Disclaimer: See Prologue (Chapter 00).
Spoilers through Chapter 246.
Human Nature
By: TailFear
Beta: Asteroid Blues
Chapter 05: Low Clouds and Tall Grass
The village was smaller than Konoha and the city in Cloud Country. It was almost as small as some of the villages scattered across Wind Country, but with fields and trees instead of sand dunes. Despite cool temperatures the ground was dry, sending up small clouds of dust as the two travelers walked along. Buildings in small Grass Country villages tended to be smaller, one or two story and painted in earth tones, making them almost blend into the surroundings.
Northern Grass Country got cold earlier than in most other climates, and already its citizens were donning heavy cloaks and jackets whenever outside. The travelers had prepared for cool weather, but they hadn't expected the sudden drop in temperature that had happened the night before, leaving them shivering even after the sun had risen. They were heading towards a small village two miles north of them on a Class-A reconnaissance/assassination mission regarding a prominent businessman who's main center of business was in this village.
The closer they got to the village, the more people they started to meet. As the duo traveled they kept quiet, ignoring the curious looks that were being sent their way. They had spent nearly a week on the road to get where they were, and felt as haggard as they looked, which would help the story that they had thought up as a cover for them being in the village.
The amount of looks only increased as they actually entered the village. They certainly looked out of place with their light skin and eyes, as well as the large packs, umbrellas, and a gourd carried on their backs. They were also not wearing cloaks or jackets similar to those of the natives, but thick sweatshirts and fingerless gloves that would have worked well except for the unexpected temperature drop.
The local inn was the tallest building in the village at four stories. The lady working behind looked up as the travelers opened the door, sending a small gust of cold air into the building. Instantly she felt sorry for the duo when she saw how ragged, weary, and cold they looked.
"How many rooms can I get for you two?"
She watched as they two looked at each other then pulled out some money, counting their combined bills before looking up.
"We'll need one room for the night. We can't really afford more than that."
The blond boy shrugged helplessly while handing the bills over, the red head with him staying silent. The lady wasn't sure if the bags around the red heads eyes were from a severe lack of sleep or something worse, they were that bad. Together they were a pitiable sight, both with tired eyes and bodies wearied from the road.
"Where are you two coming from?" she asked as she counted their bills, feeling guilty about taking their money.
"We're from Fire Country," the blond said, looking back at his partner who nodded.
"You've come all the way from Fire Country on foot?"
"Yeah," the blond blushed and looked at his feet.
"Are you running from something? Why have you come all the way here?" the lady was looking on with concern as the blond's blush faded and he looked back towards his partner, a slightly panicked look on his face.
"We ran away," the red head said bluntly. There was something in his eyes that made the lady nervous.
"We really didn't have much of a choice," the blond's smile was sad and pleading at the same time as he looked up at her, his eyes pleading and melting her heart.
"Just how old are you two?"
"Sixteen," the blond winced as she gasped, her hand clutching her shirt as the looked over the two again.
"No, no, you two can't stay here," the lady said, eliciting a panicked look from the two boys as the blond started shifting nervously, his eyes wide. "I can't just allow two boys out on their own to stay here when I can help you. You can stay with me, and here in the village, until you get your own place."
The two boys shared sketchy looks as the lady handed their money back to them, then called for someone in back to come up and replace her because she was going home early.
"My name is Morimoto Yomi."
She bowed to the two boys who shared another look before bowing themselves.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
"Sabaku Gaara."
Yomi raised an eyebrow at the red head, then shrugged and waved to the women who replaced her at the counter before herding the two boys out the inn's door.
"You've come to a good place if you want to hide out, especially if your situation is as bad as you are hinting at. My husband and I just had our only daughter move out and get married, so we're a little lonely around the house," Yomi kept an eye on the two boys as she maneuvered them through the moderately crowded town square and away from the main store front. They moved down a side street and stopped at a small, one-story house painted a dark green color.
"Keitaro, we have company."
Naruto and Gaara watched as an older man came from the back of the house, stopping short when he saw the two boys standing in front of his smiling wife.
