So, for this chapter, I really wanted to introduce a lot of characters. But I couldn't. Still, I finally got to write the scene that made me begin this story so I'm pretty happy with this chapter. Also, I'm shipping Jiraya and Tsunade so hard that it isn't funny anymore. What else? I should stop gushing over Gaara and Naruto's cuteness. I'm the author and I shouldn't do that. (But I'll still do it...)
Also, I don't have a beta so if you see any error in this chapter, just tell me. I don't bite and I'm actually really happy when I get to correct those errors. (Am I a masochist or what?)
And now to answer the Anon's reviews:
Saturnblue: Indeed, Kaeru's presence is influencing him. And you're pretty right. Pretty much.
Pyrokitty: Naww, you're just humouring me. Right now, it's just fluff. Once we get to the timeskip, it'll be a little more centred on romance and whatnot. You can ramble, it's diverting.
And that's pretty much. Enjoy this chapter. (We got to the hundred review just as I finished editing this chapter! Isn't that amazing?)
(・・?) Kaeru(・・?)
Kinship
Shisui scrunched his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. The hot breath fanning his neck tickled him but he tried to ignore that fact. Also, holding Naruto was beginning to tire him. Or maybe it was because he had used his Mangekyo. The Uchiha didn't know why but he was tired. And as such, he only wanted to crash on the nearest couch and sleep away the crankiness that he was feeling creeping on him.
Shisui was someone who liked to be well rested. Very much like pretty much every Uchiha. Except for Itachi, that boy could go on a whole week without sleeping. (And that was clearly a sign showing that Itachi wasn't human. That boy was a robot and nobody could make Shisui stop believing it)
The sudden creak when the door was opened shook Shisui from his rather strange thoughts and he shook his head slightly, his dark hair brushing against Naruto's scratched cheek and the boy whined slightly. The Uchiha made a small sound of apologise and followed Kaeru. The latter had already gone into the small apartment, his charge's sand rumbling around him. That didn't seem to disturb the Toad as he merely shook his shoulders (was he laughing?) and walked until he entered a bedroom. He swiftly put the redhead on the bed and turned his head inquisitively towards Shisui.
The dark haired shinobi nodded silently and put Naruto next to the sleeping jinchūriki.
Then, as he took a step back and observed the two sleeping kids, he pursed his lips.
"Is it really a good idea to put them together?" he whispered while he frowned heavily. "After all the damage done in the fourth training ground..."
Kaeru shrugged and waved idly his left hand before he straightened his back and opened the window.
"Where are you going?" Shisui inquired while his frown deepened. He could already feel the wrinkles on his forehead if he kept acting like that. (Soon, he would have the same stress marks than Itachi...)
The masked jounin turned softly his head and tilted it. From what Shisui could remember from Naruto's nonsensical babbles, it was Kaeru's way to smile.
「Keep watch on the kids.」 he wrote.
Shisui tried to stop himself from frowning even more and sighed heavily.
"Very well," he reluctantly accepted. A relieved sigh followed his answer and Shisui raised his eyebrows, he hadn't expected the Toad to be that relieved. Was he that preoccupied by the two jinchūriki?
Shisui shook his head softly and pulled the chair from the little desk in Naruto's bedroom until it was next to the boy's bed and he sat with a heavy sigh.
"You owe me," he absentmindedly commented.
A small whistle of agreement followed his statement and Shisui chuckled. He closed his eyes and felt the Toad's chakra vanish.
'Body clone then,' he thought. 'I wonder when he swapped with it...'
囧
The Fourth Kazekage thrummed lightly his fingers on the armrest and he furrowed slightly his eyebrows. They had discussed their new and quite fragile alliance until the sunset was already showing its flaming colours through the wide window of the Hokage's office.
"Now that we have cleared the path," Sarutobi Hiruzen said quietly as he took a puff of his kiseru. "The only thing left is to decide how we will deal with Kiri..."
The Fourth pursed his lips and nodded faintly. He could still feel the bad aftertaste of discovering that he had been spied all those years without even noticing it.
"To be honest," the Hokage closed his eyes and sighed wearily. "I'd like to avoid going head first against Kiri. Even if eight years passed, we are still recovering from the Kyuubi attack. As you are from the Ichibi, right?"
The Kazekage frowned and groaned vaguely. He didn't like admitting those facts but they were the thruth. Currently, they were too weak to go against Kiri.
"Then, maybe we should send a team to negotiate with the Mizukage," Hiruzen leaned his chin over his folded hands and smiled weakly. "Let's see if diplomacy can win this time..."
