A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 23
The Sun completely disappeared, and the desert now was dark and a bit cooler because of it. A generous breeze in the air began and Gaara enjoyed it. It was just about the only thing about the beginning of his usual night journey that he enjoyed. He honestly felt much weaker when those seals were placed on him back in Konoha. He would have taken that in stride because it had given him what he needed for so long: sleep and mental clarity. For once, he could think and not feel like he had to give in.
The redhead couldn't remember how long it had been since he enjoyed sleeping in a bed for hours without worry. Shukaku was silent and not trying to gnaw at his mind at that time because it could not. Gaara honestly did not want it to end.
However, when Jiraiya inevitably released the seal when Suna and Konoha allied themselves with each other again, the Ichibi was back in full force, demanding that Gaara killed them all, especially Jiraiya. Shukaku's tormenting screaming began again, and again. It was craving blood, Gaara could feel it. He did not wish to do what Shukaku wished but Shukaku's bloodlust would not stop. It would only stop if Gaara killed. His patience was still a work in progress. Gaara could not give in to the beast; this lesson he had learned during and after the Invasion.
All these problems had to do with his faulty seal. Chiyo-sama had to do something about it or rather he had to do something about it himself. He had not thought about it before for years obviously since the night he decided to submit to Shukaku but perhaps that could be changed. All Gaara needed to do was take the initiative.
He had to become stronger. Strength could not be obtained like he was now. After all, if he wanted to-
His inner musing ended as he smelted it: the faint waft of blood in the air. Shukaku screeched sharply as a manic mantra from within calling for blood began. Gaara did not want to follow the trail but the Ichibi kept talking and talking. Gaara would not kill if he didn't have to but he had no fear to investigate nor fight. Ichibi no Shukaku wouldn't allow damage to come against its vessel because as much as it loved to torment it so, Gaara was still vital to its own survival.
Gaara moved towards the source and in the dark saw two dead bodies of two Suna shinobi. Their beige flak jackets indicated they were either chūnin, jōnin, or a mixture of the two ranks. Fresh blood, he noted, much to Shukaku's delight, who wanted Gaara to lap it up like some dog.
"Oh, there you are." He turned around to meet an entourage of people in the back of him.
Three people stood behind him – two females, one male. One female was dressed in a simple light-colored, long-sleeved blouse with brown-colored glasses, had red hair like his own, and observed the genin with a steady gaze. She didn't look much older than him. The other woman on the other hand was an older teen with black hair, had a simple white tank-top, dark-colored shorts, and similarly colored high-knee boots on. Finally, the male was tall, burly, bare-chested with dark pants and sandals.
The black-haired girl walked up and cocked a hip at him. She smiled. "Hello, Sabaku no Gaara. It's awesome to finally meet the infamous genin who was known around the Elemental Countries to take B-rank missions so casually."
'Kill them, Gaara! They split blood, so you must too, dammit!' Shukaku cried inwardly, demanding, and now dead-set on killing tonight. It screeched in its usually grating, whiny voice, 'Don't deny me again! You haven't killed in so long, so kill them all!'
Ignoring the tailed beast again, he kept a steely gaze on them. "Who are you?" Gaara asked, simultaneously removing the lid of his gourd to prepare for battle.
"We're from a group that's looking for special people like yourself."
That wasn't hard to figure out what that meant. He was called in a bit early by the Suna Council to discuss a group of people going after jinchūriki. Gaara started gearing up his chakra, keeping up a front of nonchalance in his demeanor. "Ah. You're here for the Ichibi."
"Sharp. I must admit, I didn't expect that." The teen shrugged. "Then again, it wasn't like I was exactly being super cryptic."
"You must have believed I was a gibbering lunatic who only lives to kill."
"Actually, yeah." In response, Gaara sent a wave of sand at the group. It separated them but they made no sudden moves. The kunoichi still had an easygoing smile on her face. "Now, now. There's no need to fight."
"You have already killed two men from my village. You are already looking for a fight," Gaara corrected as he folded his arms.
"Hmph. With the way your reputation tells it, I wouldn't have thought you to be much of a countryman." The teen gave the redhead a shrug. "We can do what you like."
The kunoichi stopped when the large man in front of her raised her hand. He spoke in a befitting baritone voice. "There is no need for any sort of battle, Gaara-san. We swear we will not hurt you or anyone else. We merely want you to come with us. Our master has an offer for you."
"I will not be going anyway, Akatsuki. If you are here to get me, come and try it," Gaara challenged.
The man shook his head in response. "We are just here to talk to you. We are not-"
"You have already spilled blood. Let me return the favor."
As the insane tanuki-like sand spirit cheered in Gaara's head, the Suna shinobi formed a claw made out of sand that resembling Shukaku's arm. With one mental command, Gaara swiped at the group. Two things happened as a result.
