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Warnings: Contains adult language, themes, and suggestions. It is not suitable for anyone below the age of 16 per FFN guidelines.
Chapter Notes: I admit to it, I'm using something I learned in school for this chapter so put up with me for like two seconds. Also, stretch marks don't show up this early in a normal pregnancy, I was focusing on Sasuke's internal view of his body and I'll point out the distortion between how he sees himself and how he actually looks when Naruto comes back. Also, Sasuke hasn't been able to do any strenuous physical activity for a few months so his body naturally gains some weight and loses the muscle definition he's not using, the pregnancy is only a contributing factor
September twenty first, still the nineteenth week
It was a knock on the door that woke the blonde from his nap; he opened his eyes and looked over to Kakashi who was sitting on the edge of his own bed. Naruto sat up and stretched as the white haired male stood and opened the door and blinked in mild surprise when Matsuri poked her head in. "The Kazekage's free tonight, I'll escort you all when you're ready." The redheaded woman glanced to Naruto with a nod before turning around and knocking on Apricot and Yamato's door.
"Finally, who knew being the Kazekage would mean no free time?" Naruto stretched his arms above his head and rolled to the edge of the bed lazily to grab his shoes.
"Gaara-sama takes his job seriously," Matsuri called out from the hallway. "I'm sure you can appreciate that, Naruto." The blonde leaned onto the bed so he could look out the door, the sand ninja turned her head, smiling at him, practically beaming compared to how she acted when they first met.
"Oh hey, Matsuri." Apricot bit her lip nervously when she opened the door. Her hair was wet but already in a braid with the spiked strap and the blonde gave her a quick smile before reaching for his shoes.
"Hi," The sand ninja responded gently. "Wake Yamato up for me, will you? We've got work to do." Naruto stood up and grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. He picked up his pack from the floor and slung it over his shoulder, grunting at the weight of it.
"We're starting again?" The younger redhead watched the sand ninja nod and then let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I thought we'd be stuck here forever." She turned around and moved back into the room. "Yamato!" Apricot yelled. Naruto watched as Matsuri raised a hand to cover her smile and walked down the hall to wait for them outside.
"Looks like your advice worked." Kakashi pulled his shoes on as Naruto walked past him. The blonde grinned and stepped out in the hallway, checking to see if the sand ninja was out of earshot. The white haired male picked up his own pack, the blonde could hear the fabric of it shifting against his back. "That's a pleasant surprise."
"When you're in love with someone like Sasuke, you get pretty well acquainted with effort justification and Gaara is definitely a tsundere type." Naruto grinned and peeked into the other room, watching the brunet male leaning over his bed, his green flak jacket already on the bed as he gathered his gear.
"Sun-dare?" Apricot moved to the door, her forehead protector in her hand and shoes on her feet. "What does that have to do with whatever 'effort justification' is?" Naruto nodded to her as Kakashi stepped out of the room. Apricot was lugging her pack out of the room, dragging it across the floor.
"Effort justification, it's the tendency to put more value into things we invest effort into and it is pronounced 'tsundere', not sun-dare. It's someone who's hostile, or cold on the outside but soft and," He paused to think of the word to use. "And mushy, on the inside." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall opposite of Apricot, his pack pressing against his back. "You gotta put some effort into getting past a tsundere's walls and when you do, you understand that it was worth it." Apricot twisted her face into an expression of bewilderment; either that or she was constipated.
"So, Sasuke's a tsundere?" She looked to Kakashi. "Mushy on the inside, and the Kazekage is too?" The blonde nodded and grinned at Kakashi who shrugged his shoulders as he readjusted his facemask.
"Yep, but for different reasons." Naruto gave her a knowing smile and the redhead raised her eyebrows in confusion. She grabbed one of the straps of her pack and lifted it up to pull it onto her back.
"Look at you, combining social psychology and one of Kakashi's favorite character types from Icha Icha Paradise." Yamato's voice echoed as he opened the bathroom door. "Do we have time for dinner?"
"No, we don't." Kakashi answered him. "We'll eat on the way back." The tired male gave Kakashi a deadened stare.
