Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Of Silver Linings and Blue Yonder	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 18517 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or make any profit of it. Kishimoto owns it

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
Author's note: A day late, but I had some trouble finishing this. I'm actually really nervous about this chapter, because it is a highly requested one and I really don't want to disappoint you, guys ^^; So I hope you'll like it *crosses fingers*
Thanks to the following reviewer: smint45
Warnings: set in the future; light angst; Gaara's pov
Dedicated to: everyone who wanted to know what happened to Gaara and to lightofregulus for giving me the idea for a name for Naruto's daughter.
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 22
"Temari is doing well," he muttered, eyes trained on the nameplate. "She's been going out a lot so Kankuro and I suspect that she has met someone new. She won't tell us who she's seeing yet, but you know her. She'll spill eventually."
A soft breeze made the leaves in a nearby tree rustle gently. Some rows further down an old lady was rearranging flowers.
"Kankuro is Kankuro," he continued, huffing amused. "Still chasing around. Temari says he's never going to settle down and I agree." He paused and he took a shuddering breath, pressing his lips tightly together. His eyes landed on the picture of a gently smiling woman; the colours were drained out of the picture, the victim of the weather and aging, but it was still plain as day that the woman had been very beautiful. Her eyes – indigo coloured when she had been alive – stared lovingly at whoever had taken the picture.
"I still miss you," he admitted after a bout of silence. His chest felt tight; even after all those years he didn't think he would ever be fully able to give the loss of his mother a place in his life. Sure, the pain had lessened a bit, the years tempering it somewhat, but the ache and loss were still there, waiting to attack him at an unguarded moment.
Or when he was here, at the graveyard, standing in front of her grave.
"Temari and Kankuro still miss you too, even if they don't want to talk about it," he said and released his breath slowly. "But we're doing all right. We're okay."
He fell quiet again, having said what he wanted to say. Pale fingers reached out and caressed his mother's smile. A twinge of guilt shot through him and he licked his lips, retracting his hand.
"I'm sorry for having been away for so long," he murmured and took a deep breath. "I just … I needed to be away from here, from this town. I needed time."
He lingered in front of the grave for a few more moments, gaze going back and forth between his mother's picture and the inscription on her stone.
In Memory of a Loving Mother and Wife
Karura had died when he had only been six years old, after a long battle with a severe illness. Until her last day she had kept smiling and taking care of her three children, even when she should have been resting. She had constantly waved away their concerns, stating she wasn't going to let a sickness get the best of her.
She had been a fighter until the end.
Throwing one last look at his mother's image, taking in her loving smile, he turned around and left; his steps slow, the dead leaves underneath his shoes crunching faintly.
It had been a couple of years since he last visited his mother's grave. He used to visit her several times a year, but since he moved away, he hadn't been able to find the time to drive back and visit her.
Well, it had been more like he hadn't dared at first to make some time free. He had used the excuse of cases eating up his time, but the truth of the matter was that he had been too hurt at first to go back to his hometown. After those first two years of living in a city miles away from this town, it had become easy to find excuses to not go back. To just keep living there, ignoring that once he had had his entire life right in this town.
If he didn't think about it, it wouldn't hurt. Simple as that.
But he was tired of running away, of being a coward. It had been years since he left and it had been high time that he returned for a visit. Temari had offered to join him, but she had never liked being at the graveyard. She had always told him that she liked to remember their mother like she had been, full of live and love, and not look at a dreary headstone. So he had declined her offer, reassuring her time and time again before he left that he would be fine.
He had come to terms with his past a while ago.
"Your hair is really red."
He blinked and halted; his eyes shifting downwards until they landed on a boy, who looked to be around six to seven years old. His black blue hair was messy, probably mussed by the wind, and blue eyes stared at him solemnly, holding a plastic ball between his hands.
"Excuse me?" he asked blankly.
"Your hair. It's really red," the boy repeated and cocked his head to the left. "Is it real?"
"Yes, it's real," he answered slowly and then looked around, wondering where the boy's parents were. Surely they wouldn't leave him wandering around on his own in the streets? Granted, this wasn't the busy, dangerous city, but still … "Where are your parents?"
"Papa is at work," the boy replied. "He helps people with their babies. Daddy is putting my sister's jacket back on."
"And where is your daddy exactly?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
The boy opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment a voice rang out, "Kei! How many times do I have to tell you to stay near me?"
The boy, Kei, winced and pouted, but the older man no longer paid any attention to him. All his attention was focused on the man rapidly approaching them, as fast as the two children clinging to his hands would allow.
