WARNING: Enter the M-rated smut in this chapter. If you shouldn't be reading this, then please don't. Otherwise, enjoy.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The Kazekage glared to show that he didn't believe the denial for a moment, but when he went ignored he reluctantly turned his attention back to work. After his impromptu trip outside the Village his councilors had decided to punish him in the only real way they could – by forcing more work on him. Minor things that were normally delegated suddenly needed his attention, some now demanded his response immediately and not allowed a moment to waste no matter the insignificance, every little thing was suddenly crucial and there was always someone willing to launch into another scathing rant if he tried to shirk the busy work. He knew it wasn't necessary, they knew he knew and thus it was very obvious to all concerned that even the Kazekage himself was being punished.
It was galling that he had to submit himself to the menial reprimands but after four years leading Sunagakure Gaara knew the futility of balking; they would just keep it up until they were satisfied. Still, he hated it and was not in anything remotely like a happy mood as he stamped and signed an endless stream of papers viciously, only slightly mollified by the violence to the harmless sheets. Four days of overworking made him very irritable.
"WHAT?!" he demanded loudly again, breaking the silence of the room and glaring darkly at his companion.
"Noth–"
"Say that one more time and I'll send you back to Konoha in a jar," he interrupted with an angry snarl. He'd had enough. For nearly half an hour Naruto had been staring at him while they worked, but when confronted refused to explain himself. Gaara hated being stared at and given his current mood he really wasn't up to being charitable and letting it all slide.
Naruto jerked back in surprise, blinking but looking completely nonplussed in the face of the redhead's formidable temper. He didn't speak, not even to deny himself again, but instead cocked his head a little to the side and frowned in thought. Suddenly Gaara wanted to make good on his threat even if the blonde didn't provoke him. He was frustrated, agitated, and angry… and old habits had him wanting to rip something to pieces for the sheer pleasure of destroying something in a fit of rage. Only his affection for the blonde foreigner and long years of practice at burying his homicidal urges kept from acting on that impulse, which was nearly done in by the next words.
"You know, Gaara… you work too much."
Oh yes, maybe it was worth tearing him to pieces. Shukaku concurred.
But no, that wouldn't be good and he knew it. The Hokage would be angry to lose her favored successor. And besides that, who else would he have to satisfy his other urges if he killed the blonde? It was more worthwhile to keep him alive, the redhead told himself, most of the time at least. With effort he clenched his hands until the joints ached and took short, shallow breaths, though the glare he leveled at Naruto did not abate.
"Oh really," he replied scathingly, "I hadn't noticed. Thank you for stating the obvious." But instead of being sufficiently rebuked, the anbu just set his own folder down with an exaggerated sigh and slid off the desk.
"I'm serious," the blonde answered back as he stood looking down at the angry teen with his arms crossed firmly across his chest, ignoring the glare. Well, to be honest Naruto had had a long time to get used to ignoring dirty looks. It would be more correct to say that he pretended not to see the look or any effect it had on him. "You're getting overworked and if you don't take a break you're going to snap. More," he amended after a second, because it was obvious that Gaara was already snapping. "You need to get out, get some sun… I can't even imagine how you manage to stay pale when you live in the desert like this."
"Sand armor," was the brusque answer. "The sun doesn't get through."
Oddly enough, that simple reply made Naruto brighten considerably and he grinned broadly with a new idea dancing behind his eyes. The sudden shift made the Kazekage wary and the additional emotion tipped the scale and served to make him angry all over again.
"No."
"Wow, you didn't even let me begin, let alone finish."
"No."
"But Gaara,"
"No."
Angrily he turned back to his work, hoping and dreading that Naruto would push the subject. He wanted to be left alone, really he did, without being poked and prodded at until he lashed out at the blonde that didn't really deserve it, and yet he hoped that the other young man would try and somehow sooth away the mounting frustration. The two opposing wants only served to keep him angry and irritated, so he couldn't really decide exactly how he felt about the matter when Naruto gently cupped his hands around Gaara's cheeks and pulled him into a languid kiss.
Damn him, Naruto knew that he had a weakness for kisses.
He tried to resist the obvious attempt to pacify him, but in under a minute the redhead was succumbing to the sensual touch and melting into his chair with an involuntary moan of appreciation. The anbu's tongue coaxed his into a willing dance, twisting over and around each other slowly, sighing breathily as one mapped the hard planes of the alveolar ridges, the other tracing along the blunted enamel spires until no area was left untasted between the pair. A tentative game of tag ensued, licking playfully before retreating back into home territory, claiming a lip and suckling it gently as much for the pleasure as to block pursuit, but always one would release his captive and welcome the pursuing muscle with a warm touch of surrender before it would begin again. It was nice, Gaara reflected, that they hadn't yet eaten lunch, for he was able to enjoy the pure and unadulterated flavor of the blonde, a taste that he could never find adequate words to describe but knew that he was hopelessly addicted to, loath though he was to admit it aloud.
