Inheritance

Gaara

The warm broth – all that remained of the ramen Naruto had been eating - particularly veraciously, even he himself would have to admit – poured down his throat, warming his insides as he felt it descend into his seemingly bottomless stomach. He couldn't help but smile as he began raising his hand to order yet another pristine white bowl of his favourite meal from the chef, who himself wore a grin; as since the pair of Konoha shinobi had taken a seat at his stand, takings had been particularly good. He had every right to look smug, Naruto briefly considered; his ramen was nearly as good as Teuchi's, the man who owned Ichiraku's, his favourite restaurant, the man who in his expert opinion, cooked the greatest ramen in the world.

Another steaming bowl had soon found it's way under his nose, and he thanked the chef enthusiastically, and began eating, enjoying both the food and the sights and sounds of the strange place that Naruto found himself in, not to mention the company of a more subdued than usual Shikamaru, his team-mate on their recently completed mission. After talking with Kakashi, Naruto had been allowed to leave the hospital in order to eat with the Nara, something he was infinitely glad for. He hated hospitals more than almost anything he could think of and had desperately wanted to leave it from the moment he had woken up.

However, equal to his desire to leave the hospital, was his desire to explore Sunagakure, the shinobi village he now found himself in. And even during the brief walk to the ramen stand where Shikamaru had been waiting, the village didn't disappoint. It was the first shinobi village he had ever been to outside of Konoha, and he couldn't help but stare and gape at almost everything in the village, much akin to the many civilian tourists who travelled to Konoha. Everything was built from the sandstone that laid all about in the rockier areas of the desert that surrounded the village, rather than the brick and timber used for construction in Konoha. It was all so different, the shapes of the buildings, the way the people dressed, the very air he breathed held a different feeling to Konoha's, parched and hot, like it was trying to make him dry up and turn to sand even as he walked, all so very alien; and yet, it was all so familiar. Shinobi weaved expertly to and fro amongst the civilian bustle of merchants and people shopping, going about their business of missions, patrols and reports, and despite their different exterior, Naruto identified various shops and banks, and towering over them on the distance was a building that dominated the landscape, much the same way that the Hokage tower dominated the Konoha skyline. Not only that, but the blonde could feel eyes on his back at all times, although he couldn't see anyone following him, and he knew that he was being watched by the local Suna equivalent of ANBU black-ops; as often he was in Konoha, albeit for different reasons. At the forefront of his mind however, was naturally, how similar the ramen stand here looked to Ichiraku's.

He glanced sideways at Shikamaru, who was still only on his first bowl, and had spent more time playing with his food than eating it. The Nara seemed to be lost in thought, which wasn't exactly unusual; however, it didn't take a genius to notice that he was definitely more sombre than usual. Shikamaru had apparently noticed Naruto's not-exactly-subtle concerned glances and turned the the blonde sitting beside him.

"Naruto...can I ask you a question?" Shikamaru spoke tentatively, seemingly unsure of himself. Naruto simply nodded, gesturing for Shikamaru to continue, not wanting to speak with his mouthful whilst the Nara was trying to talk about whatever had been bothering him. "Why do you try so hard? To become strong, I mean. Before you always said you wanted to be Hokage, but it's not hard to see you've changed a little since those days in the academy. Is that still the reason, or has that changed as well?"

"Yes and no, I guess." Naruto began, searching his minds for the words to express how he felt. "I still want to be Hokage, but I suppose the reasons I want that have changed. Before, it was to gain the recognition and the attention of everyone in the village. I guess I wanted the love and respect that the old man has now, you know?"