Chapter 9: Subaku no Gaara

Chapter 9: Subaku no Gaara

Sarutobi sighed for the umpteenth time that day, he had been doing so constantly it seemed ever since his confrontation with Naruto the other week as encounter with the blonde haired 'criminal' played on his mind almost constantly – it was getting to the point where his own secretary was worrying over him as he seemingly spaced out at random intervals constantly, but could anyone really blame him? Not if they knew what was in his mind.

Naruto had been able to successfully infiltrate the Hokage's personal vault for all his top secret information and village secrets while they were supposedly on 'alert' status and steal documents that were specifically kept hidden so that those to which the document pertained would remain safe from people who may wish anyone related to the Yondaime harm.

Never in all these years did Sarutobi think that the vault would be broken in to, let alone that specific file taken compared to all the other possible files that could be taken, and again, lastly, he most definitely did not expect for the person to take the file to be another person to whom the information within the file also referred to.

The aged Hokage was worried, simply because he couldn't read Naruto's motives like he usually was able to with most of his opponents. That was how he got his title as the 'Professor', he was known for being able to dissect his opponents and find their weaknesses, thereby being able to exploit them while avoiding their strengths. Naruto was an enigma to him; he never let his emotions regarding any of the issues they talked about show through and though he came off as dangerous, never once did he get angry, sad, happy or aggressive. Also, he had shown some of his skills in Genjutsu with the masterful control over the branch of techniques, Ninjutsu with the sheer amount of Kage Bunshin he was able to create and his usage of puppets in the land of wave along with the information on who his sensei was led him to believe that he would be quite skilled in Kugutsu also.

Just as he was about to begin his dreaded paperwork for the day again, he was interrupted when he sensed someone entered his office through the window. Only one person would have the audacity to enter his office in such a manner and he was expecting him to arrive soon also.

"It's nice that you could finally make it Jiraiya-kun" greeted Sarutobi, swiveling around in his chair to face the tall toad sannin "it's been nearly ten years since we've last spoken, how have you been?" he greeted pleasantly.

"Cut with the pleasantries old man" began an irate Jiraiya "I was conducting some very important research in Kumo when you sent for me" he began with a serious face "do you have any idea how hard it was to be able to find a position to be able to peep on the wonderful Kumo kunoichi" he suddenly wined with a blush on his face as he looked seemingly at nothing, trying to remember what he had seen "those wonderful breasts, shapely curves, hair like silk…" he let out a lecherous giggle as he focused back on Sarutobi who also seemed to be slightly flushed. If there was one thing Sarutobi would admit about his old student, he had an incredible talent for writing and he almost felt slightly ashamed from pulling him from his research.

"As ashamed as I am that I had to pull you from such wonderful research" began Sarutobi, coughing to hide the fact that he was blushing from his student who was giving him a knowing smirk "a serious issue has arisen that I believe you would want to know about" he said seriously as Jiraiya waved him off.

"I already know about Orochi-teme" he began "I was under the impression that he was going to attack during the third phase of the chunin exams though, so why call me now?"

"That is not what I'm talking about Jiraiya-kun" began Sarutobi "It's about Naruto-kun, surely you've seen the latest Bingo books and the price the council have placed on his head" he said, gesturing to a small book sitting on his desk which Jiraiya briefly looked at, his face skeptical before nodding.

"An Uchiha that killed his family and obtained the Mangekyou is one thing" he began "but I seriously doubt the gaki is enough of a threat to warrant 'S' class status and I find his abilities listed in the book to be a little farfetched" he said "what does he have to do with this though? You trying to get him to become a Konoha shinobi or something?" he asked, confused.

"Jiraiya-kun, I assure you" Sarutobi began with a serious face "he may not be a threat, but his skills are, if anything, underplayed in the Bingo book" he said, to Jiraiya shock before explaining what Naruto had done and what files he was able to obtain before escaping.

"Have you contacted Kushina recently?" Jiraiya asked with a serious tone, after hearing about the blonde Jinchuuriki's exploits and what information he now had at his disposal.

"I have not been able to, no" began Sarutobi "It seems she has hidden herself well from the rest of the world, but with the information Naruto-kun now has, I doubt it will take him that long to find her, especially my assumption of his skill is correct…"

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Jiraiya nodded, seemingly in thought before continuing "The main reason I have not contacted you in the last ten years is because I was, and still am, performing a favor for Kushina-chan" he began "three years after Kushina-chan left Konoha, her daughter was kidnapped right from her bed and by the time she realized, it was already too late, she had lost her" he stated, with a somber face while Sarutobi was shocked at this information, how had he not known this?

