After only another hour we were forced to resume the brutal pace to get to the rendezvous point in time to head off the enemy. It took several more hours to reach our destination so I focused on the physical exercise, refusing to acknowledge the humiliating conversation that had taken place. Every time it did manage to sneak into my brain I could feel myself getting flushed, and I was already flushed from exertion, so more heat was not required.

I noticed Kankuro and Temari looking from me to Gaara and back again, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened, both of them still shell shocked and probably thinking all sorts of things that could get the two of us into serious trouble. I sincerely hoped that they hadn't made the obvious connection, that somehow we were "together" or something stupid like that. From their conniving expressions they probably already had and were plotting on how to use it to their advantage.

Thankfully we did make it in time to assist the Leaf Ninja and Temari shot off to help pineapple head, while Kankuro headed in the direction of the boy with the puppy-for-a-hat. Gaara made his way in the direction that the enemy had taken Sasuke and I headed back towards the boy with the super long black hair.

Unfortunately, the opponent that I ended up facing was one who seemed to have the ability to summon spiders, a creature that I hated. I passed through a field of smashed spiders as large as my fist and one very large spider that likewise seemed incapacitated. I hoped that this meant that I wouldn't have to deal with any of the creepy crawlies myself. When I finally caught up with them I found the boy, Neji I think was his name, in a bit of a tight spot, with spider dude hiding somewhere in the trees while doing his best to make Neji a human pin cushion with some very ugly arrows.

I jumped into the fray, announcing myself as, "I am an ally of the Leaf from the Sand. My comrades have gone to help your friends."

Neji turned his pale gray eyes to me, "My thanks. I can handle this guy on my own, but the help is appreciated."

I nodded, realizing that I was dealing with someone with a lot of pride. I think I remembered from the Chunin exams that he came from some sort of prominent family, so that probably explained his attitude. I was fine with that though; there was nothing wrong with being confidant in your abilities.

"I'll fetch spider boy. How about that?" I asked, getting a raised eyebrow in response.

I quickly covered his back and sent a breeze out to search for the enemy hiding in the trees. He was easily discoverable and I solved the matter by sending a tornado in that direction, carving a path of destruction through the forest and quickly scooping up the enemy, tossing him to us. He landed on his back, the extra arms tossing this way and that, to try and right himself. He really did look like some sort of grotesque bug stuck on his back.

After some floundering, he managed to right himself and prepared to attack. I could tell that he was already injured, his chakra quite low from battling Neji. Despite the long strenuous run, I was still fresher than he was, so it was a simple matter to punch his lights out with a highly powered Kazegame Jutsu, Gale Fist.

He recoiled and keeled over, stunned by the blow and out for the count. I yelped and cradled my fist in my other hand. His face had been unbelievably hard, possibly breaking a few bones and those damn saber teeth of his had torn a couple of deep wounds in between my first and second knuckle and also between my third and fourth knuckle.

Normally the wind infused chakra that I used for these sorts of blows served several purposes. One, it would coat my fist, or knee or elbow, thus protecting it from the surface I had hit. And of course the second reason was that it would infuse power into the hit, allowing me to bring down a brick wall with one blow, while doing little to no damage to myself. Strangely though, whatever jutsu he had used to transform himself into such an ugly mug had also made his skin unnaturally tough, and I had miscalibrated the amount of wind I would need for protection, using the large majority of it for momentum and not enough as a shield.

The pain radiating from my hand had me cussing under my breath as I cradled it against my chest. I ignored it for the moment, choosing to turn to Neji and determine if he was seriously injured. Aside from extreme chakra loss and a few smaller injuries here and there he seemed relatively okay. I told him about our mission and that we had been sent to assist in the recovery mission of Sasuke Uchiha.

After a few moments of discussion he decided to go back and check on his comrades that had been left behind, and I went forwards, in the direction Gaara had gone, figuring that that was also the direction the enemy had taken Sasuke. So I'd bet that would be the direction to go. As I leapt through the trees, following Gaara's chakra signature since it was the most familiar and thus easiest for me to find, I took inventory of my injury. It wasn't too bad, though it hurt like hell and looked pretty gnarly. I could see the knuckle bones poking out in a couple of places where the skin had been torn. I winced and reached back into one of my pouches, pulling out a roll of bandages, and quickly wrapped up my knuckles.