"Yomi, honey, what's going on?" his dark eyes looked skeptically over the two boys, noting the dirt and grime as well as the weariness, but also noting the slight way that the two held themselves that suggested that they weren't as helpless as they seemed.
Yomi moved from behind the two boys so that she could speak with her husband in near private.
"They're all on their own. Look at how tired they are, they won't make it much longer, especially from what I think they're running away from. I doubt that they will make trouble for us," Yomi said, watching her husband as he watched the two boys over her shoulder, a contemplative look on his face.
Naruto had moved closer to Gaara and was talking quietly with the taller boy, smiling every time he caused Gaara to roll his eyes. They were doing a good job of acting completely harmless, especially the blond boy, but there was an air about both that made Keitaro nervous, especially with the odd gourd that the red head carried with him.
"Fine, they can stay. But they're going to have to follow all the same rules that our children did, including getting jobs and doing chores," he said even as his wife's smile lit up her face.
Yomi hugged him before turning around and facing the boys, noting the curious look on the blond's face, and the still impassive look on Gaara's.
"You can stay in our extra room," Yomi said, moving back to the boys so that she could herd them again, this time on a quick tour of the house as Keitaro followed behind. "We'll also be having dinner in a little bit, giving you both enough time to clean up and change clothes if you can."
"We don't know how to thank you," Naruto said, bowing to both of them, followed jerkily by Gaara. Both adults were getting the idea that the red head didn't talk much and was perfectly content to let the blond talk for him most of the time.
"You two are very welcome. I couldn't just let you keep yourselves out in the cold," Yomi said, smiling at the two as she showed them to the room that they were going to be staying in, then leaving them alone after showing them the adjoining bathroom and helping pull out the spare futon.
"This was lucky," Naruto said as he and Gaara dumped their packs onto the floor.
Gaara had leaned his gourd in a corner as Naruto found clean clothes for the both of them, complete with sweatshirts and gloves. They took turns cleaning up before getting down to the business of securing the room, setting traps under the window discretely, but leaving the door uncovered.
"This will be a good starting base of operations," Naruto said, toweling his wet hair as he pulled on his boots at the same time.
"The husband is already suspicious," Gaara said, his green eyes trained on the door.
"That's to be expected. I'm surprised that Yomi-san actually offered to let us live with her without even knowing us," Naruto commented, still feeling a bit overwhelmed.
The call of, "Dinner's ready!" from Yomi brought a smile to Naruto's face as he finished tying his boots and sped out of the room. Gaara rolled his eyes and walked calmly after his partner.
Gaara met Keitaro's look with his usual indifference as he took the seat next to Naruto. The blond was nearly bouncing in his seat with anticipation of the first real meal that they had to eat in days other than ninja rations and sandy game (Naruto had given up on hunting game when Gaara had persisted in swamping everything that moved with sand, then bringing it along as food while glaring at Naruto as if daring him to complain). Gaara hadn't cared, but Naruto had started rolling his eyes and sighing every time Gaara killed another innocent woodland creature.
"Here you are, miso soup and udon."
Yomi placed the two large bowls on the table before taking each of the male's two bowls and filling them with a portion of soup before handing them back. They ate in moderate silence occasionally broken by a compliment to the cooking or a request for something to be passed or for another serving.
"Thank you very much for the meal," Naruto said, beaming in both Yomi and Keitaro's directions as Gaara nodded.
"It's nothing, you two look half starved anyway," Yomi said, waving off Naruto's thanks.
Naruto blushed and looked down again, fidgeting nervously with his gloves. This caught both Yomi and Keitaro's eyes. The couple looked over the two boys in front of them, noting the slim frames and wiry muscle hidden under baggy clothing. Neither had the outright look of abuse, but they didn't look like they are their fill all of the time either, which was helped by their trip from Fire Country.
"How about you two go to sleep for the night. Then tomorrow we can all go out and show you two around," Yomi said with a smile.
"Do you think that we could look for jobs as well?" Naruto asked, surprising everyone else in the room except for Gaara.
Yomi blinked, then looked at her husband who was watching the two boys with consideration. After a moment he nodded, making Yomi blink as well.
"Why would you want to go looking for a job when you just got here?" Yomi asked.