Ever since he and Naruto had begun their awkward courtship Gaara had come to realize that there were few things that he had thus experienced in life that he enjoyed more than the kisses he received from his friend-turned-more. As much as he hated invasion of his personal space, the Kazekage secretly enjoyed any sort of affectionate contact, including hugs – it most often made him panic and tense to be held in such a manner but he reveled in it nonetheless – because he knew what a life of solitude was like and learned to welcome affection when it was offered. But anyone could hug another, his sister habitually hugged her kunoichi friends on greeting and it was a common enough practice among most children and, as was the case with Naruto, anyone could fall subject to lust. Not to say that he didn't enjoy their more spontaneous and erotic times together – ultimately futile though each attempt for more had so far proven to be – but still the pale teen leader could admit that he felt simple touches of kisses like these to be more intimate to him. Anyone and everyone could hug and fall prey to their baser instincts, but to take the time to express emotion through a kiss spoke silent volumes to Gaara and always he felt warm and cared for in a way that almost made him ache when it was gone, knowing that he had lived so long without such warmth that he could not bear to lose it again. He was as addicted to Naruto's taste as much as the feelings that he invoked in the redhead, each caress a silent promise, yet still he knew that he had no desire to receive affection in the same sort of way from any other person so long as the blonde foreigner was willing to offer something to Gaara. Naruto made him feel content, even if only for moments at a time, and he treasured it.
Gaara lifted his hands from the armrests of his chair, half-consciously aiming to pull the anbu down into his lap so that they might continue with the pleasant distraction in a more comfortable position, but as he moved so did Naruto. The blonde pulled away, breaking the kiss and leaving the pale Kazekage flushed and confused as the hands that had reached out met only empty air in place of a warm body. The smiling anbu grasped the outstretched hands and with a small tug urged the smaller young man to stand, but Gaara resisted. He sat, frowning minutely, with just a look minty green eyes demanded explanation.
"Come on Gaara, trust me," Naruto urged, once more tugging on the hands he held.
Gaara didn't really feel the need to answer that. It wasn't that he didn't trust Naruto – he did, very much so – but he didn't like surprises, so he asked instead, "What are you planning?"
"Just a relaxing little excursion together, that's all. You know, head outside, get some air, escape this mess before you kill something…" There was a teasing note in his voice that took any possible sting out of the last remark. "Come on."
"Brilliant," the redhead snorted and tried to pull his hands free but was held fast, and it wasn't yet worth the effort of trying harder to escape. Still the suggestion fed the embers of his temper and he felt his earlier irritation rushing back to the surface. "'Escaping this mess', as you call it, is what got me into this in the first place, in case you'd forgotten. Somehow I doubt repetition is going to make it go away any faster."
"So delegate."
"I can't."
"You're the Kazekage," the blonde pointed out exasperatedly, giving another little tug "You can't possibly tell me that they can stop you from going out and taking a walk to clear your head, can you? It's not like there's a war going on, trade reports and mission statements can wait a few more hours. Come on, humor me?"
After much more whining and wheedling Naruto finally managed to annoy the redhead into giving in, grumbling that he would go on the damn walk if he would just shut the hell up about it already. The anbu ignored the attitude and grinned triumphantly as Gaara stood and walked around the desk toward the door, only to be blocked by his bodyguard, whose grin took on a decidedly mischievous twist.
"Don't forget your gourd," Naruto prompted.
Gaara paused, cocked his head a little to the side and appraised the figure in front of him. "Where exactly do you plan on going that I would need it?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh, I don't know… outside the walls maybe…"
"…Why?"
"Oh you know," he waved a hand idly, "walk around, see the sights, spar without causing massive property damage…"
"Spar?" Gaara echoed, not entirely sure he was hearing what he thought he was. Surely not. "Are you insane?" he wondered, genuinely puzzled.
"Eh, that's debatable," Naruto temporized, "But come on, think about it. When's the last time you had a good spar with someone, huh? How many people here can put up a fight against you when you go all out? You're stressed and look like you want to kill something," which was indeed true because the redhead was glaring with ever-increasing ferocity as Naruto spoke. "It'll do you good to have someone to take your frustrations out on."
But the Kazekage wasn't so easily convinced and continued to glare darkly. He did not move either to exit or back towards his desk, but it was more because with his temper roused again he wasn't sure that he wouldn't take the blonde up on the offer and attack him right off if he tried to move one way or the other. He was angry, he was getting easily angered over the tiniest of things and it just made him more angry that he was losing control of himself. Gaara hated not being in control. But while the suggestion may have been sound, the redhead doubted the other young man knew exactly how much the demon in him was thirsting to rip him to pieces. He most definitely didn't want to hurt his best friend. Something of his concern must have shown on his face though because Naruto just smiled disarmingly.
"Hey, c'mon, don't be like that. We're both jinchuuriki, right? We can't possibly maim or kill each other without putting a lot more effort into it than either of us is willing to give. I can hold my own against you and you need the release."
The Kazekage glared and the anbu coaxed and in the end sand was gathered into a familiar weight on one's back and the pair left the office full of papers behind.
They didn't speak. Gaara wasn't in the mood and Naruto didn't pry. Still, the silence was a companionable one as they walked casually through the streets, acknowledging the occasional hails from the villagefolk going about their business, purchasing a few bottles of water along the way, heading inexorably toward the chasm in the wall that marked the entrance to Sunagakure. At least this time they wouldn't be running off virtually unannounced.
