Different as Night and Day | By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 614 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3 |
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor make profit of it. Kishimoto owns it. |
Author's note: Something rather old that I finally got around to finishing. Have this while I try to figure out my writing schedule for the other projects.
Warnings: Gaara's pov; canon divergent straight after Kyuubi's attack, meaning that Minato and Kushina are still alive; some angst because of poor Gaara; dash of violence; slash at the end; time skip
I hope you'll like this even if it's a bit different from what I normally write
Different as Night and Day
"You asked to see me, father?" Gaara asked softly, peeking up at the imposing man from between his dark red strands of hair.
His father, the Fourth Kazekage, was surrounded by several piles of paperwork and he was frowning down at a document in front of him. At the sound of his youngest son's voice, he looked up. "Yes, I did," he said coolly and stared down at the boy with piercing, unreadable eyes as he clasped his hands together. "The Hokage and his family are set to arrive within two hours. I do not want you anywhere near them, understood? The last thing we need is for you to lose control again and hurt their son. We cannot afford a war between our villages, so you'd do well to stay away."
"Yes, father," Gaara answered and dropped his face to the floor, knowing father wouldn't like to see what he considered to be weakness. He knew father was right: no matter how hard he tried, his sand could be very uncontrollable at times. He didn't mean for people to get hurt, but they usually did when they were around him.
It was like no matter what he did, he always messed up.
"Good, now leave. I don't want to see you back before dinner."
Gaara swallowed but nodded and left quickly, knowing that the older man would only get annoyed if he lingered for too long. Longing for the comfort of his stuffed bear, he made a detour to his bedroom and tried to ignore how the guards in the corridors shuffled their feet uneasily whenever he passed one.
This was how it had been for as long as he could remember. Wherever he went, people went out of their way to avoid him. Adults ignored him and if they couldn't, spoke to him with a weird tone and a dark look on their face. Children made fun of him, of how dark the circles around his eyes were, of his lack of eyebrows, of how pale he looked, how weak … Then they ran screaming from him whenever he tried to play with them and his sand became too excited.
He never wanted to harm them or make them scream in fright, but the sand just wouldn't listen sometimes and lashed out. He tried to be so good and wanted to help the people in his village, but the demon inside of him had way too much fun messing it all up for him.
He really, really hated that demon.
Clutching his bear against his chest, he closed the door of his bedroom behind him and made his way down the corridor again. He couldn't help but perk up when he spotted Yashamaru walking down the corridor; the older man engrossed in some paperwork.
"Yashamaru-kun!" he called out, growing excited in spite of the conversation he'd just had with father. While most people preferred to stay away from him, Yashamaru wasn't one of them. He didn't even mind if Gaara's sand became a bit too rowdy and he usually had time to play with him. Maybe today as well?
"Gaara-kun," Yashamaru smiled, but it was distracted, just like the hand he lightly ran across Gaara's hair. He glanced at the stuffed bear clutched against Gaara's chest. "You're going to play with your bear?"
"Yeah, you want to play with me?" Gaara asked shyly, pressing his bear even closer to him. Some of his sand stirred, floating around the bear's right ear, but Gaara simply pulled his bear out of the sand's reach, scowling down at the golden particles. The sand had already damaged his bear before; he wasn't going to give it another chance.
"I wish I could, but I need to prepare for the Hokage's visit," Yashamaru smiled apologetically.
Gaara deflated. "Right." He'd forgotten that being the right hand of father meant that Yashamaru wouldn't have any time for him today. He didn't know much about the Hokage, but it made sense that Yashamaru would have to be there during the visit.
"I'll make it up to you tomorrow," Yashamaru promised and playfully tapped his nose, not even shuddering when some of the sand circled around his wrist. "Why don't you go play outside? It's a nice day."
"Okay," Gaara muttered subdued and watched Yashamaru disappear around the corner, calling out to someone.
Where should he go to, though? He considered going to the centre of the village, but last time he'd been there, which had been three days ago, it hadn't ended rather bad, with three kids running back screaming to their mums because Gaara's sand had been a bit too rough. He didn't want to go back to the centre just yet. Maybe, once some more time had passed, then … Not yet, though.
