Naruto's Story: Death Note Shippuden

(Pursuit)

I awoke in my bed, but now no one was next to me. My pillow was still stained with tears from last night. I can't believe what happened. I would never try to hurt one of my friends, especially Sakura. But she just got me so mad! How was I supposed to know it was a murder weapon? I thought it was a regular notebook; I tried to keep my cool but when she mentioned Sasuke I... I just lost control; I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see me again. I looked out my window and it was barely lit outside. I looked at my clock, five o' clock AM. Sakura! She was supposed to leave in the morning. I got dressed as fast as I could and ran down to the gate. When I arrived, no one but the two gate watchers were there.

"If you're looking for Sakura's team, they left about an hour ago." One man said.

"Then maybe I can still catch up with her, can you open the gates?"

"Sorry, but the Hokage won't let anyone out of Konoha; especially anyone going to Suna." The other man said.

"They were going to the Hidden Sand Village? That's where Gaara is." I said.

"If you mean the Kazekage, then yeah; that's why Temari went with them. There were some disturbances in the Sand recently and Lord Hokage says that it might be Akatsuki. They've been becoming increasingly active in the last few months."

"So I can't go?" I asked confused.

"Precisely."

Disappointed, I walked back to my apartment with my head down. That was probably a bad idea as I wasn't looking and I ran right into an old friend. We collided and fell on our backs.

"Neji?"

"Oh, Naruto? Hello." He said getting back up.

"Hey, how are you? It's been a while."

"Yes it has. I hear you've been reintroduced to Hinata."

"Yeah, I kind of ran into her too." I chuckled. "I got a question, what's going on at Suna? I'm sure as a Jonin you'd-"

"-I'd know about what's happening with Akatsuki, and I do. They're making they're move right now. Their current target is the One-Tailed Shukaku; the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Desert."

"They're still after the Jinchuuriki?"

Neji nodded, "You'll be next." He walked away.

I walked home.

10:00 PM

The night was so beautiful, so serene. The moon lit the sky covering the village in a bright, omnipotent glow; my village. As the Kazekage, I'm sworn to protect my village. No matter how much the village still despises me, I must protect them. They only hate me because they think I'm just a mindless killing machine, and for a while, that's exactly what I was. But now... now I can control my murderous tendencies or, if I want, release their full potential. Do they think I like having the Shukaku in me? Sure the sand's cool, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. I could easily be a regular ninja. Hell, Kankuro can't even do anything without his puppets. Am I the same way? Temari relies on her fan, but she's been trained in wind manipulation without it. Although, Kankuro is also skilled in poisons so he could be a poison shinobi. What would I do? I just stood there on the roof, my arms crossed and eyes focused on the village below. Just as I was contemplating my own existence my brother interrupted me.

"Gaara! What are you doing out here? You're gonna catch a cold." He walked out from underneath the floor. Apparently he found my secret passage, my fourth secret passage.

"I'm immune, don't you remember?"

"...Oh yeah, I forgot. Anyway, were you out here contemplating your existence again? You do this every week." He said putting his hand on my shoulder.

"It keeps me from going completely insane." I joked.

"Yeah, we don't want that to happen again. Remember the Chunin Exams a few years ago. You practically killed that Uzumaki guy." He paused. "Oh my god, did you just make a joke? Talk about insane."

I sighed lifting his hand off my shoulder, "Yes I remember; I killed a lot of people back then. No wonder they call me a monster."

"Oh c'mon Gaara. You're way better now. You haven't killed anyone in weeks." He said smiling.

"...Remember that guy who wouldn't sell me some fruit earlier today?"

"You didn't?" He exclaimed.

"My sand kind of... ripped him in half." I said disgracefully.

"You are so lucky you're the Kazekage now." He laughed I'm going to patrol a while, and then I'm off to bed.

"Hey, when is Temari coming back?" I asked returning to my position.

"Soon, probably."

11:00 PM

"So how's Gaara?" I asked.

"He's fine," Temari said sitting down against a tree. "Tell me about Naruto, Gaara has developed quite an interest in him. He'll be so excited to hear that he's returned."

