Here's the twelfth chapter of The Clash of Time!
Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto. You no sue.
Warnings: SasuNaru, angstiness, mild yuri, don't like don't read, etc etc
Ya, this chappie's not as long as others... Though it is on time! That counts for something, right? Oh, don't count on this being updated on time again!
Also since I've been updating so fast I might not have put as much thought into things... Well, better then no story I guess!
Not much SasuNaru, or focus on Team Seven at all really... SasuNaru's gonna continue to be onesided for a little while. It's gonna be twosided again soon, though! (by soon I mean eventually)
PLEASE REVIEW!! Y'all are being good about that lately, so don't stop now!!
Key:
"Blah"- regular speech
Blah- regular text/ emphasis within a flashback or dream or thoughts
'Blah'- thoughts
Blah- dream text/ emphasis on a word or statement/ flashback text
"Blah"- dream speech
"Blah"- demon/ dragon (or just something really really big) speech
'Blah'- demon/ dragon (or just something really really big) thoughts
"Blah"- demon/ dragon (or just something really really big) speech within a dream/ flashback
'Blah'- speech over a communication device of some sort.
"Blah"- speech in a language other than whichever one the shinobi normally speak in (Japanese or English, or some other language)
Enjoy!
(shortly after the start of the second exam, about half an hour before the end of the last chapter)
"There! A perfect Konoha symbol!" Anko said, grinning as she threw the last toothpick into the bark of the tree."-sigh- I guess I should be going to the tower now. The faster brats will be finishing soon."
Before she could do anything, a chunin poofed in front of her.
"Anko-sama! Trouble!" he announced.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Bodies… Three of them! In the graveyard!"
"And…?" she said. Really, you'd expect there to be bodies in a graveyard, wouldn't you?
"Oh… Well, they're not a part of the graveyard," he said.
Anko blinked. "Oh… Oh, shit!"
She rushed to the graveyard, leaving the chunin behind. When she got there, her eyes narrowed as she viewed the three faceless, dead bodies.
"Fuck…" she said, rubbing the side of her neck where the curse seal was. It was beginning to tingle, a sure sign that her old sensei was nearby. This jutsu was all too familiar. 'I can't believe he's here… What does he want?'
"Tell the ANBU that Orochimaru might be here, and that I went into the forest after him!" Anko shouted at one of the chunin, rushing off into the training zone.
(about twenty minutes later, ten minutes before end of last chapter)
"What the hell?" Kiba shouted suddenly, hearing Naruto's request. Temari and Kankurou turned to stare at him as if he'd started talking to himself.
"That power, the fire like one, belongs to your friend Naruto, correct?" Gaara asked, turning his gaze on Kiba and his team. "And the other belongs to Orochimaru, the snake sannin."
"H-hai," Hinata stammered. "N-Naruto-kun asked us to tell them ANBU what was going on." Seeing the incredulous stares of Gaara's teammates, she rushed to explain. "He set up a communication system, through chakra activated necklaces, so we could talk in our minds. Really, I'm telling the truth!"
Kankurou frowned. "I don't believe her. She's probably just trying to talk us into letting them go!"
"No," Gaara said, once again halting his siblings. His gaze was fixed firmly on Hinata. "Naruto-kun gave me the same necklace after I agreed to help him with something. I heard his message too."
'Don't doubt me,' he said over the mind link to Team Eight alone. He knew that there was no way Naruto would wish his hand revealed so soon, but there was no other alternative.
Kiba jerked when he heard Gaara speak within his mind. Hinata jumped, while even Shino tensed. They would never have suspected the two of being in league with each other! And that meant that there might be some ulterior motive to the blonde's gifts, other than everyone of the Rookie Nine passing.
"WHAT?!" Temari shouted/ asked, spinning around to stare, shocked, at her little brother. He was teamed up with the enemy? Why?
Kankurou just sat there, his mouth open. He was more shocked than anyone. Temari wasn't too surprised because she herself wasn't all too loyal to Suna, but it had never crossed Kankurou's mind to betray his village, so he was less aware of the desire in others, not being of the paranoid type either.
