It was after the Sunakagure and Konohakagure shinobi had returned… after the Akatsuki had extracted Shukaku.
That night, the Leaf ninja were staying in Sunakagure to rest up and join in with the Sand's feast in honor of the return of the Kazekage.
"Gaara, are you feeling ok?"
"KANKURO! It's Kazekage-Sama to you!"
"It's ok Temari," he chuckled "and yes Kankuro I am feeling well"
They were all sitting at the table…. Gaara was sitting across from Naruto on the large oval table. It seemed that every elite Sunakagure ninja was there, along with the teams from The Leaf that had been of aid during Gaara's rescue. Most of them, good looking, distant, with an air of mystery. But to Naruto there was only one that caught his eye, and that was the Kazekage himself.
He could honestly not take his eyes off of the beautiful redhead sitting in front of him; his eyes were taking in all that was Gaara. From his hair that looked like the flames of love itself, to the kanji on his forehead, to his eyes, nose, lips…. He was admiring the Kazekage, and all of his adoration showed through his eyes.
"NARUTO, what is going on in your head!?!?!" Sakura's chastising voice snapped him out of it.
"Umm, nothing really, Sakura-chan" He gave a nervous smile.
"Well, then, say something"
Naruto had a complete and total blank look on his face. Kakashi decided to give Naruto a break and he helped him out.
"I would like to say one more thing, before Naruto goes" Everyone turned towards the son of the White Fang. " Gaara, when Chiyo left, she said that she was going to leave running the countries to the new generations. She trusted you guys and I want to follow in her footsteps. All the young shinobi here are the new generation. I trust you all, and I hope that you surpass your predecessors, especially you Gaara, and you, Naruto."
Claps filled the room Kakashi, that smooth talker, Yamato thought.
"And now Naruto, your turn." His eye turned up was the only thing that let everybody knew he was smiling. Why can't he just take the mask off .
Now all eyes were on the other jinchuuriki. But while Kakashi was talking, a few words popped into his head. "Like Kakashi-sensei said, we have to rise higher than those before us. Let's get stronger, let's unite our power, let's do this together." Some clapped, but Naruto was far from over. So he looked over at Gaara and the Kazekage held up his hand for the others to be silent. So Naruto continued. "Gaara, thank God that you came back. I don't know what I would've done if I had lost you too. Not only are you an awesome shinobi, you're also a good guy and I don't believe that there could be anyone better for Kazekage than you. Plus, you found all these people that believe in you, you're going to do great as a leader of this nation. And, as most of us know, while I was away training, I missed the Chuunin exams, so, Kazekage-Sama; I look forward to having you watch my performance in the next Chuunin exams.
Once again, more claps and some whispers of amazement at the fact that Naruto was still technically a genin with power of a higher rank shinobi. They also eagerly awaited for the next exams to see what would become of the young ninja. Then, Gaara whispered something in Temari's ear, and she proceeded to motion for everyone to quiet down.
"And now," she said in a voice full of appreciation "the Kazekage would like to say some words"
Everyone quieted down almost instantly, very few of them had heard Gaara speak before, so they were anxious to hear his voice again, kind this time, not bloodthirsty like before.
"First, I would like to thank you all for being here and for trusting me as a leader." Then he fixed his gaze upon Naruto. "Naruto, I want to thank you, not only for gracing us with your cheerful presence, but also for believing in me. You are the one that helped me accomplish what I have today. You were the first one who understood my pain and you were there to set me straight. And, about your chuunin exam performance… I do not think that I need to see it."
Everyone looked around nervously and Naruto flinched a little… was that good or bad?
"I say that," the ex- jinchuuriki continued" because I have already seen it, not only in the previous exams, but also in bringing me back. You're very powerful and I believe that there is no reason to hold you back from passing those exams. Also," he blushed "I think that you will be a great Hokage and I look forward to having you sitting beside me as Hokage to examine the Chuunin exams someday." With these words, he smiled at Naruto and sat down. "That is all."
