Author's Note: This story has sexual scenes, which are going to be cut down from the version placed in this site. If you wish to read the complete work, please search for it by the story name on Archive of Our Own site.

Chapter 1: A Drunken One-Night Stand

Gaara was twenty seven years old.

They had been at peace for about seven years now, with minor skirmishes here and there between the bigger nations with the smaller ones.

The greater nations had acquired such a stable peace, though, that the chuunin exams had become a somewhat important bonding event, instead of a source of worry about spilling village secrets.

The chuunin exams happened every year, each year it was held in one of the five greater villages with one of the Kages surveying it. This year, it had been in Konoha, and Gaara, of course, had attended it two months ago.

That was why she was curious when she got a letter from Naruto, asking her to visit him as soon as she could, and warn him when she could do it.

Considering she had visited him not long ago, she assumed Naruto had important news to share. Naruto and Hinata had been in a relationship, and she couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to announce their wedding, or something of the kind.

A small smile curved her lips, though she felt a little jealousy if she was honest with herself. Naruto was one of the only men she trusted enough to be intimate with, and though she never even considered making a serious move on him, she had fantasized very often about it. It would feel wrong to continue doing so once he was married...

But that was quite a selfish thought. She was happy that he had found his happiness with someone – he deserved it. Gaara wanted to be there to commemorate with him. That was why she sent her friend a missive telling him she would visit him in two weeks time.

She had expected to be in Konoha to hear about Naruto's future marriage. That was why it shocked her when she heard rumors that Hinata was in a relationship with Kakashi Hatake, through the gossip of perverted chuunins.

It worried her. Despite the brief spike of jealousy she had felt, hearing about her friend's possible loss of relationship made her feel grief for him. She had gone straight to Naruto's place after greeting the sixth Hokage – Kakashi Hatake himself.

She was relieved when she saw his friend looked beyond happy – not at all like someone who had just suffered the breaking of a romantic relationship.

"Gaara! You came!" Naruto greeted her with an overeager hug. Gaara was used to it, so she barely flinched, and even managed to pat his back a little awkwardly.

"Of course I did. From your missive, it sounded like you had something important to say." she agreed. Her friend beamed at him.

"Yes! Oh, yes! But we will leave that for the party tomorrow! How have you been doing?" Naruto pulled her into his home, and Gaara silently moved to sit on his couch.

She was immediately alert when she realized that one of the photos Naruto had on his bookshelf, in which he had been kissing Hinata on the lips, had been replaced by a photo taken with them in a far more platonic pose.

She ignored her friend's babbling as she walked up to it and held the frame up, scrutinizing the photo. She noticed it as soon as her friend went silent, and turned wordlessly towards him.

"Oh... I guess there's a reason you're considered a genius, uh?" he asked with a faint grin. Gaara's eyes narrowed. She said nothing, but after a stretch of silence, Naruto answered her unasked question. "Yeah, we aren't together anymore." he took the photo frame and placed it back onto the dresser fondly.

Several alarm bells rang on her mind as she stared at her friend. For one, Naruto seemed far more relaxed telling her about his failed relationship than she would have assumed he would be. He didn't look all that sad, just a hint of melancholy to the cast of his eyes. "I heard rumors..." she let her suspicion hang unsaid in the air.

The melancholy was gone, and Naruto grinned impishly. His expression looked sincere. "She's with Kakashi, yup. They're probably going to announce it officially soon, since some gossiper found out." Gaara wasn't sure how to react to that.

She turned towards her friend with a frown. Confused. "You don't look heartbroken about your break up..." she noted quietly. This time, his smile was sad.

"Well, no. We just... didn't work out. We broke it off over a year ago." Gaara looked alarmed at her friend. Naruto hadn't said anything. He raised a hand, a gesture to stop her from voicing any objection. "I didn't tell you, nor anyone else, because I was helping Hinata." he pursed his lips, looking annoyed. "If she had seemed to be single and available again, those annoying old men of her clan would try to marry her off to some creepy rich guy she never met in her life."

"Oh." That was noble of him. That sounded just like Naruto, actually. Her eyes softened as she watched her friend. "But you haven't found anyone else?"

The melancholy was back. Naruto offered her a weak smile. "I'm not really cut out for this relationship stuff." he shrugged. Before Gaara could say anything he shook his head and once again looked excited. "It doesn't matter, at all! I have great news, actually, but I want you to find out tomorrow, so I'm not telling now! But! Let's talk about more cheerful things, instead."

