A/N: Natsuki equals not born in this chapter. They didn't ditch their daughter at home or anything like that. I keep up my amazing pace of over 21 chapters in 16 days. Who else gives you as much Naruto loving as the raging hobo?

A Much Needed Vacation

"Naruto! Hinata! What are you two doing here?"

"Um, you asked us to come Gaara."

The Kazekage's eyes went wide for a moment before he tried to cover up his mistake.

"Yes, of course I did. I was just messing with you. Welcome my friends."

Gaara reached his hand out and waited for Naruto to accept it. The instant they clasped hands, the red-haired man dissolved away into a pile of sand. As the couple stared at the pile with a look of amazement on their faces a voice came from behind them.

"Boo."

They promptly whirled around to face their friend who was laughing so hard he had to brace himself on his knees. The pair from Konoha exchanged glances as if to ask the other if they thought it was as funny as Gaara clearly did. Naruto spoke up.

"You're a very strange guy Gaara."

Still laughing heartily, he raised his eyes to look at his friends.

"You should have seen the look on your faces. Priceless!"

Suddenly, an idea struck jade-eyed wannabe comedian.

"Oh, I know. I'll show you."

Without waiting for them to respond he made a pair of clones in the image of a stunned Naruto and Hinata. There were some problems with the clones though. Apparently Gaara's laughing fit was keeping him from concentrating enough to make them perfect.

"Gaara, we've gone over this before. I don't have any horns. Not to mention that Hinata does, in fact, have a right arm and isn't quite seven feet tall."

Finally gaining control over his laughter, the red-haired man glanced over at his handiwork. What he saw drove him over the edge again. He dropped to the ground laughing. Growing mildly irritated, Naruto's right eye twitched. His annoyance didn't last long though; his friend's laughter was just too contagious. Hinata was quick to join in the fun as well. Slowly, their laughter faded and Gaara picked himself up off the ground.

"It is good to see you again my friends. Thank you for coming."

"It's good to see you too Gaara. Can I ask you a question though? Why on earth do you keep giving me horns?"

A shrug of the shoulders was all the response Naruto received.

"You look kind of cute with horns Naruto-kun." Hinata said while giggling.

Always needing to have the last word Naruto added his bit.

"Oh really? I can talk to the fox about having some installed if you want."

"You do and I'm breaking them off with my bare hands." She retorted with a dangerous lilt in her voice.

Naruto let loose a small 'Eep' but was silenced by his wife's lips before he could add anything else. Gaara stood off to the side with a lopsided smirk.

"If you two lovebirds are quite through I'll show you where you'll be staying."

They broke their kiss and Hinata blushed deeply.

"Gomen."

Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't apologize to him. He deserves it for that sand clone trick. Besides, he's probably just jealous. When are you going to find a girl Gaara?"

Waving off the comment with his hand, the sand shinobi turned and beckoned the pair to follow.

"I don't have time for women right now, some day perhaps. Now let's go. I have a room prepared for you in my home."

"Thank you Gaara. We appreciate your hospitality." Hinata said with her quiet voice.

"No thanks is needed. I am a bit miffed at not having been invited to the fight with Akatsuki. I would have liked a piece of them." He replied, a tinge of anger leaking into his voice.

Naruto rolled his eyes in an exasperated fashion.

"Sorry. If there had been any way for you to get there on time I would have told you. We didn't know when they were coming though, and you couldn't abandon your country and come wait for them."

A sigh.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Gaara didn't allow any time for a response before he spoke again, this time in front of his home.

"Ah, here we are. Come in and I'll show you your room. You can drop off your things."

Naruto and Hinata both stared wide-eyed at what they saw.

"Let me guess, you built this yourself?"

The Kazekage nodded, pride obvious on his face as he gazed at his house that was made completely of sand.

"Don't you think you could have picked a better door knocker than Shukaku's face?"

"Why do you ask?" He inquired in a puzzled tone.

"Well, it's just that it's a little creepy. Having a demon for your door knocker that is."

