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The first time it happened, Gaara didn’t even notice.
It was odd but after only a few days Naruto had all but become an extension of himself…even the sand didn’t react to him anymore. Gaara wasn’t sure if that was because Shukaku trusted the other Jinchuriki or because the beast was unwilling to hurt another of its kind.
It was why Gaara had focused on two of the nin, who had ambushed them, ignoring the third as he engaged Naruto in combat.
It didn’t take the sand long to devour his opponents and somewhere along the way their screams must have drowned out the screams of their friend because when Gaara turned around, sand still lashing and hungry, the third nin was nowhere to be found and Naruto’ face was painted red…a colour reflected by his eyes.
The red leaked away slowly, leaving the familiar blue and for a second Naruto’s eyes locked with Gaara’s before he flung himself to his knees, gagging as he clawed at his mouth.
Gaara watched him passively as his tears washed the blood from his face.
He watched him until Naruto collapsed, exhausted and then he used the sand to lift his companion and moved them somewhere safer.
He knew a lot about being hungry and he could have told Naruto that the Kyuubi wouldn’t have easily parted with his meal.
Even now he could feel the fox’s satisfaction, ebbing and flowing through the silence of Naruto’s sleeping mind.
*O*
Gaara felt Naruto waking before the other boy stirred and he wasn’t surprised when Naruto gripped his fingers tight, curling his body around Gaara’s.
“Pigs and cats become feral if left alone. They will go back to being the hunters they were meant to be if there is no one to teach them otherwise,” Gaara informed Naruto as watery blue eyes met his own. “Foxes and racoons are always feral. They only wait for the right moment to attack.”
“Is that what I did?” Naruto whispered and Gaara nodded.
“It is what we both did…it is what we are,” he responded and though his word were no true comfort the fact that he’d put them as equals, owning his own monstrosity seemed to put Naruto at ease.
Gaara watched silently as the Naruto’s eyes closed, his breathing evening out into sleep before he reached out, pressing his fingers against Naruto’s chest, letting the lull of the other boy’s heart ease him into rest without sleep.
*O*
The second time it happened, Gaara held Naruto as he shook, fingers pressed inside his mouth and Gaara didn’t have to see to know Naruto was trying to make himself sick.
In the back of their minds Kyuubi snarled and Naruto slumped in Gaara’s hold.
*O*
The third time Gaara barely noticed, too caught up in watching Naruto fight.
The boy had a nin pinned beneath him and it was only the crack and sudden gurgled scream that alerted Gaara to what was happening.
It was animalistic, uncoordinated and utterly savage, like watching a fox tear into a hapless chicken.
There was no technique or jutsu, only the Kyuubi -enhanced teeth and claws while the fox’s chakra rendered the bounty hunter all but powerless.
The sand rattled in its gourd as Naruto’s blue eyes met his own.
*O*
The fourth time almost didn’t happen.
The village that they encountered wasn’t the one they wanted and when Gaara caught sight of the familiar leaf symbol on the headbands of several nin, his instincts told him to feast or leave.
Naruto took the option from him when he came back to their hideaway with a bloody face and a terrible grin that spoke of a full stomach.
“His name was Gato,” he offered up when Gaara pointed him towards the bath of the abandoned house they were occupying.
“You asked?” Gaara queried.
“Nope, he sort of screamed it when…you know.”
Naruto’s voice was muffled by the curtain separating them but Gaara could still hear his satisfaction.
*O*
The fifth time, Naruto offered him a heart.
Gaara’s eyes locked on the thing, torn from the chest of one of Gato’s thugs, the ones who were stupid enough to remain, thinking they could fill the vacuum the man had left behind.
He ignored the nin at Naruto’s back, the ones from his companion’s old village, as he accepted the offering, his gaze flickering to Naruto’s as the sand rose up and devoured the heart.
“Thank you,” Gaara murmured and Naruto bounced on his feet.
“It tastes good, ne?” Naruto prodded as Gaara stepped over the body of the dead thug, leading Naruto around the battle that they’d ended without meaning to.
Movement at the corner of Gaara’s eyes had them both stilling but Naruto’s smile made Gaara clench his fist, keeping his sand back as one of the nin approached them.
“Thank you, for helping, Naruto,” the nin grinned and Gaara narrowed his eyes as the older boy focused on him for a second before both he and his companion vanished in a swirl of mist.
“Haku is still so cool,” Naruto beamed, clutching Gaara’s hand.
Gaara could feel the eyes of the others on them but none moved to stop them as they left the bridge.
It didn’t surprise him.
He was sure that the great Kakashi knew exactly who they were even if the rest of his team had been too far away to identify them.
*O*
The sixth time was completely Gaara’s fault and he didn’t regret a single second of it.
“I’m hungry.”
Gaara didn’t respond to the whine for two reasons, the first was that he knew Naruto wasn’t actually hungry as he’d just eaten and the second was because he could feel that Kyuubi wasn’t hungry either so the only reason why Naruto was whining was because he was bored.
“Gaara-chan, I’m hungry!”
The voice was pitched to ensure maximum attention was paid to the speaker but after seven months of knowing Naruto, Gaara was well versed in the art of ignoring the other Jinchuriki.
“Alright, I’m not hungry but I’m bored,” Naruto corrected himself and Gaara let one of his eyebrows hitch just a bit higher than the other.
“We’ll be at the village soon,” he responded and Naruto sighed, as he laced his fingers together and cradled the back of his head with them.
“I know that but I'm still bored,” he muttered.
Gaara refocused on the road before them. “Next time a mercenary comes after us, you can deal with it.”
Naruto’s lips curled at the corner and when he glanced at Gaara there was a flicker of red, clouding the usual sky blue of his eyes.
“That sounds good,” he grinned and Gaara wrinkled his nose as Kyuubi’s chakra pulsed in the back of his head, waking Shukaku in the process.
There was a rustle above their head and Gaara stopped, letting their would-be attackers pull ahead of them.
“There you go…dinner,” he pointed out blandly, allowing his gourd to slip from his shoulder as Naruto vanished into the trees.
A fox could not be tamed but it could still be a good pet and every good pet deserved a reward.
After all, who better to own a monster than another one?