Title : Growth

Author : Flame Catalyst

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the Naruto characters, It all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama……..I love that guy!

Summary : In the lands of the shinobi events are coming to a head. In these turbulent times new enemies will be made, new alliances forged, and in the eye of the storm the outcasts will join together to change the course of history. NaruHina

Waah! Another stupidly long delay. I decided to cut my loses and release a much shorter chapter ten than I had originally planned. Have a read and tell me what you think

Chapter 10

The tension rose thick and palatable, it hung cloyingly in the air leaving a bad taste in Gaara's mouth. He was close to exhaustion, almost in the same state he had been after his fight with Naruto.

They had been running for days, always just one step ahead of their pursuers. Within him Shukaku roared, craving blood making it's thirst Gaara's own. The Suna Genin shook; it was taking all his will power to resist the demon.

Bloodshot eye's looked wildly at the crowd then at the five Jounins standing arrogantly only fifteen feet away, finally coming to rest at a short figure who had just exited from the throng. Wrapped in white robes the figure was almost unrecognizable, only his brilliant blue eyes giving clue to who resided within the coverings.

The person cried out and Gaara instantly knew. It was the voice, that piercing happy voice that made his teeth stand on edge. Only one person in the world sounded so happy yet clueless at the same time.

"Naruto!?"

Startled, Temari and Kankuro turned to the source of Gaara's surprise.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Kankuro gasped still clutching his brother's shoulder tightly. Weak from blood loss, the puppeteer's purple tattoos stood out in sharp contrast to his pale face. Temari gave Gaara a worried look. Her normally sharp eyes were dull, ringed by dark hollows, her fatigue clear for all to see.

They were in a very bad situation; his siblings were as exhausted as he was. It was doubtful that they would be able to take on the five Jounins. But if Uzumaki Naruto was thrown into the mix they didn't stand a chance.

Gaara watched as Naruto tore of his face coverings revealing an identical, if slightly redder version of the boy he remembered. While on the outside it seemed that the Suna nin had regained his composure, in reality Gaara was thinking furiously of a way to get out of this situation with his siblings alive. Making a decision Gaara swallowed his pride and ground out;

"Uzumaki Naruto…….please help us"

The look of surprise on Naruto's face was mirrored by his siblings.

"Gaara what are you doing?" Kankuro murmured, totally stupefied.

"Just shut up" the red head whispered.

To say Naruto was shocked by Gaara's request was an understatement; the hyper blond was left bereft of words, a rare occasion at the best of times. His immediate urge was to laugh at the plea made by the person who had attempted to kill him and his cell. But despite his short comings Naruto wasn't without empathy, he could feel the dull fear and fatigue that permeated the Sand trio. They were in no condition to fight, and those Jounins didn't look as if they were going to be gentle.

"They smell like prey" Kyubi rumbled, sounding for some reason distressed.

Looking into Gaara's eyes made crazed by his desperation or maybe despite it wrenched Naruto's heart.

'Like looking at my evil twin' the blond winced and then made his decision. Slowly he let his fox grin appear on his face and winked broadly.

"What's this!? The mighty Gaara of the Desert is begging help from peasants, and a little child at that" one of the Jounins laughed harshly.

"Hey baka," Naruto screamed as he adjusted his forehead protector clenching his fists in readiness "don't underestimate me!"

"Hey, he's a Leaf nin"

"He's a kid" added the previously laughing Jounin scornfully.

"Yeah? Well so is Gaara" replied his companion.

The tallest of the five spoke up; "Shut up the both of you" he admonished his companions earning disgruntled glares but silence nonetheless.

He was dressed in the same flak jacket and combats as the other four but this Jounin's attitude differed to the others. Where his companions seemed eager for the battle to join, he was keeping a cool head, not letting his emotions interfere with the mission. Short cropped silver hair rested above a grizzled face made all the more severe by the patchwork of scars covering it. Here was a man who had survived decades in a career that all but promised an early grave to those who walked its path. All those who witnessed him had no doubt that this was the leader of this cell.

He took a step forward separating himself from the group and addressed Naruto "Look kid, I don't know who you are but this has got nothing to do with you. Just stay out of the way until we're done" his tone held a firm note of command; this was a man who was used to being obeyed. Without waiting for Naruto's reply the Jounin turned his stare onto the trio of Suna Genins.

