A/N: Now for part one of two of the genin pre-finals! More accurately, see chapter title for Naruto's intentions. Thank you all for the great reviews! And yes, chunin are awesome, aren't they?
.o.o.o.
Chapter 25: Operation Friendship
.o.o.o.
Twenty seven days until the finals:
"Well, at least we have a training schedule now!" Sakura said brightly as she and her teammates headed off after lunch.
"So, yeah, Sasuke, remember: Gaara's like me, only crazy," Naruto said as they went to meet up with the rest of the Konoha 12. "Be careful, okay? And if you think he's going homicidal, forfeit. I'm begging you here."
"At least everyone took the explanation about K-kun well," Sakura said. "Even though you should have told me sooner."
"Sorry…I was scared," Naruto admitted. "Hey everybody! Sorry we're late! Sasuke's mom was pulling some schedule magic for Itachi!"
"Well, you're here now," Shikamaru said. "Now then, we have to discuss our plans for the finals. Namely, Naruto's idea to befriend the crazy Sand team."
"I told you, I think Gaara's like me only…bad," Naruto said. "We should try to make him good!"
"Sand and Leaf are allies," Ino mused. "I mean, it couldn't hurt…and nobody's training every single day, right?"
"Weekends off," Team 7 said simultaneously.
"Darn—we only got Sundays," Tenten said.
"I can work with that," Shikamaru said. "All right, so, how do we go about playing nice, as it were?"
"Oh, I talked to the Old Man about it," Naruto said. "He had a great idea!"
.o.o.o.
"Why are we being 'cordially invited' to a ramen stand?" Kankuro asked.
"The Hokage said it was one of the better places to eat in the village and he wants to promote bonds between our two villages," Baki said. "So place nice."
Temari frowned as they approached the place, "Wow, do they even have enough seating?"
"There's tables around the side."
The four jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of two Konoha chunin—Naruto's brothers.
"You're coming?" Baki asked, trying to sound neutral.
"Yeah, little brothers conned me into it, ramen-lovers that they are," Mizuki huffed.
"Ichiraku makes normal soup special for you and you know it," Iruka scolded. "Sorry—Mizuki really dislikes ramen."
Kankuro glanced at Gaara—his younger brother was analyzing the two men, like he was looking for something… "So, all the Konoha teams coming?"
"Yes. I was going to come sooner, but one of our students blew up Mizuki's desk," Iruka said. "Honestly, we need to stop letting Naruto assistant-teach when one of us is sick…even if he is free…"
"Ruka-nii! Mizu-nii! You guys made it—oh, hey, guys, the Suna team's with them!"
Kankuro watched the orange blur briefly hug Mizuki before attaching itself to Iruka, babbling about ramen and training and it's so good to see you, Ruka-nii!
"Kid. It's been a morning. You can't have missed us that much. Hell, you weren't that clingy when you got back from Wave after almost two weeks," Mizuki muttered.
Baki cleared his throat, "Well, I suppose we should order…"
.o.o.o.
Temari analyzed the twelve Konoha genin. Thus far she had ascertained that all twelve were comfortable acting as a unit, that Shikamaru guy she was to face in the finals was considered the smartest, Naruto was seen as the de-facto leader…and none of their sensei had shown up, unless one was counting Iruka and Mizuki, who had taught nine of them at the Konoha academy.
Gaara seemed to be controlling himself—probably confused by all the people who didn't act like he'd murder them the second he could, even with his treatment of that kid from Waterfall. Naruto and Lee were being exceptionally chatty, Lee wishing to know if Gaara used taijutsu at all and Naruto wanting to know what Gaara's favorite food was. Given the answers "not really" and "salted tongue and gizzard" the boys simply began telling him their own likes instead of backing off.
"So, Temari, how long do you have to train to use a fan like that anyway?" Tenten asked. "My dad runs one of the main weapons shops here and I've never seen one like it, only smaller ones."
"A long time," Temari said. "What about you?"
"Well, I only really got into multi-weapons when I realized that I wasn't good at any of the stuff my idol was," Tenten said.
"Who's that?" Temari asked.
"Tsunade of the Sannin, pretty much the strongest female ninja ever," Tenten said, sighing. "And guess who our medic is, ladies and gentlemen?"
