A Different Life
I'm really sorry for the lateness, I don't go to school and I don't have job so I really have no reason other than 'THE WRITERS BLOCK OF DOOM'. So yeah sorry. I gonna try to make the wait for new chapters shorter. (please don't send me a message about it, then I will be depressed and the chapters will come even slower)
On a different note, I would like to thank Cardcaptor Eternity, who has not only helped me (or tried to anyways...ima useless...-.-') but also has reviewed all my stories and chapters. So arigatou gozaimasu Cardcaptor Eternity, I really appreciate it. n.n
Warning for this chap: I don't really like Sasuke or Sakura...BEWAAAREEEE
"Speech"
"Though"
"Demon/Inner speech"
"Demon/Inner thought"
Minato and Naruto had exited the academy and were now walking through the streets of Konoha. Naruto were wondering where they were going, but he didn't want to ask knowing what the answer would be.
Naruto was starting to get impatient when the hospital came into view.
"Anou, are we going to the hospital?"
To Naruto's surprise Minato actually answered.
"Yeah, your new team is there"
"But why are they in the hospital?"
"You'll see" Minato said and grinned as Naruto sweat dropped. He should have known better.
Minato and Naruto had gotten to the hospital, and were now walking through the halls. As they stopped at a seemingly random door, Naruto heard a familiar voice behind it.
"Oh kami-sama, please don't let him be my sensei" Naruto thought. His prayers fell on deaf ears however, when he entered the room to find Jiraiya sitting on the bed. He was complaining about how the only doctors and nurses to see too his healing, had been male. Arashi was sitting in a chair next to him, rubbing her temples with a look of utter boredom on her face. They both were wearing the hospital pajamas.
"Otousan, what's going on?" Naruto asked getting the attention of everyone in the room.
Arashi looked up and immediately latched onto Naruto.
"Thank kami-sama your here. I've been listening to him for two hours straight, all he does is whine about everything!" Arashi sobbed into Naruto's shoulder, who were turning bluer by the second.
"Arashi, sweetie, I think you're choking him. He looks kind of like a blueberry" Minato told her.
She immediately let him go. "Oh, sumimasen, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just fine" Naruto wheezed while glaring at her. Arashi scratched behind her head and smiled sheepishly at him.
Naruto suddenly remembered something.
"Are you guys gonna be my teammates?"
"Hai! Isn't it great?" Arashi said happily.
"Well yeah, but how? You're a chunin, he's a sannin and we're one member short"
"As you know Arashi just became a chunin, while both her teammates are now jounin. And I don't feel that Arashi is quite ready for the higher rated missions" Minato explained, while Arashi crossed her arms and mumbled something the sounded like 'stupid overprotective parents'.
"But what about ero-sennin? Is that fair to the other teams?"
"Gaki, stop calling me that! And you two are the children of the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou. You might be targeted by other countries, for their defeat in war among other things" Jiraiya said seriously. "Besides you are like the grandchildren I never had. Do you really think I would let you run around alone out there? Yeah right!" He added cheerfully.
Minato and Naruto smiled, and Arashi giggled.
"But we're still one member short" Naruto reminded them.
"Don't worry, he'll arrive at the Hokage tower later this afternoon" Minato said.
"Who is it?" Naruto asked eagerly.
Minato chuckled. "You'll see"
Naruto sweat dropped and looked to Arashi.
"Don't look at me, he won't tell me either" Arashi said.
Naruto sighed. He would just have to wait until he arrived.
A little while later, when Minato had to go back to the office, Naruto and Arashi decided to go with him so they could meet their new teammate the moment he arrived. They were currently leaning on each other, sleeping on the guest couch in the Hokage office. Minato was sleeping on his desk on top of a stack of papers, a steady flow of drool coming from his mouth.
Someone suddenly knocked on the door, startling the three blonds awake.
Minato hurriedly wiped off the drool and some paper and ink, that had gotten stuck on his face.
"Come in" he said when he was ready.
Into the room stepped none other than Gaara.
"Glad you could join us Gaara" Minato greeted him.
"Hokage-sama" he greeted back, as he gave a small bow.
"Hey Gaara-niisan!" Naruto greeted his friend loudly, as he jumped off the couch and to Gaara. (Gaara is a little more than seven months older than Naruto)
Naruto and Gaara had been close friends since Minato had brought Naruto with him for a meeting in Suna, when he was six.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-Flashback-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Minato were traveling to Sunagakure no Sato to discuss the treaty between Konoha and Suna. They had had several meetings like this, only this time Minato had decided to bring his family, since Naruto was now old enough for the travel through the desert.
They had just now arrived, and were currently in the Kazekages office.
"Kazekage-dono" Minato greeted formally.
"Good afternoon Hokage-dono. I trust your journey went well"
"It was hot!" A young voice stated loudly.
Minato looked to his family that was standing behind him. More specifically, chibi Naruto.
"Naruto this is the Kazekage, you should show him some respect" Minato told him. "Even if he doesn't deserve it" he added in his mind.
