NARUTO AND GAARA, MAKE EACH OTHER HAPPY

by kathlaida-princess

Summary: This is my version of how Naruto and Gaara got together (not Trains, Trains was just a request), and how they made their connection work. After Madara is defeated, Sasuke returns and Leaf is rebuilt, Naruto finally becomes Hokage. Peace is here, but that only gives other quests room to grow, ones of self-development. The story of the entire group as this quest unfolds, centered on Gaara and Naruto, but with everyone's participation. From their very first kiss till they die, going through happy events, rough times, embarrassing experiences, marriages, birthdays, funerals and birth of children, a long distance relationship, everything. Swimming Lessons is an outtake of this story. It will be very, very long, but hopefully different from anything you have ever read. My heart will be poured into every chapter, as well as all of my love for this pairing (OTP).

Main purposes of the fic: provide a complete mixture of life experiences, make this not only GaaNaru but also GaaNaru + their environment. Bring humor, sadness, fluff, sensuality through this amazing couple. Use efficiently and the most IC possible all the characters. Make you fall in love with this pairing all over again. Make Gaara and Naruto Happy ^^

GaaNaru (this is the main pairing)

Minor pairings: SasuSai, KankuSaku, LeeNaru(ko), NejiTen, ChouIno, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ShinoMatsu, past JiraTsu, SuiKarin, past ItaKisa, past Baki x Fourth Kazekage, BakiGaiKaka, ShizuAnko, Nir x Aiko (both OCs), Konohamaru x Pora (OC)

Warnings: Shounen-ai and eventual Yaoi (M rated for a reason, there will be several lemons…), Shoujo-Ai, Het, some crack, sometimes a little dose of angst, poor humor, unbearable amounts of fluff, sap, long story-line, cheese, maybe some OOC-ness (but I will do my best to avoid this, if it happens, it's not on purpose…), a bit of AU because some characters don't die here (like Kisame -.-), lots of imagination, Spoilers up to chapter 457 of the manga.

Disclaimer: Most of the characters and locations belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The rest are at my own risk and liberty. Let's see how this all mixes together.

Author's Notes: Hello, dear readers! I'm sorry to have taken so long to update this, but life has been crazy like that. I want to give a huge thanks to Red Riding Freak, domi and NaruGaaFan for having reviewed the first chapter! May this second one be of your liking too! Here I'll be introducing my three OCs and an overview of the Sand Village's evolution, as Gaara returns home and shows how much he and his village have changed.

On with the story!

PARABOLA I – BEGINNINGS

CHAPTER I2

THE ONE IN WHICH GAARA REFLECTS

One fact was certain, the blind driving force that brought the Kazekage's group all the way to the Leaf Village was not half the same that led them back home to the Sand. With this said, three days of journey with added lazy pauses were more than enough to give the troupe the proper environment to (thankfully) melt their stress away, as well as their tiredness, while their leader reflected on the most recent happenings, on his most recent (and not so prudent) actions.

The path between the two ally villages was always the same, and it was always different. The forest supposedly hiding the Leaf Village rustled as it followed them through the first day of the journey, then, tired, the green giants would gradually let them go, leaving the moist emerald grass to succeed them. The River Country, even if beautiful in its landscapes, would always feel to Gaara like a faded yet still so scary nightmare, with the deathly silence of its prairies and the prophetic murmurs of its streams, but after another day of travelling, the vegetation would crumble to warm, familiar sand and loud, yodeling wind, and the Kazekage would feel almost at home.

The path was always the same, but it always wasn't.

The difference was on which emotional film the redhead chose to perceive it with. Curiously, the Fire Country's trees would always persuade him to stay longer, the wind across the leaves sounding like a certain hyperactive blond in its pleading voice, and he would always almost comply, until he remembered the people who now truly expected him and waited for him with worry, prayed for his safe return as they saw him as their true and capable leader, and he would press forward, for a moment missing home.

