Sand Away From The Desert

Nearly an hour later, Tsunade left Sakura’s hospital room and saw Naruto and Gaara in the waiting room. Gaara was standing against the wall, and merely lifted his head when Tsunade entered. Naruto, who had been sitting in a chair, leapt up and ran to her.



“Is she okay? Can I see her?” he yelled.



“Be quiet Naruto, she’s resting. Yes, she’s fine. She’s just exhausted and needs her rest. We were lucky. Everyone is okay. Sakura made sure to heal everyone enough to keep them alive enough to return to Konoha,” Tsunade said.



Naruto smiled now, thinking of how hard Sakura must have worked to save everyone. Gaara looked over at Naruto, wondering how he didn’t realize until then that the boy had grown up since Gaara first met him.



“Tsunade-sama?” Sakura’s voice called out very quietly from her nearby room.



Tsunade quickly turned around and rushed back into Sakura’s room. Naruto began to pace around the room, muttering to himself, not seeming to remember Gaara’s presence.



Tsunade returned after a couple minutes and forced a strained smile.



“Sakura would like to see both of you. Just try not to stay too long. I don’t want her to wear herself out talking to you,” Tsunade said firmly.



Naruto nodded quickly and Gaara nodded once as well. Tsunade motioned toward Sakura’s room and then walked back down the hallway to check on her other patients. Naruto rushed toward Sakura’s room and Gaara followed calmly behind him.



Sakura was lying back on the white bed with a white sheet pulled up to her throat. Her pink hair was still a mess, but some of the color had returned to her cheeks since Gaara had left her with Tsunade. Gaara noticed her clothes draped over the nearby chair, and he wondered if Naruto noticed as well. Gaara’s question was answered when Naruto leapt forward to tear down Sakura’s sheet and pull her into a hug. Gaara rushed forward, grabbing Naruto just in time and pulling him away from the bed. Sakura, who had realized her situation, suddenly looked relieved.



“Gaara! What the hell!” Naruto yelled, confused.



“Thank you,” Sakura said softly.



Gaara just nodded his head and let go of Naruto’s arms. Naruto looked back and forth between Gaara and Sakura, obviously confused.



“I’m not dressed you idiot!” Sakura snapped, a smile tugging at her lips.



Naruto blushed suddenly and put his hand up on his neck, smiling sheepishly. Sakura propped herself up on one hand, holding her sheet up with her other hand.



“Gaara-sama, thank you for helping me earlier. I don’t think I would have been able to save Neji without you. I’m not sure that I would have survived myself without you. I’m very grateful for your help,” Sakura said, her voice filled with praise.



“I just did what was needed,” Gaara replied.



Naruto looked back at Gaara who was still standing behind him. Naruto hadn’t realized that Gaara had been so involved in helping Sakura. Gaara kept his gaze cold, but Naruto noticed something looking faintly like concern in his eyes. Gaara glanced over at Naruto and quickly adjusted his expression, the concern disappearing. The boys both turned back to Sakura when she yawned loudly.



“I’m sorry. I really am tired,” Sakura paused when she noticed concern in Naruto’s eyes, “But I’m fine, really.”



“We will leave you to rest then,” Gaara said calmly.



“Thank you again Gaara-sama. Naruto, we can talk more tomorrow after I’ve gotten some rest.”



Both boys nodded their heads and said goodbye to Sakura. Then they left her room and left the hospital. They began their walk back toward their apartments, which were in the same general direction from the hospital. Naruto was unusually quiet, so Gaara looked over at the boy beside him. Naruto was looking toward the ground and his eyes looked duller than usual. Gaara was shocked to see Naruto’s lower lip tremble. Naruto suddenly looked over at Gaara, meeting his eyes. Naruto forced himself to smile, trying to hide the emotion Gaara had witnessed. Gaara kept his eyes locked on Naruto’s, confused about what the unpredictable ninja was thinking.



The two boys stopped walking when they reached Naruto’s apartment. Naruto was so distracted that he didn’t realize Gaara had gone out of his way to walk Naruto back to his apartment. Gaara should have turned back two streets to get to his own apartment, but something had told him to make sure he got Naruto home. Naruto began to walk toward the front door of his apartment, but stopped when he heard Gaara’s voice behind him.



“You understand that they are all okay, don’t you?” Gaara asked, curiously.



“I know they are,” Naruto replied softly, without turning around.



“I’ve never seen you so serious, Uzumaki Naruto.”



Naruto sighed and looked down at his feet, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. Gaara stood behind him, wondering if he should just leave. Something convinced Gaara to stay and wait to see what Naruto would say.



“I’m tired,” Naruto said in a barely audible whisper.



“You should rest then,” Gaara sad matter-of-factly.



Naruto put one hand on the edge of his doorframe to steady himself. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears that were pushing at his eyelids.



“No Gaara, not just physically. I’m just tired,” Naruto said, his voice shaking.



Gaara frowned, confused by the boy in front of him. He moved forward slowly toward Naruto. Naruto suddenly seemed to collapse, losing his grip on the doorframe. Before Naruto could fall, he felt rough sand wrap around his body and stop his fall. Gaara used his sand to push Naruto gently back up until he was standing.



“Your body is weak,” Gaara said, in his usual straightforward manner.



Naruto shrugged, pulled out his keys, and unlocked his front door. He pushed the door open and then stood very still for a moment, afraid to look over his shoulder at Gaara.



“Uzumaki, can you walk?” Gaara asked, his voice still carrying that uncaring tone.



Naruto nodded his head slowly and stepped inside of his apartment. He slowly turned and closed the door, but not before Gaara saw his cerulean eyes full of tears.



