Taiikusai

Hey everyone, long time no see. I've been around, just busy. Also, to those of you who reviewed, thanks. Lack of response usually results in lack of motivation. I would have forgotten to update had people not asked >.>;; Here is a long overdue chapter.


Resolutions



Naruto was frightened by the way Gaara stood stiffly in his arms, as though he wasn’t willing to fight- wasn’t willing to respond in any way. It reminded him too much of their middle school days.

“Gaara, I’ve been stupid, but not in the way you’re probably thinking right now.”

“You didn’t betray me, did you?” He sounded uncertain. “I heard it from Neji and rushed here as soon as I could… I… refused to believe that rumor could be true.”

Naruto squeezed Gaara tighter. “It is and it isn’t. So just bear with me. Let me start from the beginning.”

And so Gaara raised his hand to touch Naruto’s arm gently, signaling that it was okay for him to let go.

He found that it was remarkably difficult to stay angry at Naruto from within the confines of his warm embrace. He needed to listen to this without those distractions. And so Naruto let go and Gaara sat- and listened.



Sakura rapped lightly on the doorway to the student council room before stepping inside. After Neji had indeed bought her a drink, he received an e-mail that sent him rushing into half-muttered excuses and a kind of urgency to leave school. Sakura smiled knowingly and thanked him for treating her. She was guessing there was more than one Sabaku he was happy to see return.

When Sakura entered the office, Sasuke was sitting alone, staring at the art building. The art room wasn’t visible, but it didn’t take a genius to know where his thoughts were.

She placed her drink down and sat opposite him, not saying anything until he stopped spacing out long enough to notice her.

“Do you want to do this the gentle way or do I have to pull teeth?” she asked him squarely.

“Che,” he muttered before redirecting his gaze out the window.

“Do you have any intention of becoming friends with Naruto again or will each attempt from here on out be simply a ruse to get him to go out with you?”

His eyes flashed angrily at her, but it failed to mask his surprise.

“Did you think I didn’t notice? He’s been trying so hard to restore things to the way they used to be, but noo, it’s never enough for you, is it. You want more, feel the need to get exactly what you want and simply can’t bring yourself to accept any less, can you.”

“What would you know?”

“I know you, Sasuke. And Naruto. I didn’t obsess over you for years only to model you into the fantasy everyone else thinks you are. Somewhere along that road I took you off the pedestal and discovered what a high horse you were really on.”

He seemed taken aback by the anger in her speech. He nearly laughed when an old proverb rose to mind.

Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.

Heaven knows she had suffered enough in middle school- at his own behest.

“If you’re trying to rub my rejection into my face, save it. Not like I’d expect you to understand anyways. Your situation is not the same as mine.”

“Understand what? Your selfishness? Or the so called pain of pining for someone long, lonely years without being given a chance?” She was pissed. He could tell.

“It’s not the same and you know it. I never led you on.” He pointed out as if that explained everything. “I was saving you from false hopes.”

“And you think Naruto is leading you on? Even after he’s so obviously head over heels in lo…”

“I get it!” His hand smacked the desk rather alarmingly. “I get your point,” he said more composedly, “So what do you want from me?”

“Give up on Naruto.” His expression made it clear that he considered her to be asking the impossible. “Let him be happy and stop these stupid games.” He stared at her hard, unwilling to even blink. “Gaara won him fair and square so stop being a sore loser and get over it. You snooze you lose, babe.” She had the audacity to wink.

“Hn.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re rather willing to get me off his back. So what do you get out of this? Who is it you want this time? Me or Naruto?”

SLAP!

Sasuke’s cheek stung, but it was more shock than physical pain that surprised him.

“Naruto has always treated me with decency and respect, and I love him dearly, but the one I’m doing this for is you. I, of all people, know exactly how it feels to be close to someone you want, but cannot have. But I got over it.” She punctuated each word like she was spelling out the simplest of words to someone unable to understand.

She sat back down from her bent over position on the table. “You should too before you turn into an obsessive fan boy. I’d hate to see you start acting like Ino.”

Sasuke shuddered.

Sakura picked up her can of juice, pushing her chair back and strolling back out the door. “Toodles Sasuke-kun. Call me if you ever decide to try girls.” She wiggled her fingers at him in farewell.

Sasuke shook his head. That was the last thing he expected. He pressed a palm to his forehead, still pondering what hit him.

Gaara sat quietly, pondering Naruto’s words.