"For the past decade or so, I've been searching for clues of her whereabouts as well as spying on a top secret organization by the name of Akatsuki, whom you should already know about from the information I have sent you in my reports" he said, as Sarutobi nodded dismissively, he was more interested in Kushina right now.

"What do you think of Naruto possibly finding out about his mother's location?" asked Sarutobi warily as Jiraiya leaned against the wall of the office and closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Honestly?" Jiraiya began "I'm not sure, you can't blame the kid if he truly does hate her, but then again, from what you told me, he didn't seem like one to hate so easily" he said, pausing before continuing again "they both are twins" he said, obviously referring to Naruto and his unknown sibling "perhaps he is looking for her rather than his mother, you know what they say about twins, they share a special bond and all" he said, shrugging "Besides, I don't see how Naruto could possibly hate his mother enough to want to kill her, sure the early years of his life were probably bad, but the majority of his life was spent away from the village and despite what you all may think about Sasori, he wasn't a bad person, a little…disturbing, but he wasn't necessarily bad" he explained "so I doubt Naruto would be all that aggressive, though if what you say is true, he does seem like an excellent shinobi, so I have no doubt that he may just find her" he concluded while Sarutobi seemed to have mixed feelings on the matter.

"You'll warn Kushina won't you?" asked Sarutobi as Jiraiya shrugged in response "I'll let Gamakichi know as soon as possible" he began "she can summon toads to thanks to Arashi and we keep in contact through Gamakichi, he can tell her next time she summons him, but I honestly think there's nothing to worry about" he paused "but even if there is, she wasn't an ANBU captain for nothing" he said before smiling "it seems her gaki has inherited her ridiculously large amounts of stamina though his personality is definitely not like hers or Minato's, thought I guess that can be attributed to Sasori" he said, smirking at the memory of his ex-apprentice and his wife.

"She has been out of practice for nearly a decade though and Naruto was able make Orochimaru flee in the forest of death" he said, this was news to Jiraiya however, for the Sandaime failed to mention that.

"He did what?" he asked and Sarutobi blushed slightly at his forgetfulness and proceeded to explain what Anko had reported to them about what happened in the forest of death as Jiraiya let out a loud laugh.

"I'm sorry old man" he began, wiping a tear from his eye "but anyone that can make Orochi-teme look like a novice is alright by my book" he said as he cracked up laughing again "I can't believe he just ate Pocky while staring down that teme" he said before cracking up again, even the Sandaime had to hide a smile by tilting his head down so the rim of his Hokage's had was covering his face – it was indeed amusing.

"You're not bothered that he seems to have the eyes of the Kyuubi?" asked Sarutobi, interested to have another opinion on the matter "it could be a sign that the fox is influencing Naruto-kun's actions"

Jiraiya merely shrugged "It's possible" he agreed "but you said yourself that not once did any of the people who have made contact with him could feel the Kyuubi's vile chakra, even in the slightest" he said, seemingly deep in thought "and for him to be able to become a puppeteer, he would need impeccable control, something Kyuubi probably wouldn't bother with as it seemed quite happy with slinging its power around with no finesse what-so-ever when attacking Konoha" he said, pausing again before continuing "If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that Naruto probably tampered with the seal to purposefully unlock some of Kyuubi's powers, seeing how his eyes were 'red' as you say, I think it's safe to say that he altered the seal so he could use some, if not all, of the fox's senses" he concluded "dangerous, but if he was successful, I think it's safe to say that you can add another field our 'criminal' friend is quite skilled at for only someone who is very knowledgeable with seals could modify the Shiki Fuin placed on his navel to hold the fox" he said, concluding.

Sarutobi seemed to be in thought for a few moments before speaking "Can you try and make contact with him?" asked Sarutobi "try to find out his motives and try to explain Kushina's decision to him, so that he understands before confronting her, and if worse comes to worse, you can stop him if his intention are to indeed cause her harm" he said, causing Jiraiya to sigh with irritation but he nodded nonetheless.

"I'll do my best" he conceded.

"That's all I can ask of you Jiraiya-kun, now, I believe you have some research to conduct?" the Hokage supplied with a lecherous grin that was mirrored on Jiraiya's face before the legendary sannin disappeared in a puff of smoke to conduct said 'research'.

