Naruko desperately tried to take control of the evil chakra within her. She couldn't. She felt it bubbling inside of her, but she just couldn't take it for herself, no matter how hard she tried.

No, no, no! Why the fuck wasn't it working? Why was all this so easy for Gaara, but so hard for her?

Because he was a monster. He was a killer.. And she wasn't. So she couldn't stop him. He was going to take everything from her, and she couldn't stop him! Not unless she became a monster. She let all the resentment she'd kept hidden, deep down within herself, she let it explode.

Sasuke treated her like garbage no matter how many times she'd saved his stupid life, and Sakura had never even once apologized for all her bullying, like a few kind deeds made up for years of abuse, and Kakashi refused to teach her anything and always tried to put her down. She was the strongest fucking genin in Konoha by a mile, and when she'd proven it, Konoha had shown her nothing but scorn… Konoha had fucked her for years. No food, no parents, no attention, what else should she have expected after she'd stomped on one of their oh-so-precious prodigies from their oh-so-precious clans…

She loved them all anyways. And this monster was gonna destroy it?

She was gonna fuckin' kill him!

She felt something cackling, deep inside. The Fox. It was laughing at her efforts.

"Times up," the monster took a giant step forward, and Naruko just barely avoided being crushed. She was going to die. This was a monster beyond her understanding. Why he did what he did was a mystery…

...No. She could have easily become Gaara. His fake bonds, there was a time when she'd have been more than happy to kill for them. She'd hungered for connection, and if she'd gone down that path… Why hadn't she?

Because she had Old Man Hokage. She had Sakura. She had Kakashi. She had Sasuke…

And for all her efforts to make him love her, to make him respect her, he had never responded to any of her affections, to her feats, never even thanked her for saving his life. She'd received nothing but resentment for any of that. But… That time at the Uchiha Compound, when she'd realized they both knew loneliness. He'd been receptive, he'd been open when she'd asked.

Naruko realized Sasuke's resentment had been justified. She'd been the one in the wrong.

Because love could only be given. It could never be taken. And Sakura, Kakashi, even Sasuke, if she forced them to respect her…

Then it would be worthless. Because true connection could never be forced. It could only be given.

Naruko was back in her mindscape. Before the Fox's giant twisted grin, its rows of razor-sharp foot-long teeth, Naruko got on her knees and bowed. "Please, lend me your power," she begged. The reason she couldn't access the evil chakra was obvious, it did not belong to her. "If you don't, my friends, the only family I've got, they're all gonna die!"

The Fox slid a paw forward, beyond the bars imprisoning him, until it brushed against Naruko. It waggled the paw back and forth, beckoning her closer. Naruko crawled closer, closer, until her shoulders were against the bars of the prison, her head just inside. In the Fox's domain.

It opened its titanic maw, its sharp teeth drawing inches within Naruko's neck.

"Here," the Fox said, brushing its nose against her. And it did not at all seem a mindless beast of evil chakra and destruction. "A gift. Do not forget who gave it to you. Do not forget who saved your life. And Naruko Uzumaki… Beat some sense into that one-tailed brat."

And she was back in the real world, looking up at the sole of a giant demon's foot coming down on her. She leapt backwards, flew, and crashed into the wall of the arena. It hardly hurt, a coat of orange chakra protecting her, surrounding her, making her stronger, faster. This was the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, no, it was just a fraction. The Fox's chakra was inhuman in its potency, but more importantly, it seemed endless. Naruko crossed her fingers, her hands healed by The Fox, and uttered her three favorite words, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The arena was flooded with tens of thousands of Narukos, all bathed in The Fox's mighty orange chakra. But the demon tanuki towered over them all. Gaara laughed at her efforts. Even if she were to create a million shadow clones it would make no difference.

The Narukos growled at the monster. Then they burst into motion, hopping on top of one another, forming dozens of towers of Narukos. And the Narukos at the top, of which she was one, formed giant rasengans over Sasuke's dragon balls, and instead of a peaceful blue they were the same orange as the marbles within. Each was the size of one of the demon's eyes. They were so heavy, so hefty, that they'd normally just crush Naruko's arm. But with The Fox's power flowing through her, it felt lighter than a water balloon. She chucked it at Gaara's giant evil face, her Dragon Balls flying faster than any shuriken she'd ever thrown.

One Giant Dragon Ball Jutsu after another slammed into the titanic tanuki, smashing it off its feet, making it fall in an avalanche onto its back. Luckily it was Naruko who stood behind Konoha, and the giant demon had fallen on uninhabited forest.

"Ahahahahaha!" Gaara cried. The One-Tailed Beast didn't struggle to its feet, its body reformed, a new head forming from its belly, a tail from its head, and legs from its back. Shards of glass crackled off its skin, shattering on the arena floor. She'd melted off Gaara's face, so he'd just created a new one. "So it's gonna be like that?"