"Kazekage-sama!" guards at the forefront of the chasm saluted their leader as he appeared, surprised and confused by the visit.
"I'm going out to spar for a bit," he stated smoothly, "I don't wish to be disturbed until I return."
"But, Kazekage-sama!" the jounin in charge protested, "There are training grounds within the Village, surely you'd –"
"Prefer to have more space, yes." Gaara interrupted with a tone that brooked no argument. The man hesitated then sketched a bow and stepped out of the way of the leader and his hitherto silent bodyguard. The redhead paused just as he passed the guards and spoke without turning back. "I expect to have a vigorous workout. I am absolutely not to be disturbed no matter the chakra levels you may feel. Understood?" The guards saluted their acceptance of the order and the pair continued to walk out into the hot midday heat.
Dunes arced like frozen waves and heat shimmer sparkled over the landscape. Occasional rocks, smaller siblings to what protected the village, peeked out of the sands like little islands in the dry sea. Mostly desolate terrain as far as the eye could see ringed the village and the two young men put on a minor burst of speed across the shifting sands. About a half a kilometer out, they stopped, judging it far enough distance to leave Sunagakure protected from even their most vicious attacks.
"Right, so here's the rules," Naruto began once they'd stopped, standing a meter or two apart waiting to begin. The anbu pulled off his mask and worked on removing his gloves and bracers while he spoke. "First off, no sand armor."
"Excuse me?"
"No sand armor," he repeated, walking away to set down the removed pieces of gear in what he hoped was a far enough distance. The blonde debated removing the vest but decided to just leave it on; the protection might help. "You rely too much on your defenses, Gaara, you need to learn how to dodge."
"I can dodge," the Kazekage protested indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Uh huh," Naruto muttered disbelievingly as came back to his previous place, "You and I both know that your 'ultimate defense' isn't entirely foolproof. Maybe if you actually try to evade some hits instead of letting the sand protect you all the time nothing would ever manage to get past it."
All right, well that did make a certain kind of sense, Gaara supposed, so he stopped firming the sand against his skin and let it slowly crawl over his body back to rejoin the gourd-shaped mass at his back. It was true enough that hits occasionally got through his defense, and Naruto and that irritating Akatsuki that had kidnapped him weren't even the only ones to manage it. Limiting the amount of hits that might land on him, thus how many attacks his defense would have to block, logically would lessen the likelihood that anything would get through it. And besides that, the sand armor took a hefty amount of chakra to maintain, and while the demonically enhanced reserves were great they were hardly infinite.
"So, second rule. We can use the chakra of our parasites, but no transformations." Naruto snickered to himself and twirled a hand in the air. "So no bubbly red chakra suit for me and no fat tanuki sand suit for you, 'kay? If either of us does we'll just have to knock the other out of it." Also a reasonable demand and Gaara nodded his acceptance. The blonde grinned and shifted into a battle-ready position. "Right then, let's begin, eh? And don't bother going easy on me, Gaara. Come at me with all the killer intent that you like; I can take it."
Despite the assurance Gaara was still a little hesitant to actually attack Naruto so after a long moment of waiting, the blonde rolled his blue eyes and decided to start it off himself. Although he knew it was coming, the Kazekage was still surprised to see a wall of sand spring up in front of him, blocking the attack aimed at him, followed twice more to the sides blocking kicks and again to the front after that. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea – Gaara wasn't particularly inclined to maul Naruto at the moment.
"Dodge, Gaara," the anbu murmured tauntingly, coming close enough that he was nearly whispering it in the pale teen's ear and since he wasn't attacking his proximity wasn't blocked. Angered by the comment, he swung an arm out to backhand the grin off the tanned features but met only empty air. He spun around, looking for the anbu, and found him tsking disapprovingly a meter away on his other side. Gaara glared, angry as much at himself as the blonde. The Kazekage was slow, by shinobi standards, and never saw a reason to rectify the fact. Was it really so bad that he relied on his defense so much? It had served him for most of his life, allowing him to safely sacrifice speed for power.
Granted there was that three year period where he didn't have the demon making the defense an unconscious response, but by then he had already been the Kazekage and rarely found need to fight or even spar beyond self-training. His methods had always been enough before – his kidnapping and subsequent death notwithstanding – and he didn't much like the insinuation that his tactics were lacking, no matter the logic of the other young man's argument.
If Naruto wanted a fight, so be it.
When the blonde made another feint at the barrier, rather than let him retreat immediately after as before Gaara reached his arm out towards the wall of sand, which mimicked the movement and a grainy hand formed out of the wall, grasping the anbu's ankle firmly. He was pleased to see the moment of surprise register in the cerulean eyes before he closed the hand painfully around the limb and swung his arm around in a wide arc. The sand obediently echoed the action and Naruto was ripped off his feet and pulled through the air with an undignified yelp, where at the end of the arc the hand abruptly released and sent him skidding across the dunes. Reflexes were all that saved the foreigner from ending the unwanted maneuver with a gritty lunch, as he managed flip so that he skidded with both feet and one hand to the ground steadying him. He didn't comment, only launched himself back at the dark-clad redhead with a series of punches, kicks, and other such rapid taijutsu maneuvers. But once provoked, Gaara didn't remain on the defensive. Instead he glared and sent whips of sand against Naruto from a distance.
