Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Opposites Attract
Of Red Skies And Twisted Trees
1 reviewThe heat of the desert can affect one's mind, but can it affect one's heart as well?
0Unrated
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I do own a Three Days Grace CD^^
Opposites Attract
Lee sat upon the roof of his bedroom in Suna, the slight breeze making his hair tickle his forehead. He sighed at the sheer tranquility he was feeling at the moment. It seemed as though all his problems had disappeared and that time itself was standing still. Lee loved taking walks in the evening or just sitting on the roof like he was doing now, anything that would give him this feeling.
That is, until he heard a strange noise and looked down, where he spotted someone being attackted in an ally.
Instantly, Lee lept to his feet and was down in about a second. Pulling his bandages tighter, prepared for a fight, he stopped; frozen.
It had been Gaara who had been attackted. He didn't look harmed, but his attackers sure did. Blood was splatered all over the sides of the buildings and what was left of the bodies were but small mounds of torn apart flesh.
Lee's breath hitched in his throat; the sight was to gruesome. What had they tried to do to Gaara to make him attack them, and attack them so messily at that.
Speaking of Gaara, Lee looked down to see that the Kazekage was sitting on the ground, back leaned against the wall; his gourd was leaned against it beside him.
Lee looked for any traces of a wound, but found nothing. Apparently Gaara had felt eyes upon him, because he turned to stare at Lee.
And then he disitegrated into sand and was blown away by the soft breeze drifting through Sunagakure.
Lee awoke from his nightmare with cold fingertips. That had been stranger than the one from the night before.
He sighed and pulled himself out of bed and to the bathroom, where he splashed his face with cold water and stared at himself in the mirror for a few minutes.
What he saw was a frightened, disoriented and disturbed shinobi.
Lee thought that maybe he had caught some kind of mental illness from being in the desert so long, it seemed the only logical explantion for his dreams.
After drying of his face, Lee walked over to his curtains and pulled them open. The sunlight outside assaulted his night-ajusted eyes and made them burn.
The sun was already up, and up quite high at that. Lee quickly got dressed and ran downstaris, wondering how he had overslept.
"Whats the rush?"Kankuro asked, pulling his head out of the fridge to see Lee.
"I overslept!"Lee blurted out, gesturing to the window. Kankuro followed his hand movement and laughed.
"What?!"Lee asked, he was rather annoyed that Kankuro was laughing at him.
"It's only seven in the morning"Kankuro said, pulling his head out of the fridge and putting some water on the stove.
"What! How is that possible?"Lee replied, rather taken back.
"The sun always rises early in Suna, and it stays up at night longer too. And since The Dry Season starts tomorrow it'll come up even earlier"Kankuro explained, grabbing two coffee cups.
"Oh"was all Lee said, taking a seat.
The two waited for the water to boil and when it did, Kankuro made some coffee and gave some to Lee. It tasted worse than anything he had ever tried, but Lee had been brought up with very good manners, and he wasn't about to disrespect his host.
Sipping his distasteful coffee, Lee's mind went back to his nightmare, the blood splattered walls and torn apart flesh. He shivered as he remebered the gruesome details.
Lee's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of a sliding door opening and closing. He turned to see who was coming in from outside.
Gaara walked into the kitchen, his presence sending little needle pokes up and down Lee's spine. It wasn't that he feared Gaara, it was just a little after shock from his dream.
Without a word, he took a seat beside Lee and stared absent mindedly out the window at his village.
"Good morning, Gaara"Lee said, smiling at the young boy whom Lee was trying to become friends with.
Gaara stared at him like he was a crazy person for a minute or two before nodding.
Temari came down the steps a few moments later, yawning a little.
"Anyone want breakfast?"she asked, smling happily.
"Yes, please"Lee said, remebering just how hungry he was.
"No"Gaara said, shifting in his seat before he got up and walked down the hall.
"Wheres he going?"Lee asked, curious.
"His room, most likely"Temari answered, taking some bread out and putting it in the toaster.
After the toaster popped and everyone had eaten their share, Temari rose from her seat and walked down the hall in the same direction as Gaara.
