A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 21

Sasuke sat down on the mat provided by the Hokage, shirtless, trying to ignore everyone's probing eyes in the room. Kakashi looked over him with an expression that said he was ready for trouble; Sakura had a familiar look of concern on her face; Jiraiya had a grim look of determination on his face.

"Try to calm down," the Hokage assuaged as he crouched behind him. "Hopefully, this won't take long."

Sasuke nodded, throat suddenly feeling dry as Jiraiya's hand glowed and move towards his neck. Somewhere in his mind, he felt the snake slithering about, reacting to the sudden, foreign chakra of the Hokage. Jiraiya grunted, seeming like he felt it. "What a piece of work Orochimaru has done. The seal is completely aggressive to outside interference."

The Hokage retracted his hand, using it to reach inside his right pants pocket. A paper seal simply reading the kanji "Suppress" was shown. Without warning, Jiraiya slapped it onto Sasuke. The genin gasped as he felt his chakra literally being shoved down by a strong force. "Alright. Let's see what's going to happen now."

Jiraiya returned to touching Sasuke's Ten no Juin with a glow in his hand. Sasuke felt Jiraiya's chakra spread across his skin, unopposed. He closed his eyes, attempting to keep his calm. It didn't hurt, just felt weird. Before he knew it, the process was done and Jiraiya towered over him.

"Alright, it's done. Now, time to test it out. Sasuke, I won't lie. This might hurt – a lot. But, try to fight through it the best as you can. It's necessary for me to figure things out and tweak them if need be, okay? Now, activate the seal Orochimaru marked you with."

Sasuke nodded slowly, wondering what was going to happen with some trepidation. He called upon the juinjutsu, feeling the chakra of Orochimaru building up. Suddenly, his neck felt like it had started to catch on fire. He flinched as the pain followed up the buildup of chakra from the juinjutsu. "Continue, Sasuke. Don't stop until you can't do so anymore."

Sasuke continued, fighting through the pain. The seal of Orochimaru seemed to become desperate in its activation but whatever new seal Jiraiya had put on him, it fought for dominance. The pain increased just as fast as activation of the seal. Finally, the pain overcame him and he writhed, shouting in pain.

'Can't… I… got to stop!' He let go of the connection, no longer fighting against Jiraiya's fūinjutsu.

"Jiraiya," Orochimaru's voice hissed angrily in Sasuke's head. "You've become quite the nuisance."

And then the pain ebbed, replaced by a soothing release of endorphins. Sasuke became aware of his surroundings again. Sakura looked like she wanted to cry. Kakashi sighed in marked relief. Jiraiya cracked a smile. "Nice try, Orochi. But I got the better of you today."

"What… happened?" Sasuke gasped out.

"That seal that Orochimaru put on you was some sort of work. I knew I couldn't remove it, because it's either starting to synchronize to your chakra system or already has. Suppressing it with Kakashi's Fūja Hōin wouldn't be enough because it works on your willpower, so I needed to force Orochimaru's seal down with my own willpower." The Hokage remarked, helping Sasuke stand up to his feet. "Basically, I placed my own juinjutsu on you. Every time you slip and unconsciously activate Orochimaru's mark, my seal will activate in tandem with it and cause you to feel pain out of this world."

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" asked Sakura, approaching him tentatively.

"I'm fine," Sasuke replied softly.

"The seal looks to be good," Jiraiya remarked, inspecting Sasuke's newer seal. "It's holding tightly. In rest, it looks to be no sort of fighting between the three seals on your neck. I'd say you're going to be okay, kid. Nothing too complex, but simple and effective. Well done, I do say so myself. Heh.

"Alright. Here's the serious part. Take heed now, Sasuke. I can't keep Orochimaru's seal from activating; that's still your job. All I did was tweak it so you'll be less willing to do so. You know your punishment now and what you have to do."

"I understand, Hokage-sama," grunted Sasuke, almost sourly.

"No, you don't," corrected Jiraiya. "You may see all of this as a collar, so to speak, but the seal Orochimaru gave you is a death sentence. Orochimaru had a plan for you: to become a slave to his seal and then die for it. In exchange, he offered you power that may seem otherworldly but, in the end, will get you killed. Just like Orochimaru tempted you with his path, I shall do the same."

The Uchiha gave the Hokage a questioning look. Jiraiya folded his arms. "What if I gave you something to sweeten the deal a bit?

"Yes, the punishment I am going to give you is three years in Konoha with no sort of chance of missions past D-rank, but that gives you three years to train to your absolute strongest. Even if we gave you a specific mission to take out Itachi, you don't have the strength now to even fight with him on equal ground. Not one bit. In fact, he would kill you, even if you somehow gained the ability to completely control Orochimaru's cursed seal."

Sasuke frowned, looking down. The man was right. Of course, he was right. Sasuke had known this. He wasn't stupid. Still, he hated to hear that.

"You need strength beyond the clutch Orochimaru has given you. You said you want to be an avenger, right? To take vengeance upon the killer of your clan? Then, you need to work for it, not take the easy way out."

The Uchiha teen looked up at the Hokage with widened eyes. "Do you mean-?"

"I didn't mean anything. Not right now," Jiraiya interjected with a shrug. "I'll give you some time to think about it. If you accept, come see me in three years. For now, you can go about your way. Kakashi," Jiraiya turned to Sasuke's jōnin teacher, "I have to talk to you about your assignment now."

Kakashi looked over at Sasuke for a few seconds. "Yes, sir."

"You two are dismissed then," said Jiraiya to the two genin. He started to return to his seat.

As he mechanically started to walk outside the Hokage's office, Sasuke thought about Jiraiya's offer realistically. The Ten no Juin filled him with strength beyond his own but it was – like Jiraiya said – a clutch. He knew Orochimaru wasn't charitable in offering power to defeat Itachi. Sasuke knew Orochimaru wanted his loyalty to him. Yet, even if the man was alive to make him enslaved into the seal's influence, Sasuke would be hard-pressed to say no to it if it gave him the edge needed to exact his revenge. Yet, now, there was something stopping him from giving in.

