Well, whether you like him or love him, it's a basic fact that the next snippet is up!
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Naruto whistled as he pulled Ecto-1 up to the Shuukaku Temple.
"You know, if you guys set up a food court and maybe a gift shop, you could attract all sorts of tourism to this place," he commented.
The head monk just looked at Naruto shrewdly. "I'll... Keep that in mind..."
"Idiot!" Sakura hissed, bonking Naruto on the head. "This is a place of worship, not some sleezy tourist trap!"
"Sheesh..." Naruto mumbled, rubbing his head. "Stupid abusive woman... Just because she has no date life, doesn't mean she has to ruin mine."
"What was that?" Sakura gritted out through clenched teeth.
"Nothing," was Naruto's aggravated reply.
Temari, who was in the back with the proton packs and Gaara looked to Sasuke, "Are they always like that?"
Sasuke merely gave an affirmative grunt an a short nod.
"That's gotta drive you crazy sometimes," commented Kankuro.
"You have no idea," Sasuke replied as he got out of the car.
"Seriously, though, this place could be like a museum," said Naruto to the monk. "You could probablly convert more people if they had a reason to come out here."
"I suppose. Advertisment, however, has never been one of our priorities. We have very strict standards on who we allow to work here, as this is a place of worship and reverence. There is probablly no place safer in the vicinity of Sunagakure that is safer for the Ichibi no Tanuki or Sabaku no Gaara." The monk noncommittably agreed as regarded each of the Konoha Ghostbusters carefully.
At this point, Uzumaki Naruto was clad only in his black Ghostbusters coveralls, zipped a third of the way down revealing an orange undershirt, a PKE meter at his waist and Ecto-goggles on top of his head. On his right shoulder was Konoha's symbol sewn into the fabric with the Ghostbusters logo was stitched to the left. On his back, he bore the spiral insignia that he wore on all of his clothes.
Haruno Sakura's uniform had was much the same, though her traditional (not that the head monk knew that) khaki coveralls lacked the Konoha symbol, opting for a Ghostbusters logo patch on each shoulder. Unlike Naruto, she wore her black hitai-ite, while in full Ghostbuster's regalia, like a ribbon in her hair. She was the only one of the three of them to wear gloves, which went half way up her forearm.
Uchiha Sasuke's uniform was different from the others. His coveralls were all black with the Uchiha Clan Symbol emblazoned on the back and the collar was popped up. Unlike his two compatriots, he lacked the equippment that hung from their wastes. No PKE Meter, no Spectro-Visors, nothing. He also wore his blue hitai-ite properly. Like Sakura, he had a Ghostbusters patch on either side of his coveralls.
And then there was that free floating, disgusting, green blob that Naruto referred to as 'Slimer'. The monk couldn't help but cringe in disgust at its' presence. Apparantly that was an opinion he shared with the Uchiha, as Uzumaki seemed to have made friends with it and Haruno seemed to accept its' presence as if it were an everyday thing.
He couldn't help but find it odd that a group of people who fancied themselves ghost exterminators would have and travel with a ghost companion.
It was like having an insect exterminator having a pet scarab that he took with him to work.
While Naruto was conversing with the monks about the virtues of marketing and enterprising, Sasuke appraoched Sakura.
"What exactly are we doing here?" his tone was a little more than slightly annoyed.
"All of our equipment is still experimental," Sakura informed him, "Some of them are variants of what the original Ghostbusters have, some are of my own design. The Bijuu Supressor we have on Gaara is one of those devices, but it was designed for Naruto."
Sasuke looked at Sakura sharply.
"It's never happened, nor have we been in a situation that's given us an indication that it even could happen, but both Naruto and I have considered it a possibility," said Sakura, "We actually didn't expect to encounter another Jinchuuriki so early on in our careers, so we can't be completely sure that the device won't have any negative long term affects on Gaara."
"So we're here to see if there are other ways of keeping the Ichibi and Gaara under control without the device," Sasuke said as he caught on.
