WARNING: More M-rated smut in this chapter. If you shouldn't be reading this, then please don't. Otherwise, enjoy.

Sometimes, Gaara thought to himself as he filed out of the Council chamber and down the halls, being one of the five people acknowledged as the most powerful in the world wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure, take the strongest people in the five largest nations and stick them behind a desk to push papers all day every day instead of being out in the world employing the skills that got them the job in the first place. Brilliant. How long had it been now? Five years? Something like that, and in all that time the Kazekage had done little but paperwork. His spar with Naruto two days prior had brought to his attention just how lacking he was in physical exercise; hard to get a good practice partner when you were the strongest, right? Though he never would have expected it before, Gaara missed the few years of his youth when he had missions to do – places to go, sites to see (not that he had appreciated it much at the time), people to kill… it was all very nostalgic now. He wondered again what possessed people to think that it was wise to make aristocrats out of warriors.

"Irritated much?" his anbu companion asked when they were in a space of hall clear of any but themselves. Gaara flicked a glance at him but otherwise didn't respond. "You should know as well as anyone what politics are like." He paused again when a pair came through the hall in the opposite direction, continuing again when they were out of earshot. Not that he was really saying anything secretive, just that it didn't seem proper for the Kazekage's bodyguard to be chatting away with his charge. "I learned a long time ago that, with very few exceptions, the rich and powerful of the world just suck."

Gaara snorted derisively. "I'm aware of that, I assure you. My own father was hardly a poster child for the rich and benevolent."

"Here here."

They continued walking in silence to the end of the corridor to where a flight of stairs led them up two flights into yet another hall looking almost exactly like the one they had come from.

"I blame you for this, you know," the Kazekage stated off-handedly as they took a turn to the left. Naruto made a startled sound of inquiry so he continued with a smirk at his masked friend. "Used to be a time when I would just kill all the idiots that wasted my time. But you had to go and give me a damn conscience so I have to put up with their inane demands and not-so-subtle jockeying up social ladders that no one but they actually care about. It'd be so much easier to just kill them, so as far as I'm concerned it's all your fault that I let them live."

The blonde tilted his head and affected a look behind the mask of careful thoughtfulness. "Well, at least your own people have stopped trying to kill you. For the most part, anyway," Gaara grunted grudgingly at the point. "And if I hadn't 'given you a conscience', as you put it, you probably wouldn't even be Kazekage now."

"Am I supposed to thank you for that?" the redhead wondered idly with a bemused quirk to his brow ridge. His life had been an endless nightmare of paperwork ever since he had been given the position, he hardly considered it a favor, whatever the silly blonde's delusions about the joy of being a 'Kage. Naruto considered this as well as they walked.

"Point," he conceded finally as they made the last turn to enter the hall that housed the Kazekage's office. The pair didn't even miss a step as an unexpected scent caught them by surprise and they both sniffed the air experimentally. Gaara frowned imperceptibly and Naruto bit back a laugh.

"Kazekage-sama!" Matsuri called out in surprise from her desk in the antechamber before Gaara's rooms. He stopped at the desk at her hail. "You're back later than usual. Long meeting?"

"Indeed," the redhead agreed, trying not to get irritated again by the events in the previous meeting. Really, he was a shinobi, why did nobles have to come bother him about things? He'd just as soon ship them all out to bother the Nation Lord but he knew already that such an action would hardly gain him any favor with the Lord, and even if the Village was the main power structure of the country, it didn't pay to piss off the man who ruled said country. No, best to forget about it before he got annoyed.

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do for you? Tea perhaps?" the chuunin aide continued. The cheerfulness was a little forced, Gaara noticed as he leaned forward a little to scrutinize the girl. She looked tired, slight darkening under her eyes belied insufficient sleep – and oh, Gaara was a past master at all things regarding sleep deprivation – and her overall appearance seemed a little mussed.

