A Different Kind Of Journey 30 Arc 2: Bitterswee

I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Does.

Author's note: Hey there Readers! I'm back with a new chapter! I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the reviews, favorites, and follows :) Thank you for also sharing your tips and thoughts for the story.

Take note 2: Recently, I have been having a writer's block, Its really difficult when nothing is coming out from your mind. Although, A fellow friend gave me some tips on how to regained my mind back and as a result I am back with a new chapter. I also started to implement a little of the original ideas I had been planning for the story since the beginning.

One more thing, this chapter is quite short. I had a very busy weekend so I had little time to write but somehow I managed to finish it.

Arc 2:

Chapter 17: Bittersweet

It was the most peaceful feeling that he could've ever felt in his whole life. Gaara had never felt so much peace and calmness before. It was like that from now on, he would never feel the pain and loneliness that was haunting him since the beginning. He felt like floating in an endless void and just staring at the blank dark s.p.a.ce.

His mind was as blank as an empty can. All of his thoughts, both positive and negative were nowhere to be found. He felt like a lost soul that preferred to be stuck in limbo just so that he couldn't be with the real world anymore,.

Gaara was reluctant. If this how his life will be from now on, then he would just take the opportunity and stay here for as long as he was allowed to. he didn't want to think about any other things besides letting himself free from everything.

"Did I live up to everyone's expectations?" he thought to himself. He doubted his ability to protect his loved ones. Was he enough for them and the village? Did the village really support him throughout his tenure as the Kazekage? Did they really accept him as their own? Or was it just all pure fantasy?

There so many doubts and questions. He felt like a lost little child that couldn't distinguish right from wrong. He began to wonder on why he was born into this world. Was it just to experience a painful and lonely life? Why did he never get to experienced the love that everyone has?

Was he just destined to lived and end his life in this kind of way?

A few moments later, the young man suddenly felt a presence surrounding him. It was somehow mysterious but benevolent at the same time. He observed this presence which was revealed before his eyes. It was a kind of blue greenish ethereal form of substance or energy that appeared in a fluid stream. It was surrounding and nearing towards him.

Gaara didn't panic whatsoever, He just stared at this mysterious energy as it headed closer to him. He was just mesmerized and even tried to reach out for it. A few moments later, the ethereal stream had came in contact with the latter and surrounded him fully. The red head closed his eyes again and let himself fully enveloped by the stream.

In his mind, He began to dive into his deepest memories and what came out of it was a certain someone, someone that he knew but had never met in person before. The memories took him further and he found himself in a hospital room. The red head widened his eyes as he stared at a much younger version of himself, a newborn toddler and right beside him was a young woman, who was cradling the infant version of himself. She appeared to be weak as if she was holding the infant for the last time.

Gaara tried to get close to the two but he was then taken away by an unknown force as his world began to change once more. A bright light has suddenly engulfed him and sometime later, the young Kazekage opened his eyes and he found himself standing in a place that was very unfamiliar to him.

He described the place as a beautiful garden accompanied by small river flowing which he was standing in front of right now. Beside the river, there was a young woman; She had shoulder-length, sandy-brown hair which framed her kind-looking face, and indigo-colored eyes. She wore a simple outfit along with a long, light yellow scarf draped loosely around her neck. She just stood there and watched the peaceful flow of the river.

Gaara was bewildered. This was the same young woman who he had just awhile ago and right before he arrived in this place. As curiosity got the best of him, He then took several steps and headed towards the spot where young woman was located. By the time he had arrived at the said spot, the young woman had already noticed him and gave him a smile.

A bewildered Gaara just stared at the latter. He finally realized that this person was none other than his mother. She looked very much alive in her prime, far different from the dying person which he had seen in his earliest memories before.

"You know, the desert wasn't always this sandy place. It used to have small places much like this," Karura explained.

Gaara was just silent. He was in fact speechless and a bit shy to have a conversation with his mother. This was the first time that he had met her in person. He tried to open his mouth to say a few words but he just wasn't able to do so.

"I always dreamed of taking you, Temari and Kankuro to one of these places, but I'm not sure if these places even exist nowadays," she chuckled and explained. In fact there were indeed several small oases that existed in their land during her time.

"An Oasis," he muttered. He let out his first words. He recalled seeing one of those places from a distance during his travels.

"Although your father was a grumpy one, he was always busy with his work wasn't he?" she added. She often remembered her husband as this busy man who had no time for the family.