She allowed her friend to distract her as they both caught up to the more important happenings of each other's lives. She didn't insist on Naruto's relationship status, though it saddened her.

The next day, she was punctual to Naruto's party. It was a much bigger party than she had expected. There were many ninjas who she only knew in passing, but they were all Naruto's friends.

She spent a few hours of the evening talking with Rock Lee – he looked quite fine, dressed in black trousers with a forest green sweater. He had grown up into a handsome man. As the hours passed and Kankurou kept replacing full glasses of wine in her hand, she noticed more and more just how fine he had grown to look like.

At some point, Naruto had stopped the band that was playing and took the microphone from the singer's hand. "Hey, guys! There's something I have wanted to tell you, and I have made all of you wait long enough! So, I'll tell you now."

Naruto took a deep breath, then he beamed at them. "Six months from now, after the ceremony... I'll be officially the Seventh Hokage." he announced loudly. Gaara's eyes widened.

As several people started screaming and cheering loudly, she felt a big smile curve her lips. She caught Naruto's eyes, and her friend seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he grinned and waved at her. She saluted him with her wine glass.

"Hah! I can't believe he made it!" Kankurou announced by her side, though her brother sounded cheerful rather than disbelieving. Gaara raised an eyebrow when her brother changed the glass from her hands once again, and glanced at the oddly colored drink she had been given – definitely not wine.

She took a sip, and nearly spit it out. There was so much alcohol in the drink that it burned her mouth. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" she looked up at her brother, narrowing her eyes. Kankurou laughed merrily.

"As if! You're never going to get drunk, you burn the stuff out like a machine. I just thought you wanted to try something new – knock it back at once." he illustrated his words with one of the glasses he had in his hand with the same drink. He blinked and shook his head. "Man! Naruto brought out some good stuff! I wonder if Tsunade gave this to him."

Gaara knew she shouldn't drink, because she was already far too tipsy for her peace of mind. But, she was still curious. Specially when Tsunade appeared by them, and Kankurou started to discuss alcohol with her as she confirmed she had provided Naruto with some of the bottles.

Gaara knocked back the glass and nearly choked on the drink as it burned her throat all the way down. Her eyes were still watering as Tsunade placed another full glass with something else on her hand, with a cheerful, "Try this one!"

By the time Kankurou and Tsunade had gone, and Naruto was near her, she was feeling a little out of balance. "So, how do you like my news?" he wondered cheerfully.

"You, of all people, deserve this. Congratulations." she told him, heartfelt. Naruto looked surprised for some reason, but Gaara didn't think to ask what surprised him. She was trying hard not to stare at the three open buttons on his shirt, and the enticing golden skin they were showcasing.

In fact, all of her mental processes were busy trying desperately to stop her mind from picturing Naruto undressed, having plenty of fodder to work with from memories of her wet dreams. Naruto blinked at her. "Gaara, are you okay?"

She was surprised at the question. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she wondered, puzzled. It wasn't like anyone could read past her masks, so she wasn't worried about revealing her inner naughty fantasies. Naruto hesitated. Before he composed himself enough to tell her what he thought was wrong, Tsunade came and cheerfully dragged Naruto away, while his brother arrived with two girls at his arms, introducing them to Gaara.

Gaara kept herself from sighing and politely talked with the girls Kankurou was no doubt trying to pair her up with. Good thing she was an heterosexual female, otherwise she would have already ran away with one of them – she was feeling unusually aroused, and they were coming onto her very hard.

She refused another drink Kankurou tried to push onto her, but when he offered her wine once again, she accepted it easily. She knew how many glasses of wine and sake she could drink before she should stop, she didn't know much about the other spirit she had tried. She made a note to cut out on the wine soon, just in case that one had been too strong for her to take.

The party went well into the night.

By three in the morning, Gaara was one of the few people still there. Her brother had long ago sneaked out with two of the girls he had been trying to push onto Gaara. She saw Temari sneaking away with Shikamaru at one point, too.

Gaara felt she was way beyond tipsy by now – something quite rare, Tsunade's alcohol had really been strong indeed. But Naruto... Naruto was long past plastered. The fact he was Kurama's host was likely the only reason that he still hadn't lost the contents of his stomach by the looks of it.

Sakura had been trying to convince him to go home, amidst throwing glares to her laughing teacher who had likely been partially at fault for getting Naruto so wasted. But every time she came close to Naruto in order to manhandle him into obeying her, he tried to slip his hand a bit too low on her waist. She looked like she was trying to keep herself from sobering him up with a chakra enhanced smack on the face – killing her Kage because he was too smashed to dodge her punch wouldn't go well on the records of a responsible medic-nin.

