Ugh. Had to spend time at the beach with my family. Hate the beach. (I'm a mountains sort of girl) However, my immense boredom is y'alls luck! Here it is!!
Let's hope I didn't make it too cliche ...
Enjoy folks!
Sand circled, glittering in the light with flecks of minerals and dried blood as it returned to its master. The hired thug before him coughed, blood dribbling down his chin, and then fell to the ground. Gaara looked on, unimpressed and slightly annoyed.
The mission had brought them to a large city in the heart of the Wind Continent. There had been a rash of kidnappings in the rural villages around the city recently and all the abductees aged from 4 to 13. Families had pooled their money and hired Sand nin to recover the missing children and return them to their villages. Hardly an A ranked mission.
Until intelligence had uncovered just what had happened to the kidnapped children.
At the moment, most of the children were in the possession of a Murasaki Kazutaka, a very wealthy gentleman who lived within the city and was well known in the underworld as the head of a large child prostitution ring. He was also well known for being slightly paranoid, and therefore heavily guarded. At that point, Hidden Sand had upped the mission rank to A and called in one of their best Jounin teams.
And thusly did Gaara find himself infiltrating a poorly skilled, yet heavily guarded facility. And he was getting bored. They had been silent so far, no alarms sounding and none of the now unconscious (or worse) guards had raised the cry of intruders. Of course, they hadn't found any children yet either. Just a lot of wannabe punks, some prostitutes, an accountant or two, and a few secretaries wearing less clothing than the prostitutes.
Looking ahead, the redhead smirked. Two more wannabes guarding a door. Oooo…and this time they had machine guns. Special.
"I'll the one on the right, you take the one on the left."
He nodded to the leggy blonde next to him.
With no more than a gurgle both guards slumped to the ground, their unused guns clattering beside them as they did. A closer inspection would have shown the left one to have odd marks on his neck as a circle of sand quickly strangled him, while the right one had simply had his neck sliced by a sickle of wind. Gaara had to smile. She may not have had demon abilities, but his sister did truly beautiful work.
Temari walked up to the now unguarded door cheerfully. "Let's see what's behind door number one shall we?"
Preparing to face down a room full of guards and other faceless minions, the siblings tensed as Temari slid the door open. The roar and rush of panicked minions did not occur though. Instead, they received a roomful of wide, frightened eyes and whimpers.
"Are…are you bad people?" Came a frightened voice.
"That depends. How much money are you paying us?"
Temari and Gaara smacked Kankuro upside the head in stereo.
"Ow! Hey, that hurt!"
Temari knelt and smiled at the closest group. "Ignore him. He was dropped on his head as a baby."
"Temari!"
Temari gave him The Look. Kankuro, like all smart little brothers, backed down in fear of Aneki and fiddled with Karasu as he sulked. Gaara smirked. Temari then turned back to the huddle children.
"Your parents hired us to find you and take you back home."
This statement immediately got her swarmed by several happy, small children and a few of the older. One of the older children looked at the siblings for a long moment and then spoke softly.
"You guys are Sand shinobi, aren't you?"
Gaara nodded since Temari was still covered in children and Kankuro was still sulking.
"Yes."
"We're definitely getting home then…but, Haruka! They took her away earlier! You've got to find her! She's one of the little ones, and we can't just leave her."
"Where?"
"Dunno…sometimes they take the older ones to boss's office…"
The redhead sighed and met Temari's eyes. The older girl nodded over the heads of the pair of twins currently occupying her lap.
"I'll find her. You two get them out of here and I'll meet you at the safe house."
He paused, watching as Kankuro happily made Karasu dance for a group of less than impressed children.
"Maybe I should have left that singular."
Temari rolled her eyes. "You'd think that he was the youngest. We'll meet you there. Gaara…be safe, okay?"
Gaara smiled, and then returned to the corridor.
Finding the leader's office was easier than he had expected. He had taken out three more underlings on the way, and was really beginning to think that this had been labeled a rank A mission just to jack up the price. For this he had left his kitsunes? The Sand nin made a mental note to have a little 'talk' with KazeKage upon their return to the village.