He shrugged as he reached for the door.

"It does its job."

His comment earned an exasperated sigh from Naruto as he followed him into the house. Gaara led them to their room on the second story of his house. They were more than pleased to find that the furniture in it was not made out of sand. The idea of a sand mattress didn't appeal to either one of them, especially Hinata. After placing their bags in the room they went downstairs wear their host was waiting. Gaara informed him that he was going to be taking them out for dinner so that they could sample the local cuisine. They agreed even though Naruto whined a little about wanting ramen. His bellyaching was quickly quieted by a glare from his wife, who was always eager to try new foods.

After a short walk, they arrived at the restaurant. The sign out front read "The Garden". It was soon apparent why it was called that when they entered. The room was positively filled with flowers. Everything from lotus to daisies covered the banisters and tables, and even a small island in the center of the room. The smell alone was enough to make Hinata swoon. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. The hostess came and Naruto took Hinata by the arm as they were led to their table. In the middle of their table was a vase full of lilacs, which provided a pleasant aroma. Their server came quickly and took their order. Gaara gave her more than his order though. He created a small flower out of sand that he placed lightly in her hand. The girl blushed deeply as she walked away at the attention from the man she knew to be the Kazekage. Naruto gawked openly at his friend.

"I thought you said you had no time for women."

Gaara grinned knowingly as he looked at his friend.

"I have no time for a relationship my friend. That doesn't mean I cant spare some time for flirting."

The blond laughed openly at his friend's statement.

"Just using them and throwing them away? That's not cool."

Stunned, Gaara waved his arms in front of him, trying to impress upon them that they had the wrong idea.

"No! Of course not. It doesn't move beyond flirting. They seem to enjoy it and so do I. What's the harm in that?"

Hinata stepped in to help her friend out of his predicament.

"There isn't any. He knew what you meant. He's just being a jerk."

"Yeah yeah. I know Gaara isn't like that. It's just fun to make him squirm."

A new smirk plastered on his face, the red-haired man turned to his friend.

"I think we now know why you always end up with horns in my models of you."

Laughter erupted from the three of them, though Naruto's covered Hinata up completely and mostly drowned out Gaara. The bearer of the ichbi (one tail) marveled at how little his friend had changed as he aged.

Soon, their meals arrived and were eaten slowly as they talked. Naruto was surprised at just how much he had enjoyed his meal, and vowed to pick up a cookbook for Hinata while they were here. After they were done Gaara paid for their meals, despite Naruto's insistence that he pay for Hinata and himself, and left for home. After some light conversation at the dinner table they decided that it was time to go to sleep. They had been traveling all day to get to the sand after all.

"Thank you Gaara. We had a wonderful time." Hinata said as she leaned on her husband's arm.

A mischievous twinkle flashed in his Gaara's jade eyes that was reminiscent of a small child.

"Just wait 'til tomorrow."

A/N: More fun with Gaara and his oh so odd sense of humor. Damn I love Gaara. He's just so fun.

Danny-171984: Glad you liked the diary entries. I don't remember who you have to thank for getting me to do that. Nonengel I think. Gaara the comedian. So much fun. One of my best? Awesome. Thanks a lot. Natsuki is uber cute. How could you not love a midget Hinata? I'll update fast as long as I can. I probably won't be able to once school starts. You know how it goes. Then again you wont have as much time to devote to reading fan faction so it all works out.

Shikashikanaranara: your name is the biggest pain to type in the world. Welcome to the gang though. Im always happy to have more fans

Dragon Man 180: I see where you're coming from, but she is only 5. How many 5 year olds hate things. Besides they haven't really told her about Kyuubi yet. I'm glad I managed to keep people how you think they would be. It's important to me that I stick with what I'm given. It's nice that I can do whatever I want with Gaara though.

Raziel Tepes: And thank you as always.

Nonengel: Cute has its place. I try to mix it up. I really loved writing their father/daughter interaction though. It was fun.