Okay guys this one isn't quite as long but I fit the way I wanted to :P

Hope you like it!

Chapter 8: Gaara's Decision

It was a little past sun rise when Sasuke started waking up to the voices he was hearing outside. Not wanting to get up just yet Sasuke listened to what the voices were saying and recognized one as his father's voice.

'They're innocent Gaara. They don't remember anything about Sasuke or my old life.' Was the first thing he heard his father say. Instantly giving him many questions; who was innocent, who doesn't remember, and why? He stayed curled up next to his brother in their sleeping bag, normally he wouldn't care what his father was talking about to someone else but they had said his name, so he listened carefully.

'Maybe Naruto, but I'd like to see for myself.' Sasuke heard the other person that sounded like a guy, reply to his Tou-chan by name. Did that mean they knew each other? His Tou-chan called the other guy by name too, it was Gaara… Sasuke was sure he'd heard that name before but he could remember where.

'They'll be up soon.' Sasuke heard his Tou-chan sigh. 'But Gaara, don't hurt them.' Sasuke felt afraid when he heard that, why would this guy want to hurt him or his brother? If they were who they'd been talking about before, what did they not remember, and what did his Tou-chan think they were 'innocent' of?

Sasuke was quiet awake now but made no move to go out or wake his brother, he just stayed as quiet as possible hoping they'd think he'd hadn't heard anything. Naruto and Gaara weren't talking after that as Naruto made a fire to cook some breakfast up. About ten minutes later Rai woke up slowly, snuggling sleepily into his brother's chest.

The little raven haired boy reactively wrapped his arm around his little brother. They were twins, but their Tou-chan had told them when they'd asked that Sasuke was a few seconds older, so he was the big brother. Sasuke rubbed his small face gently into the other boy's soft hair and held onto him. He was afraid to go outside… he knew Tou-chan would protect them but… what if something went wrong.

Sasuke grimaced, he was the older brother so would have to protect Rai. He didn't regret it; he just was now more scared that he would fail his only brother. That couldn't happen, he couldn't even think it, Rai was his twin. They didn't look alike and he always had to share his toys… but Rai was his best friend. At that moment Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts by Rai moving back as he woke up.

Rai sat up rubbing his eyes and looked around sleepily before he noticed something or someone missing. "Where's Tou-chan?" he mumbled quietly. Just before he heard a pot clang and figured it out.

"Out d'ere." Sasuke answered anyway, slurring his speech babyishly. Rai got up and Sasuke followed but got in front of his brother and grabbed his hand as they walked out of the tent. Rai thought it was weird, that Sasuke would want to go first enough to do that but didn't think much about it with his sleepy mind. The little blond rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stepped outside the tent and into the sun light.

As soon as he did though he was surprised to see a guy around his dad's age with bright red hair sitting next to his father. Rai stopped to stare at the red head and Sasuke stopped with him, both were watching him carefully. The little blond was confused while the raven was cautious and suspicious of the new comer. Gaara stared back at both of them looking impassive as he mentally went over everything about them, from the way they looked to their body language and how they acted with each other.

"Good morning Rai-chan, good morning Sasuke!" Naruto said cheerfully trying to lighten the mood. Both boys turn to their father and went to him while moving carefully around Gaara. Rai held onto Sasuke's blue t-shirt and Sasuke kept shifting nervously and sat slightly behind his Tou-chan when they got to him.

"Mornin' Tou-chan." Sasuke and Rai said quietly in perfect unity. Gaara looked at Naruto clearly wondering if he'd just heard right and the three year olds just spoke together at the same time. Naruto only smirked at him.

"Breakfast will be done soon guys, but first I'll introduce you to my friend. Sasuke, Rai-chan this is Gaara. Gaara, these are my sons Jiraiya-chan and Sasuke." Naruto said happily as he gestured toward each person and said Rai's whole first name before stirring their breakfast over the campfire. Gaara took notice that Naruto had once again left the 'chan' off Sasuke's name and made a mental note to ask about it later.

"Good Morning." Gaara said in his normal flat tone as he nodded to the boys. Sasuke was still wary of the red head now named Gaara but replied back knowing it'd be rude not to.

"Mornin'." The little raven muttered shyly. Rai who was still partly hidden behind Sasuke took that as his cue.

"Mornin'." The small blond said quickly but still quietly. Gaara watched every move and listened to three year olds tones to see if he could pick up anything, but as Naruto said they seemed perfectly innocent and a bit scared of him. Not that it was anything new to him, but Sasuke seemed suspicious of him too, which was weird.

