The mood that Gaara walked into was worse than somber. It was like walking into a funeral for dreams, and though the sun shone happily, the four ninja huddled together looked as if there were a rain cloud hovering above them. Nonetheless, Gaara couldn't help his heart from leaping in joy as he finally caught sight of a familiar head of blonde.
"Na—" he began, but then remembered that Naruto couldn't let anyone find out who he was. There were likely already people who knew the Nine-Tails was back in the village, but Gaara wasn't going to give anything away. "Kaze!"
Naruto looked up, and for a second Gaara thought he'd been mistaken. Naruto's eyes were completely dead, the light drained from them as if it had been siphoned away, every last drop. At the corners of his lips were small trails of blood, and his face was paler than it had ever been, his mouth turned down.
"Gaara," Naruto said lifelessly, as if he were one of the puppets Gaara had found in the trees not far from where they stood. The puppets Naruto called Hikami and Hira were remarkably undamaged, except for a sword wound through Hira's body. They'd been in a small copse of trees undamaged from the blast of the crater, and Gaara had taken them, figuring Naruto would need them when he passed the second round. But he didn't look like he even cared about passing now.
"Hey, he's not looking so hot," Kankuro muttered in Gaara's ear, then let out a yelp as Temari smacked him over the head with her fan. Gaara ignored them both, ignored the three Leaf shinobi that were beginning to rise to their feet, and went to stand in front of Naruto. He crossed his arms and looked down at the defeated ninja, who dropped his head as if he couldn't bear to look Gaara in the eye.
"What's going on?" Gaara asked, so focused on only Naruto that the Leaf shinobi didn't even attempt to answer. He crouched down to look his friend, gently putting two fingers under Naruto's chin and tilting his head up.
"I can't use chakra anymore," Naruto answered flatly, and it took Gaara a second to understand what he meant. Gaara knew about the dangers of having a strong chakra because Rasa had forced Chiyo to explain them to him. It was a side effect of getting too strong too fast, but it could also be a side effect of using a Tailed Beast's power. Only…
"Not right now, but he should be able to heal the network," Gaara said, stressing the he so Naruto knew who he meant but no one else did. There was a spark in Naruto's eye as he looked up, curiosity that demanded an answer. "It's also a side effect of power like ours, but we're usually fine because of them. You need to talk to him."
"The fox?"
Gaara recognized the Uchiha Naruto had been teasing in the classroom for the first part of the Exam—and the one who had claimed Naruto was his rival. He was shocked that Naruto had told Sasuke about the fox, but one look at Naruto's face made it obvious he hadn't said a word. They both looked at Sasuke, who tucked his hands into his pockets as if he were uncomfortable.
"When I used my Sharingan, I went into your head. That's how I brought you back," he muttered as if it were no big deal.
"Wait, my head? What did you see in there?"
"I'll answer you if you answer some questions for me," Sasuke countered. Naruto frowned in agitation and turned back to Gaara.
"We'll deal with all of that later. Are you sure I need to see him?"
Gaara nodded, and before anyone else could talk, Naruto closed his eyes and went to a place no one wanted to follow him to.
"Kurama," came a tiny, familiar voice, echoing around the dark cavern and seeming to carry on forever. Kurama chuckled deep in his throat as he cracked an eye; he'd been expecting Naruto Uzumaki to make an appearance sooner or later. The young blonde stood before him now, looking much like a young Minato as he glared defiantly up at the massive fox. He was one of the most fascinating vessels Kurama had ever been bound to, and certainly the most conflicted one. The business with the Akatsuki and Zetsu was the most interesting thing Kurama had been a part of since Hagoromo.
"Ah, little one," Kurama taunted, rising from his sleeping position to tower over Naruto. The bars that separated them always seemed so flimsy; Kurama could just imagine reaching out and shredding his vessel with one claw. But no, to be honest, he enjoyed the story Naruto was part of. Naruto Uzumaki perpetually stood on the line between darkness and light.
