"Hey, Naruto! Though you didn't say hi to Yoburo for me, I'm glad you met him!" grinned Jiraiya

Naruto blinked... and then it all came back to him. His face contorted to a scowl, "you said that he'll solve the scroll, that he can read it all and just tell me what it says! But nooo, instead he tells me that this scroll is my dad's Death Wishlist—"

"Death wish, slash wish list, man that's a mouthful—"

"Whatever—"

"Hold on, Naruto. I didn't exactly tell you that..." the man sighed when Naruto's face darkened, "if you want, I'll repeat what I told you, I said I wanted you to visit a friend in the Earth Country, said he's a very wise man and a great drinking buddy of mine. I know he can enlighten you with some of his knowledge, but will only do so if you give him what he wants. Since he loves riddles, he'll just be hinting you in, and once you solve it and things goes your way, everything else will just fall out as easy as that. Just like I said"

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned his back on him

"Naruto, he did enlighten you with some of his knowledge, he did give you riddles to hint you in. You solved it as easy as counting your ABCs—"

"Singing your ABCs," corrected Naruto with a huff

"Whatever, at least you now know where to go right? Everything will go smoothly from there on" assured Jiraiya, sincerity clear in his voice.

Naruto gave in, and turned around, "Yeah... well thanks..."

"I'll be seeing you around, kid" smiled Jiraiya

Curious, Naruto asked, "wait, aren't you supposed to be dead? Why are you always visiting me in my sleep? I'm dreaming aren't I?"

"Well—"

"Are you gonna visit me again? Are you in heaven now? Have you seen Kami-sama, yet?"

"I said—"

"Wait! What about my dad? Have you seen my dad yet?"

"Naruto..."

"Can you tell him I said hi? Same goes for my mother, too, okay? Oh and—"

"I said, I'll be seeing you around, Naruto"

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There's a saying that some things that are meant to be kept secret, and that phrase, though overused and very cliché, is meant to be repeated for a very, very good reason. But then, there are those who are too stubborn to allow the unknown to remain unspoken. And so they go against the law.

Then there came the saying that curiosity killed the cat, a little saying to warn those who are stubborn. Apparently, it wasn't only the cat that died, but those who followed the ways of the cat. And when they survived that, they were given the title, bull-headed. It was either because their heads were too strong to be malleable, or maybe it was because they were just too foolish enough to just head on, never knowing when or what their limit is.

Well, thankfully enough, if it weren't for the bull-headed people with the incredulous curiosity of a cat, some things today would have just remained unexplained.

In my opinion, I think I'm among those curios cats and bull-headed people, and I'm quite glad that I am—no offense to those who opposes—because, if you ever come across those people who are too narrow minded to take in anything to absorb all explanations and reasonings in the world, the Earth would have been a much, much darker and a much more foolish place to live in. Well, for those who are narrow-minded, I really can't change them, since they are who are. But that's besides the point here. The main reason as to why I'm sharing this with all those fellow readers out there, is because we will be listening in to a very, very interesting conversation that began with...

"Keep that thing away from me!"

That continued to...

"Oh don't be ridiculous!"

That happened to steer to a...

"Woman, if you don't listen to me right now I'm gonna—"

Which developed to a...

WHAM!

Well, if you ever managed to read the previous chapter, you'd understand who these two are and what the hell they were talking about. With enough information back there, our story shall...

Start

Naruto had a slab of raw meat stuck to the left half of his face in hopes of speeding up the process of healing it. The enemy within him now became his therapist. The woman he once adored now became a living nightmare of a banshee. Sitting on the edge of the bed was where he sulked with a scowl on his face that threatened to become a part of him.

Emerging from the bathroom with a towel-turban on her head, Sakura sniffed when she caught Naruto's glare and bent down to furiously rub her hair dry before flipping her hair back with a reinforced sniff. She went back to the bathroom, snatched the urn by the sink, marched her way to the room's coatrack, and began fumbling Naruto's jacket.

