"Normal Person Talking"

'Normal Person Thinking'

"Biju/Summons Talking/Jutsus"

'Biju/ Summons Thinking'

A/N: I just want to say that there is a Harem and Sakura and Mei are the leading girls, the current list is

Mei

Sakura

Koyuki

Ino

Shizuka

Yugao

Hana

Anko

I think these much girls should be enough, if you have anyone else in mind EXCEPT HINATA, you are free to recommend.

Chapter 3: The Invasion

Naruto stood in the same position eyeing down his opponent, he still had the same confident smile on his face. He had seen Gaara fight Lee nearly a month ago and he saw the destructive power that boy held, and he was certain that he probably grew even stronger in the past month. That didn't matter to Naruto though, he was confident in his own growth and progression and he knew that he could take Gaara easily.

Jiraiya had trained him for this moment and he worked incredibly hard in that month. He wanted to make his parents proud and he wanted to prove a point to everyone here. Uzumaki Naruto the demon child of Konoha was no more, in front of everyone was the new Naruto.

"I'm sure you two already know the rules, now are you ready to begin this fight?" asked Genma.

Both nodded as Genma nodded in understanding, he soon raised his arm to the air and declared "Alright here is the First fight for the Semi-Finals, the winner obviously advances through to the Final where he will be pit up against either Aburame Shino or Sabaku no Temari."

Genma then glanced at the two one final time and he could see that the two were ready to go and declared.

"Hajime"

Immediately after starting the fight between these two promising Genin, Genma was intelligent enough to quickly move out of the way. Naruto released his seals and made 10 Kage Bunshin that ran at Gaara at an insane pace, the stoic redhead however remained standing in the same position as he was not even flinching from the fast Blondes.

The Clones grew closer to Gaara and he scoffed and gathered sand from his gourd and swiped the squad of clones away, all dispelling leaving a plume of smoke, Naruto assessed the situation. He was intrigued, he was beginning to make notes in his mind.

'It looks like he uses sand for all his Ninjutsu and he doesn't let anyone come close, so he's not a Taijutsu or Close-range fighter plus with that crazy Biju and that failure of seal, he will not be able to use Genjutsu, so it means that he has insane reserves, probably Low-to-Mid-Jonin and that he can access his Biju's Chakra, I just have to make him run out of Chakra, then I can put that Biju no Yokusei Fuin (Tailed Beast Suppression Seal) that sensei gave to me on him to restrain him' he thought to himself.

Before Naruto put his plan into place though, he continued to attack Gaara with a flurry of shadow clones and shuriken, all of which his opponent easily managed to defend against.

Kage's Booth

Up in the booth, the Kazekage watched the battle in intrigue, there was yet to be any major moves on either side. The Civilians, they were waiting for Naruto to show his cool Jutsus again, but to a ninja's eyes it was clear that Naruto was playing it smart and safe by first testing the capabilities of his opponent. He would be foolish to rush-in headstrong without really knowing Gaara's powers.

'I will have to see; if this brat defeats Gaara, then I will have to kill him or recruit him, maybe I can use the identity of his parents to do that. The attack may as well be delayed for a few hours' thought Orochimaru.

Arena

Gaara was getting frustrated by Naruto's lackluster attacks, he was aware that he could do much more than these petty and weak shuriken and clones. He felt the chakra in the Forest of Death, and he knew Naruto was just like him, but he had yet to display those powers of his.

He had been waiting for this moment for the past month, he had dreamed about finally fighting against someone who could give him a challenge. At first the Uchiha intrigued him but as soon as he felt the familiar chakra in the forest he knew that he had to change his target.

Gaara was done playing these trivial games, he wanted to fight Naruto demon to demon.

Naruto raised a suspicious eyebrow at Gaara, the redhead in front of him began to finally show a bit of emotion. Instead of his blank face, Gaara began to chuckle darkly, the expression and the killer intent he released even gave Naruto the chills.

'Looks like the Biju really did a number on his mind' thought Naruto.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"You know, you and I are a lot alike. We're actually the same ...inside" he said with a sinister grin on his face.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, he did not suspect that Gaara would know about that detail.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

The Suna ninja's chuckle grew only darker, "We hold the same beast, we hold the same burden" he sold rather softly for only Naruto to hear.

The crowd around them whispered among themselves, they were unsure what was going on. So far the start of the fight had been a bit of a letdown, and they couldn't necessarily hear what Naruto and Gaara were talking about, the two spoke just loud enough for each other to hear but not enough for the crowd.

Naruto stared at Gaara with a blank expression, "How many?" he asked.

The redhead chuckled and lifted a single finger, Naruto quickly took note of that and nodded. Gaara then proceeded to attack once more, this time sending a large fist made of sand towards Naruto.

The young blonde quickly made the 6 seals instead of the usual 7 for this jutsu and said "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique).

The Sand Fist collided with the Fireball and slowly turned into glass and shattered. Naruto smirked and said "Nice try, but Nine beats One."

Stands

The Civilians were cheering again as they saw Naruto and Gaara getting serious and doing cool Jutsus.

The Shinobi population was another thing, the ones who knew that technique were wondering how Naruto did it with less Hand-Seals.

The Konoha 12 were unable to move or react, they couldn't believe that this was the same Naruto they met a month ago. Many of the genin had similar thoughts crossing their minds, they were wondering what happened to the old Naruto, where he learned these new techniques, and how he got so strong suddenly. Some deduced that it was Jiraiya, but even with a Sannin how could someone get so strong in a month. The Naruto in front of them was not the same old Naruto they knew just a few weeks back. This was a whole new Naruto.

