40 Chapter 40 Rising Tension!

Gaara…... Naruto thought as he stared at the familiar figure. Gaara has helped with saving his life during the final battle between the allied shinobi forces against Madara. However, he reminded himself that this Gaara wasn't the same as the one he knew, he still hadn't changed yet. But now, Naruto was presented with an opportunity to change Gaara once again.

But, he was also aware of the danger Gaara posed toward everyone in his current state. So, he had to keep his guard up around this Gaara until he could work out a way of changing him. Which Naruto wanted to do without fighting this time around if he could help it.

Gaara stared silently at the group in front of him, he recognized one of them, the blonde-haired kid that had humiliated Kankuro when they had first arrived at the Leaf Village. Then he glanced over at the pile of unconscious bandits.

"Uzumaki Naruto..." Gaara called out.

Naruto looked up inquisitively toward Gaara after hearing him call his name. I wonder what he wants, Naruto thought.

"Is this your doing?" Gaara asked as he pointed toward the bandits.

Naruto glanced over and slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah, why?" Naruto asked.

"You didn't finish the job." Gaara replied as he stared emotionlessly at Naruto.

"Eh?!" Naruto uttered before his eyes widened.

He turned on his his heel just in time to see sand surrounding all of the bandits and then enclose them inside before crushing them to bits. Blood sprayed out and oozed out into a puddle around the sand. All of the surrounding people were shocked and quickly ran away in order to not get in Gaara's way. While Sasuke, Lee, Sakura, and Kakashi stared in shock at Gaara. Kankuro, Temari, and Baki were already used to Gaara's behavior so their expressions never changed.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly as he looked back toward Gaara.

"What was that for?!" Sakura shouted, while trying to restrain the fear that had bubbled up within her.

"The mission is to eliminate the bandits in the town. I only followed what was stated." Gaara replied.

Just as Sakura was about to retort, Naruto stuck his arm out in front of her.

"From what I hear, you're supposed to be cooperating with each other." Naruto said.

Gaara frowned slightly at Naruto's words.

"If that is the case, then you should stop releasing so much killing intent toward my friends." Naruto continued.

The two stared at each other in silence before the sand Gaara had released returned back into his gourd.

"When you've decided on your next move, find us over there." Gaara said as he pointed toward the inn nearby.

Naruto nodded his head as he watched Gaara and the others walk away. Kakashi walked up and placed his hand onto Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto shook his head before revealing a grin. "No, I'm just glad to see you all again."

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled. "I'm glad to see you again as well Naruto."

Jiraiya walked over with a serious expression. "Looks like your mission just became a lot more complicated than before."

Kakashi sighed as he placed his hand on his head. "Yeah, this is really turning into a headache for me."

Jiraiya chuckled as he clapped Kakashi on the back. "Don't worry, we'll help you guys out on your mission."

"Eh? But that really isn't necessary." Kakashi tried to refuse.

"Nonsense, I'm sure my pupil would agree as well!!" Jiraiya laughed.

Then he glanced over at Naruto who had his eyes narrowed as he watched him.

"Hey, Pervy-sage, what happened to taking a break?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya then stopped mid laugh upon hearing Naruto's words.

Naruto sighed as he shook his head. "But he's right, there's no way, I'd let you guys do this mission with those guys around."

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief as he wiped his forehead.

"See?! What'd I tell you? We're more than happy to help out!!" Jiraiya laughed.

Kakashi looked at Jiraiya and Naruto gratefully as he bowed toward Jiraiya.

"Thank you Lord Jiraiya." Kakashi expressed.

Naruto glanced over toward Sasuke who was looking at him. I wonder what Sasuke is thinking right now, Naruto wondered. Then he glanced over toward the dead bandits.

"Well, looks like we won't be able to get any information from the bandits now." Naruto pointed out.

The others glanced over toward the bodies after hearing Naruto's words. Sakura felt sick to her stomach at the sight of the mangled corpses of the bandits. The others wore serious expressions as they took in the situation. Looks like the situation just became a lot more complicated, Kakashi sighed inwardly.

...

...

...

After entering the inn, the sand shinobi walked upstairs and entered their room.

"Gaara, remember that we must follow the Kazekage's orders." Baki reminded.

"I know what must be done without you telling me, Baki." Gaara responded as he glared at Baki.

Baki took a step back unconsciously in fear as he gazed back at Gaara.

"Hey, hey, calm down Gaara, there's no need to get hostile." Kankuro stepped forward, trying to mend the situation.

Gaara glared toward Kankuro at that moment and sand began seeping out of the gourd on Gaara's back.

"Hey, Gaara, what are you doing? I'm your brother!" Kankuro said as he began to panic.

"Brother? I have no such thing." Gaara replied as he slowly lifted his hand up into the air.

"Gaara! Stop!" Temari shouted.

Gaara glared at Temari then, and took a step forward toward her, causing her to take a step back in fear. Then Gaara stopped and lowered his hand.

"Don't bother me until we're starting the mission." Gaara said as he turned and left.

The three sand shinobis all breathed a sigh of relief as Gaara left.

"Looks like we managed to resolve the situation for now." Kankuro sighed.

"Gaara's always been quick to kill, but he seems more agitated than usual, is it because of the Leaf shinobi?" Temari said aloud.

