A/N: Ah! I'm sorry for the wait. Finals start next week! Ah! So busy!

Behind the Sun

Chapter 5: Morning After

He woke up carefully, letting his consciousness resurface slowly. For the most part, Gaara found, the pain was gone and only a bone-weary ache seemed to envelope his body. But Gaara knew that if he tried to use any chakra the agony would return ten-fold.

Having one's chakra system blasted with demonic energy, unlike the Hyuuga technique which was a centralized jab that blocked a single point, resulted in a full-system burnout which would effect in excruciating pain, loss of muscle control, and an inability to form or mold the flow of the ninja's life energy. For any non-Jinchuuriki its effects would be permanent and crippling, but at least in this instance, Shukaku's presence came in handy.

It would be a couple of days before Gaara could comfortably use chakra, but at least he wouldn't have to retire from being a shinobi.

"Gaara..." a voice said in his ear.

He opened his eyes.

"Gaara..." Naruto said again.

Gaara tilted his head back into the hand stroking his hair. He noted that he had a slight crick in his neck.

"I love you..."

The Suna-nin allowed his facial muscles to pull his lips into a small smile. "As do I you."

Naruto grinned.

Gaara wasn't quite sure why, but sometimes after a major episode when the Kyuubi had nearly reached the surface, Naruto's mind would temporarily clear. Not completely, but enough so that Naruto was almost what he used to be.

"Are you in pain?"

Gaara shook his head carefully.

Naruto bit his lip. "Just don't try to move around too much, okay? I'll get you anything you need'ttebayo."

"How—" his voice cracked in his dry throat. "How long?"

Naruto was already reaching for the glass on the bedside table. "I'm not sure. I came to about four hours ago, and you were out cold by then. Drink this."

Gaara complied as Naruto tipped his head back for him and held the glass to his lips. His neck was sore, but he refrained from mentioning it.

He coughed when Naruto pulled the glass away. "Did you clean up the mess?"

The blonde looked meek. "...Mess? Um, was there supposed to be one?"

"An ANBU squad," Gaara filled him in. "I took care of the three you weren't interested in."

Naruto frowned. "Ah... I woke up no where near any... mess."

Gaara scowled. The Kyuubi must have moved them after he had lost consciousness. That meant there was still evidence out there.

"By the way," Naruto had a look on his face like he knew he was asking a stupid question. "Are we supposed to be in Konoha?"

He nodded. "We arrived just the other day."

The boy sighed with relief, briefly collapsing on Gaara's shoulder before grinning up at the redhead. "I was afraid I had brought us both all the way from Suna! Wouldn't that be weird'ttebayo?"

"Naruto," the boy cocked his head to the side, sensing the question in Gaara's voice. "Has it been any easier these last few days?"

Naruto squinted as he thought. "I dunno."

"This is the first time in over a month that you've come out completely like this."

"A month?" Horror passed over the boy's features briefly. "It's been that long? Gaara-chan..."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Naruto blinked at his bedroom door.

Beyond, someone pounded on the outside entrance persistently.

"Should I answer that?"

"ANBU don't knock."

Naruto sighed as he gently untangled himself from his prone position on the bed with the redhead. Gaara felt a fleeting disappointment from the loss of warmth, he was never one to like the cold.

He listened as Naruto stepped into the living room and opened the door.

"Naruto?"

"Baa-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto barely restrained himself from jumping them both. "I haven't seen you for, what? Two years'dattebayo!"

Naruto faltered as both women winced. "Eh... not two years?"

"It's okay, Naruto."

"If you can't remember what happened two days ago, can you even remember yesterday?" wondered Tsunade as she eyed him critically.

Naruto fidgeted. He remembered yesterday, alright. But the yesterday he remembered he had been of eating ice cream with the Sand siblings on a sultry day in Suna. Naruto had learned months ago that his memories were untrustworthy. And according to Gaara, that most recent memory happened to be a month old. "Ah... so, do you need something?"

"Well," Tsunade brushed past him with Sakura on her heels. "It's time for your check-up."

Naruto closed the door. "Check-up?"

"You seem more lucid that usual, Naruto. Is this common or should I assume today to be an anomaly?"

"You aren't talking in third person." Sakura added.

"Um..." Naruto was feeling rather left out of the loop. "An anomaly?"

Tsunade hmmed. "Where is Kazekage-sama?"