The Hokage had already set a seal on him that was tailored to combat the Ten no Juin. The pain that Jiraiya's juinjutsu gave by knowingly allowing the Ten no Juin to activate was unbearable. It almost made paralyzed him. Whether or not he knowingly activated Orochimaru's seal, there was little way he could fight Jiraiya's juinjutsu. It didn't work on Sasuke's willpower like the Fūja Hōin did, meaning it was out of his control.

He stopped, making a discussion. "Hokage-sama."

"Hmm?"

"About Orochimaru," started Sasuke. "His consciousness… I can feel it in the seal."

Jiraiya frowned at the genin. "Yes, I know. That's how he infects the people who he gives the cursed seal to. It influences them."

"It's more than that. My seal, it allows him to talk to me. He said that people are coming for me, to give me a 'choice.'"

Jiraiya widened his eyes. "When did he say this?"

"Today. Before this session. He described one person – a boy with ash-colored hair was coming for me."

"… Duly noted," grimaced Jiraiya. "Alright. We'll keep an eye out on that. Thank you, Sasuke." Jiraiya cracked a small smile. "Well, it seems like you have chosen already what path you'll walk. Well then, see you in three years."

Sasuke nodded, feeling a bit more determined now more than ever. He realized that perhaps neither path had the guarantee that he would ever get around to killing Itachi. However, the path Orochimaru set seemed nearly impossible to walk. He didn't like the idea of not being able to participate in missions higher than the boring, mind-numbing tasks that D-rank provided but if it gave him a chance to grow, to gain strength, then he had to take it.

Any sort of way to get stronger was good to him.

After his two genin subjects left, Kakashi was alone with Jiraiya in his office. "Sir, permission to speak the floor?"

"I have a feeling what you're going to ask me. Go on ahead then."

"Was it a good idea to give Sasuke hope that he can kill Itachi when he gets stronger?"

"You said Sasuke needs something to keep him going, to distract him. Orochimaru gave him that blasted juinjutsu in order to give him an easy power that tricked him into believing he could become strong enough to kill Itachi. I merely gave him something similar. Doesn't mean it will become a fact." Jiraiya poured himself a glass of water. "Sasuke will become stronger. That's the only fact here. I can't stop that and neither can you. Trying to stop such growth will only cause more harm."

Kakashi felt quite different. He would rather Sasuke just see the truth and stop chasing dreams. However, he supposed Sasuke didn't have the maturity to accept that he would probably never be able to kill his clan's slayer. "I see what you mean…"

"Plus, letting Sasuke think whatever he's thinking allowed us to learn of another thing he was potentially going to keep from us. Did you know that Orochimaru could communicate with him via the seal?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I knew the seal could tempt him because of how strong the chakra inside of it is but I didn't think it could literally speak to him."

"I didn't either and I've been studying Orochimaru's juinjutsu for years." Jiraiya frowned deeply. "When Anko Mitarashi – Orochimaru's former apprentice and the jōnin who has the same kind of seal that Sasuke has – received her seal, I was sent into inspect it by the Sandaime Hokage. Maybe it was because it was an older version of the Ten no Juin that Orochimaru put on her; maybe it was because, by the time I checked the seal out, it was already receding due to her lack of wanting to use that power. In the end, she reported that the seal could not 'talk' to her. Sasuke's seal however can and did. That's frightening to me.

"Sasuke said Orochimaru was sending someone after him. Imagine if we didn't learn that until too late and Sasuke was taken. It was good that Sasuke let us know. Hell, Orochimaru even had the arrogance to describe said person to our genin. Now we'll be ready." Jiraiya folded his hands in front of his face.

"But why would this person try to get Sasuke anyway? Orochimaru's dead. There's nothing to earn there and Sasuke wouldn't willingly give himself to someone if he knows we'll dedicate training to him."

"In the literal, physical sense, yes, Orochimaru is dead as dirt. However, in the technical, spiritual part, Orochimaru isn't really dead, I'm afraid," Jiraiya corrected. "You hear your student: Orochimaru's consciousness is active in the seal. If they're trying to get Sasuke, they might be trying to release Orochimaru from the seal."

"And that would technically revive him." Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Orochimaru is more of a genius than I thought. Putting a piece of one's consciousness in a seal is already a master-level skill with fūinjutsu. Technically speaking, you can keep yourself alive like that. All you really need is a physical shell. With the way Orochimaru had the ability to jump from body to body, the thought of him being able to revive himself from death isn't too surprising – even if his original soul now resides in the belly of the Shinigami.

"Regardless, we're not going to let Sasuke get captured. Not at all. I'm going to make sure of it. All you need to worry about right now is your assignment."

Days Later…

"Whoa, this is amazing," Ino Yamanaka uttered in awe.

Asuma Sarutobi smiled at his genin student, puffing white smoke from his cigarette. "That it is." In contrast, Shikamaru and Naruto, surprisingly, grunted both. Naruto, in a grumpy demeanor, drank from canteen to settle down his parched mouth.

A dust of sand whipped through the hot breeze in the air. The rocky terrain pointed to cliffs and more monuments of brown and tan stone. Not a tree or fern in sight; only desert grass, cactus, and shrubs were the greenery of the land. The afternoon sun shined above their heads, starting to come down.

One might think of the clear skies stretching out forever no longer obscured by mighty and tall trees or stony mountains was a sight to behold. Naruto on the other hand thought to himself that while the view of the canyon was indeed amazing, the sweat making his shirt cling to his back was not. Oh, why did he have to wear black and why did he have to wear long sleeves? Jiraiya-sensei was perfectly clear in his mission assignment.

