Author's Note: Happy New Year!

This was the first time Naruto would spend the New Year as a Hokage.

More importantly, it was the first time he would spend the New Year as a twenty-five-year-old.

That age in particular held an important meaning to most people. When you had a soulmate, it was once the youngest reached that age that the bond between the two would be complete. In Naruto's case, his soulmate might be younger, but he was sure she existed somewhere. He could feel it in his guts.

Not everyone had a soulmate, of course. About half the people did, in truth. During times of war, that number was even smaller, but they had been in peace for many years now.

For security reasons, he couldn't be in his home tonight. That was because on the first day of the year, two soulmates would exchange bodies for a day. Naruto was spending the night on a shack in the woods which the previous Hokages used for the same purpose before they married their soulmates.

It didn't matter where he was, though. They said his soulmate could snoop around his house if she realized she was in the Hokage's body. But Naruto didn't intend to leave her alone. Oh, no.

He grinned at his shadow clone, pleased at his ingenuous plan. "That's it. You'll stay with her tomorrow. Assure her I won't snoop around her house... too much." His clone gave him an identical grin.

He would have to snoop a little, to find out who she was. Hopefully, she was from Konoha... but that was unlikely. At any rate, he might just manage to solidify an alliance between Konoha and whichever village she came from. If she came from a civilian village, they might be even eager to accept.

"It's almost eleven o'clock." he sighed nervously. The change of bodies would trigger at eleven o'clock in Konoha's time, and not midnight. It would last for thirty-two hours, exactly. Hopefully, his shadow clone could last that long.

He went around the house, making sure it was nice and ready for him to entertain his visitor. When his alarm clock rang, he nervously sat down on an armchair so his soulmate wouldn't stumble in her disorientation, and stared right at his clone. His clone stared back, looking as eager as he felt.

Then, his vision went dark.

"Shit!" he cursed and gripped the arms of the chair he was on. Except, he wasn't on a chair anymore, but lying on a bed. His heartbeat became faster as he realized that was it! He really had a soulmate, and he was about to find out who she was!

As he sat up and looked down, he realized his soulmate wasn't... exactly a 'she'. "Holy shit." this time, he heard the grave tone of a very male voice. It sounded a little familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. They said your voice sounded different when you heard it and when other people did, so he might actually know who his soulmate really was!

He quickly stood up and scoured the room he was in for a mirror. There was one on the vanity not far from the bed. When he saw the face that stared back at him from the mirror, he gaped, wordless.

He stared expectantly at his original self as the clock struck eleven. He was delighted when he saw him close his eyes in sudden dizziness as he sank in further on the chair – that must mean he really had a soulmate!

He waited for his soulmate to recover from the sudden change in position. Once she seemed fine, he leaned in and grinned. "Hello, soulmate!" he greeted cheerfully.

He nearly laughed at the shock that crossed the face she had borrowed from him. "N-Naruto?" he heard his own voice word hesitantly.

"On the flesh! Well, you're on my flesh." he giggled at his own joke. His soulmate only blinked, and some of the shock seemed to go away and give way to a calmer, almost blank expression. "You have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I don't know who you are."

She only stared at him for a long time. Then, she offered him a small, almost shy smile. "You do." she said quietly. "I'm Gaara." Naruto froze. She... no, he. He was Gaara? "I didn't expect I would have a soulmate. Last year, I remained inside my own body."

"Eh... right... You're twenty-six, right?" he laughed nervously, scratching his cheek.

Gaara gave him a knowing look. "You're not pleased I'm your soulmate." Naruto's eyes widened.

"No! That's not it! I'm... just shocked. I mean, I expected you would be a woman, and then..." he trailed off. Gaara hummed.

"I can't say I expected this either." he nodded, sympathetic. "It might become a problem to our villages if we decide to enforce our rights..." he finished in a murmur, looking shy once again.

Naruto found it oddly easier to read Gaara while he didn't look like Gaara. The small hope and his attempt to curb it and look neutral. Naruto grinned at him, recovered from the earlier shock. "I would love to try! To be together with you, I mean. They say soulmates are always happiest when they're together, and as you said, it's our right to be together. So, wanna try it?" he reached out with his hand.

Gaara's response was a small smile as he reached out and took his hand.

The first day of every year, they always spent on the beach.

"Aren't you tired of doing that? After twenty years?" Gaara asked with a sigh, sounding like Naruto.

"Nope." Naruto told him with a chuckle, hearing his mate's own voice come from his throat. He loved it – Gaara's voice sounded deeper when they changed bodies.

"You're always going to be a child, aren't you?" hearing his own voice when Gaara spoke was weird too, specially on the serious tones his husband usually talked with.

"Of course." he agreed with a giggle. Gaara sounded great while he giggled. His mate didn't seem to share the sentiment.

He ignored him in favor of manipulating Gaara's kekkei genkai. It took three years until he learned how to do it, but after he had, he used the sand every New Year.

Building sand castles with Gaara's kekkei genkai was so easy! And they looked awesome, too! But Gaara would always give him a blank look when he told him to try and do it himself, as if to tell him his idea was too stupid to receive a proper reaction.

But it was fun! Naruto could even create small, moving people to live in the sand castle. He giggled as he created a dragon, too, this time, so the small sand people would have to defend their castle.

"I'll be inside, if you decide to grow up." Gaara muttered.

Before he could move two steps away, he gasped in surprise when his own sand grabbed him and forced him to lie on the beach's soft sand. Gaara always looked shocked when his sand seemed to rebel against him, Naruto had a guilty pleasure seeing that expression on his face.

"You're not going anywhere." Naruto purred, climbing over him. He looked into his own, bright blue eyes, as his husband stared wide eyed back at him.

Kissing Gaara on the New Year always felt awkward. But he closed his eyes and did it anyway. Gaara groaned against his lips, but after a few seconds of resistance, he kissed him back.

"Love you." he whispered against his ear when they parted.

Gaara murmured back, "I love you, too, but I might change my mind if you insist on trapping me in my own sand. It feels very unpleasant." Naruto grinned.

"I know you like it." he purred against his ear. Gaara only huffed in response.