"Get more rest." Gaara told her firmly with a small frown tugging at the corner of his lips. Though his expression was hidden, Naruto was smirking and biting his lip to keep silent. Matsuri blinked in surprise and Gaara straightened and continued before she could ask. "I'd rather not have to hurt my brother for wearing out my aide and leaving her exhausted." He looked pointedly at a shadowed corner at this statement.

Matsuri squeaked and stammered denials that fell on deaf ears as the Kazekage only turned and continued on toward his office. Naruto lagged a little behind, watching in amusement as Kankurou stepped out of the shadows with an embarrassed grimace and the poor girl was nearly glowing she blushed so much. Both seemed completely confused.

"Smells like sex," Naruto commented by way of enlightening the couple. Their expressions perfectly mirrored each other as they shifted from confusion to comprehension to downright horror and back to numb confusion again. The anbu casually tapped the vulpine nose of his mask as he passed them in the wake of his companion. Kankurou grimaced again; he, at least, understood the silent message, as he knew about his brother's heightened senses. He heard the puppeteer mutter 'damn jinchuuriki' under his breath as he passed the door into the office and let it shut behind him. Gaara was already sitting down at his desk and glaring at the work he had to begin.

Naruto paused less than halfway in the room, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting his weight more to his right side while he cocked his head a little, scrutinizing the other occupant. He debated internally with himself for a moment; Gaara looked angry, but then he usually looked angry about something. Such irritation was also often used as a tactic to hide something else that he was feeling. The anbu was a little worried, to be honest, but with an internal sigh he decided to just go with what he always did and ask outright.

"Are you angry?"

"What?" The look that the redhead aimed at his bodyguard was fit for one who wasn't quite sure he had just heard what he thought he'd heard, for surely he wouldn't have been asked such an asinine question. He then blinked. Then frowned. "Of course I am," Gaara snapped, "I hate those idiotic little brats. Damn nobles with nothing better to do than waste my time in petty squabbles,"

"Not them," Naruto interrupted the oncoming tirade quickly, "I meant them," The Kazekage blinked again, following the gesture as the blonde jerked his thumb out behind him toward the door.

"Matsuri and Kankurou?" a quirked brow ridge in confusion accompanied this question.

"Yeah,"

"Why would I be mad at them?" Gaara was honestly confused by this question and for a moment forgot his other irritation in the force of his sheer bafflement. The anbu across from him rolled one shoulder in a shrug but didn't answer – though it was more because Naruto wasn't really able to come up with a reasonable response to that. The anbu fidgeted, fingering his mask, and the other teen just smirked. "My brother can date whomever the hell he wants. If they're happy, all the better – as long as she doesn't get too tired to work, some of these files would be a mess without her help." So saying, the Kazekage fingered a file with obvious distaste before dropping it back onto the desk with a disgusted sigh. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with things just yet. It occurred to him that maybe the reason his late and unlamented father was such an ass all the time was because he was forced to deal with idiots and bureaucracy like this on a regular basis, it was liable to make a saint homicidal and shinobi were certainly far from being saints.

It was truly mind-boggling why the brats came to him to solve their problems. Granted, some of the nobles that came to him were a decent enough sort and relatively reasonable about their requests and accepting of the judgments he meted out. It was the young ones, though young was a relative term since most were still older than the Kazekage himself, which were the real troublemakers. Somewhere along the line it was as if their entire generation was spoiled to the point of stupidity and they all thought that their rank or status entitled them to whatever they wanted. That they actually believed that a village of fighters would concede to their whims and wishes was further evidence of their idiocy.

The day's audience had been especially irksome for the leader. A pair of the noble brats were contesting rights over some item or other. One swore that the other stole it and demanded the whatever-it-was back with added reparations and the other swore that it had always been his, a gift from someone else long before. It was bickering, pure and simple, and Gaara wanted nothing more than to ban them from ever entering his Village ever again and spare himself the nonsense.

"Hey," a gentle query interrupted his gloomy thoughts, "are you all right? Should I get you some tea after all?"

Gaara smiled weakly at the offer, "Yes, that might be nice. Thank you."

