A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long! I didn't like the first draft of this chapter, so I had to rewrite it. For some reason, rewriting takes a million times longer than writing it for the first time. Then, I went on vacation for a couple weeks into the boonies with no internet.

But it was worth the wait! Every one is going to love this chapter, I bet! I worked really hard on the rewrite.

Behind the Sun

Chapter Six: Rising Tensions

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Gaara ground out for the umpteenth time. "And no, I don't need to lie down." This was actually true, as his chakra coils were now nearing acceptable levels of repair and he had recovered most of his mobility.

"But, Gaara…"

"It looks worse than it is."

Naruto bit his lip as he studied the purple and yellow bruise coloring Gaara's ribs. It was twice the size of his head. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

The blonde poked it experimentally. "See? You flinched!"

"Your hands are cold." Gaara retorted.

"Gaa-chan… I really don't want to—"

"Fine!" the redhead spun around so Naruto was looking at his back. "If you don't want to be with me that much—"

"That's not it!"

"Well, obviously it's all about you. Naruto, Naruto, Naruto! What about Gaara?"

"Gaara, I—"

"Why don't you please me for once!" the Kazekage turned again so he could glare at the floundering blonde.

"I'm sorry," and there was a true apology in his eyes.

"Then stop being sorry and have sex with me!"

Naruto stared imploringly at him for a minute. Then he started chuckling.

Gaara growled. "What is it now?"

"It's not often that you get like this, Gaara-chan. You're so cute when you get mad!"

The Kazekage snarled in reply. If anyone but Naruto had dared to call him 'cute' he would have ripped them to shreds instantly. "Naruto," he warned.

"Gaara-chyan!" Naruto grinned back.

"If you don't stop teasing me…"

"Okay!" Naruto laughed and pulled the fuming redhead down into his lap. He smacked a wet kiss on the edge of the boy's mouth.

Gaara continued to growl irritably.

"I'm sorreeeeeee—," the blonde whined as he nuzzled his captive's collar bone and pulled him tighter against his chest.

"Then have sex with me."

"No," Naruto sighed. "Too dangerous."

Gaara wiggled a hand between them to push himself away. "But I want—"

"I know what you want, Gaara! And I know it's been a while, and I understand—"

"I can be seme. We'll take it slow."

Naruto shook his head, a pained expression in his eyes. "Yeah, but even so, your hips are still killing you, aren't they? I saw you limping."

Gaara scowled. "They're good enough."

"And that's not even the point I'm trying to make. I don't want to hurt you, but I also don't want to risk loosing control."

Gaara paused. Yes, that was definitely something he didn't want to happen. "You're having more difficulty controlling it." There was once a time when Naruto didn't even have to think about it, and Gaara didn't have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing that would set him off. Gaara longed for that time.

Naruto looked ashamed. "I dunno… but I guess Kyuubi's been getting more and more persistent."

"And losing yourself to carnal pleasures…"

"… could mean losing myself to Kyuubi." Naruto finished. "I think."

Gaara slumped in disappointment. If they had been in anyone else's company he would not have bothered to express this emotion.

"I'm sorry…" Naruto said again. It had been a month since they last had been together like this. Naruto understood how much Gaara wanted them to appreciate the time they had to the fullest before Naruto's mind slipped back into the fog of red chakra. Naruto wanted it, too. He wanted it so bad that it was an ache in his chest behind his solar plexus; and seeing Gaara in pain didn't do much to help Naruto's already slipping resolve. "But, um… as long as we're careful I could… help you a little."

Gaara's lips twitched into his characteristic almost-smile as Naruto waggled his eyebrows at him. But even as the offer sent a new spark of excitement straight to his groin to renew the passion that had been lost with the interruption of their recent make-out session, Gaara felt disappointed. Kyuubi seemed to be taking more and more of his beloved blonde, and now he couldn't even have him all in pleasure.

