I do own a Gaara plushie and a few Naruto DVDs and lots of the Manga. Unfortunately i don't own the actual thing. ©Masashi Kishimoto.
This one is a little long since i didn't know where to stop...kinda picked a bad place. Could be a cliffhanger, but the rest is coming soon. Just to let ya know that the story is winding down, the next chapter might be the last or the one after that...If Donald, Sora, and Goofy would give me the plot paper i would tell you, but they're going on about being Ansems notes or something. I think they're overdosing on High Potion.
Reviwers, Alerters, and Favoriters: (Think I lost a few, but don't worry, you'll all be mentioned in the credits page!)
leogirl321
Song of my day... One Piece English Intro Opening 3 (Vic sings it ^.^)
Naruto's eyes widened in realization. For a moment he looked really worried and then excited.
Temari returned to her siblings, "H-hey it's almost time…!"
"Is he really going to come?" Kankuro asked.
"He'll come…" Gaara said, "…I'm sure of it…"
Akki turned to the arena to see leaves blowing abnormally around one spot, "Looks like you could be right about that. Check it out."
Lots of leaves started to slowly fall down in the arena. Their speed suddenly increased and they started to spin around a spot about a foot far from Naruto, Shikamaru, Ryoko, and Genma, creating a small whirlwind of leaves. Two familiar silhouettes slowly appeared inside of it.
As the leaves floated to a stop, everyone could see Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei standing there back to back. Sasuke looked quite different from the last time he had been seen. His front bangs were longer and his outfit was a black T-shirt with the usual Uchiha clan symbol on its back, black shorts and cream-colored armbands.
Kakashi-sensei remained the same as always.
"I'm sorry we're late." He apologized in a rather cheerful tone.
Naruto's face lit up and he grinned. Ryoko allowed a small smile to come to her face.
Genma smirked. "Name?"
Sasuke turned to him repressing a smirk. "Sasuke Uchiha."
Almost immediately the public gave loud cheers. The person they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The proctor gave the Uchiha a small nodded. "I think we can move on to his match. The next match shall start immediately. Gaara of the Desert, please come down."
Ryoko turned to Naruto and Shikamaru, "We better get out of the way."
Reluctantly Naruto nodded. He turned to Sasuke.
"Don't even think about losing! I still want to fight you!" He declared pointing to him.
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I know."
"Sasuke?"
He turned to face Ryoko.
She grinned and thrusted her fist to him, "Take him down, you can do it!"
Sasuke nodded.
"Alright, let's go. And this time we're taking the stairs." Shikamaru said as he started towards the stair that leads to the upper gallery where the others are.
"Oh, come on! You're still not mad are you?" Naruto asked as he followed Shikamaru.
"He can't be. He has to forgive us for giving him a gentle nudge." Ryoko smirked.
"Gentle nudge…whatever." Shikamaru sighed as they climbed the stairs, "My neck still hurts from the fall."
"Oh just be thankful you didn't land on your…" She trailed off when she noticed Naruto's strange behavior. He was looking between the rails on the steps. Shikamaru and Ryoko kept their heads low to see what Naruto was looking at between the bars. Their breath was halted when they saw Gaara walking out of the bloody massacred hallway. Each of his agonizing slow steps echoed in their ears as he walked closer and closer to them and to their shock, descended down the stairs without a word or glance at them.
When the roar of the crowd sounded in their ears they dropped onto the steps with heavy sighs of relief.
"Ah…that was close!"
"If we had been here sooner, we would've been those two."
"Sasuke better watch his back out there with that guy…yikes."
"But why didn't he kill us?" Ryoko wondered, "At the hospital that's what he wanted."
"Because we're not good enough..." Naruto answered, "He wants Sasuke…
Ryoko stood up, "We better tell Kakashi-sensei…"
"There they are!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing to a place on the bleachers where Sakura, Ino, Lee, Choji, Kakashi-sensei and Gai were sitting.
"Hey." Kakashi-sensei greeted waving his hand lazily.
"Kakashi-sensei! You've got to stop this match!" Naruto pleaded, "That Gaara guy – he likes to kill others!"
"Naruto's not exaggerating on this." Ryoko said, "And as much faith I have in Sasuke, this guy is beyond blood lust! Sasuke will die if this continues!"
Kakashi was unmoved by their concern, "Don't worry. There was a reason why we were so late…"
Gaara was kneeled on the ground, panting, with his sand surrounding him. His face and left arm had some cracks, which indicated Sasuke had succeeded on hitting him. The Uchiha was standing some meters far from Gaara panting only a little with his Sharingan activated.
"Whoa."
"Sasuke-kun's got an amazing speed now and attacks just like Lee's!" Sakura told them gleefully. "He managed to crack some parts of Gaara's sand armor easily!"
Gaara glared murderously at Sasuke and got to his feet. The Suna boy performed a seal which made the sand engulf in a kind of weird sand ball.
