Gaara's Wolf - Thrust into the Naruto World

Chapter 23

I'll admit, the only reason I beat Gai in the race was because I used chakra. Much to Lee and Gai's surprise, I ran at the same speed as Gai when I wasn't using chakra. As soon as Konoha's gates were in view, I used a burst of chakra to outrun him, coming in first.

 Gai, over enthusiastic as always, dropped Kakashi and ran off on his hands to do laps around the Leaf for losing. Lee was quick to follow his Sensei. That left me carrying Kakashi to the hospital.

As soon as he was dropped off, I ran to the Hokage tower and got Lady Tsunade so she can work on healing him. While she was doing that, Sakura gave the report, letting her know about the information Sasori gave her about the spy meeting.

I stayed with Kakashi while Lady Tsunade went back to the Hokage tower to talk to the advisors about Team Kakashi's replacement members. Knowing that she would come back soon with Tenzo and the Pervy Sage to explain things, I decided to sleep on the floor beside Kakashi's bed until their conversation was done. I fell asleep to the rare quiet.

When I woke up again, I had missed most of the talking. I got up and stretched, yawning, before sitting down and listening. Jiraiya finished up explaining his near death experience and Tenzo was given his orders before they paid any attention to me.

"Kira, I'm sure you already know, but your job is to protect Naruto. You have permission to train with Yamato with your kekkei genkai on the way there and back. It will prove to be very useful in both this mission and the upcoming ones."

I nodded, said goodbye and told Kakashi to get well soon, and left for Naru's apartment. We would be leaving tomorrow, so I had to stay with him. Luckily, Naruto was home when I showed up. I didn't really feel like sniffing him out. Anyway, he made me some instant ramen before falling asleep.

Even after I ate, I couldn't sleep. I missed Gaara, and no amount of talking to my new tailed siblings would cure it. I spoke with them some anyway, though, even fixing up my mindscape to make it more comfortable for them when I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of someone crying.

I made my way into Naru's room and saw that he was having a nightmare. Unsure what else I could do, I did the same thing I always do when Gaara's having a nightmare, minus the cuddling part. I climbed up into Naru's bed and played my head on his chest.

At least this way he could feel that he wasn't alone. He calmed down and relaxed, letting me some in his sleep. I forced memories of doing the same thing for Gaara, memories that would just keep me up with homesickness, out of my mind, forcing myself to relax. Before much longer, I fell asleep too.

Unlike Gaara, Naru's a cuddler. I was rudely woken up at six in the morning from suffocation. I scrambled quickly to the floor before looking back and seeing that Naruto was still asleep. That boy could sleep through anything.

Running into the kitchen, I yanked open his fridge to see if there was anything I could find for our breakfast. Unfortunately, his fridge was empty, so I'd have to wake Naruto up before I could eat any breakfast.

Sighing, I left for his bedroom to get him up. Well, tit for tat. He woke me up, now I'll wake him up. I grinned evilly as I stalked up to him. I nudged him, shocking him mildly at the same time. I frowned when it didn't wake him up. This ment war!

I dragged him out of bed and onto the floor before zapping him a lot harder. With a yelp, he sat up, banging his head on the bedside table and making the alarm clock hit him on the head. This, of course, knocked him out so he was sprawling on the floor. Shaking my head, I left. I would count it as my win, because I woke him up, even though he was knocked out right afterwards.

As soon as I was out of Sleeping Beauty's apartment, I ran over to the Inuzuka compound, where I got breakfast before leaving in a hurry again. The team was supposed to meet up with Sai and Tenzo-Yamato at seven.

I made it just in time, arriving shortly after Sakura but before everyone else. I really needed to practice with my newly unlocked 3rd stage of my kekkei genkai. (Pic at top) I had discovered that I could control sand like Gaara, and kind of got the hint. I'd gained this stage when I saw Gaara dead.

I nudged Sakura's hand, and she took one of the translation pills."Can you tell them that I'll be waiting at the gates? I already know who were teaming up with and have my orders. Oh, and please tell Naru to put up with your new teammate. He's had a rough past Anne doesn't understand people very well."

"Sure, Kira! I'd be happy to."

With that, I left Sakura and Yamato to deal with the arguments. While I was waiting, I practiced the kekkei genkai I've copied so far. I was working on Ice when the rest of the team showed up.

As we left, I was asked to stay in the air and look out for the Akatsuki, just in case a member goes after Naruto on the way. That was very good, mostly because then I wouldn't get ticked off with either Sai for being an insensitive prick or Sakura for punching him. I understand both of their reasons, but I don't have to like or approve of what they do.

I came back down when Yamato created the wooden cage to throw them in. As in the Canon, they decided to go to the hot springs instead. Because I had fur, I wasn't allowed into the actual hot springs part, so I had to stay in the rooms.

Yamato gave me some barbeque when it was time for dinner, and I was careful to swallow the seed hidden in it whole. I'm not sure how good the jutsu would work if the seed was destroyed.

After we were done eating, I went with Sakura to the room we would share for the night. We each had our own futon, and fell asleep almost right away. 

I might not have used a lot of chakra today, but all that flying around right after training really took the energy right out of me. As I was about to fall asleep, I decided to stick close to Sai tomorrow. I still wanted to make friends with him too.