Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. He, the one she had wasted to much time and effort in, was right in front of her. He hadn't changed much since the last time she had seen him, though he looked older and somehow wiser. His usually stoic face showed the smalled hint of surprise, but it was enough for her to know that he was as surprised as she. He gulped and said:
"Sakura."
She was left speechless for one second, but then she reacted and she punched his face hard enough to send him flying against the other wall. Behind her, Lee asked:
"Love, you had do to that?"
She didn't answer him, instead, she approached Sasuke as he nursed his cheek and jaw. It had been one hell of a punch there, with Sakura's brute strength; yet, he felt as he deserved it.
"YOU, SELFISH, FUCKING, ARROGANT PIECE OF AN IDIOT!! HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU TO SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO US, WHAT YOU DID TO NARUTO?!" she screamed at top of her lungs.
"I'm sorry." He said, not looking at her, knowing that she would most likely punch him again.
"YOU ASSHOLE, YOU...what?" She asked, bewildered. He sighed, not happy that several people were already there, looking at the cause of the commotion.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, feeling his pride trying to get the best of him; but he knew that he had to do things right again.
She was surprised, but so was he. He would have never thought that Sakura would have that reaction to his return, he expected that more from Naruto, actually. She answered:
"Well... apology accepted. But I warn you, if you have come back and try to hurt Naruto, I swear I'll be the first one to kill you, Sasuke."
He nodded and gulped. Lee came and took his wife's hand and said to Sasuke:
"Sasuke-san, I''m glad you have found the youthful and correct way and have come back to our village. I'll be looking forward for a match if you ever need a strong and youthful opponent."
He had forgotten about Lee and his obsession with "youth", yet he was surprised upon seeing the two hands entwined. Sakura followed his gaze and said,
"Lee and I have been married for a year now."
Sasuke nodded, though he was still surprised, remembering how Sakura used to react whenever the taijutsu user would try to make her go out with him long ago. He never thought that they would end up together like this, though, as he had already seen, things had changed a lot from the time in which he used to live here. Sakura and Lee then decided to leave, but he said:
"Sakura, thanks for keeping my house."
She nodded and turned,
"Welcome home, Sasuke. By the way, if you need us, we'll be around."
Sasuke nodded once again and entered the Hokage office (wondering about the kunochi's mood swings) where Shizune gave him several scrolls to write down the techniques and then gave him a list of the missions he had to complete for that day. They were simple enough and he didn't doubt he would be able to finish them quite quickly.
He went back to his house and left the scrolls, knowing that he would better do the missions first and then concentrate on the paperwork.
Gaara didn't dare to move from his position as he felt two pair of slightly rough lips against his own. Just the feeling of that was enough to make him dizzy and the knowledge of to whom those lips belonged seemed enough to make his heart beat like a drum. All his life, he had been deprived of touch, of caresses, thanks to his parasite; the sand demon.
All he knew were kicks, punches and attacks; and the tingling sensation of the green chakra that medic nins possesed, but nothing more; and this, this touch was over-welming, his lips actually hurt from the sensation, and yet, he felt that he wanted more, so much more of that delicious tingling.
Taking Naruto by surprise, his hands found their way into the golden mane and neck, pulling him and giving Naruto a clear answer that he should not remove himself from that place. The blonde's eyes opened and he found himself looking into aqua pools that were filled with wonder, silently asking him to continue with whatever he was doing. Feeling confident enough, Naruto closed his eyes again and started to move his lips softly against Gaara's.
Gaara's heart stopped with the movement of those lips, all the air seemed to leave his lungs as a gasp, and yet he didn't move, for he didn't want this moment to stop, thinking that it was a dream. He took a deep breath and shyly, started to mimic Naruto's movements, managing to be left breathless again when he felt something humid against his lips and then that thing, that he could somehow understand that it was Naruto's tongue, started to explore his mouth, that's when everything suddenly turned black for him.
Naruto, who was enjoying himself immensely, suddenly felt that Gaara went limp in his arms, the redhead's head fell backwards. He was surprised, but suddenly understood that Gaara had fainted right there. He was scared, of course, not knowing what triggered that reaction from the Kazekage, but hurried to wake him up with a gentle slap.
