Chapter 1: A new start, a new friendship.
Naruto awoke slowly, for once wanting to stay asleep. His sleep- fogged brain was a bit confused at that desire, until the events of two weeks ago were remembered.
As the memories came crashing down upon him he sat bolt upright, his sore body protesting mightily, and quickly scanned his surroundings.
The leaves that he had used to cover himself last night fell away, revealing his now more brown than orange tattered jumpsuit. He leapt to his feet after looking around, and was moving before the leaves had finished settling to the ground.
He leapt up to the trees and grabbed a rather large branch with his hands. He pulled himself up, and crouched low on the branch, once again looking around.
After a few seconds had passed with no attack, he tightened the muscles in his legs, and launched himself for another branch. He hit the top of it hands first, and brought his legs up to place them directly underneath him. Before his forward momentum had died, he propelled himself through the air toward another branch again.
This method of transport continued for several more hours. He would have gone on for longer had his stomach not been complaining loudly about missing breakfast. As it was, he could either stop and hunt for food, or have his stomach scream out his position for every Hunter-nin in the entire forest.
Naruto chose the former.
It just so happened that he decided to stop and eat as he practically landed on a bird nest, complete with over a dozen eggs, and two rather large, tasty looking birds.
The poor fowl didn't know what the blur of orange, brown, and yellow meant.
Soon a small clearing nearby was filled with the sound of a fire, and the smell of cooking bird and eggs.
Naruto was looking at the food that was cooking absently, making sure it didn't burn. He would've preferred ramen, but that was impossible out here in the wilderness.
Perhaps Naruto should've been more attentive to his surroundings, or he would've noticed that he was no longer alone.
Snap!
Naruto's head snapped up and he looked around him. A few seconds passed in silence while Naruto had an increasing sinking feeling in his gut. He stood up and pulled out a Kunai and a shuriken.
"Who's there?!"
Mocking laughter was the only answer to Naruto's shout of inquiry.
Naruto turned toward the source of the laughter and hurled the shuriken. It spun into the canopy of a tree and the laughter suddenly cut off as the person who was laughing screamed. A moment later, they fell, and Naruto saw that he had hit them in the thigh.
A sudden crashing noise behind him caused Naruto to turn around and see three people rush him. The formation of the three was two in front, the last following closely behind. The man on the left had two short swords, while the man on the right had a short sickle and chain. The man in the back had a rather nasty looking spear. Naruto guessed that their attack pattern was designed so that the first two attackers would tie up the victims arms while the last attacker would reach over the other two and kill the victim with his spear.
Naruto formed a seal with his hands and two doppelgangers appeared. They leapt and intercepted the first two. The third attacker didn't notice that the formation had been broken, and made a stab at Naruto. He was clearly astounded when he saw Naruto easily turn the spear aside with an un- occupied arm.
The man, who Naruto now noticed was covered in even more dirt that he was, had long black hair and a thick beard. Neither the hair nor the beard hid the wounds that were on his face. They looked like they had been caused by a kunai a day or two ago. Naruto decided to add his own slash mark to the mans face.
The man started to back away, bringing his spear around as he did so. Naruto ducked under the weapon, then lunged. The man tried to sidestep the attack, but only managed to get Naruto to slash the man's shoulder instead of his face. The man screamed and backed away, dropping his spear.
There were footsteps from immediately behind Naruto so he ducked down, forming a ball. Predictably, the man trying to attack Naruto's back didn't stop and tripped over him. Naruto stood with as much force as he could when the man was halfway through his fall. The result was the man ended up flying through the air, and landing on his face a good ten feet away. Naruto ordered his doppelgangers back.
Naruto faced the men as they gathered themselves, his doppelgangers on either side of him.
After a moment of studying each other, the two sides leapt to attack. An attack that was abruptly cut off when another figure emerged from the trees.
Naruto and his doppelgangers leapt back to gain room to maneuver. The four attackers, however, merely stood there, looking at the new comer with something that could only be called pure terror. Naruto perfectly understood.
(Damn it! Why does HE have to show up now?! I haven't even had any food yet!)
The newcomer surveyed the scene before him with a look of cool indifference. He took a few steps into the clearing and the attackers took a few steps back. A few more steps forward, and a few steps in retreat.
The newcomer suddenly turned and glared at them. They gave a single, unified scream, and fled.
The newcomer finally turned his attention to Naruto, who still had two doppelgangers ready to fight.
Gaara raised his free hand in a gesture of peace, and spoke.
"I'm not here to fight. I actually came to see if I could use your fire."
The request caught Naruto off guard to the point where the doppelgangers vanished in a puff of smoke.
Naruto recovered from his shock, and studied Gaara.
The other boy was nearly as battered in appearance as Naruto was, with rips in his clothes, which were also covered in liberal amounts of mud, with the occasional splatter of dried blood. Gaara had a few rabbits thrown over one shoulder, along with several fish. Naruto noticed that something was missing from Gaara's appearance, something major that should've been noticed at once.
But Naruto was tired and hungry, so he simply shrugged, and nodded his ascent.
Gaara walked over to the fire, which was large enough to cook both Naruto's food, and his own, and kneeled. He pulled out a kunai and set about skinning and cleaning the rabbits and fish.
Naruto walked back over to the fire, and he passed behind Gaara as he did so. It was only because Naruto was keeping one wary eye on Gaara that he noticed how the other boy stiffened slightly, but still tried to appear casual. And then Naruto noticed what was missing from Gaara's appearance.
"Your gourd is gone!"
Gaara turned around and glared at Naruto so fast that he blurred. Naruto brought up his hands in a placating gesture as Gaara spoke, his voice filled with anger.
"What of it!?"
"Nothing, nothing! Sorry!"
But Gaara seemed to be getting angrier, looking at Naruto with fury blazing in his eyes.
Before Naruto could speak again to try and calm Gaara down, Gaara's hands blurred and he gathered chakra. The sand around him suddenly came to life.
Naruto jumped back, forming his own seals and gathering chakra. Doppelgangers suddenly appeared around him, and they leapt forward to attack Gaara's sand clones. As Naruto landed, he drew two kunai, one for each hand, then prepared himself for battle.
He crouched down, tightening the muscles in his legs, then propelled himself into the air, over the battle of doppelgangers and sand clones. He started to descend toward Gaara, who leapt away and began performing seals.
As Naruto landed he crouched again, then propelled himself toward Gaara headfirst, hands drawn back to slash at the other boy. Gaara stopped forming seals, his spell incomplete, and once again leaped away. A suspicion began to form in Naruto's mind as he once again leapt after Gaara.
Gaara once again formed seals, but this time he was able to complete the spell, as it was much shorter. Two sand clones rose in front of him, and they intercepted the surprised Naruto, who did his best to back away and defend himself from the clones.
Gaara began another series of seals, his eyes fixed on Naruto who now was thoroughly distracted by the sand clones.
Naruto parried one blow from a sand clone and realized the other had disappeared. He felt the sand just beneath him shift ever so slightly and he knew that the clone was now behind him in its sand state.
Naruto blocked another strike from the clone in front of him, and drew back his free hand with the intent to thrust it behind him, hopefully stabbing the other clone as it reformed. However, at that point he felt a rather large buildup of chakra, and looked over to its source to see Gaara inhaling.
Naruto instantly gathered as much chakra into his feet as he could, crouched, then propelled himself into the air.
He barely missed the effect of Gaara's spell, the torrent of sand from the Mugen Sajin Daitoppa scraping his toes. As Naruto reached the peak of his jump he noticed that Gaara was focused on the area decimated by the sand blast, and not paying attention to the area above him. Naruto grinned as he began his decent.
Gaara was indeed intent on the area that the sand blast had just torn apart, believing that Naruto had been caught in the blast. It didn't occur to him that Naruto may have been able to escape the blast at the last second. As it was, it was pure chance that Gaara looked up.
