Chapter 15
A/N TIME SKIP!
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Naruto had just entered what was supposed to be a training ground but clearly wasn’t because training grounds weren’t usually full of holes, weapons, blood and- you know what they usually were however most training fields had lots of trees. This one was barren.
Squinting her eyes she saw there had previously been trees here however they had all been destroyed leaving only their stumps behind.
Looking around she saw the three heads she had been looking for, kind of. She waved nervously to Temari as the elder blonde made her way over to her, giving the younger girl a nervous smile. “Sorry about this, Gaara’s going a bit over-board.”
“No shit. I swear, there’s more blood here than when Sasuke and me spar and that’s saying something since we both know several A and S rank jutsu’s.” she whistled at the sight, not understanding how whatever Gaara had been doing was capable of such destruction. Unless it was a bijuu-dama then it was understandable.
“Forgive us Namikaze-hime. We did not mean to cause such damage in which they would send you to us.” Spoke Baki as he bowed to her causing her to wave her hand and laugh.
“Oh that’s not why I’m here. I’m here for a social call. Kind of. I need to speak with Gaara and Temari.”
During the past two weeks she had gotten very close to the three siblings. Konkuro, whilst still a flirt, wasn’t trying to pursue her, Temari was an amazing girl friend to have like TenTen however she understood the jinchuriki part of her life more than TenTen.
Then there was Gaara.
He wasn’t overly fond of her however he spoke a lot more now than he did before and often initiated conversations whenever they saw each other, which sadly wasn’t often since they both had training to do.
Gaara dutifully made his way over to the two blondes as Baki bowed once more before making his way to Konkuro leaving the three of them to go wherever they pleased.
They walked over to Ichiraku as Naruto began, “Well I have good news. I’ve finished your seal Gaara. I just want to run a couple of tests on you to be absolutely certain it will work without any drawbacks.”
“You mentioned something like that before but never specified. Could you elaborate?” asked Temari as they left the general vicinity of training grounds.
“Uh well… there really aren’t many. Basically if it doesn’t work you go back to the way you were before. Your chakra control might suck but I’ve got that part covered.”
Nodding Gaara spoke up, “What will you require of me this time?”
“Well… I’m gonna put some chakra into this practice seal I’ve made and I need you to push your own chakra into it as well.”
“Why did you put your chakra into it?” asked Temari as went past they went past the shinobi bar.
“Did I not tell you? Apparently not. Well basically, I’m fusing part of myself into this chakra to help you get better control over Shukaku. Whilst I don’t have the best chakra control, the chakra I’m fusing you with will basically keep Shukaku at bay. Sort of like the seal I used to help you sleep however this will be a lot stronger and permanently ‘tebayo.” She nodded vigorously as if her explanation was easy to understand however the sand siblings didn’t understand her simplified explanation.
Deciding to humour her they went along with it, Temari feeling the rock in her stomach grow heavier as she saw the blonde’s bright smile, and the way her blues eyes sparkled as she looked to her youngest brother.
Once again she contemplated whether or not she should tell her about the upcoming attack however she knew doing such would go against her village and kage, an act of treason.
Swallowing the bile in her throat, she forced her guilt away however only managing to shift it away from mind temporarily.
“Oh, have you managed to do that seal for your teammate? Sasuke?” asked Temari, hoping to change the subject.
Naruto nodded, “Yeah, sadly I couldn’t take it away completely but I did manage to remove most of it. It was kind pf twisted really. There’s a reason I dubbed Orochimaru as ‘Pedo hebi’.” She aired quotation marks causing Temari to laugh.
Naruto’s light mood was removed, however, as images raced through her mind.
The arena filled with sleeping people.
Suna attacking with the help of Oto.
Orochimaru fighting against the sandaime.
Gaara in Shukaku mode, rampaging Konoha and her citizens.
‘Well things will apparently be getting interesting soon enough.’
‘Shut up.’ She replied weakly.
She could feel herself being held by two sets of arms as the ache in her head caused several black dots to cloud her vision. As she tried to blink them away she heard muffled voices.
After what seemed to be an hour but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes she finally got a hold of her bearings and saw she was being held against Gaara as Temari searched her to see what was wrong with her, eyes frantic as she regarded the honourable daughter.
Breathing deeply she ignored the heat rising on her cheeks as she panted out, “I-I’m fine… Temari. Just a headache.” She quickly detached herself from Gaara’s hold even though she wanted nothing more than to remain against him.
She shook her head as she looked everywhere but at them, “I’ll- I’ll call you guys when I’m ready for the sealing, hopefully sometime tomorrow or the day after so… be prepared.” With that she scuttled off, not before getting Gaara to do as she requested.
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Temari watched as the younger blonde ran quickly, most likely to hide her embarrassment over being held by Gaara however she couldn’t shake the feeling that it might have been something more than that.
Shaking her head, knowing they hadn’t said or done anything incriminating in front of the blonde the two siblings stood still before Gaara carried on walking through the village.
Deciding it was best to watch over him Temari joined her youngest brother only to see he had taken them to the Sarutobi estate. She rose a brow to her brother, unsure how he knew where this place was and slightly concerned over that fact as well. It was no secret that Naruto lived here she really didn’t want to think her youngest brother was spying on the poor, unsuspecting blonde.
“Gaara? What are we doing here?” she asked as soon as they stopped at a tree.
She received no reply after thirty seconds and thought she wasn’t going to get one yet to her surprise he answered, “She seemed… distressed when she left us. I can feel her inside this building.”
He left out why he felt the need to come here yet Temari felt like she already knew the reason, yet didn’t allow it to delude her. She knew Gaara was slightly fascinated with the young blonde however he wasn’t that fascinated. Although even she would admit to wanting to know why the blonde had ran off like that, it wasn’t like her. Not that she knew her very much, she had only known the younger girl for nearly 3 weeks now yet it had felt longer.
Shaking her head she noticed a large white haired man in a red hiori with a hitai-ate that had the katakana for oil on it. She recognised this man as Jiraiya of the sannin, Konoha’s gama-sannin. Orochimaru’s team-mate who had declared the snake his rival.
She raked her brain for a reason, any reason why Jiraiya would be here in Konoha when she recalled Naruto having let her know the man would be her teacher whilst her jonin instructor taught the Uchiha. She also recalled he was the teacher of her father, as well as her god-father.
At the time she hadn’t paid very much care to the fact, why wouldn’t her godfather teach her? But now with how she had acted earlier, it could be a problem. Jiraiya had a wide spy network that expanded to every corner of the five elemental nations, including Sunagakure. In essence, that could mean Jiraiya knew about the invasion and Naruto could have been told to keep her eye on the three of them however she didn’t think Naruto could be as open as she had been and be a spy at the same time.
But then again, the girl knew politics and democracy as well as seduction, the three of those things made a very bad combination when you were in the receiving end.
Not wanting to stay and risk being sensed, she cautiously took a hold of Gaara’s arm to try and take him back however he refused to budge. She turned back to look at her brother only to see his eyes had changed.
Shukaku had taken over.
Partly.