AN: Thanks, folks, for the reviews. They make me smile and persevere. :)

Julchen (Guest reviewer): I will keep updating, and I'm happy to make both extremes of those feelings pop up in you.

Note: As mentioned before, Killer Bee is a stage name, and if you want his real name, I'm just going to give you "B". Also, in this story, he is A's blood-brother, though still a lot younger than A.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or influence Kishimoto in any way. If I did, why Orochimaru was the way he was would have been more explored.

The last stop on Killer Bee's international rap tour was in Sunagakure, the land hidden in the desert. Though his crew and bodyguards complained about the trip, the hot desert, and how sand got everywhere, Bee was focused. He concentrated on his raps, helped out in setting up camp when he could, and tried to lighten everyone's spirits with some purposefully bad raps.

But now that they were on stage in Suna, their demeanors had changed. The ninja bodyguards from Kumo stood watch, but were relaxed and enjoying the effect Killer Bee had on the crowd. The rest of the crew were managing the lights, speakers, and/or providing Bee's back-up music.

The people gathered around for blocks, and interspersed were speakers to project Bee's vocals. This was something both ninja and civilians had gathered to enjoy, bridging the divide between them for a rare moment. The people chattered excitedly, since Bee's growing fame was something unprecedented in this world - usually, the most well known people were the famous and reputed ninja, usually feared by many, such as Namikaze Minato, the Sannin, the Third Kazekage, Hanzo of the Salamander, and others like them. Never before had a civilian - much less someone not rich like Gato, or a non-noble - become this well-known.

The last intermission of his concert came to a close, and the people - for the most part - quieted down. Killer Bee grabbed the microphone and softly spoke. "It's been a great time with you folks here in Suna, and I'm gunna be sad to be going soon-a." He got a few laughs at the forced rhyme, and chuckled, seeming to gain more spirit at the acknowledgement.

Standing on a nearby roof was a little boy with red hair, who'd been convinced to come out and watch at least the last part of the concert by his uncle Yashamaru. He'd been hesitant to, after seeing all the people gathered, but being on the roof was better.

Teenaged girls in the crowd whispered to each other. "Don't you just love his style?" "Yeah, he looks so good in those sunglasses!" "No, I mean his rapping. He usually doesn't even need to rhyme and it just hits you right here," the girl exclaimed, pointing to her heart. "Well, yeah, he's pretty passionate; I wonder what it means about what he's like in bed..." The other girl sighed in frustration and turned back to Bee as he continued talking.

"You know," Bee started, "I never expected to be this popular. When I started rapping over in Kumo, no one was impressed, and I've got to say, they were right to not be! I was a bad rapper, always trying to pull off a rhyme and impress people. But all it did was push people away. Even my big brother A didn't want to be around me; it'd hurt to be seen with me, a bad rapper and someone who failed in Kumo's ninja training program. So I ended up not having any friends; I was always the "uncool" one, the one kids never wanted to be around. I couldn't play games with them, and growing up it was more of the same thing."

The red-haired boy listened more intently, the words resonating in his own heart. Yashamaru stood beside him, a smile slowly forming. The Kazekage thought Gaara was a lost cause, and soon was going to start testing Gaara's mental fortitude to see if he had any hope of being a good Jinchuuriki. He himself was worried, not sure what sorts of tests Gaara was going to go through. But he had to push on, and moments like these should help... At least, Yashamaru hoped that they would.

"After a while, I was sent to an island to catalogue all the animals there with a few ninja bodyguards - since a lot of them were very dangerous animals - and that way, I would be out of A's way. It seemed like every day I found a new animal... I had no idea how long it would take. I had no idea how long Kumo wanted me away from them. But there, I found peace by befriending the animals, exploring the beautiful landscapes, and the extended lack of other people around me had a weird effect. I was inspired. The animal kingdom is so much different from how we, as humans, live. They had a balance, whereas we've always strived for more, driven by greed, selfishness, and an inability to understand each other. Though they all were different, the animals didn't have wars, and they understood each other. I think we can do that too." He smiled, and the crowd exploded with tears and shouts and promises to do better.

If only it was that easy, he thought to himself. It'll take more than this to change things. "Enough about me," he said, eliciting the crowd to steadily drop its noise level, "let's get this show on the road!" He exclaimed, and cheers swept throughout the crowd, from ninja and civilians alike.

