It had come out one day, out of the blue, clear sky and right on her unsuspecting ears.

“Temari…I want to see him again.”

There was no confusion about who ‘he’ was to her. ‘He’ was the one who had shown her baby brother there was more to life than just killing and basking in the blood of his victims. ‘He’ was the one that had defeated her brother to save his important people from near death. ‘He’ was the one who had actually given her, her brother back, who was no longer not just some killing machine to be scared of and wonder if it would be her last day on this good green earth because of a change in whims. ‘He’ was none other than Konoha Village’s number one most hyperactive, loudest, most thickheaded ninja she had ever met and had the pleasure to call ally, Uzumaki Naruto. Temari supposed she should have been shocked, but in truth, she had actually been waiting to hear those words from her baby brother’s mouth. Ever since getting soundly thrashed by the little blonde Gaara had slowly been changing. It hadn’t been blatantly obvious at first of course. It just started with little things; he wouldn’t kill anyone if he felt like it or wasn’t highly, highly annoyed, only when he needed to. He attempted to be a brother to herself and Kankuro which he had started then scared the living shit out of them, for him taking an interest in what they did and their lives outside of the shinobi world or just him taking an interest was a complete alien thought to the siblings.

Occasionally, she caught him smiling at nothing in particular. The smile wasn’t the old the ‘I’m a raving psychotic who’s about to kill you’ smile, but an actual, real smile that spoke of genuine gentle happiness and comfort. He was still quiet with them, but he seemed to be developing a sense of humor, another huge shock to the poor siblings’ hearts, albeit his humor was a weird one, but it was a sense of humor nonetheless that was the best change yet that Gaara had adapted. It was something that which had thrown Kankuro for a loop the first time Gaara had cracked a joke to him, it made her laugh so hard seeing Kankuro looked stunned and stupefied when Gaara had told the pun then look expectant for a humored response.


The biggest change that had happened was about a year or two after his battle with Naruto. A close friend of hers that she had known for most of her childhood and who was a few years older had been sent out on a B rank mission; something that was supposed to be a simple mission, black and white. She had just gotten word later that the mission had been a set up and none of the team survived. He had found her in her room hugging the crumbled scroll that the news had come on close to her heart, tears trickling silently down her cheeks as she shook from the pain and heartache. She had been utterly shocked when she felt the warm arms of her baby brother close around her from behind and a quiet voice say “I’m sorry.”

Gaara had learned to hug.

Temari suddenly found herself with a quiet, very pale, insomnia induced, extremely odd little brother. But he was a little brother to her and that’s really all that mattered.

So when the time came that he decided he wanted to see the one responsible for all this, Temari wasn’t surprised in the least she was very glad at the prospect. “So, go ask permission to leave the village already.” She had replied with a fond smile at the not so little red head. Lime green cat eyes looked up at her with faint surprise. “Look, you want to see him right? It’s been ten years, go find him. But first let someone know where you’re going. The village has enough of a shinobi shortage without you killing off the entire hunter nin.”

He gave her one of those fond rare smiles in return. “Thank you, Temari.”

She shrugged, secretly still delighted. “Hey, what are big sisters for?”

Gaara of the Desert may have changed over the years and slowly mellowed and matured, but Gaara of the Desert was still Gaara of the Desert and a demon vessel none the less. If Gaara of the Desert wanted something, then he damn well got it; and quickly.

Kazekage seemed to remember this little tidbit of survival information when dealing with the vessel and Gaara left for Konoha Village the next day with no resistance from his Kazekage or the council of elders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Konoha hadn’t changed much. The buildings that had been destroyed during the failed attack so many years ago during the chuunin exams had been rebuilt and multiplied with the growing population, there was a new head carved into the Hokage monument, and the cemetery was a little larger with the fallen soldiers and villagers from the past fatality. But Konoha was still basically Konoha from what he remembered, and Gaara had to remind himself not to kill the birds that were twittering happily in the trees for their songs were off key and jumbled together as an orchestra of crap.

He headed towards the administration offices and prepared himself for dealing with bureaucracy of the village. Hmm…maybe he should have killed those birds, if only to keep from having the urge to kill the bureaucrats grow with every second he wasted on them and not with ‘him’. After waiting half an hour, he was allowed to approach a harried looking scribe ninja for the Hokage.

“Name?”

”Gaara of the Desert”

“Village?”

”Sand.”

“Purpose in Konoha?”

“I’m looking for Uzumaki Naruto.”

The scribe stopped, looked up at him with wide eyes of disbelief, and then attempted to speak. It took a few tries for the poor bolk. “I…I’m afraid that’s impossible...” Green eyes narrowed. “Why?” Sand swirled around his feet and around the bottom of the desk the scribe sat at causing the man to tense greatly from fear and anxiety.

“Well…you see…Err…that is…”

Sand rose from merely swirling around the bottom of the desk to circling tightly, and closing in with each spin, around the scribe’s neck, making his eyes dilate with the panic that set in. he shot his arms out and waved them hastily to try and stop the sand.

“Erk…Ah…if I could just get you to wait over there for a few minutes, I can let you speak to someone else about this…” With that the sand abruptly stopped circling and flowed back into the large gourd on the red head’s back, as he walked over to the indicated spot.

The scribe scurried off for his life.

Another fifteen minutes found him face to face with a rather well endowed chest blonde woman with red eyes and a diamond mark on her forehead. “Gaara of the Desert?” He nodded. “Follow me, please.”

He followed her to a particularly nice office which featured the Konoha symbol on much of the décor; it was simple but, comfortable to him and probably her. The woman sat behind the desk, leaned on her elbows, folded her hands, and then just looked at him for a minute. “So…you’re looking for Uzumaki Naruto. May I enquire why?”

He glared at the woman with ice. “I fought him once and I want to see him again.”

“To settle an old score, then.” She nodded disgusted.

