Chapter Two
Part One
Naruto stepped inside the hall and opted for the elevator. The stairs would creak too much. He didn’t like that; it was an obvious announcement of his arrival. Squinting in the dimness, he fumbled for the button and pushed it. A moment later he boarded; another moment passed and he landed. He set down the hall with a heavy heart. At the end of the hallway the curtain to the window was drawn and the light over the door had burnt out again. The lights never lasted long when Gaara was home. No matter how many times they were replaced, something always happened. Almost like they were sabotaged.
He could see the light shining in the crevice of the adjacent door and realized with a jolt his neighbor was probably staring at him through the peephole. Trying to appear calm and normal, he fished for his keys, careful not to upset the papers and umbrella balanced in his arms. He unlocked it and hesitated before opening it. The kanji lettering had long since been taken off, leaving only a shadow of its previous residence against the dark maduro door, the only proof of its existence.
He pushed at the handle and it jiggled. He swung it open into more darkness and he sighed, tossing his keys with a clatter on a small table aside the door, then setting the papers down and hanging the umbrella up. He made a move to slap the switch and fill the room with the artificial light he hated so much, then stopped. Gaara might be home and he didn’t like brightness.
He noticed that, coming from somewhere - its origin was not clear - a soft, glowing red light that just barely illuminated the room. “Gaara?” he called, softly, but the fact that he recieved no answer did not appease his doubts. Just because Gaara didn’t answer didn’t mean he wasn’t there. “Gaara?” he repeated, louder this time, even though he knew that if Gaara didn’t answer the first time, he wouldn’t the second.
He walked to the window and swept the curtain aside - the setting sun cast only a little light into the living room and he observed the pink and blue sunset with a smile. “Gaara, you should see this,” he murmured, half to himself, even though he knew Gaara didn’t appreciate simple things like this. Without looking down he reached for the remote and found it, where he’d left it that morning, and turned on the TV. Some stupid kid’s show was on but the news would be coming on in a few minutes. He left it on but muted it, instead staring out the window and thinking.
What would life be like, without Gaara? he thought, propping his chin on his hand. He often thought about matters like this, alone, without Gaara present. Gaara always seemed to know what he was thinking about when he was there. What would my life be like?
He jolted when he felt hands on his shoulders, his body stiffening with surprise, then relaxing as he realized there was no danger and pulled away, turning. “Gaara,” he said monotonously. “You startled me.”
His half-brother smiled maliciously at him. Gaara’s smiles were never genuine. He was a few inches taller than his fair-haired brother, his own shock of red hair often being the first thing a stranger would notice about him. The second would be his heavily blackened eyes, his blank look and frankly an overall scary appearance.
Naruto, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. His babyish look and blonde hair often made people misjudge his age, and his sweet and gullible nature made him an easy target for people looking to control him - a task Gaara accomplished with ease.
“How was your day?” Gaara said, reaching for Naruto’s hand. Naruto shrugged, noting with interest that Gaara’s shirt was ripped but he kept his mouth shut. He’d learned that what Gaara did was his own business and he didn’t like people getting too nosy.
“Same old. You?”
Gaara never answered his questions as to where he was or what he’d been doing. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Naruto and hugged him closely, nuzzling his face into his brother’s neck. “You smell like the outside,” Gaara murmured into his skin, making it tingle and he tilted his head slightly.
“Because I was outside,” he answered, and maneuvered around Gaara. “What would you like for dinner?”
Gaara chuckled dryly, yet another aspect of him he never did genuinely. “Nothing. I ate.”
“Ramen again?” Naruto noted with disproval. “Gaara...”
Gaara reached for Naruto’s face and gently brought their faces together, touching their lips lightly. Naruto stayed perfectly still, the doubts and questions arising in him, like every time Gaara did this to him, a strange lurking doubt that this wasn’t right, but Gaara said it was. And of course Gaara was right.
Gaara’s hands slid down Naruto’s arms as he deepened the kiss. When he pulled back he smiled slightly and said, “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
And he left Naruto, alone in the room, in the same position as the sun lowered, so the only light was from the muted TV. He saw the platinum blonde again and frowned, suddenly remembering what he’d wanted to talk to Gaara about. Following his brother’s footsteps into the tiny bedroom that had room only for one small bed and one equally tiny dresser, he saw his brother already in bed, his clothes folded on the floor.
“...-Gaara,” he said. His brother made no indication that he was listening, or even that he was awake, but Naruto continued anyway. “Gaara, I saw something on the news today.” Again, Gaara made no move and he surged on. “It was about a young woman.... another victim killed last night,” he said. Gaara’s body tensed so slightly Naruto didn’t notice. “...I want to know-”
Gaara bolted up, startling Naruto, and gave him a glare. “You want to know where I was today? If I had anything to do with it?” he said softly, dangerously, and Naruto didn’t answer. He threw the covers off of him and got up, skirting around the bed to reach Naruto. “You think I could murder someone?” he continued. “Is that what you think of your brother, Naruto?”
“N...no,” Naruto stammered as Gaara reached for him, and would’ve stepped back, only the wall wouldn’t allow him to. “Gaara, I’m -”
“Don’t speak.” His brother’s voice was sharp, forceful. Naruto froze. “Don’t speak,” he repeated in a lower voice. “I take care of you, Naruto. I love you. Without me you would be nothing. Reduced to a vagrant on the streets, begging for meals and for charity, and you dare to assume I could have something to do with the atrocities committed in this city?”
As he was ordered, Naruto did not speak, but he whimpered as Gaara’s eyes bore into him, as his arms reached for Naruto. “Don’t be like that,” Gaara said harshly. “Don’t act like such a baby. What I do to you I do with love, Naruto, can’t you see that?” As he spoke he was undressing Naruto, lifting his shirt up and loosening his belt. “Now get to bed,” he muttered, “Before I change my mind and decide to really do something to you.”
With that he left, returning to his side of the bed, leaving Naruto half-dressed and in a state of frozen terror. When Naruto was finally able to act, it was numbly and almost robotically as he completed what Gaara had started, slipping out of his clothes and into bed next to his brother. Gaara moved aside to make room, then snuggled close, wrapping his arms around his brother and drawing him close, breathing in Naruto’s scent as Naruto closed his eyes, enveloped in Gaara’s warmth. The two fell asleep that way, in each other’s arms, until the next morning.
[Reviews - 66]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: I don't own Naruto, but if I did... let's just say Naruto would be on Adult Swim. >