Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Glimpses of Fire ❯ Omake 1: Chance Meetings ( Chapter 20 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Glimpses of Fire
Author: shattered-words

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it'd be called 'Gaara'. So, isn't it a shame that I don't own it?

Summary: There were many things that shaped the plans of a certain Nukenin, and one was a shinobi that was as destructive as fire. AU/Mentions of Shounen-ai/Yaoi/Yuri [Linked to 'Caught in the Rain']

AN: This is a side chapter that has nothing to do with the main story line of GoF, but this will matter in GoD, so that's why I wrote it. Once again, sorry about any mistakes, since I don't have a beta anymore. T.T Please enjoy.

She was moving her body ever closer to the exhaustion that was threatening to consume her, but still she wouldn’t stop or catch her breath. Her muscles screamed in protest as she drove them to greater lengths than they were use to and after a few more minutes, they gave out on her and she collapsed in a mindless heap of flesh.

There were tears running down her cheeks from sparkling emerald orbs and hair the color of midnight tumbled into her features. Her lithe frame shuddered as she took in each breath and then withdrew it. There were no other sounds but the beat of her own heart pounding against her ribcage.

Erizawa Iwane wanted nothing more than to lay there forever and silently weep. She had gone off to train on her own today and while she loved Amane to no ends, she had needed to be alone. It had been two days since they’d met Eizan in the forest and the girl had disappeared once more.

She stumbled to her feet but faltered as she took a step and used a nearby tree to keep her from crashing to the ground again. A hand came up and wiped her dirty face and froze when she heard a twig break behind her. Her hand immediately found a kunai and she quickly spun around.

Short blue hair and wide lavender eyes was all she saw as she heard a ping within her ears and the world went black before she even hit the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hinata gasped as the Suna-nin swayed and a moment later hit the ground in unconsciousness. She hurried over to him and checked him over despite the fact that he was a stranger from another village. He was an ally after all.

His breathing was normal and besides a few scrapes and bruises, he seemed relatively fine. She brought her hands into familiar seals as her Byakugan was activated. Using it, she was able to see that his chakra flow and heart rate was elevated, but normal. She also saw that he was a she.

A blush spread over her face when she realized that the winking, grinning boy that had made her eyes stray from Naruto, was a kunoichi, like herself. She found herself sighing as the veins on the side of her face faded and her eyes returned to their pupiless state.

She stayed kneeled over the still figure for a long time, wiping Iwane’s face with a makeshift cloth and water from her canteen, and rearranging her limbs into a comfortable position. It was nearing four in the afternoon when the older girl stirred with a hiss of pain.

Hinata quickly reached out to still her movements as she shifted around. She squeaked in shock a moment later when she found herself on the ground, pinned under the glaring Suna-nin, a kunai at her throat. The other paused in surprised when she saw her and only removed the weapon, but didn’t let her up.

“What...?” she began, but didn’t even know what to say to the girl under her.

“Y-you fainted,” Hinata told her, blushing heavily from being pinned under the taller kunoichi. Her eyes were averted when those emerald orbs shifted to meet hers as they narrowed. They lifted to the sky that could barely be seen through the trees when she seemed to noticed something.

“How long have I been out?” Iwane asked in confusion. It looked to be much later than she remembered it being. Also, her face didn’t feel itchy with dirt or her tears and when she lifted a hand to inspect it, she realized that it had been wiped clean and her small wounds had been treated.

“M-maybe about f-four hours,” she stuttered nervously, still seeing that the kunai was gripped in the hand that had her held down, the elbow and forearm pressing her into the ground.

The earth user’s eyes widened when she heard this, mouth opening and closing before she could respond. “Four hours! Kuso!” She rolled off the girl and stood but swayed and felt a hand steady her almost immediately. Iwane was surprised when she saw that it was Hinata. ‘She’s pretty fast, but she is a Hyuuga.’

She twisted free but muttered a thanks and then sighed. “I can’t believe I missed lunch,” she whined, her lips set in a pout.

Hinata almost giggled and realized now why she’d noticed the girl. She was a lot like Naruto, and like the blonde, she saw that deep sorrow in her emerald eyes that was also hidden in the blonde’s blue orbs.

“Y-you can share mine,” she told her hesitantly, holding out the bento that she hadn’t eaten yet. “Although i-it might be a b-bit stale.”

