Chapter 53 is here and Naruto has begun a new journey this time into the lands of Suna No Kuni what will he find there is still a mystery but as I've stated after this arc Naruto won't be interested in having sex with random women at all anymore also we are going to see how Naruto copes when Izumi isn't with him will he miss her we'll just have to see hmm.
Also I noticed some people leaving some completely unnecessary reviews under a guest account...I mean like seriously first of all if you don't like the story don't read it's that simple. Secondly at least have the guts to sign into a real account then leave a review otherwise I'm just going to delete them.
Naruto will be growing up a lot this arc and while being separated from Izumi he'll start to understand just how important she is to him. Another aspect of this arc will be seeing Naruto deal with his own illness and he'll be able to have a new found respect for Izumi and for you ShikamaruxTemari fans I will warn you this arc will probably be something you hate…
Now regarding NarutoxIzumixTsunade, as I said I'm not certain if I'm going to go with this yet and for those questioning why when I said I hate Harem's...don't get me wrong I still hate Harem's but that's only due to the fact in every harem story I've read every female character in them might as well be the same person however with Tsunade and Izumi in my story they are two completely different individuals.
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO...
Chapter 53
Temari sighed as she walked across the hot desert plains of Suna No Kuni (Land of Sand) it had been two months since the incident in Iwagakure and things had settled down in the shinobi world Temari herself had been promoted to Jounin and she had turned eighteen.
In fact a lot had happened during the two months her brother Gaara had been accepted by the people of Sunagakure and he was actually being groomed to become the Godaime Kazekage. Her other brother Kankuro had also been promoted to Jounin rank and he would not shut up about it.
She had been giving a special job as the ambassador of Sunagakure she didn't mind the job the travelling wasn't the best but she really didn't mind it as she liked to get out of Sunagakure every once in a while not to mention she knew quite a few people in Konoha already which made her sigh at the thought.
Looking to her side Shikamaru was walking beside her he had been chosen to be an ambassador of Konoha temporarily so he also had to visit Sungakure…she didn't mind him his lazy attitude did get on her nerves every now and then but he wasn't too bad.
Thinking back to earlier events in Konoha Temari narrowed her eyes at what Tsunade had said to her.
Flashback
Temari stood in the Hokage's office her posture was completely straight as usual however as she looked at the Hokage Tsunade she found herself nearly twitching her eyebrow.
Tsunade Senju the most beautiful woman in Konoha respected by everyone for her talents was slurping away at some ramen she had and Temari could tell that wasn't her first bowl especially if the piles of bowls on her desks said anything…however Temari couldn't fault her she must be having pregnancy cravings quite regularly now.
It was well known throughout the shinobi world now that Tsunade the Godaime Hokage was pregnant and with Naruto's child, there had been some issues at first but it didn't last long as Konoha had then celebrated at the fact a child from both the Senju clan and the Namikaze family was going to be born.
There had been no real issues from the other countries Temari assumed Iwagakure never caused a problem due to the fact both Konoha and Naruto helped them. It was still hard to believe that handsome blonde haired man who had been staring at her ass in Iwagakure was the father to Tsunade's child however after seeing her demolish the bowl of ramen Temari had no doubts the child inside Tsunade was related to Nimato in some way especially with how much ramen Tsunade had been eating.
Putting the bowl with the others Tsunade wiped her mouth before looking at Temari and stood up and it was then Temari could see just how pregnant Tsunade actually was the large bump she had was huge.
"Now Temari…I've got something important to tell you before you head off back to Sunagakure" Tsunade started and Temari nodded even if Tsunade was pregnant she was a capable leader.
"I've had reports that…" Temari widened her eyes slightly as Tsunade stopped in mid-sentence and placed her hands on her bump and a serious expression came to her face.
"Tsunade-sama what's the matter?" Temari asked panicking slightly there was no way Tsunade was going to go into labor now was she. Tsunade looked at Temari before smiling and Temari had never seen Tsunade smile like that…it was a smile only a mother could give.
