Yo!
Actually nothing to say. Chuunin Exams begin, We've got the last few set-ups for our upcoming character arcs, and with that, it's time to go!
Without further ado, and whatnot.
Chapter 27: Last Call
"Remind me again why we're here so early?"
"Because this is a ninja village." Kakashi replied blandly, leading them through the packed crowds surrounding the Chuunin Exam's third site with a practiced ease. "The clock starts a lot earlier for professionals than it does you guys."
"No, not that." Sasuke said, the scowl on his face only making the bags under his eyes that much more noticeable. "I'm asking you why you're dragging us here two hours earlier than the starting time!"
"Oh, that?" The man before them smiled sweetly, in a way Sasuke could tell was oh so fake. "Why, it's only proper for us all to arrive as early as possible! We'll be able to get the best seats in the house that way!"
"We're competing." Sakura deadpanned quietly, before smothering a yawn that emerged from her mouth with her fist. "You aren't."
"Exactly!" Their teacher exclaimed with far too much energy. "Which is exactly why I need the best seat I can get!"
"You're doing this just to screw with us, aren't you?"
Kakashi's expression was that of a door to door salesman, filled with nothing but fake enthusiasm, badly disguising a horrid cynicism.
"I can neither confirm nor deny-"
"I hate you." Sakura spoke simply, eyeing the man with a righteous contempt.
"That's not really the reason, is it." Sasuke guessed with a sigh.
Kakashi smirked, nodding minutely to indicate he was right.
"Simply put, you're the last Uchiha. You being in the tournament draws a lot of attention from all over the place." Kakashi outlined. "You showing up early presents you as a respectable young man, or, that's what Lord Third told me. I was honestly just going to ignore him, but he seemed a lot more serious than normal, so here you are."
Sasuke sighed but nodded. It had been an awfully long time since being the last of the Uchiha had mattered in the slightest, at least from what he'd seen. He'd graduated from school, and from then on, no one had really treated him all that different. Hell, most of the people they met on missions had never even heard his name.
It was nice, in it's own way.
"Wait, Sensei!" Sakura suddenly shouted, pointing to herself. "Why do I have to be so early too!?"
"Do you want me to answer honestly, Sakura?" The man asked, turning towards her with an candid expression.
"…Yes?"
"Because if I was going to have to be miserable having to come here 3 hours early with Sasuke, then the rest of you guys sure as hell had to be miserable, too."
They both met Kakashi's gaze with disappointed glares, as if they'd expected better of their teacher, but from Kakashi's single exposed eye, they could sense no regret, only an annoying smugness.
As they continued walking, and got closer to the main coliseum, Sasuke couldn't help but be slightly amazed at what he saw. The people lined up in droves around makeshift stalls that hadn't been there for more than two or three days, and the merchants behind them seemed to be making more today than they had the entirety of last month combined.
It was at times like these that he understood why the title to bear the Chuunin Exams was such a sought-after commodity. The tourism alone brought countless profits to the village, and even food stalls flourished during the few days surrounding the event.
The loud hustle and bustle couldn't help but remind him of someone, however. Even more specifically, it reminded him of that someone's odd absence.
"Hey… where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked after a little while longer of walking, taking his eyes off of the curiosities surrounding them and looking up at their teacher. "Shouldn't you have dragged him here too?"
The man looked back down at him, and gave a small shrug of his shoulders.
"He was practically dead when I tried to wake him up. I assume that Jiraiya might've had him out doing some last-minute warm-ups." Kakashi shrugged a second time. "Either way, He's out of my hands, I didn't feel like carrying him."
Sasuke couldn't help but think the man was being a tad bit dismissive of his duties as a teacher, but he didn't feel like bringing that up. He wasn't worried Naruto would miss the event without Kakashi's interference. He had enough faith in Naruto's competitive spirit to know that even if the boy had to drag himself to the arena by his teeth, he'd still make it.
Wouldn't even let me skip our duels when it was hailing. Sasuke remembered with a small chuckle. And of course, we both got colds.
