Author's Note: Happy Early Valentine's Day guys! I'm planning on going to bed early because of a stinking cold so I'm uploading this today rather than tomorrow, but I digress. This is my Valentine's Day tribute to my favourite pairing in the Narutoverse, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed (for the most part) writing it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto Shippuden or its characters, they're registered to Masashi Kishimoto

"Temari, what are you doing?"

The sandy blonde kunoichi quickly whisked the little card she'd been writing from the table and hid it somewhere about her person.

"G-Gaara! I wasn't doing anything, just uh, cleaning the table, see?" She started wiping her hand in circles across the table in a lame attempt to convince her youngest brother.

"Without a cloth?"

Temari deadpanned, and with a wave of shame, realised that Gaara was still waiting for an answer to his first question. With a furious blush, she pulled the little card back out and muttered,

"I was writing a valentine's card."

Gaara took the card gently from his sisters hands and to her utmost fury, opened it.

"Y- YOU CAN'T READ IT!"

"Why not?"

She snatched it back again, "Because it's private!"

"But what is it for?"

"It's always a hundred questions with you." Temari said, trying to change the subject.

"Don't change the subject."

*deadpan*

"Ooooo! What have we here? Dearest Shikamaru, how I miss your pineapple head ~"

"KANKURO!" Temari flung herself at the brother who'd popped up out of nowhere and stolen her card, but Kankuro expertly dodged her and continued to read in a sing-song.

"Each moment we're apart it's like the clouds are crying ~"

"Gaara, that's not what it says, I swear."

"I suppose you really are just like a cloud, you crybaby, you! ~"

"Kankuro, if you don't give that back in two seconds, you're dead to me." Temari growled, pulling her fan from its fixings.

Gaara put his hand on her wrist and she turned to him in surprise. Kankuro smirked.

"Not indoors."

"Whaaat? Gaara what are you saying?" Kankuro complained as Temari dragged him by his ears from the house, laughing. "I thought you were sticking up for me, Gaara!"

Gaara listened as the sound of his siblings sparring started up outside, and bent down to pick up the card they'd dropped on their way out. It was a silly little pink thing, with hearts all over it. It looked handmade, too.

Valentines' card, huh?

xxx

Two hours later found Gaara wearing civilian clothing, with a hood up over his head, walking through the streets of Suna as if he were looking for something. Eventually, he walked up to a market stall owner who was packing away his wares. The man had many boxes of red and pink things, and a selection of cards similar to the one Temari had retrieved and hidden away back at their house.

"Excuse me, sir," Gaara asked, putting on what he hoped was a higher pitched voice to avoid recognition, "What are these cards for?"

The stall owner looked over at Gaara and his face suddenly broke into a charming smile.

"You mean a pretty young lady like you never got a Valentine's card before?"

Hm, maybe he'd made the voice a little too high. Gaara shook his head, and with an uncomfortable feeling of shame spoke again in that feminine voice, "What's a Valentine's card for?"

The wattage of the man's smile seemed to double and his charm increased tenfold as he held out an arm and led Gaara over to the boxes of cards, explaining, "Why, on Valentine's day, you send a card to someone you care about."

"Someone I care about?" Gaara asked quietly, picking up a card and looking at the lovey dovey cover.

"Aye." The man said with a wink. Gaara cringed but held out a bag of coins.

"I'll take them all."

"What?" The man staggered backwards, and Gaara shook the bag a little and nodded his head at the little pile of boxes.

"I'd like to buy all your Valentine's Cards."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

When the man just stared at him, Gaara thought he'd been rude and added,

"Please."

