Author Note: None
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
-Chapter XIV-
The crowd slowly files into the stadium as the competitors get ready for the fights ahead. The three Suna-nins are standing in the corner, talking amongst themselves and casting occasional glances over at the fourth Konoha-nins, more specifically, at one particular blonde Konoha-nin. Ever since Naruto, who happens to be back in his orange jumpsuit since he doesn't want his good clothes ruined in a fight, entered the Stadium's rest area just inside the walls, he has been sitting at the same spot meditating. Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino first came up with the theory that he's asleep, but when they can't seem to wake him up, even Neji admits that he had never gone into this deep a stage of meditation before. Finally, Genma, the proctor for this stage of the exam, comes in to tell them the tournament is about to start.
"What's with him?" Genma asks, noticing Naruto.
"He's been like this ever since he got here and won't respond no matter what. How troublesome."
"…It would seem that he has gone into meditation," Shino says.
"I would've never thought I would see the day that he actually stays quiet," Neji says, smirking.
"Well do what you can to wake him up. The introduction ceremony is about to begin."
"I can hear you guys just fine you know."
"Well come on. Go outside to the stadium floor so we can start the tournament. …Oh before I forget, there is a slight change to the format. One of the competitors will not be entering so Naruto, you will face Sabaku Temari in the first match."
"Fine. Let's get this show on the road."
"Whatever, I will still win," Temari says, walking pass the group.
Genma eyes Temari and Kankurou wearily. Given that Sasuke still hasn't arrived and the way the two flinched ever so slightly as soon as he mentions that one of the competitor dropped out, he is concerned about the Uchiha's well being. Regardless, he decides to ignore the uneasiness for now and follows the seven youngsters outside. As soon as the introductions are over, everyone besides Naruto, Temari, and Genma heads upstairs to the balcony to watch the fight. Standing across from Naruto, Temari glares at the blonde boy, recall the conversation she heard yesterday.
Temari grumbles as she walks inside the restaurant. How she manages to let Kankurou talk her into getting takeout for them is beyond her though she suspects that it had something to do with Gaara giving her a bone chilling glare. After making the orders, Temari takes a seat at one of the tables as she waits. With nothing better to do, she starts looking around the restaurant and stops when she notices a large group of Kunoichi sitting together.
'Hey, that's the girl with the two buns… and aren't those the two girls we met on our first day here? I'm pretty sure the blonde and the black hair girl were at the preliminary. I wonder who that little girl is…'
With nothing better to do, Temari sneaks closer to the girls' table, trying to catch their conversation. The girls are so caught up in their chat that they didn't even realize Temari moving to the booth near them. Using the menu to cover her face, Temari listens in on them.
"Tenten-nee-san, how was the weapon exhibit?" Hanabi asks, taking another sip of her lemonade.
"Oh it was really fun. Look, Naruto even got me this sword…"
"Ooh… let me see, let me see," Ino says, grabbing at the sword.
Curious, Temari peeks around the menu, trying to catch a glimpse of the sword. The sword itself is about two feet long, shorter than standard. The sheath is dark blue in color with gold rims. The patterns on the sheath looks like they are made of silver, but the part that draws the most attention is the seven jewels on the sheath. The jewels are all different in color, laid out is a specific pattern, the silver decoration only serves to draw out the beauty of the jewels. The handle also appears to be golden in color, but Temari guesses that it's only gold plating or else the weapon will be too expensive for a simple Genin to purchase.
"You are so lucky Tenten, this must have cost a fortune. All I can get Naruto to buy me was some clothes, and I have to use my beauty to charm him into buying them."
"Like you have any beauty to speak of, Ino-buta."
"What did you say forehead girl! How dare you after all I did to help you look good for your date with Naruto! And everyone knows you need a lot of help to even look presentable!"
Tenten immediately snatches the sword from Ino before the two girls can use it on each other. Hinata and Hanabi slowly edges away from Ino and Sakura, having learn the hard way just a few moment ago not to get involved in their argument. Trying to diffuse the situation, Tenten turns her attention to Haku.
