Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I probably wouldn't be doing this.

AN: Well, here it is. Chapter eight rewritten.

"So, these are your children then, Kazekage-dono?" The Third Hokage looked over the trio standing behind Sunagakure's leader curiously. He'd never actually seen the Kazekage's family before, though he'd heard stories that the youngest of them could be quite vicious when he wanted to be. And admittedly, he did look a bit unfriendly as compared to the others, but certainly not like a monster. The Kazekage nodded in turn, pointing to each of the three.

"Indeed. This is Temari, Kankuro, and," He paused at the redhead for a moment, contemplating just how he wanted to introduce him, "Gaara, of the Desert."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Gaara gave his own half-hearted nod while his siblings bowed deeply. It wasn't that he lacked respect for the Hokage, but he'd never been especially fond of the formalities of the position, especially when he'd had almost no association with the other Kages whatsoever until he'd been thrust into the position himself. Either way, the elderly man didn't seem to take any kind of offense at his gesture. If anything he seemed pleased.

Strange. It was much like Naruto. He began to ponder if perhaps the Hokage was at least partially responsible for the blonde Jinchuuriki's positive attitude.

"So," The old man spoke again, "Would you like to attend our meeting? It would be a good experience if you intend to get involved in the political workings of our nations. If not, then please feel free to roam the village. That is if you have no objection of course, Kazekage-dono."

Their father looked them over for a moment, before coming to a decision. Since Gaara seemed uninterested in the offer, he had no reason to bring him along. But he certainly couldn't let the boy wander around a foreign village by himself. That could lead to far too many possible disasters to even consider. Temari already had an acceptable understanding of these matters, which left…

"Kankuro, you'll be coming with us. Temari, Gaara, you're free to do as you wish."

In other words, "Temari, make sure that your brother doesn't try to murder half of our allies while we're in the meeting." Even if he would still probably kill them without hesitation, Kankuro and Temari were just about the only people whom the Kazekage knew that Gaara wouldn't kill simply for breathing when he was in a bad mood. And of the two, Temari was the more level-headed one, and far less likely to say or do something to incur her brother's wrath.

Besides, Kankuro could use the lessons. He always seemed to disappear whenever they tried to teach him about politics, and this was a situation that he couldn't just talk his way out of.

Half an hour later, and in a different part of the village, there was another confrontation occurring. The previous was a polite political meeting between two Kages. This one, however…

"I'm giving you one more chance, Loser."

"Oh please. Like I'm really scared of you, Bastard."

"Of course not. I wouldn't expect an idiot to be scared of playing with fire, no matter how many times he's been burned. Now I'm telling you to drop it."

"Or what? Think you can catch me?" Naruto knelt down on the side of the wall out of Sasuke's reach, holding out the bright red tomato that he'd snapped from the dark-haired boy's hands mere moments after he'd bought it. Much to Sasuke's annoyance, his parents hadn't quite gotten around to teaching him the nifty little trick that would allow him to walk on walls, water, or other such surfaces that one normally couldn't. The idiot, on the other hand, apparently had picked it up somewhere. And now he had his tomato. Unforgivable.

This would not end well.

"What's wrong, Sasuke? Too slo-ack" And with that cry, Naruto was lifted into the air by what appeared to be a string of sand wrapped around his ankle. Sasuke blinked in confusion, and glanced towards the sky for a moment, before shrugging and picking up the tomato his antagonist had dropped in his ascent.

Hmph. Anti-climactic, but convenient. At least I don't have to chase him around again.

As he took a moment to rub the thin layer of dust covering the treat off on his shirt, a blonde girl around his age, maybe a little older, walked up behind him with a concerned look. Tapping his shoulder to get his attention, she pointed to the place where Naruto had just been.

"Hey, aren't you worried about your friend?"

Should I be worried? Perhaps, but to be completely honest, it's not that unusual. Not for the idiot, anyway. "…Not really, no. I've seen him do stranger things."

