Thanks to Balinase2 for beta-ing this chapter. This time her payment was one of Naruto's special German double chocolate cheesecake.

Chapter 7

Iruka folded his arms as he continued to observe the man slouching in his living room.

"What's going on, Kakashi?" he asked as he finally moved to sit next to him. The silver-haired man blinked at the sudden intrusion. Slowly he turned to look at Iruka as though seeing him for the first time.

"When did you get here?"

"I've been here for about ten minutes now. You didn't even look up when I entered."

Kakashi stared at the brown-haired man for a minute, before answering.

"Maa well, you see, I was so engrossed in my literature, I didn't even hear you come in. You know how it is…" Kakashi said lightly as his only visible eye curved up with his smile. Iruka simply gave him a dubious look. He would hardly call what Kakashi was reading literature.

"No, I don't know how it is. You've been staring at the same page since I walked in here."

"It just happened to be a particularly good part that I just had to pay close attention to."

"So why weren't you blushing and chuckling like a virgin?" Iruka remarked slyly. Kakashi not one to pass up the opportunity to fluster the younger man leaned closer.

"Like a virgin you say?" he whispered allowing his breath to ghost over Iruka's lips. "Is that what you think Iruka? Maybe you'd like to find out how experienced I really am?"

Iruka stared at the other man for a minute as he tried to comprehend exactly how the conversation ended up on Kakashi's experience.

"No thanks. I'll pass. I wouldn't want to disappoint your hand. " Iruka whispered as he pulled back slightly, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi. Did this man have no shame? They stared at each other for a moment, Kakashi's dark grey eye alight with amusement and something else that Iruka knew all too well. He saw it practically every time their eyes met. Finally, the older man pulled away and reopened his book.

"Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me. You're never too old to learn new tricks. Maybe we can learn together." Kakashi responded as he began to read once more.

"You already know the answer to that."

"Do I?"

When no response came, Kakashi lowered his book to glance over at Iruka; the amusement was gone, replaced by a more somber expression. Iruka didn't bother looking at the other man as he stood up and headed to the kitchen, his previous curiosity gone. Sometimes, talking to Kakashi was like banging one's head against a brick wall. You just had to stop or suffer a concussion. Kakashi watched the man leave the room, his book forgotten for the moment. He was too busy trying to keep his mind from over analyzing Iruka's lack of reaction.

Iruka leaned against the kitchen counter and stared out the window. The sun was setting, painting the sky in orange and gold hues, causing the clouds that floated languidly by to light up with color. Iruka didn't see this, though, as he took a sip from the glass he was holding. Reaching up, he absently scratched at the scar across his nose. He'd been insecure about the scar for years before he finally accepted it for what it was, a part of him, a reminder to forever cherish those closest to him, to never forget who those precious people are.

Iruka had been barely fourteen when his parents died leaving him with the scar to remember the incident by. He'd spent the remainder of his teenage years alone and withdrawn. It wasn't until he decided to become a teacher did he finally don the mask of a happy, well-mannered young man, a smile always at the ready. His students loved him despite his easily ignited temper; the parents of his students loved him. He had acquaintances but no friends, not really. There was no one he could call to when he needed a reprieve from his nightmares, no one to share the good times of his life, no one to share his fears with, no one he trusted enough to put himself on display before. Even when he began working a part time job in Konoha's defense department as a desk clerk, he still kept his distance. He was happy with his life, content with what he had. He had taught himself to be grateful. It wasn't until a young student with blonde hair and a horrific penchant for orange barged into his life that Iruka finally realized what he was missing. Eventually the blonde boy would drag a silver haired man with him who would wedge himself firmly in Iruka's reality. Together they would become the banes of his existence while simultaneously becoming the two most precious parts of it.

"I want to take you out."

Iruka broke out of his musings to look up at Kakashi. He sighed and swallowed the remaining contents of the glass in his hand. Iruka had to give it to the man, he was persistent and they both knew his persistence was beginning to pay off. Hence, the reason Kakashi was becoming bolder with his advancements. Iruka knew he was caving, but there was no way in hell he was going down without a fight.

