Title: Great Things Always Come In Threes
Author: creepycrawly
Rating: PG-15/16
Character/Pairing/Group: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Gaara.
Disclaimer: Owned by Kishimoto Masashi. Kishimoto-sensei, I'll return them in more than one piece, I promise!

Great Things Always Come In Threes

1. When Sasuke met Gaara, he acknowledged that there was maybe someone in the world who was his equal or better. As he learned more about the boy, he was intrigued.

Sasuke slowly came to see Gaara as a purely sensual creature.

2. When Naruto met Gaara, he acknowledged that there was maybe something the boy could teach him. So he watched him closely, learning more and more about him.

Naruto slowly came to regard Gaara as brilliant, strong, creative, and wise. Above all, however, he considered the boy gorgeous.

3. Gaara originally found Sasuke to be a worthy opponent. When the boy defected to Sound, however, his opinion of his worth and intelligence plummeted.

When he came back, however, that opinion rose.

4. Gaara originally found Naruto beneath his notice. When he saw him fight, and saw how he fought for respect and love, and to bring Sasuke back, his opinion of Naruto rose incredibly.

He's still not entirely sure what he thinks, though.

5. The first time they were all forced to work together as a team was in a mission to spy on Orochimaru. It required Sasuke to stay with the man, Naruto to receive the information and relay it to ANBU, and Gaara to slip past the guards and get Sasuke's information.

It was arguably the most emotional thing any of them had ever done, and the first time since his family's deaths that Sasuke cried.

6. Gaara was born to a family that feared him. To their credit, however, it is difficult to love something that cannot love you back.
Naruto never had a family, not until after he was teamed up with Cell Seven. Even then, it was tentative, at best.
Sasuke was secretly afraid of his. That is what power does to people.

Somehow, these differences bring them together.

7. The first time Gaara saw Naruto cry, there had been an accident in their spying mission that had led to Sasuke's discovery and capture as a spy. The first time he saw Sasuke cry, they had just rescued him from Orochimaru's clutches and brought him home to Konoha. Sasuke had been delusional while Tsunade had done a rape kit and healed the physical wounds. She told Gaara that Sasuke's tears were a sign that there was hope for his mental wounds being healed.

He, having never felt before then, could only hope that that was true.

8. Gaara has only cried once in front of his lovers. He'll never tell them why he woke up sobbing, but they've managed to figure out that it involves Sasuke, Naruto, and a certain monument stone.

They leave it at that.

9. Naruto and Gaara will never admit it, but they nearly shit themselves the first time they were near Sasuke when he was in the midst of a nightmare. They still have physical scars from that incident. But Naruto's snapped wrist and Gaara's broken rib were nothing compared to Sasuke's wrenching sobs.

Those hurt much, much worse than any injury ever could.

10. Gaara tells Naruto about his dreams. To him, he talks about sunshine and sand, soft kisses and whispered promises of love. He tells Sasuke about his nightmares. To him, he talks about darkness and pain, screams and all the sorts of things that Sasuke understands only too well. This keeps them from forgetting that their lover never slept until the Shukaku was removed, and that even now, he only sleeps when they're there. To him, nightmares and dreams are new. That alone separates him from most ninja, to whom nightmares are a way of life.

They're not sure if they envy him that or not.

11. If Naruto dreams, they don't know it. That is to say, they don't know it until his sobs get noisy enough to wake either one of them. Then they sit up, watching him sit on the window, moon and stars making the wet tears on his face glow. He looks up and smiles through his tears, a silent apology for waking them. Sasuke squeezes his eyes shut, then swings his legs out and walks over to him, followed by Gaara. Naruto just looks out the window.

That's usually when Sasuke pulls him into his arms and Gaara pulls them both into his.

