Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

His boy.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, felt nothing but pride as he watched Naruto fight battle after battle. The way he defeated Neji had filled him with a grandfatherly pride, since he personally knew that the battle had been deeply emotional for Naruto. It had been a battle fought for the honor of somebody other than Naruto himself, a battle that Naruto had taken on without anyone asking him to do it.

Then against Shino, Naruto had showed an utmost amount of faith in his comrades, his fellow leaf ninja. He knew Shino was a sneaky cheater who wasn't above bugging his enemies before the fight, but Naruto allowed the two of them to shake hands anyway. He showed faith in his fellow man, a trait that most people in Naruto's emotional situation wouldn't be willing to show.

Then, against Temari, Naruto showed that he was able to outsmart even opponents who vastly outclassed him in intelligence. Naruto was unpredictable and could act foolish, but underneath that exterior he was a fighter with keen instincts for battle that most people didn't have. It was a trait that you weren't born with, it was a trait that you gained from life experience and knowing how human minds thought.

'My boy, I will make sure you become a Chunin after this... even from here I can listen to the whispers of the people who are changing their minds about you.' Hiruzen had spent Naruto's entire life watching over him from a distance. 'It's a shame... I still can't stand the fact that Danzo let your secret slip... I should have been honest with you about this all much sooner.' Hiruzen thought as he looked at Naruto leaving the field for the third time in a row.

"Lets hope that Sasuke and Gaara will be as fun of a match to watch."

"Kazekage, after Naruto has been forced to fight multiple opponents, I can't say it would be fair to him if we allowed Sasuke to fight his match against Gaara." Hiruzen had been talked into delaying Sasuke's match against Gaara so that the boy could arrive, but Sasuke and Kakashi had been doing last minute training and lost track of time. They wouldn't arrive for a little longer, and the fact is that they were already very late. Late enough that several matches had already happened in a short amount of time at the very least.

To be fair though, Naruto's match against Shino and Temari had not been super long, and there had been a lot of forfeits.

"Many people will be disappointed, myself included. A lot only came to watch that match." The Kazekage spoke with his eyes showing that he was smiling, attempting to talk Hiruzen into once more allowing them to delay Sasuke's match just a small amount longer.

Hiruzen did think about it.

He himself was also curious about how the match would go, but after watching Naruto fighting so hard, he couldn't find it in himself to be that unfair to Naruto. He had already forced Naruto to fight many matches side by side with little rest, it would be worse if he allowed all of that to happen, and then showed better treatment for Sasuke.

"Disqualify Sasuke Uchiha, he can try again at the next Chunin Exams." Hiruzen also felt bad for Sasuke. Sasuke trained hard for his fight, but sadly things weren't going to play out the way that everyone would like. "I'm sure the match between Naruto and Gaara will be just as interesting for people to watch." Hiruzen felt irritation coming from the Kage next to him.

The man leaned forward and let out an audible sigh.

"Ah, yes... I suppose you do have a point. Yes, I'm quite curious, I expected this Naruto boy to lose in the first round... but he's shown quite the improvement from what I was told about him previously." The Kazekage ended up relenting. He sent a small hand sign to one of the guards next to him.

Orochimaru.

'Yes... I can see small changes in his hair, and something is off about his eye and hand... yes... something interesting has happened to the boy.' Orochimaru, pretending to be the Kazekage, thought as he looked down into the arena with a smile under his mask. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the boy was plainly different than when he met him in the Forest of Death. The boy was willingly using the Kyuubi's chakra, and activating a unique bloodline or technique that allowed him to pull things out of storage without the need for Storage Scrolls.

Something very interesting had happened, enough for him to call off what he had been planning. His desire to destroy the village could wait until after he had witnessed whatever was going on. After all, destroying the leaf village was only something he cared about doing so that he could change the system for his own amusement. He could feel the winds of change already happening, as if destiny itself had already been changed.

That wasn't to say he was going to cancel all of his plans.

-In the Audience-

"Naruto defeated Neji!?"

"Yeah, and he beat Temari. He avenged me, and proved that failures can defeat geniuses. Pretty cool, right?" Tenten stated when she explained what had happened so far to Rock Lee when he used his crutches to get into the seat next to her. She was happy to give a play by play for her teammate.

Lee just looked at the currently empty arena with shocked awe, he wasn't smiling at what had happened. He had been like everyone else, he had expected Naruto to loose as well. When he met Naruto, he had stated he had no interest in fighting him.

He had been arrogant as well.

Of course, he did later change his opinion of Naruto when he saw the boy fight Kiba and win.

"That's... way to go Naruto." Lee just smiled after a moment. He couldn't think of anything to say that couldn't wait until he met up with Naruto personally. He was proud that a failure like himself had defeated Neji, and that alone made him feel proud. It was proof of what he had been dreaming to prove to Neji. 'Still... now that Naruto has done it, I've got to defeat Neji too... I need to prove that I can...' Lee looked at is bandaged arm and leg, before a saddened look came over his face.

Then he smiled a smile tainted by self-pity, before he slapped his own face.

"Lee?"

