Angel: -gasps- I haven't uploaded anything all year! What is wrong with me?!
Yukane: It's only January. Relax, for crying out loud...
Angel: Oh, right, sorry. I guess I'm just excited because I FINALLY finished this chapter! I meant to do it before Christmas, but the holidays were beyond crazy!
Yukane: Well, you've had since the new year.
Angel: Well, actually, my birthday got in the way, then my friend's birthday 4 days after mine, and then finals...
Saiya: Aren't you getting off subject?
Angel: Oh yeah! Well, anyways, I finally finished this! And hopefully it's as good as the first one. I've tried my hardest! Enjoy!
Yukane and Saiya: Untainted-Angel does not own Naruto.
Begin Chapter 2
Ramen. The gods created this holy dish for themselves, but took pity upon the poor humans who had never tasted the golden goodness. Surely the gods loved us mortals the day they gave us the recipe. We certainly loved them. The day ramen was given to us, the humans decided it was essential to eat it everyday to honor those divine beings. The gods were content with their good deed and the humans thrived.
And now, Uzumaki Naruto, son of those thankful humans, ate the food of the gods, humming in his pleasure. He was the strongest of the descendants, the future Hokage. No one could resist his good looks and charm-
"Oi, Naruto!" The sudden call startled the blond shinobi, almost making him fall off the stool he perched on. "Stop the inner dialogue, you're just embarrassing yourself."
Naruto turned to glare at the intruder, which turned out to be his brunette friend, Inuzuka Kiba. The dog-nin was leaning against a post in front of Ichiraku's, his companion, Akamaru, awaiting him outside. Kiba was missing his usual jacket, leaving him in his fishnet shirt, showing off taut muscles.
"Shut up, Dog-breath!" Naruto growled. "It's not like you could hear what I was thinking, anyways."
Kiba snorted. "I don't need to hear in order to know. It probably had something to do with ramen."
"Damn." The blond ninja scowled at his empty bowl before sighing and taking out his little froggie wallet. "What do you want?"
"Tsunade-sama is asking for us."
"Baa-chan? Is it a mission?" Naruto eagerly ran out of the ramen stand, not even waiting for Kiba. The dog-nin sighed and trotted to catch up, Akamaru following obediently.
"I don't know. What I do know, though, is that she's calling all of us."
"Us?"
The brunette gave him a look of exasperation. "Yeah, us. As in, the Rookie 9? Well, and Gai-sensei's team."
Naruto stopped suddenly, his mouth wide open in horror, making Kiba skid to a stop to avoid running into him. "Not Fuzzy-Eyebrows!"
Kiba chose to ignore this statement, opting instead to pull out a picture of a drunk Naruto wearing a familiar spandex and trying to kiss a not-so-unwilling and sober Gai. He waved it in front of his friend's nose.
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT?!" Naruto shrieked, trying to grab the picture while his whiskered cheeks burned red. "AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CARRYING IT AROUND?!"
Kiba whipped it out of his reach and strolled towards the Hokage's office, whistling cheerfully. Naruto, enraged and very embarrassed, chased after him, cursing and ignoring the chuckles from around them. The dog-nin was grinning as he reached Tsunade's office, unaffected by the threats being thrown at him from behind. He strolled inside and gave the busty Hokage a salute.
"Dammit, Dog-breath! I'm gonna rasengan your ass!" All eyes turned to the door as the blond ninja burst through it. A baby's wail broke through the silence that followed his outburst, bringing the new arrivals' attention to the others in the room. Sakura stood by the open door, a shaking fist raised and ready to punch Naruto's lights out. By her slouched Shikamaru, his hands in his pockets and his usual bored expression on his face. His two teammates were standing near him, watching as Hinata calmed the crying baby with soothing noises. Shino was turned in Naruto's direction, his eyebrows drawn. The blond ninja wasn't sure whether he was glaring or not… Team Gai stood off to one side, though they were missing a member. Kiba shot the shamefaced Naruto a glare and went to stand with his teammates.
"I-I'm sorry, Hinata-chan." Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking at his feet.
"I-It's okay, Na-Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. Sakura dragged her teammate over to where she stood and whacked him.
"Idiot." She growled before turning her attention back to her Sensei, who was watching the scene with amused annoyance. Shizune stood to one side of the Hokage, shaking her head. Once the baby had calmed back down, Tsunade spoke.
"Alright brats. I don't want to know what that was about." She said. Naruto opened his mouth, but it was quickly covered by Sakura. "Now. You all know that Suna is our ally now, and that we are supposed to have an ambassador there to represent Konoha-"
"Ooh, ooh! Me! Me! Pick me!" Sakura had made the mistake of uncovering the blonde shinobi's mouth. Naruto was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, his hand waving in the air excitedly. Sakura quickly corked his mouth again, resisting the urge to choke him. Tsunade cleared her throat and gave the blond a glare.