"Ah there's no problem it's kicking again" Tsunade replied back smiling as she could feel her child kicking, words couldn't describe how much she wanted her baby out of her so she could cuddle it. She could still remember the first time her baby had kicked she had cried for several hours in happiness.
"…It?" Temari asked as Tsunade just referred to her baby as it…she must have known the gender by now.
"Yeah…I'm calling it at the moment because I don't want to know because frankly I don't care boy…girl it doesn't matter to me and besides I've got a nice bet on myself" Tsunade explained and Temari gaped at how much of a gambler Tsunade was however it did sound like something she would do.
"So…what gender have you bet on?" Temari asked and Tsunade grinned.
"…Girl" Tsunade answered and Temari shook her head Tsunade was known to have bad luck after all.
"Feel this" Tsunade said grabbing Temari's hand and placed it on her bump, she felt awkward at first as she had never done this before.
"I-I really shouldn't" Temari stuttered however her eyes widened as she felt the baby kick she almost cooed at how cute it was however Temari would never do that in front of anyone…ever.
"Wow…" Temari stated in awe causing Tsunade to smile at how shocked the girl looked.
"It's a healthy one isn't it I can see it's going to be exactly like its father" Tsunade said with a shake of her head she still hadn't figured out her feelings for Naruto yet she knew she loved him but whether that was because he was the father of her child or because she loved him romantically she didn't know however she knew she was lusting after him he was the only man she ever daydreamed about now.
She did have moments of sadness when she thought about how Naruto wasn't here she had wished he could have been with her through this pregnancy. She had wanted him to massage her feet, feed her, cuddle in bed with her and most importantly she had wanted to him to make love to her.
But the problem was Tsunade being a doctor wasn't sure whether she was actually feeling this because she had genuine affection for Naruto or because of her pregnancy and her hormones where all over she had decided to put off seriously figuring out what she was going to do until her baby was born then she would figure out her feelings for Naruto then.
"Ah I forgot I had something to tell you as I heard Gaara is being groomed to be the next Kazekage and I know I can trust both you and him with this information" Tsunade said thinking about Naruto had put her back on track. Temari nodded at how serious Tsunade was being Temari took her job seriously and if Tsunade trusted her with information she would only tell Gaara and no one else.
"I've had reports that spies have seen Naruto in Suna No Kuni I have no idea what he's doing there but knowing that idiot he's probably going to do something stupid" Tsunade stated and Temari widened her eyes slightly Naruto was in her country what for?
"Now this information I'm about to tell you is top secret this only reaches Gaara's ears and no one else understood?" Tsunade asked and Temari nodded understanding just how serious the situation was.
So Tsunade explained to Temari how Naruto was really protecting Nimato and was trying to take down the Akatsuki from the inside and that Naruto was actually still loyal to Konoha. Of course this news had shocked Temari and she had found a new found respect for Naruto over how loyal he was to Konoha and his brother she had thought he didn't seem like a bad man in Iwagakure and it seemed she had been right.
End of Flashback
Temari shook her head snapping her out of her thoughts Naruto was in this country somewhere she'd have to inform Gaara as Konoha and Suna where allies and this way if Naruto was seen she could help him now seeing as she knew the truth of course she wouldn't blow his cover but it would be fun to kick his ass over teasing her in Iwagakure.
"Why is it always so hot here?" Shikamaru moaned dragging his feet across the sand and Temari grinned slightly at a new way to tease him.
"What can't handle a little heat little boy?" Temari asked in a mocking tone and Shikamaru sighed.
"This is just troublesome" Shikamaru complained both the heat and Temari where troublesome to him and he'd be happier once back in Konoha. Temari's eyebrow twitched when he said troublesome however she would ignore it for now.
"Just don't be treating this like a vacation" Temari muttered she had a lot on her mind.
Entering Sunagakure Temari smiled slightly due to being back home even though the climate around Konoha was better she wouldn't swap living here for anything this was her home. The buildings made of clay and rock and not wood reminded her why she liked Sunagakure.
