Disclaimer: I do not own or am in any way related to Naruto. I am simply a fangirl trying to make her way in the world while at the same time dealing with the stories that the Naruto characters play out in my head. I am making no profit from this, unless you count readers and reviewing love.
Summary: Five years ago Naruto brought Sasuke back but received only anger in return, and so he left. Now it is Kitsune, strong and deadly, who returns to his old village. When war erupts with Konoha at its heart, what will he choose to do?
Warnings: More character introspection than plot, particularly from the next chapter onwards. Not much action either. Lots and lots of spoilers, mainly about the Akatsuki and Naruto's parentage.
Chapter Three
The Second Exam
To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light.
-- Coventry Patmore
"Up at the crack of dawn again. Damn it. Suna's lifestyle is much more reasonable, even though you get sand in the most disgusting places…"
Hinata and Lee, who were the two other shinobi unfortunate enough to have drawn the same gate number as Kitsune, looked at each other. "Hinata-san," Lee said with a bright morning grin, "let us go and spread the cheer to our unhappy friend! We should all be in the best and brightest of moods as we face the challenge of the Forest of Death!"
Hinata's white eyes widened. "Ah… Lee-san… I don't think… that's a good idea…"
Too late. Lee had bounded over to where Kitsune was, radiating goodwill, and Hinata was never one to let her friends go off and court death by themselves. She hurried after him.
"…face this wonderful day, and defeat your opponents with youthful vigour!" Lee was saying as Hinata drew close.
Kitsune's head had swivelled to face Lee, and Hinata could feel the stare boring into the grinning shinobi. She couldn't tell if it was merely incredulous, or near homicidal. She intervened anyway. "Kitsune-san… um… a good morning to you!"
That mask turned to face her, and now she really could feel the full force of that stare even through the mask. But then, to her surprise, as Lee babbled on, Hinata felt the stare soften. "Lee-san," Kitsune greeted. "Hyuuga-san. Nervous about the exam?"
Hinata relaxed a little, and smiled timidly. Kitsune was being surprisingly nice. "Yes, I'm nervous… but I'm also excited. I've never really faced this… this sort of challenge, by myself, before."
"One week of lone survival!" Lee exclaimed happily, giving them a thumbs-up. "A fitting test of our worth! If I do not pass this exam I will run a thousand laps around Konoha!"
"Lee-san!" Hinata yelped. "I don't… I don't think that's…!"
Kitsune, however, was nodding. "An admirable forfeit," he said cheerfully. His bad mood seemed to be gone. "I know you're good at taijutsu, Lee-san. It's probably not that hard for you."
His compliment was rewarded with a blinding grin, and Hinata could have sworn that for a moment he was standing posed on a rock, with waves crashing behind him. "Yes! I am very proud of my taijutsu skills!" Then the smile faded, and he said a little sheepishly, "Of course, my other skills need… work."
Hinata felt a pang of sadness for Lee. She knew that many people had scoffed at Lee's attempt at the jounin exams, saying that mere taijutsu skills might have gotten him through the chuunin exams, but it took more than that to make a jounin. Lee didn't seem to mind, but she knew that no one could hear all those comments again and again and not be affected.
Kitsune seemed to be looking at her, as if reading her thoughts. Then he turned to face Lee again. "Lee-san," he said seriously. "If this is the path you've chosen, then don't let anything anyone says discourage you from it. Sure, if you've developed only one side of your skill, you may be at a disadvantage – but then, Lee-san, what you do is you damn well develop that skill until you've reached a place where no one can laugh, because they know they won't ever be able to reach it too. Create a fighting style that's entirely yours, a style that no one else can copy because no one else can. I know you can do it, Lee-san. You're already doing it."
There was silence.
Hinata had to remember how to breathe. Lee was stunned, jaw hanging.
Kitsune laughed a little sheepishly, hand raising to the back of his head. "Ahaha. Sorry, I just got a little carried away there…"
Upon seeing that gesture, remembering that passion and belief in that voice – Hinata and Lee were beyond stunned, and approaching shell-shocked. They stared at Kitsune, who seemed to realize what he had done, and froze.
There was another silence.
Then, Hinata whispered, "Naruto-kun…?"
Kitsune didn't move. Then he laughed, a little too loudly. "Who? Naruto? I've never heard that name before, what an odd name, it sounds like something you eat argh argh argh."
