Summary: Sometimes small annoyances can overshadow the reason people fell in love in the first place. Sasuke slowly realizes that he might have let something irreplaceable slip away without a fight. Not a cheating fic! YAOI (boy x boy) main pairing: SasuNaruSasu, some SasuNeji, some GaaNaruGaa, Naruto x others

Warnings: Gaara and Itachi being in the same chapter deserves some warning, right? For the hotness factor alone. Though... they aren't in the same scene, so we should all be safe LOL.

A/N: Still no beta, and I'm still running on very little sleep so if you find mistakes just PM me and tell me where they are so I can fix them. Thanks to Tandy_Hard for reading through this and encouraging me!

Chapter 10: Old and new friends

Naruto was glad that his hand was now habitually gripped around the strap of the shoulder bag that held his most valuable camera equipment as he deplaned, since he wasn't entirely sure if he was awake or asleep. The airport signs in his native language directed him to passport control, then down to baggage claim, which he managed to follow despite being half-asleep. He closed his eyes while he waited for the bags to arrive, listening to the sounds of his own language being spoken all around him, letting it wash over him soothingly. He was home, whatever that might mean at the moment, this was it.

The familiarity of everything put him at ease after months of constantly navigating unfamiliar countries, languages, and cultures. He was on his home turf, now, and could finally relax. He might have briefly fallen asleep leaning against one of the steel pillars while he was waiting for his large duffle to make its way down the conveyor belt, but the sound of a little girl giggling (at him) woke him up in time for him to grab the heavy bag off the moving assembly line of identical black bags.

He made it through customs and out to the taxi stand, grateful that Jiraiya had told him just to take a cab from the airport rather than leaving his car at the airport and paying for four months of parking. Naruto was so exhausted he could barely see straight and he probably would not have been able to drive to Kiba's house in this shape. Kiba had told him he was going to take the weekend off to spend some time together, but Naruto wondered if he were going to be awake for much of it. He felt like he could sleep for days.

Naruto sighed as he got into the back of a familiar-looking taxi, speaking to the driver in his native tongue, and knowing without even having to ask that his credit card would work and he wouldn't have to do a bunch of mental math on currency exchange rates to make sure he wasn't getting gouged. Naruto leaned his head against the back of the seat, his eyes closing before the driver had even pulled away from the curb.

He didn't wake up until they reached Kiba's house and his neck slightly stiff from sleeping at an odd angle on the fifty minute ride from the airport. He realized he'd forgotten to call Kiba when he'd gotten in the cab like he was supposed to, but the lights were on in the house so at least Naruto wouldn't find himself locked out. He hoped.

Naruto paid the cabbie and got his stuff out of the trunk. He was just walking up the steps to the front door when Kiba flung it open and ran out, grabbing Naruto in a bear hug.

"Dumbass! You were supposed to call me when you landed! I was wondering where the fuck you were. I checked your flight and it came in on time but I hadn't heard from you," Kiba pulled back, looking Naruto up and down. "Wow, you look…"

Naruto's hair was bleached even lighter from the days in the sun, his skin tanned several shades darker and his much leaner form clearly defined by his worn-too-thin T-shirt and jeans. Naruto shifted the bag that was slung over his shoulder, and Kiba caught the edge of the tattoo that snaked over the upper part of his bicep.

"Whoa! Is that…" Kiba grabbed Naruto's arm, shoving the sleeve of his tight orange T-shirt up over his shoulder. "Did you get a tat?"

Naruto laughed tiredly, bumping his shoulder into Kiba's. "Can you at least buy a guy dinner before you rip my clothes off? I know you missed me, but… dinner first, bruh."

Kiba laughed, then looked over to where his elderly neighbor was watching them disapprovingly as she took her dog out for a walk. He blushed slightly. "Sorry, man."

Naruto nudged one of his bags toward Kiba. "Be useful and take one of these."

They headed inside and Naruto almost cried in sheer bliss when he saw two bags from his favorite ramen take-out on Kiba's kitchen counter. "Oh, my god. I think I might ask you to marry me."