The redhead scoffed softly and he rolled his eyes.
"And after that try?" he asked calmly.
"After," the Hokage said sternly, his eyes taking a sharp gleam and his lips tightening into a firm line. "We prepare to war."
"Very well," the Kazekage inclined his head. Then, as he glanced at the sunset, he furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "Shall we send him?"
Hiruzen sighed heavily and closed his eyes while he tried to ignore the now familiar sound of shattering glass.
"Take a seat," he muttered as he creaked an eye open and glared halfheartedly at the shinobi. "You came at the right time, Kaeru."
The masked jounin nodded swiftly his head and gave him a thumbs-up before he suddenly took the only empty chair and flopped down gracelessly. He crossed his legs, his black pants ruffling in the otherwise silent room, and tilted his head, his left cheek leaning against his hand. The Fourth Kazekage could almost picture the shinobi smirking smugly at them.
The Hokage seemed the think the same because he sighed heavily and pinched his nose with an aggravated sound. The clock ticked loudly in the office and Kaeru shifted slightly in his chair. The Kazekage merely observed him with judging eyes and stayed silent.
Finally, as the seconds were getting longer and longer with the increasing tension, Hiruzen placed his palms on his desk and cleared his throat loudly.
"There is a war coming," he said gravely.
Kaeru didn't flinch nor move.
"We will first send mediators but if they were to fail," Sarutobi continued as his face darkened ominously. "There will be a war."
The Kazekage coughed softly and his clothes shuffled slightly. He was unsettled.
"Suna," he said calmly, his voice was even and his face didn't show what he was really thinking. Nonetheless, the two Konoha shinobi knew perfectly what kind of thoughts the redhead had, "is now allied with Konoha against Kiri. You said that you aren't part to any Hidden Village, what will be your action?"
Kaeru's head straightened a bit and he folded his hands over his right knees, his leg bent so his knees was against his chest. The left leg was nonchalantly stretched and both Kage could see that he was stomping quietly his foot to an unknown tune. And then, the two older men understood the Toad's answer.
「I'll be the mediator.」he signalled by morse code.
The Kazekage frowned and he opened his mouth.
"We can't just trust you on this," he argued and his Golden Dust rumbled unhappily around him. The Hokage looked at him with desaprobation. "I propose a team of mediators, both from Konoha and Suna."
The Fourth stopped talking and gritted his teeth. What he really wanted was to send his best shinobi and stop all of this before it went of control. And if it meant killing the Mizukage, he didn't see why he shouldn't do it. However, Suna was short of shinobi and money. And conflicts always brewed famines, plagues and countless deaths even if it gave them a considerable increase of income.
The Kazekage shook his head. He had already thought about that the day he decided to go to Konoha.
"A three man squad," Hiruzen proposed, his eyes twinkling in approbation as he took a puff of his kiseru. "A shinobi from Konoha, another from Suna and Kaeru."
The Toad stomped loudly and jumped from his chair. Without any last glance to the two powerful Kage, he jumped through the shattered window and disappeared.
"I already have a name in my mind," the Kazekage said after a little while during which they both looked at the dark sky. "But he's still in Suna so we'll have to wait for him."
"Mine is being hospitalised," Hiruzen chuckled, his kiseru between his teeth and he met the Fourth's eyes. "So I guess that this means that your son will get to enjoy Kaeru's charms for a little while..."
The Kazekage rolled his eyes and accepted silently a cup of tea from the Hokage.
囧
For the first time of his live, when he woke up, Naruto noticed that he had slept next to someone. The little boy furrowed his eyebrows as he had still his eyes closed and took a deep breath. He was still in that state where one wasn't really awake and yet not sleeping. He whined softly, shifting his limbs until his hand grazed something that clearly wasn't a comforter. Puzzled, Naruto flexed his fingers, running his pads over the thing that he couldn't really determine and he felt a small coo of wonder escape from his throat when the thing under his fingers actually moved.
His mind was still a bit sluggish, his previous fight had almost left him without energy and the boy couldn't find in himself the drive to open his eyes. So he stayed in his bed, his eyes closed and his stretched hand gripping a foreign thing.
And then, the thing shifted and Naruto felt something, a puff of warm air, fan over his face. He scrunched his nose, eyebrows furrowed as he clearly didn't appreciate being fanned by a breeze that smelled of gizzard and green tea. Also, what kind of wind smelled of gizzard? Wasn't that a dish that almost no one in Konoha liked?