"Let's go get this over with then." Yamato muttered as he pulled on his forehead protector, moved to the doorway and slipped his feet into his shoes. With one arm, the dark haired man picked his pack up and slipped it on his back easily. He shut the door to the room and ushered for the other three to start walking.
"Someone's a little grumpy after their nap." Kyoko murmured. She slumped against the wall before pushing off and walking down the hall. Naruto was already following her, Kakashi and Yamato right behind him.
"This is the last time we're doing this and I'm ready to go back home." Yamato huffed in aggravation. "Besides, I was ready to do this two days ago." They reached the stairwell, Apricot darted up the stairs and Naruto followed at slower pace.
"We're only supposed to do it under the Kazekage's supervision, you know that, Yamato." Kakashi sighed loudly. It echoed as the walked up the eight flights of stairs to the roof and they found Matsuri waiting for them, staring out at the setting sun.
"Ready?" She turned around and stared at them. Yamato stepped in front of Apricot and nodded, following the sand ninja off the rooftop, Apricot followed him next then Kakashi and lastly Naruto. It was a quick trip to the outskirts; back to the familiar old building with it's boarded up windows. Matsuri stopped on a rooftop across from the protective wall of earth and nodded to them as they jumped down to the street.
"After you." Yamato opened the door to the building, letting Apricot in first before walking in and holding the door open for Kakashi and Naruto. The blonde smiled up at Matsuri before he closed the door and followed everyone else upstairs. "Alright, this is the last chance we have to do this here so make it count." Yamato stared at Naruto as he pulled off his pack, sat down and crossed his legs.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." The blonde rolled his eyes. He slipped off his pack and dumped it next to Yamato's, Kakashi dropped his own next to him and Apricot collapsed down onto the floor to slip the straps off her shoulders. Naruto looked to the stairs when he heard the door open again and after a few seconds, Gaara was walking up the creaking stairs. Apricot was sitting next to him, careful to keep her distance so they wouldn't touch accidentally and Kakashi had taken up his normal place by the window after lighting all of the lamps in the corners of the room. "Hey, Gaara, you find anything about the chakra pathways?"
"Nothing of use." The Kazekage murmured. "My apologies for the delay." He moved into the room, ignoring the way Kyoko stiffened, and eyed their packs.
"Don't worry about it, we've been taking up more time than we had planned to begin with." Kakashi responded. Naruto watched as Yamato took the time to stretch his arms and straighten his back to crack several of his vertebrae.
"I've heard from Matsuri that you'll be leaving after this?" Gaara was looking at Yamato but when the man didn't look up he turned his attention to Kakashi nodded.
"More or less, depending on how everyone feels afterwards. It's an unnecessary risk to let Apricot's seal deteriorate any more without the proper seal to strengthen it." Kakashi explained. Naruto could see Gaara's forehead wrinkle and he knew what was coming. "We would have brought it but it would have been pointless without the one who made them and can use them properly." Kakashi raised his hand to his cloth covered chin as Gaara turned his attention to Naruto.
"Is it who I think it is?" The redhead inclined his head toward Naruto and it took a good deal of concentration to not smile at him.
"Yep, the one and only." Naruto sighed. Apricot looked between them in confusion as the blonde tugged off his jacket, setting it on the floor.
"Uh, what are we talking about, exactly?" She asked. Yamato sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation. That made Naruto snort, a smile finally breaking onto his face, both redheads looked to him, one with a blank expression and the other was frowning.
"None of your concern, Apricot." Kakashi called out. "Let's go." The white haired male looked up to the Kazekage who nodded back to him. "Whenever you want to start, Yamato." The brunet nodded to him and took a deep breath. Naruto folded his legs in front of him and got comfortable where he was sitting.
"Ten minutes. Ready when you guys are." Yamato stilled in his position, watching the blonde intently. Looking over to Apricot, Naruto smiled and watched as the girl followed his lead, tucking her feet under her legs.
"Alright, don't freak out this time when Kyuubi finds you. He can't hurt you if you don't let his chakra out." Apricot opened her mouth to retort but Naruto shook his head and continued on. "You control what gets through the seal."
"I got it!" Kyoko cried out. She rolled her eyes and looked up to the ceiling. "Come on already, you've been telling me the same things since we got here!" The girl glared at Naruto and he couldn't help but stare at her in mild shock.