Sasuke was again in his 'How is he strong, I deserve it Mode.'

Not only Naruto did his Clan's Trademark Jutsu as strong as him, he was not at all winded and he did it with less Hand-seals.

Arena

Gaara merely grinned, "Ah this gets better I see. Nine versus One, The Kitsune versus the Tanuki" he said as a sickly smile and a bloodthirsty laugh erupted from the usually silent and stoic boy.

"Well then Nine you better not hold back, I came here for a fight and I expect a fight. Prepare yourself…or DIE" yelled Gaara as he quickly gathered a large wave of sand and sent them his opponent's way.

Naruto knew that he had to counter it or he was doomed, he made some Hand-seals and pumped Chakra to his Lungs and yelled "Suiton: Mizurappa" (Water Release: Wild Water Wave).

A large wave of water expelled from Naruto's mouth which soaked the sand, rendering it useless.

Naruto looked a little winded and thought 'Damnit, I still need to work on Suiton manipulation, it takes a lot of chakra to make water from one's own chakra.'

"Suna no Kaiwan" (Monstrous Sand Arm)

A massive replica of Shukaku's sand arm sprung forth from the ground and started swiping around the arena, Naruto was left to take a defensive stance against this attack. He had barely managed to dodge them, he ran around the arena dodging these attacks but while running away he was tactically placing explosive tags on tree stumps around the area.

Eventually though he was caught by Gaara's attack and he was held into the air, but before he could squeeze his hand Naruto escaped with yet another substitution but this time the tree stump he substituted with had an explosive tag. The hand of sand exploded destroying the jutsu.

Gaara chuckled, "Sneaky little Kitsune, now quit running and fight me" he demanded.

Naruto emerged from one of the few remaining trees in the arena, he jumped up from the tree and summoned two shadow clones, the two clones made hand-signs along with Naruto, of he landed as all three yelled

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)

"Futon: Daitoppa" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

"Raiton: Jibashi" (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)

A stream of fire encased by lightning attacked Gaara who made a shield around him which burned off within seconds and attacked Gaara.

"Quite a powerful attack you have, too bad for you my Suna no Yoroi (Armour of Sand) managed to neutralize it"

Naruto inspected his opponent and smiled lightly after his rather confident statement, "Think again" he said while pointing at his forehead.

Gaara placed his hand into his forehead and there he felt some sort of liquid, upon further inspection he realized that his right hand was soaked in a bit of blood, his eyes widened in shock but his smile grew more and more in size.

"You made me bleed, I can't believe it, twice in a month. Yet another worthy opponent" he said.

"Ryūsa Bakuryū" (Quicksand Waterfall Flow) he yelled as he unleashed yet another giant wave of sand, but unlike last time this one was much larger in scale and size.

'Fuck, I only know the Teppodama and Mizurappa, I need to think of something else.'

Naruto made a clone which did the Mizurappa and slowed the sand down to buy him time, while he bit his thumb and did the necessary Hand-signs and slammed his hands on the ground and yelled "Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

Gama appeared in the Arena and greeted "Naruto, what do you require of me?"

Naruto replied "Gama-san, please spew oil on that sand and my opponent to slow him down and prepare him for my next jutsu.

Gama nodded and did the same and dispelled.

Naruto again made Hand-signs and yelled "Katon:Ryuka no Jutsu"

Everyone watched as the massive sand tsunami and Gaara were engulfed by fire, heating the arena considerably.

As the fire died down, a voice belonging to Gaara said "This is really getting interesting now HAHAHA" Naruto's eyes widened in shock, the tone in which Gaara said that was much deeper than it should have been, he watched as soon as his opponent emerged from the area of attack but he wasn't the same Gaara as before. Instead in front of him was a downsized form of Shukaku.

The crowd gasped at the demonic form in front of the stage, they didn't know what it was but they were frightened by the powerful killer intent being released by the demonic figure.

Kage's Booth

The Kazekage scowled upon seeing Gaara's demonic form, he had hoped to watch their battle a little further but with Gaara getting pushed to the limits he had no other choice but to commence his attack prematurely. The Kazekage slyly grabbed a smoke bomb in his pocket and unleashed it into the ground.

The audience's attention quickly turned to the Kage's booth and as soon as the smoke receded they saw the Kazekage holding their beloved Hokage with a kunai to his throat, the crowd roared in anger upon the sight. Immediately after this the Kazekage jumped up with the Hokage in his arms, Jiraiya of course followed suit to protect his sensei.

The Kazekage landed onto the roof of the arena and once there the Hokage noticed four of his minions on the corners of the roof about to complete a jutsu. Unlucky for them though Jiraiya arrived at the scene just in time before a powerful barrier jutsu was placed between Jiraiya and the two Kages.

Stands

The civilians were all panicking at the sudden attack, immediately after the smoke erupting from the Kage's booth there was a flurry of explosions going off in different areas of Konoha, the civilians all tried to run away from the arena in hopes of finding safety but unfortunately for them there was someone in the crowd who unleashed a rather potent sleeping Genjutsu.

Many of the civilians fell onto the ground with an unforgiving thud as they fell to a deep slumber, the ninjas though managed to repel this attack and so they remained standing. But then all the Suna and Oto ninjas in the area began to attack the Konoha shinobi.

More and more reinforcements for Suna and Oto arrived at the scene, the Jonin and ANBU in the premises quickly acted and fought off the invading forces. The Konoha 12 however remained in one corner unsure of what to do, none of them had ever experienced something like this before.