The sound of a door being opened and an unhappy Gaara telling his sister to go away floated to Lee's ears.
After a moment the two appeared from Gaara's room. An annoyed expression upon his face.
"C'mon Shorty, we need to go get you fitted for some new Kazekage robes"Temari said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the door. "You've grown"
"Your the one who just called me short"he growled at his sister.
"Well, that's not exactly what I meant, I mean you've grown....In other places"she said, clearing her voice.
He gave her a questioning look, "Like where?"
"The uhh, upper leg area, kiddo"she replied, looking as if she were trying to hold back laughter.
Gaara just glared daggers at her.
"Hey, it's not my fault you started puberty late"she said, opening the door and pulling him out with her. "We'll be back noon-ish"
Lee and Kankuro nodded and once they were sure Temari and Gaara were down the street, they both burst out laughing.
"What's all the noise about?"Shikamaru asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Oh, nothing"Kankuro replied, holding back more laughter.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but he didn't bother asking again.
"So, what do you want to do today?"Kankuro asked, tossing an apple at the shadow nin behind him.
Shikamaru caught it with ease and took a bite, chewing toughtfully. "What do you want to do?"
Lee remebered he needed to get some training in but the thought was soon pushed aside when he checked the thermometer that was outside the window. He'd go when it got cooler.
"We could go into town when it's not so hot out"Kankuro suggested. The Kazekage tower was in the middle of the village, with plenty of watchtowers around it. It was a fair walk to the stores and shops.
"Sure"Lee said, he needed some new clothes anyway.
"Good, Go wake your friends then"Kankuro said, taking his and Lee's plates and cups to the sink.
Lee nodded and hurried up the stairs, where he proceeded to knock on Naruto's door.
A sleepy Naruto answered the door, he growled at Lee for waking him.
"Kankuro told me to wake you"Lee replied, smiling.
Naruto huffed, "I'll be out in a minute"
Lee nodded and proceeded to knock on all the other doors until he found Hinata's.
"Y-yes?"she asked timedly.
"Kankuro told me to wake you"Lee answered, once again flashing a smile.
The Hyuga nodded and told Lee that she just had to change and she'd be out.
Lee walked down the stairs, wondering how he would survive three months in Sunagakure.
After everyone was dressed and ready for the day, Kankuro opened the door and stepped outside, beckoning for them to follow. The temperature wasn't neccasarly cool, but it was an improvement to the day before. The five made their way to town, weaving inbetween the buildings and towers until they reached their destination.
Suna had many amazing things for sale. There was weapons and desert gear, colorful trinkets and elegant jewlry, clothing and many other interesting things on display.
Lee emidiatly picked out a dark green short-sleeved tunic and a pair of dark brown pants. He walked up to the owner of the kiosk and pulled some coins out of his pocket. The vendor took them happily and wished him luck with the rest of his shopping.
Lee walked over to Shikamaru, who was at a book stand, admiring a large white book. The pages looked like they had been leefed through daily and the spine was starting to split, but Shikamaru tucked it under his arm, where plenty of other old books were already waiting.
Shikamaru noticed Lee and gestured for him to come over, Lee obeyed the silent order and approached his friend.
"What's with all the books?"Lee asked, wondering why Shikamaru would spend his well earned money on a bunch of old, used, dirty, dusty books.
"If we're staying here for three months, I'm going to need something to do. Sleeping is great but I can't hibernate"the shadow nin replied, tossing a handful of silver coins at the man who owned the kiosk.
"They look sort of old. Arn't you worried they'll fall apart?"Lee inquired.
"These are classics! And I got them pretty cheap to"Shikamaru replied, transfering the books to a pack that he must have bought somewhere else.
"Hey, guys! Come here!"Naruto wailed from a stand by the book kiosk that Shikamaru had been at.
The two approached their friend and looked at him with questioning looks.
"Can I borrow some money?"he asked, grinning like a fool.
"You don't have any?"Lee asked, rather annoyed at the orange clad ninja.
"I forgot it at the tower"he replied, sounding dissapointed.
"What for?"Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.
Naruto raised his arm and pointed at the sign above the stand he stood at, which read 'Suna Palm Reading'.
