This should hopefully be the best chapter; no promises

This should hopefully be the best chapter; no promises.

Chapter Three:

The Truth is Revealed

Team Gai , Kakashi, and Sakura raced towards the training grounds.

"Where's Yamato?" Sakura frantically asked.

"He and Sai are on a mission, they won't be back for at least two more days." Kakashi had a grim look on his face. Sakura was stunned; she knew Yamato was the only one who could stop Naruto. Team Gai was a few paces behind Kakashi and Sakura.

"Gai-sensei, what happened to Naruto?" asked Lee, concerned for his friend.

"I as well am confused as to what is happening." added Neji. Neji had noticed the somber expression on Gai's face, something he only saw in the direst of circumstances. Gai didn't reply.

"Please Gai-sensei, tell us what has happened to our good friend Naruto," Lee asked, confused as to why Gai didn't answer him. Kakashi looked back at Gai.

"It's not my place to say," said Gai, very perturbed. At this response, even Tenten, who considered herself an acquaintance to Naruto, became intrigued. Not for Naruto's sake, but more as to why Gai was acting strangely. Lee and Neji kept quiet, they had never seen Gai like this before, and he knew something they didn't. Lee was about to speak again when a look from Neji made him think otherwise. "BOOOOM!!" An explosion in the distance caught everyone's attention.

"What could that have been?"

"I don't know Lee," Neji responded.

"We have to hurry," Kakashi stated gravely. The group doubled their speed; the training ground was in view. Kiba and Shino had apparently heard the explosion as well; they joined alongside Kakashi and Sakura.

"Hey, you guys heard that, right?" asked Kiba.

"Yes, we're going there now to see what's wrong. Something happened to Naruto," Neji said. "Byakugan!" Veins popped out of Neji's forehead. Akamaru started whimpering. They landed next to Hinata and Shikamaru, who were hiding behind a tree.

Lee looked around, "Where's Naruto?"Neji was studying a powerful chakra system hidden in the dust. The dust began to clear, and a low, growling noise could be heard. Four tails were swishing violently, and two white eyes stared malevolently at them; sending shivers through the group. Kakashi looked down and closed his eyes, Gai stepped beside him.

"Wha-what is that thing!?" Lee looked in awe, Neji as well; Kiba took a few steps back, as did Tenten. Shino stood motionless, watching from the shadows. It was a terrible sight to behold.

Kakashi looked up with a solemn expression, "That's Naruto." Gasps escaped everyone's mouths. Tears streamed down Hinata's cheeks. Everyone was speechless. There sat Naruto, at the bottom of a crater, with four tails, white eyes, and covered in blood. Kakashi saw something stir behind Naruto, so did Gai.

"There's someone down there!"

"Who?"

"It's that Lance guy, he's been holding off Naruto," Shikamaru said unsmiling. Lance rose to his feet and used a Body Flicker to appear before Kakashi.

"We have a problem," he panted. Lance was bruised and battered, and had a large slash across his chest.

"I know," said Kakashi, watching Naruto, his Sharingan activated. Naruto sat there, growling.

"Does anyone know how to stop him?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yamato is the only one, and he isn't here."

"Can't we help him?" cried Hinata. Sakura went over to comfort her, tears in her eyes as well.

"There's nothing we can do, no one can stop him like this. We're going to have to hope he snaps out of it on his own."

Lance spoke up, "I might be able to find a way to stop him, I just need you to buy me some time. Can you do that?" Everyone focused their attention on Lance.

"Who are you?" Gai asked.

"No time to explain, just answer me!"

"What are you planning?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know, yet. Just go." Lance took a knee on the ground. He closed his eyes. His consciousness faded to darkness.

"What's he doing?!" said a frenetic Shikamaru.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's our only hope. Gai, come with me, the rest of you, go get help." Kakashi and Gai leapt into the crater. Naruto extended a tail and began whipping it at Gai and Kakashi.

"We have to help them!" yelled Kiba.

"There's nothing we can do, we have to get help before we get killed!" Shikamaru glared at Kiba.

Neji agreed with Shikamaru, "He's right, Naruto's too powerful, I doubt even those two could stop him," as he looked at Gai and Kakashi.

"NARUTO!!"

Hinata reluctantly followed Kiba and Shino, who hated seeing there teammate in such distress. Sakura followed Hinata, and Team Gai brought up the rear. Kakashi and Gai were having it rough just avoiding Naruto's attacks.

"Kakashi, we can't fight him while not holding back, we'll get killed."

"Don't hold back."

"We don't want to hurt him, though."

"Don't worry, in his four-tailed state, Naruto is almost indestructible. We couldn't put a scratch on him even if we tried."

Gai began focusing chakra, his eyes turned white and his skin red, "Life Gate: Release!" Chakra surged out of Gai, who began a relentless assault on Naruto.

Lance awoke in a stone corridor; it was pitch black, except for a faint light at the end. Almost to dark to see, Lance ran towards the light, the sound of his shoes against the stone echoed throughout. He ran his hand against the cool, slick stone walls, trying to keep on track. He slowed down as he passed under a stone arch, inscribed with an unknown language. The temperature suddenly dropped, and chains began to rattle. Lance walked into a large, open room. He was greeted by a deep, sinister voice, yet eloquent voice, "It's been awhile since you've been in here, boy."

The voice came from behind a set of iron bars; a silhouette appeared on the ground. The shadow was cast by an undying flame, sitting atop a platform next to the iron bars. It shed enough light to illuminate the room and some of the cage. The silhouette spread its wings, and a hand beckoned Lance closer. He obeyed, and now stood directly in front of the cage. The figure lunged forward. "CLINK" The sound of the chain holding its captive tight reverberated through the room. Lance stood his ground.