Even a few years later, the memories of their daily spars still made him smile. It had become something of a routine for the two after he'd asked Naruto if he wanted to train a few weeks into their friendship. He hadn't expected such an emphatic 'Yes!' from the boy, but with the benefit of hindsight, it was obvious why his friend had accepted.
At that time, Naruto had hated how far behind everyone else he was, and had relished, with an almost unhealthy fervor, the victories he did manage to claw out. Fiercely competitive, and yet lacking the skills to back it up. Naturally he'd jumped at his first chance to get better.
They'd stopped around halfway into their last year of schooling, after Naruto had started to land a lot more hits on him than he used to, and the strain, combined with his usual daily training, was becoming a little too much to bear.
"Alright, we're here."
Kakashi's words had him back in the present, and a second later he could confirm with his own eyes what the man had said. The crowds had been growing thicker by the minute, but as they finally arrived at the stadium, and were given an express passage in by the ninja's standing guard, they'd broken away from the large masses of people. Now they were flanked only by other adult ninja, likely present to protect the arena's interior from any insurgent threats.
After about a minute of walking through the quiet halls, the came to a crossroads, and Sasuke gave a brief glance towards the twin signs hanging above both sides which read "Audience Seating" and "Competitor Area".
"Well, you two," Kakashi spoke, turning to look towards him and Sakura with a small smile bending the fabric of his mask. "I wish you the best of luck."
"Don't worry," Sakura exclaimed, giving the man a thumbs up and a toothy smile. "We won't need it!"
After the three of them separated, Sasuke couldn't quite help poking fun at the girl walking alongside him.
"Were you doing your best Naruto impression?" He teased with a mirth-filled grin.
Sakura seemed to question herself for a moment, before laughing quietly.
"Actually, I think I was emulating Anko Sensei a bit." She smiled embarrassedly, rubbing the back of her neck as a small blush came to her features. "She's a lot like Naruto, if he were like… a teensy bit more mature."
"Only a teensy bit? Isn't she twice his age?"
Sakura snorted.
"You wouldn't know it."
/-/
Naruto sneezed.
Rather loudly.
Several times.
"I hate everyone." He spoke simply. "Stupid Jiraiya… Stupid Sakura and her stupid teach- ACHOO!"
Naruto rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve, realized he'd already done that several times now and was thus only spreading more snot across his face, gagged lightly, and then changed out of his outfit into another, identical orange jumpsuit.
"Why do I still live?" Naruto asked his reflection as he walked into the bathroom and began to brush his teeth, barely managing to avoid sneezing for the thousandth time. "Just to suffer?"
It's all that crappy Jiraiya's fault! Naruto cursed the man mentally, raising his left fist into the sky, even as his right continued to fish around for plaque on his gums. If he hadn't said all that stuff about how I was built for using natural chakra…
Naruto had taken Jiraiya's words to heart. The man had told him that he was well suited for the use of natural chakra, and then said his one and only downside was chakra control.
When Naruto had asked later that day about what he could do to improve on that aspect, Jiraiya had been rather blunt.
"First, learn to walk up trees with your chakra. If you can do that, then transition to water-walking."
And so that was what Naruto had done. He'd gone back to the spot where Jiraiya had been training him late last night, and he'd practiced water-walking up into the early morning. He had, at the time, seen no problems with that plan.
They were beginning to pop up now.
Naruto had, unfortunately, never been all that good at keeping himself balanced atop the water, and so he'd fallen in more times than he could realistically count. What had been the real problem was the temperature, because even in the relative heat of their current weather, the night's still managed to be rather chilly.
And so, it was with a pained groan that Naruto had awoken this morning, with a soar throat, a headache, and a stuffy nose. Not to mention that he hadn't exactly gotten the most sleep, so his eye's kept reflexively closing every thirty seconds or so, which was a bit of a problem seeing as how he was heading off to the first real competition he'd ever been in in about…
Naruto looked to the clock on his back wall.
