Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… Otherwise I would have made this happen.
Leadership
Book I, Chapter II: Bonds
"M-Meet our demons?" Roshi nodded as a reply to Naruto's stuttering question. And then started to think about how to explain everything he needed to explain with words that the children could understand.
"Basically, there's a… Peculiarity with having a seal. You see, there are techniques that let the user peer into someone's else mind." He got up from his sitting position and patted away a bit of dust from his pants. "Usually, they see it like a place. The aspect of the place depends from the person's personality and memories. They can peer around for those… But, let's say that in your mind a seal is a private room for your demon."
"Ohhh…" The blonde Jinchuuriki took everything in and more or less understood what he was said, apart what 'private' meant.
"Now, you usually don't visualize your mind at will. And even Jinchuuriki just witness it when strong emotions bring them to… Align with their demons' personality. Only after they can learn to go 'there at will'. But…" Roshi moved his gaze over the children, sparing a few seconds each while he kept on talking. "Over the years, I've developed a technique to force this visit. I'm the only one able to use it. So, basically, the next week will be devoted to making you meet your demons. One Jinchuuriki for day. So, who wants to go first?"
Naruto swallowed. Meeting his demon… At first he thought it sounded cool, but the Kyuubi was the demon who had almost destroyed Konoha, right? So… He suddenly wasn't very eager to do it anymore.
Surprisingly, the tiniest hand in the group was the one that went up in the air. Everyone turned to Yagura, who had just volunteered himself to be the first to be the 'subject' of that day. Roshi nodded in acknowledgment.
"Good. Then, stand in front of me, your back facing my body. Close your eyes and stay still." Yagura nodded and did as told, getting up from his sitting position on the ground and standing in front of Roshi. Once the young boy stood perfectly still, the older Jinchuuriki went through a series of hand-seals and then gently placed both of his hands on both of Yagura's temples.
-Breakline-
When Yagura re-opened his eyes, he was still in the same position as before, but everything around him had changed. First of all, he was sure he was standing on solid ground in the middle of a palisaded encampment in the middle of a forest. Now he was standing on top of water when he didn't know how to do that yet in the middle of an enormous lake surrounded by mountains and luscious forests growing on the shores just behind the sand.
"Hmmm, seems like you have a quite pretty mindscape, kid. Good for you." Yagura slowly turned his head around, finding the figure of Roshi standing behind him like it was before. The man walked beside him and kept on observing everything around. "You wouldn't like to see just how fucked up certain mindscapes are. Like that of the latest Mizukage."
Yagura listened to the Iwa nin's words and then returned his attention to the lake. Or better, to the water's surface. It was moving and getting filled with big circular ripples. He then noticed that there was a big shadow becoming bigger and bigger by the second.
"Hmm… Here it comes." Roshi commented, just as the shadow became more than a shadow and began gaining colors, as the Sanbi surface from beneath its resting place, raising an enormous tidal wave that splashed both Roshi and Yagura heavily, but without wetting them, strangely.
Yagura stared at the enormous eyes of the beast, and surprisingly, the demon was staring back at him with the exact same stare. It looked void of every emotion and intent if not that of observing, waiting for something to happen or for the object of its interest to do something.
"Well, it looks like the rumours were true. You're in luck, kid." Yagura turned to Roshi with a questioning gaze. "You see, Kiri isn't anything special when it comes to sealing techniques, and until a few decades ago, they were right-out bad. But then an incident happened that forced them to study a little in that area." The little silver haired kid kept on listening to the older jinchuuriki. "You see, a try on sealing the Sanbi went to hell. Not only they couldn't manage to seal it, but the supposed host died and the beast went wild in the process. On top of that, it had been damaged, losing its human intelligence."
Yagura suddenly turned his head again to the enormous turtle, while Roshi nodded in acknowledgment to his reasoning.
"You're very, very lucky, kid. Basically, you've gotten yourself an enormous, incredibly powerful pet."
-Breakline-
"Hmmm… That went very well, I must say." In the 'real world', just a few seconds had passed between the time Roshi placed his hands on Yagura's temples and when he removed them again with a satisfied smile. Naruto blinked.
"Already over?" He asked. As a response, Yagura hurried back to Rokuro's side while Roshi took out another bit of tobacco to make a cigar out of and started walk away.
"For today it's all. For the rest of the day, you're free to do everything you want. Just don't hurt yourself and don't get out of the encampment." The red-haired Jinchuuriki walked away before Naruto had a chance of asking him what he wanted to ask. As in…
"… Alright. And exactly what are we supposed to do?" He turned around to the others… Only to sweatdrop as almost everyone had disappeared. He could still see the retreating form of the 'Kiri duo' as he would later in the years call them. "… Right. Leave me alone."
"Ehm… I'm still here." Naruto blinked when Gaara's weak voice suddenly called at him from the ground. The wind country citizen was still sitting on the ground. Just after calling to him he got back on his feet. The blonde rewarded him with one of his grins.
"Eh, thanks. But… What are we supposed to do, now? I have no idea." Naruto scratched the tip of his nose a bit… Then grinned. "Hey! Maybe we could train a little? We're going to get into the academy soon, right?"
"Ehm…" Gaara cringed at the word 'train'. "I… Still feel pain from this morning's thing, sorry…"
"Ah, you mean the rock things?" Now that I think about it… Naruto tentatively went to touch a part of his legs that still felt sore from that morning… And howled out in pain right after. "OWOWOWOWOWOWOW! ME TOOOO!"
Gaara thought that this was a bit strange, though. He felt pain just by moving. Naruto felt pain only if he touched the sore spot already?
"Oww… Then, what are we supposed to do? I'm bored…" Naruto pouted cutely…
"Have no fear, 'cause I'm here!" Before his bones threatened to jump out of his body ripping through flesh and skin because of the sudden surprise cause from Kirabi's loud voice booming from behind him.
"A-ARE YOU CRAZY?" Naruto was almost cyanotic, all air having left his lungs in a single instant.
"Are you bored or not? I'm here to revive riot!" Naruto had half an idea of pointing out to him that his talking in rhymes was starting to become annoying… But he seemed to have an idea to break the boredom. So he decided to shut up. "You two young chicks are lucky, for I've decided to take you under my wing and teach you one of the finest arts in the world!"
Now that got both Naruto's and Gaara's attention. What did he want to teach them?
"I'm going to give you baptism in the fine art of rapping!" He suddenly said, earning a simple reply from Naruto.
"… Wha?"
-Breakline-
"So… How is Naruto doing?" Sarutobi was debriefing a pair of Anbu who had just ended their turn on a particular assignment that he held particularly to heart, as in, the surveillance of 'camp Jinchuuriki', as one of his younger employers would probably mock-call it.
