Scroll 1: Monsters!

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"Ah, it's been so long since I've been on a mission! I so psyched!" Naruto cried happily. I turned towards Naruto and smiled.

"You better not complain about any mission she gives us, no matter what it is." I said, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I will."

"If only that were true…" Kakashi-sensei said openly.

"Move it! Out of the way!" A lady ran at full speed, shoveling through us.

"What the heck?" Sakura said.

"That's dangerous, you know! Be more careful!"Naruto screamed at the lady even though I'm pretty sure she didn't hear him.

"They sent for a decoder. That means the messenger bird earlier was…" Kakashi-sensei said.

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"What? A convey transport escort?!" Naruto screamed, me and Sakura sighed.

"What? You got a problem with that?!"

"It's a C-rank mission! I'm gonna have to say no thank you to that!" He said he wouldn't complain…

"Please don't be so selfish. I she gets angry, I'm gonna get it." Kakashi-sensei said quietly to Naruto.

"Naruto…" Iruka-sensei began, "You haven't matured at all…"

"Naruto, I assigned you a simpler mission because you haven't been in action for a while." Tsunade-baa-sama said. I could tell she was getting angrier every second.

"That's bull! I don't need you going easy on me!" Sakura turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, hush!" Sakura said quietly to him. I smiled at Baa-sama.

"I'm sorry! Let me and Sakura talk to him for a second!" I said, shoving my knuckles into his head so he would shut up. Sakura and I pulled him away.

"Jeez, the Third was a lot more understanding…" He mumbled.

"Huh?" Baa-sama started angrily. "I dare you to say something!"

"Knock it off!" Sakura cried, almost choking Naruto. Then, the same lady that almost ran us over barged in.

"There's an emergency, Fifth!"

"What's with all of the commotion?" I wondered.

"We recently received an emergency message from the Sand!"

"The Sand?" Naruto and I said. The decoder lady gave a message to Baa-sama. Iruka-sensei and Shizune-sensei looked at it.

"T-this is…?" Iruka-sensei started.

"It can't be!" Shizune-sensei.

"What happened?" Naruto said.

"The Hidden Village of the Sand's Kazekage has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki."

"Gaara…" Naruto and I said.

"Them again." He said. I understood what he meant. The Akatsuki came back, this time, for Gaara-kun.

"We have more information on the Akatsuki then the Sand does," She started, "That's why they requested us for help." Shizune-sensei looked towards Baa-sama.

"Don't tell me you're planning to send Team Kakashi!" I looked at her angrily.

"What? You don't think we can handle it?" Naruto looked at me, but other than that, I was ignored.

"This is an emergency. We don't have time to be picky! Plus," She started, looking at Kakashi-sensei, "Kakashi has fought with the Akatsuki before."

"That maybe true, but…"

"Team Kakashi, I'm assigning you a new mission. You are to go to the Hidden Village of Sand, find out more about the situation, and send a report back to Konoha." Naruto and I smiled. "You will also follow any of their orders and back them up!"

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"Okay! We're off!" Naruto said happily.

"Until we return, Master Tsunade!" Sakura said.

"Sayonara, everybody!"

"Yeah." Baa-sama said, smiling.

"Naruto, do your best! You too, Awai!" Iruka-sensei said to us.

"You got it!" I said, showing a thumbs-up.

"Yup!" Naruto said, turning around towards Iruka-sensei.

Before we even traveled two feet, somebody landed form out of the sky.

"Oh, going on a mission, Naruto?" Jiraya-sama, or Ero-sennin, as Naruto would put it, appeared.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto said.

"Oh, right…" Jiraya-sama walked past us and started talking to Baa-sama.

"Tsunade, I have information for you. The Hidden Sand's Kazekage has been—"

"Yeah, I know!" Then Baa-sama pointed to us. "I'm about to send them to the Sand." Jiraya-sama turned to us and Naruto nodded.

"Mhm." He said smiling. Jiraya-sama looked at Naruto for a second, the whispered something into Baa-sama's ear. She nodded, and then said something back to him, but I couldn't hear it. Then, Jiraya-sama looked towards me and Naruto.

"Naruto, come here for a second. You too Awai." He led us off to the side.

"Listen up. Naruto, don't be reckless when you go up against Akatsuki, and Awai, don't activate it." Even though he didn't say it, I knew what he meant.

"They're after me! So this time, I'm gonna take the fight to them! Right, Awai?" I sighed.

"Yes! We'll be careful, Jiraya-sama!" I said, smirking. "But still, Naruto and I are going to open a can off whoop-butt on the Akatsuki!" I said, pumping my fists in the air. Jiraya-sama smiled, then he became serious.

"Naruto, don't use that power, and Awai, don't you use it either." Naruto looked down.

"We know…" He said. Jiraya-sama nodded and walked over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi, keep an eye on them and make sure they don't do anything stupid. I'm counting on you."

"Understood." Kakashi said, and, even though he was wearing his mask, I could tell he was smiling.

