Author's Review Response:
To Darkmaster10000000: Thanks, man! Read the Author's Note, please.
To redlox2: I appreciate the question. Go to the Author's Note, please.
Thank you all for the votes and support!
Let's start part two!
Konohagakure, Elemental Nations, 91 N.E.
-With Itachi and the Suna Siblings-
It was a pretty hectic day for a lot of people. Nobody who was chunin and below suspected an ambush of this proportion taking place in the Chunin Exams. However, nobody below that rank was like Itachi of the Uchiha clan.
Ever since he thought he lost his best friend, and since the day his cousin, Shisui, the raven haired boy had grown to be cautious and suspicious. That's not to say that he lived his entire life that way, but Itachi was the type of guy who only spoke when it was necessary and would only engage with people when he had to.
It wasn't until he had connected with Izumi and Hinata along with his bond with his baby brother, Sasuke, that his social life began to change for the better. But that still meant that he was a rather reserved and quiet young man that had a personal goal of protecting what he cared about by getting stronger.
...And right now, Itachi Uchiha was doing just that.
When he reached the trio of Suna-nin, Kankurō stepped forward to stall while Temari and Gaara raced forward to execute their plan. Sure, it seemed that Itachia's pursuit had been thwarted. Thankfully, the heir of the Aburame clan appeared to intervene so that Itachi could move forward.
Grateful for his assistance, Itachi Uchiha raced onward via tree hopping.
-With Temari and Gaara-
The injured jinchūriki was currently being carried by his sister with her arm around him, jumping through trees. Feeling the pain of his coursing through his shoulder and head, Gaara spoke to his elder sister in a groan.
"...Temari, put me...down."
Almost immediately and out of concern for both his well being and the mission at hand, Temari jumped down to a lower tree branch while she inquired, "Can you me, Gaara?"
Inspecting the injured teen, she noticed the burn/stab wound that came from a certain black haired boy's technique back at the arena. Understanding that, Temari took out a medical supply to tend to her brother's wound.
"Stay out…" The redhead said, puzzling Temari for a split second before swinging arm against her chest. "...Of my way!"
The force of the punch sent her to a lower part of a different tree, creating a cavity for her to stay winded from the blow. Using his keen senses, Gaara got up to see from where he was kneeling to spot one Itachi Uchiha, who stood on a branch of a tree that was half a meter away from Gaara and Temari's location.
Widening her eyes in shock, Temari thought to herself, 'He got here that fast? How, Kankurō should have been keeping him busy by now! Was there another Konoha-nin among them?'
"I am unsure what you two and your village has planned for mine, and I frankly don't care. As a shinobi of Konoha, I'm putting a stop to it!" Itachi said, remaining calm yet firm.
But before there was ever a retort from either of the Sabaku siblings, the redheaded sibling began to shriek and cry in pain, feeling the Suna no Yoroi crack and break. The action promptly made him hunch as he held his face, trying desperately to keep himself together.
A sense of realization of what was about to happen hit Temari like a ton of bricks.
Temari began to mentally panic, 'He's about to unleash it? Here, right now? No! I have to do something!'
"Gaara!" Temari shouted. "You've gotta stop this! Remember, we have to complete the operation!"
His sister's cries, however, couldn't reach the Ichibi container. The gourd wearing teen swayed back and forth as he spoke toward the puzzled yet focused Uchiha.
"You...who are strong. You...who carries the name, Uchiha. You...who possess allies. You...who have purpose. You...who are like me!" Gaara dragged as he held his hand over his face.
From there, the overwhelming sensation that was hurting Gaara began to cause him to jerk his head back and forth while Gaara dubbed Itachi "his prey". Hunching again, Gaara declared, "Now, that you're here, I can finally live. In order to prove my existence, I must shed blood...your blood! I WILL LIVE, ITACHI UCHIHA!"
Through his sanity waning at a drastic level, Gaara's form began to change. Sand with peculiar looking blue markings began to cover half of Gaara's face and right arm. On his right side of his snarling face that had elongated canines, the sand took the appearance of a beastly tanuki while changing Gaara's pupiless baby blue eye into a special golden eye that's iris is a four pronged star with a dot at each corner and its sclera is black.
The blast of malice had sent Temari's heart skyrocketing at the sheer horror of what her brother had started to become. Grief and fear manifested to her being, so much so that she tucked her leg against her body and shielded her eyes with her arms.
The mere sight of the partially transformed Gaara shook Itachi, causing him to activate his Sharingan out of stress and necessity as if there was immediate danger. However, Itachi took the time to stare into the container's right eye.
'That eye!' Itachi thought to himself. 'That's what I saw in that shield! ...Judging from that from on his forehead, that must be some kind of seal. ...Perhaps he is Suna's demon jailer, must like Ruki-san is.'
Out of nowhere, the bloodthirsty redhead launched himself forward at his desired target, with his beast arm aiming to crush Itachi. Fortunately for the blue cloaked teen, he backflipped to another tree, allowing Gaara to effectively demolish the tree Itachi had been standing on to splinters.
Of course, the prodigy of the Uchiha clan used his stealth to hide from the demon container in order to scope out a means to incapacitate the blue eyed shinobi.
While taking a glance at Gaara, Itachi continued thinking, 'Damn it, his strength is as monstrous as his transformation! And his presence...it's unsettling and unhinged. ...Whether with or without Mangekyō Sharingan, I doubt Shino and I would be able to beat him on our own. But I still got to try, regardless of fear!'
And, Itachi dodged another swipe of Gaara's sand claw that he anticipated, which resulted in another tree being destroyed in the process. Temari's body shook, cowering in fear as the deranged malice of her little brother manifested in the next few choice of words directed toward his "prey".