"Gaara……." he spoke the word slowly, as if savouring it "the chase has gone on long enough. Submit now or I will kill you for treachery against our village"

At the mention of 'treachery' the crowded audience flinched collectively and moved back a few feet, any missing nin was to be avoided like the plague.

As exhausted and bloody as he was, the statement didn't ruffle Gaara for a second, "What makes you think I will die so easily?"

"You may be psychotic but you aren't stupid, your chakra levels are rock bottom. Not even an animal like you can continue this fight…….now submit or your siblings will be the first to die" At a hand signal from their leader the other Jounins quickly jumped to surround Temari and Kankuro, cold steel hovering centimetres from their jugulars.

At the Jounins hand signal the gourde on the Suna Genin's back began to shake, the vibrations increasing until little flakes of sand chipped and flew from Gaara's face. The red heads eyes widened and a terribly blank look stole onto his face "You're making us angry" he whispered.

"Submit or we will kill them" stated the older ninja doggedly.

Within the boy, Shukaku increased his struggles as he felt Gaara's iron will weakening. 'I won't let them die' he thought savagely. The Jounins needed to die. Their intentions merged.

Turning to Naruto Gaara gasped "I-I can't hold him any longer"

Naruto's eyes widened in realization.

Then all hell broke loose.

Uttering an inhuman scream Gaara's gourd exploded. Four thick strands of sand shot at the Jounins encircling Temari and Kankuro.

A millisecond before they struck the strands turned into spears, chakra hardened silicon collided with the Suna nin ripping through Kevlar, flesh, and bone as if it were gossamer. Such was the force of the impact that the ninja's were lifted of their feet and sent flying backwards.

For Naruto the next few seconds were played out in grinding slow motion.

The Four Jounins flew back, looks of surprise just beginning to register on their faces as they realized what was going on. The crowds look changed, uneasy eyes bulging as mouths slowly opened to utter shrieks of horror.

All the while sand inching up Gaara's body covering half of his head leaving only his snarling face exposed.

The Sand Jounins still flying slowly backwards, red beginning to mingle with the sand. Blood being pumped around the body at tremendous pressure suddenly found new openings and tried to equilibrate pressure. Blood began jetting out in crimson fountains. The surprise on the men's faces began to turn into agony as their pain receptors kicked in. They flew away like rag dolls, red ribbons trailing in their wake.

Gaara standing alone now, head held back, arms splayed upwards to the heavens as he mutated into something that was at once more and less than human. Sand gathered on his head, sprouting like two masts on either side of his face. Tanuki ears, and then, a tail to match.

Naruto blinked and time sped up again. Chaos reigned. Gaara's scream was first matched, and then drowned out by the panicked crowd who began to run in all directions desperate to get away from the unnatural child that had just downed four Jounins in less time than it had taken them to draw breath.

Across from the enraged boy the Jounin leader narrowly escaped being decapitated by yet another thread of sand as he jumped away from Gaara to grant him some breathing space. This didn't last long as the red head simply strode ahead keeping his sand spears fixed on the beleaguered nin who kept dodging.

The crowd seethed like a mad thing, friend trampled friend in a frantic bid to escape harm as Gaara's attacks became increasingly violent.

"HINATA!"

Naruto was beginning to panic as he searched for his companion, horrible pictures of the gentle girl being trampled by the hysterical mass kept entering his mind only increasing his fear.

"HINATA!" he called again but his voice couldn't cut above the din.

Naruto was about to create some shadow clones to help him search when a huge blast knocked him off his feet. Dazed, he struggled to rise as a torrent of sand rushed at him in a great gold wave. The Konoha shinobi was about to attempt a Kawamari jutsu when he felt someone snatch his collar and drag him out of the way.

Naruto felt Karasu's cold hands tighten their hold on his jacket and then with a startled yell leave him as he was sent flying by the puppets throw. As he flew away from it he saw marionette engulfed then crushed by the racing sand. With a snarl of frustration Naruto turned his fall into a graceful landing with all the agility of a prankster.

He landed next to Kankuro who was panting heavily, chakra strings still attached to his buried puppet; he looked ready to collapse "You owe me one"

"I didn't need your help!" Naruto shouted.

"Yeah right" snorted the Suna nin.