"Okay, okay." Naruto looked back to Yamato who blinked at the redhead, surprised. The blonde held his hand out and watched as Apricot set her own hand on top of his. "Go ahead." He waited for her to close her eyes before he did himself, concentrating on the place inside his mind where Kyuubi was caged. Naruto could smell the burning of his skin this time; maybe it was just because he knew it would be happening in the outside world. When he opened his eyes again, he stood in front of Kyuubi's cage, the whole room smelling like burned flesh. Kyuubi's chakra was roiling behind the bars like it had been the last time he'd been here but the fox's face was missing from the cage. That set the blonde on edge; he surveyed the damp sewer like room for any hint of Apricot.
"Apricot?" He called out. There was a sound of movement in the cage but Kyuubi had yet to reveal himself. Naruto stared through the bars but the thrum of Kyuubi's chakra pulsing through him was the only indication that the fox knew the girl was there.
"Yeah?" She called out tentatively. The sound came through cage like it had before and Naruto tilted his head, listening to any sound he could hear rather than trying to see through the darkness.
"The fox is looking for you, he's not talking to me so don't be surprised when he shows his giant ass teeth." Naruto stepped closer to the cage and stopped when he heard Kyuubi growl.
"The whining whelp, we finally meet." Kyuubi's deep voice reverberated through the blonde's consciousness and Naruto nearly jerked back in surprise. "Thought you could hide from me forever?"
"Yeah, little too late for that!" Apricot called out almost hysterically. The fox growled from inside the cage viciously and the redhead cried out as a 'thumping' sound echoed to Naruto's consciousness. Naruto could guess that the girl tripped trying to back away from the cage and he felt slightly bad for her.
"Kyoko!" The blonde yelled into the cage. Blood red chakra was bubbling up against the bars but Naruto refused to let any of it pass through and a new wave of the burning smell seemed to hit his nostrils.
"What?" The girl screamed back. "I'm not letting the chakra get through, what do you want me to do now?" Naruto didn't know if she was talking to him or Kyuubi.
"Tell me, whelp." Kyuubi spoke before Naruto could answer her. "How did half of my chakra get shoved inside you?" The fox growled.
"Naruto, is there anything I should be doing?" Apricot's hysterical whimper echoed inside his mind. His thoughts were racing as he felt the demon's chakra pull away from his side of the cage.
"Look into the cage, can you see me?" Naruto called out.
"No. It's dark and I think Kyuubi is in the way!" Apricot yelled back. "How do I get him to move?"
"Oh, trying to ignore me, little bitch?" Kyuubi rumbled. Naruto could hear the smirk on the fox's lips. He flinched as the pungent smell of burning flesh hit again, this time with a flash of sensation crawled through his right hand, where
"Alright." Naruto muttered under his breath. "Tell me what you see, in detail. What is Kyuubi doing?" The blonde moved, starting to pace the length of the cage as his whole right hand started to tingle.
"I, I don't know!" Apricot yelled. "He's trying to break through the seal, his chakra is everywhere." Naruto nearly screamed in frustration as he turned and started walking down the length of the cage again.
"Concentrate! We have to get this done now, before the ten minutes run out." He found himself clenching his right hand and flexed it when the tingling grew stronger.
"Oh, you have a time limit!" Kyuubi cackled. "Do you really think that's going to stop me?" Naruto felt the chakra pull on his side of the cage as one of the blood red eyes appeared in the darkness. The nine tailed fox stared at him with the one eye and he almost stopped his pacing to glare back at him.
"The chakra is pushing at the bars, they're cracking and it's leaking out. It's picking at the new seals, I can force them back with my own chakra but it's hard." Apricot's voice was high pitched, obviously stressed and Naruto watched as Kyuubi's eye disappeared into the darkness again. He looked down at his hands, trying to think through what she was telling him.
"Her conscious and mine are connected when we're touching," Naruto mumbled softly to himself. "And Kyuubi's chakra is forcing its way out through Apricot's unfinished seal. She can push it back with her chakra but how can she use it to stop him from escaping?" Naruto paused as it dawned on him. "She can push it back with her own chakra." He repeated.