"My, my, this chain is a terrible nuisance. Do me a favor, would you, unlock the cage. I feel the urge to wreak havoc upon mortal souls."

"Sorry, you know I can't do that. Besides I have more urgent matters to attend to. I need your help."

"Well, what could I possibly do? Do you seek my power, boy?"

"I need to know how to stop my friend's rampaging."

"Ah yes, the Jinchuuriki; vessel for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. How quaint. Would I be correct in saying that it has manifested itself?"

"Yeah, now how do I stop him?"

"With a suppression jutsu, of course. But if memory serves, you have no such ability. Quite the conundrum, yes?

"I know you know how to stop him, now tell me!"

"Very well, your presence has appeased my boredom. As for the jutsu, it is quite simple; this is what you must do."

Lance opened his eyes and stood up; he was in the same spot as earlier. It had only been a couple minutes on the outside after he entered his mindscape. He unsheathed his sword. The sword was a deep crimson; the blade itself was three feet in length. It glistened in the setting sun. Lance swiped his thumb across the tip. Kakashi and Gai were running ragged, they couldn't keep dodging and evading for much longer. Lance slid down the slope of the crater.

"I know how to stop him, just hold on a little longer." Kakashi looked at him suspiciously, but immediately came back to reality.

"We'll try."

"You need to get out of here as fast as you can when I give you a signal." He thrust his sword into the tender earth, and ran in a wide circle around Naruto; slicing the ground as he went. He cut across the diameter five times, turning at 36° angles. A circumscribed pentagram appeared, with Naruto in the center. At this point, Naruto expelled chakra from his body, and then compressed it into a small sphere. He swallowed it, and began to slowly expand.

"Go, NOW!"

Without hesitation, Kakashi and Gai leapt out of the crater and ran for cover. Lance drew a pentagram on his palm with blood; the pentagram on the ground began to glow a faint white, as well as the one on his palm. The chakra beam began forming at Naruto's mouth.

"FIVE ELEMENTS: DEMONIC STYLE SUPPRESSION!!" Black, shadowy hands arose from the five corners of the pentagram and grabbed Naruto, similar to Yamato's wooden pillars. Naruto fired right before the Kyuubi's chakra began to fade. Lance drew his sword, trying to block the chakra discharge. Too late, he managed to deflect the beam from his vitals, but it still tore a hole in his abdomen. Lance was sent spiraling from the impact; his body was sent up and out, into the trees. He snapped through two tree trunks before his momentum slowed. He fell in a heap on the forest floor, blood pouring from his open wound.

"There he is, get him on a stretcher!" Those were the last things he heard before slipping into a dark unconsciousness.

The rookie nine minus Sasuke, Team Gai, and their sensei's, minus Asuma, looked at the scene with confusion. Naruto and Lance were carried off on stretchers, each with heavy sustained damage. They stood in the crater, looking down the ravine created by Naruto's chakra beam. The sun had set; night encompassed the land, and an unbearable silence infused the air. Everyone went home, left to wonder about the day's events.

It was 3:00 AM; Lance awoke in a hospital bed, covered in bandages. "Ugggghhhh," he struggled to sit up. He looked around the unfamiliar room. He took the sheets off the bed with his one available hand and noticed he was only wearing a pair of boxers. "Where are my clothes?" He whispered to keep from drawing attention to himself. As he was looking around, he saw someone lying in a bed across the room. It was Naruto. He was bandaged as much as Lance and he was sound asleep. He couldn't help but smirk as Naruto snored and started making inappropriate gestures.

"Ohhh Sakura, Sakura, god yes Sakura." He apparently was having a very good dream. That's when it hit Lance, he didn't have his sword!

"Shit, where'd that thing go!" He frantically searched the room. After about five minutes, he reached the conclusion that it wasn't there. He staggered out of the room and into the dark hallway. He clumsily made his way to the front desk, and looked around behind the counter. A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"You looking for this?" Lance jerked up. Tsunade stood behind him, holding his sword, back in its sheath.

"Gimme that!" He lunged after the sword, but Tsunade kept it out of his reach. He was sweating profusely and could hardly stand, so he steadied himself on the counter.

"Keep it down." Tsunade reprimanded him in a stern whisper.

"Please. Give it to me."

"No, you have some explaining to do first."

"I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of explaining to do tomorrow."

"Fair enough. Here you go." Tsunade handed over the sword. Lance unsheathed it to make sure it was O.K. Still in one piece, he put it back.

"Now, go back to your room, you shouldn't be walking around anyway."

Lance slowly made his way back to the infirmary. He slowly closed the door so he wouldn't wake Naruto. As he walked past the foot of Naruto's bed, he heard sheets rustle.

"Where'd you go?" Naruto watched Lance through the darkness.

"I went to get my sword back." Lance went over to his bed and sat down; he propped himself up against the back.

"So, why are you as messed up as me?"

"Your furry friend came out to say 'hi'."

"I thought so. Did I hurt any more of my friends?" Naruto was about to cry.

"No, not physically anyway. I get the feeling that we'll both have to explain ourselves tomorrow. It's gonna be a long day."

"What do you have to explain, you didn't do anything."

"Who do you think got you under control? Everyone was afraid since this Yamato person wasn't here, so I stepped up and took you down."

What, how?"

"Get some rest, I'll explain tomorrow." Naruto grunted and went back to sleep. Lance closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.