Author's Short Notes
After many months, I present to you the latest chapter written. I'm sorry for the time it took but my personal and work life hit rock bottom but things have improved since then. I only hope that people are still reading this.
OokimaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A New Path Chapter 17 : Tracking
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Chapter synopsis : The Kazekage learns that the Leaf missing-nin, has escaped form Gaara's custody, while the Konoha shinobi, finally track down Naruto.
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Pairings : Gaara x Naruto.
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Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto but wish I did. Because if I did, I'd be rich and happier.
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WARNING : Contains shonen-ai, in other words boy loves boy, don't like then don't read.
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"Speech" When characters are speaking
'Thoughts' When characters are thinking
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PreviouslyThe Leaf and Naruto face off in a heated conversation, while Gaara went out and informed his two older siblings, of Naruto's decision. Upon coming back home, Jiraiya and Naruto's private discussion took a turn for the worse, as the boy ran out of the room, and into the sand-nin, slamming the door right in Gaara's face! That action alone, made Gaara return to his 'normal self' and ignored Naruto's presence. When they made it to the kitchen, Naruto remained silent and distant, while Gaara suspected something. Suddenly, the sand-nin attacked Naruto, wrapping sand around the young one's body, trapping him in his famous jutsu, until he finally gave the last order and killed Naruto. Or so everyone was led to believe. The Naruto that was 'killed' was in fact a Kage Bunshin, now the question remains, where is the real Naruto?
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Chapter 17 : TrackingOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When Kakashi came back, positive with Naruto's disappearance, Jiraiya lost no time , taking charge of the situation and barking orders to the Leaf shinobi. While the sand-nins, were more preoccupied with their little brother than anything else.
"Report every 5 minutes." Jiraiya ordered them, tossing his backpack on the table. Once the pouch was opened, he let out several headphones all attached to a small black box, used for communications. "You'll all depart in team of 2. The moment you spot Naruto, inform the others for back-up."
"Back-up?" They all repeated.
Those two words alone made all genin raise their eyebrow, wondering why should they call back-up in the first place. Naruto was known to all, to be harmless and acting like an idiot with half a brain.
But then, they were those certain moments, where his behavior radically changed. Instead of fleeing a battle that was almost impossible to win, he always found some sort of inner power and made it a possible fight to win.
The truth was, they might not know Naruto as well as they thought they did …
"You with the dog, pair up with bug boy." Jiraiya didn't mean to call them like that, but he really didn't have time to learn their proper names in this sort of crisis.
Shino paid no attention, being the silent shinobi he was, well he stayed silent while Kiba simply snarled. At least the Sennin hadn't called him dog boy, like a certain blond did.
Within minutes, all pairs were determined by their strength, while the Jounins were the only ones that would set out in a one-man team. There was only one person who would remain in the house, Haruno Sakura.
"Why aren't you letting me search too?" She asked. Everyone else were paired except for her. Question was why?
"You're the last person he probably needs to see, besides the Uchiha. But unlike him, you don't have the strength to stop him, or even to match him in a fight." Jiraiya clearly explained. He truly had no time to try and be nice and brake it softly. "You'll be more useful to us here, coordinating every movement each teams make and when they report."
"What? But-" She want nothing more than to object. That old man just said she was weak. Weaker than that idiot Naruto!
"Sakura." Kakashi's toned was harsh, but it spoke for itself.
She knew it was a warning, and the orders Jiraiya was given out, were non-negotiable.
"What about them?" Gai looked over to the trio of sand-nin.
Every Leaf-nin head turned towards them, but although many pairs of eyes were locked on them, Kankuro and Temari's attention were on their little brother.
"That kid is too unstable. He stays." Jiraiya concluded. Truth was, Gaara gave him the willies.
"And the other two?" Gai cocked his thick black brow.
"I learned one thing here, and it's to let them take care of him." The old man replied, giving one last glance to somewhat reassure himself that ignoring them for now, was actually a good move.
"You're leaving me behind, alone with them?" She whispered, pointing to the three siblings. She was already pissed about behind the only one left behind but stuck with those three psycho.
"The Sand are our allies. Deal with it." Jiraiya was more than tired of her always complaining. A certain blond was much more important at the moment then her constant whining.
The harsh toned he used only showed them all that he was more than serious about tracking Naruto and succeeded. He didn't have time to deal with weak whiny shinobi.
Naruto is his priority.
"Now go." He ordered them.
All lowered their head before disappearing, each taking the partner the old man gave them, while heading in their respective directions.
