Chapter Three: The Best or Worst Recon Mission Ever
Little by little, their lips moved together, bolder every second. Nipping and massaging, pressing and brushing –exploring and discovering what felt good and doing more of what did. It was clumsy and uncoordinated, but was slowly growing synchronized.
No permissions to move further were asked, as both knew those would be willingly given.
Tongues touched half-accidentally, as their mouths opened at the same time for a millisecond's gasp for air and didn't part after all. Startled, but curious, they touched again, and followed the lips' example in beginning to taste and acquaint each other.
Naruto's hands had moved from sliding fingers through his hair to hugging him close by wrapping arms around his neck, and at the moment they were on his shoulder blades, trying to feel his back muscles move beneath his clothes. His own were on the blond's waist, sliding up his sides under the jacket every now and then. They both wanted desperately to touch, but couldn't seem to decide where. Their hands just wouldn't stay still.
The only sound Gaara could hear was the two of them. The fabric of their clothes rustling as it was pulled around violently like the obstacle it was. The wet smacks of their mouths, and every now and then a sudden clack of teeth when they fell out of pace. The labored breathing coming through their noses to the other's cheek, as well as the short gasps to keep enough oxygen coming so that they wouldn't have to stop because of passing out.
Every time his hearing registered Naruto's voice make a muffled hungry grunt or a moan, his hands moved a little faster and squeezed a little tighter, and if possible, his mouth suckled on the one making those noises a little harder. Between all these sounds, he could spot his own voice betraying his self-control and letting go of similar noises of pleasure.
All of a sudden Naruto's hips bumped into his, making him cry out into his love's mouth. It had been only a small motion, but his body growing over-sensitive, and especially so in certain places, had made him feel it much more vividly. Vaguely, he realized he had been pushing into Naruto hard enough to make him move backwards and that they had hit the desk.
He didn't stop pushing, and Naruto didn't stop moving.
When the blond's back hit the surface of the desk, he pulled himself up a little to adjust his uncomfortable position, at the same time giving Naruto time to push away a scroll that had been caught under his shoulder. They didn't stay apart long, but when Gaara dove down again his lips went for the tanned neck instead of mouth. The collar of the jacket was in the way, and his hands quickly maneuvered themselves from around the small of Naruto's back to unzip the garment and toss it open, then settling themselves on the nearly exposed chest, rubbing over the mesh top.
Underneath him, his most precious person was panting, nearly whimpering, and muttering words that included spontaneously thought up combinations of cursewords, and his name. He would never have thought that finding the word that meant him in such company could feel so exciting –his name practically was a curse all on its own.
Naruto's hands were fisting his hair again, and his body was trying to arch up to be closer. No, one hand was in his hair. The other one was tugging on the back of his thigh to put an orange-clad leg between the two of his, having trouble in doing so because of the robe.
This was definitely an acceptable definition for 'more'.
Just when Gaara was beginning to let himself forget about and completely block out his surroundings, he dragged his head back from the clouds and his mind from the gutter to tell himself that they were in his office, in the middle of the day when he was expected to be found in his office, and that he was just about to get found in his office very nearly having sex on his desk as there were footsteps nearing the door that had absolutely no reason to be locked. He only had a few seconds to sit back down in his chair and try to straighten his robes, quickly whispering to Naruto to get up and watching as his love panickedly understood the situation and barely managed to sit up and rezip his jacket, when there was a knock on the door.
He could have stalled telling them to enter, but he should have no reason to, so he didn't. A layer of sand on his face to help him hide the extra blood gathered there, he nodded a greeting to the tall man addressing him by his title.
Naruto stared at Gaara in a half-daze, trying to even out his breathing, feeling a little jealous that his love had the unfair advantage of hiding his real skin under a sand armor efficient enough to allow you to sport an ear-to-ear maniacal grin if you so wished while appearing completely indifferent. He was glad they both at least had a hairstyle describable as 'perpetual bedhead', so he didn't have to worry about that part of his appearance (It took him a few seconds to realize his forehead protector had ended up on the floor at some point, though, but he wasn't going to draw any attention to himself by picking it up now). Baki and Gaara exchanged words Naruto's mind was in no condition to comprehend, and nothing in that deep voice leaving the lips he could still feel on his pulse point contradicted with the calm facial expression. Oh yes, Gaara could really put on a mask when he had to.
Naruto, however, was a horrible actor, and Baki was an observant critic. "Is everything allright?" he heard the older man ask as their eyes met.
Before his partner in crime could screw up and start stuttering the same answer in a far less believable manner, Gaara came to the rescue and said it for him. "Yes, there is nothing to worry about."
"Nothing out of the ordinary?"
Gaara considered this. His former teacher was the closest he had ever had to a father figure (Yashamaru had been more of a mother figure, really), and one of the few people who had believed in him and supported him already when he could offer no proof that the belief wasn't ungrounded. He could trust him with this secret, but not quite yet. They needed to get their heads straight about what exactly the secret was, first. "Nothing we can't handle," was his diplomatic response.
At that, the jounin nodded and left them alone. When the door finally closed, Naruto let go of a sigh of relief and turned to look down at Gaara from the desk he was still sitting on. The sand armor was gone, and the pale but flushed face was adorned with a loving smile instead. Gaara held out his hand a second time that day, and Naruto immediately grabbed it in his with a squeeze. They kept their gazes locked together, grinning like idiots.