Not wasting time, Sasuke dashed towards Gaara, in a speed that could rival Lee's, aiming a punch at the sand shield. The moment his hand connected to the shield, several sand thorns came out of it. It was pure luck that they didn't pierce through Sasuke's body. A hit from any of them would have been a critical one. Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized that. He jumped backwards breathing heavily now. Everyone could see small droplets of blood falling from his knuckles and another from his cheek, indicating the thorns had scraped him. The sand thorns retreated as soon as Sasuke took distance from them, leaving only the plain sand shield. His leg started to bleed slightly too.
"All of the sand has encased his body." Lee said sounding concerned and amazed.
Suddenly some of the sand rose into the air and started to spin slowly, forming a small ball of sand. When all the particles of sand gathered together, the ball turned white into an eye. The same eye Gaara used during the first exam.
Sasuke wiped the blood off his cheek and launched towards the sand shield again. He pulled out three kunai and threw them, but they were immediately deflected as they touched the sand. Sasuke jumped to behind the shield and punched its surface again. The sand thorns came out and stretched more this time, making Sasuke jump backwards to avoid them. The thorns continued to chase him until he jumped farther.
The Uchiha's stare narrowed as he concluded none of his usual moves would break Gaara's defense.
Sasuke molded chakra to his feet and jumped high to the wall, kneeling vertically on it. When he felt stabilized, the Uchiha started to perform hand signs that no one had seen before. Finally, Sasuke brought his right hand down and waited, looking very focused.
Out of nowhere, a blue sparks appeared on Sasuke's hand
Ryoko's eyes widen, "Kakashi-sensei. Isn't that-?"
Sensei nodded. "I trained Sasuke because he is similar to me."
"I see." Gai said, "That's why you made him master hand-to-hand combat moves to dramatically increase his speed."
Kakashi-sensei smiled happily. "Correct."
"W-what is that?" Naruto stammered.
"It's making a lot of noise." Sakura noticed. "What is that move?"
"Just a straight thrust." Gai said emotionlessly. "But it's Konoha's number one technique specialist, the Copy Ninja Kakashi's only original move. It's a secret move for assassination purposes. Its secret lies in the speed of the thrust and the activation of the body to generate a large amount of chakra. Then he concentrates that large amount of chakra into the thrusting arm. And because of the incredible speed he moves at, it emits a distinct chirping sound similar to a thousand of birds chirping."
As Gai spoke, Sasuke charged closer to the sand shield. The sand thorns came out one more time and the Uchiha dodged them.
"That's why that move is called-"
Sasuke raised his arm with the intent to strike.
"Chidori." Gai finished.
Sasuke thrust his arm into the sand shield. The lightning pierced easily through the sand, to everyone's amazement. Sasuke panted a little with his arm inside Gaara's defense and a smirk on his face.
"Chidori… Also called Lightning Edge." Gai said in a nostalgic tone.
"Lightning Edge?" Sakura asked.
"That's the alias it took because Kakashi once cut through lightning with that move." Gai turned to Kakashi. "But you've taught him a reckless move."
"I don't want to hear that from you." Kakashi-sensei leans towards Lee. "Right, Lee?"
Gai glared at sensei with flames in his eyes.
Sasuke hadn't moved from his position, except that now he had a frown on his face. Gaara still hadn't reacted from his attack. What happened to him?
A loud scream echoed through the entire stadium. "BLOOD! MY BLOOD! I'M BLEEDING!"
Everyone's eyes widened. Sasuke's eyes also widened and he tried to pull his arm back, but it was stuck on the sand. He tried harder, gathering chakra on his arm and creating smaller lightning sparkles. When Sasuke managed to take his arm out something came out too.
It kind of looked like an arm, but it was much more different than one. It had the same color as the sand, as if it was made of it, with some purple lines and claws instead of fingers. It could stretch much further than a normal arm. It was like the arm of a monster.
Sasuke took his arm out of the sand arm's grip and held it, repressing a wince of pain. The sand arm stretched back into the shield. Sasuke stared at it with a shocked look, eyes widened to their most.
"GAARA!" Akki screamed.
Suddenly, the sand shield started to crack. It dissolved, falling to the ground. Gaara stood in the middle of the sand clutching his left shoulder where the Chidori had apparently hit him. It was bleeding, but his eyes were locked on Sasuke with a murderous glare. It was the same look he had when the others met him in the hospital…the look of someone who was ready to kill.
Out of nowhere several white feathers fell upon everyone in the arena causing everyone to feel drowsy. One by one many people began to fall asleep, including Ino, Choji, Lee, Shikamaru, Naruto, Ryoko, and Sakura.
Shaking it off enough, Kakashi, Gai, Ryoko, and Sakura pulled made a similar hand seal.
"Release!"
Ryoko and Sakura took the situation in, "What's going on here?"
Suddenly an explosion emerged from the middle of the central bleacher where the Hokage and the Kazekage were. Several ANBU came out of nowhere and dashed towards it.
"What's that?" Ryoko yelled pointing to the roof top where the Kage's were.
Everyone looked to see a black square barrier resting on top of the roof
"A barrier technique, eh?" A jounin wondered.