Oh, good. Naruto thought, grabbing his sandals and practically shoving them on. About 30 minutes.
…And I'm up first.
Awesome.
/-/
By the time Naruto managed to slip on the last of his wardrobe, eat a small piece of bread, and drink a glass of milk (which was likely spoiled, given his luck), he'd already managed to burn another 5 minutes from his short timeframe.
He ran through the streets with a panicked intensity, dodging out of the way of careless tourists, ducking underneath a tour-guide who seemed to be pointing in the direction of a nearby shop, and side-stepping two grown ninja, who shouted obscenities at him as he passed.
Another five minutes gone, but at least now he could see the arena.
Why the hell is it so far away!? Naruto couldn't help but curse inside his own head. Why would you build it in such a crappy spot!?
It was while he was stuck in his own head that he lost track of his own faculties, and as he turned around to shout back at another ninja who'd given him the finger, he accidentally ran into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't – Naruto?"
He knew the demure voice without having to look up, but he was still a bit surprised as he turned his head to look up at the person he'd bowled over. Her hair had grown slightly longer over the month since he'd last seen her, but Hinata Hyuga was very much still herself, right down to apologizing to someone who'd been very much at fault.
"Oh, hey, Hinata!" He smiled, standing up and offering the girl a hand, which she took rather gingerly a second later, not quite able to meet his eyes for some reason. "Geez, and here I thought I'd be the only one who's late!"
The girl blushed, mumbling a quiet excuse under her breath that Naruto didn't catch a hint of, before looking up to him and bringing her hands together in front of her, twiddling her thumbs idly as she tried to work up the courage to speak.
"I… I was talking with my family last night." The girl admitted, her gaze meeting more often with the ground below them than with any part of Naruto. "They… Ah! Never mind." The girl suddenly deflected, turning around and pointing shyly to the coliseum. "W-we'll be late if we take too long."
"Oh! Yeah!" He'd nearly forgotten as he'd been sucked into his concern for the girl, but they did have a competition to catch. "You're right about that, Hinata!"
"A competition between the two of us." A rather unhelpful part of Naruto's psyche reminded him. "Where you'll have to defeat her to advance."
His mood plummeted almost instantly. He'd been trying to forget all about their upcoming fight, but it was proving rather difficult with the girl walking sedately in front of him, keeping as much to herself as she could.
I wonder what's got her so upset… Naruto thought without really meaning to. Maybe… I should ask.
Sasuke called him nosy, and perceptive at the worst of times, which still made Naruto chuckle to this day, but he would never deny the boy's statements.
Naruto knew enough about himself at this point in his life to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that he wouldn't feel very good if he didn't learn what it was that was bothering the girl in front of him.
And so, after taking a deep breath, Naruto spoke.
"So… Hinata?" His voice came across as wavering and unconfident, the exact opposite of how he'd meant to sound. "What did you guys talk about?"
The girl didn't quite stop in her tracks like he'd expected, but she did lurch slightly to the side, just barely managing to keep herself walking by propping herself up on the building beside her.
"N-nothing, really." The girl lied rather obviously, pointedly avoiding letting him seeing her face. "We're almost to the arena, and we only have a few minutes, s-so I think we should probably hurry!"
Once more, Hinata tried to shake him off, keep him from asking questions. And yet, he couldn't help but notice the way her hands shook as she walked forwards, of how she still didn't turn around and speak to him.
And so as they approached the coliseum, barely 100 feet to the entrance, Naruto reached out and grabbed the girl's hand in his own.
"Hinata." He called out to her quietly, doing his best to avoid pulling on her arm. Luckily for him, it seemed Hinata herself had stopped walking the moment he'd connected them together. "I'm sorry, but I can't just ignore you."
"W-we'll…" The girl in front of him took a breath, waited a second, and then continued. "We'll be late if we waste time."
"Helping my friends isn't wasting time." Naruto argued firmly, squeezing Hinata's hand ever so slightly. "You're more important than some dumb tournament."