They were supposed to go to Suna to deliver some letter to the Suna Council. B-rank, Jiraiya labeled it, and while he said it shouldn't be too difficult, fully expected a bandit attack or two since the numerous deserts that occupied the space in Kaze no Kuni had them in spades. Besides that, Jiraiya stressed the letter was important. Naruto thought it had something to do with the Akatsuki, since the Hokage and Asuma both looked at him meaningfully.

So, there was the start of his trip to Sunagakure with his former Academy peers. From Hi no Kuni to the country in between Kaze no Kuni, which was Kawa no Kuni.

One day later and Kaze no Kuni started to show its ugly head. Gone were the lush and plentiful green pastures and running rivers that Kawa no Kuni had, it being the country that laid between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. When they followed the river that exited Kawa no Kuni and into Kaze, the green lands and the river died away to a vast sandstone canyon that looked over soft sand roads and a small littering of shrubbery.

Soon, the heat was starting to become uncomfortable. Hi no Kuni was summery but also comfortable. It was like the temperature was locked at that sacred point of coolness to keep him from sweating, yet enough warmth to not having him shaking in his open-toe sandals. Kawa no Kuni, thanks to the rivers, was much cooler but he had long sleeves so he was okay. Ino, who complained thanks to her sleeveless purple high-collared blouse and apron skirt with bandages acting like as makeshift-shorts, wasn't so happy.

Now, the opposite was here. Ino was happy, while Naruto was not. A bead of sweat rolled down from his right temple and dripped onto his green vest. "Ugh, Asuma-sensei, where's the next town?"

"Hmm," Asuma hummed, taking out the map that had guided them through this trek to Kaze no Kuni. "There's one oasis town a few miles out from this gorge. After that, it's going to be hours without a town in sight on the road to Sunagakure, so, get ready for that." Asuma gave his team a small apologetic smile.

"Oh damn…"

Shikamaru groaned. "That sounds like a drag."

"Oh, you're not wrong," Asuma commented, finishing it with a chuckle. "It's going to be especially draining since it takes a lot of energy walking through sand than normal pavement or ground. Pretty soon, the sand levels are going to increase and you'll understand what a dune is. So, tonight, we rest at the oasis town coming up, then we'll make our way to Suna. Sounds good?"

"Yes, sir!" All three lower-ranking shinobi spoke in unison.

"Then let's go and get out of this sun." Asuma had already started following the canyon, looking for the way down.

Another half-hour later, they had started walking in the arid desert. Naruto finally learned what walking on a dune was. The loose sand of the hill made it near impossible to focus his chakra thoroughly to help him climb it. He wondered if he could have used his Earth Release ninjutsu to tunnel under the desert but thought against it as that wouldn't really this task any better. Ino and Shikamaru joined him in vocalizing their anguish. Asuma laughed at them.

Naruto had become frustrated with it, so much so that when inevitably some stupid bandits did come to try and ambush them, he was perfectly keen on releasing his anger out of them. As he used his Earth Release and his Rasengan to tear through a few bandits, Naruto watched as Asuma's Wind Release working. With it, he cleanly cut a path through any bandit who swung scimitars at the jōnin. When one bandit tried to dramatically have a duel with Asuma, Asuma channeling wind chakra into his "knuckle-blades" – trench knives Asuma would later call them. They turned into long, blue blades of pure chakra, strong enough to shred through the sword of the bandit and then the bandit itself. The wind element was quick, clean, and strong.

Not to mention, offensive. What his own Earth Release sometimes lack, it was offenses and range. He had learned plenty of defensive techniques like summoning earthy constructs to protect him, or disabling techniques like Doton: Yomi Numa, which could be used to give him a chance to use a follow-up attack. However, not a lot of his techniques had range or much offensive power behind them outside of just throwing rocks at people. He had gotten better with Earth Release enough to make his moves come out fast but if he fought a wind user, he would be outmatched in casting speed. Earth was just too slow.

Wind however was fast, invisible to the naked eye unless you noticed the distortion in the air, and encompassed such good range that his Earth Release lacked. He stewed on it for a bit as they picked up and left the scene of bandits. As Ino and Shikamaru took up the rear guard, Naruto, who worked the middle, took his chance to ask their leader his question. "Hey, Asuma-sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"That was Wind Release you were using back there, right? Do you think you could give me some tips on how to use it?"

"Hmm," Asuma murmured, taking a drag from his cigarette. After releasing a white cloud, he questioned, "You got Earth Release, so why do you want to learn another element?"

"Well, Earth Release isn't as offensive as your Wind." Asuma only made an "Ah" sound and nodded, taking another puff from his cigarette. Naruto continued elaborating. "So, I wanted to expand my repertoire on ninjutsu outside my own element."

The Sarutobi man chuckled. "That's good to hear. A good ninja knows that no technique, no matter how powerful, is perfect and finds something to cover that weakness. That goes for every element as well. Earth is strong and sturdy but struggles offensively, while Wind is fast and powerful but struggles defensively."

"And my Earth is weak against Lightning Release ninjutsu, while Wind beats it," added Naruto. "So, I was wonder if I could get some tips on using some Wind Release." Naruto did not want to explain that Sasuke's affinity was lightning, and that was why he was also asking all about Wind Release. So, he left that little detail out.

Asuma rubbed his black goatee a little. "I don't think I mind sharing the help but honestly, Wind Release training takes time to learn, time that we can't spare on this trip. I also couldn't tell you definitively that I could help you when we get back to the village. I would suggest either finding a Wind Release user willing to help you or getting some tips on it at the library at the village."

"Ah, I see," Naruto uttered with a small frown.

"Yeah, sorry about that.," the jōnin apologized earnestly. "But hey, keep it on your mind. It might be something to do. Still, you seem to believe you have mastered your Earth Release affinity so quickly."

"That's because I have or at least, I'm close to mastery-level." Naruto nodded at the older shinobi. And it wasn't said in with braggadocio. He simply believed it. "I'm at the stage where I can make my own techniques with Earth Release, according to my sensei. That's what I'm also coming up now: a new technique of my own. Still, learning some more techniques outside of that project I have wouldn't hurt."