The forest spoke of nostalgia, for what was left behind at the beginning and at the end of the journey.

On the contrary, the River Country's whispers were ever-changing. Many times they spoke of hurry, when Gaara and his siblings' help was needed and they could never be too early, and in those times the water was a reflection of the tears blue eyes cried for a lost-but-now-returned friend, or the eternal memory of the same blue eyes crying for a finally-found-but-momentarily-lost twin-soul. That time, however, all of it had changed. For the first time since ever, the streams were laughing instead of weeping, and the Kazekage's mind was left to wonder if this change was connected to the bubbling yet contained excitement inside him or not.

The water spoke of adaptation, of cycles, of losses and fights, victories and new beginnings.

And as he ushered his companions to as many hours of rest as they wished (guilt affects him, at last), Gaara reflected these words of the streams, this new cycle, this restart, reflecting on them too.

"Don't forget to rest yourself too," was Temari's advice as she slipped inside her tent, the fire in the twilight making her hair look like real, moving pony-tails. Desert people were quite fast in building or mounting their shelters.

"Yeah," Kankurou aided, also motioning to go to sleep, "we all know you were just dying to see Blondie, but no need to overdo it now."

The redhead playfully threw a lump of dirt at his teasing brother, by moving nothing more than his lips to a small smirk, but he didn't find any words to reply: his mind was busy somewhere else and the older brunette was now laughing inside his plastic protective bubble.

Gaara's thin hands expertly poked the living fire with a stick and his thoughts ventured once more, to the impish grin of the yellow flames.

Change could be evident now, even in the world growing around him, Naruto becoming Hokage being its greatest evidence in years, but the redhead's life had been unrolling with both blatant and subtle twists for quite some time, and only through reflection could he pinpoint how much exactly his ways had been moved.

An obvious change was his fight to separate his wishes from Shukaku's, when the demon's mind still roamed in his, to tell ones from the others, as was then his will to protect the people still precious to him, as well as the ones that would be, in time. Obvious too was his struggle to become the pillar of his village when no one would support him, and then, after this bittersweet victory (he had become Kazekage, yes, but who was willing to believe his abilities but the few who knew he was truly changed?), his death and spiritual rebirth, the new day in his life that was his true victory, the evident need his people had for him and his proof that all change had been rewarded.

Even if Naruto was sometimes too humble not to admit or to consider it so, he was the one to marvelously blame for all those changes (in the same way Gaara could never believe his friend when he said it was the redhead who had done all that on his own – but the only true, and quite obvious, guilty one would only be revealed in years to come, also under careful reflection), he was the one constant in all of them, and it seemed that through these last five years, his effect on Gaara was the only thing not to change a bit…

The redhead regarded the struggle to get Sasuke back, and wondered if he really had helped as much as Naruto assured him he did two nights before. Surely he wanted and fought to bring the Uchiha heir back, in the same way the blonde had brought him back to the world of the rational (which was another change in his ways), but there had been so many other people to help that his efforts must have been quite insignificant…

Still another change he could never deny was his growing attachment to Naruto, steady, silent and seemingly innocent, but ever-present. The blonde wanting to spend more time with him throughout Leaf's reconstruction only fed it further than the immense mutual admiration they already had for each other (along with the true friendship and the tenderness, the mutual desire to always remain in each other's lives, born from the almost-loss of Gaara), and becoming the new Hokage's best friend had made him feel ridiculously happy, ridiculously happier than him becoming Kazekage and freeing himself from Shukaku's grasp, and the redhead could now tell that his feelings for the blonde were very simple, but at the same time so very complex.

Gaara loved him, that was certain. Who could make him smile more than the blonde's actions, around who else did he feel his heart heal piece by piece, who other person in the entire Ninja World could bring all his emotions to life in such a spectacular way as Uzumaki Naruto? Yes, this is quite a rhetorical question. Becoming the leaders of their own villages had been a shared dream born in the blonde's heart, that the redhead had followed and protected in every way he could, the special mission that triggered Naruto's nomination for the title was enough proof of that. By now, everyone was quite aware of Gaara's affection for his friend, including himself and excluding his object of affection, but though their love could be many things, it was not romantic.