"Gaara? Ah, he's not feeling well."

"Do you need me?"

Sakura jumped.

"Ah! Gaara-chan, I told you not to get out of bed!" Naruto ran over to the redhead, but Gaara waved him off as he felt the wall he was leaning against was sufficient support.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?" She looked the Kazekage up and down, taking in the various abrasions and lacerations on his person. He seemed smaller in Naruto's clothes, which were too large on him and sagged on his bony form. Her eyes paused on the puncture wounds visible on the shoulder exposed by a loose collar. Those were bite marks.

She had to hold her tongue to keep herself from pointing out that he looked like he had tried to do something naughty with a nasty animal.

"Training accident." Gaara replied.

Tsunade was skeptical. When she glanced at Naruto she saw he was fidgeting nervously. Guiltily.

"Well," she decided to continue. "I was going to do just a cursory exam on Naruto, but you yourself look like you could use some medical treatment."

"I'm fine." he replied coolly.

Tsunade grinned and pointed out, "You can barely stand up straight."

"I can take care of him."

Everyone stared at Naruto, the med-nin among them wondered on how the boys' roles had been switched.

"And I've been taken care of." Gaara completed, his tone saying that he would argue the topic no further.

"Well then," Tsunade glanced between the two of them. "In light of Naruto's progress today, I've decided to get an fMRI, which would entail—"

"We know what an fMRI is," interrupted Gaara. "And it is unnecessary. Naruto was quite thoroughly tested in Suna."

Tsunade smiled. It was a scary smile. "Another one wouldn't hurt."

"Um," Sakura started, shifting uncomfortably. "I'll go and get the equipment..."

"No, Sakura, I'll go to the hospital. You just make sure these two get there."

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Sakura shrunk. She was not looking forward to being left alone with Naruto and Gaara. Especially Gaara.

"So..." Naruto scratched his head after the Hokage had left as briskly as she had appeared. "How ya been, Sakura-chan?"

The kunoichi smiled softly. "Okay, I guess. You at least recognize me today, Naruto."

The boy scratched one whiskered cheek. "Eh... sorry, if I..."

"It's okay," she glanced at the redhead leaning heavily against the wall beside the bedroom door. Now that the Hokage had left, the obviously pained insomniac slumped against the wall and appeared to shrink into himself. "Um, Tsunade went to get all the complicated equipment ready and to clear a room and... we should go now."

Sakura watched as Naruto gently took the weight of the Kazekage and started to lead him across the room.

"Not the right," Gaara hissed.

Obligingly, Naruto swung around to support Gaara's left instead.

Sakura opened and closed the door for them, then opted to take the lead.

"So..." Sakura started uncertainly.

Naruto smiled at her, and Sakura suddenly felt so much more relaxed. The blonde boy who had cowered behind Gaara the day before was not that boy today. This was Naruto, she realized as she recognized the awareness in his eyes that only sane people held, and that comforted her.

"You seem so much better than before. Is it better... to be in Konoha?"

Naruto shrugged and immediately apologized to Gaara as the movement lifted his arm awkwardly and sent a sharp pain through his left shoulder.

Gaara just hissed in annoyance.

Sakura eyed the Kazekage's limp. "Um... so what exactly happened to... cause your injuries?" By the nature of Gaara's nindou it was uncommon for anyone to get close enough to inflict injury.

Gaara scowled, his eyes set on the ground in front of his feet. "Training accident."

Okay, though Sakura was infinitely curious she knew when not to press a subject. Especially when said subject involved the questionable operations of an ex-psycho.

"He's a little touchy when he's injured." said a smiling Naruto, more for the conversation than an explanation of Gaara's coldness.

Sakura nodded once in reply.

"So... Sakura-chan, how has your training with Baa-chan gone?"

"Great!" the kunoichi smiled at the opportunity to turn to a safe subject. "I'm much stronger than I used to be. Do you think you can keep up, Naruto?"

The blonde grinned at her, his competitive drive flashing in his eyes. "I know I can'ttebayo!"

"Oh, hello, Ino!"

Naruto blinked as Sakura turned away abruptly to greet the blonde.

"Hey, Sakura."

The two girls, once rivals, had grown back together again with the absence of the Uchiha, that which had pushed them apart. While what had been lost would likely never be fully regained, at least they could be friendly with each other again.

