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Sand in the Leaves	By : ahmenet Category: Naruto > General Views: 1273 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
TaDa! Here I am again. Hoping to
make you laugh and cry and all that other nonsense.

I don't own Naruto. Their loss.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Three weeks and
two boxes of sand. Gaara fingered the small, melon-sized gourd
sitting in front of him. He was meeting friends for breakfast and to
thank them for this small gift. It was now half full with the desert
sand he'd received and something about it made him feel just a little
more solid.

Pulling the cork
he tipped the contents into his hand. He'd not been able to
manipulate the sand since he'd left Suna. The medics had thought it
was the drugs, but that wasn't the case. Before, he could make sand
easily from the minerals and rocks in the ground but now he was
simply unable to control the sand at all. Tsunade knew and thought
it was a mental block he'd placed on himself. A form of
psychological protection. He understood protecting the mind. He'd
had little of that protection as a child but now... he just didn't
understand.

Sighing and lifted
his free hand over the small puddle of sand in his palm. Gathering
his chakra he tried to manipulate the tiny pile. A few grains of
sand lifted toward his fingers, whirled, then fell. He didn't frown
at the failure. It wasn't the first and he doubted it would be the
last. He simply wished he understood why.

“Still not
working?”

Gaara looked up to
see Gai standing in front of him. He shook his head in answer then
started sifting the sand back into the small gourd.

“No need to
stop for me. Please, continue with your training. Your abilities
will only grow more distant if you neglect them.”

Gai gave his nice
guy smile and a rather tame thumbs up before moving away from the
table and toward a woman on the far side of the room. As he watched,
Gai greeted her, kissed her warmly on the cheek and pulled out her
seat. Gaara's eyes widened just a touch as the woman subtly ran her
closest hand down Gai's back to squeeze his ass, making the man blush
to his hairline.

“She used to
be a tea girl.”

Gaara whipped his
head around, startled. Neji stood in front of his table and smiled
across the room as their team leader finally took his seat.

“You
startled me.”

“Because you
were gawking so hard you didn't notice me coming.” Neji pulled
out a chair and sat opposite him. The whispers of the passing crowds
and current dinners grew louder for a moment before dieing back down.

“I wasn't
gawking. I was observing. It's what shinobi do.” Gaara
grumbled and returned to sifting the sand back into the gourd.

“She's older
than him. About four years I think. She was a tea girl in the land
of earth. She hadn't been treated well. Gai was only a teenager
when he stumbled across her. Apparently Gai as a teen wasn't much
different from Lee at that age. He fell in love almost instantly and
stole her away or at least that's how I heard it. She lives in the
cottage next to his house. If I didn't know she'd been there for
around twenty years, I'd say the whole story was made up to save face
but... there's just something about them.”

Gaara corked the
gourd and glance at the couple again.

“You never
asked either of them?”

“Yes.”
Neji shrugged. “I asked Gai once. He said Chiharu was the
light of youth and love and he wouldn't slander her good name by
fueling such outrageous stories.”

“So who told
you?”

“Genma.”

“Figures.”

Both fell silent
as they turned back to face one another. A small rustling of cloth
had a slow smile spreading over Neji's face. Gaara matched it.

“You see her
too?” Neji spoke low as he cut his eyes to the open store
front.

“Yes.”
Gaara replied equally quiet.

Hanabi's dark hair
peeked from behind a cloth flap moment's before sliding back out of
site. A a short time later she walked down the street, greeting
villagers and fellow shinobi, before stepping into the opposite stand
and taking a seat.

“So it's
been her?” Gaara kept a steady gaze on Neji, keeping the
minuscule smiling in place.

“Oh, yes.
Hinata followed her last night after the guard confirmed seeing her
out after dark.” Neji's eyes hooded and his shoulder rounded
slightly as he leaned into the table.

“I still
don't see why she thinks we're lovers?” Gaaras smile broke on
a sigh be he quickly pulled a decent pout in it's place.

“I'm sure it
has something to do with the 'doggy style' comment you made.”
Neji cocked his head to the side.

“I couldn't
remember what you'd called it.” Gaara groused still holding
the pout.

“Dog
paddle.” Neji offered then fluttered his eye lashes.

“Dog paddle.
Doggy style. Whats the difference?”

