A/N: Woo! I'm officially starting college so the chapters MIGHT come a bit slower so please bear with me!
Total panic ensued in the Leaf Village. Civilians rushed inside the protective shelter, but not by their own free will… it's because they had to. Their homes were no longer safe, massive destruction could come upon their village. But hopefully their beloved Hokage won't let that happen.
It was hard going into that dark, isolated shelter… the reason being not just that it means disaster in their home and the need for protection and reduced casualties but also because the last and the first time these people went into this shelter was thirteen years ago… when the Nine Tailed Fox attacked. It was painful to be reminded of that day again. Just like back then, the sobbing kids gripped their parents tightly… the parents who used to be the kids. No one knew what was to come. Will they see their houses again? Or will it all be destroyed?
The people who would witness the chaos first hand were the ones who were outside the shelter, all the shinobi of the village… including the genin. But not all the genin were inside the village. Naruto and Hinata headed towards the infuriated Gaara who was chasing Sasuke for revenge. Back at the stadium as people began fleeing the scene Sasuke knew that this could mean a lot of damage to the village so he let Gaara on a goose chase to get him outside the village.
Naruto and Hinata jumped over tree branches hoping to catch up to Sasuke as they could hear Gaara's growl from the distance. Not long after they were stopped by Temari and Kankuro.
"You're not going anywhere, brats." Kankuro smirked.
"What do you want?! That bastard is after out teammate, we've got to help him!" Naruto yelled.
"Well, that 'bastard' is our teammate and brother so we are helping him!" Temari fired back.
"Go."
Naruto turned towards his girlfriend in shock. "What?! What do you mean go?! I'm not g-"
"Just go! Help Sasuke, I can handle them, please believe in me." Hinata got in her stance and activated her byakugan.
"But…" Naruto looked at her in worry but seeing the confidence in her eyes he exhaled and shook his head. "Ok, I believe in you… but be careful."
"I will, go."
With that Naruto dodged behind Temari and Kankuro and sprinted towards his teammate.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Temari turned towards the fleeing blonde.
"Temari, go after him, I can handle the little brat." Kankuro set down his Crow after Temari nodded and headed after Naruto.
"You don't know what you just got into, little girl. I forfeited my match so you haven't seen anything yet."
"I might be a little girl… but you are the one playing with a doll." Needles to say, Hinata was just as shocked as he was at what just came out of her mouth. She was definitely not the one to backfire but her boyfriend was so he was definitely rubbing off on her. His courage was definitely one of the things that she absorbed from him because she was ready to prove herself against the puppet master.
Naruto skipped branches with Temari chasing after him, she yelled insults at him hoping to get him to stop and face her but Naruto ignored the insults and just kept going. Temari pulled her fan out getting ready to attack but they were both stopped dead in their track after the heard a menacing growl.
"Gaara, no!" Temari yelled at her teammate who suddenly appeared in front of them, swiping his giant sand claw at Sasuke who swiftly dodged it. Half of his body and face were submerged in sand. It didn't seem like it was just covering his skin, it was like it's blending into it.
Temari pressed her back against the large tree, she froze at the wave of the unwanted, evil chakra.
"Need some help?" Naruto spoke to Sasuke but didn't let his eyes off of Gaara.
"No, I started this match and I will finish it."
"The chunin exams are over, Sasuke. This is even more dangerous. Not even I am getting cocky at this point. This guy's no joke."
Gaara grabbed his head and convulsed in pain as the sand tail became larger and the purple veins became wider.
"Where's the last member of their team? The puppet guy?" Sasuke also didn't let his glare leave his opponent.
"He's further back in the woods… Hinata's taking care of him."
Sasuke's eyes widened. There's no way she'll have a chance against that guy… then again, he did forfeit. But still, that might not be a good thing.
Naruto's glare softened with concern. She's strong, he knows she can do it, but does she have enough willpower to do it? He's musings about his girlfriend were cut short by Sasuke yelling.
"Watch out!"
Naruto blinked to get himself back to reality but not soon enough as the giant sand fist struck him in the gut and sent him flying before he landed on some leafy branches. He groaned and sat up rubbing his abdomen.
