Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Small Gods ❯ Son of Suna ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Note: Questions about the text should be directed to my email account. I have corrected as much as I can of late. If there are any mechanical or grammatic errors remaining however, do feel free to notify me.

Suna, the shinobi village of sand, was hidden in the Wind Country. It had been a long time since it had seen a single drop of rain, three months to be exact. Gaara was concerned and mildly overjoyed at the moment as he stared over the tops of the village. He was concerned that so little rain had fallen the last time, and that it was slow in coming again. He was very pleased with the news he had just received from a Konoha courier. Encoded so that only he, the Kazekage’s kohl lined eyes could read it was a letter from Konoha’s Hokage in Gaara’s still hand. The Hokage had it on good authority from a certain trustworthy source that a certain ninja from Konoha would be visiting within the next week for some time. Given that this certain ninja was very rash and oft-times impolite she (the Hokage) had taken it upon herself to pre-inform the Kazekage of this shinobi’s arrival. She hoped he would not cause too much trouble, and if the Kazekage saw fit to send the ninja’s sorry behind back in a basket the Hokage would be most supportive.
Gaara combed his sandy red hair with a steady hand. Sand scattered to the floor. There was only one person the Hokage would speak of in such glowing tones. Gaara shook his head slowly and chuckled lowly; a new action for him, though not unwelcome, it felt good to laugh. His brother and sister would have been happy to see it. The only person who inspired this much of a reaction from Gaara on a regular basis whenever they were around was a loud-mouthed ninja by the name of Uzumaki Naruto.
The history between the two young men was a difficult one to unravel. There were parts of it that could not be told to anyone due to the life-threatening nature of the contents. What was known however was that after meeting Naruto, Gaara’s silent violence had disappeared. In its place stood the mild tempered person that now all of Suna called Kazekage, their leader. Many still feared that Gaara’s mindless blood lust would return someday, once again robbing him of sanity. That was an impossibility however. The demon inside of him was gone forever now, taken by the Akatsuki organization. He did not miss it. The only notable difference had been a slight decrease in chakra stamina which he rebuilt quickly on his own.
The people of the village had truly cared about him when it was announced that he was in danger, he respected that fully. Gaara made a vow that day to become strong for those people. He was the Kazekage, and as such he could not let himself fall to slackness for a moment. ‘To protect something precious.’ Naruto said those very words a long time ago, before Gaara’s demon had been forcibly removed, before the treachery of the last Uchiha. It had been a very long time indeed.
Gaara still wondered about the Uchiha sometimes. He neither cared for the man nor considered him any great part of his existence. Mentioned in Naruto’s presence however, the shadow of the Uchiha would descend with a vengeance. Vengeance from the Avenger, as he was called among the hidden villages. A prodigy gone rogue was the Uchiha Sasuke, and he blackened Naruto’s mind at the edges. For that reason only did Gaara feel a small anger towards the Uchiha. Naruto’s happiness was a vital thing. It lived and reached out in a curious way to the most endarkened of souls, Gaara’s own included.
Gaara flicked away his train of thought. Naruto would be arriving tomorrow by the letter’s account. There would be no need for dwelling on past events that needed no dwelling upon. Naruto would be arriving tomorrow. Gaara would make sure that no darkness shadowed the glare of Suna’s desert halls, or the mind of his friend in soul and battle. Naruto would have peace here, Gaara would repay it bit by bit. To be given peace was quite a thing as Naruto had given Gaara so long ago. Peace of mind to protect his people as the Kazekage should. Dying was a small matter in the line of his duty. Having died once before Gaara no longer feared death. So in eternal gratitude Gaara would repay peace, even if it killed him.

Morning found a scuffle at the gates of Suna. The guards had caught a bedraggled beggar that looked and smelled like a wet animal that had rolled in the mud. The beggar was misshapen and clothed in a torn suit that had probably seen better days before most of Wind Country had become a desert. The beggar shouted enough to wake the dead, which was exactly what was needed when trying to fruitlessly rouse the Kazekage from his slumber. After being an insomniac for most of his young life Gaara completely enjoyed the blank hours of nothing that sleep provided. There were no waking nightmares of torture and assassination. No demon whispering to his half formed consciousness. His existence was no longer in danger of being consumed by that demon. There was however a lingering crossness in his mood for anyone who dared to wake him. That is why when Gaara was rudely startled from sleep by a stream of blaring epithets sprouting from the direction of the town gate, he became very grouchy.