Naruto stood, waiting, in the specified clearing for Haku that they had agreed to meet in a week before the third task before splitting up to do their own things. The clearing was one behind the Hokage Monument in a forest that was ­

perfect to meet in without having eavesdroppers possibly try to listen in on the conversation or apprehend them by sneaking up on them – not that that was possible to do with Naruto. The reason the clearing in the forest was perfect for meeting was because of the large waterfall he currently stood beside, allowing the crushing sounds of water hitting water and rocks to wash over him as he used his heightened sense of smell to tell whether he had any company incoming. He picked up the scent of the metal used to make Haku's Senbon needles and, much to Naruto's amusement, the scent of a very 'manly' type of cologne – who was the boy trying to fool? Naruto mused as he waited patiently for him to arrive on the scene.

When he was close enough to do so, Haku appeared before him rising up from the stream the waterfall crushed into completely dry. It still intrigued Naruto the level in which Haku could now control his bloodline, how he was able to move between bodies of water as if they were interconnected by some threads that he follows – it was very useful and Haku didn't hide the fact that he abused the right to do so as much as possible, not that either cared for that matter.

"How are things?" began Naruto "I can smell your new choice of cologne; your new partner trying to track you by scent now are they?" he said, clearly amusement lining his voice while Haku just growled at him in a threatening manner, though that didn't stop Naruto "I have heard on the Konoha 'rumor mill' that this…Kiba…has proclaimed that you have quite impressive…jugs…and beautifully feminine legs…I believe were his words" he said, barely containing his amusement "been flashing the boy some flesh have you Haku-chan? I thought you had better self-control and morals then to throw yourself so easily at the boy on your first date, perhaps practicing some restraint is in order, or is it perhaps love at first sight and such things not possible?" he asked, taking out a stick of Pocky and shoving it in his mouth as a means of congratulating himself for his quick wit.

Haku continued to growl and glare daggers at his comrade through his white porcelain mask that he still used to cover his face when not trying to blend in had to restrain himself from attempting to leap at the younger boy and maul him, it would be very satisfying, yet Haku knew it would be an admission of some sorts that Naruto had won and gotten under his skin, and he could not have that.

"What was all this fiasco about a possibly early invasion I heard about last week? Does it tie in with your 'personal' mission?" Haku asked, diverting Naruto's attention away from himself and onto, in his opinion, more important issues.

Naruto gripped the brim of his straw hat and lowered it slightly so that his eyes and face were more shadowed then they were before speaking "Aa, I have what I need" he said, in a tone that Haku knew meant there was no more to be said on the matter "how has your time in the leaf been, aside from the obvious?" countered Naruto, not being able to help himself from making another jab at Haku's 'relationship'.

Ignoring the Jab, Haku continued "I ran into one of the genin teams" he began "they were quite interesting, the ones from Suna" he said, pausing to see if Naruto was listening. When he met Naruto's faze to see two shadowed red slitted eyes he continued "one of them intrigues me, and I swear to Kami Naruto, this is no time for jokes, he has red hair and a tattoo of the kanji for 'Love' on his forehead. He seemed to have an indescribable urge to kill me and take my blood for his 'mother'?" he said confused, not noticing the slight narrowing of Naruto's eyes "he seemed off…familiar yet strange at the same time, do you have any information on him?"

Naruto stood in silence for a moment before taking out some slips of paper, his sealing brush and an ink pot. Laying the paper on the ground, he began to paint some intricate seals that even Haku with his mediocre knowledge of seals had no idea what they meant before speaking.

"The boy you speak of, his name is Subaku no Gaara and he is like me, a Jinchuuriki" explained Naruto, not pausing in his seal work while explaining to Haku what he knew "he hold within him the Suna no Shukaku, however, unlike myself, he chooses to use the demon's power where I chose not to" he explained to a listening Haku "the Shukaku is known for its control over the sand, thus his tenant having that same ability is no real surprise – what I did find surprising is the information I received some time ago as to how the demon was sealed into Gaara-san" he paused before continuing "Prior to Gaara's birth, Sunagakure saw a series of budget cuts that made it difficult for the village to operate. As a result, Gaara's father ordered Chiyo, an elder of Sunagakure no Sato and an experienced kunoichi, to seal the Ichibi no Shukaku within Gaara during his birth in the hopes that he would become the ultimate weapon for the village. Because a sacrifice was needed, Gaara's mother, Karura, was used. Before she died, Karura cursed Sunagakure, hoping Gaara would avenge her death. As with the other demon hosts, Gaara acquired a physical trait of the tailed beast inside him - in his case, dark rings around his eyes resembling those of the Shukaku, much like my whisker like tattoos on my cheeks that Kyuubi possesses. These rings are also indicative of his insomnia--he cannot sleep, or else the Shukaku will consume his personality" he explained, still painting seals on the slip of paper carefully while explaining to Haku what he knew of Gaara.

