"Whee! Go left! Now right! Ooh, can we fly over that tree. Wait, this is taking too long. Fly over that flower patch! Ah, this is so awesome!"
They spent a good half an hour in the air, up until the point where the bumble bee was so exhausted they had to rest on a lilly pad.
"Wow, this is super cool! I've never been this far away from home before!"
Gaara just looks at him in response, but Naruto doesn't seem to think it intimidating or crazy. Shoot, half of his friends just communicated through grunting and barking. He always made up for the lack of communication with lots and lots of talking.
And so he did. Talk.
A lot.
He talked for another half hour, until Gaara's bee was properly rested and Gaara could fly him back home.
"This was so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping off of the bee and dragging Gaara back into his room. Sasuke scoffed at the two and kept staring off into the distance next to his bumblebee.
Gaara nods, enjoying the sight of Naruto bouncing around everywhere, talking a mile a minute.
"I like your voice." Gaara says, and Naruto smiles a little shyly. This is the first time in all of Naruto's existence that he has ever been shy. If Iruka were here, he would drop to the floor in shock.
"Really? Thanks! Most of the time Iruka and Jiraiya can't stand my voice!"
With anyone else, it would sound self-deprecating. With Naruto, it sounded cute. Such was the way of the smiley blond. There were few things he would take as an insult, and few insults people would be offended by.
"I would like for you to live with me." Naruto smiles at him with wide eyes.
"Is it close by here?"
"It is everywhere." He says cryptically.
"Great! So Iruka won't miss me!"
Gaara nods and walks back to the window, turning back to look at Naruto once more.
"I will be back tomorrow." Gaara promises, and Naruto smiles brightly.
"Alright!"
When Gaara finally leaves, Sasuke breathes a sigh of relief.
"Damn, I thought you were going to stay there forever, Gaara-sama."
Gaara nods at Uchiha.
"Naruto is to be my wife." Gaara responds, and Sasuke almost trips climbing onto his bumblebee.
"You're shitting on me. That idiot?"
"Do not insult my wife, or you shall bear the fitting punishment."
"...Right. And what made you decide to choose him as your... Bride?" Sasuke cringes with the effort it took to repeat his name.
Gaara had never once cared what Sasuke thought, and wasn't about to start now. So he mounted his bee, took off, and was perfectly honest.
"He makes me feel emotions. That is what a connection is, is it not?"
After all, Temari had never once blushed until she met Shikamaru. And now they were engaged. Gaara had never smiled before Naruto, so they must now also be engaged.
"He makes me feel emotions, too. Lots of annoyance I've hardly ever felt before in my life. Do we have a connection, too?" Sasuke asks sarcastically.
Gaara stares at him.
Even riding the bees into the air, Gaara stares at him. He swerves around branches and all other obstacles, maintaining eye contact with Sasuke. Sasuke can't afford to keep staring back, so alternates between not crashing and not letting his guard down around his prince.
He sees sand coming from Gaara's wings.
"Except never as strong as your connection with him!" Sasuke finally continues, and Gaara slowly turns his head back to the road, satisfied.
So that's why his brother ran from the kingdom.
The royal family was fucking insane.
Naruto was excited. Finally, he was going to explore the world! He loved Iruka. He loved his family. He loved his home. But he wanted to love the rest of the world too, and now Gaara (his new best friend) and the bastard Sasuke were going to let him live out in the open air in the big big world, just as small as him.
They were thumb-sized, just like him.
Just.
Like.
Him.
He went to bed with a smile on his face, snuggling into the soft, luxurious hankerchief Iruka splurged on to serve as his blanket, tucked into the large snapping box that served as Naruto's king-sized bed.
He went to sleep quickly, deeply, and did not notice when his large snapping box snapped shut.
He did not notice as he was carried to the window.
He did not notice when Jiraiya leapt after him with a bark. He was used to barking noises, bouncing, and other such commotion. He was, however, unused to the rocking of water. So, as soon as the box hit the river and started floating downstream, he awoke. And he panicked.
He banged on the walls, screamed his obnoxiously loud voice almost raw, and thrashed around in a panic until finally he thrashed himself to a fitful sleep.
And woke up to sunny skies.
"Hello, blondie."
And four toothy grins.