The Hokage, for all of his experience and valor, could not remember a time where he was as worried as he was now. It was the middle of the night, the civilians and ninjas of Konoha were sleeping peacefully, when all of a sudden a large, foul spike of chakra shot into the sky. The ANBU and Jonin were up immediately, converging at the sight of the anomaly: Naruto's apartment.

It has been three hours since Dog found the girl shivering and shaking in bed. She was immediately brought to the hospital, but the medics were stumped. For all their knowledge, it seemed as though the young jinchuriki was healthy. Her chakra pathway was clear, and she was physically perfect. There was no reason for her to be in such pain.

Jiraya was not due to arrive for another week, so there was no one around knowledgeable enough to check her seal. Yet a preliminary check from Dog confirmed that it wasn't tampered with. There was just no explanation.

"Jiji?" A small, raspy voice called out. The Hokage was at her bedside immediately.

"Naruto, my dear. You are finally awake." The older man couldn't help the relief that slipped into his voice.

"Where… Where am I?" She asked, looking at the stark white walls that surrounded her.

"The Hospital. You were shaking all night, and you slipped into a coma. A coma is-"

Naruto quickly cut the man off, "I know what a coma is."

"Do you know what happened?"

Naruto paused, and just as she was going to answer, Gaara spoke in her head, "No Naru-chan. You can't tell him. He won't… he won't understand."

Naruto's eyes widened. Gaara sounded like he was crying. That was impossible. Gaara never cries. He was the single strongest person Naruto knew. She vowed in that very moment to kill whoever it was that hurt the boy so much. A laugh cut off her thoughts, "Don't worry about that Naru-chan. I've dealt with him. Now hurry and answer the Hokage, he's starting to look suspicious."

Naruto quickly turned her attention back to her pseudo-grandfather, "Ah, sorry about that jiji. Honestly, it was just a bad dream."

The Hokage looked sympathetic, but still very suspicious, "Bad dreams don't cause people to slip into comas."

This is where she pulls her hidden ace: the guilt card paired with the truth card. According to the thieves in the Red Light District, the best lies were based on truth, "It was a really bad dream jiji. I was… I was a demon. Stomping all over people. I had tails, so many tails I couldn't even count them. Ninjas were attacking me, but I destroyed them all without a second thought. And then… this man appeared. He was blond, and was standing on the head of this huge toad! He made some hand seals… and then there was nothing. Just darkness."

The Hokage's eyes widened in surprise, and that's when Naruto went in for the kill. With a quivering lip, tear welled up in her eyes, she asked softly, "Am I a demon jiji?"

She was pulled into a hug before she was even able to see him move, "No my dear. No you are not. Go to sleep, it has been a long night."

Naruto nodded, lying back down in her hospital bed. A small smirk spread across her features as the old man left the room. She was very good at lying.

After the day Gaara was attacked by his own uncle, Naruto spent hours stuck in her own head talking to boy. He was spiraling, spiraling so fast Naruto just couldn't seem to catch him. But he was an idiot if he really believed that Naruto would leave him too.

"My uncle, the one man who claimed to love me, tried to murder me. It's kill, or be killed Naruto."

"You, Gaara, are an idiot! I am here for you! You are my best friend! You are my only friend. I will not let you develop this destructive personality. I refuse!"

"Love is a weakness."

"Love is what is connecting the two of us! Love is what is causing me to skip the Academy and talk to you instead."

"I didn't ask for you to do that."

"Yeah well, good thing I love you enough to do it without you asking, huh?"

Fortunately, after their talk, the boy seemed to have calmed down. Years later, Gaara would admit to Naruto that if it wasn't for her, he probably would have gone on a murdering spree by now.

That didn't mean he didn't kill often though. People still attacked him, and attempts on his life were made at least once a week. Those were dealt with swiftly, which such violent strikes, that all it took was a few months before they stopped all together.

People were avoiding Gaara even more than before. Rumors were spread of the Sand Demon who kills without mercy. Naruto thought the civilians were all idiots, because it was obvious that Gaara only killed those who tried to murder him.

The worst part was that even Gaara's own siblings were avoiding the boy. Their father regularly told them of Gaara's kills, and how powerful the boy could be. The Kazekage wanted to alienate the jinchuriki, for if he can't seem to kill him, then he will leave him completely and utterly alone. Thankfully, he didn't take into account the loud blond that spoke to Gaara in his head.

For her seventh birthday, the Hokage took Naruto out to her favorite ramen stand, Ichiraku Ramen. As she was slurping down the eighth bowl, the Hokage brought up is upcoming trip, "I have a meeting with the Kazekage about certain border patrols and trade routes. I leave for Suna tomorrow."

Naruto quickly snapped up her head to look at him, "Suna? The village of the sand?"

Sarutobi chuckled, "Yes that Suna."

Slapping her hands together as if in a prayer, she begged, "Please Hokage-sama, take me with you."

The older man leveled a stare at her, confused by this turn of events, "Why do you want to go to Suna Naruto?"

Time to lie again. Naruto willed a tear to spill, "I'm afraid jiji… Without you here in the village, the civilians are more likely to attack me."

"There would be ninjas here to protect you-"

"Can you honestly tell me that some won't take advantage of your absence?"

The Hokage sighed, when did he get so complacent? Unfortunately, the young girl was right; many would take his leave to do something unpleasant to the girl. For her to notice the pattern of violence at such a young age, without even knowing the truth about her tenant, was disconcerting.

"Very well Naru-chan, you can come with me."

The smile that lit up the girls face was more than worth it. Until he saw the bill for the ramen that is.

The trip to Suna was long and tedious. Many ANBU had joined them as guards, and Naruto was as excitable as ever throughout the trip. At least she kept the ninjas thoroughly entertained with her antics and small pranks.

When the gates of the village finally loomed above them, the Hokage felt it prudent to remind the girl, "Do not cause a disturbance while you are here, ok Naruto? Try not to make yourself known."

She nodded in understanding. Suna did not care much for jinchuriki, "Yes jiji."

While the Hokage was led towards the Kazekage's office, Naruto decided to explore the village. She quickly lost the ANBU that was "secretly" following her, and made her way to where she knew the playground was. Far from the cheers of children, overlooking the young kids as they played without care, was one young boy with startling red hair. His teal eyes were looking up at the sky, counting the clouds as they passed. Contrasting his pale skin was a red tattoo with the kanji for "love".

"You know, I was never allowed to play any games with children. Want to join me?"

The boy snapped to look at her, "Naru-chan?"

The blond jinchuriki grinned, "Hey Gaara. Surprise."