"Blah": Talking
'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
And we're back with the new chapter! Unfortunately, my friends couldn't make it this time to the introduction, so I decided to do this one on my own and get this chapter posted.
This summer sure was an interesting experience for me, but I still had a lot of fun with family and old friends. I took the time to see a lot of movies this summer, including Captain America 2, Rise of Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, but the one that stuck with me the most would have to be X-Men and Guardians! I also saw The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and one of the people that actually loved it, but it can't be denied that it was a flawed movie. I guess that's what happens when Sony cares more about setting up sequels and product-placement. I still thought Andrew Garfield was incredible as Spider-Man, I loved the romance between Peter and Gwen, the action was awesome, Hans Zimmer was brilliant, and I liked how the new Green Goblin was designed. But Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy were so perfect XD I wasn't surprised to see dancing Baby Groot figurines being sold EVERYWHERE XD XD and I'm excited for X-Men: Apocalypse in two years from now too :D
But I'm not writing a superhero crossover, it's back to Harry Potter! So I won't waste anymore typing space and give you guys the latest chapter! Be sure to let me know what you think about it and I will keep on writing! Enjoy!
Remember: Reviews are welcome and wanted!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling
Chapter 18: Sabaku no Gaara
From the moment Naruto turned in the middle of his continuous dive down toward the bottom of the waterfall chasm, he felt the entire world freeze before him. Naruto ceased his descent into darkness as the bits of water that zoomed around him from the smooth ends of the walls also froze in time.
He blinked and almost missed it, as the rest of the world turned black; he then felt he were compressed hard from all directions; he couldn't breath, as if there were iron bands tightening around his chest, his eyeballs were forced back into his head and his eardrums were pushed deeper and deeper into his skull. He felt his entire body, as well his environment, become twisted and swirled in various unnatural directions that he couldn't tell whether he was bent, twisted, or stretched out as if he were made of rubber. And then-
He took in a breath of fresh forest air. The moist and dreadful smell of the chasm had vanished as Naruto felt his feet slam down hard into solid earth. He blinked and realized he had returned to the cliffside that led into the chasm. The white-haired Sannin stood before him with his broad back turned from him. Naruto stood where he landed, about to be sick as he tried to realize what had happened. The tall Sannin had flinched when he heard a loud crack as if a car backfired behind him. He remained stiff as a bone as he turned his head and looked down to see Naruto, bloodless and wet from the moisture of the ravine. Jiraiya's eyes turned white and round before he flinched in a comical fashion, looked back down at the ravine, and then back at the blonde-haired rookie. He stammered while he continued to look back at the ravine and his former student.
He stammered out, "How?! What the?! How did?! WHAT THE HELL?!"
Naruto didn't know what to do before he came to his senses but remembered what the Sannin had tried to do. The blonde wizard turned livid and he reached for his wand, aiming at the Sannin's dumbstruck face.
He shouted, "STUPEFY!"
There was a flash of scarlet light and Sannin was blasted in the face, thrown off his feet, and hit the earth with a loud thud before he hit his head hard on a rock. Naruto seethed as he ran after the unconscious white-haired shinobi and started to slam his feet down on his stomach and chest and kicked him in the head and ribs for at least five minutes.
"YOU COMPLETE ARESHOLE!" he screamed, "YOU THREW ME DOWN A CLIFF AND TRIED TO HAVE ME KILLED?! ARE YOU MAD?! I COULD HAVE DIED DOWN THERE, YOU MISERABLE, WHITE-HAIRED, PERVERTED, SON OF A-"
But then the blonde preteen held his foot back and left the Sannin with a number of additional bruises on his face as his cheeks and face started to swell from both the curse he received to the face and Naruto's feet. The blonde wizard held his foot back from another blow to Jiraiya's face as he was overwhelmed with an odd sensation, as if he were sucked through a small rubber tube and twisted around in all directions at once. And then it took him some time to realize what he had done.
"Wait a minute… he threw me down a cliff… and now I'm here… But that means I…I… I… I Apparated…" he then cheered out loud to the heavens while he smiled and raised his arms into the air, "I JUST APPARATED!"
As his little brother's voice echoed from the ravine, Harry fell to his knees and couldn't believe what he had witnessed.
'I… can't… believe it…'
Naruto started to run around Jiraiya's unconscious form and waved his arms around in celebration. He felt like a toddler as he danced around and abandoned the Sannin after one last kick in his ribs. Naruto smiled and held his arms out to the sides as he ran from the ravine and back to Konoha. He felt so relieved to be alive, but also victorious that he had accomplished a feat he shouldn't have been able to do.
"I just Apparated! I just Apparated! I just Apparated! And I don't have a license! Hahahahaha!"
Naruto ran into the woods and came out at the end of another cliff where he could see Konoha from the distance. Jiraiya had carried Naruto to the ravine, too far from civilization to hear him scream, so no one could have been around to hear him when he fell into the ravine. The blonde wizard rested on a rock and tried to catch his breath while he let the wind kiss his sweat-soaked face. He took in the fresh air and continued to beam and watched a flock of birds zoom out of the woods between himself and Konoha out ahead of him.
'I can't believe it! I was able to Apparate and I'm not even seventeen yet! Nii-san, how was I able to do that?! It's a miracle!'
Naruto cleaned the sweat off his brow, but then his hands flinched and he winced. He looked down at his hands and then he noticed the absurd amount of blood. Naruto's hands were covered in his blood. He traced the source of the constant ooze of blood as his hands trembled. A look of shock arose in his face when he saw that his fingernails had vanished, torn clean off the flesh.
"WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE MY FINGERNAILS?!" he screamed.
Harry started to snort and tried to hold back his laughter before he let it all out and realized Naruto's first Apparition was unsuccessful. It could have been a lot worse for Naruto if he had not desired to return to the cliffside so much, but because the damage was minimal he could let out a loud chuckle this time.
'Heh! You splinched, Naruto, its what happens when someone leaves a bit of themselves behind when they Apparate unsuccessfully; clothes, hair, flesh, and so on. It could have been a lot worse but your wounds should heal soon enough. Be thankful it wasn't an arm or a leg we would have had a lot more trouble to deal with.'
'Gross… So how was I able to Apparate? I thought I couldn't learn how to do it until I'm seventeen…'
'It must have been an accident…'
'Kinda makes sense. All I could think about was how much I wanted to return to the end of the cliff… but I still can't believe Ero-Sennin threw me off a cliff like that! Perverted bastard!'
'Heh! But at least we now we have ourselves a useful little skill. Lord knows how useful this will be to us in the future…'
'I wonder if I can do it a second time…'
The older of the two wizards remembered the guidelines that Wilkie Twycross instructed him and his fellow students at Hogwarts. The Three D's: Destination, Determination and Deliberation. With those same instructions in mind, the older wizard nodded and told Naruto to clear his head and relax. Naruto listen to each detail with the utmost concentration. He couldn't make a mistake a miss even the tiniest detail, otherwise he could splinch again. So he listened to his older brother and held his wand in his hand while he ignored the pain in his hands
'These are the basic rules to follow in order to Apparate. You seemed to have used them in the ravine but didn't realize it at the time… You have to be determined to reach the desired destination, and move without haste, but with deliberation: Destination, Determination and Deliberation. Don't ever miss one of these details or it could result in the loss of limb. You must also take in every single detail of yourself, such as clothes, hair, flesh, shinobi tools, or even other people. Don't miss even one detail. You understand all of that?'