"Hmm… Well, if Jiraiya-sama says it, then who am I to object?" Naruto's eyes widened at that, to which Asuma chuckled. "Yeah, I know about your training with him. Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Only very few people know about it anyway. But yeah, good for you. Surprising too. Not a lot of newly-minted chūnin can say that. You're even looking to use another element. Keep it up, kid."

"Will do," Naruto agreed, giving the man a salute.

Chuckling, Asuma said, "It must be a blessing having the Kage Bunshin at your disposal like that."

"Heh, it is."

"But maybe you should also focus on creating ninjutsu with what you got. If I'm not mistaken, I've seen you use Jiraiya-sama's technique back there, the Rasengan. Despite it being already a fearsome technique, maybe there's a way for you to add to it in some way."

"You think so?" Naruto quirked his eyebrow.

"No technique is exactly perfect. Tweaking a technique to fit one's needs isn't exactly uncommon for ninja to do. Nevertheless," Asuma paused to give Naruto a shrug. "Keep on trying."

After that little intermission, the team's trip returned full-throttle. As they marched up dunes trying to climb them, Naruto kept himself busy with thinking about some more on his ninjutsu and what he could do to improve it. Besides certain other things like the Kyūbi's chakra he had to somehow master and then working on his writing in order to step in the world of fūinjutsu, Naruto was thinking on upping his ninjutsu repertoire. He supposed that he had learned at least 20 ninjutsu in two months, which was commendable, and a far cry from others his age, but he wanted to learn more. The more the better in his opinion.

They finally seen the oasis town that Asuma had announced was on his map, which was the town called Sabakuhana. By then, it was starting to become evening. They had all made it into an inn and shared two rooms apart. Asuma and Ino entered one room, while Shikamaru and him became roomies for the night. He didn't quite retire yet, taking some time to do some very light chakra control exercises and fumbling with the Rasengan outside in the dark night skies of the oasis town.

"Adding to the Rasengan…" Naruto thought to himself as he looked into the starry night. "What could I do to add to this technique?"

He wordlessly formed one spiraling sphere in his right hand and looked at the ball moving, chakra moving at such a speed that the air around it was moving as well. Though the trip to retrieve Tsunade had been only about a week ago, he had been training his control with the Rasengan intensely. Before, he needed to concentrate hard to use it. Now, it had become close to second-nature to spin his chakra correctly.

Was the man implying that the Rasengan could be infused with his element? Was that what he meant? Is that what Jiraiya-sensei wanted to?

He tried thinking about what he could do with it now. It was strong as hell on its own but what would happen if he fused it with his Earth Release? How could he do that anyway? He probably could do it like how he first performed the Rasengan in practice, which was to simply use a clone to channel the Earth Release chakra and infuse it with the Rasengan, but that probably would defeat the purpose of learning how to create the technique on his own with one hand. How could he channel the Rasengan and his Earth Release in one hand?

Maybe use his other hand? No, wait, that would also defeat the purpose of the technique too. Using it to do so would take too long also.

Speaking of which, his left hand... He didn't think about it before but…

Could he even use the Rasengan in his left?

He attempted to do so, killing off the other Rasengan as he tried focusing. Of course, it was easier said than done. Spiraling his chakra with his left was hard, as nothing came about it. A little clump, then the chakra fizzled out.

He thought about it a bit too. He could only use the technique with his right. What if he needed to use the ninjutsu in his left hand? Most ninja were right-handed in the world, so what if, somehow, he sustained significant damage to his right that made it useless to use? He attempted again to use it in his left, making the chakra sphere much slower than last time. The formation of the orb was slow and hard to spin it, compared to his right. Just when it finally finished formed to a cohesive-enough ball, his concentration slipped and the left-handed Rasengan disappeared again.

He frowned; Naruto was bit disappointed but he fully expected that. 'This isn't an Earth Release ninjutsu… but it's still something I need to work on.' So, Asuma-sensei was right. There was something new to add to the Rasengan alright. Two new things. Maybe though, instead of using an Earth Release version of the Rasengan first, he should try to learn how to use the spiraling sphere in his left.

Summoning a few more clones, he started working on using the left-handed Rasengan slowly, first without forming the right-handed version of it. He only got to work on it for an hour as he realized starting this new project this late in the night was silly. By the time he knew it, his clock had said it was a quarter to 10pm.

Asuma warned that after breakfast around 8 am, they would be out to venture on their trip. He left his new training idea alone for now but it had promised. The idea of wielding two Rasengan spheres in battle was so cool!

The next day around noon, Naruto and his team finally neared the gates of Sunagakure. Stuffed inside a valley fortified by sandstone, the stone gates came to view. Naruto released a sigh of relief, as Ino cheered out loud his thoughts. "Finally, we're here!"

Asuma chuckled, remarking they were going to hate going back to the desert in two days after their visit was done with. The chūnin at the gate asked for the papers and Asuma showed them the reason they were here. "We're here on orders by our Hokage to visit the Suna Council and give them this scroll."

One of the chūnin inspected the mission details and the sealed scroll for a few seconds before giving it to his partner. His partner marked it on their ledger and passed it back to Asuma. They opened the gates wordlessly and Asuma's team passed through. Following Asuma who knew his way to the Kazekage's Office building where the Suna Council would be, Naruto took in the nearly city-sized village. Besides the brown stucco and clay buildings, a difference between the wood houses back home in Konoha, and how the color tan was used everywhere in the village, there wasn't much of a difference between here and Konoha.

The heart of Suna, the Kazekage's Office, wasn't the tallest building in the sand village but it certainly was emblazoned with a giant red mark. And all major roads in the village apparently lead to it. In fact, walking to it was literally a straight line. They couldn't miss it even if the team wasn't being led to the Kazekage's Office by Asuma.