"We just don't want to be a burden. Neither of us are really used to being cared for…" Naruto trailed off, his eyes flickering towards Gaara who was sitting stoically beside him.
"No, no, I didn't mean that," Yomi stood up and walked around the table so that she could hug Naruto around the shoulders. She would have reached out to Gaara as well, but he a look that said he wasn't receptive to touching.
After a few moments Naruto started to shift nervously, trying to be polite and not just push Yomi off of him. Gaara just rolled his eyes at Naruto's helpless looks and Keitaro snorted, recognizing the look from his younger days.
"Yomi, you can let the boy go now, before your attentions kill him."
Yomi scowled at her husband, but let go, much to Naruto's relief. They cleaned up the dishes from dinner with Naruto and Gaara's help before the two boys were shooed off to bed. Keitaro walked with them as they headed towards the back of the house.
"Now, I know that my wife has pulled you in and allowed you to stay, but I'm still not sure about this. I don't want you two to be causing any trouble. You aren't going to be kicked out, but I will be keeping an eye on you. After tomorrow we'll enroll you in school, and a job is a good idea. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you do have to believe that I'm trying to look after my family and wife, even if she is the only one living here," Keitaro looked over the two boys in front of him as they stopped in front of the bedroom door.
Gaara's face had returned to its normal expressionless state while Naruto smiled brightly, reassuringly. Two different reactions, two distinctly different boys. Keitaro made a mental note of this and nodded before heading back down the hall, leaving the two boys alone.
"He's definitely perceptive," Naruto commented quietly, his smile growing genuine at the sign of a challenge.
"Baka," Gaara muttered, heading into the room. Naruto just smiled again and followed his partner into the small room, ready for the night ahead.
The high school was a good sized three story building that also encompassed the elementary and middle school as well. Naruto and Gaara had been dropped off in front of the building with the Yomi's assurance that she had already talked to the school administrators about their situation, so all they had to do was go in and talk to someone in the front office to receive their class assignment and receive their books.
"This is stupid," Naruto whined once he was sure that Yomi was completely out of sight and earshot.
Gaara rolled his eyes at the blond and walked into the building, leaving Naruto scrambling to catch up. The office wasn't hard to find, especially with the sign posted above it. A middle-aged woman was sitting behind a wide counter that partially blocked the way to another office behind it.
"You are the two new boys, aren't you?" she asked, looking up from a few of the scattered files in front of her.
"Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku Gaara," Naruto said helpfully, watching the woman pull two files from a stack and look through them.
"You are both in classroom 312, on the third floor, in the high school wing," she said with a smile. "If you come back here I can also give you your books."
"Thank you," Naruto smiled brightly before he and Gaara walked around the partition picked up their small stack of textbooks.
"Oh," the woman's voice stopped both of them on their way out. "Here, your locker combination, its on the same floor."
Naruto thanked the woman again and left, following the other boy out into the hallway. They ignored the looks that they were receiving as they walked through the building. On the top floor they found both their locker and their classroom and decided to find a few seats.
"Ah, you're the new students," the teacher looked up as they walked into the classroom.
"Yeah," Naruto said, drawing the attention of the students already in the class towards him and Gaara.
"Well, normally we have assigned seats," the teacher said, taking a moment to look over the seating chart in front of her on the desk. "We have two seats open in the fourth row on the far right," she indicated to the seats before turning her attention away from them, allowing them to take their seats.
"This isn't too much different than the academy," Naruto commented, eyeing the tiered steps and neatly arranged desks.
Gaara nodded from his seat on the outside of the row, as far away from people as he could get. The blond sighed and leaned back in his seat, his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, ignoring the looks that he and Gaara were receiving as the class slowly filled.
"Alright class, we have two new students. Please raise your hands," both Naruto and Gaara raised their hands. "Be sure to make them feel welcome here in school and around town."
The class mumbled its agreement before settling down and pulling out their first textbook. Naruto and Gaara followed their example and pulled out their own textbooks, paying attention along with the rest of the class as the teach began to write on the board and instruct them aloud.
During the break between classes when the teachers switched Naruto and Gaara were bombarded by questions from the students sitting around them.
