Naruto: Senju Resurrection

Chapter 29

Sakura and Ino were sitting in Ino's room. This was just like how they used to be. But there was a thick layer of awkwardness lying over them. Not hanging out for years will do that to even the strongest friendships. Add the fact that they spent most of those years as mortal enemies sure as hell didn't help. Ino's parents sure were surprised to see Sakura in their home again. Ino hadn't exactly been quiet in her disdain for the pinkette. "So you don't like Sasuke anymore?" Sakura tries to strike up a conversation. "No... I don't think that I do..." Ino answers honestly. "You don't think?" Sakura asks. "It's really complicated. Whenever I see him, I don't get those butterflies I got before," She Ino answers. "Instead, it happens when I look or speak with Naruto," Ino whispers while playing with her fingertips. The conversation soon evolved. They stayed up all night. The two former best friends were reconnecting.

Naruto woke in his apartment. 'I must have fainted,' Was the first thought he had after orienting himself. He sat up on his bed as memories of the previous day—his meeting his godfather and summoning that weird toad. He rubs his head. Maybe it was just a bizarre dream. Just as he thinks that he feels something in his hand, he looks down at it. It was crumpled in his hand. "Meet me at Ichiraku when you wake up!" It said. It had a small smiley face in the bottom right corner. Naruto jumps out of bed to get ready.

He ran as fast as he could. Jiraiya stood leaning against the wall of Naruto's favourite ramen place. He had been waiting for 30 minutes already. But he didn't know when Naruto would arrive, so he arrived early. He soon enough heard an incoming runner. He looks out and sees an orange blur coming toward him. He smiles. Naruto at least seems happy to see him. "Ero-sennin!" Naruto yells at the top of his lungs. Jiraiya could only facepalm. Naruto comes up to him, and Jiraiya punches him on the head. "What's with that disrespectful nickname!" Jiraiya screams at him. "What? I thought it suited you perfectly!" Naruto tries to argue back, but Jiraiya punches him again.

They walk off to the same riverbank that they used yesterday. "What are we doing today?" Naruto asks and gets thrown a water balloon. He catches it. "Pop it," Was Jiraiyas resopnse. Naruto looks at him funnily and squeezes the balloon until it pops. "Man... talk about a buzz kill..." Jiraiya complains. "Here. This is how you do it," Jiraiya says as he pulls another balloon out. He put it in his hand, and it began to disform and spike in random places before popping. Water spills everywhere. "Here, try again," He says as he throws another balloon toward Naruto. "Also don't worry about mastering this Jutsu until the Final Round. It took me three years to master this Jut-" Jiraiya says as he holds up a finger and closes his eyes. "I got it!" Naruto screams out, interrupting his lecture. Jiraiya's eyes bug out. 'Impossible! He couldn't have gotten it already, right?!' He thinks as he looks over at his student.

Naruto was just standing there with his balloon in his hands. Jiraiya face vaults. "What did you get. You're just holding it in your hands!" Jiraiya screams in his face. "You poped it using rotation... That's what I got. Did you think I had alredy managed to pop it? You have so much faith in me," Naruto says with a Cheshire cat-like grin. For that, he got another smack on the head. He fell to the ground. "What was that for you Ero-sennin!" Naruto screams as he gets up. "Who are you calling Ero-sennin!" Jiraiya yells back as they press their foreheads against each other for a while. Jiraiya pulls back after a while and clears his throat. "Anyway, Why don't you do this until you can pop it," Jiraiya says as he leaves Naruto alone. Naruto turns around and sits down. While folding his arms over his chest. He is muttering about stupid pervs.

This training continued for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't able to pop it quite yet. He got some good rotation going, but he couldn't pop it. Three days before the Final Round, Jiraiya ordered him to stop. Saying resting was also part of training. So, he rested the first two days. After that, he decided to use the time to see Lee. He hadn't been able to see him since his match.

Naruto ran into Shikamaru, who was there to see Choji for some unrelated eating reason. Naruto feels a presence he shouldn't and runs towards Lee's room. Shikamaru follows since a worried Naruto was never a good thing. Naruto opens the door to Lee's room, and low and behold, Gaara is standing over him, ready to finish the job he started in the preliminaries. Shikamaru reaches out his shadow through Kagemane no Jutsu to stop Gaara's movement. Naruto was about to punch him, but when he saw that, he stopped mid-step. "Thank you for that Naruto. That would have really hurt," Shikamaru says in a strained voice.

"What do you think you are doing!" Naruto screams instead of answering Shikamaru. "I was trying to kill him," Gaara replies in his normal, emotionless voice. "Why'd you have to do something like that? You beat him in the match, right? Do you have a personal grudge against him or something?" Shikamaru questions. "I don't have anything like that. I just wanted to kill him, that's it." Gaara simply responds. "How can you say it so easily? You say it like you are about to go out and buy milk!" Naruto says. "You.. you had a lousy upbringing, didn't you?" Shikamaru asks. "If you got in my way, I'll kill you both too." Gaara warns. Naruto throws a glance toward Shikamaru. He hoped his big noggin was working overtime to fix this messed up situation. "I know you're strong from seeing you in the competition with him... But we can keep up with you. We didn't show you our best skills in the preliminaries. Plus it's two against one!" Shikamaru bluffs. Naruto knew it was a bluff. Since he probably could keep up, he knew Shikamaru couldn't. "If you're smart, you'll do what I tell and get lost," He adds. "I'll say it again... if you get in my way... I'll kill you." Gaara says in his emotionless voice.

"I can take you both on... Since I have a monster inside me," Gaara says after staring down Shikamaru and Naruto. "My father brought down his Ninjutsu on me as a child after I killed my mother. And so I was possessed by a sand spirit," Gaara says in his emotionless voice. "I know it is strong. Since it killed countless assassins, my own father sent after me as a child!" He says with the same wicked smile as he had when fighting Lee. Naruto couldn't help but feel a kinship with this guy. He, too, was hated for something out of his control. He seems completely alone too. At least Naruto had Iruka-sensei.

"What a thing for a parent to be doing!" Shikamaru tries to ease the tension he is feeling with a joke. "It must be a type of cacodemon possession Jutsu, performed to a baby before it is born," Shikamaru says after calming down. He was trying to deduce what actually happened. "Love? I wouldn't call what he did love. Don't measure me with your standards! I kill because it is the only way for me to make sure I am alive!" Gaara gets angry. The sand reacting to this anger began hurdling itself toward Shikamaru and Naruto. Guy-sensei opens the door at that moment. "Stop right there! The Final Round is tomorrow, There's no need to rush like this!" He says in a firm voice. "Or do you just want to stay here starting today?" He threatens. Gaara takes his temples; it looks like he got a severe headache. The sand started retreating into the gourd. He hobbles out of Lee's room. "I will... Kill you all without fail. Just wait," Gaara threatens before leaving. All the tension left Naruto's body, and he fell to his knees.