Fools

“You want my help?” Naruto asked dumbfounded. He stared blankly at Gaara for a few moments before Sasuke shoved him harshly.

Gaara had come looking for Naruto the next day, he’d stayed up all night thinking about what he’d said. The red head didn’t know why, but Naruto had helped him see a tiny bit of a whole new perspective, he was hoping that the blond would be able to help him more.

But he seemed to forget who he was talking about here..

“Ow Sasuke! You jerk what was that for?” The blonde hissed, glaring at the emo teen beside him. “You dumbass you’re the one who offered your help in the first place, it’s no surprise he came asking for it,” Sasuke said.

“R-right..” Naruto muttered, realizing Sasuke had a point. He turned his attention back to the sand shinobi.

Gaara pretended he didn’t witness their stupidity.

“Anyways I’m happy to help you Gaara! Just tell me what to do!” He smiled, giving the red head a thumbs up.

Gaara tried not to regret his decision as he awkwardly returned the blonds smile.

“Thank you Naruto, Sasuke,” he said, the words feeling a bit foreign on his tongue. Gaara felt he needed to start somewhere, what better way than to use his manners?

Sasuke scoffed, while Naruto stared in awe, shocked by the sudden change in Gaaras attitude.

“Don’t thank me, Naruto is going to do all the work here,” Sasuke hummed, crossing his arms.

“Oh you’re helping me Sasuke, you have nothing better to do anyways!” Naruto argued, going back into his fit with Sasuke.

“Uh yeah I do!”

“And what would that be huh? Plotting in your room all day?”

“What?! No! It’s called training-“

“Excuse me could we please focus here?” Gaara interrupted, his brows furrowed in annoyance.

The two soulmates huffed like children and turned their heads away from each other. “Hmph!”

…

“Don’t mind the mess, I wasn’t expecting any guests..” Naruto admitted sheepishly, leading Gaara and Sasuke into his small apartment.

“Hasn’t Sakura cleaned this place a thousands times already?” Sasuke asked, a hint of disgust in his tone. Naruto bit his tongue, simply beginning to scoot some of the trash out of their way. “Just sit at the table,” he muttered.

Sasuke was the first to sit, he was used to this after all. Gaara was a bit hesitant, but in fear of being seen as rude he pulled out the chair across from Sasuke. “I’m not sure what I expected when you invited me over,” Gaara admitted, taking a closer look around Naruto’s room.

He noted all the photos hung on his walls, many of what he assumed were the blonds friends.

“Well it’s not the greatest the leaf has to offer, but it’s my home!” Naruto laughed, finally taking his seat beside Sasuke. “Enough about my house though,” he looked at gaara, “what can we do to help you?”

Gaara stopped, trying to find the words to describe his problem. It was definitely harder than he originally imagined . “Well..” he muttered, fidgeting with his hands under the table.

Naruto and Sasuke watched him silently, their eyes reminding him of his siblings. He shuttered.

It wasn’t like that, they were here to help not judge, he’d told himself.

“I am still getting accustomed to the idea of soulmates, and if im being completely honest, human connection in general. I just don’t know how to communicate without violence, without the hatred burning inside me,” Gaara admitted, “ I don’t know if its too much to ask you two, but I want to be able to connect with others as I’ve seen you do. I know that it is impossible for someone to change over night, but I would like to try and become better. Does that make sense?”

When Gaara finally looked up, he saw a soft smile on Naruto’s face. It felt almost warm, but Gaara blamed the blush on his cheek for that.

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t given up yet, to be honest, your brother told me a lot about you. I know what you’ve been through, and I’ve been through the same,” The blond said, leaning over the table and taking Gaaras hands in his own. “I don’t want you to be alone anymore, and we can start by helping you make amends,”

“Wow, you actually sound like you know what you’re doing for once,” Sasuke chimed in, making Naruto groan.

“Shut up! I so know what I’m doing!”

…

“Naruto? Sasuke?”

Gaara turned to see Sakura walking down the hall in their direction. “What are you guys doing here?” She asked.

“Oh Sakura! We’re here to see bushy brows!” Naruto replied, giving the girl a large grin.

“Lee? I just checked up on him, he’s sleeping but who knows, maybe he’s up by now,”

The red head froze at the mention of Lees name, it made him come back into reality. Was he really going to do this? After a life of misery was he truly going to try and turn his life around? Would making amends with his soulmate magically change his life? Shukaku definitely thought other wise.

Gaara tried not to think about it too much, it was way too late to back out now.

“Why are you guys coming to see him so early? I’d expect you to be spending your time training or something,” Sakura said, putting her hand on her hip. Naruto looked to Sasuke then to Gaara, the sand ninja nodded.

