A/N: "Kept you waiting huh?"
DAMN, it's been a long time. I'll get right into the fic since I know you guys don't care about my personal life.
XXX
Hiruzen's staff of Enma clashed against Orochimaru's Kusanagi, the Fire shadow's diamond hard staff barely resisting the Snake Sannins superior blade. Sarutobi knew that the monkey inhabiting the staff would have some very harsh words for the old man when he reverted back to normal.
Two hairy hands sprung from the staff, gripping Orochimaru's throat in a suffocating vice. The Snake Sannin's mouth opened in a silent gag, before his skin turned brown and melted. The Sannins form turning to a pile of clay.
A slight vibration from the staff prompted Hiruzen to release it, the Adamantine staff turning back to the Monkey it originated from. Enma stood a full head and shoulders taller than Sarutobi, with a body covered in white fur that protrudes from his sleeves and pants. Long and unkempt white hair reached down his back, while his face sported long white sideburns and a goatee. Showing himself a defender of Konoha, Enma bared a Leaf Hitai-ate.
"Damn you Hiruzen," Enma growled, rubbing his arm as a means of tending to the nasty bruise he'd formed under his robes and mesh, "You knew that would hurt."
"My sincerest apologies Enma-san, but I cannot afford to die...not yet."
Both eyes shot to the puddle of clay that was once Orochimaru, the Hokage and his Summon bracing as the clay reformed into the grinning Sannin. Orochimaru wasted no time in leaping back as Hiruzen went through handsigns and Enma lunged at him.
Orochimaru knew he couldn't take Enma in hand to hand combat, so at the same time Hiruzen finished his final hand-sign, Orochimaru finished his, "Striking Shadow Snakes!" The Sannin hissed as six snakes shot from his sleeves and instantly burrowed into the tiled roof, still connected to the sannins arms.
The Monkey summons suddenly halted as four scaley binds restricted his legs, while two more sprung out to tightly shackle his forearms. The sannins mouth opened wide as another much larger snake coiled from his maw, fangs bared and dripping with poison.
Orochimaru took the lack of fear in Enma's facial features as his cue to turn around, and to his shock, he was beholden to a mud sculpture of a dragon's head, mouth agape and formed right over the tiled roof in front of Hiruzen.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" The Hokage thundered as mud balls fired from the dragon's mouth. At the same time, Sarutobi formed another set of hand seals, this time for a fire release jutsu. Hiruzen spewed a stream of fire from his mouth that enveloped the mud balls, turning the projectiles into flaming pieces of stone that bombarded the Snake Sannin; who instantly released his snake equipped grip on Enma. As an added bonus, the Hokage allowed the dragon head to swamp the Sannin with mud as the jutsu dispersed. Orochimaru's screams filled the ears of Hiruzen, Enma, the Sound Four, and the spectating Anbu from outside of the barrier as his form disappeared from within the flames and tide of mud.
As the dirt sludge subsided, the Sannins body was nowhere to be found.
"Kukukuku, sensei you old cheat." All eyes went up to a higher platform on the roof tops structure. The sannin stood on the railing as casually as if he'd been there for several minutes. Was Hiruzen fighting a clone this entire time, or was the Sannin truly that fast? Orochimaru continued, "Poor old me is all alone," he said in mocking despair, "and two on one just isn't fair." As he said this, two coffins rose out of the ground to either side of him.
'Coffins?' Hiruzen, Enma, and the Anbu thought. It wasn't beyond Orochimaru to use zombies in a fight. But who could he have summoned for reanimation?
The Thirds hands began to form signs, prepared to attack Orochimaru before he could finish his jutsu. But as the coffin lids opened, and he got a good look at who was on the inside, the breath was stolen from his body.
XXX
"Hey Trunks, Sasuke, check this out!" Naruto hailed as he hit Gaara with a jaw shattering uppercut, the sand-warped redhead getting launched high into the air from the branch he and the boys stood on. A Naruto clone grabbed the Sand-Jinchuriki by his ankles, swinging and driving Gaara down 40 yards into the forest floor before dispersing.
The real Naruto finished off his attack by running up a nearby tree, leaping off, and plummeting down on the sand-jinchuuriki with an elbow drop, making Gaara howl out.
Sasuke and Trunks snickered as Naruto hopped off Gaara, dusted himself off, and gave a bow for his performance.
The three teens had been at this for about fifteen minutes, toying with Gaara like the fight was a game. Normally Trunks wasn't the type to toy in a serious fight, but among friends, he found himself getting caught in the influence.
The instant the fight started, Kankuro grabbed his sister and dragged her out of the crossfire.
As the beat down ensued, Temari's heart ached for her youngest brother, while Kankuro was a lot less sympathetic. Sure Gaara was family, but the little psycho had threatened to kill him and his sister more times than he cared to count.
Maybe this beatdown was a long time coming.
Gaara snarled furiously as he hopped to his feet, sand claw raised to swipe at Naruto. Before he could attack, Sasuke was under his legs, sweeping his left leg from under him and disrupting his balance. Trunks dropped down from above, slamming an elbow onto the top of the redheads cranium, driving Gaara's face into the ground, where it bounced off the hardened dirt. Trunks finished his attack by getting Gaara in a headlock, jumping forward, and sitting as he forced Gaara's jaw to hit the floor, dazing the sand-jinchuriki.
"Whoa, I never seen that before!" Naruto exclaimed, Sasuke silently concurring, "What do you call that?"
Trunks got to his feet and dusted himself off, smirking as he did, "That, was called the Bulldog. Something I saw in some old wrestling videos from back home." He kicked Gaara in the ribs, sending him into a tree, shattering the bark.
Temari roughly grabbed Kankuro's shoulder, "We're helping him! Now!" She practically roared in his ear.
He complied, mostly because it was the mission to protect Gaara.
Temari's mind worked like a super-computer when it came to battle; in a span of almost milliseconds, she was able to think of multiple different scenarios that could be used to tackle the three juggernauts in front of them.
She deduced that any direct approach from Kankuro would be suicide. His attacks with the Crow weren't fast enough and if the three boys saw any of their attacks coming, they'd paste Temari and Kankuro before the two had time to scream 'Oh shit.'
So, Temari knew she'd have to make the first direct attack.
Then, the sand-kunoichi noticed the three weren't paying them any noticeable attention, but, as shinobi they had to be aware of the other sand-siblings. On the off-chance that the leaf-genin neglected Kankuro and her in any way, she had to know which boy to go after first.
Naruto, from what she saw, had his distance attacks, but he preferred getting in his opponent's face and pummeling them. Something she could handle easier than Kankuro could. Trunks, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was a skilled fighter hand to hand and with his sword, but his preference was for hammering his opponents with ki blasts, either in the air or on the ground. Which led to another issue...he could fly. Sasuke, unlike Naruto and Trunks, was more of jack-of-all-trades. He could easily switch from hand-to-hand combat to a distance attack with one of his fireballs with no noticeable shift in effort.