"Precisely," said Sakura. "Though we also want to see if there is any additional information on his seal, so we know if there is anything Naruto can do to at least reinforce it. Given Gaara's psychosis, his apparant insomnia, and his instinctual control over sand, it is safe to assume his seal- aside from being different from Naruto's- is also far, far weaker."
"What about extracting the bijuu from Gaara?" asked Sasuke, "If his seal is as weak as you suspect, it might be possible to take the Bijuu out of him and give him a normal life."
Sakura shook her head. "Absolutely not. You heart's in the right place, Sasuke-kun, but removing the bijuu, no matter how weak his seal is, would result in killing Gaara. There's a reason demons, bijuu in particular, are sealed into children."
Sakura looked at Naruto, who was now whispering something in Temari's ear, causing the Suna Kunoichi to blush and Kankuro to scowl at them.
"Children, infants especially, have widely undeveloped chakra systems. The chakra coils of newborns have far more elasticy than those of an adult. If a Bijuu, even one as 'weak' as Shuukaku, were to be sealed into an adult, they would die a horrible death. Multiple system failures, anuerisms, muscle strain from their muscles all trying to expand simultaneously, and a plethora of other symptoms depending on how good the seal on them is- not to mention chakra overload so severe, it could potentially make a person explode with the force of at least a dozen explosive tags."
"However, with infants and newborns, their chakra systems can expand and adjust to the influx of demonic chakra," Sakura continued, "Once more, the gains and losses are widely dependant on the strength of the seal, the bijuu type that it is, and the child's own willpower and constitution. In Naruto's case, the Yondaime's seal is phenominal, and would probablly be overkill for sealing anything less than either the Shichibi or the Hachibi. However, the Kyuubi is easily the most stubborn and volitile of the nine bijuu, so it's lucky for us that Naruto is just as stubborn, if not more so, than the entity inside of him."
Sakura smiled briefly before her face took on a more withdrawn, sad expression. "Should the bijuu be extracted, without the excess chakra in their system, the Jinchuuriki's body could theoretically implode. However, that is the least of their problems, as they'd be dead long before that point either due to muscle strain from every single muscle in their body contracting all at once or chakra exhaustion because they lack the excess chakra from the bijuu bleeding into their system. Again, these symptoms are all widely dependant on the Jinchuuriki in question, his seal, the bijuu that is sealed within him and the method of extraction used- not to mention how long the bijuu has been sealed inside of the Jinchuuriki."
"I see..." Sasuke responded absently.
"Like I said, Sasuke-kun, it was a noble idea, but there just isn't a safe way to extract a bijuu from a Jinchuuriki," commented Sakura, "Besides, I can't be positive that our containment unit could even hold a malevolent entity like a Bijuu, even if they are highly concentrated contructs of chakra and ectoplasmic matter."
"I can't imagine the pain that Naruto and Gaara must have to live with..."
"It hasn't been all bad. Naruto's got us, and now so does Gaara," said Sakura with a smile, one that Sasuke actually returned.
"I guess they do," replied Sasuke.
"Hey, c'mon! You guys have to see this place, it's great!" shouted Naruto.
Sasuke hadn't even noticed how close he and Sakura had gotten to each other until she stepped away with a light blush peppering her face. Suddenly, he couldn't bring himself to look anywhere near her.
'What the hell was that?' Sasuke asked himself in confusion. He then caught Naruto's eye and scowled at the knowing smirk the blonde idiot was giving him.
He then looked over at the Kazekage's children. Temari merely quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. Kankuro on the other hand, had a scowl that matched Sasuke's- he was clearly annoyed with the Uchiha Scion, to which Sasuke couldn't help but give one of his patented smirks.
Sakura approached the head monk. "Excuse me... Uh... Monk-san..."
"Makoto," the monk filled in for her, with a small smile.
"Ah, yes... Makoto-san," said Sakura, "Would it be all right if I checked out your archives for any sort of relevant information on the entity known as Shuukaku."
"Of course," he congenially replied. "I'll escort you down there myself." As Sakura and the head monk departed Naruto turned to their paranormal companion.