"Ne Haku, I know Naruto got you something too. Can you show us?"
Hearing Tenten's words, everyone turns their attention to the black hair girl, including Temari, who is becoming more and more interested in the conversation. All Haku can do is lower her head, blushing from the attention. Eventually, she reaches into her weapons pouch and retrieves something. Holding her hands out, Haku shows everyone the new senbon set Naruto got for her. Instead of the normal steel needles, these senbons are made of gold. There are some decorations on one end of the senbon, but from her distance, it takes Temari a few tries before she can see it clearly. The decoration looks like a silver dragon wrapping itself around one end of the needle.
"Ohaiyo Naruto, over here!"
Surprised by the blonde girl's sudden scream, Temari turns her attention to the door. Given the different clothing, it took Temari a few tries before she can tell who the boy is. Before she can delve into the question of what part of that scrawny little brat is so popular with the Konoha Kunoichi, the waiter brings her the order. With the girls' attention no longer focused on their conversation, they can easily spot Temari looking meekly back at them, the packaged food in her hands, embarrassed at being caught.
Hearing the proctor calling for the match to begin, Temari refocuses on the task on hand. Even if it may interfere with their plan, she is still determined to defeat… no, embarrass the puny Genin in front of her, if only to proof to herself that her opinion of him is correct. Beside, just because there's going to be complete chaos when the operation begins doesn't mean she can't impress people from her village enough to promote her to Chuunin by the time she gets back. Grabbing her fan, she barely opens it up in time to block a strike to her stomach.
'He's gotten faster. Looks like he learned a few things in the past month… but it's still not enough!' Temari thinks to herself, swinging her fan, "Kamaitachi no jutsu!"
Standing only a few feet away from the Suna Kunoichi, Naruto has no time to avoid the attack and is swallowed up by the tornado. Naruto went through exactly this situation just a few moments ago with Kyuubi while he was meditating, and the solution the fox came up with is to overload the chakra imbued tornado with the Kyuubi's chakra. With a huge burst of chakra, Naruto breaks through the wind wall and lands safely on his feet. The entire stadium is shocked at what the boy just did. For those old enough to remember what happened thirteen years ago, there is no question in their mind what chakra that was, but no one can believe that the boy can use it so easily. For those who can't remember, they are all surprised at the sheer amount of chakra that he boy just used and he doesn't even look the slightly bit tired. Upstairs at the balcony, Kankurou subconsciously takes a few steps away from Gaara, who starts trembling as soon as he feels the power, not from fear, but from the excitement of a new kill.
"Your fan won't help you win this time."
"Don't get cocky. I still have plenty of ways to pound you to the ground… and I intend to use them."
Temari can tell that even someone like the kid in front of her didn't buy that bluff. What's even more troubling is that what little wounds the attack did create are almost completely healed already. She can't quite place her finger on it, but she feels that she had sense something similar to the chakra he used to break out of her attack, but she knows that she doesn't have any time to think about it. Using her fan as a shield, she gets ready to face a barrage of strikes from the boy. However instead of charging in head on like Temari expects him to, Naruto eyes the fan for a brief moment before calling three Kage Bunshin and surrounds Temari. Eying the clones, Temari grabs her fan and swing it around before putting it in front of her as a shield again, using the wind to destroy all the clones and to push the real Naruto back to prevent him from charging at her with her back turned.
"It'll take a lot more than a few clones to beat me."
'It's going to be tough to get close enough to use taijutsu. Using weapons is pointless from her match with Tenten-chan. I'm going to need a strategy.'
Looking around the stadium floor, Naruto spots a few trees in one corner. Eying Temari, Naruto makes a run for it, trying to find a spot to hide while he thinks. Weary of any tricks he may try, Temari stays in her spot, not even trying to stop him and risk exposing herself to a counterattack. Once he is safely hidden, Naruto starts meditating, hoping to consult his tenant to come up with a plan.
"Hey you damn fox, wake up!"
"What do you want now kit."
"I need to come up with a plan to beat that Suna-nin."
