Disclaimer: I again do not own the characters of Naruto, much as I would like to. Anyway, back to the story where things are really starting to get tense...
Kyubi Unleashed
By DigiScanner-Shonen
Chapter 7: Sasuke's Test
Haruno Sakura couldn't believe what she saw right in front of her eyes. And she could bet neither could Naruto, her parents or the so-called Legendary Ninja that taught Naruto. Here in front of her were the Sand Siblings who had entered the Chuunin Exam and caused so much pain to many other shinobi. Kankuro, who had threatened to kill Konohamaru, Naruto's friend and the grandson of the previous Hokage, and poisoned Aburame Shino when he and Uchiha Sasuke went after the trio when the attack on Konohagakure began and they fled. Temari, who had mercilessly thrashed Tenten during the Chuunin Preliminaries.
But the worst was Gaara, the apparent leader. He didn't hesitate to kill, in fact, it seemed he enjoyed it. He had killed a team in the second test of the Chuunin Exam without a second thought. But what really upset Sakura about the boy was that he caused so much pain to those she cared about.
First was Rock Lee, a taijutsu specialist ninja with a crush on her and was Gaara's first opponent in the exam. Gaara and Lee battled fiercely, and when it looked like Gaara had the upper hand, Lee opened five Chakra Gates and executed the Extreme Lotus. But it was not without its punishments. Lee had wrecked his body and the referee was about to call the match, but Lee got up and, with his bruised, bloody, torn body, signalled that he wasn't ready to quit yet! The referee still called the match and Lee was out of the Chuunin Exam. Lee's suffering went on because he still trained with his bad body, and recently, the new Hokage looked at Lee and said he could no longer be a ninja unless he took a very risky surgery that was at best a fifty percent survival rate. Luckily, Lee had got out fine and was ready to train again, but his fight with Gaara still remained in Sakura's mind.
Then there was Uchiha Sasuke, her first crush of years. Right when they first met, Sasuke and Gaara seemed to hate each other and wanted to fight right away, but they didn't get a chance until the Chuunin Tournament. The fight was tense and before it could be finished, the attack on Konohagakure had started. Gaara had fled with Temari and Kankuro, but Sasuke and Shino had pursued them, Sasuke was eager to finish his fight with Gaara and Shino was backup to take on Kankuro and Temari. When Sakura and Naruto arrived to where they were, Sasuke had released his Curse Seal and had used up a lot of his energy. He was badly hurt and Sakura had to stay and protect him from Gaara. However, Sakura was pinned to a tree with some of his sand and it was slowly killing her at the time.
Finally, there was Naruto, her new boyfriend. The fight between Naruto and Gaara seemed to go much deeper than merely defending her and Sasuke. It was like they both had a reason to exist and were testing it against each other. Sakura had heard about the fight from Sasuke and she told him that Naruto had done things that they never thought he could do. He had summoned frogs, pulled several tough jutsus off, and even transformed one thing into another. And still, the fight wasn't finished. Sasuke had gone to check on Naruto and saw that both he and Gaara were exhausted and beaten. Naruto seemed to change a little after the fight, but he still stayed the same.
That's why she couldn't believe that they were right in front of her, at her doorstep, after all the pain they had caused to the others.
"What do you want?!" Sakura screamed at them, "Why are you here, after what happened those months ago?"
"You're from Hidden Sand, who were involved in the attack?" Sakura's father asked of the ninjas, "We aren't allowed to have you in the village after what happened."
"We know," Temari said, "But we aren't here to start a war or anything. We just came because he did."
She pointed at Gaara as she said this. "He just came here for one reason, we're just along for the ride."
"And what would this reason be?" Mr. Haruno asked.
"Him," Gaara said as he pointed at Naruto, who was now holding Sakura up, "I came for him."
"Well, here I am," Naruto said, "Now what do you want with me? I'll co- operate just so long as you leave Sakura-chan and the village alone."
