On with the story!
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Ch. 11 Chibi Spars
Gaara was bored in the meeting, but he didn't mind, because he knew that as soon as he was done, he and Naruto were going to go out to eat. He would never admit he was hungry, and any time he felt his stomach about to growl, shifted his gourd so all you heard was the movement of sand. The shinobi from his village were all relieved of duty so long as he was inside the tower, due to the high level of security surrounding it.
Actually, as soon as Gaara had entered, he had asked about the man sent to retrieve him. Tsunade explained that he was Ebisu, and had been a trainer to the former Hokage's grandson until the boy began thinking of Naruto as his rival and idol. Ebisu highly disliked Naruto since all he saw in the blonde was the fox demon. This was enough to make the young Kazekage dislike the man, and he had to force himself to focus back on the matter at hand, the new trade negotiations. After all, the sooner he finished, the sooner he could see his Naruto again.
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A small crowd had gathered to watch as the best team of Konoha, Sasuke and Naruto, sparred in a way that looked more like an elaborate dance. They each seemed to know each move the other would make, and could react on a single movement or twitch. The two young men flung themselves at each other in a passionate fight, though they had both agreed that it would be a taijutsu-only match. Lee, Neji, Kiba, and the others, all were watching and some were even placing bets. Then Naruto began to put his plans in motion.
A small gasp rose up as a faint red chakra could be seen hovering around the blonde ninja. Sasuke went to call on him using the Kyuubi, but his opponent's speed had increased, and if he wasn't careful, he'd lose. But then his torso began to feel chilled, and a bunch of loud squeals were heard, as well as a mocking laugh from the blonde idiot who was now holding up the torn remnants of Sasuke's shirt. The young Sharingan user flew at his sparring partner and swore under his breath at the dobe, moving faster with him until the two were almost a blur to the eyes of the younger genin gathered around to watch the Jounin sparring.
Not about to lose to Naruto, even if he was using the demon's speed, Sasuke tried to attack while Naruto kept the energy in check, delivering blow after blow to his opponent, only to watch as he took the attacks and kept coming at him. But that was one reason why he liked to spar with the blonde, he was so damned persistent. You couldn't keep him down, no matter how hard you tried. And Sasuke was really trying. What upset him more was that Naruto was being gentle with him. Whenever one of the blows landed on the brunette, he realized that, though the speed of the Kyuubi was being used, the strength was not. Naruto was barely fighting. It pissed Sasuke off to no end to know that he was so weak.
But the fact remained that he wasn't as fast as the dobe now. He pushed his body to move faster, to notice his movements quicker to try and catch him off guard. The crowd erupted in cheers when finally, Sasuke was able to press a kunai to Naruto's neck, signalling that he had been caught. The younger of the two laughed, revealing that he wasn't tired at all, even though Sasuke had just had one of the best workouts he could remember. They had sparred for almost an hour, and the battle had been so intense (in Sasuke's opinion) that he knew he'd do better the next time he trained with Kakashi. After all, one way to get better was to fight someone you couldn't defeat. They pushed you to try harder.
Naruto stood up with him, sweating a little bit as the red chakra faded away, leaving behind just a normal Konoha shinobi. Though even then, he wasn't really able to be considered "normal". Probably the normal part was that he, like every other ninja in the village had his own thing that made him odd. It seemed like every one of the ninja had their own oddities.
The sounds of cheering and applause died away as Sasuke thanked Naruto for the spar and went off towards his house to get cleaned up. He had plans, and he needed to be clean for them.
Happily, the younger of the two began to head back to the Hokage tower, not even caring about the bit of dirt and sweat he had on him as he headed up the stairs to where Shizune waited, a stack of papers on her desk waiting for the Godaime's signature. As Naruto approached, though, he saw Gaara also standing at the desk, looking a little crestfallen. His shoulders were slumped and his head was bowed. Out of pure instinct, the young man rushed to his crush's side and slapped his back.
"Hey Panda-man! What's wrong?" The young man's head snapped up and turned to him so fast, Naruto was afraid it would snap. He looked carefully at his friend, honestly delighted to see such an ecstatic look just upon seeing him. He wasn't used to people being happy to see him!
The two headed outside for theit lunch, as promised, though Gaara sadly informed Naruto that no, the negotiations were not over. Tsunade had insisted upon new regulations and paths to help prevent theft and attacks. The blonde's eye twitched as he tried to remember why he wanted to be the Hokage again... Then he looked at the red-head, and he remembered why. He also remembered something else.
"Oi, I gotta ask." Gaara made a gesture which would be similar to raising an eyebrow, except he didn't have any. "Number one. Your eyes. You sleep more, plus those circles weren't that dark last night after your bath! Fess Up!" He was shocked when his friend actually blushed.
