Q&A
Demigodninja21: Sure thing! I'll go ahead and put translations at the bottom of each chapter, this one having all the previous jutsu mentioned!
Martiasleissoder97: Thank you for the support! A few people before have mentioned Naruto using Kage Bunshin to train. I don't do it because I feel like the trope is associated with a lot of "strong Naruto fics", and I don't like just centering my fic around how strong Naruto is (even though when I started this, I literally said this was gonna be a power fic. What can I say, I guess I fell in love with the character and story stuff more. Go ahead and call me a hypocrite in the reviews :P).
Added to that, I feel like it takes away a potential payoff if I just hand Naruto strength on a platter. I'ma make my boy work for it.
Anoyak111: Thanks for the positive support! Yugao will be a friend and comrade to Naruto once he gets into Anbu. I won't say much more than that, but that's the structure of it!
AN #1: A lot of you guys suggested Bears/Polar Bears for a summon. That's neat! I've never seen bears in a fic before! Since fanfiction dot net is the definition of democracy in action, I'm gonna put it to a poll! Click my profile to vote yay or nay for bears!
AN #2: I moved up the scene where Gaara tries to go kill Lee in the hospital for story purposes. Just a heads up!
I do not own Naruto. Enjoy!
"...Monster..."
The cloth of Naruto's sweat-soaked bedsheets stuck to him as he rolled around on his mattress, his blanket strewn across his body, most of it over the side of the bed and piled on the floor. The fan above whipped cold air down on his face, the sweat on it chilling. His half conscious mind was wracked with anxiety, his eyes squeezed shut, his dreams shapeless, his voice coming through in muffled grunts of pain.
"...Freak..."
"...Worthless..."
"...Demon..."
Naruto's pillow had fallen to the floor, leaving his head back against the bed. One corner of the sheets was slid off, revealing the yellow of the mattress. His chest was rising heavy and falling heavy, his limbs splayed around his body. His bangs were matted over his eyes. Faceless villagers swam in his dreams, whispering things Naruto pretended he couldn't hear. Wished he couldn't hear. They stood around him, mouths to each other's ears, whispering, accusing, hating.
"...Naruto..."
Two faceless, shapeless people stood in front of him. Was that blood on them? Naruto couldn't tell. Everything was fuzzy, bright, their voices coming to him like he had two pillows to his ears. Something big and pointy was sticking through both of their chests. It was dripping something onto Naruto's chest, which seemed too small. Almost like that of a baby. Was the sky red behind them? No... that was just some big... something. Naruto couldn't tell what it was, but it was breathing down on them, it's eyes red and pointed.
"Don't be picky about your food... eat lots so you can grow big... and don't stay up late at night, you'll need your sleep. Make friends"
He wanted to tell the person he had. He didn't know why, but he wanted to tell her.
"I'm not one to talk, but do your best in school and ninjutsu. Respect your teachers and seniors in the Academy. And... don't drink any alcohol until you're twenty."
Naruto had never touched alcohol. Something had always kept him back, even when he became a ninja and it was legal.
You'll be a handsome young man, so it's okay if you become interested in a woman. But don't go after a bad one! Find someone just like your mom!"
Like his mom? He didn't know his mom. How was he supposed to find someone like her?
"Speaking of vices, watch out for Jiraiya-sensei, ya know! Believe in your dreams. And believe that your dreams will come true!"
Naruto had never once doubted. Whether it be his dream for Hokage, or anything else. The voice spoke again, fuzzy, but almost as thought it was weeping.
"Naruto... I love you... look at me. I spoke too long, so your father won't have as much time..."
"Thats alright... Naruto... my advice as your father... is everything your chatty mother said..."
His mother? His father? Wait, they were here? They were with him! He could-
"Hakke Fuin"
Everything faded to white. Naruto shot up in his bed, breathing hard. It was still nighttime outside. He put a hand to his forehead, calming his breath. And without knowing why, Naruto cried. He wouldn't fall asleep again that night.
"Naruto? You look awful."
Sasuke opened the door a bit wider. There was a sheen of sweat on his face. He must have finished his morning training. Naruto had spent the whole morning trying to find which house in the Uchiha compound Sasuke lived in, since most of the buildings were abandoned. This was the only one that had lights on, and seemed to not have dust inside.
"Sasuke. You have a minute? I need some help." Naruto said. Sasuke waved him inside. He went in. A month ago, Naruto was sure Sasuke would have just shut the door on his face. After the forest, though...