"Awai-chan! Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei! Let's get moving!" Naruto said as he started walking ahead of us.

"Oi, Naruto, wait on us!" Sakura called, running up to him. I ran to catch up with Naruto. I smiled.

" C'mon, Naruto," I said, looking towards the trees, "Let's go save Gaara." He nodded.

"Hang on, Gaara!"

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Sand blew mistily across the desert, but Deidara's rice hat blocked the swaying sand.

"You're late, Sasori-danna," Deidara said sitting under the overhang of a rock, "I thought you hated making people wait, un!"

"I do, but I had enough fun to make up for it." Sasori said, moving across the sand. Deidara scowled.

"Say what?!"

"You have no reason to be angry." Sasori commented, "After all, you managed to secure your target, the Ichibi (A/N: That's the One-tail, hence, Gaara's Shukaku.)" Deidara stood up, still shielding the blowing sands with his hat. "After we finish with this one, we'll go get mine."

"But Sasori-danna, the person you're going after…"

"Yeah, I still don't know where she is." Sasori said, sighing, "It would be a lot simpler if she'd come to us."

"Ah, definitely, un." Deidara tiled his head up, revealing some sort of eye scope. "What's so special about this girl, again?"

"It doesn't matter. As long as I somehow get her in my clutches…"

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I swiftly hopped through the trees, keeping my eyes ahead.

"Gaara, I'm coming to help!" Naruto said. I was right next to Naruto and smiled.

"Oi, Naruto, I'm coming to help too! Don't take all of the thunder for yourself!" I said, still smiling. He smiled back.

"Naruto, Awai, I know we're in a hurry, but don't get so far ahead of us!" Sakura yelled towards us.

"But, but—" Naruto stuttered.

"Don't get so worked up! Jiraya-sama just said the exact same thing, didn't he?" Naruto grunted.

"Seriously…" Sakura sighed. I looked down, and on the path that has been just beside where we were running, I saw Temari.

"Temari-san!" We all hopped down to see her. We told her everything we could.

"What?! Gaara was—!" Kakashi-sensei nodded.

"It'll take us two days to get to the Sand Village. Let's move!" We all jumped up and went back into the trees. I remember when I first met Gaara…

Third person! WOOT! I pwn! Plus, this starts out in a flashback. Okay? Good. Now READ!

"Oi, Naruto, wanna go for some ramen before we sign up for the Chunnin Exams?" Awai asked Naruto, hanging upside down from the top of his window outside of his room. Naruto's face instantly brightened up.

"Duh! I'm hungry, and we don't have to meet Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, and Kakashi-sensei for about two hours!" Awai smiled, and then jumped off the window seal. Naruto looked out the window at her, standing below in the street.

"Well then get of of your lazy butt and get down here!" In a minute, Naruto and Awai were walking toward Ichiraku, talking.

"Naruto, I'm serious. Chicken ramen is soooo much better than beef ramen."

"Awai-chan! You're crazy!"

"Maybe so, Naruto, but chicken ramen is still better, no matter what you say."

"Awai—"

"Still better."

"Ya know—"

"Chicken's still better."

"Awai-chan! We pasted Ichiraku."

"Oh, well, then it's your fault." Naruto turned to Awai, stunned.

"How the heck is it my fault?!" Awai shrugged.

"Dunno. I just felt like blaming someone else, and you were the only other person standing there." Naruto hung his head down.

"Aw, Awai-chan…" Awai laughed, but then realized another problem.

"Naruto, where are we going to go now?" He looked up at the sky, the shrugged.

"Don't know. Where do you want to go?" Awai thought for a second then smiled.

"I know! We'll go to Michi's!" Awai said, pointing to a shop that was a little bit farther down the road.

"And that is…?" Naruto said, confused.

"It's just the best place!" Naruto glared at her. "Aside from Ichiraku's, of course," He had a satisfied look on his face. "Anyway, it's a butt-kickin' sushi place! It has all kinds imaginable." Naruto smiled.

"Okay! We'll go there!" Twenty sushi-filled minutes later, Naruto and Awai were stuffed.

"Oi, Naruto, what do you want to do now?" He looked up at the sky again, and then sighed.

"There's nothing to do until 3:00, and right now its 2:00. Why don't we just walk around?" Awai smiled.

"Sure! Why not?" They talked for thirty minutes until Awai noticed something.

"Naruto, look at what I found on the ground." Awai picked up a bottle of some purple liquid.

"Ew, what is this?!" She asked Naruto, who grimaced.

"Dunno. It looks like poison." He said, taking the bottle into his hands and looking it over.

"Idiot! Get your hands off of my bottle!" Awai turned around to face a boy dressed in… a bat-like outfit?

"Excuse me?" Once the boy looked at Awai, he smiled.

"Hello, my name is Kankuro, nice to meet ya," Kankuro said, grinning.

"Hello, my name is Awai, and I want to know what you want." Naruto scowled.

"Oi, who are you?" Naruto asked. Kankuro glared at him.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"Was I talking to you?" Awai said, punching Kankuro in the face. He fell backwards, landing on his butt.