"No"Shikamaru replied.
"Please?"Naruto begged.
"No"
"PLEASE?"
"Nope"
"P-L-E-A-S-E?"
"Nuh-uh"
"PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP?!?"
"Nah"
"PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY AND WHIPPED CREAM AND SPRINKLES AND CHOCOLATE SYRUP AND MARSHMALLOWS AND CARAMEL CAND-"
"Fine, just shut up!!!"Shikamaru said. He was really annoyed at the ninja before him.
Naruto grinned and held out his hand for the money.
"We'll all try it"Shikamaru said, handing the elderly lady a couple of coins.
All three held out their palms.
The elderly women started with Naruto. She traced her wrinkled fingers over his plam for a moment and then looked up.
"You are going to embarress yourself infront of someone exetremly important"the old women croaked, moving onto Shikamaru's hand.
"You are going to be defeated in a game which you have never lost"
Finally, she got to Lee. The old women traced her fingers along the youthful boy's hand for a little longer than the rest until she smiled and looked up at him.
"You will make a new friend who will trust you with everything. But something unexpected will happen along the way"
The three thanked the lady and went off in search of Hinata and Kankuro.
Lee spotted Hinata by a jewlry stand and rushed over to greet her.
"Hey Hinata! What are you buying?"The taijutsu specialist inquired, looking cheerful as usual.
"O-oh, just th-this neckl-lace"she replied, holding it up.
The necklace was quite beutiful, with a velvet black cord and a glass starfish that had little spots of blue and red and yellow in it.
"It's lovely"Lee said, smiling his 'nice guy' smile.
Hinata paid for it and joined their party.
"Okay, where's Kankuro?"Shikamaru wondered aloud.
"Oh, hey guys!"said puppet master appeared behind them with a small bag in his hand.
"What's that?"Lee asked, pointing to the bag he held in his hand.
"Oh, just a little surprise for Gaara"the hooded boy grinned darkly and Lee was kind of expecting evil music to start playing.
"Speak of the devil"Shikamaru said, the others turned to look in the direction he was looking in.
Gaara and Temari were walking towards them, a very unhappy look upon the Kazekage's face. His arms were crossed and his posture was slumped. Temari was grinning like a fool ,carrying a large bag that probably held Gaara's Kazekage robes.
The two walked up to the other group.
"Hey guys, how'd your shopping go?"Temari asked, smiling.
"Pretty good"Lee replied, sneaking a glance at the Kazekage.
"Let's go already"Gaara said, walking off in the direction of home.
The others shrugged and followed the scowling boy.
When they finally reached the Kazekage tower, Gaara opened the door, which was never locked because nobody would ever try to steal from Sabaku no Gaara.
"What's he so pissed off at?"Kankuro asked his sister, who was still grinning.
"When we got to the tailor, he kept on commenting on how much Gaara looks like mom an-"Temari's whispering was cut off by her youngest brother glaring daggers at her.
"Then why are you smiling?"Kankuro asked, wondering if his sister was starting to lose it.
"The whole way back I was tormenting him about the dreaded Puberty"Temari replied as if it were the simplest thing in the whole world.
"And he didn't kill you? I'm impressed"Kankuro said, snickering slightly.
The two stopped their snickering as their brother suddenly stopped, going tense.
"Gaara?"Kankuro questioned, approaching his brother.
The young Kazekage's eyes were glazed over and distant looking. Everyone within a five-hundred mile ratius could feel the chakra coming from the small boy.
"Gaara!"Kankuro repeated, gripping both of his shoulders.
Still no answer.
Kankuro started to shake him rather violently, yelling at him to wake up, but the Kazekage seemed to out of it to notice.
Frustrated, he smacked his brother hard, sending him to the ground, where he curled up into a small ball, shaking slightly.
Both siblings ran over to their brother, who remained in the fetal position.
"Gaara?"Temari called quietly, placing a hand on his head as he continued to shake. There was no mistake, the blood-thirsty demon's chakra was pratically exploding inside the small boy.
Soon Lee and the rest of the Konoha ninja's rushed over to the three.