Pausing out side the door, he could hear voices within. A little girl and an older man from the sounds of it. Slipping some sand beneath the crack in the door, he performed the Third Eye technique and scanned the room.
"Now, now…just be a good girl." Spoke the man, Murasaki obviously. A portly middle aged gentleman in a very nice suit. What was left of his oily hair glistened in the fluorescent lighting.
"No! Want to go home! I want Mama!" The little girl, Haruka he guessed, was sat up on the desk before the oily man, and Gaara noticed she had blonde pigtails.
"Oh, but you will, cutie. I promise. But you have to do something for me first." Murasaki leaned in towards the little one as he spoke, placing a large sweaty hand on her leg.
The redhead could just guess what that 'something' was. Right. Time to end this before anymore damaged happened to the girl. Let's see, how to do this...He could…
"I want Papa!!" Haruka screamed.
Perhaps, if she hadn't have had blonde pigtails he would have been okay. Perhaps if she hadn't have called out for 'Papa' in such desperate tone he would have been fine. However, both did happen and he saw red.
Images filled his mind of that great oily pig with his hands all over his little kitsune, and the ache that came from having to leave both her and Naruto alone for this incredibly easy, imbecilic mission filled his heart. He had had to leave his kitsunes alone for this ? He had to miss out on two weeks worth of possible sex with the most gorgeous blonde in existence just because this perverted, slimy excuse of a man couldn't go get his jollies with a consenting adult?!!! And suddenly, how to go about rescuing Haruka wasn't an issue anymore.
Sand burst down the door and flooded the room. The little girl screamed and Murasaki screamed; it was difficult to tell whose was more girly. Not that they didn't have something to scream about. There in the doorway, looking very foreboding, rage and blood lust in his green eyes with sand flowing in every direction, stood Gaara of The Desert.
The sand crept forward, covering the desk, and reaching for the man cowering behind it. A cloud of the rough grains rose up under the little one, carrying her away from the crime lord and setting her down before the Sand nin. Haruka looked up at him with big brown eyes. Green eyes flickered down momentarily, noting wryly that any similarity between the girl before him and Kizuko ended at the blonde pigtails.
"Go into the hallway and wait for me there."
"Oh, yes…then my guards will capture you, cutie and then take care of this miscreant." The pig man cried out smugly.
"Guards? Oh, you mean the thugs I took care of before I came in here."
He had to admit, it was amusing to watch Murasaki squirm and sweat.
Haruka ducked out behind the redhead, hiding in the hall as she was told. Gaara then turned to the man behind the desk, 'I'm a Psycho Who's About to Kill You for Fun and Profit' mode on full force and complete with smirk.
"Like children do we?"
A Whimper.
"Do you have any idea what I had to leave behind so I could come and do this stupid mission?!"
A gulp.
"And you couldn't even hire guards that were decent challenge!!"
"….I'm sorry?"
"Not as much as you're going to be."
The sand gathered surrounding the cowering crime lord and a tendril formed a sharp point between his legs. The tendril sped downward, but then froze. Murasaki opened one eye to look at his tormentor. Gaara seemed to be regarding the man very carefully.
"I must admit…it was because of leaving that I got a night of really good sex, so maybe I should show a little gratitude for that…"
Murasaki breathed a sigh of relief, slumping down slightly.
"….Nah."
Whoosh. And then the man's high pitched scream became an octave higher. As he opened his mouth in the scream, sand rushed in. It poured in through mouth and nose, suffocating him before the redhead called the grains back to him. The sand returned to its master, but forced its way through the obstacles blocking it, leaving the corpse of Murasaki to explode from within and shower the office with blood.
Gaara had an odd sense of dejavu as he calmly picked up an umbrella from the stand near the door and opened it to avoid the crimson rain. Now where had he…? Oh, right. The first Chuunin exam. Where he first met Naruto. He smiled a little at the memory before realizing that Haruka was still in the hall.
