Forlorn

by Isumo 1489

After escaping tragic pasts, young Naruto, Gaara and Haku form an eccentric but powerful team and forever change Konoha. While confronting adversity and enemies they choose to transform a forlorn past into a bright future. AU Note: The story continues in a sequel! Harbinger, written by tigerowl.

14. Dysfunctional

Chapter Soundtrack: "81 Summer" by Uyama Hiroto

Chapter 14- Dysfunctional

"You three will be training without me this morning," Jiraiya muttered, lighting his pipe, "And most likely the morning after that...and the one after that and so on."

"How long does your probation last, sensei?" Haku was the only one of the genin present to offer sympathy to their instructor that morning, and he shot an irritated look to both Naruto and Gaara who stood next to him, looking half-asleep.

"I already told you, four months...quit rubbing it in..." The toad hermit took a drag, depression written all over his face.

"Yeah, well, you have fun Ero-sensei, we'll be seeing you." Naruto turned and wandered away down the sidewalk. Gaara followed suit.

Jiraiya snorted as his less enthusiastic students walked off, yawning and grumbling. He looked down at Haku who stood silently in front of him waiting to be properly dismissed.

"Get going Haku and make sure they actually do something productive today." The sennin sighed as the dark haired boy nodded obediently.

"Is there anything I can do for you sensei?"

His politeness was beginning to get on his nerves, but Jiraiya decided it was better than listening to Naruto whine or Gaara not say anything.

"Not unless you can convince Hokage-sama to get me off the hook," Haku looked sheepish and Jiraiya smiled, "Just go kid. I'll tough it out."

Haku nodded again looking a bit torn and followed after the rest of Team 2.

With a heartfelt sigh, Jiraiya turned on his heal and walked in the opposite direction, wishing he had something a bit stronger to smoke.

Something in his gut told him this day would be odd.

---

The first piece of evidence supporting Jiraiya's prediction appeared when Naruto, Haku and Gaara arrived at the fourth training ground, only to find that it was already occupied. Apparently another team had gotten there first.

He wondered what Haku and Gaara's reactions had been to the intrusion, so he glanced over to them to check. Haku was smiling beside him, predictably. It seemed as if he already knew who had taken over their field and he didn't look the least bit upset. Gaara was silent and folded his arms mechanically. Unlike Haku, he seemed slightly more irritated; but then again, Gaara was always irritated by something.

"Hey!" Still, Naruto was dismayed by the intrusion, "We were early today! Who got here before us?"

A black haired woman turned to him, frowning, "We did. These training areas are for all Leaf shinobi to use, I am sure you are aware."

He was intimidated enough to fail to come up with one of his smart-ass retorts. Thankfully, he didn't have to, because two familiar faces appeared from behind the formidable young woman.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

The blonde brightened considerably. The shy Hyuga girl gave him a questioning look and beside her stood Shino, who was gently holding a small Kikai insect up to his face, murmuring orders to it.

"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here? I thought you and your team would practice somewhere..." Naruto looked around at the beaten, sparsely grass-covered ground and battered training posts that screamed abuse, "Somewhere...nicer."

Gaara snorted from behind his blonde friend. He'd be impressed if there was any place nice to train in Konoha. Shinobi tended to be destructive, at least, from his point of view.

"Our usual location is under construction," Kurenai said matter-of-factly, "Homes are being built there for citizens of Konoha. I'm sure you'll forgive us for imposing on your space."

"Certainly." Haku fell silent as his teammates gave him warning looks. Not as if sharing a spot of land with Hinata and her team would be a terribly bad thing, but they'd rather not expose their techniques to other ninja. Furthermore, this vulnerability would be exploited by Shino and Sato beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Hinata was trustworthy enough for them to relax.

'Then again,' Naruto viewed it from a different perspective, 'We'd be watching them fight too! So I guess this is a good thing for both of us...unless that red-eyed lady kicks us off our own field!'

It was quiet for a long moment. Kurenai's ruby stare was fixed on Naruto who tolerated it. Both teams stood facing each other, getting absolutely nothing done.

'Did they come here just to stand around?' Haku pondered as Shino had finished briefing his insect servants and looked up at them impassively.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Gaara's question was directed at Shino, though it was meant for the entirety of Team 8.

"Waiting." Shino's response was terse and disapproving, which reminded Gaara much of his own voice, he noted in wonderment.

Kurenai frowned again. Her eyes narrowed, but her gaze was still inconspicuously set on Naruto, who was still oblivious to his being watched. Haku was the first to speak up about the missing individual.

"Does Sato-kun usually keep you waiting this long?" The dark haired boy asked and watched curiously as both Shino and Kurenai's brows furrowed in annoyance.

"Oh right! He's on your team now!" Naruto remembered, quite vocally.

"This is about the average amount of time," The jounin muttered darkly, "Every minute he is late adds to the amount of discipline he will be rewarded with."

"Rewarded?" Gaara pressed the subject further.

"Hinata and I attack him and he is restricted from defending himself." Shino explained. Hinata cringed a little. It wasn't a punishment she liked engaging in.

"Harsh..." Naruto folded his arms behind his head casually, "But he probably deserves it, wherever he is..."

Hinata and Haku gave him a look of slight disapproval before silently agreeing with his reasoning.

"The only issue is that Sato does not learn from his mistakes," Kurenai's tone was icy, "He does not understand that his lateness only grants him pain. It is his most flawed characteristic as a shinobi."

Shino nodded in agreement.

"I think Sato-kun is a wonderful shinobi." Hinata's protest was soft, "Even if he d-does need some improvement..."

"Sure he is," Naruto shrugged, "He's kinda like us I guess," He gestured to his teammates who didn't bother to disagree, "We're not perfect, but we still kick ass!"

Kurenai raised a fine eyebrow at him.

Haku began to feel the pressure of Jiraiya's request of 'actually doing something productive,' and noted how not much was getting done so far.

"We can go find another place to train then, it's the least we can do," Haku offered, looking to his teammates who once again, didn't care either way, "Consider this your new training ground."

"Thank you, Haku," Kurenai brandished a small smile, "You certainly do have more manners than your sensei." Her students gave her confused looks, but Haku and his teammates understood.

"We try." Gaara muttered, nodding to them before walking away. Haku gave the other team a short farewell before also moving to leave.

He turned back to the Kyuubi container, "Naruto-kun, aren't you coming?"

The blonde shook his head, "Not yet. I'll catch up with you guys later."

Haku nodded before turning to find another suitable training area with Gaara. Naruto was seemingly still hung up on their previous subject.

"So uh, where does he go every morning anyway?"

"We're not quite sure," Hinata admitted, "Sato-kun is...difficult to track. If we knew where he was, we'd go find him ourselves."

"It's not right for him to just keep you all waiting. I mean, even Gaara-kun sleeps in, but not this late..." Haku's gentlemanly-ways were beginning to rub off on him, Naruto suspected, "I'll go find him for you and then you can beat the snot out of him!"

"If you find him." Shino pointed out.

"Naruto, it isn't as if we're asking you to take time out of your training with your team." Kurenai added, wondering if he'd be swayed from his offer.

"Hey, if I'm going to be Hokage I can't let bums like him hold people up all the time," Naruto smiled, "No sweat! I'll get him for you!"

---

"Where the hell is he?"

At first it hadn't seemed like such a difficult task: locating a strange, slothful, pocky-loving ninja and dragging him back to his team for a well-deserved beating. In his days at the Academy, Naruto had only known Sato as that type of person.

Now he wasn't so sure. Was he being evasive deliberately? Or was he simply that difficult to track? It was only a quarter past eight in the morning and Naruto was sure that Sato's interests didn't extend far beyond sweets, photo-worthy events and causing mischief.

Therefore he had searched many of the sweet shops around town, places that were related to media and photography, the Ninja Academy, hell...he had even checked around the girl's locker rooms, only to be chased off the premises violently.

After so many failures in such a short span of time he had deemed this errand ridiculous and even considered giving up.

But he had so nobly volunteered to find the bastard and even brought his vow of becoming Hokage into the matter...and what would Hinata-chan say if he let her down?

'She'd probably just say I did my best and that she doesn't mind...' His mind supplied wryly, 'But the point is I won't be doing my best! That's inexcusable! How can I become Hokage if I can't track some stupid guy down?' He frowned to himself, 'But if I keep looking, I'll be at this all day...'

He took a moment to consider his options from his perch on top of a high flagpole in the center of the village. After a few minutes of thought, he decided to continue on, but from a different approach.

'So...he's not at any of the places where he's supposed to be...' Naruto felt like Haku on a scavenger-hunt (i.e. unstoppable), 'If I was slacking off where would I be?'

His brain instantly supplied an answer.

The correct answer.

---

"This should be the place..." Naruto passed by an old weaponry forge and looked up at the small apartment building to the left of it. The place was fairly new, he supposed, but smaller than the building he, Gaara and Haku lived in.

The blonde decided to scale the building, rather than marching inside and promptly being thrown out by its residents. He moved quietly, watchfully, not wanting to overlook his target, 'Doesn't he live on the third floor? Second maybe?'

Cautiously, he peeked inside windows, looking for anything that resembled a ninja's abode. He did see one with a number of kunai strewn all over the floor, and went inside through the unlocked window.

"Is this it?" He asked himself uncertainly. Something was out of place. After a quick look around he realized that no one was home, and more importantly, it was a kunoichi's apartment. He noticed the feminine clothes lying around.

He left in a hurry, trying not to leave any evidence of his presence.

A few windows down he was finally successful. Grinning, he positioned himself on the ledge outside said window, trying to get a better look inside of the place, "Well, that took long enough!"

In the apartment his assumption had been proven correct as a bleary-eyed, barely-conscious ninja in red boxers stumbled around yawning, trying to prepare himself for the day. The silver hair was unmistakable.

'What a lazy ass! He's been sleeping all this time!'

Sato slowly entered a cramped bathroom and brushed his teeth, totally unaware of his being watched. Naruto rolled his eyes in boredom from his vantage point as the door closed and he heard the sound of a shower being turned on, as well as the loud, out of tune whistling that followed thereafter.

'This is gonna take forever...'

Approximately three minutes and forty-eight seconds later the water stopped running and the door opened abruptly. 'That was fast...awah-!' Naruto wasn't quite prepared for the nudity that met his eyes and he fell back from his perch, falling several feet and landed painfully on another rooftop on his back, 'Ugh my eyes! That guy is such a retard!'