When I reached Gaara, his battle had already been decided and he was pretty low on Chakra and as I looked out onto the battlefield I could see why. The forest had been turned into a desert within a several mile radius, and I gaped at the show of power. I knew that Gaara was powerful, he had been for as long as I had known him, but this was insane. He had somehow made more sand, actually transforming the landscape from lush and forested into barren desert.

The entire mission ended soon after that, called off by Kakashi as he came back with a passed out Naruto draped over his shoulder. I could sense that Gaara was concerned for the yellow head, and frankly I was too, he was a pretty likable guy from what I had seen of him. Plus, he had been a major factor in Gaara's mood adjustment, and I would be eternally grateful to him for that.

The Leaf Village provided us with a place to stay for the night, which we were all extremely grateful for, and we all collapsed on our beds, immediately falling asleep. All of us, except for Gaara of course.

After some much needed rest, we returned to Suna, taking it a little easier this time around. The run up here had been insane. Covering that much distance with only one rest had thoroughly exhausted us and even a good night's sleep hadn't completely removed the stress from our bodies.

Although, I almost wished that we had a harder pace on the way back, because the leisure allowed me to think more about that stupid conversation I had had with Gaara before the battle. It was a little awkward, even though the excitement from the battle had erased some of the embarrassing conversation from our minds, I still found myself a little self-conscious around Gaara. He also seemed hyperaware of my presence, always turning to look at me whenever I approached him.

I still couldn't believe that I had had to have "the talk" with him. I mean really, that was a seriously dropped ball in someone's court. If his father hadn't done it, which I couldn't really imagine happening anyways, then I would have thought Kankuro would have picked up the challenge. Maybe I should have a serious conversation with Gaara's older brother…

Once back in the village, I spent a little time trying to avoid Gaara, until the whole thing had blown over. Gaara seemed to be everywhere I went though, almost as if he was following me, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

*Gaara POV*

After returning home from the mission, Gaara kept finding his mind occupied more and more by what Ren had told him in the forest. That sort of thing had never really bothered him before. Then again, until recently he had been more interested in killing people than in getting to know them, so any sort of "affection" whether physically shown or not probably wouldn't have interested him.

Although, he couldn't help but wonder if, had he known what he did now, little as it was, would he have pursued it? He had been in the mindset of 'if I want it, it's mine.' So perhaps it was a good thing he had only learned about this now, after gaining a little more control over himself.

After Naruto had spoken to him in the forest at the Chunin exams, he had decided to give what the other boy had said a try, to see if friends really were worth the trouble. It had been a life changing experience, and he had quickly discovered, that as soon as he cast aside the whole notion of 'love only yourself' a whole new world opened up for him, one that seemed infinitely more inviting. He had worked hard, putting himself under an iron control to try and get his bad habit of letting Shukaku influence his actions under wraps.

Warning: Semi-Explicit Content Coming Up

If that offends you, you might consider skipping the rest of this chapter

That night, after returning home, he lay in his bed, his mind buzzing over everything he had learned. It helped to explain how his body sometimes did strange things, getting hard and uncomfortably stiff in certain places.

Thinking about that, Gaara snorted, remembering Ren's flustered laughing expression when he had said the word 'dick.' Just saying that word in front of her had felt so strange… and oddly a little exciting. Of course he hadn't shown that, he had maintained a careful mask, as much as possible, to make sure she continued what she was saying, and to try and make it a little less awkward for her. After all, he did appreciate her going to all the trouble of telling him these things, knowing that it must have been extremely embarrassing for her.

He couldn't help but feel a little guilty at just how much he had enjoyed her embarrassment. Not really in a mean way, it had simply excited him in that strange way that he was starting to associate with his dick sprouting an annoying life of its own.

His dick had always irritated and confused the hell out of him when it did that. At times there had been this strange tension that built up in his lower belly, and he had always felt the need to alleviate it, but hadn't ever bothered before. Before the Chunin exams, he simply had found it a nuisance and strapped it tightly to his belly with his sand armor, tightly enough that the discomfort and mild pain forced it to soften, ignoring it in favor of searching for new victims to help him feel alive.