"What's the matter? Don't tell me that the great prodigy of a noble clan, Sharingan no Itachi, is afraid? Do you fear the evidence of my value to exist?" Gaara said in a teasing and twisted manner. "Come out and fight me, Itachi Uchiha!
The amount of killing intent Gaara had for the Uchiha heir did manage to make Itachi sweat from it. But after a small amount of deep breathing, he calmed down and started to execute a plan.
On que, Itachi came out of hiding at a farther and higher tree branch from Gaara's current position while jumping toward the jailer. While jumping at Itachi, Gaara used his sand claw once again, striking Itachi…
...only to find a severed log upon his wake.
"Over here!"
Itachi then threw a volley of six kunai at Gaara to see what he'd do in his current state. Gaara then extended his right arm with a feral grin, allowing the blade to pierce it as the sand sunk them inwards
"You can have these back!"
The kunai were shot back at Itachi, except the force of the kunsi being shot caused them to heat up. The blades shattered a branch back and seemingly impaled Itachi. Seemingly, as that was false. Itachi dispersed into a murder of ravens, shocking the twisted Gaara.
'A Karasu Bunshin? ...How aggravating!' Growled the Ichibi container as he looked around.
While Gaara once again called out for Itachi in bloody murder, Itachi kneeled at a lower branch of a tree that was further from Gaara. The blue cloaked shinobi once again took the time to catch his breath, still not used to the fact that it was his first time fighting an out of control jinchūriki despite having one as a teammate.
And an annoying on at that!
Itachi's thoughts were interrupted with a crazy rant of the disturbing Gaara, "Why must you run? You cannot hide from me forever! THERE'S NO ESCAPE, ITACHI UCHIHA!"
With that declaration, Gaara then proceeds to go on a small rampage of wrecking trees up and down to lure his "prey" out. And he did this all the while enjoying every last moment of it. The teen even cackled as he continued tearing the forest up.
"Are you that afraid, Uchiha?" Gaara asked, taking a small break from his carnage. "Is my drive to persist at this moment too much for you? If I am wrong, prove it to me! Show me your worth to exist!"
Itachi took those taunts to heart, given that he imagined what would happen if he let the beast inside of his opponent be unleashed upon the village. Refusing to let himself be consumed by fear and doubt, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and began to charge the Kuroba with his left hand.
Gaara turned around when hearing a familiar sound of crowing ravens in the sound of flames. From afar, he could see Itachi looking at him from where he stood behind the further tree.
The intense narrowing glare of the Uchiha with his black flames being condensed had morphed an exciting sneer on Gaara's face as he shouted, "That's it! That's what I've been waiting for! Let's have some fun, Uchiha!"
The sound of madness that emanated from Gaara's throat had left a horrible feeling in Temari's stomach. She watched the two shinobi, fearing for her brother and what was about to come next.
When his technique was done charging, Itachi Uchiha readied himself as he declared, "He seems too far gone. In order to protect Konoha, I'll have to finish this in one blow!"
Both shinobi jumped forward, lunging at each other with a blade made out of black flames and a claw made out of special sand respectively. However, what Gaara did expect was for the blade to quite literally sear and clip through his right arm, causing gaara to shriek in agony. Gaara sprawled to a nearby branch on his, resulting in Temari screaming for her brother.
Itachi glanced back with his Mangekyō Sharingan clearing suspecting that Gaara was alive. That was only confirmed by Gaara's maniacal laughter echoing all throughout the forest. The lunatic got up, spouting, "Ah! I finally understand it! The thrill of the chase, to squash somebody who has wounded me. It's simply...stimulating!'
Temari's bluish green eyes couldn't believe what she had witnessed. It was almost amazing to her that somebody like Itachi was able to hurt Gaara not once but twice. She then came to the conclusion that perhaps Itachi wasn't a normal shinobi, but called herself a hypocrite due to the condition her little brother was in.
Coming back to the said Uchiha prodigy, he watched as Gaara's transformation continued, having his beastly arm increase in size while more sand manifested from behind Gaara. That sand then molded itself into a tail.
'A single tail?' Questioned the anxious black haired shinobi, with his Mangekyō Sharingan deactivated from extensive use. 'He's the Ichibi jinchūriki, there's no doubt about it. Still, him continuing his change isn't a pretty sight. I don't know if I can keep up with this, especially after my last Kuroba burning most of my chakra in my reserves.'
Gaara, using his larger right arm, took a hold of his branch and stretched it like a rubber band. And much like a slingshot, he launched himself at Itachi, tearing through the very branch he stood on. Itachi evaded the crazed demon container by moving to a higher branch and stood on it upside down using the tree climbing exercise that Kakashi taught him.
Gaara executed the same maneuver again, aiming himself directly at his target. Itachi decided to try and slow him down by burning him. Going through a series of hand seals at blinding speeds, Itachi shot a giant fireball at Gaara, hoping to cease the bloodthirst Suna-nin's assault. Alas, Gaara proved to have gotten even sturdier, sturdy enough to power through the flames and strike Itachi, sending him to a nearby tree, much like his sister, causing a cavity upon impact as the son of Fugaku was slumped in smoke and pain.
Gaara started to smack-talk Itachi once more, "Is that all you got, Uchiha? Don't you value your own existence in life? Clearly...I've overestimated you! ...You're weak, weak and gentle! Your intent to kill is far too frail to persist, let alone overcome my own!"
