Reading Guide

"Hello" Talking

'Hello' Thinking

(Twenty Minutes Later) Time

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

If one was to create a triangle using Sunagakure Amegakure and Ishigakure as the corners and then locate the center of the newly created shape, they would find Haverin's Peak. If they were to travel there now they would also find two wanderers gazing up at the imposing mountain. One of the two was dressed in a simple form fitting white shirt and black pants. His eyes and face were covered by a cloth that could look both black and or green depending on which angle it was viewed from and said cloth obscured most all of the figure's distinctive features, but because of his stature it was obvious he was extremely young.

His companion was not taller than he was, and had flaming blood red hair. The second boy wore a simple robe with two parts. The first part went on the top and had a tall neck with a bottom that extended down to over the beginnings of his brown shirt. It was the traditional garb of Suna, the city about thirty miles to the south. The second boy also had a symbol carved onto his forehead and notable black rings around his eyes.

"So this is it, huh?" Gaara asked.

'It is,' the Shukaku confirmed.

"I see," Zoro said. Gaara turned to stare at him.

"Wait, you can hear the Shukaku?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, Observation Haki," Zoro responded. Gaara had to sigh. Of course, Observation Haki. The ability was absolutely terrifying, but insanely useful too.

"So then, let's head in," Zoro said as he began to move forward.

"Wait, how are we going to do that?" Gaara asked as he jogged alongside Zoro. "As far as I know the mountain is completely solid."

"Wrong," Zoro responded. "It's actually completely hollow, if what I'm feeling is correct. And finding an entrance is no issue, there's one right up there." Gaara followed the path that Zoro's finger created and indeed he did see a slight alcove in the rock of the mountain. He had to marvel at Zoro's incredible sense of direction, he had never seen his green haired friend get lost even once. Actually, Zoro seemed to have a knack for finding shortcuts through Suna that even a villager like Gaara didn't know about. It was probably because he depended on Observation Haki rather than sight. Once again Gaara thanked his lucky stars that he was able to learn such a useful ability.

Once the duo had reached the alcove the headed in. The passage was dark and slightly damp, and Gaara could feel a strange chakra emanating from deeper within the tunnel. The Shukaku could also feel it. 'We're getting close.'

'To what?' Gaara asked back.

'You'll see,' the Shukaku answered, and a minute later he did. Much as Zoro had predicted, the entire inside of the mountain was hollow, but that wasn't all. The chamber extended for well over a mile and it's ceiling was too far up to see. On the ground there were nine symbols, each of them glowing faintly, all but one. One of the symbols was glowing brightly, brightly enough to illuminate that entire portion of the cavern. It was like no symbol Gaara had ever seen before, but somehow it felt comforting. 'Home,' he and the Shukaku though as one.

"What is this place?" Zoro asked the Shukaku.

'This is where I was. . . how to express it in your terms. Born? Incarnated? No, neither of those really fit. To put is as simply as possible, this is the place where the Sage of the Six Paths summoned us from our realm.'

"So you were summoned from you dimension, taken from your home?" Zoro asked.

'Yes and no, we were summoned but we were not taken. We came into this world hoping to assist the Sennin with our power, which, looking back, was rather meager. Well, that plan fell through pretty quick, seeing as we all got captured. The one who captured us was an enemy of the Sennin and I know neither his name nor his face. He used some sort of technique to fuse the nine of us, the nine biju, into a single being which he dubbed the Jubi. We had no control over ourselves and we were forced to fight the Sennin. Fortunately he defeated us and was able to divide us back up again.'

"So what happened to the one who fused you?" Gaara asked.

'The Sennin hunted him down and killed him, he is no more. Since then the story has faded into myth and legend and has branched off into several different stories. One story even has it that chakra came from a fruit and that the Jubi came from the tree that bore the fruit, but I assure you, I ain't no tree.'

"Why do your speech patterns keep changing?" Zoro asked idly as he gazed at the glowing symbol, "And what connection do you share with the glowing symbol?"

'I do think I've given you enough information for the moment, work out the rest yourselves.' With that the demon severed the connection.

"I think he's bi-polar," Gaara said, putting his entirely possible opinion on the table.

