I took my sweet time updating, ne? Truthfully, I've had this written for about a week, but never really got around to typing it (sheepish look). I'm so awful... But the next chapter is half done, just need to finish it (which might take a while, I'm stuck on one part, but I'm almost through it... after that it should flow), type it (also might take a while... I can only type for maybe an hour at most before I go completely insane.), edit it (not so long), and post it (ehhhh, I'm lazy.)
So, yeah. It might be up next week, probably the week after. But I may just get a random burst of inspiration (Cuz I'm just that good!) and it may be up before that. Ya never know.
Anyway, I"m sorry I'm a lazy, procrastinating bitch with a suddenly active social life. Bye luvs! xD I hope you enjoy the story! Feedback is much appreciated!
Hearts, SoraAzami
Inuzukas as a rule aren't very complex people. They generally saw no reason why they should plaster on a smile for some one you hat, just to suck up to some weakling with 'connections'. After all, who cares about connections when you could kill said person in three seconds flat? (A good reason why there are no Inuzuka diplomats.) Kiba was no exception to this rule.
He was forced to think, and there were only two option available: 'Hate' or 'Not'. Unsurprisingly, the topic was one Uzumaki Naruto.
He groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. Akamaru whined worriedly, licking his cheek. Absently, the boy raised a hand to pet the dog, still deep in thought.
Packs followed the Alpha, and Kiba's mom certainly hated Naruto (Fanatically so, sometimes.) But Kiba was a dog at heart, and dogs value loyalty above all else.
Sometime during one of their Academy escapades, the boys had become friends.
Kiba smirked, lifting Akamaru up to rest inside his jacket.
An Inuzuka never betrays a friend, a Konoha-nin never leaves a comrade behind, and Kiba had just made up his mind.
'Damn you, Naruto,' he thought as he walked out the door, a small smirk still in place, 'You always make everything so freaking complicated,'
But he wouldn't have it any other way.
After all, what's life without excitement?
The sun was high in the sky by the time Naruto made it to Sunagakure. He squinted up at the sky, dropping his gaze again quickly.
'Probably about noon,' he thought, letting out a small sigh of relief. He winced, massaging his throat briefly, before continuing onward.
"Halt!" he heard, "State your identity, affiliation, and business!" called an official-sounding voice.
Naruto blinked, staring up at the spot where he thought the voice had come from. He tried to force his bleary eyes to focus, but to no avail. After a while he just grinned in the general area, ignoring how his lips cracked and allowed blood to bubble to the surface. "Uzumaki… Naruto," he managed to rasp out, before falling to the ground in an exhausted heap.
Or, rather, would have fallen if the sand beneath his feet didn't rise up in a cloud to break his fall.
The Suna-nin on guard jumped, and turned to face the only man who could have done something like that.
"G-Gaara-sama!"
The Kazekage-to-be raised a non-existent eyebrow. Did everyone but himself know about those plans?!
"Kyouran-san," he replied curtly, briefly acknowledging the stammering Chuunin.
"H-he just w-walked up a-and p-passed out! I-I swear I d-dint d-do anything t-to him!"
Gaara ignored the (slightly hysterical) shinobi, instead turning his aqua gaze on the blond(1) lying inert aboard his sand.
Gaara frowned. What could have happened?
"H-he said h-his name was U-Uzumaki Naruto-"
"I know his name," Gaara cut in.
"You know him, Gaara-sama?" Kyouran was understandably confused. Up until a short while ago, Gaara never really noticed anyone, just focused on his next kill. Besides, the blond didn't look all that great. Really, he just passed out at Kyouran's own feet! How could someone like that know Suna's next Kazekage?
Gaara's answer shocked him quite a bit.
"He is… a friend."
With a gust of wind the Chuunin felt himself turn to stone, jaw open in aporetic shock. "EH?!?!" Gaara-sama had friends?!
It's not like Kyouran didn't like the Jinchuuriki, it's just… the boy was a homicidal maniac only a few months previously, and since then had been in Suna where no one dared to get close. Baring a few missions, but you don't really get a chance to make friends with many people on the types of missions Gaara tended to get assigned.
But the kid obviously wasn't from Suna, so they had to have met before Gaara…er…reformed.
Come to think of it, could homicidal maniacs even have friends? Wouldn't they kill them or something?
Kyouran didn't even notice the unlikely duo had departed until Gaara called out, "I vouch for him. He's allowed to enter the village."
The guard shook off his paralys; sweat dropping as he watched the redhead's retreating back. "You're supposed to ask for confirmation…" he muttered.
Eh, it's not like he expected Gaara-sama to care.
This was Gaara, after all.
Konoha. He saw Konoha, spread out beneath his feet. "What am I doing here?" he murmured to himself, eyes oddly dull as he stared at the cityscape below. He tore his eyes away from the painful sight, instead looking around himself. "The… Hokage monument?"
Sure enough, he was standing on the Shodaime Hokage's head.
"Why?" he whispered, staring at the stone beneath his feet. "Why am I seeing this?" A tear ran a trial down his cheeks, eyes still lifeless.
The scenery vanished, all except the monument on which he stood. But it wasn't the same, familiar cliff he had seen almost every day for his entire life.
No, it was the same cliff at all. Where Konoha's famous structure was cut from mountain stone the same gray-brown as most rocks, this was a shining sable, reflecting light from nowhere in all colors of the spectrum. 'Obsidian,' his mind supplied.
Instead of bearing the faces of past Hokages, it was completely smooth, except for the natural flaws that appear in such stone.