"Not much is known about his life for its highly classified, though from what I do know, the Yondaime Kazekage sees his own son as a threat to the villagers and a failed experiment, thus, since the ages of six and twelve, he has sent assassins after his head in an attempt to kill the boy and correct his own 'mistake'. Luckily or unluckily for Gaara, whichever way you look at it, he was able to deal with every assassination attempt with ease save for the first one, his uncle, Yashamaru, who seemed to be the only one who cared for the boy stabbed him in the back and attempted to kill him. Such actions would not play well on a six year old's psyche, so once again, we see the foolishness of a hidden village in hating something they themselves created" he concluded, finishing up the seals and leaving it for a while so it could dry.

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"From what you've told me, he seems to be unstable, these seal tags will serve to drain him of any of his demonic chakra and thus relinquish his hold on the sand – I know how you are and you most likely will want to speak with him. Just slap one of these with some chakra on his forehead and he will temporarily be completely sealed off from his bijou. Do not compromise us though, if they attempt to attack you, flee, we do not need to draw attention to ourselves" he finished to a stunned Haku who nodded silently before taking the batch of seal tags Naruto had just made and pocketing them as they headed their separate ways.

In a dark and damp cave in an undisclosed location in Tea country sat Orochimaru on his throne with five of his most 'trusted' subordinates. Trusted being the term used liberally as he merely had ways to control them so he had no need to worry about them defying him.

"Are your plans for the invasion changing Orochimaru-sama?" asked Kabuto, with four of Orochimaru's elite guards by his side. They were referred to as the 'Sound four' all of whom have the curse seal and are able to control and use its power.

"There will only be one small change Kabuto-kun" he replied, amusement in his voice "I have devised a new type of Curse Seal that will work specifically on Naruto-kun, forcibly drawing on his demonic chakra to cloud his mind and judgement, in doing so, he will become the perfect soldier to my cause" he said, chuckling, he was quite proud of his achievements regarding the curse seal. Not only was he lucky enough to happen on a mysterious test subject that could produce enzymes in his blood that increase one's power, he was able to harvest that ability from his test subject's blood and if that wasn't enough, he could give that ability to whomever he chooses and at the same time, warp their minds so they will become loyal followers.

"Are you going to be leaving for Sunagakure soon Orochimaru-sama?" asked Kabuto, the official spokesperson for the five of Orochimaru's elite squadron, the others really not wanting to talk in case they accidentally say something to incur the snake sannin's wrath.

"Aa, I will arrive in Suna in two days time where my plans will commence – make sure you five are in position when the third phase of the Chunin exams begin, Kukukuku" he said, finishing with an evil cackle.

"By this time next week, Konoha will be in ruin!" he finished, unbridled glee in his voice.

Naruto decided that he needed something to eat and even though Pocky was the food of the gods, bar none, there was something that came a distant second, his first love, Ramen. Naruto barely remembered his younger years that he spent here, but what he did remember was a nice old man and his daughter treating him to Ramen on occasion and giving him a safe place to eat and hang out to escape from the harshness of the villagers.

Walking around until he found the store, he noticed that it was slightly empty; however, seeing that it was still a half an hour before a decent 'lunch' time, he figured people will start coming soon.

Taking one of the free seats, Naruto waited until he was served, once again using the disguise of the old man or 'Haku-chan's father' that the Mitarashi woman had seen through. Eventually, a pretty young woman came to him with a smile from the back of the store, though Naruto couldn't for the life of him remember her name.

"Can I take your order Oyaji?" she asked pleasantly as Naruto returned a small smile under disguise, Uzumaki Naruto does not smile this easily when not disguised!

"Please, my name is Mizuna Ukaruto, I'll just have a bowl of miso Ramen please, large" he said, still smiling at the young girl who nodded and yelled his order to her father out back before returning to him all smiles.