Then out of nowhere five Oto ninjas appeared out of nowhere about to strike the genin, normally genin such as Neji and Sasuke would be able to fight these guys off but unfortunately for them they were still recovering from their fight just a while ago.

But before the Oto ninjas could strike the genin, a certain masked Jonin arrived just in time to strike down the enemies.

Sakura and Sasuke looked on in surprise at the man's sudden arrival, "Kakashi-sensei" they yelled.

With Naruto

The young blonde was utterly confused as to what was happening, one second he was fighting Gaara head to head and now Konoha seemed to be at war with both Oto and Suna.

He turned his head back to Gaara only to find that the crazed young man was running off from the arena, even though his logic told him to follow him and try to restrain him. But in the end, he couldn't just leave Konoha in the midst of such an attack, he decided to go help the rest of Konoha protect against the incoming forces and as soon as things cleared up he would go on and try to catch up on Gaara.

With Naruto being one to follow his gut instinct, he ran towards the main source of carnage within Konoha. But before running towards that direction, he had an idea, he again summoned a giant teal-coloured Toad with Twin Katanas on his back.

He looked at him and said

"Gamahiro-san, I think it's probably best if you stay here and help the Konoha ninjas fight off these invading forces" he said.

Gamahiro nodded and jumped off from the arena into the streets of Konoha, after leaving the stadium he quickly found many large snake summons roaming the city wreaking havoc.

"Why is it always the snakes?" he asked himself before jumping towards a snake nearly his size.

While this was happening, Naruto ran towards Gaara, even though he knew that his chances were slim.

With Kakashi

The masked Jonin watched as his blonde student ran after the Ichibi's Jinchuuriki, after having dispatched the men who tried to attack the genin he quickly handed them orders.

"Alright kids I know none of you are really prepared for something like this but you're now all genin of Konoha and as genin you are all required to help Konoha in this time of need. As your superior officer, I'll be giving you all specific orders which you all need to follow. Are we clear?" he explained in a stern and serious tone.

The Jonin looked at both his students first, "Sasuke, Sakura I need you two to go and follow that Gaara kid along with Naruto, and I want you two to bring Shikamaru and Shino with you" he ordered, the four nodded and quickly ran off to catch up with the two Jinchurikis.

He then turned to Team Gai, "As for you three I need you to help evacuate the people in this stadium it's dangerous right now for them to lie here half asleep from that damn jutsu. Don't worry though I'll get some ANBU to watch over you guys just in case" he said.

Then finally he looked at Ino, Choji, Kiba and Hinata, "I want you guys to do the same thing Team Gai is doing but head over to the opposite side of the stadium, I'll make sure to have ANBU guard you guys just in case" ordered Kakashi.

With Hiruzen and Jiraiya

"Kukuku looks like we're here for a wee reunion, all we're missing is Tsunade" the 'Kazekage' whispered in Hiruzen's ear.

"What are you talking about?" the Hokage yelled in anger.

Jiraiya watched unsure of what to do in the current situation, he could only watch as the Kazekage suddenly used his free hand to rip the skin off his face. The Sannin was at first disgusted at the sight but soon his eyes widened in shock upon seeing the true face of the Kazekage.

"Orochi-teme" he yelled in anger.

Hiruzen scowled upon seeing Orochimaru's face off the corner of his eye, he knew there was something oddly familiar about the Kazekage and here it is, it was his wayward student all along.

"Kukuku it's good to see you two once more it's been far too long"

While Orochimaru was speaking, Hiruzen slyly elbowed the snake Sannin in the gut while he was in the midst of speaking, Orochimaru winced and his hold on the Hokage loosened giving him a chance to escape and jump back to join Jiraiya.

Orochimaru began to chuckle, "It looks like you still have a wee bit of skill in those bones old man".

"I may not be as strong as I used to be Orochimaru but I am still powerful enough to defeat you" Hiruzen replied confidently.

"Hey now you two don't forget I'm here too, you'd be an idiot to fight us both Orochimaru. Just give up now" the perverted Sannin exclaimed.

Orochimaru then began to chuckle menacingly, he did some hand-signs and clapped his hands together and soon three coffins began to rise from the ground. Each coffin had a number placed on the top. There were three numbers all in all, they had numbers one, two and four in their kanji forms.

Hiruzen's eyes widened in disbelief and his blood ran cold as he gazed upon the forbidden jutsu his sensei created, he couldn't believe that his student knew how to perform it.

"Jiraiya we need to stop him" Hiruzen yelled as he threw some shurikens and weaved through hand seals.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique) he yelled, soon Jiraiya caught on as to what was happening, and he followed suit with his sensei.

Unfortunately, they had enough to stop the last coffin from rising from the ground, but it wasn't enough to stop the first two coffins from rising from the ground. Orochimaru's sinister laugh echoed across the rooftop as soon as the coffin opened.

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei" (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation) Orochimaru whispered.

Hiruzen was enraged and Jiraiya was lost for words, in front of them were the deceased bodies of the legendary Senju Brothers Hashirama and Tobirama, the lifeless bodies eyes opened immediately, and the figures walked out of the coffin to face the two of them.

They looked around and Hashirama said "Look, Tobirama, I told you to not make this jutsu, but no, let's not listen to Aniki (Elder Brother) you said."

"Shut up, I didn't know that someone would use it against Konoha and most of all, summon us against Konoha" replied Tobirama.

He looked around as his eyes landed on Hiruzen and said "Saru, is that you?"

Hashirama also looked at Hiruzen as he replied "Yes, sensei, it is me, it has been a long time to be honest."

Hashirama jokingly said "That I can see, it seems like we are under attack."

"Yes, sensei, it pains me to fight you but I will have to do it as the Hokage of Konoha."

