Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the associated characters, locations, jutsu, etc. The only thing I own is the plot of the story. If there is any plagiarism of any form it was completely unintentional.

"The monster was the best friend I ever had."

Boris Karloff

Imagine the one thing that has plagued your nightmares since you were child. Imagine the the one creature that you are most afraid of. Imagine the one being who made your childhood a nightmare.

Now imagine having to make peace with it.

At first, Naruto failed horribly. He was unable to cope with the darkness in his heart, and he just couldn't forgive everybody else for treating him like the monster he had inside. But as it turns out, they had that much in common. Everything that Naruto heard or felt, the Kyuubi could feel and hear it as well. And it hurts that much more when the one person you are stuck with for life hates you as well. Although not the best stepping stone, Bee had to use this as a way to bond them. However, he still tried to slowly draw the darkness out of him, so that the Kyuubi's twisted mind would not overtake Naruto's. Still, you can't blame the fox, after all... How would you feel if you'd been locked inside a cage for 17 years while everybody else shouts insults at you.

Within a couple of days of sticking around in Kumo, Naruto met another Jinchuriki. Since the Land of Lighting was a powerful country, and frankly its old government was quite greedy, they had been entitled to two tailed beasts. The first, the Hachibi, was sealed inside Bee. The second one, the Nibi, was sealed inside the rude guy that he had bumped into on the streets, apparently his name was Sasuke. Though most of the time they affectionately referred to each other as Teme and Baka. It took almost another year for Naruto to properly "befriend" the Kyuubi, but when he did he had the wonderful idea of celebrating. Which Jiraiya later found out meant getting blacked out drunk and waking up in the middle of the ocean on a tiny island. When he found Naruto he dragged him back to Mount Myōboku to finish his training.

...

"Hey, Ero-sennin!" Naruto called out while they were meditating.

"What?" He answered before opening his eyes.

"Now that training's done, can I go?"

"Go? Where?" Jiraiya asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know, Kumo was pretty fun but... I wanna see other cities." Naruto answered while looking up at the sky."

"... Okay."

"Huh?" Naruto turned to look at Jiraiya in disbelief. "Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"You won't say something like I'm not ready or something?"

"Why? Do you think you are not?' Jiraiya asked with a grin.

"N-no! I'm totally ready." He exclaimed while jumping to his feet. "Oh man. It's gonna be awesome!" He said while merrily walking away.

"One thing though!"Jiraiya said, making Naruto stop and turn around. Jiraiya had a serious face as he stood up and walked over to him. "Stay. Away. From. Konohagakure."

"Huh? I know that. If you don't remember I'm a missing nin now."

"You don't get it. Danzo is looking for you, he's got a whole army on your trail. You have a tailed beast inside you, you get anywhere near Konoha and I doubt you'll make it out."

"... Fine." Naruto said calmly, shocking Jiraiya.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He answered while turning around and walking away. Jiraiya stood there looking at his retreating figure, before he himself did a few hand signals and poofed our.

...

Hokage Tower, Konohagakure

"Shizune! Will you go get Sakura? I got something to tell her." Tsunade yelled out while reading through some papers.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." She answered and diligently walked out. The office fell silent for a couple of seconds, before a white haired man appeared in the middle of the room.

"Naruto just left Mount Myōboku." Jiraiya said, Tsunade didn't reply. She gently lowered the paper she was holding, and pulled a bottle of sake out of a drawer, along with a shot glass. "He says he wanted to go see the world. But I doubt that's everything." Tsunade still showed no signs of reaction, as she carefully poured some sake for herself. "He had some contact with Bee, and Sasuke, and I'm afraid that he might know." A loud shatter was heard as the shot glass hit the ground. Tsunade stared at Jiraiya in shock before she slammed the bottle down on the desk with a loud thump.

"God dammit!" She cursed between her teeth as she gently rubbed her temples with her right hand. "Do we know the whereabouts of Sasuke?" She asked hopefully, but Jiraiya just shook his head. "Do we know where he is?"

"No. He hasn't contacted me in a while. Last I heard he was in Kiri, apparently someone said that one of the dignitaries had received a death threat"

"Dammit! Well then, I guess that leaves you. I need you to follow him, do you have any idea where he might be headed." Jiraiya was about to answer when a knock came to the door. Shizune opened it, followed by a pink haired kunoichi.

"Tsunade-sama, I brought Sakura."

"Did you have something to tell me, sensei?"

