My Way of the Ninja

Chapter 7

Beta'd: MrsHellman


Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would not put in so many fillers in the anime!



When Sasuke and Naruto had returned to the house, they sat down on some of the couches in the main lounge – not because they were comfortable, but because it was the only 'sittable' thing in the house. Naruto had screamed, yelled, pleaded, begged and practically threatened with suicide – that they should get a new couch.

Well, on with the more. . . important things. The ANBU stood right by them, much to the younger blonde's annoyance, and said blonde didn't quite know if they had noticed his hatred towards the couch, but perhaps they had?

"Could you guys give us some space?" Naruto asked one of them as he arched a brow while looking at them from the corners of his eyes.

"We were told to guard you, Naruto-sama," he replied flatly with a small nod, causing the blonde to glare at the man who said it.

"Well, can't you guard us from over there," the blonde teen pointed to a spot that would more out of earshot. More specifically, he was indicating the kitchen…which was located a few rooms away from the living room – where he and Sasuke currently sat – and a few rooms away meant on the other side of the house.

"Very well, Naruto-sama," he answered, as he and his partner retreated back a bit. They didn't go to the kitchen; they simply walked over to the next room.

Sighing, but satisfied, Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was looking even paler than usual, and it made the blonde frown in confusion, but them he remembered; Fugaku. "You okay, Sasuke?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't understand what's going on," the raven answered distantly as he swallowed thickly.

"With what?" the blonde asked. He had a feeling as to what his friend was referring to, but feigned ignorance. The poor raven had to let it all out rather than simply nod when answering the blonde.

"Otou-sama. He- he. . ." Sasuke couldn't finish the sentence as he looked over to Naruto with sad eyes.

"Oh, that," Naruto answered uncomfortably, shifting his gaze. "Y-you saw him take me to Orochimaru then?" he asked, carefully as the raven nodded slowly, as he stared at his friend; he could see fear in the blonde's face. "I wonder whose side he's on. It sure seemed like he was working with Orochimaru," the blonde continued casually.

"He couldn't be, he just can't be. He. . . he wouldn't betray the village," the raven-haired teen answered with a touch of anger, not willing to accept what he had seen his father do.

"I don't understand it either, Sasuke," Naruto told his friend sympathetically with a shrug of his small shoulders. "Maybe it's some kind of mistake," he continued hopefully and smiled towards the raven, but the latter saw the corner of the blonde's mouth twitch.

"Damn it! It has to be a mistake! Otou-sama would never—" the raven snarled, but suddenly he stopped, and Naruto looked wide-eyed at his friend, surprised at his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Sasuke said sincerely with a sigh, as he leaned back in the couch, as if trying to get away from reality. "It's just all so weird, I don't know what to think. It was strange, now that I come to think of it that Otou-sama refused to train me, or help at all before the Chuunin exams." The raven buried his head in his hands. He hadn't felt so confused or lost since Itachi was imprisoned. It was like he was re-living those days all over again.

Naruto moved from his spot on the couch and came over and sat down next to Sasuke, putting a hand on his shoulder; a small sincere smile played on his lips, as he bowed his head a little. "Hey, it's going to be okay, Sasuke. We'll find out the truth, and I'm sure Tou-san can help."

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke answered dismissively, still lost in his own thoughts and recognizing the differences between his own father and Naruto's.

Naruto frowned, his blonde brows furrowed together in deep thought. He didn't like to see his friend so down, it just wasn't like Sasuke, but then he suddenly grinned – an idea had been born. "Too bad we couldn't finish our battle," he told the raven causally, changing topics. "Of course, I was clearly ahead and would have won for sure," he went on, boastfully, hoping this would get a rise out of the prideful Uchiha.

The raven looked up and over at the blonde. "What? Are you joking?" That seemed to snap Sasuke out of his mood, and quickly, as Naruto had hoped. "I was clearly ahead, and about to beat you, usuratonkachi!" he retorted with a glare and smirk on his facial features, it seemed as if everything was working according to the plan.