A sudden commotion outside interrupted anything either of them might have said next. A simple thought of oh no was all that flickered through the redhead's mind before the door was rudely flung open and young man in his early twenties and richly dressed as a nobleman strode making loud demands. Matsuri was a step behind, trying to tell him that he couldn't just barge in but the man, Noburo as Gaara recalled, didn't stop until he nearly decapitated himself walking into a blade held up at the level of his throat. Noburo managed to stop in time, staring incredulously at the blade, then followed the steel to the figure holding it and glared haughtily at the anbu.

"I'm telling you, sir, you can't just walk into the Kazekage-sama's office!" Matsuri snapped with strained politeness, but the man ignored her completely.

"Lower that weapon right now," he ordered tersely, managing to look down on Naruto despite being of a similar height. "I am Iwasaki Noburo and I not be threatened by a peasant." He moved to step forward again but the blade flicked closer and the masked anbu tsk'd in warning. "I demand you get out of my way!"

"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama, I tried to stop him, but short of… unpleasant force I wasn't…" she trailed off as Gaara dismissed the apology with a small wave of his hand and with a very contrite look, stepped back out the door back to her own desk.

"Kazekage," Noburo turned his attention back to the leader, not even bothering with the most simple of honorifics, "I want your decree on my situation, I will not be put off any longer. I demand you make that man give me back my property!"

"Shut up."

"Excuse me? How dare you!"

"I dare whatever I please," Gaara told him coldly, glaring from his place still behind the desk. He'd had enough of these brats and invading his office with more petty demands was beyond tolerable. "This is my office and furthermore my Village. Now you will shut up and get out."

"I most certainly will not! Not until you make that man pay!"

"You are in no position to make demands. Try it again and I'll be collecting reparations from you instead."

"You wouldn't dare! My father would –"

"– do nothing. I am the Kazekage and you are a petitioner of my village." The cold and emotionless tone provoked the young noble to move forward again but before he could even blink two things happened. First was that Gaara disappeared from behind his desk and stood glaring directly in front of the man and the second was that Naruto sheathed his sword at his back and stood at attention while the other teen crossed the room. Noburo gasped reflexively and jerked back in surprise to suddenly find the Kazekage in front of him where he had been across the room a moment before. "Say one more word," Gaara hissed threateningly, "and I will ship you back to your precious father in pieces. Settle your own damn disputes without crying to someone else to fix it for you. Now, if you'd like to hire a guarded escort to take you back Matsuri will be perfectly capable of negotiating a fee for our services. Otherwise, get out."

Noburo gaped like a beached fish but either fear or instinct for self-preservation kept him silent as he was herded non-too-kindly through the door. A long, silent minute passed with the room filled only with the sound of angry breathing. Gaara made no move to go back to his desk and instead looked more like he'd rather make good on his threat to pulverize the rude brat outside.

"Want me to take care of him for you?" Naruto offered finally, breaking the redhead from his rather bloody-minded thoughts. Gaara snorted and rolled his eyes a little as he turned back towards the desk.

"Unfortunately we can't really kill the idiot, tempting though the prospect may be."

"Well, I was thinking more along the line of some unpleasant and untraceable pranks," the blonde admitted with an amused laugh, "But you know, that works too."

"Oh…. Well, damn."

"What, so you do want me to kill him?"

Gaara looked away and muttered an unintelligible response, even to Naruto's keen hearing. He let the subject pass with a sigh, leaning back into his chair and closing his eyes in an attempt to regain some semblance of calm. It wasn't wise to write up friendly letters – read: mildly subtle reports on the exchange and tentative probing of outside situations – to the other ninja villages when one was feeling angry and short-tempered. Causing an incident over a rude letter wasn't a pleasant prospect, after all. Though, to be fair not all of the letters were difficult to write. Communications with the Hokage and the Raikage were relatively easygoing and a little less than formal, as was with the leader of Amegakure since their two villages had had many contacts in the past due to their relative proximity. Still, there was seven letters to write in varying degrees of formality and tact and the Kazekage was simply not in the mood.