The little red-haired boy was smiling.

After Killer Bee performed his last rap, talking about trying to find acceptance and how people made that hard, Yashamaru turned to Gaara. The boy had on an expression Yashamaru had never seen before; it was like looking into a mirror and finally seeing yourself, instead of a stranger with your face.

"Gaara," he said as a line started to form to get Bee's autograph, "Do you want to get his autograph?"

Gaara's joy seemed to recede at that, and he looked down at the line of people - kids and adults alike who ran away and feared him. "I..." He wasn't sure what to say. He did, but he was hesitant. Would Bee run away, too? His little heart squeezed painfully at the thought.

"You just heard his words," Yashamaru said, seeming to read Gaara's mind - he had been Gaara's main caretaker all his life. "Does he seem like the kind of guy that would go back on his word?"

Slowly, Gaara shook his head. At that, Yashamaru let out a small smile. "Alright," he said, turning to get down from the roof and get in line. "Let's go."

Seeing Gaara, the crowds of people made a divide, backing away from him in fear and prejudice. Even when they reached the line, seeming die-hard Bee fans - including two particular teenage girls - started to step out of the line in order to not have to be near Gaara. The boy's head steadily drooped down as every single person in line let them through.

"Hey, it's just because the Kazekage's kids get preference," Yashamaru encouraged. "First in line privileges."

"You know it's not," Gaara mumbled bitterly. Another few dozen people stepped out of line, and suddenly Gaara was at the front of the line. The whispers at his back were like spears digging their way into his spine, paralyzing him. He couldn't look up, choosing only to stare at the ground and the table's legs in front of him. He didn't want to se-

"Sup, little guy?" Gaara's head snapped up, the words breaking his thoughts. He saw a big, brown fist in front of his face and his eyes widened. He stepped back quickly - too quickly, he realized, as his shoe got caught on a crack and he tripped back.

A bed of sand cushioned and caught him, restoring him to full standing position. He looked at the fist again, but now that he was a step back, he could see the smiling face of Killer Bee behind it. "You okay? This is just a fist bump - you ever do one before?"

Gaara shook his his slowly, wary. Bee wasn't running away, but he wasn't sure if the man was about to attack him or not.

"Well, all you gotta do is - " he brought his fist back, made another fist with his left hand, and softly bumped the two together. " - that, except your fist goes to mine." Bee brought his fist back forward, and Gaara hesitantly stepped forward again. He raised his right hand and formed his little six-year-old fist, holding it up near Bee's. "Okay, little dude - now just bump it!"

Gaara quickly gave Bee's fist a little tap with his fist and speedily withdrew his hand, his eyes wide. He hadn't touched anyone except maybe Yashamaru some when he was little and here was this guy, willing to bump fists with him, not trying to hurt him or reject him. And it was weird feeling someone else again. Bee's fist, for the brief moment he'd touched it, had felt smooth and warm.

"And that's a fist bump," the man said, smiling. "Some say that people can understand each other when their fists clash - well, this is sort of a loophole to that." He grinned, and jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Name's Killer Bee, and yep, that is me!"

Gaara spit out a laugh at the bad rhyme. Bee's grin widened at that. "So who're you, little dude?"

Yashamaru, knowing Gaara's status, began to bow and introduce Gaara for him. "This is the Kaz-"

"I'm Sabaku Gaara," Gaara willingly said, emulating Bee's cheerfulness and pointing to himself with his thumb. Bee was now his official favorite coolest person, Gaara decided.

"Nice to meet'cha, Gaara. You're a cool little dude. In fact..." Bee reached under the desk and pulled out a box. Setting it on the table, he pointed to it and excitedly began talking. "This thing right here, Gaara, is somethin' new that we've made. It's called a CD player, and right now only the folks in Kumo know how to make it. It is one of a kind - you wanna know what it does?"

"Yes!" Gaara said, Bee's own excitement bleeding into Gaara and eliminating his worry about the crowd behind him. It helped that even the crowd was silent now, wondering what Bee was up to.

Bee reached under the desk again. "Now, I wasn't going to reveal this 'til after my tour was over, but this CD Player can help ya listen to my music even when I'm not here. The music is on this CD, and... " He pulled out a pen and quickly signed the CD, ending his name with a flourish, "I want you to have both of these, little guy. That way you can jam to my music whenever you want!" He spoke loudly enough for the people closest to them in the crowd to hear as well. Whispers went through the crowd, and after a few days, everyone in the village would know about this event.