"Still the Hokage, but the rock has 4 faces, what happened to the Yondaime?" asked a curious Tobirama.

To this Jiraiya replied "Nidaime-sama, 12 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, he used an Uzumaki Kinjutsu and sealed the Kyuubi at the coat of his own life, he even took your Hiraishin to another level and won us the 3rd Great Ninja War single handedly. Too bad the brat died at 24, he was a genius in his own right."

"Hmm, I myself have to say that his achievements are beyond his age. That aside, Saru, why am I not sensing any Senju Chakra signatures, not only that but there seem to be only one Uzumaki and Uchiha Chakra signature. What happened to the Senju, Uzumaki and Uchiha?" asked Tobirama

Listening to this Hashirama's face grew serious, the 3 Great Clans no more, has that much time passed already?

Hiruzen sighed and said "The Senjus died in the 1st and 2nd Wars, only your Grandniece Tsunade is alive from the Senjus. The Uchiha were massacred by one of their own and the Uzumakis were attac- no slaughtered by the combined forces of Kumo and Iwa, which led to the start of the 2nd War."

Hashirama groaned and said "No matter whichever the era, war is always there."

"I think that we have talked enough, time for you to attack them and kill them" said Orochimaru who inserted a Kunai with a seal in each of their heads and controlled them.

Jiraiya said "Sensei, give me 10-20 minutes, I can make a counter seal to Orochimaru's own."

Hiruzen nodded and went to fight his senseis while Jiraiya started to make a counter-seal to Orochimaru's seal.

With Sasuke

The group as a whole followed the trail of destruction that Gaara left, but as soon as they grew closer to Gaara's location there seemed to be a roadblock in the way.

"Stop right there"

The group looked over to the source of the voice and there they saw Temari and Kankuro standing there prepared to fight the group. Shikamaru sighed upon the sight, "Troublesome" he muttered to himself.

"Sasuke, Sakura, you two go ahead, me and Shino will handle these guys" said Shikamaru confidently.

"Are you sure Shikamaru?" Sakura asked. The lazy Nara nodded.

"Go you two we can handle this" Sakura thanked him and the two members of Team Seven were off in search of Gaara.

"Tch how noble of you little boy but this time I'm winning against you" yelled Temari.

Shino on the other hand were staring out at Kankuro, "I presume Shikamaru wants to his fight a solo one" he silently told himself

Kankuro smirked as he stared at Shino, "I wasn't able to show off my true ability a while ago but prepare yourself now bug boy it's time for me to unveil my true powers" he yelled.

With Sasuke and Sakura

The two arrived to find Gaara practically covered in his armor of sand, and just as they arrived Gaara began to emit an evil laugh.

"Finally, I was expecting to see Naruto, but oh well I guess the last Uchiha will suffice for now. Quite the treat for mother"

Sasuke stared out the Jinchuuriki with no fear whatsoever but Sakura on the other hand was easily affected by the killer intent radiating from the red-haired Suna nin.

She was forced to take a step back out of fear, Sasuke stood his ground but he was a bit too excited to fight the young Jinchuuriki. From what he's seen Gaara was quite a powerful opponent and he was excited to test his skills against this kid but with no restrictions or rules whatsoever.

Sasuke confidently jumped in to quickly fight Gaara, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" he yelled as a fireball flew towards Gaara.

Gaara immediately followed suit with "Suna no Tate" (Shield of Sand) to protect himself from the incoming fire attack.

"Sasuke-kun what are you doing?" Sakura yelled in shock.

"Don't interfere Sakura, I want to fight him myself. I can handle him" Sasuke yelled.

"You idiot we'd be better if we worked together"

"Don't Sakura, I want to do this myself and you can't even contribute much to this. I know I can do this myself. Do not interfere" he hissed in anger.

Sakura was hurt by that statement but she knew it was somewhat true, she had to stay back. Even she had to admit she would only be a burden to him right now.

"Is that all you got Uchiha? Sabaku: Hando (Desert: Hand) Gaara yelled as massive hands of sand began to surround Sasuke in hopes of crushing the young Uchiha. Sasuke scowled before releasing Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu to turn the incoming hands of sand into glass with the sheer heat of his flames. Sasuke smirked before kicking the glass hands apart.

"Suna no Kaiwan"

Another massive hand of sand emerged trying to capture Sasuke, but the Uchiha opened his Sharingan and he managed to dodge and anticipate the movement of the gigantic hands.

Then Gaara decided to take his attacks up a notch, while in his miniature Shukaku form he began to release Suna Shuriken (Sand Shuriken) towards Sasuke.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" Sasuke used as a counter.

Gaara immediately followed suit with Rendan Suna Shigure (Successive Shots Sand Drizzle) but this time Sasuke didn't have time to dodge the attacks. He was hit by a flurry of sand projectiles, he was still recovering from his fight with Gaara so the sand projectiles that hit him managed to only further his injuries.

Sasuke grimaced in pain and he clutched his bloodied torso, Gaara was running out of patience he wanted to deal with Sasuke to finally reach Naruto.

While Sasuke was injured by those shots Gaara decided to toy with his opponent for a little bit.

"Let me reintroduce you to pain, Uchiha" he said menacingly.

With Naruto

The young blonde was stopped by some Oto Shinobi but Asuma arrived as he left to search for Gaara. While in search of Gaara he stopped by a certain forest clearing and there he found a panting Shikamaru and Shino standing there looking after the unconscious bodies of Temari and Kankuro.

"What the hell happened here?" Naruto asked in shock.

