~Scroll 2~
"Konohamaru!" Naruto cried once he saw his little cub-brother being manhandled by one of the two foreigners. Naruto kept the others behind him.
"That hurt, snotface!" The foreign boy grunted as he tightened his grip around the little boy's scarf.
"Knock it off." The foreign blonde girl sighed in annoyance, "You're gonna get it as it is!"
"It was my fault." Sakura apologized as she wondered who these people were, "I was fooling around…"
"{Put him down!}" Naruto commanded, unaware that his special timbre had slipped into his voice.
Everyone watched in surprise as the large foreign bully slowly lowered Konohamaru's to the ground. As the little one's feet touched the ground, Naruto leapt forward before anyone could react and freed Konohamaru from the stranger's grip.
"RUN!" Naruto ordered.
Konohamaru did not need to be told twice as he swiftly ran to the safety of his friends, who sought refuge behind the pinkette girl.
Unfortunately for Naruto, when he gave Konohamaru the order to run, it awoke the foreigner from his daze. It took the stranger less than a second to realize that he had lost his prey and that the little blonde girl in front of him had done something to him. His hand stuck swiftly and quickly like a white scorpion of his homeland and caught the fleeing petite blonde.
"Unnh…" Naruto gasped as he felt an iron grip close around his slender throat.
NARUTO-DONO!
"NARUTO!"
His name echoed around him.
"What the hell did you do to me, you Genin-bitch!" The stranger demanded as he tightened his grip around the little girl's throat.
Naruto could not breathe nor think as he instinctively flared his chakra out for help.
"NARUTO!" The children were crying.
NARUTO-DONO!~ Ka'a growled as he lashed at his prison.
"Answer me, bitch!" The foreigner growled.
"I…" The foreign blonde girl sighed again, "will not be held responsible for this…"
The foreign bully then cocked his hand back, furious that the little girl would not answer him, completely oblivious of the fact that the little blonde could not. Then he swung forward to teach her a lesson when…
FWAP
THOK. THOK. As a med-sized pebble rolled on the ground.
Naruto crashed to the ground, gasping for air, while his abuser grunted in pain.
"Tell me…" Drawled a cool voice with barely contained anger, causing everyone to look up at the raven-haired young man, who was casually sitting in a tree with two more stone pebbles in his hand. "What are you guys doing in our village?"
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried in relief but stayed back with the kids.
"Oh look." The stranger sneered as he flexed his hand. "Another little brat."
"Get lost." Sasuke growled as he quickly looked Naruto over for other injuries, but the bully took a step into the raven-haired teen's line of sight, blocking his blonde from him.
"Come down, little squirrel!" The foreigner taunted, which Sasuke ignored as he noticed his blonde moving away from the foreigners and toward Sakura. "Think you're pretty smart, don't you?"
"Tell me you're not planning to use the Crow!" The blonde girl cried as she watched her companion remove the bundle from his back.
Sasuke just ignored them as he watched his blonde suddenly freeze in mid-step.
"SASUKE! BEHIND YOU!" Naruto shouted as he turned with wide sapphire blue orbs.
At first, when he was released from the stranger's hold, Naruto was more concerned in calming a certain overprotective fox-spirit that he had not heard an oddly familiar melody. It was not until that he started toward his littermate and the cubs that he realized that there was another foreigner in the area. The haunting Heart Song was familiar to the petite blonde somehow, but he could not place it. However, he knew it was near. The Song kept fading as if the person was hiding, and when Naruto heard it again, he was able to locate it… behind Sasuke.
"Kankuro!" A low monotone voice ordered, causing Sasuke to still in shock that anyone could have snuck up behind him. "Don't!"
Sasuke snapped around and saw a young man about his height, perhaps a bit smaller than him, standing on the underside of a thick tree branch. The newcomer was pale with blood red hair. He wore a pair of dark brown trousers with leg wrappings tucked into his traditional sandals, and he also wore a regular black tee-shirt with a mesh undershirt. Across his right shoulder was a simple white sash while across his left shoulder was a thick leather strap that was used to secure the giant gourd to his back. His tourmaline blue-green eyes were hard and devoid of any emotions, and they were surrounded by a thick layer of kohl. And emblazed over his left eye was the red kanji 'ai', meaning love.
"You're a disgrace to our entire village." The redhead said, revealing nothing of his emotions.
