Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Tsunade's Heir ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the official Naruto. But my ideas are mine.

Chapter 12

Necessary Departure

The Houou's stay in Sunagakure was one filled with tension and complications. However, after all the strife was over. The family would communally look back on their time there and say... “it was worth it”. However, for a number of reasons they simply had to leave. This was Harder on Naruto than his family, as he had to depart from his friends, one of whom had some need of him. But even Naruto agreed that it was time to leave. The rational for this was simply: `it was for the best.'

Sadly, shortly after Gaara had awoken, Shukau had as well. While the demon was now placated or rather, subservient. The cause for this was simply a bluff. Naruto was no `Right Hand' of Kyuubi. He was the demon's container - its jailor. If Shukaku were ever to discover this fact, an imminent catastrophe would arise and Gaara's mind would likely be the first casualty. And so, mere days before the coming of the next new moon Naruto himself suggested that they depart.

It was a sombre affair. Temari sported the kind of reluctant sadness that came from a person well prepared in the mind, but not the heart, Kankurou revealed a kind of awkwardness, and Gaara showed...

Nothing

In fact, by Gaara's blank and empty image, as if he were a mannequin, it was as if the previous days had never happened

Yes, even when Naruto walked forwards with arms raised for embrace, there was no reaction.

Temari stepped forwards and met Naruto. “Take care Naruto-kun. I don't know what kind of trouble you'll get into out there without someone like me to keep your head on your shoulders, but...” she pushed a smile up. “Keep the collateral damage to a minimum, ok?”

Naruto drew back and laughed. “Don't worry. Shizune-neechan takes care of that stuff.”

Temari chuckled too. “Then try not to stress her out too much, dummy”

“Don't worry. Nee-chan's hardened from years of dealing with Kaa-chan. For her, there isn't anything called `too much' about this topic.”

“N-No...” Temari denied. “That's not quite what I was saying..." the blond girl shook her head. There was just no helping it. Naruto had his own brand of idiocy after all."Anyways...” she discretely flicked her eyes to her little brother. “Are you sure... it's ok?” Leaving him like this? She wanted to ask. Leaving us with him while he's like this?!

“You mean Gaara?” As usual, the boy didn't care much for subtlety as the boy they were talking about was perhaps a foot away, “Yeah. He'll be fine.”

“That...” Temari swallowed her protests. “Alright.” If you say so

“Kankurou” he turned to address the puppeteer. “It would have been nicer if we met earlier. Next time, let's do some three or four-person games for a change”

“Ah, y-yeah” Kankurou awkwardly shook Naruto's outstretched hand.

“I can tell you really love the culture of kabuki actors since you paint your face every day even though it looks like make up and you probably aren't a into guys. Keep it up. You will surely get better at it someday”

“I will tell you it isn't easy to stick with it” Kankurou sighed. “Wait - what's with that `probably'?!”

Ignoring the puppetmaster-in-training's cry of `give me a break already!', Naruto faced his last `goodbye'.

“Kohai” Gaara flinched: finally, finally being addressed. A hand fell to ruffle his hair, and it was Temari and Kankurou's turn to flinch. Besides Naruto there still wasn't anybody who could approach that close to Gaara's `space' without danger.

`Kohai?' Shizune mouthed to her mentor, very confused.

Tsunade just shrugged. Like a lot of kids, Naruto frequently bent the already flexible (depending on the situation and tone) rules of titles and honorifics. Exactly in which way was Naruto this kid's senior?

“Senpai” Gaara whispered back.

“Remember to take care of yourself Gaara” Naruto reminded. “Eat right: you want to grow up properly, right?”

nod

“Your body's frail from undernourishment too, so be careful of accidents and stuff”

nod

“And,” the blonde seemed to struggle for something else, confident that there was more. “Remember to get some proper sleep”

nod

“And don't let that punk tanuki push you around! She's a bully. And do we listen to bullies?”