In this fashion the anbu gained little ground, launching attacks only to be met with tendrils of sand that would set him back where he started from. When it became obvious that he could get no closer with simple taijutsu, the blonde began upping the ante. First kunai and shuriken were intercepted and fell ineffectually from their target, then the anbu's short sword came from its sheath to hack at the attacking sand, the separated pieces falling uselessly down until the grains were caught up once more in the tendrils. The precious few seconds allowed Naruto to close the distance between them by a bit, but the Kazekage was a quick study and adapted before he could get too close. The amount of sand streaming through the air quickly doubled, easily more than a dozen curling ropes of tiny sun-warmed stones rolled through the air – it almost resembled some sort of desert octopus protecting its master with angry tentacles.
Always one to dive in head-first, Naruto continued his unsuccessful attacks for some minutes more, managing to get about a meter closer to his opponent but no more. But never let it be said that Uzumaki Naruto had climbed the ranks to anbu without being adept at thinking on his feet. With a bit of chagrin – he hadn't sparred with Gaara for a long time, true, but he was quickly remembering just how good he was at keeping people away from him – Naruto fell back to his signature move: kagebunshin. A half dozen clones popped into existence mid-air while the original narrowly dodged a line of sand. Uniformly the figures all began to run toward the Kazekage. The tendrils hardened into sharp lances and aimed at each approaching form; two were taken out by the spears as the other five tried to get closer. One clone had the brilliant idea of trying to run along the line of sand it had just avoided, only to find his 'path' shifting and curling up around him. The small pop of his decomposition was lost in the airborne cocoon.
By the time only two figures were left, both of which were carrying rasengan in their palms, the distance from Gaara was noticeably smaller. Both anbu figures launched their attacks, one a half-second behind the first. The first was impaled upon the wall of sand before the jutsu could connect and both the clone and attack popped out of existence. Naruto himself had had enough warning to backpedal out of the way, tossing the rasengan in the process, although it landed against sand and exploded into a small sandstorm as he escaped.
"Gaara, you're not dodging," the blonde chided as he tried to reclaim the preciously won ground between them. He cursed under his breath as a cloud of sand crashed down on the dunes where he had been, forcing him – sneezing – back again.
"I don't have to dodge," the Kazekage answered crisply, "if you can't get close enough to make me."
"That's not the point of this though," Naruto protested, dodging another whip of sand only to get slammed in the ribs by another while he was in the air. Dust trailed him as he skidded away and he came up from the hit angry, not because he had been hit but because he could tell by the force that it was only a 'love-tap' by the redhead's standard. Gaara was holding back still, and he didn't like that; he wanted the other teen to let go. "Fine, have it your way."
In the next instant Naruto created a hundred clones and set them all to converge on the redhead with the sole goal of reaching him. Many were taken out quickly as the tendrils of sand began to spin quickly and, like the blades of a blender, tore up many of the clones upon contact. That was alright, they were mostly the blonde's shock troops anyway, he had another tactic. While his clones were getting slaughtered, the anbu strengthened four to hold their shape through some abuse and ducked under the encounter to dive through the mess of shadow bodies and sand to read the place where Gaara's barrier extended. The automatic defense sprung up a wall of sand around Gaara as four Narutos attacked it on each side, rasengan in hand that ripped and tore at the wall. Too quickly for it to repair itself, the defense broke through on one side and Gaara twisted to watch, stunned, as a small space twisted and broke open and a hand reached through the hole. A tan hand snatched the redhead's black jacket and yanked him forward. Both pale hands raised and slammed against the wall as Gaara came rushing towards it, and Naruto's smirking face, visible in the broken chunk of wall, blurred as the distance between them shortened. A short, fierce kiss struck the Kazekage speechless even as the other teen pulled away.
"Gotcha," Naruto murmured smugly before disappearing.
Gaara stood, blinking dumbly for a moment and wondering what exactly had just happened.
Ah yes, the little minx had managed to get past his barrier. Well, he had rather challenged the anbu about the exercise, but now Naruto had just proven his point. Dammit.
"UZUMAKIIIIII!!!!" Gaara roared, angrier than he had been since they had left the Village. He raised both arms from his sides, palms up, and all around them the dunes twisted and churned and heaved and as great waves of sand rose up like a tsunami headed at him in every direction, Naruto could do only one thing.
He laughed.
He continued to laugh until the sound was swallowed by the tidal wave of sand with a whoomph as they all collapsed in on each other, causing a plume of dust to rush up into the air upon impact. It wasn't enough to kill the blonde, not by far, but it made him shut up while he concentrated on staying alive while buried under the heavy weight of hot desert. Gaara could feel the mass of bodies struggling their way back to the surface and got a perverse sort of satisfaction out of contracting the sand below until all the clones popped out of existence and wrapping tightly around the original, enough to cause a bit of pain but not enough to break anything, and yanking Naruto up, gasping, past the surface into the air and then unceremoniously dropping him back onto the dunes where he landed with a dusty muffled thump.