Naruto set his bags down, wrenching his shoes off and hurrying over to the kitchen. He forced himself to wash his hands before ripping open one of the bags and pulling out one of the cartons of ramen. He opened the lid, inhaling deeply, his eyes drifting closed as he moaned in pleasure. "You have no idea how much I missed this."

Kiba laughed. "Man, you look like you're talking to a long-lost-lover, not take-out."

Naruto tensed and Kiba instantly grimaced. "Sorry… I just…"

Naruto shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. I mean… it's been four months."

Kiba gave him a worried look as he went over to take out two clean bowls from the cupboard. "Yeah. I noticed you finally changed your relationship status on Facebook a couple weeks ago."

Naruto sighed, pouring one of the cartons into the bowl Kiba gave him. "I sent him an e-mail on his birthday. I wasn't anywhere that I could call but… he didn't write back."

Kiba grimaced. "Sorry."

Naruto took a bite of his soup. "Shit, this is good. I swear, I never want to see another protein bar or piece of dried meat for as long as I fucking live."

Kiba laughed, glad of the change of subject. "What was the food like? Half of those places you went to I've never even heard of."

Naruto chewed and swallowed. "It was ok. I mean… you get pretty hungry hiking around with a hundred pounds of gear on your back, so I would have eaten basically anything, but most of it was pretty ok. Trail food got old really fast, though."

"I bet," Kiba said, digging into his own bowl. "So, I bought you dinner," Kiba grinned, waggling his eyebrows as he spoke around a mouthful of noodles. "Do I get to see the tat now, or what?"

Naruto snickered, shoveling a huge bite in his mouth before setting his chopsticks down and yanking off his shirt. He turned to the side so Kiba could see the front and back of it.

Kiba's eyes widened at the sight of the intricate work. "Holy shit! That's amazing! Did it hurt?"

"Fuck, yeah. I mean… for the first part I was pretty wasted, but yeah. They do it with these combs, not like the machines here."

"Damn!" Kiba put his bowl down and walked over to Naruto, studying the detailed design around Naruto's shoulder and trailing down over his shoulder blade. "This is so badass."

He shoved Naruto forward slightly so he could see where it tapered to a narrow band down Naruto's spine before disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. "Dude, I'm not even a little bit gay, but I totally want to do you right now."

Naruto laughed, pulling his shirt back on over his head and sitting back down to finish his food. "Sorry, I don't do mutts."

Kiba gave the back of Naruto's head a quick shove that almost had him face first into his noodles.

"Seriously, you weren't joking about hiking around with a hundred pounds of gear, were you? Man, you're ripped. We have to take you out to the clubs and get you some action."

"Hm," Naruto said, non-committally.

"No 'hm'," Kiba stated firmly. "It's been four months. I know you had a rough break-up, but there is no way that I am going to let you just pine away over that bastard."

Naruto felt a flicker of annoyance at Kiba's use of his old nickname for Sasuke. "Kiba, lay off."

Kiba opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. "Fine. Fine. But you're going to go out and meet people."

Naruto sighed. "I know. I will. I just don't want to do the club thing. I'm not looking for sex. I want a relationship."

"But you might as well start with sex. You need to get the old tallywacker going again. Everyone feels better after a good lay. It's like… a universal law of nature."

Naruto shifted slightly and Kiba's gaze instantly sharpened. He hadn't spent the past twenty years as Naruto's best friend for nothing. "You already did, didn't you?" He watched Naruto's face closely for confirmation. "Oh, my god you did! Who did you hook up with? The guy who tatted you?"

"No," Naruto said, somewhat defensively.

"Holy, shit, was it that hot chick who posted on your page yesterday?" Kiba asked excitedly.

Naruto frowned. He hadn't logged onto Facebook since he'd left his hotel in Bhutan. He pulled it up, and saw a post from Fuu.

Thanks for the pic. And the hike. For a lowlander, you have great stamina at high altitude.

Naruto blushed, glad it was cryptic enough that most people wouldn't read all that much into it, especially since the photo was of the mountain where they had hiked. But Kiba, being the perv that he was, saw right through it.

"Too bad Sasuke never got a Facebook account," Kiba said, chuckling a bit. "He could see how much he fucked up."