"Do you really hate Konoha boy?" Jiraiya wondered, before leaving as well.
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The moment they left the house, Kiba and Shino went towards the north, hoping to be among the first ones to have a fresh and solid lead to their missing blond. But they had to be what any shinobi had to, stay sharp, but most of all, silent and unseen.
Akamaru led the way, hoping to get a fresh scent that their blond had passed that way, while Shino and Kiba followed closely behind, carefully jumping from one roof top to another.
Akamaru gave out a low growl, just enough to get his companion's attention. The small ball of fur had stopped his run on a roof tops, sniffing the air, unsure of which direction to continue in.
"What is it Akamaru?" He asked, a bit worried about his companion.
Shino remained silent, paying more attention to their surroundings then what Akamaru was sharing his master. Besides, he knew how to talk the bug language, but dog language was something else.
"Well?" He asked with his usual, low toned voice.
"He caught Naruto's smell and it's pretty fresh according to Akamaru." Kiba informed the other shinobi.
"But?" Somehow, Shino always knew there was a 'but' that followed whenever the boy was out tracking an ally or an enemy.
"But Akamaru also says it goes in three direction. His not sure which one is the right one." The boy answered, knowing that Akamaru felt a bit guilty for not being able to decipher which was the correct way.
"We should alert the others." Shino was always one to never say much unless truly needed.
"Yeah. At least we know which way." Kiba agreed for a change. The boy usually just disagreed with his teammate, Shino.
He finally placed the headset on his ear, pressing the small button that allowed him to communicate with all the other teams, including the solo one back at the house.
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Meanwhile, back at the house, Sakura was more than annoyed being left behind with a bunch of killers, but most of all, that psychopath called Gaara. The three of them, just standing in a corner, whispering to each other.
While she was stuck in the kitchen, waiting for the teams to report. Even though Jiraiya told her that she was the main base, she really had no purpose to begin with since whenever they spoke, all teams received the message.
But her attention was more focused on the siblings. Whatever they were talking about, it seemed pretty damn important.
"Gaara you have to calm down." Temari whispered, concerned that Shukaku might be trying to get out. It wouldn't be the first time it tried anyway.
"I'm fine." Gaara replied, returning back to his, usual no emotional state.
"You were faking?" Kankuro let out, surprised by his little brother's skills of acting.
Gaara was known to be so direct, wasting no time to deal with anything that came. And for the first time in their lives, they saw, more like glimpsed into a small tiny moment where their little brother was actually faking his cold exterior.
"Yes." He bluntly answered.
"I really hope Naruto can pull this off." Temari let out, a bit concerned that their plan might fail if that blond didn't play everything according to plan.
"He better, or else he won't be in a good mood anymore." He whispered to his sister, not really wanting Gaara to know that they weren't too positive about Naruto escaping the Village.
For some reason, Gaara was the only one that wasn't stressed or even nervous that his friend, perhaps even lover, was being chased throughout the Village right now.
Lover?
He barely new what love is, but to have a lover, he knew even less in that department.
Rivals?
Lovers?
Friendship?
Admiration for setting him free?
Only time will tell what type of relationship he actually has for the blond.
'Yo! We found a fresh trail.' Kiba reported to everyone.
Everyone's attention turned to the small machine sitting in the middle of the table.
"If they found him this fast. It only means he's really an idiot for not covering his tracks." Sakura commented, not caring if any of the sand shinobi heard her.
"That idiot didn't cover his tracks!" Kankuro let out, worried about their plan more than ever.
"Even if they track him down, they'll never find the real him." Gaara grinned, well aware that a certain annoying pink girl was watching their every movement.
"What do you mean?" His sister asked, ignoring the constant chattering going on between the Leaf shinobi over their communication devices.
Gaara, being a young man with few words, simply crossed his arms and walked out of the kitchen.
"Gaara!" Temari yelled out his name, angry that he wouldn't answer such a simple question.
'Every team. Report to Kiba and Shino's location now.' Jiraiya ordered from his end, through their communications devices.
Seeing Gaara leave the room, Sakura felt more relieved than anything else. He was the worst among the three siblings, always wanting to kill someone, or something. Well anything that could spill blood anyway.
'Sakura! We're unable to contact the Uchiha and Hyuga. Please try on your end and inform them to meet with us.' Jiraiya informed. For some reason, Sasuke and Neji were the only ones not responding and confirming the order to regroup.
Sakura, finally having something to do, rushed over to the table, placed the heaphone in her ear, responding to the call.
"No problem. I'll try to reach them." She answered with a smile. This was giving her a nice chance to talk to her beloved Sasuke.