"They're not normal ninja if they have outmaneuvered ANBU members." Another jounin said.
A man wearing a coat and an ANBU mask appeared in front of the two sensei's, blocking their way to the arena.
"What are you doing?" Gai asked. "Lord Hokage is in danger!"
The man didn't answer. He made a seal and almost immediately four Sound ninjas jumped to his side.
Gai frowned. "I didn't expect the enemy to be disguised as an ANBU member. Was he the one who used the Genjutsu?"
"Yeah." Kakashi nodded. "There's no doubt about it."
"The operation has begun!" Kankuro said jumping over the rail with Temari and Akki.
Akki quickly ran to Gaara's side, "Gaara hang in there."
Baki appeared next to the Sand sibling, "The plan is starting!"
Genma appeared before Sasuke, "You're not going anywhere."
Akki grew worried as Gaara doubled over in pain holding his head.
"What's wrong with him?" Kankuro asked.
Akki placed her hands on Gaara's shoulders, "He's fighting the possession. He won't be able to do the mission and he's wounded!"
"Then what do you want us to do?" Kankuro barked at her, "You want us to go ahead without Gaara?"
Akki glared at him, "Gaara's hurt you selfish pig! I'm more worried about him than the plan!"
Baki growled, "Idiot! I can't believe he would try to undergo complete possession without waiting for the signal!" Baki took in the situation around him, seeing the Gaara was in no condition he came to a conclusion that even he didn't like, "I'm calling it off!"
Kankuro and Temari looked at him with shock.
"You three take Gaara and withdraw for now!"
"What about you, Sensei?" Temari asked.
"I'm going to help fight. Go!" He ordered.
Akki grabbed Gaara's arm and wrapped it around her shoulder and wrapped her other arm around his waist and hoisted him up.
"Yes sir!" They jumped away and over the wall, leaving Genma and Baki and Sasuke behind.
"Hey! What's going on?" Sasuke asked Genma.
Genma's face grew grim, "Sorry, but the Chunin Exam is over. You go after Gaara and the others, right now!" He ordered.
(May I point out that he looked very sexy in panel 1 page 140 volume 13?)
"You're already at Chunin level. If you consider yourself a Konoha Shinobi, do something useful…"
Without much of a word Sasuke took off after the sand siblings.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei wondered when he saw Sasuke jump over the arena wall.
"Kakashi, look closely inside the barrier!" Gai said.
When Kakashi looked his face paled considerably and his eyes widen, "Orochimaru!"
Ryoko's head snapped up, "Orochimaru?"
Then suddenly two sound ninja jumped towards Ryoko and Sakura holding two kunai. Sakura screamed and ducked while Ryoko pulled out her kunai.
In a flash, Kakashi-sensei appeared in front of them and took out both of the ninjas at once
"Ryoko. Sakura. Stay low for a while…I'll go think out the enemy ranks." He said with a smile.
Ryoko was about to protest when Sakura pulled her arm down, causing her to lost balance and fall to the floor. Two more Konoha Jounin appeared and joined the fight while Kakashi-sensei and Gai easily defeated the enemies.
"Sakura, Ryoko." Kakashi-sensei called. "Dispel the Genjutsu and wake up Naruto and Shikamaru."
Ryoko nodded "Let's go, Sakura." Sakura nodded and crawled behind Ryoko.
"Proceed with caution." Sensei warned. "This is an A Rank mission."
Sakura stiffened at his words. "Sensei!" Sakura yelled. "What do you mean by an A Rank mission in this situation? What are we supposed to do?"
As Kakashi spoke to Sakura, Ryoko made her way over to Naruto and Shikamaru keeping mind to keep her head low and jounin ninja fight left and right over her head.
"Listen, Sasuke went after Gaara and the others. Wake up Naruto and Shikamaru and go after Sasuke." He brought his kunai closer and made a small cut on his thumb.
"But if that's the case, I should wake Ino and Choji and go in a bigger group." Sakura argued.
"There are already many sand and sound ninjas inside the village. Movement with more than five people, a basic platoon, will result in a decrease in swiftness and it will become more difficult to conceal yourselves from the enemy. You learned that in the patrol exercises in the Academy, correct?"
"Yes." Sakura said. "Since we're moving with five people, are you going to come with us, sensei?"
"No, I can't leave this place." He said, performing some hand seals. He brought one of his hands down and pressed it against a random guy's back. "Art of Summoning!"
Kakashi moved his hand and when the smoke cleared a small brown pug dog with a blue cape and Konoha's headband on its head was revealed.
"Pakkun here will chase after Sasuke through his scent." Kakashi-sensei informed. Sakura stared at the dog in disbelief. "This little doggie our other teammate?" She inquired. Pakkun hopped towards Sakura until his face was only a few inches from hers.
"Hey, little girl. Don't call me 'a cute doggie'."
"I didn't say 'cute'." Sakura remarked.
"Okay, now go dispel the Genjutsu from Naruto and Shikamaru." Sensei instructed.