"Well, I'm not super-strong, if that helps," Sasuke said dryly. "You know, I really like this new recipe for the shrimp ramen…anyways, Tenten, when's your dad got time for fixing some windmill shuriken?"
"I'd say in the next three days or so—he's busy with my personal favorite," Tenten said.
"And what's that?" Temari asked. Knowing what weapons the girl favored would be good.
"A giant sword she'd going to try and slice me up with," Naruto said. "But it won't work!"
"And your clone spam will?" Tenten mocked. "Besides, Kisame-senpai is giving me some serious ideas…"
"Be afraid, Naruto," Sakura teased.
"So, where'd you learn to hit so hard?" Temari asked.
"Anger management," the pink-haired girl said. "Focus all my rage into my blows."
"You don't seem all that angry…" Kankuro said.
"I can make myself angry if I have to," Sakura said sweetly. "Think of being insulted, being ignored, being bullied, that jerkass Gato-"
"Okay, now you're making me angry," Sasuke huffed. "So, Gaara, hope you're ready for some surprises during our match."
"Oh, I am," Gaara said calmly. "Are you?" Temari and Kankuro worked not to flinch at his tone, which the Konoha genin seemed to not notice.
"I'm on a team with Naruto and my older brother—nothing really surprises me anymore," Sasuke said casually. "Except for Sakura actually calling someone a jerkass just now."
"Forgive me for hating an evil bastard," Sakura drawled.
"All right, enough talk of evil bastards," Iruka said. "Let's focus on something positive—what are some of your dreams?" he asked the Sand trio.
"...Master puppeteer," Kankuro said finally.
"Wow—what sort of training does that take? I know Lee has years of conditioning and training ahead of him before he makes the rank of Taijutsu Master, and same with Naruto and seals," Kiba said.
Temari perked up. Seals? Maybe he could…maybe…
No. She couldn't ask, couldn't give away what Gaara was, even if it might help him. They had their duty to Suna, to their father…
"Forget Seal Master, I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto said loudly.
"Here we go," Mizuki said, sipping his soup with a small smile.
"I'm going to protect everyone!" Naruto declared. "The whole village will acknowledge me and I'll keep them safe and be awesome and fair and nice!"
"A nice kage…keep hoping," Kankuro chuckled.
"Naruto-kun would make a very nice Hokage," Hinata said sternly. Neji put a hand to his forehead.
"Only one nicer would be Iruka, and he doesn't want the job," Shikamaru said.
"Hell, he won't even try for jonin," Sasuke added, smirking.
"I may not be your teacher anymore kid, but I can make you pay," Iruka warned calmly. "So, Baki-san, how do you like being a sensei?"
"It is an…exciting experience," Baki said. "Especially with such promising young genin."
"Well, you must be quite good for the Kazekage to trust you with all his children," Iruka said.
"To be fair, the Hokage trusts us with his grandson," Mizuki said.
"Mizuki, we're the only ones who can handle his grandson," Iruka retorted.
Temari glanced at Gaara, wondering if either chunin knew how close they were to being right about Baki's real reason for leading them.
Suddenly Gaara spoke up, "You wish…to be Hokage?"
"Well, yeah!" Naruto said, before launching into another enthusiastic speech.
.o.o.o.
Twenty-three days until the finals
"Temari, Kankuro, answer something for me."
Kankuro swallowed, "Sure, Gaara. What?"
"Why would Uzumaki wish to be Hokage…when many here treat him as I am treated?"
"What?" Temari asked. "Were you at a different lunch than we were-"
"Not his peers, nor his brothers," Gaara said. "People…in the street. Store clerks. Random low ranking ninja."
"When did you see that?" Kankuro asked.
"I have been following him. Mother was interested…there is something in him…I think he…is like me…only not," Gaara said, frowning. "Why not?"
"I-I really don't know," Kankuro said, glancing at Temari. What if Uzumaki really was like Gaara—they'd have to tell Baki, it could mess up the whole invasion! "Um…does it…bother you?"
Gaara sighed, "He is treated like me, but he is not like me…he strives to prove his existence but not like I do…Mother senses something in him like in me…why?"
"I-I don't know," Kankuro said, even though he had a sinking feeling that he did.
"I'll…see if I can get some intel out of his teammates," Temari offered. "Maybe they know?"