Yashamaru's definition for the complicated emotion hadn't been enough for young Gaara to understand it, and it wasn't enough for adult Gaara either, though neither was he curious to find a new one. The latest part of his life had been a quest to find that healing, spiritual love, the one that would give him something to fight, live and die for, and he had found it, in his siblings, in his mentor, in his people, in Naruto, with Naruto.

The Kazekage was perfectly aware of the other kind of affection, the carnal passion that happened between people with seeming ease and brought great pleasure, but he didn't consider it true love, connecting it to pain and hurting rather than tenderness and caring for someone, considered it too trivial to be treasured. But he did enjoy it whenever Naruto held his hand or pressed his lips against the scar on his thankfully warm forehead, whenever Naruto held him in his arms as they met or ran his fingers all over him, chasing all his ticklish spots when Gaara seemed less quirky, because to the redhead his feelings for the blonde were platonic in both thought and touch, and he trusted his friend not to hurt him like the consuming passion of anything sexual did.

They had been both starved of affection, after all. Rather than something fleeting and sudden and brute, they needed something sure, eternal and true. They had both been alone for so long, and only they could know how to slowly kill each other's loneliness. In the end, the redhead would very much prefer ten minutes of being in a kind Naruto embrace than ten minutes of mindless Naruto humping. And there was no question there: the sexual factor didn't even exist for Gaara, in that point he was like a child, an innocent child.

However, there were times when Gaara didn't know what else he wanted to do to Naruto, and what more he wanted Naruto to do to him. There were times when he wished their (even if innocent) contact wouldn't stop, and something very precious would slip away from him every time the blonde stepped away. And the redhead could never admit these emotions, this bold courage and overwhelming warmth he felt around Naruto, the love he was sure to feel but was self-forbidden to speak of in other than tender gestures. Wouldn't that ruin everything, cause betrayal and the same old suffering all over again? Gaara was very sure of that. And he was lucky to have one best friend, he wouldn't forsake him, of any people – Uzumaki Naruto - for anything else. Relationships were definitively not for him.

Still, the line between the platonic and carnal was so thin anyway, and there were times the Kazekage believed he could make a seemingly lustful gesture become just tender with Naruto.

Like the formal greeting between two leaders in the Sand Village.

Gaara even felt his cheeks burn with a blush while he remembered it, as he still enticed the live fire with the stick. He had seen many people before him do it. Baki did it during the time the village had no leader. His own father would say farewell to his allies in the same way. The foreign leaders would more often than not be embarrassed by the gesture, but it was settled as a tradition and it was done anyway. But the Fifth Kazekage had only done it with the Seventh Hokage, and he mockingly wondered if he'd do the same to any other leader (at least, with the same feeling, to the Raikage or the Tsuchikage) or would he dare to repeat the feat the next time Naruto and him bid their goodbyes, especially under his siblings' mischievous guard. If only he knew…

And that led him to his last reflection: both he and the blonde were finally the loved leaders of their own villages.

The huge smile from before returned to Gaara's lips, very uncommon but fitting him so well. This not only meant that the redhead would see his friend much more often and the Kage meetings would be much more interesting, but it also meant that many other changes would have the room to happen. Doing his job, the Kazekage had closely studied the many laws that governed the Ninja World and his own Country and village, and with great disdain he understood that most of them were still quite antiquated and unfit, created in a climate of prejudice and selfishness against minor groups of shinobi like blood limit users, people who could not channel their own chakra and even Jinchuuriki like he was before. But though Gaara had attempted to bring such subjects up during the last meetings he attended to, both his village's council and the other Kages (except, perhaps, Lady Tsunade and, even sometimes, the beautiful Fifth Mizukage) were deaf to his words, most of the times reminding him of his tender age and inexperience, his inability to understand how some things had to be done if their own identity were to be preserved, and Gaara now mingled with the idea that, with Naruto by his side, just as stubborn and young as he was and, though less eloquent, much more persuasive, perhaps from now on his – their - opinions would be heard…

And this, Gaara thought, was all that mattered, and what he should look forward to the most.