Sakura kneeled down beside Naruto and dispelled the illusion.
The blond stirred and slowly got up, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong, Sakura?"
"I'll tell ya later!" She grabbed his head and forced him to stay down.
Ryoko moved towards Shikamaru and prepared to do the release when she noticed that Shikamaru was faking. Pakkun made his way over and chomped down on Shikamaru's ankle, successfully awaking the lazy shinobi.
"Why were you pretending?" Ryoko asked calmly yet irritation was in her voice.
"I don't want to get involved in this." The boy replied pulling Pakkun's face, "I'm not doing this. I don't care about Sasuke."
Naruto looked around with a dumbfounded look, trying to register exactly what was happening. Suddenly, a Sound ninja appeared behind him with a kunai.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled in terror.
But before the Sound nin could strike, Gai appeared in a green blur and elbowed him to the wall behind Naruto.
The ninja's eyes widened. "F-fast…"
"I'm not just fast." Gai said with a smirk. He punched the guy's stomach with so much strength that he opened a big hole on the wall.
"I'll explain your mission now." Kakashi-sensei said, jumping in front of them, "Once I've finished the explanation, go through that hole. Go after Sasuke, and once you meet up with him, stop him. Then await further orders in a safe area."
Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun nodded and jumped through the hole.
"I see, so that's what happened." Naruto nodded after we explained to him and Shikamaru the whole story with more details. They were running through the woods, where Pakkun had managed to catch Sasuke's scent.
"So why did I get sent out here? It's such a drag!" Shikamaru complained.
"We couldn't help it!" Sakura snapped. "Those were Kakashi-sensei's orders."
"How long will it take for us to catch up?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know." Pakkun said. "He's moving pretty fast."
"That figures…" Ryoko sighed swinging on a branch to get more altitude with the others, "He did get a head start during all the commotion."
They kept gliding from tree branch to tree branch for like hours. Pakkun suddenly sniffed and turned to the others.
"Hey guys, increase your speed."
"We're closer now?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"No. A total of eight people are behind us. Wait, I sense another one. So nine guys are coming after us."
"And the good news just won't stop coming…" I mumbled sarcastically.
"Already?" Shikamaru exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding. This is bad. If they catch up with us we'll be annihilated." Shikamaru said pessimistically.
"Then we should stop and ambush them!" Naruto suggested.
"It won't work." Pakkun said. "They're ninjas from Konoha's former shinobi, Orochimaru." Ryoko eyes narrowed.
"Darn it." Shikamaru cursed. "I thought we might have a chance, but I guess not…"
"Why?" Sakura asked. "The enemy's level doesn't matter when you're ambushing them."
"You don't understand, do you?" The genius boy asked. "It's true that ambushing is a really advantageous basic tactic, but to pull it of there are two conditions you must meet. First, you've got to move noiselessly and discover the enemy first. Second, we must secure a location to catch the pursuers off guard, inflict critical damage to them and quickly conceal ourselves in that location. Once we're able to fulfill those conditions, an ambush becomes a valid tactic. As we have a ninja, finding their location is pretty easy. As for the second condition, we're at advantage since this is our village and we know the terrain better."
"So it won't work because…?" Naruto asked, wanting him to go straight to the point.
"Orochimaru has been to Konoha before. If we're dealing with his men, that method won't work. On top of that, they're all ninjas that have most likely mastered the art of pursuing." Ryoko summed.
"So they'll be expecting an ambush." Sakura concluded.
Shikamaru nodded, "Furthermore, the enemy is a squadron organized specifically for this plan. As for us, we have an idiot," he looked at Naruto, who growled, "a kunoichi who has no special traits," he glanced at Sakura, who glared at him, "a good ninja, but completely hotheaded," he gestured to Ryoko, "a dog, and the number one coward, me. A strategy is devised by understanding the situation, a creating the best plan for it. So there's only one thing we can do."
"And what is that, genius?" Ryoko asked.
"A feint operation that looks like an ambush. One person will stay behind, set up things to look like an ambush and stop them."
"Play the decoy?" Sakura asked.
"No way!" Ryoko cuts off. "That would be suicide!"
"I know." The lazy boy stated calmly. "But if the person can stop them, they won't be able to get the location of the other four."
In sync, everyone stopped on some tree branches. The five of them stared down without saying a word.
"So, who wants to take the job?" Shikamaru finally asked. "We need the dog to look for Sasuke."
Ryoko clenched her fists. "I'll-"
"The only choice left is me." Shikamaru interrupted with a bored sigh.
"Nani?" Naruto yelled.
"Shikamaru!" Sakura exclaimed.
"It's better than being annihilated." The lazy boy remarked.
"But-"
"Also, the only guy who can pull off this decoy perfectly and have a right chance of surviving within this group is me."
"But you ca-"
"The Shadow Possession Jutsu was originally made to stop the enemy anyway."
"Will you let me finish-"
"Ryoko. You can't stay behind. You have to stop Sasuke. You're part of his team, like Naruto. I already said I don't care about him. You three have to do it."
