After finishing the annoying, boring and stupidly simple missions that Shizune had given him and after returning his reports, Sasuke decided to go to clean the appartment that Tsunade had told him to clean. He found the address of the building quite easily, though he had to walk through the garden in order to get to the stairs that would lead him into the apartment.

Yet, just as he was about to start going up stairs, something shinny in the grass caught his attention. It was a key, from a drawer, probably. Wondering why would someone through the key, since it was obvious that no one would lose it in the garden, because it was from a drawer, and those keys usually stayed inside the house, he walked up stairs.

He opened the door and entered the apartment. It was a small and cozy place, with a small living room, one bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen. It was obvious the owner was a ninja, because of the scrolls and few furniture. Everything was in it's place, though the dust was already acumulating in the windows and tables. The plants near the window looked healthly, though he probably had to give them water soon if he didn't want them to die.

Sighing, he decided to clean the bedroom first and get over it soon, as he disliked being in someone else's house without knowing the owner. Upon entering the bedroom, he noticed whose house he was cleaning. There, in the night table, there was a picture of team 7, along with others. His heart pounded furiously, understanding that Naruto wasn't in town, and Tsunade hadn't even say when he was going to return. His legs felt like jelly, wondering if his blonde friend was in a dangerous mission, if he would be safe, if he would return. He sat in the bed, trying to calm himself and looked at the other pictures in the small table and the walls.

There was one of Naruto, Sakura and the two shinobis (the one that used wood attacks, Yamato, and Sasuke's replacement, Sai) that Sasuke had met when Naruto had found him in Orochimaru's lair when they were 15. All of them were smiling, even the boy with no emotions didn't seem to be faking his smile. There was other of Naruto, Shino, Kiba, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sai and Neji, some smiling and others smirking. Then one of Naruto and the girls, Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Tenten. Also one of Jiraiya, Naruto and Tsunade. Another one with Iruka and one with Kakashi. Another with a boy Sasuke didn't recognize, dressed like a priest, with darker skin; and Asuma, the three of them holding kunais that shined with blue chakra.

The last one and that was in the center of the wall was one of Sai, Naruto and Neji,the three of them in yukata's, in some sort of festival. There were shiny lights in the shops near them, and fireworks in the black sky. It seemed to be the most recent one and even Neji was laughing, and Sasuke wondered how much Naruto had changed the Hyuga to make him laugh like that, hugging Naruto by the waist. The other boy, Sai, was hugging Naruto with one arm above the blonde's shoulders and his smile was true this time. Naruto's face irradated happiness there, one of his arms around Neji's shoulder's and the other one at Sai's waist.

His eyes were fixed in that picture, in Naruto's expression. He was so carefree, so happy, like the others. And he was older, taller and handsome. His slightly rounded face had lost all the babyfat he used to have when they were kids, his jaw was more defined, the scars in his face looked a bit longer and his hair was longer, falling around his head like a halo. None of them were wearing their forehead protectors, nor any other sign that told that they were all ninja. They were just young men, enjoying themselves in the festival.

Sasuke felt sad, and jealous, since he knew that he could have been one of them, if he had never left. But now there was no time to think about the "could have been"; he could only face the concecuences and accept what he had done wrong and try to make things right again with the blond shinobi.

He sighed and started to clean the room, and then followed with the kitchen and living room. Deciding to leave the bathroom and the windows for another day, he gave the plants some water and left the apartment; wondering for how long he would have to wait before seeing it's owner.

Yet, as he was crossing the garden, he was stopped by a rough and old voice,

"Hey, you are Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you?..."

The next thing Naruto knew, was that he was in a hospital room and when he opened his eyes, he saw Gaara sitting next to him, reading a scroll. It seemed that it was night already, judging by the darkness in the window, and as he tried to move, he felt that he was going to be sick. Gaara gave him a bucket in which he poured his stomach contents, that weren't much by now and smiled at him. Shikari was there as well and asked,

"How are you feeling?"

"Dizzy." Naruto asked, since he was slightly shaking, as he cleaned his mouth. She smiled and said,

"It's normal, trust me. Anything else?"

"No."

"Ok... then I think you're ready to go home, after I explain you what you have to do." She said, looking at the two men.

Gaara left the scroll aside and took Naruto's hand, that was lying next to him. It took Naruto by surprise, but he no longer felt the need to take his hand away as fast as he could and gaped at Shikari,

"YOU DID IT!"