"G-Gaara…" The noh-faced bully, Kankuro, stuttered while the blonde girl took an instinctive step away from the bully and the redhead.
He… he snuck up beside me… Sasuke mentally applauded. I didn't even have a clue! His stealth rivals Kakashi's… but of course, my dobe spotted him. Sasuke mentally smirked in pleasure.
"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children!" The redhead, Gaara, continued, "Have you forgotten why we came here?"
"But Gaara…" Kankuro explained, "They started it. The little one slammed me! And that bitch did something to me!"
"Hey!" Naruto hissed, "I'm a boy, you dump ape!"
"Could have fooled me!" Kankuro shouted back but was surprise nonetheless that the Genin, he thought was a girl, was in fact a boy!
"Shut up…" Gaara stated, "Or I'll kill you."
Kankuro immediately shut up as his body trembled in fear.
"We're sorry…" The blonde girl immediately stated, not bothering with hiding her fear of the silent redhead. "Okay, Gaara? Really, really sorry!"
So, he's in charge, eh? Sasuke thought, He glares like a basilisk.
"Sorry about my friends." Gaara stated; however, he did not sound apologetic as he watched the raven-haired teen, who had injured Kankuro. The redhead was mildly impressed, but he was more impressed by the mysterious blonde boy, who gave warning to the redhead's presence. The young man disappeared in a whirlwind of sand and reappeared between his two frightened companions.
"I know we're a little early…" Gaara reprimanded his companions, "but we didn't come here to play around."
"I swear it won't happen again." Kankuro promised.
"Let's go." The redhead ordered as he turned to leave.
"WAIT!" Sakura finally found her voice as she took a tentative step forward.
"Yes?" Gaara acknowledged.
"According to your headbands, you three…" Sakura started, "come from the Hidden Village in the Sand. Your country is one of Konoha's allies but according to our treaty, your ninja are not permitted to cross the border without authorization. State your business! We can't just let you go your merry way."
Sasuke and Naruto looked upon their teammate with pride. Even though she was scared by the three Sand-Nin's presence, Sakura was not about to let three strangers roam freely in her village.
"Ever heard the old saying about it being darkest at the base of the brightest lighthouse?" The blonde Sand-Nin sneered as she presented her travel papers.
Naruto wrinkled his nose as he heard the girl's jeer toward their rank.
"Weren't you informed?" She cooed with an air of superiority. "As you guessed, we're junior-level ninja from Sunagakure. We're here to take the chuunin selection exam."
Naruto frowned as he heard the lie in her words. They were there for more than what she said.
"What's the chuunin selection exam?" Konohamaru asked from the safety behind Naruto.
"You really don't know." The blonde kunoichi tsked, "Junior ninja are sent from Sunagakure and the minor lands between our home and yours to compete against Konoha's own candidates."
"Why?" The little one asked, causing the Sand-Nin to scoff at him but answered nonetheless.
"Mainly to maintain the skill of all shinobi at the same high level of excellence. Also to foster friendship and understanding between ninja. And, of course, to maintain balance of power between the lands themselves."
Naruto narrowed his eyes on the blonde kunoichi as he listened.
She was reciting. She did not believe the words she spoke. This made him extremely suspicious of these visiting shinobi's true motive; however, before he could call them to task, the petite blonde felt his hand being tugged. Looking down, Naruto saw Konohamaru wickedly grinning at him.
"Hey, Naruto, you should enter this chuunin selection exam thing too!" Konohamaru cheered, which caused Naruto to lightly smile.
"Hey! You there!" Sasuke called as he appeared beside Naruto, "What's your name?"
"Huh? W-who me?" The Sand-kunoichi blushed at the handsome youth.
"No!" Sasuke scowled, "I was talking to the spook beside you."
"Sasuke." Naruto quietly admonished his teammate's rudeness, while the others held their breath, fearful of the redhead's reaction to the rude name. However, Gaara just looked at the raven-haired ninja then glanced at the blonde.
"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara answered then asked, "And you are..?"
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke smirked as the two of them sized each other up then Gaara looked at the blonde expectedly, but the blonde said nothing as he stared at the redhead.
"And you."
"Hunh..?" Naruto blinked before realizing that the strange youth with the echoing Heart Song was speaking to him, "Oh! Uzumaki Naruto, pleased to meet you!"
"Hn." Gaara grunted then ordered, "Let's go."
In an instant, the three Suna shinobi disappeared.
