Chapter Two: A Proposal Is a Good Conversation Opener

As Naruto opened the door to the Kazekage's office, it was immediately clear to him that he wasn't going to get a welcoming hug. Instead they exchanged a familiar verbal greeting, Gaara only briefly looking up from the piece of paper in front of him, as Naruto made himself at home and sat on the small couch like he always did.

The small blue-green couch, he idly noted. Matching the blue-green table and plant pots. For one silly moment he wondered if someone had purposely redecorated the office to match Gaara's eyes when he became Kazekage, but then focused his attention back on those eyes and the paper they apparently considered more interesting than him.

"So what is that, a crossword puzzle?" he finally asked when the frown on his friend's face was beginning to grow to the extent that he looked either utterly confused by the paper or downright angry at it.

"Hm?" Gaara still didn't look up, only blinked.

"The paper," Naruto elaborated with a curious voice. "You're not even reading it 'cos your eyes aren't moving. What did it do to get a glare like that?"

Gaara relaxed a bit, leaning back with a sigh and a shake of his head, and placed the paper down on his desk (Which was unusually orderly today, had he done nothing but stared at one piece of paper all morning?). The glare didn't soften, and Naruto waited.

"I've been proposed to."

"Say what?"

Gaara sighed again. "Proposed, asked to marry someone. That is what this letter is for." He crossed his arms, something he did far less frequently nowadays. "I received it this morning."

Recovering from the shock, Naruto stood up and hurried to the desk. "But that's great! I didn't even know you had a… uh, you're not happy about it."

"I can't accept it."

"Okay. Why?"

Finally, Gaara looked at him. He really was confused and not angry, but Naruto knew that under certain circumstances those could be just about the same thing for Gaara. The redhead shrugged. "I don't know who she is."

Naruto broke into a laugh. That's right, the occupational hazards of being young, rich and handsome, and somehow Gaara always managed to be either oblivious or dead serious about things like that. "Anonymous love letter from a fangirl? Thought you'd be getting used to those by now."

"They are not that frequent, and this is a marriage proposal. That is serious." He handed Naruto the paper. "It's not anonymous, see? I just don't know her."

"Tsukiko," Naruto read aloud. "Pretty name, and you like the moon, right? Maybe you're meant to be."

"I told you not to joke about it. What am I supposed to do?"

"So you don't remember any girl called Tsukiko that could be interested in you?"

Gaara shook his head. "I should know my people better than this."

Naruto quickly placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to look him in the eye. "Hey now, it's not your fault she's a stalker. I know granny Tsunade can't possibly remember the names of all Konohans either. You're probably just too shaken to connect a face and a name and– " Suddenly his face lit up with a wide smile. "That's it! I know a Tsukiko!"

Gaara wordlessly urged him to continue. "There was one in the squad you sent me on a mission with… was it three months ago? When it almost rained?" No response. "Long red hair that's black at the bottom, with green stripes? Purple eyes, except one's kind of multi-colored and the pupil's shaped like a moon. Is it a bloodline limit or something?"

"An injury."

"Oh. But you know who I'm talking about now?"

A head of short red hair with no black ends or green stripes slowly nodded, blue-green eyes growing a little wider and looking away, then suddenly narrowing in comprehension. "She's too young to marry."

"Still a genin, I recall, but we both know rank doesn't equal age. How young?"

"Thirteen."

"Really? With that chest?"

"People grow at different paces," Gaara stated with an even voice. He was beginning to calm down now that the 'threat' was no longer imminent.

Naruto sat down on the desk. He sometimes did that, too, and nobody thought it was strange or rude anymore. Gaara never had, he pretty much let him do whatever he wanted. "Well, that's irresponsible," he muttered to himself, then looked down at the Kazekage. "Do her parents know she's asking older guys to marry her?"

"She doesn't have any."

"Oh. That's going around." He wasn't entirely sure himself whether he had meant the likelihood for a child of shinobis to get orphaned at an early age in general, or the fact that they both had. "Anyway, you should talk to her. I bet she's as confused as you were just now."

