The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja: Naruto no saishū odessei

by SkittleHeart and LadyAngel

Naruto turned into the Six Paths to bring peace to the Ninja World and brought back many fallen ninja with the Rinnegan... including Obito. Now they must recapture Obito, give the tailed beasts their freedom, deal with threats from the revived Uchiha and the Elders, and all while dealing with missions and teen drama. Shikamaru's life just got more troublesome! SASUNARU & others!

6. Cometh the Kazekage

The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja: Naruto no saishū odessei

Chapter Six: Part I

Cometh the Kazekage

Disclaimer: As stated in SkittleHeart's other, meant to be one-shot, if we owned Naruto that marriage – Naruto and Sasuke little ceremony with the Sage of the Six Paths – would have been much more explicit ending with a steamy SasuNaru kiss!

A/N: We are so so so so so sorry this hasn't been updated in ages.We just have been so busy with university but we'll update more now it's HOLIDAYS! :D :P :DThis chapter will be in two parts because otherwise it would have been unbelievably long (by that we mean long for us lol so REALLY long!)

New (hopefully clearer) text system:

Normal text

'Thoughts'

*~Flashback~* + "flashback speech"

SkittleHeart: Itachi, Kisame, Sasuke.

LadyAngel: Shikamaru, Naruto.

Shout out to:

wicl93 Thanks for the follow and the favourite :D

lvykiki Thanks for the follow :D

TKM Thanks for the follow and review :D

SilkyNinja Thanks for the follow and the favourite :D Thanks for also following us as authors :D:D

April2006 Massive thanks for the favourite and follow as authors :D:D

sugarISmyLIFE Thanks for the follow and favourite :D

Gabyy3 Thanks for the follow and favourite :D Massive thanks for the follow and favourite as authors :D:D

Otaku2448 Thanks for the favourite :D

dubtena79 Thanks for the follow :D

Rixxers Thanks for the favourite :D

FigmentsoftheImagination Thanks for the follow and favourite! Massive thanks for the review! It was really inspiring! Sorry it took us so long to get back to you! :D:D

clio1111 Thank you our ever favourite reviewer. We love replying in character to your reviews, it's so much fun! Thank, thank, thank for the favourite author! :D :D

Itachi POV

I smirked as my brother fell right in front of Naruto; his face lighting up for the first time since the fight. He had been dead emotionally, ploughing through work much like Naruto. I looked at my soon-to-be-brother-in-law, his face contorted in pain and I knew it wasn't from his injuries. I frowned. Sasuke making up with Naruto was inevitable. He wouldn't be able to keep away from him. He never could even in his darkest place.

I spotted my fellow genius and swiftly dropped down beside him. "Shikamaru" I greeted him.

"Oh…this is gonna be a drag," Shikamaru grumbled, "what is it Itachi?"

"Why do you assume I want something?" I asked with a smirk.

"Because you wouldn't be hassling me if you didn't." He smirked back, before turning serious. "Anyway, from the looks of those two something big went down."

My smirk faded and I nodded, "Everything you need to know is in here." I handed him a brown envelope to which he nodded.

Suddenly a familiar smell wafted past, I watched as one of Naruto's fan-girls ran past with a basket of crabs. Confusedly I tapped my fingers on my arm – 'There is something I am forgetting…' "Is something wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes, I feel like I have forgotten something important" I replied, staring at the basket of crabs.

Shikamaru followed my gaze before making an 'oh' expression. "Um – Itachi when did you leave to go on that mission?" He asked, waiting for something to click into place in my mind.

"A couple of days ago, why?" I replied absentmindedly staring at the crabs. 'Crabs… fish… food—'"OH SHIT KISAME!" I yelled.

"Take it you forgot to give him food before you left?" He smirked.

"Can't talk now, I really have to go, we'll talk when you get back!" I called to him, running up to the girl, snatching the crabs out of her hands and sprinting towards the Uchiha district.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THOSE ARE FOR NARUTO-KUN!" The girl screamed in objection.

"Who does he think he is?" I heard her grumble after I left.

Shikamaru answered with a sigh, "A Uchiha"

It didn't take me long to reach the old meeting place. I bit my lip apprehensively, 'Uchiha's fear nothing, except giving a damn about anyone, even so... a hungry Kisame is no joke.'

Just at that second, the door swung open…

I jumped out of the way, glaring at Kisame with my Sharingan blazing. "Going somewhere?" I asked him with a growl.

Kisame POV

'Where the hell was he?' It wasn't like Itachi to forget, well it wasn't before we moved to this stupid village. I looked miserably at the empty food packages. I hadn't had anything but half a loaf of dry bread in two days.

I was glad Itachi was finally lightening up a bit and that he could be back with his little brother in the village he loved. But I missed being a nomad… running around, fighting with the other Akatsuki members, searching for truth… having a goal I guess. 'Why did I agree to stay here?'

I guess I always agreed to what Itachi asked, usually he had a good reason and he'd been so insistent...

*~Flashback~*

I picked up three more shinobi. Hoisting them into the medical beds in the emergency aid tent which had been set up outside. The pink haired nurse that had been a companion of Sasuke's at some point, greeted me and tended to their injuries. "Thank you" she whispered, I saw her glance at Naruto.

"Why are you saying that?" I asked confusedly.

"Sasuke's older brother said you kept him alive long enough – by draining his chakra – so they had a chance to stop him. He could have-" she let out a strangled sob, "he could've – thank you." Her eyes glittered.

"You're seriously thanking a criminal?" I smiled as non-threateningly as I could. "I guess you're welcome." She half laughed, half sobbed.

"Well, criminal or not, thank you." She smiled and began healing.

I nodded still smiling and went to bring in more shinobi. Someone collided into my chest, on reflex I caught them by the arms, only to be met with the blazing crimson eyes I was so used to. "Uchiha Itachi, pissed with me as ever," I laughed at his irritated expression, "I missed you man."

He bit his lip for a second then smiled ruefully at me, "Thank you for tonight, I mean I drag you back and demand you fix up the guy we spent years hunting."

"I don't really expect any less from you, your requests were always random. Though, I did almost fall down in shock at Itachi Uchiha asking for help" I teased.

He gave me the Uchiha-glare, speaking of which- "I'm guessing that's your clan?" I asked, jerking a thumb behind us to a group of people with red eyes.

Their Sharingan were dull in comparison to Itachi's. "Yes." He looked irritated, "And Sasuke is expecting me to play nice with them." I looked for Itachi's younger brother, he was staring down at Naruto. To anyone else, the expression would look blank but I was used to the Uchiha facial expressions. 'He's in agony' I frowned worriedly.

"Has he left Nar-" I began to ask. Itachi followed my gaze shaking his head.

"Not since he woke up."

"Itachi." A man with the dull Sharingan called.

I saw his face crumple in anger and disgust. "I better go deal with-" he started, but I quickly pulled him from the tent.

"Sorry he has been requested to help find survivors." I yelled and ran out dragging Itachi with me.

We ran halfway through the battlefield. I started pulling out the biggest rocks ignoring the Uchiha behind me. 'The best way to get him to talk.' "Kisame." 'That was quick' I mused as I turned to face him.

"Yep." I pulled a few more rocks off.

"Why did you pull me away?" He asked confusedly.

"Because you didn't want to be there" I answered simply. He looked at me for a long moment without his Sharingan. This was strange, normally, if I even tried to bring him dango he would look for a hidden motive behind it.

Our stare off was only becoming more intense before I heard a very familiar sound, "KATSU, UN!"

Itachi and I both rolled our eyes and in sync we spoke, "Deidara."

I laughed handing a girl to a medical team. "Come on let's go, he's only going to make more mess for us to clear up otherwise." I smiled at him, he nodded with a smirk.

It didn't take long to find him after that. "Well how else am I meant to kill the rubble Danna?!" He was demanding.

Sasori shook his head. "CLEAR the rubble Brat, not make more of it with your stupid explosions! AND you can't kill an inanimate object!" Sasori snapped.

"MY ART IS NOT STUPID!" Deidara yelled.

"EXPLOSIONS AREN'T ART!" Sasori snapped back, this was about to get ugly.

"HEY GUYS!" I yelled up at them. They both turned around, Deidara's eyes widened.

"KISAME, HEY! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!" Deidara shouted back with a grin. He jumped down, dislodging a few rocks as he did so.

Just when he was about to get crushed, Sasori lazily flicked his chakra strings and threw the rocks to the side with a lazy eye roll. "Brat" Sasori muttered.

Deidara just grinned up at him, "Thanks Danna."

It always amazed me how the two of them went from being just about to kill each other to saving the other's life. Deidara looked allot better than the last time I had seen him alive. We had all heard him berating himself for crying after Sasori's death; we'd all seen the manic look in his eye when he declared he was going after Sasuke and Naruto. He had intended to die that day.

"So your still here?" Deidara said with a smirk, his left hand sticking its tongue out.

"Don't sound too happy about it" I teased back. "Good to have you back you nut-job."

I felt a glare from behind me, a glare I was very familiar with. "Oh and Itachi is still here too." Itachi stepped up on the rock next to me giving Deidara his usual Uchiha glare.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME! NO ONES KILLED THAT ANNOYING BASTARD YET!" Deidara exclaimed pointing at Itachi. I noticed he had activated his Sharingan, whether to infuriate Deidara – he found it so intolerable or because he didn't trust him not to try to blow him up – I didn't know.

"Actually, both Kisame and I died, we were brought back just before you" Itachi intoned quietly. He could have just been speaking normally though, Deidara made pretty much anyone sound quiet.

"WHO WOULD BRING YOU BACK?!" Deidara yelled charging at Itachi.

Sasori came up behind him and pulled his arms back. "Calm down Brat you'll cause an avalanche." Sasori sighed exasperated. Deidara seemed to relax a bit. Sasori didn't let go, probably knowing that Deidara would charge again.

"But Danna..." Deidara protested.

"No." Sasori told him looking him firmly in the eye. Deidara pouted and leaned back into him to show he wasn't going to do anything.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at Sasori's face curiously, I followed his gaze. 'Were his cheeks red?' He looked breathless, and as I looked closer, I realised he was taller as well. "I see you got brought back human" Itachi commented.

Sasori's own eyes narrowed into slits, "Yes, well, I was hoping to keep that quiet."

"SERIOUSLY DANNA!" Deidara yelled excitedly. "So you can feel this?" He poked his shoulder.

"Yes Brat seriously" Sasori ground out through gritted teeth.

"What about this?" He poked his chest. I snorted with amusement, this was going to be a long day for Sasori, even Itachi looked like he was about to crack a smirk.

"YES NOW QUIT IT!" Sasori snapped. So much for Deidara being the one to cause an avalanche, Sasori could be just as bad as his partner when it came to shouting.

Deidara had a devious look on his face. I looked at Itachi, he nodded and we took five paces back. Sasori looked at us, then saw Deidara's face. "How about this Sa-so-ri- no -Dan-naaa?" He moved closer to Sasori who was taking steps back of his own.

"Brat! I'm warning you!" Sasori tried to caution him but Deidara pounced, poking Sasori's sides. Sasori bit his lip squirming before he broke out into peals of laughter. Deidara smirked as Sasori tried and failed to glare back. Sasori tried to glare but it came out as a wry, lazy smile. Deidara just beamed back and the intense aura around them grew.

"Oh man, seriously, they've been back an hour!" I complained to Itachi.

"Hn. Teenagers" was his only comment. I could have sweat-dropped, 'Was he seriously forgetting he was a teenager two years ago? That I had been with him through his teenage years? I suppose he had never acted like that. Moody? Yes. Hating the world? Yes. Secretive? Hell yes! But I had never seen him act like Deidara and Sasori. God knows he had plenty of people chasing him, after all he is stunning. By the time he reached nineteen, his looks were beyond words, combined with his intelligence, kindness and compassion (L.A: Kisame is currently writing Itachi's dating profile.) I will never understand why he is alone. Then again, being in the Akatsuki is hardly compatible with holding down a steady relationship and I'm pretty sure the only person Itachi saw was his little brother.'

"Oh for my sake you two! (S.H: Nagato thinks he is god. Akatsuki fanfic readers will get this) I told you to clear the rubble not – Kisame, Itachi how is my little cousin?" A red head asked, Rinnegan activated. I fell back, my mouth opened in shock. I looked at the man then looked at Itachi, waved my arm up and down furiously, then pointed at the man who had just revealed himself to be Leader-sama.

Deidara was sniggering in the background. Itachi gave me an amused glance before addressing Leader, "Naruto is stable but it seems he won't be waking up just yet." Leader-sama visibly relaxed, Lady Angel and a ginger man came up behind him.

