Gathering Shadows (Rewrite)
folder
Naruto › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,417
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,417
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
A New Mission: Rescue Gaara
“That was fun,” Naruto laughs as he stares up at the ceiling of his bedroom. “I never thought Kakashi-sensei would fall for such an obvious trap,” he laughs even louder to Kyuubi.
“I must admit you never cease to surprise me kit,” the demon chuckles, “Though I’m also surprised by how much that pretty pink haired kunoichi has grown up, or should I say grown out,” Kyuubi purrs appreciatively.
“Ero-bijuu,” Naruto grumbles before rolling over to go to sleep. The fox just chuckles as it too curls up for the night.
==============================
It was Team Kakashi’s first day as a three-man squad and everyone was excited about the prospect of working together again. As they stand in front of Tsunade to receive their first mission a messenger bursts into the room and franticly hands something to the Hokage.
The Sannin’s eyes widen in shock and fear as they scan over the message. Looking up quickly to the shinobi before her she notices the concern in three f their five eyes. The sky blue eyes of the Genin show an emotion akin to impatience as if the message in her hand was interfering with his first mission in over two years.
“The Kazekage of Suna has been abducted by Akatsuki and they have requested immediate assistance,” she informs them. “Your mission is to report to Suna as soon as possible and assess the situation. Once there you will assist in anyway you can and report the situation back here,” she briefs them
“As time is of the essence and tracking will be essential to the success of your mission I will be assigning a fourth member to your team,” she says scribbling down a message before handing it a kunoichi to her left and whispering something in the woman’s hear. “He will meet you at the gates in fifteen minutes,” she informs them as the other woman poofs out of the room.
==============================
“Who can be so important that baa-chan is making us wait around for him when we should be heading to Suna now?” Naruto demands as he passes the area like a caged animal. It doesn’t matter to him that the request only arrived three minutes ago or that they themselves only just arrived a minute later. “Gaara’s been captured but instead of going after him we’re letting his kidnappers get away.”
“Then let’s go Naruto-kun,” a voice calls out from behind him. Turning around quickly Naruto comes face to face with Raven as the Jounin steps out of the shadows cast by the massive gates. “I apologize for making you wait,” he tells them, “I only received the message a minute ago.”
“It’s okay Raven-san,” Sakura tells him, “Baka here has no patience.”
Before Naruto can reply Raven holds up his hand before turning to look out at the forest outside the gates. “Give me a moment then we can go,” he tells them as he links his mind to the shadows of the forest. A scans the entire area between Konoha and the edge of the dessert when something catches his attention.
“Temari-san’s stopped at a tea shop in the next village,” he tells the as he severs the link. “If we hurry we should be able catch up to her in a couple of hours.”
“How do you know that?” Naruto demands. “You just stood there doing nothing and now you’re saying the Gaara’s sister’s a couple hours head of us. How the hell could you know that?”
“Let’s get going and I’ll explain along the way,” Raven tells him as he begins racing down the road before taking to the trees. The others are less then three steps behind him and as they travel Raven begins filling Naruto in on his abilities.
==============================
As their group approaches the Sand-nin they slow their pace before descending to the ground so as not to startle the wind user. Kakashi explains the situation to the kunoichi as Raven sits down and leans against at tree. “We’ll wait here till night fall,’ he tells them resting his hands behind his head, “We’ll continue again once it’s dark.”
“WHAT?!?!?!?!” Naruto roars as he grabs Raven by the vest before lifting him up and slamming the older boy into the tree he was leaning against. “You may not care what happens to Gaara but we do,” he tells him. “We’re not going to sit around wasting time when we need to get there as soon as possible.”
“Which is why we’re going to wait till tonight,” Raven replies calmly. “I can get us to Suna in less then three hours once the sun goes down but as long as the sun’s still up the best I can do is the edge of the dessert which would still put us more then a day away from Suna,” he reminds the now apologetic teen.
{{“You need to watch that temper of ours,”}} Kyuubi warns him, {{“Remember kit this guy is not our enemy but he does posses techniques that can destroy us.”}}
“I know,” Naruto sighs dejectedly, “It’s just that I can’t stand the thought of those guys holding Gaara.”
“Are you okay Naruto-kun,” Sakura asks him softly. She’s hasn’t stopped watching him since his outburst. After he released Raven he moved over to another tree and sat down quietly. That was nearly twenty minutes ago and she was beginning to get worried.
“How much do you now about the Kyuubi no Kitsune?” he asks her unable to meet her gaze.
She looks down sadly as his words echo around in her mind. “For the last two and a half years I’ve bee reading through Tsunade-sama’s records trying to find any possible leads I could to Sasuke-kun,’ she informs him. “During that time I learned that Yondaime Hokage sealed the demon fox inside you when you were born and as a result I also learned how the villagers treated you.”
