Recovery
Naruto tried to summon a toad a few times, but it never worked. He assumed they struck him off the summoning scroll, after Jiraya told them about him, and he was fine with that. He would miss Gamabunta, and the strength it gave him, but he was going to have to rely on himself.
He was meditating, sat his legs crossed over each other, the warm winds of midday pouring over his face, not too unpleasant for him to simply breath it in. If he opened his eyes, he would see the bottom of the city walls, the huge drop he would make into the desert sands below, but he didn't. He thought on the nature of the wind, the sand, the sun. How it felt similar, mirrored the nature of the trees and leaves and dew drip of fire country. It was peculiar, how something so void of life felt so alive. The dunes shifted like a body of a huge snake slithered through the landscape, the wind an everflowing breathing of the land itself, the glow of the sun's heat a warm reminder, a grip, too strong but motherly holding onto your face, your back, your everything.
It was all connected, he realised. It was all linked toge-
"Naruto! I know I told you to relax after training but you've been up here for like an hour. I had to ask Baki where you were even."
Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts by his escort, her battle attire from earlier soaked with sweat swapped out for stylish tights and a tunic, black and navy blue, threads of red contrasted, red like her lips quirked up in a grin.
"Oh, sorry! I was just appreciating the nature." Naruto spoke, rubbing the back of his head in some sort of embarrassment.
She sighed, but smiled through it. "Never mind, I was just thinking, what if we went to get some curry? You seemed to like it last time."
Naruto spent more and more time with Temari. It was natural, she was his guard, but there was something else. He looked at her a lot and she looked at him. He though she looked beautiful sometimes, and he would need to look away to hide his blush at that part of his mind. Maybe he had a crush, but he didn't want it to be like his time in Konoha.
But following after her, watching her stride as she led him by arm through the streets of Suna, he wondered how this place could ever be like Konoha. And he started to think that he liked it.
…
Garaa walked into a dim lit room, asking one of his accompanying men, Suna's equivalent of ANBU charged with protecting the Kazekage, to partially raise one of the curtains, taking off his hat and face mask. He liked wearing the adornments around the people, they appreciated the tradition and it obscured his more unpleasant features (his eyes were a part of it but Temari and Kankuro joked he had a 'resting bitch face', whatever that meant) but it chafed sometimes, and he took it off, always, in private.
He sat at a desk, which was more like a round table. The Kazekage's estate had many such rooms like this, weird and unnecessary, nobody knowing quite how many were made and who made what. Garaa ignored the array thoughts, signalling his man to turn the screen on.
And through it appeared Tsunade.
"We are both busy people, Lord kazekage, so I will simply ask what I need to ask. Are you harbouring Naruto Uzumaki in your walls?"
Garaa could lie, could say he had no idea where the boy was, but if a single spy had spotted him, and found out what he kept a secret with henges and facemasks, Tsunade would go to war, announced or not, and he didn't know if he could win that fight. So he told the truth.
"We are, yes."
"I ask you return him then. He is our asset, our ninja, and a missing nin at that."
Garaa's lip upturned at asset, because was that all Naruto was to these people? A weapon, a tool to be used and discarded? Like he was?
"I will decline. He is a friend, a good man, and the crimes you have alleged of him, assaulting a teammate for example, are ridiculous. We will protect him as long as these claims remain unproven."
And he used her opinion of him, young and inexperienced and a puppet for the elders, emotional and idiotic, and squeezed all he could out of it. He told her to convince him Naruto was a villain, prove it, and he would give him to them, and they wouldn't have to war.
"Very well. We will prove these claims without a shadow of a doubt. We already have witnesses, evidence."
"And yet you lack a motive. You need his character, and from what I hear about your own adventure that character is impeccable."
Tsunade's own face, neutral, gained a determined shadow, reminding Garaa why the woman in front was the hokage. The face reminiscent of her grandfather flashed on her features, before falling.
"Don't worry Lord Kazekage. We will reconvene soon." She said, her face still determined, a challenging smile on her face.
And then her face left the screen. Garaa's stomach fell. He was scared, he realised. Scared of what he had just done, scared if his wager would pay off.
Konoha, he knew, couldn't just barge past and invade Suna without a good reason. Naruto hadn't been kidnapped, he simply wanted his crimes to be proven. Suna was supposedly a glorified prison.
But Garaa held the key, and when the time came, he would let his friend out.
…
"Hey, your curry is getting cold."
