Yeah, this is ubeta'd cuz I wanted to get it out before I leave... I'll replace it with beta'd version later, huge thanks to kakashinu, my wonderful beta! Oh yeah, and I changed female Gaara's name to Garra, cuz it's easier and sounds the same. Oh, and i'll be gone at choir camp from the 6-16.
Disclaimer: Naruto and all attached characters and places are property of Kishimoto Masahi.
Both of the Gaara's woke up at the same time, wondering when exactly they had fallen asleep. Awakened by their movement, Temari and Kankuro sat up too, wondering exactly when they had traveled to the middle of a desert. Sand stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sun beat down mercilessly on the four. Gaara looked at Garra and was surprised to see tears running down her face.
"This… this is… I can sense…"
The girl started running, some incessant force driving her across the scorching sands. The other three immediately went after her, trying to keep up with her rapid speed. Faster, faster… then they reached the top of a sand dune, revealing what lay on the other side. A house was down there, all alone. It had a small garden and someone was currently in it, bent over the little green shoots. Garra's tears increased.
"ONEECHAN!"
The figure immediately stiffened and whirled around, catching sight of the figure above. In a swirl of sand Gaara was down there, only a few feet away from the girl. They stared at each other, before the figure spoke.
"…Garra…?"
A single tear ran down her face.
"GARRA!"
She quickly closed the short distance between them, hugging the younger girl tightly and burying her head in her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Garra… Garra… you're back… imoto…"
Garra was crying too, holding onto the older girl as tight as she could.
"-Temari-neesan… I m-missed you… so much."
The three Suna siblings sat awkwardly on a couch, facing -Temari. After the two sisters crying had calmed down, -Temari had noticed the other three and became very confused. Garra had explained a little and asked where her bother was. -Temari's face grew a little sad.
"He wasn't the same after you disappeared… Most days he's out somewhere and only comes back for meals, sleep and training. "
Garra looked concerned.
"I think I know where he went…"
So Garra had gone off by herself, leaving the three siblings behind with her big sister. The three stared at -Temari, marveling at the differences. She was wearing black jeans and a short-sleeved fishnet shirt, with a grey halter top that had the kanji for 'wind' embroidered on it in black. On her hands were fingerless black gloves, and she had two fans hanging from her belt. Also, her hair was in a half ponytail instead of four ponytails. She stared at the other three, her face unreadable. Kankuro was the first to break the silence.
"This is… a nice place you've got here."
His two siblings nodded in agreement, the house was almost immaculately clean, and not at all cluttered. -Temari smiled a little.
"Thanks. My brother and I built it ourselves… after Garra disappeared. We burnt down the old one.
Gaara ran swiftly over the sand, relishing the feel of the grains underneath her feet and the burning sun overhead. She spotted the familiar entrance to a cave, one only she and her brother knew about… their special place. She slowed down and walked into the entrance, overcome with nostalgia. She could see his familiar silhouette, bent over, no doubt working on one of his many puppets. A lump formed in her throat, and she could barely get the words out.
"O-oniichan?"
He stopped working and stood up slowly. She noticed that he was considerably taller that he'd been before, towering over her by at least a good six inches. His back was still turned, so she walked up hesitantly and placed a hand on his back.
"Kanky-nii?"
There was another pause, and she suddenly found herself swept up into familiar strong arms, her legs dangling a few inches from the ground.
"Garra…"
She smiled softly and returned the strong embrace, feeling the tears from his face stain her shirt.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, Niichan."
The three stared at -Temari incredulously. This time Temari was the first to speak.
"Y-you burned your own house down? Why?"
The other girl smiled cheerfully.
"It had too many bad memories. It also served as my father's funeral pyre."
Temari and Kankuro blanched while Gaara raised an eyebrow in interest. Before they could ask just what the hell she talking about, -Kankuro and Garra came through the door, Garra hanging happily off her big brother's shoulders. Kankuro looked up at the other one surprised, this guy was tall. He had to be at least six feet. He was wearing a tan, short-sleeved t-shirt and long, baggy black shorts. His face was void of any paint and he had no head covering. He raised an eyebrow at the new occupants of the house; Garra had told him about the whole 'traveling worlds' thing and he knew what to expect, but it was surprising nonetheless. The girl seemed a tad more girly than his sister, but he could tell they both had the same violent tendencies. The guy who looked like him wore the same face paint he'd worn back in his younger days.
