Rianne: Hihi! 'Tis me, Rianne :) This story, to warn you all now, is full of SMUT, SMUT, SMUT, and MORE SMUT. But, never fear, there are some smut-less and serious chapters to balance it out a bit :3

So, do enjoy!

Arianna: Hey y'all! Like my partner in crime stated, this is very smutty but fun all the same with action and fluff and drama/angst and BLAH! -jumps out to scare you- ...wait, you're not scared? Damn, must be my unintimidating face. D:

Anyway, read and review please!



Gaara, clad in his battle-gear, snuck in past the Guards by scaling the wall nearer Naruto's house, having arrived a day earlier than he was supposed to. Crimson hair swayed slightly in the breeze; Gaara knocked on the Kitsune's door for a while. Eventually the Kazekage passed out on Naruto's doorstep, not having been found until much later.

Crimson hair was dark red, ominously like blood in contrast to the crisp, white sheets and the white theme of the ward Gaara No Sabaku was in currently.

Eyes closed, a peaceful expression settled on his face through unconsciousness. He was laid out, arms by his sides, with one hand connected to an IV drop. His chest was exposed, the sheets turned back neatly to show his side. The bandages were new, meaning there were no new blood stains yet on the white material. His chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm for the time being, thanks to efforts made by almost the whole staff in the Konoha hospital. After all, he was the Kazekage, and it would be very bad for the Suna-Konoha relations if the Kazekage died in Konoha.

What was very strange was that no one knew how Gaara had been injured. The wound looked as though human nails had scratched away at him long enough to cause it, but the gash was about five inches long and two inches deep. Also, it was much too clean, too narrow for it to have been human nails- it just wasn't possible.

But what else was?

It wasn't any type of metal weapon, or weapon at all, for that matter, since the wound was inflicted by something never seen before. Konoha had many types of weapons; and unless this was a new Jutsu, or a new weapon, they could find no reason for it.

Well, wouldn't, until Gaara woke up. However, the redhead had gone into a comatose state for two days now, and there were rumors that he might not wake up for a long time.

"What... where am I?
I can't see anything...
I'm all alone again.
I don't want to be alone.
Naruto... -kun...?
Where are you?

"Temari? Kankurou?
...Anyone?
..Naruto, I'm cold.
I'm.. Naruto, I'm scared.
I want to watch you eat ramen and wonder how you manage to eat it so quickly, drop a comment on how atrocious your manners are, and be happy.
I want to listen to you ramble on about anything. Anything at all.
I want to glance at you when you aren't looking, like before. I know you caught me staring a few times.
I want to harm Sakura, because she doesn't deserve your affection. She hurts you. She takes advantage of you. Yet.. you're strong, for being able to have her as a precious person.
I want to see, to hear, to be able to move around.
I can't even feel my sand near me.
Where are you guys?
Where are you?
Why did you leave me?
Naruto-kun, where are you?
I don't want to be alone..."

Sand began slowly creeping up onto his bed, and Gaara's fists clenched.

Starting to throw a fit, nearly waking up, Gaara inadvertently caused his sand to start to swarm over everything and destroy things, one by one. The sand hit the 'help' button near his bed in passing, and that in turn sounded a low alarm in the Nurse's office in the lower levels of the hospital.

xXxXx

There was an uproar going on within the walls of the Kazekage Tower in Sunakagure. And no, it was not because Kankurou was doing a bad job as substitute Kazekage; no, it was because of a scroll Temari had received one morning by bird. The scroll contained information that made her spit her coffee in a brown flurry from her lips in horror. Her youngest brother, her 'Kage, was lying in a comatose-like state in Konoha's hospital. A scream of "NANI?!" sprouted forth, and passersby had wondered what such a shriek had come from.

Immediately she stormed into the circular Kazekage office and slammed the scroll down on the desk before Kankurou. "Pack your bags; we're going to Konoha," the fan-wielding girl demanded.

"Huh? Why?"

"Read."