Gaara gave a face when his father came into his thoughts. He never had really good memories about him. He wasn't even close to him as father and son. They never even talked for once. He could only remember the time he spent alone on the rooftop of a lonely building while watching the other kids bond with their families.

As the emotions began to resurface, Tears were finally flowing from the teenager's eyes. Gaara slowly began to sob quietly. His mother, who finally fully turned around to face him, pulled him into a warm embraced.

Gaara cried like a little boy in his mother's shoulders. Even though, He had never gotten to know his mom, He felt as if He had known her for a long time and he dearly needed her in his life right now.

"Okasan," Gaara said his only word right now. How he wished that his mom was still alive.

On the other hand, Karura could only comfort her son. She too cried with him but she kept her smile up as she comforted her son. She felt sad for him on what he had to go through all these years. She also missed him and this was her first time seeing him now as a grown up teenager.

"Everything is going to be alright, honey," she said as she stroked the back of her son to calm him down.

"I just wished that you were still here. Why did you have to leave?" Gaara said as he finally let all his emotions out. He asked his mom why she had to leave this world earlier. If she didn't left then He wouldn't have experienced all the pain that he had to go through.

Karura could only give the latter a sad smile. She held her son's cheeks and stroked both of it in a gentle manner.

"Oh how I wish could've stayed to watch you over," she said. Truly, she really wanted to see her son grew up to the person that she wanted him to be. She was really glad that she could finally meet him for this only time.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me the most. I'm sorry I didn't get to spend enough time with you," she apologized to her son. She really wanted to be with her family especially with her youngest son.

"But, I'm really glad that I was finally able to meet you, at least for a little time," She added. She was very pleased to be given this opportunity to meet her youngest son and she knew that this reunion was going to end soon.

"It's not your time yet," she said with a little smile.

"I want to stay here with you." Gaara said. He just wished that he could stay here and spend time here with his mom.

Karura shook her head and smiled.

"I understand Gaara, but you have to go back. The village needs a leader, someone who can lead them," she said. She would go on to explain that without him, the village would never see the bright of day.

Gaara kept silent. He immediately remembered his friends and remaining family who still loved him. He began to wonder on what had become of them since he had been gone for this long time. What about his village who was lost and needed a person to lead them. He realized that not all seemed alright back home. He still had a lot of work to do. It was his destiny to be the leader of the village.

The meeting between mother and son was slowly coming to an end. It was considered as short-lived. Soon, Gaara's world began to change. He felt like he was being pulled back to the world of reality. He then took one last looked at his mother, who gave a smile at him. The red head smiled back, he was going to remember this meeting for the rest of his life.

Karura knew that her time was up and she had to let her son go back to the living world. There was this growing sense of alertness. This was the only place that she could meet him because it was the safest that she knew apart from the others. She darted her eyes to her surroundings and she sighed in relief as there were no suspicious eyes watching them.

Gaara immediately noticed the worried face of his mother. He was about to asked on what was bothering her when she just gave him a serious looked.

"Please listen to me, Gaara," she looked at her son straight in the eye.

"There are things that everyone is not aware off, you have to be careful from now on, please tell your friends," She warned the latter. She would go on to explain that both worlds, Spirit and Living were in a path to danger.

Gaara, on the other hand was much more confused. What was his mom telling him? Didn't she mean that not all in the afterlife seemed to be what they had been told about?

Gaara was about to reach out to his mother when he was suddenly whisked away. The oasis garden-like place faded away before his eyes. His mother was not in sight, there was only darkness yet again that greeted him.

The young Kazekage felt as if he was falling away yet again. It seemed to be a never-ending fall. A presence was then felt again, Gaara then noticed that the mysterious stream of energy was beside him again, he then felt peace and comfort once again as the stream of substance fully enveloped him.

(RETURNED)

The next thing knew there was a bright light that flashed before his eyes. He began to hear familiar voices calling his name. Not too long, the light died down and there was blackness yet again. But he could finally feel his surroundings once more.

Gaara suddenly opened his eyes wide as he found himself breathing once more. His vision was still blurry as a result of the sudden surged of life force that went through his body as if he was electrocuted in the heart a hundred times. His body was shaking because of the effects as he tried rise up.

"Hey Be careful, You can't just easily stand up Gaara," A familiar voice told him.

The young Kazekage immediately recognized the voice which was none other hand from an old friend from the leaf village, Naruto Uzumaki.

