Alright, finally put on the finishing touches. Hope everyone enjoys. Okay, I didn't actually put in any finishing touches, nor did I edit or perfect this chapter. Oh, but at least I'm honest, that's gotta count for something... doesn't it.
WAKING UP
His eyes slowly opened and he found himself looking at the ceiling. He lay there thinking maybe it had been all a dream. He tried getting up and felt the strain of his muscles to comply. This told him it had not been a dream. His muscles hadn't experienced atrophy, but they were definitely feeling raw. He managed to get to sitting position and took in his surroundings. He was in the infirmary as he scanned the room his eyes fell on Temari and Hirai. He looked down into his lap as a surge of emotion overtook him. Ever since his fight with Naruto he had worked hard to make changes in himself to attain the same things as Naruto. To have a goal and work towards that goal to earn the respect of those around him and know what it was that made Naruto fight so hard. Sitting there in the infirmary he realized he had accomplished his goals. A tear rolled down his cheek, he had never been good communicating with others and while he fought for others he was never certain if they would do the same for him. He felt bad about the ordeal they all went through, but the feeling he felt after getting through it was indescribable. He forced his body into moving and got up a little uncertain at first, but willing himself not to fall. He wiped away the tear on his cheek and very slowly made his way towards Temari. After a couple of minutes he reached them. He took a deep silent breath and put his hand against the wall for support. He looked down at his sister and put his hand ever so lightly on her shoulder. He hadn't really thought about what he was doing and as he put his hand on her shoulder he questioned if he really wanted her to wake up at that moment. That decision however was made for him though as Temari shifted and slowly looked up into his face. Temari couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tears began streaming down her cheek as she uttered his name. "Gaara." That was all she could say as the emotions choked her throat. She had slowly taken her hands off Hirai and wrapped them around Gaara's midsection. She then tightened her embrace and pulled him towards her. He buried her face in his lower chest as the tears kept coming. A few seconds passed before she let him go and said. "We're so glad that you're finally back with us." She said in a choked up voice.
Gaara had rarely been hugged and being hugged by Temari stunned him somewhat. He felt good, but at the same time he felt awkward. He did not know how to respond very well. Hirai meanwhile had awoken due to Temari's shifting. Tears were also in her eyes as she sat up. She leaned towards Gaara stood up and embraced him as well. That was all she could think to do. She couldn't get any words out. This action also sent a different feeling through Gaara. He returned Hirai's hug uncertainly and looked at Temari as he did so. Hirai felt him return the embrace and felt her mind go totally blank with an explosion of emotion. When Gaara broke the embrace Hirai fell limply into the chair she had previously been laying on. Gaara turned to Temari not really minding Hirai's reaction and said. "We have much to discuss." Temari nodded in agreement to this and began updating Gaara on the events that had transpired.
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Naruto had been lying on the bed awake for a good while. He had been thinking about his dream and didn't know what to make of it. He finally decided it was time to stop thinking about it and get ready for the day. He wanted to get some training done here and make sure Gaara recovered. He got up and washed. He organized his thoughts and decided he wanted to check on Kakashi and Tenten first. Then see how Gaara was doing and then get some training done. With plan in hand he began getting dressed and was once again in a good mood, the dream being pushed to the back of his mind.
Kakashi had been laying awake in his bed for a while. He sat up and was surprised at how refreshed his body now felt. His respect for Sakura's skills grew. He wanted to get out and make sure everything had turned out well. He knew he needed to rest, but he was just worried. He tried to calm himself by meditating and had some level of success. He relaxed and decided to go over everything that had happened. He was really worried about how Naruto was and if they had been successful, but he pushed that thought out of his mind knowing that he would soon find out. He thought about Chiyo and the lost opportunity to gain information about the Uzumaki clan. He was still deep in thought when the door opened and in walked none other than Naruto. Kakashi eyes widened as he saw who stepped through the door. He already had put on his mask in order to rest his sharingan. Naruto closed the door behind him and smiled as he waved at Kakashi and greeted him. "How you feeling Kakashi-sensei?" He said enthusiastically. He walked over to Kakashi's bedside dragging a chair with him as he went.