"Before you begin, it's just dinner between friends. There's this new restaurant I want to try, and dinner for one is no fun." Kakashi stated as he moved to stand next to the window. Iruka didn't answer while he watched the silver haired man gazing out the window. He remembered the day Kakashi made his feelings known. Being friends with the masked man meant Iruka had no choice but to get used to the lewd comments and constant flow of pornographic material that was ever present wherever Kakashi went, not to mention the man was also employed by Konoha's defense department. Thus, Iruka had no choice but to quickly learn how to deal with Kakashi's idiosyncrasies. This didn't bother Iruka as much as most people thought it would, Iruka himself was no saint, he'd be the first to admit that. So, he matched every one of Kakashi's rude remarks never missing a beat, which resulted in them becoming fast friends, until the day Kakashi decided to take things a little further.

They'd been walking home that night, enjoying each other's drunken company when Kakashi confessed his feelings in a flourish. Naturally, Iruka had assumed the other man was joking and nearly fell over laughing. Kakashi didn't find it the least bit funny, and Iruka had found himself pinned against a wall, soft lips forcefully pressed against his own. Iruka wasn't sure why at the time, but he had kissed back. Kakashi had brought their lips together, but Iruka was the first to taste the other with his tongue, forcing the older man to part his lips.

The kiss had been rough and filled with tension as lips slid against each other, tongues tangling as they tried to devour as much of the other as possible. Kakashi battled to take control, but Iruka refused to give in. Finally, relinquishing victory over the kiss, burying his hand into Iruka's hair, Kakashi had yanked the younger man's head to the side and latched onto his neck. Iruka moaned as teeth grazed his skin before being laved by a hot tongue. Hands roamed, groping at each other, clawing, neither gentle. Iruka had found his way under Kakashi's shirt and viciously raked the other man's back with his nails. Kakashi groaned in response and pushed forward hard, grinding their hips together. It wasn't until he felt something hard pressed against his own growing erection, that Iruka frantically pushed Kakashi off him. Kakashi was too busy trying to process the loss of warmth under him to block the punch that landed solidly on his face. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Iruka turned and headed home without a word. He didn't think he'd ever forget the look of pure anger and hurt on Kakashi's face as he left him standing there that night.

It was only months later that he finally saw Kakashi again, weeks after the marks of their last meeting had faded from both parties. The man had shown up at his front door determined to remain a part of Iruka's life, regardless of the role he was to play. At first, Iruka had objected, afraid of leading the masked man on, but Kakashi had been adamant. Eventually, Iruka gave in but not before he explicitly stated the limits of their relationship. Kakashi had gladly accepted, desperate at the time to salvage what was left of their friendship. After a while, they had slipped back into the comfortable routine of lewd banter and less than clean jokes. This didn't last long however, Kakashi was determined to never let Iruka forget how he truly felt through his words and actions, slipping in occasional innocent reminders.

At first, Iruka resisted vehemently afraid of giving Kakashi the impression that there was more than what he was willing to give. However, as time went by, his protests became less and less intense until it got to the point that Iruka brushed aside Kakashi's advancements with simple refusals. He had grown to accept the gestures as long as the unspoken line was not crossed. Lately though, Iruka found he wasn't protesting at all but was rather greeting Kakashi's actions with silence or weak glares if the man became too forward. Iruka was no fool - Kakashi was slowly pushing against that line, his overtures were becoming less innocent, he was testing that line to see how much longer it would hold. Kakashi had worn him down and they both knew it. Iruka was slowly coming to accept that simple truth.

"Besides, didn't you want to know what's going on?" Kakashi said as he turned from the window to look at the other man. The brunette cocked an eyebrow curiously as he observed the masked man for a moment.

"…Alright. At least let me take a shower first."

"I'll be back around 7 then."

