The Kazekage walked into Konoha with his sister, two guards, and three genin teams. The Chunin Exams were this week. Sunagakure was hoping he would bring back a significant amount of chunins to the village.

He was half expecting to see Naruto at the gate to greet him. That became a ritual of his in Sunagakure. Gaara would have tea at the shop closest to the gate so he'd be able to sense when Naruto arrived. They would all have a pot together.

Then Jiraiya would leave them to do something on his own. He'd say it was research, but the ANBU who followed him would say it was getting drunk at bars flirting with women. Sunagakure seemed to be more of a rest spot for the two of them. Which Gaara was more than happy to provide.

Naruto must be busy on a mission. Actually, more likely he's preparing for the exam himself. Probably lost track of time with his morning training.

It's fine. Gaara wouldn't be able to drink with him this morning, anyway. He had a lot of preparations for the event. He had to ensure the teams got settled into their hotels, that they knew how to behave in a foreign village, then he had to meet up with Lady Tsunade.

There was no time for tea.

"Welcome to the village," Shikamaru added, "Lord Kazekage."

That was the boy his sister liked. Gaara hadn't seen him since the failed rescue mission. From what he remembered, Shikamaru was a good leader, smart, but lazy. There were several battles the boy refused to participate in. His involvement could have turned the tides for his teams in their Chunin Exam.

However, he couldn't be all that bad if his sister approved of him.

Gaara eventually said, "Thank you. Our teams are looking forward to the exam this year."

"Yep - Yeah - Of course - Temari, would you like to join me as I show those teams to the hotels?"

"Sure," Temari laughed, "I got this handled, little brother."

Gaara ended up very early for his meeting with the Hokage, "Lady Tsunade, it's good to finally see you."

"Nice to see you too. The arrangements have been made for your teams already. You didn't need to come this time." Tsunade said, "You're sister usually has this handled."

"It's best I show my face here now and again."

"Of course… You know, a little froggy told me about his visits to Suna." She could talking about either of them.

"After everything you've done, we are happy to be a resting place for the Leaf." Gaara assured her.

"I'm sure you are."

"Um… Yes?" Gaara didn't understand what she meant.

"Don't be bashful, I think it's great you two are getting close."

"Of course. I'm very grateful for our alliance-

"Stop being so political." Tsunade knew she had to be more direct, "I'm talking about your love life with the brat."

Oh, "I assure you, there is nothing there to talk about."

"... Sure," she didn't believe him. No one believed him when he said that. Not even himself.

"You know better than anyone there can't be anything to talk about."

"Why's that? Cause you're a stick in the mud and he's a pain in my ass?" Lady Tsunade chuckled at her own joke, "There's been worse matches."

"His mark."

"That's not as big of a setback as some might think."

"Hm?"

"People experience issues with mating marks every day. You spend enough time in hospitals and you realize it's a common problem." She made it sound more hopeful than any other resource he's ever read.

"Does it have a common solution?"

"Each solution must be tailored to the person."

"Does Naruto's have one?"

"So, you admit there's something to talk about?"

"You already knew that."

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear that I'm right every so often." Lady Tsunade said, "Of course there is, I've already told him a few."

Naruto knew this whole time there were options and didn't tell Gaara, "And they might be?"

"Well, the first is killing the alpha who did that to him, but you probably know how that one went."

Gaara didn't, but he could guess it didn't go well.

She went on to explain how many ninja die, and they don't drop in pairs. The bond servers in death. It's still a nasty drop and can be deadly without interference. However, usually check-ins from the omega's pack would be enough to get them through the hardest part.

Since Naruto's was a half bond, it would be an easier break.

She glossed over the other ways. None of them sounded too promising, anyway. They quickly went back to business as usual.

Later that night Gaara found his way to Naruto's place in the Konoha Shinobi Apartment District. Block 7, by the lake, third floor walk up. It looked older and a bit runned down, like they stopped taking care of it many years ago.

He had a rather interesting talk with the Hokage. A lot of information was exchanged in such a short amount of time. They were able to complete the arrangements. She was also kind enough to tell him where their mutual friend happened to live.

The lights were out, but Gaara was told Naruto would be home. It's not like him to retire this early in the night. He's not a night owl by Gaara's standards, but he matched pace for a while.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

He could hear a bit of movement behind the door. No overly loud 'I'm coming,' like Gaara was used to. The Sand shinobi prepared for an attack. There must be someone else in Naruto's apartment.

Eventually, Naruto's tired frame tried to cover the inside of the apartment through the doors crack, "Hi, Gaara, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"The Chunin Exam is this week. Did you not get my letter?" Gaara calmed his sand.