The shaking in Hinata's hands stilled, and she let out an almost silent giggle. A moment later, it descended into a small sob, but she seemed to hold herself back, sniffling a second later to dispel her tears.
"That's…" The girl before him seemed caught in disbelief, once more giggling quietly to herself as she turned to face him for the first time, her eyes puffy and red, yet a small smile set upon her face. "So like you, Naruto."
His eyes widened as he got his first good look at the girl before him. She was clearly out of sorts, her eyes were bloodshot, her clothes were ruffled, and her hair was a bit of a mess. It honestly seemed like she'd only just woken herself up a few minutes ago.
"So… did something happen with your family, Hinata?"
The girl's smile died immediately, and she looked all around her, her head on a swivel like a lighthouse in a dark storm. He wondered what it was she was so afraid of, and yet he had an idea, as sick as it made him feel.
"I… Yes," Hinata finally admitted, tears once more coming to her eyes as she pointed off towards a small alleyway a few feet from them. "Could… could we go somewhere more private if we're going to talk about this?"
"Of course."
A few moments later and the two of them were sitting across from one another, leaning on opposite walls.
"Well… I… did you know about… what happened to me before?"
Normally, he felt like that opening would've been a little too vague to get anything out of. But he knew what she meant. Her teacher, Kurenai, had told him all about it. Her family, the Hyuga clan, had chosen to elect her sister as the heir to the clan, instead of her. No, that wasn't quite right.
She'd been replaced. She'd been the heiress to the Hyuga family, and then had the right denied from her. Funnily enough, Naruto didn't think the girl much cared for the duty, or the honor, but probably cared a lot more about the fact that her family had practically disowned her, throwing her into the life of a ninja and wanting nothing to do with her.
"Yeah, I heard from… Your Sensei."
"Ah…"
The girl let out a small squeak, trying to formulate words in the back of her throat, though seemingly failing, for she ended up taking another few moments to speak again.
"L-last night, my family called me back to the Hyuga manor… for the first time in a few months." The girl's teeth ground together, and for what may've been the first time since he'd met her, Naruto thought he saw the faintest bit of anger in her features. "I… I was so excited. I thought that maybe they'd recognized the effort I'd been putting in… maybe… maybe they'd-" Hinata cut herself off, already breathing heavily as she practically panted, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she slumped against the wall behind her.
"I thought maybe they'd want me."
The words nearly carved a hole in Naruto's heart, and he instinctively began to reach out his hand to the girl before him, but Hinata drew herself into a ball, preventing him from entering into her guard.
"A-anyways, I arrived to a full meeting of my immediate family. The clan elders weren't present… though I suppose that makes sense." The girl spoke darkly, her eyes once more staring into the ground below her. "They don't even recognize me as a Hyuga anymore."
This time, Naruto fought through his own doubt, reaching out fully and taking the girl's hand. Hinata looked up at him, mouth slightly agape as she gazed quietly into his eyes. He nodded over at her, trying to show solidarity without interrupting her story.
The girl let out a small squeak, shook her head, and gave him a watery smile.
"Thank you, Naruto… I'm sorry that I'm wasting your-"
"Don't say that." Naruto scolded her. "You're not a waste of my time. You're my friend."
A faint redness filled the girl's cheeks, though she didn't say anything about it, or him, instead continuing to speak about what had transpired the previous night.
"S-so, I asked my father why'd he called me, hoping it was that… I didn't even want to be the heiress anymore, I just-" The girl cut herself off again as her breathing grew erratic. "I just want to have my family back, and… and the only thing he could say… the only thing he told me…"
"All he said was "Make sure you don't embarrass the Hyuga tomorrow."" Hinata whispered, anger clear in her tone as she squeezed hard down on Naruto's hand. "And I… I just stood there, nodding my head along, like – like I'm some…"
The girl's voice cut off as she ground her teeth together, in an expression that seemed entirely unlike her. To Naruto, however, it was understandable. He'd dealt with those feelings in a transparent way, opening them up to the entire world by playing pranks and acting out. But Hinata hadn't been as open as he was. She had, outside of the field of view of other's, silently seethed, her feelings festering around without anyone, save perhaps her Jonin Sensei, to talk with them about.