12. The second time they worked together as a team, Sasuke was going undercover in Hidden Mist to make sure that the way was clear for the Rokudaime Hokage and theSandaime Kazekage to come for the chuunin exams. Reflecting back on that incident, they all agree it probably wasn't the smartest idea to send Sasuke and Neji to a place that despised the various Kekkei Genkai in the world. Sasuke narrowly escaped and Neji wasn't much better off, both of them returning on stretchers. Naruto was never more scared, and Gaara is fairly certain that that was the first time he ever cursed.

There's a scar on Sasuke's left thigh to remind them to think of things like that ahead of time.

13. Sasuke is ticklish. This fact is jealously guarded by all three of them. Gaara and Naruto keep it to themselves because Sasuke's body is theirs, dammit, theirs! Sasuke keeps it to himself because honestly, how he can expect people to fear him when they know a few well-placed, twiddling fingers could have him paralysed and howling within seconds is well beyond his comprehension.

14. Gaara knows how to properly apply makeup, and he also knows how to paint toenails and fingernails. His excuse for this is that he has an older sister, but neither of his lovers believes him. Gaara, therefore, took a vindictive pleasure in being the one who dressed Sasuke as a girl everyday for one month so that ANBU could get some information about a criminal.

They both enjoyed getting to strip the clothes off every night.

15. That was the third time Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara worked together. When Naruto sat at that bar, watching some greasy old man creep his hands up Sasuke's shirt, or grab his ass, or kiss him, he felt strange, odd, sharp stabs of jealousy. The green-eyed monster really reared its head when he walked in on Sasuke sucking Gaara off, makeup enhancing his dark eyes and making them look so large and innocent.

The final straw was Gaara's face as he came, dark lips trapped in a round 'oh', a silent scream.

16. The Kyuubi regards alcohol as a poison, and breaks it down before it can affect Naruto. Neither Gaara nor Sasuke knew this, so when they found Naruto in a bar, they assumed he was drunk. If it hadn't been exactly what he wanted—even if it had taken him a while to realise it—Naruto would have been offended that they approached a drunken him with the offer of a threesome. When they discovered the next morning that he hadn't been drunk in the slightest, they were both slightly ashamed.

Naruto made sure they got over it quickly.

17. Due to the success of that one mission, Sasuke is now ANBU's man of choice for missions that require cross dressers, pretty-boy prostitutes, gay men, or anything they're afraid to send a kunoichi into. Sasuke hates it. Gaara thinks it's funny. Naruto makes a point of scheduling a lot of those sorts of missions, even if it requires requesting them from the Kazekage's desk.

They both think that Sasuke's ability to play male stripper is some benevolent gods' gift to them.

18. It's rather difficult for the head of ANBU, the Kazekage, and the Hokage to get together frequently. They're all very grateful, therefore, that Sasuke has a flawless transportation jutsu, and that he managed to teach it to Gaara.

They also make a point of doing whatever Temari wants because she's willing to cover for her brother.

19. The only time they ever broached the subject of passing on the Sharingan, Sasuke pointed out that now that his brother was blind, he was harmless. So he was perfectly happy with letting Itachi and his now-wife have children and raise the brats. His nephew already showed signs of possessing the Sharingan, so it was ok for him to be gay and spend his days living in sin, having hot man buttsex with two other men. This was the first and last time he said anything of the sort. Gaara chalked it up to the sake lowering Sasuke's inhibitions.

Naruto chalked it up to Gaara's hand at work under the table, lowering Sasuke's inhibitions. Handjobs have that effect.

20. When their relationship started, Sasuke never expected this. He never expected to be twenty-five, blind, and to be one of the most dangerous men alive. That first time Sasuke fell into bed with him, Gaara never expected this. He never expected to be twenty-five, a legend in his own right, and to be the most respected head of an entire nin village. That first time he worked with Gaara and Sasuke, Naruto never expected this. He never expected to be twenty-five, Rokudaime, and to be considered the one of the most dangerous men alive.

Above all, none of them expected this to be the great love that it is.

A/N: This was written for my dear friend, Jessica Fontenot, as a Christmas present. Digital yaoi boys to Jessie for letting me play with them (and for letting them play with each other, ne?)!