Fading Dream

Chapter 2:  Autumn chill

Slowly autumn arrived.

By this time the blond annoyance get to know Gaaras new hideout. Far behind the dorms was a greenhouse with cactuses. How fitting for him to be here.

At least he hadn't to climb a tree to desolate himself from others and was able to bring coffee with him. Naruto was more cautious this time in his approaches, though Gaara didn't care about the boy. First he went away whenever he saw Naruto, but he didn't switch places again. There was no reason to do so, after all he knew about this spot before the fox with the golden hair did.

After some days he knew that Naruto would neither talk to him nor stare at him. He just sat there between the cactuses. Gaara ignored him, he knew, one day he would have his place again for himself. Everyone grew tired of him after some time.

Thanks to his appearance most people didn't even dare to start any kind of contact with him. Wearing just black, at most joined by red or dark purple, in combination with mesh and a spiked collar did his duty. He smirked at the thought that even his natural blood-red hair, the nonexistence of his brows and the scar on his forehead would be enough to scare off most people. Who wasn't afraid of all of this, he would send off with one of his infamous scowls.

It was still an enigma for him why the boy liked to be in his presence. He even saw his sand. Gaara usually didn't use it, but that green nuisance had to bear the demons lust for violence. They should have been glad it wasn't full moon the night before. There would have been some nice amount of blood.

It was still hard to not kill the fox afterwards. But having TV-teams and reporter for newspapers all over the campus because of a missing student was the last thing he wanted. Of course there was no chance they would find out what he did, he knew how to handle such cases, but it would be loud and crowded.

It opened his eyes literally when he started to talk about the kyuubi. Saying, the kyuubi told him, meant he was his vessel. Shukaku was on edge since ever he joined Konohas 'Green Leaf', but all he did was screaming. The presence of another demon  was a reasonable cause for his behavior. When Shukaku get to know where his despised fellow was, he took him violently over for a few seconds, but he was able to fight him back. Though the thought about what would have happen if he hadn't fight him was interesting.

Gaara wasn't surprised, when Naruto didn't come anymore. The more it confused him, when the boy showed up again two days later, covered in bandages and patches. He didn't show his surprise, just looked at the boy for a few moments. Before he turned his gaze back to the cactus in front of him, Naruto was able to send him a cheerful smile.

Whatever.

Most days Gaara was there before Naruto was. When he wasn't, Naruto greeted him with a 'welcome-home'-smile. To Narutos obvious discomfort he always had to leave before the redhead did. Though Gaara left now and then to get a new cup of coffee, he always returned to the greenhouse. In the beginning Naruto followed him to the coffee dispenser in the entrance hall, maybe thinking he will go to his room, just to be disappointed seeing Gaara going back out in the night. One time Naruto even fell asleep in the greenhouse, but woke up a few hours later, seeing the him still sitting between the cactuses.

He didn't really know why, but sometimes during lessons and while walking on the campus, Gaara felt the urge to go to the greenhouse. 'It must be because of the warm air in there,' was his conclusion whenever he thought about the reason for this urge. He didn't miss Suna, but he missed the warm and dry air sometimes. The chill in Konoha at this time of the year was not bad at all, sometimes it was even pleasant to feel the cold bite on his skin, but there were also those times where just wanted to feel the sun burning on his skin.

…



One day Naruto sat down right beside Gaara. He hoped, the blond was out of his thoughts today and that there was no particular reason for this act. None of his thoughts were visible to the outside as usual.

The next day it was the same, meaning Naruto wasn't out of his thoughts. It annoyed him, but he already knew glaring and scowling did not work on Naruto, so he didn't even start the attempt. He thought about planting his fist in the blonds face, bur restrained himself. It wouldn't make him go. The bigger boy still just sat there, giving Gaara his companionship. It was already dark outside when Naruto started to talk.

"You know, today is my birthday," he said cheerful grinning at the redhead. "It's now 13 years ago that they sealed the fox inside me and about half year that I know about his presence," his tone was sad now, his eyes directed as his feet.

Gaara didn't react at all at the blond. Naruto didn't talk anymore this evening.

…

He saw the teenager every day, for about month now, sitting in the greenhouse. Up till yesterday there wasn't any word spoken. And now the blond didn't show up. Gaara asked himself, if Naruto finally gave up. The last time Naruto didn't come to the greenhouse, he was seriously injured. Whatever, it wouldn't change anything to think about the boy.