"I tire of repeating myself. Let them go," Gaara said, turning to glare at his siblings. "I'll explain later," he added, as an afterthought.
"Wait! Hinata, no way are we going to the tower without both scrolls!" Kiba shouted, rounding on his teammate. He wanted to help! He really did, but he wasn't throwing away the chunin exams just for Naruto!
"But, Kiba! Naruto could die! Don't you know who Orochimaru is?" Hinata shouted back, her lack of confidence evaporating in the face of her crush's peril. She couldn't let Kiba's stubbornness get him killed!
"Which scroll do you need?" Gaara intercepted, his voice low and angry. These idiots were wasting time! He couldn't go to the ANBU himself without looking suspicious to the Konoha shinobi, and without screaming at Suna and Oto that he wasn't on their side anymore. "We've got extras."
"But! Gaara!" Kankurou shouted spinning to face Gaara. Temari was silent. She knew better than to anger her little brother any further.
"The Heaven scroll," Kiba growled.
"Here." Gaara threw the scroll at Hinata, who caught it, surprised. "If Naruto dies because of your delays, I'll slaughter you," he growled, glaring at Kiba.
"Gaara! You can't give away our scroll!" Kankurou shouted, once again. This was beyond insane!
"There's other scrolls. Let's go, and stop wasting my time," Gaara said to his brother, simultaneously daring his sister to challenge him with his eyes. She remained silent.
Kankurou realized the peril he was in as Gaara's sand started to bristle, sliding over itself. "H-hai," he said, deciding that his life wasn't worth the argument and the short amount of time that would actually be lost.
"Come on!" Hinata said to her teammates, dragging Kiba, who'd been staring at the Suna trio, to his feet. "We'll ask Naruto what's going on later! For now we need to get to the tower!"
He snapped to attention, leaping to his feet. Team Eight shot through the forest, driven by Hinata's newfound determination as much as anything. She sped up when she felt the waves of fiery energy cease, knowing that it meant something bad had happened to Naruto.
Both her teammates were left behind as she propelled more chakra out of her legs than she should've been, making her chakra coils scream as she tripled her speed.
She slammed through the tower door, using her chakra as a shield to protect herself from harm. She then used the tree walking technique to glue herself to the floor, bring her to a swift halt. She yanked both scrolls open, laying them in a crossing pattern on the floor, the symbol for person overlapping as smoke poured out.
"Kurenai-sensei! Trouble!" she panted out, as her teacher appeared in the smoke.
"Where's your teammates?" Kurenai asked, seeing only Hinata.
"Catching up!" she replied. "That isn't the problem, though! Orochimaru's in the forest, and I know where he is!"
Kurenai's eyes widened. All the jounin had been warned that Orochimaru was likely somewhere in the forest, and was being hunted by ANBU. She activated the short distance communication device she carried everywhere with her.
"Hokage-sama!" she said, activating the radio. "My student saw where Orochimaru is!"
"The ANBU will be here shortly," she said, turning to Hinata. Just then Kiba slid in, Shino following him at a more controlled pace.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba exclaimed.
"I guess you two can also confirm Hinata's story?" she asked.
Shino and Kiba bother nodded. "Me and Akamaru both smelt him. He smells like somewhere between a snake, a human, and a dead body," Kiba said.
"His chakra signature's so powerful that only an S-class criminal or higher could be producing it, and his power is corrupt and making my insects on edge. Most shinobi, even powerful ones, can't do that. The only one I've heard of having that effect on an Aburame is Orochimaru," Shino explained.
"Good. More evidence. I've already called in the ANBU," Kurenai explained.
"When in all the hells are they going to get here, then?" Kiba shouted at Kurenai.
"Now."
They all turned to see the two ANBU standing behind them. None of them had sensed their presence.
"Where is he?" the one with the bird mask asked.