Neji was finding
it hard not to laugh at the disgruntled look on his teammates face.
“A great deal. But I'm not about to explain it to you here.”

Gaara felt his jaw
crack ominously. “I'm going to kill your cousin.”

“If you two
aren't careful, you're going to kill all the women in this room.”
Choji's voice broke into their conversation as he and Shikamaru
moved toward the table to take a seat. “About half of them are
red and not because they're angry.”

Neji and Gaara
continued to stare at one another for a moment. Hanabi, now very red
and shifting uncomfortably in her seat, gathered her food and walked
off down the road and out of sight. The smiles faded from the men's
faces to be replaced with sneers.

“I'll help.
How do you want her to die? Slow and painful or slow and
humiliating?” Neji gritted out.

“What
happened to quick and painless?” Shikamaru asked.

“It doesn't
exist.” Gaara replied then relaxed and looked down at the
gourd he'd just corked. “I haven't been able to properly thank
the two of you for this.” He spoke to Choji and Shikamaru.

“No need.
When I told Choji about the sand he thought you could use a new
gourd.” A serving girl came and took their orders. As she
left the shadow shinobi continued. “Ino got it. Her mother
does excellent work.”

Gaara looked up,
surprised, and fingered the small gourd in his hands. Unlike his old
gourd, this one was made of clay but the craftsmanship was remarkably
similar to the original. Only on a smaller scale.

“I will
thank her personally.” He whispered.

“I'm sure
she'd love it but it's not required.” Choji pulled out a bag
of fruit chips and started eating. Shikamaru reached out and took
the bag. Choji over sized his palm and engulfed the smaller man's
entire hand to retrieve the chips. A small tug-of-war ensued.

Neji shook his
head and stood. “We have a mission this afternoon. I'll see
you then.”

Gaara nodded as
his dark haired team mate turned to leave, several eyes following his
departure. The battle between the two friends next to him settled
down, with Choji the victor and Shikamaru shaking his hand vigorously
to regain the feeling in it.

“I
told you. This counts
as fruit!”

0.0.0.0.0.0

“I wondered
why it was an A-rank mission.” Udon sighed as he placed his
slip on the desk in front of the clerk.

“I didn't
know children could pee that much.” Konohamaru's eyes were
still wide and a little shaken.

“You two
watch Sasuke's boys again?” The clerk asked as she looked down
at the slip.

“And Tsunade
and Hidekatsu. And Tadao is potty training. Do you know what
happens when little boys potty train?” Udon sniffed and
subconsciously wiped at his nose.

Since the clerk
had two sons she had a pretty good idea. “No wonder it was
A-rank. So why did they give it to two chuunin?”

At that moment the
Hokage came through the hall door. She smiled when she saw the boys
looking haggard and worn.

“How's my
little granddaughter?” She asked with a smile that curdled
their breakfast in their stomaches.

“She's
wonderful, Hokage-sama” Udon spoke up as Konohamaru sneered.

It only made
Tsunade smile more. “Good. I knew you two were just the men
for the job. And since you're both up for promotion to jounin in a
couple of months I thought it would be good practice.” She
patted Konohamaru hard on a rather tender bite mark then grinned as
she walked away to the sound of his loud moan.

“That woman
is a sadist!” He bit out through clenched teeth, rubbing the
small, round, and deep imprints Tadao had given him for trying to
dress him last night.

The clerk simply
laughed, handed the boys their pay and sent them on their way.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Takako Uchiha
slipped into Sasuke's study and lifted the note from the desk.
Sneering she crumpled it and tossed it in the nearby bin. At seven
months pregnant with twins she was more than a little prickly that
her husbands lover couldn't be just a bit more subtle. After all,
she was making a little progress with him. She just needed more time
and some space. And while she ran her hand possessively over the
simple straight back chair her husband usually occupied she imagined
climbing into his lap as he went over papers, wrapping her arms
around his neck and watching the surprise turn to passion as she
lowered her lips to his...

“Is there a
problem, Takako?”

She turned
awkwardly at Sasukes voice but put on her sweetest smile.

“No. I was
just coming to speak with you for a while.” Franticly she ran
through options of acceptable things to talk to him about. “I
wanted to discuss Naruto-kun's entrance into the academy this year.”

