Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 18

"Naruto-kun! Matte (1)!"

All three members of Team 7 stopped on the next branch and turned around. Hinata stopped on the same branch as them, slightly puffing from overexerting herself to catch up to them.

"Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm going with you!" Hinata shouted.

"Dame! It's too dangerous!" Naruto shouted back, worry etching into his features.

"I can take care of myself! Besides, you are going to need all the help that you can get! Or is it…do you doubt my skills…?" Hinata whispered the last part.

"It's not because of that, Hinata-chan, and you know it! You know it…" Naturo frowned. "I can't bear to lose you if something were to happen…"

Sakura stepped up and gripped Hinata's arm.

"Ikkou (2)." Sakura said, a gleam of determination in her eye.

"But Sakura-chan - !" Naruto tried to protest.

"No. Hinata-chan will come with us. Besides, it's like she said. We will need all the help we can get.

You know best of all of us. That Gaara… Even with you, we would probably barely make it alive going against another Jinchuuriki…" Sakura reasoned.

"…" Naruto's hands fisted before he sighed, defeated. "Fine. But stick close to me, Hinata-chan."

Hinata nodded before the four headed off.

"Hinata. Can you see him?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata formed a single seal and closed her eyes before opening them back open to reveal, "Byakuugan!"

A few seconds passed by before she responded, "Aa. Up ahead one kilometer. At the current pace we are going, we will soon catch up."

Sasuke nodded. "Prepare yourselves…"

The four of them burst into a clearing, the sun shining through the leaves of the forest surrounding them. There, in one of the trees, stood Gaara – or at least someone who looked like Gaara buried in sand – waiting for them. Half his body was engulfed in sand, forming some sort of animalistic shape. Sakura likened it to that of a raccoon with black swirling designs that seemed to depict the harsh winds of Sand country. Yellow, glowing eyes leered at them with bloodlust beyond that of a twelve-year old as malice and killing intent reeked out of the young teen's body. Sakura shivered at the maniacal look plastered on Gaara's face, showing he had no control over his bijuu.

"We need to coordinate our moves or we won't have a chance with his impenetrable sand defence…" Sakura whispered lowly so that only the other three could hear.

They gave slight nods, hoping Gaara would not notice.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto, you two would be the power. While you two attack, Hinata-chan and I will take over the defense and try to get you two an opening to take him down." Sakura whispered.

"But that would be more dangerous for you two!" Naruto hissed.

"It's the only way, Naruto. And we can take care of ourselves." Sakura hissed back.

"But Hinata-chan would be in the line of danger! The condition I agreed to was for her to stay close to me if she were to follow!" Naruto glared.

"And she will be." Sasuke interrupted. "Now no more arguing. There's no time for this."

With that, Sasuke leaped off the tree branch towards Gaara. Naruto followed after slight hesitation. Sakura looked to Hinata, who nodded, before they two jumped after the boys.

"Come! Let me shed your blood and christen the desert sands to satisfy my thirst!" Gaara growled as he crouched low, getting ready to attack.

"Katon: Goukyaku no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he inhaled before blowing out a giant ball of fire.

Sand immediately formed a frontal dome-shaped shield to block the fire in front of Gaara. In retaliation, sand shot out from Gaara's side as a sharp-clawed hand and smacked Sasuke aside.

"Gah!" Sasuke coughed a bit of blood out as the wind was knocked out of him.

Gritting his teeth, he flipped and landed on another branch.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted.

Gaara followed through with his attack and dashed towards Sasuke, intending to finish him off. However, he was intercepted by Naruto, who kicked Gaara in the opposite direction. Sakura reached Sasuke and checked his injury.

"I-I'm fine." Sasuke groaned.

Sakura frowned as the four of them regrouped.

"Our plan won't work if we can't get past that sand defense…" Hinata whispered.

"The only thing we can do is to attack all at once to try and distract him while at the same time looking for a weak spot in the shield." Naruto said.

Sakura gasped. "The fight with Lee-san!"

Naruto looked at her. "What about it…?"

"Of course!" Hinata smiled. "Lee-san's speed was able to outrun the speed of the sand barrier! If we can do that, then we may have a chance of disabling Gaara!"

Sasuke smirked. "Well, if it's speed…"

"I'll try to distract him with a genjutsu." Sakura said. She closed her eyes and reopened them, activating her Kekkai Genkai.

"Genjutsu:Hyakkaryōran (3)…" Sakura whispered to the winds.

To Gaara's mind and sense, the four of them disappeared in a scatter of sakura petals in the wind. The sweet, yet light smell lingered and surrounded him as the petals encircled him in a soft whirlwind. In reality, Sakura kept eye contact with Gaara to ensure that her genjustu would stay in place.

"Okay. He's trapped. Now try to attack." Sakura whispered.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded as they both charged at Gaara. However, to their dismay, the sand barrier seemed to keep up with their attacks despite Gaara being trapped in a jutsu. Hinata scowled before she moved to join in.

In a flurry of handseals, Hinata channeled her chakra through her then outstretched palms.

"Suiton: Suihachi (4)!"

For each wave of sand that erupted forth to protect Gaara, Hinata aimed the water jutsu to soak the sand, slowing it down.

"Now!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto and Sasuke upped their speed and darted past the sand shields and each aimed a roundhouse kick. One to Gaara's face, the other to his chest.

"GUH!" Gaara grunted as the force of the kick sent him flying into a tree.

Sasuke and Naruto leaped back to the where Sakura and Hinata waited. Their shoulders were tense, hoping that the attack delivered was enough to at least knock Gaara unconscious. They waited and stared into the dark mess of fallen tree bark and branches. All of a sudden, Sakura's eyes widened before she pushed Sasuke out of the way.