Hinata really wished she could convey mental information to them like Naruto could to her. Sadly, it wasn't so. She described everything she could remember from Naruto's information, including the surroundings, how far it was from the gate, how far from the tower, and how far from the river. "I also saw N-Naruto-kun and his team there," she added when she'd finished. "I think he m-might be after one of them, like Sasuke."
The ANBU stiffened almost imperceptibly. They'd felt the blast of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's energy, followed shortly by Orochimaru's own power, but they'd hoped the two were unrelated. They'd also had suspicions that Orochimaru was after Sasuke for his sharingan. This girl very well might've just confirmed it.
The second ANBU, the one that had yet to speak, turned on his own radio, sending what Hinata had reported to Anko.
"Do any of you have anything else to add?" the bird masked ANBU asked.
Kiba and Shino both relayed all the information they could, including the feel of Orochimaru's and Naruto's chakra, and the scents. Kiba was able to add extra information to the location, due to his nose picking out the specific scents of the area.
The two ANBU nodded when they finished, poofing away to join the search. It would take more than just Anko to combat Orochimaru.
"You three," Kurenai said, receiving a message on her radio. "Are to report immediately to the Hokage."
Team Eight nodded, wondering what in all the hells Naruto had gotten them into. This was way bigger than they'd thought earlier.
Anko was combing the forest for Orochimaru, the tingling of her curse mark her only guide, when the message from one of the ANBU came.
'Huh, so he was found out by a genin,' Anko thought, finding the whole things a bit… off. Orochimaru shouldn't have been obvious enough for a genin to see and recognize him, even if that genin had the Byakugan. Still, it was her best lead, and it did point her in the same direction as her curse mark did. She adjusted her course to take her directly to Orochimaru, adding speed so that she might get there before he killed any of the genin on Team Seven.
"Gaara, what are we going to do now?" Temari asked, bringing up the subject timidly.
He didn't reply, instead just walking in a seemingly random direction. He'd actually sensed the presence of another team, though.
His teammates hurried to follow, Temari's wind specialty allowing her to 'hear' the currents carried through the breezes. Including the information that just shortly ahead of them was yet another team to loot for their scrolls.
She raced ahead, wanting to get this over with. Neither brother attempted to stop her.
"What the hell?" one of the genin exclaimed as she suddenly rushed towards them in a great blast of wind. They were from Iwa, it seemed.
She didn't pause, just jumped off her fan onto the forest floor. Landing in a crouch, she caught her fan in one hand as it fell out of the sky. She spun up out of her crouch, reopening the fan and sending out cutting waves of air as she did so. The only remaining genin after that onslaught was quickly dealt with as Temari sent him slamming into a tree with yet another gust of wind.
She was calmer as she looted their bodies, her brothers arriving just as she found the Heaven scroll in the pouch of the genin who had spoken up when she arrived.
"Let's go," Gaara said, seeing that his sister had the correct scroll. Not waiting for a response, he turned and started to head back to the tower.
"Gaara, please wait a second," Temari called out, using a gentle rather than commanding tone of voice. He turned to glare at her. "We've got the replacement scroll, and now time to waste. We won't be able to talk much once we're back with Baki. Could you possibly explain to us why you felt like betraying Suna?"
"I feel no desire to help those who have oppressed me, and Uzumaki not only offered me acceptance and protection from enemies, but he temporarily patched up my seal so that Shukaku's bloodlust does not affect me as much. He has promised to fully replace the seal after the chunin exams are over if I uphold my part of the bargain," Gaara explained monotonously, after a moment's hesitation.
Both siblings were surprised. Temari, luckily, got over it first and therefore replied first, sending a silencing glare to Kankurou as she did so. "That's good," she said. "You deserve a chance at peace."
Both brothers were once again shocked at her words, though Gaara didn't show it. Kankurou decided to keep his mouth shut this time. He was going to keep on being surprised no matter what he said, it seemed. Plus talking was only getting him in more trouble lately.
