Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Photograph ❯ Morning ( Chapter 12 )

Theme #12: in a good mood

 

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Naruto was a lot of things. The carrier of Kyubi, a shinobi from Konoha, a member of Team 7. He was strong, passionate, honest, and loyal to a fault. When his friend turned away and went rogue, he never once considered him to be anything less then a friend that needed to be rescued. He was loud, and a veritable nuclear reactor of chakra. He was so many things.

 

But he was not patient.

 

“Naruto, don't you think we should wait until someone comes to the door? This is the Kazekage's residence, you know.”

 

The blonde just grinned and pushed the door open. “Hey, I knocked. Not my fault no one heard it. It's all right, they know me. They're probably still in bed.”

 

“Like we should be. Instead we ran through the entire night.” Shikamaru looked up at the dark sky and mourned the lack of clouds in the desert. “Too troublesome.”

 

“Not my fault we got hit with that storm before we even crossed the border. We're already late.” Still grinning with excitement, Naruto marched through the entranceway. “Hey, Gaara! We're here!”

 

Shikamaru followed at a distance, trying to gauge exactly how much room Gaara's sand was going to need to punish the invader that was yelling. As he moved into the house, he noticed some unusual things. Usually the Kazekage residence was quite neat. Today, on the other hand, things were looking a bit rough around the edges. With a quick pull, Shikamaru freed a kunai that was sticking out of the wall. There were quite a few weapons sticking out of the wall, all around a rather hideous but undamaged vase. The genius was quickly putting together what had happened.

 

“Gaara, where the hell are you?” Naruto stomped through the kitchen, completely ignoring the chocolate splashed on the oven and the empty sake bottles sitting on the table. He did notice the sound of footsteps on the stairs and eagerly bounded over. “Good morning!”

 

“Fuck you.” Temari staggered down the last couple of stairs. “And shut up. My head is ready to explode. What do you think you're doing, anyways?”

 

“We just got here, and since we're running late, I came right here!” Naruto scratched at the back of his head. “I guess it's a bit early.”

 

“The sun's not up. Yeah, it's early.” The blonde woman dragged a hand through her unruly hair, which was free from its customary ties and was falling around her face. “Move. I need coffee before I look in the living room.”

 

“Living room?” Naruto immediately bounded towards the room in question, and in doing so unblocked Temari's view of the other visitor.

 

Her mint green eyes slowly focused as she realized that there was another man in the kitchen. One she knew quite well. And he was blushing. Slowly, she looked down at herself although she knew that was a very, very bad idea. `Yup, that's what I thought.'

 

Meanwhile, Naruto bounded into the living room, skidded to a halt, and bellowed, “What the hell?”

 

Several things happened in quick order. The feared wind master, realizing that she was facing off with Shikamaru in a tiny tank top with no bra and a pair of way too short boxers, squealed like a little girl and bolted back up the stairs. Shikamaru clamped a hand to his nose and made a bee line for the sink, tripping over a chair in the process and crashing to the floor.

 

In the living room, Naruto's loud exclamation made all of the unconscious shinobi jerk awake. Kankuro lurched up, only to smack his head yet again on the table and collapse into a swearing heap. Lee jerked awake with fists flying and eyes wide, grazing off of Gaara's cheek and setting off his automatic defenses. The sand erupted from the gourd and swept through the living room before focusing in on the invader. Naruto gave a quick yelp as the sand got a hold of him, encasing him and holding him in place while Gaara blinked slowly at the demolished living room.

 

Despite the sand, despite the scream and crash coming from the kitchen, despite Kankuro crawling towards him with death in his eyes, and despite the fact that the Kazekage had been using Lee like an overgrown, green teddy bear, Nartuo could still smile brightly at the room. “Uh, good morning?”

 

Lee was slowly starting to make sense of the situation. He had woken up thinking he was under attack. He hit something, didn't he? His eyes quickly found the bruise that was already blossoming on Gaara's cheek, and his heart skipped a beat. “Gaara, I hurt you!” He quickly pulled the redhead closer so he could examine the damage.

 

“It is fine, Lee.” Gaara submitted to the examination fairly well. He simply ignored the green clad shinobi while he focused on the blonde that was currently encased in sand in his living room. The hazy expression was clearing, replaced by the usual razor sharp gaze. “Naruto.”