"I'm not going to let you escape, demon"
"I don't think you have any say in the matter"
Gaara glared at the large sand raccoon before him, only to be greeted with two blood thirsty eyes that seemed to crave something.
"I want to see blood"the raccoon sneered, grabbing the Kazekage's tunic and pulling him closer.
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "This is MY village, and I won't let you kill anyone here"
"What about those other ninja"the raccoon didn't ask, he demanded.
"I've managed to contain you for many years, do you think I'll let you out now?"the redhead asked, staring into the demon's eyes with a look of disgust.
The raccoon let out a noise so loud that the very ground shook. The writhered, twisted trees seemed to bend at it and the blood red sky seemed to echo the laughter through Gaara's mind. He would remember that sound.
"You think that your all mighty and powerful, don't you? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm the one suppling that power"
Gaara was then tossed violently to the ground by the demon, who continued to laugh.
He growled and stood, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"Now"Shukaku said, grabbing him once again, "You will let me out of this hell hole"
Then, the most unexpected thing happened. Gaara began to laugh. But it was not one of joy or pleasure, It was one that he had used long ago, when the influence of Shukaku had been greater, and he had lost it in battle. It was the phychotic laugh of a killer.
"I control my mind, demon, and I'll do as I please"
As if on que, the ground lept up in a tsuname of sand. The demon didn't seem frightened of the boy's power or the attack bearing down on him, but instead a smile appeared upon his face.
"What the hell are you smiling at?"Gaara growled. Hating the demon before him.
"That's the brat I know"Shukaku mocked, punching him in the stomach.
The air was knocked out of him as he hit the ground again. This time he crawled to his knees and coughed up some blood.
"Bastard"he murmured, glaring at the beast who just grinned.
"Is it my fault that your a weakling?"
"Shut your hideous excuse of a mouth"
"Come now, don't be that way"the monster mocked. "You know that your weak and you know that I'm going to kill everyone close to you"
"No you will not"Gaara replied in usual monotone, drawing himself back up to normal height.
"Don't try and fight me, you'll just end up harming yourself"
Gaara growled and fought to control his anger. This raccoon thought that he could call Sabaku no Gaara weak? He thought he would escape and kill the people close to him? Well that wasn't about to happen if Gaara could help it.
Shutting his eyes to concetrate all his energy, Gaara began making complicated hand seals. If you were to blink you would miss most of them.
"What are you doing now, brat?"the demon asked, approaching.
With a horrible sound, the barren terrain that was Gaara's mind lept up, swirling and closing in on the Tail. This time it would work.
The sand began to sweap in from all angles, enclosing the beast in a prison of sand that hardened in a mear second.
The murderous smile Gaara had worn before returned, as he lowered his hands slowly, preparing for the death blow. In the blink of an eye, he smacked his hands to the ground, the sand following his commands. The round jail disappeared into the ground, taking the demon with it.
Gaara knew that he was not completely vanquished, but he would stay there for a few days, letting the Kazekage live in peace for a while.
"Gaara! Gaara?! Please wake up!!"Gaara awoke from his dreamy state to his sister holding him, begging him to snap out of it. She was rocking back and forth slowly, fresh tears falling from her eyes.
"Temari?"he choked out, his voice sounded raspy and hoarse, as if he hadn't used it for quite some time.
"Gaara! Oh god, what happened!?"she sobbed, pulling him closer so that he was literatly in her lap.
He refused to meet her questioning stare, or anyone elses for that matter.
"Please tell us"Temari said, calming herself down.
Freeing himself from his sister's death grip, he attempted to stand up, but fell down back into her lap. Seeing how weak his sibling was, Kankuro picked him up and carried him to his room, where he proceeded to place him in his bed.
"You know, you really had us worried there"Kankuro said after a few moments of silence.
Gaara simply nodded, staring at the walls.
"Are you ready to tell me what happened yet?"Kankuro inquired, staring at the young Kazekage.
Gaara shook his head, before drawing his knees up and resting his head on them.
