Naruto: Reunion - Discontinued

29) Relate

Unsurprisingly, Naruto had managed to win the contest of who could consume their ramen first. Whilst the girls chuckled at this outcome, every boy aside from Naruto had slumped their heads on the table in defeat. The only one who was truly happy out of the boys, was the victor himself.

"Nobody should ever challenge me when it comes to ramen. Believe it!"

Only groans could be heard from his friends. Naruto simply rummaged his hair in visible confusion, but instantly continued towards finished his bowl of ramen. After what seemed like a good minute, the boy had consumed the last drop of the delectable meal and decided that he ought to rest his head on the table, along with his friends. However, Gaara simply got out from his table and tapped both Naruto and Sasuke on the shoulder.

"I'd like to walk right now. Would it be wise to burn off our fat?"

"I'm not really in the mood for a walk after being crushed by this clown," Sasuke looked at Naruto as he got up from his seat. "but I guess that's even more reason for this walk being essential."

Gaara smiled lightly and the group looked at Naruto to see if he would join as well. Once he noticed the two of them were expecting his rise, he stood up also. Finally, the three decided to leave for a walk around the village hidden in the sand.

As they left, Sakura looked over at Kankuro in confusion. "Are you not gonna join your brother?"

"Gaara's too stubborn." Temari answered for her brother. "Both me and Kankuro know that my younger brother wants to speak with those two in private. It's been a good few monthes, and he never got to say his true thoughts on the Chúnin exams to them both."

"I don't fully understand. What do you mean?"

"It's what I told you earlier, Sakura. If it were not for your ally, Gaara would have still lived under hostile conditions, with a an equally hostile attitude. And yet, somehow Gaara has started dreaming!"

"Dreaming?" Hinata was now curious.

"It's nothing too special." Kankuro slowly spoke in fatigue. "It's just that Gaara wants to be just like Naruto now. He wants to be the new Kazekage."

At this, suddenly both Sakura and Hinata widened their eyes in shock. Somehow, Naruto had changed Gaara to become exactly like him. They did not yet know how, but it was a marvel as to the event even occurring.

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The village was no longer bustling in their walk. As it was finally beginning to turn dark, due to nightfall, many people had migrated back towards their homes, leaving only the weather to calm itself down and turn cooler. This light breeze of air was refreshing for the group. Never before had they been in the sand village, so it shocked both Naruto and Sasuke greatly that they were feeling this in the harsh environments of the sand village.

Gaara was careful not to say too much in their walk. Having to talk to friends was very much a mew thing for the young boy. Somehow, he had brought himself into a state of thought where he was calculating various different options of speech to say to his new friend. He knew what he wanted to speak about, so it was in due time that he make it a hard reality.

"Sasuke Uchiha, is that your name?" The person being asked this nodded his head in reply. "The sand has surely done a lot to try and save you."

"I know. Should you be rubbing it in my face, though?"

"I mean nothing of the sort. I wanted to talk to you about your brother." Sasuke looked at him instantly as soon as he said this.

"Not even Naruto knows all of the details about that night. What's got you in a mood for knowledge?"

"I want to ask one thing, and one thing alone - have you managed to draw a line between anger and rationality?"

It was a wise question to ask. Sasuke had knew this. Naruto, who had not been paying too much attention up until this point, looked up once he too had realized the impact of what Gaara had said.

"Anger and rationality... what the heck does that even mean?" He twizzled his hair as to what Sasuke would reply with.

"Make no mistake. I want to kill my brother. Itachi deserves all the worst. Everyday, I will always remember that night." His fists tightened. "But I know that I shouldn't break myself whilst doing it, or else I'll be empty once it's finally done. Even if it means that I'll need to wait for a longer time to seek the vengeance I deserve, I've been taught to work at it up until it has been fulfilled"

This brought Gaara joy to hear. It was the answer that he was truly hoping for. Inspite of this, Gaara knew that he still had to speak on his behalf, in order to allow Sasuke to solidify his resolve.

"I'll help you to the best of my ability, but you should know that I won't hesitate to stop you if you take things too far like last time!"

"That's fine by me." Sasuke smirked. "It just means that I've got more idiots chasing my tail!" They had both turned to the unsuspecting Naruto at this point.

""So I suppose Gaara does care for people after all." Naruto could not help but laugh at this. "I can't describe it fully, but I feel so happy knowing that I'm friends with you."

At this, everyone felt an oddly nice feeling hit them. For years, Gaara had endured to pain of being a Jinchúriki for so long. Nothing had made him smile for so many years. His life was lived in full hate and regret, but now he had instantly changed himself at such a quick rate.

As the sun was finally setting, the wind only grew colder. The darkness of the vicinity was also worrying as well, for if the village witnessed complete nightfall, then the trio would have immense trouble making it back home. Before they could leave however, Gaara had one last thing to say to his new friends. This time, it was to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki, was I just like you?" Everyone fixed their gaze at him as he asked this. "I've heard about what happened at the final valley. The Hokage saw it fit, to send a letter to my and my siblings after you had told everything to your friends. Does this mean that me and you are the same?"

Naruto simply smiled at this question. "Yep. Just me and you, huh?" Once his smile disappeared, he had a sincere look appear on his face. "But I'm glad. I got go meet someone who for once, understood everything about me, as well as the fact that now we know that no one will go though what we're going through."

"Yes. I agree wholeheartedly!" With that, Gaara had said everything he had originally wanted to say to Naruto and Sasuke. "It's beginning to turn late. Would you two like to stay at my home? I'm sure that my siblings would not mind to allow your team to stay in for the night."

"Really?" Naruto shouted in joy. "Sasuke, let's hurry and Tell captain Yamato! We got ourselves some free housing!"

Before his friend could reply, he had already dashed into the middle of a random location within the village. Both Naruto and Sasuke chuckled at this sight. Even if he was a scatter brain, this boy had done so much. The only question was - how would this boy mature to beat their future threats in a few years' time?