Hello,

I thought I try my hand at a one-shot since my other story is far from finished. I got the idea for this fic while listening to one of the songs in my "Rainy Day Mood" playlist. The story goes with the lyrics to Linda Eder's "When I Look At You" from her Storybook album. It's a very good song, and you will actually appreciate this fic more if you actually listen to the song since plain lyrics can't capture the mood. Anyways, before I go rambling on, I just want to say that I'm thinking of making this into a two-shot if people like it.

- The Book of Counted Sorrows

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor will I in the foreseeable future. Honestly, if I owned Naruto, do you think I would be wasting my time with fanfics? ;)

Note: Set a few years after Gaara becomes Kazekage.

When I Look At You (1)

The meeting between the Kazekage and the Konoha nins was still in progress when Kankuro and his team burst in to the Kazekage's office.

"Gaa…Kazekage," Kankuro quickly corrected himself, realizing he had interrupted him in the middle of a meeting. It wouldn't do to address their Kazekage by his first name when he was performing his duties, even if he was his younger bother. "We've just received important information from the border," Kankuro finished.

Gaara nodded toward him in acknowledgement. "We will meet again at the same time in two days time," the Kazekage's empty voice addressed the leaf shinobi. Kurenai nodded and made her exit along with her old genin team, now turned chuunin.

Hearing his younger brother's empty voice and looking into his dead eyes, Kankuro could do nothing but lower his eyes in an attempt to hide the pity reflected in them. Three months had passed since that incident and Gaara remained in the same state: dead to the world around him.

Even now, he resided on the other side of the veil, eternally searching for his departed lover—dead for three months now.

The only reason he remained in this world was his duty to the village. There was no other who could possibly take his place; thus, he remained Kazekage—protector of countless. Yet, the title only served to eternally remind him of the one life he would have traded his life to protect, but in the end watched as twin spears pierced through his body ripping through muscle and sinew.

God, how he wished they could have found his body.

The rushing river Neji had falling into when he had been attacked crossed through two other countries. They searched mile after mile until they reached the borders of Wind country. The trackers were sure the Hyuuga had been swept away with the current since no evidence to state otherwise was ever found. But Gaara ordered them to continue. He along with the rest of the search team continued on. However, they soon reached a powerful waterfall that dropped 5 miles down onto a rocky end. Everyone was sure he could not have survived the fall, but Gaara continued the search, desperate to find a sliver of hope, until days turned into weeks.

In the end the futile search was called off as Gaara's last hope to find his love alive, vanished.

Kankuro stopped his thoughts before Gaara realized what he was contemplating, and once the room was empty of all foreign ninjas, continued on with the report.

Gaara sat on his lonely and abandoned bed staring off into the distance. The desert night beckoned him, whispered a name long gone from this world. Teased him with the sound of laughter he would never be blessed to hear in this lifetime. Like the nights before and the ones to come, he ignored the cruel call, and instead allowed his thoughts to drift.

He sat in the dark. On the night stand stood an opened music box. The lone male listened to the soft melody as fleeting moments in time flooded his mind.

An unplanned night encounter. A pale hand delicately tracing a red Kanji. A promise made in the dead of night. A shy caress. The first meeting of lips. Silken sheets shifting under the weight of two bodies. Teal eyes reflecting twin pools of lavender. Uncertainty. An encouraging, yet gentle smile. A pale hand guiding an ivory one to a slightly parted robe. Pale fingers brushing red locks as ivory hands touch a muscled chest for the first time. Moonlight bathing two nude figures in its ethereal glow. A night of love…of promises…of peace. A respite from the darkness within. Love found in the dead of night.

Laughter shatters the lulling melody.

"It's only been two months since you became the leaf ambassador. Don't tell me you've let your skills diminish. Come on Hinata. We can take him," a leaf shinobi yells with mirth as he attacks a quiet male. A swarm of insects rises to the defense of the quiet male, while a small white dog barks to his master.

"Byakugan," shouts the female shinobi, activating a familiar blood-line limit. She is happy to see her old comrades once again which is evident by her soft snickers.