Wait a minute... Was he actually sleeping next to someone else? (And a certain someone who ate gizzard... Seriously, why gizzard?)
Naruto woke up with a start and quickly sat up, his eyes open wide as he looked in shock at the redhead in his bed.
"What are you doing here!" he screeched while glaring at his enemy.
That redhead bastard had wanted to kill Kaeru-san. At the mere thought of someone actually trying to kill his friend and family, Naruto gritted his teeth and felt his blood rush to his head. He clenched his fingers on his T-shirt, trying to keep his calm.
Kaeru-san hated when he trashed his bedroom.
The redhead's eyes suddenly opened and Naruto snarled when he saw those jade eyes look at him intensively.
"You are still alive," the bastard said with his deadpan voice.
Naruto almost rolled his eyes. Almost. And that was mostly because he had noticed the Uchiha observing them silently.
"GYAAA!" the blonde screeched as he felt from the bed. The redhead blinked and glanced at the jounin before he looked back at the scowling boy on the floor. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WERE YOU WATCHING US SLEEP?! THAT'S SO CREEPY!"
"Creepy?" the other kid blinked another time and then looked at the bed. "So this is considered creepy?"
"Not you, him!" Naruto huffed and puffed his cheeks before pointing his thumb at Shisui's chest. "He's the creepy one, dattebayo!"
"Dattebayo." The redhead simply stated and the blond boy rolled his eyes.
He sure as hell wasn't going to explain that.
"Where's Kaeru-san?" He mumbled gloomily when he realised that his first friend wasn't around.
How was he going to survive being surrounded by redhead bastards and creepy jounins without Kaeru-san? And how had he ended in his bed with the bastard? Had it been Kaeru-san?
"Who knows," Shisui retorted with a small sigh. "He just told me to keep watch and then left."
"So he fled," the redhead deadpanned.
He was still in the bed, his green eyes observing the comforter and sheets with intensity. It was then that Naruto noticed that the other kid had slept with his sandals in his bed.
"Noooo," he whined as he shook his head vividly. "Now there will be mud and sand in my bed! Kaeru-san will get mad at me again..."
The red-haired boy blinked and with a mere flick of his chin, the sand raised from Naruto's bed and hovered over it. The blonde observed it float with mesmerised eyes and his mouth agape.
"I didn't realise it before," he mumbled as he slowly got up. "But that trick is actually pretty neat!"
Naruto beamed at the redhead and the latter blinked in confusion. Then, he sighed and his green eyes seemed to lighten a bit as he stretched his hand to the blonde. Naruto observed it with furrowed eyebrows and he looked at it inquisitively.
"Gaara," the redhead said sternly.
Naruto sucked his lip and cocked his head. Then, after a brief glance at Shisui who seemed to be holding a laugh, he took the redhead's hand and shook it with a wide smile.
"Naruto," he answered brightly before he added with a chirpy voice, "and I'm going to be the next Hokage, dattebayo!"
"I see," Gaara commented and he frowned slightly. "Should I also give my life goal?"
Naruto nodded vividly and his blue eyes sparkled happily while he watched the redhead purse his lips pensively. Now that the other was behaving correctly, the blond couldn't understand why he had been so hateful towards him. Naruto had never been one to hate at first sight, it would make him like the others who had always despised him even if he hadn't done anything at all to deserve that. He wanted to be like Kaeru, someone who had picked up and saved a kid ostracised by a whole village.
"Then I guess that it'd be to have many great friends," the redhead shrugged lightly and Naruto looked at him with a puzzled look.
"You want friends," he said with a tense voice.
Gaara nodded.
Naruto squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. He could relate with that wish. He could relate so much that it hurt. The small boy clenched his fingers around his T-shirt helm and gave a shuddering sigh.
That boy, Gaara, had wanted to kill Kaeru. He had even almost succeeded in it. And Naruto was like him. Naruto could have ended like him. His chest hurt when he thought about that.
"I'm sure that you'll have the best friends ever!" he finally added and as he said those words, Naruto noticed that Gaara's shoulders had imperceptibly relaxed. So the other kid had actually been conscious of the weirdness of his life goal. Naruto squinted his eyes and smiled widely at the other boy. "Because you also have me, 'ttebayo!"
Gaara widened his eyes and tilted slightly his head. His hair was ruffled after his epic fight against Naruto and the impromptu nap that had followed but nobody commented it. Mostly because they were too surprised by the small smile that curved the redhead's lips.