Well, at the end of the day, what merchant would tell the girl that you were only meant to send one when she wanted to buy all his stock? The man took the bag of coins and even offered to help carry them home but the strange girl declined, managing to hold all four boxes and carry them away down the street all by herself. He simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to pack away his wares. At the end of the day, they were both happy eh?

xxx

Gaara's hand ached. He lay on his bed and watched the beams of sunlight which shone through his window hitting the specks of sand and dust lingering in the air, rubbing his wrist absentmindedly. At least he'd finished half of them, there was only one which needed to be sent today, which gave him until the mail centre closed to finish the rest.

xxx

The morning of the fourteenth of February brought mail for every single household in the village hidden in the sand. And (at least) one card for every family member. When they opened their cards and saw who they were from, the villagers smiled; for they recognised that even the most powerful of shinobi could be capable of a misunderstanding. They understood their Kazekage's sentiment and placed his cards around their homes to remind them that theirs was a leader of great, albeit poorly expressed, compassion, and they were lucky to have him.

xxx

Temari hovered outside the door to Gaara's office, holding his card to her in her hand. Tentatively, she knocked on the door and heard him sigh, "Enter."

Gaara was hunched over his desk, with his head resting in the crook of his elbow as he signed off the paperwork he'd neglected the previous day. He looked exhausted, and Temari noticed that he wrote much slower than usual and as she watched, he lifted his hand and twirled his wrist. A cringe of discomfort flashing across his face.

"Gaara, if it hurts, you should stop." The sandy blonde woman said, approaching her little brother and placing her hand on top of his to halt the pen's movement. Gaara looked sleepily up at her, his pale green eyes half lidded.

"What have you been up to, to make yourself so tired?" Temari asked gently, shifting the pile of papers off of Gaara's desk into a basket where they could be looked at later. The redhead's eyes followed the papers in disapproval but he made no move to stop his sister as she tidied them away.

"I was writing Valentine's cards all day yesterday. I didn't finish them all before the mail centre closed so the ones I wrote overnight I had to deliver myself, this morning." Gaara mumbled, still resting his head on his desk.

"Mmm, about that," Temari said, perching on the arm of Gaara's chair and looking down at him. "You uh… sent one to everyone in the village."

"I know." Gaara replied, rubbing his sore hand.

"…Do you know what a Valentine's card is for?"

"People you care about."

Temari smiled at his innocence, she couldn't help it. "Not quite."

Gaara finally lifted his head, looking his sister in the eye, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Hopping off Gaara's chair, Temari pulled another card from her pocket and looked fondly at it. "You're almost right. You do send them to people you care about. But you only send one."

"One?"

Temari nodded. "To the person you're in love with."

"In love… Then…"

"It's ok Gaara," Temari quickly added, waving her hands to stop Gaara in his trail of thought, "since they all got one, the villagers knew what you meant by it, you don't need to be embarrassed."

"But…" Gaara's already light skin paled as the comprehension of his mistake sunk in. "I sent one to Naruto, too. He'll know that… I mean, he'll think that…"

Temari smiled knowingly as she watched Gaara worrying it over. He was right though, this would make things complicated.

xxx

xxx

Naruto waited patiently outside the messenger bird station, too eager to wait for his mail to be delivered to his door. Today was Valentine's day, and who knew, he might be lucky this year.

"Morning, Naruto!" One of the bird keepers called.

"Morning!" Naruto beamed.

"I thought you might show up here, so I kept your mail back. Here!" He tossed Naruto a little bundle which Naruto just about caught. "You got an extra one this year!"

"Seriously?" Naruto breathed, and the man winked at him.

"Better go and read it eh? See if you can figure out who it's from."

"Yeah," Naruto replied, but his mind was already miles away. The bird keeper smiled and disappeared back inside, leaving Naruto to it as the blonde wandered off, staring at the little bundle, tied with string.

It's probably not even a Valentine's card, Naruto reasoned with himself. It could be Ichiraku vouchers, or a mission report.

He sat himself down beside a tree when he reached the old training field. The one which surrounded the KIA monument, and had three stumps planted in its centre. Allowing himself a reminiscent smile, he untied his mail.

