Hunger

Disclaimer: 'Naruto' belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Warnings: yaoi, INCEST, AU.
Pairings: At first KankuroxGaara but eventually GaaraxNaruto.
Note: Thoughts are in italics.

A/N: I drew two pictures (possible spoilers?) about this chapter, see my profile for links.

Chapter 5: Friends?

Gaara and Naruto were walking on the street, not having decided yet where to go. The blond was doubting if he could get the redhead into a diner or to the mall. "So, you like to take pictures?" Naruto asked, curious about the other boy's interests.

The redhead looked at the camera, then back at the blond. "Yes, it's my hobby. I sometimes use the pictures for my paintings."

Naruto was surprised to hear Gaara give that much information about his personal business in one sentence. "Can I see your work some day?" the blond asked, eager of the topic.

"No," came a stern answer. The redhead didn't feel like sharing that part of him with the blond.

Feeling his mood sinking at the sudden denial, Naruto cheered himself up with a smile. "That's ok. So, where do you wanna go?"

"I think the nearby park would be a good place," Gaara said, ideas to his photos and paintings coming into his mind.

It was now autumn and the trees were decorated with yellow, orange and red leaves. This was Gaara's favorite season. Everything was dying or going to a deep sleep. Leaves were rotting on the ground and the smell of earth and rain was in the air.

"Will you take a photo of me? You could paint a picture for me!" Naruto was almost jumping up and down with excitement.

This is insanity, Gaara thought, shaking his head. Naruto had obviously too high levels of energy today. "No, I won't," Gaara said in a stiff manner, turning the other boy down.

That didn't seem to upset the blond who started talking about other topics. The redhead wasn't really listening. Instead, he thought what kind of picture he would paint of Naruto if he ever lost his mind that much. Damning the blond's influence on him, he continued walking in silence.

Lowering to his knees, Gaara took pictures of half dead trees and birds moving to the southern countries. Naruto was hopping here and there, rustling the leaves on the ground. Amused, the redhead thought the other boy had actually quite a good camouflage in this environment. He blended into the surroundings with his orange jacket and yellowish blond hair. Even though he resembled the season of dying he was so full of life he seemed to bring everything around him to life. Gaara smirked to himself and he wondered again what a strange person the other boy was.

"Hey Gaara! Come here!" Naruto yelled, his shout echoing in the park.

The redhead in question came to him, seeing nothing special in the place Naruto was showing him. It was an abandoned little cabin on the border of the park. Its windows were broken and it had unpainted board walls. Seeing Gaara's disbelieving gaze the blond was quick to defend his idea. "It would make a great pic, look how gloomy it is and all."

The redhead let out a long sigh. "It's not a good idea, Naruto."

Gaara had been quiet all day, taking pictures and not paying attention to what the blond had been saying. Naruto was getting bored. He had hoped the cottage would have interested Gaara and raised a conversation.

Not good at giving up, the blond tested the waters. "Why wouldn't you take a picture of us, leaning on that nearby tree," Naruto said, pointing at an ugly looking tree a couple of yards away.

Gaara closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Naruto's ideas were so stupid his head was starting to ache. Slowly, he reopened his eyes to stare at the hyperactive blond. "I don't want a picture of us."

"But I do! Come on!" Naruto said, grabbing the redhead's arm and heading towards the tree.

They leaned their backs to the trunk and Gaara draped his arm to take a picture. Naruto grinned widely whereas the redhead's expression was blank, his eyes showing a hint of unsureness about the situation.

Click.

Previewing the just taken picture on the camera's screen, Gaara seized the blond's arm. "Come closer," he said, yanking Naruto towards him.

Surprised, Naruto looked at the redhead, not sure what to think of. Gaara wanted him closer? The blond's stomach lurched, color creeping to his cheeks. He enjoyed the fact of the redhead pulling him closer, even though the grip was uncomfortably tight.

Gaara looked warily at the boy clinging on to him. Did Naruto blush? Just what the hell was the blond thinking? Taken aback, the redhead shoved the camera to the blond's face.

"Look."