A man he hadn't seen in several years, but whose voice was as familiar as his own. A man who still managed to make something in him clench with regret and sorrow. A man who still to this day occupied a part of heart and would probably forever do that.
Naruto halted a few feet away from them and gaped in surprise. "Gaara?"
The red haired man smiled weakly. "Naruto, it's been a while," he murmured and against his will, his gaze slipped to the two children standing on each side of the Omega.
The boy, who was practically hiding behind Naruto's leg, stared at him shyly with big, dark eyes. His dark hair – similar to that of Kei's – nearly covered his eyes. His sister – and a shock went through Gaara as he realised that the two were twins – was his opposite. Her dark blonde hair had been put into two pigtails that brushed past her shoulders and she stared at him frankly with blue eyes – Naruto's eyes. Unlike her brother she didn't hide behind Naruto's leg. Instead she was standing next to Naruto, only holding his hand, as she studied him curiously. She had a stuffed toy in the form of a wolf clenched in her free hand, which she swung gently back and forth.
"Daddy, who this?" she asked curiously, her look shifting briefly upwards, before they went back to Gaara.
"Ah, this is Gaara. He's … an old friend of mine," Naruto replied and chuckled weakly. A faint blush coloured his cheeks.
Children. Naruto had children.
Of course Gaara knew that Naruto was a father – he had been there at Naruto's wedding to Uchiha and he had seen the blond pregnant. But he hadn't known that Naruto had been pregnant a second time. That he had twins now.
And how could you have known?, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. It's not like you kept into contact with him or even stayed in town.
He knew Naruto had wanted children – it was for a large part why they had broken up. But he hadn't … He hadn't thought that the Omega would have more than one child. Which was quite stupid to think, he scolded himself, because the blond had been quite clear that he wanted children.
Children Gaara would never have been able to give him, unless they had adopted.
"Twins, hm?" he spoke and clamped his mouth shut almost instantly. He hadn't meant to say that aloud.
"Yeah, it was quite a surprise, let me tell you that," Naruto grinned, but something crossed his face, gone in a flash, too quick for Gaara to try to interpret what that look had meant. "We hadn't really expected to get two children instead of one."
"I'm a surprise," the girl told Gaara smugly. Her grin was bright and large enough for him to see that she was missing a tooth in the right corner of her mouth.
Naruto rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "This modest young lady is Kiseki; her twin brother Kenta and the one who really should learn to listen to me is Kei." He gave his oldest son a pointed look, who blushed and had the grace to look ashamed.
Kei scraped the tip of his shoe over the pavement and muttered, "Sorry, daddy."
The corners of Gaara's mouth twitched in amusement. "You have a thing for names starting with a 'k'?"
Naruto blushed. "Entirely coincidental. The meanings of the names just fit them the best," he said softly and the look he threw his three children was soft, filled with love.
"I'm sure they do," Gaara muttered and Kenta peeked out from behind Naruto's leg. When green eyes looked back, the boy squeaked startled and shot back behind Naruto; his small hands visibly clenching into Naruto's trousers.
"Ah sorry about that. Kenta is rather shy around people he doesn't know," the blond apologised and brushed Kenta's hair.
"How old are they?" Gaara inquired. Kenta's resemblance to Uchiha was eerie while Kiseki clearly took after Naruto the most. Kei seemed like the perfect mixture between the two men and a pang of jealousy shot through the red haired man. This could have been his family if he hadn't been so stupid.
Not that he really regretted having done that procedure. It was for the best. But maybe if he had been honest from the start, Naruto might have wanted to adopt a child with him and he could have this little family now instead of Uchiha.
But the past was the past for a reason; no matter how much he wished he had handled things differently, he could never go back. He had made peace with that, but seeing Naruto again … A small part in him would always love Naruto and would mourn the ending of their relationship. That part would never change, would forever be ingrained in him.
"Kei is seven and Kenta and Kiseki are nearly four years old," Naruto answered and there was definitely pride ringing through his voice.
"That's this many!" Kiseki put up four fingers, though she gave them an unsure look first, as if she wanted to check whether she was indeed putting up the correct number. "Dei-ji-san is giving us a party!"
"Dei-ji-san?" Gaara raised an eyebrow bemused.
"Deidara," Naruto chuckled. "They find it easier to call him that."
A tug at his trousers made Gaara look down, right into dark blue eyes. "Are you coming to my sister's and brother's birthday party?" Kei implored, regarding him with curiosity.