Itachi's mind stopped all thoughts when a single word came to his mind. Weak, to the Uchiha, was a taboo. From his clan life, to his personal life, being weak was a thing Itachi absolutely refused to be. Fugaku had raised Itachi in the customs of the clan, meaning that as firstborn, he was heir to a family that he founded in the village and had enough power to rival the Senju clan. That meant that if was to represent the entire Uchiha clan as future head and councilman of Konoha, he mustn't be weak in the mind, body, and spirit.
Itachi was weak when he couldn't save his friend from a near death experience at the hands of his so-called 'academy sensei'.
He was weak when he challenged Shisui into a spar, and when he lost, Itachi vowed to train in order to surpass him.
...But then Shisu died.
And now, he stood behind a tree yet again, scared out his mind because he's nearly exhausted from facing a threat to his village and loved once.
The sudden thoughts of countless people in the village lying dead on the ground rushed in Itachi's head. The most notable being his parents, baby brother, and Izumi.
Shaking his head, Itachi thought furiously, '...No. NO! I REFUSE TO LOSE ANYBODY AGAIN! I WILL NOT BE WEAK!'
Gaara continued to verbal jab his prey, "You are a weak, spineless—"
"Shut your damn mouth!"
Gaara's face dropped in astonishment as Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan reactivated in full force. From there, Itachi decided to create another Kuroba from his left hand. After that, Itachi leapt
from his branch to impale Gaara. Gaara obliged Itachi's actions by jumping at Itachi with his extended claw aimed to crush him.
Clash!
When Itachi landed, something phenomenal happened. Instead of having a hand extended, he was unknowingly holding a construct of a black flaming sword. Surrounding the teen was a black aura along with half of what seemed to be gray constructs of a ribcage. The power swelled for five seconds until it dissipated as Itachi collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
'Shit, I'm all out of chakra. There's nothing more i can do!' Itachi noticed.
On Gaara's side, his entire right beast-like sand arm was torn off by the sudden swipe of that sword. Snarling, Gaara simply regrown the lost appendage in an annoyed manner. Seeing that his prey was lying on the branch unguarded, he quite literally, sprang at the opportunity and went for a fatal blow…
On to get knocked back by a front kick laced with winds while hearing, "Bofūryū no Kagizume (Gale Dragon's Claw)!"
Gaara recovered from the kick almost instantly to see who had foolishly intervened from finishing his hunt for the Uchiha. Seeing who it was, Gaara's eyes widened in shock and slight excitement.
Standing in front of him was Naruto 'Ventos' Drakkenborne, wearing his new clothes from the Chamber.
"It's you...the one who defeated the Hyūga."
Turning back to the injured Itachi, Ventos asked, "Oi, 'Tachi. Can you stand?"
Itachi tried getting on his knees, but he fell down as he started to cough up blood from the damage he took. Naruto winced at the sight and sound of that. Looking adjacent to Itachi, he saw a shooken up Temari, who was gazing right back at him.
"What about you, kunoichi-san?" Asked the blond mage with genuine concern. "Are you seriously hurt in any way?"
Not trusting her voice, the proud Suna kunoichi shook her head negatively.
"The Uchiha tried fighting me, but his will to exist wasn't enough to challenge mine. That's how you found him as such." Gaara said in a demonic tone of glee. "Are you going to run away as well? Surely you don't want to end up like your ally, Kiri-nin?"
Narrowing both of his eyes in righteous anger, the one eyed wizard returned his gaze to Temari and instructed, "Kunoichi-san, I'm in need of a favor. I need you to take Itachi and yourself far from here and keep him out of Oto-nin and other Suna-nin hands. I'm going to handle Gaara myself."
Almost immediately, Temari protested his plan, "NO! Absolutely not! There's no way in hell I'm going to trust the wellbeing of my little brother, who's still in there somewhere, in the hands of a person who'll just kill him like you did the other jinchūriki from Kiri. And furth–"
Though it was understandable why Temari didn't trust Naruto, he didn't have time to argue so he retorted, "This is not up for a debate! Yagura-san is not dead, and I'm a master in fuinjutsu! If I can subdue the beast, I'll be able to secure the seal on Gaara's forehead and save his sanity! I just need time to neutralize him, but I'm going to need you to trust and cooperate with me. Even if it's a one time thing, please!"
"But..."
"TRUST ME, DAMN IT!" Shouted Ventos, startling her into nodding her head.
Temari reluctantly agreed, jumping to Itachi's side and starting to jump far away from the fight, but close enough to where she could see Naruto and Gaara duke it out.
Once that was done, Ventos narrowly dodged a Suna Shuriken by jumping to a lower branch of the tree he was on.
From there, he noticed that Gaara's body was nearly taken over by the beast that was sealed inside of him. The only thing that remained of the container was the mod of red hair, the seal on his forehead, and the normal legs of Gaara himself.
"Come, Drakkenborne! Show me that power those rumors about you in Kiri were spreading! Show what the power you displayed against the Iwa-nin the Hyūga shinobi! Help me prove my existence!" Gaara provoked as he shot a wind storm of sand from his mouth.
"Fūton: Mugen Sajin – Daitoppa (Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud – Great Breakthrough)!"
Ventos decided that water was the best way to retaliate against the sand. Channeling his magic power, the blond wizard created a magic circle from his two palms facing Gaara's direction.
"Kaioryū no Kaketsuken (Sea King Dragon's Geyser)!" He cried. Shouting a burst of water that countered the sand themed technique, making it soft and muddy. Unfortunately for the blond, Gaara was quick to create a few more shuriken made of sand, getting the drop on the Dragon Slayer, sending him crashing into a farther tree.
