Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Ugghhh!" Naruko groaned, reaching out and slamming her hand around for an alarm clock that wouldn't shut off. Then she realized, that wasn't the sound of an alarm clock.
Her eyes flew open and she sat up quickly, receiving a razor sharp pain in her head. She groaned and held her head, not being able to move she was in so much pain. She tried to push some chakra into her hands to heal herself, but she noticed it wasn't working.
She got the strength to move her head slightly, and saw that she had seals to block off her chakra on her wrists. She scowled, but then noticed she was in the hospital and the annoying beeping sound that woke her up in the first place was her heart monitor.
"Ku ku ku. So, you've finally woken up Naruko-chan." Said a voice that made her freeze in her tracks.
Naruko bit her lip, causing her to bleed. She cursed her weakness for the moment, but answered as calmly as she could. "Orochimaru." She said in a stone cold voice.
"Ku ku ku, is that anyway to talk to your parents old teammate? With such a hateful tone?" He said.
"What the hell do you want?" She barked out harshly, her voice cracking in her fear. She sensed around her and quickly found that there was no one in the hospital except for patients, almost all of which were unconscious. Where the hell was everyone?!
"You Naruko-chan." He said, grabbing her and holding her fireman's carry.
Naruko struggled around, but quickly found herself in pain again, and she let out a strangled cry.
Orochimaru chuckled. "So, it seems that the jutsu I cast on you just before I was forced to stop from killing you has finally taken effect."
"How the hell are you alive?!" She bit out, as he jumped out the window and started running with her still in his grasp.
"What? You really think I'd let some little low life genin kill me?" He asked.
"Don't talk about Gaara-kun in that way!" She yelled, she may not be able to fight back physically, but she would be able to use her words. In fact, she should be talking nicely to see if he would let her go. Oh who was she kidding? This guy would never let her go!
"Gaara-kun huh? So, my old teammates' daughter is in love with a sand shinobi?" He chuckled. "Now, I think I've let you stay awake for a little too long." He said.
Naruko felt the chop on her neck, and felt her eyelids start to droop. Just as she fell into her unconsciousness, she screamed in her mind.
'GAARA! HELP ME!' She screamed in her own unconscious mind.
The elders cleared their throats as they both began to speak into the microphone, ready to give their speech. "Ladies and Gentlemen. As you all likely know, the Third Hokage has unfortunately passed. But now, we shall have a new flame, a brighter and younger one, hold the place of Hokage. This person, shows incredible strength, knowledge, wisdom, and of course, bravery. We have no doubt in our minds that the newest Hokage will be one of the greatest. This person, will lead us through hardships, helping us with our struggles, and giving courage to all of us. This person will enjoy the good times with us, celebrating our times of peace and tranquility. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya!"
The audience of everyone in the village started clapping and cheering and whistling as their new Hokage stepped forward, the ninja from other villages also were there so they could report the news back to their homelands.
Jiraiya waved and smiled at the crowd, before quieting them down after several minutes. He cleared his throat as he started his own speech. "Now, I know that there are some out there, that would do a better job of being Hokage. I believe that, honestly and truly. However, I am the Hokage of the Leaf Village now, and I will do my best to protect it. I will love and cherish this village, and protect all of the villagers and ninja in it, just as if they were my own family. I will carry this village through any hard times that might takeover it, and bring it back to peace. I promise to serve as a good Hokage, and to bring us all happiness for years to come."
People cheered again, and clapped, and just as Jiraiya was about to step away, a young ninja ran up onto the tower they were giving the speeches on, as came a little to close to the microphone, allowing everyone to hear what he exclaimed.
"Hokage-sama! Naruko Senju has been kidnapped!" He exclaimed.
Startled cries and gasps came from the crowd, while Jiraiya stood there, clenching his fists, and Tsunade ran up to the man and shook him.
"WHO!? WHO TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL!?" She yelled.
"We watched the hospital footage... and... and it appeared to be Orochimaru. But, that can't be right! Isn't he dead?" The man said.
"That stupid snake! How could I be so gullible as to think he was dead?" Jiraiya questioned himself. He turned to the microphone. "Everyone, please stay calm, we will arrange a search for Naruko, and she will be found. Can every available ninja please meet inside the tower so that we may look over the skills of all of you and decide the best team?" Jiraiya announced.
Gaara started walking away towards one side of the village and Temari called after him.
"Gaara? Where are you going?" She called.
"To find her." He said, before he vanished in a sand shunshin, reappearing on the other side of the village where he quickly ran through the trees, wondering how the hell he would find Naruko.
"Well well, it seems my little host has fallen for a girl." Shukaku chuckled in Gaara's head, though he didn't bother sending the thought to him. It took up chakra and his host would ignore it anyways.
He felt a chakra he knew all too well behind him in his domain and turned to see the Kyuubi there.