His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Naruto barreling down on him with his kunai handles pointed at key points on Gaara's neck. Gaara leapt back but Naruto still managed to hit him in the chest, driving the air from Gaara's lungs. Gaara choked, but still managed to jump up for the tree branches directly above him, Naruto in hot pursuit.
Gaara grabbed the branch and stopped to catch his breath. He was only able to drag in one ragged breath when Naruto caught up. Naruto, kunai clamped in his teeth, hit the branch hands first. He used the chakra he had gathered into his palms to stick to the tree, and he swung himself up, planting both feet into Gaara's back, sending Gaara airborne. Naruto crouched on the branch, and launched himself after Gaara.
Gaara managed to block the first punch, but the second got through and connected with his right bicep. Gaara reeled for a moment as his world tilted, and then he saw Naruto aiming a kick at his face. Gaara brought his forearm up and blocked the strike but was unprepared for Naruto's downward punch to his face.
Gaara's body arched backwards leaving his stomach exposed to Naruto's spin kick, which propelled Gaara toward the ground. As Gaara crashed into the ground, he lie still for a moment, then leapt back to his feet as Naruto landed right in front of him and threw a punch. Gaara ducked sideways and the punch sailed harmlessly passed. Then Gaara attacked for the first time.
Naruto wasn't surprised when Gaara threw a punch since he had been waiting for the attack. Naruto retreated, and Gaara pressed his seeming advantage. But for all his speed and power, he couldn't touch the other boy who was dodging.
Naruto studied Gaara's punches and realized that his theory was correct.
Putting his theory to the ultimate test, Naruto didn't dodge to the side of the next punch, but reached out and grabbed Gaara's forearm, and dragged the other boy forward, kneeing him in the gut. Gaara was thrown off balance, and Naruto was able to spin him around and put him in a chokehold.
Here was the test. If Gaara could break this, then Naruto was wrong. If Gaara couldn't break it, Naruto was right.
After nearly a minute of Gaara trying to break the hold, Naruto realized that he was right.
"Calm down Gaara, I don't want to have to hurt you."
Gaara's response was to struggle harder. His right elbow managed a semblance of movement and smacked rather hard into Naruto's ribs.
Naruto gasped in pain and nearly doubled over but caught himself. He tightened his grip on the other boy and spoke again.
"Okay, now you're just pissing me off. I've beaten you once Gaara, and I'll be happy to do it again if you don't calm down."
To articulate his words, Naruto gathered a little chakra into his arms and tightened his grip even more. Gaara finally stopped struggling and calmed down. Naruto released him but kept his guard up in case of an attack.
No attack came. Gaara merely walked back to the fire after banishing his sand clones and resumed his cleaning of the rabbits and fish.
Naruto studied him for a moment, and then looked around. The clearing was quite a bit larger than before. Gaara's sand blast had torn several trees up and deposited them forty feet away, and the fight between the sand clones and Naruto's doppelgangers had felled a few trees as well. Thankfully the fire was untouched.
Naruto stopped supplying chakra to his doppelgangers and they disappeared. He then walked over to the fire to finish cooking his meal.
As Naruto flopped down he studied Gaara out of the corner of his eye. The other boy looked somehow smaller than Naruto remembered him. Smaller not only physically, but spiritually as well. Naruto remembered Gaara's odd habit of calling the gourd 'mother'.
Gaara could feel Naruto's eyes on him. He fully expected the other boy to speak up and ask him why his gourd was gone. However, Naruto surprised him by merely continuing to look at him for a moment, then turning back to the fire and the meat roasting on it. Even with Gaara's miniscule social skills, he could tell that Naruto was greatly troubled, nearly as troubled as Gaara. Gaara also knew that they would have to talk soon or end up fighting again. And Gaara didn't need to waste his energy fighting with Naruto.
Gaara finished preparing his meal and placed it over the fire to cook. Naruto's food was soon done, and he settled down to eat the bird and eggs, while Gaara waited for his own food to cook. After a little while, Gaara took the food off the fire and began to eat. Suddenly finding that he was ravenous, Gaara finished his meal almost as fast as Naruto.
Naruto watched as Gaara dropped the last rabbit bone stripped of meat. Before Gaara could stand or do anything, Naruto spoke.
"You don't know much about taijutsu, do you?"
Gaara stiffened and glared at Naruto, but didn't attack. After a moment, he shook his head to the negative.
"Thought not."
"How could you tell?"
"You were too clumsy."
At Gaara's inquisitive look Naruto elaborated.
"You kept trying to keep me at a distance, so I figured there had to be a reason. When I finally got close to you, I got really suspicious of how easily I was knocking you around. When you threw that first punch, I was watching for it. That's why I suddenly backed off. I wanted to be sure. When I saw that every punch you threw was just as clumsy and awkward as the first, I knew. Once I got you in that hold, I was certain. You may have strength and speed to spare, Gaara, but your skill and experience with taijutsu is abysmal. I'd say you've never used it."
"I never had to. No one could get close enough to attack me. Those that did, I was fast enough to move away from before they hit me. I was taught the basics, but no more. I saw no reason. Most people never lived long enough to attack me, and those that did never connected. I haven't practiced taijutsu in years. But now, it's revealed to me just how helpless I am without it, and how much I relied on mother."
Naruto noticed Gaara's odd mention to his gourd, and made a mental note to one day ask the other boy about it. Instead, Naruto asked Gaara something else, but he felt that it was still a sensitive subject.
"Gaara, what are you doing out here?"
Gaara looked into the dancing flames. After a moment he spoke.
"I was run out of my village."
"Why?"
Gaara didn't answer. Naruto sighed, and stood.
He kicked dirt onto the fire and prepared to leave.
"Because I had failed."
Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder at Gaara. The other boy simply sat there with a slump to his shoulders.
"How about a deal?"
Gaara looked up in surprise.
"I'll help you master taijutsu. In return, I want you to tell me how you channel the Sabaku's chakra."
Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"Why do you want to know how I do that? Looking for another weakness?"
"No. I've got my own...unique chakra, but I don't know how to properly use it."
Gaara looked at Naruto with suspicion, but finally nodded.
"Very well. I'll teach you how to channel a demon's power, in return, you teach me taijutsu."
Naruto nodded. He then beckoned Gaara to follow him.
"We'd best leave. We've been sitting in one spot too long, and with that ruckus we caused we'll have drawn every nin-hunter in the area. We should've left earlier, but I was too damn hungry."
Without any more words, Naruto and Gaara leapt for the treetops. Soon they were gone, the only testament to their presence the smoldering ashes of the fire, and the devastated clearing.
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The Hidden Leaf Village Of Kohana was in an uproar. It had been ever since Naruto had been driven out and escaped two weeks ago. The general populace was greatly relieved to finally be rid of the kitsune brat. The ninja's who were able to know confidential information were less than comforted. The knowledge of what might happen if members of the Akatsuki captured Naruto was chilling. The last time the nine tailed demon fox was free, it had taken several hundred lives to stall it, and the hokage's life to stop it. And this time there would be no fourth Hokage to die for the village.
In the shinobi headquarters, things were definitely tense. Especially around a jounin shinobi dressed in a green body suit with an unzipped vest. His black hair looked as it always did, helmet-ish and scruffy. At the moment, this shinobi was walking down a hallway.
"I never got a chance to thank you."
Gai stopped and his head snapped over to the pillar he had just passed. Kakashi emerged from the shadows, his hands in his pockets. Gai nodded, and continued walking, Kakashi walking along side him.
"For what?"
"Saving Naruto. If not for your help, he would have died."
Gai studied Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. Something about the others demeanor stopped Gai from acting as he normally would.
"What makes you think I saved him?"