Naruto took the camera, previewing the picture. In the said picture, there was half of the blond's head and half of the redhead's in view. Realizing Gaara had pulled him closer only in order to squeeze their faces in the picture, Naruto felt his feelings sink. Trying to cheer himself up, he said, "Hey, it's kinda artistic, don't you think?"

Gaara didn't think it was funny. If there was a thing the picture was not, it was absolutely not artistic, in any way. He deleted the shot and draped his arm again, clicking the button. He hoped the photo would turn out to be tolerable so that he wouldn't have to spend his whole day under the stupid tree while another guy was clinging onto him.

To his horror, he had to admit it felt nice to have Naruto's warm body near his but he was anxious he would give wrong signals to the boy about it. He didn't want to encourage the blond to take deeper interest in him. He was not looking forward on forming a relationship with anyone, not any deeper than friendship at least.

To Gaara's relief, the picture turned out to be better than he had dared to hope. In the picture Naruto was wearing his usual grin, his blue eyes looking deep like the ocean. He surely looked like the happiest person on earth. Gaara's face was impassive and there was a studying look in his eyes.

"Are you happy now?" the redhead asked, showing the picture to him. Naruto's eyes widened, staring at the shot.

"It's perfect!" he exclaimed. After a blink, he continued with a hasty voice, "I mean... it's better than the first one. Wow Gaara, you can really take pictures!" Laughing nervously, he didn't know what else to do than grin. "Oh, can I have a copy of it?" he then added, feeling foolish.

Giving the blond a studying look, the redhead took the camera away and put it in his bag. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Thanks!" the blond said happily, following Gaara as the redhead started to walk away. They were at the gates of the park as big raindrops started to fall from the sky. Quickly, the raining increased and the drops almost hurt when they hit the skin.

"Come on!" Naruto yelled through the roar of the rain, taking Gaara's hand and running.

The visibility was poor as they ran down the streets, seeing nothing but greyness on the horizon. After running a few minutes, they stopped at the front door of Naruto's home. Both Gaara and Naruto were soaking wet and dripping in the small hallway. The loud rumble of rain was aubidle in the house as big waterdrops drummed against the tin roof.

Gaara stood there rooted to the spot and examined the house with his gaze. It looked cozy with light brown walls and large windows. Even though the downpour was decreasing, the amount of natural light the house was welcoming and peaceful.

It was nothing like his own house where the rooms seemed uninviting even in the middle of the day. Why was he here? He could go to his home as well, it would only take a minute to get there. Gaara's deep thought was interrupted by the blond's voice.

"I'll go and get us some dry clothes," Naruto said, making his way to his room. Before the blond could leave the hallway, Gaara answered quickly.

"Don't bother, I'll be going home."

Naruto's face dropped at that. He had not expected Gaara to leave so eagerly. "But why? Don't you want to stay here? I mean, it's raining heavily outside... We could play video games if you want. I've got a couple of them."

The redhead pondered it a moment but decided it would be better to get going. He wasn't used to being wanted to hang around. "I don't want to intrude your home. It's better if I go," he said, hand already on the doorknob.

"Don't be silly, of course you can stay. You'll get more soaked if you go outside now," Naruto said in a friendly voice, hoping he wouldn't be left alone. "Besides... It is awfully lonely in here. It's rare to have a quest. I mean... if you wanna go I won't stop you but I really like to be around you," the blond continued with a quiet voice.

There was sadness in his eyes and Gaara recognized it was the same sadness Naruto had had when he had told him about Iruka. The redhead felt a sting in his chest, remembering how lonely it was in his home, too. He had a brother but it didn't mean Gaara had company all the time. And Naruto... he didn't even have a brother.

"But you have other friends, don't you?" Gaara asked, aware that the question was out of place. It wasn't a reply to Naruto's words, it was a follow-up to his own thoughts.

Glancing up, Naruto saw that Gaara's face had fallen as if he had just thought about something sad.

"Yes, but they have their families and other friends. I rarely hang around with then after school. Besides, none of them lives nearby," the blond said, looking at the redhead.

When the green eyed boy made no move to leave, Naruto entered his room and soon returned with a pile of clean, dry clothes and a towel. Grinning, he gave them to Gaara. "Here you are. The bathroom is there."

