BETA~TheMadKatter13

Tanks you soooo muches, beta! As a reward, I promise that I shall never ever poop on your pillow!

Chapter 01: Here's Naruto!

Chapter quote: "The two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why."

"And here comes the one, the only, GAAARRRAAA!" The crowd roared as the red-haired boy walked up to the ring, distant-eyed as ever. "And the challenger! Kiba Inuuuuzukaaaa!" Kiba strutted up, chocolate-haired with bared fangs. He had red marks resembling fangs painted from below his eyes to either side of his mouth.

Once both fighters were in their corners, the host stood in the center of the ring. "Welcome to the Jr. Blue Championship match. Today, the current champion," he motioned to Gaara, "will be defending his title against the challenger," he motioned to Kiba, then got off the stage. "FIGHT!"

Kiba immediately ran up with his arms prepped and locked, ready to punch.

"How stupid," muttered the champion, ducking to dodge it. He shot behind Kiba and threw out a roundhouse kick, sending him flying into the ropes.

The fight went on for 15 minutes before Kiba hit the mat and couldn't get back up.

"Winner: GAARA!" shouted the announcer, and the crowd roared in response, those whose fighter or bets had won, with joy, and those whose fighter or bets had lost, with anger. The host ran up into the ring, mic at the ready. "Now it's time to speak with our fighters. First, Kiba, the loser." He turned to the snarling teen. "I believe you've brought someone with you today, am I right?"

At the question, Kiba seemed to calm a bit. "Yeah," he replied. "My boyfriend, Naruto Uzumaki." There were "Ooh"'s and "Ahhh"'s and "OH MY GOD!"'s from the crowd. Naruto was wearing ripped skinny jeans and a KILL 'EM T half covered by a black jacket. His golden hair swished over baby blue eyes. And, despite his lover's loss, seemed completely indifferent.

"So Naruto," started the host as he stood beside Kiba. "You're Kiba's...lover?" A nod. "What is it that you do? As a job, I mean."

Naruto turned pale eyes on the host, the smallest of a glare in them. "I'm a fighter as well." He said, earning some gasps and raised eyebrows from the crowd, as well as the host. "Of course, I only began recently."

The host nodded his small head. "I see. So-"

"Aren't you supposed to be interviewing the fighters of this fight?" Snapped Naruto. After a short pause, a small smirk tilted his lips before they parted again. "Or did I fight in my sleep? You honestly seem very unprofessional at the moment," he continued in an innocent voice, yet his glare had intensified.

The man seemed stunned for a moment but soon gained his composure. "O-of course. Inuzuka," he said sharply, turning intensive eyes to the waiting fighter, "after this major defeat, will you go after the Jr. Blue title again? Or do you already have another goal in mind?"

Kiba smirked, showing off his pointed canines. "No. I'll take Icey over there on again. And I'll win. After all," he pulled Naruto roughly to his side, "I've got someone important cheering for me."

"So Gaara," the host turned to the champion. "Have you got anyone important here today?"

"No." His voice was scratchy and low, as if he rarely used it.

"What do you mean, 'No'?!" came a loud screech from the crowd. There was movement as parts of the crowd was shoved aside, a woman emerging from the chaos to storm the ring. Her blonde hair was held up in four pony tails and a small hand fan hung at her side.

"Uh, excuse me, who are you?" asked the host curiously.

"My name's Temari. I'm HIS big sister!" she snapped, pointing furiously at Gaara. "And he has the gall to say he doesn't have anyone important here?! Oh, hell no!"

"I wonder why," Gaara muttered, looking like he wanted to face palm. "Temari, quit causing a commotion. You're being immature."

"Why you..." she steamed , but walked back to her seat.

Everything was quiet for a moment. "Well then," said the host, dabbing his temple with a hanky. "Now that you've defended your title as Ocean yet again, do you have any future goals?"

"Yes," Gaara replied, completely calm. "I'm going to challenge the Jr. Green League soon."

"Do you think you have any hope of defeating them?"

There was no reply.

"Well, then, that's it for today, folks. Thank you for coming to the Jr. Blue League Title Match!"

