Naruto: The Outcast

Chapter Twelve

~1 year later~

I walked through the entrance of Sunagakure with Ayame-sensei. We were supposed to be seeing the Kazekage so that he would be aware that we planned on staying in the village for the next few months to a year. When we entered I noticed how beautiful the village was although it was really hot. When we arrived at the Kazekage's office I heard a familiar voice call for us to come in. When we entered I was shocked to see Gaara behind the desk. When he looked up and saw me he was just as surprised to see me. "How may I help you all today?" My sensei spoke as usual. "We wanted to let you know of our plans to stay in the village for the next year so that you wouldn't think that there were any intruders in the village." he nodded and then looked at me. "It's great to see you again Saki." I smiled "It's great to see you as well..." I then trailed off unsure what to call him. "You can still call me Gaara." "It's great to see you as well Gaara although I didn't expect you to be Kazekage now." He sighed. "It took time but after getting the villagers and Elder's to warm up to me and trust me. " I nodded "Well, I'm very proud of the progress you made." he gave me a small smile which shocked me and then he looked at Ayame-sensei once again. "There are some rooms available in this building if you are looking for a place to stay." She nodded and he called Kankuro into the village and he handed us keys with a room number. "Kankuro will show the both of you to your rooms. Let me know if you need anything else." we nodded and left. "It's nice to see you again Saki. Thanks to you and Naruto, my brother has changed into a much better person. He told us how when you were in the village you were the first person to tell him that you cared about him." I blushed slightly scratching my head. "Yeah, I wamted him to know I cared for him and that he didn't have to struggle alone." we then arrived at my room. "I hope you enjoy the village. Like I said before, you changed my brother for the better and honestly having you here would make him so happy." I nodded "Thanks, Kankuro" I then looked at Ayame-sensei "We start training tomorrow at noon. You can meet me out front then." I nodded and entered my room putting my things up.

After unpacking my things I then decided to go explore the village a little bit. I got weird looks because I wore a leaf ninja headband but they didn't bother me because I had adjusted to them so well. As I walked I eventually ran into Temari talking to someone. When she saw me she automatically stopped and smiled at me. "Sali, Kankuro told me you were back in the village it's great to see you." She then hugged me which began to draw everyone's attention. "It's good to see you Temari" "How are you, we heard that you had left the village and we've heard your name even in different villages. you've really made a name for yourself." I smiled "I've been doing great. Travelling and training has been so fun especially meeting some of the Kage." she nodded. "I'm sure Kankuro has told you but we are really grateful for the change you and Naruto brought upon Gaara. You, specifically, told him that you believed that he could be better and that you cared for him. Those words impacted him a lot more than you think. And believe it or not he wouldn't stop talking about how he wanted to see you again." I blushed slightly as the villagers heard her statements. "Thanks, Temari. It was no problem. Like I told Kankuro, I really wanted Gaara to know that he's not alone and that I'm here for and believe in him." she nodded "What are you doing tomorrow?" "I'm supposed to be training." "When you're done we should hang out. I want to get to know you some more so we can become great friends." I nodded. "Where do you want to meet?" she smiled "I can meet you in Gaara's office. He won't mind just let him know I told you to meet me there." I nodded and before heading back I decided to stop and get something to eat at a shop that served bento and then headed back to my room for the night and studying some earth style jutsu.

When I woke up the next day I got ready and headed outside to meet with sensei. When i arrived I saw Temari waiting with her. "Hey Ayame-sensei, what are you doing here Temari?" she smiled. "Well, I was talking to Ayame and she asked me to show you some of the wind style jutsu I knew how to use with my fan as well as she needed me to show you to our private training ground. We can hang out afterwards." I nodded and we followed her to a training ground that was farther away from the buildings and restaurants. When we arrived I watched as Temari showed us some of the complex jutsu she could use. My sensei then looked at me. "One of the reasons I chose this village is because your surrounded by nothing but earth. You've already mastered your fire chakra nature. It's time that we focus on earth which as you can see we're surrounded by it. I also chose because this would be the best place to master both earth and wind especially if you have help from someone like the Kazekage and Gaara even if they are your age they can teach you a lot that I can't. My chakra natures are fire, water, and earth but I haven;t even mastered Earth myself. Today is the day where we start to perfect our skills as much as possible. You have the basics but we do have a lot of research to do and there's no better place than Sunagakure." I nodded and we began our training.