Iruka nodded as he watched Kakashi exit the kitchen. Reaching up, he pulled the tie from his hair using the other hand to massage his scalp. He wondered how much longer he could resist. It didn't matter, it would only take one thing from Kakashi for him to give in completely. Kami knew if it were anywhere near as good as the first time, he'd yield in a heartbeat. He'd been denying it for years, one could live in denial for only so long.

"Alright Gaara, here's the deal. I promise to buy you as much chocolate as you want on one condition. You are to be on your best behavior, which means no growling, no threats to bodily harm and no actual causing of bodily harm. Got that?"

Gaara said nothing as he considered the young man standing next to him. The redhead made a mental note to thank whatever god was out there for convincing Naruto to discard the copious amounts of orange. Instead, he was wearing a long sleeved black shirt with dark blue jeans under a black coat. The shirt fit rather snug and had the kanji for strength embroidered in orange thread on the front, below the left shoulder. Naruto had mentioned the shirt was a gift from the girl whose party they were attending. With every movement, Gaara could see the faint outlines of muscles contract and relax under the shirt.

"I'm serious Gaara." Naruto said again as he rang the doorbell once more.

"If you're so afraid that I'll hurt your friends, why did you bring me here?" Gaara asked coldly.

Naruto stared at the redhead.

"I'm not afraid of you hurting my friends, Gaara, I'm afraid you won't have fun. I just really want you to make friends with them."

Gaara stared back at the warm azure eyes fixed on him. How could he refuse anything when Naruto was looking at him like that?

"Fine, I will…have fun…but don't you dare buy me that disgusting stuff with the fruit fillings." Gaara drawled. In all honesty, there was no need for Naruto to have to buy him anything. Gaara would do anything for the blonde if only to see him smile. He would try to have fun, he would try to make friends if that was what Naruto wanted. On the other hand, if Naruto wanted to buy him the heavenly confectionary (the word chocolate did not justify the greatness of the sweet chunks in Gaara's opinion) then there was no way Gaara was going to argue. He would simply go with the flow.

Naruto's face erupted in a grin.

"Deal."

"Well if it isn't dickless." A flat voice called from the doorway. Naruto whirled around immediately reverting to his loud, rambunctious self. The owner of the voice turned out to be an incredibly pale young man, with jet-black hair falling about his face. He was wearing an extremely tight fitting shirt with jeans that hung low on his hips. The shirt managed to fall short of the jeans revealing a generous amount of light toned torso. Gaara couldn't help but stare as he wondered how the boy managed to fit into his clothing.

"Sai! What's with you and your obsession with my dick? Who do you think you're calling dickless, huh? For your information, I have a perfectly good above average sized dick!" the blond yelled while turning red with anger and embarrassment. Gaara arched an invisible brow at Naruto's proclamation. Did he even realize what he had blurted out? The redhead took mental notes for later ammunition, as the person named Sai maintained a calm smile at Naruto's rant.

"Remind me to bring a ruler next time. Then we can measure it to see if it's really above average, providing we can find it, of course."

"Go fuck yourself, Sai." Naruto growled as he grabbed Gaara's hand and pulled him inside the house. Sai stepped aside in time to avoid being bowled over by a beet coloured Naruto.

"Nice to see you too, Naruto." Sai called, smiling at Gaara as the redhead went by. Gaara simply scowled back. Naruto didn't seem to like him so there was no need for Gaara to be nice.

Guided by the sounds of music, Naruto lead Gaara into a large room. The minute they entered, a green blob appeared, causing the redhead to blink in confusion.

"Naruto my friend! What a joyous day it is when I can once again be in the presence of your youthful vigor!"

Gaara winced as his ear drums suffered through the abuse. As if the music wasn't loud enough.

"Hi, fuzzy brow. How ya been?"

Gaara stepped from behind Naruto to observe this person called 'fuzzy brow'. The red head found his eyes growing larger in wonder. This person had the largest eyebrows on anyone Gaara had ever come across.

"Lee, this is my friend Gaara. Gaara this is Lee aka fuzzy brow."

Gaara nodded slightly in acknowledgment. Lee was having none of it. In a swift movement, Lee captured one of Gaara's hands in both of his own.