"Where are you two from? You don't look like anyone from around here," a girl in the row in front of them was turned around in her seat, curiously watching the two of them.
"We're from Fire Country," Naruto said, feeling a little unnerved by all of the people who were paying attention to him and his partner.
"How did you get all the way up here if you're from Fire Country?" another girl asked, leaning over the row behind.
"We walked," Gaara's cold answer stopped the questions for a moment as the curious students gulped at his tone of voice. He did spare any of them a glance, just watched out the window as the occasional bird flew by.
"You walked?" the first girl squeaked, her dark eyes wide.
Naruto sighed and continued to answer questions despite Gaara's obvious annoyance with the situation, "Yes, we walked. And yes, it took a long time."
Both girls made noises of amazement as the boys around them rolled their eyes. Naruto was starting to figure out that he and Gaara were sitting in the middle of a good group of friends as they all clustered around.
"So you're from Fire Country. Why have you stopped here?" a boy in front of them asked suspiciously.
"Ran away," Naruto said simply, smiling at the few gasps he got. "We were going to stay at the inn, by Morimoto Yomi decided to take us in, so we're staying there until we can afford our own place."
"You two are traveling together," the statement came from the boy beside them who shared the same looks as the girl in the row ahead.
"Well, obviously," the first girl snapped, rolling her eyes as if the situation was obvious. "Why else would they be here together, Kenichi?"
The boy bristled, obviously annoyed by her taunt, "Maybe they didn't run away together, Bara. Maybe they met up along the way."
Naruto sighed and interjected before Bara could continue, "We did run away together."
The whole group looked at him, then to Gaara who was still not paying attention. Any further questions were cut short by the next teacher arriving in the classroom, calling the class to order and calming everyone down. Naruto sighed with relief as everyone turned their attentions away from him and Gaara and turned to switching textbooks.
A small piece of paper at his elbow caught his attention and he quickly palmed it in the middle of opening his new textbook.
"You're too talkative," was written in Gaara's perfect kanji. Naruto scowled and drew a rude picture in reply before stealthily returning the note back to Gaara.
"So, what are you two doing now that school's out?" the girl from the row behind, whose name ended up being Naru, asked as she caught up to the two boys as they left the building.
"I don't know. I think we were just going to wander around and try to get a little more used to the village," Naruto said with a shrug, casting a discrete glance in Gaara's direction to catch the red head's uncaring look.
"I know a good little ramen stand that's just a few streets over, if you'd like to go. A group of my friends will be there, but I also heard you saying something about jobs, and they're hiring," Naru said helpfully.
Naruto had been lured in hook, line, and sinker at the word "ramen", but the word "job" connected to it only made him start to bounce in anticipation. Naru gave him an odd look as the blond boy went over to his partner and nearly started to drag the other boy after him as he followed her down the street, the red head giving Naruto a look of death that was starting to scare her silly.
"Hey, guys, this is Naruto and Gaara," Naru introduced them as they approached the ramen stand, taking a seat at the bar next to a group of friend. "And you two know Bara and Kenichi, they're siblings."
Naruto nodded and sat down next to Naru, leaving Gaara to glare at them all and sit down on the other side of Naruto, pointedly acting like he wasn't there.
"Does he always act like that?" a shorter girl asked, frowning and leaning around so that she could get a better look at Gaara.
"Pretty much," Naruto said with a shrug, content to happily order himself the biggest bowl of miso ramen they had, and a smaller bowl of pork for Gaara.
"Dude, what's with the eyeliner?" one of the unnamed boys had moved around Naruto to closely observe Gaara's face, completely ignoring the warning signs that Gaara constantly gave off.
"I wouldn't do that," Naruto warned in a singsong voice, sticking his hand out to push the boy away from Gaara as the red head's face flickered with anger. "Besides," he added, "It's natural for him, he doesn't sleep well."
The boy made a doubtful "oh" sound and backed off, even though his tone said he didn't really believe the blond boy.
"That's Seijiro, the one with the dumb questions," Naru pointed out, rolling her eyes as the said boy protested. "The short girl is Meimei, the boy with the shaved head is Kaiba, and the girl with the braid is Motoko."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kaiba, "Don't you get cold?"