However, before the mock-battle can commence a figure clad in black blocks their path. Words are exchanged. A sudden gasp is heard from the female shinobi.

"I didn't realize we were so close to his quarters," she says loudly, before she is quieted down by the puppet master.

When I look at you
What I always see
Is the face of someone else
Who once belonged to me
Still I can hear him laugh
Even though that melody plays on
He's gone

In his quarters, Gaara hears the entire episode. He stays were he is, away from those familiar lavender eyes that hurt him just by looking at him. How is he supposed to defend himself against such an assault? Is it even possible?

He's glad she's finally going back to Konoha. Her old team arrived yesterday, and she will be far away from him in less than a week.

He thanks the gods for small blessings.

Sometimes she looks so much like him that his heart actually stops for a moment thinking he is once again with him. But in the end the illusion shatters and she is standing in his place.

False Hope.

That is what she gives him. The worst torture he could ever endure, yet he endures it, day after day after day. He is surprised he's still sane. Her presence mocks him. Reminding him of what is no longer his. No longer possible.

He recalls her soft laughter that just moments ago tinkled in the crisp night air. He despises it, yet adores it for it is very similar to her cousin's.

It's uncanny.

Gaara listens as Kankuro tries to explain to Hinata that she cannot make her presence known to him.

"It's not you Hinata," he hears him say. "But I—we can't have you around him. You know that you remind him too much of your cousin. Its torture for him…I'm sorry but you must leave as soon as possible."

Gaara ignores the rest of the conversation. Instead he resumes listening to the soft melody echoing through the music box that Neji gave him on a quiet winter's night.

When I look at you
He is standing there
I can almost breathe him in
like summer in the air
Why do you smile his smile
That heaven I'd forgotten eases through
In you

"All the necessary paperwork is in order, you can take your leave when you wish," Gaara informs Hinata at their next meeting.

"Thank you," she says before bowing to him.

His eyes widen in shock, while his heart clenches at the formal bow as a trick of light combined with his own deep longing makes him see a familiar male standing beside her. The male stares at him with laughter in his eyes and his mouth slowly quirks upward in a knowing smile. A smile he remembers well.

The scene last but a moment, and Hinata is once again standing in front of him; looking at him in question for his uncharacteristic show of emotion.

As he regains his composure, she stays in place, hesitating to leave. She looks at him with those teasing eyes that remind him of a time when he was truly happy. Her eyes reflect her deep sadness and traces of pity. He can't stand it!

All he wants is peace; for a moments time he wants this pain that resides in his heart to cease, but deep down he knows it never will.

A small breeze enters his office through the opened window and the smell of lavender reaches him. Torturing himself, he takes a deep breath hoping to breathe him in. To capture his essence, and take it inside of himself so that he may have a small piece of him. But as suddenly as the scent drifts to him, another breeze whips it away, leaving him with nothing but the faint memory of it.

"I'm sorry," she tells him as she bows her head, futilely trying to hide her sorrow. "He was my cousin, and I loved him dearly," she smiles at the memory. Gaara clenches his fist. "I'm glad he found true love, though it was short lived," she says with a hint of sadness. Gaara tightly shuts his eyes trying to control the flood of emotion pouring into him at her words. "He loved you more than life itself, and he wouldn't want you to live—"

"Leave," he growls out. Head bent; hair covering his firmly closed eyes. Fists clenched; body trembling from suppressed emotion. Gaara is close to breaking.

Hinata's eyes widen in horror realizing she's caused him pain. She didn't know her words would bring out such a reaction in him. All she wanted was to give him a few words of comfort.

"LEAVE!" he erupts. The pain is too great.

Kankuro rushes into the room at his outburst. Following behind him, Shino and Kiba enter the Kazekage office worried for their comrade.

"Take her out of here," Kankuro yells at the two chuunin. They hesitate for a moment before they hurry and take her out of the office.

Eyes filled with sorrow, Kankuro approaches his little brother. "Gaara are you okay?" he asks softly.

