A little under an hour later, Naruto and Gaara were walking down the semi crowded streets of Konoha. Naruto, fresh from his shower. His jaw cleanly shaven, his clothes fresh, clean and absolutely stain free for once.
And his blond hair, which hung just a little past his shoulders and was tied back into a ponytail at his nape while the rest of his normally wild looking locks hung in his azure blue eyes and framed his whiskered face in a- handsome? Flattering?- way that reminded Gaara slightly of the late fourth hokage.
Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato, whom he had finally had the pleasure of meeting during the fourth shinobi war.
All in all, Naruto had grown up to be as much a masculine beauty as his late father had been. Though thanks to his hair being longer, he had a little bit of a wilder look to him than Minato ever had. Which suited the kitsune container just fine since the look sort of went with his personality.
After all he was the number one unpredictable ninja. And part of what made him so unpredictable was the kitsune demon sealed within him.
AS they walked, Naruto scanned the faces of the people around him on the streets subconsciously in a habit that Gaara suspected came from his days growing up alone in the village. So to try and take his mind off of things, Gaara began to talk to his friend.
"Do you think Yuki will be nice?"
"I think that even after everything she's been through, she'll wake up afraid."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I know that I would. She simply won't be able to help it. She doesn't know what has happened to her. And what she recalls will be a hellish nightmare." Naruto replied simply. Trying to answer Gaara without being hurtful. He knew that his friend was excited to meet the girl he was bound to. After all this wasn't the first time in Gaara's life that he was attempting to live vivaciously through him.
"You're right. I didn't think of that... Perhaps I should stay outside the room. You know, to keep the number of people around her from being too overwhelming."
"You wanted to come. So you're coming." Naruto said as he turned his head just enough to shoot the red head a vexed look that had Gaara laughing softly.
"Very well, since you insist so adamantly. I will go." Gaara said in a amused tone that Naruto missed as he was mentally going over what would have to be done once Yuki was awake.
Depending on how bad off she was, she wouldn't be allowed to live by herself for a while. Everyone would expect him to assign someone to stay with her for a few months or more. Mostly to make sure that she wasn't a danger to herself and others while attempting to help her adapt to life in the village.
"What are you thinking?" Gaara's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts. Nearly causing him to jump out of his skin as he turned his eyes to his friend once again and made a small show of baring his teeth at him as he let out a low growl. Further amusing Gaara if that was even humanly possible.
Naruto wasn't sure what he found more frustrating. Gaara's weird sense of humor or the fact that everyone was always bitching about how the man never smiled or laughed.
Frankly they obviously didn't have anything funny about them if they couldn't make the once somber young man so much as crack a grin. Whereas Naruto just had to turn his head a certain way and Gaara would practically bust a gut.
Like he said, the red head's sense of humor was frustrating.
"I was just thinking about Yuki and what would have to be done depending, of course, on how bad off she is mentally after her harrowing ordeal." Naruto said after a moment or so of hesitation.
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"And what have you come up with?"
"She may need someone to live with her for a little while... To make sure that she isn't a danger to herself or others and to help her adapt to life in the village."
"You could put the Anbu on it."
Naruto waved his hand and made a non committal sound. "All Anbu units were disbanded when I became Hokage. We have the village special forces units... But they aren't exactly the same. They're a military based unit and work as such, placing them on the watch of a girl who may or may not be dangerous in some way- or possibly have other things wrong with her- would inevitably lead to her being murdered. And since I'm bound to her as you have said, I don't care much for such an ugly outcome. No. I think if someone needs to live with her and watch her and help her then it should be me."
"But you're the Hokage."
"Yes. But I'm also a man bound to another human being. Who better to take care of her and help her when she needs it than someone who just might be able to help her in other ways too?"
"Hn. I never thought of it that way." Gaara said as they turned the corner and began their trek to the hospital's front entrance where Gaara took a moment to switch topics on his old friend and asked how Sauske was doing causing Naruto to turn his head just enough to glare at him before he muttered.
"Gaara."
"Hn?"
"Shut up."
Which basically told the Kazekage everything he wanted to know. Sauske was still hanging around the outer borders of the leaf village being a pain in Naruto's ass.
Alright. Gaara thought with a small shrug of his shoulders as he became silent for the moment like Naruto had wished him too as the two men entered the hopsital's doors.