"I am always happy to meet another glowing with the spring time of youth. I am eternally grateful to have met you, Gaara!" Lee exclaimed as he continued to squeeze the redhead's hand.

Naruto glanced over to Gaara quickly noting how rigid the redhead had gone and the not too subtle throb that was pulsing steadily on his temple.

"Right, well I'm going to introduce him to everyone else." The blonde said as he pried Gaara's hand away from Lee's. Once Gaara was free, Naruto began pushing his friend away from the gushing young man. He made a mental note to advise Lee against touching Gaara.

"Sorry about that." Naruto mumbled in apology as he pushed Gaara towards a group lounging on one side of the room. "Don't let it get to you. Lee's a good guy, just a bit…err…overenthusiastic. Anyways, I promise fuzzy brow is the only one like that."

Gaara didn't respond as he allowed Naruto to push him over to a sofa. Sitting haphazardly on one edge of the sofa was a young man, his brown hair in a high ponytail. He seemed to be sleeping with his head lolled back, eyes closed.

"This is Shikamaru." Naruto said as he kicked the young man on the couch. With a grunt, Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes in search of the cause of his disturbance.

"Tch, it's only you, Naruto. Whadya want?"

Gaara watched as Shikamaru leaned forward rubbing at his eyes.

"Shikamaru, meet Gaara."

Shikamaru paused his rubbing to stare intently at the redhead for a moment. Gaara stared back blankly.

"Nice to meet you." The brunette finally muttered through a yawn. Gaara inclined his head slightly, the only acknowledgement of Shikamaru's greeting.

It was in this way that the redhead responded to each one of Naruto's friends as he found himself being dragged around the room from person to person before being gratefully deposited between the one named Shikamaru and another boy with dark glasses and a high-collared jacket. There was only so much human contact the redhead could take at a time, and tonight had exceeded his normal dosage by far.

Gaara had been stunned, to say the least, even if his face didn't show it. Thus far, no one had rebuffed him, shrank back in fear, sent him venomous looks or simply tried their best to give the impression of ignoring his existence. In fact, Gaara was able to detect fear like a bloodhound, and he had smelled none so far. Instead, they had all greeted him warmly, a bit too warmly in some cases for Gaara's liking, but at least Naruto had been aware enough to swiftly remove him from those instances.

"How troublesome. Just watching these guys is making me tired." Shikamaru said yawning as he reached up to scratch at the base of his ponytail. Gaara glanced at the one next to him, before turning to look at what had caught Shikamaru's attention. He had to agree with the brown-haired boy's sentiment. There was simply too much energy and noise in the room. The pink haired girl named Sakura was busy pummeling the one named Sai (Gaara didn't even bother to suppress the slight smirk of satisfaction at that one). Sai had been a little too comfortable with Naruto and so he deserved every blow that he was currently receiving from Sakura. The one named Lee was still spewing nonsense about the springtime of youth to the pink-haired girl, while the blonde with the ponytail was yelling to the chubby one about something or the other. The only ones that seemed calm in the room, other than the strange shades-wearing character and the lazy one, was the guy Gaara had mistaken for a girl. Apparently, the house belonged to him, and he was the cousin of the girl that had fainted the moment Naruto wrapped his arms around her in a hug. The moment the girl hit the waiting arms of the guy with the shades, Gaara had decided he didn't like her. Gaara stared at Neji for a minute, already he could visualize the dark-haired man as a subject for one of his pieces, maybe together with Naruto. The redhead had unconsciously flexed his fingers before he returned to scanning the room, looking for the blond that brought him into this fiasco that called itself a party.

"He went into the kitchen." Shikamaru muttered as he leaned back. Gaara turned green eyes onto Shikamaru sharply.

"You were looking for Naruto, right? He went into the kitchen."

Gaara said nothing as he eyed Shikamaru suspiciously. Shikamaru sighed before letting his head fall back lazily.

"Kiba's in the kitchen too, Shino, just in case you were looking for him."

Gaara glanced curiously at Shino as he felt him shift on the sofa.

