Welcome one and all, this is chapter 2 of Heroes of the West.
In this chapter we meet new characters of all sorts. Humor, romance and idiots galore!
Just to remind you, I did not write this by myself. Sabaku-chan of is co-writer and artist of this fic. There is a link on my profile page to her account on DA, check it out when you finish the chappie.
Disclaimer: I do not...nor Sabaku-chan...own Naruto or any other characters mentioned in this chapter (or any others written or to be written). Rub it in why don't you :(
Now, with that party pooper out of the way, on with the story...I can almost hear the GaaHina fangirls squealing.
The next morning, Naruto awoke to sunlight shining on his face. He turned over, groaning, trying to escape the inevitable…but to no avail, he was awake.
"Damn it."
He sat up stretching and noticed two things. One, he had a killer hangover; and two, he didn't have a shirt on…or pants for that matter! Lifting the covers, he was relieved to see that he at least had some boxers on. Looking around the room...
"Where the hell am I?"
From the door across from the bed, Gaara poked his head through. His hair was wet, though he was fully clothed, minus the jacket.
"I hope you have a killer headache!" Gaara growled menacingly.
"What's stuck up YOUR ass?" His golden-haired companion asked, smirking. "You have to learn to control your urges, you can't keep undressing me! You know I don't bend that way, I'm strictly straight." He continued, smirk still present.
Gaara snorted in indignation and decided not to comment on the last remark "We're stuck in this backwater town until we've paid our debt to that bartender Kakashi and the owner of this hotel, Iruka."
"Ir-who-ka?"
"IRUKA! You sma-"
"Oh yeah, I smashed the window…that hurt like hell."
Naruto stood up and stretched again, Gaara watched with bewilderment.
"It's always amazed me that you never have a shred of proof that you were completely drunk one night, and perfectly fine the next day." Gaara muttered, shaking his head.
"Well actually, I have a headache this morning…that's pretty rare. That Kakashi guy makes a mean drink! Drink…where's Scotch?!?"
"Your horse is fine. Iruka paid some vet to look after Storm and Scotch, which another thing we have to work off. The vet came around last night after I dragged your drunken ass upstairs, so I don't even know where he took them!"
Naruto moved to the bathroom to wash up, full of enthusiasm to find his horse…but there was a knock on their hotel room door and a second later, Iruka came in.
"Where's the vet? We have to go and find our horses now! Scotch is a fussy eater."
"I know you hurt your hand last night, so I called in a doctor…well actually, she's the doctor's daughter." Iruka explained.
"Really, when's she getting here?" Naruto asked.
As he finished his sentence, a pink-haired girl walked in medical bag in one hand, waving in greeting with the other. One look at Naruto, dressed in nothing but boxers, and she grinned.
"Pretty…" Was the first thought that went through his head.
Trying to act cool, he flashed a charming smirk and tipped an invisible hat her way. Then he casually went to slip a hand into a pocket…before realising he didn't have any.
"Oh crap!"
Gaara bent down to Naruto's bed, picked up the folded clothes, then, with the hint of a smirk, handed said clothes to his blushing friend. With lightning quick reflexes, Naruto grabbed the clothing and disappeared into the bathroom.
"Excuse him, he's…an idiot." Gaara said with a monotone voice.
"I AM NOT!" Could be heard through the bathroom door.
"This is Sakura Haruno, a very skilled and respected doctor in this town." Iruka explained, changing the subject.
"My mother, the town doctor, Tsunade, has taught me all there is to know. I promise I'll take good care of your friend."
"Really?" Naruto said, appearing out of the bathroom, fully clothed, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.
Sakura moved towards Naruto, placing her medical bag on the bed. As she passed Gaara, he whispered to her.
"I'd keep an eye on this one."
Sakura nodded slightly, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. Taking Naruto's injured hand, she inspected it. Had she looked up, she would have seen the slight blush dusting his cheeks.
"Sit down." She said firmly.
Gaara had turned towards Iruka, facing away from the doctor and her patient.
"Where are our horses?"
"I told you this morning, with the vet, Kiba Inuzuka."
"I know that, but 'where' exactly, we'd like to see them."
Before Iruka could answer, they were cut off by a cry of pain.
"OWW, watch it woman! That hurts!"
Gaara and Iruka sweatdropped and turned around…and came face to face with an angry doctor.
"It's supposed to hurt, it means its working! Stop being such a baby!" She shouted.
Gaara raised an eyebrow as Iruka and Naruto shrunk back. This 'Sakura' was very temperamental and fiery. Naruto tried to pull his hand from her grasp, but she held fast.
"Wow, She's strong…scary!" He thought.
"The ointment is cleaning the wound, that's why it hurts. The pain will subside soon though, then I'll bandage it and you'll be ready for work. Iruka told me you smashed his window…you're lucky you don't have any glass shards in your hand." She said in a calmer voice.
Naruto nodded dumbly, completely shocked at her change of mood. Relaxing again, he admired at how pretty this woman was, who didn't even look to be the same age as him.
"Anyway, old man, where are the horses?" Gaara continued.