Naruto went over the instructions over and over in his head until he was sure that he had it stuck in his brain. It took about a half hour, but he was able to memorize it. Naruto was sure that he could do it and looked determined and he smiled with confidence.
'What's our first destination, Nii-san?'
'How about Iruka's home? It's not too far from where we are now. Plus, if we're fortunate, he could be at home. His class should be done now.'
He nodded and visualized the main room of Iruka's house. He then took in the tiniest details of his entire person, and after he was sure that he had covered himself from head to toe, the blonde wizard let his magic flow, turned where he stood and willed himself to Iruka's home. If someone had been around to see it, it would have looked as if Naruto was stretched and twisted in various directions in a fraction of a second before he was sucked into another dimension and vanished with a loud whistle.
Iruka had had returned home, exhausted from work. He had never felt so tired when he had Naruto and his fellow classmates as his students. Naruto and the other three troublemakers in his old class were a handful for him, but he handled them well. Without his old class he didn't feel the same and it felt like he had to work a lot harder than he ever did before now that Konohamaru Sarutobi and his classmates caused him trouble. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but Iruka missed his old rookie class. Sometimes he wished he had one more chance with them, one more semester or turn back time and correct the mistakes he made with Naruto and formed the bond he had with him now a lot sooner while he was still a small child. When he thought about it, he could have crafted them into the finest school students Konoha had ever seen.
But he shrugged the idea off and relaxed, focused on what was in front of him now rather than what could have been.
The tan-skinned chunin thought about the class he taught that afternoon, when the Sandaime himself arrived when he took the class outside to the roof of the Administration Building. The old man aided in the chunin's lecture and told the new students that he had chosen to accept and fight for the entire village and all it's residents. Sarutobi went on to tell the students about what shinobi life would be like for their futures, but mentioned that a shinobi will be able to continue to live for the sake of someone worth protecting back at home. All of the students went on and mentioned their families, pets, and best friends as their most precious people. But then the old man surprised them when he said he valued everyone in the entire village and that all of them were precious to him.
Iruka smiled as the old man's words touched his heart and walked to his kitchen to make some of that tea Naruto made for them. The tea was nice, but it would have been a lot tastier if Naruto were around to brew it with his remarkable skills. He then relaxed on his couch and read a magazine about boomerangs and short swords. Iruka hadn't been an active shinobi but once the current school semester ended, he was determined to return to missions and make sure he remained in shape. But he would need a new weapon other than basic kunai and shuriken. The chunin looked back at his boomerang collection mounted on the wall and wished he could have a weapon more like that. Iruka smiled as he found a few blades that he liked but then frowned when he realized the cost was ridiculous. He would have liked to rant about it, but what happened two seconds later distracted him.
He heard a loud crack that could have deafened him come out of nowhere. Iruka tossed the magazine behind him, abandoned his tea, threw himself backwards off the couch, and then withdrew a kunai had he stashed in the cushions. He went on full alert, about to attack the intruder of his home, but was soon dumbfounded when he saw who it was.
"NARUTO?!"
The blonde-haired wizard had bent his knees, held his arms out of caution and balance. He looked like he was about to be hit, before he blinked, looked around, and then he beamed when he saw Iruka in front of him with a kunai still in his hand. Overwhelmed with the excitement from his success and relieved after the uncomfortable rush of his first successful attempt at Apparition.
"I DID IT!" he screamed and then bounced around the room in celebration, "I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!"
Iruka tossed his kunai to the side and chased Naruto down as he started to run around the apartment and held him still.
"Did what?!" he asked with a loud boom in his voice.
Naruto looked at his adopted older brother and said, "I Apparated for the first time on purpose!"
"What the hell does that mean?" the chunin asked, still shaken from the sudden chaos that was set loose on his apartment.
The blonde-haired wizard almost couldn't contain his excitement and calm down as he told him, "You know what it is! You saw it in the Pensieve! It means that I teleported! In an instant, I was in one location and then I was willed to another location with concentration! I was with Ero-Sennin on the other side of Konoha and now I'm here! It's the fastest method of travel via magic!"
Iruka was left breathless as he remembered what Apparition was. The chunin had seen it several times in the Pensieve but it wasn't until now that he realized how incredible that skill was when used in the world of the shinobi. Naruto was now able to wield a skill that was similar but more convenient than the Yondaime Hokage's famous technique, the Hiraishin no Jutsu. Naruto was now able to will himself to another location within a fraction of a second with almost no distance limitation. And the fact that Naruto was able to harness this skill before he was a chunin or even seventeen was remarkable. Iruka almost didn't want to believe it, as he was left speechless.
"B-But how?" was all he able to ask.
Naruto told him in a more controlled voice, "At first I did it on accident! It was all because Ero-Sennin threw me into this chasm to force me to use the Nine-Tails' chakra-"
Iruka blinked when he heard that one detail and in one instant, his dumbfounded mindset had vanished. The chunin was soon overwhelmed with a renewed sense of protectiveness when he reached out and held Naruto's shoulders. The blonde rookie cut his tale short when he noticed Iruka's head was several times its normal size and the chunin shouted into his face.
"JIRAIYA-SAMA THREW YOU INTO A CHASM?!"
Iruka was furious and terrified when he heard that one detail that involved the Sannin.
"You could have been killed, Naruto!" he shouted as his head returned to normal size but the look on his face made him look more worried as he feared what could have happened if the blonde-haired wizard was never able to save himself and started a rant about the white-haired Sannin, "That man must be a total nutcase to even think of a method so drastic! To draw out the Kyuubi chakra?! Perverted old bastard! I have no reason to respect a man like that! I don't care if he's one of the Sannin! WHO THE HELL THROWS KIDS INTO THE KONOHA RAVINE?!"
Naruto motioned for Iruka to sit back down and relax on the couch, "But it's fine, Iruka-aniki! See? I'm here and I'm alive, so no harm done…"
Iruka sat back down with reluctance and tried to relax. But after what he had learned what the Sannin had done, all he wanted to do was track down that old man and maim him. But Naruto soon summoned a shadow clone and had it clean the mess he made and brew some tea in the kitchen.
"I was able to Apparate at the last second and I landed back at the end of the cliff… but to be honest, I think I did a bit more harm to myself when I returned to the surface…" he told Iruka, and showed him his bloodied hands.
Iruka looked down at Naruto's hands and held them within his own as he examined the damage.
"What the hell happened to your fingernails?!" he demanded.
Naruto went ahead and told him, "I splinched them off. It's what sometimes happens when a wizard doesn't have a successful Apparation. So when I Disapparated I left a little bit of me behind…"
Iruka looked worried, but before Naruto could tell him he was fine the chunin stood and forced Naruto to come with him to the bathroom where he had the medical kit. The blonde wizard didn't want Iruka to lecture him about how dangerous Apparition was if he could leave behind chunks of himself behind or even entire limbs if he wasn't careful.