He didn't want to disappoint father again if he failed to keep the sand under control.
In the end he curled up on a bench in the Kazekage's private garden. He was alone, surrounded by nothing but pretty flowers and big, overflowing plants which reached to the edge of the roof. Normally there should be at least two guards present, but as always they were spending their time bickering who should be the one to watch over Gaara. Usually they argued for so long that by the time they had decided who should take on the job, Gaara was already on his way back inside.
It was fine, though. He didn't mind being alone here. Being alone meant that nobody would be glaring at him or looking at him weirdly and most importantly, it meant his sand couldn't hurt anyone.
He spent a moment wondering what Temari and Kankuro were doing, but they were probably training. Kankuro had recently started becoming obsessed with puppetry and he was trying to make the perfect puppet for himself. Gaara wasn't sure what kind of training Temari was doing, but maybe he could ask her to spend some time later on tonight? Kankuro was way too obsessed with puppets, so he wouldn't want to be bothered, but Temari usually tried to make some time for him.
"Aren't you lonely here?"
The unexpected, high, clear voice had Gaara yelping in fright and to his horror his sand instantly reacted, shooting out like lightening towards the unknown blond boy near the doorway, intent on wrapping completely around him and hurting him.
"No, wait! I don't want – " Gaara panicked, but he was completely stumped when instead of the boy shrieking in fright or worse, the boy's body exploding with blood, a strange sort of orange red chakra enveloped him completely.
The sand slammed into the chakra and the evil being inside Gaara growled foully when part of the sand simply melted away. For a couple of too long seconds, the monster inside of him reared violently, desperate to break out, and sweat broke out on Gaara's forehead as he tried to force him back down. Fear swirled around in his belly as the monster grew stronger, but then the chakra of the boy flared up brightly and for just a brief moment, so short Gaara wondered if he was seeing things, something appeared above the boy's head, something eerily similar to a snarling fox's head. The monster inside of him growled, but to Gaara's shock it subsided immediately, grumbling but no longer trying to break free.
The second the sand returned to Gaara, the strange chakra seeped back into the boy's body, as if it could sense that the boy was no longer in danger of being attacked.
Shame making him feel sick, Gaara was almost too afraid to look at the boy, afraid of the anger or the fear he would see there, but he was once more shocked when instead of lashing out, the boy laughed delightedly. Gaara could only stare at him stumped, watching how the laughter tapered out into a bright grin stretched out across the boy's face.
"Are you like me?" the boy asked eagerly, taking several steps closer. "You have to be like me, right? What's their name? Mine's named Kyuubi!"
"I – I don't know what …" Gaara stuttered, unsure what was happening right now. Shouldn't the boy be running away right now? Or be so terrified that he couldn't even move? Gaara's sand had attacked him! Why wasn't he upset? How had he even managed to find this garden? How had he got past the guards?
The boy pouted, crossing his hands behind his head. "Am I talking too quickly? Dad always says I'm talking too quickly, but I don't hear that; I think I'm talking normally, no? So are you like me?"
"Like you?" Gaara couldn't do anything but echo pathetically. He really had no clue what was going on now.
"You got a bijuu sealed in you too?" the boy asked frankly, tilting his head to the left.
A shock went through Gaara's body at the way the boy so casually referred to the monster locked inside of Gaara. He also had a bijuu sealed inside of him? But why didn't he act worried about that? Gaara was constantly worried that the monster inside of him would become way too violent one day. His reaction must have been enough for the blond boy, because he nodded satisfied.
"Knew it! So what's his name?" The boy frowned, his eyes glazing over for a couple of seconds. "Or her name? Kyuubi says some bijuu can be girls too."
"Erm, Ichibi," Gaara answered haltingly.
"He's got one tail?" the boy inquired interestedly. "Kyuubi has nine tails! I haven't been able to show them all, though," he continued chagrined. "Meanie that he is, he says I'm not strong enough yet to show them all. But I'm going to become really strong really soon and then I'll be able to show them all, believe it!"