"There's a little voice in my head," The girl continued, her brow furrowed with a quiet rage. "That says that I should embarrass the Hyuga. It's telling me to drag their honor, the honor that leads them to protect their main clan, that leads them to brand and curse their brothers and sisters, and that leads them to disown their sons and daughters, through the mud!"
Tears began to stream down Hinata's face a second later, and she fell into disarray, crying quietly as she felt ashamed of herself.
"But… but all I want is… is for my father to… to talk to me again." The girl sniffled, wiping away at her eyes and trying to choke back sobs. "Why? Why won't he ever look at me anymore… even last night, he never met my eyes, he just stared at the wall behind me… I can't… I don't know what to do!"
Naruto tried to say something, anything, really, but his voice simply wouldn't come, and as the girl continued talking, the hole near his heart seemed to only grow larger.
"And even Hanabi… I even get angry at her, when none of this is her fault at all… all she's done is do what they tell her." Hinata's knuckles were white as she pulled on her legs, curling even further into herself than before. "And yet in the middle of the night, when I'm alone with my thoughts, I can't help but want to blame her."
"I don't want to be heiress… that kind of role was never all that suited for me, I realize that, but… But it hurts to be called worthless by my entire family, and thrown out like garbage!"
Hinata was wracked with sobs as she tried to bring herself back together, letting her arms fall to her sides, and her legs slump down. She looked defeated, then, as if the weight of her family's rejection had finally broken her.
"I just…" Hinata murmured quietly, the tears on her face running silently as she sniffled. "I just want them to love me again…"
Naruto's heart practically shattered as the two sat silently, and even as he tried to break it by opening his mouth, trying to smile, trying to be the bubbly personality that could light up any room, he just couldn't manage to operate his voice.
A horn sounded somewhere off in the distance, and Naruto recognized it as coming from the coliseum they'd been heading towards a few minutes ago. If he was right, it was most likely a last call.
"S-sorry for taking your time up like this, Naruto…" Hinata spoke quietly, bracing against the wall behind her and pushing herself up into a standing position. "You're going to be late now… Uhm, if you want, you could go ahead."
Naruto's eyes widened, but Hinata refused to meet his gaze once more, turning away from him.
"I'm going to wait here…" The girl spoke softly.
What…?
"I'll be there in a few minutes,"
No…
"I just-"
Stop!
There was a moment where Naruto couldn't help but close the distance between them, reaching his arms out and wrapping them around the girl in front of him, bringing her into a tight embrace. The sound that came out of Hinata was indecipherable, though it sounded to Naruto like that of a wounded animal.
"Wha– Naruto?" Hinata's face was beat red, which seemed to clash oddly with the puffiness of her eyes, and the tracks that still remained upon her cheeks. "W-what're you doing?"
"I'm sorry." He whispered, feeling no resistance from the girl in his arms as he hugged her tighter still. "I didn't know what to say… No, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I'm sorry that this is all I can do. I really am worthless when it counts."
Hinata didn't respond, not even as he pulled back, and she met his eyes for the first time. He couldn't help but see that the redness in her cheeks had seemingly multiplied, and she was trying to guard her face with her hands.
"I-I…" The girl stuttered, fumbling over her words as she broke eye-contact, staring a hole into the floor below them. A second later though, an unexpected smile came to her face, and she brought her head back up, eyes closed, but expression warm. "Thank you, Naruto."
He didn't quite know how to respond to that, but nodded his head silently, a confused look set upon his face. A moment later it grew into one of annoyance as the girl in front of him began to chuckle quietly, a hand over her mouth to block the sound.
"H-hey! What's so funny?"
"N-nothing, Naruto." The girl said through giggles. "I… I really do appreciate all you've done for me."
"Er… I really don't think I've done all that much, but… you're welcome, I guess."