This had happened once more, except Naruto crashed into a branch. The one-eyed teen had enough of the Ichibi container's nonsense, so he decided to change his course of tactics using ninjutsu for his plan.
For starters, the blond used Bofūryū no Josho Shogeki to propel himself into the air. Forming a special but familiar hand seal, Ventos created about five Kage Bunshin to start his plan. Gaara managed to snag three of them while airborne. The top clone was thrown by the bottom clone just near enough for the clone to inhale before shooting a highly concentrated blast of raging water.
"Kaioryū no Hoko!"
The force of the blast was so great that Gaara was embedded in the trunk of the tree. On top of that, the lower half of the armor of sand was running like a murky mud from the water spell.
-While On The Sidelines-
Temari and Itachi watched in awe of how Naruto was handling Gaara with the approaches he had taken. While Temari couldn't make up with the way he had used his 'techniques', Itachi knew better. Much like how Kai fought with him during their spars using her magic, Naruto was utilizing his specific kind magic in conjunction with the Kage Bunshin, just like his fight with Neji.
'I see now…' Itachi understood with confidence. 'This power...Metsūryū no Mahō (Dragon Slayer Magic). This is the might of your true power, the one you've wielded to defeat the previous Mizukage and Neji, the one you're saving for Ruki-san. You've come a long way from when we've met, Ruto. ...I can't wait to test my own power against yours.'
-Back To The Fight-
Coming back to Naruto, he started to draw parallels between Gaara and himself. He thought, 'Those eyes… they're like mine, back then. Makes sense, he's a legitimate jailor. I was just a scapegoat with a finger pointed at me. Still, that doesn't change the fact that he and I dealt with enough pain to be considered the same. And from the way he is and how he is acting, it makes much more sense that he'd snap if he lived a life like that. Man, I could only imagine if I was exactly like him. ...Now that I think about it, this could have been me if I allowed the Ryū no Hane to consume me.'
Determined to save Gaara, Naruto decided to push his efforts at saving the Suna shinobi even further. Hunching, Ventos clenched his fists while growling. Filling his spirit with natural energy, the magic power began to surge fiercely, burning like a powerful fire. The power was so great, Temari and Itachi felt it's presence. In fact, despite having little chakra left, the dark haired teen's Sharingan was activated, like from earlier when Gaara was coming after him.
Forming the same hand seal, Naruto shouted, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multi Shadow Clone Technique)!"
In a large poof, two thousand clones imbued with at least B-Class amount of magic power surrounded the area in which he and Gaara were fighting at. Jaws dropped in that moment.
-While On The Sidelines-
Temari stood there with her eyes nearly falling out of her sockets.
"You've got to be kidding me! This guy's a one man army!" She shouted in disbelief.
Reminded of Ruki once again, Itachi said, "Whether he'll ever admit it or not, he shares many things with his twin sister. Two of them possess large chakra reserves and the ability to create a vast amount of Kage Bunshin. However, I think that this is Ruto's limit of how many he can spawn at once."
The two ninja stayed silent, waiting for Naruto's next course of action.
-Back To The Fight-
Gaara, looking around while questioned, "What? How could he summon so many Kage Bunshin all at once like this?"
Ventos and his clones smiled (with the original's arms crossed), satisfied with the result of his handiwork.
"Aright guys, you know the drill!" The original Ventos said.
The clones responded,"Aye, kick ass and go dragon crazy!"
"You're damn right, dattebayo!" The original shouted.
Taking out their kunai, the clones threw a rain of kunai at Gaara, which the partially transformed demon contained with his arm. Moving from there, the group of Ventos clones went on the attack based on three distinct elements.
The first group landed a high kick to Gaara's jaw while their feet were laced with winds, "Dura!
"Ken!" Went the second wave of clones, kicking gaara higher with a water based attack.
Finally, the third group came in with another water infused kick, shouting, "Bonu!"
To finish it off, all two thousand clones charged up a single fist from their hands and punched Gaara with them, finishing off their combo by saying, "Bentosu Nisen Ryū Rendan (Ventos Drakkenborne 2K Dragon Barrage)!"
The redheaded shinobi was sent back from the yellow lightning laced uppercut of two of the clones, landing on the floor hard.
"Okay, guys! Let's stay on guard, I'm about to prepare a Secret Art on him!" The original Ventos barked, ready to unleash an advanced water spell.
"AYE SIR!" The clones retorted.
While on the floor, Gaara wondered to himself in his mind, 'How…How did he obtain that level of strength? His will... It's...absurd. It...doesn't make...any sense!'
The confused rage was enough to get Gaara to stand right back up. He bellowed, "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'LL LOSE TO A GUY LIKE HIM!"
Out of nowhere, Gaara morphed into a large wave of sand that rose up into the air, destroying all clones, leaving the real Naruto to be sent to a tree branch. This action caught everybody by surprise. Once that happened, a large smoke cloud enveloped the area before revealing a full body and fully sized sand tanuki.
-While On The Sidelines-
Temari just stood there. Her brother, her precious little brother had been fully possessed by the demon he held. It was at times like these where she cursed her later father for giving Gaara such a burden to bear. She wanted to cry, to weep for Gaara, but Temari knew that now wasn't the time. She wondered what could Naruto possibly do now that a mountain sized beast like the Ichibi had truly emerged.
"So, that's a real live bijū, huh?" Itachi asked rather nervously, breaking Temari's train of thought.
Temari responded, "Hai, that's the Ichibi no Tanuki. And we may be in big trouble… I doubt your friend is gonna last longer now, because he's fucked unless he can grow like one of your village's Akimichi clansmen."