After recovering from his fall Naruto stood up and brushed himself off, reasserting his sanity. He waited a minute or two before returning to his roost. By that time, thankfully, Sato was redressed and Naruto relaxed, but was still irked at the fact that he had been so caught off-guard. The silver haired nin strolled a few paces out of what appeared to be his bedroom and into a tiny kitchen, still whistling a preposterous tune.

It took Naruto a moment to realize he was making coffee, being that Sato's actions were so sporadic and unpredictable that he could have just as easily been playing hopscotch.

'Now I see why he annoys Hinata-chan's team so much...'

Almost normally, Sato poured coffee into a mug waiting on the counter and he didn't bother to fetch anything to fix it with. What caught Naruto off-guard again was when the silver haired ninja seemed to instantly forget about the cup he had poured himself and took a sip from the pot. Shortly afterwards he remembered the mug and finished it off.

'...weirdo...'

Afterwards he stretched his arms high over his head. Sato turned around for the next part of his morning, once again his usual perky old self. Naruto briefly wondered if the reason for his liveliness was his consumption of caffeine.

The silver haired boy bounced over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing organized, stacked boxes of... 'Pocky? Is that all he eats?'

Whistling a slightly more bearable tune, Sato placed the box of strawberry flavored pocky into a pouch without shuriken and moved on to a small desk obscured by papers, scrolls, numerous photographs and rolls of film.

Five minutes of arduous deliberation later, Sato selected two rolls of film and also placed them in a pouch reserved for 'not pointy' things.

"Alright!" He exclaimed and then nodded to himself.

He walked around in a small circle before ending his whistling and moved on, beyond Naruto's line of sight.

'What's he doing now? Sheesh, if he was on my team I definitely would have killed him by now...'

"Naruto?"

The blonde's head snapped left and right and saw only an endless sea of buildings. He was fairly certain he heard someone nearby call his name but one could never be too sure.

"Down here."

Naruto did look down and on a tiled rooftop adjacent to the building he had been peeking into was another lazy shinobi.

"Oh, it's just you Shikamaru." He commented pleasantly and then continued his spying.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

Again, the blonde looked down at the Nara, a frown of concentration plastered to his face.

"I'm trying to figure out what the hell that lazy ass has been doing, so quit distracting me," He paused, "Uh...what are you doing?"

"Resting."

Obviously that's what it looked like; laying back leisurely and staring at the passing clouds. Naruto knew better by now.

"Pft, sure...you and Sato, both of you are good-for-nothing bums who lay around and don't bother helping their teams! I can't believe you're a shinobi!"

"...likewise."

Naruto gave him a well-measured glare before turning back to the window.

"Who'd you say you were looking for?"

"That other lazy idiot, Sato."

"You mean that guy down there?"

Naruto jumped and looked down at the street below where his target was turning a corner, once again whistling another absurd song, 'How'd he get passed me without me not noticing that heinous noise he's making?'

"Ah! I gotta go!" Naruto leapt onto a clothes line and raced along to another roof, knocking a few helpless garments into the air. Shikamaru only sighed and went back to his vigilant cloud watching.

---

Sato, en route to joining his team, decided to stop and get some breakfast first. He stepped off an empty street and into a small, dimly lit diner which only had three people inside including the waitress and chef.

As he had done countless times before he settled down at a booth where someone was already seated eating eggs while reading.

"You come in here this early just so no one will see you eat? You're not that ugly you know." Sato sat down across from his temporarily de-masked uncle, who didn't bother to look up at him.

"It's not really my insecurities that reduce me to this, Sato-kun," Kakashi sighed, "I do have to find a place where I can waste three hours reading before going to meet my genin."

"I see your point. No one else would come into this dump, the food is terrible," The waitress who was wiping down a nearby table huffed at him and he grinned innocently back at her, "So um, maybe you'll buy some breakfast for your beloved nephew today?"

"No. Last I heard you make your own living as a full shinobi now, am I right?" Kakashi chuckled and then took another bite of egg.

"You of all people should know how little genin make on missions around here!" Sato replied sourly, helping himself to an untouched rice ball on Kakashi's plate and he didn't protest.

Sato finished it in three famished bites and then looked up at a clock above the doorway, "Hm, time-check is...whoa, you've only got twenty minutes left before your precious three-hours-of-doing-nothing is up...better make em' count!"

The young silver haired ninja stood and before leaving turned back to his uncle, "I've gotta go drop off my film now. Oh and...thanks for breakfast."

"...don't mention it."

---

After dropping off his most recent film to be developed and walking out of the pharmacy, Sato paused and glanced over to a livid-looking ninja in orange.

"Hey, Naruto-kun! You're up early!" A fist closed around the collar of the silver haired boy's shirt.

"Yes, to you, I guess you'd call this early," Naruto muttered, while dragging him along, "But after all the trouble you put me through this morning I hope Shino kicks the crap out of you..."

"Hey, why are you so mad? Since when do you care how late I am? And what's this about Shino...oh no," He tried to pull back from Naruto's iron grip and failed fantastically, "Um, you know...Shino's really uptight about me not showing up on time for training and uh...oh look! A monkey!"

The angry blonde didn't bother looking up.

Sato sighed in defeat and walked alongside Naruto casually, which was preferable to being dragged. "Yeah...I guess monkeys don't really live around here do they? Oh well, you caught me...time for my morning beating."

---

"Hi everyone! Sorry I slept in late this morning and then Naruto found me and there was this monkey too, so..." Sato ended his excuse, "Um, that's why I'm...late...?"

"I'm sure," Kurenai sighed, watching as Naruto marched past her straight up to Hinata to earn his praise, "Today you will only be sparring with Hinata."

"Why just Sunshine?" Sato looked genuinely baffled, "Don't you want Shino to strangle me too, sensei?"

"I have judged from that black eye you are sporting," Sato pointed questioningly at his left eye where Naruto had promptly punched him after telling a rude joke on the way over, and Kurenai nodded, "That Naruto has given you enough discipline of that sort for the day. Hinata's Jyukken will be just as effective for taming your morning habits."

He smiled, "Yes, I agree!"

Shino looked thoroughly disappointed, a feature which Kurenai did not overlook.

She turned to Naruto, who was retelling his capture of the young Hatake, "Naruto, thank you for retrieving our lost lamb. It is no simple task. Why don't you stay and train with us for the day?"

Naruto looked to her thoughtfully, "Hm, I don't know...Gaara-kun and Haku-kun won't survive long without me."

"Maybe j-just for a little while then?" Hinata's hopeful squeak was nearly inaudible.

After a short moment, he grinned, "Well...okay!"

"I will be your opponent then." Shino stepped forward and Naruto took a step back.

"Eh...no thank you. I'm kind of only here because-"

"Your reasons are of no concern of mine," Shino cut him off, "Hinata and Sato have already begun their training," Naruto glanced over to where Hinata had taken an offensive position and activated her Byakugan, "You will fight me or Kurenai-sensei."

"Alright, alright! Sheesh. Sato was right..." Naruto pulled a kunai out of his holster and rolled his eyes, "You really are wound up tight, aren't you?"

Kurenai frowned, wondering if Naruto was fully prepared to be the outlet for the young Aburame's impatience. Her concern faded after seeing Naruto spring away from a cloud of Kikai insects and counterattack. Nearby Sato evaded a near-perfect Gentle Fist strike and planted a counter-kick to Hinata's stomach, sending her crashing to the ground.

Kurenai was not the only one who noticed.

"You bastard!"

Sato's right eye also fell victim to Naruto's fist and with a wail of confusion and pain, the silver haired boy fell backwards. He didn't bother to get up for fear of being hit again, "Ugh...what did I do now, Naruto?" He was again genuinely curious, 'Why does he hate me today?'

"You can't hit Hinata-chan!" Naruto snarled as Sato watched small, shiny orange stars orbit his head. Kurenai only sighed to herself.

Hinata had regained her feet and restrained the flailing 'fist of justice' that was about to reconnect with her dazed teammate, "Naruto-kun, please! It's alright! We were only sparring!"

He looked at her for a long moment, "You were...? Oh." Naruto then looked at the boy flat on his back at his feet, "Er, sorry about that. I kind of overreacted."

"Yeah I get it...but just stop hitting me will you? You're freakishly strong." Sato stood, rubbing his newly-swollen eye.

Hinata offered Naruto the most understanding look she could muster before saying, "I'll let Sato-kun rest and then maybe...you two can train together when he's ready. I will go spar with Shino-kun now, if that's alright?"

Naruto snuck a glance at Shino who was as impatient as ever, but couldn't help but feel somewhat left out. He had noticed that for the last six years he had been Hinata's first choice in most activities, 'I guess it's something I'll have to stop taking for granted now. She's got a new team and new friends...maybe she'll replace me?'

"It's fine." He forced a smile. With a tiny nod she walked over to Shino and Sato chuckled loudly, suddenly aware of what was happening.

Naruto gave him another scowl, "What are you laughing at?"

The silver haired boy smirked, "Oh nothing! It's just that I don't think it's very fair of you to just butt in like that, Naruto-kun. Sunshine is my favorite sparring partner after all..." And as an afterthought, 'Why wouldn't she be? Shino hates my ever-loving guts.'

"Stop calling her that! Her name is Hinata! Hi-na-ta! Got it?" Naruto snapped, trying his best not to hit him again, "Why are you always so familiar with her anyway?"

"We're just close friends. But you know what?" Sato lowered his voice and smiled devilishly, "I think she likes me!"

Naruto gagged at the idea before regaining his composure. He asked with a fairly large amount of hostility, "Who in their right mind would like a person like you?"

"Hmm..." He smirked again, "I would!"

---

"Team 13?" Gaara asked as he followed Haku down a trail leading to what Haku had claimed to be 'a welcome place for them to train.'

"Yes. You remember, Tenten-chan's team." Haku clarified, smiling to himself.

Gaara frowned. He wasn't in the mood for sharing a training area this morning at all, and where the hell was Naruto? Maybe if his blonde friend was around he'd be able to talk Haku out of this folly and find an unoccupied place.

But no, Haku always had to choose the social route. It bothered Gaara to no end.