"He's doing well, Hokage-sama." The first Anbu replied, before submitting to the Hokage some pictures they had taken, showing the inside of Naruto's 'bunk' and him engaging in 'bonding activities' with his peers, alas, playing tag with Gaara. "He's been put together with the son of the Kazekage and the youngest of the Jinchuuriki from Kiri. He seems to be getting along easily with everyone, but especially with the former, Hokage-sama."
"… I understand." The Hokage picked up a picture where Naruto had been tackled to the ground by Gaara, losing that round of tag. But nonetheless he seemed to be enjoying himself a lot, judging from his smile. He raised his head again. "What about the… Eldest Jinchuuriki?" The Tsuchikage's agreement had made the Hokage very suspicious. Especially considering Naruto's and the woman's relationships with a certain person.
"They have not been trying anything, Hokage-sama. They've obviously been slightly interested in the boy, but they have not tried nor planned anything. They're pretty much holding their 'end of the deal'." The other Anbu said. The Hokage thought about it for a while before nodding.
"I understand. Good work. Before turning in, contact your colleagues and ask them to still keep an eye open for them." The two Anbu nodded and then disappeared in small cloud of smokes, leaving the Hokage alone in his office again.
"… Seems like I made the right choice…" The fire shadow said, observing the various pictures of a smiling Naruto laid out on his table. He seemed to be really enjoying himself… Maybe for the first time in his life. … And yet… I can't get rid of this feeling of uneasiness…
-Breakline-
"Hmmm…" Naruto had went through a routine in those last few days, like everyone in their group. Morning, they would wake up early and go through the hellish training of rock-carrying. And it seemed like the rocks got a little heavier each day. He didn't know how it was possible, but it seemed like that.
After that, they would eat breakfast and then spend the morning by the river, playing and catching their lunch. In the afternoon, those few seconds of 'bijuu-meeting' counseling and then, free day. The first day they had been 'initiated' to rapping… Naruto and Gaara ran away after the first ten minutes. He didn't know how to explain it, but the child was feeling stupider and stupider with each rhyme he created.
He and Gaara had resolved to do something on their own. The Kazekage's son had been under the care of personal teachers ever since he was a toddler, so, their afternoons had mostly comprised of Gaara sharing a bit of his knowledge with Naruto. That's what they were doing at the moment. The redhead had just finished explaining to the blonde the concept of logic: 'the ability to discern something from something else'. "… I don't get it." Here's the answer of the Konoha Jinchuuriki. Gaara lowered his head, a bit embarrassed.
"Ehm… Maybe, I should make an example." Gaara said, and then began to think about how to explain it… He suddenly nodded to himself. "Yes, like… Well, let's make that you have an aquarium."
"Alright." Naruto nodded and crossed his arms, his attention fully on Gaara.
"You have an aquarium because it reminds you of the sea, that you like. You like the sea because you like the beach. And you like the beach because there are girls on it. So, you have the aquarium because you like girls." Naruto's mouth opened in a 'ohhhhh' of understanding.
"Now I get it!" Not really, mostly because even Gaara's explanation was a bit flawed and general, but, hey, they're kids. But to make matters worse, using logic, Naruto was already putting in relationship what he had just learned with other things he had heard older people say.
"Hey, dinner's ready." The two turned towards the door of their barrack, which had opened to reveal Roshi. Naruto suddenly had an insatiable urge to ask something.
"Hey, jii-san! Do you have an aquarium?" He asked. Roshi blinked, wondering what exactly possessed the young Jinchuuriki to ask that question. He shook his head. Naruto gasped. "THEN YOU'RE A HOMO!"
Gaara blushed, embarrassed like hell, while Roshi just stared at Naruto while his cigar threatened to fall from his mouth. He regained enough composure to closed the door slowly behind him. Naruto turned to Gaara and then shrugged his shoulders.
"Whatever a homo is. I just know that it's someone who doesn't like girls." Gaara laughed a bit at Naruto's antics. Little did Gaara know that the 'explanation' he had repeated hearing from his uncle was a joke, on logic. "But, hey. That was pretty neat as something to know. Who taught you that?"
"My uncle… He has been the one taking care of me ever since I was born." Gaara replied, smiling a little. "He's probably… The only one who loves me."
"… The only one?" Naruto could see the sadness in Gaara as he nodded. He was about to ask about the rest of his family, but he decided against it. "… Going to dinner?" Gaara nodded. In the meanwhile, Roshi had reached Han at the table outside…
"What the hell did you tell those kids?"
"Uh?"
-Breakline-
"Hey, Gaara…"
"Yes?"
It was night-time. They had finished eating dinner a long time ago and had retreated inside their barrack alongside Yagura, and they had gotten into their own bed a long time ago. But they couldn't sleep much. Because of something. It was the end of the seventh day. That day Gaara had met his demon. And Naruto was the only one left that had to do so.
"… How was… You know… Today?" Naruto could almost feel Gaara tense up at just mentioning what had happened that afternoon. That made him tense up even more. "You know… Meeting your demon."
"… It was scary." Gaara clutched onto his teddy a bit more tightly, remembering just what had seen. "I… My mind was like a big desert… But still, it was fresh. I didn't feel cold at all, and there were a few clouds in the sky. It was kinda pretty… B-But then…" He started trembling a little. "Then, we arrived at a spot in the desert that was drenched with blood. The clouds turned red too, and the sand started to gather… Roshi-san said that we had to get out of there, because the seal wouldn't protect us from my demon. Before we got out… I… Saw his eyes…"
"Alright, alright! Sorry!" Naruto was starting to feel miserable for asking if just remembering it caused that kind of reaction… But at the same time it made him feel even more nervous about his own situation. Was the Kyuubi going to be as scary as Gaara's demon? "… Damn. You know what? I wish I knew why… I mean, being a Jinchuuriki sucks."
"… Me… It's because they want me to become a strong ninja… I-I don't know about you, though, Naruto…" Gaara replied truthfully. "Usually they make Jinchuuriki because Jinchuuriki almost always become strong ninjas… But it's not your case, right?"
"Nope." Naruto frowned a little at that. If they trained him to be an awesome ninja would have made the thing of him being hated a bit better, at the very least. Little did they know that the exact word was 'weapon'. Ninjas were weapons, but Jinchuuriki were even more 'weapon' than that. "Hmmm… Oh, well. Let's just get some sleep. Goodnight, Gaara."
"Goodnight, Naruto." Gaara said, making himself more comfortable in his bed, snuggling slightly against his teddy.
