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Hot Sand	By : promise2003 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Gaara/Naruto Views: 3053 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Edit: Dec 14th

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Hot Sand
by
thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops (yes, I�m both)
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A/N�s: Go see some of my art at my livejournal
(I promise it�s pretty smexy,
better that my old stuff):
http://thatreeesgirl.livejournal.com

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Chapter 19: Misunderstandings

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Sand flew up and out of the gorge beside Kankuro and
Kakashi. Both men eyed each other
warily, praying it wasn�t the reaction they�d both been fearing. Kankuro prepared himself for a battle with
his brother, lacing his puppets with chakra strings, and Kakashi drew out
several kunai, wasting no time raising the forehead protector from his
sharingan eye. Neither man put words to
their worst fears, because if Naruto was dead, then Sasuke was dead. Not only that, but Sakura,
as talented of a ninja as she was, would most likely not survive the
aftermath of Gaara�s destruction.
Kankuro promised himself if this was the case he would avenge her,
killing his crazy younger brother before he could do any more damage.

Waves of sand began flying from the crack in the earth
below, hissing and whipping about it a great flurry, but as quickly as it had
started the sand stopped and an eerie calm settled into the air.

�What was that?� Kakashi asked, hoping Kankuro knew what his
brother was thinking.

Kankuro didn�t let loose the strings of Karasu and Kuroari, he even prepared himself to summon more
puppets if needed. �I�m not sure, but
that little sandstorm couldn�t have been a good sign.�

�I agree,� whispered
a worried Kakashi.

Watching intently
and preparing for whatever was to come, the two men anxiously waited for any
sign of the other ninja returning, comforted when a cloud of sand floated into
view. The only thing which dampened
Kakashi and Kankuro�s relief were the waves of angry chakra which seemed to be
rolling off Gaara. Something had
definitely occurred in the chasm.

�Someone needs to
take Sasuke,� Sakura yelled up at the other two men when they were in range to
hear her. �He�s been injured badly, and
I can�t help both him and Naruto. The
rest of us have to get Naruto back carefully, the poison cannot spread anymore
or he�ll die.�

You mean die again? Gaara hissed in his own mind, dumping the three
other ninja on solid ground and then walking away.

�Where in the hell
are you going?� Kankuro shouted at his brother.
�We need your help to get Naruto back!�

�I don�t have the
chakra left�and��

The words stopped
and Kankuro watched as Gaara folded his arms and continued to walk in the
opposite direction of the village. He
moved to stop his brother, but Sakura waved him down, shaking her head
furiously. Kankuro didn�t know what
happened down there, but it had obviously taken a large toll on his brother�s
sanity.

Kakashi scooped up
Sasuke�s broken body, �I�ll take him back and then return to help you two. Do you think he could handle a transportation
jutsu?�

Sakura nodded,
Sasuke could, but Naruto couldn�t. The
sickeningly wet sounds which were coming from the Hokage worried her
greatly. Doing an examination with her
chakra, Sakura could see the massive internal damage the poison had wreaked on
Naruto�s body, injuring several of his vital organs and attacking his
chakra.

�You don�t have Sanshouo with you, do you?� Sakura asked Kankuro
helplessly. The puppet she�d been
referring to was Kankuro�s salamander puppet, and would work well for
transporting Naruto through the rough terrain.

�No, but I will,�
Kankuro replied with a devious grin, before biting his thumb and slamming it
into the ground, adding a flurry of hand seals.
A large summoning box appeared and Sanshouo
crawled out, much to Sakura�s relief.

�Help me move
Naruto,� Sakura pleaded, and then added for good measure, �Carefully.�

Kankuro nodded. The puppet-nin, as well as his two puppets,
maneuvered the Hokage�s body into Sanshouo, quickly
closing the salamander puppet�s storage area before helping Sakura crawl onto
its back with Kankuro. �We should hurry,
right?�

�As fast as you can
make your puppets go,� Sakura cried, gripping Kankuro tightly as Sanshouo started to move.

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

One hour, then two, the time trickled by into three hours
and finally four. Kakashi sat at
Sasuke�s bedside, waiting for the shinobi to wake up. A Rock medic, who had been present for the
chunin exams, skillfully patched him up, but the Uchiha was still
unconscious. Kakashi knew Sasuke needed
rest to recover, and the sleep was partially induced by the influx of healing
chakra forced into the young ninja�s system, but the copy-nin still couldn�t
help but worry. Kakashi�s concern
focused on Sasuke and Naruto, his students, his friends�one of them his lover.