A pair of hands grasped Gaara's shoulders and pushed him away from the back of his chair. Hazy green eyes opened in a glare at the disruption to find Naruto edging him forward on his own chair and then climbing in to sit snugly behind him without so much as a by-your-leave. The redhead glared more fully over his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded coolly, expression stating in no uncertain terms that he was not amused.

"You need to relax," Naruto told him, pressing a hand against the pale cheek and gently pushing the other teen to look forward again and away from him. Gaara snapped back around with a darker glare.

"I was trying to," he pointed out dryly. A hand on his cheek pushed him away again. He was sorely tempted to bite it. Unfortunately the appendage retreated too quickly and both palms settled over his shoulders. Now, as a rule Gaara wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person. After all of his attempts in childhood to get closer to people all ended up as a slap in the face he'd decided that keeping everyone away was much preferable. Despite the progress he'd made over the years and that Naruto and his siblings were, to a degree, the exceptions to this rule, he was still a rather unapproachable guy. Thus it really wasn't overly surprising that the Kazekage, nineteen years old though he may be, was clueless about something so simple as a massage. He growled as the fingers pressed into his shoulder muscles and moved and repeated the process again. The pair bantered for a minute as the redhead demanded to know what the hell his companion was doing to his neck and Naruto tried to explain the concept of a massage to him. Gaara finally conceded to let Naruto try to help him relax – he'd heard of massages, after all, even if he'd never had one himself and had heard that they helped relieve tension. Even so it was several minutes before he began to truly relax into the ministrations.

Skilled hands coaxed the knotted muscles loose in the pale neck and shoulders, alternately pressing and rubbing to soothe away the aches. Then they moved lower down the back, paying particular attention to knots just below the shoulder blades, which made Gaara gasp and groan involuntarily. By then the redhead was getting drowsy and sagged bonelessly against the form behind him, as Naruto was still between him and the chair's backrest. This made it a little difficult for the anbu to work his hands between their bodies to continue massaging along the slim back, but he managed to get all the way down to the narrow hips before working his way back up again. Gaara let his head fall back to rest on the blonde's shoulder and all but purred in pleasure.

The position was too tempting to ignore so, freeing one hand from its task while the other pressed against the muscles along the spine, Naruto hooked a finger around the black collar and pulled it down to reveal more of the neck that was bared to him. Just feather-light kisses at first while he nuzzled the soft skin gently, enjoying the scent and feel of the smaller figure, but soon he got caught up in his own teasing and pressed firmer kisses. The redhead hummed and tilted his neck a tad more – an open invitation – and even wrapped an arm up loosely behind Naruto's neck as though to keep him in place. He had no problem with that, of course, and progressed to nibbling on the fair flesh, licking and sucking at the sensitive hollow behind the jaw.

His neck was a very sensitive spot for Gaara and soon he was squirming restlessly in place with shallow little gasps. Naruto growled warningly at the figure writhing between his legs but continued his assault nonetheless, giving up any pretense of massage and slipping his other hand around the Kazekage's waist. Gaara wasn't surprised to feel the hand working at the buckles of his vest; he had a sneaking suspicion that Naruto had a fetish for relieving him of his clothes whenever he could get away with it. He didn't really understand it – Gaara didn't think he was really that attractive that anyone would want him stripped whenever possible – but he let the blonde have his way and simply enjoyed the touches. It really wasn't long before both the vest and jacket were open, seeing as how Naruto had been accumulating a lot of practice in recent weeks, revealing the trim expanse of creamy flawless skin.

Twisting even further in place, Gaara turned enough to break the blonde's attention to his neck and instead captured the tortuous lips in a demanding kiss. Even so, it was languid and relaxed and the anbu opened his mouth willingly to the questing tongue. Nimble fingers danced across the bare chest up to the neck and applied pressure in a long, slow line down the side of it in a way that made the redhead shiver in response.

"Is this a massage, too?" Gaara whispered against the other's lips. He slipped the arm that wasn't wrapped around the blonde's shoulder over the arm currently lying across his stomach and laced their fingers together.

