Hiraeth

Sasuke was pissed again when he woke up to find Gaara out of his arms and out of his house without so much as a note. He narrowed his eyes and he sat up, blankets falling off his shoulders and pooling around his waist. He raised a hand to his chest, placing it just above his heart and frowned when he found it wasn’t warm from Gaara’s body heat anymore. It was cold and all of him felt cold.

His eyes widened and he cursed loudly as he looked at the clock finding that he had slept through his alarm.

It was going to be a long ass day.

——-

He greeted his friends at the school gates, pecking Naruto on the lips and realizing with a start how different it was from kissing Gaara.

With Naruto it was... nice. He liked it, it made him feel good. But with Gaara it was something different, it was like how all those romance novels Itachi used to read said it would be and more. It was slow, languid, or rough and passionate, and it could either set off fireworks in his mind or flood heat throughout his whole body. He wondered if it could potentially do both at the same time and resolved to find out.

He found himself spacing out more often than usual during the day much to his friends teasing and Naruto’s worriment. He couldn’t find it in him to care though, just linked hands with the blond in hopes it would quell his anxiety.

It seemed to work, it really did, and Sasuke patted himself on the back for adverting a crisis. He went throughout the rest of the day just fine up until he had to take a piss after fourth period and walked in on Kiba beating up the love of his life and his boyfriend just watching.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked, tone even but body rigid.

All three looked up at him, and Naruro rushed towards him, waving his hands frantically. “Ah, Sasuke-”

Sasuke pushed past him, past Kiba who had backed up, and stood over Gaara who looked up at him, eyes clouded with emotions he couldn’t read. Sasuke sighed and extended a hand down to the boy that Gaara looked at in shock, face scrunching up. Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his hand slightly, face lighting up in satisfaction when Gaara’s expression relaxed into one of gratefulness, hand reaching up to take Sasuke’s when-

“Sasuke?” Naruto’s clear voice startled Sasuke so bad he jerked his hand back just as Gaara’s was about to take his and he realized that he did so with the smile still on his face.

A smile Gaara wouldn’t know the true reason for.

Sasuke felt his world break as Gaara’s expression shattered, as Kiba’s laughter rang throughout the room, as Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him backwards, out of the bathroom, into the hallway, and away from Gaara.

Sasuke said nothing as Kiba patted him on the back, praising him for the great ‘gag’, as Naruto stood uncharacteristically silently, as the bell rang for next period and as he noticed Gaara didn’t leave the bathroom and that no sounds came from it.

——-

Gaara didn’t show up for gym and Sasuke took out his frustration on the game of basketball they played. He ended up getting fouled more than once and having lots of time on the bench to think.

He had to apologize, he knew that. He would just wait until Gaara was alone and make him see reason. Again. He knew they both couldn’t survive without each other.

He exhaled and rubbed his palms together, satisfied with the plan. As the bell rang for the end of class he changed quickly, brushing off his friends without a word and pulling out his phone.

Mercifully he had the foresight to take the opportunity of Gaara sleeping to put the redhead’s number in his phone.

-Hey, can we talk?

When he didn’t receive an answer he angrily stuffed his phone in his pocket and headed to the office, turning on his charm as he told the lady at the front desk that he needed to return something to Gaara, and could he please have the boy’s address so he could get it to him?

The lady smiled and gave him the address easily and Sasuke smirked in his head as he thanked her.

Shikamaru was wrong. Women weren’t a drag, they were easy.

——-

He hesitated slightly, staring at the house number and making sure that yes, this was the right place. Swallowing down any doubts he might have had he knocked on the door sharply and waited until the door opened, a tall figure looking down at him suspiciously.

“What?” The man asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Sasuke forced a smile, this guy wasn’t old enough to be Gaara’s dad so it had to be his brother, Kankuro. “Yo, I’m here to return something of Gaara’s,” he repeated the lie, subtly attempting to look over Kankuro’s shoulder and further into the house.

Kankuro noticed, raising an eyebrow and adjusting his position so Sasuke could see even less. “Is that so? Give it to me then, I’ll hand it over to him.”

Sasuke froze, smiling slipping from his face momentarily before fixing itself back into place. “It’s good, I can just give it to him myself.”

“What’s it that you need to give him?”

Sasuke let his smile fall for real this time, an irritated expression taking over. “Look, just let me speak to him and-”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Look, I don’t know who you are, kid, but there’s no way I’m letting some prick who I don’t know and who won’t even answer my questions be around him.”

Sasuke grit his teeth, temper flaring up because even if this guy was Gaara’s brother he had no right to keep Sasuke away from him. “You want to know who I am? I’m Sasuke, and-”

“Sasuke?” Kankuro said, eyes widening for a second before narrowing. “Huh. I expected you to be more impressive.”

Sasuke faltered. “What?”

“You were my brother’s internet boyfriend for like five years, right? The way he talked about you I just assumed you’d be something better.” Kankuro shrugged and crossed his arms.

“I’m still his boyfriend,” Sasuke said without thinking, and at Kankuro’s bewildered look he straightened up. “We never actually broke up.”

Kankuro regarded him for a moment before letting out a low chuckle. “I don’t think he sees it that way. He’s actually off with his new boyfriend right now.”

Sasuke’s eyes blew wide open, hands immediately clenching into fists and posture tensing. “He doesn’t have a ‘new boyfriend.’” He spat out. “He only has the one.”

Kankuro smirked down at him, but his eyes were wary. “Yeah, and the one is that other guy.” He took in Sasuke’s bristling form and placed his hand on the doorknob. “You’re obsessed, kid. Get some help.” With one final glance at the younger boy he shut the door and Sasuke vaguely heard the sound of locks clicking.

He scoffed, turning on his heel and trudging away from the door. He wasn’t obsessed. He was just in love, and he wanted to keep Gaara safe and close to him. If that was criminal now then lock him up.

With Gaara in the same cell, of course.