Don't own Naruto. Or any of the characters.

It had been raining for four days. Four days! And he'd trained for three of those four days. Three days of sliding in mud, swimming in puddles and generally getting dirt in every crease and crevice he had. Even his teeth had been muddy when he'd been carried off the field yesterday. Today, however he was indoors, staring out of the tiny apartment window with his leg wrapped and propped on a pillow. They'd let him leave the hospital since it was only a sprain and Sakura had healed the worst of the injury, but it was decided he should rest up today. Since the rain showed no signs of stopping, he didn't argue.

"Who'd have thought mud would be harder to fight in than sand." He mumbled to himself then turned away from the dreary day and lay back to stare at the bare ceiling.

The apartment was small, which suited him fine. He'd lived in places smaller and much less civilized than this most of his childhood. The walls were a simple white. In the corner a small refrigerator and counter, and a table and chair in the center of the room. Four plates, cups and place settings had been in the cabinets when he'd arrived. It had all be prepared for him before hand. Not only that, but the room felt warm and comforting despite its bare appearance. Almost lived in. Compared with the Kazekages apartments, this place seemed humble, but he'd never cared for that kind of opulence. No, this place was exactly what he needed. Now if only he could have all those other things he needed as well.

"Kankuro..."

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. He frowned, not expecting visitors and not having paid very close attention to the walkway outside. He looked through the window and found Gai standing in the door. The green suited man looked in his direction and gave him a dazzling thumbs up before opening the door and striding inside.

"I see you're feeling better, Gaara. This is good. We missed you're exuberant performance in training today. Neji just didn't seem into his work." Gai explained everything to him with a smile and a watchful eye.

"I'll just be he wasn't." Gaaras snide comment wasn't lost on Gai and he walked over to the corner to take the tea pot and fill it at the sink.

"Let's have some tea and a talk. I know you've been on edge the past few days. Maybe you just need a good verbal punching bag."

The pot steamed on the pilot lit and Gai dragged in the single chair to the bedside and put his elbows on his knees.

"So you came here for therapy? You might want to ask for hazard pay." Gaaras nose tingled and he rubbed it.

"I wouldn't call it therapy." Gai turned the chair around and straddled the back. "Think of it as male bonding."

Gaara slowly turned his head toward the older shinobi and eyed him warily. "Male Bonding?"

"Yah! Just a little friendly conversation over tea." Gais grin was blinding.

Gaara sighed. No matter how long it had been since Shukaku had been removed he still wasn't used to this kind of affection. Temari was the only person he ever really allowed to hold him. Both she and Kankuro were the only ones to sit and talk with him just for the conversation. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to that level of intimacy with strangers. Even if they were allies; he'd never really considered any of them friends.

"Gaara?"

He looked up and realized Gai had been talking to him for at least a minute. He sighed again and shook his head.

"I didn't hear a word you just said." He admitted then gave a weary smile.

"Well, why don't you talk and I'll listen? You seem to have a lot one your mind."

The pot whistled and Gai stood to turn off the burner. Gaara watched him pull two cups from the cabinet along with the tea. He moved efficiently around the small area and the red head frowned as he realized the man knew exactly where everything was down to the tea scoop.

"You certainly know your way around this place." He watched as Gais hand stilled for a moment with the Fukusa over the pot lid. Then he returned to pouring water in the cups.

"All of these places are built the same and many shinobi find themselves starting out here or somewhere similar."

Gaara nodded though he didn't believe him and looked back out at the rain soaked streets.

"I don't mind the cold. The desert is cold at night. But I have a real issue with being soaked to the bone and wrinkled as a prune."

Gai chucked and Gaara heard the tea scoop tap on the side of the cup. It tapped again as he fell silent, waiting for Gais reply.

"Trees can't grow without a little rain." Was his only reply.

Gaara snorted. "No wonder the trees are so damn big here." His nose tingled again and this time he sneezed. A moment later a cup was pushed under his nose.

"You'll catch cold sitting by widows without cover." A blanket dropped over his shoulders and he frowned as he stared into the cup of tea, only just realizing he was shivering.

Sipping the tea he fell into silence again. The rain poured down over the roof and fell in streams from the railing less than three feet away.

"Every morning I would walk to the highest point of the tower and stand on the balcony to watch the sun rise. It's windy and cold and your cheeks burn with it but the moment the sun peeks over the horizon everything seems to glow and the cold just blows away on the wind. For just a few minutes the world is on fire."

He looked down at his wrapped ankle and pulled the blanket more securely around his shoulders.