"Are you on your way to the hospital?"

"Yeah," Ino gestured to the flowers she carried. "These are for my sensei. He got hurt really bad on border patrol yesterday."

"Oh! I heard about that. Something about an entire ANBU squad being wiped out."

Naruto shifted as Gaara tensed at the turn in conversation.

"Is he alright?"

Ino shrugged. "I heard Asuma-sensei'll be okay, but his partner is still in critical condition."

Sakura winced in sympathy. "Well, we're going to the hospital, too. We'll walk with you."

Ino blinked as her eyes sprung to the two boys a few steps behind her friend. "Oh? I recognize you... Naruto?"

The blonde waved with his free hand. "Hullo!"

Ino simply nodded in response. The two blondes had never been close.

"We better get going, Tsunade-sama is waiting for us."

"How many bloody tests do they need!" Naruto griped.

"We're done now, you can go home." said Sakura.

"Did the tests say anything new?" Gaara queried.

"We won't know until our experts get a good look at them."

"It's a giraffe, I say, a giraffe! And they disagree with me!"

"Naruto, it was a horse. Anyone with brains could see that."

"WELL, I still say it was a giraffe! It had spots!"

"When will we hear about the results?"

"Ah..." Sakura had to think about that for a moment. "I think Tsunade-sama wants to bring in some specialists, so... you probably won't hear anything definitive for a week or two."

Gaara hmmed.

"Hey! Shikamaru! Chouji! I haven't seen you since forever!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as the blonde bounded up to them.

"But, Naruto," Chouji said, "You saw us yesterday."

"Eh... eheh heh heh..." laughed Naruto as he scratched the back of his neck. "Really? Hey! So what are you guys here for, anyway?"

"Our sensei—"

"Oh yeah! I heard about that from Ino! So, is Sumo-sensei gonna be alright?"

"Asuma-sensei," Shikamaru continued, deciding to ignore Naruto's faulty memory for names. "is stable. But we don't know if he's ever going to wake up."

"Aww... that's too bad. So is he like, in a coma or something?"

"Something like that."

"Ah, Naruto—" Chouji started.

"Ah! I forgot Gaara-chan!" the boy exclaimed suddenly before turning and running back down the hall.

"I'm fine." Gaara growled as Naruto scooped him up.

The blonde, not prone to patience, had taken to quickening the pace by simply picking the slim redhead up. Despite the frequency and strength Gaara pounded his head and shoulders when he lifted him, the boy had yet to drop him.

"Put me down, I can walk on my own now."

"But you're so slooow." Naruto umphed as Gaara jabbed two fingers intoa sensitive spot right above his collarbone. "And see? I'm putting you down right now— ow!"

Once his feet had touched the ground, Gaara had turned right around and kicked the blonde in the shin with an elegance and pride only the Kazekage could muster.

"Arrg... for a guy with a smashed wrist, three bruised ribs, and a cracked pelvis you certainly hit hard'ttebayo!"

Gaara hmphed and took the two steps to the wall so he could lean against it. His gait was far steadier than it had been in the morning. With the passage of time his chakra coils gradually revitalized themselves and the trickle of Shukaku's energy turned into a stream, increasing his healing abilities relatively.

"H-hello, Naruto-kun," a small voice said. "G-gaara-kun..."

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto didn't hesitate to scoop the small girl into a brief hug. "When did you get here?"

The Hyuuga blushed crimson as she was released. "I... I— etou..."

"Uzumaki," Shino greeted in his unassuming monotone.

"Eh?" Naruto studied the cloaked nin for a minute. "Oh! You're... you're... do I know you?"

"Shino," Chouji supplied.

"Shino!" Naruto exclaimed instantly, as if he had just remembered without outside help.

The bug-nin only nodded in reply.

"I... um..." Hinata continued to stammer, mashing her two forefingers together. If Naruto's attention hadn't been so quickly diverted to her teammate she probably would have fainted by now.

"So what are you guys here for?"

"Kurenai-sensei is dying."

The less attentive characters of the group jumped at the new voice, which chilled them all with the simmering anger it hinted at in its iciness. Everyone turned to the last member of team ten, whom had been leaning unobtrusively and silently against the wall until that moment. That was unusual for one such as Inuzuka Kiba.

"K-kiba-kun..."