The reason for his groaning was Lee, who had thrown himself bodily on Kitsune – no, Naruto – and was bawling his head off, clinging onto Naruto for all he was worth. "Naruto-kun! You have returned, and the power of your youth shines brighter than ever! I knew that you would not let us down – mmph!"
"Okay, okay! Enough, do you want the whole forest to hear you?" Naruto hissed, one hand over Lee's mouth, the other prying the sobbing man off of him. "Lee, get a hold of yourself!"
Hinata had to laugh at the sight, Lee fighting to continue clinging onto Naruto and Naruto flailing around, trying to get him off – but since she was crying, her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound, the laugh came out a little hysterical. She saw Naruto glance over at her, and hurriedly wiped her tears away. It would not do to let Naruto-kun see her so wretched.
Sniffling, she went forward to helped Naruto pull at Lee. "Lee-kun, come on, the exam's going to start soon…"
Lee finally let go, and beamed wetly at Naruto. "It is great to see you again, Naruto-kun," he said earnestly. "We have all missed you dearly, even Neji, as much as he tries to hide it. My teammate has a gruff exterior, but do not let that fool you! His heart –"
"I get it, Lee," Naruto interrupted, laughing. "I know what Neji's like, I haven't forgotten." He formed a few hand seals, and when he next spoke, it wasn't in that strange voice he had been using, but an older version of the voice they remembered. "And this is really embarrassing, but, well… I've missed you guys too."
Hinata wanted to go hug him, but held herself back. "So have we, Naruto-kun… so have we."
"Naruto-kun," Lee said, "Are you really Kitsune?"
At that, Naruto sobered. "Yes," he said, "I am. And no one else must know about it, okay? The two of you can't tell anyone."
"But the others…" Lee began in protest.
"I'm planning to reveal myself at the end of the exams, when I've become jounin." Naruto said it as fact – when he became jounin, not if. "And I'll answer everyone's questions then – as much as I can, anyway. But not yet."
Lee and Hinata exchanged looks. Then Lee nodded. "I will keep your secret until you choose to reveal yourself, Naruto-kun!" he declared. "Nothing shall tear the truth from me! I will be like stone!"
"I promise… I won't tell, Naruto-kun," Hinata agreed. Then, in a rush, before she lost her nerve, she said quickly, "But can we please see you without a mask it's been five years it'd be really nice to see your face again?"
"Sure. Just for a moment, okay?" Naruto reached up, and took off his mask.
Hinata turned bright red.
Lee gaped, and then gave Naruto two thumbs up. "You have become a paragon of masculine youth, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto put his mask back on. "Really? Cool. You guys have grown too. Lee, you look more like Gai-sensei than ever, and Hinata-chan, you've grown prettier."
Lee's teary-eyed "Really? Like Gai-sensei, you said?" was loud, but it sounded far away in Hinata's ears. Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun had called her pretty.
"And, you know, Hinata-chan… I can see that you're grown confident. That's good, you know? I always knew you could find your own place."
Hinata's cheeks felt so warm that she wondered if she was going to burst into flame.
Thankfully, at that moment, the shrill bugle of the horn sounded in the air, signalling the start of the exams. The gate swung open. Naruto waved at the two of them. "Good luck!" he said. "I won't attack you guys, and neither will Gaara, but be careful of everyone else! And remember – don't let anyone know who I am."
With another wave, he was gone, leaping through the trees.
Hinata took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks lightly. When she looked up again, her determined gaze met Lee's equally determined one. He grinned at her, and she managed a smile in return. "Shall we, Lee-kun?" she said quietly.
He nodded. "Naruto-kun right now is far ahead of us," he said, and both knew that he was not talking about physical distance. "We must not disappoint him, and catch up quickly." He looked unusually solemn. "All of us, Hinata-san, all three of us, once lagged behind the rest. We swore to show them what we can do, but only Naruto-kun has really achieved it." When he looked at Hinata again, his gaze was direct. "He will be our goal, Hinata-san. Let us catch up to him soon."
She nodded, but a nagging worry made her say, "The stories about Kitsune… some of them… I can't believe it's Naruto-kun's doing." She bit her lip. "I… I don't want to think of Naruto-kun… doing things like that."
Lee nodded. "I understand, Hinata-san. But… I believe in Naruto-kun. What he has done, I believe he did for a reason. We must not judge him yet, but wait for him to tell us himself." He flashed her a smile. "Do you not believe in him too, Hinata-san?"
"I do!" Hinata said without hesitation.
"Then let's continue believing in him," Lee said firmly. He gave her a ridiculous sweeping bow. "After you, Hinata-san. Good luck!"