“So I’m sorry. I realized after I said it how stupid it was for me to ignore his request for me to put my shirt back on. But after over a week of changing in the locker room together, I didn’t think he’d blow a gasket!” Naruto made a face. “Man, I hope he wasn’t checking me out in the locker room.” He shuddered. “That’s just creepy.”

“I’m sure he was.” Gaara spoke while still staring at the floor. “To be honest, I was alarmed when you told me how close you two were becoming. You were willing to trust him again, but I wasn’t.”

Naruto face quirked up in an expression of mild surprise. He seemed to think about it for a moment before breaking out into giggles. “Were you jealous?” He said like one speaking to a five year old. Gaara rolled his eyes as if the mere suggestion itself was preposterous. “My widdle Gaara was jealous! Wasn’t he.” Gaara sent Naruto one of his famed death glares, successfully wiping the grin off his face.

“Do you blame me? You never once told me you missed me and kept rambling on about Uchiha.”

A slight guilt marred Naruto’s otherwise sunny disposition. However, Gaara recognized an underlying tone to his expression. It popped up whenever Naruto was struggling with something.

“Of course I missed you! I…”

A crackly static filled the room, drifting down from the school intercom system before a deep voice spoke up authoritatively.

‘All students not involved with club activities are to return home by four pm today. Those participating in club activities will be dismissed and should leave school premises by 5:30. Please take note and be careful going home. That is all. Thank you.”

Both boys turned their heads to face the clock. It was nearly four already. I guess that was the school’s polite way of kicking them all out.

Gaara stood slowly, leisurely walking towards the door.

“Gaara,” Naruto entreated, “we’re not done yet. There are…,” he hesitated. Gaara stopped at the door and turned to look at the famed loud mouth quietly blushing at the floor. “There are still things I have to say to you.” Gaara nodded. “Will you… will you come over to my house? Maybe I can even make you dinner.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. Gaara smiled. All the anxiety that had tore at him this long grueling day was now blessedly gone.

“Sure.”


Gaara sat quietly on the floor while Naruto turned circles in the closet space he called a kitchen. “I know you’re not a big fan of ramen, so how about yakisoba?!”

“In this heat?” Gaara fanned himself with the small uchiha he had picked up from Naruto’s table.

“Soumen?” A spiky blond head poked out the doorway.

“You really like noodles.”

“Mou! If you can’t decide, I’ll just run to the conbini and buy bento.”

Gaara smiled, trying to suppress a few chuckles. “Soumen is fine.”

Naruto smiled, giving a slight nod of his head before bustling about the confined space to prepare the ingredients. “So tell me about Tottori!” he said while chopping up green onions. “I’ve never been there!”

“There’s nothing to tell. It’s the countryside. It’s boring.” Gaara’s attention shifted to Naruto’s apartment.

“How is your grandma? I’ve never had one. What’s she like?” Naruto’s voice drifted amongst the sound of the knife hitting the chopping board.

“She’s old,” Gaara murmured absently. He continued to shuffle through the clutter on top of the table, organizing them into some semblance of a pile: bills, a few sketches, random manga, color pencils and pens, a cord winding its way to a PS2 controller and at the very bottom, a book.

“That’s not very nice to say,” Naruto berated him. “Anything else you can say about her?”

Gaara pulled out the rather large volume, looking at a picture of two male torsos. Two sexy torsos at that.

“She’s a grandma,” he muttered as though that explained everything.

Naruto poked his head out. “Remind me never to ask you what you think about me.” Gaara inspected the title and the summary on the back. “And dinner is… hey!” Naruto rushed over, roughly placing two plates of noodles on the newly cleared space hurriedly before snatching the book away.

Gaara smirked. “Since when did you have a book on gay erotica?” Naruto blushed a beet red.

“Shut up! It’s your fault!”

“I made you buy gay porn?” Gaara was definitely amused.

“Yes!” Naruto reached surprisingly strongly. “Indirectly of course!” Gaara couldn’t help smiling. His boyfriend was truly embarrassed and it was so fucking adorable that Gaara couldn’t help himself. He rose to his feet, closing the distance between them and pulled Naruto into a deep, penetrating kiss. Naruto replied hungrily, hands immediately clasping Gaara’s waist and massaging his hips. Gaara continued to kiss the daylights out of the other boy in his quest to reacquaint himself with every nook, every flavor, and every texture of the moaning boy’s mouth.

Naruto pulled Gaara into an embrace and the hardness that began pressing into his inner thigh let him now just how badly Naruto had missed him.

Gaara’s hands itched to let go of Naruto’s face long enough to stroke him, but it felt so damn good kissing him again.