"Shukaku." Kyuubi said.
"Kurama, what are you doing here?" Shukaku asked harshly.
"My host is determined to save that girl, along with his little girlfriend." Kurama mocked.
"Oh is he now? Kurama, have you finally taken a liking to one of your hosts and want to help him?" Shukaku taunted him.
"No way, but that girl knows she owes my host a favor, possibly one of the biggest favors ever, and she knows it. I just am a waiting for when that day comes." Kurama said.
"Sure you are. But I suppose I could help my host, but you owe me a favor." Shukaku said.
"Yeah sure, whatever." Kurama said as he stopped communicating with Shukaku.
Gaara felt a sudden surge of power go through him, and suddenly, his chakra doubled and he could sense Naruko. He ran even faster towards her, when it suddenly occurred to him.
Was Shukaku... helping him?
Whatever, that didn't matter right now! He needed to get to Naruko, and fast! Before that bastard did anything to her. If that man did anything to Naruko he would tear him limb from limb! Sannin or not! He growled and went even faster, chasing after the man that had kidnapped the only person in the world that really mattered to him.
He would not let him get away!
"Come on Naruto-kun! We have to move as fast as possible! We need to rescue Naruko-chan!" Shion yelled back to Naruto, who was panting trying to keep up with the much faster girl.
"I can't! I'm not fast enough!" He called back. But then something happened that made him contradict himself. He felt... something. He wasn't exactly sure what it was. It was chakra, but it felt... different. It almost felt red to him. It seemed so full of malice and hate that it felt red. But it also made him feel powerful, like nothing could hold him back now. He embraced the feeling of power and sped up.
He caught up to Shion and was quickly passing her, making her go faster. They both sped through the forest after their friend, not wanting to imagine what would happen to her if they didn't catch up in time.
Naruko woke up with a screaming headache and went to put a hand on her head when she felt a sharp pain there as well. That's when it started coming back to her, she wanted to kick, and scream, and run away. But she couldn't. She could scream, but what good what that do her? She couldn't move without feeling a whole new wave of pain.
She knew she had zero chance of running away. If she tried, she would most likely get a few feet before falling over in pain. She had no chance of getting through this without someone coming to help her. Her chances were looking bleak when it happened.
She heard a growl and wanted to turn her head to see, but didn't bother, since she wouldn't be able to see around Orochimaru anyways.
"Get your hands off of her." The voice growled out.
Naruko's head snapped up. Gaara! He had come to save her! She was being saved! She wanted to scream and cry out to him when she noticed that Orochimaru had taped over her mouth. She was so numb she couldn't even feel it before.
"Oh? And why should I?" Orochimaru said.
"Because, if you don't hand her over, you'll be dying in the most painful way possible." he said.
"Ku ku ku. No need to be so cruel. But I suppose you must be worried over your little girlfriend." Orochimaru said. "Well, no need for her to be in the middle of our fight."
He ripped the the off her mouth and she let out a cry. Orochimaru then picked her up off his shoulder and threw her at the tree.
Naruko collided with a sickening crack and she knew some of her ribs must have broken. She let out a scream at the impact and felt tears run down her face.
Why? Why was he doing this? What could this possibly solve?! All that was going to happen was that people were going to get hurt. No, she didn't care about herself at all, or Orochimaru, it was her precious ones. Gaara! She didn't want him to get hurt! And no doubt that more would be after her soon.
She looked up and saw Gaara staring at her wide-eyed, unable to tear his eyes from her. She saw his eyes were becoming watery as he looked at her. She had to get out of her! She couldn't hurt Gaara more! He had already had so much emotional trauma in his life!
Naruko grasped the ground, planning to pull herself away from Gaara's line of sight so he could at least focus, when she saw a white foot come down on her hand.
She felt her hand break as Orochimaru slammed his foot down on it, before twisting it around, making her hand bleed and become mangled.
Naruko screamed out in horrible pain, and held her hand with her non-broken one, cradling it while looking up scared at Orochimaru.
She closed her eyes and waited for the next strike to come.
Gaara couldn't help but stare as the girl he loved was hurt. He didn't know what to do, last time, he had acted on pure impulse, and he had been frozen for almost the whole time. Only when she was about to die was he able to snap out of it and move. And now, he was in the same trance. Don't get him wrong, he desperately wanted to move and help her, but he couldn't seem to make his body to move.
Flashback
"Yashamaru, I'm sorry." he said as he looked away from his uncle.
"What this? He, it's barely more than a scratch." Yashamaru said.
"The wound you got... does it hurt?" He asked.
"Hm. Yes a little bit, but it'll heal in no time." Yashamaru said.
"Yashamaru?" He asked.
"What's the matter?" His uncle asked.
