I think this is one of my better chapters, please enjoy! I don't own Naruto!
A "forest" kids called it was north of the apartment Naruto lived in. It was right next to the dock, and sailed on for miles. A huge section of trees that kids played in, people camped in, and brought mystery to the town.
Naruto had run there for safe, with Gaara chasing after him. Blows of sand wisped past his face, which brought more power to Naruto's run. It was a horrible place to be if you don't know where a killer is. The trees were thick and Naruto would run around openings. Gaara was still on his tail.
Naruto had to stop and catch his breath; he couldn't run forever, and Kakashi wasn't there to save him this time. Naruto raised his shoulders, and put his game face on.
This fight was him and Gaara.
Gaara paused a few yards in front of him. They stared at each other, and Naruto felt every emotion bubble up; he was ready.
Startlingly, Gaara started laughing. Naruto swallowed, and lowered his stare.
"What so funny?" he asked bravely, hearing something brave in his tone he'd never heard before.
"You?" Gaara asked between a cackle. "You are going to fight me?" His cackle was horribly raspy and dead sounding.
"What's so funny about that?" Naruto asked, raising his head.
"You're so weak," Gaara taunted."You really are stupid." Naruto felt a pulse raise, and a fury he'd never felt before. It started in his stomach and made his shoulders rise. The dirt around Gaara started slowly swirling. Naruto braced himself, and cautiously watched the sand. He could still see a blur of Gaara.
Naruto let out a naturally roar, and raced into the sand. Gaara grabbed him and through him on the ground. Naruto raced up, and ran in a different direction; just missing a plow of sand that could have crushed him. Naruto found Gaara, and tried grabbing him. Gaara spun around and they clasped hands.
They pushed against each other, holding each others power evenly. They stared into each others eyes. Gaara's eyes were dark, murderous, confused, and dangerous. Naruto had determined, persistent, and strong eyes. They grunted, not letting go of each other, trying to push each other down.
"Why-" Naruto grunted. "Why do you want to kill me so- so bad?"
"You don't get it!" Gaara shouted. "What do I live for?" Naruto felt a tingle of surprise crawl up his body. "I was born… I was born to kill!" Naruto, shook his head, and finally pushed Gaara hard on the ground.
"I don't get it!" Naruto exclaimed, yelling over the fury of sand. "Why would you say that?" Gaara looked at his hands…
My hands… Why does everyone run away from me? Gaara walked on a deserted street in Suna City. Cars never came down this road, and people never visited. Gaara never saw people come out of their houses. He walked home, and opened the door to his house. He walked past his father, who stared at him until he went into his room.
Gaara's room was filled with toys, but everything else was dull and depressing. Gaara climbed up into the window, and watched one of the stars.
"I still don't get it!" Naruto shouted, walking slowly up to Gaara.
"My father was an idiot!" Gaara shouted. "He spoiled me, but treated me like I was some kind of monster!" He got up, and Naruto shielded his eyes from the swirling sand. It stung as it hit his skin.
"Why did he think you were a monster?" Naruto asked other the sound of rushing sand.
"I am monster!" He yelled. Even though sand was rushing past them, Naruto felt Gaara would still be shouting. "Don't you get it? You are too!"
"How can you say that, you jerk?" Naruto exclaimed, plunging at him, punching him. Gaara flung himself to his feet, and hit Naruto in the side, making him fall backwards, and balance onto a tree. Naruto watched I horror how the sand was coating Gaara, forming a demon-like body. It was hulky and powerful. It laughed eerily, starting off sound like Gaara and slowly combining in a deep growling laugh.
Naruto pressed up against the tree, and felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, and it was-
"Jiraiya!"
"Shh!" He covered a lip and took out a scroll. He bit his thumb, placed it on the scroll, and left. Naruto shrugged, and hid the scroll behind the tree.
"This," the monster that once was Gaara growled. "Is the reason why my father hated me."
"How can you compare me to that?" He shouted confused. The demon slashed, and Naruto jumped to the side. At first he thought he missed the blow, but he looked down at his leg, and it had tore through his pants, and was started to bleed. He felt the sting as he released two shadow clones.
The three of them, ran after the monster, but Naruto ducked watching the shadow clones poof into oblivion. He shouted in determination and saw the forest dotted with himself. He realized he had used an amazingly great shadow clone jutsu. They charged after the beast.
