((Ok, remember when I said I wasn't going to be evil? Yeah, I lied. You don't get to find out what happens to Gaara for a few chapters. Hehe

Oh, can someone please tell me if half of the first chapter is missing. because thats what it looks like to me.

To Sabaku no Gaara: if you don't like it then don't read it. Considering the fact that you lack the skills to type in proper English I would probably consider your lack of reading to be a compliment.

Oh, to everyone else, I wont normally jump down your throats if you give me a bad review, he just pissed me off.))

Naruto's Version

Naruto had just gotten back from his training with Jiraiya so he was celebrating. He ran throughout Konoha, ignore the looks of disdain that came from other people. As he was hopping on buildings he saw his former teacher reading a book. "HEY KAKASHI-SENSEI!" he yelled out. Kakashi looked up and his mask creased in a way that Naruto had long ago learn to discern as a smile. "Naruto! Your back!" Kakashi called out. The two embraced and immediately Naruto began to pester Kakashi with questions. Kakashi held up his hands to stop the flow and said to Naruto, "Lets go see Sakura." Naruto nodded and they both took off.

When they reached Sakura Naruto saw that she had changed. She no longer wore her red outfit, but had replaced it with a more practical outfit ((you know what it looks like)). Behind her stood The Fith Hogake ((Godaime, isn't it?)). "Hey Sakura-chan! Hey Obaa-chan!" Sakura looked up and her face brightened immensely. Tsunade brightened but was immediately replaced with a look of annoyance, "Obaa-chan? Learn some respect!" she snapped. While her tone was harsh they both knew it was playful banter.

"Naruto! Hey!" Naruto and Sakura embraced, happy to see each other after three years. Sakura then turned and bowed to Tsunade. "Godaime-sensei, please allow me to take the day off from my studies to celebrate my friends return, I promise that I will make up for my studies later." At that Tsunade waved her hand and replied "Go and have fun Sakura-chan. And it is good to have you back Naruto."

Sakura grabbed Naruto by the hand and took off. "Lets go see our friends!" As they ran through Konoha they saw many people. Each time the told them to meet at the training grounds in an hour with lots of food. They saw Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Lee and finally…

"Hey, isn't that Temari, from Hidden Sand Village? And who is that next to her?" Asked Naruto, all of a sudden. Sakura turned to look and saw Temari walking hand-in-hand with Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Naruto's back!" She yelled out. Shikamaru looked up and waved. "Meet us in the training grounds in an hour, and bring food! We're having a party!"

One Hour Later

Everyone had gathered and the party was going full swing. Naruto was catching up on current affairs with everyone. Apparently while he was gone everyone had become at least chuunin, if not jounin. During the time that he had be gone, Konoha had undergone a radical change in preparation for the war that everyone knew would soon come. Neji and Lee, the only jounins in the group, had been drafted into ANBU. The Main House and Branch House and been temporarily abolished and the use of the Branch Houses seal had been strictly forbidden as to keep everyone at their best condition. Attending combat training at least two times a week was also required of all Konoha citizens. Those who could not attend were forced into work houses, making weapons of war. Konoha had effectively become the worlds second most militaristic Village, beaten only by Hidden Sound.

That was exactly why the party was interrupted mid-way by the police. Another law that had been set in place is that any intentional large gathering needed a permit. So everyone packed up and moved. They continued in the forest until they were told to disband or face jail time. Considering it was getting late people finally packed up to head home.

As Naruto was walking home, taking in the sights, he got distracted by a familiar smell. Ramen! He smiled wide and shot off to his favorite place in all of Konoha, the ramen shack. He ordered a shrimp ramen (even though he had eaten a lot at the party he always had room for ramen). While he was waiting he heard a loud noise coming from the apartment district. He looked over to the ramen guy to see if this was a normal occurrence, it wasn't. He hopped up on the nearest building to see a lot of people running towards to noise. Out of the crowd he picked out Shikamaru. He ran down to intercept him and, when he got to him, he asked what was going on.

"There is some kind of fight going on in the apartment district. I heard Lee's involved." Replied Shikamaru "I heard it was some sang guy…" He said and then stopped. His expression changed and then became very worried. "Oh crap, that must be what got Temari so worried. It's gotta' be Gaara!"

"Wait… Gaara… That sand nin! From the chuunin Exam!" Naruto exclaimed. "But I thought we were at peace with the sand?"

"We are, but Gaara's been missing since the exam." Said Shikamaru and, with that, took off towards the fight. Naruto followed and, when he got there, saw Lee going at Gaara, weights off. He saw Lee hit Gaara and knew that Gaara couldn't handle much more. When Lee went for the final kick Naruto blasted into action. He slammed into Lee while pulling out a shuriken. He threw the shuriken downwards towards Gaara's jugular vein.

Naruto knew that Lee would be fine so he concentrated on Gaara. Blood was spurting out of his neck at such a rapid rate that he would surely die of blood loss within 10 minutes. Naruto pulled some gauze out of his emergency pack that he had at his waist and wrapped it around Gaara's neck to staunch the blood flow.

"Someone get a Medical Nin! He yelled out and started off towards the hospital.

End Chapter

((uh… sorry for the late update, life got in the way. And I am going to at least one more chapter to keep you in suspense. Don't you hate me?

Uh… what else was I going to say…. Uh… oh yeah! Since this fiction will most likely not be combat related I get to make naruto just that powerful. If it turns out to be combat related then… uh… eh, sue me, so I'm not the best at planning out story plots.

Till next time!))