Head shake: no

“T-Tsunade-sama” Shizune whispered. “Doesn't... it seem like...”

“Y-Yeah...” Tsunade nodded. “Rather than `Senpai-Kohai', I somehow want to call this `parent-child' or `protective big brother - little brother'...”

“Right” Naruto nodded, not seeming to mind that Gaara wouldn't meet his gaze. “Well, just... just take care of yourself, Gaara. Don't do anything you don't agree with. I'll see you around...”

nod

The children said their final goodbyes, and the Houou's began their long track out of the Sunagakure territory.

“Gaara” Temari mumbled bravely, watching the tense back of her brother and the distant and disappearing back of her friend. “Are you really alright with it like this? Shouldn't you at least... say something?”

“...N-Naruto-senpai!” the boy choked out. And as loud as his lungs could afford, shouted. “Next time, let's have some more Taiyaki!”

Even in the distance, one could see Naruto's responding grin. “Sure!”

Naruto silently led the way. Actually, it was a hell of a lot easier than walking here. The heavy wind which had fought them on the way to Sunagakure was now to their backs after all.

As for shizune, she could do with some conversation. “Does it seem like something happened between Naruto-kun and that Gaara-san? He was very withdrawn during our departure.”

“Hmmm” Tsunade struck a thoughtful pose while walking. “That may be so. Possibly he was bullied like that pink girl Naruto said he met in Kohona, since he has a pretty outstanding face” she recalled the red `Love' kanji tattooed to his head. “However to strike at the true core of my personal concerns...”

“Hm? Tsunade-sama?”

The sannin huffed, frowning. “Honestly I'm really itching for more information on the Naruto-Temari situation.”

“T-Tsunade-sama, could you possibly be thinking...”

“I mean,” Tsunade began, still posing thoughtfully as her eyes glinted quite dangerously. “Like I said, I demand information on any cute `first romantic encounter' situation.” She declared, before clenching her fist before her in despair. “Damnit. As soon as I leave for a few weeks, this kind of thing happens out of my sight! A precious part of Naru-chan's development!”

“T-Tsunade-sama...”

“Oy Naru-chan!”

“Hm?” Naruto turned quizzically

Ignoring silent pleads from her apprentice to stop, Tsunade carried on anyways. “What's your relationship with that Temari anyways?”

“Eh?” the boy's face screwed up in a kind of disbelieving confusion. “Haven't you met her plenty of times?”

“Don't compare this and that.” Tsunade `tsked'. “Back then it was a clearly platonic relationship”

“Hah?! What do you care?” Nartuo demanded. Platonic... non-romantic? “Or rather, isn't it still like that?!”

“Oy. You know that I'm a girl right?”

“What?! Of course!”

“Then I'm telling you I know these things.” Tsunade tapped the side of her temple in emphasis. “I know what it means when a woman puts up with wearing something like that, in order to look beautiful just to that one certain person.” She nodded resolutely to herself, as if that settled things. “That kimono: so orange, so green, so many frogs. It must be love. I'll take a lot of pictures next time”

Naruto would have been incredulous at his mother's radical jumping to conclusions, as well as her anti-orange and wholly backwards sense of style, but he could tell from the starry look in her eyes that she was already in a far away place.

A far away... and really scary place

Sometimes, because she could just get that odd in a weird, maternal way... it wasn't worth it arguing with her. Probably... it's just a mother thing.

Eager to change the conversation, Shizune fell into step with her mentor and little brother. “Naruto-kun, do you have the mailing address?”

“Yeah” Naruto swiftly turned from his mother and her wild accusations.

“That's good” Shizune smiled. Living this kind of semi-nomadic lifestyle, Shizune was concerned that Naruto would suffer from such a non-permanent environment. Having constant pen-pals regardless of where he was in the world... such a thing was indeed welcomed. “Your number of pen-pals has grown hasn't it?”