Naruto smirked at him. That's more like the Sasuke I know! "I guess we'll never know, teme," he answered smugly with a shrug, as he released Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hmm," the raven grunted in response.

He was silent for another minute before speaking again though. "You fought well. You've gotten a lot stronger, Naruto," Sasuke admitted as lifted his eyebrows, and then clicked his tongue.

The blonde grinned at his friend; warmth was spreading in his body due to hearing those words. "Thanks! I trained like hell! And Tou-san really helped out too! I mean, he had to balance his time with Hokage duties, but he was able to take some time to train me."

Sasuke looked down again at these words, his hair covering his eyes, his expression unreadable.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly after the silence was going on too long for the blonde's liking. In his mind, three seconds of silence was too long for the blonde. "You alright?"

The brunette finally spoke in a tone Naruto rarely heard from his friend. It sounded. . . envious? "You don't know how lucky you are to have the Yondaime for father, Naruto," he finally answered, clenching his fists, in anger. Why couldn't his father see him like he used to see Itachi? Why couldn't his father accept him for being the way he wanted to be?

Naruto was taken aback by these words, and it made him frown a little as he thought about it; his eyes flickering from one thing to another in the living room. What was Sasuke getting at? Before he could answer though, the raven went on.

"Otou-sama wouldn't even train me! I had to train by myself." He wasn't telling Naruto the whole truth; Kakashi had trained with him. . . but still – it wasn't his father. "In fact, he's been hardly there for me my entire life. It was always Itachi. I thought things would get better after he was gone, but no, they didn't. I did everything I could to get Otou-sama to notice me, and for what? Nothing!" he shouted the last word, slamming his hand down hard on the couch.

Naruto eyes widened as the young Uchiha's fist connected with the couch cushion; he blinked in the process as well, his body going rigid without him knowing it. He had never seen Sasuke like this before. He knew the raven's relationship with his father wasn't the best, but he never thought it was that bad. He didn't know what to say, because the blonde never realized how good he had it with his own father. He. . . probably took his father and his relationship for granted. . . sometimes. A lot? Pretty often? Nearly all the time? Yep, all the time. . .

"Sasuke…I-I'm really sorry," the blonde answered quietly, stuttering, not knowing what else to say.

Sasuke nodded as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I didn't mean to take this out on you, Naruto. It's just been really frustrating," he told his blonde friend with a frown still covering his facial features.

"I understand," Naruto replied, and then he suddenly grinned at the raven, who quirked a brow in response.

"What?" the said raven asked, confused.

"During the tournament, I never got to show you my new move that Tou-san taught me," he replied proudly. "Want to see it?" He really wanted to get Sasuke out of his 'mood.' It just wasn't like him and bothered the blonde.

Sasuke shrugged as he heard that, he wondered what it could be. "Sure, why not?"

"Great, let's go to Tou-san's training grounds," the blonde gushed, dragging his friend towards the door that would lead to his father's private training area, which was outside at the back of the house.

"Wait, Naruto-sama! You can't leave the house!" An ANBU said, suddenly standing in front of Naruto, blocking the way for the teenagers.

"Aw, can't you just come with us?" the blonde begged, using his pleading eyes that no one in their right mind could resist. The ANBU simply looked at each other, and back at Naruto's big, blue, pleading eyes. . .

The ANBU stood by close by watching Naruto and Sasuke as they now stood together in Minato's private training grounds, wondering how they were defeated by a mere 12 year-old.

"Okay, Sasuke, get ready, 'cause you might wet your pants when you see this," Naruto taunted with a smirk on his lips as he studied his friend.

"Hn, whatever, dobe," the raven answered, receiving an annoyed look from the blonde at the nickname. "Come on; show me. I'm curious as to what you've got that's so special."

"Yosh, watch this!" Naruto said as he bit his thumb and with the blood, made the necessary hand signals and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A puff of smoke revealed a small frog; it was Gamakichi.

