You were the one behind the mask

I've got back to college tomorrow and I fell really happy because I'm going to learn japanese this semester...Yay for me!!!!



Ok, I want to thank SneakyFox,mistress0fyaoi,drmsr,xXKitsuneXx and ednama : Thank you for your reviews I am really happy you have liked the story so far. Here is the next chapter, hope you like it!!!



I also want to thank to my beta InosBane for making of this is story something easy to read. Thanks!!





Read and do not forget to Review!! And enjoy!!





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After Gaara took off and Kakashi and the others left, Naruto remained behind to help his friends clean up the mess. Kiba did all the talking while Sasuke seethed, grunting occasionally and Naruto lost himself in thought. The confrontation had left him rattled, not so much by what had happened, but by the way Sasuke had looked when he dropped his bomb.



Thanks to his old crush on Itachi, Sasuke’s brother, it was common knowledge that Naruto liked men just as much as women. But Sasuke knew good and well that the only person who currently occupied his thoughts was Haruno Sakura. His birthday party was just around the corner, and he was counting on it to be the perfect place to confess his love to Sakura, but after seeing her face when Sasuke had made the crack about Gaara...what if she flat out rejected him? What if she suggested a threesome? Hmmm...that wasn't such a bad idea...wait, what! NO! What was he thinking? Naruto cursed his best friend mentally for having said such things. He definitely didn’t want Sakura thinking that he liked Gaara in that way, which of course, he didn't.



Gathering up the items of Gaara's that were salvageable, Naruto left the school without saying goodbye. He didn't notice the hurt look on the Uchiha's face as he walked out the front doors and into the afternoon sunlight. He caught up with Shikamaru and asked him where Gaara lived. Shikamaru took in the paint splattered items and smiled. Naruto started to explain that he wanted to apologize and return Gaara's things, but Shikamaru waved a lazy hand.



"You also want that picture huh?"



Naruto grinned sheepishly, "yeah."



Shikamaru nodded and wrote down directions from memory on a piece of paper.



"You might want to take a peace offering," he called smirking at the blonde's back.



This is why Naruto smiled and held out a bag of oreos once Gaara came to the door.



"Hey, ummmm...peace offering?" When Gaara made no response, Naruto sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened, and I wanted to make sure you got your things. A few papers were beyond repair, but most of your books and folders are okay." He smiled weakly, "there's only a few traces of paint on your Physics book."



Gaara closed his eyes, this whole situation was unreal, “but that doesn't really explain what the hell you're doing here. Does it? You didn't have to bring them here yourself, did you?” Gaara hadn’t meant for that to come out as harshly as it sounded, but after everything, Naruto standing there on his doorstep holding a bag of oreos was a bit much to take in.



“I know you must be really angry about what happen today. Sasuke and Kiba went way too far, that wasn't a friendly prank. I just wanted to apologize for what they did," Naruto said, his blue eyes gleaming, "but I also think that your reaction was a bit…well…”



“I know," Gaara answered simply.



There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, as Gaara avoided meeting Naruto's eyes and instead turned to look out on the neighbor's garden. His eyes widened when he recognized the grinning faces of Shikamaru and Chouji peering out at him from a lavender bush. Gaara blinked several times to make sure he was seeing correctly when Shikamaru started waving at him signaling that he should take Naruto into the house. Gaara couldn't help but smile, apparently Shikamaru was still his friend even after his outburst. He turned his gaze back to the blonde and was about to invite him in when a loud bang followed by laughter was heard coming from the second floor of the house. Gaara rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Naruto who was staring curiously into the doorway.



“What was that?”



“My brother and his stupid friends," as if on cue, a man with brown hair and an irritated look on his face appeared at the door. Seeing the two standing there, he smirked slightly before nodding.



“Gaara, Gaara’s boyfriend,” before disappearing down a hallway. Gaara glared red-faced at his brother's back while Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.



“So, I take it that was your brother?”



Gaara closed his eyes and nodded, “Do you still want the drawing?”



Naruto blinked at the sudden change in topic before a goofy smile appeared on his face.



“Yeah, sure!”



“Okay then, come in.”



Naruto stared curiously around at the mismatched, overstuffed furniture. It looked comfortable and homey, a far cry from his uncle's bachelor pad, or even Sasuke's mother's floral chintz. He followed as Gaara made a right, went up a staircase and then down a fairly long hallway. A door was slightly ajar, and he couldn't help but take a peek inside. His surprised gasp made Gaara turn around.