"What are you mumbling about, brat?" The nine-tailed demon snarled. Naruto stopped his pacing, and faced the cage again, hoping this would work.
"Kyoko!" Naruto winced as the tingling in his hand strengthened again, this time his hand going numb.
"Yeah?" Apricot's voice echoed back uncertainly. The blonde clenched his jaw, flexing the fingers in his right hand to try and get back any kind of feeling he could.
"Don't force just the escaping chakra back behind the seal, push it all back towards me, as hard as you can!" He listened to his voice echo into the fox's cage and then there was a split second of absolute silence.
"What are you playing at?" Kyuubi's face whirled out of the darkness and suddenly the fox's chakra was pushing up against his seal. The tingling spread to his wrist and the blonde had to stare the fox down so he wouldn't nervously shift.
"You want me to do what?" Kyoko's voice sounded relieved. He couldn't tell if it was because Kyuubi was no longer focusing on her or if the demon had momentarily stopped his assault on her seal.
"Do it, now!" The blonde yelled. Kyuubi glared at him, his fangs parting as red chakra crashed across the bars of the cage, unable to get past it.
"Okay!" Apricot's cry echoed from the darkness.
"No!" Kyuubi's face disappeared again as the echo resounded but whatever the fox had been planning to do, he didn't get the chance. Naruto watched as the chakra bubbled against the bars of the cage but the seal held. "I will kill her and you," The demon snarled. "You, her, and your bitch and unborn kit." Opening his mouth to respond, the blonde tensed. The tingling in his hand was spreading up his arm, almost painfully to his collarbone and grit his teeth to keep from yelling out. Whatever was happening behind the bars, on Apricot's side, it didn't stop and the fox snarled wordlessly in the darkness of his cage.
"You can try but I won't let you." Naruto snapped back at him. His whole right arm was numb and it was spreading to his chest and back as the chakra built behind the seal. A red haze came over what was visible of the fox, his already red eyes and teeth and the blonde could feel the pressure increasing. The amount of chakra almost felt overwhelming. "Come on, Apricot!"
Naruto stared into the haze, waiting for the entirety of Kyuubi's chakra to hit, the tingling in his arm growing painful and almost unbearable. The weight of the sealed chakra was curling in his stomach and a wave of nausea hit him, if it was caused by the accumulation of chakra or the burning of the skin of his arms he couldn't be sure. It happened suddenly, Naruto was just staring into the darkness of the fox's cage and abruptly, the red tinged black started to fade just left of Kyuubi's fangs. The blonde took a step forward, eyes widening in surprise when he saw Apricot on the other side. He saw the girl's bright green eyes widen in surprise as more of the image became clearer, more than just her face but her entire upper body with her arms out stretched in front of her.
"What?" Kyoko's mouth dropped open. Before the blonde could respond, everything went black and the tingling in his right arm escalating into an intense, searing pain.
"Aah-augh!" Naruto couldn't stop himself from crying out as he became aware of his physical state. He tried to jerk away from the pain but his body was restrained by the familiar touch of wood. The first thing he did when he opened his eyes was to look down at his right hand and flinched at what he saw. The tips of his fingertips were black, the back of his palm a dark, bloody red. His arm was varying shades of pink and red, the deeper burns had black edges and it covered his entire arm, past the sleeve of his shirt and across his shoulder. Yamato's restraints had him by the neck and upper chest and he could see Apricot wasn't in any better of a position. The wood curled tightly around her wrist all the way up to her arm and around neck and chest, all the way down to her waist.
"What happened in there?" It was Yamato who asked but the blonde let out pained grunt as his restraints loosened and then disappeared altogether, allowing him to curl into himself. The pain was agonizing and his instant regeneration had yet to kick in. He heard Apricot whimper as Yamato probably dropped her restraints as well.
"His hand looks worse than it did last time." Apricot murmured breathlessly. Naruto's vision dimmed, the sandy floor blurring as he tried to remember to breathe. "He doesn't look too good." She whispered. Another wave of pain hit him, he could feel something oozing on his elbow and wondered briefly if it was blood or something else.