"Close," was all Naruto could say at first.
"We should continue that later. The office is not the best place for privacy," his redhead stated.
"Heh, yeah. But I sure wouldn't mind having you all to myself right now."
"You have me," Gaara said, squeezing Naruto's hand in turn. "Have had for a long time now."
If possible, the whiskered cheeks stretched with an even wider smile. "How long?" he asked after a moment of comfortable silence.
"Soon after we fought, I suppose. Definitely after seeing you again before you set out for your journey," Gaara thought aloud, reliving in his mind the awkward but comforting conversations they had had in Naruto's hospital room and his apartment in that short period of peace shadowed by nearing big decisions and all too recent losses. Just being together had given them both strength to face the changes in their lives. "You?"
Naruto finally averted his eyes from Gaara's to think about it. He looked at their linked hands instead. "Sometime during that journey," he settled. "I was so clueless about it, though, but I missed you. Then I got back and heard about how you'd been doing… well, at that moment, I really was proud of you. I still am, you beat me at my own dream and I can't even be jealous of you." His smile died down a little as he got to the next point. "When I found out you were in trouble, I couldn't have been more grateful to the hag for ordering me on the mission to help you. I couldn't wait to get to beat the living shit out of the bastards who'd hurt you… and then…"
For a while, Gaara was certain Naruto was going to start crying again, like he had been told he had cried over his dead body. When the blue eyes that had been the first thing he had seen on that day met his again, however, they didn't have tears in them, and he felt relieved. He never wanted his love to have to cry for his sake again.
"I realized," the blond continued, "that I'd never been as alone as during the hours when the world didn't have you in it." He brushed the sadness aside like only Naruto Uzumaki could, and laughed. "How did it take me this long to get what it meant?"
Gaara shrugged. "You have a life outside of me, I don't blame you. I took my time, too." Another squeeze of his hand. "I meant what I said earlier –had you not interfered, the world wouldn't have me. Even if I wasn't dead, it wouldn't be the me that is now receiving all the love you encouraged me to look for once again. I had given up."
Embarrassed, Naruto looked away again, smiling the shy little smile he made a lot more often in Gaara's presence than anybody else's. "I didn't change you. You did that all by yourself."
"You made me want to, and that is more than anybody else can say. Right now, I think I would be aimlessly wandering the desert or sitting on a rooftop trying to think up excuses to kill something. Feeling hatred and fear directed at me everywhere I went and hating the world right back. Instead, I'm here in this office…"
"Doing paperwork," Naruto interrupted him with a mischievous grin, narrowing his eyes to slits.
"That's not all there is to this, you know," Gaara scowled, but couldn't bring himself to be angry for real.
"How about making out with the hottest man in all Five Great Shinobi Nations?"
"Yes…" the redhead contemplated and leaned forward. "That does sound more desirable."
Naruto met him halfway. The kiss was slow and gentle, but brief enough that they wouldn't get walked in on. Nonetheless they didn't lean back immediately after, and the leisure moment of smiling at each other with foreheads pressed together was concluded with one more quick peck.
Naruto glanced at the clock and shook his head. "If that's all I get to do to you, these are going to be the longest five hours of my life," he sighed, recalling from his past visits the earliest time of the day the Kazekage would allow himself to drop his most urgent duties and retire to his private life.
"Speaking of which," Gaara smirked and raised a brow in challenge. "What exactly are you planning on doing to me?"
"Oh…" Naruto felt the blush seep back to his face. "You know…"
"No, that's exactly why I'm asking. I'm not sure whether either of us knows very well. You have never slept with anyone before, correct?"
"Well, yeah. Been subjected to plenty of sex-ed just by hanging out with Ero-Sennin, though." Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "But you've got a point; I'm not sure how much of that info's any good since neither of us is a girl…" His free hand found itself scratching the back of his head again. "Damn, I wish I'd known sooner that my first time'd be with a guy, I could have asked him. I bet he at least knew some stuff… How about you?"
Gaara tilted his head to the side, looking a little apologetic. "Just the basics of what goes where, and that certain adjustments need to be made in a case such as ours. As I haven't had much interest in the subject before, I'm afraid most of my knowledge comes from books on human anatomy. Nothing too detailed or practical."
"I think we need help."
"To say the least. That is why I've decided to give you something to do for those five hours."
Naruto gave his love a suggestive leer. "Are you ordering me to go information-gathering, Kazekage-sama?"
Gaara nodded, face serious. "This is a little sudden, and we don't necessarily have to go that far yet. But should we both want to, I refuse to get into bed with you unclothed only to glance around confusedly and ask 'now what'."
Shivering pleasantly at the mental images the word combination 'get into bed with you unclothed' being said with Gaara's even voice conjured, Naruto hopped off the desk to bow in mock subordinance and kiss the hand he was still holding. "Shall be done," he purred, and pulled Gaara to his feet.
For a while they just held each other tight, Gaara's cheek pressed against Naruto's shoulder because of their slight height difference (they had both grown, but apparently it was always going to be that way). When the kiss that followed started to get a little too addictive, Gaara pulled away to remind Naruto that he was supposed to be leaving, and looked at him with eyes that promised he would soon get more than enough of what he was now denied.
"I will see you tonight," was all he said aloud.