Hell does not need to freeze over in the wake of Gaara’s wrath, it has already begun to crumble. The maid that had been trying to stir him out of bed was cowering in a corner. Anywhere but in the path of Gaara’s eyes was a good place to be. He paid her no heed.
Sweeping out of his chambers in the tan night-cloak he usually wore Gaara’s footsteps sounded sharply over the noise at the gates. In the streets where others had been awakened the people stepped hurriedly aside for him. Gaara’s eyes sparked and flashed with emerald fire. On a stick, he had decided, would be the best way to roast--alive, whoever was making the racket.
“Put me down you idiot!” The blaring voice demanded of the guard that held it. Gaara’s steps slowed. Something familiar was here.
“I said-- hey don’t touch that! Hey! GAARA!” The owner of the voice squabbled with the guard before calling out to the stunned Kazekage in recognition.
“Gaara! Am I glad to see you! Could you tell this overgrown ape to let go of my pack? It hurts to be held up like this! (Not to mention embarrassing.)”
A giant of a man had a firm grip on the back of the filthy thing that had called out to Gaara. Suspended from that grip the thing called out again.
“Gaara? Hey! Can you hear me or what? Don’t tell me you’ve gone deaf in two years. Geez…”
Gaara’s gaze flew wide. Under the dried muck and mire were hints and splotches of a shredded orange suit. The mud caked hair atop the beggar-thing’s head was matted and blonde. What was most unmistakable were a pair of aquatic cerulean eyes, bright with mischief.
“What shall I do with him Kazekage-sama?” The guard addressed Gaara politely. Gaara’s head dropped into his hand. To be put in this situation…
‘Repay peace, remember that.’ Gaara thought to himself annoyed.
“Bring him to my office.” Gaara said cleanly. The guard half bowed with the beggar still gripped in his mammoth hand.
“As you wish.” He said respectfully.
Gaara turned sharply and led the way back to his quarters in the Kazekage’s mansion.
“Gaara! O-oi Hey! What’s going on?! OI! GAAARAAA!” The beggar-thing shouted in frustration and confusion while swinging like a captured monkey from the giant’s hand. Gaara winced, albeit very slightly. It was going to be a long day.

Several dunks in a washbasin and a new set of desert robes later the beggar-thing became a much more presentable Uzumaki Naruto. Feathery blonde hair that was free of the clodded dirt that had weighted it down before was again defying gravity in a mass of sunray spikes. Naruto’ skin, now clean, glowed tan under the loose robes that hung in great waves over his stocky frame. At sixteen years of age a-piece, Gaara and Naruto were vastly different, and very much alike. Gaara stood a full head above Naruto’s late blooming height. Naruto did not like that and stood with a stubborn look on his face. Gaara watched him; eyes squinched closed, lower lip protruding, Naruto was the picture of childish disposition. Gaara swallowed a snort. For all the chaos that the young man caused, to see him like this again after all that time, Gaara felt amusement seep into his annoyance.
Although they were from opposite villages, were physically and psychologically different in every way, they shared a common pain. The depth of being completely alone and rejected by the world that had made them, the Jinchurriki. The demon vessels for the hidden villages. They were supposed to have been the perfect human weapons, tools of the shinobi made for war. Those plans had been rendered useless however. It was discovered the not only was the host to a tailed demon prone to insanity but that a complete merging of the two was impossible. When merging commenced the demon was uncontrollable. The human host all but disappeared, their souls were consumed and their bodies contorted to unimaginable proportions.
Naruto was lucky to have escaped insanity, only having to live with the complete void of family and love in his life. Gaara was not so fortunate. From the day of his birth until the day of his death Gaara was cursed with a creeping insomnia. If he had slept for even the smallest of times his personality would’ve be eaten by the demon within him. There were nine ‘tailed’ demons in all. Gaara had been host to the one-tailed incarnation of sand, Shuukaku. He could still remember the clawing of the raccoon-spirit biting at the edges of his consciousness. He nearly shuddered.
