Okey dokey then, I wanna be on a roll, so I can attempt to keep up. I've already typed out one chapter for another story, let's go for two, ne? And away we go!

Disclaimer: I own this laptop, and with it, I can bend the world of Naruto. But, with a pencil in my hand, I can't even attempt to draw Naruto. Thus, I don't own it. (sigh)

Chapter 7

Recap:

"And he's really not attracted to you?" Kakashi asked.

"Nah, Kaka-sensei, that's just an inside joke between me and him. Is there anything else, or can I go back to people who aren't going to drag me to rooftops?" Without waiting for an answer, Naruto ran down the wall of the building confidently, and made his way back to the shop, leaving his former teacher to his own thoughts.

'Why do I care who Kitsune-taicho is attracted to?' Kakashi wondered.

Naruto made his way back to his friends grinning maniacally. Kakashi was confused, which was funny, Sakura and Shikamaru suspected something, which was interesting, and Sasuke was none the wiser about anything, which just about made his day.

It was good to be him.

Naruto was pelted with questions as to why his sensei had dragged him away so quickly, without any explanation.

The blond laughed it off, as usual. "He just wanted to grill me about the mission I went on, even though baa-chan told me to keep it a secret. He's just being nosy."

Neither Shikamaru nor Sakura seemed convinced, though the others took it as truth.

Shikamaru had observed the blond as much as he could over the time they were chatting in the flower shop, and had yet to notice anything off about the other boy, though he hadn't really spoken to Naruto enough to get to know him well.

Sakura was still suspicious. Really, it was just too big of a coincidence. It seemed that Naruto was not Kitsune, but when she went to go confront the ANBU Captain about his double identity, Naruto just happened to be there? Unlikely, really. She might have been fooled had she not known Naruto could create Kage Bunshin. As she had hit Naruto multiple times, Kitsune could have been Naruto's clone in uniform. But her friend was too prideful to drag his own name through the mud like that. Bad gas, seriously? Sakura didn't know whether to believe it or not.

.: Pinky suspects something, and Pineapple head suspects that Pinky suspects something.:. Kyuubi pointed out needlessly. Naruto didn't even react when the demon's voice echoed in his mind, continuing his conversation with Chouji without pause.

.: No, really?:. Naruto's thought voice was sarcastic. .: I would have never realized that if you, in all you ancient glorified fluffiness, hadn't pointed that out to me. Thank you, Lord Kyuubi, for the privlidge of you having departed some of your wisdom upon me.:.