Kaiba shrugged his shoulders, "Not really."
Naruto bounced up and down when his noodles arrived, earning himself a few amused looks from the small group. With a quick "Itadakimatsu" he snapped his chopsticks apart and happily dug in.
"Dude, you're like a vacuum," Seijiro said, eyes wide as he watched the noodles disappear into Naruto's seemingly endless stomach.
"Wha?" Naruto blinked as the group of people watching him, oblivious.
"Your eating," Gaara said bluntly.
Naruto made a noise of understanding, but didn't stop eating, humming happily to himself as the group watched him with slightly disgusted awe. Gaara went back to ignoring them, eating quickly, but quietly, not drawing any attention towards himself.
"So, Fire Country. What's it like?" Kaiba asked, picking through his own noodles absently.
"Warm," Naruto said with a smile. "Definitely warm. Pretty dry as well, with just enough rain to keep everything alive and thriving. Where I lived we were closer to Wind Country, so the temperatures stayed hotter than normal every once in a while."
"Not like here, huh?" Kaiba said.
"Nope, not like here at all," Naruto said, smiling wistfully to himself for a moment before blinking and showering the group with one of his hundred watt smiles.
After the group had dispersed Naruto and Gaara hung back, Naruto waving cheerfully until everyone was out of sight. When everyone had left Naruto dropped his hand and looked up to see the owner of the ramen stand watching him with amused eyes.
"I heard from Yomi that she had brought two pale, starving boys home the other day," the man said, watching as Naruto flushed.
"Yeah, that would be us," Naruto said, smiling brightly.
"You sure do seem to love noodles," the stand owner commented, smiling as Naruto nodded enthusiastically and Gaara rolled his eyes, looking irritated with the blond.
"Oh, oh. Naru said something about you hiring," Naruto said, bouncing over to the counter and leaning forward, placing himself as close to the stand owner as he could, his face screaming "PLEASE!".
"I don't know boy. How am I supposed to know that you won't just up and disappear?" the owner asked, watching Naruto as the blond's face twisted into a look of concentration.
"I'll tell you in advance if I need to leave, how about that," Naruto said, sticking his hand out to be shaken.
The shop owner smirked, "I like you kid. You have the job, but you'd better show up on time." He stuck his hand out and clasped Naruto's, pumping their combined hands up and down a few times. "Watanabe Seta."
"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service," Naruto beamed, then untangled his hand from Seta's and bounced back over to Gaara.
The night was even darker in northern Grass Country than it was back home in Konoha, making it even easier to blend in. At night neither Gaara nor Naruto were distracted by having to blend in or dodge, they were free to move silently through the streets, using the shadows to their advantage.
The man that they were searching for, their target, was a prominent business man who was rumored to be involved with drug and arms trafficking, as well as some rumored situations involving children, which was the main reason their mission was being funded. The reconnaissance part of the mission was actually catching the man in the act to be doubly sure. It was also to give some closure to parents of those who had already been taken or harmed.
There was no sound as the two shinobi made their way through descending mists, creeping cat-like through the darkness as they left the village and disappeared into the surrounding fields. Even if the village appeared clear the surrounding geography was one that could hide almost anything in its numerous valleys.
Once in the woods they separated, occasionally imitating a birdcall to keep track of each other and to make sure that they were within earshot. A low, long whistle brought Gaara up behind Naruto who was crouching down at the edge of a rocky outcropping that overlooked a deep valley. Nestled contently in the valley was the start of what looked like a small warehouse district, complete with floodlights and barbed wire fencing.
"This has got to be the base of operations," Naruto whispered. He was flat on his stomach, his brilliant blond hair covered by a black bandana, binoculars up to his eyes as he observed the comings and goings amongst the buildings below.
"Is the target sighted?" Gaara asked, crouching down next to Naruto.
"There are a few possibilities, we'll have to check around the village," Naruto murmured, taking the time to commit the district's layout to memory.