The house was smaller than he expected. Very little furniture, just enough to know someone lived in it. He supposed Sasuke wasn't too keen on staying in his old house after Itachi. He must have picked this one for himself. Naruto understood. The size made it feel like there weren't a couple of other people that should have been living there as well. Sasuke led him into the kitchen, opening the fridge.
"Um... I don't have ramen..."
"It's fine. I'm not hungry." Sasuke nodded, closing the fridge as well. He seemed uncomfortable. Naruto wondered if he was Sasuke's first ever visitor in his home, other than maybe Kakashi-sensei. Naruto didn't much like the idea of others in his apartment either. Sasuke sat across from him at the table.
"You been training?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head.
"The seal. It's been..."
"Gotcha. When are you going in for that?"
"Today actually. Gonna be leaving here in an hour to the hospital."
"Heard they got a sealing expert coming into town just for you." Naruto said with a tired smile. Sasuke scoffed.
"He was already coming in for other stuff. Timing just happened to be right" A moment passed between the two. "So... what is it you need?" Sasuke said.
"Some... advice I guess."
"About?"
"...The Hokage... he knows who my parents are." Sasuke raised a brow.
"Who are they?"
"He can't tell me. He can't tell anyone. Apparently the information is so sensitive that I can't know until I'm strong enough to defend myself against people that might come after me. My parent's past enemies and all that."
"He can't tell you because a few people didn't like your parents?"
"More than a few."
"What, like a couple dozen?"
"Try a couple thousand." Sasuke was quiet. "Apparently, though, he needs to tell me soon, because of some political circumstances surrounding..." Naruto thought about how to proceed. Sasuke didn't know about the Kyubi, and if he wanted to even start to explain this "Akatsuki" group, he'd have to let his teammate in on the information, which he didn't have the authority to do. Added to that, he wasn't entirely sure how Sasuke would respond to learning his brother was part of the group.
"...Surrounding what?" Sasuke asked.
"Just lots of stuff, my bloodline, dumb politics. Things like that. But either way, the old man... he made me an offer. Either I have to go into isolation and train until I'm Jonin level, or... well... I have to beat Gaara in the Chunin Exams to convince the world I'm Jonin level even though I'm not." Sasuke was silent for a bit, looking down at the table.
"Which one are you leaning to?"
"I don't know. I know in my head that the smarter option is just to take the training, but... I don't know. The idea of knowing who my parents are, even if it means I have to fight Gaara..."
"You'll get to know who they are either way."
"I know! That's what I hate about it! It's like all the impatience and bull-headedness I felt back before Nami is coming up again. It's like the old me is screaming at me to not wait. And that's really bothering me. I don't want to feel impatient about this. I want to have the level head I've had since Nami, but this... this is just really messing with me."
"...I feel the same about Itachi..." Naruto looked up at him. "I felt really good about the change I made back in the forest. I found I haven't been thinking like an avenger, like someone obsessed with strength these past few days. But when I passed by my parent's old house... all that popped up again for a second."
"What did you do?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shrugged.
"Went home. Eventually it went away, but it made me think what might happen if... I don't know. If I see him again."
"You think you'd charge him?"
"...I hope I wouldn't..." Sasuke didn't say it, but Naruto felt like there was a "but" that he was going to follow that with. Naruto breathed out a sigh. He supposed he hadn't felt anything like this before. He'd known that all his previous tenancies sprouted from the need to be loved and accepted. With his new attitude, he was trying to get away from that all, and he had some good success. But he hadn't had a big challenge yet. He hadn't been tempted by anything. The closest thing was when he felt a bit insecure around the Anbu during his and Ebisu's first training session. But that felt a few levels down on the emotional totem pole to where he was right now.
"...I also just feel like... I don't know... I'd be leaving my whole life behind for the next few years. I don't want to do that. I feel for the first time in my life like I've just now started finding people who respect me, who are close to me, who... love me. And having to go into hiding for years to train away from them all when I've only had them for a few months now...
"It hits that same need. To feel loved and acknowledged."
"Yeah..." Naruto said, then smiled "Not to mention our sensei's got me feeling guilty about maybe leaving you guys, with the whole 'abandoning teammates' thing he instilled in us." He laughed at the end. Sasuke cracked a smile.
"I'm touched."