"Uhm… Naruto?" The girl brought up once more, the redness in her cheeks returning as she spoke. "If you'd like… could we walk back to the arena together?"
It was his turn to smile, and he nodded as he did, turning back towards the alleyway's entrance and gesturing for her to follow.
"I'd like that, yeah!"
She followed behind him; lips drawn upwards as she beamed silently. But even after all they'd discussed, Naruto couldn't help but notice the darkness within her expression, darkness that even still hung about her.
Whatever it was he wanted to communicate to her, to help her solve the issues of her clan, or, at the very least, feel a bit better about herself, he knew he'd have to do during their fight. It was too late now, with the last-minute bell having already rung a few minutes prior.
I'll do it. Naruto thought to himself. I won't let any of my friends suffer in silence.
Not like I did.
/-/
Naruto and Hinata were immediately greeted by Sasuke and Sakura upon their entrance, although the exam proctor's proceeded to, with a whole lot of faked patience, tell them to 'Be a bit faster next time'.
He'd coughed immediately afterwards, though, so at least some things never changed.
Naruto and Hinata gave their stock apologies and slotted into their spots. Almost immediately, the proctors were given the go ahead to bring the students inside the arena.
"Honestly," Sasuke berated him, eyes narrowed as he rubbed his temples. "Do you know how close they were to sending Jonin to go and get you? Because I can guarantee they wouldn't have been very gentle."
Naruto laughed that particular comment off, instead turning his head to look at the other's he might have to face off against today.
First in their very poor excuse for a line were Sakura and Sasuke, who seemed to have arrived first to the exams for some reason. Naruto couldn't help but silently wonder what was up with that, but, to be fair, he'd been in middle of the forest for most of last night, so he couldn't really question it.
Tenten was up third, and the two of them had exchanged a brief greeting as he'd entered, making small talk to try and de-stress. There was something about the girl's expression that made him nervous for when her match came up, not to mention the fact that, as far as Sakura had told him, her new opponent in Shino was a hard opponent.
It seemed from Tenten's shaking hands that she'd figured that out as well.
The boy in question, Mr. Bug Guy himself, was up fourth. He had a small stitch on his face that still persisted from when he'd fought Zaku in the 2nd stage, and the glass from his own glasses had cut into his face, but other than that, he looked to be recovered.
Next were the two oddities from the sand village, Kankuro and Gaara. He'd spoken to neither of them yet, but both seemed to be tough in their own rights. Kiba had been dismantled by the former's standard Taijutsu, and Ino had surrendered almost immediately upon facing the latter, which left both as relative blank slates. They could pull practically anything out of their hats in these coming rounds.
Then last in line was, of course, he and Hinata. They'd been the final one's to arrive, despite being up first in the 3rd round.
Still, Naruto couldn't help but think to himself quietly as he gazed at the back of Gaara's head. You've got a tailed beast too, huh?
To be fair, they'd never actually confirmed it. Zabuza had made an educated guess based off of what Ino had seen in the boy's head, and said that her description had lined up rather well with what the One-Tailed Beast was supposed to look like.
Which was all well and good, but on it's own the information didn't exactly do anything. From Naruto's experience, there wasn't really any way to take advantage of a Tailed Beast being inside of someone.
Well, I guess other than killing them, but at that point, you've kind of already solved the problem.
"Why not talk to him?"
Naruto's eyes widened minutely at the idea that popped into his head. It wasn't a terrible one, the two of them had both dealt with a monster living inside of them their entire lives, so they had a pretty unique connection. Plus, from what he'd seen, Gaara had yet to actually speak to anyone outside of his teammates, aside from Ino.
But that didn't really count, because he'd immediately tried to stab Ino a second later.
Y'know, on second thought…
"Why not just try?" His mind seemed to ridicule him once more. "If he attacks you, he attacks you. The guards will stop him, and nothing comes of it. But who knows? Maybe you'll make a friend."
Naruto hated when his conscience made sense.