Gaara walked into the house and crouched down until he was eye level with Naruto. They both looked at each other fiercely, with what Sakura made out as, a bit of hostility, hatred, and determination to get what they wanted. But there also seemed to be a glimmer of something between them. It looked to be respect, empathy, understanding and a kind of admiration.
"I just wanted to say one thing..." Gaara began.
There seemed to be a tenseness in the air as the two looked at each other, no one seemed to breathe and time stood still as they waited for what the red-haired Sand shinobi had to say. For a moment, Sakura saw something within Gaara. It looked like he was struggling to get something out, admitting something he was embarrassed to. She couldn't describe it, but it looked as if he had softened since the exam.
"Thank you, Naruto."
Everyone seemed to be in shock at what he had just said. Sakura was sure she had imagined what just happened, but here it was. Gaara, the hardened killer, saying thanks to Naruto? It was just something too weird to hear or even witness.
Sakura looked up at Naruto, seeing if he could understand what Gaara just said. He kept his fierce face on. She looked back and forth between the two ninjas, trying to figure out what the meaning of all this was. When she got back to Naruto, his face no longer looked fierce or hostile, but friendly and happy.
"You're welcome," Naruto said as he grinned widely at Gaara.
Gaara nodded at Naruto and Sakura saw something she never thought she'd see: Gaara smiling. She looked back at her parents and Jiraiya and they all seemed to be as confused as her.
"That was it?" Kankuro asked in disbelief, "That's what we came all this way for?"
"You have a problem?" Gaara asked as he turned to Kankuro with eyes that made him look like his old self.
"N-no! Of course not! It's good that we came all this way!"
"That's what I hoped to hear," Gaara said as he got up, "I guess we'd better be going."
As they turned to leave, Naruto stood up. "Wait! Don't go yet!"
"Why not? Don't you know what they'll do if they catch us?" Temari asked, "Your village has become a bit paranoid since the attack, so we better go before we cause an incident."
"Last thing we want is another war between the Sand and Leaf Countries," Gaara said, "Besides, why would you want us to stay?"
"You said it yourself, you don't want to have another war between the countries, which means you don't want any more killing. Plus, Gaara..." Naruto said, "You're the only one who can understand where I'm coming from, other than Sakura-chan, Pervert-Sennin and Iruka-sensei."
"We don't have a place to stay," Kankuro told them.
"You can stay with me! It gets pretty boring living by yourself," Naruto said, "And I can cover for you if anyone asks what you're doing in the village!"
The three Sand Ninjas thought the offer over. It did sound kind of tempting to them.
"Someone is bound to notice we're gone," Temari said.
"I'll take care of it," Kankuro told his "sister", "Besides, a lot of people hate us back home anyway."
"So you'll stay?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"We accept, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara replied.
"Great!" Naruto cheered, "You guys won't regret it, I promise!"
"That'll remain to be seen..." Kankuro said, "Anyway, I'll head back to Hidden Sand to report our 'departure' from the village."
"Be safe, Kankuro," Temari told her friend.
"Good luck, Kankuro," Gaara said, "We'll be waiting for you."
"Wait! The least we can do is give you some food," Sakura said as she moved towards the kitchen, "We've got some roast beef leftover that you can take with you. I'll get it, hold on a second..."
"Roast beef?" Kankuro asked.
"Yeah, my mom makes it really good," Sakura said as she handed Kankuro a rolled up cloth with the food inside, "I hope you'll like it."
"I'm sure I will. Now, I must be going. Thank you for the food, Sakura, Mrs. Haruno. Naruto, Gaara, Temari, I'll see you soon," Kankuro said. And with that, he bounded off into the night beginning the journey back home.
"Well, that was...interesting," Mrs. Haruno said, "I guess since the two of you will be staying with Naruto, you'll want some food as well."
"That would be great," Temari said.
"We were just about to have dessert. I guess I can make you some, too."
"You're too kind," Gaara said as he bowed to Mrs. Haruno in thankfulness.