"Oh, eww. I have enough minerals in my diet, thanks," Naruto complained as he got to his feet, sputtering sand and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Without missing a beat, the anbu unsheathed his sword and hacked at the giant sand-hand coming towards him, slicing off the fingers and down through the hand until the tiny stones fell back to the ground. "Really, Gaara, that was just nasty."
"Then maybe you should learn to dodge," the redhead quipped back. Arcing blades of wind slamming into his shields was the answer he got for that suggestion. Gaara smirked.
The weaving tentacles of sand around his body continued to move and strike out against the infuriating foreigner that was currently doing his best to invade the Kazekage's personal space. It was like a game of tag, an easy warm up that became increasingly heated as the pair became more serious. Before long the simpler attacks of kunai and sand whips were forsaken, moving onto stronger moves that kept both on their toes. Naruto employed an array of jutsus that he had accumulated over the years, including a couple that he had developed himself, although he avoided the use of the rasen-shuriken - both because he didn't really want to rip the Kazekage to pieces if the attack landed and because he also had no desire to shatter his arm whether he hit or miss anyway at the moment. Gaara also used more jutsus, all sand-based as were his standard, in addition to simple manipulation of the landscape and used the material from his gourd to enhance the speed and power of his attacks.
"Dodge, Gaara!" the blonde called warningly as a sickle of wind sliced through the barrier and a taut fist aimed directly for his delicate cheek. Grudgingly accepting that Naruto wasn't going to give up on his current project, the redhead actually tried to avoid the hits when they came for him, although he also did his best to irritate his opponent by not letting him get close enough to attack. Both were succeeding in their personal goals rather decently and were an even match for each other. Even so, Gaara had a lot to learn about avoiding getting hit, for even as he ducked the punch a leg to his shoulder blades sent him sprawling across the ground. He crouched on the sand, snarling quietly and barely had time to cross his arms defensively in front of himself before the attack was repeated - his defense ripped apart and a physical blow sending him skidding. It was disheartening to realize that the wind elemental blades were getting through his defense, meaning that throughout his life his own sister had always had the possible ability to kill him. Granted, Naruto was drawing heavily on his chakra reserves with each attack so it probably wasn't possible for just anyone with a wind affinity, but still it made him dimly appreciate his sister more for never having tried to assassinate him, despite their father's hatred of his youngest son.
It was fortunate for the Kazekage that he had the home field advantage in this fight; their very surroundings for kilometers around were his weapons. As another repetition of the effective attack that the blonde had discovered came towards him, Gaara concentrated on the sand around him. Naruto would break through his barrier, yes, but in the precious second that the attack took the pale teen planned to catch the other figure in a trap, one which Naruto fell into as expected. When he paused for the brief second it took to tear through the sand defense a great gritty maw opened at his feet and swallowed him down into the ground in one large bite. The Kazekage stood, dusting himself off slowly and grimacing at all the granules underneath his clothes and irritating his skin. It was one thing to have a layer of sand compressed against his skin as a defense, it was another thing entirely to have loose grains fluttering around with every movement. It itched!
He barely had time to force the sand out from his clothes before Naruto finally forced his way explosively out of the makeshift quicksand. When he escaped, slouched and panting from the effort, Gaara had no trouble sensing the sudden new influx of demonic chakra and knew that if he were to get close enough he would see red flooding the usual cerulean. Well, damn. That certainly raised the stakes. Shukaku hissed and snarled and howled against his confines for the freedom to go out and eviscerate the Youko.
It was by sheer force of will that Gaara resisted forming up his armor as Naruto launched himself forward again with a snarl. The use of the demon's chakra gave the blonde a boost to both his power and speed and the young leader was helpless to avoid the next strike, feeling the heavy blow land squarely on his cheek hard enough to send him tumbling and skidding. Gaara rose to a crouch, carefully cupping the side of his face that was now throbbing dully and rolled his jaw experimentally, feeling and hearing it pop with the movement. Ow, that had hurt. The reflexive glare pulled at the now-tender flesh and the pain throbbed harder. Dammit, it hurt! Shukaku whined to be let out and Gaara aimed a mental kick at the bars to shut him up. Even so, he drew upon the alcoholic tanuki's power to level the playing field. After all, using their power wasn't against the rules, only letting them out was.
The world suddenly took on a sharper focus, the sunlight and heat glare nearly blinding. Eyes that were now, if he were to look in a mirror, black with inhuman gold iris' saw a myriad of colors that the human eye was normally incapable of seeing. Even the simple beige of the sand all around them took on a dozen hues of brown and gold, The demonic red chakra flared around Naruto's body, a plethora of shades and colors to his sight, invisible but for his enhanced sight. It was beautiful, in the objective sort of way that Gaara viewed such things, and it was almost a pity that his sight could not remain as such on a regular basis; sadly, only scent and hearing could be enhanced regularly without constant draw on the captive chakra.
