A.N.- Hi again everyone! I'm back again with chapter two! My original plan was to post updates for this fic every two weeks, but I finished this chapter early! So, hooray for you! (Now those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving at relatives houses will have something to read... lol, jk.) Special shout out to ankwhat for being the first to Fav my fic! Thank you! Thank you everyone else who Fav/Followed and Reviewed. This chapter was too much fun to write so I hope you like it. Sasuke still doesn't show up in this chapter so sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted him to.
NOTE/Warning:Pairing for this chapter KakaIru. Don't like it? Well, it's just mentioned since they aren't the focus of the story so get over it. There is underage drinking in this chapter only because it is being done with adult supervision, so drink responsibly kiddies. There is also mild-moderate cursing in this chapter. I don't cuss (like ever), but I found myself typing curse words left and right as I wrote, so sorry if I offend anyone.
Special note!I drew a pic for this fic! Kishimoto refused to give me Gaara so I had to draw him myself… Want to see what Gaara and Naruto look like while out in Bijūgakure? Now you can! Though I recommend that you check out the pic after you read this chapter because Gaara get's teased for his ears in this chapter and you will find out why in the picture. Let me know if you like it! Here is the link:
deviantart DOT com/art/Attack-Hug-TTIWDF-574387804 (This whole not being able to have actual links on this site is kind of annoying. If for some reason decides to mess with my link even more then you can just go to deviant art and search for "Attack Hug- TTIWDF" or even my pen name Lobstirrchwan where you will find lots of goodies)
Please R&R and Enjoy!
That Time I Went Down Fighting
2. Gaara
"I'll see your jellybean and raise you…one of my children."
"Idiot, you can't bet your kids."
Naruto frowned down at the little blue plastic stick with a nub for a head that he held gently between his thumb and index finger. He sighed and put the piece in the little orange wagon along with the rest of its stick family. "It's okay son," he patted the blue nub as he set the vehicle down, "I wasn't seriously going to gamble you away anyways." He looked at the cards in his other hand and back to the family in his little wagon wondering if he could bet his 'wife' instead. He sighed again giving up on the idea, "Call."
The sound of a throat being cleared next to him drew the fox's attention away from his miniature family. Naruto looked up to see his three game-mates each pointing an index finger towards the heavens, smirks gracing each of their lips. "Dammit! It's not fair…I wasn't ready," he whined as he reached for his glass of dark liquid.
Gaara snorted in amusement from his place beside his blond friend. "You're just getting sloppy."
Naruto turned a scowl to the red-head, "Shuddup," he slurred drunkenly. His frown quickly turned into a smug grin, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief, as he lifted his glass, "Drink up 'mate'".
Gaara clanked his own glass of alcohol against Naruto's and they both took a drink. His gaze drifted across the table to the brunet human and gestured toward the man's drink still sitting on the table.
The brunet sighed and joined the two teens in the drink.
Gaara swallowed his gulp and set his glass and hand of cards down on the table, "Fold."
Naruto watched the brunet throw a jellybean on the pile before leaning across his silver-haired partner's lap to spin the wheel on the game board of LIFE™.
The silver-haired Jinchūriki grinned wolfishly as he laid down his hand to reveal a royal flush, drawing a groan from the other players. He then picked up another card and his grin increased as he turned it so everyone could see the 8 of clubs, his mismatched eyes dancing in glee. "Looks like you're also my 'mate' Panda-chan."
"Dammit Kakashi, I told you to stop calling me that," Gaara growled as he glared daggers at the man still smiling at him. "How many times do I need to tell you I'm a tanuki/cat?" He gestured wildly (well, as wildly as Gaara would gesture, which wasn't much) at the dark rings around his eyes trying to prove his point.
Kakashi eyed the red-head skeptically, "I beg to differ. Have you seen how cute those things are? They're freaking adorable. Your hair's almost the same shade as a red panda, they almost have 'coon eyes too, and your ears look almost exactly like theirs."
Gaara frowned at being compared to anything considered 'adorable'. His pointed red furred ears that were tipped in black twitched on the side of his head when he heard Naruto stifling his giggles behind his hands. His frown turned into more of a pout at being teased. His looked to the brunet across from him for help, "Ruka. Can't you control him?"
Iruka smiled fondly at the sulking tanuki/cat and shrugged, "I wish, and it's true. You were an adorable baby."