"We're friends now?" he asked to confirm his hunch.
"Of course we're, dattebayo!"
Gaara smiled. And Naruto beamed at him.
There was no way that they would go back to their loneliness now.
囧
Feet padded on the tatamis and he swiftly hunched back to avoid a flying fist.
"So this is where you were hiding!"
He narrowed his eyes and avoided another fist, flexing his legs so he was leaning forward. His black tresses almost obstructed his field of vision and he gritted his teeth when a foot hit harshly his stomach.
"Don't give me that kind of excuses! We both know that you're lying trough your teeth! (Not that you're actually talking but well...) You look like shit."
He somersaulted and raised his two hands to stop his opponent's attack. The latter grunted and he took that chance to strike back. His smaller limbs sprang into action and he swiftly hit the bent knees.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I also look like shit. You didn't need to tell me that... Since when were you that rude?"
He was panting now. His eyes were also hazy from their continuous use and he rubbed the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead. His bandages were dampened in sweat, that made him scrunch his face in disgust.
"Really? And I wonder why you're still a bachelor... You won't be able to seduce the ladies with manners like those, brat..."
He rolled on the tatamis and the spot where he had been previously was hit harshly by his opponent's fists. He widened his eyes, their hazy sheen increasing as he gritted his teeth and held his ground against his opponent. His hands were shaking slightly with the evident strain and he let out an heavy sigh.
"Right. Let's make it short, I don't think that we'll get more time alone. I went there and talked with them. They are following the first path."
He fell, his feet slipping over his sweat and he let out an unmanly yelp as his opponent put his palm over his chest, just over his biggest chakra path.
"I know... This could end very badly. That's why you shouldn't hide anymore. Anyway, what's with that mask? Is it an homage? I'm honoured!"
He narrowed his eyes in anger and suddenly spun on his hands, his stretched legs sending his opponent flying. He jumped to his feet and was quick to deal with the latter, pushing a chakra infused thumb against the back of his opponent's head. The man fell on the tatamis, unconscious and he scoffed slightly before he whipped his head to the dojo roof, his opalescent eyes glaring daggers at the two men who were happily lunging on it during his training hours.
"What are you doing here?" he asked with an icy voice. "This is Hyuuga ground, you shouldn't be here!"
"My, what a feisty young one," one of the men commented as he raised his hands in a defensive fashion.
He had long white hair tied in a ponytail and a red haori along with the typical Japanese geta. Not really the shoes that a shinobi would wear but that didn't really matter to him. The second man was more interesting. The now famous porcelain mask along with those black clothes that hid pretty much everything of his body. The Toad masked jounin.
The Toad cocked his head and waved carelessly a hand.
He bristled, was the masked jounin mocking him?
"I see, I see," the white haired man nodded while he rubbed his chin with an important air. "I finally get why you're so keen on that brat... Ruffling his feathers gives a really nice feeling."
The Toad nodded excitedly his head and the Hyuuga narrowed his eyes. He could almost see sparkles and flower flowing around the masked jounin and that irked him. How could he be so happy of annoying him!
"Get down," he hissed through his gritted teeth. "And fight me!"
The Toad whistled happily and suddenly was already in front of the younger Hyuuga. He flickered lightly two fingers on the bandaged forehead and tilted his head, almost like he was pondering over something.
The Hyuuga swatted away the Toad's hand and bristled like an angry cat.
"What are you doing!" he hissed at him.
"He's telling you to relax," the white haired man drawled from the rooftop. He was sprawled over the tiles, his head supported by one hand while the other was twirling a pen absentmindedly. "You're too tense to fight him."
The Hyuuga frowned and froze when he felt two arms surround him and suddenly cage him against a taunt chest. He could feel the deep laugh running through the jounin's chest and nonetheless didn't even hear him laugh. He was too silent. Even his breathing was still as he laughed at him.
"Stop it," he glared at the Toad's chest. He really didn't want to look up to glare at the adult's face (or rather mask) so he settled on glaring at his chest.
As he still had his Byakugan on, the Hyuuga could see the jounin's chakra from up close and almost choked on air when he noticed it.
His chakra was abnormal. It was flowing everywhere around the jounin, almost like a storm of pure energy and at the same time, it wasn't moving. The Hyuuga couldn't explain really how it worked but the Toad's chakra wasn't normal. He had never seen something like that.
"Oh?" the white haired man cooed and tilted his head. He had his pen hanging under his nose and was squinting his eyes at the Hyuuga. "Seems like you have nice eyes, boy! Did my lovely disciple surprise you?"