Upon coming to the office, Naruto and his peers got the details from the main people in charge of this village. They were told that they would be allowed to visit parts of the city, while their leader Asuma dealt with giving the scroll out. Two rooms at the hotel were also set for them. They could do nearly anything they wanted around Suna, so as long as they did not cause any trouble. Granted, they were warned that they would be followed by certain other ninjas to know about their whereabouts but Naruto wasn't complaining much.

Hitting the main streets again, after an arduous morning, the first thing in the youngster's minds was food. They walked, wondering what to feast on, a ramen stand caught his eye. "Oh, I know what I want."

Ino looked briefly in the direction of the stand before the blonde Yamanaka's face soured. "Ew, ramen?"

"Yep. Got to get my fix."

"You sound like Asuma and his rampant smoking addiction," Ino snorted. "Forget that, we're going to catch something better. Right, Shikamaru?"

"I'll catch up later with you guys."

"Wait, what?" Shikamaru groaned. "Ino, why can't we keep it simple? After all, ramen doesn't sound too-" His sentence died in his throat as the female genin glared at him.

"Remember: we're supposed to go the hotel they have sent for us," Ino reminded Naruto. "So, don't forget. Meet us there."

Nodding, Naruto uttered, "I got it."

"Right. See you later."

"Why aren't you helping me from this woman, Naruto?" Shikamaru whined.

"Well, put up a better fight, Shika," Naruto retorted cheekily.

"We're the same ninja rank. Aren't we supposed to help each other out?"

"Shut up and come with me to get some food already." The Yamanaka heiress growled at her former teammate, to which he sighed like he was resigned to his fate.

"Trouble blondes," was the last comment he heard from Shikamaru, before Ino dragged the Nara teen away.

Naruto snickered as he went to the shop to grab a bowl of his favorite noodle soup. Ordering the basic of ramen, the classic miso-flavored, he was halfway enjoying the lunch until he heard a familiar voice.

"Oi, why are you here, runt?"

Naruto slurped up his noodles to see who it was. It was the wind user from the Chūnin Exams with the quad-pigtails hairstyle who attempted to kill him and his peers before. Fancy seeing her here. And did the bitch really have to call him a runt? So the hell what he was short for his age? He was only 13!

He gave her a mock-blank look. "Have we met before?"

"Are you kidding me?" The blond shinobi glowered at Naruto. "It's Temari, you imbecile! We fought twice!" The blank look was still plastered on his face. She was starting to turn red. "Don't tell me you forgot already!"

Naruto tried not to snicker but failed. "Hahaha! Oh, yeah! Fan-chan! How ya doing? Come here to bother me?"

"Hmph. As if," she harrumphed, giving him a sour look. "I'm just here for lunch and I just so happen to see your stupid mug."

"Well, can you go somewhere else and let me enjoy my lunch?" Naruto gave her an annoyed look when she decided to plop down right next to him. "The hell? Leave me alone already."

"Shut up. There's no more open seats in the shop, if you can't see for yourself." Naruto did a quick scan of the joint. Sure enough, she was right. There were no more places to sit in the restaurant. Last time he checked it was only a few customers here. Now, it was full house, with a queue of people standing outside the shop waiting to eat.

Naruto grumbled as Temari ordered her food which was the chicken ramen. "Whatever. I still want to eat in peace. Can you at least do that for me?"

"You're pissing me off, you know that? Hey, the hell are you even doing here anyway, runt?"

"Mission," he grunted out. The blond chūnin left out the word "bitch" at the end of his sentence, even though he really wanted to add it.

"With a team?"

"Um, yes?" Naruto quirked his eyebrow up, once again disturbed from his bowl of noodle soup.

"Yeah? What time are you leaving out of here?"

"Why do you wanna know so badly, Fan-chan?"

"It's Temari!"

"And my name is Naruto but you keep calling me a runt," he growled back at her. "Can you get to the reason why you want to know so much about what I'm doing?"

"I want to fight you."

"What?" Naruto sucked his teeth. "I'm on a mission."

"So what? You're here, you're obviously not going anywhere any time soon-"

"How the hell do you know that?" Naruto interrupted her with another question.

"Because you would have just said so," Temari said confidently which honestly baffled the younger shinobi. How in the hell did she figure that? Even if that was true, he wondered how the older blonde even formed that logic. "We should spar."

"And why should we do that?"

"You got two wins over me. I told you already before when we fought that I'm a sore loser. I want to settle it."

Naruto clicked his tongue. "Tch, are you serious?"

"What? Afraid you're going to lose?" She tried egging him on. He rolled his eyes at her attempt.

"First of all, lady, I kicked your ass twice before," Naruto jogged her memory, not taking to the rise. "Second: Could we even fight? I'm not a Suna shinobi. Doesn't it look bad for a foreign chūnin to beat up on a genin?"

"Implying you would even win-"

Naruto went on, not indicating he even heard her comment. "Couldn't that cause an international incident or something?"

"An international incident? You're worried about that?" Blowing a raspberry crudely, Temari rolled her green eyes. "Psh, you think shit like that can happen so easily? Maybe if we end up killing each other."

"You? Kill me? Just try it," he challenged, narrowing his eyes dangerously. This girl was really rubbing him the wrong way.

Temari smirked. "No need to, especially since Suna and Konoha have an alliance again. So, if you're worried about us getting a little rough with each other, then stuff it. Besides, I can easily just explain it to the higher-ups of what happened if they ask. Assuming they don't already know with all the shinobi probably watching you and your team closely. I am the late Kazekage's daughter after all."

"Oh yeah," Naruto uttered, remembering such a fact. Perhaps that did give her a bit more leeway than others. After stewing on it, the urge to smack that challenging smirk off her face was too strong to ignore. "Ugh, fine. Just stop bothering me so damn much. I came here to eat, not get harassed by girls who blow air from fans."

"Such a great retort, moron." She gave him a grin. The fan wielder looked very pleased with herself. "Follow me after this."

"To where?"

"A training area? Where else?"