"… Goodnight." The third voice suddenly coming alive surprised both Gaara and Naruto. Yagura wasn't asleep yet, it seemed. That meant that he had listened to their conversation. Naruto shrugged it off after a few seconds, but he really would have liked to know Yagura's opinion about the matter.
-Breakline-
"Is everything ready?" Asked the man. The suna Anbu nodded.
"Yes. We made sure that the release of chakra will be so huge that they will never be able to detect yours in any case." The man nodded, covering his face with the usual cloth.
"I will stay hidden till they get away from the encampment, though." While saying this, the other suna Anbu arrived as well. "Are you both ready?" They both nodded. "Then… Commence."
The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke while the two Anbu went through the same series of handseals, and then silently whispered… "Kai."
-Breakline-
Roshi's eyes shot out in an instant the second he felt something become different. He sat on his bed and noticed Han was already awake as well. "Han…"
"I know. Four of them." The enormous Jinchuuriki immediately went for his clothes and battle armour, while Roshi put on his sandals and immediately ran outside of the barrack, finding the various Anbu already in the middle of the encampment.
"What happened?" He asked, eyeing the shapes of the various duos of special ninjas. Two from Suna, two from Kiri, two from Konoha, two from Taki.
"Four summons. High level ones." Roshi frowned. That could be a real problem. Han had joined them outside of the barrack in a few seconds.
"Han and eye will take one each. You other, split in two teams of four. Four stay here, four go after the two remaining summons." Before the Anbu had any chances to talk, the two containers had already disappeared, each one in the direction of one of the summonings. Their chakra flaring, so that the special ninjas could understand which ones to attack.
The two ninjas of the leaf made a sign to the ones of the waterfall, who nodded in reply. The four of them disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving the two of Kiri and the two of Suna, who looked at each other for a few seconds, to be certain that the other ninjas had disappeared… Till another person appeared in the middle of the clearing.
"You can go." The two Anbu from Kiri gave the man a warning glance, even if their masks covered their faces and so, their eyes. "Do not worry. Your Jinchuuriki will not be harmed."
"You better not. Or Suna will be in trouble." The four Anbu disappeared. They would make sure the other Jinchuuriki stayed asleep with a genjutsu and create battle damage around the perimeter of the encampment. He stayed still and silent for a couple minutes, to be certain that no one was near his position anymore.
The man sneered. Suna would be in trouble? For what? They would go and tell them that Suna had planned an attack on his own Jinchuuriki in such a delicate situation planning an international incident? It would be so crazy that no one would believe it. It said much about the Kazekage's current mental state.
As for he? While he approached the barrack where his target was, he thought about the reasons that had made him accept that mission in the first place. His personal hate for the Jinchuuriki. He opened the door slowly and silently. Perfect. For once, the Jinchuuriki wasn't awake nor was he trashing in his sleep. Everything in the room was perfectly silent.
He picked out a kunai and approached the first bed, trying to find a mop of red hair… He blinked when he found none. Not a different colour of hair, but no hair at all, not even sticking from under the covers… He grabbed the covers and pulled them off. Clothes.
"… How?" He hurried to the other two beds. Same story. More clothes in the place of who should be slipping inside them. The ninja silently cursed. "How did they notice?" He then began to search around the room… And he noticed an open window.
-Breakline-
"W-We shouldn't get so far…"
"The more far away from that guy the better." Naruto said, while carrying Yagura on his back. The youngest Jinchuuriki couldn't run very fast because of his age, and as such, he had taken him upon himself of carrying him around.
He didn't know exactly what had happened. The only thing he knew was that Yagura had awoken them and showed them that single ninja standing in the middle of the encampment, telling them that they were alone, and that they had to run away. They had gotten out of the back window of the barrack and then got out of the encampment via some kind of hidden underground passageway that had brought them out, in the forest. How had Yagura managed to find out was a mystery to him.
"W-Who do you think…" Gaara asked, grasping tightly at his teddy. Naruto shook his head fiercely.
"I don't know who that guy could be… Or why he was coming to us. But it was nothing good, I tell you… Ah!" Naruto had let himself gasp when he heard a loud shuffling noise coming from afar. The same noise they had made when they had opened hard the cover of the exit of the underground tunnel. "He found it…"
"W-What do we do?" Gaara said, panicking a little. Naruto swallowed, and Yagura was starting to get nervous as well.
"… We have to hide." The Kiri Jinchuuriki said. Naruto thought about it for a few seconds… And then nodded.
"Y-Yes. We have to hide. We can't outrun a ninja, right?" The two immediately started searching for some place to hide… Gaara suddenly stopped Naruto by placing a hand on his shoulder, pointing at a rather large bush or roves. "R-Roves? But they hurt…"
"That's why he will not think that three kids hid in there." Gaara replied. To Naruto made sense… He swallowed and approached the bush, moving away the bushes barehanded, wincing in pain while he opened it for Gaara and Yagura to enter before him. The redhead then let the bush open for Naruto to enter behind them. "Now, be silent and don't move. Breath normally."
Naruto nodded and fell completely silent. Yagura hadn't been much of a talker to begin with. They swallowed and turned to the clearing. Naruto thought about complimenting Gaara on knowing how to hide well later. Now they had to be silent… Especially when they saw the ninja appear in their field of vision. The three children's hearts skipped a bit.
The ninja had his face almost completely covered, just his eyes poking out of that cloth he was wearing, and was looking around with a calm and slowness that seemed almost unreal, mechanical. But what really worried Naruto were the kunais that he was carrying around… Not really carrying around, since they were floating directly in front and beside him, like invisible hands were holding them up. They flinched when he turned in their direction and started to walk towards them.
The kids had to control themselves, for even breathing heavily could give them away, judging from how heavy the silence that reigned in that forest was. The ninja took step by step and and their heart-beats became faster and faster… Till he stopped. They sighed in relief… But just briefly, as a kunai went trough their bush at high speed and implanted themselves on the ground just behind them. Naruto and Gaara covered their mouths to avoid letting out a single sound, and it would have been easy, scared as the were.
The ninja stared silently at the bush for a few seconds… And then began to walk away, in the opposite direction from their hiding place. Gaara, Naruto and Yagura stared at the direction for a few seconds, then for a couple minutes before they were certain that he was indeed one. They let out the breath they had been holding in.
"T-That was scary… AHHHHHHH!" Gaara screamed in fear and pain as a kunai suddenly planted itself into his right biceps, earning a horrified gasp from Naruto and Yagura.
"G-Gaara!" Before they could react, an arm shot into the bush and grabbed the redhead by his clothes. Gaara looked up in fright at the ninja who was now holding him above the ground, and then saw his eyes… They were the same. The same lots of people used to look at him with back in his village.