I sighed, "It's nice to have him back but... It's like he's changed. Something about him seems different. He's so much more mature now, but he's also-"

Shikimaru finally said something, "From what I've heard, he's also 'developed'."

Temari gasped, "You didn't?" She exclaimed.

I sighed, "Boy does news travel fast anymore. Yeah, we did. He's actually pretty good."

"Ha, you totally fucked him!" Temari exclaimed. "So, did he come on to you or?"

"...I stripped him." I said blushing.

"Well, it was bound to happen." Shikimaru said yawning. He looked over at Temari, "Don't get to excited or you'll start bleeding again.

Temari put her hand to the back of her head and felt warm blood her hand. "Damn!"

"Here, let me fix you up." I offered I walked over to her and began healing her injuries. It only took a few minutes.

"Wow, I feel better. Thanks." Temari said unraveling her bandages.

"It's the least I could after I beat your head into the ground."

"Alright," Temari began. "Back on track, how has Naruto changed?"

"Well... we fought last night and..." I lifted up my bandages.

"He did that to you?" Shikimaru asked wide-eyed.

"I healed it as best I could but it still left a scar from his chakra."

"I can't believe he would do that." She said looking at my arm.

He examined my arm, "Naruto lost control of his anger and must've accidentally activated the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"I know he didn't mean it but... I never thought this would happen."

Shikimaru got up and sat in between Temari and me. He put his hand on my shoulder. "No matter how much you or I hate to admit it, Sakura, Naruto can be dangerous. He doesn't mean any harm but he does carry the Kyuubi."

I pulled away from him, "Naruto's not the Nine-Tails! I hate when people say that. He's not a monster, he's my friend... and" I put my hand on my stomach. "My lover." I say closing my eyes.

They both gasped in shock. "Does he know?" They asked in unison.

I shook my head, "I just found out this morning before we left. I keep a few miscellaneous items in my pouch."

"So," Temari began taking a sip from her drink. "What exactly were you two fighting about?"

"Well, can you two keep a secret? Naruto found a notebook, the same kind of notebook that drove Sasuke away."

"A notebook? What's so upsetting about that?" He asked.

I sit up against the tree. "Listen, this notebook... kills people. It's called a-"

Temari spit out her soda all over Shikimaru. "A Death Note? I hope you told him to get rid of it."

"What do you know about the Death Note?"

"I... promised Gaara not to tell anyone about it but, this seems like a good time. Each notebook comes with a Shinigami, or a god of death. Anyone who uses the notebook can neither go to Heaven or Hell, if you believe they even exist. That thing is more dangerous than any sort of jutsu created. I heard some guy in the higher parts of Japan had one and died after eluding the police for years, when he was right under their noses. Light wasn't it? Anyway, it was just a rumor; I think."

We talked for a while and eventually we all fell asleep. We slept for about an hour.

12:00 AM

Boom!

I awoke quickly to the noise. The moon was still up, and so was Temari.

"Sandstorm!" She cried hiding behind her fan. "Take cover!" Shikimaru hid behind her. I was too late.

1 Hour Earlier...

It was getting late, not like I sleep or anything but still... Suddenly I heard a distant explosion, coming from the sky! A ninja with long, blonde girly looking hair fell out of the sky and landed on his feet. He was wearing a large black cloak with red clouds on it.

"And you are?"

He smirked, "I'm Deidara, of Akatsuki."

"I assume you've come for me?" I asked staring at him.

"You're a smart one, un." He said. "However I'm smarter. We've already bypassed the guards and the rest of this pitiful village's security. You must be Gaara, the Jinchuuriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku."

"Try the Fifth Kazekage." Sand started seeping from my gourd. My sand began circling him. It rose up as sharp spikes that would've stabbed him if he hadn't of did a back-flip to avoid it.

"I heard you used sand. No wonder you're Gaara of the Dessert. But you have so little sand in that gourd; let's see if you can earn that title." He stuck his hand in his pouch.