"Don't let your guard down, bonehead!" Sasuke dodged Gaara' s tail again. "He saw my chidori but I can see his moves too." He tried using his sharingan but the excitement of the moment made him forget that he might not be able to control the mark again and he squeezed his neck and screamed out in pain before he collapsed onto the large tree branch behind Naruto, moaning in pain.
"Sasuke!" Naruto's eyes went from his teammate to the sand wielder. "Damn it!"
Kankuro panted and groaned in frustration. After countless times of trying to get to her with Crow and turning his puppet into himself nothing seemed to be able to escape her eyes. "Shit, she can see my chakra strings! I've got to think of something quick!"
"You can lunge your puppet at me again but all you will end up doing is making me break it into pieces. I know you do not want that, so just give up and let me go help my friends." Hinata spoke sharply. Without blinking, her eyes never left her opponent. "You witnessed my fight against Neji, you know what the byakugan can do to the human body… just imagine what I could do to wood."
Hinata didn't actually know where these confident words came from but it seemed to be working as Kankuro got back onto his feet and walked over to his puppet which was sprawled out on the ground. "You are going to have to get an update, Crow… if she can beat me… imma need to make you into a merciless weapon."
But when he looked up again… Hinata was gone.
"What now?" Naruto stared at the cackling Gaara. Suddenly his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, that's it! This is going to take up a lot of chakra but…"
He formed a few hand signs and planted his hand against the tree branch he was standing on. "Summoning jutsu!"
After the small amount of chakra cleared in its place was a small orange frog with a blue vest. "S'up?"
"Huh? Who the heck are you? Where's Chief Toad?"
"I'm Gamakichi. He wasn't gonna come out of such a small about of chakra." He got interrupted by a growl. Looking in the direction it came from he yelled in surprise. "Gaah! What the heck is that thing?!"
"Grrr! I don't have time for this, I need Chief Toad to help me with this guy!"
"Sorry blondie but that ain't gonna happen. There's no way you could summon him." Gamakitchi shook his head.
"I already have, OK?!"
"What, no way! You sure don't look like it."
"Would you shut up!"
"Pay attention, you moron!" Sasuke yelled out.
Naruto snapped towards Gaara only not to meet his soulless gaze but two yellow eyes and a menacing grin as Gaara's legs were the only part of his body that was not covered in sand.
Gaara growled revealing his sharp sandy teeth and swiped his claw at incredible speed towards Naruto, but just before the claw could grab onto him…
"NO!"
Came a third familiar voice and Naruto's vision was blocked by the light blue color of Hinata's top as she pushed him away from the claw which incased her instead.
"HINATA, NO!" His heart stopped as she screamed getting squeezed by the gritty claw. Gaara laughed as he raised her higher up and squeezed even tighter making her scream out in pain. That scream had never been heard before and Naruto hoped that he would never have to hear it as he had promised to protect her no matter what. But now she was hurt and he had no clue what to do. He yelled out to Gaara to let her go and latched onto the continuously growing claw and tried to pry his girlfriend out of its grip. With all of his force the sand barely even flaked so he tried hitting it, punching, scratching, pulling, tugging… he was lost… he had been in this situation before, trying to rescue a friend from an enemy and he could always think straight and have a plan of attack. But now, he couldn't think… Hinata wasn't like all the other people he had protected, she was special… she was his world.
He panted, desperately digging his bloody fingertips into the sand. "Why?" He croaked out not expecting an answer, but like a rusty gear Hinata's head turned to face him.
"B-because… I…I l-love y-you, Na…N-Na-ru-to…"
His mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out.
"Chidori!" Sasuke's fist slammed into the wrist of the claw but the crater it left quickly filled out with the sand again. "Damn it! Naruto, do something you bonehead! I'll keep him busy!"
Naruto breathed heavily looking at his rival but his eyes snapped back towards his female teammate as another piercing scream left her throat. "HINATA!" He screamed out. His voice was high pitched and showed his fear.
Hinata's tears dripped onto the sand and Naruto pulled and punched harder but nothing could have prepared him for what he heard right before she had screamed again. That sickening, quiet but so terrifying sound… of breaking bones.
Any noise that Hinata made died down as her eyes closed and her head dropped forward suggesting that she had lost consciousness.