"Fine, okay, got it. Can I eat now?" Naruto sarcastically asked for permission. Temari waved him off and Naruto acted like she was not next to him and he was still enjoying a quiet lunch by himself.

After ordering another bowl as she finished off her food, ignoring her comment at his supposed gluttony, he got up and followed the rude girl as they walked to a training grounds placed in a special area in the perimeter of the village. Naruto found someone else occupying the grounds. Temari's previous nasty demeanor shrank as she became stiff. "Gaara… You're training here."

Naruto himself was a little on edge but some of that anxiousness fizzled away after he realized something different about Gaara. Before, Gaara had an undercurrent of killing intent every time he looked at someone. That's what he witnessed the first time he saw Gaara and his siblings show up in Konoha a bit before the Chūnin Exams, the time when he witnessed his fight against Lee in the tournament, and when Naruto himself fought Gaara in the Chūnin Exams finals.

But now? He didn't sense any sort of ill will from him.

What changed? After all, the jinchūriki was clearly insane last time he saw and fought against him, but Gaara looked absolutely tame in comparison. Stoic, yes, but not exactly murderous-looking, ready to kill someone in a blink of an eye. Instead, he sent a curious gaze at Naruto, ignoring Temari. "Naruto Uzumaki… What are you doing here in Suna?"

"Er, yo?" Gaara merely stared. "Well… your sister decided to, I guess, 'invite me here' would be the right thing to say, right? Ehehe," he trailed off awkwardly with a chuckle. "Um, either way, me and her were about to spar. As for how I got to Suna, well, I'm here on a mission. I just got a bit of downtime, is all."

"…" Not a response came from Gaara, except for some light breathing.

"Um, are we bothering you, Gaara?" Temari said hesitantly.

Gaara finally acknowledged his sister with a teal green gaze. "…Do what you like. I just finished training."

"Um, okay." Temari nodded before clearing her throat. "Alright… let's do this, runt."

"Yeah, I guess." Naruto frowned, feeling more than a little awkward. He looked at the taller kunoichi. "So, what kind of spar you want to do? Taijutsu only? Ninjutsu?"

"Anything that doesn't involve killing each other or causing lasting injuries. Otherwise, anything goes."

Naruto nodded, giving Gaara a last glance. The boy did not move from his position from before. "Er, are you going to leave?"

"No. I want to stay and watch you two," the redhead said in that hoarse, almost always dangerous tone of his.

"Oh, okay… I didn't think you would be interested."

The redhead jinchūriki did not respond. He folded his arms expectantly like he was waiting for them to start fighting. Which was probably what Naruto and Temari should be doing, yet both expected Gaara to do something drastic. Naruto felt his gaze trained on him behind his back. He kept himself calm.

However, Temari's reaction wasn't normal. Wasn't a sister supposed to be easygoing and relaxed with her younger sibling? Yet, she too looked like she expected Gaara to kill her when her back was turned, paling up a bit in her face when she saw her brother. He tried to remember back before.

In his limited interactions with her, could he remember a time where she was relaxed around the jinchūriki?

'Screw it,' Naruto thought to himself, removing himself from thinking. With a cough and a pointed look at his opponent, he asked, "So, are we going to fight or what?"

Temari nodded wordlessly and took the familiar metal fan off her back, indicating she was ready to do so. She opened up her war fan up completely; three purple circles on the fan were visible. Without warning, Naruto sent a clone to her, remembering what strategy he used against her during their two bouts. Temari was strong enough to spam wind ninjutsu without seeming winded, that much was obvious. What was also obvious was she liked to keep her opponents at mid-to-far range, indicating her taijutsu was lacking.

She was ready for his clone, of course, as she quickly swung her fan, not summoning a technique or anything, but using it as a blade as she swung on the shadow clone like one would use a knife. The clone exploded expectedly. He wasn't counting on it to do anything, just feel her out. Not a second later, however, he created clones underground without her knowledge, while the Uzumaki chūnin used another two topside to attack her from different angles.

The plan this time was to apply earth chakra to her war fan and have it become useless to her by make it feel heavier than usual. Once any one of his clones did so, then she would be easy pickings. However, Temari too learned from her mistakes from last time and instead of standing to defend against the boys using whatever tactic necessary, she covered her retreat with a small wave of her fan. His clones flinched naturally, thinking she would use a wind ninjutsu from her fan but didn't realize it would come from her right palm instead as an insanely quick billow of wind came forth and destroyed one of his clones.

Then she jumped as three clones tried to shoot up at her – one from before and the two from the underground. It was as if she knew what Naruto planned to do before and her deftness allowed her enough time to perform three hand seals. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" A gust howled out as it was thrown below her, to the shadow clones. They could not defend and subsequently, all three of his clones were destroyed. Naruto would have pursued her himself but, by reflex, throw his hands up to cover his face from the miniature sandstorm she created.

When he looked back up, all the Konoha chūnin saw was the particles of dust and sand floating back to the ground slowly in a thick cloud. He yelped helplessly when he heard the distortion of the wind again and the gust from before came jetting at him. Knowing there was no time to move, he defended, coating his entire body with earth chakra to weather the storm. The wind sliced at his skin, but much more damage was avoided thanks to using his Earth Release. The cuts were annoying, sure, but at least he still had his limbs.

Temari was rearing back her fan for another gale, seeing as it didn't do much to Naruto. However, in that space of a second, Naruto followed with another ninjutsu. Rocks floated and dropped over Temari's head. She dodged them quickly. Again, he didn't count on them to actually hit him, as it seemed that technique almost never did. Naruto summoned six clones with the objective to swarm her. Then, after he waited for a few seconds, he created four more. The chūnin fully expecting her to defend until she could attack. The objective of the first six clones weren't to land a clean hit on her but to box her in, covering all forms of escape, deliberating giving out the option to go up in the air on a silver platter.

