A/N: Sorry for the late update. I had a power outage for a couple of days, and then my Internet access was down for an additional day. Hopefully, updates will be more frequent from now on.

Rather than running to Naruka's place, Naruka and Gaara walked there. Although it appeared to be dilapidated on the outside, with broken siding and random overgrowth, the inside told a different story, its floorboards being nice and polished, and the furniture being free of tears or splinters.

"Come on, have a seat!" said Naruka.

Gaara obeyed her and sat down next to Naruka on a leather couch.

"So…" said Naruka.

"So what?" Gaara tilted his head.

"Wanna have a wild makeout session with me?"

Gaara blushed and broke out in a cold sweat. "N-Naruka, you can't be serious!"

Naruka gave Gaara a gentle push. "Of course I'm serious, babe! I mean, you don't have to if you don't wanna…"

"I do, but not while covered in sweat."

"Then go take a shower, silly!"

"As you wish."

Gaara got up from the couch, and having visited Naruka's house before, found the upstairs bathroom as if on instinct. While he was disrobing, the door opened behind him. He yelped in surprise and bunched up his shirt in front of him.

"Naruka, what are you doing!?"

"Just coming in to take a shower!"

"With me!? Are you serious!?"

"Believe it!"

"As much as I like you, I don't exactly feel comfortable taking a shower with a woman…"

"Why not?"

"I just…I…well…I've never done it before…"

"Not even with your sister?"

"When I was really young, yes, but…"

"But what?"

Gaara sighed. "Forget it. If you really want to, I won't stop you."

Naruka smiled. "Great! This is gonna be so fun!"

After closing the door behind her, Naruka began to disrobe as well. Once they were completely naked, Naruka turned on the shower and waited a few seconds.

"All right, it should be warm enough!" said Naruka. "Come on!"

And so, Gaara and Naruka stepped into the shower. Upon doing so, they took some time to soak themselves.

"Ready for the fun?" asked Naruka.

Gaara simply nodded as calmly as he could. Then, Naruka cracked open a bottle of shampoo/conditioner, filling the whole shower with some flowery scent soon enough. She squirted some in Gaara's hand before giving herself some. Gaara and Naruka then proceeded to wash each other's hair. In Gaara's case, he had a bit of trouble because in spite of her firm press, Naruka's soft fingers went across some rather sensitive points on his scalp, causing him to moan.

"You like?" asked Naruka.

"Oh, that feels so good!" said Gaara. "Don't stop!"

Naruka giggled. "Good, because I like what you're doing to me!"

And so, the two continued what they were doing. Somehow, Naruka moaned more loudly than Gaara, which prompted the latter to wonder about a few things, particularly whether she'd done this with anybody else before and why she found him so enjoyable. At one point, when Gaara's hands rested on the back of Naruka's head, he wanted to pull her in and kiss her, but he decided to let the anticipation build up instead. Eventually, they washed the stuff out of their hair, which was when Naruka grabbed a bottle of body wash.

"Wanna do the honors, babe?" asked Naruka.

Gaara gulped. Nevertheless, he accepted the body wash, cracked it open and rubbed some between his hands.

"A-HEM!"

Gaara stopped short of applying the body wash to himself. Naruka then winked at him, and he got the signal. Without further ado, he handed the body wash to her and let her work on him. Once again, the two enjoyed each other's touch, but there was still one issue that needed to be addressed…

"Gaara, you can touch my boobs!" said Naruka.

Gaara's eyes widened. "I…I can?"

"Duh! How else are they gonna get clean?"

Gaara nodded and proceeded to wash Naruka's chest. He was amazed at just how soft they were, and yet there was a certain firmness to them. He dared not ask how big she really was, but he presumed to himself that she was at least a D-cup. Regardless, Gaara could tell by the way Naruka was blushing and presumably drooling that she enjoyed his touch. In this moment, her happiness spilled over to him as he continued to play with her. He was also in a state of disbelief considering that he never imagined ever getting such consent from a woman in his lifetime. What really sealed the deal was the soft moaning and the occasional "oh yes" that she uttered. However, this – combined with the way she was touching him – caused Gaara to notice how hard he really was. He stopped playing with Naruka's chest when he saw this.

