Lover In Training

"Ne, you want some tea or something?" Naruto asked as him and Gaara stepped into Naruto's small apartment, both of their faces entirely unreadable.

Gaara shook his head slowly, his expression entirely impassive despite the jumpy feeling that seemed to have settle itself in his stomach. He was only mildly aware of what was going on around him - his thoughts being so muddled they somehow managed to dull his senses. That, in his opinion, was an extremely bad thing. He was a ninja after all. But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to turn around and leave.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go brush my teeth. Sit down or something, and don't look so damn uptight. You'll never get your girl if you don't chill once in a while." Naruto said, grinning at Gaara and heading towards his small bathroom, leaving Gaara alone in the living room.

With shaky legs, Gaara gulped nervously and walked over to the very small couch in the middle of the room, sitting down on the slightly sunken in cushion, practically huddled in the corner. He glanced around at his surroundings, spotting a single window that looked like it would be easy enough to jump through and escape. Gaara was seriously considering doing just that when Naruto came out of the bathroom, his normal grin spread across his lips, and suddenly Gaara found the idea of escaping to be extremely stupid. Moronic, even.

"Okay, so! Let's get right to this." Naruto said energetically, plopping down onto the couch next to Gaara, looking at him curiously, making the red head have to fight a blush from both the look and the closeness. "You said you like an aggressive girl, right? How aggressive, exactly?"

Gaara blinked slowly and tried to think of how aggressive he would consider Naruto. He wasn't exactly aggressive to the point that he'd kill him for coming on to him, but he would definitely at least punch him in the face and tell him to shut up or something. "I almost died during our fight once. But we're fine now." was the only thing he could come up with, and he noticed the change in Naruto's features. The blond looked almost....surprised.

"Shit, I thought you only almost died when you fought me and those Akatsuki guys....." Gaara didn't tell him that that was indeed the case, and instead kept his mouth shut. "Well, if she's anything like me, I can tell you exactly how to get her!" Naruto grinned, and for once, Gaara was glad that the blond was always a little slow on the uptake when it came to matters concerning himself.

Gaara inwardly sighed and nodded his head once to show that the person he liked was indeed something like Naruto, which made the blond's grin grow even wider. "Okay, first of all! You have to drop that stoic face of yours. No girl wants to be confessed to with the guy looking like it doesn't matter to him."

Gaara blinked slowly and tilted his head to the side just slightly, completely and utterly confused. How the hell was he supposed to do that? Seeming to follow the red heads train of thought, Naruto chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know how you're supposed to go about that, cause I've never really been good at the blank faces......But if it'll help, you can practice on me!" Gaara's blinked again, his eyes showing his curiosity. "What I mean is, you can pretend I'm the girl and you can tell me what you'd say to her, until you get it right."

A small 'o' of the mouth and Gaara nodded, not quite liking the idea of telling Naruto that he liked him, especially since it was the truth. But for now it'd be fake, at least as far as the blond knew. And Gaara didn't entirely mind that Naruto didn't know. It'd make it a lot easier on himself.

"Okay, so pretend I'm her. Tell me you like me, but think that I'm her. Got it?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded and took in a deep breath, his entire body shaking just slightly. This wasn't even a real confession and yet he was so nervous. God, what was he going to do when he actually told Naruto for real? IF he ever did, that was....
Fiddling with his fingers, Gaara took in yet another breath and looked up at Naruto almost shyly, his nerves showing through completely. "I...I like you."

"NO!" Naruto yelled suddenly, catching Gaara entirely off guard and causing him to jump back in surprise. "Girls don't want guys who twiddle their thumbs and act nervous! They want guys who are confident, in control, and who look entirely sure of their feelings. That....that was horrible. Try it again, but with more passion, this time. More assertiveness!"

Gaara blinked wide eyes and shook his head a bit to gather his thoughts. He took both of his hands and placed them on Naruto's shoulders, letting his body relax and go with the flow. Squeezing Naruto's shoulders a little, he tilted his head up and locked eyes with the blond, who looked clearly shaken. "I like you. A lot." Gaara said, his voice a hoarse rumble, letting his seriousness show through in his expression.