"What?! This week? Are you sure?" Naruto freaked out.

"Yes, I'm sure. That's why I'm here and also why I had a meeting with the Hokage this morning."

"Oh fuck! I don't think I submitted my paperwork." He frantically searched the mail holder next to the door.

It gave Gaara a good line of sight to the inside of Naruto's home. Saying it was a mess would take it lightly. It looked like a natural disaster tore through the small studio apartment.

Naruto pulled out the submission form, "crap."

"I'm sure Lady Tsunade wouldn't mind including you if you submitted now." Gaara said. Naruto would probably get a light scolding but nothing too serious. She seemed to care for him as one of his own.

"It's alright, I think I have a mission next week anyways." Naruto shrugged it off, "I wouldn't be able to finish the exam if I went."

"Oh… Okay. May I come in?" Gaara asked.

"Now's not a good time… um, how about we get dinner instead," Naruto suggested, "my treat."

He always tried to get out of paying, getting a good look at his small shinobi apartment, Gaara saw why, "That's unnecessary."

"I insist! Just give me a minute to get ready." Naruto shoved the door closed without waiting for an answer.

Gaara had half a mind to see if anyone was sneaking out his window or something. Naruto was acting very suspicious. In the end he decided not to. It's good etiquette to trust Naruto had the best intentions.

The shower turned on. Gaara prepared himself to wait a bit, he leaned his weight against the rusted railing. Little noises came from the apartment every so often. A fuck here or there. Some obvious stubbing of toes from the speed he got ready. It only took Naruto seven minutes to exit his apartment.

"That was fast."

"Yeah… I Like to sleep in but I don't like being late." Naruto admitted.

"Of course," Gaara asked, "Where did you want to have dinner?"

"There's this great ramen place, I know you'll love it."

Gaara had almost forgotten what it was like to walk down a street and get stared at like he didn't belong. Naruto had not. The village stared at the both of them as if they were scum.

It was pretty obvious why for Gaara; it wasn't but three years since he was their enemy. Naruto you'd have to go even further back to before he was born. It broke Gaara's heart to know he still had to deal with this in his own home.

There were some smiles, especially at this ramen stand. An old man and his daughter greeted Naruto warmly.

"And who's this handsome fella with you?" the daughter asked.

Gaara had worn regular street clothes for his time with Naruto. Black shirt, black pants, nothing too special. Apparently just being out of uniform was enough to disguise him here. He's only been Kazekage for three years, and these people weren't shinobi.

"This is my friend, Gaara!"

"It's nice to see one of his friends," maybe they're just being polite.

"I've been eating here ever since I was a kid," Naruto let him know, "it's the best place in Konoha!"

"I'm glad you've taken me somewhere special."

Naruto smiled, "Of course, only the best for the Kazekage."

If the owner or his daughter heard that, they didn't react. It must not be unusual for Naruto to know important people. The owner asked, "Would you be ordering the usual?"

"Yes, please."

"And you?

"I'm not sure…" Gaara looked over the menu and then to Naruto, "What do you usually get?"

"Miso ramen with pork, obviously."

"Then I too will have that." Gaara said.

"They'll be right out."

"Thanks!" Naruto said.

They chatted for a bit before Gaara asked, "You're really going to miss out on the Chunin Exam?"

"I already told you, it's okay. I have a special training mission with Yamato and Kakashi next week. I can't be in two places at once." Naruto waved him off.

It was weird for him to not take the opportunity to become a higher ranking shinobi. It would definitely help him gain more missions. Eventually helping him acquire his goal of becoming Hokage.

"Okay."

And that was the last of that.

They ate in relative peace, talking about lighter topics. Gaara's travel here, some things Naruto's learned over the last mission, and even the weather. Still, not at all what Gaara wanted to talk about, but a public food stall was not the place to have the 'so I heard you ran into your ex who's now a missing-nin' conversation.

They eventually finished their meal, Naruto offered to pay for the two of them, which Gaara refused. The woman behind the counter looked at him weird when he paid. The man seemed used to others paying for him. Not bothering to put the check in front of Naruto.

They walked closely back to Naruto's apartment. Closer than two friends should walk, but far enough away for some deniability. Their relationship seemed to be a sort of an open secret, even in Konoha.

"I had a great time tonight… I'm glad you came by." Naruto said, with obvious intention to snake his way back into his apartment and end the night quick.

"Me too… Is there a reason you don't want to let me in?" Gaara wanted the privacy of the four walls to talk to Naruto again. For real.

"It's just not all that clean right now."

