"GAARA-SAN!" Puck leapt at the Kazekage, attempting to tackle him to the ground. Gaara ducked the obvious attack and grabbed the child by his ankle. Puck screamed as he dangled, Gaara mercilessly tickling him. Puck gave a happy squeal, as he was let down. "I'm number one in my class for all subjects." He bragged.
"Just like his father." Naruto wearily replied as he waved his hand in greeting. Gaara let a raised eyebrow reply.
Puck tugged at Gaara's sleeve. "Come practice with me."
Panic set into green eyes. Gaara was fond of Puck, but hated spending long periods of time with him. He found that he had no idea how to behave around children. Their combination of exuberant innocence and curiosity mixed with immense cruelty baffled him, making him unsure of himself, and ultimate a little intimidated.
Luck was with him as Naruto patted Puck's head. "Why don't you play outside for awhile? You've been practicing all day." Smiling, Puck headed for the door.
Naruto waited for the boy to be out of earshot. "To the kitchen. It's time to make dinner, but more importantly, it's time to drink."
Gaara once again raised an eyebrow but followed, preparing himself for the story Naruto had alluded to before his arrival.
Naruto glared up from the vegetables he was cutting. "I just can't deal with this right now. I need to get away from Sasuke." Gaara absently nodded his head before taking a swig of his beer. Mentally Naruto added his recent and bizarre sexual relationship with the Hokage to the list of things that needed escaping from.
"If you don't want to talk to Sasuke then just have him executed."
Naruto sighed. "Well I think I'm supposed to talk to him and then decide if he should be killed." He cherished his friendship with Gaara greatly but hated talking about relationships with him. He always made things too simple, too black and white. "I could never do that. He could destroy Konoha. Kill everyone and level the whole fucking city, and I still wouldn't be able to kill him."
Gaara snorted. "I guess it's a good thing that he's in captivity or the people of Konoha would have one hell of a problem on their hands." Naruto gave a short laugh. "So if you don't want to kill him then you might as well hear what he has to say. You never really seemed angry at him for joining Orochimaru."
"It's not about that, exactly." Naruto rested the knife on the cutting board, picked up the instrument, and then flung it down again. "I'm afraid that he's going to take something precious from me."
Naruto glanced out of the window, watching Puck's progress. He had thrown the shurikens with perfect precision. "He's just like his father."
Gaara peeked over his shoulder at the boy. "Well if you can't just kill him then you really have no choice but to talk to him."