Itachi gazed at Naruto, worried for his best friend's safety. However, something in the Uchiha knew that he might find a way to deal with the jinchūrik. After all, the blond was a man of his word.
-Back To The Fight-
The Dragon Slayer raised his head to look up at the demonic sand spirit, also marveling at the sight, being it was the first time seeing a fully released bijū out its prison.
"So that's it. The Ichibi…" Naruto said before correcting himself as he recalled something. "Wait, according to Magius, each spirit has a name given by the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths) after he split the Jūbi's chakra into nine different and unique entities. And if I remember correctly...this dusty rat's name is Shukaku."
Taking two giant steps in its full form, Gaara, using Shukaku's form spoke, "Well, what do you know? I'd never imagine you'd bring this out of me!"
Taking his right arm, Gaara in Shukaku's body made a crushing motion directly at Naruto. Suddenly, a veil of sand manifested as it circled and took hold of the one eyed blond's body.
"...Huh? GAH! What's happening to me?" Naruto screamed in confusion, panicking at the feeling of warm and coarse sand trying to slowly devour his body.
-While On The Sidelines-
"NARUTO!"
Itachi's heart started to beat at a fast rate, forcefully watching his best friend getting his body covered in the sand. Turning to a grim looking Temari, Itachi shouted at her.
"That guy who's in that monster is your brother, right? What's he doing to my friend!?"
Temari turned away, hiding the shame and the pitiful expression. Itachi stopped, realizing that his fears had been confirmed.
Naruto was dying right before his eyes. The sudden thought of it, causing him to wretch in pain, coughing up blood from the wounds he sustained earlier and the sorrow that was filling him.
...And there was nothing he could do.
-Back To The Fight-
Things weren't looking good for the Dragon Slayer, for the sand that emerged out of nowhere had ensnared most of his body and was moving from the feet to the top of his body.
'Damn it!' Naruto cursed as he struggled to break free. 'I forgot how tiring it was to use that many freaking clones! I need to get out of this stuff somehow! I'd use some lightning but this stuff is too strong for a normal Kaminari no Jūnkan and the pale lightning is off limits. There's no use in using wind or water if I'm in this...Oh! It reached some private parts down there! Ugh, it's everywhere now! Gotta...get...out!'
But before his upper torso was covered, Naruto's mind suddenly went into autopilot as his left hand started to glow in the form of a dragon's head. Out of necessity, a chant was spoken into existence by speaking in the Runic language.
"Oh fair dragon, hear my cry! With eyes of blue, aid me in this fight! Grace the field, with splendor and might! I summon thee, guardian beast of white!"
In a split second before he was covered in the sand and Gaara completed the fatal technique, Naruto screamed, "COME, HIKARU!"
Mt. Drukberg, Draakland, Year X1000
Draakland is a hidden floating continent-like realm created by the Heavenly Saints as a way for dragons to start anew and thrive in their own land. But to make sure threats similar to the Black Dragon would never happen again, the realm's time for dragon's moves 36500.24 times faster than any normal human (at least in Midgård). In lame man's terms, one year for a human in Midgård is one hundred years for a dragon in Draakland. Mind you, dragons nowadays can only live up to one thousand and two hundred years in that realm, otherwise, dragons can live longer through traveling through different realms for a short time before they have to return due to rules through the Dragon God.
In this floating land, there are seven regions; Sylvaroot (Forest Region), Abalos (Desert Region), Drukberg (Mountain Region), Daharagon (Volcanic Region), Lumidra (Snow Region), Marinadon (Sea Region), and Drake-Stone (Cavern Region). Each of these regions live small communities of dragons and other smaller creatures that live off of the lands, with each a head dragon that serves as a monarch that rules their respective territory.
These leaders had their own personal title of the highest authority depending on the region.
One ruler, in particular, was sleeping under his lake bed in the mountain of Drukberg. He was shrouded in shadows due to it being night time. He slept for a good long while until he felt a tug in his spirit and magic power. It was almost like...somebody was calling out to him.
"COME, HIKARU!" Beckoned a familiar voice, echoing in the back of his mind.
A pair of crystal blue slit eyes opened in an instinctual fashion.
Suddenly from the lake, the beast emerged from his slumber with water dripping from his body. With the flap of his mighty wings, the beast ascended to the skies as a large portal opened for him. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, the beast flew into the portal as the moon's light kept the beast hidden. When he entered, the portal closed.
Konohagakure, Elemental Nations, 91 N.E.
Naruto's death was drawing near Gaara in the full state of controlling the demon's body. The blond's eye was almost covered, hearing the guy say, "Sabaku K—"
A brilliant light broke through the sand as a white magic circle appeared near the beast. Everyone had to look away from the beam. The light danced up in the air before it to the form of a giant beast, which was a being they've heard of but haven't quite seen before. When the light show died down, everybody stood in shock to see what the blond had done.
What Naruto was standing on was a bipedal dragon that was about one hundred meters in height, a wing span of one hundred and fifty meters, and weighed about over seventy thousand tons. The eyes of the dragon were crystal blue. His scales were mostly a brilliant white with some parts on his body having a metallic chrome hue, like his armor-like chest piece that can conduct electricity, which possessed a diamond shaped jewel at the center. The talons of the beast were black with tinges of a deep navy blue. His tail and thigh guards were protected by lairs of plated chrome-like adamantine scales (which his tail is spiked up until the end where the tip has a hair-like tassel that was gold and blue). The wings of the guardian beast were white on the outside and gold on the inside. On his head were two black horns coming out from the back of his head while the crown had a small blue spike curving downward in the top middle of the head.
