Reading Guide

"Hello" Talking

'Hello' Thinking

(Twenty Minutes Later) Time

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Naruto.

The Kazekage opened his left eye lazily as he considered the KAZU ninja before him. The KAZU were Suna's version of Konoha's ANBU, and while they tended to be weaker than ANBU they had a reputation for extreme cunning and terrifying adaptability.

"Report," the Kazekage sighed after a moment.

"Hai!" the ninja responded. "As of exactly twenty two minutes ago jutsu have stopped working in the Village."

"What?" the Kazekage's left eye opened wider.

"Jutsu have stopped working. It is still possible to channel chakra, but when it is released there is no effect."

The Kazekage stood and held out his hand. In a matter of seconds gold dust that had been scattered around the room gathered in his palm. His frown deepened. He dropped the ball and quickly went through a series of hand signs for making an earthen wall, but once he finished and the chakra left him there was no effect.

"I see," he said.

"Do you know what's happening?" the KAZU operative asked, curiosity tingeing his voice.

"Yes," the Kazekage responded. "It's an ability called Equilibrium. It holds everything in nature in perfect balance, that is to say that manipulation jutsu have no effect."

It was the first thing that was taught to any academy student, the two forms of ninjutsu. First was creation, in which the ninja created the element they were going to wield out of pure chakra; the second was manipulation, where the ninja used their chakra to manipulate an already existing element. Manipulation was the superior method by far, to create an element took three times the chakra simply manipulating one did, and even then the created element tended to be only half as strong as a preexisting one. A creation jutsu required six times the chakra to equal the strength of a manipulation jutsu, and so creation jutsu were only used in extreme cases.

"The only reason I'm able to manipulate my gold dust it because it's been infused with my chakra for years. Equilibrium stops chakra from interacting with nature, but it can't separate chakra that is already infused with an element. It's an absolutely devastating ability when pitted against Water, Earth or Wind jutsu, but it rarely effects Fire and Lightning jutsu because they tend to be pure energy conversion rather than manipulation."

"So, do you know why this is happening?"

"It's the Shukaku, this is one of his powers. For a period of time during the time of the Second Kazekage, Suna lost control of the Ichibi. The biju fled once it had been freed and destroyed a sizable portion of the village. About a year later it was located at Haverin's Summit, the lone mountain."

Haverin's summit was famous as the highest point in the entire Elemental Nations, and it was also the only actual mountain in Wind Country. Amid the waves of sand it stands like a lone soldier guarding secrets yet to be uncovered.

"The mountain's current association with the supernatural is party due to the Shukaku deciding to recover there. You see it was greatly weakened by it's years of confinement, and that was where it went to recover. Well, once the Second discovered it's location he had one hundred Suna ninja with Water affinities gather up massive amounts of water. Then, carrying it on their backs they set off towards Haverin's Summit. The plan was to weaken the Shukaku before sealing it a baby, like the other biju were dealt with."

"In the end the biju was sealed, but only after the ninja force had sustained serious losses. Once the attack began the ninja found that their jutsu didn't work and were then slaughtered like animals; only the strength of the Second was enough to finally win, and even then he was heavily wounded."

"So this is Gaara's doing?" the KAZU operative asked with distaste.

"Possibly, possibly not. What is cetain, though, is that he cannot stay within Suna. Noting how dangerous the ability was the Second tested it's radius before sealing the beast. He found that Equilibrium's effects extend for roughly ten miles in any given direction. That's more than enough to cover the entirety of Suna, and with that type of disadvantage if the other villages found out they wouldn't hesitate to attack. Kumo in particular would be on the war path, Equilibrium wouldn't even phase most of their shinobi."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to remove the issue," the Kazekage said, voice as cold as ice.

Zoro and Gaara had been conversing quietly when the were interrupted by the sound of shunshin. Looking up Gaara saw the cold face of his father.

"Gaara," he said.

"Yes?" Gaara responded, completely perplexed.

