A/N: Enter, Konohagakure! :D
OH, MY GOD. All day I wondered, "Why does this date ring a bell? It feels like a special day... is it someone's birthday? But who's? I don't remember any of my friends having a birthday in October, let alone today..."
And then I saw a certain journal on DeviantART by a friend of mine.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!! YAYYY!!

I wonder if my boundaries can be broken, however. I built them so strongly…
Perhaps all it calls for is the right person.
And I think I know who to choose.

Our evacuation flowed smoothly. We had to rest quite often for some reason or another, and in a week (a record for so many people traveling the distance we have to) we find ourselves emerging from the trees to face Konohagakure.

The front gates were open wide, and many people – I want to say about half the village itself – were lined up on the inside to meet with us. We had sent messenger hawks every step of the way so the Leaf could be prepared for us. And boy, were they prepared. It touched me that our allies cared so much and went through all this trouble.

Being in front with my siblings, I get to meet with Tsunade-sama at the gates first. "Gaara-san!" she says with a smirk. "Good to see you arrived safely."

I force myself to smile in the smallest way. "Thank you for being so hospitable in our time of need."

Tsunade waves that aside and tosses her hair over one shoulder to point. "If you'll direct your people inside and tell them to follow the shinobi I have lined with holding signs of last names, we can get everyone situated in their new temporary homes by sundown."

I nod to the blonde woman and turn to speak to my people. I vaguely hear the short-haired woman near the Hokage (I believe her name is Shizune, but I'm not positive) tell my siblings to follow her, and bring the councilmen with them. I presume that she's going to take that group to the Hokage tower.

Meanwhile, I begin directing everyone, and while speaking to one of the few large clans of my village, I feel a tap on my shoulder.

I nearly jump out my robes, of 'course none of my surprise showing on my face. I whirl around to find Naruto and Sakura-san smiling at me. "Oi, Gaara! Long time no see!" Naruto greets, his finger rubbing the underside of his nose.

"Hi Gaara-sama," Sakura also greets. "Did everyone make it here okay? No problems?"

I shake my head in response to the question, although I'm not looking at the pinkette. Instead, my gaze can't seem to tear away from Naruto, who looks bubblier than usual. He almost seems nervous the way he's shifting his weight from foot to foot and not seeming to want to reach out to me. I'd prefer if he at least gave me another handshake to say hello; they aren't only limited to goodbyes.

"Well that's good!" Sakura says. "And here Tsunade-sama thought she might have to send her ANBU ops to escort you for half of the way."

"Psh," Naruto huffs, "Baa-chan should know better. Gaara knows what he's doing," he says almost to defend me. I don't quite see why; it's not like the Hokage did send anyone to us. We made it here just fine by ourselves. Naruto looks up, finally looking me in the eye. "So, now that everyone is getting relocated, do you want to see where you're staying? It's not much, but you've never been there, and I bet you have some things to set down, and…" Naruto drifts off, but I can tell he's being sincere about the offer.

"Yeah!" Sakura agrees. "Come on, Gaara-sama, you have to see Naruto's house. I helped him clean it, and it actually looks decent."

I take a fleeting look around me, but I discover that I'm no longer needed. Everything is under control from what I can see.

I follow the two in through the gates and down a few streets. The sun overhead feels cooler than what I'm used to, and there's less of a breeze since it's winter. But Konoha is relatively warm, perhaps around twenty degrees Celsius (which is exactly sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit). We come to an apartment building, and soon Sakura and Naruto stop at a door somewhere near the middle-front. I stop too, and Naruto unlocks the door with a key from one of his pant pockets.

"Here we are, 'ttebayo!" the blonde says.

"Kuso…" Sakura mutters while Naruto flips on the light.

He turns to her after removing his shoes in the doorway. "Nani?"

"We forgot to go shopping, baka! I don't think Gaara-sama's going to want to eat nothing but ramen and milk and whatever other little things you have in here for a month." She shakes her head at him. "I can't believe I forgot," Sakura grumbles. She unleashes a loud sigh. "Here, you give him a tour while I do some grocery shopping."

