A/N: I'm not going to go into detail with this. I will count this as my first story that has actually been liked by me. Usually, I get really picky with the way I do things, everything has to be perfect. I just hope that this will reach the standards and maybe, higher to other readers.

Okay, so this paring is Gaara Naruto and it does have a story behind it with me and my friend and that is partly why I wrote it.

*Note: understand that the signal -^-^-^-^- mean that the voice is turning towards a different character or is beginning a new section. These indications will help you understand reading the fic better.

WARNING: Of course, guy on guy romance and slight cursing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, gosh.

N.D.B. this is for you, always and forever, my Gaara-chan.

Sweets, Goodies, and Pancakes: chapter 1

The scent of cakes, pies, and cookies had extended around the open room full of scurrying customers grabbing bags and picking their favorite choices of sweets. Their eyes feasted on the delicious morsels as their mouths watered. It was another early Monday morning at the apt/store of the Uzumaki business. The owner was now being called by a handful of people to come and help them with their orders…

"…One at a time! I'll get you in a second!" he yelled at one lady, who was consistently flinging her bag at his face. The others who worked there were none other than his friends, who were, at the moment, twisted and tied up in a commotional and confusing catastrophe. The bustle was so much that he quickly fled to the kitchen where the quiet hum of the fridge was suddenly his closest friend. He sighed deeply with despair. Where's Sakura-chan?

The thought of her brushed past his mind. The way she would work in the store was shocking. She would always be in control of every customer because of her strong and understanding attitude. Not only that, but Naruto always had a small crush for his friend, but was always afraid that the words he wanted to say wouldn't turn out right –like always–.

Sakura rushed into the kitchen with her apron being hurriedly wrapped around her waist, ready to take on work for the day. "Sorry I'm late Naruto. I was blocked by the waiting customers out at the door." She gave him a stern look, "Why aren't you out there helping?"

He shifted in his spot, trying to figure out what to say. "Well, um, it's very explainable, hmm," he trailed off. There was no way that he would be able to clarify to Sakura that the reason why he was really waiting, was that he was slightly thinking about her before she arrived here. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud crash.

Sakura had turned her head from the blonde. "I think that was Lee, urgh, I knew he needed help with the dishes." She then turned back, "I have to go help him, and we'll talk about this later." And with that, she turned, her soft pink hair swiftly moving out of the kitchen.

A sad looking Naruto shook his head. "Eh, it doesn't matter what she thinks!" said the blonde being optimistic, "I have all the time in the world to tell her, psh, I practically have a whole life time!" he nodded greatly then walked back out into the crowded main entrance. "Okay! Let's get started!"

The morning for the little business became a memorable one as customer after customer entered and exited with a big grin and a satisfied stomach. The progress with everything was slightly unexpected and Naruto never realized that his sweets would be such a big hit, seeing that there were more people today then there was last Monday. But things started to slow at the start of 4 in the afternoon, with only a couple of people here and there, which, in his case was good because of the fact that they were running low on supplies already.

"Kiba, Choji and I will get the supplies, Naruto," offered Lee with a gleaming smile.

"Yeah, don't want it to be like last week where we couldn't open the store again because of supplies," added Kiba.

"Sure and, no, I really would like to have enough supplies for this whole week."

"Then we'll make sure to get a lot," said Choji.

The shop had become still, the only sounds were the small clinking of forks against plates and Sakura humming lightly. He watched her clean the counter ever so slightly with a rag. Was this the one moment that he was waiting for? Should I? He asked himself, thoughts unsure. I mean, she's not doing anything…

He began to walk towards her, but something got in his way, a taller dark haired figure, leaned over the counter and smirked slyly at her. "Are you ready to go?" he asked in a calm and cool tone.

She leaned in forward and gave him a small peck, "Always ready," she replied. "Bye Naruto! See you tomorrow." The crow haired boy turned to Naruto with a pleased smirk, then, as his girlfriend joined him at his side, he intertwined their fingers and exited the shop.

Gosh, I should've known that Sasuke would go out with Sakura-chan. He faced the clean counter top, sadly disappointed. The entrance bell had rung its little jingle but the blonde ignored its soft call. What he didn't notice was that the person who stepped inside the shop was no other than Gaara or the Kazekage himself. Now, Gaara and Naruto were very close friends but ever since they went their separate ways, things between them seemed to diminish slowly.