"That's fine." There was an urgency built in him that made him feel like he had to see what was behind that door. There had to be more to what he saw earlier.

"I don't know, man. It's just not up to the standards of a Kazekage."

"I'm your," hopefully something more than, "friend first, and Kazekage second."

"You probably shouldn't tell your village that." Naruto joked.

"It will stay between us."

Naruto looked back into his apartment, "But I guess I can let you in… you just can't judge me if I do."

"I won't."

It was worse than what he could see in the door's crack earlier. There was old takeout containers piled up in the kitchen area. A lot of top ramen containers sprinkled in. On top of everything the trash hadn't been taken out in a while.

Clothes littered the floor. Haphazardly taken off and forgotten about. Naruto's nest torn asunder, maybe? It was hard to tell if it was a nest on his bed or just old clothes not put away. A few dead plants on the windowsill.

"Is everything okay?" Gaara asked.

"It's fine, I just get like this sometimes," Naruto admitted, cleaning the first area he saw, the dining table, "I didn't want you to see me like this. You get it…"

"It's not that bad." Gaara walked around looking for something he could do to help.

"It was easier to hide when I was always on the road, or just visiting you." Naruto acted like he had a body in here.

"It's just a messy apartment," Gaara reassured him.

"You don't have a messy place."

"I also have many people that help me with that sort of thing." Gaara was the Kazekage, he always had outside help with domestic labor, "How long has this been going on?"

"A couple of weeks, I guess."

"No, you said this happens sometimes. Did this always used to happen or -

"It's not Mate Rejection," Naruto said not believing it himself, "I've always been messy."

"Okay," Gaara helped clean up the mess on the kitchen counter, "Should I start here?"
"I've got it."

"It's not a problem."

"I can't have my first guest help me clean up my apartment… especially not the Kazekage." Naruto took the trash out of his hand and into the bag, "Just sit on my bed I've got it."

"Is this your nest?" There was no way to make that question sound nice. There were a few pillows and blankets, but not enough to make a formal nest. At least not really.

"It's just my bed, I don't really have the space for a nest. I'm always traveling too. So I wouldn't be able to maintain it." There's a lot an omega had to do to maintain a nest. Most people acted as it was its own ecosystem, constantly needing attention.

"You could at least have a temporary one in the meantime. Can't you?" Gaara suggested.

"It's not safe enough here. For a nest I mean."

"It's your apartment, how's it unsafe?"

"No one's around to protect it." Naruto said. It was hard to tell if this was an omega thing or a reality thing.

Gaara wanted to offer his home, but knew he shouldn't, unless, "Are we going to dance around this subject all night?"

"I'd like to." Naruto always seemed to be the one who wanted to push off this conversation.

"I wouldn't," Gaara said, "you said a lot of big things last time we were together… I just want to see if that's how you still feel."

"Oh," the answer was probably no.

"It's fine if its no-

"It's not no."

"Then what is it? Because it doesn't sound like a yes either…"

"I've just got a lot going on, with the village and Akatsuki, and Sakura, and -

"Sasuke?"

"I mean yeah… Duh, I have to bring him back. I promised Sakura."

"It's okay if it's him. I knew last time, too." Of course Gaara knew this would result from opening himself up that way to Naruto. He cared for the blonde in a very different way than the blonde cared for him. "He's your soul mate."

"I don't know if I think he is anymore." Naruto admitted, "But you said, you didn't think you could handle my indecision… so I don't want to hurt you again… You've been so nice to me. And I don't think I can do-"

"I'm not asking you to marry me," Gaara said.

"Oh." Naruto frowned.

"I just think if we're going to try something, we should actually try it. We should take it a bit more seriously than what we do."

"What do we do?" Naruto tried to hide himself by cleaning dishes.

"You kiss me. A lot. You sleep in the same bed as me when you visit. We do that. Then we don't talk about it. We act like it doesn't happen." Gaara told him, "I just want us to acknowledge that it happens."

"I think I can do that."

"And, I want you to tell me when something's wrong." Because something was clearly wrong here.

"That one's going to be harder." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's alright." Gaara knew it would not be an overnight thing. He got off the bed to help clean again. Naruto would need it. "Why don't we start small."

"...fine." Naruto allowed him to help around the apartment.

They didn't get it sparkling clean, but they got the worst of it gone. Gaara might be able to help more tomorrow morning before his Kazekage duties… If Naruto let him stay the night.

"You don't have to keep that on…" Naruto said, getting ready for bed.

"Oh?" Gaara wasn't sure what he wanted exactly, but he had some ideas.

"Your scent patch, it's got to be uncomfortable by now."