"What, in the name of all things holy, are you doing?" castigated Naruto

Sakura spared him a penetrating glare before focusing on searching for something in his jacket again, until she grumbled, "don't you have anything that can keep this safe?"

Naruto scrambled out of bed but stood helpless, pointing an accusing finger at Sakura he responded harshly, "don't you have any respect for another's belongings?"

"Respect?" scoffed Sakura. Planting her free hand on her hip, she turned to face him. Naruto's rigid arm fell limp to his sighed as he swallowed visibly. She narrowed her eyes, fury threatening to breech the fortified walls of her patience, she hissed, "Respect? How dare you even mention a word you obviously don't know of! How dare you use that word against me, when in fact, you should be looking it up in the dictionary!"

Naruto opened his mouth ready to remonstrate, but words tangled themselves in a congested lump in his throat, leaving his mouth dry, and lips reiterating unspoken words. Sakura raised a brow, ready to retaliate whatever he had to say next. Then he puerilely folded his arms across his chest, scoffing as he turned his head away, indignantly speaking, "I know what the word respect means!"

"Good!" barked Sakura, "well, then you know what it means to pay respect to the dead!"

"Exactly!" gasped Naruto, rather exasperated. Building a firm eye contact with Sakura, he continued, desperately delivering a message to her "he's dead! Dead, Sakura! His ghost is haunting me!"

Naruto's chest heaved as he looked searchingly in Sakura's eyes. Her mouth shut tight in a thin line then collected herself; she drew a deep, shaky breath and spoke with closed eyes, "so what you're trying to tell me is that you are Phasmophobic"

"Yes" said Naruto after a moment's pause, "as a matter of fact I am." Then he blinked, "what does—"

"Phasmophobic means you are afraid of ghosts—"

"AM NOT!!" objected Naruto, throwing his hands down and stomping his foot forth.

Instead of arguing with him, Sakura found herself looking at Naruto. Realize that he was just a twelve-year-old stuck in a sixteen-year-old body.

"I happen to have grown out of that stage" added Naruto, folding his arms in content, thinking that he won the debate

Correction: A ten-year-old stuck in that body

"Besides, who's stupid enough to believe in ghosts" continued Naruto as he climbed back on bed

Sakura tightened her lips to prevent that smile to escape. Major Correction: a six-year-old stuck in that body of his. With a sigh, she set the urn on top of the dresser next to the bed. Immediately, Naruto scurried to the other side of the bed, pressing his back against the cool, concrete wall. She shook her head and slid beneath the blankets, shutting the lamp off and turned to her side; her back facing him.

"Naruto, can you get the curtains?" asked Sakura

"...no" answered Naruto, she heard him shuffle about, perhaps trying to get under the blankets

With a sigh, "fine, I guess Yoburo-sama will have to do it himself"

With a short yelp, the sound of curtains clinking shut echoed in the room before the broad moonlight disappeared into the darkness. Sakura giggled quietly to herself

"That was not funny, Sakura! I nearly had a heart at—I mean, yeah, the first thing you'll see is a dead man in front of you Sakura, Oooooh scaaaary!" added Naruto, in feeble attempts to frighten the kunoichi

"Naruto, he's right behind you"

"GAAHHH!!"

Sakura snickered, "good night, Naruto."

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Waking from a dreamless slumber, Sakura stretched with her eyes shut, yawning as her body turned. Finally opening her eyes, she saw a distorted face of an old man. Pupils missing from their orbs, a severely thickened eyeshadow outlined his eyes; crevice upon crevice burying the features in the crumpled crust of pallor. The face of a dead old man was right in front of her, but before Sakura scream her brains out, remnants from last night flooded her long before she switched to panic mode.

Quickly she threw in the demeanor of an outspoken, frozen contortion of ghastly fear. Crawling back with bulging eyes and a mouth stretched wide open.