And so it was with a very audible sigh that he walked over, reached his hand out to touch the boy's shoulder, and found it instantly encased in a floating glob of sand.
"W-wha-"
"The hell do you think you're doin'?"
Naruto turned slightly, seeing Kankuro, Gaara's teammate, walking over towards him. Or, he would've walked towards him, were it not for the stern glare the proctor. That particular attempt at intimidation would've probably worked a lot better had he not immediately coughed a few seconds later, but no one had the guts to call him on it.
"Stay in line." The man stated simply as he kept them moving.
There was a general murmur of agreement, but Naruto was determined to talk with Gaara. Unfortunately, he was less willing to do it with everyone around being able to hear him, and thusly, figure out about what he and Gaara housed within themselves.
So he decided to wait until their group made it outside, into the relative heat of the midday sun, and turned to look at the stadium surrounding them.
It was large! Far larger than it had looked from the outside, though Naruto supposed that was to be expected. There were three sections for seating, and each seemed to be filled to the brim with people.
The arena itself was simple. A well packed dirt floor, with clusters of trees taking up most sections of the outer wall.
They were brought to the center of the arena and told to stand still while those in the stands cheered them on. They obliged, though clearly none of them were feeling it too terribly much, aside from perhaps Hinata, who seemed to be hungry, desperately so, for the attention she was receiving, and yet, at the same time, terrified of it.
Still, he could focus on Hinata in a few minutes. Right now, his target needed to be Gaara. This could very well be the only time they got to speak for their entire lives, and Naruto was determined to make it count.
And so, without really putting much thought into his actions, he once more reached over and attempted to tap the boy's shoulder.
It was, once more, intercepted by sand, though this time, the boy must have seen him out of the corner of his eye, for he turned slightly and looked at him.
The first thing that struck him were Gaara's eyes. They were bloodshot, terribly so, to the point that the white's of his eyes were more a quiet pink more than anything. Dark ringlet's encircled them as well, and all in all he gave off a terribly exhausted look, as if he hadn't slept in his entire life.
"What?" The boy asked simply, his voice never wavering from it's mellow timbre.
"Er… Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
Gaara regarded him for perhaps half a second, before immediately turning back towards the arena, effectively dismissing him.
Naruto felt a small bit of indignation at that, but, honestly, he'd dealt with all of this in the early days of his and Sasuke's friendship, so it wasn't really a problem.
"Anyways, I actually wanted to talk to you." He spoke simply, turning towards the boy and smiling. "I heard that you're a Jinchuuriki."
That got a reaction from the boy beside him, though judging by the wide eyes and battle pose, he hadn't exactly made much of a good one.
"I have one too!" He blurted out before the boy could try and attack him. "A monster, I mean."
Gaara's eyed widened further, but his stance drooped, falling from where it had previously stood and becoming… not relaxed, but more inattentive, as if something had distracted him enough that he'd simply forgotten all about it.
"You… what?"
His voice gave away nothing, but it didn't need to. Naruto wasn't done talking yet.
"I've got the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. I heard that you've got the One-Tail, Shuku."
Gaara blinked, as if he were a machine trying to process his statement and encountering an error along the way.
"Shukaku." The boy said simply.
"Heh?"
"The creature's name is Shukaku." Gaara explained. "You said Shuku."
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed despite not really knowing the boy before him.
"Guess I did, my bad."
The boy beside him was silent for the longest time, as the Hokage began making a grand speech to the masses about the importance of the Chuunin Exams, the content of what they'd be seeing today, and, of course, the reason that the sound ninja wouldn't be participating, citing the reason as a doping incident that was caught early into the 3rd stage.
"As such, they have been replaced by the Genin who we considered to have performed most admirably in the exam's, Mr. Shino Aburame."
Shino didn't so much as move, though the crowd still awarded him with a smattering of applause, but otherwise ignored him, too focused on the juicy bit of gossip that one of the groups attending the Chuunin Exams had resorted to cheating.
After the Hokage had finished, the proctor turned towards them and began running down the rules for their battles.