Usually he saw Naruto also during lessons from far away, but he couldn't see the boy now for two days. Did something happen again? His scar started to throb. It was the well-known warning of his 'mother', which wanted to protect him from being hurt again. She didn't gave a sign for years, why now? Why did he even think about the boy? He shut the thoughts of the blond back in the last corner of his aching head. Today he won't go to the greenhouse.

Five days passed since he saw the boy with the golden hair the last time. His scar didn't stop to throb anymore. His siblings were even more coward in his presence. Maybe because he tended to attack them more often when he was in a state like now.

They called him mentally instable back at home. Because his father wasn't able to handle him anymore, he send him and his siblings to the green leaf. Gaara because he feared consequences of his sons behavior for his own political position, if he was to stay in Suna. His siblings because he thought they would have him under control at least a bit. He didn't see them except for lessons.

A week after he last saw Naruto, Gaara sat once again in the greenhouse between cactuses. There was some feeling inside him he wasn't able to name. He tugged his legs to his chest, curled himself into a little ball and rested his head on his knees. He had this feeling once before, when he was a little child.

He went neither back to his room this night nor to classes the next day. It wasn't like he was able to sleep either way. The demon inside him would take him over whenever he slept.

He just didn't felt like going.

…

Gaara startled out of his meditation, which he used as a replacement for sleep, when he heard the squealing door of the greenhouse. He raised his head and felt a breeze against his wet eyelids. He stared at the door, where a patched up Naruto with a black eye stood, not able to cover his confusion.

This had to be an illusion, he didn't rest enough those last days because of the ever throbbing scar. The illusion closed the door and walked towards Gaara. It crouched down beside the on the ground lying, curled up redhead and reached out to touch his cheeks. While the illusion softly caressed him, Gaara felt that his cheeks were also still wet.

"Did someone hurt you?" the Naruto-like looking hallucination asked him.

"Why can't you be real?" Gaara mumbled soft, ignoring the question. The pain his scar gave him started after the blond left him alone. Maybe it would soothe if he was with him again. Just like his head stopped to hurt when he finally drunk his coffee after being forced to restrict his consumption.

The illusion stopped its motions. "Why shouldn't I am real?" it pouted.

"Naruto's gone," Gaara mumbled, staring somewhere in the distance. Yes, some coffee would be nice now.

"Hey Gaara, you know I'm happy you're talking to me, but this isn't funny anymore," it said careful. It pulled him up into a sitting state, took a bottle of water out of his back and hold it out for Gaara. The redhead didn't move, just stared perplexed at the bottle. How was an illusion able to lift him up? "You still know how to drink, do you?" it asked, now even more worried, "You're freaking light, way too light even for a kid of your size, if you ask me, but I still don't want to have to carry you to the infirmary."

Gaara nodded and grabbed the bottle. A few minutes later Naruto started to talk again. Gaara still wasn't sure, but for the moment he believed him being real. Not that he ever dreamed, but considering characteristics, this felt like a dream.

"Just what the hell happened with you? Okay, I'm sorry about disturbing you here again, but is that a reason to freak out, cry and call me a hallucination?!" he asked pouting.

Although Gaara had seen the boy a lot of times now, he just noticed the fascinating color of his eyes. The deep and shining blue of the sky on a sunny day. They weren't teary, but he saw clearly that the boy was hurt. He was like an open book when it came to his emotions. Seeing the pain in Narutos face made him upset. He didn't care about anyone, why hit this blond annoyance his nerves that hard? Though it didn't upset him just in the 'common' way. This feeling had something animalistic.

It made his brain give up his job. "You're not disturbing me," he said gentle. He didn't notice what he said until it was out.

Naruto sat there as if someone had told him he was female in truth, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped to the floor. Just when Gaara regretted what he said, the blond started to grin. A grin that was even more dazzling than the pain he saw just moments before. Gaara couldn't stop the thought that he liked this expression on the blond. Especially the shine his eyes had now.

"Wow! So you can actually have another expression on your face than your usual 'I'm-gonna-kill-you'-look!" Naruto said chuckling. "Oh come on … Your smile was so cute. Why did you hide it again?" he pouted.

He was smiling? And Naruto thought about it being 'cute'? How humiliating. If calling him a child wasn't enough, he was 'cute' now. Still he felt a blush racing to his face, jumped up and went for going back to his room. "I said I'm not bothered by your presence. Not that you can babble as much as you want," he hissed without looking at the blond before leaving the greenhouse.

…



Back at his room Gaara didn't know what he should think about his own actions. He never really talked to a person except for his siblings. And even those 'conversations' were merely two or three words.

