AN: We're finally getting into some exciting parts in this Fic. Oh, and for Naruto's weapon he's going to be wielding a trench knife eventually. I got the idea from watching one of Naruto's Ova episodes and seeing him wield a trench knife. It kinda makes sense since Naruto wouldn't seem to wield anything larger than a kunai. As usual, I'll try to answer all of the reviewers from the previous chapter. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you at the bottom again ;)


Chapter 3: Jinchuuriki's Unite!

Four people were standing alone near the entrance to the Hidden Sand Village, which was a slit in a nearby cliff that was just wide enough for people to pass through. Three of the people were standing side by side to one another while the last person was facing all three of them with his back facing the entrance.

"So you guys have to go huh?" The lone person asked with a hint of sadness in his words.

"Yeah Kankurō we have to. But don't miss us too much, we'll be back before you even know it." Temari winked at her younger brother.

"Ha! Whoever said I would miss you guys?" Kankurō chuckled while earning him a scowl from his sister Temari.

"Take care of the village Kankurō." Gaara added while turning around to leave. Kankurō nodded to his brother's request before looking over towards the last person in the group.

"You've been awfully quiet this morning Naruto. Is there something wrong?" He asked honestly.

"Huh? Oh, nothing's wrong!" Naruto replied cheerfully. Truth was there was something bothering him that whole morning, but he would worry about that later. "Well I think we should head out since it appears Gaara is almost out of sight." Everyone- except Naruto- looked towards the distance and indeed saw Gaara slowly vanishing into the desert.

"Right, off we go then." Temari declared before jogging after her younger sibling.

"Hey wait up you two!" Naruto cried out while quickly sprinting to catch up with the two who were now quite a distance away from him.

Kankurō could only chuckle at the boy's action before turning around and walking back towards the Hidden Sand Village. "Things will definitely be a lot more different without those two." Kankurō thought to himself before coming to a realization, "Aw shit! I have to do Gaara's paperwork!" Kankurō mentally slapped himself before he grudgingly began his trek towards the Kazekage's Office.


~That Night~

The three travelers had decided to rest for the night and began to setup camp. Gaara quickly made a fire and both Naruto and Temari easily set up their own tents while Gaara was doing his own thing. It took about forty five-minutes for everything to get set up before all three of them sat down around the fire exhausted from the long travel that they had partaken in from that day. They all sat in peaceful silence until Gaara all of a suddenly stood up and began walking towards the edge of camp leaving the other two people alone to themselves for the night.

Temari sighed from watching her brother's actions and carefully poked a stick into the fire, creating a small spark of ember that soon died out. Naruto could only gaze at her with sympathy before talking to her in a calm tone.

"He still can't sleep I'm guessing?" He asked which made Temari bite her lip in frustration.

"Yeah, even though he's gotten better with his demon inside him, he is still ruthlessly tormented by it day and night." Temari answered back while taking a quick glance towards where Gaara was moments ago. "I don't know exactly why we're going to Kumo, only that it has something to do with helping Gaara control his Tailed-Beast." Naruto studied the older girl's face and noticed that it was showing pain and sadness for her brother's ordeal. Coming to the conclusion that it was time to tell her his secret, he poked Temari's left shoulder to get her attention. She instinctively turned her body around so that it was facing Naruto's and looked at him questioningly.

"Remember when you asked me why the villagers hated me?" Naruto asked making Temari go back into thought. She quickly remembered and nodded her head back at Naruto who continued with his explanation, "Well the reason they hate me is for the same reason's the people in The Hidden Sand Village used to hate Gaara. They hate me because I am the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox. I am like your brother, I am also a Jinchuuriki." Temari suddenly wide-eyed from hearing that Naruto was just like her brother. It all made sense to her now. The reason Naruto could heal so fast was because of the Kyuubi. But most importantly, it was the reason why Naruto was so powerful. "Is this the reason why Naruto's so powerful?" Temari asked herself. She noticed that Naruto was staring at her expectantly and immediately felt rude for not saying anything immediately after Naruto confessed such a personal secret.

"I bet you hate me now." Naruto stated while glancing back towards the fire when he received no answer from Temari. He swiftly got an unexpected answer from her in the form of a smack to the head from the now irritated Suna Kunoichi.

"Baka! Don't be so ridiculous! I don't hate you at all, even if you do have a demon sealed inside you. I've been living with a Jinchuuriki for seventeen years now, so of course I don't hate you!" Temari exclaimed to a now stunned Naruto.