Everyone made acknowledging motions towards Naruto and right after that the formalities got forgotten and everyone started to mingle here and there. Naruto got up and decided to approach Gaara; it seemed like the sea of people parted so that he could get to Gaara faster. Finally Gaara felt someone behind him and he turned around.
"Kazekage-Sama"
"Naruto…" the Kage chuckled "since when do you pay attention to formalities"
Naruto blushed "Umm, so you wish for me to call you something else?" his blush got even deeper.
"Once again, hehehe, formalities. But yes future Hokage-Sama, keep calling me Gaara."
Naruto smiled "Ok, Gaara, thank you for that speech." He leaned in to purr in Gaara's ear. "I also look forward to sitting with you." As he whispered those words, warm air blew in Gaara's ear and on his neck, causing goosebumps of pleasure to form along his neck and back. And with that, Naruto stepped back, he gave Gaara a praising look and went on his way to find Lee…. God knows how he gets when he drinks sake…
Gaara felt like he had taken a trip to heaven and back. He talked with himself in his head….
Does he know that I like him?..... Had Naruto forgotten about all that happened with Sasuke?...
God he needed to talk to him about all that. He'd have to wait for the feast to end, he had lost sight of that orange sweatshirt already. He listened to everyone who talked to him, most of them said the same thing. That they were so thankful that their Kazekage had returned, how they trusted him with the village, how they were praying for Chiyo and so on. He agreed, thanked, and prayed with pretty much everyone. He was exhausted afterwards, but he still needed to talk to Naruto.
~o~o~o~o~o~oo~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Finally it ended, and Gaara couldn't find Naruto. So he found Neji and approached shyly.
"Umm, Neji, I believe?"
"Yes Kazekage-Sama, that's me"
"Please, call me Gaara, it makes me feel separated from you guys if you refer to ma as Kazekage." He smiled " Have you seen Naruto around?"
"Uh… Ah yes, Naruto went outside for a bit, Well, he said he was going to be outside after he took Lee back to his room."
"Ah, ok… thank you Neji"
"No problem Kaze……Gaara"
So, he walked outside in a daze… a million thoughts buzzing in his head. First he decided to check outside and if there was no luck, he'd have to go to Lee's room and prepare to use his ultimate defense as a restraining method. But meanwhile, he'd have to use his sand as a way of transportation to find Naruto. He surfed the skies; he didn't have to do it for long, because a few meters below he found him, luck was on his side.
There he was, kneeling in front of Chiyo's grave. So Gaara descended a good 10 steps away from the blond. He approached and soon, he also kneeled in front of the kunoichi's grave. Naruto seemed very absorbed in his prayer.
It might be best if I go… I can always catch him in his room….
As Gaara stood up to leave, Naruto's eyes opened. He stood up, unaware of the redhead watching him. As he looked up, he jumped in surprise, readying himself to make a thousand Kage Bunshin if it was the enemy.
"Naruto, relax"
Naruto's brain immediately recognized the voice.
"OH, I didn't expect you here, Gaara. But it's good that you're here, I really need to talk to you. "He dusted himself, as he patted his legs to get rid of the sand, Gaara turned red.
"Ok, I also need to talk to you…" He waited for Naruto to finish, for some reason, he was dusting his butt, even though he had no dust there. It wasn't like it mattered tho… it was a nice sight.
"Ok… leeet's go!" He walked to be on Gaara's right side. Soon, they began walking; an awkward silence fell between them almost as if they knew that they were really considering their words because it was likely that they were thinking about the same thing.
"So, Naruto, if I may ask, what was it you were praying for?" Gaara asked in a shy way.
"Ummm, I was thanking Chiyo. God Gaara, I don't know what I would've done if I had lost you. I would've lost all sense, gone insane. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, I feel like I was made to protect you. Gaara, you're so important to me….."
"Naruto…?"
"Yea, Gaara…?"
"What about Sasuke…?"
"What about him?"
Another awkward silence fell between them, Gaara just had to ask that. The talk that was supposed to take place later just had to begin now, there was no turning back.
"Do you still love him, Naruto?"
