So this was just a sweet little bday gift for a bud of mine, but I'm p happy with it so I might as well put it up everywhere! this is the cutest thing I'll ever write
This was it, this was the day.
Naruto's heart was beating a mile a minute as he paced around the clearing, he wouldn't normally be so anxious, but there was just so much riding on this going well – he'd already turned up an hour early, just to make sure everything was set up perfectly.
The only consolation every time he glanced at his watch again only to see the minute hand hadn't moved was that Gaara was never late.
A gentle tap on his shoulder absolutely did not make him shriek. He spun round, fully intending to chew whoever it was out for scaring him like that, but a beautiful face and blank expression immediately cooled his anger. "Gaara! You're early," he said, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend's cheek.
"Ah, yes, should I come back in a few minutes?" he asked, already looking back the way he'd come.
"No, it's fine, I was just waiting for you anyways," he quickly slipped his hand into Gaara's to keep him from walking off, pulling him over to the blanket laid out on the spring grass, "I hope you're hungry, 'cause I might've gone a bit overboard," he chuckled, glancing nervously at the veritable feast kept in over ten elegant containers – borrowed from Hinata, who had also helped out with most of the cooking, which was probably for the best – luckily his nerves hadn't dampened his appetite any.
Gaara gave one of his tiny smiles, the ones that always stole his breath away and made the world around him fade to dull grey in the face of such perfection, and settled down gracefully, leaning to grab and investigate the nearest dish.
He sighed in relief and flopped down next to him, grinning widely before honing in on the pre-prepared bowl of ramen, kept warm by a handy jutsu Chouji had taught him a few years back.
Things couldn't be more perfect; he was on a special picnic date with the man he loved more than he could adequately express, sitting in the same clearing where they had once fought, where he'd unknowingly saved a boy who'd lost all hope for a future, where he'd found a true kindred soul, someone who he would one day come to love more than anyone else.
The old battlefield had long since recovered, trees quickly claiming the light left from their fallen ancestors – though there were still patchy areas of sand for a good mile around – but they still remembered exactly where it was that they'd first connected and would often come here to spar, or talk, or have picnics, as often as they could and on this day in particular, the anniversary of that fight that had changed both their lives so much.
They grazed on the food laid out for them, engaging in idle chatter, about friends, about family, about things great and things small, eventually they stopped eating altogether, just leaning against each other and watching the wildlife skittering about in the trees, hands twisted together, Gaara exploring the calloused skin of Naruto's fingers, Naruto watching his love, enraptured by the way the sunlight filtering through the canopy high above them made Gaara's hair and eyes shine so bright and clear.
And now, it was the perfect moment.
"Gaara" he said, quietly, softly, as he didn't want to disturb the calm air any more than the gentle breeze lightly rustling the leaves, "look how far we've come."
He felt a gentle squeeze around his hand and when his boyfriend lifted his head to look at him – his eyes shimmering like they held all the light of the world in their depths and his expression so rarely as open and content as it was right now – his heart lurched so hard he was shocked he hadn't just died on the spot. Maybe he had and just hadn't noticed.
"Yes, we have and it's all thanks to you," he said, his voice just as calm as his expression.
Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but a smooth palm was already covering it.
"Let me speak," Gaara said sternly, before dropping his hand and settling back into his gentle smile. "You've done so much for me, for the whole world and you deserve to hear how much good you've brought to both. You... there are days when I look at you and feel so warm, knowing that you've grown so much, all the feats you've accomplished, all the lives you've changed for the better, all the love you have for everyone you meet, even those who could never deserve it…"
His hand once again silenced him before he could object – because there was only one person who he could've been talking about – and carried on uninterrupted, "For the life you bring to those around you; you must be light incarnate, I look at you sometimes and I am blinded, unable to accept that such a pure being could ever accept me as I am, but… you do, you did, at the very moment I needed it the most, you looked at me and saw something worthwhile, something worth protecting, even something worth loving and you see it so strongly that I almost believe it myself.
"I… I do not know what I did in a past life to deserve you," if he was anyone else, he'd probably be crying – Naruto certainly was – but the only indication of his mood was the slight tremor to his voice and the way he kept pausing to think of his next words, but he always had been good at improvising speeches, "but I would relive my pain a thousand times over just to know that I could spend one more day by your side, walking in such a beautiful light."
Ok, now he really was crying, though even that he somehow made graceful and beautiful, while Naruto was weeping so hard he must have a sizable stain on his shirt by now. "Gaara…"
"But, I am a selfish creature and I think I might want to be here with you, together like this, for the rest of our lives, if you would have me," he finished, gently wiping away the tears on his lover's cheeks, fingers tracing dark lines reverently.
He could barely breathe through his sobs, desperately trying to pull together some words even half as beautiful as the ones just given to him, "Gaara, are y- are you asking me to marry you?"
Those perfect, beautiful, green eyes widened and his face blanked, as it usually did when he was surprised. "I… Yes, I think I am," he said after a long moment and Naruto immediately burst; he couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying or both, but the hysterical noises certainly worried Gaara enough that he started panicking and trying to straighten him up so he could breathe.
The bone-crushing hug he was embraced in didn't make that an easy task.
"Oh my- Gaara I love you so much, but," he finally gathered enough of his wits to fish around in his pocket for the tiny box he'd been carrying around for a week waiting for the perfect moment, "you kinda just stole my thunder."