Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 12: Face to Face

It was July 22nd, just ten days to go before the finals. Everyone was feeling the extra pressure the closer it got to the big day, so Namiko was grateful to spend time with Naruto, even if it was for training.

"So, where are we meeting Jiraiya-sama?" Namiko asked as they walked.

"We meet at the waterfall at the end of the river. Ero-sennin goes there to watch the girls playing in the water while he trains me." Naruto rolled his eyes as he led them to the waterfall.

'Is one of the legendary sannin really such a pervert?' Namiko thought as the waterfall came into sight. She noticed an older, white-haired man sitting on the bank of the river, peeking through the bushes.

"Hey, Ero-sennin!" Naruto called, waving his hand wildly.

The man turned around, obviously irritated. "Will you buzz off?! You're so loud!" he hissed out, before noticing Namiko and pausing. "Who's this?"

"Uzumaki Namiko," she stated with a bow. "I'm Naruto's little sister. It's a pleasure to meet one of the legendary sannin."

"Little sister, huh?" questioned Jiraiya, looking her up and down. 'She's almost a carbon copy of a young Kushina…though her eyes…they're a blend of both Kushina and Minato's. I wonder what her personality is like.'

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ero-sennin, did you forget that I told you I had a twin sister?"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember." He said, waving the young boy off dismissively. "So, why are you here?"

"She wants to learn to walk on water too! Can you teach her?" asked Naruto.

Jiraiya turned back to the bushes. "I've got research to do. Why don't you teach her?"

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Naruto, obviously irritated.

"Yes, seriously." Jiraiya never took his eyes off the girls playing in the waterfall.

"Come on, imouto," Naruto said, grabbing her hand. "We'll try over here."

Namiko followed him to the edge of the river. "How do we do this?"

"I've got you," said Naruto confidently. "So, start by concentrating your chakra to your feet. Once it's there, you need to walk towards the water."

Namiko did as instructed but fell the second she stepped on the river. "I'm soaked! I thought you said this was easy!"

"Well, once Ero-sennin fixed my relaxation points I was fine." Naruto turned to the old man. "Hey, old man, should you do that to Namiko?"

Jiraiya glanced at Namiko before turning back to the bushes. "No, she's fine. She's not going to get it on the first try…you definitely didn't, even after I fixed your relaxation points." Namiko went back to trying but kept falling into the river.

"Are you calling me dumb?!" snapped Naruto.

"You're slow for sure," retorted Jiraiya, stepping forward towards the boy.

Namiko was getting frustrated at her failures but kept pushing forward. She was soaked from the waist down, her green t-shirt showing a distinct line as proof of her failed attempts.

"SLOW?!" yelled Naruto, getting in the sannin's face. "Says the man who does nothing but watch chicks play in the river all day!"

"They're more entertaining than watching your train wreck of summoning!" Now Jiraiya was yelling too.

Naruto seethed. "Maybe if you actually taught me something instead of just making me do basics over and over, I might get somewhere!"

Namiko let out a frustrated growl. "Ugh! Enough! I can't concentrate with you two. I'll do this on my own!" She turned and stomped off, leaving both males confused as to what went wrong.

'Where can I go to practice away from Naruto? Still water is probably best, so the river isn't a good idea. Oh! There's a small lake I remember seeing on a map a while back. It's not too far from here either. That would be perfect.' Namiko took her time walking over to the lake, walking past some older buildings that had long been vacant.

The lake was quiet, with no buildings or foot traffic nearby. Just a small lake, maybe fifty meters across, but looked to be pretty deep, and a lone, fixed dock. 'This should be a good place to practice my chakra control. Though for now, I'm going to give my chakra sensing a break while I put my focus on this.'

She walked along the dock to the end and sat down, dangling her feet over the edge. She scooted off the edge and used her arms to hold her body weight until her feet hit the water. Once she felt the cool water on her toes, she pushed chakra to her feet until she felt like she was on "solid" ground. Holding onto the edge of the dock, she walked on the water's surface, watching her feet carefully.

As she gained more confidence, she let go of the dock but stayed within arm's reach. "Okay, maybe I can do this. I just needed to get away from Naruto and all the distractions." There's a reason she liked the nighttime. It was quiet and she could focus to the fullest extent. As much as she loved her brother, he wasn't exactly the best thing for her concentration.