"Har-har. Don't go expecting those too often." Sasuke's smirk widened to a close-eyed grin. Some silence passed between the two.
"Feeling better?" Sasuke asked.
"Helps to get it out in the air." Naruto said. "What do you think I should do?" Sasuke opened his mouth, stopped, and then closed it. He thought for a bit.
"I don't know." Sasuke said truthfully.
"Yeah... I was worried you'd say that..."
"This Gaara guy. You think you can even beat him in the first place?" Naruto gave another sigh.
"No. The Sandaime thinks I can for some reason. In technical terms, the guy sucks. He has no Taijutsu prowess, no speed, no reflexes. I watched it all during his fight with Lee. His base skills as a ninja are awful. It's just that his defense is so good that he doesn't need any of that. Since he's completely impenetrable, and since his sand also has lethal offensive capabilities, it makes him almost impossible for most people to fight, even though most people could mop the floor with him if they found a way around his shield."
"So how did Lee do it? Get around his shield?"
"Insane speed curated by focusing his entire ninja career on just physical attributes. And I have a month."
"So, in essence, this guy is basically a Tokubetsu Jonin, with a specialty in defense?"
"I guess so. Actually, no. Being a Tokubetsu Jonin implies that your overall capabilities are all Chunin level, and you have Jonin level or above in one area. He's basically academy student in everything else. Except for ninjutsu offense with his sand, which is probably Chunin level... and I suppose chakra. He must have quite a bit to control sand constantly like that. I guess I can see where the Sandaime's thinking he's a paper tiger as an A-rank. Once you get past his only trick, he's got nothing. It's just a monster of a trick to get past."
"And you think you cant?"
"I know I can't. If I could just find some weakness, something to exploit..." Naruto said. Sasuke was quiet for a bit.
"...Kakashi sensei didn't want me to tell you, but..." Naruto looked up. "We talked together about the Forest of Death, and my change. We got on the subject of you, and sensei said that when you made Chunin in these exams, and then completed the minimal prerequisite amount of missions, he was going to recommend you for Tokubetsu Jonin." Naruto blinked
"...Me? I'm... I'm not Jonin level..."
"You just said yourself, Tokubetsu Jonin are Chunin level, except for their specialty. He said that you were already Jonin level in chakra reserves and stamina. The one that really gets you in, though, is stealth. He said that Tokubetsu Jonin were only considered if their specialty was applicable to a lot of missions, and stealth is one of the qualities they look for the most, since so many specialized missions use it."
"But... I mean... not all my attributes are that of a Chunin."
"He said you were already on track to cover most of your bases this month. The only thing you'd need to work on after the exams would be speed and strength, and taijutsu. The rest will be good enough by the finals."
"Well, this is all under the assumption that I'm even making Chunin in the exams." Naruto said. He felt as though he was looking for a reason to disagree, but he couldn't help it. The idea of already being so close to the most elite of the village, of being on the same level as Ebisu... He couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Kakashi-sensei didn't say 'if you made Chunin'. He said 'when'. I think he's a better expert than either of us on the subject. The point I'm making, Naruto, is if you outclass this guy in every area of a ninja but one, and on paper you are the same level as him in terms of how you both should be ranked, then I think Gaara's more beatable than you think."
"But that's just it. It's on paper. That doesn't change that I still need to get around the intangible he holds, which is unbreakable defense. And even if I get through his shield, there's still his sand armor too. I don't know if I can come up with anything that'll puncture that."
"Just give it some thought. I'm sure you can come up with something." Sasuke said. The pair sat quietly for a bit. It wasn't an awkward silence. They were comfortable.
"How's your training going?" Naruto asked.
"Good. Haven't done anything this week cause of-" he thumbed the seal on his neck "-but, I've been reworking my schedule. I've always focused my training on what would be most effective against Itachi. Since the forest, I've been wanting to diversify a bit more. Become an actual ninja."
"Oh yeah? Happy to hear it, Sasuke."
"Thanks. I found some scrolls from the guy who used to live here when I first moved in. He was apparently a top tier ninja. Used the Shunshin technique so accurately that he could make use of it in combat, not just as a supplementary jutsu" Naruto whistled. That was impressive. "I discredited his skills, because I knew that Itachi would be able to track my Shunshin with his Sharingan if I tried to emulate his abilities. That, and the two were apparently friends, which meant he would have experience with sparring with him, and would know his style. But now, I'm thinking about following in this guy's footsteps."