She looks at him with sympathetic eyes as she gently places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You are my friend Naruto-kun,’ she smiles warmly; “You’ve always been there when I needed you and you even risked your life to bring Sasuke-kun back when I asked you to. I don’t care what’s inside you because I know you are you and not the monster inside you.”
“Kyuubi-kun’s not a monster,” Naruto tells her while still looking down at the ground. “He was upset and hurting when he attacked the village,” he informs them all. The news shocks everyone except Raven who just sits quietly watching them. “He never meant to cause so much pain; he was just blinded by the loss of his mate and kits at the hands of hunters from a neighboring village.”
“How-how do you know this?” Kakashi asks nearly floored by the revelation.
“Kyuubi told me when we began to merge about a year and a half ago,” Naruto finally admits to them. “He’s not the terrible monster everyone thinks he is,” he tells them, “He reacted the way anyone would after the murder of their family.”
“You-you’ve merged with it?” Sakura asks still trying to process the information. “How, why?”
“The seal imprisoning began to weaken during an intense training session and as his chakra began slipping out I felt it mixing with my own,” he says leaning his head back to look up at the slowly reddening sky. “At first I was worried that he might be trying to escape but as I tried to fight against him he began talking. He told me that I had nothing to worry about since he had no desire to escape and that he was only lending his power to me.”
“And you believed him?” Temari asks remembering how Shukaku was when it came out in Gaara.
“Not at first,” Naruto admits, ‘But over time he’s made no attempt at breaking free and my chakra and abilities have only grown since then. I heal far faster then I used to and my sense are far sharper then ever. Also, he gives me advice from time to time and even alerts me to potential danger. All in all I have to say that it’s worked out pretty good for the both of us.”
Naruto’s eyes flash dangerously at him before Kyuubi interrupts him. {{"Don't Kit,"}} it warns him. {{"We don't have time for a long argument or a drawn out chat. Raven-san knows this and is giving us an out, so take it."}}
“Hai,” Naruto nods going along with the Bijuu’s assessment of the situation before dropping the subject so that they can continue towards their destination.
==============================
They arrive at their destination a few hours later and Raven catches Naruto before the teen falls flat on his face. Sakura does the same for Temari as the older kunoichi is also overwhelmed by the disorienting effects of the Jutsu.
They are soon greeted by a group of Sand shinobi. “Temari-san,” one of the Sand-nin greets her. “Thank Kami you’re here. Kazekage-sama is missing and Kankuro-san’s been poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Sakura asks, “Take me to him at once,” she instructs them.
==============================
By the time they arrive at the hospital room both Naruto and Temari have recovered from the effects of Raven’s Shadow Walk Jutsu. While Sakura is busy tending to Kankuro Baki fills the Leaf shinobi in on what happened. “Can you find them?” Naruto asks Raven
“If I knew which direction they were heading I could try,” Raven answers before Baki tells Raven in which direction they had found Kankuro. Raven walks over to the window and stares out into the night as he links his mind to the endless shadows the night affords him.
“They’re in some kind of cave near the boarder of River Country nearly a day’s travel from here,” he tells the others as he tries to ease-drop on what the group is doing when a flash of light suddenly severs his connection.
“AH…” Raven screams closing his eyes against the light as his hands instantly go to his eyes out of instinct, “Bastards,” he curses rubbing his sore eyes.
“What happened? What did you see?” Naruto asks almost franticly. “Is Gaara alright? What did they do t him?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Raven growls as his eyesight slowly begins to return too normal. “Gaara-sama’s alive for now but we’ve got less then three days to get to him before they finish.”
“Finish?” Kakashi asks, “Finish what?”
“Some kind of ritual to extract Shukaku no Ichibi,” Raven answers. “I don’t know the details since my link was severed abruptly but from what I could see there are at least nine of them. The two that abducted Gaara-sama are the only ones actually there while the others are just astral projections.”
“We need to go after them now,’ Naruto says moving towards the door.
“Not so fast,” Raven tells him grabbing his arm to stop him. “You don’t now where the cave is and it’s too close to sunrise for me to shadow walk us there tonight,” he reminds the blond. “We’ve still got some time so we’ll rest for now before heading out in the morning.”
“Raven-san’s right,” Kakashi tells him. “We’ve come a long way in a short time and it would be best if we rest before continuing on in the morning. Besides,” he adds looking over at his fellow Jounin, “Raven-san has used up too much chakra and if these guys are as bad as they’re supposed to be then we’re going to need him rested.”
“Listen to them,” the fox advises him. “It won’t do Gaara any good to go off on our own half-cocked. We’ll wait for Raven to recover his chakra then we can rescue your friend, just be patient.”