One: the man had wrapped his now gunmetal-colored body around the redhead woman in the back and was flung back with her. The sand washed off his body like water. Recovering, they stood relatively unscathed by the attack.
Two: The black-haired teen had appeared on the jincūriki's side at a distance. His sand shield ready, Gaara spared her a look. She did not look troubled, staring at him with the same smile from before. It grated on his nerves.
"Jinton: Mueishō." His female assailant did one hand seal and then became a blur. She moved at a speed even faster than any shinobi he saw before. What was this, a Kekkai Genkai?
He could not think further on it. The Suna no Tate did not protect him in enough time as he flew back from Yumi's punch to his face. He gritted his teeth, glad that the secondary defense he had covering his skin, the Suna no Yoroi protected him, but he felt the power behind her punch.
She then disappeared again in the same technique and landed more blows on Gaara. He stumbled back to rest on one knee, almost falling to the ground. Such speed was almost absurd to him. It reminded him so much about his opponent in the Chūnin Exams. A piece of his sand armor shattered away like glass. It was a good reminder that, unlike what he believed before, he was not invincible and his so-called "Absolute Defense" had chinks in it like any armor or barrier.
"Had enough yet?"
He looked up at the kunoichi intensely. She sighed, scolding, "Come now, like Tatsuya-shishō said, there's really no need to battle. Don't be foolish."
"Shut up. Attacking me in my desert, where I can use all the sand in the world?" He pinned a deadly glare on the teenager. "You're the fool here."
"Yumi!" Tatsuya, the male shinobi, yelled out in a warning.
The teen, "Yumi," looked curiously at her peer, until she looked up and saw a cloud of sand overlooking both her and Gaara. Yumi made the boar hand sign, looking to use the ninjutsu before that gave her more speed than the usual Shunshin no Jutsu. She however didn't get the chance to move as sand appeared at her feet, holding her in place.
With one hand to control the technique, Gaara – who sat on the floor still – closed his fist, and the sand holding Yumi in place crushed her ankles. As soon as he heard the cry of pain, he went to make his next move; Gaara was not going to stay there and gawk.
One more hand seal later, and Gaara moved quickly with his own version of the Shunshin no Jutsu. Another manipulation of his chakra and sand rained down on Yumi. But as soon as he thought that would be the end of one of his enemies, Gaara heard the call of the older male's technique. "Kōton: Kō no Tate!"
As the name of the technique suggested, a large steel shield was created. It appeared above Yumi, covering her head in an attempt to protect her from the hardened sand. Weaving hand seals, Gaara watched the man running up at him with pointed fingers. His sand quickly rose as metal objects shaped like bullets shot at him.
Steel Release, hmm? That indicated usage of a Kekkai Genkai, the second one in this battle that he may have witnessed. So far, the supposed Kekkai Genkai made a good showing of absorbing shots from Gaara's sand, but he wondered if it could deal with the crushing power of it too.
He clapped his hands, beginning going through the sequence of hand seals swiftly. Finishing his next ninjutsu with another clap of his hands, Gaara announced lowly, "Ryūsa Bakuryū."
Sand rose from the ground; dirt and rocks and harden minerals under the desert crushed together. With one manipulation of his chakra, his enemies faced the sand wave as it came forth towards them like a tsunami. He held in place, guiding the tsunami to wash away all three of his assailants.
"Move!" Gaara heard the man yell. The man grabbed his female companion who was still hurt on the ground, while the other kunoichi long since jumped. In their stead, three stone pillars erected from the ground. They were high enough to prevent the tsunami from washing the enemies away, and the pillars did not crumble as sand washed through them almost harmlessly.
The redheaded woman landed on one platform, while the man placing Yumi on another by herself. Then as he jumped in the air, the burly man started doing hand seals, and out of the ground came several dog-sized earthen dragons, clearly caused by the usage of an Earth Release ninjutsu. The dragons flew past the flattening wave of sand to crash into Gaara. Gaara had to abandoned plans of creating another tsunami wave to use another technique.
"Saikō Zettai Bōgyo: Shukaku no Tate," intoned Gaara as he stood still and some of the sand from his former technique cocooned him. Yards away, more sand from earlier was repurposed and it created another protective barrier of sand. The barrier was, like the name suggested, shaped like a miniature-version of Shukaku who held its arms out. The dragons exploded on the shield and hardened dirt flew away. The shield held magnificently. He dropped the defense as the sand returned back to his gourd.
"Kōton: Yubidan," said the metal man. Gaara's sand automatically came up to defend him as the man attempted to shoot metal projectiles at him shaped like bullets. Fast and somewhat piercing through his sand but not completely and not enough for Gaara to worry.
