Disclaimor: I don't own Naruto.
A/N: Ok some things I want to address...
1) I will NEVER consider criticism a FLAME (Unless you just start saying I'm stupid or my fic sucks for no apparent reason)...I've been getting a lot of it lately and to be honest i'm glad, it helps me improve my writing.
2) The last chapter...could have gone multiple
different ways...I received a review telling me that Naruto should've
acted differently...and maybe the reviewer was right...but in the
end...it could have gone multiple ways...and i just picked the way i
though would be best...examples... (I'm not going to spend much time
with explaining why i did what i did...in my opinion it's like, having
to explain a joke...it doesn't make it funny)
a. In the beggining Naruto could've gone to Kakashi for training (I thought, even though Naruto was smarter and had a different personality, he would've gone with this action)
b. He could've gone with Yamato, being another master of wood jutsus (Could've worked out and was a likely action...but i still believe Naruto would have gone Kakashi).
c. Trained alone...Blow off both Kakashi and Yamato and just train alone, kind of like he did with Jiraiya (Also very likely...)
--In the end...i chose Kakashi...--
3) Lol...i'm getting lot's of criticism about Naruto's sister...to be honest...i didn't expect a lot of it...
a. First thing i wanted to address was that i will NOT make her all powerful...
b. Second thing...it was never my intention to have her learn MOKUTON...i just beleive that it would be a natural assumption...
Anway...only about half of you are reading this...so lets just get on with the fic...ENJOY...
Chapter 10: The Demonic Forest vs The Bloody Desert!
Naruto sighed, 'Lazy bastard…'
Shikamaru had just practically handed the Sand girl the match…though he did put up a good fight, and captured her in his Shadow bind…he just gave up claiming that he didn't have enough chakra to continue through with the match…
Gekko Hayate raised his right arm, "THE WINNER OF THE MATCH IS SABAKU NO TEMARI!"
The crowd roared with cheers…
Naruto was currently sitting in the crowd, between Sakura and Haku. Chouji was to Haku's left, after Chouji was Shino, Kiba, and Hinata. To Sakura's right was Ino. Ino was currently screaming out…unkind things about Shikamaru…
The Lazy ninja walked back up to take his seat right next to Ino. She bonked him on the head, "IDIOT! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY LOSE TO HER!"
Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome…"
Naruto sighed and looked around…The Hokage, as did the Kazekage, had his own private seat near the top of the Arena. Rei, her grandfather, and the other representatives of the Hayate clan, were sitting near the top…
"THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE…SHINO ABURAME VS SABAKU NO KANKURO."
Shino got up and walked down the steps to the arena, as did Kankuro…
They both faced each other…
'This guy is pretty tough…I should save my chakra…it'll be best if I was at full power when the real fighting starts', thought Kankuro.
Gekko was about to start the match, when Kankuro raised his hand, "I give up…"
The crowd was stunned, but then started booing and hissing Kankuro…
Gekko, through his illness, tried to yell over the crowd, "THE WINNER IS SHINO ABURAME!"
Though he won the match, Shino was upset, though he didn't show it; he wanted to fight so he could show the judges the full extent of his abilities.
Both genins walked back up the stairs…
---Hokages Seat---
Yamato leaned over to speak with the Hokage… "Sir…what if we allow Shino to fight Zaku instead?"
The third nodded, "I was thinking the same thing…but we'll wait for now…we'll go on with the rest of the matches…the next one should be Sasuke vs Neji, correct?"
The ANBU nodded, "Yes sir!"
"Are they here yet?"
Yamato shook his head, "They're both late sir…"
The third grimaced, "Kakashi's bad habits better not have rubbed off on Sasuke…Then perhaps we should let Shino fight after all-" The old man paused when he noticed that Gekko was announcing the next match.
--Arena---
"THE NEXT MATCH WILL BE…SASUKE UCHIHA VS NEJI HYUUGA."
The crowd roared at the prospect of getting to see a fight between the two greatest clans of Konaha.
Neji Hyuuga walked into the arena slowly.