"Really? You don't hate me?" Naruto asked cautiously making Temari shake her head in disbelief.

"I've never hated you Naruto. It's true you do get on my nerves from time to time, but that doesn't mean I hate you. I would have to be quite a cynical person to hate you for those reasons." She laughed making Naruto crack a small smile. "Besides, if I really hated you, you would have been dead a looong time ago." Temari confessed while putting an emphasis on the word "long". Naruto sheepishly chuckled at her words and slowly turned his head back so that he was now looking back at the fire.

"So if both you and Gaara are Jinchuuriki's, then how can Kumo possibly help you with your Tailed-Beast's?" She questioned while staring at Naruto. Naruto rubbed his chin in thought and glanced back up towards Temari.

"I don't know how exactly. But Pervy Sage did mention that Kumo has two Jinchuuriki's who can fully control their Tailed-Beast's powers and use them fully at their whim." Naruto answered back, "I'm guessing that the Pervy Sage wants us to ask for help from them and ask them to teach us how to control our Tailed-Beast's powers." Temari nodded her head in understanding. "If Naruto and Gaara were to learn to use their demon's powers, they would be exponentially more powerful then they currently are now." Temari thought intelligently to herself.

Hearing a yawn escape from her fellow blonde, Temari made a smirk and spoke up, "Well it looks like our little hyperactive brat is getting sleepy." She pointed out mischievously making Naruto shake his head in annoyance.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Naruto said while quickly getting up from his seated position and walking drowsily towards his tent. Temari could only giggle from seeing how Naruto was walking and also decided to herself that she too would be going to sleep soon.

"So what did you two talk about while I was gone?" A calm voice interrupted Temari's thoughts. She immediately looked towards the source of the voice and found Gaara with his arms crossed and eyes closed standing behind the fire place with an attentive posture.

"Eh, nothing much Gaara. We just chatted about frivolous things that's all." Temari replied back while shrugging her shoulders in indifference.

"I see." Gaara then sat down next to his sister and joined her in watching the fire. Temari lifted an eyebrow at this but thought nothing of it. The two Suna siblings sat there for a while longer before Temari excused herself for bed and retired off towards her tent. But before she left, she noticed a Leaf Headband lying flat on the ground. Frowning a little from seeing Naruto's headband on the ground, she casually picked it up and decided that she had better return it to him before the dimwitted Shinobi forgot about it. She then walked towards Naruto's tent and unzipped the flap that was acting as the door to his tent. When she peered inside she could instantly hear the obnoxious snoring coming from the whiskered faced blonde. She glanced towards where Naruto was sleeping and couldn't help but to smile genuinely from seeing the peaceful look on Naruto's face while he was sleeping. Remembering why she was in there in the first place, she carefully tossed his headband so that it would softly land on his stomach and then she exited the tent. Naruto simply turned his body so that he was now lying on his left side and continued on with his loud snoring.

Gaara was left all alone to his thoughts when Temari had retired to her tent for the night. Gaara knew it would take about three days until they arrived at The Hidden Cloud Village, so he would expect to be alone like this for the next two nights. Gaara had heard the entire conversation between Temari and Naruto. He also knew why Naruto was acting so strange that morning. "He's afraid that he might not be able to control his Tailed-Beast." Gaara thought quietly to himself. It would be horrific if the one thing he was trying to get powerful from, in order to protect everyone he held dear, ended up hurting them instead. This had happened to Gaara several years ago and had forever scarred him. Even though he voluntarily allowed the Tailed-Beast to run rampant inside his body, he now shivered at the memories of killing countless innocent Shinobi's while he was engulfed in his blood-lust, and his need to prove his existence. If only he knew earlier that the only thing he needed in order to prove his existence was to protect everyone he held precious to him.

"I will protect Naruto from himself." Gaara promised himself before getting up again and leaving the campsite for his nightly walk.


~Somewhere Near Kumo~

"Dammit! How much closer are we to Kumo, Kakuzu?" A man wielding a Triple-Bladed Scythe on his back demanded with aggravation. Two cloaked figures were walking side by side to one another while one of the figures was dragging a body carelessly behind him.

"Patience Hidan, it doesn't matter how fast we get there, the Two-Tails won't be going anywhere anytime soon." The man dragging the lifeless body replied back coldly.

"Yeah, well I would agree with you if not for the fact that we had to take a slight "detour" to obtain your "precious" bounty!" Hidan snapped back sarcastically towards Kakuzu. This made Kakuzu stop cold in his tracks. Hidan, being slightly ahead of his partner, turned around in exasperation from noticing that his partner had stopped. "Now what?"

