Mask of Deception

By: Kisu

A/N: I'm experimenting with this pair..Gaara x Naruto! Enjoy! Let's estimate that the characters are roughly 15 years old! ^_^

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me!

Chapter 1: Ambush

            "Oof."  Sakura landed ungracefully on her butt and she winced from the impact.  Slowly, she got off the ground and dusted her attire off. 

            "That's enough for today.  Good work."  Kakashi commented as he dropped down from a tree where he was observing them.  He slid his familiar book back into the pouch at his side and waved a hand at them.  "Go home, take a bath, and get a good night's sleep! We'll meet bright and early tomorrow morning!" With that, smoke swirled around the jounin and he disappeared.  Sakura sighed and glanced at Sasuke who was already prepared to head back to his house.  Now where was that one annoying, loud-mouthed idiot?  She looked around for any signs of the bright teammate.

            "Sakura."

            Sasuke walked up to her and she turned around to smile at him.

            "Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She asked, brightly. 

            "Let's go on a date."  He said, after a moment.  Sakura stared at him.  Had she heard right? A date? It seemed almost too good to be true.  "Well?" Sasuke asked, slightly peeved from her delayed response.

            "Hai!" Sakura squealed, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's.  Sasuke sighed and they walked off together, forgetting about a certain missing person. 

            That missing person was watching them from behind a tree.  He had seen the whole exchange and his heart felt heavy.  He knew that one-day, they would leave him.  Just like everyone else would.  They had their own lives to lead and they won't have any time for him anymore.  Naruto turned around and slowly trekked in the opposite direction of the village.  It was his fate to be alone.  No matter how hard he had tried to deny it and prevent it from coming true, he knew deep down inside he would always be alone.

            He was tired.

            Tired from the fight that he would never win. 

            Giving a deep sigh, he sat down with his back against the trunk of a tree.  His eyes looked up to where the sunlight filtered through the leaves, making them dance whenever the breeze blew through them.  Drowsily, his eyes began to close but an irritating high-pitched sound made his eyes open.  A kunai headed straight toward him and being half-conscious he didn't move aside.  When it embedded itself into his left shoulder, he fully woke up from his burning shoulder.  Four ninjas with faces masked, dropped down onto the forest floor.

            Damn.  He hadn't realized that they were watching him.  Cursing his stupidity he jerked the kunai out of his shoulder and watched the blood dripped off of it.  Staggering to his feet, he narrowed his eyes at the ninjas. 

            "What do you want?" He asked, tiredly.  In the back of his mind, he gave a snort of amusement.  Since when did he start sounding like Shikamaru? He laughed quietly to himself.

            "Hey, demon brat.  I don't know what you're laughing about."  One of the ninjas snickered.  "But we'll make sure it's your last laugh." Naruto frowned and stood in a defensive position.  The ninjas disappeared and multiple shurikens were hurled at him.  He jumped and rolled, darting to and fro to avoid them. 

            "We'll make it easy on you.  Give up now and your death will be quick and painless."  Another one of them said, from high above.

            "Give up?" Naruto repeated to himself as a wry smile crossed his face.  It didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.  He raised his head and laughed, a hollow mocking laugh that made the ninjas slightly uneasy.  He smiled, his blue eyes darkening as he met their gazes.  "Might as well go out in a bang."  He slowly raised his arms and his hands quickly made the seal of his most favorite jutsu.  "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Three shadow clones appeared and all four of them leapt into the air.  The ninjas pulled out their kunais and waited for the attack.

            They came all at once, each clone taking on a ninja.  But of course, the ninjas were stronger than the clones and defeated them with a simple hit or kick.  The three clones disappeared, leaving Naruto to be the only one.  All four of them attacked and Naruto blocked.  The first one dashed toward him and sliced at him with his kunai.  Naruto jumped and made a somersault, using a tree as his leverage.  He kicked off and drew out his kunai, blocking the ninja's attack.  The other two ninjas came up behind him and grabbed his arms and the fourth ninja punched him in the side.  Naruto swore that he had cracked one of his ribs. 

            He dodged multiple shurikens again, but his vision was getting blurry.  He shook his head and blinked several times, missing the kunai that came at him from behind.  It embedded into his back and he froze.  This allowed one of the ninjas to administer a kick that slammed him into a tree.  Another rib or two, it was starting to hurt to breathe.

            Naruto reached out to pull the kunai out and stood up, only to be slammed back into the trunk by four whistling kunais that embedded itself into his chest, leg, and arm.  "Teme…"  Naruto growled, coughing as blood rose in his throat.  He fell to his side, gasping painfully.