Gaara looked up at him and nodded. "I should talk to Temari first, for advice on what to say. I don't want to hurt her." He held out his right hand. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Any time." Instead of taking the hand with his right and shaking it like one might be expected to, he grabbed it with his left and just held it for a while. Another thing he sometimes did that perhaps was a little strange, but the small smile on his friend's lips was far from a protest. Why did he want to do that? He couldn't think of a situation where he would want to hold Neji's hand, as much as they were friends –and no way in hell Neji would let him. Just as he was about to remind himself that he was thinking too much again, Gaara let go and gestured at him to move his ass a bit off the center of the desk so he could get to work.

Naruto grinned and moved back to the couch. As Gaara began to leaft through some previously neglected reports like nothing had happened, he let out an amused sigh. "And here I though just minutes ago that I'd get to be your best man."

"Hm." It was almost a snort. "That's not going to happen."

"What, you don't want me to be your best man when you get married?" That was almost a hurt tone.

"You assume I'm going to one day."

Now, that wasn't what he had wanted to hear in response. Naruto knew it wasn't that unusual for a shinobi to choose to remain single, most variations of the profession hardly left a lot of time for a family, after all. But short-term relationships didn't really sound like something Gaara would be happy in. He would either find someone to share his life with, or remain alone. Obviously he was convinced it would be the latter, and Naruto couldn't be sure it was for the right reasons.

"Hey… what kind of talk is that? You'll find love."

Gaara turned to look at him while stacking the papers he had just signed. "I know. I already have."

"Yeah, of course. But there are different types of it, right? You know which one I'm talking about and…" Naruto cursed to himself as he started to notice he was about to get his blushing fix now. Couldn't he visit Suna once without doing that? "…and if you think no one's ever gonna fall for you for real then that's just stupid. I mean, why the hell not? If you think it's still because you used to have Shukaku, then that's actually a bit insulting, you know. I still have Kyuubi." He huffed and crossed his arms at the end of his little reasoning, probably looking and sounding more insulted than he really was. No, it wasn't Gaara he was annoyed at –at the moment it was his own whiskered cheeks, traitorously growing pink without his permission.

"I would never think that about you." Allright –that? That was a hurt tone. Uncontrollable color changes in his facial skin immediately became a secondary issue to Naruto.

"I know, Gaara. Sorry," he quickly stammered with the softest, most reassuring voice he could make, while scratching the back of his head as if he had a list of things to say to make Gaara feel good about himself hidden somewhere in the tangles of his hair. "It's just… I can't think of anything anyone could find wrong about you. Sure you can be bit difficult to approach, but it's definitely worth the effort. You can be the kindest person I know when you want to, and you're honest and loyal –that's an important quality you know– and I know you'd do anything to protect the people that are important to you, and…" Well, he didn't need a list after all. He was doing pretty good by just saying what came to mind and meaning every word. "As for looks…"

At least he wasn't the only one blushing now. Gaara didn't do it quite as often, and it looked like he actually did have some control over it, but his paler skin made it glaringly obvious whenever it happened. By the time Naruto was done describing the Kazekage's pretty, kind of tuggable hair, mysterious, kind of sexy eyes and soft-looking lips that were terribly cute when he smiled, and explained why he didn't need to look like he trained taijutsu 24/7 to have a nice body and given a bit of detail on why he thought Gaara did indeed have that, he wasn't sure which one of them had a redder face. Before he could stop himself, he finished by noting how that body should be draped in baggy robes like that a lot less, and muttered something barely audible about his friend's ass as the reason why.

"For a guy, that is," he finally added. Neither of them spoke for a while.

"You really think so?" Gaara almost whispered.

"Y-yeah. See? No reason to think you'll die a virgin."

"Again."

"Now who's not being serious? I mean it."

And there it was, one of the sporadic occasions of hearing Gaara laugh. It was only a small chuckle, really, but Naruto didn't have much to compare to. He had heard about what a good old full-on cackle sounded like coming out of Gaara's vocal cords, but Sasuke wasn't an entirely unbiased source.
Yet the smile, however cute, was sad.