The crowd waited patiently for Sasuke…
---Hokage Seat---
The old man grimaced, 'Usually Sasuke would be disqualified…but by the look of the crowd…perhaps I can cut him some slack…' "We're going to allow Sasuke some extra time…in form Gekko-" The Hokage was cut off by the display in the arena…
---Arena---
Both Kakashi and Sasuke appeared in a swirl of leaves, making the crowd cheer.
Gekko sighed, "Kakashi…get out of the arena…"
Kakashi took this time to notice where he actually was… "Whoops…sorry…" With that he poofed away in smoke, reappearing right next to Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai, who were sitting higher up in the stands, by themselves.
Gekko turned towards Sasuke, "Are you ready?"
Sasuke nodded, he was wearing a black shirt, with the Uchiha symbol on the back, and matching pants…
Neji, had on his normal outfit…
The two nins stared each other down.
"FIGHT!"
"BYAKKUGAN!"
"SHARINGAN!"
Neji activated his blood limit, creating veins around his eyes, and slightly showing his pupils. 'This is one of the only opponents who fate also smiles upon…but I WILL WIN!'
Sasuke activated his blood limit as well, his two-comma eye bloodline showing. 'I can't let myself get hit by his Jyuuken.'
Neji got into his Jyuuken stance.
Sasuke got into his clan's standard fighting style.
Sasuke was the first to make a move. He placed his hands into the ram seal and started flaring his chakra into a point in front of him.
Neji's eyes widened, 'Why is he concentrating all of his chakra into a single point? Wait…the area around that point is heating up…'
Sasuke continued concentrating his chakra… Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment, 'NOW!' The point in front of Sasuke exploded in a blaze. Sasuke then started flaring his chakra, ropes of flames started circling his arms, legs, and torso. Sasuke chose this moment to rush Neji…
Sasuke sent his fist at Neji's head, twirling some fire around it at the same time. Neji quickly sidestepped Sasuke's fist, though some of the fire slightly singed his hair.
Neji quickly jabbed at Sasuke's chest, hoping to knock him out quickly.
With his Sharingan, Sasuke saw it coming and easily dodged it, at the same time using his momentum to maneuver his body into a cartwheel, and brining himself into a handstand, he then quickly set his leg at Neji's head, surrounding it in rings of fire at the same time as well…
'He's just going to keep this up…I'm going to have to risk taking the hit…' Neji thought.
Sasuke's leg connected with Neji's arm, sending flames at Neji; luckily for the Hyuuga, his arm blocked most of Sasuke's flames away from his face. Neji quickly recovered, and sent a barrage of Jyuuken strikes straight at Sasuke's leg. He managed to close many of Sasuke's tenketsu points before the Uchiha was able to get away.
Sasuke limped on his left leg, his right leg being mostly sealed, Sasuke growled as his fire died down, 'Damn it…I knew I shouldn't have tried fighting him with that style…' thought the Uchiha as he quickly pulled out some kunai.
Neji, who had a few mild burns, quickly launched himself at the Uchiha. Before Sasuke could move, Neji quickly started jabbing him with Jyuuken. Sasuke didn't even have a chance to move, a moment later though Neji growled and stopped attacking Sasuke, as the Uchiha transformed into a log.
Neji quickly saw Sasuke behind him.
Sasuke hurled kunai at the Hyuuga. Neji smirked and started to spin, "Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin)!" He screamed as chakra appeared all around, spinning in the shield that labeled it as the 'Heavenly Spin'.
Neji grinned at the Uchiha as he came out of his spin. "It doesn't matter what you do against me…you'll never get passed my ultimate defense."
Sasuke sneered on the outside, but on the inside his mind was going a mile a minute, 'Hmmm…the Kaiten spun in a clockwise motion…I wonder…it's worth a try. But it won't work with just any fire jutsu, I don't have enough control…I'll have to use…THAT JUTSU!'
Sasuke quickly grabbed a set of shurikan and hurled them at the Hyuuga, afterwards he quickly started doing some hand seals, and at the same time he started getting feeling back in his leg.
Neji quickly spun into another Kaiten to avoid getting hit by Sasuke's shurikan, when he came out of the spin, his eyes widened.