Kakashi smiled in triumph, "When you were 4," Gaara groaned and laid his head on the table, any thought of family game night momentarily lost as Kakashi began his reminiscing, "you and Naru were playing on the floor right over there," he gestured to a faded rug that was visible through the open doorway leading to the living room, "and you stole Naru's toy. Of course that was the moment when his chakra decided to come into being and he let it out in the burst of a temper tantrum." Kakashi and Iruka looked over to their adopted son to see him once again playing with his wagon full of plastic people, he mumbled drunkenly to them telling them he would take them to the circus if they were good, completely ignoring the conversation about his first coming of age.
Jinchūriki were born with their chakra dormant until they reached the age of 4, then their chakra was released for them to be able to manipulate it to their will. With enough practice this spiritual energy and life force could be used to enhance their natural abilities (such as quick healing), and even change their appearances to look human, with the exception of their eyes. They could also sense each other's chakra and shield it from those who were not 'pure-blood' Jinchūriki.
Iruka sighed and pushed a glass of water towards the blond fox, "That's enough alcohol for you." He dragged Naruto's cup of dark liquid to his side of the table and away from the now sulking kitsune. Naruto reached for his stolen drink only to have his hand slapped, "Seventeen year olds shouldn't be drinking alcohol anyways," Iruka scolded. Naruto huffed, grumbling that he was almost eighteen, and returned to the conversation with his plastic family.
"Any-who," Kakashi returned his gaze back to the back of Gaara's head, which was still lying on the table, "I tried to quickly stop his tantrum and make him reel in his chakra with a lollipop before anyone else could sense him. But it was too late," the silver wolf ruffled his fingers through the red locks fondly, "you already felt him."
Gaara swiped at the offending hand half heartedly with his claws. Kakashi smiled as he removed his hand. "You, Panda-chan, were so cute with your fluffy baby ears, and little claws and fangs, as you clung to his waist and refused to let go for hours. You two even ended up falling asleep on the ground, with you practically strangling him in your sleep."
Gaara let out another groan because he actually remembered that event, and he would never let the wolf know that he would still get urges to cling to his friend whenever he released more than a little of his chakra. It wasn't that he was sexually attracted to his friend; Naruto just had that effect on pretty much any Jinchūriki who was near him to feel his power.
The red-head saw Naruto as his brother and best friend. Gaara was the youngest out of three; while his brother and sister were cat 'pure-bloods' sharing the same father, Gaara was a tanuki/cat 'half-blood'. Gaara's father had been a tanuki Jinchūriki 'half-blood'; his blood line had been tainted with the mix of human blood somewhere in his lineage. With his father's death, Gaara was the only one in his family who wasn't able to appear human; the human blood in his veins preventing him from using his chakra to its full potential. As Jinchūriki with human blood were incapable of changing their form to look human, his impure blood had left him in danger of discovery when his mother had decided to live within the Wall's boundaries to reap the benefits of human advancements. Being a single mother of three young children didn't leave his mother very many options if she wanted to keep her children safe and fed, even if that meant living within the walls where Jinchūriki were strictly forbidden.
Gaara and his family lived next door to an extremely young couple in their late teens who had adopted a little blond boy. Gaara's mother was able to sense the chakra of the wolf 'pure-blood' and had asked if the couple was willing to look after Gaara while she worked deeper in the city and her two other children attended a human school nearby. They had agreed to let Gaara spend his time with their son, so, at the age of two, Gaara was introduced to Naruto who was only a few months younger than him.
Hatake Kakashi and Umino Iruka became like fathers to him, since he couldn't remember the one who sired him, and Naruto a brother. It's a surprise that the tanuki/cat grew up to be so stoic since he spent most of his time next someone who could barely suppress a smile cracking his face in two. With the exception of Naruto's dads, Gaara was the only other Jinchūriki who knew who Naruto truly was and had witnessed both Naruto's human and animal forms.
Gaara turned his alcohol blurred gaze over to his friend still talking to his pink and blue plastic sticks. A small smile formed on his lips and he lifted his head from the table. "Are they talking back?" He asked in amusement.
Naruto turned to look at his friend with a frown, "Of course not. That would be crazy." The fox narrowed his
glazed blue eyes and stared at Gaara as if he were the one just having a long intimate conversation with inanimate objects. Gaara just raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Naruto seemed to give up trying to determine the sanity of his friend and turned to Iruka. "Ne, can you make me a pizza?"
