Hope everyone is having a good day (how's 2015 for everyone so far?) and here you go with a new chapter… need I say more lol
I only hope that you will enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed writing it.
xxxx
Chapter Four
"Let's begin our training," Shinigami said, wearing a mad smirk, and placed his hand on Naruto's head. "Now, open your eyes as I will be showing you what to do."
Naruto did as he was told and he woke up in the same dirty dark-green as he did earlier on. He knew that it wasn't the time, or the place, to complain, but he felt the urge to do so. How could anyone train while surrounded by this sort of dreadful atmosphere?! It kinda took away his will to train. Ever.
"Um, but what's up with this place? Can't you make it cleaner or something? I mean, I know that you are sealed off inside me, but you still have some of your powers, so can't you change it to something… nicer?"
The Death God chuckled – he felt like he was getting soft around this kid. "I didn't know that you cared about cleanliness so much, Naruto, especially looking at how clean your room is…"
The boy stiffened and he could feel his ears burning up, but thank god they were hidden under his hair and thanks god he didn't cut his hair long enough that some of its strands reached his shoulders. Before meeting Shinigami, his old man was the only person who constantly lectured him about how messy his room is and how he should at least throw away empty ramen packages. Who knew that he's going to have two people telling him to clean his room! Well, technically Shinigami wasn't a 'person', but it didn't change the fact that Shinigami and Jiraiya, who had didn't have a direct link to him, like being his relative or something, treated him like some brat who didn't know how to put laundry in a washing machine!
"We aren't talking about my room, are we?" Naruto asked and frowned at Shinigami, daring him to say anything else. "I mean, you are supposed to be so strong and everything, and yet you can't even change this?"
Most of the time, it humoured the Death God just how picky and stuck-up this little ball of flesh and blood could be. He knew damn well that he was talking to a God, yet it didn't prevent him from showing his true colours, like his constant bratishness and exceptional sarcasm, which he probably picked up from one of his friends – Kiba, wasn't it? Yeah, Naruto knew that Shinigami could easily smack him against the wall without as much as moving his hand, yet here he was, throwing everything he had into God's face.
"Why would I use my power if you can do it by yourself?" Shinigami finally answered while looking around. Hell, the hallway did look pretty awful. "After all, we are inside your head – or something along the lines. If you want to, you can make this look just like your room, although I wouldn't advise to do so."
Naruto purposely ignored his comment and began thinking. Was it really that easy? Did he have to imagine in his head, and it will become reality in an instant? Well, in that case…
It wasn't long before he created a mental image of a big, white hallway with barely visible patterns here and there. He imagined that the ceiling would be light-yellow but it sparkled from time to time. Of course, all of this… smoke and muddy water were gone.
When he opened his eyes, everything looked according to his imagination – and better. Instead of being yellow, the ceiling looked freaking golden! Naruto could only gape at it, completely mesmerised at how clean and fresh everything looked. When he turned his gaze to the white floor and took a few steps, no footprints were left behind: hallway's wall remained just as clean as it was moments ago.
He turned his gaze towards Shinigami and the latter was smirking, his arms folded on his chest and his fangs reflecting the light; where was the light coming from, anyway?
"It comes from your soul," the Death God responded instantly and, yet again, Naruto was absolutely mad that the God could read his mind – it became an ordinary thing ever since they made a deal month-and-a-half ago. For Naruto, this whole time was torture. Not only did Shinigami refuse to train him until 'he was ready' (and now was finally that moment) but he also read Naruto's thoughts and didn't think much of it at all! "Your soul is still innocent and light, not yet covered in blood and greediness that this world is full of."
"But Jiji said that I can be greedy… and I hate someone I know," the boy disagreed after some deep thinking. "Doesn't that make me a bad person?"
"You haven't killed, Naruto. You haven't used others for your own benefit, you aren't constantly stealing from others for your own benefit and – you didn't act on your so-called hatred yet. This hatred that you think you harbour… I don't think that it will take you long to realise that it's not hate, and it never was one. For now, however, your soul is still innocent and I would like it to stay innocent for as long as possible."
"What, are you planning to consume it after you get out of here?" Naruto naturally asked, rising his eyebrow. "If so, I will definitely do something on the 'don't do it' list before you even try to eat my soul."
Shinigami let out a throaty laugh and shook his head. "Believe it or not, I don't constantly eat souls because I'm hungry – it's a part of my job."
"Yeah-yeah, keep telling yourself that."
"Do you want to train or waste our time, criticising each other's diet?"
"Okay, I will stop! So what are we doing now?"
The God of Death took out a scroll, hidden within his garment, and placed it into Naruto's hands – the action required him to bow down.
"Here, drop it."
Naruto did as he was told, and then looked down at the yellowish scroll with a 'I have no idea what I'm doing' face.
"Now open it." When the boy began leaning down, Shinigami stopped him. "That is, without actually touching the scroll."
"What, like… by only thinking about it? I can't do that!"
"You have just completely transformed a whole hallway into something completely different by merely thinking about it. What makes the idea of opening the scroll less believable?"
"Well, I did it inside my head – I won't be able to do it out there…" Naruto amended with a sheepish grin.
"And who told you that?" Shinigami asked him in all seriousness. "You are lucky enough to have a God sealed off inside you, which allows you to do as you wish with my powers – that is, while I'm the one guiding you, because without my help you will never be able to use them. It will probably take a lot of practicing – and time – for you to succeed as my vessel and do my job for me, but we will get there, as long as you listen to my direct instructions, got it?"
"Yeah…"
"Now open up that scroll."
Naruto huffed and began staring at the scroll. He tried not to blink in the process, but nothing was happening. Was he not doing it right? He then decided to close his eyes and take a few deep and deliberate breaths. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale – that's what his old man did whenever he meditated. Feeling his whole body gradually relax, the boy thought about the scroll and imagined it opening in his head, again and again.