When the next attack came, the Kazekage reached out and caught the fist, arm aching from the impact but holding fast, and followed it with a punch of his own before the other got the chance. Naruto twisted, the force pushing him away but the hold on his hand kept him captive and he was yanked back to receive a knee to the gut and another hit to his back to slam him into the ground. Immediately the foreign anbu reached out for the redhead's ankle, only to snarl in rage as he was blocked by a wall of sand. Aside from that automatic defense that he had no control over, their spar took on a decidedly more feral and supremely more vicious tone. Less jutsus were exercised, focusing more on brute strength and attacks meant to rend flesh from bone. Any who might witness the battle, had any been there to see it, might logically assume the pair were fighting for their lives against each other given the ferocity with which they now fought. For the first time since they had begun, blood was drawn and stained the sand and air around them. Naruto was panting, covered in dozens of cuts and scratches of varying depth and even Gaara had taken a few hits hard enough to break the pale skin and was bleeding from a cut on his cheek and a couple others on his arms and legs. The scent was heavy and distracting and the hissing of the demon in his head mixed with the dull roar of rushing blood in his ears.
Naruto stood from where he had been struck away a moment before, summoning up a pair of rasengan, one in each hand, and rushed forward once more. Tired, but far from his limit still, Gaara raised his arms and summoned up a mass of sand, using some of his gourd sand to ease the control, and closed a cocoon around the blonde mid-step, the swirling masses of chakra getting extinguished like flames in the sabaku sousou. The Kazekage panted, clutching a wound on his right bicep with his left hand, and shuffled closer to his captive. The tan face was still free, red eyes blazing angrily and whisker-scars puckered from the snarl that revealed the elongated canines that came with the demonic package.
"Gaaaaraaaa...!!" Naruto hissed as he approached, voice full of deathly promise that made the redhead shiver to hear. He struggled against his bonds, trying futilely to have enough freedom to summon up some wind jutsu to break free.
"Naruto," he answered gamely when he reached the cocoon. Naruto snarled again but the small movement only served to draw Gaara's attention to the line of blood dribbling down from the blonde's split lip. It was hypnotizing, the way it broke free to roll down to the dark chin and pool for a moment, unsure whether to continue down the neck or drop off the peak. The captive snarled again, demands unheard by his entranced captor, and the rivulet wobbled on the chin ready to fall. Quickly, Gaara darted forward and caught the bright red drop on his tongue before it could fall, licking upwards to catch the rest of the trail and then pulled that broken bottom lip fiercely between his own and sucking. He moaned deeply as the coppery liquid slid across his tongue and down his throat and in the din in the back of his thoughts, Shukaku hissed and purred for more. Naruto balked for a moment, struggled to get free, but then paused as tongue and lips pressed hard against him and his focus shifted, he struggled towards his captor, straining his neck forward to deepen the kiss and claim more.
The sand dropped away as the redhead pressed himself closer to the other figure, raising his hands to curl into the fine blonde locks that were damp with sweat and pulled Naruto closer so that he could not escape the furious kiss. Not that he had any reason to, no when the anbu felt himself freed he wrapped his arms around the smaller young man, running his hands over every surface he could reach, the two holding so tightly to each other that there was barely room to breathe between them. It didn't matter, Gaara wanted more, he needed to be closer, he wanted to crawl inside the other's skin until there was no distinguishing line between them anymore. The blood faded, the blood clotting quickly, and the Kazekage used his own sharpened – albeit smaller – incisors to clamp down on any flesh in reach, easily breaking the skin of lips and tongue again and feeling the fresh rush of blood, swallowing the groan the bites caused with feral joy. The scent of blood was now so heavy in the air it was almost heady, crashing over his senses until he could think of little else, but riding the wave was the increasing musk of arousal.
Gaara wanted more. Unintelligible whispers goaded him to devour the figure in his arms, to take everything. The standard issue white anbu vest didn't entirely survive the frenzied attempt to tear it off, not that it had been in much shape from the spar to begin with, and was soon tossed, forgotten, into the sands. A few other articles of clothing soon followed, until the pair got distracted with the new expanses of flesh bared from the waist up. Without warning Naruto caught his foot behind the other shinobi's ankles and pushed against his torso so that Gaara stumbled and fell back against the sands. He landed awkwardly, due to the fact that the blonde's arms were firmly wrapped around him and that his own jacket wasn't entirely removed, just open, and caught around his arms making it hard for him to break his own fall. Naruto loosed one arm to prop himself up, lying it hand-to-elbow along the sand by the Kazekage's shoulder while the other flitted across his hip and chest.
Gasping and twitching, Gaara squirmed away from the touches. He wanted a kiss, craved more, but the anbu pinning him down was too intent on his attentions to the pale chest to oblige. So the redhead turned and caught the arm lying next to him in his teeth, licking at an earlier wound and lapping up the fresh blood the pressure of his bite caused. Naruto grunted softly, pulled his arm away and gave the demanding young leader the kiss he wanted, deep and heavy and breathtaking in its intensity. Their canines clashed harshly against each other, scraping soft flesh with each passing and tongues explored every available millimeter of space, tracing every firm ridge of the palate down to the sharp and blunted edges of teeth. Impatient and needy, hardly coherent but for the loud rush of instinct screaming for more, Gaara raked his nails down tan back, enjoying the way the muscles jumped under his touch, and frantically began to tear at the black fabric encasing the blonde's hips.
