Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto: The Linkin Park Chronicles ❯ Runaway ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Zagger the Bloody Angel 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Action | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 05.03.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Action | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 05.03.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Sorry for the late update. No real excuse for it other than wasn't in the mood for it. Anyways, just as in the last chapter, there is no background singer so the lyrics are still only the main singer.
Pairing for Naruto and Gaara is undecided, but you can help sway who we decided between Yugito and Keisha by giving us your opinion.
We Do Not Own Naruto or the Copy Rights to Linkin Park or their songs.
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The cool air of the forest of Hi no Kuni brushed pass a young blonde hair teen as he jumped tree to tree, heading towards the desert in the distance. He looked back the direction he came but shook his head. 'I will not go back. Not after everything they have put me through.'
Shaking his head a bit, Naruto continued jumping on the tree tops as he headed towards the desert. Truthfully, he had no clue exactly where Suna was. So he was hoping to find someone on the way that could give him directions. Seeing the foliage beginning to end, he jumped to the ground and started running on the ground.
As he was running towards the desert, he noticed a group of people in the distance. He stopped and looked closer at them to see if they were a threat or not. Seeing only civilian clothing, he decided to sneak closer to make sure before he asked them directions to Suna. So using the stealth that he honed from his years of pranking, he hid up in a tree near them as he listened in on what they were saying.
"Dammit! That's the fourth time we've been target by bandits when we've tried to cross this desert. I knew we should have paid for an escort across this desert."
"I know Kayaku, but what can we do? We've tried to send for help from one of the Shinobi Villages, but they haven't answered us."
"I know that Tenchi, but we're going to miss our own show. Our fans will be pissed if we don't arrive there tomorrow night."
"Hate to say this, but we're going to have to put it on hold till we can cross this forsaken desert."
"Aki is right. There isn't much we can do for right now. We have to sit and wait."
Naruto looked at all four of them getting the jest of the conversation were having trouble getting through the desert due to a bandit problem. Taking a look at the stuff on the wagon they were bringing seemed to be musical equipment. He blinked a few times before putting two and two together and figured out that this was a band trying to get to Sunagakure as it was the only habitable village in the desert.
'Hm. Looks like these guys are having troubles with bandits. Since I am technically a nukenin, maybe I could convince them to let me guard them to Suna for a small fee. It's a win-win situation. They get a shinobi to guard them and I get to Suna.' With this thought in mind, he nodded his head a bit before jumping down from the tree and in front of the shocked band members.
All four tensed thinking he was another bandit. In response to seeing this, Naruto pointed to his slashed hitai-ate. Of course this made them even more nervous as they were dealing with a nukenin. The tallest of the band members with black hair and wearing black, punk clothes spoke up confidently seeing Naruto was nothing but a kid. "What do you want?"
Looking over all four of them, Naruto smiled his foxy smile at them. "I was passing along the way and heard you were having trouble with bandits and decided to offer my services to you since I'm heading in the same direction."
All four raised an eye brow at him and tried to refrain from laughing at him. The red head wearing a white tank top and black pants rolled his eyes at the kid in front of him. "Yeah, sure kid. Go back and play ninja with the rest of your friends."
Naruto glared at the man. How dare he assume he wasn't a shinobi? Gritting his teeth, a plan developed in his mind and smirked at as he executed it. "You shouldn't judge someone by their appearance."
In a plum of smoke Naruto disappeared surprising the four band members immensely before four rocks hit the back of their heads. They quickly turned around to find Naruto laying against the drum set throwing a few rocks in the air as he looked at them. All four of their jaws dropped seeing this as Naruto smirked foxily at them. "Now as I was saying, I'm heading the same direction as you and I'm offering you my services as it will take a day or two for one of the villages to respond. And even if you wait, you'll get someone of my age with less training. Of course I won't be free, but I won't scam you."
He was hopping they would by his lie. It was true that the villages would send shinobi the same age as him, but they would at least send a team if not a jounin sensei with them. Luckily for him, it looked like they were buying it as all four of the band members were still stunned by Naruto's displayed as they really weren't expecting it. The tall blonde spoke once more, seeing as he was probably the leader. "How much?"
Naruto crossed his arms and tapped a bit as he tried to come up with a fair price. From what he remembered from the pay of his missions, D-rank’s were about three to five hundred ryo per each team member. The suppose C-rank mission was suppose to cost considerably more as it was around two thousand ryo per team member, but the jounin sensei would get more as he would be doing most of the work anyways. Plus there was some that had to go to the village as well.
Thinking over it a bit more, he came up with a price. "I say about six thousand ryo as a village would charge double that amount, if not more, for this kind of mission."
The leader was a bit surprised at the price, but nodded his head as it would have cost about thirteen thousand for a team from Konoha and fifteen thousand for a team from Suna to help them. But he still wasn't sure; each ninja had a track record. He wasn't sure if he could trust the ninja in front of him yet, but so far he was being reasonable. And since they had dealings with shinobi before as they had hired them in the past, he knew what to ask next. "Okay, then what are your mission stats then?”
Naruto thought about it for a few seconds and nodded his head as the question made sense. Why would they hire someone if they were under qualified for the job? So he quickly gave them his answer without fail. "Fourteen D-rank missions, three C-ranks and one A-rank mission successfully completed. One A to S-rank mission failed." Naruto winced at the last part wishing he was able to bring back Sasuke from the clutches of the snake sannin.
All four blinked their eyes at Naruto. They had expected him to be a bit inexperienced for his age, but the fact that he had been on an A-rank mission and the mission was a success impressed them and helped swayed their decision seeing that this would be classified as a C-rank by the village. All four whispered a bit to each other in a huddle before turning back to Naruto. "We accept, but we won't pay till after we arrived in Suna."
The young jinchuuriki nodded at their answer as he expected it before jumping off the wagon. "Alright then, let's get going."
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After a few hours of traveling with the band and listening to them discuss what they were going to play, Naruto tuned them out as he looked around with his Kage Bunshins, looking for any signs of trouble. He shook his head as it was just his nerves getting to him. He kept expecting a hunter Nin to pop out to either bring him or his head back to Konoha.
"Hey Naruto, everything okay back there?" Kayaku said as he looked back at Naruto. They had introduced themselves during the few hours they had been traveling.
Naruto nodded as he answered back. "Yeah. It's okay." He didn't want to say he felt nervous as that wouldn't look good for him and probably freak them out. Then again, he couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something or someone was going to pop up at any moment. And his gut was rarely wrong.
A few more minutes passed as he tuned out the band continued going over things for their performance tomorrow night when he heard something behind. He instantly recognized the sound as it was something he was used to everyday. The sound of a shuriken spinning through the air. His eyes widen as he recognized the sound. "Everyone down!"
Soon as they heard Naruto say this, the band did as they were told and jumped to the ground as Naruto ducked under the shuriken aimed directly for his head. He quickly stood up and turned around to see two groups of bandits, about five in each. But his attention wasn't focused on them, it was on the man in the middle wearing a slashed Konoha hitai-ate. A man he once called sensei. Mizuki.
'What the... How the hell did the bastard get out of jail?! He was supposed to stay in there for the rest of his life from what Hokage-ojij said! Dammit! I have no time to think about this. I have a job to do.'
