Flowers for a killer.

Love In Understanding - Ch.35

"Why you?" Naruto repeated the question back to the redhead before him who could only confirm with a silent nod. Unsure of what exactly the other Genin could have meant. "Do you mean why did I ask you out? Or, why did I choose you as a friend? Or?" He began to list the many multitude of reasons he could have 'chosen' the other. But to boil the most of them down, Naruto knew his answer and his reason. Pain.
He understood the pain the other had felt. He knew the loneliness and suffering the one-tailed vessel before him had experienced in his life as a jinchuriki. Sure it wasn't what sparked the Uzumaki's infatuation in the other. But it was a definite help to why he had become so desperate to befriend the unstable redhead after their major battle with one another. A battle that had left them on an equal understanding of just what it meant to be them and that no matter how far they could be from one another, they would have each other.

"I guess.. All of the above?" Gaara mused, peridot hues glued to the slowly simmering pot of broth before them as he thought to himself in the darkest doubts of his mind, just how he could have been deemed 'good enough' for the blond before him. Like sunlight embodied, Naruto seemed to radiate the essence of life and living itself. Yet in assumptions, Gaara felt he could understand some aspects of the other that hadn't come up before. For as much as Naruto may have been his opposite emotionally, In life and experiences- the two were very much alike. Coming from lonesome blood-soaked beginnings, despised and feared by any who so met their gaze. It was a mournful memory that ached at back of the reforming killer's mind. Not months prior would he have still thought to lay waste to anyone in his way. Having grown used to seeing others as no more than some short form of sadistic entertainment. However, As a tanned hand thoughtfully tapped at the table in rhythmic time to the pouring rains- the vessel reminded himself of just why he had chosen to change his path and who had given him the inspiration to do so.

"I guess.. I wanted to be friends with you- Because you understood me. You know exactly what it was like to grow up as a... As us." Naruto started up after a while of thinking. Trying hard to come up with the right ways to say what was truly on his mind. Fingers drumming gently into the laminate oak table that rest between them. "I mean.. Not like it's all too bad. But- It can get a little lonely when you don't have someone who fully understands your pain.. Or the things you had to go through growing up. But you do- and you don't try to brush it off either.. and- I like that. I like that I can talk to you about how I'm feelin' without getting told to suck it up, or that i'm being annoying.." Naruto went on and on, helplessly listing every way he appreciated finally having a friend he could fully confide in with his every emotion. Never having to fear being dismissed or rejected for simply feeling something. Whilst in all this time that he spoke however, the unblinking hues of lavish and shimmering peridots stared at him in silent awe. "But.. It's not entirely why I asked you out though-" He cut through, raising a tanned hand to sheepishly scratch at blond locks.

"I mean.. Sure that all did kinda help with why- But I guess I asked you out cause.. I like you for you and who you've become. You're blunt and to the point, but not entirely rude about it. You're caring but not smothering- and... you listen, to me.." Naruto tried to shrug off his reasoning, feeling embarrassed admitting something like this in a public setting. There was so much more for him to say about it- To mention the other's looks, the soothing slowness in which the vessel seemed to speak in a calming fashion- all through the husk of his voice. How they held similar hobbies and diets- Not to mention the ways they complimented each other through their opposing personalities. He was sure his reasons could have been endless and through every one that he listed in his thoughts alone, he realised just how much more the redhead before him had started to mean to him. "I can talk to you.. I can be me around you." He prattled on. Hands smoothing out over the surface of the table, able to feel the growing warmth from the boiling pot of broth at it's centre. Far too enamoured with the other before him to even think about food at the moment. A sentiment that was easily shared by the Vessel.