As both she and Shikamaru began walking through the village she nodded her head to a few people who greeted her she was well known in Sunagakure after all especially considering she was the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage and the sister to the Godaime Kazekage.
"Remember you are here to train in the role of an ambassador you will be working with Gaara mostly so try not to be a nuisance to him" Temari reminded sternly she knew how Shikamaru could sometimes get emotional and him causing trouble for her brother was the last thing she wanted.
"I know…woman" Shikamaru said looking around the village looked more like a desert to him and he was already missing his green homeland and the feeling off falling asleep in the shade of a tree.
Walking up to the Kazekage's door Temari knocked twice before entering the room with Shikamaru following. She immediately smiled when she saw her brother looking uncomfortable in his Kage robes sitting behind his desk.
"Gaara I'm back from Konoha and I have Shikamaru with me Hokage-sama said you would know what to do with him" Temari explained and Gaara looked puzzled for a few seconds before nodding.
"I see…first Temari escort Shikamaru-san to where he will be staying" Gaara ordered and Temari frowned she had another thing to tell him as well.
"Actually I have something else I have to tell you" Temari stated giving Gaara a look that told him that what she had to tell him needed to be confidential, understanding the look Gaara sighed slightly he was still getting used to the whole Kazekage role and he had to be ready soon as he was still in training himself.
"Kankuro…" Gaara said and immediately his brother walked through the door in his usual get up and sighed in annoyance.
"What's the matter Gaara?" Kankuro asked.
"I need you to escort Shikamaru-san to where he'll be staying" Gaara said causing Kankuro to moan in annoyance.
"Why can't she do it?" Kankuro complained and before Gaara could answer him Temari hit Kankuro over the head with her large fan sending him flying into the door.
"Just do it and stop complaining" Temari ordered her eyebrow twitching while Kankuro's face was planted into the door and a large bump had formed on his head. Gaara watched in amusement as his siblings argued especially watching Kankuro groan as he stood up.
"Fine…come on shadow brat let's get out of here before that bitch gets any angrier" Kankuro stated quickly making his way out of the door and Shikamaru followed him all the while Temari was shaking with rage, did that bastard just call her a bitch.
"Temari…" Gaara said breaking Temari out of her rage and she looked towards her red headed brother and put her serious face on.
"I've had news from Hokage-sama…" Temari started and she began to explain to Gaara everything Tsunade had told her regarding Naruto's status and how he was really helping them and protecting Nimato.
By the end of the explanation Gaara's eyes had been widened this information was new to him. The man he had met in Iwagakure was really protecting Nimato? Gaara would admit he had been surprised when he had heard Nimato and Naruto where brothers and Gaara himself had been angry as it seemed Naruto had abandoned his brother but…now knowing this he had to admit his respect for Naruto had rose, his courage astounded him.
"I see…and you think he is somewhere in this country?" Gaara asked in an emotionless voice causing Temari to nod.
"Yes…Hokage-sama seemed worried about him…I think she was trying to ask us to help him" Temari stated and Gaara stared at his sister for a moment before nodding.
"Fine…I'm leaving this up to you should you encounter him assist him however as far as I know I don't know anything understood?" Gaara asked he would help Naruto because it was his friend's brother and Naruto was trying to look after Gaara's friend.
"Understood…and by the way the hat looks good on you Kazekage-sama" Temari said walking out of the door with a smirk on her face while her brother blushed slightly in embarrassment.
Temari walked through the streets of Sunagakure with a scowl set on her face at the thought that she had to constantly keep an eye out in case Naruto turned up, she was glad she was able to ditch Shikamaru but…her new mission wasn't much better.
Walking into a bar Temari indicated to the bartender she just wanted water and sat down near the window, it was really hot today and she was going to have a quick break and some water before leaving she was a regular here so she at least knew some of the people here.
"Ah…T-Temari-san…" Temari turned around as she heard someone call her name and she narrowed her eyes at the male in front of her he was a Jounin from the village he looked around two maybe three years older than her…she vaguely remembered seeing him once or twice in her lifetime but nothing really stood out about him.