"They say she won't last two days, no matter what they do." Kiba set his cold glare into Naruto's eyes before flashing a fiery one on the redhead leaning against the wall behind him. "Because someone ripped her throat out with his teeth."

"P-please don't—"

"And I know who did it!"

The shinobi flinched minutely at the violent rage in his voice.

"Kiba," Shikamaru sounded bored as usual. "There is no evidence as of yet on who did it. It could very well have been a foreign nin."

"Well, who's the only foreigner here?" Kiba roared back.

For a moment, silence greeted this accusation as the shinobi digested the implications of Kiba's suspicion.

Gaara closed his eyes briefly, but Kiba plowed on before the Kazekage could properly reply.

"And look! He's covered in evidence! I bet Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei and those ANBU put up quite a fight!"

"Gaara didn't do anything!" Naruto fired back, tension gathering in his tightening fists.

"Why would Kazekage-sama want to kill an ANBU squad and two jounin?" Shino was the voice of reason for once.

"Those ANBU were coming back from a mission! They probably had some important information that that monster didn't want to get to Konoha!"

In a split second, Kiba was suspended in the air with Naruto's trembling hand gripping his collar. "Say that again," the blonde warned in a growl.

Three steps behind, Gaara braced himself to get in between the two should fighting break out.

"I was with Gaara last night." Naruto continued. "I was the one who hurt him. In a sparring match. He's innocent."

Kiba snarled in turn. "You're just an idiot; you don't know anything."

Naruto sneered. "No, you're the idiot. You're accusing the Kazekage of murder without any real evidence!"

"No!" Kiba pushed himself away. "You don't understand! He's deceiving you, and he's deceiving all of us!" The dog-nin pointed a viciously clawed finger at Gaara. "That murderer killed Akamaru!"

"K-kiba-kun!"

The Inuzuka choked, scrabbling at the life-strealing that was suddenly around his throat.

"Gaara is no monster." Naruto rumbled into the boy's face as he held him against the green hospital wall. "And he is no murderer."

"Naruto," Gaara watched anxiously as red flashed in the boy's eyes for a split second.

"And if you say that again, I'll kill you!"

"Besides," Shikamaru piped up. "it would make even less sense for the Kazekage to target a dog."

"Th—that's b-because he's a—" Kiba gasped. "killer!"

It took three shinobi to finally get the raging Jinchuuriki off the dog-nin.

Kiba screamed as claws— claws that hadn't been there seconds before, he was sure— plunged without warning into the soft tissue of his solar plexis and tore upwards and outwards. A guttural roar in his ear sent a flash of terror straight through Kiba's heart as he fell to the linoleum. In his panic-struck mind, he was sure that such a sound could not come from a human throat.

"Naruto! Stop it, you're hurting him!" Chouji extended his arms to aid the struggling Shikamaru and Shino in pulling the blonde away from the frighteningly inactive Inuzuka.

Naruto was breathing hard and he continued to swipe mindlessly at whatever part of Kiba he could reach. "Get off me! You bastard—" he screamed as he swung his rage onto the shinobi attempting to hold him back.

Shino and Shikamaru leapt backwards to avoid the slashing claws and Chouji's arms were knocked away.

Hinata trembled as she saw the hatred in Naruto's face. This was not the Naruto she knew. "S-stop... please... Naruto-kun..." But her near-silent pleas were drowned in the growing noise level of the hospital corridor.

"What is going on here?" Tsunade was there, Sakura and a team of med-nin on her heels.

The newcomers' eyes were drawn from the torn and trembling form of Kiba to the blood dripping from Naruto's hands.

"What on earth is going on here?" Tsunade repeated.

Naruto growled deep in his throat.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "This is a hospital—" she stopped as red-stained appendages with viscious-looking claws were suddenly hovering inches from her face. Tsunade's heart was pounding; she hadn't even seen him move.

Naruto was straining to reach her, snarling animalistically, and his red eyes told her of all the things he intended to do when he did.

"Naruto,"

Tsunade looked down and she realized that the Kazekage was the only one standing between her and the murderous Jinchuuriki. His shoulders shook with the effort of putting all his weight against the forward pressure of Naruto's advance.

"Naruto," the redhead repeated into the boy's collarbone.

Nobody could detect any inflection of the Kazekage's voice that displayed any expressed emotion, but something must have been there as Naruto visibly relaxed when Gaara repeated his name again.

