Thanks to all my reviewers: Ella Clevek, .girl, Shadow Zeranion, Hailey619, cardcaptor eternity, Lupanari, Sakuramar, xX Naru Fantasy Xx, dragongirl92, yaoifangrl4ever, MadnessLover, Acara Whitefox, sugarcrazedninja, ReaperofDarkness, Tainted-reflection-126, Megaolix, wednesday1990, Kitty-chan, upyoursrasengan, kyuubi-rain, Lily Yamamoto, Octavia Andrea Tucker-Harrison, r2d2cool, The Group of One, , Utena-Puchiko-nyu, Namikaze naru14, Kammari, Talonspike, Namikaze14, Uzumaki Naruko14, Shadowed Mist, Marz1, sandaime23, envygreedgreenthunder, Kitty-chan and Nya-chan, Lunatic Pandora1, Harue Harlequin, Sanosuke Hidane, qtar1984, yuroshima, and ArrangedloveMatch.
The 300th reviewer was envygreedgreenthunder and has asked for a piece of galaxy chocolate! Here you go!
I'd also like to give a little thank you to Megaolix for giving a quick burst of inspiration for an aspect of this chapter that I was struggling with!
Chapter 10: The Power Unleashed
Gaara couldn't help gasping in shock as his uncle stood before him.
"Ya—Yashamaru?" he whispered. Why was he here? There was no way he could have survived that blast . . . and stayed hidden all those years. Gaara knew he was dead—he had seen the body!
Suddenly there was a flash of light and his uncle lay against the wall with blood splattered all over; just like it was all those years ago. People in the hall screamed in horror at all the blood but they ceased walking to find out the cause. Did that Gaara guy kill him?
"Gaara . . . ," his uncle wheezed. The redhead couldn't take it. He fell to his knees, tugging his hair and tried to control his conflicting emotions.
"I was ordered by your father, the Kazekage . . . to kill you." This was met with gasps from many who stood around, and the wizards all stared at Gaara. Naruto was the most surprised. He had figured that his friend's past was not a pleasant one, but to have his own father order people to kill him? That was worse than not having a father.
"STOP!" People were shocked. His whole stay, Gaara had been completely reserved, hardly displaying his emotions save it be a small smile or angry scowl, but he had never lost control before.
"You were never loved. You have no friends. You are a monster." Although he said it quietly, the words sliced through the air, piercing the young boy's heart.
"SHUT UP!"
"Gaara." He looked up, and observed in horror that his mother had appeared next to the dying Yashamaru; she was as beautiful as her picture showed, but she did not wear the same kind expression. His mother examined him as if he were a piece of garbage.
"You were only born to satisfy the needs of the village. Live on, so that my hatred lives on, my son." Then she turned to sand and was blown away.
Suddenly Yashamaru transformed into Gaara, who scowled. "You cannot escape it. Shukaku will take over, because you are a monster!" At the last word the fake Gaara began to transform into a miniature form of Shukaku.
Students screamed as sandy arms and legs appeared, covered in purple veins. Shaking off his confusion and fear, Naruto jumped in front of Gaara, ready to attack the bastard who was hurting his friend. Was this some sort of genjutsu? he wondered.
In mid-transformation the boggart paused and then with a crack turned into a young Naruto, who had tears running down his face as he sobbed quietly. To his horror he heard the whispers of the villagers echoing through the outside hall.
"That's him."
"Stay away or he'll kill you!"
"You're a monster!"
"Go away!"
"It's not true! Kai!" Naruto yelled in an attempt to stop the genjutsu. The crying child did not go away. "Kai! Kai! Kai!"
When it still did not disappear, he chucked a kunai at the sobbing figure, who jumped aside and turned into a miniature version of the Nine-Tailed Fox, while Sakura and Sasuke appeared beside it.
"Naruto?" the boggart Sakura asked, staring in horror at the fox. In response the demon slashed a tail through her chest, spilling blood everywhere. Once she fell, she turned towards the real Naruto and whispered, "It's true. You are a monster," and then she died.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Seeing her die because of him before him and hearing her call him a monster was almost too much. He was unable to prevent the horrified tears form falling down his face.
