Naruto : Struggle Of Childhood

Winter

It had been two months since Gaara had joined them.

Gaara's ability to control sand had proved useful. He had teleported them outside Suna the first night, and he could sense where to find water. The frequent sandstorms that raged across the desert ended up being much less of a problem then they should have been. Gaara didn't want his new family to be hurt, and the sand always did what Gaara told it.

Naruto learned many interesting things about Gaara. The most interesting was that the boy was incapable of sleeping. When he asked Gaara why, Gaara had said that the monster would eat his mind if he slept. Naruto had no idea what that meant, but he went along with it. Gaara's hold on sanity was fragile at best, and while he was getting better, he was extremely attached to all of them, and part of Naruto had a vague fear that if someone said something wrong, even as a joke, Gaara would crack.

Thankfully, the others seemed to have guessed that too. Gaara received special treatment, even from the sarcastic Neji, blunt Sasuke, and the brutally honest Sai.

Sai hadn't seemed to have discovered the idea of lying. If he was asked something, he would respond with the complete truth, no matter how rude it was. In fact, Sai was developing the ability to offend anyone. He seemed to think it was funny. He was slowly becoming more open, if only to the others. To everyone else he displayed the same fake smile that hid his utter lack of emotion towards them, but to Naruto, Gaara, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata he was slowly beginning to develop emotions. His smiles were becoming genuine, and he seemed to be content with them. Naruto had the strange feeling that he reminded Sai of someone who he never mentioned.

Hinata was slowly losing her stutter. She still sometimes would if she was upset or shocked, but on the whole, the contact with the others was good for her. She still called Neji 'Neji-niisan', and Neji had started to call her imotou. She was slowly changing from a shy, timid girl into a calm girl with an iron will.

Sakura had become more outspoken during the two months. She acted quiet and pleasant most of the time, but every so often, she would act in a way that was completely different from her usual self. This 'Dark Sakura' as Sasuke called her seemed very violent, and had no problem with getting in someone's face and yelling.

Sasuke had mellowed slightly. He didn't act like everyone was beneath him somehow, and he didn't challenge Naruto every time he said something. Sasuke had gained something like a fear of 'Dark Sakura', and they found out quickly that Sasuke had an obsession with tomatoes.

Neji had softened a little. He was starting to show the signs of becoming overprotective towards Hinata, and some thing that had always seemed tight about him had loosened. He smiled every so often and didn't seem so ready to sneer at everything that was said.

Somehow Naruto had become the unofficial leader of the group. He had stopped shouting all the time, but his habit of smiling, and seemly ever present good mood had not faded. It might have been his cheerfulness, combined with his endurance that made him leader.

They sadly weren't able to use Gaara's ability once they left the desert. Gaara didn't seem to have that much control over his ability, and the sand obeyed his desires rather then his commands. After they got out of the desert they had to travel by foot. Since most of them had had some ninja training, they were able to find food, and water. Shelter was more difficult. Normally, they were forced to sleep in the open. The incident in Suna had made them all a little paranoid, and they did their best to sleep under some kind of cover. Even if it was just some bushes, they would stay under them. They normally would stop about an hour before nightfall to work on their scrolls.