Chapter 10: The Stranger is Revealed
It was currently midnight in the desert. The Sand Siblings were all asleep in the cave while Izuka was awake, being the resident lookout. Kankuro was asleep on the floor and was using his cat hat as a pillow. Temari was in a sleeping bag next to him, mumbling something about how Shikamaru's head looks like a pineapple. Gaara was sitting up against the cave's wall, sleeping and dreaming about Izuka's chocolate chip cookies.
"Oh, Izzy, I love your chocolate chip cookies. They're so warm and gooey." said Gaara as he spoke in his dreams.
Izuka turned her head to the sleeping Kazekage's direction.
"Hmm. It's good to know my baking skills are appreciated by people." she said to no one in particular.
"You're baking skills are amazing. Even though I'm sealed up inside you, I can still smell your delicious creations." cried two-tailed Matatabi.
"Have you ever tried making a banana-cream pie?" asked four-tailed Goku, who even though had the build of a gorilla, primarily resembled a monkey, just with sharper teeth.
"Thanks for the complement, Matatabi, and no Goku, I have never tried to make a banana cream pie." replied Izuka.
"You should. I heard they're delicious!" cried Goku.
"SHUT UP, GOKU!" cried Matatabi and all the other tailed beasts that were sealed inside Izuka. They were all severely annoyed by Goku whenever he talked about bananas or any other banana-related foods.
"YOU CAN'T DENY THE BANANA! OUCH! CHOMEI, YOU JUST PINCHED MY TAIL!" screamed Goku at the seven-tailed beetle.
"HEY! WE'RE SICK AND TIRED OF YOU TALKING ABOUT BANANAS ALL THE TIME!" screamed Chōmei.
"I'LL NEVER STOP TALKING ABOUT BANANAS!" screamed back Goku.
"SAIKEN, DRENCH HIM IN YOUR SLIME!" called Kokuō, the five-tailed horse, who has a dolphin head. (No lie.)
Saiken, the six-tailed slug, happily obliged and squirted his slime onto Goku's fur. Then the other tailed beasts started to attack.
"GET BACK, YOU BEASTS!" BANANAS WILL ALAWAYS RULE! FEAR THE BANANA!" screamed Goku as his brother and sister beasts continued to attack him within Izuka's mind.
"OH, SHUT THE HELL UP!" cried Isobu, the three-tailed turtle.
Matatabi turned her attention back towards Izuka. "If you excuse me, Lady Sage, I have brother to burn." Matatabi specialized in fire, so it would be no problem for her.
"Go right ahead." said Izuka, who currently didn't care about the current situation that was happening inside her.
"Thank you." said Matatabi. She turned her attention back to her fellow tailed beasts. "WHO WANTS TO SEE A BURNT MONKEY?"
"WE DO!" screamed all the beasts, except Goku, who was cowering in a corner of Izuka's sub-consciousness.
"AWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Izuka chose to tune out after that. To distract herself from the ongoing carnage within her mind, Izuka took out her copy of Ripley's Believe it or Not!
Few hours later
It was currently 3:15 in the morning. The Sand Siblings were still asleep, while Izuka was still keeping watch over the area. Izuka had finished reading her book an hour ago and was now playing with her necklace. The necklace was a choker with a choker with a purple amulet in the shape of a four-petal flower. The rosary that kept Izuka's vampire-like side sealed hung below the amulet. Currently, Izuka was bored out of her mind.
"Something the matter?" asked Ryuna.
"It's nothing. I'm just thinking about what it would be like if I wasn't your jinchuriki, Ryuna." replied Izuka in her mind.
"Now, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU THINK THAT CRAP?!" cried Ryuna.
"Calm down, Ryuna. You're very tolerable, obedient, and fun for a tailed beast. It's just that I was wondering if I would be the same person as I am now if I wasn't a jinchuriki." said Izuka.
"Physically, you wouldn't be as fast or strong as you are now. Mentally, you would probably less cold and cynical and more social." said Ryuna.
"I'm not cold and cynical." said Izuka in a cold deadpan. (Irony)
"Well, not as much now as you were before and during the Chunnin Exams where you met Gaara, Izuka, and Kankuro." suggested Ryuna.
"In my opinion, you were the meanest, coldest and most cynical person in that exam besides Gaara." added Shukaku.
"Shukaku, WHAT THE HELL HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT BUTTING INTO MY FREAKING COVERSATIONS!" roared Ryuna.
"SORRY!" screamed Shukaku.
"If you excuse me Izuka, I'm going to teach my one-tailed brother a lesson in pain and humiliation." said Ryuna in a calm tone.