Temari's teal eyes narrowed as she pulled out two kunai and two explosive tags.
"You got a plan?" Kankuro whispered. His sister attached a tag to the handle of one of the kunai and tossed it to him.
"I'm gonna get them airborne, that'll be our best bet since only Trunks can fly." She removed her fan.
Kankuro looked at the kunai in his hand, finally piecing together the last pieces of Temari's plan himself, 'And since the other two can't fly, that means they'd be sitting ducks for these.' he thought.
"Aim for the trees, not their bodies." Temari said, watching as Trunks pulled out his sword, undoubtedly getting ready to behead her little brother the second he approached him, "I don't wanna risk them dodging the knives outright and screwing up our attack altogether, we're better off using the blast of the tags while they're surprised." Her heart raced as the three leaf Genin took steps closer to Gaara. "Got it!?"
"Got it." Kankuro confirmed, beginning to unravel the Crow.
XXX
Naruto turned to Trunks, "I think I'll let you do the honors."
"What, scared of getting your hands dirty?" Trunks asked with a smirk.
Naruto shook his head, "Dirty? Nah, I just feel like 'If I'm gonna be Hokage', why not let people like you handle my light work?" the whiskered teen smirked back.
"Fair enough." Trunks said. He held out his hand to Gaara as he built up energy. He turned to Sasuke, "Any objections?"
The Uchiha shrugged, "No, let's just get this over wi-"
"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
An extremely violent wind tore through the forest floor and towards the leaf genin, coming from some voice of origin. "Move!" Sasuke shouted.
The three boys had the reflexes to immediately hop high into the air, but almost like the wind had a mind of its own, it swept up and caught them in a funnel of winds sharper than any sword.
Deep cuts opened up on their arms, legs, and backs. Out of instinct they used their arms to shield their faces, although Naruto caught a nasty gash on his cheek. A scream tore from Sasuke's throat, having felt the muscles in his left Achilles tendon tear cleanly apart. The palm of Trunk's left hand was sliced open.
As the winds died down, Trunks heard a familiar hiss coming from the branches above him. And the familiar smell of burning paper caught his nose.
His eyes widened, "Oh shit shit shit, not agai-!"
*Ka-Boom!*
A brutal shockwave sent the boys plummeting back into the ground, luckily saving them from the fire and heat of the bombs.
Trunks managed to get to one knee, panting as he did. He may have been more durable than a full blooded human being, being able to stop almost any normal sword or blade with his bare skin; but wind was different. It was literally capable of being sharper than any sword. Which meant Temari was capable of mortally wounding even him. He looked at his bloodied and wounded hand, feeling lucky that it wasn't severed in half. It would need stitches though. He wouldn't be able to make a fist with this hand, much less fire a potent ki blast.
He was at a handicap.
Naruto and Sasuke nearly blacked out from the impact, struggling to get to their knees at all, "Dammit," Sasuke grunted, "wh-who the hell did that?" He clamped down hard on the back of his calf, which was bleeding profusely. The injury to his tendon may just take him out of this fight completely. He didn't wanna admit that though.
"T… Temari, that bitch." Naruto forced out, his wounds stinging everywhere he'd caught them. He was tough enough to fight through the pain, but he was really upset that they forget all about her, and practically allowed her to catch them in a surprise attack. Her and Kankuro were obviously smart enough to attack from out of sight.
Trunks turned to Sasuke, noticing the Uchiha's leg injury, "Be honest, can you move?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to say yes, but couldn't.
*Click click click*
The three boys eyes lit up, Sasuke being the one to see a shadow loom over Trunks.
"TRUNKS, MOVE!"
The saiyan prince immediately leaped forward, a blade sticking into the dirt where he stood. He turned his head to see that Karasu, Kankuro's puppet, was on the attack. It charged straight for him.
"Trunks!" Naruto called out, preparing to help him. Only, the instant he got to his feet,
"YOU'RE MINE!"
The blond was sent careening through the forest by Gaara's sand formed claw. The oversized appendage shattering three of his ribs on impact. By Kami's grace he wasn't impaled with any of the claws sharp points. Not yet finished with Naruto, Gaara snatched up the blonde genin with his claw and forced him through the trunks of the surrounding trees, intent on punishing him just as much as the blonde and his friends did to him. And then some.
Trunks weaved away from a thrust of the Crows wrist blade aimed for his face. He sucked in his stomach, avoiding a slash that tore the fabric on his tank. He retaliated by snapping a hard kick to the puppets wooden frame, snapping off one of its four arms and cracking the wood around its torso.
Turns out the puppet held together quite well, because it managed to soar back and hold its arms out towards Trunks.
The demi-saiyan wouldn't turn super saiyan against a puppet, of all things, but facing off against Gaara in the exams, and dealing with Kakashi's last minute early morning exercise sucked him of some the energy he'd need in this war. And he still had Gaara to deal with. When he saw the puppet leap away from him after kicking it, he considered charging at it, but when it took aim with its arms the young saiyan braced himself by blocking.
Two paper covered orbs shot out of holes in the puppets hands, detonating to either side of Trunks. A blinding screen of smoke enveloped him, making him break into a fit of coughs upon inhalation. He couldn't see anywhere around him, which meant the Crow could pop up anywhere.
*Click click click*
He quickly turned behind him.
Nothing.
*Click click*
He turned to the left.
Nothing.
He flared his ki, blowing away the smoke. He expected to see the puppet either in front of him, or to the side of him, but no luck. Behind him, still nothing.
The floating saiyan glanced to the forest floor below him to search for his enemy, but still couldn't see it. And for obvious reasons, he couldn't sense it.
As a green leaf floated down into the corner of his vision, his blue eyes shot up to see Karasu free falling towards him. The distance between them was less than three meters, too short for a ki blast. The Crows wrist blade was already poised to be rammed in the saiyans face, so Trunks raised his arms to block.
The son of Vegeta bit back a yell, feeling the blade sink into an already opened wound on his right forearm, courtesy of Temari's earlier wind attack.
Taking advantage of the close range, Trunks used his left hand to hold the marionette still, before firing a ki blast at point-blank. Disintegrating the Crow.
Taking heavy breaths, the saiyan pulled out the blade that was stuck in his forearm. The blade was still attached to the Crows arm, the only thing left of the puppet. He inwardly grinned, knowing Kankuro had to be furious knowing his beloved puppet was destroyed.
He held onto the wooden limb, intent on stabbing the puppet master with his own knife when he found him.
When the saiyan began to search for Kankuro, knowing he had to be nearby, he could feel a strange tingle coming from within' a wound on his forearm; the same wound that Karasu's blade sunk into. He quirked an eyebrow at it, before an electric jolt of pain flared up and down the limb. He cried out and dropped Karasu's arm, letting it fall to the ground below him, and grabbed his arm tightly with his free hand. It felt as if someone was continuously pouring boiling water over his arm.
He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, followed by the edges of his vision blurring.
Something… was seriously wrong.