"I still don't think you should-"
"I'll catch up with you guys later."
And with that, he jumped off.
"We're counting on you, Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted, hoping the boy heard him. The blond turned to the remaining group. "Ryoko, Sakura, let's go."
Sakura nodded and they began following Pakkun again. Ryoko looked back over her shoulder to the direction Shikamaru had run off. 'Just don't die…'
Pakkun started sniffing again some time later. "The enemy is getting closer and closer."
"Nani?" Sakura gasped. "Did Shikamaru…?"
"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Naruto said confidently.
Sakura didn't look convinced. "How can you be sure?"
"Shikamaru may be lazy and rather take a nap but he will do something he sets his mind to when he's motivated enough."
Naruto nodded. "He rarely does things on his own, but when he does he'll do it all the way."
Sakura's gaze fell down, as if she was trying hard to believe in their words.
"The pursuers have stopped." Pakkun said suddenly.
"Yes! He succeeded in stopping them!" Naruto cheered.
"It must be Shikamaru!" Sakura said.
"How's Gaara doing?" Kankuro asked Akki as they glided through the trees.
Akki glanced at Gaara's face briefly before focusing back on where she was going, "He's paler than normal…his breathing is shallow…" She panted, "…but for now I think he's alright…"
"If he's getting too heavy for you, I'll take over…" Kankuro suggested noticing his teammate fatigue.
Akki growled, "I'm more worried about what's ahead of us." She came to a stop. Kankuro and Temari stopped as well when they saw that Sasuke Uchiha had caught up to them.
Although slightly out of breath Sasuke managed a smirk, "You're not getting away."
"Sasuke has stopped!"
Naruto's face lit up, "Alright!"
"We have quite a distance to him, though."
"It's okay." Ryoko said. "This means he's caught up with Gaara."
Pakkun's eyes suddenly widened, "This scent…"
He stopped on a branch and the others did the same as him.
"What's wrong?" Naruto inquired.
"Did something happen to Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
Pakkun shook his head. "I didn't notice until now, but," He turned to Sakura, "you use the same shampoo as me."
(I had to include this part! XD I couldn't stop laughing for many reasons: A dog using human shampoo, Kakashi giving his dogs a bath, and Sakura smelling like a dog!)
"But my hair is much glossier." Pakkun added. Sakura looked like she was about to faint.
"Don't bring up something stupid like that in such a serious situation!" Naruto scolded, crossing his arms unhappily.
"Yeah! We've wasted time" Ryoko grabbed Sakura by the back of her collar, "Sakura snap out of it and let's go!"
"I smell like a dog… I smell like a dog…."
"Uh… Sakura?" Naruto called in a concerned tone.
Ryoko sighed with irritation, "Yes, you smell like a dog! Now get your butt into gear and let's get Sasuke!"
Kankuro pulled Crow off his back, "Temari, Akki, take Gaara and go on ahead!"
Temari and Akki nodded and continued on.
"I suppose I have no choice but to fight you." Kankuro said.
"No! I will be your opponent"
A new voice called, causing Kankuro and Sasuke to stand at alert. From behind a nearby tree, Shino Aburame revealed himself.
"Shino?" Sasuke asked, "What are you doing here?"
Without looking at him, Shino pointed to Sasuke, "Before you left the arena, I planted a female beetle on you and had my male beetles follow the scent."
Kankuro grew nervous at the odds that were against him.
"Sasuke Uchiha…chase after Gaara…you haven't completed your match yet…I'll fight this one…especially since he was supposed to be my opponent to begin with."
Sasuke didn't move for a moment.
"Let him to me." Shino insisted, "Go!"
"…you sound pretty confident, but…are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't need your concern. Give me 10 minutes and I'll come help you."
Sasuke smirked and turned away, "Hn…I'll be done by then too." Then he flash stepped away.
Meanwhile many miles away…
Akki tried desperately to get as far away as she could as she carried Gaara. She grew steadily more concerned as Gaara twitched and shook even more.
"Is Gaara alright?" Temari asked.
"I'm worried about his wound." Akki told her, "But I think he's coming to…"
Slowly Gaara opened his eyes, "…Akki…let me down…"
Obeying him, Akki came to a stop on a thick enough branch to hold her and Gaara. Temari came to a stop next to them, "Gaara?"
"Ugh!" Gaara jerked and held his head in pain.
"It's been awake inside Gaara since his match…" Temari whispered fearfully, "This is bad, it's just the two of us now. We can't handle it by ourselves…"
Akki was at a loss of what to do. "Gaara…"
"Temari…Akki…get away from here…" Gaara rasped turning around.
"What?"
Gaara growled and swapped Temari away, "You're in the way!"
The force of Gaara's hit sent Temari flying into another tree. The force of the impact temporarily knocked her out cold.
"Gaara!" Akki pleaded grabbing Gaara's shoulder to stop him from moving, "You're wounded. You shouldn't move."
Gaara growled and punched her across the face, "Get out of my face you stupid fool!"