"Out of all the things I've lost, the thought that I may never see the world that way again leaves me hollow."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gai nod but otherwise the man made no comment. They sat for a while longer in companionable silence. Only Gaaras occasional sneeze intruding. Gai served them another round of tea and pulled out one of the dishes he'd been finding on his doorstep every night for the past two weeks. Gai waited until he'd at least eaten half the serving before taking the plate and cleaning up. Again, moving around as if he'd been doing it for years. And before he realized it the rain had subsided and the day was nearly gone.

Gai lifted his travel cloak from the door hook where he'd left it. "Try and get some rest. A medic will be by in the morning to check your ankle."

Gaara spoke as he opened the door and cool air rushed into the room. "I look forward to resuming our training."

Gai gave him a thumbs up and a ship guiding smile. "The widows Watari and Uboshita are your neighbors on each side." He pointed indicating which was which. "If you need anything they would be more than happy to assist."

With that he stepped and out pulled the door closed. Gaara didn't watch him go but was again struck by the idea that this wasn't the first time Gai had been in this particular apartment. Deciding to give in to curiosity tomorrow and ask the neighbors about it he pulled the blankets up around himself and lay back on the bed. Maybe he was just exhausted enough not to dream.

0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0

"Damn, it's too late." Shikamaru tossed money on the counter and stood, pulling his cloak over his shoulders. The rain had stopped but it was still cold out.

"Too late for what?" Choji asked as he stuffed the last bit of meat from his Hot Pot into his mouth before standing to don his own cloak.

"I was planning to stop by and see Gaara today. Ino said he was sent home with a sprain yesterday. Poor guy can't train worth a damn in the rain it seems."

"He'll get used to it." Choji slid open the door and stepped out into the chilled air.

"I suppose but still..." Shikamaru slid the door closed and pulled on his gloves. "I can't imagine what he's feeling right now."

They stepped into the road and bypassed puddles heading toward the residential areas. Choji pulled a bag of shrimp chips from his coat.

"Then don't try." The rotund shinobi spoke a few moments later.

Shikamaru sighed. "It's not that simple. Temari..."

"Is gone. You can't bring her back. No one comes back no matter how much you might want it. Feeling sorry for him won't make it better."

They continued down the road as the late crowd began to thin and lights came on in small comfortable houses along the road.

"But it's not really him you're feeling sorry for so I guess that wasn't fair." Choji continued to walk until Shikamaru pulled him to a stop.

They looked at one another for a long moment before the shadow-nin hung his head and chuckled mirthlessly.

"I haven't been this angry or felt this helpless since Asuma died."

Choji lay a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"We took care of that problem. We'll take care of this one."

Shikamaru shook his head. "It's not our problem to take care of."

"Sure it is." Choji smiled then turned toward his home leaving Shikamaru to catch up. He called over his shoulder when the man didn't follow. "That's what friends do."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't think Gaara has friends."

"He does now!" Choji yelled back then disappeared around the corner.

0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0

"Daddy?"

Sasuke looked up from the pages on his desk to find Naruto standing in the doorway to his office.

"You should be in bed." Sasuke lifted the boy as he walked over and sat him in his lap.

"You aren't in bed." The boy pouted then shuffled a few papers on the desk.

Sasuke smiled and pushed the papers back to their original position before turning his son to face him.

"I'm not a growing boy."

Bright green eyes narrowed on him as he fought to hide his smile behind a stern fatherly expression. Four years and two sons later and he still wasn't used to it. He simply wanted to let the boy sit up with him and destroy his office.

"I'll tell you what..." The blond perked up a little but still looked wary. "If you go to bed now, I'll come tell you a story that only you get to hear."

The boys smile turned mischievous. "You won't tell Hiro?"

Sasuke shook his head a smile smile playing at his lips.

"You won't tell Tadao?"

He shook his head again then grunted as his son slammed him by way of a hug, jumped to the floor using his nether regions as a spring, then bounded out the door screaming at the top of his lungs, "I get a story and you don't!!"

The resounding chorus of, "BUT DAAAAAD!!", could be heard from farther down the hall.

Once Sasuke regained his air and the ability to walk he placed his brush in the water jar and placed the stack of papers in the top drawer of his desk. He lifted his eyes to the picture sitting only inches from his hand. Brushing the dust he pulled it from the draw and placed it on the desk top directly in front of him.

"Seven years. And I wasted so much of it."

His fingers touched each face of team seven as he scrolled through the years he'd spent with them, both before and after his years of wandering. So many memories. So many stories.

"DADDY!!!" A shrill voice screamed from down the hall.

With a nod and a smile and picked up the picture and turned out the light. "Coming Naruto!"

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Hope this reads well. I had to do it in pieces since I had my own two year old to deal with. Enjoy and as always review.