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this chapter is gift . enjoy :)
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When Thursday came around Raven and the other Titans were getting worried. The last time any of them had seen Naruto was when Cyborg had invited him to Robin's birthday party. They had all gotten used to his presence and the fact he hadn't been seen for a few days was getting to them all, especially considering what had happened the last time he had gone off the radar.
It was for this reason that found Raven, Starfire, Beastboy and Terra walking into the blonde teen's store, expecting to find him walking around with his arms full of books and a smile on his face. What they weren't expecting was for a strange red head in a thick leather coat that didn't look right on someone for this time of year.
He had his back turned to them at first but turned to look the moment he bell above the door was heard showing them his dark ringed eyes and scar on his forehead and the books in his arms. He didn't have any expression on his face as he starred at them, just stood waiting for them to talk.
Stepping forward with a confused look on her face Raven took a moment to look at him more carefully, particularly the scar.
"Erm, sorry but is Naruto in?"
He just kept starring at them for a moment, his eyes shifting from one to the next with cold calculating eyes and they were a little surprised when he didn't even bat an eye at Beastboy. When he was done sizing them up the red headed nodded and gestured with his head for them to follow him to the balcony without actually saying anything.
He led them to the back of the balcony to the table Raven would normally sit at when reading one of Naruto's books to find said blonde sat with his nose in a book that looked just as old as the others in his collection. He was wearing a pair of rubber gloves and set in the table next to him were several bottles of fouls smelling chemicals, paint brushes and what looked like a sowing kit.
He had is back turned to them as they approached but as soon as they were in ear shot he turned to looked at them and smiled, nodded to the red headed teen leading them an turned back to the book.
"Good to see you guy, I see you've met Gaara."
Casting a look towards the strange boy out of the corner of her eye Raven moved to stand right behind the blonde with the others not a step behind her.
"We came to check on you, the last time you disappeared for a few days you turned up at the tower in the middle of the night looking like you had been in a hole for two weeks and dug your way out,"
Nodding his head absentmindedly without stopping in his work Naruto looked at the grey skinned girl out of the corner of his eye.
"Sorry to worry you, I've been a little busy what with Gaara and this book; I haven't had time to visit."
Looking to the now identified Gaara with a confused expression on his green face, Beastboy walked over to stand next to the boy and smiled.
"It's nice to meet you Gaara, that's a strange name."
"It means 'A Demon That Only Loves Himself'. It was the name my mother gave me moments before she died."
They all looked at the boy with shocked expressions on their faces at the way he just said that without showing any emotion at all, like it was an automatic response that he was so used to giving he didn't even care who he told anymore.
Putting down the brush in hi hand and letting out a sigh Naruto turned to look at Gaara with an exasperated look.
"Gaara we've been over this, you don't need to tell people something just because they ask."
After thinking for a moment the red headed teen nodded his head and turned back to the others.
"I apologise if I have made you uncomfortable."
After he said that the red headed teen turned and walked back down the stairs without even waiting for an answer, causing Naruto to let out another sigh.
"Sorry about him, he doesn't mean to be rude. Gaara's not had the happiest of lives and doesn't spend much time around people."
Nodding their heads in understanding Beastboy moved to stand next to Naruto with a slightly confused look on his face as he looked back in the direction that Gaara had gone.
"Just who is that guy anyway dude, for some reason I get the feeling I should run whenever he so much as looks at me."
"Gaara's an old friend, turns out he's lived in the area for just as long as I have but we never ran into each other until the other day. I invited him to stay with me and I'm paying him to help out in the store."
Floating over so that she was hovering in the air just on the other side of the balcony Starfire looked down at the red headed teen with large innocent eyes as he went from one shelf to the next just like Naruto always would, Beastboy and Terra joining the alien princess in her observation.
Shaking her head at the three, Raven turned back to Naruto, who had returned his attention to the book in front of him while she hadn't been looking, and took the empty seat next to him.
"So how much did you pay for this one?"
Without looking up from his work the blonde teen smiled.
"I didn't, I'm repairing it for a contact of mine, I scratch their back and all that crap. They asked me to see what I could do. When I'm finished it should be somewhere in the prise range of 13 to 15 thousand."
"I didn't know you repaired books as well as collect them."
"What, you think I'd tell you everything about me straight away? If I did that how could I keep a cute girl like yourself interested? A little mystery does wonders for a relationship."
It took several minutes for the grey skinned teen to recover from her blush and when she did her eyes fell on the book. The pages really did look worn, with the ink fading and several rips in random places. She just sat and watched as Naruto worked, using the different equipment set on the table with practiced ease.
It was while she watched him that Raven heard the front door being banged open, followed by loud footsteps and a familiar voice shouting to be lead to 'the blonde idiot'. Moments later Gaara lead a red faced Mister Gold along with 5 thugs, up the stairs, his face as expressionless as even through one of the men was holding a gun to the back f his head.
The moment they saw Raven and her friends the other men pulled out their own guns and aimed them at each of them while Mister Gold walked to Naruto, who had barely speared the man and his thugs a glance, pulled out his own gun and slammed it into the back of the blondes head.
"Get my fucking books now, if you don't I'll have my men kill all the people here. I've had enough games."
Looking at each of the thugs one after the other Raven found her eyes locked with her green skinned friend and after casting one last look around shuck her head just enough for him to see. With this many guns pointed at different people she would need to speak in order to cast the spell she needed and if she tried they would probably shoot before she could finish, or one of the guns would go off by accident.
Standing slowly while rubbing the back of his head where the now smirking man had hit him with his gun, Naruto took a moment to look at all the people in the room before his eye landed on Gaara.
"You mind?"
"Not at all"
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