"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A small smoke screen covered the area before fifty clones burst through it and quickly headed towards the slightly scared and surprised bandits as Naruto pulled out a kunai and stood in a defensive stance, waiting for Mizuki to make the first move.
The said former chunin of Konoha narrowed his eyes seeing the difference of this Naruto compared what he was three months ago. Shaking that thought off, he smirked knowing he still had an advantage and seeing the slash on his head band meant that no one would interfere this time. "So it seems that the demon brat finally got tired of pretending he was a child."
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he growled at Mizuki as he gripped his kunai tighter as his clones fought off the few bandits. "What do you want Mizuki?"
Mizuki smirked at Naruto as he pulled out a kunai of his own. "Well I was planning on robbing them to get some money, but seeing as you are here, I can finally get my revenge and be proclaimed a hero in Konoha for killing you."
The young jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes hearing this and slipped his free hand into his pouch and finger a few shuriken as he glared at Mizuki. He looked over and noticed his clones forcing the bandits back before turning back to Mizuki. He slowly began to feel Kyuubi's chakra following into his system, but he repressed it as much as he could, not wanting to prove to Mizuki that he was right. Gripping his kunai tighter, he slipped his hand into his kunai pouch as one of the songs he wrote began to play in his head.
I cannot take this anymore
I’m saying everything I’ve said before
All these words they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Hearing the song within his head, Naruto's eyes glazed over with determination as he threw a few shuriken towards Mizuki. Seeing the former chunin roll out of their path, Naruto quickly charged while creating a few more clones. He quickly made it to the slightly stunned chunin and slid to the ground and kicked up hitting Mizuki directly on the chin. Before Mizuki could react, four more kicks connected to his chest and sent him into the air. Quickly reacting as he sensed something above him, Mizuki threw his kunai into the air, catching the clone off guard and dispelling it.
Less I hear the less you’ll say
You’ll find that out anyway
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Soon as he landed, Mizuki pulled out two kunai and quickly dispelled two of the clones that charged him before rushing the Naruto he believed was the original. Even though he was correct, he forgot the fact that there were other clones in the area and was nearly skewered by numerous kunai and shuriken from the remaining clones that forced the bandits to retreat. Growling lightly to himself, Mizuki threw both of his kunai and went through a few hand seals and the two kunai turned into thirty and ripped through the remaining clones with ease.
I find the answer aren’t so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Growling lightly as Naruto saw his clones being easily dispelled, he quickly created a few more before charging with them towards Mizuki. He threw a few shuriken at him to keep him off balance as Mizuki easily blocked them as he pulled out another kunai. Naruto and his clones arrived as soon as he did and began to strike at him with the kunai along with throwing a flurry of punches. Yet Mizuki seemed to be ready as he was able to weave in and out of them while blocking the strikes he could before he struck back, destroying the clones and slicing Naruto's arm deeply.
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breath
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Quickly jumping back in pain, Naruto looked at his arm and grit his teeth as the sharp pain spiking from the deep cut. Looking over at Mizuki he could see the man smirking at him as he slowly walked over to him. Naruto gritted his teeth harder then before as he pulled out another kunai to defend himself when the former chunin began to laugh darkly at him. Narrowing his eyes at this, Naruto glared at the man heavily as he was ready to attack again. Mizuki on the other hand didn't as he decided to taunt Naruto some. "Hmp. Some demon you are. I know all your tricks already so there is nothing you can do to beat me. You really are worthless do you know that. It's no wonder why Konoha threw you out! You had no value to them so they no longer needed you!"
Shut up when I’m talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up,
Shut up when I’m talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I’m about to break
Anger. That was what Naruto felt as Mizuki spoke to him. It wasn't that what he said was true, but the fact that it felt like it was the truth. He had always felt like that, but he overcame it by putting on his mask and trying to get people to respect him. And when people began to he slowly forgot that he felt like that. Then Sasuke's retrieval mission came and everything he had worked for was crushed under his best friend’s ambition to grow stronger. Kyuubi's chakra slowly began to flow into his system once more as his eyes slowly turned red, surprising Mizuki.
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Before Mizuki could react, Naruto had created another Kage Bunshin but this one stood besides him as he held out his hand and began channeling chakra to his palm. A blue ball of chakra began to slowly form as the clone rapidly moved his hands around the ball in an erratic pattern to make the ball spiral in all directions. Mizuki's eyes widened in fear and realization as he knew the technique from all the older shinobi and the fact the Yondaime had shown it once to his class to try and encourage everyone to try hard. In an instant, he knew something was wrong, but he could not figure out what.
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
As the ball completely formed, Naruto burst with unreal speed towards Mizuki while releasing a torrent of killing intent that belonged to Kyuubi. To Mizuki it seemed that Naruto was going in slow motion, yet he couldn't move as the fear overwhelmed him. It was horrifying as he found himself unable to move and watched Naruto as he inched closer with a jutsu powerful enough to easily kill him. Yet there was nothing he could do as his body began to involuntary twitch as Naruto finally arrived in front of him and thrusted the spiraling ball at his chest.
"RASENGAN!"
In an instant that horrified him as he knew he wasn't ready to do this himself yet, blood splattered across his face and the desert sand as Mizuki began coughing up blood as his chest was ripped into shreds from the force of the Rasengan. Naruto's eyes widened in slight fear as he did not want to kill, yet deep down inside he knew it would have to come sooner or later. Mizuki's eyes glazed over as he looked at Naruto before coughing up some blood as he collapsed to the ground. Naruto felt a pang of guilt within him, but he could only push the thought out of his head as it was the only way he could have kept Mizuki from killing him and doing more harm to others.
Walking over towards the wagon, he noted Kakayu, Tenchi, Aki and Taka all getting up from underneath the wagon. He could only shake his head as he knew if he were in there position it would be a reasonable response as they were no match for a group of bandits with a nukenin leading them. He looked at his arm as he noticed the pain in his arm was gone and he saw that the deep cut had already healed. Figuring it was Kyuubi's doing, Naruto quickly turned to group who was slightly shaken as it wasn't very pretty sight to see a twelve to thirteen year old boy kill someone so easily. Noticing that they were thinking of that, Naruto quickly spoke up. "Come on. We still have some ground to cover before night fall if you want to get to the oasis."
They could only nod lightly as they slowly began to head out, not wanting to stick around here any longer.
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Night had fallen soon after Naruto and the band had arrived at the oasis. Noting they were running low on food, probably due to bandit attacks before he arrived, he had decided to make dinner for them after catching a half dozen decent sized fish. Afterwards, they had stayed up for a little while talking about what songs to play at their performance in Suna. In truth they were all still talking about what to do from what his clones were telling him. Naruto didn't want to stick around them tonight as he wasn't in a very good mood after he had taken Mizuki's life. It wasn't that he believed he was wrong to do so; just watching the life disappear from someone's eyes was not something he wanted to see any time soon.
Sighing lightly, he looked up at the night sky tiredly. He absently wondered what Sasuke and Sakura were doing at the moment but quickly shock that thought out of his mind. He didn't need to think about his memories with them at the moment as it would weaken his resolve and he would very lightly go back to Konoha. Yet he continued to think of them and it was hurting as he began to see Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and even Kakashi. He sighed lightly as he couldn't get them out of his head, but he had a song coming to his heart that he had written not to long ago. Seeing that nothing else was working, he decided to sing it and hoped that it would help him somewhat.
