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The town of Gelel wasn’t far from Suna, where Gaara lived. And it was nice. Gaara spent a lot of time there, and had become something of a mystery to its locals. People in Gelel knew his name, his face, his cars – but little else. Gaara had never been what anyone would refer to as an open book.
Gaara pulled up to one of his favorite restaurants and parked in a spot far from the entrance. He looked around anxiously before strolling to the front door and let himself inside. The restaurant was small and quaint, and the proprietors knew him well. “Mr. Sabaku, welcome back!” a young woman greeted with a smile.
“Hey.” Gaara rubbed his nape. “Could I get a booth near the window?”
The young woman scanned the room. “Looks like you can. Just a sec while we get it ready.”
The hostess scurried off. Meanwhile, Gaara thought about the day’s events, about the new addition to the Sabaku clan. He had a nephew. A nephew! He was an uncle! The thought made him smile. Gaara was committed to being the best uncle he could. His nephew would never want for a single thing – not if he had anything to say about it.
He also thought about Naruto. Where was he?
“Mr. Sabaku?”
Gaara looked up at the hostess.
“Right this way.”
He followed the young lady to a booth next to the window and slid into a seat on one side, taking care to avoid touching the not-completely-dry tabletop. “Freddie will be over here to take your order in just a second”, she informed him.
Gaara nodded his acknowledgment, not really paying attention. He was already staring out of the window, absently noting the shuffling of feet to his left.
“Do you know what you want?”
A familiar masculine voice lured his attention away from the window. He turned his head to find the blond officer sliding into the seat across from him, looking up at a brown-haired woman standing next to the booth wearing an apron.
Gaara checked for a name tag on the woman. She wasn’t wearing one. He mentally shrugged. Fine by him. “I’ll have a glass of ice water”, Gaara told her.
“Same for me”, Officer Uzumaki stated. He looked at Gaara as the server walked away. “You been here long?”
Gaara shook his head. “I thought I’d lost you”, he stated before he had a chance to think about it.
Naruto grinned. “By circumstance or design?” he responded.
Gaara lifted a brow at Naruto’s response. Yes, he was guilty of strategic maneuver from the hospital to the restaurant. Sure, Naruto was hot, but he was still a cop, and Gaara wasn’t sure about his motives. And even if he were, he wasn’t going to make Naruto’s work easy for him. Gaara might have been many things, but ‘easy’ had rarely been one of them.
He reached for the dinner napkin that neatly swaddled the cutlery in front of him, unfolded it and placed it on his lap. He could feel those blue eyes on him, observing his every move and gesture as he fiddled with his napkin before finally looking up to have his instinct confirmed.
Naruto had those eyes locked on him, and Gaara was helpless to return the gaze. They stayed that way for long moments, just staring.
Until finally, Gaara cracked. “What?” he asked, shifting his eyes away.
“You haven’t answered my question”, Naruto answered, and then smiled.
Damn this cop! Gaara thought. And damn the way Naruto used those droolworthy eyes, sexy scars and bright smile as tools of interrogation. “Are you this much fun at parties?” Gaara asked, earning a chuckle from his companion, who shook his head. “Not nearly”, the blond answered.
As if on cue, Freddie made her re-appearance just then, bearing drinks on a tray.
“Are you ready to order?”
“Yes.” Gaara had had enough of feeling cornered. “I’ll have a burger, with two patties cooked medium, no cheese, and lettuce and tomato on the side.”
Freddie carefully scribbled each detail on a notepad. “And you sir?”
“A turkey sandwich on whole wheat with crispy fries on the side.”
More scribbling. “Will that be all?” Freddie asked the table.
“For now”, Naruto responded.
Freddie walked away and Naruto resumed his staredown with Gaara. “You told me you were coming to Gelel”, he stated.
Gaara nodded. “And?”
“And we’re here”, Naruto continued.
“What’s your point?” Gaara asked.
Naruto leaned forward over the booth table that separated them. “That despite not trusting me, you were hoping to see me again.” He leaned back once more. “Weren’t you?”
He was, but Gaara wasn’t going to just tell him that. “Do you always interrogate new acquaintances this way, or am I just special?” he asked instead.
Naruto chuckled. “Well, I am a cop.”
You sure are. Gaara bit his lip and looked down at his lap. “I’m not much for small talk”, he told him.
Naruto’s face lit up. “Neither am I.” He sat up straighter. “So let’s skip to the big talk. Tell me about the new addition to your family.”
Gaara thought about it. He didn’t really want to talk about his family with a cop he’d only met that day. He shook his head. “Let’s talk about something else”, he said.
“Okay”, Naruto conceded. “Let’s talk about your car. What type of Ferrari is it?”
Gaara was pleased with Naruto’s concession. “It’s an F12”, he told him.
“I’m not familiar with that one. I know about the Testa Rossa. Do you own one of those?”
“Testa Rossas are overrated”, Gaara answered as if triggered. “There’s an F12 TRS that’s supposed to be a modern-day upgrade of a Testa Rossa. It’s just as overly hyped as the original.”
“But you said yours is an F12. Is it like a baseline F12?”
The car geek in Gaara was offended. “It’s a Berlinetta. One of the best sports cars in all creation.”
“I stand corrected.” Naruto was grinning. “You seem to know your cars. Do you own many?”
“Yes.”
“All Ferraris?”
“Hardly.”