Kakashi let out a breath of relief before answering. "I'm doing as well as can be expected." He waited until Naruto sat down before asking. "So what happened with the mission? I take it, it was successful." Kakashi said.
Naruto smiled at this. "Yeah. Did you ever doubt us!" Naruto waited to see Kakashi laugh and deny it, but when he didn't do so immediately Naruto became very animated. "I can't believe you doubted! We're team seven Kakashi-sensei! Failure is like, like... like something we're not capable of! Shame sticks on you Kakashi-sensei." Naruto was doing the motion with his fingers pointing one at Kakashi and repeatedly sliding the other one over it. He stopped after a few times though and changed the direction of the conversation almost instantly. "I guess I can't blame you since you've been away from Konoha's future Hokage for so long! I mean could I blame you for not knowing how awesomely strong I've become!" Naruto exclaimed.
Kakashi could see his former student was about to go on a rant and decided to stop him before he really took off. "So what happened Naruto?" Kakashi asked in a loud and clear voice. Naruto stopped as he heard Kakashi's question. He calmed down quickly and composed himself. He then proceeded to relate everything that had happened to him after they had split up in the desert. Kakashi listened intently stopping Naruto every now and then to ask a question or make sure he heard right. It took Naruto roughly twenty minutes to finish telling Kakashi what happened. After he finished they both sat in silence for a few seconds as Naruto let everything sink in for Kakashi. After a few seconds Kakashi looked at Naruto and reached out with his hand and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'm real proud of you Naruto. You did well." Kakashi said.
Naruto smiled and replied. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei, but it was a team thing. We all did our part. So what happened with you guys after we left." Naruto had no idea how badly Kakashi had been hurt he had healed well and it wasn't really noticeable anymore. This time it was Kakashi who spoke as Naruto listened intently. It took Kakashi a little over a half hour to finish telling his story because Naruto interrupted much more often. The first question out of Naruto's mouth after Kakashi finished his story was. "How is Sakura dealing with everything?"
Kakashi hadn't seen her and he wasn't about to try and guess. "Naruto, I have no clue. She handled everything very well after we returned, but she's the only one that could really answer that for you." Kakashi said. Naruto looked down between his lap as he thought about this. She seemed okay last night when they had brought in Gaara and Naruto wished he had known, but after a few seconds he remembered that Sakura was not some emotionally weak person and he trusted her. He knew she would pull through it, he would just have to be there for her if she needed him. A grin touched his mouth as he thought about that. A shoulder to lean on he thought to himself. As these unforgivable thoughts entered his mind the door opened and Kakashi and Naruto turned to see Sakura coming in. Naruto quickly wiped those thoughts from his mind. Actually seeing her reminded him how violent she could be, no reason in particular, but he sometimes he caught himself remembering the old her and every time he saw her again the new her was forcefully brought to his mind. Naruto almost reached up to rub his jaw again, but was able to stop himself as Kakashi greeted her. "Good morning Sakura. How are you feeling." Kakashi asked.
Naruto raised in hand in greeting and said. "Hey Sakura."
Sakura looked from Kakashi to Naruto and back again and smiled softly as she responded. "I'm feeling better now that I see both of you are doing fine." She looked at Naruto and asked him. "How long have you been here?" Sakura had actually gone to look for Naruto first, but he had not been in his room. She wanted to spend some time with him and talk about a lot of things. However it looked like that time would have to wait a little bit longer. She had been solemn since then from the disappointment, but at least she would spend a little time with her long-time friend.
Naruto hadn't kept track of the time and looked skyward as he thought about this. Kakashi answered for him. "He's been here a little bit under an hour."