"It won't be long Mizuna-san" she replied before getting a rag and cleaning the rest of the unoccupied counter.

After waiting for only two minutes, Naruto was happily eating his ramen when he smelt someone familiar taking a seat beside him with a few other people who had seen walking around the village on occasion.

"Ohayo Ayame-chan, one Beef Ramen for me and a few strips of pork for Akamaru" ordered Inuzuka Kiba with a canine like grin as Ayame smiled in response and took the other orders. One of the others with the Inuzuka was definitely an Aburame if the smell of insects and the slight buzzing he could hear from within his cloak was anything to go by and judging by the eyes of his other friend, she was definitely a Hyuuga. The last person with the group was most likely their jounin instructor, someone who he recognized as Yuhi Kurenai, Genjutsu mistress of Konoha. He had to suppress a snort at that, Genjutsu mistress indeed, she may be decent at using the style of jutsu, but to warrant the title of mistress, he'll believe it when he sees it.

Normally, someone under a chakra induced disguised would be worried about sitting next to a team that was obviously meant for tracking and seeing through such disguises, luckily for him, he was most likely better then all four of them at stealth, having used a Kage Henge which literally gave him the physical appearance he desired instead of ­

just an illusion as well as his scent not being recognizable as Uzumaki Naruto's thanks to the Inuzuka knowing nothing about him. The Jounin might suspect something though, especially by the twitch he made in his direction, though he still wasn't worried.

"Man, I still haven't found that hot babe that I went out with the other week, she was such an angel" commented the dog boy, causing Naruto to choke slightly on his Ramen, which did not go unnoticed by the four shinobi sitting beside him.

"Oi, Oyaji, you ok?" asked Kiba, seemingly concerned and a look around the bench showed that the Hyuuga and Aburame seemed to not care less while Kurenai was looking at him with apprehension, perhaps Anko told her about his Doku Bunshin?

"Ah, you're the lad that took my son out for a date, it's so wonderful when two people so young and sure of their sexualities can rise above prejudice and show their love for each other" commented 'Mizuna Ukaruto' with a big smile seemingly ignoring how Kiba had a confused look on his face, the Aburame who now decided to look in his direction, apparently the conversation interesting him now and the Hyuuga smirking at the dog boy. Kurenai seemed to be trying to hide her amusement though still seemed apprehensive in regards to him.

"What the hell are you talking about Oyaji, I went on a date with your beautiful daughter, a girl, not a boy; I would have known if it was a guy, I'm an Inuzaka after all" he said, apparently gaining his confidence back.

Naruto pretended to get angry at that and levelled a glare at the Inuzaka "Either you're a really poor Inuzaka" he said, making Kiba glare in his direction "Or you're trying to shame my son by denying the love you have for each other, I don't appreciate people toying with my son's feelings, he is already living in a harsh world confused and scared at how people make fun of him due to his sexual orientation!" he hissed out, and turned back to his Ramen.

"And Haku-chan was saying how you two seemed to hit it off real well too, talking about the kiss you shared that sent an electrical pulse through his young body" he commented with a wistful sigh. At this point, Kiba's face drained of all colour and his face had gone a pale white in either shock, horror, revulsion or shame, Naruto couldn't tell, though it was probably a mixture of the four.

"Y-you're l-lying" the dog boy stuttered out as Naruto levelled a glare at the dog boy "You think my son's sexual orientation is a joke do you?" he said standing up in anger which for some reason, caused Kiba to shrink under his gaze, even though he knew he was merely facing an old civilian, as far as he knew.

"So Kiba-kun, care to tell us how well that date went? How soft your date's lips felt? How luscious your date's legs looked? How great his 'ass' looked?" Kurenai asked with a vicious smirk, obviously deciding that Naruto was not a threat, or perhaps she hadn't figured out it was him exactly and merely someone in disguise, all the same, Naruto left a check under his fake name with a hefty tip as gratitude for the earlier years of his life and left with one final glare at the still pale Kiba who hadn't moved an inch as the Hyuuga was still smirking at him and his sensei still goading him about his fake accomplishment.

When Ayame came back out to see the seat of the old man's empty, she frowned thinking he had done a runner, however she caught sight of a slip of paper which she recognized as a cheque and upon reading it, she recognized the name before looking at the figure on the cheque.

