Chapter 34

Naruto stood at the ready and waited. He did not have to wait long as Gaara stepped out. Naruto realized that Gaara was using the power of his bijū. He looked a lot like a tanuki with two large claws and a long tail. Naruto could see that he was only able to take this form thanks to his sand. The beast glared at Naruto with nothing but murder in his eyes.

"I will kill you!" Gaara snarled. Naruto settled in and prepared himself for battle.

"You aren't the first and you won't be the last. You want me, come and get me!" Naruto exclaimed. With a roar, Gaara charged at him.

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Shikamaru had Shino on his back while the three clones carried Sasuke, Kankuro and Temari. Shikamaru turned his head to look behind him. While he was no sensor, he could feel that the battle had begun. He was worried about his friend, fighting that monster.

"You should be worried about your friend. Gaara is a force of destruction that can't be stopped. That's why he was our trump card in this invasion. Your friend doesn't stand a chance." Kankuro said weakly. He suddenly was struck by a branch as the clone was moving along. He glared at the clone who just smirked.

"It's you that doesn't know anything. Naruto is the most unpredictable ninja that Konoha has. He is also the little brother of one of Konoha's most crazy kunoichi alive. Combine the two and you have one of the most dangerous people alive. Especially since Naruto does not know the word restraint." Shikamaru said. The moment he said that the group felt the explosion. They turned to see a mushroom shaped cloud coming from where the two were fighting. Shikamaru turned back to the two siblings and smirked. "Who doesn't stand a chance now?" The rest of the trip was in silence as both group were hoping that the other were okay.

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Anko saw the mushroom cloud from the shelter. There was only one person that could create something like that. She was a little worried because Naruto only went so far when he was fighting someone stronger than him. Anko steeled herself and just focused on protecting the people here. As much as she wanted to go to his side, she would not abandon those that needed her.

'Take care of yourself otouto (little brother). Just don't go too crazy.'

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Naruto landed on a tree branch and looked at the fire. A silhouette was seen from within the flames and out stepped Gaara. Naruto could see that some of that sand was kind of melted but it was quickly reforming.

'Well, I didn't think that would work. Still, I have some options.' Naruto thought. He pulled out two kunai and ran down the tree. Gaara charge as well, looking ready to rip Naruto apart. Gaara launched his claw forward but Naruto dodge and slashed at Gaara. Gaara counter with another swipe but Naruto ducked out of the way and slashed into Gaara again. For the next couple of minutes, that was how the fight was. Gaara was not getting a clean shot and Naruto's kunai were not getting through the sand. While Naruto suspected this would happen, he was not worried. He was looking for a weakness in the sand.

Naruto jumped away when Gaara slammed his tail down. Naruto did some seals and landed on the side of the tree.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)" Naruto shouted. He was surrounded by fire and five flaming dragons split off and attacked. Gaara raised his claws and clashed with the flaming dragons. After taking out the fifth one, Gaara launched an attack of his own.

"Suna Shuriken!" Gaara roared and launched several sand shaped shuriken at him. Naruto used his agility to avoid the attack and launched two kunai at him. They hit Gaara and soon exploded, rocking Gaara back. Naruto pushed his advantage, kicking Gaara in the face with his two feet. Gaara growled and grabbed Naruto feet with his tail. He slammed Naruto on the ground hard. He did it two more times before flinging him across the field. Naruto hit a tree hard. Gaara launched his claw forward and it extended. It slammed into Naruto and pinned him to the tree. With a grin, Gaara crushed Naruto only to see him vanish in a puff.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique)" a voice from below called out. Gaara growled as he was dragged underground to his head. Above him, Naruto did a seal and a group of explosion ripped the ground apart. When the smoke cleared, Gaara's sand was now a mess. His tail was gone and it was nothing but goop. Naruto most have finally hit his weak spot. Naruto wasn't about to let him recover. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Mass Shadow Clone Technique)" The skies were covered by clones. With a roar, they all attacked.

Gaara was bombarded with blows from all angles. He was taking a serious beating and he could not believe that he was losing. This person before him was nobody, a regular person. He should not be making this hard for him. He should have killed him already. Why was he challenging his existence? His thoughts allowed Naruto to blast him with uppercut. Gaara hit a tree hard. He struggled to stand and looked on as Naruto's clones charged forward.

"YOU WILL NOT DENY MY EXISTANCE!" Gaara roared. He unleashed his chakra and sand began to gather. Several of Naruto clones were destroyed as Gaara grew bigger. When the dust cleared, Naruto and his remaining clone were looking up at a building sized tanuki. Gaara appeared on top of its' head and looked down at Naruto. "Now you die!"

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Ibiki, Shikamaru and the people nearby watched as the tanuki was trying to smash something below him. Shikamaru looked on with wide eyes. He then looked at Ibiki.

"We need to get over there! That's where Naruto is!" Shikamaru said with urgency. The two siblings of Gaara were there as well.

"T-That… that's not possible. How can that shorty push Gaara to this?" Temari asked loudly. Ibiki looked at two members of the ANBU.