He slowly lowered himself back to the ground as best he could, dropping to his knees when he was about a half meter above the ground. His breathing was now strained, but he looked at the knife that he was stabbed with, leaning in close with his worsening eyesight.
At the top, Trunks saw blood on the knife, his blood. But, as his eyes trailed towards the exit cavity of the wrist, he saw a clear liquid that dripped from it and onto the grass, sizzling against the green blades as it did. That same liquid was coated on the knife.
It was poison.
XXX
Naruto held his shattered ribcage, dodging a flurry of sand formed shuriken flung at him from Gaara. The blonde and the sand jinchuuriki were up in the trees, Naruto managing to get released from Gaara's previous grip on him. A shuriken sliced against the whiskered jinchuuriki's thigh, making him grunt loudly.
"AHAHAHA, ARE YOU HURTING YET!?" Gaara cackled maniacally.
The use of one arm meant Naruto couldn't cast the Shadow Clone Jutsu or the Air Bullet Jutsu. He was completely on the defensive and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
XXX
Sasuke looked to the fight between Naruto and Gaara, having lost sight of Trunks when Karasu attacked. He couldn't stand, which meant he was more powerless than Naruto was against Gaara right now.
His thoughts drifted back to his childhood, when he'd just returned to the Uchiha compound from a day at the Academy. Vivid memories of the helplessness he felt staring at his parents freshly slain corpses, and Itachi standing hauntingly over the bodies began to flash through his retina like some sort of sick slideshow.
'No,' the Uchiha thought, 'there is... something I can use.' His sharingan activated, though, unknown to him, the cursed seal began to slowly break through the seal Kakashi placed over it, an effect of the desperation he was feeling.
This was a technique he could only use twice within' a 24 hour period; and, to be honest, he wanted to save it for Trunks and Naruto during the Chunin exams, despite how lethal it was. Kakashi did him a pretty big favor by passing this move onto him during their training session.
He brought his hands together in a short series of hand signs before dropping his left hand in front of him. As chakra built up into his hand, the intensity whipping his hair into a frenzy, a spark of electricity flared into his palm; accompanied by the sound of chirping birds.
Naruto kicked Gaara in the face, hard enough to knock one of the redheads sharp teeth out his mouth.
Gaara retaliated by smacking the blonde with his tail, only when he did, said blonde turned into a wooden log that shattered into a hundred splinters.
A sword stabbed through the right side of Gaara's chest, Naruto's use of the flying swallow allowing his ninjato to pierce through the sand covering Gaara's body.
Blood spit from the sand Jinchuriki's mouth, before his head turned to the blonde behind him, "Substitution, you actually use that elementary technique."
Naruto wheezed, blood trailing down the left side of his face, making him close his eye or risk being blinded, "Heh, jokes on you. You actually fell for an elementary level technique." The chirping of what sounded like a thousand birds began to rapidly resound in his ears.
Naruto released the hilt to his blade and jumped away, leaving it stuck in Gaara. The redhead turned in horror to the sound of the chirping.
"CHIDORI!"
Sasuke's attack tore through the left side of Gaara's body, mostly destroying his sand formed arm and grazing the flesh of his ribcage, searing the flesh. Sasuke landed on a branch parallel to Gaara's, falling to his knees. His Sharingan activated eyes glared at the sand Jinchuriki to take in his work.
A deep gash was ripped into Gaara's right bicep, allowing a steady stream of blood to pour from the wound and down his arm, dripping from his fingers and onto the bark covered wood he stood upon.
'Shit!' Sasuke cursed in his head, 'I missed his heart when he turned to face me. Since I had to make a jump, I couldn't move as fast as I needed to.'
Naruto stood on the side of a tree, having applied chakra to his feet to run up it to overlook the aftermath of Sasuke's attack.
Almost immediately after losing his arm, Gaara began to undergo another transformation; his sand spread onto now both his arms and his head and face was now completely covered in sand and shaped like a raccoon. Actually, all-in-all, Gaara was now an 8 foot tall raccoon with a tuft of red hair on its head.
A chill ran down Sasuke's spine as Gaara's black and gold eyes stared right at him. "Just what are you?"
The raccoon looked to the left and right, as if he didn't know who Sasuke was talking to, "Who, me?" Its voice was high pitched, instead of the deep and sullen tone that belonged to Gaara, "My name is Shukaku, but" A predatory grin spread across its features, "you my friend can also call me, the Ichibi."
Naruto's eyes widened, "I-Ichibi…" he whispered, 'That means one tail...which means he's… he's…'
Shukaku continued, "Thanks for awakening me though. You have no idea what it's like being trapped inside a kid who's that much of a downer. Sure he has my bloodlust, but he's so goddamned emo it makes me wanna rip my hair out. He could at least crack a joke every once in awhile, jeez." He shook his head. "But I think I'll show my gratitude by granting you both a semi-slow yet very painful death."
XXX
Temari and Kankuro, from the forest floor, watched in horror as Gaara completely gave into the demon inside of him. They wouldn't dare show themselves to him, lest they risk the Shukaku making them victims of his rampage as well.
Kankuro had to ignore the immense amount of heartbreak he felt after seeing his beloved Karasu turned into nothing but ash and very few wood slivers just moments ago. He turned to his sister, "We should move, before he sees us."
When they turned around they were greeted with the sight of a limping demi-saiyan, sword loosely in hand, whom now had sickly pale skin and darkened rings around his eyes. He was drenched in sweat that soaked his tank top, and to top it all off, it sounded as if he had trouble breathing.
"That *huff* was *huff*, a really cheap shot." Trunks said, arm still clutched around his still poison affected wound.
Temari's eyes narrowed, "Hm, I'm surprised the poison hasn't killed you. How the hell are you still alive?"
A weak smile made its way onto Trunks' face, "You really *huff* think I'd go down from *huff* a bit of poison? You should have *huff* made a stronger dosage."
Kankuro took a step back as Temari pulled out her fan,
"Yeah, well, whatever the dosage, I can tell you're now too weak to pose much of a threat." She said.
Trunks tightened his grip on his sword as best he could, not willing to back down.
As Temari prepared to open her fan, her eyes widened and she shuddered, before her head dropped and her body went still.
Trunks raised an eyebrow in question, as did Kankuro in worry.
"T… Temari?..." The puppet master said before his said sister came back to, seemingly normal. She turned to face him, "Are you alright-"
*WHACK!*
Trunks eyes widened in shock as Temari cracked Kankuro in the face with the hard part of her oversized fan, sending him head first into a tree 6 yards away; knocking him out cold.
The Suna-kunoichi then shuddered again before going still again. When she came back to, Temari gasped, as if she had no idea what the hell just happened, "K-Kankuro?! H-how did, why the hell!?"
*WHAM!*
Her world went black.
XXX
Shukaku held his clawed hand towards Sasuke, the Uchiha suddenly becoming helplessly encased in sand.