Sakura took a seat on the other side of Kakashi and asked. "Your feeling better right Kakashi-sensei?" to which Kakashi nodded his head. "I'm glad, you just need to rest and take it easy for today and tomorrow you should be back to full strength." She said this in a warm friendly voice and then smiled warmly at him. She then turned to Naruto with renewed interest and asked. "So what happened to you last night?" She asked referring to his mission. Naruto obliged in recounting his tale. He took about half and hour this time as he embellished a little bit more seeing how attentive Sakura was. Sakura payed close attention not only to his story, but also to the way he told the story. She had realized how little she really knew Naruto and she wanted to start getting to know her friend better. Once Naruto finished they sat there in thought for about a minute. Naruto didn't really know what else to say.
Naruto got up out of his chair and said. "It's good to see you're doing well Kakashi. I want to go check on Tenten, so I'll be going if you don't mind."
Kakashi replied patiently. "I don't mind at all Naruto. We should talk later though." Kakashi said.
Naruto turned to Sakura and asked. "Do you wanna come with me." He asked her.
Sakura thought about this and even though she did want to go she wanted to talk to Kakashi for a little bit and she had already dropped in to check on Tenten on the way here. "Gomen, Naruto. I'll catch up with you later on today though." She said.
Naruto was slightly disappointed, but he didn't let it affect him as he said. "It's no problem. I'll see you later then." He then left the room and went to find Tenten's room.
Neji had been in the room with Tenten since he woke up. He had made a beeline to her room with Lee accompanying him very early. Lee had left earlier that morning to begin training. About a minute and a half after Lee had left the room Sakura came into the room to check on Tenten's condition. Sakura had been surprised to find Neji in the room by himself. They made small talk as she went through her checkup. Tenten didn't wake up through it all as Sakura did most of her work with her chakra. When she finished she told Neji Tenten would be fine and should wake up soon. She then thanked them for coming to their aid and left the room. Neji was left alone in the room with a sleeping Tenten.
Neji placed a chair right next to Tenten's bed and sat down next to her. He sat there for a long time with a lot of thoughts running through his mind. Really he thought about Tenten and their relationship through the years. Now that he saw her in this condition he reflected on everything they had gone through as a team. It was very unusual for Neji to voice his thoughts, but he saw she was still sleeping and thought it would help him unravel his thoughts better. He clasped his hands together and brought them to his forehead and tapped it softly he then leaned forward and placed them on Tenten's bed and leaned his weight on it. Unbeknown to him when he leaned forward was the fact that Tenten was a light sleeper, but slow to really wake up. She felt the weight shift and felt herself regaining consciousness, however she didn't open her eyes as she heard Neji begin to speak. Had Neji looked up he might have noticed the tiny tick on Tenten's face before it relaxed again. Unfortunately for him he had his head down as he began to speak. "It's strange you know. We've been a team for such a long time, we know each other's tendencies on missions and yet I find myself lacking words to communicate sometimes. I know you'd probably laugh at me if you heard me Ten, but I feel that it's true. Sometimes I wonder if they knew what they were really doing when they put us all on the team. To imagine that on top of having Lee in my group we ended up under Gai-sensei. I think I would have lost my mind a long time ago had you not been in our group." Tenten was struggling not to let herself blush, not to give any hint that she was conscious because she had always wanted to hear Neji being honest and candid. However what he was saying was really affecting her emotionally. Neji didn't know any of this he simply kept going with his speech. "I don't mean it was all bad with them, I've grown to really respect them for who they are. Lee and his honesty, really, sometimes I can't believe how easily he just blurts out what he feels. It's like he has no brain mechanism that tells him what's prudent. Not that it's a bad thing, well I guess it can seem like it at times. I... sometimes I envy that, the freedom to just say what you feel. Sometimes. Then there's Gai, when I first met him he looked like an inept teacher. Never would I have expected the depth of wisdom he possesses. His mannerism is what throws you off." Neji paused reflecting on what he was saying before going on. Tenten had never heard Neji being so candid and was loving hearing him talk like this so openly. Her only regret was that she had to keep pretending she was still asleep, but she thought to herself. 'I would pretend I was asleep everyday if he would be this open with me.' Tenten herself had a strong crush on Neji and she couldn't bring herself to tell him. So she felt she could relate to how he felt about Lee. She let out a long breath unintentionally. Neji noticed this and looked up at her face. He saw no change. He figured it must have been his imagination. He also let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. He thought about something briefly and began voicing it before he could stop himself. He was trying to be more like Lee as far as being honest. "Tenten, for a long time I didn't realize what it meant to me having you on my team. Funny really how I'm so keen in my observations and I never really had this... epiphany until recently. I know you're asleep and won't hear me, but I guess I just wanted to let you know that I really..." At that moment he broke off as someone opened the door and walked in. Tenten couldn't believe this was happening, why her, why now. Her heart had stopped, what was Neji going to say? She didn't know what to do, she felt her only option was to remain in her condition, if she woke up Neji would think it suspicious. Her only hope was that whoever it was would leave really quickly.