Shikamaru turned back to see Naruto, "We just dealt with these two and Shino and I are done for now. Naruto, your two teammates ran up ahead in search of Gaara, go quickly. I don't know what's happened thus far but Gaara is a powerful opponent even for Sasuke" he said.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock "What direction did they go?" he asked.

Shikamaru pointed north, "I wish I could come along Naruto but me and Shino barely have any energy or chakra left and someone needs to look after these two" he said while pointing at Kankuro and Temari.

Naruto nodded in understanding, "Don't worry you two you've both done enough. Let me handle Gaara" but as soon as Naruto said that he heard a massive roar appear from a few kilometers north.

A gargantuan entity of sand rose from the ground in the shape of a Tanuki, Shikamaru and Shino looked on in fear of the being.

"What the fuck is that?" Shikamaru yelled in fear.

Naruto's heart nearly stopped, if Sasuke and Sakura were fighting him then they were in definite danger now that he's released his Bijuu.

"Dammit, I need to go now Shikamaru" he yelled as he ran as fast as he could towards the Bijuu.

With Sakura

The young pinkette screamed for dear life, Sasuke was bloodied, bruised and plain beaten and now that Gaara kid turned into this massive monster. She didn't know what to do, she knew she couldn't handle this sort of fight and her only protection was now down and out.

Gaara in his Shukaku form turned towards the bloodied and unconscious Sasuke, he used his gigantic hand to grab the boy. He could have easily killed him and crushed him there but he chose to place him in a nearby tree where he had a massive cluster of sand surrounding him.

Then he turned his attention to the young pinkette in the vicinity, "Don't think I forgot about you now. I'm saving the Uchiha for later but for now I guess I may as well just kill you" he said while chuckling.

Gaara raised his massive hand of sand and was about to swipe away at the tree Sakura stood on, the pinkette watched as her life was about to be taken away from her. Tears fell from her face, at this point of time she just accepted her inevitable death. It was coming and there was nothing she could do about it. But just before the hand swept at her she closed her eyes instinctively.

Death seemed inevitable at this point, but just a few milliseconds before the gigantic hand of sand managed to decimate the area she stood on. He was running a wee bit late, he arrived only to see Gaara on the verge of killing Sakura, he pumped as much chakra to his legs and he ran as fast as he could. Luckily he managed to reach Sakura just in the nick of time, carrying her away from the danger, and jumping off to the top of a nearby tree.

Naruto carried the unsuspecting Sakura in a bridal style, he glanced back from the corner of his eye to stare at Gaara. Naruto was beyond angry, had he been a little bit later he was certain the girl he loved would have died.

Sakura opened her teary eyes in shock to find Naruto carrying her, a small blush adorned her cheeks but overall, she was just happy to see Naruto. Recently she had been a bit scared of Naruto with the events transpiring in the Forest of Death, she was still frightened by Naruto but seeing him made her feel a sense of relief seeing as how he did just save her life.

Naruto turned back to face Sakura, he gave her a soft smile to try and calm her down.

"Sorry I was late, are you alright Sakura-chan?" he asked.

Sakura nodded shakily, "Yeah I think I'm alright, arigato Naruto" she replied.

Naruto nodded before allowing her to stand again, "Where's Sasuke?" he asked fearfully.

Sakura bit her bottom lip before pointing at the cluster of sand stuck into the side of a tree. Naruto saw this and nodded, "I see" he replied.

Gaara chuckled, "Well I'm glad you finally made it, I left your friend Uchiha on the wall over there as a precaution. If you want him to be set free, you'll first have to defeat me, but you only have an hour to do so. If we pass an hour, then I will crush him with my sands" he yelled.

"You're a sick bastard I'll make you pay for this, I will not let you get away with this"

Naruto then turned back to the pinkette, "Sakura-chan I suggest you step back for now and watch from afar. Let me deal with him myself" he said confidently.

Sakura nodded before jumping back away from the fight, but before heading back she turned back to Naruto.

"I'm sorry if I've been avoiding you Naruto, but thank you so much" she said.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock while his cheeks reddened considerably, "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, I will always be here when you need me." he replied.

The young blonde then turned back to Gaara with a serious expression, it looked rather heroic. Naruto stared out at his opponent, his trenchcoat flapping in the wind, Naruto was like the spitting image of his own father when he saved Kushina from the Kyuubi. History had a way of repeating itself sometimes.

"Prepare yourself Gaara, as the future Hokage of Konoha I will not let you harm Konoha further. I will stop you right here right now".

Naruto despite saying that, was tired and felt that he did not have enough chakra to summon Gamabunta, he never carried Soldier Pills with him, he did not know how to do anything now. Suddenly, he started to collapse, the strain of fighting Neji and Gaara caught up with him, he got ready for the impact, but it never came.

Mindscape

Naruto found himself in a dimly lit sewer, he found a force calling him, he decided to go towards that, he soon found himself in front of a massive cage with a Kanji for seal (封印) in the middle.

He looked confused and was about to turn and go away when a growl reached his ears, he looked at the cage again and saw a massive Nine-Tailed Fox or the Kyuubi no Yoko in its full glory, the fox said to create massive tsunamis and destroy mountains with just a swipe of its tail.

"So we finally meet you pathetic ningen (human)" growled the fox.

Naruto just stood there, slightly affected by Kyuubi's presence and yelled "Yes, you damn kitsune, what do you want?"

Kyuubi growled and released a bit of its killing intent and the effect was instantaneous, Naruto was on his knees, finding it a little hard to breathe, sheesh, the Kyuubi really was no joke.

He then suddenly had an idea, he stood up and yelled "You damn fox, give me some of your chakra, I need it to win my fight with Gaara."