"Are you still thinking about fighting Itachi one day?" Naruto asked.
"...Yeah. I'm not gonna let it absorb me, but he still needs to face justice for what he did to me and my clan."
"I know that's probably something you need to do on your own." Naruto said. "But, when the time comes, if you want me by your side to help take him down, the offer is open. I'll be there."
"Thanks Naruto." Sasuke said. It was the first time he'd thanked Naruto for anything.
"Thank you, Sasuke. For helping me with all this." Naruto looked up at the clock. "Come on. We'll walk to the hospital together, and you can tell me about this 'Shunshin guy'"
Naruto watched Sasuke and the doctors enter into the room, one of the lab-coated physicians asking him questions and jotting down on a clipboard. He sighed, turning back down the hallway and towards the lobby. Now that his mind wasn't focused on talking with Sasuke, he felt... out of body. Detached. Like he was watching himself walk down the hallway. What was he supposed to do? He wished he knew where Kakashi-sensei was. He'd know the solution. He said he'd start training him today, but he hadn't seen the man thus far.
"Here to sign out." Naruto said, approaching the desk clerk.
"And your name?" She replied, perky and upbeat. Naruto would normally respond in kind. Today, it was grating.
"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied. She crossed something off her list.
"Alrighty!" She said, in a happy voice. "You're all set!"
"Thanks" Naruto said, turning.
"Oh, sir?" Naruto turned back. "Remember to take off your visitor sticker! Wouldn't want to be walking around with a nametag if you don't ne..." She trailed off, her face turning a little... concerned? Frightened? She was staring behind Naruto, looking at someone.
The slow tapping of sandals on the tiled floor echoed through the quiet room. Naruto turned to see the object of all his stress today. Gaara was walking up to the desk, arms folded, dark circles under his eyes, the kanji for "love" painted on his forehead. Naruto felt uneasy. Gaara had an air about him that put a kind of deep, instinctual fear in him, like the boy was a bomb just waiting to go off, his emotionless demeanor just some mask to hide a monster inside. He passed Naruto, and for the briefest of moments, so quick Naruto may have imagined it, they locked eyes, before the shorter boy continued towards the desk.
"...I would like to see Rock Lee. Give me his room number..." The clerk's upbeat personality seemed to have vanished. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who could sense the air of danger around Gaara.
"Umm... m-may I ask the re-reason?"
"...He is my friend. I wish to visit him and wish him well in his recovery."
"R-right." She said, scribbling something down. "Well, umm... he's in room three-twelve. Here is your visitor sticker..." She trailed off as Gaara simply walked towards and up the staircase, disappearing around the bend. The clerk looked like she might say something, before her unease overcame her, and she simply crumpled the sticker and tossed it in the trash can, her eyes firmly focused to the sheet she was writing on. Naruto let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
What in the world was Gaara doing here? He didn't know Lee outside his fight in the prelims. In fact, he seemed downright murderous in regards to the boy the last time they met. Naruto took a step towards the staircase, hesitated, and then approached the base, listening. He still heard the boy's sandals tapping steadily, slowly up the staircase. There was a pause, and he heard the creaking of metal hinges on the door leading to the third floor.
As silently as he could, he followed up, careful not to make a noise as he did so. In every interaction Naruto had with Gaara so far, he seemed unhinged, dangerous, as though he were on the verge of a mental breakdown. Being that unstable, with that much power, made him all the more a threat. He didn't trust him for a minute with an unconscious, defenseless Lee. He opened the door to the third floor just enough to slide through, and slowly made his way in.
He crept down the hallway, eyes scanning the numbers by each door, looking for three-twelve. He rounded a corner, stopped dead and slid back against the wall. Gaara was standing in the hallway, opposite to someone he didn't get a good look at. They were talking with one another.
"...Paying him a visit." Gaara said. "I didn't get a chance to speak with him after our fight. I wanted to wish him well in his recovery."
"You think I believe that for a second?" A female voice said, somewhere around Naruto's age, "You're the one that caused those injuries in the first place! You're the one who compromised his career as a ninja! There's no way I'm letting you in to see him!" Naruto peeked back around the corner. Gaara stood with his arms crossed, back to him, looking at Lee's teammate, Tenten.
"...Move..." Gaara said. "...Or I will kill you." Naruto's mouth opened a little. Tenten seemed set aback by the declaration.