"How is he Nagato?" She asked him softly. 'So Leader's name is Nagato. I seriously believed he had renamed himself Kami-sama.'

He smiled at the two newcomers, "He's going to be fine."

"Thank goodness" she sighed returning the smile. 'Whoa, wait, since when did the Jinchuuriki we had been hunting for the past 10 years become important to the Akatsuki. I mean Itachi was probably just messing with his brother, but Leader? Lady Angel?'

"Right, now we're all here," Nagato cleared his throat, "I would like to keep the Akatsuki running but with a different goal and set up."

"What do you mean different goal and different set up?" Kakuzu grumbled in his low voice, I jumped slightly not realising he had joined us.

"Well we now have a powerful enemy running round. He is not only a danger to the world but to each of us as individuals. I am talking about of course, Uchiha Obito." There were sounds of agreement from everyone but Deidara and I.

'I was supposed to kill the man I died protecting. Wasn't he our comrade too?' I looked sympathetically at Deidara, he had been his partner and despite everything it must be—

"Who the hell is Obito? I'm all for a grand Uchiha hunt, don't get me wrong, I call dibs on Itachi un. But I thought we were chasing Tobi?" He asked puzzled. Itachi, who had been glaring at Deidara for the Uchiha hunt comment (which personally I thought was a bit hypocritical), joined Sasori and I in a face-palm.

"Obito is Tobi Brat" Sasori explained his tone weary.

Deidara made a small 'o' shape with his mouths. Nagato gave him an exasperated look. "Moving on… our original goal has shifted for now and we'll have to lay low for a while." He gave Deidara a pointed look. "The set up will be changed slightly to achieve certain goals. The main change is…" he paused dramatically, "…that we'll all be working a lot closer together and I expect you all to treat each other with the respect you'd show family."

Everyone turned to give Itachi a wary look. "I don't want him treating me like family un!" Deidara exclaimed.

"I agree with the Brat for once" Sasori reluctantly said.

Kakuzu added, "I have to agree with them"

Itachi was looking slightly offended.

"Bad choice of words Nagato" Lady Angel chimed in softly.

Itachi was looking at me very offended. Laughing, I sweat-dropped, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "Yeah, their right Itachi, how about you treat us like the Hokage of the Leaf?" I offered. He turned the full Uchiha glare on me which I thought was unfair, Deidara had started it.

"Okay, okay, well you get the point, everyone but Itachi is to treat each other like family if they agree to do this, especially while we're lying low, is that understood?" Nods and 'yes's' came from the group.

"So who will agree to be part of the new Akatsuki?" Nagato asked.

Lady Angel was the first to step closer to Leader with the unknown ginger man in tow. "We will." Nagato smiled at them warmly.

"Do I get a pay rise?" Kakuzu asked suspiciously.

"If that's what you want, then yes." Nagato answered. I swear Lady Angel was giggling behind her hand.

Kakuzu jumped forward. "I agree to join the new Akatsuki."

"Your responsibilities include banking and intelligence gathering" Nagato told him firmly. He nodded.

"Will we be retrieving Hidan at some point?" he asked, perhaps remembering how many 'partners' he had gone through.

"For now, while we have been out of the loop, we will have to see if we can cut some sort of deal with the village itself. We wouldn't have enough information on the shinobi now." Nagato bit his lip. "He did kill someone of importance to the village so we will have to see how it goes."

"But surely the Jinchuuriki brought him back, if he's alive really it's no harm no foul" Deidara chipped in. He and Hidan had been some sort of frenemies from what I had seen of them.

"Not how it works brat" Sasori sighed.

To my surprise it was Itachi who stepped forward next. "I will join the Akatsuki on the condition that I stay in Konoha. I believe Obito might make a move there, seeing as he has ties to the village and an interest in Naruto."

Nagato's face softened, "I understand. I agree to your condition."

"Guess that means I'm in." Deidara announced. "For one, there's nowhere else that allows me to use my art so freely, and I made a bet I lost, I am therefore bound for life."

"Brat you died for the Akatsuki that sort of nullified it" Sasori told him evenly.

"I know, but as I said, no one else lets me show off my art, and, that reminds me, I must stay in order to defeat Itachi for dishonouring my art." He grinned his mad-man smile. Itachi 'tch-ed' beside me. "But if we're all making deals, I want fifty free pancakes freshly made every Tuesday."

"Why?" Nagato asked in a confused voice rubbing his temples.

"Everyone else gets something, I don't see why I shouldn't and I really hate Mondays so I like to have a pick me up on Tuesday" Deidara told us solemnly.

Sasori nodded. "He does hate Mondays."

"Fine. Deidara you can have your pancakes." Nagato sighed in defeat. "I want you to do regular aerial patrols as well as long distance searching for anything that looks suspicious. I also want you to blend into villages and see if you can gather any information from the locals using your ability to deceive and blend in." Deidara nodded still grinning at his mini-victory.

All eyes turned to me. 'I'm not ready, I don't know…' Then I looked at Itachi who was staring up at me. 'He had been my best friend for 10 years. I had known Tobi longer but a choice between the two was no competition.' Still I didn't want to betray him...

"My condition is that I don't want to fight Uchiha Obito myself. I will by all means cut down his thugs and help you locate him but he was a comrade and I won't kill another comrade." Itachi's eyes softened in understanding, only he and Nagato knew of my past.

"Agreed. Your job will be the locating various places he could be hiding and patrolling our new base." Nagato smiled as he had at Itachi.

I looked back down at Itachi, he was frowning and biting his lip. 'Must want to get back to Sasuke' I mused, he had just got his brother back after all. "Well I guess-" Sasori had started to speak but Nagato interrupted.

"Sasori, before you say anything, there's something I need to discuss with you." Sasori nodded. Deidara gave him a worried look as Sasori walked off with Nagato.

"Well the rest of us better get back to work pulling out survivors if we're going to be asking for favours." Lady Angel said cheerfully. I had never seen her this bright. Not once in the organisation had I ever even see her crack a smile.

I looked back at Itachi's concerned face. "Uh Lady Angel-" I said hesitantly.

"Call me Konan" she interrupted.

"Er, ok Konan-chan, I think Itachi wants to go check on his brother." It felt so strange addressing her casually.

"That's fine, Nagato will want updates on his cousin anyway, you're free to go Itachi." She smiled gently, I'm guessing her sudden happiness was due to the ginger man who was stalking her.

Itachi nodded his thanks and Lady – Konan walked off the man in tow. "Thank you" he said quietly.

I grinned turning to pick through rubble.

Something grabbed my arm, I whirled round on reflex. "Kisame." Itachi was the one who had grabbed my arm, no wonder I hadn't noticed someone behind me, I was far too used to his chakra.

"Itachi what are you still doing here?" I asked perplexed.

"I…" He looked at the ground.

"What?" I asked, this wasn't like him.

"Come visit me in Konoha." It wasn't a question, more of a demand.

My face wrinkled in confusion. "Why? I wouldn't be able to help you. I wouldn't be accepted in the village."

"You can relay information to the Akatsuki. There's an underground basement in the Uchiha district, you could hide out there." He said like it was that simple. "It would be best to work in pairs, we have a better chance at dissecting Obito's movements and there is going to be a lot of conflict with all the people brought back."

"I don't know… I doubt Leader-sama would agree… You don't need me there you're a genius" I chuckled.

"If it came to a confrontation, one of us alone would be in danger. Please." Itachi asked softly.

I opened my mouth to retort but- "Okay I'll visit you." 'Damn Uchiha's' I thought smiling wryly. Mockingly I added, "Please and a sorry in a day, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Deidara shouted from the top of the cliff. "YES! Pay up Danna."

"Try not to cause another avalanche Brat" Sasori said amusedly handing Deidara some notes.

"Hey what are you doing?" I asked bemusedly.

"We were betting on Uchiha convincing you to go visit him. You sucker," Deidara grinned, "thanks for the money though."

"You were betting on us?" I demanded to know angrily.

"Yep," he whooped, "that's what family is for." They disappeared down the other side of the cliff.

"Un-bloody-believable." I complained to Itachi, "Where was he raised a bar?" Itachi just smirked in response walking off to the tents.

"Hurry and dig out some more people as quickly as you can. You're going to need a rest before visiting me in Konoha."

"Jeez he's pretty unbelievable himself." I smiled to myself before searching back through the rubble.

~End of flashback~

'That's it. Screw whatever his little brother thought, screw getting hunted by the Uchiha. I'm too fucking hungry to care.' I stormed to the door, slammed it open and was greeted with a familiar blazing glare. "Going somewhere?"

'Shit, shit, shit, he is pissed.' I backed up into the hideout. 'WAIT A MINUTE!' I thought to myself, dramatically stopping exactly where I stood. 'HE is the one that owes ME an explanation.' "Yes actually, I'm going to get food, because for some reason, my supposed best friend, completely forgot about my existence for a few days and I'm starving" I snapped.

He sighed running his hand through his hair before jumping into the hideout and opening a scroll. Food spread out all over the table. I caught sight of crab legs and immediately started chomping all the while glaring at him. My glare wasn't nearly as impressive as his usual one however he seemed to understand that I was pissed. "Look I didn't mean to forget to bring you food, I just had this big mission and I needed to speak with Shikamaru because –"

At that I moodily turned around not even bothering to face him. He went on a mission having all the fun, then ditched me so he could talk to another genius and gloat about how stupid us normal people are. 'Well FUCK YOU very much' I thought darkly. "You do realise you said that all aloud." Itachi quirked his eyebrow. I hated it when he done that, it made him look so...

"Maybe I meant to" I retorted childishly.

He ran his hand through his hair sighing exasperatedly. "I don't look down at you, you know that." I gave him a look that said the opposite. "If you went out there you would have face a whole village."

"I've done that before" I stated bluntly.

"It's a village that's precious to me. If you hurt even one of them –" he started to say Sharingan glowing.

"Finally we get to the truth of the situation. It's not for my sake, it's for your brother's" I stated coldly. Not even caring about my appetite, I pushed his food away from me. "You know I would never expect you to put me before your brother but you shouldn't have asked me to come here if you couldn't trust me after knowing me for ten years" I said softly before walking off to my room.

I folded my arms behind the back of my head and stared at the ceiling. Eventually, I guess, I had fallen asleep. When I woke up the cover had been pulled over me. I turned my head and Itachi was sitting in the corner of the room in an armchair. "You know that's creepy right?" I told him groggily.

"I didn't want to wake you up but I'm not leaving until this is sorted" he told me getting straight to the point. I shifted myself so I was sitting up showing I was listening. "I didn't mean to imply that I didn't trust you. I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I didn't. But you had no right to say it was for my brother's sake. I am perfectly capable of protecting him on my own!" He told me quietly. "The truth is I wanted you to stay for my sake, it was selfish but I..."

"It's okay. I didn't really mind it. It was kind of weird not seeing you after ten years of constantly living in each-others pockets. I get on with the other Akatsuki but it's not the same" I told him smiling a little.

"Oh and the 'fuck you very much comment' in your dreams." He smirked. 'Itachi Uchiha joking, oh Kami, the apocalypse must be starting.'

"Very funny." I glared unimpressively at him again. His eyes showed his laughter.

He walked up to me and whacked his arm against my own. "Ow Itachi. What the hell was that for?!" I exclaimed.

He bit his lip. "I was trying to do the arm-calm-thing you do."

"'Arm-calm-thing?'" I asked confused.

He sighed and sat next to me. "Yes that thing you do when I get stressed or upset." He frowned staring at my arm.

"Oh you mean this?" I asked laying my arm down next to his so the bottom parts of our arms touched.

"Yes," he stared down in fascination, "how do you do that?"

"Well I don't just whack you with my arm for starters" I laughed.

"I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to do any of it: whack you, forget your food, imply that –" Itachi started to ramble.

"I believe the word you're looking for is sorry?" I suggested.

He gave me half a smile. "I'm sorry Kisame."

"It's okay." I grinned back.

"No it's not your bored so..." He pulled out a scroll. "This is the latest information we've gathered on Obito from my own mission and from Naruto little excursion. You'll have to leave tomorrow and I'll send word to Nagato tonight so he'll be expecting your arrival. They will need time to lower the defence but-

"-thank you!" I grinned manically about to squeeze him to death. Remembering that he was a Uchiha and would probably dismember me, I just posed awkwardly in the air for a second and grabbed the scroll.

"I'll come see you off. Be ready to leave at 11pm. Oh and I restocked your fridge," he smirked, "so no angry rampages around the district okay?" He stood up beginning to leave.

"You got it." I grinned taking in his warm dark eyes once again, they were still dancing with laughter. Once again we were in a staring contest. Suddenly realising what we were doing, we both broke eye contact. "Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes goodbye" Itachi said almost running out of the basement.