She gave him a more solid smile. "Thank you, Lee-kun… The best of luck to you, too." And she leapt into the trees, hearing Lee following her for a while, and then taking another path, the sounds of his footsteps fading.
Somewhere in this forest, Naruto-kun was alive, and stronger than ever.
She, too, would have to grow stronger, and show Naruto-kun one day that his belief in her – like her belief in him – was justified.
After an hour of running, Naruto found a clearing that would do. He looked around for a nice flat rock, and then sat down in a meditative pose.
Birds sang. Wind blew. Grass whistled.
And then, tired of the eyes watching him, Naruto said without opening his eyes, "Either fight me or go away. I don't appreciate being watched like some zoo exhibit."
There was a pause. Then, with a faint rustling of leaves, someone leapt down from a branch onto the grass. Naruto sighed, and opened his eyes to peer at the Sand nin trying to look confident, when Naruto could clearly hear his rapid heartbeat and smell the fear. Well, to his credit, the fear was tempered with the excitement of impending battle, but it was still fear.
"Kitsune," the Sand nin said with bravado. "Fight me like a man!"
Naruto snorted. "Are you mad?"
The Sand nin stared.
"First, I don't know you, so you have no right to call me by my name alone. Secondly, if you want a battle, ask nicely. Let me tell you, it's never a good idea to anger someone who can easily grind you into the dust. Or someone on friendly terms with your Kage, you've no doubt seen me walking around your village with Gaara."
The Sand nin continued to stare.
"Well?"
"Uh… Kitsune… san?"
Naruto nodded at him to continue.
"Kitsune-san. Uh… will you battle with me?"
Grinning smugly to himself – he just loved scaring his opponents, it was great feeling like the king of the world – Naruto jumped down from the rock in one fluid movement. "Sure!" he said brightly. "Ninjutsu only? A taijutsu showdown? No-holds barred bloody war?"
"Uh…"
"Can't decide, huh. Why don't we ask your Kazekage to make the choice for you, then?"
The Sand nin's eyes widened impossibly. His face drained of blood.
"Oh, Gaara…!" Naruto sing-songed.
There was the soft whisper of sand. Then Gaara emerged from the shadow of a tree, eliciting a squeak from the Sand nin. He glared at Naruto. "Do not toy with my shinobi," he ordered.
Naruto gave him an exaggerated bow. "Yes, O Kazekage-sama."
Gaara scowled. Then he turned to the almost-but-not-yet shaking shinobi. "You are Nagasaki? Nagasaki Shin?"
The Sand nin straightened upon hearing his name. Pride flashed across his eyes – his Kazekage knew him! Naruto felt a little better towards the guy, he clearly was part of the group in Suna who supported Gaara –a group that was quickly growing in number, to Naruto's pleasure."Yes, Kazekage-sama!"
Gaara nodded curtly. "Did you think it wise to challenge one of the strongest shinobi around to a battle, not an hour into the exam?"
Nagasaki sagged a little, but he answered honestly. "Kazekage-sama, I know that in terms of passing the exam, it is a foolish move – but I wanted to test myself against someone whose strength has been proven. I wanted to go against the best, in order to see how much farther I need to go."
Gaara's features gentled. So far, Naruto knew that only he, Temari and Kankurou could see the tiny variations in Gaara's expressions; for others, it was easier to tell by the aura that surrounded Gaara. Right now, the forbidding presence became less so, and Naruto watched as the Sand nin sensed it, and relaxed a little.
"That is an admirable sentiment, Nagasaki – but foolish. Suna needs jounin. Would you place your personal satisfaction over your village's needs?"
Nagasaki looked horrified. "No, Kazekage-sama! I never – I wasn't – That wasn't my intention!"
Gaara's upheld hand stopped him. "I understand," he said. "I will not hold it against you. For now, as a shinobi of Suna, I order you to do your very best to pass this segment of the exam. And if you manage it – I will see to it that when we return to Suna, you will have a supervised battle against Kitsune."
Nagasaki was fairly glowing with happiness. "Thank you, Kazekage-sama!"
Gaara nodded. "Go now."
The Sand nin gave them both a deep bow, then turned and leapt soundlessly off into the forest. He was lost to sight in a second.
"I could have said no to the battle, you know," Naruto said conversationally.
"Yes. You could have."
"I still can, you know."
"Yes. You can."
Naruto gave up. He hoisted himself back onto his rock and idly swung his legs. "Got a plan?" he asked.
