*I dedicate this next chapter to Never Believe the Believable! Thanks for reading and reviewing so often! Anyway, guess who's graduating in a week…it's me! I'm almost done with high school. I'm heading to Hampshire College next year, should be a blast, right? Well, enjoy the next chapter!
Notes: I'm pretty sure "Itoko" means cousin, but I could be wrong (you are talking to someone who's illiterate in Japan, and only knows butchered Japanese from anime/manga. Yeah, I only know enough to get by in a fight XD). Also, I think "Geji-mayu" means fuzzy brows, though I'm not sure if it mayu or mayo. I just know that that's what Naruto calls Lee.
WARNING: Any medical knowledge that Kaiser attempts to portray is actually butchered information that she received from high school level Anatomy, high school level Psychology, and the Discovery Channel.
I sincerely apologize to any med students out there who spend this time laughing their asses off.
Chapter 5: Present—Gaara, Neji, and Naruto
Lee could not help the relief that seemed to flood his entire body when in the distance he saw Sai helping a battered Naruto to walk. He could not control the smile that crossed his face. Naruto and Sai were alive. They had won. He briefly glanced toward his redheaded companion, only to find that Gaara was smiling as well. No, not just smiling, he was absolutely beaming, unshed tears of happiness in his eyes (or rather his visible eye). His celadon green iris shifted towards Lee, as he whispered, "They did it, Lee."
The taijutsu-specialist simply shook his head in disbelief. "Wonderful, is it not?" He grinned at the Kazekage. "You know, Gaara-kun, if you had smiled like that when we first met, I might have fallen for you instead of Neji." He chuckled good-naturedly at the shock on Gaara's face. The redhead chose to say nothing.
"Gaara! Geji-mayu!" came a call from afar; Naruto had spotted them. The blonde grinned widely at the sight of his friends. However, as they got closer, his smile disappeared. It would seem that he saw the states that Neji and Shikamaru were in. Gaara and Lee stopped in front of their two comrades. "Neji…Shikamaru…are they okay?"
"Nara-kun isn't in any immediate danger, but Neji-san needs medical attention right now," Gaara answered without delay. "We need to find Haruno-san as soon as possible." Naruto nodded.
"Right. If you give me a sec to rest, I can go find her-"
"No," argued Sai. "I'll find her. You've done enough for one day." Naruto sighed, but reluctantly agreed.
"Let's split up," cut in Gaara, deciding to take charge. "We have three capable fighters-"
"Two capable fighters," Lee corrected in a stern tone. One would think that he was speaking to a stubborn younger brother instead of the Godaime Kazekage. Lee and Gaara shared a glance. "Please, Gaara-kun," he admonished in a gentler tone. Naruto and Sai were unsure of the true meaning behind the argument but thought it better not to ask. Gaara redhead sighed.
"Okay, two capable fighters. Four if Naruto and I push it, one critically ill and one…" he trailed off, looking towards Shikamaru. It was uncertain whether or not he could fight if the situation warranted it, but for now, he was staring at the ground, clinging to Gaara.
"What's up with Shikamaru?" asked Naruto. Gaara shook his head.
"He won't say," the redhead explained. "I'm no medic, but I wonder if Uchiha's genjutsu could have some lingering effects." Naruto sighed.
"Another one for Sakura-chan then…" Then, Naruto met Gaara's eyes, with a meaningful expression. "Gaara…give it to me straight. Where is he?" It was obvious whom Naruto was referring to. Gaara briefly closed his eyes, swallowing.