After completing the chain of seals, Sasuke grabbed his right wrist with his left hand. He started gathering chakra into his right hand. The chakra burst into flames as his hand was completely consumed by his own fire, but it didn't seem to pain him at all. Slowly and slowly the fire started to condense. After a few moments the flames had compressed into a small glowing red orb, heat and flames coming from the orb. Sasuke pointed the orb at Neji and started running as quickly as possible at the Hyuuga, silently thanking Kakashi for helping him train his speed.
Neji quickly started to spin, his chakra flared, "Hakkeshō Kaiten!"
Sasuke reached Neji, or actually Neji's chakra shield, and hurled his glowing orb into it, "Ryuusei Sumasshu (Meteor Smash)!" The orb and the Kaiten connected, the orb exploded sending flames, not straightforward, but along the same course that the Kaiten was following. The flames mixed with the Kaiten creating a shield, not out of chakra, but out of pure fire.
Inside the shield, Neji was not fairing well at all, 'It's to hot…' His eyes widened as he suddenly found himself lacking oxygen, 'I can't breath!'
Sasuke growled as he stared at the flaming heavenly shield, 'Maybe that wasn't-"
BOOM
His thoughts suddenly paused when the Kaiten exploded, sending waves of flames and chakra outwards, knocking the Uchiha back several yards, he landed with a thud, unconscious.
Neji appeared, standing for a moment, but quickly fell to the ground as well, unconscious.
Medic nins rushed out to the two fighters…
Gekko raised his hand, "The round is a double knock out…"
Even though the match ended in a tie…the crowd cheered for the two young men.
---Kakashi---
Kakashi groaned, ignoring Gai's ranting about youthfulness, 'Sasuke's Ryuusei Sumasshu…it's made by completely mixing Sasuke's chakra and chakra created flames…because of that it was able to mix with the chakra from Neji's Kaiten very easily…the result was the oven that Neji was placed in, and of course fire burns oxygen…which will explain how Neji fell so quickly. However, because Sasuke's and Neji's chakra mixed in such an unstable manner…it reacted in that chain reaction…the result…was the explosion that Sasuke was caught in…Luckily for Neji, since he was spinning his chakra outward, the explosion flew outward, leaving him safe.' Kakashi sighed, 'In the end…it was a double-edged sword…caused by two ninjas, with two high level jutsu…'
---Medical Room (Sasuke)---
Sakura and Ino burst into the medical room with a cry of, "SASUKE-KUN!"
The Medical nin shushed them both and pointed them both to a bed.
A Medic nin was looking over Sasuke, "I can't undestand why…but these wounds aren't to bad…some medical ointment and you should be fully healed in a few days…though they shouldn't really give you any real problems…", analyzed the medic as she finished applying the ointment to Sasuke's burns, earning her a glare from both Sakura and Ino. After she finished, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a soldier pill, "Normally I would say you would regain your strength in about two days…but why don't you swallow this…you won't get it all back, but you should probably regain a decent portion of it."
Sasuke nodded and swallowed it.
The medic nin left and Sakura and Ino came closer…
---Medic Room (Neji)---
"…take this soldier pill…you won't regain all of your strength, but you should get a decent portion of it back…" said the nurse after she finished applying ointment to Neji's burns…
Neji nodded, "Thank you."
The nurse walked right pass the door, just as another girl walked in.
Neji stared at the girl, "Tenten…"
Tenten smiled sadly at the Hyuuga, "Are you alright Neji-" Tenten paused the second the door opened again…at the door was none other than Hiashi Hyuuga…
Hiashi looked at the boy sternly, whilst holding a letter in his right hand, "Neji…I think it's about time I give you a long overdue explanation…" muttered Hiashi. The older Hyuuga looked at both Tenten and the nurse, "Please give the two of us some time alone…"
The girls nodded and left…
---Medical Room (Sasuke)---
Kakashi walked into the medical room, "Yo!"
The three occupants looked at the copy ninja, but it was Sakura that spoke her mind, "Sensei? What are you doing here? What about Naruto? Isn't he fighting yet?"
Kakashi looked at Sakura, "I'm here checking up on Sasuke. Naruto isn't fighting yet. They decided since there was an extra fighter, to let Zaku fight Shino, since Shino's last opponent apparently gave up or something like that…"
Sakura nodded, "Yea…I can't understand why though…that Kankuro guy was really good in the preliminaries, I can't imagine why he would decide to just quit like that."
