Naruto quickly turned and pointed to where he had seen the wolf. "Gaara! Do you see that?"

Gaara looked around and scanned the area where Naruto was pointing. "Besides immense confusion and tons of harassed looking ninja, I don't see anything. Why?"

Naruto looked again, but the wolf had disappeared. "I thought―no, never mind. It must have been my imagination."

"What did you think you saw?" Gaara asked seriously. They had just possibly been attacked, and he needed to know everything he could, even if some people thought they were imagining things.

"Um, I thought I saw…a wolf…" Naruto said sheepishly. If Gaara had eyebrows, Naruto was pretty sure he would have raised at least one.

"A wolf? That's odd. A wolf couldn't have attacked us. A disguise, maybe?" Gaara muttered to himself, surveying the chaos. 'Like we need more disguises.' He thought, glancing at Naruto.

"I don't know what it could be." Said Naruto, scratching his head.

"Yes, thank you for being obvious…" Naruto turned slightly pink but ignored the comment. "Well, see what you can find, and report back to me later at my office. I have to go around and deal with this mess." Naruto nodded and disappeared.

Later that afternoon, Naruto was informed that nothing unusual had been found at the sight of the explosion, but why it had happened in the first place was still unknown. The biggest problem, besides the damage and scared civilians, was the reason behind the traces of Sasuke's chakra. It most likely meant that Sasuke or a version of him had been there and blasted the pass for some ridiculous and potentially dangerous reason. Gaara said they would have to start war preparations if another signal of some sort came and the Hokage had been notified. They had agreed it would be better not to involve the other Kages unless it became serious, since nobody wanted The Fifth Great Ninja War to happen, and Tsunade had already involved the fire country by sending Naruto to investigate. Earth Style Shinobi would be able to repair the damage to the pass, and only a few had gotten injured.

So the weeks passed and the village slowly returned to its usual state; with the exception of the ninja. They trained like there was no tomorrow and reviewed battle plans and strategies. Naruto was included in this and joined the sand ninja in their training. He spared with Gaara and refined his techniques, preparing to fight alongside Sunagakure should the need arise.

Despite the recent happenings concerning Sunagakure, Gaara felt rather content for the first time in a long time. His best friend was back by his side and Gaara privately thought Naruto should just stay there forever. Yes, there was more work than ever, and yes, the work load was rather tiresome and stressful, but Gaara could handle it with Naruto next to him. The two of them talked late into the night about many different things, and Naruto soon forgot all about his visit with Kyuubi. The other people who noticed the two of them found it a little strange that the Kazekage suddenly seemed really close with the ambassador from Konoha, but they didn't question it. Some of them were happy that their Kazekage seemed finally happy, and others just dismissed it, seeing it of no importance.

On one such night, Gaara chose to visit Naruto in his rooms for a change. He knocked on Naruto's door and received no reply. Gaara frowned and tried again, and received nothing. He tried the doorknob and found it was unlocked, so he slipped inside. He looked around searching for Naruto and saw he wasn't in his room. Gaara noticed a thin strip of light and saw it was streaming out from under the bathroom door. He knocked and again received no reply so he cracked open the door and a cloud of steam billowed in his face, momentarily blocking his vision. It slowly cleared and Gaara immediately saw Naruto. He was sitting on a stool washing himself off next to the bathtub. He dumped a bucket of water on his head and it ran down his body, rinsing off the soap and leaving a glistening trail in its wake. Gaara blinked. He supposed he should have realized that Naruto was taking a bath earlier. A little voice in his mind told him to shut the door, but Gaara was more preoccupied with the blond. He couldn't help running his eyes down his nicely tuned body, watching the little drops of water run over his stomach. He watched the muscles faintly ripple as Naruto reached for something. Gaara followed another couple droplets until they disappeared under the towel around his waist. Gaara's eyes widened slightly as his mind went into overload, imaging things it had no right to.

He quickly shut the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. He had no idea what had come over him, and he didn't really want to know anyway. Images of Naruto with only a little towel wrapped around his waist were flashing before his eyes. Gaara crossed his arms and, slightly clenching his teeth, willed them to stop. Naruto was a male, just like him, so his body shouldn't be this interesting, even if it was rather nice.

"Tch. Really…" Gaara shook his head lightly.

The door that Gaara leaned on opened and he was caught unaware. 'Damn.' He thought, as he began to fall backwards. He was caught by a pair of hands before he had fallen far though.