"Of course I did. You will notice inmediately, but if you don't do what I tell you to, it will come back and even stronger than before, you understand?"

Naruto nodded, still marveled at the fact, and Gaara smiled again, listening to Shikari,

"You don't have to do much, trust me. Is simple enough, you have to practice touching others again, in a gentle way, I mean, not fighting. Now, you have to do it gradually, don't force yourself to do something rash, understand? That would be pretty much all, though if you ever feel fear again, specially in two weeks from now, you have to come to me inmediately, got it?"

Naruto nodded, and laced his fingers with Gaara's. Shikari smiled and said,

"Well, you can go home now. And don't be late tomorrow, you hear me?"

"Of course not, Shikari-chan!! How could we be late for your wedding? Thanks, really, thanks a lot." Naruto answered, smiling and Shikari responded with a smile of her own and left the room.

Naruto was still marveled at the fact that he no longer felt any fear when others touched him, and was grinnning all the time, and gripped Gaara's hand with his own, as they left the room and the hospital.

Gaara himself was very happy, just from seeing Naruto being so happy, laughing and speaking loudly; and even more as they walked through Suna's streets, holding hands. He was feeling bubbles in his stomach and he smiled at Naruto's antics.

When they reached the house, Naruto said:

"Well, I guess we better go to sleep tonight, ne? We have wedding tomorrow, after all."

Gaara nodded and then they went upstairs, to their rooms. Yet, he was walking away when Naruto pulled his arm, and as quick as the shinobi he was, he took the redhead's face between his hands and kissed him gently. Gaara, was taken by surprise, but nontheless, he could feel his heart beating like a drum and his stomach was doing flips as Naruto's lips caressed his own, and answered quickly.

Whe Naruto felt Gaara responding to his kiss, his hands left the face of Gaara and one travelled to the hip of the Kazekage and the other one found it's way between red locks, just as one of Gaara's hands pulled him closer by the neck and the other one was gently pulling the blonde mane. He sighed into the kiss, as Naruto's hands united themselves around his waist and then caressed his back in circles.

The kiss turned more passionate and Naruto's lips started to travel from his lips to his jaw and his neck, making Gaara's breathing hitch when he nipped right under his ear and a moan escaped his lips as Naruto nibbled at his earlobe. Naruto growled in aproval and pushed Gaara towards the wall, which made the redhead react and he started kissing the blonde's neck as well, bitting and kissing his way down. Yet, when he felt hand dropping lower than his waist, he whispered,

"Naruto, wait, stop."

"Hm?" Was the answer, as Naruto happily leaving a hickie on the redhead's neck.

"Stop, Naruto." Gaara said again, trying to control his voice and to sound serious. Finally, Naruto left Gaara's neck and asked,

"What is it, Gaara?"

"Shikari said 'nothing rash', so stop it. That's enough." Gaara answered, willing himself to speak clearly and loud enough to indicate he was being serious, though the heat that had been forming in his abdomen was screaming that they shouldn't stop at all. Naruto smiled,

"How sweet of you, Gaara, worrying for me!" He said with an overly girly voice.

The glare that followed that statement was enough to stop Naruto from teasing the redhead; afterall, it was clear who was dominant in the relationship.

"Alright, alright Gaara, you're right. Well, goodnight." Naruto said and stole a quick kiss from Gaara, who blushed and said,

"Night."

Naruto flashed him his foxy smile and then entered his bedroom, as the redhead went to his own room.

Sasuke, upon hearing someone talking to him, turned around and saw Jiraiya. He had known he was Naruto's last sensei and of course, he had heard of him while being in with Orochimaru and then while travelling in order to kill his brother. Even though, he was surprised to see the sannin there, he had heard that he spent most of his time travelling.

The old shinobi approached him and as he looked at him, said,

"Just like the kid used to tell..."

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, wondering what the sannin wanted to do with him.

"Oh, me? Not much, kiddo. I was just wondering if you would like to come with me to have a drink." Jiraiya answered, offering him a smile.

Sasuke shruggred, figuring that he could at least learn somethings about Naruto if he went with the sannin, so he silently nodded. Jiraiya smiled and started walking, with Sasuke following him.

"You know, it's funny that the three of you were our pupils. Sakura with Tsunade-chan, you with Orochimaru, Naruto with me... You are pretty much the way we were. Even though, I got to admit that Orochimaru didn't have as much luck as you with the women, too snake-like looking for them."

