Thanks for the continued support! This chapter was a little harder to write, but hopefully it doesn't disappoint…
Disclaimer: No, I am not a Japanese man that created a popular manga series.
Now, on with the story!
After the bell-test, Team 7 fell into a comfortable pattern.
They would meet at training ground 7, berate Kakashi for his lateness, lightly train, and complete one or two D-rank missions a day. Occasionally, the pattern would shift slightly- sometimes they would do more training, sometimes less, and every now and then they would get a day off.
All in all, there time as genin and jounin sensei was surprisingly peaceful. Naruto's shy disposition faded as they grew to know one another, though Kakashi still caught the occasional blush, particularly when he praised her taijutsu and trapping skills…
What Kakashi was most proud of however was the developing bond between Naruto and Pi- Sakura. They weren't necessarily friends yet, but Naruto's initial outreached 'hand', feeding Sakura when she was tied to the post during the bell test, had begun the building of bridges between them. Naruto and Broody were mainly just rivals, constantly insulting each other, and Sakura was still mostly obsessed with the Uchiha who couldn't care less, but hey, you couldn't win them all. Kakashi was just happy to remain slack in his duties and oblivious to the dramas inherit with being the sensei of newbie pubescent ninjas.
The wave mission changed all of that.
"Run!" Kakashi screamed from his watery prison. "If you leave now, you may have a chance to save yourselves!"
…Damn C-rank curse. Of course life couldn't be easy.
But Naruto continued to surprise- risking her life to steal back her hitai-ate, then coming up with another unpredictable and fool hardy plan to save his ass. Now they were hiding out at the bridge builder's home, and Kakashi was finally attempting the wondrous duty of teaching. Great…
Naruto in particular was having difficulties with the tree climbing exercise- she certainly wasn't dead-last quality, but her skill set did not include the fine chakra control necessary to scale the tree. Sakura had mastered the technique on the first attempt, and Broody had learned it as well after a time. Days later, it was only Naruto in the clearing now, relentlessly charging at the poor tree, her kunai continually scaring its bark. He had left her to her own devices for a while now, but no results were forthcoming.
Kakashi decided to offer a few more words of wisdom.
"This isn't something you can beat into submission to learn," Kakashi called out. Naruto, startled by the voice of her sensei, wildly spun around and flung the kunai she held in Kakashi's general direction. The throw went wide and sailed almost 5 meters to his left. Raising his single visible eyebrow, Kakashi watched as Naruto spluttered and reddened, clearly embarrassed of her less than stellar reaction.
"I get that you want to learn this as fast as possible, but sometimes you need to take things slow for them to work." Kakashi assessed his student's wary posture, and continued. "Take it one step at a time, okay? Try figuring out the level of chakra you need before trying to run up the bark. All good things come with dedication- not necessarily with brute force, though that can help, but mostly with subtle, fine details building up to something great." Kakashi gave his blonde student a happy eye smile and turned to leave her to her pursuits.
"Good luck, Naruto. Anyone would be proud to call you their student."
Kakashi was almost out of the clearing when he heard the next mumbled words that stopped him cold.
"Some things are worth the time… Not just this- but people too. A precious person…"
Kakashi quickly shut his ears to his student's mutterings. He didn't want to dwell on her words, so he high tailed it out of there. Precious person… that couldn't be- no. Ignorance was bliss.
Xxx
Ino shivered as she curled in upon herself, the crate she had holed up in not allowing for much breathing room. Her back was beginning to cramp, and there was an itch below her left knee that was begging to be scratched, but Ino didn't dare to make any movements.
The sudden clatter of footsteps raced past her hiding place, and Ino tensed in preparation for her possible discovery, but the hurried stranger carried on, and she remained hidden. Letting out a shaky exhale, Ino frowned at her current situation. She, the beautiful Yamanaka heiress, had been reduced to hiding in a random fruit crate, from her fellow shinobi no less! If ever there was an injustice, this had to be it.
She was kunoichi enough to admit her mistakes though, and she may have earned their ire… It was she who had accelerated The Bet, after all.