^^
A/N:Alrighty, sorry about the late update, my mind has been under the influence of the acursed writers block!!!-insert scary music here-
Anywho, I hope you all liked this chapter^^(btw, underlined and italics means in Gaara's head, and he can be harmed in his head, it just kinda hurts him mentally)
-Nightsahdow
Opposites Attract
Lee sat upon the roof of his bedroom in Suna, the slight breeze making his hair tickle his forehead. He sighed at the sheer tranquility he was feeling at the moment. It seemed as though all his problems had disappeared and that time itself was standing still. Lee loved taking walks in the evening or just sitting on the roof like he was doing now, anything that would give him this feeling.
That is, until he heard a strange noise and looked down, where he spotted someone being attackted in an ally.
Instantly, Lee lept to his feet and was down in about a second. Pulling his bandages tighter, prepared for a fight, he stopped; frozen.
It had been Gaara who had been attackted. He didn't look harmed, but his attackers sure did. Blood was splatered all over the sides of the buildings and what was left of the bodies were but small mounds of torn apart flesh.
Lee's breath hitched in his throat; the sight was to gruesome. What had they tried to do to Gaara to make him attack them, and attack them so messily at that.
Speaking of Gaara, Lee looked down to see that the Kazekage was sitting on the ground, back leaned against the wall; his gourd was leaned against it beside him.
Lee looked for any traces of a wound, but found nothing. Apparently Gaara had felt eyes upon him, because he turned to stare at Lee.
And then he disitegrated into sand and was blown away by the soft breeze drifting through Sunagakure.
Lee awoke from his nightmare with cold fingertips. That had been stranger than the one from the night before.
He sighed and pulled himself out of bed and to the bathroom, where he splashed his face with cold water and stared at himself in the mirror for a few minutes.
What he saw was a frightened, disoriented and disturbed shinobi.
Lee thought that maybe he had caught some kind of mental illness from being in the desert so long, it seemed the only logical explantion for his dreams.
After drying of his face, Lee walked over to his curtains and pulled them open. The sunlight outside assaulted his night-ajusted eyes and made them burn.
The sun was already up, and up quite high at that. Lee quickly got dressed and ran downstaris, wondering how he had overslept.
"Whats the rush?"Kankuro asked, pulling his head out of the fridge to see Lee.
"I overslept!"Lee blurted out, gesturing to the window. Kankuro followed his hand movement and laughed.
"What?!"Lee asked, he was rather annoyed that Kankuro was laughing at him.
"It's only seven in the morning"Kankuro said, pulling his head out of the fridge and putting some water on the stove.
"What! How is that possible?"Lee replied, rather taken back.
"The sun always rises early in Suna, and it stays up at night longer too. And since The Dry Season starts tomorrow it'll come up even earlier"Kankuro explained, grabbing two coffee cups.
"Oh"was all Lee said, taking a seat.
The two waited for the water to boil and when it did, Kankuro made some coffee and gave some to Lee. It tasted worse than anything he had ever tried, but Lee had been brought up with very good manners, and he wasn't about to disrespect his host.
Sipping his distasteful coffee, Lee's mind went back to his nightmare, the blood splattered walls and torn apart flesh. He shivered as he remebered the gruesome details.
Lee's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of a sliding door opening and closing. He turned to see who was coming in from outside.
Gaara walked into the kitchen, his presence sending little needle pokes up and down Lee's spine. It wasn't that he feared Gaara, it was just a little after shock from his dream.
Without a word, he took a seat beside Lee and stared absent mindedly out the window at his village.
"Good morning, Gaara"Lee said, smiling at the young boy whom Lee was trying to become friends with.
Gaara stared at him like he was a crazy person for a minute or two before nodding.
Temari came down the steps a few moments later, yawning a little.
"Anyone want breakfast?"she asked, smling happily.
"Yes, please"Lee said, remebering just how hungry he was.
"No"Gaara said, shifting in his seat before he got up and walked down the hall.
"Wheres he going?"Lee asked, curious.
"His room, most likely"Temari answered, taking some bread out and putting it in the toaster.
After the toaster popped and everyone had eaten their share, Temari rose from her seat and walked down the hall in the same direction as Gaara.
The sound of a door being opened and an unhappy Gaara telling his sister to go away floated to Lee's ears.
After a moment the two appeared from Gaara's room. An annoyed expression upon his face.