Some would land on the monster and punch it, leaving small dents. The real Naruto, while Gaara or whatever it was detracted, he ran to the scroll, and opened it. It rolled out and he saw a list of names written in red.
Jiraiya
Minato
And many more. Naruto looked at it confused, and tried to recall what Jiraiya had done. He had bit his thumb… what did that mean? The names were written in red…
"Oh man," Naruto groaned. The names, if Naruto wasn't wrong, were written in blood. Jiraiya had suggested biting his thumb to where he bled! Naruto looked at his thumb, feeling his stomach turning. He gulped, and bit hard into his thumb. He shook it in pain, and wrote his name on the scroll.
NARUTO
"Arg…" he moaned in frustration. The sting from the rough paper hurt, but he was also confused. "What did that do?" Jiraiya came back, quietly walking from behind a tree, and bit both his fingers again, and pointed at the ground. He disappeared, holding up a peace sign.
Naruto looked at his hands in disbelief. He couldn't stare any longer, Gaara had sliced through a tree behind Naruto, and was about to kill him with on huge sand paw. It roared in frustration when Naruto had rolled to the side. He bit his thumbs and shoved them in the ground.
He gaped at the huge toad that had just appeared in a titanic puff of smoke. It was taller than the trees, and wider than the apartment building, and he was standing on top of it! It was a dull red, and was smoking a giant cigar.
"Woah!" Naruto laughed, ready for action.
"Why did you disrupt me?" It asked, making Naruto fall down, not knowing it talked.
"If you haven't noticed," Naruto said sourly, hiding his excitement. "We're being attacked." The beast had grown to the toad's size.
"Oh!" it said surprised. "What kind o' shrimp can sum-"
"Watch out!" Naruto warned fast, and the toad jumped back. "Hey, wait… did you just call me a SHRIMP?"
"Do you know who that is?" the toad asked. "On a better note, do you know who I am?"
"No," Naruto said, shaking.
"I'm Gamabunta," he greeted.
"Jiraiya just gave me a scroll and-"
"Oh, so this is Jiraiya's doing; of course."
"What is that beast?" Naruto asked, sitting down, watching the monster eye them.
"It's the one tailed Shukaku," Gamabunta explained.
"One tailed wha-" The earth shook, and Naruto held onto Gamabunta for his life. Shukaku was shaking it's tail, and heading straight for them. "What do we do?"
"I'll hold him off, but you have to get to the kid on the Shukaku,"
"What?" Naruto hadn't noticed Gaara standing on the beast's head. "Gaara!" He shouted, cuffing his hands over his mouth.
Yashamaru… Gaara held the hand of his uncle, and explained his day. Yashamaru listened understandingly. He nodded, and soothed Gaara when he would come close to tears.
"It's okay," Yashamaru soothed, rubbing Gaara's head. Gaara's day was as awful then any other day he had. Gaara sniffed, and hugged Yashamaru.
Shukaku charged after Gamabunta and Naruto, making Naruto find his balance.
"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, their battling creatures weren't far apart. "What kind of father doesn't love his son, just because of a freakish power?"
"That's not it!" He yelled frustrated. "You don't get it! This isn't a power; this is the demon that lives inside of me!" A blow of sand plowed the earth, close to Naruto and Gamabunta.
"You can't get through to him," Gamabunta said sadly.
"He won't listen," Naruto said, pacing on the toad's head. "What will make him listen?"
Leave me alone!… Gaara stared hard at the sky, looking for more kunai. He had been day dreaming on the roof of his house, looking at the stars. Two uninviting kunai had zipped through the air, aimed at him. He panted as he looked for more, but none came. Who could had it been?
Love… Yashamaru taught it to me, it was something strange but wonderful I learned. He taught me many things with emotional and physical pain. I thought he loved me, and cared! I was wrong, what did I do to make him hate me like my father, and everyone else in the city…
Naruto jumped forward, trying to land on the terrifying beast, to get closer to Gaara. He was going to fight and talk to him. He almost landed on the head of the monster, when a stream of thick rushing sand, whipped him back onto Gamabunta's head.
"I don't think he wants to talk," Gamabunta suggested.