"I believe you," Gaara said faintly, still staring at the other boy. Even though he didn't know him, he believed him wholeheartedly, because he did sound very determined to get strong enough to show all the nine tails.
"My name is Naruto," the boy chirped, coming even closer until there was just a few feet between them. "What's your name?"
"Gaara," he replied after a pause. For some reason he was starting to feel a bit light-headed, as if he'd spent way too much time in the sun, but he hadn't been outside for that long yet. He licked his lips. "Why – why are you here? I – haven't seen you in the village before."
"My dad and I are visiting your village," Naruto grinned. "He's talking to the Kazekage right now, but because it's boring adult stuff I couldn't stay with him."
Wait, talking to the Kazekage? His dad?
"You're the Hokage's son?" Gaara blurted out surprised. He hadn't even known the Hokage had a son, let alone that he also had a monster sealed inside of him! But didn't someone from Konoha have to follow Naruto around? The guards here normally had to follow Gaara around whenever he left home.
"Yep, I am!" Naruto beamed. "Where's your dad?"
"My father – he is the Kazekage," Gaara said shyly, flushing when Naruto blinked and bent closer to him as if he was studying his face.
"You don't really look like him," Naruto commented thoughtfully. "You look a lot prettier, especially your hair!"
"Boys can't be pretty!" Gaara protested; his cheeks feeling so hot as if he'd been leaning over fire for too long.
"Sure they can be," Naruto said frankly. "My best friend, Sasuke, he is very pretty! Even prettier than the prettiest girl! Not as pretty as my mum, though," he amended quickly before frowning. "Well, no, I guess they're both very pretty, because my mum is the prettiest of all mums and Sasuke is prettier than the prettiest girl, so they're both the prettiest." He nodded sagely. "Is your mum pretty?"
"Erm, my mum died when I was a baby," Gaara answered startled.
Naruto's face fell. "I'm sorry, that really sucks," he said sincerely.
Gaara shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess," he muttered. Unlike Temari and Kankuro he'd never known how his mother had been. Yashamaru always said that mother had loved him so much, but he had a hard time understanding what that meant when he'd never been able to meet her.
Either desperate to change the subject or just distracted, Naruto looked around with wonder in his eyes and said, "This is a really pretty place. You come here a lot?"
"Sometimes when nobody has time," Gaara admitted, feeling pathetic for saying that aloud, but it was the truth unfortunately. Sadly he often found himself on his own, because none of the children wanted to play with him because of his sand and most adults preferred to stay out of his way.
"Well, it's a really pretty place," Naruto smiled. "Can you play with your sand?"
"Erm, I try, but – I don't really have control over it," Gaara replied ashamed. "I often hurt people with it, because the sand always gets too eager. You saw what it almost did to you. I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Mah, I'm fine." Naruto waved off his apology. "Kyuubi wouldn't let it hurt me anyways, he protected me. Sometimes he gets a bit too enthusiastic too, but I'm getting better at controlling what he does." He perked up. "Especially because Itachi-nii-san sometimes helps me too! He has this cool eye jutsu called a Sharingan that keeps Meanie under control if he does get a bit too much."
He started snickering, amused for some reason. "Sasuke can get really jealous about that. He always says he's going to get the Sharingan too, so that Itachi-nii-san doesn't have to keep helping me."
"It must be nice, that your best friend wants to help you," Gaara said softly. He started to cautiously relax. Somehow the monster inside of him wasn't trying to attack again, even though he kept grumbling. Maybe Naruto having a monster with more tails had made his monster finally somewhat afraid? He probably shouldn't be happy about that, but it was somewhat nice to finally have a moment of peace inside his mind.
"It is, he's really cool," Naruto agreed and tilted his head to the right this time. "Do you have a best friend?"
Gaara stiffened; his face hardening. "I – I don't have any friends."
"Why not?"
"Because the sand hurts everyone I try to play with," Gaara said quietly; shame burning even brighter.