"What does pain feel like?" Gaara asked. Yashamaru looked a bit taken aback from the question. "You see... I've never actually been injured before...and I was wondering what it was like."
"Hm. How can I put it? It's very difficult, or maybe upsetting.. is what I mean. It's like, when someone is struck, or cut, it's a feeling that's very hard to take. When you're hurt, you don't feel normal." he chuckled and put his hand on his neck. "I'm not explaining it very well. Basically, it's a situation you wanna avoid if at all possible."
Gaara's forehead formed a quivering v as he looked at Yashamaru's wounds that he had caused. He couldn't help but feel awful.
"Yashamaru?"
"Huh? Yes?"
"Do you... Do you not like me? Yashamaru?" Gaara asked. "Like the others?"
"Everyone goes through their lives, hurting people, and being hurt. But it's not so easy for us to... hate one another." Yashamaru answered.
"Thanks a lot, Yashamaru! That helped, I think I kinda of understand what pain is now." Gaara said.
"I see."Yashamaru said.
"I think... I might be hurting to, just like everyone else." Gaara said.
"Huh?"
"I'm always... in pain. I know I'm not bleeding, but lately, I've felt a lot of pain here." Gaara said, tightening his hand over his heart. Yashamaru came forward and took the knife from Gaara, and sliced open his fingers with it.
"Wound your body, and the blood will flow following fast on the heels of pain." Yashamaru said. "But, as time passes, the pain eventually fades away. With the help of medicine, it can heal even faster. But even more dangerous is a wound dealt to the heart. 'Cause there's nothing that has more trouble healing."
"A wound to the heart?" Gaara asked.
"Wounds to the heart are a little different then wounds to the flesh. Unlike a wound to the body, there is no medicine for the wound to the heart, and sometimes it never heals. But don't worry. There is one thing that can mend a wound to the heart. But it's a very complicated remedy, it can only be administered to you by another person." Yashamaru said.
"So then... what am I supposed to do?" Gaara asked.
"There's one thing that can heal the heart. Only one thing... it's love Gaara."
"Love?"
"You've got it."
"But what am I supposed to do to get rid of it? What am I supposed to do to get rid of this pain?" Gaara asked.
"Don't you know Gaara? It has already been given to you." Yashamaru said. "Love is... the heart's desire to serve someone precious to you. To watch over them, protect them, like my older sister did for you. There's no question that my sister always loved you. Shukaku is the Sand Spirit, bent solely on war. The sand automatically rushes to protect you, just like a mother. I believe that your mother's will is carried in every grain of that sand. My sister, even after death, wants more than anything to protect you."
"Yashamaru?"
"What is it Gaara?"
"Thank you for all of your help." Gaara said, smiling.
Flashback over
Those words replayed in Gaara's mind. He couldn't help but feel everything around him go in slow motion, those words echoing through his mind.
'Love is... the heart's desire to serve someone precious to you. To watch over them, to protect them...' He thought, looking at Naruko, her eyes squeezed tight as Orochimaru unsealed his sword and prepared to swing it down on her.
He didn't think, he just acted. That's all that mattered, to serve someone that was precious to him. To serve the only living, breathing person that was precious to him. After all of those years that his heart had been hurt, without any of the medicine called love, and this one girl had finally healed him. His broken heart had finally been mended. And he would not, not ever, lose someone precious to him like that again.
Naruko opened her eyes widely as she heard the sound of something tearing through something else, and she felt drops of blood fall on her face. She stared up at the shock of red hair and Suna clothes.
A sword was pierced through her love's back, and had probably punctured his lung. The sand had made a casing around her, the sword just barely making it through the sand, but being stopped as it went through, losing all of its kinetic energy, and letting it stop above her face.
"Gaara..." She whispered.
Gaara's head moved slowly to the side, looking at her. "Y-You h-have to get out... I won't lose... my most precious person." He said.
Naruko felt the tears start running down her face again, and lifted her good hand to stroke Gaara's face.
"And I won't lose mine." She said, finding a renewed strength in herself, she stood up, just barely. "Bring it on, Orochimaru."
"Stop right there!" A voice yelled.
"Dynamic Entry!" Another voice yelled.
"Naruko-chan!" Another yelled.
The trio looked to see several Jounin, as well Jiraiya and Tsunade come out of the woods into the small space they were in, with Naruto and Shion accompanying them.
The men all engaged Orochimaru in combat, who retracted his sword from Gaara, who Naruko caught. The two of them just barely standing up, smiled at each other, even through all of the pain. Tsunade and Shion and Naruto ran forward. Tsunade lifted Naruko up while Shion and Naruto got Gaara.
They hurried them out of the space until they were a few miles away, where they immediately started to work on them.
Tsunade hurried to work on her daughter, fretting over the poor girl.
"Kaa-chan." She managed out the whisper.
