Chapter 11

Reunion

"After all that time…."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

They both stared at the final obstacle in their path. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't see the end. There was only sand, sand, and more sand. Deep down, they probably preferred traveling in the forest instead of the long dry desert. Oh well…it had to be done.

"Let's go," Kiba said as he took off into the desert. Akamaru was already running along side him.

"Yeah." Shikamaru ran behind his friend. Finally, it seemed like they were getting closer to the sand village. Even after hours of nonstop traveling, they still pushed forward. With their goal now so close, there was no way they would rest.

A small smile graced Kiba's features. "Hey Shikamaru."

"Yeah?"

"How do you think Hinata and Naruto are doing?"

Shikamaru sighed. That question had crossed his mind every now and then. "I have no idea. All we can do is hope."

"I think they're okay. What about you, Akamaru?" His ninja dog barked happily beside him.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Well, Hinata is a little too timid and Naruto, or course, can be a real troublesome guy."

Kiba couldn't help but laugh. "That's true."

"On the other hand, Hinata can be hard working when she's determined, and even though he's an idiot, Naruto doesn't give up."

"That's also true," Kiba said with a smirk. "To me, it sounds like we don't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah, we just have to hurry and get to the sand village."

"We're already in the desert; it should be smooth sailing from here."

"When is it ever smooth sailing for us?" Shikamaru wasn't normally a negative guy, but after things that happened recently, he wasn't in a very positive mood.

"Oh c'mon, what could possi…bly…" He stopped mid-sentence. Both him and Shikamaru's running slowed down to a walk and then to a complete stop. Both were staring wide-eyed in front of them. "Aww give me a break!"

"Why did you have to say that?" Shikamaru asked annoyed.

They both stared at the large mass in front of them. A giant wave of sand was speeding towards them. It looked big enough to drown half of Konoha in the earth's essence. There was no way the Konoha shinobi could avoid it.

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The giant wave crashed down, shaking the entire desert. Sand washed over sand as the massive amount slowly merged back into the desert floor. Despite the powerful tremors, one man stood resolute. He checked over his work, his arms folded, his face only showing a very serious expression. 'It's not enough. After that day, my full power still hasn't returned.' He unfolded his arms and spaced his feet apart. He clapped his hands together and focused on his target. 'One more time.'

Hand signs were quickly formed. The sand in front of his feet began to stir. It flowed to both sides and began to rise up. The seals continued until they were ended with his hands clapped together again. "Ryuusa Bakuryu." A tidal wave was formed completely out of sand. The ground even shook under the massive weight. Gaara watched as the sand wave advanced. Suddenly, his senses picked up on the unfamiliar charka. "An enemy."

Gaara felt something moving through the sand. He held out one hand and aimed at one point of the sand tsunami. What looked like a flying tornado came shooting out of the wave, but sand was already there to meet it. "Sabaku Kyuu!" The sand wrapped around the tornado and held it in the air. "Sabaku…" before he could perform the finishing blow, two tornadoes broke free from the sand coffin..

Gaara clenched his teeth. He looked from one tornado to the other and held out his hands, one aiming at each.

"Wait, Gaara!" Both of the tornadoes ceased spinning, revealing a large white dog and a ninja. "We're your allies, from Konoha."

Gaara gave the ninja a questioning stare. "Konoha?" That's when he noticed the leaf symbol on the shinobi's headband.

Both shinobi looked to the side when a large black spike shot up from the ground. From the hole that was created, another ninja crawled out. He rose to his feet and the black spike retreated and returned to the ninja's shadow. "We're here to help, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara stared at the other ninja. 'Nara Shikamaru.' With the sand village working on the chunin exams with Konoha, Shikamaru was always the one that the sand's representatives had to work with. Gaara knew a few things about the chunin, including his leadership qualities and excellent analytical mind. "Why are you two here?"

Kiba and Shikamaru both approached the Kazekage. "We're here to answer your distress call," Kiba replied.

Gaara's emotionless face hid his confusion. "Distress call?"

The two leaf ninja were both struck with confusion as well. "You sent a distress call to Konoha, didn't you?" Kiba asked.

"No," Gaara stated simply.

Kiba clenched his teeth and kicked some sand. "Ah! What's going on?! Nothing makes sense anymore."

Shikamaru sighed. He was afraid of this. He had an idea, but he desperately hoped that he was wrong. "Kazekage-sama, may I ask, what are you doing out here in the middle of the desert?"

Gaara stared at the lazy chunin. "I was training. It seems after the demon was stolen from me, I have yet to reach my full power again."

"About how long have you been training out here?"

Gaara continued to stare. This was beginning to feel like an interrogation...and he didn't like it. "Three days."

"Three days?" Kiba repeated.

Shikamaru continued. "If you were out here for three days, then that must mean that there hasn't been much activity going on within the village. Although, even if there hasn't been much activity, someone must be in your office taking care of the unimportant paper work, correct? Someone you can trust."