"Gomen" Naruto mumbled. "But it was very hot!" He added a little louder.
"Ahh, Hokage-dono. I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting your family" the Kazekage said.
"Oh gomennasai. This is my wife, Kushina" he said as Kushina gave a small formal bow.
"My daughter, Arashi"
"Hajimemashite, Kazekage-sama" she said as she bowed deeply.
The Kazekage chuckled, but it somehow sounded fake. "Hajimemashite, himesama"
"And this is my son, Naruto"
"Yo" Naruto said as he waved.
Minato gave him a stern look, but the Kazekage just 'chuckled' again.
"You have a wonderful family, Hokage-dono"
"Thank you Kazekage-dono. I heard you had children as well, I am looking forward to meeting them"
"Of course. But first why don't we get you settled in?"
"Yes that sounds nice. It was a long trip" Minato said.
"And it was hot!" Naruto said a second after his father.
"Narutooo, we know that already!" Arashi said.
"I know, I just felt like saying it" Naruto mumbled.
"Now you two, take it easy. We are guests here, so no fighting" Kushina told them.
"Hai, kaasan" Naruto and Arashi said together.
"I have made arrangements for guest quarters at my home. Go to the receptionist, and she will have someone to take you there. I unfortunately have more work to do here" the Kazekage explained.
"Thank you Kazekage-dono" Minato said before he led his family out of the room.
As soon as their backs were turned, the Kazekages eyes narrowed.
"Does the Kazekage really have children?" Naruto asked when they had gotten to the Kazekages hose. It was more like a mansion, and just a little bit smaller than their own home. They were currently in what would be Minato and Kushinas' bedroom
"Yes, he has two boys and a little girl" Kushina answered him.
"Do...do you think they want to play with me?" He asked, a little more quietly.
Kushina, seeing the look on his face, stopped unpacking, sat down on her bed and lifted Naruto up on her lap. Minato also stopped unpacking, and was listening intently to their conversation.
"Why do you ask that?" Kushina asked him, even though she had her suspicions, only to be answered with silence.
"Because every time he tries to play with anyone, they run away or their parents tell him to leave" Arashi said quietly, when she saw Naruto wasn't going to say anything. Naruto just looked down.
After hearing this, Minato sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. Kushina hugged Naruto closer and started to gently rock from side to side.
"I'm sure they will want to play with you, sweetie. You know the Kazekages youngest son is about your age. I am sure you two will be good friends"
"Really? You think so?" Naruto asked, and looked up at her with big eyes.
"Yes. In fact, I know so" she said and smiled at him comfortingly.
"Now then, why don't you two go and explore the house? We will be staying here for about two weeks, so make sure you find the kitchen and the bathrooms" she said as she gave Naruto a last squeeze and put him down before standing up.
"Yay, exploring!" Arashi and Naruto yelled and ran out of the room.
Minato had been deep in thought during their little conversation. He was now staring at the door, with a sad expression.
"You did what you had to do to save the village when you made the seal. Please don't blame yourself" Kushina said softly as she sat down beside Minato.
Minato was quiet for a moment before he sighed.
"I thought they would see him as a hero, but they..." Minato trailed off and sighed again. "How could the villagers possibly believe such a sweet innocent boy, to be a murdering demon?"
"They are probably looking for a scapegoat. Someone to blame for the loss of their loved ones. But they are looking in the completely wrong places" Kushina almost whispered, as tears welled up in her eyes.
Minato put his arms around her, and kissed the top of her head.
"It will be okay. We'll figure out a way to make them see him as him" he said comfortingly, as his wife cried into his chest.
Naruto and Arashi had found three bathrooms on the second floor, not counting the ones in the rooms of course. They had now ventured downstairs in hopes of finding a kitchen. The first floor was quite a lot bigger than the second, so they ended up trying to find someone to ask for directions. The pair eventually found a small redheaded boy holding a teddy bear. He was looking out the window with a sad expression on his face.
"Excuse me, but do you know where the kitchen is?" Arashi asked.
The boy had obviously been caught up in his thoughts and not noticed them approaching, because he jumped nearly half a meter in the air at Arashi's question.
"Wh-what?"
They both giggled a bit at the boys' reaction and expression.
"We were wondering if you could tell us how to find the kitchen" Arashi said again.
"A-anou... it is at the other end of the house" the boy said hesitantly.
"Okay, other side. Thanks" Naruto said as he turned to leave, but before he even walked a step Arashi grabbed onto the back of his collar.
"And how are you going to get there?" She asked him, still holding his collar.
Naruto blushed slightly, and turned around, as Arashi let go of his collar. Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oh yeah, I don't know that... Could you show us?"
"S-sure, anou... follow me..." the boy said after a good amount of staring.
"What's going on?" Gaara wondered. "Normally kids run away when they see me, but these guys--"
"So, what's your name?" The girl asked, bringing him out of his musings.
