A Tale of Three Best Friends

Naruto, about to unlock the door to Gaara's apartment and step inside, stopped. For the past week, for it was now Saturday, he and Sasuke had been staying with the redhead. Naruto never really like to stay indoors for long periods, and so went in and out of the apartment frequently, which irritated Gaara, who finally gave Naruto a key so that he would not have to hear the blond banging on the door every time he wanted in.

Two voices, the reason why Naruto was frozen in front of the door, were conversing, their voices filtering through t locked door – Gaara and Sasuke. Odd, thought Naruto. Sasuke had not gone to school since Monday, and since their encounter at the pond, had not spoken more than three words to anyone. Wondering why Sasuke was talking to Gaara, the blond concentrated, turning his attention to hearing the muffled conversation going on behind the door.

"When did you find out?" Sasuke's voice showed no emotion.

"Just now. You confirmed my suspicions. You haven't told Naruto?" Gaara's voice was almost emotionless, too.

"No. Why should I?" Gaara started to say something but Sasuke cut across him. "Don't give me that Sabaku. What have you told him?"

How does Sasuke know Gaara's last name? Naruto was, as far as he knew, the only person who knew Gaara's surname; the redhead was unforthcoming about his past, and associated his last name with the past.

"How did you know, Uchiha?" Gaara sounded calm, almost amused but for an undercurrent of something dangerous.

"A long story. You're like him aren't you?"

"Depends on how I'm like him. If being like him means that I'm some hyperactive blond, then no."

"That wasn't what I meant, and you know that, Sabaku." Sasuke paused, then added, "And if you tell Naruto..." The threat hung in the air.

"I don't think you'll be able to do anything to me, Uchiha." The redhead's voice was suddenly dangerous.

Before Sasuke could reply, if he was going to at all, Naruto opened the door, saying cheerily, "Hi guys!"

Both Gaara and Sasuke froze, clearly unsure of how much Naruto had heard; although the blond's face usually could be read like a book, right now it was impossible to tell if Naruto had heard their conversation and was playing stupid, or if he had nothing at all. Their doubts were quickly extinguished when the blond jinchuuriki grinned, asking, "So, what aren't you s'posed to tell Naruto then?"

"You sound like a dobe when you talk like that," Sasuke said, in a futile attempt to divert the blond's attention.

Naruto frowned. "That's not gonna work. So, what were you talkin' 'bout that you're not s'posed to tell me?" He tilted his head to one side and looked at his friends. "You gonna tell me or not?"

"Not, dobe."

Gaara muttered something about liking his balls where they were, and got up off the desk on which he was sitting and started to walk towards the kitchen to go to his room. He only made it a few steps, however, before Naruto dragged him back by the collar of his shirt, like a naughty child. Gaara looked at the jinchuuriki and was alarmed when he saw the blue eyes flash red for a split second. "Naruto, calm down." He tried to catch Naruto's eyes again, but the jinchuuriki turned his face away.

Naruto dropped the redhead to pace up and down the room. He didn't know why he was suddenly so angry; it wasn't as if he didn't know that both Sasuke and Gaara had secrets from him – after all both were secretive about certain things – but he had accepted that about them and moved on, hadn't he?

Sasuke picked himself off the couch he was sprawled upon and left the apartment. Naruto made no move to stop him.

"Naruto." Gaara grabbed hold of the blond, turning the younger boy to face him. "What's really wrong?"

Naruto looked away, then down at his bare feet, finally looking back at the redhead reluctantly. "Like, you guys are my best friends and all, but... I dunno," he stopped, looking down at his feet again. "I mean, it's like you guys know everything about me, but I don't know shit about either of you. You've never told me anything about you, but suddenly, he knows your whole freaking life story. And then, teme's been my best friend for what, like six years, and he never told me anything about him. And then... I'm his best friend, but it's you he was talking to you, and he never even spoke to you before Monday. It's like neither of you tell me anything, and then you're telling each other your whole freaking life story. And I'm supposed to be your best friend!" Through this tirade, Naruto's voice had risen, both in pitch and in volume.

"You're angry because he confided in me instead of you, his best friend." It was a statement, not a question, and Gaara didn't wait for Naruto to confirm the truth of the statement. "But do you always tell him everything?"

Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Finally, he said defensively, "Well he's always got that stupid face on, it's like it's his freaking mask or something."

"And what about yours dobe?" Sasuke had returned.

Naruto whirled round. "My what, teme?"

"Your mask."

"What mask? What are you talking about?"

Sasuke sighed impatiently. "You have that stupid fake smile plastered on your face all the time."

"It's not fake."

"Yes, it is dobe," Sasuke replied, speaking as if to a small child. "Like when those girls called you a monster the other day, you were really upset, but when we got to Gaara you put on your big fake smile as if nothing was wrong."

Naruto grumbled something under his breath that sounded like "your stupid fangirls", but didn't say anything more because at that moment, the front door banged open.

All three boys turned to look at the people standing in the doorway. A girl slightly taller than the boys in the apartment, with her blond hair in four spiky ponytails, walked in. A significantly taller male wearing a black hood and red face paint walked in just behind her. The girl looked at Gaara. "Sorry to interrupt your little party here, little brother." She nodded at Naruto and Sasuke, but it was the hooded man that spoke. "So he's found some friends, then. Who're they? That blond one looks familiar."

"What are you doing here?" Gaara asked dangerously.