Shikamaru POV

Team Eight, the Sand Siblings and I were waiting over at the gate for Naruto and Sasuke to escape from the crowd of villagers. Naruto had spent all of his time back in the village meeting and greeting all of the people who had come to welcome him home. That included the majority of the village; shops closed, school children let out early and many ninja abandoned their posts, all were hoping to catch a glimpse of the hero. This however, was all to be expected, the troublesome part about it was that Naruto had the intention of seeing every single one of them before leaving on the mission.

The Sand Siblings were getting stressed not wanting to be late for their brother. Kankuro was trying to distract himself by polishing his wooden Crow puppet whilst Temari was pacing back and forth, a cute crease on her brow, as she tried to hold herself back from dragging Naruto away from his fans. I gave her… 'Three, two, one-' "That's it." She barged her way through the crowd. "Out of my way" she demanded, pushing them aside with her fan.

Kankuro and I quickly followed behind her using the path she had created through the crowd. "Gomen, gomen nasi, gomen," Kankuro apologised on behalf of his sister, "gomen, gomen nasi, gomen." Having spent a lot of time around The Sand Siblings, I knew that Temari was probably the second scariest of the three and that meant Kankuro spent a lot of his time apologising for them. Reaching Naruto, Temari stopped abruptly, causing Kankuro and I to crash into her back.

"Hey what's the big idea…?" Kankuro began, before following his sister's line of sight and taking a sharp intake of breathe.

Temari's shimmering green eyes widened as she took in Naruto's appearance; covered head to toe in bruises, blood and dirt. She pointed at him, her hand trembling, "You. What happened?!"

Naruto gave us a quick glance before accepting a daisy from small girl…

There was no question the villagers demanded Naruto's attention, making it next impossible for him to speak to us. However, I could tell from his relieved expression, that he didn't want to answer these questions. Itachi hadn't told me what had gone on between Naruto and Sasuke but I knew it must have something seriously troublesome to make Uzumaki Naruto run away from a confrontation.

So instead Iruka came over to speak to us. "You guys are here already. I hoped Naruto might be able to stay a little while longer before leaving us again. But I suppose it can't be helped," Iruka grimaced, recognising the expressions on our faces, probably having looked the same the moment he first laid eyes on his past-pupil, "he is the Hero of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Iruka appeared to be answering two things at once - why Naruto was in his current condition and why he had to go now.

"We must remember that with that title a huge responsibility is placed upon Naruto to fight our enemies and to protect this village. It's no wonder he is like this really… looking after himself has never been one of his priorities. It would be unreasonable for us to expect Naruto to come back without a scratch on him, especially considering the incredible power of his enemies, and now he no longer possesses the Kyuubi chakra to heal." Iruka paused for a moment, his eyes dulling with worry and sadness.

We all stood there in silence waiting for him to continue.

Iruka pale eyes met ours, he sighed. "Make sure you take good care of him on this mission-"

"He's not seriously coming with us" Temari retorted taken aback.

Iruka gave us a wry smile. "Naruto never goes back on his word, that's his ninja way." He looked down at Naruto who had crouched down to this little girls eye-level to accept her gift. "Besides Naruto and the Kazekage are close friends, they share a unique experience in that they were both Jinchuuriki and understand each other on a level that none of us can possibly comprehend. I don't know what's gone on but Naruto was adamant about going on this mission. If he is reaching out to your brother, then I…" he paused then looking us all in the eye, "don't think we should stop him." Iruka was surprisingly scary, his words sounding almost threatening, the way he dared us to try and stop Naruto. Iruka turned back to Naruto again…

"Arigatou" Naruto whispered spinning the flower around in his fingers. "But you know, something as beautiful as this needs just a beautiful an owner." Naruto carefully tucked the little flower into the girls golden locks. "See much better." The girl's cheeks flushed at the comment and she giggled running off to show her parents.

The last words Iruka spoke to us I will never forget because I whole-heartedly agreed with them. "I believe Naruto more than anyone in this world deserves happiness."

"You're so sweet Naruto" Sakura said smiling warmly at him. Sakura had kindly offered to take the presents, flowers and food packages from the villagers back to his apartment. "I don't know how you do it. I think I'm going to have to make a few trips…" she chuckled, turning to find Sasuke uncomfortably close to Naruto.

Sasuke's eyes were blazing red with the Sharingan. His eyes taking in every cut and bruise on Naruto's body, as if he sought to torture himself, agonising over every injury. Normally, whenever anybody saw Sasuke, never mind his Sharingan, they would back away out of fear. But in Naruto's presence, the Uchiha couldn't create a dark enough aura to keep the people away, even if it would be in Naruto's best interests. It really was as Itachi, Kakashi and Jiraiya said: 'Naruto is Sasuke's source of light.'

Naruto shifted under Sasuke's intense gaze making it even harder to keep up his happy pretence. Naruto answered Sakura honestly, "All these people took the time to come and see me and bring me gifts, really it's the least I can do." The message behind Naruto's words was clear – he didn't want to do this but he wouldn't let the villagers down. 'He really does have all the qualities of a true leader' I noted, knowing that he put all others to shame.

The moment that Iruka left, Temari turned back to us with a terrified look on her face. "What the fuck are we going to do?" She grabbed Kankuro by the shoulders dramatically, "Gaara is going to KILL us."

I sighed. 'Man what a drag…' I thought to myself, trying to soothe my overdramatic girlfriend, "Don't you think you're over reacting. For the most part Naruto is fine…"

Temari and Kankuro cut me off with their horrified looks. "Gaara isn't going to see that. He is going to take one look at Naruto and-" Temari stopped unable to speak of the punishment that the Kazekage would inflict on them.

"SAND BURIAL" Kankuro gulped trying to remove the lump in his throat.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" They both said over and over.

Temari paced back and forth, this time trying to formulate a plan to deal with her brother while Kankuro looked around searchingly, as if the answer was just going to fall out of the sky.

'-the sky' I longed to just lie down and watch the clouds, or even better, have a nice long sleep.

Kankuro had an evil glint in his eye as he looked over at Naruto, or more precisely, the Uchiha anxiously hovering over him. "You know Temari, Sasuke is coming on this mission." Immediately we knew what he was suggesting and seeing that we were both about to object, he cut us off. "Just think about it. All we need to say is— 'We are so sorry dearest Brother-" Kankuro put on a terribly exaggerated voice.

"HA. That's overdoing it. He won't believe that." Temari stated flatly. "It should be more: 'We tried to protect Naruto but the Uchiha-"

Temari didn't see it but Naruto appeared behind her; a dark aura surrounding him upon hearing her words. "-had nothing to do with it" He finished off her sentence with Sasuke lingering at his side. "And neither did any of you, I went off on my own without telling anyone. If Gaara is angry at anyone, he can be angry at me." Naruto's voice broke a little. I could see how desperately he didn't want to upset his friend.

I'd have offered Naruto some kind of comfort but Sasuke spoke before I got the chance. "They're right Naruto. I'm your personal guard. If you get injured, even when I'm not around, it's my responsibility-" Naruto cut him off.

"Hokage-sama assigned you that mission starting from next week, did she not?" Naruto reminded Sasuke of the specifics of his mission; neither the impersonal tone nor the sharp words suited him.

Not expecting such a un-Naruto-like response, Sasuke didn't answer the question straight away.

Nevertheless, seconds later Sasuke adjusted to Naruto's behaviour. "Naruto" his voice softened a little, raw emotion slipping through as he tried to get Naruto to place all of the burden on him. It was a smart plan. In the past, the only person Naruto accepted to shoulder some of his burden was Sasuke, but unfortunately, today, that wasn't the case.

Naruto recoiled at the sound like a serious wound had just been inflicted upon him.

Naruto gathered himself enough to put on a fake smile and looked directly into Sasuke's eyes. He then said in an excessively perky voice, "Yes Uchiha-san."

The roles had drastically reversed in their relationship. Suddenly it was Naruto who looked at Sasuke with cold hollow eyes and Sasuke stared back, eyes flooded with so much emotion, they scarcely looked like they belonged to the Uchiha.

The moment Naruto's cerulean orbs met Sasuke's deep onyx eyes, his cold façade shattered. He started to sound like his old self again shouting, "If you're not going to say anything Tem-" Naruto abruptly paused having half-called Sasuke by his insulting nickname.

Sasuke had a faint smile on his face, obviously happy Naruto was returning to his old ways.

The brief moment of normality ended. "If you're not going to say anything…" he paused again, as if the memory of the word he would have said was upsetting him. "-Don't call me!" Naruto said this last part abruptly. Turning away he added, "I'm busy too you know."

Temari was looking everywhere for Lady Tsunade, clearly wanting to buy herself some time by getting her to keep Naruto in the village. "Lady Tsunade," she began to call, "Godaime Hokage, Lady Tsunade." I could tell that she was panicking when she grabbed a random ninja by their vest yelling, "Where is Hokage-sama?"

Kankuro and I stood there both with a sweat-drop.

Any second the ANBU would turn up and this would become an international incident. 'That could be troublesome' I noted. Sighing I walked over to her, took her arm and walked away. "Hey Shika wait…" 'And I could be sleeping right now…' It took a lot of effort not to yawn. 'But no, I had to go and get myself a crazy girlfriend.' "She was going to talk…" She pleaded with me, reaching out for the ninja girl as I dragged her back over to the main gate.

"Calm down sis," Kankuro said, "if you cause a scene Gaara will kill us before he even sees Naruto."

Temari began to struggle all the more at his words. "That's not helping" I groaned having to put much more effort into restraining her.

'I need to calm her down.' Dragging her attention away from the rest of the world, I moved her chin towards mine and before she could say anything I urgently kissed her. Her lips were frozen on mine as she looked at me wide eyed but then she relaxed into the kiss and her eyelashes fluttered close. Feeling her lips locked on mine, I thought to myself with smirk 'This is the best plan I've ever come up with.' Her fingers began to creep up my neck and my hand tightened around her waist.

"Ew gross man that's my sister" Kankuro complained in the background making gagging noises.

Kiba whistled immaturely until a blushing Hinata timidly tried to stop him. "Kiba-kun… that's not very nice… their having a private moment."

Simultaneously Temari and I gave them the finger, not opening our eyes or parting our lips to do so.

After she had sufficiently calmed down, I told her in a calm voice, "Lady Tsunade has already seen Naruto. She gave him the once over when he got back to the village and Sakura used her medical ninjutsu on him. All in all, he is fine and has been cleared for missions." I tried to emphasize the futility of any efforts to stop Naruto at this stage, "Besides do you really think that Lady Tsunade could stop him if he really wants to go?"

Temari acknowledged defeat. Still she whined thinking of the punishment, "But Gaara…" She had a little pout on her lips.

Unable to resist, I kissed her lips lightly. "We'll think of something" I assured her.

"I wouldn't worry about it Temari, if he's anything like Kankuro over here," Kiba sniggered, pointing to a still wrenching Kankuro, "then just make out with Shikamaru and he'll forget all about your mission."

Naruto and Sasuke, who were walking over to us, must have heard the end of our conversation. Naruto did his best to console a still frightened Temari and Kankuro (who still hasn't recovered), "Don't worry about Gaara. I'm not going to let anyone get into trouble because of me. I'll just clean myself up on the way. There are plenty of rivers and streams in these woods…" Naruto trailed off beginning to walk through the gates with Sasuke quickly following in step behind him.

We all quickly gathered up our supplies and hurried out of the gates after the pair.

"Hey Naruto… wait…" Kiba yelled grabbing his rucksack and throwing it over his shoulder.

"Naruto. Naruto. NARUTO!" Temari yelled after him.

Sasuke and Naruto stopped at the same time. Naruto turned back to us, his face softening with a genuine smile on his lips. "Come on guys we've got to go get Gaara."

Sasuke's eyes widened seeing the expression on Naruto's face. He looked to the side hurt.

Kankuro was muttering under his breathe, "Easy for you to say you're not the one whose gonna to get killed." True to his words, Kankuro marched on out of the gates as if we were escorting him to his execution.

Placing my hands in my pockets, I sighed. "Man this going to be such a drag."

We were walking for a good few hours without any sign of disturbance. I formulated a plan which utilised Naruto's abilities as little as possible in order for him to recover. I asked Shino to scout up ahead using his insects to check for enemy ninja. His bugs had just reported back…

"My insects haven't noticed anything unusual" Shino stated bluntly.

I nodded in reply and checked on everyone in turn.

Kiba was telling Hinata all about this new trick he had taught Akamaru. "-any enemy will go flying with that." Akamaru barked agreeing with Kiba. "I can't wait for you to see it" he added a light blush appearing on his cheeks.

Hinata's face flushed. "I… I'm looking forward to it Kiba-kun."