“No. I just want to see him…He’s…He’s like me.”

The woman held her breath for a moment looking at him confused, still studying him carefully. “Kyuubi was not the only one then…” she muttered to herself. She then spoke louder, “Uzumaki Naruto does not reside in Hidden Leaf Village anymore. Nor is he a Konoha chuunin any longer.” She watched with interest as the boy’s face remained perfectly calm, yet sand began to swirl excitedly around his feet. “He was exiled four years ago now. You will no longer find him in the village.”

“I’ve wasted my time here then.” He turned to leave; a call from behind him gave him cause to pause.

“Gaara-san? Please remember. I’ve said you will no longer find him in the village.”

You will no longer find him in the village, but she didn’t say a word about the country. Gaara smirked. He turned to face the woman again and gave a slight bow. “Aa. Thank You.”

She smiled in return. “Good luck on your journey.”

Good luck on your journey. Not a word said about his journey home. Clever minx of a woman she seemed to be, that was good for the Hokage position she held.

Gaara smirked. Maybe he didn’t need to kill those birds, after all…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four. Bloody. Years.

That’s what it took to find the damn man. Fire Country was not a small country in any sense at all, and coupled with the fact that he was frequently called back to Hidden Sand Village for missions which angered him to no ends, stretched out what should have been, at most, a six months searching into four years of massive headaches and killer urges to murder those before him, deserving or not.

If this wasn’t the right place he came to then he seriously was going to kill all the occupants of the area who unfortunately happen to be in his way, he was that pissed off at his quest. There had been too many false leads and dead ends for his bleeding heart to bear anymore; he was tired of searching places again and again and only gaining the bitter disappointment he’s come to taste almost every minute of every hour of every day he continued on, and pain in his crossed chest that came with each wrong turn, it was making him lose faith in ever finding ‘him’. Shukaku was the worst part of the quest for he was getting more irritable than ever and Gaara didn’t know how much longer he could keep the demon at bay with his taunts and parries at his ever thinning sanity. Hell, after four years worth of pain he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to hold back the blood lust of the demon anymore and just let go like he use to all those years ago.

Heaven help the poor souls of the surrounding area if this wasn’t finally the place he had been searching for.

He had heard of the place accidentally, completely unintentional. Some poor country bumpkin wandering in one of Fire Country’s many villages’ bar and mentioned to some of his buddies something about a young man who lived alone in the mountains and hearing then weird noises come from the forest up there sometimes. Like a good Shinobi, Gaara had questioned the man thoroughly; oh, he was very proud of himself that he didn’t even have to use sand or red hot kunai on the poor fellow like those before him. Apparently the ‘I’m a psychopath who’s about to kill you for fun and profit’ grin was a torture method all unto its own that he had mastered to the very best.

The blonde, they said around those parts, comes down to the village once every few months for a few items and supplies and then heads back up the mountain, never goes beyond the village borders or anywhere else. Although, the young man had been a little off as of late and now hardly ever come down from the mountains. But it was probably the solitude of the mountains that did it, they said, it tends to make those alone a little too comfortable with themselves.

Gaara didn’t care if the young man was frolicking through the fields naked singing ‘I’m a pretty brony’. If it wasn’t his blonde idiot, someone was going to die a very gruesome death and that someone was the poor man on the damn mountain. Although admittedly, if it was Naruto he sincerely hoped the blonde wasn’t actually frolicking and singing ‘I’m a pretty brony’. It would just be too weird, even by his standards and there would be probably no helping the man’s shattered mind.

The redhead strode stoically onward, almost to the village that the poor bolk had described to him in detailed. Just outside the border he paused for a moment, sensing something that was much like a chakra warding. It was a chakra warding; extending for a good distance too it looked like. Well, well, well. There was obviously something is this backwater little section of the country that someone at Konoha didn’t want getting out. Maybe he wouldn’t have to kill anyone after all and finally get what he was looking for.

Pity.

He still wasn’t exactly sure where this young man up in the mountains was located, but being the genius Sand nin that he was it didn’t take him too long to find out. Stealth and some well placed terrorization of the local kids with his sand could do wonders for helping one find directions to where one needed to go if they were like him though.

And so he found himself walking a barely visible mountain path through a deep forest. The trees were dark and menace looking with many branches and thick foliage; the bushes and vines tugged and snagged his outfit causing little rips and tears along the way. It was a bit…no extremely annoying to him in every sense. Every now and again he had to stop and reach out with all of his senses to make sure he hadn’t somehow inadvertently gotten off the trail and had to constantly use his sand to move away the cursed foliage that got in his path. Eventually it brought him up to a small cabin nestled in the crook of a mountain edge with large, deep green pines surrounding on three sides and a small pond a little away from the cabin. Walking up to the door, he didn’t sense any chakra but then again it was possible to mask such things and one could never really be too careful.

Sending some sand through the crack beneath the door, Gaara performed the Daisan no Me jutsu and viewed the inside of the cabin. It seemed to be rather Spartan and plain. The main room was a combined kitchen and living area, it was neat and tidy at the moment but the walls and floor had a few spots of faded dark red-brown that the redhead knew from experience was dried blood that someone hadn’t managed to completely scrub away. The other two rooms where just as empty as the main and just as mysterious. Adult clothing and ninja gear was stored in the first. But the puzzling thing was along with it were smaller piece of clothing, child sized, along with crudely made toys.

Clearly a ninja was here, but it must be an exiled or hidden kunoichi, not a young man like everyone said. How else were the children’s articles explained? Gaara felt the by now familiar disappointment and rage swelling up within him again but, curiosity and caution made him thoroughly search through every room in the cabin. The second room was completely devoid of any furnishing or item. It could have been a storage room, but there was obviously nothing stored in it. Yet another mystery to chock up to the oddity that was the cabin came to mind for Gaara here.

