Being and Belonging

Gaara

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

A/N: This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one.

Summary: When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? "Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"

"Naruto," Itachi admonished, "don't fidget. We're too close to the hidden village of Sand for you to make any unnecessary movements. A Sand nin could catch us."

"Sorry," Naruto sighed, looking up from his book, "but we've been sitting here for hours. When can we enter the city?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Don't ask stupid question…" Itachi paused and added, "and stop twitching!"

Kisame chuckled under his breath and drew Naruto into his lap ignoring Itachi fire like glare. "We're right outside the gates of the hidden village of sand hidden under Itachi's genjutsu. We're going to memorize the guard rotations and entering and goings of the village and then tomorrow we'll jump the fence and complete our mission."

"Oh. But why did Kabuto get to leave?" Naruto asked, lowering his voice to a mere murmur at Itachi's look.

"Kabuto's been here before so we sent him out to scout the perimeter. When he gets back he'll draw us a rough drawing of the village so we know where to attack. We're lucky you two caught up with us in the end. Otherwise, we'd be searching in the dark."

At the statement, Itachi snorted. "Lucky. We'll be lucky if you two don't get in the way."

Naruto's face fell, but he bravely tried to keep it put and cheerfully said, "But Itachi ni-san, Kabuto's really, really strong and I'll…I'll try my best to keep out of trouble, I promise."

"You hear that, Itachi, the kid's going to keep out of trouble." Kisame tried to share a secret smile with Itachi over Naruto's head but failed when Itachi turned away to search for Kabuto.

"You won't even get a chance to cause trouble." Itachi countered, "You and Kabuto will be waiting on the edge of the village for us to return."

"But…but Itachi ni-chan, I want to stay with you." Naruto pleaded.

"No," Itachi answered firmly, "It's too dangerous. You'll stay with Kabuto until we come out."

"But-"

"I think that Naruto and I will have to help." Kabuto said, stepping silently out of some nearby bushes. "I've been examining the area and to be able to get in, you of us will have to create a distraction at the front gate while the other two will need to sneak in through the back gate here." As he spoke, Kabuto drew a small sketch on the sand detailing the village and the two entrance points. "Then the team inside will complete the mission."

"It's rudimentary." Itachi said, observing the plan, "But only chuunin are on guard, right?"

"Yes. Naruto chan and I should be able to take care of them. Kisame san, Itachi san, I think you two should go through the back." Kabuto said.

"Why does Naruto have to be involved at all?" Kisame said frowning.

"Well, I think-"

"Naruto's not going to be of any help to you in creating the distraction." Itachi observed. "I'll take him with me and you and Kisame will create the distraction."

"You're not taking him into the city!" Kisame hissed, "You'll get him killed."

"No one is going to die unless they make a mistake." Itachi said, catching Naruto's eye and holding it pointingly as Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Naruto, I don't think you understand how dangerous this'll be." Kisame said, turning Naruto to face him. "If you're scared or frightened at all, then you have to say so now. No one's going to make you do anything."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Itachi and then turned back to Kisame: "But I want to do it, Kisame-san. I wanna help."

"Just stay out of the way." Itachi said again, "That'll be helping."

Naruto pouted. "But I promise that I can-"

"Kabuto, Kisame," Itachi interrupted, "Here's what I want you to do…"

A couple hours later, as moonlight lit up the cool desert and pale sand, Naruto and Itachi positioned themselves at the far southern corner of the village. "Naruto," Itachi said, "do you remember what to do?"

"Yes," Naruto whispered, bouncing on his toes, "When you say go, we're going to hop the fence and then I'm going to follow you through the village until you say stop. Then I'm supposed to wait outside while you complete the mission and then follow you back right here." Naruto paused, tilting his head in thought. "Oh! And I'm not supposed to do anything stupid." he finished.

"Good enough." Itachi said, scanning the sky. Then he saw it, the signal. "Come on, follow me." he said, moving forward.

Itachi leapt over the fence, landing lightly in a crouch on the other side and waited for Naruto to follow. After a couple of minutes passing with Itachi twitching in annoyance, he finally leaped back over the fence to see Naruto clumsily trying to scale it with his kunai.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked him.

"Um…" Naruto looked at Itachi from his perch halfway up the fence and then hopped back down to land sheepishly on the ground. "They hadn't taught us to jump that high yet at the academy and so…I didn't know how…" Naruto trailed off looking at his feet.

Itachi made a low noise in the back of his throat. "And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…you- you were so annoyed earlier and I wanted to show you that I could do it and that I wouldn't be a- a- what did you call it? Oh, yeah- a nuisance. I wanted to show you that I wasn't a nuisance." Naruto blurted out.

"Naruto," Itachi said harshly. "This is what makes you a nuisance. And why don't you know how to jump yet?" he continued. "Even- All of the trainees are supposed to able to jump at your level."