"We appreciate this greatly, ma'am," Temari said as she also bowed to Mrs. Haruno.
"Well, don't just stand there, guys! Take off your shoes! Come in, come in!" Naruto insisted.
"Naruto..." Sakura said as she pulled her friend to the side as Gaara and Temari took off their shoes, "Are you sure you should do that? Letting them stay with you? They could kill you at any time! They could wreck the village!"
"Sakura-chan, if you saw what I saw in Gaara's eyes, you'd know he's changed," Naruto said, "Besides, he said that I'm as strong as him, possibly stronger!"
"Why do you want them to stay with you?"
"Because, Gaara and I..." Naruto paused.
"You and Gaara what?"
"We both have...a...mutual respect for each other. Trust me, Sakura-chan. I know what I'm doing."
I hope so Naruto, Sakura said as Naruto went to welcome Gaara and Temari into the house, I hope so.
Uchiha Sasuke ran through Konohagakure, desperately searching for Uzumaki Naruto. He had already asked Yamanaka Ino's group where Naruto was, and they had said they didn't know. After managing to escape from Ino's attempt to get him to stay with her, Sasuke had resumed his search. As far as Sasuke knew, he was probably running in circles.
Wait a minute, Sasuke stopped and thought for a moment, I shouldn't be thinking like myself to find him. I should think like him to find him!
Sasuke now had a solution on what to do. If I was the dunce, where would I be at this time? Sasuke thought hard. This wasn't a genius he was dealing with, it was Naruto. All he had to do was find out what he would do at this time of night.
It's night and around this time, everyone would be eating. Naruto usually likes to eat, so...
Then it struck Sasuke. The Ichiraku Ramen Bar! The dunce's favourite place! He dashed towards the noodle joint, hoping that Naruto would be there. Running past the different people in the streets trying to get home, past houses and buildings, Sasuke didn't stop for anything. As soon as he saw the awning of the bar, he dashed inwards calling out, "Naruto!!"
What he saw wasn't Naruto. Instead, what he saw when they all turned around was a boy in a long-collared coat with sunglasses, a brunette girl with white eyes in a jacket, a boy with fierce eyes in a furry hooded sweatshirt with a small dog beside his stool and a long, dark haired woman wrapped in a cloth of sorts. Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, and their sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun!" Hinata said, as she looked surprised at the sudden arrival of Sasuke.
"Uchiha," Shino said coolly, "What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Aburame," Sasuke said as he wiped off some sweat from running all the way to the bar.
"We were just eating dinner," Kiba told him, "Kurenai-sensei said she'd treat us to some ramen after training. What do you want? I was just about to give Akamaru some ramen."
"I was looking for Naruto. I thought he'd be here for some ramen. Have you seen Naruto?"
"Why do you want Naruto?" Kurenai asked.
"To test something against him."
"Wh-what do you want to t-test against Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"Did you find a new strategy to beat him?" Kiba asked eagerly.
Sasuke simply smirked at Kiba's question. "You could say that..."
Akamaru seemed to shiver and whimper next to Kiba, but no one but Kiba noticed at the time.
"Relax, Akamaru. You'll get some ramen in a second," Kiba said to his partner. But then he noticed Akamaru not whimpering, but shivering, "Hey, Akamaru, chill. It's just Sasuke."
But Akamaru continued to shiver and whimper.
"Can you keep that thing quiet for a second?" Shino asked Kiba.
"He's not a thing! He's my friend, Akamaru! You don't like it, Shino? Then take a hike!" Kiba told his teammate.
"It's still annoying."
"Don't worry, Shino. I'll keep him quiet for you if you want. Plus I want to test something..." Sasuke said as he kneeled down to Akamaru. He reached his hand out and Akamaru seemed to move backwards, like it was scared of Sasuke. It's whining got louder and shivered more.
"Sasuke, how is that keeping him quiet? It's just making more noise," Shino said.