Temari and Kankuro were playing a unique game of eye spy where the only thing they were spotting was sources of water. "Trees, trees, and more trees" Temari noted to herself. "Do you see anything yet?" She asked her brother urgently.

"No. You?" He asked, earning him a hit around the head for quote, 'Asking such a stupid question.'

My main concern though was Naruto considering the state he was in for this mission. It was true that Tsunade had cleared him for missions but that was more a personal cutesy than a professional decision. I slipped the envelope Itachi had given me out of my pocket, wondering what it was that he had to report. Before opening the document, I checked ahead to see if Naruto and Sasuke were close by. To my luck both of them were far ahead of the rest of the group; Naruto was attempting to escape Sasuke by speeding ahead but Sasuke easily managed to keep up with Naruto's weakened state.

In the end to avoid spending any time alone with the Uchiha, Naruto had summoned two toads and he was pretending to listen to them. "How many is that now?" Gamakichi asked Gamatatsu who was busy emptying another sweet packet into his mouth.

"I don't know Gamakichi… only four or five… or maybe six" Gamatatsu answered in complete naivety.

"O-O-Only four or five- maybe six?" Gamakichi repeated nonsensical. Shaking his whole body of the shock, he lectured Gamatatsu. "You know you shouldn't be eating that much. What do you think Pops going to say?"

"He's going to find out." Gamatatsu sounded surprised. "Oh no, aw… that's bad. You're not going to tell him are you Gamakichi?"

"I'm not" Gamakichi answered bluntly. "But I can't say the same about Naruto here."

"Oh no, you won't, will you Naruto?" Gamatatsu asked looking over at the blonde Sage.

"Oh, um… sure" Naruto replied obviously not paying attention.

"YOU WILL!" Gamatatsu yelled. "Oh no. Gamakichi stop him." He whined to his brother.

"Hey kid, I was only joking. I didn't think you'd really go telling Pops-" Gamakichi began before Naruto interrupted him.

"Uh, what? No. Look I'm sorry you guys, I guess I'm kinda tired."

"I bet. That Kabuto guy sure was a powerful ninja. That genjutsu was rough on you eh-" From the look on Naruto's face, Gamakichi was right it had been a rough battle, but it couldn't have been half as bad as the real problem because Naruto was at least willing to think about that.

"Genjutsu." Naruto ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "Ah, don't talk to me about genjutsu. I'VE HAD IT-"

Sasuke, who'd been listening to the conversation, commented on Naruto's outburst. "What's that Dobe? You're still having trouble with genjutsu. I would have thought by now you would have addressed that weakness. Then again," he leaned in close really trying to riel Naruto up, "you are a Dobe."

Sasuke's voice elicited the oddest reaction from Naruto; he both stiffened and relaxed at the sound. Naruto didn't take the bait, he didn't dare look back, but answered coldly. "It's nothing I can't handle."

Temari ordered her brother to scout further ahead for a river. She turned to me the moment that he was gone and followed my gaze over to the two ninja. "Is something going on with those two?" She asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing better than to give anything away.

"Don't get me wrong, I love peace and quiet as much as the next person, but didn't you tell me that Naruto and Sasuke were a headache, always arguing all the time. Now I've been watching them ever since we left the Village," I raised my eyebrow at her playfully trying to suggest I was jealous she had been looking at other guys (my dad told me girls expected that sort of thing), "because I value my own life of course and Gaara is wary of the Uchiha." She explained, her voice rising in annoyance at the insinuation, perhaps one of the only girls who didn't like what I was suggesting. "Anyway... that's not the point. The point is that they've barely spoken to each other since we left the Leaf. Now I expected this much from the Uchiha… but Naruto—that boy doesn't shut up even when he's eating. Naruto always gave us the impression that he would welcome Sasuke back into the village with open arms. He was always like 'Sasuke's my teammate, my rival, my best-friend…'" Her voice became progressively quieter as she looked for my response.

I could only sigh at her comments. It really was obvious that something was wrong between them. "So… what's going on? Did Sasuke have something to do with Naruto getting…" she looked for the best way to put it but in the end settled for, "getting beaten up?"

It was a drag but I wasn't at liberty to discuss it. This was one of MANY things I didn't like about being advisor to the future Hokage - more and more often I had to lie to the people I care about. Not wanting to do that to her, I gave her the best answer I could. "Sasuke was in the Village, what could he have possibly had to do with what happen to Naruto?" I asked her trying to get out of giving her a proper answer.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. What's going on? Shikamaru…" She pressed, her temple twitching in annoyance at my insult to her intelligence.

"Why ask me? You're seeing everything I am." She looked like she was going to object and demand that I give her a real answer. 'It would be bad if she mentions this to Gaara, he's very protective of Naruto as it is. If he thinks that Sasuke's causing some harm to Naruto, then I doubt he will care about the consequences of his actions, god knows Naruto never does when his fellow Jinchuuriki is concerned.' I sighed at the troublesome nature of it all. 'I'll have to give her something' I resolved. "Tell me Temari, does it look like Sasuke wishes to do Naruto harm?" Leading her thoughts quite forcefully with the question and making her look again in the direction of the two shinobi.

There was an awkward silence after Naruto's response which was only broken by Gamakichi starting up a conversation again. "Um… well it worked itself out in the end." He added grabbing Gamatatsu by the arm. "Well," he put on a fake laugh, "we should really be getting home. Shima will have dinner waiting for us-" They made their escape before even finishing the excuse.

The two toads disappeared from the space between Naruto and Sasuke, leaving them standing there looking into each other's eyes. Sasuke's eyes were again filled with all the words he wanted to say. He even stepped forward as if he were even going to say them but before he could Naruto retreated as if he feared Sasuke's words more than anything. "Just-" Naruto backed away, "I didn't realise how far ahead we are. I-I'm gonna go check on the others." As Naruto said the words he was already leaving.

Sasuke looked back after Naruto as he fled from him. He did not follow.

Naruto looked at us all one after the other. He registered the worry on our faces, and not wanting to deal with it, he joined Shino walking in silence with his bugs.

Upon Naruto's arrival, Shino pushed his glasses up his nose as if he were looking for reassurance that he was actually seeing someone join him. Shino wasn't one not to comment on this rarity. "Strange," he said bluntly, "you walking with me instead of Uchiha-san? On any other occasion, I might have thought you had mistaken me for him but you just came from his side. Is it that you don't wish to talk to him?" Naruto gave Shino a scowl as if to say 'Not another word' or 'When did you get so talkative?' which acted as a sort of agreement to Shino's evaluation.

"I see… I guess my insects and I provide good company for times like these, saying very little." Naruto's eye-brow twitched as if to say 'Very little. Not little enough. Can't I just have some peace and quiet?' NOW I was alarmed. To see that sort of reaction from Naruto, considering the lengths he had gone to be acknowledged- 'What did Sasuke say to make Naruto like this?' At this point even I felt a growing hostility towards the Uchiha and I knew that any hurt he caused Naruto was unintentional.

Shino observed Naruto's discomfort and didn't say any more; settling back into the silence he had been in before Naruto's arrival.

Naruto relaxed at little at Shino's actions. He wasn't up to offering his friend any words of comfort but feeling guilty all the same, he whispered "Thanks Shino."

"Looks like its Uchiha's fault to me. Naruto won't look at him, Naruto won't talk to him, hell Naruto can't stand being in his presence even on an official mission-" Temari observed.

"Much like the rest of us, eh?" Kankuro commented nudging Temari and I.

Temari laughed. "Must finally be seeing what the rest have seen from the start."

I rolled my eyes at them, 'Their reaction is to be expected I suppose.' "But-" Temari said her eyes narrowing as she looked deeper.

"But what?" I asked curious to know whether she had seen past it now.

"I dunno," she began, "something's off with the Uchiha. He seems like a totally different person to the ninja that attacked the Kage Summit. I mean LOOK at him." She pointed in his direction with a slight tilt of her head. "He's making a face like a puppy that's just been kicked." 'My ever-so-charming-and-articulate girlfriend' I smirked at her choice of words. "He-He-," she looked to be struggling with what her eyes were showing her, "he almost looks upset that Naruto doesn't want to be near him." She laughed at her own words. "Crazy right?" Temari looked to me and Kankuro for agreement.

"Yeah crazy" Kankuro nodded at first. "Though…" Kankuro raised his hand to his chin with a thoughtful look on his face, "if Gaara were here," he quickly added "and didn't HATE the Uchiha's guts. He would probably say something like 'Naruto Uzumaki was the one who brought me into the light after only ever having been in the darkness. He had the ability to do that to a total stranger, an enemy even. Now just imagine, the strength of that power when focused on a bond of friendship he cherishes above all others. No, I'm not surprised he changed the Uchiha. I'm not surprised that Naruto did that at all." Both Temari and Kankuro shivered. That did scarily sound like something Gaara would, or had said, it reminded me of his speech to the Allied Forces.

Temari smacked her brother round the head, "Don't scare me like that! I thought he was here for a minute."

"I was that good huh?" Kankuro asked with a smug grin.

"That good at giving me a fucking heart attack. You're not forgetting, I hope, that if Gaara showed up now he would see THAT!" She pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. They looked over the bruised, cut, and dirt covered ninja. They both gulped. "Enough screwing around! We need to find a water source."

Hinata was then forcefully dragged away from Kiba because they now decided to use her Byakugan in their desperate search for water.

"Hyuuga girl you're coming with me." Temari took hold of Hinata's arm.

"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Kiba objected pulling her back towards him. "Get your hands off Hinata!"

"Beat it Dog-breath! I need to borrow your little girlfriend for a while to-" Temari yelled.

"To save our lives!" Kankuro snapped, grabbing hold of the same arm.

Kiba's grip tightened as if he was scared that someone (Hinata) might make something of Temari's words. Enraged he yelled, "What did you call me POM-POM-HEAD?"

Shino and Naruto looked back hearing raised voices. Shino sighed, seeming to sink further into the collar of his jacket. "What is a 'pom-pom-head' Kiba?" He already knew Kiba did not have an answer. "If you're going to use it as an insult then at least come up with a valid explanation for it or it's the same as saying nothing."

Naruto smiled weakly, "He's right Kiba. That has to be the lamest insult ever."

"That was you're insult Dobe" Sasuke teased from afar with a smirk.

Naruto seemed to completely forget the animosity between himself and Sasuke for a moment. "Oh yeah, I said something like that, didn't I? It was during the Chuunin Exams though. I was like five at the time." We all wanted to face-palm at Naruto's mental time-line. "Anyway, I'm much better at insulting people now. Aren't I-" Naruto turned on his heels to face Sasuke but seeing his face Naruto could not forget the pain. "Aren't I-I-I—everyone?" Naruto ended feebly, the broken expression already back in place.

"Yeah, well who cares" Kiba said dismissively. Seeing that no one was on his side, he turned to Akamaru for help. "Who needs them anyway? I've got Akamaru." Kiba spoke with all the pride of a father about a son, Akamaru gave a loud bark and wag of his tail before grabbing hold of Hinata's arm. "Come on boy, you'll help me save Hinata from the SAND FREAKS won't ya?"

A tug of war ensued between the Sand Siblings and Kiba and Akamaru. In the end Hinata suggested to Kiba that she should do her part to help out the team. At Hinata's words Kiba let it drop but he spent every moment awaiting her return.

This is where my troubles for the next hour began…

Hinata had done her best to help the Sand Siblings but instead of returning to Kiba who was waiting on her, she decided to walk with Shino and Naruto, concerned, like we all were, with his current condition. After that, Kiba had joined me to sulk about it which led to his current rant about how Naruto 'isn't all that.' "I don't know what she sees in him anyway. He can be a complete idiot most of the time. I mean… yeah okay, he's the Hero of the Leaf Village; and yeah, he's the future Hokage; and yeah, he's the kinda guy both Neji-stick-up-the-arse and the Head-of-the-Douchebag-Fathers-Brigade want for Hinata. Um, what was my point again?" Kiba scratched his head lost in a rant. "Oh yeah, right… even if he's all that, the guy doesn't see how amazing anyone is apart from himself, and maybe Sasuke. He doesn't deserve her for that alone!" He stressed his point.

"He never talks to her much. In fact Hinata told me that he FLAT OUR IGNORED her this time she finally worked up the courage to express her feelings for him. Do you know how hard that must have been for her? I'll tell you, hard, because Hinata can't be around him more than two seconds without fainting. So for him to be a pig-headed enough to ignore her is just, is just," Kiba had to stop for air at this point, "fucking RUDE. Did I tell you how much of an idiot the guy is? You know, Ibiki-told-Anko-who-told-Hana-who-told-me, that he didn't answer a single question on the written part of the Chunnin exam, not a single answer." He emphasized this part to. "How can someone as smart as Hinata be with someone like that?"