Graffiti decoration under a sky of dust
A constant wave of tension on top of broken trust
The lessons that you taught me
I learn were never true
Hearing something in the distance, Kakayu slowly got up from his tent as he hadn't quite fallen asleep as the rest did. It was strange as it sounded like someone singing, but this someone had a fair amount of talent. He noticed the rest of the group had fallen asleep and that Naruto was watching over them, so who could it be? That's when he remembered Naruto could make clones of himself so these were just probably there to watch over them while he was doing something else.
Now I find myself in question
Guilty by association
Following the sound of the voice, Kakayu slowly found himself peeking over a sound dune as he found Naruto, who in fact was the one singing. Now he wasn't surprised that he could sing well as many people had multiple talents, but what he was surprised by the upbeat tone, yet sorrow lyrics. It was kind of like how he sung the songs his group came up with. Which was surprising as not many people were capable of doing so.
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
Kakayu continued listening to Naruto with interest as it was slightly memorizing to listen to. Just from the look and sound of his voice, Kakayu could tell Naruto was singing from his heart and soul. But that mean he was singing from personal experiences, which was quite weird as most people wrote down their thoughts to get them out of their head. It seemed Naruto was one of the few to vocalize his into an art form.
Paper bags and angry voices under a sky of dust
Another wave of tension has more than filled me up
All my talk of taking action
These words were never true
He had to admit that if he was listening to with background music Naruto's song would have been pretty damn good. He also noticed that Naruto seemed to have a rare gift and could change his pitch and tone at will, which was quite useful in making music as he could instead change his voice to the music instead of changing the music to his voice.
Now I find myself in question
Guilty by association
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
Kakayu could only nod as he listened to Naruto sing as his song seemed to be missing something. It wasn't that it wasn't bad, it just felt incomplete. As if there was something that could be added to it to perfect it. Well the obvious thing missing was music, but that wasn't the problem as he had a unique gift that allowed him to hear the perfect music to every song he wrote or heard. It was an obvious reason to their bands recent success and rise in popularity.
I’m gonna run away and never say goodbye
I’m gonna run away and never wonder why
I’m gonna run away and open up my mind
As he heard Naruto beginning to sing like this he knew the song was closing to the end. But he had yet to figure out what he needed to make it perfect. There was just something missing that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something he had solved the problem to for his own band just recently. Just then it clicked.
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
It was missing background singers and lyrics. It was just incomplete without them. He absently wondered why he was trying to figure this out for someone that he barely knew, yet at the same time it would be a waste to let a gift like his go unused. With that thought in mind, he stood up from the sound dune and walked over to Naruto.
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
"Not bad. It's missing something though." Naruto jumped at Kakayu's voice before calming his nerves lightly before giving the elder teen a half hearted glare. Kakayu easily brushed it off as he got similar looks from his friends and fellow band members. "Well do you want to know what you are missing?"
Naruto looked over at him in confusion, trying to figure out what he wanted before he decided to give in as his songs always felt incomplete to him. Kakayu smirked lightly at this before sitting down next to Naruto and looked at the water of the oasis. "It's a very common problem with most musicians and bands. It's the lack of background singing."
Blinking in surprise, Naruto looked over at Kakayu as he thought it over. That indeed was his problem he just never gave it any thought as he never planned on to let his work be seen or heard by anyone. Shaking his head, he looked down from the sky and towards the oasis as he grabbed a nearby rock and skipped it across the water. "Thanks, but that is something that I cannot fix. I'm not that great of a singer."
Kakayu could only shake his head as he watched the rock skip the water. "Kid, you are better singing then you know. Honestly I don't think there are many people that can match your ability to sing because it is a lot like mine. If you were to believe in yourself, you could become an icon."
Naruto's head snapped towards him as he was surprised that someone that had a band, and a fairly successful one seeing the amount of stuff they carried with them. Shaking his head he looked back towards the water longingly as he sighed deeply. "I guess. But since I'm a nukenin it is best that I go unnoticed. But if you think my music so good I can..."
"There is a thing called mask. Sure, I know you ninja have weird ways of detecting others, but that would at least keep them from being on your tail for a little while. And seeing that you can't be a major threat to your former village, I doubt they'll do anything drastic. But then again, maybe I'm wrong." As Kakayu finished, he yawned lightly before standing up and stretching. "Well, it's best if I go to sleep now. Busy day tomorrow... And Naruto, just think about it. Anything is possible if you believe."
He could only nod as Kakayu began to walk away. He had never once thought about it as he believed himself to be a terrible singer compared to all those on the radio. But now, a professional singer had just gave him the idea and encouraged him to at least try and make a band and if worse came to worse, he could disband it if something went wrong. As he continued thinking about this, he slowly grew tired. He hadn't slept since he had left Konoha so it would be a good idea to do so. So making a few dozen Kage Bunshins and telling them to alert everyone if something were to happen and wake him when the sun rose, he pulled out his sleeping back and went to sleep.
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Daylight came all too soon for Naruto as he was soon leading the band to the fortress like walls of Suna, after they ate breakfast. It had taken them about ten hours to make the trip, but that was because the wagon had broken down and took an hour for Naruto to fix it with the help of Tenchi. Naruto mentally sighed as if he knew Suna was this close he would have made a clone to have told Gaara he was coming. He still did just it would have been better if he could of send it earlier. Shaking his head, he could feel the energy coming off the four young men that were wanting to get there faster so they could get some practice before playing tonight. He could only shake his head as a light smile crossed his face. It seemed that the four of them were having a ball and they hadn't even begun playing their music yet. Listening and watching them as they walked the last stretch to Suna had allowed him to make up his mind.
As they reached the gate, the guards noticed the four of them and quickly moved out of the way as they could sense they were the real deal. Seeing this, Kakayu walked over Naruto carrying what seemed to be a small bag before tossing it to Naruto. Naruto easily caught it, but it was a little heavier than what he figured it to should be. Noting the look on Naruto's face, Kakayu smirked before shaking his head. "We paid you a little bit extra as we didn't think another shinobi would end up attacking us. Also I gave you or latest CD, One-X. It should help you if you decide you want to try."
Naruto could only smile and nod as the four of them headed inside the walls of Suna before disappearing. Checking to make sure that they actually gave ryo instead of something of equal weight, he opened the bag to see it was indeed along of Ryo along with a CD on the top of it. He tilted his head lightly as he looked at the CD as he swore he seen it before and Konoha and was pissed that they sold out before he could buy one, he pulled it out and his jaw drop as the title was indeed One-X by Three Days Grace. He had been traveling with one of his favorite bands and hadn't known it. Before he could think any more on that, he felt a kunai across his throat as one of the guards noticed him and saw the slashed hitai-ate. "Hm. Just a kid. Well you're bound to have some kind of bounty. Better then not..."