The blonde told Gaara a while back that he would create a pastry shop full of home baked sweets. Seeing that Naruto had a clever/creative hand for such things, he wondered if that little piece of his memory had ever taken effect. He decided to catch a break from the piles of paper work that lay in stacks on a work table. He needed one, seeing that restless nights of work, strained every inch of his body and mind, but even the thought of missing a day irked him. He couldn't stand it.

As he opened the door to the apartment building, a quick glance was shot towards Sasuke who swiftly passed by without any knowledge that he was there. He looked busy partly listening to a girl next to him…Sakura-chan? It was curiosity who insisted to find out if they were dating but instead, he shook it off and proceeded forward to the blonde before him, who apparently, had his head hung over the gleaming counter top.

Gaara wondered if his voice was recognizable, "um, Naruto?" he asked a little nervously.

"I'll get to you in a second," sighed the fox boy, eyes still glued at the table down in front of him, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Oh, I guess, it's been a while since we last talked…my voice has changed, recalled the red head. A hand was lifted and placed against Naruto's soft chin, lifting it up to where both boy's eyes had locked, blue to green, green to blue. "Hello there…" said Gaara, finally grabbing Naruto's attention.

What? Is that, that, that? "Gaara!" yelled the excited friend who jumped over the counter and flew onto the taller boy in one motion. The red head was not prepared for such a greeting so instead of perfectly catching his friend without any damages, they toppled backwards on to the tile floor.

Oh, god, I should've expected… He winced slightly at the impact then looked over at Naruto. "You okay?" he inquired, their faces rather close to each other, but the feeling of this closeness wasn't a problem, their faces have been bashed together in a fight after the final test of the Chunin exams.

Naruto smiled big, "Never better!" he replied, chuckling at the fall, "what a crash, huh?"

"Mhmm," replied the other, "you jumped over the counter...I didn't see it coming..."

"Seriously?" said Naruto with his face scrunched in confusion, "you're Gaara! The Kazekage! You know when everything is coming!" He climbed off his friend and gave a hand to which the other male greatly accepted.

"Thanks, and, you shouldn't say such things…I'm not all that great…"

"Huh? What do ya mean? I've known you for a long time and I know that you're great. Why do you say that you're not?" They sat at a small table to where Gaara goes into his story… "…so that's what happens when friends don't see each other for a while…"

He nodded slowly, "yeah…"

"Well, one thing's for sure, I'm glad you came to visit. We can hang later if you want?" Naruto was hoping so much for the answer to be "yes" that even his gleaming blue eyes were shouting it. If he agrees then we can get some food and catch up some.

"I can't…I'm not really supposed to be here, Naruto…" Even though he was taking a break, it still didn't feel right to just skip one day of work or in this situation, a couple since his crazy little blonde headed friend might not let him go after staying for a couple of hours. In his opinion it was wrong to skip days, especially if you have the most important job out of everyone else's. He dreaded looking at the blonde's reaction. The last thing Gaara wanted was for Naruto to be upset.

"Oh," he looked down and away. Well that was a stupid attempt, I should've known that he's way too busy being Kazekage, with all of that work to take care of, he probably doesn't have time to hang out. "Well, maybe next time then?"

"Sure, but right now, I must go…" and with that, Gaara stood and left the apartment/shop, leaving a sad blonde behind…

That night, the shop was ready for closing and Naruto needed to get away from what was replaying in his mind. The perfect get away was to get some dinner at his favorite ramen shop… "Pork, please!" he yelled. There were more people out today at the little shop, causing seating to be overcrowded and irritating.

Something pink caught his eye and he turned to find the girl he grew up with -and secretly loved- with her boyfriend, of which he scowled at. This sucks why does she have to date him? Why him? What is with all these people here?"Argh!" he yelled while pounding the counter with his fists. Unfortunately, nobody near him cared that he was angry with everything that was playing back in his head, and carried on with their shouting orders. Hmpf, reminds me of today back at my business…

Chef was having a tricky time grabbing other orders, but people seem to hush down and turn away, paying more attention to the entrance. The person who entered turned every head, even Naruto's, but it wasn't going to change his expression of annoyance, even though the whole shop became quiet. In fact, he gave that person a quizzical, yet, dirty look.

"What are you doing here?" barked Naruto, slightly irritated that Gaara was present instead of gone.