I sighed not wanting to listen to any more of this. I dared to say, "Kiba, you like Hinata right?"

Kiba's eyes widened at my words. "Um, what?" He scratched his head again nervously this time, "Why would you ask something like that?"

'Oh I dunno,' I thought sarcastically, 'maybe because you spent the last hour telling me how amazing you think Hinata is and how much you hate Naruto purely because you think Hinata likes him.' I wanted to say that but instead I said. "Call it a hunch."

"Well, yeah, I-um-like her. She's my teammate." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Fine." He looked all around before finally admitting it to me. "Yeah I like her. I mean, what is there not to like? She's smart, and not just book-smart but smart with people too and she's kind, even to those who don't deserve it." I could tell his thoughts returned to Neji and Hinata's father because he had that look on his face like he could go on all day about how he hated how they treated her.

Luckily he didn't but continued on. "And even though Hinata's shy, she is really, really brave, I mean nobody is as brave as she is. It's alright for Naruto to go out against Pain with all his Sage-mode and Kyuubi chakra but Hinata went head-to-head with that Pain-guy without all that. That's way more courageous to me!

Kiba sincerely smiled then, "And on top of all that Hinata is totally freakin' beautiful with her long silky black hair, her gentle pale eyes and smile," his smile suddenly turned into a playful smirk, "and have you seen the rack on her."

"Right enough." I lifted my hands up to stop any protests. "If you're so into her then how come you haven't said anything? No, let me guess – Naruto?" I offered him this superficial reason hoping he would admit the real reason himself.

"Partly, I guess." I sensed Hinata turn away from Naruto and Shino and move in our direct. 'I know this could be troublesome but it could avoid a tiresome future where I turn into Konoha's Love Guru.' I didn't alert Kiba to Hinata's presence and let him continue with what he was saying, "It's more than that though. It's not like these feelings I have are something new, I have known exactly how I feel about her for a long time now-"

I heard Hinata gasp behind us.

"I thought as much" I tried to cover Hinata's presence. I thought it would be hard considering Kiba was from a squad designated for tracking but I guess Kiba was so focused on what he was saying that he forgot about everything else around him. "So why not tell her how you feel? The worse she can do is say she doesn't feel the same way."

"Is that really the worst thing that can happen?" Kiba asked me. "We've been friends for a long time." He explained, "If I told her, if I said out-loud to her, that I love her, even once. Then I couldn't ever un-say it. It could ruin everything! If she doesn't—no when she doesn't say she feels the same, then she might not feel comfortable being my friend anymore. All that friendship between us, all that trust between us, gone, in an instant." Kiba's voice was in a panic, "I-I-I couldn't handle something like that. I never want to lose her, not her. So that's why I can't say it to her because I would rather have her in my life the way it is now, than say it and lose it all." He confessed at last.

"Oh Kiba-kun..." Hinata whispered her voice breaking at his words. "Why didn't you tell me you were in pain? Who is it you can't say those words to? Who wouldn't love to know that you love them?" Hinata spoke the very words she should be saying directly to Kiba.

I sighed. 'There you have it, I tried.'

Kiba looked at me expecting some sort of advice. "Well… it does seem like you given this a lot of thought… looked at it from all the angles," I tried to think of something on the spot. I often resorted to a lesson that my father taught me. I could hear his languished voice, "You know most the time it's pretty irrelevant what you say to people. It's all meaningless unless they figure it out for themselves." From then on, at times like these, I just said a load of rubbish hoping that in trying to figure it out Kiba would catch on. "I find that in Shougi," I'm aware that neither Kiba nor Naruto know how to play, making this analogy the best for them, "sometimes a risky move is more effective than a safe one." I'm going soft, giving him something useful. If he figures it out that is.

"Shougi. That's all you got." Kiba stuttered, unable to fathom his frustration with me. I couldn't blame him, he just poured his heart out to me and I didn't offer him a shred of advice. "God Shikamaru, you're supposed to be genius aren't you? I was expecting some big enlightening speech, and what do I get? A big fat nothing." Kiba looked down at Akamaru who was trying to nuzzle Kiba's hand in comfort. "Come on Akamaru let's go!" Kiba stormed off over to where Temari and Kankuro were still scouting for water.

'At last.' I yawned crossing my hands behind my head. Finally, I was able to walk in silence and watch the clouds pass over head. It ended all too soon-

"Oi Temari!" Kankuro hollered over at his sister who was on the opposite side of the path. "Kiba's found something. It looks like…" Kankuro began to walk over to his sister wanting to give her the good news face-to-face, "there is a stream not too far east of this point." As Kankuro was crossing through the group, there was a rustle in the trees and it appeared as if the wind had picked up out of nowhere.

However, we were all ninja here and knew that wasn't the case. "Be on your guard" I announced, flipping open my weapons pouch and reaching for a kunai. Everyone took a fighting stance: Kankuro hands attaching chakra strings, Temari flipping open her fan, Shino releasing a swarm of insects, Kiba jumping onto Akamaru's back, Hinata activating her Byakugan, Sasuke his Sharingan and Naruto… his eyes were down-cast, his train of thought unreadable.

"My-" Naruto didn't even listen to the end of the message before he disappeared into the trees.

It was a terrifying testament to Naruto's power; we watched ninja after ninja fall out of the trees.

From where I was standing, I could hear most clearly their cries: "This guy's not even human – AH!"- he fell; "I've cut him Boss! I swear, I cut him over and over! ARGH!" – he fell; "He's not going down- OW!"- she fell; "He must be one of those reanimation freaks? O-O-OUCH!" – he fell; "He can't be. Even they go down before they get back up. But he, this, he's impossible- UGGH!" – he fell. There was a huge streak of blood that came raining through the trees, "How is he? How is he still moving after that?! YAWP!" Another ninja fell from the trees.

Sasuke's eyes turned the darkest shade of red. "NARUTO" he growled, disappearing off into the trees after his teammate.

Now additional shouting was coming from the trees, and most of it from Sasuke. "O Kami there's another one! UGGH!" he fell; "Naruto… Naruto… UKATONICHI WAIT THE FUCK UP! "; "Shit, his eyes, he's a Uchiha –!" two fell; "FUCK THEIR FAST! – ARGH!" he fell; "NARUTO! FUCKING WATCH WHERE YOU AIM THOSE THINGS! You almost took my FUCKING head off!" two more fell; "Get the blonde one! He seems slower —EEEEYOUCH!" five fell; "WATCH YOUR FUCKING BACK DOBE!" three fell; "We're all gonna die!" she fell; "STAY OUT OF MY WAY SASUKE!" Naruto finally yelled back.

At that point the ninja that remained decided to take their chances with us and began fleeing from their cover within the trees. The men that came out didn't look like ninja at all but scared little children running around the battlefield. Seeing his men fleeing, the leader of the group tried to give them courage, and in a shaky voice spoke to them. "Their village ninja, nothing to scared of. They know nothing about the harsh reality outside their cosy little villages. We can take them. We could never be beaten by the likes of them." Even though his words were spoken in fear they still had the desired effect, "We must show them. SHOW. THEM. OUR. POWER!" They all charged at his words with a renewed vigour and every intention of fighting for their lives.

We discovered very quickly that they were nothing more than a band of low-level thieves, and most of them didn't even have chakra. Shino and Kiba tag-teamed a group of three men, Shino creating a diversion with his bugs and Kiba charging them and knocking them down. Kakuro managed to incapacitate two more of by locking them up inside his Black Ant and Temari sent back half a dozen using a Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique. Hinata and I focused on those with chakra. Back-to-back using taijutsu, I attempted to create as many openings as I could so Hinata could cut off their chakra points and take them down. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms" Hinata called out, taking down three at once and showing the vast improvement in her abilities due to Neji's training.

UMPH. "FUCK!" Everyone's eyes were drawn to sound of Naruto's voice. "That fucking hurt" Naruto whined rubbing the back of his head. Naruto was sprawled out on the ground evidently having slipped from the branches above. "Stupid slippy tree… stupid water jutsu… who does water jutsu in the trees anyway?" Naruto grumbled to himself, beginning to get to his feet and brushing himself off of all the leaves, twigs and dirt.

A dark look was exchanged between the men and they started to surround Naruto. Even if they were a bunch of low-level thieves, there was still a great number of them, enabling us from moving and going to Naruto's aid. "NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! You're going to get yourself KILLED!" Naruto began to turn around, a kunai came straight at his face and his eyes widened as he realised his reflexes weren't fast enough to counter it.

Sasuke dropped down in front of Naruto, his katana unsheathed.

It was a blur. Sasuke disarmed the guy, flung his companions a dark look and turned to Naruto. Naruto's eye-brows were raised in shock and Sasuke sheathed his katana beginning a furious tirade. "What the fuck was that? You fell from a FUCKING TREE. What are you a genin?" A scowl started to appear on Naruto's face at Sasuke's words. "I knew I was going to be your bodyguard but I didn't think I would have to be your babysitter." Naruto's hands clenched at Sasuke's words but Sasuke didn't stop speaking. "I told you to slow down, to stop, didn't I? Didn't I? But as always Dobe you refuse to listen." One of the men took his chances to strike Sasuke while he was 'distracted.' Sasuke cut him down just by unsheathing a bit of his katana. Naruto and Sasuke continued their glare-off as if nothing had happened. Sasuke continued to shout, "I knew you shouldn't have come on this mission. I knew you shouldn't be here-"

"-well…" Naruto's scowl became even more deep-rooted. Sasuke stopped talking ready to cut down any argument Naruto gave him. "Well… WELL WHO-THE-FUCK SAID I NEEDED YOUR HELP ANYWAY UCHIHA-SAN. I COULD HAVE BLOCKED THAT. I DON'T NEED YOU TO FREAKIN' SAVE ME." Naruto clenched his fists, ready to punch the Uchiha in the face. Instead he just sighed and pushed past him, "I'll look after myself."

Sasuke's reached out and grabbed Naruto's arm. "Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was so low it was almost a whisper. Naruto froze instantly. Looking down at the hand clasping his, he gulped. Naruto shook his head with a look on his face read 'What the fuck are you doing?' Naruto tried to yank his arm from Sasuke as if the contact was hurting him. Sasuke grip held firm, pulling Naruto backwards. "BAKA! YOU'RE NOT FUCKING GOING BACK OUT THERE!" Sasuke yelled and they disappeared before our eyes.

Sasuke POV

"PUT ME THE HELL DOWN!" Naruto screamed for the umpteenth time. I sighed realising we were probably far away enough now and threw him to the floor. He rolled spitting out leaves. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"Well... I have been assigned the task of looking after a complete Dobe with an evident self-harm fetish" I replied sarcastically.

"Wha – I do not have a self-harm fetish you – you BASTARD!" He yelled, I repressed a small smirk at the familiar insult.

"Really? So far since I've come back you've almost died, you've lost control of your chakra more than once, you've come back fatally injured after disappearing for days on end without telling anyone, and just now, you nearly died at the hands of someone with the skills of a GENIN!" I growled furiously.

"Um – well that's because – you know what, IT'S NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS! This might come as a shock to an ARSEHOLE like you, but I don't care if I die, I don't care if my chakra gets out of control and I definitely don't care if I get a few scrapes. Because I know this is hard for you to understand UCHIHA-SAN but those people are MY FRIENDS. They've always been there for me, they've always got my back. So there isn't a power on this earth – even you – that could stop me from helping them. But if you want to be a complete BASTARD, not caring about COMRADES and FRIENDS, and don't get it. Maybe you'll get this – as the future Hokage I must-" and blah-blah-blah.

'I've heard this story god knows how many times and I still think its total shit. Does he think I care about the stupid village? Nope. To be honest, if Naruto died, I'd probably kill most of them myself. Definitely the Elders, probably most of the Rookie Nine (they try and talk to me, it annoys me greatly, besides they tried to stand in the way of my revenge). All of the Kage, especially that sand freak. I mean really, they thought I was crazy? Seriously, have they met I-must-murder-all-for-my-mother, because that's not fucked up or anything?'

I zoned back in. Naruto had stopped speaking. I think he knew I wasn't listening because he tried to glare but I saw the emotion burning dully through his eyes. I blanched, I knew it was my fault, I knew that but I just wanted to say something, anything to make those eyes shine again.

He forced himself up, making his way to the trees. "Where do you think you're going?" I growled stepping in front of him.

"Back to the fight if you're done listening to me?" Naruto managed a full glare this time.

I could see reasoning with him in this state would be useless, he was refusing to see my point. "Fine." I kicked him square in the stomach. "Land one hit on me and I'll let you fight."