Naruto would have liked to argue with him further but he still hadn't found Hinata, and by the looks of the sand that had almost killed him Gaara was beginning to lose the distinction between friend and foe. Shukaku's personality was coming to the fore.

Naruto watched as Gaara brought more and more attacks to bear on the remaining Jounin, random explosions of sand forcing the older ninja to keep moving while at the same time fend off continuous attacks from Gaara's multiple sand cords. The old nin had by now sustained a number of cuts to his arms and face. It seemed that it would be only a matter of time before he succumbed completely to the relentless attacks. Again the grey haired warrior dodged an explosion; leaping high into the air he began to form seals so fast that his hands were a blur to Naruto's untrained eyes.

"Fuujin Kaze Kama no jutsu!" (Wind Sickle Technique)

As he spoke the Jounin spread his arms wide apart and brought them together violently as if attempting to hug himself, the motion of his hands creating several discs of wind which flew through the air cutting through Gaara's attacking sand.

As he landed he gained a few seconds precious respite, it was more than he needed. In one fluid motion he flipped open one of the pockets on his flak jacket, biting his thumb before the scroll even began to fall. Another violent motion; he caught the scroll, ripping it open and sending his bloodied thumb down it's length liberally coating the summoning runes written there in scarlet liquid. With a final set of seals his chakra flared out as he roared.

"Kuchiose no jutsu!"

Another series of explosions came to life filling the air with thick white smoke obscuring most of the battlefield.

At first there seemed to be four average sized blurs with abnormally long ears surrounding the Jounin leader. But then as the smoke cleared his summoning partners were finally revealed.

"Rabbits!?" Naruto shouted, pulling a disgusted face "how are rabbits gonna help him"

"Moron, those aren't rabbits, they're rock hares" sighed Kankuro as if explaining to a particularly slow child that the sky was not green.

"What the hell's the difference? They have floppy ears, they jump around and they eat grass!" snapped the Leaf Genin.

"The difference between a rock hare and a rabbit is that the hare can kick your head off, whereas all the rabbit can do is look cute and fluffy" Kankuro's voice dripped sarcasm "Now will you shut up and help me calm my brother down before we all die!"

"Only if you'll help me find Hinata-chan" bargained Naruto.

Snorting in disgust Kankuro began to move feeling half naked without the reassuring presence of Karasu at his back, behind him Naruto followed. As they approached the now still combatants Naruto grudgingly revaluate his assessment of the 'rabbits'.

They ringed their summoner an air of waiting violence radiated off them. Each stood on his or her hind legs giving them roughly six feet of height, seven including ears. All were attired similarly. Odd assortments of armour were worn; a shoulder pad here, a breast plate there, and some adorned with the Suna sign others with various Kanji. Mixed with the armour were some articles of clothing, Naruto saw a female wearing a light silk jacket, while the hare next to her had tightly bandaged fore paws which he was cracking in preparation for the fight. The blond ninja also saw the vicious looking steel shin pads they all wore on their legs. He saw various ear rings and studs in a few of the younger looking hares ears while others wore heavy links and chains around necks and in a few cases tightly wrapped about the arms.

One hare, black as night stood, his fore paws crossed at his chest as if bored by the whole situation. While to the right of him a cream coloured team mate idly gnawed on a toothpick. The oldest and largest of them carefully took the long pipe from his mouth and calmly shook it clear of tobacco all the while berating the ninja who had summoned him in a thick northern brogue.

"Now laddie what have you done to your self? you look just about ready to collapse. Didn't I tell you to call me the second it got out of hand? I don't know, young un's these days" he muttered as he gently placed his pipe in the pocket of a voluminous sleeveless robe.

He should have looked funny, after all one didn't see a eight foot hare chiding a shinobi everyday but there was an aura of strength and sheer power being excluded that was anything but amusing. There was no doubting his age, scars covered his silver fur from ear to toe; rough embroidery on a silver tapestry. His salt and pepper moustache bristled as he spoke while his immense white eyebrows looked like two battling caterpillars which moved with his every squint. Yet despite all that Naruto couldn't help but wince when he saw the old hares blade studded shin pads and the immensely powerful looking legs they were attached to 'Kankuro wasn't joking when he said they could kick your head off'

The Jounin unable to get a word in edge ways was reduced to staring with an open mouth at the hare who didn't let up even for a second "I said to your grandda, Norikazu I said, I'll look after the wee one for you, I'll keep him out of harms way when you're gone. And look at you now! Norikazu'll be turning in his grave, bitten off more than you can chew that's your problem Yori, you always bite off more than you can chew" he sighed in exasperation.