"Shut up." My sand charged straight towards the enemy shinobi in the form of a large arm. He jumped and landed on top of the arm. He ran towards me while on the arm. He jumped over me and threw three small clay birds around me. My sand instantly covered the three birds. I was knocked back as they all exploded. Even under my sand they were very potent.

I coughed, "So you're a demolitions expert."

"Un. But y'know what? I was never a hand-to-hand combatant." He pulled out a small bird. He threw it, and in a cloud of smoke, it enlarged into a huge bird. Deidara jumped on and flew it into the air.

"If you like bombs so much how about I blow you out of the sky?"

"Kankuro?" I looked behind me and there stood my brother with Crow (Karasu) and Black Ant (Kuroari). "Get out of here, he's here for me."

"He? I could've sworn that was just an ugly chick." He stated, squinting up at the hovering bird.

"I'm a man, damn it!" He shouted from above us.

"I'm the one who's supposed to fight him. How are you even going to get up there?" I ask.

"Just watch me." He smirked. Kankuro threw Crow into the air and jumped on it. Not physically of course because he was never that strong, so he used his chakra. They began falling after a few seconds, so Kankuro used his chakra strings to launch Black Ant above him. He jumped on that and continued this little process until he actually reached Deidara. If my brother was one thing, it was unorthodox. He landed on the bird and brought both puppets to his side.

"Nice work," Deidara taunted. "Where did you learn that, the daycare center?"

"Yeah, actually. I've just never got to try it yet." Kankuro pulled his arm back and Crow shot a dozen kunai out of its mouth. Deidara pulled out a kunai of his own and deflected all of them. Deidara threw his kunai and nailed Crow in the eye. "Aw crap, you poked his eye out. He won't be too happy about this." Crow's arms detached and flew at the Akatsuki member. Deidara grabbed them right before they hit him. The rest of Crow flew towards Deidara, knives extended. Amazingly he was able to use the puppet's arms to defend against the oncoming knives. My sand rushed up to the fight. It formed a large hand and smashed into the enemy ninja. "Ahh!" He screamed. Deidara lied there for a while, covered in sand. Kankuro walked over to him and stared down at his motionless body.

Suddenly he jumped up and spin kicked Kankuro in the head, sending him tumbling back. Deidara started running. "Gaara!" Kankuro shouted, getting back up. "Ninja Art, Sand Sphere." More sand flew up and encased the bird in a giant sand sphere; I put a "sand eye" inside so I could see the action. Deidara pulled out four small birds from his pouch. No wonder he kept his hand in there so long. He threw them and they turned into high speed pigeons. Kankuro had to act fast. "Black Ant, swallow!" Black Ant opened its chest and enveloped the four birds. After a few seconds Kankuro's puppet exploded into a million pieces. "Damn it! It'll take me a whole week to put him back together." Kankuro dropped Crow. "I'm gonna rip you to pieces!" He used his chakra stings and picked up all the broken pieces. "Ninja Art, Puppeteer's Shrapnel." All the pieces were sent flying towards Deidara. He gasped. Quickly he pulled of his cloak and threw it. It unraveled like a scroll and all the pieces of Black Ant were caught in its backside. A few small pieces snuck through and cut Deidara on the arm. He grunted. "This has been fun but I have a mission to complete, un." Deidara exploded. The force of the blast would've knocked Kankuro off the bird if it hadn't been for him summoning Salamander to protect him. "That was weird." He said.

Kankuro didn't see it at the time, but Deidara broke out of the sphere and dived into the night sky. He was falling from over 100 feet in the air and headed straight for me. Even though I was still on the ground, I could've sworn I heard, "You may have won this round, but we'll be back! Until then, let me leave you with a little present, Ninja Art, C4 Devastation. Katsu!" He made his hand-sign.

"Kankuro!" I screamed. The explosion was sealed in by the sphere, but the sheer force of it was so overwhelming that it caused an extremely strong wind to blow in all directions. Automatically, my sand wrapped me in a sand dome so I would be protected. The wind was so strong that I couldn't even keep an eye outside. The very last thing I saw was the Akatsuki member, Deidara, releasing another bird and flying outside the blast radius.