“Anything I’d be familiar with?”
Gaara thought about it before he answered. “I have a pickup truck.”
“A Chevy?”
Nice try. “A GMC.”
Naruto snapped his fingers. “Darn. I had you pegged for a Chevy guy.”
“Is that a problem?”
“You tell me.”
There he goes again, Gaara thought to himself. He had to give the blond credit. He was strategic. But Gaara wasn’t one to be maneuvered.
“You’re a cop”, he stated.
Naruto nodded. “And?” he asked, parroting Gaara’s response from earlier.
“I’ve never seen you around before today.”
“Do you get pulled over often enough to know all the cops around here?”
“I thought I did.” Gaara was pensive. “How long have you been a cop?”
“Three years.”
Three years? “Were you working in a different part of town or something?”
“I transferred here from another precinct, yes.”
“Did it have something to do with those scars?”
Naruto hesitated. “No. My scars -- I tried to break up a fight. It didn’t go well.”
There was a juicy story behind that answer, but Gaara wasn’t ready to hear it. “You seem to enjoy answering questions”, he segued.
Naruto grinned. “I enjoy answering yours”, he clarified.
“Why?”
“Because I like you. And I think you like me too. And I want you to trust me.”
You just met me. You don’t know me. Gaara was ready to push back at his dinner companion’s boldness, but Freddie moved into view just then, bearing plates of steaming food.
After the food was served, Naruto watched as the redhead silently rearranged the components of his meal and began to eat. Naruto took that as cue to fill the conversation void. He talked about his hometown, about his parents, about the friend of his who got him interested in law enforcement, and about some of the people he’d pulled over in the course of his stint as a patrolman.
As for Gaara, he ate his meal while at the same time listening to his dinner companion and fighting the urge to look at him. Gaara was on a date -- one of his own engineering -- with a cop. But law enforcement wasn’t high on the list of people that Gaara got along well with. It couldn’t be helped. Gaara developed apps for cars, restored vintage cars, and drove fast cars. The faster the better. Local law enforcement’s routine seemed to be threatening to arrest him and impound his cars and trying to blackmail him. But it never worked. Gaara had a lot of money, a lawyer worth his salt, and cars that were rigged to prevent anyone else from driving them.
There had been one local officer who decided it would be easier to catch a fly with honey than with vinegar. He was tall and pretty, with eyes similar to Gaara’s own. The officer seemed to know all the right things to say when he pulled Gaara over for making a “rolling stop”. But Gaara was never the type to jump into things -- particularly not the pseudo-date the cop was trying to make out of the traffic stop itself, complete with a goodnight kiss . Gaara’s refusal touched off an unpleasant reaction that landed him in court twice before the officer was eventually fired. In the weeks that followed the man’s termination, Gaara was forced to call the police on him for trespassing.
Overall, not an experience Gaara would care to repeat.
So why had he made a date with this cop?
Oh, right.
Gaara looked up from his plate slowly.
“ -- gonna have to brush up on Ferrari F12 Berlinettas. Did I say that right?”
Gaara blinked. Naruto was looking at him with those dream-blue eyes and smiling that sexy foxy smile, and Gaara was reminded of thoughts he had while in the family waiting room at the hospital. He couldn’t prevent the blush that covered his face and neck.
“You’re blushing”, Naruto observed.
Shut up. “Must be the pepper from my burger”, Gaara told him, then took a sip of water. “How’s your sandwich?”
“Gone”, Naruto answered. “So what do you think?”
Gaara blinked as the intensity of his blush abated. “About what?”
“About seeing me again?”
Gaara thought about it. He’d managed to get through an awkward, albeit informative, dinner with Naruto, who had been very clear about what he wanted.
“Mr. Sabaku, I have your check right here”, Freddie announced. Gaara looked over at the young lady. He hadn’t noticed her approach. Had Naruto summoned her?
“Oh, I’ll take that”, Naruto responded. Freddie handed the check to the blond, who nodded a thank-you to her before she walked away. “Is anyone allowed to call you by your first name?” Naruto asked as he reached for his wallet.
“I never told you not to call me by my first name.”
“You never said it was okay either.”
While Naruto took care of the check, Gaara thought back to the conversation they had at the hospital. Officer Uzumaki told Gaara to call him Naruto. Gaara had invited Naruto to Gelel, but hadn’t explicitly told him to call him by his first name. Then he proceeded to ditch Naruto in rush-hour traffic.
But here Naruto was, and asking if they could meet up again. That was good, because Gaara wanted to. He liked Naruto, and wanted to know more about him. He wanted to remain privy to that endlessly-blue gaze and those foxy smiles.
“Call me Gaara”, he finally told told the blond, who smile slyly in response.
“Okay, Gaara. Now will you call me by my name again? I haven’t heard you say it since we talked at the hospital.”
Gaara hesitated. “Why is that important?” he asked.
“Come on, Gaara”, Naruto pleaded, shaking his head. “Don’t do that. Don’t deprive me of a privilege I may not ever get again. Just say my--”
“Naruto.” Gaara looked at the handsome officer, who stared back at him as if trying to commit every detail of his face to memory. Gaara knew he needed to leave before things got any more intense. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you in Suna”, he said as he slid out of the booth.
Naruto followed the redhead’s movements with his eyes. “Soon?” he asked, hope evident in the tone of his question.
Gaara grinned. “Probably”, he answered as he walked away.