"Kyuubi's chakra is burning not only his pathways, it's burning his muscles and skin." Gaara told her in a cold voice. Even on the verge of passing out, Naruto could hear the concern. Naruto took another deep breath, feeling bile rise to the back of his throat as the pain sharpened before steadily disappearing. The tingling sensation took the place of the pain as his skin grew back from his shoulder down.
"Our consciousness touched," Naruto gasped. "I saw her, through the fox's cage." He sat up, his vision clearing as the burned parts of his upper arm flaked off, replaced by new skin.
"Show me the seal, Apricot. I need to check the degradation." The blonde heard Yamato use a commanding tone. A quick glance at the girl and he watched her lift her shirt again. The seal looked mostly intact, if not a little faded. The black marking around the edges were definitely cracked but nothing that looked dangerous as far as Naruto could see. "We're good, it could last maybe a few months of close contact before it'd be in any danger of breaking." Apricot lowered her shirt quickly, a look of relief clear on her face.
"Interesting." Kakashi mumbled. The blonde turned his head to see that the white haired man was walking around to face him, his visible eye trained on his burned and blackened arm. Naruto raised his arm up for his old sensei to see as the regenerating skin finally peeked from his shirt, going for his elbow first.
"That is so gross." Apricot winced. "It's slower than last time too." The blonde could see her shy away from him in his peripherals as the skin of his forearm grew anew.
"I'm surprised you can handle this." Kakashi retorted. Naruto turned his arm and brought his other hand up to scratch at the new skin, turning his attention to Yamato who was staring at his arm with an expression of disgusted fascination. "Kazekage, have we told you the story of how we learned Apricot is claustrophobic?" Gaara shook his head in response, looking intently at Naruto's arm as it regenerated.
"That has nothing to do with this!" Apricot blurted out. "I've seen animals burned sorta like that from forest fires back home." The young girl muttered. "Helped patch them up." Pain radiated from his wrist but Naruto could handle it and watched the burns disappear.
"So, your consciousness touched her consciousness?" Yamato raised an eyebrow. "The burn spread more than just your hand. The nine-tailed demon's chakra burned your entire arm; I could see it on your neck from here. What happened differently?" The blonde sighed as the skin of his palm regenerated, quickly followed by his fingers.
"That's because she pushed the chakra back at me, my side of the cage, she was pushing it into my chakra pathways on purpose." Naruto explained. He moved all of his fingers, checking the regenerated skin for deformities that he knew he would never find. He glanced up, first to Kakashi who was still looking at his hand, then Kyoko who looked away as soon as they made eye contact. Yamato blinked at him once before looking to Kakashi expectantly and finally, the blonde looked up to the Kazekage.
"The chakra she, pushed, at you, it was Kyuubi's chakra?" Gaara stared back at Naruto unblinkingly. The blonde dropped his hand into his lap, feeling his nerve endings respond as normally as he could tell.
"Yeah." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on his hands. "Apricot told me that the fox's chakra could leak through her seal, that's why it keeps deteriorating. What she can do is force it back using her own chakra, which is probably why she can't do instant regeneration."
"Wait a minute, the reason her seal deteriorates," Yamato pointed to the girl. "Is because Kyuubi's chakra can leak through it?" Naruto glanced to Apricot, and then nodded tentatively.
"Not in large amounts, unless I let it through." Kyoko responded quickly. Kakashi shifted his weight from one foot to another and the redheaded girl looked up to him and stiffened. Naruto tilted his head to look at the white haired man but whatever expression he had showed Apricot, it was long gone from his face.
"What do we do with that information?" Yamato asked. Naruto frowned as he tried to think of a better way of explaining it.
"I don't get this at all." Apricot moaned. The blonde glanced to her and then looked to the sandy floor when the idea came to mind.
"Here," Naruto leaned forward and splayed his hand across the sandy floor, spreading the sand out enough so he could draw in it. "This is Apricot's consciousness and this," He made a half circle in the sand on his right and then drew another to the left of it, to make two opposing half circles. "Is my consciousness. Both with half of Kyuubi's chakra sealed inside them."
