V.

Naruto hasn't logged into the game again for a long time. He had more than enough to do in the real world and at least time to play. And let's just say it wasn't even worth turning it on for 5 minutes.

He felt as if he had not been able to do anything at all, and when he finally got home, he had instant ramen and collapsed into bed, where he promptly fell asleep.

He always found a message from Gaara on his phone in the morning. Either that he didn't log in for a long time, that a new event appeared, that he misses him, if he's okay, etc. But Naruto had the impression that he was tired of writing and when he had time, he forgot about it.

After a few days of Naruto not being able to answer, he received a rather strange message. Strange as it wasn't through the game server like before. He still had no idea who Gaara was or how he got his number.

"Naruto, long time no see, are you ok?" was the message that came to him. Naruto rubbed his eyes before finally deciding to write back.

"Hi, yes I am alright. Just too much work. How did you even get my number?" he asked him.

"On your profile," was the reply. Naruto and Gaara texted like this for a while before finally being overcome by fatigue and falling asleep while typing his reply.

The next day the blond finally had free time and decided to play Konoha. He couldn't wait for all the news. And most importantly, one red-haired friend kept spamming him with messages if he didn't log in for a long time.

As soon as he appeared on spam, he noticed Gaara flicking his gaze at the new players before he glared at the ninja. A small smile appeared on his face for a brief moment and the sand mage looked towards him.

They chatted for a while at Ichiraku's when Naruto could see on Gaara's face that he was happy to finally see him. He was even more sharing than usual. There they decided to try the new limited-time Oktoberfest event.

They moved to a themed location and set about completing tasks that were meant to lighten the mood and involved a lot of drinking.

The ninja and the mage were disappearing one tankard of beer after another, and you could see how the alcohol affected them in the game as well. Naruto had an image spinning around him, but he was walking normally. On the other hand, Gaara could barely stand after two drinks.

They just finished the last mission and were returning to the main event stand for the reward. Naruto wondered if he should support the mage, but the mage always mumbled that he was fine.

They picked up their reward, including an Oktoberfest badge, and were heading away when Gaara's legs got tangled. The ninja tried to grab him, but the entire attempt resulted in Naruto ducking while Gaara grabbed him and landed face-first on him.

Their lips met for the first time. It wasn't the best first kiss, but it still counted. Gaara hugged him, resting his head on his shoulder and mumbled an almost unintelligible apology.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked him with red ears. "Let's sit down," he said, slowly leading him to the side where he saw a bench.

They sat down there and Gaara leaned against him again. Naruto was about to say something when he noticed an AFK appear above his friend's head and felt something wet his shoulder. Looking a little closer, he saw the sand mage drooling a little from his sleep.

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Naruto managed to gradually complete all the necessary sub-tasks for the dragon event and was finally ready to fight the dragon. He was thrilled about it and couldn't talk about anything else.

"That overgrown lizard won't stand a chance, dattebayo," he said confidently as he told Gaara about it. He wanted to participate with him, but he refused without any good reason. However, he seemed to have turned even more pale and was acting more strangely than normal.

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Naruto and Shikamaru waited for the announcement of the time of the dragon duel and using his spells they quickly found the given place. They were waiting there with the other players when the dragon intro kicked in and the monster emerged from the sand.

The dragon flew into the air and surveyed his challengers for the day. Once he spotted the blond ninja, he didn't even try to attack the others and instead dived towards the ground, disappearing into the sand just as he had appeared.

The players looked at each other blankly and had no idea what it meant. Not only did the dragon run away from the fight, but they didn't gain anything. How could they accomplish the mission when the enemy disappeared?

This happened every time Naruto and Shikamaru participated in a dragon fight. When they weren't involved, the mission went smoothly. The dragon appeared, the fight took place, and the game went on. They didn't understand what the mistake was, but it sure pissed them off.

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Naruto didn't log into the game again for a long time. It was for a longer time than before and Gaara was worried. He spammed him with messages a lot more but never got a reply.

Naruto only logged into the game after three long months. He disappeared on spam without the sand mage having a chance to greet him and when he wanted to go after him, he couldn't.

Meanwhile, Ninja waited on the new player spam for the pink-haired girl who chose the cleric class. From there they headed to the place the ninja wanted to show her. A place that was located in ninja territory where clans came together.

They were under a blossoming cherry tree and pleasant music was playing around. It was the perfect place for the ninja to confess his feelings for the girl. However, before he could do so, Sakura spotted an NPC and immediately lost interest in Naruto.

"What do you see in him, he's just a game character, he's not even real?" Naruto didn't understand when Sakura rejected him for Sasuke. A figure he avoided like the devil of the church. All this time he thought she had feelings for him too.

"You should ask your Gaara! You keep talking about him and he's not real either. Or maybe you know something about who plays him?" she snapped at him before turning back to Sasuke, who had no interest in her.

Naruto stood there for a moment, pondering what he had done wrong and whether Sakura was right about Gaara. But could an NPC have an AFK tag?

He understood that some NPCs in the game wouldn't be recognizable from normal people, but he wasn't sure about Gaara. Some strange happenings didn't make sense.

He tried to figure it out, but thinking about it gave him a headache. Instead, he decided to look for the sand mage. He hadn't seen him in so long and felt guilty for ignoring his messages.

Naruto teleported to the dragon desert where the sand mage was supposed to be but he was nowhere to be seen. He climbed a dune where he had a view of the fight with the dragon. He thought he might catch a glimpse of Gaara there, but he didn't see him there either.

The dragon was acting strange again today. Even from a distance, you could see how the fight was going on when the dragon seemed rather passive. The players attacked him with everything they had, but he blocked their attacks with sand and lay down. It looked like he wasn't enjoying the fight at all.

"Gaara!" the ninja called to almost the entire map. His voice reached the battle and it seemed as if the dragon responded to it. He got up and looked around, while the sand protected him.

He finally looked at the dune where the ninja in orange was standing and it looked like he had come to life completely. He stopped being passive and leaned into the fight, which ended in a dragon's victory within a minute.

Naruto jumped off the dune and headed towards the dragon event where there was a group of hooded rookies wondering if a mage would be there as well.

He was almost at them when he felt the sand fall behind him and heard footsteps approaching. When he turned around, he found the one he had been looking for all along.

"Gaara, how nice to see you," the ninja smiled from ear to ear and hugged the sand mage. He completely froze in his grip and had no idea what to do. Finally, he hugged him too.

When they both pulled away, the ninja took a good look at him. Gaara was wearing new clothes that matched red and he had to admit that it suited him.

After this little reunion, the two of them headed to Ichiraku where they wanted to tell each other all the news that happened to them while Naruto was out of the game. He told Gaara about his work and also about Sakura leaving him for an NPC.

When the ninja talked about Sakura, Gaara looked like he wanted to kill her. He was a little relieved when he found out that she had left Naruto, but on the other hand, he was angry with her. Why did he allow her to hurt him like that?

His murderousness was so obvious that even the ninja sensed it. He took his friend's hand and gave him an encouraging smile, assuring him that she wasn't worth the trouble. At least now he had more time to be here with him.

After a few hours, Naruto said goodbye to the mage saying that he still had something to do in the real world. He was so crazy about Sakura that he let her move into his apartment. He wasn't with her now and he was still mad at her so he wanted to move her out as a surprise.

As soon as the ninja logged out, Gaara looked for this Sakura. He found out the necessary information about her before going to work. She couldn't have expected that the dreaded desert dragon would attack her on the first day of the game.