"Gaara!"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Gaara quickly looked up from the bench where he was sitting with his brother and sister to see Naruto walking over, beaming at him and waving excitedly. His heart skipped a beat, and he stared in disbelief as Naruto approached. It was really him... He smiled back and stood. "Naruto... This is a surprise," he stated, looking him over. He was wearing his usual black and orange clothes, so he was probably in the middle of a mission and couldn't stay long. He tried not to let his disappointment show as he added, "I'm glad to see you."

"You know I wouldn't miss your birthday! Er, if I can help it," Naruto sheepishly amended, scratching his cheek. "You know... Missions and all that... But this time I just finished up a mission and got some time off! And this place was on the way back from it! So... Here I am!" he excitedly told him.

"I was wondering... I didn't hear back from you, so I assumed you were on one."

"Actually! I did get your letter before I left! But I was hoping to surprise ya like this, and it worked out just right! All according to plan!" Naruto happily boasted, jabbing his thumb at his chest.

Gaara grinned. "I suppose it did."

Seeing they were basically inivisible to the two, Kankuro and Temari also stood. "Well, we should be heading back to the office. Even on the Kazekage's birthday, there's still paperwork to be done," Temari sighed.

Gaara glanced at her, then his eyes dropped as he was reminded of his duties. Now, of all times... If Naruto didn't mind sitting in the office, maybe they could talk while he signed papers. Or would that be too boring? Maybe he would rather walk around the Sand Village until the tedious task was done? "Right... Naruto, I'm sorry. What-"

"Relax, bro! We'll handle it!" Kankuro smirked, placing a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "You guys chill and catch up! Take your time!" He shared a sly look with Temari and they walked off. "Take all the time you need~!" he called over his shoulder.

Gaara blinked, taken aback. "But... I need to sign the papers..."

Temari spun around to briefly walk backwards, winking at him. "We'll just sort through them and put the important ones that need signatures on your desk in a pile! Easy! Go have fun, Gaara!" She waved to Naruto. "We'll see you later, Naruto!"

"You bet! See ya!" Naruto waved back as she turned around again. He watched the two go, lowering his hand. "Sorry... You're probably really busy... I-I didn't even get a chance to get you a gift..." He looked at Gaara, embarrassed as he awkwardly laughed. "Our last mission didn't exactly have any gift shops..."

Gaara warmly smiled at him. "That's fine. I don't need a gift from you." Seeing the perplexed and slightly hurt look in Naruto's eyes, he quickly explained, "Just spending time with you is enough." He inwardly cringed. Was that too cheesy?

Naruto's expression softened, and he grinned. "Thanks..." He peered around at the buildings, then glanced back at him. "Sooo... What do you wanna do?"

As they started walking through the sandy streets of Sunagakure, Gaara asked, "How long are you staying?"

"I got all day! And all of tomorrow, too!" Naruto excitedly told him. "So we can do whatever you want, Gaara! I always show you all the cool stuff Konoha has, so now it's your turn to show me around! Last time I was here-" His words stopped short, and a sad haze filled his eyes.

"...You saved me," Gaara finished for him, his tone soft and gentle. "You and..." When Naruto's smile fell, he let Granny Chiyo's name go unspoken. So her sacrifice still hurt him as well... When Naruto didn't reply, he cautiously continued, "I suppose you didn't get to enjoy Suna much then, did you?" He looked ahead, then with a slight nod of his chin he motioned for Naruto to follow him. "We'll start here. I know you'll like this."

As Naruto looked to see where they were going, his eyes lit up and he laughed, back to his cheerful self in an instant. "You know it! Since when do you have a ramen shop?!"

"Since you made me crave it when I'm not in Konoha," Gaara lightly answered, pleased with his reaction. The council hadn't exactly been keen on putting funds towards a ramen shop when he had first brought up the idea, as they already had a cold noodle shop in the village, but when Gaara pointed out it would be like a tribute to Naruto saving his life and that the rumor of a new place to eat was already popular among the villagers (thanks to Temari, Kankuro, and Baki helping pass along such rumors), they found it hard to deny the project. ...The free ramen he had provided for them to eat while they listened to his proposal didn't hurt, either.

They sat down and ordered their ramen, then minutes later they were enjoying the savory comfort food and catching up on what they had been up to since they had last seen one another. By the time they left, their bellies were full, yet not quite to the brim, and they found they were still hungry enough for dessert. They stopped at a street stall selling shaved ice, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the idea. "You guys have stuff like this in the desert? Doesn't it melt right away?" he mused.