Just as Temari, Akki went flying into a tree base. Wincing she sat up, "Gaara…"
Gaara growled when he saw Sasuke standing in a tree above him.
"I don't know what you Sand shinobi are plotting, but I'm going to stop you!"
Gaara flinched and held his head as his pain returned. Slowly his sand armor began to crack and fall away.
"Besides…" Sasuke continued, "I want to see what you really are…"
"You who are strong…who are called Uchiha…who have friends…and have a purpose…just like me…" The cracks on Gaara's face turned to purple like veins that steadily grew as he spoke, "By killing you… I'll erase all of that…and I'll truly exist…and I can feel alive!" Gaara doubled over again.
Meanwhile a few trees away…
Pakkun sniffed one more time. "This is…"
"Do you smell shampoo again?" Naruto asked irritated.
"No, it's Sasuke. There are other scents near him, as well. We've caught up."
A smirk of determination spread across Naruto's lips.
"They've stopped completely. It seems like they're about to fight."
Sakura's eyes widened.
"That doesn't matter since our mission is to bring Sasuke back, no matter if we have to fight or not." Ryoko said as she charged ahead.
Sakura raised her head and nodded, trying to look more confident.
"He's there!" Naruto called pointing forward.
The scene before us was unbelievable. Sasuke was there lying on a branch, stirring as he tried in vain to move. When they looked more closely, they saw his body was covered with the curse marks. He had a frustrated look on his face.
Gaara, however, was the most incredible sight. His right arm had turned into a monstrous sand claw. The right side of his face was consumed by the sand and a sand ear like a cat's popped from his head. His right eye was completely black except for a yellow iris and the right side of his mouth had fangs instead of teeth. There was also a sort of sand tail coming out of his gourd.
His face had become wild, like a predator's after chasing down its prey. That was exactly how he looked at Sasuke. And it was with that look that he jumped to attack him.
Naruto and Ryoko glanced at each other and nodded in sync. As though they had planned everything, they jumped from their branch and aimed a kick to Gaara's face when the boy was only a few inches from Sasuke.
Gaara was sent flying backwards, breaking branches until he hit a tree's trunk. Naruto landed on one branch and Ryoko on another.
"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed as she jumped to the branch and kneeled beside the Uchiha.
"What the heck happened here?" Ryoko questioned without taking her eyes of Gaara, who was glaring at Naruto and Ryoko with a killing intent.
"I can't… use Chidori more than… twice a day," Sasuke managed to say.
"You're in no condition to fight anymore anyway." Ryoko told him.
"Hey…" Pakkun called their attention, "I'm not a battle type dog so don't count on me."
"We figured out that much!" Ryoko and Sakura yelled.
"You are… those guys I tried to kill," the Suna boy said in a dry tone.
Naruto and Ryoko involuntarily stiffened. They recalled the day at the hospital as Gaara's words echoed in their minds. 'I fight only for myself… and love only myself... As long as there are people to kill in this world… I will not cease to exist.'
Suddenly, Naruto turned back to Sakura and Sasuke with a terrified look.
"We're going to run, everyone!"
It was in that moment of distraction that's he attacked.
Gaara jumped past Naruto and aimed his sand claw to Sasuke with a guttural scream. "Die, Sasuke Uchiha!"
Then to everyone's surprise…Akki jumped in front of Sasuke and Sakura using her giant boomerang as a shield to fend off Gaara's claw. "Gaara! You have to stop!"
Gaara flinched and held his head. No one was prepared for Gaara's sand tail to whip around Akki's defense and attack Sakura full on, pinning her to a tree.
"Sakura!" Naruto and Ryoko yelled at the same time.
"Gaara! Stop this!" Akki begged.
Gaara's eyes widened at Akki and he hesitated for a small second. Then he shoved her away with his claw.
"Get out of my way!"
The dark haired girl let out a small wince of pain as the claw pinned her down, before falling into unconsciousness. For a moment Gaara forgot about Sasuke, just glaring at her. "You're always getting in the way!" He winced as another throb came to his head, "Why?" Soon flashes of memory clouded his mind…
(Flash back time!)
In the Village hidden in the Sand…it was a stormy afternoon and Gaara was getting home from the terrible event at the park with Yashamaru.
"Gaara, I have a guest over today so please be on your best behavior." Yashamaru said kindly to Gaara as he guided Gaara to the living room.
"A guest?" Little Gaara asked standing next to a table with a photo resting in top of it.
Yashamaru nodded and went to get his guest so that Gaara could meet them. "Wait here."
Gaara stared at the women in the picture before he took the knife off the table and held it a few inches over his wrist. When he made a move to cut himself sand hovered over his wrist, keeping the blade from cutting through. "…It's still useless…the sand protects me…"
"Lord Gaara…?"
Gaara turned around to see Yashamaru and a girl with long dark brown hair that went mid way to her back.
"Please do not engage such behavior like that…even if the sand protects you…"
Gaara frowned with guilt, "Yashamaru…I'm sorry…your wound…does it hurt?"