"Prepare for your funeral," the Tanuki said viciously, "SAND BURI-"
*chink*
Shukaku felt something pierce its palm, a light hissing following after. The tanuki looked at its hand and frowned.
A kunai knife, and attached to it… was a paper bomb.
"Who the fu-"
*KA-BOOOOM*
The bomb went off right in the Ichibi's face, disrupting the jutsu and causing the sand to release Sasuke, who at the same time was blown off the tree limb by the shockwave. The sole-surviving Uchiha was sent hurtling toward the forest floor at a fast pace. When he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain that would come from impact if the height didn't kill him, the ebony haired genin felt two arms wrap around his torso and guide him to the closest branch. It was a rough landing, but he was safe.
The smell of strawberries hit Sasuke's nose, a smell that was slightly tainted by the scent of sweat, blood, and dirt. He immediately looked to the person that saved him.
"S… Sakura…"
XXX
"Ino…" Trunks breathed.
The blond leaf kunoichi had jumped from a branch and dropped an elbow on top of Temari's head, effectively knocking her out cold.
The son of Vegeta smirked, "That was… impressive."
Rubbing a quickly forming bruise on her elbow, the Yamanaka tried her best to not blush, but failed. She could probably give Hinata a run for her money right about now.
As she turned to face him she said, "You really think s-" Before she gasped at his ghastly condition. "Oh my god, you look like shit!"
The saiyan gave a weak smile, "Thanks, I feel like shit."
Ino didn't mean for it come off that mean, but she quickly grabbed the saiyan by his free hand and led him to a nearby tree, forcing the boy to sit down. She noticed the saiyans right forearm was slightly purple due to how tightly he held onto the limb to stop blood flow. The Yamanaka looked at the wound inflicted on the saiyans arm, seeing the blood crusted and coagulated on the surface. A small bit of puss dribbled out from the wound as well.
"Uh, I'm no doctor," Ino started, feeling slightly sick just looking at the saiyans injury, "but I'm gonna guess you got poisoned?" She knew her answer, she just had to hear it from the teen in question.
Smirking, Trunks said, "You hit the nail on the head." He gave a weak laugh.
"You sure know how to find humor in bad situations." Ino sighed before looking closer at the place the toxin entered his bloodstream, "That's a lot of poison." She saw a bit of it still dripping from where it entered the lavender haired teens body. She used the tip of her finger to catch a small bit of the toxic liquid. She brought her finger up a few inches away from her nose to catch a whiff of the vile liquid. "Pieris." She said.
The demi-saiyan raised an eyebrow, "You know poisons?" He asked.
Ino gave him a small smile, "I know plant based poisons, silly. And this, is from a pieris flower." Her expression became a bit more serious, "They're actually some of the most toxic plants you could make a poison from; so it's a miracle you haven't died from the amount that was put in you."
The hybrid had his saiyan blood to thank for that, "Well, we know what it is exactly, now how do we get it out of me?"
Ino paused for a moment, "You got a kunai?"
The saiyan already didn't like where this was going. He pulled out the kunai that once belonged to Baki and handed it to her.
"You cut off the circulation pretty well, but I'm gonna have to make a tourniquet." Her blue eyes traveled to his tank top, eyeing the fabric.
Trunks, knowing exactly where she was looking, gave her a nod of approval.
Trying her best to stay… professional, for lack of better word, Ino cut off a large chunk of fabric from her crushes muscle shirt, leaving his bare abs exposed while she tied off the tourniquet.
Ino checked how tight she constricted blood flow in the saiyans arm, satisfied that it was just tight enough to prevent more toxin from entering the saiyan princes body, "Alright, that's done. Now," Her eyes narrowed as she gripped the kunai, "to get this crap out of your arm, I'm gonna have to cut around the wound to let it drain, and then" she pulled out a needle and thread from her tool pouch, "stitch the wound."
More color bled from the saiyan teens face, "Something tells me I should just walk back into the village and see a doctor."
Ino shrugged, "You can try, but something tells me you can't fly right now, and if you go into the village on foot you're gonna get gangbanged by a pack of enemy ninja."
The son of Vegeta thought for a moment, then closed his eyes in defeat, "I'm counting on you Ino."
The girl nodded before putting her fingers to the saiyans cheek, making him look at her, "Please don't hate me for this… but this is gonna hurt."
XXX
Sasuke was almost at a loss for words, "Sakura, how did… we left you-"
The pinkette gave her crush a small smile, "You… didn't think we'd make it did you?"
Sasuke wasn't going to answer that.
"We almost didn't." Sakura said bashfully. "Asuma came in and helped us." Her green eyes teared up, though she kept a smile on her face, "It's hard sometimes, I think about you, Trunks, and Naruto; how you guys are so far ahead of me." Her face became downcast, "It sometimes makes me question my wor-"
The Uchihas hand came up to silence the pinkette, "Sakura, you might have just saved my life. You're a decent kunoichi." Sakura's face turned a similar color to her hair. "Than-" Sasuke seemed to struggle with getting the next word out, "nevermind." he gave up.
The effort was good enough for Sakura, "You're welcome."
An angry growl stole their attention. The smoke left by the paper bomb thinned out from around Shukakus form, revealing the damage the bomb had done to it. Its entire right hand was gone, and its face a melted and deformed mess with teeth.
"Thack… wasn'th…" It said, words slurred from its ruined mouth, which quickly began to put itself back together with sand, "VERY NICE!"
It leaped at the two genin of Team 7, at a speed that was barely a blur even through Sasuke's sharingan. Sasuke put his arm in front of Sakura, prepared to either shield her or push her away. With no time to form a jutsu, he closed his eyes.
The crack of bone against bone followed by a suffocating warmth in the air made Sasuke open his eyes, what he saw was Naruto's fist colliding with Shukaku's cheek, the Jinchuuriki covered in his red chakra cloak.
Sasuke flinched at the force the blonde punched the Ichibi, the blow being hard enough to send the sand-demon through four trees and implant him into a fifth trees bark.
This being the first he'd seen of Naruto's transformation, Sasuke felt a wave of different emotions slam into him; horror; because that cloak was shaped just like a fox, with pointed ears, claws where Naruto's hands were, and a tail sprouting from the back… just what was he?; awe; because that cloak managed to heal practically every injury the blonde gained from Gaara; stunned; because of the raw speed and power Sasuke could tell he possessed; and… most notably… jealousy. Trunks had always been someone that Sasuke felt he needed to compete against, and he was fine with that. Over the past month, he knew that matching Trunks in raw strength, speed, and power wouldn't be possible, that was absolute. So he made sure to focus on adapting his sharingan to suit a battle with the saiyan, which he successfully did. His sharingan could practically see every move Trunks made before the saiyan could make it, and to stack that accomplishment on top of his ingenious battle intellect, the raven haired genin felt that he could really compete with the saiyan; though, a thought at the back of his mind kept nagging at him, telling him that to simply be on Trunks playing field wasn't enough. He had to be better, far better. It was the only way to beat Itachi.