"Hiding in uncomfortable places, holding your breath… You've been taught well." I should know… I'm the one who taught you. The attacker moved his other hand strangely, and all his other kunai suddenly floated straight above his head, and then lowered themselves to point at Gaara, who was trembling in fear, right now. Then he shook his head and closed his eyes. He was trying to focus. "It's useless. There's no sand here for you to use… At least not on the ground." Gaara's eyes shot open again, tears gathering in his eyes. He was scared out of his mind. "It's time to die."
"Noooooooooo!" Suddenly, something happened that startled the ninja. Naruto jumping out of the bush and grabbing onto his left leg, mainly. The ninja cursed under his breath before trying to shake him off. Seeing that it didn't work, he suddenly turned around and kicked the air. The strength was enough to make Naruto lose his grip on the leg and send him flying a few meters. "Aaah!" The blonde ended up against the trunk of a nearby tree.
"… A nuisance. Now… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Now it was the ninja's turn to scream. Mainly because he had forgotten about the third bunkmate, who had managed to get a hold of the kunai he had launched earlier and stab him in the right knee with it. The sudden shock made him lose the grip on Gaara, who fell to the ground and began to run away in Naruto's direction, with Yagura holding his teddy in tow. The ninja gritted his teeth and got the kunai out of his knee, and started applying some chakra to heal the wound. Damn. I've been careless.
He then turned around and saw his target and the child from Kiri helping Naruto back on his feet. The blonde recovered enough bearing to get back on the ground just as he healed enough of his wound for the injury to not impede his movement. It will still hurt like a bitch, though… Damn that kid from kiri. He used his strange technique again and sent more kunai flying right in front of the trio, stopping their running and forcing them to change direction. He ran towards them. "It's useless!"
"Ahhhh…" Naruto was scared. Scared out of his mind. He had never found himself in such a situation. Someone wanted him dead… No, the man wanted one of his friends dead, but he was willing to hurt him too in the process. He was sweating and tears were gathering in his eyes, the pain from him hitting the tree still fresh.
"This is the end!" The ninja sent another volley of kunai in their direction, and the three shared the same fear and Gaara and Naruto let out a cry… Only to be surprised when more kunai came out from their right to intercept the one being hurled at them. The most surprised one was the assassin. Wasn't his plan perfect? Wasn't he supposed to have taken care of every single possible threat? "Who's there?"
"You lavishious fiend! Seems like assassination is this week's trend, ahh?" The three youngsters immediately recognized the voice, and when the person came out of the bush their guess was confirmed. They still had to understand why he talked funny or why he kept sunglasses even when it was nighttime, but it was nice to have someone helping them. "Sorry, but it's already oooooooooold fashioned!"
The man cursed. Those idiots had probably used too much of a weak genjutsu, or had probably forgot that one of the Jinchuuriki was basically a genin. It wasn't impossible that he knew how to dispel them. Especially since it was the Raikage's younger brother. "You…"
"Call me Kirabi! It will be the last name you'll hear!" The black skinned youth said, dropping into a fighting stance… Then suddenly remembering something and crossing his arms over his chest. "Or maybe not."
"WHAT?" Naruto was the source of this latest outburst, even if Gaara had had a big temptation of joining him. Was he going to save them or not? Kirabi turned to them with a frown on his face.
"Why should I help two defective students?" He said. Naruto was about to yell 'what the hell are you talking about' when he suddenly remembered that he and Gaara had ran away from the rap lessons. He swallowed… And then suddenly prostrated himself at his feet.
"P-Please help us! I swear I will sit through the whole lesson, next time! Please… Kirabi-sama?" He said, unsure himself of what he was saying. Kirabi gave a 'Hmmm' of thought and shifted his gaze to Gaara, who shivered and then mimicked Naruto, but just let out a 'Please!'. The boy then moved to Yagura. The Kiri Jinchuuriki just stared back. 'What the hell do I have to do with this?'. Kirabi stared back fiercely. Yagura surrendered and bowed as well. The Kumo Jinchuuriki grinned and turned to the ninja again.
"Ah! I guess I really can't help it! You guys are all like 'help me'!" Naruto already regretted it a little… But then blinked when he saw Kirabi pick out a scroll out of his weapon pouch. The ninja was taking advantage of those seconds of pause to heal a little more the gash in his knee. The hit had damaged a ligament and the bones, but he kept his eyes on his target and the interferences.
The genin had opened the scroll and threw it high in the air. A big cloud of smoke got out of it, along with four objects. Kirabi smoothly grabbed all four of them, two with his hands, one with his right leg, and the last… With his mouth? Both the children and the ninja stared in surprise at the now armed Jinchuuriki. He had got out of the scroll four swords, all identical, with cutting edges on both sides. While Naruto had never seen anyone holding a sword, the ninja had never seen anyone holding four swords at the same time.
"I will beat you into the ground so hard that you'll forget you had teeth to begin with, idiot!" Kirabi said. The sentence didn't make much sense to the ninja, and he also was asking himself how stupid he looked. How could someone move like that? Then, suddenly, Kirabi moved.
The black skinned boy used his free leg to jump forward and then used his other leg to rotated and jumped further forward, surprising the ninja a great deal.
"What?" The ninja grabbed a kunai out of air and blocked Kirabi's slash at his stomach. The kid used the momentum to flip himself up and used his leg too to jump high in the air, and then began to rotated while descending to the ground again. The assassin jumped back to dodge, and while Kirabi got back in a standing position he threw his kunai at him. Kirabi rotated on himself and deflected them… "Tsk…"
"Not over yet!" Indeed. Kirabi didn't stop rotating on himself after deflecting the kunai, and jumped towards the assassin again, who grabbed two Kunai out of the air and parried the first two blows… But more came. Kirabi kept on rotating, jumping, shifting his weight. His swords were coming from every possible angle.
"… A-Awesome…" Naruto and Gaara stared in awe as Kirabi kept on fighting his enemy using that strange style, acrobatic and basically unpredictable. They couldn't tell what Yagura was thinking, though, since his stoic face was still in place.
W-What kind of fighting style is this? I've never seen anything like this! Nor he had heard about it. Little did he know that it was something that Kirabi had basically made up on his own. Most of what his older brother's subordinates taught bored him to death. Even Kenjutsu. He wanted something flashy, something unusual, something to go with his rap… So he then decided to try using more than one sword. He had managed to reach the amount of four just a couple of weeks before.
"I float like a butterfly…" Suddenly, he managed to land a hit on the enemy's left biceps. Kirabi used the opening to come to a halt facing him and turn around the swords he was holding in his hands. "And sting like a bee! 'Cause I'm the eight tailed beast!"
