The rest of the week was spent peacefully. They had a day out with Sarada and Sakura, the four going out on a picnic.
"So, when are you two going to get married?" Sakura had teased which had made Naruto choke on the grape he had been eating.
"W-W-We don't have that long dating! Don't you think it's too early to be thinking about that?" The blonde had whined, covering his face.
"I knew I wanted to marry Sasuke-kun since I was 5...so no, I don't think it's too early. You two look at each other like there's no one else in the world...and well Naru...you are almost 30, I want a cute nephew or niece so get your butt working on forming that family!" The pinkette said with a roll of her eyes, playing with Sarada's hair "Wouldn't you want a little cousin to play with and take care of, Sarada-chan?"
"It's too early! A-A-And Sarada-chan is still young, maybe when she's older….in ten years or something." The blonde stuttered out, turning to give Gaara a pleading look, as if the redhead could help him.
"I'll wait until Naruto-kun is ready." Gaara said quietly, giving the tan hand a squeeze. He's never imagined himself with a family of his own nor has he thought of marrying Naruto. They didn't have that long dating or knowing each other even though it felt as if they've known each other all their life.
"I am a big girl now, Naruto-san. You don't have to wait if I am the reason, I can even help you take care of the baby." Sarada pushed her glasses up, trying to look mature "Mama...how do two guys have a baby?" She asked, tilting her head.
Naruto wondered if jumping off the hill they were closed to would be a less painful conversation.
"Well sweetheart..there are a few ways...they can adopt babies that have no parents...or errm they can get really nice friends to have the babies for them. " Sakura replied, mindful of the words she was using.
"Will the baby look like Naruto-san or Gaara-san?" Sarada asked curiously, looking at the blonde who looked completely flustered and at the redhead who was looking slightly amused.
"Who do you want it to look like?" Sakura asked, chuckling.
"Hmmmm, Naruto-san is really handsome but Gaara-san is handsome too even though his eyes are really pale, his hair is really pretty too." She quietly replied, looking down at her lap shyly.
"Gaara-kun is super handsome! He's like a really beautiful porcelain doll and his eyes are really bright and pretty too! In the future if we have kids they should look like him!" Naruto passionately replied, imagining a toddler Gaara. There had been a time when he wanted a big family, back when he was still a kid but now he felt perfectly content with what he had.
"With how advanced that area is, that shouldn't be a problem. Lady Tsunade has been asking about when you'll start your own family, Jiraiya-sama wouldn't have wanted to see you all alone." Sakura said, then realized what she had said and covered her mouth, giving an apologetic look "...I am sorry." She knew it was a sensitive topic, anything that had to do with Naruto's godfather was sensitive.
"Ha, Pervy Sage would have been trying to sneak inside a hot spring right now while talking to me about the good ol' single life." Naruto forced himself to sound cheerful, there was no point in being sad about what happened "It's fine, it's been what..12 years already? I am fine, really!"
Sakura gave a worried look but nodded.
"Jiraiya-sama? Isn't he one of the legendary detectives of this island? We were learning about him in class last week." Sarada said "We have three legendary Sages, Jiraiya-sama also known as the Toad Sage, Tsunade-sama also known as the slug-hime and one of the most beautiful female detectives! The last one is Orochimaru-sama. He's quite scary and is known for his odd experiments, he also goes by the Snake-sage." Sarada was very much a know-it-all like her mother.
"You are right...your uncle was personally mentored by Jiraiya-sama, they used to travel around together for many years." Things had been more difficult when they were teenagers yet they had been happy.
"Ah...that was a long time ago, besides Pervy's sage so called training was assisting him with his silly book." The blonde replied with a roll of his eyes and a bittersweet smile. He could still remember having to drag out the white hair male out of public hot springs and rivers, away from all the pretty girls and force the older man to teach him things.
"You were able to use the special toad poison and tracking that he had developed and you are one of a handful of people that can use his toad style martial art." Sakura stretched and moved to pat the blonde's head with a warm smile on her face.
"You can use the toad style martial art, Naruto-san?! May I see it, pretty please...just a little bit, please?!" Sarada begged until she realized that she was probably sounding childish and blushed, clearing her throat "I mean...if you want to."
"...I don't know if that's a good idea, it takes out quite a lot and Naruto...what about your arm?" Sakura said worriedly.
The blonde thought about it, he's not used that type of martial art in a very long time. Sure he's practiced quietly by himself but he hasn't done anything public. "Ah well...I suppose I can try to show you a few moves." He rubbed the back of his head and straightened up then closed his eyes.
First, he needed to concentrate on the energy that surrounded nature, he wasn't going to go fully into it. Once his body felt light and he felt connected purely to nature, he opened his eyes and stood up, looking around "By connecting with nature's energy and mixing your own energy into it, your body is able to be pushed to a new level." Naruto explained, walking toward a large rock. The blonde gave the large rock a gentle rub then began to pick it up as if it was nothing before setting it down. "One of the perks is being able to gain more strength through training and understanding how nature itself works, take this rock for example...the only reason I was able to pick it up just now is because I was able to feel where it was connected. " He set the rock back down, inhaling and exhaling slowly before his body started to move.
