Disclaimer: Blah blah blah... do not own Naruto... blah blah... any characters are the property of their creators... blah blah blah.
Through Crimson Eyes: Awakening.
"That won't be necessary" A soft voice floated in from the hallway. The occupants of the room quickly looked up, all of them caught off guard by the sudden newcomer.
"G-Gaara!" Sakura exclaimed, voice trembling. To say that she was uneasy could be considered a bit of an understatement, considering thefact that she was almost killed during her last meeting with the demon possessed Sand Nin. Just imagining his grotesque form, the bloodlust in his eyes, made her shudder involuntarily.
Shikimaru looked less upset, even going so far as to silently invite Gaara into the room. He had heard from Lee how Gaara had rescued him, and how his sister had 'helped him' to defeat the Sound Nin Tayuya. Given their current actions, he felt comfortable enough with Gaara, and if he knew anything that could shed some light on Naruto's current condition, he was more than willing to accommodate.
Hinata seemed at somewhat of a loss, having been unconscious during most of the Sand and Sound incident. Despite her lack of knowledge however, the boy who stood before her gave her a deep sense of unease. Remembering how casually he had dispatched those ninjas during the Chuunin exam still haunted her.
Gaara barely paid attention to them, moving immediately over to the bed, looking down at Naruto. His black rimmed eyes seemed to scan over him, as if probing, before turning upward to meet Tsunade.
"His body is recuperating from his transition. It may take awhile before his body adjusts enough that he can wake." He stated quietly. His eyes turned back down to Naruto.
"How do you know this Gaara?" Tsunade asked. His understanding of such things was not really so surprising, all things considered, yet she was still very curious as to how he could know.
Gaara was silent for long moments before he answered, his eyes never leaving the boy on the bed. "I know… because I went through the same thing."
"The same thing?"
Gaara simply nodded.
"So Naruto will be Naruto?" Asked Hinata, her voice filled with joy. She turned her eyes back to Naruto, smiling happily as a great weight seemed lifted from her shoulders.
"No…" Gaara exclaimed, thoughtlessly breaking the mood. Hinata's shoulders immediately sagged, her joy turning abruptly to deep disappointment.
"So what do you mean, how was it the same?" Shikimaru asked, inwardly groaning at the other boy's complete lack of tact.
"My demon Shukaku was bound to me much the same way that Kyuubi was bound to Naruto. However, simply sealing the demon was never my father's intent. He had to wait however until I was old enough for my body to endure a merger. When I turned five, they deemed it time, and they forcefully broke the seal, allowing Shukaku free within me…" Gaara explained calmly, as if talking about the weather.
"So what now?" Sakura asked dully.
Gaara finally looked up, his face impassive.
"We wait."
Meanwhile, Kakashi was making his way back to the hospital as fast as he could, surrounded on all sides by 12 other figures, each cloaked form bearing what appeared to be a festival mask of varying animals.
It had taken him only a few minutes to gather the ANBU, most of them already having been on their way to the hospital when they felt the sudden surge of chakra. After a quick briefing on the situation they had all taken off, their chakra empowered movements making them almost invisible to the untrained eye.
Nearly half way back, he felt Naruto's chakra spike upwards again at an alarming rate. Signaling to the ANBU, he quickened his pace. He reached up, lifting his headband from his left eye, the wheel eyed Sharingan present.
'Is this how it will all end? Do we have any chance at all if the Nine-Tails awakens?'
"So exactly why are you here anyway?" Sakura asked, barely masked hostility in her voice.
Gaara simply looked at her as if the answer should have been obvious. After meeting her gaze for several moments, she finally turned away, biting her lip in silent defeat.
"…Because I want to meet him…" He whispered, his voice even softer than normal. It carried none of the usual monotone emotionless ness that it usually carried, but was instead heavy with a sense of loneliness. This, of course, got rather odd stares from everyone. Gaara seemed oblivious. "I want to finally meet someone who can truly understand me."
"You have nothing in common with him!" Sakura growled. Inwardly she winced. She hadn't meant for that to come out so badly.
"And you do?" Gaara asked softly. However there was now a tone of quiet menace to his voice.
"I…" Sakura gawked for a moment before she quieted down again sullenly.
Gaara, however, continued "You've known him for so long and yet know so little. What would someone like you know of us?" His gaze turned back to Naruto again, his eyes haunted and thoughtful "To be hated, shunned, despised, feared, and all because of something over which we had no control."
"I never…"
"To be labeled a demon, to be avoided even by those who should have loved us. Do you know what that is like?" He hissed, turning abruptly back to Sakura's now stricken face. His expression remained calm as ever, but his normally cold eyes were now alight with quiet rage, their angry glare burning into the pink haired girl only a few feet away.
Tsunade quickly rose up from her seat, placing herself between the two before any more conflict could erupt.
"That's enough! This is not the time for such things." She stated sternly.
Gaara bowed his head respectfully towards the Fifth, leveling one last quiet glare at Sakura before resuming his vigil over Naruto. Sakura did the same, her gaze downcast.