"You're on" he growled swinging furiously at me. It was pathetic how easy it was to dodge his attacks, he had obviously sustained far more serious injuries than he had originally let on in his bid to become the criminal sheepdog of the year. "You're so arrogant." I easily sidestepped him.

Twenty missed blows later I could see he was on the verge of collapse. I needed to get him to drain as much of his energy as quickly as possible. Time to employ the tactics that never failed with Naruto – make him feel like I feel superior. "Giving up yet?"

"YOU!" Throwing all his energy into one last blow which whistled past my ear, he exhausted himself, dropping to the floor panting for breath. He tried to push himself up again. I pushed him back down to the floor with my foot. His glare faltered, "Sasuke I need to help them." 'Sasuke, huh?' He hadn't called me that in a while. I shouldn't be as happy as I was. The whole point of convincing him that I hated him was so I didn't have to keep hurting him. Then here I was encouraging his imbecilic behaviour, I knew full well I was going to have to save the rabble now.

I stared directly into his eyes- "I will make sure their safe but they will die protecting you if you try to fight in this condition. I give you my word, I will protect them." He nodded weakly. I glanced back one more time checking the area for the enemy before racing through the trees. 'The things I do for that peace loving moron' I thought irritably as I took out a third ninja with a single swipe of my katana.

Naruto POV

I used Sage Mode to monitor the battle. Everyone's chakra was depleted due to the overwhelming number of enemies. Kankuro's two puppets – busy with opponents – left him wide open; Temari's last wind attack consumed the final dregs of her chakra; Shikamaru's gave out long ago leaving him to co-ordinate attacks for Team Eight (the only team still intact).

I panicked going over the possibilities. 'What if Kankuro can't block an attack? What if Temari collapses from exhaustion? What if Team Eight gets taken down? They're the only defence left.' My mind went to a much darker place: 'W-what if they all die? What if they all die like that day?'

The image of Sakura shielding me from Obito's ferocious flames, her body being consumed by fire; the memory of a brilliant light before falling to my knees cradling Sasuke's lifeless body. 'I CAN'T JUST SIT HERE!' I jumped to my feet heading in the direction of the battle.

I froze remembering Sasuke's words of warning. '"…they will die protecting you if you try to fight in this condition…"' My fists clenched knowing he was right.

I'd never admit it to that arrogant bastard but if he hadn't been there I'd be dead. I felt like that same helpless genin who Sasuke saved on the mission to Land of Waves and it felt like I'd broken the blood oath I made to never run away, or back down from any mission, threat, or enemy. But I didn't want to burden my teammates.

'Hmph. Why does that bastard always know what to say?' I wanted to stick my bottom lip out and pout like I did when I was younger.

The tension slipped away feeling Sasuke's presence on the scene. His chakra was calm, collected, but lethal. A formidable thing to behold, even for an ex-Jinchuuriki, never mind a pack of rag-tag bandits. I closed my eyes, it calmed me. I could just imagine it now. His movements would be swift and precise like they always were; effectively cutting down this low-level threat without more than a swing of his blade. Then, if I were there, he would give me that condescending look which said 'I'll always be better than you Dobe.' The corner of my mouth lifted.

I knew for sure then I was not needed. 'Sasuke gave me his word, he will protect them.' I trusted that if nothing else.

I went in search of the water Kiba located. The abrupt movement caused the bites on my arms and chest to sting like hell. "OH FUCK!" I hissed, pulling my jacket open to examine them. 'These look poisoned' I noted a purple mist seeping out of the wounds.

I skidded to halt in front of a small stream. Opening my weapons pouch, I reached for a kunai. My hand was shaking... 'Nerves? It's not like I haven't done it before. Anticipation? Now that twisted bastard has me thinking I've got a self-harm fetish.' Ignoring it, I steadied my hand and dug the small blade inside hoping to cut the poison out.

I winced— "Naruto!" A raised voice came from behind me. Too focused on the pain, I hadn't sensed anyone approach. Shikamaru grabbed hold of my arm and yanked the blade away from me. "What are you doing? That's dangerous." The usual boredom had vanished from his face and was replaced with the utmost concern.

I pulled my arm from his grasp, shielding it. "I-I-It's nothing-"

He didn't let it go. He grabbed my arm again examining it more closely. "You shouldn't have come on the mission. You should be in a hospital." He told me firmly like it was fact. "Why didn't you show Sakura these? Why didn't you show Lady Tsunade?" Shikamaru didn't give me a chance to answer already knowing what I was going to say. "They wouldn't have cleared you for missions having seen these."

I recoiled from his concern. 'I can't go back now-' I knew even though I was future Hokage, Shikamaru could override my authority and send me back to the village.

"That's exactly why I didn't show them" I told him with equal conviction. "I made a promise to Gaara and I always keep my promises. You know that, it's my ninja way. I won't break that for anything, especially a few minor cuts and bruises." I could tell Shikamaru was going to argue about the severity of my injuries so I tried to reason with him before he could. "I-I-It doesn't hurt that much. It –err – looks worse than it is…" my words were failing me, "…I was only trying to clean them up so they don't look as bad. You know what Gaara will be like…" Shikamaru gave me a look which said 'With good reason.'

"I know, I know, it does LOOK bad but it's MY doing. I knew if Gaara saw this, especially the snake bites, he'd blame the whole thing on Sasuke just like Temari and Kankuro did. There is already bad blood between them due to the Kage Summit. It wouldn't take much to push either of them over the edge-" I rambled at this point using every reason I could think of.

"—alright, alright" Shikamaru's voice became languished again. He turned to leave the small clearing. He lingered at the edge, adding: "At least let Sasuke take a look at them, just to clear up the poison. He was taught by Orochimaru," I stiffened at the name, "and still uses snake summons. It's more than likely he will have some way of combating the poison… then again it is Kabuto's formula… try it anyway."

Shikamaru didn't give me a chance to refuse before continuing to leave. "I don't know what went down between you and Sasuke-" I don't know why I felt the need to speak because Shikamaru clearly didn't expect me too.

"H-He said he doesn't want to be friends." It sounded so pathetic saying it aloud.

Shikamaru heaved a great sigh before replying. "If I remember rightly Naruto, Sasuke said that a lot of times when he left the village. You never let it faze you before. It has never stopped you from being his friend. So why are you letting it get to you now?" Shikamaru clearly expected the answer to be that it shouldn't. But—

My mind immediately filled with protests: 'No. This was different'; 'You weren't there, you wouldn't understand'; 'Sasuke meant it this time, really meant it'; 'I can't just ignore those words.'

Shikamaru must have gauged my reaction from the look on my face because dejectedly he sighed looking for an alternate method of persuasion. "Fine. Look at it another way. I'm not asking you to ask Sasuke as a friend but as a fellow ninja. It's every ninja's duty to help out their comrades – it's one of the first things you're taught at the Academy – meaning that he's under obligation to help you. On top of that, he is your bodyguard starting from next week and your injuries will only make his job harder in the long run."

Seeing that I was still reluctant, he spoke in a way that said it was no longer up for discussion. "Get him to look at it Naruto." He barely finished speaking before he disappeared into the trees.

Sasuke POV

Panting, I landed in a tree just above a nearby stream which Naruto somehow managed to drag himself too. Shikamaru, as I arrived, seemed to be berating him for something. 'What had the idiot done now?' I inched closer, biting back a growl as I laid eyes on Naruto's bare chest, it was virtually covered in an assortment of bites. I would have recognised the handiwork anywhere – Kabuto. 'Looks like I have a prison to break into…'

I focused in on the words wondering what possible reason the idiot could have for not getting them looked at. I got my answer- "H-He said he doesn't want to be friends" he confessed. I knew he was talking about me, I heard the hurt in his voice. I almost face palmed. I told him we weren't friends to keep him safe and then he comes back with wounds, that had it been anyone else, would have killed him long ago. 'Stubborn bastard' I thought in annoyance.

"If I remember rightly Naruto, Sasuke said that a lot of times when he left the village. You never let it faze you before. It has never stopped you from being his friend. So why are you letting it get to you now?" 'What Shikamaru was saying just now was true. I had said that but he knew it was just the hatred talking. This time meant more as I had denied there was ever a bond.Then again, the fact Naruto believed that at all made him a bigger Dobe than ever. Why would I bother speaking to him if there was no bond? I tried to kill Sakura, Kakashi and all the others. I was beyond their reach. I still am.'

'But with him… Naruto was fucking impossible to block out. Wherever we came into contact, he sparked life into the cess pit of hatred I'd become. Why would I drop the chance for revenge on the Leaf and switch sides because there was some half-baked plan that probably wouldn't work? As I said fucking dobe.'

He was shaking his head slightly. Shikamaru looked exasperated, "Fine. Look at it another way. I'm not asking you to ask Sasuke as a friend but as a fellow ninja. It's every ninja's duty to help out their comrades – it's one of the first things you're taught at the Academy – meaning that he's under obligation to help you. On top of that, he is your bodyguard starting from next week and your injuries will only make his job harder in the long run."

'Why is Shikamaru even trying to reason with him? The Dobe had his mind made up. There was only one thing to do with a stubborn Dobe… It was Naruto 101. If he doesn't want to do something, don't give him an option.' "Get him to look at it Naruto." Naruto slumped against the tree at the 'order'. Shikamaru's eyes slid to me as he raced back to the others. I gave a curt nod to show I had heard and understood. He nodded before darting past me. I'd never seen that lazy idiot move so fast, then again, his girlfriend had a deep wound in her arm from the battle.

My eyes narrowed at my prey. He was muttering what he thought were quiet curses at Kabuto, Shikamaru and I: "Stupid four-eyed-snake-bastard-Orochimaru's-sex-slave getting his stupid summons to bite me AND that lazy-genius-with-chosen-narcolepsy ordering me to ask Sasuke of all people to help. You'd think with his IQ he'd understand that dying from these snake bites is a better alternative to that AND don't even get me started on HIM. That Teme just had to have snake summons-" In seconds I swooped down, appearing in front of him, and pushing him against the tree. I placed my hands on either side of his head to prevent escape. "AH—THE FUCK SASUKE! THAT HURT LIKE HELL YOU TEME!" Naruto roared his expression changing from shock to anger in nano-seconds.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" I roared back, glaring into his eyes. One hand pinned his above his head as the other gestured to his abused body. He opened his mouth to retort. "Just you try and object" I growled maliciously, summoning the snake Ishibi, Aoda's youngest daughter.

She spoke making a sharp sibilant sound, "Ssssasssuke-ssssama how may I help today?" I gestured to Naruto. "I ssssee."

Naruto flinched. "I do not require your help thank you" he told Ishibi.

"I do not take orders from you" she hissed biting down on his arm, instinctively he moved, I held his arm in place.

"It will hurt less if you keep still" I told him. He glared before trying to wriggle free. "Stop being a damn child." I glared back into his eyes. He broke first. He must have seen something in my stare because his gaze softened and he sighed stopping his struggles and relaxing in my grip.

"Your right," he admitted. My own glare faded but our intense gaze didn't leave the others. It was all I could do not to tell him I had been lying right there. I tried to focus on his arm which I still held. He was always so much warmer than me. I focused on how his bright eyes were contrasting from my own inscrutable ones. To no avail my mouth opened. 'I couldn't do this I had to…'

"All done Sssassssuke sssama issss there anything elssse you require?" Ishibi asked breaking the intensity, immediately we leapt back from each other as if burnt.

"Tsk. But you don't have to be such a bastard about it" Naruto quickly added. "If you should even think, even for one lousy second, about a smug-arrogant-arse-Uchiha smirk, I don't care what condition I'm in I'll ram a Rasengan so far down your throat your unborn child will feel it." I quirked my eyebrow at him giving an unimpressed 'You're a dobe' look. "Oh and before you say I'm a dobe because boys can't get pregnant, I'll have you know that Jirayia and I have a running bet that you and Kakashi are secretly women. Kakashi because of his lady hands and," he scoffed, "your just too pretty to be a boy—AND YES TEME I MEAN THAT IN A COMPLETELY OFFENSIVE WAY SO DON'T EVEN TRY SOME SMART ASS REMARK ABOUT IT NOT!" He managed to calm down before adding, "You know," he looked thoughtful, "I have no idea why you think I'm a dobe when I'm soooo smart I have you sussed. In fact I should be the only hailed as a genius NOT YOU…" he trailed off returning to his usual blathering self.

"You still think I'm pretty though Dobe." I smirked walking past him.

Naruto gave his usual hot-headed reply, "TEME!"

"That will be all" I finally answered Ishibi. She nodded. I swear I saw that damned snake smirk before disappearing.

"So – er – I – um – thanks" Naruto was flustered looking at the ground.

He looked too pale. "She didn't take too much blood in the process did she?" I asked masking my concern with an indifferent tone.