“It's great.”

x-flashback-x

“Well,” Naruto began, having just picked up his mother's massive Sake-scroll. “That's everything”

“Senpai”

“Hi Gaara” A part of him regretted the whole Senpai-Kohai arrangement. It inherently implied a kind of inequality, though only within a certain field.

And there was something so wrong with being forced to act at all times.

Of course, Naruto knew a little about espionage and the value of a good, reliable bluff. Hey, he was a ninja, right? But this was different. After Naruto and the tanuki's throw down, the only thing keeping the insane demon subdued was its loyalty to its King: `Kyuubi-sama', and by extension Naruto, the `Right Hand' of that king.

It wasn't a matter of convincing Shukaku that Naruto was somehow operating under Kyuubi. He'd shown `enogh' proof already and religious fanatics were never known for their questioning of their superiors. It was a matter of showing some goddamn respect to the `Right Hand of God'. The normal humans didn't know anything about Naruto's `divine station', and so their ignorant level of respect towards him could be tolerated - even encouraged if Naruto was `in disguise', so to speak. But those who knew and especially Gaara, who was pumped full of enough youki to be apply for honorary demon-ship already, should show a different level of respect. Even if it worked against Naruto's `imaginary cover', there wasn't any helping it. It was already a miracle that a religious fanatic could have his standards bent to this degree.

And so Naruto was the `Senpai'. He who was looked up to and respected. The senior. The wiser. The one who `knew the ropes' and could offer valuable advice. The sometimes protector and instructor of the `Kohai', who in turn paid respect and humbleness.

It fell short of the level that Shukaku thought appropriate. But hell, he'd just have to deal with the will of `God's Right Hand'.

Well, it wasn't a weak enough respect to drive the tanuki into a berserk state, and neither was it strong enough to unsettle anyone important, such as Gaara's father, so it was fine.

Naruto addressed the red-headed boy in front of himself. “Well, this is it Gaara. I have to go now. I can't stay here any longer.”

“...Yes”

“Then let's say `goodbye' here. I know you don't do so well in public”

“Senpai...” the boy began in a voice small and weak. A voice that only recently found need for exercise. “I... I just wanted to thank you... I-I'm really happy to be called a friend by you. Without you, I couldn't have... changed anything and...” There was a sharp snap of movement and the next thing Naruto knew, Gaara had bowed very deeply at the waist. “Thank you...”

That did it. Embarrasedly, Naruto scratched his cheek and looked away. “I'll remember to write, Gaara. It's a promise.”

“U-Un”

x-end flashback-x

“Naruto-kun?”

“Eh?” Naruto shook out of his reverie. “Sorry, what did you say Nee-chan?”

“I was asking what the rush was for?” She looked concerned. “Although simple Konoha citizen immigrants have a limited period of time to stay in other countries we're still leaving early. Is it really ok?”

“Sure” Naruto nodded. “Kaa-chan's getting grumpy without a `proper' gambling hut. Not to mention the debt-people are probably catching on to our location...” And I also have to go. There are a lot of reasons. Naruto sighed.

“Ah, that's... true” Shizune admitted, restraining the depression in her voice. Though Tsunade was making some kind of effort to reduce her debt, sadly the transgressions of her past (and present) cannot be erased so quickly.

“And you've also passed your test, right?” Naruto pointed out. “It's just time to go.”

“Well,” Shizune remained reluctant, “it's good that you're alright with it. You can always write them or visit, too. Although actually,” she began, putting a `what can you do about it' smile on, “actually I didn't pass.”

“Eh?!” Naruto exclaimed. “But kaa-chan said -!”

“An exception was made” Shizune continued. “I was supposed to handle the patients on my own, but in the end I ran for Tsunade-sama anyways. I clearly violated the rules. Furthermore, during that time the patients were left unattended. I...” Shizune hated to have her adoptive little brother think any less of her, but she disliked keeping secrets from him on simple principle. “I actually was `failed'. Actually, she used an `F' stamp and red ink on my forehead, knocking me unconscious.”