Seeing a chance to speak Yori opened his mouth "Bajiru (Basil), I-" but was stopped by the large battle scared paw that patted him on the head "Leave the rest to us sonny Jim" winked the snowy white female in the silk jacket, and with that the four hares began their attack.

All four clasped their paws together and after a look of fierce concentration shouted as one;

"Kyo Shouheki no jutsu!" (Grand Barrier Technique)

A mass of blue chakra surged from them forming a large bowl, 30 meters in diameter encircling Shukaku, the hares and Yori. Kankuro's kicks and punches proved ineffectual against the barrier as did Naruto's rasengan. Resigned the two waited to see what would happen.

Four sets of powerful leg muscles contracted. Then as one the hares jumped, they cut through the air effortlessly, long ears waving madly in their wake.

"Bajiru, what's the plan?" roared the jet black hare as they neared Gaara.

"Go in hard and fast, I'll hold back and exploit any weaknesses you create" replied the silver hare with another giant leap.

"You heard our da, lets go!" and with a war cry that shook the earth the battle was joined.

Gaara who by now had entered the advanced form of his transformation welcomed the battle with all the blood thirstiness of a demon.

'Kill them all!' shrieked Shukaku triumphantly as a cord of sand swatted the cream coloured hare out of the sky.

But as the sand demon celebrated he failed to notice the black hare that was falling from the sky head first directly towards him.

"Kongouseki Horinuku no jutsu!" (Diamond Drill Technique)

The hare's ears intertwined as began to spin with such speed that he became nothing more than a diamond shaped blur. With a deafening shriek he met the shield of sand and passed through it as if it were no more than a soggy paper bag. Still he continued furiously drilling downwards meeting the armour of sand Shukaku had hastily thrown up to defend himself. For a second it seemed it would hold but then with a booming CRACK the dark hare burst through the second defence.

Then the screams started.

A fusion of boys fearful cries and demons deranged roars escaped Gaara's form as the hare's powerful shape began to drill into his body. The cries heightened in pitch as the nin hare attempted to worsen the wound, spinning with increasing speed to burrow deeper into his enemy. But despite his best efforts the sand begging to surround him slowed then stopped the rotating hare leaving him in a very vulnerable position.

With a half sob half yell Gaara fell to his knees. Reeling in pain Shukaku fled giving control back to his confused vessel who attempted to cover the large hole in his abdomen as it wept blood.

The desert coffin had now completely covered the black hare leaving it hanging helplessly in the air, Gaara stared at his attacker with fear and hate preparing his desert burial and just as his hand was about to close, another attack came.

The snowy white female descended from the sky, like an icicle falling from the heavens.

"Jishinha no jutsu!" (Seismic Wave technique)

With an enormous BOOM she landed feet first not even a meter from the injured Suna nin. A wave of earth and sand spread outwards from her landing point toppling Gaara who in his surprise released the ebony hare from his prison.

"All right Sekitan?" (Sekitan Coal) asked the female as she hastily grabbed her brother and leapt clear from Gaara's fallen form.

"I'm all right Koyuki" (Koyuki Light snow) groused Sekitan feeling the shame that all brothers felt when their ass was saved by their sister of all people! Or in this case hares.

Gaara was however in a much worse state. The fiery haired boy felt his vision begin to dim as the blood loss and pain became too much to bare. 'Death would be so easy now' he thought fuzzily, but even as he contemplated giving up two faces entered his mind; Temari grinning madly as she did when she learnt a new technique or teased her brothers. Kankuro, a surly expression etched into his face made him seem forbidding yet Gaara could still remember the older brother who had given him his first teddy bear.

His sister and his brother. His kin, his blood, his family. His precious ones. Gaara knew with cold certainty that if he died here that their deaths wouldn't be far off. He wouldn't let that happen, he would protect them because they were his and he was theirs and that was enough.

A will that had managed to keep a mad demon at bay for twelve years was turned fully to the process of survival, Gaara forced his lungs to keep inhaling, and focusing on his battered body he knew that something drastic would have to be done to keep him alive. He sent his awareness out, fixing his mind on every drop of blood saturated sand he could find. Then he pulled it towards him.