But Gaara wasn't quite back to his full size. Her attack had done some damage.

"That was real dirty! Are you desperate Fox? I suppose I would be too, if I had to fight my esteemed self! But I'm not the same little tanuki you remember! I can make them too, Biju Bombs!" Shukaku opened his maw, strands of sand falling from its upper to lower jaw like sticky, half-eaten strands of natto, and a small black pearl of chakra took shape. Wait how did she know his name?

Focus you foolish cub! Now isn't the time to worry about our connection!

The Fox was right. Shukaku's Biju Bomb grew and grew, and Naruko threw her Dragon Balls at it, but they were just gobbled up by the growing chakra bomb. The Tanuki wretched, wretched, and wretched again. And then he vomited. The dark ball burst, disintegrating into a giant chakra wave like a kamehameha.

Naruko's instincts, deep within her, screamed for her to dodge, a Biju Bomb was a Tailed-Beasts ultimate attack. No, it wasn't her instincts screaming at her, it was the Kyubi within her.

But Naruko couldn't dodge. Konoha was behind her. She wouldn't let it be destroyed. But she didn't have time to form shadow clones, and the Dragon Ball Jutsu didn't have the strength to stand up to Shukaku's ultimate attack.

You keep it condensed The Kyubi said. I'll handle the rotation and power.

You know the rasengan? Naruko thought.

Foolish girl, I invented the rasengan!

And so Naruko held out her right arm, and tried her best to contain the Kyubi's chakra. A rasengan, larger than any that had been created before, created by a master of the technique and a novice, met Shukaku's Biju Bomb head on. Black against orange. Two against one.

Naruko's arm trembled, she struggled to keep the rasengan locked in place against the full might of a biju. The shadow clones beneath her burst one after another, but tendrils of the Kyubi's chakra had clasped onto Konoha, keeping the girl protecting it in place. Naruko roared her defiance. She could not lose!

"I won't be defeated brother," Shukaku screamed, and the black chakra wave doubled in size, doubled in speed, doubled in power. Naruko was pushed back. Her outstretched arm bent, little by little. The Kyubi's rasengan lost rotation, and Naruko lost control of the outer edges.

Fool! The Kyubi screamed within Naruko's mind. I am merely a shadow of what I once was! If I were whole I would destroy you without a second thought!

He can't hear you, Naruko reminded the Kyubi. Her arm had been bent flat against her chest.

Cub, The Kyubi shouted. He is stronger than us! We cannot defeat him like this! You must wake him up.

I know, Naruko thought. I'll show him the power of a shadow!

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" If she and the Fox couldn't beat Shukaku together, she'd just create more of themselves! The shadow clones beside her formed rasengans of their own and joined the struggle. The mighty tanuki simply laughed, and strengthened its blast.

Not enough! The Fox complained. Good, if her brilliant scheme had slipped the Kyubi's notice, it must have slipped Shukaku's as well.

Naruko faltered, the strength of the Fox's chakra weakened, the pieces of Konoha anchoring her began to crumble. And she stared into the darkness of the Biju's black chakra, the darkness that threatened to destroy everything. She wouldn't let it happen. But the shadow clones beside her began to burst one after another, running out of the chakra needed to maintain themselves.

"I've won," Shukaku gloated, his Biju Bomb pushing Naruko past the ends of the arena, stretching the Fox's chakra supports to a thread. But flashes came into her mind. A single shadow clone, formed from what was left of her own chakra, crawled up the sand demon's back. Shukaku was a creature of chakra, not nerves. As long as her shadow clone used no chakra it would be beneath his notice. And it had crawled up, between his eyes, onto his forehead, like a little mosquito. Naruko could see it digging, not with a rasengan, not with Sasuke's lightning jutsu, but with a simple kunai knife. And as her rasengan failed, she saw a flash of red hair. "My glorious self has defeated you, you oh-so-mighty Nine-Tails. I'm the best! I always knew I was better than you Kuram-"

The shadow clone dispersed. It had headbutted Gaara awake. Shukaku's Biju Bomb and the Kyubi's Big Ball Rasengan cancelled in a giant explosion. The pressure of it launched Naruko up high, past the clouds, so she could see all of Konoha.

She could see Sound and Sand shinobi being beaten back, giant toads chasing off the giant snakes, and the Grass Shinobi fleeing with both his arms limp and useless. And the arena was half destroyed. Half. But there were plenty of civilians who'd seen her entire fight with Gaara. Would she be seen as a hero, a villain? Because the other half of the civilians were probably dead…

And Sasuke… She'd… She'd let him fight Gaara alone. She should have known that she was the strongest genin in Konoha, and that the protection of the village was her responsibility. And now their favored son was broken. If they hated her for it… If he hated her for it…

She understood.