Kin looked around, nerves on edge. She knew something was wrong, from how Naruto had screamed out like that. She could also no longer sense his chakra signature, so obviously overpowered by yoki.
'That much yoki… This isn't good, even if Orochimaru hasn't harmed him badly,' Yosei said.
Kin turned her full attention inward. It was better than staring at the bark of the nearest tree, waiting for Orochimaru to tell her team whether their specific purpose during this exam would need to be fulfilled or not.
'Why?' she asked.
Yosei hesitated before replying. 'When I saw him last, I could tell that his chakra coils had been badly damaged recently, and were still mending. They can't have possibly finished yet. Based on the waves of yoki, he's using three fourths of a tail, much more than he should be at this point. His chakra coils are going to be utterly useless for at the least a week after he awakes from having his most life threatening injuries healed by Stella, more if Orochimaru's done something to interfere with his healing ability.'
Kin instantly realized the problem with that. If Naruto's chakra coils were busted, he couldn't fight, and the likeliness of her surviving and his plan working would be reduced dramatically. Even if he managed to regain use of his coils before the invasion, he probably wouldn't be able to use more than a small amount of yoki and only a little more chakra.
'That's very, very bad…' Kin thought. Yosei nodded somewhere within her mind.
Haku leapt out of the tree that he'd been hiding in when he saw Naruto be branded with the curse seal. His water and shadow clones distracted Orochimaru, pelting him with needles of ice.
His senses extended, he sensed the ANBU closing in. They probably couldn't locate him over Orochimaru's overpowering chakra signature, so he was hopefully safe for the time being.
Haku landed next to Naruto. Sasuke had already regained his feet and rushed over, and Sakura was making her way through the battle zone.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Sasuke snapped at Haku, who had dropped his henge into a Mist genin.
"I'll explain everything later," Haku said softly, sending his chakra out to check what was going on with Naruto. "For now, Naruto-kun needs my help, and your cooperation."
Sasuke couldn't argue, his focus taken up by Naruto's predicament.
'Dobe, you baka! You shouldn't have protected me!' Sasuke thought angrily, nails scrapping painfully at the bark of the tree branch as his hands clenched into fists. A burning sensation built behind his eyes as he fought back tears. Uchiha don't cry. Ninja don't cry. Itachi had never, ever cried. Sasuke couldn't cry now.
His attention was yanked out of his angered musings as Haku gasped, his search of Naruto's internal chakra and blood network turning up as not good.
"What?!" Sasuke asked, dreading the answer.
"Orochimaru put another seal on him, blocking any ability of his to fight the curse seal and heal himself," Haku said monotonously, his extensive training with Zabuza kicking in as his rising panic was buried under a mask of ice.
"I saw him use that, with my sharingan," Sasuke said, recalling what he'd seen Orochimaru do, and how it had been done. If only he knew more about seals, he might be able to reverse the one on Naruto! "He called it the Five Pronged Seal."
"I know little about seals, but I do know that that's a weak, easy to remove one, and it seems as if Naruto's already begun to remove it," Haku said, maintaining perfect calm as he examined the seal directly with his chakra, lifting up Naruto's shirt and jacket. Sasuke stared at the revealed seals. He could recognize, based on Orochimaru's hand placement, the marks that were likely the Five Pronged Seal. But his sharingan told him that there was at the least one more…
No, he couldn't be thinking about that. Helping Naruto came first. Questions could wait until Naruto woke up again.
'You mean if he wakes up again,' that small voice in the back of his head, that seed of doubt, that had always haunted him, whispered. Sasuke denied it, fighting back the worry, forcing himself to a state of calm, or as close to one as he could get.
Haku muttered quietly to himself as he recalled some half-forgotten jutsu, seen once or twice in a scroll, forming full hand seals. That in and of itself was a sign of how little he knew what he was doing. Anything he was even mildly proficient in he could easily pull off with only one hand.