"He's…back in the canyon…Lee and I…we're not entirely sure what happened, but something went wrong. Neji-san and Nara-kun had to… they…they had to kill him..." Naruto's eyes dimmed to a morose grey. He looked ready to cry. Gaara left Shikamaru for a moment as he stepped closer to Naruto. The redhead wrapped his arms around the other comfortingly, like a brother. It was true: without Sasuke, Gaara was the closest thing Naruto had to a brother, along with Neji, the blonde's only living blood-relative. "You were phenomenal," the Kazekage soothed. "You defeated Uchiha Madara, and you did everything you could for Sasuke. You did everything right, Naruto. It wasn't you that caused his death; it wasn't Sasuke; it wasn't even Shikamaru and Neji. It was a terrible situation that's to blame. Everyone did the best they could, but sometimes, it's not enough." Naruto made no attempt to respond to Gaara's wise words, but it was obvious that the blonde was at least mulling them over.
"If I may interrupt," interjected Sai, "why don't Lee-san and I go find Sakura-san? Naruto-kun, you and Kazekage-sama wait here and take care of Neji-san and Shikamaru-san. If something happens, Kazekage-sama should be able to take care of it without Naruto-kun having to push himself any further." Lee did not seem convinced. He gazed at the redhead anxiously. "It is not Naruto-kun that I am worried about," he thought.
Still, it was the best suggestion that the group had, so Lee hesitantly handed Neji over to Naruto. And the taijutsu-specialist and Sai began running to find Sakura at full speed.
Naruto briefly glanced at Gaara who nodded. They sat down against a rather large rock. Neji lay very still in Naruto's lap, while Shikamaru continued to cling to Gaara.
"Nara-kun, are you feeling all right?" asked Gaara. Shikamaru made no response at first. All was quiet for a few moments.
Then…
"Shikamaru," came the Nara's weak, hoarse voice.
"What?" uttered Gaara.
"Shikamaru," he repeated. "Gaara should call me Shikamaru." Light green eyes widened as Shikamaru gently stroked Gaara's ruby-red hair.
"Sh-Shikamaru-kun?" The Nara sighed laying his head on the Kazekage's shoulder.
"Just like that," he murmured to himself. Gaara blushed furiously. On the redhead's other side, Naruto tried to hold himself together for fear of his sides splitting.
"Gaara's got a boyfriend!" he teased. The redhead ignored that in favor of finding out what was wrong with Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru-kun," he called. "Why are you only responding to me? Is there a reason that you only speak to me?" Shikamaru giggled in an unsettling way.
"Only for Gaara," he replied cryptically. He nuzzled the redhead's shoulder. "And Gaara only for me." Suddenly, the Nara shifted so that their positions were reversed and Gaara's head was resting on Shikamaru's shoulder. The Kazekage's blush could now put Hinata's to shame, as Shikamaru kissed his "Ai" scar, whispering, "All mine."
Naruto was trying not to explode from laughing so hard and was failing miserably. "Oh God," he cried. "It hurts to laugh!"
"Naruto! This isn't funny! Why is he doing this?" Immediately, the blonde grew a bit more serious, though smiling gently.
"He went a little crazy, right?" Gaara simply nodded. "Well, let's just say that if I were in the same situation, you'd be the only person who could connect with me, since you've been there yourself. You can understand him like no one else can. That's probably why." Gaara thought about this for a moment, while Shikamaru lightly nuzzled him, sighing in content. Gaara smiled genuinely. He may not have been sure how to respond to Shikamaru's bizarre behavior, but even the redhead had to admit that being this close to another human being was nice if nothing else. He closed his eyes.
"Aw! You guys are so cute!" Gaara glared at the blonde.
"Way to ruin the moment," he muttered. A weak chuckle resounded from the brunette in Naruto's lap.
"Ano sa, ano sa," began Naruto. "Neji, you awake?" The white-eyed boy nodded.
"Barely," he managed hoarsely.
"Well you better stay alive, Itoko, or else I'll…kill you again." Neji chuckled softly again.
"Fair enough," he whispered. They were quiet for a moment.
Naruto's original fondness for Neji had tripled within the last few years. Growing up alone with no family and then finding out that you had a long-lost cousin (practically a brother) did that to people. Naruto had found out that he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage (one Namikaze Minato) after the Akatsuki invasion of Konoha, but he and Neji did not make the connection that they were related by blood until much later. When Shikamaru came home with a limp, half-dead Neji over his shoulder, Kakashi had decided that it was time that the two shinobi knew the truth about their parents.