He contemplated for a moment just pushing Naruto to have sex with him anyway, even if that meant awakening the Kyuubi and waking up the next morning sorer than he was today. But Gaara wasn't that much of a masochist.

He fisted his fingers in the orange shirt separating Gaara from ten and toned muscle; he suddenly felt severely angry with it for not yet being removed. "Take it off."

The blonde raised his eyebrows at the growled order, but complied without complaint.

Gaara was skimming his fingers over the solid abs before Naruto had even gotten the shirt over his head.

"Hey!" warned Naruto as he grabbed one wandering hand as it moved to tease a tempting nipple. "I was serious, y'know. No fooling around."

Gaara resisted the urge to pout and squirmed on his lap, half-intentionally pulling a soft gasp from the blonde.

The next thing he knew he was lying on his back across the couch and Naruto was tugging his pants to his ankles. He was always surprised at how quickly and easily Naruto could change their positions without any effort on Gaara's part. The redhead wondered if it was just the boy's unnatural strength or his own lightweight frame that made that possible.

"Damn it, Gaara," he growled as he ran his hands up his thighs, and then around his milk-white hips.

Gaara wiggled impatiently. If he couldn't touch Naruto, then at least Naruto should touch him; but he wasn't touching him where he wanted it.

But what came was so much better than his hands.

Gaara gave a strangled grunt as a moist, warm tongue ran up his shaft before lapping at the sensitive slit at the top.

"N-nnnn!" Gaara said as the head of his penis was taken into that hot cavern, and he panted as the rest followed. "N-naruto!

The blonde smirked around his length and sucked harder as he bobbed back up again. He swirled his tongue around the bulbous head before slipping down again so far that Gaara knew his penis had entered the more restrictive area of his throat. This was repeated until Gaara was squirming and straining against the hands pressing down on his hips.

Gaara mewled as his erection was released from the blonde's mouth. How could he just leave him like that?!

"What was that, Gaara? I don't think I caught that."

The redhead growled through the haze that had all too easily enveloped his mind. He knew what the blonde wanted to hear, but he was too far gone to be able to resist simply for the sake of his pride. "I want you to suck me off."

"What? I'm sorry, I can't quite hear you."

"I want you," Gaara ground out, closing his eyes from the hot flush on his face that wasn't just arousal, "to suck me off."

"Say my name, Gaara."

He snapped his eyes open at the sudden proximity of the voice. Naruto was leaning over him, staring down with an intimidating, almost-predatory look. Gaara froze when he recognized the streaks of red reaching for the pupils of his blue eyes.

"Say it." He repeated. "Tell me how you want me to make you scream. To make you plead. To make you cry."

"Naruto," Gaara complied. The boy had always had a penchant for dirty talk. He had always claimed that it was because he liked to hear the Kazekage's normally pristine mouth spout sensual nonsense and the way his name rolled off his tongue. Gaara believed secretly that he just liked to have his ego stroked.

The blonde grinned at him; Gaara watched his fangs nervously.

A click and a snap.

Gaara risked glancing down, and found that Naruto had already discarded his belt.

"Undress me," he commanded from above.

"Naruto," Gaara pleaded softly. It was too soon, he doubted he could handle another eternity of teetering on the torturous edge between pain and pleasure, despite his recent pushiness.

However, he didn't dare hesitate to reach down and unzip the fly of Naruto's casual jeans.

Naruto wiggled out of those and soon they were both exposed in all their glory on the ratty old couch in Naruto's depressingly clean apartment.

Naruto gave him a brief, gentle kiss as reassurance as he reached down between Gaara's legs.

The redhead braced himself as a thankfully dull-nailed finger circled his hole.

"Hmm," Naruto frowned and mused, "You're all swollen."

He gasped as Naruto suddenly changed his position again, so Gaara's own erection was brushing against the curve of the blonde's ass.

"Tell me how much you want it, Gaara-chan." Naruto grinned foxily and shifted just so against Gaara's inflamed appendage.

With their recent argument, Gaara had forgone attending to his arousal for quite a while now, and it was almost painful. "N-naruto!"