Right. Sooner he got her out of here and to her parents the sooner he could go home.
He found the little blonde waiting for him around the corner. She looked up at him, cocking her head to the side.
"Gonna take me home?"
"Yes."
"Save the others?"
"They're with my sister and brother."
"Good."
She was very quite for a moment as they walked.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"What did you leave behind?"
"You heard that?"
"You were very loud. And very angry for having to leave it."
Gaara snorted to himself. He was getting soft if a six year old could read him.
"I left my important people."
"Ah. But, you're going back, right?"
"Yeah."
"You should buy them presents. Papa always brought me a present when he came back from going away."
"Presents?"
"Yeah! Something they'll like to show you thought about them."
Presents, huh?
They met back up with Temari, Kankuro, and the other children. Gaara sat and watched as his siblings tried to figure out which children when back to which villages. It was highly amusing when you had two Sand Jounin who were not use to children and about twenty five lost kids eager to get home. He supposed all that time with Kizuko paid off as he didn't even mind that much when some of the younger ones came over and began crawling over him, playing in some of the sand he placed down for them.
Eventually, the kids wore themselves out and fell asleep in various piles around the floor of the safe house. Temari and Kankuro quick to follow in their footsteps. Shaking his head, he slipped out of the house and back into the city.
It was still fairly early in the evening, most of the city still worked and bustled. Bright electric lights shone and hid the natural light of the moon and stars, which annoyed him a little. He liked the moonlight. Especially when it shone over a half naked Naruto.
The forest was too humid and dense for his taste most of the time, but he found he missed it as he looked around the urban chaos of the city. The city was noisy and bright, and there were far too many people. All he needed was the moon, the sounds of the night, and his kitsunes.
When did he begin referring to both of them as his, he wondered. It didn't particularly matter since they were his now, but it was an interesting thing to wonder. He was still musing about it when he pasted the window of a store. He walked past it at first, but then something lying in a small forgotten corner of the store grabbed his attention. He smiled.
Presents.
Meanwhile, back in the forest...
There was movement in the underbrush and immediately Naruto felt out for chakra. When nothing more than a squirrel ran by chattering, he sighed. He had to stop, really. It had only been two weeks, he could handle this. Gaara was coming back.
So what if it had been two weeks worth of checking for the redhead's chakra constantly?
So what if it had been two weeks of Kizuko running out of the cabin to see if he was here yet every day?
So what if it had been two weeks of lonely nights with an empty bed and the libido of a long denied young man plus a horny fox demon?
He could handle it. He could be patient. He just really wanted Gaara back now, that's all.
"Papa! Papa! Kizuko saw sand!"
There went another sigh. Kizuko had been seeing sand for the past two weeks. Apparently his kitling had grown attached to the missing Sand nin, and if he knew what was good for him Gaara would get back soon.
"Kitling, you have to understand. Every time you see sand doesn't mean that Gaara's back yet."
"But Kizuko did see sand!"
"Look, Kitling, Papa misses Gaara too, but…"
"Then why don't you believe your daughter and go see the sand for once?" A voice cut through the trees. Naruto's head snapped up. Sand swirled around him, almost caressing him. There stood Gaara of the Desert, his arms crossed and his head cocked in a 'well, what are you waiting for?' sort of manner.
"Told Papa."
"Yes, you did Kitling."
And then both blondes launched themselves at the redhead with twin cries of "Gaara!" All three ended up on forest floor, Kizuko with her arms latched around the Sand nin's waist and Naruto with his lips fused to the Sand nin's mouth. Ah, the difference in greetings. And yet the love was still there all the same.
And Gaara, for his part, felt stupidly happy. He was back in the forest, away from that damned city. And most importantly, he had his golden kitsunes back. Placing a hand on Kizuko's head and kissing Naruto back as hard as possible, Gaara decided that life was good.