Kakashi snorted.
"I didn't arrive in time to save Naruto, but I arrived soon enough to see your actions. As well as those of the other jounin."
Gai studied Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, he looked forward again.
"I was too worried about getting Naruto safe while making it look like I was attacking him, so I wasn't able to identify the other jounin. I'm sorry. Any idea why they decided to drive him out?"
"Something about blaming him for Sasuke going over to Orochimaru."
Gai's mouth fell open and he stared at Kakashi with undisguised shock.
"What do you expect? They've blamed the boy for everything bad that's happened for years. I heard they also blamed him for Itachi going wrong."
"They still think Naruto was the cause of Sasuke joining Orochimaru, even after Naruto was the one to bring him back?!"
Kakashi nodded.
"That mob was just waiting to happen. All it took was for one person to have a little bit too much to drink, and it got out of hand. The city is just boiling with resentment and un-ease. They found an outlet in Naruto."
Gai nodded.
"Poor kid."
Kakashi didn't immediately respond to Gai's comment. But after a moment, he spoke.
"I sometimes wonder if I should've been more helpful to Naruto. I more or less ignored him, you know? After a while, I concentrated on training Sasuke, and totally ignored Naruto and Sakura."
Gai nodded.
"We all do that. It was the same with Lee and me. I simply saw myself in Lee. A determined kid, out to prove that he could be just as good as a genius. Just like me."
"And Sasuke is a lot like me at that age. Anyway, just out of curiosity, why did you give Hokage-sama the names of the chounins and genins involved in the mob after Naruto?"
Gai shrugged.
"I did it as a punishment. Hokage-sama tore into them all, and everyone else will now look down on them for losing to the 'dead-last'."
Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose and he idly scratched at the left side of his nose through his mask. Gai saw Kakashi's look and grinned at him. There was a slight sparkle to his teeth as Gai started to act a little more like himself.
"Oh come on. Even you should be able to see that despite how well Naruto did in the chounin exam, most people still regard him as the weak and worthless dead last. However, I can see how you, the second best Shinobi, wouldn't be able to see it!"
Kakashi lightly smacked Gai upside the head, but he silently agreed with the other jounin. Naruto, it seemed, was cursed to never rise in the opinion of the people of Kohona.
Coming out of his reverie, Kakashi checked his watch.
"Hmm...Gai, there's a half hour left before the time for hospital visitors is gone. Want to come with me to check on Sasuke? I'll buy you dinner afterward."
Gai seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure. But we're eating at the Nek-hano's."
Kakashi groaned. Leave it to Gai to bum a meal off of Kakashi at the most expensive restaurant the village had. Oh well. At least the food would be good.
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He returned to awareness rather quickly. He soon wished that he hadn't. He hurt like hell. Especially his left shoulder. It felt hot enough to cook something.
He slowly opened his eyes, narrowing them to slits against the glare. He looked around the room and wondered (Why in the hell is everything white?)
He slowly moved his fingers and toes. Finding that they all worked, he moved his arms and legs. His body complained at the movement, especially his shoulder, but he found that the pain was bearable, and that if he had too he could fight.
(Uhn...What did Orochimaru do to me?)
The door opened, cutting off his line of thought, and he opened his eyes to see a female med-nin wearing the leaf head protector walk into the room. She let the door close, then noticed that he was watching her. She returned his cool look with one filled to the brim with disdain and contempt. He was more surprised than he liked to admit. Usually these people looked at him with nothing but respect and admiration. He closed his eyes and let his head fall deeper into the pillow. He'd figure out what was going on later.
But he would be finding out what was going on now, whether he wanted to know or not.
The door opened again, and his eyes snapped open because the med-nin was nowhere near the door. When he saw the person entering the room, he very nearly paled. Not that you would've noticed, since he was extremely pale already.
Tsunade walked into the room, looking every bit the Hokage, cool, calm, and regal. And she also looked ready to cast a death sentence. Without asking, she chose a chair at the right side of Sasuke's bed, and sat down, studying him as if she was looking at a rabid but weak wolf, curable, but better put out of its misery.
Tsunade waited for the med-nin to finish what she was doing and leave before speaking.
"Sasuke, do you know what the penalty for what you have done is?"
Sasuke raised his head and threw a glare at her. Its effect was totally lost when his head suddenly fell back into the pillow, his neck muscles to weak to support the action of raising his head for long. Not that it would've had any effect on Tsunade anyway...
"Banishment from Kohona, then a slow death by torture. We will have no traitors in this village, and anyone who even thinks of joining Orochimaru is considered a traitor."
Sasuke looked at her with a small amount of anger on his face.
"Even if you join him for the reason of eliminating another traitor to Kohona Village?"
"Hmph. Don't be stupid boy. Orochimaru wouldn't have helped you beat Itachi. There are only a select few who have the potential to even give that man a decent challenge. And you aren't one of them."
Sasuke's cool mask completely cracked at the last statement, and his anger showed through clearly. He idly noticed that his left shoulder was burning much more painfully now, but he ignored it.
"I WILL kill my brother! Not you, not anyone else will stop me! I'll do ANYTHING to kill him!"
"Then why did you go with Orochimaru?"
Sasuke turned his head in surprise at Kakashi's voice, then instantly wished he hadn't, closing his eyes tightly as dizziness and pain from the sudden action welled up. As the effects of the sudden movement faded, so did his anger, and the pain in his left shoulder faded as well. Sasuke opened his eyes and studied Kakashi in inquiry, noticing Gai standing to Kakashi's left.
"Orochimaru didn't want to train you. He wanted something from you, and in the process of acquiring it, he would've killed you."
"Oh, and what did he want from me?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger, closing his eyes. He felt his left shoulder give a twitch of pain, and finally took notice of it. But he shoved it to the back of his mind when he felt Kakashi lightly tap his eyelids.
"These. The only use you were to Orochimaru was for your Sharigan eyes."
Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, and looked at the three adults around the room. Tsunade spoke next.
"Orochimaru made an oath long ago to master every jutsu in existence. Toward this end, he created a jutsu all his own that allows his spirit to posses another's body, thus granting him immortality. All he wanted was your body Sasuke, to posses it, and take its Bloodline limit. That process would've destroyed your own spirit, killing you. I ask you this: How can you kill Itachi if you kill yourself by going with Orochimaru?"
Throughout Tsunade's little speech, Kakashi watched his student's eyes, and was relieved to see the realization growing within them. Once Tsunade finished speaking, Sasuke stared up at the ceiling blankly for a moment before speaking.
"Who do I have to thank for bringing me back?"
Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade each felt a mix of relief, and trepidation. They all hesitated, glancing at each other to see who would tell Sasuke. Finally, Tsunade spoke.
"You were rescued by Naruto, as well as a few other Chounin."
Sasuke closed his eyes. (Of course. Naruto. Only the 'dead-last' could do something like that.) His eyes opened, and he looked at Kakashi.
"Sensei, could you tell that idiot that I would like to see him?"
Gai and Tsunade looked at Kakashi for the barest moment, and he gave a tiny shake of his head. Sasuke and Naruto were members of Kakashi's team. Handling all the problems within the team was his job.
"Sasuke, there is a slight problem. I would prefer you find this out much later, after you've recovered more. But you'd better hear it now, instead of walking down the street."
Kakashi sat at the foot of the bed on the left side, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling. He turned his head so he could look at Sasuke. His eye, normally looking lazy and a little dazed, was now alert, piercing like a dagger. Sasuke nodded at him, his own eyes never leaving his sensei's single visible eye.
"Two weeks ago, a mob attacked Naruto. I don't know how they got it, but they bore with them a piece of paper bearing the signatures of two- thirds the population of Kohona."
Sasuke blinked, his mouth falling open as his mind made the connections of what Kakashi was saying.