Gaara hesitantly took the CD and immediately clutched it to his chest, smiling widely. Yashamaru picked up the CD player and smiled at Bee, who flashed them both a thumbs up.

A Suna ninja entered the Kazekage's office and gave him a large bow. "Report," the Kazekage grumbled out.

"Yes, sir." The ninja adjusted his glasses. "The entity known as 'Killer Bee' does exhibit a little more strength, chakra, and speed than the average civilian. However, comparing these attributes to Suna civilians who also were in our ninja training program but dropped out or failed, it was found that Bee's abilities are well within the range of a Genin-in-training. His chakra levels match this hypothesis; plus, ninja who can suppress their chakra levels usually have chakra that doesn't vary throughout the day. Civilians can't control their chakra levels, and so they spike and drop doing various things throughout the day. Bee is nothing more than a civilian who tried to be a ninja and failed, sir. Upon leaving Suna, Bee even sprained his ankle when he tried to carry some equipment. Needless to say, he is not a professional."

The Kazekage nodded. Just because you have the same blood as A doesn't mean you're as strong, I suppose, the Kazekage thought. He dismissed the ninja who had reported in and looked out the window, one less worry in his mind. Knowing that Suna's economy had been slowly but surely dropping, he turned back to the form on his desk. Request for another tour in Suna, one line wrote. Knowing that Bee wasn't a ninja had calmed him on this matter, and he signed his name to approve the request. Should Bee become famous enough, this might provide a boost to Suna next time Bee came, scheduled for almost two years from now.

Gaara walked home with Yashamaru, still clutching the CD and a smile on his face. Yashamaru couldn't stop feeling good for Gaara; maybe this was what the boy needed. Plus, Bee just seemed like a great guy. Yashamaru was glad to have met him.

Three boys, around 7-8 years old, ran up to Yashamaru and Gaara and ahead of them, stopping in front of them. Looking at Gaara, the one in front hesitantly stepped forward. "Um... Gaara-sama.." He said, addressing the boy as the Kazekage's child instead of "freak" or "demon". He eyed the CD player in Yashamaru's hands. "Killer Bee-san is a cool guy, and he said you're a cool guy, so.. " The boy kicked his feet into the ground, regretting how he had also been part of ostracizing Gaara. "Do you maybe... wanna hang out with us sometime?" The other two boys nodded.

Gaara widened his eyes. This was... This was the best day of his life. This right here.

Bee sat in the caravan, on his way out of Suna. He held his face in his hands, hunched over in his seat. He sniffled. "I'm sorry," he said to himself. After a few minutes like this, he straightened back up, wiped his eyes, and pulled out a small scroll. He wrote a name on it, rolled it back up, and gave it to the hawk that had been patiently waiting next to him. "Sorry little birdy, this stuff's just a little dirty," he tried to chuckle at the bad rhyme, but it came closer to a sob. In Kumo, the Raikage could order a lot more than the ninja. Even civilians could be given missions, and this had been his.

The name contained in the scroll: Sabaku Gaara.

Back in Konoha, Naruto was laying on his stomach in the Hokage's office, shirtless. The aged Hokage was leaning over him, carefully painting seals onto Naruto's upper back. He told Naruto the story of the Yondaime inventing the Substitution Jutsu, and how it was essentially a modified version of the Hiraishin that all ninja in Konoha could use.

"I know that's got you excited, little Naruto, but you must sit still, or I can't get the seal on you properly and we'll have to start over." Naruto mumbled an affirmative and stopped vibrating in place from his excitement.

Soon, Naruto knew he was going to start the Academy. To do that, he needed the seal that would let him begin to practice the Substitution Jutsu once they taught it.

"Remember, you've got the enrollment test tomorrow to take. Have you studied the book I gave you?" Hiruzen asked.

"Mhm," Naruto mumbled, his face still sort of mushed into a pillow on the desk. Hiruzen stood straight once more and smiled. "I'm done. You can sit up now."

"Yatta!" Naruto said in excitement, quickly sitting up. "And the book was kinda good, but there's lotsa words I don't know in it."