"It was the first time I ever did it and I didn't even mean to do it, aniki! But when I Apparated here, Harry instructed me on how to do it and I didn't splinch this time!" he said.
But the chunin seemed more concerned about Naruto's hands before he could start another lecture.
Iruka had Naruto sit down on the toilet while he found the medical kit, "Oh, I have no doubt about that, Naruto, but we need some disinfectants on this and find some cloth to cover them until the nails grow back. You don't want an infection before the Chunin Exam finals."
After Naruto's hands were treated and covered with soft white bands to hold back all of the blood, the blonde wizard and the tan-skinned chunin returned to the main room of their home with warm tea served at the coffee table. The two of them sat down and Naruto informed Iruka about what the Sannin had said before he threw him down into the ravine.
Iruka was shocked and outraged when he learned of this news, "He left?! But you still have three days left before the finals!"
"I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. It looks like he either wanted to kill me or he tried one last time to see if I could draw out the chakra of the demon. But I don't want to see him after what he did. Good riddance." the blonde wizard said with a frown and a bitter tone.
The tan chunin nodded as his respect for the Sannin had been reduced to resentment and mistrust. But soon, Naruto lifted the mood in the room when he turned to look at his older brother with a small smile.
Naruto asked, "So anyway, are you going be there to see my match?"
Iruka frowned and sounded like he was upset and doubtful, "Oh… no, I think I have to teach a class when the tournament starts, Naruto. I don't think I'll make it…"
Naruto's head lowered in sadness but Iruka smiled and shook Naruto with more enthusiasm, "But we'll still have some ramen at Ichiraku afterwards, win or lose! The three of us with Hayate and an endless feast of the best noodles in town! How does that sound?"
"Sounds fine to me," the child beamed but seemed more somber than enthusiastic, "I should make sure I cover all of the details of the battle!"
Naruto relaxed and sat back on the couch, but then he winced and felt his forehead sizzle. It was his scar; it hurt like it did before he trained with his two adult friends and he rubbed his forehead to numb it out. He didn't feel like he wanted to run and save himself, but he did feel a sense of dread waver over him. Naruto didn't feel like he could sit down and relax, as if there were creature in the woods that stalked him but never attacked in order to drive him mad with fear. It wasn't intense but it was still there and made him feel unsafe. He couldn't see it, attack it, or run from it as he felt it become stronger each time he felt his scar burn. But with all of that in mind, Naruto could understand now that it was an immediate danger that threatened him.
Iruka noticed Naruto rub his forehead underneath his headband and also noticed how worried he looked as he stared out ahead. The chunin didn't forget about the incident at the bathhouse and noticed Naruto acted strange whenever he saw him rub his forehead and caress the old scar on his forehead.
"So… Wanna tell me what's the deal with that scar, Naruto?" he asked.
Naruto darted his hand back down to his side and tried to act normal, "Huh?"
"Don't act dumb, Naruto," the chunin warned with a cross tone, before he sounded more calm and soft, "Something has been troubling you and I want to know what it is… Please tell me what's the matter, buddy…"
The blonde-haired wizard hesitated but then told him the truth about how he felt as he removed his headband and showed Iruka the old scar on his forehead, "This scar I have here… I've felt it burn several times ever since the Chunin Exams started… like it did for Nii-san before he defeated You-Know-Who… It first occurred whenever I was near Mizuki back at school before I became a genin… it happened again when I was in the Land of Waves and Haku hovered over me in the woods… And it's happened a lot more ever since the Chunin Exams started, back in the Forest of Death when Orochimaru attacked us and whenever I'm near someone that could have some kind of connection to him, like those older kids from Otogakure and that Kabuto Yakushi…"
Iruka seemed worried as he let Naruto continue. The blonde-haired sorcerer fiddled around with the white bands on his hands while he went on about the incident in the bathhouse.
"And on that night at the bathhouse… I felt it burn a lot, but it was worse, much worse... I had some kind of a weird vision… about Gaara while he talked to his sensei… I don't understand what it was all about, but Nii-san and I realized the reason it burns is because it's some sort of alert or an alarm to warn me…"
Naruto took a moment to take a breath of air and tried to describe how he
"It's like a defense mechanism… I feel it burn for less than a second and then I have this sense that tells me to run until I'm safe… But over the last week or so, I felt it burn a lot more often… and whenever I feel it burn, I feel like… I feel like something bad is about to happen… it feels like it's getting closer everyday… call it a hunch, paranoia, or call me nuts, but I can't set it aside… I... I don't know what's going to happen, aniki…"
Iruka reached out to Naruto and embraced him while he held him close. He could sense how lost Naruto felt and did his best to comfort him. The blonde wizard leaned into his chest and swathed his arms around his torso, somewhat afraid to let Iruka loose as his mind continued to flow with thoughts of a dread future.
"Promise me that we'll be fine, aniki…" he said.
Iruka rubbed Naruto's back and nodded as his chin rubbed into his little brother's clothes, "I will... But make sure to take it nice and slow when the finals arrive… Stick out of trouble for me, kiddo…"
"Sure…" he answered.
About twelve hours later, Naruto had returned to his former apartment in order to check on his collection of Gillyweed and made himself a nice sandwich lunch. The Gillyweed he collected had flourished in the fresh water tank in his bedroom, but he made sure to have it contained with certain charms that wouldn't disturb it. He then checked his stash of elixirs in the refrigerator and made sure the Monster Book of Monsters remained locked in his footlocker. Once he had checked his former apartment, Naruto was set to head to the forests and train for the finals on his own for the first time.
Once Naruto had locked the door, he dashed towards the woods, but had to turn down the next main street where he could see that Konoha was almost done with the decorations and vendors for the festival tomorrow. Naruto was left without words as the streets were decorated with lanterns, vendors, and beautiful colors. There were food stands filled with Konoha best and most delicious delicacies, festival games, booths filled with whimsical colors and wondrous themes with music. It looked like Konoha had transformed into the most wonderful and magical town in the world.
But while the festival looked like it would be a lot of fun, the main attraction was far from the same theme as the festivities. None of the civilians that bustled around were aware that their freedom and blissfulness was all thanks to the miniature war that was about to break out between the rookies.
Naruto would have been more enthusiastic, but the Sandaime's oration from the tower in the Forest of Death still stuck with him. The blonde wizard didn't look as amused as he walked down the street and overheard two older civilians discuss rumors of amusement rides that were about to be constructed. Naruto couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted at their ignorance.
But he shook his head and ran off towards the forest so that he could train in secret. But then Naruto stopped in his tracks and a smirk stretched across his face before he ducked into an alleyway nearby. Once he was sure he wouldn't be seen or noticed, he stood in silence while he concentrated. He then turned on the spot and felt the uncomfortable sensation that felt like he was shoved and twisted into a small rubber tube as he Disapparated.