'Bet he wears it for a completely different reason than I did though…' He thought humorlessly, almost wincing when he remembered Garra's expression when she'd found out exactly why he had started wearing it. And the last boy, Gaara… he'd probably had a hard childhood and former homicidal tendencies which were gone now and probably wouldn't resurface except in the midst of battle. Also, the three didn't seem all that close.
'Interesting. Would love to know how their lives were compared to ours…'
Naruto felt refreshed when he woke up. Not only that, he felt a bit calmer, a bit better prepared, a bit… stronger.
'Naru-chan was right… it is good to cry, as long as you're not alone.'
He turned to find her still asleep on a futon on the floor.
'Eh, guess I'll let her sleep a little longer.'
He got up, showered, and dressed. Then he went over to the sleeping blonde.
"Oi, Naru! Time to wake up!"
She slowly opened an eye to look at him.
"Five more minutes, Naruto-nii…"
"C'mon, you're wasting the day!"
With a groan Naru opened both her eyes and sat up, rubbing at one sleepily with a fist.
"'Kay, I'm up, I'm up…"
Two bowls of ramen later the two were walking down the street, in the direction of the Hokage tower. Tsunade had told them that while they were in this world they would help the others with regular missions, just to keep them busy. The girls had readily agreed, so now they were on their way to get the mission scroll. Their appearance caused a bit of a stir among the villagers.
"Who's that with the Kyuubi brat?"
"I've never seen her before… and look at the resemblance!"
"Family, perhaps?"
"That demon doesn't have any family, remember?"
"So who's that girl?"
"And why's she with the demon brat…?"
Naru grabbed Naruto's hand tightly and pretty much pulled him down the street, away from the whispers and ugly looks. She was almost crying.
"Are they… always like that?"
Instead of putting on his fake smile, Naruto downcast his eyes.
"Hai. It doesn't hurt as much as it used too, but it still happens everyday."
"…They would hate this place."
Naruto looked up questionably.
"They?"
"A lot of people I know. Just because someone's a demon, or has a demon inside them or whatever, it doesn't mean they're bad. I hate closed minded people… which most humans seem to be, unfortunately."
They reached the tower and went up to Tsunade's office. -Sakura was helping Tsunade with papers and trying to clean the office up a little bit. Tsunade glanced at the two.
"Hello. Instead of giving you two a scroll, I'm assigning a simple mission… Go find Shikamaru and Shika. Apparently neither went to the Nara household last night."
On their way out Naruto looked at Naru.
"What do you think happened?"
"Shika probably wanted to sleep outside."
"Huh?"
"… I dunno, she has some issues. The only one who can really handle her is Neji-chan, and she's not here."
"Okay… So which way do you think they went?"
"Well, we've gotta follow Shika's trail. She went… this way."
"How do you know?"
"I can smell her."
"…What are you, an Inuzuka?"
Naru smiled knowingly.
"Not quite. I'm a fox, not a dog."
"What?"
"Let's move along, shall we?"
Shikamaru groaned as his eyelids were hit with almost blinding sunlight.
'Aren't curtains good for anything…? Wait a second, this doesn't feel like a bed… Oh yeah.'
The lazy nin sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and looking for his companion.
'Now where did she go…?'
"Looking for me?" came an amused voice from above him. Squinting, he saw her sitting in the tree above, resting contentedly against the trunk.
"We're going to have visitors soon, FYI."
"As long as it's not my mother, I don't particularly care."
"SHIKAMARU!"
The kage nin winced as an incredibly loud, shrill voice pounded his eardrums.
"Why are you guys here? Tsunade-baachan sent us to look for you guys!"
"Being difficult again, Shika?"
Shika sent her friend a quick glare.
"No, I just didn't particularly feel like having a mental breakdown."
"..Oh. Y'know, maybe you should talk to N-"
"C'mon you guys, let's get back to Tsunade-baachan!"
The four began to head back to the Hokage tower, Naru shooting Shika worried glances as the other ignored them.
'How long are you gonna hide from us, Shika?'
TBC
There you go folks, lets see what happens from here, ne?
Review Please!