"Well, do you want to be friends with me then?" Naruto suggested to his pure shock.
Gaara gaped at him. "Wh-why would you want that? My sand can really hurt you!"
Naruto snorted and in the blink of an eye, the strange red-orange chakra flared up once more, coating his entire body like some kind of buzzing armour. Then it was gone again in a flash.
"You can't hurt me, remember," Naruto said primly. "Kyuubi will protect me, so if you can't hurt me with your sand then that means we're meant to be friends! So we should be friends if you want!"
"I – I'd like that," Gaara said shyly, smiling when Naruto beamed at him.
"Cool! So can you show me what - "
"There you are!"
The exasperated voice of an older boy had the both of them jumping in surprise. Gaara's eyes widened when he saw an ANBU with a kitsune mask stride over to Naruto.
"I'm pretty sure your dad said that you shouldn't wander too far," the ANBU chided, resting a hand on his hip.
Some of Suna's guards were peeking into the garden from inside the corridor, but they seemed disinclined to actually interfere.
"I was getting bored," Naruto complained.
"How did you even get in here? Isn't this a private garden?"
Gaara had a feeling that the ANBU was frowning behind that mask, but that didn't appear to bother Naruto.
"I just walked here," Naruto answered and shrugged. "Nobody stopped me, so what does it matter?"
The ANBU groaned, scratching his oddly white coloured hair. The white colour stood in sharp contrast with how young he sounded and looked like. "Nobody stopped you or you tricked them into not stopping you?"
Naruto merely smiled impishly.
Gaara froze when the ANBU turned his attention to him. "I'm sorry if this brat bothered you."
"I'm not a brat!"
"I don't mind, it's fun talking with him," Gaara said softly, warmth blooming inside of him when Naruto flashed him a big smile.
"Well, unfortunately you'll have to say goodbye for now, because your dad is finished talking with the Kazekage."
"Aw," Naruto pouted. "You think I can see Gaara soon again?"
"I'm sure you can," the ANBU reassured him. "Now say goodbye before your dad becomes too worried."
"Fine," Naruto whined and turned to Gaara, smiling again. "I'll see you again really soon, okay? Then we can play for real! You can show me all the cool tricks you can do with your sand!"
"Erm, okay, I'd like that," Gaara said, a bit dazed.
He watched the ANBU place a light hand on Naruto's shoulder, guiding him gently back towards the door. Right before he left, Naruto turned around again and waved, grinning brightly. Gaara waved back, a bit hesitant, but the warmth inside his chest wouldn't dissipate for hours to come.
Not even the guards' uncomfortable stares as they ordered him back inside three hours later could sully Gaara's good mood.
It was still too early to fully believe it – he didn't dare to believe it, not yet – but he thought that today he might have made his first real friend.
Gaara had managed to make his first real friend that fateful day. In spite of his fears and the monster snickering inside of him, Naruto didn't ignore him or snub him after that first time. It was the very opposite in fact: Naruto would often visit him, playing with him just as easily as other children played with each other. If Gaara's sand sometimes did try to hurt him, the monster eager to wreak havoc, then Naruto's monster would simply protect him; the sand bouncing off every time as if it was nothing.
Gaara met Naruto's best friend after three months as well when father had taken him out on a trip to Konoha. He'd been really surprised by that, because normally father didn't like taking him out of the village, but now he'd been the one to suggest it. Gaara had been way too eager to see Naruto again to refuse, so that was how he'd ended up meeting Naruto's best friend for the first time.
Sasuke was a pale, dark haired, dark eyed boy, who looked at him shrewdly when Naruto introduced them with an eager grin.
"Naruto says you're just like him," Sasuke said in a neutral voice.
Gaara glanced at Naruto, who nodded encouragingly. "Erm, yeah, I've got one too. His name is Ichibi."
"I wonder if the Sharingan can also control the Ichibi," Sasuke muttered and then shook his head. "Can you show me what your sand can do? Shisui says it's a good thing to train with all sorts of shinobi and we've got nobody here who fights with sand."