Naruto was successful and landed outside the same training field where he and his teammates took the bell test. He checked the form outside the fence and found no one was there. So he filled out the form to make sure no one disturbed him and locked the gates without magic. Once he was inside the field, he looked around and couldn't tell if someone was hidden in the trees or bushes. He saw the three wooden posts and the Hero's Memorial in the distance while he stood close to the river. Naruto looked around but couldn't decide what he should start out with this time.
'Well then, Harry, what do you think I should start with first?'
'Let's start off with some spell casting this time, Naruto. Wand at the ready.'
'Wait one second. I have to know that I'm alone…'
Naruto drew out his wand and held it out in front of himself and annunciated, "Homenum Revelio!"
No reaction. And with that done, Naruto started to run around the training area and searched for a target and what spell he should use. He noticed a tree in the distance and decided it was his best target.
He cried out, "Stupefy!"
A red blast shot out, hit the trunk of the tree, and left behind a dent from the force of the magic. But Naruto didn't end there as he used his imagination to act as if he were in the middle of a battle. He started to run about the trees, duck his head down to avoid a blow to the head from his enemies. He ducked down when he pretended an assassin threw a storm of shuriken and kunai at his head. He dove forward and rolled across the floor before he cast another Stunning Spell at another tree. Naruto then pretended that another assassin came out from behind the first one he hit and raised a clear shield with his wand. He then aimed at a few random used dummies and aimed at the kunai and shuriken embedded in their torsos.
Naruto shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
This caused the kunai and shuriken within the dummies to burst out and soar into the air.
The blonde wizard then decided to make the experience of a battle more realistic and started summoning shadow clones and disguised them as enemy shinobi from other countries and Death Eaters as well. The clones started to throw shuriken and kunai at the real Naruto, but he continued to run, duck, dive, and dodge the number of weapons that almost sliced his flesh. He used his chakra to move faster and avoid the constant wave of attacks. One or two clones were able to cut his skin or tear through the sleeves of his Chunin Exam outfit, but then the real Naruto unleashed his more intense arsenal.
When the clones took time to reach for more shuriken to throw, the real Naruto aimed his wand and smirked.
"Confringo!"
Naruto caused about six of his clones to be blasted into white smoke and the force of his curse caused a branch of a tree to blast into a million wooden bits.
"Expelliarmus!"
He caused one of the clones to be thrown back and hit hard against the base of another tree before it burst into white smoke.
"Stupefy!"
Naruto used this spell about ten times and hit all of the other clones in the chest. All of the clones that were hit widened their eyes but then burst into smoke.
Naruto cried out, "Incendio!"
And several clones were set on fire and ran about before the whole lot of them burst into more white smoke. Naruto continued to cast spells and even used his own kunai and shuriken to distract them before he blasted them off their feet. Naruto ran around the woods in search for more clones and use whatever excuse he could to use his magic. The blonde wizard beamed as he let his true colors shine and showed off his skills as a talented duelist.
'That's enough spell casting. Now try some taijutsu of one of those posts!'
Naruto ran further into the forest and attacked the first wooden trunk he could find. He lashed out at the trunk and hit it with the sole of his foot. The force created a noticeable dent before Naruto swirled around as if he avoided a strike of the Gentle Fist to the chest. He used the back of his forearm to knock one of Neji's arms if he were there and kicked the wooden column with his foot, as if he kicked Neji in the chest.
Naruto continued to use taijutsu for about an hour and tried to exercise each one of his muscles as best he could. As he continued to train in the woods, Naruto couldn't help but think about Lee. He realized that he hadn't even seen him since Preliminaries and never once visited him while he went to see Hinata on the mend. Naruto soon lost his drive to continue his training and felt like his stomach was twisted and churned.
Naruto soon sat down on the earth and stared at the training post. He let his head fall down a little and decided to take a break.
'Nii-san… I want to take a break… I want to visit Rock Lee…'
'Go on ahead. We can have a duel later in the Merlin Circle…'
The blonde rookie smiled and nodded, before he stood tall and Disapparated.
About one hour later, Naruto arrived at the clinic and held a bundle of exotic flowers that he created with the use of the Orchideous Charm. But as he walked inside he sensed the civilians around him stare him down or do their best to avoid him. But Naruto couldn't care less for their behavior and focused more on his little mission. He entered the clinic and noticed the area looked somewhat deserted. There were two nurses left at the desk but there were almost no patients to be seen or heard.
The hospital looked almost deserted. There were only two nurses left on duty before lunch break. It was strange to Naruto that they would leave an entire hospital lobby completely unattended, for a lunch break no less.
Naruto walked over one of the nurses at the desk and asked, "Excuse me, where is Rock Lee? He's a… he's a friend of mine and I wanted to visit him for a moment."
The nurse let him know the room number and floor where Rock Lee rested and warned him to not stick around the older shinobi and let him rest. She didn't mean to kick Naruto out, she corrected herself and said Lee needed a lot of time to rest and recover from his wounds. As soon as Naruto thanked the nurse, he heard a familiar voice come from behind him.
"Naruto?" called out the voice.
The blonde shinobi turned around and somewhat surprised to see Shikamaru Nara. He wore his usual outfit but held a decorative homemade fruit basket. He seemed as bored as usual, but seemed somewhat amused to see his old classmate and fellow former troublemaker with bundle of flowers he had never seen before.
"What are you doing here?" he asked with a tired voice.
"Shikamaru…" said the blonde-haired shinobi, "I could ask the same question. You're here to see someone too?"
He answered with a small nod, "Yeah, Choji was landed in here earlier in the week. Mom made this fruit basket for him, and she knew I would come and see him and forced me to take it with me. It's so troublesome."
"Oh… Well… I'm here to visit Lee, but how about I come with?" the blonde rookie offered.
Shikamaru tilted his head and looked at tired as ever, "It's troublesome, but what the hell? Come on then."
Naruto smiled and walked beside his old classmate, but then he remembered whom else he could visit while he was there, "Oh! I should see Hinata too! I haven't been able to visit here in a while, and I bet she'll want to see me!"
Shikamaru looked at him and seemed somewhat surprised to hear that Naruto wanted to visit Hinata, but then he said, "No need for that, Naruto. I heard she checked out earlier in the week with Kiba. I saw the two of them leave with their sensei after Choji was checked in."
Naruto frowned and lowered his head in sadness. He had wanted to see Hinata at least one more time before the finals.
While Naruto felt bad that he couldn't see Hinata, he still followed Shikamaru to see their old friend from school on the second floor. But the blonde shinobi was curious as to how Choji was landed here several weeks after his disastrous match with Dosu from Otogakure no Sato.
Naruto asked with a voice of concern, "So how did Choji land himself here? I didn't know he was hurt that bad in his match with Dosu..."
"It wasn't from his match. After the preliminaries, Asuma-sensei took Choji out to treat him to as much barbecue he wanted. Before we knew it, Asuma-sensei started to use barbecue as a bribe to motivate Choji to come along with us all month," said the slothful shinobi.
Naruto and Shikamaru then entered the second floor and walked down to the east corridor, "In the end, Choji ate so much cooked meat, that he received a severe case of indigestion."
The blonde rookie snorted at that, but then he forced himself to frown, "Excuse me."