Kakashi sighed, "Just remember…look underneath the underneath…" He said as he walked out of the room.
Ino raised an eyebrow, "What's that suppose to mean?"
Sakura shrugged, "Kakashi-sensei always speaks in riddles."
Sasuke didn't like the way Kakashi sounded…
---Naruto---
Sakura and Ino sat back down in their seats…
They looked down to see that Zaku was unconscious, and Gekko had his arm raised.
"THE WINNER IS SHINO ABURAME!"
Sakura smiled, "Shino won I see…"
"Yea! He totally owned that Sound punk. He managed to clog those holes in his hands with his bugs…Zaku's arms practically bursted with chakra", laughed Kiba.
"THE NEXT FIGHT WILL BE, SABAKU NO GAARA VS NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
Naruto sighed and got up.
---Arena---
Naruto walked down into the arena.
Gaara teleported in the arena using his sand…
Both fighters faced off…
"Something still creeps me out about this kid…he reminds me of this mentally unstable blonde kid I know…"
Naruto's right eye twitched, 'You wouldn't be talking about me would you?'
"Oh! Yea…awkward…"
'Just keep your mouth shut…'
"FIGHT!", yelled Gekko Hayate as he jumped out of the arena…
Naruto's eye twitched again, 'Doesn't he usually wait against one of the walls?'
Gaara quickly sent some of his sand out at Naruto.
Naruto did a back flip and threw some shurikan at Gaara, however, Gaara's sand quickly blocked the projectiles though.
Naruto started off with some hand seals… "Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!" A giant root burst out of the ground in front of Naruto, and headed straight for Gaara.
Gaara's sand reacted quickly and stopped the root. Gaara's eyes widened when he saw the root was mere centimeters from his face.
Naruto smiled, 'I may not be as fast as Lee, but those roots can pack a punch.'
Naruto quickly started on another set of hand seals. "Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!" Another root burst out of the ground, but before it started moving towards Gaara, Naruto quickly threw a kunai at the tip, stabbing the sharp weapon against the root; and once again the root burst forward straight at Gaara. Once again Gaara's stand quickly stopped the root from getting any closer to him, but his eyes widened when he took a closer look at the kunai, it had an explosive note attached.
BOOM!
The note exploded sending Gaara flying backwards, luckily for him his sand once again protected him from taking damage, but not from getting pushed back against the wall.
Naruto appeared a few meters in front of Gaara and threw more kunai, with explosive tags, at the redheaded boy.
Gaara quickly created a sphere of sand around him, just as the kunai stabbed into it.
BOOM!
The kunai exploded once again, however this time Gaara's sand held up, not letting the explosions shake the sand nin, though the explosions left visible craters in the sand shield.
Naruto continued to grin, but his eyes widened when he felt something grab onto his right ankle and left arm. He looked down to see said limps were grabbed by sand. Naruto's eyes widened again, 'The first explosion…it must've spread the sand across the arena's grass so I couldn't see it.'
"Sabaku Kyū!" Gaara muttered as he lowered his sand shield. He started to raise his right hand.
More sand quickly rose up and some of it quickly wrapped around his waist.
Naruto quickly sent his right hand towards Gaara. He concentrated a large amount of HIS chakra into the bracelet, making it glow green, "Hayashi Shuushuku!" Six large vines exploded out of Naruto's bracelet and attacked Gaara.
Gaara's sand went on the offense and came up. Unexpectedly, the vines burst through Gaara's sand; though the sand managed to divert most of the vines into planting themselves against the wall, one of the vines wrapped itself tightly around Gaara's neck, the thorns piercing Suna no Yoroi (Armor of Sand), his last line of defense. Gaara's eyes widened when he felt multiple large thorns press against the skin of his neck…
The two fighters faced each other off once gain…
---Hokage Seats---
Sarutobi's eyes were at their widest, 'It's a draw…If Gaara crushes Naruto with his sand, Naruto will skewer Gaara's neck with thorns…and neither has the ability to use the replacement jutsu at the moment…' Sarutobi sighed… 'I didn't think anyone would ever beat that child…but it seems Naruto has forced him into a stalemate.'