The redhead gazed at the clothes, then at Naruto. He didn't feel like deserving this kind of friendliness. He had been awfully rude to the blond before - he had even been about to beat the blond into a pulp when the boy had first tried to befriend him. Making his way to the bathroom he thought if this was what people called friendship.

Naruto re-entered his room, closing the door behind him. After changing into a dry outfit he gathered the wet clothes and hung them near the fireplace in the small living room. Taking logs of wood out of a nearby basket he put them in the fireplace and set them on fire.

At then Gaara came out of the bathroom and walked to the living room, drying his hair with a towel. He had black pants and a dark grey, long sleeved shirt. The clothes were fitting him quite well and the redhead was eternally grateful that Naruto hadn't forced him to wear any orange pieces of clothing. The other thing he was more than happy about was that the shirt covered the nasty-looking scars on his arm.

"Bring your wet clothes in here so that I can hang them to dry," the blond said, checking that the firewood started to burn.

Gaara brought the clothes to the blond and sat on the couch, watching as Naruto hung his clothes beside the blond's own orange and black outfit. "Thanks... for everything," Gaara muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed about Naruto's kindness.

"No problem," Naruto said, grinning. At that moment his stomach rumbled loudly, making it clear it was time to eat. Laughing uneasily, the blond put his hands over his stomach. "Ehehee... Are you hungry? We could eat some ramen. It's the only thing I can cook, actually."

The stomach rumbled again.

The redhead looked at the blond, realizing he was a bit hungry, too. He hadn't eaten ramen before but if Naruto liked it, he could try it as well. "I haven't eaten anything since the sandwiches back in my place. Do you want me to help with the ramen?" Gaara felt it would be too impudent just to sit and watch Naruto do everything after the kindness he had shown him.

"No, it's okay. The instant ramen I favor is ready in three minutes. I can manage it by myself, believe it," the blond reassured his guest. With that said he disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Gaara sitting on the couch.

The warmness coming from burning wood started to spread slowly in the house. Gaara watched the flames as they consumed the logs little by little. The rain was still drumming on the roof. It was dark inside the house - the only light sources were the crackling fire and the vague natural light coming from the window. At that moment Gaara was happy to be in such a cozy place.

Were he and Naruto friends? The redhead had never had any friends before so he didn't have a clear concept of friendship. But if this wasn't friendship then what was? Naruto had often called him friend... The redhead had always snapped at him and told him he was wrong. But now, Gaara was beginning to believe he was the one actually being wrong...

"Here!" the object of Gaara's thoughts exclaimed, putting a bowl of that mysterious ramen to the table in front of Gaara. The aroma of the food was so delicious it made the redhead's stomach rumble. "It's my favorite, pork ramen," Gaara was told as he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat the food. The ramen was as delicious as the aroma promised.

Savouring the food, Gaara decided it was the tastiest meal he had had in a long, long time. "I didn't know this kind of food existed," was all he said, too busy eating.

"Nice to hear you like it," the blond laughed, wolfing down his own share.

Finished with eating, Gaara put the bowl down. "It was delicious."

Swallowing the last of the noodles, Naruto nodded his head as an approval. "Best food in the world!" he added in an assuring voice.

His meal finished, Naruto got up from the couch and went to the fireplace. He put more logs into the fire, being careful not to burn his hands. Gaara got up too, and headed to the hallway where he had left his bag.

He checked his cell phone and to his surprise he had received one message. The message was from Kankuro who was worried if everything was alright. Gaara wrote a brief reply, hoping the answer would calm his brother down. Despite all, Kankuro was very protective of him.

Putting the cell phone back to his bag, he turned to leave the hallway. On his way back he stopped at the doorway of Naruto's room. There were two photoframes on top of the drawer but because of the darkness he couldn't make out the persons in them.

Stepping closer, he picked one of them up to his hands. There was a brown haired man with a horizontal scar over his nose and cheeks. He smiled at the camera, looking very good-hearted. Maybe this was the man called Iruka? Putting the photo back, he glanced at the other one.

In that photo, there was a man and a woman with a small child. The man had blond, spiky hair resembling the haircut of Naruto's. He had a stern face with no smile. The woman had blue, friendly eyes and light brown, curly hair. She was laughing and looking at the child, a little grinning boy beside her. The boy was obviously Naruto. So this was a family portrait?