Teuchi Ichiraku was whistling a tune while preparing four bowls of Ramen when he abruptly stopped upon hearing his daughter gasp followed by a loud thump. Running out of the back he saw his daughter lying on the ground with a big smile on her face while clutching a cheque to her chest with both hands. Getting curious despite himself, he pried the cheque from her still fingers and read what was so amazing on it; perhaps they got a nice tip? When he saw the number on the cheque he let out an extremely loud whoop of joy.

"THAT'S A LOTTA ZEROES!" he yelled, dollar signs in his eyes. When he showed them to the students and Kurenai, they too had similar reaction of shock but Kurenai for different reasons.

"Teuchi-san, can I see that name on the cheque and borrow a pencil please?" nodding while holding the cheque far enough away from her so she could see but not touch, Kurenai wrote the name down and after several minutes of scribbling on the piece of paper, she showed it to the old man who read it but could only make sense of two names amongst all the scribbles.

'Mizuna Ukaruto' and 'Uzumaki Naruto'.

Looking from the piece of paper to Kurenai back to the piece of paper he just looked at her in confusion "You saying that old man was Naruto? I haven't seen him for nearly ten years, but that was an old man!"

Kurenai shrugged while looking off in the direction Naruto left in "He was under a combination of Genjutsu and Henge, I suspected it was Uzumaki but I wasn't sure, that name proves it though, it seems he likes you" she said with a calculative look in her eyes urging Teuchi to explain.

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"Well, I don't know, when Naruto was younger he'd come by often and we'd keep him company, the poor boy had no friends and spent a lot of time here with Ayame-chan" he said, motioning to the still unconscious girl on the floor "while we supplied him with free meals now and again – rotten how the villagers treated him I tell ya" he said, causing Kurenai to frown. There was more to this 'Uzumaki Naruto' then meets the eye.

Haku looked through the window of a hotel room in one of the hotels rented out to foreign genin and their senseis coming to take the chunin exams. In the room he was looking in sat the genin Subaku no Gaara, meditating and seemingly oblivious to all that was around him, however, Haku knew better, Haku could tell by the twitch in the boy's eye as soon as he arrived that he knew damn well that he was sitting here and by the growing amount of killing intent radiating from his body, he could tell that he was getting an 'urge' to come and kill him again.

His two team mates and siblings sat in the same room eyeing their brother warily as the killing intent rose but Haku just waited patiently for a few more minutes until he began to walk away from the hotel and towards one of Konoha's vacant training grounds.

Haku was not disappointed for two minutes after his arrival at the training grounds Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand looking as stoic as ever though the killing intent radiating from the red head showed that he was anything but in control of his emotions.

"It's a sad day when a Jinchuuriki lets his demon tenant have control over his psyche" commented Haku, in the hopes that Gaara would drop his guard and it worked as Gaara seemingly hunched over in pain holding his head – Haku guessed he was having 'words' with his tenant.

Not wasting a second, Haku used blinding speed to appear before Gaara and using his chakra, applied one of the seals Naruto created on his forehead. The Seal stuck to his forehead and Gaara slumped to the floor, his sand going with him. What surprised Haku more though was that his skin seemed to be melting off, however, on closer inspection, he discovered that the sand was his skin and when it all pooled around on the floor near his fear, he was treated to the sight of Gaara panting on all fours, looking like he was no longer in pain.

"Mother…is silent…" Gaara commented through pants as Haku approached him slowly.

"Gaara-san, that is not your mother speaking with you, but rather the Ichibi no Shukaku" he said in what he hoped was a comforting voice.

"What did you do? No one has defeated me so easily before…" he said, still panting, Haku surmised that the absence of demonic chakra from his system forced him to have some sort of 'withdrawal' effects.

"I can't take full credit for this 'defeat' as you call it" began Haku "it is simply a seal I placed on you that temporarily seals away your demonic chakra and the demon's connection to you. I did not create the seal either, a friend of mine did, nor did I place it on you for the purpose of defeating or killing you" Haku explained, much to Gaara's confusion and anger.

"What purpose do you have to toy with my powers then? And how do I know if you're lying or not?" asked Gaara, eyeing him warily.

"You can know I'm not lying because I can kill you now without any troubles without your sand to protect you, in regards to your question of why though, I merely wanted to talk to you without having to dodge your attempts at killing me" explained Haku to the confused Gaara.

Gaara just remained silent, hoping his powers would come back soon so he can kill this person that attacked him.