Gaara's assumptions about Shikamaru's thinking were confirmed. Everything the ninja said was true. "Yes, the Kazekage usually does have to deal with plenty of unimportant documents. I put someone I can trust in charge of it so I could…"

"Someone like family?" Shikamaru interjected. Kiba turned to Shikamaru when he finally understood. Gaara stared at Shikamaru seriously, trying not to give away the fact that that statement was also correct. "You put Temari in charge of the paperwork, didn't you?"

The Kazekage's head slowly nodded. Kiba took a deep breath and looked at Shikamaru, wondering about their next move. Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his head before staring at Gaara once again. "Kazekage-sama, we must get to the sand village as soon as possible."

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Naruto jumped back just in time to dodge the snake that almost bit his foot. He leaned against the wall to take a quick breath but in front of him Koga was already speeding towards him. Naruto jumped as high as he could and Koga's tiger claw crashed into the wall.

"You can't get away when you're airborne like that!" Koga rose and targeted Naruto again, his snake arm licking its lips waiting for that first bite. Thinking quickly, Naruto pushed his foot against the wall, charka flowing through his body and concentrating to his feet. Naruto ran full speed on the side of the wall. Koga was flying right behind him.

"Kage Bun…" Koga silenced the leaf ninja when the snake's fangs sunk into Naruto's left leg. Koga swung his snake arm down, yanking Naruto from the wall and throwing him to the ground.

"That's four times now," Koga declared. "Looks like the Hyuga girl is on her last leg." Naruto slowly rose to his feet, blood still oozing from the snake bite. "And this will finish it!" Koga soared toward Naruto with his tiger paw out. Before the blow could connect with Naruto's chest, Naruto grabbed the paw and held it in place.

"It's not over yet," Naruto announced.

Koga pushed with all his strength but Naruto didn't seem to be putting in any effort. He clenched his teeth. 'There was too much force in that. He shouldn't be able to stop this with his bare hand.' His snake arm revealed its bloody fangs and struck at Naruto's thigh, but the blonde's other hand grabbed the snake before it could bite. Naruto squeezed the snake's body, causing the snake to scream and Koga to wince from the pain.

"You know all about me, right? Then you should know, I have the strength of a way stronger animal." That's when Koga noticed it: the feral eyes, the broad whiskers, the fangs in his mouth, the sudden stench of foul charka. "Can your animal strength beat mine?" Naruto clenched his right hand, crushing the snake's body and breaking off its head. Snake guts poured out and Koga yelled from the pain, jumping back to a safe distance.

Koga looked down at what was left of his snake arm. It took a lot for him to not scream again. "Revert, dammit! Revert!" His left arm was covered in smoke and then Koga's human arm returned. Koga clenched his teeth harder and stared at Naruto.

"So even though it was a snake you still felt the pain when I crushed it." Naruto smirked.

Koga growled. "Left hand, become a tiger paw!" His left hand transformed and became a tiger paw to match his right. Koga clapped his two paws together. "This is my first time seeing it, the Kyubi chakra. Maybe after this I can better understand why those Akatsuki guys want it so badly. Arms of a gorilla!" Both of Koga's arms grew larger, hairier, and a lot more muscular, matching that of a gorilla. "Show me the power of a jinchuriki."

Koga flew straight at Naruto, ready to strike. Both of Koga's paws connected with Naruto's hands. As soon as the contest of strength began, Naruto took an involuntary step back. He was shocked from Koga's new strength. "These gorilla arms have made me a little bit stronger, don't you think?" Koga caused Naruto to take another step back. Naruto clenched his teeth and tried to push harder but Koga wasn't backing down.

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Hinata stared into the mystical ball. It was like she was mesmerized. Naruto and Koga were still pushing, hoping the other would budge first. It took plenty of willpower, but Hinata finally looked away. The condition of Naruto did bug her, but she still needed to find a way out of the booby-trapped room. With only one way to search the room effectively, she quickly activated her bloodline.

With her byakugan, she decided to search the ceiling first. The hundreds of paper tags were still scattered across the ceiling. After searching for a few seconds, she finally noticed something that she hadn't notice before. There was a chakra string connected to one of the tags in the corner. The string seemed to lead outside of the room. Hinata noticed that it led in the direction of the room Naruto was in. 'So that…must be how Koga will set off the bombs.'

Hinata continued her search with the floor. It only took a moment before she saw another chakra string, this one connected to the intercom implanted in the ground. She bent down closer to the intercom to get a better look. The chakra was definitely linking her room to Naruto's. The chakra was also flowing in one direction, towards her. 'That would explain why I can hear them but they can't hear me.' After inspecting a little more, an idea finally hit her. With a mighty kick, Hinata knocked the intercom aside and got straight to work.

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After all that time, someone just had to give. With a loud roar, using all his strength, Koga picked Naruto up and threw the ninja over his head. Naruto slammed to the ground and slid for a second or two before coming to a stop. Koga smiled triumphantly, even though he was nearly out of breath. "Well, that's your fifth fall. It's game over for the girl."