Gaara faltered, not knowing what to say. It was a feeling he only had had a couple of times before. Helplessly he looked at Naruto, who bit his lip and sighed ruefully.
"I don't know, Kei. Gaara is a busy man," Naruto replied, glancing at the Alpha quickly before he looked back at his son. "He helps a lot of people when they are in trouble."
"Is he a doctor like papa?" Kei questioned, releasing his grip on Gaara's trousers.
"No, I help people who get into trouble with the law," Gaara replied smoothly.
"Oh." Kei nodded in understanding. "So not like papa."
An ice cream truck suddenly turned into the street and at hearing the familiar tune, three small heads turned around before they quickly shot up and then Naruto was gifted with three pairs of pleading looks.
Cerulean blue eyes rolled, but Naruto said amused, "Fine, here, you can get an ice cream." He slipped his wallet out of his pocket and took three notes out of it, handing them over to Kei, who eagerly accepted them. "Be polite, okay?" the Omega warned his children and they nodded once before dashing over to the truck, who had come to a stop a few feet away.
"They get their sweet tooth from you," Gaara commented idly, watching how the twins studied the menu chart solemnly. Kei was already pointing out a sweet.
Naruto chuckled bashfully, but then he stilled and his eyes darted towards the graveyard. His eyes softened as he asked, "You went to visit your mother?"
Gaara tensed up briefly and then forced the tension out by slowly breathing out; his fingers worrying at the sleeves of his jacket. "Yes, it's been a while since I was last here," he murmured after a short bout of hesitation.
Naruto had often joined him on his trips to the graveyard; Gaara had officially introduced him to his mother during their first trip together and he could still clearly remember the shy look the blond had sported that day when he introduced himself formally to Gaara's mother.
"I haven't seen you in years," Naruto remarked after a short silence. His children had received their sweets and were busy devouring them a few feet away; Kenta's and Kiseki's chins and noses already smudged with the chocolate ice cream they had ordered.
"Yes, …" Gaara trailed off, before he took a deep breath and admitted, "I moved away. I – needed to get out of town for a while. I guess I just found it easier to stay where I was."
Naruto bit his lip and wrung his hands together, the golden ring around his finger catching the weak sunlight; guilt flashing up in his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Gaara. I never wanted to hurt you. I should - "
"It's in the past," Gaara interrupted him abruptly. He didn't need Naruto's apologies. There was nothing to apologise for, really. The both of them had made mistakes and they just had to deal with them. "I – you don't need to apologise."
The look of guilt didn't leave Naruto's eyes and the man opened his mouth, presumably to apologise again. Gaara cut him off by giving his arm a quick squeeze and the unexpected touch made Naruto gape at him.
"Naruto, seriously, I'm fine," Gaara said and sighed. "Yes, it hurt in the beginning, but I also made mistakes. I guess we just weren't meant to be," he added quietly.
"No, I guess not," Naruto murmured, rubbing the back of his head.
"Does – is Uchiha making you happy?" Gaara asked, after a moment of silence had passed between them.
The look that appeared on the Omega's face at the mention of the dark haired Alpha was answer enough for the red haired man.
"Yeah, he does," Naruto answered quietly, but with a soft smile. Then he coughed and his cheeks coloured rose, as if he was embarrassed at admitting that. "So, how about you? Do you have - "
"Gaara?"
Gaara turned around almost reflexively and unwillingly a smile bloomed open on his face as he watched the tall, thin man making his way to them. His pale golden eyes brightened with curiosity when they landed on Naruto and the man flicked his brown hair over his shoulder, though his long bangs immediately fell back to cover the left side of his face.
"The old woman in the house across from where you parked was giving me the stink eye, so I figured I'd come looking for you before she called the cops on me," Utakata explained with a snort and automatically slipped his hand around Gaara's, giving it a quick squeeze. His lover of nearly three years regarded Naruto carefully. "Hello, I don't think we've ever met. I'm Utakata, Gaara's partner."
A look of surprise crossed the blond's face before he accepted Utakata's hand and smiled friendly. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Naruto, an old friend of Gaara."
Utakata raised an eyebrow, but inclined his head, while Gaara resisted the ridiculous urge to shift his feet. Utakata knew that Naruto was more than an old friend, but the older man didn't appear to be bothered by the fact that Gaara was talking to his ex-lover.
"Daddy, we ate our ice cream," Kei stated, wandering back to Naruto with the twins closely following behind.