Each punch was thrown smoothly as was each kick, it looked almost as if he was dancing. There was a swishing sound with each kick and punch, the air moving around it from the force. Once done, he grinned and bowed, he's not shown nearly enough of what he actually knew but that should be enough to satisfy Sarada's curiosity.
"Oh wow, that's amazing, Naruto-san!" The young raven gushed, looking at him with eyes filled with admiration.
Naruto gave a sheepish smile, glancing at Gaara. He couldn't read his partner's face. The blonde grinned when he saw a small smile forming on the redhead's face.
"Did I look cool?" He asked teasingly, flashing a thumb's up. Sarada nodded excitedly along with Sakura. Gaara gave a small nod which made the blonde laugh "Guess I did remember some stuff from my adolescent years."
"Well...it was difficult times but thanks to you and everyone else who worked together we were able to stop it." Sakura softly said, her mind going back to when they had been teenagers in the detective academy...the case that had taken so much from them. There had been a time when their peaceful island had been filled with crime and death, things had been vastly complicated but that was all in the past now.
"You are included in that, Sakura-chan...if it hadn't been because of your quick thinking and medical expertise there would have been more casualties." Naruto softly said, thinking about the pain and hatred he had felt during that case. He shook his head and stretched, putting on one of his bright smiles "Right...so who is starving?" He cheerfully asked.
"Ah wait, I want to take a picture to celebrate our first outing with Gaara-san!" Sakura excitedly said, getting up and taking out her phone "Oh..how do I do this again? Hey idiot, you know how to set this up?" Sakura asked Naruto with a pout.
Sarada giggled, standing up and moving to set up a timer and fix the frame "This is how you do it Mama...you click on this button, set the timer and fix the frame. We have 30 seconds to get in position before the phone takes the picture...are you ready?"
When everyone nodded, Sarada set the timer and ran to her place. Naruto grinned, an arm wrapped around Gaara's shoulder, his other hand was on top of Sarada's head. Sakura was smiling somewhat sadly, an arm behind Sarada's shoulder, her eyes were slightly averted to an empty space, as if she could see Sasuke there. Gaara's cheeks were slightly red, he was acutely aware of his side pressed up against Naruto's, he stared at the phone and just as the picture was about to be taken he felt warm lips against his cheeks, a warm smile forming.
Naruto laughed and pulled away, sticking out his tongue "Got'cha, Gaara-kun." He proudly said.
Sarada went to check the picture and giggled "Gaara-san seems really happy in the picture." She said, bringing the phone closer so that everyone could see how it came out.
"I got another rare Gaara-kun smile, believe it!" Naruto cheered, hugging his partner and laughing.
"Sheesh Naru-kun, keep it kids friendly. Your eyes say it all." Sakura teased, laughing when she saw the blonde turn a bright red color. "I'll get you a copy of this so that you can frame it."
"...I am not a pervert, really! I was having pure thoughts...promise!" Naruto whined, feeling his ears reddening "You believe me, right Gaara-kun?"
The redhead looked amused, glancing away and letting out one of his small chuckles when he saw Naruto's dramatic reaction.
"Oh no...not you too Gaara-kun...I thought we were closer than that!" Naruto dramatically gasped out, moving to get on his knees and clutch his heart.
"Oh hush up, cha!" Sakura said, moving to hit Naruto upside the head.
While Sakura and Naruto bickered, Sarada stared up at the redhead quietly. She blushed when the redhead looked down at her, making her quickly look down and fix her glasses.
"Yes?" Gaara quietly asked, waiting for the question that he was sure was coming.
Sarada squirmed a bit, tugging on a strand of hair "I...errmm...this will sound quite rude but I promise I am not trying to be rude...I am just curious is all...not that you have to answer but how come you can see even though your eyes look like someone who is blind?" She softly asked.
"...I have an eye condition that makes it so that my eyes look different from others...my uncle said it was due to being born severely premature. As long as I wear specially made contact or glasses I can see just like everyone else." That was the simple answer to her question.
Sarada was quiet for a few seconds, taking off her glasses and cleaning them before putting them back on "I got an eye condition as well but Mama doesn't talk a lot about it. I guess you and I are a bit similar, Gaara-san." She softly said "I think your eyes are really pretty." She looked up at him and gave him a warm smile.
The redhead returned the warm smile, he hesitated for a moment before moving to give Sarada a pat on the head "Thank you."
The rest of the day was spent with all 4 of them chatting and seeing the village, it was almost as if they were a family and Gaara couldn't be happier about it.
A.N:/I think this is one of my fav chapters, I love the way that Sarada and Gaara interact with each other.