"C'mon Shorty, we need to go get you fitted for some new Kazekage robes"Temari said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the door. "You've grown"
"Your the one who just called me short"he growled at his sister.
"Well, that's not exactly what I meant, I mean you've grown....In other places"she said, clearing her voice.
He gave her a questioning look, "Like where?"
"The uhh, upper leg area, kiddo"she replied, looking as if she were trying to hold back laughter.
Gaara just glared daggers at her.
"Hey, it's not my fault you started puberty late"she said, opening the door and pulling him out with her. "We'll be back noon-ish"
Lee and Kankuro nodded and once they were sure Temari and Gaara were down the street, they both burst out laughing.
"What's all the noise about?"Shikamaru asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Oh, nothing"Kankuro replied, holding back more laughter.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but he didn't bother asking again.
"So, what do you want to do today?"Kankuro asked, tossing an apple at the shadow nin behind him.
Shikamaru caught it with ease and took a bite, chewing toughtfully. "What do you want to do?"
Lee remebered he needed to get some training in but the thought was soon pushed aside when he checked the thermometer that was outside the window. He'd go when it got cooler.
"We could go into town when it's not so hot out"Kankuro suggested. The Kazekage tower was in the middle of the village, with plenty of watchtowers around it. It was a fair walk to the stores and shops.
"Sure"Lee said, he needed some new clothes anyway.
"Good, Go wake your friends then"Kankuro said, taking his and Lee's plates and cups to the sink.
Lee nodded and hurried up the stairs, where he proceeded to knock on Naruto's door.
A sleepy Naruto answered the door, he growled at Lee for waking him.
"Kankuro told me to wake you"Lee replied, smiling.
Naruto huffed, "I'll be out in a minute"
Lee nodded and proceeded to knock on all the other doors until he found Hinata's.
"Y-yes?"she asked timedly.
"Kankuro told me to wake you"Lee answered, once again flashing a smile.
The Hyuga nodded and told Lee that she just had to change and she'd be out.
Lee walked down the stairs, wondering how he would survive three months in Sunagakure.
After everyone was dressed and ready for the day, Kankuro opened the door and stepped outside, beckoning for them to follow. The temperature wasn't neccasarly cool, but it was an improvement to the day before. The five made their way to town, weaving inbetween the buildings and towers until they reached their destination.
Suna had many amazing things for sale. There was weapons and desert gear, colorful trinkets and elegant jewlry, clothing and many other interesting things on display.
Lee emidiatly picked out a dark green short-sleeved tunic and a pair of dark brown pants. He walked up to the owner of the kiosk and pulled some coins out of his pocket. The vendor took them happily and wished him luck with the rest of his shopping.
Lee walked over to Shikamaru, who was at a book stand, admiring a large white book. The pages looked like they had been leefed through daily and the spine was starting to split, but Shikamaru tucked it under his arm, where plenty of other old books were already waiting.
Shikamaru noticed Lee and gestured for him to come over, Lee obeyed the silent order and approached his friend.
"What's with all the books?"Lee asked, wondering why Shikamaru would spend his well earned money on a bunch of old, used, dirty, dusty books.
"If we're staying here for three months, I'm going to need something to do. Sleeping is great but I can't hibernate"the shadow nin replied, tossing a handful of silver coins at the man who owned the kiosk.
"They look sort of old. Arn't you worried they'll fall apart?"Lee inquired.
"These are classics! And I got them pretty cheap to"Shikamaru replied, transfering the books to a pack that he must have bought somewhere else.
"Hey, guys! Come here!"Naruto wailed from a stand by the book kiosk that Shikamaru had been at.
The two approached their friend and looked at him with questioning looks.
"Can I borrow some money?"he asked, grinning like a fool.
"You don't have any?"Lee asked, rather annoyed at the orange clad ninja.
"I forgot it at the tower"he replied, sounding dissapointed.
"What for?"Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.
Naruto raised his arm and pointed at the sign above the stand he stood at, which read 'Suna Palm Reading'.
"No"Shikamaru replied.
"Please?"Naruto begged.
"No"
"PLEASE?"
