Ice Cream

Gaara stared at the blond man in front of him, hands crossed over his chest. If he had any eyebrows, one would be lifted in an annoyed questioning look. His mind was frozen with questions, none of them good.  And all because the blond had just asked the weirdest question he had ever heard in his life.

“So Gaara, you wanna get some ice cream? A new place just opened up around here and I wanted to see if they have ramen flavor!” the excited Naruto asked, grinning that wonderful, one hundred watt smile at him. He couldn’t refuse.

Even if he didn’t have a clue what ‘ice cream’ was.

He nodded his head in silent approval, while his naive mind racked his memory for any clues to what ice cream might be. Suna seemed to be always low on something, whether it was hot springs or proper building material, they just didn’t seem to have the right thing. Especially when it came to ice.

‘So what could ice cream be?’ he asked himself silently, not fully aware that he was watching Naruto’s butt as he dragged him half way across the Konoha. He had been visiting for a meeting, something stupid, he hadn’t really been listening. He had been busy staring at the Hokage. Yes, the one currently dragging him around like a rag doll. He had changed so much and yet was still a child like, innocent boy. Though…

Gaara scowled. The only reason Naruto had hardened at all. The only reason he had cried at all in these past years. The only reason the blond had been sad or angry or felt bad was because of one single person.

Sasuke Uchiha.

‘The fucking bastard…’ Gaara added in his mind. The one he had wanted to fight all those years ago. The one he had to fight. The one who made him fight Naruto in the end. The bastard who left Naruto. The one…

‘Naruto’s loves…’ He thought with an expressionless face, though it hurt to even think it. True, he didn’t know for sure that Naruto loved Sasuke, but all the signs were there. And he had been chasing after him for so many years. He still didn’t give up. He hadn’t given up. Even now.  

Gaara wondered if a part of Naruto would always be thinking of Sasuke in one way or another. A small part of Gaara never wanted Sasuke to come back. He knew Naruto would forgive him as soon as he stepped through the gates of Konoha. He knew Sasuke would just go on treating Naruto like an idiot as if he were worthless. Sasuke didn’t deserve Naruto’s love. His heart. Even his attention. But he had it.

‘Even when he isn’t here…’ Gaara thought, before looking down at his and Naruto’s hands, clasped together and Naruto kept dragging him, his red Hokage robes fluttering behind him, as Gaara’s blue ones flew up in the dust made by the both of them. Sasuke wasn’t the one getting ‘ice cream’ with Naruto. He wasn’t the one enjoying that one hundred watt smile. He wasn’t the one holding onto Naruto’s hand so tightly so he didn’t just get left behind. No. Gaara was. Gaara was here. Gaara knew how to appreciate Naruto’s attention and affection.

Even if he didn’t love him.

Gaara loved him.

And he even if he didn’t know how to tell Naruto or express it, he knew how to enjoy what he got at least. He would never run away from Naruto. Never.

Gaara blinked owlishly as he realized they had stopped and almost ran into Naruto’s back, before straightening up and looking around. He saw a small shop, cold air coming out as Naruto opened the door. Gaara shivered and walked in after Naruto who gazed at the large menu that hung over the counter. Gaara looked too, still trying to figure out what the damn stuff was.

Naruto pouted as he found they did not in fact have ‘the best flavor in the whole damn world’ and instead picked some horribly brightly colored orange stuff in a cone. Gaara guessed that was ice cream and looked back at the choices.

“So whatcha gonna get, Gaara?” Naruto asked from behind him, licking at his orange flavored ice cream. Gaara didn’t respond before finally picking a flavor that didn’t look too bad.

“Vanilla? Boring! You should’ve gotten something wild like…Cinnamon or Strawberry Explosion!” Naruto said as they walked out the door. Naruto was licking and slurping at his ice cream, Gaara trying to dissect his with his eyes alone. Naruto finished his with one late slurp and Gaara stared at him and his record breaking speed as the blond finished off the cone in three bites.

Gaara hadn’t even licked his yet.

Naruto looked over at him with those bright blue eyes and stared in confusion before breaking out into a mischievous grin. Gaara wasn’t paying attention, still trying to figure what exactly was used to make ‘ice cream’, only seeing some ice crystals and some kind of strange pattern.

Then the top half of his ice cream was gone.

And a red tongue was reaching for more.

Gaara looked up and saw Naruto grin and wink. He blinked and looked back at his ice cream, realizing he and Naruto had stopped walking.

The red tongue, now known to belong to Naruto, licked around his ice cream almost erotically and got covered in a white cream before sneaking away, back between two orange stained lips.

“Maybe I should’ve gotten Vanilla. It wasn’t too bad. You know…I like you, Gaara. We should really see each other more often. Maybe next time you get vanilla…we can do more with it. I gotta go now. Promised Sakura I bring her a few medical scrolls. Bye Gaara.” And then he was closer and his orange stained lips pressed against Gaara’s, his tongue flicking out and just brushed Gaara’s. And then he was gone, waving in a dust cloud.

Gaara could taste vanilla now. He found he liked ice cream. He liked ice cream a lot.

Gaara smiled as he began to finish off his ice cream, which had begun to melt into the cone. He liked ice cream even better with Naruto.

‘And without Sasuke…’ he added, smiling still as he finished off his ice cream, orange now staining his lips too.