His hand began to glow, and he slammed it into the Five Pronged Seal on Naruto's stomach. He hadn't known the jutsu for removing the seal, so he'd actually gone with a jutsu designed to pull on seals that were very weak or already worn away, finishing breaking them. It was a good, all around jutsu, that worked even on things such as old locks and such.
Naruto's body jerked, the added assistance allowing Stella's yoki to break free, flooding Naruto's body. Haku leapt back, the heat too much for his snow accustomed body, but Sasuke gritted his teeth and held his ground, actually shifting closer to Naruto.
The yoki began to fight with Orochimaru's invading curse seal, trying to prevent it from gripping Naruto's body, heart, and mind.
As a result, the blonde's body began to jerk violently, thrashing about. Sasuke grabbed him and hugged him close to his chest as it looked as if the fox boy were about to fall off. He ignored the burns beginning to form on his bare arms, cradling Naruto's body so as to do the minimal amount of damage.
"Give me both of your necklaces!" Haku shouted at Sasuke, feeling a single jounin draw close enough to be worrisome. Sasuke hesitated, though. "If those are found, Naruto will be in extreme trouble, and the medics will insist on checking both you and Sakura! Trust me, they will find those."
Sasuke nodded slowly, removing his and Naruto's communication necklaces before tossing them to Haku. The boy turned to Sakura then, who had paused much closer to the tree when Naruto's body was flooded with yoki. "Yours too," he said, in a calmer and less demanding tone of voice. She probably was too scared to reply well to a more commanding tone.
She nodded swiftly, yanking her necklace off and tossing it to Haku. If Sasuke had resisted, so would she have, but Sasuke had handed his over to Haku.
Haku nodded, before vanishing without a trace. He wasn't surrounding by glowing lights, or a poof of smoke, or swirling leaves, or even a flare of chakra. He simply ceased to be there, as if he'd never stood in that place. If it weren't for the swiftly melting ice, Sakura would've believed him nothing more than a phantasm.
The few of Haku's clones still left vanished. They'd somehow managed to hold back Orochimaru that long, even though it had only been a minute or two.
Before Orochimaru could turn to attack Sasuke and gain his prize, Anko poofed in. All three still conscious could sense the ANBU, now much closer, approaching behind.
Orochimaru hissed and, without a word, stepped back into the tree, Anko's attack coming a second too late.
"Fuck!" Anko shouted, looking around, stretching her senses for Orochimaru's signature. It wasn't there. "Orochimaru's run off! Look for him! I need two of you to stick with the genin team here in case he returns," she ordered through her headset.
She nodded when the ANBU replied. They'd listen to her orders.
Two of them, one's she'd worked with often in the past and the same ones who had questioned Hinata, poofed onto a branch slightly above everyone's heads shortly after Anko's orders.
"Anko, what about the test?" One of them asked, indicating the genin with a tilt of his head. "If we bring the downed one in for medical attention, that'll automatically disqualify them if they don't already have both scrolls, probably even if they do, and we can't exactly follow them around without being declared as interfering with the test. Even this much is stretching it."
Before Anko could reply, Sasuke's shouted his answer. "I don't care! Naruto needs medical attention!"
"Well, it can't be against any rules to bring them to the tower, especially under these circumstances. If they don't have the scrolls, too bad for them," Anko said, turning to go help look for Orochimaru. The two ANBU nodded.
She poofed away as they jumped over to stand next to the remains of Team Seven.
"Give him to me. That way we'll be able to travel faster," the one with the bird mask said, reaching down to take Naruto from Sasuke's arms.
"No!" Sasuke shouted, gripping Naruto tighter. He calmed down slightly before continuing. "I'll carry him."
The ANBU's eyes went to the boys arms. Those burns…
He'd smelled burnt flesh when he entered the clearing, but had assumed it was either from the Uchiha's fire jutsu actually hitting Orochimaru or from the Kyuubi no Gaki's own actions causing some of his flesh to burn. He's also sensed the yoki radiating from Naruto as he fought the poison within him and the invading chakra.