"You've already gotten away from her attacks before haven't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Then you can do the same thing when she tries to stop you with her wind attack."
"Oh! I get it now!"
"I'll let you use my chakra for this fight. Now get back out there."
With a blast of chakra, the Kyuubi send Naruto away from his cell. Back inside the stadium, Naruto shakes his head to clear his mind before reaching for his weapons pouch. Pulling out several kunais, he fires them at Temari before forming several Kage Bunshins and orders them to leap into the air to surprise the Suna-nin. From her spot, Temari sees the glint of sunlight reflecting off the weapons and swings her fan again, creating a wall of wind to block the projectile. Looking up, she sees several Naruto clones trying to attack her from above, which she dispatches with another blast of wind. Using the momentum, Temari swings her fan again, trying to block any more incoming attack attempts before they even materialize so she can catch her breath. But as she swings the fan, she feels a large burst of chakra coming from behind the trees. Confident that the wind will stop Naruto, Temari closes her fan and leans against it trying to catch a quick rest. However, she never expects something to slam against her stomach as soon as she looks away.
"What the… where did you come from!"
"Ha, got you!"
Rolling around, Naruto ends up pinning Temari on the ground. With her fan still lying on the ground where she was first hit, she tries to get the Konoha-nin off of her by kneeing his stomach. Naruto jumps out of the way before the attack hits but it ends up serving the purpose of releasing Temari anyway. Taking out her kunai, she starts swinging it about wildly, trying to drive Naruto away so she can retrieve her fan. Seeing what she is trying to do, Naruto creates another clone and let it take the fan away.
"You put that down right now!"
"You're going to have to catch me first."
"I'll destroy you even without my fan!"
'She has completely lost it…' Kankurou thinks to himself watching his enraged sister from upstairs.
Smiling, Naruto dodges away from Temari's wild strikes easily. Seeing that he has gotten into the head of his opponent, Naruto jumps away and creates a mass of Kage Bunshin before moving backward, allowing the clones to take over the fight. By the time Temari manages to take out all the Kage Bunshin, she is completely exhausted while Naruto is fully rested. It doesn't take much longer for Naruto to have a kunai pressed against the back of Temari's neck.
As soon as Genma ends the match, Naruto returns the battle fan to Temari, who snatches it roughly and stomps away angrily. Scratching the back of his head, Naruto watches as Temari practically shoves Genma away on her way to the staircase. Moving next to Genma, Naruto pretends to talk to the proctor and waits until the fiery tornado finally gets back to the balcony before joining his friends in the stands.
"That was great Naruto, you really showed her who's boss," Sakura says as soon as Naruto reaches the group.
"Thanks for getting some revenge for me Naruto."
The girls start showering Naruto with praises as the boys, specifically Kiba and Chouji, watch on. The four Jounins, Asuma, Kurenai, Zabuza and Hiashi all have their eyes on the top of the stadium, where the Hokage and the Kazekage are sitting. Having been alerted of the potential of an upcoming attack, they constantly scan the stands to pick out any signs of intruders.
"Chichi-ue, is something the matter?"
"Huh? Oh, no, nothing's wrong Hanabi."
"You guys are acting all weird," Ino says, looking at her sensei in particular.
"You're just imagining things Ino," Asuma says, noticing the look.
Naruto looks at the four, knowing exactly what is troubling them. He wants to help every way he can but the Hokage only assigned responsibilities for those who are Chuunins or higher. Starting to look around himself, he finds no trace of Jiraiya or Tsunade or even Shizune. While he is trying to think of where the three are, the bodyguard of the Hokage appears on the stadium floor and talks to Genma, who then announced that the match between Sasuke and Gaara will be delayed and the matches after that would take place first instead.
"I give up," Kankurou screams from the balcony, "I'm withdrawing from the match."
Genma looks at the puppet master from his spot on the stadium floor, the feeling of uneasiness returning. He suppresses the feeling again as Shino enters the stadium floor. Looking up at the balcony again, he watches as Shikamaru moves back and forth, trying to decide whether to enter or not.
"Oi, Nara, are you going to be joining us any time soon?" Genma asks.
