[OLD] To fix the broken (Old)

They Arrive

The group continued walking as if nothing had happened, Naruto and Sasuke arguing over simple matures from time to time, and the group-minus Tazuna-had returned to their usual ways of normality. Tazuna had stopped speaking for the duration of the trip and would occasionally glance towards the blonde ninja in concern but never spoke his mind. Soon enough the group made it to a foggy lake, which led its way into the ocean, and found an awaiting dock. The unfamiliar cent of lake water hit Naruto's sensitive nose and he paused slightly, letting the others get into the boat before being shoved in by his raven-haired teammate.

"What's wrong, dobe, afraid of the water?" The Uchiha mocked as he too jumped in. He was quoted by the owner of the boat quickly, the blonde decide not to respond. Sakura, who had previously associated herself with the blonde, grew angered at the lack of response.

"Don't ignore Sasuke-kun you Baka!" She yelled loudly, punching the blond in the back of the head angrily. Aneurism grinned at her, making her even more pissed at him, but if she had looked closely-or known what she was looking for-she would have noticed the sadness in his eyes. She was about to yell again before being harshly shushed by the boat's owner.

'So...she was faking it. She was faking her kindness towards me.' Naturopathic muttered to himself mentally

"What do you expect from the likes of a human? They're all selfish creatures of jealousy and vanity." Kurama said in a calmer tone then usual, though her anger was still obvious to the blonde. Naruto didn't respond to his motherly figure as he sat silently through the rest of the ride.

The boat eventually met land again, Tazuna speaking to the boat's owner for a little while before they all left. As the group walked, Naruto's eyes suddenly widened as he felt the familiar tingle of a shunshin nearby. He continued to walk though, never turning around as they walked. The mist began to thicken quickly but he still ignored it, faking ignorance to the ever growing fear in his stomach. They made it to town before anything actually happened, some thugs-underlings of some man named Gato-came near their group, a sinister aura fanning behind them. The main man of the group stared at Sakura as if she were some form of prize meant to be stolen from a helpless child, a look of hunger in his eyes. Naruto did not have time to notice this, however, as he was starring directly into the glare of some thug with a look similar to the one Sakura had been receiving. The man licked his lips slightly and Naruto felt his claws grow. When had they stopped walking? The two small groups, both mere feet away from the other, stayed in place with near perfect silence, the sound of Tazuna's horried feet moving being the main noise to disrupt their silence. A distant snap of a twig triggered action, the ninja easily overpowering the untrained thugs. Naruto had disappeared from his target's line of sight, only to reappear behind him with his fist in tow. He smashed his head with a scary amount of force behind the blow, the thug flinging to the ground from the force, his brain moving just barely moving slower then the head and causing it to hit the skull knocking the man out instantly. Naruto looked at the man with an innocent look in his eye as he had not meant to hit that hard

'Whoops' he said mentally, Kurama smirking slightly with a proud look in her eye as she had sent a small amount of chakra to her capture's muscles to power them above their normal ability. No one was allowed to look at any of her kits that way, no one! Naruto turned his head to view his "friends" to see them all fighting their own enemies a distance away, though Sakura was having some obvious trouble. Her assailant was the largest of the five that had taken to attacking them, and her attacker appeared to have chosen her for a purpose unknown to the blonde. He poked his tongue out and tasted the air, the all too familiar taste of lust setting on his tongue, making his stomach turn to knots at the realization. He ran up behind the fighting pair silently and aimed a kunia, which then slipped through the air louder then Naruto had ran to them and twice as fast. It impaled the man's throat with a squirt of blood that splattered Sakura's face as she was about to land a semi weak punch upon the other, said action seized as she froze in shock, her eyes moved about to find the cause of the sudden warm liquid that squirted her, red liquid stung her eye as it slid down her forehead. Blood. She realized the liquid to be blood, her eyes widened when she realized this and braced for pain, pain that never came. A dull thunk sounded from just before her and she reopened her eyes to see her assailant had fallen to the ground, hand over throat, as he gurgled for breath as blood filled his lungs, though from what caused the injury she knew not, no weapon was found present and if there was it would be blocked by the man's hand as he tried helplessly to stop the life force from leaving his being. How ironic was it that the red liquid, meant to bring oxygen to his muscles and support his life was the very thing that would take it from him. Sakura stared wide eyed as she watched the person before him die a slow death. The man glared at her as if to say she was the one who had done this to him, the one that had killed him. Sakura stood, frozen in terror, until Sasuke and Kakashi had come to get her, Kakashi having to carry her off as she herself had passed out from shock. None of them noticed the lone blonde that swiped all trinkets and valuables from the deceased, nor did they notice the blonde's absence and then sudden reappearance. They only took notice of his presence when they actually arrived to Tazuna's home and he spoke from the back of the group

