was oblivious to the finer points of conversation and had taken to eyeing his ex boyfriend like a piece of candy.

For his part, Sasuke was struck dumb by the sight of Naruto drenched to the bone, but he ignored the flare of desire that curled in his stomach in favor of chastening his band mate instead over his attitude, “Get your mind out of the gutter Kiba,” He muttered having finished changing into his gym clothes.

Kiba turned to give the blond a mischievous grin, “You know I live for being in the gutter man… and this chick deserves all the lustful praises she can get,” he gave a saucy wink when he noticed the blond’s face turn a bright red, he didn’t realize it was due to anger

“I’m not a girl you idiot!” Naruto yelled while glaring over at both the brunette and Sasuke.

“Really!?” Kiba was surprised for once since he considered himself a connoisseur of woman, and before he thought about what he was doing, he walked up towards the blond and cupped Naruto at the juncture of his pants giving it a slight squeeze, “Holy shit you weren’t kidding… it’s small, but that’s definitely a penis!”

“You Ass…” Naruto squeeked in horror over being felt up by the bastard and he lifted his fist ready to hit the perverted bastard, but Sasuke beat him to it by kneeing Kiba roughly in the crotch before giving him a swift upper cut which effectively knocked the brunette out.

It seemed the singer wasn’t used to the action because he gingerly touched his suddenly sore and slightly swelling wrist before turning to give a shocked Naruto an apologetic smile, “Sorry… Kiba tends to think before he acts a lot,” he watched the blonde’s shocked expression soften into a smile and he couldn’t help letting off a stress relieving chuckle over the situation.

Naruto was surprised that Sasuke had stood up for him and he ran hand slowly through his still wet hair as he eyed the raven in contemplation, “Everyone can act stupid sometimes Teme... I guess even those who uses to be our best friends deserve to have a second chance…”

It was Sasuke’s turn to look surprised, not having expected Naruto to sound so forgiving, he wondered if maybe he was dreaming, “Can you pinch me I don’t think I understood a word you said.”

Naruto bit his lip wanting to tell the other boy off, but instead he leaned over pinching Sasuke hard making the raven wince, “I haven’t completely forgiven you yet Sasuke… so don’t make me regret asking you out on a date ok?”

“A date?” black eyes blinked slowly, like an owl, as he rubbed at the sore area where the blond had pinched him realizing it wasn’t a joke after all and his face suddenly erupted into a rather uncharacteristically beautiful smile, “I don’t care how it happened, but I wont make you regret giving me this chance.”

Naruto hated the fact that he wanted to smile in return at the expression of joy on the other boy’s face, Sasuke’s betrayal still ate at his conscience after all, but if it meant Gaara would finally accept that their was nothing between him and Sasuke, what did it matter having a date or two with the bastard, “Come on we better change before it gets darker…” he didn’t realize that his he was blushing a little as he grabbed Sasuke’s forearm, dragging the raven behind him, “I’ll give you some heated balm for your wrist, its something that I use during basketball season, it should help to ease some of the pain.”

Sasuke nodded while following behind Naruto, it was great to finally have this chance to convince Naruto that he was telling truth, that he really did care and he couldn’t wait to go on a date with the blond to show him how much.