"Nah… I'll be fine… just a little tired. Sasuke, what were you-" he was interrupted by shouts of 'NARUTO.'

"NARUTO WHERE ARE YOU?!" Kiba burst into view. "Ah there you are, we're due to meet Gaara soon and the sand siblings are freaking out. You ready?"

Naruto glanced back at me, I nodded. "Yes let's go" he sounded irritated. 'Saved by the mutt' I breathed a sigh of relief before following. My relief was short lived though as I realised I now had to deal with the 'holier-than-thou-Kazekage' that Naruto had whinged on about the entire journey.

Naruto POV

"… and that will conclude your official greeting with the Kazekage. Now Naruto," Shikamaru turned to me, apparently expecting me to have been listening attentively. 'Didn't he realise I couldn't possibly pay attention to something that LONNNG… unless it was about ramen… or-' "Repeat it back to me, what did I just say?" I looked at him vacantly.

The nerve in Temari's temple began to twitch, "You weren't paying attention."

I lifted my finger about to object but decided not to. 'I remembered, sort of… it was bowing… or hand-shaking… or something like that.' "Yeah, yeah, I know." I waved off their concern. 'It's not THAT important anyway, right? I could totally wing it. Besides, if I don't get it right, who cares? It's not like Gaara's going to mind…' suddenly an image of a thoroughly pissed off Gaara appeared in my mind, 'that much.' I chuckled nervously rubbing the back of my head, 'Maybe I should have paid attention.' "Sorry Shikamaru, what was that again?"

"Once more" Shikamaru affirmed before he began. "When we meet the party from the Sand at the boarders of the Land of Fire. You and Gaara will be kept apart while we set up the official tent-"

"—WAIT! So I can't see Gaara until some weird tent is set up? That doesn't seem fair."

"Yes" Shikamaru sighed, not impressed I was NOW deciding to object. "You have to wait to the official greeting ceremony – Guritinguseremoni (AN: Japanese for meaning 'Greeting Ceremony')." I was ready to protest: 'Why do I have to do that? This is Gaara, my friend, I shouldn't have to wait to see him because of some STUPID ceremony and some CRAPPY tent!' Shikamaru, knowing what was going to say, stopped me. "You must remember Naruto, you and Gaara are not meeting as good friends but representatives of the Leaf and Sand. It would seem improper to certain individuals," 'The Elders' I deduced, "if you should meet before the ritual takes place."

'Yeah, I get that. But-' I spoke the thought aloud, "Why does there need to be a tent?"

"It's traditional" Temari stated bluntly as if it would end all arguments.

"But…" Kankuro gave me a wary look, "I don't need a tent and Gaara doesn't need a tent, so can't we just skip all the tent business? I mean, who really cares?"

Temari's fists clenched.

Shikamaru looked exasperated by this point, "Because…"

Impatiently, Temari grabbed me by the jacket. "Listen up twerp, Gaara is the Kazekage of the Sand Village. The Kazekage gets a tent to greet people in, got it?" 'That still didn't explain why Gaara needed a tent' and I was about to voice the complaint. That's when Temari got this crazy look in her eye that just dared me to say another word, ""HE. GETS. A. TENT. PROBLEM NARUTO!"

I shrugged her off kicking the dirt. "Fine, whatever, he can have his tent. Jeez, I don't know why you're getting so worked up about a tent anyway…" I trailed off, quickly feeling Temari's fists make contact with my jaw.

"OWWWWW!" I flew through the clearing taking down three trees on collision.

"Fucking hurt," I groaned spitting out a load of leaves, "just like having Sakura and Baa-chan here." I brushed myself down; leaves, twigs and dirt fell off me. I began to walk back when I caught sight of Sasuke as he directed a feral snarl at Temari. A lion closing in on a kill shoulders back his hand on his Katana – I halted. My heart skipped a beat, 'What's going on? What the hell is he starting now?' His hand dropped from the weapon but he lingered near the trees. 'He was waiting for me… he needed me to force him to calm down…'

I didn't move to diffuse the situation, or even move from my spot. 'What am I doing?' I reprimanded myself. 'You know that Shikamaru is right, since when did you care whether the Teme WANTS to be your friend?' Even if I told myself this, my feet were stuck in place. 'Did I really need him to take it back? Did I really need to hear it out loud that much?' I guess I did because I couldn't move until I was sure he was gone.

"Better get back out there" I sighed walking to the edge of the trees.

Hinata and Kiba stopped seeing me. "Oh Naruto-kun," Hinata's small voice broke me out of my daze, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about. Nothing can hurt Konoha's number one ninja…" I beamed a smile, thinking to myself: 'Hinata is sooo less weird now.' I really hoped Baa-chan took my advice and chose her to be a proctor for the upcoming Chuunin exams. 'Despite what Konohamaru thinks,' my temple twitched at thought, 'I did not suggest Hinata to be a proctor because I think she will take it easy on me.' It was just, when I heard Ero-sennin say Baa-chan was looking for Chuunin proctors, I thought 'Who do I think has grown a lot as a ninja?' That brought to mind all of my friends. I ruled out the ones who had done it before – Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten. Ruled out all the 'crazies' – Sakura, Lee, and this list really could go on. That left me with just one name – Hinata. 'Hinata really has grown into a great ninja. She's definitely smart,' I remembered she helped me with the bodyguard-problem, 'and heck, she has saved my arse more than once.' I was desperate to know whether Baa-chan caved: "Hey Hinata did Baa-chan talk to you about anything recently?" Hinata face flushed immediately telling me the Old Hag had.

"Oh yes, arigato Naruto-kun," she began to bow, "I am really grateful that you suggested me."

"WOAH, WOAH" I tried to stop her, "it's alright." I chuckled, she shyly stopped. "I was just wondering whether Baa-chan took my advice. You know what the Old Hag's like, never listens." Hinata let out a small chuckle too meanwhile Kiba glared over her shoulder. I rolled my eyes at him, wanting to shout: 'Make out with her already! What the hell are you waiting for? An invitation…' It was infuriating to see two of my friends denying their feelings. But I guess I couldn't say much, I only realised Hinata liked me, liked me when she said it to my face but then I was smart enough to realise she liked Kiba from day one. 'Because I'm awesome like that' I thought with a grin.

"Anyway, Naruto-kun, you seem in a better mood?" Hinata commented giving me another friendly smile. 'She really wants Kiba to hate me?' I thought seeing the scowl on his face deepen.

Nervously, I rubbed the back of my head trying to diffuse the situation. "Yeah I guess..." I would have continued but I could hear Kankuro and Temari nearly killing each other in the background.

"What the fuck are you doing Temari? He doesn't need to be any more beat up. How do think Gaara is going to take it if he hears YOU hit him?" Kankuro poked his sisters to make his point, "He might blame the entire thing on US! Don't think I'm going to take the heat for this, because I'm not, I tell you- NOT!"

Temari wasn't going to take it lying down. "Don't talk to me like that. It's not my fault," she seemed to be looking for a good excuse, "… he pissed me off."

"Because Gaara is SO going to care about that" Kankuro's was laying on the sarcasm.

"Sorry you guys," I turned back to Hinata and Kiba, "duty calls." Giving them a lazy salute, I left - 'I am spending way too much time around Shikamaru.' I heard Hinata giggle and felt an intense aura of hatred coming from Kiba. I wasn't just going to take it anymore. I glared back at him making sure he understood this was HIS problem and NOT MINE. Kiba did his best to glare back but it was about as scary as a kittens – not even a dogs! 'Hahaha arsehole,' I smirked, 'as if your glare could affect me when I deal with the Uchiha-death-glare-'I ended that thought knowing where it would take me. "Ceya…" I called back, trying to do as little as possible to incur Kiba's jealous wrath.

We saw the large party coming through the trees; six jounin, three ANBU, and the Kazekage himself. The moment I saw him I felt a huge wave of relief. It had been ages since I'd seen him, and though he could be socially awkward, I felt he was the only one who could help me now… for he could understand… in a way only Gaara could… "Gaara" I whispered, the word brought a genuine smile to my lips. And then, with a playful smirk, I charged.

"I don't know why I bother" Shikamaru groaned.

Of course the sand shinobi tried to stop me, it was their job. 'They are so slow they wouldn't catch me at my weakest' I beamed, effortlessly avoiding them. I hopped over couple of heads, evaded a volley of kunai and all at a speed worthy of the title – Orange Flash. "GAARA!" I roared taking my one chance.

Gaara looked up in shock as I came hurling towards him, "Naruto?"

There was nothing graceful about my landing, the speed I used to beat the sand barrier made sure of that – I landed right on top of him. Immediately I looked up at the dark dome around us. 'AWESOME!' I had a massive grin on my face. "I just knew it. I knew I am faster than your barrier," I stared down at Gaara half-expecting him to murder me; Sakura, Baa-chan and Sasuke definitely would have. Gaara looked up at me his cheeks flushing red. 'Oh shit he's boiling over…' I panicked. I gave Gaara my most friendly smile desperately trying to stop the words 'SAND BURIAL' from coming from his lips. "Long time no see, eh Gaara."

There was this dark presence. I felt nothing like it before. It wasn't cold, empty loneliness; or raw, violent anger; or the rotting sensation of hatred. It was all-consuming fury… heartbreak… resentment… all this, a much, much more. I struggled to describe it but it was so close to my heart. 'What is this?' I wanted to vomit it was so vile.

"Naruto are you okay?" Gaara sat up pushing me into a sitting position on his lap. "You don't look so good. You look," Gaara's eyes scanned over my body; noticing every cut, bruise, scratch. His eyes widened drastically, "GRR- TEMARI, KANKURO, WHAT IS THIS? I TOLD YOU TO LOOK AFTER-"

"I'm gonna be-" I gagged a little but kept the bile down.

"Where's Sakura?" Gaara scanned the party for the pink-haired shinobi, "Isn't she with you?" Seeing she wasn't, he barked at his siblings, "Get him a medical-nin RIGHT NOW!"

The sick feeling was slowly ebbing away and replaced with a demonic wrath. 'That's a bit better' I thought, able to ignore it now. "Gaara, I can explain…" I started.

Suddenly I was yanked off him by scruff of my orange jacket and dragged roughly along the ground. "Awk-awk-awk," the air to my throat was being cut off and the grip tightened hearing me choke as if to say 'YOU DESERVE IT!', "what-awk-the f-f-awk-awk-awk-?" Harshly I was dropped on the ground.

Looking up, I expected to see Temari, possibly Kankuro, but not-not—"Sasuke?" I asked wanting to wipe my eyes thinking they must be deceiving me.

Getting over the initial shock, I tried to get a read on Sasuke. I'd never seen him like this before. 'Was I feeling what Sasuke was feeling just now?' I wondered. Looking up at Sasuke, his blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan was activated and this primitive blood-lust came over him. 'Don't kill him, don't kill him,' I heard Sasuke's rage it was so loud. Though, to my surprise, his murderous gaze was not on me but solely locked on Gaara. 'Why is Teme pissed at Gaara? I thought they figured all the stuff about the Kage Summit out. Besides, Gaara is the one that should be pissed about that…' My eyes narrowed trying to work out what had rattled Sasuke so much –

'Screw it! He's just being a bastard!' I resolved. Jumping to my feet, I threw my hands up in frustration, "What the HELL is your problem Teme?!"

Sasuke refused to answer me still staring Gaara down; Gaara returned to his feet equalling glaring at Sasuke with disdain. 'Just great,' I groaned, 'Gaara already doesn't trust Sasuke, or like the idea of him being back in the village. Jeez, why does Sasuke have to make everything so fucking difficult? Oh that's right, he's Sasuke.' I didn't have time to deal with him right now, especially when he was being so fucking weird. "Whatever" I scowled, turning to Gaara. The lid of Gaara's gourd popped open and a stream of his finest sand came out. 'I need to go calm Gaara down…' I moved from Sasuke's side.

He didn't even look at me but unsheathed his katana, stating bluntly: "Take one more step and I won't be responsible for my actions."

'God you're an arsehole!' I professed with a glare.

I grabbed the edge of the katana; not caring how it cut my hand. "PUT THE SWORD AWAY!" I yelled, Sasuke looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I yanked it a bit and the blade went deeper. Sasuke eyes flickered to me and I made use of his temporary attention. "Now Listen up, if you try anything, I will personally kick your arse. Consider this a warnin-" I'd moved no more than inch away from Sasuke before a dozen sand bullets came at him in rapid succession.

"What the-?!" I dodged the attack but Sasuke was in range.

"Successive shots: Sand Drizzle" Gaara's low voice echoed through the clearing.