"Oi, what's your problem?!" Kankuro said, holding his bloodly nose.

"You're my problem, and, you don't talk to my friends like that." Naruto look at Awai, then at Kankuro, then at Awai again.

"Awai-chan, wha?" Awai smirked, looking down at Kankuro, who got up.

"Well, he shouldn't have talked to you like that," Kankuro narrowed his eyes, one hand on the giant wrapped package on his back.

"You just made a big mistake…"

"Kankuro, what are you doing?" A voice said from behind Awai. She turned around to face a red-headed boy with dark circles around his eyes like he's never slept in his whole life.

"G-gaara, she punched me, so—"

"What did you do to make her punch you?"

"Well—" Awai interrupted Kankuro.

"And you are?" She said, crossing her arms. Naruto looked at Gaara, then back Awai.

"Awai-chan, he looks dangerous…" Awai turned to Naruto and smiled.

"Naruto, I can handle anything." She said to him, still smiling. Then, she turned back to Gaara and Kankuro.

"And you guys, what are sand ninja doing in Konoha?" Gaara glared at Awai.

"The Chunin Exams." Awai nodded her head, and then smiled.

"Well, then, good luck to you. Since you're going up against us, you'll need it."

End of Flashback! Woo! That was the longest flashback I've ever done! Back to First Person!

"Naruto! Awai! What did we just say?! Stick together—"

"I can't take this!" Naruto yelled. I looked at Naruto, and then sighed.

"I know why they're after Gaara." I said, looking ahead.

"Sakura, you know why, too, don't you?" Naruto said. "Inside of me… The Kyuubi is sealed inside of me." I turned my head.

"Naruto…"

'Hey, aren't they the kids that parent's are dead?"

"Yeah, the girl's parents abandoned her, and then her parents mysteriously died!"

"And then there's the boy… I wonder why she hangs out with him."

"Well, freaks hang out with freaks."

"Let's leave!"

"Gaara and I… We both have monsters inside our bodies." Naruto said, clutching his chest. I looked at him.

"Yes… That's what these guys are after! I hate it!" I yelled, stomping a tree. "Everyone sees us as monsters! Gaara-kun… Naruto… I hate the way they view us!

"A monster, huh? If that's the case, then we're the same." Gaara looked at me.

"As for you, even you know what we suffer. We were all born as monsters."

"He was just like we were." Naruto said. "And he fought all on his own a lot longer than we did."

"To them, I'm just a relic from the past that they want to erase. Then why should I continue to exist? I thought about it, but I couldn't find an answer." Gaara said, "But, one needs a reason to live. Otherwise, it's the same as being dead."

"He's been targeted by the Akatsuki." Naruto said, "We're the same, again! It'll only be a matter of time until they target Awai-chan!" My eyes widened.

"Naruto…"

"And despite that, why does everything have to happen to him?! It's always him!"

"That's why," I looked up towards the sky. "That's why we can't waste a second! This time, I want to save him as fast as I can!" I felt tears come down my face, and I didn't even have to look at Naruto to know that he was crying too.

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"That's enough. Soldier pills are for emergencies only." Kakashi-sensei told Sakura as she put a pill into her mouth. "Girls your age shouldn't overeat—" Crunch. And with that, Sakura completely ignored him.

"Is she angry?"

"Awai, you've met him before, haven't you?" Sakura asked me. I turned to Sakura.

"What?"

"You've met Uchiha Itachi." I felt my teeth clench.

"And he's after you and Naruto." I looked at her, started.

"It's not like I did nothing but train for two and a half years. I had full access to Master Tsunade's library and I used it as much as I could." Sakura turned and looked at Naruto, who was ahead of us. "And now I finally have a link to something I've always wanted to know more about.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi-sensei from behind his hands. "I wouldn't call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The revival of my clan and to kill a certain person. I am the only one who can kill that man."

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"I'm an avenger. I have to become stronger than him. I don't have time to play games here!"

"The person that Sasuke-kun wants to kill is his brother, Uchiha Itachi. And he's a member of Akatsuki." Those red clouds…

"Uchiha Itachi!" Sasuke screamed. I looked at Naruto as he looked up at the mysterious man.

"Uchiha… Itachi?" I stuttered.

"I'm going to kill you!" Itachi glared at Sasuke. "I've done just as you said… I've hated you, detested you and now, I've come…" Chidori shined in his hand so brightly that it was almost blinding. "… to kill you!"

"That's why Sasuke-kun is with Orochimaru, trying to become more powerful." Sakura said.

"But Orochimaru's goal is to take over Sasuke's body, right?"

"Yes, and we only have half a year left!" Sakura knows about all of that…

"Orochimaru was originally a member of Akatsuki. What I'm trying to say is," I looked back at her, waiting for her to continue. "The closer we get to Akatsuki, the closer we get to finding information on Orochimaru." I thought about all of the Akatsuki, and all that they've done, who they've killed. "And the closer we get to them, the closer we get to Sasuke-kun!"