Previously on Path of Shadows, Path of Lights...

"Your life is now forfeit, Naruto Uzumaki! I shall now prove my existence!" Gaara's voice echoes from Shukaku, as sand closed around the blonde, who wiped a stream of blood on his hand and flashed through five hand seals. "Sand Coffin!" Gaara shouted, as the sand constricted. "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" Naruto responded.

And then, in a massive burst of smoke and wind, a massive toad appeared in the forest.

The toad that Naruto had summoned was gargantuan; it was the same size as the Bijuu in front of it, and wore a massive blue expanse of cloth as a jacket. Its' red hide was covered in warts, and a pipe sat in its' mouth. "What the fuck is this?!" Gamabunta, the Toad Boss, bellowed at his summoner, who now stood atop his head.

"You never cease to amuse me...Naruto Uzumaki" Gaara's voice echoed.

The blonde stared, eyes blazing, at the sand construct in front of him. "Satsuki...Shikamaru...Konoha...I will protect all of them!" he declared, before looking down at the toad beneath his feet. "Big Boss Toad, lend me your strength against this guy!"

Gamabunta squinted at Shukaku, remembered who his summoner was, and snorted. "Nah. Don't feel like it."

Naruto gaped for a few moments, before his temper caught up. "The hell?! Isn't it a boss's duty to help out his underlings?" he shouted.

"But you're not officially my underling until we've drunk sake together; whether or not you're twelve be damned" Gamabunta responded nonchalantly.

"Hey Pops!" Gamakichi added.

"Gamakichi? The hell are you doing here?" Gamabunta asked.

"Doesn't matter. What does matter is that Naru-bro has been protecting me from that guy - he was bullying me!" the smaller toad said, pointing at Shukaku.

"Bullying you, eh? This will not stand!" Gamabunta roared, unsheathing his katana. "Kid, I accept you as my underling for now!"

The Toad Boss leapt forwards, putting all his weight into a massive strike, cleaving off the tanuki's right arm, which landed nearby and dissolved into sand. The katana itself spiraled through the air and landed, carving a massive trench through the forest and startling the other three Genin from Konoha and Suna, who were currently high-tailing it out of there. "HOW INTERESTING, NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Gaara shouted.

"Damn, that fucker's dense. I could barely get my sword through his sand" Gamabunta commented.

"Let me show you the true power of the Ichibi..." Gaara growled, before placing his hands in a Ram seal. "Tanuki Sleeping Technique!" And with that, the redhead drifted off almost immediately, his snoring being the only sound aside from the rumbling sand.

Suddenly, the Bijuu raised its' head to the sky and laughed. "AHAHAHA! After so many years, I'm finally free! Time to fuck shit up!"

Inside Naruto's mindscape, the Kyuubi groaned. "Fucking great. Now that damn tanuki has been released."

"Not giving up yet!" Naruto shouted in response.

"Well come at me then, motherfucker! I'll fuck you all up!" Shukaku responded. "Fuuton: Drilling Air Bullets!"

In response, Gamabunta leapt high into the air. "Suiton: Buckshot Waves!" The bullets of air and water collided, causing a miniature rainstorm to cascade over the forest, drenching Satsuki, Shikamaru and Temari.

"What power..." the Uchiha thought to herself in awe.

Gripping Shukaku's shoulders and landing in front of the tanuki, Gamabunta addressed Naruto. "Listen kid, the only way to beat Suna no Shukaku is to wake up the host. Extreme physical violence will be a sufficient wake-up call for him, but I need to hold him still."

"Any ideas?" Naruto asked.

"Just one. If you can use your hands to form seals for me, we can do a combination Henge - one with teeth and claws, preferably."

Before Naruto could respond, the voice of Kurama echoed through his seal. "Listen, Kit, I'm willing to help...but ONLY to kick my annoying brother's ass. I'll give you and that Sage-damned toad the chakra, if you do the seals..."

The blonde responded affirmatively to his tenant, before turning to Gamabunta. "Let's kick his ass!"