"As I was saying, we're supposed to have an ambassador in Suna. Unfortunately, our last representative has returned on his own, thankfully without any bodily harm." The Hokage sighed and pulled out a bottle of sake. She didn't sound so thankful. "So, we need a new one. However," She shot Naruto another glare. "the Kazekage is coming here to choose."
Dead silence met this information. Tsunade sipped at her sake, waiting for the shinobi before her to process what she had said. After a moment, Shikamaru raised his hand, still looking bored. The Sannin motioned for him to speak.
"I only have one thing to say." The lazy-nin said, lowering his arm and sliding his hand back into his pocket. "Gaara's an evil freak. Can I go home now?"
A large vein started to throb visibly on the Hokage's forehead as she set her sake bottle down on the desk before her. The rather loud clank made Shizune jump and her posture became rigid.
"No, you may not." Tsunade scowled at everyone before interlacing her fingers together and resting her elbows on the desk. "This is serious business. The Kazekage and his bodyguards need a place to stay, since the innkeepers," At this, she glared off to the side. "refuse to house them. He will be staying for two weeks, and during that time, none of you will have any missions."
The room was suddenly filled with loud protests, which startled the baby awake again. Hinata frantically tried to calm her down, but to no avail. The cries grew louder, overpowering the other voices, causing the Hokage to slam her fists down on her desk, breaking it nearly in two. Everyone, with the exception of the baby, grew silent instantly and watched the powerful blonde for any signs of danger.
"Hinata." Tsunade said in a forcibly calm voice.
"Y-y-yes, H-Hokage-sama?" The timid Hyuuga replied, instinctively shielding the baby from the woman.
"You may go. I'll have Shino fill you in on the details - which you can pass on to Neji."
"Y-yes, thank y-you." Hinata bowed slightly and turned towards the door, cradling the upset child against her chest. As she was about to leave, she paused and looked back. "I can a-ask my f-father about l-letting the K-Kazekage-sama stay at the Hyuuga Compound…"
The Hokage blinked for a moment before smiling. "Please do."
The Hyuuga heir nodded and stepped outside. The door shut behind her, effectively muffling the wails of the baby.
"As for the rest of you…" Tsunade cracked her knuckles loudly. Everyone gulped loudly.
----This scene has been edited out due to extreme violence. On to the next one!----
The following day found all of Konoha in an uproar when news of the Kazekage's imminent arrival spread. The eleven shinobi chosen as candidates for the ambassadorship were told to greet Gaara at the Main Gate and to formally escort him to the Hyuuga Compound, where it had been decided he would staying. Villagers and shinobi alike watched them walk to their posts with mixed pity and fear. The candidates walked as if their death knell was ringing. Neji, however, was not there.
"Baa-chan better hit him for not being here…"Naruto muttered under his breath. Everyone, with the exception of Naruto, Sakura, and Shino, was bruised and limping from the punishment Tsunade had given them for waking the baby. Naruto wasn't bruised because he healed instantly and Sakura wasn't because she knew better than to protest an order from her Sensei. Shino wasn't because, well…he's Shino!
"N-Neji-nisan isn't f-feeling well." Hinata whispered from his right. She had the baby in a sling across her back and kept fiddling with the ties. Her two teammates, walking to the right of her, both threw the blond shinobi a glare. At least, Naruto thought Shino glared at him…
"This better be quick." Shikamaru's voice came from Naruto's far left. "I'm tired."
"You're always tired." Everyone informed him. He made an exasperated noise, but grinned nonetheless.
"How troublesome." The Nara couldn't resist commenting as they reached the closed gate. His teammates sighed and lined up with the others. All ten of them stood with their backs straight and their expressions serious. The shinobi atop the gate checked to make sure they were all ready before signaling to open the gate. The mechanisms controlling the doors creaked as they slowly swung open, revealing three people standing a short distance away.
"Welcome to Konoha, Kazekage-sama." Sakura called, bowing. She nudged Naruto, who was waving excitedly at his friend. When that didn't catch his attention, she grabbed his head and forced him into a bow. Snickers were muffled as the others also bowed. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari walked forward and stopped just before the wall of leaf-nins. The red-head nodded and attempted a smile. Keyword: attempted. Temari sighed in exasperation.
"Still carrying that mutt around?" Kankuro smirked as he stared at Kiba, breaking the momentary silence that had fallen over them. Akamaru growled at him, but his master ignored the comment, opting instead to inspect the sand-nin for something to criticize.
"Aren't your face markings usually-" Kiba started, but fell silent as the puppeteer made slicing motions against his neck. Kankuro glanced at his sister, but Temari was busy having a one-sided conversation with Shikamaru. The shadow-nin's only responses were grunts or sighs.