When he opened his eyes, he had to sigh and whimper in utter disappointment. The seal was still in place – it didn't move a single centimetre! Maybe it was all the seal's fault, anyway? Ugh, it didn't work out after the first try, and he sorta felt like giving up already – this wasn't the best way to go around it, though.
"I can't open it," he complained to Shinigami but the latter one didn't utter a word and only pointed in the scroll's direction, nodding his head.
"Remember, you will only find out more about your parents when we put on those souls in peace, and this can only be done after you some training. Stop complaining and think about yourself, physically opening this scroll – don't just imagine how it's opening up on its own, that's now what's going to happen in real world."
And so Naruto nodded and put his whole mind to the task, but this time he didn't close his eyes. He stared at the scroll for what felt like hours, but really, it was probably mere minutes. He missed the moment when the seal began moving, and only snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the scroll finally rolling over the ground, opening for up for his intrigued gaze.
"Yes, I did it! You saw that, Shinigami – I opened this scroll without even touching it! I'm soo cool!"
The Death God only chuckled and shook his head, "This is only the first attempts, kid, and it took you a lot of time to do it. Don't think that if you succeeded once, it will keep happening in real world. Try doing it a few more times, and then you will get to try it out in real world. If it happens, we will move on to harder techniques – I know that you want it, too."
Naruto eagerly nodded and picked up the scroll, putting a seal on it once again and then letting it fall to the ground with a thud. He then took a step back and concentrated on the task in hand, his mind suddenly at peace – it was probably because he finally knew what he was doing.
Half an hour – and thirteen successful attempts – later Naruto sat down on the ground and sighed: he could feel the beginning of a huge migraine, but it didn't stop him from getting hyped up about trying this out outside of his mind.
"I'm going, then?" he asked Shinigami and the latter one nodded, waving his hand at him and soon, Naruto woke up in his bed. He could feel beads of sweat rolling down his temple, so he quickly wiped them off, already exhausted from the morning session. The only good thing that resulted from these 'mind' practices was that he didn't even need to get out of his bed. On the other hand, there were several drawbacks to it, nevertheless.
For example, this excessive sweating. He just couldn't get his head around it: why was he sweating if all he was doing was a little bit of practise in his own head? With his mind? He barely moved there, as well! However, feeling his own t-shirt sticking to his back because of this sweat, Naruto forced himself to get up and thought of getting a shower a bit later on.
The other drawback was that he didn't have control over factors outside of his mind while he was talking to Shinigami. Naturally, while being in his own head, he didn't know what was happening on the outside, and for all he knew, there could be Jiraiya, shouting at him that breakfast is ready while having a pan in his hand. Actually, this has happened a few days ago, when Naruto spent what felt like hours talking to Shinigami and asking him personal (or so he thought) questions. But then again, how did Gods have personal lives, if everyone knew about their jobs and the likes?
Naruto's gaze fell upon a bunch of books, scattered around the ground, and he repressed the urge to run over to them and carefully pick them up, for they were taken from the library and Sakura would kill him if she found out that he was so careless around them. Well, not exactly kill, but definitely be annoyed with him and would probably ignore him for a few weeks.
So, did he have it in himself to close and pick them up at his wish? He was about to find out.
Focusing on the task at hand and even squinting a little bit, Naruto imagine himself picking up those books and putting them on a shelf. He kept thinking of it for a few seconds, and then something happened – something much cooler than he could have even imagines. It wasn't the books moving – it was the thing that formed around them. A blur of golden and silver formed around these books; it was so bright that Naruto kept gaping at it for a few seconds. Then, the books finally began to pick themselves up and, slowly closing, retreated to the bookselves in his room. Only when they stood there, side by side, did the light stop shining, and Naruto was still standing in the middle of his room, gaping at the whole scene.
"What… what was that?" he said out loud in pure wonder, because never in a thousand years he imagined that his powers – or Shinigami's, rather – were so colourful.
'As I said earlier, your soul is still pure. As such, even though you are currently using my powers, they adjust under your soul's influence and look just like your soul – but only to you. Before I was sealed off inside you, my body was seemingly see-through and the same was with my powers, although they had a dark blue shade. After – or if, but it's inevitable in the shinobi world that you live in – you do one of the things that would stain your soul, your powers will become darker and darker, until they turn absolutely black."
"I see," Naruto mused on his words for a little bit. "But is making my powers look… black bad? I mean, you are a powerful God and your powers have a dark colour, so maybe it's better?"
'The colour has nothing to do with how powerful the user of these powers is.'
"Okay… but why do I even see these… powers, and others can't? Doesn't it resemble chakra, then? Well, sort of."
'Silly human, I already told you that chakra and everything afterwards came from God's powers. As such, it's absolutely different and acts in a completely different manner. Rather than being visible, it's referred to as an inner strength but can also be the strength that controls nature.'
"I will be able to control nature? Cool!"
'It will take quite some time, kid, don't get too excited over it. And yes, you will, but without jutsu, chakra and other man-made things,' Shinigami responded after a second thought and added, 'though I don't see it happening it any time soon. You will need to learn so much before even attempting to control nature.'
The boy nodded and looked at his messy floor. "Alright, then I will practice cleaning my floor, while only using my awesome powers!"
'Those powers belong to me, kid.'
"Yeah, and I'm currently using them! Oh," Naruto's eyes widened , his mind finally catching up with implications. "But wait, you will leave my body someday, right? And you will probably find a way out before I turn old and grey, right? Then this means… that I won't be able to use your powers anymore. Will I have my chakra back then? But… I won't know how to use it – that is, if I get it back."
Shinigami said nothing, for he never though what his removal would mean for the kid and he spent most of the time, thinking of the way out. Sure, he was going to continue living as he did before, but what about the child in the prophecy? The weight of the world was on his shoulders: if Namikaze Naruto wasn't able to use neither God's powers, nor his own in a form of chakra control, what would happen to the world and just how much would it change? Did it mean that he had to stay in boy's body for the rest of eternity?