When Gaara opened his eyes again, and looked around, Naruto let out a sigh of relief and then he joked mischievously,
"I knew I was a good kisser, Gaara, but I didn't know I was that good."
Gaara's face was immediately a different color from the blood that rushed to his head, and tried to gather his thoughts.
"Naruto kissed me... and I fucking fainted... I'll never live this down..."
He glared at the blond shinobi who was now standing before him, though he licked his lips, that were still tingling because of that kiss and Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Gaara sighed and then asked,
"What was that?"
"A kiss, oh mighty Kazekage." Naruto answered, laughing a bit, since he was still nervous, receiving Gaara's glare.
"Why?"
"Do you think I just go around kissing people like that, out of nowhere? You know the answer, right?" Naruto said, looking at his friend's reaction.
Gaara didn't answer and walked towards the window, thinking if the blond actually knew what that kiss meant for him. Naruto looked at him with slight concern. When Gaara had answered to his kiss, he had been pretty sure that the other felt the same as he, but now he wasn't that sure. Had they been younger, Naruto would have probably said right away that he loved Gaara, loud enough for the entire building to hear but he knew that the redhead was more than touchy when it came to the "L" word; and Naruto knew to be careful about it.
Sighing, he came closer to the other ninja and gently pulled his shoulder so that they were face to face. He was slightly taller than Gaara and said,
"Hey, Gaara..."
He caressed the tattoo in the other's face, making a shiver go through Gaara's spine and to close his eyes.
"This kanji, this is what I mean."
Gaara's eyes opened and studied Naruto's face. Even if he knew that Naruto wouldn't lie about such thing, he needed to look at his face and know that it wasn't a lie. Losing himself again in the blue eyes that were staring straight into his own, he leaned forward, looking for those lips that had made him faint.
This time, doubts and surprises away, Naruto sighed contently into the kiss, closing his eyes and moving gently, slowly against the other's. He knew not to rush things, it was obvious that Gaara was quite new to this whole new business, though as usual, he was learning fast.
This time, Gaara made sure to remember to keep breathing, even if his heart was racing like a horse and his head felt like if it was going in circles, he concentrated on the marvelous feeling that was been given to him by the Konoha shinobi and tried to return it the best he could. His hands wandered again, and grabbed Naruto's back and pulled him closer, but in that moment, the blond shinobi jumped back like a deer, separating himself from Gaara.
Naruto's breathing was rushed and put a hand to his chest. Gaara got closer, not understanding what had he done wrong. Naruto looked back at him and smiled sadly,
"Sorry, Gaara, you caught me by surprise..."
"What happened?"
"I... sometimes... better said most of the time, I get scared of someone else's touch. I panic and do that, get away from it." Naruto answered, looking away. "It's not your fault Gaara, is just, I can't control it sometimes..."
Gaara nodded, knowing that; he had seen it enough times before to understand what Naruto meant. He avoided everyone's touch, except his own, but it turned out that he could be even scared from Gaara. As he himself didn't know what to do, he decided to pay a visit to Shikari, she was the only one that could explain it and find a solution for it. He hadn't asked her before to tell him what to do, since they didn't know if Naruto was conscious of his behaviour or not, or if he knew the cause of it.
Deciding to do that in the instant, he took Naruto's wrist and pulled him outside the office, taking him to Suna's hospital, where he was sure that he would find the medic nin.
The villagers were somewhat surprised, as their Kazekage dragged the Konoha visitor through the streets and Naruto was asking him,
"Oi, Gaara, where are we going?"
"Shikari." Had been Gaara's cryptic answer.
The blond sighed, knowing that Gaara never did anything that without a certain purpose and followed him. Finally, they reached the hospital, and the receptionist had jumped from his seat and said,
"Kazekage-sama!"
"Yamamoto Shikari, where is she?" Gaara asked, straight to the point, as usual.
"Room number 211, she has a patient there." The man asked, and Naruto gave him a smile as Gaara nodded in thanks and left to find said room.
The men had been, right, Shikari was leaving the room as they came into sight and as she saw them, she asked,
"Gaara, Naruto?! What brings you here?"
"Anywhere we can talk?" Gaara asked and Naruto said,
"Hi, Shikari-chan! Gaara has brought me running here, so only he knows what he wants."