Gaara nodded stiffly. Kankuro sighed—he had a good idea of what the answer was already: Naruto had brothers that were there for him. Gaara had Yashamaru until…something happened. Maybe…maybe if he and Temari…had done something more…
"Gaara…if you ever want to talk about it…I'll listen," he offered, before heading to his room.
.o.o.o.
"Your mother owns a nice shop," Temari said, examining the decorative fans.
"Glad I was able to help you find a place with what you were looking for," Sakura replied. "Good thing we ran into each other when we did—I have training in an hour."
"Well, don't let me keep you," Temari said. "So…what's the deal with your teammates? Neither of them really fits the idea of the average ninja…"
"Well, Sasuke's pretty much embraced his status as a 'weird Uchiha' by now, and Naruto…well, he's always been really out of the box. Even before I knew him very well he was always 'Hokage' this and 'ramen' that," Sakura laughed. "What about your brothers?"
"Kankuro's your average fourteen year old male," Temari said, rolling her eyes. "Though he's apparently a prodigy with puppets—don't quote me on that, I know next to nothing about puppets. And Gaara's…quiet."
"Gaara reminds me of Kisame, only introverted," Sakura said.
"Who?" Temari asked.
"Oh, our sensei's best friend," Sakura said. "He can be really brutal, but he's also an awesome guy. I mean, you can separate the killer from the rest of you, you know?"
"Oh…so, whose parents did the adopting with Naruto and his brothers, anyway?" Temari asked. "I mean, they all introduce themselves with different last names-"
"Oh, they adopted each other," Sakura said. "Iruka's been there for Naruto since…I don't know, age six? And then something when we were eight made Mizuki make them both move in with him and they've pretty much been brothers ever since."
"Oh," Temari said. "Gaara used to live with our uncle. We really didn't see much of him until he was six, actually."
.o.o.o.
"So, Gaara had something happen involving an uncle, from what I can tell," Sakura said the next day at lunch with about half the Twelve. "And Temari and probably Kankuro feel guilty because they see that Iruka and Mizuki love you even though you're…you know, and they maybe weren't there for Gaara when they should have been."
"I think we'll need more than that," Naruto sighed. "Shino, ideas?"
"Kiba and I have convinced his mother to re-route his dog-walking by their hotel," Shino said. "Likewise, I have a few of my allies around the area to alert me of irregularities."
"So…involving an uncle," Ino mused. "…Naruto, you mentioned that thing with the 'four eyed bastard'…what if instead of him, it had been Iruka?"
"Ruka-nii's never-"
"No, no, but what would that do to you?" Ino asked. "The mind is a delicate thing…what if Gaara's was broken when he was six?"
"Then we fix it before he's thirteen," Hinata declared.
"Or get in trouble trying," Sakura added.
.o.o.o.
"So I was right, it is our fault," Kankuro sighed.
"Not just ours—whatever Yashamaru did just…shut Gaara down," Temari said. "Kankuro…how much do you care about Gaara?"
"…When he's not trying to kill me? More than a little," Kankuro admitted.
"What if…we use the Konoha genin to fix him?" Temari asked. "Or, I don't know, make him happy at least… You guys are my brothers, and for him to just be…like that…"
"Well, if that Naruto kid's like Gaara and knows seals, he probably knows something about sealed demons, right?" Kankuro asked. "Maybe we could—no, then we'd have to admit that we know because of what Gaara is and that might set off alarms…"
"There has to be something," Temari said. "We just haven't thought of it."
.o.o.o.
Twenty days until the finals
"Oh, hey Gaara!" Naruto said brightly. Sasuke shifted slightly to gesture to an open stool at the ramen stand.
"You all seem to eat here rather often," Gaara said.
"Naruto practically grew up on Ichihraku Ramen, and it's where our team usually relaxes after training or missions," Sakura said. "Though that sushi bar by the Hyuuga compound is nice when we want a change."
"I see…you…associate after missions?" Gaara asked.
"Of course—we're a team, and more importantly, we're pals!" Naruto said.
"And my brother is friends with his brothers so we've been stuck together since we were kids," Sasuke said. "The summer camp only made it tighter."
"I see," Gaara said. What was a summer camp?
"Do you know what you'd like?" the old man running the ramen stand asked.
"Oh…whatever's good," Gaara said. He didn't remember what he'd had last week.
"Let's go with miso, then," the cook said.