He had never touched it when it was hard, aside from constricting it so tightly with his sand armor that it hurt. Even after the Chunin exams, he hadn't messed with it, still finding it somewhat of a nuisance. The one time he had poked it out of curiosity and a sense of irritated aggravation, as if to say 'what the hell is wrong with you?' it had sent an intense shock through his nervous system. An incredible intense pleasure that had immediately made him want to indulge and mess with it more. But at that point he had himself under such tight control, that letting himself do that felt too much like losing control. The urge to touch himself had been comparable to that obsessive urge to kill before, bloodlust traded for regular lust. But it had been so similar that it freaked him out and he had immediately gone back to the sand method.

Now that he knew what he did about what it was used for, it made sense why it did what it did. And knowing that it was a normal thing people did, something that they actually did with each other as a way to show affection, somehow made it seem okay.

Frankly it was all quite fascinating, and perhaps a little disturbing to think about. Thinking about doing that, with someone else, it sent his mind into a dangerous tailspin. On the one hand, physical contact was so foreign to him, almost to the point that it was uncomfortable and pissed him off. He had only ever known physical contact with another person to end badly, usually when someone was trying to kill him, or in the case of Kankuro, boss him around. On the other hand, he had this strange longing for physical contact, to touch another human being with his own skin. He supposed that it had always been there, but had only recently acknowledged it…somewhat.

But that much physical contact was…daunting. Almost frightening, and Gaara was very uncomfortable with the emotion called fear, not having experienced it since his childhood, preferring anger. Well, that wasn't entirely true, he had experienced a great deal of fear caused by the conflicting emotions and confusion during the Chunin exams, and he still remembered how unpleasant that had been.

Even so… as strange as it sounded, and even though it seemed a little disgusting, the thought of what Ren had described still held this odd thrall over him. It was such a foreign concept, putting your body into another person's body? It just sounded…painful, and weird. Although he supposed that if there was an opening in the body actually made for that…

That was one of the things that was disturbing about it, it sounded eerily like shoving a sword into someone's belly, but of course that was fatal.

But the idea of putting his dick anywhere like what she had described, not that she had really described it all that much, was …sort of exciting, if a little disturbing. Actually he wondered what it would look like, since that was one thing that she hadn't covered in the basic information she gave him.

Naturally all of these thoughts led to that same situation that he had always been irritated by before. He sighed and propped his head up on one arm, staring down his chest and stomach to the lump that appeared between his hipbones. He glared at it, mildly irritated that it had distracted him from his train of thought. Old habits die hard, and Gaara knew that better than anyone, so the irritation accompanying the hardening of his dick was a knee jerk reaction for him.

But really, if he thought about it, he was actually quite curious now. Ren had said that the act of sex was supposed to be very pleasurable, and he didn't really know how that would work. Pleasure for him was unknown, limited to the pleasure of tasting his favorite food. Or he supposed he had found sadistic pleasure when he was still a murderous serial killer. But physical pleasure…he didn't know what that was.

Second Warning: Explicit Content Coming Up

If Lemons/Limes aren't your thing, then go ahead and go to the next chapter

Gaara had never dealt well with curiosity. Which was a blessing, since it had saved Ren's life. Once he became curious about something, he almost grew obsessed until he could figure it out. And this was no different, the curiosity burning in his gut, making him hesitantly reach a hand down to rest on the lump.

That slight pressure felt kind of good actually, and he blinked, a little surprised. He titled his head to the side, contemplating it for a moment before he pressed down a little more firmly, hissing when it resulted in a tightening in his gut and a zing of pleasure to cross his senses.

He gasped. OH. So that's what she meant by pleasure. Huh. What an interesting feeling. He had never felt anything like it before, but immediately decided that he liked it. Seeking more, even more curious now, he cupped his hand around the hardened shaft and squeezed. He grunted, his hips flexing into his palm at the new sensation. Shit. That feels…

He was shocked by how his body had responded without his conscious decision to move. The natural urge to buck his hips into his hand had simply happened, and that was definitely a little disconcerting.

After a moment he squeezed again, his hips doing that thing again as the air hissed out of him. It seemed the act of squeezing was what was pleasurable, not just maintaining the squeeze. He huffed, finding the obstruction of his pants to be irritating now. He quickly unbuttoned and unzipped, shoving them down a little so he could have better access.

He looked down at his dick, feeling it throb, and almost a little shocked by how different it looked. He supposed he had never actually looked at it when it was hard before, and the change was shocking. The size difference was the first thing that caught his attention. He had known it grew larger when it got stiff, but seeing it was different from just feeling it. It was actually quite fascinating. It was also a slightly different shape, or maybe the shape was just more visible now.