Gaara saw triple however as the man finished hand seals and two silver-looking clones came forth. They swarmed him, with Shukaku's sand working double-time to keep them all away, but for the second time in his life, he realized there was no such thing as an "absolute defense." With one quick ninjutsu of one of the clones, Gaara found himself pinned in a metallic cage. Knowing sand wouldn't be effective in breaking the metal, he was about to dip into his repertoire of other non-sand ninjutsu. He attempted to start using a Wind Release ninjutsu but couldn't get the chance as lightning zapped him. Even with his sand trying to come to his defense since it was made of earthen material, it did not matter one bit.
After yelling for a bit more, he slumped, slipping into unconsciousness.
The last thing he heard was both a howl of wind and a boyish, familiar cry from one Naruto Uzumaki.
Temari glided towards the group, riding her fan as she manipulated the wind currents with chakra coming from her lower extremities. She made no other sounds as she touched down close to the action. As soon as Gaara got caught in the metallic prison created out of nowhere, she announced her presence with the creation of a strong gale from her war fan. The wind ninjutsu caught one of them – the large man of the group – by surprise, knocking him off his feet. One more wave of her fan summoned slicing wind, going after the two other kunoichis, but they moved.
She waved her fan again, slicing the metal cage to ribbons with a super sharp wind. The prison fell and Gaara fell forward. In her peripheral vision, she could see Naruto – who accompanied her – stand to defend her jinchūriki, looking pissed at the missing-nin. She could marvel at why Naruto, regardless of his own jinchūriki status, felt so at ease with helping them and simply leaving Temari to it, but she didn't. If he didn't come, clearly it would be a 1-vs-3 situation here, and anyone that could subdue and knock out Gaara was dangerous.
She could not think more about it. As soon as she knew it, there was one of the ninjas in Temari's face, and she barely put her fan to guard herself. The metal man was there, giving her his full attention. As she dodged some of his blows and move just enough so the others merely glanced, she gritted her teeth. How did the man figure out so fast that she wasn't so good at close-range combat? The blonde kunoichi was only spared from more pressure from the missing-nin when Naruto's shadow clones took Temari's place in fighting the missing-nin.
Mentally thanking the blond Konoha chūnin for giving her the space she so desperately needed, she went for her war fan again. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" An alteration of her ninjutsu happened and the cutting wind came to slice at everything in her path. One of the metal clones protected the others by creating some form of a metal shield over their heads. The shield held, requiring Temari to use a stronger attack than the C-rank ninjutsu she often relied on.
Meanwhile, for his part, Naruto's clones moved together in unison, trying to strike hits but the man was fast enough to dodge hits and gotten his space in the mixture to get his own ninjutsu off.
Soon, his skin turned silvery gray and Naruto's clones dispelled by their own force once hitting the metal. Unconsciously rubbing his knuckles as if he had phantom pain from the memories his clones left him, Naruto decided that hitting the man regularly would break his hands. Naruto didn't let that deter him; if regular attacks couldn't hurt the man like that, ninjutsu would.
More clones were made, foisted at the man as he charged up a Rasengan one-handedly. From his right, one metal clone moved to Naruto fast but not fast enough that he couldn't dodge it. Naruto rolled out of the way and slammed a Rasengan to the face of the clone. The Rasengan ground on it for a second before taking out a chunk of the clone's head and dissipating. Again, it felt like Naruto hit some sort of metal.
The clone slumped and split into metallic shards before falling over. The other two clones lumbered over at him. Naruto responded by creating quicker two shadow clones who slammed Rasengan spheres at them. They fell, just like the first metal clone did.
"Well done, Naruto-sama, with dispatching my Kō Bunshin," the man praised in a calm but almost supportive manner. "You're as good as I heard."
The blond chūnin raised an eyebrow at the polite, affable comments. "'Naruto-sama?' That's funny. People from your organization last time weren't very polite like that."
"We mean no harm, of course. We only wanted to talk Gaara-san briefly with us but as you can see, he got the wrong idea. We promised we do not want to hurt him."
"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed, channeling earth-natured chakra in his body. "Is that's why you attacked him and put him in a cage? Were you just trying to 'talk' to him then?"
"He attacked us first. As I said before: he got the wrong idea about our intentions."
"Your 'intentions' are clear. You Akatsuki members are so damn troublesome. I won't let you have him!" Sequencing a few hand seals, three sharp spears of earth launched at the enemy ninja. Predictably, the man dodged and the rest of his clones went after him.
Naruto started gearing up. His shadow clones fed him information from before that his opponent was immune to both normal taijutsu and bladed weapons. This ability that his opponent had reeked of a bloodline and honestly, Naruto had no true illusions about beating this guy regularly. He just had to hold on until backup came to help them.
'Kyūbi, give me your chakra.'
'Now that you started this mess in an effort to save that fool Shukaku and his weak vessel, you want my chakra?'