"I'm not old!" Iruka snapped, before taking a deep breath. "The vet is just off the main street. Kiba will be there, and he'll take you to your horses, which are at the stables."
"Yeeha! Scotch!" Naruto cried out.
"Scotch…you can't drink this early in the morning!" Sakura snapped again, shutting her medical bag with a snap, having finished tending to Naruto.
"Scotch is his horse's name…I think he was drunk when he named it though." Gaara explained, turning around, as Naruto did a little happy dance.
"How can you not have a hang over?" Iruka asked, puzzled.
Walking down the main street, Gaara and Naruto were again attracting attention. Naruto had his hands in his pant pockets and a smile on his face, unaware of the stares. Gaara had his arms folded across his chest, face set in a small frown, the two looked as different as day and night.
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.
Gaara didn't even bother to answer.
"Gaara, did you here me, are we THERE yet?!"
Gaara turned his head towards his friend, frown increasing. Taking his eyes off where he was going, he didn't notice two people come their direction. As they passed each other, Gaara's side knocked the one of their sides, making them lose their balance. The person fell to the ground, landing on their rear.
Gaara turned, anger evident on his face. "Hey, watch it-" Gaara stoped in his tracks as he noticed that the figure on the ground was a girl…a very pretty girl. Quickly he changed to a calm persona.
"I'm sorry," He said, extending a hand. "Are you alright?"
The girl offered her hand, but Gaara's was knocked aside by the girl's companion. He hauled the girl to her feet firmly, drawing her away from Gaara and Naruto. The young man with long brown hair that was tied back glared at the other two men.
"Neji, it's okay, it was an accident." Her voice was soft, like small silver chimes shifting slightly in the wind.
"You were clumsy Hinata." Neji scolded.
Hinata hung her head, eyes glancing at the two other men. A soft pink blush graced her cheeks upon her gaze settling on the man she had stumbled into. Her silver eyes locked with his aqua green ones and her cheeks turned redder. A soft breeze passed them, shifting her hair, which was as blue as the petals of the mythical blue rose. Placed in her hair was a small flower whose colour was dulled by the richness of her short hair. Dressed in a light blue dress, the same colour as the flower in her hair, her delicate frame was accentuated, showing the smooth transition of girl to woman.
As Hinata brushed a strand of hair that had flitted in front of her eyes, Gaara couldn't help but notice the creaminess of her soft skin, which contrasted her smooth dark locks of hair. As their eyes met, he noticed that her eyes, and their piercing silver colour, seemed to look straight through his hard exterior.
As he marvelled at her searching eyes, he had no idea that she was doing the same thing. Just looking into his eyes, she felt intrigued. They reminded her of a cold lake, they were deep, piercing, intense and rippled with years of pain and loneliness. How was it possible that those eyes seemed to reflect what she felt deep within herself?
"Come Hinata, your father's waiting." Neji said, breaking the spell.
Without another word, Neji began walking away, she hesitated a second, looking at Gaara, before following the young man that held an aura of authority and power.
"Gaara, come on…Gaara, are you okay? Hey! snap out of it…Blacky's waiting for you." Naruto said, poking him on the cheek.
Gaara's face turned, giving Naruto a death glare. "His name is STORM, get it through your thick head!"
Acting as if nothing happened, Gaara continued on his previous path, not waiting for a certain blonde that was grinning like an idiot.
Arriving at the vet, Naruto ran through the open door.
"Scotch! Where's my Scotch?"
"Saloon's down the street, cowboy!" Said an unfamiliar male voice.
Naruto turned towards the voice. Removing a bandage from a dog's leg was a young man, a little older than the two newcomers. He had brown hair and piercing black eyes that seemed to radiate intelligence.
"Are you the vet, can I see my horse, is he okay, is he sick?" Naruto asked frantically, staring in all directions.
The older boy raised an eyebrow. "You must be the guy that broke Iruka's window…you named your horse 'Scotch'?"
"Yeah, Naruto's the name…where's Scotch?"
Gaara appeared beside Naruto, looking much calmer…and cooler than his hyperactive friend.
"Could you take us to your stables, we want to see our horses, that's all." He explained calmly.
Kiba nodded and placed the dog he'd been treating on the floor. "Akamaru, go and get some rest."
The dog wandered out of the room, though the three humans remained where they were. Kiba looked the two men up and down, wondering whether they were trustworthy. Finding no reason not to trust them, he silently led them out of the room and out of the building.
Arriving at the stable, Naruto ran over to Scotch's stall, opening it and hurtling himself towards his horse. Scotch, used to his owner's antics, didn't even flinch.
Much calmer than his companion, Gaara wordlessly walked over to Storm's stall, opened it and moved over to his faithful horse, softly stroking the side of his face.
"How's Blacky?" Naruto called over with a cheeky grin, breaking the calm silence.
"STORM! He's fine." Gaara replied, throwing an evil glance at the blonde.
"Of course they're going to be fine. I know what I'm doing when it comes to animals…and since you've put me in such a good mood, we need to discuss payment options." Kiba frowned, crossing his arms in anger.