And before Gaara could think of another complaint they had stepped out into a clearing that looked as if a violent bomb had gone off: pulverized trees and posts, discarded weaponry and craters everywhere one looked. Initially, Gaara only saw one person; a tall, long-haired boy who at first he failed to recognize, until he turned around to face them with piercing white eyes.

Two other ninja appeared as well; one from the air and the other from a vertical yet, battered-looking log that was a receiving a thorough beating.

"I hope you don't mind if we train with you today," Haku called as they approached, "We've been deprived of our training area."

"Not at all, Haku-kun!" Gaara's ears hurt from a cry that was equal to Naruto's in volume, "Oh! Who is this with you?"

Haku stepped aside to give Lee, Tenten and Neji a better look at the newcomer.

"This is my teammate Gaara and Naruto-kun is not with us at the moment. He may show up eventually..." Haku introduced, "And this is Lee, Tenten and you already know Neji."

Gaara gave a short nod but was no longer frowning.

"It is a true pleasure to meet one of Haku-kun's dear friends!" Lee had somehow gotten a hold of one of Gaara's hands and shook it enthusiastically, "It would be an honor if I could test myself against one of the geniuses of Konoha!"

Gaara gave him a confused look, "I wouldn't call myself a genius."

"Ha! So modest!"

Haku sighed as Gaara gave him a fierce glare before being led away to a place where he and Lee could compare their skills. Obviously Lee's first impression of Gaara had been a good one.

And Tenten's impression, well, she had seen Gaara once before, she had even heard him shout. But that was about it. Her opinion of him so far was somewhat accurate, 'Well, if fierce, artic eyes and crimson hair don't scream badass nothing will...'

Neji's current thoughts were indecipherable and maybe it was for the best.

Haku hadn't mentioned it to Gaara on their way over, that he hadn't exactly chosen Team Gai's training area for its mere convenience. He procured two ninja-tool scrolls from his gi, which he had recently acquired and turned back to Tenten, who was scurrying around the field retrieving her fallen kunai.

"Tenten, I have something for you." She looked over to Haku incredulously but quickly hid her surprise with a bright smile.

"Really?" Tenten trotted over to him. Her excitement was not well hidden. It had been a while since she had been given a gift of any kind.

He handed her both scrolls and she gave him a look of deep gratitude, "Thanks a lot! I'm pretty sure I know what these are, or I'll find out soon enough..." He smiled at her when she asked, "Where did you get these? These aren't like any weapons scrolls I've seen."

'I'm glad for that too. If she were wielding weapons this powerful on a regular basis her sensei would have a fit...' Haku didn't feel like admitting he had a talent for stealing high-level scrolls at the moment, "I don't think you should worry about where they're from. You just make sure you use them well."

Neji, a few feet away, raised an eyebrow at him, guessing that he had obtained them by less-than-legal means. Still he felt no reason to object. If Tenten began utilizing more dangerous weapons during training she'd be more of a challenge to him.

Tenten shrugged and tucked the scrolls away. Nearby there was a shout and they looked over to see Lee running around Gaara in circles, trying to evade the cloud of sand hovering in the air.

Haku chuckled to himself, "I don't know what good taijutsu will do against Gaara-kun. His defense is nearly perfect."

Neji looked intrigued, "If his defense isn't perfect then that means it can be penetrated," He wore a small smirk, "Lee's taijutsu may not be able to break through that sand, but mine will."

Haku took a moment to consider Neji's outstanding abilities and how he would try to defeat Gaara if they ever met in battle. The image in his head was a bit unnerving and he decided that it would be better to not explore the depths of that deadly match.

To Haku's slight dismay, Tenten nodded in agreement, "Neji's right. Lee focuses his attacks on the exterior, but I don't think that Gaara will last long after a few blasts of Jyukken, even with all that sand he's got."

True, Haku knew well enough that Gentle Fist was one of the worst pains there was in taijutsu. A few strikes to the stomach or heart could easily and painfully end a fight. 'And closing tenketsu off to manipulate an opponent's chakra seems almost unfair, but then again, I aim for weak points all the time...'

The dark haired boy watched in amusement as Lee leapt off of the sand shield surrounding Gaara in frustration, trying to find a way around his defense. It was then he was reminded of something he had recently developed that pertained to Team 13.

After quickly forming a few short hand seals and murmuring, "Water Gathering Jutsu..." Haku had extracted a fairly large amount of water from the surrounding air, leaving it dry and thin. Both Neji and Tenten who had seen Haku's Kekkei Genkai before watched as the water drifted around him slowly, being held up by only his will and chakra.

"Tenten, there's one more thing I need to show you," He said, as if preparing for an attack, "You're been an inspiration."

The kunoichi raised her eyebrows when he crouched down, water circling around him more rapidly. Neji didn't miss the surge of chakra that Haku gave off and even Lee and Gaara had paused in their squabble to have a look at the water manipulator.

"Rising Water Dragons!"

He moved almost too quickly to be seen, as two threads of water, dragon-like in shape twisted to a ridiculous height into the air, past the length Tenten's summoning scrolls could reach. Haku leapt up to the center of the twisting currents. He knew that it would be much easier if there had been a body of water there, rather than him wasting chakra to condense water.

Once he had reached the zenith of the helix, Haku quickly froze the top of the currents into ice, and smirked to himself as vicious shards of ice rained down, of course, away from his audience.

Neji estimated it was an assault he could easily deflect with the Kaiten. Tenten gazed upward wide-eyed, and then frowned to herself, "Now why didn't I think of that? Water is such a better medium!"

Neji gave her a disapproving look to which she quickly added, "I know I don't have some incredibly obnoxious bloodline limit like that, but still...it's cool..."

He shook his head in exasperation, wondering why she would even look beyond her perfectly lethal use of weaponry, especially if a jutsu she favored required a unique Kekkei Genkai.

Not far off Lee was clapping and wooting as Haku had reached the ground again, and the water he had used had all been spent as icicle spears. Gaara merely gave him a favorable look, which Haku equated with the phrase, 'Interesting.'

Of course, Haku wasn't about to get away with his unexpected arrival and his flaunting of abilities; it was something called karma.

"Haku," The dark haired boy turned as he caught his breath and saw Neji frowning, "Let us see how your skills compare to mine."

'This can't be good.' Gaara looked on, wondering if Haku would even consider fighting Neji. Even Lee looked upset, most likely because he had never been much of a challenge to the Hyuga prodigy. Their momentary pause ended and Lee immediately went back to evading Gaara's sand.

Haku took a moment to observe Neji. He wondered what it must have been like for him growing up, after Naruto had lead them on that courageous mission to prevent Neji from being endowed with the seal of the Branch Family. Although Naruto had assured them many times over the years that they had done the right thing and that Neji was grateful to them, Haku couldn't help but suspect that things had not gone as well for him as they had believed.

Tenten frowned, "Neji, I don't think that-"

"It's alright," Haku interrupted her and then nodded to his opponent, "Let's see how much we have improved."

"Why not just use ninjutsu?" Gaara asked, bored as Lee continued to run around him in circles, slicing through wisps of sand with a kunai.

Lee's answer was slightly pained, "I can't!"

For a long, agonizing moment, Gaara continued to watch the green clad ninja run remarkably fast, but not enough to completely break through his sand shield. The redhead folded his arms and huffed, not understanding why his opponent was so stubborn.

"You cannot defeat me with only taijutsu," Gaara warned finally, raising a hand to fight back, "I will make you change your strategy."

The sand that had been lazily drifting around Gaara deflecting blows suddenly came to life, lashing out at Lee. It made no sense; how he refused to fight back without substitution, clones or any type of ninjutsu for that matter. It was enough to make Gaara lose his temper, 'He isn't taking me seriously. He thinks I'm just standing around.'

Lee was barely able to evade the wall of sand that came crashing down, but even with this new prospective danger, it was a thrill. Neji often refused to train with him being that he thought himself to be a superior shinobi. It had taken many assurances from his sensei and Tenten for him to realize that Lee was not at all inferior. It was just that Neji was very selective of his opponents and didn't really see Lee as one.

So day after day, he resorted to battling a badly beaten tree stump or his sensei, sometimes even Tenten would stay late just to offer him a sympathy sparring partner.

'But this is different!' Lee couldn't help but grin to himself as he moved faster, evading Gaara's attacks and frustrating him more, 'I am not fighting Gai-sensei or Tenten. I am fighting a very worthy opponent, someone without prejudice towards me! This fight shall determine if I am truly a splendid ninja!'

It was only in a split-second Lee saw his chance and ducked under an oncoming wave of sand before barreling into the red haired shinobi, startling him. Gaara caught his punch, which to his astonishment, was so incredibly strong that it forced him back a number of feet, bruising his shoulder, 'He wasn't even trying to hit me that hard...'

Gaara recovered from his shock and put a wall of sand between himself and Lee to regroup, wondering why Lee wore a grin similar to Naruto's as he wove back, also preparing another assault.

Finally fed up with this preposterous match, Gaara made his furious sand halt and gave Lee a bothered look, "Why are you only using taijutsu? Tell me now."

Lee also paused and his smile faded, "Ah, I see...my fighting style discourages you?"

"You aren't...doing anything."

Lee gave Gaara a nearly offended look before grinning again, "Believe me, I am capable of much more! However my abilities, I am afraid, do not extend beyond taijutsu."

Suddenly, Gaara understood. As absurd as it sounded at first he realized that Lee was indeed taking him seriously, "You mean you can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu...at all?" His voice carried with it an air of disbelief.

Lee sighed, "It is true, comrade, I hold no capability for either. Still I am a fierce contender with my taijutsu and youthful spirit, am I not? After all, I am a genius of hard work!"

Gaara was somewhere between annoyed and sympathetic towards Lee. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be a ninja incapable of ninjutsu or genjutsu, it just seemed...so utterly hopeless in his opinion.

'What kind of dreams must he have,' Gaara pondered as Lee went on proclaiming his redeeming qualities, 'That make him this strong, despite his weaknesses? It is no easy feat to come this far with sheer will power...'

"Shall we continue our match Gaara-kun?" Lee inquired, still enthused even after admitting his weakness to an opponent.

Gaara nodded to him and smirked, 'A genius of hard work? He may be right.'

---

"Thanks for treating us to lunch, Naruto-kun!" Sato was beaming as he sat next to Shino and Hinata at Ichiraku Ramen, waiting on their meal.