---Gekko---
"Cough", the sickly ninja coughed… He quickly looked around…
The crowd was at the edge of their seats…he could clearly see it in all their eyes…
Gekko continued to watch both fighters…neither seemed to give the other any edge…Though he would never admit it…both fighters were starting to creep him out…Naruto with his endless smile…and Gaara with a impassive face…
Gekko looked at his watch, 'Hmmm…it's been fifteen minutes since the two stopped fighting…can't keep it up forever…'
Gekko walked up to the two fighters… "I DECLARE THE MATCH A DRAW! AS NEITHER COMBATANT CAN MAKE A MOVE WITHOUT KILLING THE OTHER…"
Gekko sighed as he heard both fighters growl…though they didn't show any irritation in their faces…they both dropped their attacks…
Surprisingly the crowd started to cheer for BOTH combatants.
---Hokage Seats---
The third sighed, 'The first round is over…and only two combatants remain…very unusual.'
That's when the third felt a kunai press against his neck, he turned to see the Kazekage behind him, he sneered, 'So it starts…' he muttered, glad that he had sent Yamato and his other ANBU away earlier…
The 'Kazekage' pulled the Third backwards into the darkness…
---The Arena---
Naruto was about to walk back up the steps, when he noticed something; many of the people in the seats were starting to fall asleep…
"NARUTO WATCH OUT!" He heard Sakura shriek. Naruto turned and quickly ducked under a kunai attack that would have killed him.
Kakashi appeared right in front of Naruto and knocked out the sound nin that was holding the kunai. Kakashi pulled something out of his pouch and flick it over to Naruto, "A soldier pill…eat it quickly…"
Naruto quickly swallowed it.
Kakashi ran off and quickly started fighting two more sound nins…
'What the hell is going on?'
"Idiot! It's obvious an invasion…Ahhh…this should be fun…blood and destruction is in the air…"
'Shut up…' Naruto thought to the fox as he quickly ran towards where everyone else was.
He met up with the rest of the Rookie 9, minus Sasuke. Haku, Lee, Tenten, and Neji were there as well…
"We've got to do something!" yelled Lee…
"NO! YOU have to return to the medical area!" scolded Tenten.
Lee sighed…
Haku rose from her spot, "Lee I'll help you get to a shelter…"
Lee sighed again but nodded.
"I'll help you…" claimed Tenten…
"Me to…" said Hinata…
The four nodded and ran off…
Naruto stared at the Arena. Gaara, who looked like he had a huge headache, was being carried off by Temari and Kankuro. Sasuke was quickly following them…He looked another way and saw that Rei, the Hayate representatives, and other nobles being led out of the arena by some ANBU.
Naruto quickly followed them.
"SASUKE-KUN!", Sakura shrieked as she followed them
The rest of the ninjas split off
---Outsie the Arena---
Naruto ran out of the arena and took a look around. He saw that Rei, the Hayates, and the other nobles were nowhere in sight… 'Man they're fast…'
Naruto looked around and quickly saw multiple giant snakes attacking the Konaha walls.
Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a Giant toad, wearing a blue, opened, robe and equipped with a tanto.
"GRRRRR! THAT FROG!"
'I think it's a toad...'
"SHUT UP!"
Naruto quickly saw what looked like a barrier created entirely of fire.
Naruto sighed, 'Better go after Sasuke…'
Naruto turned to see Shino and Shikamaru behind him.
"If you're going after Sasuke, I'll come to…"
"It's troublesome…but I'll accompany you as well…"
Naruto nodded and the three ran off…
---The forest---
Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru were following a the path that Gaara and Ssuke went
The three fighters paused when they saw a group of sound nin appear behind them.
"I'll take care of this troublesome task…you guys keep on moving…"
Naruto and Shino nodded before running off…
---Deeper into the forest---
Naruto and Shino continued jumping along the trees.
"Wait!", Shino muttered as the two fighters both landed on the next tree…
Naruto looked around, "Why?"