Kyuubi snorted derisively. .: You're welcome, brat. Glad you properly appreciate how valuable I am.:. He responded, rolling his ginormous red eyes. Naruto mentally giggled.

~~~~With The Rest of Naruto's ANBU Team (Excluding Kakashi)~~~~

Three jounin sat together in the bbq shop, chatting quietly in a corner. If one was to listen closely, all they would hear is inane chatter about the jounins' daily lives, while, in reality, it was a subtle genjutsu that covered the real conversation.

And this topic was nothing new to the jounin. Who was Kitsune?

"He said his favorite color is red, and his favorite food is sushi. And Tsunade-sama revealed that he has two summoning contracts at his disposal." One of the jounin, an effiminate man known to the citizens as Watari Kaiba, but the small group also identified as Neko, pointed out.

"We know, you idiot, we were there too." Ookami growled, though to the citizens' eyes, the face of Ibiki Morino remained impassive.

Yugao Uzuki, who was sitting next to him, snorted derisively. Mizuhebi, as she was more often called by this lot, was one of Kaiba's most dedicated torturers. As he was relatively new to the team, he was seen as a probie, thus mercilessly teased.

"Well, look at it this way! It's a fact, as stated by him, that he is one of the Rookie Nine. How many of them have at least one confirmed summons, much less two?" Kaiba exclaimed, covering for his embarrasment.

That actually caused the other two secret ANBU members to think.

"Well..." Ibiki said after a drawn out, thoughtful silence, "The Uchiha brat has admitted to signing the Snake summoning contract."

"Don't forget that new flunky of the Hokage, what's her name, Sakura, was recently rumored to have been given access to the Slug summoning contract." Yugao added.

"Uzumaki is known to have the Frog summons at hand." Kaiba said, and two out of the three grimaced. Ibiki just rolled his eyes. He remembered the brat from the first test of the Chuunin Exams, and yes, the kid was annoying, but there was no way in Hell he was evil.

Wait a second...

"Hey, isn't the Kyuubi the boss summons of the Foxes?" He asked suddenly.

"Why should I know, or ca- shit!" Kaiba exclaimed, as he came to the same conclusion as his coworker.

Yugao, as usual, was the last to catch on. "Why would that be important?" She demanded, after the other two didn't expand on their statments.

Kaiba sighed exasperatedly. "Think of it this way, Yugao-san. If Uzumaki somehow managed to sign the Fox contract, he would be the weilder of how many contracts?" He expalined as if talking to a rather dim child.

Yugao scowled, until his words sunk in. "Shit."

They were about to explore the possibility more, when someone entered the bubble of privacy, and they all turned to come face to face with Hatake Kakashi.

"Inu, you're late." Ibiki growled, after making sure their genjutsu was still safely in place.

"And I have a valid reason, one of my dear students just came back from a solo mission, and I had to go greet him personally, of course." The silver haired man explained, taking the empty seat beside Neko.

"That student that came back wouldn't happen to be Uzumaki, would it?" Yugao asked. Kakashi grinned, though it wasn't visible under his clothe mask.

"Yeah, it was. And he got me the most foresightful present for my birthday!" The happy jounin shouted, bandishing one of the Icha Icha books. The rest had taken the shelf of the old collection.

"... Didn't Kitsune-taicho burn your copies of those?" Kaiba asked cautiously. Kakashi, still oblivious, nodded with a woeful sigh.

"He left the cinders on my doorstep. I still stand true to the claim that it wasn't me who told Neko, but Taicho won't believe me." He announced sorrowfully, and didn't notice the panicked look in his teammates' eyes.

"There's no way it can be a coincidence." Yugao said.

"But it can't be true because..." Ibiki murmured.

"We'd be screwed." Kaiba finished Ibiki's sentence for him. And it was true, if their Taicho was who they thought he was, then they would all be worse than dead, with the way they treated the teen in civilian life.

"What in the world has got you guys so wound?" Kakashi queried, finally catching on to his team's distress.

Ibiki, who was the only one who could moderately speak, said plainly, "Inu, we have reason to belive that our Taicho may be one and the same with that blond gaki you teach."

Whatever they were suspecting, it wasn't the laughter that escaped the silver haired man's lips.

When the scarecrow finally caught his breath enough to explain, he did so, "I don't know how you all came to that conclusion, but there is no way Naruto is Kitsune-Taicho, not only does it not make sense, it is impossible! Naruto is well intentioned, but a bit of a clutz, nothing like our graceful leader. And he's too loud! Kitsune wouldn't be caught dead making that much noise! He's also too naive to have killed as many men as Taicho. Do I need to continue?"

But the job was done, and the team relaxed. "Yeah," Kaiba said, laughing at their stupidity, "There's no possible way. How could we even begin to think that, much less make ourselves believe it." Yugao nodded in agreement.

Thus, the teammates settled down to discuss who else their mysterious captain might be behind the porcelain mask, not realizing that the metaphorical one the boy donned did it's job efficently.

Of to the side, Ibiki frowned. It was almost too easy...

Could it be that none of them were practicing the very thing they all taught, look underneath the underneath?

~~~~ With Gaara And Naruto ~~~~

If one were to look up at the Hokage Monument from the village at its feet, they would have not immediately spotted the two figures perched on the top of the Yondaime's head. If they did, from that vantage point, notice the figures, they still wouldn't be able to see enough to make out who they were.

Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara sat together with their feet dangling to the oblivion that was presented by the cliff, neither frightened by the sheer drop.

Gaara almost snorted at the picture others who knew them would see. Two people with totally opposite personalities sitting together, in a comfortable silence. Before, he too, would have thought so. But now his eyes had been opened to the fact that he and his blond friend were more alike than he originally assumed.

Both had the blood of those who were innocent, and those who were not so innocent, staining their hands crimson. They had both been slaves to the expectations of others, before they were pulled from the mindset. One by an old man who had extended his hand to the child, who in turn had grabbed hold of the other, and yanked him visciously into friendship. Both were not the demons they were accused of, though both had come closer than they were comfortable admitting.

Gaara glanced at his silent companion, whose eyes mirrored the color of the sky he was staring blankly at.

Both were cursed to die, someday, for the people that hated them.

And they had both accepted it.

After a few more minutes of complete lack of the jabber he was used to from Naruto, Gaara himself broke the peace of the scene.

He gently touched a whiskered cheek. "It's almost as if the boy I met so long ago died." He whispered, and the blue eyes landed on him.

"He couldn't have died, Gaara, because he never really existed in the first place." Naruto responded, his voice equally soft.

Gaara nodded, and both withdrew into their silent contemplations.

And another similarity was born, because both minds hovered on the thoguht of whether or not someone who never existed could die.

Teehee, that's two down, one to go, but not right now, I'm sleepy... Night!