"Yo! What up Naruto!" it said with a smile. "Got any snacks?"

The blonde groaned, slapping his forehead. "Not you again! I wanted Gamabunta! You can go," he said in a defeated tone, a disappointed frown visible between his blonde brows.

"Humph, fine, be that way," Gamakichi snorted as he disappeared in a 'poof' of smoke, leaving the blonde to feel a little uncomfortable for hurting the frog as well as embarrassed for his failure of summoning Gamabunta. He looked over at Sasuke, nervously. "Tou-san taught me how to summon toads, and once, I summoned this huge one!" the blonde explained, waving his arms for emphasis. "But I have a little trouble with it sometimes," he admitted sadly. He thought back to how he had managed to summon the giant toad boss, and a small blush crept on his cheeks. It was embarrassing! He could never admit what happened to Sasuke.

"That's okay, Naruto," the raven said, not seeing the blonde's blush as he walked over to his friend. "I think it's still cool that you can summon animals. I'm sure you'll get it down," he told the blonde encouragingly.

Naruto smiled half-heartedly at him as the blush grew a little. "Thanks."

"I have to tell you that I wasn't being completely honest with you earlier," the raven started, causing Naruto to raise a blonde brow.

"What do you mean?" the blonde of the two asked.

"Kakashi came by one day, and he offered to train me," the young Uchiha answered without looking Naruto in the eyes. "He mostly taught me about the Sharingan. . . but. . ." he trailed off, unable to look at the blonde.

"But. . . what?" the blonde prompted impatiently as he titled his head to the side.

"He taught me a new jutsu," he told his friend, afraid what the blonde might think of that.

"Really?" the said blonde's eyes got so big, and Sasuke could swear he saw sparkles in them. "Show me!" he gushed loudly, causing the raven to wince at the sound.

"Okay, calm down," the raven told the hyper blonde as he waved his hands in front of him as to stop said blonde from running him over.

"Stand back!" The raven began to power up. He formed the necessary hand signs and suddenly some visible chakra appeared in his hand that looked like lighting. It chirped and sizzled loudly, it was if a thousand birds were crying. "Chidori!" he shouted, and launched his attack on a nearby tree, which cut it completely in two.

"Sugoi, Sasuke!" Naruto gushed excitedly, but then suddenly frowned. Narrowing his eyes at the brunette, he shouted, "Were you going to use that on me?" he suddenly accused, shivering as he thought about himself getting hit with something as powerful as that.

Sasuke smirked at his friend as he saw a flash of fear in those cerulean eyes. "Only as a last resort," he teased with a chuckle, as he listened to Naruto rant and rave at him, vowing he'd learn a technique that would be just as good.

The ANBU wondered if there would be any trees left at the Hokage's house. . .

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After Minato had assessed the damage, and gave instructions for the repair of the village, he had to stop by his office to write a report of these events. It was important to keep such records and archive them. It was the last thing he wanted to do, after all he had been through, but he just had to get it over with. Then he could go home, and see how Naruto and Sasuke were doing.

As he finished up the report, and filed it, no doubt the elders would want to read it, Minato sighed as he rubbed his forehead. It was then that he saw something on his desk that caught his attention. It was message that was sent from Suna, before the Chuunin exam, stating that they couldn't participate in the exam, due to economic depression they were currently facing. They wanted to meet with Minato to negotiate some kind of financial assistance. He hadn't had time to do anything about it as of yet. He frowned as he re-read the message. They must really be desperate. He would have to proceed with caution. Deciding he needed to reply to the Yondaime Kazekage, he wrote a reply, stating that he would like to arrange a meeting to conduct negotiations. After he finished, he looked it over, and then sealed it up. Now that he came to think of it, didn't the Kazekage have a son that was Naruto's age, named Gaara? Summoning a messaging bird, Minato tied the message to its leg, and send it on its way. The weary Hokage, finally made his made home.