"Oh… okay," Naruto says, and I see his cheeks flush in the tiniest bit, hardly noticeably, in the same manner when he had left Suna the last time I saw him. The second she's gone, he turns to me and smiles. I'm caught off-guard while removing my shoes. "Well, uh, there's not much to see, really… kitchen is right here, and the hallway is over there to your right… and at the end there's my bedroom and to the left before you get to the bedroom door, there's the bathroom. Which reminds me: I'll be sleeping on the floor in the kitchen while you're here. I've never really had a guest before, so I think it's only fair that you get my bed," he rambles.

I don't like the idea of kicking Naruto out of his own bed because of me. But with how stubborn he is, he won't accept it otherwise (like if I propose we trade off between the bed and kitchen), and sharing is clearly out of the question; the mere thought of such closeness makes goosebumps rise on my flesh and my stomach churn. I can't begin to figure out why.

The kitsune cocks his head. "Wait… you do sleep now, right?"

Well… I can, and do for the most part, but not often. "You can have the bed the nights that I don't," I answer. There, that seemed fairer. Now I don't feel so bad about the sleeping arrangements.

He shrugs. "If you say so." He raises a finger, as if scolding me, but there's a grin on his lips. "But you better not do that too much, y'hear? You need your sleep, dattebayo! Plus, I'd feel guilty…"

"Doushite?" I ask. Why would he feel guilty if I didn't sleep? To be honest, I was planning on not sleeping too much because I didn't want to have one of my vivid nightmares. It would scare him, and I might thrash out at him if he tries to wake me from it. In addition, I don't want anyone – much less my blonde friend – to see me in such a weak state. I'm insecure with things like that.

"Er, well, 'cause then, I dunno… it'd make me feel like you weren't comfortable enough to sleep in my house. But, heh, that's stupid, isn't it? You wouldn't have accepted unless you felt comfortable enough! Forget I said anything," he mumbles, glancing to the side at the kitchen.

I blink at him, wondering where all that came from. But it counts for not because in that moment, Sakura returns. "I'm back!" she says as she closes the door behind her. Sakura removes her shoes and pads across the wood floor to the kitchen. "And I got the bare essentials, so you'll need to go shopping again." She sets the paper bags down on the table and turns to us. "Did you help him unpack yet?" she asks Naruto.

"Oops! No, I didn't!" he chuckles. He nods to his room. "Come on, Gaara, let's grab your stuff and put it where it goes."

I say not a word and pick up my things, which were cluttered near the door. I almost forgot that I had even set them down; I had insisted before we left that I carry my own belongings, as little as there were. I may be Kazekage, but I don't like being catered to. Not too long ago, I did everything for myself – fought for, lived for, and loved. Things are different now, but some things never change; my independence for cooking and carrying my own things being one of them.

Once in Naruto's room, I realize it doesn't look as lived-in or personalized as I thought it would be. His entire apartment in general was small and compact, and had basic decorations, but usually a bedroom held much more. I'm sure if he had left things messy, it would've looked more like I had pictured.

Instead, it was like this: there's a leaf symbol on a tapestry above his bed, a dresser, a small television in the corner, an end table, and quite a few plants (which I notice there were a couple in the kitchen, too). A notice a photograph sitting near the bed: it had the silver-haired sensei, Kakashi, the grouchy Uchiha, Sakura-san, and Naruto himself as twelve-year olds, the way I knew them from the chunnin exams, although Sasuke wore a different outfit than the one I fought with him in.

Following my eyes, Naruto's own blues land on the picture. "Oh, yeah." he says with a tone I don't recognize. He wanders to the photo and holds it up. After a moment, he lays the frame facedown.

I frown. What made him do that?

Before I can ask, he answers my thoughts. "I'm furious with Sasuke," Naruto practically growls. His voice softens with his next words, but that initial tone will be forever etched into my memory. "I saw him again recently, and heard some things that sickened me. When I saw him, he tried to kill me, saying that his bond with me is already severed. And then, not too long ago, he killed Orochimaru, the very person he left Konoha for. Even worse, I heard that he killed his brother. But according to Tsunade-baachan, Itachi had been doing his village a favor by killing his family; they had been breeding Uchihas to make some sort of super race or something. It's twisted, and I don't even understand it completely. And then, some people important to us died… like Asuma-sensei, and…" he chokes on his words, and I automatically take a step forward out of worry. I sure missed a lot of things. Maybe it's been more than the six months I guessed.

Naruto turns so he's not facing me. In the kitchen, I hear pots and pans being placed here and there, and I wonder if Sakura's starting a meal. My main focus, however, is on Naruto. He's quaking; I can see his hands limp and trembling at his sides, and he appears to be trying to hold something back.