To Kankuro and Naruto who were trapped outside the battle site it seemed as if rust coloured gobbets of sand rose and joined together forming one large sphere that moved towards the downed Suna Genin.

He felt a shudder of pain as the red sand entered his body, darkening even more from the sluggishly flowing blood his wound attempted to expunge. He summoned more sand until the hole was completely filled and then using nothing but instinct he plugged the hole to his body. Transforming sand into flesh was no easy feat at the best of times. With no medical knowledge at all Gaara worked with pure instinct guided in part by the frantic Shukaku.

Proteins formed into DNA, formed into chromosomes, formed, eventually into cells. Then more cells and more cells, hundreds, thousands, millions of times he repeated the procedure. Bone cells, connective tissue, muscle tissue, fibro elastic tissue, all these and more he created instinctively. Letting his body's need guide him. Smooth elastic muscle sandwiched between epithelial and endothelial cells melted into the torn artery that had lost him so much blood. He repaired the ragged hole in his stomach and his crushed lower ribs. Feeling the shattered bone first pull, and then fuse together. Yet even when everything had been healed his body still cried out at the wrongness of this new flesh and Gaara knew a moment of pure despair when he felt his body begin to fight and reject what he had created.

This was a temporary fix, he knew it, and he could feel it. But it would give him enough time end the threat to his kin. With a bitter smile Gaara let the sand raise him to a standing position as he finally named his new jutsu.

"Suna Umeru no jutsu" (Sand Plug technique)

"Bloody hell, didn't you do any damage?" Koyuki asked her now irate brother as she stared in awe.

"Well this isn't my blood you know!" Sekitan growled while attempting to wring Gaara's blood out his long ears.

"My turn to attack" growled Gaara as he willed the sand under his opponents to suck them down. He felt them slide down deeper and deeper into the earth. 50 meters……100 meters…….150 meters. Then, before he could take them further he saw a blur approaching him with terrific speed, and then world went dark.

What in fact happened was that Bajiru had finally decided to take a part in proceedings. The old hare had covered ten meters in two seconds flat leapt up, and delivered a flying shin kick to Gaara's face that made Lee's Konoha Sempu seem like a tap on the head with a pillow. A soft fluffy one.

Without a doubt Gaara would have died instantly from the attack had it not been for his armour of sand. What instead happened was that he was sent flying back wards with such force that he broke through the barrier that the hares had created earlier and was only stopped when he crashed heavily into the stone wall of a villager's house and flopped down lifelessly.

"Gaara!" Kankuro screamed horror stricken as he ran to his brother, Naruto hot on his heels.

Author Notes:

Well finally Gaara and Co are here, so what did you folks think? Did I do him justice? Any comments are welcome to help me improve this fic. Oh yeah everyone feel free to add me to their msn list if you want to ask about updates or just a chat!

Thanks once again sincere thanks to David for correcting my mistakes and horrible grammar. If you want proof of his skills just re read chapters 1-5 and shudder at my pathetic grammar and spelling.

I've tried re posting the site where I found out all my youma/youkai info hopefully it'll show up this time! Hopefully this will explain why I choose Kyubi to be a girl, heh.

H t t p : e n c y c l o p e d I a . t h e f r e e d I c t I o n a r y . c o m / y o u k a I

Reviewers:

I'll just answer a few questions because I want to put this chapter up straight away!

ClassicDrogn: There wont be anymore youkai containers, when I originally started writing the fic I had planned for a few but with the addition of the oni there will be enough weirdness without a few more demons. Also something you mentioned in your review has stuck with me, it's the frogs. To me that frog seemed much faster and nimble than the larger toads much more suiting to Naruto's style of fighting I think anyway, so in the future (pretty soon) I've decided to have Naruto master frog summoning. It will be a kinda sub contract to the one he has with the toads. Thanks for the idea!

I've been meaning to do this for a while……hmm does anyone have any ideas for Hinata's summon? I really cant think of any animal that would do justice to her cuteness and strength. I idly though about squirrels but I don't know riding to battle on the back of one of those would just make me laugh not quail in fear :S

Thank you all for reviewing and being patient with me, I really really hope to release the next chapter sooner but I'm not making any definite promises so if I do break them you wont hate me as much!.