"Gods Naruto, you're drunk not high," Kakashi laughed, "Get your own damn munchies."
"Not to mention we ate dinner an hour ago," Iruka joined in as he sighed at the bottomless pit that was Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto shrugged and stuck his tongue out in a very childlike manner that was way too immature for his age and got up to search the kitchen cabinets for a snack.
Iruka looked back to the table of their forgotten game, "I guess we're done playing."
"I'll help clean up," Gaara offered as he collected the playing cards and Iruka stacked the fake money. Kakashi quickly cleared the table of his winnings and started stuffing his mouth happily with them, acting like he was actually a useful member of the cleanup crew.
Game night at the Hatake-Umino-Uzumaki residence was always an interesting event. They would choose three games, a board game, a card game, and a drinking game (tonight's picks were LIFE™, 5-card draw, and king's cup), and would play them all simultaneously.
When Naruto and Gaara were younger they would play the drinking games with juice, but starting just over a year ago, when they were sixteen, Iruka finally gave into Kakashi's whining and allowed the boys to start playing with alcohol. He would keep track of how much they drank and made sure they didn't leave the house once they started drinking, even though they could use their chakra to boost their metabolism to make themselves sober in a matter of minutes. Gaara never complained because he enjoyed sleeping over.
They mainly gambled with candy (a tradition left over from their childhood) and most of the time no one was on the same game at the same time. Gaara had learned early on not to bet against Kakashi in the card games since he was practically a god when it came to gambling. Naruto of all people was the only one who could beat the wolf and only when he drank enough to feel a buzz. The fox got super loopy when he drank, but his genius also came out when the stupidity of his sobriety was hindered.
Gaara looked up from his cleaning when Naruto returned to the table. He raised an eyebrow at the cup of ramen in one hand, chopsticks in the other, messily shoveling steaming noodles into the blond's mouth. His eyes traveled over his friends orange sleep shirt that was covered with broth down the front. 'He's such a slob,' the tanuki/cat thought with a sigh, wondering how someone with so much power running through his veins could be such a child. A child he would give his life for, but still a child.
Naruto sensed the stare and looked over to Gaara with a frown on his face. "I'm not sharing," he stated as he clenched the noodle cup against his chest. Naruto would probably stroke the side of the cup lovingly if his hands weren't already occupied.
Gaara just rolled his eyes and grabbed an abandoned bottle of alcohol and a few dirty cups off the table and headed into the kitchen to deposit them.
"So," Kakashi stretched in his seat once he finished off his winnings, "How was your day today?"
Naruto smiled as he sat down across from his adoptive father. "It was awesome!" He paused as his eyes twinkled in amusement. "We sparred," his smile turned into an evil grin.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Did ya now? And how did that go?"
Gaara huffed as he entered the room, "My ass is going to be sore for a week."
"That's what she said! Ow!" Kakashi yelped as Iruka bashed him upside the head with an annoyed fist. The wolf let out a small nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, "Not that I would know. Hehe…"
Gaara glared flaming blades of furry at the wolf Jinchūriki, his turquoise eyes gleaming with the promise of pain. "Why in the hell would you teach a move like that to your own son?"
Kakashi noticed the faint blush creeping along the stoic red-head's face and his eyes quickly glanced over to the snickering blond across from him, his eyes widening a fraction. "You didn't… on Gaara?" he asked in disbelief looking a little terrified.
Naruto's giggles turned into full blown laughter as he clenched his stomach and nodded. "It was so funny," he gasped for breath, "and he flew so far!"
Gaara continued to glare at the wolf as his embarrassment grew. "You're such a fucking perv," he grumbled, earning a sharp look from Iruka who hated cursing. Gaara's ears drooped as Naruto, around mouthfuls of slurping noodles, began to tell Kakashi in excruciating detail about how he used 'Kakashi's 1000 Years of Pain' technique on his best friend.
The next day Naruto and Gaara were thrown out of the house by an irate Iruka who was sporting a killer hangover.
As usual, Naruto waved and joked with nearly every Jinchūriki they passed while Gaara just walked silently next to his energetic companion. While Naruto felt the need to make everyone his friend, wanting them to like him not just because of his strong blood-line but for who he was as a person, Gaara simply enjoyed having Naruto as his only friend, not caring to exert more energy than needed by being chummy with everyone. If acting like this made most people shy away from him in fear thinking that he was a cold hearted bastard who would sooner rip out their still beating hearts than look at them, then he didn't care; Naruto knew who he was and that was good enough for him.