His scar started to hurt again. There wasn't ever any person who wanted to spend his time with him. Best thing would be to not think about Naruto for now and take a hot shower.

…



Just like never anything happened both boys shared their afternoons in the greenhouse again. Just with one difference, Gaara wanted to hear Narutos voice.

After their small 'talk' in the greenhouse, Gaara knew two more things. First , the presence of the boy soothed the pain his scar threw through his whole body - though to be honest, just because of Naruto it started to hurt again - and second, his voice made his demon silent. But Naruto didn't start to talk on his own. Maybe he was scared Gaara would ran off again? Did he scare him when he left last time?

"Why do you look so terrible?" the redhead asked in a monotone voice, not really curios, but in lack of another way to make the blond using his voice.

"Sorry that I look how I look! If I'm such an eyesore I can go!" Naruto muttered and shifted his body to stand up. Gaara snapped his head up and looked directly in Narutos eyes, causing the teenager to stop. The blonds fondness for orange clothing was indeed something that wasn't easy to get used to, but that was not the reason for his question.

He shook slowly but determined his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. Did someone other than me beat you to a pulp?"

"You and beating me to a pulp?!" - the blond earned a 'if-you-want-to-test-I'll-do-it-again'-glare from Gaara and remembered apparently his three-day knock out - "Yeah, okay, okay. Calm down. Uhm … Yeah, seems so. On my birthday some idiots had the opinion of giving me a little 'present' when I headed back to the dorms. Nothing serious in the end. I was able to walk to the infirmary on my own. So you're still the unchallenged winner of the 'we-beat-Naruto-up'-challenge. One hit and a three-day k.o.! Seriously!" he said with a subtle approving tone. "But Shizune insisted that I don't leave the bed for a week. Were you lonely?" Naruto asked sheepishly and poked his tongue out a bit.

"No."

When Gaara didn't add anything, Naruto continued, "Then why did you cry that day? I don't think anyone would dare to touch you. If there's even someone who knows about this greenhouse."

"My scar ached," Gaara stated. He hoped the blond would understand he didn't want to talk about this.

"You've got a scar?" Naruto wondered, watching Gaara. The redhead simply pointed his finger at his forehead. "That’s a scar? I thought it was a tattoo. Where did you get thi-" Naruto was interrupted by Gaara, who stood up and rushed out of the greenhouse.

He left the puzzled blond boy before he really would kill him.

Gaara was somehow relieved when he saw the blond tuft of hair in the greenhouse waiting for him the next day.

…



One day on his way to the greenhouse suddenly two obstacles were in his way to the salvation from his pain. He looked up into two faces. One of those obstacles was a girl with pink hair and dirty green eyes, the other one a boy with pale skin and black hair. He gave them a short glance and went to forego them. They moved and were again in his way. He smirked challenging, put on his best scowl and folded his arms, hoping they would make their run by then. The girl shivered but stayed. The boy just seemed to be a bit nervous.

When Gaara made no intentions to speak, the boy started, "We won't allow you to go to Naruto again."

Gaara smirked and tilted his head. By now he remembered them as Narutos group members, though he didn't remember their names.

"He was beat up because of you again today," the girl suddenly rushed at him.

Gaaras smirk disappeared. He looked to the greenhouse, the murderous scowl never vanishing from his face. Why would Naruto been beat up because of him? From time to time what Naruto had again some patches on his cheeks or sometimes even a black eye, but he always told him these were injuries he got while training or for being clumsy, what Gaara was able to confirm, so he simply believed him. "Why?"

"You still have to ask, you-"  

"Sakura," the boy interrupted her. Gaara felt the sand twitching. The demon was silent for quite a while now. Why did she have to wake him up again? Apparently the other boy remembered also too well what he was able to do. "They found out that you two are going to the same spot after school every day. They also know that you are alone there. I don't think much about it, but others do. Sometimes they just gossip about you, sometimes they do it to provoke him. Today they just beat him up, asking him why his little 'freak' don't show up to protect his little 'lover-boy'. You got a certain fame, if I may say it so, after what you did to Lee. And him being the only person you're allowing to stay in your surroundings doesn't help him very much."

Gaara listened carefully to what the gasbag said and took his time to think about it. Naruto being his 'lover-boy'? He had to admit he was quite cute for a thirteen-years old boy, but that was it, he was just a boy. A kid. Nothing of his interests.

He decided to ignore the demand of those two wimps and made his way to the greenhouse. "Tell those bastards I'm the only one who's allowed to beat him into a pulp."