Hiraeth

Gaara was tired.

So fucking tired.

He watched blankly as Itachi and Sasuke bickered about something (that’s all they seemed to do) and poked at one of the leftover pancakes with a fork.

Despite what Sasuke had said, Itachi seemed pretty okay. He didn’t ask why Gaara was there and welcomed him like he was one of his own family.

But Sasuke always knew best anyways.
He almost wished he was an Uchiha but the thought was quickly nixed as he remembered his and Sasuke’s relationship.

The tips of his ears flushed as he thought of last night and of the new bruises littered across his body.

Ordinarily he hated bruises, but he didn’t mind these.

He didn’t notice the quiet in the kitchen until he looked up and saw Sasuke and Itachi looking at him.

“Hm?”

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glancing at Itachi who spoke for him.

“I’ll be out tonight.”

Gaara nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

“Remember to be safe.”

Suddenly he was choking on water and Sasuke was beside him, hitting him on the back as he spluttered.

Itachi watched them with amused eyes before walking towards the door and opening it, pausing.

“Condoms are in the drawer by my bed.”

He was choking again and Sasuke was yelling at Itachi.

——-

Despite Sasuke’s protests they did end up using one.

Gaara lay on the bed, naked, panting, and throughly fucked out as Sasuke threw the stained rubber into his trash can.

His chest was still heaving when Sasuke sat back down next to him, pulling his limp body into his lap and relaxing against the headboard. He combed his fingers through Gaara’s hair loosely.

“We really should get you cleaned up,” Sasuke murmured after a moment. Gaara shook his head weakly and Sasuke sighed in return. “You’re a mess. We both are.”

He couldn’t really deny it, couldn’t deny he felt sticky and gross and could really use a shower.

He let Sasuke help him stand up, thighs twitching and the dull ache in his stomach and hips becoming more and more pronounced with each step to the bathroom they took.

Sasuke set him on the toilet seat, turning around and fiddling with the taps to begin filling the tub.

It was silent for a while aside from the sound of running water and their breathing.

Gaara watched with muted fascination as steam filled the large bathroom and fogged up the mirror.

“Are you trying to boil me alive?”

Sasuke turned around at the sound of Gaara’s voice and smirked. “Nope. Just trying to make you feel even better.”

He snorted as Sasuke moved towards him, gingerly pulling him to his feet to stand by the bathtub.

Sasuke lowered himself into the water first before he helped Gaara in, settling the boy in between his legs and placing his own hands on the sides of the marble bathtub.

“You’re so fucking rich,” Gaara mumbled as Sasuke gently cleaned them both.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. This bathroom is almost as big as my house’s whole first floor.”

“Doubtful.”

Gaara shrugged and leaned his head against Sasuke’s chest. “Feels like it.”

He didn’t hear Sasuke’s reply as his eyes shut, sleep overtaking him.

——-

He woke up in the middle of the night to his phone ringing, wrapped loosely in Sasuke’s arms.

He checked the clock and groaned.

Who the fuck was calling him at one in the morning?

He slipped out of Sasuke’s hold and grabbed his phone, stepping out of the room as he answered.

“Hello?”

-“Gaara? I am sorry, I tried calling earlier and you didn’t-”

He sighed. “I’m fine, Lee.”

-“Oh good! Anyways, like I’ve said I’ve been trying to call you because I have something to ask.”

“What’s that?”

-“That’s- Will you go to the fall ball with me?”

He paused, looking at Sasuke’s sleeping form and thinking.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll go.”

Lee’s excited response was thrilling, but as he listened to the happy boy and looked at the sleeping Sasuke he felt the usual guilt rise up in him.

He bid Lee goodnight soon after, returning back to Sasuke and laying close to him, careful not to wake the other boy up.

He pretended to be asleep when Sasuke woke up, pretended to snap awake as a hand carded through his hair, and pretended to be annoyed with the kiss he got.

Something inside of him was telling him he shouldn’t enjoy it, but he was never good at listening anyways.

——-

“You’re going to the dance with Lee?”

Gaara nodded as he slowly chewed his breakfast. “Yeah. I assume you’re going with Naruto?”

Sasuke seemed to struggle with something before stabbing at a bite of his omelette with a bit too much force. “Yep.”

He regarded the other carefully and allowed a small smile to cross his face. Sasuke had been noticeably less possessive the past few weeks, not flying off the handle or sulking whenever Gaara mentioned Lee.

It was a nice change.

“Something wrong?” he teased, smile becoming a smirk as Sasuke hunched over.

“Nothing. Eat your fucking food.”

——-

He found himself in an uncomfortable and unwanted situation between periods that day, cornered between a row of lockers and Ino’s glare.

“What?” he asked, newly un-bandaged hand gripping at his other wrist. “What is it?”

He watched as her brow furrowed and as she straightened up, sure that if it wasn’t for the dosage of medicine he was on Shukaku would be laughing in his ears right about now.

“Look, I’ve been nice this whole time-”

“Nice?”

“Shush. I’ve been doing what I thought was right this whole time but I can’t do it anymore.”

He dug his fingernails into his flesh. “You don’t need to do anything.”

“What I need to do is finally tell you that whatever you’re doing with Sasuke is wrong.”

He paused as his nails created perfect indents on his skin and watched as Ino’s shoulders relaxed.

“Listen, you can’t keep fucking around with both Sasuke and Lee.”

“Why not?”

Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s wrong and-”

“You’re not my fucking mom, Ino.”

“Well maybe I need to be since yours obviously isn’t doing her job!”

His hand contracted as his nails sliced cleanly into his arm, heart suddenly feeling like it was about to beat through his chest and shoulders shaking.

He didn’t notice her eyes widen before softening. “Gaara? Are you-”

“Don’t talk to me.”

The words cut through the air, palpable enough for her to take a step back.

“Don’t.”

He pushed past her maybe a little too roughly with his head down, teeth grit.

“Gaara!”

He didn’t turn around.

——-

He lay huddled under the covers in Sasuke’s room as he waited for school to end.

He hadn’t cut class in a long time up until now.

He felt a great weight be lifted off his chest as he heard the door to the room open and the blankets be pulled off his frame.

“What’re you doing down there?”

He didn’t reply, just grabbed Sasuke’s wrist and tugged at it insistently until the taller boy sat down with a huff of laughter.

“Thanks for having the sense to text me at least. That was good of you.”

Gaara said nothing again in favor of resting his head on one of Sasuke’s thighs. They sat quietly for a moment, Sasuke’s hand on his waist and moving back and forth calmly.

“Sasuke?”

“Mm?”

“What we’re doing is wrong, isn’t it?”

The hand on his side stilled and he felt Sasuke’s body tense. “Who said that?”

“Ino.”

“Fucking of course.”

There was another beat of silence before Sasuke spoke up again.

“Maybe.”

“Oh.”

He wasn’t surprised in the least.

He felt himself being maneuvered into a sitting position and soon he was eye to eye with Sasuke.

“Do you want to stop?”

He didn’t even have to think about it.

“Never.”