Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto. I think it's pretty obvious that I don't.

FemNaru. Naruto/Gaara with a tiny bit of one-sided Kakashi/Naruto if you squint. Also there is a screwed up timeline. Live with it.


Baki circled the blonde girl who had been sent to him and scratched at the uncovered half of his face. She stood slumped slightly and ducked her head a little as looked into her deep blue eyes.

"Hmm," he murmured, "So you're going to be our next runner. You don't seem so sure of yourself. Why?"

Naruto started and was silent for a few moments before she spoke up.

"I don't want to disappoint Suna. I just got a new chance to be appreciated and I'm probably going to screw it up."

Baki's hand snapped out and cuffed her around the back of the head.

"Don't say that. We both know that you are a competent shinobi. You could be better but you could be a lot worse. If you're going to think like that… Then you aren't going to be any use to Suna."

Naruto jolted at that and turned her head to stare into Baki's eyes.

"I will be use to Suna! I'll protect this village with my life!"

A smirk crossed Baki's features.

"Well, let's get started."


Stay with Me.

A GaaNaru one-shot.


Three Years Later

Yugito sprinted down the tunnel, her footsteps drumming loudly on the concrete floor. She sped towards the light away from the pursuing enemies. Her bandaged ponytail waved behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to try and estimate the gap between her and the pursuers.

Out of nowhere, a weapon sliced through the air towards her. Grunting, she threw herself to the side, twisting in mid air, and landed on the water. She glared at the tunnel entrance. Yugito turned her head to the left and stared at the weapon that had been lunched at her.

It was a huge three pronged scythe. Connected to the butt of the blade was a rope that led deep into the darkness. From the direction of the rope, a voice spoke up.

"Nice dodge there."

Two figures started to walk out of the dark and she could see the black cloaks decorated with red clouds.

"Mmm… I'm the slowest attacker in the Akatsuki. So… I never hit anything, y'see."

"Ah… So you two really are Akatsuki…" she replied, edging backwards ever so slightly.

"It's just you now," said the second figure, whose majority of his face had been covered, "No more of your little friends."

"Well… You're not that bad there," spoke the other figure, who had slicked back silver hair and purple eyes.

"Hey, Hidan. This is the nekomata jinchuuriki. Don't drop your guard. You might die," said the covered figure.

"No need to warn me, Kakuzu really want it to kill me anyway you see," said Hidan, grinning madly.

"Let's do this."

Kakuzu started to move forward but was interrupted by Hidan.

"Wait!" cried Hidan, "I must say my prayers first!"

He held up a necklace with strange symbol upon it.

Yugito was silent as she watched the two interact.

"Do you ever shut up about those damn prayers of yours?"

"Hey, I don't like them either. But the dogma of my religion has strict rules on this kind of stuff!"

Yugito grinned suddenly and attracted the attention of the two Akatsuki. Her hands shot into a seal.

"You two probably think you cornered me here… But that's not the case."

Here she started to channel chakra into her hands.

"Y'see I lured you two here!"

Above the two S-class missing-nin an explosive note began to sizzle. Then it exploded with a huge, resounding boom. A chain reaction was set off and by the time the two realised what was happening, they were closed in.

"Y'see now that I know that you're with Akatsuki… I can't let you go," she snarled.

"Hey… Looks like she trapped us Kakuzu," drawled Hidan.

"No matter… It's easier this way," replied Kakuzu, just as calm.

"I swear on my name… You will die here!" cried Yugito.

"Oh man… Can't you just roll over and let us capture you," muttered and irritant Hidan.

"Get real!" she bellowed and chakra exploded over her body, swirling around her in a blue, fiery storm.

"I think that was a no…" stated Hidan, gaining an 'Are you stupid?' look from Kakuzu.

The chakra around Yugito grew until it formed a huge two tailed cat that roared and leapt at the Akatsuki.

"This is so not funny," muttered Hidan.


Yugito lay panting on the floor, blood pouring from all over her body and her vision grew slightly hazy. If it hadn't been for the nekomata she would have been killed.

Hidan stood a few feet away from her and was approaching with his iron stake raised high. Just as he was about to bring it down, a huge rush of wind exploded in the area and a string round kick was launched into his stomach. He flew backwards and smashed into a broken wall.

'What the hell?' he thought, glancing down at his stomach where a huge cut was slashed across his torso, 'Was that… Wind chakra!'

Yugito stared up at the back of her saviour she couldn't make out much but blinked when the figure turned and laid its hand on her head. She felt a sudden influx of chakra fill her up.

Her vision cleared and she took in what her rescuer looked like.

She was clearly female and wore slightly heeled, black shinobi sandals. Her legs were clad in knee-length fishnet shorts with a pair of brown shorts that reached mid-thigh over the top. She wore a long-sleeved fishnet top and a Suna chuunin vest over that. A Suna hitai-ate hung around her neck.

However, the features that really stood out were the deep blue eyes and long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. A couple of bangs hung limply over her face which was marred by fox-like whisker marks.

"Che…" the blonde Suna kunoichi said slowly, "I don't think Gaara-kun would be very happy if I let a fellow jinchuuriki be killed."

A multitude of scrolls hung from the Chuunin's belt and they waved around her as she charged suddenly at Kakuzu.

"Eat this!"

Kakuzu launched himself out of the way and her fist connected with the wall, leaving a huge jagged gash.

'Note to self; Do not get hit by her.'

"So you are a jinchuuriki to. Wait… Those whisker-marks… Kyuubi… Are you by any chance… Naruto-chan?"

Naruto grinned ferally at Kakuzu. "What? Does Itachi-chan talk about me?"

The covered man edged backward slightly. "Last time you two met, you were not so confident." 'Or insane.'

"Che… People change, y'know."

Kakuzu's eyes widened as she ducked under her leg. Unfortunately, her did not notice her other leg following the first.

Kakuzu was blasted away from her.

He skidded to a stop next to Hidan.

"I think that we should retreat, Hidan."

"Yeah…"

The two Akatsuki struggled to their feet and quickly fled the scene. Naruto started to go after them, when she heard a groan from the girl behind her. Pouting, she turned to face her fellow blonde.

"Che… I think I should get you to the hospital."

Yugito shot a half-assed glare at the girl before she blacked out.


Okay! Second Chapter of the continuation of Stay with Me. Introducing… Naruto the Runner.

Runners = Suna's combat based messengers who must have a high wind affinity and high natural speed. They travel from country to country delivering messages of dire importance. The elite runners, they were prided as being some speediest people in the Elemental countries. A previous Captain of the Runners was the fastest until her was challenged to a race by Namikaze Minato. Hichirou-Taicho was winning until the Yondaime threw one of his special kunai and overtook the man. Unfortunately, the pressure of using so much wind chakra completely destroyed the tendons and muscles in his legs and he could never walk again. Since then no-one has ever surpassed the two in speed.

Wind Chakra cuts. I'm sure you all knew this though.

Thanks to everyone who asked me to continue the story. MoonPrincess623 and snobunniex3 especially.