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Q: Why would he go back there?
A: Because it is a mission, and I wouldn’t have much of a story if I didn’t send him back

Q: Will there be any Gaara/Naruto action?
A: Unfortunately, no. This fic will most likely be a Naru/Sasu or some other pairing, but I have no intentions of Naruto and Gaara being more than friends. Perhaps I’ll do a one-shot that’s a spin off of this that has some action between them. ;)

Q: How are others going to react to Naruto’s leaving?
A: You’ll find out soon enough.

Q: Why don’t you update often?
A: Because I have school issues, work, a boyfriend, and some other stories to juggle around. I’ll do my best to update every month or so at the latest though!

Q: Why isn’t Naruto considered a missing nin?
A: I’m getting to that, but I’m glad you’re already thinking ahead. ;)

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Naruto’s senses were instantly bombarded with the images, smells, and sounds of his past. They were bittersweet memories, the good ones tainted with the dark stain of the bad ones. Before allowing himself to get drawn into them, he reminded himself of the mission. Staring straight ahead, he took his stance beside Gaara, the both of them casually walking towards Hokage Tower. No glances with exchanged between them, appearances had to be kept up, for the sake of Suna’s (and Gaara's) reputation. It wouldn’t do well for the Kazekage to be acting all giggly or giddy with one of his subjects, even if that person was his best friend. Not that the great Gaara Sabaku did anyways.

Gaara was worried about his friend, not because he didn’t think Naruto could handle himself, no, the fox boy was without a doubt able to control himself. He was more concerned about the Uchiha’s emotional outbursts. He had heard many rumours in the past four years, none of them a good thing to mention to Naruto, so he hadn’t. Some of them included the rampage that Sasuke had gone on the day after his lover had taken off, how he had nearly ripped apart half of his family estate in a rage and how Kakashi had to forcibly restrain him. Sasuke had been detained and tested for his mental stability, but the results came out perfectly fine. It showed nothing abnormal in his brain waves, he had simply been angry, though no one but Naruto, Sasuke and himself knew the reason.

He suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath, and his eyes fell to Naruto’s form. His friend had stopped a few paces behind him, and he was staring inside what seemed to be a flower shop. ‘What is he staring at?’ Gaara turned and faced the window, eyes widening a fraction in realization. ‘That Haruno girl…they used to be teammates. This could be bad.’ His emerald orbs flashed back to Naruto in an instant, he raised an eyebrow in question.

Crimson eyes widened a fraction, his breathing still as he stared at the girl he used to love, not so much in the sense he had once believed, but more as a trusted friend. Whether he still felt that way, well, he wasn’t sure, I suppose time dims most emotions. He noticed the shift of Gaara’s gaze in the corner of his heightened vision, and gave his friend a grim smile and a nod, wordlessly transmitting the message ‘I’m fine’.

The two of them continued, Naruto glancing back only once more before continuing down the busy streets of Konoha. They received some strange looks on the way, both from people who knew who Gaara was, and those who were more curious about the ‘handsome young man’ walking being the Kazekage.

Naruto’s nervousness slowly ebbed away the closer they got to the Hokage tower, he had yet to run into anyone he knew from previously, well, at least not anyone who had recognized him. He had caught a fleeting glance of Sakura, but she had been rather engrossed with a tall blonde woman whom he took to be Ino. He had also seen Chouji at the local BBQ stand, shovelling ghastly amounts of food into his mouth, too busy to look up and see.

‘Now for the hard part…Tsunade…she probably won’t be too happy I didn’t keep in contact all these years, I had promised her I would.’ He looked down at the ground, kicking a rock while coincidently caught the attention of his companion as it nailed him in the back of the heel.

Gaara turned and shot Naruto a half-hearted glare, not truly angry but getting his point across nonetheless ‘Stop fidgeting, idiot.’He continued the ridiculously long trek to the Hokage tower. ‘You would think they would demand to have someone escort us there, we are ninja from a village known for its changing allegiance.’ He mused, making quick subtle glances around them, noting a few out of place shadows that just didn’t seem to be disappearing no matter how long they walked. ‘Ah, so we are being followed. Perhaps this Tsunade isn’t such a fool after all.’ He stopped walking, Naruto stopping beside him, eyes silently questioning. “I was hoping our guests would step out of the shadows and greet us properly, as civil members of an ally village would.” He didn’t bothering looking toward the people he knew were hidden.

Naruto had also noticed the people following, but felt it best not to mention anything previously for fear of getting himself in trouble, or worse, noticed. He had no desire to deal with his old comrades, not after disappearing so suddenly.