Naruto blushed, red creeping down his neck. "No one wanted to spend any time with me so I never learned." he whispered, "It was easier for them to focus on good students like Sakura or Sas-"

"Shut up." Itachi said suddenly, and then softer, noticing Naruto flinch: "It's not that you aren't a good student; people just don't like those who are different."

Naruto's face lit up at Itachi's words. "Different like you, Itachi ni-chan?"

"No different like-" Itachi paused, "Yes, different like me." Then quickly looking around, he said, "I'll teach you how to jump right now. You have to be fast though alright?"

"Yes Itachi ni-chan. I promise. I'll be the best at jumping. The best ever!" Naruto chirped, hopping up on one foot.

"Naruto," Itachi snapped, "What's the first rule in this mission again?"

Horrified Naruto covered his mouth; then, his voice muffled, he garbled out: "Not to talk."

Itachi nodded at him. "You've finished the book on chakra control, right?" At Naruto enthusiastic nod, Itachi continued, "Remember the part on focusing chakra?" Without waiting for a reply, Itachi explained quickly, "You can focus chakra to different parts of your body such as your hands or your feet. To jump the chakra needs to go to your feet. The first chakra focusing exercise in that book is to concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in and out until you can visualize your five chakra centers and their flows. Then you have to direct that towards your feet. You'll be able to tell when it works when you feel a slight tingling on the soles of your feet." Itachi looked at Naruto's slack form. "Well? Are you going to try or not?"

Naruto started and then quickly turned around and closing eyes, began breathing deeply in and out. As his breaths began steadying out, Itachi activated his Sharingan and watched as Naruto slowly molded the chakra flows in his own body. His chakra was normally a whitish color but soft sparks of red (the demon's chakra) flit in and out of his channels like molten electricity.

The red sparks were coming from the seal in his belly. It rumbled and twitched grumpily whenever Naruto pulled at his chakra to push it towards his feet. Itachi had a feeling that the Nine-Tails' Demon wanted its chakra to be used (after all, its chakra was only getting restless in there), but that Naruto himself was stopping himself from using it- such a recognizably evil influence was probably unconsciously blocked from ever reaching the surface by Naruto's good nature.

Naruto pushed more chakra down towards his feet – more than he needed, to tell the truth – but Itachi decided to let him keep going. It was nice to known that the kid had so much spare chakra.

Impressed in spite of himself, Itachi allowed himself a small smirk. The boy had natural talent for molding chakra. Someone just had to show him how to do it. Itachi had known that the fourth's son couldn't be a complete failure like his father had once commented; it just wasn't possible for one of the most powerful ninja's to ever live to sire a deadbeat. The fourth had to have seen something long ago in Naruto or he wouldn't have entrusted him with the demon seal.

Unfortunately for Leaf, no one had bothered to finds out how special Naruto could be.

Then, seeing another signal flash through the sky, Itachi impatiently turned towards Naruto – they had wasted far too much time – and saw that he was still pushing an inordinate amount of chakra towards his feet. Reaching out his own chakra, Itachi ignored Naruto's gasp and cut off most of the chakra, pushing a small amount towards his feet.

"Jump now." Itachi ordered.

Naruto turned to stare at him with wonder, his eyes bright. "You touched me with your chakra." he whispered happily.

"Go!" Itachi hissed.

Turning obediently, Naruto leaped over the fence, Itachi following quickly. After reaching the other side, Itachi silenced Naruto's opening mouth with another burst of chakra across his mouth and pulled at the boy to follow him with a third shot of chakra wrapping around his waist and dragging him forward until he was trotting behind Itachi obediently.

Walking through the streets, mindful of Naruto behind him, Itachi swept his gaze through the village. It was late and the village was deserted, most people safe in their beds or at least in their homes from what Itachi could see through the windows. They were walking through what seemed like a market place, and Itachi could imagine it filled with bustling people, chattering and bargaining over prices. The ninjas didn't live on this side of town, according to Kabuto, only the villagers, but Gaara, their target did. Why keep the chief's son hidden away in some small part of the village, Itachi didn't know, but then again, the man did want to kill the boy.

Finally, Itachi stopped in front of a large building. It looked old and rambling with dirt windows. Itachi's mouth twisted. His target was probably somewhere in the middle of all that and Itachi would have to find him. Hopefully the boy wasn't smart enough to mask his scent or chakra. Somehow, though, Itachi knew that he was.

"Naruto." Itachi whispered, drawing the boy to his side. "Go wait in the corner. I'll be back soon. And don't do anything. Just stay put." Itachi finished.

Naruto, grinning deliriously, nodded twice and moved over to an abandoned market stall that was still advertising its fresh fruit. "Be careful." he mouthed.