He didn't have answers to his own questions, so in the end, he decided to answer Naruto's question without actually answering it, 'It is rather possible for chakra to return when I leave your body. For now, however, you have to concentrate on task at hand – it will take you years and years to learn how to use my powers in a correct manner. Clean your floor and take a shower – I recall that you have a meeting with someone today…'
"Oh yeah, it's a get-together! I can't be late to that!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs and ran towards bathroom like it was the last thing he was going to do. "Sorry, can't train anymore, Shinigami, but we will continue after I get back home!"
'Tch, silly human being, you don't need to shout about it – Jiraiya might hear you and he will assume that you are going mental,' the Death God noted with a smile and, when he felt that Naruto was no longer paying attention to him, took out his scrolls and began carefully studying them. Those were the scrolls that always told him what was happening in human's world, like upcoming wars and such. It was silent for the last year or so, but now he could clearly see words written in black ink: 'Akatsuki are getting stronger. They keep getting new members. Their target in unforeseen future is every single Jinchuriki.'
As far as Shinigami knew, everyone still considered Naruto a Jinchuriki, so surely, Akatsuki will send someone after him as well. But it wasn't in Shinigami's plans to be captured by a group of rogue ninjas who referred to themselves as those who 'carry the will of God'. Shinigami scoffed. What did those fouls even know about the term 'God'?
xxxx
{I advise you to listen to 'Attack on Titan OST - Vogel im Käfig' during Temari's bit}
Temari nervously gulped, her eyes betraying her and showing just how scared she was. "You want us to what, Dad?"
"As I said, I want you, Kankuro and one of my trusted men to go with Gaara to Konohagakure. I need a break, and many of the civilians aren't feeling safe around him in the least.'
She could clearly hear the clock's ticking – it was the only sound in the room at the moment. If someone asked her how she felt about the idea, she would have waved that someone off and told him or her that she was fine and it was none of their business, anyway. What she really thought, however, was the exact opposite. She was, for the lack of other words, scared shitless. Temari could feel her heartbeat echoing in her stomach and her feet, and her palms were getting increasingly sweaty. No, cross that out – scared shitless didn't even begin to cover it. Her own father wanted to send her and Kankuro off with their 'dear' brother and some guy she probably never saw before? God, what if Gaara didn't hold himself back once again and…
Temari shuddered, because, surely, Gaara wasn't going to kill that poor guy off – or them… right?
"Dad, I- With all the respect, I don't think that it's the best idea," she carefully said and tugged on her top. She tried to sound as adult-like as possible, but to her father it still probably sounded like some childish blabbering. However, she couldn't find it in herself to seriously argue with her father, for he wasn't just anyone: he was a Kazekage, and since their mother gave birth to Gaara and died, blood ties meant little to nothing to him. "You know that Gaara isn't… stable… and there may be some… casualties…"
"The man that I'm sending with you will make sure that it doesn't happen, Temari. Now be a good girl and call your beloved brother in; I will talk to Gaara later. I'm sure that he won't care either way."
But she wasn't listening to him anymore, and tried not to shake. No. No. Not again. Not after he killed his own babysitter and went on a killing spree. She didn't want to be there – she didn't want to be anywhere near that monster. Temari held back her tears, but a strangled choke still left her mouth. She clenched her fists at her sides, forming a plan in her head. If she was going to argue with him, a bunch of guardians will simply walk in and take her away, because 'Kazekage was busy' – in reality, he just didn't want to deal with his own children.
On dark night, she would wish on a shooting star for everything to change. She wanted her and Kankuro to be raised by loving parents – absolutely ordinary civilian parents who cared about them; she wanted to have nothing in common with their younger brother who only cared about blood shedding and killing everyone who didn't agree with him. And if that couldn't happen, she wished that someone would take her far, far away from here.
It seemed that one part of her wish was coming true – he own dad wanted to get rid of them for the time being, and Temari knew that she should be happy and thankful for having some time away from her father, but she just couldn't find it in herself to care.
"But Dad, Suna and Konoha aren't at peace. I'm sure that someone will try to kill us as soon as we step our foot in the Fire Country."
"That's not going to happen, because you will act as a small civilian family who ran away from the Sand Country and wants to stay in Fire until they have enough money and opportunities to move somewhere else. All that is required of you is to make sure your youngest brother doesn't blow up the cover."
He was talking about them like they were just a part of his army, like they weren't his kids in the slightest and he didn't care what happened to them in Konoha, and although Temari tried to calm herself, her temper was getting the best of her. She wasn't going to cry – that was too out of her character and anyone who knew their family would say that Kankuro and Gaara were most likely going to cry before she shed even a tear. It wasn't her being heartless, though – it was her trying to keep their family together and preventing herself from breaking down.
She heard her father explaining where they were going to stay and for how long, but she wasn't listening. What was more effective than throwing everything off his table and shouting at him for being so cold? Maybe, pity would work?
Temari was admittedly bad at pretending to be upset – after all, she never cried – but she tried her hardest. Trembling lips and the overall heart-breaking face expression. She loudly swallowed and forced her voice to found higher than it was.
"Dad, I'm… I'm afraid." God, she hated sounding this weak and helpless! "What-what if Gaara decides to attack us – his own family! – and… and that guy won't be able to do anything about it? D-Dad I don't want to die…"
"Stop sputtering nonsense, Temari, you are better than this. Pick yourself up and go."
"But Dad, I keep seeing him in my nightmares!" Lies, lies, lies. "I can see him coming near mine and Kankuro's bed and-and he looks down at us, with red eyes and big claws." At least that's what she overheard one of their servants describing to her friend. "He smelled of blood and he smiled at me, revealing his big fangs. Every time I blink, I can feel his fangs piercing through my skin and his sand attacks Kankuro, strangling him. Dad, he killed so many people, I don't want to be anywhere near him! If you can just give him aw-"
A loud slap made her head abruptly turn. It didn't sting – not as much as it usually did, anyway, but that slap made her drop her demeanour, as she bit onto her lower lip and relaxed her face, making it completely blank. Well, she thought to herself, if that didn't work, nothing was going to work, so she slowly turned on her hills and took a step.