"They don't know who I am?" "Sabaku no Gaara" "Will they run away now?" Gaara thought, but to his great surprise the two just smiled at him.
"Cool! My name in Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage dattebayo!" The boy stated loudly.
"You've made that your new introduction, haven't you?" The girl said.
"Of course" Naruto answered. The girl just sighed and shook her head.
"Anyway. My name is Namikaze Arashi, hajimemashite. Our father is here to meet with the Kazekage, so we got to come with him"
"So that's why..." Gaara mumbled quietly to himself, but Naruto heard him.
"What's why?" He asked.
Gaara hugged his bear closer and walked a little faster.
"Nothing"
Naruto and Arashi looked at each other and shrugged before speeding up so they didn't loose Gaara.
"So why are you here?" Naruto asked.
"What do you mean?" Gaara asked back.
"Well, I mean this is the Kazekages house, so I was just wondering what you were doing here. Do you live here?" Naruto asked, before Arashi hit him on the head.
"Itai! What did ya do that for?"
"You were being rude" Arashi stated as a matter of factly. Naruto just stuck his tongue out at her.
"It's okay" Gaara said quietly. "My father is the Kazekage, so yes, I live here"
To Naruto and Arashi it seemed as he got a little depressed when he mentioned his father.
"The kitchen is in here" Gaara said and pointed to a door right in front of them, before either of them could ask him about it.
"Ah, great" Naruto said as he fished a paper and a pencil out of his pocket. After he scribbled something down on it he showed it to Gaara and Arashi.
"Anou... it sort of looks like a fish eating a bunny on top of a tree growing mushrooms" Gaara said.
"Hmm, I think it looks like a bird on an angry lime spilling unsnapped potatoes" (AN: Credit goes to my brother for this one XD)Arashi contributed.
"No! It's a map!" Naruto stated angrily.
"Hmm, really? Are you sure?" Arashi asked innocently.
"Yes I'm sure! Stop making fun of me!"
Arashi just giggled as Naruto glared at her. Gaara found himself smiling at the antics of the pair. The moment was interrupted however, by a loud roaring sound.
"Eheh, hey Gaara got any food? I'm hungry" Naruto said making Gaara and Arashi sweat drop.
"...I'm sure you will find something you like in the kitchen" Gaara suggested.
"Oh yeah kitchen, right! Do you have any ramen?" Naruto asked but before Gaara could answer, Naruto had already rushed through the doors.
"Would you like to eat with us, Gaara-kun?" Arashi asked.
Gaara hesitated for a second as his brain stopped, before he nodded and followed Arashi after Naruto.
A little while later after they had eaten, they had brought some desert in the form of a box of cookies up to Gaara's room.
"You guys really like ramen" Gaara said, still wide eyed from watching Naruto and Arashi eat 17 bowls of ramen. Quite a feat, considering they were only 6 and 9 years old.
"Of course, it's the world's best food" Naruto said as he nodded to himself.
"Yeah, a meal fit for a daimyou" Arashi agreed cheerily.
"Ehh, I'll take your word for it" Gaara had never been a big fan of ramen. Actually, the only time he had eaten it, he threw up shortly after.
"So... what do you guys wanna do?" Gaara asked. This was a new situation for him, but unknown by Gaara, it was new for all of them. None of them had ever had to entertain guests or the like. After a moment of awkward silence, Arashi spoke up.
"We could play a card game, if you guys wanna?" Naruto was grateful to his sister for breaking the silence.
"Yeah, sounds good. Whatcha think Gaara?"
"Anou... hai, but I don't know any games" Gaara said a little sadly.
"Don't worry, we'll teach you" Naruto said with a huge smile.
"Okay, I'll go see if I can find some cards" Gaara said, finding himself smiling again.
A while after Gaara had left, Arashi saw Naruto giving the door small worried glances.
"Naruto? What's wrong?" Arashi asked him.
"Nothing" He said quickly.
"Nuh-huh, something is bothering you. What is it?" Arashi asked again while crossing her arms.
"... It's just... he'll come back, right?" Naruto asked, as he looked at his sister with big blue worried eyes.
Arashi's gaze softened and she let her arms fall to her sides again. But before she could say anything, Gaara stepped through the door holding a stack of cards in his hands. Arashi could see the relief flooding Naruto's face.
"Sorry I took so long, I had to ask someone to help me" Gaara said as he walked over to the siblings. "More like get them to stop running away" he thought to himself.
They sat down on the floor as Gaara handed Arashi the cards.
They played and talked for hours, learning a lot about each other. Naruto and Gaara were both stunned to find out they both had so similar lives. Arashi had already seen this coming. The first time they had seen Gaara, she had noticed the look in his eyes. She had seen that look too many times in her brothers eyes not know what it was. It was a look of loneliness and longing. They both had families that loved them of course (AN: This is before the Kazekage tried to have Gaara assassinated), but that wasn't always enough, especially for a small child. And to be subjected to so much hate at such a young age, you couldn't help but long for something else. Long to be loved.