Gaara looks up, and for a brief moment Kankuro is paralyzed. A bottomless grief that he cannot fathom stares back at him: grief, sorrow, misery, desolation, anguish, and a dozen of other emotions. For the briefest moment, he see's them all radiating off teal eyes of the man in front of him. His brother.

But he doesn't have a chance to do anything but stare as Gaara disappears in a swirl of sand.

If you could look at me once more
With all the love you felt before
If you and I could only dance into the past
And find that love we knew
I'd never take my eyes away from you

Gaara appears in his bedroom. He falls on his knees, and buries his face in his hands. The unquenchable sorrow of the last three months rushes through his mind, blinding him, and he cries out in pain.

Outside, an unexpected sand storm sweeps through the Sand Village. The storm is furious bashing into everything. Buildings groan in protest at the abuse. No one leaves the protection of their homes.

The sorrow in the air is so palpable that one can actually taste it.

Husbands hug their wives a little tighter. Mothers hold their young to them, trying to calm their frightened hearts. Teens huddle together afraid. Strangers stay close, seeking the warmth of another. Ninjas stay indoors, not daring to brave the artificial storm that they've seen only once before—three months ago.

However, every one is relieved that the storm is smaller compared to the last one. They all know who is fueling it, yet

sympathy is the only thing they can feel. Everyone waits out the storm, hoping their Kazekage will return to them once more.

Outside his door Gaara hears several people call out to him. He ignores them, and as the pounding on his door begins, he commands his sand to block all entrances.

He remains on the floor as several memories assault his already fragile emotional control.

He almost wishes he never met the Hyuuga. Never allowed Neji to become Konoha's official ambassador…never allowed him to touch him…never allowed him to kiss him…never allowed him to love him…

He remembers the first time Neji looked at him without the pretense of friendship. Looked at him with hunger…with want…with desire. He had never known such a look, could not guess what was behind it.

In the barricaded chamber the Kazekage chuckles to himself as droplets of salty water fall from his teal eyes.

He had been so naïve.

Neji had slowly wrapped him around his little finger, and as the foreign emotions slowly engulfed him, he became more and more dependent on the Hyuuga's unflinching love until he couldn't imagine a time when he didn't want the brunette.

He wanted to wake up in Neji's arms once again, needed to hear his soft laughter that always captured his interest. Craved the love he saw reflected off lavender eyes every time they turned to him.

Flashback

Gaara walked into his chamber after a long day. The border patrols had spotted a suspicious group on the outskirts of the Wind Country, and they had swarmed him with reports on the group's activities.

In the end they turned out to be refugees from a foreign nation whose village had been attacked and burned to the ground. Not wanting to turn them away, he let them enter Wind Country. Their entrance was recorded and after he had made sure they received medical assistance, a mountain of paperwork awaited him.

He was tired and was looking forward to a long sleep. However, as he entered his chamber, he felt a familiar chakra signature.

Neji.

He looked toward the opened window and sure enough, there stood Konoha's official ambassador clad in a white bathrobe.

Instantly the day's events melted away as he looked into those eyes that radiated love for him. The feeling was so strong that he could literally feel the emotion wrapping him in its warm cocoon.

Neji slowly smiled at him and pointed toward the bathing room. "I thought you might be a little worn out, so I kept the water warm for you," he said as he walked toward him, capturing his ivory hand in his own; and as he lead him to the waiting tub he began disrobing him of his Kazekage robes. .

Once inside the steaming water, Gaara closed his eyes in contentment as Neji, who was sitting behind him, began working a lavender-scented shampoo into his red locks.

Neji worked the shampoo into his hair, and after he was satisfied he murmured a quick warning before scooping some water in a small container and pouring it over his head. After making sure all the shampoo was out of his lover's hair, Neji wiped off the excess water from his face.

Satisfied with his work, Neji grabbed the washcloth along with the soap. He worked up a thick lather before sweeping it over his lover's back. Once he was finished, he placed loving kisses on the clean back, and worked his way up until he reached the soft flesh of Gaara's neck.

Gaara groaned at the intimate contact and wanting more, turned around, sloshing the warm water with his sudden movement. Meeting eager lips, he began to kiss his partner. As their kisses grew heated, Neji immediately pulled him into his lap and let his hands explore his pink flesh.