Shikamaru smirked at Naruto and said, "Go ahead and laugh! Hell, I did!"
Naruto let out a small chuckle, though he still felt bad about Choji's misfortune, "It does sound like him to do something like that! Heh!"
"I know, right?" smiled Shikamaru.
The two of them soon reached the door to Choji's room and knocked. Both of them let themselves in and saw Choji down on his bed with a wide frown on his somewhat bloated face.
Shikamaru let out a small wave and said, "Yo, Choji."
"Hi, Shikamaru…" said the rotund heir to the Akimichi clan.
The relaxed rookie motioned over to Naruto when he said; "We have ourselves an extra visitor this time."
Naruto smiled and waved at his obese friend, "Hi, Cho… Feel a bit better?"
Choji seemed somewhat amused to see his old classmate come and see and waved back, "Hi, Naruto. I didn't expect you to come and visit."
"Neither did I," he confessed, "If I had known you were here, I would at least brought something to eat, like Shikamaru did here with his fruit basket."
Choji smiled and then shook his head before he frowned and had a bit of a tantrum, "I wouldn't be able to eat anything anyway. Stupid doctors told me I'm not allowed eat whatever I want for over a week! It's not fair! I'M GONNA MISS THE FESTIVAL FOOD!"
"How troublesome," said an irritated Shikamaru, "And I went through the trouble of carrying this all the way over here…"
Naruto looked at his old friend with a flat look on his face, "C'mon. You're not that much of a sloth, Shikamaru…"
"Well, Shikamaru has been pushed a lot further than he has his whole life in the last few weeks." said Choji.
The blonde-haired shinobi looked at him and asked, "How so?"
"Asuma-sensei and I, with Ino on some occasions, we've been training together and getting Shikamaru ready for the finals this whole month. It's been a lot fun, but a lot of hard work, too!" said the sizeable Akimichi heir.
Naruto started to frown and his face looked somewhat dark and cold. He was soon reminded of Kakashi and how he was unable to so much as talk to him and Sakura and left them both behind for Sasuke's sake.
"Your… Your sensei trained the whole team at once?" he asked, "Even though Shikamaru's the one that advanced to the final rounds and no one else?"
Shikamaru answered, "Yeah… It's troublesome. But sensei makes sure we each have the same amount of training so our team doesn't lose balance. He said we needed to be balanced because we return to missions as soon as the Chunin Exams are over and we don't want Choji and Ino to be left behind in development or something like that."
Choji looked somewhat bored when he said, "Asuma-sensei made sure to check on all three of us this month! I like that about him, even if it sometimes feels like he breathes down our necks!"
Naruto's frown looked more apparent while he turned his hands into fists until his knuckles turned white. He was told Kakashi was one of the best shinobi of the modern time, but another jounin he didn't even know much about was able to do more with his team than the famous Kakashi Hatake. The blonde-haired shinobi was so frustrated and hurt all of a sudden, but he tried his best not to show it and think about someone else.
Shikamaru smirked and remained oblivious to Naruto while he called his close friend out, "You're full of it! You like Asuma-sensei because of the barbecue he offers all the time!"
"C'mon Shikamaru! Don't mention food at a time like this! I'm starved! You know now I can't eat!" the Akimichi whined as his stomach let out a moan of its own.
Naruto then smirked at Shikamaru and decided to distract himself from his issues with his masked sensei, "But I bet we can still eat… It's been a while since lunch…"
Shikamaru looked over at Naruto with a blank face. He understood what his old classmate meant as Naruto motioned over to the fresh fruit basket.
"That is so cruel…" he said, but then Shikamaru smirked and continued, "But I like it!"
Choji crossed his arms and said, "You two are so mean sometimes! NOT COOL!"
Naruto looked over at him as he tossed Shikamaru a fat kiwi and was about to eat an orange, "You still love us, Choji!"
Shikamaru sniffed the kiwi in his hand and smiled at their overstuffed friend, "After all, if it weren't for us, what visitors would even come here? Girls?"
The two of them both chuckled but before either Naruto or Shikamaru could take even one bite, both of them were hit in the head. Both of them were knocked out of their seats and looked to see a furious Ino Yamanaka stare them down while she cracked her knuckles.
"YOU TWO BRATS ARE SADISTIC!" she screamed at them like a banshee.
Ino had the rest of the fruit basket in her hand and had collected the fruit Naruto and Shikamaru meant to eat. She then chewed Naruto and Shikamaru out as she towered over them and unleashed her inner demon.
"YOU TWO ARE JERKS! GOING AROUND AND MOCKING CHOJI LIKE THAT! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I TEAR YOUR HEADS OFF!"
Naruto looked terrified at Ino while he held his bundle of flowers and card close to his chest. Shikamaru looked as if he was about to scream and leave Naruto behind. But he clenched Naruto's wrist and forced him to retreat from the room with him.
"NARUTO! RUN! SCATTER!"
The blonde shinobi followed Shikamaru out of the room while Ino threw various fruits and nuts at them both.
Naruto shouted as he looked back and saw Ino chase them down the corridor, "CAN'T SHE TAKE A JOKE?! WE WEREN'T BEING SERIOUS!"
"SHE DOESN'T HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!" screamed Shikamaru, "RUN FOR IT!"
{{Harry & Crouch by Patrick Doyle}}
After Naruto and Shikamaru fled from Ino wrath, the two of them decided to end their charade with a normal visit to Lee's bedroom. But while the two genin walked down the hall, Naruto watched Shikamaru remove a number of walnuts stuck in his hair. It made the blonde shinobi think back to all the time he wasted with him and the Akimichi while the three of them were classmates. Naruto remembered it was the first time he ever felt like he had friends, if the three of them were more than some small band of misfits. Still, the memories of their small misadventures and tricks made him snort and chuckle.
Shikamaru looked at him and asked, "What's so funny?"
"It's nothing," he said, but then he smiled and answered, "It's just it's been a while since we've been in trouble like that! I missed stuff like this since we've graduated!"
The other rookie seemed somewhat confused, "Huh?"
"You and Choji… we had a lot of fun at school whenever we ran out of trouble… You two are the closest friends I had when we were kids… at least I'd like to think we were friends…" said a more somber Naruto.
Shikamaru did not know how to respond to that. He never took the time to think about what kind of relationship he had with Naruto. He didn't hate him or even dislike him. But he didn't feel that close to him either. But whenever he would think back to all the time the three of them wasted with one another, it did make him feel like he had more of a heart than he showed. His mother and father both seemed to like Naruto for some unknown reason and the two of them told Shikamaru to be nice to Naruto and treat him well after he mentioned to them that he was in the same class. If he were forced to answer when asked if he considered Naruto as one of his friends, he would have to say yes as he followed Naruto to the third floor.
Shikamaru cracked a soft smirked and said, "Yeah, whatever… but I'm not that into a serious talk about friends or unconditional love, understand? Let's maintain our mutual state of comradeship and find Rock Lee, ok?"
"Oh, Shikamaru Nara does have a heart!" the blonde shinobi teased he cried faked tears.