The brunette obeyed, his paint-rimmed eyes falling to the scroll beneath his older sister's fingers. After a moment he turned into a sputtering fool and was bounding out of his chair. In no time Baki was at the Kazekage's desk taking over for said ruler as the two siblings raced for their home to get their things. Their brother needed them, and unlike last time, they were not going to be too late.

xXxXx

Naruto paced his apartment anxiously, trying his hardest not to completely shred his fingernails apart with his teeth. He had vaguely heard knocking in the night a couple days prior, but he had thought nothing of it. In the morning, however, he had found a rather battered, bloodied, and bruised Gaara on his front stoop, panda-like eyes closed tightly. He had had no idea who did this to his best friend, nor did he know why the 'Kage was in Konoha to begin with. What he did know, however, was that the redhead needed immediate medical attention. So he had brought Gaara to the hospital and watched at the took care of his pale, desert-born friend, all the while his heart rattling painfully in his chest.

He couldn't stay, however; he knew that they suspected him to be the one who hurt the ex-Jinchuuriki. The strange, claw-like markings on the redhead told them enough to think that Naruto, being the container of the demon fox Kyuubi, could have lost control and attacked late in the night. The blonde obviously had not done so, at least not to his memory. He felt vaguely responsible for his friend's injuries, thinking that he had somehow failed him by not protecting him when he should have.

It couldn't be helped now, however.

He hadn't eaten the past couple days, being too sick over Gaara. And although it have not been verbally established, Naruto could feel his presence unwanted around Gaara by the nurses at the hospital. Tsunade-baachan had tried to convince them that Naruto would never do such a thing, and that he should be allowed to visit his friend, but the nurses had whispered their protest and Tsunade had no choice but to comply.

So, as of late, Naruto had been sneaking in through Gaara's window when the coast was clear; this usually was in late afternoon or at night. At this very moment, the sun was just about to set, so he supposed now was as good a time as any to try and visit the redhead.

Yanking his nibbled fingers from his mouth, Naruto walked to his front door, locked it behind him, stuffed his keys in the pouch tied to his thigh and set out. He jumped roof to roof, heading steadily to the hospital. He had already memorized the window of the ward in which Gaara resided, and just as he reached it a barrage of sand came streaming out the glass, shattering it like a porcelain doll.

He fell back a step and fought to stay balanced on the side of the building, suddenly thankful to Kakashi for teaching him to store chakra in his feet and walk up trees and things of the like.

Cautiously, the blonde peeked one eye in through the broken window, an automatic gulp going down his esophagus. Tsunade came bursting in through the door along with the head nurse, shouting orders. Sand flew about them, and distantly Naruto wondered how much sand Gaara could control after having his demon sucked out. Apparently, he could control plenty.

Naruto noticed Gaara's form then, and winced when he saw how the cold sweat seemed to gleam on his friend's skin, how his fists clenched much too tightly at the sheets of the cot, and how his face was twisted into a distant, sad expression. He didn't care that he was suspected of hurting the boy before him; he had to get inside that ward right now.

The moment his feet landed on the tile, Tsunade's head shot up. Her amber orbs connected with cerulean blue, and she nodded once while stepping back from Gaara's bedside.

The blonde gingerly laid his hand on the forearm of his red-haired friend, trying to let him know he was there. "Gaara," Naruto murmured the same way he had so many months ago when his friend had come back from the dead.

Gaara tensed as unknown warmth met his cool skin, at how he somehow knew it was his precious person. Naruto. A soft moan escaped the lips of the unconcious redhead; the sand slowed its destructive path and settled instead for hovering over the Kazekage protectively.

Naruto? He thought, unconciously letting one corner of his mouth twitch up for a milisecond to form a sad smile. You... care. You care enough about me to come and be by my side...

At the way Naruto murmured his name, the Kage fancied that he felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't know that it really did do so, the heart monitor beside him duly recording it with soft beeps. The instrument that they hooked him up to in order to keep an eye on his brainwaves showed that he was partially awake mentally, if not physically.

Gaara's sand slowly wrapped itself around the arm that Naruto had moved in order to touch him. The sand softly pulled the kitsune closer, and Gaara's hands loosened their hold on the sheets, no longer in such mental agony as he had been, knowing he was alone and thinking he might be dead again, as the feelings of being comatose resembled the experience of death much too similarily for Gaara's preferences.

The redhead's eyes flickered, but remained closed. His mental activity lowered, but the readings were much higher than that of most comatose patients.