"I dunno," Naruto murmured back, "Should I stop?" the question was punctuated by another deep kiss that made the redhead moan appreciably.

"Hnnn, no," he answered breathlessly, "I don't think so."

As Gaara debated interrupting their play long enough to turn around in the seat to face the sly young man behind him, he didn't notice the quick use of a familiar jutsu until something touched his knees and started moving up his thighs. Surprised, he turned his attention forward again to see a second Naruto crouched on the floor between his knees and sliding his hands slowly up Gaara's legs. This of course gave the original Naruto access to his neck once more, an opportunity he didn't waste a moment in exploiting and in the next instant the Kazekage was gasping at the series of bites, licks and sucks being applied to his neck. Why did he have to be so damn sensitive there, anyway?

The clone wasn't helping with his self control, either, as he had reached Gaara's hips and was now teasing over the edge of the waistband while planting kisses across his abdomen.

"That's not fair."

Both Narutos just smirked. The original pulled the redhead into another deep kiss, running tan hands over his neck and chest, while the clone slowly undid the drawstring of the Kazekage's black pants with his teeth, hands occupied with rubbing small circles on the clothed inner thighs. For a second Gaara thought he heard a growl, but he was a little too preoccupied to notice or care who it came from. It was frustratingly distracting having so many points being teased at once. If he focused on the attentions of one he would get caught off-guard by the other. Gaara was tempted to destroy the clone just to keep from being overwhelmed by the plethora of sensations, but oh how could he consider that when the shadow copy was doing such delightful things? Like opening the redhead's loose pants using only his teeth and freeing his half-formed arousal to the cool air that was made warmer by the proximity of hot breath…

Gaara let out an undignified yelp as the anbu behind him bit down hard on the tendon of his sensitive neck while at the same time the clone took another sensitive area into his mouth. He growled softly, or he thought he did... someone did. His dark charcoal rimmed eyes – because a few years of sleep can't erase a lifetime of sleeplessness – fluttered weakly, as reflex had him squeezing his eyes shut and desire had him forcing them open to watch. The Kazekage had never imagined that such a sight as the clone was presenting could be so erotic. The original would not let himself be forgotten, either, and ran his hands over every available centimeter of skin that he could reach and shifting the gasping leader to the side and attacking the other side of his slender throat with equal enthusiasm as before. He attempted more kisses but Gaara was a little too dazed to respond well. The clone sheathed his teeth with his lips and applied painless pressure to the shaft. When he pulled back and curled his tongue around the head Gaara exploded from his chair. Quite literally.

In the next instant the two Narutos, one still in the chair and the other sprawled on the floor where he had been pushed, blinked in confusion at the panting Kazekage now standing several steps away and leaning heavily with one arm propping him against the wall. Then the two looked at each other in mirrored confusion, shrugged, and the clone disappeared in a small wisp of cloud.

"Uhh, Gaara? Are you all right? What's wrong?" Naruto asked hesitantly but with obvious concern, a little disturbed by the panicked look in the light green eyes. Gaara just shook his head as though to clear it and pressed his free hand against his temple. The blonde stood and walked closer, but before he could touch the other teen Gaara jerked away and stumbled back.

"Don't!" he snapped, trying to keep the anbu away, closing his eyes against the wounded look in the azure eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want Naruto around, not at all, but sometimes having a voice in your head could put a severe dampener on the mood. Shut the hell up and go back to sleep! Gaara snarled at Shukaku, who was currently subjecting his host to a loud and nearly incoherent tirade about his indiscretions – or so he thought, it was hard to understand the beast when he was in a screaming rage. He numbly realized that the growls he had been hearing had actually been his demon waking up from his sleep until the bastard had woken up screeching. Nothing like a banshee in your head to ruin your day.

"Come on, talk to me. What's wrong?" Naruto reached out again but stopped when the redhead flinched at the motion.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Gaara snarled, and then felt a little guilty for being so harsh. It wasn't really Naruto's fault, after all, so he sighed and tried to ignore the ranting in his skull long enough to form a coherent reply. "Shukaku is having a – what did you call it? – hissy fit?" The blonde's hurt and confused look shifted to irritated understanding.