But now there was Naruto, who'd been nothing but a loser and a failure for the entirety of the time Sasuke had known him at the academy, and over the six months that he'd been on a team with the knucklehead, Sasuke noticed Naruto's potential skyrocket to monumental lengths, lengths that, Sasuke admitted, could have put the blonde at Sasuke's level or above.
Neither of which was acceptable to him.
Sasuke's fingers dug into his thigh.
Naruto landed on a branch on all fours, the heat of his cloak burning its bark. His red slitted eyes reflected Shukaku across from him.
Ichibi shook his head to clear the lightness it felt, before his gold starred eyes lit up upon seeing Naruto, "Kurama, brother!" Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's eyes widened, "You're in that brat!? I should've known." Shukaku grinned excitedly, "I'm gonna enjoy this, not only do I get to destroy a village, but I also get to kill my asshole brother at the same time!" He pointed at the whiskered outcast.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as his tail whipped aggressively, "You aren't destroying anything you big fuckin' rat!"
The two winked out.
A clash of thunder brought Sasuke and Sakura's attention to the forest floor beneath them, Naruto's leg colliding with the Shukaku's forearm, the force of Naruto's blow bursting apart some of the sand grains that made up the limb. Shukaku swiped his clawed hand at the blonde who, as he leaped away, was caught with the tips of Shukaku's fingers leaving three cuts across Naruto's chest, wounds that instantly healed.
As he leaped back to gain distance, Naruto made handseals for a jutsu he used all too often, "Wind style: Air Bul-"
"Oh no you don't, "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Shukaku mirrored Naruto.
The two fired their jutsu simultaneously, the bullets of air colliding with other bullets that resulted in a combined explosion that produced a typhoon wind effect on the forest floor, peeling bark off of trees, ripping leaves off of branches, and nearly throwing Sasuke and Sakura from the branch they stood upon.
A youki shrouded fist crashed into Shukaku's jaw, knocking two of his sand-formed teeth from his mouth before Naruto followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of its head, sending the demon tearing through a pile of shrubbery.
Naruto extended his chakra claw to Shukaku, who slammed his own sand claw into Naruto's. When Naruto sprang forth his other clawed hand, Shukaku again stopped it with his own. Naruto tried pushing against Shukaku, who's sand formed arms were physically strong enough to match Naruto's red chakra arms.
The force at which the two were pushing created a crater around them with a circumference of almost 20 yards.
Almost roaring in anger, Naruto unwillingly began forming another tail, which gave him a surge of power that allowed him to push Shukaku back….for only a few seconds.
The blonde jinchuuriki felt his skin become unbearably hot, as if the cloak was cooking him alive. The immense pain he was under allowed Ichibi to push him back, the raccoon beginning to close the distance with Naruto. "Better say your prayers blondie!" Shukaku said as he neared the whiskered teenager.
A scythe of ki suddenly sliced off Shukaku's arms, cleanly, allowing Naruto the chance to drop his chakra cloak and kick Shukaku in the chin, knocking the Ichibi's head up. The sound of another scythe of ki cutting through the air whistled through Shukaku's mind. Through his ears he could tell it was aimed for his head. The sand-raccoon leaned to the side to dodge, although a hair too slow as the scythe clipped off its ear and part of its head.
Naruto, skin now red and raw, turned angrily to the saiyan standing to the right of him, "Where the hell have you been for the last half-hour?!"
Sword held to his side, Trunks turned to his friend, "Sorry, had a little dilemma." He said with an embarrassed smile.
XXX
Sasuke and Sakura, whose eyes had been glued to the situation below, didn't notice when Ino hopped up to their tree with a surprise "Boo!"
An act that almost got her throat slit by Sasuke.
"Where the hell have you been, Ino?" Sakura asked in annoyance, "What took you so long?" She noticed part of Yamanaka's skirt had been torn off, and that same piece tied around Trunks forearm.
"Trunks got hurt, I helped him. Now shut up and let me watch." She told Sakura.
XXX
"You…" Shukaku shook in fury. "THERE'S NO WAY, I'M GOING TO LOSE TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" He roared, earth shaking under Trunks and Naruto's feet. It felt like an earthquake.
The saiyan contemplated attacking the sand-spirit, but, the rumbling under his feet told him that something bad was gonna happen.
"Naruto, grab Sakura and Sasuke. We need to move, right now!" The saiyan ordered.
The blonde took one more glance at Shukaku, who was quivering uncontrollably, before he took Trunks' advice.
The two flashed into the tree where Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino were; Trunks grabbing Ino as Naruto grabbed the rest of his teammates. The second he did, sand burst everywhere from Shukaku, simultaneously clumping together and rising like an oil geyser into the air. The sand began to retake Shukaku's form, from what was once an 8 foot tall sand raccoon, to a colossal sand-raccoon that was just as tall as the skyscrapers Trunks was used to back home.
All five of the teens broke out into a cold sweat.
"...that thing's big." Sakura mumbled as she visibly paled. Naruto's arm was wrapped around her waist and his other arm was wrapped around Sasuke's neck. Almost choking the Uchiha survivor. Shukaku began to stretch his arms, relishing in the fact that he hadn't gotten to play at this size in over thirteen years.
Trunks, who was holding Ino bridal style, gulped when he stared up at the behemoth of a sand-monster. "Yeah." he agreed.
XXX
"Chidori!" Hatake's lighting shrouded hand tore through a sound-nin's chest, snuffing out the mans life. He pulled his bloodied hand from the enemy nins chest before turning to Lee, Gai, Kurenai, Tavi, #16, and a slew of other Leaf shinobi and Anbu that had rallied with them. The battle had taken them to the tops of the arena building.
"Is that all of them?" Kurenai asked as she looked around, minor cuts and bruises littering her skin.
"I would think so," Gai started, gazing amongst the dead bodies that surrounded them. "The arena's secure, so there's no point in staying."
"And the civilians should all be in the shelters by now," Kakashi said, "which means we can focus on pushing back the attackers."
Gai grinned, "We begin the counterattack." He slammed his fist into his palm, "It's about time we take the fight to those bastards." Lee shared his idols grin.
The sharingan user started issuing out orders, "Kurenai, you take them and head to the east." 'Them' being the Anbu that had gathered to join their little battalion, "Gai, Lee, the two of you should join Ibiki at the west, I have faith that he's still alive." The silver haired Jonin looked to the north, the sight of explosions reflecting off his mismatched irises, "I know where I'm headed."
"I'm gonna go find Trunks" Shinhan said to Kakashi as she prepared to fly off.
The Jonin turned to the younger girl, "You've had enough. You'll stay here and watch Bulma-chan. The android can protect you both."
Despite knowing the older man was right, she still attempted a defiant, "But I can still-"
"No you can't." Kakashi said firmly, "I can tell your muscles are about to tear apart. You've done enough for this village and I'm thankful for that. I won't let you die because you don't know when to quit." His voice hardened, "If you defy me on this, I'll tell Trunks you left his mother unguarded, do I make myself clear?"