"Oh my god," said a startled lady who looked at Naruto for his rather rude comment. "Do you know who you're talking to, young man? That is the Kazekage!"

Already irritated enough, he turned to the woman who corrected him. "Uh, yeah, do you not think I know that already? I'm not as stupid as I look lady. Do you really think I'd just bust out and say some random shit to a person who is at a higher league that I am? You are too clueless, that's my best friend, and yeah, you might've not known that, but next time you say something, try thinking that it's better to say nothing at all." Her face became flustered but she quickly turned away from him so he wouldn't see. "Now, tell me Gaara, why are you here?" he asked a little more calmly.

Gaara sat down near the other, "um, pork please? And Naruto…that was a little harsh."

"Right away, Kazekage sir!" replied Chef.

"Whatever. She deserved it. But don't change the subject so easily. You think that you can just walk in here all calm like and make everyone shut up because that's what I needed?" The thing is this 'plan' that Gaara had created would have worked, if only he didn't say that he had to leave his blonde friend earlier and that's what really hurt.

"I could tell you were annoyed." Gaara nodded. The order had come in fast as Chef set the bowl in front of the Kazekage. He thanked him and continued by passing the bowl to his companion.

He was never good with his words, but every time he tried to show that he cared, made Naruto's heart smile. "I forgive you," finished the blonde. He turned back to his steaming bowl of noodles. "It's chow time!"

"So, why, again?" Evening struck forward when Naruto finished his 4th bowl of ramen. Each bowl that he ordered, were on Gaara and all were different flavors.

The red head sighed. "Just cause…"

"Yeah, but…why?" Naruto seemed quite curious at why his friend didn't leave when said. When Gaara did not reply, he focused again on Sakura who still sat at the same place with Sasuke. I can't believe they're still here! Seriously! How long does it take to finish just one bowl of ramen? I can finish 4 in nearly 20 minutes, maybe less, if I'm really hungry, but seriously!He watched as Sasuke leaned over to kiss the pink haired girl. No, freaking, way! Why'd he do that? That is so gross! Ugh, Sakura-chan deserves better.

"Naruto?"

"Huh? What?" he asked rather hurriedly. His criticizing thoughts about Sakura's relationship faded slowly.

"I know you're looking at her…" said Gaara in an obvious tone.

"Pfft, what? Nah, I wasn't, um, looking. Why would you say that?"

"…It's just the way you stare at her and how you think that you're the only person looking at her…"

"I don't think that!"

"Mhmm..." He looked at the empty bowls, "are you done?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Then let's go. I'm starting to get a headache from this smell…"

…They began to walk around the town of Konoha, stopping here and there at shops to where Naruto bought a disposable camera and shot pictures randomly at his associate and himself. Gaara didn't mind, but later, the random flashes began to irritate him and he threatened to take the camera away from the blonde and not give it back until the day he leaves... "No! Don't, please!"

"I'm serious, stop."

Their walking ended at the local park where twinkling lights reached and stretched across tree limbs to create a starry sky. The wind was calmly pushing the pink tinted petals from the Sakura trees into the air, each piece whirling in little spirals; dancing with the wind. Naruto had reminisced back and Gaara would remember the day that they shared a big bowl of ice cream on the bench… "We had it over there, remember?"

"Yeah, it was vanilla ice cream..." They sat down on the familiar bench.

"Of course, because vanilla is the only flavor you'd eat and we both wanted a bowl but I wanted a different flavor…"

"But they didn't have ramen flavored ice cream…" responded Gaara.

"So instead of taking the first bite…"

"Your spoon fell along with the ice cream…I had to share my spoon with you…I remember…"

"Good times! Good times." Naruto took the time to appreciate the bench by rubbing it affectionately and saying comments to it, as if it were going to reply with a 'thank you'.

Gaara shook his head. "Always the silly one, Naruto," he said, as he stood up.

The blonde mimicked; turned his head to Gaara, looking into his soft green eyes, "You really think so?" He blushed and gave out a small "yeah". "Aw, thanks Gaa-chan!" replied the blonde happily, hugging his friend for the first time since he got here. The hug seemed a tad bit awkward but perfect none-of-the-less. He didn't understand why Naruto was hugging him from a comment like that, but Gaara didn't hesitate to hug him back; it wasn't long until Naruto snuggled softly into the other boy's neck, causing a slight jump from the other.