The two teens were headed over to Gaara's brother's house on the south side of town, which meant they had to walk about an hour around the outskirts of Konoha's Wall to get to their destination.
"Why are we going to Kankurō-nii's house again?" asked Naruto, as he smiled at a little girl with antlers who was tugging on her mother's skirt. The little girl blushed and hid her face in the thick fabric in her hands.
Gaara sighed, "I promised him we would help him move today. I told you last week, remember?"
Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh yeah," he frowned down at the soot from his blackened hair that had caught beneath his claws. Naruto hated his hair feeling so dirty, but it was the only way he was able to be out in Bijūgakure, and he loved his fellow Jinchūriki too much to stay away. He sometimes hated the fact that Kakashi had decided to raise him as a human within the walls of Konoha, but knew it had been for his own good.
Naruto and Gaara walked in a comfortable silence for another 10 minutes before they heard a call from off to their left. The two teens turned to see a herd of children between the ages of five and twelve running towards them.
"Kyuubi-oyabun!" Konohamaru called from the front of the pack as he led the group to a stop in front of the two older Jinchūriki. The young squirrel smiled up to his idol and bounced a little in excitement. He held up a ball, "Come play with us!"
Naruto smiled down at his young friend and then looked over the rest of the group who were looking just as excited as Konohamaru.
"Sorry kids," he placed a clawed hand on top of the squirrels head between his long pointed ears, "I have stuff I have to do today."
Gaara noticed Naruto's shoulders drooped a little as the children let out a loud "aw" of disappointment. He watched Naruto give an apologetic smile, unable to hide the longing in his eyes, and sighed. "Just go."
Naruto perked up and turned to the red-head, "Really? But what about-"
"Don't worry about it," Gaara waved a hand in dismissal, "You can do all the work tomorrow that we don't get done today." Gaara smirked, knowing that the thought of playing with a bunch of kids in exchange for a day's worth of manual labor was an offer Naruto could not refuse. Technically he and Kankurō could just sit back today and have Naruto do all the work tomorrow, but Gaara didn't have the heart to be that cruel.
Naruto smiled brightly, "Thanks Gaara!" He turned to the children in excitement and snagged the ball from Konohamaru. "What are we playing?"
The children cheered and took off toward a clearing that was near the eastern door of the great Wall. Naruto waved quickly to Gaara and followed his playmates. Gaara smiled at his friend's back before continuing his way southward.
"Pass it!" Naruto called as he ran towards the makeshift goal. A young boy with dark tiger stripes covering his pale skin kicked the ball to the awaiting fox and cheered when Naruto stopped the ball under his foot before continuing on his way to the goal.
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered back as his feet dribbled the ball. He raised his foot to kick the ball around the rhino Jinchūriki who was guarding the goal when he was hit from the side by a ton of bricks. "Shi-ah!" he cried, flailing his arms, before crashing into one of the many mud puddles that littered the road from the heavy rain the night before.
"Got you!" Naruto looked down to his waist that was tangled in a pile of limbs. He had been tackled by at least 6 children, who were now smiling happily back at him in triumph.
Naruto frowned in mock annoyance, "That's cheating. You never said this was tackle soccer." He shifted the kids off his legs and winced at the mud that was seeping through his thin shirt and shorts. He looked at his mud coated hand and shook it trying to dislodge the thicker clumps that stuck to his narrow fingers. He failed to miss the mischievous looks the children were giving each other before a glob of mud hit him in the face.
An all out mud fight began. Children ran around screaming with joy as they threw mud at each other, as if it were snow, Naruto right in the middle of the fray. The group had no worry of getting scolded by adults since this part of town was mainly used for storage and what little residents who lived nearby were gone for the day.
Naruto laughed as he launched a mud ball towards a girl with glistening wings pulled flat along her back. The girl shrieked and threw herself behind a crate, her thin antennae twitching wildly as the mud splattered against the wall to her left.
Naruto considered creeping up on the girl but was startled out of his scheming by a cry of fear.
He looked towards the cry to see Konohamaru struggling against a hand that was holding tightly to his long blue scarf. The hand belonged to a burly human man who was digging into his pocket with his free hand. Naruto quickly glanced around to see a group of 10 human men, dressed all in black, lunging towards the rest of the now fleeing children.
