Well, this is my first multi-chaptered Sasuke x Gaara fic. I hope it's a good one. All of the chapters are hand-written first, so updates will be very slow. I'll do my best, though. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters, even though I wouldn't mind owning the Uchiha brothers.

Chapter 1

Four years had already gone by. Four long, tiresome, work-filled years had passed since that day. But, to Gaara, it felt like longer. He could remember that day as if it was yesterday. Though he would never admit it, the events played in his head every single day. It was almost like a recurring dream, only in the waking state.

"Hey, you there. What's your name?"

"Me?"

"No, the one next to you with the gourd."

"Gaara of the Desert. I am also interested in you. What's your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke Uchiha…that name, that voice…it haunted Gaara and invaded his mind. Yes, he had threatened to kill the boy, but he hadn't really meant it. It's what he did to everyone without thinking, but things were different this time. The feelings that Gaara felt towards Sasuke were new to him. He didn't know how to handle them. He remembered what Sasuke had said when he discovered Gaara watching him train.

"Why are you so obsessed with me?"

Obsessed…it was quite possible that Gaara's attraction to Sasuke escalated into an obsession. He couldn't really tell the difference. All he knew was that from the moment they first met, something awakened in Gaara. It was something that, to him, felt more powerful than his demon, Shukaku. When he heard that Sasuke had left Konoha to join Orochimaru, a rage erupted inside him that he'd never felt before. He didn't want their fight during the Chuunin Exams to be the last time he ever saw the boy.

Four years later, Gaara had been sitting at the Kazekage desk, thinking about Sasuke again, when Temari entered the room to report some of the going-ons in Konoha. She had basically become a sort of messenger for Suna. Gaara was staring out of the window, his mind on Sasuke, when something Temari said snapped him back to reality.

"The Fifth informed me that the traitor Sasuke Uchiha has returned to the village," Temari said.

Gaara sat up straight. "Sasuke has returned?" he repeated, his mind working furiously. Sasuke was back, away from Orochimaru, back to where Gaara could possibly see him again…

"Yes, he has. The Fifth also informed me that he got a very cold reception from most of the village, including his ex-teammate Sakura Haruno and ex-sensei Kakashi Hatake." Temari's mouth twitched. "Of course, Naruto Uzumaki was thrilled upon his return, but apparently Sasuke punched him in the face and said that nothing had changed."

"What did he mean by that?" Gaara asked, confused and curious, but not showing it.

"From what I'd gathered in the past couple of years, the Uzumaki boy had been trying to force Sasuke to return to the village since he left," Temari explained. "Sasuke just doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Naruto Uzumaki is a meddling sort of person," Gaara commented. "But he needs to learn that he can't save everyone."

Gaara leaned back in his chair, trying to think of a reason to plan a mission to Konoha. His desire to see Sasuke again had been growing since Sasuke had left and now that he was back, Gaara didn't want to hesitate to go see him. He pulled himself out of his own thoughts to listen to what Temari was saying.

"Before I left the village, the Uzumaki boy approached me," Temari said. "He's inviting me, you, and Kankurou to his wedding with Hinata Hyuuga."

Gaara frowned. "Who is that? I don't remember her."

"She's the girl that almost died during her fight with Neji Hyuuga during the Chuunin Exams," Temari replied. "The wedding is next week, so we'll have to leave tomorrow to get there in time to rest and relax." She paused. "Do you wanna go?"

Gaara fought back a smile. Going to the wedding was the perfect excuse for them to go to Konoha. Even if he didn't really care much about the pair and definitely didn't want to go to the wedding itself, he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to see Sasuke.

"Yes, I do," Gaara answered quickly. "Now, leave me. I have preparations to make."

"I'll go tell Kankurou," Temari said with a slight smirk. "He'll be pleased."

As soon as Temari closed the door, Gaara allowed himself to smile. Yes, Kankurou would be pleased for another excuse to go to Konoha, but Gaara knew that his own excitement was greater. After four long years, he was finally going to be able to see Sasuke again. He didn't know how he was going to initiate both the encounter and a following conversation, but both were going to happen, no matter what.

Gaara sat up and began filling out papers, still working out the details in his mind. The fact that Sakura Haruno, the girl who was crazy about Sasuke for years, gave him a cold reception upon his return was something that interested him. Her feelings must've changed since he had last seen her. The fact that she had gotten over him cheered Gaara up. It meant that he wouldn't have to worry about Sasuke ever ending up with the girl. Kakashi's reaction surprised him too. During their only confrontation, Kakashi seemed a little protective of Sasuke.

"I guess the ninjas of Konoha aren't that forgiving of traitors," Gaara said to himself, pulling another form out.

Of course, the possibility that Sasuke wouldn't even want to see Gaara existed. They tried to kill each other before. A second encounter could make Sasuke paranoid. But he had to try. The feelings in his heart took over his mind, keeping him from focusing on another. If nothing else, another encounter could help Gaara figure things out.

A knock on the door snapped Gaara out of his thoughts. He quickly sat up and continued filling out forms.

"Who's there?"

"It's Kankurou."

"Enter."

Kankurou cautiously entered the room. "Temari wants to know if you've finished filling out your forms for the vacation."

"I'm still working on them," Gaara replied, not even looking up from his papers.