"Shikamaru, you better not give up or I'll pound you to the ground!" Ino screams from her seat.
Sighing, Shikamaru decides that facing Shino now would be better than facing Ino later. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Shikamaru slowly descends the stairs and enters the stadium floor. Looking at the two Genins staring at each other, Genma starts the match before jumping out of the way of the swarm of bugs heading straight for Shikamaru.
'I can't hold this many bugs with my Kage Mane no Jutsu… and I can't just hold Shino because the bugs can move on their own… I'll have to use that technique, how troublesome, I can't control it perfectly yet.'
Jumping out of the way, Shikamaru turns toward Shino. He is about to use his new technique but decides to use his Kage Mane no Jutsu at the last moment instead. Up in the stands, Ino cheers as soon as Shikamaru's technique connects, but another Shino suddenly shows up behind Shikamaru and connects with a solid punch only for Shikamaru to turn into a log. The technique released, the Shino caught by the Kage Mane no Jutsu dissipates into a swarm of bugs. Looking around the stadium, Shino finds Shikamaru kneeling on one knee near the wall of the stadium, his hands put together in a strange sign. Weary of moving close to the shadows, Shino waits as Shikamaru stays in his position and instead creates two Mushi Bunshin from his bugs. Forming hand seals, Shikamaru uses his shadow techniques again, aiming for both Mushi Bunshin and the real Shino. Trying to drain Shikamaru's chakra, Shino allows the two Mushi Bunshin to be caught but he jumps out of the way before he suffers the same fate. Using the shadows from Shino's clones, Shikamaru extends the shadow until it catches Shino as well. Suddenly, a large swarm of bugs comes out from the real Shino. Instead of wasting his chakra to bind all the bugs, he changes his hand seals and the shadow starts creeping up Shino's body.
"When did Shikamaru learn that?" Asuma says, standing up from his seat.
"What's so surprising? My father taught me some new techniques too," Ino says.
"Mine too," Chouji says, joining the conversation for a brief moment before going back to his chips.
"It would seems that Inoichi, Shikaku, and Chouza have the same idea as the rest of us," Hiashi says, observing the match in his usual calm manner.
"What's with you parents this past few weeks anyway? Shino was telling me how his father was accelerating his training and my mom was teaching me and my sis all kinds of new stuff."
"Do you want your parents to not teach you anything Kiba?"
"No… that's not what I mean Kurenai-sensei, but what's with the pace of the teaching."
"It's probably just you. You never were much of a student in the first place Kiba."
"What did you say Ino!"
"You heard me."
"All right! Be quiet already! I'm trying to focus on the match."
Hearing Naruto's scream, Ino and Kiba shoot the boy a quick glare before quieting down and turning their attention back to the match. The shadow is starting to constrict around the real Shino but not the two Mushi Bunshin in order to conserve his chakra and to keep a large number of Shino's bugs in place.
"Give up now Shino, there is no way you can escape."
Suddenly, the shadow on Shino starts retracting, turning the technique into a normal Kage Mane no Jutsu. Before his friends can comment, Shikamaru sends another shadow to his right into the tree there. Suddenly, another Shino is pulled out of the tree by the shadow and it once again creeps up his body.
"You shouldn't hide in the trees when you fight against me. The shadow from the leaves only helps me."
"You won't have enough chakra to hold me and my three bunshin for much longer. You are the one who will lose Nara."
Smirking, Shikamaru pulls something out of his weapons pouch and puts it in his mouth. Shino cocks an eyebrow as he can't tell what Shikamaru had in his hand. Up in the stands, everyone looks at each other, trying to find out exactly what Shino is wondering. That is, everyone except Chouji, who continues to delve into his chips.
"Chouji, what did you give Shikamaru?" Ino demands.
"I have no idea what you're talking about Ino."
"You know something," Ino says, pointing to the floor, "you'll only waste chips like that when you're nervous about something."
"Chouji, you didn't give Shikamaru your family's recipe did you?" Asuma asks.
"No, he just asked me for some soldier pills."