"Just watch," Sasuke said as his hand finally touched Akamaru's head. Sasuke stared deep into Akamaru's eyes. Unbeknowst to anyone else, Sasuke's Sharingan came to the surface of his eyes. It began spinning, slowly at first, but then picking up speed. Akamaru tried to look away, but it couldn't move. The others just looked on at Sasuke and Akamaru.
"S-Sasuke-kun, what are you doing to Akamaru-kun?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke just ignored Hinata and continued to focus on Akamaru. Suddenly, Akamaru began to howl, like he was in pain and began to shake in fear under Sasuke's hand. Something had been done to Kiba's dog.
"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, "Come on, buddy! What's wrong?"
The dog gave no response as Sasuke continued what he was doing to Akamaru. It's howling became louder, and it shook more violently, until suddenly, it stopped. For a moment, it looked like Akamaru was calm again. Then the dog collapsed, panting for air.
"Akamaru! Akamaru!" Kiba called to his dog. Then he turned to Sasuke, "What did you do to my dog, Uchiha?!"
"I got him to be quiet, like Shino wanted," Sasuke said as he got up with his Sharingan Eye finally stopped spinning, "Never did like that dog, always howling like it was head of the class."
"Kiba-kun, is Akamaru-kun all right?" Hinata asked as she and Kurenai bent down to join Kiba in trying to get Akamaru to wake up.
"I don't know, Hinata," Kurenai said as she looked at the poor dog.
Kiba turned angrily to Sasuke, "Tell me, Sasuke! What did you do to Akamaru?"
"I told you, I got him to be quiet. But that's beside the point. Have you seen Naruto?" Sasuke said calmly.
"I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU DID TO MY DOG, YOU BASTARD!!" Kiba screamed as he charged towards Sasuke with immense hatred. Sasuke simply put a hand in front of himself to stop Kiba and it seemed to work.
"You want an answer? Then look into my eyes, Kiba-kun," Sasuke told him, with a bit of taunting in his tone. Kiba complied and he saw Sasuke's Sharingan spinning again. Kiba then started screaming and held his head in his hands.
"STOP IT!! STOP IT!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD, SASUKE!!" Kiba yelled as he thrashed about violently, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
"Now I'll ask you again," Sasuke said as he turned to Hinata, "Have you seen Naruto?"
Hinata shivered, hoping not to end up with the same fate as Akamaru and Kiba. Sasuke advanced menacingly on Hinata, smiling as if something within him had taken control and Sasuke liked it.
"Sasuke, STOP!" Shino said as he stood between Sasuke and Hinata.
"I'll stop when you tell me where Naruto is," Sasuke said simply.
"All right! He came by yesterday to talk about his dinner date with Sakura," Shino admitted, "He's probably there right now."
"Thank you," Sasuke said as he turned to leave, "Your teammates will be fine. I just used a Sharingan technique on them."
"How long will Kiba and Akamaru be like this?" Kurenai demanded.
Sasuke simply turned and looked at Kurenai, with one hand holding Hinata and the other on Akamaru, both comforting them, Shino looking at Sasuke in disbelief and Kiba still screaming his head off.
"How should I know?" he said as he ran off towards Haruno Sakura's house, and was sure that Naruto was still there.
That was low power, Sasuke thought as he continued to run, Let's see how full power is when I go up against you, Naruto-kun.
The meeting was still fresh in Tsunade's mind, even though she was halfway back to Konohagakure, and was now resting in a small hotel. She, herself, wasn't too happy with the idea she presented to the Council, but it was all she had. And if it didn't work, this monster would continue to ravage through the entire ninja world, eventually destroying the very way of the shinobi.
The Kage Council had agreed to Tsunade's idea, but it was with some reluctance to it. First was to locate this monster and try and figure out where its headed. Then they were to locate Naruto and undo the seal the Forth Hokage had made on him and unleash Kyubi. Hopefully they could reason with it and send Kyubi to stop this monstrosity. Finally, after Kyubi had done its service, they'd seal it back into Naruto. She wasn't happy with it, and wasn't entirely sure she'd done the right thing by suggesting it, but it was all she had. Now she had the Council's consent to execute her plan.