Gaara laughed again as Naruto released his grip on the claw but silence ensued after a wave of a wicked chakra passed through the air. Naruto's light blue eyes turned into a bright red, his pupils changed into slits, his hair ruffled, his nails grew into claws, his whiskers thickened and his already large canines became even more pronounced.
At the speed of light he disappeared from his spot next to Hinata and appeared next to Gaara giving him his most powerful punch yet. As gaara was sent flying the claw opened releasing a limp Hinata out of her sandy cage. Sasuke reacted quickly and managed to catch Hinata into his arms and put her safely on a thick branch. He turned to the shivering Gamakichi. "Don't let her out of your sight."
"You got it!" The toad replied not confidently at all as Sasuke jumped in the direction towards the two Jinchuurikis. When he got there he saw Gaara in a crater of dirt and sand and an enraged Naruto going in for a punch. But instead of a punch his fist opened and his fingers wrapped around Gaara's neck.
"How dare you do that to her?! You're going to pay!" He growled with a much deeper voice.
"No, Naruto Uzumaki…" Gaara spoke seemingly unfazed by basically being strangled. "You will be the one who will pay." And with that the sand gathered up and swallowed Gaara's body whole. Naruto quickly retrieved his arm before the sand started to crawl up his wrist. The mountain of sand quickly became bigger making both Naruto and Sasuke back away from it. "Where's Hinata?" Naruto demanded now with his normal voice.
"With Gamakichi, don't worry. Our only concern right now is that."
Naruto turned towards what Sasuke was pointing at to see a giant figure the sand formed into. With large claws and a long tail, a large body and a half of the unconscious Gaara hanging out of its forehead. All of a sudden the creatures eyes sparkled a bright yellow and it yelled out in joy. "Woohoo! I'm finally free!" He pumped his giant fists in the air.
"How do we beat that thing?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto looked up suddenly and ran back in the opposite direction towards the trees. "Where are you going, idiot?" Sasuke followed him up the trees until they got to Hinata and Gamakichi.
"How is she?" Naruto asked.
"She's breathing but she's still out. On top of that…" Gamakichi pointed towards Hinata's purple lower leg. "Looks like it's broken." He jumped on top of Naruto's head who brushed his fingers over the large angry bruise. "She your girlfriend or somethin'?"
"Yeah." Naruto replied brushing her bangs off of her face.
"Really?" Gamakichi asked but was interrupted by Sasuke. "Hey!"
"Stay with her." Naruto said not even looking at him.
"What? I can just let y-"
"Just stay with her!" Naruto yelled turning to face him, his eyes turning red again.
Sasuke sighed and Naruto wordlessly jumped back towards the celebrating creature.
"Ah, it feels so good to be out!" The creature was still shouting and cackling.
"What the heck is that?" Gamakichi yelled. "Whatcha gonna do now, kid?"
Naruto took a deep breath and bit his thumb. "Please work." Making a few hand signs he roared. "Summoning jutsu!" but this time he felt himself rise from the ground as a great amount of smoke surrounded the area. When the smoke cleared the great Chief Toad came to be. Sasuke's jaw dropped. "How did he…?"
Gamabunta blew smoke out of his pipe and looked at the giant in front of him.
"Shukaku?"
"Wow, you actually did it, blondie!"
"Gamakichi, what are you doing here?"
"Just hangin' around."
"Hey, chief… you know this guy?"
"Yes, that's Shukaku the one tailed beast."
"The… what?" Naruto blinked in shock. "Like me… he's just… like me."
Anyway pops, that big sand thing was pickin' on me."
"Pops?" Naruto blinked.
"Was it now?" Gamabunta's eyes narrowed."Well Uzumaki, I guess it's your lucky day, you are getting me in for a fight." He gripped the handle of his dagger.
"Alright! Then let's take this guy down, believe it!"
"Huh?" Shukaku frowned. "No way you re shovin' me back in, you old frog."
"Why you!" Gamabunta jumped towards him and got his dagger buried deep into his shoulder. He turned the blade and pulled it up swiftly ripping off Shukaku's arm. The arm fell into the clearing and crumbled into a pile of sand and the dagger flew across the clearing impaling the ground.