Naruto's eyebrow's shot up. “But she said you passed. She even said you `graduated bravely'”

“Ahahaha,” Shizune laughed, embarrassed. “Well, that's because I quickly regained consciousness and forced her into doing her best to help the patient.”

“Eh?!” Now that was alarming. What's more, his kind, placid sister just spoke such a sentence with her usual smile and as if she was talking about cooking dinner. “You did? To kaa-chan How exactly?!” While it was true that his Nee-chan had occasionally trained him in various things, they were always very tame. Nothing advanced. Surely, she had some kind of mysterious ranking in Konoha's forces in the past but to force kaa-chan into something?!

The Amazing Shzinune!? Could it be that within an unassuming demeanour lays incredible power?!

“Yes,” the mysterious elder sister smiled pleasantly, “with blackmail”

Naruto was not quite sure what to think. Somehow, I feel that it's almost as amazing?? “Neechan,” he began, “that... you're kind of different today”

“Really? Well, helping the Shoujou's was a very difficult experience and I'm really so happy that things worked out.”

Naruto nodded. The so-called Flesh-Eating disease... he didn't know too much about it - only that it was a bacterial infection...

“I'm just happy that everything worked out...” here, the medic-nin positively beamed. “I'm so glad that Tsumane-san and her family are alright.”

Naruto looked thoughtful. “Flesh Eating Disease, huh? I wonder what it looks like...”

These words snapped Shizune out of her reminiscence. Hearing a question, she quickly moved into lecture mode. “Actually the scientific name is Necrotizing Fasciitis or Fasciitis Necroticans. It doesn't really `eat' the flesh. The bacteria produces toxins that deprive the body's cells of oxygen.”

“Ah” Naruto exclaimed. “So it's not flesh-eating but more like... suffocating? Of the cells?”

His sister nodded encouragingly. “That's a good way of putting it, Naruto-kun. You've got a good grasp of it.”

“Ehehe” Naruto smiled under the praise.

“But for what it looks like...” Shizune continued with her lecture, face dropping back into a frown as she remembered images. “The flesh becomes inflamed, possibly purple, and then simply seems to... die.”

Naruto's face mirrored his sister's sombreness. What must it be like to deal with such an image... No, that's a lot of what a medic-nin was about. Both a town-medic and a field-medic dealt with disturbing realities on regular a basis. That brand of grossness should become very familiar to someone in this profession.

“It's disturbing... And antibiotics only go so far. The rate of spread and of destruction can be too high: in the end, you'll have to use surgery to remove affected parts and that's... not pretty either. Even after it's healed.”

“No it's not,” a voice interrupted.

“Tsunade-sama!” Shizune exclaimed, not having seen her mentor fall into step on Naruto's other side. “Since when were you listening in?!”

“Since about when you started spacing out”

“Did you come back to your senses?” Naruto flatly asked.

Tsunade responded in a warning tone. “Watch it brat or your behavior will negatively affect weather I give my blessings to you and that girl or not”

“Now you're just trying to piss me off!” the boy violently objected.

Tsunade didn't say anything. She just gave him a look, as if to say `regardless of how you deny it, I know the truth of the matter and the sooner you give up and admit the situation to me, then the sooner we can move forwards'. She then snapped her line of sight away from her incredulous son and towards the distant horizon with a cool, self-assured air.

Naruto could already imagine his first letter to Sunagakure.

Dear Temari,

Urgent Business.Kaa-chan's lost it. If you see her or there is mail or a message from her, run as far away as possible. Trust me, her son, on this issue.

I'm serious.

Naruto

“Anyways, the village handled that horribly” Tsunade scowled. “That bacteria isn't even airborne infective” she sighed. “What was that banishment all about? Quarantine? Nonsense.”

“Well,” Shizune shrugged weakly, “maybe they were just being cautious... the disease is very rare, but it's frightening...”