"You guys are so troublesome." Shikamaru found himself mumbling as he wondered if he could probably sleep through the noise.

"...Kiba...can I ask you something?" Naruto asked nervously.

"You just did, genius."

Pulling two cans of beer from Neji's refrigerator, Kiba turned and tossed one to Naruto.

"Don't be an ass." Naruto muttered, making a face.

"Okay okay. Ask me your something."

"Well..."

Naruto hesitated as he kept his eyes focused on the can in his hands, index finger running idly around the rim, a red tinge adorning his face. "It's..."

"I see." Kiba said with a sigh. Leaning back against the fridge, Kiba opened his can and took a deep swig. "Just spit it out Naruto. Sometimes you're too perceptive for your own damn good."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto met Kiba's gaze and barreled through the question. "Are you and Shino-"

"Yes. We are." Kiba said, cutting off his friend, eyes honed on Naruto's face. Naruto felt himself flush at the honest answer.

"Oh...so...umm how long?"

"How long what?"

"You know... how long you guys been together...I guess." Naruto stated before taking a gulp of his own beer. Kiba said nothing as he regarded his friend.

"How'd you figure it out?"

"I'm not blind, Kiba; you weren't making much of an effort to hide it when I saw you guys last." Naruto stated.

Sighing, Kiba raked a hand through his unruly hair. The room lapsed into silence broken only by the sound of fabric rustling as Kiba moved nervously. Naruto patiently observed his friend while he waited for an answer. Finally, Kiba broke the silence.

"Does it bother you?"

"Should it?"

Kiba shrugged while staring down at the floor. "It bothers some people."

"What if I said it bothered me - would that change anything?"

"Maybe…"

Neither said anything for a minute as the weight of Kiba's words hung in the air.

"It doesn't bother me, Kiba." Naruto said as he watched his friend slowly relax. Kiba nodded and brought the can to his lips.

"…Six months…that's how long."

Naruto blinked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." The brunette answered.

Naruto slowly digested what Kiba said as he took another swallow of beer.

"Wow...I had no clue...does anyone else know?"

"Shikamaru figured it out after about two weeks. He didn't say anything until about a month later though. Hinata…we decided to tell her. I think Neji might be suspicious but I'm not sure… and now you."

"I see."

"Shikamaru was cool about it. You know him, everything's just too troublesome. Hinata was a bit…uncomfortable at first, but she's used to it now." Kiba said as he turned to look at Naruto, trying his best to discern his friend's reaction, looking for one thing in particular. He didn't see it, instead he saw something else, curiosity. Feeling the brunette's eyes on him, Naruto looked up.

"What?"

Kiba shook his head as he looked away. "…Just ask already."

"Ask what?"

"You want to know how it happened, right? We've known each other since we were twelve. We practically grew up together. Now you want to know how two of your male friends ended up like this. It's written all over your face."

Naruto stared down at the can in his hand, a faint blush evident. Kiba was right; he did want to know. He wanted to know how their friendship had grown from just that to so much more. He wanted to know when they had first realized it; what they felt and who said it first. Questions swirled through the blond's mind, causing him to fidget with unease. Kiba gave a mirthless smile at Naruto's behavior.

"It's alright. I'll tell you. Actually I'm not surprised that you want to know."

Naruto looked at Kiba, slightly confused at what he meant.

"It just happened, really. I don't even think Shino realized it at first. I was aware of it from the beginning. We were best friends. Ever since we were kids. I probably spent more time with Shino than I spent with anyone else. You know that, we were always together, doing everything together. After a while… I realized… I stopped seeing him as just a friend. I wanted more than just to be around him… I... I wanted more than what our friendship would offer…You know, Naruto, you won't believe how unimaginably easy it is to blur the line between friends and lovers when you truly care about someone. Before I knew it, I'd already blurred that line in my mind. At first I just kept it to myself, I tried to shrug it off, ignore it. I mean - come on, remember how many times we snuck into the girl's bathroom together, or we'd try to peep into the girl's bath at the hot springs? It was impossible to do, though. I couldn't deny it, no matter how hard I tried. The feeling I got every time I was around him, every time he looked at me. Every thing he did when we were close, it was like I became sensitive to everything that was him whenever we were together, you know?"