A while later, he had placed the gourd up against a tree and they were just lying on the grass enjoying each other. Naruto rested his head on the Sand nin's left shoulder and had an arm thrown across Gaara's chest. Kizuko was equally snuggled up with most of her upper body resting on his stomach. They lay in silence for awhile, until Kizuko's tiny voice piped up.
"It hard?"
"The mission?"
"Un!"
"No. They were stupid to call me back for something so easy."
"Have fun?"
"Not really…okay, maybe a little towards the end."
Naruto gave the redhead a Look. Gaara promptly ignored it.
"I met a little girl."
Kizuko lifted her head looking worried that she'd be replaced.
"She told me that her father brought her back a present whenever he left to show her he was thing about her while he was gone."
Kizuko blinked her big blue eyes. "Present?"
"Yes, presents."
The little blonde bit her lip for a minute and then snuggled up to Gaara a little more. "Gaara think about Kizuko?"
The redhead tried to hide a grin. "Maybe."
Naruto gave him a playful shove. "Oh for leaf's sake, if you got her something give it to her or else she'll be after you all night!"
Gaara blinked innocently. Okay, well somewhat innocently. "What's wrong with that?"
"I want you all to myself tonight." The older blonde hissed in his ear, tracing the shell lightly with his tongue to prove his point.
"Right. Let me up."
The blondes complied; he moved over to the pack next to the gourd and dug inside for a moment. A minute later, he looked at Kizuko giving her a very serious look. The little blonde tried to stand still but was bouncing slightly in excitement. A present! For her!! She'd never gotten a present before. Papa had gotten her a few toys, but he always asked her if she would like them first. This was her first surprise present. She bounced on the balls of her feet a couple of times.
Slowly, Gaara pulled something out of his pack. She couldn't see what it was at first, but then she saw a flash of brown. He turned and she could see it clearly. It was a stuffed animal, but not just any stuffed animal. It was fox! A reddish-brown fox with soft fur and shiny black eyes. She couldn't contain her cry of excitement any longer.
"Wai!!! Fox! Fox!"
"I thought you might like it."
"Kizuko loves!!"
She held the fox close to her and threw her little arms around Gaara's neck, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you Gaara! Kizuko loves!! Papa!! Fox! Fox!"
Naruto nodded, smiling happily at his little girl's joy. "I see, Kitling. What are you going to name him?"
She blinked.
"Well, every good animal should have a name. What do you think we should call him?"
Kizuko looked up at Gaara with wide eyes.
"Oh, no. It's your fox, you name it."
The little blonde blinked and then frowned, looking at the fox and concentrating very hard. Then, as if summoned, a fox barked and it echoed throughout the forest.
"Kon-Kon!!" she cried.
"Kon-Kon?" Gaara repeated incredulously.
"Kon-Kon!"
He and Naruto looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well, whatever works."
The important stuff over with, Kizuko happily sat down and began to play with the newly named Kon-Kon. While she was distracted, Naruto slid his arms around Gaara's neck and looked up at the Sand nin with big, wide eyes and a slightly poked out bottom lip.
"Presents?" he asked looking very sad and pathetic indeed.
Gaara smirk and kissed the blonde's forehead before leaning to whisper in his ear. "You'll get yours tonight."
"Oooo…I can hardly wait."
He pulled the redhead for a kiss and Gaara complied readily. Breaking off a minute later, the blonde smiled and nuzzled against him.
"Welcome home."
Well, here it is. The last official chapter of Forest in the Desert Sand. BUT note I said 'official' there kiddies! Yes, that's right. There's still one more little extra part I need to write.
Just what did Gaara bring back for Naruto?
Hehehehe. Thank you all so very much for tagging along. I must say, it's been rather fun fleshing out Snarky! Gaara and watching his relationship with the Uzumakis grow. Heck, even I didn't know that He and Kizuko didn't get along at first until I sat down and started typing.
I guess now I have to start on more of those One Shots and Sequels.
Thanks everyone for your support and reviews. And heck, even if you never reviewed thanks for reading and being patient with me and my uber slow writing. You guys are the bestests!