Sasuke's arms were beat red all over, in many places beginning to blacken as yoki leaked off of Naruto and burnt anything it came into contact with. Now that Sasuke was hugging the boy against his chest, his shirt, damp with blood and sweat, was beginning to smolder, drying out swiftly.
"Your arms are already badly burnt from holding him. I have protective gear on my arms. If the medics are busy healing you, they can't be healing your teammate," the ANBU replied, looking Sasuke in the eyes. The sharingan was still going, despite Sasuke's exhaustion and mental and emotional stress. He probably wasn't keeping it up on purpose, which meant that he subconsciously still thought that there was a threat to be fought.
And maybe there was. But the sharingan, despite its many powers, was no match for the threat that now faced its wielder.
Sasuke didn't continue arguing, just shook his head, hugging Naruto tighter. Sakura looked on, feeling lost and useless. If only she could fight… If only she could cast genjutsu, like Kakashi said she had the potential to do, she could've helped Naruto. If only she could heal, like she knew she had the potential to, she could ease his and Sasuke's suffering, even if only a bit.
But she couldn't. She couldn't even use jutsus higher than a low genin level, let alone advanced enough to have made a difference in the fight or to make a difference now.
She realized for the first time exactly how completely and utterly useless she was in the face of true danger.
She'd known for a while now that she might not be the most useful person, or that she could've acted different. She'd never, ever known how much of a burden she was, though.
"Sasuke," she said, putting her hand lightly on his shoulders. He turned to stare at her, wide eyed and confused. He hadn't been able to do anything, either. He'd just been saved by someone who by all rights should've hated him, should've been weaker than him.
Someone who shouldn't have had to save him in the first place.
"I know that you don't want to let a stranger carry Naruto," she continued, her voice calm and soothing. "But you're injured, too. You'd take up the attention of medic nins, and you'd slow us down getting back to the tower. Please, Sasuke, for Naruto… Please."
Maybe all hope wasn't lost. Maybe she could be useful.
As she watched Sasuke's shoulders slump in defeat, as the ANBU picked up Naruto, as she stood to follow them in a wild run through the trees, she decided something.
No longer would she chase Sasuke. No longer would she be the giggling, useless, obsessed fangirl.
She had a new dream, a new goal, a new ambition, even.
She was going to be useful to her teammates, to the boy she still secretly loved but now never expected to be loved by, to the boy who she'd scorned and who had risked it all to save her love and her life and who had shown himself to be more than anyone had ever thought possible.
She didn't want to be the add on, the extra in someone else's movie. She didn't want to be the cannon fodder, or the one that was always getting in the way. She no longer thought of being a damsel in distress as romantic. She had been. It wasn't as good as the fairy tales said. Her knight in shining armor, her prince had never come.
She was going to change things. She was going to become independent. She would slay her own dragons, and help her teammates while she was at it. She was going to become what she'd signed up for.
She was a kunoichi, a female shinobi, and she'd start acting like it.
Even… Even if it cost her everything.
It was worth it, to be the one they needed, to be the knight in shining armor, even if only once.
Gaara stood up, sensing the signatures of Naruto and his team approaching, along with two ANBU. It didn't take someone with Shikamaru's brains to figure out what had happened. Team Seven had given up on the exam, choosing Naruto's safety over their success.
Pity, really. He knew that it had been a major point of Naruto's plans to end up in the final round, though he didn't know exactly why. A main point was the training excuse, so that he could seek out a good teacher in the month they were always allotted, was all that he'd gathered.
He also suspected some other reason, though he didn't know what.
'I wonder… If his team already had the scroll, and Naruto was declared 'fit to battle', if they'd be allowed to pass? Or even then if Naruto wasn't they might simply say it's due to Orochimaru, and let his teammates pass,' Gaara mused.
He remembered the blonde saying they had a Heaven scroll when he'd asked before the exams. And he had two Earth scrolls…
It couldn't hurt to give the extra to their team. Deciding this, Gaara stood and began heading for the door. He was giving off such bad vibes that neither teammate dared ask him where he was going.