'Do you want to lose here and potentially get captured?' He snapped back at his prisoner, already pretty frustrated. He had little time trying to argue with the annoying bastard in his seal. 'Give me a small boost of chakra and that's it.'
'A weakling trying to protect another weakling. Ah, the irony is amusing.' The beast in his head mocked him maliciously but nevertheless imbued Naruto with an inferno of orange-red chakra. It was the familiar "initial stage" of using Kyūbi's chakra. It was just enough to make sure he felt like he had a nice boost to his physical strength and speed. It was enough of the demon's power he could handle without his mind slipping away.
Clones now dispelled completely, there was nothing more between him and the metal man. The Akatsuki member ran at Naruto with a created blade in his hands. He took a telegraphed swing at Naruto, which he dodged.
Naruto kicked at the man, enhanced by the Kyūbi's demonic chakra. It sent the man back flying. Before the man could land, Naruto launched himself at his foe with a bijū-empowered Rasengan, finding it even easier to create it as Kyūbi's chakra seemed to help with the process. A metal shield appeared glued on his forearms, and while his attack detonated on the shield, Naruto was sure it protected the man from a grievous injury. When the man indeed looked back at Naruto with a steely gaze, the teen felt more frustration.
Dust kicked up and instead of Naruto dealing with the missing-nin, he was met with one metal doppelganger. The blond snarled a bit in anger, now on defense against the clones as his real target left. Hypocritical or not, especially when it was coming from a guy like him, but he hated how many clones this guy was foisting at them. Boy, what he wouldn't do to beat the shit out that bastard spamming such crap.
Bloodlust aside, the jinchūriki noticed one of the shinobi tending after Gaara, hands starting to glow ominously blue. Speed easily outpacing the doppelganger, Naruto raced towards Gaara and a redheaded kunoichi who seemed to merely stare at him approaching. "Get away from him!"
Naruto only managed to clash with the metal man. His hand jarred a bit at hitting metal, but it didn't deter him. He jetted to the left, summoned a demonic Rasengan, and destroyed the clone before it could retaliate. By that time, Gaara and the kunoichi were no longer in the same spot.
Naruto was floored by an elbow to the face that knocked him to the side and into the sand. He stared up to see who hit him.
"Come on, Karin, get your head in the game," said an older-sounding teenager, revealing herself to being another accomplice of the metal man. "You almost got your head knocked off."
"S-Sorry. I-It's just his chakra-"
"Yumi, I see you're back," the man called out to his ally, interrupting Karin's fumbling. "Is Karin-sama done?"
"Almost, shishō."
"Handle Naruto-sama then. I shall protect Karin-sama and Gaara."
As quickly as the metal man said that, the girl known as "Yumi" appeared in front of Naruto in a blur. Flashing a grin at him, the teenager unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, faster than anyone he had seen – even Rock Lee. Even with his augmented speed and reaction time, he could not counter her hits. She would keep hitting until either he was subdued or he was forced to further his usage of Kyūbi's chakra. The latter would be the last resort if anything.
On her side of the battlefield, Temari attempted to throw wind ninjutsu after wind ninjutsu at the man, but his clones kept throwing out shields. Her attacks bounced almost harmlessly off them. To be able to create clones like that must have taken a hell of a lot of chakra; to be doing it while using a bloodline probably took even more. Temari had a lot of chakra too at her disposal but it wouldn't matter because she was going to exhaust herself way before this man.
In his battle with Yumi, Naruto realized that attacking and landing a hit on his opponent was unlikely to happen. Every time he attempted to do so, the older teen drifted and dodged and moved out of any sort of counter-attack. Of course, because he was losing terribly to his opponent, the peanut gallery had to come around and make fun of him.
'Of course, you can't touch her. Her bloodline allows her to move instantly with just some molding of her chakra. You move like a turtle to this hare. You know,' the mocking voice of the Kyūbi started to suggest something. Naruto imagined the great beast in him smirking. 'If you took more of my chakra, this little bunny couldn't do anything against you.'
'Shut up,' he hissed back, trying to not fall into that temptation. Sure, Kyūbi was probably not lying but he knew losing control was stupid – especially not in front of the Akatsuki or Temari.
'Why not listen to me? Become the fox against this rabbit. It's the only way to win this fight.'
'You talk too much, you oversized furball.'
That only made the monster laugh nastily. 'You want to become nothing but a punching bag then? Well, I suppose you aren't far off from it now already. You pathetic fool.'
He tried ignoring the beast, not trying to become more frustrated than he already was. Losing any sort of control over his emotions had almost got him in trouble before, so he was not going to do it again. Still, the girl was drilling into him. More and more these punches and kicks would get the better of him if he didn't do anything about them.
He needed to stick her in place and nail one good hit on her.
