Against The Odds

Chapter 24

"Naruto... Stop laying around like a depressed lump and go talk to him." 

The blond turned his head at the voice and mustered up the best glare he could give. Gaara stared back impassively, immune to Naruto's glares - it never really worked on anyone. Naruto's glare softened and dissipated completely, revealing the fatigue and sadness in those blue orbs. In turn, Gaara's sighed, the troubling feeling of hopelessness settling in.

For the past two days, he has tried everything he could to make Naruto come to his senses and talk to Sasuke but his valiant attempts were either ignored or shut down immediately. 

Naruto just wasn't ready to talk. 

It was as if some invisible chain was restricting him, keeping his arms and legs from reaching out to Sasuke and he didn't know why it was there in the first place.

The feeling of missing Sasuke is like a constant ache. It's always present and as time passes, it doesn't seem to get any easier. Sasuke plague his mind no matter how hard he tried to block it. He creeped into his thoughts at the times he least expect and it punched him hard - leaving a throb of pain that medicine couldn't relieve. 

He kept laying in bed or on the couch, unmoving with his phone in his hand and Sasuke's voicemails on constant repeat. Hearing the raven's voice was soothing and painful at the same time but Naruto couldn't stop it. He didn't know how to. 

Gaara ruffled his hair in frustration. He hated seeing his best friend like this - spiritless and wistful. 

Every morning, he would see Naruto in bed clutching his phone in his hands and every evening when he would come home from university, Naruto would be on the couch, phone in his hands. The red head would hear Naruto's muffled sobs through his thin walls in the night and it left him unable to sleep and as much as the red head wanted to go to his friend and console him, the blond was the kind of person to stay quiet and suffer in silence.

There was a limit to what Gaara could handle though and it seemed he had reached his limit. 

"Naruto... why? Why are you prolonging this? All it's doing is hurting you and Sasuke." Gaara sat on the edge of the coffee table, his teal eyes gazing directly into Naruto's cerulean ones. There was something about Gaara's gaze that Naruto couldn't look away from. It was hypnotising and un-nerving at the same time. The blond sighed, biting his lips as he tried to come up with an answer but in reality... he didn't know exactly why.

"I don't know Gaara. I'm scared..." 

Gaara frowned. He noticed Naruto's trembling hand and took it in his own, rubbing the back of it in a calming manner. 

"Why are you scared? Are you afraid of Sasuke?" Gaara flared up at the thought. If Sasuke was doing anything to hurt his friend in anyway, he would tear him, limb by li-

"What? No! No of course not! I could never be scared of Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed incredulously. The red head calmed down at Naruto's words, seeing the genuine disbelief in his eyes.