Easier said than done.
Tsunade had sent some of her bodyguards to track the monster and find out where it was headed while she and her remaining bodyguards headed back to Konohagakure to find Naruto. The tough part of the whole thing was unleashing the monster within Naruto and convincing it to work with them. Maybe Naruto could reason with it since it had a connection to the nine- tails.
The plan had seemed like a good idea when she first thought of it, but the more she thought about it, the more she wished she never thought of it in the first place. Her first decision as Hokage and she may have already blown it.
"Hokage-sama," one of the bodyguard shinobi asked, "Are you all right?"
"Hmm?" Tsunade asked, "Oh, yes. I'm fine, thank you."
"You don't look like it, Hokage-sama. Pardon my rudeness, but what is wrong? Can I help in some way?"
"Well, you could listen."
"My ears are yours, Hokage-sama."
"First of all, stop calling me Hokage-sama so much. It gets kind of annoying after a while."
"Yes. Sorry, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade sighed. "It's my decision at the Council. I'm worried about what I've done. Or what I'm about to do. I don't know what I was thinking when I suggested it. I'm not Hokage for two months and this comes up. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm really fit to lead the village."
"Of course you are! You are the Hokage! The one person who best represents the qualities of the ninjas in our country!"
"Tell me, what are my qualities that suit me for this?"
"Well, you're brave. You become courageous when you need to be. You're also caring. You worry about the safety and well being of all the people in our country. And you're clear-minded. You always know what to do and don't let things get in the way of it. Not to mention you're self-sacrificing as well. You put others before yourself. Also you are wise. You know what to and not to do. You also have many more qualities that more than suit you to being Hokage-sama. To me, those qualities are more than enough proof that you are Hokage-sama. And as such, we are all inclined to follow you until the end."
Tsunade thought over the words her bodyguard had just told her. She looked down to the ground and made sure he wasn't looking. "Thank you..." Tsunade said as she let some tears out, "I needed to hear that more than you could know."
"It was my pleasure, Hokage-sama," the bodyguard said.
"Don't call me that so much," Tsunade said, "Just call me...Tsunade."
"Of course, Hoka...Tsunade."
"What's your name?"
"Me? I'm known as Yoshida Takeshi."
"Thank you, Takeshi, for reassuring me," Tsunade said to her bodyguard as she wiped the tears from her face, "It helps knowing that people believe in me."
"We all believe in you, Tsunade. That's why we are here," Takeshi told his superior.
"Right," Tsunade said as she went over onto her bed and laid down, "I think its time we all went to sleep. We still have some ground to cover until we get back home. Good night."
"Good night, Hokage-sama," they all said and while a couple fell asleep, a couple stayed awake to watch over their lord.
Tsunade fell asleep and dreamed of the monster and what it could do. She dreamed of everyone following her on what she thought was right. She dreamed of Kyubi battling the monster and saving the ninja world.
And she dreamed of what could happen if her plan didn't work.
Uzumaki Naruto was happily eating Sakura's mother's apple cobbler ice cream sundae with pudding and he had to agree with Sakura. It was the best dessert in Konohagakure. The flavours! The feel! It was too much! This was, dare he think it, better than ramen!
"Mmmmm! Sakura-chan, your mom's dessert is great!" Naruto said inbetween bites.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Mrs. Haruno smiled as she took a bite of her own creation.
"I'm glad you like it, Naruto-kun," Sakura smiled at Naruto who was now gobbling it down his throat.
"I was right to come along for this," Jiraiya said, "the dessert is more than enough for me!"
"My wife does make great desserts," Mr. Haruno smiled as he took the last bite of his dessert.