"If you're good, if you're real good… I might just let you fuck me."

Gaara groaned and closed his eyes from those blue-red eyes. It had been a long time since they had been together properly, but even longer since Gaara had topped Naruto.

He didn't hesitate when the blonde ordered, "Touch me," and he was a the very least glad that he could finally touch Naruto in this way after so long.

Gaara watched his face as he squeezed.

Not to disappoint, Naruto closed his eyes and opened his mouth in a silent moan. Gaara remembered longingly how much time had passed since he had seen this expression on his lover's face.

"Gaara," he sighed softly, so gently that Gaara wondered if Kyuubi was influencing him at all. "Do you love me?"

Naruto gasped in his ear as Gaara's thumb rubbed over his tip.

"Yes, Naruto."

"I love you, too."

Naruto's lips on his own were warm and gentle. Gaara relished the feeling while he could. Though they might spend every minute together, Gaara couldn't help but feel they were far apart whenever the Kyuubi clouded his blonde's mind. It hurt to see Naruto lose himself, but his kisses always helped Gaara forget that pain.

Naruto shifted his weight again, and that was all the warning he had, because then he was struggling to breathe correctly and he was scrabbling for a handhold, anything, because he was inside, and it was hot and tight and his muscles were convulsing around him and—

If Gaara had been of a sounder state of mind he would have tried to stop the somewhat whorish moan of disappointment that left his mouth. It took him a moment to gather to words he needed into a question. "Why… why'd you stop?"

Naruto was frowning as he glanced around his living room. "'Been too long. Need lube."

Gaara just barely contained the growl that would have said something along the lines of, "Fuck that. Sit back down now." It wasn't as if he had gotten such a luxury, after all.

But then he was on the alert as Naruto started grinning a grin that was most definitely not kind or gentle. Gaara's eyes drifted to the place his mixed-colored gaze was affixed. The door.

"Nevermind… looks like we have company."

When Kakashi knocked on the door of his old student, the last thing he wanted was to be greeted by the red slitted eyes of the Kyuubi.

The last thing he expected was for him to be completely naked.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto seemed unperturbed by the breeze as he grinned slyly at his teacher.

"Naruto…" the jounin discreetly reached back to his pack where his kunai were kept. "Is Kazekage-sama inside?"

The boy chuckled. "Yeah, but I doubt he'll want to come to the door at the moment."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow under his hitae-ate. He hadn't missed the obvious arousal, and he only managed to contain his amusement at the thought of what he had interrupted because of the warning bells that were going off in his head at the sight of Naruto's red eyes. "May I… come in, then?"

The boy's eyes flashed danger. "Why? What do you want?"

For a moment, Kakashi considered bypassing Naruto and confronting the Kazekage directly, for if Kyuubi was influencing the boy then there was definitely something not good going on. "I need to see the Kazekage."

"I'm right here."

Kakashi glanced beyond the nude blonde to see the Kazekage was in a similar state, excepting the appreciated addition of a hastily-donned pair of trousers.

"What is it you need?" Unlike Naruto's nonchalance, Gaara was obviously uncomfortable, as Kakashi deciphered from the set of his shoulders. However, whether that was due to the pants he was wearing or any modesty he possessed, Kakashi didn't care to think on.

The jounin reached to one of his vest pockets as the Kazekage stepped around Naruto. Kakashi wondered if he was intentionally blocking the boy's important bits from view, for he had never seemed one for consideration. Or maybe he was just possessive. "Do you recognize this by any chance?"

Gaara eyed the tattered piece of cloth the jounin held out. He portrayed no reaction.

Naruto leaned over the redhead's shoulder. "Ooh! What is it?"

"It was found at the scene of yesterday's attack on our ANBU. It appears to be the remnants of clothing. It didn't match any of the victims'."

"In other words, it came from either the killer or someone who fled the scene."

Kakashi's eye squinted in what appeared to be amusement. But that was just appearances. "And what makes you think there's more than one possible suspect?"