When they finally parted for air, Neji leaned his forehead against his own, and gazed into his eyes, revealing every emotion that crossed his heart.

End Flashback

When I look at you
He is touching me
I would reach for him
But who could hold a memory?
And love isn't everything
This moonlight on the bed will melt away someday

The storm ended soon after dusk. The villagers wearily stepped outside and looked up into the darkening sky. Sensing the desolate atmosphere, they went back into their homes to the waiting embrace of their loved ones.

Outside of the Kazekage's quarters more ninjas arrive.

"What's the situation?" Temari asks Kankuro.

A frustrated Kankuro looks at her, and begins to explain.

"He's been in there since his outburst. He blocked all the entrances using his sand, and we haven't been able to find a way inside."

"What about Hinata? Where is she?" Temari asks.

"She couldn't leave with the raging storm. Right now she's with her teammates in her own quarters," he answers her.

At the news, Temari stares at her brother's barricaded door. "Gaara," she whispers in concern.

The next day Kankuro and Temari, along with other Sand nins say their good-byes to Hinata and the other three leaf shinobi.

To everyone's surprise, Gaara appears before them in a swirl of sand.

"Ga—Gaara…what are you doing here?" a shocked Temari asks him.

"I came to bid our ambassador farewell and a safe journey," he answers in an empty voice.

Neji had loved his cousin, and he could not let her leave without saying a proper good-bye to her. It was the least he could do.

Hinata's eyes water touched that Gaara cares enough to say good-bye to her even though she knows her very presences hurts him. "I'll miss you," she tells him, before capturing him in a tight hug. She feels him stiffen, but he does not pull away. Instead, he returns the embrace. Though he embraces her, he feels her cousin in his arms. The familiar scent of lavender invades his senses, and it feels as if Neji is embracing him for the last time. This was his good-bye, and he cherished the moment.

All too fast, their embrace ends and Gaara watches as the last remnants of his deceased lover walks into the desert, heading toward Konoha.

That night Gaara enters his lonely room with a blue folder in his arm. He walks to the night stand where he carefully picks up the cherished music box. He holds it in his hands like it is spun glass, afraid it might shatter with the slightest touch.

He makes his way to the edge of the bed and sits down on the soft mattress; setting down the blue folder next to him. He slowly opens the music box and relishes the familiar melody that tinkles out and engulfs the silent room. For a moment he is at peace and his eyes slowly shut while his ivory fingers gently stroke the engraved letters that decorate the mahogany box. The inscription is burned into his memory.

The only way to exist is to be made whole by another.1

He clearly remembers the first time Neji said those words to him. It had been a lonely moonlit night, and he was still struggling to find a reason for his existence. He had left the double doors open to the night, and Neji had used the opportunity to enter his quarters.

It had been the first time he had looked at him with want. It was a night of discovery for both of them.

Gaara smiles at the memory, but alas, it is but a memory. You can't touch a memory, smell it. A memory can't keep you warm at night, embrace you… kiss you. It is insubstantial. Exist only in your mind.

"Alone I am nothing," he whispers to himself, and his fingers stop their incessant movements.

By the light of the moon, a silent figure just outside the open doors of the balcony listens to the soft whisper coming from the Kazekage's lips.

Back inside the room, Gaara extracts himself from his thoughts and notices the empty bed bathed in moonlight. How long till his heart recovers? Will it ever?

He recalls Temari's words.

Flashback

It had been a week since Neji's death and his siblings had taken turns accompanying him on the long nights. They didn't want to leave him alone in his quarters.

It was Temari's night, and she had talked about the days events trying her best to fill the vacant room with the sound of her voice. However, he only caught half of what she said. After hours of talking, Temari finally sighed in defeat.

She was sitting beside him, yet she knew he was far away from her.

"I know it hurts Gaara, but you can't just give up on life. No one expects you to be cheerful and happy all the time. We just want you to come back to us." She turned to him to see if he was listening, and noted he was paying attention. "Think about this way. Do you remember what happened to Kankuro yesterday?" she asked him; mirth in her eyes.