The Toad huffed and he tightened his arms around the boy. The latter let out a surprised gasp when the jounin's hand ruffled his hair and he glared at the man.
This affront wouldn't be forgotten.
"Why are you here," he asked for the second time.
But this time, the Toad leaned his masked chin over his ruffled black hair and clicked loudly his tongue. The white haired man seemed to understand what he tried to convey because he sighed heavily and jumped from the rooftop. His geta touched the tatamis and the Hyuuga glared at him for that affront.
"Easy there," the man said with a booming voice. He took out his shoes and threw them at the Toad. The latter caught them swiftly and dropped them in the garden.
Where, the Hyuuga noticed then, his sandals had also been placed. He hadn't seen him do that. Even with his Byakugan.
"I'm Jiraya of the Sannin," the white haired man said with a big grin. "And that mute idiot is my disciple. Together, we're the beautiful toads of Konoha!"
"I never asked who you were," the Hyuuga deadpanned before he scowled at the Toad masked jounin.
The latter had dared to ruffle his hair another time. He was slowly getting to the point where he downright hated the mute.
"Then who are you?" the Sannin retorted as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"I'm Hyuuga Neji," the boy answered while he raised with pride his chin.
The Toad made a small sound, almost like a pop with his lips. He was standing next to the other man and seemed to be critically watching Neji. Not that he could really tell as the jounin was masked.
"Neji?" Jiraya said as he rubbed pensively his chin. "That wouldn't do, boy! It lacks appeal!"
"Appeal?" the Hyuuga furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. "I don't see why my name should even have appeal. I don't need it."
"There is it!" the Sannin commented as he sighed heavily. "I finally understand what he was saying before... Boy, you totally aren't seeing the picture here! Brat, show him!"
The Toad facepalmed and shook his head. Jiraya growled and stomped his foot on the tatamis. That seemed to do the trick because the masked jounin sighed heavily and made a familiar seal before he was surround by smoke. When it dissipated, Neji widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that a woman had taken his spot.
"Now!" Jiraya said as he clapped loudly his hands. "Say your name again. But with more appeal. You wouldn't want to bore that young lady to death, right?"
The young Hyuuga watched with puzzled eyes the woman wearing a yukata with flowery embroideries that was smiling heartily at him. She looked like the perfect housewife and had bright blue eyes as well as whisker marks over her cheeks. (That was rather cute actually. Not that Neji was going to admit it loudly. It was still a man under a small genjutsu after all...)
"I'm Hyuuga Neji," he tersely said.
"Wrooooong," Jiraya booed with a grimace. "That's not how you talk with the ladies! You should go like this!"
He suddenly spun over his feet and was on one knee in front of the woman and took her hand with a devilish smirk.
"Pleased to meet you," he purred with hooded eyes. The woman shuddered and Neji furrowed his eyebrows, he couldn't understand what the Sannin (the title of Konoha' strongest shinobi) was doing. "I'm Mount Myobokugama's holy master Sannin, also known as Toad Sannin or simply Jiraya! But you can always call me darling~"
Neji folded his arms over his chest and stomped lightly his foot. The woman's right eye twitched and the young boy noticed that she was shuddering.
Was it in disgust? Horror?
But she, or rather the Toad, was disturbed by the Sannin's words. Was that what the white haired man had implied with 'appeal'? To disturb his opponent with his mere name?
Neji pursed his lips and nodded once. That method could be useful to him.
囧
"I can't believe that you taught a brat, and a Hyuuga of all the brats in Konoha, how to woo women just to get out of a pinch," Tsunade of the Sannin as she poured sake in her cup.
The heap of white hair and desperation on her right side moaned pitifully and raised an empty cup. Tsunade chuckled and poured him some sake.
"Well," she drawled as she gazed at the alcohol in her cup. It mirrored her curious eyes and catlike smirk. "At least you got your little master-disciple chat, right?"
"Don't make me remember that..." Jiraya grumbled from his pit of desperation and self-depreciation. "He managed to mock me during all of our discussion. And he refused to let me see from up close his mask... My disciple is such an ungrateful brat!"
The white haired Sannin sniffed pitifully and downed his cup of sake before he leaned his cheek on his hand and glanced at the smiling Tsunade. The kunoichi was still swirling her sake, her lips pursed as she seemed to be reflecting on something.
"What about you?" Jiraya asked with a more serious voice. "How is little Shizune doing?"
But Tsunade could see what was underneath in his words.