A few moments pa.s.sed, his vision became clearer. He found himself in an open field surrounded by several people. He blinked a couple of times as he wondered what they were doing here and how did he had gotten here in the first place.

"What happened?" he blurted out his first words. He then surveyed his surroundings and further discovered that these people that were surrounding him were from the leaf village. He then took a look to his left side and saw a familiar face smiling at him.

"Naruto?" He muttered aloud. What was the blonde doing here? Why was he here?

Naruto could only sigh in relief as he greeted his friend, who was has been brought back from death itself.

"You really had me worried there brother." He said.

Gaara just stared at him with surprised eyes. All the memories instantly returned back to him and he can now remember what happened to him that he was defeated and captured when he was protecting the village from the Akatsuki.

Naruto would then go on to explain that the leaf village had sent a rescue team after his capture. He was then taken to the Akatsuki hideout and had the one tailed beast, Shukaku extracted from him, resulting in his temporary death.

Gaara nodded in understanding. Although a thought came into his mind, how did he come back from the dead? There must've been a reasonable explanation for this. When he asked the blonde on what happened after that, the latter only gave him a sad smile.

"Lady Chiyo was the one responsible but she gave up her life just to bring you back here," the blonde teenager explained. He then directed the latter to a certain direction.

"Lady Chiyo is gone?" Gaara was loss for words. He was shocked to hear this revelation. She was one of the village's respectable and strongest shin.o.bi. He then darted his eyes towards the direction that the blonde was looking.

The red head couldn't believe what he saw as he found himself looking at a sad site. There at a certain spot stood lay the peacefully "Sleeping" elder puppeteer. She was also being cradled by the pink haired girl herself.

"Oh no," Gaara muttered under his breath. He slowly got up from the ground while the blonde a.s.sisted him. Even though, he was in this weak state, he needed to pay his respect to the latter.

Sakura silently cried. She held the elder puppeteer in her arms. Tears were flowing from her eyes. All of the emotions were coming out. She felt as if she had lost a loved one. Indeed, the pink haired girl looked up to the latter as a role model and an inspiration.

She recalled the advice and words that the elder had given to her and she wouldn't forget it for the rest of her life. She then felt a presence heading towards her. The pink haired teen then looked up and saw the Kazakage slowly walking towards her.

By the time the latter reached the spot, He stopped his tracks and stood in front of the peaceful sleeping elder. He took a deep breath and then bowed down as a sign of him giving his respect and thanking the elder for saving his life.

"Thank you for everything Lady Chiyo," Gaara said as a tear fell from his eye.

He then remembered that the elder puppeteer herself has used a forbidden jutsu which was known as "Kinshi Tensei" which if used a by a person, the life force of the person will be transferred to another one. Hence, that was why she was able to bring him back to life.

As the time pa.s.sed by, the time travelling trio were witnessing a part of the history unfold before their eyes. This was the whole rescue mission and they were part of it.

Sarada thought of this as lesson and an experience that they needed to learn from. It wasn't just the goal of rescuing the Kazekage but it was a way on how they would handle different situations if they were suddenly placed into them. It's not just about fighting and showing the skills but it also involves on learning a person's past and how would they helped the person changed for the better.

As for the lavender haired teen, Himawari thought of this rescue mission as an opportunity to help them become stronger. She realized that this was going to be the first of many missions that will come in the near future. This rescue mission has helped them regained their edge as a Shin.o.bi after a long while of resting

As for Boruto, the teenage blonde felt that there was more than meets the eye. He thought that there was a reason on why they were sent here in the past. From here on, the blonde vowed to himself that he will find out that reason and purpose.

(Interview)

"Being in the past thought me how to look into people's situations and finding a way to help them rather than engage them in a fight to the death.

-Sarada

" I haven't had the proper training as a Shin.o.bi and this experience will help me to further improve my abilties.

-Himawari

"There was a reason, I just had that feeling since the beginning.

-Boruto

(DEPARTURE)

Not too long, everyone had decided that it was time leave for home. The rescue mission was considered a success although they lost a very important person, in the form of Lady Chiyo, who had given her life to save the Kazekage. Her body was placed on human-size bag and was carried on a stretcher by her grandson and a makeshift puppet that he immediately summoned.

As the journey started, a still weakened Gaara was supported by his blonde friend, while an exhausted Kakashi was being carried by Mighty Gai. It was going to be a long journey from here.