The girl looked as though she wanted to say something, but after a few seconds of deliberation, apparently came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it. So with an apprehensive glance towards the rooftops, Temari walked off and prayed that nothing would go wrong. Her brother had just disappeared on her minutes earlier, and while he hadn't seemed particularly homicidal recently, she had no idea what he'd want with the loud kid that had been annoying the cute one. Either way, since they weren't currently being showered in blood, she could only hope that the Jinchuuriki just found the kid interesting and felt curious.

As Naruto shot through the air, only to come to a sudden stop moments later and considerably higher off the ground, he was less than pleased. He didn't like being hauled into the air without any kind of warning beforehand, he didn't like hanging upside down, and sure as hell didn't like being interrupted when he was taunting his eventual teammate and greatest rival. So when he stopped spinning and finally got his bearings straight he prepared the harshest glare he could muster, which admittedly wasn't all that intimidating, and prepared to chew someone out like never before.

"Okay, what the heck is-oh, hey Gaara! Um, mind lettin' me go?" Naruto grinned at the one-time Kazekage, his frustration dissipating in an instant at the sight of his old ally. With a casual wave, the redheaded Jinchuuriki released his grip on his ankle, allowing him to drop to the rooftop as the sand returned to its home in the gourd that never seemed to leave Gaara's back.

"It's been some time, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah, especially with," He gestured at himself, "y'know, this whole thing."

"It is a rather strange feeling." Naruto let out one of those cheeky chuckles, reaching back to scratch behind his head in an all too familiar gesture. In the end, Gaara couldn't remember seeing him so careless. Not since the Toad Sannin fell.

"Tell me about it. I think I was in shock at first, then for a while there I thought I might be goin' crazy."

So it seems we were both confused. At least he wasn't alone in that feeling. "…How did you know you weren't?"

"Well, I didn't exactly remember much from my childhood real well. Just the big stuff, y'know? When that stuff started happening the way I thought it would, I just kinda figured…"

"It must have been real."

"Yep. Or one heck of a dream. 'Til I heard from you, I wasn't sure if I got sent back in time, or just had some kinda vision of the future or somethin' like that, or if I really just went nuts."

"It must have been difficult."

"Ah, not that bad. Haven't been able to do a lot. Stopped the Uchiha from getting' killed off, but I haven't had a chance to do much else. Can't even leave the village yet without most of the people here freaking out."

"Just leave changing things to me for now." There was only so much he'd be able to do given his own circumstances, but at least he was capable of leaving the village whenever he chose to do so.

"Heh. You just wanna have all the fun to yourself. Soon as I'm out of the academy, I'm gonna start kicking some ass."

"I'm sure."

"So, what's the plan? Is there a plan?" Naruto plopped down on the roof, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his palm. "We've got to come up with something, you know?"

Gaara shrugged, joining the blonde on the ground.

"All I have now are goals, but no path. The Akatsuki, Orochimaru…"

"I don't think we could bring down the freak with the mask or Pain right now, so they're off limits until we've gotten a bit stronger."

"I agree."

"Let's see…We've definitely gotta take out Orochimaru as soon as possible. Snake Bastard just doesn't give up, and we can't afford to let him take Sasuke." Frankly, it wouldn't do him or Sakura any good emotionally, especially now that he knew it was going to happen, and with the kind of potential Sasuke had it wouldn't exactly be healthy for the village either.

"If we intend to destroy Orochimaru, our best opportunity would probably be the Chunin Exams. He'll expect us all to trust the Kazekage, and he'll expect the Kazekage to trust him."

"The Chunin Exams…If things don't change too much by then, we can probably deal with a lot of our problems there. I mean, the Akatsuki's out, but some of the best that Orochimaru's got will be there."

"Indeed…And what of Sasuke Uchiha's elder brother? The one that drove him to Orochimaru?"

"Itachi? I'm not sure. As long as he doesn't kill off his clan or get the Mangekyo Sharingan, we can probably leave him alone for a while. We'll still need to deal with him sooner or later though. From what I've seen, he's pretty dangerous, even just with the regular Sharingan."