“Cautious? No” the mentor shook her head. “Just normal sanitation would have handled the issue of infection. Gloves... masks... standard sanitary procedures! Procedures which are proven to work and which, even if they weren't standard in this village could have been afforded with ease. Maybe the public didn't know that, and maybe the Shoujou's were the same. But the medic-nins there sure as hell did and they didn't say a damn thing.” The woman crossed her arms and sighed dismissively. “It was a power-play. Somebody shut those medics up. All of them.”

“Do you think...” Shizune muttered, “that Mauro-san knew that as well?”

Tsunade briefly thought about Tsumane's husband. “Guy comes from the Shoujou family. If it's in the political or economic arena: you shouldn't mess around with them. They're brought up tough'” she recalled. “As soon as you said `actually, it's only infectious by transfer of fluids' he was ready to kill something.”

Shizune recalled it too. And rather than any sort of normal reaction, she actually clasped her hands before her and became starry-eyed. “Ah, it was so romantic” She wiped an emotional tear from her eye. “At first Tsumane-san was feeling depressed because her face was left deformed. And of course she's very humble in a way, coming from humble origins and such... But when her husband reached across their sickbeds, took her hand and said:” Shizune began, imitating a sort of heavy baritone. “`Stop that kind of talk Tsumane-chan. To me you are dearly necessary. Because if you aren't there... then who will hold me back from killing those bastards horribly' it was so cool. And when she said, even though her fever was still high:” Shizune tried and failed overall to copy the breathy muttering of Tsumane-san, as she was simply too exited. “`I'm sorry Anata, but I can't... do such a thing. For harming our children... I also... want to kill them horribly...' that was also very touching!” the romantic exclaimed. “And then he said `that's the kind of response I expect from my beautiful wife' wow! It was great!”

Tsunade nodded in agreement.

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. Huh, so that's a girl's idea of romance? Unexpectedly, it's pretty violent.

As Shizune continued to bubble about the grand romance she witnessed, Naruto turned to his mother. “So Kaa-chan, Nee-chan says she passed because she blackmailed you?”

Tsunade `Hmph'ed “She told you about that, did she?” she grumbled. “In order to save her patients she did what she honestly thought was best. It's true she broke the rules of that test, and she even blackmailed me into helping her but her objective wasn't something I could disagree with. Besides, if that's the kind of determination she has, then she shouldn't break down if she has to work on her own.”

“Oh”

“It wasn't that alone though” Tsunade smiled. “The bacteria had mutated to adjust to her antibiotic. She needed me to quickly find a new one because my experience lets me handle that easier and... she was actually preoccupied with different thoughts”

“Eh?”

“As I walked into that room and saw what she'd done..." Tsunade mused "For just a second, even I thought it was a miracle.” She chuckled. “I must be getting old”

“What did she do?” Naruto asked, amazed.

Tsunade got another far-off look. She radiated pride. “What fantastic sealwork... I want to know how long she's been working on it. What she did was create an artificial atmosphere of increased oxygen pressure”

Naruto snapped his fingers. “Oh! So the body starts to contain more oxygen! That's great!”

“Yes” Tsunade nodded. “A lot of the medics now-a-days seem to think that the most potent procedures lie in interfering with the body. Antibiotics to fight the problem for the body. Surgery to remove the afflicted parts, and so on. Don't mistake this Naru-chan: those methods surely have their place” Tsunade impressed. “But frankly, we just can't match the power of the body's immune system. Increasing the oxygen content of her patient's blood, Shizune not only drastically reduced the death rate of her patient's cells by allowing them to effectively `breathe'... even the white blood cells were able to function properly and help strike back.”

“Huh” Naruto sounded, impressed. “Cool”

Tsunade grinned. “That's right. Any condition that deprives the cells of oxygen can be helped by this, and we haven't explored all the uses for increasing the oxygen consumption either. It's a great contribution to medical treatment. As her mentor, I have no complaints about her capabilities. Of course, I have no complaints about her attitude after the dedication she showed either. So,” she shrugged, “it's a natural pass.”