"Did I ever mention that I hate you?" Kakuzu asked with a venomous tone.

Hidan only rolled his eyes from his teammates threat and replied back casually, "Yeah yeah you've told me countless times. It still doesn't mean much to me since we're both "immortal." He turned his body around and continued walking in the direction of Kumo.

"I swear, after we capture the Two-Tails, I will find a way of killing you, and I will enjoy that moment when that day does comes." Kakuzu snickered back at his teammate.

Hidan casually glanced back behind his shoulder and answered to a now glaring Kakuzu, "Geez, did you ever get hugged when you were a child?" He remarked to a now infuriated Kakuzu.

"Let's just get this assignment over with!" He replied maddeningly. Hidan simply shrugged his shoulder and turned his head back so that his whole body was now facing away from Kakuzu.

"I should've been partnered up with Itachi. At least he doesn't say much." Kakuzu grumbled to himself while catching up with his partner and synching with his strides so that they were both now walking in perfect synch.


~Three days later in Kumo~

"Lord Raikage, it appears that you have several guest waiting outside of your office inquiring for an audience with you." A dark-skinned young woman named Mabui reported to A. She then leaned towards him and whispered quietly into his ear so that no one would be able to hear what she was saying except him, "They are Shinobi's from the looks of it. Two of them, a boy and a girl, are currently sporting on a Hidden Sand headband while the other boy is wearing a Hidden Leaf one." She stated before returning to her original position which was standing directly in front of the Raikage.

Rubbing his chin in thought, A finally came to a decision and motioned for his assistant to let them in. She politely bowed and quickly left to let the foreigners in. When the three Shinobi's entered his office, the Raikage couldn't prevent himself from letting out a small gasp. Standing in front of him were two Jinchuuriki's. One housing the One-Tail's and the other holding the Nine-Tails. He hastily waved his hand toward Mabui, indicating to her to leave the room immediately. She nodded her head in confirmation and quickly exited the office.

"Hey there- Why are you here?" A interrupted Naruto making him pause mid sentence.

Gaara stepped forward and and replied back in a calm tone, "We have come to seek assistance from you Lord Raikage." This made A raise an eyebrow and tap his fingers rapidly on his desk. Naruto felt uneasy, and had a feeling that their plea for help wouldn't go as smoothly as he was hoping it would go.

Naruto took this moment of silence to chime in with his own details, "Pervy Sage told us to ask you for help so that maybe you would help train us control our Tailed-Beast's." Naruto stated before being answered with silence from the Raikage.

After several uncomfortable moments, A spoke up, "Is the Pervy Sage that you speak of happen to be Lord Jiraiya? One of the three famous Sannin?" A commanded making Naruto nod his head in affirmation. "Well in that case-" A suddenly appeared directly in front of Naruto and was now grasping the collar to his shirt. "Where is that little toad bastard? He stole one of my telescopes the last time he was here!" A bellowed which made Naruto shake in fear from the killer intent that was currently pouring out of the Raikage's eyes.

"I don't know! He's probably peeping on some women in a bathhouse or something." Naruto whimpered out while holding his arms out instinctively for protection. But A unexpectedly stopped being angry and slowly let go of Naruto's collar, and began roaring with laughter much to the confusion of everyone in the room.

"Hahahahaha! I guess the fool does have a better reason for having my telescope then I do." A cried out while wiping his eyes from the tears that had leaked from his laughter. Everyone except Gaara sweat-dropped from listening to the Raikage's explanation.

"So will you help us?" Gaara solicited while never looking away from the Raikage's eyes.

After A was done laughing, he slowly turned towards Gaara and answered back in a serious tone, "Well young Kazekage, it means little whether or not I should have you trained. It's up to Killer B and Yugito on whether or not they want to train you." A advised the two Jinchuuriki's. Noticing the confused looks on their faces, he quickly answered their obvious question, "That's our two Jinchuuriki's names." He then hollered for Mabui to come in which she quickly obliged and was soon in the room. "I want you to bring B and Yugito up here now." Mabui then nodded her head and left to retrieve the two Jinchuuriki's.

Moments later, two people walked into the Raikage's office. One was a dark-skinned muscular man with white hair (blonde in the anime) and sporting a goatee. The other was a blond-haired lady with dark eyes and wearing a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants. The lady bowed her head towards the Raikage while the man beside her gazed around the room with the look of disinterest. The lady quickly elbowed the man in the gut, signaling for him to bow also, but he just shrugged it off and continued looking around the room.

