When Love Fades

Chapter 37 - The Confrontation I

Naruto tried not to fidget as Gaara looked through the photos he'd taken. He'd spent almost three days picking out the ones he wanted to send to the man, agonizing over what sequence to put them in, which to put in black and white and which to leave in color.

Gaara looked through the photographs, slowly sorting them into what Naruto assumed were 'keep' and 'throw' piles. There were several that he stared at for a long time. One batch in particular seemed to catch Gaara's eye as he looked at the series of photos for several minutes.

"You're amazing," Gaara said at last.

Naruto felt a simultaneous rush of embarrassment and pleasure at the bluntly delivered compliment. He looked over at the photos that Gaara was staring at, trying to see what it was that had caught the man's eye.

"The lighting was pretty good in that part of the club, I guess," Naruto said, moistening his lips with his tongue nervously.

Gaara shot him a look. "I'm not talking about the lighting."

Naruto shifted, unsure what Gaara was getting at. The composition of the photos was okay, but honestly, not Naruto's best work. He'd been so caught up in capturing what was going on with the subjects he was focused on, capturing their expressions and the little subtleties of their body posture that he really had made a couple of technical mistakes in terms of the basic composition of the photos, if he were brutally honest with himself.

"Naruto, I've known these people for a long time. I know things about them that they don't share with outsiders. You were able to capture in minutes what people who have known them for years never see." Gaara studied a photo of the two men who had been in the first BDSM scene that Naruto had witnessed that first night at the club, their eyes locked in a gaze that spoke of tenderness and trust rather than something sordid and perverse. He looked back up at Naruto. "You have a way of seeing into people that is... quite rare."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, dropping his eyes back to the table. "Yeah, I guess. I've met a lot of people, so... I learned to read people, maybe."

Gaara looked at Naruto, as though waiting for him to say more, but Naruto didn't elaborate. The truth was, being shuttled around from foster home to foster home had taught Naruto how to read people pretty fast just as a basic survival skill. It didn't necessarily keep Naruto from getting in trouble, but at least when he did get in trouble, he knew it was coming.

But that wasn't something Naruto wanted to talk about. He'd opened up once about it, and it hadn't gotten him anywhere. His mind flickered to Sasuke... fighting back the sharp hurt and dull bitterness that always filled him, knowing it was over. How many months had it been? Naruto had tried not to count. What was he counting for? It wasn't like it made anything better. Just more permanent.

"You say that you've met a lot of people, but you don't look happy about it, Gaara observed.

Naruto grimaced. He'd never had much of a poker face. "Nah, it's fine. I have a lot of good friends, so... it's fine."

"Just friends?" Gaara asked his voice carrying an edge of interest.

"I've been on a few dates," Naruto said casually, trying not to remember how... uncomfortable he'd felt on all of them.

Gaara arched a brow. "They didn't go well?"

Recollections of the girl who had asked Naruto what his favorite color of panties was before they'd even ordered coffee flashed through his mind, followed almost immediately by a vision of his date with the guy who was a total film buff who'd said that 'if Naruto didn't know the difference between a film and a movie, there was no point in considering a serious relationship'. And Kiba wondered why Naruto wouldn't agree to anymore blind dates, regardless of gender. Naruto grimaced. "Uh, I guess I just haven't really figured out what I'm looking for."