No, maybe that wasn't completely correct. He could see a small area near him that appeared to have been carved in.
His eyes had regained their spark. With cautious curiosity, he approached the spot. Rock chips were concealing it, so he reached out to brush them away, but-"
"Ouch!" Naruto yelped, before letting out a harsh cough. A hand reached out to rub his back until his coughing fit subsided.
"There we go!" a pleasant voice said, "Drink!" a cup was held up to his lips, but he turned his head.
Naruto was thirsty… so very thirsty… but he was sure his throat would burn horribly if he drank anything.
"We can't have that!" the voice exclaimed, "C'mon, drink!" Eventually the person managed to get the water into him, and after that he drank willingly.
"W-what-" the blond choked, obviously his voice wasn't back yet.
"No talking." The voice ordered sternly, "You'll hurt yourself even more."
Naruto turned bleary eyes to the owner of the voice. A young man, mid-twenties, dressed in a standard scarlet Suna medic-nin robes stood beside him. His Sand hiate-ate was tied around his forehead over top the tan headpiece most Suna medic-nins wore. Hazel eyes glared at him as Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question.
"I thought I said no talking," he warned.
Naruto sweat dropped, and mouthed a silent 'Sorry', but winced again when his lips cracked.
The medic frowned, before turning around and leaving the room. He came back not even a minute later with a pad of paper and a pen.
"If you must communicate, try to do so in such a way as to avoid causing further harm to yourself," he sniffed.
Naruto sweat dropped again, but accepted the objects. "Where am I?" he wrote.
The man rolled his eyes, "I thought it'd be obvious. You're in Sunagakure's General Hospital."
Naruto brightened a bit, a wide grin slowly spread across his features. 'I made it…' He ignored how the movement hurt his wind-chapped and sun burnt face, 'I made it!'
Suna was allied with Konoha, so that meant they couldn't harbor him forever. If Konoha asked, Suna would have to hand him over.
But where else could he go? He knew several people in the Hidden Sand Village, and at least one of them would hear him out.
And… Naruto needed someone to talk to. Someone who'd understand. There were eight possible people who could even begin to understand his pain, and he only knew of one.
Only another Jinchuuriki could truly understand the torture of being a 'Human Sacrifice.'
"I'll have to go let Gaara-sama know you're awake," the man looked rather disgruntled, as if he thought Naruto should not be receiving visitors so soon. "Don't do anything stupid, and don't talk!" he ordered authoritatively.
Naruto sweat dropped, why did everyone say that to him? This guy didn't even know him! Was he really that bad…?
The boy stored the thought away for a rainy day. Did the medic just say Gaara-sama? As in with an honorable suffix attached? The equivalent of lord? It could be a title (like how Neji had called Hinata Hinata-sama, when he obviously didn't like her) but there was no bitterness or hatred in his voice.
Instead there was… awe? Respect?
Naruto's eyes twinkled in amusement, though he carefully kept himself from smiling. Had Gaara done it? Had he finally won over the village? Naruto's spirits dropped a bit as he remembered his own plight. 'Lucky bastard…'
Well, Naruto decided, at least one of them did. He'd have to congratulate the other boy.
Naruto grinned a bit, just enough not to hurt his face. At least he wasn't the Kazekage!
Oh, the irony.
A few minutes later the doorknob turned slowly. Naruto's gaze flickered over to it, before looking back up at the ceiling. He heard the sound of the door closing, and a set of feet (only one, Naruto noted. No doctor.) made their way across the room to rest in a wooden chair beside his cot.
The person said nothing. Naruto lifted one hand lazily to raise the notebook in the air.
While the medic had been fetching Gaara(-sama, added his mind, snickering slightly), he had written a short summary of what had taken place. Gaara wasn't a very talkative person, and Naruto wasn't able to, so this was a good solution.
Besides, he was tired.
Anyway, to further simplify things, he had written it in mission-report from, something every academy student learns. Naruto ever did have much of a way with words.
"Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Rank: Genin (Though I'm probably marked as an S-Class threat)"
He had added in the last part with a bitter chuckle, and Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow as he read.
"Status: Unaffiliated Ninja
Village: Unaffiliated- Banished from Konohagakure no Sato"
Gaara's eyes widened a mere fraction, very noticeable on his normally stoic face.
"Reasons for action: Officially, mission rate has passed below unacceptable mark. Has been known to abandon mission for 'Good Causes'. No official crimes, no legal bounty posted. Unofficially, is Jinchuuriki to Kyuubi no Kitsune. Failed to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. Considered a danger, has been able to draw upon the Nine-Tail's chakra. Veritable king's hoard promised for the shinobi who kills the 'demon'."
Naruto laughed at this part too. No, that was not a tear. The wind had agitated his eyes. They're very sore now.
"Requests: ..."
Gaara looked up into Naruto's eyes.
"Temporary shelter, provisions, and time for the trail to grow cold."
Naruto just smiled.
Blond(1)- Sorry, I just had to put this in, even if it's completely irrelevant to the story. Did you people know that 'blonde' is a fair-haired woman? And 'Blond' is a fair-haired person? I always spelled it 'Blonde'. I guess I insulted Naruto and a lot of other people) without knowing it… oops. Just a random fact I couldn't help but share. Seriously, what's the difference?
I hope this was long enough to make up for not updating for so long. It's a good two pages longer than normal. Anyway! I hope you enjoyed! Feedback is much appreciated, flames just give me somewhere to roast my marshmallows. Mmmm, smores!