The Shadow's Embrace

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated in any way with Naruto. I just like the show and mangas so I wrote this fanfic.

This fanfic belongs to me. If you want to use it in any way shape or form, you'll need my permission first.

Well I hope the first chapter in my new story was good. It's a little bit difficult to start from the beginning again, but I think it will be easier with a back story to build onto.
My chapters will also be a little bit longer than they were in my first story. This means I'll may have fewer chapters overall (: maybe, but maybe not :) and I may not update as quickly. (: Still aiming for at least once a day though :)

Hope you enjoy the second chapter. :)

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Chapter 2 - Departure

As the shuffling of feet sounded throughout the busy streets of Konoha, a lone jounin makes his way slowly towards the village entrance. Kakashi's thoughts had not once deterred from the conversation he just had with the Hokage. The way she reacted regarding Naruto was not only unusual, but it was completely disturbing as well. To see such a headstrong woman falter like that made Kakashi overly concerned himself. As he made his way past the bustling stores and workshops, the sounds of hammer strikes and grating saw were suddenly overshadowed by the familiar voice he knew all to well. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, over here!" It was Naruto and he had Sakura, Sasuke and Gaara standing beside him. They were all waiting for him on the side of the road, neither of them having reached the village entrance yet. Naruto jumped up and down on the spot, waving his hands in the air to gain the jounin's attention, as well as gaining a few other glances from everyone else around him. "I thought you guys would be outside the village already, what are you still doing here?" he murmured as he stepped up to the three.

"We were waiting for you Kakashi-sensei. I wanted to know what you were talking to Baachan about." Kakashi just gave out a sigh. Although Naruto wasn't able to pick up on Tsunade's ploy straight away, his inquisitive mind may have still been their undoing. He looked over to Sasuke, who just shrugged his shoulders in despondence. Sakura and Gaara didn't show any interest either, almost as though they already knew what was going on. "That's none of your concern Naruto" Kakashi finally replied. "You just worry about the mission at hand and let me worry about the details" Naruto gave off an angry pout, upset that his sensei held him in such low regard. "I'm not stupid you know. I can see exactly what's going on here" the boy grumbled, folding his arms in front of him. "What, he's caught on so quickly?" Kakashi thought to himself, now sweating under his mask. "You were trying to sneak off one last chapter in your stupid books before we left!"

Kakashi gave off a relieved sigh. It seemed as though the typically naive ninja hadn't caught on after all. "Yea, sure, that's exactly what happened. Now if you don't mind it's time for us to get going." Naruto was now completely surprised and confused by his sensei's apparent honesty, but he didn't feel like arguing the point any longer. The four continued to make their way down to the village entrance, Naruto searching desperately to find out who had been assigned to their team. As the large wooden gates came into view, the boy could finally start to make out the figures who stood just outside. He immediately recognized the long white hair of his personal teacher, as well as a dark green outfit that easily gave Lee away. It took a while for him to recognise the third person standing on the pathway, but soon the timid girl he knew as Hinata appeared from behind the tower that was Jiraiya, poking her fingers nervously together.

"Hey, are you guys the ones Tsunade sent to join our squad?!" Naruto shouted as he ran up to the now alerted shinobi. Jiraiya just gave out a small chuckle at the approach of the hyperactive ninja. "I see the fire of youth burns brightly in your soul once again!" Lee smiled, falling straight into his nice guy pose. Naruto replied with his own feral grin, scratching the back of his head with glee. "Yea, it's good to finally be out of that boring hospital, I don't think I could have taken much more of it." "Yes, I know what you mean." Lee replied. "I think between the two of us, we've clocked enough hospital time for most of the shinobi in Konoha." Naruto gave off a small giggle at Lee's words. He was glad to have fussy brows on the mission with him. Hinata, however, just continued to nervously prod her two fingers together, her face becoming a bright red flush as the boy she admired came closer to where she stood. "Hey Hinata! Is... is something wrong?" Hinata just spun around as Naruto spoke, hiding her embarrassment from the boy. "N... no... there's... n.. n.. nothing wrong. I'm just... happy we're going on a... a mission together." Naruto gave off another wide grin. "I'm happy to! It's good to get out of the village once in a while." Hinata almost collapsed on the spot. Not only was Naruto in much higher spirits, but he was also happy to be going on a mission with her. It was almost to much for the timid Hyuuga to handle. Her face became as red as Lee's had been when he opened the celestial gates. If it weren't for the miraculously cool breeze that passed by she probably would have passed out already.