"What, can't we come and visit our little bother – oops, sorry, little brother – once in a while to see if he's still alive? Besides –," he stopped, looking at Naruto. "Hey, I remember you; you're the kid with the Kyuubi. You broke my nose the last time I came to visit my baby brother here."

The girl spoke now. "Kid, you shoulda broke more then just his nose. Maybe next time, hey?"

"Temari, why are you here?" Gaara asked again. "Kankuro comes here just to piss me off, but you only come here every three months, and it hasn't been three months yet."

"Well, first, little brother, Suna says you can come back. They figure you're more or less safe since Akatsuki removed Shukaku, so, yeah. They're also getting worried about Akatsuki becoming active again –"

"Now?" Gaara looked angry. "Akatsuki's been active for years!"

Temari sighed. "Yes, I know. But let me finish. They think that Akatsuki is active again because of that thing with Shukaku." She held up her hand, seeing that Gaara was about to interrupt. "Yes, little brother, I know that was two years ago. Also –." She stopped, looking from Sasuke to Naruto, then at Gaara. "Your friends, are they...?"

"We'll leave. Come on, dobe." Sasuke got up.

As soon as they had left the apartment, Naruto heard Temari continue talking, and paused next to the door to listen. Sasuke dragged him away, and to the blond-haired boy's annoyance, didn't stop, but kept walking down the hallway towards the elevator. "Where are we going? I wanted to hear what Temari was saying."

"Eavesdropping is rude. We're going outside." Sasuke pressed the down button for the elevator.

"Yeah, then we shoulda stayed." The elevator door opened and the two boys stepped inside, joining an old woman with dyed red-blond hair and a girl from their school talking on her cell phone.

"Dobe, since you're Gaara's best friend, there's a pretty good chance that he'll tell you anything important later. If we'd stayed, Temari wouldn't have said anything important."

"Like Gaara's gonna tell me anything," Naruto grumbled. "You say I'm his best friend, but I don't know shit about his past but we went and told you his whole freaking life story."

"Why didn't you ask him then?"

"I'm not stupid teme. I have asked him. He's never told me shit."

"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply, effectively ending the conversation.

By this time, they had stepped outside the apartment building. Naruto looked up at the sky; although it had been sunny when he was out earlier, the sky was now grey and overcast, the air weighing on the boys' skins, promising rain. "Hey teme, what are we gonna do out here. It looks like it's gonna rain any second." As if triggered by his words, a single fat drop of rain fell into his upturned face. "It is raining."

"Hn. It's not raining yet, dobe." Sasuke shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, looking up at the sky, too.

"Yes it is," Naruto insisted, glaring up at the sky.

Sasuke might have been about to say something, but was interrupted by a buzzing sound from his pocket. He took his cell phone out his pocket, sliding it open to read the text message. "C'mon dobe, we're going upstairs."

"Whatsit say?"Naruto peered over at the phone, which Sasuke whipped away from him. "Oh cool, you got one of those phones with the keyboard. Does it have any games?"

"Dobe." Sasuke began walking back into the apartment building.

"No, seriously, does it have games? I know someone who had Sims on their phone."

"You play Sims? What are you, are a girl?"

"No," replied the blond indignantly. "So do you have games or not?"

"Dobe, don't you have your own phone?" He pressed the button for the elevator.

"No, I don't. D'you think I have money for a phone? And it's not like Danzo'd get me one, and even if he did..." Naruto trailed off, leaving Sasuke slightly uncomfortable. Naruto's situation with Danzo was not pretty. "Anyway, do you have games or not?" He smirked inwardly, knowing that the raven was having a mental battle between pity for Naruto and his Uchiha pride, which would be injured if he gave into the blond's manipulation.

"Hn. Dobe. Don't do that."

"Do what, teme?" Naruto asked innocently. He was distracted by the arrival of the elevator, bringing Kankuro with it, saving Sasuke from answering.

"Hey Blondie, you and your little boyfriend there better get upstairs. Gaara isn't lookin' too happy," Kankuro said.

"Yeah, whatever." A couple seconds later, all of what Kankuro had said reached his brain. "Wait, Sasuke's not my boyfriend! I'm not gay."

"It took you that long?" Kankuro looked amused behind his face paint. "You really are blond."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly, whether because of Kankuro's words or the fact that Sasuke had just dragged him into the elevator, which had been prevented from closing twice while Naruto and Kankuro had their little exchange, angering the people already in it.

Sasuke didn't bother say anything, but pressed the button for the third floor, on which Gaara's apartment was.

"So can I play on your phone?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, and I never said I had games."

Naruto shrugged, looking at the elevator door. "You never said you didn't, either. So, can I?"

"The answer hasn't changed, dobe."

"So does that mean that you do have games, then?"

"Shut up dobe." The elevator door opened, and they walked down the hall.

Naruto considered. "Nah, don't want to. So, gonna give me the phone?" Sasuke glared at him, but Naruto just continued conversationally, "Your famous Uchiha glare of death might work on everyone else, but it doesn't really work for me, ya know."

Sasuke looked at the jinchuuriki strangely. "My what?"

"Your famous Uchiha glare of death. Ya know the one where you glare at someone and they shut up. Well, except I don't. It-" he stopped, having about to say that Itachi and their dad had also had the "Uchiha glare of death". Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly and reached into his pocket for the keys Gaara had given him, turning away from Sasuke to open the door.