Naruto started his plan to stop this relentless attacking by summoning and molding earth chakra in his system, expelling it from his midsection to create soften earth. He took the hit, allowing Yumi to kick against his stomach. Mud adhered to her leg, and then with one manipulation of his chakra, the mud hardened. She fell awkwardly to the ground and Naruto punched her square in her jaw.
Her head snapped back, smacking against the ground. She slumped, clearly unconscious. Naruto grinned. Ha, he didn't need that demon inside after all! But he didn't have much time to celebrate and gloat further. Naruto growled as he started to rush to the leader of the group.
Tatsuya merely stared, unbothered. "Naruto-sama, there is no need for this. We do not want to kill you or your friends." His response from Naruto was an Earth Release ninjutsu that created the formation of blackish-brown mud forming under his feet.
"Temari, now! With me! Let's finish this bastard!"
Before Temari could do anything, Tatsuya sighed dejectedly. He casually walked out of the Doton: Yomi Numa, feet and legs sparkling with lightning chakra. "Karin-sama, let us withdraw."
"But, Gaara-"
"Don't you feel them, the people that are approaching from the village? I'm no sensor, but even I can tell it is time to leave. We may have not gotten Gaara but we have learned a lot today anyway."
The teen blinked for a second before flinching. "I'm sorry, Tatsuya-sensei."
The man did not respond to her. Instead, Tatsuya focused on Naruto, who stood over Gaara protectively. "Well done, Naruto-sama. This is where we take our leave for now but we shall meet again. Go forth and carry the Uzumaki name well." In a flash, two metal clones came and took the place of Karin and Tatsuya. He then grabbed the unconscious Yumi, with Karin standing next to him, before throwing down a smoke bomb.
"Wait!"
"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" A gale rushed past Naruto to the spot where Tatsuya and his team were. Predictably, no one was there. The clones allowed themselves to be dispatched with no fuss.
"Dammit," said Temari as she checked on Gaara herself. "At least they're gone. If we didn't come for Gaara…"
"Yeah." Naruto shelved the Kyūbi's chakra and gained back his own somewhat spent reserves. Like Tatsuya had said, others were approaching fast. The sounds of movement in the desert came closer and an entourage of a Sunagakure ANBU team had approached the three shinobi. Naruto released a breath he didn't know he had. At least it was over for now.
Gaara woke up like he was coming up for air after spending so long in the water. An elderly woman with a faded lavender-colored hair was the first face to greet him with a small smile. The Ichibi jinchūriki knew this to be Councilor Chiyo. "Well there, sonny. Looks like you're going to be alright."
"Hey, you're okay. Relax," came the soft voice of Naruto Uzumaki as well, as Chiyo stood up and moved away.
"Chiyo-sama? U-Uzumaki? Where-?" He stopped himself as he calmed down, looking at his surroundings. He saw the oval desk where all twelve members of the Suna Council sat. All the members had familiar looks on their faces: they either looked at him with neutrality or cautiousness.
"It seems you have had a strange night," Ebizō-sama, leader of the Suna Council, spoke.
Gaara stood up from the soft mat laid down for him, straightening himself up. "Ah. What has transpired?"
"How about you tell us, Gaara?" Baki, Gaara's teacher and member of the committee, asked. "According to Uzumaki-san, you were attacked by three hostile shinobi."
Gaara nodded slowly, and carefully told the Council his side of the incident with the three missing-nin who came after him.
The councilmen started conversing with each other briefly, murmuring things quietly. One councilman, the one Gaara knew as Yūra, spoke up. "Well, that certainly collaborates with Uzumaki-san's story. These people were, more than likely, from the Akatsuki faction."
"What did you say their names were, Chūnin Uzumaki?" Lead Councilor Ebizō questioned.
"Karin, Yumi, and their squad leader Tatsuya," Naruto answered calmly. Gaara remembered the same, nodding in agreement.
"Interesting. From what Jōnin Sarutobi had said early today, they always travel in pairs." Another councilor, one Gaara recognized as Councilor Jōseki spoke. "Nevertheless, I find it very fortunate that if not for your excellent timing that the jinchūriki was retrieved, Chūnin Uzumaki. Who knows what could have happened had we lost him."
Gaara looked confused; Naruto looked incensed by that comment, for some reason? It took the slight patting on his shoulder by Asuma to have him calm down quickly. Instead, the blond sighed and stiffly nodded. "It was a hunch. I felt it was trouble and I checked."
"We are nevertheless grateful for your help, Uzumaki-san," Ebizō said softly, bowing his head. "Sunagakure needs no more losses at this point and time."
"Yes, excellent instincts on you… or perhaps, something else." The councilor gave Naruto a critical look. "It is terribly convenient that you were so close by to retrieve our jinchūriki."
"The hell does that mean?" Naruto rose his eyebrow, frowning deeply at the man. "Like I said before: your shinobi, Temari, and I were in the training grounds."
