True Jinchuriki

Chapter 17

Battle of Demons, as observed by foolish mortals

Disclaimer: if I owned Naruto, I would make him smarter or at least more powerful. If anything I would rather that the main character was Shikamaru or lee.

There has been something gnawing at my mind since last spring; I have come up with a good story idea, one that I have been planning a lot but haven't had time to actually write down. I really want to write it but I can barely keep my two stories updating as things are so I will probably wait until the summer to start of it.

-XXX-

"Alright let the battle between Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure no Sato and Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto from Konohagakure no Sato, begin!" the proctor vanished in a puff of smoke.

As soon as the proctor gave the go ahead, the ground began to crack and a shockingly large amount of sand burst from the cracks.

Gaara gestured with his hand and the sand flew towards his opponent.

-XXX-

Kakashi paled considerably, that was a lot more sand than he had seen Gaara control before.

"To think, that all this time he had such a powerful ability, even during the preliminaries. I never stood a chance." Lee's voice was surprisingly quiet. Next to him the rooky nine sat in dumb shock at the magnitude of the sand ninja's power.

-XXX-

Naruto dodged the first blast of sand and dashed towards his opponent, displaying an impressive level of speed. He neared Gaara's shield of sand and threw a punch.

The sand came to defend, and in the stands Sasuke scoffed. He was faster than that, and he hadn't gotten through, did that dobe really thing that he could really get past that sand with his inferior skills?

He got his answer when Naruto's fist went through the hardened wall of sand and struck Gaara across the jaw.

The crowd gasped at the show of pure power.

Gaara jumped back and touched the spot he had been punched. Then a psychotic gleam appeared in his eye.

With a roar he launched wave after wave at his opponent who just barely dodged the attacks.

Naruto charged again but this time the sand suddenly shifted and shot upward around him, trapping him in a cocoon of sand. "Sabaku Kyu!" Gaara's extended hand clenched into a fist, "Sabaku Souso!"

There were cries of horror from the crowd as the sand crushed inward and blood began to drip from the cocoon.

-XXX-

Kakashi was in a state of shock, there was no way that Naruto would let himself be beaten so easily, he had defeated plenty of strong opponents. So what did this mean? He turned to look to his left. An entire section of the stands had been marked off as Naruto's personal cheering area; it contained plenty of people who the boy had helped at some time during one of his missions.

That's when he noticed it, Naruto's allies weren't mourning his passing, and they weren't outraged by his loss. They were…putting up defenses?

Haku's ice had risen in a thin sheet between Naruto's supporters and the arena, Yugito was controlling some kind of tiny balls of blue flame as they danced around the outside of the section. Finally Zabuza began the hand signs for a summoning technique.

Kakashi's eye widened in understanding and a little bit of terror. "Guys, I think we should get behind that ice screen."

-XXX-

As the sand fell back to the ground a chuckle broke through the confusion of the arena. Then another, finally the chuckles escalated to an insane laughter. From the bloody sand rose a single mangled shape. As the audience watched in morbid fascination the battered body in front of them began to regenerate. The bones snapping back into place with sickening pops and cracks. The flesh seamed to boil and thick steam began to rise from the body. The laughter faded away and the figure straightened up to its full height.

"Well that was an interesting experience." Naruto grinned viciously, "my turn."

-XXX-

Kakashi and his fellow jounin instructors shuffled their teams quickly behind the protective barrier of ice. A large, blue serpentine dragon wrapped around the area for additional protection.

"Why do we have to move back here sensei, we had such good seats back there!" Sakura wined loudly.

"Troublesome girl, don't you feel that aura? This battle is about to go to a whole new level." Shikamaru commented in a tired voice.

-XXX-

Shikamaru's words proved true as a torrent of crimson flame burst from Naruto's body, the flames swirled and twisted in the air forming a tower of horrifying red energy.

The feeling of bloodlust spread through the entire arena, driving many people to soil themselves.

Still bathed in the brilliant energy the young demon container launched himself towards his opponent with even greater speed than before. The sand rose to block his attack but he simply slashed through it with his sword; the crimson charka around the blade pulsing brightly and causing the sand to be repelled outward.

More sand rose from the ground around his feet but he was no longer there. Gaara wracked his brain for a plan; this boy was much more dangerous than any opponent he had faced before.

In the stands Sasuke stared in amazement at the power that radiated off of his teammate. This strength, this amazing aura of power was incredible. Where did he get such power? Why did that stupid dropout have such power while he didn't?