"Gaara said your power should heal me from this," Naruto growled, stepping closer. It was funny how worthless Naruto thought he was when he had no chakra. He had no idea how much the world depended on his living or dying.
"If you rip the seal off, it will," Kurama said with a large, wily smile that was all teeth. Naruto was less than amused.
"Fix it or we'll both die. Orochimaru isn't dead yet and if I move on in the Exams, he'll find out I have no chakra and come after me."
"The problem with that, little one, is that I can't fix it."
Naruto looked startled, as if he hadn't known there were things Kurama couldn't do.
"B-but… you've got insane power! You've gotta be able to fix it! You're the one who caused it!"
"What I mean is, if I attempt to fix it you'll die. My chakra needs to flow through you for me to fix it, but if my chakra flows through you now it will destroy your internal organs. The only way I can fix it is if you can find someone with precise medical knowledge that can block the hole in your network while I fix it."
Naruto considered this. He thought about everything so seriously—from this to leaving with Itachi to making a deal with the devil himself.
"So I just need to find someone like that?" Naruto asked, sounding relieved, as if it were an easy job. Kurama doubted it would be easy as all that—even Chiyo, who'd healed Naruto's skin before, probably wouldn't have the precision to do that. It was annoying not having someone around who could heal the kid's skin; after the battle, his network had been weakened, and it was Kurama's attempt to heal his skin that had punched a hole in it. If Naruto wanted to be able to fully utilize Kurama's power without this side effect, he needed to find someone who could heal his burns.
"Yes. Do not use your chakra until then either; if you die, I will as well. Of course, you could always pull the seal off as a last resort."
Naruto didn't dignify that with an answer; he only snorted and closed his eyes, his mind going back to the outside world. Kurama settled back down to watch, and to wait.
Naruto came back to himself with a start, looking around at everyone who had crowded him, watching curiously.
"Hellshit!" he yelled out, falling back from the faces. Gaara and Sasuke both huffed out laughs which, after a moment, the rest of the group joined. Naruto was looking better now that he wasn't trying to use his chakra and he'd gotten some rest, and he was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as everyone laughed at him.
While he'd been talking to Kurama Team 7 had filled the Sand siblings in on what happened. The one who'd been the most shocked had been Kankuro; he'd been even more shocked than when they'd found Hira and Hikami. Finding out someone in the Exam was using human puppets had stunned him, but when Gaara had explained that Naruto had been training with puppets for years Kankuro had calmed down. He'd seen how lifeless the puppets were back during the first part of the Exam, so he'd thought maybe Naruto couldn't do much with them. Hearing that Naruto was so proficient with them, Gaara could see that Kankuro was truly shaken. It was alright though; he knew his brother would recover and determine to grow even stronger.
"So what exactly were you doing with your eyes closed?" the pink haired kunoichi—someone had mentioned her name was Sakura—asked Naruto.
"Like I'm gunna tell some shitty Leaf kunoichi!" Naruto yelled, and Sakura suddenly did something Gaara had never thought anyone would do; she smoked Naruto right in the face with a nice left hook. Since he hadn't been expecting it and he couldn't use any chakra to soften the blow, Naruto tumbled a few feet back and ended up with a face full of dirt.
"O-ow," Naruto gasped out, and Sakura's face suddenly grew pale, remorse plain on her features.
"I'm so sorry, Kaze, it was a reflex. I mean, you kinda deserved it, but I didn't mean to hit you while you're already wounded."
Naruto laid in the dirt for a few more seconds, then sat up, rubbing his cheek and spitting out soil. There was a new gleam in his eye now, though Gaara doubted anyone else noticed or, if they did, understood why. Gaara understood; Sakura's punch meant she was no longer disgusted and terrified by Naruto, and that was a wonderful feeling.
"I'll forgive you, but only because you're kinda hot," Naruto sniffed. Sakura seemed surprised at his friendliness, then she offered him a hesitant smile, which he returned just as hesitantly. After a second, he turned his smile on Sai.