"Nghh!" The black youth delivered a vicious blow in the shape of a cross on the assassin's chest, making him stumble to the ground and fall. The man rolled on the ground and got back on his feet pretty quickly, though. He glared at the genin from behind his cloth quite fiercely. "You…"
"Haven't got enough? I appreciate the though! I've been dyeing of using this in a real fight! It sends inspiration all through my body like an electrical current!" Naruto sweatdropped. The way he talked was still terrible and full of nonsense… He shook his head. At least, the way he fought was damn cool. And he looked really strong. They were safe, then.
The ninja used an healing jutsu yet again, closing the wounds before he lost too much blood… He then gritted his teeth while he got back on his feet. That style is too unpredictable, and close-range fighting isn't my specialty in the first place… But to have to get serious… "… I admit it. You're strong…" Kirabi's smirk had short life, as the assassin's eyes narrowed. "For a genin." The older shinobi got out a scroll of his own, and opened it to its full length, and handful of meters, before throwing it high into the air and making handseals. "Who do you think I am? I'm a Jounin! I wasn't fighting at full strength because this was supposed to be an assassination!"
I can feel a huge chakra… Kirabi was on his guard. Not knowing what was about to come to him, he preferred to wait and observe. He couldn't rush in blindly and give the ninja a chance of counterattacking… His eyes widened. "What is that? A ball of… …" He paled. It wasn't a ball of iron… They were tens of kunai that had gotten out of the scroll, and they were all suspended into the air. The ninja did one single hand seal.
"Ninpou! Kirinotetsu (Mist of Steel)!" Suddenly, the kunais all separated from each other, like each had suddenly gained their own mind, floating in the air, moving slowly forward… Before they shot forward in various direction. Kirabi was sweating while the younger ones gasped. "You're finished, kid!"
This is bad…
-Breakline-
This chakra… Far away from his position, Roshi had detected a new big source of chakra suddenly making itself known. While dodging another attack from the enormous insect-like summon that he had been fighting for a while now. His techniques had managed to damage him, but a full victory was still far.
But he was worried. The chakra he felt didn't belong to anyone of the four he had left behind at the encampment. And why was chakra flaring so far from it? Another blow. He dodged it by jumping back. "… I have to finish this right now." While still in mid air, Roshi started to go through a long series of handseal. Right after he landed, he slammed his hands on the ground. "Yoton. Hibi Kyojin. (Lava Release. Giant Fissure)"
-Breakline-
"… Will you hurry and die?" Han was getting really impatient, mostly because he could feel that something unexpected was going on near the encampment. And he didn't like it one bit. Unfortunately, he had chosen to fight the summon using the 'slow but certain' way. As in, sure death, but it took a little while. The summon was trashing around and getting weaker and weaker, but it still was alive. He then felt Roshi's surge in chakra. Seems like he had made the same reasoning.
-Breakline-
Kirabi hadn't had time to crack some new rap rhyme in those last few minutes. All the breath he had was to be used exclusively to protect himself, at the moment. The guy was indeed a Jounin, even if a low level one. After he had used that technique, he had been in big trouble. Basically, the 'floating kunai' thing he was doing before? He started doing it with almost an hundred of them, only this time they were running wild and extremely fast, in a small area. He was still alive because he was used to unpredictability because of his fighting style, but he was bleeding from a lot of cuts. He couldn't keep on dodging forever.
"You can't keep on dodging forever!" The ninja cursed internally. To think that he had had to use so much chakra and that technique to get that job done… He felt shame. A big deal of shame for having been pushed so far by a group of brats, of which just one was a ninja: a rookie genin. Those were his thoughts while he kept on controlling the kunais with slick movements of his fingers and hands.
"Oh, no…" Naruto and the others couldn't do anything but stare in horror at the scene. The 'iron mist' had trapped Kirabi in it, and he was getting more injured by the second. He felt so powerless… He slapped his face. If they didn't do something, they were all going to die. "Gaara!"
"Y-Yes?" The redhead suddenly jumped, frightened by Naruto's sudden outburst. "You said that you hurt people, before… I mean, how do you do it? Can't you do anything to help?" Gaara's eyes went wide but then he lowered his head, shaking it slowly.
"N-No… Sorry. I mean… To use my power, I need sand. Without sand, I can't do anything…" Naruto blinked at the reply, and then panicked.
"S-Sand? How are we going to find sand here in…"
"Teddy." The two suddenly turned to Yagura, who was currently holding high Gaara's teddy bear, in front of him, with both his hands.
"So?" Naruto said, confused by Yagura's words. Suddenly, the silver-haired kid let the toy fall to the ground with a kind of a loud 'thud'.
"Teddy's heavy." The boy replied. Naruto groaned.
"Of course it's heavy! Usually, they fill these things with… …" Suddenly Naruto blinked. Gaara mimicked him and then they turned to one another, voicing the same word at the same time. "SAND!"
Gaara immediately grabbed his teddy and gave him a sorrowful glance. "Sorry, Teddy…" He the proceeded to pull on it till he opened a big gap into its back. Then he began to shake it, and sand began to pour out of it.
"Yes! So? So?" Gaara kept on pouring sand till the teddy was empty. In front of him was enough sand to fill a beach bucket.
"… It's not enough to kill him…" Gaara said, noticing that the amount of sand that was now raising in the air wasn't enough to envelope a whole body into it. Naruto cursed under his breath.
"Ahhh! What do we do? What do we doooo?"
"His hands." Yagura again. Naruto and Gaara blinked and turned to the battle again… And then they saw that the ninja, to control all those kunais, was constantly moving his hands and fingers.
"His hands… If we take out his hands…" Naruto turned to Gaara again, shaking him out of his reverie. "Gaara, can you…"
"Y-Yes!" Gaara suddenly shot both his hands forward. The sand suddenly dissipated in a little cloud, becoming invisible to the eye, making it head towards the adult ninja.
Damn! What the hell am I doing? I'm supposed to just kill Gaara! I could have just used this technique on him… … No. I could have killed the boy from Kiri too. But time was running out. He had to kill the black nuisance and then get back to his mission. He was about to increase the speed of the kunai, when suddenly he heard a familiar noise. Like the noise sand makes while falling down a hourglass… His eyes widened when he saw his hands getting enveloped by sand. "G-Gaara!"
"S-Sabaku Sousou!" Shouted the little redhead, closing his hands into fists with strength, and the sand around the ninja's hands mimicked its actions, clenching and crushing the appendages with brutal strength, making him scream in pain. The kunai suddenly stopped in mid air before falling to the ground.