"So what's his problem this time?"

"You."

"…Excuse me?"

"He hates you," Gaara informed him simply, eyes getting a little glazed from the effort of concentrating on one conversation and ignoring another. Unfortunately, the demon was louder and impossible to escape and seemed completely insensible to anything his host tried to say. He kept talking, focusing on the words slowly because he couldn't even hear himself think anymore. "He hates you, and the Youko inside you, too. He hates that we're together…" he trailed off, frowning as he tried to understand the demon's ramblings. Reflexively his hand moved to cover his shoulder, the place Naruto had bitten him before. Even with demonic healing the wound retained small punctures from the canines, the only other marks to mar his skin besides his own self-inflicted scar on his forehead. He whispered the next words quietly, like it was an epiphany "He hates you for claiming us, and me for letting you…"

"What?" the blonde began but stopped, taking on that distracted look that meant his own demon was talking to him. Good, it spared Gaara from having to concentrate more. A moment later the whisker-scars shifted as his lips pulled in a frown of distaste; obviously his demon had explained just what it had meant. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I didn't know."

"Sorry for what?" the Kazekage asked suddenly with a slight scoff, "Sorry that you claimed me?"

"Of course not!" Naruto protested, indignant at the very concept and faced the disbelieving glare until it subsided. "I'm just sorry that it upset Shukaku so much, I didn't want to cause you any more trouble…"

"The bastard is always trouble," He got a spike of pain through his head as his demon slammed against his cage for that statement. Gaara cursed demon pride to every hell imaginable for causing all this. Shukaku was weak and knew it, but was too proud to accept it and hated that he was claimed by another demon – how this involved the demons when it was the hosts that tussled Gaara had no idea – that the demon was the Kyuubi no Youko, known to be the most powerful of the tailed beasts and at the opposite end of the power spectrum from Shukaku, was insult to injury as far as the whiney parasite was concerned. He was not happy about the situation and was damn well going to let his host know of his displeasure.

"Here, claim us back!" the anbu offered suddenly, pulling the collar of his shirt aside to bare his neck. Shukaku almost laughed but was still too angry to.

"Doesn't work that way."

"Yeah, Kyuubi just said so too. Well, what does he want then?"

"Your blood."

He answered without thinking and confused his companion, as was evidenced by the puzzled expression on the tan face. Gaara sighed and elaborated. It wasn't hard since Shukaku had many vicious fantasies on this particular subject.

"He wants your blood Naruto. He wants to rip to you pieces and drink your blood until there's nothing left of you that he hasn't taken."

Saying it aloud managed to shift the demon's focus from his earlier tirade toward the new topic of carnage and the pale redhead closed his eyes against the imagery and pleaded with the beast to shut up and go to sleep.

"Here," Naruto said quietly after nearly a minute of silence. When he opened his eyes, Gaara saw a familiar dark hand held out before him, palm up and pooling with blood from a fresh kunai slash. "Take my blood then, if that's what he wants."

Although the smaller young man remained frozen in place, staring in mute incomprehension, a tendril of sand came from behind his back and curled beneath the outstretched appendage to catch a drop of blood before it hit the floor. It moved then and encircled the bloody hand, turning dark from the liquid that stained the grains and Gaara couldn't help the small gasp that escaped him. He wasn't controlling it, but he could feel it nonetheless, the way it curled around his lover's hand – yes, they were lovers now whether his demon liked it or not – squeezing at the flesh for more blood even as he knew the wound must be healing fast.

The blood mixing with his sand was strangely erotic to Gaara. It felt like Naruto was with him, in him, part of him forever. Shukaku purred in pleasure; he'd have liked more, of course, but he always loved blood and the blood of his mate – rather the host of his supposed mate, but these details seemed to me lost on the demon – was doubly rich to him. Whether it was from his beast's enjoyment or his own, Gaara moaned as the blood seeped into his sand. When the sand had collected all it could from the wound and retreated, the host himself took the appendage in his hands and licked up the last of the blood from the cut before it fully healed and let the taste coat his tongue and slip down into his belly.