Hinata did not even register the potential hostility, her gaze trained completely upon the boy lying before her. She held his hand tightly, too concerned for his well being to even notice her own unusual boldness. Her grip would tighten whenever Naruto cried out in his sleep, trying to offer what little strength she had to him.
Shikimaru sat off to one side deep in contemplation.
After a few more moments of silence, they herd the soft flutter of cloth and turned to see Kakashi standing in the door way, several cloaked figures standing behind him.
"Has he awakened?" Kakashi asked uncertainly, he strode into the room, several ANBU following closely behind.
"For right now Kakashi, we will keep the ANBU on call outside of the room. They will be called in should the need arise."
Kakashi nodded his understanding, then finally noticing Gaara, gave an incredulous look back at the fifth.
"Don't worry Kakashi, Gaara is merely here to check on Naruto, ne Gaara?"
Gaara simply nodded.
Relaxing somewhat, Kakashi gave several hand signals to the ANBU, after which they immediately left the room, positioning themselves just outside of the door. The rest vanished in swirls of smoke, most likely to take point in various locations within the hospital. Kakashi then promptly located a slightly damaged chair, and promptly took up vigil with the rest of them.
Minutes ticked by, slowly dissolving into hours, and one by one the occupants were forced to leave.
Tsunade left first, her duties as Hokage unable to be put on hold any longer. She gave a quick check over Naruto before she departed, her face filled with worry, yet tinged with a bit of hope.
Kakashi followed soon after. He too gave Naruto one last look, his own gaze dark and haunted, dwelling upon past failures both recent and foregone.
Shikimaru left an hour later, stating that he would be back tomorrow, mumbling something about how troublesome Naruto was. Despite his words, his face showed his deep concern.
Nearly 3 more hours ticked past, the silver light of the moon shining dimly through the single small window of Naruto's room. Finally, and most unwillingly, Sakura and Hinata got up as well, Hinata taking as long as she could before she forced herself to relinquish her grip on Naruto's hand. As they began to leave, Sakura passed one last suspicious look at the last visitor in the room, her emerald eyes narrowing before she finally turned away, resolved to return as early as possible tomorrow morning.
Which left Gaara.
He sat, unmoving, staring down at the boy in front of him. As the two girls finally left, he was left alone at Naruto's bedside, leaving him to his contemplations in the dark.
He swam on the very edges of oblivion.
Pain.
He could remember the excruciating pain, and then there had been darkness.
What had happened?
He couldn't remember.
He could remember pieces of a memory, a battle. But it seemed to fragmented, as if it had happened to someone else.
As he came further too, he found his senses bombarded by strange sensations.
Cricket, cricket
Beep, beep
He jerked his head about, trying to block the flood of noise which seemed to suddenly come from nowhere.
Cricket cricket
Beep, beep
"…man she is gonna…"
Beep, beep
Clomp, clomp
Cricket, cricket
"…now where did I put my…"
Naruto tried to cover his ears, yet despite any attempts, the incessant noise continued to invade his mind.
Beep, beep
Cricket, cricket
His nose seemed sensitive too. He could smell trace amounts of perfume, perfume which he somehow attributed to Obaachan.
He could also smell something that reminded him of leaves. Kakashi.
There was a stronger scent of flowers, sakura blossoms in particular. He didn't even need to think of whom that belonged to.
There was a strange cloying scent of dried sand. Sand? Who could that be?
And finally a strong hint of what seemed to be vanilla, something he could not quite place.
The noises continued to bombard him, the various scents all swirling together in his head. He felt like his head was going to burst.
It was too much!
Gaara watched patiently as Naruto's face contorted painfully before his eyes fluttered, opening slightly. The blond haired Genin slowly opened his eyes completely, and then promptly shut them tightly, wincing in sudden pain. They were open long enough, however, for Gaara to see clearly the change that had taken place within Naruto, the evidence of his new state. His eyes were still a brilliant blood red, luminous in the glare of the moon, giving him a surreal, almost demonic appearance.
"Finally awake?"
Naruto cautiously opened one of his eyes again, then quickly shut it. His vision seemed, different, somehow. As if everything suddenly stood out in sharp relief. Every little detail in the room was suddenly picked up all at once. It hurt his head.
"Y-yeah, I think so" He responded hoarsely.
Gaara nodded. "How do you feel?"
Naruto considered that for a moment.
"I feel like my blood is on fire…" He winced painfully as if to prove his statement.
"That is to be expected. Your body is still finishing its transition." Gaara stated softly.
"Transition!" Naruto asked, suddenly nervous. More memories, clearer now that he was fully awake, darted into his consciousness. He remembered the battle with his double, a clone of himself that the released Kyuubi took. Released Kyuubi…
Oh damn, what had happened!
"I-I can remember a battle…" Naruto started.
"A battle?" Gaara asked, surprise clearly evident in his tone. This bit of information was news to him.
"Yeah, there was a fight between me and the fuzz ball. We fought. Then, when I won, he suddenly turned into this weird red fog, and then everything went black.
'Fuzz ball?' Gaara thought, a small sweat drop forming unnoticed on the back of his head.