"Wanna touch my pussy, too?" asked Naruka.

"R-really?"

Naruka laughed. "Don't be shy, babe! I love it when you touch my boobs, so…"

Without further question, Gaara slowly slid his hands down Naruka's body and began washing her crotch. He got even more moaning from her when he touched it. In washing it, he tried to remind himself that as enjoyable as it may have seemed, it was just business. It was no use, though. Considering that she was touching him in the same way, it was driving him nuts. Eventually, Gaara pulled away.

"Why'd you stop?" asked Naruka.

Gaara did his best to keep smiling. "Look, I'm glad you're enjoying this, but this feels really awkward for me, so I really think we should finish up."

"OK, we'll finish up, but first…we gotta kiss each other!" Naruka rested her arms on Gaara's shoulders.

"If it means that much to you, I won't refuse."

Naruka pulled Gaara in, and the two kissed each other. This would not have been the first time that they kissed each other, but given their past history, it was certainly one of the more – if not the most – enjoyable kisses they'd ever shared. The warmth of the shower was enough to mask the warmth that Gaara felt in his face. When Naruka pulled away, the red in their faces was enough to paint all the fire apparatus in the world. She then turned the water off, and the two stepped out of the shower and dried off.

"By the way…" said Naruka.

"What?" asked Gaara.

"NAKED HUG!"

Naruka gave Gaara a big hug, which he returned. Even though he was still hard, Gaara enjoyed the feeling of Naruka's soft skin against his. He enjoyed it so much that he slowly rubbed her back. The post-shower scent and Naruka's sigh of pleasure were nice touches, too. After a minute of this, Naruka let go.

"Thanks, Naruka!"

"You're welcome, babe!"

"I only have one question, though:"

"Yeah?"

"Can we get this taken care of?" Gaara pointed to his crotch.

"Whoa, hold the phone there, babe! Are you suggesting that you wanna open your present NOW?"

"Well, not really…"

"Good, because I want your present to be the best one you've ever had! Believe it!"

Somewhat frustrated, Gaara put his clothes on and headed downstairs to the living room couch, and Naruka followed him.

"Can we watch some TV now?" asked Gaara.

"Wouldn't you rather play some video games?" said Naruka.

"Well, as long as they don't involve touching your breasts, I'm in."

Naruka laughed. "Don't worry! I won't tease you…much."

Without further ado, Naruka grabbed a crate full of Wii games and began digging out which ones had multiplayer capabilities. After making the appropriate selections, she handed them to Gaara.

"Go on, pick one!" said Naruka.

Gaara shuffled through the games. Though not a monumental decision-making process, it was enough to get him to stop being hard. Within short order, he picked Global Thermonuclear War: Deluxe Edition.

"Ooh, that's a good one!"

Satisfied with Gaara's choice, Naruka fired up the TV and the Nintendo Wii connected to it and ejected the game that was already inside: Machine Gun Nazi Werewolves of Beverly Hills. After putting that game away, she put in the other one. Once they'd gotten through the intro stuff, Naruka selected "Multiplayer", and then "Competitive", where she and Gaara had to pick sides. Without question, Gaara chose to play as the USA.

"In Soviet Russia, USA chooses YOU!" Naruka snickered.

Gaara ignored Naruka's poor Russian accent and chose a random strategy. Fortunately for him, it was "USA First Strike". He then proceeded to launch his initial batch of nukes at all of Naruka's population centers, causing her considerable losses.

"Oh yeah?" said Naruka. "Watch this!"

Naruka's initial launch targeted a mix of Gaara's population centers and missile silos. While he didn't suffer extensive population losses, he did lose some of his strike capabilities. He grinned.

"I'm not finished with you yet!" said Gaara.

The game went back and forth for quite some time. In the end, however, the game was a draw.

"Not bad," said Naruka. "Wanna play again?"

"You bet!"

Both parties chose the same sides as before. This time, Naruka got to go first since the game picked "USSR First Strike" when she got a random strategy. Figuring she might be better off this way, she chose to launch her first round of nukes at Gaara's population centers. This game was no less tense than the first match. However, neither side won this one, either.