Chocolate ice cream was now covering Kenta's and Kiseki's chins, noses and even their hands and Naruto groaned in exasperation.
"We'll get you to eat ice cream properly one day without becoming so messy," Naruto sighed and Kiseki beamed while Kenta looked chastised. Naruto's ringtone cut through the air and he unearthed his phone from his pocket. The frown on his face smoothed out as he read the text he had just received. He typed out a response and when he glanced at Gaara, he gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Gaara, I'd love to talk more, but Sasuke is coming home sooner than I thought and I need to get these two cleaned up."
"Don't worry about it," Gaara said dismissively, watching with faint amusement how Kiseki was trying to reach all the ice cream smudges on her chin with her tongue. "It was – nice seeing you again."
Naruto smiled – a real genuine one. "Yes, it was nice talking to you again. Maybe we can e-mail each other?" He sounded hesitant, unsure.
Gaara nodded. "Maybe."
"All right, I'll see you again I suppose," Naruto laughed weakly before nodding at Utakata. "It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise," Utakata murmured and then Naruto was leaving, Kenta placed securely on his hip while Kiseki held on to his hand, skipping next to him. Kei was walking on Naruto's other side, talking animatedly about something.
"I can see why you loved him," Utakata remarked, but he didn't sound jealous.
Gaara kept quiet, still reeling a bit from the unexpected meeting with Naruto. It had gone a lot better than he had thought it would and something in him settled after all those years.
Golden eyes looked at him steadily. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just a bit surprised, that's all," Gaara muttered and shrugged.
The Beta nodded contemplatively. "What do you think of eating something first before we go home?" he suggested lightly.
Home.
After the disastrous break-up with Naruto, he hadn't thought any place would ever feel like home again. The house he had shared with Naruto definitely hadn't felt like home anymore after the blond had collected his belongings and had moved out. It had merely been a house, a place he went to during the evening to sleep and occasionally eat. Nothing more. Just something that protected him from the weather elements and provided a bed to sleep. He could have easily slept in a hotel for all that he felt at home in his own house.
When he had moved away, his new place had felt like that as well: cold, flat, just a place to rest and eat. He had resigned himself to never feeling at home somewhere again.
Then he met Utakata.
Nothing had changed immediately. He had met the Beta – nine years older than him – at court where he had been pleading a case. They had nearly walked into each other when they both had reached the rest room and at first they had barely paid attention to each other. Just two men pleading cases, helping their clients win. Chances of them meeting again were small as they both tended to plead in court rooms on different sides of the building.
But then they had walked into each other a second time. A third time when they both had hurried into the building, seeking shelter from the storm brewing outside. A fourth time when their clients turned out to know each other.
Slowly they had started talking, commiserating about their clients, the problems they encountered in their cases. Short conversations turned into longer ones at the bar where they celebrated the successful endings of their cases. Before Gaara realised it, he was spending the majority of his time with Utakata, finding it inexplicably easy to talk to the mild tempered man.
Then right after Gaara had ended one of his most frustrating cases till this date, Utakata had showed up at his apartment that evening, dressed in a cashmere sweater that made his eyes glow warmly and dark trousers that showed off his long legs and had asked him out on a date.
Gaara had said yes before he could think twice about it.
One date became two, three, four, until the two men started a relationship tentatively. Having learnt from his mistakes, Gaara was honest about the fact that he couldn't get any children and didn't really have an interest in becoming a father either. He didn't want to lead Utakata on; didn't want to hurt him like he had hurt Naruto. He didn't want to lose the older Beta, but he also didn't want to lie to him.
Lying had brought him too much trouble. He'd rather be honest and lose Utakata than lie and hurt the Beta later down the road.
When the Alpha had made his confession, Utakata had merely shrugged, stating that he wasn't interested in children either. Then he had asked what kind of toppings the red haired man wanted on his pizza and that had been that.
Seven months of dating later, Gaara had proposed they started living together and Utakata had smiled and brought his belongings with him the next day.
The cold apartment became a home again.
Something Gaara had feared would never happen.
A soft smile graced the green eyed man's mouth as he pressed a kiss on welcoming lips. "Yes, let's do that."
Throwing one last look at the graveyard, feeling lighter than he had in years, he and Utakata made their way back to his car.
Back on their way to their home.
AN2: Soooo, did it meet your expectations? *winces* I hope I didn't screw this up! I know a lot of you wanted to read a chapter about him, so yeah *coughs*
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
See you all in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Of Silver Linings and Blue Yonder