Forms soon came out of the shadows, aligning themselves before Gaara, giving slight nods of their heads. “Forgive us Kazekage-sama, it is simply protocol. Surely you understand.” Said a cool voice, very smooth, clearly a ladies’ man or one used to charming others in order to get his way.

Gaara studied each person as they came before him. Three in total, all male, they looked to be around his age, except for one who looked middle-aged. He recognized all of them from the chuunin exams years back, though he couldn’t place a name to the face.

The one who had spoken looked rather feminine, at least in Gaara’s opinion. He had long sleek hair, black or brown, it was hard to tell. Blood-line limit eyes, pearly white and apparently he felt threatened by the gaze of the sand nin, seeing as veins were slowly forming at the edges of his eyes. ‘He is attempting to see if I have anything dangerous on my person, or if I am building up chakra preparing for an attack. What an idiot, why would I come escorted by only one guard if I was planning a full-scale attack on their village.’ He allowed the chakra of his demon, Shukaku, to flare up briefly. The effect was immediate, the veins around the man’s eyes disappeared and his pale hand shot up cover his eyes, as if they had been burned.

The two others shot forward instantly seeing the reaction their comrade had. “What did you do to him?!” cried out a loud voice, strained with half-concealed distress. His black hair would have been promising, had it not been for the bowl cut and obscure round eyes that it didn’t manage to hide. ‘I remember this one now, Rock Lee, the one who I fought at the exams…still as spirited as ever I see.’ He looked Lee up and down briefly, before finally speaking. “I merely showed him what he was looking for. Don’t worry, he is in no way damaged, it is almost like looking at the sun on a particularly hot afternoon.”

Lee glanced at his friend. “Neji, are you okay?” he waited for mumbled confirmation before slowly easing out of his fighting stance. “Forgive me Kazekage-sama” he bowed his head down slightly.

“May I ask why you have decided to take the long way to the tower?” a voice came from behind a orange book of questionable subject matter. “You could have taken a shorter route straight from the gates, merely a 10 minute walk as opposed to the 30 minute one you’ve taken.” The man calmly stated, paying only partial attention to Gaara and his escort.

“We merely wished to view the sights; it has been such a long time since our last visit.” Gaara replied with equal indifference, clearly making it obvious that he wasn’t required to answer, but merely dignified the silver haired man with an answer because he was patient that day. “If you are that concerned with our getting there at a particular time, perhaps you should take us there now, or do you plan on lurking in the shadows some more?” He raised a non-existent eyebrow.

“So, you both have been here before?” the masked man glanced at the blond haired companion to the right of Gaara. Before he got much of a chance to look, Gaara had interrupted him again demanding he take them to the tower immediately, effectively stepping in front of his escort. “Yes of course, follow us please.” Kakashi motioned to the other two and they took off toward the tower, Gaara and Naruto following.

Naruto let out a breath of relief, he knew that Kakashi was smart, but even the copy ninja couldn’t figure him out if he couldn’t study him long enough. Gaara had made sure Kakashi had no chance of looking him over too carefully, he had to remember to thank his friend for that later. For now, the issue at hand, dealing with a psychotic, alcoholic who enjoyed gambling a bit too much, who was also ironically the ruler of a great nation.

When they arrived at the Hokage tower, Neji, Lee and Kakashi quickly made the excuse that they had to attend to the gates, and took off without another word. This left Gaara and Naruto to walk up the sets of stairs to the top of the tower, running into Shizune at the desk outside of Tsunade’s office.

“I am here to see the Hokage, as I’m sure you know.” Gaara stated plainly, clearly not amused that they had been followed and then had their little walk interrupted.

Shizune looked up at Gaara, nodding. “Yes, she is expecting you. There was just a small mishap which she is dealing with at the moment. Forgive the tardiness, it is truly inevitable.” She bowed and walked to the office door, gently knocking and opening it. Immediately loud shouts filled the lobby.

“I don’t give a shit; I’m not doing another one of those pointless missions. I am going to train away from this oppressing village!” an angry voice rang out, deep and sultry if it had not been for the fact that the user was acting so cold.

“Listen up, you’re lucky you are allowed to do missions at all with your past records.” A bored voice replied. “You will do the mission, or be put under surveillance. Now get out.”

“I WILL be going to train. Kakashi will be continuing my training and I will then be taking leave from the village.” Angry stomping following by the appearance of black hair and pale skin, along with the darkest eyes imaginable.

Naruto froze, crimson eyes widening and his mouth hanging open ever so slightly. He frantically whipped around to stare at Gaara, willing a way out of the room without being noticed.

Too late.

“…You…” the raven rang out.