“Wow,” Naruto smiled and turned to yell to his sister. “That's great Nee-chan!”

While this abundant praise was being dished out, Shizune was still babbling in the background. “...And she wanted more than anything for her hands to be spared, so that she could continue to act independently, feed and raise her children properly! Ooooh!”

“Ah,” the boy sweatdropped, “she's not listening...” It was then that a hand fell heavily on his shoulder, in an iron-like grip

“Speaking of romance” Tsunade leered. “Let's hear about this Temari situation?”

“I thought you dropped that nonsense already!” Naruto demanded

Tsunade, on her part, only quirked her eyebrow. “I've picked it back up! Now spill!”

“Like hell!”

“Hey brat...” quickly adjust her hold on him, Tsunade soon had the boy in a necklock. “Do you want a noogie?! Spill, I say!”

“There's nothing to spill! Just leave it alone already, you nutball!”

“Nutball?! Now listen here!”

And so another argument broke out.

Normally, Shizune would have said something to try mediating. However... “And then he was all cool and said `Tsumane, let's send them into despair together'! Kyaaaa! That's so sweet!” ... at the moment, she was still stuck within her own world.

“Admit it!” Tsunade noogied

“No!” Naruto ground out, even though he was on the receiving end of a grade-two noogie. By the way, Naruto defined a grade-two noogie as `any noogie that can't be copied by a normal human being'.

“Admit it!”

“No!”

“Admit it!”

“No!”

“Aha!” Tsunade paused. “Doesn't your screaming `No' mean that you have something and are refusing to admit it!?”

“That's not what I meant!”

“Your heart gives you away!” Tsunade declared righteously. “Admit it!” she noogied.

“Damnit Kaa-chan!” Naruto ground out. Crap! It's leveled up to grade-three noogie and this doesn't look like it's going to end! I have to escape! I have to... I have to...!

Aha...

Eureka... But... should I...? That is too... No! At this point I don't have a choice! Suck it up Naruto! Strike back!

“Fu... Fufufufu”

Tsunade froze, hearing an unexpected, if strained from the neckhold, evil laugh from her son

“The nonsense ends here Kaa-chan...” Naruto stated ominously. “Although I don't really want to do it, you've pushed my limit... Prepare yourself...”

Tsunade, on her part, afforded the brat a suspicious look. “Prepare for what exactly?”

“For what?” Naruto echoed amusedly, wriggling in his mother's grip so that his face turned up to meet her gaze. “Well,” he smiled pleasantly, “of course it's blackmail”

Tsunade released the boy - who she could practically imagine was in a dark aura of evil - as if burned.

Shizune! Her mind screamed in horror.

“Fufufufu” Naruto chuckled darkly. “Now that I think about it, don't I have a ton of blackmail material on you myself? Fufufufufu”

Shizune, what have you done!

The horrified wails of terror echoing within Tsunade's mind were, of course, unheard by the apprentice in question, who was also still within her own world. “They looked so wonderful together!” she squealed.

And so without realizing it... Shizune herself, for the very first time, contributed towards leading her little brother down the path of dishonour When she later realized this, her own horrified scream of despair and denial would be heard across the vast desert.

Omake

Gaara didn't manage to gain much closeness with his elder siblings. The boy was simply too inexperienced with dealing with people and his siblings were simply too terrified. However, Temari and Kankurou did enjoy some sibling activities and perhaps that could be the start of a change in perspective.

x-Sunagakure-x

Temari, displaying the level of closeness she shared with her best friend - that her vocabulary could already be showing signs of contamination - shouted “Oh (&(&!” and dived behind the afore-mentioned companion.

“S-Sorry”

Houou Naruto observed the red-head impassively. “S'okay” he dismissed easily.