She didn't know why she didn't keep herself from voicing aloud her brilliant idea, specially because she was very aware she wanted nothing more than to undress Naruto to put him to bed, and run her fingers all over his very fine muscles. Probably, it was due to the alcohol in her system. "I'll take him home, Sakura." she told her quietly.

Sakura turned to her and eyed her up and down, her eyes narrowed. After a few seconds, she seemed satisfied with something – probably the fact Gaara didn't look plastered – and nodded once. "Thank you, Gaara. That would be very helpful!" she said with a sigh.

So she helped her friend to his feet, and hauled him home with the help of her sand, ignoring all his babbling, which she could barely understand.

"Here you go, safely delivered." she sighed as she locked the door behind them. She should probably make them a sobering tea before leaving Naruto on his own.

She froze when Naruto walked so close behind her that her body was pressed against the door by his very warm body. His warm, alcohol laden breath caressed her ear as he whispered.

"Dude... Have I ever told you that you have hips like a chick's?" Gaara gasped as Naruto placed a hand on her hip, then slid it down until it was cupping her backside. "A really hot chick's."

She very nearly squeaked when Naruto pressed closer to her, and she felt his very clear erection rub against the back of her thigh. "So hot..." he murmured.

Her heart was beating in her throat as Naruto rubbed himself against her. She should push him away, she really should. But... She really didn't want to.

She shoved him away from her with her sand, and before Naruto could lose his balance, she turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders, planting a messy and inexperienced kiss against his lips. She felt the alcohol on his tongue as he took control and deepened the kiss, once again pressing her body against the door with his, but this time his erection was pressing right between her legs.

Her reason took a leave of absence from her brain right then.

She felt so comfortable and warm.

She was waking up, and it was one of the very few times she slept so well that she woke up feeling good. So good.

She didn't want to move. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the wonderful feeling for as long as she could.

At least until she heard someone else mumble by her side. She froze, and her eyes instantly snapped open to stare at Naruto's unshaven face.

The memories of last night came back to her like a hammer to the head.

She had had sex with Naruto. She had shown Naruto her naked, very female body.

Oh, it had been good. So damn good that put all of her wet dreams to shame. But the greater issue was now... Naruto knew she was a woman.

She tried to get away from his arms without alerting him, and sighed in relief when she managed to. Quickly scouring the room, she found her chest bandages and wrapped her breasts up so tightly they hurt, then quickly shrugged on her shirt. She was tugging on her pants without underwear when she heard a mumble from behind her that made her freeze.

"...Gaara?" She quickly finished pulling her pants up and zipping them closed to hide the fact she didn't have a penis. If she was lucky enough, Naruto would have alcohol driven amnesia this morning. "Oh, god!" her friend squeaked, and when she turned around, he was trying to hide his naked body with a sheet as he stared at her in shock. "Oh, god, we didn't... Did we...?"

She licked her dry lips, and nodded slowly. Naruto flinched. "Naruto..."

"I-I'm sorry! It's... I was really drunk last night, but I don't swing that way, Gaara! I mean... I really, really like women, so... Sorry!" Gaara could have cried in relief as the meaning of Naruto's words sank in.

Naruto had forgotten.

A breathless, relieved laughter escaped her lips, making Naruto look up cautiously. "I'm straight too, Naruto." not a lie, technically, even if it didn't keep her from thinking Naruto was a very fine specimen of man that she would love to do every day. Even now that she was starting to feel the pain from last night's activities, she still wanted to do him again. "Don't worry about it. We were both out of our minds last night." she finished with a small smile.

Naruto sighed in relief, the blanket dropping from his hands. "Man..." then, he started to laugh loudly, relieved.

Gaara nearly choked when Naruto stood up, and her eyes were attracted like magnets to his morning wood. She quickly looked away before he caught her staring. She looked up when Naruto slapped her shoulder.

"They say that a guy is your best friend only if you got plastered together and then went on to do something really crazy together. I guess we can officially call each other best friends now." he remarked with a small, cheerful grin, his cheeks red in embarrassment. "No awkwardness?" he wondered, hopefully.

"None on my side, Naruto." she reassured her friend. Naruto beamed at her. Gaara's eyes nearly popped out of her head when Naruto leaned in and chastely kissed her lips.

"You're the first and will be the last man to tumble the sheets with me, Gaara. I'll never forget that." Naruto grinned, slapped his shoulder again. "I'm really not gay, but the little of last night that I remember was pretty fun."