"It seems we have our work cut out for us, then."

"Nah, you 'n me can handle it no problem! We're the ones with the surprise this time!" Somehow, Gaara couldn't help the small smile that appeared with that statement.

"…Still so very optimistic."

"Huh?"

"It's inspiring. You have that effect on people." He really did. There was just something about the personality of the Kyuubi's host that seemed to draw people to him.

"Ah, it's no big deal."

"I disagree." Naruto's head tilted to the side in confusion.

"Huh? Whattya mean?"

"I'm…not sure that you understand just how much of an effect you have on people. Me, for instance."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Before our battle, I was a monster. Don't try to deny it." He silenced Naruto before he could make the protest that he was obviously intent on making.

"I was…alone. I had family, but we were only family through blood. My only purpose, for them or myself, was to kill anything that needed to be killed. And more often than not, things that didn't need to be killed." This time, he could avoid that.

"You, Naruto Uzumaki, changed that." The blonde just shook his head in response.

"I didn't make you care about them, Gaara. That was all you."

"Perhaps you didn't force me to care about people, no. But I never had and never would have even considered the possibility of doing so until after meeting you. The strength you had when you fought to protect people who were precious to you…it changed me, somehow. I wanted to have something to care about, something that I would go to the same lengths you did to protect, that I could draw that strength from…and perhaps, something that cared enough for me to do the same." I wanted…a family. A real one.

"Gaara…"

"You didn't create my bonds. But you gave me both the reason and the means to build them."

"Well, uh…glad I could help, Gaara." They sat in silence again, looking out over the quiet village, Gaara watching as his first friend shuffled awkwardly. He understood, he'd been the same way when people actually began praising him instead of shunning him, but it just seemed so wrong coming from the young blonde. It was wrong that any child would be treated as they had, but someone like him, someone who never once gave in and justified their hatred of him…somehow it just felt so much worse.

"Konohagakure...is a pleasant place." Perhaps the people left something to be desired at times, but the village itself was quite a pleasant sight.

"Yeah, it is. Not much like Suna though…I mean, no offense Gaara, but I'm not really a fan of the desert." Naruto glanced over and gave the redhead a grin.

"Hm. Suna is beautiful in its own way, I suppose."

"Ya think?" His features shifted into a more quizzical expression, his thoughts drifting towards Sunagakure's appearance.

"The desert is dangerous, deadly. Just to live can be a struggle. And to see my people not only survive, but thrive…I find it beautiful."

"Huh? Y'know, that kinda makes sense. I've never really thought about it like that. So why do you like Konoha so much?" Admittedly, even if he didn't like how Suna looked in comparison to Konoha, Naruto had to respect anyone that could live there. He'd probably go crazy if he tried to live in such a dry, barren place for any extended period of time.

"Konohagakure is different. It's calming, soothing. Here, I feel…peace." A barely audible sigh passed his lips, and he lifted his head to look over the village, the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth an obvious sign of content to anyone who truly knew him.

"Yes…peace."

"Peace, eh? Yeah, that's a pretty good way to describe it. And when'd you get so darn poetic, Gaara?"

"Hmph."

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

"Well, it's just that from what little I've heard, you do your best to make sure that things around here are as far from peaceful as possible."

"Oh come on, I'm not much of a prankster anymore. And they weren't that bad."

"…" Gaara just gave him a pointed, skeptical look.

"…What?"

"…"

"I'm serious!"

"…"

"Hey, don't give me that look."

"…"

"Okay, so maybe I still do a prank now and then! What's the big deal?"

"…"

"You just don't give up, do ya?"

"…"

"…Alright, alright, I'll admit it. I still do a prank or two every couple months."

"…"

"…Weeks?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Days?"

"Hn." Translation: That was a claim that he could actually believe.

"Yeesh. Ever consider being an interrogator?"

"You're rather simple to read, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto stuck his tongue out. Gaara just smirked.

AN: There goes the chapter eight rewrite. Possibly one of the least heavily altered yet.