Hi Gaara,

There's a new Team Seven. Kakashi is no longer our sensei and it's some guy named Yamato. He's cool I guess. Also some Sasuke-wannabe-reject joined our team. He's a good artist, but a total dick-head.

We found Sasuke.

Gaara refused to read past that line for several days. He got his hopes up after dying, like an idiot. If he didn't read further, he could keep his hopes up.

Besides, he had to make the preparations for the upcoming Chunin Exams. The Council had several meetings to decide whether or not the Kazekage should leave Sunagakure this soon after an attack. They concluded without the One Tail in him; he was no longer a target.

However, then they had to worry about their students. They didn't know if they would be ready soon after the incident. Technically, there was little to no damage to the village and very little fighting due to Kazekage stepping in. It didn't matter, there were still three meetings about this, and several stacks of paperwork.

They settled ongoing. With the loss of the guards it would be better to have more Chunin in their ranks. This then required the Kazekage to fill out their travel visas and several request forms. Gaara never expected this job to be mostly paperwork.

He's finished up the latest stack when his brother came into his office fresh off a mission… with more paperwork. They had to file a report after each mission to document everything that happened. This way their billing departments could better charge in the future. They could also ensure rating systems stayed accurate. All while improving strategy in the future. It was the Kazekage's job to ensure authenticity.

"You ever going to tell your big bro about you and Naruto?" Kankuro handed a file over.

"There's nothing to tell." Gaara placed the file over the orange letter, hiding it from view.

"Nothing?" Kankuro said in disbelief.

"No."

"So he just happened to show up in the middle of the desert over twenty times in the past two years?"

"Of course not, he was visiting me."

"Oh, is that what we're calling it?"

"Not like that, like how Temari visits Konoha."

"Ah…" Kankuro made sure, "you know she visits Konoha to see a boy she likes?"

"No, she's there as Sunagakure's liaison to the Leaf."

"You ever notice how her missions always seem to pair her with the same Leaf shinobi? Yeah, it's because she likes him."

"Then it's not like that with me and Naruto."

"So he just happened to end up in your bed without pants on?"

Gaara admitted, "We might have done something."

"Obviously."

"It doesn't matter."

"Bullshit." Kankuro said, "You can't tell me your first time doesn't matter."

"We didn't do that."

"Blow job then, whatever. I don't really care to know the details of how my brother gets his dick wet."

"I didn't."

"Don't tell me you didn't get anything from that… Gaara, you can't let him use you like that."

"He's not using me." Gaara let him know, "It's not like we can actually be anything."

"Tch. Why not?"

"Naruto's marked." Gaara hated that, "He has an alpha."

"Oh." Kankuro might be a great shinobi, but he was a bit out of the loop with his brother's personal affairs. It might be by design.

"Yeah, so even if I wanted to. And even if Naruto wanted to. It doesn't matter. Because we can't."

"You're being dramatic. You guys can still date. You can still fuck. So what if you can't mark him?" as a beta, Kankuro would never really understand.

"If Naruto has prolonged intimate contact with an alpha that's not his… There would be negative consequences."

"Okay? So no prolonged fucking… You just keep doing the long distance thing. Spread it out so there's no whatever-the-fuck. No big deal."

"An omega can experience catatonic drops with only a few months away from their alpha. You introduce another one on top of that… Naruto's lucky to still be alive as it is," Gaara said, "I can't make things worse for him."

"There's gotta be ways to reverse it."

"None that have a high enough success rate… Besides, Naruto doesn't really want to be with me." Gaara said. Sure, Naruto visited a lot, but they spoke mostly about him and Sasuke the whole time. Gaara wasn't stupid enough to believe that meant nothing. One night of passion couldn't erase a person's soul mate.

"So, you're telling me you missed maybe your one chance to get your dick sucked by the guy you've had the biggest crush on for the past two years?" Kankuro judged.

"We still fooled around." Gaara defended himself.

"You doing all the work isn't the same and you know it. He's got you so whipped," he pointed to the letter hidden under the file, "You can't even finish reading that thing. It was there before I started my last mission."

"So?"

"So, I'm worried about you, little brother."

"There's nothing to be worried about."

"Sure…"

Hi Gaara,

There's a new Team Seven. Kakashi is no longer our mentor, and it's some guy named Yamato. He's cool I guess. Also, some Sasuke-wannabe-reject joined our team. He's a good artist, but a total dick-head.

We found Sasuke.

The wannabe-reject betrayed us and gave info to Orochimaru… but that turned out to be a double-or maybe a triple cross- a quadruple cross. Anyways it was all a part of the plan. And I guess we're cool now. He's not that bad.

Sasuke went on and on about his new bonds of hatred and being depressed-thing. He wants nothing to do with me. Or anyone really. I asked him about the mark; he said it was to piss off his brother. Isn't that fucked up? Anyway, I still have to keep my promise to Sakura and bring him back to the village. I can't break my promise and still be Hokage.

Sakura had gotten really impressive with her medical ninjutsu, but you already know that, I guess. She could save your brother and all. And of course you! But like, even on this mission she was so cool saving people and stuff. Granny is really teaching her a lot. She's so cool now. But, like, I don't know how to compare my stuff with her. Is it for every time she heals people I punch people, but she also punches people. It's not as direct to compare our skills when they are so different. I think I miss having a rival that I can 1v1 judge our improvement.

The mission was still a success, mostly. We could learn some stuff about the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. So, that's at least a step in the right direction. Yamato wants me to do some more training on wind techniques. He said wind is totally my style.

See you soon,

Naruto

Gaara didn't know whether to feel relieved or annoyed. Something about the letter felt off. Like he wasn't getting the whole truth. He should see Naruto soon - he could ask then.

It's just… Naruto didn't mention what they did or their promise for a future together. It was just a simple update on Naruto's life. Gaara knew not to get his hopes up, even when he was talking to his brother he knew. He just wanted to be wrong.

While what Naruto did was obviously important, Gaara kind of hoped that their next interaction would clear up the open ending of their last meeting. He could know for sure if it was just a one-time thing brought on by stress… or if Naruto really liked him.

Greetings Uzamaki Naruto,

I am glad to hear that your last mission was a partial success. Ms Haruno's medical ninjutsu is rather impressive. Thank you for reminding me, I will have to give her my thanks next time I see her.

As for your artist friend, you have a way about you that draws people to you. It is no surprise to me that you were able to befriend your new teammate.

We are getting the final preparations done for the next Chunin Exam. I suppose you might take them as well. If you are still in Konoha, then I would like to meet up with you.

With warmest regards,

Kazekage Gaara