Sasuke had to agree with that, Orochimaru was one of the most disgusting men he had ever met, not only in looks, but in interests as well. He couldn't phantom who would want to be with his dead sensei, with his white skin and overly long tongue. He nodded, to reasure the sannin that he was listening.

"Come one, this is a good bar... not too many eave's droppers." Jiraiya said, entering a small but still good looking bar.

Sasuke noticed they were in one of the comercial zones of Konoha, near his house, actually. They took a table and the bar tender, costumers and waiters were surprised to see Jiraiya with Sasuke. By now, everyone in town knew that the Uchiha had returned and wondered why he had returned, besides that gossip had done it's job and some said that he looked like Orochimaru or that he carried around a snake; complete lies, of course. Jiraiya ordered some sake and when it came, took a good gulp, waiting for the rest of people to go back to their own business. Sasuke drank from his cup as well and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Orochimaru had a liking to sake as well... you get used to drink it if it's practically the only available liquid." Sasuke explained.

Jiraiya smiled, remembering that from time to time, the three of them used to get together and went to a bar to drink. That was before Orochimaru's betrayal, of course.

"The kid likes it too... and has one of the strongest tolerances I've ever seen. Guess he owes it to his guest."

Sasuke nodded and Jiraiya drank some more, before asking,

"I hate beating around the bush. So, why did you come back to Konoha?"

Sasuke thought for a second. He could tell him the truth... or not.

"I did what I had to do when I left the village. Orochimaru is dead, Itachi as well... I just wanted to come home again, stop being a missing nin... not a nice life, to tell the truth."

"Would you leave again?" Jiraiya asked again, studying his reaction.

"What for?"

"Well, I guess it's safe to let you stay then. You know who the apartment you were cleaning belongs to, right?" Jiraiya said, sighing and drinking some more from his cup.

Sasuke nodded.

"You want to know more about him, right?"

Nod again.

"Well, right now, he's in Suna, with his friend the Kazekage. No mission, he's just taking a holiday." Sasuke raised his eyebrow at this.

"Yeah, you see, he was an ANBU, and Tsunade-chan was training him, to give him her place. Yes, the kid is about to become Hokage, the brat."

Sasuke was surprised. Sure, he knew that Naruto had a lot of potential, but to become Hokage at his age... He must have changed a lot, he had to grow up a lot, from what Sasuke remembered.

"He isn't the kluts he was when I met him, when he was 12, you are wondering about it. He is so much like his father, actually, sometimes I think I'm talking to Minato, though he is as cheerful as his mother, Kushina."

Sasuke wondered who he was talking about and asked,

"Who were they?"

"You don't know? And here I thought you were a genius... Blond hair, blue eyes, how many important shinobis Konoha has had like that? Orochimaru must have told you about him, the one that was named Hokage instead of him."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he almost chocked, almost being the key word. The only one that fitted that description was the fourth Hokage, Namizake Minato, a genius and student of Jiraiya, that had gotten the Hokage's position instead of Orochimaru and was known as the Yellow Flash from Konoha. The war had been practially won thanks to him.

"Naruto... is the son of the fourth Hokage?" He asked, almost in disbelief. Though now that he thought about it, it fitted.

"Yes, he is. I'm proud of him... just like his father would be."

Sasuke took a large gulp, thinking about how everyone treated Naruto when they were younger. If they had known who was his father... things would have been so much different for them... He wasn't sure if they would have been better, but different, as sure as hell.

"You like him, don't you?"

This time, Sasuke did chocked, and Jiraiya laughed, while patting his back, trying to help him.

"You see, most of the time, your eyes are like dead... but as soon as his name is mentioned,they lighten up. It's hard not to notice, kiddo." Jiraiya explained.

"And why would you care?"

"Oh, don't take it like that, Sasuke-san. Just wondering. I can't say if the kid likes you too, that's for you to discover, but at least I want to make sure that you won't hurt him... because if you do, I'll be the first one to kill you. So, I think we understand each other, right?"

Sasuke nodded, though he was sure that he wouldn't hurt Naruto. First of all, he doubted that his friend would like him, second, he was too much of a coward to tell him right away, specially after so many years of not being there.

Jiraiya drank another cup and then they left, the Sannin towards the Hokage tower and Sasuke to his house, thinking about the things he had learnt that day.

Did you like the chapter?! I have to admit that I love Naruto as a seme, sorry for those who like him as the uke, I just hate it when writers make him overly girly... ¬¬;... He's a man, for god's sake...

Anyway, what do you think about this?

Reviews, please!!