The foreigner seemed to like this idea and shifted his weight back to his knees to free his hands to return the favor and strip the Kazekage of his own pants as well. They were awkward and clumsy, kicking off the garments with a great deal of flopping and thrashing that kicked up small clouds of dust. Naruto put his weight back on his hands on either side of the fiery locks and moved to slip between the pale thighs when Gaara balked, snarling enough that his fangs showed and tossed his head to snap at the nearest available flesh while he tried to buck the heavier teen off him. Naruto hissed back above him and for a moment they tussled and wrestled for supremacy.
Still, the anbu was stronger and had better leverage. He caught both delicate wrists and stretched them up over head, pinning the Kazekage down and holding him there with his own weight pressed, flushed and sweating, together. When he came back for a kiss Gaara reflexively bit the proffered lip in angry retaliation, but Naruto didn't pull away and the fresh trickle of blood that flooded his mouth and mingled on their tongues made him shiver and moan in delight, forgetting for a moment why he was angry as he thoroughly enjoyed the taste. Thus distracted, Naruto transferred his hold on the wrists to one hand and slid the other down along the taut and quivering body to grasp at a thigh that seemed to have never seen the light of day, jerking it up around his own hip.
Gaara broke the kiss with a howl, body twisting and arching off the sands as he was swiftly entered, face strained and panting hard as the sensation was so intense that spots appeared behind his lids. It hurt, terribly so, but there was something more – it was bittersweet and so so strong and he wasn't sure if he liked it or hated it but it nearly pushed him off the edge just the same. Shukaku howled in outrage in his mind, so loud he nearly drowned out Gaara's own thoughts in the nearly-incoherent tirade. Get away from the Youko! the beast demanded savagely. He gasped as Naruto rocked into him again, prying his eyes open and seeing the bright points of red watching him. So much red, so many hues, he could see so many colors in those irises.
But red was the Kyuubi…
He struggled again, momentarily panicked by his demon's protests. But no, there was purple in those eyes. Shades of blue amidst the crimson swirls and when the lips touched his again, feathering a dozen little kisses across his face, he remembered that this was Naruto. He wasn't – they weren't! – the parasites inside. Just them, just Gaara and Naruto.
He wanted Naruto.
With an absent mental kick to the demon's cage, which left the whiny bastard howling even more at his 'stupid, useless, weakling of a host', the Kazekage turned to capture the passing lips once more with his own. He shifted his other leg up onto the blonde's hip, welcoming him, and tugged again to get his wrists free. Growling and giving him a warning nip on the jaw, Naruto released him, bracing himself on the sand with one arm and clutching at a pale hip with the other. Gaara wrapped his arms around the broader shoulders and clung tightly with a small whine.
The pain faded to a dull ache, leaving only an inscribable… something spiking through his nerves with each thrust. The redhead gasped and tensed as something shot through him like lightning and made his skin feel tight as though every hair stood on end, then groaned as the feeling passed. More, he wanted more; Gaara shifted and counter-thrust to the teen above him trying to get that feeling back. It was difficult, as Naruto was using all of his demonically enhanced stamina to move quick and rough, giving the redhead little time to adjust to the tempo, but when he did Gaara found himself nearly mindless from the pleasure.
In a short eternity the darker teen's movements became erratic, losing the steady rhythm he had adopted before and Gaara gave up any pretense of trying to keep up, just clung on tightly enjoyed it with every small gasping breath. Naruto rocked unsteadily, trying to control his pace with a bruising hold on one of the narrow hips.
"Please," Naruto whimpered urgently, the first word spoken in a long while, kissing Gaara's chest and licking at the sweat in the hollow of his collarbone. The redhead cracked his eyes open, nearly blinded by the sudden onset of light and color to his enhanced eyes and quickly shut them again with a groan. "Please, Gaara," he continued hoarsely, "come for me. I can't take much more."
The young Kazekage groaned again at the entreaty – he was getting close, but not as close as Naruto sounded. He shifted his weight, arching his back and hitching up his legs a little higher, trying to fall back into that rhythm he had before but it was hard to find with Naruto's irregular thrusts. Realizing the difficulties, the anbu let go of the other's hip and moved between their sweat-slickened bodies to grasp at Gaara's arousal, desperately pumping to help him along. Gaara gasped and tensed, not expecting the touch or the increase in pleasure that crashed upon him at the contact. "Please," Naruto begged again with ragged breath.
With an incoherent growl of frustration, Gaara loosed a hand from where it was clutching at the broad shoulders and followed the path between their bodies, smacking Naruto's well-meaning hand away to take care of himself. Concentrating everything on the sole purpose of cresting the peak that loomed so close, the redhead fisted himself quickly. He kept his back arched, muscles stretched and taught, pushing himself desperately closer as the whispers against his neck demanded. It didn't take him long, as he was already so close and was able to keep up a less erratic pace on himself, and with a sound that was a disturbing mix of growl and groan stiffened as the orgasm flooded his senses. For a long moment he was nothing more than a bundle of nerves, pleasure rolling out from his belly to every last fiber of his being with an intensity that only years of repression could cause. His skin felt tight, vibrating like a taut chord and his eyes clenched so tightly at the sensation that stars danced behind his lids. He barely noticed as his other arm fell limply to his side, displaced from the tan shoulder, that he had unknowingly scratched deep furrows into, when Naruto shifted his weight back again, grasping firmly at both hips and letting go of the last of his restraint.