"Keep me informed." He spoke, hoping it was only a bad connection that prevented him from reaching the two boys.
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For the Kazekage, this day was like any normal day, signing off papers, taking care of any problems his son made during the day. Wounding or even killing a few shinobi that were just under his orders to watch over the boy, so the beast within him didn't get loose in their own Village.
"Kazekage-sama!" A guard yelled out, bursting through the door.
"What?" A bit angered to be disturb when he was busy planning their defense against a new enemy they discovered.
The Sound Village.
"It's about that Leaf missing-nin." He started, aware that whenever the big boss was in a bad mood, he had a tendency to throw things. Those things were sometimes sharp, and very deadly depending on his aim.
"I'm already aware that Gaara is his caretaker until the Leaf leave." Kazekage reminded the shinobi, thinking that this one might not have been informed that he already knew this.
"I know, but, it seems that he's loose in our Village, without Gaara." The shinobi corrected, hoping to not be punished. After all, it wasn't his damn fault if that monster let that missing-nin escape.
"Are you telling me that escaped from Gaara's custody?" His toned was cold. Anyone standing there right now could sense the anger rise within that man.
"Yes sir." The shinobi answered, lowering his head, normally it would be to respect their leader, but in his case, it was more to hide himself from the oncoming rage building up inside the Kazekage.
"Get him in here. Now!" He ordered, punching his desk.
"Y-Yes sir!" The shinobi complied, rushing out of the office.
The Kazekage was beyond angry, he was furious to learn the escape of the missing Leaf-nin. Gaara was one to never let his guard down, if the prisoner never obeyed, he would kill him, despite if it was an ally or an enemy.
So how In the hell did that Leaf-nin manage to escape?
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Neji and Sasuke continued on their designated path, advancing probably much faster than any other team. The area they were sent to, looked more like training grounds, only a few trees stood and some bushes.
It was much easier to track Naruto, seeing how there were no houses in the area anymore, so either the blond jumped tree by tree or he went by ground.
But to the fact they were faster, they both knew Naruto had made a run for it, and probably the only thing on his mind was escaping the Village as fast as he could, so he wouldn't give much a thought about covering his tracks.
'Every team. Report to Kiba and Shino's location now.' Jiraiya ordered from his end, through their communications devices.
They stopped, listening for once to their devices. When Kiba first came in, reporting a trail, they didn't give any thought that he might be right. Who could trust a dog anyway? But now, it seemed that the old man believed in his words.
"We should head back to Kiba's location." Neji informed the young Uchiha.
"No." Was his answer.
"We have orders Sasuke." Neji reminded the boy.
"I know. But we should continue on this path." Sasuke informed the other boy. It was clear to anyone that he wasn't about to change his mind.
"Kiba found a trail while we found nothing. The best plan is to join up with them." He argued. Anyone with a brain would figure out that following a trail is better than to go on, on a path that so far hasn't led them anywhere.
"It could be a false lead too." Sasuke just couldn't make a good case for the Hyuga to not turn on him and drag him to the rendez-vous point.
'Sasuke-kun do you read?'
Only one person called him like that, and in a much annoying way too.
"What is it?" He responded, while keeping his eyes on Neji. God knew what the Hyuga could do, depending if Kakashi told him to keep an eye out for his every move and decision he made.
'Kiba's team located a possible trail that Naruto left behind. Everyone is to regroup to their position.' She informed him from the house.
"It's an order we should follow Uchiha." Neji warned the boy, slightly glaring at him.
"Naruto might be an idiot, but he's not that stupid. I just know that whatever they found, it's not what we're really searching for." Sasuke wasn't one to usually argue too much, but he just knew that his way was the good one.
Neji eyed him. It was true that Sasuke was just about the only person beside that teacher Iruka to know Naruto well. The tricks and pranks he pulled, perhaps he recognized it.
"Sakura." He began, noticing that the young Uchiha was observing his every movement. Probably the boy knew Neji would report back. He wasn't one to break the rules after all. "Our transmission is braking up."
'What? But-' On her side, things were pretty clear, no interference or anything.
Neji simply closed his receiver, to back up what he just said.
"Go on this frequency. We'll keep in touch, so the others won't hear our discussions. But if you do find him, switch back to the old frequency." Neji informed the pale boy.
Sasuke knew this was the only chance he was getting.
Call it a favor.
A favor that Hyuga did for him, most likely because he respected the boy, but also, because he really wanted to find Naruto, and if the others were following a false trail, at least they were still searching for him.