Finally, when the need for oxygen won through, Gaara held Naruto’s face, nose to nose and looked into his eyes. A softness lingered in those blue depths that he had missed- had tried to imagine so many times as he touched himself in the blond’s absence.

“Gaara,” Naruto whispered, “I…”

Grrooowl. Naruto’s stomach reminded both boys of the neglected noodles on the table.

“Let’s eat,” Gaara smiled, “and then we’ll talk.” He kissed Naruto’s lips quickly and then released him. Naruto’s smile stretched from ear to ear and he dashed for the kitchen to bring out the sauces.

Dinner was a quiet affair. There seemed to be an unspoken rule about no talking while eating. Not that Gaara would want to. The way Naruto gulped down noodles it was amazing he managed to breathe. And when all the noodles had disappeared, and Naruto pat his tummy, Gaara picked up the book again.

“Hey now! Just put that thing down!” Naruto turned pink and reached for the book again. Gaara pulled it just out of his reach, opening the cover to raise an eyebrow at the cover piece inside. He tilted his head sideways to properly admire it.

“I’m just looking at whatever you were researching.” Naruto made a reach for it again but Gaara held it even further away from himself. Naruto nearly crawled into Gaara’s lap attempting to pull his arm down long enough to grab the book out of his hand, but Gaara merely arched backwards until a little overbalancing landed him straight on his back with Naruto directly on top of him. Not that Gaara minded.

Naruto blushed prettily, but didn’t make any attempt to move away. He simply placed a hand over Gaara’s, pulling his fingers away from the book that sat on the floor.

“I didn’t realize how ignorant I was until I’d actually been with you.” He stared at the book just beyond their reach. “You always seemed to know what you were doing while I was picking it up as we went along. I thought…” He scrunched up his nose, struggling with his next few words. “I thought I’d surprise you when you got back.”

Gaara felt his cheeks heat up. Naruto had been thinking of him. Naruto wanted to go further, despite some of the protests he had encountered before he left. Was Naruto feeling anxious about it? Was it simply embarrassment that had stopped him?

“Naruto.” Gaara stroked a warm cheek. “You should have told me you were feeling anxious about it.”

“But it’s embarrassing! I hate feeling like I’m two steps behind.” He grimaced, refusing to meet Gaara’s eyes. Gaara wrapped an arm around the heavier boy and pulled him down to rest over him.

Naruto looked at Gaara in surprise, but Gaara only smiled. “I’ve never had any complaints. Besides, I like pleasing you.” His hand slid over Naruto’s back, fingers just grazing the surface of his black t-shirt. Naruto sucked in his breath.

The air had shifted between them. All Naruto’s anger and apprehensions sat on the back burner, forgotten in the aftermath of Gaara’s lingering touches. “Naruto.” Gaara’s nose bumped his, his lips nearly brushing the other boy’s. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” Naruto agreed before pressing his lips into the other boy’s. The kiss turned deep, quickly, while Gaara rubbed his hands up and down Naruto’s back and spread his legs so the boy could fit between them. Naruto balanced himself on his forearms as he aligned their bodies like puzzle pieces. “Oh Gaara,” he murmured between kisses, grinding his hips against the body below him. “I missed you so much.” He pressed kisses to his jaw and neck before taking his lips again. Gaara sighed with each roll of Naruto’s hips. “I just never said it,” he licked Gaara’s top lip like a cat, “because I thought it would make it worse.” Naruto held Gaara’s eyes for a heart stopping second before Naruto plunged into the warm, waiting mouth.

Absorbed in a kiss, their bodies fell against each other’s in natural rhythm- bodies sliding in slow, long drawn out strokes. After weeks of separation, neither was willing to rush it. And so they touched, slowly, with patience that shouldn’t have existed where hormones were concerned.

“Gaara,” Naruto broke the silence. “Stay with me tonight.” Naruto continued to create the delightful friction that reverberated through both their bodies. “I want to be with you, Gaara.” He spoke like a small child asking a parent to let him sleep in their bed. Gaara smiled between sighs, eyes glancing at him before sliding shut again.

“You’re with me now, aren’t you?” He brought his hips up again as if to punctuate his words.

“No.” He pressed his cheek next to Gaara’s, whispering into his ear. “I won’t run this time. I want to be *with* you.”

Gaara’s eyes flashed open, mouth parting in shock as the meaning of those words sunk in. Gaara wrapped his arms around Naruto and clung to him. He nodded with purpose and trembled as he took Naruto’s lips again.