One of them was his usual lilac coloured envelope, and inside there was the usual sweet little card from Hinata. It smelled faintly of lavender and as Naruto breathed in the flowery scent, he reminded himself to thank the Hyuuga for it later. Carefully setting it aside, he looked over the other envelope. It looked like it had come a long way. It had a foreign stamp on it. Naruto squinted at the postal mark but couldn't decipher it at all. He didn't know which country it had come from but it certainly wasn't the land of fire. His name and address had been carefully printed on the front, and frustratingly, Naruto almost recognised the handwriting but he reminded himself, before he got carried away, that he wouldn't need these clues since it probably wasn't a Valentine's card inside.

Naruto slipped a finger under the flap of the envelope, not realising he was holding his breath, and he tore open the sticky seal. There was a card inside. He felt his heart rate increase in excitement as he pulled the card from its envelope. There was a picture on the front, of a kitten sitting in front of a vase of red roses. There was a border of red hearts all around the outside. Naruto couldn't believe it, it really was a Valentine's card! He found himself glued to the spot, itching to open it but afraid at the same time. What if it was a joke? What if it wasn't? It wasn't another of Sakura's tricks to persuade him that...? No, but Sakura wouldn't try to lead him on like that again, right? Idiot, remember the stamp? It wasn't even sent from the leaf village!

Almost reverently, Naruto opened the card and slowly, ever so slowly, the printed verse and accompanying message inside was revealed.

Naruto,

Roses are red, Violets are blue, I would give anything, to just be with you.

Happy Valentine's Day.

But Naruto felt his heart rise up to his throat when he saw the signature at the bottom.

Gaara

Gaara? Gaara sent this? Naruto's mind went into turmoil as he tried to grasp this information. Gaara, who never once gave any hint of ever liking anybody, was suddenly sending him Valentine's cards? Did… Did Gaara really feel that way, about him? Naruto suddenly felt a wave of guilt crash over him as he recalled how he'd coldly knocked Gaara's hand off his shoulder the last time they'd met. But Gaara had still told him he considered him a friend. Did this card mean that a friend wasn't all Gaara considered him as? Was it something more?

Well, the card obviously answered his question, but Naruto couldn't get his head around the fact that Gaara had sent it in the first place. Gaara just wasn't the type. Sure, he'd gotten a lot better at expressing his feelings and he had a hell of a way with words, but Naruto had never in a million years dreamed that Gaara might someday build up enough confidence to actually be sending Valentine's cards, let alone to him of all people! But, the more Naruto thought about it, the more sense it made. He knew that Gaara was still rather reserved, but whenever he met the redhead, he surprised him with his openness. He knew that Gaara was still uncomfortable with physical human contact, and yet it was Gaara who'd held out his hand to Naruto, twice! Naruto was the first person who'd ever made Gaara feel like he was worth something, that he had something other than himself to live for. Naruto knew what that felt like, and when he thought about how close he felt to Iruka sensei, and Sasuke, for teaching him the same thing, he could see how Gaara might come to feel the way he did…

But… Even if he knew now that Gaara… loved him… What was he going to say to him? Naruto couldn't return the feelings Gaara had, and Gaara was a good friend, he didn't want to upset the redhead. He'd have to be really careful about how he dealt with this.

Naruto dropped his head into his hands as he wracked his brains. What was he going to say?...

xxx

xxx

"Gaara, a personal letter came for you."

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow at his brother as he removed his sandals and entered the house. "I don't get personal mail."

"You get fan letters? Don't they count?" Kankuro teased from his position on the sofa, reminding Gaara of the small pile of glittery envelopes which piled up in his inbox every week and remained there until Temari threw them away.

Gaara glared, repeating, "I don't get personal mail."

"Well," Kankuro said lightly, tossing the letter in question over his shoulder for Gaara to catch. The redhead did so easily. "You do now."

Gaara examined the envelope. It just had "Gaara" written on the front, and a Konohan postal stamp in the corner. Gaara felt his ears burning as his heart beat suddenly raced. There was only one person this could be…

"Would you look at that, if only Temari were here, she'll never believe me when I tell her I saw Gaara blushing." Kankuro said to himself, in a voice which wasn't lowered at all. Gaara felt his skin prickle defensively.

"I'm not."