"But...the only thing they would need two-thirds for would be..."
"Yes Sasuke. Naruto has been legally banished from this village. His forehead protector had the village symbol filed off of it."
Sasuke looked at Tsunade and Gai for confirmation. Tsunade nodded, as did Gai. Sasuke didn't know why, but Gai's attitude, his acting so out of character, was what drove the point home. Sasuke's head fell back onto the pillow, and he ground his teeth together in anger.
"God...What fools did this? And WHY? He did nothing to them!"
For a moment, Sasuke simply lay there, grinding his teeth together. Then he opened his eyes, and focused on Tsunade.
"What happened to that idiot? Where is he now?"
He was obviously afraid she would say 'the graveyard', but was immensely relieved when she spoke.
"We don't know. Thanks to Gai's efforts, Naruto managed to make it to the river and escape. We haven't found any sign of him since then."
Sasuke was more relived than he cared to admit. Tsunade seemed to read his thoughts when she asked her next question.
"Why so much concern for Naruto, Sasuke? Could it be he's become a friend?"
Sasuke glared at her.
"Not a friend. I respect him. He's saved my life too many times for me not to respect him. To not think...of him as a...rival..."
At this point, Sasuke finally passed into the realm of sleep, his head falling to one side. Kakashi studied Sasuke's face as the boy's breathing rhythm fell into that of a sleeping person, and the muscles in his face relaxed.
(Sakura would probably kill to see Sasuke this way...)
"We need to talk."
Kakashi looked up at Tsunade and met her piercing gaze. He nodded, then stood and walked out of the room, so as not to disturb Sasuke, Gai and Tsunade following.
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Gaara punched. He then drew his arm back and made a kick high enough into the air that it would've reached an opponents head. At least if the opponent was of a size with Gaara.
Gaara brought his leg back down, then performed a high snap kick, followed by a low sweep with the same leg. He went into a spin kick, aiming high and bringing the heel of his foot down on the opponent's solar plexus.
Once Gaara's foot had connected with the ground, he looked over toward Naruto, who had watched with a critical eye.
"Not bad. You've got the general idea. Do the katas several more times, get your body used to the motions. Then try mixing the katas. Get instincts about what moves will work best, where."
Gaara nodded, but instead of beginning the katas right away, he sat down on a nearby rock. For a moment, he simply studied Naruto, then started to speak.
"Channeling a demon's chakra isn't like channeling human's chakra. Human's chakra is calm and cool, easy to control with a little practice. A demon's chakra is the exact opposite. It's violent and hot, burning away the weakness in your body. Think of it like a smelter. It melts down raw ore, then heats to a temperature where all the impurities evaporate, leaving behind pure metals, which can then be combined, through your actions, into a much stronger alloy. In other words, simply channeling a demon's chakra for a long period of time will put you on a whole new physical level. But controlling a demon's chakra is the real challenge. Otherwise, you run the risk of burning yourself to a crisp. Lose control of the chakra you've drawn in, and the demon starts to influence you, and you start to draw in more and more chakra, which is uncontrolled."
Naruto remembered several times in the past where he had channeled the Kyubi's chakra. When he thought about it, it was a miracle he was still alive. He remembered the time when he was fighting Haku, and he blacked out. When he came too, Haku's demon ice mirrors had been shattered, and Haku was asking Naruto to kill him. There had been other instances where he simply seemed to lose control. Each one linked to channeling Kyubi's mountain of chakra.
"Naruto, I assume you've done the chakra control exercise of walking up a tree?"
Naruto looked at Gaara with a 'do you think I'm stupid' expression, while Gaara looked back with 'do you really want an answer to that question'.
"I want you to do that, but with your 'unique' chakra. Get up and down a tree three times without touching the ground. Once you're done, do it again."
Naruto nodded, and walked over to the tallest tree in their little clearing, while Gaara walked into the center of the clearing. As Naruto assumed his favorite concentration stance, hands clasped together, index and middle finger extended, feet together, Gaara assumed the basic taijutsu stance, legs a little more than shoulder width apart, knees bent slightly, weight distributed evenly, left arm extended, elbow bent at a 135 degree angle, right arm retracted slightly, down at his waist, elbow bent at a 90 degree angle.
Gaara started the basic kata, throwing punches and kicks slowly, spinning around into a roundhouse kick occasionally. The moves were awkward, but Gaara wasn't deterred. He finished one kata, re-assumed the stance, and performed the second kata.
Naruto, meanwhile, was having trouble simply gathering the Kyubi's chakra. Whenever he had tapped it before, he had been under a lot of stress, and had reached for the power, and dragged it out on instinct. Now, Naruto was trying to use the chakra at will and not on instinct. Sweat beaded his brow slightly as he searched his inner coils for Kyubi's chakra.
To Naruto's inner eye, he was surrounded by swirls of blue, calm and cool, like water moving about on a windy day. He 'dove' down into the chakra, feeling it brush along him, energizing his body somewhat. But he didn't find what he was looking for, so he dove deeper. After what seemed to be about an hour, he caught a glimmer of red in the corner of his 'eye', and swam toward it. Soon the red took up his entire vision, taking on an orb shape. Naruto had found the Kyubi's chakra, but now he had to figure out how to draw it out of its prison...
Naruto remembered the spiral that had appeared on his navel each and every time he channeled any kind of chakra. That was the seal placed upon the demon, as well as the principle of the Rasengan. Like a black hole, you just drew power down a spiral, compressing it. Naruto would have to see about any other moves based on the spiral later on, but for now he had to find a way to draw the chakra out. He looked around and spotted something odd. He swam closer to inspect it.
It looked like someone had come down here and dug out a tunnel in the chakra. For a moment, Naruto studied it. Then he suddenly realized what it was, and he followed it with is eyes. It went down and connected to the red spot of chakra, and extended far into the 'sky', Naruto spinning around slowly to follow it. No doubt about it, it was the spiral. Naruto grinned in triumph and glanced down at the red orb.
And gave a mental yelp and shot upward, to near the top of the spiral.
The orb had changed shape slightly, forming two eyes, a short muzzle, and an open mouth filled with teeth the length of Naruto's forearm. Kyubi was glaring at Naruto.
For a moment, Naruto's heart beat fast, and he came close to breaking the meditation. After a moment, the fear passed, and Naruto 'spoke'.
"Oi, fox, I'll start collecting on the rent more often from now on. You got a problem with that?"
"Damned twit, I'm sealed inside the body of an un-worthy idiot. Now why would I have a problem?"
Naruto could practically feel the sarcasm. He shrugged, and reached down, into the spiral tunnel, extending his arm until it rested just above the orb that was the Kyubi's chakra. He glanced at the Kyubi, silently asking the demon for permission, when the face, which was still glaring at Naruto bobbed in what was unmistakably a nod.
Naruto grasped the chakra, and pulled it upward, through the spiral.
Gaara threw a two-punch combo, a right hook followed by a left straight, when he suddenly felt Naruto's chakra explode. He turned to watch Naruto, who now had red swirls of chakra surrounding his body. For a moment Naruto stood there, bringing the chakra into a semblance of control. He then drew a kunai, and ran for the tree, the red chakra gathered into his feet. He reached the base of the tree, and lifted his foot, placing it against the trunk, lifting his other foot...
...as his first foot sank into the tree up to his knee.
Gaara grinned slightly as Naruto gave a surprised yelp, and tumbled to the ground. Gaara went back to his katas as Naruto pulled his leg from the tree, walked back, Kyubi's chakra still whirling about him, and tried again.
:Author's Note:
Well, that is a good stopping point, I think. Hopefully I cleared up some questions, but hopefully I also left some to be cleared in future chapters. Till those chapters then.