"Right. Well, um…" Kankurou shifted from side to side. "…Who are you planning on going to the wedding with?"

Gaara glanced up. If he had eyebrows, he would've raised them. "I'm going with you and Temari," he answered slowly.

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean that. I mean who are you taking as a date?"

Gaara's eyes widened. "A date?" he repeated quietly, as if he hadn't quite understood his brother.

"Well, most people go to a wedding with a date," Kankurou explained. "And even if you wanted to, you can't go with either me or Temari because we both have dates."

Gaara clasped his hands together in thought, gazing at Kankurou. "I know who you're going with," he said tonelessly. "I'm assuming that Temari is going with the Nara boy she used to talk about?"

Kankurou shook his head. "She told me that things with him took a turn in a different direction a couple of months ago. Apparently they're still friends, but she's got a new date for the wedding."

Gaara leaned forward, just the slightest bit interested. "And who might that be?"

Kankurou shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me. Anyway, do you have any ideas on who you might go with?"

Gaara's face betrayed no emotion, but his insides squirmed. Of course, he knew exactly who he wanted to take, but he doubted it would happen. After all, he wasn't even sure he would be able to see Sasuke, much less take him to the wedding.

"I might," Gaara said shortly. His eyes returned to his papers. "Will that be all?"

"We're leaving early in the morning, so be ready," Kankurou replied, turning away.

As soon as he was gone, Gaara stood up and headed to the filing cabinet. After shifting through folders for several minutes, he extracted all the reports from Konoha that Temari had made over the past four years. He sat back down at his desk and pushed his forms aside. He opened the first folder, which contained information from the Chuunin Exams. His eyes lingered over Sasuke's name. The picture that once sat next to it was missing, but Gaara knew exactly where it was at: in a picture frame on his desk, hidden from his siblings. He often stared longingly at the picture for hours at a time, neglecting piles of paperwork.

Smiling to himself, Gaara closed the first folder and began searching for one with reports from the past year. Temari was supposed to report what she saw and heard from the other ninjas, which was exactly what he needed. Most of them were about missions or people that associated with Kankurou, but some of them were about gossip she heard in the village about other ninjas. Some ninja, like the Hyuuga girl, got no mention in the reports because Temari never noticed them. Gaara hardly ever paid much attention to the reports, unless they involved fights or missions that posed a threat to Suna. However, now was the time to find out everything he could about some of the Konoha ninja that he didn't care for before. One particular report stood out to him and he began reading immediately.

It's a nice spring day in Konoha. As far as I've heard, there haven't been many serious missions for weeks. I decided to go to a restaurant nearby to see what I could hear. A large group of ninja were sitting together and we know some of them.

The Uzumaki boy kept talking about plans and training. I didn't get much, though. He was difficult to understand with all the noise going on.

The Haruno girl was chatting with the boy with large eyebrows. I couldn't hear their conversation, but he looked pleased. I haven't seen either of them in almost a year, so I don't know anything of their ninja status.

Shikamaru and his large friend sat with me for a while. I keep forgetting his name. Shikamaru told me about his last mission and about how he was planning to take a vacation soon. He didn't say where, but maybe he'll come to Suna! The large boy seemed down about something. I think Shikamaru said the boy was dumped, but I'm not sure.

Kankurou's ex, the Hyuuga boy, was sitting with his boyfriend. Even though it's been two years, Kankurou is still sore about being dumped for another, so don't mention it to him.

The Yamanaka girl was flirting with a guy that I don't know, but I've heard about. He's supposedly the one that replaced Sasuke Uchiha on Team Kakashi. I haven't had to deal with him, so that's all the info I've got.

When I went to the Fifth's office, she told me that the Akatsuki leader was assassinated two months ago. No one knows who did it, but crime has gone down a little since then. I wonder why no one bothered to tell us that before. As Kazekage, you should've been one of the first informed. It's very strange.

Gaara closed the report, his mind going over the few things he didn't pay attention to before. The Haruno girl, according to all information, had moved on from Sasuke. He still didn't know about the Yamanaka girl. The fact that she had been flirting with Sasuke's replacement didn't ease Gaara's mind. The boy could just be a substitute for the real thing.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, his eyes settled on the only photo of Sasuke that he had. He was still trying to sort out the details of what was to come, which included keeping his siblings from going with him to find Sasuke. Although he knew they wouldn't be angry, he didn't want them to know about it til he knew if he had a chance or not.

Kankurou, of course, would want to go off on his own as soon as they arrived. That was inevitable, as there was only one person Kankurou talked about whenever he wasn't doing anything important. No, Temari would be the problem. Even if she had a new boyfriend, she wouldn't want to leave his side. Gaara knew that from experience. Then again, he hadn't been to Konoha in years. His status and abilities might give Temari reasons to let him be. He hoped so, at least.

Gaara sat up and returned to his forms, his eyes flickering over to the picture of Sasuke.

"Three more days."

End Chapter 1

Well, I think I've done a good job on this chapter. As I said before, updates will be slow because I'm handwriting each chapter before I type it up. I apologize, but it's what works best for me. Today is my birthday and Sasuke x Gaara is one of my favorite couples, so it all works out for me! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter 2 coming soon!