Kiba glanced at his friend who was staring at him wide eyed; his can poised in mid air with a distant look in vivid, blue eyes.

"Or maybe you do know..." Kiba whispered as he regarded his friend.

Naruto nearly dropped his can. He opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out.

"You can't always help who you fall in love with, or even who you're attracted to. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to. I love him, you know, even though I've never told him…I do."

Naruto looked back at Kiba, speechless.

"You're the first person I've told actually. Hell, you're the first person I've told any of this stuff... Don't tell him before I get the guts to, will ya?" Kiba continued before emptying his can.

"I won't." Naruto forced out. His mind was still going a mile a minute, but at least it had slowed down enough to allow normal functioning such as responding to Kiba; now all he needed to do was get his breathing and heart rate back under control. Kiba nodded, this time refraining to comment on his friend's obvious state of distress.

"Hey Naruto, about the others-"

"I won't tell anyone else about you guys."

"Thanks." Kiba answered giving his friend a genuine smile. Naruto smiled back until he noticed the glint in Kiba's eyes.

"You can tell that redhead friend of yours. It might make for a good conversation starter, heh." Kiba said sending Naruto a knowing look.

"What? W-what kind of conversation could I start with that?" Naruto asked as he felt his face heat up. Kiba smirked as he watched Naruto become flustered.

"Naruto."

The sound of his name caused the blond to jump.

"Gaara!"

Gaara flinched at the sound of his name being yelled.

"Speak of the devil. Well, time for me to do my thing and liven up this place!" Kiba said. Reaching into the fridge once more, he pulled out two more cans of beer.

"If you ever need to talk or you just want some guidance, gimme a call, eh, blondie." Kiba said, sending Naruto a wink as he left the kitchen. Gaara watched Kiba leave before turning to Naruto who was staring after the other boy, gaping.

"You were taking too long." The redhead muttered as he walked over to stand next to his friend.

"Huh?...Oh yeah…heheh…sorry…Kiba and I were just chatting. Guess we got caught up." Naruto said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly as Naruto unconsciously stepped back from him. Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and his lighter, not once taking his eyes off Naruto who was now staring down at his feet, fidgeting anxiously. Just as the redhead was about to light his cigarette, his friend interrupted.

"Don't do that in here. Neji'll have a hissy fit. Come on." Naruto said as he led Gaara out the kitchen and onto Neji's balcony.

The quiet was slowly becoming oppressive, as both boys stood on the balcony. Faint echoes of music reached them as the familiar smell of Gaara's smoke circled around them. Gaara was quickly becoming annoyed at Naruto's silence and obvious discomfort. It wasn't helping either that Naruto kept staring at him only to look away quickly once their eyes met. Finally, Gaara had enough as he allowed his temper to take over. Flinging his cigarette away, he roughly grabbed Naruto and spun him so they were facing each other.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Gaara demanded, clear agitation reflected in his voice

"Nothing's wrong. Why would you think something's wrong?" Naruto said quickly as he yanked himself out of Gaara's grasp, not once meeting his eyes.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Look at me and say that!" Gaara snapped as he took a step closer to Naruto, forcing the blond to back into the parapet bordering Neji's balcony. Naruto didn't say anything as he continued to stare at the ground. He could feel the heat of Gaara's body brushing his own, causing his heart to accelerate. Kiba's words flooded his mind. He was acting like a fool and he knew it. There was no reason for his behavior, yet he couldn't stop replaying the conversation he had with Kiba. He had been trying to convince himself that he was being paranoid, and what he felt was nothing like what Kiba described. He was simply confusing their feelings.

"Why are you acting like this? Why won't you look at me? Did I do something?"

Naruto flinched at the frustration in Gaara's voice. Gaara almost sounded hurt.

"Naruto, look at me!"