Even while out of breath, Naruto slowly rose to his feet to stare his enemy down. "What are you talking about?"

Koga sudden flew to the side and slammed his paw into the wall. Naruto watched in wonder as the wall crumbled, revealing another wall hidden behind it. Attached to that other wall was a single explosive tag. "This is the tag that will end her life. Once this goes, the hundreds of tags that are in her room will go off as well."

"Hundreds of tags?!" That was all that Naruto needed to hear. The leaf ninja dashed straight at Koga but before he could get too close, Koga quickly equipped a kunai and tossed it at the tag. As soon as it was struck, the tag exploded. A second later, the entire room began to shake. The sound of a faraway explosion could be heard.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he looked around the room, hoping to find a way out.

"Goodbye, Hyuga," Koga said with a chuckle.

Naruto immediately turned toward Koga and growled menacingly. After a quick seal, a clone popped up beside him and a blue chakra ball was already forming in their hands. He glared at Koga but the other boy returned the favor. Without warning, Naruto turned to the side and ran straight at the wall.

Koga watched, puzzled. "What are you going to…"

Naruto slammed his Rasengan into the wall, blowing away chunks of earth. Koga jumped and hovered in the air to make sure he didn't lose his balance from the room began shaking. He clenched his teeth as Naruto rushed through the newly created hole in the wall. "You won't escape!" Koga quickly flew after the boy.

After a few seconds, Naruto stopped his running as he entered into another large room. If his memory was correct, he was now in the room at the end of Hinata's path. There were only two important things in the room: a doorway that led back into the other tunnels and a hole in the corner of the ceiling. Out of the hole, sunlight shone through.

"Sunlight? So this is the exit." As happy as he was that he found the exit, Naruto still had an unhappy expression. He still needed to find Hinata. After all, she did survive that explosion…right? No, there was no doubt in his mind. She did survive, she had to. Naruto ran towards the wall that separated him and the room that Hinata entered. Before he could create a clone, a tiger paw slammed into his back, its claws sinking into his skin. With one push, Naruto flew forward and crashed into the wall before falling to the ground. Koga hovered a few feet away.

"Our fight isn't over," he said simply. "That girl is gone, so why don't you face me now."

Naruto coughed up blood as he stood up. He stared at Koga while breathing heavily. "I will face you, after I show you that Hinata is still alive."

Koga laughed. "Oh how childish. It seems you can't face the reality of your comrade's death."

Naruto's clenched his fist. "Is that right?! Well, I'll prove to you that…" He was interrupted by a rumbling sound behind him. Naruto slowly turned his head as the sound got louder and louder. A crack appeared in the wall and slowly expanded. Finally, a few rocks were pushed aside and Hinata's head popped through, gasping for air.

Naruto's eyes lit up immediately and Koga eyes grew wide from the shock. "No way! How could you have survived?"

With a few more wiggles, Hinata somehow squeezed her body through the rocks and fell to the floor. Naruto quickly bent down to help her to her feet. "Hinata! Are you okay?" The kunoichi coughed a few times before accepting Naruto's hand and rising to her feet.

"I…I'm fine. Thanks, Naruto-kun."

Koga was still not amused. "Don't ignore my question," he said menacingly.

After dusting a few bits of dirt off of her, Hinata turned her attention toward her enemy. "Once I found a good spot, I was able to dig my way out," she answered.

"You dug through solid stone?" Koga said in disbelief.

Hinata was able to smile a little. "Actually, I was able to escape because of your own tool. The chakra string that was connected to the intercom did the trick." After a few seconds of wondering, Koga's eyes widened again as he realized how she did it. "My gentle fist can force chakra into anything. By knocking your intercom aside, I was able to use the chakra string as a starting point. By forcing my chakra into the ground, with the help of the chakra string, I could break the stone and tunnel through it."

Koga gave her a serious stare. It was clever, he could admit that, but now he wasn't in the mood to give compliments. Naruto, on the other hand, stared at Hinata in amazement. "Whoa, I would have never though you could do that. You really are awesome, Hinata."

She turned away slightly to hide her reddened face. Honestly, as long as it had to do with Naruto, she could blush no matter how serious the situation. "T…Thanks."

"Enough!" The leaf ninja turned and looked at Koga who was still hovering in the air. "I won't let either of you reach that exit!" His anger was evident. This was taking way longer than he thought it would and now the situation had gotten a lot more annoying.

Naruto took a look at Hinata for a brief second. She returned his look with a determined expression before getting into her gentle fist stance. Naruto nodded his head and took a stance of his own, ready to face the enemy.

Koga looked from one leaf ninja to the other, his wings still flapping behind him. Finally, he clapped his tiger paws together before flying full speed at the Konoha ninja.

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A/N: Took a while to write but I think its satisfying enough. Thanks for the awesome reviews and keep them coming!

Unfamiliar Jutsu:

Ryuusa Bakuryu - Sand Tsunami

Sabaku Kyuu - Sand Coffin