Sighing, she glanced towards the strangers who were now staring at them with interest. She noticed that two of them were from Suna because of their headbands and that the other boy was from Konoha- She then darted her eyes back towards the lone Konoha Shinobi and began looking him up and down. Naruto, feeling the lady's intense stare, began to shuffle his feet in discomfort. He was even more shocked when the said lady rushed up to him and began stroking his whiskers.

"Oh my Kami! You're so cute!" The lady purred out making Naruto go stiff as a board from complete bewilderment. This made the other girl in the room clench her fist in alarm. The lady, quickly noticing Temari's killer intent aimed towards her, smirked and slowly leaned into Naruto's ear and whispered, "And what is your name handsome?" She cooed which made the blonde Kunoichi even more furious.

"Uh... my name is...um... Naruto." He struggled to say while taking in a large gulp.

The lady only grinned and said, while twirling her hair flirtatiously, "Well Naruto, my name is Yugito." She winked back towards Naruto whose face was now turning a sharp shade of red.

That was all Temari could handle. She began to walk towards Yugito while slowly drawing her fan out. "Huh? And who might you be little girl?" Yugito asked dryly soon noticing that Temari was getting closer to her.

Temari stopped her walking and looked her back in the eye, "My name is Sabaku no Temari." She replied dangerously. But Yugito simply shrugged her shoulder in indifference making Temari even more mad than she previously was.

"So, Temari of the desert, what are you like Naruto's girlfriend or something?" Yugito pointed to Temari then towards Naruto in an asking manner.

This made Temari turn slightly red and she hastily stuttered out her answer, "O-Of course not! That is completely preposterous!" She exclaimed, "As if I would be involved with him of all people." She huffed out before turning her head away in disgust. What Temari didn't notice was a slight look of hurt upon the poor boy's face when she had said that.

"Good! Then that means you wouldn't mind if I take him for myself would you?" Yugito turned towards Naruto while stroking his whiskers again making him shudder from both enjoyment and nervousness.

Temari was just about to retort when A interrupted their shenanigans. "That's enough Yugito!" He yelled out making Yugito sigh in defeat and slowly returning back to where she originally was, which was alongside B. "Now these two boy's happen to be Jinchuuriki's and are now asking for help with training their Tailed-Beast's." A stated to a now interested B and a exuberant looking Yugito.

"Oh Kami! He's handsome and powerful!" She shrieked making Naruto rub the back of his head nervously. He eyed Gaara for help, but he seemed to be distracted by something else. "Traitor." Naruto thought to himself.

"Of course I'll help train these little boy's!" Yugito exclaimed while staring at Naruto and licking her lips. B only looked at them curiously but still did not say anything.

"Well Killer B? What say you?" A demanded to B.

B casually looked towards his brother and replied back in an indifferent tone, "Yo, bro why should I help'em~? They ain't nothin special so I tell'em!~" B rapped out making everyone in the room cringe at his rap. This made A have a tick mark on his forehead, and he began yelling at his brother for his immaturity. But this gave Naruto an idea.

"Hey yo, listen to me~! All I want is yo to help me B~!" Naruto desperately tried to rap out. This made B look at Naruto carefully before rapping back to him.

"Yo can't out rap B~! Watch an learn newbie~!" Both Jinchuuriki's began rapping much to the anguish of everyone around them. It finally ended when B finished his rap with a simple sentence. "I will train you, but first you must get rid of the darkness inside you." Which made Naruto tilt his head slightly in confusion.

"So do you both agree to train these two then? A asked observantly. Yugito immediately nodded her head in acceptance while B paused a moment to think. He then slowly nodded his head and walked out of the Raikage's Office. Sighing out loud, A turned towards the three foreigners, "Very well, you may train with our two Jinchuuriki's and stay here for as long as it takes for you two to master your Tailed-Beast's powers." A then ordered Mabui to show them to their compound in which they would live in for the time being. Everyone but the Raikage soon left the office and began to walk towards their destinations. Yugito, however, had her whole upper body wrapped around Naruto's left arm much to the disgust of Temari.

"Uh Yugito, can you please let go of my arm? I kinda need it for training later." Naruto pleaded to Yugito who slowly let go of his arm much to the older girls dislike. Naruto was having a hard time walking since he could feel Temari's glare piercing a hole through the back of his head. "Sheesh, why are all Kunoichi's this weird and scary?" Naruto thought uncomfortably to himself.

