Publicly Forbidden (ONC Entry - Naruto Fanfic

Crumbling World

"Why do I torture myself so?"

"Oh?" The sound of Kurosuchi's voice made Gaara's eyes open from where he stood leaning in the alleyway, waiting for her like planned. "Do you really find being in a relationship with me torture?"

Gaara felt his cheeks blush slightly, his head turned away. "I find not being able to tell Temari or Kankuro torture, but also the thoughts of how they'll react if they ever found out."

His seafoam colored eyes drifted towards the clouds which floated in the small patch of sky visible from where they sat in the alleyway. He still remembered the day about half-a-year to a year ago when Kurosuchi leaned forward, attempting to place a kiss on his cheek. She'd definitely toned down things since the first meeting, respecting his personal space and moving the relationship slower than before.

Shukaku, of course, prattled on about, "that, or she's got someone else on the side," something he'd become accustomed to, yet felt much better than Kurosuchi laughing at him when he asked her what his tailed beast actually meant. She'd said there was nobody else, yet he didn't really care. He didn't know if he should care if there was another guy, though Shukaku insisted he should. She'd just finished mentioning the fact she wished his insomnia didn't prevent him from taking a nap on the roof which resulted in Shukau chiming in that, "She wants to sleep together."

A blush spread across his cheek, remembering how he'd asked her if that was what she meant, but he revealed how in the back of his mind he worried that was what Lady Tsunade meant by taking things further. She found his question amusing and told him, no, that wouldn't count, yet didn't tell him what sleeping together actually was.

He'd had a rather awkward conversation with Kankuro which in turn led to a rather awkward situation where Temari yelled at their brother for talking to Gaara about that.

She'd leaned in, planning on kissing him on the cheek, her fingers entwined with his when he heard Baki's voice. "Lord Gaara!"

"Shoot!" She'd pulled away at that moment, but Gaara moved to the ground below where his teacher waited for him, but when he stood, he saw the rather stern look on his teacher's face. "Yes."

"Where were you?"

Gaara's seafoam eyes blinked, but for some reason, he turned his head so he might look up at Kurosuchi. She didn't show any emotion on her face while he took a deep breath, turning back to Baki. He lifted his eyes from the ground, catching the look of horror on Baki's face – one not from the horror of what was going on in Konoha's hospital right now. "She's a friend."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"I see." Baki turned, heading towards the hospital. Gaara turned, looking for Kurosuchi's face again, swallowing when he didn't see her at all. She did approach him later; he'd thought she'd chew him out for not admitting the relationship.

"It's not as if you could, but this means you know we can pass dates off as us being just friends if we don't show any signs of our relationship being more than this."

That's how the two found themselves in the alleyway, preparing to go on a date that would appear as nothing more than a lunch date between two friends. This didn't prevent her from entwining her fingers momentarily into his, which in turn made his entire body relax before leaning in, planning on kissing him on the cheek, sharing what was meant to be a private moment before doing the more public "friends only" thing.

The sound of someone saying his name made Kurosuchi stop, her lips hovering close to his cheek. His seafoam eyes snapped open, his mind taking in the sight of a shinobi around his own age dressed in bright orange and black clothing, his blond hair sticking out everywhere while his blue eyes glinting merrily. He pointed his finger at Gaara, a rather large smile on his face.

"There you are! I just ran into Temari and Kankuro..."

The realization which didn't hit right away began sitting in, his jaw-dropping while both Gaara and Kurosuchi froze, but from the way Kurosuchi breathed against his cheek – he knew she honestly wanted to kill Naruto for running into them while he instead didn't move, his mind taking in the fact Naruto mentioned he'd just run into Temari and Kankuro, which meant...

Both of his siblings were nearby, but he could hear their voices while Kurosuchi's fingers tightened, nor could she pull away before his older brother hurried over, thanks to Naruto calling out Gaara's name. Gaara swallowed, closing his eyes, knowing everything in his now sixteen-year-old life was going to go to hell.