Beside him Gaara closed his eyes and concentrated, sand swirling off the gourd at his back and into the palm of his hand as a sphere. A quick, almost unnoticeable burst of chakra completed the jutsu, leaving him with a small eyeball that leaked sand sitting in the center of his hand. The rusty-haired ninja closed his eyes and relaxed as the eyeball made of sand disappeared into the darkness of the night.
"There's four men in suits, and about twenty men with the minion or hired thug air, and enough weapons to arm a small country, mostly small blades or pole arms, but supplemented with dynamite and enough explosives to level most of Konoha," Gaara's voice was quiet, contemplative as he sifted through the images that were being filtered through his brain while using his third-eye technique.
"I can account for bodyguards and perimeter guards patrolling with pole arms and high tech communication equipment," Naruto commented, still keeping an eye on the buildings below him while keeping an eye on his partner as well.
Another burst of chakra signaled the release of the jutsu as Gaara opened his eyes, blinking a few times to reorient himself. Naruto handed off the binoculars so that the other teen could see what he had been seeing. They hid together long enough for Gaara to assess the situation.
"We should set up a surveillance schedule," Naruto said, taking the binoculars back from his partner so that he could continue to scout the area below their position.
Naruto then blinked and looked at his partner who was giving him a look that suggested the blond was stupid. The blond frowned for a moment, then rolled his eyes, recognizing his partner's mood.
"I know you're taking nights. I was talking about during the day."
The apartment was a small one on the top floor of a three-story building in the middle of an equally small apartment complex. Yomi had protested Naruto and Gaara's leaving so quickly, but Keitaro had only nodded quietly and helped them move their bags into their new place. They boys were thankful for the kindness and support that had been shown to them by the couple, but neither boy was used to living with rules and someone watching over them, which fueled their need to get their own place.
The apartment they had found was half way between the school and the hidden warehouse district, making it a strategically sound place for a base of operations. Gaara had also found a nearby bookstore that was hiring and had acquired a job that allowed him to mostly stay away from people, as he generally preferred to do. The red-haired boy had also taken tests which allowed him to gain a certificate of competence which allowed him to drop out of high school and work more, much to Yomi's disapproval. When the two boys had explained their situation to her she had sighed and waved her hand, shooing them out of her sight as she allowed them to move out.
While Naruto was in school, something that Gaara had insisted on with very forcible glares despite the blond's whining, the red head was able to do some reconnaissance when he wasn't working. Between the two of them they were starting to find a pattern in the movements of the people that tended to populate the warehouse district. Neither had felt the need to do some closer questioning of a few of the less intelligence lackeys, but that was their next option if things didn't pick up. They had been mostly unsuccessful while searching for information on their target as well, but rumors were always flying rampant through the streets, making it only a matter of time until they heard something worthwhile.
To Be Continued…With regards to reviews for Taller, Sight, and Speeding Away, thanks to FiendisHSerapH, iremat, Sariachan-A Kokiri Leaf, Ivy Adrena, Keira,
Edit: moneys! Tsugath, Moon Ryoko, Lady-Frisselle, Sariachan-A Kokiri Leaf, and esther.
From HN, thanks to Ivy Adrena, TFI-Muse, black/bLacKBodian, figurechan, R e c r a p t o r, Lara, Garnet-Crystals, hogo-chan, Death Phoenix, Sariachan-A Kokiri Leaf, Sierra-Falls, vixen, and Lady-Frisselle.
Lady-Frisselle: To answer your question, only the adults know if I've been reading the manga right. Neji knows there's something else in Naruto, as does Sasuke and probably Sakura, and Shika might have figured it out, but the only kid who really knows is Gaara. I'm trying to keep with this as much as I can, but its going to leak sometime soon. Thanks for asking!
To everyone who asked about pairings and the R rating: A) concerning the R rating, and the rating of anything else, go check my bio, I don't care to explain it again. B) there will be no pairing at the moment. I'm not even sure if there's going to be a pairing (a main one at least, there may be ShikaTem or something…), so don't get your hopes up yet.
About that Gundam Wing marathon, it was only because I got the whole series, but was postponed like this chapter due to grandparents coming into town, school, work, and general writers block.
And, as always, thanks to my awesome beta Asteroid Blues who has been sick for the last week.