"Gaara? What are you doing here? Were you waiting for me?"

Gaara tilted his head back and saw the familiar face of Naruto. His makeup had been washed off so his trademark whiskers were back. His eyes had a more familiar feel to them without the surrounding eyeliner. Gaara thought he looked rather handsome with his long hair. He didn't have an infatuation with him though. He was just noticing Naruto good looks. 'Yes, of course.' He thought, 'That's all it was.'

Gaara regained control of his runaway mind and stood up, looking at Naruto. "You remember Dageki?"

"Yes. How could I forget?"

"Remember how I said he was placed there without my consensus? The same thing has happened again with a couple other people who have been placed in the military department. Places in charge of strategy, fighting forces, and similar things are being placed in the hands of incompetent people. The people behind placing them there take great care to not raise suspicion. I told you before that Dageki is good with his sword, but he is in no place to command others. I'm sure you understand why. Similar situations are happening. They place people with skill there, so that it wouldn't seem very odd to the common man. The only people who notice are those who are in no place to change it."

"And I assume you can't change it because of the council."

"Right. They would veto any thing I say with clever words."

"Great." Naruto sighed and laid down on his bed.

Gaara ignored Naruto's half naked state and continued. "Whoever is behind this is clever. They are reducing are military power in an inconspicuous way and act through the council. I would assume that they have visited certain members in person and gained control over them. A controlling jutsu like this most likely needs close contact with the original person instead of a clone."

"Well? What are we gonna do?"

"That's what I was hoping to talk to you about. Our ninja have gotten stronger in the past weeks, and will be able to fight rather well if I issue the orders instead of Dageki and the others. The downside is that I won't be able to be next to them all the time as a general would be. If an unexpected situation arises, they would need to rely on their own judgment. As for the council, we can't just oppose them head on. If the members who aren't controlled found that others are, they wouldn't be able to trust anyone. They would accuse each other of not thinking straight when they disagree and they wouldn't get anything done. Normally, I'd say to aim for the controller and nullify the jutsu, but seeing as we have no idea who to go after, that's pointless."

"But…we do have an idea." Said Naruto. "It's Sasuke, isn't it? I mean, they found his chakra at the explosion sight and..." Naruto suddenly gasped. "It is Sasuke!" He bolted upright and his eyes were slightly feverish. "Gaara! I forgot it happened but I talked to Kyuubi! He knows what's happening! He told me it is Sasuke! "

"You talked to Kyuubi? He can't have talked to you just to tell you about Sasuke. What did he want?" Gaara said.

Naruto unconsciously touched the seal on his stomach and smiled sardonically. "He offered me power. Told me he wasn't going to just die with me when I recklessly get myself killed. I rejected him of course but…I don't know. Something bothered me this time. It seemed like he was actually sincere…or as sincere as a demon fox can be." He sighed. He had no problem discussing Kyuubi with Gaara since he used to be a fellow jinchuuriki. "Gaara, he told me that…well, I'd make a good demon. He called me kit!" Naruto removed his hand from the seal as though he was disgusted by it.

Gaara frowned and crossed his arms. "He's a demon Naruto. He'll use whatever methods he can to trick you into getting what he wants. His words were probably not all lies though. Kyuubi is the most powerful of demons and the most cunning. To be cunning, he needs to be intelligent. If he warns you of danger and tells you that this…mess…involves Sasuke, he's probably right. He has experience in these matters. As for saying you would make a good demon, he has point." Naruto glared at him and the corners of Gaara's mouth lifted up. "What I'm saying is that you are very mischievous and hot headed. Many demons have those traits, but you do not have any of the other demon traits, such as being blood thirsty or cruel. I don't think you need to worry about being called kit. Kyuubi is just doing what he does best; messing with you."

Naruto grinned at Gaara and flopped back down on the bed happily. "Thanks Gaara! You're the best!"

Gaara felt a warm feeling in his chest and ignored it. He was distracted by another thought that had just occurred to him. "Naruto. Kyuubi was controlled by Madara once, right? You should ask him about that and see if you can connect that incident with this one. Sasuke is probably controlling the council members with his Mangekyou. "

The ever present drops of water echoed in the overly large room. Or at least Naruto thought it was overly large. 'Leave it to Kyuubi to try to be dramatic.' He thought.

"So…Finally figured out a little bit, did you?" Kyuubi was waking up behind his bars, and of course, was as rude as always.

"Kyuubi, you know what happens outside right? So I shouldn't even have to ask you. Just answer my question."

