Temari ran through the Kazekage's building. She panted, concern clear on her face. She turned a corner sharply into the corridor that contained the door she seeked. Without bothering to knock, she hastily slid the doorknob over and slammed the door open.
"Encrypted message from Konoha!"
Gaara looked up from his paperwork to his sister catching her breath. "Has it been deciphered?"
"Almost, I came to get you while they finish up."
Gaara stood up from his desk and headed towards the door. He and Temari rushed back to the deciphering team several halls away. As they walked, Gaara thought aloud, "Why not send a message with Naruto?"
"It doesn't make sense."
And then it hit Gaara. Temari looked at her younger brother as though she'd just read his mind; something happened after Naruto had left. She left him to his thoughts until they arrived at the deciphering room. Temari opened the door for them to enter and asked the room, "Is it ready?"
The head of the team walked towards her with a closed scroll. "Well, yes. But-"
She didn't let him finish. "Good." Temari had taken the scroll and opened it before Gaara and herself. The contents of the scroll left them both baffled.
Did Naruto arrive safely?
-Sakura Haruno
Gaara dismissed the team and thanked them for their work before exiting with his sister.
"Temari, have Kankuro look over the papers on my desk." He began to walk away until Temari stopped him. He turned to face her.
"Do you know what this is about?"
"No. I'm going to go ask him."
"I'll leave it to you. I'll go find Kankuro."
Gaara nodded and walked off to return to his bedroom.
Alone in his room, Naruto was almost dying of boredom. He'd gone in search of Sasuke but had no luck finding him. With Gaara and his siblings busy with work, he had no one else to talk to.
He thought of how best to inform his boyfriend that his life was about to get incredibley hectic. He'd not get a chance to see him again for a long time and he had to leave the next day. He and Gaara had just started to get closer and, for the first time ever, he wished the two of them led normal lives.
He closed his eyes and turned to the comfort of the bed. He snuggled into his sheets and began to daze off. In the back of his mind, he heard Gaara call out his name and let the sound lull him into a peaceful sleep.
"Naruto."
Silence. Naruto shifted comfortably.
"Naruto."
He seemed louder this time; Naruto winced lightly.
"Naruto! Are you there?"
Naruto jolted upright as the realization that Gaara really was calling out to him hit him. He rubbed his eyes and loudly replied, "Yes. Come in, Gaara."
The separating door opened and Gaara entered. He stood before Naruto and handed him the scroll. Naruto looked at it with confusion. "What's this?"
"We've just received it from Konoha; it was encrypted."
Acknowledging that encryption meant something serious, Naruto almost tore it open only to leave himself puzzled at what he read.
"What's the big deal, Gaara? Just say yes."
Gaara allowed his childish boyfriend some time to come around, but it didn't seem he would. He moved to join his side on the bed before explaining his concern. "Naruto, why is Sakura asking about your safety in code? Is Akatsuki after you?"
.
.
.
Gaara lay dead in a forest just outside Suna. Two teams from Konoha and one of Suna's elders had just finished fighting off two Akatsuki members.
The Akatsuki was a group comprised of several rogue ninjas. One of which included Sasuke's brother, Itachi. Deidara and Sasori had been the two to kidnap the Kazekage. Sasori was killed in battle; Deidara escaped.
Everything had been for the Kazekage and no one wanted to accept that despite their efforts, Gaara had not made it. Akatsuki had removed from within him the tailed beast who had been the main cause of his misfortune, killing him in the process. With help from Naruto, the elder Chiyo had been able to revive Gaara by sacrificing her own life. Deep in his mind, Gaara knew Naruto wouldn't be safe. Someday, Akatsuki would attempt to stake a claim on Naruto's own tailed beast. It was after that eventful day that Gaara and Naruto decided they wanted to protect each other and ease the loneliness caused by both their beasts.
.
.
.
Naruto rubbed at the back of his head and put on a sad grin. "Actually, Gaara, Konoha was destroyed by Akatsuki."
Gaara's eyes opened wide. He couldn't fathom how strong the members of Akatsuki must be in order to pull something like that off. Several of their members had been killed; how did they do it?
"How, when?"
"Just a few days ago."
"Naruto, why didn't you mention this earlier?"
He looked down, slightly stung from Gaara's words. "I forgot after being near you."
Gaara sighed. "I wish I could say there'll be time for that later but I highly doubt it. Who fought them?"
"I did."
Only partially surprised, Gaara asked, "Alone? How many?"
Naruto blushed and and looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah, just me."
"And you took them all down?"
His blush faded and was replaced with a bit of confusion. "All of them? It was just Pain."
Gaara took a few moments to take everything in. One person destroyed Konoha.
One.
And Naruto killed him.
He looked at his boyfriend with even higher admiration and respect than before. Before letting his mind wander into romantic thoughts, Gaara caught hold of himself and pressed on. "I'll have to speak to Tsunade immediately."
Naruto's sadness returned. "She's in a coma. We don't know if she'll ever wake."
Gaara stood and faced Naruto. "This is worse than I thought. Come."
Naruto quickly put on his shoes and followed the Kazekage out the door and down the hall. They walked through the winding corridors until Gaara spotted a ninja nearby. He sent him off to inform Temari she was to stop what she was doing to report to his office right away. They continued on and eventually Gaara led him into his office. Kankuro greeted them lazily and stood up from the desk to allow Gaara to sit.