"Do you have a precious person?" asked Haku out of the blue, knowing that it would instil some sort of reaction from the red headed boy and he watched with curiosity as hatred flashed through Gaara's eyes before he decided to answer.

"I have no precious people, nobody loves me and I love nobody but myself" he began, seemingly reiterating this to himself more then to Haku "I will annihilate anyone who seeks to terminate my existence and that means you so as soon as this trick fades from me, mother will have your blood" he said, a grin appearing on his face, one that showed his twisted nature and ideology.

Haku, not phased at all by the threat watched Gaara calmly before speaking again "You are not the only Jinchuuriki in this world" he began "and there are those who have had it far worse then you, and those who have had it easier then you" he explained "but you will never become truly strong if you possess an ideology like the one you have now, killing for the sake of your 'existence' is a sad way to live a life. It is a shame too because despite what you think about nobody loving you, I can see it in her eyes that your sister, though afraid of you, cared for you deeply, why else would she assist you in attacking me the other week?" he asked.

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Gaara's facial expressions didn't change "I will kill you and prove that by loving only myself and relying only on myself that I am truly strong" he said with anger in his voice.

Haku shrugged before walking away "I hope you will learn in time, how truly and utterly wrong you are. Not just for yourself, but for those who do care about you" he finished, his eyes glancing at a seemingly random spot in the forest however the person watching was surprised to see that she was spotted so easily.

"Until we meat again Subaku no Gaara" finished Haku before disappearing in a puddle of water.

Gaara continued to sit on the floor and ponder about the conversation he just had while he was still cut off from his demon and not being bothered by it. The person hidden in Konoha's woods however was deeply thankful that someone tried to help their situation, regardless how hopeless it may seem. Green eyes shined with unshed tears as they looked upon the person in the clearing looking so defeated.

Authot's Note:

One thing I want to point out before submitting this; if and when Naruto uses his affinity, there will be no drawbacks as in hurting himself or some BS like in the manga, the fact that it does in the manga almsot made me stop reading it all together. Sure, Sasuke can turn his body into a freaking lightning rod and charge electricity in currents all over hismelf but Naruto, when he uses his wind gets his arm almost destroyed. Right, whatever.

Naruto's sister will not be an OC, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out and I honestly think it may be a possibility in the manga too, if you know who it is, please don't say so in the reviews, let the less savvy Naruto fans be surprised, but again, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

In regards to more puppets, I see where people are comming from, but I don't really want to give him too many more, I mean, how much more firepower do you need then three Kages? Also, I am not 100 on the actual CONCEPT of a human puppet, but for the sake of the story, they are just like regular puppets but they have chakra circulatory systems so they can use jutsus and any bloodlines that revolves around their chakra, that rules out the use of a Kaguya's bloodline in a puppet, an Uchiha or Hyuuga because Naruto can't SEE with his puppet's eyes and so on. So, picture Naruto's Kage puppets as actual shinobi that are fitted with deadly contraptions and can use all their original jutsu, or whatever Naruto KNOWS of (hint).

There will be an iddition to the Naruto/Haku team sooner or later, I know one I want to add but I ultimately want to get four, though I might just keep it at three, we'll see.

I really have an urge to write a fic where Naruto is dressed EXACTLY like Kisuke Urahara btw (bleach if you didn't know) with a different colour scheme, probably in my next fic. That was random, yes, but I just think it looks damn cool. My next fic after this could be one of possible two things, if you're wondering why I'm thinking of this now, it's because I chose this story out of a possible three Naruto stories to write. The other two were Naruto arriving in Konoha when he's fourteen with no long term memory (I will normally write my stories with genin being 14 simply because it makes romance and pairing more believable) but he will have the instincts and skills of a very powerful shinobi - think Jason Bourne (just watched the third movie recently and I was like, 'zomg, good idea for Naruto fic' - he just woulnd't remember which skills he has exactly until he has 'flashbacks' of using them or uses them unintentionally as a reflex. The other fic would be completely AU with Naruto being a relative of the Sandaime Kazekage and having the bloodline of controlling magnetic fields, thus growing up in Suna, might or might not have the Kyuubi, be Gaara's only friend, Temari pairing, etc etc.

Another quick update and all, next chap will begin third phase of Chunin exams if you're wondering, it will probably be a longer then usual chapter like wave arc, so it might take a while.

Adios.