"Next time I see Naruto, I'm going to tell him thank you." Lee needed to do at least that much.

"Uchiha Sasuke has been disqualified, the next match will take place after a short break!"

"What?!"

-Secret Location-

"What do you mean the invasion is cancelled?"

"Konoha spies have rooted out the locations of our men, and are sending elite forces to take them out. Our plans have failed." A Sand Jonin whispered to several of the men who he was working with, preparing for an invasion that was now halted. He had just been given the orders to retreat, and send the word to the rest of the troups in hiding to retreat as well.

The enemy knew about the invasion, and was preparing for a large counter attack. They had no chances of winning, and they would lose many good ninja if they continued with the invasion as it were.

"Who cancelled it?"

"The Kazekage and Orochimaru both gave the order to cancel. We can't disobey."

-Back at the Stadium-

"Oh, you're ordering a break?" Orochimaru asked Hiruzen.

"Not to give Naruto a break, but to allow the audience to take a small bathroom break. I know that boy, he doesn't need a break for his stamina." Hiruzen did do it to give Naruto a break from fighting, and make a strategy against Gaara, but he knew he would get questioned about it. This was the most that he could do for Naruto in his current situation without making it seem like he was playing favorites.

Jiraiya appeared next to Hiruzen and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Jiraiya tapped on his shoulder.

"Hello Kazekage, I just wanted to get a good view of this next match." Jiraiya apologized as he continued to tap on Hiruzen's shoulder.

'The hidden enemies are retreating without attacking... so the invasion was cancelled... or delayed?' Hiruzen got the message that Jiraiya was sending him. Jiraiya had already uncovered the hidden threats attacking the village, part of the reason why he was back in the village in the first place... that and for Naruto's sake. He glanced back at Jiraiya, who was grinning at him.

"So how is my brat doing, I missed the other matches."

"Naruto is doing well."

"That's a surprise, all I taught him how to do was summon... and another thing." Jiraiya didn't mention the other thing he taught Naruto how to do, but honestly he didn't expect Naruto to win. He hoped Naruto would win, but he felt proud all the same. "I expected he only had a 30% chance of winning at most." Jiraiya did believe Naruto could win, he just didn't expect it to happen. His opponent was the genius of the Hyuga clan for a reason after all.

"The next match is against Gaara, so I say-"

"Oh, then Naruto's going to win this one for sure." Jiraiya stated, completely sure of that outcome. "After all, I doubt the Kyuubi will be willing to let it's host lose to the Shukaku's host. Kyuubi vs Ichibi when both hosts can draw out the power of the Tailed Beasts is simple math... among other things." Jiraiya stated with a grin.

Hiruzen glared at Jiraiya, before he glanced over at the Kazekage.

Who seemed completely unsurprised by the revelation of information, which means he already knew the secret as well.

"Oh?"

"Yes, Gaara was the opponent that Naruto was most worried about after all. He doesn't have a plan, but he does have something he can do... it will be interesting to see if he has the guts to go through with it though." Jiraiya knew of the few weapons that Naruto learned to summon, and one of them Naruto learned to summon completely for the purpose of what he could need if he came to blows with Gaara. 'Lets see what you do with the knowledge I gave you Naruto.' Jiraiya thought, since before coming here, he had paid a little visit to Naruto.

-With Naruto-

"You'll be fine Naruto, you'll be just fine."

"... I'm super nervous right now... that dude isn't just a monster fighter, he's just a monster. When he beat Bushy Brows, he didn't stop there, he tried to kill him... for fun." Naruto's hands were shaking with how nervous he was. He was isolating himself from everyone else by sitting alone on the stairs. Gaara was the only opponent that he had been truly worried about, since Jiraiya had supplied him with same rather disturbing news just minutes ago.

For a price.

The rest of what was in Naruto's wallet for example had been the price that the information came at, but that price was more than worth paying.

"Jinchuriki-"

"Don't say that word."

...

"I don't like it... I might have just heard it minutes ago... but I don't like it." Naruto hated that word already and the way that it implied he was less than a person. He learned that both he and Gaara had Tailed Beasts inside of them, sealed when they were just babies. "Gaara is the same as me... we both have monsters in our bellies. We've both suffered isolation, hatred, and loneliness... Gaara is just... scary." Naruto felt his hands shaking.

He was nervous and angry.

"Watch out, it's... him again."
"Why don't you just go away, go away you freak!"

"Scary... because you and him..."

"Scary, because Gaara is what I could have become... he's the person I would be if I never found somebody precious to me. He understands my pain better than anyone, the hell that is being alone. Only... Gaara is still trapped in that dark, that lonely place." Naruto felt such conflicting emotions towards Gaara.

"You don't need to be afraid of him with me here."

"Don't help me during this fight... this fight isn't just a fight anymore. I need-"

"Then I'm going to help you, because no matter what you say, we're in this together now. You and I are in this together, in all things." Erza wasn't going to abandon Naruto even if he didn't want her powers or help during the fight. "So... what is your plan?" Erza asked with a smile across her lips.

Naruto took a deep breath.

"I'm going to save Gaara from that dark hell he's in."

Chapter End!
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