"You're right about one thing." Neji let out, analyzing the land for a path he could take to pursue their search.
"About?" It was rare for Neji to agree with him on anything.
"Naruto isn't the idiot everyone labeled him to be. Underneath that smile, he knows how to get out of a tough situation." He let out, before walking away from the Uchiha.
Sasuke smirked.
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Everything was dark, if it wasn't for the moon, he would probably be tripping over stupid little things. But then again, who leaves stuff on their rooftops anyway?
By now, he knew too well that his previous colleagues knew that the Naruto at the house was nothing more than a Kage Bunshin. But at least he had a nice 15 minutes ahead of them. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
"Hope I got enough time to make it out of here." He let out, jumping forward to a new house.
He couldn't exactly run down the streets, because for all he knew, the Sand-nins would help out those of Konoha. At least the rooftops kept him clear of that, at least until he found some ground to run over.
All he could hope, was that Gaara's plan would really work.
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All teams were accounted for except one, Neji and Sasuke.
"Sakura says their interference, she can't get a hold of them." Shikamaru informed the old man.
All gathered around, forming a small circle.
"From here, the trails separate in 3 ways, but since it's fresh, we can't tell which one is the right one." Kiba informed the group, Akamaru barked to only confirm his companion's words.
"He's trying to cover his tracks." Kakashi spoke, crossing his arms.
"My guess is he's doing what we did in the Chuunin exam." Shikamaru informed them. It was the only logical possibility he could think of.
"What do you mean?" Kiba wasn't quite understanding all this.
"When the Sound shinobi attacks. They were following us. I showed Sakura and Naruto how to mark a path for your enemies to follow, but to have no suspicions, we walked backwards afterwards." The newly appointed Chuunin explained.
"He tends to pick up stuff along the way, but only uses them when he needs it." Jiraiya knew his little blond student too well. Even though Naruto didn't look like it, everything that was shinobi related, his mind mesmerized it, and used it when the timing was right.
"Kiba, Shino, you continue to search on the right. Shikamaru, you're with Jiraiya. Gai, you continue straight, I won't be too far behind you." Kakashi reformed the groups, seeing how there were only 3 directions left and no longer an entire Village to search for their little blond.
"Spread out!" The old man gave out the final order.
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By the time Temari and Kankuro finally caught up to their little brother, they really wanted answers on what exactly changed in their plans. But when they were about to confront him, they noticed that they weren't alone in the living room.
"Isn't that father's …" The blond female couldn'T finish her sentence, as the dark sand shinobi stepped forward.
"The Kazekage would like to speak to you Gaara." He informed the red-head.
"Why would father wish to speak to Gaara?" Kankuro stepped in, curious, but annoyed that their dear father would summon Gaara to his personal chambers.
"He wishes to speak about the missing-nin that went, missing again." He explained like he could. Truth was, he didn't know too much to why he wanted to speak with Gaara, all he knew, is that it concerned that Leaf-nin.
"Che." Kankuro didn't like the answer too much. Anything concerning their father, and being called in his chamber, it was never good.
And each time Gaara was summoned in there, he came out, and retreated into himself even more, cutting any contact with anyone. Even them, his siblings, he ignored and if they tried to find out more, he'd threatened to kill them right where they stood.
"Gaara, maybe you shouldn't go." She whispered to her little brother, worried that what happened last time, would happen again.
Gaara was already a cold killing machine, but each visit to their father, somehow made him worse each time.
"It's ok. He probably wants to know how Naruto could have escaped while he was in my custody." Gaara spoke, showing no emotion at all.
The two siblings wanted to object to Gaara's decision, but part of them knew, that tonight, he'd come back alright for a change.
"This way Gaara." The shinobi carefully showed the way, but made sure to keep himself at a reasonable distance from the Shukaku holder.
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Naruto rested a bit, catching his breath from the non-stop jumping he had been doing the past 10 minutes.
"Dammit how big is this stupid Village?" He growled.
Bending a bit forward, he rested his hands on his knees, slowing his breathing. He really couldn't wait until it was plainly boring flat ground.
He looked behind him, his eyes focusing on the spots where the moon shone mostly.
"They shouldn't be too far behind me by now." He noted. "Better get a move on."
Well rested for that moment, he continued forward, well aware that 2 small shadows were not too far behind him.
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Kazekage wasn't one to usually be stressed in any situation. He was a cold man inside and out. His actions throughout his life only proved what kind of man he really was. He stopped moving, as though knowing he was no longer alone.
"You wished to see me?" The red-head spoke.