People slowly filed out of the underground stadium, pleased with the show. As he left, Gaara saw Naruto glance back at him. It was a brief, bored look, and Gaara wondered if the blonde was really a fighter. He didn't seem to be nearly competitive enough. Kiba just lost his fight and Gaara wasn't sent so much as a scowl. In fact, he noted, the blonde seemed almost amused at the turn-out.

'Oh well,' Gaara thought. 'It doesn't matter.' He walked down the hall with his coach, Azuma. They rode the elevator the 7 stories up and Gaara blocked his eyes against the sunlight of the first floor lobby. "Come on," Azuma said, leading him outside to their large van. They climbed in and Gaara winced, feeling the effects of Kiba's powerful blows. 'I'll have to see Tsunade,' he thought grumpily as they drove off.

"Well, then, that's it for today, folks. Thank you for coming to the Jr. Blue League Title Match!"

As he walked off the ring with Kiba, Naruto dared a glance back at Gaara. To his surprise, the redhead was looking back at the same time! The millisecond his gaze locked with the other boy's, Gaara's pale, deadly eyes sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

Then he looked forward again before he could blush. He wasn't going to be humiliated.

"Kurenai-Sensei. I'm sorry. I lost," Kiba said, looking to the ground as he approached his coach.

The black-haired woman stood tall with her hands on her hips by the side of the ring. Her strange, red and white outfit hugged her body tightly. "Well, you ought to be. You could have won that fight if you hadn't gotten angry. You have to stay focused, Kiba." She sighed and rubbed her temples before turning to Naruto, a tired smile on her lips. "Oh, Naruto. Guess what? I've finally found a coach for you. He's an old friend of mine. I'm sorry I can't train you myself, but I have too many fighters on my back as it is."

Naruto nodded sympathetically. "I understand. But who's my coach?"

"Oh, yes. His name's Kakashi Hatake. I warn you though, he's a handful. Always reading his Icha Icha Paradise books." She ruffled his hair. "But I'm sure you can handle it. I got the time and place of the gym, too. It's called Icha Gym, if you can believe it. You can meet him there at 9:30 tomorrow morning. And here's the address." She handed him a piece of notebook paper with all the information on it. "And Naruto," she added. "Be careful."

The blonde nodded and turned to go. Before he could, Kiba blocked his way and wrapped his arms around him firmly. "Love you," he breathed.

"You too," Naruto sighed, wrapping his arms around the brunette as well, grinning contentedly. "You fought great today, Kiba," he said, backing up a step, still holding Kiba's hands.

Kiba smiled. "Yeah. I knew I couldn't beat him, but he did give me a good pounding, didn't 'e? I mean, that guy was some kind of monster." Naruto took in a breath, catching the other boy's sudden change of tone. But Kiba just went on. "It was like trying to swim in sand. No. Like trying to escape while the sand pulled you down, flowing from some invisible drain." He shook his head roughly and looked to the ground. "I get the feeling he wasn't even trying. Gaara, huh? Gaara of the Sand. Man, that sounds cool."

Naruto smiled uneasily. "Well, then how about I give you a nickname? Let's see..." he mused, gesturing playfully. "What about Kiba the Pup? I rather like it," he suggested in a mock-cheery tone.

"God forbid." Kiba smirked. "Kiba da Killer!"

Naruto couldn't help it: he giggled. It just didn't seem to fit Kiba's laid back nature. Then an idea struck him. "Leaf. Kiba of the Leaf."

Kiba looked skeptical. "The Leaf? That's so...weak-sounding. Where'd you come up with that?"

The blonde sighed. "Kiba of the Leaf. Like, a leaf seems small and unimportant, but really think about it. If you put a bunch of leaves together, you get a huge forest, which both protects and kills everything that comes in. But really, it's still just a bunch of leaves."

"Aren't you down-to-Earth. But yeah," Kiba said, smiling down at the shorter teen. "When you put it that way, it sounds kind of cool," he said proudly. But then his features twisted as if he were reliving the day's agony. "The Sand vs the Leaf. Man, it's so..."

Naruto put his hand down on Kiba's. "No matter how thick the sand piles, the tree always grows on top, or nothing can live, or die." He smiled up at his lover, who winced in return.

"Why do you always have to sound smarter than me?" He grinned playfully before pressing his lips to Naruto's, who seeped into the embrace, brown hair falling over the boy's arms as they wound around his neck. The kiss was simple, yet refreshing to both of them.