He interrupted his reflections as he suddenly noticed the fire growing too strong and, after nervously making sure it wouldn't revolt itself and attack their camping, the redhead was relieved, and tired. He turned to his own sleeping bag and closed himself on it, letting slumber take his toll on him at last, without wandering thoughts ever truly leaving him.

On their last day of travelling, the barren, arid plains of sand embraced the Kazekage's party, a follow-up to the prayers of the Sand Village's inhabitants and giving the shinobi their proper, homely welcome. The new day put everyone in a bright mood, and the fact that there were no traces of a sandstorm either visible by them or perceived by their Kazekage only served to light it brighter.

The ever-moving grains of sand spoke of joyful returns, happily resting voyagers and the ending of nostalgia.

But even though they moved at their full speed, it still took the group the entire day to get home, and many times did the proud sandstone walls surrounding the village, contrasting against the pale sky and already visible after half a day of journey, serve only to tantalize their wish to already be there, like now. It was on these times that Gaara felt homesick the most, and it would be on these times, on a not so distant future, that a certain blonde would once again suffer with the distance, the Sand Village seeming so close but being still so far…

This longing for the village and the smiles on the shinobi as they approached was yet another change, just like that path feeling more and more like returning home with each passing time, but it was just a natural happening that the Sand Village would become more homey and alluring with the years gone by, or isn't the state of a village the reflection of its leader? And, putting aside Gaara's connection to Naruto and the many aspects he shared with him or were blinded by him, the redhead had become an amazingly remarkable Kazekage.

He was not a clone of the current Hokage at all, and the many different points of their personalities were, many times, what brought richness to their friendship.

Ever since his fight for the title begun, ever since he was able to hold the strings of his own strength of mind, Gaara's true colors and true strategies shone shamelessly, as did his real concern for the people in the village, even for the ones who had only acted to bring him down every time. His words were direct, brutally honest and said in a tone that most of the times forbade any discussion, but in every decision of his was a sensibility for his people's needs and emotions that no one would imagine the redhead could have (but was only logical, when his own needs and emotions had been neglected for so long), but it was unmistakably there. When he finally became Kazekage, the council firstly frowned upon his suggestions, because they seemed so rash and different from anything any other leader and suggested, focusing on nurturing needs they considered "weak" (like the connection between their own shinobi and the allies' or making the people happier inside and with their own village) rather than strengthening their decaying shinobi forces or clearing up the mess left from all the past betrayals.

Gaara was even accused of mutiny, of wanting to destroy the village that had shunned him as a very perverse kind of revenge, but he wouldn't be affected anymore by their false criticism, he would take no venom from the prejudiced, and that was yet another of his strong points as a leader. He would remain loyal to his decisions no matter what, decisions that were always born from his heart and all his teachings and were always object of reflection and discussion with his trusted people (his siblings, Baki and his personal assistant), and that trait of his, allied to the fact that his moods never swung at all, quite often served to bring some comfort to Naruto's quite sudden depressions when they met, his help to his savior.

Anyway, eventually even the skeptic older members of the Sand Village's council saw the many good results of Gaara's innovational ways and accepted them even if still somewhat bitterly, but they could not deny the Fifth Kazekage's capacity of ruling over them brilliantly, and neither could they deny the strength of will the young man had whenever protecting his village was needed, ruthless only to his enemies, or wasn't he once killed for that same reason? The people prospered, and because of that it was easier for the village to prosper as well, in a way none of the Kazekages before the redhead had managed to accomplish.

