Waiting. Enveloped in the darkness of the apartment, the windows blinded to neglect the bright light of the sun. And the nosey eyes of the villagers and shinobi who spied on EVERYONE.

They were really annoying. He briefly wondered if he should just kill them to make them go away, but then HE would get mad at him. He didn't want HIM mad at him. Especially since HE was letting him stay there out of the kindness of HIS heart, and he was after all just a guest. A guest, who had wanted to figure something out, so had gone to the only one who would understand.

He wanted precious people. Or rather, he wanted a precious person. Not like a comrade, a brother, a sister, or a parent. He wanted a really precious person; someone who could be his own. And there was only one person he knew of that could fill the role.

There was the flickering thought that HE wouldn't want him as a precious person, at least not in the degree that he wanted, but HE had allowed him to stay, so there was hope. Hope. Now that was something that he didn't really understand all that much. He thought it was a bit over-rated; but HE lived by it, so it had to be good for something. HE lived by a lot of things.

Some of which he himself lived by as well. Pain was a definite. He had pushed it out by killing, hiding it in the darker corners of his already darkened mind; but HE pushed it into his training, hiding it from the perceptive eyes of those HE treasured and those HE didn't.

Determination. Something that he himself hadn't bothered with, for he wasn't determined for much. But then of course, he had met HIM, and that had all changed. He was determined to make HIM the most precious person in his life...well he already had, but he wanted, no, needed HIM to make the preciousness mutual. HE, on the other hand, was determined to gain their respect. Something that HE deserved so much of, but something that HE would probably never truly achieve.

And the most obvious in HIS eyes, rejection. He could see the rejection in HIS eyes every time HE returned home, and he was sorely tempted to kill anyone who had made HIM feel it so strongly. But he couldn't kill the village, HE had told him not to. HE trusted him not to. And he wanted HIM to trust him, because he already trusted HIM. Trust. Another foreign emotion, but one that he had managed to identify and live with. After all, there was only one person that he trusted, and eliminating HIM was out of the question.

Footsteps. HIS footsteps. He knew that it was a bit odd to have memorized HIS footsteps, but he didn't really care. He didn't really care about a lot. HE was the only thing he really cared about outside of his family...meager as they may be.

"I'm home," HE calls out, HIS inner pain masked easily with HIS usual bright voice. It often works...on mostly everyone. He was an exception. He is not easily fooled. He knows HIM far to well, for to him, knowing HIM was like knowing himself. He remains silent, simply watching HIM as he yawns and enters HIS room, and the thump that follows signals that HE had fallen onto HIS bed. He smirked slightly. He went into HIS room as well.

HE was, as expected, sprawled out on HIS un-made bed. HIS eyes were shut off from the world, and HIS usual bright smile was reduced to a content upward quirk of HIS lips. He stares. HE opens his eyes as he feels his stare.

"What is it?" HE asks, just for the sake of asking. HE had gotten used to his staring, and HE doesn't question why anymore. He never really answered HIM with a proper response anyway.

"...Am I one of your special people?" He asked him in his usual low and unemotional voice. But HE knows him to well; they know each other to well. HE knows the emotions that he tries to convey each day, and HE knew what he was actually asking.

HE grinned that usual foxy grin of HIS, "Always, Gaara-kun."

Gaara let an actual smile slip for Naruto.

-Owari-

Notes: (blinks)...yeah, "he" is Gaara, and "HE" is Naruto...get it? ...and I rushed the ending, could you tell?

Disclaimer: (is seen walking in a circle flailing her hands about like a fish out of water.) For the love of Ra, what does it take to get the next issue of Shonen Jump around here? WHY doesn't she let me submit my subscription, it's SO much easier than begging her to let me get it each month! BAH! I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE TEST! I WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY DO TO CHEAT! (is seen looking longingly at respective pictures if Team Eight, Team Ten, Gaara and Naruto)

VDG: maa, i have to stop ranting for disclaimers, that i do -.-; Another one that escaped the confines of my mind! GAH, I should be working on my other, LONGER fics...screw it, I LUVED writing this one (grins)

VDG