Naruto was beginning to get tired, and with a loud yawn he curled up into a ball and promptly went to sleep, using the empty cookie box as a pillow.
"Anou, what is he doing?" Gaara asked Arashi, staring at the sleeping boy.
Arashi sighed. "He always does this when he is tired, no matter where he is he just lays down and goes to sleep. Were trying to wean him off it, but he is really stubborn"
Arashi crawled over to Naruto and started to poke him, trying to wake him. When that didn't work she bonked him on the head. Or she tried to, but her hand was stopped by what appeared to be sand.
"What the--? What's going on?" Arashi asked startled.
She looked over to Gaara, who seemed to be in shock.
"Hey Gaara, you okay?" She asked, momentarily forgetting about the sand as she waved a hand in front of his face, but Gaara just kept staring at Naruto.
"The sand... it's protecting him? How? Why? What's going on? This has never happened before...ugh!" Gaara lost his train of thought when his head started hurting, and the voice that always told him to hurt people came back.
"The boy is stealing your sand. Your sand. You can't let him get away with that. It is your sand and he is stealing it. He just waltzes into your home and steals your sand, are you going to let him do that!? He should be punished. Extract your revenge! Kill him, kill him kill him, kill him, Kill him, Kill him Kill him, Kill Him, Kill Him, Kill Him, Kill Him Kill Him Kill, Him, Kill Him Kill Him, Kill Him, Kill, Kill, Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
KILL!
KILL!
KILL!
KILL!
KILL!
KILL!
KILL HIM!
"No... no... no... I can't... I don't want to... hurt him... he's... my friend... can't hurt him..." Gaara muttered to him self as he clutched his head in his hand, with tears running down his face.
"G-Gaara, what's wrong? Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Do you need help? Should I go get somebody? Gaara? Please answer me, Gaara!" Arashi was starting to panic. First the weird sand, then Gaara zoned out moments before he started clutching his head as if in pain, muttering something. When he started to cry Arashi got extremely worried.
Naruto, hearing his sisters distressed voice, slowly woke up.
"Wa's go'n on?" He asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes. When he noticed Gaara he immediately woke up.
"Gaara?" Naruto asked quietly after getting seated next to Gaara. "Are you okay?" He asked and put his hand on the older boys shoulder.
As if on cue Gaara's head stopped hurting and the voice went away. Gaara stopped crying and muttering to look up. The first he saw was four pools of warm blue, staring worriedly at him.
"Gaara, are you okay?" Naruto repeated his question.
"...Y-you made it go away..." Gaara said incredulously.
"What?" Naruto asked confused.
"... Th-the voice" Gaara pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself.
"What voice?" Arashi asked, now incredibly worried for her new friend.
"... it has always been there... it keeps telling me to do things... to hurt people..."
What happened next surprised Gaara. Instead of them leaving like he had thought, the blond siblings hugged him.
Gaara gasped as he quickly lifted his head, eyes wide.
"We won't leave you Gaara. I promise" Naruto said, as if he had read Gaara's mind.
"Un, we promise" Arashi agreed.
"...you...arigatou" Gaara felt his eyelids slowly closing. He knew he was falling asleep, but just couldn't bring himself to care. Naruto and Arashi soon followed, and fell asleep themselves.
This was how Minato found them when he had gone to find out where his children had disappeared off to. The three of them were curled up on the floor next to each other, with Gaara in the middle. All had small smiles on their faces. It made Minato wish he had brought the camera with him from the room.
Minato sighed, he knew he had to wake them up, they couldn't just sleep on the floor like that. But he didn't know if he had the heart to. Seal a monster in his own son? Sure. But ruin a moment of perfect adorableness such as this? Absolutely not.
He decided he would just have to go get Kushina so she could wake them up. She was better than he was at handling stuff like this.
But first he had to get his camera from the room.
The next two weeks followed much in the same manner. Wherever you could find Gaara or Naruto the other was not far away. Arashi was also with them some times, but she often preferred to be with Temari, Gaara's older sister. They had found out that they had a lot in common, plus the fact that Temari was just one day older than Arashi.
Then the day Naruto and his family had go back home came. All the kids were standing together in a group exchanging hugs and goodbyes.
"Don't worry. You'll see each other again. It doesn't even have to be a formal meeting, Kushina can come here for a couple of weeks sometimes if you miss each other too much. And I'm sure Gaara will have a chance to come to Konoha once in a while as well" Minato assured them with a smile.
At that the kids smiled, and with one last hug Naruto and Arashi joined their parents for their long trip home.
"It's hot!" Naruto whined in his head as they started walking.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-Flashback End-:-:-:-:-:-:-
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked Gaara.
"Let me explain that" Minato interrupted as he saw Gaara was about to speak. Gaara just nodded at him.
"Gaara is the third member of your team"
"Really? Are you serious?" Naruto asked excitedly. Minato just smiled and nodded.