"Well would you look at that," Tsunade muttered in surprise. Naruto's eyes followed hers and noted the way Gaara's heart rate and brain patterns had increased almost out of comatose, yet not quite so.

Softly the blonde smiled, peering down at the sand wielder. He didn't like the vulnerable sate his friend was in; it hurt him to see the bandages, the IV drop, and just about everything else that interfered with his looks. He also cursed that he couldn't help heal Gaara faster like Kyuubi healed him all the time. How did this happen? Naruto asked himself repeatedly. Why is it always Gaara? Why couldn't it have been me?

Tears stung the back of his blue orbs, but Naruto refused to cry in front of Tsunade, Shizune, and the head nurse. There was another reason, too, and perhaps it was because he didn't want Gaara to hear him. Last time he cried in front of Gaara the boy wasn't even there to see; but this time Naruto feared that if he cried, Gaara would be hurt by it. It was an odd thought to have, the blonde knew; but it was still one he held in the back of his mind like a spider lingering on the corner of it's web for prey.

Besides, he had caught the twinge of a sad smile that grazed his precious person's features before the sand had drawn him closer.

"Try talking to him," the Hokage orders. "Often when we have shinobi that have suffered a traumatic fight and went into a coma, someone close to them can bring them out of it."

Shizune nods. "Hai, Naruto-kun. Try talking to the Kazekage-sama."

The kitsune nods and stares down at Gaara's sleeping face. I'm not sure what to say to you, Gaara, but I'll try my best. Under his fingertips he can feel the dull pulse in Gaara's arm, and with each beat he feels compelled to speak. "Gaara, I… it's me, Naruto. I want you to wake up now, okay? We have to get you healed and back on your feet…" he says slowly.

He swallows hard and leans down further, as if to penetrate Gaara's comatose state with his gaze. The air felt warmer as he got closer, and will all his might he wished for Gaara to open his aquamarine eyes. Get better just for me, understand? Open your eyes because I say so, damnit. Don't do this to me, not again; not after…

His thoughts drift off and he tries to speak again. "We're all waiting for you, 'ttebayo. Tsunade-baachan… Shizune-san… all my comrades… and I even heard that they sent for your siblings. We're waiting for you, so please, Gaara, come back."

Gaara heard something; the voice of his friend. 'Naruto?' He thought, and then heard the confirmation that the person at his side was, indeed, Naruto.

Aishiteru, he thought, before his eyes snapped open. He shot up as if electrocuted, nearly banging his chest on Naruto's head, and so swerved to miss him. Then, the pain of his still-healing side blasted him, turning his breathing into ragged, pained gasps and forcing him to bring a hand to his side and bite his lower lip, drawing blood, unable to stop the cry of pain that rang out in the otherwise silent ward. The heart monitor beside him was documenting a heart rate that went off the charts, but gradually lessened as he grew used to the feeling of being truly awake again instead of only half-there. How nostalgic. The sand shot to him, manifesting his sand armor (Although he left his side as it was). The redhead, exhausted from the pain and the sudden awakening, let go of his side and let his hand hang there limply, allowing a mask of calmness to chase the surprise and pain, along with a glimpse of joy, off his face.

"Naruto?" He said, careful to erase all emotion from his voice. His teal eyes turned to the shinobi that had awakened him; gazed at his hair, his eyes- and stared. His blue eyes, which seemed overly sad- like he was about to cry. "Naruto," the redhead repeated, and extended both hands so that he could hug the other boy, but he stopped and recoiled slightly, wanting to protect himself from further harm. A whispering tendril of the sand that wasn't working as armor hovered around Gaara's shoulders, imitating a person's arms.

"You-- you don't hate me, right? Please tell me that you don't! Tell me what he said isn't true!" The redhead said, unable to help a hint of desperation from creeping into his voice.
"Please tell me it's not true."

The moment Naruto had seen the arms outstretched towards him, he was more than ready to accept them and hold that person close to him. Although when Gaara recoiled he blinked and realized it would not have been the best idea to embrace; the wound bandaged at Gaara's side would have only bled more. Which brought Naruto's mind back to reflect on what he just saw: the redhead had awoken violently, much differently than what he had expected. It shocked the blonde to say the least, but he regained his composure soon enough.

