Disclaimer: I don't Naruto. Kishimoto-san does. But who's to say I'm not Kishimoto-san?
Story: Kyuubi's found a way to escape, leaving to his homeworld. He's left Naruto a "gift", transforming the former jinchuuriki into a half-demon. The new kitsune needs to deal with the ups and downs of his new change in life, and gradually accept that maybe he isn't as alone as he thought he was.
Set after Sasuke's defection and Tsunade.
Spoilers: Maybe. I've just seen recent episodes on Cartoon Network and rented the first two DVDs. Everything is mostly from fanfics. So help me out if there's anything wrong, okay?
Warnings: Eh, I dunno right now.
Pairings: Kakashi/Naruto, implications of Gaara/Naruto, Temari/Naruto, Kankuro/Naruto, one-sided Sasuke/Naruto (for now). Gotta love the drama, ne?
A/n: Hey, I might not update for awhile. My grandmother just past away so either the updates are frequent or lax. Sorry, everyone. Also, should I change the summary?

Rebirth: Rokudaime
Chapter Four: The World is Round

Kakashi had gratefully been quiet about the whole thing, and Naruto was pleased that he could trust the older man so easily. Without discomfort, they had slept in the same bed, both sleeping soundly.

Naruto was still strung out over his spat with Gaara and the fact that he was still the red head's date for the ball. He tries, really. But sometimes that wasn't good enough. Especially with the complex relationship he had with Gaara.

Naruto had spent that week trying to avoid the Kazekage, the atmosphere tense and deadly. It didn't matter if they were in the same room or if they were on opposite sides of the palace. The situation was bound to explode sooner or later.

Everyone had to walk on eggshells, hoping that the explosion would occur when the two were alone. They weren't even sure if the two knew anyone else existed, or if they knew how much they were alarming the others.

Just the fact that the hostility was there was what caught the attention of the two, aggravating them. Apparently, no one else registered on their radars.

Sakura was worried about her blonde teammate. He hadn't asked her out since he came back, and he hadn't complained or even asked for ramen once. And with everything going on, she felt a bit lost. She had thought, especially after Naruto had given her some things to think about, that they could help each other get over Sasuke and train to get him back.

She had thought the two of them could get over the pain.

Instead, she was feeling more pain at how much distance there was between her and Naruto. Never mind the fact that she had always counted on Naruto being there.

She loved Sasuke, at least she thought she did. But when her love hurt her, Naruto had always brought her up…no matter how annoying he got.

And now there was no sign of her blonde anywhere.

Alas, there were other problems to deal with at the moment. The fact that there was a ball coming up and none of them, with the exception of Naruto and the sand siblings, had appropriate clothing for the occasion. Though, this problem was small compared to the others, to her it was a big deal.

She was a girl after all.

Sighing into her mirror, she almost cursed at her reflection. Her big forehead was glaring at her and her pink hair was a mess. She glared back at the mirror, wondering why she was burdened with such looks.

A knock on the door interrupted her and she sighed again.

"Come in," she said forlornly.

She was surprised to see a smiling Naruto, sneaking in. He walked towards her, standing behind and reaching for the forgotten brush. One of his hands caressed her hair, combing through once, before he started to brush it.

Her face tinted pink as she watched him in fascination.

It felt nice. She'd never had anyone do this to her before. Perhaps her mother did once…usually her parents were so busy working…

"Eh, Sakura-chan? If you want, I'll help you get ready for the ball."

Right…the ball…it was in two days…

Naruto was offering to help her?

"Thank you, Naruto. But are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

He kept smiling at her. Suddenly, she felt closer to him than in all the time she's known him. Flinging herself at him, she held onto him and cried. She didn't even know what she was crying for. For Sasuke? For herself? For Naruto? Or was it for the broken Team 7?

Did she really need a reason to cry?

"Shh, it's okay. Come on, Sakura-chan. Let it all out. I told you I would be here for you, ne?" and he kept smiling.

As Naruto whispered comforting words into her ear, she remembered all the times she had hurt Naruto and all the times where she did nothing but bring him down. Then she remembered the few times where she actually helped him.

She promised herself she'd help him more. Sakura promised she'd get stronger to help him in any way she could. The kunoichi was just that. A shinobi, not a girl needing to be saved by her knight in shining armor.

Sasuke wasn't her knight. She shouldn't be the damsel in distress.

She, Haruno Sakura, swore that she would become a true kunoichi that could at least rival Tsunade in medical jutsus.

Naruto and Sasuke had always been stronger, but she had to do something that could help them. She refused to be the weak, little girl she had been.

"Ne, Sakura?" Naruto quietly asked. How strange. Naruto's voice sounding soft.

"Hm?"

"How are you? Really."

"I'm sad. I'm angry. I feel helpless."

She didn't need to elaborate. With Naruto, she never did.

"Promise me, Sakura-chan…Sakura…if there's ever something bothering you or if you ever need to talk, you'll come to me. 'Kay?"

"Mmhm…"

She always has, even if she's never noticed it before.

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Sakura giggled in delight. Naruto had fixed her hair and arranged her clothing so that it resembled something entirely different. It was her favorite clothing, but it looked much nicer now. Even Ino-pig didn't look as nice.

'Cha! Take that!' Inner Sakura screamed.

Sakura smirked, triumphantly looking at her rival and friend, Yamanaka Ino.

"Where's Naruto?" Ino asked everyone.

Naruto was the only one missing.