Gaara nodded remembering the incident. Temari and Kankuro had been practicing with each other on the training grounds. They weren't alone since so many of the practice areas were under repair thanks to the sandstorm he had unconsciously created.

The battle was long and intense; however, Kankuro soon saw an opening and used it to his advantage. He used Karasu to distract the fan wielder, while Kuroari snuck behind her. Temari recognized his strategy having seen it hundreds of times before and quickly countered with her fan. Kankuro, along with his puppets, was thrown fifty feet away. The puppet master crashed into a large cactus and immediately jumped up with a piercing shriek. He ran around the field, all the while yelling obscenities at the female Sabaku. Everyone in the training grounds had laughed until their sides ached from the mirth. Eventually, a medic nin showed up and got Kankuro to stay still long enough to remove the needles.

"I saw you not too far away from us, and I noticed your small smile as you watched Kankuro run around like an idiot. I know you won't be as happy as you were with him, but you can still feel happiness. It might not be as strong, but it is still joy all the same," she finished.

Gaara nodded, understanding what she was trying to say. Temari smiled.

End flashback.

Oh, you were once that someone
Who I followed like a star
And suddenly you changed
And now I don't know who you are
Or could it be that I never really knew you from the start

As the memory slips away, he remembers the forgotten folder. He picks it up and for the fifth time that day, reads over its contents.

It was an official resignation form for Konoha's ambassador. However, unlike the one in his office, it was dated three months ago.

Neji had been in the process of resigning his post.

After seeing Hinata and her comrades off, he had returned to his office and filed her official resignation form. However, before he placed it in its proper place, he noticed another form he had not seen before because it was partially hidden by other documents.

He picked it up and immediately recognized Neji's handwriting. He smiled a bitter smile at the elegant curves. Each letter written with such precision and care just like the writer.

Gaara read the top of the form and was immediately shocked by the title. He re-read the name once more thinking he had somehow picked up Hinata's form. The name remained the same: Hyuuga Neji.

Ever since finding it, Gaara had begun to question the reasoning behind it. Why would Neji file such a form? Why did he want to leave him?

There were too many whys.

The date was two days before the fateful incident, which lead to a hard conclusion. Neji had wanted to leave his post before he was killed.

Once he realized the hurtful truth he began to remember the Hyuuga's strange behavior that week. He was quieter than usual and mediated for longer hours. He recalled an incident in which he had arrived early to his chamber. Neji had instantly noticed the swirl of sand as he teleported to his chamber, and had immediately hidden something from his view. He had been a little hurt by the distrust, but did not question his lover thinking Neji would eventually tell him.

But now he was left in doubt.

Did Neji stop loving him? Did he want to end their relationship?

Gaara buried his face in his hands. He couldn't deal with all of this. Neji's love was the one truth he knew, but here he was, questioning the sincerity of it.

Did Neji love him, did he ever? How could he believe anything the Hyuuga had ever told him. Did he ever truly know the man he called his lover?

Did I create a dream
Was he a fantasy
Even a memory is a paradise for all the fools like me
Now remembering is all that I can do
Because I miss him so
When I look at you

Had he been so desperate to have someone care for him as something other than a weapon that he had seen more into Neji's actions? Was the Neji he knew the real one or simply an illusion created through his own desire?

Question after question entered his mind until he felt that he was spiraling out of control. He couldn't even tell fact from fiction; the real Neji from a self-imposed illusion of the man he loved—loves.

That, at least, he knows with out a doubt. His love for the other male was unquestionable—the one truth he was certain of.

Using that one truth as a foundation, he slowly extracts himself from the doubt his thoughts were taking him.

He lets the blue folder slip from his grasp and watches as it falls to the floor. He allows the soft music to soak into him once more and he closes his eyes, wanting to forget where he is, even if it's just for a moment.

A silent figure enters the Kazekage's chamber and slowly walks up to the unaware male. He listens to the soft melody and smiles.