Naruto awoke slowly, for once wanting to stay asleep. His sleep- fogged brain was a bit confused at that desire, until the events of two weeks ago were remembered.
As the memories came crashing down upon him he sat bolt upright, his sore body protesting mightily, and quickly scanned his surroundings.
The leaves that he had used to cover himself last night fell away, revealing his now more brown than orange tattered jumpsuit. He leapt to his feet after looking around, and was moving before the leaves had finished settling to the ground.
He leapt up to the trees and grabbed a rather large branch with his hands. He pulled himself up, and crouched low on the branch, once again looking around.
After a few seconds had passed with no attack, he tightened the muscles in his legs, and launched himself for another branch. He hit the top of it hands first, and brought his legs up to place them directly underneath him. Before his forward momentum had died, he propelled himself through the air toward another branch again.
This method of transport continued for several more hours. He would have gone on for longer had his stomach not been complaining loudly about missing breakfast. As it was, he could either stop and hunt for food, or have his stomach scream out his position for every Hunter-nin in the entire forest.
Naruto chose the former.
It just so happened that he decided to stop and eat as he practically landed on a bird nest, complete with over a dozen eggs, and two rather large, tasty looking birds.
The poor fowl didn't know what the blur of orange, brown, and yellow meant.
Soon a small clearing nearby was filled with the sound of a fire, and the smell of cooking bird and eggs.
Naruto was looking at the food that was cooking absently, making sure it didn't burn. He would've preferred ramen, but that was impossible out here in the wilderness.
Perhaps Naruto should've been more attentive to his surroundings, or he would've noticed that he was no longer alone.
Snap!
Naruto's head snapped up and he looked around him. A few seconds passed in silence while Naruto had an increasing sinking feeling in his gut. He stood up and pulled out a Kunai and a shuriken.
"Who's there?!"
Mocking laughter was the only answer to Naruto's shout of inquiry.
Naruto turned toward the source of the laughter and hurled the shuriken. It spun into the canopy of a tree and the laughter suddenly cut off as the person who was laughing screamed. A moment later, they fell, and Naruto saw that he had hit them in the thigh.
A sudden crashing noise behind him caused Naruto to turn around and see three people rush him. The formation of the three was two in front, the last following closely behind. The man on the left had two short swords, while the man on the right had a short sickle and chain. The man in the back had a rather nasty looking spear. Naruto guessed that their attack pattern was designed so that the first two attackers would tie up the victims arms while the last attacker would reach over the other two and kill the victim with his spear.
Naruto formed a seal with his hands and two doppelgangers appeared. They leapt and intercepted the first two. The third attacker didn't notice that the formation had been broken, and made a stab at Naruto. He was clearly astounded when he saw Naruto easily turn the spear aside with an un- occupied arm.
The man, who Naruto now noticed was covered in even more dirt that he was, had long black hair and a thick beard. Neither the hair nor the beard hid the wounds that were on his face. They looked like they had been caused by a kunai a day or two ago. Naruto decided to add his own slash mark to the mans face.
The man started to back away, bringing his spear around as he did so. Naruto ducked under the weapon, then lunged. The man tried to sidestep the attack, but only managed to get Naruto to slash the man's shoulder instead of his face. The man screamed and backed away, dropping his spear.
There were footsteps from immediately behind Naruto so he ducked down, forming a ball. Predictably, the man trying to attack Naruto's back didn't stop and tripped over him. Naruto stood with as much force as he could when the man was halfway through his fall. The result was the man ended up flying through the air, and landing on his face a good ten feet away. Naruto ordered his doppelgangers back.
Naruto faced the men as they gathered themselves, his doppelgangers on either side of him.
After a moment of studying each other, the two sides leapt to attack. An attack that was abruptly cut off when another figure emerged from the trees.
Naruto and his doppelgangers leapt back to gain room to maneuver. The four attackers, however, merely stood there, looking at the new comer with something that could only be called pure terror. Naruto perfectly understood.
(Damn it! Why does HE have to show up now?! I haven't even had any food yet!)
The newcomer surveyed the scene before him with a look of cool indifference. He took a few steps into the clearing and the attackers took a few steps back. A few more steps forward, and a few steps in retreat.
The newcomer suddenly turned and glared at them. They gave a single, unified scream, and fled.
The newcomer finally turned his attention to Naruto, who still had two doppelgangers ready to fight.
Gaara raised his free hand in a gesture of peace, and spoke.
"I'm not here to fight. I actually came to see if I could use your fire."
The request caught Naruto off guard to the point where the doppelgangers vanished in a puff of smoke.
Naruto recovered from his shock, and studied Gaara.
The other boy was nearly as battered in appearance as Naruto was, with rips in his clothes, which were also covered in liberal amounts of mud, with the occasional splatter of dried blood. Gaara had a few rabbits thrown over one shoulder, along with several fish. Naruto noticed that something was missing from Gaara's appearance, something major that should've been noticed at once.
But Naruto was tired and hungry, so he simply shrugged, and nodded his ascent.
Gaara walked over to the fire, which was large enough to cook both Naruto's food, and his own, and kneeled. He pulled out a kunai and set about skinning and cleaning the rabbits and fish.
Naruto walked back over to the fire, and he passed behind Gaara as he did so. It was only because Naruto was keeping one wary eye on Gaara that he noticed how the other boy stiffened slightly, but still tried to appear casual. And then Naruto noticed what was missing from Gaara's appearance.
"Your gourd is gone!"
Gaara turned around and glared at Naruto so fast that he blurred. Naruto brought up his hands in a placating gesture as Gaara spoke, his voice filled with anger.
"What of it!?"
"Nothing, nothing! Sorry!"
But Gaara seemed to be getting angrier, looking at Naruto with fury blazing in his eyes.
Before Naruto could speak again to try and calm Gaara down, Gaara's hands blurred and he gathered chakra. The sand around him suddenly came to life.
Naruto jumped back, forming his own seals and gathering chakra. Doppelgangers suddenly appeared around him, and they leapt forward to attack Gaara's sand clones. As Naruto landed, he drew two kunai, one for each hand, then prepared himself for battle.
He crouched down, tightening the muscles in his legs, then propelled himself into the air, over the battle of doppelgangers and sand clones. He started to descend toward Gaara, who leapt away and began performing seals.
As Naruto landed he crouched again, then propelled himself toward Gaara headfirst, hands drawn back to slash at the other boy. Gaara stopped forming seals, his spell incomplete, and once again leaped away. A suspicion began to form in Naruto's mind as he once again leapt after Gaara.
Gaara once again formed seals, but this time he was able to complete the spell, as it was much shorter. Two sand clones rose in front of him, and they intercepted the surprised Naruto, who did his best to back away and defend himself from the clones.
Gaara began another series of seals, his eyes fixed on Naruto who now was thoroughly distracted by the sand clones.
Naruto parried one blow from a sand clone and realized the other had disappeared. He felt the sand just beneath him shift ever so slightly and he knew that the clone was now behind him in its sand state.
Naruto blocked another strike from the clone in front of him, and drew back his free hand with the intent to thrust it behind him, hopefully stabbing the other clone as it reformed. However, at that point he felt a rather large buildup of chakra, and looked over to its source to see Gaara inhaling.
Naruto instantly gathered as much chakra into his feet as he could, crouched, then propelled himself into the air.
He barely missed the effect of Gaara's spell, the torrent of sand from the Mugen Sajin Daitoppa scraping his toes. As Naruto reached the peak of his jump he noticed that Gaara was focused on the area decimated by the sand blast, and not paying attention to the area above him. Naruto grinned as he began his decent.
Gaara was indeed intent on the area that the sand blast had just torn apart, believing that Naruto had been caught in the blast. It didn't occur to him that Naruto may have been able to escape the blast at the last second. As it was, it was pure chance that Gaara looked up.