"There are people missing." Gaara commented, glancing at the row of shinobi, disappointment creeping into his heart. He tried to distract himself. "Where is Sasuke?"
Naruto frowned. "He left."
"Oh?" Gaara raised an eyebrow in askance.
"He eloped with Itachi." Shino said, startling everyone.
"I thought it was with Kabuto…" Ino commented thoughtfully.
"Funny. I thought it was Orochimaru." Tenten leaned forward in confusion, looking at Naruto for clearance. The blond shinobi was not denying any one of the scenarios.
"He sure gets around…" Temari commented, smirking.
"Yeah, well, he's gone. So there's only eleven of us here to choose from." Naruto growled, crossing his arms.
"I only see ten." Kankuro reminded the blond. Everyone grew silent as they remembered Neji and his 'illness'.
"N-N-Neji-nisan isn't f-feeling well." Hinata stammered, drawing attention to herself. She squeaked quietly as she met Gaara's aqua gaze. The baby, unnoticed by the Suna trio, sensed her surrogate mother's discomfort and shifted in her sling. Hinata's eyes widened and she held her breath, but it was too late. The baby let out a wail and Kiba immediately stepped forward to remove the child from the sling and handed her to the Hyuuga heir. Gaara and his siblings watched this exchange in confused silence.
" She's hungry." Hinata whispered, cradling the small baby against her chest, trying to calm her down. Kankuro glanced sidelong at Kiba, who was watching his teammate with a small smile.
"Yours?" The puppeteer asked the two of them. He was startled by the dog-nin's reaction. Kiba gave him a venomous glare and shook his head.
"No. Definitely not." Hinata said firmly, her head held high as she stared the sand-nin down. "If you would follow us, we will now lead you to where you will be staying."
Everyone was left staring as Hinata turned and walked away. After a few minutes of silence, the gathered shinobi followed her, almost as if in a trance. The leaf-nins immediately took up positions around the Kazekage as they walked. Temari walked behind Hinata, with Kiba and Shino walking beside her. Gaara walked behind her with Naruto and Sakura, while Kankuro, Shikamaru, and Ino walked behind them. Choji, Lee, and Tenten took up the rear.
"If Dog-boy isn't the father, then who is?" Kankuro asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"Don't know." Shikamaru, walking on his right, yawned.
"That girl, what's-her-name, hasn't told you?"
"She's not the mother." Ino informed him from his left. Gaara glanced back, listening intently.
"Then who is?" Kankuro was beyond confused at this point. But no one answered him. He looked around at the grim faces and decided not to push it. Gaara pouted internally and returned his attention to his surroundings. They walked for a little ways, out of the heavily populated areas. There were more trees, interrupted at random intervals by houses. Then, just ahead of them, The trees opened up, revealing a walled off section of houses. Hinata led them through the gate and the sight that met them left no doubt in anyone's mind as to where they were. The Hyuugas were lined up along the walkway, their pale eyes staring at the visitors. All of them looked the same, and it creeped Kankuro (and Gaara, but he wasn't going to say anything) out. The puppeteer walked closer to his little brother.
"Are our souls going to be eaten…?" Kankuro whispered, glancing around. Gaara turned his head towards him, expressionless.
"Don't look into their eyes. They can sense fear." The red-head whispered, lips barely moving. Naruto, overhearing them, muffled a laugh with his hand. Hinata halted, turning to nod at her companions. They nodded back and in a second, they were gone. The Hyuuga heir motioned for the sand-nins to follow her as she entered the main house. They walked through countless hallways, past many closed doors. Gaara was growing bored when suddenly one of the doors opened and out walked none other than Neji Hyuuga. Hinata, still carrying the grumbling baby, stopped in her tracks, her mouth falling open in surprise.
"N-Neji-nisan?!" She exclaimed, holding the baby close. Neji turned his head in their direction, his pale eyes slightly out of focus.
"Hinata…Hi…" The proud Hyuuga tilted his head to the side, then walked towards them. Hinata and Gaara held their breath, both for different reasons, but Neji just walked past them. The Kazekage frowned. Something wasn't right about the genius. There was no honorifics to the Hyuuga heir's name, and when had he ever said 'hi'?
"Well, that was odd." Kankuro commented.
Suddenly, a wall opposite Neji's room slid open and Hiashi Hyuuga stepped out. He looked at his daughter, then at Gaara. The red head lifted a nonexistent eyebrow. He didn't like how those pale eyes looked at him. It was as if he knew something. And Gaara was positive it was something he didn't want the Hyuuga to know.
"Tell them." And with that, Hiashi was gone. The three sand-nins looked back at Hinata, who looked beyond shocked. She blinked, once, twice, then shook her head.
"F-follow me. I'll explain in y-your quarters."