Itachi ignored him and jumped into through the first-floor window. He didn't know why, but he felt like something was going to go horribly wrong.

Kisame swung his Samehada towards another sand nin and watched in satisfaction as the teenaged boy fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from the stomach. Kisame turned away from him (he wouldn't survive the rest of the fight) and surveyed the scene.

He and Kabuto had finally decided to set off a smoke bomb of sorts in the east wing of the village. After all the attention had been diverted there, Kabuto and he had sent out clones to invade the ninja parts of the village, carefully staying away from the civilian parts where Naruto and Itachi were supposed to be heading. Finally, they themselves had attacked the main entrance, wrecking as much havoc as they could using some explosive techniques that might not have been very deadly, but did cause a lot of damage.

Luckily, only chuunins were on guard for the most part and Kabuto and he were able to cause a lot of mayhem before more experienced fighters came on the field and realized that there weren't a lot of enemies- only one or two. It was then that the real fight began.

Kabuto and he had quickly developed a rather good tandem fighting style, but it was temporary at best and against the top sand nins, of whom neither had seen, but Kisame was sure that they were on their way, their combined technique wouldn't stand a chance. They'd be separated and though, they could probably take on at least a dozen at a time, soon they'd be overwhelmed.

Naruto and Itachi needed to get out and give them the signal to retreat and do it fast. One mistake and they'd end up end, but they couldn't pull back and leave Naruto and Itachi to fend for themselves. Kisame shuddered to think what these sand demons would do to sweet little Naruto if they found him. Look what they had done to the raccoon boy.

Suddenly, Kabuto hopped next to him, fielding a block to Kisame's left side. "I calculate that we can hold them off for another thirty minutes at the most, but we will be too tired to help Itachi sama and Naruto chan if we do that." Kisame grunted in agreement, swinging his Samehada. "So I suggest that in twenty minutes we barrel through here and get both of them out of there, mission completed or not."

Kisame eyed him. "A full frontal assault?" He shook his head. "Itachi can handle himself."

"Can Naruto?" Kabuto questioned, pushing against a sand nin, a medical needle landing in the man's chest.

"What do you want with Naruto?" Kisame hissed, thinking of turned his blade on Kabuto himself until he realized that doing so would be idiotic.

"What you want." Kabuto answered, "What everyone wants, but I also want to help you. He has vast amounts of uncontrollable chakra. And, well, with that much chakra, teaching him about control isn't going to be enough. He has to channel it into something strenuous enough that at the end of the day he's too tired to have an unexpected flare-up and blow up the compound." Kabuto paused as he assessed another surge of sand nin. "I could teach him medical skills, even chakra healing. That fact that he himself heals so fast could mean that the demon has a natural inclination for it. It might make it easier for him to learn."

Kisame's eyes narrowed. "And what's in it for you?" he asked.

Kabuto shrugged, wielding his needles carefully. "Something to do- someone to teach my skills to."

"And full demon powers at your beck and call." Kisame finished.

"He's a sweet kid." Kabuto defended himself, "He'd be a pleasure to teach."

"Yeah," Kisame muttered, driving the Samehada through an opponent. "He's one hell of a kid." And he better still be alright.

Naruto skipped around the stall happily. "He touched me." he whispered, daring anyone to hear him as he grinned wildly. "He touched me." he said a little louder.

Of course Itachi had touched him before. But it was always for some reason or the other, like he was in danger or Itachi was trying to teach him something and needed to reposition his fingers or- or something. But he never just touched him.

And especially not with his chakra.

Naruto had seen it done before. Between family members mostly. Like ninjas who gave their sons or daughter soft pets down their back or on their head with their chakra when they were pleased with them or how parents soothed their children with a steady pulse of it when they were frightened. But no one had ever done it to Naruto; in fact most people's chakra became almost overbearing whenever people were around him.

Not Itachi's though. It was almost heady in its thrill and Itachi had acted like it didn't even matter. Did that mean that he hadn't minded doing it? That he was going to do it often? Naruto let a wide grin split his face again. He could do it as often as he wanted to. It felt safe with him – letting Itachi's chakra touch his own – as if his entire presence was surrounding Naruto, protecting him and in that one instant, Naruto felt invincible.

Naruto twirled around the stall again, grabbing a pole and twisting around it, basking in the sweet glow of the moon. He laughed happily, his giggles echoing through the air and heard a small sound it return. Immediately wary, Naruto stopped spinning and stood ramrod straight, his eyes straining to see where the sound had come from.

"Don't stop." A voice said from close by, making Naruto start in shock. "You looked happy." As Naruto watched, from behind the stall only two feet away, a part of the sandy wall detached itself and a small redheaded boy emerged from it, sand swirling behind him and entering a gourd behind his back. His lips pursed and the tattooed letter marring his face wrinkled along with his forehead as he thought. "I don't know what happy is, but if I had to name it I'd call it you."