"Your no fun Naruto." Yugito pouted playfully before turning her attention towards Gaara. "So Gaara, do yo- Not interested." Gaara replied back plainly making Yugito narrow her eyes at Gaara's rude gesture. "Fine, I'll see you later cutie!" She blew a kiss towards Naruto before running off making Temari curse silently at her. Naruto simply waved goodbye and went back to walking. They had finally arrived at the compound and Mabui politely told them that she must leave them since she had other work she needed to attend to. And with that she walked off leaving the three people there staring awkwardly at the huge compound in front of them.

"Well this is definitely a step up to my last home." Naruto remarked making Temari sweat-drop. Gaara simply looked at Naruto curiously before beginning to walk into the compound. Naruto was about to follow suit before he felt a firm hand grasp onto his right shoulder, preventing him from moving any further.

"Naruto, do you like Yugito?" Temari questioned him. She didn't know whether Naruto let Yugito treat him like she did because he liked her attempts or because he was clueless beyond all Kami.

Naruto looked at Temari with a raised a eyebrow, "Of course I like her! She's willing to train us and plus she seems like a nice lady." Naruto finally answered back much to the disappointment of Temari. Naruto, noticing Temari's crestfallen face, spoke up towards her, "Why? Do you not like her or something?" This made Temari jerk her head up in disbelief. She then promptly slapped Naruto across the face making the whiskered faced boy fall back onto his butt, and rub his face his pain. "What the hell was that for Temari?" Naruto cried out while glaring at a now angry Temari.

"How dare you think that way of me you sick perverted boy!" Temari hissed while turning her head away from the boy. But Naruto could only look at her in absolute befuddlement.

"What-How am I a sick pervert?" Naruto was now getting quite frustrated from his friend's subliminal thoughts.

"You became perverted from hanging around Jiraiya for so long that's how!" She snapped back making Naruto clench his fist in anger.

"Temari, all I asked was whether or not you liked Yugito also. How the hell does that make me perverted?" Naruto asked innocently. Temari briskly glanced at Naruto's face and saw in his eyes that he truly had no idea what she was talking about.

Sighing out loud, she told him, "You basically just asked me if I liked girls or not." Naruto only stared at her like she was crazy or something.

"Yeah so?" He replied back honestly. Temari only face-palmed herself when she realized that Naruto was too clueless to know what she meant.

"Okay, let me rephrase this again, you basically asked me if I would kiss a girl or not." Temari watched Naruto's slow realization to what she had meant come across his face in a matter of seconds. She did find his reaction somewhat funny after being very upset with the boy earlier.

"Oh Kami! No, that's not what I meant!" Naruto desperately tried to explain, "I meant as a friend." Temari could only beat herself up for thinking that Naruto would think that way. Why couldn't she have thought that was what he meant in the first place.

"Wait a minute, am I getting jealous?" Temari thought cautiously to herself. She rarely ever felt that strange feeling since she was never really into boy's or the warm cuddly stuff.

"What did you think I meant when I asked if you liked Yugito?" Naruto asked while narrowing his eyes towards her.

Now it was Temari's turn to be uncomfortable. She rubbed the back of her head in nervousness, careful to avoid messing up her four ponytails before replying back sheepishly, "I thought you meant you liked her in a more than friendly way." Temari stated honestly before quickly looking away from the now thinking boy.

Naruto was studying Temari's odd behavior until he came up with a question that would solve this whole awkwardly confusing situation. "Why would it have mattered if I liked her in that way anyways?" Temari slowly looked back towards Naruto and noticed his brilliant cerulean eyes gazing softly back up into her own green eyes. She unconsciously readjusted her headband that was around her neck and carefully chose her words.

"Let's just say it would've been the wrong answer." She retorted before putting a hand out for Naruto. Naruto hesitantly took the hand and silently thanked her for the help.

"Have I ever told you that your one scary Kunoichi?" He asked honestly making Temari twitch her right eye in resentment.

"Naruto, sometimes your way too honest for your own good." She said deviously while slowly pulling out her large iron fan.

Naruto could only gulp in fear and feebly asked, "I should probably run shouldn't I?" He was immediately answered with a nod from Temari who then took a large step towards him. Naruto didn't need to be told twice before he hightailed it out of there. Temari was, just as quickly, in pursuit of her prey. They may have been in an entirely different village, but the end result was the same. Naruto was dragged back into the compound by a proud looking Temari who looked like she had just beaten out all of her anger out on a practice dummy.