Predictably, she did go up and clones followed her. But the four that followed her up weren't normal shadow clones. Like usual, he summoned a few doppelgangers. However, this new batch of clones were infused with his earth chakra, and added them to the mix seamlessly because they did not stick out. Like he had did with his battle with Tsunade, if his opponent destroyed the clones at a close proximity, then the mud would hit them and slow them down enough for him to follow it up.

Temari didn't have enough time to swing her fan as Naruto's clones made sure to stick to her without giving her any sort of breathing room to use hand seals for her wind ninjutsu. Because of this, she had to swing at them with the fan instead, becoming a mistake as mud exploded on her. Naruto watched as she descended, looking shocked. The other six clones ran up to her as two clones grabbed onto her arms and two grabbed her legs, further holding her down. The fan was discarded somewhere fan from her as two free clones guarded it.

The real Naruto started to go towards her to finish things up with a punch but balked as Temari pulled out one more move. Like Sasuke had done before, she used chakra flow to escape her bindings. Spreading chakra around her body, wind removed the hardening mud that weighed her down and also cut the clones who held her down. Impressive but it wasn't like Naruto was exactly viewing all of this without doing something next.

The six clones attempted again to fight her, this time much more seriously. allowing Naruto to finish the sequence of his favorite disabling technique. Sand transmuted into a murky swamp produced by the effects of Doton: Yomi Numa, which stretched to Temari. As she sunken, the clones nearby attacked her at such frequency, she couldn't concentrate enough to use her chakra flow technique from before. Any sort of escape plan became zilch. Naruto's clones once again held her as Naruto crouched behind her with a kunai to her neck, which was one of the only parts of her not submerged in the dark brown bog.

Instead of saying anything else, Temari sighed. "Damn, you got me once again. Shadow clones and some sort of earth-infused clone too?"

"Yep," Naruto grinned behind her.

"I thought I had you with my Kamaitachi no Jutsu but I didn't expect you to just go through it – until I remembered that's what you did last time in our last fight. Ah, your style of fighting is so tough to deal with that, I'll admit." Temari shook her head. "I concede."

Naruto first dispelled his clones, then he removed the Suna shinobi from the murk, allowing her to stand up. She continued to show him her back as she went to retrieve her war fan.

"That's 3-0," she announced almost blankly. When she got her weapon and turned around to see him, the blonde kunoichi smiled at Naruto and reproached the boy. Temari didn't look too upset by her loss. "Next time, I'll find something else to beat you with."

"'Next time?'" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he parroted her sentence.

"What, you think I'm going to let you beat me three times in a row and not get a score on the chart? Please." She cocked her hip, placing her fan on her back again. "I'm a sore loser but I'm also the type to keep going at it until I figure it out. I'll find a way to beat you. Even with all those damnable clones of yours."

Humming a bit, Naruto nodded. He had to admit it was enjoyable fighting the blonde kunoichi – even if she was a bit of a bitch. Naruto grinned back at her. "Good luck with that. We can fight whenever you want."

"…Intriguing." Gaara's voice sprang up to interrupt the… bantering. Naruto supposed that was what him and Temari were doing. "Uzumaki, you are strong."

"Er, thanks?" The blond rubbed his head, feeling a bit awkward. It wasn't out of embarrassment or glee at Gaara's approval but the way he blankly acknowledged his talents. It sounded pretty strange. In a weird sort of impulse, Naruto asked without much thinking, "Do… you want to spar next?"

Gaara stared at the blond again with those pupil-less teal green eyes that honestly unnerved him before shaking his head. "I do not think that is a good idea."

"And why's that?"

"Truthfully, my moth-" Gaara paused. "…I am sure you are aware of my status as a jinchūriki."

Temari gasped. "Er, Gaara…?"

Ignoring his sister as if he didn't admit to an S-Class village secret, Gaara continued, "My relationship with my tailed beast is poor, at best."

Outwardly, Naruto scratched his head, feeling very confused. "Where are you going with this?"

"My tailed beast, the Ichibi no Shukaku, wishes that I kill you on this spot, right now," Gaara flatly replied. "All throughout your spar with Temari, it wished for me to crush you with my sand ninjutsu. Even now, it screams for your blood, more than anyone else's."

"…" Naruto took a step back, or rather, four. Hell, he was close to using the Shunshin no Jutsu and hightail it out of the training grounds. "Er, why haven't you just… you know, try it?"

"Because I do not wish to do so," Gaara uttered, unfolding his arms. "I do not wish to live the way it wants me to live."

Huh. He didn't know what else to say to that. He stopped backing up. "I see… Why does it hate me?"

"I do not know. There's something about you that… irks it."

Surprisingly, the monster inside of him gave him a hint. "Heh, poor Shukaku. Can't fight me, so Shukaku is whining inside that sand shinobi's head. Pathetic."

Hearing the Kyūbi gloat, Naruto now had a good idea of what happened. So, Shukaku wanted Naruto to die because there was a tailed beast inside of him – one that apparently hated the Ichibi. Gaara didn't seem to know that though and Naruto wasn't about to spill that he too was a jinchūriki. Strangely enough, he had to crush down that feeling of wanting to admit he was a jinchūriki. It was weird.

Another impulse came to him and Naruto couldn't help but letting it slip from his lips. "You know, whenever you do decide how to live without being worried about Shukaku making you go insane, we should fight." Naruto set the redhead a small smile. "After all, you are leading a 1-0 against me."

Gaara didn't say anything for the longest, simply staring at Naruto for the longest before very slightly nodding at him. The Ichibi jinchūriki turned to leave the training grounds. For some reason though, Naruto felt Gaara wasn't all that bad. Not at all. Naruto had learned a long time of ago that while his instincts could land him in a heap of trouble, they often didn't steer him wrong.

Even if it didn't seem like Gaara wasn't all that different from before, he read between the lines. Naruto looked "Underneath the Underneath" like Kakashi-sensei used to preach. Gaara could have listened to his tailed beast, submitted to its will, and killed Naruto during his battle with Temari. However, he didn't. That must have meant something, right?