The medic who had taken care of Sasuke asked about the odd
wounds on the Uchiha�s back. Kakashi
grimaced at that question and shrugged it away, though secretly knew exactly
what the idiotic ass had tried. Sasuke
had reactivated the dormant curse seal from Orochimaru, but now the seal was
gone, completely used up. Kakashi was
sure the only way his two students had survived the fall was thanks to the seal
given by that disgusting snake, long since perished. In all his life, Kakashi never thought he
would be grateful to such a revolting human being as Orochimaru, but he
was. It was the curse seal�s final
activation which saved Sasuke, and hopefully Naruto.

Naruto was still in surgery with Sakura. Rumors were being whispered around the small,
rural hospital that the Hokage wouldn�t last the night. This was troubling. The death of a Hokage such as Naruto (from
only a small band of rogue ninja no less) would be a blow to Leaf and all of
the countries which Naruto were trying to unite in some hopeful democracy. That hope of Naruto�s might be the reason he
lay dying in some hospital, the best med-nin in all the great ninja nations
unable to save him.

Kankuro walked into Sasuke�s room and interrupted Kakashi�s
thoughts. �How is he doing?� Kankuro
asked quietly.

�They tell me he�ll be fine.
Have you heard anything about Naruto?�

Kankuro was quiet, too quiet. The silence spoke more than words ever
could. Kakashi sighed, �Is he alive?�

�Barely. Sakura isn�t sure he�ll actually make
it. She did everything she could, but it
probably won�t be enough,� Kankuro answered, straining to get the words out.

Kakashi fought back the feeling of hopelessness which was
plaguing him, �Does Gaara know? Is Gaara
back?�

�No, we can�t find him.
When he�s ready to return, he will�

�And if Naruto dies during that time?�

Kankuro scoffed, �Well I guess that is his own stupid
fault. I�m his brother, not his
keeper. Take care of Sasuke, Sakura
tells me most of the damage was from Gaara, so�I�m sorry.�

Kakashi sighed, wanting to scream at the puppet-nin, but it
wasn�t Kankuro who was to blame. �I
don�t need your apology, Kankuro, you weren�t the one
who did this.�

�I know, it�s just�I don�t know if Gaara will ever
apologize, so someone has to.�

Kakashi�s chest hurt, feeling tightly constrained by the
puppet-nin�s words.
�Maybe you should leave,� Kakashi uttered under his breath, and watched
as Kankuro didn�t argue, only complied with the desperate request from the
copy-nin.

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

Gaara, seated on a slate of sand, watched as the sun rose
above the hilltops, peeking carefully over the horizon before blessing the
world with another day of light. Why was
it when the world received such a gift, the only thing he was given was
darkness? Gaara�s life had gone from a
place of serene contentment to a remembered fate of horrid solitude all in one
night. Naruto had betrayed him.

I know the exact
moment I fell in love with you.

When had Gaara fallen in love with Naruto? He wasn�t really sure, but it had been somewhere
around the time Naruto started telling the Suna leader he was loved. Gaara hadn�t ever been loved in that way
before; love between friends and family, but never true love. Naruto told him he was precious, and Gaara
realized, slowly, that Naruto was the same to him.

Know that no matter
what happens in the future, I will always be there for you and will always love
you with every atom of my being. There
is nothing which could ever compare to what we have, don�t forget that.

Had those words been a mere falsity? Did Naruto lie when he wrote those things to
Gaara? The letter was still in Gaara�s
vest pocket, so he pulled it out and examined it again. Part of him wanted to rip it into tiny
shreds, so all traces of this false love could die along with his feelings for
the Hokage, but Gaara couldn�t. How
could these things Naruto told him be untrue?
There had to be more�but still�he had kissed someone else, given his final
request to Sasuke.

Gaara wasn�t completely naive. Naruto had told him about being in love with
Sasuke, but never receiving anything from him in return. Naruto had explained the pain of knowing
since he was a genin that he was in love with someone
who would never return his feelings.
Gaara couldn�t see someone being so heartless as to deny a dying man�s
request, not even someone as selfish and annoying as that Uchiha brat. Sasuke had given something to Naruto which
Gaara�s lover had always wanted�to be loved by Sasuke. It made Naruto and Gaara�s relationship look
like a sham, and it felt even more like one to Gaara.

�I loved you,� Gaara whispered to no one in particular,
seeing as the only things around him were rocks, snow, and the occasional
forest creature. A cold wind whipped
around Gaara�s head, howling and sending chills down the Suna leader�s
skin. This was real. The pain and grief were actually happening,
it wasn�t a dream or some hallucination, no�this was
Gaara�s life. Gaara loved Naruto, he
would never stop, but Naruto�who did he love?

Did it matter?