"I'm just interested in the timing, is all. As you two were training, Gaara was being attacked not even a mile away."
"If we didn't go investigate it, Gaara probably wouldn't even be here!"
"I'm sure, Uzumaki-san." The man smiled thinly. "I am just thinking of the time of it all. Not just you being at the right place at the right time, but today is a red-letter day as well. Konohagakure sends a team that delivers a message about the Akatsuki with the Hokage's seal of approval and then, a team from the Akatsuki of three members show up in the night."
Some more murmurs from some of the councilmen began. Baki, Ebizō, and Chiyo were notably quiet, neutrally looking over the proceedings.
Naruto scowled. "Are you implying that we're sent them here to capture Gaara or, worse, we invited those people to try to take Gaara away?!"
"Naruto, relax," Asuma advised, although he didn't look pleased himself by the accusation. "Quite the assumption you have there, councilor."
"The timing just bothers me, Sarutobi-san. You cannot deny how this is all piecing together so flawlessly-"
Temari interrupted, snorting at the insipid manner of the man. "Yeah, right. Uzumaki was with me all day training. The other times he and I weren't together were accounted for, right? We have a team following him and his team. Yeah, he can make clones and stuff and probably could have slipped away at any time but I don't think he did that, councilor. Plus, I remember him asking early what the sound was before he sent a clone. If he was working with those Akatsuki guys, then why would he even go into the trouble to worry about that and rush after Gaara?"
"This was no ploy by them," Gaara spoke up, surprising just about everyone in the room who turned to him. "If Naruto Uzumaki was a part of those ninjas who attacked me, I would have felt it."
"What do you mean, Gaara?" Baki asked his student.
"Ichibi no Shukaku is, for some reason, irked by the presence of Uzumaki," Gaara admitted. "If he was there, disguised as one of those shinobi, Shukaku would have felt it so.
"No offense, Gaara-san, but you did spend most of your time unconscious. Perhaps the details were a little bit fuzzy," Jōseki suggested.
"I need no such doubts about my own intelligence, councilor." Gaara was uncaring of how rude that may have sounded, especially to a high-ranking official of the village. Jōseki was suspicious awfully of the Konoha ninjas and didn't even have the decency to hide it. That in itself was rude. "Two of those missing-nin exhibited kekkai genkai-like abilities. I do not believe Uzumaki has such abilities in his arsenal."
"Yeah. I don't remember having the ability to manipulate steel or run really fast like that guy and girl…" Naruto snarked. His team leader Asuma sighed, shaking his head – probably because of Naruto's blatant display of disrespect. Gaara found it easy to hide his smile.
"The burden of proof is on us, gentlemen," Ebizō added his opinion to all of this. "We have no proof and we have little time to argue or suspect others of treachery. There's no reason to believe Uzumaki-san or his team had anything to do with this attack. After all, Konoha themselves have a stake in this Akatsuki business since they too have a jinchūriki.
"As a healthy reminder to us all, Konoha has been gracious in sparing this village of further war. Let us not try inciting their wrath because of mere observations and coincidences. We have Gaara save and sound back in the village. This group has failed. Tonight, Konoha did us a very large favor that cannot possibly be repaid." Ebizō looked around the room to all of his fellow councilmen. A few nodded back at him. The wizened man paused and gave Jōseki a stern glare. "Unless you have irrefutable proof of Konoha's wrongdoing, Councilor Jōseki, your accusations are dead in the water."
"As you said before, Lead Councilor," Jōseki started, his already thin smile straining further. "Mere observations."
Ebizō nodded curtly before bowing his head at the Konohagakure shinobi. "Konoha-shinobi, my apologies. We mean no sort of disrespect towards your team. Councilor Jōseki had gotten overzealous. We were merely worried about Gaara. Uzumaki-san, can you tell us anything else about these people?"
Gaara could hear a small scoff from Naruto. "Again, there were three ninjas. Two used two different bloodline abilities a-piece, while their last teammate was some sort of fūinjutsu user. The leader of the group – I think his name was Tatsuya? Well, he wanted the sealer – Karin, I believe – to finish some sort of seal on Gaara, I guess to suppress both his bijū and regular chakra and keep him unconscious."
"That fits in line with Hokage-sama's message identifying two members of the Akatsuki, Ebizō-jiisama," Councilor Yūra spoke up after observing the "intermission" with Councilor Jōseki and the Konoha Team. "One of those men could use fūinjutsu."
The nearly-70 years old Ebizō coughed. "It seems like the Akatsuki has a team set up with each cell they deploy – a person who has the ability to fight the jinchūriki and a person to subdue them further. However, this cell is intriguing. They do not fit the last two models of an Akatsuki cell. Are we absolutely sure this is the Akatsuki you speak of?"