Sasuke had been invited to stay the night, and both boys were delighted. Minato still hadn't heard from Kakashi yet about Fugaku, and decided it best not to tell Sasuke for now. He didn't realize that the raven had seen what his father had done and was therefore unprepared for what happened the next morning.

That morning after breakfast, Sasuke decided to pop the question. "Hokage-sama?" he started.

Minato looked over at him, after taking a sip of his tea. "Yes, Sasuke?"

Naruto looked sideways at his friend, wondering what he was going to ask his father.

"May I asked you a question?" the raven continued, looking serious.

"Of course," the taller blonde answered congenially.

"I-it's about…Otou-sama," Sasuke began. "In the Chuunin stadium. He took Naruto to Orochimaru. Why?" he asked looking at the Yondaime. Naruto looked over at his father also, wondering how he was going to answer that.

Minato sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. This was getting complicated. "You saw what your father did?" he asked, as the raven nodded in response. "I'm not sure how to answer your question, Sasuke. But I can tell you this--I have some people investigating the matter, and I will inform you when I know more." It wasn't exactly a lie, but the older blonde wasn't ready to reveal Fugaku's betrayal yet.

"Oh, well, thanks, Hokage-sama," the raven answered, sounding a bit dejected.

Minato smiled at him and then looked at the clock. "I have to get to the office now. I'll see you later," he called as he rushed out the door, leaving the two boys alone.

When he got the office, he saw that a messenger bird was waiting for him, no ordinary one either. It was Takamaru, the fastest messenger in Suna. He recognized because of the markings, white under the wings and tail. He took the message and opened it.

We are pleased that you are willing to negotiate with us. If you would come to Suna, as soon as possible, we can have the negotiations there.

Sincerely,

Yondaime Kazekage

Minato felt like banging his head against something hard so its contents would splatter all over the walls— Okay! Maybe not that brutally, but still! How often do you learn that you have to travel through a desert – out of all the freaking places on earth –to negotiate about something as commonplace as an economic depression?

He had decided after reading the Kazekage's message this morning, to go to Suna at once. He still hadn't heard from Kakashi yet, as to the mission he gave him regarding Fugaku, but this had to be taken care of. Since Konoha is one of the bigger villages with a lot of power and resources, it was natural for Suna to ask for help, even though they hadn't always been on the best of terms. But just because Konoha is this specific village doesn't make things easier for the blonde Hokage, do you want to know why?

This is the deal; the blonde Hokage will have to sign a contract with the Kazekage of Suna, but it's a contract of great importance, and to sign such a contract takes long meetings and discussions, and in order to get there, he had to cross three days worth of desert, isn't that lovely?

Naruto had just recovered from the incident during the Chuunin exams and since Minato, as the Hokage, would have to be present during all of these long meetings, he can't leave his son at home, as well as he can't stay home with him either. Sasuke had left after the taller blonde and come home and announced that they had to go to Suna at once for business. The raven felt a pang of jealousy. Naruto got to do all the fun stuff. Well, he'd just devote his time to training. Naruto was excited to go at least, since he had never been there before. He was also pleased to learn that the Kazekage had a son his age.

This whole trip would take at least a week or two. . . Travelling to Suna would take two to three days, so one week will go to travelling while the residual days would include the whole contract signing and the meetings.

"Naruto!" The Yondaime Hokage yelled from the kitchen as he was making breakfast for himself and his son. "You've got to come down now! We'll leave in two hours, and you haven't even packed yet!"

"Coming, Tou-san!" was the reply from said boy's room. "I can't find my hitai-ate!"

Minato rolled his eyes and sighed as his eyes landed on said 'disappeared' hitai-ate; it was lying on the kitchen sink where Naruto had left it during dinner last night. And he only noticed it was missing just now? He thought dryly.

"It's already downstairs Naruto! Come on, and move your orange clad ass to the table," Minato yelled again, but with a lower voice, as he heard that his son was moving towards the stairs from the second floor.