"I don't." Gaara seemed completely unruffled even though the questions were obviously meant to pressure him.

"I see." Kakashi returned the cloth to his pocket. "Well, it's not an unlikely assumption. We did find at least two pairs of footprints that are unaccounted for."

Gaara frowned. In the desert, the shifting sands tended to cover evidence like that in a matter of hours. Even entire bodies could disappear by the next day if the winds allowed it. "What brings you here then?"

Kakashi studied the stoic Kage and the blonde behind him. Naruto was frowning and glaring at some obscure point in space above his sensei's shoulder. "Well, we found some blood samples on the cloth…" At last, he got a reaction out of the redhead, but the flash of emotion disappeared too quickly for Kakashi to properly identify it. "And they appear to point to you, Kazekage-sama."

He had an entourage of ANBU stationed at a safe distance around the perimeter, should any trouble start.

But the Kazekage was a shrewd one. "How did you get a hold of my DNA?"

"Chuunin exams," Kakashi replied smoothly.

"I'm implied to think it was planted." Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"There was quite a bit of it all over the scene. Whoever planted it would have had to have gotten a hold of an entire outfit of yours, skin and hair samples, and a substantial amount of very, very fresh blood." Other than a narrowing of the eyes, Kakashi observed no change in the Kazekage's expression.

Though they were faded now, Kakashi had been informed that Gaara had been sighted earlier with the injuries that had not been there the day before. The story fit. "May I ask where you were and what you were doing during the time of the attack yesterday?"

There was a pause as Gaara appeared to consider his answer.

But Naruto answered for him. "Training. With me."

Kakashi met the cold stare of Naruto's, now an eerie mix of red and blue. "Are you saying you were the one who inflicted the injuries I see now?" Kakashi pointedly glanced over the faint marks of bruising and the red lines of healed-over lacerations visible on the Kazekage's exposed upper half. The jounin made a note to giggle about the brighter love bites speckling Gaara's neck and collar bone later. It was the kind of news that would pull a highly entertaining reaction from Iruka.

"Yes," his student replied.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. If he was telling the truth, Jiraiya must have trained him very, very well.

The jounin considered the possible reactions to what he was about to say for a moment; Naruto's hostile gaze was giving him the heebie jeebies. He said it anyway.

"Then maybe you should also know that we also discovered semen on the scene." He paused to let the information register. "Your semen, Naruto."

Gaara was as emotionless as ever, despite his growling glare, but Naruto's face visibly darkened.

Kakashi swallowed imperceptively as Naruto's eyes filled entirely with red again. "The Hokage wishes to see you immediately."

"Gaara didn't do anything." He growled.

"I'm not accusing Kazekage-sama of anything. Tsunade would like to see you in her office. Both of you."

"We're not going any—" the boy stopped as Gaara snapped up a stern hand.

"Put some clothes on, Naruto."

The blonde pouted. "But, Gaaraah, we were just—"

"Clothes. Now." Gaara growled back.

"We're not finished—"

"Naruto!" If anything, Gaara felt like he was the one who should be whining and throwing a tantrum. He was cold, angry, and sexually frustrated. And his damned pants were too tight. "Just get dressed. And grab my shirt for me."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto skulked back inside. Perhaps the hint of Kyuubi in his eyes didn't make him as dangerous as he thought he would be to deal with.

He was caught completely by surprise when tenuous fingers of sand shot around him from behind and closed around his throat with blinding speed. "Shit!"

Kakashi watched the Kazekage's emotionless face as his hands were caught and sand crawled up his legs. He couldn't reach his pouch. He couldn't breathe to call out to his reinforcements.

The jounin let his chakra spike. That would be enough to alert the ANBU.

Gaara's eyes narrowed and he held his hand palm out.

Kakashi started to sweat, recognizing the classic pose.

His fist snapped closed.

A/N: Oh dear! Now everyone is going to be sending me crazy reviews threatening me not to kill Kakashi.