A tryst with destiny (Tales of a Gutsy Ninja - 2)

Chapter 19 : Gathering of the forces

Gaara P.O.V

"Rasen shuriken-"

Gaara: Naruto! You can't kill him?

Naruto: Why not? He's stopping us from meeting Ouka-chan right?

Kakashi: That might be the case, but if you kill the adopted son of the Daimyo of the land of Iron, it will create a war situation for Konoha and Suna!

Naruto: That is unfair!

Nobunaga: Don't worry, I consider myself to have lost this battle. You don't have to worry about battling me anymore. It's not like I have a grudge against you. I just followed Ai...Ouka's wishes.

Gaara: Then why stop now?

Nobunaga: Hm...because I want to see her troubled expression when you catch up to her, Kazekage~chan. After all, she is always avoiding you like the plague...

Kakashi: The head of this mission is you so your decision is final but Gaara...are you sure you can trust him?

Gaara: As much as I'd like to think otherwise...his personality is like Aira's...

Nobunaga: That isn't very accurate. I'd never be able to match Aira...but we do have a similar view of the world so I guess we understand each other better.

Gaara: That is to say that Aira is lonely?

Nobunaga: Oops, I night have said too much. But instead of calling it 'lonely', I'd call it 'misunderstood' or 'not trusted', does that ring any bells, Kazekage~chan?

He was right...surely behind that cheery, queer personality of her's she must have troubles, worries, anxieties and a lot of other emotions...

And I never tried to understand her. In fact the more I tried to understand, the more I realize how much I don't know about her...

Gaara: Maybe so...it maybe so...If it is so, then I'll try to understand her! I'll try not to misunderstand her!

Nobunaga: Oh~I suppose I see why Aira was interested in you. You are not naive like Naruto...but you are just as determined to do the same...to prove that it's not a naive way of thinking...alright then, if you want to go after Ouka-chan, better hurry up!

After we 'defeated' Nobunaga, he was more than happy to reveal the location of the mercenary group, Kuroko. Newer than the Akatsuki, rumors of their presence spread across the five great shinobi nations.

Some said they are a subsidiary group of the Akatsuki. Others say that they intend to use the chaos caused by the Akatsuki to take over the world.

All Nobunaga told us was that Ouka was involved with the Kuroko.

I wasn't the only one who wanted to uncover where Aira is. Chiyo obaa-sama, Kankuro and Temari also joined forces. We split our group into three : The offence, the surveillance and the backup team.

Me, Naruto and Kakashi were a part of the offense group. Kankuro and Temari protected Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba as they made sure that the perimeter was clear. Chiyo obaa-sama, Haruno Sakura, Shizune and Yamanaka Ino were the backup group since they were all trained medical nins.

Kakashi: You're starting to think a bit like Aira, haven't you? If it was Naruto, he would just have stormed the place without any plans.

Gaara: I won't make the same mistake again.

Aira saved me and protected me all this time. This time, I want to believe that I am not too late...

That I can protect her.