He stopped cold in his tracks as sand quickly wrapped around his body and the other guard as well as Sabaku no Gaara walked through the entrance, looking slightly pissed at the two guards. Gaara glared at both guards before his gaze landed on Naruto. He was slightly shocked to see the slashed hitai-ate, but he figured he would have a reason, so he did not bother with it right now. "Drop your weapon. He is under my protection and is allowed into the village."
The two guards nodded quickly, not wanting to become crushed balls of bloody flesh and moved away from Naruto as Gaara slowly walked over to him. "Please forgive them Uzumaki-san."
Naruto looked at Gaara confused hearing how he addressed him before quickly shaking the thought from his head. "No big deal. I just finished escorting the band that you probably just passed."
Gaara only nodding but inside he was mentally wincing as he really didn't want them to show up. It wasn't that he disliked the band, though he was still fairly new to anything that didn't involve killing, but because Temari would be screaming about them for days and he might accidentally clench his fist while sand was surrounding her. Shaking that fantasy of Shukaku's out of his head, he motion Naruto to follow him as he walked through the entrance. Naruto quickly did so, not wanting to stick around the guards any longer. Thinking about the reaction of other shinobi in the village to his hitai-ate, he took it off and pocketed it. After a few minutes of following the Suna jinchuuriki, Naruto spoke out. "Hey Gaara, where exactly are we heading?"
"The house I share with Temari and Kankuro. Neither of them will be in since they are at the concert." Gaara answered quickly in his usual monotone voice. Naruto could only nod in understanding as he to was kind of wanting to go the concert now realizing who he had been with the entire time. They arrived at the said house rather quickly, mainly because everyone in Gaara's path quickly got out of the way. But unlike how he was treated in Konoha, Gaara didn't get looks of contempt and hatred; he got looks of fear and dread. He obviously knew the reason as Gaara was the Blood Fountain, but that was in the past and because of the Yondaime Kazekage. He could only sigh and shake his head as he walked in after Gaara unlocked the door and led him in. "Use the room at the top of the stairs and on the right. I have a council meeting to attend. If Kankuro or Temari arrive before me, do not let them know you are here."
Naruto winced at that knowing he wouldn't want to be in Gaara's position, especially if he was in Konoha as he had no clue how the council viewed him. Though it couldn't be too bad as nothing really bad happened to him, they really didn't do anything for him either so it wasn't clear what they were thinking to him. Nodding lightly, Naruto watched Gaara leave before sighing as he headed up to the room.
Hours passed and it was nearing midnight and Naruto couldn't sleep. He managed to slip by the two other sand siblings as they had just arrived as the concert just ended and headed to the roof. He continued to think on about making a band as he looked at the night sky as it was for some reason soothing to him. He figured it had something to do with Kyuubi, so he left it alone. Pulling out a CD walkman that he had 'borrowed' from Temari's room, he put in the Three Days Grace CD and listened to it while trying to figure out what to do as he began to write down lyrics for the background singers.
After Kakayu told him he had talent and could become an icon he thought about it and decided he wanted to at least try. The only problem was who was he going to use for his band members. Better yet, background singers that sounded just right with his music flow. As he was thinking of this, Gaara walked up from behind him before sitting down besides him. Naruto noticed him but didn't say anything as he continued writing for a bit before sighing and putting his lyrics up as he pulled off the head set.
Gaara had noticed what Naruto was writing but didn't say anything as he wasn't extremely interested in it, but at the same time he was as the lyrics seem to reflect how he felt inside and from what he guessed how Naruto felt inside. Seeing him write the few lyrics he did confirmed his thought as he looked up at the moon. "Seems we are more alike than I thought Uzumaki-san." Naruto nodded lightly as he turned off the CD player and looked over the night life of Suna. It was fairly quiet though it was obvious that there were many people still up, probably because of the concert. Gaara interrupted his thoughts as he spoke again. "Was that the reason you left your village?"
Nodding again, Naruto sighed as he looked over the village before turning to Gaara. "Yeah, it was. I finally got tired of the way villagers and some of those that I called friends treated me. I'm sure you're tired of this village as well Gaara. Though they don't hate you out right, they fear you."
Gaara nodded as he was tired of it though he was finally letting it get to him. In the past when it did, he had just obeyed Shukaku's wishes and killed someone and he felt slightly better, but not too longer after the tiredness would return soon after. That and he had barely been able to sleep over the past thirteen years. Noticing Gaara actually showing an emotion on his face, though he always did seem tired, Naruto thought about his options before he looked over at Gaara. "Hey, you want to come with me and help create a band. You won't have to live here any longer and I'm sure you won't be as tired. Plus I can look through that scroll I took from Ero-sennin and see if there is anything I can do to help you get some sleep."
Turning towards Naruto, Gaara looked at him with questioning. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea of helping him; it was the idea of leaving this village that kind of bothered him. Sure, he had really no love for it, but he did have Temari, Kankuro and the memory of his mother. But the negatives to staying in the village were the constant fear/hate from the villagers and shinobi alike and that his father’s memory was here as well. And Naruto said something about helping him get some sleep. That alone was a great thing, but he was sure Naruto would do that for him anyways. But taking a look at the pros and cons, he turned to Naruto. "If I go with you and help you, I want to be able to sleep."
Naruto nodded lightly as he pulled out Jiraiya's scroll and quickly look through it. Having a short lesson with him with seals, Naruto looked over at Gaara. "What kind of seal is it?"
"Four star."
Nodding lightly at that, Naruto looked through all the even number seals on the scroll before tapping on one that seemed to work the best with it. He thank Kami that Jiraiya left notes with each seal and said which ones worked well with each other. Oddly enough it seemed Jiraiya had circled the seal and had labeled Gaara under it, probably meaning that he was planning on strengthening Gaara's seal. "Alright, I got one and I can do it."
Gaara nodded lightly as he lifted his shirt up and Naruto quickly got to work on placing the seal around Gaara's seal as the sand jinchuuriki forced his sand away from keeping Naruto from doing his work. After a few moments, Naruto finished and pushed a minute amount of chakra into the seal, activating it. Gaara doubled over in pain for a moment before slowly sitting up and nodding lightly at Naruto. "I can no longer hear it... I think it worked."
"That's good. Now get anything you need to take with us. I want to leave now before Jiraiya shows up." Naruto spoke hurriedly as he looked at the direction of the onsen. Blinking in confusion Gaara did as he was told which took two seconds as his sand brought his pack from his room. Naruto sweat dropped lightly at this and mumbled something about useless fox and not giving him any cool powers other than healing. "Alright let's go."
Naruto quickly started jumping roof to roof with Gaara following him and they were nearing the exit of the village. Meanwhile at the onsen Naruto had glanced at, a certain male was screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran away from a few dozen pissed women.
"HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"
Hearing this, Naruto could only shake his head while leaping from roof to roof, Gaara look over towards the voice of the said man yelling and running from the pissed women, before looking at Naruto in question. Naruto sighed a bit before answering as he continue to jump.
"Jiraiya, is a pervert that loves to do 'research' at the women onsen, while hoping not to get caught, but the only problem is he always gets caught when he starts giggling like a pervert while drawing and writing about them for his books" He said in a dull tone of voice.
Gaara looked at him then towards were Jiraiya‘s voice was heard before shaking his head as he really didn't want to know what type of books he wrote or why he did research on women. Though he was pretty sure that it had to deal with though two big things on their chest.