She followed next to the dock until she got near the shore and started walking around the edge of the lake. When she was comfortable with that, she moved a little further away from the shore, walking towards the center. "Time to ramp it up a little bit." She started running a little, just to make sure she could maintain the needed focus at faster speeds. She ran to the center of the lake, then to the edge a few times.

Just as she reached the center of the lake again, a voice called out, "What are you doing here?" Namiko's eyes snapped to the voice, noticing it was Sasuke right before she lost her concentration, plunging into the cool water. Panicked, she thrashed around, swallowing water before blacking out.

Sasuke groaned in irritation before running on the lake towards her. When he got to where she was, he quickly pulled her off the water's surface and carried her to shore. She was fully unconscious, so he laid her down to check her vitals. 'She's at least got a heartbeat, but she's not breathing. So…'

He knelt over her, tilting her head back and pinching her nose with his fingers. He leaned forward, face centimeters from hers, lips about to touch...

And she coughed water in his face.

Sasuke abruptly sat back, wiping the water from his face as Namiko rolled away from him to cough up more water. She sat up slowly, coughing sporadically. "…thank…you…Sasu…ke…"

The Uchiha turned away so she wouldn't see the blush dusting his cheeks. "No problem…" He tried to play it off cool, but his brain was going a million kilometers an hour. 'I almost kissed her. No, it would've mouth to mouth… Lips still would've touched. Why do I even care? It's not like I like her or anything. She's just a friend…and Naruto's baby sister. He would've killed me if something happened to her. Yeah, that's why I saved her…right?'

He decided to try and focus on a different subject matter. "Why are you in the Uchiha compound anyway?"

The healthy color that had started to return to her face quickly drained. "I didn't realize this was part of the Uchiha property." Namiko began to panic. "I wasn't trying to intrude or anything. I was just looking for a quiet place to practice walking on water for chakra control. I knew about this lake from an old map, and I didn't pay attention to the fact it was on Uchiha property. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful to your family or anything."

Namiko bowed, hands in front of her and head touching the ground. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke!"

"Namiko," he started, a softness to his voice that she'd never heard before. "It's okay. Seriously. I'm not upset, I promise." He turned back around to face her, still sitting on the wet grass.

Namiko raised her head slowly, blue-violet eyes locking with black. "I…never want to offend you or be inconsiderate." A small blush tinted her cheeks.

Sasuke let out one small chuckle. "I don't think you could offend me even if you tried. Naruto on the other hand…"

She giggled as he trailed off. "Yeah…he's not exactly the most thoughtful person out there. Speaking of thoughtful, thank you again for saving me. I should've been paying more attention to my surroundings. If I do that in the chuunin finals, I'm toast."

"I told you, it's no problem and I'm thankful you're not worse off than just swallowing water." He cleared his throat. "And you'll be fine. You handled yourself well against Zaku."

"I mean I won, but I also played a bit dirty. I knew you had injured his arms, so I just made that my main focus of attack." She turned away from him, embarrassed at the memory.

Sasuke shook his head lightly. "That's not playing dirty, that's using your intelligence to evaluate your opponent's weaknesses and use them to your advantage. It was smart."

Namiko's cheeks flushed red; she wasn't used to being complimented, especially not by Sasuke. He never complimented anyone. "…thank you."

Silence settled over the two for a while, but Namiko suddenly found it almost deafening. She continued to squeeze the water out of her hair and clothes before breaking the quiet. "Why did you come over here today?"

"Why do you mean? It's my family's property. Do I need a reason?" Sasuke's voice held more curiosity than irritation.

"Of course not," answered Namiko, waving her hands in front of her. "You live close to where Naruto and I do, about two kilometers from us, but about five kilometers from here. So, it's kind of out of the way to come here for no reason…"

Now his curiosity was piqued. "How do you know where I live? You've never been to my apartment."

She refused to meet his gaze, choosing to stare at the lake instead. "No, but I know your chakra signature." She paused for a moment before realizing what that insinuated and quickly continued, "I have both Team 7 and 8's signatures memorized. I've most frequently felt you in one spot at night, so I can assume that's where you live."

"You're not wrong…" he trailed off.

Curiosity was getting the better of her. "You never answered my question. Why did you come here today?"