Iwane turned to look at the girl, finding the stuttering adorable and had it been any other day, she might have tried to smother the girl in a hug. However, at the moment she was saddened when she remembered why she was out here. She merely smiled slightly at the girl as she nodded.

Again, Hinata saw that pain in the other girl’s eyes and wanted to embrace her but she merely blushed at her thoughts and nodded as well. “W-would you like t-to go to a be-better place?”

“Hai,” she muttered and followed the shorter girl after the other let her gather her equipment. Her eyes were fixed on the back of her head the whole way, letting her gaze get lost in the silky, blue hair and finding a bit of calm.

When she finally looked around her surroundings, she noticed that they had come to the Hokage monument, stopping just above the heads of the previous leaders’ of Konoha. She faltered when she remembered that she’d last been here with Eizan, the night before the second part of the exam.

She wanted to turn and run from this place but saw the other girl waiting for her and sighed. There was something about this girl that brought a sense of calm to her. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t know anything about her past and what she’d been through.

Iwane hurried over to the smaller girl and gave her a grin but knew that it looked forced, but at least it seemed to reassure the other. “Well, let’s see this famous bento of yours,” she said, drapping an arm over her shoulders and causing her to most likely blush all the way to her toes.

“H-hai,” she mumbled and they both sat where they could see all of Konoha spread out beneath them. She undid the cloth wrapped around it to reveal the slightly bigger than normal lunch box.

“Sugoi, that’s a lot for someone like you to eat,” she exclaimed and saw the other stuttered out a reply.

“I u-usually share m-most of it with Kiba-kun,” the Hyuuga heiress explained. “B-but he is h-helping Shino-kun t-train for the e-exam.” She took out two pairs of chopsticks, and used the lid of the bento to seperate the lunch, giving more to Iwane.

The Erizawa didn’t hesitate to give the Konoha female back some food so they had the same amount. “So they’ve left you alone?” She shook her head as if in disappointment. She started to quickly eat after a quick utterance of “Itadakimasu”. “You know, you should tell them that you want to help as well,” she said between mouthfuls. “After all, you are part of the same team.”

Hinata was surprised by her words and thought about that as she picked up her half of the lunch and started to eat, but she did it at a slower pace than the other. She watched the black-haired girl through her eyelashes, hoping that she wouldn’t notice her staring. It seemed that she did after a few moments.

“Can't take your eyes off me, huh?” she asked with a cheeky grin, setting the lid aside. She leaned back a bit and observed the girl sitting in front of her, blushing once more due to her comment.

“G-gomen,” she apologized quickly as she diverted her eyes. “Are y-you okay now?” There was another question underlying her words but didn’t seem to want to voice it. Iwane was glad that she didn’t ask since she would not be able to say anything about it, even if she wanted to.

She tilted her head and then let her gaze wander to the side, the view of Konoha as breath-taking as the first day she had seen it. Iwane was almost sad to realize that her own village would rain death and destruction on such a wonderous sight. “Hai,” she commented quietly after a moment.

The Hyuuga was not convinced but didn’t say anything. “Are y-you enjoying your s-stay in Konoha?” she asked instead, her gaze joining the others’ to stare at the village spread out below them.

A laugh escaped the Sand-nin’s lips and turned to fix her with an intense stare. “It’s vastly different than Suna,” was the only thing she said, indirectly avoiding the question. She couldn’t get use to this place or enjoy training under the cool cover of trees, nor eating lunch in such a quiet, peaceful place.

She stood abruptly and the blue-haired girl glanced up at her in confusion. “I should be going.” Her gaze lingered on the younger girl and her green orbs grew sad. Hinata noticed this and was even more confused. “Ki o ts’kete, chibi.” She winked at her and quickly vaulted over the railing.

Hyuuga Hinata gasped and stood as she ran over to the railing. She looked down and blinked when she didn’t see any sign of the Suna shinobi. “Kochira koso,” she whispered, having a bad feeling after seeing that sad, distant look on the Suna shinobi’s gaze. It was almost like she knew that something bad was going to happen. The tear-streaks down her face when she’d found her were tell-tale signs of that.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her heart was pounding wildly in her heart as she fidgeted with her hitai-ate, now hanging around her neck. The long strands of her dark brown hair flowed down her back, and the sunlight caught in the natural blonde highlights and made it seem to sparkle slightly.