The blond leaned close to sakuras ear, his voice bordering a whisper, “Well actually, Gaara is here to see Lee,” he pointed towards Gaara with his thumb.

Sakuras eyes widened and she hummed, immediately understanding their situation, “I see, he’s on the second floor, check in and the front desk will give you the room number,” She said before patting her skirt. “I have to go now, I am at work after all!”

Sakura walked off in the opposite direction of the trio, leaving Gaara to feel nervous as they walked towards to front desk.

“Don’t worry Gaara, we can always go with you if you want,” Naruto said after they’d checked in, they were now standing by the stairs. Gaara shook his head, deciding he was going to do this on his own. Naruto couldn’t fix all his problems, even if that’s what gaara really wanted..

“It’s a bit personal so I think I will do this alone,” he began to walk up the steps, “but if I need anything I’ll be sure to ask you Naruto, thank you,” he said, leaving the two to wait in the lobby.

…

Gaara stood outside of Lees room longer than he wanted to, he just couldn’t bring himself to reach his hand out and open the door. He didn’t want to face him.

He thought about turning around and just leaving, it’s not like he was forced to be there. He just couldn’t face Naruto and Sasuke. He could see their disappointment, they’d think he was just wasting their time. He’d lose his chance to finally have true connections in his life, something to distract him from the negative thoughts that plagued his mind.

The red head huffed, why was he making this such a big deal?

He reached for the door once more, pushing past the urge to stop. In the process he practically slammed the door open, the sound scaring even him.

“I was wondering when you would come in, you were out there for a while now,”

Gaara froze again, his body blocking the doorway. His eyes landed on the bright red string connecting him and the person laying in the hospital bed in front of him. In that moment he wondered if he could still back out, even with all the people he would be disappointing.

“Please do not leave, I also wish to talk to you,” Lee said, stopping Gaara from even attempting.

“Alright,” Gaara muttered, snapping out of his stupor. He closed the door before slowly approaching lee. He watched as the string got shorter and shorter, like it had the first time they’d met.

“I wasn’t sure if id be able to catch you before you left the village, I know you must have plans to train. I apologize if I’ve distracted you in any way,” Lee talked as if him and Gaara were acquainted and it confused Gaara. How could he treat him with any ounce of kindness after what he did?

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

Gaara clenched his fist, his eyes glued to the marble floor beneath him. “Why are you talking to me so casually? I tried to kill you did I not?” He asked, his voice almost so quiet that Lee had to lean closer.

“Why would I treat you any different? I do not understand what you are getting at,”

“Why don’t you hate me, don’t you see what I’ve done to you?” Gaara finally asked, his eyes now looking up at Lee.

The konoha nin sighed, he looked as if he expected gaara to give him such a hard time. Then again all of this was new to Gaara, There was no way he would just accept Lees words without an ounce of speculation.

“ Why do I need to hate you Gaara? Yes, I am upset that I did not win our match, and that all of this is costing me so much,” Lee began, looking down at Gaaras pinky. “However, I do not wish for any of this to effect us as soulmates,”

There it was. The word Gaara fought so hard to forget, soulmates.

He couldn’t help but stay quiet after that, feeling like a helpless child. How could them being soulmates make any of it better? Gaara strove to understand such concepts.

“I get that this is all new, it’s very new for me especially! I’ve always wanted to meet you, I’ve dreamt of it since I was young,”

Gaara listened as Lee rambled. He talked about his teammates, his friends soulmates, and even his own thoughts on the whole situation.

It put the sand nin at ease in a way. Everytime it’d fall silent, Lee would fill the silence.

However, Gaara eventually had enough of standing around.

It was time he did what he came to do, there was no point in wasting anymore time. He needed to get this off his chest.

“It’s true that I do not know how to properly express my feelings, but I want to try,” he blurted between Lees own words, interrupting another story of the boys. This time it was Lees turn to be silent, “I realized that much after Naruto spoke to me,”

Gaara slowly approached lees bed, finally being in arms length of him. “He made me see that I can be more than the monster inside me, and I too am only human,”

His eyes briefly met lees before he lifted his hand up in front of him, sticking his pinky out between them, “I believe what I’m trying to say is, I want to get better and having you by my side, even if as just allies, wouldn’t be so bad,”

This time when Gaara looked at Lee, he was crying. His free hand covering his face as best he could. “I am sorry I am just so happy!!” He announced, his tears becoming more intense. “These are tears of absolute joy!!”

Gaara thought in that moment that maybe Baki was right all along. The red head felt himself smile at that, feeling an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time.