Sasuke shrugged. He didn't want to draw attention to why he came, but also didn't mind sharing with her either which was unlike him. Something about her made him feel comfortable enough to share. "I always come here this time of year to pay my respects to my parents and other relatives."

The weight of his answer came crashing down on her. "…the anniversary of the massacre was today…" Namiko breathed the words so quietly, that he almost didn't hear them.

"…yeah." His own voice was barely audible.

Her eyes locked on his; she didn't expect him to admit that was why he came. "I'm sorry…I'll leave you to do that then." She went to stand, and he laid a hand on her forearm to stop her, and she sat back down.

"It's okay, I've already been to the shrine. I was on my way back when I saw you." He paused for a moment. "You can stay."

She nodded slowly, turning her attention to the lake again. "This lake is such a beautiful and peaceful place."

"It's honestly my favorite place in Konoha. I have a lot of memories here." He stared out onto the lake as well, leaning back on his hands casually.

She smiled softly at him. "Can I ask like what?"

He glanced at her. "This was where my tou-san taught me the Uchiha's special fire style jutsu: Great Fireball Technique." The corner of his mouth turned into a bitter smile at the memory.

"Why teach you at the lake?" she asked curiously.

"Because otherwise, we'd set the compound on fire." He replied straight-faced and she gave a small giggle. "It's an Uchiha rite of passage; you aren't considered an adult until you can do one. I learned to do it at age six, shortly after I entered the academy. I had burns on my face for a week."

"I think I remember you coming to the academy with your cheeks bandaged once," she said, pulling her knees to her chest. "I don't think I've ever seen you do that jutsu though."

He stood up. "I'll show you then." He started walking down the dock and motioned for her to follow. She stood next to him on the dock, and he stretched his right arm out in front of her, pushing her a few steps behind him. "You'll want to stay behind me and hold onto your hair, so it doesn't get singed." Namiko pulled her loose hair over her shoulder and held to the ends tightly.

His hands flew through the familiar signs fluidly. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke took in a deep breath and blew it out in one fell swoop. A massive fireball formed out of his mouth, almost as wide as the lake itself. It caused the lake water to steam on the surface even after he released the jutsu.

Namiko stood staring at the lake, mouth agape. "That's…amazing…" her awe was written all over her face. He turned and smirked at her facial expression, causing her to blush a little. 'He really is talented…and kind…and he's good-looking too. I can see why so many girls fawn over him. I don't want to be another fan girl though…'

Silence fell over them again, but this time Sasuke was the one who broke it. "I have to go meet up with Kakashi, but you're welcome to stay and practice. Just don't drown, since I won't be here to save you."

Namiko smiled timidly at him, cheeks tinting a darker pink from embarrassment. "I'll be more careful this time, but I probably should activate my chakra sensing again so I don't get spooked a second time."

"Namiko," started Sasuke as he turned and started to walk past her, back to shore. "you're welcome to come here any time you want…just don't let Naruto in on it."

"You got it." She giggled. "Believe it or not, I'm pretty good at keeping things from my brother. Oh, and Sasuke?" She paused and waited for him to turn around. "If I don't see you before tomorrow, happy birthday."

Sasuke blinked at her, before turning back and walking away again, calling over his shoulder, "Thanks. See you at finals." Namiko watched him walk off until he was out of sight before returning to her training.

As Sasuke walked, his mind started to wander. 'She remembered the massacre was the day before my birthday…plus she knew when my birthday was? How did she remember any of that? I don't remember ever telling her or anyone when it happened. I'll have to ask her about it sometime but now is not that time. I've got to catch up with Kakashi. He said he had something important to teach me before finals.'

It was four days until the finals and the pressure was even more intense. Namiko had been spending her mornings and afternoons training with Kurenai and Kiba while Hinata was still in the hospital. She kept her chakra sensing active most of the day, only releasing it before sleeping. She had also managed to increase her range from three kilometers to four kilometers, but the constant usage was a major accomplishment in itself.

Naruto was continuing to train with Jiraiya, and while his chakra control was getting quite a bit better, Naruto was still unable to summon a toad like the legendary Sannin. While water walking was effective in running out his "yellow" chakra, it still took most of the day.