With Kakashi Retrieval Team

"Alright everyone," Kakashi called as he stopped and landed on the ground from the branch he'd been on. "We will eat and rest here for a little while before heading back out." He ordered. Quite a few of the younger ninja wanted to protest but their hunger and tired muscles from traveling soon won out. After everyone had set up camp and gotten some food in them they sent two of them on watch on either side of the clearing while the others rested.

Sakura lay on her back with her eyes towards the stars but wasn't really seeing them; her mind was far off elsewhere. Questions went through her mind constantly. What had happened at the valley three years ago? Why hadn't Naruto come back if he was alive? Where was Sasuke? How did all this happen?

Ever since Sasuke had run away all she had wanted was her old team back together. Just Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and her, like they had been in the beginning. That's why after Sasuke left she had spent so much energy trying to bring him back, trying to save him… and now Naruto leaves. What the hell was he thinking! The blond-baka knew how much it hurt everyone when Sasuke left, and then he just, he just… Sakura sighed dejectedly. Hopefully she'd know soon… but if he didn't have a good answer, a REALLY good one, she was going to kill him.

A few feet away Kakashi was having similar thoughts, except at the moment he was blaming himself. He'd had one Genin team, a team of three students and only one of them was still with Konoha. Out of the other two, one had defected and wouldn't hesitate to kill one of his teammates the last time he saw the boy and the other had… left. Kakashi glanced towards his only student he could see at the moment. Well at least Naruto hasn't turned on his teammates… yet. He just kind of disappeared.

A few years ago he would have laughed at anyone that even implied Naruto would willingly hurt his comrades in anyway, but before he didn't really think Sasuke would either. The silver haired Jounin rubbed his head tiredly, he was getting too old for this… and he was never taking on another Genin team again. He didn't care what the Hokage did to him.

A Few Hours Later with Naruto, Gaara, and the Boys

Sasuke and Rai had slowly gotten more comfortable in Gaara's presence though Sasuke was still putting himself between his little brother and the red head. Gaara had continued observing the two boys and Naruto, the only thing he found though was either Sasuke was really good at acting like a child, or Naruto really had turning him into one.

The young Kazekage really doubted the first; even if he did think the Uchiha could act that well though he knew there was no way he could of rid his eyes of the hatred Gaara had seen in him at the kage meeting. Apparently like many impossible things only Naruto could pull that off. The other boy though surprised him, not that he showed it, but despite being almost a complete clone of Naruto like he was told the boy was completely different.

Sure he looked almost identical to the older blond but he acted… different. Of course Gaara hadn't known Naruto at that age but he highly doubted Naruto would hide behind anyone. The boy he'd met in the Chuunin exams had been brash, loud, and boastful. Not that he'd been much better at the time but the little blond Jiraiya was shy, clingy, and maybe not quiet but definitely not loud.

"Hey, um Gaara-san, whats that kanji on your head mean?" Rai asked bluntly. If Gaara was more expressive he would have given the kid a look that said 'don't ask strangers personal questions'. Maybe the kid was more like Naruto than he seemed after all. Sasuke watched Gaara carefully worried what he might do, and wishing his brother wouldn't actively try to provoke the scary guy… though he'd wanted to know too. Neither of them could read yet.

Unnoticed by Sasuke, Naruto was listing and watching too, while hoping that Gaara didn't take offence. He wondered about the tattoo when he'd first seen it too but after hearing that Gaara was like him, and being told about some of the thing the red haired boy went through he didn't think it was a happy memory so he didn't pry.

"It means love." Gaara answered the question without any details while managing to not look embarrassed about having 'love' literally tattooed to his forehead. Luckily for him Rai and Sasuke were too young to think about how 'cute' that would seem to girls. Rai continued to look right at Gaara with curious eyes and instantly had another question.

"Why's it on your forehead?" The little blond asked curiously as Naruto smirked. The blond teen didn't know if he should save his son, save his friend, or watch the show. When he saw Gaara trying to stare down a three year old who didn't even know what the red head Kazekage was trying to do… well, it was an easy choice.

Sasuke had relaxed somewhat listening and was now also looking curiously at Gaara for an explanation. Gaara looked over to Naruto for help only for his eye to twitch when he saw the teenage blond sitting eating ramen and fully facing him like he was watching some sort of show. Naruto caught him looking and grinned through the noodles hanging out of his mouth… Gaara twitched again.

"Well?" Sasuke pressed finally talking to the young Kazekage willingly instead only when spoken to. Gaara sighed knowing he wasn't going to be left in peace until he said something.

"I put it there so I'd never forget what it means." Gaara answered vaguely. He really didn't want to go into the whole story he might have told Naruto if they were alone but he wasn't about to tell two toddlers he'd just met about the first time his own father tried to have him assassinated.