Pairing for Naruto and Gaara is undecided, but you can help sway who we decided between Yugito and Keisha by giving us your opinion.
We Do Not Own Naruto or the Copy Rights to Linkin Park or their songs.
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The cool air of the forest of Hi no Kuni brushed pass a young blonde hair teen as he jumped tree to tree, heading towards the desert in the distance. He looked back the direction he came but shook his head. 'I will not go back. Not after everything they have put me through.'
Shaking his head a bit, Naruto continued jumping on the tree tops as he headed towards the desert. Truthfully, he had no clue exactly where Suna was. So he was hoping to find someone on the way that could give him directions. Seeing the foliage beginning to end, he jumped to the ground and started running on the ground.
As he was running towards the desert, he noticed a group of people in the distance. He stopped and looked closer at them to see if they were a threat or not. Seeing only civilian clothing, he decided to sneak closer to make sure before he asked them directions to Suna. So using the stealth that he honed from his years of pranking, he hid up in a tree near them as he listened in on what they were saying.
"Dammit! That's the fourth time we've been target by bandits when we've tried to cross this desert. I knew we should have paid for an escort across this desert."
"I know Kayaku, but what can we do? We've tried to send for help from one of the Shinobi Villages, but they haven't answered us."
"I know that Tenchi, but we're going to miss our own show. Our fans will be pissed if we don't arrive there tomorrow night."
"Hate to say this, but we're going to have to put it on hold till we can cross this forsaken desert."
"Aki is right. There isn't much we can do for right now. We have to sit and wait."
Naruto looked at all four of them getting the jest of the conversation were having trouble getting through the desert due to a bandit problem. Taking a look at the stuff on the wagon they were bringing seemed to be musical equipment. He blinked a few times before putting two and two together and figured out that this was a band trying to get to Sunagakure as it was the only habitable village in the desert.
'Hm. Looks like these guys are having troubles with bandits. Since I am technically a nukenin, maybe I could convince them to let me guard them to Suna for a small fee. It's a win-win situation. They get a shinobi to guard them and I get to Suna.' With this thought in mind, he nodded his head a bit before jumping down from the tree and in front of the shocked band members.
All four tensed thinking he was another bandit. In response to seeing this, Naruto pointed to his slashed hitai-ate. Of course this made them even more nervous as they were dealing with a nukenin. The tallest of the band members with black hair and wearing black, punk clothes spoke up confidently seeing Naruto was nothing but a kid. "What do you want?"
Looking over all four of them, Naruto smiled his foxy smile at them. "I was passing along the way and heard you were having trouble with bandits and decided to offer my services to you since I'm heading in the same direction."
All four raised an eye brow at him and tried to refrain from laughing at him. The red head wearing a white tank top and black pants rolled his eyes at the kid in front of him. "Yeah, sure kid. Go back and play ninja with the rest of your friends."
Naruto glared at the man. How dare he assume he wasn't a shinobi? Gritting his teeth, a plan developed in his mind and smirked at as he executed it. "You shouldn't judge someone by their appearance."
In a plum of smoke Naruto disappeared surprising the four band members immensely before four rocks hit the back of their heads. They quickly turned around to find Naruto laying against the drum set throwing a few rocks in the air as he looked at them. All four of their jaws dropped seeing this as Naruto smirked foxily at them. "Now as I was saying, I'm heading the same direction as you and I'm offering you my services as it will take a day or two for one of the villages to respond. And even if you wait, you'll get someone of my age with less training. Of course I won't be free, but I won't scam you."
He was hopping they would by his lie. It was true that the villages would send shinobi the same age as him, but they would at least send a team if not a jounin sensei with them. Luckily for him, it looked like they were buying it as all four of the band members were still stunned by Naruto's displayed as they really weren't expecting it. The tall blonde spoke once more, seeing as he was probably the leader. "How much?"
Naruto crossed his arms and tapped a bit as he tried to come up with a fair price. From what he remembered from the pay of his missions, D-rank’s were about three to five hundred ryo per each team member. The suppose C-rank mission was suppose to cost considerably more as it was around two thousand ryo per team member, but the jounin sensei would get more as he would be doing most of the work anyways. Plus there was some that had to go to the village as well.
Thinking over it a bit more, he came up with a price. "I say about six thousand ryo as a village would charge double that amount, if not more, for this kind of mission."
The leader was a bit surprised at the price, but nodded his head as it would have cost about thirteen thousand for a team from Konoha and fifteen thousand for a team from Suna to help them. But he still wasn't sure; each ninja had a track record. He wasn't sure if he could trust the ninja in front of him yet, but so far he was being reasonable. And since they had dealings with shinobi before as they had hired them in the past, he knew what to ask next. "Okay, then what are your mission stats then?”
Naruto thought about it for a few seconds and nodded his head as the question made sense. Why would they hire someone if they were under qualified for the job? So he quickly gave them his answer without fail. "Fourteen D-rank missions, three C-ranks and one A-rank mission successfully completed. One A to S-rank mission failed." Naruto winced at the last part wishing he was able to bring back Sasuke from the clutches of the snake sannin.
All four blinked their eyes at Naruto. They had expected him to be a bit inexperienced for his age, but the fact that he had been on an A-rank mission and the mission was a success impressed them and helped swayed their decision seeing that this would be classified as a C-rank by the village. All four whispered a bit to each other in a huddle before turning back to Naruto. "We accept, but we won't pay till after we arrived in Suna."
The young jinchuuriki nodded at their answer as he expected it before jumping off the wagon. "Alright then, let's get going."
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After a few hours of traveling with the band and listening to them discuss what they were going to play, Naruto tuned them out as he looked around with his Kage Bunshins, looking for any signs of trouble. He shook his head as it was just his nerves getting to him. He kept expecting a hunter Nin to pop out to either bring him or his head back to Konoha.
"Hey Naruto, everything okay back there?" Kayaku said as he looked back at Naruto. They had introduced themselves during the few hours they had been traveling.
Naruto nodded as he answered back. "Yeah. It's okay." He didn't want to say he felt nervous as that wouldn't look good for him and probably freak them out. Then again, he couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something or someone was going to pop up at any moment. And his gut was rarely wrong.
A few more minutes passed as he tuned out the band continued going over things for their performance tomorrow night when he heard something behind. He instantly recognized the sound as it was something he was used to everyday. The sound of a shuriken spinning through the air. His eyes widen as he recognized the sound. "Everyone down!"
Soon as they heard Naruto say this, the band did as they were told and jumped to the ground as Naruto ducked under the shuriken aimed directly for his head. He quickly stood up and turned around to see two groups of bandits, about five in each. But his attention wasn't focused on them, it was on the man in the middle wearing a slashed Konoha hitai-ate. A man he once called sensei. Mizuki.
'What the... How the hell did the bastard get out of jail?! He was supposed to stay in there for the rest of his life from what Hokage-ojij said! Dammit! I have no time to think about this. I have a job to do.'
"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A small smoke screen covered the area before fifty clones burst through it and quickly headed towards the slightly scared and surprised bandits as Naruto pulled out a kunai and stood in a defensive stance, waiting for Mizuki to make the first move.