Namiko spent the early evenings of the last week studying different ninjutsu in books she'd gotten from the library. This particular evening, she'd finished early with Kurenai and decided to watch Naruto train with Jiraiya while she read a book.

She sat under a tree, watching Naruto try the summoning jutsu unsuccessfully for the twentieth time since she'd gotten there an hour ago. "Nii-chan, maybe you should take a break?" He had only managed to summon a tadpole with tiny arms and legs.

"No way!" he exclaimed before turning to Jiraiya. "Ero-sennin, could you please actually do something to help?" The old man just kept staring at the women in the river through the bushes.

Without warning, Naruto collapsed. Namiko jumped up and went over to check on him. "Jiraiya-sama! Can't you give him some sort of hint to help him summon a toad? He's been working so hard on this that his chakra is nearly empty!"

"I know," said Jiraiya as he stood up. "I have a plan, I promise. Why don't you follow me?"

Namiko gave him a curious and hesitant look as he picked up Naruto with ease. "I won't hurt him. Just trust me." She followed the Sannin closely, wary of his actions towards her brother.

'He's struggling so much to activate the kyuubi's chakra, and she seems to not even try to activate it. If she did, she'd probably be able to sense a lot more than just chakra.' Jiraiya's thoughts were drifting as he tried to figure out how to handle the two siblings. 'There's no doubt that their bodies are both small and try to suppress the kyuubi as much as possible to avoid straining them physically and emotionally. That may be why both are small for their age, especially Namiko. She seems to have built up a wall to avoid the kyuubi even if she doesn't realize it.'

He glanced at the young redhead and then at the blond under his arm. 'So, if the key to drawing out the kyuubi's chakra is a sudden emotional rush or physical damage to them…then I'll have to teach them to use it the hard way.' He sighed subtly. 'Forgive me, Minato…'

They walked up a long path up to a cliffside before Jiraiya dropped Naruto unceremoniously on the ground. The blond jolted awake, scrambling to stand.

"Wha-? Where are we?" asked a flustered Naruto.

"Somewhere you can train properly. Somewhere you can work on using that red chakra." Jiraiya wasn't meeting either twin's eyes.

Namiko cocked her head to the side. "Red chakra?"

"I explained this to Naruto already." Jiraiya sighed, "You both have two forms of chakra in you. A primary or 'yellow' chakra as Naruto describes it and a 'red' chakra that gives him extra strength."

Namiko's eyes widened as she whispered to Naruto, "I think he's talking about the kyuubi. Did you tell him?" He shook his head 'no'.

She eyed the Sannin cautiously before turning to address him, "How do you know about our chakra?"

Jiraiya paused. "I'm a sage, of course I can sense your chakra perfectly!"

'I don't trust him. He knows more than what he's saying.' Namiko backed away from the Sannin and her brother. Something was wrong, she knew it.

Jiraiya stepped closer to Naruto. "Starting now, you must stare death in the face. To stave off the horror of death, you must release enormous amounts of chakra. Once you experience that, you'll understand how to release the red chakra." Naruto looked at Jiraiya with confusion.

"If you don't wish to die, do something about it…" Jiraiya touched a finger to Naruto's head. "…now."

Jiraiya sent a pulse of chakra through his finger, sending Naruto through several bushes and over the high cliff. Namiko couldn't even think; she attempted to flash step with the teleportation jutsu but her hand couldn't make contact with his in time and she watched him fall. Just as she was about to jump after her brother, and what would be her death, Jiraiya gripped her arm tightly.

"Don't," he said firmly.

She whirled around to face the Sannin, her eyes flashing red. "Don't? Don't?! You just shoved him off a cliff to his death! What the hell is wrong with you?! I've got to go after him!" She tried to wrench her arm from his grasp to no avail.

"No, you won't," Jiraiya kept his voice level and calm, despite the turmoil he was currently feeling in his mind. Had he done the right thing? The next few moments were crucial for Naruto's life and Namiko's sanity.

"I have to…I need to." She looked up at Jiraiya pleadingly, her voice small and on the verge of tears, "Please, let me go after him…"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Namiko's eyes flashed red again, this time staying the crimson color with slit-like pupils. "Trust you?" she seethed, malice and anger now flooding her voice and body. "How can I? I feel like you've been half-assing Naruto's training for the last three weeks and now you've pushed him, literally, to his death! How can I possibly trust you—?" Namiko suddenly slumped to the ground.