Another step.
And another, opening the door and stepping out of his cabinet, leaving the room wide open.
xxxx
It has been a bit over seventy-two hours since she had that conversation with her Dad, and Temari was absolutely over it. Getting slapped by her father for 'messing with his business' was a usual occurrence – and who did she have to talk about it to, anyway? It's not like she had a Mum; it is worth mention that she didn't blame Gaara for their mother's death as women died while giving birth on many occasions, so this was no different – at least that's what she was told. Then why did their father blame Gaara for his wife's death? Temari supposed that she was too young to understand it, because currently it made no sense to her.
The guy that they had to travel with turned out to be someone familiar – she often saw him, standing on Kazekage's tower and giving out orders to his squad. He told them his name when they left Suna three days ago, yet she managed to forget it a minute later: it was something so ordinary and boring, that it was practically screamed 'I have five older siblings and my parents just gave up on being original when I was born'.
There were quite a few things she disliked about that guy, apart from his name. Although he did his job – that is, he ensured that Gaara kept calm and tried his best not to annoy the latter one – there was still something off about him, though she couldn't place a finger on it. Was it that he was too… friendly with them? Sure, they were Kazekage's children, but many of her Dad's subordinates simply nodded when they saw her and Kankuro and quickened their pace, trying to avoid being around them even for a moment longer.
"Can we take a break now?" she could hear Kankuro say as he gave out a tired sigh and slowed his pace. "I'm tired and hungry…"
"Konoha isn't so far away, Kankuro-kun," the guy said with the sweetest smile he could master. "Just an hour or so and we will be near its gates. You can survive another hour of travelling right?"
"Well, yeah, but can I at least have some lunch first?"
Their guardian hummed and tapped his chin with his index finger, "Alright, we can take a five-minutes break. If that's fine by you, Gaara?"
"I don't care," her youngest brother said coldly and walked towards the closest tree, sitting down and murmuring something to himself. Temari and Kankuro stopped walking, too, and they sat under a tree, but it was good twenty meters away from their brother.
The guy that led them and protected them from Fire's ninjas preferred to stand and began digging out something from his bag. Temari didn't pay attention to him in the slightest and only sighed, taking out a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese from her backpack, sharing it with Kankuro, who took it and muttered a quiet 'thank you'. They sat there in complete silence, occasionally interrupted by Kankuro's comments on how 'that cloud looks like a turtle' and Temari's 'no, it's a dog, baka'. They felt bad for taking out the last bottle of water they had from Kankuro's bag, but it was either this or suffering from dehydration and fainting. Yes, weather in the Fire Country was nothing compared to that of the Sand's Country, but it was still rather hot for an ordinary summer day, and they had to drink to keep themselves going.
Suddenly, Temari stopped eating her bread and looked up. Something was wrong; terribly, terribly wrong – and she could feel it, thanks to her basic ninja skills. She looked at the person next to her, but Kankuro seemed as ordinary as he usually was. Temari slowly turned her head and looked at Gaara, but he simply sat under the tree and was still mumbling something under his nose like a madman. Then-
She began choking at the sudden pain in her left shoulder, and her eyes widened at the impact it had. Temari could see Kankuro jumping up and shouting in utter surprise, but all she could do was look down and gasp. There was a sword, sticking out of her left shoulder, and it was covered in blood, drops of dark liquid slowly falling from its tip. She wanted to move her right hand and get the sword out of her shoulder, but her body didn't listen to her and kept shaking like she had a fewer; the pain in her shoulder made her completely oblivious to everything that was happening around her.
A few moments later, she felt like shouting for help and begging anyone to take the damn sword out of her shoulder because, yeah, she knew that a stab in shoulder wasn't going to kill her that quickly, but it was the incredible pain that she never felt before. God, how did people survive this? And yet, she kept her mouth shut, biting her lip and concentrating on breathing; on the second thought, she looked up and tried to make sense of where her brothers were.
She could see Kankuro running back to her, but Gaara's sand prevented him from reaching their sister. "Kankuro, he needs to be gotten rid of first."
"B-but Temari is injured!" Kankuro argued, still scared of Gaara and what his sand could do to him, but not caring enough to stop himself from running over to his older sister.
"Kankuro," Gaara growled and his sand began rising up Kankuro's legs, thus keeping him in place. He then turned his gaze towards their 'guardian' and gritted his teeth, his eyes showing pure hatred. "Who sent you?"
The guy smirked and did a few hand-seals, "Why, your father, of course. He gave me specific instructions: to get you into the Fire Country and then just leave you in the middle of nowhere, but your father is underestimating you. I doubt that it will take you more than two weeks to get back, even if some of the Fire authorities will be informed of who you are and that you crossed the border of a country that wants you and your whole family dead. Kazekage-sama is doing a great job at ruling Suna, so I won't allow you to ruin it, and I'm sorry to drag you into it, Kankuro and Temari. Just know that if it wasn't for your monster brother… I would have just left you alone and there would be no need to ki-"
His words were cut off when Gaara's sand began curling around the ninja's body: the latter one was so busy with his seals and his 'grand' speech that he didn't notice how sand grains began enveloping him a few moments earlier.
Temari blinked a few times, and tried – she really tried – to focus on her brothers and the bastard that dared to try and kill them, but her eyes just wouldn't listen to her, and she thought that her eyelids must have been at least five tonnes. She heard how Kankuro begged their younger brother not to do it, how his voice was trembling so much, that one would think he was going to cry, but Kankuro really, really didn't want Gaara to kill anyone anymore, even though it was nearly impossible. She could hear Gaara's quiet muttering and a soft, yet cold 'get out of the way', directed to his own brother; Temari could only pray that Kankuro did just that.