Naruto lost it again, however, as soon as Gaara began speaking more than his name. Blonde brows came together in a confused frown as he sat himself down on the edge of Gaara's bed. He stared intently at the mostly calm face, connecting cobalt blue with light teal. "Hate you…? Why on earth would I – Who said that to you, anyway? I could never hate you, Gaara, no matter what you do. I forgave you long ago for hurting Sakura and Sasuke during our fight, and since then I haven't had a single reason to dislike you. Why would you think that?"

The kitsune's heart was struck by such a comment. He had spoken gently and sincerely, his puzzled expression not once leaving his face as his eyes searched the depths of Gaara's eyes. Who would tell Gaara something like that, and why? What would they gain from having Gaara think that I hated him? I bet it was the same bastard that hurt him and left him unconscious… Burning rage flamed up in Naruto's stomach for a moment, a slight glaze of red coating his eyes. It quickly faded, however; as furious as Naruto was at the person who did this to his friend, he wasn't about to scare the redhead with his anger. He also didn't want Gaara to think he was angry with him. This would have probably been the immediate response from the redhead had Naruto let his fury show longer than that millisecond.

Following his series of 'who' 'what' and 'why', Naruto waited patiently as Gaara mulled over his words and came up with a reply. To be honest, the blonde wanted a full report on what happened a few nights ago so that he could kick the ass of whatever teme had hurt the Kazekage. Tsunade seemed to want the same thing, for after Naruto had spoken she brought up a chair to Gaara's bedside and said: "I would like to know who said that, too. Lies are unforgivable."

"Like you haven't lied in the past," Shizune muttered sarcastically under her breath. As much as she respected Tsunade, that was an awfully hypocritical thing to say.

Naruto ignore all this, however; the single thing he wanted was for Gaara to say something. He pleaded with his eyes for the redhead to explain himself. Softly, he urged, "It's not true, Gaara. But tell me: who said it was?"

Gaara closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Naruto, holding on fiercely. "I don't know. He had disguised himself as you. I don't know how I didn't tell, it was so stupid-! I saw him on my way to Konoha.. I was talking to him, and he pushed me over, telling me that you hate me. At first he acted like he was you, but I caught on, and he told me that you sent him. He said," Gaara's grip loosened, and he seemed broken for a moment as he recounted what his attacker had told him. "'You're a disgusting monster. Even if he's a Jinchuuriki, he didn't kill people for the hell of it. Now that you've no longer got Shukaku, there's nothing between you anymore. He hates you and paid me to come tell you.' After that, he knocked me out while I was- while I wasn't paying attention. Whatever happened to my side happened while I was unconcious. I woke up, I don't know how long after that, and ran to your house. All I wanted was to find you, so you could tell me it was a lie. You didn't answer me when I was knocking on your door. I-I don't remember falling, but I guess I had to have in order to have passed out again." It was obvious that when Gaara had said 'While I wasn't paying attention', he was stopping himself from saying, 'Crying'. It was subtle the way putting a life-sized picture of a horse in the bathroom to tell your parents you wanted a pony is subtle.

"That's despicable!" Tsunade spat at the end of Gaara's explanation. Shizune had tears in her eyes, being the sensitive girl she was. The Hokage sighed suddenly. "Although that explains quite a bit. You probably passed out from blood loss and shock; that sort of combination can result in a coma. It's not uncommon."

Naruto, on the other hand, was grinding his teeth to prevent his canines from growing. His eyes were already flashing between blue and red, and he was thankful that Gaara wouldn't see. The blonde inclined his head slightly, resting his chin his friend's shoulder. "No… no, that's not true at all. I'm not like that, Gaara, I swear." His voice came out sounding much lower than he had meant to, but it helped it not waver or crack with the multiple emotions that were flowing though his veins. "I'll find whoever did that to you and I'll kill him!" he vowed.

The kitsune brought a hand up to gingerly touch Gaara's back, wary of the light stream of sand that remained hovering above their heads. He wanted to show Gaara his support, as well as show him how untrue the whole thing is.