==============================
A/N: Okay I’m not really sure if Ero-bijuu means Pervy Demon or not since my Japanese really sucks. I just know a few basic words that I’ve picked up from mangas and animes. So if that’s not what it means then please let me know so that I can fix it.
“I must admit you never cease to surprise me kit,” the demon chuckles, “Though I’m also surprised by how much that pretty pink haired kunoichi has grown up, or should I say grown out,” Kyuubi purrs appreciatively.
“Ero-bijuu,” Naruto grumbles before rolling over to go to sleep. The fox just chuckles as it too curls up for the night.
==============================
It was Team Kakashi’s first day as a three-man squad and everyone was excited about the prospect of working together again. As they stand in front of Tsunade to receive their first mission a messenger bursts into the room and franticly hands something to the Hokage.
The Sannin’s eyes widen in shock and fear as they scan over the message. Looking up quickly to the shinobi before her she notices the concern in three f their five eyes. The sky blue eyes of the Genin show an emotion akin to impatience as if the message in her hand was interfering with his first mission in over two years.
“The Kazekage of Suna has been abducted by Akatsuki and they have requested immediate assistance,” she informs them. “Your mission is to report to Suna as soon as possible and assess the situation. Once there you will assist in anyway you can and report the situation back here,” she briefs them
“As time is of the essence and tracking will be essential to the success of your mission I will be assigning a fourth member to your team,” she says scribbling down a message before handing it a kunoichi to her left and whispering something in the woman’s hear. “He will meet you at the gates in fifteen minutes,” she informs them as the other woman poofs out of the room.
==============================
“Who can be so important that baa-chan is making us wait around for him when we should be heading to Suna now?” Naruto demands as he passes the area like a caged animal. It doesn’t matter to him that the request only arrived three minutes ago or that they themselves only just arrived a minute later. “Gaara’s been captured but instead of going after him we’re letting his kidnappers get away.”
“Then let’s go Naruto-kun,” a voice calls out from behind him. Turning around quickly Naruto comes face to face with Raven as the Jounin steps out of the shadows cast by the massive gates. “I apologize for making you wait,” he tells them, “I only received the message a minute ago.”
“It’s okay Raven-san,” Sakura tells him, “Baka here has no patience.”
Before Naruto can reply Raven holds up his hand before turning to look out at the forest outside the gates. “Give me a moment then we can go,” he tells them as he links his mind to the shadows of the forest. A scans the entire area between Konoha and the edge of the dessert when something catches his attention.
“Temari-san’s stopped at a tea shop in the next village,” he tells the as he severs the link. “If we hurry we should be able catch up to her in a couple of hours.”
“How do you know that?” Naruto demands. “You just stood there doing nothing and now you’re saying the Gaara’s sister’s a couple hours head of us. How the hell could you know that?”
“Let’s get going and I’ll explain along the way,” Raven tells him as he begins racing down the road before taking to the trees. The others are less then three steps behind him and as they travel Raven begins filling Naruto in on his abilities.
==============================
As their group approaches the Sand-nin they slow their pace before descending to the ground so as not to startle the wind user. Kakashi explains the situation to the kunoichi as Raven sits down and leans against at tree. “We’ll wait here till night fall,’ he tells them resting his hands behind his head, “We’ll continue again once it’s dark.”
“WHAT?!?!?!?!” Naruto roars as he grabs Raven by the vest before lifting him up and slamming the older boy into the tree he was leaning against. “You may not care what happens to Gaara but we do,” he tells him. “We’re not going to sit around wasting time when we need to get there as soon as possible.”
“Which is why we’re going to wait till tonight,” Raven replies calmly. “I can get us to Suna in less then three hours once the sun goes down but as long as the sun’s still up the best I can do is the edge of the dessert which would still put us more then a day away from Suna,” he reminds the now apologetic teen.
{{“You need to watch that temper of ours,”}} Kyuubi warns him, {{“Remember kit this guy is not our enemy but he does posses techniques that can destroy us.”}}
“I know,” Naruto sighs dejectedly, “It’s just that I can’t stand the thought of those guys holding Gaara.”
“Are you okay Naruto-kun,” Sakura asks him softly. She’s hasn’t stopped watching him since his outburst. After he released Raven he moved over to another tree and sat down quietly. That was nearly twenty minutes ago and she was beginning to get worried.
“How much do you now about the Kyuubi no Kitsune?” he asks her unable to meet her gaze.
She looks down sadly as his words echo around in her mind. “For the last two and a half years I’ve bee reading through Tsunade-sama’s records trying to find any possible leads I could to Sasuke-kun,’ she informs him. “During that time I learned that Yondaime Hokage sealed the demon fox inside you when you were born and as a result I also learned how the villagers treated you.”
She looks at him with sympathetic eyes as she gently places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You are my friend Naruto-kun,’ she smiles warmly; “You’ve always been there when I needed you and you even risked your life to bring Sasuke-kun back when I asked you to. I don’t care what’s inside you because I know you are you and not the monster inside you.”
“Kyuubi-kun’s not a monster,” Naruto tells her while still looking down at the ground. “He was upset and hurting when he attacked the village,” he informs them all. The news shocks everyone except Raven who just sits quietly watching them. “He never meant to cause so much pain; he was just blinded by the loss of his mate and kits at the hands of hunters from a neighboring village.”
“How-how do you know this?” Kakashi asks nearly floored by the revelation.
“Kyuubi told me when we began to merge about a year and a half ago,” Naruto finally admits to them. “He’s not the terrible monster everyone thinks he is,” he tells them, “He reacted the way anyone would after the murder of their family.”
“You-you’ve merged with it?” Sakura asks still trying to process the information. “How, why?”
“The seal imprisoning began to weaken during an intense training session and as his chakra began slipping out I felt it mixing with my own,” he says leaning his head back to look up at the slowly reddening sky. “At first I was worried that he might be trying to escape but as I tried to fight against him he began talking. He told me that I had nothing to worry about since he had no desire to escape and that he was only lending his power to me.”
“And you believed him?” Temari asks remembering how Shukaku was when it came out in Gaara.
“Not at first,” Naruto admits, ‘But over time he’s made no attempt at breaking free and my chakra and abilities have only grown since then. I heal far faster then I used to and my sense are far sharper then ever. Also, he gives me advice from time to time and even alerts me to potential danger. All in all I have to say that it’s worked out pretty good for the both of us.”
Naruto’s eyes flash dangerously at him before Kyuubi interrupts him. {{"Don't Kit,"}} it warns him. {{"We don't have time for a long argument or a drawn out chat. Raven-san knows this and is giving us an out, so take it."}}
“Hai,” Naruto nods going along with the Bijuu’s assessment of the situation before dropping the subject so that they can continue towards their destination.
==============================
They arrive at their destination a few hours later and Raven catches Naruto before the teen falls flat on his face. Sakura does the same for Temari as the older kunoichi is also overwhelmed by the disorienting effects of the Jutsu.
They are soon greeted by a group of Sand shinobi. “Temari-san,” one of the Sand-nin greets her. “Thank Kami you’re here. Kazekage-sama is missing and Kankuro-san’s been poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Sakura asks, “Take me to him at once,” she instructs them.
==============================
By the time they arrive at the hospital room both Naruto and Temari have recovered from the effects of Raven’s Shadow Walk Jutsu. While Sakura is busy tending to Kankuro Baki fills the Leaf shinobi in on what happened. “Can you find them?” Naruto asks Raven
“If I knew which direction they were heading I could try,” Raven answers before Baki tells Raven in which direction they had found Kankuro. Raven walks over to the window and stares out into the night as he links his mind to the endless shadows the night affords him.
“They’re in some kind of cave near the boarder of River Country nearly a day’s travel from here,” he tells the others as he tries to ease-drop on what the group is doing when a flash of light suddenly severs his connection.
“AH…” Raven screams closing his eyes against the light as his hands instantly go to his eyes out of instinct, “Bastards,” he curses rubbing his sore eyes.
“What happened? What did you see?” Naruto asks almost franticly. “Is Gaara alright? What did they do t him?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Raven growls as his eyesight slowly begins to return too normal. “Gaara-sama’s alive for now but we’ve got less then three days to get to him before they finish.”
“Finish?” Kakashi asks, “Finish what?”
“Some kind of ritual to extract Shukaku no Ichibi,” Raven answers. “I don’t know the details since my link was severed abruptly but from what I could see there are at least nine of them. The two that abducted Gaara-sama are the only ones actually there while the others are just astral projections.”
“We need to go after them now,’ Naruto says moving towards the door.
“Not so fast,” Raven tells him grabbing his arm to stop him. “You don’t now where the cave is and it’s too close to sunrise for me to shadow walk us there tonight,” he reminds the blond. “We’ve still got some time so we’ll rest for now before heading out in the morning.”
“Raven-san’s right,” Kakashi tells him. “We’ve come a long way in a short time and it would be best if we rest before continuing on in the morning. Besides,” he adds looking over at his fellow Jounin, “Raven-san has used up too much chakra and if these guys are as bad as they’re supposed to be then we’re going to need him rested.”
“Listen to them,” the fox advises him. “It won’t do Gaara any good to go off on our own half-cocked. We’ll wait for Raven to recover his chakra then we can rescue your friend, just be patient.”
==============================
A/N: Okay I’m not really sure if Ero-bijuu means Pervy Demon or not since my Japanese really sucks. I just know a few basic words that I’ve picked up from mangas and animes. So if that’s not what it means then please let me know so that I can fix it.