A/N: welcome to Naruto Arashiodori chapter 2. I have a few things I want to say before I move onto the story.

I have stated at the end of the previous chapter that I would update the story once a month, so I have plenty of time to write ahead. However I have summer vacation right now and am bored as hell, so I decided that for the months July and August I'll update this story twice a month.

The 2 questions asked in the reviews I'll answer at the end, for those of you who are interested to know.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series or any of characters. I am simply using its characters and a bit of it's plotline to enjoy myself and hopefully some others as well.

Naruto Arashiodori chapter 2

"Sabaku Sõsõ"

"Sasuke!"

Two yells sounded throughout the entire arena at once. Ironically both of the yells were from shinobi that were so much alike and yet so different at the same time. Both had been feared and hated from a young age, but they grew up very differently. Now, one of the two had lost his mind and had gone on a senseless killing spree and the other desperately tried to save his friend.

Everyone in the stadium held in their breath as the exchange occurred. The figure that was once Uchiha Sasuke, the village's new hope as a genius shinobi, last of the Uchiha and the best rookie in his class, had been captured in was appeared to be a complete cocoon of sand. And that cocoon was crushing him at the hands of the young boy with a demon of sand sealed inside his body.

But everyone could also see something else, even more amazing to the villagers. From the back of the cocoon, coming from up in the stands, five lines of red chakra had penetrated the cocoon. This chakra came from the one person every adult in the great village of Konoha had feared and hated. The hands of Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the greatest demon of them all. The nine tails demon fox, Kyuubi.

As far as the villagers could see, the two were fighting for the right to kill Sasuke.

---

Down in the ring however, Gaara was getting even madder then he already was. Someone was trying to keep him from killing his prey! 'He'll pay for that! You'll be next, Uzumaki Naruto! But for now, I'll kill this Uchiha first! He managed to hurt me. By killing him he'll'

"MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!"

With that, he crushed his monstrous hand tight, increasing the pressure on Sasuke.

---

'NO!' Naruto thought desperately. 'I can't let him do this. I can't let him kill my friends!'

"AAGH!" Naruto yelled as he flexed and then extended his hand in an instant. The results were instant and obvious for all to see.

Still suspended in mid-air, the cocoon that had Uchiha Sasuke inside it, exploded. In that instant, all the well trained shinobi could see what had happened. The red chakra from Naruto's hand had been wrapped around Sasuke before the sand could. It had worked as a shield for the boy and stopped the pressure. And now that Naruto had extended his hand fully, the Chakra pushed all the sand away as well.

Now free of his prison, Sasuke was suddenly falling in mid-air. He wouldn't be able to catch himself, he was too hurt, and a fall from that height without preparing for it would spell the end for the young boy.

Not wasting a second, Kakashi quickly rushed forward and picked his student up in mid-fall, jumping over to the other side of the stadium. Laying him down, he made a quick check-up to see if Sasuke was still alive. Having made sure of his students survival, he picked him up again and returned to the seats.

'What's going on here?' Kakashi thought while walking. 'Since when can Naruto use the Kyuubi's chakra at will? Ebisu-sensei isn't such a fool to try and teach him that. If it went bad, the chakra could backfire and destroy the whole village. How did he learn to do that?'

Sakura, Ino and Chouji quickly left their seats so the teacher could lay the wounded boy down. Even then his mind was still racing with everything he had just seen. He knew that Sasuke would be in more danger in the first round, that was why Kakashi had decided to train the Uchiha himself, leaving Naruto, who needed to increase his basics, with an excellent teacher. 'Don't tell me he actually learned to use it on his own.' Kakashi almost shuddered at the mere thought. 'True, Naruto is a quick learner when he puts everything he has into it, but this would be a bit much. A dense guy like him would never think of a training where he has to use Kyuubi's chakra.'

Taking a single look at Gai, who only nodded back, Kakashi knew that his long time rival was thinking the same thing.

'And more then that; these last few minutes a lot has happened. Gaara turning out to be an actual jinchuuriki, Sasuke having used his Curse Seal again and finally; Naruto suddenly using Kyuubi's Chakra. I guess Sasuke still doesn't have enough control over himself. Speaking of Jinchiruku's, how come Gaara's been al quiet the last couple of minutes? And Naruto as well.'

Looking back, Kakashi saw Naruto and Gaara still standing where they were when he had moved in. they were still standing like statues, looking at each other, both with their arms still extended. From his position, he could easily see into Gaara's eyes. Those eyes were filled with bloodlust. Gaara's thought that moment were very clear. 'You have stolen my prey and now I'll make you pay for it.'

'And now Naruto? How are you going to react to it?' he idly wondered.

---

Meanwhile down in the ring, the judge Genma had raised his hands. He was first worried about his own safety, seeing Gaara's behavior, but he still had to make the announcement.

'WINNER! GAARA!"

Not unexpected, no-one even moved a muscle after the announcement. After a few seconds, seconds that seemed to last for hours to Genma, Gaara started yelling again.

"COME DOWN UZUMAKI NARUTO! I'LL KILL YOU! MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE! GET DOWN HERE!"

The entire stadium held its breath, waiting for the response.

---

Meanwhile, up in the seats for the Kage's Orochimaru was beginning to get really interested. 'Sasuke-kun wasn't able to win after all, but the Uzumaki boy actually stopped the crushing sand of that Gaara. He's used the Kyuubi's chakra twice now, I'm sure that my seal has been removed. But now I'm starting to get interested. Have you surpassed Sasuke-kun for the time being? Show me and show Sasuke-kun. Yes, show him that you've grown and send him right into my arms!'