"Well, I still love him." Gaara flinched, an expression of pain flitted across his face for a moment but the night had hidden any trace of it. "I love him, but as a brother. It would have never worked out between me and him, we were after different things." Gaara relaxed a bit. "But you Gaara….." He turned to face the former jinchuuriki.
"I? What about me?"
Naruto grabbed one strand of flaming red hair.
"Gaara, I need you, I love you. Could you please give me one chance?" A pair of green eyes looked at the blue ones in surprise… shock… then they softened.
"Naruto… I want to give you that chance."
Naruto's hand went from Gaara's hair to his chin
"Thank you"
And then he gently tugged on Gaara's chin so as to pull him closer. Their lips came together and moved along to the soft whistling melody of the air that swirled around them, which seemed to play a romantic tune. Naruto's arms circled Gaara's waist and Gaara's arms clung over Naruto's shoulders and around his neck. They pulled each other closer and that was their lover's bond. The moon, the stars and the sand moving in lazy spirals around them were the witnesses. The perfect scenario played out.
When the kiss ended, Naruto touched his forehead against Gaara's. They looked into each other's eyes and the three words that came out of both sets of lips were the same…
"I love you"
Naruto rested his hand on Gaara's shoulder, but then it traveled down to the redhead's hand. He held it and gave it a soft grip, Gaara gripped right back. So, holding hands, Naruto walked Gaara to his house.
When they got there Naruto gave Gaara a kiss on the cheek.
"Naruto, you go back to Konoha tomorrow…."
He sighed, he knew that they needed to talk about that since he couldn't stay in Sunakagure forever.
"We'll work it out Gaara, I always find a way when I'm motivated. And trust me when I say that I haven't been this motivated in my whole entire life… because I love you."
Naruto stroked Gaara's cheek and both their hands gripped a bit harder. They did not want to say goodbye, even if their rooms were on the same hallway. So, they kissed, once again, but this time it was a needy kiss. They needed each other so bad. But alas, they had to separate sooner or later. When they did, they said their goodnights reluctantly and Naruto leaned down a bit and kissed Gaara's hand before he went to his room. Once again they said goodnight and Naruto turned to go to his room, Gaara leaned against his doorway until Naruto reached his door… which was only about four rooms away. Then they both waved and sent each other a kiss and finally went to get some rest. A perfect end to a perfect day.
~o~o~o~o~o~oo~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
The next day, baby blue eyes awoke to the early light of the Sunakagure sun. The light was followed by a soft, almost inaudible, knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, on the doorway was a sight so beautiful that it put the beautiful sunshine to shame….. Gaara was shyly leaning on the doorway wearing a pair of black boxers and a black shirt that was about 3 sizes too big. His hair was a bit messier on the right side, a telltale sign that he had just woken up. And to top it all out, there was a faint blush on his porcelain-like face.
"Good morning….. Did I wake you up?"
"nope, the sun did that about 5 seconds before you knocked" said Naruto with a lazy smile.
"Oh, that's good I guess.." Gaara looked at the window. "Can I come in?"
"Sure, love… come here," He patted his temporary bed. "Close the door behind you please."
Gaara did so and as he walked towards the bed, Naruto lifted up the covers, revealing his seal on top of toned up tanned abs…. no other items of clothing visible, except for his pant's waistband. Gaara blushed profusely and went inside the covers. Then he turned around to face the blonde and cuddled up.
"How did you sleep Naruto?" Gaara asked as he cuddled up a bit more.
"I slept well… and how did my love sleep?" He said as he put his arm under Gaara's head like a pillow.
"I dreamed about you, but I don't remember what it was… It's pretty hard, to fully fall asleep since I couldn't do that back when I had Shukaku in me. It's going to take some getting used to but if all my dreams are about you I wouldn't mind re-adjusting" He shot Naruto and adorable smile. Then he rested his head on Naruto's chest and put one of his arms over his abs and kind of hugging him. They remained in silence, under the Sunakagure sun shining in through the window, with Naruto caressing Gaara's back.