Naruto gave him a look of contempt, "I'm only treating Hinata-chan, not you!"

Sato gave him a heartbroken look before shrugging, and then turned to Shino, prompting him with a knock-knock joke. Shino gave no response.

"I'm glad you stayed to train with us this morning, Naruto-kun," Hinata's smile was shy but cheerful, "But d-don't you think you should be going soon to find Gaara-kun and Haku-kun?"

A thoughtful look came over his face before he answered her, "Well, I want to eat lunch first, then I'll go find them. I'm getting kind of tired of finding people today..."

She giggled softly and Ayame came by with their food, not overlooking the Hyuga girl next to the number one customer of Ichiraku Ramen. Truthfully Naruto had a great time training with Hinata's team. He was so used to Haku's by-the-book suggestions and Gaara just standing still deflecting blows that fighting against new people (although he found Sato and Shino insufferably annoying) was very refreshing.

Hinata herself had even trained with him but refused to use Jyukken. She merely tapped him gently when he had been hit, and he would chuckle at her humbleness when she was obviously 'kicking his butt.' Oddly enough, he had found himself to be less rough around her as well. Naruto was used to slugging Gaara and Haku painfully in the face on a regular basis, but with Hinata it was different.

He was more careful and attentive when fighting her, not hitting her nearly as hard as he would one of his teammates. Then again, he assumed it was only natural. She was a girl, smaller and less sturdy than many of the male shinobi he had gotten into fights with, and if he was foolish enough to injure her, his head would be presented to Hiashi on a golden platter.

'Now I see why the lazy idiot likes to train with her so much,' Naruto thought to himself as he slurped down a mouthful of pork ramen, 'Hinata-chan is way strong but she didn't beat the shit out me. I kinda wish...well...I kinda wish that if it couldn't be Haku-kun or Gaara-kun, that maybe she'd be on my team.'

Naruto snuck a fond glance at Hinata as he continued his slurping. She was staring down at her bowl with a nostalgic look, slowly nibbling at noodles held with a pristine delicateness by her chopsticks. 'She's treated like a princess by her clan but...she looks so sad all the time. I wish I knew what I could do about it...'

"Naruto!"

The four genin turned to see Jiraiya approaching, wearing one of his more serious expressions.

Naruto didn't look very pleased to see him, but finished his slurping and gave his attention to his perverted teacher anyway.

"Back already, Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked as the sennin stopped in front of him.

"I had to pull some strings to do it," He replied tiredly, exhausted from his many of hours of backbreaking community service, "I figured I'd find you here, Naruto. Er, where are your teammates?"

Jiraiya gave a puzzled look to Sato when there was a camera flash. The silver haired boy grinned at him innocently and said nothing.

"Gaara-kun and Haku-kun are...they're somewhere training I guess." Naruto admitted, he himself wondering what sort of place could occupy them for so long.

The sennin nodded, "Good! There's something I actually needed to talk to you about anyway. We can find those other two knuckleheads later."

"...we need to talk now, Ero-sennin?"

"Yes, now. And stop calling me that," Jiraiya hissed, not wanting to be insulted in front of genin that were not his students, "Finish up now."

Naruto gave him a frustrated look, "Alright, fine, but I don't see what the rush is..." He turned to Team 8, "We definitely have to train together again sometime, and I'll bring Haku-kun and Gaara-kun with me," Naruto hopped off of his stool and left tab money for himself and Hinata while he gave a foxy grin to the Hyuga heiress, "I'll see you later, Hinata-chan!"

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun..." Her squeak of a response was just barely within his hearing as he turned to follow his instructor, wondering what all the fuss was about.

---

"What are we doing here, Ero-sensei?" Naruto wasn't very pleased to be lead back to the training area he had spent his entire morning at with Team 8, "Look I just ate sensei, and I'm not really ready for any sparring or stuff like that-"

"I know," Jiraiya's voice was gruff, "That isn't exactly what I brought you here for kid."

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at his teacher, "Then what are we doing here?"

"Naruto, by now you are aware of the Nine Tailed Fox's chakra within you, are you not?"

"Well...yeah, I know about it. So do Gaara-kun and Haku-kun."

The sage nodded with a smile, "Of course they would. But Naruto, now I need you to swear that you will not breathe a word of what I am about to tell you to either Haku or Gaara, understood?"

"Why?"

"Just swear it already so I can get on with this!"

Naruto scowled, "What is so important that I can't tell Haku-kun or Gaara-kun? I won't hide anything from them!"

"This technique I'm trying to pass onto you is meant for you and only you," Jiraiya sighed, "I can't have them jumping on the band-wagon-of-techniques, if you know what I mean!"

"...a new...technique?"

"You heard me! Now swear!"

"I swear."

The sennin nodded, "Good, now we can begin... As I was saying before, for someone in your position, that is, a vessel of a powerful demon," Naruto snorted at him in acknowledgment, "Your chakra control is not nearly as bad as it could be...since I happened across you all those years ago."

"You shouldn't take all the credit for that old man! Haku-kun, Gaara-kun and me, we've been training since long after you left." Naruto almost wore a hurt expression, but it seemed more annoyed rather than upset. "Now tell me what the heck you brought me here for!"

Jiraiya shrugged, not hiding his smirk, "Well, fine. If you're so eager perhaps it would be much easier if I just showed you."

Naruto gave him a quizzical look as the sennin marched up to one of Haku's target poles, still lined with senbon that he hadn't extracted from it. He couldn't help but stare in wonder as his mentor raised his hand, revealing a swirling blue light.

'What is that? Chakra? Yeah...but how is he...?'

The blue, spiraling sphere that had materialized in Jiraiya's hand swirled within its self-contained shell, and the legendary ninja smirked to himself before calling back to his student, "Now pay attention, Naruto!"

The blonde nodded absently as he watched, trying to understand what he was witnessing.

"Rasengan!" The sage thrust the sphere of chakra forward, into the pole and shattered it into countless splinters of pathetic wood. Chips of cedar rained down on the field and Naruto felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end with anticipation.

'I am so gonna figure out how to do that!'

"Well, what do you think, Naruto? You want Haku and Gaara to learn that as well?" Jiraiya turned around, brushing dust from his hands victoriously.

"...not really."

"I thought so."

"What did you do? You've got to teach me how to do that sensei!" Naruto was grinning, with his fists clenched in excitement.

"That was the Rasengan: a spiraling sphere of chakra," Jiraiya stated proudly, "By now, with your ability to walk on water and climb trees with only your chakra, I feel you are ready to begin learning this technique."

Naruto took a moment to examine the toad hermit's new faith in him, 'The last time I walked on water was at that beach when Haku-kun freaked out...and tree climbing? Psh! This'll be a piece of cake!'

The blonde didn't fail to wonder why his mentor would suddenly entrust him with such a powerful attack. He decided to think on it later.

"So what exactly is the Rasengan?"

"Hm, that's a good question." Jiraiya scratched his chin thoughtfully, "To sum it up, it is a concentration of chakra which the user spins in many directions, making it self-contained and might I say..." He glanced over to Haku's demolished target, "Very destructive."

"You're gonna get Haku-kun a replacement target right?"

"Eh? No! He can use trees! His aim isn't half bad anyway..." Jiraiya muttered, "But I digress...the entire function of this technique does not rely on hand seals of any sort. The key is chakra control. Without control, there is no way a shinobi can master this technique."

"Is that why you had me, Gaara-kun and Haku-kun running up trees when we were little?"

"Nah. It was just funny to watch..." Naruto gave him an irked look, "Sheesh, Naruto! I was joking! To answer your question; no. I had you three working early because, well let's face it: the Kyuubi and the Ichibi aren't what I'd call a picnic chakra-wise. You and Gaara were major concerns in general as to whether or not you had control over yourselves period. Haku…he sort of always has been perfect when it comes to molding chakra, so he doesn't count."

"So you just taught us that stuff so we'd have better chakra control later...I mean now." Naruto frowned, "I thought you actually had plans for us! Like you'd look after us or something..."

"Naruto, I'm one of the Legendary Sannin and a very successful novelist. I didn't exactly have time for raising kids," Jiraiya sighed, "I was old then so try imagining what I feel like now!"

Naruto wondered why he felt so dejected, "...whatever."

"Look, I'm sorry you three suffered, okay? If it were up to me, I'd string up all the assholes around here by their ankles and let you whack them like piñatas...but unfortunately that isn't the way the world works," Jiraiya then smirked, "And besides, I did have my reasons for teaching you."

"I know I'm secretly your favorite student!" Naruto grinned, humor returning to him, "Admit it!"

"Er...yeah. Now shut up so we can move on!" He didn't seem very sincere.

"Right! So it's a spiraling sphere...but...how can you spin chakra like that?" Naruto reverted back to their original subject, much to the toad hermit's relief.

"With practice," Jiraiya riffled around in his pocket for something other than his research materials and obtained a small bag of deflated, rubber balloons, "You'll focus your chakra into the palm of your hand and spin it." He procured one balloon and tossed the bag aside without a second thought.

After filling the orange balloon using a water-gathering jutsu, Jiraiya tied a knot and handed it to his baffled pupil, "This will act as an instrument of measure on your progress. The faster your chakra spins, the flatter the balloon gets. Try it out."

"Spin my chakra... How long do you think this will this take sensei?"

"As long as it needs to," The sennin answered absently, taking a seat on a nearby stump and retrieving his novel-notes, "Don't expect to get it on your first try, kid. The only way you actually learn something is through practice and hard work. Remember: there's no shortcut to power!"

Naruto nodded, taking the words to heart. He stared at the water balloon in his hand for a long moment as an idea crossed his mind.

Jiraiya looked up as Naruto created 20 Shadow Clones of himself, each of which fetched their own balloon, and scrambled over to a Haku-made pond on the side of the field to fill them with water.

"Uh, Naruto? What are you doing?"

One of the blondes crowded around the small water source turned to Jiraiya (presumably the original) to answer, "If I have more balloons to try this out on, then it'll get done faster, right sensei?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "Maybe...maybe not. The point of this is to actually get it right, so I don't see any use in rushing it."

"I want to master this technique soon! Then I'll have one up on Haku-kun and Gaara-kun!"

