Hello, Goodbye // A Kakanaru Story

Chapter 8

Panda-chan has entered the story lol. Like I said before, I sorta OOC Gaara on accident and on purpose. Btw I have a huge thing for GaaraxLee so you get to see a fluff moment between the two in this chapter and in the epilogue.

I'm going to try and finish the last few chapters before they have to be published, but don't be angry if I take a few days to get them out as they are the most involved chapters.

I also OOC Sasuke slightly so don't be surprised if you see him act a bit strange.

Also, I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit bland at times, it seems as my writing style is coming into play more often in these later chapters.

OK! I hope you enjoy this chapter and if you like it, please vote and leave comments (if you want to that is).

"Silence is worse; all truths that are kept silent become poisonous." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter Eight:

Kakashi hadn't let his genin take any C-rank missions after the Wave Escort Mission, instead, focusing his time and energy in training the genins and getting them more ready for the upcoming Chunin Exams the next year. Sakura slowly developed her Ninjutsu to be on par with her two teammates while Sasuke helped Sakura and Naruto with their Taijutsu skills and even showed them how to perfect their Shurikenjutsu. Kakashi helped train Naruto on how to use his enhanced senses to their full ability. Kakashi advised Sakura to start medical training and she quickly became a pillar for the group, although she still needed help with the basics.

After training every day, they still did their Team Bonding, which Sasuke was surprisingly warming up to. Sasuke also stopped talking about going after Itachi, which Naruto was proud of, but he was also worried that one false move would lead Sasuke astray, namely the Curse Mark. Kakashi still gave them bullshit reasons for being late, but he was also starting to show up on time much more often, which placated Sakura.

"Hey, Kurama?" Naruto asked one day.

"Yes, kit?"

"Do you remember how to fix Gaara's seal?"

A deep rumbling sound, almost like a chuckle, resounded from Kurama. "Yes, kit."

The next weeks were spent training with Kurama in his mindscape. The seal was harder to fix than he originally thought, but he managed to get it down. The next step was finding a way to confront and help the boy.

----

Naruto was not ready to face Gaara. He was facing Konkuro and Temari, trying to calm them down, which surprisingly worked, since this time he was calm and he didn't rush at them like a maniac. He could see Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, who was calmly assessing the situation. At some point Sakura had come behind him, ready to punch anybody who dared to hurt her "cute teammate," which caused Sasuke to flinch slightly in his tree. That flinch turned into a full-blown heart attack when he realized there was another boy in the tree.

Naruto had laughed at Sasuke's reaction, earning a scoff and an embarrassed blush from the normally stoic emo boy. Sakura had giggled and Gaara had looked at the three like he had never seen genuine friendship before.

The sad part is that he hadn't and didn't know any better.

Naruto turned to the confused and angry boy. Pale skin, red hair, teal green eyes, expressionless face, a red tattoo of 'love' on the left side of his forehead, pronounced dark circles that will never fade, a huge gourd on his back. Naruto weakly smiled, "Hello there, are you with these sand ninjas?" Gaara mutely nodded before jumping down from the tree. He glared at them before turning to leave, "Do you not sleep often? I can help you sleep better if that's the case." Naruto meekly called out, startling Sakura and Sasuke, who honestly should be used to his unpredictable, caring nature by now. Temari and Konkuro began to fear for the kind boy's life. Gaara tilted his head in a silent question, unsure of how to respond at first.