A blur had shot out of the dark debris that was intended for Sasuke. But Sakura's eyes were more sharper than Sasuke's when he didn't have his Sharingan activated. Sakura was smacked back as her back made a loud, audible crack against a tree trunk. Holding her up, was some sort of hand-shaped sand – an extension of Gaara's clawed arm of sand.

"AHHHH!" Sakura screamed in anguish, as the sand's grip squeezed tight.

Lights danced behind her eyes as the pain engulfed her and the oxygen was squeezed out of her body. Darkness slowly crept around the edges of her vision, signaling that she may lose consciousness soon.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted, hysteric.

"Sakura-chan!" Both Naruto and Hinata yelled.

A deep and dark cackle was heard as branches and twigs snapped. Out from under all the rubble stepped Gaara. But this time, the sand that had engulfed him before now engulfed his entire upper body, transforming him into some sort of sharp-teethed monster.

"N-naruto-kun…! What is that…?" Hinata stuttered.

"Shit! It looks like the Bijuu inside him is trying to take over…! He's losing control!" Naruto choked.

"Come now, you can do better than that…! Hurry and fight me! Die, so that you can ensure my existence!" the transformed Gaara growled.

Even his voice had taken on a more guttural and animalistic sound. This was no longer Gaara of the Sand.

"Shit! What are we going to do now?" Sasuke hissed as his eyes strayed to Sakura.

"Uchiha Sasuke…"

Sasuke turned back, his Sharingan now fully activated as rage boiled within him like no other. When we was about to charge forward, he was stopped by Hinata's gentle, but firm, hold.

"Don't. Not when your mind is clouded by anger. That would not save Sakura-chan." Hinata said, her eyes hard.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"That look in her eyes when she protected you…what is she to you, I wonder…?" Gaara purred. "You should fight for yourself and love only yourself. Only then will you get stronger. You should throw away your friends and any bond you had for they would only tie you down!"

"Shut up! Don't talk about her like that!" Sasuke growled menacingly.

"You who grew up with the love of friends and family would never understand my reasons…my existence…" Gaara growled.

A chord struck in Naruto's heart. The days of his childhood came back to him in painful pangs. Yes, he did grow up in the Uchiha household, but outside the comforting walls of the compound…reality set in. The cold stares of the villagers, the reluctant kids who ran away from him, the trepidation of the adults as he walked by as if he were some sort of ticking bomb… Naruto knew all too well of what Gaara spoke of. The loneliness Jinchuurikis feel on their path in life and the hatred the must suffer through for something they had no control over. Naruto's hands balled into tight fists.

"What would you know…what would ANY of you know what I had to go through…!" Gaara leaped off the ground and started to attack.

"Suiton: Haran Bansho (5)!" Hinata shouted as a massive amount of water from the sky descended around the three of them, cutting off Gaara's attack.

Sadly, her attempts to keep Gaara at bay was futile for the Bijuu's strength was added into the attack. A sandy hand shot forth and grabbed Hinata, disabling her technique almost instantly.

"Kyaa!" Hinata squeaked.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted, his eyes wide in fear.

Gaara merely growled before tossing her to the side, his real target Naruto and Sasuke. Hinata was able to flip her body to land on some bushes on the ground, softening her fall. However, she could not get up for it seems in that attack, Gaara had broken a few ribs with his strong grip.

'Kuso! Yet again I was unable to do much!' Hinata glared in frustration.

Naruto and Sasuke dodged the attack as Gaara went crashing into the branch.

"We can't keep this up, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as they landed on a different branch.

Off to the side, Sakura choked as the sand grew tighter around her. Sasuke grinded his teeth, feeling helpless, unable to save her.

Gaara chuckled menacingly. "The more time that passes, the tighter the sand will squeeze around her…"

A low rumble erupted deep within Sasuke's chest as he growled in anger.

"Sasuke!" Naruto whispered.

"What, dobe?" Sasuke hissed.

"How much chakra do you have left…?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto. "What's your plan…"

"That new technique you used earlier. The lightening. Can you do it again?" Naruto asked.

"I have enough for two more." Sasuke answered, understanding.

"Good. I'll make a distraction and you attack him with that. The last time you used it, you were able to penetrate his sand shield." Naruto explained.

"Aa." Sasuke nodded as he looked back at Gaara.

Naruto formed a cross with his the first and middle finger and channeled his chakra.

"Tajuu: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Immediately, dozens of Naruto appeared in the forest, surrounding Gaara.

"Here we go!" All the Narutos shouted as they all launched towards Gaara simultaneously.

Naturally, Gaara's sand defenses instantly went up and deflected the Naruto clones as if he were swatting flies out of the air. However, with each clone destroyed, two more seemed to take its place. The amount of Narutos were never ending, offering the perfect distraction for Sasuke to prepare his attack. By the time Gaara noticed a loud chirping in the air, Sasuke had used the branch he stood on to launch himself at Gaara, his right hand with the Chidori outstretched and aiming for Gaara. Upon impact, a loud explosion erupted, smoke and dust forming in a large cloud. The forest was silent after the explosion, as if it were holding its breath for the outcome.

When the smoke cleared…

(1) Matte – Wait/Hold on

(2) Ikkou – Let's go

(3) Genjutsu: Hyakkaryōran – Illusion technique: Thousand Flower Petal Dance

(4) Suiton: Suihachi – Water Release: Hand of Waves

(5) Suiton: Haran Bansho – Water Release: Stormy Blockade

SORRY! I know it's such a short chapter, but please bear with me! It's a lot harder to keep three stories up to date more than I thought…But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and please REVIEW!

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