The rest of team 7, as well as Gaara, stepped up to the group and shared there greetings between one another. After a few handshakes and hugs were passed, Jiraiya trailed off to the side with Kakashi and the two began to talk under their breath so no-one could hear their words. Naruto caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye, Jiraiya nodding his head in deep thought while Kakashi seemed to be explaining something to him. The bright smile that had been etched on the boy's face quickly fell away as he watched the two turn away from him, almost as if to hide their words from his view. It was all very suspicious, almost as though he was the subject of their discussion. But before he could even think to ask, Gaara placed his hand on the now nervous boy's shoulder, as though he had sensed his distress. "I know it's been a while since you've been on an actual mission, but there is no need to be worried. Everything will be fine." Naruto turned to the emotionless face that was Gaara. His own emotions seemed to peel away at the sound of the sand shinobi's words. He felt as though he could tell the red headed boy everything he felt inside, without fear of rejection or guilt.

"No, it's not that I'm nervous about the mission. It's just that... it's like there's something going on behind my back that no-one wants to tell me about. I've had to live my entire life being lied to by the villagers and my teachers. No-one ever told me that the monster fox had been sealed inside my body. I never knew why I was hated and neglected until that traitor Mizuki shot his mouth off. I probably still wouldn't know to this day if it weren't for that incident. Now it just feels like it's happening all over again. Why can't anyone just trust me? Everything just seems to happen around me and I'm always the last to know about it." Naruto's eyes seemed to drop as he flooded Gaara with his built-up feelings and concerns. It was almost as though he was describing how he had been feeling for some quite some time now.

Gaara just squeezed Naruto's shoulder tightly in comfort as he finished voicing his frustration. "You know, I'm sure that whatever your friends are doing, they are probably doing it out of concern for you, not out of ill intentions. Besides, you may be reading too deep into what you think you see going on around you." Naruto grimaced for a moment, allowing the memories of everything his friends had done for him up until now to flow into his mind. They had put their lives on the line to protect him and make him happy. Surely they wouldn't do that if they didn't care for him. After a brief moment, he finally gave a subdued nod. "I... I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just overreacting. They wouldn't keep things from me... would they?"

Naruto turned away from Gaara and walked off to the nearby bench with a heavy head. The sand shinobi just gave off a deep sigh as he watched the boy slouch into the wooden frame. He knew that everyone had become a bit overprotective of Naruto since the villagers had tortured and almost killed the young genin. He himself had a difficult time keeping his eyes off the boy that had become his closest friend. Even the thought of returning home and leaving Naruto's side bothered the Gaara. As he stood gazing over Naruto's sullen form, Sasuke slowly walked up to the sand shinobi's side. "It's good to see he has you to count on as well." He murmured. "I'm glad that you two have become good friends, it makes it easier knowing he has someone else looking after him as well."

Gaara turned to face the Uchiha as he finished speaking. Sasuke's eyes were also fixed intensely on the blond haired boy that sat on the bench, also filled with a deep concern. Gaara then turned to share in his view again before answering. "I know how you feel about all of this, but I'm not sure Naruto wants to be looked after at this point in time. He just wants things to return to how they once were. I think he misses the times when he could wander freely without the fear of being closed off from those around him. The fact is, I think he's starting to feel more isolated than ever before." Sasuke was surprised to hear what the Gaara had to say, but before the two could continue to speak a voice interrupted their thoughts.

"Okay everyone, I think it's time for us to make our leave!" Jiraiya shouted, gaining the attention of the present shinobi. Everyone made their way over to the old hermit and stood at attention, Naruto having slowly skulked over to his sensei. Hinata couldn't help but blush as the boy stood at her side, but his eyes were to fixated on the ground to even notice her change in skin colour. "It will be a few days to Sunagakure" Kakashi continued, taking over in Jiraiya's stead. "We'll be camping out for most of our stops, but there may be a few taverns and inns that we could take advantage of as well. We'll all have to keep a steady eye out for any danger, although I don't expect to see any problems on our way. Any questions?"

Lee just flared up in excitement, blasting strait into his nice guy pose once again. "We'll all do our best and protect Gaara-kun! Failure will not be tolerated!" The glow around Lee's enthusiastic form was almost a visible flame. If none of the present shinoi knew any better, one would have thought the green clad genin had a natural affinity for fire based jutsu. You would expect a flaming comet to come falling out of the sky to strike the ground where he stood at any moment. Jiraiya, however, noticed the unusually mellow expression that had suddenly appeared on his own students face. Although he managed to flash a brief smile after Lee's outburst, Naruto still didn't seem half as excited about the mission as he had been just a few moments before.