"Good work, kids!" Kirabi said while using his swords to deflect the last kunais. He had a chance. Till the ninja was still shocked, he was going to go for the finishing blow. He rushed at the ninja. "Ahhh!"
"Nngh… Ah!" Kirabi slammed into the ninja's stomach with two of his blades, going nicely through him like it was a soft steak. He then pulled them out and slammed them into his legs, earning another scream. Finally, he grabbed the other two and slammed them into his arms. He then picked out a kunai from the ground.
"Justiceeeeeeeee!" He shouted, and then slammed the kunai and the full weight of his body in the middle of the ninja's chest, making him fall to the ground on his back, the last scream dying in his throat.
Naruto, during all the thing, had just been staring in the direction of the battle, in awe as first Gaara's sand crushed the bad guy's hands and then Kirabi finished him. Now it was time to voice his awe. "T-That was awesome!"
"A-Are you alright?" The three younger kids all hurried to Kirabi's said, noticing that he still was bleeding from his cuts. The Kumo Jinchuuriki just grinned.
"No sweat! I kicked names and took ass… Wait…" Kirabi had the sensation that that particular saying was the other way around. He shook his head. "Nevermind. More importantly…" He turned his head to the man on the ground, who although heavily injured and profusely bleeding, was still alive. "Do you have any idea why this guy would want to kill you, red?"
"… N-No… I… I don't know…" Naruto gulped, feeling as shaken as Gaara, at the moment.
"Hmmm… Well, maybe it's someone you know." Kirabi leaned down and grabbed the cloth covering the man's face, removing it with a sharp tug… And then Gaara's eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat. The person on the ground, the person that had been trying to kill him… It was indeed someone who he knew.
"Eh…" The man laughed, weakly. "Impressive… Gaara-sama…"
"!" Everyone jumped at Gaara's sudden outburst, Naruto being the one most frightened. The redhead had suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and had screamed out, while basically collapsing on the ground, tears starting to flow out freely.
"G-Gaara? Gaara, what's wrong?" Naruto kneeled down as well, grabbing Gaara's shoulders, suddenly very worried about his friend's state. The teal-eyed kid didn't even hear him. He just kept on crying and screaming his soul out. "Gaara! W-Who…" He turned his head to the man, glaring at him. "Who are you? W-What have you done to him?"
"… Right now… Nothing… Cough…" The man replied, coughing some more blood out of his mouth. Gaara, hearing his voice, seemed to calm down… A little. He stopped screaming and simply began hiccupping and kept on crying.
"W-Why… Why you…" He said, hiccupping some more. "Yashamaru…"
"Ya…" Naruto then remembered of what Gaara had told him in the past days about his life in his village. He had told him that there was just one person who was nice to him, a certain Yashamaru… His uncle. He gasped. "You're… His uncle?"
"You… Sniff…" Gaara tried to rub away some of the tears on his face. "Only you… Were my friend…"
"… It was an order." The man replied, seemingly gathering some leftover strength to talk in a clear voice. The phrase surprised Gaara, it seemed, by the way his body shook a little under Naruto's grasp. "I was ordered to assassinate you…" The man took a pause, to spit out some more blood… "By your father… Kazekage-sama."
Kirabi narrowed his eyes hearing those words. And Naruto's face became a mask of horror. Even Yagura seemed to be shaken by those words. Gaara was the most shaken one there, it seemed, since he suddenly lost his breakfast on the ground right beside Yashamaru's feet.
"Y-You liar! That can't be!" Naruto screamed. He couldn't believe that… That a dad could want to kill his son. "A dad… It just can't be!"
"… You're… The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, right?" Naruto stopped talking and got back on his feet letting Gaara go when he heard that the guy knew who he was. He suddenly chuckled a little before coughing up more blood. "If you are… Then you can understand…"
Naruto started to tremble as well. He knew that both he and Gaara were feared and hated, but… To kill them… He shook his head. "T-That's not possible! Why would his own father want him dead?"
"… Because… His father is… Kazekage-sama." Naruto became even more confused, while Kirabi 'Hmm'-ed. He was a Kage's brother, so he sort of understood what the man meant. "Unlike you… Gaara-sama was born to be… Possessed by the sand Shukaku." Naruto and Gaara were listening to every word. "Until today he has been watched over like an experimental subject…" Yashamaru turned his gaze to Gaara again, who was still keeping his head low, tears and snot joining the vomit on the ground. "However… Gaara-sama, you are yet unable to control the powers of the Ichibi… Before long your existence will become too dangerous to the village itself… We simply couldn't let that happen…"
Naruto was trembling as well, this time in rage. An experiment… His own father… Too dangerous… It sounded all impossible to his mind. So innocent, so naïve… That of a child.
"… Then…" Gaara sniffled a bit and seemed to regain some strength in his voice… A hint of a smile surfaced on his face, hearing those words. "Then… You had no choice… It was because of father…"
"… No. You're mistaken." Gaara's was shaken again, that tiny thread of hope that he had in his heart suddenly getting even thinner. "Yes, I did receive Kazekage-sama's order. But… I could've declined it if I wanted to…" Gaara began to shake again, in fear. "… Lord Gaara…" Yashamaru moved his gaze, shifting it from the redhead to his own chest. "Deep down inside… I must've always… Resented you…" Naruto noticed how Gaara's eyes went unbelievably wide at that. "For coming into this world, stealing life away from my dear sister…"
Gaara's tears stopped, it seemed like he had finished them. He raised his head again. Even his trembling had stopped. Every word was like a fresh stab wound to him.
"I tried my best to love you by thinking of you as her memento… But I couldn't…" Yashamaru shifted his gaze to Gaara again. "She never wished to give birth to you… She was sacrificed for this village and therefore died cursing at it…"
Kirabi was starting to feel uneasy as well. Those were some pretty harsh words. And all at the same time. In a short while Gaara had come to know that his father and uncle wanted him dead, leaving him without anyone left to love him and that his own mother would have never wished for him to be born into the world.
"Perharps… From that moment on, I've been carrying never-healing emotional scars…" Gaara began to remember what Yashamaru himself had told him about emotional scars. "Your mother gave you your name…" Yashamaru began to quote his late sister's words. "This child name… Is Gaara. 'A demon that loves only himself'. Love only yourself… And fight only for your sake… She wished and believed and your existence is forever as long as you live so."