"Yes." Regaining his hard façade, he sat down behind his desk, facing the son he wouldn't acknowledge as his own.
They were never ones to speak too many words, especially to each other.
"How could the Leaf-nin escape?" He demanded an answer. No one was ever able to break free of Gaara when he was the one guarding them.
"He fooled me." He replied, standing there, never blinking his eyes. Not once.
"He fooled you?" He never expected that excuse, especially from him. " You're not one to be easily fooled." Now he was beginning to worry.
To this point, he usually got threatened to be killed or the boy would just walk out, but there he stood, arms crossed and unmoving.
"I know." He confirmed.
"Who is this missing-nin?" He asked, eyes focused on the red-head. Perhaps by knowing the name, he could somehow figure out what exactly was going on.
"Uzumaki Naruto." The young boy answered. He knew the name wouldn't tell him the real truth behind Naruto being a demon container like him, but just enough to spark his curiosity.
Perhaps, even frighten him a little.
"The name sounds familiar." He let out, trying to connect everything in his mind.
"He's the boy who defeated me back in Konoha." Gaara clarified for his father, well the man who was suppose to be his father anyway.
This caught him by surprise. Gaara wasn't one to be defeated thanks to his perfect defense name Shukaku, but the boy seemed no different to admit he was defeated.
"Why did you insist on being his caretaker during his stay?" He had to ask. Something wasn't right about all this.
"I needed to ask him something." He replied.
"Ask him what exactly?" To this point, he usually gave up, but for some reason, Gaara was actually answering his question and that alone worried him.
"He intrigues me." Life was usually boring for him, killing off people was the only thing that made life less boring, but when Naruto was around, life was very different.
"What have you done?" The man asked, part of him was worried, perhaps even frightened by the answer he would receive.
Gaara usually never smiled, smirked, showed any signs, or even interest in life besides killing. Instead, because of the way he was treated since he was born, he always found a way to manipulate the boy indirectly into doing whatever he wanted. Now it seemed that the very same boy that stood before him, had his own sets of thoughts. In other words, Gaara followed orders, he served others, but never served himself.
Gaara smirked.
"You're the one who told me to always take what I want."
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They sprinted forward, loosing no time to pursue a fresh trail left behind by their missing teammate. Jumping from one roof to another, they could only hope that they didn't end up on a false trail as Shikamaru had previously explained.
Akamaru barked, catching his partner a bit by surprise.
"What is it Akamaru?" Kiba asked his faithful canine, his mind snapping back to reality.
The dog barked again, pointing his nose in a specific direction.
Both him and Shino stopped dead in their tracks, looking in the same direction Akamaru's nose pointed at.
"It would seem we finally found him." Shino pointed out, his eyes carefully observing the shinobi in question.
A few roofs away stood a young blond shinobi.
"Then let's warn the others." Kiba smiled, happy that he was the first one to find what they were searching for.
"Then I'll set a trap." Shino informed his teammate, bugs slowly crawling over the skin of his arms.
The bug user left without making a sound, leaving the dog lover to a simple task that any person could do without any trouble.
"Oy! This is Kiba. We found Naruto." Kiba felt proud to have found what they all searched, he expected to be thanked and complimented, but what he received, was something so very different and unexpected.
"Kiba are you sure?" Kakashi asked from the other end of their communication devices.
"Of course I'm sure! That idiot is standing right in front of me!" He couldn't help himself. Here he thought being the hero who found their missing-nin and now they were questioning him?
"I have a visual of our young shinobi." Gai reported to the others, totally oblivious to what was just going on.
"We have a problem Kakashi." Shikamaru added himself into the conversation going on, although it would be troublesome. "I also have a visual on Naruto." He informed them, knowing this was really not good to hear under the circumstances.
"That's impossible! The idiot is standing right in front of me!" Kiba argued, waving his fists around. In situation like these, he had trouble keeping control over his tone of voice seeing how he was suppose to stay silent.
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All teams stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing how 3 separate teams had located Naruto.
So now there was only one question they all wondered.
"What the hell is going on?"
To Be Continued…OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
There you go, shorter than I expected, but I thought I should make it in 2 parts, or else the update would have taken a bit longer.
Although my free time is now limited, I'll try to update 3 stories per months. If more are updated, then it's even better.
I'm also trying to finish Twist of Fate and Return to me as soon as possible, since they are only a few chapters left before those stories are completed. Thus giving me a bit more time to work on the others, and hopefully update faster.
In any case, let me know if you're still a loyal reader of my work ;)
Ookima