Having trouble containing himself, Orochimaru gave a small chuckle. Seeing the surprised look on his old teacher's face, he quickly made up an answer.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama. I did not mean to sound rude, but this is truly a golden opportunity. Not only has Gaara defeated a member of the Uchiha clan, he will now also fight against the man who defeated a Hyuuga. His victory will truly be a blessing for the Sand."

"I see. But do not count on victory yet, the fight hasn't even started yet."

'Maybe, Sensei, maybe. But I doubt that a piece of trash like him could defeat Gaara.'

---

Still in the same position that he had taken when he tried to rescue Sasuke, Naruto was confused.

'What did I just do? I saved Sasuke didn't I? But how did I do that?' looking down, he looked Gaara right in the eyes. Seeing the bloodlust and madness in them, Naruto got scared like he never had been, even more scared then he had been against Zabuza. 'No! I can't fight him! He's too strong.' He suddenly started looking around, feeling very much like a fox caught in a dog hunt.

Kakashi walked up to Naruto from behind. Seeing him shake like that, he got worried.

"Naruto are you ok?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto spoke up, actually sounding a bit timid for once. "Tell me. Do you think this guy is strong? He defeated Sasuke and Fuzzy-brows. I'm… I'm scared. This guy's the same as me, but he's so much stronger. He's always gotten by on his own, unlike me. What should I do?"

"Well, Naruto." Kakashi started, trying to think up an answer to his question. "I will admit that this guy is no pushover. He's powerful, but that doesn't always mean that he's strong. You have every right to be scared of someone as fearsome as him. But tell me Naruto," as they both turned at looked at each other again, Kakashi continued.

"Since when do you run from your problems? What happened to the brave and stupid shinobi that attacked a swordsman of the Mist without fear?"

Wincing at the harsh voice of his Sensei, Naruto tried to speak up.

"But, Sensei. This guy… he's…"

"You just said that he's the same as you didn't you? Doesn't that mean that you're the only one that can fight him on equal grounds?"

"Huh? No, I couldn't fight a guy like him, he's…"

"He's someone that has hurt your comrades and right now you're the only one that can beat him. Are you telling me that you'll give up on them and let Gaara go unpunished? If so you disappoint me."

"I guess you're right, Sensei. I wouldn't make much of a Hokage if I did that huh." Naruto answered, halfheartedly.

Turning around, Naruto walked towards the group of Shinobi and Sasuke, who was still lying on the seats. Seeing the strange, almost grim look on his face, the group instantly went quiet. Sasuke stirred a bit as he struggled to see Naruto's face. He had already come too and he had also heard Gaara's scream moments ago.

"He Naruto." Ino said suddenly. "Don't tell me you're going up against that guy as well? He's a monster! Even Sasuke-kun couldn't defeat him!"

"A monster huh." he answered gloomy, almost whispering. "I guess you're right."

Stepping past Ino, he walked up to Sasuke and spoke up.

"Sasuke. I... I…I'm sorry, but it looks like," he struggled with his words suddenly. "We won't have our fight after all. I'm sorry." And with that, he suddenly turned around and walked down the steps that would lead him into the arena down below.

Surprised by the dark tone in his words, all the other shinobi looked at his back as he walked down the steps.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kiba said as soon as Naruto was out of their sight.

"Naruto-kun, he's…" Hinata started,

"He doesn't think he'll come back." Sakura finished for her.

"What?!" the other's all shouted.

No-one noticed that Kakashi still hadn't moved from where he had spoken to Naruto, or the fact that Gai had moved himself and now stood next to his rival.

"Why on earth did you do that Kakashi? The boy's too scared to fight this opponent. He'll get killed!" the loud man almost yelled.

"I know Gai, but there's a reason I said Naruto should fight him. You already knew didn't you? That boy, Gaara, and Naruto are the same. They are both Jinchuuriki who have been hated and feared throughout their lives. And it's because Gaara has always survived on his own, Naruto got scared. He's forgotten the meaning of his own strength and only looks at the opponent's. And right now, with the way Gaara is, Naruto is the only one who has the ability to defeat him. You saw it didn't you? He used Kyuubi's chakra to save Sasuke. As he is now, he probably doesn't stand a chance against Gaara, but if he were to overcome his fear Naruto would show him all the corners of the ring."

"I still think it's too much of a risk. There's too big a chance that he stays scared and can't fight at all. And if that happens, he'll be killed without a fight."

"Then you don't know Uzumaki Naruto. And I don't want to hear you about risky tactics."

---

"Now then," Genma announced, as Naruto walked into the arena with his shoulders hanging. At that moment, he really looked like a person ready for his execution. Gaara turned around the instant the blonde had stepped in and never once stopped looking at him.

"Now that both fighters are present. Let the semi-finals BEGIN!"

A/N: now you'll have to wait for 2 more weeks before I update the story again. And please leave a review telling me what you think of the story and what you think can improve about my writing capabilities.

And as for the questions:

Shadow Lunis asked if the match would be stopped if Gaara went demon. In my idea they wouldn't stop it since a demon's power is simply an advantage, just like a bloodline limit. They have no real reason to stop the fight yet, since it IS still allowed to kill your opponents.

And ArmorOfGeddon asked how it is that Kiba and Hinata are still conscious. After your question I realize that I didn't write it down, but in this version Hinata is almost completely healed from her injuries, meaning she didn't have her bleedings during Naruto's fight with Neji, which resulted in Kabuto not needing to help and Kiba and Hinata thus still being conscious. And as for the reason; you'll find out later on.