Gaara was even more shocked. Yagura noticed this. His name had no meaning, but… He preferred it to a name with such a meaning. Especially if…
"But… She didn't give you the name… Out of concern, or love for you…" Yashamaru continued. Naruto was trembling in rage again, his fists shaking profusely. "The name was given to you… In the hope of your eternal existence… To let her grudge be carried down… And be known to the world…" The blonde gritted his teeth so much that they were almost hurting. "You were never…"
"SHUT UP! IDIOT!" Yashamaru suddenly stopped when it was Naruto, this time, who had an outburst, along with the act of kicking him. This surprised not only him but the other kids as well. He kept on kicking him. "IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT! YOU'RE AN IDIOT AND… AND… A COWARD! YES! YOU'RE A COWARD!"
Yashamaru kept his silence while Naruto kicked him again and again, before stopping. He was starting to cry and sniffle too.
"You… You said…" He sniffed up a large drop of snot, it sounded. "You said… Gaara's mom… Cursed the village and… His father…" He started to tremble again, in anger, before shouting loudly again. "Then, why did you not get angry at them instead of Gaara? Do you think Gaara would have wanted his mom to die?"
Yashamaru kept on listening, along with Gaara.
"Instead… Instead of getting angry at them, you decided to get angry at Gaara! Because it was easy! Because everyone else already were doing so! You're a coward and a bad man! Idiot!" Naruto said, tears falling from his eyes as well, hiccupping. "S-So, Gaara's father doesn't love him? You hate him? I don't care! He doesn't need him! Because he has friends now! I am his friend!"
Gaara had stopped crying, by now. He was staring at Naruto with wide eyes while he kept on talking, and he didn't know why, but he felt like smiling a little.
Yashamaru thought about Naruto's words for a few seconds before smiling sadly. "A coward… Eh… Maybe you're right… But…" Suddenly, Yashamaru's hands went for his chest. With his last strength he plucked out the kunai. "It doesn't matter anymore, now…"
"Ah!" Kirabi's eyes widened when he recognized what was under the Jounin's jacket, from the smoke suddenly raising. He grabbed the younger kids in a hurry. Paperbombs! "We have to get away!"
"E-Eh?" Naruto got startled by the sudden gesture, while Yashamaru let his hand fall to the ground again.
"This is it… Please die…" Kirabi, with his injuries, managed to make just a couple of meters before the paperbombs exploded. The older kid threw all of them to the ground, closing his eyes…
"Doton! Doryuheki! (Earth Release. Earth Style Wall.)!" A voice suddenly resounded loudly from in front of them, and the explosion never reached them. When the noise went off, the group of young Jinchuuriki turned around. Out of nowhere, an enormous wall of earth had appeared to shield themselves from the explosion. They turned in the other direction and saw Roshi, crouched on the ground with his hands on it, sighing in relief. "I made it in time…"
-Breakline-
"Seems like it was an assassination attempt against the Kazekage's son."
"There's no way of identifying the attacker, though, since in a last desperate attempt at accomplishing his task, he exploded himself with a large number of paperbombs." Roshi said, talking with the various Anbu while the kids rested on the steps of the nearby barrack, Kirabi being bandaged by the two from Kumo. Kirabi had decided to not say anything because he didn't know if him accusing the Kazekage of such an act could be believed or if it could put his village into trouble. Gaara didn't want to talk about it. Naruto and Yagura… They probably didn't believe it was important.
"You shouldn't have endangered yourself like this, Kirabi-sama…" One of the Anbu said. Kirabi just laughed.
"Ah! It was no sweat! Me and my comrades took care of the thre… OW! Watch out with those bandages!"
"If you stopped moving, maybe…" Naruto said, grinning. Kirabi frowned.
"Hey, at least I got injured doing something, you know." He replied. Naruto frowned as well. He hated to admit it, but it was true. Back there, he had been useless. Kirabi had fought that guy, Gaara had used his sand to crush his hands and make them win and even Yagura had done something. If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have found the sand nor would have they escaped him in the first place.
"Hmmm…" He frowned even more. I really want to start the academy… His mind went back to how scared he had been and he didn't' know what to do. He didn't want to feel like that ever again.
Gaara and Yagura had been mostly silent after getting brought back to the encampment. Yagura because he was just being himself. Gaara… He had a lot of thoughts on his mind. The shock of the latest events was still fresh in his mind, but, someone was soothing them enough to calm him down. He turned to his right, to Naruto, his sand still floating around him. "N-Naruto…"
"Uh?" Naruto blinked and turned to Gaara, breaking his thoughts about getting into the academy and getting super-strong.
"You…" Gaara swallowed and looked at the ground for a few seconds, before looking at Naruto again. "You… You were saying the truth?" Naruto got a bit more confused at that. He tilted his head to the side. Gaara smiled a little. "You… Want to be my friend?"
"Eh? Of course I want to!" Naruto said with a gasp. "No, we already are friends, Gaara! You're the first friend I've ever had!"
Gaara lowered his head, smiling. "F-For real?"
"Yes! I want to be friends, Gaara!" Naruto said, nodding his head frantically. "I don't want to be alone! And I don't want you to be alone! E-Even if we live far away…" Naruto lowered his head sadly… And then shook his head fast. "We will always be friend! A-And we will see each other at least one time every year, right? And when we become ninja, we can visit each other whenever we want!"
Gaara raised his head and smiled a little… And then, suddenly, his sand started moving, startling Naruto and Yagura who were sitting beside him. The two gasped when the sand suddenly shot towards Gaara's forehead, and they could see blood starting to flow from it.
"G-Gaara! What are you doing?" Naruto asked, but didn't move because the sand got in front of him.
"I-It's alright… Nnngh…" Gaara was biting his lower lip while the sand started to… Write, engrave something on his forehead, over his left eyebrow. It took just a few seconds. When the sand got away from his forehead, where once there was clear skin, there now was a scar… No, a tattoo. Still bleeding, in the shape of a kanji.
"G-Gaara…" To say that Naruto was speechless was an understatement. Gaara slowly turned his head back to face him.
"I-It's a Kanji… It means… Friendship…" Naruto was even more confused. Gaara was crying again, this time for a different reason, though. "S-So… This way I will never… I will never forget that I have a friend… When I feel sad… Or alone… I will just look at it."
"… Gaara…" Naruto kept his confused face on for a little while more… Before starting to cry as well. He rubbed his tears away and then the two young children hugged each other, smiling. Naruto suddenly felt someone else hugging him and Gaara from the side. The two looked down and saw Yagura crying too. "… You too?" The silver-haired child just nodded. Naruto grinned and hugged him as well.
"Kirabi-sama, are you crying?"
"NO! THIS IS JUST… INSPIRATION! YOU IDIOT! THIS SCENE IS BEAUTIFUL! NO ONE IS CRYING HERE, YOU IDIOT! WAAAAAAAAAH!"
