Sandstorms and Falling Leaves
Author's Note: I live! Sorry for the wait. This chapter is short but I won't make you wait for it any more. See further notes at the end of the chapter. On with the story...
Chapter 31: Nightmares and Politics
Naruto watched as a pair of laughing children chased each other across a sandy beach. The younger was little more than a toddler; with her blonde hair pulled up in pigtails to keep it out of her face. The older was a boy of around six years old and he had flaming red hair and laughing blue eyes as he tried to catch his little sister.
"Hey, come back!" Naruto called out with a smile as he noticed they were getting close to the water's edge.
The children seemed not to hear him but a wall of sand rose and redirected them back towards him a moment later. Naruto turned to see the source of the jutsu and found Gaara sitting on a picnic blanket behind him. The redhead was watching the children fondly as they came barreling back towards the couple with hyperactivity to rival Naruto's own.
"Daddy! Did you see me run?!" The little girl bubbled out eagerly as she crashed into his legs. "I'm gonna be the most fastest ninja ever!"
Naruto was about to reply when a small sound distracted him. He glanced around for the source of the sound but saw nothing; and when he looked down again the grinning child was fading away like smoke. He spun to look at the boy who had passed him by to go to Gaara and saw that he too was vanishing rapidly; still running towards his mother as his image blew away on the breeze. The leaf ninja tore his gaze away from the children to Gaara's pale face. Aqua eyes stared sadly back at him.
"Gaara...what's happening?" He managed as the last wisps of each child vanished around them.
The sea rolled silently away and left the pair alone on an endless desert.
Gaara said nothing; instead looking down at her hands where they were clutched across her stomach. Slowly she pulled them away and held one out to him mutely. Blood dripped from her fingers and soaked rapidly through her robes.
"Gaara!" The distraught chunin dove forward and caught the redhead as she crumpled forward; revealing the source of the wound standing behind her.
I mocking shadow of Naruto himself stood there, licking a clawed hand swathed in orange chakra. The chakra cloaked figure laughed. "All alone again, Naruto."
"No! This isn't real. You can't be here! You're me!" He looked down at the woman in his arms just in time to feel her body shudder with one final breath before going entirely too still; her aqua eyes losing focus as they stared blankly up at him. "No!"
"You can't ignore me forever. One day I'll be free...and we'll kill them all..."
"NOOO!"
Naruto jolted upright, frantically searching for Gaara's familiar presence and finding the dark room totally empty except for himself. It took him a moment to remember that Kankuro had absolutely forbidden them from spending anymore nights together until they were married. The next second he was moving; barely comprehending his actions as he looked for clothes.
"She's at home." He mumbled to himself for reassurance as he grabbed his jacket off the floor and pulled on the first pants that he saw. He darted out the window a minute later, bounding across the rooftops in a direct line to his fiancee's apartment.
He went to the door, mindful of Gaara's warnings about added traps since the assassination attempt. The sky was just starting to lighten with the edge of dawn so he didn't feel too bad about knocking on the heavy wooden door.
It was opened after only a few seconds by Gaara herself; already dressed for the day except for her shoes. She opened her mouth to speak but he preempted her by throwing his arms around her and hugging her fiercely.
The startled redhead hesitantly hugged him back; seeming confused but silently waiting for him to calm down.
Finally, Naruto managed to master his emotions enough to mumble an answer to her unspoken question. The words half muffled by her shoulder where he had tucked his face. "Bad dream."
Gaara blinked as she processed the simple explanation, before carefully pulling away to get a look at her love's face. "Come in." She said firmly. "Breakfast will be ready soon." She tugged him by the hand into the kitchen where she had been working on breakfast for her sister and herself. It took only a moment to add a few eggs to the pan for the leaf ninja and make a couple extra pieces of toast. Then she turned her attention back to her hovering guest.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked slowly.
Naruto gave the question a moment's thought before shaking his head decisively. "Not really. It wasn't real and I'm fine now that I'm here with you." Though he sounded like he was convincing himself as much as h was the redhead, he smiled at her; only having to work a little bit harder than usual on the expression.
Gaara eyed him thoughtfully but before she could respond to his denial they were interrupted.
"Morning Sis." Temari yawned as she wandered into the kitchen still working on taming the last of her hair into its pigtails. "When did that leaf blow in?" The older blonde jerked her head in Naruto's direction.
"He just got here." Gaara answered honestly. "Breakfast."
Temari took an appreciative sniff of the air and hurried to her seat at the table.
Naruto followed her lead a second later; offering the older Sand sibling a nervous grin in greeting.
"So did you tell him yet?" Temari asked evenly.
Gaara froze, halfway to the table with the bowl of eggs.
"Tell me what?" Naruto looked from one sister to the other in confusion.
Gaara narrowed her eyes at her sister. "We've only been engaged three days." She answered the older woman stiffly.
"True, but the sooner you start working on the problem, the better off you'll be." Temari responded firmly.
"What problem?" Naruto asked, beginning to get concerned about the conversation flowing around him.
"I sent word to the council." Gaara told her sister; suppressing the urge to sigh as she finally walked the last few feet to the table and sat down.
"About what?!" Naruto blurted.
Both women turned sharp gazes on him and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Gaara seemed reluctant to answer but Temari had no such qualms. "As one of Sunagakure's ruling family members, Gaara has to get the council of elders to approve her engagement before you can marry her."
Naruto gaped at the older blonde. He couldn't believe that they were going to have to jump through yet another hoop in order to get married.
Gaara frowned at her sister for a moment before turning her attention back to the jinchuriki. "I tried to tell you." She said quietly.
Naruto thought back and the redhead's cryptic words drifted through his brain. The hardest battle he'd ever fought indeed. "I thought you were joking." He mumbled weakly. "Do you think they'll say yes?"
Gaara shrugged. "I don't know." She reached across the table and took his hand in hers reassuringly. "No matter what they say, you already have my answer."
Naruto felt a smile spread across his face as her meaning registered. She would marry him even if the council objected; even if it meant she lost her position for good. "Well, I'm sure we can convince them." He announced, giving the pale fingers in his a squeeze.
"The biggest obstacle is going to be your family history...or lack thereof." Temari put in with a sigh. "The council is big on lineage and bloodlines. Do you even know who your parents were?"
Naruto blinked. He'd thought about such things when he was really young, but it had long ago become something he avoided wasting too much time on. Though he had often felt some jealousy for other children with parents and families that cared for them, it was hard to truly miss what he had never had. A biological family was just a vague dream to the orphan jinchuriki. He had his friends and as a child he had had people like Iruka to guide him and the Third to ensure his needs were met. Sure he had wondered what happened to his parents, once he got old enough to understand what he was missing. However, he had never been the kind to let himself wallow in self pity; and thoughts about the family that had either died, or simply given him up, were a sure source of sadness. Being the optimistic person he was; Naruto had simply pushed the question from his mind and focused on his future instead.
"No. I don't know who they were." He answered slowly. "But I might be able to find out."
To be continued...
Author's Note: I hope you all liked it. Sorry for the long wait. My summer was super busy and on top of that I was not happy with the way this chapter kept turning out. I'm still not really happy with it but I refuse to keep you lovely people waiting any longer so I've decided to post it and move on with the story. Please excuse the weirdness of it. I deleted it a couple times and restarted but it kept coming out pretty much the same way. Oh well, next chapter Naruto tries to figure out who his birth parents were, Shino and Hinata hijack my plot for a minute or three, and Gaara hears the first word from Suna's council on the matter of her engagement. It's half written and I am feeling inspired for the first time in ages so I should hopefully be able to finish it quickly.