"Why don't you ask Teuchi or Ayame to help you today?" Hiruzen suggested, Naruto blinked. He'd known the Ichirakus for about three months now, and it had been amazing so far. They didn't care that everyone else didn't like him. Ayame had been kind of weird at first, but now she was pretty friendly to him. And Teuchi had been able to help him with his shopping situation; he'd file a mission report for Genin to do some grocery shopping and deliver it to Naruto's address, including the receipt - all Naruto needed to do was come over to Ichiraku's and pay Teuchi back.

Sure, it didn't fix the merchants' opinions of him, nor did it get Naruto out independently shopping, but he was still too young for that anyway, Hiruzen reflected. Teuchi was a smart man. He was glad someone like that was looking out for Naruto now; he himself couldn't do it all the time.

"That's a good idea, old man!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll go over there right now!"

He grabbed his shirt and began pulling it on before Hiruzen realized what Naruto was doing. The old man facepalmed. "Naruto... Wait."

"Hm?" Naruto turned around.

"You didn't let the ink dry," the Hokage muttered.

Naruto blinked.

And blinked again as he felt the ink on his back seeping into the shirt and smudging all the seals.

"I'VE GOTTA DO IT AGAIN?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Needless to say, Naruto didn't get help from the Ichirakus until later that day.

Mist covered a bridge on an island in the Land of Water. A boy sat against the railing, holding up a cup long after the passerby had stopped coming. Night was nearly afoot, and no one wanted to be out at night. This part of the island was heavy with criminals, who did most of their business at night, picking on those who risked to venture out alone.

Including this boy. An hour passed and he shivered, cold and hungry. He'd given up holding his cup, instead pulling his hands into his sleeves and hoping that passerby would offer him some change.

"How long have you been out here, boy?" a deep voice emerged from right in front of him. The boy shrieked in fright and held his hands up. Ice crystals formed in the air from his terror, but a muscled tan hand smacked them out of the air before the boy did anything accidentally with them. "Hmm... The Yuki clan. Thought to be extinct. But you've survived. Now answer me, boy; how long have you been without a home?"

The boy hesitantly looked up at the man, whose face was covered with bandages. The mist made it hard to see many details, but he could see a humongous sword strapped to his back. Gulping down his hesitance, he responded. "Three weeks."

The man 'hmm'd' at that. "And your name?"

The boy looked down at the floor. He remembered his father threatening to kill him, how he had been forced to kill him. He sniffled. He had no family now. "I have no name."

The large man knelt down to him and put a finger under the boy's chin, lifting his head up again. "If you come with me, join me, I will give you a new name. I will give you a purpose in life: be my tool to help retake Kirigakure and make it so that kekkei genkai are not feared anymore. You will serve me and me only; Momochi Zabuza. You will be my tool, like this sword, or this boy right here." Another figure stepped out from behind Zabuza, a boy maybe a couple years older than the Yuki clan orphan. "Do you accept?"

The boy thought about it. Loneliness... He had learned what it was like in these few weeks, and he... he hated it. Looking up at the man, Momochi Zabuza, whose eyes seemed to burn with his will to change Kirigakure... He knew his answer.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama."

Though he couldn't see it under the bandages, Zabuza smiled. He stood back up to his full height, and the boy emulated him, forgetting the cup beside him. "Good. From now on, you are known only as... Haku." Zabuza gestured to the older boy beside him. "Until you are ready to be trained by me, Kimimaro here will be in charge of your training."

The two tools echoed each other naturally. "Yes, Zabuza-sama."

AN: Yes, I just did that.

Naruto is more cheerful in this chapter because the last three months after knowing the Ichirakus (pretty much summarized in this chapter) has been one piece of good news after another. He hasn't had to deal with how mean the shopkeepers and other people are, other than the glares and whispers following him when he goes to see the Hokage or the Ichirakus. Things aren't getting to him since he's found a way to, once again, be less exposed to the villagers' cruelty (Genin missions to deliver his groceries and whatever else he needs).

So yeah, Bee is definitely a civilian in this story. So where's the 8-tails? Anyone got any guesses? Post your guess in a review. ;)

Also, how did I do? Did I mess up on spelling something, did I go too fast, too slow?

Finally, is there something in my story you folks want to see? My creativity is, in the end, limited, so I'm open to suggestions. I sort of know the main plot in this story, but it (and sub-plots) are open to change.

Thanks for reading!