Quiet as a mouse, and feeling roughly as powerful... Temari whispered “Is it really okay? This is your level of okay?!” from behind her protector

The cause of all this commotion had to do with waking up. After his five-day slumber, Gaara had awoken most violently, instinctually lashing out at the two blondes. Just where even gather the sand from was a mystery. “Gaara... good morning. You were out for quite a time. Your body will probably feel really sluggish and weak for a while after such a long time unconscious, but don't worry about it too much... Anyways, I'm hungry as hell, and I've been putting this off” he muttered in displeasure. “You want to get going now?”

“...W-What?”

Naruto shrugged, grinning. “Well, me and you have an outstanding promise after all. I'm talking about Taiyaki, you know. Taiyaki!”

“Dear God -he's smiling! Run for it!” Temari felt like crying.

x-later: sunagakure rooftops-x

“Alright, I'm up!” Kankuro announced, huffing as he made it up Temari's grappling hook. “We really need to learn wall-walking”

“Shhh!” Temari insisted in a strained whisper. “Get over here. And stay down!”

“So what are we doing again?”

“We're spying on Naruto-kun”

“Ah,” Kankuro nodded understandably. “Afraid that he's cheating on you?”

“Wh-Wha! - He's not like that!” She growled ominously. “I mean - we're not like that!”

“Uh-huh” Kankuro drawled

“Shut up! Why s it that people keep jumping to conclusions about this kind of thing?!” the irate girl demanded. “Is our society so hopelessly starved for anything vaguely romantic that such wild assumptions have taken importance over logic?! How many times do I have to explain that we're-just-friends!?”

“Close friends” Kankuro amended offhandedly

Temari nodded automatically, “Close fr - wait. Now don't start trying to twist things around to suit yourself”

“You're one to talk! This is a taste of your own medicine! Making my actors makeup seem like something else... Always teasing me about my love for kabuki actors!”

“Deep love” Temari amended offhandedly

“Deep lo -” Kankuro froze, before glaring and muttering a certain expletive at his sister.

Temari hotly snapped her head to glare down her brother. “Where did you learn to swear like that!”

“From you!” He rebutted quickly. “Where did you learn to swear like that?!”

“That's a secret”

“Is... is that so...”

“Enough! They're coming out!”

“Yeah by the way,” Kankurou frowned “why did you drag me over here anyways? I though you said it was `family business'? So is this one of your newly created `bonding' moments? Spying on your boyfriend?”

Temari had - after a particularly frightening day where Gaara's killing intent had been felt across the villiage - come home to gravely inform him that their `shell of a family' was pathetic, and that they should change that. Kankuro had, having a vague feeling that he too would like some kind of... anything with his family, agreed.

He was already regretting it.

Then again, they had known eachother for years. They had co-existed. It was only fear and mistrust that had separated them. Mistrust of each other and fear of basically everything else: Gaara being the mutual highest terror, with their father following soon behind. It was really only that extra step that was missing. That mutual agreement not to sell each other out for personal safety or gain.

An agreement backed by what? Not a damn thing. Well, truthfully it was supposed to be backed by their `sibling bond' but that wasn't tangible. It couldn't be used as collateral in case Temari did betray him. It wouldn't appease their father's expectations. Sure as hell wouldn't sate Gaara's bloodlust.

But what the hell - He figured it was worth a try. Probably. Well, at least Temari seemed pretty serious about the `sibling bond' thing.

“Oh just shut up. Look, they're coming out!”

Indeed, exiting from the small Taiyaki stand, the sibling pair could observe Naruto unzipping a corner of the waist-low curtains (such constructions were necessarily different in Sunagakure due to the eternal wind there) and stepping out. Gaara followed him out and Temari couldn't be sure at this distance, but she thought she saw the stand-owner pass out from relief.

However, the stand-owner's relief was Kankurou's consternation “It's Gaara! Run for it!”

x-Sunagakure: streets-x

“Huh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised,” Naruto sighed, “that the Taiyaki was incredibly dry…”

“S-Sorry Naruto-senpai”.

“Huh? For what?” Naruto rounded on the smaller boy, perplexed. “The dry food?”