"That....that was good." Naruto coughed, brushing off Gaara's hands and laughing a bit nervously. Gaara blinked in confusion and watched Naruto's clearly shaken face, trying to figure out what he did wrong. "For a second there I almost thought you were talking to me. Whoever you were thinking of will definitely get it from the way you said it that time."

Letting his hands drop back to his side and leaning back into the couch, Gaara merely looked at Naruto with his usual stoic expression. He didn't bother correcting Naruto since it wouldn't exactly blow his cover, knowing that the blond would brush it off to his usual silent manner.

"Well, it seems you've got that part down." Naruto grinned, easily slipping back into his normal self. "Now, I guess I can teach you the other part." Briefly, Gaara wondered how it was that Naruto knew all of this, but he kept his mouth shut, waiting for him to continue. "Okay, now when you tell her, you've gotta tell her first and then kiss her. You gotta catch her completely off guard, and you can't give her time to think about what you said before you kiss her. She's gotta be swept into all of it, so you can't hesitate. To get this down, I'll help you become a good kisser so you're more confident and able to sweep her away. That okay with you?"

Gaara was more than okay with that, but he merely nodded his head, his expression saying that he wasn't looking forward to it, even though he really was. That, however, couldn't be known. By Naruto, or by anyone.

"I guess we'll take this one step at a time." Naruto mumbled, ruffling his hair and scooting closer to Gaara, causing the red head to back away just a bit. "Ne, Gaara. You know we have to be kinda close for this, right?" Gaara merely nodded. "Good, then don't move away." Naruto licked his lips a bit to moisten them, an action that Gaara's eyes automatically locked on, his breath hitching just a little, though he didn't understand why. "Now, I'm gonna start with a small kiss. You're not gonna get your girl by kissing her this way, but it's good to be used to all the different ways of kissing before you try to get someone. Understand?"

Gaara nodded his head just slightly, his eyes still trained on Naruto's lips that were shining just a bit from the saliva, making Gaara unconsciously lick his own. He held a small groan back as Naruto's lips seemed to move at an immeasurably slow pace, knowing instinctively that something delicious was just out of his reach.
And then it happened. Some kind of jolt went through Gaara's entire body as he felt the first press of lips, his eyes widening as he sat there stock-still, entirely unsure of what to do but knowing that this itself felt insanely good. He nearly gasped when Naruto moved his lips just slightly and pressed them harder into Gaara's, making the feeling intensify by at least a thousand times.

"Close your eyes." Naruto whispered, his lips still pressed to Gaara's, the movement itself mixed in with the husky breath making a slight groan form in the back of his throat where it died before he allowed it to be let out. Naruto was not allowed to find out how affected he was just by this, no matter what. "Move your lips a bit and press them harder into mine." Naruto said, his voice low and husky, causing Gaara to shudder briefly. "And when I lick your bottom lip, open your mouth. I'll slip my tongue in, and when I do, move yours to seek mine out but don't forget to keep your mouth moving a little as well."

All Gaara could manage to do was give the barest of nods, tingles shooting up and down his spine at the way his lips barely brushed Naruto's, the sensation feeling much different than he had expected. Doing as Naruto told him, he closed his eyes slowly and pursed his lips, leaning forward just a bit in order to press them against Naruto's harder. That seemed to get a good reaction from the blond, because suddenly Naruto began to move his lips, opening them enough to surround Gaara's top lip and then closing them again, creating a feeling of slight suction. Moving his lips at the same agonizingly slow pace as Naruto, Gaara tried to get a feel of exactly what to do, and how to make the movements flow. It still felt slightly awkward so he tilted his head just slightly to the side, only to find that doing so made the kiss feel deeper, more intimate.
Their lips fitting together almost perfectly, Gaara and Naruto continued to kiss at the same slow and un-rushed pace for a long moment, until Gaara felt Naruto's smile against his lips. For a second, he wondered why until he felt something wet slide its' way across his lower lip, and for a second he froze.
That is, until he remembered Naruto's words from earlier. "And when I lick your bottom lip, open your mouth. I'll slip my tongue in, and when I do, move yours to seek mine out..." Feeling only slightly hesitant, Gaara did as he'd been told, opening his mouth slowly, not too wide, but open enough that another tongue could move through the space.