The toad charged forward, as Naruto formed Dog, Boar and Ram seals. "Henge no Jutsu!" three voices shouted simultaneously.

In an explosion of smoke, a massive nine-tailed orange fox appeared where the charging toad had been, rushing forward with bared claws and fangs. Shukaku responded by launching balls of air at them again, and again, and again. "Stay still, dammit!" the tanuki shouted, launching more blasts.

The fox leapt over one exceptionally large one and landed in front of Shukaku, as its' arms and tails all wrapped around Shukaku's limbs, tail and neck. "SHUKAKU, YOU IMBECILIC TANUKI!" Kurama's voice roared from the transformed toad's mouth.

"K-Kurama-niisan?" Shukaku almost squeaked in response.

"You're damn right it's me, you little shit! Now get back in your fucking box!"

"No! I don't wanna!" Shukaku whined in response.

"Well too fucking bad! Do you want me to get Matatabi in on this too? You know she's in town, right?" Kurama retorted, and the tanuki's eyes widened comically.

"Hell no! I'll just take you out here, then deal with her! BIJUUDAMA!"

A ball of Yin and Yang chakra coalesced in the Ichibi's mouth. Before it could fire the destructive technique, however, one of Kurama's tails gripped it around the neck and yanked upwards, causing the Bijuudama to fly upwards and away from Konoha, conveniently obliterating a platoon of Oto shinobi on their way as part of a second attack wave. "Nice shot, dickhead" Kurama snarked, before the henge dispelled to reveal Gamabunta, as Naruto leapt forwards and slugged Gaara in the jaw.

"WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"

Gaara slowly began to regain consciousness, but it still wasn't enough. "Naruto Uzumaki...I will not let you end my existence!" the redhead muttered, half-asleep, as tendrils of sand shot towards the boy on Shukaku's nose. Gamabunta's tongue shielded the boy, before lifting him level with Gaara's head.

"I'm not ending your existence, moron! So WAKE UP!" Naruto shouted slamming his head into Gaara's.

Shukaku wailed incoherently as he dissolved into a mountain of sand on the forest floor, while Gamabunta poofed away, his job complete. The two Jinchuriki landed on the forest floor and ran at each other, fists cocked back for one final hit. Whoever struck first would be the victor.

At the last moment, Naruto's taijutsu training, however sabotaged it was, kicked in, allowing him to duck Gaara's fist and get past his shoddy guard - from the looks of it, nobody had ever taught him hand-to-hand because of his sand defense - and land a blow to Gaara's jaw, knocking the redhead on his back as Naruto dropped to his knees beside Gaara's prone form.

"No...I will not let you end or deny my existence!" Gaara shouted weakly, panic in his voice.

"Now why would I do that?" Naruto panted.

"Because I lost...there's no utility for me, no reason to be kept alive anymore if I'm a failed weapon" the redhead murmured.

"That's nonsense. I know what it feels like, to be alone, to kill or be killed, and it hurts so damn bad" Naruto said. "But it doesn't always have to be like that. The world's a shitty place and it sucks...but maybe, if we all try our best, we can make it suck less. That...as cheesy as it sounds, is the power of love."

This struck a chord with Gaara. As the sounds of battle died out, the Konoha, Kumo and Kiri forces squashing the Oto and Suna invaders, the redhead stared at the sky thoughtfully, as he siblings landed next to him with a couple Konoha Genin - Shino, Shikamaru, Lee and Satsuki. "Love, eh? That doesn't sound so bad...Naruto Uzumaki" he chuckled, unable to move.

Naruto chuckled. "Told you so" he said, before his mind wandered elsewhere. "I wonder how jiji is doing against Hebi-teme?"

Author's Notes:

With that, Naruto versus Gaara is over, and the whole Konoha Crush Arc is only a couple chapters from ending. Next chapter will have the Third's battle alongside A and Mei against Orochimaru and his Edo Tensei revenants, so stay tuned. As always, thanks for reading!