Finally, taking a deep breath, he looked up at the redhead that was glaring at him with confused and angry eyes. Naruto's breath hitched at the intensity of Gaara's gaze.

"S-sorry." The blond mumbled as he stared back. Now that he had finally looked into those green eyes, he was finding it impossible to look away.

"Explain."

Gaara's voice was barely a whisper as they continued to stare at each other. The redhead was doing his best to clamp down his ire. Naruto felt himself looking away only to have two warm hands grip his face firmly in place.

"No. Don't look away from me." Gaara said firmly, brows furrowed, his words sounding almost desperate as he held onto Naruto. It was almost unbearable having Naruto not look at him. His hands had moved of their own volition. Naruto's eyes had gone wide at the touch. Gaara could feel the blond's breath ghosting over his hands in unsteady spurts, as his own breathing quickened. Now that his hands were clasped on Naruto's face, Gaara felt all his curiosity coming back. Shakily, he moved his thumbs, allowing them to slide over the whisker like scars. He could feel the almost nonexistent changes, as the pads of his fingers ran over them. Naruto stood frozen in place as he felt the exploring hands of the redhead.

"Why didn't you want to look at me? Why are you acting like this?" Gaara whispered as he stared at Naruto. The other didn't respond, too focused on the sensations being created by Gaara's hands. The redhead let his hands slip down, allowing him to touch each scar. As Gaara's gaze moved lower to slightly parted lips, he found himself giving in. Tentatively, he moved a thumb, pausing for a moment before letting it brush against incredibly soft skin. Naruto felt his heart speed up at the touch, as he found himself leaning towards it. At the sudden movement, Gaara looked up to find Naruto staring at him with intent blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" Naruto finally managed to say, his voice barely audible.

Gaara didn't answer as he moved forward until their bodies shared the barest of touches.

"I'm making you look at me…Naruto." The redhead whispered. He could feel himself falling forward, being pulled in by shining azure pools. Naruto glanced down at the lips that whispered his name in a way that had him shivering. Reaching up, he shakily grasped Gaara's hand, gently pulling it away from his face. Naruto knew what he was doing, he could see himself doing it, yet he couldn't stop as he found himself leaning forward, stopping when their lips were a hair's width apart. He could see Gaara looking at him, jade eyes darkening with the emotions that swirled through him. Somewhere in his mind, he heard a voice saying that he'd regret it, that it was wrong, it wasn't what he wanted. Yet, when Gaara closed the gap between them, bringing their lips together he didn't pull away.

Naruto could see his eyes slide close even as Gaara's eyes remain fixed on his own. The voice in his head was slowly disappearing as he noted how soft Gaara's lips felt pressed against his own. The voice was almost gone when he leaned forward placing more pressure into the kiss. The voice was gone when Naruto felt Gaara respond by pushing back. Slowly, the blond felt Gaara reach out, a hand gently caressing his cheek. Almost instinctively, Naruto reached out to grip the redhead's shirt.

"How troublesome."

The voice caused both men to jump and pull apart. Two pairs of eyes, one wide with utter embarrassment, and the other narrowed into kunai-throwing slits turned to stare at the newcomer. Shikimaru pulled out a cigarette and lit it, ignoring the other two occupants of the balcony. An uncomfortable silence continued as Shikamaru lazily brought the stick to his lips.

"Sakura and the others are looking for you, Naruto. They were wondering where you and Gaara disappeared to. I think she's drunk or something like that." The brunet said as he regarded the other two staring at him.

"Geez, Naruto, stop looking like you were caught with your hand in the cookie jar, and just go back inside before they come out here. I would rather have a smoke in peace." Shikamaru muttered. Naruto found himself blushing for the umpteenth time that day.

"Glaring at me like that won't make me disappear either. You guys are so troublesome…why did I even bother coming…I could have been at home asleep…just thinking about the fact that I could have been in bed at home asleep is troublesome…"

Without a word, Naruto left the balcony with Gaara in tow. Sighing, Shikamaru inhaled deeply only to have images of what he had just seen come floating back into his mind.

"Argh how troublesome!"