"...crystal." Shinhan said in defeat.
The daughter of Tien turned to walk away when Gai stopped her, "Shin-chan,"
'I'm getting nicknames now?' The daughter of Tien thought.
"you have a lot of spirit." The green beast complemented, "And you have a ton of fighting potential."
"Thanks." She said genuinely.
"I wanna know, who trained you?" Gai asked.
"Trunks' sensei taught me the basics of ki, and a hermit named Roshi taught me the basics of martial arts. Everything else, my dad taught me. Not in person though, he left behind a journal with most of his techniques for me... before he died."
Gai tapped his chin, thinking, "What if I offered you a deal, after this is all over, you join my team,"
'Oh God,' the teen grimaced.
"And I will personally train you." Gai said.
Tavi raised an eyebrow, "How could you train me? You don't use ki."
"But your Kaioken ability works almost exactly like Lee and I's eight gates ability. If you become a member of my team, I'll help you improve upon that technique. Deal?"
The daughter of Launch pondered the idea. Gai and Lee were annoying, but she really didn't have any other way to improve on the kaioken. She could put up with their nonsense if it meant she could get stronger, "Deal!"
XXX
The Ichibi's goldeneye stared down at the leaf genin, the teens now nothing but insects from his perspective, "I see you!"
Not giving this monster the chance to attack, Trunks set Ino down before flashing into Super Saiyan, rocketing up to the sand raccoon in a blaze of gold light.
A flurry of ki blasts shot from the saiyans hands that detonated on Shukaku's face and body, leaving craters in the sand spirits form. The Tanuki swiped at Trunks with its massive claws, having the same visual effect as a human swiping at a fly, bee, or wasp.
"Stand still so I can hit ya!" Shukaku said desperately as Trunks maneuvered around its hand and fired another flurry of ki blasts at its face. The grains that burst apart from the sand-demon's form hailed over the forest like snow.
Ki charged into the saiyans sword, "Lightning Sword Slash!" He swung the scythes of ki down at Shukaku, who put his arm up to block. The blades of ki were thin enough to slice cleanly through the sand-spirit, which was a bad thing. Because it healed almost immediately.
Trunks ascended another 30 miles higher into the sky, allowing him to soar high above the Ichibi. The saiyan could just barely make out a shape poking out of the top of Shukaku's head. "Is that...Gaara?" He mumbled. He charged ki blasts in his hands, concentrating them so the detonation wouldn't reach his friends on the forest floor.
Ichibi sucked in a mouthful of air, so much so that its belly distended, "Wind-Style: Air Bullets!" The tanuki spit out a flurry of air spheres, ones that were at least 100x the size of Naruto's. Trunks fired off his ki blast volley, his spheres of energy strategically hitting the huge spheres of wind and creating a series of explosions that was akin to fireworks over the forest.
XXX
"Damn!" Sasuke cursed, "Trunks can maneuver around that thing all he wants and hammer it with ki blasts all day, but Shukaku just puts itself back together."
"Yeah," Naruto said, eyes glued to the battle, "we'll need to get something Shukaku's size and fight him that way." He grinned, "You guys get back. I got this." Naruto bit his thumb to draw blood, before going through several hand-signs, 'Let's do this' "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
An explosion trembled through the forest, drawing the attention of the airborne saiyan and Shukaku. Trunks's emerald eyes widened in disbelief.
A massive pipe-smoking toad, just as tall as the Ichibi himself, sat leisurely in the center of the forest. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, staring down the sand-spirit across from him. The toad was dressed with bandages wrapped around his midsection, a black happi vest that was tailored to suit its massive body, a massive sword sheathed under the garment was noticeable by the hilt that stuck out from the side of the coat in place. A scar ran down his left eye, a memento of his battle with the Kyuubi thirteen years ago. On the back of his vest, the toad bore the kanji for shrimp.
This, was Gamabunta, the Chief Toad of Mount Myōboku.
Breathtaken, Ino breathed, "Naruto… did that?" Sasuke and Sakura were just as awestruck.
Naruto stood triumphantly atop the toads head, arms crossed and radiating an aura of utmost confidence.
If Shukaku was intimidated, he didn't show it.
Gamabunta's yellow eyes went up to his head, and upon seeing who had summoned him, he ground, "What the? Not you again. What is this?"
The red amphibian looked across from him, seeing Shukaku staring him down, tail swinging side to side. "Ah, Shukaku the Sand-Spirit."
"Naruto!" Trunks got the blonde's attention as he landed on the toads head next to him. "When the hell did you learn to do this?"
"This," Naruto spread his arms out wide, "is what you get when you train with a sannin. And this guy," the blonde jabbed a thumb down at Gamabunta, "is gonna help us take down that sand-bastard!"
"The hell I am." Gamabunta said flatly.
"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"What makes you think I'm gonna screw up my day picking a fight with a guy like him." Gamabunta removed his pipe and knocked the ash out of it, "I have better things to do."
'So much for that.' Trunks thought.
Naruto threw a tantrum on top of the toads head as it turned around, "Oh come on! You already said you'd make me you're henchman, where's your sense of duty?!"
Gamabunta nodded as he began to plod off, flattening dozens of trees and shaking the earth with each hop, "Yes, I did say I'd make you my henchman," his eyes narrowed, "but we didn't seal the deal over a glass of sake yet."
"DO I LOOK TWENTY-ONE TO YOU?!" Naruto roared as Trunks sweatdropped.
"Yeeeeahhh thats right!" Shukaku shouted out, "I'd run from me too, if I were you, WARTFACE!"
Gamabunta stopped dead in his tracks.
"...what did you just call me?" the toad said icily, back still turned to the tanuki.
Eternal grin still plastered to his face, Shukaku eagerly repeated what he said, "Wart-freakin'-face!" He held his arms out challengingly, "What are ya' gonna do about it, huh?! HUH?!"
Gamabunta's yellow eyes went up to Naruto, "You know what, kid. I think we share a common enemy." The Chief turned to face the Ichibi, "Congratulations, you're now my henchman."
Naruto grinned in satisfaction before turning to his friend, "Trunks, I want you to do me a huge favor. Stay out of this one." The saiyan gave the outcast a questionable look, "Please, this is something I have to do alone."
The saiyan looked hesitant before he accepted, "Alright, it's your call. But if I see you need help, then I'm jumping in, whether you like it or not." He smiled.
That statement sounded familiar to the Jinchuriki, who grinned when he remembered where it came from.
Before he moved to fly away, the son of Vegeta remembered, "I don't know if you guys can see him from here, but for whatever reason, Gaara's poking out the top of that things head."
"Yeah, I noticed too." The blonde outcast said to the toad.
"Hmmm, ahhh, a spiritualist medium." Gamabunta said, receiving a 'huh' from Naruto. "The medium is someone who has been possessed by the Shukaku, those who are possessed by him are no longer aloud to sleep soundly, for if they do, the demon will eat away at their psyche, until the person that you once were ceases to exist."