Gaara becomes alert as he senses another's presence and quickly stands up. However, it's too late as he the intruder stands in front of him, blocking the moonlight. As his eyes adjust to the light, he finds a familiar silhouette in front of him.

Neji.

Another illusion.

He looks at the figure he has no doubt his mind has conjured up and sheds a few tears as he gazes at his love.

His long-hair whips around him as the breeze enters the chamber from the open balcony doors. Lavender eyes look at him with the same familiar intensity.

Gaara doesn't care that it's a mere figment of his imagination. At the moment all he cares about is committing every detail to memory: the curve of his cheek, the small nose, the soft lips, the familiar chin.

Even an illusion of his love is better than this loneliness.

Then, to his surprise the illusion comes closer until it is mere inches away. The familiar scent of lavender invades his senses; radiating off the figure in front of him. Gaara tries to swallow the lump clogging his throat as suppressed emotions begin to break through.

Suddenly the figure bends down and his familiar eyes flutter shut as his lips meet the red-head's own.

The illusion shatters, and Gaara recoils from the kiss as if he's been burned and falls on his knees clutching his head. All the emotions he had kept at bay come pouring out of him in an endless wave of suppressed grief.

Neji sits down and wraps his arms around his love pulling him on his lap as his small form is racked with heart-wrenching sobs. All he can do is whisper words of comfort and wipe the endless river of tears that fall from his eyes. Gaara continues to weep until Neji is scared he will never stop, his tears mix with Gaara's as he becomes a helpless witness to his lover's torment as Gaara literally cries his heart out as if he were dying of sheer sorrow.

"Shhh…Calm down little love," he whispers as he rubs Gaara's back in familiar soothing circles. "Please stop, you're breaking my heart with your tears."

After the storm of emotions drains itself out, Gaara's sobs begin to dwindle until he just lies in Neji's warm embrace listening to his lovers heart beat mixed with the soft melody that never ceased to play.

He is emotionally and physically drained.

Is this real, he asks himself? He can't distinguish fact from fiction. But if it means he can once again be in his love's arms, he doesn't care if it's all a lie. So, he says nothing, afraid that any move on his part will surely shatter the illusion.

But Neji doesn't disappear. He continues rubbing his back, and the two lovers become trapped in a time loop, until eventually, Gaara falls asleep in the warm embrace and for the first time dreams of nothing.

He is at peace.

The next morning Gaara wakes up alone in his large bed. He is groggy at first, but shoots out of bed as memories of last night flood his mind.

He runs to his balcony only to be greeted with the warm morning sun. Dismissing the beautiful view, he rushes back inside and finds the music box back on the night stand, and next to it lays the discarded blue folder. He desperately looks around the room for any sign that Neji was there.

He finds nothing but the faint scent of lavender.

However, before he completely falls into despair, he hears the familiar sound of rushing water coming from the bathing room.

On trembling legs, he slowly walks to the door. Trying to keep his hope down, he uses his hand to push the door open.

Steam blurs his vision, but he immediately makes out a figure sitting on the bathtub checking the warmth of the water.

Neji turns to him, and as soon as he catches sight of him, a slow smiles blooms.

"I kept the water warm for you," the familiar words trigger another flood of emotion, but Gaara pushes it back.

"How…?" he whispers.

Neji's smile falters and he looks away from pleading teal eyes. After a minute he sighs, and gets up. He walks up to Gaara and meets his eyes. "I'll tell you after we take a bath, okay."

Gaara nods, deciding to leave explanations for later. For the moment all he wants to do is reacquaint himself with the man he loves but thought he lost.

Neji bends down and captures his lips. He kisses him as if it were the first time he had touched his lips. Gaara tries to deepen the kiss but Neji keeps up his slow pace, slowly seducing him until he moans from the tender touch. As Neji deepens the kiss, he slowly strips Gaara of his clothes, while his lover mimics his movements. Soon they are both standing nude in the middle of the bathing room.