After the brief inspection he eagerly continued, putting his hand back where it had been before, only this time he could curl his entire hand around it. He immediately found that the sensation was much more intense and much more pleasurable. He groaned, his eyes shutting as he closed his fist around the shaft, the sensation completely obliterating all thought from his mind. When he squeezed, his hips bucked up almost violently, shoving his dick into his fist.

The stroking motion that happened when he bucked sent a shock of pleasure throughout his system. That had felt the best by far. Curious once again, panting, he squinted down and experimentally drew his fist up and down the shaft. His eyes immediately slammed shut again, his head tilting back into the pillows as he arched. Unable to do anything but follow what his body was saying, what it was demanding, his fist pumped up and down, his hips thrusting all on their own, his stomach tensing.

After a moment he was slightly distracted by several things, a hissing sound, a creaking sound, the light flickering from behind his closed eyelids, and something touching his foot. He jerked, his hand coming off his dick as he sat up, looking around the room in shock.

He had always known his sand was tied to his emotions, particularly reacting when he was experiencing strong emotions like fear or anger, but he certainly hadn't expected this. Without his knowledge the cork had popped out of his gourd and sand was pouring out of it onto the ground. But it didn't stay there for long. It was climbing pretty much every vertical surface in sinuous rivulets, looking for all the world like suddenly either there were hundreds of tawny snakes curling around all his furniture, across the floors, up his walls and even over his ceiling, or else suddenly sand sprouted like vines. It was even crawling around his bed posts, which is what had made those creaking noises, and the light had shifted and moved because of it slipping across his window. And it had gotten on the bed with him, which is what had touched his foot. And it wasn't even staying fully on surfaces. Tendrils were swirling through the air, making corkscrews and curlicues in the air as if it was dancing.

Well … this is definitely odd. Now what? He thought, watching the sand start to slow down a little in its dance through the air and in its traveling speed across all the surfaces in his room, reacting to the reduction in his lust.

He was torn, the sand reacting like this disturbed him greatly, but on the other hand his body was insisting that he continue what he had been doing. Eventually he lay back, deciding to ignore the sand for now. It took a second to get back to where he was, still overly aware of the sand and almost self-conscious in a weird way. But soon the rhythm of his fist took over and he couldn't spend any time thinking anymore.

He groaned and hissed, the pleasure mounting thickly. He easily ignored the sand twisting around his foot, and the sand he could feel coming off the headboard, touching his arm where it was above his head, his hand gripping the pillow.

A low volume growl started up in his chest, constant and punctuated by various groans and heavy breathing as he continued, the sensations mounting in his lower belly. His head flopped to the side, his neck tensed and arched, the tendons tight, and his eyes opened slightly, blurrily watching with absolutely no comprehension as the sand danced and swirled through the air.

Everything seemed to mount more and more quickly, the pleasure increasing to the point he couldn't think at all, the only thing going on for him was sensation, specifically that single pleasurable sensation that had his muscles all tensing. His fist worked faster and faster, as the pleasure increased.

And then suddenly it all came to a head, all the sensations suddenly becoming a million times more powerful, more pleasurable, and swamping his system. He tensed and groaned, his muscles freezing. The powerful sensations rushed through his body, and he felt his dick pulsing in his hand, his balls drawn up tight. There was a series of extremely pleasurable pulses and contractions that went through that area of his body and suddenly there was something wet spurting onto his stomach.

He shuddered, realizing that the experience had reached some sort of climax, and finding himself left boneless in the aftermath. He lay there gasping and limp, random pulses still occasionally making him twitch against his wet stomach.

He took his hand away and slowly raised it, squinting one eye lazily open and observing with some confusion and curiosity the thick milky liquid spattered over the back of his hand. It took him a while, his brain not functioning properly, before he remembered what Ren had said about there being a liquid that he would produce, some sort of seed. It was a fascinating concept, to think that this strange sticky fluid could potentially fertilize an egg and create a baby. Of course his mind wasn't up to processing those sorts of thoughts, so he simply found that he was glad he hadn't been wearing a shirt when he had finished.

After roughly wiping off the wet, sticky mess, he fixed his pants and quickly zoned out into as close to sleep as he could go, without letting Shukaku out.

End Chapter 21

Author's Note:

So for everyone who stayed to the end...What did you think? I hope you enjoyed Gaara's curiosity... ;)