"Naruka…"

"Yes, Gaara?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not giving up until I win."

"Whatever you say, babe!"

And so, the two elected to continue with their chosen sides, and each time, they forged ahead with different strategies, such as the "Venezuela Sudden", "SEATO Takeover", "Egypt Surgical", "Burmese Containment", and "Israel Discretionary". With every strategy, the two watched as millions of virtual people died in virtual blazes of ignominy. However, no matter how hard they tried, Gaara and Naruka always fought to a draw.

"A strange game," said Gaara. "It seems the only winning move is not to play."

"Who cares?" said Naruka. "It was fun!"

Gaara crossed his arms. "Maybe for you, but I'd much rather play something else."

"OK, babe! What would you like to play?"

"How about a nice game of chess?"

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing!"

And so, Naruka switched games to Super Grandmaster Chess 4000. She then took out a quarter from her pocket.

"Call it!" Naruka flipped the coin.

"Heads," said Gaara.

Naruka caught the coin and slapped it on her other arm before peeking at it.

"Tails," said Naruka. "I call white!"

And so, the game began…or it would have, had Naruka not tapped Gaara on the shoulder.

"What now?" asked Gaara.

"I almost forgot!" replied Naruka.

"What?"

"I wanna make this interesting…"

"How?"

"Winner gets to do whatever they want to the loser, except sex stuff! Shake on it?"

"As you wish."

Gaara and Naruka shook hands, and the game opened with the good ol' Sicilian Defense. Gaara smiled at the possibility of getting to do whatever he wanted to Naruka, although there was still quite a bit he wanted to accomplish before the day was up. Still, he watched as Naruka moved a knight to f3, prompting him to move a pawn to e6. In spite of Naruka taking her sweet time moving her pieces, Gaara remained as cold as the ice that Foreigner sang about. The two remained locked in a Fischerian battle of wits for a while, but there could only have been one…

"Bishop to e7…" said Naruka. "CHECKMATE!" She held her Wiimote up high in triumph.

Gaara slowly blinked as he heard the word "checkmate". He made eye contact with Naruka, and he wished he didn't…

"Get ready for it, babe!" Naruka reached for Gaara.

"Oh no! Please, don't…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"That's right! I get to TICKLE you!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHP!"

"But the fun's only just begun!"

"I KNOW, BUT…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"But what? WHAT?"

"AHAHAHAHA! TOO TICKLISH!"

"Don't kid yourself, babe! There's NO such thing as being too ticklish!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

By now, Naruka was on top of Gaara and had him scrunched against the arm of the couch, trying in vain to avoid her tickling.

"Want me to give it to you some more?" asked Naruka.

"NO!" cried Gaara. "NONONONONO!"

"Your mouth says 'no'…" Naruka began pulling off Gaara's socks. "…but your feet say 'yes!'"

"NOT THE FEET! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yes the feet! Feel my agony, babe!"

"STAHP! STAHP! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Sorry, but I don't stop until I'm satisfied!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What's that? You said you wanted some more? OK!"

"NO! NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

"But you're too cute! I wanna tickle you!"

"NARUKA, LET ME GO! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Why should I?"

"BECAUSE I'M GOING TO PEE MYSELF!"

Naruka got a weird look on her face.

"OK…I guess I should stop, huh?" said Naruka.

Gaara's only response was unbridled giggling.

"But…since you're so cute…I guess I'll tickle you just a little more!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

By the time Naruka was all done with Gaara, his face was so red, it could've been mistaken for a symbol of communism.

"Naruka, I know I said 'stahp', but that was actually a lot of fun!" said Gaara.

"Glad you enjoyed it!" said Naruka.

"Please, don't tell my cousin Kobi I said that, OK?"

"I promise!"

Naruka extended her pinkie to Gaara, and they pinkie swore on it. It had been a long time since Gaara had done so. Then, Gaara heard a familiar rumbling.

"I dunno about you, but tickling makes me hungry!" said Naruka.

"Well, what's for lunch?" asked Gaara.

Naruka smiled. "What else?"

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.