"Do not be stupid."
Naruto had to grin. He knew Gaara would have noticed as well. "Do you know which gate?"
"Two from Gate Seven, one from Ten. The single one is likely to meet up with the two."
"That's what I figured too. That'll take us maybe an hour or two. Three at the most. What then?"
"We stalk people." Gaara's voice was matter-of-fact.
"Must it be him?" Naruto whined. "There are others who probably need the help more."
Gaara glared at him. "You were the one who made the promise. I was merely dragged into it. In any case, we can send bunshins to stalk him so we do not have to do it ourselves."
"Okay, okay." Naruto hopped down from his perch, grinning. It was nice to be on the same wavelength as Gaara almost all the time. "Let's go, then. Lots of killing to do and all."
It took them a while to track down the shinobi who had smelled of Orochimaru. They were wearing Cloud hitai-ate, and Naruto spared a moment to feel regret for the original owners, who were probably dead. Cloud was unlucky this year, losing their entire team of jounin examinees. Sound nin had been trained by Orochimaru to be cruel and merciless.
They found their targets a moment too late, however, even for all their speed. The Sound nin must have gone straight after Sasuke, and had found him quicker, since their gates had been closer – Naruto's had been Twelve, Gaara's Fourteen. Naruto suppressed a curse as he stopped beside Gaara, standing on a large branch overlooking a large clearing.
Beneath them were the three Sound nin, facing Sasuke and Sakura. The girl must have headed straight for Sasuke as well; she had been at the gate just one up from his, so it would have been pretty easy.
He was surprised to feel a little wistful ache in his chest. In the past he would have been down there with them, glaring down the Sound nin with a confidence that would embarrass his teammates. His surprise turned to anger at himself – he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't ever want Sasuke's or Sakura's friendships again, hadn't he? Yet it still seemed that some part of him couldn't let go of the two Konoha shinobi below.
One of the Sound nins was speaking. "…contact you, since all your mail is monitored and you are constantly watched. Orochimaru-sama apologizes for the delay."
"Delay? It's been five fucking years!" Sasuke snarled.
The Sound nin looked like he wanted to snarl something back, but held his tongue with difficulty. He bowed again. "Yes, Sasuke-sama. However, aside from the difficulty in communicating with you. Orochimaru-sama also felt that the wait would do you good."
"What the hell good would that be?"
"Konoha suffocates you, does it not?" The Sound nin smiled thinly. "You are watched, treated like a traitor, despised. Orochimaru-sama wished for you to understand fully that Konoha is not the place for you. He wanted to you accept your rightful place by his side without any lingering attachments to this place."
"We don't treat him like a traitor!" Sakura finally couldn't take it anymore. "He has friends here! We don't care what he did before, we just accept him for who he is now – don't you dare belittle that!"
The look the Sound nin gave her was one of disdain. "You do not understand Sasuke-sama," he said dismissively. "You are not worthy of him. He deserves more than your little friendships. He deserves more than being caged, as Konoha does to him."
"He's not caged, you bastard, he's just monitored – and that's expected, because of what he did. But it won't last forever, and he's not restricted in any way!"
"Are you blind, little girl?" The Sound nin sneered at Sakura. "He is restricted in the most important area – his power. And if he cannot grow, how can he get his revenge?"
"Sasuke isn't –"
"Enough." Sasuke sounded extremely impatient. "This is a waste of time. So you've come to bring me to Orochimaru, then?"
Both he and the Sound nins ignored Sakura's horrified whisper of "Sasuke-kun…!" The Sound nin bowed. "Yes, Sasuke-sama. Many of the Konoha jounin who might be a problem are examiners; they will be occupied in watching the third part of the exam. We will make our escape then, in order to meet less resistance. We will each put our handprints on your scroll to ensure that you will pass, and with the girl's handprint, you only need one more."
"And you?"
"We will use the girl's, and find others. Do not worry about us, Sasuke-sama, we are more than a match for most jounin hopefuls."
Nothing showed on Sasuke's face as he said, "And Sakura?"
"She will be disposed of," was the prompt reply. "She has heard too much. If you wish, we will take care of her for you so you do not need to dirty your hands."
Sakura was pale from all that she had heard, but even so she was well trained – she immediately went into battle stance. Not that it would help her much, Naruto noted – he could smell the level of power of each of the Sound nin, and Sakura's power, and he knew that if all three of them attacked her she would put up a good fight, but stand no chance of winning.