Shikamaru held back a chuckle while he continued to follow Naruto and said, "Shove it, Naruto…"
The blonde-haired wizard smiled as he continued to climb the stairs and lead Shikamaru to the third floor. But from the moment he set foot on the third floor, he felt his scar burn and then he felt the sudden desire to flee, run from the scene like he did when he faced Orochimaru. The blonde shinobi froze still while Shikamaru stood beside him and noticed him act somewhat different.
"What's up? Is something the matter?"
Naruto didn't answer. He continued to move forward and forced himself to enter the corridor and march towards Lee's room. He moved faster until he stood at the foot of the door that led to Rock Lee. As he stood there, his scar burned one more time and sensed the danger at hand was behind that door. Naruto's hand trembled as he reached for the handle and slid it to the side to look inside the room. Shikamaru followed and held his breath when he and Naruto both looked inside and saw Gaara stand over an unconscious Lee. There was sand all over the room that hovered around and moved like tentacles, while Gaara commanded a vast amount of sand to coat and cover Lee while he rested and remained oblivious.
Naruto looked to Shikamaru and ran into the room, Shikamaru followed and used his clan's technique to darken and control his shadow. The darkness on the floor below Shikamaru stretched out and attacked Gaara to hold him still. Naruto moved in and hit Gaara in the face with his fist. It was like Naruto punched a solid wall but he created several noticeable cracks on Gaara's cheek. He would have continued to attack Gaara but Shikamaru shouted while a dark bruise formed on his cheek.
The blonde shinobi demanded out of Gaara, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
Shikamaru rubbed his cheek and Gaara reflected his exact same movements, "Naruto! Don't attack him while I use the Shadow Possession! You'll hurt me at the same time!"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and flushed with embarrassment, "S-sorry, Shikamaru!"
He soon looked more serious and focused as he stared at Gaara with Shikamaru at his side. Naruto's scar hurt a little bit less than it did when he was near Orochimaru but the desire to run and save his own life remained. But Naruto cast it aside and refused to move while Gaara stared back at them.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU GOING TO DO TO LEE?!" demanded Naruto.
After Naruto asked that, the sand that encased Lee started to retreat back to Gaara. He threw Naruto and Shikamaru a blank look mixed with hatred and boredom, it almost seemed somewhat child-like as Gaara stared at them and never answered him at once.
But then the rookie from Suna did answer and said, "I wanted to kill him…."
Both shinobi from Konoha flinched at what Gaara told them.
'This kid is a tough one. He's able to resist the shadow I cast on him…' thought Shikamaru noticed Gaara didn't match his exact movements and thought, "Why would you want to kill him? You won the match against him and landed him in the hospital. Isn't that enough? Do you have some personal grudge or vendetta against him or something?"
Gaara remained calm but talked down to the other two rookies when he said, "I have nothing against him whatsoever. I simply want to kill him, because I can so simply…"
"What is wrong with you?!" shouted Naruto, "Are you even listening to what you are saying, or are you just mad?"
Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah! If you really think we're just gonna watch as you enact your sick desire or whatever, you have another thing coming! I take it that you weren't raised well, were you?"
The slothful shinobi couldn't believe his own words, but thanked Naruto's confidence and brave tone that enabled him to do so. He was scared of Gaara ever since he first saw him and didn't know what to do next and avoid a battle.
Gaara then said with a threatening voice as shadows darkened his face, "If you try getting in my way, I will kill you both… right here and now…"
Naruto remained silent and tried to think of what to do too. But to his relief, Shikamaru beat him to it and made a bluff and followed his lead.
"You know that we've both seen you fight… And we are both fully aware that you're strong…" he said with a confident smile, "But you're forgetting that Naruto and I are both pretty capable fighters as well… We both have awesome moves and strengths that no one else has even seen! Don't forget. It's two on one in this situation. You're outnumbered and we're both prepared to fight if we have to. But we can do the smart thing and avoid any aggressive conflict, only if you swear to leave Lee alone and walk from this now… Got it?"
Gaara remained as stoic as ever and said, "I will say this one more time… if you keep interfering I will kill you…"
Shikamaru flinched, 'Dammit… Plan B, then!'
{{Voldemort by Alexandre Desplat}}
As Naruto saw the sand from Gaara's container start to slither out, he drew out a kunai hidden in his sleeve and clenched it in his hand. Shikamaru held an arm on Naruto's chest and held him back as best he could.
Shikamaru warned with a hiss, "Don't do it! We don't want to fight him! Are you forgetting that this kid fights like he's some kind of a demon or something?!"
"Yeah, but I have a real force like a monster inside of me!" the blonde shinobi smirked and said with overconfidence, "I won't lose to someone like Gaara here!"
Shikamaru elbowed Naruto and muttered, "Don't be a hero! There's no point in if we make him mad!"
Gaara soon seemed a lot more sentimental as he took in their words and reflected on his choices, his home in the desert, and the monster he had hidden inside of him.
"A monster, huh?" asked Gaara in a bored tone, "I do have one inside of me. In the literal sense, not a figurative way of saying it, to be honest."
Naruto and Shikamaru turned their heads and stared at him.
"It's kind of like what you said, I wasn't raised well… Before I was born, I stole the life of the woman that conceived me. The woman I was supposed to call mother… My father, the Yondaime Kazekage, used ninjutsu to implant an incarnation of sand within me before I was even out of the womb… I was born a monster from the start…"
Naruto and Shikamaru twitched and felt sick at this turn of events.
Shikamaru stuttered, "A-An incarnation of sand?"
"He was once known as Shukaku. It was the spirit of a former Sunagakure elder who was known for slaughtering his enemies through brutal violence… His spirit was sealed inside of a teakettle and kept with each Kazekage leader… The man I call father was the first of our line of royalty to ever put it to real use…"
Shikamaru soon realized what the kid from Suna meant while Naruto's face softened and he came to his own realization, "Possession Jutsu that causes a fetus be forcibly possessed by another soul? To go that far to bring back someone else back from the dead is sure far-fetched. It's insane."
Naruto stared at Gaara and listened to him well while he realized the truth behind the child from Suna, 'He…he has creature?! He has a demon inside of him, too? Like the Nine-Tailed Fox?!'
Sweat ran down Shikamaru's face and he let out a chuckle, "Heh… what kind of a parent would ever do that to their own child? Your dad must have a real sick idea of love for his children, huh?!"
Gaara was not amused with Shikamaru's sarcasm.
"You talk of love?" asked Gaara, "Don't you dare measure me by your standards… It's unwise..."
Naruto became more alert and his invisible older brother remained attentive to what Gaara said next.
"Family… Let me tell you what that word truly means to me... Family is nothing to me, but mere hulls of flesh that are tied together through bonds of hatred, violence, and murder."
Naruto and Shikamaru twitched at what he said.
"With mother's death, I was brought into the world and given life as Suna's greatest masterpiece weapon. And as the Kazekage's youngest honorable son… father taught me secret shinobi jutsu and skills… one after another… I was raised in total isolation from the outside world. I was spoiled and overprotected all the time… At first, I thought that was love…."