Well, whatever it was it was empty at the moment and, more importantly, it wasn’t what he was looking for. Oh he was definitely going back down to that village and doing more than just terrorizing those lying little punks that lived there this time…

He had turned and walked a small ways away from the cabin when he felt chakra nearby. He was rather irritable and disappointed.

Why not start the killing spree now? After all, an exiled ninja would give him more of a challenge than pathetic villagers and he was really tired of hearing the demon in him bitch at him for lack of bloodlust and trying.

Slipping into the shadows of the forest he made his way stealthily towards the source of the chakra. And then frowned…there were two…three…no, only two different chakra. There was a rustling in the underbrush ahead of him, he ducked behind an ancient tree and heard a male voice say “Go hide and then go home.”

The voice sounded eerily familiar, but he couldn’t place it, it was as if from someone he knew long ago. There was a soft whimper, probably an animal of some sort, and then more rustling as something moved away from them. A kunai flew towards him and he blocked it easily.

“Come out, I know you’re there.”

They hadn’t said please, but how could he resist a challenge for it had been so long since he had one. Stepping from behind the trunk of the large pine, he saw his enemy clearly for the first time. And if he hadn’t been Gaara of the Desert, he of the severe lack in facial expression, his jaw probably would have dropped. Good thing he was because it looked like he wasn’t going to get to kill anyone after all.

Uzumaki Naruto had grown up. He was a little taller with lean legs encased in jeans and broad shoulders stretching out a black t shirt with the Uzumaki spiral printed in red on the front, bronze arms tight with tension as he held another kunai in his hand. His face had lost its chubbiness he had known when he was young and was more angular now; a man’s face. The blonde spikes Gaara remembered had grown long and wild, a mass of them held back in tail that reached to his shoulders. There was no Konoha *hitae tied around the forehead. The eyes though, those blue eyes had changed. Before they had shown determination and the need to protect his most important people; they were filled with pride and courage and love. But now they were hard with betrayal and the harsh pain the boy had suffered and glittered as brightly as shards of ice.

However, only one thing was running through Gaara’s mind at the moment. Yummy.

Incomprehension flashed over the blonde’s face, but he didn’t drop his guard.

“Gaara?”

The red head smirked, folding his arms; doing his old signature move.

“Good. It is you. Now I don’t have to go kill that village. Do you have any idea how hard you are to find?”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vocabulary You didn’t think You’d need to know:

*Hitae = headband

*Daisan no Me justu = The third Eye justu; Daisan no Me is a Ninjutsu unique to the Sand ninja Gaara. Created out of sand, the Eye allows Gaara to view an opponent when he is either encased in his Suna no Muya or when he needs to be able to see his opponent's actions when he has no clear line of sight with his own eyes.

Perhaps he had finally lost it.

Perhaps it was the 8 years of enforced exile he’s had to bear along with the little to no human contact rule given upon said exile.

Perhaps the Kyuubi was finally getting her revenge as she always threatened she would with him having to imprison her.

Whatever it was in his frail mind, Naruto was quite certain that what he saw before him was not actually what was there. “You’re not real.”

“What?” The redhead deadpanned, the smirk on his lips dropping as the man he had spent so long searching continued to ramble as he began to pace.

“You’re not here at all. You’re just some random hallucination here to prove to me that I’ve gone even more insane. Huh. I’d thought I’d gotten better about that since…” His voice drifted off as did the blue eyes glazing over with a slightly drugged look as he continued his troubled pacing. Gaara gave him an incredulous look as he stared at the distressed man. Before he could say a word, however, those blue eyes snapped back to him and the blonde started babbling again.

“You’re a new one, though. I use to see Iruka-sensei a lot, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan too; even Ero-senin and Thick Brows and Shikamaru and the rest of the gang every now and again when they were feeling vicious. But you’re new. I guess I’m progressing to past enemies now. Who knows maybe I’ll see Haku next or perhaps that snake freak from before.” Naruto laughs madding at the thought as he spoke causing Gaara to question whether or not he was too late in finding the man.

Gaara then, briefly wondered who the hell Haku was and if he needed to kill him. But Naruto seemed to ignore Gaara’s bewildered looks and continued to babble but, now started approached him till he was but arms length in distance of him. He started to wave his hands at Gaara and glared at him full of hurt and sadness as he spoke.

“Are you here to tell me how much a failure and a freak I am now? Because, I mean, you don’t really have a lot of room to talk, but that’s what you do, right? You hallucinations; You tell me how pathetic I am, that I’m nothing but a demon, that I’m better off dead and I should just do the right thing for once and take myself out of the world. You’ve been telling me that for four years after all, but I beat you!! At least I thought I had…Whatever! I’m not going to let you beat me this time! I don’t care if you’re a hallucination, and I don’t care if I am worthless and…”

A pale hand clamped over his mouth cutting off whatever was next. It was warm and soft, and hallucinations weren’t tangible at least up to now. Naruto’s blue eyes widened behind the pale flesh blocking his mouth and looked directly into the green eyes that had been just a few feet from him but now a mere inches away from his face.

“Do I feel like a hallucination?”

The blonde shook his head.

“Are you going to continue babbling if I remove my hand?”

With another no answering shake Gaara removed his hand.

“Oh my god… you are real. What are you doing here? How did you find me? Did anyone follow you? Because, well…I mean, that would be really bad and I’m surprised they haven’t swooped down on us for vengeance or some shit like that just for you being here. And… why… you? I mean, why were you of all people looking for me? You’re not here to fight again are you? Because I’m kind of out of practice with any time of fighting and well… with eight years exile and all that, but if you want we can kind have like spar or something along those lines and…”

Gaara placed his hand back over the blonde man’s mouth. “That,” he informed the other “was still babbling.” Blue eyes narrowed.

“Mfff mawzz moff!”