"Hey! Doesn't your toad summoning count?" The sage was again miffed, "I'm quite certain those two goofs are incapable of summoning."

"They can't," Naruto confirmed, as his clones lined up, focusing their chakra into each, individual balloon, "But I can't help but get competitive with them, sensei, even if they are my brothers."

The sennin paused in his scribbling of notes to look up at Naruto, "...your brothers?"

"Yeah, that's right!" The blonde grinned at the notion, "That's what I've decided we are. I mean we're much closer than friends, and we are already sort of a family so…that's what we are."

Jiraiya shrugged, smiling, 'What a unique family he must have...'

The following twenty-five minutes saw each of Naruto's clones, as well as himself, desperately try to flatten their water balloons by spinning their chakra. The fifth clone from the left nearly had it, as well as the real Naruto, who were beginning to feel that success was near. However, there was an abrupt pop, followed by a splash and a clone on the far right looked up bewildered for a moment before crying victoriously, "Yeah!"

All 18 other replications and the original turned to said clone, each inquiring how the feat was accomplished.

Within five minutes each balloon was popped.

Jiraiya nodded pleasantly while lighting his pipe, "Damn! Not bad! Now for the next step. Same idea, but this time your chakra will be focused on a rubber ball."

"A rubber ball?"

His master pointed to a cardboard box settled inconspicuously next to a training post which was, as expected, filled with rubber balls borrowed from the Academy.

Naruto gave his instructor a questioning look, "Ero-sensei, what's with all this stuff? Do I really need this many?"

"No. I just figured you would get frustrated at one point and start breaking or throw things at me," Jiraiya paused and regretted his words, "Uh, not to give you any ideas that is!"

His student shook his head, "Why would I waste a perfectly good water balloon on you?"

Jiraiya frowned at his smart-mouthed student while taking a long drag.

The second stage of his training was by far shorter and more productive. As Naruto and his Shadow Clones proceeded to spin chakra into rubber balls, their chakra began to dwindle. Eventually, clones that had spent all of their chakra poofed out of existence, letting their once chakra-filled items drop to the dusty ground.

Nearly fifteen minutes after beginning the second stage of his Rasengan training, Naruto noticed that each of his clones had spent all of their chakra leaving only him with beads of sweat rolling down the side of his face, 'I don't know if I can...keep this up...'

He really knew better, but he was simply too stubborn to give in and rest. In his heart, Naruto had always felt that Gaara and Haku had somehow been stronger than him, even when they were young. It had been difficult to accept their natural gifts. It wasn't that he wanted to be superior, but he wished to be on the same physical level as them, 'I want to be a match for Haku-kun and Gaara-kun, not just with knowledge but in ability! I may not have powers like they do, but I will be Hokage! I will!'

It hit him like a ton of bricks and he hadn't even realized what had happened.

Naruto, for a moment, wondered why Jiraiya had attacked him. The throbbing pain in the back of his head wouldn't subside. It took the blonde a moment to realize that he had not been physically injured at all. The pain was strictly from his lack of chakra, 'I used it all up? That quick? Well, I have been training all day...'

He had been warned many times in the Ninja Academy that using up all of one's chakra had catastrophic repercussions. Although he himself had never been pushed to such limits, he had always had a healthy fear of going over the edge. After all, chakra being directly linked to a shinobi's stamina could result in the death or crippling of the ninja. Naruto and Gaara never paid the thought much mind, seeing that they had never had a problem with their stamina once in their entire lives. Unlike them, Haku held a better understanding of the concept, due to his limited (if not pathetic) reserves of chakra. His warnings and advice however, did not fall on deaf ears.

'Does this mean I'm...dead?'

His vision returned to him surprisingly quick, 'Maybe I'm not dead just yet!'

Naruto looked ahead, seeing a strange light. He was in a dim, echoing place. He frowned to himself, 'I thought it was daytime. Why is everything so dark all of a sudden?'

Rising to his feet and brushing off his pants, Naruto went ahead, curiously observing the faint, glowing beams ahead of him, 'I guess I hit my head pretty hard.'

The blonde haired boy paused and looked up, regarding a strange sign mounted halfway up on one of the beams. It was plain, save for an old, elegant character painted onto it, which from his line of sight was unreadable in the darkness. Naruto scratched his head, wondering how he had ended up in such an eerie place after he had been trying to master the Rasengan.

He wanted to have a look around the dusky expanse of the place until he heard something.

It started low, but grew in volume; a thundering, rolling purr, which shook the ground beneath his feet. The hair on the back of Naruto's neck was on end as the growl abruptly ended, and he jumped several feet back as something emerged from behind one of the ghastly beams.

An enormous set of claws thudded down with tremendous force, directly where he had been standing moments before. The boy was sure he could hear his palpitating heart in his mouth as he stood, watching as the great paw dragged back slowly into its place of origin, followed by another resonating growl.

A few moments helped him assure himself that he was beyond the creature's reach. The beams he had seen before were in fact bars, 'This is a cage...'

Naruto strained his eyes to see in the cloudy dark, but saw no movement, 'How am I going to get out of this place? This must be where…'

His thoughts were interrupted as a deep, amused-sounding voice sliced the air like a knife, You've made contact. You certainly took your time.

A huge face appeared ahead of him inside of the cage; grinning fangs and eyes the color of blood.

"You're-!"

There was another thunderous purr of amusement ahead of him, Oh yes. I am your exalted prisoner, the greatest of the tailed beasts, I am the Nine Tails.

Naruto watched in grim silence, wondering how he should handle this situation. It wasn't everyday he was able to speak face to face with the demon fox sealed within him, 'Was this how Gaara-kun felt when he was little? Some giant thing growling in his head whenever he closed his eyes?'

Do you know why you're here, Naruto?

The blonde boy looked up at the fox, startled, "Huh? Why I'm...here?"

You're as good as dead, boy. You have utterly spent your chakra. You are only alive because I provide you with my chakra.

"You...you're keeping me alive?" Naruto gave a disbelieving look to the biju, "Why would you want to help me?"

The once flashing grin set into a thin line of annoyance, I don't have a choice in the matter. If it were up to me, I would tear your scrawny limbs off one by one.

There was a sudden shudder from within the cage and Naruto strained his eyes to see the huge fox disappear again, as if he were interrupted. There came a string of frenzied growls for a long moment before it quieted down. The blonde haired boy cringed as the fox reappeared, smirking at him.

You'll have to forgive that disturbance. Unfortunately I am not alone in here.

Naruto frowned again, warily edging closer, but keeping out of Kyuubi's reach, "What do you mean you're not alone?"

Spare me your pathetic questions! The fox seemed touchy about the subject, The truth of the matter is that if you die, then I shall die with you. We have been bound together in such a way that I cannot break free from this seal. As a result you and I coexist, keeping one another alive. Though I wouldn't really call this living...if I had been in a host with a seal just the slightest bit less complex…I would have torn free by now. Count yourself very fortunate.

To emphasize his point, the fox gave a fierce head-butt to the bars, only rattling them.

"So if I die, you die with me?" Naruto looked intrigued, "I didn't know that."

I'm sure we'd enjoy life more without each other, Kyuubi growled bitterly, In exchange for you being my vessel, preserving my spirit, you receive my chakra...all of it if necessary, He smirked, You should let me out more often. I enjoy the fresh air.

"Eh...sorry, no can do." Naruto replied, "The way I see it, I'm the one who's calling the shots here, Fluffy."

INSOLENT LEECH! Naruto stumbled backwards, knocked off his feet by the demon's roar, You will show the proper respect! Do not think you are the only one who is in control... The fox's eyes narrowed, I can make your life contemptible, boy, I have nothing better to do with my time.

Naruto felt some of his sass return to him, despite the looming beast in front of him, "I bet you could, Fluffy, but you see you're stuck in my body, so you have to do what I tell you! If you make my life miserable...who's to say I wouldn't choose to end it?"

...surely you are not a fool enough to threaten me, whelp? You're too much of a coward.

Again there was stirring from deep within the Kyuubi's cage and he roared in annoyance to end it.

"You're gonna give me some chakra right now," Naruto folded his arms and smirked, "It's not like you have anything better to do, right?"

The Kyuubi glared at him, It's quite possible that I do.

"Look, I can't stay and chat. I've gotta get back to my training so I can learn the Rasengan!" Naruto snapped, fed up with the fox, "Give me chakra now and I'll...I'll leave you alone for a while."

I doubt that.

"No, seriously! I mean, well...if I pass out again I guess we'll see each other soon..." The blonde scratched his head, "I got it! The next time I see you, I won't ask stupid questions and I'll even be more respectful!"

The fox gave him a bored look.

"So what do you say?"

Deal.

Naruto watched a surge of red chakra escape the bars and meet him; fiery and exhilarating. He smirked to himself, glad that he could get the fox's cooperation through bribery. The blonde stretched his arms over his head as he felt energy return to him, grinning, "Thanks a lot! Now I can get back to work!"

The Kyuubi sniffed, See that you master this technique and... The fox's smirk was broad, Don't embarrass me.

---

"WHOA!" Naruto sat bolt upright.

He had ended up on the ground and next to him was the rubber ball he had dropped. Naruto rubbed his head before he leapt to his feet, 'Wow, I...I feel great! Who knew that old fox could be so useful!'

Jiraiya looked over to him, just noticing his collapse, "You okay kid?"

It must have all happened in a very short amount of time if Jiraiya didn't notice his predicament. Naruto grinned at him, "Oh I'm better than okay, Ero-sensei!" He picked up the rubber ball, "Well, better get back to work!"

The toad sage nodded slowly, smiling. He had actually been counting on Naruto to run out of chakra, figuring that if he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra he'd be able to learn the Rasengan more quickly, 'I wonder what went on in the squirt's head just now...'

Smirking to himself in amusement, Jiraiya put away his research and stood, watching as Naruto easily blasted apart the rubber ball with his newly-acquired, rapidly spinning chakra. The blonde boy laughed in triumph, feeling like he could jump over the moon he was so full of energy.

"Well done, Naruto! I'm very impressed," The sage raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone complete stage two so quickly..."

"It's not like you'd teach something like this to just anyone, right sensei?" Naruto pointed out, practically bouncing.

Jiraiya nodded, "True...but what I mean to say is you've exceeded my expectations. So...I suppose you're ready to begin stage three?"