Which meant, of course, that Naruto was running out of time to say his piece. Which, also, brought up an interesting question within the boy's head.
What exactly is my piece?
He knew he wanted to form a connection with the boy beside him, but for how to actually do it, and what to sctually say if he did, he wasn't really sure.
Eh, He thought to himself. Might as well go for broke.
"Hey, Gaara?" He turned to the boy, offering his hand out and giving his trademarked smile. "Would you like to be friends?"
The boy's eyes widened once more, though he didn't seem to react any further than that. He was perfectly stationary for a good 10 seconds, before, finally, he uttered another word.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Was Naruto's rather simple response.
"Why would we be friends?" Gaara asked. "What reason is there? What would I gain?"
"Does there have to be a reason? Or something to gain?" Naruto questioned. "I mean, friends aren't really about that."
Gaara tilted his head to the side very slightly, as if not quite computing what it was Naruto was saying.
"Then… what are they about?"
Well isn't that a real zinger of a question. Naruto couldn't help but think.
"Friendship is… it's about covering for each other." He opened rather simply. "It's about taking on someone else's problems, about feeling pain when someone else feels pain."
At those words, Gaara's eyes widened more than he'd seen them thus far, and he reached out with his left hand to grab his head, as if it had suddenly begun to ache.
"But it's also about having fun, and enjoying yourself… And it can be about a ton of other stuff, too. There's no real rule that says friendship has to be one way or another. You make of it what you want to."
He looked into the boy's face to try and see if there was a readable expression he could pick up on, but whatever he was expecting to find, the look of raw, horrid rage upon Gaara's face wasn't it.
"You… You're just like him…" Gaara spoke in a low, hissing voice.
The top of the gourd he wore around his back turned to sand, and small grains began to pour out of it, covering the floor beneath him with a fine layer of the stuff.
"Uhm… Gaara?" He questioned worriedly. "You alright?"
"Get out… of my head…"
"Oi, Gaara," His teammate, Kankuro called out to him as he turned around. "What're you-"
"Yasha…"
Instantly, the sand around them coalesced into a single, razor sharp point, and it flew towards him in a burst of speed, gunning directly for Naruto's head.
"MARU!"
Naruto's eyes widened with fear, but before the creation could tear into his skull, it was intercepted by a gleaming blade, which seemed to cut the life right out of the stalagmite before it could end Naruto's own.
"I believe I've discussed this with the both of you before," The proctor, who still had his sword drawn, and was now staring down the two of them, spoke in a mirthless tone. "But there is to be no dueling outside of the sanctioned fights. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yeah." Naruto practically whispered as the shock of nearly dying coursed through him, and he looked up at Gaara to see the boy kneeling down, gripping his head with both hands and moaning quietly to himself, though for what reason, he couldn't discern.
What the hell is this guy? Naruto couldn't help but wonder. Why would he attack me like that? He seemed so calm half a second ago!
As questions continued to race through his mind, the proctor finished going through his quick safety speech, and announced the beginning of the Chuunin Exams.
"Would everyone except Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga please clear the field." The man announced, quickly disguising a small cough into the sleeve of his jacket before walking to the center of the arena, and beckoning the two of them to follow.
But even still, with the looming threat of his match with Hinata, Naruto couldn't quite shake his own thoughts.
What's wrong with that boy? Why is he so calm one moment, and murderous the next?
Naruto's worries only increased when he thought of Sakura having to face the boy herself. Even with her own skills, would she stand a chance against Gaara?
And…
Who… or what… is a Yashamaru?
End Chapter 27
Heyo.
Welp, The Third Round of the Chuunin Exams is finally upon us, and I'm excited, because I've been writing arcs to coalesce around this point for about 3 months now.
Finally, things get to come together.
Or maybe I'll ruin the entire story. Who knows I guess.
Next Week: Naruto vs. Hinata, and probably some other stuff too. I'll be honest I'm conflicted how much to put into the next chapter, fights are always so variable in terms of length.
Anyways, see you next week!