"Oh."

"Yeah, you've been wearing it all night."

"It's the polite thing to do. Besides, you've still got yours on, too."

"Ah, well, that… that's just because it's polite." Naruto tried to shield Gaara from the truth again.

"You don't have to hide it. I know you're marked…"

"It's not that…"

"Can I see?"

Naruto sighed, "Yeah," exposing his neck for the alpha in front of him.

Gaara gently removed Naruto's scent patch. He wasn't prepared for what it hid beneath it. Naruto's mating bite, putrid before, now looked long infected with the way it was seeping out alpha venom.

"It looks worse than it is," Naruto tried to comfort him.

"It looks awful."

"It's fine."

"Did Lady Tsunade or Ms Haruno see it?"

"When I got back from the mission."

There was a calendar on the wall. It had the Chunin Exam date circled in red, the paperwork submission deadline, as well as the Kazekage's visit. It stopped being checked off a few weeks ago, when Naruto saw Sasuke.

Gaara confirmed, "So three weeks ago?"

"Yeah, I guess it's been that long… but the fox says it's fine." Naruto tried to cover it up with his jacket.

"We should take you to a med-nin."

"It's late. I don't think it's necessary."

"That wasn't really a suggestion." Gaara wanted them to visit the Hokage. She only told him one way to fix it, but seeing this, they needed more. This needed to be done as soon as possible.

As a compromise, they visited Haruno Sakura.

Naruto refused to go to the actual hospital or the Hokage. Said it wasn't worth the time, Sakura would be better anyway. In a way he was right. She gave them some creams and care guides and sent them back home. After a lengthy discussion of interrupting someone's beauty sleep.

It was Mate Rejection.

"See, I told you I was fine." Naruto, someone who definitely was not fine, said.

"Ms Haruno said a normal person would be in the hospital by now." Gaara reminded him.

"Luckily I am not a normal person."

"Make sure you take your meds."

"Sure… whatever."

"I'm serious." Gaara said, "and I'll help you change the bandaid tomorrow."

"You don't have to."

"Apparently I do. Why are you so opposed to going to the hospital?"

"... I mean, you know, you're a jinchūriki, too."

"Yeah." With the way the villagers treated him walking down the street. He doubted they would be that great in a medical emergency. They would be grateful the demon child was gone.

"So you get it…" Naruto looked over to his bed, "Let's go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Okay."

They got ready for bed in silence. Naruto landed on the pillows first. He did his best to leave enough room for Gaara. It was hard in a full bed. These types of apartments were meant for one shinobi to get at most a week of sleep before starting a new mission. So they made do.

It's interesting how much you can learn about a person by seeing them in their natural habitat. Gaara thought he knew most things about Naruto with how close they got in their visits. He wasn't expecting any more big surprises, especially not something like this.

Gaara felt like he learned more from this meeting than any other.

Naruto and Gaara laid in his bed quietly pretending they were both asleep. Each leaving a significant amount of distance between them despite previous conversations.

It was Naruto who broke the ice, "We found Sasuke."

"I know." Gaara pulled Naruto into his arms.

"It was awful. I thought… I don't know what I thought." Naruto buried his head into Gaara's shoulder.

"You thought he was brainwashed into going." Gaara knew that much. It was Naurto's favorite fairy tale, The Snake that Tricked the Boy.

"Yeah, isn't that stupid of me?"

"No." Despite how much Gaara hated it, it's what he loved most about Naruto, "You always want to see the best in people. That's not stupid."

"It's okay - It's a little stupid."

"I don't think so… You saw the best in me."

"That's different."

"It's not."

"You're different."

Gaara wasn't but, kiss, "I guess."

Nartuo sighed, "Sasuke, I still care for him, but he hurt me. He hurt me in a way that will be with me for the rest of my life. I won't ever get rid of this… and the worst part is," Naruto opened up, "He doesn't care."

Gaara was afraid anything he might say in this moment would backfire, so he just held Naruto closer.

"To him biting me is some stupid way to get back at his brother. He said it's to strengthen our bond, but it only goes one way. He doesn't feel this way. He's not forced into these… moods."

"You'll get out of it."

"I don't think I will… Gaara, my apartment's been messy before, but I dont think it's gotten this bad. I don't know what to do, I wake up and I - I just can't move. My body won't let me. I'm forgetting things, days are passing so fast. I don't know what to do."

"Lady Tsunade told me of a way-"

"I don't like those ways."

"She also told me that."

"It's just- I don't think I can do it. And even though he hurt me, badly, I can't do that to him. I know what pain he's going through, and he might not care, but I do."

"I know."