His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Naruto barreling down on him with his kunai handles pointed at key points on Gaara's neck. Gaara leapt back but Naruto still managed to hit him in the chest, driving the air from Gaara's lungs. Gaara choked, but still managed to jump up for the tree branches directly above him, Naruto in hot pursuit.
Gaara grabbed the branch and stopped to catch his breath. He was only able to drag in one ragged breath when Naruto caught up. Naruto, kunai clamped in his teeth, hit the branch hands first. He used the chakra he had gathered into his palms to stick to the tree, and he swung himself up, planting both feet into Gaara's back, sending Gaara airborne. Naruto crouched on the branch, and launched himself after Gaara.
Gaara managed to block the first punch, but the second got through and connected with his right bicep. Gaara reeled for a moment as his world tilted, and then he saw Naruto aiming a kick at his face. Gaara brought his forearm up and blocked the strike but was unprepared for Naruto's downward punch to his face.
Gaara's body arched backwards leaving his stomach exposed to Naruto's spin kick, which propelled Gaara toward the ground. As Gaara crashed into the ground, he lie still for a moment, then leapt back to his feet as Naruto landed right in front of him and threw a punch. Gaara ducked sideways and the punch sailed harmlessly passed. Then Gaara attacked for the first time.
Naruto wasn't surprised when Gaara threw a punch since he had been waiting for the attack. Naruto retreated, and Gaara pressed his seeming advantage. But for all his speed and power, he couldn't touch the other boy who was dodging.
Naruto studied Gaara's punches and realized that his theory was correct.
Putting his theory to the ultimate test, Naruto didn't dodge to the side of the next punch, but reached out and grabbed Gaara's forearm, and dragged the other boy forward, kneeing him in the gut. Gaara was thrown off balance, and Naruto was able to spin him around and put him in a chokehold.
Here was the test. If Gaara could break this, then Naruto was wrong. If Gaara couldn't break it, Naruto was right.
After nearly a minute of Gaara trying to break the hold, Naruto realized that he was right.
"Calm down Gaara, I don't want to have to hurt you."
Gaara's response was to struggle harder. His right elbow managed a semblance of movement and smacked rather hard into Naruto's ribs.
Naruto gasped in pain and nearly doubled over but caught himself. He tightened his grip on the other boy and spoke again.
"Okay, now you're just pissing me off. I've beaten you once Gaara, and I'll be happy to do it again if you don't calm down."
To articulate his words, Naruto gathered a little chakra into his arms and tightened his grip even more. Gaara finally stopped struggling and calmed down. Naruto released him but kept his guard up in case of an attack.
No attack came. Gaara merely walked back to the fire after banishing his sand clones and resumed his cleaning of the rabbits and fish.
Naruto studied him for a moment, and then looked around. The clearing was quite a bit larger than before. Gaara's sand blast had torn several trees up and deposited them forty feet away, and the fight between the sand clones and Naruto's doppelgangers had felled a few trees as well. Thankfully the fire was untouched.
Naruto stopped supplying chakra to his doppelgangers and they disappeared. He then walked over to the fire to finish cooking his meal.
As Naruto flopped down he studied Gaara out of the corner of his eye. The other boy looked somehow smaller than Naruto remembered him. Smaller not only physically, but spiritually as well. Naruto remembered Gaara's odd habit of calling the gourd 'mother'.
Gaara could feel Naruto's eyes on him. He fully expected the other boy to speak up and ask him why his gourd was gone. However, Naruto surprised him by merely continuing to look at him for a moment, then turning back to the fire and the meat roasting on it. Even with Gaara's miniscule social skills, he could tell that Naruto was greatly troubled, nearly as troubled as Gaara. Gaara also knew that they would have to talk soon or end up fighting again. And Gaara didn't need to waste his energy fighting with Naruto.
Gaara finished preparing his meal and placed it over the fire to cook. Naruto's food was soon done, and he settled down to eat the bird and eggs, while Gaara waited for his own food to cook. After a little while, Gaara took the food off the fire and began to eat. Suddenly finding that he was ravenous, Gaara finished his meal almost as fast as Naruto.
Naruto watched as Gaara dropped the last rabbit bone stripped of meat. Before Gaara could stand or do anything, Naruto spoke.
"You don't know much about taijutsu, do you?"
Gaara stiffened and glared at Naruto, but didn't attack. After a moment, he shook his head to the negative.
"Thought not."
"How could you tell?"
"You were too clumsy."
At Gaara's inquisitive look Naruto elaborated.
"You kept trying to keep me at a distance, so I figured there had to be a reason. When I finally got close to you, I got really suspicious of how easily I was knocking you around. When you threw that first punch, I was watching for it. That's why I suddenly backed off. I wanted to be sure. When I saw that every punch you threw was just as clumsy and awkward as the first, I knew. Once I got you in that hold, I was certain. You may have strength and speed to spare, Gaara, but your skill and experience with taijutsu is abysmal. I'd say you've never used it."
"I never had to. No one could get close enough to attack me. Those that did, I was fast enough to move away from before they hit me. I was taught the basics, but no more. I saw no reason. Most people never lived long enough to attack me, and those that did never connected. I haven't practiced taijutsu in years. But now, it's revealed to me just how helpless I am without it, and how much I relied on mother."
Naruto noticed Gaara's odd mention to his gourd, and made a mental note to one day ask the other boy about it. Instead, Naruto asked Gaara something else, but he felt that it was still a sensitive subject.
"Gaara, what are you doing out here?"
Gaara looked into the dancing flames. After a moment he spoke.
"I was run out of my village."
"Why?"
Gaara didn't answer. Naruto sighed, and stood.
He kicked dirt onto the fire and prepared to leave.
"Because I had failed."
Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder at Gaara. The other boy simply sat there with a slump to his shoulders.
"How about a deal?"
Gaara looked up in surprise.
"I'll help you master taijutsu. In return, I want you to tell me how you channel the Sabaku's chakra."
Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"Why do you want to know how I do that? Looking for another weakness?"
"No. I've got my own...unique chakra, but I don't know how to properly use it."
Gaara looked at Naruto with suspicion, but finally nodded.
"Very well. I'll teach you how to channel a demon's power, in return, you teach me taijutsu."
Naruto nodded. He then beckoned Gaara to follow him.
"We'd best leave. We've been sitting in one spot too long, and with that ruckus we caused we'll have drawn every nin-hunter in the area. We should've left earlier, but I was too damn hungry."
Without any more words, Naruto and Gaara leapt for the treetops. Soon they were gone, the only testament to their presence the smoldering ashes of the fire, and the devastated clearing.
-------------------------------------- ---
The Hidden Leaf Village Of Kohana was in an uproar. It had been ever since Naruto had been driven out and escaped two weeks ago. The general populace was greatly relieved to finally be rid of the kitsune brat. The ninja's who were able to know confidential information were less than comforted. The knowledge of what might happen if members of the Akatsuki captured Naruto was chilling. The last time the nine tailed demon fox was free, it had taken several hundred lives to stall it, and the hokage's life to stop it. And this time there would be no fourth Hokage to die for the village.
In the shinobi headquarters, things were definitely tense. Especially around a jounin shinobi dressed in a green body suit with an unzipped vest. His black hair looked as it always did, helmet-ish and scruffy. At the moment, this shinobi was walking down a hallway.
"I never got a chance to thank you."
Gai stopped and his head snapped over to the pillar he had just passed. Kakashi emerged from the shadows, his hands in his pockets. Gai nodded, and continued walking, Kakashi walking along side him.
"For what?"
"Saving Naruto. If not for your help, he would have died."
Gai studied Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. Something about the others demeanor stopped Gai from acting as he normally would.
"What makes you think I saved him?"
Kakashi snorted.