After the events in the store, most of the occupants had high tailed out, looking to place last minute bets at the secret betting stations. Ino had escaped along with them, though once the story had gotten out, she had to dodge the pursuits of a group of deranged Aburames. They, amongst many others, were less than pleased with Ino's interference, and had decided that it was all Ino's fault that they weren't ready to place their bets.
The Yamanaka had been leading her pursuers on a wild goose chase for the past three hours, with Shino in particular a hard bug to lose, and her appearance showed it. Her once meticulous blonde hair was ratted and covered in dust, and the purple dress she had put on in the store was covered in rips and streaks of mud. It was her eyes that spoke the most of her misfortune though- wide and haunted, constantly twitching at the slightest of disturbances.
Damn it all, she should have just asked Sakura! She hadn't learned anything from her time shopping with Naruto… right?
Now that she was finally stationary and not running for her life, Ino took a moment to reflect on her time with her fellow blonde earlier that day. A single detail stood out above all the others.
"No, it couldn't be…" Ino whispered, eyes flickering with her racing thoughts. That gift from so many years ago, with this particular lead… Connections began to form, various clues joining to form a surprising masterpiece within her mind.
"Holy shit, I know who Naruto's going to confess to!" Invigorated by her discovery, Ino burst from her prison, terrifying a passing civilian who had foolishly been on her way to buy beets in the current chaos.
"Why the hell were you in a crate?!" the stunned woman asked, clutching her purse like a life line as her frazzled brown hair whipped with the wind.
"That doesn't matter- what matters is that I'm gonna be rich!" Fist pumping the air, the previously down-trodden Yamanaka glowed with determination, the dirt and mud lining her skin insignificant in the face of her Uzumaki worthy grin.
"Suck it, Forehead- Yamanaka Ino still has some fight left in her!"
A cloaked figure observing from a nearby roof suddenly jumped down, terrifying the civilian even further. As the woman let out a garbed litany of swears at the ninja and dropped her bag, Ino looked back at her pursuer with a cocky grin.
"Catch me if you can, Shino," Ino purred. Turning on her heel, a banner of dirtied blonde hair and her ripped purple dress trailing in her wake, Ino made her escape, racing to the nearest betting station.
"What a woman," Shino mumbled. After giving his head a quick shake, the Aburame continued his pursuit, racing to catch up to the cackling Yamanaka.
"Crazy shinobi and their messed up courting," the civilian woman murmured. After patting down her green dress, she picked up the purse she had dropped upon Shino's surprise arrival and began to walk down the street, carefully sidestepping broken glass and large stand up posters promoting different 'ships'. On the many signs, graffiti had been used to paint and repaint over the current ship proclamation, with 'SasuNaru' and 'GaaNaru' the two in greatest conflict.
"This wouldn't happen if they could have normal relationships and hobbies like the rest of us," she mumbled, using the age-old practice that comes with being a resident of Konoha to ignore the shipping war happening in the square across from her. Shinobi would be shinobi, but she would have her beets, damnit!
Xxx
"It's crazy out there, Kazekage-sama!" A haggled looking chunin exclaimed, eyes maddened and uniform covered in sand and grit. "The 'GaaNaru' supporters are determined to open a gateway to Konohagakure so that Naruto can reach you, and they were even discussing simply pulling her towards Suna, but… I don't think it's Konoha we're making contact with." The chuunin absentmindedly rubbed at metal plate along his arm. The hiate-ate, which was usually a piece of pride for the Suna shinobi and kept impeccably polished, was dulled to a grey sheen, the weathering of the storm raging outside doing more to ruin it than the fiercest of sandstorms ever had.
The Kazekage had his back turned to the messenger, and was staring blankly out of the window in his office. He didn't need anyone to tell him of the chaos Sunagakure was undergoing… He could see it clearly enough for himself.
Unlike in Konoha, there were no shipping wars occurring in Suna. Over 90 percent of the population were staunch GaaNaru supporters, and the few who were not were quiet with their opinions. They were in enemy territory, after all.
What Suna did have was an overabundance of support for their national ship. Whether or not the other nations agreed, they would make it sail.
Hence the portals to other dimensions littering his village.