“Wow, is this your sister's room? “



Gaara frowned before a slow smirk made it's way across his face, “why?”



Naruto turned a bewildered face to the redhead, “Those dolls she has on the shelf are really great!”



A laugh was heard from inside the room and Gaara joined in. Temari came out of her actual room a little exasperated from cleaning, and Kankuro had just arrived holding two cans of soda. The older sibling's jaws dropped and they gaped at eachother. They were witnessing a miracle! Their brother was laughing! It wasn’t loud guffaws, just soft snickers, but it was real, and there was little to no malice involved. Naruto looked from Gaara snickering to Temari and Kankuro who were imitating goldfish, while the unseen voice laughed on. He was thoroughly confused.



“Gaara, what happened? What's so funny?” Naruto asked as Gaara shot an amused look at Kankuro.



“Can you repeat what you just said about that room," Gaara smiled.



Naruto was really lost, he didn’t have any idea what he said that was so funny, but he looked over at Temari anyways and shrugged.



“Well, I just said to Gaara that I thought your room was really incredible…especially those dolls you have on the shelf.”



Once again, his comment was met with laughter, and this time Temari joined in. Kankuro however, snorted angrily, before entering his room. Naruto winced, glad he wasn't a can of soda.



“This is my room," a deep voice called. "And they are NOT dolls…they are puppets!” The house shook slightly from the force of the slammed door.



“Yeah, sure you keep telling yourself that,” the voice within the room taunted..



“Shut up Deidara, you're the one that looks like a girl!!”



“So the puppets are the reason you use make up sometimes? Ouch!"



Kankuro must have thrown the soda at his friend. The two began squabbling, and soon their raised voices were indecipherable.



Temari was still laughing at Naruto's comment, while the blonde blushed. What a horrible mistake, but how was he to know that room belonged to Gaara’s brother? What guy had dolls organized like that in their room? It was a genuine mistake. He turned around and saw Gaara and Temari watching him.



“I uh… I'm sorry?”



“Don’t be, it was about time someone told him the truth.” Temari smiled making Naruto feel much better. ”Are you staying for dinner? I’m going to order some pizza in a little while.”



“Oh, I would love to…but I can’t. Thanks anyway,” Naruto said gratefully.



The disappointment in her brother's eyes was not lost on Temari who addressed Naruto while ruffling Gaara's hair, much to the redhead's annoyance.



“That’s to bad, it's not everyday Gaara brings his friends home. Maybe some other time.”



“Yeah, I'd like that.”



“Alright, well, carry on. But be nice and don't break anything," she said as a crach was heard coming from Kankuro's room, followed by a "damnit!" Temari rolled her eyes before heading to the kitchen.



Naruto followed Gaara to the door at the end of the hall. When the light was flipped on, Uzumaki stared around in astonishment. The room was painted a blue so dark it was almost black, with white dots on the ceiling and a half moon behind Gaara's bed. The three other walls had meteors and stardust painted on them, and there was a telescope at the window. Naruto walked over to the desk where Gaara was rummaging through some sketch books next to his computer. His eyes lit up when he saw the party invitation.



“Hey, you got one!”



Gaara looked over at what Naruto was holding, "yeah, someone put it on my locker," he shrugged.



“Sai and Lee were helping me pass them out to everyone in our year, you know since this is Senior year and all. And since it's October I thought it would be fun to make it a costume party." Naruto cocked an eyebrow playfully, "you are coming right?"



Gaara looked at Naruto as if he didn’t believe him. So Shikamaru was right, it wasn’t a joke and to top it off, Naruto was expecting him to go! He looked down at the drawing in his hand and held it out to Naruto.



“I can’t," he muttered not meeting the blue eyes. "I have…well, my brother and sister and I are going to be busy that night.” He didn't have to see Naruto's disappointment, he could feel it.



“Oh, that sucks, but you'll still get me a gift right?"



Gaara blinked at the gall of the question before muttering, “yeah, I guess…since you invited me.”



“Great!" Naruto grinned slyly, "then my gift will be you coming to my party! Come on," he begged, "you have to be there, it's going to be awesome! My uncle's going to be out of town, and Sasuke and Itachi, that’s Sasuke’s brother, are helping me with the music and stuff. Itachi's bringing some of his friends-they're all mad-like seriously nuts!! But they're fun and…”



Gaara had never met someone who could talk so much without taking a breath. One subject seemed to lead to another, and Gaara was just wondering if he should get the blonde a glass of water when a voice from the window interrupted the monologue.