Suddenly, Shino senses the shadow's grip becoming stronger instead of weaker like he is expecting.
"I see… yes… you are friends with the Akimichi after all."
"All I need to do is to extend my shadow around you neck. While I do have a limited supply of soldier pills, it's more than enough to defeat you. Give up now."
"It would seem that you tried to lure me in by wildly expending your chakra."
'Tried? Shino chooses his words too carefully for that to be just a casual statement…'
Suddenly, Shikamaru feels a large spike of chakra behind him. He turns around just in time to see a wall of bugs heading for him. As soon as Shikamaru is caught, the shadow holding the four "Shino" disappears and all four of them turns into bugs while the real Shino jumps out from behind the tree where the fourth Mushi Bunshin was caught.
"I am well aware of you intellect. That is why I realized you were using your weakness in your chakra capacity as a lure."
When the bugs dissipate, Shikamaru is down on one knee while breathing very rapidly, the Kikaichu draining his chakra until he barely has enough to survive. Before Shikamaru can even reaches for more soldier pill, Shino has a kunai pressed against Shikamaro's neck. At this point, Genma steps in and declares Shino the winner.
As Shikamaru and Shino clear the stadium floor, a swirl of leaves appears next to where is standing. When the leaves and dust settle down, Sasuke and Kakashi are standing in the spot. Looking around, Kakashi notes the damages around the stadium floor.
"You guys started already? Genma, are we late?"
"Sasuke's match was delayed. You two are just in time."
"Ah good," Kakashi says, turning toward Sasuke, "well, I'll be watching upstairs."
As Kakashi uses the Shunshin no Jutsu to join the others in the stands, Gaara uses the Suna Shunshin no Jutsu to join Sasuke on the stadium floor. The crowd's anticipation grows by the second as the competitors stare at each other. Back upstairs, Kakashi chuckles nervously in the face of a fuming Sakura and a pouting Naruto. Just before the two can unleash their fury on Kakashi, Gai and a limping Lee show up to clear the tense situation.
"Ah, my rival Kakashi, you have arrived as well. It seems you have been training your student, but he still won't defeat my squad's Neji."
"Oh? Did you say something?"
The other ninjas sweat drop as Gai goes into his overly dramatic exclamation about how he will defeat Kakashi. In their minds, Asuma and Kurenai pray that Gai doesn't come up with any crazy challenges or self-imposed rules again. Meanwhile, Tenten sinks deeper and deeper into her chair, trying her hardest to disassociate herself with the embarrassing sensei for as long as possible.
"Um… not that I am complaining or anything, but I don't have a seat and you two are standing in the way Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei. I can't see what's happening on the stadium floor."
"Ah, my apologies Naruto. I thought you are in the balcony where the other competitors are."
"It's OK, Gai-sensei. I just want to hang out with everyone else here. I think Shikamaru is coming up too," Naruto says, trying to keep his patience in check while thinking 'now I know how he feels when Kakashi-sensei ignores him.'
"How did your match and Neji's match go?" Gai asks.
"Naruto defeated the Suna kunoichi while Neji's opponent forfeited."
"Ah, there you are Tenten, I was wonder where you may be."
"Well, there are a lot of people here," Tenten says, putting on a strained smile before muttering to herself, "Gai-sensei really needs to get his eyes checked… he was staring right at my seat."
Everyone turns their attention back to the match when the crowd starts cheering as Sasuke moves in on Gaara. While everyone expects Sasuke's strikes to be blocked by Gaara's sand, Sasuke moves at speed that rivals Lee sans his training weights. Just like his fight against Lee, Gaara's sand cannot catch up to Sasuke. Finally finding a break in Sasuke's barrage, Gaara envelops himself in a wall of sand. Sasuke's attempt in breaking the wall only leaves him with bloodied knuckles. Seeing that Gaara probably won't be coming out any time soon, Sasuke jumps away from the ball of sand. Going through a set of hand seals, Sasuke holds out his hand, sparks flying off every direction.
"Kakashi, you didn't!"
"You're not trying to lecture me are you Gai? Of all the people here you have the least right to do so."