"That's riiiight, Sakuraaa. Fear the ghost of dead maaan Yoburo!!" said Naruto with a monotous voice that he assumed what a scary evil spirit would sound like

"Na-Naruto! Behind you!!" squealed Sakura, feigning fear

Naruto squealed a pitch that challenged Sakura's shrillness, with a poof, his henge dropped and the next thing she knew she felt a tight grasp in almost everywhere in her body, squeezing the life out of her, stopping her blood circulation and constricting her to the point of breathlessness, but yet, she couldn't help but shriek out in laughter.

Almost automatically, the full body grip on her loosened. Sakura was laughing still, tears tumbling out of the corners of her eyes as her face no longer grew red from a halted blood flow, but out of sheer hilarity, "You should have seen the look on your face!" gasped Sakura

Naruto glared at her, "that wasn't very funny, Sakura. Not funny at all"

Sakura's laughter died down to softened chuckles and then held her breath at the way the sunlight bounced off his face and his hair. He seemed as if he was glowing, yes, glowing—and even if he was glowering at Sakura it made her stomach churn to see the humorless façade he put on, it was the exact stern visage he'd give whenever the situation was nearly tipping the scales of death.

In all her life, whenever she saw him with that kind of serious demeanor, she will truly admit that her stomach would churn, brewing a foreign antidote that injected a fluttery feeling through her veins that concocted a potion that made her heart run on an irregular beat and her face flush in impossible heat.

She gulped, considering that their position was too close for comfort. She dared not breathe, allowing his breath to cool her cheeks. Paying closely as to how unorthodox their position was, he was hovering over her, palms placed on either side of her head, both knees parting her innocently apart. And the way he looked at her now... those damned blue eyes weighing heavily into hers... just... was just...

Then he leaned in...

This was it...

Then she lifted her head up...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"That wasn't very funny, Sakura. Not funny at all"

This was exactly the reason why he can't trust her. She just doesn't take him seriously, next, she makes fun of his... issues. Third, she doesn't respect him. And last, she just can't seem to understand him. Screw the saying men are from mars and women, from venus. They were all still humans, of the same species, wasn't that enough to get into her league, to get into that society were sophisticated beings belonged to?

Were they looking for someone intelligent? Well, he can't exactly say that he's a genius that Shikamaru is, but so is Sakura. He wasn't stupid, he was just as smart as she can possibly be!

Were they looking for someone capable? He was capable of things that needed to be carried out with the exact same performance. He can defend himself, kick some evil maniac ass. He can solve puzzles... if given enough time. As a matter of fact, he can solve the riddle Yoburo gave them without Sakura's help

Were they looking for someone logical? He was logical. He is logical. He sure is still logical enough to realize that one shouldn't make fun of another's... issue. Heck, the woman under him... beneath him... surely... is... quite illogical right now... the woman... that one right under him... beneath him...

He swallowed, forgetting all the anger he even held against her. How can one stay mad at someone... so beautiful? It seemed as she was meant to be bathed beneath the first rays of the morning. The light that played on her flawless skin made her look far more radiant than she already was. That stunning pink glow was far more enchanting and real than any genjutsu one can conjure, and her eyes... those dramatic green eyes that held so much emotion...

It's just... she's just... this is just... Screw it all, at this rate he shouldn't even be able to think at all...

Letting go of his conscience, shutting down that calculative mind, letting self-control slip past his fingers. For once... just for once, he wants to return to that old Naruto who did whatever he wanted cause he suddenly felt like it. Who did the impossible because his body was just itching to do so. He was tired of thinking, thinking about his mentor, his father, his mother, the damned scroll and some heritage he hadn't entirely, truly received.

He just wanted to close his mind, if not for a week, then just for a day.

He let gravity take its achingly slow pace as he lowered himself

If not for a day, then just for a second...

He saw her response, slightly lifting her head up

If not for a second... then heck, for a fleeting moment...

And then they were just an inch away

If not for a fleeting moment... why not now?

"PERVERT!!" And just then, the memory of what happened yesterday morning just greeted him like a sack of brings over the head. Immediately, almost so simply, he resisted. He held still, slowly hoisting his head back when she inched in closer, he watched the mechanics of her body; closing her eyes, cheeks flushing redder, lips puckering, neck stretching, just to reach him.