She coughed blood and her headache was getting worse by the moment, yet she was able to find it in herself to speak up, hoping that her youngest brother could hear her – and didn't want to kill her after her words, "Gaara, please, don't kill him… you can break his legs and arms and leave… him here… but you don't need to kill him… he isn't worth it… we can report him to Fire's officials and they will put him… into prison and-"
"I crave blood," Gaara said barely above a whisper, and Temari was lucky – in a very twisted way, mind you – yet she was luckier than Kankuro and that guy who saw how Gaara's eyes widened and his mouth widened in a mad smile, his whole body twitching and trembling in anticipation. "I crave that blood. My nostrils can pick up that distant, metallic smell, and my lungs are filled with it. I can't control my urges; I need his blood to survive."
And, indeed, Gaara's sand made a cut on guy's neck and it was slowly seeping down, before being consumed by the sand – an act that made Kazekage's subordinate give out a week whimper and swallow. Kankuro could see how much this guy was struggling, but it was fruitless: Gaara's sand didn't show mercy to anyone and killed anyone who Gaara wanted dead.
Kankuro forced himself to turn around and closed his eyes with a wince, when a subtle mutter from Gaara was followed up by a short-lived scream, full of agony and pain. The guy had a painful, yet quick death – this was a blessing itself. Slowly opening his eyes and taking a shuddering breath, Kankuro gradually looked over his shoulder, but didn't scream in horror at the blood-soaked sand, for he was used to it.
When he looked back at their sister, she was close to fainting: the sword that was currently piercing her shoulder went right through the tree behind her, before going through her shoulder, so she couldn't even turn around to remove it.
"Temari!" he shouted, his voice full of concern, and ran towards their sister without a second thought, landing on his knees in front of her and hurriedly thinking through the possible actions. If he took the sword out of her shoulder, she will most likely start bleeding out at a much faster rate and possibly faint. The last time they passed by the village was a little over five hours ago, so that would mean physically carrying her to the nearby village – Kankuro was sure that Gaara wasn't going to use his sand to carry their sister, seeing as it didn't benefit him whatsoever.
The other alternative would be quickly pulling the sword out of her shoulder and begging Gaara to use his sand to cover her wound – this could work, right? Wrong, a small pile of sand will quickly get soaked in blood and his younger brother would no longer be able to use it as he wills. So, what other choice did he have? Think, Kankuro, think!
He winced when he heard another one of Temari's screams, so he intertwined their fingers and squeezed her right hand with his own, providing her with some sort of comfort. Shit, what were they going to do?!
xxxx
As he, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru and Sakura sit in Ichiraku's, he can't stop himself from using his new power without the rest of their group realising it. For example, he would occasionally pick up Choji's sticks and throw it over the table, causing the latter one to be absolutely annoyed. Thriving to find whose fault that was he would always look to his left and right – Shikamaru and Kiba, respectively – and give them the evilest glances he could master. Naruto could barely hold back his laughter, but heard a soft chuckle from Sakura.
He asked her to come and meet with him and the guys in Ichiraku, and even though he didn't warn Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji upfront, it didn't escape him that they treated her like a friend and didn't say anything remotely rude to her. Naruto smirked when Sakura began explaining Shikamaru what's so great about her favourite book, with the latter one constantly pointing out its flaws. Life was good.
… that is, until Naruto heard someone sit next to him and looked up.
Oh hell no.
"What are you doing here, teme?" he asked with a frown, but resisted hitting him be because Sasuke wasn't alone.
"I believe he almost begged me to go here and grab some ramen," Itachi answered for his younger brother in that plain tone of his and threw a glance at Sasuke, with the latter one humping and frowning at his older brother; Itachi didn't seem fazed.
Without a further ado, the younger of the two took a sit – one chair away from Naruto – and stared straight, his gaze unwavering. Itachi didn't say anything to that and only sat between Sasuke and Naruto, ordering something from Teuchi and being as polite as ever.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Itachi," Teuchi said in all honesty, his face looking somewhat worried. "Aren't you participating in the chuunin exam that is held tomorrow?"
"As a matter of fact, I am, but my father and mother are certain that I will pass it without a problem," came young prodigy's reply, the corner of his lips damping a bit.
After as short pause, Teuchi added, "But you don't seem as confident as your parents are."
"There is no need to be overconfident when it comes to being a shinobi," Itachi said after carefully picking his words. "For all we know, all of us can die tomorrow, so having a title like 'chuunin' or 'jonin' doesn't really matter."
That's not what Sasuke thought, though. He looked up at his big brother and squinted, his hopeful and adoring face expression saying it all. "That's not true, nii-san. Our Oto-san and Kaa-san are really proud of you because you will become chuunin so quickly, and I want to become one as soon as possible, too!"
"Yeah, as if someone as arrogant and picky as you would become chuunin any time soon," Naruto commented and bit on his lip to stop himself from snickering. He could, however, hear Kiba cackling and Choji giving some amazed sounds; Shikamaru sighed, and so did Sakura – she didn't know that much about the blond knucklehead, but she was already aware of his and Sasuke's confusing rivalry. Why did the two of them had to prove something to each other, anyway?
"What did you say, boisterous weakling?" Sasuke responded right away and bared his teeth, leaning forward and giving Naruto a nasty look. The young blond had a similar look on his own face.
"What you heard, Uchiha jackass!" he learned long ago that, to put it simply, Itachi didn't care. Any other older brother would have probably snapped on him long ago and at least hit him on the head, but Itachi was an unwavering mountain: the guy just didn't get affected by anything! Naruto didn't think that Itachi disliked his own brother – quite the opposite, really – so what was that all about?
"You wanna have a spar, bakaero?!" came Sasuke's inevitable question, and Naruto furiously nodded because, hell yeah, he wasn't going to back out of this one!
"All of you are just a bunch of wannabe," Shikamaru finally spoke with a sigh and began eating his portion of ramen. "I doubt any of you can you any simple jutsu, though I suspect that Sasuke already began learning the hand seals for fire-based techniques, so you are likely to lose in an instant, Naruto. Why don't you set some other goal and whoever reaches it first is the winner?"
The two rivals shared a look, full of concentrated thinking, and gradually, Naruto nodded; Sasuke followed suit.