“Yes, it was. And no, I’m not here to fight. I just wanted to see you again.” Blue eyes widened again filling with more than just curiosity, and was that a hint of a blush crossing those tan cheeks? Gaara smirked and continued. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already, so obviously I don’t since you’re still breathing.”

Naruto blinked. “Mem my?”

“Not really sure. See, I actually feel things now every once in awhile and I blame you for that. But…I don’t want to kill you. Besides we’re alike, you and I. And if I killed you…That would leave me really alone and I really don’t want that happening.” Green eyes bore into blue and Naruto saw …something significant flicker through them, but then Gaara was speaking again.

“I really don’t want to be alone again like before.” He finished quietly, looking off to the side suddenly.

Naruto may have been in exile, but he was still a ninja and saw an opening when it presented itself. And being said ninja, he ruthlessly took the opportunity.

He licked Gaara’s palm.

The pale hand was snatched back at an extraordinary speed, and Gaara automatically cradled it to his chest as a deep blush spread across his wraith-like features, a scandalized look coming over his face.

“Did… you… just… lick me?!”

“Well…yah. You wouldn’t move your hand!! How else was I supposed to carry on a conversation with you if you had your hand over my mouth the entire time that would be completely one sided?!” The blonde man cocked his head to the side as he crossed his arms, looking at the other’s blush with a feral grin.

“I can think of other things for you to do with that damned mouth of yours…” Gaara muttered under his breath as he continued to look at his ‘licked’ hand.

“Eh? What was that?”

“Nothing…”

“Right…”

“Right....”

“So…”

“So...”

Awkward silence reigned on high as the two stared anywhere but, at each other. Finally, Naruto couldn’t take it anymore and broke the silence.

“So, you’re not here to attack me, you’re not here to kill me. What are you here for?”

He looked carefully at the other young man. Gaara really hadn’t changed much; at least not physically. He had grown a little, about Naruto’s own height he’d say. And the normal changes that came with growing up, but he still looked the same with pale, pale skin contrasted by that shock of blood red hair and the ‘Ai’ tattoo. Dark circle still lined his green eyes and Naruto couldn’t tell if they were from *kohl or lack of sleep. Probably the latter because for some reason, unthinkable to him, it seemed really disturbing to the blonde to think of Gaara as pouncy or flamboyant enough to wear eyeliner. He was a ninja, not a pirate or *tranny.

The redhead folded his arms and gave Naruto the ‘didn’t I already tell you, you idiot?’ look. “Because I wanted to see you; we’re the same.”

“We are nothing alike!”

Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow at Naruto. “Oh? Aren’t we? We’ve both been fucked over by the people who should have protected us the most. And those around us, except a select few, don’t see us past the demons inside us. We’ve both been exiled. Yours was enforced by the village you wanted to protect. Mine was by the family I wanted to love. My exile may have been not quite as literal as yours, but it is still there nonetheless.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why you’re here.” Naruto crossed his arms and met the other man’s gaze dead on.

Gaara was silent for moment, just looking at him, and Naruto fought the urge to shift uncomfortably. Then he spoke.

“You saved me once, now I want to save you.”

Needless to say, Naruto was rather shocked. “Wha…?”

“You saved me from myself. You looked past Shukaku and you saw the boy who was the same as you. You saw Gaara. You had beaten the hell out of me to do it, but you did save me from what would’ve been a miserable and short experience of life. I’m not here to fight or kill the Kyuubi or you. I’m here to see Uzumaki Naruto. I’m here to see the boy who told me it was okay to love someone other than yourself. I want to save you from what Konoha did to you and from what you’re doing to yourself because of it. I want to keep you from becoming what I was or would’ve been.”

Naruto’s jaw dropped and his eyes had a suspicious sheen to them. He then shook his head and grinned. “You know, I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at once.” Gaara smirked.

“How did you figure out where I was anyway, no one was ever supposed to find out?”

“Thank the Blonde woman with the diamond back in Konoha. She’s the one that told me you were still in the country.”

“The Old Hag?!!”

“She didn’t look old to me.”

“Dude, she’s like 60.”

“Must use one hell of a renewal cream.”

“……did you….did you just crack a joke?”

“Maybe” Gaara smirk a cheeky one at the blonde.

“I don’t believe it.”

The redhead snorted. “It’s your fault. Besides, just telling you were in the country didn’t help much. I’ve been looking for four years.”

“Four years?” Naruto looked impressed.

Gaara nodded, feeling shy suddenly. This was nice, comfortably even. Just talking like this the two of them. He thought he heard Shukaku making gagging noises in the back of his mind, but he promptly told the demon to shut the fuck up and refocused his attention on the blonde in front of him.

Just then, the fox boy glanced at the sky. “Oh shit!!”

Gaara gave him a puzzled look, cocking his head a little to the side.

“Damnit, I didn’t realize it had been that long.” Naruto looked around as if searching for something. Gaara’s puzzlement continued, after all it had only been about twenty minutes at most. And what on earth was the other man looking for anyway?

Naruto turned and slightly narrowed blue eyes turned calculating and stared directly at him.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“You’re absolutely sure no on followed you?”

The Sand nin snorted. Please, as if anyone would be stupid enough to try.

“Right, right…ask a stupid question…” Naruto stared at him a bit longer, the calculating look never leaving his eyes. “Alright, come with me.”

And with that he began following the blonde back through the labyrinth of pines to the trail that lead them back to the cabin to the cabin itself. Gaara was very confused; however having the world’s greatest poker face came in handy in times like this so Naruto knew not of his turmoil. Naruto paused in front of the door, looked at Gaara and then back at the door, took a deep breath and then opened it.