"It could be…..." Baki agreed.

"What should we do?" Kankuro asked.

"Well, because of Orochimaru, the operation was stopped before we begun…... however, it might be in our best interest if we eliminate the leaf shinobi here, and place the blame on the bandits." Baki suggested.

"Eh? Would their Hokage really believe that?" Temari asked.

"If he doesn't want to start a war, he has to." Baki replied.

Temari and Kankuro looked down in thought.

"What should we do?" Kankuro asked.

"Tonight, we make our move..." Baki began instructing.

...

...

...

After taking care of the bodies, Naruto and the others went to the inn to rest for the night.

"Kakashi, I need to speak with you." Jiraiya said as the group walked inside.

Kakashi nodded and the two left, leaving Naruto and the others to get the keys to their rooms. Sasuke has been quiet the entire time, Sakura thought, which caused her to worry about him.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just have something I need to talk to Naruto about." Sasuke said as he looked up at Sakura.

She nodded her head, and felt relieved that it didn't seem to be anything serious bothering Sasuke. Then she watched as Sasuke walked up to Naruto.

"Naruto." Sasuke called out.

Looking over, Naruto saw Sasuke with a serious expression.

"Hey Sasuke, is something wrong?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked down as he clenched his fists together tightly. Then he looked back up at Naruto.

"We need to talk, but let's go somewhere else." Sasuke said.

Confused, Naruto still nodded his head. "Okay."

The two left the inn and began walking toward the forest that was nearby.

Sakura watched the two leave, she didn't know why, but she felt that something bad would happen. She lightly slapped her cheeks together and forced herself to calm down. Don't worry, those two are just going to talk about something in private, I'm just overthinking things, Sakura told herself. Then she glanced over and saw Lee.

"Looks like it's just the two of us who will get the rooms. Lee." Sakura said.

Lee nodded his head and smiled. "It seems that way, by the way Sakura, do you know what Sasuke is going to talk to Naruto about?"

Sakura shook her head as she replied. "I don't, but it seems to be a matter that's private, so we shouldn't bother them."

Lee looked down in thought. "Okay, but I can't help but be concerned, especially since I saw the expression on Sasuke's face."

"Eh?? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"It's a look of determination, and it's one I'm very familiar with." Lee replied.

"Maybe it's just a very important conversation he wants to have." Sakura suggested.

"No, it's the look of someone who is going to challenge someone to a fight, I have that same expression whenever I want to challenge Neji." Lee said as he shook his head in disagreement.

"Well, Sasuke has always been trying to beat Naruto, what's wrong with some light sparring?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, the look Sasuke had didn't seem like that of one who wanted to do some light sparring." Lee answered with a serious expression.

Sakura looked down in thought as the worry she had before resurfaced. Seeing her expression, Lee [ quickly changed] the subject.

"Ah, but maybe I'm mistaken, I'm sure there's no need for you to worry about anything, I'm sorry for making you worry about nothing!!!" Lee quickly apologized.

Sakura smiled a little toward Lee. "Thank you, Lee, I'm sure you're right and there's nothing to worry about. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time before, you're actually really nice Lee."

Lee blushed as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, Hehehe, I didn't really do anything though."

Sakura smiled, but then she heard footsteps behind her, turning, she saw that it was Kakashi.

"Where's Lord Jiraiya?" Sakura asked.

"He had business he needed to attend to, so he's leaving Naruto with us for now. By the way, where are Naruto and Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, those two left to go talk about something." Sakura answered.

"I see…..." Kakashi replied as he went into thought.

I hope nothing bad happens to those two, Kakashi thought. Suddenly, Kakashi looked up before rushing toward Sakura and Lee, grabbing the two of them and jumping out of the building before it exploded.

"Eh? What's going on?!" Sakura said after seeing the inn explode into pieces.

"As expected of Kakashi of the Hidden Leaf." A voice said.

Kakashi narrowed his eye as he lowered Lee and Sakura to the ground.

"You two, get out of here, and be on your guard." Kakashi instructed as he lifted his forehead protector covering his eye.

"Eh? What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It seems that the sand team sent to aid us in this mission are intent on getting rid of us." Kakashi replied.

"Eh?" Sakura said in confusion as she glanced over to see Baki and Gaara.

Where are the other two? Sakura wondered before her eyes widened in realization as she thought of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Sakura, calm down, I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke will be able to handle the two that are not here, for now, I need you and Lee to focus on the red-haired kid while I will handle the jonin on the team." Kakashi instructed.

Sakura nodded her head as she focused on Gaara. Lee also nodded as he walked up beside Sakura and took a fighting stance.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'll be sure to protect you!" Lee said with confidence.

"I wouldn't be so confident in those kids' abilities the ones I sent are more than capable of dealing with them." Baki replied with a sneer.

Kakashi then smiled as he replied. "Well then you haven't studied their abilities at all."

Hearing Kakashi's words caused Baki to frown as he wondered if he had made the right decision, part of it was because Kankuro had insisted on handling the blonde-haired kid personally. But now, Baki wasn't so sure that was the correct move anymore.

"I guess we'll see after everything is over with." Baki said as he created a blade of wind around his hand.

"Agreed." Kakashi said as he opened his eye with the Sharingan and pulled out his kunai.