"So if this Gato guy wants you dead for you building the bridge..." he began to the shock and announce of someone whom had longed him dead " then what's stopping him and his goons from getting you before you're done?" He finished. Tazuna's eyes widened in realization, he hadn't thought of his protection after he had returned, he never thought that he would get this far in the first place! Sasuke had already begun to walk back the way they came when Tazuna's began to plead with them to remain at his guard.

"Please?!" He cried in desperation once again. The squad of ninjas shared glances in a silent discussion of what they should do, ending with the silent agreement and a few nods from the group before the team leader announced their unanimous decision

"We will stay for the time being." He announced, giving a closed smile towards their client "What kind of ninja would we be if we allowed our clients to die on us?" He asked, being led inside by Tsunami to the room they would sleep in. It had a single bed and was rather small spacing for the rest of the room but Naruto was still excited; the bedding was well kept and the blankets were much thicker then Naruto's own. Naruto jumped on it and bounced, Sasuke rolling his eyes at the childish behavior. Sakura scowled and punched the top of Naruto's head

"Ouch!" Naruto cried, grabbing his head in pain as he gave a whine of pain.

"That's what you get for jumping on the bed like a preschooler!" Sakura announced, eyes glaring at the blonde "And it's rude to jump on someone else's bed! Especially when you're not the one sleeping in it!" She continued, preparing to swing again. Naruto dodged the offending fist and grabbed the top blanket, twisting his body into it like a cocoon and falling off of the bed. Before Sakura could react he was rolling under the bed and making his nest

"If you guys get the bed then I get the blanket!" Naruto's yelled came muffled from beneath the bed

"What's going on in here?" A young boy asked as he poked his head into the guest room

"Nothing, Naruto's just being a dobe again." Sakura answered, giving the child the best smile she could.

"Who's Naruto?" He asked, said blonde popping his head out from beneath the bed

"Hello!" He yelled before ducking back in, Sakura's foot slamming into the ground where his head was. Inari flinched in shock at the oddly golden eyes that had glanced at him in those few moments.

"Um...." Inari said dumbly, still shocked at the scene before him.

"Inari honey? May you please come down stares and help mommy set up the table?" Tsunami asked from the kitchen

"Coming!" Inari responded, quickly going down the stares as requested.

"Well he's nice." Naruto stated from behind Sakura, making the girl jump and fall off of the bed. She fell on her face and stayed there for ten long seconds before jumping up and swinging her fist towards Naruto again.

"NARUTO YOU DUMBASS!" She yelled

~Downstairs~

"Well, that just happened." Tazuna drawled as he took a swig from his bottle, another loud thump and more yelling resounding from upstairs.

"YOU FUCKING BAKA!" Sakura yelled from upstairs, moments afterwards Naruto suddenly appeared from behind Inari with a large blanket hanging over one shoulder. Inari made a squeak noise when Naruto suddenly picked the boy up and tossed him over his shoulder

"Come along my minion, we must escape the banshee of pink!" Naruto exclaimed, running out from the kitchen with a confused Inari who was now riding on piggy back with Sakura running close behind, yelling profanities all of the way.

"Should we go stop them?" Tsunami asked

"Inari's outside again, this is the closest to happy I've seen him in a while." Tazuna said with a slight smile, Kakashi rubbing the back of his head at their antics.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled again, Naruto laughing all the way