The words made Naruto uncomfortable, and he shot Kiba another 'back off' glare. "I'm pretty sure Sasuke wouldn't give a shit now. He's probably found someone, too. God knows he was never short on offers." The truth of those words lay bitter on his tongue, and Naruto stood, putting his empty bowl in the sink. He knew that Kiba was just trying to be supportive, but he didn't want to bitch about Sasuke just because they were broken up. He didn't hate Sasuke. It actually would have been so much easier if that were the case.

"I'm gonna grab a shower, then sleep for about three days on your couch."

Kiba watched Naruto walk to the shower, hoping that whatever had happened in Bhutan meant that Naruto was moving on. The expression on Naruto's face told him that probably wasn't the case.

Naruto had, in fact, done nothing but sleep and eat for about two days before feeling human enough to go out to a club with Kiba. He danced and talked to a few people, but went home alone and didn't regret it. By his fourth day back in Japan he was over his jet-lag and back at Jiraiya's. They had gone through all the photographs and picked the best ones. Naruto had gotten great shots of every location, and Jiraiya was more than pleased.

He had given Naruto a new assignment… or at least… the start of one. Naruto looked at the slip of paper Jiraiya had given him. No business name. No name of the person he was supposed to meet with. Just an address and the instructions to not Google it. Evidently, the guy Naruto was going to meet was the subject of a book Jiraiya wanted to publish, and he had not been cooperating so far. They guy hadn't been willing to meet with anyone Jiraiya had tried to send, much less allow anyone inside his place of business to take any photos. Jiraiya said that the man was willing to meet Naruto based on Sai's reference, but only under the condition that Naruto not be told his name nor the nature of his business until they met in person, and no camera equipment at the first meeting. It was odd, but Naruto knew that lots of famous people had weird little hang-ups and he just figured this guy was one of them.

What did make Naruto tense up was the actual address that he was supposed to go to. He sighed. He had been hoping to put off talking with Itachi until he had settled in a little bit, but the fact that the address be in the same city where Itachi worked was making his conscience prick too much to ignore. He tilted his head back, briefly contemplating his ceiling, then pulled out his phone. There was no point in delaying things. Better to just rip the bandaid off.

Hey, Itachi. I got back earlier this week. I'll actually be doing a job not too far from you on Saturday around noon. Let me know if you want to grab a coffee and talk.

Naruto sort of hoped that they could meet somewhere public. Somewhere where Itachi would have more trouble concealing a murder and hiding a body.

Come to my place for dinner Friday night.

Fuck. Sometimes Karma was a bitch. But he supposed Itachi had the right to have his say. He'd been there for both Naruto and Sasuke too many times in the past for Naruto to blow him off. Whatever had happened with Sasuke, Naruto had always respected Itachi. So Naruto texted him back.

Fine. But I'm telling at least three friends where I'll be in case I'm never heard from again

Naruto's phone buzzed again, and he looked down, a small smile twisting his lips as he saw the reply.

That sounds entirely reasonable. Be there by 8.

Naruto forced himself to take a deep breath as he stood outside the door to Itachi's apartment. Itachi won't actually kill me. Itachi won't actually kill me.

Of course, it didn't help that Naruto was remembering - with perfect clarity - his first meeting with Itachi, when he and Sasuke had just started dating. Sasuke had gone to get them some drinks and Itachi had 'casually' mentioned that - as a medical student - he knew many ways to kill someone and make it look like death by natural causes. Itachi also was aware of ways to make someone impotent for life. It made Naruto revise his mantra.

Itachi won't actually kill me… but he might cut off my balls.

Naruto huffed a bit at his own imagination, then stiffened his spine and knocked firmly on Itachi's door. He was man enough to take whatever Itachi dished out. He'd known Sasuke had an over-protective brother when they started dating, and now it was time to pay the piper. The door opened after a brief moment.

"I was wondering how long you were going to stand there," Itachi said, his voice slightly amused as he stepped back and let Naruto inside.

Naruto handed Itachi a small bag of gourmet coffee beans. He had thought about bringing wine like he and Sasuke usually did the few times they'd been to Itachi's place before, but that had seemed odd, given the theme of possible castration for the evening.