Sakura stopped smirking, worry rising up. Where was her other blond friend? She had only seen him an hour ago, but a lot can happen in an hour.

"The Desert Rose shinobi has entered the house," the slurred, loud voice of Temari resounded into the room. Everyone turned to stare at her as she and her brother entered, Kankurou standing behind and shaking his head in embarrassment.

Temari was dressed in a nice sky blue dress, her face lightly made up. But the most outrageous thing about her was the way she was acting. She was posing in the entrance, a bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other. Her face was slightly flushed.

"I'm gonna try getting laid by Naruto before Gaara does," she giggled inanely, swirling the alcohol in both of her hands.

"Tema, stop it. You're embarrassing," Kankurou rebuked.

"Pfft. I don't care. Because Naruto is going to say I'm pretty and ask me to stay with him forever and ever," she said drunkenly.

"Is she drunk? But isn't she a minor?" Asuma asked.

"Got a problem, Chimney?" she sneered.

Everyone kept staring as she just laughed it off and then took a gulp from the bottle and ignored the glass. She giggled again.

It took a second, but Gaara appeared and a resounding smack was heard. Sakura's jaw dropped as she saw Temari's red cheek, her eyes shut tight and her head angled to the side.

Gaara had slapped her.

Temari swallowed harshly before opening her eyes and staring straight into the green of Gaara's.

"Sorry, little brother. I got out of hand." She didn't sound sorry.

Everyone stayed tensed until Gaara interrupted the silence.

"The ball is starting. As hosts, we must be first to present the opening. I will arrive shortly after with Naruto."

"Why is Naruto going to be with you?"

The sand siblings looked at Sakura weirdly before seeing that all of the Leaf-nins shared her curiosity.

"I would have thought you'd deduce it already," Temari said bitingly.

"Naruto is my date. Just like last time," Gaara cut in sharply.

"D-date?" Hinata stuttered.

"What? Did you think Naruto came alone? Or Gaara? They went with each other. Like they will now," Temari's attitude began to grate on Sakura's nerves, but she held it in.

"I thought Gaara-san invited Naruto…" Tsunade supplied the sand siblings the cause of the confusion.

"Yeah, he invited Naru-kun. As in asked him out," by then, Temari's nasty attitude was getting to everyone.

Despite knowing that Gaara and Naruto were sort of…going out before, they didn't expect Gaara to have asked Naruto out to a ball. Something public.

But what they had thought of initially, was they had forgotten all about the couple aspect and didn't realize Gaara had actually asked Naruto out to the ball. Not just as an invitation.

Akamaru barked. The silence still refused to be broken.

Kankurou sighed and Temari rolled her eyes.

Gaara glared before turning and gliding out the door.

"Well, best to get out and start the party, eh?" Tsunade prodded everyone.

They filed out, and saw the crowd of dignitaries waiting for the ball to begin. They saw the other kages there, along with some feudal lords and even the lords of the nations.

Sakura shuddered at seeing the Fire Lord with his wife. Memories of scared, evil cats crossed her mind.

"Ladies and gents, I'll be proud to announce the start of the Starlit Ball! As tradition, please wait to be announced," Temari declared with false enthusiasm. Not like anyone, but the shinobi knew that.

And the list went on as the female shinobi called out the names. The Konoha's shinobi were called out in random pairs, all of them scrambling to get with the correct partner.

And then, there were still two missing.

Dramatically, Temari stalled. Then her eyes lit up in genuine fondness, a real smile lighting up as well, and then she announced the last couple.

"And please welcome the Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara and Konoha shinobi Uzumaki Naruto."

The couple walked out.

Gaara looked splendid, his red hair offset by the dark blue, dressy shinobi outfit; the custom kage clothing discarded. He wore his regular shinobi sandals. But the real surprise to the Konoha group was Naruto.

As Naruto had stated before, his evening wear was emerald green. It looked like a short toga with a more forest green long-sleeved top underneath. His black slacks narrowed down to a clinging dark, almost black, green boots. His blond hair was free of goggles or headband, freeing his hair into a softer look. An unnecessary, yet adorable, accessory of a long, black cloak hung around Naruto's neck. It was angled so that it flowed down his side, rather than his back, covering his left arm. The recognizable symbol of the sand was imprinted onto the cloak in the same emerald green.

The real detail that caught everyone's eye was the perfect coordination and movements of the two. They matched down to their clothing to their actions. If anyone really looked into it, Gaara was wearing Naruto's eye color while the blond wore the red head's.

After the loud applause, the couple had walked into the middle of the empty dance floor and started the first dance.

Kakashi watched as the two talked quietly to each other, Gaara's mouth twitching upward into an unwilling smile. Naruto laughed openly, his laughter strangely soft and not boisterous as they were all used to.

The Copy-nin snorted and glared. Grinding his teeth, Kakashi turned on his heel and walked away.

Sakura watched, baffled.

Then her mind screamed in frustration, Inner Sakura not helping.

'Eh, why's Naruto with Gaara? He likes us, doesn't he?' Inner Sakura raged.

'Probably used to. And shut up. Naruto deserves to be happy.'

'And Kakashi-sensei's acting like a jealous lover,' the more chaotic part of Sakura continued on.

'I said shut up! That's absolute non –' Sakura stopped. Now that she thought on it…

No. Just…no. It couldn't be. Could it?

Sakura shook her head. She was just imagining things. And Inner Sakura was just being stupid.

Started 11/1/06 –Completed 11/5/06