Sasuke frowned and
she nearly panicked. The boy was fine as long as he stayed out of
her way and she never really spoke about him. She was more than a
little upset that he was first in line to inherit. He was nothing
more than a stray to the family. It didn't seem fair that her son
should be left out because of him. But if discussing the boys
entrance into the academy would win her time and consideration from
her husband then she would do it. And once she had her husbands
favor, her son would have a proper place in the family. After all,
her son was the only one truly noble born and the Uchiha name was
legendary and highly revered.

“Take a
seat.” Sasuke broke in after a moments silence and moved to
sit behind his desk.

She smiled and
took a seat beside him instead of in front of him. Her little
daydream warming her cheeks He raised his head from a point on his
desk and a brow at her then simply sighed and pressed himself into
the back of the chair.

“Tell me,
Sasuke, about the academy and what it will be like for Naruto-kun?”
She asked sweetly then smiled as he began to fill her in on things
she could care less about hearing.

0.0.0.0.0.0

Sakura stood in
the center of the crowded street face to face with a wide eyed Gaara.
Only he wasn't staring at her.

“It's been a
long time since you've seen her. I keep forgetting that.” She
walked toward a small bench, motioning for him to follow.

She bent and
lifted the little red haired girl to the seat. The child clung to
her arm and eyed Gaara with wide blue eyes.

“I've only
seen her the once. Not long after she was born. I'd forgotten
Naruto's mothers hair was red.” Gaara bent down in front of
her. Keeping his distance in case she became upset.

“She's two
now and a little skittish. Don't be upset if she won't let you touch
her.” Sakura touched the girls hair. “Tsunade. This is
Gaara. He was your daddy's friend.”

“Da-dee
fwen.” The child mimicked.

“That's
right. Say hello. Don't be shy.” Tsunade's eyes never left
the man in front of her but she did grace him with a small smile.

“Bye Bye.”
She whispered and waved her small slender hand.

Sakura laughed as
Gaara looked a little confused.

“She hasn't
quite got the hang of hello and goodbye yet. It's all the same to
her.”

Gaara nodded and
gave the girl a small smile of his own. “You mentioned her
last a few weeks ago. I'm sorry I haven't been to see her. I know
you don't want her on the training fields.”

“It's
alright. She spends most of the day with the kids in the village
since I work the hospital as well. This is a rare day for us to be
together like this.”

A gust of wind
blew dust into the air. Gaara blinked several times to clear his
eyes, cursing the fact that he couldn't simply stop it from getting
there.

Tsunade's eyes
widened ever farther then her lips separated to show a mouth full of
baby teeth and an extremely sharp set of incisors. Her little hand
lifted and she pointed one slender finger... straight at his eyes.

“Waccoon!”
She squealed.

Sakura's mouth
dropped open and she shot her eyes to Gaara but the former sand
shinobi only sighed and shook his head.

“She spends
a lot of time with Naruto and Hiro doesn't she?” He asked
sounding resigned.

“Some.
Yes.” Then it hit her. “He's still telling that story?!
I hate that story! He made me a shrew!”

Gaara tried not to
grin when she said that. Tsunade saw the almost smile and assumed it
was alright to smile herself. She looked up at her mother with an
even bigger grin.

“Shoo!”
She giggled.

“I've been
telling him for years to stop telling that story to the kids. But he
never listens and Izanami thinks it's funny as hell... opps. Mommy
didn't say that.”

“Ell.”
Sakura groaned and Tsunade laughed.

“So, I'm a
raccoon and you're a shrew.” He thought on that a moment as
Sakura tried to explain to the two year old why that word was
bad. “What is Sasuke?”

“Huh?”
She looked up from her useless explanation and shook her head.
“Oh... A fox, what else.”

Gaara nodded then
smiled. “What is Neji?”

Sakura looked
wistful for a moment before rolling her eyes and her venomous smile
to her curious teammate.

“A house
bat.”

0.0.0.0.0.0

“Son-of-a...”

Shizune looked up
from her pile of paperwork to see a very stunned Tsunade staring at a
single scroll.

“What is
it?” She stood and walked over only to slow to a complete stop
when she saw the seal.

“Suna?”

“Yeah...
Suna.” Tsunade dropped the scroll on the desk and drummed her
fingers as her eyes slowly focuses and her face went blank. “They've
sent their conformation for the chuunin exams.”