Gaara came off his high and managed to open his eyes just in time to see the other teen follow his example with a moan. The foreign anbu lowered himself back down quickly, nose buried in the pale column of neck that was bared to him. The howl suddenly pierced the air as Naruto bit down harshly on the Kazekage's shoulder was deep and feral, and in a daze Gaara realized that the sound was from both his pain and Shukaku's outrage. The beast slammed at his bars, making his host even more disoriented, and screamed obscenities at the foreign jinchuuriki that couldn't even hear them. He felt more than saw Naruto climax, shuddering against him and causing the oddest sensation from the sharp incisors still buried in his flesh. When it passed, the blonde lapping at the pooling blood and kissing the wound in silent apology, he wrapped his arms tiredly back around the dark shoulders and enjoyed the afterglow.
Soon enough Gaara was shifting restlessly, hissing at the headache Shukaku's bitching was giving him, along with the uncomfortable feel of drying sweat and sand granules stuck to his skin. As he moved, he also realized just how much he hurt. All the wounds from their spar added to the prior exercise left him feeling shaky and bone-weary. Naruto carefully lifted himself and sat back on his haunches, giving Gaara the space to carefully raise himself up into a semi-sitting position. He hissed with every movement, making the blonde give him a worried glance. The colors were dimmer, he realized, though not really surprised to find that his hold on the demon's chakra had faded – or rather that the whiney brat had ripped all his power back in a fit of pique.
"Are you all right," Naruto asked hesitantly, worry clear on his features as he reached out to brush a hand across the redhead's cheek, pleased when Gaara nuzzled tiredly into his caress.
"The pest is complaining again," the Kazekage explained tiredly. With another aching hiss, he moved to touch the mark on his shoulder, frowning when his hand came back sporting twin spots of blood. "Bite much? When is this going to stop bleeding, ugh."
Naruto kindly refrained from commenting on the hypocrisy of complaining about bites, but instead frowned at the mark which was, indeed, still bleeding. "Why aren't you healing?" he wondered. Gaara stared at him blankly so he decided to elaborate. "Why isn't he healing you? See, mine are already half-healed," he pointed to a few of the scratches on his body, including the fresh lines on his shoulder, "Kyuubi does it. So why isn't your pest stopping the bleeding yet?"
"They can do that?" he blurted in surprise. Naruto just blinked.
"Well, yeah…"
"Why that little…" his eyes lost focus for a moment as he turned his attention to the snarling tanuki in his mind, demanding to be healed. Shukaku just humphed and snidely refused. Gaara swore again. "Greedy little parasite! Says if I'm going to let myself get hurt I can deal with it myself." He snarled again and aimed as hard a hit as he could muster at the beast, satisfied when he got a yelp for his efforts. So intent on his mental argument with the demon that he didn't notice the way Naruto moved closer to him until he squeaked with surprise when the arms wrapped around him.
"Shukaku," the voice was low and menacing, lips brushing over the bite wound on his shoulder. Gaara was very highly disturbed to realize that the voice was a strange mix of both Naruto's and Kyuubi's voices together and struggled against the hold. Shukaku hissed and howled angrily at the sound of the other demon. "Heal him," came the growled demand.
His demon balked again and Gaara thought it prudent not to pass the insults on.
Naruto bit down lightly over the previous bite on the shoulder, not hard enough to reopen the punctures but enough to draw attention to it. "You are mine, Ichibi," he hissed, and the redhead really wasn't sure which creature was talking anymore – the human or the demon. "You will heal him, understand? Obey." Shukaku howled so loud in outrage that Gaara actually winced, then degraded into nearly incoherent rambling at every conceivable fault of his host. Even so, the Kazekage was startled to feel his skin tingle as though with static charge. He took a glance at his arm, where a gash from their spar had been and watched, fascinated, as it healed up leaving only a small line of dried blood to mark its place. Oh yes, he could get used to this indeed. He didn't really understand why his parasite obeyed the command, but he wasn't going to complain with the results. Within minutes he felt no more then a telltale ache for all the previous strain.
"Mmm, thank you," Gaara murmured as the hold slipped from around him and he took a moment to stretch a little, enjoying the painless motions. He was relieved to see, when he dared to look, that Naruto's eyes had returned to their original crystal blue – being that close to the most powerful known demon was disconcerting, to say the least, and Kazekage or no he would be pleased to avoid such things in the future. "Ew. I want a bath." Gaara declared suddenly and with obvious distaste at the current state of his body, sand stuck to his body in clumps from drying blood, sweat, and semen. It was unpleasant and he had a hard time trying to coax the moist sand off of him. "Now."
The blonde chuckled but without further ado began gathering up the battered remnants of their clothing to redress. It took longer to find Naruto's anbu mask and other accessories, but eventually they made their tired way, sharing shy and gentle touches, back toward the village. Beaten, tired, and sore, but Gaara did had to admit that he indeed felt better; Naruto was very nice to have around.
notes: Waaah, I'm sorry if my smut sucks T-T First time I've ever written it, but if I didn't get around to it after all the times I had the poor boys interrupted, doragon-chan might have killed me... I hope it wasn't too bad... ::hides under table in embarrassment::