"Both of you aim to become chuunins soon after you pass genin exams, right? Then you can see who will become a chuunin first," said Itachi when he was certain that the storm was gone – at least, for now.
There was a certain degree of doubt in Naruto's eyes because, yeah, his deal with Shinigami prompted him to become a jonin as soon as possible, so he could go on solo missions and perform his 'job' up until the Death God finds a way to remove himself from boy's body. What he didn't want, though, was doing it for some stupid bet. Sure, proving Sasuke wrong and making him look like a dumbass in front of his older brother was cool, but was it worth it?
He silently asked Shinigami that same question and the latter one didn't voice his respond – instead, he chuckle and Naruto knew that he was mentally telling him to do as he wishes.
Alright, then. He will win this bet, make Sasuke embarrass himself in front of everyone and deliver his first soul in no time! The plan looked perfect.
"By the way, Itachi, do you know who you will be fighting against tomorrow?" Teuchi asked when he saw that the tension between two younger boys was gone. The Uchiha prodigy gave him a slight nod.
"Sandaime-san and the elderly decided that it would only be fair on us to find out 24 hours beforehand. I received a letter this morning that stated the name of my opponent."
"Oh? Do tell."
"It's Shisui."
Naruto didn't miss the tension between Itachi, Teuchi and Sasuke that followed Itachi's words, but he had no idea why. Who was that guy, anyway?
"Anoo, Itachi," he said tentatively, knowing that Itachi can simply pretend mute and ignore him – which he did on way too many occasions. "This Shisui, is he your friend?"
The Uchiha prodigy huffed and everyone could see the corners of his lips lifting, if only just a bit. "No, Shisui is more than a friend. Shisui is… family."
Oh. A distant relative, maybe? Or a cousin, even? Naruto wanted to ask another question but Sakura closed his mouth with a palm and held him back, quietly shaking her head. When he threw a look at his friends, Shikamaru was shaking his head as well. Well, whose fault was that he was bad in these 'social' things and didn't know much about social norms? Of course, old hermit's! His old man didn't tell him much about these sort of things, alright?
"Why would they do it though?" Shikamaru mused out loud. "Hokage – and the elderly, too – try to avoid putting family members against each other in chuunin and jonin exams to avoid conflicts, especially when it comes to families like Uchiha and Hyuuga. My dad told me of that one time Hokage decided to put two Hyuugas from side branches against each other; one of them almost died, because both of them were told to make their parents and the whole clan proud."
Choji and Kiba stopped munching on their ramen and looked up, their disbelieving eyes reflecting just how much Shikamaru's words affected them. Was it really that bad? At the same time, both of them were relieved because their clans weren't that big and there wasn't a single chance that they would stand against a family member when they enter chuunin exam in unforeseen future.
Itachi nodded, taking this piece of information into account, and looked down at the table, taking a pair of chopsticks into his hands and separating them; if one had to describe the look on his face right now, it would be 'haunted'. No one judged him – definitely not a bunch of four and five-years-olds and the nicest shop owner.
"Brother will fight him, using all of his strength," Sasuke said out of the blue and Naruto didn't miss the way Itachi flinched next to him; Sasuke, however, was too preoccupied with his thought to notice, and his dreamy gaze was set forward. "He will fight him and he will win, and when he wins, mother will bake us something nice and father will slap one of his friends on the back and say something like 'I told you', and then-"
"Sasuke," was all Itachi had to utter before his younger brother looked at him in confusion. "Enough."
When he didn't elaborate, Sasuke quietly asked him why not, and Itachi cracked a sad smile. "If you continue boosting about how great and almighty I am, your friends might get jealous that you have a brother like this."
This was enough, it seemed, as Sasuke began to viciously nod and began eating his ramen with a smile when the steaming bowl was put in front of him. It looked like their conversation was closed, but…
Trying to be as quiet as possible, Naruto silently turned around and leaned down to whisper something into Sakura's ear. "Sakura-chan, do you think we can come?"
"To watch this year's chuunin exam? Of course we can, and so can everyone every year since it was established, ba-ka," Sakura whispered teasingly which caused Naruto to smile like a madman. He is happy that in the short time that they've known each other she is already that comfortable around him; Jiji would be proud. Well, there is also the fact that he has a plan in his head – a plan that Sakura and the rest will probably ignore or simply raise their eyebrows upon hearing about it. Either way, he is ecstatic, because Sarutobi still owns him one, and he isn't the type of man to back out of his promise, so…
For that short amount of time, Naruto forgot everything about him and Kiba pranking the said Hokage not that long ago.
"Would you like to see it from the very front?" he then asked her and wiggled his eyebrows, which earned him a creeped out face expression.
"What, like… sit in the first row?"
"No, actually be there with the other participants! Then we can talk to them and ask them for advice and everything…"
"I don't think that it is a good idea," she said slowly, though it seemed like she was seriously considering his idea. "I mean, we haven't even entered the Academy yet, and they are already becoming chuunins – don't you think that they will just ignore us, or even worse?"
Naruto huffed, as he seriously hasn't considered this possibility. But surely, there was no way they were going to ignore his loud and rowdy self, right? And if they saw that he knew Itachi, everyone would probably be too scared to lay a finger on him! Oh, he was pumped, alright!
"Nah, I think that it will be alright," he answered without a care in the world and leaned over the table, waving at his friends to attract their attention. "Oi, are you guys going to watch the chuunin exam?"
"Of course we are, Naruto," Kiba said with his mouth full. "We are the so-called prodigies of our clans, so we can't just ditch our parents and do whatever."
The blond nodded but quickly added, "Do you want to actually meet the participants?"
"What are you talking about, you can't actually meet them," he heard Sasuke say and looked at him, baring his teeth.
"Watch me."
"Hmpf."
