A/N: It seems I forgot to mention last chapter that Kurohai's arm grew back when he changed. I didn't get called on it so people might not have noticed. Nevertheless, I've changed it. And yet another new review record. 12 for one chapter! Ridiculous, and oh so sweet. By the way, I would like to make a request of all of you artists out there. If you could I would like you to draw your favorite moment from this story and send it to my e-mail. I will construct a website and post the images on them (if you want me to that is). If you create art for a new scene I will even write that scene. That is all. Thanks.

Oversight

Slowly the light faded, revealing Naruto standing in the midst of a veritable whirlwind of red chakra. No longer was he hunched over in his traditional Kyuubi stance. Now he was completely upright, his head bowed, red claws of opaque chakra extending from the tip of each finger, nine semi-transparent tails flailing violently behind him. It all made it seem almost like he was on fire. Deliberately he lifted his head, exposing the most startling aspect of his change. His eyes, still with black slitted pupils as before, now seemed to ripple between red and blue. This was the next level, the next degree of fusion between Naruto and the Kyuubi. It was more human than the stage before so it allowed for greater flexibility, especially for the use of taijutsu and hand seals, but it did not sacrifice any of the power and weaponry either. He was still perfectly capable of beating opponents senseless with his tails and tearing them to shreds with his razor sharp claws.

Kurohai gawked openly at the drastic change the young man had just undergone. At the same time he noticed that Gaara, while still unconscious, no longer had any wounds to speak of.

"Very interesting. Let's see if this change was just for show shall we?"

Blond hair waved slightly as Naruto shook his head. In an almost mournful fashion he slowly closed his eyes, and in an instant he was gone. The ebony-eyed man jumped and got in his fighting stance as quickly as he could. It was not fast enough. With his arms only half raised a series of four gashes appeared on the side of his face. The force of the blow wrenched his head to the side. Almost as quickly as they appeared, the wounds closed. Suddenly, the slashes reappeared on the opposite side of his face, but this time, before they could heal, a strike to the gut lifted his feet off the ground. An elbow to the back of the head sent him downwards again. An instant before he hit the earth Naruto's foot slammed into his face, sending him flying backwards head over heels. With a loud crash, he hit the stone walls of Konoha. Even while embedded rock Kurohai's psychotic grin remained intact, only now there was a trickle of blood emerging from the corner of his lips. Sluggishly he extricated himself from the wall, pieces of rock falling around him as he moved. Suddenly, he laughed, the volume growing in intensity with each second.

"Yare yare. I guess you really are serious now. Good. That means I get to do this."

With his muscles clenched tightly he raised his right hand, palm up, in front of him. A ball of black flame flickered into existence in his hand. Steadily, it grew in size until it was about the size of a softball.

"Kai! (release)"

As he yelled he slammed the flame in to his own stomach. The fire passed right through his skin and into his body without burning him at all. Once it was completely inside of him a shockwave exploded out from his body, nearly knocking Naruto off his feet. He hunched over, clutching his shoulders with his pale gray hands. Wings of black chakra slowly unfurled from his shoulder blades, while curved horns of the same type emerged from his forehead. When he righted himself his smile was gone, in its place was a wicked sneer.

"I do so love this form, especially when I use it to kill people."

Without another sound the two men dashed at each other, red met black, whirling together in an angry battle for superiority. Briefly a yin yang formed in the energies just before they erupted in a fountain of light. The light disappeared baring the two men to view, their fists meeting between them. Neither man budged an inch as they struggled against the other's strength. Abruptly, they jumped away from each other, neither one letting down their guard. The instant their feet touched the ground they were off again, leaping forward at the other. If anyone had been watching they likely wouldn't have had a clue going on. All they would be able to see is several black and red explosions occurring all over the battle field every second. Maybe someone was watching though. Lying on the ground where he had been left was Gaara, his jade eyes open again, his fist clenched with anger. He was upset with his own incompetence, but he was not done yet. There was still more that he could do. Slowly, so as not to be noticed, he extended his hand.

At a furious pace the bearers of the black and red chakras exchanged blows, but no matter how many times they each were struck it seemed like no damage was being dealt. Their demon tenants quickly healed every wound that opened, and neither man was able to create a cut large enough that it would take long to heal. There was a factor that had not yet been taken into account though. That factor was the Kazekage of the sand, one Gaara of the Desert.

Unnoticed by either combatant the ground beneath their feet had slowly been turning into sand. By the time they did notice it was already too late, at least for the one known as Kurohai. His movements were suddenly halted by a tendril of sand that wrapped around his leg. Quickly, the tendril expanded to cover his entire leg, becoming a layer of sand about an inch thick all the way around. Gaara closed his hand.

"Sabaku kyuu! (Desert coffin)"

The sand constricted around the dark man's leg. It was not strong enough to crush it, but it was enough to at least hold him still. That was all it needed to do. The fact that the man was distracted by his efforts to remove his leg from its bindings was just a bonus. Distractions are very, very dangerous in a fight. A point that was driven home by the tips of Naruto's claws, which pierced the bound man's shoulder, severing the arm at the joint.