Kyuubi laughed and replied "Why should I even consider this you brat?"

Naruto thought to convince Kyuubi but suddenly had an idea and smirked, the smirk that he had while pranking or taking revenge, it sent a shiver down even Kyuubi's spine but he ignored it.

Naruto then said "Oh well, and here I thought that the world will see how the Kyuubi Jinchuriki is stronger that the Ichibi one, but it seems like that people will think that the Ichibi defeated the mighty Kyuubi."

Kyuubi growled, the brat got him good, just like his father and … that … that damned Uchiha, he had no option but to comply with him or risk being compared to that damn Tanuki Shukaku.

He said "I will comply this time because, I don't want to be compared to that damn Tanuki, but remember, I will someday get out of here and devour you and any Uchiha out there"

Naruto ignored the threat but thought about the Uchiha part, something must have happened to make Kyuubi hate the Uchihas.

Orange-red Chakra suddenly seeped through the seal and made its way towards Naruto who was thrown out of his mind by the Kyuubi.

Real World

Just as Naruto was about to hit his face onto the branch, he suddenly stopped using his hands and stood up, soon red chakra became visible around him and started to swirl, Gaara upon seeing this got more excited and grinned maniacally.

Naruto felt his reserves filling back up and Kyuubi's Chakra flowing through his coils. He bit his Thumb, did the hand-signs and yelled "Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

Gamabunta looked at his surroundings wondering what exactly was happening, "What's going on here Naruto? Why'd you summon me now?" Gamabunta roared in annoyance.

Before Naruto could reply Gaara screamed a mighty roar grabbing Gamabunta's attention. Gamabunta's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Gaara in his Ichibi form.

"Forget what I just said brat, it's been a while since I had a good fight" the toad chief claimed with a cocky grin. Naruto nodded before bracing himself while on the top of Gamabunta's gigantic head. He crossed his arms as he stared down his opponent.

"Looks like things finally got serious" said Gaara. "In that case I have no other choice."

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu" (Feigning Sleep Technique)

Naruto and Gamabunta watched curiously as the strange boy began to sleep in broad daylight. The two were surprised by this choice. But then a dark and sinister laugh emerged from the figure in front of them, it was a laugh much different from Gaara's. It was much deeper and far more menacing.

"I'm Free" yelled the Tanuki figure "That brat finally let me free. All of you prepare to die, nothing will stop me now"

Naruto's eyes widened upon realization of what had just happened. Gaara had allowed the Ichibi full control to defeat him. Gamabunta realized the same thing and glanced at his summoner.

"Are you ready brat? This is going to be a tough fight" exclaimed Gamabunta.

Naruto stood up confident as he stared down the Ichibi. He may have been young, but he was not fearful of the danger that laid in front of him. He couldn't afford to fear him, he was tasked with protecting his friends and his home and he would stop at nothing to make sure that the Tanuki would not reach Konoha. It was a Hokage's duty to protect Konoha from any danger and as the son of a former Hokage and as a boy who dreams of one day also becoming Hokage he relished this moment. This was the time for him to prove himself, this was the time for him to show the world his true power.

"Ichibi, you will not win this fight today. I will stop you right here right now, I will protect Konoha" Naruto yelled with a fierce determination, Gamabunta could only smile as this feeling and this situation right here felt oh so familiar. It was thirteen years ago when Gamabunta helped Minato fight off the Kyuubi to protect Konoha and now here he was helping Naruto, Minato's own son, protect Konoha from a similar threat: The Ichibi.

'Like father like son' the toad chieftain fondly thought to himself 'It was an honor serving Minato and I expect remarkable things from you as well Naruto'

Gamabunta then charged at the Ichibi and slashed him with his giant sword, the Ichibi countered this by grabbing the sword with his hand. With his free hand, he attempted to punch the toad only for Naruto to throw a kunai with an explosive tag to destroy the arm momentarily until the sand that was blown off returned to the creature. The two large beings then clashed with their remaining arms and they wrestled in a battle of strength.

While in this close standoffish situation Gamabunta decided to use a sneaky attack to render his opponent momentarily. While both hands were busy fending off their opponent's own, the toad managed to knead a large bullet of water and send it crashing into the Ichibi's torse.

"Suiton: Teppōdama"

The Ichibi was sent back and he had to nurse his damaged stomach, while in this state Gamabunta jumped up into the sky preparing to attack the creature with his weapon.

"Gamadosuzan" (Toad Sword Beheading)

The toad managed to cut the creature in half separating the lower body from the upper body with the waist as the divider,as both halves unceremoniously fell to the ground. Gamabunta sheathed his weapon before smiling confidently it appeared the battle was over. Naruto sighed in relief but just before he was about to congratulate his toad companion the menacing chuckle returned. The two turned to see the Ichibi's two halves reforming together and the two were left shocked and slightly discouraged.

"It's going to take more than that to defeat me" taunted the Bijuu.

Both Naruto and Gamabunta clenched their jaws, "Damn how are we meant to defeat this guy then" Naruto yelled in frustration before the toad once again unsheathed his sword preparing for round two with the mythical Bijuu.

Suddenly a voice came from his head "You have to wake up his container"

Naruto looked around and thought 'Kyuubi?'

He heard a growl as the Kyuubi spoke again "Who else brat; as I was saying, if you wake up the container, Shukaku's form will recede and you can't cause him any damage as he is a Sand Spirit, he will reform a soon as you do anything to him"

Naruto relayed this information to Gamabunta and they began to form a plan to wake up Gaara.