"Yes…" Temari answered and the Jounin scratched the back of his head in sign of nervousness and large blush grew on his face.
"I-I know you probably don't know me but…I've admired you for years now and I've finally become a Jounin and it's given me the confidence to tell you something" The Jounin said and Temari looked at him with a bored look she didn't really like the way this was going.
"…and?" Temari said she was getting tired with how he was stumbling over his words.
"W-Well I just wanted to tell you…I-I love you I have for years and…I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me?" The Jounin asked with all the confidence he had hoping the woman he had loved for years would finally take notice of him.
However Temari narrowed her eyes even more…years? If he had loved her for years where was he when no one would talk to either her of Kankuro because of Gaara, where was he when she had needed a friend…no despite how much courage it must have took for this man to confess to her she wouldn't even entertain the idea of dating this man he was probably only asking her out now due to Gaara becoming Kazekage as well.
"No…" Temari answered bluntly as the water she had ordered came and the Jounin behind her widened his eyes slightly before looking down in sadness…was he too late…why wouldn't she give him a chance.
"I-I understand but if I may can I ask…why?" The Jounin asked he wanted to just run away he had just confessed in a bar full of people and his pride was going out of the window.
"…Because I don't want to" Temari answered and the man nodded before walking out of the bar his head hung lowly and he was most likely going to go home and be depressed. However Temari wasn't going to feel bad she had little to no patience with men of this village as those who claim they love her completely stayed away from her when she was little and was looking after Gaara these where the same people who had looked at her youngest brother like a monster and while Gaara might be willing to forgive she wasn't going to.
She could still remember every time when Gaara had been little he would cry about how other people would glare at him, throw stuff at him and ignore him and she had been there each time when he had cried while she was willing to try forgive she wasn't going to forget.
"Oh…how harsh I think you may have broken the poor guys heart" Temari widened at the sound of that man's voice and she quickly looked behind her to see the man leaning on the wall behind her a brown desert cloak was covering his body and face.
"Y-You" Temari stuttered but before she could move the man had put his hand on her shoulder and picked up the half full glass of water Temari had been drinking.
"Please don't cause a scene…I'd hate to kill you meet me around back in thirty seconds" The man said quickly drinking the water and let out a sigh after wards and as Temari took a quick glance at the glass she quickly looked back towards where the man was only to find he had disappeared.
Standing up Temari wondered why he had come to her first…while it did make her job easier she had a funny feeling she had just signed up for the worst mission she had ever picked up. Looking around Temari noticed a back door and decided that was where the man had gone.
"I don't know how you got into the village or why you are here but I will find out…" Temari stated it slightly worried her this man had been able to bypass all of Sunagakure's defenses and had sneaked into the village without being detected, but then again she thought from what she had seen this was exactly like something he would do.
Temari closed the door to the bar behind her and noticed no one was around other than the cloaked man who was leaning on the wall outside.
"Alright I know who you are…so you can stop with the secrets…Naruto" Temari said placing her hand on her hips waiting for the man to pull down his hood.
"…I'm not Naruto…" The man said pulling his hood down revealing a man with long brown hair and brown eyes.
"Oh...sorry" Temari said frowning she had been certain it was Naruto his voice was exactly the same…thinking about it she wondered why she would have agreed to meet this man around the back she should have demanded him to reveal his identity all he was doing was wasting her time and if he was going to confess to her she would hit him.
"Why did you tell me to meet you around the back like this you better not be wasting my time" Temari said getting angry she was embarrassed that she had assumed this man was Naruto.
"Well…?" Temari glared her turquoise eyes piercing into the man.
"I…lied" The man said and blew up in a cloud of smoke causing Temari's eyes to widen.
"I am Naruto" Temari gasped when she heard someone speak directly into her ear and she screamed slightly and jumped away before slipping and falling on her ass her dignity was ruined in that moment.
Hearing a small laugh Temari quickly glared at Naruto her hair shadowed her eyes and she slowly stood up and wiped the dust off her skirt.
