Echoes Through Time

-I don't own Naruto-

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'Thoughts'

"Speech"

X-X-X Scene Changing

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He pauses as he finishes skimming the page of the tome. He closes it with a sigh and gets up out of the chair. He frowns slightly as doubts once more enter into his mind. He bites the lower part of his lip, not caring about the image that he's projecting. He walks towards the chamber without being aware he's there until he startled by the guards before the door. He looks between them and then steps lightly through the doorway.

A large tank stands in the centre of the room, with a body floating within the liquids. He stands before the front part of the tank, staring at the face of the man within the tank. "You have to wonder what he dreams about." Nachi states behind him.

He smiles nervously at the head medic once he turns to look at her. "One would wonder if this is such a good idea, I mean, he might react strongly about what's going to happen tomorrow. I'm still amazed that he was still alive when they found him." He tells the medic. Nachi smiles, making her usually serious face brighten up. "Even if what happens goes horribly, it would have been worth it. We stand a chance to learn so much…" He sighs and looks away.

He turns and walks towards one of the computers. He watches as a series of data code flash on the screen. He tries not to think about what might happen if the man in the tank becomes dangerous. He also kind of wishes that they could simply keep him in the tank, a true relic of the past, but at last, it's not to be for they have their 'orders'.

Just prays that it's not a huge mess. He smiles slightly at the thought of having to explain the kind of mess that could happen if he's not careful. 'But I do have to wonder, would he make the connection?'

X-X-X

He yawns; he had spent the night going through ancient scrolls, brushing up on what he knows. He looks around the room, mostly at the armed guards. He snorts softly, knowing full well if the 'subject' decides to kill them all; that the bullets wouldn't even slow him down. His right hand hovers over his pocket, he's nervous and he is reassured with the presents of what's within the pocket.

He touches the headband within the pocket; his thumb rubs over the metal that's one the worn blue cloth. He makes an absent note to replace the cloth once the hip is over. He keeps his eyes on the tank, noticing that an officer for the National Guard is waiting off in the shadows, everyone's attention, with the exception of his, is focus sole on Department Head, Chishou Umitsuki. Mr Umitsuki is busy making a speech about how this marks a new milestone of history and what kind of possibilities can be made reality.

He groans mentally and can't wait for the man to finish. He wonders ideally what kind of restaurant to take Gaara to, if the red head doesn't kill him out of annoyance. He notices movement from Mr Umitsuki and relaxes as the man finally begins the process of waking his old friend. He knows what he'll have to do once everything calms down and hopes that Gaara doesn't decide to kill everything in sight. It would be much easier on him to clean this little party up. It was damn hard to set memory block, even if he's been doing it for centuries.

He snaps out of his thoughts as the tank water empties and Gaara is lowered to the floor of the tank. It doesn't surprise him as the sand within the large jar that he brought in on the same day he started begins to float out of the jar. He watches as the glass tank lifts up and the red head begins to sit up right.

It was slow going for his fellow demon carrier to recover from his centuries forced sleep. He observes how the sand begins to whirl around Gaara; nobody else seems to notice the bits of sand that were floating in the air. They didn't become a solid object until Gaara's eyes open. He flinches from the empty looking teal eyes that belong to the red head.

The tension increases as the non ninjas gasp in surprise. The guards' reactions were to lower their guns at Gaara. He snorts as he shakes off the terror that hangs in the room. Gaara blinks and the empty look changes into a glare as Gaara studies him. He smiles sheepishly, but before Gaara or he could say something in the now ancient tongue, Mr Umitsuki steps forward. Gaara and him give the man a slight glare, and then he frowns as the man begins to try and talk with Gaara.

He tries not to smirk at how stupid it was of the man to think that Gaara understands what he's saying. He coughs and says, "I don't think he understand you. Perhaps you should leave this to the professional." Mr Umitsuki gives him a dirty look but the military officer motions for him to take over. He smiles slightly and steps forward.

He can feel everyone's attention focus in on him. He bows to Gaara, who seems to be amused by this. "It's been a grand total of nine centuries since you were forced into slumber." He informs the ex-Kazekage. Gaara blinks in surprise. He waits for about two minutes before continuing. "About three centuries into your sleep, the hidden villages became plagued ridden and most of those that were high ranking ninjas were killed off. In the course of thirty years, the hidden villages were deserted and the ninja arts weren't practiced for the fact that many think that it was using chakra that was causing the plague."

At this point Gaara asks, "Then why are you alive?" He sighs, knowing that this was going to come up. "You know that demons are immortal?" Gaara nods his head about a millimetre. "Mine invented a jutsu where he can force his life span on me without my permission and without the seal interference. Oddly enough, I can decide what age I want to be since. It really helps get around in this day and age." Gaara once more nods slightly.

Just as he's about to continue on with what kind of changes happened after the era of ninjas ended, Mr Umitsuki asks, "Has he agree to do a demonstration?" He turns his head to look at the man. He gives his 'employer' a blank look. "May I continue explaining thing to him?" He asks. The officer pipes in, "I must agree with Mr Umitsuki on this." He sighs and turns to Gaara.

"The reason you're awake now is for the people of this era to relearn how to use their chakra. I didn't think you were alive until seven years ago when a contact informed me of your discovery. I also want you to hold them; don't kill them, which will only make it harder for me to place the memory blocks on them." He tells Gaara. Gaara thinks about this and then nods slowly. The sand that had taken the form of a gourd begins to surge towards the other people that were within the room. A few guns were fired, but they only impacted a solid wall of sand.

Many of the people were cursing and screaming. Soon everyone other then Gaara and him were restrained. He sighs and looks over at all of them. He nods in satisfaction as he meets their eyes for a few seconds. He then flies through the hand seals for the memory blocking jutsu. He had his underlings find and bring the others that had been aware of this whole thing.

The people look blankly around and he then using another jutsu to put them asleep. He nods and the sand retreats from them. He pushes a button on his watch and motions for Gaara to follow him out. "My underlings will take care of this. I do believe I know this little place that you might like, considering that you haven't had anything to eat for ages." He says.

"Is there?" Gaara asks. He sighs and looks his friend in the eye. "You do have many, who know how many great, great grandnephews and nieces. I try my best to keep track of such things." He tells Gaara truthfully. He sighs and adds, "I've seen plenty of my children and such die before my eyes. I've kept track of them and in times of trouble, helped them out as best as I can. Things have changed and will keep changing." Gaara frowns and he says, "It'll be nice to have someone around that won't die on me in seventy years." He meant that as a joke, he really did.

It seems that Gaara noticed that too and sighs, "I won't depend on you." He smiles and says, "I never thought you would. Your accounts are still active, so you have you own fortune to manage." Gaara nods and follows him out of the underground lab.

He's just happy that his friend is alive and well. He also can't wait to see Gaara's reactions to what people think ninjas were like. He didn't know what will happen now that Gaara's back among the waking, but he does know that things have just gotten interesting.

To Readers:

Sadly, the other computer doesn't have a working keyboard, so I can't work on my Magus or The Dragon Dilemma stories. This is just a one shot story, I was bored. This is, hopefully, will remain a one shot too.

I want to thank everyone who's read my recent story and hope they enjoy reading this short as much as they like reading the Dragon one. Hopefully, there will be a new keyboard for the other computer by Monday. Thanks for reading and hopefully, you can tell me what you think of this by reviewing. See ya later!