"That's all good and dandy," Naruto said, "but does knowing that help me get rid of this demon?"
"Actually, yes." Gamabunta said, "To put it simply, you'll wake him up."
"Wake up Gaara, huh. That seems easy." Trunks said as he turned from Naruto and gave the blonde a thumbs up, "Good luck man."
Naruto returned the gesture with one of his own, "Thanks, and just so we're clear on something, bragging rights go to me."
"You got it." Trunks said before jetting off of the toad's head.
"I'm WAITING!" The tanuki hollered out.
Naruto's blue eyed gaze focused on the Ichibi, bracing himself as he felt the Chief Toads legs set.
"Hang on tight, kid." Gamabunta ordered as he pulled his sword and lunged at Shukaku with blinding speed.
The toads blade pierced into the Shukaku's left shoulder with little resistance. From the close proximity, Naruto could see Gaara slouching down almost lifelessly from Shukaku's forehead; his ninjato was still sticking through the right side of the redheads chest.
The blonde jinchuuriki prepared to leap at Gaara, only before he could move, Shukaku's massive paw rose up to swipe at the toad. Gamabunta reacted quickly by leaping up and taking Shukaku's arm off with him.
If the sand-spirit felt his arm get cut off he didn't express it.
Mid-leap, Gamabunta made a sign, "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!"
Shukaku smacked his stomach, "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"
The two jutsu's collided, sending a shower of water over the forest that was the equivalent to rain.
Ino and Sakura covered their eyes while Sasuke and Trunks gazed in awe at what had turned into a kaiju battle.
Just as soon as the chief landed, Shukaku swung its tail at him, forcing him to once more jump up high into the air, "Escape this time!" Shukaku bellowed, once again spamming its favorite jutsu, "Wind-Style: Air Jutsu!" The air caught the dust and debris that was still floating around the battlefield, making the attack dirty to look at.
Gamabunta countered, "Water Release: Gunshot!"
The attacks again collided, though this time, Naruto noticed another shape quickly form from the tide of water below him; another wind sphere, "Chief, watch out!"
The sky lit with an explosion as Gamabunta took the blow head on. The massive amphibian crashed back down into the earth like a mini asteroid, picking up smoke, dirt, and shaking the land from the forests all the way into the middle of the Leaf Village.
The tanuki whooped and hollered like a cowboy in the old west, "I did it! I KILLED HIM! I KILLED HIM!"
Gamabunta bounded from the column of smoke, sword in hand, and slashed off Shukaku's other arm. "Now that kinda hurt, hit me with a couple dozen more of those and you might be getting somewhere."
Shukaku spluttered incoherently before sand burst out from his two arm stumps, quickly reforming the limbs.
Naruto, noticing the damage that was being done to the battlefield, slapped down on the toad's head to get his attention, "Hey!" He shouted. "Don't go in that direction," he pointed to the east, "my friends are that way and I don't want them to get hurt."
"Yeah yeah, your friends aren't going anywhere." Gamabunta retorted. His eyes squinted angrily at the Genin on top of him, "And if you slap my head again, I'll make sure you're the one who gets hurt." Shukaku prepared another attack, "Hang on!" The air bullets shot at the two, the Chief toad charging at Shukaku in a zig-zaging movement to dodge the attacks, the air bullets leaving craters and ripped apart trees in its wake. Upon reaching the halfway mark Gamabunta made a massive leap into the sky, coming down on the demon with his arms latched onto Shukaku's shoulders.
Naruto crouched down, readying himself to jump at Gaara when the raccoon gave a hard shake, releasing himself from the toads grip. Gamabunta jumped sideways before leaping backwards, dodging a swipe from the Ichibi's claws that would have swiped his face off if connected.
"Damnit!" The teen swore. "Hey Boss, you're gonna have to hold on if you want me to get to Gaara!"
"I can't hang onto him you idiot!" Gamabunta snapped. "My body isn't built for that!"
"So what the hell do we do now!?" Naruto cried out in panic.
"Use your head you moron," Gamabunta said irritably. "We'll use a jutsu to get what we need, which for this situation, a henge should be perfect...only thing is, I've never been good with transformations." The chief looked to the teen on top of him, "So you're going to do it."
"What?! How!?"
"A combined Henge!"
"Oh... Well why didn't you say so!" Naruto grinned as he made the appropriate hand seal.
Gamabunta set to charge again, "Remember this kid, fangs and claws!" He charged at Shukaku.
Naruto closed his eyes as he focused, 'Fangs and claws...fangs and claws…' his eyes snapped open, "I got it!"
"TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!"
Whatever the teens were expecting when they saw Gamabunta charge at Shukaku, it wasn't for an explosion of white smoke to engulf the colossal amphibian.
Color bled from the kid's faces as the sound of a monstrous roar filled their ears.
An orange claw breached through the smoke, followed by a creature that Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino had heard countless times from stories told by their parents.
The Nine Tailed Fox.
"I-Is that the-?!" Ino started in horror.
"There's no way!" Sakura breathed.
"It...It can't be!" Sasuke said, jealousy lacing his voice.
"...holy shit." Trunks said in awe.
Shukaku gulped, "Didn't see that coming." as Gamabunta closed in on him, claws digging into his arms, and teeth filled maw chomping into his neck, holding him still.
"Alright kid, you're up!" The fox said as it released the henge, allowing Naruto to rocket above Shukaku's head.
"Hey Gaara!" The whiskered teen yelled as he drew his fist back. "Rise and shine!" His knuckles smashed into Gaara's jaw, dislocating it from the joints with a snap. The blonde skidded to a stop on the muzzle of the tanuki, grinning when he saw the redheads eyelids twitch.
"AWE, COME ON!" Shukaku cried out, mentally fading back into Gaara's subconscious, "I JUST GOT HERE!" And he was gone; leaving behind only a body that was at Gaara's control.
Gaara's eyelids snapped open when he felt the searing pain flaring all throughout the bottom half of his head. He popped his jaw back into place, barely holding back a scream of pain; he let it out by screaming at the blonde in front of him, "I will kill you, Naruto Uzumaki! I will not cease to exist!"
'Uh oh,' Gamabunta thought, 'We managed to get rid of Shukaku, but this Gaara kid still has some fight in him. And what's worse, me and Naruto have used up all of our chakra.'
"You're not gonna hurt my friends, or my village." Naruto said simply. He leveled his fist at Gaara. "For them, and my home, I swear I will stop you!"
"Friends? That's who you fight for?" Gaara asked. "We don't have friends. We're monsters that are hated by all, made outcasts in our homes." He aimed a cold glare of fury at Naruto, "We live only for ourselves, fight only for ourselves, and when it's all over, we die for no one but ourselves."