"Yamato-san works with wood," Naruto pointed out, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"Wood isn't sand, stupid," Sasuke sniffed, dodging Naruto's slap. "So, what do you think, can you show me?"
"I don't know," Gaara hesitated. Already the sand was swirling around rapidly around his legs, becoming way too excited about being invited to play.
"It'll be fine," Naruto said confidently, slapping Gaara's back in enthusiasm, almost pitching the red haired boy forwards with the unexpected force. "Kyuubi can stop the sand if it looks like it's getting a bit too wild."
"Okay then," Gaara acquiesced, following the two boys to a training ground Sasuke claimed would be empty by now.
If Naruto said he would stop the sand on time before it could hurt Sasuke, then Gaara believed him. Because Naruto had always managed to stop the sand on time all the other times they had met up, so Naruto wouldn't lie to him.
Maybe, just maybe, Gaara might be able to make more friends after all.
As it turned out, over the years, Gaara only managed to befriend Naruto and Sasuke in the end. Even gaining full control over the Ichibi couldn't really sway other people from giving him another chance at friendship, but they did end up accepting him as their Kazekage when father died in an enemy attack. Gaara had been too worried to try out for the position at first, the village's dislike discouraging him, but as always, Naruto had been there to encourage him, supporting his dream. To Gaara's utter shock and Naruto's smug grin, he ended up being appointed the next Kazekage after all; the villagers at least trusting his power enough to protect them all.
So maybe Gaara would never have that many friends, but that was okay. Because he still had Naruto and Sasuke, he still had his siblings and now he also had the village's respect.
He also had –
"So you want to be my best man?" Naruto inquired, his cheeks flushed, his eye glittering brightly.
"Did you really request an official meeting for this?" Gaara asked bemused, staring at him over the ever growing pile of documents he needed to look at. That was the downside of being the Kazekage: way too much paperwork.
Naruto shrugged; the silver engagement ring around his finger flashing when he ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, you've been busy ever since you became Kage. Figured this was the best way to get a hold on such an important man," he teased.
"I always have time for you." Gaara rolled his eyes, but didn't miss the way Naruto's face softened. As if he was the one still in wonder about being his best friend. "And yes, I'd be honoured to be your best man. You got a date set for the wedding already?"
"We're still trying to decide that, but can you believe mum and Mikoto-ba-chan are really arguing about whether it should be a winter or a summer wedding?" Naruto snickered.
"I can believe that," Gaara said dryly. Those two women could be quite a force of nature when they set themselves to it – it was clear who their sons resembled the most. "What does Sasuke think about that?"
Blue eyes shone even brighter; his smile softened around the edges when Naruto replied, "Man, the bastard really doesn't give a crap about all of that. He's so mushy, you wouldn't believe it. Said it didn't matter, just as long as we're together." If possible his cheeks flushed even further, deepening to a deep pink.
"Well, he does love you," Gaara said, smiling.
Even a blind person could see just how much the youngest Uchiha loved Naruto. It made Gaara long for the day when he would find someone who would love him just as much as Naruto and Sasuke loved each other, but for now he was just happy to share in their happiness.
He was going to be the best man in his best friends' wedding: something little five year old Gaara had never thought would happen to him, had never dared to dream would happen to him, because everyone always seemed to have hated him or had been scared of him.
Not Naruto, though. Naruto had never been scared of him or had hated him, not even when Gaara's very first unintended reaction had been to attack him with his sand. Even Sasuke had never been afraid of him. Wary for a while, worried that Gaara's sand might hurt Naruto, but never actually afraid of Gaara himself. The years of shared happiness and yes, even shared grief, had only strengthened their bond; the bond even helping Gaara strengthening his control over the Ichibi eventually.
No, Gaara would never have a lot of friends probably, but that was fine. He had Naruto and he had Sasuke and that would always be more than enough for him.
The End
AN2: Gaara just needs a good hug, okay? And I've got a weakness for kid Naruto befriending kid Gaara so there. Nothing too complicated here, because I needed something uncomplicated for now. I'll do my best to finally update some other projects next week.
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
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