"Nope"
"P-L-E-A-S-E?"
"Nuh-uh"
"PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP?!?"
"Nah"
"PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY AND WHIPPED CREAM AND SPRINKLES AND CHOCOLATE SYRUP AND MARSHMALLOWS AND CARAMEL CAND-"
"Fine, just shut up!!!"Shikamaru said. He was really annoyed at the ninja before him.
Naruto grinned and held out his hand for the money.
"We'll all try it"Shikamaru said, handing the elderly lady a couple of coins.
All three held out their palms.
The elderly women started with Naruto. She traced her wrinkled fingers over his plam for a moment and then looked up.
"You are going to embarress yourself infront of someone exetremly important"the old women croaked, moving onto Shikamaru's hand.
"You are going to be defeated in a game which you have never lost"
Finally, she got to Lee. The old women traced her fingers along the youthful boy's hand for a little longer than the rest until she smiled and looked up at him.
"You will make a new friend who will trust you with everything. But something unexpected will happen along the way"
The three thanked the lady and went off in search of Hinata and Kankuro.
Lee spotted Hinata by a jewlry stand and rushed over to greet her.
"Hey Hinata! What are you buying?"The taijutsu specialist inquired, looking cheerful as usual.
"O-oh, just th-this neckl-lace"she replied, holding it up.
The necklace was quite beutiful, with a velvet black cord and a glass starfish that had little spots of blue and red and yellow in it.
"It's lovely"Lee said, smiling his 'nice guy' smile.
Hinata paid for it and joined their party.
"Okay, where's Kankuro?"Shikamaru wondered aloud.
"Oh, hey guys!"said puppet master appeared behind them with a small bag in his hand.
"What's that?"Lee asked, pointing to the bag he held in his hand.
"Oh, just a little surprise for Gaara"the hooded boy grinned darkly and Lee was kind of expecting evil music to start playing.
"Speak of the devil"Shikamaru said, the others turned to look in the direction he was looking in.
Gaara and Temari were walking towards them, a very unhappy look upon the Kazekage's face. His arms were crossed and his posture was slumped. Temari was grinning like a fool ,carrying a large bag that probably held Gaara's Kazekage robes.
The two walked up to the other group.
"Hey guys, how'd your shopping go?"Temari asked, smiling.
"Pretty good"Lee replied, sneaking a glance at the Kazekage.
"Let's go already"Gaara said, walking off in the direction of home.
The others shrugged and followed the scowling boy.
When they finally reached the Kazekage tower, Gaara opened the door, which was never locked because nobody would ever try to steal from Sabaku no Gaara.
"What's he so pissed off at?"Kankuro asked his sister, who was still grinning.
"When we got to the tailor, he kept on commenting on how much Gaara looks like mom an-"Temari's whispering was cut off by her youngest brother glaring daggers at her.
"Then why are you smiling?"Kankuro asked, wondering if his sister was starting to lose it.
"The whole way back I was tormenting him about the dreaded Puberty"Temari replied as if it were the simplest thing in the whole world.
"And he didn't kill you? I'm impressed"Kankuro said, snickering slightly.
The two stopped their snickering as their brother suddenly stopped, going tense.
"Gaara?"Kankuro questioned, approaching his brother.
The young Kazekage's eyes were glazed over and distant looking. Everyone within a five-hundred mile ratius could feel the chakra coming from the small boy.
"Gaara!"Kankuro repeated, gripping both of his shoulders.
Still no answer.
Kankuro started to shake him rather violently, yelling at him to wake up, but the Kazekage seemed to out of it to notice.
Frustrated, he smacked his brother hard, sending him to the ground, where he curled up into a small ball, shaking slightly.
Both siblings ran over to their brother, who remained in the fetal position.
"Gaara?"Temari called quietly, placing a hand on his head as he continued to shake. There was no mistake, the blood-thirsty demon's chakra was pratically exploding inside the small boy.
Soon Lee and the rest of the Konoha ninja's rushed over to the three.
"I'm not going to let you escape, demon"
"I don't think you have any say in the matter"
Gaara glared at the large sand raccoon before him, only to be greeted with two blood thirsty eyes that seemed to crave something.