Now why was the blonde acting this strange? Like this was such a big step, inviting the Sand nin into his home and all…unless…unless…Surely not it was way too soon for such things! Gaara fought and lost to the heat he could feel rising in his face. Well, the other man had been out here alone for quite some time…Argh the thoughts were so confusing and damning! There went that heat again full force into his visage. But all things considered he really didn’t mind that much about the notion…He was just shy about such things it was going to be his first time on such a thing... Suddenly, Gaara’s sandals became very, very interesting.

He heard Naruto walk through the door into the main room and followed, his sandals still being so very interesting. Damn his shyness getting in the way!

“Kitling! It’s okay.”

Wait what? Gaara looked up, sandals forgotten, and saw a little blonde head poke around the corner of the bedroom doorway. A…little…blonde…head…with whisker marks and big blue eyes…Oh.... Naruto had a…child? But, but…the only way for Naruto to have had a child was if…if he had…

Something inside Gaara, around the vicinity of his chest if he had to say at the time, cracked and then shattered as the logic made clear of the situation. He wasn’t exactly entirely sure what was going on because all he saw was red at the moment with Naruto becoming encased in sand up to his neck in the perfect position for a *‘Sabaku Sousou’. He was dimly aware of the little one crying in terror and Naruto cussing and yelling at him, but it didn’t particularly matter by this point. Because suddenly, it all became clear to him. The real reason he wanted to see the blonde again. The real reason he had search for four years to find him. And the reason he was going to kill the bastard now. Right after he found out who the slut was so he could go kill her too.

“You bastard!! Who the hell was it? One of those whores down in the village? Or was your being all alone up here in exile just a lie too?”

“What? You psycho! What the fuck are you talking about? And don’t curse in front of my daughter!”

“Your daughter’s going to join you if you don’t tell me who she was!”

Somewhere in the background the little girl began crying even louder, screaming “Papa!”

Gaara ignored her and watched as Naruto began struggling in earnest at his last comment. Blue eyes bleed away to crimson red and the whisker marks on each cheek darkened to a deep purple, making him all the more excited in bloodlust. “You touch her and I’ll rip your throat out! I kicked your ass once I can do it again!”

“Not when I’ve got you bound in sand. Now where the hell’s the slut you knocked up to have the brat?”

“Huh?” Naruto blinked; he stopped struggling immediately at the question and just stared at the red head dumbfounded.

Gaara snarled, he wasn’t feeling particularly patient at the moment. “The. Whore. You. Slept. With. To. Have. A. Kid.” There, simple words for the idiot; maybe the *baka could understand him now.

Naruto looked at him with recognition …and then laughed out of nowhere, it was harsh and bitter. “You moron! If you’re looking for a female to kill over this, she’s right here inside me.”

Wait…that wasn’t right. Gaara articulated this fact aloud. “Huh?”

“Kyuubi, you psycho. She’s mine and Kyuubi’s.”

Okay, logic was dying a horrible death here inside of Gaara’s upside down mind. In fact, Gaara could almost hear its screams of pain as it went under. Stupefied as he was, Gaara lost control over the sand for a second. Which was enough time for Naruto to break free of the hold and lunge at the other man. There was a loud crash, and somehow, Gaara found himself flat on his back with Naruto straddling his chest, a spinning ball of chakra in the blonde’s right hand. Sand was slowly surrounding him, crawling up his legs and chest but Naruto paid it no mind, staring at the redhead with furious blue eyes.

“Alright, you panda eyed lunatic! Why the hell did you really come here?”

Gaara blinked and then yanked on the blonde’s shirt pulling him down until they were face to face with no second thought in hand.

“For this.”

And with a little lift of his head, they were kissing. It wasn’t a perfect kiss, or really even a good one for that fact. Their noses had knocked together on the way, and they were really just sort of smushing their lips together. The blonde was in shock and wasn’t really responding. But it was still a kiss in Gaara’s book and since Gaara had never kissed before, and he was willing to bet Naruto hadn’t either; so it was fairly decent all things considered. Although his technique sucked, he made up for it with emotions. Trying to convey years worth of loneliness and frustration and want into one kiss somehow worked for the blonde. It must have, because slowly he felt Naruto begin to respond. He closed his eyes and…

Suddenly found two small fists beating against a barrier of sand near his head.

“No eat Papa!!”

Green eyes snapped open at the assault and a part of him growled in loss as the warm lips that had been on his were suddenly gone and other confused at the statement he had just heard. Naruto had sat back up, and was holding a hand over his wildly blushing face. His daughter was beating her little fists against the sand still; tear tracks bright on her cheeks as she cried angrily.

The blonde looked from the scowling Sand nin on his floor to his equally scowling 4 year old who was attempting to save her Papa from being ‘eaten’ and began to laugh. Because if he didn’t laugh, he just might cry by this point from all the mixed emotions he was experiencing right there and then.

“Kizuko, Kitling, it’s alright. Papa’s fine.”

The little blonde stopped at looked at him. He moved off of the redhead and sat cross legged on the floor of the cabin, sitting next to Gaara and gathering the little girl to him. Gaara pushed himself up, still scowling at Kizuko, who stuck her tongue out at him and snuggled into her Papa’s shirt.

“Kitling, this is Gaara.”

“Panda eye wunamic!”

Gaara twitched. Naruto snorted.

“No, Kitling, Gaara.”

Kizuko eyed him suspiciously. Gaara glared right back at her. “Gaara” She said finally.

Naruto smiled and hugged her and then looked at Gaara.
“This is Kizuko.” He began very seriously. “See that spot over there that looks burnt with the blood in it? That’s where she was born.”

“Explain.”

“You know how with enough chakra you can create clones?” Gaara nodded.

“Well, with enough blood and chakra you can create life. Kyuubi showed me how.”

“That would take a lot of both.”

Naruto smiled grimly. “It nearly killed me. But it was worth it, huh, Kitling?”

Kizuko smiled and snuggled closer to him.