They spent the rest of their meal relatively silent, save for occasional 'aah hot hot hot' from Kiba and Choji, both of whom ate bowl after bowl of ramen. Naruto tried not to pry too much, but he couldn't help and occasionally overhear Itachi and Sasuke's conversation whereby Sasuke was practically begging his older brother to play with him after Itachi passes his chuunin exam. The blond tried not to feel jealous, seeing as he never had an older brother and only had to guess how having one felt like; however, he didn't sulk for long – not when Itachi straight out rejected the idea, claiming that if he passed the exam, their father would expect him to train twice, no, three times harder.
Naruto slowly turned his head – and remained unnoticed, since Itachi had his back to him and Sasuke was staring at his older brother, tears in his eyes. Was… Sasuke going to cry because of something as stupid as this? He stopped himself from laughing, though it was hard: look at this so-called mighty Sasuke Uchiha, who was now on the verge of crying because his older brother refused to play with him! Jee, who would have thought?!
He was about to turn around and tell his friends about it, but something in the way Sasuke bit on his lower lip and swiftly turned his head to left made Naruto rethink. He was no expert in emotions, but it seemed like this teme was seriously holding back, the unmistakable pain in his eyes; Uzumaki knew this expression – he saw it too many times in his own reflection. "Alright," Sasuke muttered without any complaint and went back to eating ramen. Itachi sighed and resumed to do so as well, but was it really alright?
After a second thought, Naruto admitted that, yeah, his thoughts weren't exactly innocent and his old man specifically told him to avoid this sort of thinking. In the end, everyone had their own problems and he had to allow Sasuke to deal with his own problems, all the while pestering him about becoming a chuunin. Naruto smiled to himself. This was a great plan.
When he and his 'gang' finished eating and stood up, Naruto quickly threw a glance over his shoulder, but he only faced Sasuke's back. Whatever.
"Guys, let's meet next to the stadium at around 10 tomorrow?" he proposed to the rest. "C'mon, I have something on my mind and we will get the best view on the chuunin exam!"
"Whatever, loudmouth," Kiba said with a taunting smirk. "See you tomorrow, then."
"See ya," said Choji and left in the same direction.
Shikamaru looked back at them. He then eyed Sakura's bag and mumbled, "Are you going to the library, then?"
"Yeah, I have to return a few books," she answered truthfully and tugged on Naruto's shirt, throwing a glance at Nara. "I'm also helping Naruto, but… do you want to come?"
"Sure, not like I've got anything better to do."
xxxx
Kankuro didn't know how long they were walking for, but it felt like years. He didn't even think about asking Gaara to help him and carry Temari – after all, he wasn't stupid enough and didn't want to die!
In the end, he had to take out the blade – they were in the silent part of the forest and it was unlikely that someone was going to come here any time soon, so they had to take off in some direction. Right after he pulled out the sword, he forced her to clutch onto her shoulder with her hand to stop the blood, even a little. Kankuro wasn't sure if it helped, because his mind was hazy and his vision was so blurry and there was still so much blood, dammit! But a few moments later, he managed to take a hold of himself and rip off a small piece of his shirt, which he then proceeded to tie around her shoulder. It quickly absorbed Temari's blood, but Kankuro forced himself to focus on the task at hand and made sure the knot was tight enough.
He then told her to get up – there was no need in being soft to her and he personally believed that she was much calmer when he forced her to get than she would be if he begged her. When she was more or less steady, Kankuro looked at Gaara and told him that they were moving now. The latter one gave him a small nod, though neither of them knew where to go. In the ned, Kankuro looked at the skies and it took him a few moments to figure out where south was – and they headed to south. If they went back to their country, and that ninja was sent to kill them by their father, they would be immediately imprisoned or, worse, executed the moment they cross the borderline. Gaara silently agreed with his explanation.
So now here they were, tired and soaking with sweat (for Temari, sweat immediately mixed with blood and made the smell even worse, but Kankuro was managing). Kankuro wasn't exactly carrying her, for she has refused to be carried in an extremely violent manner, and they had to settle on Temari putting her right arm over her brother's shoulder and putting some of the weight on that arm, so that she didn't find it as hard to move.
They knew that they have already crossed the line between the Fire country and the Wind country, but had yet to leave this seemingly never-ending forest and find someone to help them; stumbling across a small village would be perfect: it was unlikely any of them would question the three young kids, and would only call a doctor to treat Temari's wounds. Then… well, neither of them knew what will happen afterwards.
Eventually, they had to take a break, as there wasn't anyone who told them to get up and move – not anymore. They were lucky enough to see a small pond and Kankuro helped his sister to sit down nearby, though she was constantly growling that it's 'unnecessary' and that he shouldn't treat her like a 'fragile doll'. Well, it was Temari, after all. Kankuro proceeded to take care of the blood on her top and took off the piece of his own clothes that was used as a bandage; he then soaked it in water, getting rid of sweat and trying to remove at least a bit of blood from it – it turned out to be completely fruitless. He passed the damp clothes to her and allowed her to wash off the dried blood from her shoulder.
From the corner of his eyes, he could see his younger brother's trembling and it made him freeze. It was rather warm outside, besides Gaara could always use his sand to make himself warm, and there was only one reason why he was shaking.
Oh.
Dammit.
Kankuro darted towards Temari and hurriedly wiped off the blood and sweat off her shoulder, washed the clothes once again and secured the bandage around her shoulder, completely ignoring his sister's annoyed 'oi' and 'don't be so harsh', along with 'give it back'. But if he was right, and Gaara – or, rather, he and the demon within him – was trying to hold himself back and stopping himself from killing his sister, they were screwed. For the last hour or so of their travel, Gaara remained more or less calm, as he managed to kill that bastard and his sand absorbed most of his blood, much to Kankuro's disgust. Now, however, it seemed that that blood wasn't enough, and it only served as a trigger, waking up Gaara's thirst for blood.
When Kankuro looked over at his brother once again, there was no denying it, for Gaara was clutching onto his head and if Kankuro wasn't as observant, he could have thought that his brother's fingers were scraping his head and thus created bruises. His light-blue irises contracted and some of the capillaries in his eyes decided to burst, making the look on his face even more haunting. Gaara clenched his jaw, but some strangled moans and groans still left his mouth.