"Here I am!" Naruto shouted as he rounded the doorpost, grabbing his hitai-ate in the process, and then he headed for the kitchen table. "Gomen, Tou-san," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You can say that again," Minato retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You know that we're supposed to leave for Suna by noon, and it's already 10am."

"Gomen nasai Tou-san, but I'm so excited to get there," the younger blonde answered as he pouted, using his puppy eyes on his father.

"Don't even bother with those eyes young man. I'm stressed, and I'm trying to finalize the last of the preparations. Now remember, I need you on your best behavior, Naruto," the older blonde warned the younger.

"I know, I know, Tou-san, you told me this already," the said blonde answered, rolling his eyes.

"It's important enough to say again," the taller blonde went on, as he grabbed a piece of bread and some butter, making himself a sandwich. "You are a reflection of our village and more importantly, as the son of the Hokage."

"I got it already, okay, Tou-san?" Naruto complained.

"Very well. Eat something, and get packed. At least the Kazekage has a son your age. I think he has two older children as well, that I think you'll be able to meet," Minato went on as Naruto started eating.

"I wonder what they're like?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"I don't know, really. But I'm sure they're nice. I met them once a long time ago," the older blonde explained. Now hurry up, we need to get ready to go," Minato urged his son.

"Alright!" Naruto huffed as he gulped down his breakfast.

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As Minato had predicted, the passage to Suna did take three days. There were others that traveled with the Hokage and his son – about a dozen ANBUs, a few Jounin, and Special Ops Jounins.

But when they finally arrived, they were met by a few of Suna's Jounins and ANBUs, and to judge by their facial expressions, they were only too happy to see the Yondaime Hokage.

"Welcome Hokage-sama," one of the Jounins said as he stepped forward with a bow. He made some introductions, and them Minato introduced his people. "I'll lead you to the Kazekage's office, along with your crew, and—" the man stopped as he noticed that Naruto was among the men as well, and that he was the only child.

"Um, I'm sorry to tell you this, Hokage-sama, but no children are allowed during the meetings," the man said again, a frown was visible on his brow.

"Oi! Look here, I am no child," Naruto retorted indignantly, very upset as to having be referred to as a mere child.

Minato smiled tightly at the man, and then turning his attention to his son, he bent down and whispered in his ear, "Naruto! Mind your manners and let me handle this please." Straightening up, he addressed the man before him. "I apologize for my son. He's a little tired from the journey," Naruto huffed at this and folded his arms. "Where can my son stay then?" he asked, emphasizing the words 'my son' so that the Jounin would understand that Minato wanted Naruto to be safe.

"I will have the children of the Kazekage stay with him at their house. They will entertain him just fine, if that meets your approval, Hokage-sama," the Jounin answered with a small bow again, as Minato nodded.

"That'll be acceptable," the blonde Hokage answered. "I also want an ANBU to stay with him as well."

Naruto huffed angrily again at this. He didn't want to be babysat, like some little kid. However, his curiosity got the better of him about meeting the kids of the Kazekage.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," he answered and with one final bow from all of the Jounins and ANBUs of Suna, they started walking towards the mansion to drop off Naruto first, and then head towards the Kazekage Tower, where the Yondaime Kazekage would be awaiting them.

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At the mansion, Naruto had been dropped off, with Minato humiliating him by telling him to behave. The oldest, a daughter, had come down and introductions were made. Her name was Temari. She was tall, had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair was pulled back in four short pony-tails. She carried what looked like an enormous fan on her back. After having the situation explained, she led Naruto into the main room.

"So, you're the Yondaime's son, eh?" she asked conversationally.

"Yeah, that's me!" Naruto chirped.

"I have a brother your age, you guys would probably get along real well. I'll go get him for you," Temari said as she left Naruto in the lounge.

While Naruto was waiting for her, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey, shrimp, who are you?"

Naruto turned around so fast he thought he heard his head snap. "Itai."