There must have been only a dozen in total, but those were enough to cause havoc. Suna had never been the greatest at seals (hello, crazy Jinchuuriki's that can't sleep without having their souls eaten by a demon?) but they didn't lack creativity or effort. It also helped that a shinobi had recently returned with seal schematics he had acquired through… highly secretive means… ( Which is code for eavesdropping on a drunken Naruto as she messed around with seals- Uzumaki's always came up with their greatest works when inebriated.)
The results were mildly horrifying. Most of the attempted gateways to Konoha seemed to open up to blank nothingness that acted like black holes- the post office itself had been sucked up within one, but luckily everyone had been evacuated in time. You would think that would be enough of a wake-up call, but shippers were absolute nutjobs…
"Sir," the chuunin continued, awkwardly shifting in place, "I don't mean to be a nay-sayer, but… I don't think Naruto plans to confess to you. Everyone here is clinging to a fool-hardy dream, and, pardon me for saying this, but… I think you should tell them so. Before one of those portals brings something here."
Gaara didn't reply for a moment, but after a pause, he sighed and hunched in on himself. He turned to face the anxious shinobi before him.
"Kensuke, I know she doesn't plan to confess to me- I've known since the end of the fourth shinobi war." Gaara's eyes went distant as he absentmindedly murmured to himself, lost in his memories. "I saw her looking at him, once the battle was finished- she had this… look in her eyes." Gaara traced the wooden grain of his desk, his body hunching in on itself as his voice trailed off to an almost illegible whisper.
"It was like nothing mattered except for him. I was standing right next to her, but in that moment I might as well have been a ghost." Gaara lifted desolate eyes to Kensuke, and managed a small, tired smile. "It was then that I knew I was no match against him- at least in her eyes. No, there is nothing in this world truly left for me…"
Gaara suddeny perked up, and beamed at the stunned Kensuke while flashing the victory sign. "Except the title of 'victor' once I win The Bet!"
Kensuke stared in dazed confusion at his leader, who was wearing an overly large and uncharacteristic grin. "But sir, everyone knows you're in love with her; how can you take this so easily-"
A heavy killing intent pressed down on the chuunin, stopping him immediately in his speech. Gaara's grin had taken on a deranged edge, and he took a menacing step towards the chuunin, his head tilted in a lopsided and crazed manner.
"Kensuke, if I don't use the possibly of winning The Bet as a coping mechanism, I'll fly into a rage, the likes of which hasn't been seen since I held Shukaka. Would you like that to happen?" Kensuke furiously shook his head, eyes wide and fearful. "I didn't think so. So let's just sit back and wait for this to all even itself out. As for the dimensional portals… Our village isn't that good at seals. I'm sure nothing will go too wron-"
BOOM!
Gaara and Kensuke froze. Out on the streets, a nightmare emerged.
"Oh Kami, no! The end has come, it has COME!"
*Incoherent screaming*
Crrrracccckkkk- BANG. BANG. BANG.
Gaara and Kensuke turned towards the window. The chuunin promptly passed out at what he saw.
The Kazekage stared with wide eyes at the overwhelming sea of orange spilling from the many portals. "Lock down." Gaara whispered. "LOCK DOWN!" The Suna black ops, who had been hidden within his office until now, raced away to carry out the order. Gaara strapped his gourd to his back, tied a headband around his forehead, and painted dual horizontal lines of black paint on either of his cheeks. With determined eyes, he smashed through his window, and unlike Hatake Kakashi, confronted the danger facing his village.
And so Sunagakure, for the first time in history, underwent a complete and total lock down. Not from outside threats, no. Instead, from the overwhelming mass of Narutos, many of which were violent, pranking obsessed demons, that they had summoned from alternate dimensions into their midst.
This is what Suna got for eavesdropping on Naruto- the complete and utter warping of their reality.
Those poor fools…
Xxx
It was while they were recovering from the wave mission that Kakashi's eavesdropping habit came to really bite him in the ass.