"You two are unbelievable." Gaara shook his head in amusement while in a room Temari had just passed by.

"Night Gaara!" Temari yelled back cheerfully. She finally found a random bedroom in which to dump the poor boy off. She glanced down only to see Naruto staring at her oddly. "What is it brat?" She asked curiously while getting a little uncomfortable by the way Naruto was staring at her. Naruto looked way too nervous to tell her and she found it very strange that Naruto was blushing uncontrollably all of a sudden. She rapidly thought about the current situation at hand and realized that Naruto was underneath her, DIRECTLY. BENEATH. HER. "NARUTO!" She squealed making him cover his ears while he tried to roll away towards safety.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked suddenly entering the room while looking quite worried. He rarely ever heard his sister squeal unless something was seriously wrong. He saw from the corner of his eyes Naruto cowering behind a bed which made Gaara raise an eyebrow at the strange scene in front of him.

"No-Nothing Gaara. Everything's fine." Temari stuttered while feverishly trying to reassure her younger brother. Gaara only leaned his head around her and pointed towards Naruto.

"Then why is Naruto hiding behind that bed?" Gaara asked while glancing at Temari.

"Oh you know how crazy Naruto is sometimes. I tried to yell some sense into him but that stubborn brat never listens." She answered back sheepishly. Gaara was very confounded by what was going on. He peered at Naruto who was rapidly shaking his head in what looked like distress.

"If you say so. But you two should get some sleep soon since we're waking up early tomorrow."And with that Gaara calmly walked out of the bedroom.

"Why isn't he ever on my side dammit?" Naruto screamed mentally while still cowering behind the bed. He then sensed an evil presence in his room. "Please be ghosts for once!" He begged before turning his head slowly towards where Temari was standing. A very cold chill went down his spine when he saw Temari putting on too sweet of a smile for him.

"Naruto, if you ever tell anyone what just happened now, I will cut your manhood and shove it down your throat. Did you get that clearly?" She asked sweetly making Naruto frantically nod his head up and down like his life depended on it. "Good, then I bid you goodnight." With that last sentence she slammed the door shut causing most of the door's hinges to break off leaving Naruto with a half open- closed door. "Why is Temari so mad at me all the time?" Sighing to himself, he crawled into bed and quickly fell into a somewhat fitful sleep.

Temari had just gotten into bed and began replaying their whole journey to Kumo. She couldn't stop herself from smiling about Naruto and his flamboyant nature. On the second day of their trip, Naruto had inadvertently joined a dancing group while trying to cheer up a crying girl. Much to the dismay of Naruto, they had persuaded him to participate in a tournament with them. Truthfully speaking, none of the dancers were that good to begin with and Naruto in no way brought anything special to the table. And yet the dancers still believed in him after such a short amount of time from being near him. Shockingly, the dancing team didn't finish in last but instead finished in a respectable sixth place out of twelve teams. She had to admit that Naruto looked quite handsome in his absurd all orange kimono, that he had to have on or else he wouldn't have danced. Temari giggled at the memory before thinking about her current day's memories.

"Everything was going as normal until... SHE showed up" Temari thought bitterly. "Why did she bother me so much? I usually never let any girl get under my skin that easily." She then remembered why the girl was even trying to bother her in the first place, "And what's up with how I've been thinking about Naruto? He's just a fellow companion. A stupid one if that." Temari laughed a little from that remark. But she still couldn't explain why she had felt somewhat jealous whenever Yugito was around Naruto. "Sheesh, I promised myself years ago that I would never be afflicted with any boys anytime soon. But... from what Gaara has told me before hand, Naruto is not just any boy..." She shook her head desperately trying to get that thought out of her head, but it was too late. Her feelings for the young man were starting to become more prevalent. Yawning out loud, Temari soon decided that getting some sleep might help her clear her mind better and with that last thought she fell into a somewhat fitful sleep.


~Outskirts of Kumo~

A girl could be seen running underneath a mountain pass at inhuman speeds since she was leaving a large trail of dust behind her while she was running. "If my information that I've gathered is correct, then the two Akatsuki members shouldn't be more then thirty-minutes." Yugito thought to herself before another voice entered her mind.

"Yo, Kitty shouldn't be so hasty~! This ain't no race lady~!" Killer B rapped his warning to Yugito mentally making her chuckle at her companion's horrible rap.

"Yeah, slow down Kitty!" Her Tailed-Beast begged dramatically. "Besides, why did we have to leave that very cute boy back in Kumo? He could have helped us since he is the container of the Nine-Tails." Nibi exclaimed with over exaggerated cheerfulness.