Naruto didn't want to show up empty handed, either, though, so he had settled on good coffee. Itachi's coffee addiction was possibly even worse than Sasuke's, so Naruto knew that the gift would not go to waste no matter how annoyed Itachi was with him. Itachi looked at the bag as he accepted it, breathing in appreciatively as the rich aroma of the beans seeped through the paper bag.

"Thank you," Itachi's voice was controlled and polite, as always, as he walked to the small kitchen and set them on the counter. By the amazing smells that were coming from the stove behind him, he had already finished cooking dinner.

"You have a shoot in town?" Itachi asked conversationally, leaning casually against the kitchen counter while Naruto removed his shoes. Naruto wished they'd just dive right in rather than pretending this was a normal dinner between them, but he would let Itachi set the rules for this. Especially since he still couldn't tell if Itachi was angry with him or not. It had taken him years to be able to read Sasuke, but Itachi had always been at a whole other level.

"Yeah. Well, maybe. There's some guy that Jiraiya's been wanting to do a story on, but I guess the guy doesn't like publicity. Or maybe he doesn't like people? Anyway, Jiraiya his hoping I'll be able to convince the guy to let us take pictures of him and his business. I'm meeting with him for lunch tomorrow. We'll see how it goes."

"Who is it?" Itachi asked, sounding honestly curious. Was that good sign that he wasn't planning on castrating him? Naruto hoped so.

"Jiraiya said he couldn't tell me. I just have the address I am supposed to meet him at tomorrow. Evidently the guy wants to see my reaction? I really have no idea."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "That's… an interesting assignment for a photographer."

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, it is a little weird. I guess I made a good impression on some architect that Jiraiya had been having trouble with, and I think this other guy knows him or something. He was willing to meet with me. But only me."

"Hm," Itachi walked over to the cupboard and brought out a bottle of wine. Naruto had finished taking off his shoes and went to wash his hands.

"Can I help with anything? Get out some hemlock, or something?" Naruto joked, unable to wait any longer to see how angry with him Itachi was.

Itachi's lips gave the tiniest of twitches, but his eyes were easier to read as they warmed slightly in amusement. "I didn't invite you here to punish you for walking out on Sasuke."

"Really?" Naruto's voice was a blend of disbelief and guilt. Despite Itachi's expression, Naruto couldn't help but flinch the man's words. He knew them to be nothing but the truth: Naruto had been the one to walk.

Itachi's face gave nothing away. "Yes."

He began laying out the food on the table, and Naruto automatically helped. They'd had many dinners together through the years. It made Naruto a little sad to realize this was probably the last one. Finally, they sat down at Itachi's kitchen table to eat. Neither spoke for a bit as they ate the food Itachi had prepared. Finally, Naruto broke the silence.

"So… if you didn't invite me here to remind me that you're a medical practitioner willing to violate the Hippocratic Oath for a good cause, then… why am I here?"

The faintest smirk appeared on Itachi's lips at Naruto's choice of words, but his eyes were serious. "I want you to tell me what happened."

Naruto hesitated. "Itachi, if you're wondering if this is all some sort of misunderstanding that can be fixed, I'm pretty sure -"

"No," Itachi's voice showed the first subtle hint of temper, though it was still hidden beneath the naturally smooth tone of his voice. Most people would have missed it, but Naruto had been around the Uchiha brothers enough to feel its bite. "I am well aware that it was no misunderstanding. And even if it was, the way that you ended it is not something that Sasuke would be willing to simply look past and get over at this point."

Naruto heard the reprimand in the words, and didn't dispute them. He rested his hands on the table, looking down at the smooth surface beneath his fingers. "I didn't… I didn't mean to hurt Sasuke."

"Really? It was an odd choice to dissolve a six year relationship in that way, if that were the case." Itachi's gaze was unrelenting, though his tone remained polite.

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh, some of his own temper flaring up, much of it directed at himself, but part of it at Itachi. If anyone was going to call him out on this, it should be Sasuke, not Itachi. His temper showed in his voice when he replied. "I know, ok? I know that now. But Sasuke had been barely talking to me for over a year, Itachi. He spent all his time at work, and when he was home, he was either sleeping or thinking about work. He was annoyed with the choices I made with my career and he just… he was clearly not interested in me anymore. On any level."