"Naruto." This was the one he feared the most. Sasuke was examining him with disgust and hatred, his Sharingan eyes flaring.
"You wasted all this time trying to save me. It was worthless; I should have killed you the last time we met." Then to Naruto's horror he reached up to his face and pulled the fleshy mask off to be replaced by the sinister face of Orochimaru.
"I've already taken over his body!" the snake man hissed, licking his lips with his unnaturally long tongue. "You will be my next container!" Everyone screamed as his neck flew up in the air like a snake and charged towards the boy, fangs extended, ready for the bite to produce a curse mark.
At this time Ron regained mobility in his legs and jumped in front of Naruto just in time; the freaky snake man's face an inch in front of his. The man laughed manically, and then turned into a giant spider.
"Riddikulus!" Instantly the legs of the spider had tiny skates, and Ron laughed forcefully as it struggled to stay up then repeated the incantation, causing the boggart to disappear in a cloud of smoke with a small pop.
Everyone was silent, except for the groaning and panting of the two shinobi. Hermione and Harry had their hands on Gaara's shoulders, trying to calm him down. His ragged breathing and painful whimpering were heartbreaking.
"Aguamenti," Hermione said slowly, aiming the tiny stream of water into the boy's face in an attempt to shake him out of it.
Instead of it doing what she expected it to do, she and Harry gasped as his skin darkened, and it seemed as if pieces of his face were falling off. After a second had passed they realized it was sand falling in soggy chunks. Underneath was untouched, pale skin.
Hermione gingerly lifted Gaara's head up to face her, and was horrified to see that his pupils had shrunk and the blood vessels in his eyes were large and many in number. Suddenly his breathing came in ragged gasps, in a voice deeper than his own, mixed with cries of pain.
Meanwhile, those who weren't staring at Gaara had their attention on the yellow haired boy, who was standing with his hands clenched and eyes covered in shadows. There was a suffocating presence all around him, and people stood transfixed as what appeared to be orange flames began to circulate around his body.
He began to roar and snarl like an animal, and the stone floor he stood on began to crack; pieces of sand and dirt starting to rise up and swirl around him.
Ron gulped and put an arm out to touch the boy but the orange flames around Naruto charged towards Ron. They slammed him against the wall and he slid to the ground as he coughed and blood trickled down his jaw.
"RON!" Their past argument forgotten, Harry felt torn between rushing to protect his friend and staying with Hermione.
Only when Naruto glanced up did people awaken from their paralysis. They ran away when they saw his eyes had changed to a fiery red with black slits, whisker marks more pronounced, his teeth turned into fangs, and his nails grew considerably.
Out of nowhere Kakashi appeared and charged toward Naruto. He had been propped against a tree near the Forbidden Forest, reading a book when he felt the Nine-Tailed Demon's chakra permeate the air.
"NARUTO!" He tried to charge at the boy, but the orange chakra that surrounded him thrust the teacher back, who collided with the ground so forcefully it cracked. Kakashi swore a long string of curses in his native language as he pushed himself up.
His eyes widened as Naruto bent down on all fours and one distinct chakra tail appeared.
"Everybody MOVE!" Kakashi racked his brains for an answer to calm the boy as all the students scurried for their lives. As he thought, he noticed Gaara panting on the floor, while Hermione and Harry dragged him out of harms way. Kakashi could then feel the presence of Shukaku forcibly trying to wriggle his way out.
He swore again. He did not need two demons coming loose here, not when he was the only one who could stop them. The trouble was that he was in a confined area with all these innocent wizards, so he wouldn't be able to use a strong jutsu to disarm the boy. Anything too powerful could potentially harm the nearby wizards, so he would have to try using the basics, and he greatly doubted his ability to do so. He was dealing with an emotionally unbalanced Jinchuuriki after all.
Despite the slim chances, the copy ninja performed some rapid seals, forcing the stone tiles on the floor to uproot themselves and tie the boy down. After a few seconds Naruto gathered his chakra and destroyed the stone chains, scattering rubble everywhere as he did so.