"It is possible they weren't from Akatsuki." Naruto shrugged. "They weren't wearing the normal Akatsuki coats, but then again, I came in contact with Shiro and Kakuzu last time and they weren't wearing the Akatsuki uniform either."
"I see. Regardless, everything seems to be in order. Gaara-san is awake, his seals were removed from him, and there's no real damage to his person or chakra system, correct, Chiyo-oneesama?"
"No damage," Chiyo stated calmly as she sat in her council chair. "I removed the seals and healed whatever signs of damage done by the Lightning Release ninjutsu that was used on him. Gaara-san seems fine."
"Do you have anything else to add, Uzumaki-san?" Naruto shook his head no. "Then, I call this meeting adjourned. Find us some men that can escort Gaara-san home, as well as the team from Konoha.
"But before we leave, Uzumaki-san," Ebizō turned to the lone chūnin in the room. "As the leader of this council, I want to thank you for your contributions to helping our village in this time of need." As to sell home his gratitude, he bowed deeply.
Other members of the Suna Council also bowed, even that troublesome councilor, Jōseki, did so. Naruto seemed to nod, blubbering out an embarrassed "No problem." As everyone cleared out, save the team from Konoha, Gaara stayed rooted in place looking at Naruto, who was getting reprimanded by his squad leader, Asuma, albeit halfheartedly.
He did not understand the Konoha ninja. He was not a shinobi of their village and they were not of his. He understood why Temari came out. Perhaps like the Council, she saw him as a great asset to this village – even with their cold relationship.
Naruto however was not like that. Yes, they were allies, but that did not mean Naruto was obligated to stop the hostile shinobi from kidnapping him. Yet, he had done so without so much of a pause. It wasn't exactly secret that Gaara was a jinchūriki – and potentially unstable as that. Even their earlier reintroduction today was awkward at best, unpleasant at worse.
He was not lying when he said that the Uzumaki chūnin was strong. Someone as young as he was able to take on two strong shinobi and hold on until reinforcement came. Even if he had the inability to kill them, he still managed to keep the ninja from taking away him. How could he be so strong like that? Gaara had the status of a jinchūriki, a flee-on-sight order from other villages, and had been doing B-rank missions since he submitted to the will of Shukaku.
And yet, he was so weak still.
"Uzumaki," Gaara called out as nearly everyone had left. Temari however stood, as did Asuma.
"Yeah?"
"You could have just left me and went to retrieve backup and returned back to the village. And yet, you went after the sounds. You went after me. You managed to outlast them when they easily defeated me. Why?"
"Why did I go after you?" He seemed to mull over something. "Let's… just say we're more alike than you think." Naruto softly stated, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What?"
"Well, the Akatsuki isn't the one after you. I guess if anything we got to stick together in all of this, huh?" Gaara's eyes widened. Naruto smiled tentatively. Two Suna shinobi approached the group. "Anyway, it's late. We're going to rest, right Asuma-sensei?"
Asuma chuckled. "It has been a long day."
Naruto and his squad leader left shortly afterward. Soon, Gaara and Temari followed suit when their escorts – a group of three shinobi.
"So, he told you too, huh?" Temari questioned.
She must have meant Naruto's jinchūriki status. "You know as well."
"He just told me before we left to get you," Temari spoke. "You weren't the only one wondering what the hell is his problem…" The conversation was finished as quickly as it started. There was a silence between them, none of them having any sort of urge to break it.
However, when the escorts bowed to both of them and left them, they stepped forward into the courtyard of their mansion – the abode the Yondaime Kazekage left them and the home they had known for all their life. Right in front of their door, Temari broke the silence. The older teen looked at her feet. "…Did you meant what you said early today? That you did not wish to live the way the Ichibi wants you to live?"
"Yes," the Ichibi container replied.
She paused, looking him in his eyes like trying to see if he was answering truthfully. There was no reason to lie. "…I used to be like them, you know? I hated and feared you. Me and Kankurō both. There had been nights when I used to pray to the spirits, hoping someone would get rid of you."
That wasn't very surprising to him. He hated them too – he relished in their fear. "And now?"
"Well, you said you wanted to change. You're not the only one who has to change, you know? And you already got a head start before me."
The redhead shook his head. "I haven't done much to change."
"Oh? I think so. After all, the old Gaara wouldn't have even bothered to have this conversation with me." Temari smiled. "Maybe that blond was right after all. If he is what he says he is, then why can't you be the same way as him?"
Gaara didn't answer back, too contained by his thoughts to give his sister a response. Not that Temari was looking for one. All she did was nod and give him a small "Night," to which he nodded back at her. He watched his older sister walk into the house. He crept up to one of the seats on the porch of the mansion and sat down.
Today has been long.