A stray tendril of sand nearly struck the stands but one of Yugito's fireballs suddenly veered off course and intercepted the attack, crystallizing the sand instantly. Kakashi gave a low whistle, this area of the stands was very well defended, he had seen Haku's ice in action once before and he knew that it was some solid stuff, and those fireballs seemed to destroy anything that came near them, a very impressive combination, and then there was still a powerful summon of some kind. "I see Naruto has spent no expense on making sure that his supporters are well cared for." He commented as he bought a steaming bowl of ramen from the middle aged cook who had set up shop in the stands.

"A most youthful gesture; Naruto-kun is certainly most thoughtful when it comes to his allies! Even after the terrible treatment he has received all his life!" For once Kakashi found himself fully in agreement with one of Gai's outlandish exclamations.

Back on the arena floor Naruto was moving like a monkey on crack. He hopped and rolled out of the way of the sand attacks while grinning the whole time.

Gaara forced more chakra into his sand, the superior control granted by the additional chakra allowed him to keep up with his opponent for a moment, just enough for one hit.

The strike knocked the blond demon container into the air but he recovered quickly. A shocking amount of energy gathered around his left hand and formed a boiling crimson claw. With a swift motion he launched the claw forward stretching it far past the length of his arm to latch onto the ground and then pull him towards it.

People gasped, it seemed as though close range attacks weren't all he was good at.

Naruto grinned wider and made a single hand sign. Eight clones phased into existence all around him.

-XXX-

"He knows Kage Bushin?" Kurenai asked with some surprise.

"He's always full of surprises; I have seen him fight against jounin on even terms before. He didn't quite win but he was close. And that is without 'that power'." Kakashi commented proudly, "he really is sensei's son."

Kurenai looked at him with surprise, she had suspected that he was stronger than he let on but to fight toe to toe with a jounin was far beyond what she had expected.

Kakashi continued, "I can't even imagine how hard he must have trained himself to get to this level." Nearby, Gai and Lee seemed to burst into flames with their eyes glowing with fierce determination.

-XXX-

Gaara was getting nervous, he had been having enough trouble with only one Naruto but now he had to face nine! To make matters worse the clones were working together like a well oiled machine; defending each other and striking at any weak point that appeared due to his attacks.

Naruto evaded another tendril of sand and launched a charka claw at Gaara's face. The boy dodged but was thrown off balance just long enough for another Naruto to strike him with a kunai. Gaara's sand armor held under the blow and he countered by sending a wave of sand outwards from himself, dispelling the clones. However he was thrown backwards by a blast of pure power that originated ahead of him.

Gaara back flipped and landed on his feet while launching his Suna Shuriken at the source of the last attack.

Naruto deflected the flying spikes of sand with his clawed hand and charged forward like a bullet.

The battle turned into a close range brawl for a moment before both fighters vanished and reappeared at opposite ends of the arena.

The observers were at the edge of their seats; this was the most exiting battle they had seen so far.

The ninja who were grading the chunin hopefuls frowned.

"This is ridiculous, they are so strong." One of them stated, "Is this really the chunin exams? This looks more like a jounin battle!"

"They aren't using any real strategy, just beating on one another again and again." His partner commented.

"They showed plenty in their previous matches." The first one countered, "Now they are just fighting, I don't think ether actually believes that he might lose this."

"No," the examiners turned to see an older man with long white hair and red lines on his face as if he was crying blood. "Gaara already knows that he will lose; but he is trying to deny it. He is like an animal that has been backed into a corner."

Back in the arena the two fighters stood still and stared at each other.

"Why did you stop?" Gaara's voice broke the silence.

"Now, now Gaara-san shouldn't you be happy that I am giving you a break? I just noticed that you were holding back against me." Naruto's grin turned vicious, "if you continue to do so you will die."

Everyone froze, that was holding back?

"I have not gotten enough time to activate 'that' without it this is my level."

"You have time now, I will wait." Naruto walked over to the wall and leaned on it.

In the stands many of the more experienced ninja had to stop themselves from hitting their heads on the nearest wall, how dumb do you have to be to let your enemy activate their most powerful technique?

Gaara said nothing while the sand rose around him forming a solid orb of sand.

Naruto leaned back and waited while the sand orb began to pulse. Suddenly the orb exploded sending sand flying everywhere and revealing Gaara's new form.

His right arm was incased in sand as was the right side of his face and torso, the sand shaped to form the features of a great demonic raccoon.

Naruto continued to watch as the sand expanded slowly covering Gaara's torso, head, and his left arm while simultaneously growing a tail of sand.