"Yes Naruko-chan?" Tsunade asked, holding her baby's hand.
"Please... help Gaara-kun.. he needs it more." She said.
"Naruko-chan, Gaara isn't of our village, never mind my child, I'm helping you." Tsunade said.
"Kaa-chan, please... Shion-chan can manage me...keep him alive... I love him." She managed, before passing out.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Naruko groaned loudly as she heard the alarm clock and reached out to shut the damn thing off before Jiraiya had a fit, but felt nothing. She opened her eyes only to have a blinding light and white walls greet her.
She was in the hospital.
Again.
Great.
She turned her head and saw Gaara looking at her, his eyes wide as he saw she had woken up. He was on a gurney as well, his chest was free of the gown, and it was tightly wrapped around his right shoulder.
"Naruko..." He whispered.
"Gaara." She whispered. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. If it wasn't for me we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be happy." He said. "I would gladly have this stupid wound if it meant I got you in return."
"Gaara..." She whispered.
"Naruko... I love you." He said.
"I love you too Gaara." She said.
Gaara slowly slid out of his bed, trying not to provoke his wounds, and walked over to her bed, where he helped her sit up and sat next to her.
He leaned over and kissed her and she kissed back.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and a pissed off looking Jiraiya stormed in.
"GET YOUR HAND OFF HER!" he yelled.
Needless to say, while she was scared out of her minds from her dad being so angry, since she had never seen him like this, Gaara just tightened his hold.
"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME!? I TOLD YOU, PAWS OFF!" he yelled again.
"No. I love Naruko, I don't care who you are, you can't tell me to let go of her." Gaara said.
"Ummm... Gaara? That's sweet and all, but... that's my tou-chan." Naruko said.
Gaara suddenly pale and let go of Naruko slowly, not wanting to hurt her even more, and then ran back over to his bed. In case he wanted to ever make Naruko his forever, which he even wanted that now, he better not piss off her dad who would give them his blessing or not.
"That's right!" Jiraiya said, before he leaned out of the room and called others in, and they all started fretting over Naruko.
Naruko sighed as her tou-chan and kaa-chan left, them being the last ones to leave. She was already wounded and tired, did she really have to spend all of her energy explaining what happened 50 times over?
She looked over and saw Gaara frowning in his sleep. She crawled out of her bed, almost falling when she touched the floor in first time in what was apparently a week, but managed to get over to his bed.
Naruko heard him whimpering in his sleep. Nightmare, that's not good. You're not supposed to wake someone up in the middle of a nightmare, just soothe them.
She hugged Gaara close and put her hands in his hair and started rubbing his head. Hey, why not sing him a song? Her mom always did that for her when she was younger.
The river is wide, I can't cross o'er
And neither have, I wings to fly
Build me a boat, that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
Oh love is gentle, and love is kind
The sweetest flow'r, that's first to bloom
But love grows old, and waxes cold
And fades away, like morning dew
The river is wide, I can't cross o'er
And neither have, I wings to fly
Build me a boat, that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
There is a ship, and she sails the sea
She's loaded deep, as deep can be
But not as deep, as the love I'm in
I know not how, I sink or swim
The river is wide, I can't cross o'er
And neither have, I wings to fly
Build me a boat, that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
And both shall row, my love and I
Naruko smiled as she felt Gaara relax during the song, and sighed happily. Feeling her eyelids droop, and not feeling the strength it took for her to get back to her bed, she just nestled down in Gaara's, and fell asleep with him in her arms.
Hey guys! What's up? Did you like this chapter? It was fun to write, and I loved some of the parts in this so much! Please review!
As for the flashback in this story, I can take no credit for it. I literally sat and watched episode 76 of Naruto just so I could get that flashback. So yeah, that wasn't exactly mine, just Mazasashi Kishimoto's, but I needed it for the chapter!
As for the song that Naruko sings, it's one of my camp songs. I love that song so much, and I thought that it fit well in the story line, so I thought, hey, why not? Plus I knew all the words, since we had to sing it and some other songs as a group to the boys in our camp. Yep, kind of embarrassing. But they had to sing songs to us too, so it was okay.
Now, something really important, NEW STORY UP, it goes by the name of 'A Few Minutes' You can find it under my stories in my bio or just search it on Google and look for my name. The plot, is basically that Neji's father was born first, rather than Hinata's father. The story is completely different than how the manga is, and I think you guys will really like it. I am so pumped for it!
By the way, in case any of you were wondering why I've been kinda slow in the update department, not only am I super freakin' lazy, but I've had to do a bunch of hard tests, and quizzes, and papers, all this week, and I kind of died. Still got one tomorrow, yet I'm staying up writing fanfiction!
Aren't I good at life choices?
Anyways, I hope you all like it, please, give my new story a try, and please review! I love you all!
PEACE!
~narutoobsessedgurl