As for the time travelling trio, Himawari found herself in the company of her young Aunt and Uncle, who had decided to help her cope with the situation. Sarada went with her young mother to provide her with emotional comfort.

As for Boruto, He took the time spend with his thoughts as he also set out with the rest back towards the sand village. He began to think about the time when his Uchiha teammate fought with the Akatsuki member, Kisame, when the Jougan had seen something unusual.

The blonde stopped his tracks; his Jougan was then suddenly activated. He also felt the same presence from a few distances away. He turned to face that presence and fully came to see something that he couldn't explain. It was the same white hooded human figure from before and it was somehow secretly watching and observing them from a far.

Boruto was puzzled and curious. He attempted to head towards where the human figure was located for further investigation but was unable to do so.

"Nii-chan!" the voice of his little sister called him.

Boruto turned around to face his little sister who was giving him a confused look.

"What are you doing? We're about to leave you, ya know?" Himawari explained. She told the latter that the rest of everyone had taken off while He was still here and not catching off.

"Yeah, I'll be there Hima!" Boruto said. He then turned once again only to face nothing. There was no trace of the white cloaked human figure as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

Boruto narrowed his eyes. There was indeed something more mysterious to this. He had never seen something like this before. Who or what was that cloaked figured? Was it even human to begin with? How come it was just standing there and closely watching?

What was its purpose here?

The journey to the sand village was a long way to go. The mission was finally accomplished. It saw an exhausted and weary band of Shin.o.bi that were able to rescue the Kazekage from the hands of the enemies. It had been successful but it still had a bittersweet ending to it.

The lost of Lady Chiyo was big blow to the village and the extraction of the one tailed beast, Shukaku saw progress from the Akatsuki's main plan to collect the entire powerful tailed beast. However, in contrast to that, they managed to defeat and capture former organization member, Sasori of the Red sand, which meant that he had cla.s.sified information and secrets which no one was aware of.

Mysteries and revelations were also revealed. For instance, in the case of Gaara, When He was in his temporary death, his soul somehow travelled to afterlife and was able to meet his mother, who he had never met in person before. Both mystery and revelation came afterwards when she revealed that everything was not what it seemed to be and she told him about an ongoing conspiracy which involved the human world and spirit world.

This also confused the young Kazekage as it fueled more questions than answers. He was determined to know more about on what was happening and what this bigger conspiracy all about. He also noticed that when he was talking to his mother, she was a bit cautious as she occasionally looking around their surroundings. She was a spirit and she wouldn't be acting like that since she was in the afterlife.

"Hey man," his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by none other than the blonde himself.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked. He noticed that the latter was deep in his thoughts was serious.

Gaara shook his head.

"Yes, I'm fine; I'm just tired that's all," he explained.

Naruto smiled.

"Don't worry; we'll be at the sand village soon," he said.

Gaara smiled back. He was thankful for the blonde to really risk his life just to save him. Since he contained the Kyuubi No Youku within him, The young Kazekage can't helped but worry about him. There are many enemies on the moved attempting to get the power that the latter had.

They were going to have to be a little extra careful now.

Not too long, the crew had reached the country side that led to the desert itself. The day had finally entered its afternoon stage. There was ongoing silence that ran through the rest of the group. Neither all of them said a word since they were all exhausted.

Boruto gazed at the sun that was about to set anytime soon. He was still thinking about the mysterious White cloaked human figure that was watching and observing them in secret. He wondered where that mysterious person came from and whose side was he/she on.

A thought then came into his mind. He recalled on how his little sister told him about the enemies that she saw during the destruction of their home back in the future. He recalled her telling him that the enemies that she saw donned white cloaked figures.

Boruto widened his eyes in realization. Could those people be the one responsible for destroying their home besides Kawaki? Why was his Jougan reacting every time those mysterious cloaked figures appeared? Could there be some kind of connection? He knew that his Jougan could detect things out of the ordinary and he wondered if those cloaked figures or whatever it's called were even human.

There was a lot of question going around his mind. He felt that soon enough all of the truth will be revealed. He still knew that the threat from the future, in the form of his adopted brother Kawaki had not faded away.

Boruto then darted his eyes to the people around him, especially his little sister and Uchiha teammate. He realized that he was going to have a bigger role in protecting them in the future. He just wasn't sure of what was in store for them but he had to be ready for sure.

Perhaps, the figures were just an unexpected small piece that came into a bigger picture.

CHAPTER ENDS

AN: Thank you very much for reading the chapter :)