"Okay." said Izuka as she went back to playing with her necklace.
"FOR ALL THAT'S GOOD AND SANDY, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" screamed Shukaku.
All that was heard next was screams, whispers, and maniacal laughter.
"Hm, looks like Ryuna's having fun at Shukaku's expense. Serves him right."
As Izuka resumed playing with her necklace, a small sandstorm suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"What the hell?" asked Izuka. She got up from her lookout position and went to the cave's entrance.
Instead of just going in one direction, the sandstorm started to circle around the small cave, edging closer and closer. In the midst of the storm, a shadowy figure appeared.
"HEY! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US?" screamed Izuka at the figure amongst the sands.
Izuka's screams were enough to awaken Temari and Kankuro. Being the heavy sleeper that he is, Gaara remained in his cookie dreamland.
"Izuka, what's going on out there?" asked Temari as she woke up from her Shikamaru dream.
"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Kankuro as he got up from his position on the cave's floor. "Some of us are trying to sleep here."
"There's a shadowy figure standing outside in the sandstorm." called Izuka from the cave's entrance.
"Shadowy figure?" questioned Temari.
"Sandstorm?" added Kankuro.
"Come see for yourself." was Izuka's reply.
Kankuro and Temari got up from their sleeping bags and went over to the cave's entrance. Temari's eyes were immediately on the shadowy figure. Kankuro's were on the sandstorm.
"OH MY GOD! GAARA'S SAND-BENDING IN HIS SLEEP!" screamed Kankuro.
Both blondes looked at the puppeteer with looks that screamed "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
"Kankuro that is the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard!" screamed Temari. Izuka could only look on with cold eyes.
"No seriously, LOOK!" said Kankuro as he pointed to the said redhead in question.
The small group turned their heads to see that Gaara was still asleep, but he was moving hands in his sleep. Every time Gaara moved his hands, the sand responded by moving with them.
"OH SNAP! HE IS SAND-BENDING IN HIS SLEEP!" yelled Izuka, breaking the awkward silence.
"HE'S SLEEP-BENDING!" added Kankuro.
Temari walked over to the sleeping Kazekage, picking up Izuka's copy of Ripley's Believe it or Not! along the way. Doing the unthinkable, Temari raised the book above her head and struck Gaara with it right in the center of his head with all her strength. Gaara screamed in impact.
"OWWW! WHAT THE HELL, TEMARI!" said Gaara as he rubbed his sore head while looking at his sister with annoyed eyes.
"Sorry Gaara. In the moment, it was the only way to wake you up so you would stop sand-bending in your sleep." said Temari with sincerity present in her voice.
All Gaara could say was "I was sand-bending in my sleep?"
It was Kankuro who answered. "You created a sandstorm that was surrounding the cave. We weren't able to see the shadowy figure standing in front of the cave because of it."
"Shadowy figure?" asked Gaara as he moved to join Kankuro and Izuka at the front of the cave entrance. Temari soon joined the group and they all turned towards the not-so-shadowy figure that was standing 30 feet away from the cave.
The figure was a tall man who was at least six feet in height. He had pale blue eyes and black shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a dark green shirt and brown pants with brown sandals, which made him look like a walking tree. We wore a Sand head band around his neck.
Gaara walked out of the cave a few feet to address the stranger. "Who are you?" he called out.
The man answered in a deep, husky voice. "Are you Gaara of the Desert, the Kazekage of the Sand Village?"
Gaara answer was plain and simple. "Yes."
The stranger continued with a second question. "Where is the Sage of the Sixth Paths, Shizukara Uzumaki?"
"Right here." said Izuka in an annoyed tone as she walked over to where Gaara was standing. Izuka always got annoyed whenever somebody used her full first name to address her.
"Who are you?" asked Izuka.
The stranger walked a few more steps towards the teens to address them back.
"My name is Daisuke. I'm one of the Wind Daimyo's advisors. I'm here to escort you to the Wind Daimyo's palace."
End of Chapter 10
Author's Note: Hoped you like the chapter. Please review and read my other story "A Sage, Some Siblings, and a Whole Lot of Song Parodies." Also, please vote on my poll, located on my profile page. I've only had three voters so far.
P.S. I DO NOT OWN SHUKAKU, MATATABI, ISOBU, SAIKEN, KOKUO, GOKU, OR CHOMEI. THEY BELONG TO KISHIMOTO, NARUTO'S AUTHOR.
RYUNA IS ALL MY IDEA THOUGH! :)