(Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!)

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura had joined Sasuke but only to find them beaten by a rampaging Gaara

"Hinata use your byakugan to find Shino and Tenten and heal them if they need help, Sakura you're going to heal Sasuke and Kiba as I'll handle Gaara" Naruto ordered

"Right!" they said as Hinata leapt away and Sakura went towards Sasuke

"Hey Gaara, hey buddy how's it going?" Naruto said trying to reach his ramen buddy only to be responded by screams "So the tailed beast is taking over well I'll just have to knock some sense into you!

Naruto charged Gaara only to be met by an arm of sand knocking the wind out of him. He was headed towards a tree but used his Flying Thunder God jutsu as he teleported near the exhausted Kiba

"Alright can't go head first this time" Naruto said out loud to no one but Kiba heard him

"He's linear but his strength and control over that sand covers that weakness" Kiba said

"So I need to out maneuver that sand" Naruto said

"Not only that but you need a way to get passed that sand on his body" Kiba said "Sasuke's Chidori did get through but wasn't able to take advantage of the hit as it seemed to only make him angrier"

"So I need to find a way to get around the sand like Lee's speed but still have the power to breakthrough the sand like the Chidori then I have to restrain him" Naruto said as crossed his fingers and two clones appeared "Thanks Kiba"

Hinata had found Shino and he was poisoned by Kankuro but had defeated Kankuro which once again made it a draw, Hinata healed him by extracting the poison but Shino was still weak, Tenten was still battling Temari but had a better match up against her this time as she spent more time training in her close ranged kenjutsu, albeit Temari was concerned more about Gaara than Tenten

Sakura had healed Sasuke to the point where he could move but his active curse mark made it clear that he was pushing his limits with his fight against Gaara

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba were watching Naruto fight against Gaara in his raccoon/tanuki form. Naruto and his two clones were leaping from tree to tree throwing explosive tags wherever they could slowly weakening Gaara's sand defense and since he was using clones his already sizable explosive tag supply had tripled

"He's breaking through the sand by using his explosive with clones" Kiba said excitedly as it seemed Naruto was winning

"Yeah but Gaara's sand can come back he just needs to crush the ground to make more sand" Sasuke said "Besides how many explosive tags does Naruto have left before he has to make his final move"

'Not many' Naruto thought as the rest heard him

'What do you plan on doing' Sakura asked

'To finish things with a Rasengan and do a temporary seal to fix his' Naruto said

'Seal?' Sakura questioned

'I'll explain later, but Sasuke you and Kiba stand on opposite sides of Gaara with explosive tags ready and Sakura get ready to throw me' Naruto said

'Alright' they thought as they got into position

Naruto's clones went head first into Gaara gaining his attention as he sent sand towards them to dispel them

'Now!'

Sasuke and Kiba threw two explosive tags at opposite sides of Gaara weakening his sand. Naruto teleported to Sakura and with her enhanced strength launched him towards Gaara at great speed. Naruto formed a bigger than normal Rasengan and shoved it into Gaara's torso launching him into a few trees

"Yes!" Sakura said in success 'We took down Gaara'

"Good they took down Gaara" Tenten said shocking Temari

"What?!" Temari said as she blew Tenten back with her fan and leapt away to her brother

Naruto approached Gaara and made a seal on him making him drop the transformation

"What did you do?" a weak Gaara asked

"I tightened your seal so the tailed beast can't take over as easily as it did" Naruto answered "It's only temporary though"

"How did you know" Gaara asked

"Well you can't tell anyone but I have a little sister who's life was a lot like yours, lonely, afraid, depressed... but I stepped into her life as someone to enjoy time with and as a mentor since I can't come out as her brother" Naruto said

"Why can't you confess" Gaara asked

"It's a stupid law in our village, so she grew thinking that she's an orphan with no parents and no siblings and only recently was I allowed to enter her life as a mentor" Naruto said "It's kinda why I wanted to hang out with you you're like a brother in that sense"

"Brother…" Gaara said

"Yeah no one deserves to be alone and I think you enjoyed those times at the ramen shop with old man Teuchi and Ayame" Naruto said

"Yes… they are very… nice" Gaara said reminiscing on the father-daughter ramen chefs

"Yeah and don't you want to protect those you care about" Naruto said with Gaara slightly nodding

"So just form those connections and find your reason to fight, mine is for my sister and people I hold close. What's yours?" Naruto said as Temari jumped in between them ready to fight Naruto

"Back away from my little brother!" Temari threatened only to feel a hand on her shoulder

"It's okay Temari" Gaara said "I mean... sister… He showed me that we shouldn't be fighting each other"

"But Gaara…" Temari said

'Naruto they need you back at the stadium' Shikamaru thought to the group

'What's wrong?' Hinata thought

'The barrier separating everyone from the Kage's needs another sealsmaster as Jiraiya isn't enough' Ino thought

'And that the Kazekage is actually Orochimaru and he somehow brought back the previous Hokage to fight against the other Kage' Neji thought

"Wait the Kazekage is Orochimaru and he somehow brought back my dad" Naruto said out loud as Temari and Gaara were in shock

"Dad?!" Temari said concerned about her father

Tenten finally caught up

"Tenten you and Sasuke and Sakura need to take these two and Kankuro somewhere and tell Hinata to take care of Kiba and Shino, I'm needed elsewhere" Naruto said

"Alright" Tenten said