"You are right, there are different types of love," Gaara said with the smile that didn't reach his voice. "I wish to protect my village and deserve the respect I want to receive from it in return, I believe that is love." His eyes moved away from Naruto, and locked on the door across the room for the lack of a better target. "The friends I have made… I want to protect them in particular. I want them to understand and accept me, and not be kind to me just because I'm the Kazekage. I want to trust them enough to believe they do so. That is also love. What I feel for my siblings is a stronger version of that, I know they will stand by me no matter what and I will do the same for them. I couldn't bear to lose them. What they have done for me in the past shows they also wouldn't take losing me too well."

Naruto couldn't help but admire as one of his friend's features that said 'leader material' again presented itself. He had noticed it already when they had been children, albeit in a different context –whether it was about politics or his personal history, Gaara had a way of effortlessly making others shut up and listen when he had something to say.

"So as you can see, I have found love. However…"

"Hm?"

"There is more, the specific kind of love you were trying to convince me I could find."

Naruto just nodded. Yes, apparently they were going to be talking about love for the rest of the day. That would be okay, Gaara needed to, and it was quite flattering that he was the one to have this conversation with him.

"I believe I have found that also," he heard the Kazekage say.

Another silence. Now Gaara was waiting for him to respond, even if he wasn't looking at him, having moved his stare to his hands that rested on the desk. "You… you have? That's... You haven't told me about that one," Naruto finally made stumble out of his mouth. Good enough.

"I didn't know that's what it was until very recently, but I'm sure now. I care about this person so much more than I have ever cared about anyone. There is no one I trust more, no one as precious. If there is someone who I think truly understands and accepts me for who I am… perhaps even likes who I am… it's this person."

Naruto was struggling to breathe. He should be happy for his friend, if anyone deserved to be loved and cherished, it was Gaara. But part of his mind was trying to insist that he was… jealous of this person who was suddenly so precious to his friend, his mirror image –his Gaara, his precious person. They had always had a bond that was different and somehow stronger than the ones he had with others. They had an understanding, they connected. Those words were what he thought about Gaara.

He was trying to tell himself that he was being horrible, selfish and possessive and that he needed to stop that and support his friend. They had been alone, and they had found each other, but that was no reason to cling on forever and not let the other live his own life, was it? Hadn't he just now been nudging Gaara towards considering the rest of the human population romantically instead of just quietly forgiving it?

"He must care about me, too. So much of what I am now is thanks to him."

Naruto gasped as he heard 'this person' being specified as 'he'. That did explain a lot, for example why Gaara thought he wasn't going to have a wedding. Same sex couples were nothing unheard or even particularly disapproved of, but the tradition of marriage didn't extend to them as it was at root a contract of conceiving and raising children together –obviously the Kazekage's boyfriend wasn't going to give him an heir. Naruto shuddered at the word 'boyfriend' and immediately wondered why. He didn't find it disgusting that Gaara was… well, gay, did he? He could never find Gaara disgusting, even if he did now wish he would shut up about the guy who had without a warning surpassed The Great Naruto Uzumaki on his list of important people.

No such luck. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have bothered to attempt half of what I have accomplished. Perhaps not anything at all. I would still be miserable and angry… no, I would be dead," was the next line of description, and Naruto couldn't help but realize, at least, that he had saved Gaara's life. Not alone, but narrowing it down, either Gaara had been in need of saving more times than he had mentioned, or the object of his affection was among the people who had been there to fight to find him, take back his body from the Akatsuki, and bring him back to life.

Gaara squeezed his eyes shut. "And if not, as good as dead. So much of my life before him was based on incorrect conclusions. He didn't save only my life. But I wouldn't feel like this simply out of gratitude, even if I do want to make him proud of me." At this point Naruto noticed he indeed wasn't breathing. Surely Gaara couldn't mean… But he couldn't take all that credit, he hadn't had any choice but to do what he had done. He had had to protect Sakura and Sasuke… and Gaara. He had had to try to make him see that they shouldn't be enemies, how could he have not? Had he really had that much of an effect?

The blush was back on the usually pale and impassive face tenfold. "There are things I feel when he is near me or in my thoughts. I want to… do things I would never do with anyone else."

Naruto swallowed. When had he gotten up from the couch? His body was really not under his control today, was it? "What kind of things?" he finally said with a breathy tone he didn't expect to hear from himself in a situation where he wasn't physically exhausted. He took a step closer.