Gaara earned the respect of his people no longer through fear or displays of force, the Sand Village's inhabitants would listen to their leader's words (Gaara's completely, though underlines of a certain remaining Jinchuuriki always mingled there…) with awe and would follow his orders with reverence, as the redhead set his next goal, wondered in which more ways could he make his subordinates happy. He heard and accepted suggestions and because of that no aspects of the village were forgotten, because of that they were slowly but surely being developed.

Baki, ever-present in the Council meetings, was proud of the youngest of the Fourth Kazekage's son, and so was everyone who had known him as a cold-blooded killer and now saw him as a (deservingly) respected young leader, strong even without the sand demon. They would follow him without a question, their well-earned trust for him quite sufficient to make them do so. His siblings were his most problematic subordinates though, for they often couldn't avoid giggling to themselves as Gaara sent them on a new mission or reprehended them for some sort of wrong behavior, and the redhead annoyingly knew no way to make them listen to him other than brutal force, and he wouldn't resort to that again, now would he? In any way, he knew they meant him no harm.

Even Naruto was quite often amazed by the strength of his best friend's character and the wisdom which had definitively not come from him in his motivational speeches, the blonde would find great pleasure in being the silent one for once and, although Gaara could never say "no" to him, sometimes he did not say a complete "yes" either. These and other many different (yet still strangely similar, for did not Naruto make people listen to him, even if through other also noble means?) traits between them were a sure fuel to their conversations, one that made them sure that their strength would always be at their best when they were together, the strengths of one covering the weaknesses of the other, two sides of the same coin.

But, digressing no more, the village indeed grew as a reflection of its leader and, as the group finally approached its entrance, that growth became evident to everyone.

Gaara bowed smilingly to the guards, as they reveled in the group's return. One of the group's members hurriedly joined them and one of the guards received her in his arms, glad that the journey had been uneventful, in a good way.

"Good to have you safely back, Lord Kazekage," another one cried out.

"It is good to be back," was his leader's reply.

The rest of the group followed through the narrow entrance, looking tiny compared with the immense natural walls siding them, and walked down the stairs leading to the village itself.

The sun was setting at the time, so the orange-painted village was readying itself for the night, but Gaara thought it no less beautiful as he walked.

More members of the group were leaving it (the redhead even saw Matsuri leaving with a small butterfly trapped inside her hands – but there were no such bugs in his desert, were there?), silently permitted to go finally home, and most of the villagers were already dismounting their shopping stands and entertainment pads, passing by the Kazekage while offering happy greetings for his return. Gaara replied to each one with sincere thankfulness, associating the name of each person with each polite answer. The clarity of the sun was rushing away, soon to be replaced by the moon and the stars, and new stands, ones for dancing, singing and generally welcoming the night were beginning to take the others' places.

When Gaara and his siblings, now the only remainders of the original group, passed by a stand of belly-dancers and sitar players, Kankurou was quick to offer a weak apology and to run to it, pleasantly smiling at one of the beautiful girls there. The redhead already knew her well, just like he knew of his brother's efforts to woo her and his promise that he'd "have her" soon, but it was Temari the one to giggle, saying, "I guess we won't be seeing him any time early tonight…" while Gaara mentally shook his head, pressing forward.

In a way, Kankurou's newest behavior was his entire fault. Had he not heeded the late toad sage's pleas and had he not advertised the "wonders of the 'Make Out' series" inside his village, his brother would have never heard of it and neither would he find a common interest in it with people like Kakashi, Kiba or even Chouji, creating a club dedicated to "making the daring adventures of the brave main character a reality" by recreating all of the scenes of the three books with random and willing girls. Out of many things, this club (which Gaara mockingly called the "Eternal Bachelor's Guild") had served to add one more point in which Kankurou and Kiba could be rivals, competing to finish their list of "romantic adventures" first, though Kakashi, the oldest fan of the series, was the winner so far and Chouji never did care much about it. Lately, however, Kankurou did complain that his rival was slacking off considerably.