With Hiruzen

The Hokage was breathing raggedly as he fought not only Orochimaru but his senseis. Lucky for him, he had Jiraiya on his side, the perverted Sannin gave him two tags with the counter-seals and kept two for himself.

"Jiraiya I need you to keep them occupied for a while, we can end this" Hiruzen said in an authoritative tone, Jiraiya could only nod as he jumped up to attack his old teammate and the Hokages.

The battle raged on with Jiraiya doing his best to hold them down, of course it was easier said than done seeing how those three were Kage level ninjas.

Hiruzen watched on as he prepared his jutsu, he wanted to help Jiraiya but he needed to end this now. He knew of the effects of the Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei, it wasn't Orochimaru they were truly worried about, it was an immortal Shodaime and Nidaime. They could attack them all they wanted but they'd just regenerate instantly. Thankfully his sensei Senju Tobirama, the creator of said jutsu also made a failsafe in case this would be used against Konoha. It was a delicate and difficult seal to make that's why it took Jiraiya time to make it. The seal was complex to make and his sensei Tobirama based it on the Keiyaku Fūin (Contract Seal) used on summoned creatures, this seal's purpose was to remove any direct control the summoner has on any summoned creatures and with the zombies from the Edo Tensei technically being summoned creatures, Tobirama used the idea of the Keiyaku Fūin to create a countermeasure for his own jutsu the Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei.

Once the powerful seal tag was finally formed Hiruzen yelled at his wayward student, "You've disappointed me Orochimaru and for that you will have to pay. Jiraiya take care of Orochimaru, leave both to me for now" he ordered.

"I'm sorry for this sensei" Hiruzen said apologetically, they could only sigh in return.

"It is we who must apologize Hiruzen" replied Tobirama before jumping to attack the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen ducked and kicked him away a few meters.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

Enma rose from the smoke and stared down the two enemies, he gasped at the sight of the Senju Brothers but he could bare his fangs at the sight of the snake Orochimaru.

"Enma I need your help, please hold them down" ordered Hiruzen, the ape nodded before jumping towards them and engaging them in a taijutsu fight, Hiruzen jumped in as well to help overpower his senseis and of course it worked. Enma managed to land a solid punch at Tobirama before grabbing him and holding him down. Hiruzen saw this and he saw him trying to teleport somewhere else but just before he could the Sandaime Hokage used Shunshin (Body Flicker Technique) to appear just in front of him and place the tag on his chest.

Tobirama's eyes widened in shock as he felt his soul leaving his body, he smiled over at Hiruzen finally at peace and sighed in relief "You have done a great job Hiruzen, I will give your regards to your successor in the Shinigami's stomach" he said before his revived body disappeared and his soul went to the realm of the Shinigami.

How was he going to the Shinigami's belly, well it was another Uzumaki Fuinjutsu marvel which Jiraiya had thanks to Kushina. The seal send the soul of an Edo-Tensei body to the Shinigami's belly, it's only drawback is that it requires a Seal Master of Level 10 minimum to make the seal, even then, it took time to make the seal.

Hiruzen and Enma then walked over to corner Orochimaru with Jiraiya who had released Hashirama, the Snake Sannin cursed his luck now that the Hokages were gone, he was severely overpowered by his opponents.

He chuckled however in the face of these three, "Kukuku it appears I misjudged this fight, I was certain I'd come out victorious, but it goes otherwise. Unfortunately, as much as I loved this reunion I must leave" he said before releasing the barrier holding them down. But before he tried to leave the trio of Enma, Hiruzen and Jiraiya all tried to attack the spot Orochimaru stood on.

Their attacks did not connect but Jiraiya managed to insert a poison made by Tsunade into his system to make his arms useless.

He simply vanished but was screaming from the pain of the poison activating, the three cursed their luck they finally had their chance to dispose of one of Konoha's biggest threats right then and there but it was no use of course Orochimaru had an escape plan. He was probably in Ryūchi Cave with the snakes.

Hiruzen sighed before glancing at the destruction being brought up onto the village, "Jiraiya, Enma we need to protect Konoha from Suna and Oto. Now that Orochimaru is gone we must not dwell on him any further, we must focus on the other threats before us" he said before hearing a massive roar and thud on the outskirts of the village. Hiruzen and Jiraiya all examined the direction from which the sound came from and they all gasped in shock as they found a legendary fight in the distance. From what they could see Gamabunta was there and the other was a massive Tanuki made of sand, the three realized what was going on and Hiruzen clenched his fist in anger.

"Is this what you wanted, Orochimaru?" He asked no one in particular, "Jiraiya head over there I'll handle the Suna and Oto troops with Enma".

Jiraiya nodded before jumping off into the distance, he knew exactly who was fighting in that battle. There was only one other person who could summon toads other than him and it was his own student.

With Naruto

Naruto and Gamabunta were left bruised and severely exhausted from their battle with the Ichibi, they didn't expect this to be an easy fight, but it was much more difficult than they thought. During their fight, they managed to push back the Bijuu as far away from Konoha as they could, in that distance it allowed Sakura to help free Sasuke while the two were outside the reach of the battle.

But from the battle despite how much they damaged and attacked the body of the Ichibi it just continued to reform and heal seeing how it was purely made of chakra and sand. Upon seeing his struggling enemies, the Ichibi took advantage of his opponent's tired states.

"Sabaku Sōtaisō Fūin" (Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal)

Gamabunta luckily jumped away from the seal. "Gamabunta I need you to fight the Tanuki and get me as clone as you can to Gaara's body on the forehead of the Ichibi. We know how to defeat them" he said as Gamabunta nodded in understanding.