"You bet I am!"

"Okay, this combines what you have learned in both steps one and two; spinning and shaping your chakra," Jiraiya explained, "This time, you create the shell yourself, that way it is self-sustained. Once you do that...well," He grinned, "I'd say you've just about got it."

Naruto nodded and it was then Jiraiya noticed the change in his features. The thin whiskers on the boy's cheeks had broadened, as well as his eyes, which were more red than blue, "I'll get right on it sensei!"

"There's no rush Naruto, really...you've already come remarkably far."

Jiraiya stood by to watch as his enthusiastic student began to spin chakra in his hand, wondering how much longer it would take before he would have created a full, spiraling sphere, 'I'd give him four days...tops.'

---

The sun was low in the sky by the time Naruto returned to his apartment; sweaty, tired, and grinning. He couldn't wait to have something to eat and then collapse onto his bed and sleep, 'Maybe Haku-kun made dinner already...'

Once inside he stripped off his jacket and ventured into the kitchen, helping himself to a pitcher of water that had specifically been for Haku, 'He's always so picky about his water...' He drank it all, savoring every last drop.

He plopped down into a chair at the table and exhaled deeply, helping himself to an apple.

It was only a few moments later that a bewildered-looking Haku appeared and gave an incredulous look to his blonde friend, "Naruto-kun, what are you doing? Where have you been?"

"Hm? Oh, hey Haku-kun! I've been training with Ero-sensei. What about you?" He took a bite of the apple contentedly.

"Gaara-kun and I spent the day training with Tenten's team," Haku nervously rubbed the bruises on his arms where Neji had easily sealed his tenketsu earlier, "But that doesn't matter...you should hurry up and get ready!"

"What for?" Naruto gave him a quizzical look, "Haku-kun...why are you all dressed up?"

Gaara entered the room, surprisingly enough, also in formal attire; black unlike Haku's choice of blue yukata. He wore a disapproving look, "Naruto, get dressed. It's the Tanabata Festival. We're going."

Naruto took another bite of apple thoughtfully, "It's already that late in the year? Heh, I guess I forgot it was coming up!" He stood up, "Why don't we just skip out on it tonight? I'm pretty tired and I don't exactly have any wishes to make..."

"That's not exactly why we're going," Haku said while pulling his ebony hair into a sweeping ponytail, "There will be many shinobi there from Konoha as well as the neighboring villages. I feel it would be a good idea to get a look at some of the other genin candidates before the Chunin Exam arrives."

A pause.

"THE CHUNIN EXAM?"

Gaara sighed, "Not yet, Naruto. It's still weeks away."

Naruto relaxed a little and finished his apple once he had calmed himself, "I didn't know that was coming up either! Sheesh! I've gotta check the calendar once in a while!"

Haku chuckled, "I think that's a good idea, Naruto-kun. We'll be leaving soon, so I suggest you get cleaned up." He walked out of the room, leaving only Gaara, who wore a suspicious look.

"Where were you today?"

Naruto shrugged and also stepped out of the kitchen, "Oh, places..."

Irritated, Gaara followed him, "Like where may I ask?"

The blonde scrambled for the bathroom, hoping to avoid the subject, "I spent the day training with Hinata-chan's team..."

"They go home in the afternoon."

"Yeah, they do," Naruto conceded, filling the tub and beginning to strip himself of his odorous clothing, "But uh...I well...I was training with Ero-sensei after that, otherwise I would've met up with you guys."

Gaara leaned against the doorway, frowning in thought, "You haven't been this devoted to your training in quite a while. What have you been doing?"

Naruto frowned at the red haired boy, "I'll tell you later...now will you get out? I'm trying to wash up here!"

Losing interest, Gaara left, closing the door behind him. With a sigh Naruto turned the hot water off, glad that Gaara hadn't suspected him of anything just yet. He sat naked by the tub, thoroughly scrubbing his skin of dirt and filth he had accumulated from the day's training. The blonde haired boy frowned to himself, wondering why Jiraiya had sworn him to secrecy about the Rasengan.

'I want to tell Haku-kun and Gaara-kun about it but...what if they want in on it? They'd feel left out. Well, they'll feel left out no matter what. It's better if they don't know about it...' The idea of it irked him, 'But still it's just me and Ero-sensei and I still want to tell someone!'

Furrowing his brow, Naruto discarded his bathing utensils and rinsed himself, still deep in thought, 'I guess I can wait a while, maybe after I have the Rasengan perfect...maybe I can tell someone who won't care what I'm learning, at least, not want to know it themselves... But who?'

He decided not to stress over the matter, 'Whatever...I guess I should get dressed...' He frowned to himself, recalling how well Haku and Gaara brushed up, 'Uh...what the heck am I supposed to wear?'

---

"I'm starving!" Upon their arrival to the festival, Naruto was already insisting upon food, "Let's get something to eat! They've got great stuff at these festivals!"

The blonde boy led his friends along through the crowd, following his nose, and they sat down at the nearest ramen stand. Predictably, Naruto had chosen a bright, orange yukata in his possession to wear to the festival. Since it looked fairly appropriate, Haku had agreed that it was a wise choice and hurried his teammates along to the fair.

While Gaara and Naruto ordered their ramen, Haku passed out tanzaku strips to each of them. He also urged Naruto to make a wish on one of the paper strips, "Naruto-kun, seriously, I suggest you do make a wish for better penmanship."

"What? Are you saying I write sloppy?"

"Well, yes. Otherwise I wouldn't have given you one."

Naruto looked over to Gaara, who only shrugged, and took a slip of paper from Haku anyway.

While enjoying his food, Naruto looked to Haku who sat beside him and noticed he had delicately folded a turquoise paper crane, "Hey, aren't you going to eat anything Haku-kun? I'll buy you something."

The dark haired boy shook his head, "No thank you, Naruto-kun. I'll eat later."

"What do you have there?"

Haku held up the paper bird, "An Orizuru. It will keep us safe and healthy for the rest of the year."

"Hopefully through the Chunin Exam as well." Gaara added darkly.

"That's what I'm hoping..." Haku admitted.

"We'll ace that exam for sure!" Naruto said confidently after a slurp of noodles, "We've got to be one of the strongest teams in the whole village, right?"

"Second strongest to our team, Naruto."

Surprised, the genin of Team 2 turned around to see Sasuke with Sakura and Kiba beside him. Gaara gave the Uchiha an annoyed look, not liking the notion.

Naruto however was not upset at all, "Hey Sasuke! It's been a while!"

Haku nodded politely to Team 7, "Good evening! I hope you are all enjoying yourselves."

"We are Haku-kun," Sakura smiled, "It's nice to see you three! I figured we'd find you here."

Gaara felt it was odd to see Sakura, their childhood friend, on another team. It didn't look as if she were complaining about it either. Unlike her teammates dressed in dark gray and black she was a vibrant pink, with a floral pattern to match her name. And that hypnotizing hair of hers...was done up elaborately with two sticks.

This was going to be a difficult night.

"I hear that you three are now under the instruction of Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi approached as well, not even glancing up from his book, "I'm sure you must be training very hard."

"Not really," Naruto replied pithily, "Our sensei's a perverted old man who writes trash novels all the time!"

Kakashi smiled, "I'm afraid I have to disagree with that statement, Naruto."

The blonde gave the masked ninja a bothered look before Kiba clarified, "Kakashi-sensei likes trash novels, apparently." He frowned at Naruto, "It's as if all the teachers around here are pervs..."

Kakashi said nothing to deny it either.

Sakura chuckled in embarrassment and attempted to change the subject, "Anyway...have you guys had any interesting missions recently? We just got back from a trade dispute nearby the Hidden Grass Village!"

Haku nodded, "We also returned from a mission a few days ago from the Land of Waves," He paused, concluding that he should skip over the majority of mayhem that occurred, "It was...relatively uneventful."

Gaara and Naruto gave him incredulous looks as they slurped their ramen.

Sasuke didn't fail to notice these exchanged glances, and assumed there may have been some sort of drama, as there usually was on missions. His own team had plenty of drama: with Sakura's wit, Kiba's arrogance, and Kakashi's obsession with Icha Icha Paradise.

Sasuke smirked to himself as his eyes flickered red momentarily. Their most recent C-rank mission had helped him acquire a favorable trait passed down through his clan.

Nearby, a short round of applause caught Kiba's attention, "Whoa! Who's the babe?" Akamaru yappered in agreement from atop his head.

Sakura scowled as all the present males, with the exception of a reading Kakashi, looked off to the far right to where a fairly large crowd of people was gathered. Barely within sight was a girl moving in rhythm with the tune of a shamisen and drums. Even Haku had to admit she was incredibly attractive; with dark doe eyes, a bewitching smile, and long, black hair even more beautiful than his own.

Funnily enough no one recognized her.

Kiba only grinned mischievously, forming ideas.

Kakashi turned a page of his naughty book, "She's off limits, boys. Don't get your hopes up."

Naruto, Gaara and Sasuke didn't seem very much bothered by the news. Even if the mystery girl was a piece of eye-candy they had much better things to do than give chase…and they already preferred other girls. Kiba, on the other hand, was visibly indignant.

"What's that supposed to mean, sensei?" He growled, peeved, "How would you know that anyway?"

There was a sudden, crashing noise as Naruto and Gaara's ramen bowls were spilled over and a very excited, green-clad jounin landed in front of them as if he had dropped out of the sky. Haku had to close his eyes for the shinobi's grin was just too bright

"Why is that marvelously youthful, young flower dancing over yonder out-of-bounds for all of you impure-minded young ninja?" Gai laughed jovially, "She is Maito Tama! My darling niece!"

Haku sighed, hoping that he would've been able to stall for his friends before the day came that they too met the enthusiastic ninja who adored all things 'youthful and fiery.'

Sasuke wore a stoic expression, while Kiba and Sakura seemed to be somewhere between shocked and intrigued. Gaara and Naruto were too busy ordering more ramen to pay attention to Gai.

"Hm? Oh, hello Gai." Kakashi hadn't noticed his presence at all.

"What?" Gai scowled, shaking his fist angrily, "Kakashi, my eternal rival! Your hip-modern attitude is pissing me off! At least acknowledge me in a contest of will if you insist on acting cool!"

Kiba didn't care if he came across as rude, "How the hell can such a beautiful girl like that be related to a freak?"