Gaara felt her cheeks become hot as she stared at her friend at a loss of words.

"You can use my shower first. You probably need a shower more than I do. I'll whip up something we can eat!" Naruto announced, slipping in Gaara's boxers. Gaara decided not to point that out at all, and accepted the offer of a shower, instead.

She thanked all deities watching over her that spending time with Naruto really wasn't awkward after that. If anything, they seemed to be closer friends than before, as Naruto was acting a lot more open with her. He was really being serious when he told her he considered her one of his best friends now.

She felt a pleased flush on her cheeks at the notion. She liked that, being Naruto's best friend.

By the time she arrived in her guest quarters, the sun was well on its way to setting. Both her siblings were waiting for her. Temari had a little worried frown on her lips, but Kankurou was grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Had a good night, Gaara?" Kankurou asked cheerfully. She glared at her brother.

"I can't believe you got me drunk to force me into someone's bed, Kankurou." she turned on him, hissing. Kankurou looked taken aback. Temari eyed her brother with narrowed eyes.

"I was just trying to loosen you up a bit! You had a good night, didn't you?" he wondered again.

"I slept with Naruto." she told him coldly. Both her siblings gaped at her. "You're lucky he took it well when we woke up naked next to each other, otherwise I would have been very unhappy with you." she stared him down, eyes narrowed. Kankurou paled and gulped, apparently properly cowed by her veiled threat. Good.

What made her angry was not the fact that Kankurou had acted like a child and messed with her good judgment that way. What was really getting on her nerves was the fact she wasn't on any sort of birth control, and Naruto hadn't used condoms.

She had bought the day after pill, then she had to buy another one because the first made her so sick she threw it back up. She still felt sick – she could feel the pill churning inside her stomach, but at least it hadn't come back up again. Feeling sick made her very moody, though.

"You and Naruto... Are you gay?" Kankurou wondered, eyes wide. Gaara glared at her brother.

"No. Neither is he. That's exactly the problem." she pointed out. "I have a headache, I'm going to lie down a little." she announced, then left the room.

"Gaara is gay." she heard her brother whisper incredulously, but with certainty in his voice. Their sister snorted softly, the way she did whenever Kankurou found out something everyone else knew.

Which was really interesting... because Gaara hadn't known she gave the others the impression she was attracted to men. She would have to do something about it, if her councilors found out about this, she would no doubt be forced into marrying another woman in a blink of an eye, for whatever political reason they could connive.

Gaara couldn't allow herself to get caught in this kind of situation. If anyone from Suna found out she was a woman and pretending to be a man all along, she would be in very deep waters. Some of her lies were illegal at best, and in the whole, they might get her prosecuted with a death sentence, since she was considered a S-rank dangerous ninja.

Thinking about this only made her headache worse, so she lied down and tried to clear her mind in meditation. With discipline, she thankfully managed to.

At least until she was jolted awake by an awful feeling on her stomach. She jumped out of the bed and rushed to the toilet, losing all the contents of her stomach into the sink.

She looked herself on the mirror worriedly as she shakily washed her mouth. She didn't have experience with contraceptives, maybe the hormones were messing with her. Hopefully she had kept the last pill inside her stomach for long enough for it to be effective. She would buy another one tomorrow, just in case.

He couldn't stop thinking about his redheaded friend.

Naruto groaned and buried his face in his hands.

It had started with a dream. His subconscious mind had caught the few moments he remembered of their drunk night together and spun them far out of control, filling the gaps with impossible details. The memories were so distorted, in fact, that Gaara was a woman in his dreams. What a woman she was.

"Stop, stop, stop." he whimpered, rubbing his face vigorously, as if he could rub the thoughts off with his bare hands.

The sexy woman with Gaara's face wouldn't leave his mind. It was getting out of hand. Maybe it was time he found himself another girlfriend – or a friend with benefits. It had been way too long since he last gotten laid if he was obsessing over his male friend like that.

"I see you're distracted from work." he nearly died from fright when he heard Kakashi's voice, and looked up with wide eyes to see his former sensei and current Hokage watching him askance. Kakashi then smirked. "Sloppy for a Hokage. I wonder if I should really give you the title."

He scoffed and glared at his sensei. "If you only came here to tease me..." he began, but trailed off at the serious look on Kakashi's face. A small amount of relief filled him – his former teacher rarely looked that serious. Whenever he did, it meant they had work to do.

Naruto was in desperate need for work. If it was mind numbing, boring work, even better – he needed something to purge those damn hot images of Gaara his mind was creating far out of his brain.