Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters in this story are copyrighted @ Kishimoto Masashi. The only characters I own in this story are Narumi Katiyou, Kounouri Oyasume and Natsume Shinzue. If these characters in any way resemble any other character not owned by me or any living person, please notify me and I will fix it. Please don't sue.

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Kiba awoke, wincing in pain as he opened his eyes. The sun blinded him and he realized that he was still in the forest. He lept up, and the blood rushed to his head, dizzying him. A calm voice rattled through the air towards him, seemingly deriving from nowhere.

"Sit........." Kiba spun his head around, looking for the person who'd spoke. The animals were quiet and the only sound was the wind blowing through the leaves.

'Wait...' Kiba thought to himself, his eyes widening.

"There is no wind....." He uttered under his breath. Again, the voice spoke.

"I said sit. You will weaken yourself." The voice was clearer now, and with the fuzzyness of semiconciousness worn away, Kiba could easily figure from where the sound was spoken. He plunged into the bushes and came to a smaller clearing, where there was a makeshift camp set up. Standing in the middle of the midst of the camp was none other than Temari- the daughter of KazeKage and older sister to Kankuro and Gaara. She saw him coming and looked up from the fire, where she'd been making tea. Her expression was blank.

"Sit!" She ordered, and gestured to a bench near the flames. It was then that Kiba realized that his loyal companion, Akamaru, was missing.

"Where's Akamaru?" The quietness of Kiba's voice startled him, even moreso did the strength he needed to talk. His vision swayed a bit and He fell to the bench, instinctively holding his hand to his throbbing head. Temari saw this, and closed her eyes as if in annoyance.

"Your dog..." She gestured towards the tent. "Is currently sniffing through all our belongings. I just left him, no matter how many times I dragged him out he kept going back......"

Kiba stepped into the tent and was pounced by his companion, smothered, more rather. The boy didn't mind, and looked his dog over, checking to see nothing had happened. He remembered the sound of wind and picked up the dog, carrying him out of the tent and going to stand by Temari. He opened his mouth to speak but remembered the previous incedent, and sat down.

"What's with this sound?" He asked, looking around at the branches of the trees. They didn't move.

"Sound?" The pitch of Temari's voice raised, showing her curiousness.

"Yeah... It sounds like there's wind rustling through the leaves.... but they're not moving." Temari's back was turned, and despite this, Kiba could see that she'd stopped whatever she was doing. Her ears perked and she turned her head, looking up inquisitively.

'What is he talking about?' Temari thought, listening. There was no sound, and even the animals were quiet. Then she heard it too. The rustling sound.... Her eyes widened as she observed the unmoving leaves and vines above her. Slowly, realization took over and she lowered her view to the bushes and plants lower to the ground. They were moving.

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Kakashi store into the eyes of Shinzue and took up a fighting stance. The woman grinned.

"Hnf. Kakashi... ka?"

Kakashi's visible eye opened slightly wider in shock, and then returned to normal. He pulled his hand into a seal, but didn't get very far as a Kunai flew directly at him. He dodged it easily, of course, even an academy student... no.. LOWER than an academy student, could dodge a single Kunai. That wasn't the intent of Shinzue, though, it was simply to throw his hand off position.



Suddenly Shinzue lept into action and pulled out a handful of projectiles, launching them and spinning in the air.

"Shuriken Bunshin no Jitsu!" A barracade of shurikens flew towards Kakashi at a great speed. He pulled out his Kunai, placing one between his fingers and fending off most of the weapons. Anything that didn't repel off of his weapons either hit his bodily protectors or were dodged. Kakashi remained unharmed. He ran at Shinzue, his arms crossed up over his shoulders, hands still loaded with Kunai. He slashed at Shinzue with his right and and pulled an uppercut with his left. She punctured his first attack with the spikes attatched to her arm and used that as momentum to push her self out of the path of the uppercut. Kakashi spun around and flung the weapons at her, but they were easily dodged.

Shinzue continued dodging attacks like this, and it was soon evident that the fight was going nowhere.