Shino held his hand up… "MOVE"
Both leaf nins jumped off of the branch that they were standing on just in time to avoid a flurry of kunai. Kankuro appeared on the branch, with his puppet Karasu…
"It'd be best if you let me handle him…you go after Sasuke…"
Naruto nodded and ran off…
Kankuro sneered at the situation… 'Great…I'm still stuck with the bug guy…how great…'
---Forest Clearing---
Naruto landed on a tree branch, very close to both Gaara and Sasuke…In the corner of his eye he could see Sakura bounded to a tree by sand…He took a good look at Gaara and his eyes widened. Half of Gaara's face was mutated into what looked like a Tanuki, and his right arm was enormous and mutated. 'What the hell…he's turned into some kind of monster…'
"Shukaku…"
'Who?'
"The Ichibi (One-tail). Another Biju like me…He has control over sand and wind…Seems like someone idiot sealed him into the kid…that Gaara brat is exactly like you…"
Naruto's eyes widened at this prospect…
Sasuke did a change of handseals, "Ryuusei Sumasshu!" He concentrated an orb of fire into his hand. He jumped at Gaara and hurled his attack into the sand nin. Gaara's sand quickly rose to block the attack…when the fire orb connected with the sand, it sent flames out towards Gaara…
When the flames cleared, it revealed that Gaara was covered by a large shield of glass…
Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw Gaara smile through the glass…Sasuke tried to jump away but before he could the shield of glass exploded outwards…Glass shards stabbed Sasuke in the arms, legs, and even the neck…however he quickly turned into a log…
Naruto looked to his right to see Sasuke hiding behind a tree branch; his right arm had pieces of glass through it…other than that he was fine.
Naruto rose from his crouching position, 'I guess now's the time…'
It was at this time that Gaara noticed Naruto, Gaara grinned and started doing hand seals…Sand gathered around the transformed Gaara and once again formed a sphere just as Gaara muttered, "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Forced Sleep Technique)!"
"Shit!"
'What's he doing?'
"A Transformation…"
Naruto's eyes widened as the sand sphere started increasing in size. After a few seconds it quickly started to disperse, sending sand upward…then the sand started to take the shape of some kind of animal…
"A Tanuki…"
The Tanuki was starting to tower above every tree in the forest… The biju was a light brown color, obviously do to the fact that it was made of sand, though it did have blue markings around his body. Dark black eyes with small yellow pupipls. And finally a humongous tail that was probably twice as long as Shukaku was…
'Any ideas…'
"Don't die…"
'Oh great…I would never have thought of that one…'
Kyuubi chuckled, "Ok…in all seriousness, you remember that jutsu Yamato gave you a few weeks ago?"
Naruto nodded his head. 'Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu.'
"That's the one…Yamato said it could reverse the effects of a Biju…what your going to do is save YOUR own chakra and smack the kid with the technique the second you get the chance. You won't be able to use MY chakra to power up that technique, I don't think EITHER of us will like the outcome…"
'Great…so if I'm saving my chakra for THAT technique…how do I fight the squirrel…'
"Heh…squirrel…I gotta remember that one…" chuckled Kyuubi, "I'll pump you full of MY chakra…Not only will your plants be stronger, but you'll be able to create a LOT more of them."
Naruto's eyes widened somewhat…they have never done that before…
"I'm only going to give you about one tails worth of chakra…that way you won't go feral during the battle and get us BOTH killed doing something stupid…You must remember two things though… The first thing is that you'll need some kind of anchor to the ground to use your Mokuton jutsus…if you get trapped by sands, Shukaku will block your chakra from passing through to the ground and we'll both die…"
Naruto nodded, 'And the second?'
"Whatever happens I want you to know…that I never really liked you…"
Naruto's eye twitched…
"He's finishing his transformation…"
Naruto turned to the Tanuki and his eyes widened, 'It's as big as a mountain…'
Naruto shuddered as he felt Kyuubi pumping him full of the demonic chakra, at the same time Naruto's eyes turned red and slitted. Naruto's whisker marks also darkened and widened.
Naruto growled and began doing the hand seals that he'd become accustomed to, "Makai Oni Jin Kuchini Shokubutsu no Jutsu (World of Spirits Demon Man Eating Plant Technique)", he muttered the new name for his demonic pumped jutsu.