Anyway, this meant the puppeteer was now very well known for his charms with the female population (for Jiraiya had thoroughly insisted that women were precious and supposed to be treated flawlessly always – in both one-night stands and in deep relationships) and, worst of all, no place in the Kazekage Mansion was safe from his depravation, so Gaara needed to be very careful, especially with his highly kinky Kazekage desk…

But carrying on, Temari was soon to leave her youngest brother as well, herself heading for the Training Center. Sunset meant the current Genins' missions had just finished and she wanted to motivate them for the upcoming Chuunin level exams, in which she and Shikamaru were still involved. Gaara also suspected his sister and the lazy ninja were involved with each other, but they were always extremely discreet when they met and the redhead wondered if Shikamaru still needed to gather the peace of mind to woo the strong-minded blonde woman.

Now alone, the Kazekage made the rest of the way home with no further interruptions, wanting to advance some of the paperwork he had to neglect these past six days and tell Naruto that he had arrived safely at the Sand. It was then finally night and Gaara was expecting no one at the mansion as he stepped inside through the cooling sandstone, going past the room of the Kazekage's statues and going through the corridor with the meeting rooms. But it seemed he was mistaken. Playfully poking a rubber across his own desk, the Kazekage's personal assistant nervously startled when he saw his superior arrive, abruptly stopping his innocent actions as if they had not been innocent at all and getting up from his chair with a leap.

"L-lord Kazekage!" he stuttered, straightening up.

Gaara couldn't avoid a wide smile at the entertaining sight.

"Good evening, Nir. May I ask why you are still here at these ungodly hours?"

He could have asked him not to call him lord but just Gaara, he could have asked him to sit down and be calm, but this was Nir. He had tried it before, many times, and it just didn't work.

"Well, someone has to bring you the papers, sir," the young man also smiled as he spoke. "And Aiko said she'd walk me home today. Besides, Lord Hokage has been calling in all day."

The redhead had to chuckle at Naruto being called "lord", but other than that he just opened the door to his office, noticing the pile of papers neatly sitting on top of the mess he had left before rushing to his friend's nomination ceremony.

"Thank you, Nir. And perhaps I should call Lord Hokage, then."

"Oh, no need to, sir. He said he'd try himself later again. Trying to get used to the machine, it seems…"

"Hmm," Gaara muttered and nodded, as he took off his gourd, hat and the scarf around his neck and added them to the general confusion of the small room, then sitting down by his desk.

Nir noted that he didn't try to tidy up his things this time, and the Kazekage thanked him with a smile, adding that his disorganization shouldn't be imposed on anyone. Then his assistant asked if Gaara had fun during his outing and the redhead jovially described his day at the Leaf Village, sparing no details at this person that had become his trusted friend, as they waited for Aiko and Naruto's call respectively.

Nir was Baki's only nephew, the only son of his late sister. Not much older than Gaara himself, the traits of his uncle were very visible in his face, the plump lips and the long nose, the dark eyes and the twin red marks on each side of his (completely uncovered) face. He was also amber-skinned like his uncle and wore the proper outfit of a Sand Village Jonin, in everything Nir was remarkably ordinary, not too handsome but not at all ugly, it was his nervous, shy and innocent behavior that marked him the most.

For quite some time, Baki had tried to find a place where his nephew would fit and be happy in his sister's honor, quite some task for a shinobi with the young man's personality, but thankfully the Fifth Kazekage was rather pleased with his job as his personal assistant (like even Baki had been to his father somewhere in the past), and fortunately his skittish behavior had calmed down considerably when Aiko came into the picture.

Aiko was Nir's wife for almost one year, and she was the middle child of the power family of a village in the River Country, the Stream Village. By rule, no other village than the main one of each country was allowed to have shinobi as a means of protection, so the other ones had to come up with others. Some villages resorted to Samurai, others to sword-handling warriors or mercenaries wielding venomous spears or arrows, and there were a small few who had developed their technology further than the others, recurring to fire weapons. It was villages who resorted to that technology that had been the reason for Gaara's special mission with his best friend, for example. In the Wind Country, there was such a village, the Canyon Village, and the Stream had married Aiko to its leader, expecting to get protection from the union.