She landed on her feet, the fall painless, as she sunk to her waist in loose sand. She pulled herself out with a little backflip. The Fox had disappeared, uninterested in the fight after defeating his little brother. But his chakra had healed her. So her own chakra reserves were full, and her body was healed, she was in better shape to fight than when she'd began. Gaara lay atop a sand dune, crawling away from her. He was beaten and broken, his love tattoo bruised and bleeding, and he didn't want any part of her. Shukaku hadn't bothered to heal his vessel.

Thank you Kyubi, Naruko thought. She walked to Gaara. She could end him however she pleased, a kunai across the throat, a kick to the head, but she chose a dragon ball. Sasuke's three-star dragon ball. She formed a rasengan around it.

She no longer felt hatred for Gaara. He'd led a tragic life, one that she could have easily led herself. But it didn't change the fact that he was a monster. An unrepentant murderer. It didn't change the fact that he'd hurt her friends, and that if she didn't stop him he'd keep killing. She wasn't going to kill him because she hated him. She was going to kill him because it was the right thing to do.

"You're the strongest... I'll turn from the Sand, I can help Konoha. I can be a useful tool for the Leaf, I can be useful, please don't hurt me." Gaara begged, throwing himself on her feet, sobbing pathetically. " Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me!" He was crying, clutching his chest. "It hurts!"

And she understood him. Everyone thought he was so strong, but nobody understood his weakness. They thought he was proud, but he'd have begged, worshipped, given his life for a friend. And so he'd seen the shinobi world, alone as he was, he had seen its cruelty, and it had appealed to him for its straightforwardness. Most shinobi hated being tools. Gaara loved it.

He was a her who had recognized her strength before forming real bonds.

"You can't force a connection," Naruko said, letting her dragon ball jutsu dissipate. She squatted so they were eye level. "It doesn't work like that idiot. Love can only be given freely. That's why the whole Sand Village can say they love you, and it'll never mean anything. You knew when you saw Lee and Guy, their true connection, how hollow you were. You saw it, and you wanted to break him, and you did, and Guy still loved him. Because Lee is worth loving! Because people are worth loving! Believe it!"

Gaara gazed up at her. He didn't understand. Naruko was going to have to kill him. Because love wasn't the kind of thing that could be explained, it had to be experienced… And one day… One day she'd like to experience it herself.

Two sand shinobi darted in front of Gaara. They were trembling in their boots, scared of… Scared of the strongest gennin in all the Five Great Nations… A shinobi whose power put even their brother's to shame. They were scared of her.

"We…" Kankuro trembled. "We won't let you hurt our brother!"

Naruko took a step forward, and Kankuro tripped over himself, falling next to Gaara.

"Kill him, and the One-Tails will be released again," Temari said, and though her voice was strong, her legs shook. She used her fan to support herself. "That beast you fought so hard to defeat will be free again! But if you let us go, we'll never return. And if any of us see a Konoha shinobi in need, we'll assist them however we can."

"Why," Gaara stared up at his two siblings. "Why are you helping me? I can't hurt you, I can't help you, I have no chakra left and I can hardly move."

Temari and Kankuro glared down at their brother, and spoke together. "Because you're our younger brother idiot!"

Gaara began to weep. It was open and honest, without a trace of bitterness or anger. And Naruko could tell that he finally understood what love was. She watched the three sand shinobi disappear into the forest with a smile.

"Thank you Naruko," Sakura said, and she was crying as well. "You saved me, you saved the village. But why did you get to turn back to normal? Why not Sasuke? He transformed to save me too, so why doesn't he get to turn back?"

Sakura cradled Sasuke's mangled body. While Naruko had been fighting Shikaku, Sakura had been protecting Sasuke, been protecting everyone, all from the side, all in support. If it hadn't been for Sakura, all Naruko's fighting would have been wasted, because Naruko cared about Sasuke… She didn't need him to be pretty…

But…

But…

Sasuke's broken body had become a crippled abomination. Konoha's golden boy was no more.

Naruko screamed in frustration.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! And FYI, in Gaara's fight scene with Lee, he's actually staring longingly at Guy-sensei, not Sakura, because he wishes somebody would cheer him on and love him like Guy does for Lee.

TheBeauty - Hope you enjoyed the rest of the fight scene! Sorry for splitting it up like that! Thanks for the review!

Amaterasu53 - Alright, glad you're okay with fem!Obito. I've started mapping out the bond with Kakashi and Obito, and it's going to be a lot different than in cannon. And Jiraiya is going to work on her form in the Tsunade retrieval arc. It's going to be a very mundane training arc, but will result in another big power boost.