"Normally, when we're not trying to get to Kyuubi, the chakra inside Apricot is trying to escape so she has to expend chakra to keep it behind the seal rather than use it for instant regeneration." Naruto drew little lines in the space between the two half circles which represented the escaping chakra. "I think it's a spatial thing, the closer we are physically the stronger the pull. The faster the seal deteriorates, the more chakra she has to use to contain it." The blonde sighed and looked up to Gaara again but the redhead shook his head in response.
"I've never seen or heard anything like this." The Kazekage told him. Apricot nervously glanced up to him but quickly lowered her gaze again as her hand went up to her braid.
"When we're trying to get to Kyuubi, the two seals connect," The blonde drew two lines to connect the two half circles, making a rectangle out of the space. "The fox's split chakra combines again, or is at least trying to. When I told Apricot to push the chakra to my side of the cage." He pressed his hand down in the rectangle and pushed all the sand in it to the left, over the half circle line that represented his consciousness.
"She shoved it into your conscious, that caused the physical burning?" Yamato questioned him as the blonde pulled on his jacket.
"Yeah, I think so." Naruto looked to him, seeing the concentrated frown on the man's face and shrugged. "There was so much chakra that my body didn't know how to handle it or something like that. That's the only explanation I can think of." Naruto shifted his gaze to Kakashi and blinked in surprise, the man was still staring at his hand.
"It's a possibility, we won't know for sure until we can learn more." Kakashi sighed. The white haired man blinked and finally looked up to the Kazekage.
"Back in Konoha." Gaara stated plainly. Kakashi nodded and Yamato let out a sigh of relief as he moved to stand up. Naruto winced as he heard the bones in the man's knees pop but he grinned up at Yamato when the older man gave him a pointed look.
"Yup." Naruto said happily. He pushed himself to his feet and kicked the drawing of sand out of existence. "It was nice to hang out like this, Gaara, but it's time we hit the road." The redhead male stepped forward, raising his hand out for a handshake but Naruto ignored it for hugging his friend.
"You call this hanging out? We left Konoha weeks ago." Apricot grumbled. She gave the blonde a dirty look and slipped the straps of her pack onto her shoulders before rolling onto her knees so she could move to stand.
"It was really good to see you again." The blonde whispered. He slapped his friend on the back as the Kazekage tentatively raised his hand to return the friendly embrace. He heard both Kakashi and Yamato pull their bags from the floor.
"Go on outside, Apricot. Yamato, you might want to stretch before we leave." The white haired male told them. Naruto didn't bother to look over to see if they did as they were told, their echoing steps down the creaking stairs.
"Perhaps next time, it'll be under better circumstances." Gaara replied quietly. Naruto felt his friend's hands drop and he pulled away from the hug, moving his hands to the redhead's shoulders.
"Maybe I'll be in the guard detail sent with Rock Lee when he takes the liaison job." Naruto smirked mischievously and winked. He watched as the redhead's eyes widened, his cheeks flushing pink and mouth drop open in surprise.
"If he takes the liaison job." Kakashi spoke up. Naruto watched Gaara try to recover his emotionless mask, closing his gaping mouth and looked away from the grinning blonde.
"If he applied for the liaison job," Naruto rolled his eyes as he dropped his hands. "Or was requested for it." It seemed that Gaara couldn't stop his face from turning an even darker shade of red and Naruto's grin widened.
"Naruto." Kakashi called out. The blonde glanced over to him, sticking his hands in his pockets in an attempt to look innocent.
"I know, I know. That's classified information between him and the Hokage." Naruto raised his eyebrows as high as they could go on his forehead and picked up his pack, still smiling. "I'll talk to Rock Lee about the job, put in a good word for you." The red flush had started to fade from Gaara's face but that brought it right back. Naruto could feel the white haired man's exasperation in the air as he moved to the stairs. Gaara started to follow him, his tentative gaze meeting the blonde's. Naruto dropped his grin into a warm smile and followed Kakashi and the Kazekage down to the first floor. Yamato was already eating; an unwrapped package of granola in his hands and Apricot was tapping her shoes against the sandy floor.
"You sure you packed everything?" Kakashi asked the redheaded girl. Apricot gave him a blank stare and then looked to her pack on the floor.
