Naruto Oneshots (X Reader)

gaara: heart wounds

Content: Fluff, OG Naruto spoilers (though his flashback was early into the series)
Setting: You're Y/N L/N, resident of Sunagakure.

"Aw, man!" your classmate whines. The soccer ball your group was playing with was kicked up into the air, and it went over the sand walls. It was so far up that nobody could try and get it.

As everyone stares at the soccer ball in disappointment, you see sand wrap around it and is gently placed in your hands. You gasp happily, and you see a figure approach your group. It was Gaara, the jinchuriki of the One Tailed Beast. You didn't understand why people stayed away from him like a virus. Even your parents didn't let you be near him. He was quite gentle and kind for someone who had a beast inside of him.

Your classmates gasp and scream, "It's Gaara!", "What a freak!", "Run before he kills you!"

That last sentence made your blood boil. You walk towards Gaara slowly and ask, "Did you get this ball down for us?"

He nods shyly.

"Y/N, run! Get out of here! He's gonna hurt you!" your friend says.

You look at everyone, puzzled. Why was everyone so scared even though he showed a pure act of kindness?

You whip the soccer ball at them to try and knock some sense into them, "He got this down for us, yet you're running away?"

They scoff, "He's a monster. If you die, it's your fault for trusting him."

You huff and turn around to Gaara, "Sorry about them... just know that I'm thankful that you got the ball down for us. I'm Y/N L/N."

"O-Oh, nice to meet you..." he mutters.

"Let's be friends!" you smile and grab his hand, walking towards the swings.

"Friends?"

Earlier...

Gaara screams in pain while clenching his chest, right where his heart is. Yashamaru hurries to his side to help him.

"Yashamaru... why does my heart hurt so much?" he asks.

She kneels in front of him, "Time can heal heart wounds, and love can too."

"Love?" the young boy asks.

"Yes, love. It's where you feel some strong emotion of attraction, not hatred, for another being," she replies.

"Oh... Do you love me, Yashamaru?" he strikes her with a question that she cannot answer honestly.

She steers away from the question, leaving Gaara a little hurt. Nobody loved him except his own siblings.

Fast Forward, you're both 12.

You hear a knock on your door, so you open it. It's Gaara.

"Wanna play?" he asks.

You nod, and you carefully sneak out of the house without alerting your parents because just like everyone else in the village, they're scared of him.

Ever since you asked him to be friends, that wound he felt in his heart so regularly faded away. Yashamaru's death was definitely a low point in his life, but with your help he's gotten through it, and the pain in his chest is no longer there. What was this feeling? His heart didn't hurt, but it beats faster when he's around you. It was a strong emotion his heart was trying to tell him, but he knows that he doesn't hate you. He tries to remember Yashamaru's words from back then.

"Yes, love. It's where you feel some strong emotion of attraction, not hatred, for another being."

Is this what love feels like?