Naruto growled and sprinted for the man holding the young squirrel when he saw a syringe glistening in the man's hand sliding out of his pocket. Naruto didn't know who these men were, but he knew they were up to no good.
The human was distracted trying to insert the syringe into the struggling Jinchūriki so he never saw Naruto coming. Naruto's fist collided with the man's face as an angered roar tore through his throat. The punch was enough to make the man drop his grip from the scarf as he flew through the air and smashed into the dirt with a loud thud. A small groan escaped the man's lips before he stilled and lost consciousness.
Turning quickly back to Konohamaru to see that he was unharmed, Naruto pointed to a small group of younger Jinchūriki who were huddled, quaking in terror, by a broken crate near the edge of the road. "Get them out of here," he ordered. Konohamaru nodded, rubbing tears from his cheeks, and sprinted off towards the group of whimpering children.
Trusting the squirrel to lead those children to safety, Naruto turned and headed towards the nearest human who had just grabbed small boy with green scales lining his dark cheekbones and forearms. The boy whipped his long lizard tail around frantically in hopes of dislodging the man's grip.
"Let go of him!" Naruto shouted as he slashed at the man's arm with his claws. The man cried out and released the boy. His cry drew the attention of the remaining humans and they all paused in their hunt to stare at Naruto. Naruto stood still in a slightly crouched position with his legs tight in preparation to spring forward, panting heavily with the adrenaline running through his veins, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws threateningly. His deep red eyes flashed dangerously as they darted from one human to the next assessing the situation.
Nine against one were never good odds, even with Naruto having the advantage of strength. He knew he could take these men, but just hoped that none of them had a gun. Guns brought bystanders into the mix and Naruto would have none of that.
The fox had never attacked a human before, but he was pissed and wasn't about to let these men hurt his people. A part of him was hoping he could intimidate the men enough to just give up and leave, and another part wanted to destroy these humans enough so they would never think of returning to his village again.
One of the humans noticed the last of the children running behind a building and out of their reach, and let out an angry growl of frustration. "Dammit," he pulled out a knife and rushed Naruto, causing the other men to follow his example.
Naruto cursed and used his chakra to increase his speed to dodge a swinging knife. Fists, legs, and blades flew wildly as the fighting began. Even without Naruto's advantage of speed and strength, it was clear that he was a much better fighter then the humans. While the human's attacks were rushed and sloppy, Naruto's consisted of precise punches and jabs at pressure points that landed a hit with almost every strike.
Naruto flipped over the head of a lunging attacker and kicked him square in the back causing him to crash into one of his companions. Naruto landed softly on the balls of his feet as the two men crumpled to the ground.
Breathing heavily out of his mouth, Naruto looked at the damage he had ensued. Ten humans lay scattered along the road, bloodied and battered. He let out a sigh, letting his tense muscles relax as adrenaline drain from his system.
Hearing a faint shuffling noise behind him, Naruto turned expecting to see the children he had just defended. His eyes widened as a loud bang rang through the air. A pain shot through Naruto's chest and he dropped to the dirt unconscious.
A.N.- Dundunduun! Here ends chapter two! So, how was it? Hopefully my sense of humor isn't too far off from everyone else's… Just to let everyone know, even though this chapter was pretty silly it was just to show Naruto's home and village life, as well as to tell more about the Jinchūriki of this universe. The next chapter and the ones after will not be so happy.
So, I'd just like to say that I love Gaara. He's one of my favorite Naruto characters; my other will be coming in at a later time. In fact, if I wasn't so obsessed with SasuNaru than this fic would be GaaNaru, but it's not so Gaara is just the best friend.
Here's a Shippuden SPOILER for those of you who haven't watched like any of it… when Gaara "died" towards the beginning I was so upset that I stopped watching the show for like two years, only to find out that he would be fine. Two years of my life wasted! Lol, jk. Anyways, I've always liked Gaara, even when he first showed up and was a homicidal maniac I thought he was cool. I like the thought of him being a total pushover when it comes to Naruto because really, he totally is.
We will get to meet some Uchiha's next chapter! Hopefully Sasuke, we'll see. Here's the link to my Gaara/Kyuubi-sama picture again so you don't have to scroll all the way to the top again.
deviantart DOT com/art/Attack-Hug-TTIWDF-574387804
Don't forget to review! Until next time!