Sasuke watched her for a moment, and then turned to stare thoughtfully at the Sound nin. He didn't say anything.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura's voice was soft, but steady. "I believe in you."
And then she attacked.
Naruto and Gaara had to leap backwards as she slammed her fist into the ground, and while Gaara just looked on stoically from their new perch, Naruto felt his jaw drop to his feet at the huge furrows of broken ground that shot out from where Sakura's fist was. My god, she's become a younger baa-chan! he thought in amazement. There goes any chance of her becoming more feminine.
The Sound nin and Sasuke had leapt backwards, as well. Sasuke was now standing on a branch, visible from the clearing – not bothering to conceal himself, but simply watching. The Sound nin were nowhere to be seen, however.
Sakura straightened, closing her eyes. Then she shot forward just as a volley of shuriken shot out towards where she had been; she threw herself at one of the trees and punched it – or something that was in front of it. There was a scream, and a Sound nin appeared to the right of the tree, staggering, clutching his arm – it dangled, probably broken.
Naruto made to move forward – best to intervene before the Sound nin really started attacking, and they would do their best to cause maximum damage now that Sakura had actually wounded one of them. But Gaara's hand grabbing his stopped him. He turned to stare incredulously at Gaara.
Gaara looked steadily back, but there was a little anger in there, too – anger at who? At what? Naruto wasn't sure, but right now he didn't really care. He blinked when he heard Gaara's voice in his head – when had Gaara activated the mind-speaking jutsu? We cannot intervene yet.
Sakura's going to get hurt!
We need to see where Uchiha's loyalty lies. If a fatal injury is about to be dealt and he does not move, then we will step in and take it that he is Orochimaru's now. But until then, we must only watch. Gaara's grip tightened. You know it is the only way.
You're just going to stand here and –
Do you think it makes me happy to watch a girl get hurt? Gaara was definitely angry now. And you – you profess anger towards Haruno, but here you are losing all rational thought at the first sign of her in danger!
That made Naruto blink. He could only gape at Gaara.
Green eyes were glittering, and hard. You know what you have to do. And then Gaara let go, cutting their connection off abruptly. He turned away from Naruto to watch over the scene below, face an expressionless mask, arms crossed.
Naruto slowly turned to watch, as well, but while his eyes tracked the movements of the battle beneath him, his mind was busy trying to make sense of his own emotions. He did feel betrayed by Sakura, by Sasuke, by Kakashi – they had really hurt him, in their judgement of him, their dismissal of him. And he did hate them for that, just a little. But he still longed for their acceptance, that much he had admitted to himself long ago. He still longed for the ideal relationship he'd envisioned, when he'd first gotten a team – friends, teammates he could count on, a sensei he could admire, who would be like a father, a mentor.
What he wasn't prepared for, Naruto realized, was how strong that longing still was.
He couldn't forgive them, not really – but he wished he could. He wished he didn't have to make the choice.
Damn.
Next to him, Gaara stiffened. Naruto tuned back into reality, and his mind finally registered what his eyes were seeing – Sakura, pinned to the ground by a heavy branch.
And a shower of shuriken, heading right towards her face.
Naruto was already starting forward, Gaara's hands raising to direct his sand – when they both froze, mid-movement. A huge rush of relief swamped Naruto, and – he had to admit – a good part of it was also joy. Naruto almost overbalanced, overwhelmed, but sand caught him around the waist and pulled him back safely on the branch.
Sasuke was standing in front of Sakura, metal blades spinning. It looked like the four-bladed thing that he and Naruto had used during the fight with Zabuza; Sasuke had used it as a whirring shield, deflecting all the shuriken.
With the swish of displaced wind, the three Sound shinobi appeared in the clearing before Sasuke. Their spokesperson had his eyes narrowed. "Sasuke-sama," he said. "What do you mean by this? If we are to successfully convey you to Orochimaru-sama, the girl must die."
Sasuke let the blades whirl to a stop, but held them in his hand, almost casually. "You know," he said conversationally, "the Hokage let me see some interesting scrolls. About the techniques Orochimaru worked on, and their effects. And I really don't think I want to let him have my body as some sort of useful shell."
The Sound nin stiffened. "Orochimaru-sama intends to use your body, yes," he said after a pause. "But with his power and yours, your brother will not stand as chance. You want to defeat your brother at all costs, right? It will be your body, and your mind will still be there – you will be able to savour every bit of your revenge. It is the only way you can get enough power to defeat Uchiha Itachi."