"W-what! You're insane!" She said. "You think you can just get away with something like that in the middle of-" She was stopped short as Gaara uncorked his gourd, sand spilling out onto the floor.
"You will not stop me from proving my existence... you will not stop mother's call for blood..." Gaara said, slowly moving forward. Tenten steeled herself, readying two fistfuls of shuriken, one between each finger.
"Don't come closer! I-I'm warning you!" Gaara simply continued his stride. Tenten jumped back, throwing the shuriken. An arm of sand raised up to defend Gaara, the weapons sinking into it, before a tendril shot forward towards Tenten, wrapping around her. She struggled against it, the fear in her eyes covered by sand that blanketed over her, head to toe.
"Sabaku Sōsō." Gaara said, closing his fist. But instead of blood gushing from the sand, there was a blast of smoke as the Kage Bunshin that had just replaced with Tenten popped. Gaara lifted his head a little, as Tenten let out a gasp of air, falling to her knees next to Naruto.
Gaara turned, as Naruto immediately sprung into action, throwing a kunai at the nearest window ring-first, and grabbing Tenten as it shattered. He heard sand shifting behind him as he jumped through the window, grabbing the windowsill for leverage as he did so, and receiving a shard of glass through his palm for his troubles. He grunted in pain as the pair flipped over the window, and stuck below it on the wall, a blast of sand flying over their heads.
"I'll get Lee out! Go! Get help!" Naruto said to Tenten, as he sprinted across the outside of the hospital wall. The tendril of sand followed him. He raised his fingers, making a Kage Bunshin and wincing in pain as the muscles in his palm squeezed against the shard of glass. The clone popped into existence, tackling the sand tendril as the real Naruto yanked out the shard of glass with a yelp of pain, blood flicking through the air and catching the sunlight.
Naruto formed two more clones as he ran towards the window he'd marked as room three-twelve, throwing another kunai in, ring-first, and praying the glass didn't hit Lee. He reached the edge of the window, grabbing it by the side, careful not to cut himself this time, and flipping over and into the room feet first. He slammed into Gaara's shield, spurts of sand blasting through the air as Naruto grit his teeth, the pair of Jinchuriki locking eyes as Naruto was suspended in midair.
The sand wrapped around Naruto's foot, and threw him against the wall, slithering up Naruto's body and pinning him. He grunted as the course grains of sand rushed all over his body, getting everywhere, in his armpits, between his toes, even a few grains in his mouth. He glanced over at Lee, the boy unconscious, his limbs suspended by slings hanging from the ceiling. He looked up at Gaara, who was giving him a low, emotionless glare, his arm raised and hand open.
""Sabaku Sōsō" Gaara said, closing is fist. Just like last time, however, all he received was a blast of smoke as one clone replaced with the real Naruto, and his second clone replaced with Lee. Naruto reoriented himself as his vision suddenly swam from the replacement, immediately sticking to the wall, and then reaching out to catch Lee. He winced as he realized he'd caught him by his bad arm, and heard some grinding in the unconscious boy's joints.
He wrapped his arms around Lee's waist, and shot off the wall as a blast of sand came through the window. Naruto turned himself in mid air so Lee would land on top of him, tucking his chin so the back of his head didn't whip against the cobblestone. The civilians looking over in surprise as he landed back first on the ground in a thud of flesh against hard concrete, the wind getting knocked out of him from the impact. Gaara came floating down on a small platform of sand, particles dripping off it in little clumps, looking down at Naruto. He raised his hand, sand rising from his gourd at his command.
"Halt!"
A dozen Konoha shinobi landed by Naruto and Lee, decked in flak jackets, Tenten alongside them. Each was holding their fingers up for hand signs or kunai, chakra primed, ready to sling a jutsu or a weapon. Naruto gently rolled Lee to the side, laying him on his back as the boy groaned in his sleep. He looked up at Gaara. The boy looked panicked and murderous all at once, holding his head in his hands.
"No... no, no" He said, holding his head. "Mother, please, I can get him later, I promise... don't be angry, my existence, we can affirm it once they're gone..."
"You have attacked no less than three Konoha shinobi! Surrender your gourd now!" One of the shinobi shouted. Naruto scrambled to his feet, his back aching in protest, putting himself between Gaara and Lee.
"All of them?" Gaara said, seemingly to nobody. "...Yes... yes mother, their blood is yours..." He raised his hands.
"Drop the gourd!"