Naruto gave Itachi a look that clearly said he wasn't going to elaborate on it, but left there no doubt as to what he meant. "He shut me out, Itachi. I might have been the one who said the actual words, but Sasuke closed me out first. I thought he'd be relieved when it was finally over. Obviously, I was wrong. But that doesn't change what the reality of our relationship has been for the past year. We haven't had a relationship."

Itachi looked steadily at him, but didn't disagree and Naruto felt a small frisson of relief shoot through him. He hadn't wanted to have somehow been wrong on that, to have somehow misread it. But Itachi wouldn't be going easy on him if he had.

"Sasuke has never been able to open up to others. For reasons you know. But somehow, he had with you. I had hoped… that it would work out differently."

Yeah, you and me both, Naruto thought glumly, poking at the rice on his plate with his chopsticks but no longer actually eating. He finally voiced what had been going around his head for the past several months.

"I think we were just too different. Sasuke needs someone who is more like him. Someone in his own field, who he views as an equal and who can hold Sasuke's interest better." Naruto had thought he'd been able to keep the emotion out of his voice, but he should have known better as Itachi's gaze sharpened on him.

"You think Sasuke was interested in someone else?" Itachi asked.

"No. I mean… he wasn't back then. I don't know if he is now, but… there was someone from work that he… that he seemed to be able to relate to. Better than me."

Itachi looked at Naruto inscrutably for a moment. "Why do you say it like that?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "I saw them together. At dinner. It was just business, but the way Sasuke looked at Neji… all his attention on him... with respect. He was interested in what Neji had to say. It mattered to him. That is something that he hadn't done with me in years."

Naruto looked off to the side, toying with his chopsticks.

Itachi took a bite of his own food, chewing slowly as he thought, then swallowing. "So you left because you thought he was going to leave you sooner or later anyway, and you got tired of waiting for it to happen."

Naruto blinked to hear it put that way. Is that what he did? He supposed it was, in a way. "Maybe. I guess partly. It seemed like it was pretty clear it was over, so I felt like one of us should just man up and finish it so we could both move on. But even if Sasuke were willing to just keep going like that, I wasn't. That… what we had for the past year… that isn't what I want my life to be."

Itachi looked at him as he considered Naruto's words. "And what do you want, Naruto?"

"A family." There was no hesitation in Naruto's words. "Not necessarily kids, though I wouldn't mind. But I know what it is like to live alone. Or to live in a house with someone who wishes you weren't there. There was nothing I could do about it when I was a kid, but I am not going to live the rest of my adult life that way. I thought… I thought Sasuke wanted that, too since he…"

Naruto trailed off. Itachi knew better than Naruto just exactly how much Sasuke would understand what it was like to live in a house where people didn't want you there.

Naruto's stomach felt too twisted to eat, but he took a bite anyway.

"Our family is a very traditional one," Itachi said after a moment.

Naruto could only look at him, unsure if Itachi was trying to imply something about the fact that both he and Sasuke were males. Which would be odd, since Itachi had supported them from the beginning.

"What I mean is, in traditional Japanese culture, the primary role of the male is to provide for his family. There are many men who only see their family once a month, working long hours in the city, living in a tiny room that barely holds a bed and a TV while they send money home to their wife and children."

Naruto bristled. "I'm not the fucking wife, Itachi. I had a job. It might not have paid as much as Sasuke's, but -"

"Naruto." Itachi's calm, quiet voice cut through the room like a blade. Naruto forced himself to calm down.

"I'm not saying that Sasuke thinks of you as his 'wife'. Or that I view you that way. What I am saying is that Sasuke's idea of what it means to care for someone he considers family might be different than yours. He would view financial security and stability as the most important thing. Making sure you weren't pressured to take jobs you don't want, that you have a safe place to live, that you both can pay off your student loans. That is the traditional role he would view himself as fulfilling."

Naruto rubbed his face in frustration. "But I don't want that. I don't need that. I want someone who will actually be there. I don't need to live in an expensive apartment or… or any of that other bullshit. We could have gotten by on less just fine. All I wanted was Sasuke. I didn't give a shit about the rest of it as long as I had him. I gave up the chance to make a lot more money because it was more important to me to actually be with Sasuke. Not just send him a fucking check every month."