Yashamaru touched the wound on his forehead, "Oh this? Well, just a bit. But it's only a small scratch. It'll heal in no time."
The room grew quite before Gaara spoke again, "What does it mean to hurt? I've never been injured before so I was wondering what if felt like…"
Yashamaru scratches his head unsurely, "I don't know how to explain it…it's kinda painful…kinda unbearable…I can't really describe it, but it's no fun, believe me."
Gaara looked as though he understood something, "Then…I could be hurt too? Just like everyone else…" He gripped his shirt where his heart rested, "It always hurts here…it doesn't bleed, but it hurts right here…"
Without a word the young girl walked towards Gaara. She took the knife out of his hand and slightly cuts her finger with it. Both Yashamaru and Gaara were shocked by her action. "Akki…"
Akki showed Gaara her blooded cut, "If you bleed then I'll bleed too…Your pain is my pain…I'll hurt for you so you don't have to hurt…"
Gaara was awe struck by Akki's declaration.
Yashamaru chuckled, "Now, Akki…you don't have to take it that far. While it is your duty to be at Gaara's aide, you also have to be his friend." He patted her head lightly, "So, no dying…" He crouched down to their level, "…both of you…"
From that night on, Akki remained at Gaara's side. She followed him to a little boy's house so he could deliver some ointment only to see the door be slammed in Gaara's face. She continued to follow the saddened Gaara through Suna even when he sand attacked a drunken man and killed him. She even followed him to a lone roof top to look at the moon. It wasn't until when Gaara cried that she made a move to comfort him as best as a five year old girl could.
"Why…? Why am I a monster…?" He whimpered.
Akki frowned, "You're not a monster…"
Gaara looked at her through tear stained eyes, "What…?"
"Monsters have funny looking faces like this!" She pulled at her face in attempt to make a face funny enough to make Gaara smile.
He cracked a small smile.
"Sometimes they have ugly looking faces like this…" She pulled on her face to give it a skinny longed faced look.
Gaara giggled a bit.
"A besides…monsters live in closets and under beds because they're homeless and can't afford boxes." Akki explained to him with a little laugh in her voice.
Feeling a little better, Gaara laughs with her.
However their laughter was short lived when several kunai hurtled at them from behind. Fortunately Gaara's sand protected them and retaliated by pinning the offending sand shinobi to the wall of the roof, severely injuring them.
Fearfully, Akki and Gaara approached the poorly masked Shinobi. With a shaking hand Gaara pulled the wrap from the Shinobi's face and the identity of the ninja stunned them both. Yashamaru…
When Gaara realized that it was Yashamaru, he was horrified. He screamed and cried over the possible betrayal of his uncle. "Why…? Why Yashamaru…? You were the only one…who ever loved me…"
Despite his injury, Yashamaru spoke, "It was an order…from your father Lord Kazekage…" Yashamaru explained the whole reason to Gaara of why he attacked and told him that he had willingly accepted the mission. Having never truly loved Gaara, Yashamaru hoped that killing Gaara would avenge the death of his sister. In a last effort to kill Gaara, Yashamaru detonated a number of exploding tags covering his body, asking Gaara to "please die". Using his sand as a shield Gaara had survived the blast and lost the only person he thought had cared for him. Because of the emotional overload, Gaara's sand went out of control and etches the kanji for love onto his forehead and from then on he swore that he would love himself and only himself.
Akki watched on helplessly as the once timid Gaara turned cold.
Gaara clutched his head and growled, looking as if he had an enormous migraine.
"What's wrong? I thought you were going to run!"
Naruto's eyes shifted first to Sakura and then to Sasuke. Gaara mimicked his stare with a sort of frustrated expression.
"These two… what are they to you?"
"They are our friends!" Naruto answered confidently.
"If you even think about hurting them anymore, you'll regret it until the day you die!" Ryoko threatened, pointing a finger to him.
Gaara gritted his teeth at their responses. Accepting the challenge, he pressed his sand claw against Sakura, causing the girl to release a high-pitched scream.
Gaara smirked. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to make me regret it."
"Let's do it, Ryoko!" Naruto yelled, jumping towards Gaara with the look of determination back to his face. Ryoko followed him, fists raised.
With a swing of his tail, Gaara threw them back to the branch. As her back hit the branch, she felt blood coming up to her mouth. Without thinking twice, she coughed it.
"Ryoko! You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just some internal bleeding." Ryoko joked as she wiped the blood off her mouth, "No problem…"
Gaara let out a monstrous laughter. "So you fight for another," he concluded. "That's why you guys are so weak! You don't need a reason to fight." Their glare at him intensified. "Only the winner can feel the value of his existence. Now, forget about your stupid friends and fight only for yourselves."
"What about Akki?" Ryoko questioned, "She fought to protect you! Isn't she your friend?"
"People who bring unnecessary emotions into battle deserve to die."
"Now it's for real! We will beat you up!" Naruto yelled immediately.
They jumped at him again with their kunai just to be sent flying back by his tail.