By the time he raised his head and looked at his siblings, Temari and Kankuro were already on their feet, running away as fast as they could. Temari was trying to reason with him by shouting 'don't, Gaara!' and 'you don't want this, you really don't want to kill us', but it was pointless. Gaara rose to his feet as slowly as possible and looked at his 'victims' that were currently running away. The demon whispered to him that he can use sand to catch them, but what fun would that be, Gaara thought to himself. No, he enjoyed the chase…
Some deeper part of him told him that he shouldn't do it, that they were family and there was no chance in hell he would feel nothing when he comes down from his high, but he thought of right here and right now, his nostrils widening and his jaw finally relaxing. Gaara took a few deliberate breaths, his gaze shifting to the small drops of Temari's blood that were splattered across the stone nearby.
But then again, there wasn't much he could do. He could deny his lust for blood all he wanted, but he couldn't trick Shukaku – the demon knew everything about him and kept urging him to attack, his sickeningly sweet voice filling Gaara's head and making the latter one bite on his lower lip.
But… if it's just a little… both of them will still survive, right? I couldn't control myself with him but only because he meant harm. I will… try and hold myself back… I won't kill them… I won't… kill… th-
Gaara didn't notice the moment the majority of his weight was put on his tiptoes and he began moving, but at some point he blinked and realised that he was running after his own siblings and had little to no control over his body. He was acutely aware of how physically weak he was, yet for some reason his body managed to move at an unfathomable speed, each step getting him closer and closer to his prey.
Yes, that's what they were. His prey. And he was the ultimate hunter.
It wasn't long before he reached out his hand in order to grab Temari by her wounded shoulder and violently pull her back, but Kankuro decided to take a leap and risk his own life by throwing himself in front of her. It was fruitless, however, seeing as Gaara's sand quickly casted him to the side and its owner only had to give Kankuro a single glance to make it clear that if he does it again, he will be dead in an instant.
Gaara slowly turned his head to Temari and they stood in front of each other, both unmoving – well, as unmoving as they could be, because both of them just couldn't stop their shaking. Temari kept shivering like crazy – she was scared, she was alone and the pain in her shoulder just couldn't seize – while her brother's body was trembling because his level of excitement reached the level of no return. She doubted he even controlled his own body anymore, or if he even understood what he was currently doing, because his light-blue irises – the ones she always appreciated when they were babies – contracted and she could barely see them.
Instead of using his sand, Gaara decided to attack her with his bare hands, and it was a big mistake on his part. Sure, her shoulder was burning like hell and she felt like fainting any second now, but her hazy mind could still recall the few self-defence lessons she has taken when she and Kankuro found out about how dangerous their younger brother is.
She allowed him to tackle her to the ground because she simply couldn't have the upper hand if they continued standing, but that was as far as it went. Without a further ado, she whispered a quick 'sorry' and rose her hands to his eyes, pushing them inside his skull. Her attack was met with a few angry grunts, but Gaara still refused to use his sand and forced it to stay off. All the better for her.
Temari couldn't help wincing at the pain in her wrists when Gaara took a hold of them. Perhaps it was because no one has ever bothered to teach him some of the basic defense techniques, but instead of pushing her hands away, he was simply holding onto them and squeezed them as hard as he could. She could only huff at this pathetic action – it would take more than his flimsy hands to break her wrists, so she continued pushing her thumbs into his eyes. His moans and groans became more frequent, and it wasn't long before he was wailing and shaking.
Finally, there was a thin stream of blood that ran out of the corner of his left eye and began trickling down his cheek. Temari crooked a smirk: this only proved her teacher's theory that it wasn't hard to push opponent's eyes inside his head, and all she needed was precision and determination. Oh, and a bit of adrenaline in her blood; she could whole-heartedly say that she had plenty of that in her body right now.
Sadly, her triumph didn't last for long, because this small trickle of blood triggered him brain to turn the fuck up and he allowed his sand to do his job for him.
Within moments, what seemed like a close victory turned into a complete disaster, as Temari was pinned to the ground, Gaara's sand holding her arms and legs in place. It didn't prevent her from kicking and screaming, though, thanks to the high level adrenaline in her body, but when she did calm down, it was the most terrifying experience ever.
She looked up at her brother, her eyes wide and her breathing shallow due to her recent screaming, and he bared his teeth at her. This crazy, absolutely mad smile made her realise that, no, Kankuro wasn't going to save her in time, and that, yes, Gaara completely lost his mind and gave it to that demon inside him.
xxxx
A/N: Cliffhangerrrr… *whispers from 2k14* I crave that mineral (no, Gaara, stop craving that mineral, blood is bad for your stomach)
OMG I have such an amazing scene in my head (must include, must include!) But nooo I'm too early into this story to put it here *sighs* maybe in, like, twenty chapters. Hahahah. Haha. Ha. *lies on the floor and sighs again* The struggles of writing fanfiction, man. Btw, the bit about eyes is purely theoretical on my part – I just remember talking to my dad about it (yeah I have no idea how this came up), but he assured me that 'squishing' eyes isn't actually that difficult and if you are ever attacked and there isn't much you can do, go for it. It will leave the attacker defenceless, if you aim riiiight inside the bastard's head.
I know that this fic feels slow, but I am writing it in such manner for a reason – yeah, I definitely plan to make it long, though I don't know just how long. This chapter was inspired by HP (Harry & others picking up their brooms during their first Quiddich training=Naruto picking up his books) and, quite obviously, Avatar (controlling all 4 elements, but as Shinigami said, he would be able to control freaking nature in future so… there is that) Also, my Gaara is like 10 months younger than Kankuro, so he's almost 6, Kankuro is 6 2/3 and Temari is 7 1/2. Why? I find it more convenient; besides, with the power of fanfiction, I wanted to make him older than Naruto.
Anyhow, reviews are always appreciated and I will see ya with a new chapter… whenever it's ready lol