"I guess." Apricot shrugged her shoulders. Yamato finished his granola and stuffed the empty wrapper into his pocket; he opened the door and stepped outside. Gaara and Naruto followed him while the white haired male waited for Kyoko to put her pack back on. The September air had already cooled off and was chilly; Naruto immediately went to zip up his jacket. Matsuri jumped down from a rooftop as Apricot and Kakashi exited the rickety old house. She stepped up behind the Kazekage, looking to him with an expression Naruto thought to be reverence. It was good the woman still admired him, even though he couldn't return her affections.
"Matsuri will take you to out of the village and point you in the right direction." Gaara told them. Naruto turned his attention to the redheaded male with a smile.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Kazekage-sama." Kakashi spoke formally. He, Naruto, and Yamato all bowed at the same time, Apricot doing so half a second later with Kakashi's hand on the back of her neck.
"I wish you all safe travels." Gaara told them in a softer, yet still formal tone. Naruto raised his head with a smile and watched as the redheaded man gave him a quick lopsided smile in return. Matsuri stepped forward and the Kazekage turned and walked away. They followed the sand ninja to the gates of the village, past them and into the desert. It was colder outside of the village, with no walls to protect them from the bone chilling wind. There was no moon to speak of, only the stars that twinkled down at them. Naruto looked all around as they kept moving, taking in the sight of endless sand dunes and sky, dappled with tiny specks of light.
"You keep in that direction and you'll hit the forest soon enough." The woman pointed in the direction they had been going and stepped back for them to pass by her. "Travel safe."
"Thank you." Yamato told her as he passed while Kakashi just nodded. Apricot waved with a smile and Naruto did the same before turning and picked up his pace to a run to keep up with the group.
"Can't wait to get the sand out of my shoes." Apricot muttered as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Thought you'd be more excited to get the shoes off." Yamato called out in return. They were moving side by side a few feet apart from each other, kicking up sand behind them. Kyoko was stuck between Yamato and Kakashi and Naruto on the other side of the white haired leader.
"I don't know," Apricot shrugged her shoulders. "I kinda like them." Naruto looked over to the girl in surprise. "The blisters aren't so bad, at least not bad enough for Kyuubi's chakra to fix. Not to mention it's way better than soaking my feet in water for half an hour." The redhead continued. The blonde watched her trip over a small dune of sand, her shadowed figure dropping behind them. She let out a cry as she fell but it was one of surprise, not pain and the blonde wanted to laugh.
"Never thought I'd hear her say that." The blonde chuckled. He looked over to Kakashi whose visible eye was already trained on him. Apricot was scrambling behind him, spluttering as sand probably hit her face.
"Beats looking at her feet without them." Kakashi replied. Yamato snorted as Apricot managed to catch up to them again. "We'll take a break at dawn, eat what you have in your packs if you get hungry." The white haired man called out.
"Dawn?" Apricot cried out. "That's hours from now!" Naruto watched as she nearly tripped over another dune.
"Why are you complaining? We went just as hard on the way here." Yamato griped back.
"Are we seriously going to keep that kind of pace again?" Apricot asked. She gave a pleading look to Naruto but the blonde grinned at her in response. "I don't understand what the rush is." Naruto looked to Kakashi and then down to Yamato in the darkness, trying to figure out who would be the one to explain the situation to her.
"You've been in close contact with Naruto for two weeks and your seal has been deteriorating." Yamato shoved his hand to his pockets, rummaging as they continued to move through the desert and pulled out another packaged bar of food.
"But I've got months before it starts to break again, you said so yourself." Apricot huffed. The blonde rolled his eyes and looked up at the darkened sky again,
"Maybe, I said you've maybe got a few months. It took the seal over a decade to hit it's breaking point last time but only because you two were so far apart. We don't have that luxury this time around." Yamato explained. The man fiddled with the wrapper of his food before biting into it.
"Yamato forgot to mention that the only person who can strengthen your seal when it weakens is Sasuke, who we left behind to come here." Kakashi sighed. "We took a fair amount of risk doing so." Kyoko turned her head to look at the white haired male.
"That's why they've been so cautious about us being in such close proximity or physically touching. We keep this pace and get back to Konoha as soon as possible, no more complaining." The blonde stated. He waited a few seconds but Apricot didn't seem to have anything more to say. They went on in silence until Naruto could see a looming black shadow between the sky and sands, the forest.