"Shut up," Naruto murmured, and Gamabunta didn't hear him. He felt crushed, and didn't want to move, but stood up anyway. The sand had knocked a little wind out of him. He coughed, and saw the unpleasant sight of blood. He felt it drip out him mouth.
Love… Gaara watched Yashamaru disappear in a blow of the wind. His clothes were the only thing left, placed in his last standing place. Gaara screamed, and burst in to painful tears rubbing his head. The horrible permanent mark of LOVE left on his head in kanji.
Yashamaru had told Gaara his father had sent him out to kill him. Not just him, but different assassins. The most painful part was that Yashamaru had taken the mission on willfully. Gaara cried into the sand the cover the outside of their city. He hugged himself, pressing his face into the wet sand.
Naruto attemped to keep talking to Gaara, but he kept holding him back; trying to kill him.
Dead… Gaara walked out of his home, watching the peaceful clouds wisp away, without worry. Inside, his father was dead on the floor, covered in sand…
"Wait until Kankuro and Temari… hear this." Gaara whispered to himself.
Naruto's jacket was unzipped, and he was horribly beaten with sand. He panted, and Gamabunta seemed slower than before.
"Man…" Naruto panted. "He really wants me dead." He ran and flew through the air, ready to land on Shukaku. He hit the head for the first time, and tried to balance on. Gaara stared at him with wide furious eyes, and Naruto got hit with yet another plow of sand.
Naruto shouted in determination, and jumped higher than ever. Shukaku caught him, but Naruto fought this time. He held up his fist, ready to get to Gaara by force.
"Gaara!" He shouted, feeling himself getting through the strength of the sand. "G-Gaara!" Gaara went up to him. They were so close, and Naruto pushed through the power of the sand, and hit heads with Gaara.
"Why do you try so hard?" Gaara asked. They stared at each other hard, angrily and tired. Naruto panted, and saw Gaara just stare.
"Why?" Naruto asked. "Because, I understand."
"Understand?" Gaara asked, fury raising in his voice.
"I understand what it's like!" Naruto shouted. "To have people run away from me and not have a great family." Naruto saw a shift in Gaara's eyes. "But I don't go around killing people, or feeling sorry about myself." Gaara's eyes now had a dangerous shadow lurk in them, and then had a small smile.
"You are so pathetic," he rasped.
"You wanna go though life," Naruto yelled. "Having people running away from you forever?" Gaara made a small gasp that had escape. "At least you've got a brother and sister."
"They hate me!" Gaara exclaimed. Naruto felt the cold sting of blood forming on his forehead.
"You think I'm pathetic?" Naruto asked. "Look at yourself." Gaara roared, and shoved Naruto to the ground. He fell; ready to feel the impact of the hard, death-bringing ground. He instead fell on Gamabunta.
"Get the giant demon he's on!" Naruto demanded.
"Isn't that what we've been trying to do?" Gamabunta asked stubbornly. Gaara charged with Shukaku, and Gamabunta hit in the middle, and it exploded into a giant rain of sand. Naruto slid down the toad to meet Gaara on the ground.
Gaara lied on the ground. Naruto thought he was dead when he first saw him. He looked drenched in sweat, and stared widely at the sky. Naruto fell to the ground in exhaustion, and they lied there, staring at each other.
Naruto let out a small chuckle, and lifted his back off the ground, and moved toward Gaara.
"Get away!" Gaara shouted, and Naruto smiled.
"You're so confused," Naruto chuckled. "You don't get me." Gaara was breathing hard of confusion and exhaustion.
"Why do go on," Gaara asked. "You're basically dead."
"The pride," Naruto answered. "That comes from the friendship and rivalry of things and people. They're my family now!" Gaara looked at Naruto, and he saw a realization in his eyes, that made Naruto smile. Someone ran in from the woods, Kankuro and Temari, and Naruto saw Gaara close his eyes.
"Gaara," the girl called. Naruto assumed she was in high school.
"Why did you leave the house?" the boy scolded.
"Oh my," the girl moaned, looking at the two boys. Kankuro picked up the beaten Gaara, and carried him like a pig-back ride. Gaara's eyes were still closed, and they left. Naruto sighed, and happily stared at the clouds. Then he realized, how was he going to get home?
"Kankuro…" Gaara groaned softly. "Temari… I'm sorry." The siblings looked at each other confused. Temari patted his head gently, and they walked home under the silence of the stars.
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