"So, Gaara, we have off tomorrow too—you and your siblings want to hang out? We could show you some of the cooler places around here," Naruto offered. "I mean, there's the hot springs, that cool grove on top of Hokage mountain, this awesome lake we used for summer camp-"
Gaara frowned at the bowl that had been put in front of him. He should probably be training to go with the plan…but why? He hated Suna, and perhaps Naruto could give him the answers he wanted. "We will be there."
.o.o.o.
"Baki's going to kill us," Kankuro sighed.
"I will shield you if he tries," Gaara said flatly. "Come. We are to meet them at a large black rock in this direction."
"Thanks, Gaara," Temari said. He'd never offered to protect one of them before…then again, he'd never had a weird idea they'd gone with before. "Oh, there they are!"
Team 7 was standing around the rock, talking with a silver-haired man. Naruto looked up and waved, "Oh, hey, don't mind Kakashi! He's just telling Sasuke something for training and staring at the memorial stone!"
Kakashi bopped him on the head. "Don't tell people what jonin do with their own time."
Sasuke immediately looked right at the siblings, "My brother likes coming up with odd plans, Asuma smokes, Kurenai does tea ceremonies with Anko, Kisame hunts and fishes-"
Kakashi bopped him too. "Sakura, don't make me go for three. All right, you found the others, now scram."
"We'll leave you to your moping," Sakura said, replacing herself with a rock when Kakashi went to bop her. "Come on, we have to get some fun in! You got ANBU to go after us when we were in the academy!"
"He did what?" Temari asked.
"No big deal," Sasuke said. "It was us "Rookie Nine" and one other girl, and we beat them just fine…we should look Suri up, you know."
Kankuro gaped—other than Gaara, he couldn't imagine an academy kid beating an ANBU. Naruto cheerfully agreed with Sasuke, and said they should try after the exams.
"So it all worked out, now get lost," Kakashi said sternly. "If you have to bother someone, bother Kisame."
"…We don't know where he is," Sasuke confessed. "He would have been our first choice, honest."
"Okay, let's go before Kakashi shows us the Lightning Blade," Naruto said, grabbing his teammates and dragging them over to the siblings. "I already saw it once, and that was enough."
"Saw what?" Sakura asked.
"Powerful zappy technique," Naruto said as they left. "Some guy tried to off my on my birthday two years ago and before my brothers could do anything, well…zap. Iruka couldn't threaten Kakashi's books for a full year because of that."
"I approve," Sasuke said. "…And get to flambé the next jerk who tries anything." Gaara stared at him in shock.
"Get in line behind Ino, Chouji, all of Teams 8 and 4, me, Naruto's brothers, and the Hokage," Sakura said. "Maybe Shikamaru, if he's awake."
"And Konohamaru," Sasuke added, sighing.
"Who?" Temari asked.
"The kid Kankuro tried to throttle," Sasuke said. "Don't worry, he's over it."
"Now—to the top of Hokage Mountain!" Naruto declared.
.o.o.o.
Three days until the finals
"I'm starting to think we can't invade this place," Temari said, head in her hands. "They're getting to me."
Kankuro nodded weakly. "They…they haven't done anything wrong and…well, come on, how much do you really like home?"
"Good move," Gaara said. "I abandoned the plan a week ago. I'm staying here."
"Okay, so…what could we do?" Temari asked. "I mean…confess? Hide out during the invasion and offer information after for amnesty?"
"Or..." Kankuro said, shifting guiltily, "Or we aid them in the fight."
"Against the rest of Suna?" Temari asked.
"Why are you so worried?" Gaara asked. "I know you two don't have any friends, and really they just left us here with Baki and told us to do our jobs. I could see sparing Baki, mind you."
"We can't," Temari said. "We'll just…no, we can't turn against Suna. Not now."
"You have to, actually."
The three turned to see Team 7 on the terrace outside their room. Sasuke was frowning, "You have to go against Suna, or you're going to die. And we don't want you to die—we're friends."
Temari and Kankuro watched as Gaara's sand unlocked the sliding door and let them in.
"Have to?" Temari asked.
"Let me explain," Sasuke said, sitting on the couch.
.o.o.o.
A/N: CLIFFHANGER! DUN DUN DUN! What will happen now that Team 7 found out about the invasion? See next time in : Sasuke explains the Universe!