"Hey Gaara, aren't you gonna eat your apple cobbler ice cream sundae with pudding?" Temari asked as she took a big bite of her own delectable dessert, "It's really good!"
"..." Gaara said as he stared at it, "I never...really had...sweets before..."
"It's great, Gaara! Try it!" Naruto insisted.
"You won't regret it, I swear," Sakura said.
"...all right," Gaara said as he moved his hand to the cup. He grabbed his spoon and dug it deep into the dessert. He pulled it up to his face, sniffed it and then took a bite.
Everyone waited for Gaara's reaction to the dessert as he chewed and swallowed it. They saw his eyes widen and a grin go upon his face.
"This is amazing. It's so...sweet. Delicious!" Gaara said as he took a few more bites of his dessert, "I've never had something like this before!"
"See! You like it!" Temari said to her comrade.
"Aw, man! I'm out already!" Naruto said sadly, "Can I have some more, Mrs. Haruno?"
"Sorry, Naruto-kun. I would've but I used the leftovers to make Gaara's and Temari's."
"Hey, Gaara," Naruto leaned over to Gaara who was sitting across from him and whispered, "Can I have some of yours?"
"Naruto-kun!" Sakura said, "That's Gaara's! You had yours!"
"I know, but it's soooo good!"
"It is, isn't it?" Temari asked.
"You know it is!" Jiraiya grinned.
"So, Naruto..." Mr. Haruno said, "Do you like food other than my wife's?"
"Sure! I like ramen, and ramen with miso, oh and ramen with miso and extra spice..." Naruto said, beginning to count of the many ways he like his ramen.
"In my experience with Naruto, I found that if you give him ramen on a long trip, he'll shut up for quite a bit," Jiraiya said to Mr. Haruno.
"...there's tons of ramen at my place! By the way, Gaara, Temari, I hope you like ramen," Naruto said as he continued to talk about ramen.
"Looks like we'll have to if we're living with you from now on..." Temari stated.
"Well, I guess I better be going," Jiraiya said as he got up, "I've got a lot to do for my work."
"Yes, what do you do again, Jiraiya-sama?" Mrs. Haruno asked.
"I'm the author of the famous Come-Come Paradise books!"
"Oh, yeah. I saw them in a bookstore the other day," Mr. Haruno said as he leaned inwards towards Jiraiya, "You're really...descriptive."
"I pride myself on my attention to detail in my books," Jiraiya smiled brightly.
"I guess I better go, too," Naruto said as he stood up, "I have to get my place set up for Gaara, Temari and Kankuro when he gets back."
"I can't wait to see your place," Temari said sarcastically.
"I'm sure it'll be better than what we're used to," Gaara said as he stood up with Temari, "Thank you for the dessert."
"Oh, yeah! Thanks, Mrs. Haruno!" Naruto said as he, Gaara and Temari bowed.
"It was nothing. I'm glad you all enjoyed it so much," Mrs. Haruno smiled at the three young ninjas as they headed for the door.
"I'll see you later, Sakura-chan," Naruto smiled at Sakura as he reached for the doorknob.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. Bye!" she said to him as they walked to the door.
"Bye!" Naruto said as he opened the door. As he faced the outside, he saw someone he didn't expect.
He saw a dark haired boy in a black short-sleeved bodysuit. He had elbowpads and bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. His eyes were dark and full of determination.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelped in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Sasuke looked at Naruto, Sakura and her family behind him, Jiraiya and the two Sand ninjas behind him. "I might ask those two the same thing."
"If you must know, we're living with him now," Gaara said as he looked at Sasuke, "But like Naruto said, 'What are you doing here?'"
"To make a request to Naruto..." Sasuke said slowly and steadily so that everyone was hanging on his words.
"...to fight."
TO BE CONTINUED!
Hmm, things are getting tense! Will Tsunade's plan work? Will Kiba and Akamaru be okay? And what will Naruto's response to Sasuke's request be? You can find out by sending in reviews! And look out for the next chapter out soon!