Naruto went on to explain the Kyuubi's odd wager. How they had fought for what seemed like hours within the dark corridors of his mind. How the Kyuubi constantly goaded and taunted him, threatening him with the lives of his friends. He did not, however, mention how the Kyuubi lost, or his own transformation during the last stages of the battle.
Gaara listened to it all; the only indication that he was paying attention was the slightly haunted look that appeared in his eyes. His mind was racing with disturbing thoughts, his preconceived idea of Naruto's condition suddenly cast into the wind.
"That is… interesting…" He replied softly, his voice betraying none of the anxiety he now felt.
"Yeah… hey, Gaara?"
"Hmm?"
"What was it like? Your life I mean." Naruto asked cautiously.
Gaara glanced at him in open surprise, before finally settling down again. His eyes grew wistful.
"…Lonely…" Was all he said, and that was all that was needed.
"… Yeah…" Naruto agreed. He yawned.
"You should sleep, your body still needs to recover." Gaara said quietly.
"Heh, yeah probably." Naruto laughed slightly, a hint of his old self showing through. He yawned again before he nestled back into his pillow.
"And Naruto…"
"Hmmmm?" Naruto mumbled sleepily
"Thank you."
"S'no problem. What are friends for!" Naruto laugheda bitbefore he winced in pain again. The grin didn't leave his face however. After a moment, his breathing became deep and regular, his face finally calm after nearly a whole day of anquish.
Gaara continued to look on after Naruto fell back into slumber, his mind circulating that one word over and over in his mind.
'Friends…'
It was a word he was still very unfamiliar with, and certainly not a word ever used in association with him.
'Friends.'
He had to admit, however, that it did have a pleasant ring to it…
It was already well past dark as Tsunade began to make her way back home. The moon shone full in the sky, its silver radiance casting its glow down upon the village. Despite the beautiful ambiance, her mind was simply too troubled to truly appreciate it.
"Hokage-sama."
A voice from behind shakes her from her thoughts, and she turns about to face a certain gray haired Jounin.
"Yes Kakashi." Tsunade answered.
"How will this all turn out?" Kakashi asked, his pace increasing to catch up to her own. As he reached her, he maintained a respectable distance just behind her.
"… I honestly don't know. Even if Naruto remains the Naruto we know, I have a feeling that this will not be the end of his trials."
"That is the feeling that I am getting as well. That and I…" The Jounin cut himself off abruptly.
"That you what?" Tsunade asked gently.
"I can't help but shake the feeling that I failed him somehow. The technique that nearly took his life, the Chidori. The very technique that I taught him to help protect what was precious to him, was instead turned upon his own teammate with intent to kill."
"This is not your fault Kakashi. You did what you believed you had to do, and no one else will fault you for that. What you did was something that I believe anyone would have done in your position."
Kakashi bowed his head down, shadows covering his face.
"But, in the end, Sasuke made his own choice, and nothing you could have done could have prevented that." Tsunade finished, giving a sympathetic glance at the young Jounin.
Kakashi brooded for a few more moments before raising his head once again, his cheeks rising subtly upward in a small smile.
Tsunade smiled back before turning back towards her destination. Her smile faded however as she noticed a small gathering in front of her home. "What is this all about?" She asked herself. Already a sinking feeling was settling in her gut.
Kakashi looked equally disturbed. His eye narrowed.
As the two came to the large estate, one of the group came forward. Dressed in an expensive black yukata, this man looked to be perhaps in his early fourties. His black hair was combed back, flowing straight down his back to his shoulders. His milk white eyes locked on Tsunade, his lips set in a straight line.
"Good evening, Hokage-sama" Hiashi bowed respectfully. Tsunade returned the greeting stiffly.
"I assume you know why we are here?"
AN: Gomen gomen, another cliffhanger. But wow these are getting longer and longer. I ended up hiring a new muse during the course of chapter five, since my previously employed muse developed a keen taste for potato chips and television.
To all who reviewed my story, I want to offer my sincere appreciation. It is really great to see people getting into the story that I am attempting to create, and all the support really helps to keep the inspiration and motivation going.
There were a lot of responses this time with regards to the desired pairings. Thus far the poll stands at:
Hinata: 6
Tenten: 1
Temari: 1
Sakura: 1
Ino: 0
Tails: 1 (Figured I would throw this in :P)
These are also appreciated, and may affect the course of the story. Don't expect one of those Las Vegas couplings however (ie a pairing that takes place in the space of a paragraph or two). Expect some good emotional buildup.
One thing I do want to point out, for those of you who will undoubtedly bring this to my attention for this chapter's reviews, I want to stop this in its tracks right now. This will NOT be a Gaa/Naru story. Yes, these two will definitely become close, it is kind of inevitable considering the kind of understanding that these two have for each other, but it is possible (despite what all the Sasu/Naru fics will have you believe) for two guys to have a good friendship with out becoming romantically involved. And that is the last that I will say on this matter.
Finally, for those who might be worried that Naruto will become super powered, yes that may be what it seems like now, given what was said in previous chapters. But bear in mind, power always comes at a price…