"You need to leave the village," he continued without the slightest sign of emotion. "Your presence here has become too much of a hindrance." The boy in question was shocked into silence.

"What's this about?" Zoro asked, turning his blindfolded head in the direction he sensed the large aura of the Kazekage.

"Although I don't know how or why, Gaara has acquired an ability called Equilibrium. . ."

As he continued explaining the effects of the ability Gaara could hear the Shukaku chuckling to itself. 'Serves you right, serves you right.'

Concluding his speech the Kazekage let out a sigh, the first sign of emotion he had shown since he appeared. "Zoro, I have seen your strength, please protect him." Gaara's face lifted, his father did care about him. "It would be terrible if the Ichibi fell into the hands of another village."

To say that Gaara was crushed was an understatement. First he learned that his mother never loved him and gained the symbol on his forehead, and although there was no physical mark this time was no worse. He had always know that his father was not an emotional man, but he had always believed that deep down his father cared for him.

'At least I still have Zoro,' he thought to himself. 'I never loved this village anyways, it never brought me anything but pain.'

'Hey, what'd know?' the Shukaku's voice echoed up from within the seal. 'That's something I can relate to. Demons never give allegiance to the intangible, to things like places and ideals. We're much more down to earth, what we value are the ones who stand beside us. I might just be able to stand you, brat. You're strong, determined and not a moron.'

'So you trust me?' Gaara questioned.

'Hell no,' the demon responded. 'If you want me to call you a friend you'll have to work way harder than that. Keep at it though, and you have a chance. I still wouldn't get your hopes up, your simply not as hopeless as all of the other human weaklings.'

"Very well, we're going," Zoro's voice cut through his thoughts. "Come on, Gaara."

Looking towards his sole friend he nodded. The pair turned around and walked away from the Kazekage. As the two boys were about to turn behind a building and disappear from sight, the KAZU ninja jumped down next to the Kaxekage.

"Was that really a good idea?" he asked. The Kazekage gave him a withering glare that almost made him regret asking the question, but he still waited for an answer. Eventually, he received one.

"You weren't there, you haven't seen what that boy's capable of."

"Gaara?"

"No, the one called Zoro."

"What can he do?"

"I. . . don't know, and that's what terrifies me."

As Suna was receding into the distance Gaara was beginning to have second thoughts.

'Hey Shukaku?'

'What?' the demon grumbled. 'I'm not your personal adviser on call twenty-four seven, you know.'

'I know, but I have a question?'

"Are you going to ask it?' the Shukaku asked, beginning to get annoyed.

'That ability, Equilibrium, can it but turned off?'

'What do you take me for? Of course it can be turned off, but why bother. Train yourself enough and you can make it selective meaning that manipulation jutsu work unless you specifically don't want them to. Or there's the inverse where it effects everyone except a few you allow to use their manipulation jutsu.'

'Can you teach me?'

'Yes.'

'. . . You won't, will you?'

'Nope.'

'I hate you.'

'Why thank you.'

Breaking off the connection Gaara looked up at his newest traveling companion. "Where are we going?" Gaara asked.

"We're headed to Haverin's Summit. I assume you've heard of it," Zoro answered.

"Why there?"

"Well, it seems the place has some interesting secrets."

"How do you know?"

"I overheard the Kazekage with my Observation Haki."

"You can do that?" Gaara's eyes were wide.

"Yes, it's an ability I developed after three months with my blindfold on. I actually knew it was possible before that, thought. I once ran into a man who could do it, he called himself Enel."

"Who was he?" Gaara asked, but after several minutes he had still received no answer.

"He's a part of your past, isn't he?" Once again, Gaara received no answer, but this time he didn't need one.

(A/N: Well, that was fun. Actually, I'm starting to find that writing this story is really, really fun. For that reason I'm considering making it a scheduled story, meaning you would be getting weekly updates. Still, before I do that, I want to know how many people actually care. To that end I will have a poll up on my profile. Please vote, and don't forget to review!)