“Wow," a voice drawled. "You talk even more than my mom...I'm impressed!" The pair looked over at the window to see a smug faced Shikamaru perched on the ledge.



“How'd you get there?" Naruto asked.



Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he climbed into the room, "tree," he said pointing to the juniper outside the window. He shot Gaara a mischevious grin as he laid down on the bed.



“He always does that,” Gaara said.



“And it doesn’t bother you?” Naruto asked leaning out the window and touching the tree.



“Not really, I'm used to him pestering me all the time.”



Shikamaru saw the look of insecurity in his friend's eyes, he smiled gently.



“Good to know that I mean that much to you.”



“Well, I think it's kinda creepy,” Naruto muttered. “Anyway," he said turning from the window, "thanks for the drawing Gaara, really I appreciate it. Enjoy the cookies, I'll see you guys Monday."



“I'll walk you out,” Gaara offered. Naruto nodded and the two left the room, Shikamaru smirking after them..



After a few minutes, Gaara returned to find Shikamaru looking through the telescope.



“So, I take it things went well with your...new…err, friend?” Shikamaru grinned. But when he saw the expression on Gaara's face he became concerned, "hey, are you okay?"



“You’re still talking to me.”



Well Shikamaru certainly wasn't expecting that. “Of course I am, why wouldn't I be talking to you?”



“Because of what happened today, the way I lost control." Gaara sighed sitting on the bed.



Shikamaru shrugged and walked over to turn the stereo on. He winced at the volume before turning it down and finding some classical music.



“They deserved it. They've been screwing with you since you're first day. But you," He grinned pointing at Gaara, "you were holding out on me, you never mentioned that you knew how to fight. Still," he said sitting down next to Gaara, "wasn't it interesting how Uzumaki came to your rescue?"



“I have to go to the party.” Gaara sighed, "he tricked me."



Shikamaru chuckled, “yeah, I know. I was listening in."



“You have a habit of doing that when I'm talking to Naruto don’t you? But where's Chouji? Don't tell me he climbed the tree too?"



“It's dinner time, he went home.”



They were both laying back on the bed staring at the ceiling when Temari walked in. When he saw who it was, Shikamaru stood up so fast that he almost knocked Gaara off the bed. Blushing under Temari's gaze, he stuffed his hands in his pockets trying to look nonchalant.



“Ah, hello Shikamaru, nice to see you. How have you been?”



“Since yesterday? Quite fine, thanks for asking.”



“I see you still choose to enter our home through my brother's window. That's really quite romantic,” Temari's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Shikamaru leaned against the closest wall as Gaara sat watching the delicate game of flirtation the two engaged in every time they met.



“I…yes…I didn’t want to disturb anyone this late.”



“That was really thoughtful because we all know how dreadfully late six o’clock is.”



“Six? Wow, time really does fly,” Shikamaru paused looking down at his watch. Gaara laid back down and rolled his eyes. “So," he continued, "to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?”



“Oh, well, you know, I kinda live here.” Temari replied, ”I was ordering pizza and…"



“Temari what the hell are you doing? The guy from the pizza place is getting tired of waiting for our order!” Kankuro screamed from the first floor. Temari’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and Gaara was very happy that his name wasn't Kankuro.



“Anyway, Gaara do you want some pizza?” Gaara nodded, and Temari directed her attention back to Shikamaru. ”Do you want to stay for dinner? We should have plenty since Gaara’s boyfriend couldn’t stay."



“He is not my boyfriend…”



Shikamaru and Temari shared a look of disbelief before Shikamaru nodded, "I'll stay."



“Good, then I'll get the same as always?” Gaara nodded once again and with a last glance towards Shikamaru, Temari left.



Gaara sat up and raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru who shrugged.



“So, pizza eh?”



“Yeah, pizza.” A few moments of silence passed as Shikamaru stared resolutely at a spot on the floor.



“Uzumaki's party is a costume party,” Gaara stated.



Shikamaru nodded.



“Are you coming with me?”



“Of course," Shikamaru lifted his head giving Gaara a look that said he must be crazy. "Do you honestly think I'd let you wander alone into that pack of wolves?"



Gaara smiled softly, he was glad he had a friend like Shikamaru. “So, I don’t know what to wear, I've never worn a costume before.”



“What do you mean you've never worn a costume? What about when you were little, didn't you ever go trick-or-treating?"



Gaara shrugged. That part of his childhood had been denied him, he'd never known what it was like to interact with other children or to have friends until recently, until Shikamaru.