“If I wasn’t what I am, I probably wouldn’t believe you, you know.”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not.” His eyes turned glacial. “The point is, you touch her; you die. I don’t care if I have to kill myself to achieve it.”

Gaara believed him and shrugged.

“That said.” The fox boy blushed slightly. “I still don’t trust you but…Are you going to stay for awhile?”
Gaara smiled one of those rare true smiles. “Yes.”

Kizuko smiled sweetly at him in a feral way. “Panda eye wunamic.”
Gaara twitched.

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So what did you guess think? Like it, love it, meh? Let me know!

Encase there are some things in the chapter you didn't know what they here's a list of some of those things and their defintion, english translation, or use:

-chan - it is a suffix formally used in Japan for females that are friends with a person or at least know them fairly well, its like the friend term for suffixs; -san would be used for people you don't personally know, ever met, of higher standing in position or respect to you, or associates of you; can be used for any sex and -kun is the male term.

kohl - is a type of eye makeup generally; this specific word is for the the type that is known especially in South Asia and North Africa, it is a chemical preparation used by women to darken the rims of their eyelids. It usually consists of powdered antimony sulfide or lead sulfide. I used the term just as a term for eye makeup...its suggesting that would be the kind Gaara could be using if he did use.

Ai - Japanese word for love; its his tatoo on his that means love...you know that if you read or watched the episode or manga that explained that tatoo...=_=

tranny - Another term for transexual...you know people that think their the opposite sex that they are and are trapped in that wrong gendered body basically. It's a word I made up for the story, sue me.....not literally lolz

Shukaku - Gaara's one tailed demon....not explaining more, read the actually manga or watch it. same goes for Kyuubi ; its Naruto's nine tailed demon....

Kitling - a pet name I made for Naruto's kid, Kizuko and ask please if you wish to use it in your own story... don't claim it as your own, that's just mean spirited. Same goes for Panda eye wunamic ; I made up, ask before you use it if it pleases you to want to use it!

Sabaku Sousou - Gaara's signature attack; english translation is Desert Funeral; first seen in the chuunin arc during part 2 of the chuunin exams while still in the forest of death. Gaara uses this ninjustu to 'crush' his victims into splatters of blood, flesh, and bone bits....lovely ain't it?

Night fell upon the pair and the forest grew active with the sounds of nocturnal creatures moving about with their lives. Gaara, the request of Naruto, had placed the gourd from his back against the wall and was probably talking more than he ever had in his life as Naruto kept posing questions about 'the Outside World' as the blonde was calling it. It was actually slightly funny to Gaara, for he couldn’t exactly imagine what it was like for the poor blonde to be as isolated as he was all these years on this cursed mountain…The little one was reluctant fell asleep though; her eyes drooped heavily as she fought valiantly to stay awake and keep her papa from further being eaten by the 'Panda eye wunamic' that resided in ‘her’ home.

Alas, despite her most noble of efforts she failed and fell asleep in her father's arms, her tiny hands still clutching at his black shirt like little pearls in a sea of darkness. Naruto smiled down at the little blonde, stroking some of the golden hair away from her face.

"Let me go put her down real quick and I'll make tea or something for us." He said to his guest, as he stood up carrying the limp body to their room.

"Why don’t you let me do the tea just tell me where and I can do."

"Well… On the first shelf, over by the cabinet to the right are the tea bags," He nodded in the direction of the kitchen area as he went down the hall, "Hot water dispenser is next to the rice maker. It’s one of few of my few luxuries I got out here." He said in somewhat joking manner.

Gaara watched the blonde disappear into the first doorway to the left of the main room, and then turned in the direction of the kitchen. So…tea… Right… He could make tea...No problem…so he thought.

A brief search of the indicated cabinet produced a tin of green tea and another of cocoa. The little one had a sweet tooth he hazarded to guess, he couldn’t imagine it the other way around. Another brief search through the cupboards provided a pair of thick, traditional style earthenware mugs. Taking the tea tin and the mugs he turned his attention to the hot water dispenser and stared at the contraption as if it were some grotesque alien life form that had suddenly sprouted tentacles. He has never seen such a machine in his life let alone tried to operate one.

That is to say, he gave it an utterly blank look marked only by the slightly puzzled crease between his nonexistent eyebrows.

Right... So…how did this work again? He frowned trying to remember. He'd seen Temari do this numerous times back home, so why was it so hard for him to remember how she did it? He could do this simple task, it was not brain surgery. Holding a mug under the opening, he carefully pressed a random button.
The thing beeped at him.

Frowning, he pressed another.

Another beep and still no water.

Another press.

Another beep.

Argh!!! What was this thing's problem?! Anger rushed through his veins like molten lava and sand began to circle around the stationary dispenser. No…wait… Can't destroy it… One of his few luxuries, Naruto said he recalled. The blonde would probably not be happy to return and find his hot water dispenser destroyed by sand it would make things very awkward to say the least. Okay…breathe… He could do this. He was Gaara of the Desert, Suna’s ultimate weapon and defender, after all; a genius Sand nin. And no stupid water dispenser in this life was going to get the better of him.

He glared at said dispenser. The dispenser sat there innocently, its plastic gleaming in the light. It mocked him with its pearly complexion and beeping buttons.

Snarling, he slammed the mug down to the side of the accursed thing, grabbed the base and viciously jabbed one final button.

Steaming hot water dropped down from the opening. Of course it dropped down directly over his forearm. His sand curled up around the flesh to protect him, but then again Sand isn't exactly alive and therefore isn't very intelligent.

Scalding hot mud dropped onto his pale skin.
He stared at it for a moment in shock. It…hurt. It…burned. Oh crap! It burned!!!

"Ow… Ow!"

"Hey, what're you…Shit, you idiot!! Get over to the sink!"