Walking through the door was none other than Naruto. He looked into the room and his eyes immediately found Neji sitting next to Tenten. Naruto walked over to him and asked him. "So how is she doing?"
Neji was surprised by Naruto's arrival and cleared his throat as he re-composed himself. He then proceeded to explain the situation in it's entirety. He finished by explaining his presence there. "I trust Sakura, but I just wanted to make sure she was okay." He said.
Naruto had listened to everything and walked over to Tenten's bedside. She had lost hope a while ago that Neji would go back to finishing what he was saying. 'Damn you Naruto, why couldn't you have waited another minute.' She heard Naruto's voice. "Hey Tenten, I know your still asleep, but I hope you wake up soon and feel better." He then turned to Neji and said. "So how about it Neji show me where Lee is so we can train."
Neji looked at Tenten on the bed and replied. "I don't know Naruto, I would like to make sure Tenten is okay."
Naruto quickly shot down his argument. "I know she's your team mate and all, but Sakura said she would wake up soon. You should let her get her rest. I'm sure you'll have time to talk to her once she's up." He paused at this seeing the hesitant look on Neji's face. "Unless I missed something. Is she your this Neji?" Naruto asked indicating with his pinky what he meant. Tenten felt like she was being tortured. 'Am I what! Damn you Naruto, don't do this to me you bastard!'
Neji was taken aback by Naruto's question. He actually stuttered as he caved in. "I- I guess you have a point Naruto. You didn't miss, ano, anything however. I- I'll go with you." He turned to follow Naruto out of the room. They both made their way out of the room.
The door had closed behind them and only a few seconds had gone by when two kunnai slammed into the wood. Tenten was now sitting up frustrated. "I swear...MEN!" She said loudly and then slammed herself back into the mattress throwing the covers over her head.
PREVIEW
Training with Hinata, battles galore and speeding through the story to get to the next part.
RSO'S
dragonman180- Im so sorry, I'm working on finishing up this arc. Oh, she'll have help getting... sorry, you'll just have to wait in see, I know you've been waiting I'll try to get to it asap.
causeiambetta- oh you gotta wait til next ch. then.
sirus- Man, I set myself up for that one didn't I.
danny- Well, the length of the hair is tied into how much chakra you put into the jutsu as does the hardness, I think Kiba will find a different balance than Jiraiaya. Don't worry, Jiraiya's comment will be explained in the next chapter. Well I'm not sure, I was thinking about using elements before and I still think I got something in store for Naruto that will be super badass. I'm up to date with the manga for sure, but I didn't know they were gonna use elements I need to try and hurry up before they take any more of my ideas. J/K.
crazygirlofmanynames- you'll see Naruto's developments soon.
narashikamaru- Yeah, training rocks. Thanx for the compliment. Lol, you genious you. Don't copy right, I don't wanna get sued... I'm poor I can't afford to get sued. Thanx for reviewing.
reikeage-sama- It's coming, sorry for the long wait.
chicken con carne- Thanx, hopefully you'll keep reading. I always think I'll get tired of compliments, but then I get one and I realize, I'm addicted to them. Lol.
asianwriter- Thanx, I'm glad you found my story. Sorry, I don't have any immediate plans for Sasuke, he'll show up later. Ummm Naruto got's a long way to go before those things happen. No problem, I don't mind answering questions, I think it helps the reading experience.