It been three months since they've been able to touch each other, love each other; thus, as much as Neji wants to savor the moment, he is desperate to be inside his love. Neji's lets his mouth descend down his lover's neck, nipping and licking the tender flesh until he hears his lover moan in pleasure. Still licking his neck, Neji picks him up and sets him on the large counter, next to the sink. He quickly gets to work and licks his chest, making sure to pay attention to each tender nipple as he slowly descends down Gaara's muscled stomach. Unconsciously, Gaara's hands clutch his long silky hair, and Neji momentarily stops as he reaches his waist.

Waiting for his approval, Neji begins to place butterfly kisses on the flesh he is able to reach, until Gaara slowly loosens his hold on his hair. Neji stops and slowly looks up at him, while Gaara stares at him with lust-filled eyes before pulling him up for heated kiss. After they part, Neji goes back to his earlier ministrations, and this time when he reaches his lover's waist, he makes a detour to Gaara's hips placing wet kisses on the soft flesh, which only make Gaara squirm at the contact. Neji's mouth descends until he licks the inside of his thigh. Instantly, Gaara jumps a little and buries his hands in the brunette's silky locks. Neji continues his assault and ascends towards Gaara's weeping member, but before he reaches his goal he feels Gaara's painful pull on his hair. Again, he waits till his lover loosens his hold.

For a minute, he does nothing, and simply lets his hot breathe bathe Gaara's erection before licking the tip. Gaara's reaction is immediate, as he cries out, and clutches Neji's hair once again. The long-haired male concentrates on his movements and begins to lick and suck his lover's member. As he hears his lovers cries of pleasure mixed in with his name, he decides to speeds things up before swallowing the entire organ. The red-head's screams are music to his ears as he continues his assault. Gaara unconsciously starts to thrust inside of him, and Neji has to pin his hips down with his hands. After a few more licks and sucks, Gaara releases inside his mouth, and after swallowing his lover's semen, Neji pulls Gaara in a heated kiss before he picks him off the counter.

Instinctively, Gaara wraps his legs around him, and Neji takes a few steps until Gaara's back is on the wall. Neji deepens the kiss, while their hips start to move on their own accord. The sweet friction takes Neji to the edge until all he wants to do is pound into him. Using experienced fingers, he slowly prepares Gaara, and when he thinks he is ready, he removes his hand and replaces it with his own throbbing erection. Ever so slowly, he pushes himself inside, savoring the hot friction. Once inside of him, Neji waits till Gaara gives him the okay with a passionate kiss until he starts moving. Setting a slow pace, Neji holds back unsure if Gaara has yet to adjust; however, the desperate thrusts of Gaara's hips moving to meet his own quickly spurs him on, and without thought, he speeds up his pace, until he loses himself inside Gaara's tight passage. In his frenzy he reaches for Gaara's neglected member and starts pumping it to his own thrusts. Gaara dives his hands in Neji's long silky hair and pulls him in for a final passionate kiss. The ecstasy that they feel can be heard by their cries of pleasure as they moaned out each other's name. With a guttural moan, Gaara releases his seed, muscles clenching around Neji's engorged member. A few thrusts later, Neji's erection quivers inside the red-head as he releases inside of Gaara.

As the last fleeting sensations flow through their spent bodies, Neji sets Gaara down on weak knees. He let's himself slump a little as he places one hand on the wall in front of him; successfully keeping himself from falling in his lover who still has his arms wrapped around him. Once they regain their breaths, Neji bends down and gently kisses Gaara as he leads him to the waiting bathtub.

As the two sit in the water, letting its warmth soak into their tired muscles, Gaara leans back and closes his eyes in contentment as he feels Neji's wandering hands stroke his heated flesh. Eventually, he falls into a light doze in his lover's embrace. Neji gazes at him, amazed that he can hold such an exotic creature—call him his own.

He observes his lover's sleeping form for a while, memorizing every curve and angle; every detail.

He is content.

1 The only way to exist is to be made whole by another. Alone, we are nothing.

I'm not quite sure where I got this quote because I found it in one day while I was looking through one of my old notebooks. I always write things anywhere and I happened to stumble on to it while I was writing this story and I thought it was perfect.

So, there it is. If people actually like this fic, I think I will make it into a two-shot, but for now, it is complete.

Reviews are appreciated.