"I didn't arrive in time to save Naruto, but I arrived soon enough to see your actions. As well as those of the other jounin."
Gai studied Kakashi out of the corner of his eye. After a moment, he looked forward again.
"I was too worried about getting Naruto safe while making it look like I was attacking him, so I wasn't able to identify the other jounin. I'm sorry. Any idea why they decided to drive him out?"
"Something about blaming him for Sasuke going over to Orochimaru."
Gai's mouth fell open and he stared at Kakashi with undisguised shock.
"What do you expect? They've blamed the boy for everything bad that's happened for years. I heard they also blamed him for Itachi going wrong."
"They still think Naruto was the cause of Sasuke joining Orochimaru, even after Naruto was the one to bring him back?!"
Kakashi nodded.
"That mob was just waiting to happen. All it took was for one person to have a little bit too much to drink, and it got out of hand. The city is just boiling with resentment and un-ease. They found an outlet in Naruto."
Gai nodded.
"Poor kid."
Kakashi didn't immediately respond to Gai's comment. But after a moment, he spoke.
"I sometimes wonder if I should've been more helpful to Naruto. I more or less ignored him, you know? After a while, I concentrated on training Sasuke, and totally ignored Naruto and Sakura."
Gai nodded.
"We all do that. It was the same with Lee and me. I simply saw myself in Lee. A determined kid, out to prove that he could be just as good as a genius. Just like me."
"And Sasuke is a lot like me at that age. Anyway, just out of curiosity, why did you give Hokage-sama the names of the chounins and genins involved in the mob after Naruto?"
Gai shrugged.
"I did it as a punishment. Hokage-sama tore into them all, and everyone else will now look down on them for losing to the 'dead-last'."
Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose and he idly scratched at the left side of his nose through his mask. Gai saw Kakashi's look and grinned at him. There was a slight sparkle to his teeth as Gai started to act a little more like himself.
"Oh come on. Even you should be able to see that despite how well Naruto did in the chounin exam, most people still regard him as the weak and worthless dead last. However, I can see how you, the second best Shinobi, wouldn't be able to see it!"
Kakashi lightly smacked Gai upside the head, but he silently agreed with the other jounin. Naruto, it seemed, was cursed to never rise in the opinion of the people of Kohona.
Coming out of his reverie, Kakashi checked his watch.
"Hmm...Gai, there's a half hour left before the time for hospital visitors is gone. Want to come with me to check on Sasuke? I'll buy you dinner afterward."
Gai seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Sure. But we're eating at the Nek-hano's."
Kakashi groaned. Leave it to Gai to bum a meal off of Kakashi at the most expensive restaurant the village had. Oh well. At least the food would be good.
-------------------------------------- ---
He returned to awareness rather quickly. He soon wished that he hadn't. He hurt like hell. Especially his left shoulder. It felt hot enough to cook something.
He slowly opened his eyes, narrowing them to slits against the glare. He looked around the room and wondered (Why in the hell is everything white?)
He slowly moved his fingers and toes. Finding that they all worked, he moved his arms and legs. His body complained at the movement, especially his shoulder, but he found that the pain was bearable, and that if he had too he could fight.
(Uhn...What did Orochimaru do to me?)
The door opened, cutting off his line of thought, and he opened his eyes to see a female med-nin wearing the leaf head protector walk into the room. She let the door close, then noticed that he was watching her. She returned his cool look with one filled to the brim with disdain and contempt. He was more surprised than he liked to admit. Usually these people looked at him with nothing but respect and admiration. He closed his eyes and let his head fall deeper into the pillow. He'd figure out what was going on later.
But he would be finding out what was going on now, whether he wanted to know or not.
The door opened again, and his eyes snapped open because the med-nin was nowhere near the door. When he saw the person entering the room, he very nearly paled. Not that you would've noticed, since he was extremely pale already.
Tsunade walked into the room, looking every bit the Hokage, cool, calm, and regal. And she also looked ready to cast a death sentence. Without asking, she chose a chair at the right side of Sasuke's bed, and sat down, studying him as if she was looking at a rabid but weak wolf, curable, but better put out of its misery.
Tsunade waited for the med-nin to finish what she was doing and leave before speaking.
"Sasuke, do you know what the penalty for what you have done is?"
Sasuke raised his head and threw a glare at her. Its effect was totally lost when his head suddenly fell back into the pillow, his neck muscles to weak to support the action of raising his head for long. Not that it would've had any effect on Tsunade anyway...
"Banishment from Kohona, then a slow death by torture. We will have no traitors in this village, and anyone who even thinks of joining Orochimaru is considered a traitor."
Sasuke looked at her with a small amount of anger on his face.
"Even if you join him for the reason of eliminating another traitor to Kohona Village?"
"Hmph. Don't be stupid boy. Orochimaru wouldn't have helped you beat Itachi. There are only a select few who have the potential to even give that man a decent challenge. And you aren't one of them."
Sasuke's cool mask completely cracked at the last statement, and his anger showed through clearly. He idly noticed that his left shoulder was burning much more painfully now, but he ignored it.
"I WILL kill my brother! Not you, not anyone else will stop me! I'll do ANYTHING to kill him!"
"Then why did you go with Orochimaru?"
Sasuke turned his head in surprise at Kakashi's voice, then instantly wished he hadn't, closing his eyes tightly as dizziness and pain from the sudden action welled up. As the effects of the sudden movement faded, so did his anger, and the pain in his left shoulder faded as well. Sasuke opened his eyes and studied Kakashi in inquiry, noticing Gai standing to Kakashi's left.
"Orochimaru didn't want to train you. He wanted something from you, and in the process of acquiring it, he would've killed you."
"Oh, and what did he want from me?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger, closing his eyes. He felt his left shoulder give a twitch of pain, and finally took notice of it. But he shoved it to the back of his mind when he felt Kakashi lightly tap his eyelids.
"These. The only use you were to Orochimaru was for your Sharigan eyes."
Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, and looked at the three adults around the room. Tsunade spoke next.
"Orochimaru made an oath long ago to master every jutsu in existence. Toward this end, he created a jutsu all his own that allows his spirit to posses another's body, thus granting him immortality. All he wanted was your body Sasuke, to posses it, and take its Bloodline limit. That process would've destroyed your own spirit, killing you. I ask you this: How can you kill Itachi if you kill yourself by going with Orochimaru?"
Throughout Tsunade's little speech, Kakashi watched his student's eyes, and was relieved to see the realization growing within them. Once Tsunade finished speaking, Sasuke stared up at the ceiling blankly for a moment before speaking.
"Who do I have to thank for bringing me back?"
Kakashi, Gai, and Tsunade each felt a mix of relief, and trepidation. They all hesitated, glancing at each other to see who would tell Sasuke. Finally, Tsunade spoke.
"You were rescued by Naruto, as well as a few other Chounin."
Sasuke closed his eyes. (Of course. Naruto. Only the 'dead-last' could do something like that.) His eyes opened, and he looked at Kakashi.
"Sensei, could you tell that idiot that I would like to see him?"
Gai and Tsunade looked at Kakashi for the barest moment, and he gave a tiny shake of his head. Sasuke and Naruto were members of Kakashi's team. Handling all the problems within the team was his job.
"Sasuke, there is a slight problem. I would prefer you find this out much later, after you've recovered more. But you'd better hear it now, instead of walking down the street."
Kakashi sat at the foot of the bed on the left side, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling. He turned his head so he could look at Sasuke. His eye, normally looking lazy and a little dazed, was now alert, piercing like a dagger. Sasuke nodded at him, his own eyes never leaving his sensei's single visible eye.
"Two weeks ago, a mob attacked Naruto. I don't know how they got it, but they bore with them a piece of paper bearing the signatures of two- thirds the population of Kohona."