An amused smirk crept to his lips as he watched her begin to slightly twitch her lips, her neck straining from the elongated length. Then finally, she shot her eyes open, rather flushed and aggravated

"What the heck are you waiting for?!" she demanded hotly

Naruto cracked a shit-faced grin, "that"

Sakura dropped her head back on the pillows and furrowed her brows, "what the hell are you talking about?"

His grin just happened to threaten to split his face in half, "it's called revenge, baby"

Sakura's response? Well... the usual

WHAM!!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two layers of frozen meat stuck on Naruto's face, thanks to chakra, he didn't have to look stupider by tying them with some kind of rope. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, everything else that they got from Yoburo's shop such as the painting, the parcel and the urn, all sealed away. Of course, if I had to mention that they argued over that sealing, with Naruto still being a whining jackass and Sakura being a petulant bitch herself over such argument.

She finally deigned herself to Naruto's level and opted for a softer approach, thus healing his blackened eye, which happened to be the left—her personal favorite—only to reduce the mark and the swelling but not the pain, and almost managed to bargain having her things sealed away as well.

After paying a hefty price for their extended stay, and restocking Naruto's supply just enough to please Sakura, their journey back to the Land of the Wind was fairly peaceful and uncomfortably quiet. But if that meant less-fists-on-left-eye, then you won't hear Naruto complaining. The once fertile soil that grew promising vegetation faded away, leaving an abstract sahara in their wake, the once pleasant shade that young trees provided were stripped off from the terrain.

They were, indeed, entering the frying pan region of the world, as Naruto had professionally described it. Unfortunately, for him, the frozen meat was beginning to melt and it stank right on his face. But that wouldn't compare to this: the change in weather afftected Sakura's mood, either that or she was PMSing at definitely the wrong time in Naruto's life, for she had unwantedly harped back on Naruto, blaming him, arguing him for anything he said and didn't say.

He was at loss, really, not understanding what she wants out of her constant bickering.

Little did he know that Sakura was entirely aggravated that he just ruined her only moment to kiss him.

But what she didn't know what that Naruto was entirely confused. When he woke up, nearly kissing Sakura, he received a punch. When he let his clone please Sakura, he just underwent of what a nightmarish castration would feel like. When he tried to avoid another punch from Sakura that morning, he still got it anyway.

If Naruto hadn't been too deep in thought, he would have noticed that the Hidden Village of Sand was just jutting out of the horizon, its conspicuous walls reflecting the glaring sun's harsh light.

"Well, Naruto, at least, we're on the right track now" sighed Sakura

If Naruto hadn't just listened to her at that moment, he would have realized that he should have continued the kiss and finish what he started that morning, and then he wouldn't have gotten that punch again.

"Are you ready, Naruto?" asked Sakura, "we're just one step closer to solving it!"

If Naruto hadn't let his fatigue take over him and let his body move in on autopilot, he would have noticed that Sakura was holding him now by the hand, slipping her fingers through his, like a love-deranged couple would.

Well, if Naruto just accepted all the obvious truth in the world, he would have just realized that Sakura was, indeed, falling hard on him, too. And that alone was enough to grant her his trust, and probably vice-versa... right?

...

Right?!

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"How have you been?" asked Gaara with a pleasant voice to compensate his stoic demeanor

Naruto grinned, and grinned for Gaara, "yo, listen up..." that happened to be his introduction to his out-of-this-world story and then explained everything to the very point where they reached Suna, excluding the attempted kisses, uncalled for clone-castration, unwanted punches and the it-never-happened moments that revolved around a dead-man's ashes and so on.

It was an impromptu explanation that Sakura silently accepted and inwardly thanked Naruto for that.

Gaara didn't flinch, instead he stayed composed in his Kazekage seat, behind his Kazekage desk that piled with papers for the Kazekage, watching the Leaf duo in his Kagekage office. The redhead was prepared for anything to pop into his sight and rattle his world silly into accepting the fact that yes; he is the Kazekage, who is willing to exchange his life for his village...