"Yatta!" Naruto yelled as he pumped both his fists into the air, before he glomped onto Gaara. Gaara just grunted at the extra weight, and Naruto thought he heard him mumble, 'I really wish he would stop doing that'.
"But shouldn't Gaara-kun have gotten a team in Suna?" Arashi asked before hurriedly adding, waving her hands in front of her. "Its not that I'm not happy about you being here Gaara-kun, 'cause I doubt we could ever get a better teammate, and--"
"It's okay nee-chan, I get what you were saying" Gaara said smiling as tried not to fall over -a gourd was one thing but a constantly moving blond was another- deciding to save the poor girl from her dilemma. Arashi breathed a relieved sigh and turned to her father once again.
"I managed to convince the Kazekage to let Gaara become a Konoha shinobi in our last meeting" Minato explained.
"But you could have told us you know" Arashi complained.
"You got a weird sense of humor otousan" Naruto said from where he was sitting on Gaara's back.
"I would have to agree" Gaara said, and Arashi nodded, crossing her arms.
"No fair, there is three to one!" Minato said as he crossed his arms and pouted.
"Is it really okay for him to act like that?" It was not the first time Gaara wondered how this man, who were the opposite of his father in every way, had gotten the position of Hokage.
"Well anyway, Jiraiya wont get out of the hospital until tomorrow so, why don't you three go and catch up. I'm sure you will have a lot to talk about now that it has been so long since you have seen each other" Minato said smiling as he ushered them out of the office. Naruto pouted as he got off Gaara's back, to allow him to put his gourd back on. Once the door closed Minato put his hands together in a seal and a kage-bunshin popped into existence.
"You do paperwork, and I'll go out and eat lunch" the clone pouted but did as it was told, mumbling about 'evil creators' and the 'paperwork of doom'.
When Teuchi caught a glance of the three people entering the ramen stand, he immediately pulled out his extra large casserole.
"Hey Teuchi-jiji, give me four miso, four chicken, three shrimp and five beef! It's time to use that coupon you gave me" Naruto called out as he sat down at his usual seat.
"I would like three chicken, five miso, two shrimp and three vegetable please" Arashi said and sat down next to Naruto.
"Eww, how can you eat those...those..." Naruto stuttered as he made a face at his sister.
"Vegetables? They don't really taste that much, I just like the crunchiness"
Gaara just stared as Naruto's expression changed from disbelief to understanding. He still didn't understand the siblings' unique logic, nor did he understand how they could eat such massive amounts of ramen and still be fit.
"One chicken please, no noodles" Gaara said when he saw the ramen chef looking at him. This was not Gaara's first trip to the ramen stand, so Teuchi did not ask about the strange request. Gaara sat his gourd on the floor to lean on the counter, and sat down on the other side of Naruto.
"Coming right up! Good to see you again Gaara-kun" Teuchi replied. Gaara gave the man a small smile and nodded to him.
"Heh, he's here to stay this time. Gaara-niisan and Arashi-neechan are my new teammates" Naruto said happily.
"Oh. Congratulations, I was worried you would end up with someone like the Uchiha or one of his fan girls" Ayame said as she came out from the back room of the ramen stand.
"Ah, kami-sama! What a nightmare that would have been!" Naruto said as a shiver ran up his spine. "I feel really bad for the guy who actually ended up with the teme and a fan girl" he continued before saying 'Itadakimasu' and digging into the bowl of ramen Teuchi gave him.
"Aww man! What did otousan and Iruka-sensei have against that guy?" Arashi said before she too began inhaling ramen. One would think that she had better table manners than her brother, but she was just as bad, if not worse than Naruto when it came to eating.
Gaara, who actually had become accustomed to this, simply dodged the flying peaces of noodles and broth that came his way. Even though it was not a threat his sand would also protect him against flying food, but Gaara preferred to dodge so he would not have to go through his sand later to make sure there was nothing in there that would start smelling.
"No idea, but I really feel bad for him" Naruto said before diving into his ramen again.
"So what do you guys wanna do after we have eaten?" Arashi asked after she had finished some bowls and were waiting for Teuchi to make more.
Gaara simply shrugged and turned to Naruto, who had paused in his eating to think. After a couple of seconds his face lit up and he snapped his fingers.
"Aha! I know what we can do" he said happily.
"What?" Arashi asked.
Naruto immediately got a mischievous grin on his face.
"I'm not going pranking with you" Gaara interrupted before Naruto had a chance to tell them anything. Naruto's face fell as he slumped on his stool
"Damn it! How do you always know what I'm gonna say?" Naruto whined as he pouted at Gaara.
"When you think about pranking anyone, you get a look on your face that makes Shukaku cry" Gaara said completely serious. (Like the face he makes in episode 101. That was creepy as hell...)
"Really?! I make Shukaku cry? Heh, I must be greater than I thought" Naruto said as he started laughing.