"What… what kind of technique is that?" Ino asks.
"That's my rival's only original technique, the Chidori."
"That's the same technique you used against me in Nami no Kuni."
"I knew it! You taught Sasuke a new technique and not me!"
Charging forward, Sasuke thrusts the Chidori at the cocoon of sand, punching a hole in it and hitting Gaara inside. Sasuke smirks at the screams of agony from Gaara but soon loses it when he fees a tug on his arm. Using all his strength, Sasuke manages to pull his arm out of the shell. A giant arm of sand comes out after Sasuke but soon loses strength and slams on the ground and slowly retracts back into the crumbling shell. Suddenly, the stadium starts quieting down. Detecting a Genjutsu, Kurenai dispels the illusion and uses enough chakra to dispel the effect of it on the Genins around her.
"What's going on here?" Ino screams as Oto-nins start appearing all over the stadium.
"It seems that Hokage-sama's contact is dependable after all," Gai commented.
"We're lucky to have obtained the information when we did, "Asuma says, "all of our preparation is paying off."
"Where is Sasuke-kun and that Gaara?" Sakura asks amidst the confusion from the attack.
"Sakura-chan, look out!"
Hearing Naruto's scream, Sakura braces herself as Naruto jumps over her and knocks away the Oto-nin behind her, whom Zabuza finishes off easily. Meanwhile, smoke starts billowing from the Hokage's box.
"Kakashi!"
"Do not be concerned about Hokage-sama, Gai. He said that he would be fine and we should trust him," Hiashi says.
Forming hand seals, Kakashi slams his palm on the back of the person in front of him. When the smoke clears, a small dog appears in that spot.
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow one of your students, Asuma. Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, I want you three to go out on a mission."
"What kind of mission?" Naruto asks excitedly.
"Sasuke went after Gaara, your mission is to go after him and get him back."
"Just the three of us?" Sakura chips in.
"Pakkun will go with you," Kakashi answers, gesturing to the dog in front of him.
"You should assign another member to replace Shikamaru. There is no question that Oto-nins will go after them, my team and I will go with them to protect them."
"I will go with them," Haku volunteers.
"I will check on the villagers' evacuation with my team," Kurenai says.
"Tenten, go and assist Kurenai-san. Lee, try to stay out of harm's way."
"Hai, Gai-sensei!"
Nodding at each other, the ninjas all head off to their respective tasks, leaving Kakashi, Gai, Zabuza and Hiashi there to fend off the enemies in the arena. Looking back at the four Jounins one last time, Naruto puts up a determined face and follows Haku and Sakura in search of Sasuke.
Up on the rooftop near the stadium, Orochimaru, who was posing as the Kazekage as Tsunade and Jiraiya predicted, is holding the Hokage. Four Oto-nins created a chakra barrier on the rooftop to prevent the pursuing ANBU from interfering. The ANBU can only watch helplessly as the Hokage and his former student faces off against each other.
"Go help the villagers, I will be fine. It serves no purpose for you to stay here and watch."
"But Hokage-sama…"
"Go!"
"…Hai, Hoakge-sama…"
Orochimaru smirks as he watches the ANBU moves out according to the Hokage's order after casting several glances back. Looking back to the old man dressed in ancient ninja gears, Orochimaru gestures for the four Oto-nins to continue holding up the barrier.
"You are trying to lure me into lowering the barrier. I won't fall for such tricks so easily."
Orochimaru is slightly unnerved by the smile on Sandaime's lips, but passes it off as the Hokage trying to bluff his way out of the fight. The two continue to perform jutsus and exchange blows and when Sandaime tries to use Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Orochimaru performs a Kuchiyose no Jutsu which opens a portal and two coffins starts coming out from the portal. Suddenly, Sandaime cancels the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and a large frog crash down on top of the coffins, sending them back into the portal and canceling Orochimaru's technique. Before he can get angry at the interruption, he feels a slight shift of the tiles under him and jumps out of the way before being crushed by an uppercut through the roof of the building they are standing on.
