Sage

Ch.9

"So how do you feel?" Narrowed violet eyes looked across the clearing at pupilless teal ones for a secondt. Gaara looked down for a moment, staring at his hand as he turned it back and forth before looking back up at the blonde across from him.

"It is hard to explain. Is the world always so quiet for you?" Naruto just gave a small smile before wincing, clutching his stomach in pain.

"I'm sure it only seems that way now, don't worry, I'm sure you'll get used to it." He chuckled as the redhead suddenly yawned, stretching his arms up above his head.

"I feel as though for the first time in my life I can finally rest." Naruto stood up with a pained wince, slightly hunched over as he clutched his stomach. He walked over to his new friend as fast as he could, which was fairly slow, and patted him gently on the shoulder.

"You've earned it." However Gaara wasn't looking at him, he instead looked on as the sand armour that had parted at Naruto's touch re-formed almost as soon as the blonde moved away. He blinked as a frown settled on his features; quickly he raised an arm, palm outstretched in front of him. As if in response the ground quivered, sand rising from the floor in a loose pillar that swayed uncertainly. He allowed it to drop, instead creating a kunai before quickly thrusting it towards his arm.

Naruto watched on in interest as sand immediately sprung up around the redhead, blocking the kunai before it could come close to his skin. Gaara allowed the kunai to fall away into dust, just staring at his hands in shock and confusion. Naruto used the opportunity to walk over, setting himself down next to the former Suna Genin.

"I do not understand. With the Ichibi removed, should I have not lost my abilities over the sands?" Naruto raised an eyebrow before giving the boy a reassuring pat on the back.

"I thought they were your own abilities. You agreed to this, knowing you might lose your powers?" Gaara just nodded, still staring at his hands incredulously; suddenly he looked up, his eyes slightly desperate.

"Attack me." Naruto just tilted his head before standing up and reaching for where his shakujou rested against a nearby tree. With one solid swing he spun the wooden staff once before attempting to crack it against the boy's arm. Surprisingly sand once again sprung up, blocking the thrust like a steel wall before it could impact.

"I do not understand at all, what is still protecting me? By what will does the sand move?" Naruto gave a small unhelpful shrug as he sat back down, resting his staff against his shoulder so he could once again place his hand on his stomach.

"I guess that is something you will have to find out for yourself." Again Gaara nodded rather absently, continuing to test his obviously retained powers with various weapons made of sand. It had taken nearly all night to extract Gaara's Bijuu safely; Naruto had assumed it would be similar to Sora's procedure but he had failed to take into account the consciousness of Shukaku. It seemed the great tanuki didn't much appreciate being ripped from its host so it fought back. Plus because it was a complete Bijuu it took much longer than just sealing a bit of the Kyuubi's leftover Chakra.

Naruto was feeling the aftereffects though; an intense pain was circulating his body like somebody had replaced his blood with acid. It was centred on his stomach so he could only assume it was all the excess chakra he had absorbed. While his body had become accustomed to the Bijuu chakra thanks to the slow leakage from the Kyuubi's seal it was still an entire Bijuu's worth which was no small amount. Right now Naruto was putting on a bit of a brave face for Gaara but inside his Preta path was working overtime in either integrating the new foreign chakra or trying to push it into the seal.

"We need to check if there is any lingering Chakra in your system." Once again he merely received an absent nod as if Gaara's neck was only working on auto-pilot. Shrugging Naruto placed his hand on Gaara's chest, closing his eyes as he felt out the former Jinchuuriki's chakra. He frowned as he felt something there, it wasn't a remnant of Shukaku; he was certain of that. It was like somebody had almost laced Gaara's Chakra with their own, he could feel it acting independently of his usual Chakra system yet at the same time moving in perfect sync with his body. It must have taken place at an extremely young age for the two to be so well integrated and it must have been from somebody with very similar Chakra, like a family member. Which gave Naruto an idea.