"She's is fine," she said quietly. "We're fine." Tsunade emptied her cup of sake and put it down loudly in the counter.
Teuchi glanced at them and swiftly put another bottle of sake on the counter before he went back to his ramen. He knew when to not pry.
"Really?" Jiraya leaned back and looked up, watching the stars twinkle in the sky. "How long was it since your last visit to Konoha?"
"A long time," Tsunade admitted with a small smile. She was looking at the boiling ramen with fond and yet sad eyes. "It's strange how everything seems the same but has changed."
"Now, we're getting too emotional," the other Sannin chided softly. "I don't want to make a woman cry, that would be unsightly of me." He sighed and looked back at Tsunade. She was still gazing at the ramen. "I heard that you were back at the hospital. How is it going?"
"I have a tricky patient," she answered and her eyes were suddenly focused on Jiraya. She was back on business. "He seems to be affected by an hereditary disease so I'll probably have to make a whole checkup on his family."
"Seems though," Jiraya commented with a shrug. He then tensed and tightened his fingers around his empty cup of sake. "How are you dealing with your little problem?"
Tsunade scowled and gritted her teeth. The cup in her hand shattered to smithereens and Jiraya raised his eyebrows.
Well, that was pretty explicit.
"Your... lovely disciple," hissed the kunoichi while she smiled sweetly at him, "forced me to follow a therapy with the Yamanaka..."
Jiraya's eyebrows raised even higher and he whistled softly in amazement.
"And how did he succeed in doing that?" he inquired. "Because you're the biggest pigheaded woman that I've ever met and... Ouch!"
Jiraya frowned and he cursed under his breath as he nursed his aching (and probably broken) ribs.
"I gave my word that I'll grant him three wishes," Tsunade mumbled gloomily as she poured sake in her former partner's cup. "It was his second..."
"And the first?" Jiraya inquired.
His disciple was someone really mysterious and to ask for three wishes from Tsunade was already a feat.
"Healing the Uchiha and some unnamed brat," she answered while downing his cup. "Also, he told me that the third wish wouldn't be asked before at least five years have passed..."
Jiraya frowned and rubbed his chin. What was his disciple thinking?
He had a plan, that was clear, but what kind of plan?
"I guess that the only thing left to do is to sit back and enjoy the spectacle," he whispered to himself.
Tsunade made a small sound of agreement and raised her cup at him.
"At the old fools who let a brat order them around," she said seriously, her brown eyes gleaming with power in the night.
"At the old fools who let a brat order them around," he acquiesced.
"Cheers," Teuchi exclaimed as he put two cups of ramen in front of the slightly tipsy Sannins. "This is on the house!"
"He," Tsunade chuckled. "It's nice to be home."
囧
Gaara observed with his habitual inexpressive face the loud blond kid, Naruto, argue with the Konoha jounin.
It was an adult with spiky black hair and eyes that could turn red. From what Gaara could remember from his father's rather short explanations, the jounin was part of Konoha police and his family had a powerful dojutsu. It made him want to fight and kill the adult.
But Gaara couldn't kill him in Naruto's house. That went against what Kaeru, his prey, had taught him. It wasn't polite to kill someone in a friend's house.
Unless that someone wanted to kill his friend, of course. There were always special circumstances. Those always let Gaara puzzled, why couldn't everything be just white and black? Everything was too difficult.
"Where is Kaeru-san?!" Naruto asked for what seemed to be the millionth time.
"Listen, kid," the dark haired jounin retorted with an aggravated sigh. "I. Don't. Know."
"Where is he?" The blond insisted and Gaara cocked his head.
Naruto seemed to be displeased by something. His eyes were shining strangely and the tip of his nose was getting redder by minutes. Also, his shoulders were slightly shaking and his energy seemed to dim down.
He didn't look at all like the fiery boy who had tried to kill him before.
Gaara frowned.
'He's so weak,' the Monster whispered in his head. 'Killing him would be so easy... Ripping him to shreds... Until the whole room is coated with his warm and red blood...'
'No,' the redhead immediately refused. 'Not in his bedroom.'
"Where is Kaeru?" Gaara asked instead of dwelling in his thoughts.
"You too?" the jounin exclaimed. "I give up!"
He raised his hands and sighed heavily before he flopped down on his chair. Gaara cocked his head and blinked his eyes in confusion. Why was the jounin acting like that if he had given up? Wasn't he supposed to kill himself so they wouldn't get information from him?
"Gaara," Naruto said suddenly with a sharp voice.