Jiraiya lowered her fully to the ground. 'I wondered how this was going to affect her. I guess now we wait.'

The next thing Namiko knew was that she was in some sort of underground hallway, kneeling in water. "-u. What the hell?" The hallways were dim and musty. Naruto was standing next to her. "Nii-chan! Thank God! I was so worried!" She threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"I'm okay…I think?" Naruto hugged her back, then pushed away when they heard a low growling coming from down the hall. "Where are we?"

"I'm honestly not sure. One minute I was watching you fall over the edge of the cliff, the next I was here with you. That chakra…" Her brow furrowed as they started to walk towards the noise. "…I think it's the kyuubi…" When she passed out, her chakra sensing stopped and she was too intimidated by their current situation to activate it again, not that she needed her senses to feel the malevolent chakra coming down the hall.

"Yeah, it feels like that red chakra I've felt before," Naruto said as he led the way down another hallway.

At the end of the hall was a large room with a massive gate about fifteen meters tall that took up one full wall. There was a paper seal covering the part where the gate doors met each other. As the two siblings stood in front of the gate, a pair of red eyes and a wide, toothy smile appeared behind the gate.

"It's huge…" said Naruto as he looked at the face in awe.

"Come closer, little humans…" said the figure in a rumbling voice.

"I don't trust it…" Namiko backed away from the gate as Naruto walked closer. "Naruto! Don't do that!"

Three large claws swiped at him through the rungs of the gate and he yelped in surprise. The voice spoke with veiled interest, "How wonderful it would be to kill and eat you, but this accursed gate confines me. It's that infuriating spell."

"You're the kyuubi!" Naruto stated from his position on the floor. "Namiko, you were right." Namiko took a step forward to help Naruto up.

"Why are you two here? What do you want?" The kyuubi asked. "Or have you come to offer yourselves to me so I can feast on your marrow and be free once again?"

Naruto glared at the kyuubi. "Alright, look you dumb fox, you're in our bodies and you owe us rent. So, for payment, we'll take your chakra. You got that?"

The kyuubi laughed maliciously. "Well, I suppose I can't kill you, can I? If either of you die, I die. Your courage is most impressive, little boy. For making it this far, I shall loan you some of my chakra."

The kyuubi's eyes flickered to Namiko. "And you, little girl…you cower, but I sense something boiling underneath that fear. Something…that's worth cultivating. I shall grant you some of my chakra as well."

A glowing, red liquid pooled around the twins, wrapping around them tightly.

Naruto was still falling from the cliff when he opened his eyes. "This is it!" He bit his thumb and fluidly made the hand signs for summoning. "Summoning Jutsu!" As he continued falling, he noticed a large shadow under him that wasn't there before and grinned, knowing he had finally succeeded.

Namiko snapped awake a few short seconds after collapsing, bolted upright, and scrambled to look over the edge, her eyes still wide with panic. Maybe she had dreamed the kyuubi up? Naruto was still falling, wasn't he? She glanced up at Jiraiya, who was smiling. Why on earth was he smiling?

"Well done, kid," he said as he stared over the edge of the cliff.

Namiko got to her feet. "Well done? What are you talking about?"

"Just watch," he said with a smirk, gesturing to the gorge below.

Namiko peered over the edge of the cliff and saw a massive red toad…with a small yellow dot sitting atop its head. Her face lit up. "Naruto!" she cheered happily, "You did it! You summoned a toad!"

Naruto sat upon the toad's back and looked around. He stared at the massive beast with disbelief before a bright smile slowly crept across his face. "I did it! I mastered the Summoning Jutsu!"

'He finally used the kyuubi's chakra all on his own. He's not used to it though and he called forth way too much chakra. To have summoned him of all things…' Jiraiya's thoughts were cut off by Namiko.

"That's a huge toad…his chakra is so strong. Almost overwhelming." She rubbed her forehead to try to stave off the pounding headache that she suddenly felt from his chakra. She glanced over at the Sannin. "How did Naruto summon this when he could barely manage a tadpole earlier?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm not sure. Even I can't handle Gamabunta. I should probably get out of here while I can."