"That's what I used to believe," Sasuke said, and the lightness was gone. "I used to be scared that I couldn't be strong enough. That's why I turned to Orochimaru when he gave me his offer. It was an easy way out – the power was guaranteed to me. But you know… I've had time to think. And I want to defeat my brother by myself. With my own power, because otherwise I won't have surpassed him on my own merit." His smile was humourless, and a little self-mocking, a little bitter, as he added, "Oddly enough it's the people I used to despise who taught me that."
"You would listen to the preaching of weaklings?"
"They taught me through their actions," Sasuke replied. "And if I turn to Orochimaru for power, I will be less than they are. And I refuse to be less than the likes of that muscle-bound idiot Lee, or the Hyuuga, or…" he paused, and then smirked. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."
The Sound nin smiled coldly. "You are right, it doesn't matter. But what doesn't matter is whether you agree to come or not. Our orders are clear – we will take you with us whether you are willing or otherwise, and to eliminate any obstacles. The girl will die, and you will next awake in Orochimaru-sama's stronghold!"
They leapt forward. Sasuke stood his ground, ignoring Sakura's screams of 'Let me out of here, damn it!' and readied himself for an attack –
– which never came.
The battle cries of the Sound nin petered out as they looked down at themselves. Sakura's screaming stopped. Sasuke stared. Naruto whipped around to stare at Gaara, who had his arms held out before him.
"Sabaku Kyuu." His voice echoed clearly through the silent clearing. The eyes of everyone in the clearing widened – they knew what was coming. The Sound nins' mouths opened, presumably to scream, but too late. Naruto whipped out a scroll and hastily looked for the object he wanted to summon.
"Sabaku Sousou."
It rained blood.
Naruto triumphantly materialized the umbrella with a white puff of smoke. He opened it just in time to shield himself and Gaara from the splatters – they hadn't brought much clothing, and he did not want to waste time scrubbing out bloodstains during the exam.
When the shower of blood stopped, Naruto sealed the umbrella back into the scroll – it was the one he used whenever Gaara did his Desert Coffin-Funeral combo, so he didn't bother to clean it as it was completely covered with old bloodstains already – and said, "That was anticlimactic."
Gaara shot him an annoyed look.
"Well, it was!"
"My techniques," Gaara said coldly, "are never anticlimactic."
Naruto grinned; Gaara was so cute! He was like a cat, all affronted pride and injured dignity. "I'm not saying your technique is anticlimactic, I'm just saying that it was an anticlimactic end to the battle."
"That is the same thing."
"No it isn't!"
"Uh…" Sakura's voice, filtering up through the branches, was a little shell-shocked (probably due to being bathed in blood) but slowly gaining back equilibrium. "Gaara-san and Kitsune-san?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for the help."
"No problem."
"Now, not to be rude or anything, but will someone get me out from under this damn tree!"
Gaara gestured. Some sand from the ground obediently rose, and lifted the branch. Sakura scrambled out. The sand dropped the branch again, and returned to its inert state.
"Thanks." Sakura squinted into the trees. "Um, is there any reason why you don't want to come down?"
Naruto peered through the leaves. "Well, the look on Uchiha's face is one reason."
It was true: Sasuke looked murderous. "I could have handled it," he said through gritted teeth. "You didn't have to interfere!"
Geez. He really, really hadn't changed personality-wise. But he'd finally done the right thing after so many years, so that cut him a lot of slack. Still, Naruto wasn't going to take it lying down. "You're welcome," he called sarcastically. "It was such a pleasure helping you, really it was."
"Helping us? You just crushed them into sand! I thought you used to at least leave bodies?"
"Sasuke-kun, you really shouldn't talk to the Kazekage like that," Sakura began.
"We could have gotten three handprints," Sasuke snapped, cutting them off. "Now we –"
There were three thuds.
Sakura turned green, and Sasuke had to shut himself up at the sight of three severed hands on the ground. Naruto broke into a grin, and turned to Gaara. "Man, you think of everything," he said admiringly. "I didn't know your control over the Sousou was so good!"
Gaara's look clearly said, Of course.
They finally left their perch and landed lightly in the clearing as Sasuke and Sakura got out their scrolls. Sakura winced a little as she picked up one hand, while Sasuke had no expression as he grabbed the other. They found a little convenient pool of blood, put the hands in, and then stamped the handprints on their scrolls.
Naruto had to fight back a hysterical laugh; it was like some X-rated grown-up version of potato-stamping in kindergarten. Are those flower-shapes that you're cutting, Sakura-chan? No, sensei, these are severed hands.