---Half An Hour Later, At Sound Village---
"You should have heard him! Screaming, crying…" A dark chuckle resounded through the dark, dank tunnels of the hideout. The man smirked, smoothing his blood-red hair out of his face. The people around him rolled their eyes, having heard this story for the past nine months. The man went on gloating, not even noticing as his 'admirers' left. Soon he was left standing in the dim lit hall, alone. When he finally noticed, he frowned.
"They're just jealous." He turned and came face to face with none other than Gaara, who stared up at the taller man, expressionless. "Hey, haven't seen you before. Wanna see if you can scream like that Konoha guy?"
Gaara stared at him, silent. Oh, how he wished he hadn't stopped his killing sprees! Then, slowly, a grin spread over his pale face. Moments later, blood curdling screams echoed loudly through the silent base.
---The Next Morning, Back At The Hyuuga Compound---
Neji stood outside the nursery, breathing slowly to try and calm himself. This was harder than he thought it was going to be. Finally, after a good ten minutes, he steeled himself and opened the door. What he saw made him pause, then gape, then wonder if he had finally gone crazy. He considered closing the door and walking away, but somehow his feet carried him into the room.
Gaara, who he had last assumed was a homicidal psychopath, was leaning over the cradle, his nonexistent eyebrows drawn together in a mix of confusion, curiosity, and fascination. He had one hand inside the cradle and for a moment Neji was worried that he was harming the baby. But as he stepped forward, he heard giggles coming from the occupant. Just a little bit - Okay, who was he kidding? He was really curious, so he walked across the room to peer down in the cradle. He blinked.
Subaku no Gaara, the feared shinobi from Suna, was poking his daughter in the stomach, making the little girl giggle and try to grab his finger. But she didn't have any fine motor skills, so she just giggled and twisted around. The sight, not only of the happy baby, but of the Kazekage - the Kazekage - watching her and poking her, made the once stoic Hyuuga burst out laughing. The baby, instead of being startled, giggled louder. Gaara on the other hand, jumped and guiltily withdrew his hand from the cradle.
Once Neji had regained his breath somewhat, he turned to the Kazekage with a smile. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. That was just not something you see everyday."
Gaara stayed silent, though he swore he felt a blush creep up on his face. He watched as Neji glanced around the room, unable to keep himself from staring at the beautiful image before him.
"Where is my cousin?"
"Temari dragged her and Kankuro out to do some sight seeing. She assured your cousin that I would watch the child." The red-head replied, toneless. Then he scowled. "Though I have no child care experience."
"Neither do I." Neji admitted. They both looked down at the baby, who had tired herself out with the giggling. "Why did your sister leave you here if she knew you had no experience?"
"Probably as a punishment."
"For what?"
Gaara was silent as he watched the baby slept peacefully, unaware of her surroundings. He finally replied in a low voice, "Probably for visiting your attacker."
Neji stiffened. "So you've heard." They were silent for another few minutes as the Hyuuga tried to collect his thoughts - and his courage. "So?"
The red head glanced up at him, wary. Then, he let an evil grin filter onto his face. "Let's just say he'll be on the receiving end from now on."
The brunette stared at him wide-eyed as he processed what had been said. When he finally understood, laughter began bubbling up his throat and he clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle it. To Gaara, the laughter sounded slightly hysterical, but what would you expect from someone in Neji's position? When the laughter finally died down, Gaara felt it safe to add another comment.
"I wish I could kill him, but I've been forced to swear off killing."
Neji let out a little snort, but smiled gratefully nonetheless. "I…appreciate what you did anyways. For some strange reason, it makes me feel glad."
Gaara let a small smile grow on his face, and he looked back down at the baby. When he finally spoke, it was in a whisper. "She's beautiful, you know."
Neji felt a small blush flitter across his face and he glanced away. "Truth to be told, I…didn't really want her. I wanted nothing to do with her. But after a while, I felt disgusted with myself. I guess it was my m-maternal instincts finally kicking in…"
The red head glanced up when he paused, sensing there was something else he wanted to say. Neji was looking down at his child, a small smile barely noticeable on his pale face.
"I will raise this child of mine without hate. But," The brunette faltered, glancing up at Gaara. "I don't know how. I don't want to do this alone."
"You're not alone. If you will allow me, during my stay here, we can both learn together, for the sake of your daughter." This statement earned the Kazekage a watery smile as Neji began to cry silently. The whole ordeal he had been put through had changed the Hyuuga, but even then, Gaara felt his heart swell in his chest and now more than ever was he aware of his attraction to the beautiful man before him.
End Chapter 2
Angel: I hope that end part wasn't too...weird...I'm a bit tired right now
Yukane: Well, at least you got it finished, right?
Angel: Yup! I even have a new one-shot all planned out! It's a different pairing, though.
Saiya: Don't forget to work on the next chapter for this story...
Angel: Oh, I know, I know...
Yukane: Please read and review! We love your comments!