Warning: All lawyers will be fed to Kyuubi.
On second thought, that would be cruelty to demons.
Domino Effect: Mr. Sandman
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It was a sandbox. It was a sandbox, in a playground, in the middle of a desert. Naruto watched as Haku happily built little figures and houses out of the sand that was heaped into the little box and began to wonder at his friend's sanity. Haku paused and looked up at him with a smile.
"Don't you want to help me, Naruto?" That simple invitation whipped all hesitancy from him and he quickly joined Haku in building his little village. Naruto was midway through adding Hokage Tower to the village when a ball crashed into their mini-village wrecking it.
"Move it losers," ordered the boy who came to retrieve it. Claiming the ball from the sandy ruins he took a moment to kick over Naruto's surviving tower and walked away with a laugh. Naruto had just turned to yell at the bully when Haku's gasp stopped him. Looking back he too gasped as the sand quickly rose and built itself into a perfect replica of the town, complete with little moving people. Naruto took a quick look around and found a red-headed boy his age that was watching them with a cautious stare and a well-worn teddy bear in hand.
"Are you doing that?" Naruto asked the boy. He nodded softly. "Sugoi," cried Naruto and Haku in unison. "That's so cool!"
"It is?" said the boy in surprise. Haku and Naruto nodded excitedly. "My name is Gaara," he announced quietly.
"I'm Haku and this is Naruto. Did you know that you have the same eyes as ours?"
"Is controlling sand your Kekkei Genkai?" asked Naruto.
"Kind of," said Gaara.
"My bloodline controls water and ice," announced Haku shyly. "Sasame's been helping me with it but I can't do it without having the water."
"I don't think I have a bloodline," said Naruto sadly. "But I am really fast. They have to call chunins, at least, to get me when I pull pranks because no one else can catch me." Haku giggled and Gaara blinked at him.
"What's a prank?" he asked softly.
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The three boys hid behind the screen that served as the far wall of the ladies public bath. "Okay," whispered Naruto. "Do you guys remember your parts?" Gaara and Haku both nodded excitedly. "Alright then, let's do this," said Naruto with his foxy grin. Nudging the screen aside Naruto released a snake that he had caught into the enclosure. Gaara had assured him that the snake was not poisonous; it only looked like one that was. Once the snake was inside Gaara used his sand to urge the snake towards the ladies that where bathing nearby. Naruto gave a silent countdown as one of the ladies laid eyes on the snake and moments later the room was filled with shrieks and chaos. At Naruto's go ahead Haku used the chaos to maneuver a ball of water at the neighboring screen and in seconds it collapsed to reveal the men's bath. The women's shrieks of fear turned into angry cries as they rushed to cover up and the poor men found themselves the recipients of a bloody nose and black eyes. Naruto and Gaara laughed while Haku took that moment to retrieve the snake with a water-ball. Unfortunately, one of the women who had turned to look for the snake again saw the water prison and immediately locked eyes with Haku.
"Run," cried Naruto and the chase began. Villagers jumped out of the way as three boys tore down the street with a group of angry women chasing them. The boys were a fair distance ahead of the women by now but they were running out of room to run in. Naruto spotted the cliff face coming up ahead of them and began panicking. "Any ideas," he yelled out.
"This way," urged Gaara. Naruto and Haku followed him into the park where they had first met and around to the other side of the bathrooms. Behind the building was a large boulder with a small cave between part of the rock and the sand. The trio quickly squeezed into the opening and Gaara sent up his sand to act as a cover. Moments later the women caught up and found that there targets had disappeared.
"Where did those brats go," spat one woman.
"Looks like there gone," said another. "I'm going back to get the rest of my clothes. With much grumbling, the others followed her and soon the park was empty once again. Gaara dropped the sand and the three slipped out, cautiously looking for any sign of the return of the made women. Haku began giggling again which set the other two off as well.
"So I imagine that your laughter and the rumors of a snake in the women's bathhouse are in no way related, ne?" As one the boys looked up and found Sasame casually perched on the top of the boulder. Naruto schooled his face into a look of angelic innocence.
"There was a snake in the girls' bath house?" he asked in feigned surprise. Sasame grinned.
"No dessert for you guys because you got spotted and because you can't lie. A good ninja must be able to work unseen or, failing that, have a good back up plan." Naruto and Haku gasped and began to protest. "However," continued Sasame, "you guys did execute your plan well, you accomplished your objective, and you used great teamwork so I'll take you out for barbeque. Your invited too kid," he said to Gaara, "if your guardian says it's alright." The trio cheered.
"Did you finish selling already, Sasame?" asked Haku. Sasame nodded.
"And for a great profit too. We'll be going back to Konoha tomorrow." Gaara quieted.
"You're leaving already?" he asked sadly.
"Sorry Gaara," said Naruto sadly, "but Hokage-ojii-san doesn't know were I am so I have to go back." Gaara nodded softly.
"Gaara, huh?" asked Sasame. "Well Gaara, I do come by here every three months or so, so I'm sure that we can come and visit you again."
"Yeah," Haku chimed in. "And maybe you can come visit us in Konoha some day."
"You really mean it?" asked Gaara hopefully. Haku moved to him and reached into his shirt to reveal a necklace that he had been hiding. Taking it off he slipped it onto Gaara.
"This was my kaa-san's necklace," he said softly. "It's all she kept of her family and it's my special treasure. You have to give it back when we meet again, okay? So it's a promise."
"Yeah, it's a promise," said Naruto holding out his pinky.
"It's a promise," said Gaara as he sealed the pinky swear.
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Okay, again, sorry that I was so late with the update but you do get two chapters. This one is my longest yet, which still isn't that long (sob). Leave me a review and remember that I need pairings if I make sequals.