The Real Me

43

Naruto climbed up the stairs slowly and let out a long sigh. How was he going to explain everything?
Just then he heard footsteps approaching and he turned on his heels and headed to the nearest room.
He was about to open the door when he heard Shikamaru say "Hey Naruto."

Naruto cursed under his breath, he then cast a quick glance at the door which read 'Rock Lee' and turned to face Shikamaru.
Why did it have to be the Nara?

Deal with it.

"What are you-" Shikamaru began, but was cut off by the blond who smiled sheepishly and grabbed the door knob, "Uh, you see, Rock Lee here told me to give my best and to win and so, I just wanted to check up on him you know?"
With that lame excuse, which made Naruto cringe deeply, he pushed open the door and was about to call out the bowl cut's name when he noted the situation.

Shikamaru stood there frozen as well.

It was Gaara. He stared at them with a slightly clenched hand in the air, sand covering Rock Lee.

"What, what are you doing here?" Naruto managed out. In that brief moment of awkward silence Naruto had decided that he would have to deal with this situation with a bit of Dumb Naruto. He couldn't be the Naruto he had been with Gaara that day in the tower. Shikamaru here was definitely a keener observer than this redhead.

He would rather let Gaara be suspicious of his dumb behaviour than let Shikamaru see him threatening Gaara.

"What's going on?" Naruto spoke.

"Why are you here?" Gaara retorted.

"He's our friend." Shikamaru countered.

They stood there for a moment and then the sand started swirling faster and clung to Rock Lee.
"Hey-" Naruto began but Gaara cut him off.
"I'm here to kill him. He's alive only because his sensei saved him. I need to finish him."

Shikamaru took a step forward but Gaara glared at him as a warning.

"You can't just kill people." Naruto said, cringing mentally.

Oh really Naruto?

Gaara scowled and then lowered his hand. The sand slowly dissipated.
But Gaara wasn't going to leave just like that.

"You have no idea. You're all just living here happily with no idea what goes on in the world. You don't have to run for your life. You don't have to worry about people out there who would love to kill you. None of you are hated by everyone. You'll never understand how it feels to be treated like some, like some MONSTER!" Gaara spat.

Every word rang true in Naruto's mind. For every sentence Naruto wanted to say "I know" but if course he didn't.

"Don't mind me," The redhead brushed past them, scowling "I'm just trying to survive out here."

With that he sammed the door Shut anx Naruto could feel Shikamaru lowkey shaking.

After a few seconds they moved to check whether Lee was alright.
Then they left the room without another word. Shikamaru had to prepare for his fight and Naruto needed to have a little chat with Gaara.

_______________

Naruto found the redhead on the stairs heading towards the waiting area, and he called out to him.
Gaara stopped and glanced back.

"Do you think you're special?" Naruto spat. He couldn't control himself. He had wanted to be cool about this but all the pent up feelings were too overwhelming.
Gaara raised a brow but Naruto continued, "You think you're the only jinchuuriki? Huh? Do you think you're so scary? That people are so damn afraid of only? You think you have some tragic backstory? Well, sorry but, that failed to impress me. You said that we'd never understand," Naruto took a step forward and poked a finger at the redhead's chest, hard. "Guess what loser, I've been through the same shit."

Gaara's eyes widened, and a part of Naruto was surprised that Gaara actually thought himself to be a damsel in distress or something.
"There are other jinchuurikis out there, probably living a worse life than ours, so stop acting like you're the victim out here." He snarled.

With that, before the redhead could reply, Naruto turned on his toes and started walking away. He could hear the commentator's voice booming, announcing the next pairings.

"Oh and," the blond turned back in one turn and stared into Gaara's green eyes, "I'm not killing you."

This was what surprised him the most.
"Why?" Was all he said.

Naruto smirked and replied, "I need ya."
He didn't bother explaining, nor did Gaara ask.
Good.

Naruto walked up the stairs into the viewing room, only to discover that Shikamaru's match had ended.
It had been with Temari, Gaara's teammate and the similarity in their chakra told him that she was also possibly his sister or some close relative.

Shikamaru looked beaten up and Temari was furious, but also full of wonder.
Damn, the Nara might've come up with new tricks.

He walked up and saw Shikamaru shaking his head but also happy.
"Damn," he said walking into the room, "I didn't wanna fight a girl."

Naruto slapped his back and asked, "Why? Do you think they're weak?" He grinned.
Shikamaru laughed and told him that it was just a drag.

"She was really good though." Shino added, "A wind user like you, Naruto."

Shikamaru turned to Naruto and said, "Yeah, thanks to your...fight earlier, I was able to come up with a strategy against her fan."

Naruto grinned even though he wasn't sure how exactly.

The next match was supposed to be Gaara's and Sasuke but since Mr. Uchiha had decided to vanish along with Kakashi sensei the jonins decided to give him time until the last match.
The commentator announced the match against Shino and Kankuro but the sand genin forfeited.

Naruto frowned. They announced another pair of someone against those sound ninjas, but even they forfeited.

Eventually, it came down to Gaara vs Sasuke. The crowd was now murmuring, and Sasuke was no where to be seen.

Kurama?

I am not sending my foxes to look for your dear Uchiha.

Tch.

The Hokage stood up.

"We will give Sasuke Uchiha ten minutes to appear, otherwise the winner will be Gaara." With that he sat down and started talking to the Kazekage AKA Orochimaru.

Naruto went forward and gripped the railings. He closed his eyes and focused on the Hokage and Orochimaru.
It wasn't clear but he could pick up traces of their conversation.

"Sorry about........jonin......"
"....Awaited this match......Uchiha......best genin...."

That was enough for Naruto to know that Orochimaru was telling the Old Man how much he had wanted to see this match and how disappointing it was.

The crowd was restless now. The time was almost up and it was then that Sasuke and Kakashi sensei decided to make their appearance.

They appeared in a flurry of leaves.

Kakashi sensei apologized to everyone, "Sorry we're late, I hope he hasn't been disqualified?"
The jonin referee shook his head at him and told them that they were barely on time.

Sasuke looked different, and weird.
He was wearing a black training gear and his hair had grown longer.
He looked wild and ready to fight.

Gaara stepped down with a grin on his face.
Naruto crossed his arms.

This match was something he had long awaited.

What was stronger? The power of a jinchuuriki or the power of hate?

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A/N:

So like i said i have brought y'all a chapter before I technically take a break (due to mah exams) .
So anyways, longer chapter than usual, I hope y'all like it.

Vote, comment, share and follow!!

Yours Truly,
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