"No! Aw man, my arm!"
"So how do we get him?" Naruto frowned.
"That person on top of his head… is that his jailor?"
"Yeah, Gaara."
"He has, so to speak, fallen asleep awakening his prisoner. All we have to do to put the demon back where it belongs is to wake him up."
"How do we do that?"
"One good whack on the head should do the trick, but for that we need to get closer to him so hold on tight." He warned before going in for another punch. As he got close enough he tried to hold onto Shukaku but failed finding that he couldn't get a good enough grip onto him.
"Damn it." He skidded away.
"What now?" Naruto blinked.
"I can't get a hold onto him and I can't reach my weapon now, you have to transform me into something with fangs and claws!" He yelled dodging Shukaku's sand bombs.
"Woah, hold on a second!" Naruto tried to maintain his balance.
"Think quick, kid. I won't last much longer!"
"Ok, ok, alright! Uuhhh… fangs and claws, fangs and claws, fangs and claws… got it! Transform!"
A thick cloud of smoke covered the area and a menacing growl came from the smoke. The nine tails swirled in the air as the orange fur was now apparent along with a mouthful of sharp teeth. The now transformed Gamabunta ran towards Shukaku and dug his claws into his sandy flesh as well as biting his remaining arm. Shukaku yelled out trying to release himself but wasn't able to after the tails wrapped around him. Naruto ran down the fox's head and prepared to hit Gaara but as soon as he stepped onto Shukaku the sand started to wrap itself around his limbs stopping his just as he got in front of Gaara.
"No! I can't… I won't… give up… ever!" An image of Hinata's pale face flashed in front of his eyes as they closed shut and his forehead made contact with Gaara's in a strong punch. Gaara's eyes snapped open and Shukaku screamed.
"Noooo! I just got free! Aaarrrgghhh!" His eyes lost the yellow spark and the purple veins on his body turned brown as he slowly crumbled away onto the ground.
The creature and the exhausted Gamabunta were now gone which meant that there was no support for the two jailors as they both flew towards the ground but just before they made contact with the dirt Gaara got caught by Temari's fan and Naruto got caught by… Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto whispered, his eyes half closed.
"How...?"
Naruto slowly turned towards the source of the voice.
"How are you so strong?" Gaara mumbled out. The blood from the blow dripped down his nose. "I don't understand... I made myself a deadly weapon... I lived only for myself and protected no one. I had no one get in my way. My concern was only towards myself and yet you still beat me... How...?"
Naruto's eyes met his. "You know... you and I are a lot alike... more than you know..." Gaara blinked but stayed silent. "The darkness... the pain of being alone... the pain of being hated by everyone... It's horible... I know how you feel cuz that's how I've felt my whole life... we're the same..."
"You've got a demon within you as well?" Gaara finally spoke.
"Yeah, and mine is even worse than yours." Naruto continued. "And yet, unlike you I hadn't given up hope of being happy. I kept trying, I never gave up and I did it... I found friends, I'm not alone anyomore, I'm not sad anymore. If you worry only about yourself your strength defeats purpose. To protect the people around you, the ones who care about you even the ones tht don't... to give your life for them... that's what true strength is."
"Protecting other people? Is that how you got so strong Naruto Uzumaki?" Gaara's glare softened.
"Yeah, maybe you should try it too... give happiness a chance... the pain will go away." Naruto smiled slightly.
Gaara stayed silent for a bit before his face wore a saddened expression. "Temari... Kankuro... I'm sorry..."
The two looked at him in disbelief that he had just apologized to them. "It's alright." Kankuro asured him and Temari nooded in agreement.
"Let's go home. I shall see you again Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto nodded and with that they were off.
"Sensei?"
"Pakkun led me here… I watched you the whole time and I'm glad I made the decision not to step in. You and Sasuke both did well." Kakashi gave him his one eyed smile.
"Hinata?" Naruto blinked weakly.
"She'll be okay, the medics have already taken her away."
Naruto sighed in relief. "Thank God…" His eyes finally closed fully.
Kakashi lifted Naruto and walked towards Sasuke who was now just a few feet away from him. "Come Sasuke, we need to go back to the Village. After all… since Orochimaru left we've been left with a short hand."