The outfit she’d picked out for this had been thoroughly researched and could say that it matched his own clothing. She had always found his clothing to be cute where others might find it to be a fashion disaster. Well, maybe she had thought the same thing at first too, but seeing him in it had become as natural as the bag in his hand.

She bit her lip as she saw him exit out of the restaurant and opened her mouth to call him, but it snapped shut as a familiar blonde followed. Sanako watched her drape her arm over his shoulder and say something to him with a too sweet smile. Tears stung her eyes as she stumbled back and she whirled around without another word.

Hideaki Sanako didn’t see Shikamaru exit after his teammates, followed closely by Asuma and only the genius noticed the fleeing girl. Meanwhile, the blonde started to choke the chip eating ninja for having said that Sakura and her were weak, since they’d lost their matches so easily.

“I forfeited because I knew I’d never be able to beat Shino, and Sakura held her own pretty well against that strong Suna-nin.” She huffed in annoyance, finally releasing teammate from the headlock he’d had him in. “If we’d faced each other, I can’t honestly say who would win.”

Nara Shikamaru had looked back to his team members with a smirk, clearly remembering the girl he’d seen. “Well, you should he happy that you didn’t have to fight any other kunoichi. The Suna ninja would have pulverized you immediately, Tenten would have beaten you and Sanako would have killed you.”

Ino blinked and glanced at him in confusion. “Sanako? She’s a leaf ninja, right? I doubt she’d have tried to seriously kill one of her fellow shinobi,” she said with a wave of her hand.

The lazy boy smirked as she glanced at Chouji and then back at his female teammate. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” he said knowingly. It just irritated Ino but he said nothing more as he walked ahead, and the other male quickly caught up with him, still eating his chips but also giving him a questioning glance. Shikamaru merely yawned and muttered something sounding like, “Troublesome.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan quickly straightened when she heard the door open after someone had knocked. “Naruto, are you ho-oh!” The man stopped when he saw the Sand-nin. “I didn’t know Naruto had company over.” He stopped when he saw the hitai-ate and frowned slightly.

“Konbanwa, Iruka-san,” she replied in a quiet, polite voice and bowed slightly. She motioned toward the door leading toward the bedroom. “Naruto-san is in his room. I have business to attend, so I will take my leave.” She walked to the kitchen where she lifted a pack and then quickly left without another word.

“How strange,” he muttered to himself, wondering where the teenager was heading to.


A few minutes later found Eizan in the shoping district, buying some food supplies, bandages and anything else that she would need for today. She also made sure to have a strong sleeping medication, just in case. Of course, it wasn’t for her.

She paused as someone stopped behind her and she turned and was slightly surprised when she saw that it was Kankuro. Her head tilted in greeting and nothing more as she continued with her shopping.

He seemed to want to say something and she beat him to it. “You have nothing to say to me,” she stated in a low voice. Her tone gave no room for argument, but the older ninja seemed reluctant to go.

She knew that he was aware of the plans and that both he and Temari had most likely known since the beginning. It was taking every ounce of self-control she had not to turn around and slit Kankurou’s throat.

“He’s changed,” he muttered. “He just hasn’t realized that, but he will. Soon.” It was almost like he was trying to reassure her and it made Eizan sick.

A bark of laughter escaped her mouth, sounding almost crazed and startling the shop owner so he moved away from them. “Changed?” she spat. “Stop talking nonsense, Kankuro.” It had been the first time she’d said his name, and frankly, it was their first conversation since they’d met. Although, they never really had met. Eizan was just there and neither had ever bothered to speak; one out of hatred and the other out of fear.

“He will never change. His father saw fit to turn him into the monster he is now, and you and Temari had a hand in it.” She paused and chuckled but there was no mirth there. “Not even I could change him and I was always by his side.” The kunoichi seemed to grow sad and it was unnerving for Kankuro to watch her.

He, like his sister, had always thought her to be as cold and unfeeling as the red head. The puppet master was almost guilty to realize that she was just another one of Gaara’s victim. She’d gotten the life sucked out of her, but she continued to live and feel the pain and sorrow.

“He will see his mistake,” he said firmly. He wanted to reach out and grasp her shoulder to turn her around and make her look at him, but he didn’t dare.

“You will say nothing more,” she silently warned.