The redhead blinked and looked at his friend. The blond was looking at him with his intense and unblinking blue eyes. And just like that, the Monster's voice dulled into a faint whisper and the crawling sand on his skin stopped to rumble threatheningly.
"Even if he's creepy, that doesn't mean that he's an enemy," Naruto added. "Because it's the heart that matters. Judging people by their past actions or families is dangerous. You can lose inestimable friends and allies if you close your heart like that."
The black haired jounin let out a small sound of admiration and Gaara cocked his head, those words seemed familiar. He had already heard them.
"That's what Kaeru-san told me, dattebayo!" Naruto concluded with a bright smile. "So we shouldn't judge Creepy Guy here by his creepiness alone!"
"So now, I'm a creepy guy," the jounin muttered. "Why am I not surprised by that..."
囧
When Kaeru finally got home, Shisui almost weeped. Almost.
And if he didn't, it was mostly because he didn't have any energy left to cry in happiness.
"You're home," the Uchiha mumbled as he tightly hugged the Toad's legs. "Finally home... I can finally escape from them... Finally..."
The masked jounin cocked his head and then glanced at the two little boys that were calmly sitting in the living room. They both were reading a book that he couldn't quite see and were also ignoring the two adults. That was a bit surprising when one knew how much they had wanted to see the Toad masked shinobi.
"They are demons," Shisui whispered darkly as he hung his head low. He simply didn't have the energy left to look up at Kaeru's mask. "This kind of stamina is devilish... I really pity their future jounin sensei... They're going to suffer. A lot."
The masked jounin's shoulders shook briefly and Shisui narrowed his eyes.
"You knew," he said accusingly. "You. Knew. That. This. Would. Happen..."
Kaeru dared to put his finger to his masked lips and to cock his head like a bashful schoolgirl. Shisui could almost hear him laugh nervously.
"Kaeru," the Uchiha said with an eerily calm voice. "I know that you've probably heard this a lot but I'm going to kill you. Slowly."
The Toad raised his hands and began to wave them nervously around him, trying to appease Shisui's murder intent that was slowly suffocating him. But the Uchiha didn't stop moving forward, his eyes turning red and his pupils slowly morphing into his Mangekyo.
"Now," he whispered always so calmly. "Please stay still so your blood doesn't get everywhere. You wouldn't want dear Naruto's curtains to be covered in blood, right?"
Kaeru nodded swiftly and began to move his arms around even more quickly. But that didn't deter Shisui and he smirked.
However, just as he was about to attack the Toad, he suddenly remembered why the latter had survived all this time. Kaeru had two really annoying and powerful bodyguards...
"What are you doing?" Shisui heard a cold voice ask him and the Uchiha raised an impressed eyebrow.
Who would have thought that the Uzumaki had it in him. He turned his head and glanced at Naruto, slightly surprised by those blue eyes that were slowly turning red. They were assessing him coldly, like a shinobi would have. Also, even if the Kyuubi's power were slowly seeping around him, the boy was totally in control.
Shisui marvelled at this fact and glanced back at Kaeru. What had the Toad been teaching him? Did Naruto have other secret tricks hidden?
"Is this considered like a past action?" Gaara asked as he took a step towards Shisui.
His gourd was back on his back and the sand was rumbling loudly. His eyelids were now dark and his eyes had now a poison green colour. All in all, this didn't look good for the Uchiha.
"No," Naruto answered calmly. Too calmly for the normally hyperactive kid. "This is a present action."
"Then we can judge him," the redhead cocked his head and his lips stretched into a crazy grin.
"Yeah," Naruto's eyes flashed red.
Kaeru sighed heavily and suddenly jumped. He was then behind the two kids and swiftly hit the back of their heads with the book that they had been previously reading. Naruto complained loudly and rubbed his aching head while Gaara whipped his head and glared at the masked jounin.
"Why," he said tersely.
Kaeru shrugged and walked into the living room before he sat on one of the chairs and took his notebook that had been on the table. He swiftly wrote something and turned the notebook so everyone else could read it.
「You were being stupid. Stupid kids get a correction. That's it.」
"I don't see why," Gaara said after a little while (probably the time to decipher Kaeru's chicken handwriting). "He was threatening you. We were protecting you. It wasn't stupid."
"Yeah, what he said!" Naruto added fierily.
Kaeru shook his head and sighed exaggeratedly.