The said former chunin of Konoha narrowed his eyes seeing the difference of this Naruto compared what he was three months ago. Shaking that thought off, he smirked knowing he still had an advantage and seeing the slash on his head band meant that no one would interfere this time. "So it seems that the demon brat finally got tired of pretending he was a child."
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he growled at Mizuki as he gripped his kunai tighter as his clones fought off the few bandits. "What do you want Mizuki?"
Mizuki smirked at Naruto as he pulled out a kunai of his own. "Well I was planning on robbing them to get some money, but seeing as you are here, I can finally get my revenge and be proclaimed a hero in Konoha for killing you."
The young jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes hearing this and slipped his free hand into his pouch and finger a few shuriken as he glared at Mizuki. He looked over and noticed his clones forcing the bandits back before turning back to Mizuki. He slowly began to feel Kyuubi's chakra following into his system, but he repressed it as much as he could, not wanting to prove to Mizuki that he was right. Gripping his kunai tighter, he slipped his hand into his kunai pouch as one of the songs he wrote began to play in his head.
I cannot take this anymore
I’m saying everything I’ve said before
All these words they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Hearing the song within his head, Naruto's eyes glazed over with determination as he threw a few shuriken towards Mizuki. Seeing the former chunin roll out of their path, Naruto quickly charged while creating a few more clones. He quickly made it to the slightly stunned chunin and slid to the ground and kicked up hitting Mizuki directly on the chin. Before Mizuki could react, four more kicks connected to his chest and sent him into the air. Quickly reacting as he sensed something above him, Mizuki threw his kunai into the air, catching the clone off guard and dispelling it.
Less I hear the less you’ll say
You’ll find that out anyway
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Soon as he landed, Mizuki pulled out two kunai and quickly dispelled two of the clones that charged him before rushing the Naruto he believed was the original. Even though he was correct, he forgot the fact that there were other clones in the area and was nearly skewered by numerous kunai and shuriken from the remaining clones that forced the bandits to retreat. Growling lightly to himself, Mizuki threw both of his kunai and went through a few hand seals and the two kunai turned into thirty and ripped through the remaining clones with ease.
I find the answer aren’t so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Growling lightly as Naruto saw his clones being easily dispelled, he quickly created a few more before charging with them towards Mizuki. He threw a few shuriken at him to keep him off balance as Mizuki easily blocked them as he pulled out another kunai. Naruto and his clones arrived as soon as he did and began to strike at him with the kunai along with throwing a flurry of punches. Yet Mizuki seemed to be ready as he was able to weave in and out of them while blocking the strikes he could before he struck back, destroying the clones and slicing Naruto's arm deeply.
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breath
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Quickly jumping back in pain, Naruto looked at his arm and grit his teeth as the sharp pain spiking from the deep cut. Looking over at Mizuki he could see the man smirking at him as he slowly walked over to him. Naruto gritted his teeth harder then before as he pulled out another kunai to defend himself when the former chunin began to laugh darkly at him. Narrowing his eyes at this, Naruto glared at the man heavily as he was ready to attack again. Mizuki on the other hand didn't as he decided to taunt Naruto some. "Hmp. Some demon you are. I know all your tricks already so there is nothing you can do to beat me. You really are worthless do you know that. It's no wonder why Konoha threw you out! You had no value to them so they no longer needed you!"
Shut up when I’m talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up,
Shut up when I’m talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I’m about to break
Anger. That was what Naruto felt as Mizuki spoke to him. It wasn't that what he said was true, but the fact that it felt like it was the truth. He had always felt like that, but he overcame it by putting on his mask and trying to get people to respect him. And when people began to he slowly forgot that he felt like that. Then Sasuke's retrieval mission came and everything he had worked for was crushed under his best friend’s ambition to grow stronger. Kyuubi's chakra slowly began to flow into his system once more as his eyes slowly turned red, surprising Mizuki.
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
Before Mizuki could react, Naruto had created another Kage Bunshin but this one stood besides him as he held out his hand and began channeling chakra to his palm. A blue ball of chakra began to slowly form as the clone rapidly moved his hands around the ball in an erratic pattern to make the ball spiral in all directions. Mizuki's eyes widened in fear and realization as he knew the technique from all the older shinobi and the fact the Yondaime had shown it once to his class to try and encourage everyone to try hard. In an instant, he knew something was wrong, but he could not figure out what.
Everything you say to me
I need a little room to breathe
As the ball completely formed, Naruto burst with unreal speed towards Mizuki while releasing a torrent of killing intent that belonged to Kyuubi. To Mizuki it seemed that Naruto was going in slow motion, yet he couldn't move as the fear overwhelmed him. It was horrifying as he found himself unable to move and watched Naruto as he inched closer with a jutsu powerful enough to easily kill him. Yet there was nothing he could do as his body began to involuntary twitch as Naruto finally arrived in front of him and thrusted the spiraling ball at his chest.
"RASENGAN!"
In an instant that horrified him as he knew he wasn't ready to do this himself yet, blood splattered across his face and the desert sand as Mizuki began coughing up blood as his chest was ripped into shreds from the force of the Rasengan. Naruto's eyes widened in slight fear as he did not want to kill, yet deep down inside he knew it would have to come sooner or later. Mizuki's eyes glazed over as he looked at Naruto before coughing up some blood as he collapsed to the ground. Naruto felt a pang of guilt within him, but he could only push the thought out of his head as it was the only way he could have kept Mizuki from killing him and doing more harm to others.
Walking over towards the wagon, he noted Kakayu, Tenchi, Aki and Taka all getting up from underneath the wagon. He could only shake his head as he knew if he were in there position it would be a reasonable response as they were no match for a group of bandits with a nukenin leading them. He looked at his arm as he noticed the pain in his arm was gone and he saw that the deep cut had already healed. Figuring it was Kyuubi's doing, Naruto quickly turned to group who was slightly shaken as it wasn't very pretty sight to see a twelve to thirteen year old boy kill someone so easily. Noticing that they were thinking of that, Naruto quickly spoke up. "Come on. We still have some ground to cover before night fall if you want to get to the oasis."
They could only nod lightly as they slowly began to head out, not wanting to stick around here any longer.
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Night had fallen soon after Naruto and the band had arrived at the oasis. Noting they were running low on food, probably due to bandit attacks before he arrived, he had decided to make dinner for them after catching a half dozen decent sized fish. Afterwards, they had stayed up for a little while talking about what songs to play at their performance in Suna. In truth they were all still talking about what to do from what his clones were telling him. Naruto didn't want to stick around them tonight as he wasn't in a very good mood after he had taken Mizuki's life. It wasn't that he believed he was wrong to do so; just watching the life disappear from someone's eyes was not something he wanted to see any time soon.
Sighing lightly, he looked up at the night sky tiredly. He absently wondered what Sasuke and Sakura were doing at the moment but quickly shock that thought out of his mind. He didn't need to think about his memories with them at the moment as it would weaken his resolve and he would very lightly go back to Konoha. Yet he continued to think of them and it was hurting as he began to see Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and even Kakashi. He sighed lightly as he couldn't get them out of his head, but he had a song coming to his heart that he had written not to long ago. Seeing that nothing else was working, he decided to sing it and hoped that it would help him somewhat.