Kankurou took this as his cue to leave. “Aa, Ki o ts’kete.” He turned and left the kunoichi and when he glanced back, she had already vanished into the crowd of people.

‘I hope he sees it before it’s too late.’ If Eizan was gone, Gaara would lose his last shred of humanity and then he didn’t know what would become of his younger brother.

Kankurou sighed and continued on down the street, not once noticing the cold stare from above him.


Eizan turned away from the older boy and glanced up at the fading sunlight as she gripped the fabric above her chest. ‘Kankurou, I wish your words were true.’ She hastily wiped at her eyes and moved on to where she needed to be right now.

She’d steel her heart for the next few weeks to come. There was nothing else to do, but fear gripped her heart when she remembered Orochimaru’s cruel yellow orbs. ‘I’m...scared,’ she admitted with surprise. Yes, she was frightened and didn’t know when light would shine on her life again after this.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Amane glanced around as she noticed a stare on her, already having heard his approach and after a brief nod she returned to her training. Truth be told, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with him at the moment, but she doubted he’d respect her need for silence and privacy.

“Spying on the competition?” she inquired when he made no move to leave or speak. The Itagaki knew that she shouldn’t be speaking to him but she found his unwavering stare unnerving. She almost reached out to make sure her prized possession was still hanging around her neck but she knew it was as it bounced against her skin with each movement.

She sighed and stopped and turned to face him. “Is there anything you wanted, Hyuuga-san?” she inquired when she couldn’t stand his stare any longer. It was obvious that she was still upset that he’d used the necklace as blackmail to recover the scroll.

Of course, in an actual battle situation she would have been killed for her stupidity but she couldn’t help her foolishness. The shell had once belonged to her first love, who had brought Iwane and her closer together after their friendship had deterioated during their childhood. Akuro had been the one that had also advised that they try to gradually let Eizan get use to them, instead of trying to force friendship on her right away.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she reassured him with a nod. “We both know you’re a teme.” Amane gathered her equipment and glanced at the ever silent Neji. “Stop apologizing, you’re embarassing me.” She saw him lift an eyebrow and she smirked.

“I didn’t,” he said. Her voice had been devoid of any emotion, but he knew she was being sarcastic. “But I do.” It was hard for him to say those words and glanced away and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but still no emotion on her face.

It was frustrating since he didn’t know what she was thinking. Then he wondered if that’s how people felt when dealing with him. It was slightly amusing to think so. Although like her, he didn’t let his nuetral expression change.

Amane knew a lot about hiding emotions, had done it all her life to please her father and grandfather. The one thing she’d ever defied them on was her desire to be a ninja, associating with Ashikaga Eizan, and changing her name and clothes. Her grandfather would have disowned her if it hadn’t been for her father, but she didn’t really care.

She’d stop hoping that her family would ever be one she could be proud of. Her father was a coward when dealing with her grandfather, and Hiroaki himself was a bonafide bastard. Motoki, her older brother, took after the elderly man. However, she hated her nii-san for a completely different reason.

“If you are, then that’s a good sign.” She turned away from him as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. His voice stopped her in her tracks.

“A good sign of what?” he questioned, finding her words to be odd.

Amane smirked as the sunlight quickly faded. “That you’re not turning into a complete bastard.” She chuckled and could almost swear she felt him smirk. “Keep at it, you’ll grow out of that jerk personality soon.”

“Aa, maybe,” he admitted. He turned and walked out of the clearing they’d been in.

Itagaki Amane raised her face to the heavens and almost felt guilty about what was to come, but she sighed and continued to walk. Some friendships were just not meant to be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan paused on the street and glanced at the white haired man standing outside of Naruto’s apartment. At a glance he didn’t appear to be too old but she remembered that the blonde had told her that he was being trained by “Ero-sennin”, or Jiraiya the Toad Hermit.

She had enough stored information on Konoha to know that he was part of the Legendary Three, which had once consisted of him, Orochimaru and Tsunade. They had apparently been part of the same Genin team under the tutelage of the Sandaime Hokage.

He turned to glance at her when she approached and she lifted an eyebrow when she realized that Naruto wasn’t with him. The blonde had been gone for two days straight but she hadn’t spent most of that time at the apartment so he might have returned while she had been out training or attending to other business. She refrained from speaking to him and continued to make her way to the entrance of the apartment building.

“Yo, Gaki,” he finally spoke to her, but she ignored him. “Where are your manners?”