Naruto chuckled, "Heh, sorry Gaa-chan. I guess…I feel so comfortable with you…eh, it might sound a little weird, but, it's what I'm feeling…"

He didn't say anything specific, but his movements were just enough to let Naruto know that he agreed. A light squeeze and a soft "me too", in his ear was all that he needed from the red head for everything to be awkwardly perfect…

They headed down to his apartment where Gaara was intended to drop him off and leave to find a local hotel. Naruto protested at the thought of such things and offered Gaara his place instead. The lights were dimly lit in the main entrance and by the time the blonde walked by the fridge, a grumble halted him and he turn towards it to pull out ingredients for a special mixture.

"What are you making?" asked the red head curiously.

"Your favorite," replied the other as he poured the powder mix into a basin, adding milk, and eggs as well.

"I'm not hungry..."

"You sure will be when this is done!"

Gaara walked to Naruto, curiosity killing him with each step. "What are you-," but he could not finish, for the fact that Naruto had wiped dry mix onto a soft pale cheek. Gaara set off an annoyed look.

"Aw, c'mon," said Naruto reassuringly while laughing, "it's just a little powder. It was funny." Gaara ended up giving Naruto an "unconvinced" expression. "Okay, I'm sorry. Go sit and I'll fix you your favorite."

He turned around to go and sit at the two chaired tables and waited for the blonde to return with their breakfast-dinner. Green eyes had gleamed like jewels at the freshly cooked chocolate chip flapjacks that his friend created. "Bon appetite!" The very first bite was like a magical drift to heaven that caused Gaara to close his eyes and slightly smile with delight. "Is it good?" asked his friend who hadn't touched his plate yet. Again, the red head responded by engulfing all of what was on the plate. Naruto tried finishing his plate but green eyes that fixated on his hot cakes made him stop. "Um, do you want any more?"

He looked away embarrassed by the fact that staring became an issue. "…if there is any more…"

"Yeah, sure, it's in the kitchen…" They headed towards the kitchen; Naruto pointed to the stove and the batter, "it's all there," he explained. His friend picked up the spatula that was coated in pancake batter and smeared some on Naruto's cheek. "Hey!"

"Payback," he responded while the blonde snatched the utensil then wiped the other side on Gaara's bottom lip.

"Ha, love the white lipstick. Don't you?"

"Naruto," finished Gaara, aggravated at the action.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll get it off." He retrieved a paper towel 6 steps away, but while returning back, walking fast, took the wrong step and tripped onto his companion. The biggest accident was that when the domino affect seized both boys, so did the rest of the batter and dry mix, Gaara mostly, was covered in a white powder. Naruto got the sticky side of things. They became awfully close as noses kissed each other in a small 3 sec. peck before the blonde pulled back a bit.

"Shit! That's gross!" he said, flinging the pancake batter off his arms. It only made things worse for the person in front of him who was coughing up a storm. "Jeez, I'm so sorry for the mess Gaa-chan."

Gaara didn't seem to be mad and was protesting at the apology. To Naruto, it actually seemed like he was chuckling instead of coughing. "It's—fine."

"Um, no, I think I got some near your eye." His face closed in, wiping the mix off with his thumb. "There you go…" he whispered as he gazed up at beautiful light green irises.

The moment was just enough for sparks to light a firework show around the frozen boys and Gaara felt it deep inside his stomach, a feeling of which he could never explain whenever he was placed with or around Naruto. Butterflies? Is that what this term means?He thought as he remembered reading a book about the concept of how to love…and then…he thought about what it would be like to kiss Naruto, to go out with Naruto, to hold him every night and wake up every sunrise to find that cheesy but cutely incredible smile…to say 'I love you' in more ways imaginable…he thought of those things which looked like would take forever to translate into regular text, because, to him, love was just an unreadable language.

1 minute seemed like 20 and he would not wait anymore for something that was unknown to him, to wait and maybe not have another chance like this. With one last defying breath, he ended the fast menacing paced beat of his heart by gracefully capturing his best friend's lips into his first solid shock waving kiss.