"Slimer," was all Naruto had to say.
"Wight!" Slimer responded with a salute before zipping after Sakura.
"You're awfully protective of her, you know," Kankuro observed.
"She's all I've had for years. I won't let anything happen to her," said Naruto before looking Kankuro in the eye. His eyes flashed crimson for a moment. "Keep that in mind."
"R-right..." stuttered Kankuro as he actually stepped back.
Temari, who had already been aware of Naruto's Jinchuuriki status, only smiled, despite how intimidating Naruto's threat, combined with his changing eyes were. Naruto was so different from her brother and yet... There were some similarities with how Naruto was and how Gaara used to be. It gave her hope for Gaara in the future.
"I think you're forgetting something dobe," Sasuke spoke up. "I don't care how 'safe' this place is, someone should stay with Gaara."
"Have you seen how he looks?" asked Naruto incredulously, "With the Bijuu supressor one, he doesn't have to worry about the demon attacking him in his sleep or taking control of his body. He's getting the best sleep of his life and will probablly be out for at least another day and a half."
"Which is exactly why we should be careful," replied Sasuke, "He is incapbable fo defending himself."
"Please, Sasuke. This is a Shuukaku Temple. At most, the monks here will build him a shrine and worship him," said Naruto, "He's the chosen vessel."
"Which is why we should be even more careful," Sasuke snapped.
"E-excuse me... Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san, Temari-sama, Kankuro-sama," a young girl addressed them. "Is there any way that I could assist you?"
Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "A name would be nice."
"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm Matsuri!" the girl replied, "Acolyte of the Shuukaku Temple and student of the Sunagakure Ninja Academy."
Temari scowled. "If you're a student enrolled at the academy, what are you doing here?"
"I am an orphan, Temari-sama," replied Matsuri, "And my monthly stipend is barely adequate to live off of. I come here to earn additional ryo."
Only Naruto didn't look shocked at this information.
"I see... I apologize for my rudeness, Matsuri-chan," replied Temari.
"It's no problem, Temari-sama," Matsuri responded with a smile.
"Matsuri-chan, can you do us a favor?" asked Naruto. "Can you look after Gaara while we do some investigating around here?"
"S-sure, I'll be glad to look after Gaara-sama," replied Matsuri.
Naruto then looked over at Sasuke with a triumphant grin. "Nothin' to it."
"Hn." was Sasuke's reply.
"All right, make-up boy, it's time to move your brother," ordered Naruto.
"Wha-?" Kankuro said intelligablly, caught off guard by being addressed so suddenly.
"We're not leaving him in the car," said Naruto, "You're going to move him to somewhere comfortable and then come back and get him when we're done."
"Who are you to give me orders?" Kankuro snapped.
"Just do it, you stupid fool," Temari ordered as she hit Kankuro on the head. "It'll be easier for you because of your puppets. There's less of a chance of Gaara getting jostled around too much and doing something to mess up the device Naruto-kun put on him."
"All right, fine," Kankuro grumbled. "Why didn't I go with Sakura, even if she is a bit bossy, she at least respects me..."
"Yeah, well she's like a sister to me and I've noticed the way you were trying to flirt with her on the way here," Naruto stated, "If I don't like you..."
He let the threat hang.
"Yeah, well the girl you've been constantly hitting on IS my sister," countered Kankuro.
"Yeah, but unlike Temari, Sakura actually listens to me and respects my opinion," Naruto recountered. Temari laughed in agreement, while Kankuro scowled. "Matsuri-chan, show make-up boy and the bastard someplace where Gaara can rest comfortablly, while Temari-chan and I have a quick look around, okay."
"Hai, sure thing Uzumaki-san!" Matsuri bowed.
"Ready, milady?" Naruto asked as he held out his arm to Temari, who graciously took it and let herself be lead into the Temple. "Catch you guys later!" Naruto shouted back as he gave them a small wave.
"Why I oughta..." Kankuro grumbled before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"We can kill him later," said Sasuke, "For now, let's just get Gaara inside."