A giant demonic plant burst out of the ground and Naruto quickly jumped on the bulb that signified the plant's mouth. The plant continued to grow straight up high until it was half as tall as Shukaku, the bulb was about four times as big as Naruto, the stem was about two meters in diameter. Naruto could see Gaara slumped over Shukaku's forehead, buried up to his waist; Gaara was obviously sleeping. 'Why is he sleeping?'
"He fell asleep to give Shukaku full control over his body; Shukaku having better control of wind and sand is obviously much stronger. You'll never be able to get close enough to Gaara to use your technique as long as Shukaku is in control…you'll have to wake the boy up."
Naruto smirked, 'Why don't I just kill him with the demonic form of my Moon Leaves? Drain him dry of blood?'
"NO! If you're going to kill him, do it after you hit him with the technique, otherwise Shukaku may find someway to gain control, then he may be nearly unstoppable."
Naruto grinned again.
It was about this time that Shukaku noticed the boy riding on the plant…after a few moments his eyes widened, "Is that you Kyuubi?", asked the giant Tanuki.
Naruto looked straight at Shukaku, "Kyuubi is in the same position with me, as you are with Gaara…"
"HA! The great Kyuubi no Kitsune was captured by mere humans. How rich!" Shukaku laughed.
"Grrrr…RIP HIS THROAT OUT BRAT!" The Kyuubi growled.
"I'll finish you off with one attack!" Shukaku opened his mouth and breathed in.
"FIND COVER! He's about to blast you with a ball of Air! It'll smash you into the ground!"
Naruto's eyes widened as he racked his brain, within a second he realized he had only one option; Naruto quickly jumped into the air, and his Demon plant looked up and opened his maw, catching Naruto it's mouth and gently closing it.
"Fuuton Renkuudan (Wind Release: Compressed Air Ball)!" Shukaku spat out a ball of air, at the demon plant, bending it backwards. Luckily for Naruto though, the plant's roots held… "Grrr…you won't be saved by one plant boy…"
Just as Shukaku had said that, four more plants, equal in size to the first, burst out of the ground and rose around Shukaku. The four new plants opened their maws and latched onto Shukaku.
Shukaku growled as the plants sunk their teeth into him…He quickly raised his tail and used it to smack the plant that Naruto was in. The plant's roots broke and it was sent flying; it's mouth opening at the same time releasing Naruto, however just as quickly as it happened, 'Naruto' transformed into a log. Shukaku growled again as he looked for Naruto…Five more plants burst out of the ground around Shukaku and latched onto him.
Using a free arm, Shukaku started ripping the plants off of him, his tail being to large to hit the plants that were too close to him.
By the time Shukaku finished pulling all the plants off, ripping them out of the ground at the same time, seven more demonic plants rose around him and latched onto him…
"ARE YOU GOING TO HIDE FOREVER BOY? KYUUBI!" Growled the Tanuki, "Fuuton Renkuudan!" Shukaku opened his mouth and started blasting wave after wave of compressed air balls out all over the forest.
---Sasuke---
Sasuke was quickly running away from the scene, with the winds rushing all around him from the wind balls explosions; with the recently released unconscious Sakura in his arms, He had use his flame taijutsu to CAREFULLY melt SOME of the sand into glass and shatter it, though he melted the sand that was NOT touching the pink haired ninja; after he shattered some of it, the rest of it fell apart. He looked back to the giant Tanuki, '…Naruto…', growled Sasuke, 'Yet again…you are stronger than I am…How…'
---Shukaku vs Kyuubi Naruto---
Shukaku finally finished blasting compressed balls of air all around him and started ripping plants off of his body once again…Just as quickly though, eight more grew in there place. This time only seven of them latched onto Shukaku. Shukaku quickly ignored the eighth plant and quickly concentrated on the other seven.
The eighth plant quickly got into a crouching-like position, the plant opened it's maw and let Naruto jump out of it and get on top of its head. Naruto crouched down as well, concentrating chakra to his feet at the same time… The plant quickly whipped it's head up and forward, Naruto using chakra and the plants momentum to spring high into the air, straight towards Gaara.
