Somebody to lean on

Characters/Pairings: Gaara/Naruto
Rating: G
Warnings: slight spoilers from Naruto Shippuuden episode 51 and on. Implied shounen-ai, sappy, fluff.
Summary: Naruto needed to get away.
A/N: Lately, I've been in a Gaara/Naruto state of mind and thought of this really quick because of a pic of them I drew that's still in the works. I will post it to my DA account once its colored. Oh and sorry for any mistakes, i just wrote it and therefore is not beta'd.

His brother stood before him giving a full report on some random mission or another, but he had lost him somewhere down the line. His mind was on another matter and his jaded gaze was focused out the window in the direction of where the guest quarters were, someone he cherished waited for him there.

The puppeteer didn't pretend to not have noticed his brother's distraction and rolled his eyes to himself, knowingly. "You should probably go to him." he grunted and a moment later, Gaara turned his head back towards him.

"Sorry…?"

"I said," started Kankuro, nodding his head towards the visible quarters from their view. "You should go see him, he doesn't look too good."

Gaara only stared back at him, then sighed while rubbing his eyes. "he said he had a mission that didn't go as well as they had hoped…" He said as his fingers curled around a pen so tight, Kankuro was sure it would break. "that Uchiha Sasuke…I would hunt him down myself if I could just ease his pain."

Kankuro couldn't help but smile and thought to lighten up his mood a little bit. "Or…you could just crush him in the process and still bring him back to Naruto." he laughed and Gaara gave him a look.

"Kankuro…" he scolded, then went onto saying. "Although I might do just that should I ever run into him."

Kankuro was laughing nervously, hoping that they never would. "Kidding, kidding, for goodness' sake. Seriously, I know you want to help him but Uchiha Sasuke is not our problem."

Gaara sighed again, leaning back into his chair. "I know."

The puppeteer then watched his little brother subconsciously turn his gaze back out the window and his shoulders slump in defeat. There was no use in keeping Gaara locked up here like this, not when his dearest friend was in the same building. "You should go see him, you know…cheer him up."

Gaara shook his head slowly. "Can't… I'm expecting two more reports to come in, and not to mention that I haven't prepared any material for tomorrow's meeting."

But Kankuro knew that it wouldn't sit well with him to keep Gaara away from an ailing Naruto, as much as it pained him to do any of his paperwork. But he would take on anything dreadful for his little brother, even a Kazekage's endless mounds of boring work.

"Go. Temari and I will handle the rest. I promise."

The wind this high up felt wonderful against his skin from where he lay to watch the horizon. It rustled his blonde locks and clothing, making him feel so free for once and not tied down to the burden of responsibilities bestowed upon him as a shinobi.

It was so peaceful out here, just lounging around and watching that dying sun nearly hitting the horizon which added more allure to the already mystic village down below. The Sand Village really was different and this was the first time he had ever sat to really admire it for what it was. It wasn't as green as his home village, but this village definitely had its own charm within the sandy hues.

There was a sound of feet padding on the wood that caught his attention, stopping just at where he lay. He braced himself for another hopeful servant to wait on him and was ready to turn them away to be left alone, when the Kazekage himself loomed over him, judging from the shadow that stretched in front of him.

Naruto hid himself away from him. Another reminder of just how far behind he really was compared to Gaara, who beat him into becoming Kazekage.

But Gaara watched him with concern then directed his gaze towards the sunset upon recognizing that behavior. He often used to do that himself and if Naruto was the same as he once thought, then he would wait for him to open up first.

He took the opportunity to rest his gourd down and take a seat beside the Leaf-nin, bringing his knees to rest his arms on them. For a while, nothing was ever said between them, until.

"I'm sorry about Sasuke." muttered Gaara carefully, eyes still on the sunset. Naruto shrugged one shoulder after a moment and sat up, feeling slightly light headed for lying on his side for nearly the entire day. He didn't have much energy to do anything.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get stronger and definitely get him next time." said Naruto, sounding a little like his old self again. It made Gaara smile sadly.

"I wish there was something I could do to help." He said, softly and Naruto blinked for a moment then waved his hands in reluctance, blushing.

"Nah haha, you've got enough on your plate, being Kazekage and all and besides…" Naruto stopped short, and Gaara glanced over to find his gaze downcast and distant.

"…and besides, Sasuke's not only my problem, but the Leaf's as well." He muttered with a shaky voice. Gaara couldn't tell if it was because of anger, sadness or both.

Not knowing what else he could in times like these, Gaara leaned in to tell the boy exactly how he felt instead, hoping maybe that it could satisfy the blonde in some way. "Well…I know I could never replace him, or do anything to help bring him back, but just know one thing…" said Gaara, and Naruto was blinking back at him, making Gaara hesitate for some reason.

What was this feeling? Embarrassment? Or…something else.

He felt all flushed inside. But it didn't stop him at all from saying "That I'll always be here, Naruto, should you ever need me for anything."

He didn't know what it was that he had said or done or felt at the moment, but whatever it was, it felt like the right thing to do and say, and that it sure made the other boy happy. Because those blue eyes were wide and even glistened with what looked like tears before the blonde broke into a wide smile and nodded once. And after that, he even dared to lean his head on the Kazekage's shoulder, a gesture in which had surprised Gaara, but quickly got over it and brought an arm around the other's waist.

Naruto sighed in content, slightly staggered to find Gaara was so warm and full of life and very unlike the clay monster he remembered from their Chuunin exams.

He even smelled good, like a sweet musky scent, or perhaps something akin to incense.

"Thank you for letting me stay here for a few days, I really needed to get away, any where I look in Konoha only reminded me of that bastard." said Naruto, feeling tired all of the sudden.

Gaara turned his face just a little to peer down at him, the blonde spikes tickling his lips and face. "You can stay here for as long as you like." He said almost tenderly that Naruto had to remind himself just who his companion was.

But Naruto didn't care. He was quite comfortable at the moment and felt really sleepy. He allowed his eyes to fall shut, succumbing completely to the other boy's warmth and healing.

Gaara didn't mind staying like this with him at all. In fact, he couldn't think of anything else he would rather be doing. Just having this…this life in his arms like this made him feel so elated with these feelings that just felt so amazing. And besides, thinking back on the times Naruto was with him when he needed someone to understand him the most, only made sense to never leave his side when Naruto needed him.

The sun was more than half way down when he remembered seeing something that he'd been always meaning to try with someone very dear to him, and that this was the ideal moment for that special thing to occur.

With the last beam of sunshine disappearing into the hazy mirages of the distant sand dunes, he turned his lips towards the blonde locks again and planted a small kiss there.