Tsunade watched in fascination as red slowly faded to blue again.

"Naruto," Gaara said again, expecting to be clawed or thrown aside at any moment. It was dangerous to try to restrain the Jinchuuriki once the Kyuubi started getting involved. But it would be even more dangerous to let him go demon in a hospital in the middle of a town full of shinobi that would not hesitate to destroy any threats they perceived.

Even so, Gaara was surprised when he felt Naruto respond to him, the pain in his shoulders and back of using too-sore muscles dissipating as the boy relieved his weight from him.

"Sorry," Naruto said quietly, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

Tsunade stared at the two of them for a moment. She got the impression that Naruto's apology was not for any of the people in the vicinity except the redhead.

Seeing that Naruto appeared sufficiently calm, the Hokage snapped her fingers and gestured to Kiba's still form. The med-nin moved forward instantly.

"I'll be expecting you in my office." Tsunade told Naruto, staring hard at him. "Gaara, you as well."

Naruto didn't respond. He was busy glaring at the floor as his breath still came in rapid gasps.

She thought she saw Gaara nod.

The med-nin carried Kiba down the corridor quickly, and the Hokage followed behind. The Inuzuka's treatment came first, but Tsunade worried just what was going on with her once harmless little blonde.

Sakura hesitated, watching the two Jinchuuriki warily as the rest of the young shinobi were doing.

Naruto continued to relax slowly until his breathing returned to normal. "Sorry... Gaara," he said again. He lifted his hands as if he intended to hold the redhead still leaning against his chest before he realized they were covered in blood. Naruto sighed softly.

The surrounding shinobi watched with varying degrees of horror and disgust as the blonde lifted his fingers to his lips and started to lick them clean.

"Th-there's a bathroom down the hall." Sakura said after a moment.

Naruto's eyes skimmed over the kunoichi, and that was the only evidence that he had heardher. When he had cleansed one had to his satisfaction he brought it down to press into the small of the Kazekage's back. "You okay, Gaara-chan?"

"... I think I pulled something." the redhead mumbled.

Naruto chuckled. "I told you, silly, you gotta take it easy."

No one cared to point out that if Gaara hadn't moved to stop him he would have assaulted the Hokage.

"Hey, I'm hungry," Naruto said as he chased the last droplets of blood with his tongue. "Wanna get something to eat?"

Gaara made a non-committal noise.

"Okay!"

No one felt the urge to say goodbye as the two ambled down the hall, though Naruto waved heartily at them.

There was silence in the hall again as the Jinchuuriki turned the corner and Naruto's one-sided chatter was blocked from hearing.

"Well..." Shikamaru mumbled. "That was troublesome."

Chouji pulled out a bag of chips and started eating rapidly. He had forgone food for that entire ordeal and he needed to recover his nerves.

"Did Naruto really... what happened with Kiba?" Sakura inquired. She had not witnessed the events that had led up to the fight, and she was curious as to what could have caused Naruto to turn to such violence.

"N-naruto-kun..."

"Kiba accused Gaara of killing Akamaru and the ANBU that were attacked yesterday."

"Akamaru?" Sakura blinked at Shino. "Oh... his dog died in that bear attack the other day, right?"

She received several nods in reply.

"Now that I think about it... I guess it's possible that the attacks could be related." Sakura bit her lip as she thought. "I've seen the victims of both attacks. Same MO. With lots of claw marks and bit wounds."

Shikamaru frowned.

"But..." Sakura chuckled at the absurd prospect. "It's unlikely. The second attack was obviously done by a ninja. And what ninja would target a dog inside Konoha then go and kill a whole ANBU team and then take out a passing border patrol? There's no motive to kill the dog."

And if anything, a real ninja did not kill without motive.

"What if Akamaru attacked the ninja?" Chouji slowed his eating to talk.

"A ninja with enough skill to kill a whole ANBU squad and two jounin would have enough skill to escape a nin-dog." Shikamaru hmphed. "But... it is an odd coincidence."

"Two attacks with similar MO's occurring within a day of each other." Shino continued the genius's thought. "I'm inclined to think something is going on, at the very least."

"Tch," Shikamaru grumbled. "Troublesome."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered. She remembered the look in her crush's eyes, and she worried where her old Naruto had gone.

And more so, she worried what had taken his place.