"Looks like he's not the only one that likes blood," Naruto commented with a wry chuckle. Further comments were silenced by another kiss from the hazy youth. Slim fingers overlaid the whiskered cheeks, holding him close, and the anbu responded by slipping his arms around mostly-bare waist and holding the lithe form against himself tightly. Gaara thoroughly explored the warm cavern and pushed forward, making the blonde stumble back to avoid falling over but stopped when the desk edge against his thighs halted his retreat. Releasing his hold long enough to slip out of his jacket, the Kazekage returned his hands instead to the slightly heaving chest and snapping off the armor with quick and efficient movements. Naruto craned to attend once more to the slim neck before him and with a small whimper Gaara let him while he quickly worked to remove the other's close. Naruto was forced away when his black shirt was pulled up over his head and before he get back to what he was doing, slim but strong hands pushed against his now-bared chest and forced him back onto the desk.

One pale eyebrow arched in silent question but no answer was forthcoming. Only a lusty growl before the redhead virtually pounced on the waiting anbu, pinning him flush between his own warm body and the equally cold desktop. Naruto moaned as wet warmth touched his chest, tongue flicking and circling over a nipple, catching it in pearly white teeth so that the blonde gasped and continued to tease the darkened flesh ruthlessly. If Gaara's weakness was his neck then Naruto's was surely his nipples, a spot that was admittedly not much affected on the redhead but it amused him to see his lover writhe from so delicate a touch on so small a spot.

Hands buried themselves in the soft red spikes, whether to hold him in place or to make him move neither was really sure, but Gaara growled at the touch and looked up through his lashes at the gasping blonde. It was fortunate he didn't need seals or jutsus to control his sand, it was almost as easy as breathing for Sabaku no Gaara, so while he moved to repeat treatment on the other bud across the chest he discreetly collected a suitable amount from around the room and forced it to his will. Before Naruto could react properly his hands were pulled from their clutch in the red hair. He gasped in incoherent confusion and Gaara enjoyed the shock on the darker face when he saw the sand clone pinning his wrists to the desk.

Turnabout was fair play, after all.

He bit down on the nipple lightly, catching the blonde by surprise while he was distracted, then as he soothed it away with gentler licks the clone moved to nuzzle and nip at Naruto's neck and collarbone. Gaara didn't want to hurt his lover, after all, so he was careful to break down the grains until they were nearly dust, a clone made of fine powder whose touch more resembled rough velour than the usual sandpaper.

"That's not fair," Naruto grumbled halfheartedly, echoing the earlier complaint. Gaara grinned against the skin of his stomach.

"Hypocrite."

A sudden waft of blood made Gaara raise himself up a little in surprise, thereby catching sight of the fresh bead of blood pooling up from the smirking lips below. Oooh, wicked wicked man! He had bitten his lip to gain attention. Before the bead could fall Gaara lapped it up with his tongue and delved his way back into the taunting mouth to claim every drop of the delightful substance that he could gather, moaning as it slid down his throat. Oh he surely had issues for blood to arouse him so much, but now he didn't care, only slipped his hands down their bodies and blindly freed them both from the rest of their clothes. It was somewhat disturbing that now Shukaku was now being supportive of their tryst – well, relatively so, he had his own ideas about what he should be doing to the blonde below him – crazy bipolar whiny bastard.

It took more control than the Kazekage thought he had at that moment not to thrust into the sexy body beneath him quickly, instead pushing slowly, moving little by little as the muscles accepted him. Gaara remembered what hard and fast was like before, and while he was a bit of a masochist and hadn't minded at the time he didn't really want to return the treatment if he could help it. Shukaku purred to take him quickly, and for that reason alone he would take it slow; the beast wanted his lover to suffer, so his host would do just the opposite. But oh, it was so damn hard to resist the warmth beckoning to him.