"That's why you have to eat it fast," Gaara teased. Upon hearing this, Naruto hurried to gobble his down. Watching him, Gaara faintly smiled as he ate his as well, though in a more refined manner. He had that feeling again... Seeing Naruto made his chest feel funny. Not in the way it had used to hurt years ago, when he was a small child... No, it didn't hurt like that. It was a different feeling. It felt... It felt like what he felt for his siblings now, and even Baki... It felt like...

Love.

He had never been able to imagine it before. He had never known it, until he had gotten closer with Temari and Kankuro after the Chuunin Exams. But even so, that love was a different kind of love than what he felt around Naruto. When he thought about Naruto...

He had a similar feeling, but it was much more intense. It wasn't just love...

He was in love...

And now that Naruto was actually here, not just on a mission but on personal free time, he didn't know what to do about it. Now that he knew what this feeling was... It was like a fire had been lit in his heart, but he didn't know how to put the fire out. Or... Or was that not right? Did he want to put the fire out? Not really... But would it be okay to let it continue burning? What if it grew into a raging blaze? What then?

"Gaara? Hello?" Naruto waved his hand in front of Gaara's face. Gaara blinked. "You zoned out on me! Or did you get brainfreeze?" he joked.

Gaara looked away, afraid that if he stared back at Naruto that he would be able to read his thoughts in his eyes. "Sorry," he replied as they continued walking.

Naruto snickered and lifted his cup, drinking the flavored juice that had collected at the bottom. "I don't think I've ever seen you look like that! It was kinda funny, ya know?"

A faint blush came to Gaara's cheeks, making him self conscious. "Is... Is that so?" he weakly asked. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest now, and he tried to ignore the sensation. "Is there anything particular you would like to see while you're here?" He couldn't think of anywhere else to take Naruto at the moment. His mind was too scrambled all of a sudden.

"Oh! Sweet! You have a playground too!" Naruto dashed off, tossing his empty cup into a trash can along the way. Gaara watched as he headed straight for the swings and sat on one. When Naruto called his name with a smile and waved him over, he obliged. He threw his own cup away and walked over, sitting on the swing beside him. "The swings were my favorite!" Naruto eagerly told him as he started going back and forth with vigor, lifting his feet off the ground like he was a kid again.

Gaara remained seated and stationary. Seeing how much fun Naruto was having, he was tempted to swing as well, but what would the villagers think if they saw their Kazekage playing like a child? "Is that so..." he repeated, unsure of what to say to the random fact.

"Well... Most of the time, they were," Naruto said, his smile slowly falling. He stopped swinging, and as he came to a halt, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the rope. "Other times... I just sat on them, watching the other kids play..." His voice was quiet, and when Gaara looked at him, his eyes traced over the fox whiskers on Naruto's cheeks.

He closed his eyes as well, memories coming back to him from a similar time in his life. "...I did that, too. Sat on the swings... Watching others play..." He couldn't offer comfort, as his experience had been almost exactly the same, but he could at least offer solidarity.

Then he felt Naruto nudge him with his elbow. He opened his eyes to see him smiling at him, his bright, blue eyes shining as he asked, "Wanna swing together, Gaara?"

Gaara hesitated, glancing around at the villagers walking by. But as his eyes returned to Naruto and his warm and excited smile, his resolve to keep his mature Kazekage image melted and he smiled back. "...Sure."

Gaara lost track of how long they were on the swings. All they did was swing back and forth like they were children again, but it just felt so freeing, soaring through the air and grinning madly at each other as they tried to go higher and higher.

Then the actual children came to play with them, and Naruto wasted no time at all in joining them in their games and activities. Gaara stood and watched for the most part, still a little shy and awkward around kids, but eventually with both the children's and Naruto's pleading he gave in and played a few games as well. At one point he realized a few of the children's parents were watching and he felt embarrassed, only to see they were smiling at the sight. They caught his gaze and waved to him. He waved back, a warm feeling coming over him from the interaction. Though there were still a few people in the village that still weren't fond of him, the majority very much liked him now. The amount of Suna's people that had come to help rescue him when he had been kidnapped had been overwhelming. And yet... it still felt strange when he encountered villagers just... being nice to him. Being friendly to him.

"Can you build a sand castle?!" a young girl excitedly asked, tugging on his sleeve.

He grinned at her, then a moment later a large sand castle was forming before her and her friends. They watched in awe and wonder as it was completed in a matter of seconds. "I can," he replied with a teasing tone.