"Actually, he says you remind him of someone he used to know"
"Oh" Naruto and Arashi went quiet after that, thinking of what Mizuki had told Naruto about the Kyuubi. Gaara looked at them curiously for a second before his eyes widened a bit in realization. Gaara closed his eyes and sighed.
"You know, don't you?" He asked Naruto, who together with Arashi, looked up at him startled.
"You know about the fox?" Naruto asked startled. Gaara nodded.
"How long?" Arashi asked.
"Since that first night when we fell asleep. Turns out that if you are close by and I go to sleep Shukaku goes into kind of a trance like or even drugged state. I can do or ask him anything I want without him biting my head off" Gaara chuckled a bit by the end.
"So that's why whenever Naruto is close the Shukaku leaves you mostly alone, because of the Kyuubi" Arashi said, and Gaara nodded.
"Cool, glad I'm able to help you niisan" Naruto said cheerfully as he went back to his ramen. Arashi and Gaara stared at Naruto. He really was handling this better than either of them had expected he would. They had both been dreading the day their otouto would find out about the monster inside him, but he had just accepted it and went on with his life. They both smiled before continuing on their lunch.
The trio had finished their lunch and was now walking aimlessly through the streets of Konoha.
"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Arashi asked again. And again Gaara simply shrugged and both looked to Naruto. Naruto noticing them looking at him shrugged as well while trying to think of something.
"We could go spy on ero-aniki's team introductions. He should be picking them up right about now"
"Why?" Gaara asked.
"Why the spying or why the lateness?" Naruto asked back. Gaara thought for a second.
"Both"
"Well, it would give us something to do, and I wanna know how he's gonna handle having Sasuke-teme, a love struck geek and a weirdo as a team. As for why he's gonna be late" Naruto shrugged again. "Don't know, he just always is. Otousan started telling him to come about two hours before everyone else to meetings years ago" Naruto said and laughed a bit at the last part.
"Well, since we don't have anything better to do, why not? Might be fun, and you kind of got me curious about how he will handle the situation" Arashi said.
They both turned to look at Gaara, who simply sighed.
"Sure, let's go" then it was settled, and they set off to the academy.
Once they got there they saw Kakashi leaning on the banister of the roof, nose in his book as always. They quietly jumped up into a tall tree so they could watch without being discovered.
Once in the tree they noticed that Kakashi was alone on the roof.
"Do you think they already left?" Arashi asked, but got no answer because at that moment the three in question walked through the door and sat down on the stairs in front of Kakashi.
"Ehe, never mind" Arashi said sweat dropping.
Down on the roof Kakashi gave no indication that he knew of the three hiding in the tree.
"If they ever learned to mask their chakra they could become quite good at spying. At least from a distance. Maybe I should talk to Minato-sensei later"
As Kakashi was thinking, the three genin in front of him became more and more confused and impatient.
"Anou, sensei? What are we doing here?" Sakura asked finally.
"Hmm...? Oh yeah, you guys. Gomen, I got caught up in my thoughts" Kakashi said as he put away his book and smiled at them. Or they thought he was smiling, because of his right eye curving into an inverted u.
"Well anyways, we should get started. Why don't you tell me about yourself?" Kakashi asked.
"Well what do you want to know?" Sakura asked again.
"Just tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams of the future, just basic stuff like that"
"Anou...why don't you go first sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi sighed; he was annoyed with her already.
"Sure, I can start. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like a lot of things, and I dislike some things. I don't really feel like telling you my dreams. Hmm... I have a lot of hobbies" He finished with another eyesmile.
"So all we found out was his name" was the thoughts of the three genin sitting on the stairs. The three up in the tree were having trouble containing their laughter and trying to not fall out of the tree.
"Okay then pinky, why don't you go next?" Kakashi suggested.
"PINKY!? What the hell kind of nickname is that!?" Inner Sakura fumed, while on the outside Sakura only looked slightly miffed.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like reading and...--glance--squeal-- my dislikes are loud blonds -Naruto and Arashi frowned at that and Gaara smirked- my hobbies are...--glance--squeal-- my dreams for the future would be to --glance--blush--squeal--"
"Uh-huh, interesting. Okay the guy with an obsession for the color brown next" Kakashi said.
It did indeed look like Seijou had an obsession for brown. His eyes were a dark brown, and his hair was brown with lighter brown highlights. He was wearing a dark brown jacket, with a lighter brown T-shirt underneath. His pants reached down just below his knees and were somewhere in between the T-shirt and jacket in color. On his hands he had fingerless dark brown gloves with a metal plate on the back. And he had the normal shinobi sandals in brown. He had even died the cloth on his hitai ate brown, witch he wore on his forehead.
"My name is Higoro Seijou. I like training with my clan or my friends, I dislike the color pink and cows" everyone looked a little weirdly at him at that.
"He dislikes cows? What the--? " Inner Sakura stuttered.
"My hobby is taking care of my pet squirrel, Risu-chan. And my dreams for the future would be to be able to lead my clan right"
"Okay good. Next is the brooding duck-butt" Kakashi said cheerfully.