"Um, Sai, was it? You were pretty cool about me being sick, so I guess we don't have any reason to be enemies. Are we good?"
"You're pretty friendly now that you don't have any chakra and you're basically as helpless as a wet kitten," Sai said with a sparkling smile. Naruto's grin turned into a scowl and he crossed his arms, but Gaara knew the posture as a more playful one than anything. Could this mean there was hope for Naruto's deep hatred of Konoha leaving?
"You had us worried yet again, you loser," Sasuke said with a roll of his eyes, and when Naruto looked at Sasuke Gaara was surprised to find respect in his eyes. Had Naruto really accepted a Leaf genin as his rival? Today was truly an amazing day if that was the case, even if that genin was the younger brother of the person Naruto loved most in the world.
"I hate to break up this little party, but I don't think we should broadcast the news that Kaze has no chakra to the entire forest," Temari suddenly said, as usual the most practical one of them all. "Our team's already collected a couple of extra scrolls, so why don't we all head back to the centre building? And while we're going there, we should probably figure out how Kaze is supposed to pull off having two teammates while he has no chakra."
That shut everyone up, and Naruto himself looked a little green as he thought.
"Uh, also… I need my disguise. I think my puppet got totally fucking killed when I fought Orochimaru, and it's not like I can do a transformation jutsu or anything."
"You are so high maintenance," Sasuke muttered, smirking when Naruto started yelling unintelligible words. But it was true; they had a lot of stuff they needed to puzzle out.
"Yo, please don't kill us," a voice called and as one seven dangerous ninjas turned, ready to kill whoever had spoken. Until the person who had spoken stepped out of the bush along with his two teammates. The guy Gaara recognized from the time some ninjas had tried to bully them, and he couldn't help his eyes from going to Temari. She'd mentioned at least twice that he seemed cool, which was a big deal for her. Now she looked as if she'd just discovered a pleasant surprise, her eyes narrowing and her mouth fighting a smile.
"I overheard some of what you were saying. You said you had some extra scrolls, right? Well, my name is Shikamaru Nara, and I think I can help."
It took everyone the next two days to get Shikamaru's plan ready, leaving them with one day to get to the centre building. Getting Kaze's puppet body back had been a chore; they'd had to go back to where Kaze's puppet had been destroyed and collect as many of the pieces as they could. Kaze had worked with Kankuro day and night to mend the puppet and fill the pieces in, and by the end he was looking bad again, plus he'd somehow managed to break every single finger since his bones hadn't completely healed.
"It's not that bad," Kaze muttered now, while Temari's younger brother helped wrap his fingers. It was odd, but in the past two days the three squads plus Kaze had gotten closer than Temari would've thought was possible. The Leaf genin were actually alright, and even Kaze had stopped with his dirty looks after seeing them all help him out. Gaara was the root of the kindness—he was the one who offered scrolls to anyone who helped—and for a while Temari had been pretty mad about that. After all, Kaze had been a rude little brat to her younger brother the last time they'd all met.
But Kaze and Gaara had a long chat during one of Kaze and Kankuro's breaks, and the two of them had ended up hugging it out. It was a ridiculous solution for boys—Temari always thought boys fought it out—but somehow it suited her gentle-hearted younger brother.
"Not that bad? Every single finger is broken!" Kankuro cried now, shaking his head in distress. "Even if you can't use chakra, it's still a puppet master's worst nightmare! You can't even use wire now!"
They started squabbling about it as Kankuro helped Kaze back into his puppet body, and Temari was so tired of their squabbling by this point that she left to take a break from it. When she was far enough away that she could no longer hear them, she took a seat and started shining her fan, so ready to use it in the next round.
"Hey," a familiar voice said, and Temari hid a grin as she looked up to find Shikamaru leaning against a tree next to her. He was lazy as hell and had no ambition whatsoever, but there was something about him that Temari just found innately likeable. As brilliant as he was, he was never thinking about getting ahead or stepping on other people to increase his success; he was mostly focused on doing only what was absolutely necessary and doing it quick so he could relax afterwards.
