Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Three ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Wow, thank you for the reviews. I just wanted to make this clear now. This takes place about roughly a year after the Sound and Sand attacked the Leaf village. They should be about 14 y/o. Oh and Sasuke never left with the Sound-nins. Hmm…yeah, that's pretty much it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: sorry, I don't own Naruto.

Warning: spoilers will come as the story progresses.

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Three

By: Lostlily

Chapter One

-Sand Village-

It was a quiet night. A warm breeze flowed across the endless stretch of sand. It gently ruffled the fiery hair of the solitaire person sitting on the swing of an old playground. If one were to listen carefully, they could almost hear the voices of the past echoing around this place.

'Ga…Gaara…'

'It's Gaara of the Sand!!'

'RUN FOR IT!!'

' AHHH!!'

Gaara closed his eyes as memories ran through his mind, he remembered how he used to sit on this very swing, watching other children play with each other. He slowly opened his eyes to gaze up at the full moon. Every night, he would come here to silently stare up at the night sky. It was something that he had started doing ever since his siblings brought him back from the Leaf Village. As he gazed, his thoughts always turned to the battle he had with him….Uzumaki Naruto.

He remembered the words he told him and the look of understanding in his cerulean eyes.

'Those eyes…they seemed to recognize something deep within me. They saw, not Gaara of the Sand, but the Gaara behind the mask. He completely understood the pain and the loneliness that I've been through,' He thought to himself. 'He definitely is a maelstrom because I feel myself getting sucked into his words every time I think of that day.' He whispered softly, "I want to know more…"

He suddenly looked down as a worn, leather kickball rolled up to him. His gaze then shifted in the direction of where the ball came and finally rested upon a cloaked figure standing three yards away. He was surprised that he had not sensed the stranger's presence. Gaara slowly stood, ready for any attack that might come his way.

The stranger shifted slightly and Gaara found a pair of dark, blue-violet eyes staring into his own faded green ones. He thought to himself with shock, 'Those eyes…they have the same look as his…' Then he heard a soft voice break the silence.

"Konbanwa, Gaara. I'm glad we finally get to meet."

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Team 7 found themselves in a village right on the border between the Wind Country and the Fire Country. Since the village lay between the two countries, many different people, commoner and shinobi alike were always seen passing through. Team 7 was sent there to meet up with a representative from the Hidden Sand Village to exchange some important documents. It was decided that they meet in a tavern for the exchange.

The team sat in a corner booth near the back of the establishment. Kakashi, seemingly relaxed yet always prepared, was reading his favorite book, 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Sasuke stared down at his cup of tea, brooding silently. Sakura was trying, very persistently, to get Sasuke to talk to her. Naruto, fidgeting like a small child, eagerly watched the different people that came and went. After waiting for an hour, Naruto sighed loudly, "Where is he? I'm so bored!! ARGH!!!"

Without lifting his gaze from his book, Kakashi replied, "Don't worry, Naruto, he'll be here."

Sakura frowned at the loudmouth blond, "You should learn how to be more patient. It's a quality that all ninjas should have," she smilef sweetly at Sasuke, "Ne, Sasuke-kun?" The only response she got was, "Hn." Naruto crossed his arms and slouched in his seat as he sulked.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi put his book away as a shinobi, wearing a Sand forehead protector approached their table, "He's here." The exchange of documents was brief and words were rarely said. Before the Sand-nin departed, he said, "The new Kazekage would like the Hokage to know how grateful he is that the alliance between the two villages has been reestablished and that he dearly hopes that our two villages will become great allies." Then he bowed and left.

The team stood and walked out of the tavern, heading for the motel they were staying in for the night. Halfway there, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. Rubbing his tummy, he quickly glanced around and spotted a ramen stand. "Oi, I'm hungry! Let's go eat some ramen," he said as his stomach grumbled again.

Kakashi gave a light shrug, "There's something I have to do, but you three can go ahead and eat." Then he was gone.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto climbed onto three stools and ordered their ramen. Sakura moved close to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, let's go out on a date when we get back home."

Without looking at her, he replied curtly, "No." Not missing a beat, Naruto said cheerfully, "I'll go out with you, Sakura-chan!" Next thing he knew, he found himself sporting a very sore cheek. Their orders arrived and they began to eat.

As Naruto slurped up his ramen hungrily, two Sand shinobi sat a stool away from him. He didn't pay them much attention until he heard one of them say quietly, "Did you hear? The old Kazekage's son disappears a week ago."

The other ninja replied, "Which one?"

"The creepy one."

The three Leaf genin froze in their seats as they overheard this. Naruto frowned slightly as he thought to himself, 'Gaara?'

"Ah, if he doesn't appear soon, the elders will mark him down as a missing-nin."

"I say good riddance. He was too dangerous anyways."

"Hmm, I heard that he was keeping to himself since that battle at the Leaf Village last year."

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to start asking the older ninjas some questions, when he suddenly felt someone grip his arm. He turned and found himself looking into Sasuke's dark eyes. The young Uchiha said quietly, "Don't say a word." The blond glareed at his rival as he jerked his arm away from the fierce grip. The two Sand-nin picked up their orders and walked off, talking about something else.

The three payed for their ramen, then quietly exited the stand, walking towards their motel. Sakura shivered slightly and hugged herself as the Sand ninjas' conversation rans through her mind. "They were talking about Gaara, ne?" Sasuke gave a brief nod.

"Ano sa, what do you think happened to him? Why would he just disappear like that?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked up at the night sky, "I don't know, but I have feeling that we're going to know soon."

Sakura nibbled on her lower lip nervously, "Maybe we should tell Kakashi-sensei what we heard tonight."

"Aa," Was what she got in reply.

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Two figures stood with the shadows, watching the small team walk off. Their attention was mainly focused on the whiskered genin.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

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A/N: Hmm…this took me a while to write down and I'm still not satisfied with it. I'm sure everyone is curious about who the third child is and I promise that you'll find out soon. Right now, I'm just setting up the players. Plz review! Arigato!!