"You two, go and help Naruto Uzumaki." Ibiki ordered. They nodded and were gone.

"He's going to need more than two guys!" Shikamaru shouted.

"If you haven't noticed, we are still in the middle of an invasion. We are making ground but they have not retreated yet. Two is all I can send now. Do not worry, those two are the best we have." That's when he noticed another ANBU look into the distance.

"Uh, Ibiki-senpai, we have a situation." The man said.

"What is it?" Ibiki asked.

"Well, Anko-senpai is actually making her way toward the area. She will reach Naruto before our team members will." He said.

"Damn it, she must have seen it from in the shelters." Ibiki said with a groan. He then turned to Shikamaru. "Alright, you are to go to the shelter and take Anko's place. We will take care of your captives."

"Yes." Shikamaru said and took off. Ibiki turned back toward the rampaging demon and prayed for the bratty blonde's safety.

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Naruto slammed against the tree hard. He slumped to his butt and groaned in pain. The fight had taken a very big turn. He had attempted to fight the beast with his remaining clones but they were wiped out in seconds. He tried to escape but he realized that Gaara would have come after him. He tried to use a clever trap, leading the beast into a large minefield, but that failed and now he was in this situation. He had to do something or else he was going to die.

"It's over Uzumaki! You will pay for the pain that I've felt! Sabaku Kyū! (Sand Coffin)" Gaara called out. Sand began to snake up around Naruto. Naruto was thinking fast on a way to combat this. That's when he remembered what he learned when the pervert trained him for the exams. Focusing and remembering that feeling from before, Naruto took some blood from his wound and quickly did the seals he was thought.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Jutsu)" Naruto shouted. A huge plump of smoke appeared. When it cleared, Naruto was standing on the head of Gamabunta. The large toad blew out some smoke before turning his attention to Naruto.

"You again? What do you what this time?" Gamabunta demanded.

"Listen, I know that I was a rude little prick when we first met. You were dissing me and you insulted me just because I had the scent of snakes on me, even after I explained to you why. I shouldn't have mouthed off and insulted your family. However, I would like to put our issues aside and deal with the large problem in front of us." Naruto explained. Gamabunta looked forward and saw the sand creature. He blew out a smoke of annoyance.

"You blondes and your demons. So what are you suggesting boy? That I help you in fighting this thing?" Gamabunta asked.

"Yeah, help me this one time. After that, we can go back to pissing each other off." Naruto said.

"Very well. For the record, I do not hate you because you had the smell of snakes. I also appreciate that you admit to your short comings. However, this does not make you my underling, got it?"

"Careful boss, that almost sounds like praise." Naruto said with a chuckle. Gamabunta snorted in amusement before launching himself at the Shukaku.

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When Shikamaru arrived, he saw that everyone was looking at the window. Even Iruka was looking outside. He was about to say something, we he looked out the window of the safe house too. What he saw was something he could not believe.

"W-What? What is going on?" Shikamaru asked in surprise.

"I really don't know. We were watching that thing smash the ground beneath him. Suddenly, that large toad arrived in a plume of smoke. I know that toad. It is the same toad that was used by the Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage when the Kyūbi attacked the village." the ninja said.

"The Yondaime summoned toads? When did Naruto learn that?" Shikamaru asked loudly. The ninja turned to him and looked at him seriously.

"What are you talking about? The only other person who uses toads is Jiraiya, the Gama (Toad) Sennin (Hermit). He's at the gates right now." The chūnin said.

"Well, apparently there is another because that's where Naruto is and he is fighting that thing." Shikamaru said. The chūnin and some of the civilians looked at him with shock before turning their attention back to the clash. Shikamaru just looked on with a multitude of questions. Where, when, who, where and why just came up in his head. He put that all in the back of his mind right now and prayed for his friend's victory.

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Gamabunta fired another ball of compressed water at beast. It countered with a ball of compressed air. The two jutsu clashed, creating a swirl of wind and water that nearly tore the forest below them into pieces. Gamabunta looked at the demon who was laughing like a crazy man.

"This is not good Naruto. When he gave control over to his demon he has become stronger. If this continues we will not be able to hang on." Gamabunta said. He was angry with himself. He had been out of practice for a while and it was showing. Naruto was also angry because he had no idea what to do. They couldn't let this demon win. That's when something happened.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" a voice shouted. A large plume appeared and out of the smoke, shot a large blue snake. It moved quickly and restrained Shukaku.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Shukaku roared and attempted to pry the serpent off.

"Holy shit, that's Nagai! That means…" Naruto said but he was cut off by a loud roar.

"Uzumaki Naruto, what the hell do you think that you are doing?!" Anko's voice roared. Naruto was clearly terrified as his onee-san has entered the fray.

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Authors' Notes: Okay, true story time. This is actually what was supposed to happen in this chapter. I honestly wanted to have Anko enter the fray and help Naruto fight Shukaku. However, I changed it because I did not want to mess with the plot of the original. I also felt that it would not work among you. When I started the re-write, it beat it into my head that this was the way I was going to do it. I feel that it will come out much better with Anko in the fray. So, I hope that you like the change.