AN: HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER. GET READY, BECAUSE NOW THE REAL FUN BEGINS!

Chapter Two: The Ichibi

Naruto sped through the forest, on his way to see Gaara. He personally hated the smoldering heat of the Hidden Sand Village, but this was for Kyuubi.

And right now, he'd do anything for Kyuubi.

The forest soon gave way to sparse, dead trees, and the earth slowly transformed into sandy soil, both signifying Naruto was nearing his destination. He'd been on the move for roughly two days, so he perked up at the thought of finally seeing Gaara. "Kyuu-chan? Can you sense Gaara and Ichibi?" Naruto asked mentally. The soft, smooth voice in his mind answered, "Gaara, yes. Ichibi I can barely sense because of her seal. They're about 4 miles east."

Naruto stopped and looked around. The Sand Village was south of him, so he promptly turned east and jogged, Kyuubi slowly channeling her chakra so Naruto wouldn't overheat. After about 2 miles, Naruto stopped and unsealed a canteen from a scroll in his back pocket. He drank heartily, and sealed it away.

Naruto frowned. He'd hoped he wasn't getting too hot, because it looked like the sand was moving…

Just as the realization hit him, Naruto was yanked into the air, sand holding him by his ankles. He was then pulled backwards and harshly rotated 180 degrees, still dangling by his ankles. As Naruto slowly opened his eyes, he took in the menacing eyes of Gaara, the One Tail Jinchurikii.

"Oh, it's you," Gaara droned in his monotonous voice. He then set Naruto down, thankfully upright. His sand withdrew into his container, and Gaara folded his arms. "What do you want? I'm training."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. He knew he couldn't just ask Gaara for the Ichibi. So he decided to explain his situation from start to finish.

Well, most of it. Kyuubi got quite a laugh out of Naruto avoiding telling the more… mature details of their little "chat", as he called it.

"You want to free all nine Bijuu?" Gaara asked in disbelief. "That's insane! What could you possibly gain from that?!" Naruto could almost feel Kyuubi smirking. "Well, Naruto?" she teased in his mind. "Answer him." I'd be getting the most beautiful woman, no, goddess, I'd ever seen, Naruto thought. Wait a minute… maybe that would work…

"Gaara are you seeing anyone?"

The question surprised the sand user. "What?! Why are you asking me that?!" "Just answer the damn question!" Naruto said, knowing his plan hinged on the answer. "No, I'm not seeing anyone!" Gaara snapped, "But what does that have to do with anything?!"

Naruto smirked, "Ask the Ichibi."

Inside Gaara's mind, the Ichibi lounged in a chair constructed of sand. She sighed. Being inside Shukaku was so boring. She couldn't even converse with Gaara unless the madman let her. Not that she would want to anyway. The way Shukaku described him, the boy was as interesting as drying paint. Outside of Shukaku's belly she heard the droning voice that was Gaara.

"So do you have any idea what those two are up to?" Gaara asked. Shukaku chuckled. "No clue," he growled. "But if it means I can be free… I'll do it."

Ichibi shot up out of the chair; it sank back into the sand in response. She couldn't let Shukaku be free, especially while he was siphoning her power. She had to warn Gaara. Yelling wouldn't help; she'd tried that already. She kicked the sand in frustration.

Wait… the sand…

Ichibi had a brilliant idea. She quickly built up a lot of sand in Shukaku's stomach. She lodged his throat with it, and the massive sand beast coughed. "God damn you, demon!" he shouted mentally at her. "Stop this instant!"

Ichibi ignored him and rose up on a pillar of sand, heading upwards to the beast's mouth. As he coughed again Ichibi jumped from the pillar and landed on his wet slimy tongue. She saw Gaara's mindscape was full of sand, and quickly formed tall pillars in the beast's maw, forcing it open. "Gaara!" she shouted, getting his attention.

Gaara looked up to see a beautiful tan-skinned woman, with long, flowing sand- colored hair. Her eyes were golden, like Shukaku's, and she had sand-colored tattoo like markings all over her body. A very impressive body, in fact. Double D cups, smooth hourglass shape, and a very cute face.

One of the pillars shattered from Shukaku trying to close his mouth; the woman quickly constructed another one. She leapt out of the mouth of Shukaku; using pillars to reach the ground. She landed in front of Gaara, and spoke quickly.

"Listen, I don't have much time. My name is Ichibi. That thing over there is Shukaku. He imprisoned me and absolutely cannot be freed. Tell my sister Kyuu I'm holding him back. Once you free me he'll disperse from your mind."

Shukaku finally cracked the pillars and roared, almost shaking Gaara's mindscape.

Ichibi gathered more sand around her, preparing for a long, exhausting battle with the insane priest.

"Better hurry it up Gaara, I'm counting on you."

Gaara was then yanked from his subconscious, and he stared into the worried eyes of Naruto. "I'll do it. I'll free Ichibi." Naruto noticed Gaara had called the bijuu 'Ichibi' and not 'the Ichibi' meaning they had talked, but while Gaara was in his mindscape, Naruto had watched his face turn from confused, to startled, to worried. There was even a slight tone of urgency in Gaara's voice.

"Okay, Kyuu-chan. How do we do this?" Naruto asked mentally. "Find his seal and place both hands on it," Kyuubi instructed. "I'll do the rest." Naruto asked Gaara to show him his seal, and Gaara took off his shirt. A burst of chakra revealed it to be on his back. As Naruto placed his hands on the seal, he felt Kyuubi push an intense amount of demonic chakra into it. The seal glowed red, and Gaara screamed in pain. It then flared brightly, and slowly faded away.

Naruto stepped back from Gaara. "Well?" he asked Kyuubi. "Give it time," the fox said. Naruto could tell she was excited. Then, Gaara began coughing, and leaned forward and retched. Naruto peered over his friend's shoulder to see a large, pulsing tan blob of chakra. The sand swirled around it as it began to take form.

Ichibi no Tanuki was drop dead gorgeous.

She was a little shorter than Kyuubi, maybe standing at 5'8". Tan skin and sand colored markings blended well with each other. Her hair was wavy, unlike Kyuu's, and seemed to shift like the sand. Her playful double D's and firm ass were nice touches, too, in Naruto's opinion. She was dressed in a simple white skin tight dress that hugged her body.

Ichibi looked around, stunned at her surroundings. She was free. She was finally free! And it was all thanks to…

Her eyes settled on two teenage boys who looked like they were about to die from severe nosebleeds.

Quickly, she smothered Gaara in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she squealed. Gaara mumbled "you're welcome" from her breasts. Ichibi dropped Gaara like dead weight and then had Naruto take his place, giving him a light kiss on the forehead.

Naruto smiled. It felt good to see her so happy. "Ichibi I have a favor to ask." The bijuu smiled in response. "Anything. Name it." Naruto lifted his shirt as Kyuubi suddenly told him to. "Place your hand on my stomach. Kyuubi can explain better than I can."