Naruto grinned and took a step away from the wall, "well now this is what I'm talking about." The thin sheet of crimson energy that swirled around him began to bubble and grow; a fox-like tail of charka formed behind him and began to move in a strange almost hypnotic pattern. Suddenly to the surprise of everyone present his hair began to turn red, and the whisker marks on his cheeks turned darker and thicker as his ears grew pointed and he hunched down onto all fours.

The two demonic ninja seemed to examine each other for a moment before charging.

The two traded blows at speeds too great for most of the audience to see. Their blows resonated through the arena causing the ground to crack and strong winds to knock off people's hats.

The Hokage watched in amusement as the man beside him held onto his hat like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

In the stands many people looked over the to the one section that wasn't being affected at all, the thin wall of ice stopped sand and wind from getting into the audiences eyes and the small balls of flame destroyed any of the rubble that was thrown up by the battle.

To add insult to injury the people in the 'safe zone' were sitting around laughing and eating various snacks that were being sold by a small group of vendors who didn't feel like leaving the region.

The council members were especially upset, not only were they not being served that well but the people in that section were all rooting for Konoha's resident demon!

Back in the arena the two competitors came together again in a violent display of strength; both caught each other's fists and were now struggling for control while dueling violently with their tails.

The battle seamed to stop for a moment as the tails moved back as though catching their breath. Suddenly however the crimson tail of translucent energy shifted and bulged before splitting into three then again into nine! Gaara's eyes grew wide as he jumped out of the way of the flailing tails which proceeded to tear apart the arena and launch large chunks of stone at the raccoon boy.

Gaara knocked them away with his tail and arms then took a deep breath and exhaled a blast of wind and sand.

Naruto's tails twisted around him in a shell of energy, then as the wind stopped the shell opened outwards going back into a series of tails.

Suddenly he was behind Gaara going through a series of hand signs, as he finished he took a deep breath and exhaled an orb of fire that filled a twenty foot radius; Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!

As the flames subsided (nearly three minutes latter) a molten blob of glass remained, there was nothing in the center.

-XXX-

Sasuke shook with barely suppressed rage, this freak knew his technique! That was his signature move! While it wasn't a secret technique it was his specialty, and now that loser was using it to greater effect than he himself ever did!

And that charka was insane! How could he have such a huge amount of charka, he was just some loser! A small voice appeared in the back of his head, saying that Naruto was the son of the youndaime who was a genius, but it was then overridden by another voice that argued that if he was really the son of the youndaime then he wouldn't have been treated the way that he was by the villagers. Surely they would have admired and honored the son of their greatest hero, the man who slew the great Kyuubi no Youko.

According to history the fourth had no family; therefore Naruto couldn't be his son. There was no way that that loser could be the Fourth's son, but how could he find out? "Kakashi-sensei, did you know the fourth personally?"

Kakashi never looked away from the arena, "he was my sensei. And adoptive father, after I was left an orphan he took me in and looked after me until I was old enough to look after my self. Why?" Kakashi's words startled most of the genin because they hadn't known of his connection with the greatest man in Konoha's history. The senseis were surprised by the fact that Kakashi had actually spoken that much.

"So you knew him well, then perhaps you can answer this, why were we told in the academy that he didn't have a family then?"

Kakashi looked straight at him, "there are many reasons; first he was a very private person, next his wife died in child birth. And lastly the council refused to admit that Naruto was the fourth's son, they hate him for reasons beyond his control and refuse to admit that he could possibly be related to the fourth. Many of them would refuse under oath to admit that he is even human." The last part was more or a bitter mutter but Sasuke heard it.

Sakura however didn't get the hint, "so does that mean that Naruto-baka really is youndaime-sama's son?" Sakura quickly became the target of several very angry stares.

"Sakura, why are you still calling him that; you have been on Naruto's team for several months and yet you still call him that. What are you delusional?" Sakura stared shocked at Ino, "he completely trashed Neji-senpai, and now he's fighting that sand guy evenly. That guy even beat Sasuke!"

Those around them looked at her oddly for a moment; all of a sudden a loud voice broke through the silence, "wow so she isn't a total idiot!" Kurenai looked over at the blond haired woman behind her. She was smirking slightly and wore mostly purple clothing with yellow trim; her blond hair was tied back in a braid. The most striking feature about her was her eyes. They were slanted and had slit pupils like the eyes of a cat.

"Yugito-san, please stay focused, they are about to go up another power level." Came a voice from near the front of the stands.