Naruto, who stood on the shoulder of the dragon, looked at the giant beast with a bit of amazement and a bit of...nostalgia? The beast, however, glanced at the blond with neutrality and a bit of confusion.
The dragon glanced at the human with a half glare as he spoke stoically in Runic, "Who has woken me from my slumber?"
"Oh my— Hikaru? Hot damn you've grown gigantic! You were the size of a shepherd dog when I saw you a couple of years back. It's nice to see you again, buddy!" Ventos said, content with seeing his long time friend and guardian beast.
"That name…How do you know of it? Who the Helheim are you, meat bag?"
Pain befallen on the blond, with his face clearly shown the heartache and overly dramatic tears falling down his face.
Shaking off the sadden expression, Naruto shouted, "Meat bag, for real? That's not how you treat an old friend after two years! Don't you recognize me? It's me, Ventos! Naruto Ventos Drakkenborne,! I'm the one who gave you that name when you hatched from that white stone, ya' know!"
'Ven...tos? ...Na...ru...to. ...Naru-chan!' The giant dragon pondered, before thinking back to his memories, as the guardian beast was two hundred and two years of age in dragon years.
The eyes of the dragon dilated as he saw a slightly younger blond's face smiling as Naruto held him up in the air. That cut to him running around with the younger Naruto around a beach while hanging out with the other wizards and Magius along with Galeen. Then it cut to Naruto rubbing his head as he urged him to go on with the other smaller dragons in a sad but happy manner.
"Naru-chan..." After sensing the blond's magic power to confirm his identity, the dragon said rather fondly while switching his language to Nihongo for his long partner and best friend, "...I remember you, aibou (pal). It's been far too long since we last saw each other in my case. Or have you forgotten that time moves faster for us than in the realm of humans?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, acknowledging his forgetfulness as the white dragon explaining what he had become during his time in Draakland.
"Aibou, while I am fond of the given name you chose for me, I'm not the same little whelping that you've left to live in the land of dragons to learn his people's ways. I've been through hardships and ordeals that pushed me farther than you could ever imagine, even at a young age such as mine. That's the reason why I am this large, for I've grown both in stature, and in power. In fact, after my last bout, the dragons of Mt. Drukberg acknowledged my strength and leadership enough for me to be chosen to lead them as their new king. Such as why I have assumed a new title that I wish for you to recognize me by. I am one of the seven lords, Dragon Kaiser!" Explained the guardian beast, newly dubbed Dragon Kaiser Hikaru.
Naruto had remained silent, astonished at his friend's achievement and request. He had never seen Hikaru, now called Dragon Kaiser, that serious. Granted, his childhood was a bit longer than most dragons because in the human realm, a dragon's life aging process slows due to the flow of time being different from Draakland. But the Dragon Slayer had understood where he came from, given the similarity he was facing currently with his own blood at the moment.
Naruto simply nodded with a sense of pride swelling inside, telling the white dragon, "Alright, Kaiser. I recognize that you're king and your authority."
-While On The Sidelines-
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ANYMORE!?"
It was official, Temari had lost sense of all rhyme and reason. It was mere moments before the blond boy nearly died, and somehow he managed to not only survive Gaara's demonic wrath, but he had a summon that was a giant "fuck you" dragon!
Was there nothing that Naruto guy can't get out of or pull off?
At first, Itachi reacted the very same way, not understanding where Naruto would find a dragon as his summon. That, however, didn't matter to him in the long wrong. Turning to a bewildered Temari, the injured and exhausted Uchiha prodigy said to Temari, "I'll tell you what's going on, Temari-san. Naruto, the former dobe in my class, took the impossible and made it possible. And now, at this very moment, he's about to get to work in saving your brother and Konoha as a whole."
Snapping her head back to Itachi, Temari shot back quickly, "How could you be so sure if that thing up there is even strong enough to phase Gaara at that state? What's there to say that they both end up overestimating their joint power and Gaara kills them anyways?"
Itachi fired back in total confidence, "They won't fail. When something precious is at risk or when he's back into a corner, Naruto's will manifests into something great and powerful. Something that I've seen glimpses of back when we were children. Alas, the Yondaime and his family failed to see and make use of that potential, pouring it down the drain slowly. But now, after years apart and coming to his own, I finally see the results of his potential being put to astonishing use. And now that I see this, I'm convinced that he'll win. It's like he said before, you'll have faith in him and he'll never let you down."
Temari and Itachi started at each other, not uttering a single word as their eyes did the talking. Seeing that the Uchiha wasn't faltering by her heated glare, she sighed in defeat and took the Uchiha's words into consideration, as it wasn't much of a choice in the matter. The two stared at the gian beasts, awaiting the final battle.
-Back To The Fight-
Gaara chuckled inside of Shukaku," You're really an amusing one, Ranryū no Ventos."
The white dragon glanced at the first demon created by Hagoromo Otsutsuki, then slightly turned to his right shoulder, where his partner was. Kaiser asked "So, what's the deal with the fat ass dust rat?"
Naruto had a large drop of sweat running at the back of his head, but quickly shook Kaiser's blunt attitude, answering, "He's a demonic spirit of the sand that was slowly taking possession of his jailer. We got to power through the demonic spirit and try to reach the human medium so I can seal the demon back up."
"So in other words, kick the shit out of the fat ass, save the meat bag. Is that right?" Dragon kaiser summarized simply with a shit eating grin.
Ventos smiled back, understanding the excitement he held with his own elated grin. Ventos replied with, "Yup, that's pretty much sums it up. Ready to fight with me, like old times?"