Things, however, did not go as planned, for the Canyon's leader wished only to take Aiko's village as his own through this marriage, and the young woman was lucky enough to discover it in time, and quickly requested the Sand Village for help, which was granted because of the Sand and Canyon's long lived rivalry, and because of how, after a grave accident with desert fiends, she was able to heal the Kazekage's men, not with chakra but with very basic herbs.

Fortunately, Gaara and his trusted shinobi were strong enough to keep Aiko and her village safe from Canyon's plans and future, probable revenge, and after everything was settled (even if that period of peace was, as the redhead was sure, quite temporary, and perhaps these issues with villages like Canyon's would be yet another important thing to discuss in these new meetings by Naruto's side) the young woman was gladly accepted into the Sand Village. An alliance between Sand and Stream was even made because of that, offering the latter its so wanted protection, an alliance made strong by Nir and Aiko's marriage, since she quite surprisingly had taken quite a liking to the young man while she diligently healed Gaara's shinobi, returned as tenderly by Nir himself, who for once was bold enough to propose to her, and no one had any reason to object it when she said yes.

Now Aiko gladly roamed the Sand Village with her exceedingly long, dark curly hair in a braid reaching the top of her legs, as her clear eyes greeted the people with her smile, her petite, pale form inside a dress that still looked a lot like the ones she wore at her home village, but now much more orange than teal, or wasn't that the main difference between the stream crossed prairies of her home and the warm, smooth desert sand of the new village? She became a valuable help to the Sand's medics, especially when the wounds inflicted on shinobi would only get worse when chakra was applied on them (like what happened with the desert fiends, where the wound swells with the given chakra), and though she and Sakura usually found points of disagreement and maintained an healthy rivalry, many times they worked together, chakra and herbs, to create balanced medicine.

The young woman also became quite helpful when she revealed to her husband her impressive knowledge of the technology they used at the Canyon and, since Nir had himself some curiosity about it, together they were able to create a very useful machine to Leaf and Sand's alliance. This Frankenstein of technology, a part-gramophone, part-radio device, sat on a small table beyond the Kazekage's desk, beyond the small cactus in an orange vase, the framed photo of a very smiling Gaara draping his arms around a hilarious Naruto, another picture with the three sand siblings, the mess Gaara usually had there, and the standard disinfectant the redhead used on his desk and chair whenever he was sure his older brother had been there before him. The machine had the long cone and the disk reader of the gramophone, as well as the rotational handle to its side, but the rest of it was built like a two-way radio, and the wire coming out of it slithered all the way to its twin at the Leaf Village.

When Aiko and Nir had built their part (and Baki was even prouder of his nephew for these new abilities of his), it was difficult for Tsunade (still the Hokage at the time) to find someone amongst her shinobi to possess the same knowledge of the developed technology, but surprisingly it was TenTen who came to the rescue, mounting the exact same machine perfectly on the Leaf's side, defending that violence did resolve everything as she beat all the parts of the device to order.

Anyway, the line was well received and quite used from the beginning, not very much by Tsunade but by Naruto, who invaded her office rather often when he and Gaara had become closer, and would sit by the Fifth Hokage's side for even hours as he related to the Fifth Kazekage all the little details in his day that had reminded him of some or other time the two demon hosts had spent together in the past. It wasn't unusual for Tsunade to sigh annoyingly at those times. How was she supposed to get any work done? Gaara, on the other hand, never sounded at all displeased with the attention. And Shizune merely stood there, neutral and peace-bringing.

Of course now Gaara was again expecting a call from his friend as he finished telling of his journey to Nir, but it seemed he would have to wait the rest of the time alone, for someone had just knocked on the door to his office, and soon Aiko and her long braid were walking in.