It wasn't so funny when it came to his turn, though. Naruto grimaced as he took the severed stump of wrist from Sakura. This was a whole new twist on asking for someone's hand.
Soon enough they were done. In order to prevent anyone else using the hands for their own scrolls, Gaara did a mini-Sousou, and crushed them as well. Then, task completed and scrolls tucked away, the four of them stood in the blood-splattered clearing, staring at one another.
"Well… thank you, Gaara-san. Again," said Sakura awkwardly. "And Kitsune-san, too."
"What for? He didn't do anything," Sasuke said darkly.
It seemed that no matter how, where, or who Naruto was (or was pretending to be), Sasuke would always see him as an enemy. It was almost as if he had some Naruto Radar that let him know when to be a bastard. "You know, most people would refrain from repeatedly insulting one of the most well-known assassins in the world," Naruto pointed out, irritated.
Fire sparked in Sasuke's eyes. "If you want a fight, I'll gladly play along," he said challengingly.
"We just saved your asses, I'm not about to waste Gaara's efforts by killing you," Naruto snapped.
Sasuke bristled. "I think you'll find that killing me isn't as easy as you thought!"
Sakura was looking back and forth between them, an odd expression on her face. "You know," she interjected, "I almost feel like I'm back in the past again, watching Sasuke-kun and Naruto fight."
Naruto's jaw shut with a clack, and he was once again grateful for the mask that hid his 'Oh Shit' expression. He didn't dare look at Gaara, but he could feel unhappiness radiating from his friend – Gaara had warned him time and again to be careful about hiding who he was around his friends. He'd said that they were more perceptive than Naruto gave them credit for.
"Don't mention that name in front of me," Sasuke snarled, not noticing anything amiss.
Luckily, that distracted Sakura. "Will you just get over it already?" she snapped back. "It's mostly our faults that Naruto left! Don't act like you were the only injured party!"
What? Naruto could only watch, stunned, as for the first time before his eyes Sakura faced Sasuke down. Over him, Naruto.
"As if you have the right to –" Sasuke broke off, startling Naruto out of his thoughts as he followed narrowed black eyes to see Gaara walking off. "Where are you going?"
Gaara ignored him.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, fighting to keep her voice level and succeeding, "Gaara-san doesn't answer to us. He has his own exam to complete."
And so did he, Naruto remembered. He grimaced – why was it that when it came to his former teammates, he kept getting thrown off his game? He gave Sakura a quick bow, drawing their attention to him. "I need to be going too," he said hastily. "See you guys around."
He had to run to catch up with Gaara, who was by then leaping through the trees. He managed to draw level with them, and realized that – once again – Gaara was ignoring him, upset about something. He hated this feeling of distance, and felt real worry creep over him. Was Gaara finally getting tired of him or something? Did Gaara want him to remain in Konoha, and not go back to Suna with him?
"Gaara," he said quietly. "Please tell me what's wrong."
His anxiety and sincerity must have gotten through, because Gaara slowed, and then stopped. Naruto followed suit, clinging to a branch facing Gaara's. Those beautiful green eyes looked at him for a long moment, inscrutable.
Then Gaara gave a tiny sigh. "I cannot say," he said, tiny changes in his expression telling Naruto he was troubled. "I do not fully understand it myself – but what I do know is that I must not say anything. This is something that you have to figure out yourself, Naruto."
Damn. He really wasn't good at this stuff. He gave Gaara a pleading look.
The corners of Gaara's mouth turned up in that small smile that Naruto loved, because it only came out when they were alone – but this time, there was sadness around the edges. Naruto didn't like that at all. "Figure it out yourself," Gaara said again.
Naruto sighed.
Gaara looked towards the tower at the centre of the forest. When he spoke again, it was all business, the Kazekage at his most powerful. "We should set our plans in motion. First, the bunshins; then we need to seek out those we want handprints from. Remember, I do not wish to skew the results of this exam any more than necessary."
"I know, I know. No helping people I like, only intervene when lives are in danger, blah blah." Naruto made a face. "Your Kazekage's position takes away all the fun, you know."
A hand of sand smacked him on the ankle, causing him to yelp. "Bunshins," Gaara reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto raised his hands and performed the seals as Gaara did. Five bunshins of each man appeared.
"Oh, um…" Naruto remembered that he needed to let Gaara know Lee and Hinata knew about him, and winced. Gaara was not going to be happy. "Hinata-chan and Lee kind of… know."