"I want to see blood"the raccoon sneered, grabbing the Kazekage's tunic and pulling him closer.
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "This is MY village, and I won't let you kill anyone here"
"What about those other ninja"the raccoon didn't ask, he demanded.
"I've managed to contain you for many years, do you think I'll let you out now?"the redhead asked, staring into the demon's eyes with a look of disgust.
The raccoon let out a noise so loud that the very ground shook. The writhered, twisted trees seemed to bend at it and the blood red sky seemed to echo the laughter through Gaara's mind. He would remember that sound.
"You think that your all mighty and powerful, don't you? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm the one suppling that power"
Gaara was then tossed violently to the ground by the demon, who continued to laugh.
He growled and stood, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.
"Now"Shukaku said, grabbing him once again, "You will let me out of this hell hole"
Then, the most unexpected thing happened. Gaara began to laugh. But it was not one of joy or pleasure, It was one that he had used long ago, when the influence of Shukaku had been greater, and he had lost it in battle. It was the phychotic laugh of a killer.
"I control my mind, demon, and I'll do as I please"
As if on que, the ground lept up in a tsuname of sand. The demon didn't seem frightened of the boy's power or the attack bearing down on him, but instead a smile appeared upon his face.
"What the hell are you smiling at?"Gaara growled. Hating the demon before him.
"That's the brat I know"Shukaku mocked, punching him in the stomach.
The air was knocked out of him as he hit the ground again. This time he crawled to his knees and coughed up some blood.
"Bastard"he murmured, glaring at the beast who just grinned.
"Is it my fault that your a weakling?"
"Shut your hideous excuse of a mouth"
"Come now, don't be that way"the monster mocked. "You know that your weak and you know that I'm going to kill everyone close to you"
"No you will not"Gaara replied in usual monotone, drawing himself back up to normal height.
"Don't try and fight me, you'll just end up harming yourself"
Gaara growled and fought to control his anger. This raccoon thought that he could call Sabaku no Gaara weak? He thought he would escape and kill the people close to him? Well that wasn't about to happen if Gaara could help it.
Shutting his eyes to concetrate all his energy, Gaara began making complicated hand seals. If you were to blink you would miss most of them.
"What are you doing now, brat?"the demon asked, approaching.
With a horrible sound, the barren terrain that was Gaara's mind lept up, swirling and closing in on the Tail. This time it would work.
The sand began to sweap in from all angles, enclosing the beast in a prison of sand that hardened in a mear second.
The murderous smile Gaara had worn before returned, as he lowered his hands slowly, preparing for the death blow. In the blink of an eye, he smacked his hands to the ground, the sand following his commands. The round jail disappeared into the ground, taking the demon with it.
Gaara knew that he was not completely vanquished, but he would stay there for a few days, letting the Kazekage live in peace for a while.
"Gaara! Gaara?! Please wake up!!"Gaara awoke from his dreamy state to his sister holding him, begging him to snap out of it. She was rocking back and forth slowly, fresh tears falling from her eyes.
"Temari?"he choked out, his voice sounded raspy and hoarse, as if he hadn't used it for quite some time.
"Gaara! Oh god, what happened!?"she sobbed, pulling him closer so that he was literatly in her lap.
He refused to meet her questioning stare, or anyone elses for that matter.
"Please tell us"Temari said, calming herself down.
Freeing himself from his sister's death grip, he attempted to stand up, but fell down back into her lap. Seeing how weak his sibling was, Kankuro picked him up and carried him to his room, where he proceeded to place him in his bed.
"You know, you really had us worried there"Kankuro said after a few moments of silence.
Gaara simply nodded, staring at the walls.
"Are you ready to tell me what happened yet?"Kankuro inquired, staring at the young Kazekage.
Gaara shook his head, before drawing his knees up and resting his head on them.
^^
A/N:Alrighty, sorry about the late update, my mind has been under the influence of the acursed writers block!!!-insert scary music here-
Anywho, I hope you all liked this chapter^^(btw, underlined and italics means in Gaara's head, and he can be harmed in his head, it just kinda hurts him mentally)
-Nightsahdow
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