"Hey, Gaara, Nir!" it had been quite easier to assure her she could just call the Kazekage by his first name. "So you're finally here! How was it, how was Naruto doing?" she approached her husband and they exchanged a single, small kiss, which nonetheless still made both Nir and the redhead blush.

"I am certain Nir will tell you as descriptively as I have told him, but I assure you right now that everything went very well," Gaara said, a bit belatedly.

"Hmm, I'm going to want to hear that story," Aiko replied. "But now we must be on our way. It's nice knowing all was okay! Have a good night."

The Kazekage nodded, thanked her and watched the young couple leave after Nir was convinced his boss could perfectly wait for the Hokage's call alone.

And, when they were actually gone and Gaara was left only to wait, he let out a sigh of tiredness he wasn't aware of feeling, leaning back on his chair. Perhaps six days of hurry did take his toll on him too… He deducted he wouldn't be advancing any work that night.

Still, his desk needed some tidying up and, as he scooted some of the old papers aside, he found a couple of handwritten pages that didn't belong to him, or to the Sand Village's issues for that matter. Fortunately, Gaara had already learned to recognize that handwriting, so he soon knew they were some more of Pora's silly love tales. He ran his eyes over them, chuckling at the mention of passionate kissing. The things people did with their mouths, he laughed… Yet it was enough to make the redhead bring a finger to his lips, in absent-minded admiration and remembrance of past events…

Pora was the latest addition to their house. Already twelve years old of age, she had just entered her shinobi life, fresh out of the Ninja Academy. Gaara had killed her entire family once upon a time, in Shukaku's hunger, and the girl had been delivered to the Sand's orphanage after that. But with his new view towards life, the Kazekage now felt important to take responsibility for her education, especially since she was the last of a clan that used oversized eagles in battle in the same way the Inuzuka clan used their dogs, and she now lived with the three siblings for some years.

Thankfully, orphanage did not mark her life much, neither did she hold any grudge to the man who took away her family. It took her some time to adjust to the new home and reality, but her housemates were very good, so it all went rather smoothly. Wavy brown hair reaching her shoulders and big brown eyes constantly studying her surroundings, Pora was neither pretty nor elegant, but she was quite clever, and her observations were helpful. Though generally cheerful, she didn't speak much of her feelings, but she was quite handy at putting them to paper in these short tales.

For obvious reasons, she considered Kiba both a mentor and a rival, though she was very much fond of huge Akamaru. Kankurou usually played with her and she would often confide in him, and Temari was her teacher of the wind jutsu she'd need in the future, but it was with Gaara that she spent most of the time, the conversing silence between them always enough to make them happy.

Gaara had already given her the big egg that would contain her life companion, but it was still to hatch. Pora couldn't wait till that moment came and, to make the time pass faster, she'd write even more stories.

But the redhead's musings were interrupted when, finally, a loud, acute voice erupted from the gramophone's mouth, calling out his name and bragging about the Seventh Hokage title.

Gaara merely smiled, sliding his chair there to reach out a hand and grab the speaker…

END OF CHAPTER

It took me almost half a year, but I've done it, hein? And you can't imagine how much fun I had!

Pora, Nir and Aiko. My three OCs. I hope to have made them believable, interesting people, away from Mary or Gary Sues. I did spend my time planning and knowing how they will interact with the other characters and the story, but one can never be too careful with it.

The first perspective of the Sand Village is also in the chapter, but there is much more still to come. This was much more centered in Gaara and his development as a leader, and perhaps that's what has made this chapter a bit boring.

Finally, the Frankenstein machine. Why does the Ninja World have televisions, but no radios or telephones? Nir and Aiko try to solve this problem with TenTen's help, and the result is here, giving their villages a single communication line. Next chapter, we'll see how it works.

Yes, this was a cliffhanger. Sometimes I am mean like that :P

See ya next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out…