"Sure thing Haku-kun," she turned and walked back to her Position in the middle of the area she was protecting but not before giving Sakura a look of utter contempt.

-XXX-

Naruto stood calmly in the center of the arena, his tails having blended back into one, which swayed lazily behind him.

After a moment he suddenly jumped straight up as a claw of sand ripped out of the ground beneath his feet. Gaara's demonic form climbed out of the ground with a large smile on its strange inhuman face.

Naruto landed a short distance away and smiled back, "so how do you like it? Did you realize yet?"

Gaara's voice was strangely disfigured by his current form but he managed to speak, "the ability you used in your last fight, this is the same."

"Correct! The Ryukawa no yoroi was originally designed for this purpose! I created this technique recently so that I could channel greater amounts of demonic chakra through my body." The audience grew more confused, those who believed him to be a demon wondered as to why he couldn't channel chakra through his body, while others wondered what he meant by demonic chakra.

"This is the true power of the Ryukawa no yoroi, the power to grant me regenerative power and physical enhancements of the Kyuubi No Yoko!" Naruto grinned widely as he finished his statement, "just as that shell gives you the strength of Ichibi no Tanuki; Suna no Shukaku!"

In the crowd the jounin grew more nervous, they had heard legends of the battles between Jinchuriki that happened in the shinobi wars. There were still places in the world that no plants would grow and the landscape was scarred from such battles.

The two boys seemed to examine one another for a few more seconds before they launched themselves towards one another. Once more the stadium played host to a battle of titans where nether could come out on top. The two Jinchuriki fought with reckless power that destroyed anything and everything that seemed even close to getting in their way. Claws slashed, tails thrashed and the stadium was utterly trashed by their wild attacks.

Finally Naruto struck a blow to his opponent that wasn't interrupted; Gaara was thrown backwards into a large crater, throwing up dust. But as the audience sat in morbid fascination they heard a strange sound, like massive amounts of sand pouring over itself.

As the dust cleared a giant form rose from the shattered ground. The giant raccoon roared in rage as its paw came down on the whiskered youth. All throughout the stadium people sat frozen in fear of the monstrosity before them.

The raccoon raised one of its paws clutched into a fist and brought it towards its face. However before that he could do anything else an explosion of smoke burst from the closed paw and a glowing, shining, serpentine form rose towards the heavens, the serpentine form seemed to twist and wrap around itself in a mesmerizing pattern before it settled into the form of a massive dragon. (Think along the lines of dragonball Z; which I don't own ether)

The dragon's shining platinum scales shone in the bright sunlight and its golden long mane of hair blew in the wind, in its clawed hand it wielded a naginata of terrifying proportions that looked to be made of a single piece of molded silver. Adding to this image of majesty and splendor, was a certain young man, his ripped and tattered cloak was soaked in blood and his hair messier than ever but he stood proudly with his arms folded over his chest and his bloody mantel waving in the breeze (splattering some unfortunate audience members).

The ninja present could only gape in utter shock at how closely he resembled the fourth; even that aura that radiated off of him giving a sense of confidence and authority was the same. He looked calmly at the giant raccoon before him and began to speak.

"How have you been Ryuujin? I apologize for summoning you unexpectedly like this but I appear to have bitten off a chunk that was a bit too big for me to chew…of course then I remembered those huge teeth of yours." He smirked slightly at his own joke.

"I see what you mean, so tell me how do you want this one? Dead of alive." The massive reptile's voice seemed to remind many of the third, it was filled with wisdom and age but there was an undercurrent of amusement that permeated the air.

"I mentioned this one when we last spoke, he is one of those who I have targeted but I doubt that he would come peacefully." Naruto's voice was to quiet for those in the stands to hear but the great dragon nodded slightly. "Very well, then it is time for a battle. I have not had a good fight in over a hundred years."

The two great beasts launched themselves at one another, the naginata came down on the raccoons shoulder and Shukaku's claws went straight for the dragon's head, only to be stopped by a small crimson form. "I hope you didn't forget me, Gaara; don't think that Ryuujin is your only foe right now"

The two behemoths separated one more as Gaara worked quickly to reform the lost chunk of his shoulder. And again the two giants clashed naginata and claws met in the middle and sprang apart only for the two tails to meet and duel for dominance until they two separated. Gaara's sand body gathered wind and launched a swirling orb of wind only to be met with the dragon's own technique. The king of dragons took a deep breath and pulled his head back before launching it forward and releasing a blast of searing flames, "Ryuuka!" (dragon fire) the two attacks met with a devastating explosion, that was sent back at the giant raccoon, causing much of it's body to melt under the intense heat, the glassy form shattered and the sand began to reform, but Naruto would have none of that, he launched himself from his perch on Ryuujin's head and launched the most devastating attack in his arsenal, the intense amounts of chakra he gathered were collected in his mouth before being launched directly at his opponent. The wave of crimson energy that ripped across the arena shattered what little control Gaara still had over his sand, the chakra used to animate it was overwhelmed and dispersed leaving him exhausted and out of power.