"Hey are you okay?" Naruto asked watching Temari finish off brushing the dust off and she started walking towards him.
"You know…falling over really gets you down" Naruto said trying to lighten the atmosphere as he could feel endless amount killing intent coming from Temari.
"GET'S YOU DOWN IDIOT" Temari shouted slamming her fan in Naruto's face knocking him to the floor and into a wall.
"G-Good one" Naruto said his nose was bleeding and he had blood running down his forehead and Temari still glared at him.
"What are you doing here…Naruto?" Temari asked with a frown this man was making her angrier than she had ever been she could see how both he and Nimato shared a similar sense of humor.
"My…what's this? You don't seem surprised to see me at all" Naruto stated wiping the blood off his nose and narrowed his eyes at Temari and she understood immediately why he didn't know that she knew everything.
"You don't need to be alarmed Hokage-sama explained to me the situation…" Temari said and explained to Naruto everything Tsunade had told her and by the end of the explanation Naruto had his eyes closed in deep concentration.
Sighing Naruto opened his eyes and trust Tsunade to do something like this…he wasn't angry but he would have liked her to be a little discreet with whom she told 'that' information too.
"How is she?" Naruto asked and Temari smiled slightly he was probably a little worried about his child and the mother.
"She's…as healthy as ever the baby is due really soon and she's really excited" Temari explained and Naruto nodded in understanding truthfully he was hesitant to ask anything about his child as he felt a longing he had never felt before.
"I…see and Tsunade has asked you to help me?" Naruto asked and Temari nodded causing him to think for a moment…this was helpful to him he had been sneaking around Suna No Kuni for a while now and he had needed access to certain parts of the village that had been originally why he had waited for Temari.
"So…you're sort of like my slave then?" Naruto asked with a smirk and Temari narrowed her eyes and her hands twitched to her fan causing Naruto to hold his arms up in defense.
"I was joking…it was a joke" Naruto said quickly he did not want to get hit again.
"Watch it Namikaze" Temari replied her hands going to her side again causing Naruto to smile this had been the first time in months he had actually talked to someone he had been looking all around Suna No Kuni and he had missed the interaction with other people.
"Fair enough…but I need your help with something…" Naruto stated causing Temari to sigh.
"I've just said I'm here to help you so hurry up…" Temari replied back and Naruto explained to her his plan and she nodded…confused yes she was very confused to what he actually wanted but she would help him.
"So tell me why are we at the hospital again?" Temari asked as she and Naruto walked side by side through the hospital when he had told her he wanted to go to the hospital she assumed it would be to get himself checked out or something but he was being secretive.
"Because it's the cleanest place in the village" Naruto replied instantly making Temari's eye twitch.
"If you're going to lie at least make it believable…anyway where's your partner the Uchiha?" Temari wondered and Naruto was silent for a few seconds lost in thought.
"She had things to do…" Naruto answered as the two reached a door and Temari knocked on it and instantly a middle aged man with short brown hair opened it Naruto could tell he was a doctor immediately by the white coat.
"Ah Temari-sama what can I help you with?" The doctor asked letting both her and Naruto into his office.
"Well my friend here has something he has to show you and I know you're the most experienced doctor in the village other than Chiyo-sama however…as you know she's a little…" Temari said and the doctor nodded it was no secret that Chiyo was a little bit insane.
"Okay son what can I help you with?" The doctor asked turning to Naruto and frowned as Naruto had his hood up so he couldn't see his face.
"I need you to take a look at this sample and tell me if you can do anything about it" Naruto stated bluntly reaching into his pocket and pulled a vial out with blood in it before handing it to the doctor.
"Well let's see what it is first…" The doctor stated placing a bit of the blood onto a microscope and examined the sample.
Frowning the doctor stared into the microscope and saw how the blood cells where being eaten by small black dots the pace the black dots were eating the cells was incredibly slow however he had never seen anything like this.
"Excuse me son could you tell me who's blood this is?" The doctor asked staring at Naruto and Naruto sighed before frowning.