"Shinobi rule number one: Always be aware of your surroundings, especially opponents that aren't quite dead yet."

The insane grin was back, causing the Kage's to question whether he, in fact, liked pain. That question would have to wait for later. He had broken free from Gaara's sand, and the loss of his arm didn't seem to bother him at all. At least they had a decided advantage over him now. Beaming madly to himself, Kurohai bent down and picked up his fallen limb by the wrist. Experimentally, he swung it through the air a couple of times, giggling the whole while. And with that he was off, sprinting at the blond. When he was close enough he swung his arm at him. Naruto dodged, but not completely. Blood from the limb splattered out, striking him in the eyes and temporarily blinding him. As he frantically tried to wipe the blood from his eyes he was struck in the side, knocking him over so that he was lying on his back. Kurohai raised his arm to strike the fallen man, bringing it down in a heavy arc. A wall of sand shot in the way of strike before it could land, a spike emerging from the center in an attempt to impale the gray-skinned man. It was dodged easily. The sand sword in the hands of the man behind him, however, was not, the tip emerging from the center of his chest. He coughed, spitting up blood. Gaara scoffed.

"You should know better than to underestimate me."

Suddenly, Naruto was in front of him.

"And you should know better than to threaten my Hina-chan."

Just as he finished speaking he thrust his claws forward, directly into Kurohai's stomach. The claws contracted inside of him, and then ripped out, taking a chunk of his flesh with them. A blade of red chakra formed along the edge of Naruto's hand.

"It's a shame it had to come to this. We jinchuuriki should stick together. Sorry."

And with that, he struck, driving the chakra blade clean through his neck. His head dropped to the ground, black hair dragging in the dirt. The sand sword in his chest dissolved, and with the last support holding him up gone, he fell.

A tear slid from a cerulean eye as Naruto slung the man's body over his shoulder. Gaara picked up his head. Jade eyes turned towards the blond man.

"You know, we never found out why he was after us."

A light chuckle slipped through the Hokage's lips.

"Yeah, um, oops. Well I guess it's too late to ask now isn't it?"

Gaara turned to face forward as the pair began to walk towards the gates that led home.

"Yeah."

A/N: The End. Of this arc at least. I'm far from done with writing the story altogether. I've still got to include more Natsuki don't I? I hope you liked the fight. This is probably my favorite chapter of it. I think I did better with creating images for your heads (and mine).

Dragon Man 180: Sorry, no Hinata beat down (I actually did consider that.), but Kurhoahai certainly got his.

Jay Arravan: Thanks. Fight scenes are a lot of hard work so it's a good thing they turned out well. As you see Shukaku didn't make a direct appearance, but his presence was felt at least. I hope that's good enough for you.

Aloi-chan: You're welcome. Yes I did get your e-mail. When I went to check for it it wasnt up for normal viewing yet so I haven't read it yet. I'll get around to it soon I promise.

Anime/Manga lubber (): Nope, not good at all, but it's ok in the end. Was this fast enough to earn the cookie? I do so love cookies.

Shadowling777: No worries. Any review is a good review in my book. Thank you. I do try to have a good mixture of action and romance. I know that everybody has their preferences and that I can't please everyone, but I do my best.

Danny-171984: Darn right, the fight is heating up quite a bit. Gaara always gets hit first because of basic battle tactics. A structure is only as strong as its weakest link. Not that Gaara is weak by any means. Just not quite as strong as Naruto. And pay dearly he did. Decapitation fun for all.

pups4u34: Eep, caught in the act eh? I used to play clarinet myself. I lost interest after I split a bone in my hand lengthwise and had to wear a cast for 2.5 months. Now I'm going to learn guitar so it's all good. I must say that I am threatened by you despite my 6'1" male body. I shall surely tremble in fear before your awesome presence. Keep the reviews coming. I enjoy them greatly. I'll do my best to keep up my ridiculous pace.

Sirus183: Danke. Soon enough for you?

hopeless-flame: Poor Gaara. Takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'. How about losing your arm twice? Would that be better? Probably not. Oh well. That would be fun to drop his voice like that for real. Probably could do it by dropping the play speed some. Hmmm.

RLnaruhina: Glad you like the hobo name. Everyone should have one. Kurohai is a super badass. Sasuke wouldn't stand a chance. The whuppin has come. w00t!

lunarangel (): And Kurohai goes down! hard I might add. Technically it was Shukaku that used to taste other people's blood but Gaara probably did too. He was a nut after all. I am certainly not questioning your feelings on the power of love. I wouldn't dream of doing that. I was simply stating my views on the matter, or at least making them clearer. I think your reviews may be more hyperactive than insane. Just so you know. I don't care. I enjoy them no matter what.

Bryr: Hobos. Kicking ass and taking names since the beginning of time. Hinata almost made an appearance (I considered it) but I think I prefer this ending. Hopefully, you do too.