"Ah, yes Sakura, I need you to go with a recon squad to... Suna." Tsunade said after looking through some papers. "You'll be going with Shikamaru and Lee. Asuma will be your team captain for this mission. Any questions?" She asked, to which Sakura just shook her head. "Good, then go prepare, you leave tomorrow morning.

"Hai!" She answered before running away.

"Tsunade-sama! There are glass bits everywhere." Shizune said scoldingly. "I'll go fetch someone to clean it." She said before once again walking out of the office. When she was out of earshot Jiraiya once more appeared in the office.

"Why Suna?" He asked.

"I figured that if Naruto and Sasuke are traveling together, they would be looking for another Jinchuriki. And Gaara is the only one not being constantly followed around by ANBU."

"Naruto wouldn't think of that."

"But Sasuke would. Remember the attack on Konoha all those years ago?"

"How could I forget?" Jiraiya said in a low voice.

"Apart from Sasuke, Gaara was also present in the attack. Chances are they spoke to each other at least once."

"I guess you're right. But if you wanted me to go, why send Asuma after them?"

"I actually need them to deal with some business over there. The Kazekage asked for him personally, I don't know why." They both stayed quiet for a while as Jiraiya pondered on the information.

"Well, whatever it is, it is no coincidence that they call for the son of the Hokage of whose death they were involved in. They'll need to be careful, I'll keep a close eye on them but I can't do miracles. After all, officially I'm not there at all." Tsunade nodded before Jiraiya disappeared as fast as he had come.

...

"Why the hell are we going to Suna?" Naruto asked annoyed as he and Sasuke were walking through a dense forest.

"I need to speak with someone, and I think you might too." He said without turning to look at him.

"Why? Is he someone important?"

"He... Is a jinchuriki."

"Are you talking about Gaara?" Naruto asked, which made Sasuke turn to look at him with slight amazement.

"How do you know him?"

"Well, he IS the son of the Kazekage. Years ago pops took me with him to Suna for another boring political meeting. I saw him and tried to talk with him, but he never said anything other than 'go away'. Weird guy."

"We're all weird." Sasuke said with a stern look.

"You said it." Naruto responded, to which they both fell silent. The walk to Suna is by no means a stroll in the park. Miles of scorching desert takes a toll out of anyone, so when they finally reached the village, they didn't even bother to try to reason with the guards.

"Are you sure they can't tell we're here?" Naruto asked in disbelief as they jumped down one of the massive walls surrounding Suna.

"I'm sure. They haven't changed the formula for the barrier yet." Sasuke answered flatly.

"Al right. It's gonna be morning soon, Gaara won't be around for a couple more hours and I'm exhausted. Let's find a place to sleep." Sasuke remained silent so Naruto took this as a sign of agreement.

...

Hours later, the Kazekage's office was occupied by the Kazekage himself, along with a couple of council members and Gaara. He looked around the office, seeing how everyone but his father was throwing quick and nervous glances in his direction. Gaara let out a small sigh before getting up and starting towards the door.

"Where are you going? The Konoha team will be arriving shortly, and I told you I wanted you here." The Kazekage asked, making everyone turn to look at him. Gaara didn't turn to look at anyone when he answered,

"I'm going out for a walk, I'll be back shortly." He said indifferently before opening the door and leaving. As he walked through the streets the stares didn't disappear, if anything he felt as if everyone was looking at him, he could feel their cold stares burning a hole in the back of his head. But as always, the minute he lifted his gaze, no one dared to look him in the eye. He walked through the downtown streets, and made a turn to an alley in which he stopped walking.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. At that moment, two men jumped down in front of him, one blond one brunette. He exchanged an emotionless stare with Sasuke, before turning to look at Naruto.

"You look familiar. Who are you?" He asked with slight curiosity.

"Uzumaki Naruto. And I have some questions for you." He said. Gaara didn't move, but the sand around him did, rising from the ground all around them. "Easy there buddy, I don't want to fight. At least not here." He said with a smirk, but Gaara didn't lower the sand.

"What do you want?"

"You were there the day the Hokage was killed. However, your father claimed that he wasn't aware of any Suna shinobi being in Konoha." Naruto said seriously. "There were lots of shinobi present, most of which were identified as missing-nin, excluding you and your brother and sister. Tell me, what the hell were you doing there?"

Author's Note: Now I know some of you may be thinking, but why does Jiraiya know of Sasuke if the last time he didn't recognize him. Well... plot.