I need to stop him before he grows another tail, thought Kakashi. But how? Sadly, he didn't have much time to think as Naruto charged, sending his own chakra shuriken in his sensei's direction.
Kakashi dodged as many as he could, returning them with real shuriken and kunai in full. He allowed the partially possessed boy to come close to him, and when he struck Kakashi performed Kawarimi, forcing Naruto to completely demolish a tree stump instead of him.
He reappeared behind Naruto but before he could strike, the boy swung around and slashed his vulpine claws across Kakashi's unprotected body, ripping his jounin jacket off and reducing his black undershirt to shreds. Kakashi howled in pain as the powerful claws made deep, bloody grooves that ran from his right shoulder to left hip.
The shinobi jumped out of harms way and clutched his chest, blood trickling down to the floor. He couldn't give up now! Even with one tail Naruto would be able to destroy the enormous castle, along with everyone in it.
"Come on Hermione! We have to move," Harry said as they did their best to drag Gaara away from the battle.
"I—I'm trying!" Hermione said, unable to tear her eyes from the fight going on between Kakashi and Naruto. "What's happening to them?" she asked fearfully.
Harry found himself unable to answer that question. "Gaara, what—" Suddenly the boy threw the two off of him with such force that they flew a couple feet before landing on the ground.
They both rolled on the grass for a couple yards, then were instantly brought to their feet by the other bystanders who had ran out of the way. Neville and Dean quickly lifted Harry off the ground while the twins helped Hermione.
"Thanks, guys," Harry panted, yet his jaw dropped as he turned his attention back to Gaara.
Sand was streaming out of his robes, attaching to his right arm and right side of his face. To everyone's horror, it appeared that he was transforming into the hideous creature the boggart had started to turn into. The half of Gaara's face that was transformed looked like some sort of dog, with strange yellow eyes and drool running down the side. The half of his body that was Gaara was in obvious pain, as he screamed in fury and tugged at his hair.
Without even realizing what she was doing, Hermione wrenched her arms out of Fred and George's grasp and ran towards Gaara, pleading for him to stop.
"HERMIONE MOVE!" Harry cried as the half-transformed Gaara lifted up his right hand and tried to crush her to the ground with it. She shrieked and jumped out of the way. The arm collided with the ground where she had been just seconds before.
However, some of the spewed earth knocked Hermione off balance and caused her to land on the ground again. She coughed and tried to brush the dirt off of her face, and then to Harry's dismay, a large sand tail appeared on Gaara and he shifted slightly to bring it down on the unsuspecting girl.
Harry yanked out his wand and the next few seconds seemed to go by slowly, as if time was on a standstill. He quickly racked his memory on how to perform the summoning spell, then performed the necessary movements, and bellowed with as much feeling as he could possibly muster, "ACCIO HERMIONE!"
Before he had a chance to register that it worked Hermione crashed into him, knocking him to the ground once more, only this time it hurt a lot. The witch scrambled off him hurriedly and sat him up.
"Harry? Harry!" She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed he was all right. "That was an amazing use of a Summoning spell," she admitted, quite pleased with his performance.
Brushing off the compliment, Harry turned his attention back to Gaara, who appeared incredibly confused, looking back and forth between Hermione and Harry on the ground and then the spot where he had almost obliterated the girl.
"Finish them!" a deep voice uttered.
"NO!" Gaara protested, yanking at his hair again, stepping backwards slightly.
"You will do as I command!"
"Gaara!" Hermione screamed, her shoulders being restrained by Harry and tears slowly sliding down her cheek. "Fight it! Fight it, I know you can!"
"GO AWAY!" Gaara roared, and to everyone's astonishment, the sand began to recede, falling to the ground in large chunks until Gaara was back to normal, at least on the outside. He brought his hands up to his face and sank to his knees, panting in pain.
Before anyone had a chance to see if Gaara was all right, Kakashi collided with the ground a few feet away from them, showering everyone with earth. He slowly got up, grunted, and ran towards Naruto again, performing a rapid series of hand signs for chidori, but before he could complete it, the demon's tail lashed out and wrapped itself around the jounin, squeezing him for a second before hurling him down the hall. Kakashi spun through the air, unable to stop himself until he collided with a tree, splintering it in half.