Gaara chuckled, "What happened? Don't you care what happens to your important friends?" he mocked, pressing the claw against Sakura tighter.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelled.
Ryoko gritted her teeth, 'This won't work if we keep attacking head on like this... We needed to free Sakura…but how do we get around Gaara's sand? He has the complete advantage over close range and long range…that stupid sand…maybe if we keep attack at different angles…we might find a weak spot…only one jutsu to cover that…'
Ryoko raised her hands to start the Shadow clone jutsu, but Naruto stopped her.
"I got a plan." Naruto told her, "This is going to use up a heck of a lotta chakra but…" Naruto made several rapid hand seals that Ryoko couldn't recognize, "…It's time to bring in the Chief Toad!"
"Chief Toad…?"
Naruto bit his thumb, so it bled a little and then he placed the thumb on the branch, "Summoning Jutsu!"
A small cloud of smoke appeared on the branch. Those who were conscious waited with anticipation as to what Naruto had summoned. When the smoke cleared it revealed a small orange frog with a blue cape like Pakkun's.
"Uh…"
"What is it? What do you want, kid?" The little frog asked, "Well. Whatever it is I hope you brought along some treats. Because if you think I'm doing anything for nothing you're wrong!"
Naruto's eyes turned white with rage, "Oh give me a break! I'm really starting to hate you stinking frogs!"
"Oh ho ho! Anti-amphibian, huh?" The little frog asked, "Well take that you bug bigit!" The little frog stuck out his tongue and spit in Naruto's face.
"Listen…I don't have time to play games you slimy little squirt!"
"Why did you summon him? This isn't the time to be messing around!" Ryoko yelled.
"I didn't plan on summoning him! I wanted the boss frog!" the blond snapped.
"Are you done?" Gaara's mocking voice asked. Their eyes widened when they turned to him. His face had been completely consumed by the sand, now. There were no human features of Gaara left besides his red hair and Kanji symbol. Then, right before of their eyes the sand began spreading through the rest of his body not leaving a mere inch uncovered. He sand of his right arm came off of the claw without releasing Sakura and another one emerged in its place.
"The sand on the girl won't be released until you defeat me," he said. "Not only that, the sand will constrict her tighter as time passes by and will eventually kill her."
"We've got to do something!" Ryoko panicked.
"Sand Shuriken" Gaara yelled swinging both arms, creating several sand shuriken.
Ryoko jumped to a higher branch and Naruto grabbed the little frog before jumping out of the way. They landed safely another branch away from Gaara.
"Wow, boy, are you two pathetic" the frog pointed out.
Both Ryoko and Naruto growled, "Shut up."
"But who is that?" He pointed to Gaara.
Now even the red hair had disappeared. He was completely unrecognizable.
"This is the demon he talked about," Naruto whispered in astonishment.
"The demon locked inside him…" Ryoko stared into his eyes, "Naruto…look at his eyes…"
Naruto did and realized, "The same eyes…the eyes of loneliness and suffering…just like me…when I found out that I had a demon inside me…everyone hated me and acted as if it was my fault…that made it worse…but then a few people came along…Iruka-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, and Ryoko…they paid attention to me…that made it better…I was happy again…they made me feel happy to be alive."
"Naruto…this guy has been there…in that same darkness…" Ryoko murmured, "with no one but Akki to be there for him…but he still turned out this way…"
"Can we really beat a guy like this?" Naruto asked.
"What's wrong?" Gaara taunted. "Are you afraid of me? You two were so bold and cocky before! Show me your strength and let me grind it into dust before your very eyes!"
"Naruto, let's take him down!" Ryoko yelled.
Naruto and Ryoko jumped from the branch again, performing the same hand seal,
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The clones popped in the air beside them and they descended on another frontal attack on Gaara. Gaara smirked and opened his mouth to inhale deeply and as he arched his back, several fanged mouths opened on his body, taking in air as well, "Wind Style: Sand Storm Devastation!"
Gaara's body exhaled a wild storm of sand. The sandstorm was strong enough to make all of their clones vanish.
"He blew them all away…" Naruto panted, "Not good…"
"N-Naruto…we've got to do something to stop this guy."
Strength slowly returned to Naruto as he regained his balance, "I think I've got a plan…"
Naruto ending dialouge:
"Alright! Anyone who has ever doubted me, anybody who thought I was joking when I said I'd be the next Hokage…well sit back, shut up, and watch! Cause I'm about to give this guy a demonstration!"
"A demonstration of what?" Ryoko asked, "He's creaming us!"
"He's about to see out best work! Transformation Jutsu, Summoning Jutsu, Shadow Clone Jutsu, You name it! They don't call me the hyper active knuckle headed ninja for nothing!"
"Oh I think they call you that for something!" Ryoko chided.
"He won't know what hit him when we get through with him!"
"You're saying 'we' a lot, are you going to drag me into this? There's no way I'm getting on top of a giant toad!"
"Next time! Naruto and Ryoko's Ninja Handbook! Believe it!"