Naruto, surprised by this action, wanted to turn away, for, he didn't know what it meant, but something deep inside told him different. Of course, he would always say that he'd kiss girls all the time to his friends when really, it never happened. In fact, the fox boy has never kissed anyone before and now, as his lips were pressed against his best friend, he felt a small burning sensation as if a fire was being created, connecting him and Gaara together…until…

Gaara coughed from the pancake batter that sill floated around him. He apologized huskily, "sorry…"

"Heh, yeah, um," words were hard to find as they both stared embarrassed with heated cheeks, "do you…want to wash up?"

"Yeah, that'd be fine…"

Gaara headed up the spiral stair case into the bathroom, while Naruto stayed to clean up the pancake clutter. Man, what was that? he thought, I just agreed kissing my best friend! But you liked it, didn't you? Weeell, there was nothing wrong with it…I mean, it is my first. Then why are you complaining? You should be proud that you got your first! Yeah. I guess it just was awkward because it was my first,Yeah, but…you'll get use to it. But what if I don't? And besides, Sakura was supposed to have my first kiss… She's with Sasuke and I don't think that they're breaking up soon. "Yeah," he said quietly. …I mean, it wasn't that bad… could've been better though… He imagined the kiss with a more sensual affect but a sudden tightening feeling began growing down south, "whoa, s-stop!" he shook his head vigorously.

Upstairs, Gaara undressed out of his white Kazekage robe and neatly folded it near the sink. Feeling a breeze in the moderately heated room was typical, since he only stood in his boxer briefs as he examined himself in the mirror. The powder had stayed in his hair but he was so tired from today that it wasn't a big necessity to take a shower to rinse it out, so, he tried brushing the particles out instead. As the last pieces of powder receded, he walked out right when Naruto walked in.

They paused to look at each other; the last thing Naruto thought he'd see was Gaara in his underwear. There was a blush that snuck in, "um, I, uh, I guess, you are, um, sleeping here then?" he asked, trying his best not to look at his body so much and more at his face.

"Yes...if...that isn't a bother? I can leave...if you want-"

"N-no, I mean, you don't have to. I don't want you out there spending money when we know each other, um, not like that, but um," Naruto sighed deeply confused and embarrassed.

"Calm down."

"Sorry," replied the blonde as he took a couple of steps forward towards Gaara.

"You're going to cause a headache with all of this thinking," he said as his hand gently pressed against the other's forehead.

Naruto pouted. "I know. I'm sort of trying not to, ya know?"

He smiled softly, "yeah, I know."

They both shared a small moment together while Naruto chuckled and Gaara smiled slightly and soon enough, their faces seemed to move closer, again they collided in another heart warming kiss.

Wait, what am I doing? I'm kissing my best friend, again! That isn't the right thing to do, besides, its not what boys should do!

Tension made the atmosphere odd and the older male pulled away to ask what was wrong. Naruto didn't want to feel like he was going to hurt his friend's feelings. He shrugged, "nothing," he said smiling, "I just got kinda side tracked. That's all."

Gaara moved in, placing his nose on the other's, "you sure?" he said softly.

"Yeah, positive." He giggled and jointly rubbed their noses then gave a small peck that turned out to hold out longer than what it was intended.

Naruto became scared to pieces as his hands fiddled with Gaara's bare chest, searching for a spot placement. His hands were placed on the other's sides; the fact that he was touching someone else's bare skin made him feel like he was going to topple over from nervously shaking so much.

Gaara pulled the smaller frame into a strong hug whispering softly, "calm down. It's okay."

"I'm s-sorry," he shakily replied, "I don't know why I'm shaking so much. I guess I'm just nervous." Gaara looked at the blonde like he knew what he was talking about and brought Naruto's hand to his heart. The beat was running like a race horse and pounding like a line of base drums in a dome full of people and no matter how loud everyone else seemed to be or get, the drums would take over the entire wave sound.

"Guess you're nervous too." Gaara nodded. "I just feel like…things are going a little too fast…" A yawn erupted from him and he tired to focus on Gaara, but the power of sleep was overtaking his body. He wrapped his arms around his best friend and Gaara carried him to bed.

He decided that it would be too much for him just to leave so he snuggled in close behind the other boy, while gently wrapping his arm protectively around his waist where Naruto groggily intertwined their fingers together. "Good night, Naruto."

"Nigh'…Gaa…cha…"

End of chapter 1

A/N: will there be a chapter two? Yeah, guess so. Don't want things to just be left like this. It needs a proper ending. Don't you think? Reviews would be awesome.