Flexing his giant wings in preparation of flight, Kaiser said, "Aye! Let's do this, aibou… Hang on tight!"
Much like a rhinoceros, the airborne Kaiser rammed his head against Shukaku's (Gaara in control) head, only for Gaara to have Shukaku use his head to toss Dragon Kaiser away from him.
"Damn, his guard is up!" Kaiser swore. "I didn't think this round dirty rat is capable of tanking a mighty charge from me…"
Naruto then asked him, "Do you have a way to distract him?"
That's when Kaiser got an idea. The dragon lord then told his partner, "Oi, I'm gonna need to shut your eyes for at least ten seconds."
Doing as he was told, Naruto closed his eyes. Once he did that, Dragon Kaiser channeled magic power from within his wings. Landing away from the sand demon, Kaiser shouted, "Hakuryū no Seinaru Mosu (White Dragon's Holy Flare)!"
From there, a bright gleam manifested from the build up of magic power from the gold part of Kaiser's wings, blinding those who did not have their eyes closed temporarily.
"GRAHHH!" Shouted Gaara in Shukaku's body. "MY EYES! THEY BURN!"
Seizing his chance, Dragon Kaiser lifted his claw as he flew towards Gaara. The tips of his talons started to ignite into crimson flames as he tore through the beast's shoulder, ripping it off while shouting, "Karyū no Saiga (Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang)!"
The explosive attack sent a huge shockwave that was felt by Itachi and Temari nearby, who were trying to hold on to the tree they were sitting on. The dragon lord landed with Naruto in tow as they waited to see what would happen next. What transpired was the container of the sand spirit halfway emerging from the forehead of Shukaku. Gaara, spoke to him one last time for a while.
"Thank you for entertaining me this day, Ranryū. To thank you properly, allow me to show the true power that embodies the manifestation of the desert!" Gaara said before creating a single hand seal that made him go limp in slumber.
With the beast's eyes changing tone and spun about for a second, the tanuki bellowed in a jolly yet sadistic manner.
"WOOOHOOO! I'M FINALLY FREE, BABY! SHUKAKU'S READY TO PLAY!" Roared the sand demon.
Seeing what had happened, Temari took the injured Uchiha and bolted away from the area entirely. Shukaku, now in control, glanced at the giant dragon that seemed to oppose him.
"Let's play, leather face!" The sadistic sand monster said before pounding on his belly. "Fūton: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)!"
From his mouth, Shukaku spat out ripping bullets made out of air, which Kaiser managed to take to the skies and shoot a small burst of fire at it, causing a small explosion. The battle conituned as the beasts, whether soaring (Kaiser) or running (Shukaku), flames and air bullets were being flung around and intercepted.
Shukaku liked to bounce and move about while launching his attacks. Meanwhile, Kaiser was the kind of person that moved in with precision and speed. The dragon evaded the air bullets using spins and advance evasive flying maneuvers like aileron rolls, for example.
However, one air bullet had knocked Dragon Kaiser down in smoke, prompting the deranged demon to cheer.
The spirit cried, "YOSHA! I killed that overgrown lizard! Turned his scaly pale ass into nothing with one shot!"
"Guess again, you dusty bitch!"
Shukaku blanched as he noticed that his handiwork fell short. Emerging from the smoke was Dragon Kaiser, with little to no scratches whatsoever. There was a fierce stare that would have murdered Shukaku several times over if stares could kill. Gazing at the unconscious Gaara, Kaiser spoke to his partner.
"Aibou, before I decide to tear this cretin asunder, I notice that his container is rendered unconscious at the moment."
"Yeah," Ventos said, looking at Gaara's limp upper body. "What about it, Kaiser?"
"Perhaps if I were to get closer to the demon like I did before, you could use that chance to fix whatever problem his seal the meat bag has."
"Alright, then. But how about you show me how you got that title and kick some demonic ass, first?" Smirked the Dragon Slayer.
Chuckling at his old friend, Kaiser responded, "Bitchin'!"
Dragon Kaiser opened up his wings once more, and took off into the air yet again with his wings beating as if they were claps of thunder. Trying something new, Shukaku decided to attack with his shuriken made of sand. Regardless of how many, however, the sheer speed of Kaiser kept Shukaku from getting a clean shot at the white dragon like last time.
"Stupid fucking lizard! STAY STILL!" Cried the sand spirit, trying to take down his opponent while shooting bullets out his stomach.
"AW!~ Is the big fat dirt-rat mad cause he's so slow that he make a slug look like a cheetah on caffeine?" Chided the guardian beast. "That's too bad, now take this!"
Stooping in the air, Kaiser started to tap into his inner strength of magic power. The yellow electricity that sparked about through his scales changed from yellow, to a brilliant hue of blue. Reeling his head back, he puffed his chest up before shouting, "Rairyū no Bāsuto Sutorīmu (Lightning Dragon's Burst Stream)!"
Opening his maw, Kaiser shot a massive wave strong then the normal Roar spell delegated to a lightning themed dragon. The stream of blue lightning at Shukaku, who narrowly jumped out of the way as he regrew the arm that he had previously lost. Although, the force of the last of lightning did push him back. While the tanuki was dazed, Kaiser swooped down toward Shukaku's dazed state with his wings ignited in flames.
Flapping them in his direction, Kaiser said, "Karyū no Yokugeki (Fire Dragon's Wing Attack)!"
Shukaku shrieked in agony, feeling the flames burning its body. Content of his handiwork, Dragon Kaiser reeled back in the air with his wings, as heard his friend speak.