Graffiti decoration under a sky of dust
A constant wave of tension on top of broken trust
The lessons that you taught me
I learn were never true
Hearing something in the distance, Kakayu slowly got up from his tent as he hadn't quite fallen asleep as the rest did. It was strange as it sounded like someone singing, but this someone had a fair amount of talent. He noticed the rest of the group had fallen asleep and that Naruto was watching over them, so who could it be? That's when he remembered Naruto could make clones of himself so these were just probably there to watch over them while he was doing something else.
Now I find myself in question
Guilty by association
Following the sound of the voice, Kakayu slowly found himself peeking over a sound dune as he found Naruto, who in fact was the one singing. Now he wasn't surprised that he could sing well as many people had multiple talents, but what he was surprised by the upbeat tone, yet sorrow lyrics. It was kind of like how he sung the songs his group came up with. Which was surprising as not many people were capable of doing so.
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
Kakayu continued listening to Naruto with interest as it was slightly memorizing to listen to. Just from the look and sound of his voice, Kakayu could tell Naruto was singing from his heart and soul. But that mean he was singing from personal experiences, which was quite weird as most people wrote down their thoughts to get them out of their head. It seemed Naruto was one of the few to vocalize his into an art form.
Paper bags and angry voices under a sky of dust
Another wave of tension has more than filled me up
All my talk of taking action
These words were never true
He had to admit that if he was listening to with background music Naruto's song would have been pretty damn good. He also noticed that Naruto seemed to have a rare gift and could change his pitch and tone at will, which was quite useful in making music as he could instead change his voice to the music instead of changing the music to his voice.
Now I find myself in question
Guilty by association
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
Kakayu could only nod as he listened to Naruto sing as his song seemed to be missing something. It wasn't that it wasn't bad, it just felt incomplete. As if there was something that could be added to it to perfect it. Well the obvious thing missing was music, but that wasn't the problem as he had a unique gift that allowed him to hear the perfect music to every song he wrote or heard. It was an obvious reason to their bands recent success and rise in popularity.
I’m gonna run away and never say goodbye
I’m gonna run away and never wonder why
I’m gonna run away and open up my mind
As he heard Naruto beginning to sing like this he knew the song was closing to the end. But he had yet to figure out what he needed to make it perfect. There was just something missing that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something he had solved the problem to for his own band just recently. Just then it clicked.
I wanna run away, never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers, no more lies
I wanna shut the door and open up my mind
It was missing background singers and lyrics. It was just incomplete without them. He absently wondered why he was trying to figure this out for someone that he barely knew, yet at the same time it would be a waste to let a gift like his go unused. With that thought in mind, he stood up from the sound dune and walked over to Naruto.
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
I wanna run away and open up my mind
"Not bad. It's missing something though." Naruto jumped at Kakayu's voice before calming his nerves lightly before giving the elder teen a half hearted glare. Kakayu easily brushed it off as he got similar looks from his friends and fellow band members. "Well do you want to know what you are missing?"
Naruto looked over at him in confusion, trying to figure out what he wanted before he decided to give in as his songs always felt incomplete to him. Kakayu smirked lightly at this before sitting down next to Naruto and looked at the water of the oasis. "It's a very common problem with most musicians and bands. It's the lack of background singing."
Blinking in surprise, Naruto looked over at Kakayu as he thought it over. That indeed was his problem he just never gave it any thought as he never planned on to let his work be seen or heard by anyone. Shaking his head, he looked down from the sky and towards the oasis as he grabbed a nearby rock and skipped it across the water. "Thanks, but that is something that I cannot fix. I'm not that great of a singer."
Kakayu could only shake his head as he watched the rock skip the water. "Kid, you are better singing then you know. Honestly I don't think there are many people that can match your ability to sing because it is a lot like mine. If you were to believe in yourself, you could become an icon."
Naruto's head snapped towards him as he was surprised that someone that had a band, and a fairly successful one seeing the amount of stuff they carried with them. Shaking his head he looked back towards the water longingly as he sighed deeply. "I guess. But since I'm a nukenin it is best that I go unnoticed. But if you think my music so good I can..."
"There is a thing called mask. Sure, I know you ninja have weird ways of detecting others, but that would at least keep them from being on your tail for a little while. And seeing that you can't be a major threat to your former village, I doubt they'll do anything drastic. But then again, maybe I'm wrong." As Kakayu finished, he yawned lightly before standing up and stretching. "Well, it's best if I go to sleep now. Busy day tomorrow... And Naruto, just think about it. Anything is possible if you believe."
He could only nod as Kakayu began to walk away. He had never once thought about it as he believed himself to be a terrible singer compared to all those on the radio. But now, a professional singer had just gave him the idea and encouraged him to at least try and make a band and if worse came to worse, he could disband it if something went wrong. As he continued thinking about this, he slowly grew tired. He hadn't slept since he had left Konoha so it would be a good idea to do so. So making a few dozen Kage Bunshins and telling them to alert everyone if something were to happen and wake him when the sun rose, he pulled out his sleeping back and went to sleep.
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Daylight came all too soon for Naruto as he was soon leading the band to the fortress like walls of Suna, after they ate breakfast. It had taken them about ten hours to make the trip, but that was because the wagon had broken down and took an hour for Naruto to fix it with the help of Tenchi. Naruto mentally sighed as if he knew Suna was this close he would have made a clone to have told Gaara he was coming. He still did just it would have been better if he could of send it earlier. Shaking his head, he could feel the energy coming off the four young men that were wanting to get there faster so they could get some practice before playing tonight. He could only shake his head as a light smile crossed his face. It seemed that the four of them were having a ball and they hadn't even begun playing their music yet. Listening and watching them as they walked the last stretch to Suna had allowed him to make up his mind.
As they reached the gate, the guards noticed the four of them and quickly moved out of the way as they could sense they were the real deal. Seeing this, Kakayu walked over Naruto carrying what seemed to be a small bag before tossing it to Naruto. Naruto easily caught it, but it was a little heavier than what he figured it to should be. Noting the look on Naruto's face, Kakayu smirked before shaking his head. "We paid you a little bit extra as we didn't think another shinobi would end up attacking us. Also I gave you or latest CD, One-X. It should help you if you decide you want to try."
Naruto could only smile and nod as the four of them headed inside the walls of Suna before disappearing. Checking to make sure that they actually gave ryo instead of something of equal weight, he opened the bag to see it was indeed along of Ryo along with a CD on the top of it. He tilted his head lightly as he looked at the CD as he swore he seen it before and Konoha and was pissed that they sold out before he could buy one, he pulled it out and his jaw drop as the title was indeed One-X by Three Days Grace. He had been traveling with one of his favorite bands and hadn't known it. Before he could think any more on that, he felt a kunai across his throat as one of the guards noticed him and saw the slashed hitai-ate. "Hm. Just a kid. Well you're bound to have some kind of bounty. Better then not..."
He stopped cold in his tracks as sand quickly wrapped around his body and the other guard as well as Sabaku no Gaara walked through the entrance, looking slightly pissed at the two guards. Gaara glared at both guards before his gaze landed on Naruto. He was slightly shocked to see the slashed hitai-ate, but he figured he would have a reason, so he did not bother with it right now. "Drop your weapon. He is under my protection and is allowed into the village."