Naruto grabbed his arm, careful not to grab where the burn was and dragged him over to the sink where he threw the knobs causing icy cold water to come rushing out of the spigot. Gaara felt sure that his face was turning as red as his hair as the other man held him close, holding his burnt skin under the cold water.

They stood like that for about five minutes, the water rushing over his pale skin contrasting with the tan hand that held his wrist, keeping it under the water. He could feel the blonde's steady breath against his ear, the warmth of the other's body against his back, and was acutely aware of that the other lean, tan arm was wrapped around his waist. After what seemed like both an eternity and a micro second at once, Naruto turned off the water and inspected the reddened skin.

"It'll be okay. It wasn't that bad and we got you under the water quick enough."

Suddenly he came to the realization of the position they were in and the wide green eyes that were staring up at him with an adorably deep blush across their pale features. Heat rose across his own whiskered cheeks as he moved away hurriedly and snagged the mugs and tea. Naruto try to use coughing as a means to clear up the awkwardness that was heavy in the air.

"So…um…what were you trying to do?"

"Your hot water dispenser is possessed." The redhead responded in an emotionless voice. His eyes were like ice as he looked at the dispenser with much anger.

"Really?" The blonde blinked, shoved a tea bag in each mug and pushed a button. The dispenser gave off a stream of steaming water perfectly. Gaara snarled and swore internally, glaring at the mug set on the table before him.

"Never made tea before, huh?"

The redhead took a swig of the liquid, as if it were hard liquor instead of tea. "Shut up. Temari normally does it."

The fox boy chuckled at the remark and took a seat across from him, leaning on one hand, gave the Sand nin a closed eyed grin. The fingers of his other hand drummed along the side of his mug. He just sat there and grinned at the other man for several minutes until Gaara, shifting uncomfortably under the grinning stare, growled at him irritably.

"What?"

"You've changed a lot, haven't you?"

"So have you."

Blue eyes opened at this and he looked as if he wanted to say something, but instead shrugged the comment off. Placing both hands around the warmth of the mug, Naruto stared into it as if the answers to life, the universe, and how to make the best chocolate chip cookies ever were contained within the tea. Gaara cocked his head to the side, studying the man across from him and then hesitantly reached a hand out to touch the tan one wrapped around the mug. The blonde looked up, startled out of whatever thoughts he was lost in and then broke out into an easy smile.

"Sorry, I would set up an extra futon, but I don't really get visitors, ya know."

The Sand nin shook his head. "I can't sleep or else Shukaku will take over."

"Oh…right….I thought that maybe…"

"I've gotten better. I've trained a little to wake myself up before he can take over and can manage about 10 minutes…but not an entire night. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that."

The fox boy looked thoughtful. "Have you ever had anyone stay with you? You know, to wake you up when the sand starts gathering?"

Gaara snorted at the notion. "Sand Demon, remember? Psycho killer? 'Panda eye wunamic' as your daughter so kindly put it.” He jerked his thumb at himself as continued, “Do you really think anyone's going to volunteer to stay in the room with me while I sleep?" He then took a sip of the tea before him.

"I would."

"Wha…?" It was all the redhead could do to keep from spraying the man across from him; his eyes were wide with utter surprise at Naruto.

"I mean it! I'd stay with you. Hell, I whooped you once, I could do it again if worse came to worse. Besides, I'd have the advantage of actually knowing what the hell was going on this time around." The blue eyes were so incredibly earnest. Gaara felt something warm within his chest. Someone would…someone would voluntarily…

"Thank you." He replied quietly, shyly staring down at his mug.

"No problem…Hey! Let's try it."

"What?"

"Right now! Let's try it. We can see how long it takes, and that way you'll know if you ever wanna like train for it or something in the future."
Naruto stood up from the kitchen table, placed the mug of tea in the sink and headed towards the second of the smaller rooms, snagging a pillow from the living area on his way. He turned and beckoned to the stunned redhead. "Come on!"

The only thing Gaara could do was follow with a dazed look on his face.
Naruto sat against the wall of the bare room, his legs folded and the pillow placed in his lap.

"It'll be easier this way." He explained at the Sand nin's wide eyes and blush. "I'll have better access to you, so I'll be able to see the sand and I can wake you up better from this position."

His face still flush with embarrassment, Gaara lay down with his head on the pillow and looked up into the blonde's face.

"Need a lullaby? I've gotten pretty decent at this entire 'tucking in' thing."
Red locks brushed back and forth across the dark material of the pillow as he shook his head. "No, just stay close."

Naruto grinned and Gaara closed his eyes with a sigh.
He lasted 30 minutes. Whether it was the fact that it was normal sleep and not the forced sleep of a jutsu, or if it was because there was another person there, or if it was just because it was Naruto, he didn't know. All he knew was he awaked to a slap across the face and blue eyes shining happily above him.

"How…How long?"

"The sand started gathering around 25, but I gave you until 30 when it started to worry me a little."

"3…30 minutes?" Lime green eyes grew large. And Naruto smiled, nodding happily.

"For real. 30 whole minutes."

He sat up and just stared at the blonde in disbelief for a few minutes. "I've never slept that long in my entire life."

Naruto just grinned like a maniac. Gaara felt the area in his chest grow warm again. Without really knowing what he was doing, he reached out and pulled the other boy to him, burying his face in the crook of the blonde's neck. Naruto went shock still at first, but then tentatively placed his arms around the redhead's back and returned the embrace. He could feel the other's hair under his cheek, the blood colored locks much softer than he would have guess, not at all gritty from the sand. The scent of wind, and the hot sun and the desert filled his nose, all with an underlying scent that identified him as something not quite human, much like Naruto's own. The blonde lay back, never relinquishing his hold on the other, nor Gaara letting go of him, and the two lay on the floor, Gaara's warm body completely on top of the boy beneath him. Both had been so utterly alone for so much of their lives that neither seemed to want to let go now that they had someone to cling to.