He stopped before he got too close to the ANBU, waiting for them to deposit Naruto with the medics and tell Sasuke he couldn't be in the room with his teammate. The chakra signatures of the ANBU faded shortly afterwards, as they moved to guard the entire tower.
He meandered casually towards the two standing genin of Team Seven.
"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped when Gaara got too close. His voice was thickened with pain, but whether physical or emotional was beyond Gaara. Probably both. The boy's arms were badly burnt, and he had several wounds. His teammate had just practically sacrificed himself for him.
"Naruto is a… friend of mine," Gaara said, searching for the right word. Strange, how this mission and his treachery of Suna had changed him. He'd never have considered calling someone 'friend' before.
Sasuke didn't react as Gaara had thought he would. Instead of growing suspicious or angry, he merely seemed defeated.
"Doesn't surprise me… the dobe's been keeping so many secrets lately…" he muttered, staring at his feet, body posture showing that he was at the end of his will power.
"I know that you have a Heaven scroll, and that you didn't manage to get an Earth scroll by the time you were attacked," Gaara said, not one to dwell on emotional issues. He couldn't spend too long here without looking incredibly suspicious. He was pushing it as it was.
Both genin stared at him, suddenly on guard.
"So? Naruto's down for the count. It doesn't matter which scrolls we have!" Sasuke hissed.
Gaara looked at him impassively, inwardly wondering at the boy's emotions. He was so upset… It was nothing that Gaara comprehended, caring so much about someone to get so worked up about them being in danger.
"Because of who attacked you, it's unlikely they'll disqualify the two of you for having your teammate be knocked out," Gaara said. "Also, if what I'm sensing is correct, Naruto's chakra's so chaotic that it's likely lashing out at anyone who comes near, potentially harming or killing them, especially if he senses killer intent, which counts as being able to fight."
He paused, waiting for either genin to respond. Neither did, so he continued.
"I have an extra Earth scroll. It couldn't harm you, and it might be able to help both you and Naruto," Gaara said, holding out the extra.
Sasuke's eyes flickered in between the scroll and Gaara's face, wondering if he should trust the Suna shinobi. Remembering the first time Naruto and Gaara had met, when they'd spoken in such a strange language… Their body posture, or at the least Gaara's, had been off. Tone, body posture, speed of speaking, and reactions didn't line up as they should…
Remembering all the strange things about Naruto, and about how he'd had a friendship with a missing nin who just happened to be their enemy that none of them knew about, how that same missing nin had shown up just now to defend them… Sasuke grabbed the scroll, nodding at Gaara and whispering a 'thank you'.
Gaara heard it, though, and he turned and walked away, his mind more confused than before. It was strange, how this mission was affecting him.
He hadn't felt this way in six years.
Ya, not a ton of SasuNaru in this one. Sorry 'bout that. But there were major hints!
I also took a shot at beginning to develop Sakura. I wanna know what the readers think about that. Should I bring her partially out of uselessness? All the way out? Mostly out? Leave her? Or just kill her? And if I do any of
those, what direction should I bring her in, medic, genjutsu specialist, both, or none? Should she continue crushing on Sasuke or move onto someone else? And who, then?
I've also started laying the ground work for developing Gaara… And his family relationships. Do you guys think I got those right?
Did anyone see the dun-dun-duuuuunnnnn part in there? Hehe… Don't you love foreboding hints? Or do you have no clue what I'm talking about?
Now, be honest, how many of you saw plot-no-jutsu in there? I did, but maybe I'm imagining things…
Not sure if there's any translations/ explanations to be done…
PLEASE REVIEW!!
It makes me feel like a good authoress! And it helps me get my lazy butt in gear! Constructive criticism/ suggestions/ ideas/ any form of feedback really is coveted! And it WILL help my writing! Feel free to flame. Adds to my review count. :P
Ja ne!
Posted: 5/11/08, or Sunday, May 5th, 2008