"I've told you before, that whole slutty act with Naruto was just that; an act!" Yugito replied back dryly. She just needed to understand the boy a little more and had to put up a fake image of herself in order to prevent exposing any weaknesses of her own.

"Yeah I understand that, but I don't think the other blonde girl knew it was an act." The Two-Tails giggled making Yugito shake her head in aggravation.

"Focus people! We need to be careful while dealing with these Akatsuki members. They are classified as S-Rank criminals in the Bingo Book for a reason." Hachibi shouted out while trying to regain the attentions of both Jinchuuriki's.

"Eight-Tails is right, we need to start forming a battle strategy against these guys." Yugito suggested while receiving murmurs of agreement from both Tailed-Beasts.

"Wait, you don't have a battle strategy to begin with?" Killer B asked seriously.

"I didn't have time to make one up since we had to leave quickly without having the Raikage notice that we were gone." She replied back with vexation.

"Kitty, this isn't going to end well, we should have asked the two Jinchuuriki's for extra help." Nibi complained loudly while beginning to move around restlessly in her cage. "Oh and when are you going to unseal me?"

"We've already talked about this!" Yugito scolded the demon inside her, which only made Nibi laugh even harder. "Great, I have both a horny and annoying thing inside me." She muttered to herself. Unfortunately, that "thing" heard her, "Hey! That hurts my feelings you know? And don't lie, you thought that boy was pretty hot also!" She quickly flashed several creative images of Naruto in provocative poses wearing little to no clothing at all.

"Ugh! Just remain quiet for the rest of the trip will you?" Yugito responded back while blushing slightly from seeing the images her perverted prisoner would occasionally show to her.

"Hehe whatever you say Kitty." Yugito only sighed at that response knowing full well that her privacy meant very little to Nibi.

"I'm glad we don't have a crazy partnership like Yugito and Nibi have." Eight-Tails remarked loudly.

"I be in your head in agreement~! We always make each others appeasement~!" B rapped back to Hachibi which only made him sweat-drop from his containers horrible rap.

"I take that all back." He sighed dejectedly before planning up a battle strategy.


~In Naruto's Mindscape~

"Wake your ass up boy!" A thunderous roar echoed throughout the whole sewer. Slowly Naruto appeared from out of the darkness in his pajamas's and wearing his infamous night cap.

Yawning out loud, Naruto casually looked up towards a now menacing looking Fox, "Yeah, what's up you stupid fox?" This only made the Nine-Tails narrow his eyes at the young boy with absolute hatred before he spoke up again.

"I really don't want to ask you this but..." The Fox trailed off while pondering whether or not to actually ask the boy the favor.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked seriously. He was always in a bad mood whenever the Fox decided to pull him into his mindscape.

The Fox glanced back at Naruto and snorted out a large puff of Demonic Chakra from out of his nose before finishing his incomplete sentence. "Please help save my fellow kind." The Fox forced himself to say. This made Naruto give the Fox an inquiring look. So the Fox continued, "The two Jinchuuriki's that you met earlier. They have left to fight the two Akatsuki residing somewhere near the mountains about thirty-minutes away from here. We all agreed that they wouldn't stand a chance without our help"

Naruto's eyes went wide and he quickly asked how the Fox could know that for sure. "Foolish mortal, we Tailed-Beasts are able to speak with each other telepathically whenever we are a certain distance from one another." Kyuubi explained making Naruto nod his head in acknowledgment.

"I never thought you would care about anyone else except yourself Fox." Naruto grinned at a now infuriated demon.

"I don't. But my relationship with my other Tailed-Beasts is... complicated." The Fox finished. He quickly watched Naruto go deep in thought and was curious as to what the brat could possibly be thinking about.

Naruto then abruptly glanced up at the Fox with a heartwarming grin, "Well it seems like a good enough reason to go out and save some people. Besides, Jinchuuriki's need to stick with one another right?" Naruto asked while clenching his fist in a stoic manner.

But Kyuubi was a bit stunned by the boy's good nature, "Why are you so willing to help one of my kind? Considering how I've treated you so far." He asked speculatively since he was trying to find out the boy's motives.