Ignoring the pain, he pushed himself up and charged towards Naruto again. He dodged the boy's tail, but Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled a large blast of air, sending the poor jounin into the air again. However, this time he was able to flip in the air and land somewhat decently, yet he cried out in the pain. He felt some of his ribs break.
At Kakashi's cry, Gaara glanced up and saw his friend partially taken over by his demon. He ignored the pain and chakra drain he was currently experiencing to push himself off the ground.
He ran towards Naruto and once he was close enough, enveloped the partially transformed Jinchuuriki in a fist of sand with one swift motion of his hand, squeezing the boy tighter with each passing second. Gaara was aiming to make Naruto unconscious so that the demon's influence would subside.
Naruto's demonic eyes glared at Gaara as he struggled to break free. As the sand began to crack and separate due to the orange chakra, Gaara grunted and surrounded the boy with even more sand. Kakashi overcame his pain when he saw his chance and jumped onto the sand fist. He lifted his forehead protector to reveal the Sharingan, in hopes of making eye contact and getting into Naruto's subconscious to stop the demon from breaking the seal.
For a second Naruto gazed at the eye transfixed, then snarled in a mixture of fear and anger and lashed out his chakra tail at Kakashi again, sending him spiraling into a stone pillar at a speed so great the shinobi couldn't prevent the collision. There was a loud explosion as the pillar collapsed as some of the surrounding roof fell on top of the man, completely concealing him underneath the rubble.
Gaara cried in pain as he struggled to contain the boy, his efforts slowly failing. He began vaguely aware of two people besides him, wands raised.
"Petrificus totalus!" they chanted in unison. Naruto froze at the impact of the two spells. Because they had cast it at the same time and it was foreign magic, they were able to permeate the wall of chakra that surrounded him.
"Stupefy!" they hollered. Naruto blinked for a few seconds before succumbing to the enchantment of the two spells. The Kyuubi was not used to their type of power, but as his container's mind became enveloped in darkness, he vowed to never be influenced by it again.
Once the chakra had dissipated, and Naruto's features returned to normal, Gaara slowly lowered him to the ground, calling back all his sand as he did so. He staggered forward, only to be caught by the two wizards on both sides.
"Thanks," he muttered before collapsing.
There was absolute silence as all the leftover students stared in amazement, unable to perceive what had just happened. They shrieked as the silence was disrupted by the sound of high pitched chirping.
Blue electricity surrounded the pile of rubble Kakashi was buried under, until it was blasted away by his Chidori. Everyone was astonished as they saw him emerge alive, with immense power gathered in his right hand.
Once it faded, the bruised and bloody man stumbled forward through the wreckage, glancing at the seemingly sleeping boy on the ground who was not moving an inch, the Weasley boy who lay slumped against the wall, and then at the two soiled wizards who were supporting an unconscious Gaara.
"Are they all right?" His voice was slurred, his discolored eyes unfocused. The two nodded fearfully. "Good." Then he fell forward, drained of all energy.
"Arresto momentum!" Hermione quickly used the spell that Dumbledore had used to save Harry from a deadly fall during the Quidditch match the dementors had infiltrated the previous year.
The copy ninja stopped in midair, barely a foot above the ground as his fingers brushed the floor. Harry rushed forward and slung the man's arm around his shoulders and did his best to hold him up. Suddenly Neville appeared besides him, and they both supported Kakashi.
At the same time Ginny had run forward toward Ron, checking to make sure he was all right. She was immediately followed by her twin brothers, looking grim and worried. Fred gingerly carried Ron in his arms, while George hesitantly walked to Naruto.
Anger boiled up inside of him as he thought about what Naruto had done to his brother, but George hastily reminded himself of how nice the boy was and assured himself that he had obviously not meant to. He was obviously possessed by something and his own sister had done something similar, so it's not like he could blame Naruto too much.