"You all... you will not deny my mother! You will not deny me!" Gaara screamed, voice laced with obsessed madness. Sand rose from his gourd as all the Konoha shinobi raised their weapons.
"Enough!" A new voice said.
Gaara's Jonin sensei dropped down to the ground beside his Genin. His presence seemed to snap Gaara out of it, who looked up at him, surprised. All the Konoha shinobi hesitated, seeing this new arrival.
"Who are you!" One of the shinobi said.
"I am Baki, member of the high council of Sunagakure and sensei of this Genin. What business do you all have attacking my student!"
"Stand aside!" A Konoha Jonin said, stepping forward. "Your student has attacked three Genin within this hospital. He must be taken in for interrogation and answer for his crimes! Being on the council, you must realize this is now an international incident!"
"Within the hospital you say? Are you sure he attacked them?"
"What else do you think this is?"
"My student's sand has healing properties. He often goes to the hospitals in Suna in order to heal those attending. Isn't that right, Gaara?" Baki said, looking down to his student.
"...Of course..." Gaara said.
"Bullcrap!" Tenten shouted "That guy tried to crush me with his sand, he-"
"I am sure" Baki interrupted, "You are not accusing the son of the Kazekage himself of attempted murder, young Genin!" The revelation that they were dealing with the Kazekage's son quieted a few of the shinobi present, their weapons lowering a hair. Each of them looked to the Konoha Jonin. The man looked Baki up and down.
"...Son of the Kazekage or no, this situation requires questioning... Your student will be taken before the Hokage and the council of Konoha, along with these two Genin. His fate will be decided from there".
"Of course." Baki said, "And I trust as his Jonin-sensei, I am allowed to be there with my student when he is questioned?"
"Of course..." The Konoha Jonin said through gritted teeth. "A detachment will be sent to watch over your other Genin while this interrogation is proceeding. Now, if you will all come with me."
Naruto fiddled with the bandages wrapped around his hand. He slid his thumb over the red dot on the part of the bandage over his palm. It wasn't wet. He could already feel that the cut had scabbed over. Back in the academy, he thought that kind of stuff normal, until he saw kids with scabbed knees that could last a couple of weeks. Naruto sighed, sitting back against the wall, looking over to the closed door to the council chamber. Tenten fidgeted next to him. He then looked directly across, at Gaara.
The boy was standing in front of the bench, arms crossed, looking over Naruto's head at nothing. Why he didn't sit, Naruto didn't know. He sighed through his nose. What had come over Naruto back there? He hadn't been smart at all about how he approached Gaara. He should have sent a Kage Bunshin to trail him, and just go straight for Lee's room if he thought anything suspicious was going to happen. He also should have just sent a clone into Lee's room first, and not put himself in direct danger. The way he handled it, he jeopardized Lee, and likely just injured him further in the process.
Naruto glared at Gaara, looking him up and down. He was small for his age. If Naruto didn't know from the Chunin Exams, he would think him an Academy student. His skin was ghostly pale, not a mark on it. Almost every ninja could boast a scar. Most academy students even picked up a few from training. Naruto didn't have any, for the same reason his palm had already healed, but still, seeing the boy's skin so blemishless was unnerving for a ninja. It spoke to his invincibility.
"Why'd you try and kill him?" Naruto said. Gaara didn't even look at him. "Tournament wasn't enough? Ruining his life as a ninja wasn't enough? Had to end him as well?"
"Yes." Gaara said, as simply as one would say yes when asked if the sky was blue. Naruto scoffed.
"You're a psychopath." Silence passed between the pair, Naruto glancing over at Tenten. She seemed fidgety, unnerved. Naruto felt something off, and glanced back at Gaara. The boy was staring at him.
"...Mother tells me that... you are like me..." Naruto locked eyes with Gaara. He supposed he had a good idea of who "mother" was now.
"...Does she?"
"...She has been restless. She has felt your presence since we have been here. Now, having been around you, she knows."
"Wh... what's he is talking about?" Tenten asked. Naruto didn't answer her, simply staring down Gaara. The boy looked back, emotionless, before a tint of madness touched his gaze again.
"...She screams for your blood. Longs for it. And... I do as well."
"Why's that? What do you get from killing me?" Naruto asked.
"...Proof." Gaara said.
"Of?"
"My existence."
"I think there are easier ways to prove you exist than killing me." Gaara was silent. For a moment, Naruto thought he would stay that way. Then he spoke again.