Naruto was a special case in the history of Jinchurriki. He had never once lost his mind unless under the influence of the demon’s chakra. It was a telling testament to Naruto’s renowned will that he had not once given up all hope, as Gaara had, letting himself drift to the tune of the demon’s whim. The Kyuubi was the nine-tailed fox demon that resided within Naruto, and being the nine-tale it was the most powerful and most crafty of all the demon spirits. That Naruto could stand there with that stubborn look on his face astounded Gaara to no end. It was amazing, because that was Naruto maintaining that grumpy silence and not the beast within.
Naruto couldn’t take it any more. Silence was not his bag any way.
“WHY-!”, he began in a very loud voice, “did you do that!? It was em-bar-essing to be carried by that, that, gorilla!”
Gaara let out a puff of air.
“Put yourself in my situation Naruto. I am the youngest Kazekage to ever exist, probably the youngest among all of the Kages combined. I cannot show lenience to anyone who shows up at the front gates looking like a drowned animal. If I were that sort of leader what respect would my people show? What would happen once the other Kages heard of my behavior? It would send a message. ‘The Kazekage is easily manipulated,’ by a beggar no less.”
A small smile graced Gaara’s lips before they settled into a serious line.
“I am not to be controlled by anything or anyone.” He said sternly.
“ I am a Kage Naruto, I took this position in place of my father to protect this village. Because I am my father’s son the people respect me, because I am strong the Kages fear me, because this world is a cruel place respect and fear cannot easily be traded for pity or familial relations. Remember that you also want to be one of these Kages Naruto. Not just any whim can be catered to. To be a Kage…there will be things you will not want to do, and things you want that you can never have again. So keep this in mind next time you come knocking at the gates of Suna, bring an extra set of clothes.”
Naruto blinked, once, twice.
“That,” he said, “Is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard you say. You feeling okay?”
If Gaara were the type to strangle another person after being annoyed he most assuredly would have. Instead he sighed, long and fruitlessly. Naruto was Naruto was Naruto. Nothing ever changed that. Not time. Not distance. Not anything.
“Why have you come?” Gaara asked slowly. Although he did not regret Naruto’s presence, he did wonder why it was that he had come. The letter from Konoha’s Hokage had not specified the details.
“Well,” Naruto began. “I came to collect a favor from you.”
Gaara’s brows raised at that. One of Naruto’s hands went up to rub sheepishly at the back of his head.
“I know this is a bit of a long haul, but I need a lot of space to attempt what I’ll be doing in the next while. The Northern Desert outside of Suna is perfect. I was hoping you could give me permission?” Naruto’s eyes pleaded.
“And what is it you will be doing?” Gaara said seriously. Whatever Naruto did, he did it in spades. Gaara would have to be careful.
“I’m…” Naruto trailed off hesitantly. He let go a gush of air. “Well, I’m going to… Try at least, to beat the Kyuubi.”
Gaara’s eyes slid closed. This was no small favor. It was a monster.
“You realize what you’re asking from me?” He said gravely.
“Yeah,” Naruto nodded. “I know.” Tension filled the air. Gaara broke it.
“That puts this village in danger Naruto, you know that. I can’t grant you this without a fail-safe in place. If something goes wrong, I need to be able to protect these people.” It was the truth, they both knew that.
“That’s why I have this.” Naruto produced a small scroll. He unraveled it. In the center was a small marking, cut off as if a second half existed elsewhere. Naruto pulled up the left sleeve of his robe.
“That,” he said quietly, “is a death mark. The activation sequence is described in the scroll.”
Gaara surveyed the marking on Naruto’s forearm with grim interest. It was a reverse of the design on the paper. This was…
“Life jutsu.” Gaara said remarkedly. “I thought that the last of the specialists died when Chiyo gave up her life-force.”
Naruto shook his head.
“There was one other person who knew about it.” He said. “The Yondaime Hokage had some pretty interesting files kicking around. I figured the bastard had to have more of those oddball jutsus other than the one that sealed that thing inside me. The break-in to the private library wasn’t too hard. The old woman is still scratching her head over who did it.” Naruto laughed humorlessly.
“It figures,” he said, “that the name of this stuff is ‘Life’ when all it seems to give is death.”
Gaara could only agree in his mind. The world was strange. He placed the scroll down on his desk.
“If this is what you want, you have my permission,” he said coolly. “On the condition that I never have to use that scroll.”
Naruto grinned wildly and said,
“Count on it!”
Sometimes our demons make us stronger, sometimes they weaken us. The strongest of all have mastered them, and only the gods live without them.
Naruto would become stronger, on his own.