He saw a boy taller than him covered in black. He wore a black hood with what looked like ears on top of the hood. He also had purple markings on his face.

"I'm not a shrimp! My name is Namikaze Naruto," the blonde said a little huffily.

"The son of the Yondaime of Konoha?" the other boy asked with surprise.

"Yes. Our father's are meeting together and he left me here with you guys. What is your name?" Naruto asked.

"Kankuro. My younger brother will be delighted to meet you," he said smirking just a bit.

"That's what your sister said," the blonde answered. Just as he finished speaking Temari came back with the youngest of the Sand siblings.

"Namikaze Naruto, let me introduce you to Gaara," Temari announced, as Gaara stepped into the room. "We'll just leave you two to get acquainted." She and Kankuro left.

Naruto eyed Gaara curiously. He had red hair, and dark circles under his eyes. He also carried a gourd on his back. Weird. The blonde stood up and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Gaara," he said with a smile.

Gaara eyed Naruto's hand and finally took it. "Likewise," he said quietly.

Hm…must be shy, the blonde thought.

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Meanwhile, Minato was in the Kazekage's meeting place in the Tower, which was located in the central part of the village.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Hokage-sama," the Kazekage began.

"Not a problem at all," Minato replied. "Why don't you start by telling me what you need and we'll negotiate from there?" he suggested.

"Very well. I trust that the arrangements that were made for your son are to your satisfaction?" the Kazekage continued.

"Yes, quite, thank you," the blonde Hokage answered.

"Excellent. Well, let's begin. Here is the proposal that I want to make," the brown-haired Kazekage began.

The older blonde tried hard to pay attention to what the Kazekage was saying. His thoughts kept drifting towards his son. He wondered if he was all right. Was he keeping out of trouble? Was he using good manners? Would he be safe?

"…do you think, Hokage-sama?" the Kazekage's voice cut into Minato's thoughts. He shook his head.

"Um…yes, that sounds fine," he answered, feeling embarrassed that he wasn't paying attention. He could be as bad as Naruto at times.

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"So, Gaara, what level ninja are you?" Naruto asked the red-head conversationally.

"Genin," he replied. "I really wanted to take the Chuunin exams, but due the economic depression, Suna wasn't able to participate this year," the red-head answered.

"Gee, I'm sorry. I hope that we can help you and then you can take the next exam," Naruto offered. "I'm a Genin too and I was taking the exam when this guy Orochimaru showed up and ruined it. But it was cool how Tou-san kicked his ass," he blonde gestured wildly as he talked. "I think I would have been a Chuunin for sure. So, I'll have to wait for the next exam too. Maybe we can be in it together," he finished.

"Perhaps so," Gaara answered. Thinking for a moment, he went on. "Although, maybe we don't need to wait for the next Chuunin exams to find out something," he added thoughtfully, giving Naruto a peculiar look.

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked.

"What would you say to having a little 'friendly' competition between the two of us? You know, to see who's stronger?" the red-head asked.

Naruto thought it over. Then he grinned widely. "You're on!"

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Back at the Kazekage Tower, the meeting was dragging on way more than Minato thought was necessary. He was actually started to get bored. On top of that, he was getting a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was going to happen. Something bad that would involve his son. The older blonde couldn't explain it, but he knew better than to ignore the feeling. He'd felt it before and had ended up being dead on.

"Excuse me," he interpreted the Kazekage. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, but we really need to wrap this up. I need to check on my son," Minato explained.

"Of course, I understand, Hokage-sama. We'll be finished soon, and then we'll be sending you on your way," he said with smile that seemed a little fake.

"Thank you," Minato answered with a tight smile. There was something about the way the Kazekage was looking at him that the older blonde didn't like.

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Gaara led Naruto the training grounds in the village.

"Okay, Gaara. Let's see what you've got!" Naruto challenged the red-head.

"As you wish," Gaara answered, coolly. "But don't complain when you lose."