The boy simply chuckled which made the Fox narrow his eyes towards him, "I'll give you two answers. One, I truly believe that not all Tailed-Beasts are evil. Which brings me to my second answer; Yes it's true that you've treated me like crap for the most part-" Naruto glanced back up towards Kyuubi who was now glaring at Naruto, to which Naruto waved his hands in patience, "but you were always there for me, no matter what. Through all the bad and some of the good you were there. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm thankful you were sealed in me, or else I might not have become the person I am now." Naruto gazed deeply into Kyuubi's feral like eyes while sporting a large bright grin.

Kyuubi could only gasp at the sight coming from the boy in front of him. There were tears running down the boy's face, and the Fox could tell that what the boy was saying was honestly the whole truth. The Fox stared at the ground in thought and began reminiscing about an old foretelling a powerful man once told him. He looked back up at Naruto and couldn't help but get a slight chill go through his body. "Could this be the person that was foretold to us?" He shook his head and looked Naruto straight in the eye, and to his amazement Naruto didn't even flinch from such an intense gaze. "Naruto, if you really want to help us, then do what you do best. Save everyone! Start by saving my two friends Nibi and Hachibi!" He ordered to which Naruto made a mock salute to and vanished from his mindscape. "Such a naïve little boy..." Kyuubi thought before resting against his prison cell.


Naruto woke up swiftly and jolted out of bed to go search for Gaara and inform him of everything that had just happened between him and the Nine-Tails. But Naruto was pleasantly surprised to see Gaara fully dressed and prepared for battle. Gaara then noticed Naruto staring at him with an dumbfounded look drawn on his face. "The One-Tails told me everything." Gaara stated simply before motioning towards the exit to the compound.

"What about Temari?" Naruto asked getting suddenly worried for his friend's well being.

"She'll be fine. Like us, she's very strong both physically and emotionally." Gaara reassured Naruto before darting off into the night. Naruto, deciding on whether or not to leave her all alone, came to the conclusion of leaving her a note. He quickly scribbled on a small scroll and speedily left it on top of Temari's blanket so that she would then be able to see it when she woke up.

Seeing that everything was in order, Naruto turned towards the exit door and leapt off towards Gaara who was now quickly distancing himself from Naruto. "Please don't have us be too late!" Naruto begged to Kami before focusing all his attention and energy on getting to their location as fast as possible.


Yep, well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took longer then usual to write up but whatever. Now let's get to my reviewers!

NeoJubiSannin1870, spriterx, Iron Legends13, Arba- Thanks for the support and yes I will continue updating!

SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan- Dammit, thanks again haha. Hmm who knows...

Shawn2012- Hmm how bout you tell me what happens between them next from what you've read so far.

bankai777- Gaara's all about business. Naruto tries to make everyone happy. Temari is protective.

Elder Sibling- I absolutely agree with you on that! There is no way Naruto would become that powerful so quickly, and even if he did it's just no fun to write and read about then.

EurekaSeven21-Thanks, I'll admit it's difficult to come up with an original timeline while also making one that's believable. And yes, I was furious when the anime made Gaara lose his Tailed-Beast! He could have been a complete bad-ass. Ah, what if right?

NarutoDawg9406, girrr- I agree with you on the trench knives. Yes, it would indeed be pretty cool if Naruto wielded the legendary sword Samehada. Sadly, I think it would be very unlikely for Naruto to wield it since Killer B seem's to deserve to wield it more than Naruto.

WindStylez- Thanks for the detailed review. The thing about Naruto is, even now, it's difficult to portray him for who he really is since he seems to have so many layers to him. The most seen layer being his stupid, comedic side. In this Fic, I'm showing him as educationally stupid, but emotionally and socially he's much much smarter if that makes any sense? He also has a tendency to hide his true potential, which makes it frustrating for any writer/author to describe him through his action's that might not truly be his own. This chapter also served as a romantic filler between Naruto and Temari. She's hasn't quite "fallen" in love with him yet, but she's realizing that there's a possibility between them. Again, thanks for the review.

Guest- It will be a cloak of some sorts, but it won't be the gold one. I agree, I was a bit disappointed that his final phase was a freakin golden cloak?! Anyways it will be different.

Newbiegod35- Yep, he'll soon learn how to make a one-handed "Rasengan" and he will definitely learn some Wind Techniques.

The-lazy-bum- I guess you'll have to read the next chapter in order to find out whether or not she survives. I'll give you a hint anyways, I believe Yugito was killed off way to soon!

That's all the reviews! More importantly, next chapter we'll have our first fight scene! I'm not too great with fight scenes but I'll try my best. As usual, if you want a detailed reply, give a detailed (preferably a positive) review then BAKA! Okay then, REVIEW and until next time ciao!