Gaara took a moment to look at the two genin that stood before him. Lee remained unconscious while whoever else were on the others floors, both above and below, remained unaware of the events that unfolded on the third floor.
"Until, something happened… the event that crafted me into who I am now."
Shikamaru was frightened at whatever Gaara was going to tell them next, but he still asked, "What happened?"
Gaara didn't answer at first. He looked down at the floor as the sand around him continued to move about him but left Shikamaru and Naruto scared of what he had to reveal.
Naruto then asked for his friend, "What happened?"
Gaara took his time to look back at the two rookies and his face was twisted with a strange smile stretched across his skin. The color in his eyes shrank down until Gaara looked wicked and insane.
His smile continued to stretch and twist until he said, "For six years, ever since I turned six years old, my father tried to have me killed more times than I could count!"
Shikamaru flinched and recoiled in terror, while his blonde-haired comrade stood where he was and let out a small breath of shock. Gaara smiled his twisted smile and looked almost proud to tell those two his terrifying story.
"Y-You s-said that your old man spoiled you," stammered Shikamaru, "What happened to that earlier treatment? Why did it all come to an end?"
Gaara let loose a small column of sand and manipulated it through his slender fingers. It seemed about the same size as a rat and he started to stroke it like some strange pet. He soon created an orb of sand and turned it into a multitude of different solid forms to match his story.
"When a presence becomes too powerful, that presence is soon feared… Since I was born through jutsu, my mind was unstable… It took the fools of Suna more than half a decade to realize that I had emotional imbalances…. To father, in his role as the Kazekage, I was the village's most powerful weapon… but at the same time, I was a fearsome and dangerous item… When I turned six, the council determined that I was too great a liability… And to think that those fools wasted such resources and time to benefit my nature… It's almost hilarious to think that… But before those morons decided to have me killed, they had handled me with so much care, like I was a bomb about to burst…"
Gaara looked at the sand in his hands, which he formed into a solid figure of the symbol of his native village. Iconic enough, it was in the shape of an hourglass full of sand. Gaara then clenched it in his hand and he crushed it.
Shikamaru couldn't control Gaara's movements with his shadow, 'How can he still move? He's in the Shadow Possession! What he's doing shouldn't be possible!'
"To them, I am now a relic of that past," he said, "A relic that they wish to erase and forget that I even existed…"
Sweat ran down Naruto's face while tears started to form in the back of his eyes. His vision became somewhat clouded and reached for his heart.
"So for what purpose do I exist? Why am I even alive? At first, when I asked myself that question, I couldn't think of an answer… But while I continue to live, I must have a reason to live, correct? Otherwise, what's the point of me even being alive?" the monstrous rookie from Suna asked them.
Shikamaru wanted to run while he shivered and asked, "What the hell is he talking about?"
The blonde-haired shinobi couldn't do much, other than stare at Gaara feel bad for his misfortune, but also remained fearful of him.
'I…I think…I think I understand him, Nii-san… Gaara… he's like me, isn't he?'
Gaara continued to talk, "In the end, I came up with this: I exist to kill and destroy all other humans other than me. Living in constant fear, knowing I could be assassinated at any given moment, I finally found my inner peace… By killing those that will want to defeat or kill me, I am able to define my own reason and justify my own existence…"
The sand Gaara held in his hands slithered down to the floor and moved around his feet as if there were a bundle of poisonous desert snakes hidden beneath the sand.
"I will fight for only myself. I will love only myself. As it was the death of my own mother that first gave me life, now it is the death of others that sustains me. That is what makes me almost happy to be alive… And there will be no end to it. As long as there are those out there in this wide-open, inhabited world… I will never cease to exist…"
Shikamaru had never been so scared in his life. All other experiences in which his life was ever in danger seemed absolutely insignificant compared to this moment. Not even the scariest movie was this terrifying. Not even his own mother scared him this much.
'This freak is out of his mind!' he screamed in his head.
But Naruto remained where he stood, unable to move as he watched Gaara look back at him and smile with a cold and cruel look in his face.
'I used to be like that… I remember the most difficult times in life when I felt like I was worthless… The one thing I knew after Hayate had to leave me was this utter loneliness… I didn't even know the reason I was even alive… But then Nii-san and Iruka-sensei found me… Both of them acknowledged me and showed me a reason to live… It was then, did I experience warmth and unconditional love…' but then he looked at Gaara's eyes and understood a lot more than ever, 'But Gaara… He's still alone with the mind of a psychopath inside his head… unable to assert his existence unless he kills someone… to kill in order to live…'
Naruto tried to use Occlumency to hide and control his fear for the kid from Suna, but he was unable to do it and let his shields fail him.
'I never knew someone like him could even exist… If Harry and Iruka never found me… could I have become someone like him? If that's the case… then I don't think I can ever beat him!'
The blonde-haired rookie shinobi trembled and shook before he retreated backwards while Gaara remained still as a statue and menacingly calm.
Shikamaru was shocked to see Naruto move back, "What's the matter?!"
And then out of nowhere, Gaara's sand came to life and he created a wave of sand behind him. The sand then took the form of two solid hands and reached out towards Naruto and Shikamaru. Gaara remained still but he face beamed with delight and he was full of excitement and bloodlust. Gaara let loose a wave of killer-intent that overwhelmed both rookies as the two of them were unable to move in fear. The sand rushed after them as Gaara raised his arms and smiled he raised his voice and almost cackled.
"NOW! HELP ME FEEL ALIVE!"
"NARUTO!" cried Shikamaru as he wished Naruto came to his senses and saved them both with his shadow clones.
But then a foot slammed down hard onto tiles in the room and the sand that was about to attack Shikamaru and Naruto was frozen in an instant.
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH!" called out the voice of their savior.
The three rookies turned their heads and saw Gai-sensei at the entrance to the room. The man looked down at all three children and crossed his arms like a stern father.
"Save it for the final matches!" he chewed them all out, "You're just wasting your efforts getting into fights today. Is that what you want, Gaara?"
The rookie from Suna shot his hands to his face and held his head as if he were struck with a massive headache. Gaara was reminded of the moment when Gai stood before him in the arena and defended Lee from his final attack. The rookie from Suna couldn't handle it whenever he saw someone act so selfless and defend the life of another. It made him think of memories he wished he could erase and his mind and world felt out of balance. The sand in the room retreated back into Gaara's container and stuck to his skin where Naruto hit him to seal the crack. He looked like a vampire that tried to retreat from the sunlight as he wobbled out of the room in a drunken waddle.
Before he left, Gaara turned to look at Gai, Shikamaru, and then at Naruto when he said in a low voice, "I will kill you all… Just wait… I will kill you all…"
With that, Gaara disappeared down the hall and left the hospital to return to his brother and sister. Gai had to smack Naruto on the back in order for him to remember how to breathe and the blonde shinobi looked to the jounin.
"Are those flowers for Lee, Naruto-kun?" the man asked.
Naruto blinked before he said with a stutter, "Y-Yes! I-I wanted to c-come and see him… Please give him these when he wakes up, Gai-sensei?"
Gai smiled down at the blonde rookie and took the flowers from Naruto when he handed them over.