They broke off and Naruto rested his head on Kiba's chest. "I love you, but I gotta go," he said after a moment, pushing away. "Thanks to you, I'm probably gonna be late for work."

They said their goodbyes and Naruto ran out the door into the chilly air.

He took only one deep breath before running the three blocks to his part time job at Cafe Sarutobi. He stormed through the glass doors and into the back, grabbing his uniform from his locker and changing.

"Shino!" called the blonde, jumping on one foot to put his shoes on. "Shino! You here, man?" He went into the main office and found the black-haired boy at his desk, doing whatever paperwork.

The collar of Shino's jacket blocked out half his face, being a pale green wind breaker. That, and the weird hippie glasses he always wore, gave him an ever-present mysterious vibe.

"You're late," he stated calmly.

"Yeah. Sorry man," Naruto apologized. "I was held up at the match today."

"I guessed that already," Shino responded in the same neutral tone. "You said yesterday that there was something you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh, yes! I'm quitting." This made the owner actually look up from his papers. "From now on, I'll be an official fighter!" Naruto explained excitedly.

"That was always what you said you wanted to be, isn't it?" Shino asked. "Then again, nobody ever believed you."

"Yeah," the blonde admitted. "Maybe that's why the gang split up. Nobody believing each other, lies running between us," Naruto reflected grimly. "I wonder what everyone's doin' these days."

Shino sighed quietly and set his papers down. "I hear Hinata got some new big-time boyfriend."

"Oh really? Well, that's nice. She deserves to be pampered a bit. Anything on Ino or Shikamaru?"

Shino thought a moment. "Shikamaru's just being...Shikamaru. And I heard Ino had a kid, but I'm not sure on that." He went back to his papers, but Naruto picked out a distinct droop in his shoulders.

Naruto plopped down in a chair and sighed. "Man, we should get the gang all together again. Throw a party or somethin'."

Shino nodded calmly, knowing it would probably never happen. After what happened four years ago, nobody would come back. They'd be too scared it would spark up another scandal, or break-up, or worse...

"Yeah," Naruto stated firmly, pulling Shino from his thoughts. "Yeah, man. Let's throw a party. It can be, like, a triple celebration .It can be to get the gang together, celebrate my new job as a fighter, and celebrate your birthday. It's comin' up soon, right?"

Shino didn't answer, knowing his blonde friend had it on his calendar.

"Will ya help me, man? This could be awesome!" He leapt up and held his hands up like a little kid. "Yeah, man!"

Shino nodded. "If it's what you want, Naruto." He knew it wouldn't turn out well, but the look on his best friend's face reminded him of the old days, the days when Naruto's smile hadn't been polluted by the scowl of regret that now normally coated the blonde's face.

...

"Gaara!"

Gaara gazed regretfully up at the tall doctor, her two low, blonde pony tails hanging down her back.

"Gaara, I told you to be more careful. If this is as bad as it looks, you won't be fighting for a month!"

The redhead sighed, knowing she was exaggerating. "It is nothing. Besides," he added. "I don't pay you to nag, I pay you to heal my injuries."

Now Tsunade sighed. "Gaara, I can't do magic. This will take time," she said in a calmer, gentler voice. "Now," She began again, wrapping bandages around his torso. "Who in God's name did this to you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Gaara, I keep a record of your fights and the kind of injuries inflicted. I do this so if you fight them again, I'll be prepared." She looked up to him calmly.

Gaara glared down at her. "Kiba Inuzuka," he reported.

"Kiba? Isn't he dating that Naruto kid?" Gaara nodded. "Well, that's interesting, isn't it?"

"What is?" Gaara demanded suspiciously.

Tsunade smiled a small, calm smile. "Well, Naruto's going to be my new patient."

"What do you know about him?" Gaara requested swiftly, taking the doctor by surprise.

"Well. I-I don't know." She seemed to regain her composure again, lifting her head. "I haven't even met the boy. He's coming by tomorrow before he goes to his new gym."

"So he changed gyms..."

Tsunade grinned, a devilish sight. "Not exactly. He's never belonged to a gym before. Never fought an official fight. In other words, he's a rookie." Gaara seemed genuinely stunned, though his emotionless mask stayed firmly in place. "But from what I heard from Kurenai, he's got outstanding potential."

