Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Song: El Manana by Gorillaz, off the cd Demon Days.

Gaara found that he didn't particularly like sleep. It left him feeling even more tired than when he had gone to sleep. Besides that, there were the dreams… more like nightmares, he concluded as he woke once again in the middle of the night. He scrubbed at his skin, trying to erase the memory of all that blood. Before, he would have had no problems with being covered in blood, but since Shukaku was gone his personality had shifted and being covered in blood was now a bad thought. He tried to wipe away the blood that wasn't there, all the while moving to his bathroom. He flipped on the light as he entered the small bathroom and closed the door. His clothes were quickly discarded and he climbed into the shower, turning it up as hot as he dared. He scrubbed and scrubbed, but he couldn't get rid to the feel of the blood on his skin.

Naruto was as happy as he could be, or at least normally was. It was another day in the life of Konoha's most hyper-active ninja. He liked life at the moment, and life liked him right back it seemed. Once he had brought that bastard Sasuke back from that freak Orochimaru, the town had welcomed him with open arms, ironically enough. He thought it a bit strange that they'd curse him for being the Kyuubi holder, even though in doing so he protected the village and should be thanked, but when that bastard ran away spouting nonsense about getting stronger and beating his brother, the village never said a bad thing and when he returned (kicking and fighting the whole way) they had a big party. Naruto thought this all absurd. Sure he had wanted Sasuke back, of course he had wanted Sasuke back, but to act as though Sasuke was coming back from this big important mission, when in reality he had run amuck mad with power lust, was just insane in his mind. Thankfully he wasn't the only one who thought so. Tsunade had decided that Sasuke would be under surveillance and strict probation. Unfortunately, Naruto ended up enforcing it most of the time. Don't get him wrong, Naruto loved Sasuke, strictly as a brother of course, but hanging around the bastard nearly all day got to him sometimes. Sasuke was an entirely different person, and Naruto wasn't sure what to do or say. He couldn't just go on like nothing had happened. He went through hell to bring that teme back, but he just couldn't look at Sasuke the same. Sasuke didn't act normal, he was complacent and did what you wanted him to do. It seemed that in the process of becoming "stronger" he had become a faceless, mindless drone. Which seemed to fit what Orochimaru had wanted, since all he wanted was Sasuke's body, his mind could go to rot for all he cared. Naruto sighed, his thoughts were just not the happiest things at the moment, but as he turned the corner he was his temple, where his chipper demeanor would be replenished: Ichiraku. Naruto's smile brightened instantly and he rushed right inside, nearly knocking several people over in the process. He plopped down in his usual seat and waited to be acknowledged. Almost immediately the man who ran Naruto's favorite place in the world came to greet his favorite customer and took his order. Naruto didn't notice right away, but a shadow had fallen over him. The now chipper Kyuubi vessel felt sudden danger and decided maybe he should run… only to turn around to be face to face with the one person who could manage to kill his now happy disposition: Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Naruto, Naruto knew what would come out of his mouth, and decided that the sense of impending doom was wrong. Unfortunately for Naruto, the sense only got stronger as Sasuke sat next to him. Naruto turned around again only to come face to chest with the biggest pair of …

"Naruto!" was the only warning he got before he was smacked so hard he hit the far wall.

"God Damnit you old hag! What the hell was that for!" Naruto shouted as he stood up. He glared at Tsunade as he moved back to his seat as his first bowl of ramen was served.

"You brat! You're supposed to be watching Sasuke today!" the Godaime shouted right back at said brat. "And stop calling me that!"

Naruto just gave Tsunade a look and started to scarf down his food.

"Dobe," came the instant insult. Naruto glared at Sasuke, swallowed his food and stuck his tongue out.

"Teme," he said, returning to his food, ignoring both his companions. Tsunade twitched while Sasuke ordered himself a bowl of ramen. Without warning Naruto was thrown at the wall again. His eyebrow twitched and he turned to the Godaime to yell at her.

"What the hell did I do this time!" he shouted. Tsunade stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow. "WHAT!"

"Naruto… I didn't touch you," Tsunade said. Naruto turned his glare to Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"I didn't touch you, you dobe," he said. Naruto's face scrunched up.

"Then what the hell…" but Naruto was unable to talk anymore because something knocked the wind out of him.

"Naruto!" Tsunade shouted and rushed to his side, but Sasuke was there first to catch him as he fell to the ground.

Naruto awoke in the depths of his mind, in front of the Kyuubi's cage. He turned to glare at the fox behind the warded bars.

"You!" he shouted, pointing at the fox.

Kyuubi just glared at its host.

"You did this! What the hell is going on you stupid fox!" Naruto shouted. Kyuubi growled at him.

"Shut up kit!" he shouted back. Naruto's mouth clamped shut. "I didn't do anything. Something else did whatever it is you're accusing me of."