-Breakline-
"… So… Why is my mind a sewer?"
"I don't really know, Naruto. But… It seems we're here." After a quick trip through his mind, Roshi and Naruto had arrived in front of an enormous steel gate, with a piece of paper hanging from it. Naruto didn't saw anything in it… Before two enormous eyes opened from behind it. He flinched, and then a growl resounded in the air.
"Hmm… A nice surprise… Even if I cannot devour you…" A deep voice said before laughing lowly. Naruto swallowed.
"You're… The Kyuubi?" Said demon suddenly laughed again.
"Just my luck. What a smart kid I've been sealed into…" His enormous teeth appeared from the darkness too, and Naruto shivered a little. "So… What did you come here for? You and this old human… That… Hmmm…" The Kyuubi seemed to observe Roshi for a few seconds before talking again. "You give out… A familiar chakra, human…"
"I should say so, Kyuubi…" Roshi replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, Naruto? What did we come here for?"
Naruto swallowed and then narrowed his eyes. "I… I wanted to tell you… That one day, I will… If I may need your power…" He suddenly shot his right arm and index finger forward. "Y-You will give it to me! Alright?"
The Kyuubi stared. One. Two. Three. He started to laugh so loud that Naruto fell on his butt. "AHAHAHAHAHAH! YOU… THREATENING… ME! AHAHAHAHAH! PRICELESS!" Naruto was confused at first… But then he got angry. Really angry. He started to throw a tantrum while Roshi palmed his face. The Kyuubi slowly calmed down. "Ahahahah… Kid, you're a real clown… Eh. Don't worry, though… This seal is made so that if you die, I die too… So be assured that till I find a way out of here, I will not let you go meet the Shinigami."
"… For real?" The Kyuubi laughed a bit more and then just closed his eyes and mouth, disappearing into the darkness of his cage with Naruto and Roshi staring. The older Jinchuuriki nodded in acknowledgment.
"Seems like our work here is done. Let's go back outside."
-Breakline-
"So… It's goodbye." It was the morning of their departing. Everyone was going back home. Naruto pouted. The deal was that they were allowed to go back to the camp only till they became genin. And that meant that Kirabi wasn't coming back. Even if his rap was stupid, he was funny… And he was so cool, in his fighting. Gaara and Yagura were sad as well. You can't save someone's life without making them at least grateful to you. He grinned. "Ahhh, don't be like that! We will be forever joined by the love for the fine art of rap!"
"… Still…" Naruto pouted and kicked the ground. "I wanted you to teach me to do that thing with the swords…"
"Impossible." Naruto blinked at the new voice, coming from Yugito, who had just flat out said stated that Naruto couldn't learn Kirabi's style of fighting. "That's a secret style Kirabi developed on his own. He can't teach you that. Also…" She looked at his body from the top of his head to the fingers of his feet. "You look too much like an idiot for ever hoping to learn it."
"WHAT?" Naruto shouted. Kirabi just held him back with one hand while Yugito turned around and started to walk away.
"Leave her be. She's… Honest like that. And it's true that I couldn't teach you that even if I wanted to." Kirabi said. Naruto grumbled and then crossed his arms over his chest… Suddenly, an object came into his field of vision. A sword. One of Kirabi's swords. He looked up at the older Jinchuuriki who simply put the weapon into his hands. "It's the only one left after that son of… Ehm, after that guy exploded himself."
"And… You want to give it to me?" Kirabi grinned and gave him a thumbs up.
"As long as you follow the way of the rap, you can try to learn and use at least one, right?" He then ruffled the blonde's air before starting to walk away, waving at them with one hand. "So long, guys! Be strong and don't forget the rap way!"
Naruto stared at him and then nodded. "You betcha!" He then turned around, seeing Yagura and Utakata about to go away as well. The two waved at him and he waved back. "So long, Yagura! Utakata-niichan! Let's play in the water again, next year!" Utakata smiled and nodded… And much to Naruto's shock even Yagura portrayed a small smile on his face.
Naruto turned around and then headed to the two leaf Anbu to lend them the sword before hugging Gaara tightly… Or at least trying, since his face met the sand. "Ow."
"Ehm… My sand protects me. You probably were going to hurt me, with that hug…" Naruto rubbed his sore nose while grumbling under his breath. Gaara laughed. "Hey… C-Can I write to you?"
"Eh? Of course! My address is… … Ehm…" Naruto sweatdropped. He didn't know. He turned to the two leaf Anbu. "Hey! Where do I leave?" The two ninjas sweatdropped and one palmed his face before getting out a piece of paper and starting to write. Naruto grinned and turned back to Gaara, to hug him not as tightly as he wanted before. "I'll miss you! Write me lots!"
"Yes! I will!" Gaara said, hugging him back tightly. Naruto let him go and then hurried to the two older Jinchuuriki from Iwa, bowing in front of them.
"Thanks! I'll see you next year, Roshi-jiisan! Han-san!" He said bowing maybe a little too deeply. Roshi smiled at him and ruffled his hair, while Han just nodded. Satisfied, Naruto went to say to the last remaining Jinchuuriki… Only to find the girl still reading that book. "H-Hey… I wanted to say hi…"
"Hmmm… Oh? Ah, sorry, sorry, sorry!" She said, putting the book away and stretching her arm and hand for Naruto to shake. "Sorry, I was so caught by the story… Yes, I'll see you next year… Ehm…" Fu suddenly put a finger to her lips, signalling confusion… Then, she blurted out… "Sorry, what was your name again?"
If it wasn't that he was holding on her hand, Naruto would have ended up face on the ground for the first time in his life. "Fu-chan, you're so strange…" She laughed a bit nervously while Naruto let go of her hand sighing. "Well, my name is Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto, alright? See ya!"
"Ahhh! Alright! See ya next year, Naruto-s… … Naruto-san?" She blinked, moving her gaze from the blonde to her book then to Naruto again then to the book again. She thought about it for a few seconds, and then… "He has the same name?"
-Breakline-
"Naruto… Welcome back."
"Jii-san!" Naruto, upon seeing the Hokage, obeyed to the instinct of glomping him. The old man laughed and held him up with one hand, to bring the young one's face to the same level as his own. "Man, I had so much fun! I met Gaara, and then a bad ninja, and then Kirabi gave me his sword, and…"
"Ahahah! Calm down, Naruto. Slow down." The Hokage said, enjoying greatly the laughs and smiling face of the young blonde. So… I made the right choice, then. "I take it you liked it?"
"Yes! I can't wait for next year!"
Continue…
In the next chapter…
Over the year between the first meeting and their next one, what are our Jinchuuriki up to? Let's give it a quick look. Stay tuned!