Sasuke didn't even attempt to move. He spun his sword in his right and his left hand, channelling his chakra through the blade; his chidori radiating and chirping off his katana, he cut through the pellets of sand. The blade was steaming when it was re-sheathed.

Sasuke didn't hesitate to go on the offensive. Speeding across the clearing in a blur, he expelled a massive orb of roaring flames at the Kazekage. Gaara's shield of sand came to protect him from the attack, the fire-ball hit the barrier but didn't have enough brute force to penetrate it.

Sasuke modified his assault. He used his sword, powered by a chidori, to give off an electrical discharge in the shape of a blade. The glowing blue light reached over five meters and pierced Gaara's shield, cutting it easily, like a hot knife through butter.

Gaara's eyes widened almost as much as that day Sasuke drew blood on his cheek.

Sasuke's calculating, glowing red eyes saw an opening. He made a mad dash for Gaara; slashing diagonally, vertically, horizontally, seemingly all at once. Gaara was forced to reach for a kunai and engage Sasuke at close quarters. Guerin once told me she saw Sasuke defeat a hundred Sound-nin using only kenjutsu whereas Gaara sand-defence meant he rarely had to resort hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke clearly had the upper hand.

Every time the steel made contact, I recoiled. 'What do I do? Gaara attacked Sasuke first… he does have good reason to… it wasn't Sasuke's fault, he was under the curse of hatred, he apologised… Gaara wouldn't attack for no reason though… but Sasuke wasn't doing anything that bad…' It felt like I was being torn in two, like I was having to choose between them. 'Sasuke's my best friend… Gaara's my friend too… Sasuke was my first bond… Gaara was a Jinchuuriki just like me… Sasuke is my rival, he made me strong… Gaara stood by me when he was gone… Sasuke saved me from loneliness, he helped me out of the darkness…' Thud, thud. Thud, thud. My heart beat was speeding up rapidly. Thud, thud. Thud, thud. 'I-I have to do something' I stuttered, I couldn't move. My chest had that this dull ache reminiscent of the time I heard Sakura planned to kill Sasuke. In my mind was this mantra: 'Why do I always have to fight my friends? Why do you always make me fight them?' Unable to break free, I stood frozen.

Out of nowhere, Kiba was in front of me. "NARUTO, NARUTO, SNAP OUT OF IT!" He yelled shaking my shoulders. 'Why do I always have to fight my friends? Why do you always make me fight them?' The questions in my mind wouldn't stop.It was like an out-of-body experience, knowing Kiba was there but unable to move. "STOP SASUKE, HE'S GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Temari and Kankuro exchanged worried glances. "WHAT ARE YOU JUST STANDING HERE FOR?!" Temari barked at the sand-ninja. "HELP YOUR KAZEKAGE! NOOOOW!" They took on battle stances ready to intervene.

Sasuke sent a wave of lightening chakra through his blade shattering Gaara's kunai and forcing him to retreat. "NO," Gaara growled at his comrades, "LEAVE THIS TO ME!" He didn't move far before he stood his ground. He gathered the strongest minerals from the earth below him and built a giant toy-like replica of Shukaku. Simultaneously, Gaara stirred up a massive ocean of sand and began to build a wave high into the sky.

My mind was filled by the words Gaara had spoken to me…

"Naruto… Just so you know, there will be a war to protect the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails… in other words you. For the sake of ninja world and as the Kazekage, I will guard you with my life. If as a member of the Akatsuki, Sasuke Uchiha stands in the way of the ninja coalition… I will show him no mercy."

My heart felt like it had died at his words.

'"I will show him no mercy", "I will show him no mercy"' the words echoed in my mind.

Sasuke, premeditating a large-scale attack, awakened his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and surrounded himself in the gigantic humanoid structure of Susanoo. Meanwhile, he compressed a large amount of chakra inside his body, changing it to the shape of the dragon and launching the flames into the sky giving rise to thunder clouds. 'This,' my eyes widened, 'this is beginning of Kirin. This is the technique Sasuke used to destroy Itachi's Susanoo. He wouldn't…' Sasuke looked positively possessed with the thought of destroying Gaara. It was like deja-vu. It evoked the memory of Sasuke's eyes going in to kill Sakura in wild, uncontrollable blood-lust. I realised that moment, 'He's going to kill him!'

Nothing else mattered anymore. I had to stop them.

"SAND-" Gaara began.

Sasuke started to conjure lightening from the sky.

I moved in between them, my arms extended outwards. "ALLLMIGHTYYY PUSHHH!" I deflected all the chakra they emitted back at them, they went flying through the trees. A gale force wind created by their power caused large scale destruction to the landscape. 'Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…' I thought seeing the others, who had taken cover, hugging against trees which had been lifted from their roots.

Almost instantly, Sasuke and Gaara were back in position and made another stand. Gaara's sand was already floating around him, ready to attack or defend at any given moment. "Stand aside Naruto, this is between me and-" Gaara tried to reason with me.

Sasuke lifted his sword up. "MOVE!" He impatiently snapped, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan glaring while a chidori hissed against the steel.

Ignoring him, I turned to Gaara and stomached his words. "Naruto… I've allowed this to go on because you possess the ability to save the most lost… but the Uchiha is beyond help. This is for the greater good, you will come to see that. For the village, the ninja world… and mostly for you. Look at what he has done to you… you have so much to give this world, I will not let him destroy you… I will not allow it. I know what you're going to say," Gaara already predicted my objection, "he's changed and to leave Sasuke to you… but we both know you cannot fight him…" 'Che. How could he say I couldn't defeat him?' I was offended by the insinuation. "…not inside the heart" he elaborated. Gaara's words caught me off guard, 'Did he understand the way my chest hurt just now?' He tried to meet my gaze but I didn't want to look into his eyes. "So I'll take on that burden… do the thing you will not… even if you come to hate me-"

"—enough! I've heard enough. You need to understand Gaara," I looked him dead in the eyes, "the thing standing between you killing Sasuke will always be me BUT the thing standing between Sasuke killing you will also be me." Gaara grimaced at my words having expected them, half wanting them, half hoping otherwise.

In the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke scowl; his Sharingan returning to its most basic level as he looked away to sulk. 'At least he's listening' I noted, knowing too well that my words fell on deaf ears with Sasuke.

Gaara and Sasuke still looked like any sudden movement would set them off. 'This isn't going to work' I decided, coming up with an entirely new plan. "If you're going to fight each other…" I took a deep breath, "FINE! HAVE AT IT!" I proclaimed, they both went wide-eyed, clearly not expecting me to say that next.

There was an outcry from everyone: Hinata gasped, "Naruto-kun…" Shikamaru ended up sighing, "You better know what you're doing." Kankuro yelled, "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!" Temari shrieked, "WHAT THE FUCK NARUTO?!" "WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK?!" Kiba joined in.

Gaara and Sasuke sent them 'shut-up-or-else' looks and resumed their fighting stances. I sighed, stepping back and moved from in-between them. Not wasting any time, Gaara focused his sand to move in place for an attack; Sasuke's Susanoo was on high-alert but his eyes were furrowed looking directly at me. 'Haven't you figured it out Sasuke?' I asked him internally. To hide my discomfort, I put on a playful smirk. "Just so you know," I weaved hand-signs for Kage Bunshin no jutsu, "any fighting that goes on between my friends involves me. If you want to…" I struggled to say it aloud, "… kill each other, you will have to go through me first." I activated the Rinnegan (on myself and the shadow clone) and spoke through gritted teeth. "OVER MY DEAD BODY WILL I ALLOW MY FRIENDS TO KILL EACH OTHER!" I paused allowing them to consider it. "Sooo…" I prolonged the word, not wanting to fight them, "who wants to go first?" There were two swirling formed Rasengans in my hand.

'Get ready-' I thought, knowing fighting just one of them would tough. Sasuke's red glowing eyes bored into me. My chakra started to bubble at the prospect of battle. The Rasengan started to rotate fiercely, growing unstable. However I felt like I had more control over it now, a new found strength, and it all started with the battle with the bandits earlier…

~-flashback-~

"RASENGAN! RASENGAN! RASENGAN!" Every time I used chakra it felt like a morsel of tension released from inside me. No one. Nowhere. Nothing could make me forget. Only battle, only pain. A hail of kunai came down on me and I did nothing but use my arms as a shield. It was exhilarating to be free… "RASENGAN! RASENGAN! RASENGAN!"…even if it was only for a moment.

The respite didn't last because Sasuke was hot on my tail. As soon as his chakra seeped into me my system, all the sadness, all the pain, all the suffering of the last week, it all came flooding back and I wanted to run even harder. I stirred up a huge amount of chakra, I aimed for a large group of the enemy. "RASEN—STAY OUT OF MY WAY SASUKE!" I yelled nearly slamming a Rasengan into that stupid Teme's face because he took down MY target.

Sasuke grabbed one of the thieves, shielded himself from the attack and threw them out of the trees afterwards. "I TOLD YOU TO WATCH IT, DIDN'T I?" He glared at me, his Sharingan evolving to eternal Mangekyo. He appeared in front of me, slicing an enemy down behind my back. I winced at the close contact. His eyes glowed a deeper shade of red, "Usuratonkachi…" Sasuke's eyes bored into me, disarming every pretence until it felt like he was beginning to see into my soul-

I teleported out of his reach. "QUIT FOLLOWING ME!" I snapped, dropping a few more ninja from the trees. Sasuke of course didn't listen and started after me. 'What the hell is his problem? Why is he following me? The others need his help more than I do. There is more of them. Why is he breaking procedure?' I told him just that. "GO HELP THE OTHERS! THERE IS NO POINT IN BOTH OF US GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE. THE POWER BALANCE WILL BE OFF-"

"-You need help more" Sasuke countered.

'Is he saying I'm weaker than them?' I didn't train so hard for him to say things like that. The words Sasuke had spoken before only proved this to me: '"Why would you honestly believe I would want to be friends with you? You were a means to an end, nothing more. I needed you to bring my clan back so I convinced you we were 'best friends'; saving your life, defending you, all the time we spent together was all to achieve my goal."' Sasuke thought I was weak and that's why he didn't need me anymore. I growled, "FUCK YOU TEME."

All the anger I felt in that second manifested itself as a giant Rasengan in my hand. "ULTRA BIG-BALL RASEN-" I shouted while leaping into the air.

Another ninja came to aid his comrade by performing a sequence of hand-signs which I recognised as a water technique. "It was a bad idea to bring ME back... I know you're responsible, I feel it… but that doesn't make a difference to me, today you die Uzumaki Naruto." The epitome of dark intent befell him. Sasuke appeared behind him and ruthlessly slashed his throat.

Without warning something strange began to happen. My chakra ever since that day was different – unstable, harder to conjure and harder to control – meaning it took much more effort to perform even basic jutsu. All of sudden, however, an immense wave of power and control was restored to my body.

Stunned, I forgot about the torrent of water that dosed the trees ahead and landing on a slippery branch I fell backwards out of a tree. UMPH. "FUUUCK!" There was this eerie silence on the battlefield. "That fucking hurt" I whined whilst rubbing the back on my head. "Stupid slippy tree… stupid water jutsu… who does water jutsu in trees anyway?" I grumbled getting to my feet and brushing myself off.

~-End of flashback-~

I shook my hand using this new level of control to try to steady the chakra. Luckily it worked, I managed to sort it out but I needed to heal—'I shouldn't be doing this but I don't have a choice.'

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, "Che." His Susanoo disintegrated as he sheathed his blade. "Whatever" he added dismissively, turning to leave but making sure we understood it was on his terms.

A four peaked, sand pitch-fork came at Sasuke; whizzing past my hair, it pushed the golden locks aside with its speed.

Sasuke surely sensed it yet his Susanoo didn't re-emerge.

I teleported, knocked the sand-spear off course, and took hold of it, burying the tip in the ground. "Gaara," I whispered solemnly, "it doesn't have to be this way. Just-" I stopped realising he was not listening.

Gaara looked past me to Sasuke. He was waiting, no, hoping for retaliation. Sasuke had halted. 'Kami no' I prayed, fully expecting Fifth Shinobi War on my hands. He was shaking with rage, clenching his fists so hard they'd turned white. "Sasuke…" I whispered, ready for the almighty task of reasoning with Teme's stubbornness. To my surprise though Sasuke managed to stifle his dark aura and continued to walk away.

'What's going on?!' I thought, 'Sasuke didn't stay to fight.' This is making my head hurt—

I turned to give Gaara a piece of my mind. "Gaara-" I choked on the word in shock. I'd been expecting to see a livid Kazekage, but found no such thing; instead Gaara was busy ordering his men to start building the official greeting tent, and with it, set up camp for the night.

Everything was back to the normal. 'What the fuck just happened?' I had to wonder right then and there, 'Was that all some kind of messed up dream?'

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!