"What's up, guys?" Kankuro inquired while sinking into a nearby chair.
Naruto pulled up near him and waited for Gaara to say something.
Temari arrived at the Kage's office and quickly sat near the two other occupants. Once seated, Gaara spoke, calmly, "Akatsuki has just become a much bigger threat than before."
He relayed everything Naruto had told him. The room grew tense and still.
Over much discussion on how to deal with Konoha's situation and the ever growing threat of Akatsuki, Gaara and Naruto finally returned to Gaara's bedroom after sundown. They sat silently on the bed with their fingers laced. Both wanted desperately to be closer but neither knew what do to with the disaster in Konoha looming over them.
Slowly, Gaara turned to face Naruto. He took in the sight of him and, as though he'd lost control over himself, left Naruto's hand to wrap his arms around him. Naruto nuzzled into his shoulder and wished everything was as simple as this hug.
Gaara let go to look at his boyfriend once again. "Naruto."
"Yea." Naruto looked longingly at him.
"You know as well as I do that this attack on Konoha makes things complicated."
Naruto nodded.
"I will have many things to attend to. More so than now."
Naruto grabbed both his hands tight.
"I cannot guarantee your hapiness from my office."
At those last words, Naruto lept into his arms, knocking Gaara over to lay on his back. He stared deep into his soft, green eyes and lowered himself desperately onto Gaara's lips.
Gaara let his body take over and wrapped his hands over Naruto's back and waist. He felt Naruto nuzzle into his shoulder and took in a deep breath; the smell of Konoha's forests still strong on him. Gaara fought to maintain his composure but the thought of what he was about to do left him feeling helpless. He squeezed his arms around Naruto. "Naruto?"
He shook his head into Gaara's shoulder.
Gaara brought up a hand to lace his fingers through Naruto's hair. "We have to, Naruto."
But Naruto just held on tighter, still shaking his head.
A tear slipped slowly past Gaara's defenses; he choked back the rest. "It will be impossible to see each other. It was hard enough already."
Even though Naruto knew Gaara was right, he couldn't help but show his broken heart in his voice when he whispered, "Please..." He dug his face further.
Gaara rolled them both over to their sides and wiped away the tears from Naruto's cheeks.
Naruto held in his breath as he saw the streak Gaara's tear had left on his cheek. He was hurting too; he really didn't want this. A glimpse of understanding passed through Naruto and he tried to control himself. He'd be strong for Gaara. He thought of telling Gaara he loved him but reconsidered thinking it would only make things harder. Beside him, Gaara's mind was on a similar path.
They lay watching each other as though imprinting each others' image into their minds.
Late into the night, Sasuke finally decided to go back to the rooms and prepare himself to leave the next day. To his surprise, Temari was waiting for him sitting on his bed. He walked in calmly and narrowed his eyes towards her.
"What are you doing here?"
She leaned nonchalantly against the wall. "Did you have anything to do with Konoha falling?" Her eyes followed him suspiciously.
He smirked. "Hn. I have nothing to do with that sloppy job." He walked to his pack and began arranging it as though he were alone.
Temari stood from the bed and walked to the door. She placed her hand on the knob then faced him. "Are you trying to hurt him?"
Without looking he told her, "I could have killed Naruto by now if I wanted to."
She returned his earlier smirk. "You'd have all of Suna on your tail." And with that she exited the room.
Alone with his thoughts, Sasuke went to bed. He couldn't wait to leave Suna.
The next morning was recieved with mixed feelings. In the Kazekage's bed, Gaara and Naruto dreaded having to get up knowing it would be a long time before they could see one another. They showered separately and dressed themselves for the day. Gaara in his Kage's robes; Naruto his ninja attire. They met up afterwards in Gaara's room to say their heart wrenching farewells. Naruto's face reddened as he held back the urge to cry. Gaara tried his best to let some emotion through for Naruto to understand he wasn't alone; still he held the tears back. Naruto had been expecting Gaara to say 'I'll come back to you' or 'wait for me' but he didn't. Before it got to the point where he couldn't handle it, Naruto suggested they go eat breakfast. However, Sasuke wouldn't hear of it.
As Gaara and Naruto prepared to leave for the dining room, Sasuke knocked on the door. He'd gone to Naruto's room first but after no reponse he knew he'd find him next door. Without waiting for them to answer he shouted, "Hurry up, Naruto. We have to leave now."
Gaara gripped Naruto's hand tightly. He wanted to pull him in for a kiss, to hold him and never leave his side. Instead, he moved to his side and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Naruto grinned at him and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "See you soon, Gaara."
Gaara stood flushed in the middle of his room, watching as the only person who'd shown him how to love walked away from him.
As Naruto opened the door a frustrated Sasuke sighed. "It's about time you showed up."
Naruto scoffed, iritated. "Shut up, bastard."
Sasuke merely smirked in reply.
Naruto shouted goobyes to everyone they passed as they exited the building. Sasuke just walked on, glad to be leaving.
They walked to the entrace of Suna and, upon reaching it, Naruto put on a fake smile. "Where are we going now, Sasuke?"