"I don't remember them. My parents," a voice behind Gaara's back said.

Turning around, the redhead watched Naruto enter the room.

"You're lucky to have such happy photos," Gaara replied, wondering what had happened to Naruto's parents. The redhead had never had any cheerful or happy pictures of his family. The few pictures he and Kankuro once had were now burned and sent to oblivion.

"It's the only one I've got. My parents didn't leave me much when they... died."

The boy looked almost crestfallen, standing in the darkness and looking past the redhead at the family portrait. Gaara didn't dare to ask what was the story behind those people. It turned out he didn't have to, as the blond continued.

"I've been told my parents weren't happy... My father had been in jail and my mother was unemployed. They often had fights about money and stuff and when I was two years old my father killed my mother before committing suicide. I... I was found laying beside my mother, clinging on to her. The police first thought I was dead, too. After that I was sent to an orphanage."

Gaara stared at the blond, listening intensely. He hadn't had an idea the boy had such a sorrowful past. How Naruto could be so cheerful every day despite what had happened to him was a mystery to the redhead. The fate of the man called Iruka occupied Gaara but he thought it would be too rude to ask.

Unsure what to do or say, he just stood there. He had always been bad with words and even worse with actions. Imagining the most correct phrase to say, he forced the words out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

That earned a glance at him from Naruto, who tried to smile, ever so slightly, at the redhead's words. "It's okay," he whispered. The saddening athmosphere of the room irritated Naruto and he was anxiously thinking of another topic of conversation.

"Do you ever watch Justice prevails on TV?" he asked Gaara, turning on the device. It was a TV-series of the police working in a city named Fire. It wasn't a violent show but intelligent and exciting.

"Sometimes," the redhead answered as they moved to sit on Naruto's bed, opposite the television.

The fireplace emitted warmness all over the house, relaxing Gaara's body and mind, lulling him into a sense of well-being. It was never like this in his home. In his house there was only blackness and chilliness in every room and the depressing paintings on the walls only increased the sickening atmosphere. Even his beloved cellar was a hideous place compared to this.

The redhead's eyes closed slowly. All the surrounding sounds seemed to fade away as he let himself relax. Unobservant, he leaned towards Naruto and rested his head to his shoulder. Soon after he drifted off to a deep sleep. Naruto tensed as he felt Gaara rest against him. Giving a sideway glance to the redhead he realized his friend had fallen asleep.

Carefully, Naruto laid Gaara down on the bed and pulled the cover over him. To Naruto, the boy looked extremely cute. The thought of Gaara sleeping in his bed made the blond's heart miss a beat. Switching off the TV, he left the room. Taking a blanket, he settled on the couch and glanced one last time at the charred logs in the fireplace, before he too fell asleep.

It still rained heavily as the two boys slept inside. The loud drumming on the roof and the occasional cracking from the ember were the only sounds in the night, slowly fading away as morning crept closer.

-----

Yawning, Naruto opened his eyes. The house wasn't so warm anymore but outside, it seemed the sun was shining. The blond rose to his feet and stretched his back. He then made his way to the bathroom and took a shower and brushed his teeth, wondering if the redhead was still asleep. When he exited the bathroom he decided to go and see if his guest had woken up.

"Gaara?" he asked cautiously.

No answer came. Moving closer to the bed, Naruto glanced at the redhead. Gaara's black eyelids were closed, contradicting his pale skin which looked like ivory in the morning light. He looked peaceful like that. The sight was so beautiful that Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat.

Without realizing it, he draped his hand closer to Gaara's face and smoothed down the skin. The cream-colored skin was as soft as it looked like. Oh God, what am I doing!? screamed a voice in the back of Naruto's mind but he was unable to stop his actions. He had meant the touch to be innocent but now that he could feel the cold, soft skin with his fingers, very unappropriate thoughts were flooding into his mind.

All of a sudden, a hand grabbed Naruto's wrist, slamming him onto the bed on his back as another hand seized his throat. Bewildered, the blond saw two cold jade eyes staring at his own.

"Just what the hell were you doing?"

To be continued...