"Shikamaru Nara," Temari greeted with a slight nod, going back to cleaning her fan.
"Everyone back there is super annoying," Shikamaru sighed, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. "I mean, we could do this plan in like seven hours if it weren't for their arguing. Kaze and Sasuke especially, they're always going at it. I know it's friendly or whatever but it wastes so much time. It's such a drag."
"I hope everyone back there doesn't include me," Temari said, arching an eyebrow. Shikamaru frowned at her, then crouched down as if standing for so long tired him.
"Nah, you're not so bad, I guess. You contributed more to the plan than anyone else."
Temari watched him look up at the clouds and wondered why he'd bothered to come talk to her. The only person he seemed to like talking to was his friend Choji, but since Choji was often around the noisy people, Shikamaru came out here. He could've avoided her, but instead he came and talked to her every time he saw her. It was a nice thought, that he liked talking to her. He wasn't as good looking as Sasuke, but it wasn't like he was a bad catch. She bit her lip to hold back a laugh, wondering what he'd say if he knew what she was thinking.
"Do you think it'll work?" she asked, brushing some sand from her fan. No matter how much she cleaned it, there always seemed to be sand stuck in it.
"I'm putting at our chances at a solid eighty percent, which is probably the best we're going to get at this point."
Temari nodded and set her fan down, looking up to watch the clouds with Shikamaru in a comfortable silence. After a moment, Shikamaru let out another long sigh and turned to face her.
"Do you play shogi?" he asked unexpectedly. Temari blinked, wondering where he was going with this. He didn't look like the kind of guy to do anything unexpectedly, so whatever he was asking was something he'd obviously been planning for a bit.
"Not often. I don't have many people to play it with," Temari answered cautiously, tapping her fingers along her fan.
"Yeah, sand getting in the shogi board would probably be a bother to clean." A beat. Then: "You seem like you might be alright at it, is all. If you're ever up for a game, I mean, it probably wouldn't be too much of a drag to play together."
It was the most unromantic thing Temari had ever heard, and she loved it. She looked back up at the clouds, imagining the peaceful clacks of pieces being put down and Shikamaru's stumped face as she made a move he couldn't counter. She smiled.
"I'd like that."
"Are you ready, Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked, shrugging on his Hokage robe and picking up the headband that had sat in his desk for years. He felt a twinge of sorrow as he looked at it; he'd never have imagined he'd be delivering it under these circumstances. He'd truly believed there could be peace after the last Great Ninja War, but things still hadn't changed, not really.
"I am," Jiraiya said, looking serious for the first time in a long time. Today could be the day both of them died, if this didn't go well. Jiraiya was already prepared to enter Sage Mode if need be, and Sarutobi held a kunai to prick himself if he needed to do an immediate summoning. Though he hoped it wouldn't come to that, he had no idea how things would go.
"Thank you for coming with me," Sarutobi sighed, wishing he didn't have to put his student in this position. It seemed all people did nowadays was sacrifice others to keep the Leaf running. "If things begin to get out of hand, I'll be counting on you."
"If things get out of hand, I'll have Gamabunta to help us too. We won't let this village be destroyed without a fight."
"Nobody will," Sarutobi said grimly, but if things came to a fight he feared there wasn't a soul alive who could stop the true power of the one they were going to see. They both pressed their hands on the scroll Iruka was supposed to touch, then nodded to each other as they felt the familiar pull of a summoning. In a puff of smoke, they had disappeared from the Hokage's chambers.
When the smoke finally cleared the next time, they stood at the final site of the second part of the Chuunin Exams. Beneath their feet were Heaven and Earth scrolls, and in front of them stood three young ninjas.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi," the one in the middle said. "This Exam just keeps getting better."
Then Kaze Naminato—who was actually none other than the Nine-Tailed jinchuuriki Naruto Uzumaki—smiled.