Naruto blinked at the fox. "Eh?"

Kyuubi banged his head against his bars. "Why did I get stuck with an idiot for a container?"

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

Kyuubi just looked at him and he shut up again. "I don't know what's going on kit… but whatever hit you (which I'm assuming you're accusing me of doing) felt somewhat like a demon."

Naruto stared blankly at the fox. "But Akatsuki…"

"I don't know what's going on kit, but that's the only explanation I can think of," the kitsune said patiently.

"But then, why did they wait so long? It's been two years since they were all stripped of their mortal hosts. And why are they after me?" Naruto asked. Kyuubi sighed; he didn't have the answers Naruto sought.

"I don't know kit. Maybe you can talk to that pervert with the frogs, or the woman with the big breasts," the fox suggested. Naruto blinked.

"You mean ero-sennin and baa-chan?" he asked. Kyuubi nodded. "That's a good idea… maybe I could get in touch with Gaara too… maybe he knows something…"

Kyuubi watched as Naruto drifted off into his own little world and sighed. He didn't have anything against the former Tanuki holder, but he just couldn't figure the boy out.

"Kit," Kyuubi said and Naruto blinked, focusing once again on the here and now. "You should find out what's happening first before you go romping with your boyfriend in the desert."

Naruto sputtered and turned red. "We're just friends!"

Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "You certainly don't act like you're "just friends"… zoning out at the mere mention of his name."

Naruto blushed more and turned away from Kyuubi, muttering curses at the kitsune.

"You'd best get back to reality soon kit," Kyuubi commented after letting said kit grumble for a while. "You're other boyfriend might do something unseemly to your prone body… he's gotten creepy."

Naruto whirled to face the kitsune. "I don't have any boyfriends! I like Sakura-chan!"

Kyuubi just stared blankly at him. "Sure you do."

Naruto blinked. He had no idea where the hell he was. He looked around the room, finding he was on the newly cleared couch set in Tsunade's office. He looked to the desk to find her gone. He shrugged.

"I guess I can just leave now…" he mumbled to himself. "I mean, there's no one here…"

"Don't even think of it dobe," Naruto jumped at the sound of Sasuke's voice. He fell off the couch and looked around the cramped office looking for the source of the voice. He couldn't find said voice. "Behind you."

Naruto warily turned to look at the couch. Sure enough, there was Sasuke. Naruto turned a light shade of pink, realizing his head had been in his, as Gai would say, "eternal rival's" lap. Naruto just sat there, staring at Sasuke with a look on his face that proclaimed "WTF!"

"What the fuck!" he finally burst out. "Why was my head in your lap!"

Sasuke just blinked at his question. Naruto, frustrated by the lack of response, threw his hands up in exasperation. He turned away from Sasuke, managed to get onto his feet, only to be knocked down again. He blinked and Sasuke was instantly at his side.

"Jeez… This is getting old fast," he said as Tsunade walked into the room. Sasuke helped him up and kept his arm around Naruto's waist to prevent him from falling again, even if he was shoved.

"Let me guess, it happened again," Tsunade said, moving over to the two boys.

"You know," Naruto started before breaking into a shout. "I can stand on my own two feet you teme!"

Sasuke snorted. "Just like you did a minute ago?"

Naruto glared, but allowed the other to lead him back to the couch. Naruto sat down immediately and slumped against the back.

"Any ideas what might be going on Naruto?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded a bit.

"Kyuubi said it might be the other demons. He said whatever's pushing me feels like a demon, but really that doesn't make much sense if you think about it. Why would they wait so long to break away from where the Akatsuki had extracted them? Why are they more like spirits? And why the hell are they hanging around me!" Naruto said, his voice getting more agitated by the end of his speech.

Tsunade nodded in agreement to what Naruto said as he started flailing his arms around wildly, claiming that there was something on him.

"Most of what he says makes sense," Tsunade remarked to Sasuke, who had moved from his place next to Naruto after being hit by a stray swat.

"It does, relatively," Sasuke replied. He sighed and shook his head at Naruto. "Though he could have lost his mind…"

"That wouldn't explain him flying all over the place…" Tsunade said.

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should go back to the Akatsuki hide out and figure out what happened there," Naruto suggested from his place plastered against the ceiling. "This is really getting annoying and I want it to go away!"

Tsunade sighed. "I'll talk to your old sensei Kakashi and Sakura too and see if they'll go with you."

Sasuke nodded and tried to pry Naruto away from the wall.

A/n: Woo first chapter. And yes, there was a purpose to the prologue. This is my first chaptered fic in … a looooong time. So forgive me my mistakes. Hopefully this plot will go somewhere, and yes Gaara will show up for more than that mini paragraph later.