Sasuke, other than the tick appearing on his forehead, didn't seem fazed by the comment.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There is not many things I like, and there are a lot of things I dislike. I have no particular hobby. And my ambition for the future is to kill a certain man" Sasuke finished darkly, leaving five sweat drops, and hearts in Sakura's eyes.
"Okay, I've got a bookworm with a crush, a weirdo with a squirrel and a brooding duck butt-headed avenger. This is just great!" Kakashi thought to himself sarcastically at the end. Okay, time to bash their hopes inn!" He added cheerfully.
"Now that we've got that over with, let me explain the real genin exam to you. And you in the tree might wanna come down here for this. I doubt Jiraiya is going to explain this to you properly once he gets out of the hospital"
"What are you talking about sensei? There is no one in the tree. And what do you mean real genin exam?" Sakura asked confused, and slightly worried they had gotten a mentally ill sensei ("What do yo mean 'mentally ill' The guy is nuts!"). Just as she finished three people came jumping out of the tree showing them that Naruto, Arashi and some guy they hadn't seen before had been spying on them this entire time.
Sakura and Seijou were confused as to why they hadn't seen them and Sasuke was silently fuming because he hadn't known anyone was watching.
"Thought you could hide from me, did you?" Kakashi said, his eye crinkling to let them know he was smiling.
"No, but we knew we could hide from them" Naruto said jerking his thumb in the direction of Sasuke, Sakura and Seijou.
"Hey! We--"
"What, you didn't see us did you?" Arashi interrupted Sakura.
"Maa maa, before you start fighting, could you let me explain you exam?" Kakashi spoke, making everyone shut up and pay attention.
"Good, now then, you should know that the academy graduation was simply to see who had the potential to become a genin. Tomorrow I will test if you have what it takes to stay a genin. This test has a 66 percent probability of you failing in witch case I will send you back to the academy. I unfortunately can't tell you any more than that, other than a piece of advice to my team" Kakashi suddenly went serious.
"Don't eat anything tomorrow or you are going to throw up" team 7, including Sasuke, gulped. This test would have to be really hard.
"Oii, ero-aniki?" Naruto suddenly said, making all of team 7 wonder who he was talking to.
"What Naruto?" Kakashi answered, making team 7 even more confused than they originally were.
"I was wondering, nee-chan is on my team, but she is a chunin, so would she go back to the academy too if we fail ero-sennin's test?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure Jiraiya-sama and your father has a plan on what would happen if that was the case. But don't worry Arashi, it is most likely you would stay a chunin and simply be placed on a different team" Kakashi answered, trying to quell their worries.
They all nodded, and looked slightly relieved.
"Well then, team 7 you are dismissed. Meet at training ground 3 tomorrow at 7 am, don't be late" Kakashi said, stressing the last part.
"I'm not your sensei so you guys just go do whatever. I'm gonna go now" he said, turning to Naruto, Gaara and Arashi.
"Sure, so we'll see later?" Naruto asked.
"Unless you plan on skipping dinner" Kakashi replied.
Kakashi had been living with the family for some years, after his apartment accidentally burned down. And since the Namikaze house/mansion was so big, it was easy to turn a corner of it into a one man apartment.
It had one bedroom, one bathroom and a joined living room and kitchen. Kakashi had insisted it not be any bigger than that, he already felt like he was intruding in their home. And even though Kakashi had his own kitchen and was a decent cook, he still ate dinner with the family.
Unfortunately team 7 did not know this, so they were just standing there looking like idiots trying to figure out what was going on.
"Skipping dinner!? Are you crazy?" Naruto said, to witch Kakashi chuckled.
"Well then, ja" Kakashi said before disappearing in a plume of smoke.
"So...what should we do now?" Naruto asked. Arashi and Gaara merely shrugged.
"Hey!" Sakura yelled. "Stop ignoring us!"
"Hmm, shouldn't you be getting ready for ero-aniki's test? It's probably gonna be really tough" Arashi said.
"How do you know our sensei?" Sasuke asked as he walked over to them.
"Well he's otousan's last living team member from their genin team. Of course they would stay in touch, so we have known him almost all our lives. He's part of the family, kind of like an older brother" Arashi answered.
"Perverted older brother" Naruto whispered to Gaara, who gave a small laugh.
"If he is the last then your father must suck as a shinobi" Sakura said with a smirk.
"Sakura" Seijou said sharply. "Didn't you pay attention before? You just insulted Hokage-sama"
"I wha-? No I-" Sakura spluttered.
"Baka" Gaara said quietly but everyone heard him.
"And who are you? I haven't seen you before, are you from another village?" Sasuke said while narrowing his eyes at Gaara, who just stared right back.
"I think what he meant to ask was, are you new here?" Seijou said politely, deciding to play peace maker between the two teams.
And Gaara... kept staring, making all of team 7 sweatdropp. This went on for another 10 seconds, until...