"We'll take a two minute break to get the sand out of our shoes and then keep moving." Kakashi called out. Naruto grinned in relief; the forest meant no more sand in his shoes and a fair amount of protection against the cold winds. It took them only a few more minutes to reach the trees and they jumped up to the nearest branch that could hold their weight to stand. Naruto, along with Kakashi and Yamato, immediately moved to take their shoes off while Apricot collapsed against the trunk of the tree, breathing heavily. The blonde tugged his shoes back on, sand free and took the few extra seconds he had plucking a food package from his pack. He tore it open and watched the shadowed figure of Kyoko pull her shoes off.
"Come on, you're wasting time." Kakashi told the girl. Naruto bit into tasteless energy bar, munching on it as the redhead dumped out the sand from her shoes. "Apricot." The white haired man called out in warning. "We will leave you behind."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Apricot grunted back. She shoved on her shoes again and stood up. Kakashi jumped as soon as she was fully standing and Naruto followed him while Yamato was a short second behind him. Kyoko caught up to them quickly, her landings softer compared to the heavy thuds of each man's weight. "Naruto, how are the Kazekage and Sasuke both tsundere types but are different?" Apricot spoke up.
"You've been thinking about that all this time?" Yamato asked. Naruto stopped mid chew and looked back to the younger girl, watching her shadowed frame follow him.
"It's just that, they're not alike, like at all." Apricot called out. "I don't get it." Naruto swallowed the food in his mouth and slipped the half eaten package back in his pocket.
"Gaara's cold exterior is a combination of his shyness and inability to communicate. He doesn't know how to interact with people, how to respond to them and he doesn't do it on purpose." Naruto paused when Apricot sneezed loudly. "Sasuke on the other hand, he makes it hard for anyone to get close to him. He's a mean bastard when he wants to be but most of the time, he just finds it hard to," The blonde frowned, raised his hand to his chin to tap his finger absentmindedly. "Properly communicate."
"Properly communicate? That boy beat you to a bloody pulp for staring at him for too long." Yamato spoke out loudly. Naruto grinned at the memory and pulled out his food package, intent on taking another bite.
"When did that happen?" Apricot asked. She pushed herself to catch up to Yamato and the blonde could hear their landings synchronize.
"Within the first five minutes after his chakra cuffs were removed, wasn't it?" Yamato asked.
"Yes it was." Kakashi called back quickly. The white haired male had been there to see it and was the one who spread the story around their group of friends.
"Chakra cuffs?" Apricot's voice was barely louder than the wind rushing past Naruto's ears.
"Handcuffs that inhibit the use of chakra, leaves the person wearing them pretty vulnerable." Yamato told her. The blonde shoved the last bit of the food into his mouth, stowing the empty wrapping in his pants pocket.
"I know what chakra cuffs are." Apricot shot back angrily. "That's not what I misunderstood, why did Sasuke have them on in the first place? Was it when Naruto brought him back?" Naruto barely caught the question and frowned when he heard it.
"Well it was one of the only times Sasuke was forced to wear them. The other time was during the chunin exams." Yamato answered.
"How could I have possibly known that?" Apricot responded. She jumped ahead to catch up with Naruto, staring at him through the darkness. Naruto shook his head and moved ahead of her again, past Kakashi this time. "Why would Sasuke beat you to a bloody pulp anyway?" Apricot tried again. She didn't follow him past the white haired male and the blonde was grateful for that.
"Their relationship is complicated, let's leave it at that." Kakashi answered. The blonde had tried to ignore it but the nauseous feeling in his stomach came back. It felt stronger, curling in his middle and rising up his throat like he was choking on it.
"Can we hurry it up? I've got that feeling again." Naruto called back to them. He could see the three shadowy forms of his team following him and quickly turned around again to see where he was going. Kakashi caught up to him quietly, moving right beside him and the blonde glanced over to him.
"You've had that feeling for two weeks, another three days won't change anything." The white haired man spoke softly. A shiver ran up his spine and Naruto shook his head, grimacing. Kakashi turned his head to give the blonde a careful look and Naruto met his gaze steadily.
"I think that's what I'm afraid of."