"Speak for yourself," Naruto shot back; the faces of Sasuke, Trunks, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, Jiraiya, and the rest of the Rookie Ten's faces flashed through his minds eye one after the other. Orange-Red youki swirled up around his body, settling around him similarly to the aura that came with Trunks super saiyan transformation; Naruto settled only for the initial state of the kyuubi's chakra. Naruto's slitted blue eyes burned into Gaara's empty green ones. "Because I don't!" He leaped forward, Gaara barely snaring him with his sand before Naruto's fist reached his face.
Naruto grunted and struggled, just a foot away from the psycho across from him, "I've...I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!"
*WHAM*
The blonde slammed his forehead into Gaara's, hard enough to split the flesh on both their heads.
As the Shukaku's body began to crumble apart, blood began to seep down both teens faces.
"Did… did he win?" Ino asked out loud.
Gamabunta watched as Shukaku's body completely dissolved away, letting both boys fall onto the tops of a set of trees, facing each other. 'Hm, a simple headbutt huh. He's definitely not the most elegant fighter I've ever seen, but he's definitely got promise.' He made sure his sword was sheathed before turning away, "I wish I could stay to see how this ends, but I've reached my limit. Good luck, Uzumaki." The Chief vanished as well.
Gaara was in much worse shape physically than Naruto was, although they were both flat outta chakra.
The whiskered teen stared at Gaara with pity, "You know, I really do mean it, when I say the two of us… are a lot alike. We shouldn't be doing this."
For a split second, Gaara couldn't help but wonder, had he met Naruto under different circumstances… could he have called him a friend? 'No… this is who I am.' He got to his feet, Naruto doing the same.
As if reading the others mind the two boys leaped at each other, fist drawn back to strike, though only one boy had fought with his fists his whole life.
Planting his knuckles into Gaara's cheek, Naruto knocked the Ichibi jailer down to the forest floor; Gaara landing hard on his side, luckily not allowing the sword he was impaled with to do any further damage to his body.
Naruto fell and hit the ground as well, though he was able to get to his hands and knees.
'After everything he'd been through today, he still managed to beat me.' Gaara thought to himself, green eyes traveling to Naruto, 'Fighting for his friends, did that?' His fingers slowly went up to his forehead, where he bore the kanji for 'love'.
A shadow came over him, when he looked up, he saw it was Trunks, with his sword held tip down right over his face.
"Trunks!"
The saiyan looked to Naruto, the blonde being the one to call him. The jinchuuriki sat on his knees, "Don't kill him, its okay, he's no longer a threat."
Trunks glared at his friend, "We were just trying to kill each other a minute ago, now he's cool?"
Naruto smirked, "Ever get a feeling of deja-vu?"
"This guy's not like Haku, Naruto."
"No, he's not." The blonde jinchuuriki admitted, "He's like me."
The saiyan's eyes narrowed, "I'm not buyin' that."
"Believe it." Naruto said, "We come from the same place, him and me. If things had been just… a little bit different in my life, I could have wound up just like him, and vice-versa." Naruto's blue eyes traveled to Gaara, who gazed at him in wonder, "He can be different from this."
'After all that, he's… willing to show me mercy?' Gaara gaped.
Trunks hesitated, his instincts told him to get rid of a potential future enemy, but, Naruto sparing Haku had turned out to be a wise decision. He sheathed his sword, "You were right before. If you think it's a good idea, I'll back it up."
Naruto smiled, "Thanks bro." He turned to see Sakura and Ino approaching, assisting with Sasuke.
"Its… finally over?" Ino asked.
Sakura smiled to her best friend, "For us it is. We still need to see how the village is holding up."
"That's true." Sasuke said.
It was then the group saw Temari and Kankuro land down next to Gaara, the look in their eyes saying they were ready for a fight.
Trunks fingers itched to grab his sword.
"Kankuro, Temari, its over. That's enough." The sand siblings were startled to hear it was Gaara who spoke to them. When they turned to see him, the look in his eyes was...different. It was hopeful, as if a new door to his future, a door to his life, had been opened to him.
'I never thought in a million years, I'd see him like this.' Kankuro thought as he went to scoop up his brother, draping his arm across his shoulders for support. He considered pulling Naruto's ninjato from his little brothers back, but that would be a whole lot worse than if they just left it in for now.
The three siblings turned to face the leaf-genin, Temari and Kankuro not really knowing what to think of this turn of events.
They vanished into the trees.
"Gaara… are you okay?" Temari asked, curiously. She half expected a threat of some kind, but surprisingly received an answer.
"Yeah." They bounded through the forests of Konoha in silence for a few minutes before Gaara spoke up. "Temari…Kankuro…I'm sorry."
The two exchanged surprised glances again. "Uh…don't worry about it." Kankuro said awkwardly.
XXX
Trunks draped Naruto's arm over his shoulders, assisting the knucklehead whether he liked it or not. He turned to Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke, "Let's head back."
XXX
After a long trek back to the village by foot, the teens finally entered what used to be the front gates (having been blown apart during the attack), and noticed the gruesome aftermath of the war; destroyed buildings, corpses scattered in the street, ninja weapons littering the environment, and a wave of ash and smoke in the air. Every leaf citizen had a sad and mournful look on their face, but that could have been chalked up to having lost a loved one in war; a war that was now practically over.
The teens stop was the hospital, so that Sasuke and Trunks could be taken care of. The two boys had gotten a room together to be nursed; Sakura, Ino, and Naruto sitting with them.
A commotion coming from the hallway brought the teens and doctors eyes to the door.
The saiyan smiled as he heard a voice he instantly recognized.
"Where the hell is my son?!" Bulma flung the door open, gasping when she saw Trunks' condition.
"Hey mom." The saiyan blushed as his mother ran up and practically threw his doctor to the side.
"Oh my goodness son, you look like shit." Bulma said as she touched Trunks face, noticing he was paler than usual, not even counting the numerous cuts the teen had littered on his body. Tavi and #16 walked in behind her as well.
"You all look like shit to be honest." Shinhan said.
"Yeah well, fighting a giant sand monster will do that to you." The son of Vegeta said. "How'd you two find us anyway?" He asked.
"Word travels fast in this village, son." The inventor said, stepping aside as the doctor continued his work removing Ino's amateurly applied stitch work, to instead give the saiyan prince professionally applied treatment.
No one noticed, but upon seeing Trunks' mom, a bitter and sad look crossed Sasuke's features.
Sakura looked to Naruto, "We should find Kakashi-sensei and tell him everything that happened." She said, Naruto nodding in approval.
"You won't have to look far." The Jonin said as he walked through the door.
Naruto was about to happily greet his jonin, only, when he and everyone saw the sullen and mournful look in his eye, they knew something was wrong.
"Is everything alright sensei?" Sakura asked.
The silver haired jonin waited a second to answer, before he did,
"No… Lord Hokage, is dead."
XXX
A/N: God DAMN this was hella canon. BUT, I gave you my word back in the first chapter that this fic would mildly follow Naruto-canon up until the end of the Chunin Exams/Konoha-Crush Arc.
From here on out, this story will be COMPLETELY original.