"So what have you been up to?" Naruto asked as they sat down in the corner of the room away from the mass of people that had grouped around the bar.
"Work. Being the personal assistant to one of the most powerful men in the country can be a lot of work." Gaara replied.
"Well it sounds like a great job." Naruto said taking a swig of his beer.
"It helps pays the bill." Gaara smiled. "I get to travel with Mr. Hyuga when he goes to meetings out of the country, but I'm sure that you've seen more of the world than I ever will."
"Yeah, I just never had the time to appreciate it." He replied.
"Why did you leave?" she asked, "It's just hard for me to imagine you being anything other then in the military."
"I'm tired of fighting. When I signed up they told me I was fighting for freedom, freedom for the people over there, and protecting the freedom of the ones that live here, so I figured I would come back here and have some of that freedom that I've been fighting for." He said looking her right in the eyes.
Those big beautiful eyes that Naruto felt he could just get lost in, he felt like the world started and ended right there in her eyes.
"That was mighty inspirational." said a man she hadn't noticed, though Naruto had, not many people could fly under his radar.
"Shut up Sasuke." Naruto said as he stood up and hugged his old friend.
"Well now I see why you never met up with us, Sakura and I were just sitting at the bar talking about the glory days and when we got to the topic of the great Naruto Uzumaki you were no where to be seen, but here I find you holed up with this beautiful woman that has caught the eye of every man in this room, what lies have you told the poor girl to get her to have a conversation with you?" He laughed.
"Look at the name tag asshole." Naruto laughed.
Sasuke couldn't form a sentence as he sputtered and stuttered.
"You are still a remarkably beautiful woman." Sakura said walking in on the group, she had known it was Gaara from the moment she saw the woman, the eyes were a dead giveaway.
"Thank you Sakura." Gaara smiled.
"So what have you been up to Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"I inherited the company after Itachi went AWOL." Sasuke started, "He left to be a musician in some band, lots of potential, but no motivation."
"I heard about that in the paper, prodigal son turns back on company kind of headline." Naruto responded.
"Hes living with his band mates in some dilapidated apartment complex. Technically they're squatters. imagine that, the heir to the Uchiha fortune squatting." Sasuke said with a chuckle, there had always been bad blood between the two brothers.
"What about you Naruto?" Sakura asked. "We know you joined the military after high school, what was that like?"
Naruto had a dark look in his eyes, but only Gaara saw it. Everyone else was too caught up in themselves to notice.
"Hey, I don't think this is the time or the place to talk about those kinds of things." Gaara said, putting her hand on Narutos shoulder.
He felt a small, feminine hand on his shoulder and looking up at Gaara with gratefulness for the change of support.
"So tell me, what has the gang been up to since I've been gone?" Naruto asked.
"Well Shikamaru couldn't be here, considering he's the secretary of defense. Choji is a chef at 'Red Rose', its a new restaurant downtown. Hinata works for her cousin, shes his secretary, she said something about him getting a new personal assistant, the poor woman. Shes working for the second biggest egomaniac in the country." Sakura started.
"Neji is actually a pretty good guy once you get to know him." Gaara said.
"How do you know Neji?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm the new personal assistant." Gaara replied, taking a sip of her vodka and cranberry.
"How'd you manage to land that job?" Sakura asked, "I hear Neji is pretty meticulous about anyone that works for him."
"We went to collage together. We both took the same business class at Konoha University." she responded.
"KU has one of the best business programs in the country, how did you manage to get in?" Sakura asked.
"My dad, he left all me and my siblings a staggering amount of money when he passed." Gaara said quietly.
The group became quiet after that, they all remembered that.
The night of prom Gaaras father was involved in a car accident, a drunk driver hit him head on. He was ejected through the front windshield, but had managed to stay alive.
When Gaara made it to the hospital his older siblings were already there, Naruto was right on his heels.
Gaara was the only person their father would talk to.
Gaara could still remember every word he said.
"I want you to do whatever it takes to make you happy Gaara. I see your mother in you, and I can see you holding her in. Please, let her out."
Those were the last words Gaara had ever heard from her father, after that he had slipped into a coma and passed away later that night.
Her father was her first hero, and when he passed the only thing that kept her from getting lost was Naruto.
"Well how about Kakashi? Is he still teaching at the high school?" Naruto asked attempting to change the subject as fast as he could. He remembered what Gaara went through when she lost her father, he was there at the hospital with Gaara when he passed. He didn't want to remind Gaara of that night.
Gaara nodded at him, her way of saying thanks for the change of subject.
"You didn't hear? Kakashi left with Iruka and disappeared." Sasuke chuckled. "I heard that they went and eloped."
"Why does that not surprise me." Naruto laughed.
"Hes an old pervert." Sakura said.
"I remember he used to read porn mags in class." Naruto began laughing hysterically.
"I used to hate his class." Sakura replied.
"I loved it. He was by far the most intelligent teacher at our school." Gaara smiled.
"How did you stand him, he always used to flirt with all the girls." Sakura shivered.
"Well it probably had something to do with me not being a woman at the time." Gaara chuckled.
"I remember one time he showed up to school drunk. He thought Choji was a girl." Sasuke laughed.
"He would flirt with anyone that had anything close to breasts." Sakura shivered. The guy always gave her the creeps.
The night went one, and soon the crowd had begun to thin out and people where leaving. Soon Naruto, Gaara, Sakura, and Sasuke found themselves in the hotel bar away from the main crowd of people.
Gaara was in no shape to drive herself home, they had all been drinking all night, but Gaara could put some alcohol away. She was swaying back an forth in her seat, and slurring every other word.
"We should probably get going." Sasuke said taking a look at his watch to find it was almost one in the morning.
"It was great seeing you guys again." Sakura said as she hugged Naruto, and then Gaara and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"It was amazing. We should do this again sometime." Naruto said.
"I second that." Gaara managed to say without slurring.
"Well we will be in contact." Sasuke said as he shook Narutos hand and the two left the blond and the red-head sitting alone at the bar.
"Do you need to call someone to come get you? I mean, if you want you can always crash in my room." Naruto said, almost hesitantly.
It didn't take long for Gaara to make a decision.
"I'll meet you up there then." She winked and stood up.
Naruto was hypnotized by the swish in Gaaras hips as she walked away, he couldn't take his eyes off her as she walked away.
"This is going to be a long night." Naruto muttered as he paid for their drinks and went to join a beautiful girl in his hotel room.