"Something eating you kid?" he murmured, gaining Naruto's attention as well as his now empty eyes. Naruto just shook his head despondently causing his teammates looked over to the boy with concern in their eyes. Something was definitely wrong, they could see it in Naruto's expression. It was almost as though the boy had suddenly fallen back into the same lifeless shell they had all seen after he ended up in the hospital. Jiraiya looked over to Kakashi only to see him shrug his shoulders, as if to silently confirm his suspicions. They would have to do something to cheer Naruto up, they just didn't know what. Hinata felt her heart sink as she watched Naruto give out a deflated sigh. But it wasn't just nervousness this time. No, this was different. She almost felt a little depressed, like watching Naruto sink into a frown had taken away some of her own life as well. She desperately tried to move her hand to comfort his, but her fears and low self worth eventually got the better of her. Jiraiya just sunk his shoulders at his side in defeat. Maybe once they set off, Naruto might cheer up a bit more. "Alright, lets get moving then." The group then turned their backs on Konoha, walking down the dusty path that lead away from her walls and out into the open countryside.

After traveling some distance, the village walls all but disappeared out of view. The monotonous trees that bustled along the walkway were soon replaced by the vast beauty of the outlying countryside as it came into view. Normally to get to Sunagakure quickly one would cut through the forests that surrounded Konoha and head straight to the fire country's border. But Jiraiya had a feeling that Naruto needed as much time with Gaara as he could possibly gain, not to mention the fact that the forest route was a far more dangerous path to take. Above all of that, none of the present genin really had the time to admire the very country they lived in. It would be a nice change for them to see its natural beauty with their own eyes. As their feet shuffled through the dusty roads that led past the farmlands and small towns, an air of subtle ease began to settle on the travelling shinobi. Kakashi and Jiraiya walked on slightly ahead, reengaging their previous discussion once more. Every now and again, one of them would look back to the rest of the group to check everything was fine, although it was really Naruto who occupied their concerned eyes. Hinata kept up her pace next to Lee, slightly behind Kakashi and Jiraiya, never turning to look at Naruto mostly out of fear and embarrassment. Sasuke was left stuck with Sakura and the girl took the opportunity to chew the Uchiha's ear off. All he could do was sigh in despondence as she continued to idly chat away. Every now and again, he would search around for any nearby cliff faces he could throw himself off to end his misery.

Naruto was the furthest behind, walking at the heels of the sand shinobi they were contracted to protect. His eyes never wondered from the ground, focussing on his navy blue footwear as his feet shuffled through the dusty path beneath him. Gaara began to notice how quiet the boy had become and fell back a few paces to walk beside him. He knew what was bothering the young genin, but he wasn't sure what he could say to help ease his tension. After a few moments of silence he finally began to speak in a low whisper. "You know, I'm really glad they sent you on this mission. There isn't anyone else I'd rather have looking out for my back." Naruto's eyes lifted at the sound of Gaara's words, locking onto his own dark-lined pupils. "You really mean that. I mean it's not exactly like I'm that great a shinobi" Naruto murmured, almost sounding like he was convinced that what he said was true. Gaara's eyes sunk into what looked like disappointment. It wasn't like Naruto to talk about himself like that. "That's the villagers speaking now, not Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened as Gaara spoke. "You're one of the finest shinobi I know. You were able to defeat me in the forests outside of Konoha, even when I called on the Shukaku's power to aid me. When you summoned that giant toad into the battle, it took me completely by surprise. That must have at least been a Kage level jutsu." Naruto choked at Gaara's words, his face flushing red in embarrassment. "It... it was only because I was trying to protect my friends. Normally I just screw up all the time. It's just that when I saw them getting hurt... I... I just couldn't stand by and watch. I had to do something." Gaara gave off a brief smile and placed his hands on Naruto's shoulder. "And that's exactly why I trust you most of all. When you fight to protect your friends, that is when your true power shines through."

Gaara then turned his head forward again, looking down the path before them. "I'd like to think that we're good friends as well. That means you'll show the same strength and power when I'm in trouble doesn't it?" A smile began to etch itself into Naruto's face. Gaara's words struck at his heart with a warming glance that he knew was full of sincerity. He instantly began to cheer up knowing that someone truly depended on him so much. He turned his head forward again, holding it up in renewed confidence as they continued to make their way. He felt the suns warm rays sinking into his face, filling his soul with a new found determination. "Thanks Gaara, I really appreciate it."

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Well, that's the second chapter done. The primary purpose was to establish the characters that would be joining Naruto on this journey. There was little advancement otherwise though.

I've concentrated a bit more on the relationship between Gaara and Naruto at this point, mostly because they can learn allot from one another in this short time they have together.
Hinata, Jiraiya and Lee felt like natural choices for this journy. I felt they had the most to contribute to Naruto's development other than Sakura, Sasuke and Gaara.
I thought of the other rookies as well, but these seemed to fit better and I didn't want to many characters to flood my story. (It gets a bit cluttered otherwise)

Hope you enjoyed the second chapter!