Itachi said nothing for a moment, though Naruto's admission about giving up a better job was clearly news to him. If Naruto didn't know better, he would almost say that Itachi looked emotional. Both of their food was barely half-eaten, but Itachi stood and walked over to the kitchen, taking out the bag of coffee beans that Naruto had given him and pouring some into the grinder.

"So is that why you are going back to dating women?" Itachi's question caught Naruto off guard.

"What?"

A look of annoyance flashed across Itachi's face. "The woman from Bhutan. Being in a relationship with a woman would give you an easier route to having a family. And children"

Naruto remembered belatedly that - while Sasuke had never been interested in having a Facebook account - Itachi did. And they had been 'friends' since Naruto had started dating Sasuke. Which meant that Itachi would have seen Naruto's change of status. And Fuu's post.

"No! That wasn't… I didn't even…" Naruto forced himself to stop stammering. He tried to gather his thoughts but honestly he didn't know what to say. He wasn't leaving Sasuke because it was 'too hard to be gay' or something stupid like that. "I was lonely, Itachi. It was a mistake… just a… one-time thing, but even if I'm not going to be dating Fuu, I'm not going to go through the rest of my life alone just because Sasuke and I couldn't work things out. We'd been broken up for four months and that was the first time anything had happened. I didn't do anything wrong."

Naruto watched as Itachi went through the ritual of making coffee, knowing that the man was processing what Naruto had said while he did.

"Then why do you think it was a mistake?"

Soon the achingly familiar smell of fresh coffee brewing filled the small apartment. It was a scent that Naruto associated intimately with Sasuke… seeing him adorably disheveled in the mornings with bed head as he brewed the first pot to get his system going. Or at night, with his tie undone, his sleeves rolled up, as he worked late into the evenings, the coffee there to help keep him awake and focused. Naruto drew a deep breath and had to look away.

"Because that sort of thing… doesn't make me less lonely," Naruto turned back to pin Itachi with his gaze. "Something surely you should understand," Naruto wasn't going to let Itachi make him feel bad when he knew that the man's definition of 'long-term relationship' was a possible second night.

Itachi didn't bother to deny the not-so-subtle jab.

"It is unfortunate," Itachi said finally, looking at the coffee he had poured into his cup but still not drinking it. "You and Sasuke both wanted the same thing in a way. But how you viewed it was… perhaps too different at this point in time."

The anger Naruto had felt deflated at the sad, gentle tone of Itachi's voice. The depression that Naruto had been avoiding by burying himself in work came crashing back down on him. He gave up on finishing dinner and took his plate to the kitchen. "Yeah. I guess so."

He helped Itachi clean up in silence for a while. Finally, he asked the question he'd been waiting for an answer to since he arrived.

"So… why did you want to talk to me?"

Itachi looked down at his hands, their tapered beauty and strength so similar to Sasuke's. "I had thought you and Sasuke were going to last. I am… rarely wrong about things, and I wanted to understand what I had been mistaken about."

Naruto didn't comment on the arrogance of the statement for the simple fact that it was the truth. Itachi was rarely wrong, especially when it was about something he cared about. And there was nothing in this world Itachi care more about than Sasuke.

"So… what did you figure out?" Naruto asked, his voice raw, honestly wanting the answer. After all, he had been just as wrong.

Itachi suddenly looked wearier than Naruto had seen him in years. "I think I underestimated the damage that both of you had come into the relationship carrying."

Itachi's words somehow made Naruto's throat tighten. It was something he'd been trying to avoid thinking too much about. He and Sasuke had seemed so perfect in the beginning of things. Their troubled pasts had been something that had drawn them together, let them relate to each other. But maybe Itachi was right. Maybe Naruto was just too damaged.

He didn't sleep well that night, wondering if all the time he'd been forced to be alone as a child had made it so he would be incapable of really being with others as an adult.