"We're going to have to keep them here…you can look after them properly." Naruto sighed dramatically, trying to suck up to Kiba…the less money they owed him, the better.
It didn't work. "Price is non-negotiable, $20 a week, each horse."
"Say what? How about $40 a week, all up?" Naruto challenged.
Gaara rolled his eyes in exasperation and Kiba raised an eyebrow.
"Fine, you win, $40 a week, all up." Kiba sighed. Letting Naruto think he'd won.
Turning away from the loud blonde and silent red head, Kiba head out of the stable, barely being able to keep his laughter silent.
"Things sure are going to be different around here." He thought to himself.
Arriving back at the inn half an hour later, Naruto and Gaara met two new faces. Standing out the front was Iruka, and two young men. One had jet black hair with a strange bowl cut, fringe resting just above two bushy eyebrows, the other had black hair tied back in a ponytail and a bored look on his face. The two young men were carrying a pane of glass, for the new window.
"How troublesome…" The one with the ponytail sighed.
"Yosh! Let the youthful love of the Lord flow through you and fill you with energy!" The other young man said throwing some punches to the air.
All four of the remaining men sweat dropped stepping away from the overly enthusiastic young man. Iruka caught sight of the equally surprised Gaara and Naruto and called out to them.
"It's about time you came back, Lee," He indicated to the enthusiastic young man. "And Shikamaru," He indicated to the bored young man. "Have just dropped off your supplies."
Placing the pane of glass down, Lee and Shikamaru turned to face the other two young men. Lee's gaze was immediately stuck on the sight of the very dark and suspicious looking red head that gave him an eerie feeling. With aqua green eyes, rimmed in demonic black, and hair as red as blood. Evil, There was no doubt in Lee's mind!
"YOU!!!!"
Everybody froze and looked at Lee with shocked expressions.
"….Me?" Gaara said with an uncomfortable look on his face, as Lee pointed an accusing finger at him.
"He has no pupils! DEMON, he's a demon! Oh Father Gai, if there was ever a time for your presence, it would be now! Demon, leave the body of this cursed man!"
Gaara froze, except his eyes, which narrowed into a glare. "What did you call me?" He snarled.
Lee cried again, brandishing a cross at the angry red head, "I can see the darkness in you! Those eyes are the eyes of evil! May the power of love and youth of God be with y-"Lee was immediately smacked across the head by Shikamaru.
"Knock it off Lee! Leave the guy alone! Geez..." Shikamaru sighed with a tired face.
Naruto was doubled over, clutching his sides as he laughed loudly, tears rolling down his face. Iruka was chuckling at the angered expression on Gaara's face.
"Oh, it's alright." Naruto interrupted. "We're used to having Gaara being accused as a bad guy, but he's really a good guy!" Naruto said with a grin.
"We'll see about that, demon!" Lee shouted as he once more shot an accusing finger at Gaara.
Gaara's hand started moving to his gun, so Naruto stepped in.
"Whoa Gaara, settle down!"
"I wasn't going to shoot him…only scare him to death." Gaara stated, taking his hand off his gun.
Iruka was finally able to stop his chuckling long enough to calm Lee down.
"Well, I have other jobs to do…see you guys around." Shikamaru said before walking off down the street.
"What about you Lee, do you have other jobs to do?" Iruka asked the black haired young man.
Lee nodded. "Yes…but they can wait. I have to go and see Father Gai, he needs to know of this new evil!"
Before anyone could say anything, Lee had run off down the street. Naruto had returned to some quiet laughing, while Gaara snarled at the retreating boy.
"I never want to see him again." He thought to himself.
"Guys, I need you to go into town and buy the last few supplies." Iruka said, changing the subject.
Naruto grumbled, but Gaara accepted their chore without complaint…they were the ones that broke the window.
Exiting the General Store with the last few supplies, Gaara and Naruto were heading back to the inn when they were stopped by two men. One seemed to be around their age and the other looked similar…probably related…to the younger, but older.
"Who are you?" The older asked stoically.
It was then that Naruto noticed the 'sheriff' badge adorning the older man's jacket pocket.
"Hey you're the sheriff…nice to meet you! I'm Naruto and this is Gaara."
Gaara was eyeing the sheriff and his companion with suspicion. The younger of the two was dressed in an outfit that was very dark blue and wearing a hat that covered most of his face and gave him an aura of mystery and suspicion. The sheriff, dressed in all near black, looked mach more mysterious and dangerous.
The sheriff looked at the perky blonde and frowned. "New to town? Well, all new-comers have to go and see the mayor. We don't like strangers…"
"We're busy." Gaara stated firmly, crossing his arms.
"Now!" The sheriff's companion snapped.
What did you think? Drop me a line. All comments on artwork should be submitted on DA please, it's only fair that Sabaku-chan gets the credit for those, she does it ALL!!! I just write the chappies.
A shout out to all deviants!!! You guys rock!!! (This is Sleepy-chan) Add me as a friend or the story to faves.
Ja ne,