Naruto left the training grounds after the talk, being followed by Temari strangely enough, who had a contemplative look on her face. She said nothing for the longest until they were back in the village's shopping district. "You know, that's the longest I ever heard Gaara hold a conversation without announcing he was going to kill someone."

"First time for everything?" Naruto shrugged.

"Hmm," the blond kunoichi hummed noncommittally, back to musing a bit. "He wants to kill you specifically, huh? Why is that?"

"Beats me."

Another hum. "And why did he just… tell you all of that?"

"I don't know." Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "If you can't figure out the enigma that is your brother, I don't know how you expect me to figure out him."

Another hum from Temari grated Naruto's nerves. Instead of snapping at her, he sighed and stopped. Turning around, he took a look at her. She too stopped, looking a bit surprised. "Hey, your brother is a jinchūriki, right?"

"You moron!" The blonde kunoichi glared heatedly at him. "Don't say anything like that in public so calmly!"

"Ah, sorry," he stated, though he didn't really feel so. "But still, he is."

Temari sighed. "I don't even know why he told you that but yes, he is."

"Is that's why you're afraid of him, right?"

That earned him a flinch from her. "I…" She hesitated and nodded. "He hasn't been right in the head since… ever. I can't think of a time he was okay. He's dangerous."

"Really? He seemed okay today."

"Do you know what a jinchūriki is?"

"A demon vessel. A carrier of a tailed beast," Naruto calmly told the kunoichi. He finished bitterly in his head with, 'A sacrifice, a person chosen just because.'

"Then you know how they are."

"So, what are you saying? That all jinchūriki are killers and dangerous? Is that at all any different from our jobs as ninjas?"

Temari sighed. "Of course, there's a difference. Ninjas who aren't unhinged or psychotic can walk around normally without killing people. It's about control and jinchūriki lack it."

"So how many jinchūriki have you met?"

"Not many," she admitted with a frown. "I won't lie about that. Still, Gaara is dangerous. He has to be. Jinchūriki have tailed beasts in them, so they have to be at least inherently dangerous, right? I mean, you heard him. He said to you that the Ichibi wanted him to kill you for some weird reason that Gaara doesn't even know. Doesn't that scream 'dangerous' to you?"

"But he also said he refused to listen to it. You must have caught that if you heard what he said about his tailed beast before, right?" Naruto fussed. "Perhaps there's a reason why he didn't just kill me, you know? Or even you. Maybe he wants to change? Maybe his demon made him do those things? I mean, you were there too. You heard him. He didn't want to live the way the Ichibi wants him to live."

"…And you know this, how? How could you know about Gaara's intentions, especially more than the people who have to deal with him on a daily basis?" The kunoichi challenged with narrowing eyes.

"I guess I don't." Naruto shrugged, feigning defeat. "Like I said: you'll have an easier time figuring it Gaara."

"And why would I want to?"

"I don't think you have him all figured out like you think. As someone who deals with him on a daily basis, you sure had a lot of questions about him before. After all, do you have an answer to why he didn't just listen to his tailed beast?"

Temari was silent, back to her mulling.

"Anyway, why are you following me?" Naruto asked.

"…I'm just getting something to eat," Temari explained, rolling her eyes. "We're just heading in the same direction."

Naruto rolled his own eyes. "Okay then. Well, I'm going on ahead. Later."

Not bothering to hear her response, Naruto left Temari. He was glad to be away from her. He was not sure what to make of Temari at all. She was rude as hell but she had put up a good fight, and wasn't like any of the girls he knew back at home who were worried about dieting or obsessed over a boy like most of the girls was for Sasuke. She was pretty serious as a kunoichi. But he disliked her obvious bias towards jinchūriki. She acted like she knew all about them but really, she didn't know a damn thing. It was pretty damn annoying.

It all honesty, yeah, Naruto could see where she was coming from. But then again, he also was a jinchūriki and Naruto wasn't unhinged, evil, or dangerous. Temari lumped jinchūriki together them like they all were murderers and couldn't interact with the rest of society. It made him pissed off.

In Gaara's case, he started to feel a bit more for the teen. He did to Gaara like Temari was doing now. He squared away Gaara, since the Chūnin Exams preliminaries, as a freaky, dangerous ninja who was bloodthirsty and sadistic. Now after today, Gaara wasn't… exactly as bad as of a person he thought he was before. In fact, there was something sad about the boy.

The Suna shinobi was a jinchūriki and that's what they shared in common. Naruto's childhood was full of loneliness and isolation from other kids, people who talked about him at a distance when they thought he wasn't listening, and the bunch of them trying to ignore him altogether. Gaara's village didn't seem different. In fact, his sister was afraid of him. He couldn't imagine how the rest of his village felt. Of course, Gaara wasn't exactly the quieter, calm person he seemed to be now. Before, he was downright bloodthirsty, killing for a tailed beast who wouldn't shut up about murdering someone.

What a terrible childhood that must have been. The bloodlust, the killings – even if he had done it, it wasn't there from the beginning. Children weren't born evil and that attitude doesn't just come to fruition overnight either. It comes through several traumatic experiences. That was the power of loneliness, isolation, fear, and hatred.

Naruto supposed maybe he felt for Gaara because he could picture that being him in a different world. In a different world, if there was no Iruka-sensei, no Sarutobi-jiji, no Team 7, and even no Jiraiya-sensei, he would have been some grimly-named psychopath that slaughtered people because his demon wouldn't stop tormenting him.

All his life he was hated and despised because of having the Kyūbi, treated like trash because of a circumstance that he himself had no control over. Maybe it was just the same way in Sunagakure.

"Yeah," he breathed out as he stood in place as people passed by him. "That could have been me."

End.

A/N: Extremely long chapter. Sheesh. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. Be back later in the month with more.

Translation List:

Kamaitachi no Jutsu – Sickle Weasel Technique

Ten no Juin – Cursed Seal of Heaven