But that good news came with a price: Neji was dying. Naruto had finally found the family that he had always dreamed of, but he was given a few more years at most.
"Naruto," Neji whispered, startling the blonde out of that miserable train of thought. The brunette pointed to Naruto's left, smiling. "I never thought I'd see the day." Next to them, Gaara was fast asleep, his head resting on Shikamaru's shoulder, while the Nara held onto him possessively.
"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" wondered Naruto. Neji shrugged.
"It doesn't matter; they both seem to be enjoying it." Naruto nodded absentmindedly.
"Oi, Neji?" The brunette met his eye to show that he was listening. "What happened out there in the canyon?" The Namikaze frowned, chewing his lip.
"I only know half…by the time I came to, the fight was already over. Shikamaru's the only one who knows the whole story. Besides, we should wait for Sakura-san. She probably wants to know as well." Naruto nodded, knowing full well that Sakura was just as concerned about Sasuke as he.
"Wait…Neji, why don't Gaara and Geji-mayu know?" the blonde asked, realizing that the four of them had been together when they continued on after Sasuke. Neji said nothing at first.
"…We ran into some trouble," he explained. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Kabuto," the brunette said simply. "He's tough…but obviously, he's no match for the four of us combined, though with Orochimaru's being within him, who knows what he's capable of?" The blonde nodded, having fought Orochimaru's right-hand man himself on several occasions. "Well, Kabuto's smart, and realized that the best strategy would be to keep us from using teamwork, and take us out one-by-one. He decided to start with the strongest first, so he went for-"
"Gaara," Naruto finished, starting to understand what happened. Neji simply nodded.
"But Gaara-san is smart as well. He let Kabuto separate him from the group and led the fight away from us. The message was clear: 'Go after Sasuke; I'll catch up.' "
"So you, Geji-mayu, and Shika…fought Sasuke…" Neji shook his head.
"No, after we started catching up with him, Lee went back to help Gaara. He…he knew Shikamaru and I can handle ourselves, and he kept getting this bad feeling about leaving Gaara alone with Kabuto. And let me just say, when Lee has a bad feeling, he's usually right." Naruto shook his head in disbelief.
"I wonder what had Geji-mayu so spooked. Must've been some fight too. I mean, for Gaara to be this worn-out, he must've really overdone things."
He sighed, turning back towards said Kazekage and Shikamaru. Gaara stirred slightly, prompting Shikamaru to soothe the redhead back to sleep. Gaara's breathing evened out again.
"Geez, Gaara's one of my best friends, and I've never seen him like this. And then with the way Geji-mayu's been acting, it's like he's been seriously injured, but he looks okay to me…" The blonde shrugged. "Whatever, I could use a nap myself…and some ramen. Hm, yeah, after Sakura-chan heals you, I'll treat you and Chibi to Ichiraku's…Chifuyu can eat solid foods, right?" Neji laughed, though it ended in a small coughing fit.
"Naruto, Chifuyu's been able to eat solid foods for over three years now." Naruto laughed nervously.
"Kids do grow up fast these days. Seriously though, go back to sleep. No offense, Itoko, but you look like hell." Neji nodded, in no mood to fight. "Looks like I have to stay awake though," the blonde continued, "because our first line of defense (I'm looking at you, you stupid redhead!) has passed out." Gaara, seemingly unaware of Naruto's insult, simply mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep before settling himself in a better position on Shikamaru's shoulder. "You know, he's just lucky he's cute, or else I'd smack him. Did you know that's the only reason I didn't knock him even more senseless at the Chuunin Exams? It wasn't any of that Jinchuuriki mutual understanding crap. It was because he's adorable when he's not completely insane. It'd be like stabbing a baby bunny, man." Naruto paused, wondering why no one had told him to shut up and stop rambling. Then the reason became clear: Neji was already fast asleep.