"Woooooaaahhh~!" The little girl took her friends' hands and they ran to explore it. It was big enough that they could use it as a playhouse, and his sand was sturdy enough that they could roughhouse all they wanted without it caving or shifting on them. "This is awesome!" she exclaimed, climbing through the entrance.

One of the boys poked his head through a window. "Can we keep this?!" he asked.

Gaara chuckled. "It's all yours! Consider it a new addition to the playground."

"Yessssss!" The other boy poked his head out of another window. "Thanks, Mister Kazekage!"

As the other kids joined them and they began to play in the sandcastle, Naruto sidled up to Gaara. "That was cute! You made their day, Gaara!" he chimed.

His words rang through Gaara's mind. 'That was cute!'... Gaara cleared his throat and quickly turned, hiding his reddening face. "I'm glad I was able to make them happy. There's not much to our playground. ...Perhaps I should look into more additions for it."

As they started walking again, Naruto quietly laughed. "That made me happy, too. Playing like a kid again... With a friend, this time... It was fun!"

At the word 'friend', Gaara felt a small ache in his chest. "Y-Yeah... It was nice..." 'Friend'... Perhaps that was all he was to Naruto. 'Friend'... It wasn't like they spent much time together. They hardly saw each other, being from different villages and having their own busy lives... It was possible Naruto didn't feel the same for him as he felt for Naruto. The fire inside him flickered a little at the thought, and he tried to keep his voice neutral as he said, "I had fun, too."

"...So, where do you live?"

The question was out of the blue, and Gaara struggled to answer it. "J-Just over there..." His eyes shifted in the general direction, and his mind was a whir as he wondered why Naruto wanted to know. He didn't know where Naruto lived in Konoha, after all... Wasn't knowing where one lived kind of personal?

"After all that playing I'm kinda tired. Mind if we relax at your place for a bit?" Naruto casually asked, glancing at him. As soon as their eyes met Gaara darted his away.

"We can... If that's what you want..."

When they stepped inside his house shortly after, Naruto grinned. "It's still kinda weird to me that all your buildings are sand, but this feels cozy!" As they took their shoes off in the entryway he apparently noticed the other sets of footwear of varying sizes. "Right! You live with your brother and sister!" he noted. "I forgot! What's that like?"

"Er..." Gaara wasn't sure how to answer such a question. "It's like... I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Oh. It's fine, if you can't. I was just wondering. I've only ever lived alone. Apart from when I was training with Pervy Sage, anyway." Naruto grinned. "Living with other people can be fun. A little annoying, sometimes, but mostly fun..."

That Gaara could relate to. He gave a smirk as he walked past Naruto and down the hall. "Especially when they bicker and squabble over nothing. The amount of arguments Kankuro and Temari get into over the littlest things..."

"Liiiiiike~?" Naruto followed behind him, peering at the minimal decor on the walls.

"Hmm... Well, Kankuro takes forever in the bathroom putting his makeup on. Temari hates it."

Naruto chuckled. "I can totally see that!"

"But you're right, it is fun living with them..." Gaara looked at a pitcure of the three of them on a shelf as they passed it. He smiled, seeing they were all smiling in the photo as well. It was a welcome change to the smile-less photos that had adorned the walls years before. In the time after their father had passed and the siblings grew closer, their house had gradually started to feel more like a home, thanks to such changes. In both decorations and other ways... "No matter how annoying they can be sometimes, they're still my brother and sister."

They entered the living room and Gaara sat on the couch. As Naruto sat beside him, he suddenly felt anxious. He hurried to turn the television on. "Watch what you like. I'm not much for TV," he quickly said, handing the remote to Naruto.

"Seriously? You're missing out on so many good shows, though!" Naruto flipped through the channels. As he did so, Gaara tried to relax back against the cushions, but his body was rigid, overcome with nerves. His heart was beating faster and faster, now that he was sitting next to Naruto... Alone. Together. Alone together... H-Had Temari and Kankuro said when they were coming back? Suddenly he was desperate for an interruption...

"This show's great! I missed the last few episodes though." Naruto put the remote back on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch. He looked at Gaara, noticing his stiffness. "What's wrong, Gaara?"

"Nn... Nothing." Gaara abruptly stood. "Be right back. I... I need something from my room." He hurried out of the living room, hoping Naruto hadn't seen his face. He didn't know if he was red or not, but he felt so hot...

When he reached his bedroom, he stood in the doorway, staring blankly at his things. He had lied. He didn't need anything from his room. He just... He couldn't handle the pressure of sitting next to Naruto like that. Knowing they were alone. Knowing there were no prying eyes upon them, watching their every move. He just... needed to get away for a moment. To clear his mind and calm his beating heart. To smother the fire a bit...