“Well," the dark haired boy grinned scratching the back of his head, "I guess we could go to the mall tomorrow, I know a good place to find costumes.”



“Thanks." Gaara grinned back relieved. He didn't know anything about costumes other than he didn't want to look stupid. "So," he hesitated for a minute, "are you inviting my sister?”



Shikamaru's face was as red as a beet before he nodded, "you don't mind do you?"



Gaara smirked and turned off the stereo grabbing the remote and turning on the TV instead. “Want to watch a movie?”



“Sure," Shikamaru replied sitting back down on the bed.



o-o-o-o-o



Sasuke was standing on Naruto’s porch holding a bowl of Miso Ramen. He knew that the moment his friend saw what he was holding, the blonde would forgive him and everything would be back to normal. Naruto opened the door, and just as he predicted, took the Ramen from him, giving him that breathtaking smile. Sasuke felt his heart flip flop inside his chest and smiled back. It was Saturday morning, and he wasn’t about to let the fight with that Gaara freak ruin his weekend.



“So…you forgive me?” he asked sitting on the couch. Naruto, whose mouth was too full to answer, nodded vigorously.



“Good. So I was thinking about what we could do today and narrowed it down to a movie, food and video games. Itachi said he stole Kisame’s new version of Halo.”



“Great! I love it when your brother does that, he's so awesome!”



Sasuke snorted, "What time do you want to go to the movie?”



“Well we can leave now, have lunch and then go to the movies. What a great idea, I was dying of boredom here." Naruto laughed, "hey, is Itachi coming?”



“Why, do you want to hook up with him?” Sasuke asked a little too roughly.



Naruto chuckled, since he'd told Sasuke about having had a crush on Itachi, every time the name came up Sasuke would snort and start brooding. The blonde assumed Sasuke was just being protective over his brother...what he didn't even think to guess was that Sasuke was jealous.



“Please, that was so long ago, I have no desire to hook up with your brother. Now, if Sakura and Ino came along...well, maybe Pinky and I could hook up, and you could actually have a date for a change.”



“With Ino? Are you out of your mind? That woman is crazy, just thinking about her gives me hives." Sasuke shuddered, "besides, Sakura told me she was going to be very busy today.”



Sakura was definently going to be busy, whether it was counting nose hairs or plucking her eyebrows, Sasuke didn't care. This was his opportunity to spend some time alone with Naruto and he wasn't going to let some giggly pink haired girl get in the way! Ever since he'd decided he liked her, all Naruto wanted to do was find ways to be around Sakura...well not today, no way, nothing was going to wreck the perfect weekend he had planned.



He watched as his friend slurped up the rest of the ramen, “Let me grab some money and then we're outta here!"



Sasuke smirked, Jiraiya was out of town, so he and Naruto had the place all to themselves for the whole weekend. He turned around and saw a picture of him, Naruto and Itachi. His older brother had an arm around a blushing Naruto while his other hand was ruffling the hair of a brooding Sasuke. The dark haired boy frowned, he remembered the day that picture was taken, it was the day Naruto told him that he liked men just as much as women...and that he had a huge crush on Itachi. For the briefest moment Sasuke had been elated, hoping that his own feelings might be returned...but then Naruto had mentioned Itachi, and Sasuke had felt his heart shatter. Of course he liked Itachi…everyone liked Itachi.



After that he'd been angry with his brother for a few weeks until the older Uchiha told him that if he was feeling that jealous because of Naruto’s crush, then it was his own fault. When afterall, had Sasuke ever made a move or let his feelings show even in the slightest? True, he was afraid that Naruto might reject him, and their friendship would be ruined, but after talking to his brother, he'd decided that it was worth the risk. So he'd started small, and just when it seemed like Naruto was responding, that damn redhead had shown up. For Sasuke, Gaara was just as big a threat as Sakura, the way he looked at Naruto, the way he talked to him...and the way Naruto smiled that impossibly wonderful smile that he'd thought was only for him!



“Sasuke? Hey Sasuke, wake up!” Naruto was waving a hand in front of his friend's face. Sasuke blinked a couple of times before realizing that he'd been so distracted that he hadn't noticed Naruto was ready.



“You okay?" Naruto's look of concern melted away any bitterness Sasuke might have still been feeling.



“Yeah, I'm okay, just remembering something Itachi told me.”



“Well then," Naruto held out a hand which Sasuke grasped and was pulled to a standing position, "let’s go!”





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