"They are related more through marriage than blood, it seems." The masked ninja flipped another page.

Still Kiba felt like challenging the idea, "Why can't I go without her then? I'm not impure-minded!"

Sakura scoffed at his words, as well as Akamaru, whose bark sounded more like a sarcastic laugh. Even Sasuke looked doubtful.

"She is forbidden to any man in this village," Gai announced, grinning, "Because she is engaged to my eternal rival's beloved nephew!"

Naruto dropped his chopsticks, '...WHAT?'

All heads turned to a nearby stand where Sato stood, laughing blithely alongside his teammates as he participated in a dart-throwing game. Teams 2 and 7 watched in astonishment as the young silver haired ninja won his prizes. He handed a stuffed purple bear to a very annoyed Shino and a pink frog to Hinata who gazed at the plush lovingly.

Sato grinned triumphantly at the Aburame boy and the Hyuga girl, "There you go! For my best pals!"

"Lucky..." Sakura muttered, still unable to believe it.

"That doesn't make sense." Gaara said pointedly, and Naruto and Haku nodded fervently, still shocked.

Sasuke gave a strange look to his teacher, wondering how drunk he must have been to have agreed to such a preposterous idea. Kakashi only shrugged at his students, not peeling his eye away from his dirty novel.

"Wait a minute!" Naruto wasn't at all convinced, having being acquainted already with the younger Hatake, "What the hell are you talking about? Sato's an idiot! How can he be engaged at such a young age?"

"They have been betrothed since birth, Naruto," Gai sighed dreamily in response, "Isn't youth such a wondrous thing?"

Kiba gagged.

The genin turned to the masked ninja, seeking confirmation.

"I believe it was a noodle-eating contest years ago that Gai challenged me to..." Kakashi recalled, "I waged my nephew and Gai waged his spandex...it didn't turn out well."

---

Moaning in agony, Kakashi's head impacted the restaurant counter and the attendants looked on in alarm. Beside him were stacks of bowls, 25 of them to be exact, and one in front of him just emptied. He dropped his chopsticks with a clatter.

'...eat...through...the...pain...'

A seat away from him sat his opponent. Gai laughed, sputtering, as he slurped noodles out of his 28th bowl. He grinned down at his defeated rival, and the attendants of the restaurant gasped in unrestrained horror.

"Ha! Youth has prevailed!"

And not a moment later, also past his limits, Gai toppled off of his stool; crashing down to the ground with a loud thud. It was another typical yet pointless contest between Kakashi and his self-proclaimed 'rival.'

A few seats away from them sat Akimichi Chouza, who merely shook his head disapprovingly at the spectacle, "Amateurs..."

---

After listening to the absurd story, Sasuke was nonplused, "And you weren't affected by your...loss?"

"My nephew had it coming."

Naruto nodded sagely, eyes closed, "Yeah, he sure is a weird kid. I can see why he got involved."

"Didn't his parents have a say in the matter?" Haku wondered how such a ridiculous bet could physically affect two families.

"His mother didn't object," Kakashi flipped a page in his book disinterestedly, "Marriages between ninja families are honorable and usually beneficial."

Gai looked offended, "Who could refuse my charming niece?"

An awkward silence followed.

Deciding shortly afterwards to escape Gai and his many youthful stories about himself and his 'eternal rival,' Teams 2 and 7 decided to join Team 8 who resided nearby a stand selling sweets.

Before Naruto could even open his mouth to greet Hinata and her teammates, there was a break in the crowd nearby and Tama herself, dressed in a flashy yellow and green yukata, came racing out while ducking her lovesick fans.

She scurried over to Hinata, clearly looking flustered, but smiled at her, "Hi Hinata-chan!" She noticed the Aburame boy next to her, "Oh and you too Shino-kun, have you happened to see-?"

Sato had his back turned, as he tried to pay for all the pocky he had bought in bulk, "Look lady, I'm short on money, but I have this nice purple bear you can have in exchange for-"

"Sato-kun!"

He turned around, and the saleswoman retrieved all of the cookies he had attempted to barter from her, "Oh...Tama."

Kiba looked heartbroken as she grabbed the silver haired boy's hand, and proceeded to drag him along, "It's a good thing I found you! I could use some help right about now..."

"Uh, Tama-"

"Hurry up! If we keep them waiting they'll start throwing stuff again..."

"Tama-"

The tall girl looked down at her shorter fiancé, "What's wrong?" She wasn't oblivious to his distress.

Sato wore a contemplative expression and he turned back to see his teammates, as well as Naruto and Sakura's teams staring at him, confusion written all over their faces.

"Nothing really…"

"Good. I can get you some pocky later, but I need your help now." Tama interrupted him and continued to tug him by the wrist back to the throng of impatient people.

He gulped fearfully.

Sato dug his heels into the ground, stopping just short of the ring of Tama's fans. His face was beginning to resemble Hinata's as his embarrassment grew, "Tama, wait a sec!" He nervously looked left and right, hoping to find an escape route, "Do we have to do this now?"

She frowned at him, upset, "What? Are you waiting for Christmas or something?"

"Well, now that you mention it-"

"Oh come on! I know you can do this!" Another forcible tug had him moving again, and they penetrated the thick of the crowd, where her groupies began to holler in excitement. The soft plucking melody of the shamisen drifted through the air like a cloud and Sato's companions saw no more of him after that.

"What...just happened?" Sakura inquired, genuinely curious.

Hinata seemed to have a fair understanding of what was going on, but then suggested, "Why d-don't we see where Sato-kun and Tama-chan went?"

Not having much else to do at the time, Teams 2 and 7 followed after the remainder of Sato's team. Naruto fell into step with the Hyuga girl, "Hey, Hinata-chan, how do you know that Tama-girl anyway?"

Although she was dismayed that his question may have risen from his interest in Tama, Hinata decided to be truthful anyway, "She comes to see Sato-kun quite often, Naruto-kun. She even comes to visit him while he trains with Shino-kun and I. She is...very devoted."

"More than he deserves..." Naruto muttered, "I'm just glad he's just not trying to put the moves on you or anything, I mean...you're too good for that guy."

Hinata felt her insecurities evaporate and she smiled at the whiskered boy, grateful for his concern.

It was difficult to get a view of anything that was going on, the crowd was so condensed. The genin settled on the fringe of people, hearing music faintly against the shouts and chatter. Gaara disliked having so many people around and he put on an annoyed expression as Haku stood beside him, looking very entertained.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Naruto turned to Haku and Gaara, "Can't we go somewhere else?"

"Oh joyous youth! It is about to begin!"

Naruto leapt back as Lee appeared beside him, looking very excited. Haku and Gaara acknowledged the 'youthful' ninja's presence.

"Hello Lee," Haku smiled pleasantly, "You came here with your teammates as well?"

"Oh yes, Haku-kun! Many shinobi have gathered here tonight. I am here to see the wonderful performance of Miss Tama! My sensei's darling niece!"

"We've heard that before..." Gaara sighed, seeing a recurring pattern.

Naruto looked at Lee oddly, "What are you talking about Bushy-brows?"

"You must be Naruto-kun! Gaara-kun and Haku-kun have told me so much about you!" He shook the bewildered blonde's hand, "But haven't you heard, Naruto? Both Tama-chan and Sato-kun are accomplished dancers!"

"Sato can...dance?" Sakura glanced over to Shino and Hinata who looked just as perplexed, "Hm...I wonder if Kakashi-sensei can dance?"

"God, I hope not..." Kiba remarked and Akamaru barked in agreement.

Sato peeked over his shoulder as his companions came into sight, and he frowned, wishing that this aspect of his life wouldn't have become so public.

"Tama, really, I haven't practiced or anything! I'll suck and ruin your reputation," He tried to deter her while she lead him along to an open space, smiling carelessly, "You don't really need me! You can just ask some other guy to-"

"Oh stop being such a baby! You are very talented and we always do great together." Tama admonished him quietly, "You'll do fine as always...that is, if you still want pocky!"

"Okay!"

Shino and Hinata watched in utter disbelief as their once rigid, ungainly teammate shed his nervousness (although they were uncertain how), and took up his fiancé's hand, grinning wolfishly, and stepped lightly to the music.

"Oh my..." Hinata couldn't suppress her awe of the sight.

Tama certainly was the more experienced of the pair and by far more graceful, however the Hyuga girl found it somewhat inspiring to see her teammate lead her around in intricate tangles of footwork. It almost looked as if he were fighting...not with Tama, but his movements were swift and timed like a shinobi's.

The shy girl's heart fluttered.

"Hinata," She turned to see Shino, observant as ever, looking at her, "His movements...they reflect in his taijutsu, do they not?"

Hinata turned back to see for herself. Once again, the Aburame boy had a point. Sato had never been a ninja who used full-out taijutsu. His movements were sporadic and evasive, and made him downright impossible to hit if he moved quickly enough. She should know; she was his primary sparring partner.

"It's...amazing," She answered softly, "Do you suppose his taijutsu style comes from his training with Tama-chan?"

"It's possible." His gaze turned back to the silver haired boy, not very surprised by the fact.

Naruto was also impressed, having only known Sato as an incompetent shinobi and little else, "Wow, he's not that bad...but I still say he's a blockhead."

Lee, on the other hand, was inspired. He turned away from the crowd while shouting, "Tenten! Beautiful flower of my team! I would be truly honored if you would share a dance with me!"

Naruto and his teammates grinned as they watched the excited ninja rejoin his teammates nearby at an astrology stand where Tenten had insisted that they had their fortunes read. Neji had decided earlier that she would be better company than Lee so he had joined her.

"What did you say, Lee?" She looked over as he approached, still distracted with her horoscope.

"It will be wonderful Tenten! Just one dance!" He was bouncing with joy.

Tenten, dressed in an intense, crimson yukata, took a few steps back from the green-clad boy, "W-What? Lee, I really don't think that's a good idea..."

Neji made no comment as he watched the rest of the scene play out.

Lee wouldn't have no for an answer.

"Oh, but I insist Tenten! You look ravishing and there is no other girl I would prefer more!" Before she could give another objection Lee had grabbed her by the sleeves and yanked her along.

Her yelps were audible even over the festival's raucous. Neji stood, perplexed, wondering if maybe he could've been more help to her.