'Somehow.... I need to lower her chakra...' Kakashi barely had time to think as he cast the replacement technique, avoiding a launch of Nin-needles. He pulled up behind her and formed his hands into seals as he went.

~*~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~*~

Zabuza placed his hands in a simple seal, and then another. After that, another. This went on, the seals slowly becoming more difficult. Kakashi, at the same time, copied his seals. At last, the two formed, at the same time, a seal. "Bird! Suiton Suiryuudan no Jitsu!" The two ninja spoke, at the very same time. Two summons rose, formed out of water, and spun wround each other in an inticate form of what some would call.... art. It was an art- the art of nin-jitsu.

***Switch Scene***

Kakashi walked back to camp after... err... 'relieving himself' in a nearby clearing. There were often sandy clearings around, an evidential sign that they were moving farther and farther away from the Fire Country border and deeper into the Wind Country. The Desert. The trees were sparse, he noticed, and the ground was always sand. The sound of wind was everlasting.

Despite this, as Kakashi turned unto the leaf-nin camp, he noticed something glimmering nearby. He walked headlong into the bushes and came across yet another clearing, in which there was a large pond. A very large pond, for Wind Country.

~*~*~ FLASHBACK END ~*~*~

Kakashi's hands flew into action. Within a few seconds, His hands stopped and he shouted "Bird! Suiton Suiryuudan no Jitsu!" A summon rose out of the water, just as in Kakashi's memory. Kakashi, at the last moment, lept up and landed high in a tree. A large wave rose up and the summon wrapped itself around Shinzue, swallowing her up and slamming her against a tree as it reclined back to the Oasis pond from which it arrived. Shinzue, knocked unconcious, began to slide down the tree. Kakashi threw a few Kunai at her, one in each hand and then multiple points along the online of her clothing. Kakashi lept from the tree in search of another from his team. He didn't have long.

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Shino and Hinata, unadjusted to the absence of the faithful team member, searched frantically for him. The lept from tree to tree, noticing that the forest was becoming more sandy and sparse. The trees were shrinking.Hinata became worried, and reached into her weapons holster at any sign of unnatural movement or sounds. Finally, the trees became too small to hold their weight and too sparse to offer any protection or cover. Hinata gasped as she looked out beyond her and turned to Shino.

"Sh... Shino-san?" The boy turned to her, his expression grim. He finished her sentence.

"You don't think....."

The two looked out in front of them, amazed at what they saw. She sound of wind that had plagued them all morning hadn't been wind at all. In front of them, a rush of sand was cascading downwards, almost like a waterfall. At the edge of the forest, a cliff stood, over which the sand was falling. Beyond that, there was nothing but desert until, on the horizon, stood the hidden villiage of sand. An unpaved road lead the way to the cliff, where it abruptly stopped. There was a circular area where the sand was packed down tight, like it had been walked or driven over many times. Beside this was the cascade of sand, which oddly, fed into nothing. The sand did not build up, and it did not run out. It was like a cycle of some sort. Somehow, the sand that was pouring down returned to the top, only to fall again. It was the only logical theory.

Shino stared on in amazement for only a moment when a nearby shout stirred him from his daze. Whipping around, He grabbed Hinata's shoulder and dragged her back into the thin forest, leaping towards the sound. The trees flew by and the shouting continued, it became almost repetative. As they neared the sound, words came into form.

"KIIIIIIBA SAAAN!" An obnoxious voice, obvious and loud, penetrated through the forest, stirring some animals and plants. Hinata and Shino stopped above the other ninja and sighed, leaping down beside them.



Sakura glanced over and saw Shino and Hinata. She was fuming, holding a hand over Naruto's mouth and speaking harshly.

"Naruto! You Baka! Be quiet and don't attract attention!" Naruto struggled out of her grip and stuck his tongue out at her, only to recieve a hard punch to the head.

"Hmph!" Sakura squeaked out and walked up to the other Genin.