Gaara looked up at his opponent, he had lost. The boy in front of him had overwhelmed him in a contest of pure power. He did not feel outrage or fear; only a kind of numbness.

"How, how are you so much stronger than me?" his question was not loud, it was not a demand just a question. He looked at the one who had beaten him and tried to find the one thing that made him so strong.

Naruto looked back at him, "do you have dreams, ambitions, goals? Do you seek something that you don't have? Have you ever truly fought for a reason besides bloodlust? If you have no true reason to grow stronger then you never will. If your goal in life is to kill then you will grow more powerful to a degree and then you will die. To grow strong you need a true goal, a goal that you cannot reach without changing everything about yourself."

"Goals you say? I am a weapon for my village just as you are for yours; there is no place in such an existence for personal goals."

"I am nobody's weapon!" Naruto's voice was colder than the frozen north in the winter. "I will not bow to some fools who will not see me for who I am. That is why I formed the dragon's teeth." Naruto's voice grew softer at the end, and he simply hopped off of Ryuujin's head (who then disappeared into smoke) and onto the ground (from over twenty meters, straight up) he walked slowly towards his opponent.

"These dragon's teeth then are part of your goals." Gaara continued his questions.

"The dragon's teeth are a tool, a weapon against my foes and a shield for my allies. They are those who have seen pain and suffering far beyond what most humans can comprehend. They are those who have felt the pain of loss and betrayal, and have grown strong because of it. The dragon's teeth are warriors who will not allow any other to experience the same life that they have lived, as long as we still have life in our limbs we will fight to protect those who deserve it." Naruto's eyes shone with an inner flame and as he walked closer with each word spoken, until he stood over his foe. "Will you join us?" he reached out a hand, an offer of friendship that Gaara had never before received.

"You would accept one such as me? A demon that killed his own mother and uncle; who killed dozens of ninja from his own village, without second thought." Gaara's incredulous words seemed to echo in the silent arena.

"So what if you killed a few ninja from your village, that is the fate of us Jinchuriki. We always end up getting betrayed, lied to, attacked and otherwise assaulted by our supposed comrades." Naruto's laugh sent shivers through the crowds yet again. One thought was on everyone's mind, this kid is really messed up.

"So tell me Gaara, will you join us? Will you become that which the people of this world fear most of all? Will you fight to protect those who are hated and mistreated from their tormentors?" Naruto's words seemed to strike a cord in some people, did he really think so lowly of those around him? Were all people just vicious monsters who consume their own if they find even a shred of weakness in his eyes? The answer was beyond a doubt yes. "so what do you say, will you continue to live as a weapon for a bunch of fools who consider you to be nothing more than an unstable weapon, to be used and then destroyed to prevent it from turning on them? Or will you join us and forge your own path."

"if I protect those weaker than me like you say…" he trailed of for a moment, "…will they love me?" gaara's words were too quiet for anyone but Naruto to hear.

"I can promise you nothing, only respect and friendship. Maybe they will, not all I am sure of that, but there will be those who will, at least a little."

"I will accept it then, I will join you." With these words he reached out a battered hand and clasped the offered one.

Naruto pulled him to his feet and retracted his hand, drawing a fang shaped necklace from inside his coat and offering it to his newest ally.

-XXX-

Well that is this chapter for you, as many of you have surely noticed I have been updating…rarely. Well the fact is I have been running into problems with my story, Naruto is strong…too strong. I will not change this but I suspect that I will change the focus of the story more to his allies and friends.

Basically he will take a more supportive role in the story, as a leader and superior and not as the primary fighter. Essentially he will let his underling do most of the work and only step in when the enemy is someone really powerful; don't worry however he will still fight a bit and this won't happen until after the retrieval arch.

I was originally going to incorporate a long speech by Naruto about the origins of Jinchuriki and the cause of the tailed beasts' bloodlust but I couldn't fit it in.

If you ask for it nicely I could add it at in the end note of one of my latter chapters or maybe I will find a place for it in my story.

I think I will keep putting little ideas at the end of my chapters for the fun of it, or adding some hind of mini stories.