"To… touch him and be close to him." The voice trembled a little.

Another step.

"For him to touch me, and sometimes he does. I don't want him to stop."

He didn't stop. A few more steps and he would be behind the desk and beside him.

"When he hugs me, and holds my hand, I feel more at peace than I have ever dreamed I could be."

Yes, hugging Gaara felt really good. Naruto had never wanted to let go of him, even with that first handshake he had tried to linger as much as he could without having to come up with an excuse. Still, he wanted to be closer than that.

"Even so, I want him to be closer. To do more." Gaara was whispering again, and his hairless brows were knitted together in what could be worry or need. He looked like he had so much emotion inside him right now he was going to burst if it didn't come out in some comprehendible form. Naruto was finally beside him and turned the chair so they were facing each other.

"What is it you want him to do?" He was whispering as well. He thought of the things he could do that were more than a hug, and again summoned in his mind a random person from his list of friends to compare, making sure the person was male. The thought of hugging Sai did not sit well with him, though he could do that if he had to –that's what friends were for, after all: being the better choice for education on human behavior as compared to some boring guidebook. Still, somebody else was definitely going to have to pick up from there.

Sakura he would be glad to hug, but his mind refused to form an image of doing what was 'more'. He had stared at her in class when he had been eleven and chased her around like kids with crushes tend to do, but years had gone by, and they had gotten to know each other better than as 'that cute girl' and 'that stupid boy who won't leave me alone'. Didn't he only flirt with her anymore when he remembered he was 'supposed to'? Just because he didn't have any siblings by blood didn't mean Naruto didn't find kissing his brother (however accidental it might have been) or sister quite a bit wrong.

Gaara wasn't wrong.

His face kept getting closer, though locks of red hair were still pressed to the backrest of the chair. Naruto realized he was leaning forward himself. "Gaara. Tell me."

"I think..." He could feel the words on his face, punctuated by heavy breaths. "I would like it if…" A sharp inhale. A little closer. "…he kissed me."

His hands found their way into the red, kind of tuggable hair as he did.

The quiet sound Gaara made was something between a whine and a moan, and Naruto couldn't be sure whether it was out of surprise, discomfort or something else. He moved his lips over Gaara's thinner ones (which he noticed were indeed soft) experimentally, not getting much of a response. Was he doing something wrong? He wanted to do it right, to make Gaara enjoy his first kiss. Hadn't they both wanted it?

A terrible thought crossed his mind. Maybe he had misunderstood after all! What right did he have to suddenly assume that so much of Gaara's life revolved around him? 'Someone who understood' and 'had saved not only his life' could still easily mean someone else. Just because Naruto had realized the type of love he felt for Gaara was more than what he felt for a friend…

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" He pushed himself away from the chair and quickly stood up straight. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have…" The blue-green eyes looking up at him were full of confusion and hurt. He had really fucked up there, hadn't he? "I just… I thought you meant… that you were talking about…"

Gaara let go of the armrests he had been clutching and stood up, still looking at him. When he spoke, his voice sounded angry, like a reminder of their earliest encounters, only deeper now with age. "Were you listening to me at all?"

Naruto debated with himself about two fitting reactions. Should he get angry as well and defend himself, or try to calm his friend down and make sure he hadn't despite of all his assumptions of trust made Gaara not want to be friends with him anymore? The latter quickly won. The former was a reaction reserved for a different friend, and Gaara wasn't Sasuke. Maybe he really did think of him as fragile.

Before he could act out his intentions, however, the Kazekage of Suna grabbed him by the collar of his jacket as if to show it took more than that to crumble him, and pulled his face close to his own again.

"You need to stop being so hasty."

What, all of a sudden Gaara was smiling again? Actually, more like grinning. "I told you," the redhead continued, all traces of anger gone from his voice, replaced by something equally scary.

No, not scary. Thrilling.

Head tilted to the side and eyes slid close, covered behind black lids. The hand loosened its grip on his collar and he felt his own being guided back to the red hair. Right before slowly bringing their lips together a second time, Gaara finished his sentence.

"I don't want you to stop."