Naruto was writhing impatiently by the time he was fully sheathed, using the legs around his hips to start him into a rocking rhythm. He obeyed willingly enough, tempo increasing with every second that passed. Soon enough even his demon's voice was drowned out by the harsh pants in the air and the blood rushing through his ears. Files and papers fell unheeded to the floor from the force of their movements. Gaara kept his hands firmly on Naruto's hips, using the leverage to keep up a steady pace. The clone, made of sand as it was, shifted and slid a second pair of arms out, slipping along the trapped arms and over the chest to tease once more at the sensitized buds, making Naruto moan and buck. The sight was sexy beyond words.

"Don't stop. Don't stop!" Naruto gasped out suddenly, eyelids fluttering in pleasure for a moment before letting out a low groan of disappointment. He started shifting restlessly and Gaara as well shifted and tried to get back to whatever it was that had caused that reaction, not quite sure what caused it or what changed but trying to find it again nonetheless. It took a few moments, but finally the blonde gasped and crooned in delight and Gaara was careful to maintain the exact movements for as long as he could. It was difficult to keep such control with such a sight before him, his lover's skin getting slick with sweat and rippling with each tensing muscle, the way the eyes were closed tightly and the kiss-bruised lips parted to emit needy little gasps and whispered demands. The young Kazekage freed one hand from the bucking hip and grasped the other teen's neglected arousal, drawing a long, low keen from the foreigner.

"Dammit, Naruto…" Gaara whispered hoarsely. He was reaching his limits, of both his control and his pleasure, and he knew it. It took concentration to stave off the peak looming before him; he did not want to finish first and willed the blonde to come quickly. His pace started to get erratic, earning hisses and whimpers, but still he was pleased to see the look of pure ecstasy bloom across the whiskered face before he faltered completely. Whispering an irreverent prayer of thanks, Gaara let go of his restraint and shifted his body to get an angle and speed that made the final distant stretch rush by and soon he collapsed onto the heaving body below him, shuddering and dizzy from his climax.

A long minute passed by in silence, the young leader half-standing but resting comfortably on top of his bodyguard, lulled by the strong heartbeat under his ear as they both caught their breath.

"Hey Gaara, let me go?" A tug at the sand clone's bonds demonstrated the meaning of that request and with a tired snort he dismissed the creation to settle back onto the floor. Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara's shoulders tiredly and gently stroked his fingers along his spine.

Gaara almost didn't want to get up, he was perfectly content to stay on and in the foreign shinobi for a good long time, but he knew better and with a purely mental sigh levered himself up and carefully stepped away. Naruto shifted himself up onto his elbows and watched in amusement as the Kazekage started gathering up their clothes.

"You've wanted to do that for a long time, haven't you?" the anbu asked finally.

"Yes." He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a slight blush on the pale cheeks along with that admission. Naruto grinned.

"I wonder if I should be jealous, I think we just had a three-way with your desk."

"Idiot."

The insult was uttered in a friendly way, so Naruto grinned despite the remark and the black shirt thrown at his head. When he pulled it off, Gaara was standing close and gave him a quick kiss, as though in apology. They dressed slowly, tempted to leave off the outer layers of vests and armor, but ended up wearing it all anyway – if they gave in to any more habits of forgoing garments they'd end up walking around nude before long, best to maintain formality. Gaara settled back into his chair with a small smirk; his office was definitely going to carry a rather different set of associations to him not. Maybe now he get those letters written. Shukaku had retreated back to his cage at some point during their lovemaking and was blissfully silent. A sudden cry of dismay drew his attention from writing rough drafts in his head.

"Aww, all the files are a mess again! I've already had to re-sort them twice!"


current word count: 54,658 (give or take a word) Geez, I'm approaching novella length and not even done yet...

notes: I don't know why, I just thought Kankurou needed someone too and they'd make a cute couple, maybe. ::cough:: yeah...

Waah, I wrote smut again::hides:: Not sure why, but not entirely pleased with this chapter... It was supposed to end differently, so now I'm not sure whether to rewrite the end or just work in the missing point in the next chapter. We'll see.

Review, pretty please:3