"There isn't." He said. "It is what I am. A monster. A killer. Everyone around me is only but a threat to my existence, or a nuisance to be ignored. Each broken corpse is another layer of proof that I will not be snuffed out, that they cannot take away the only thing I have."
"Being?"
"Love."
"So you kill everyone so they won't take away the people who love you."
"No such people exist. The only person who loves me is myself."
"Right. Guess mommy and daddy didn't give you enough attention as a kid then?"
"I killed my mother." Gaara said. Naruto's gaze whipped back up at him, sharp, icy. "It was the first act I did coming into this world. The first proof of who I am. It was the first proof of my existence. One day, I shall kill my father too."
The blurry images from his dream this morning rose up to Naruto's mind, a two faceless figures, two shapeless voices, telling him how much they loved him with their dying breaths. Naruto stared down Gaara, who looked back, unmoved, uncaring, unremorseful.
"...Every single thing you've said thus far has been insanity, except one. You are a monster. And it's not because of that thing in your stomach either." The words didn't even touch Gaara. He simply stared back at Naruto. The door to the council room opened.
"Genin Uzumaki?" an Anbu said. "The council and Hokage will see you now." Naruto stood, walking to the door.
"You will not disprove my existence, Uzumaki. You will not take the only thing I have. Come these finals, I will kill you" Naruto paused, his back to Gaara. He continued, going through the door to the council room.
Naruto walked into the room. It was... less impressive than what he'd imagined. For some reason, he'd always imagined the council as a big group of important people in Konoha, like clan heads and important civilians. But this was just four individuals, the Sandaime, an elderly woman in a black and white kimono, a bespectacled old man who hadn't quite lost the brown in his hair, though it was very faded, and a heavily bandaged man with his arm in a sling. All of them sat at a table, facing him. To their side stood Baki, hands behind his back.
"Genin Uzumaki. It is good to see in fine health" The Sandaime said. Naruto believed that was the first time the old man had addressed him by his title as a ninja instead of just his first name. Whether that was because of the presence of the council, or Baki himself, Naruto didn't know. Regardless, if the Hokage needed to keep formality right now, Naruto would oblige. He knelt down to his knee, bowing his head.
"Lord Hokage, honorable council." He said.
"Genin Uzumaki, we have been told that you were involved in an incident with the son of the Kazekage. Is this true?" The strict man with the sling said.
"Yes, council member."
"Baki here is a member of Sunagakure's council. He tells us that Gaara was simply attempting to heal Genin Rock Lee. We would like to question you as to your version of events." The man continued.
"Danzo?" The Sandaime said.
"Yes?" the strict man said back.
"If you wouldn't mind, would you allow me to conduct this part?" The newly identified Danzo glanced up towards the Sandaime, his only visible eye regarding him with calculation.
"As the Sandaime Hokage wishes." He said.
"Thank you." The Sandaime said, puffing a bit at his pipe. "Genin Uzumaki. I believe a formal notice was sent from my office to all of the Konoha Genin in the Chunin Exams regarding Gaara. You received this, did you not?"
"Lord Hokage? I did not receive such a notice."
"You did not receive a notice yesterday evening after you had interacted with the Jonin-senseis at Mikabushi bar in regards to the how you are to orient yourself in regards to Konoha's esteemed guest, Gaara, the son of the Kazekage and Jinchuriki of Sunakagure?" Yesterday after he met with the Jonin? That was when he had the meeting with the old man in the first place. Gramps was trying to draw his attention to the meeting without saying it out loud.
"Oh, yes, Lord Hokage. I had forgotten. I saw the notice in my mailbox at my apartment, but I have yet to read it." Naruto hoped that his own message that he was still undecided on the issue came through in his statement.
"That is quite alright. Now is as good a time as any for you to decide how you will conduct yourself around Gaara." Naruto mentally cursed. The old man was telling him he had to choose now, given their current circumstances. The situation with Gaara was too high profile, too out in the open. If he just told him the truth, Gaara would have to be taken into custody, and the ability to face him in the Chunin Exams would be gone. But, if he lied...
"Now..." The Sandaime continued, "You arrived at the hospital this afternoon in order to visit your teammate after the Chunin Exam preliminaries. After you finished your visit, you noticed young Gaara going to visit Rock Lee. You arrived mid-altercation between Gaara and Tenten, and assumed the boy was going to attack Lee. Baki here claims that Gaara was only going to help Lee with his healing. Allow me to ask, do you think it at all possible, in any way, shape, or form, that Gaara was indeed there to heal Lee, and that all of this was just a misunderstanding?"