As he turned to leave, Namiko rushed forward and grabbed Jiraiya's wrist. "Oh no you don't! You know something more about this."

"No, I swear, I don't know how he got the chakra to summon Gamabunta." Jiraiya held up his other hand in defense but he didn't try to pull his other hand out of her grasp.

Namiko felt an odd pressure in her chest and something in her head seemed to scream out that the Sannin wasn't telling the truth, making her headache worse. "You're lying. I know you know why Naruto was able to find the chakra to summon him. You just don't want us to know and I don't know why."

Jiraiya tried to deny it. "It's…not something you need to know right now, Namiko." He pulled his hand from her grasp and began walking away.

"Yes, I do!" she shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears as Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of smoke. She groaned in frustration as she searched for his chakra signature and came up empty.

Suddenly, a rush of wind came out of nowhere from the gorge as Gamabunta leaped high in the sky. He crashed down with thunderous force, causing Namiko to collapse to the ground on her hands and knees. She saw an unconscious Naruto wrapped in the toad's tongue. Her eyes widened as she cautiously asked, "Gamabunta-sama, you won't eat him, will you?"

"I wouldn't eat him. He's quite the impressive little whelp," boomed Gamabunta. "No one has ridden on my head like that since the Yondaime." Namiko's eyes widened as he explained, "He used the last of his strength to summon me; I'll take him to the hospital."

Naruto opened his eyes to see white walls and a plain ceiling. "What—? Where am I?" He bolted upright, only to see his sister sitting reading in the chair beside his bed. "Namiko? What happened?"

"Gamabunta-sama brought you to the hospital after you ran out of chakra because you summoned him," she explained, setting her book down. "You've been asleep for three days."

"Three days? The finals are tomorrow then!" Naruto swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be training?"

Namiko smiled at him. "Kurenai-sensei wanted me to rest today since tomorrow will be taxing. She told me to turn off my chakra sensing as well until my match tomorrow to conserve as much chakra as possible."

She twisted a piece of her long red hair nervously. "Honestly, it's been overwhelming to use it since we met with the kyuubi," she whispered the word as quietly as possible as if trying to avoid the wrath of the creature itself. "It gives me a headache and I feel everything so much stronger and in more detail than before. It almost hurts."

"Have you asked anyone about it?" suggested Naruto.

"Not like it would help. No one alive in Konoha has been a jinchuriki and could answer any of our questions." She sighed heavily. "The nurses told me you were free to go whenever you woke. Would you mind if we checked on Lee-kun before we left?"

Naruto shook his head. "That's fine with me."

As they walked down the hall, they saw Shikamaru coming out of another room. "Hey Shikamaru!" called Naruto loudly with a wave, and Namiko elbowed him to be quiet. "What are you doing here?"

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Checking on Chouji. He got a stomachache from eating too much barbecue."

"We were heading to check on Lee-kun. Would you like to join us?" asked Namiko.

"Sure. This is the first time I have had a moment to check on anyone. Training for the finals has been such a drag." Namiko giggled at Shikamaru's catchphrase.

As they neared Lee's room, Namiko felt a familiar and terrifying chakra even without her senses. "Wait…that Suna shinobi that controls the sand is in there with Lee-kun. Something is wrong."

Shikamaru peered through the crack in the door, noting Gaara standing over Rock Lee, before turning back to the twins. "I'll use Shadow Possession to immobilize him, just in case." He quickly got into position and executed his signature jutsu.

Naruto ran up and punched Gaara in the face. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Shikamaru grimaced as he held his jaw. "Idiot, anything you do to him, you do to me while I have my jutsu going."

"Oops, sorry, Shikamaru," apologized Naruto before turning to face the Suna nin. "What were you trying to do to Bushy Brows?"

Gaara replied without hesitation, "I was planning to kill him."

Namiko, who was standing behind Shikamaru, quickly backed against the farthest wall. 'What is wrong with him? He's a total psychopath…'

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Shikamaru, trying to stay calm and levelheaded, "Do you have a personal vendetta or something?"

"No," replied Gaara, an eerie smile starting to creep onto his face, "I simply want to kill him."

"Do you even understand what you're saying?" screamed Naruto.

"We've seen you fight, and we know you're strong. We're strong too though, and it would be three against one. If you don't stop, we'll be forced to step in and stop you." Shikamaru was doing his best to fool Gaara.