"It's Kohl."
"Coal?"
"No, Kohl. It's an eye makeup used by desert people for a long time. Used to, it was fashionable, but it died out a long time ago. My father wore it, though. I wore it to hide the real circles caused by my lack of sleep. I had to wear it extra thick, though, and now I can't go without it, because... well, I just look odd without it." Naruto nodded in agreement. He would look odd without those thick black outlines.
"Okay, number two! Why don't you have eyebrows?" They entered Ichiraku and sat down, ordering their Ramen, before he finally got an answer.
"Well, the sand is always around me. And it's usually pressed against me, rubbing at my skin. This causes two things. One, my skin's pretty soft and sensitive to touch. One reason why I prefer to use my sand to fight. The other is that it rubs off the hair on my arms, legs, and face. I'll never have a mustache or beard, not that I want one, but I'll also never have eyebrows." The dumbstruck look on his crush's face made him blush again, and he tried to focus on something else.
"So is that why you always wear those clothes and have your arms crossed? Because your skin is sensitive?" Naruto was genuinely curious now. At his secret admiration's nod, the blonde began to laugh. "Oh man! Because everyone's been wondering about that stuff! We didn't know, so people began making up some funny stories! They said you stole your sister's eyeliner, and that you shaved your eyebrows so your tattoo wouldn't be hidden." Gaara's head dropped, and you could practically see the exasperation on his face. (And a little sweatdrop on the back of his head...)
"Well, at least it's cleared up now, right?" He was twice as glad to see the bowl of Ramen being placed in front of him as Naruto was.
Well, maybe not that much.
"Itadakimasu!" Was the only warning heard before the Kyuubi-holder attacked his favorite food.
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Red eyes scanned the house in annoyance. This was his first time actually inside Naruto's house, and it was beyond obvious who lived there. Even if he hadn't known already. The rumpled bed, the empty Ramen cups in the trash, and a calender with marks like "New mission!"and "Dinner at Ichiraku's with Iruka!" scrawled on it.
Getting down to business, the young man moved towards the bathroom, praying it wasn't a mess. After all, who likes to sneak into other people's bathrooms? The same people who like to sneak into people's houses, apparently.
Opening the shampoo bottle, he added a small amount of liquid to it from a vile in his pouch. This stuff was the bane of his existence. Itg made your hair soft, but to create it, the people had to use a special herb that, when warmed by the heat that came from the top of your head (since most heat is expelled from the body that way) produced a faint scent that was considered enticing by people. He hated it for that reason alone, and yet he continued to use it. Everyone else might call him a genius, but he knew how much of an idiot he was. He couldn't even believe he was here, doing something like this to help that blonde idiot, but, he was only alive thanks to him. If he could get those two together already, then Naruto would be safer, and he could go back to his normal life instead of acting like a damn stalker and guardian.
Faint footsteps outside of the house made the Sharingan user check to make sure his chakra was hidden before stealthily slipping out of the room and moving through shadows towards the door. The owner of the house shouldn't be back yet. He had just seen him eating with the Kazekage. Manuevering so he could peer through a different window, his eyes landed upon three feminine heads, one pink, one blonde, and one black, the blonde holding a bouquet of flowers. Raising a curious eyebrow, the Uchiha performed a jutsu that created the illusion that he was Naruto, and then opened the door.
"There you are, Naruto!" The pink-haired girl cried out, and he fought off the urge to tell her to be quiet.
"What Sakura means is that we were supposed to deliver these for you! They're from Gaara!" She stuffed the bouquet of wildflowers into his hands, and he looked down at it, wanting nothing more than to destroy it. How many times had girls given him flowers? He shuddered at the thought.
"Naruto-kun? Are you okay?" The brunette of the group stepped forward, and the Uchiha realized that if he wasn't careful, she'd use her Byakugan and find out that he wasn't really the idiot.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little out of it. I was takin' a nap. Me and Sasuke sparred earlier, and it kinda wore me out." He had to try not to praise himself for his impersonation.
"Yeah, we saw that!" Sakura nodded fervently.
"In fact, we'd better go make sure Sasuke-kun's alright!" With the three fled towards the Uchiha house, while the person left standing at the door's eye began to twitch.
"Oh.. Hell."
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Muahaha! I'm so damned evil! I'll try to update faster, I promise! This one's for Cloudy Eyed Goddess, even though I don't think she reads this. She's been through some crap lately and hasn't been able to update, so I'm updating to help inspire her to update, too! I know, I'm weird! Well, bye for now!