"You heard that from Kurenai-sensei?"

"Well, she was going to be his coach, but she was too piled up. So she sent him to a friend. His name's Kakashi Hatake. I just hope the boy can handle him."

Gaara nodded, digesting all the information.

Tsunade saw the redhead's face and knew he was curious, though he'd never show it. "From what she told me, he's going straight to Blue rank right off the bat. She said he could lift up to 650 pounds. Per finger. Plus," she added, winking, "she told me he's hotter than a volcano."

Gaara grimaced ever so slightly.

"You've met him?"

"Not exactly. He was at the match. The smell of arousal was overwelming."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "Really? That's amazing." She laughed. "I guess Kurenai was right."

Gaara's eyebrow raised half a millimeter.

"She said that Kiba fellow was pretty protective of his 'Wife'. I guess he has good reason." She smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "No more fighting for two weeks."

Gaara nodded ruefully and walked out of Tsunade's office, onto the bustling street.

"Gaara. The car is here," Azuma informed him. Indeed, there was a sleek, black one right on the curb. Gaara grunted and stepped forward to climb in.

"Um, hello?" called Naruto, entering the small building. "Miss Tsunade?"

"Yeah, who is it?"

"Uh, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm here for my physical."

There were some rustling sounds and the doctor appeared from behind a door in the back. "Oh, hi Naruto. I'm Tsunade. Sorry about that- I thought someone just showed up without an appointment again. This way, please." She stepped back into the room and Naruto followed nervously.

"Sit," she ordered, motioning to a doctor's high bed thingy. Naruto sat and shifted uncomfortably. Tsunade put on a lab coat and turned back to him. "First, I'm going to get a basic...chart of your body. Off with the shirt!" she said sternly.

"Uh, okay." Naruto took off his jacket and t-shirt, placing them on a nearby chair.

Then he almost laughed when the doctor started squeezing his biceps and triceps. It tickled.

Tsunade eventually felt all of his arms, legs, chest, and neck and scribbled away on a clipboard. "Okay. Now let's go to the gym." She led the blonde to a school-ish gym that had a few pieces of equipment set up around it. She stopped at the edge of a long line with two chalkboard erasers at the end.

"Shuttle run?" questioned Naruto, an eyebrow raised.

She grinned. "Yup. And you're going to run it. Get ready," Naruto crouched by the line. "Get set." He took a deep breath. "Goat!" He twitched as the doctor snickered. "Run!" He sped off and snatched up the first eraser, putting it down back at the starting line. Then he went back and got the second eraser and sped back across the starting line. They repeated the test three times. After that, they did various other tests.

"Well," said Tsunade when they were finished. "That's about it. Here." She handed Naruto an envelope with all the papers in it. "Give this to Kakashi when you meet him. Now off with ya!"

She pushed him out the front door and closed it with a thud! "Okaaaay, then," Naruto muttered. He started off down the street and fished the piece of paper from his pocket. "104 Wool Street." He looked around the large street lined with large houses and stores.

He walked for a while before coming to a large brown house. It looked pretty run down, but livable. He was about to leave, thinking he had the wrong address, but stopped as he noticed the door bell on the front door. "So that's how it is, huh?"

Naruto opened the door and stepped into the shaggy house. The bell rang loudly like in a small store.

"Who is it?!" came a snappy voice.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he stated in a neutral tone.

Just then, an old man came around a worn-out staircase. "So yer the Uzumaki boy, eh?" The old, graying man stared straight into Naruto's eyes for several long moments, and Naruto held the gaze with little trouble before the man broke it off. "Yeah. Yer 'im all right" he muttered, now scuffling down the hall the way he came. "Follow me, boy."

Naruto obeyed, walking behind the elderly man. He led Naruto down a staircase to a hallway lined heavily with doors. Though more halls branched off, the old man kept straight, pushing right through the large steel door at the end and holding it open for the following boy.

"Woah..."

I think I did pretty well, so screw all the flamers. R%R. So whatev. Oh, and to my dear beta-er, The flamers really can go skrew themselves. Sorry, that's just how it is. ^^

*Edited*