Gaara nearly jumped in surprise when he felt something smooth, yet rough enter his mouth and rub against his tongue. But then he remembered what Naruto said and moved his tongue a little, rubbing it against the invading muscle only a little at first to get a feel for it. But then, before he knew what he was doing, he was sliding his tongue up and down the slippery muscle, twisting it around and battling with the other for dominance. Gaara lost all sense of technique, all sense of the fact that it was merely supposed to be training. He let himself go, threw away his self control, and nearly attacked Naruto with his mouth, pressing hard and picking up speed, small whimpers finding their way past his vocal chords and into the kiss, the sounds seeming to make the both of them even more crazed with passion. At this moment, Gaara didn't care if Naruto thought he liked a girl, and he didn't care if Naruto was supposedly in love with Sakura. The only thing that mattered was them, this kiss, and the fantastic feeling they both were getting from it.

That feeling couldn't last forever Gaara realized as they both pulled away nearly an hour later, both panting for breath with their eyes slightly hazed over. Daring a glance to the blond, Gaara's already shaky breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight that Naruto made right then. His face was flushed, his eyes were half-lidded, and his lips were swollen and red, a bit of saliva starting to drip from the corner. Without a second thought, Gaara leaned over and swiped his tongue over the small trail of saliva, taking it into his own mouth and swallowing it, revelling in the way he was no longer acting nervous and awkward. Naruto, however, seemed to be growing more and more anxious by the second. Swallowing down a heavy breath, Gaara attempted to lock eyes with Naruto, only to have the gaze turned down.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked, crinkling his forehead in concern. It wasn't like Naruto to be so...strange. That was more so his forte, not the blonds.

"I didn't expect you to be a natural." Naruto said, chuckling and smiling at Gaara weakly. "It kind of took me by surprise."

"...Oh." Gaara mumbled, hanging his head down and letting the familiar stoic expression slide back over his face, any trace of emotions gone, though that wasn't nearly what he felt on the inside. He felt as if a metal weight had just been dropped into his stomach, which had felt so light and fluttery just a moment ago. But now, he'd made the person he liked anxious and nervous, two things that he'd almost never seen the blond be. He felt ashamed, almost, that he had allowed himself to let go, only to make the one he cared for feel worse.

"Ne, Gaara....." Gaara's eyes whipped up at the sound of his name, looking at Naruto attentively, and noticing that he was a bit further away than he was before. "How much longer are you going to be in Konoha?"

"After the chuunin exams tomorrow, I'm going back to Suna for a week to finish up some business. Then, I'm returning to Konoha for a few days." Gaara answered immediately, watching as a calmer expression took over Naruto's face.

"Ah, that's right. You'll be there tomorrow, watching me fight." Naruto said, his voice abnormally soft, a strange look in his eyes.

Gaara, becoming slightly unnerved by Naruto's behavior, stood up swiftly and looked over at Naruto, almost attempting at a smile, but not quite being able to pull it off. "I'll be going, then." He glanced outside for a second and then looked back at Naruto, nodding his head a bit. "There's still time for you to train."

"I think I'd rather sleep right now." Naruto mumbled, flopping onto his side on the couch, lifting his legs up and curling them to fit onto the sofa.

Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and nodded before walking over to the front door, looking back at Naruto for a long moment before twisting the knob, standing in the doorway for a long moment. Then, he turned back to the back of the couch, knowing very well that Naruto was still awake, a small sigh almost escaping his lips. "Tomorrow, do your best. Prove to everyone that you deserve to be there." he said quietly, then headed outside, closing the door behind himself. Tomorrow, he would watch Naruto and the other genin fight, and tomorrow, he would have to say goodbye to Naruto for a week. Somehow, the thought of leaving made something in his chest clench tightly, made him cough from the sheer pain of it. But it couldn't be helped. He was the Kazekage now, and he loved his people. He needed to take care of them first, and then he could alleviate himself of the pain that threatened to kill him whenever Naruto wasn't beside him.

After thinking about it for a long moment, Gaara realized that his feelings for the blond were probably far more serious than a simple little crush, and although he had no experience in the matter, he got the feeling that he was falling for Naruto - hard.