Shizune grabbed a
seat and sat down with a thump.

“Guess they
aren't satisfied with just the Village Hidden in the Sand.”
The Hokage turned cool eyes on her assistant.

“What do we
do?” Shizune asked. This could be a complete disaster or a
blessing in disguise.

“I think we
need to make sure they have the right people coming with them.”
Tsunade rummaged around on the desk until she came up with a scroll
and brush. “I can think of a few 'sand shinobi' who would be
perfect for the job. I'm sure they won't mind volunteering.”

Shizune nodded and
turned, intending to retrieve the special seals.

“Oh,
Shizune?” The brunette turned to look at her teacher. “I
think Gaara would make an excellent examiner. Don't you?”

Shizune grinned.
“Most definitely.”

0.0.0.0.0.0

Moegi stood
outside the Tower and tapped her foot. She had things to do today
and those boys were holding up progress. A noise from down the road
caught her ear and she looked over to see Sakura with Tsunade on a
bench. Someone was bent to the little girls feet, tying her shoe.
Moegi smiled, at least until the man lifted his head. Her face went
flat as Gaara gently touched Tsunade's hand then stood and said
something to Sakura that made her laugh. She felt like kicking the
pink haired bitch.

A
moment passed and Gaara turned to walking in her direction. He
glanced her way as he passed, giving her a brief nod before moving on
toward the training ground. And that was the most attention she was
likely to get from him. She cursed her age, her looks, her
personality and every fan girl world wide for his lack of interest in
her. Not that it did any good. She was sure she'd aimed too high
this time. But she just wanted a chance to get to know the real guy.
Naruto had always spoken fondly of the former Jinchuriki.
She praised him even though her own memories of their first meeting
so long ago had been anything but pleasant. The man Naruto described
was much closer to the one she'd seen tying a two-year-olds shoe than
the one that had just passed her with a respectful and distant nod.

She sighed and
looked back at the tower door. Chuunin exams were in less than two
months and a holy celebration was set at the end of the month. She'd
be far too busy to worry about it soon enough.

“Oi!
Moegi!”

She looked up to
see Konohamaru and Udon finally exiting the Tower. Only they weren't
exiting.

“Will you
two hurry up! We have training and I'm not running laps because of
you!”

Konohamaru cringed
but waved her toward them. As she drew in closer the boys backed up.

“The Hokage
has a mission for you, and she didn't sound like she was in the mood
to wait. Shizune was sweating and running around like her life
depended on it so it's probably important.” Udon explained
carefully.

“She
probably wants more Sake.” Moegi groused and punched
Konohamaru in the shoulder for good measure as she passed him to head
up the stairs.

“Ouch! What
do you women have? Some kind of radar that tells you where it hurts
the most?!”

He and Udon walked
out. Konohamaru covering his sore bite in case someone else felt the
need to hit him.

0.0.0.0.0.0

“Kankuro?”

The light whisper
pulled him up from sleep and into pain but he tried not to make a
sound. The more sound he made the more pain came.

“Kankuro?
Can you hear me?”

He didn't
recognize the voice. He couldn't be sure if it was male or female.
He couldn't tell if it was hostile or friendly. He just didn't know.

“If you can
hear me, open your eyes and listen carefully. For the next month you
will be tended by a young woman with a tattoo of a jade dragon on her
left wrist. Remember, the dragon is on the left wrist.”

Kankuro opened his
eyes just a little. He could make out choppy hair somewhere between
brown and blond and an eye patch flipped up from one eye to show...

“Do exactly
as she tells you. Follow her orders to the letter. In one month you
will be moved. Do you understand?”

Kankuro nodded
slowly caught by the spiraling comas of the sharingan eye in front of
him.

“Good. Now
sleep and forget you ever saw me. Just remember the jade dragon on
the left wrist. Do whatever she says.”

Kankuros eyes
began to feel heavy as he watched the spinning eye. Forcing himself
to move, he lifted one broken hand and lay it over the one pressed to
his chest.

“Gaara?”
He sighed out ready to tumble into sleep.

“Alive.”

He heard the word
just before he slipped from consciousness.

0.0.0.0.0.0
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Sand in the Leaves