Things are getting interesting. Sasuke darkly grinned then turned to his blonde. Roughly the raven-haired teen grabbed the blonde's chin and examined the large handprint bruise encircling Naruto's slender throat. Instantly obsidian orbs bled crimson, revealing the Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Maa," Naruto calmed the angry teen, "it'll heal."
"He'll pay."
"Tsch… Teme." Naruto grumbled then snapped his attention to the far trees as he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
"What is it." Sasuke demanded as he followed the blonde's gaze but saw nothing.
Naruto shook his head then smiled at his teammate before suggesting that they all go for some ice cream.
/
"What do you think?" Asked one of three menacing shadows hidden in a far away tree.
The three shadows watched the entire affair between the Suna and Konoha shinobi with disinterest.
"None of them are of any importance," The shadow's leader spoke, "except the Konoha raven-hair and the spook from the Sand. Keep an eye on them."
/
Kakashi bade a hastily retreat once he felt his blood grow hot from hearing his little gem growl at the Uchiha heir. He knew he should have said something to Sasuke about his callousness toward Sakura, but the silver-haired Jounin was more worried about the petite blonde scenting the older shinobi's hot blood. And then having the blonde's father bring the wrath of Kami upon his head for it.
Kakashi knew that he should not have been truly surprised that Naruto's senses were heightened. After all, the blonde did have the Nine-Tail Fox Spirit within him! However, the silver-haired Nin had not expected the blonde to ask him about some of the scents he noticed while they were still in Tazuna's village… Apparently some of the women smelled "funny" as they had been watching the ex-ANBU work on the bridge without his shirt and vest on. It did not take a genius to figure out that the "funny" scent that Naruto smelled was the women's arousal and lust…
Kakashi knew that he would have to be extremely careful whenever he was around the petite blonde. As the silver-haired Jounin took his leisure time to Hokage Tower to submit his mission report, Kakashi found himself thinking about his blonde. He knew that he found the blonde attractive. The petite shinobi's features were… Kakashi would not say delicate or boyish, but an alluring balance between the two. And his eyes!
Kakashi could never get enough of the blonde's clear sapphire blue gems that saw through him, pierced through his soul and still accepted him despite his sins. Kakashi could and would happily spend the rest of his natural life and the-here-after just staring into those seraphim blue orbs. When Kakashi first met the small blonde, he did not really realize it, but truthfully Naruto's eyes seem to constantly reflect a multitude of shades of blue.
And of course, there was much more to the blonde than his fair and exotic looks. There was intelligence and wisdom hidden beneath the façade of the village idiot. The silver-haired Jounin knew it and saw it, and yet at the same time, there was also a level of childish innocence and naivety that Kakashi found himself wanting to protect. All of that drew the ex-ANBU's attention to the young shinobi. Kakashi found himself wanting to know more about the petite blonde. He wanted to know if what he saw was just that or was there something more. Then again Kakashi did not doubt that there was more to the blonde, and he wanted to know, to see, to touch and taste all that was Naruto.
With a hidden grin beneath his mask, Kakashi wondered how the blonde would react if the silver-haired Nin asked him out. Perhaps invite the blonde out to lunch to someplace nice and yet simple. At first thought, Kakashi thought of taking Naruto to his favorite noodle stand, but quickly dismissed the idea since that was part of the blonde's village idiot persona. No… from what he had gleamed by observing Naruto during their missions, the blonde was the type who appreciated a simple meal in a comfortable setting. Alas, Kakashi sighed as he realized that none of the restaurants in Konoha would allow the blonde admittance because of what he contained within him. At this, Kakashi mentally growled. However, he was not a man that was easily deterred. He wanted… he needed to know more about his blonde, and he would to!
"Hatake-san!" A familiar voice called, snapping Kakashi from his thoughts.
With a slight frown, Kakashi just realized that he had reached Hokage Tower. He had been so deep in thought that he had not realized he had arrived. Standing at the Tower's entrance was another Jounin that Kakashi had worked with on a few occasions.
"Yo! Hayate-san." Kakashi greeted as he stepped inside.
"Been callin' your name for awhile." Hayate casually stated as he followed the silver-haired Jounin inside.
At this, Kakashi just shrugged as he went up to the third floor to the Submission Office while Hayate continued up to the upper levels to the Hokage's Audience Chamber, where Kakashi was sure to learn the reason why the Hokage would sent out his messenger hawk out to summon all of Konoha's senior ranking shinobi.