The Ashikaga bristled at the kid remark but said nothing of it. “Where are yours?” she shot back. She had paused in the doorway and turned to look at him. “Where is Naruto-san?”

“That’s why I’m here.” There was a smirk on his face as she waited for him to tell her where the blue-eyed Genin was located. “He’s in the hospital because of chakra exhaustion. The brat’s been unconscious for two days.”

He left before she could say anything else as she frowned and turned to walk inside. She showered, changed and quickly departed for the hospital. When she did arrive it was to realize that the boy, Rock Lee, was still here.

Eizan’s features twisted in concentration when she remembered his fight against Gaara during the preliminaries. The leaf-nin’s injuries had been severe and she was surprised that he’d survived. She’d been more than impressed that he had stood after using that amazing technique and then having his arm and leg crushed by the red head’s sand.

She memorized his room number and quickly headed to Naruto’s room. When she arrived it was to see that the Genin wasn’t in bed and wondered where he had gone. He wasn’t inside the restroom and the nurse had no idea where he might have gone since he still wasn’t supposed to be out of bed.

The fire user sighed as she stuffed her hands into her pockets and moved down the hall in the direction of Lee’s room. She just wanted to make sure he was doing fine before once again trying to find Naruto. Her hand pushed the door open and froze at the sight that met her eyes.

Gaara was inside the room along with Naruto and another boy. She remembered his name was Nara Shikamaru, and his shadow was linked with the sand user’s shadow. A moment later it retreated and the sand started to move toward them. They were so engrossed with one another, that they apparently hadn’t noticed her yet.

“Gaara-dono?” she muttered before she could stop herself. She didn’t want to see him so soon but since the exam was tomorrow, she knew that it had been inevitable.

He turned and she saw that his eyes had become bloodshot and there was a strange grin on his face. She remembered that look even after so many years. She stepped back without realizing it.

The sand shot at her and slammed her into the wall behind her as she cried out, not hearing Naruto call out her name. All she felt was the grainy substance crushing her against the unmoving wall as she gasped for breath.

A shout was heard and she felt herself being released as she crumpled to the floor. She coughed and was trying to take in air when she felt someone helping her stand. Her gaze lifted and her blood-rimmed eyes locked with cerulean and after a moment they moved away and she saw Lee’s sensei standing just inside the room.

“I’ll kill you all, just you wait,” Gaara’s voice cut through her throughts and she turned to see him leave the room. His turquoise orbs fastened on her and she was startled with the hostility in them. He turned and headed down the hall without another look back.

She stepped in his direction and felt a hand hold her back. Her gaze returned toward the blonde and she saw him giving her a worried look. A sigh left her lips as she slumped against him and allowed him to lead her into the room they had just been in.

Maito Gai watched them for a moment before moving to check on his prized pupil. Shikamaru pulled up a chair for Eizan as he muttered about the whole situation being troublesome.

Naruto was speaking quietly to the Suna-nin that had yet to utter a word. Her hitai-ate had fallen off so her long bangs obscured most of her features and the expression on them. The blonde next to her had picked up the head band and slipped it into her slack fingers.

She muttered something and the blue eyed ninja leaned down to hear her and a frown twisted his features. “Come on,” he answered and helped her to stand and they left the room after he’d waved at Shikamaru and Gai.

The other two leaf-nin watched them leave with frowns. Shikamaru was concerned because of the relationship between Naruto and the Suna-nin when it was clear that Gaara was trying to kill Lee. Gai knew he had to report this to the Hokage so he also took his leave.

“So troublesome,” Shikamaru mumbled as he exited. He headed over to Chouji’s room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sanako stopped outside the room as the conversation inside reached her ears and her hand stilled on the doorknob when she recognized the female voice. She’d heard that he had been put in the hospital and had wanted to see how he was doing. After all, she did work here so she could use the excuse that she was checking up on him by order of the doctor.

Her hands curled into fists as she turned away from the room that had ‘Akimichi’ next to the door. She walked down the hall, not noticing another figure coming down the hall she’d just come from, but that person did notice her.

Shikamaru smirked as he reached the Chouji’s room and turned to watch the girl turn a corner. “Just as I thought,” he commented quietly as he went inside. “Ino, I didn’t know you were here.” The door closed behind him with a quiet click.-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
End Omake 1: Chance Meetings.