"Leave it to me kid" he said as he lunged over to the tanuki to fight him up close, as the distance between them was lowered significantly Naruto quickly jumped up into the Tanuki's head. The Ichibi tried to counter this but he needed both his arms to protect himself from Gamabunta's incoming attacks, and so he couldn't swat Naruto away.

Naruto then leaned closer but then a smaller replica of Biju's hand emerged from his stomach catching the blonde boy. The Suna no Kaiwan managed to reach Naruto just in time and the blonde cursed his luck, but just before the hand threw him away as far as it could Naruto summoned a few of his shadow clones.

The clones then carried and threw Naruto as close as they could to Gaara with their Bunshin Taiatari (Clone Body Blow), Naruto managed to land a solid punch on Gaara thus waking him up from his slumber.

Unfortunately for Naruto he was thrown over to some trees breaking them from the sheer force of impact, he coughed out blood and he winced at the pain of some of his broken bones. He knew immediately that he must have broken an arm and a few ribs, and he must have at least fractured a leg among other things.

"No, fuck no it can't be over so soon" yelled the Tanuki as Gaara began to take over for the Bijuu, the auburn-haired Jinchuuriki woke up from his slumber in annoyance he expected the battle to be over already but at the sight of Gamabunta in front of him he had no choice but to carry on where he last left off and where his Biju last left off.

"Dammit, why can't you all die already" Gaara yelled in anger as he began to summon his strength overpowering Gamabunta. The toad chief was injured severely by now and he was on his last leg losing the small battle of strength against Gaara in the Ichibi form.

Naruto from afar saw this and he gingerly stood up from his position, he was down to the last few bits of his chakra and it was now or never. This would be the final attack he would do, he was glad he managed to land a punch to Gaara because with the Ichibi out of the way, it left a confused Gaara very open to an attack.

He then breathed deeply before channeling his chakra into his legs jumping high into the sky. Gamabunta saw Naruto jump up from the ground, he grabbed his sword and held it high enough for Naruto to use it as another platform for yet another chakra enhanced jump. Naruto now inching closer and closer to the auburn haired Jinchuuriki.

He punched Gaara with a great force on his head and it seemed to do the trick.

Gaara then roared in utter pain and the sand surrounding him began to vanish quickly, and the two fell to the ground unceremoniously with a loud thud further increasing their injuries. The two began to cough out blood and they winced in utter pain.

"I lost" Gaara muttered to himself in disbelief before turning his head over to Naruto, "I lost now kill me. End my pain and misery kill me" he pleaded to Naruto.

Naruto turned to him in surprise and sympathy, had things been differently this would have been him but he was lucky that he had a few friends that strayed him from that dark road. He looked on at Gaara sadly he knew how difficult it was to be lonely, to be looked upon as a monster, being treated like a demon even when he was just the container.

"I know that feeling, as a fellow Jinchuuriki trust me when I say that there have been times where I too just wanted to die. But I will not kill you"

"Why won't you kill me? I am begging you to end my suffering. Aren't you mad at me? I almost killed your two teammates if given the chance I would destroy your village and kill you in the process?"

Naruto chuckled softly, "I won't because I can sympathize with you, if things had gone differently between us, I could be in the same situation as you, with you being in the same situation as I am right now. I understand your struggle and even with what's happening I forgive you, you're a product of the hatred in the world and I want to help free you from this burden. From this day forth Gaara we'll be friends" he said with an idealistic gleam in his eyes.

"Friends?" muttered the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, this was such a foreign term to him.

Naruto nodded as he continued to stare up into the sky, "Yes we're friends now, and the next time we fight it shall be as Kages" he said proudly.

Gaara turned to him in disbelief, "Are you a fool? Me as Kazekage you're spouting nonsense" he seethed.

"Could be nonsense but then again nothing is impossible, maybe you can prove yourself to the village and rise up from the title they give us as Jinchuuriki and protect the village as a Kage instead"

Gaara turned to Naruto as he studied the grinning blonde, "You're a strange one Uzumaki Naruto" he claimed softly.

Naruto chuckled before turning to face Gaara, "You may be a crazy, lunatic bastard but I guess you may not be too bad a friend" he said.

Gaara then for the first time in a long time showed an expression, the corners of his mouth twitched into a small smile, "Friends, what an odd feeling" he muttered before sleep soon caught up to the two.

Soon Kankuro and Temari arrived hobbling, they gathered their brother and left for Konoha leaving Naruto to lay on the ground, but luckily for him Sakura soon arrived with Sasuke in tow and Jiraiya managed to arrive not much longer. Gamabunta explained the situation and what happened to them and both Sakura and Jiraiya couldn't believe what had just happened. Jiraiya carried Naruto and he summoned a toad to help carry Sasuke.

Jiraiya glanced at his student with pride, to defeat the Ichibi in such a way maybe just maybe Naruto really can surpass his father. If anyone could he would be able to.

Sakura also turned to look at the unconscious Naruto being carried on the Sannin's back, the boy continued to surprise her and this was the biggest surprise of all. She must have truly misjudged Naruto, things had been iffy with them as of late but then again when it mattered, he was there to protect her from anything and only then did she come to fully realize the recklessness of Naruto's chivalry. He had just fought a Bijuu not only to protect Konoha but to protect her, he truly went the extra mile to make sure she was safe, hell he fought Orochimaru as well just to protect her.

Maybe Naruto wasn't as bad as she thought, maybe he really might just be the Hokage one day. One thing was for sure, he really turned Sakura into a believer today.

A/N: Next update is for Rokudaime Story, get ready, things are going to be spicy in that story.