"It'll mean the world to him, Naruto-kun! Thanks…" he said with a warm voice.
Naruto nodded and then he left the room with Shikamaru, unaware of when the two of them went different directions and walked down the first random road.
'Well then… when I think about it, Neji doesn't seem like much of a threat, does he? If he doesn't kill us, Gaara could…'
'That's not funny, Nii-san… This is bad… I'm not the one that has to face him in the finals… Sasuke has to deal with him but he has no idea what he's in store for… He kills in order to remind himself that he's alive… that must have been what he did after the vision I had in the bathhouse… he must have killed someone else… I can't… I can't believe this…'
'It's nice to think about Sasuke at a time like this. But don't focus all the attention and time we have on him. Hayate will be there to end the match and save Sasuke if it looks bad. We can warn him about Gaara while we're at the arena. And Kakashi will be there too…'
'If Kakashi-sensei fails to be a sensei when it matters the most to the team, what chance is there that he will even succeed to save him or me if Gaara decides to come after me?! Gaara is unstoppable!'
'Naruto… I understand that we've been through a lot this month, but listen to me… You must relax… have faith in Hayate and Kakashi, even if that masked idiot doesn't deserve it.'
Naruto took a minute to breathe and continued to walk off his troubles. Naruto flinched and ducked down when a number of ravens flew over him and flew down the street, towards where all of the old castles and abandoned estates used to be. He brushed a few feathers out of his hair and clothes and continued to walk, curious how he never once visited the castles in all the time he lived in Konoha. He stared into the direction of the castles and felt a sense of gravitation towards it. Naruto felt it would serve as an excellent distraction and headed towards the ancient structures.
It was close to sunset, so he decided to make his visit a fast one. Naruto noticed the lanterns of the festival could be seen out in the distance and could hear the familiar sounds of the citizens laughing and turned Konoha into a warm dome of enchantment. Once it was dark, Konoha would look incredible out in the distance, but the ANBU would be on full alert at the same time as the festivities made their exact location too obvious.
Naruto continued his trek and moved on to see the castles, far from the heart of the festivities. He used his chakra as a boost to reach the closest roof he could find and turned around to see the famous Kikyo Castle. The blonde wizard remembered the name from a tale Hiruzen Sarutobi told him when he was a small child. He remembered the castle once housed one of the wealthiest families in Konoha, before it was later turned into a center for the secret division of the ANBU and was abandoned as soon as the ANBU division was dissolved. Naruto took the time to sit down on the roof and studied the structure; somewhat disappointed that it didn't resemble Hogwarts Castle with turrets and torches. But it was still an awesome structure. The castle was several hundred feet tall and Naruto could see two enormous shibi on either sides of the castle that looked like shachihoko.
But then Naruto shivered in nervousness when he noticed what looked a lot like a massive wound inflicted on the roof, as if it were scratched out with a set of massive claws. The blonde wizard didn't understand the reason behind his nervousness, but he soon approached the structure and reached the roof of Kikyo Castle to examine the damage firsthand. The roof had been blasted out with wood, tiles, metal, and stone scattered and scratched out all over the structure. Naruto walked next to the scar of the roof and tried to determine what had caused such devastation.
'What's this? What caused so much damage?'
'I don't know… but… it looks like set of claws…'
'Claws… You said claws?'
Naruto searched around the ruins of the roof until he discovered a foul stench that made him feel sick. The smell was awful, almost as bad as the stomach of that titanic snake that swallowed him whole. He covered his nose and mouth and walked until he reached the end of the ruins and noticed the wood and broken tiles were covered in a dark, dried, reddish substance. He noticed a few more ravens were huddled around a mass at the end of the scar. Scared of the rookie that appeared in the middle of their feast, the birds scattered and revealed the source of the smell that sickened Naruto.
The blonde wizard held his breath and would have screamed when he saw the shredded remains of a human buried in the roof. The stench was far worse as the rotten remains of the shredded shinobi were scattered around the scar of the roof. Blood had oozed across the roof and stained the tiles and wood as the smell of rotten human meat was settled in. Naruto couldn't breath and tried to hold back the contents of his stomach as he soon recognized what remained of the man's face. Based on the clothes, the bandages, and the silver gauntlet on his arm, it was what remained of Dosu Kinuta from Otogakure. This was the genin that Shikamaru was supposed to fight in the finals.
Naruto was so horrified at what he had seen, that he fell back and could have slid down the roof and fallen. But then he felt something hit his back and stop him from sliding down. He turned around and froze still as a tall man in an animal mask hovered over him. He blinked and realized it was one of the ANBU. Naruto turned around and then he realized he was surrounded with ANBU, all of them wore the familiar animal masks and unique uniforms. But then he realized all of them had drawn out their swords and aimed their shuriken at him. Almost at once, the ANBU went berserk and started to shout orders at the wizard.
"DON'T MOVE!" one of them boomed.
The ANBU that used his foot to hold back the blonde rookie ordered, "FREEZE!"
"MAKE ONE MOVE AND WE ATTACK!" a female shouted.
Naruto couldn't answer back but raised his hands in surrender, as another one screamed, "DO AS HE SAYS, BRAT!"
"What…" the child looked around in confusion and fear as he tried to ask, "What did I… what did I do?!"
One of the ANBU then shouted, "KNOCK HIM OUT!"
And all Naruto could remember after that was darkness as one of the soldiers that surrounded him moved in and hit him hard on the head with the hilt of one of their weapons.
To Be Continued…
And that's the latest chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will be working on the latest chapter immediately! I still have heard no word from Azeroth44 this time, which is a shame because we could use some more chaos around here. And I'm sure once I have posted this chapter and he reads it, he will return on the back of a dragon. He does stuff like that.
Naruto: That'll be fun.
Kvsyaoran: I'll find us some fireproof sweats.
N: I hate sweats.
K: Says the dude that wears a tracksuit! What are you?! A junior gym teacher?!
N: Fair point.
With that out of the way, I think it's time for me to list the differences between this version of the chapter and the original. There are not a lot of differences this time, except that when Naruto Apparates for the first time, Jiraiya faints from shock after he screams like a girl. But I felt Jiraiya deserved a few blows below the belt after he neglected Naruto for his entire childhood when his parents trusted him as his godfather, treated him poorly as his student, and then threw him off a cliff to force him to use a power he doesn't want and doesn't know how to use.
LeafRanger, that scene was for you :D
There was also one HUGE change from the original version when Naruto finds Dosu's corpse. In the original story, he discovered the body and ran off into a random alley. He then stumbles upon Hayate's corpse and realizes he was killed similarly to how he was killed in the manga, but his body was hidden in the alley under a bunch of cardboard boxes. A crowd from the street gathered and Daikoku happened to be there and accused Naruto of murdering Hayate before the ANBU and the Sandaime Hokage arrive to silence the crowd. I was basically creating a parallel to the Goblet of Fire film when Harry returns with Cedric's body and cries over him. In this new version of the chapter, Hayate is not killed off.
And with that said, I think that's about it! Please leave me a review and I will work even harder to finish the next chapter! Until next time! Read and review!