"This your room?"

Startled, he turned to see Naruto had silently followed him. Naruto smirked and walked past him, stopping in the middle of the space and putting his hands on his hips. "You sure do love your cacti... I should have just taken one from the desert for your birthday gift!" he joked, looking over the various plants littering the desk, dressers, and shelves. He walked over to a tiny plant on the bedside table. "What's this? It doesn't look like a cactus..."

"It's a succulent," Gaara weakly answered. He still felt dazed, like he was having an out-of-body experience as he watched Naruto look around at his belongings. He didn't understand why he felt that way... It wasn't like he had anything bad in his room. But having Naruto looking at all his personal belongings felt a little too... too...

"And who's this cute fella?!" Naruto picked up the stuffed bear from his bed, grinning down at it. "Do they have a name?"

"..." Gaara closed his eyes. Okay... His cheeks were definitely red now... "...That's... Mr. Sprinkles," he gruffly replied, just knowing Naruto was going to laugh. It was a rather ridiculous name, after all. But he'd had the stuffed bear since he was little... Of course it had a silly name...

But Naruto didn't laugh. "Nice to meetcha, Mr. Sprinkles!" Gaara opened his eyes to find Naruto shaking the bear's paw, as though he was greeting an actual person. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Instead, it was Gaara who ended up laughing. "Y-You're absurd...!"

Naruto beamed at him, then gently returned Mr. Sprinkles to the bed. "I know, I'm too much! That's what everyone tells me... Heh..."

Gaara stared at him as he straightened. Looking at him from the side... The sunlight from the window hitting his face like that... As Naruto turned to him, he couldn't say anything. And as Naruto stepped closer to him, he couldn't think. But at least this time, he could move.

He took a step back.

"Let's... watch that show of yours," he suggested, looking away as he felt Naruto's eyes piercing his. "You can tell me all about it. I've never seen it..."

Naruto reached out and took his hand, then pulled him back into the room. As Gaara blinked and froze, Naruto's cheeks lifted in a dazzling smile. "I don't want to watch TV, Gaara." His voice was raspy as usual, but also soft... So soft... "I want to celebrate your birthday." He darted his face forward and as his lips crashed onto Gaara's, Gaara's mind went blank. What...? But... What...?

Naruto pulled back, and his whiskered cheeks were just as red. He gave a breathy chuckle, and as Gaara's senses returned he realized Naruto was just as nervous as him. He anxiously swallowed, with the sensation of Naruto's lips on his still tingling his mouth. "You... just..." His senses were back, but his voice wasn't. He struggled to ask what he wanted to ask.

With a small grin, Naruto told him, "Yeah. I kissed you. ...Hope that's okay. I'm not really... sure how this stuff works... A-And maybe you don't feel the same. But-!"

Gaara pressed his lips back onto Naruto's, and slowly lifted his hands to frame his face. So... Naruto did feel the same... He felt... so happy... So happy! So relieved... He felt the flame inside him begin to burn brighter, warming him to his core.

He loved Naruto.

And Naruto loved him, too.

Getting over the initial shock of having his kiss returned, Naruto hesitantly placed his hands on Gaara's hips. As the two continued to kiss, he gently redirected them over to Gaara's bed. They sat down, and a moment later their lips parted, and the two gazed at each other. Gaara with wide sea green eyes full of shocked awe and wonder, and Naruto with creased ocean blue eyes full of bashful joy and mischief. "S-So... Gaara... H-How much do you wanna celebrate?"

Gaara gazed into his sparkling, loving eyes... Naruto... Naruto had saved him in so many ways... Shown him friendship... kindness... compassion... Love. He loved Naruto in so many ways... And wanted to love him in even more ways... He smiled, and as he felt the fire inside him flare up, he faintly whispered, "However much you want to..."

Naruto's smile widened, and he leaned into Gaara, forcing him to lie down on the bed. "Well... I want to celebrate a lot. 'Cuz I love you a lot. ...That okay?" All Gaara could do was nod in approval, peering up at him with flushed cheeks and happy yet anxious eyes, and Naruto chuckled. "Good. This is gonna be your best birthday yet, Gaara! I'll make sure of it! Believe it!"

As Gaara broke into laughter, Naruto kissed him again, and he had to agree. Because Naruto said so, he did believe it. This would be his best birthday yet...

The fire within him was free to burn and rage on, and he knew it would only continue to get hotter with each passing second, with each touch and look and kiss Naruto gave him. And if he got burned by it... So be it. He lived in the desert, after all. He could handle the heat.