He didn't feel like taking a bullet at the moment so he moved along, trying to discover the source of Lee's excitement.

Beside Sato and Tama, another pair appeared, moving much faster and by far more recklessly.

"Lee-!" Tenten was writhing, trying to escape a grip that was equivalent to the 'Jaws of Life.' It was a hopeless endeavor, and Lee wasn't likely to hear anything she said over his excited ranting.

The crowd found Lee and his absolutely livid partner's twirling in circles to be very humorous, compared to the fluid, elegant footwork of the first pair.

Eventually Tenten gave in and ended her struggling, letting her teammate tug her along in circles. Once or twice he had even gotten her to laugh, admiring her sportsmanship, even though she wasn't doing much of anything.

Neji appeared beside Gaara. They said nothing to each other, both being equally annoyed. Much to Naruto's terror, Gai popped up beside him, in hysterical tears, "Oh, Lee! Tenten! My beautiful students are burning with such passionate youth!"

Naruto edged away from him, bumping into Haku and muttered to him, "This is beyond freaky Haku-kun. Pretty soon everyone will be out there doing the cha-cha or something..."

"...uh huh..."

"Haku-kun are you even listening to me?" The blonde turned only to see his conniving friend taking up Hinata's hand and offering a wary smile to Neji who was only a few paces away, glaring daggers at him.

Hinata made a small squeaking noise as Haku went out to join Lee, gently guiding her along.

The sight struck a chord in Naruto that triggered a very protective reaction. What had possibly possessed Haku to steal away innocent Hinata? He wasn't going to stand for it.

"Get back here!" Naruto dashed out after the sneaky Hyoton boy, feeling murderous.

Sakura laughed alongside Kiba, suddenly having much more fun. As ridiculous as Lee looked out there, it still looked like fun hopping around with a friend. She tried to picture herself in Tenten's place; even Hinata's place and Tama's.

'There's no way Kiba-kun will go out there, but maybe I can-? Oh…'

She frowned to herself, 'Come on Sakura! Get your act together!'

"Um...Sasuke-kun?"

The raven haired boy turned to her; he didn't look like he was having fun at all.

"Sasuke-kun, maybe you'd like to, um…well, I just thought that maybe you'd like t-to..."

"I don't dance."

Her heart sloshed mushily inside her stomach. She found it remarkable how his answer had just killed the moment for her, but what had she expected? It was his forte after all.

The bored-looking Uchiha turned and walked off, no longer interested in the festivities they had been watching. Sakura, though slightly discouraged, looked over to Gaara wistfully who had not seen her and then followed after Sasuke.

---

"I'm sorry if I caught you off your guard, Hinata-chan," Haku smiled down at the shy Hyuga girl, "It just looked as if you wanted to dance."

"I d-did..."

He gave her a knowing look, "Would you like me to ask Naruto-kun if he'd-?"

"Oh n-no! That's alright!"

"Really, Hinata-chan, it wouldn't be any trouble..." Haku slowed and checked over his shoulder to see if he could spot his blonde friend.

Not seeing him anywhere Haku returned his gaze to his partner, only to see Naruto in Hinata's place.

"Hey Haku-kun!"

"What? Where's-?"

Haku noticed Naruto grinning maniacally from the sidelines as he stole Hinata back, guiding her back though the crowd and shouting over his shoulder, "I hope you have fun with that Shadow Clone, Haku-kun!"

Hinata giggled out loud as she disappeared with the clever blonde. Haku easily destroyed the clone Naruto had substituted Hinata for and smirked, astonished by Naruto's skill.

After a short while the music ended and Sato took it as his cue to escape. However, he brought Tama along with him, "You'll get me pocky now, right? You said you would if I did well!"

"I know," She laughed as they proceeded through the stands, "But I want to go play that knife-throwing game first!"

Sato gave her a curious look before shrugging, "Whatever floats your boat! I'm just glad I didn't make a complete fool of myself…or you."

"Not to worry! You were excellent," Tama glanced back at Lee who was still spinning around with Tenten, "I'm not so sure about Lee though..."

The silver haired boy laughed, glad that he had decided to dance with her since it had made the night very interesting.

---

The following morning Naruto and Haku had awoken to find Gaara missing. It was unusual. Gaara had the habit of sleeping in late now that they had become genin and no longer had to race to the Academy every morning.

Naruto, however, was confident he could locate his redheaded friend and set off to find him while Haku went ahead to their training area.

'If I were Gaara-kun, I'd go somewhere quiet where I could sleep...' Recalling a few places around town like that, Naruto decided to go with his gut instinct and search downtown, the area where he had found Sato. 'I bet all slackers gather there...'

Sure enough, on the roof of a launderette, Gaara sat quietly next to his sand gourd, watching clouds pass. A roof over from him Shikamaru also lazed about, leaned against a chimney. Naruto frowned as he landed next to his teammate.

"I figured since you and Shikamaru have the same hobbies that I might find you here, Gaara," Naruto smirked, "You can't just ditch training to do nothing!"

"We don't have any hobbies, Naruto." Shikamaru informed him from a few feet away, still lying on his back and staring at the sky.

The blonde scowled, "Exactly! That's what you two have in common!"

"You're very troublesome, Naruto..."

Gaara said nothing in response, but stood up and tied his gourd to his back. Naruto smiled to himself, 'Well, at least he's cooperating...'

The teammates moved on, leaving Shikamaru to his cloud-watching. Even though Gaara had never been very talkative to begin with, Naruto found him curiously quiet, 'Maybe something's bothering him?'

"You can't keep hanging out with that lazy-ass, Gaara-kun." Naruto tried to create a conversation.

Gaara gave a monosyllabic grunt in response.

"Why weren't you home this morning? You usually sleep in. Oh and you missed breakfast..." Naruto went on airily, hoping not to get on Gaara's nerves.

"I couldn't sleep last night."

"You couldn't-?" The blonde frowned as he jumped over a gap, "Was it the-?"

"No. I just couldn't sleep."

"Oh."

Gaara gave him another suspicious look, "You never got around to telling me where you were yesterday."

"I told you already. I was training with Ero-sensei."

"I'm aware," He retorted, "What were you training for exactly?"

"Uh, I can't tell you that..." Naruto put his hand over his heart, "Ero-sensei made me swear!"

Gaara frowned and lost interest.

Still, Naruto didn't want to lose the conversation so he scrounged around for another subject.

"Did you see how pretty Sakura-chan was last night?" Naruto smiled at his friend, "She's always pretty of course but last night she and Hinata-chan looked pretty good!"

Gaara's expression did not change, leaving Naruto puzzled, but he continued.

"And the way she kept hanging around Sasuke you'd think they're having a fling or something." Naruto mused, trying to push his buttons.

Something in Gaara's face snapped and his expression which had once been stoic turned into a full-blown glare. He sped up the pace, "I don't want to talk about her."

"Huh?" Naruto was caught off guard by his anger, "Why not? Is something wrong?" He didn't understand. Sakura has always been so close to him, "Didn't you talk to her last night?"

"...I did." His eyes narrowed.

Naruto looked a bit nervous, "W-what did she say?"

"Many things." Gaara ground out through gritted teeth, and then stopped on top of a shingled roof. Naruto paused as well, waiting for an explanation and fearing it at the same time.

"She succumbed to her teammate's questions and told them about our abilities."

The blonde boy wore a horrified look, "What? How much did she tell them?"

There was a long, painful silence.

"...everything." Gaara's face was dark.

Naruto scratched his head, not certain what to do, "Well, I mean...she is on another team now so I guess she-"

"She has betrayed us."

"No!" Naruto shouted, shaking his head aggressively, "Don't say that! What else could she have done? It isn't her fault..." Naruto felt his insides twisting into knots at the news. He supposed that Gaara was taking it very hard, simply because he had always felt very attached to her.

"She did try to apologize by giving us information about her team." Gaara went on, looking disgusted.

"She did?"

"The only thing of consequence she gave away was Sasuke's recently gained Sharingan," The red haired boy spat, "Yet still her loyalties are so torn she will even stoop as low as to giving away her own teammate's secrets...pathetic."

Naruto felt something sting at his eyes and he rubbed at them frantically, "No...you're wrong. Sakura-chan would never do that." He looked up at Gaara, who had his face turned away from him, "Gaara please...don't be mad at her! She...I know that she likes you! She likes you a whole lot! Really! And I know that you...you care about her too!"

"Shut up, Naruto."

"No!" The blonde boy glared at him, "Is that why you're so mad? Because she made a mistake? People make mistakes, Gaara, and you have to forgive them. You can't be mad at her! You like her, I know you do!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Gaara hissed venomously, turning his back to Naruto, "You don't know anything about that. You can't even see it for yourself, not even when Hinata looks at you, you see nothing. You are a blind fool!"

The blonde boy stumbled back in shock, unable to believe what Gaara had told him.

After a brief silence Gaara turned to face Naruto again, his voice full of rage, "The Chunin Exams are near, Naruto. People will turn against us. It is the way of things. Sakura is our enemy now, even Hinata and Lee's teams will be nothing more than our competition," His sand enveloped him and he disappeared in a whirlwind after adding, "You'll do well to understand that."

Naruto stood there shaking from head to foot, desperately rubbing at his eyes.

'But I don't understand, Gaara-kun...I can't.'

---

Around noon, Sato arrived as his team's training area looking very pleased with himself.

"You're early." Kurenai said sarcastically, by now knowing that he would always be late no matter how he was disciplined.

"Good morning to you too, sensei!" He grinned, and then turned to Shino, "Hey! Shino-kun! Let's spar!"

Shino didn't look very interested, "Where were you?"

"Well I can actually tell you the truth this time!" Sato smiled and even Hinata looked confused.

"You see, my uncle was giving me a hard time this morning...but I finally convinced him to teach me how to use his most powerful technique! It's totally awesome!" Sato gave them a thumbs up, still grinning.

A look of alarm descended on Kurenai's face, 'But...he can't mean...'

"His most...p-powerful technique, Sato-kun?" Hinata asked, confused, "What could it be?"

Rather than explaining it, Sato decided to demonstrate. Completely shocked and unsure of what to expect, Shino formed a clone of himself with his Kikai insects as a ball of electricity crackled to life noisily in Sato's hand.

The silver haired boy laughed, "I told you it's awesome!"

---

Next: Chapter 15- The Chunin Exam