Naruto was shook out of his thoughts, his past, the Leaf, by Temari's words. He looked at her wide eyed, before smiling to himself, taking a big spoonful of the sauce. It was delicious, not in the same way Teuchi's was, but delicious nonetheless.
He liked Suna, a lot more than Leaf at least. He was able to walk down the road without people staying away from him, albeit with a mask. He could afford whatever food he wanted, had all the time in the world to train, and he had temari by his side.
"Are you alright Naruto?" She asked, her expression remorseful but strangely determined. She knew what kind of things Naruto went through from her brother's tales. The constant fear, the lack of friends, the disdain. It all coalesced into something horrible, and she wanted to at least distract the boy from it.
"Definitely, since I'm with you." He spoke with a devilish grin.
Temari didn't blush though, simply smiling and looking away, before tutting.
"Flatterer."
"That's fair. I do enjoy my time with you though."
Temari looked at Naruto from the side of her eye, taking a piece of bread, scooping her sauce with it, and taking a bite, before turning to the jinjuriki again.
"Me too. You are an impressive man, Uzumaki."
Naruto grinned. "So formal, you wound me."
Temari laughed, turning back to her meal.
Naruto realised he enjoyed his time with her more than anyone else. More than his friends back in Konoha. He missed them, but she made him forget whenever she looked at him with that determined smile or those pretty, dark blue eyes. She was his best friend throughout this entire thing, Garaa too preoccupied with work to hang out, though he appreciated it when it happened.
But even she couldn't distract him from those thoughts, of what his friends thought of him, Shikamaru and Sakura implanting a worm of traitorous thought into their minds, corrupting their idea of him bit by bit.
Would Choji, Shino, Neji think he was a worthless traitor? A bastard who had been corrupted by something?
It was a mistake, he knew, but it had built up for too long. Since he joined team 7, since he joined the academy, since the moment he had took the first step outside the orphanage that feared him so much. Every moment built up to a rebellion, and Sakura was the outlet. He can't say he didn't feel foolish, maybe a little guilty, but every time he thought of being hokage, everything he could ever want, he felt a little stronger, a little more justified in doing it.
He needed it, he realised. Him being away from the village intensified that thought, that he needed to be there not just for the power and recognition, but for the control, to turn the Leaf into a village that deserves to exist. Should prosper, rather than be destroyed.
He was stronger, every day. Garaa, when he had the time, taught him of the desert. How to escape, how to use its winds to your advantage, how to stay hydrated, how to improve your stamina. His control became nearly masterful, his powers increasing as his body did. He had a wind affinity and Temari taught him so many things about it. Even without a chakra conducting fan he was nearing beating her out, and he was glad she smiled rather than scowled when he improved. He had spent so long without that.
"You're spacing out again." She spoke, with a pout.
Naruto looked at her, a comeback brewing. "Sorry, I'm just distracted by your beauty."
That one made her blush, even slightly. Naruto counted that as a win.
"Try that again, and see what happens."
She spoke, challengingly.
"I like your eyes."
Her cheeks reddened again, and she charged at Naruto, took his head in her hands. Naruto nearly flinched away.
But then she kissed him, chaste. Naruto was surprised, taken aback, but then he leaned into it.
Then they separated, and both were smiling.
…
A/N: New chapter
Just in case any of you ask, no, I will not write a lemon between Temari and Naruto. Partially because I don't care, but mainly because Naruto is like 15. So yeah.
I made sure none of the scenes depicting Konoha told Garaa or us anything we shouldn't know. That is because this story is still from Naruto's perspective. I will eventually show what Konoha is thinking, but Naruto for the time is separated from them, in body and speech. He cannot know their thoughts, their feelings.
Also, an explanation for why Naruto is 'edgy'. Number 1, he is a teenager. Pretty self explanatory. Also, this version of Naruto unintentionally confronted his dark part of himself, and instead of like in canon where he accepts his feelings of hate and lets go of them, this Naruto made it a part of himself, hence why he acts the way he does. All the years of no love, of disdain, of fear, of having to put up with people's bullshit is released, and he burns with a cold rage.
Because of this too Kurama is less powerful. He can't trick Naruto into using his power anymore, because he has confronted that hate.
Any questions in reviews, ask away.
Also, responding to some reviews, Naruto being emo here is the point. He is the same as before, I am not going to turn him into blonde Sasuke because Sasuke already exists.
I have plans for Sasuke too. Fun plans.
cya