To his surprise, Gaara merely nodded. "I expected as much."
Naruto sputtered. "What? Why?"
"The two of them hold you in high esteem, and are loyal to you. You would have let your guard down around them." There was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "For all your training as Kitsune, you are remarkably weak at hiding yourself around people you know."
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbled. "So I'm not used to lying and hiding around my friends."
Gaara's gaze softened. "That is a part of you," he said simply. "It is a good thing." Then, when Naruto was scrambling for something to say that wasn't I love you, Gaara turned businesslike. "Naruto, your clones will tail the Uchiha, Haruno, Akimichi Chouji, Lee and the female Hyuuga. Mine will follow the other Hyuuga, his female teammate, the Aburame, the Inuzuka, and my own shinobi – we met him earlier."
"Sure." Naruto watched as the bunshins sped off, and came to a belated realization. "Oh, hey – you want more bunshins to follow the other two Suna nins? It's not very fair that we're only going to watch over the Konoha ones."
"No, my other two nins are more than capable of looking after themselves, and they will have found each other by now. Nagasaki is the one I am worried about, for he will seek out dangerous opponents instead of his fellow shinobi for help." A brief smile. "He is much like you and the Uchiha."
"I am not…!" Naruto trailed off, and then grouchily said, "Okay, so maybe we're a little alike."
Gaara chose not to comment, but there was a smugness to his tone as he said, "We should not seek out the last two handprints until the last moment, when teams are already heading to the tower. Accordingly, we should find somewhere to settle around the perimeter of the tower and prepare ourselves."
Naruto understood the reasoning behind Gaara's plan – whoever they went after was bound to lose, and since Gaara refused to kill anyone else (the Sound nins were an exception, since they weren't real jounin candidates), that meant that their victims would have used up their one allocated handprint and would be desperate not to lose again. Which meant that they would fight with everything they had, the next time they met someone, which increased the chances of someone dying. To avoid that, Naruto and Gaara would hold back until those who were going to be out were out, and then head after them.
And other than that, there was still… "Gaara. We haven't heard the last from Orochimaru, have we?"
"No, Orochimaru will not be set back so easily. He likely cannot do anything further during this part of the exam, but during the third test, when so many foreign shinobi will come to Konoha to watch the battles… that is when he has the best chance to strike."
"And there's still Akatsuki to deal with. We had a general idea about what Orochimaru's going to try, but we still haven't the faintest idea about the Akatsuki side. We don't know what they want, except the bijuu – and that's only a means to an end. And that end may have something to do with Konoha, from what we've heard."
"Yes." Gaara stared moodily into the distance. "Furthermore, we have that promise of yours to carry out."
Naruto grimaced. "I had no choice –"
"I know. I simply meant that it is yet another item on our agenda."
"Hmph." Naruto didn't say anything for a while. Then: "I have this really bad feeling, Gaara. Something very big is going to happen, and soon."
"I have had the same feeling for a while, too. There is nothing we can do now, however, but watch. And wait."
"Which is all we seem to be doing, nowadays."
"One of the disadvantages of being powerful and responsible."
"Yeah. Damn."
End Chapter Three.
See? Told you it wasn't going to be Sasuke-bashing. Actually, some people may be disappointed that it isn't, I realized, but… Sasuke has been manipulated and played his whole life. He's never been able to live like he wanted, he's never been able to be a kid. It's like Naruto, and Gaara – horrible circumstances outside their control screwing with their heads.
When I think about it that way, Sasuke's not that bad after all.
Of course, the way he's being developed in canon? It makes him an ass.
To repeat myself, this is going to be a Gaara and Naruto pairing, since people have been asking. Though there won't actually be much romantic action, just lots of thinking about it. So... BE WARNED. And to those SasuNaru fans who are still going to give this fic a chance, thank you! (: Even if you don't get converted to GaaNaru, I hope that at least you won't mind reading more of it in the future. GaaNaru is my OTP, but I have quite a few SasuNaru fics saved as my favourites because they're good fics, regardless of pairing. I hope that this fic can be like that for you.
I would like to very shyly (or not) point out the quotes at the start of each chapter. I chose them for a reason. Each chapter, to me, has one main theme, one main idea, and the quote illustrates that. I hope that the link between idea and quote isn't too hard to see. (: This one, for example, is about Sasuke. The Robert Frost poem in the prologue is about Naruto's choices in that chapter, and so on.
Ashen Skies
"I used to be scared that I couldn't be strong enough."