"Oi, Jiraiya, I'd appreciate if you don't crush my grandfather and granduncle's coffin again."
"As long as you promise to keep them underground Tsunade."
"So… it seems that you came prepared Sarutobi-sensei. That's why you were so confident in letting the ANBU go."
"A little birdie told Tsunade and I you are coming for the tournament. What kind of teammates would we be if we don't come to see how you're doing?"
"You can't possibly escape from us Orochimaru… Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Enkouou Enma!"
Following the Hokage's lead, Tsunade and Jiraiya also summon their familiar to help them. Seeing that he's outnumbered, he backs away to the edge of the barrier and with a wave of the hand, the four Oto-nins takes down the barrier and moves to Orochimaru's side. Giving the trio one last glare, Orochimaru escapes with his four followers.
"Sarutobi-sensei, are you all right?"
"It seems I am getting old after all. I never expect a few simple jutsus will take so much out of me."
"You take care of Sarutobi-sensei Tsunade. I'll go and help the people in the village."
"I'll make sure that no one lays a hand on Sarutobi-sensei."
Just as Asuma predicted, two squads of Oto-nins went after them as soon as they left the stadium. He and his team stay behind to deal with the pursuers, leaving the task of getting Sasuke to the hands of Naruto, Sakura, and Haku. By the time the three got to Sasuke, he's already sporting a few open wounds from his opponent, a demonic looking Gaara. While Sakura checks on Sasuke, Naruto starts looking around the immediate area but finds no signs of the Suna-nins that were with Gaara. Meanwhile, utilizing what she learned in her training, Haku manages to form her Makyou Hyoushou around Gaara from just water vapor, only to have Gaara destroy all the mirrors with his sand in one move.
"Haku-chan!" Naruto screams as he catches the unconscious girl.
"Is she all right?" Asks a concerned Sakura as Naruto lays Haku on the branch they are standing on.
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, get Haku-chan and get out of here. I'll hold off this monster."
"But Naruto…"
"Sakura-chan, go!"
Slinging Haku's arm over her shoulder, Sakura cast one last look at Naruto before leading her away along with the disgruntled Sasuke. A few yards away, hidden from everyone else, Temari watches in horror as the three Konoha-nins abandon their friend. Having seen Gaara's power in action many times before, she knows that the orange-clad ninja won't stand a chance facing her brother alone. If they manage to stay together, there is a slight chance that they can escape together, but only having one stay behind like this not only won't hold Gaara for long, it also hurts the others' chance of escaping when Gaara goes after them after taking care of this one. Once he makes sure that Sakura, Sasuke, and Haku are out of the way, Naruto turns his attention back toward Gaara. Already having an agreement with the Kyuubi, Naruto uses the demon's chakra as he faces down his opponent.
'This power… now that they are side-by-side there is no question about it. That's why I found it so familiar. It's almost identical to Gaara's chakra. Just what is this kid?'
From Temari's angle, she can't see the swirling chakra taking a form behind Naruto. But from Gaara's angle it's clear as day. From the fox's face hovering above Naruto for a brief moment to the two chakra tails swirling behind Naruto, Gaara can tell that the boy in front of him is exactly like him, maybe even stronger than him. It's also the first time he can feel the fear from the being inside him. Submitting to the voice inside his head, he allows the being inside to completely take over, turning himself into the giant demon.
"No way… Gaara is going to use that? I… I need to get out of here!" Temari says.
Naruto knows that he can't defeat the giant even with the Kyuubi's chakra just from size alone. Gathering the chakra, Naruto starts to draw marks on the tree bark with his blood and uses the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. However, instead of summoning Gamabunta, he feels something being drawn out of him and when the smoke clears, the Kyuubi appears in the spot where Naruto was expecting to see the toad boss.
"What are you doing out here!" Naruto screams, back to his normal self after expending all the chakra Kyuubi gave him.
"You only used my chakra and didn't use any of your own chakra, that's why you summoned me instead of the stupid toad."
"How did you get out!"
"Relax, my physical body isn't actually here, just a temporary body formed from chakra. I haven't seen Shukaku for so long, I think I'll have a little fun with him."