(Three Months Later)

It was hard, but over the course of the next three months Gaara managed to learn to control Equilibrium. How? Well, the two often took trips to Ishigakure and there they would work on the perfection of the technique. Of course, the fact that some jutsu would randomly stop working drove the shinobi mad and made the village's leader grow grey hair early. To repay him, once the training was complete, Zoro took an S-Class mission in which he had Gaara exercise Equilibrium's power in combat. Once the mission was complete he donated the pay to the village, and quite a considerable amount it was.

After that the two spent most of the next month making the interior of Haverin's Summit livable. Gaara decked the place out as only an exuberant five year old could, and Zoro made sure they had all the essentials. Life settled into a normal routine, each day they would train physically for around two hours, then they would work on swordsmanship using wooden swords that Zoro had picked up somewhere. After that they would train in Observation Haki, and just recently Zoro had begun to teach him Armament Haki as well. Other than that Zoro had managed to get ahold of some scrolls with jutsu for Gaara to look over in his spare time.

They took missions every few days and every now and then Gaara would spend a day meditating with the Shukaku who was actually rather reasonable when it wasn't near the full moon. Really, whenever the full moon was out it was like he was on his, or possibly her, period. Ever since Zoro had explained the birds and the bees to him he had a crack theory that the Shukaku was actually female and because it was a demon it's period always coincided with the full moon. To him at least, the idea made perfect sense. Of course, he was careful not to let the Shukaku know that and closely guarded the segment of his mind that housed such thoughts.

But of course, such routines cannot last. The normal routine was completely disrupted one day after the two had wrapped up a rather easy A-Rank mission. Zoro always took the front using his impossible strength and speed to take down opponents while Gaara stayed at a distance and used his sand and Equilibrium to help Zoro. Gaara's growth rate was incredible but he was five and at most a low B-Rank threat. Devastating though his Equilibrium could be, he didn't have the endurance to keep up in even a low-level taijutsu fight, something Zoro was working hard to correct. Although Gaara didn't know it, the taijutsu training he was receiving was second only to one, said one coming with the notable drawback of a mandatory green jumpsuit.

Anyways, after that day's mission the two were wandering through Amegakure when they heard it. It was a conversation between two shinobi sitting at a bar, and although it didn't interest Gaara in the slightest it made Zoro freeze in his tracks.

"Hey, have you heard about Konoha's demon swordsman?" the one asked.

"Of course, who hasn't? The new ANBU with the black sword, right?" the other replied.

"No, no," the first answered. "Well, yes, that's him, but no. The sword's not just black, it's as black as night with a red lining. It's said that you can feel a demonic presence just by being near the thing, and it's not just the sword."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"There are supposedly two energy signatures on the sword, one emanating from within and one clinging onto the outside. Nobody knows what type of energy it is, but it sure as hell isn't chakra. The energy from within the sword is said to be demonic and malicious, but the energy clinging to the outside," the man shuddered.

"What?" the second asked, now genuinely interested.

"I talked to a man who saw the sword and felt the second energy, and he was scared shitless of it. He said that the second energy radiated power, more than anything else. 'E said it was as if the previous owner's will have been engrained into the sword, but that's not all. The aura of power about the sword was old, but there is a much fresher aura there as well, one of hatred and despair. Whoever that sword used to belong to, in the moments before it left their hands it much have experienced rage unlike anything else. They say it's cursed, and that it's only a matter of time before that ANBU is dragged into the pits of hell."

"He, nice story," the second man replied. "I know the swords real, but the rest is bullshit."

Back with Zoro and Gaara, Zoro was deep in thought while Gaara was completely zoned out in his own little world.

"Hey," Zoro said startling Gaara out of his musings. "We're not headed back to the Summit this time, at least not yet."

"Where are we going?" Gaara asked curiously.

"We need to drop by Konoha first, I think they might have something of mine."

(A/N: So there you have it, chapter six. Hope you all enjoyed it, and the poll from last chapter's still up if you want to vote and haven't already. I don't really know when it'll come down, but for the meantime it will remain open. Now then, last chapter a guest asked, "If Gaara is banished, not a graduate genin and sane, what does that mean for the Chuunin Exam Arc?" Well now, isn't that a good question. That's one of the things to come, and next chapter you'll see more changes. The Chunnin Exams in this story is going to be nothing like it was in cannon, but it's still a ways off. Hope you're still here when we get there and don't forget to review!)