            "The poison is working isn't it?" One of the ninjas said, cheerfully.  He walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.  "Come to think of it, you're very pretty for a boy."  He smiled, lecherously.  He reached out to touch him when he was blasted with a hurtle of sand.  The ninja flew past his companions and hit a tree.

            "What do you think you're doing?" The voice was familiar.  Very familiar.  But Naruto couldn't quite place it. 

            "Another demon child."  One of them smirked.  "What are you doing out here, all alone?"

            "Whose order was this?" The same voice of the speaker asked.

            "It was an order from the Hidden Sound."  A ninja replied.  "To kill the Kyuubi demon child.  We'll just have to do away with you too.  I suppose."

            "Sand will not associate with the Sound, from this day on."  The speaker walked forward, his footsteps light on the ground.  Naruto looked up at the figure that stood in front of him and his eyes widened in surprise.  "But, unfortunately for you, you'll die here today."

            "Empty threats, where is your gourd?" The ninja who had been thrown back, stood up with a smirk.

            "Empty?" The speaker repeated.  Naruto watched as sand began to rise off of the ground in a huge mound.  The ninjas were scared beyond belief.  The speaker's pale green eyes narrowed and the sand shot forward.  The ninjas began running after the sand swallowed their first companion.  Naruto could make out screams as the sand finished off the rest, and as quick as the sand appeared, it disappeared. 

            The feet in his line of vision turned around and they knelt down to his face.  "Gaara."  Naruto breathed.  His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell unconscious.

            "I'm disappointed in you, Naruto."  Gaara commented as he stared at the boy.  "You weren't yourself today."

            "Naruto!" The voice of the irritating girl with pink hair called out from afar.  Gaara sighed and picked up Naruto, not noticing that his forehead protector came off in the process.  Quickly, he took off into the trees.  Moments later, the girl that had called out broke through the undergrowth and came into the clearing.  "I can't believe you asked me on a date to help you clean your house gutters! You should have asked Naruto in the first place!"

            Sasuke walked into the clearing after her with an annoyed expression on your face.  "Don't complain when I turn you down again."  He replied.  His eyes scanned the clearing and rested on a particular tree.  He ran his hand on the bark and watched as blood flecked chips fell to the ground. 

            "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out.  She ran up to him with something in her hands.  She held it out to him and Sasuke's eyes widened.  Sasuke took it and examined the scratches. 

            "It's Naruto's."  He said, finally.  "The scratches was from the bottom of his shoe during the fight with Zabuza."  He knelt down and touched a spot of blood on the ground.  "There was an ambush.  We should report this to the Hokage."

            Temari watched as the two figures disappeared before landing on the ground.  She sent a small breeze to brush any remaining grains of sand from the sight and folded her fan.  "Gaara you have to be careful."  She muttered, before taking off.

            "Where am I?"

            Gaara looked over to where Naruto lay.  He walked over and leaned over him. 

            "My home."  He replied.  He watched with hidden concern as Naruto blinked, dazedly.  He winced and reached up to touch his head.  It was heavily bandaged.

            "What happened to me?" Naruto asked.

            "An ambush by the Sound ninjas."  Gaara replied, simply.  "You hit your head pretty hard when you fell."  He stood up straight and narrowed his eyes.  "Your ass was beaten.  I'm very disappointed."

            "Why?" Naruto blinked.

            "Because I knew you could have taken them on."  Gaara snapped.  Realization dawned on him and he quickly grabbed Naruto's chin.  "What's your name?"

            "Does it matter?" Naruto asked.  He raked his mind for an answer and frowned.  "Ah…"

            "You don't remember?" Gaara frowned.  "Maybe it's amnesia from the blow?"

            "It's okay."  Naruto closed his eyes.  "I don't want to remember.  It's too painful."

            "Then should I take you back to the village?" Gaara prompted.

            "No."  Naruto turned and grabbed onto his shirt.  He buried his face in the fabric.  "I owe my life to you, don't I? I'll stay here with you."

            "Naruto."  Gaara murmured, placing a hand on his head.  He ran his fingers through the blonde locks.  "I plan to take over as Kazekage.  Once I get stronger and defeat Orochimaru."

            "Then I'll stay by your side and protect you."  Naruto mumbled in reply.

            "People will recognize you."  Gaara pointed out.

            "I'll train hard and become an ANBU."  Naruto replied.  "Then, no one can harm you."  Gaara sat in the room, motionless except for the steady rising and falling of his chest at every breath.

            "If you desire so."  He finally responded.  Naruto was silent for a moment before his grip tightened on his shirt. 

            "Yeah."  He whispered.

TBC!