"Well try not to trash the place like you did the last time you were out here."
Seeing the lord of demon actually in front of him scares Shukaku even more than before. Even though Ichibi no Shukaku is a bijuu itself, it still doesn't stand much of a chance against Kyuubi no Youko, even if it's weakened by not possessing a physical body. The more she observes the two demons staring down each other, the more Temari is surprised by amount of power and will the Konoha-nin possess, to be so similar Gaara yet so different at the same time.
"Oi, you darn fox, stop staring at each other and get rid of that guy!"
"I only have a limited amount of chakra in this form. I'm going to need you to wake up the Jinchuuriki."
"Jinchuuriki?"
"The host!"
"What do you mean?"
"That red-hair boy on top of Shukaku's head! How did I manage to be stuck with an idiot!"
"Fine! I'm going to need you to hold that thing down to get close to him."
"I'm going to lend you some more chakra, create a couple of Kage Bunshin for me. I'll hold him down with that."
"What?"
Suddenly, Naruto feels another wave of Kyuubi's power flowing inside him. Deciding that it's pointless to argue with the demon fox, Naruto uses Kyubbi's chakra and forms two Kage Bunshin for the fox. Having the two bunshins charge ahead while hiding behind them, the Kyuubi allows Shukaku to destroy the two bunshins and absorbs the chakra itself and relay it back to Naruto slowly to regulate the chakra flow rather then allowing the chakra to overflow and destroy his host. With the boost of chakra, the Kyuubi charges through the smokescreen left behind by the destroyed bunshins and grabs onto Shukaku. Taking advantage that Gaara's demon cannot move for a brief moment, Naruto charges on top of its head and punches the sleeping Gaara. As Gaara is waking up from its forced slumber in order to protect himself against Naruto's barrage, Shukaku's form starts crumbling as its chakra source is becoming weakened. Seeing that Shukaku will no longer provide a threat to Naruto, Kyuubi increase the pace to which its chakra is returned to Naruto and disappears when he deems Naruto able to handle the remaining chakra in one go. Revitalized by the influx of chakra, Naruto walks over to the exhausted Gaara. Before he can get close, Temari comes out of her hiding spot and moves between Naruto and Gaara.
"You want to kill him you'll have to get through me."
"I already beat you once today. Besides, I don't want to kill him at all," Naruto says, holding out a small pill.
"What's this?"
"It's a chakra recovery pill. Haku-chan gave this to me this morning in anticipation of the tournament."
"Why would I trust you! That's probably poison! Gaara will recover just fine without your 'help.'"
"Suit yourself. You should probably get him out of here before Asuma-jii-san's team come after me."
Suddenly, Kankurou jumps into the clearing next to Temari. Seeing Naruto there, Kankurou gets into his battle stance but is stopped by Temari.
"Helping Gaara escape is more important."
Studying the situation, Kankurou reluctantly nods his head in agreement. Swinging Gaara's arms over their shoulders, the two Suna-nins carry their brother away. Just as Naruto's checking up on injuries after the siblings escape, Asuma shows up in the clearing with his squad.
"Naruto, are you all right?"
"Don't worry about me Ino-chan. I'm just fine."
"So troublesome. Why did Sakura make us come all the way out here again?"
"You think everything is troublesome Shikamaru. Now are you sure you're all right?"
"Yes I'm fine Ino-chan."
"So, where's the monster Sakura was talking about?" Chouji asks.
"He got away… sorry."
"Don't worry about it Naruto," Asuma says, patting him on the back.
Looking around the clearing, Asuma knows full well that this section of the forest was still full of trees the day before. He can't even imagine the sheer size of the battle to have caused this much destruction. Seeing that her teacher has zoned out on them again, Ino gives Asuma a hard slap on the back to wake him up.
"Mou Asuma-sensei, I think Shikamaru is rubbing off on you."
"Nonsense. Did you want to say something Ino?"
"I said that maybe we should start heading back."
"Yeah, let's go. There's nothing else to do out here."
Additional Author's Note: Leave a note if you like the story.