Naruto gaped at the boy, backing up behind the pole. He spoke oddly, pronouncing each and every word as he hadn't talked to many people in his life and his face was unbelievably pale for one who had spent their life under sun. His face and light desert clothes contrasted sharply with the bags under his eyes, so dark that they might have been bruises. Naruto suddenly itched to touch them and make sure that they didn't hurt.

He looked lonely- no, he oozed loneliness.

"Don't be scared," The boy continued, his green eyes boring through Naruto, "I promise that I won't hurt you. Just laugh again." he paused, looking at Naruto quizzically when he didn't do so. "Please." he added uncertainly, his light wrap falling open and exposing ninja's clothing when he shrugged his shoulder experimentally.

Finally Naruto found his voice. He wasn't going to be scared of this boy. He wasn't taller than Naruto like most boys. He was just the same height and Itachi was counting on Naruto to be brave - he had touched him with his chakra – if that wasn't a sign then Naruto didn't know what it was. "Silly," he started, his voice barely a whisper, "You can't just laugh. You need a reason."

"A reason?" The boy said calmly, tilting his head. Then striding forward until his nose almost touched Naruto's, he said, "I am Gaara of the Desert and I want you to laugh. Is that not reason enough?"

Naruto shrunk back from Gaara's cold stare. "Um…you don't understand. Something has to make you want to laugh." Naruto tried to explain. "Like something funny, or beautiful, or happy, or like if you're with your favorite person in the whole world. Then all you want to do is laugh. Maybe you should find your favorite person. He'll laugh with you. Then it'll be a real laugh because you're happy."

Gaara's nose wrinkled. "Who's my favorite person?" he asked.

"I don't know." Naruto answered, confused. "Why would I know?"

"You seem to know a lot about happy…things." Gaara said thoughtfully. Then: "I don't think I have a favorite person. You'll be mine then, won't you?"

Naruto looked at him oddly. "I can't be you're favorite person. You don't know me. You don't even know my name!" he said, upset. "You shouldn't just say stuff like that. Your favorite person's serious stuff." Naruto pouted.

"What's your name?" Gaara asked patiently.

"Well, I-"

"What is it?" Gaara demanded.

"Naruto." Naruto said softly. "It's Naruto, but I can't be your favorite person. We don't know each other."

"But- but…" Gaara trailed off, thinking. "I'll make you laugh." he promised almost desperately.

Naruto smiled at him, stepping closer. "How?" he asked curiously.

In response, sheets of sand flew up around them, dousing the market with dust and turning the very air around them into silvery clouds as moonlight reflected off the sand. Naruto shrieked as the sand circled around him, but it was soon followed by a delighted laugh that filled the market.

Itachi ran up another flight of stairs, brushing the blood off his fingers. He had already killed five people, none of them Gaara. He just couldn't find the bloody kid. His suspicions from before were correct; he was masking his chakra which meant that Itachi would have to find him the old fashioned way. For a second Itachi wished Naruto was here- maybe he'd be able to smell the boy out, but no, Naruto would get all emotional when he found out what Itachi was going to Gaara.

That emotionality would be the first thing that Itachi would have to change.

Suddenly, Itachi skidded to a halt. In the hallway in front of him were two children, maybe twelve and eleven. The older one, a girl, had blonde hair and was carrying a large fan. The other one was slightly shorter and had odd markings on his face. Itachi smirked. He knew who these two were.

"Temari and Kankuro." Itachi surmised. "Move out of my way. I'm not here for you. I-" Itachi paused. He could have sworn he had heard Naruto yell, but- shaking his head, Itachi continued, "I want your brother. I'm here for him. Move."

Both children shook their heads and readied themselves for a fight. His mind still on Naruto, Itachi frowned, but prepared to kill them.

No one was going to stand in his way.

"I want you to come with me." Gaara said imperiously.

"I- I can't." Naruto said softly, backing away from Gaara's outstretched hand.

Gaara's face suddenly tightened and sand whipped up around Naruto causing him to cross his arms in front of his chest in slight fear (though he'd never admit it), but as quickly as the sand arrived, it disappeared. "But I-" Gaara seemed lost. "I could make you laugh again." he pleaded. "I want to see it." he added wistfully.

Naruto frowned, thinking back to what Itachi had said about not doing anything, but Naruto wanted to touch the bruises under Gaara's eyes and make them disappear. He wanted to stop the hurts flowing off the boy in streams. He wanted-

"Okay." Naruto said suddenly grasping Gaara's hand.

Sand surged up around them, but this time Naruto wasn't afraid of it. It twinkled around him like before, spraying both of them breezily and gently led him away from the market place with Gaara quietly following, head tilted as he listened to Naruto's childlike laughter.

To Be Continued…