"Is it from your girlfriend?" Kankuro asked in that irritating sing-song voice he used when he made fun of Temari. Gaara didn't appreciate being the recipient of this mockery and launched a little lump of sand at the back of Kankuro's head with enough force to knock the hot chocolate in the brunette's hands all over his legs. Kankuro yelled when the precious liquid was not only lost, but burned him as well, and Gaara took the opportunity to grumpily trudge up the stairs.

It wasn't long though before Gaara's stomach began to turn and his heart beat increased still further. He didn't like these feelings, and did his best to repress them. He stood outside his bedroom door for a minute, his hand frozen on the handle as he fought to calm himself down.

Even if it is Naruto, Gaara told himself sternly, he's probably just wondering what the hell you were on about, sending that stupid card. He wouldn't be writing to… to… Gaara swallowed, he couldn't even bring himself to think that Naruto might return these strange feelings he had. He never wished to feel the way he did, but he couldn't help but want to… touch Naruto sometimes. Gaara sometimes felt inclined to hold the blonde's hand or wrap himself in his arms. Whenever he got too close, Gaara was overcome by this sickening, giddy feeling and yet he thrived on it. There was never a moment in his life where Gaara felt more alive than when Naruto was by his side.

Gaara shuddered, bringing himself back down to earth where he still stood outside his room with his hand on the door handle. With a scoff at his own foolishness, Gaara turned the knob and entered his room, closing the door behind him. Slowly, he made his way over to sit on the bed, never taking his eyes off the little envelope he held delicately in his hand.

He stared at it, afraid of what he'd find inside. Whatever Naruto had to say, Gaara knew it would trouble him to hear it. If Naruto didn't share these feelings, then… Gaara worried for their friendship. He treasured that above all else and he could feel the knot of painful dread tighten in his gut when he considered losing that friendship. But, if by some miracle, Naruto did feel this way… What would they do about it? They'd still be so very far apart, and they'd only see each other every now and then. And even then, what would they do about it? Gaara daren't think about it, afraid of the confusing feelings he might unearth if he did.

Naruto, in the end, made him happy. Gaara didn't want to complicate that, no matter the other feelings the blonde made him feel.

Taking a deep breath, Gaara opened the envelope. It wasn't a letter, was the first thing he noticed. Intrigued, he pulled out the contents and froze when he saw what it was.

It was a card.

It had a huge red heart on the front.

"You only send one, to the person you're in love with."

This couldn't possibly…

Gaara slowly opened the card, his heartbeat pounding in his chest as Naruto's handwritten message came into view. Gaara'd never seen his friend's handwriting before, and he found himself tracing the letters with his fingertips. He stopped when he realised what he was doing, and read the words instead.

Gaara,

Thanks for the card, I never would have thought I'd ever get a card from anyone but Hinata but I never, in a million YEARS expected one from you. So thanks Gaara, it means a lot to me. You'd probably know how much.

I'm sorry though, I don't love you that way. You're a dear friend to me and I'll always care about you a lot! I mean, you're… Well, you're Gaara!

"Roses are red, Cacti are green, No matter what happens, you got a friend in me!"

Take care, Gaara. Make sure to drop by next time you're in Konoha, ok?

Love, Naruto

Gaara's hands stopped trembling and he released the breath he'd been holding in with a sigh. He felt… crushed, disappointed understandably, but for the most part, the young Kazekage was relieved. He wouldn't lose his friend. The most treasured thing the young man had wasn't going to disappear.

And he vowed, that no matter what, he'd protect it. No matter what happened, he'd protect Naruto Uzumaki with his life.

xxx

Author's Note: I cried inside just thinking up that plot line at the end, but in my defense! I also planned for this to be longer. I told myself I'd continue if I finished my other Valentine's fic in time. Heh, which I'll only manage now if I blam it tomorrow afternoon. But rest assured, good readers! You'll be hearing from me again, soon. I hope you enjoyed my upsettingly one sided Valentine's tribute [insert Author's face:] T.T

Happy Valentine's Day! Have a good one! x