"Of course I know what happens. I don't see why I should be nice to you and answer your question though." Kyuubi smirked as Naruto grew visibly annoyed. "You are very easy to annoy, Kit. It makes my life in here very amusing."

"Kyuubi…" Naruto glared at demon. He didn't know how he was going to get anything done. "Look, this is important. We need to know what's going on."

"Important? Ha. You think I'll tell you something just because you say it's important? I basically told you that it's 'important' that you use my power."

"Ugh. Just tell me what you know about this entire mess."

"And what do I get in return, hm? I can't just go around giving out free stuff, can I?"

"You get to live inside of me. How's that sound?" Naruto replied sarcastically.

"Not very tempting, Kit. Sadly, I already have that."

"I don't like it either, Kyuubi."

"So how about you free me and I'll tell you what I know?"

"And what use would that knowledge be to me once I've been killed by an angry fox demon?"

"Probably very little." Kyuubi said happily.

"We're not getting anything done by doing this. Just tell me a little bit."

"Fine."

Naruto was surprised. He didn't think Kyuubi would give in so easily.

"Madara controlled me and so I attacked Konoha. That good for you?"

"How about something I don't know, Kyuubi." He said, feeling very annoyed with the fox demon once again.

Kyuubi noted how annoyed Naruto was with contentment. After all, he didn't get much to do down here and the bars kept him from killing Naruto on sight, so this was one of his pleasures he had left. "How about a deal then? I tell you what I know and you accept my power when the times right so that we survive."

Naruto sighed. "Let's say that I accept. What type of power are we talking about?"

"I won't turn you into fox demon because that might get us both killed. I've noticed that villagers don't seem to like me very much." Kyuubi said with a fake air of sadness.

"I suppose massacring villages tends to do that." Naruto said dryly.

"Yes." Kyuubi smirked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the demented demon, but held back his angry retorts. He had information to get.

"Anyway, what I would do is leak my chakra into you in a 'non-lethal' form. Your body wont reject it like it did Ino's, so don't worry."

"You did something back then, didn't you?!"

"Just testing what I could do, Kit. It was an experiment I started a while ago. It had satisfactory results, too."

"An experiment? You used me as an experiment?!"

"Yes, but that's not the important thing here."

"What did you do to me?!"

"Well, I slowly leaked small amounts of my chakra into you. It was in a 'watered down' form, I suppose. I made sure not to mix it with your chakra since doing that would give you demonic chakra and everyone would notice. Besides, that wasn't my goal. My goal was to see if I could mix my chakra in to your blood, which would be very different. Doing so would allow me to give you a bit of a demonic property in your body. Your blood didn't reject my chakra and so your body will become demonic if I put in enough. I don't have to water it down anymore, so if I put pure chakra from me into your blood, the effects will be even better. My body rejects anything foreign, so that's why yours rejected Ino's chakra." Kyuubi grinned. He had been waiting to Naruto this for a long time.

"I-I-What? You used me as an experiment?! Even worse, you're turning me into a-a demon?!" Naruto was angry. No, angry wouldn't even begin to describe it, but there was also something else. Fear. He was scared. He didn't know what would happen if Kyuubi continued, and according to Kyuubi his body was already beginning to change. Naruto did not want to be a demonic, at all.

Kyuubi took his time answering. He was glad he had waited to tell Naruto this. His reaction was priceless. "You misheard me. I'm not turning you into a demon, because that would be impossible. What I am doing is giving you demonic traits. For example, speed, strength, and cunning would be some of the benefits. However, I have reached a small problem."

"God, what have you done to me, Kyuubi?" Naruto put his face in his hands.

"If you would listen to me, you would realize I have hardly done anything. I have reached a small problem, as I said. That would be that I cannot continue doing this while you reject me. I need your permission, in the form of a contract, to give you power."

Naruto glared at Kyuubi. "Like hell I'm giving you permission to turn me into a demon!"

"You are ignorant in you ways! You refuse to listen to what I'm telling because you a determined to be a fool! You will die without my help! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not turning you into a demon?! I am doing this not because I want to make you demonic, but to keep us alive! If you don't want this life you live, undo the seal and be rid of me! You would never have to see me again!" Kyuubi glared and bared his teeth at Naruto. "I am saving you pathetic life from charging blindly into this battle! We will discuss this more after you calm down, Kit." Kyuubi waved a massive paw and Naruto's surroundings slowly went black.