"Nice work, Kaiser! You got Shukaku on the ropes! Now I see why they call you king" Naruto complimented. "All I need you to do is for you to tackle and hold him down. Leave the rest to me, dattebayo!"
"Aye, time to end this shit!"
When the fire subsided, Shukaku growled in anger. He would have started a counter attack if it had not been for a large dragon flying at him at a speed he just couldn't evade in time.
"SURPRISE, FAT ASS!"
WHAM!
Kaiser rammed into Shukaku yet again, this time with lightning cloaking his forehead to add more damage onto the impact. Shukaku howled in more pain as he gritted his teeth at the dragon lord.
"DO IT NOW, AIBOU! I'm RUNNING OUT OF MAGIC POWER TO STAY IN THIS REALM! EVERYTHING IS UP TO YOU!" Roared the white dragon.
Naruto, with a burst of morale, launched himself from Dragon Kaiser's right shoulder and landed a left strike on Gaara's cheek, waking him up suddenly.
"NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I JUST GOT OUT HEREEEE!" Shukaku screeched before his consciousness was lost inside of Gaara's seal.
From there, the sandy surface caused Naruto to slide back to the lower end of Shukaku's head. Gaara, who got up, noticed what Naruto had done by waking up.
'...He disrupted my technique! ...Ranryū, he must be disposed of!' Gaara concluded as he saw Ventos racing upward to confront him once and for all.
Forming a hand seal, Gaara spoke, " I will kill you! I will not cease to exist! Sabaku Kyū (Sand Binding Coffin)!"
Ventos halted his movement as sand began to encircle around him once more. Of course, Kaiser noticed this while he was struggling to stop the beast from pushing forward. So with the glow of his chest plate, Kaiser's white bioelectricity shot from the dragon lord onto the Dragon Slayer, transferring his magic onto Ventos as a means to protect the pastel blond.
Feeling the power surge and turning into a visible shield, which caused his hair and bangs to briefly spike up and his jacket to come undone, revealing his black undershirt. The sand started to fizzle and burn out, keeping Naruto safe.
"Here I come, Ichibi jinchūriki!" Naruto declared, now surrounded in Kaiser's magic.
Naruto finally launched at Gaara once more, which the redhead responded by manipulating stronger sand tendrils to restrain his form limbs while close to the demon container's face. Using his right hand, Naruto pointed his index fingers that started to glow a bright magenta.
"What are you—" Gaara tried to ask, but was interrupted by a spell.
"Jutsu Shiki: Fukugen Rūn (Spell Code: Restoration Rune)!"
With that being said, the same glow came to Gaara's forehead as his seal started to repair itself and grow stronger than before. Feeling the technique of Gaara's fizzling from the shield, Naruo then thrusted himself, landing a strong headbutt at Gaara, causing blood to spill from both of their foreheads.
Crack, crack, crackle...DOOM!
And since the seal was given extra protection thanks to the magic provided by the blond wizard, the sand that had given Shukaku to manifest had fallen, with Gaara and Naruto tumbling along with it.
Dragon Kaiser watched the event take place, reflecting on the time he spent with his old friend. The white dragon thought, 'Aibou hasn't changed since the day he sent me to Draakland. He's just as strong as he is persistent. Not to mention dutiful. I guess he's still about the whole honor thing with the guild. I suppose that can be a double edge sword at times. Still, to see him grow to be mature has made me proud to have him as my partner and as his guardian beast. It's too bad I can't stay to see how this ends. ...Until we meet again, my friend.'
Like that, Kaiser left the ninja world in a bright flash of light. The force of Dragon Kaiser's flashy exit, however, increased the falling speed of the two adversaries. Both of them ended up falling onto a tree, where they sat up and breathed while the two entered an intense staring contest. As both of them got up, Ventos began to talk to Gaara.
"Hey...I fixed you seal." He stated. "Shukaku shouldn't be able to communicate with you unless you want to talk to him. There's no reason for you to continue with this bout, dattebayo?"
Gaara remained silent as he took a stance, ready for the last standoff. Sighing, Naruto took his newly developed Madō Ryu-Ken. Sliding their farthest leg back, both jumped at each other with their fists cocked back and ready to swing. However, due to the nature of Naruto's raw speed and power, his swing ended up taking down Gaara, declaring him the victor.
Thud!
Both teens feel down the trees they jumped on, landing on the ground hard on both their backs and stomachs respectively.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: ...I'm not going to lie, I'm stuck at this point. While I decided that the Chunin Exams will be canceled due to reasons that while make sense in the context of the next chapter, I am stumped for what will happen in between and after Ruki's fight with Naruto. There should be filler to pass the time for the story to progress. But having the Chunin Exams continue, in my opinion would be boring and difficult because of the fact that Naruto's fight with Ruki and Itachi while actually destroying the facility they are holding the place.
So here's what I'm gonna do. I want you all to give me three chapter ideas that you all would like to see based on the story's narrative thus far.
Warning, here are the following rules about this:
No inclusion of Naruto vs Ruki, I already get questions about. Trust me, it will happen.
No bashing of the Uzu-Nami except for Ruki because Minato and Kushina are in a character arc at the moment. Don't be too heartless, they're human after all.
The last thing is that these chapter ideas must include the Original Characters in some fashion, and that the chapters must take place before leading up to Naruto's solo fight with Ruki.
If you need help to flush out the idea, PM/DM me, and I'll respond as quickly as possible. I'll also credit you for the idea because I'm not an asshole. However, if I forget to credit you, please let me know so I can fix that mistake.
Anyway, let me know what you're thinking about in this chapter. I'll see you guys next time! Have a blessed day. Shadow, out!
-DarkShadowGames451