As the sandstorm cleared Temari and Shikimaru lied in the dirt. He just happened to be on top of her. As they awoke they gasped in unison and Temari threw him off, hard. As the dust settled they looked at their surroundings. The trees that they rested on were cut in half. The grass was ripped straight out of the ground. The forest had become just another part of the desert.

"Damn," Temari stated. "That was some sand storm. Usually, only Gaara could pull something like that off. Something must be wrong." She looked over next to her as Shikimaru was still sleeping. She punched him. "Wake up!"

"What? I know the sandstorm destroyed everything." He said. Shikimaru yawned and stood up. "Where's Sakura?" They looked around and Sakura was no where to be found.

"Sakura?" Temari shouted. They looked around for awhile. Of course there wasn't a lot to look for since most of the foliage was blown away. "I can't find her!" Temari searched the ground and found Sakura's headband. "Look! Where the hell could she be?

"Do you think she was carried off with the wind?" Shikimaru asked.

"If she was, she would've been dead in a heartbeat." She picked up her fan and placed it on her back. "There's only one other thing she could've done."

Shikimaru picked up the remaining supplies, "What?"

"She was able to defend against the blast and ran to the Sand. If that's the case she should be safe. We'll never catch her now, but we can still hurry to the village." The two shinobi headed to Suna, running as fast as they could.

They ran for hours until they reached the gates. The sun just started to rise, and the village began awakening. The two's clothing were dirty and ripped; still mangled from the sandstorm. They had just begun recruiting new guards after the massacre when Baki, Temari and her siblings' old sensei, spotted them.

"Temari?" He exclaimed, jumping down from the defense post.

"Lady Temari has returned?" One captain asked as he and his men jumped down as well.

They all reached her just in time for her and her companion, Shikimaru fall to their knees and collapse.

4:00 AM Several Hours Later...

Temari woke up a few hours later. She had recovered with only a few minor scratches. She sat up and yawned.

"You're awake."

"Gaara?"

I was sitting right across from her in a chair with my gourd next to me. "How are you?"

"I'll be alright... why are your eyes closed?" She looked down and saw that both her breasts were exposed. She hurriedly grabbed the blanket and covered herself up. "Its fine, you can look now. I opened my eyes and saw her sitting in the bed. The medics pulled out her hair bands to examine her so Temari's hair hung down past her shoulders. Her hair's so long, its no wonder she pins it up in four braids.

"What happened coming back to the village?" I ask standing up, walking over to the window, and looking out at the rising sun.

"There was a huge sandstorm and it sort of blew away our supplies. I thought you might have caused it." She said with her head down. "You're the only one who can make that happen. How are you?"

I closed my eyes, "I'm not the one you should be worried about." I say strapping my gourd to my back. "Get dressed then follow me and please, don't bring your fan." I walked into the other room. After a few minutes Temari walked in behind me and gasped. "Kankuro!" She cried. She kneeled down next to his bed and gripped his hand.

"He can't hear you, he's in a coma." I said remorsefully.

"What happened?" She asked with tears developing in her eyes.

"Akatsuki happened. One of them attacked and Kankuro decided to defend me. What a fool!"

She wiped her eyes, "So the sandstorm?"

"A controlled explosion. It's my fault." I said. "I put up a sphere so he wouldn't escape, but he still got away."

Temari wrapped her arms around me and put my head on her shoulders. "It's not your fault, Gaara."

8:00 AM.

"You be careful, Shikimaru." Temari said.

Shikimaru kissed her and grabbed whatever supplies he had left, including some things Temari gave him.

"So... how do I get home?"

Temari made a hand-sign and concentrated, "This breeze will lead you back to Konoha."

"So Baki," Shikimaru asked. "Sakura didn't come through here?"

"The pink-haired kunoichi from the Leaf? Not a trace."

"I don't know how Naruto's going to take this." He said. "Well I'd better get going. See ya, Temari."

They waved goodbye and he departed.

(Pursuit)