Yeah... he was ready for that...

And yes, he will have to admit that Naruto is his friend...

...

But no, he won't entirely admit that he doesn't believe that whole crap this deranged blonde Leaf nin told him. Gaara will have to set his brain into a restart mode to keep it from breaking down and going insane, he had paperworks to do that, he would actually mind if Naruto, his friend, took that obligation out of those lifeless sheets of paper... or better yet that pile of shit of paper.

The moment, he forcefully digested the information Naruto shared with him, Gaara blinked back in response, drew back from his chair and untangled entwined fingers.

"You don't believe me do you?" asked Naruto, anticipating the obvious

Gaara stared back at him, swallowed the honesty back into his mouth, but before it reached past his esophagus, he gagged it out, "I don't." Of course, all those hysteric reaction never breeched Gaara's fortified façade, his imperturbable façade made sure of that.

"Well," sighed Naruto, "do you at least know this?"

Gaara watched the blonde take a step back, removed a hand-sized scroll from his jacket, bit into his thumb and smeared the blood on the parchment as he unravelled it. With a poof of smoke and a hefty cloud of dust, Naruto pulled out a foot-long painting and heavily set it on Gaara's desk with a thud.

The Kazekage ignored the fact that some paperwork went flying out and about in his room, and ogled the painting before him. It was a portrait of a man's shadow wielding two foreign weapons...

Naruto watched the redhead, waiting for a response. Hopeful that he should, at least, be familiar with the whole painting itself. And as if on cue, the Kazekage drew back and averted his gaze to Naruto.

"The infamous painting..." mumbled Gaara in an audibly low voice

Naruto smirked, at least now, Gaara will have to believe; it was his only choice if he didn't want to lose his mind. When the mantle of hush never subsided, Sakura cleared her throat, wordlessly reminding Naruto to get to the point. With a nod, he asked Gaara, "Now do you believe me?"

Tearing his attention from the painting, he turned to the blonde and asked, "so what are you looking for in Suna?"

Sealing the painting away with a poof of a smoke, Naruto turned to Gaara, all the humour in his voice gone, "well, Gaara, before I can actually find what I'm looking for... it's gonna start out like this..."

To Be Continued...

(Please check my Profile Page out to see my latest drawing, entitled Forbidden Heritage!)

A/N: Lolz, I guess I'll call that Cliffy! The annoying line that makes everyone go mad! Heh, moving on...

Okay, another prelude to the story, just procrastinating here and there. Hey, the two still deserved a moment right? So why not use Naruto's weakness as an advantage... I just hate him for resisting that kiss... perhaps if I hadn't made it too Naruto-ish... WTF?! What am I talking about?! I'm the author, I could've changed it...

But, oh well, if I changed it, they would have been behind schedule, heh (Winks)

So Review!!

AUTHOR'S RESPONSE (AKA A/R):

show.me.the.stars: Lolz, that's actually what Naruto is thinking of! But, yeah, Yoburo's supposed to be a dead man, haunting Naruto to help him... why? That'll be reviewed in future chappies!

just.readingone: As a matter of fact, somewhere in the future, I will have Naruto and Sakura pit together in a very sticky situation to have him trust her! Lolz, okay... if you read underneath the underneath of what I just said, perhaps you'll get the picture (winks)

maxslayer10: Lolz, if I wasn't mistaken, there was an episode in the season One of Naruto where he has to go on a mission in a haunted village with Neji or something. Then they came across with a ghost-samurai, which in the end, Neji tells Naruto that they had been facing against a ghost. I simply loved Naruto's reaction and decided to use it on this one, heh.

General: Thank you once again for reading my fic! There will be more to come, I can assure you all that. However, dear readers please do not be shy to leave a review, same goes for Alertees and Reviewees. Dear Reviewers, thank you all! And if you catch something a little off in this story, please feel free to ask away!

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