"Thank you…you let me sleep…you weren't afraid…" Pale lips brushed the tan neck as the whispered the words. Gaara felt the arms around him tighten.

"Thank you…I can't remember the last time someone other than Kizuko hugged me…"

The Sand nin lifted his head and gave the blue eyes below him a shy smile. "It took me a long time to learn how…and Temari nearly had a heart attack when I did."

Naruto laughed and Gaara lowered his head to rest against the blonde's chest.

"You know…this is the first time I've used this room for something happy." He mused, staring up at the ceiling beams. Gaara made a vague 'hmmm?' sound as he glanced up at Naruto questioningly.

"This is…this is where I would…after they exiled me…I spent so many nights in here crying…and…and cutting…and…yelling at the hallucinations…and I tried to kill myself a couple of times in here when the loneliness got too bad…you can still see some of the blood stains…it’s the reason I don't want Kizuko in here…so I don't use it much."

Whatever contentment the redhead had been feeling quickly faded as ice flooded his veins. Desert sun…he'd never thought about that…what if he had been too late? And the blonde had killed himself…Gaara had his sand to keep him from committing suicide, but Naruto…. Naruto could have taken a kunai to his own throat anytime he had wanted. Suddenly, he was immensely grateful to the Kyuubi and the little girl. Stiffing, he moved to straddle the body below him, placing a palm on either side of the fox boy's head and looking him directly in the eye. Lime green met clear blue and they stared at each other for a long moment.

"Gaara…?"

"They'll never know what fools they are." He said simply.

He then lowered his head and captured the lips below him. This time it was much better. The blonde began to respond after only a moment of hesitation and uncertainty. Arms wrapped around his waist and the other boy tilted his head a little. Suddenly there was a presence in the back of his mind, sending mental images, showing him how to make it better. Here, tracing his tongue lightly against lips that suddenly opened for him. And there, as he explored every inch of the fox's mouth and their tongues twisted together.

Suddenly, Gaara realized the demon within him was not only psychotic and bloodthirsty; Shukaku was also a horny bastard. Finally, something useful. He pointedly ignored the quip the tanuki made about being trapped in teapots and scrawny pale kids being bad for one's sex life. Fuck the tanuki's sex life. He was trying to get his own sex life off the ground. He kissed Naruto a little harder, his hands tugging at the soft blonde spikes, and felt something…really nice run through him and settle in his groin as the blonde moaned against his lips.

Tanuki sex life: 0 Gaara: 1.

Oh yes. Life was good.

Reaching back, he grabbed Naruto's right hand from his waist and intertwined their fingers, scooting back a little as he did. In doing so, he accidentally brushed their groins together.

Oh.

Dear.

Sands.

Breaking the lip lock, he repeated the action. The blonde below him moaned, tossing his head back and forth, those blue eyes squeezed tightly closed and a deep blush covering his face. Gaara smirked the smirk of those about to get laid.

Naruto gasped and opened his eyes, taking deep gulping breaths. "W…We need to stop…"

"Don't wanna..." Hmm…that neck looked tempting.

"Kizu…Kizuko is right next door…"

"Yay for her." A few nibbles and licks along the tan skin.

"Co…Come on…sto…Oh Dear Hokages!!" The blonde gasped, his eyes glazing over, as he arched beneath the Sand nin.

Hmm…have to remember that spot for later.

Gaara lowered his head to the tan neck again, only to find himself shoved off. Glaring, he sat up looking at the rumpled ex-Leaf nin sitting on the floor a little away from him taking deep breaths. Naruto finally opened his eyes and looked at the redhead seriously, if a little frustrated.

"Not now. You just got here and my daughter is asleep in the next room."

Gaara pouted and crossed his arms. He had a complete 'yeah right' air about him.

"I want to. Oh great Hokages, do I want to. But, it's too soon. And…truthfully, I'm a little scared."

Gaara blinked. Naruto continued on, a little nervous.

"I've been alone for so many years…and the only one I see is Kizuko, no one else knows about her, not even the village. And before when I was back in Konoha I'd never even kissed a girl. And, well, then I was exiled and alone for all those years….And then suddenly you appear and this begins to happen and…just… give me a little time… okay?"
Gaara nodded slowly. "But…kissing's okay?"
"Kissing…is a must." The blonde decided with at look of determination.
Gaara leaned over and kissed him softly, sweetly, and chastely. There were several different types of kisses; the Sand nin was coming to learn. And he really really wanted to find out what all of them were. Good thing kissing was a must.

Moonlight poured in through the window, coloring everything pale and silver as shadows crawled across the walls. Naruto smiled softly as the kiss ended, and then yawned.

He then blinked embarrassedly. "Sorry…"

"Get some sleep."

"But you…"

"Don't worry about me. You've already let me sleep."

He grabbed the pillow from where it had been tossed aside and repositioned it before pulling the blonde towards him and laying them both down. His own head was on the pillow and Naruto rested his fair head on the other's shoulder. Nuzzling into the redhead's warmth he yawned again.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Coming. You're the only one who's ever looked. Who's cared…"

A gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Go to sleep."

Gaara pulled him closer. The blonde opened his eyes, looking, ya think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what did you guess think? Like it, love it, meh? Let me know!

Encase there are some things in the chapter you didn't know what they here's a list of some of those things and their defintion, english translation, or use:

Tanuki - The tanuki is species of dog found in Japan. The species has been called "raccoon dog" because of their similar appearance. The tanuki has been renowned for its mischievous nature and ability to shape shift and bring good fortune. The Naruto Shukaku has ties to several tanuki archetypes. One is the Bunbuku Chagama tale, where a tanuki transformed into a tea kettle. In the series Shukaku was reported to have been sealed within one. Some tales state of shrine priests being tanuki in disguise, which ties into how early in the series Shukaku was reportedly a corrupted Sand priest.