However, Gaara wasn't playing around. "If you keep interfering, I'll kill all three of you."

"Ha!" laughed Naruto, brimming with confidence. "You can't kill me!"

Shikamaru turned to Naruto, whispering under his breath, "What are you doing? This guy is psycho! He acts like he has a demon inside of him!"

"Who cares? I've got the real thing inside of me!" Naruto stepped in front of Shikamaru. "I won't lose to the likes of you!"

'What's he saying?! He's not supposed to tell anyone about the kyuubi, especially someone from another country!' Namiko's panic was rising even further.

Gaara closed his eyes. "A demon, huh? My demon is as real as yours is." His eyes opened as he continued to explain. "From my birth, my upbringing is not what most would consider a happy one. In order to create the world's strongest shinobi, my father used ninjutsu to infuse my unborn self with a sand spirit. I destroyed the life of the woman who gave birth to me. I was born a monster. Its name is Shukaku and it's the living incarnation of an old monk from Suna who'd been sealed in a jar of tea."

Shikamaru tried to keep a level head. "Some kind of demonic sealing jutsu…but to use it on a baby before it's even born? Man, that's creepy." Shikamaru couldn't help the sarcasm that slipped out of his mouth, "Sheesh, sounds like your dad really loved you…"

"You speak of love? Don't measure me by your standards." Gaara's face remained stoic as he spoke, "Love. Family. The only emotional ties I have to my family are ties of hate. Brought to life at the death of my mother, I was viewed as the salvation of the village.

"As the child of the Kazekage, my father taught me the innermost secrets of the Suna shinobi. He pampered and protected me and left me to myself. I thought that was love. That's when it started."

All three Konoha shinobi felt the malice coming from Gaara in waves. Namiko felt sick to her stomach as she felt the hate flowing through Gaara, even without her senses active. Both Naruto and Shikamaru were doing their best to keep their composure, but their facades were starting to slip.

Gaara's eyes became wild with untold madness. "In the six years since I turned six years old, my father has tried to destroy me more times than I can count."

Shikamaru forcibly slid his calm demeanor back into place. "You just said your father pampered and protected you. Which is it?"

"Those who become too strong often become feared," said Gaara matter-of-factly. "The jutsu cast on me before my birth had unbalanced something within my mind. My father had turned me into the ultimate weapon, but I eventually became a threat to the very village I was meant to save.

"By the time I was six, I became a figure of terror to the villagers. I had failed at the one purpose for which I was given life. What was left for me in this existence? For a long time, I couldn't find the answer, but in order to live, you need purpose."

Gaara closed his eyes pensively. "Then one day the answer came to me: my purpose was in the killing of others. I killed many would-be assassins and it was then that truth became clear to me; I live solely for myself. I love only myself. The death of my mother gave me life and it is the death of others that sustains me. There's no end to it as long as there are others to kill in this great, wide world."

'Namiko and I were alone too. We didn't know why we were alive, but Iruka-sensei helped us find purpose. This guy had no one.' Naruto felt a small pang of sympathy for the Suna shinobi in front of him.

Namiko was still cowering against the wall. 'Now I see why the fact that Naruto and I are jinchuriki is kept a closely guarded secret. Everyone knew what happened to him and people hated him for it. Heck, most people don't even know what we are and we were still ostracized. What would've happened if it was widely known?'

Suddenly, Gaara's sand sprung to life and started to creep around Lee again. Namiko took a small step forward, prepared to speak up, when the door slid open to reveal Gai, making eye contact directly with Gaara. "That's enough. Save it till tomorrow, that's when the final competition begins. You're just wasting it today."

Something in Gaara seemed to break as his eyes became bloodshot and he gripped his head as if in pain. His sand moved on its own back into the gourd on his back. He slowly stalked out of the room, stopping briefly at the door. "I will kill you. Just you wait. I'll kill you all."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed Namiko meeting Jiraiya and also her meetup with Sasuke. ;) I promise I'll delve more into his behavior toward her as we go along, mainly after the time skip…which I absolutely can't wait to get to!

I will pre-warn you guys that I may take the week of Christmas off…or I could be writing more. We'll just have to see how it goes. See you next week!

-Eriisu