He speaks again, his voice thick: "Did you know that Jiraiya was my godfather? And that the Yondaime Hokage was my father? I didn't, not this whole time. It was a bit of a shock." I hear a sad smile come to Naruto's voice, and he moves a hand to his face; probably to wipe his tears.

I take another timid step towards him. "Is he dead?" I ask. I don't even need to specify a name; the kitsune catches my meaning. He always knows how to do that somehow.

Naruto faces me again, his eyes raw. "H-hai," he mutters. "But it's alright." He wipes at his eyes again, although no tears are visible. "Sorry 'bout that. I've been trying not to think about it, but I guess talking about recent events triggered me." He clears his throat, and I notice his Adam's apple bob in his throat for a moment. Naruto sniffs at the air, and changes the subject. "What's Sakura-chan cooking?"

The blonde exits the room, purposely so I can follow him. We didn't even unpack my things like we intended to, but I don't mind. It's strangely consoling to me to have seen Naruto act like he just had. I rarely see people cry, and I myself haven't cried since I was a child, so it's… intriguing. I had been on the brink of coming close enough to him to touch those tears. In a sense, I forget what they feel like. All I remember is a bothersome feeling on my cheeks and warmth running down in thin trails. But I remember vividly the taste; salt. A bit grainy, too, because of the sand residue on my skin.

We find Sakura in the kitchen, and I smell fish; a rare thing for us to eat in Suna due to lack of water. Personally, I wish I could eat fish more often… especially sushi. "Hey you two," she says with a smile. "Since Naruto's incapable of cooking without burning or leaving things practically poisonous, I'll be your chef this evening," she giggles. She looks to us, and her facial expression sinks. "Naruto…? Are you okay? Your eyes are red." Suddenly, she takes back her words. "I mean, pink. They're pink." I notice her shivering. It takes me a long moment to understand why red eyes isn't a good thing to say: Naruto's Kyuubi cloak. I've seen it for myself; he gets pumped so full of flaming chakra that his cerulean blues turn blood red, darker in their depths than my own hair. According to what I was told, that eye trick happened a lot while they were looking for me. Apparently, Naruto had been quite angry with the Akatsuki. I have yet to comprehend why he sacrificed so much over me, and I wish I could've seen it. Maybe then I could grasp the meaning of it…

"And I was hoping you wouldn't notice, Sakura-chan," he whines. He slumps into one of the chairs at the table. With a sigh, Naruto explains to her, "Jiraiya got brought up."

Immediately a look of understanding crosses her face. "Oh," she whispers.

The pinkette returns to her cooking and remains silent for a long while. I glance between them, and the gloomy aura bothers me. Normally it wouldn't; normally, I'd also sit in silence. But the fact that Naruto wasn't doing his usual rambling to fill this silence is unfitting and wrong, and I don't like it. So, I open my mouth, lick my lips, and say slowly, "What are you preparing, Sakura-san?"

She looks at me a moment. "Um, nothing much; just fish with stir-fried vegetables."

Naruto blanches. "I hate veggies."

"You eat them when they're in ramen!" the medical nin snaps.

"Yeah, because then they taste like ramen! But any other way and they taste horrible."

I relax. Things are back to normal, and so soon, too. Thank goodness. Ironic how these people aren't even that close to me (Naruto more than Sakura, but still not that close since we hardly see one another), and yet I can't stand to see them unhappy.

"Sometimes I swear, Naruto, I wonder how you stay healthy! You should have scurvy or some other nasty sickness, since you never eat properly," Sakura grumbles while stirring the veggies in the pan below.

Naruto shrugs and leans back in his chair, his hands behind his head. "I guess I'm just lucky."

I could think of a better reason than that: the Kyuubi. That must be it; the demon fox must heal Naruto often and keep him in good health. It's the only thing I can think of that makes sense.

"Whatever," Sakura replies with a roll of her green seaglass-colored eyes. A few minutes pass, and she turns off the stove. "It's ready," she says. Sakura places three plates down and Naruto gets out three glasses of milk. And after a short prayer, we eat.

Inwardly, I punch myself. In this little moment, I realize something: living like this… living simply, and not alone (or as alone as I might get with my siblings sometimes, although that's partially my own fault)… it could get quite addicting. And I'm already attached.

That's not a good sign.