Would Gaara�s feelings honestly change for Naruto if his
lover chose someone else? Gaara would
mad�furious, but would it stop him from loving Naruto? No�it wouldn�t. Gaara wasn�t sure he�d ever forgive Naruto
for the betrayal, but he wanted to let Naruto know he was still loved, despite
stupid indiscretions on the Hokage�s part.
Gaara stood and began racing toward the village.

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

The memories of a day back in Suna replayed over and over
again. The smell of burnt eggs, the warm
Suna sun, Kankuro complaining about Sakura for the umpteenth time, everything
felt so real�

�Is this where you want to be?� a strikingly cool voice
asked from behind Naruto.

�Sasuke?� Naruto asked. �What are you doing here?�

Sasuke was giving off his normal icy aura. The one which said he was untouchable, out of
everyone�s reach, completely and utterly unobtainable. �Dobe, you just
don�t get it, do you?�

Naruto had to admit he certainly didn�t understand what was
going on. Sasuke never came with him to
Suna, and today was already too eerily familiar for Sasuke to fit in. �Teme,
what in the hell?�

�Do you love him? Do
you love him more than you loved me?�

Suddenly the reality seemed to crumble, and Naruto was left alone
with the ghost of his past, a man who had pushed him away.

�You wanted to kiss Gaara goodbye, you thought I was
Gaara. I understood that. You understood that�but you realized�you did,
at the last moment.�

�You care to explain what the hell you mean by that, you
stupid bastard? I�m not getting this at
all,� Naruto complained, reaching for his friend, but Sasuke dissipated before
he could get there.

�Sasuke, this is a bit freaky, so if you could cut out the
sharingan crap, I�d really appreciate it.�

It wasn�t just Sasuke who disappeared, it was
everything. Naruto was alone in a very
dark, cold place, like he waiting. What
the Hokage was supposed to be waiting for was unknown, but that was the feeling
Naruto received.

What�happened�I don�t
understand�

He was slipping, like the time in that gorge�the chasm�with
Sasuke. A moment where Naruto was sure
he had died. If he was dead, then where
was he now?

Warm arms enveloped Naruto, holding him tight. They were comforting, letting Naruto know he
was loved.

I have things to do�

The darkness started to evaporate, surprising because
nothingness wasn�t supposed to disappear.
By definition that is what nothingness is, a deep, dark nonentity, never
filled with anything, but as it dripped away there was something.

Please�I�m really not
ready.

The arms kept holding him, clutching as though they too
weren�t ready to release Naruto.

Gaara�I have to tell
Gaara�

***

�Gaara�I ha�tell�� the broken words stunned Sakura as she
sat next to Naruto�s bedside. She had
been sure Naruto wouldn�t survive this, but he was fighting and now he was
speaking. Sakura was positive it had
something to do with who was with the Hokage. Gaara, a man undeniably broken, was sitting
beside his fianc�, clutching him carefully as though his very life depended on
it.

***

Tugging and pulling, Naruto could feel parts of himself
start to drip away along with the dark void.
Soon there would be nothing left except the warmth of a strange
light. Even the arms which held him felt
weaker.

The demon Naruto housed inside of himself appeared suddenly
in front of him, �Kit, you better fight harder, I can�t get you out of this
one.�

�Kyuubi, what the hell is happening to me?� Naruto screamed
into the light, at the demon who was disappearing just
like he was.

�Fight! Fight for them, fight for me, and everything
you believe in, no matter how stupid and naive I think your beliefs are.�

�I�m�dying�aren�t I?�

�Yes, unless you fight.�

How does one battle death when it so clearly wants to take
you? How does one remain attached to a
life which has already discarded them?
Naruto didn�t know, but then again he rarely knew how to fight a battle
before he actually tried. Here he felt
it was probably mind over matter�more will and less strength.

Naruto gripped the only thing which seemed to keep him
grounded in the world of the living, the arms which were wrapped around
him.

�I�m not ready,� he told whatever it was which surrounded
him completely. �I have things to
do. I have people to help and someone I
love. I can�t go, please, I can�t.�

Deafening silence, and then�

The sudden rush of Kyuubi reentering Naruto was painful, and
there was the crushing feeling, the horrific searing throbs as his body was
pulled down and away from the dream he had been trapped in�but the arms never
disappeared. Those arms held Naruto and
pulled him back into the world he so desperately wasn�t ready to leave. It was those arms which saved him.

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END OF CHAPTER
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End of Chapter A/N�s: Okay, so my stupid outline be
damned. This story all of a sudden had a
life of its own and just went. I
couldn�t stop it, and it�s a bit cheesy, but oh well. Therefore, this will be a lot shorter. I�m going to stop predicting how long my
stories are going to be, because I don�t know.
I never know. Growl
and a half.
- 18
- 19
- 20
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