「You were being stupid because you couldn't see that he was kidding around. Shisui won't kill me. Not when I'm part of his team and he has orders to follow each and every of my commands.」
Naruto watched with a puzzled face the Uchiha and then Kaeru before he suddenly beamed at his first friend.
"Really?" He chirped happily. "That's so awesome! You're so cool, Kaeru-san, 'ttebayo!"
Gaara furrowed his (inexistent) eyebrows and his eyes darkened slightly.
"I don't understand," the redhead said softly. "Why would a friend want to kill another friend? Doesn't friends value each other's lives?"
Shisui widened his eyes and after a little while he walked until he was behind Kaeru. He then put his arm around the masked jounin's throat and leaned until his chin was on the Toad's shoulder.
"Of course they do," he assured with a small smirk. "But that doesn't mean that they can't get on each other's nerves. This idiot annoyed me so I told him. We fight but that's normal. Friends sometimes fight. And when they can overcome their conflict, it makes their friendship even more special. Don't you have this with Sasuke?"
Naruto made a face and reluctantly nodded. He could understand what the Uchiha was saying.
「It's the same with brothers.」Kaeru wrote in his notebook before he showed it to Gaara.「Sometimes, they fight. It doesn't mean that they aren't family.」
The redhead nodded with hesitation and he slightly pursed his lips.
「Just see what happened with Naruto.」 the Toad added. 「You fought him with all you've got and now you're siding with him.」
Gaara acquiesced and made a small smile.
"He's a friend," he said quietly.
To his greatest surprise, the redhead saw the Toad shake his head.
"Hey!" Shisui exclaimed as he hit the masked jounin's head. "That's way too rude!"
「Naruto isn't your friend.」Kaeru wrote with a small huff.「He's your brother.」
"Brother?" Naruto read loudly with eyes shining in wonder. "Really? That sounds so amazing!"
"Brother," Gaara stated and he squinted his eyes.
He could remember his brother, Kankuro, flinching away from him. Naruto wasn't at all like him.
"I already have a brother," the redhead said calmly. Naruto was immediately gloomy and his eyes darted everywhere except at Gaara's place. "Can't he switch places with Naruto?"
"Huh?" Shisui looked intensively at the jinchūriki and blinked.
The brat was actually serious.
"What are you saying?" Naruto puffed his cheeks and elbowed Gaara's side. The redhead didn't flinch and glanced at him with his habitual poker face. "You should be grateful that you already have a brother!"
"Is that so?" Gaara inquired with a tilted head.
"Yeah!" The blond nodded and raised a fist to emphasise his point. "I live alone and I don't have any sibling so I know what it's like to be alone, 'ttebayo! You should appreciate having a brother! Just don't be as mushy as Sasuke-teme is with his brother..."
"You're alone," the redhead stated slowly and he frowned. That wouldn't do.
Gaara had known what it was to be alone. But he still had his family. He could remember that Kankuro and Temari had always been around him, even if they were scared to death of him. (Not that he couldn't understand why, from what Kaeru had told him, he had this little problem of controlling his murdering spree)
But Naruto didn't have a family. He just had Kaeru. And the man wasn't really what someone could call a perfect family (even Gaara could tell).
That really wouldn't do.
"You can have him," Gaara said.
"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head and blinked in surprise. "Who?"
"My brother," the other kid answered with his ever calm voice. "I already have an older sister. So I won't be alone. You can have my brother."
"Really?" the blond widened his eyes in surprise and jumped to hug the redhead. "That would be so awesome!"
"But you'll still be my friend and brother," Gaara stated even if his eyes conveyed his doubt.
"Of course!" Naruto agreed cheerily. "We'll always be brothers, dattebayo!"
囧
"Did we just assist to a slave trade?" Shisui mumbled as he blinked owlishly.
Kaeru snorted and scribbled something in his notebook.
「Just be grateful that it's not about you.」
"Right," the Uchiha commented. "But still... Poor boy. Whoever he is, he didn't deserve that."
Really, sometimes I feel as if I didn't write enough. There is so much more to write before Naruto becomes a genin. And it's now that I realise that this will be a long story. A really long story. I hope that you'll enjoy it. (Also, I was supposed to put a scene with young Sakura. But it didn't mesh well with the flow. Maybe in the next chapter...)
Also, I'm really unsure about Neji's characterisation in this chapter. It was just so hard to write it... I'm doubting the whole scene with him now. Knowing me, I'll probably rewrite it in the future.
But for now, I'll go drink an hot chocolate. What else am I supposed to write?
Please read and review?
P.S.: Next chapter: Drizzle.