“Um…” Gaara hesitated. He was pretty new to the whole human-interaction thing. Especially with a peer he didn't ever want to shun him. Especially with a peer that didn't explode in a shower of blood and guts once Shukaku became exited. Or bored. Or... anything, really. “I - I don't know…”

“Hey” Naruto rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. “You know you don't have to call me senpai. Well, not yet”

Gaara fought the flinch. He wasn't really used to human contact. Well not, like, living humans who were all in one piece… but that was beside the point

x-sunagakure: rooftops-x

“Make yourself as unthreatening as possible: assume the fetal position!” Kankurou, trying not to holler, urged. “Assume the fetal position!”

Temari resisted the urge to slap some sense into her brother. “Would you cut that out?!”

“No you cut it out! If I die, do you know whose fault it'll be?!” He demanded having, of course, assumed the fetal position. “You'd better be prepared to be the distraction! Take responsibility!”

“O-Oy... even I'm still afraid of Gaara. But he's not even coming up here you know? And I'm telling you Naruto-kun is there so...” she frowned.

“He was quiet for days! Not a single problem!” He insisted from his fetal position. “Don't you think that's a little weird?! He's fallen behind his `kill quota'! I don't want to know what he'll do to the next person he sees. Now get down!”

“Eh?” Temari stood. “They're leaving. Kankurou, come on”

“Damnit, I said get down!” Kankuro hollered, tackling his sister to the rooftop. “He'll see you!”

“...What are you doing, you idiot?”

“Just shut up! Why do I have to help you?! This sibling-bond thing,” he growled low, “IS JUST WAY TOO TROUBLESOME!”

Temari sighed and continued giving Kankurou that flat look. “That's really touching and stuff, but I'm telling you its safe...”

End

Hey, its been a while.

The reason for the delay is largely adjustment to heading out for university life, as well as good old-fashioned writers-block. So this was mostly written during winter break, you see.

My typo-checker hasn't gotten a hold of this yet, but it's planned on.

Yes, Necrophilic Fasciitis is the scientific name for Flesh Eating Disease. It's caused by a few bacteria, but mostly by the Streptococus A, a mutation of the Streptococus bacteria which causes a number of diseases (such as strep throat).

What Shizune did was essentially create a Hyperbaric Chamber. It really is used in the treating of Flesh Eating Disease, for the reasons stated in the story already. It's that thing popularly used to to help deep-sea divers readjust their bodies to normal air pressure when they resurface. It's used to treat a number of problems though. But its potential in some cases, such as autism in order to increase oxygen consumption in the hopes of awakening dormant parts of the brain, is debatable.

The Senpai-Kohai relationship is being a bit misused by Naruto and Gaara. Or rather, they've twisted it to suit their needs. It exists within an organization. We commonly connect it to school-life, where for instance the senior would be the Senpai and the freshman the Kohai. However, this relationship can also exist in other organizations. For instance, in the business setting, this can happen too. People can take to it in varying degrees. It's not necessary to to feel too strongly about the relationship even if you use 'senpai' with somebody. Understand: it's not exactly a title. Like a lot of these kinds of things, it seems the context and history are important to determining what the relationship is really treated as.

In some cases, the relationship would still be remembered even years after that setting no longer applies (for instance, after both students graduated to the work force).

If you force Shukaku to decide on what organization Naruto could be the Senpai of, it would probably say "subvservience to Kyuubi-sama". If you forced me, I would probably say "... the school for 'life as a somewhat normal-ish person', perhaps?"

Hmm... if this were a manga or something then this chapter would mark the end of a volume (probably volume 3) and the beginning of the next volume.

Hmm... favorite line would probably be: “For what?” Naruto echoed amusedly, wriggling in his mother's grip so that his face turned up to meet her gaze. “Well,” he smiled pleasantly, “of course it's blackmail”

Oh. But maybe this one: “That kimono: so orange, so green, so many frogs. It must be love. I'll take a lot of pictures next time”

Please Review