This was it. The choice was in Naruto's hands now. If he said yes, then Naruto fought Gaara in the exams. If not, Gaara would be jailed, or tried, or whatever. Either way, he'd be out of the Chunin Exams, and Naruto would go into training for the next three years.
"...Lord Hokage, might I have a few moments to review the details in my mind? See if I missed anything?"
"Come now, boy." the elder with the glasses said. "Is it truly that difficult to remember?"
"Now, now, Homura. A respectable shinobi does analyze the situation in every way possible. Genin Uzumaki is doing us a service by trying to take away his own bias from the situation, and fully analyze it as best he can. Allow the boy some time." The Sandaime said. Homura sat back in his chair, arms crossed.
"As the Hokage wishes." He said.
Naruto closed his eyes, the clock on the wall ticking again and again. He hated this. He hated that he was being forced into choosing now. He hated that he was being asked to decide between his life now, and fighting a monster. He hated the veil of blurriness between him and his parent's faces from his dream. He hated that he could feel the old Naruto in him, screaming to fight Gaara, to win everyone's attention in the finals, to finally know who his parents are, to rush his way into being a Tokubetsu Jonin all for the acclaim, and not because it was the best option.
Most of all, he hated that he'd finally spotted Gaara's weakness.
The boy just tipped his hand in the hallway, whether intentionally or not. He was like Naruto and Sasuke. He had his own pain, as undefined and unknown to Naruto as it was. Being a Jinchuriki himself, though, he could guess. He didn't do things in a fight because it was the smartest option, or the smartest way to fight. He was driven by his insane need to "validate his existence". He brought that desperation and flawed thinking into battle. The only difference between himself and the old Naruto, or old Sasuke, was that he had power to back it up.
The sand shield acted as a automatic defense. Gaara proved that when he didn't know where Lee's attacks were coming from in the preliminaries, but he was still being defended by the sand. But, Gaara also controlled the sand. He did so with his Sabaku Sōsō. And, if Naruto was remembering right, as the fight with Lee dragged on, Gaara's shield seemed to get more sloppy. More unrefined. And now, Naruto knew why. Initially, he'd thought it was reflective of the damage he received, or perhaps his chakra levels getting low. But no. Gaara had taken control of the sand shield out of desperation to put some factor of the fight in his hands, give himself some control because he was afraid of dying, of loosing the one thing he had, loving himself.
Naruto couldn't make Gaara desperate like Lee did. But now that he knew Gaara's bloodlust came first in a fight, and he knew that Gaara could control the shield, he could use that against him. He could tempt Gaara. He could make Gaara more and more desperate to kill him. He could make him overextend, and in that moment, he could go for the kill. But it still all came down to the main question: should he? Should he fight him?
Naruto squeezed his eyes closed, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. He didn't care if Baki saw it, or if he was giving away that there was more here than met the eye to this situation. His thoughts scrolled by in his head, showing Gaara, his teammates, Iruka-sensei, everyone. Then, it paused on the blurry faces of his parents. He could barely make out the red hair of one, and the blonde hair of another. Then, they faded away, everything faded to black, and there stood Gaara again.
"I killed my mother. One day I shall kill my father too."
Naruto felt anger, hatred, revulsion at a person who would so callously throw away something so precious. In every situation, Naruto had been the nail, and someone else the hammer. First with Zabuza, then with Orochimaru. He'd never been the one to show someone the reality of the ninja world. He'd never been the hammer. But with this murderous, psychotic boy? He was going to show Gaara what this world was really like. Then, he was finally going to know who his parents were, finally going to get the love he never had, finally was going to know he was worth something.
"Well, Genin Uzumaki?" The Sandaime said.
Naruto looked up, opened his mouth, and made a bad decision.
Translations:
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone Jutsu
Bunshin no Jutsu - Clone Jutsu
Kawamiri no Jutsu - Replacement Technique
Henge no Jutsu - Transformation Technique
Shunshin no Jutsu - Body flicker Technique
Suiton: Kakasu no Jutsu - Water style: Hiding in Water Technique
Ninpou: En'un no Jutsu - Ninja Art: Smokescreen Technique
Sabaku Sōsō - Sand Funeral
Hakke Fuin - Eight Trigrams Seal