In his defence, Naruto had been rather quiet since the death of the fake hunter-nin, who she had apparently met before Kakashi had offered his words of advice. Currently, she and Sakura were sparring in the woods while Br- Sasuke recovered from the injuries he had sustained defending Naruto. With nothing better to do, he decided to observe their fight, and possibly drop in to offer tips. It had nothing to do with him being worried for his students- nope, not at all…
After lightly sparring for about half an hour, the two kunoichi had decided to take a break, and were trading a water bottle back and forth as they cooled down. Kakashi lazily leaned against the trunk of the tree upon whose boughs he now relaxed, idly listening to their conversation below him.
"I need to get stronger," Sakura began, eyes focused on some far off corner of the woods from her seated position against the trunk of a scarred tree- the same one Naruto had practiced her wall-walking on earlier.
Naruto, who was lying on the grass with her hands behind her head, tilted her head up to look up at her pink-haired teammate. "You will, Sakura…" she murmured. After a moment, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "It's not just for the teme that you're doing this though, right?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, and threw a nearby twig at her teammate. "Don't call Sasuke-kun teme, Naruto. And no, it's not just for him." A self-depreciating smile stretched across Sakura's cheeks, and she sighed before continuing. "I was really useless during the wave mission. You, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun… You all fought your hardest. And I watched from the sidelines, doing nothing."
Naruto was silent for a moment, before huffing and rolling to a seated position. Her orange jumpsuit was streaked with mud, and her hair was littered with leaves, but Naruto didn't seem to care. "The past is the past Sakura- as long as you're ready for the next fight, that's good enough for me! No one's perfect, after all."
Sakura smiled in response to Naruto's encouragement, and a comfortable silence fell upon the duo. Naruto busied herself with looking up to the distant clouds, humming quietly, while Sakura simply observed her ever-unpredictable teammate. After a moment, a sly and playful look slid onto Sakura's face, and she drawled out, "Sasuke-kun's perfect."
An audible groan escaped Naruto's lips, and she threw herself back to the grass to flop onto her back. "Always with the stupid teme, Sakura-chan…"
"Oh, come on, Naruto, even you have to admit he's pretty amazing- the lone Uchiha of Konoha, the Rookie of the year… he even saved you from Haku during the wave mission!" Naruto threw her hands up to cover her face, and moaned like the very thought of Sasuke brought her pain.
"Okay, you might not be willing to admit he's a great shinobi, but even you have to realize how attractive he is- his hair is never out of place, and his skin is always perfect. Part of the reason all the girls in our class tried to talk to him was to learn what kind of skin products he used…" Sakura finished with distant eyes, reminiscing on their academy days.
"Nah, I don't like pretty boys. Not my type."
Sakura blinked at Naruto's admission, before narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "Alright, if you don't think Sasuke-kun is attractive, who is? What's your type?"
Naruto clearly wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, and absentmindedly responded, "Not perfect guys. Really attractive guys have scars. Especially on their faces- makes them look… rugged."
Sakura stared with stunned eyes at her teammate, speechless at the blonde's admission. Naruto, who had been absentmindedly fiddling with her hitai-ate, realized after a moment what she had said, her face instantly turning tomato red. Leaping to her feet, she exclaimed behind her to the still stunned Sakura, "Well, would you look at the time! Better get back to Tazuna's, who knows when lunch'll be, hehe…"
After awkwardly shifting in place, eyes darting in panic, Naruto made a break for it, running off in the direction of the bridge builder's home. It took a moment for Sakura to process the previous conversation, but once she had she blinked her eyes rapidly before jumping to her feet.
"Get back here, Naruto! What do you mean facial scars?!" Racing off after her teammate, Sakura left the clearing behind, forgetting the water bottle she and her teammate had been sharing earlier.
Kakashi sat riveted to his position in his tree, eye sightlessly staring ahead. After a moment he raised his hand up absentmindedly to rub at his suddenly itchy left eye, the scar beneath twitching.
For the Hatake, reality threatened to warp beyond recognition... Luckily, Kakashi was used to living with madness- this too, for the sake of his fragile mental health, could be ignored. It's not like Naruto was attracted to men with scars, no siree!
…That poor, poor fool.
A/N: This chapter felt kind of jumbled… Blah! Hopefully it was somewhat funny, I reread it so many times that the words started to blur together, and Gaara's section felt kinda forced. What is humour? I no longer know…
Till next time!