"Nani ka?" Sakura inquired, and was inturrupted by Sasuke landing down beside them. He held up a pack, filled with food and overnight supplies.

"Sakura, take this. I went back to camp to get it." He looked at the girl, and she blushed madly. Oddly, very oddly, He blushed (only slightly) as well.

"Ne, Ne, You two, come see this!" Hinata was overly excited, and Shino assumed that she was simply drawn in by the sight they'd just witnessed. The thing that bothered him was the couragousness in her voice. It seemed everyone was acting abnormally.

As the ninja trudged to the edge of the cliff, Sasuke's eyes widened and Sakura's mouth dropped. For a moment, the ninja stood on the high land and stared down, mezmorized by the moement of the sand. It seemed neverending, and all had the temptation the jump down, the feeling that if they did, they would fly.... It had drawn them all to the edge of the cliff when Shino realized something.... Naruto was missing.

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A hand wrapped around Naruto's neck and pulled him into the bushes, as the blond boy squirmed and tried to warn his team mates. They were already too far away, though, and it was too late. Naruto was pushed to the ground hastily and pinned. Above him, inces away from his face, was Gaara. His rimmed eyes poured into him, and his small grin struck fear right through the soul that was Naruto's.



Inside Gaara's eyes, Naruto saw the emotion that the other boy withheld from the world. He saw the demon that lusted to get out, to kill. He saw the blood that had stained his hands, his very existence. He saw everything that the other person felt. And inside him, an icy feeling crept outwards from his stomach and wrapped around his spine.

Fear.

Anger.

Hate.

Angst.

Pain.

..... Inside Gaara's eyes, Naruto saw everything he went through as a child and still experienced. He saw their shared experiences. He saw... what he saw was a mimic of himself, a replica that had twisted itself to beyond his pain. When Naruto thought that his emotional pain outdid any other's, he had been wrong. His pain only pursued him to the point where he played jokes, and pulled pranks. Gaara's... Gaara's pain followed him everywhere. It plagued him, and it was his own doing that invoked it. Gaara's pain.... It led him to kill.

The red-haired boy saw Naruto staring into him, felt the penetration of his eyes. They were peering into his soul and prying down his emotional barriers. No longer did the other boy fear him, or shake and act like a coward, crumbling at his sight. An understanding leveled itself between the two enemies and Gaara's breathing slowed.

'Why haven't I killed him yet?' The hate-filled boy forced himself to reach for his Kunai, and his hands for the first time in his life trembled. He brought the blade up to Naruto's neck and paused.

Inside himself, his mind no longer lusted to kill. His heart no longer beat for the blood of others. He looked once more at the boy and understood why he'd let his guard down the last time they'd met. He felt, for the first time, fear. It wasn't fear of being killed or hurt.... It was fear....

He leaned further down and dropped the Kunai. His eyes were inches from the other boy's, and his breathing was slow and uneven. He moved closer and closer until- His lips touched against Naruto's and pressed down lightly. His mind pushed him forward, and he licked the other boy's lips, his body requesting entrance. He wasn't in control of himself anymore, it was his body controlling him. The other boy accepted the kiss, and it went on for the next few moments. Finally, when Gaara pulled back, He no longer felt fear....

of rejection.

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A/N- Yeah, I know, that sucked. The transition from Gaara wanting to kill Naruto to kissing him was like "Huh? How did that happen?" Anyways, Please review, I want feedback from another point of view than mine.

Preview for next chapter: "Scattered"

Naruto returns to his team mates with confused feelings and thoughts; while Kiba desperately searches for the reason behind waking up at the Sand-nin camp. A surprise follows, courtesy of Haruno Sakura.

Thanks To:

'Fight Against Fate' By E. Feather - It was reading your story when I got the will to write; and out of that outburst came the Gaara/Naru incedent.

Naruto Soundtrack - Again with the background music.

Kishimoto Masashi - *glomps* You are god!

All my Ex-Friends - You gave me the srtong enough emotion (anger and sadness) to write this chapter so fast

All my readers- For reading this far.

-Kounouri