 

“Wow, Gaara, I've never seen you sleep so heavy. How long have you been out?” Naruto was finally getting a look at the thrashed room. “And what the hell did you guys do before you passed out?”

 

“Damned if I remember.” Kankuro continued to crawl right past Naruto and out of the room, his voice a whisper. “Inside voices, at least until I'm done puking my guts out.”

 

Footsteps thudded down the stairs, and Temari reappeared. Dressed in her usual black kimono, she was still tying her hair up. “Don't you know that you're supposed to knock before you come into someone's house?”

 

“I did! You were all asleep, I guess. Must have been one hell of a party.” Naruto looked over to the pair on the damaged couch. Lee was still fussing over Gaara's injury, punctuated by promises of doing leg lifts while hanging from his teeth or something. “Uh, guys?”

 

Lee jerked back, suddenly aware of their audience and the fact that he was still partially draped over the Kazekage. Shifting down the couch, Lee slapped on one of his early morning smiles. “How was your trip, Naruto?”

 

“It sucked. We got caught in a storm before we even crossed the border. If it wasn't for the fact we've already seen this group of rogue ninja, I'd think it was a big joke by Tsunade-baachan. And I've got stuff for you!” Naruto tried to shift, but the sand had him in a death grip. “Uh, Gaara?”

 

The jade green eyes studied him for a second before the sand started to fall away, returning to the gourd.

 

“Thanks, man.” Naruto shrugged his pack to the floor and started shuffling through it. “I know this is all late, `cause of the storm, but Gai-sensei thought it would be better delivered by a friend. Happy Birthday, bushy brows!”

 

Lee bounded from the couch to receive the package that Naruto was holding out for him. He could already smell the special dumplings that only Gai-sensei knew how to make. “Thank you, Naruto!”

 

Temari clamped a hand over her nose and stepped back. “Ugh, what is that?”

 

“Power dumplings from Gai-sensei!” Lee popped the box open. “Would you like one?”

 

The blonde sand-nin staggered back towards the kitchen. “I think they went bad.”

 

“What?” Lee picked one up and sniffed it carefully. “They smell fine to me . . . “

 

Temari made a choking sound and disappeared into the kitchen.

 

“She's probably still recovering from last night's festivities. Gaara, you've never had one of these, would you like one?” Lee plopped back on the couch and held a dumpling out to his friend.

 

The Kazekage studied the offered morsel as though it was a dangerous enemy that needed to be dispatched promptly.

 

“So, you guys did have a party last night! Must have been quite that blow out.” Naruto studied the mass of senbon stuck in the ceiling. The pattern looked suspiciously like Temari's name. “So, how was your birthday, bushy brows?”

 

Gaara leaned forward and took the dumpling from Lee's fingers with his mouth, his expression resembling that of someone throwing themselves on a bomb. When the warm lips brushed over Lee's fingers, his face went crimson. The previous night was suddenly being replayed in his head with just a bit too much clarity. He had to swallow hard before he could answer the question. “It was wonderful, Naruto. A joyous celebration of youth, and a chance to strengthen the alliance between Konoha and Suna!”

 

The Kazekage chewed slowly, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

 

“Uh huh.” Naruto was watching the two men in front of him closely. There was something definitely up here. “And it was just you and the sand triplets?”

 

The red head gave the Leaf shinobi a quick glare for the nickname while Lee nodded his head vigorously.

 

“Okay, then how the hell did you end up snuggled up with - “

 

“And who wants coffee?!” Temari walked into the living room, grabbing Naruto back the back of his collar and hauling him with her back into the kitchen. “I bet your just loads of fun on caffeine.”

 

“Huh? I don't want coffee, Temari!”

 

“Don't care, get in there and sit down.”

 

Lee sucked some air into his lungs when Naruto left, flopping back bonelessly onto the couch. `I think I like it better when Naruto is being oblivious.'

 

“Lee.”

 

“Hm?” The jet black eyes turned to see that Gaara was gently leaning against his arm and studying the box of dumplings on his lap.

 

“We should have those for breakfast.”

 

“Yosh!”