"…A friends" Naruto replied back making Temari narrow her eyes he didn't have many friends did he…
"Well I'm sorry to tell you this but your friend is going to die…this is incurable I've never seen anything like it" The doctor told Naruto and he closed his eyes before turning around.
"Come on Temari…we're finished here" Naruto stated opening the door allowing Temari to leave first and just before he left he turned his head slightly.
"Doctor-san" Naruto said and the doctor looked at him the whole new disease was still on his mind.
"She's not going to die…I won't allow it" Naruto said exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
"I'm assuming those weren't the answers you were hoping for?" Temari asked and Naruto sighed as the two of them sat outside near the entrance of Sunagakure.
Looking around Naruto could see children playing and people just living their day to day lives this was really why he hated coming to villages or towns he had to see these people living the life he wanted. He wanted to be able to have a place he could come home to a place where he could happily just live.
The two months he had been in Suna No Kuni had been hard…a lot harder than the few years he had been on his own before joining the Akatsuki…he had never felt lonelier in these past two months. He had to adjust with not having Izumi around he would sometimes find himself when buying food accidentally buying food for Izumi or sometimes he would sleep in because Izumi wasn't there to wake him…he had even sometimes accidentally of course spoke as if Izumi was right next to him such as asking if she saw something only to bitterly reminded he was on his own again.
"They were the answers I was expecting…" Naruto replied back standing up and stretching.
"So…what now?" Temari asked looking towards Naruto who was now brushing sand out of his sandals.
"We're going to be leaving Sunagakure for a bit is that okay?" Naruto asked and Temari nodded it was Gaara had given her the mission to be Naruto's help and while he was in Suna No Kuni that's exactly what she was expected to do.
"I suppose so but how long are we going to be out of the village?" Temari wondered making Naruto rub his chin in thought.
"A couple of months at the most…" Naruto answered if he hadn't found out what his dream was about by then he was going to leave Suna No Kuni and try somewhere else.
"Okay but I want to be back in two months as their will be a festival for my brother becoming Kazekage and I'm not going to miss that understood?" Temari questioned and Naruto nodded that was understandable.
"Okay let's go" Naruto said walking towards the entrance and Temari quickly grabbed his arm a bewildered look on her face.
"W-What were to…don't just say let's go" Temari said Suna No Kuni was a big place after all one wrong turn and you could be trapped in the desert for months.
"…Anywhere" Naruto replied back with a smile making Temari's eyebrow twitch and she slapped Naruto across the back of the head.
"That doesn't help idiot that's exactly the same as saying let's go" Temari complained there was no way Naruto was this stupid was he…but considering he was Nimato's brother it would be understandable.
"Ouch okay…the first town alright" Naruto said holding his head she had a very hard hit and his body was fragile as it was at the moment taking to many hits like that would not be good for him.
"That's better say that next time no one would understand where 'let's go' and 'anywhere' was" Temari stated showing her ID to the guards and pointed at Naruto he assumed she was telling them he was with her.
"…Izumi would have" Naruto muttered straightening up and walked over towards Temari the next few months where going to be difficult but he was going to just endure like he had for most of his life.
Okay done this arc is going to focus mostly on how Naruto misses Izumi and how things are so much different now she isn't here with him and it goes to show just how much Naruto cares about Izumi when he is still trying to find a cure for her by using her blood as even though they have a similar disease he isn't risking anything he wants to make sure he finds something that cures her 100%.
As I said before Naruto and Temari will hook up at some point in this as they are travelling together and she may end up starting to like him not in the way Kurenai or Mei do but more like how Kurotsuchi did. With Naruto he'll be having a major character development and he will realize just how much Izumi means to him so I'm looking forward to that…as I said last chapter as well I'm not certain yet whether or not I will make the end pairing NarutoxIzumixTsunade but believe me when I say that after the upcoming time skip there will be a lot of purely NarutoxIzumi moments.
Thank you for reading review and tell me what you think…
Until next time…