The next day, Naruto headed down to the address Jiraiya had given him. The building was obviously closed, since the steel gate to the garage was pulled down. Naruto had found parking a block or two away and walked. The first thing that he noticed when he approached the entrance was that the building had no windows on the first two floors, and the upper floor had windows that looked almost opaque and would only let the smallest amount of light but no actual images in or out. Naruto paused. He wasn't an idiot, and there were only a very few types of 'businesses' that would require a building like this.

The building was gated and well-maintained. It didn't have the raunchy, neon feel of the red-light district he'd seen in Tokyo, so he was going more with the idea of 'gentlemen's club' vs. full-on brothel. Naruto had never been in a place like that. Kiba had wanted to try it once, and Naruto had just laughed and said he hoped he'd never be so desperate that he'd actually need to pay for it, and that had been that. But he had to admit to being a little curious as to what really went on in places like that.

Naruto felt suddenly a little nervous. Was the club owner doing something illegal, and that was why he always turned away interviews? 'Social clubs' were legal, brothels weren't. Naruto was suddenly glad that he'd been invited for Saturday lunch rather than Friday night drinks, because he wasn't really sure how ready he was to do something that was possibly illegal as part of his job. He hadn't discussed it with Jiraiya because it honestly had never occurred to him, but he knew that Jiraiya played by his own rules more than most, so he should probably have clarified.

"I'm told it's much easier to meet someone in their office if you actually go inside." A low, gravelly voice came from behind Naruto, startling him.

Naruto spun around to see a man that looked only slightly older than himself leaning against the brick pillar to the right of the entrance to the underground parking garage. He was dressed casually, wearing tight black jeans and a tight black tank top, but something about the intensity of the green eyes and the lean strength of the man's body made him anything but approachable.

"I…" Naruto felt his words fumble a little bit as he looked at the man, taking in the red hair and toned arms. There was something about him that caught Naruto off guard, though he couldn't even place what it was. He clearly kept his body in good shape, and there was a coiled, physical… presence to him that Naruto had only felt from one other person. Naruto's first thought was that the man looked… guarded. And lonely. Despite the man's cold and somewhat intimidating exterior, Naruto felt drawn to him. And curious about him.

Naruto gave a lopsided grin, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "Yeah, I just have never been here before… I wasn't sure I was in the right place."

The man looked at him, unblinking, and didn't return Naruto's smile. He wasn't unfriendly, though. Simply… watching Naruto. Almost studying him.

"So, I'm guessing you're the guy I'm supposed to meet, right? Unless you just really like hanging around parking garages," Naruto's voice was relaxed and friendly. He was well versed with handling the quiet, intense types. Green eyes widened just the tiniest bit, then the man spoke.

"Sai said that you don't just follow what others tell you. You like to see with your own eyes, and decide for yourself."

"Um… yeah? I mean, I'm a photographer, so if I don't have my own sense of how to look at something, I'm pretty much in the wrong field." Naruto had the sense that the man was talking about more than just the photos that Sai had tried to influence, but wasn't sure how Sai would get that much of a read on him with the few times they'd seen each other, so he decided to just take the comment at face value. For the moment.

A small breeze kicked up, shifting the man's spiky red hair, revealing a kanji tattoo on his forehead. Naruto was a little surprised that it was the kanji for 'love'. Somehow, the man before him didn't come off at first blush as a romantic, but maybe the tattoo wasn't about that. Naruto's curiosity only increased.

The man was still regarding Naruto silently as he levered himself away from the brick pillar. He turned and walked toward the entrance to the mysterious building. Naruto stood there for a moment, not sure if he was supposed to follow or if he was being brushed off.

The redhead turned to look over his shoulder at Naruto. "Coming?"

Naruto shrugged. "Are you going to at least tell me your name before you have me follow you home?"

The man took out a heavy set of keys. Some of them were large, steel skeleton keys and Naruto had no idea what a key like that would unlock.

"Gaara," he said, turning the lock in the heavy wooden door before opening it, stepping back to let Naruto enter. The lights were off, giving Naruto no better sense of what Gaara's building actually was. But Jiraiya's gamble had paid off… Gaara was letting him in.

to be continued…

A/N: The first scene with Gaara is really long, so I cut it here because it would be weird to cut it in the middle? Next chapter will pick up right from this point, so no time skip in the next one. Sasuke and Itachi will also make an appearance!