"You hair looks like the rear end of a duck" Gaara said with a completely straight face. Seijou just smacked himself on the forehead with his hand.
"Hey don't insult Sasuke-kun" Sakura shrieked. Said boy was currently seething, if you looked closely you could see steam coming out of his ears.
"It was not an insult, I was merely stating a fact" the ever calm Gaara replied, shifting his gaze from Sasuke's hair to Sakura, successfully making her shut up.
"...he creeps me out" Sakura had to agree with her inner self as a shiver ran up her spine.
Naruto and Arashi were currently in the process of rolling around on the ground trying to get their laughter under control.
"Whatever" Sasuke said stiffly before hurriedly fleeing. He was not particularly fond of being made fun of, but for some reason he felt like he really didn't want to fight the weird creepy guy. He could find out who he was some other time.
"Ah! Sasuke-kun, matte kudasai! Do you want to go on a date with me?!" Sakura yelled after her crush before setting of after him.
Seijou just sighed and shook his head. "I almost wish we don't pass tomorrow"
"I really pity you Seijou. To be on a team with both the emo duck-butt head and the bubblegum-banshee" Naruto trailed off. "Good luck, you're gonna need it"
"Thanks" Seijou muttered before tuning to Gaara. "Am I ever gonna get to know who you are?" He asked somewhat exasperatedly.
"Sabaku no Gaara, hajimemashite" Gaara said with a small bow, leaving a somewhat stunned Seijou.
"Higoro Seijou, hajimemashite" Seijou mimicked Gaara earlier move and bowed as well. "So you just wanted to piss of my team mates, is that it?"
Gaara smiled, making him actually look his age. "Precisely"
Seijou laughed a bit. "Well, whatever, I got to go and get ready for tomorrow. See you around" with that, he waved and went for the door.
"Sure, see ya" Naruto and Arashi said together, while Gaara nodded.
After Seijou had left silence reined on the rooftop. After a while Naruto once again asked, "So...what now?"
Kitsune: FINALLY DONE! This #¤& chap has given me so many #¤& headaches and migraines I thought I was going to DIE!
Arashi: Yeah. I hate writers blocks -- ...and since when did you ever know language like that o.O
Kitsune: Since this #¤& chap... it made me depressed T.T
Arashi: O.O You were depressed? You're usually so happy I sometimes think you're the the source of all happiness...KAMI-SAMA THE UNIVERSE IS COMING TO AN END!
Kitsune: Oh noes! We has to pack and move to another universe! Someone get tha chocolate, and tha cookies, and tha pizza! AND FOR THA LOVE OF KAMI REMEMBER THA POCKY!
Arashi: Uhh...never mind, lets just do the disclaimer -.-
Kitsune: Okay! C: --does tha drumroll-thingy--
Arashi: --sigh-- ...Arashi Kitsune-sama does not own Naruto
Kitsune: Yeah! She's not a sportsdrink!
Arashi: Neither is Masashi-sama -.-
Kitsune: Oh... then forget Ima said anything C:
Arashi: ...baka
AN: Again, I'm sooooo sorry for tha long wait! Every time I got an idea it would disappear whenever I got a chance to write it down -.-' It was seriously depressing, not to mention one of tha most annoying things ever!
Well anyways, I am thinking about adding a pairing in the story and want your opinion on the matter. I have set up a poll in my profile and would be really happy if you would vote and possibly send me a review of your reason as to why I should or should not add a pairing. Please keep in mind that this is my first multichap story and I have absolutely no experience in making a pairing, so it could potentially ruin the story.
And just so you know I hate the scene with Kushina and Minato in the bedroom -.- but that was honestly the best I could manage.
And sorry about Kusina's gift, it sorta slipped my mind...ehe. So it will hopefully be in the next chap or I might just drop it, it is not significant to the story so...yeah.
Well then, 'till next time.
Ja Ne
Arashi Kitsune-sama
AN2: I have changed the poll, you will now be able to only vote if you want a background pairing or not. I have already chosen a pairing for Naruto, it will be NaruHina for any of you who is interested.
AN3: I removed the poll again. More info in the next chap.
Please review, they are fuel for my imagination C:
Translations:
Kami(-sama) - God
Sensei - Teacher
Sumimasen - Sorry
Hai - Yes
Niisan - Older Brother
Sunagakure no Sato - Village Hidden in the Sand (or something like that -.-')
Hajimemashite - How do You do?, Nice to Meet You
Himesama - Daughter of a Nobleman
Itai - Ouch
Anou - Say, Well, Errr
Sabaku - Desert (Sabaku no Gaara - Gaara of the Desert (translator) it's Gaara of the Sand Waterfall on wikipedia though)
Daimyou - Japanese Feudal Lord
Un - Yeah, Uh Huh
Itadakimasu - Said Before Meals
Otouto - Younger Brother
Risu - Squirrel
Matte Kudasai - Please Wait
-San/-Kun/-Chan/-Sama/-Dono - see profile
--
If I missed any please tell me so I can fix it C: