CH 29

Days 29 - 31

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

Some rumours were flying around the town, but none had affected the remainders of the old Genin Team Seven more than the fact that Haruno Sakura could not be located. Her parents had been killed and the girl was needed to answer a few questions about it. Her disappearance is suspect because it seems that she disappeared the same day that the Snake Sannin had made his escape.

Kakashi was the one that had the unlovely honour of informing Sasuke and Naruto, on day following their return. He also was the one that told them that their old pink haired teammate had been declared a Missing Ninja. "Usually Genin aren't deemed strong enough to be placed in the Bingo Books as Missing Ninja to be considered dangerous," he told them. "However by association they can be added and in this case it's under the strong suspicion that she's taken Kabuto's place in Orochimaru's organization. Everything about her is suspect, including her actions during the Chunin exams."

"Why her," Naruto asked in a muttered tone, more in thought, than in order to get an answer.

"Chakra residue on the block that had bound the Snake's feet," Tokuma-sensei told them. "She used an Earth Style spell and it left a residue of the chakra of the person who'd caused the block to crumble."

"There were two residues on the block," Kakashi told them. "One from Risa, who was the original castor and a second on the pieces left behind. Since I was Sakura's sensei I was able to identify her personal chakra signature much better than any other Shinobi."

"How is that possible," Sasuke said.

"Signature recognition," Naruto told his teammates. "Right sensei?"

"Correct," Kakashi said. "It's a valuable tool when you're ordered out into the field to know who's on your team, but there are ways to mask it and to change to something else."

"Is that an easy skill to learn," Risa asked. "Or is it one that needs to be learned over time?"

"Over time," Tokuma-sensei told them. "For those without an ocular bloodline, the skill can only be learned overtime."

"Ahh!" Naruto yelled. "That's how the old fart did it!"

"Did what," Sasuke asked.

"When Mizuki was caught," Naruto said. "I was testing something for Akiko, but I didn't even think about chakra signature recognition. Old man caught me with it!"

"You where there," Kakashi-sensei asked.

Naruto stopped all movements, coughed and chuckled a bit. "Heh, heh," he noised, putting his hands behind his head. "That's…uh…uh…classified…yah, classified. Sorry sensei can't say more than that."

No amount of cajoling from his teammates or threats from his teachers about painful training, which he only scoffed at, could get the true story out of him.

"Very well then," Tokuma said. "I guess we know 'who' to turn over to Ibiki."

"What," Sasuke said. "Why?"

"Well the man's been asking questions about the first part of the exam," Kakashi-sensei told them. "Something about 'word-for-word' answers that were impossible to do and still be undetectable too, which by the way earned you three the twenty-seven team points that were given out at the beginning of the exam and the three point deductions are only for the unanswered questions."

"I told you it would work," Risa said with a triumphant look. Akoba barked his agreement.

The two men looked at the younger males of their group and noted their downcast eyes. "You Risa," Tokuma-sensei said because his counterpart was too busy gaping. "What worked?"

"Akiko created some gloves for us," Risa said. "We'd already learnt coded language, but she told us that the gloves would allow transmission of codes to the palms of the gloves that were recognized as paired or linked together."

"I didn't that know that it would work so well," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head. 'Nothing like this has ever existed in my past before,' he thought. 'Now Sakura…I guess I should just live in the now, but some things still need to be watched for.'

"It's the stitching in the gloves," Sasuke told his senseis, getting nods from his friends. "Akiko had made them for us to use during the exam. She claimed that it would be the best testing environment for them. It was a better forum instead in the field where they could fail, especially if a team is counting on them. A mock mission wouldn't have been enough of a test, if people already knew about them."

"Show me," Kakashi-sensei asked. The black haired boy handed him one of his gloves. The one-eyed man looked them over and then looked inside and found the stitching. There was an inactive Seal that had specific conditions for activation. "That girl couldn't have written this or come up with that on her own."

"It was a Team Eleven idea," Tokuma-sensei said with pride, causing Kakashi's head to pop up. "Akiko, Naruto and Risa, including myself had a discussion about how to change clothing, I believe."

"Yes sensei," Risa said. "We continued to discuss more of the same afterwards too. Those clothing patches work and are the main source of Akiko's income, but we'd also discussed covert messaging too." The blond boy nodded and she continued. "Akiko's been thinking about different ways to use Fujin stitching with the clothing of the ninja and about covert operations. We had many discussions about it."

"Who came up with the Seals," Kakashi-sensei said. "It's the work of a Master."

"Thank you, Kakashi," Naruto said, looking at the man.

"But…" the man frowned. "I thought…"

"I only knew disguising Seals," Naruto said with a grin. "Nah, I've always been interested in this stuff, since I've had one on my stomach all of my life. I wanted to know how they were created, for as long as I can remember."

"But your grades at the Academy," Kakashi stated. "They were below par."

Naruto shrugged. "They would be," he explained. "Who wanted to actually teach the Fox Demon? Seriously, other than Iruka-sensei, who couldn't devote a lot of time without accusations of favouritism, who actually wanted to teach me anything?"

"But this requires…"

"Kaka-sensei," Sasuke said, getting the man's attention. "Books can be borrowed from a library or bought in store."

"Or read in store if the store owner wants to step out for a bit without wanting to close his business," Naruto told the man with a pointed look.

"Point," Kakashi said with a wry grin and a shake of his head. There was no point in delving further because it was obvious that some of the information came from the store, but he strongly suspected that the boy had a very understanding sensei in his first Jounin instructor. "Some must have come from other regions though."

"That'd be me," Tokuma confirmed his supposition. "During missions, if I ever found anything related to Fuuinjutsu I purchased, copied and for a couple even borrowed, permanently." They looked at him in shock. "What? Those patches saved my life more times than could be counted. I had to encourage my student to continue with this or else, we, the Shinobi of Konoha would lose out."

"All right, all right," Kakashi said holding up his hand to indicate that he will quit basing some things only on the boy's scholastic records. He gave the glove back to Sasuke and then he looked at the blond youth and said, "You know that we really do need to test you for your skills."

"Why," Risa said.

"Well the Hokage puts together groups and teams based on the skills the ninja know," Tokuma-sensei said. "There are Shinobi that are specialized in particular fields and then there are few that are generalized enough to fit in many of those teams. It's always best to know who would be the best for particular jobs."

"I'd rather wait a few years before anything goes officially into my file," Naruto said. "I wouldn't want to be confined to learning what someone else feels I should be learning, until I'm ready to tackle a few of them myself. I haven't done too badly so far."

"You just don't want to lose us as your teammates," Sasuke said with a clear and sudden insight.

"Well you guys are such fun," Naruto said with a grin and then he sobered up. "Team Eleven's dynamic spoiled me." He confessed. "I liked it so much that I wanted it back with my new team, unfortunately Sakura…"

"She didn't even try," Sasuke said in the same sober tone. "I noticed the difference between her and her cousin the day I met Akiko. There was just something…ah… I can't explain it. There was just something wrong with everything that happened with her." He paused and then looked at his senseis. "Will we have to take a mission to hunt her down some day?"

"That will depend on a few things," Tokuma-sensei said. "We'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the Chunin exam pans out and what kind of missions we'll be assigned in the future." He paused and then said, "You do know that the team may be reassigned or changed, right?"

"Yes sir," they all said.

"Is that all you needed to tell us," Naruto asked. "About Sakura I mean."

"Yes that's everything," the man said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I was hoping to go to the hospital to visit Lee," Naruto said. "I want to know how he's doing."

"That's fine," Kakashi-sensei told them. "Until the day of the final part of the Chunin exams are finished you three are free. Use the time wisely."

"Thank you sensei," Naruto said with a grin. He waved to his other two friends and they all took off in different directions leaving the food bill for their senseis to pick up.

Kakashi-sensei was surprised at the quickness of his students' retreat and then looked to his joint teacher who was out the door just as fast saying, "Your fault for saying that you'd pick up the check. Later!"

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

Gaara felt the pull towards the hospital. He didn't know why he was so affected by the preliminary battle against the 'homely little prince charming', but there was something that he needed to see for himself.

'Why,' he thought. 'Why does this one bother me? Is it because it feels unfinished or there's some other reason?' (…i…)

He stood in the doorway staring at the sleeping boy. Then his mind wasn't his own. 'No, I don't want this,' he thought. 'Doing something like this will blow all our new plans?'

Gaara's control slipped. He took a shaking step after shaking step to get to Lee's bedside. His chakra infused sand flowed from the gourd at his back. 'Sense me,' he thought to the boy. 'Come on and sense that you're in danger, please!'

The ninja from Suna's hand was about to close, forming the Sand Coffin that had spelled the doom of many of his attackers. Suddenly he couldn't finish. His hand refused to curl into the fist. 'I can't…move…' he realized. 'Thank Kami!'

It was a good thing that Naruto had chosen to visit Lee on this day because he had a feeling that something was about to repeat from his past. Sure he wasn't a patient like the last time, but he had a feeling that Gaara was in trouble and needed his help now rather than later.

Luckily he'd encountered Shikamaru, who was going there to visit Choji who'd eaten too much barbeque that their Asuma-sensei had promised during the preliminaries and finally delivered. Poor boy wasn't allowed to eat anything other than hospital food in order to monitor his metabolism for a day. He'd be fine for the finals.

Walking onto the floor the two boys both noticed part of the large, signature gourd going into a room. That's when the two looked at each other and ran to help. Shikamaru did his Shadow Possession technique and then watched, intrigued that the brash blond did nothing, but go up to the red haired boy and, '... hug him?' He thought, 'Why?'

"Gaara," Naruto said in the boy's ear. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you fight in the final Chunin battle without taking care of this before. Especially, if you're control has slipped this much…"

The red haired boy didn't know if he wanted to lean against him or push him away. Since his shadow was currently possessed, he just enjoyed the first non-violent touch that he'd ever received in his life. He felt the crack in his sand armour at the back of his neck and almost panicked when he couldn't put it back.

"What did you think you were doing," Shikamaru asked.

"I wanted to kill him," Gaara answered honestly. He wanted to say more, but couldn't because of the demon he was fighting with.

Shikamaru scowled and asked, "Do you have a personal vendetta against him or what?"

"No," Gaara said. He felt something being placed on the back of his neck. "...nothing like that."

"You really weren't raised right, were you?" Shikamaru noted.

"To be raised…," Gaara said. "I don't understand that. The process of my birth was a nightmare. I stole the life of the woman I was supposed to call 'mother'. In order to create the world's strongest Shinobi, my father used Ninjutsu to implant an incarnation of sand within my body… I was born a monster!"

"A type of possession art that causes a foetus to be forcibly possessed…?" Shikamaru couldn't believe it. "To go that far…that's crazy. What kind of parent does a thing like that? What twisted love."

"Love," Gaara frowned, as he asked the question. He felt a foreign chakra pushing against the back of his neck. Working to break down a few of his mental defences and yet, he knew that the blond boy would protect those around him. "Don't judge me by your standards. Let me tell you…My mother's life was sacrificed so that I could be brought to life as my village's greatest masterpiece…a weapon and the Kazekage's son."

"My father taught me many secret Shinobi skills, one after another. I was indulged and spoiled, but raised in complete isolation and at first I thought that was love," Gaara told them in a bland near emotionless tone of voice. "That is until the incident, six years ago."

"What happened," Naruto asked.

"Ever since I turned six, my father, has been trying to assassinate me," Gaara told them. His eyes were angry, bloodshot and the grin he developed on his face was difficult to look at. "I've lost count of how many attempts he's made. A presence that is too powerful becomes something to be feared. Having been born through Jutsu…my mind is unstable…and it seems that the fools of the village finally realized I had emotional issues. To my father, in his role as Kazekage, I was the village's most powerful weapon, but at the same time I was a fearsome and dangerous 'object'."

"I understand," Naruto said. "Shikamaru, you can release your Jutsu. I don't want you falling under, don't worry I've got him." As soon as the shadow was released, Gaara slumped onto the shoulder and was supported because he had no control over his limbs, which had been numbed and rendered useless. It didn't stop him from continuing his story.

"So when I turned six," the red haired youth told them. "They determined that I was too great a liability. Prior to that I'd only been 'handled with care' like any other hazardous instrument. To them, I am now a relic of the past that they wished to erase and forget."

"I would have turned out just like you," Naruto said. "If one person hadn't held out his hand and supported me, I'd have been just like you. Only in my case I didn't have family…no father, no mother, no siblings, no one to really block the villagers when they came. Those people are just blinded by their fears and what they see. Demons cannot tell the difference between right and wrong because all they know is survival. Forgiveness is easy and hard, especially for those born like us, right Gaara?"

"I don't…know…," Gaara said. "I can't fall asleep 'mother' will take over."

"Shukaku is not your mother," Naruto said. He pushed the boy away and allowed the demon fox's chakra to emerge and then flow into the other boy. "I'm sending you some help until we can place a proper Seal on you to help with your…troublesome creature."

Gaara's armour didn't stop the pouring of red chakra into his body and his body, finally sensing peace, actually slumped into a non-peaceful sleep.

Sasuke and Risa had been standing in the doorway, listening along with Lee's sensei. "Sasuke," Naruto said. "Take the sand gourd and bring it to Temari and Kankuro. Tell them that Gaara is talking to someone just like him and will return when he is ready. Kakashi I need your help."

Kakashi and Gai-sensei stepped into the room. "Don't separate us, but you know where to take us, right sensei?"

"Yes," the man said. They two made sure that they remained linked and Risa covered them with a camo-cloth that changed to look like something the two men would naturally be carrying. "Risa you go with Sasuke." The girl nodded and the two of them left the room.

"Thanks for the help," Naruto said to Shikamaru, who suddenly found that he'd been left alone in the hospital room with a still sleeping unconscious Lee.

"Troublesome," the boy said and he tucked his hands into his pants pockets, slouched and ambled down the hallway to go visit his teammate Choji.

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

"Your youthful student had arrived just in time my ever cool rival," Gai-sensei said as they took Gaara and Naruto to the ritual room underground of the Hokage's Tower. It was a place secure and safe to conduct various types of rituals, usually those related to the Fuuinjutsu Arts. There were pillars throughout and interspersed to allow for numerical concentration.

"He's unusually perceptive," Kakashi muttered, knowing that the blond boy was listening in. "Place them here and please lock the door behind you."

"No can do my friend," Gai-sensei said. "I will watch your back in this matter."

"Gai-sensei," Naruto said. "This requires peace to concentrate. I appreciate your enthusiasm and persistence, but perhaps a guard at the door would be more appropriate in order to prevent interruption. Gaara has family that will be concerned, even if Risa and Sasuke are our ambassadors they may still seek to prevent the cure."

"Yosh," Gai-sensei said with his 'good guy' pose, thumb out, as the camo-cloak was lifted. "You are quite correct that sometimes familial concerns can interfere. You are wise in your youth. I will see that you are safe." He stepped out of the room.

Kakashi locked it from the inside and watch as Naruto stripped the red haired boy to expose his chest and the partial Seal that was being fed by the red chakra of the fox demon. He looked closer and winced, "This was badly done."

"It wasn't professionally done," Naruto agreed. He took a deep breath and centred himself. He placed his hands in the 'focus' sign and nodded at his sensei to do the same. "You need to remain focussed. I'll begin the design, here's a copy of it must look like to be completed."

"What are you going to do," his sensei asked.

"I'm going to follow the fox, just keep your focus because that will call me back to my body after I'm done," Naruto said, moving to a pillar that he knew would not be used. "You just keep the focus and we'll make sure that that thieving racoon doesn't break free." He noted the look of concern and fear. "Kakashi it will be all right, you'll see. You just need to believe it."

Kakashi gave the boy a weak grin and said, "I'll be here no matter what happens."

"I understand," Naruto said. "No interference allowed though, just let my body move on its own." His sensei nodded and then he began the focus. The blond then dropped into a meditative state and allowed his chakra aura or spirit to follow the connection he had with his own confined demon.

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

Gaara was locked in a very familiar battle against the racoon like demon that lived in his mind. He thought that he'd been failing until help came in the form of a giant fox. The demonic fox kept the racoon from taking over his mind and was in fact pushing him back to an area that the creature had broken out of.

Suddenly there was another person in his mind. It was a blond man, with longish hair up in a high tail with the bottom have of his hair a mix of black and white, but the rest was the yellow gold that he was used to seeing on the blond boy that promised to help him out. "Hey Gaara," the man said. "I'm here to help as promised."

"Naruto?"

"Yes," the intense blue eyes fixated on his sea foam green ones. "Is something wrong?"

"You look much older than the boy," Gaara stated.

Naruto only shrugged and said, "Spirits are different from the body. Your spirit may grow at a different rate, but eventually the body will catch up to your spiritual age." He frowned at the racoon's pale swipe and he defended by knocking it back several feet. Then he said, "How about we take care of that, now."

"Please," the boy that Gaara was asked. The spiritual image of Gaara was still a few years younger than his own body. Spiritually his age was still young because he wanted someone to care.

Naruto knelt down and hugged the boy, saying, "What we're doing is going to be something similar to what confines my demon, only in this case, conditions will be added to yours."

"Why," Gaara asked.

"The pathways of your mind can heal," Naruto said with a soft smile. "Your heart can heal. I know that you still have family and they will come to care. Bonds of blood siblings can grow in strength. So first we make sure that your mind will heal by locking away the one that doesn't belong in there."

"How," the boy asked.

"We confine him to a cage," the blond explained with a shrug at the fox that growled back at him. "We have no choice in this Kurama. That one is different and has had way too much freedom."

"I agree," the fox said. "I can only hold him for so long, so do you think you could draw the main Seal now?"

"Of course," Naruto said. He took out a glass knife that he'd formed outside of his body and then he pierced his hand. He began to draw the circles and Fujin Sigals that defined the cage.

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

Kakashi had no idea what was going on. He watched the boy's body and then saw something he'd never seen before.

Naruto's body planted a hand, palm to the ground and then lifted up a double bladed knife. It was made of glass and fully formed into a small looking blade, shaped like a very small Tanto. It was used to cut the boy's other palm and then the blood writings began to form around the body of the Sand ninja moving along before conditions were added.

Kakashi had never seen this happen before. He was sorely tempted to wake Naruto, but knew that in a case like this he had to trust him to know what he was doing. 'Obviously he's researched this,' he thought. 'I only wonder how long he's been planning to help the red haired boy.'

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

"All right," Naruto said, looking at the cage. "Now comes the hard part."

"What is it," Gaara said.

"You have to put him in there," Naruto said to the boy. "You actually have to fight him and drag him into the cage. I will help you to shut the door, but you have to be the one to put him in there."

Gaara then developed such a look of determination and hardness that the racoon demon hesitated before launching his first attack. "I was spoiled," the red haired boy said and struck the demon with a knock down hit. "I was taught."

"So was I," the racoon said and tried to inflate his form into becoming larger, but couldn't. "What the hell?" He looked around and noted that his chakra was being suck into the formation of the cage. "Oh no you don't."

"Oh yes," Gaara said and he struck again this time nearly knocking himself out. 'At least I know how much I can take,' he thought. 'But that sand bag doesn't know his own limits within my mind.'

Shukaku was hardly shocked at the anger because he'd been feeding it to the boy for a long time now, however this time it was redirected back at him. It was like he was getting angry at himself, which was ridiculous. He took another hit, only this time he retaliated and struck at the demon fox only to be bitten on the arm and shaken.

Kurama released the demon as soon as he heard the red haired boy yelp in shock because of the sudden pain. "Sorry kid," he said with a semi-contrite expression. "Forgot about that."

"That's fine," Gaara's eyes and hair deepened in colour. "I expected something like that. I welcome it, as a new awakening."

Something in the boy's spirit change at that moment. He grew and aged to be slightly older than his real physical form, but it was enough. He grinned evilly and then attacked the racoon in a fury of punches and kicks.

Shukaku didn't know what hit him. He fought back with claws and fang. He was merciless and didn't care that he was developing the same wounds as the ones he inflicted, until one particular move surprised him and he was very temporarily knocked out. He felt someone grab him by the scruff of his neck and tail.

He tried to scrabble out of the way, but it was too late now. He was summarily tossed like bad baggage. He flipped nose over tail, rolling towards the back of the cell and heard the loud clang as the door slammed shut behind him. He howled his protest, "NNNOOOOOOOOOO!I"

Naruto was quick with the conditions. They may have been basic, but the boy had his own mind now. The pathways were only opened to chakra accessed and control was placed in Gaara's surprised hands. "It's done," the blond said. "Now the trick is to hold onto that by placing somewhere that he won't and can't go."

"How," Gaara asked.

He saw the blond shake his head and knew that this was a choice he had to make on his own. He nodded at the man in his mind and disappeared from Naruto's sight for a few minutes. When he reappeared, there was a new confidence in the youth and it was time the fox and the blond to back away.

"Just remember one thing," Naruto told him with a grin. "You're now in control. Oh, I'll take care of the larger wounds once we're out of your mindscape, so don't worry, you'll be healed in time for the final battle."

"Thank you," Gaara said and then because he knew he'd never do it in real life, he ran up and hugged the taller man in his mindscape. "Thank you onii-san."

Naruto pet the dark red hair and then disappeared, following the concentrated chakra focus of his Jounin sensei. He came too and saw that the wounds on Gaara were healing slowly.

Kakashi had wanted to help, but knew not to interfere. The blood was seeping into the Seal that the blond boy had placed on the Sand ninja. He saw his student move forward, pulling at a scroll from the pouch he carried.

"You can stop now sensei," Naruto said. "We'll need to treat most of these before we can turn him over to the medical staff of the hospital."

"How are we going to explain the wounds," Kakashi asked.

"We sparred and you called on your dog summons to help," the blond said casually. "It's no one's fault, if they acted as their nature intended. I was bit too, see."

"I'll treat that," Kakashi said cleaning the area deftly and wrapping it up in a bandage quickly.

Naruto did the same and then he tapped Gaara on the forehead. Darker sea green eyes opened, blinked and then a wry grin formed. "Time to wake up," the blond said. "I'm sure that your brother and sister are about to rampage looking for you."

"You looked better in my mind," Gaara said. "Are you hiding your true hair colour?"

Naruto shook his head and smiled, "I'd forgotten that your spiritual self reflects your true appearance, if not your physical age." He chuckled and said, "Yes it's being hidden by a bound Henge."

"Why hide it," the red haired boy asked, as he slowly moved about to remove the kinks from his limbs.

"It's a gift from my summons," Naruto explained. "The scroll I created has a slight side-effect because it's still not closed, as a couple of foxes still need to be added. Once they are then the scroll will be, as finished as it can be."

"I don't quite understand," Gaara said. "But you don't need to hide it."

"Some days that's not what I hide," Naruto said, scratching a whiskered cheek to indicate what does get hidden.

"Understood," the red haired boy said. He finished getting dressed and then looked around the room. "Where's my gourd?"

"Sasuke took it to your brother and sister," Naruto said. "I couldn't have something around that Shukaku could control until he was locked away."

"I see," Gaara said. "We'd better go now or else your friend may forced to endure my brother's own version of torture."

"Oh, what would that be," Kakashi-sensei as he unlocked the door to the room and let in a wailing Gai-sensei. He patted the man on his head and said, "We're fine."

"But my joyous rival," Gai wailed. "You trusted me to guard the door, but they wouldn't stop singing that," the man shuddered and continued. "That…horrid song!"

"Song," Naruto asked looking out the door and hearing the chorus, '67 Ninjas that battle and war…'. He chuckled and then said, "Oh, that one."

"Kankuro," Gaara said in a chiding tone. "You didn't have to go that extreme."

"The green man wouldn't let us in and we only had his," he pointed to Sasuke, who waved at them. "Word that you'd be safe. We may have changed some things, but really. You never trusted anyone with this before, now take it back, it's agitated."

"Thank you for looking after it," Gaara told them. "Now let's go back to the hospital."

"What for," Temari asked, looking over at them suspiciously. She spotted the bandages and then exclaimed, "You're wounded!"

"It was just a minor spar," Kakashi-sensei told them. "I had my summons out keeping guard, but they wanted to play. It was an accident. Even Naruto was bitten."

"Well then let's get these youthful children to a place where the treatment of such enthusiastic accidents get treated," Gai-sensei said. "Follow me!"

"Just follow him," Kakashi said to the Sand ninja. "He's relatively harmless." He then turned to Naruto and said, "You too."

"Ah, you know I heal…"

"None of that," Risa said. "It doesn't matter. You still need to be checked in case an infection may have set in. You'll still need a tetnus shot anyway."

Naruto rubbed his butt and said, "I don't wanna…"

"Now, now," Kakashi-sensei said, taking a hold of blond boy's arm. He dragged him through the corridors saying, "You do know that anytime someone is bitten by any animal, even a summons they must get a shot to prevent infections from setting in."

"But I don't wanna," Naruto said dragging his feet slightly. It was a show for the medical staff and his protest was doing just what it was supposed to do. It presented a very young Chunin that still required a Jounin to monitor him.

"You guys are not helping," the blond said to his giggling teammates.

"Oh," Sasuke said. "Were we supposed to?"

"I don't think so," Risa said. "Not after '99 Ninjas…' being repeated for the third time."

"Three times," Naruto said in awe. "Really?"

"Just you wait," Sasuke said. "I'll find a tune more annoying than that one to bug you with."

"Bring it," Naruto said and then was pulled into a private room, from which his teammates only heard, "OUCH! Watch where you stick that thing! SADIST! NO WAY! Why the hell do I need more than one?"

The answer was muffled, but there was a second very loud yelp that indicated that another needle had just been given.

Sasuke looked at Risa, who looked back at him. Together they laughed.

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

END for now!

(…i…) See volume 11, pg.119

Author's Note: Originally this story was to protest the unfinished works that I'd been fond of reading, but were never completed. Unfortunately, I was mistaken in my ability to take this tale any further at this point in time. At least the end is not that much of a cliff-hanger and you can all image a better ending.

Until I re-read the Naruto saga stories and get hooked once more I fear that this is as far as I can take the tale.

For those curious about the posted pairing, well I kind of like that pairing, but I did it so that I could find my story much more quickly.

Thank you for the lovely reviews and for reading my incomplete attempt to get a story passed the Chunin Exam stage.

Lil Nezumi