The two guards nodded quickly, not wanting to become crushed balls of bloody flesh and moved away from Naruto as Gaara slowly walked over to him. "Please forgive them Uzumaki-san."
Naruto looked at Gaara confused hearing how he addressed him before quickly shaking the thought from his head. "No big deal. I just finished escorting the band that you probably just passed."
Gaara only nodding but inside he was mentally wincing as he really didn't want them to show up. It wasn't that he disliked the band, though he was still fairly new to anything that didn't involve killing, but because Temari would be screaming about them for days and he might accidentally clench his fist while sand was surrounding her. Shaking that fantasy of Shukaku's out of his head, he motion Naruto to follow him as he walked through the entrance. Naruto quickly did so, not wanting to stick around the guards any longer. Thinking about the reaction of other shinobi in the village to his hitai-ate, he took it off and pocketed it. After a few minutes of following the Suna jinchuuriki, Naruto spoke out. "Hey Gaara, where exactly are we heading?"
"The house I share with Temari and Kankuro. Neither of them will be in since they are at the concert." Gaara answered quickly in his usual monotone voice. Naruto could only nod in understanding as he to was kind of wanting to go the concert now realizing who he had been with the entire time. They arrived at the said house rather quickly, mainly because everyone in Gaara's path quickly got out of the way. But unlike how he was treated in Konoha, Gaara didn't get looks of contempt and hatred; he got looks of fear and dread. He obviously knew the reason as Gaara was the Blood Fountain, but that was in the past and because of the Yondaime Kazekage. He could only sigh and shake his head as he walked in after Gaara unlocked the door and led him in. "Use the room at the top of the stairs and on the right. I have a council meeting to attend. If Kankuro or Temari arrive before me, do not let them know you are here."
Naruto winced at that knowing he wouldn't want to be in Gaara's position, especially if he was in Konoha as he had no clue how the council viewed him. Though it couldn't be too bad as nothing really bad happened to him, they really didn't do anything for him either so it wasn't clear what they were thinking to him. Nodding lightly, Naruto watched Gaara leave before sighing as he headed up to the room.
Hours passed and it was nearing midnight and Naruto couldn't sleep. He managed to slip by the two other sand siblings as they had just arrived as the concert just ended and headed to the roof. He continued to think on about making a band as he looked at the night sky as it was for some reason soothing to him. He figured it had something to do with Kyuubi, so he left it alone. Pulling out a CD walkman that he had 'borrowed' from Temari's room, he put in the Three Days Grace CD and listened to it while trying to figure out what to do as he began to write down lyrics for the background singers.
After Kakayu told him he had talent and could become an icon he thought about it and decided he wanted to at least try. The only problem was who was he going to use for his band members. Better yet, background singers that sounded just right with his music flow. As he was thinking of this, Gaara walked up from behind him before sitting down besides him. Naruto noticed him but didn't say anything as he continued writing for a bit before sighing and putting his lyrics up as he pulled off the head set.
Gaara had noticed what Naruto was writing but didn't say anything as he wasn't extremely interested in it, but at the same time he was as the lyrics seem to reflect how he felt inside and from what he guessed how Naruto felt inside. Seeing him write the few lyrics he did confirmed his thought as he looked up at the moon. "Seems we are more alike than I thought Uzumaki-san." Naruto nodded lightly as he turned off the CD player and looked over the night life of Suna. It was fairly quiet though it was obvious that there were many people still up, probably because of the concert. Gaara interrupted his thoughts as he spoke again. "Was that the reason you left your village?"
Nodding again, Naruto sighed as he looked over the village before turning to Gaara. "Yeah, it was. I finally got tired of the way villagers and some of those that I called friends treated me. I'm sure you're tired of this village as well Gaara. Though they don't hate you out right, they fear you."
Gaara nodded as he was tired of it though he was finally letting it get to him. In the past when it did, he had just obeyed Shukaku's wishes and killed someone and he felt slightly better, but not too longer after the tiredness would return soon after. That and he had barely been able to sleep over the past thirteen years. Noticing Gaara actually showing an emotion on his face, though he always did seem tired, Naruto thought about his options before he looked over at Gaara. "Hey, you want to come with me and help create a band. You won't have to live here any longer and I'm sure you won't be as tired. Plus I can look through that scroll I took from Ero-sennin and see if there is anything I can do to help you get some sleep."
Turning towards Naruto, Gaara looked at him with questioning. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea of helping him; it was the idea of leaving this village that kind of bothered him. Sure, he had really no love for it, but he did have Temari, Kankuro and the memory of his mother. But the negatives to staying in the village were the constant fear/hate from the villagers and shinobi alike and that his father’s memory was here as well. And Naruto said something about helping him get some sleep. That alone was a great thing, but he was sure Naruto would do that for him anyways. But taking a look at the pros and cons, he turned to Naruto. "If I go with you and help you, I want to be able to sleep."
Naruto nodded lightly as he pulled out Jiraiya's scroll and quickly look through it. Having a short lesson with him with seals, Naruto looked over at Gaara. "What kind of seal is it?"
"Four star."
Nodding lightly at that, Naruto looked through all the even number seals on the scroll before tapping on one that seemed to work the best with it. He thank Kami that Jiraiya left notes with each seal and said which ones worked well with each other. Oddly enough it seemed Jiraiya had circled the seal and had labeled Gaara under it, probably meaning that he was planning on strengthening Gaara's seal. "Alright, I got one and I can do it."
Gaara nodded lightly as he lifted his shirt up and Naruto quickly got to work on placing the seal around Gaara's seal as the sand jinchuuriki forced his sand away from keeping Naruto from doing his work. After a few moments, Naruto finished and pushed a minute amount of chakra into the seal, activating it. Gaara doubled over in pain for a moment before slowly sitting up and nodding lightly at Naruto. "I can no longer hear it... I think it worked."
"That's good. Now get anything you need to take with us. I want to leave now before Jiraiya shows up." Naruto spoke hurriedly as he looked at the direction of the onsen. Blinking in confusion Gaara did as he was told which took two seconds as his sand brought his pack from his room. Naruto sweat dropped lightly at this and mumbled something about useless fox and not giving him any cool powers other than healing. "Alright let's go."
Naruto quickly started jumping roof to roof with Gaara following him and they were nearing the exit of the village. Meanwhile at the onsen Naruto had glanced at, a certain male was screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran away from a few dozen pissed women.
"HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"
Hearing this, Naruto could only shake his head while leaping from roof to roof, Gaara look over towards the voice of the said man yelling and running from the pissed women, before looking at Naruto in question. Naruto sighed a bit before answering as he continue to jump.
"Jiraiya, is a pervert that loves to do 'research' at the women onsen, while hoping not to get caught, but the only problem is he always gets caught when he starts giggling like a pervert while drawing and writing about them for his books" He said in a dull tone of voice.
Gaara looked at him then towards were Jiraiya‘s voice was heard before shaking his head as he really didn't want to know what type of books he wrote or why he did research on women. Though he was pretty sure that it had to deal with though two big things on their chest.