With a flick of his wand the binding hex lifted and he picked up the limp boy. In silence, the group carried the wounded to the infirmary.
As all the onlookers slowly walked away in disbelief at what had transpired, making sure to not walk anywhere near the scattered rubble, a lone figure with short blond hair fell to his knees in shock.
Malfoy simply could not believe what had happened. He actually found he could not understand why he had done what he did. It was like a blur, and all he could remember was sitting in the common room late last night, wondering how to get back at the freak shows, when suddenly a small little voice urged him with the idea.
Why not use a boggart on them? the voice suggested. They aren't from around here, so it should frighten them to death. Just imagine the look on their faces. At first he was a little apprehensive, remembering how the silver-haired freak had said he knew how to kill at age six or whatever, and was scared to think of what would be his worst nightmare.
Then make sure to do it when he's not around. The other two aren't that dangerous, they're still kids. Besides, they treated you horribly, making you feel like a fool in front of everyone like that! They deserve it, the voice continued maliciously, causing a wicked grin to appear on Malfoy's face.
All right, I'm in. He was amazed at how he was actually able to even find a boggart. It seemed as if he knew where to go, and only realized it when it actually occurred. Were he not so eager to get back at the two shinobi, Draco would have become suspicious at how well everything played out.
Now that he had time to think about it, he was truly frightened by the voice that had been in his head and felt utterly ashamed at what he had done. True, it was worth it seeing that it had an effect on the two weirdos, but even to him it seemed a bit too cruel. He enjoyed seeing others suffer (because that meant it wasn't him suffering) but that had gone too far.
Malfoy paused for a moment to search for the strange voice and called out for it in his mind. Satisfied that it wasn't there anymore, Draco gave one last glance toward the open door where he had hid the boggart and ran in the other direction, desiring the comfort of his fellow Slytherins as they praised him for such a prank. It would make him feel less uneasy, at any rate.
As the blond ran off, another figure deep within the shadows of the open room chuckled malevolently.
Such a lucky event that the Lucius brat has such an encouraging mind to imperuse, he thought to himself. He was the perfect one to carry this out. The man was thoroughly pleased with his powerfully altered boggart. Because really, who had ever seen a normal boggart speak or split into different beings? He was counting on the fact that the two shinobi were so different that people would attribute that to the boggart's unordinary behavior.
He was actually intrigued to see what a normal boggart would have shown, but then again, it wouldn't have been as effective. The Dark Lord wished to know the full extent of their power, as well as the reason why they harbored such power.
Who would have thought there were such terrible beasts sealed away inside their bodies?
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT EDIT! Okay, so I've gotten a couple of reviews where people are questioning why Kakashi failed to stop Naruto, and Sasuke was able to. I am not angry, and I realize that these are very important and valid questions. There IS a method to my madness, however, and if you will stick with me, I shall explain.
First off, Kakashi is in a very enclosed area, with hundreds of bystanders nearby, all who could potentially killed by Naruto in his possessed state. He is not able to unleash some huge jutsu without putting everyone's life in danger. His best hope was in keeping Naruto away from everyone and try to stop him without doing anything major. Secondly, he sorta didn't know how to handle him, having never interacted with him, and could have been a little nervous about seriously injuring his student. With Sasuke, he didn't care about hurting Naruto; he wanted to kill him.
Also, many are questioning how spells are able to work against Naruto, and like I tried to explain, this is all foreign to him, and the first time Kyuubi has had to interact with them. HOWEVER this will be the last time that this will occur, because he understands it now, and will not let it affect him anymore.
Does that answer your questions? I hope it does. If not, feel free to PM me about anything! I will not get angry, because it's only natural that people have questions, and I do have a reason behind everything I put in this story, and I have thought it all out long and hard. (This explanation will be posted at the beginning of the next chapter, for those who have already read this and didn't review, just to make sure that they get the message!) Thank you for your time and patience! /End Edit
There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it, I sure did! I also hope that the explanation behind how the spells worked on the Kyuubi's cloak seemed plausible, because he truly hadn't ever encountered those spells before, so it would make sense that it would surprise him and not work.