"Hah! As if! Here I come!" Naruto charged him. The ANBU who was watching them was suddenly gone. In his place were four pairs of eyes watching the two teen's fighting.

"There he is. The Yondaime's son. He fits the description the Kazekage gave us. Now that he's alone, we'll have no trouble securing him," one Iwagakure nin said to his partner.

"Right," he answered the first.

"Let's go."

Naruto was having a hard time getting past Gaara's sand defense. It was like the Sand moved on its own will apart from the red-head. But how the heck was that happening?

Suddenly, their spar was interrupted by the appearance of two ninja.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled at them. "Who the hell are you guys?" He saw by looking at their hitai-ate symbols, he saw they were not from Suna, but rather Iwagakure, Land of Earth.

"Get the blonde," the taller one said to his partner.

The said blonde knew then what they were after. His father had warned him all his life that because of who he was, he would always be a target for kidnapping, or worse. That day had finally come. But the blonde didn't train his butt off for nothing.

"Naruto! Run! I'll hold them off!" Gaara shouted.

"But, I can't just leave you here!" Naruto protested.

"Yes you can! I'll be fine! Go, now!" the red-head told him again. Naruto nodded and started to run.

Gaara turned to face his enemies, unleashed a wall of sand onto them. Such a blow would normally knock out a ninja. Naruto stopped and turned to look, shouting a big victory howl. Gaara smirked and started walking back towards the blonde.

Naruto gasped and Gaara turned to see the sand shifting as the pair emerged from the sand. Gaara was shocked to see this turn of events and yelled at the stupid blonde, "Get the HELL out of HERE!!"

Nodding, Naruto decided to do one more thing that he knew would help. Forming the familiar cross sign, he shouted, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Twenty Naruto's appeared. "Catch me if you can!" they shouted, as they all took off running in different directions.

The Iwa nin stared Gaara down. "You'll be sorry you let him get away. After all, you're disobeying the Kazekage's direct orders," the leader nin said.

"What?" Gaara was surprised by this. What the hell was this guy talking about?

The pair of ninjas began their pursuit; Gaara raised a sand wall to block them. His mind was set, he would defend the honor of his land. "This is my country and my guest is under my protection." Suddenly, a spray of the sand wall broke free and hurled toward Gaara. While the other the Iwa Nins walked through the wall of sand and continued their pursuit.

Naruto soon noticed that he was being pursued. One of the Iwa nins have formed his own clones and was after him. Where the hell is that ANBU that was supposed to be with me? He must have gotten taken out! He thought as he turned a corner. The Iwa nin was good. He was taking out Naruto's clones too easily. Turning another corner, and running down an alley, he found he was trapped.

Turning around to face his opponent, there was nothing for it, but to use taijutsu. Running towards the Iwa nin, Naruto executed some very impressive taijutsu, along with throwing kunai and shuriken, at his opponent, who blocked and retaliated with some of his own, which Naruto was able to dodge. While they were still fighting, the other nin had scaled the wall behind the two combatants and was making his way to ambush the unsuspecting blonde. Before Naruto could react, he suddenly found a cloth covering his nose and mouth. It had a funny smell. . . he recognized it as some kind of knock out poison. . . Kuso! What happened to Gaara? Was his last thought, as blonde passed out, and collapsed into the waiting man's arms.

"About time," the leader nin said. "Come on, let's go." They suddenly disappeared with an unconscious Naruto between them and Gaara nowhere to be seen.

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TBC

AN: Sorry for the longer wait. I had to write new chapters for once. Read on and you'll understand why. Okay, the Suna stuff was written mostly by MrsHellman. And my husband, Jeremy, added some fighting parts with Gaara. He's awesome with that! I tweaked the rest of it. I also want to thank anemix, who gave me this idea to do all of this! Sorry the fighting wasn't longer, and yeah, maybe it's a stretch that Gaara was defeated so easily, but it's AU and anything can happen.