Shikari smiled at him and said,
"Ok, come to my office, we can talk there."
They only had to walk in front of another 3 rooms before entering Shikari's office and once the door was closed, Shikari asked,
"Alright Gaara, what is it?"
"He is afraid of someone else touching him." Gaara answered, indicating he was talking about Naruto. Naruto turned to look at him bewildered, as well as Shikari, though Gaara was not disturbed and asked,
"What can we do?"
"Oh... well, uhm... Naruto, you know why is it that you fear touch?" Shikari asked to the blond.
"Ehh... no, not really." Naruto answered, sighing and deciding that he would answer the medic's questions, since it was obvious that Gaara wanted to help him but didn't know how. Shikari frowned a bit, but asked,
"When did it started?"
Naruto's eyes widened and then looked down, saying,
"After the Akatsuki's attack, two years ago."
Shikari's eyes widened with the answer, but asked,
"What happened?"
Naruto's eyes looked elsewhere, obviously uncomfortable with that question. Shikari said,
"Naruto, I need to know this... If you want, I'm sure Gaara will leave to make you more comfortable."
Gaara made an attempt to rose from his feet, but Naruto pulled his hand down and said,
"No, it's ok... stay, please."
Gaara looked at him and sat again, not daring to move his hand and Naruto made no movement of wanting to let it go as he said,
"...It was Iruka, I guess... He tried to save me, so when one ninja tried to pierce me with his sword, he got in the middle and the sword pierced him from his back to his abdomen...When I turned, he sort of fell into me, somehow holding me... and died there..."
His eyes were glued to the floor and Shikari sighed, asking again,
"I am sorry, really." She placed her hand on his shoulder and Gaara squeezed his hand again, trying to tell him that he was there. Naruto nodded, though he didn't look up.
"This fear of touching, did it grew worse with time?" She asked after a minute.
"Yeah... I'm able to control it somehow as long as I know that I'm going to touch someone else and how, as well if the touch is very light or short, but if someone tries to hug me, for example, the first instinct is to run away."
Gaara understood now. He had taken him by surprise, thus triggering the fear. Shikari sighed and said,
"This fear, you are scared of letting someone close to you, because all that have done so, have died, one way or another. You aren't the first nor the last shinobi to suffer from this, trust me. And I can help you, though it might be dangerous and you'll have to put from your part, as well."
Naruto looked at her, begging her to continue.
"As you know, I'm a medic nin. Yet, my job is not to heal external injuries, but mental ones, caused by shock, or any other emotional cause. That's why I don't go in missions and all my job is done here, in the hospital. Now, if you wish me to, I could enter your mind try to make that fear of yours go away, but as you know, dealing with anyone's mind is dangerous; and afterwards, you would have to also try to regain your trust in the other's touch. I would explain that later, if you want me to do it." Shikari explained.
"Your jutsu is like Ino's?"
"The Yamanaka clan, you mean? Yes, it is something like that." Shikari answered.
"I'll do it." Naruto answered, with his well-known resolve.
"Don't you want to think about it or something?" Shikari asked, surprised.
"No; even more, if you can do it right now, even better! Namizake Naruto never goes back in his word!" He said, smiling at her.
Gaara smiled slightly, that was the Naruto he knew, and loved.
Shikari was surprised by this, but said,
"O..k... As it seems we have the Kazekage's permission, I'll do it right now. Now, I need you to sit with your legs crossed, please."
Naruto did as told and she went to retrieved a scroll, which she unrolled in front of him and motioned Gaara to move. The Kazekage left the blonde's side and went behind the desk. He had seen Shikari work several times, so he wasn't too worried about Naruto.
She prepared everything and told Naruto not to move as he did the hand signs. He did as told and then, she started to make several hand signs.
The last thing Naruto knew was that she finished doing the jutsu and then he felt like if she had knocked him out.
Here it is, the next chapter!! Now, as for Shikari, she'll be one of the two characters that don't appear in the manga and are important for the story, and this is what she is important for. Now, if only things like the jutsu I described existed in reality... sigh Oh, well.
Reviews, reviews, please!!
P.S. Everyone know by now that Namizake is Naruto's actual surname or lastname, whichever you want to call it, right?