****************************************



Gaara’s meetings the next day were cancelled since Tsunade wanted to watch over her patients, and Gaara joined her in the hospital to check on everyone. Tsunade disappeared into one of the rooms, so Gaara slowly walked down the hallway, glancing in the open doors. In Shikamaru’s room, Ino and Choji were sitting near his bed bickering. The next room was Kiba’s and Shino was sitting silently beside his bed. Gaara also glanced into Neji’s room and saw Gai and Lee talking enthusiastically by his bedside while TenTen adjusted his sheets. Hinata was sitting in a chair in the corner, looking shy as usual. Gaara made his way back over to Sakura’s room and walked in to see how she was doing. Sakura was already awake and sitting upright, wearing a large pink t-shirt.



“Gaara-sama! How are you?” she said when she saw him.



“Fine. How are you healing?” he asked.



“I’m doing well. I should be well enough to go home by the end of the week. How was Naruto last night after you left? He seemed upset.”



“He was, uh, quieter than usual.”



Gaara decided it was best not to tell Sakura about the way Naruto looked when he entered his apartment the night before. He still didn’t really understand what was going on with Naruto, since he didn’t know much about people’s emotions. It had been years since Gaara last cried. He hadn’t gotten emotional since he was a child.



“I will talk to him when he comes to visit I guess,” Sakura said softly.



“Would you like me to bring him here now?” Gaara asked.



Sakura looked surprised at Gaara’s offer. Gaara waited for her reply, but soon realized that she was too confused to answer.



“I was supposed to meet with the Hokage, but she is busy with patients, so just let me know if I can be of some use,” Gaara prompted.



“Oh, in that case, it would be nice to see Naruto,” Sakura replied.



“I will bring him here then.”



Gaara quickly turned around and left the room, leaving Sakura stunned and confused. Gaara ran casually down the street to Naruto’s apartment and stopped in front of it. He knocked hard on the door and awaited a reply.



Naruto thumped down the stairs, wiping the remaining tears from his cheeks. He swung the door open and was surprised to see Gaara staring at him.



“You’ve been crying,” Gaara said nonchalantly.



Naruto sighed and straightened out his black shorts and black t-shirt before looking up again to meet Gaara’s eyes.



“What do you want?” Naruto asked.



Gaara was surprised by the coldness of Naruto’s tone. He had never heard Naruto sound quite like that. He looked over Naruto, noticing again the redness of his eyes and the streaks on his cheeks from his tears.



“I was supposed to bring you to see Sakura, but you should clean yourself up first. If you go looking like that, she’ll only worry,” Gaara said.



Naruto nodded his head and turned around to walk back up the stairs behind the door. He paused and looked back over his shoulder at Gaara.



“You can come up if you’d like to,” Naruto said softly.



Naruto continued up the stairs. Gaara calmly followed behind him. He wasn’t planning to leave even if Naruto had asked him to. Naruto led Gaara into his apartment which was little more than a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Naruto brought Gaara into his bedroom and motioned for him to sit on the bed. Naruto entered his bathroom without saying a word, leaving Gaara alone in his bedroom. Gaara looked around the room, which was mostly bare, much like his own bedroom. There was a pile of clothes in the corner, and a small picture frame behind the head of his bed.



****************************************



Naruto returned to the bedroom nearly twenty minutes later with a navy blue towel wrapped around his waist. Gaara looked him up and down, unashamed. Naruto glanced at Gaara for a moment, feeling his eyes on him, but then he turned and pulled out some clean clothes to wear. Gaara noticed the muscles flex in Naruto’s back and shoulders as he leaned over. Naruto pulled a large orange t-shirt over his head. Gaara, wanting to be polite, turned his eyes away from Naruto as he dropped his towel and pulled on his boxers and then a pair of loose black pants. Naruto turned around again and faced Gaara who was sitting in silence on his bed, his eyes watching Naruto carefully.



“You already saw Sakura today?” Naruto asked.



“Yes,” Gaara replied.



“Is she okay?”



“Yes. She looks better today.”



Naruto seemed to relax a little, making Gaara realize that Naruto’s entire body had been tense since he first arrived that afternoon. Gaara stood up from the bed and stared intensely into Naruto’s eyes. Naruto looked back at the green eyes in front of him and noticed that Gaara looked confused, and possibly a little concerned.



“Why have you been crying?” Gaara asked calmly.



Naruto couldn’t help but smile, knowing that Gaara didn’t understand social boundaries very well. He watched Gaara’s curious eyes as he answered.



“I was worried about Sakura-chan,” Naruto said quietly.



“But, why would you cry last night and this morning? You already saw her and knew that she was going to be okay,” Gaara said, his confusion in his voice.



“Sakura and I are…close. She has been my best friend since…since…Sasuke left.”



Gaara was even more surprised by the pain he heard in Naruto’s voice, and the way that he seemed to spit out the name Sasuke.



“She’s important to you,” Gaara said calmly, although he still didn’t entirely understand.



Naruto nodded, looking away from Gaara’s eyes. Gaara felt a sharp pain in his chest, something that he recognized, especially from his childhood. He unconsciously lifted his hand and gripped his shirt around his heart. Naruto noticed the movement and looked over at Gaara, surprised to see him holding his heart, his face twisted in what looked like pain. Naruto moved a little closer to Gaara, who looked up and met his eyes.



“Are you okay?” Naruto asked.



Gaara nodded quickly, letting his hand fall back down at his side. Naruto looked down at Gaara’s long fingers, hanging loosely beside his thigh.



“Let’s go see Sakura,” Naruto whispered.