"Oh." Rai said completely uninterested now. Sasuke made a confused face, he felt like something was missing. As soon as he thought it he just as easily forgot about it. It didn't seem that interesting anymore anyway. Both boys turned away giving Gaara a reprieve as they walked toward the tent and started taking it down without a word.

"Boys, you two stay right here. Me and Gaara are gonna go talk for a minute, just pack up your stuff." Naruto ordered with a smile. Neither boy said anything but both watched curiously and a little worried about being left alone, even for a moment. When Naruto and Gaara were out of site Sasuke nudged Rai getting the little blond's attention.

"Be careful of dat guy I heard Daddy tellin' him not to hurt us." Sasuke said easily slipping in and out of his babyish slur. Rai however understood him perfectly, they both always knew what the other was talking about no matter how much they slurred their words. The slightly younger boy frowned.

"Why he'd wanna do dat? We didn' do nothin'" Rai questioned now that it was just him and Sasuke he could talk anyway he wanted, cause Sasuke would understand. They both were already gathering their stuff up and packing the tent as they talked.

"I don'no. I jus heard them when I woke up." Sasuke answered leavening out his (T 's). They were both silent as they finished packing. Quickly they forgot all their worries with the familiar motions of packing and their childish attention spans.

Naruto and Gaara stopped about twenty yards from the boys and camp to talk.

"So? What are you gonna do?" Naruto asked trying to not worry about the answer. If Gaara decided to stop him, it would get ugly. He was even more concerned about what Gaara thought about Sasuke and Rai though. If the Kazekage deemed them a threat than he could try and have them killed and while Naruto didn't like the idea of fighting his friends… he would stop anyone who tried to harm his sons. Of course the other issue was Sasuke and whether or not Gaara would try and punish him for… another life, for lack of a better term.

"I will not harm you or your sons, Naruto." Gaara said easily defusing the tension Naruto had been feeling. Not just because of his statement either but because Gaara had said the boys were his sons. Gaara had given Naruto exactly what he needed; he had acknowledged that Rai and Sasuke were his sons. "You may leave if you wish, I won't stop you. You should know though that by now a message has most likely reached your home village about you." Gaara explained. He hadn't taken the time to send one himself but he was sure someone had.

"Then I should probably get out of here before they come…" Naruto frowned sadly. He missed his friends, his sensei and… everyone. Plus he was so proud of his sons he wanted to show them off, but he knew he couldn't, they wouldn't be safe. He would go back one day, when the boys were older and could take care of themselves better. Sensing his friends nostalgic thoughts, which wasn't hard, Gaara tried think of how to help.

"You don't have to go you know. I could protect them." Gaara intoned knowing just how hard that could be if Konoha knew of what blood ran through the still very young twins. Naruto's eyes snapped to him at the gesture. The blond smiled gratefully, but it didn't touch his eyes which told Gaara his friend knew just how hard that could be and wasn't going to let him do it.

"Thank you. But I should go." Naruto said but made no move to leave just yet.

"They are… concerned about you Naruto. I have little doubt that your friends are coming to find you even as we speak. Do you not want me to tell them?" Gaara asked resigned to letting Naruto go without being able to help, though he was a bit relieved he wouldn't be risking war with Konoha but still concerned about his first friend and that friend's family.

Naruto didn't speak for awhile; he never meant to hurt anyone he had just wanted everyone to be safe and alive, and to keep his promise to Sasuke. If his friends were still like they were before they would be hard to lose especially with two growing toddler on his back… His blond spikes covered his eyes as storm clouds gathered above them, it would rain soon. Finally Naruto made a decision.

"Gaara would you do me a favor?" Naruto asked a small fox like grin spreading on his face. Gaara's eye quirked but nodded hesitantly. Whatever it was he doubted Naruto would put him or his village at risk; after all he had just turned down sanctuary to not let him put the Sand village at risk.

AND CUT! "I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time." Charles M. Schulz

Yes I just HAD to stop it there (insert evil laughter) :]

Anyway to my annoyimous reviewers:

narutofan: heh yea really, but don't worry Naruto will pull through again, he always does ;)

Precious: thanks so much! It always makes me feel good (& want to write more ;P ) to know ppl like my stories.

suzanne: thanks for the input! I'm always glad to know what ppl think (if its nice) XD

a procrastinating illustrator A.K.A BTL : I'm glad you like it! :D but no I'm not getting a beta XP Yes I know there are mistakes but really everybody makes them (and I've seen much worse) Getting a beta though would make me have to wait to post AND show them my work making it easy to steal... while I'm not too concerned about that (FANfic) I still rather do it myself. And yes sometime I do know the words are different, just didn't catch it

NOW thank you all for your reviews, no I mean the next one... down THERE, the button that says REVIEW ...YEAH thats it just a lil more!