People wanting his life had not been the most shocking thing to him today, for he had faced such before – from his own people. No, Naruto revealing himself to be a jinchūriki surprised him. That revelation made all of Naruto's actions tonight make sense but the motivation behind it escaped Gaara. Both of them were jinchūriki, so perhaps that was the reason Naruto even bothered to go after him – to one day gain his help in defeating them. But Naruto could have also ended up captured; it was not worth the effort to try and save Gaara. There were many other jinchūriki in the world, were they not?
But maybe Naruto tried because he had a different reason? Was it out of a sense of… comradery? Gaara almost banished the thought. They had not known each other very long – more time was spent under the pretense of both of them being potential enemies. However, Gaara honestly… hoped it was because Naruto felt some sort of familiarity for him like he had for the Konoha shinobi.
He snorted. If he was anymore tickled by that thought, he would surely have burst out in a peal of laughter. Hope? Oh, the feeling of hope had become so foreign to him because it had been so long since he last had it. Yashamaru had been the last person he had felt like that for and that turned out to be misplaced. Having any sort of hope in a person felt… dangerous to do.
Still, even beyond his… Hope to become develop something with the blond from Konoha, he knew what he really wanted from Naruto. He wanted his strength. Temari could see it too, even. Naruto was not like him. In fact, he was the opposite, and yet, he was a jinchūriki too who wasn't filled with hatred. Gaara felt a need to figure out how Naruto could become so strong without going down the same path as Gaara did.
'Naruto, once again, I find myself admiring your strength,' Gaara thought. 'We're both jinchūriki and yet, you are my better. How? I find myself envying your strength. I wonder how I can become strong just like you, Naruto.'
End.
A/N: Another part down. Finally, we're over this hurdle. Yay. Alright. We get into the next part of this arc and then, we're exiting Part I of the Naruto series. Should be fleshing out the next chapter a bit more and I'll release it.
Yes, the OC's will serve a purpose and they aren't just in here for coolness. These two are important. I decided to take the two bloodlines – Swift and Steel Release – from the Naruto Shippuden movie, The Will of Fire, and recycle it to good use. Hope you enjoyed it and there's not much else to say, so, see ya next time!
Translation List:
Jinton: Mueishō – Swift Release: Shadowless Flight
Ryūsa Bakuryū – Quicksand Waterfall Flow
Saikō Zettai Bōgyo: Shukaku no Tate – Ultimate Hard Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku
Suna no Tate – Shield of Sand
Suna no Yoroi – Armor of Sand
Technique List:
Steel Release: Finger Bullet (Kōton: Yubidan) – The user shoots bullet-like projectiles from their index finger, replicating the way a gun is shot. The sound is very similar too, ringing off a loud noise. The bullet is incredibly fast. It has great piercing power much like a real bullet. However, the bullets cannot pierce through Gaara's layer of sand in the Shield of Sand. This technique works great at a far range. The user can use both indexes to shoot.
Rank: None
Technique Class: Offensive
Nature: Steel Release
Type/Classification: Ninjutsu, Kekkai Genkai, Clone Technique
Hand Seals: None
Range: N/A
Users: Tatsuya
Steel Release: Steel Clone (Kōton: Kō Bunshin) – The user creates a clone out of chakra made out of a fraction of the user's chakra. As their name suggests, these clones are as strong as steel and therefore can take several hits, even being immune to weaker ninjutsu attacks or taijutsu that isn't empowered by chakra. Out of all clone techniques, this technique is one of the highest in terms of durability. However, it isn't without its faults.
First, the steel clones – because they have a fraction of the user's power – only sharing a fraction of the user's speed. Second, they are slow and can be easily outpaced by those fast enough. Third, they can use techniques but the techniques must be of Steel Release only. Fourth, they have incredible durability but longevity but are susceptible to powerful chakra attacks like the Rasengan. Fifth, when they are destroyed, they do not relinquish back to the user information like the Shadow Clone or Wood Clone techniques. Sixth, they are easily discernable from their creator because they are silvery in color.
Steel clones can be dispelled or dispel on their own should they choose to do so.
Rank: None
Technique Class: Supplementary
Nature: Steel Release
Type/Classification: Ninjutsu, Kekkai Genkai, Clone Technique
Hand Seals: Snake Dragon Dog Tiger
Range: N/A
Users: Tatsuya
Steel Release: Shield of Steel (Kōton: Kō no Tate) – The user forms a shield of steel to protect them. They can create one wherever they please to do so, whether from the ground, above a person, or on their person, like strapping a real-life shield on one's arm to protect themselves from damage. Tatsuya can create shields strong enough to withstand Gaara's Sand Drizzle and Temari's Sickle Weasel Technique but unable to withstand Naruto's Rasengan – whether or not boosted by Kyūbi's chakra.
Rank: None
Technique Class: Defensive
Nature: Steel Release
Type/Classification: Ninjutsu, Kekkai Genkai, Clone Technique
Hand Seals: N/A
Range: Short-range
Users: Tatsuya