Even through the thin layer of fabric from the hospital gown and the layer of sand armor that had collect upon awakening, Naruto could feel that Gaara's body heat wasn't up to snuff. A slight shiver of panic rode down the blonde's spine, and he brought up his other hand (careful not to touch Gaara's wounds) to heat the slightly smaller teen. Oh, how much he despised this situation. Who would dare do such a thing to Gaara to leave him wounded, cold, and half dead? Whoever he was, he was going to pay… with his life.

Gaara sighed, the sand finally falling from above them and resting on the ground. "Thank you," He murmured. "Thank you for being my shin'yuu," he said. Shin'yuu meant close friend. Gaara knew it in his heart that Naruto was a good friend; why else would he feel his heart flutter at the contact (And hear it through the annoying monitor), as well as feel a warmth seep through him at Naruto's touch and vengeful words. "But if it means that you would have me leave, or leave me, before the short time I have within which to be near my only shin'yuu is over, I'd rather you didn't, Naruto...-kun." Gaara was very rare to use honorifics unless politically necessary, and technically was already close enough to Naruto to no longer need them... but Gaara thought that it might make it clear to Naruto how much he meant to the redhead.

Besides, although he tried to be distant, he decided that, in the first verbal confirmation of the bond between them, it was significant somehow. It wasn't like he'd have to say it again anyway.
Even if he liked how the '-kun' felt in his mouth as he was saying it.

Gaara did something else then because of the strange emotion in his stomach; he was elated to find the lies were really lies, and even though the not yet familiar feeling of the first emotion had passed, another remained. Letting his forehead rest in the crook of Naruto's neck, the redhead's breath, even and steady now, puffed warmly onto Naruto's collarbone (Or would have, if his jacket wasn't in the way.) Turning his head to the side, letting his cheek rest on the blonde's shoulder, his breath now reached a bit of skin just above the jacket's collar. For the first time in his life, Gaara felt... at ease. As if he belonged. His earlier realization of 'aishiteru', aimed towards the blonde, was forgotten. The lies of that teme were forgotten.

He even imagined that nothing mattered in the room except for Naruto, lost in the comfort of their embrace.

xXxXx

"Kankurou, you lazy ass, pick up your pace!" Temari bellowed over the run of air as she ran into the forest on the outskirts of the desert.

The brunette panted and tried to keep in time with his older sister's pace, but it was no use. "Not all of us… can run as fast… as you, Temari."

"Then you're all losers and need to train more!" she snapped. Her dark teal eyes were full of determination; she was prepared to get to Konoha in half the time that it normally takes when going at a comfortable pace (which is three days and 2 nights). If she could, she would go even faster than half. Nothing scared the wind sorceress more than her siblings in danger. They were the only family she had left.

Behind her, she could practically hear Kankurou roll his eyes as he lets out a disgruntled groan. "No use complaining, Kankurou. We're almost there."

xXxXx

In the meantime, Naruto was taking in Gaara's words, and trying not to shudder at the heart through his jacket or the breath on his neck. And that short, three-lettered honorific seemed to keep his mind at bay; it was something he hadn't expected Gaara to use, let alone ever say with his name. It made him happy, somehow.

Tsunade and Shizune and the nurse had decided to leave about then, having the information they needed about what happened to their honored patient, not to mention to leave the two friends alone. It's what was best.

"Alright, Gaara," the blonde says with a reassuring smile. "I won't go after him until you're healed and ready to leave. Besides, I have yet to figure out who he is, dattebayo!" The room was beginning to get too warm while he held Gaara, since it's contact he's never shared with the redhead before. He wasn't sure if it was the room or only his ears that were getting hotter, but he hardly cared. Right now the Kazekage needed him, and he wasn't about to let go unless it's what Gaara wanted. "I'll be sure to be here for whenever you need me, too… especially now that they know it wasn't me that hurt you." Those last words had come out rather quietly, and for a minute he wasn't sure if the sand wielder had heard him. He probably wouldn't have, either, if they had been a few feet apart and not in this slightly awkward (although only so because Naruto was trying to be careful not to touch Gaara's wounds) hug.

It was strange, this feeling… it was like time was standing still just for the two boys. Vaguely Naruto wondered when it would end, and if he would he be bothered by the conclusion when it did.


Rianne: Kawaii, ne? It's sho cute! Major flufferiness! :3

Arianna: Haha, she has a point. But it won't be that way for long... kukuku! -evil grin-