In the early morning, Naruto heads to the showers, thinking no one would be up a five in the morning. But alas, Naruto has the shittiest luck in the universe and has to deal with-

Oh fuck, is that Gaara? Naruto panics but continues to walk into the entrance of the showers. His cheeks turn as red as Gaara's hair once he sees Gaara's naked, soapy body. Naruto squeaks involuntarily alerting Gaara that he's not alone.

Gaara turns, his stoic face breaks for a second as his eyes widen a fraction. Everything is in view for Naruto, and the poor boy nearly faints.

"Oh, hey," Gaara greets, raising one of his hands in a slight wave.

Why is he acting like this is normal?! Naruto mentally screams. This is NOT normal!!

"Hi," is all Naruto can say. He then heads for the private showers.

"Hey, wait," Gaara calls out, padding towards him. Naruto tenses when he feels Gaara's presence behind him. "I need to talk to you."

Naruto slowly turns around to face Gaara. Instinctively, he looks down but soon regrets it, for that monster that lies between Gaara's legs makes him snap his head back up.

"A-About what?" Naruto says. Gaara smirks when Naruto steals quick glances down.

"I need to talk to you about Sasuke," he says.

"Can't it wait until you get some clothes on?" Naruto asks, stealing another peek at Gaara's dick.

"What? Never seen a dick before? I mean, if you look hard enough there should be one between your legs... right?" Gaara pauses and looks at Naruto skeptically. "You're not a girl, are you?"

"No! NO! I am not a girl! AND I do have a d-d-di- I DO HAVE A PENIS!" Naruto blurts out loud, his face now a deep red from the embarrassment. "Now please I need to shower. You can talk to me later!"

...

After Naruto's shower, and after Gaara dressed, the two boys left the dorms to go sit in Gaara's favorite and most private spot. They don't talk right away, in fact, Naruto can't even look Gaara in the eyes. After five minutes of complete silence, Naruto speaks up.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Gaara clears his throat. "Uh, yeah. Sasuke told me he likes you."

Naruto raises an eyebrow, finally meeting Gaara's eyes. "And... you want me to do what with that information?"

"Do you like him or not?" Gaara asks bluntly.

"Well, I want to be friends with him and learn a little bit more about him," Naruto says, fiddling with his fingers. He thinks his dream to be Sasuke's friend is a little childish.

Gaara rolls his eyes, not really caring about friendship much. "Do you want to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with Sasuke?"

Naruto's eyes widen and his cheeks turn a rosy pink. He waves his hands frantically while saying, "Oh no! I think getting with someone I barely know will turn into a disaster!"

The breath Gaara didn't know he was holding finally releases from his throat. He'd be lying if he says he isn't relieved.

"Good, cause I think Sasuke can't grasp the concept of love yet, and I," Gaara pauses, mumbling the last bit of his sentence. "I don't want you falling into his trap."

That fluttering feeling in Gaara's chest returns when he takes a look at Naruto's flushed face.

"You care about me? When did that happen?" Naruto questions, the blush never leaving his face as he lifts an eyebrow. "You were such a..." Naruto chooses his next words carefully because he knows Gaara can kill him in 2.5 seconds. "Rude person when I met you."

Gaara huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "It happened around the time you watched over me when I slept. I realized you were a... nice guy, I guess. I wanted to be your friend."

Naruto perks up at the word "friend". He didn't have a lot of male friends when he was growing up, and the ones he did have were coerced by his bullies to leave him high and dry.

"A friend?" Naruto says in awe. "You're my friend?"

Gaara shrugs. "Yeah, if you want to be friends."

Naruto is so overwhelmed and overcome with joy, that he pulls Gaara into a hug. The fluttering feeling in Gaara's chest increases tenfold and he returns the warm embrace. Gaara feels like the sun is warming up his cold, dead heart and he doesn't want to pull away yet.

They hold the hug a little longer, but all too soon for Gaara, Naruto pulls away from him. Naruto beams up at him and asks, "Can I have your number?"

"What? Why?" Gaara responds.

"So we can stay in touch and so you can contact me if you need to sleep," Naruto explains excitedly. He's happy that he made a friend outside if Sai. "And because I care about you too!"

It seems like Cupid shot a million arrows into Gaara all at once. Gaara is shocked and just stares at Naruto. A warm feeling spreads throughout Gaara's body and he can feel his stomach do flips. A blush paints his pale cheeks and he snaps.

"What is this?! A shoujo manga?! Geez!" Gaara groans and rolls his eyes, clearly embarrassed. Nevertheless, he gives Naruto his number. Naruto laughs and apologizes for his cheesy confession. Gaara sees Naruto's grin and mentally promises that he'll protect that smile forever.

Gaara lifts his hand and it comes in contact with Naruto's cheek. Naruto tenses from the unexpected touch but soon relaxes into the tender caress. He cups Naruto's other cheek, a newfound determination filling him inside.

Naruto sees the look in Gaara's eyes and cocks an eyebrow, but his eyes immediately widen when Gaara starts to lean in. What is Naruto to do but clench his eyes shut and await what's coming to him?

With his eyes closed, Naruto's other senses heighten and he can feel Gaara's breath fan across his face and Gaara's hands brush down his neck and settle on his shoulders. He hears Gaara sigh and he peeks an eye open.

"We should get ready for school," is all Gaara says before dropping his hands to his side. Naruto opens his other eye and nods.

"Right."

Gaara smirks and pokes Naruto in the chest. "Did you think I was gonna kiss you?"

Naruto's cheeks go up in flames, his hands waving wildly in protest. "Wha-! No! I just..."

He doesn't finish his sentence and caves in. "Yeah."

"You sound disappointed," Gaara chuckles, patting Naruto on the shoulder. Naruto just shrugs and walks with Gaara back to the dorms. After the two reach the sixth floor, they go their separate ways to get ready for school.

Naruto's footsteps feel a little bit lighter after hanging out with Gaara, and the fluttering in Gaara's chest has yet to stop. It's a weird feeling for Gaara, whatever it may be.

It's a weird feeling only Naruto could give to him.

...

A/N: *Tfw you want two characters to kiss in a story but then you realize that it's your own story*

Bitches, I want Gaara to kiss Naruto. Is that okay? I mean like, in the end, Naruto WILL get with Sasuke but like, Gaara and Naruto I'm 100% feeling right now.

I don't care, they gon' kiss soon whether you like it or not.