Sasuke blinked, his mouth falling open as his mind made the connections of what Kakashi was saying.
"But...the only thing they would need two-thirds for would be..."
"Yes Sasuke. Naruto has been legally banished from this village. His forehead protector had the village symbol filed off of it."
Sasuke looked at Tsunade and Gai for confirmation. Tsunade nodded, as did Gai. Sasuke didn't know why, but Gai's attitude, his acting so out of character, was what drove the point home. Sasuke's head fell back onto the pillow, and he ground his teeth together in anger.
"God...What fools did this? And WHY? He did nothing to them!"
For a moment, Sasuke simply lay there, grinding his teeth together. Then he opened his eyes, and focused on Tsunade.
"What happened to that idiot? Where is he now?"
He was obviously afraid she would say 'the graveyard', but was immensely relieved when she spoke.
"We don't know. Thanks to Gai's efforts, Naruto managed to make it to the river and escape. We haven't found any sign of him since then."
Sasuke was more relived than he cared to admit. Tsunade seemed to read his thoughts when she asked her next question.
"Why so much concern for Naruto, Sasuke? Could it be he's become a friend?"
Sasuke glared at her.
"Not a friend. I respect him. He's saved my life too many times for me not to respect him. To not think...of him as a...rival..."
At this point, Sasuke finally passed into the realm of sleep, his head falling to one side. Kakashi studied Sasuke's face as the boy's breathing rhythm fell into that of a sleeping person, and the muscles in his face relaxed.
(Sakura would probably kill to see Sasuke this way...)
"We need to talk."
Kakashi looked up at Tsunade and met her piercing gaze. He nodded, then stood and walked out of the room, so as not to disturb Sasuke, Gai and Tsunade following.
-------------------------------------- ---
Gaara punched. He then drew his arm back and made a kick high enough into the air that it would've reached an opponents head. At least if the opponent was of a size with Gaara.
Gaara brought his leg back down, then performed a high snap kick, followed by a low sweep with the same leg. He went into a spin kick, aiming high and bringing the heel of his foot down on the opponent's solar plexus.
Once Gaara's foot had connected with the ground, he looked over toward Naruto, who had watched with a critical eye.
"Not bad. You've got the general idea. Do the katas several more times, get your body used to the motions. Then try mixing the katas. Get instincts about what moves will work best, where."
Gaara nodded, but instead of beginning the katas right away, he sat down on a nearby rock. For a moment, he simply studied Naruto, then started to speak.
"Channeling a demon's chakra isn't like channeling human's chakra. Human's chakra is calm and cool, easy to control with a little practice. A demon's chakra is the exact opposite. It's violent and hot, burning away the weakness in your body. Think of it like a smelter. It melts down raw ore, then heats to a temperature where all the impurities evaporate, leaving behind pure metals, which can then be combined, through your actions, into a much stronger alloy. In other words, simply channeling a demon's chakra for a long period of time will put you on a whole new physical level. But controlling a demon's chakra is the real challenge. Otherwise, you run the risk of burning yourself to a crisp. Lose control of the chakra you've drawn in, and the demon starts to influence you, and you start to draw in more and more chakra, which is uncontrolled."
Naruto remembered several times in the past where he had channeled the Kyubi's chakra. When he thought about it, it was a miracle he was still alive. He remembered the time when he was fighting Haku, and he blacked out. When he came too, Haku's demon ice mirrors had been shattered, and Haku was asking Naruto to kill him. There had been other instances where he simply seemed to lose control. Each one linked to channeling Kyubi's mountain of chakra.
"Naruto, I assume you've done the chakra control exercise of walking up a tree?"
Naruto looked at Gaara with a 'do you think I'm stupid' expression, while Gaara looked back with 'do you really want an answer to that question'.
"I want you to do that, but with your 'unique' chakra. Get up and down a tree three times without touching the ground. Once you're done, do it again."
Naruto nodded, and walked over to the tallest tree in their little clearing, while Gaara walked into the center of the clearing. As Naruto assumed his favorite concentration stance, hands clasped together, index and middle finger extended, feet together, Gaara assumed the basic taijutsu stance, legs a little more than shoulder width apart, knees bent slightly, weight distributed evenly, left arm extended, elbow bent at a 135 degree angle, right arm retracted slightly, down at his waist, elbow bent at a 90 degree angle.
Gaara started the basic kata, throwing punches and kicks slowly, spinning around into a roundhouse kick occasionally. The moves were awkward, but Gaara wasn't deterred. He finished one kata, re-assumed the stance, and performed the second kata.
Naruto, meanwhile, was having trouble simply gathering the Kyubi's chakra. Whenever he had tapped it before, he had been under a lot of stress, and had reached for the power, and dragged it out on instinct. Now, Naruto was trying to use the chakra at will and not on instinct. Sweat beaded his brow slightly as he searched his inner coils for Kyubi's chakra.
To Naruto's inner eye, he was surrounded by swirls of blue, calm and cool, like water moving about on a windy day. He 'dove' down into the chakra, feeling it brush along him, energizing his body somewhat. But he didn't find what he was looking for, so he dove deeper. After what seemed to be about an hour, he caught a glimmer of red in the corner of his 'eye', and swam toward it. Soon the red took up his entire vision, taking on an orb shape. Naruto had found the Kyubi's chakra, but now he had to figure out how to draw it out of its prison...
Naruto remembered the spiral that had appeared on his navel each and every time he channeled any kind of chakra. That was the seal placed upon the demon, as well as the principle of the Rasengan. Like a black hole, you just drew power down a spiral, compressing it. Naruto would have to see about any other moves based on the spiral later on, but for now he had to find a way to draw the chakra out. He looked around and spotted something odd. He swam closer to inspect it.
It looked like someone had come down here and dug out a tunnel in the chakra. For a moment, Naruto studied it. Then he suddenly realized what it was, and he followed it with is eyes. It went down and connected to the red spot of chakra, and extended far into the 'sky', Naruto spinning around slowly to follow it. No doubt about it, it was the spiral. Naruto grinned in triumph and glanced down at the red orb.
And gave a mental yelp and shot upward, to near the top of the spiral.
The orb had changed shape slightly, forming two eyes, a short muzzle, and an open mouth filled with teeth the length of Naruto's forearm. Kyubi was glaring at Naruto.
For a moment, Naruto's heart beat fast, and he came close to breaking the meditation. After a moment, the fear passed, and Naruto 'spoke'.
"Oi, fox, I'll start collecting on the rent more often from now on. You got a problem with that?"
"Damned twit, I'm sealed inside the body of an un-worthy idiot. Now why would I have a problem?"
Naruto could practically feel the sarcasm. He shrugged, and reached down, into the spiral tunnel, extending his arm until it rested just above the orb that was the Kyubi's chakra. He glanced at the Kyubi, silently asking the demon for permission, when the face, which was still glaring at Naruto bobbed in what was unmistakably a nod.
Naruto grasped the chakra, and pulled it upward, through the spiral.
Gaara threw a two-punch combo, a right hook followed by a left straight, when he suddenly felt Naruto's chakra explode. He turned to watch Naruto, who now had red swirls of chakra surrounding his body. For a moment Naruto stood there, bringing the chakra into a semblance of control. He then drew a kunai, and ran for the tree, the red chakra gathered into his feet. He reached the base of the tree, and lifted his foot, placing it against the trunk, lifting his other foot...
...as his first foot sank into the tree up to his knee.
Gaara grinned slightly as Naruto gave a surprised yelp, and tumbled to the ground. Gaara went back to his katas as Naruto pulled his leg from the tree, walked back, Kyubi's chakra still whirling about him, and tried again.
:Author's Note:
Well, that is a good stopping point, I think. Hopefully I cleared up some questions, but hopefully I also left some to be cleared in future chapters. Till those chapters then.