Third Person Pov:
Runnin, running, and more running could easily summarize the Ninja's journey to the first checkpoint. The unbearable heat that struck the Leaf ninjas seemed to take its toll and their speed slowly diminished. Meanwhile, Gaara seemed lax and comfortable with the sandy terrain and overbearing heat. The first checkpoint took the form of a large stone tower, where the ninjas took shelter from the incoming sand storm. Upon entering, they saw cracked walls which were a sign of the old age, and unlike the scorching outside, the tiles were cool.
"This used to be a guard tower of Suna, where Ninja's were stationed to be on the lookout for enemies", Gaara stated as he noticed the curious looks of his escorts.
"Enemies? Who?", Naruto asked curiously.
"Naruto, the enemies were us, the leaf ninja back when, Konoha and Suna were still at war with each other. Not anymore, because of you and the Kazekage's friendship, Konoha and Suna were able to end all hostility towards each other", Sai proclaimed.
It was true the bond shared by both ninja's had helped in the political affairs of opposing countries. Now, the Kazekage's most trusted ally was the yellow-haired fool, which in turn meant peace for the Leaf Villiage.
Naruto seemed embarrassed by all the attention and shyly grinned.
"Alright, let's all get settled, we'll be staying here overnight, and will take turns to be on the lookout", Yamato stated.
The Ninja quickly set up their sleeping mats and began preparing their meal. Munching up the food only to drink twice as much water to make up for all the exercise they had done. Eventually, their canteens were emptied, but not the thirst. It was apparent that the Sand Storm had still not died down and as a result, the person tasked to find a river bed for clean water was nonother than Gaara.
Simply nodding to the request, his stoic face hiding the annoyance of being forced to walk through the storm and find a body of water, which seemed like a daunting task. Yes, of course, the Ninja could in fact control the sand, but it did not mean that it could totally go against mother nature, plus using his sand would tire him. Standing up, he walked towards the doors, opening them to let harsh wind and sand enter the inside, leading himself out, the door closed with a loud THUD.
Now outside, the red-head let out a deep sigh and massaged his forehead as to not get any more irritated and begun his search.
Back in the tower, the group of Leaf ninjas were discussing their defense tactic just in case of an ambush. Lastly, it was decided the lookout turns each one would take, Yamato had decided to take the post first, second would be Gaara, thrid would be Naruto, and lastly Sai. Once finished the leader headed up to the roof of the building to begin his watch and his team was left to clean up the sand that had entered when the door was opened.
Although, not visible both Ninjas could hear the wind speeding up and crashing into the wooden doors, to the point where it seemed that the doors could burst open at any time.
Ah, I wonder if Gaara is going to be ok, Naruto thought.
"He'll be alright Naruto, he is the Kazekage after all", Sai answered as if he could read his partner's thoughts. And in fact, his could, years of Anbu training, plus Naruto's expressive face gave all his secrets away. Even the sexual tension shared between the Sand and Leaf ninja did not go unnoticed by him.
Chuckling to himself Sai suggested something interesting to Naruto.
"Well, if you are that worried how about you go help him", Sai said with a fake smile.
Naruto's eyes lit up, "Can I really do that?", Naruto exclaimed.
"Sure", Sai answered.
"Ok, Ok I'll be back with lots of water and Garra, See ya!" Naruto said quickly. Opening the door letting yet another round of sand rush in, soon followed by the loud thud. Sai trembled with anger seeing the newly formed pile of sand where he had cleaned, maybe letting Naruto go, and leaving him with more work was a mistake.
Naruto once outside began heading towards Gaara's direction. Trying to cover his face with his hands in order to avoid particles landing on his eyes. Naruto needed to hurry in order to catch up with his friend.
Time Skip---30 minutes later
The storm had settled for the past couple of minutes allowing Naruto to find the river, the only thing left to do was, follow it until he found Gaara. Which was not hard since red contrasted well against the tan color of the desert. The crunching sand under his sandals was a dead give away someone was approaching. Quickly standing up in a defense position Gaara was startled when seeing his yellow-haired friend smiling at him.
Surprised Gaara asked, "Naruto, what are you doing here?'"
"Yamato-Sensei, sent me here to make sure you were fine", Naruto, lied, embarrassed to say that he was worried.
"Here let me help you," Naruto said, squatting beside the river and picking up an empty canteen, filling it up. Soon the sand ninja did the same, and in a brief moment of silence between the two, they were able to fill up all the containers. Naruto reached into the river cupping his hand and splashing the water onto his face.
"Ah, this feels good" Naruto exclaimed feeling the cool water upon his sweaty face.
"Gaara you should try it, you probably feel sweaty too", Naruto said.
However, Garra was not sweaty, he barely sweats, if fact he did not want to wet his attire and mess his hair up as Naruto did. He did not like messy things at all so he just shook his head as a response. Oblivious, the foolish Ninja did not take the clue, and a devilish smile formed upon his lips. Making sure he fit as much water into his hand, Naruto splashed his Sand friend. Taken aback by this bad prank Gaara fell sideways landing into the shallow body of water, wetting his crisp new uniform.
"Hahahahaha! I can't believe you fell for it!", Naruto shouted, grabbing his stomach in pain. The now soaked Kazekage reached for his drenched hair and slicked it back only to show an irritated expression. Without hesitation, the red-head leaped towards the prankster, both falling on the soft sand.
In Gaara's mind, the only thing he wanted to do was payback, and the compromising position he was in had yet to register. For Naruto, on the other hand, he had full comprehension of the situation. The fact that his friend was straddling him and holding both his hands on top of him was too clear. The friction between his hips and his companions was painfully noticeable to him.
"Naruto! I'm all wet", Gaara said trying to maintain a monotone but failing.
"..ha....I'm sorry, sorry.....It was just a prank, can you let go of my hands now", Naruto practically pleaded. Trying to remove his hands from Gaara grasp, instead, the Ninja pushed down harder, his hips grinding onto the other.
"AH! Stop", Naruto screamed masking his groan of pleasure from the contact he was receiving, into one of pain. He hoped that Gaara would think he was screaming from the harsh grip. Gaara smirked thinking he was inflicting him pain in retribution.
"This is why you don't play around in a mission. You'll only get yourself in trouble, with no way out" Gaara explained. The only thing Gaara did not figure out was that Naruto was purposefully not struggling under his grasp instead stayed in place now enjoying the direct contact with Gaara, who had previously gotten his attention. Naruto knew, if it was physical strength he could easily overthrow the thin figure above him. But he also knew that if he did, it would mean the end of the contact. Before Gaara let Naruto go, he decided on his last form of payback was to pour water on him as well. With his sand, he gathered the water beside him and thew it upon the leaf ninja.
"Wuuuuaaahhhh! What'd you do that for!" Naruto yelled.
Naruto's childish sulking earned him a chuckle from his partner, which immediately, shut him up. Naruto was no longer bothered by the water in his ear or the moist feeling of his clothes and instead smiled watching Gaara so amused by him. Something inside him felt warm and he could feel it spread, it was truly a magnificent feeling.
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I've done it!
I have finally finished this chapter. *_*
I don't really have anything to say about this chapter, except that I found really confusing to write. So I hope it's not too confusing for you guys. I prefer slow-paced stories, instead of fast ones, so it might take a couple of chapters until you actually get to read some action.
Anyways, I have another story I've been working on so PLS go check it out...
Proxi.....out