Naruto managed to rise about five meters above Gaara, and he threw a large rock in the straight at the red headed boy, smashing the sand nin in the head…
Shukaku's eyes widened, "NOOOO! I JUST WOKE UP!", the tailed beast screamed as Gaara woke back up, a big bruise on his head.
Gaara growled, 'He dispelled my jutsu.'
Naruto started doing hand seals, this time adding his own chakra to his hand seals. "Hokage Shiki Jijun Jutsu: Kakuan Nitten Suishu!" Naruto screamed as a seal appeared on his right hand, the Kanji 'Seat.'
As Naruto got close enough to Gaara; Gaara used sand to grab a hold of Naruto's limbs…
Gaara's growled as he met up with Naruto's grinning face, and just as quickly Naruto smashed his head into Gaara's, releasing him from Gaara's sand, afterwards the blonde smashed his palm into Gaara's naval, causing a stream of chakra to connect between the two.
Gaara growled as he felt Naruto's human chakra surge into him, taking away the remainder of the effects of Shukaku's demonic chakra, coursing through him, completely separating both into two separate beings once again, or at least as separate as a Jinchuriki could be…however, Naruto quickly shuddered as he felt a backlash effect from his OWN jutsu, and he quickly found himself deaf to Kyuubi's words…
'Actually this can't be too bad…', laughed Naruto in his mind.
With Shukaku's demon chakra gone, Gaara could no longer maintain the form of Shukaku, and the sand started to dissipate…
Then, unfortunately for the two nins, their was no where else to go…but down…
---The third---
The third slumped to the ground, broken…bruised…dead…
The noble Sarutobi fell and would not get back up…but he did not die invane…
He sealed the souls of the previous two Hokages so they could never be used again…and…
Orochimaru growled as he stared at his black, dead arms… 'Damn you…you old fool!' The sound four appeared right in front of Orochimaru… "We're retreating…MOVE!"
The four nodded as the five sound nins disappeared.
---Naruto and Gaara---
Both Jinchuriki fell to the ground…both of them physically drained…some blood streaming from their heads…
Gaara's scowl once again met Naruto's grin.
"How…how…were you able to…defeat me…I…am the…container of Shukaku…" growled the red head…
Naruto smirked, "And I'm the container of Kyuubi…in the end we were both created by the same means…"
Gaara growled, "I'll kill you…"
Naruto continued to smile, "That's your second problem…for some reason you decided to spend your life in a homicidal rage…"
Gaara's eyebrow raised, "And your different…TELL ME. Tell me what makes you this powerful?"
When Gaara asked the question, Naruto quickly started thinking…he thought about Rei…Iruka…Sakura…Sasuke…Kakashi…Yamato…Old man Hokage…Konahamaru, Moegi, and Udon…he thought about his class mates of the rookie nine…as well as Gai's team…lastly he thought about Haku…"I personally think that your strength is determined by your precious people…I think that if you have a lot of people to protect…that will make you strong…"
Naruto eyes widened slightly, 'What the hell am I thinking about…'
Naruto let out a small chuckle, "I'm fighting…for my own survival…your fighting for genocide…in the end our goals clash…your objective denies mine…and my desire goes against yours…I can't explain what it is that makes me so powerful Gaara…But I'll tell you that you won't find strength, or a purpose, in massacring everyone that comes in your path." Naruto chuckled, "You know…in another time…in another life…I think the two of us could have become the best of friends…"
Gaara's eyes widened, "Friends…" He quickly narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "Ridiculous…I have no need for such things…"
Naruto shrugged, "I used to think the same thing…but to be honest…I've grown somewhat fond of the people I've come to know as my teammates…In the end, I think they're part of the reason I didn't turn out to be completely like you…"
Gaara's eyes widened, "I…I…I…"
"Have a brother and sister that love you, even though they are terrified of you…if you want friends…let them be your first…" Naruto laughed…
Gaara continued to stare at the smiling boy…
Temari appeared right next to Gaara, "Are you alright…"
Gaara nodded, "Yes…"
Temari grabbed a kunai from her pouch and looked at Naruto with a sneer.
"NO! Leave him…"
Temari stared at Gaara in shock…but didn't disobey him. She quickly pulled her younger brother over her shoulder and started dragging him away…
Kankuro, a little bruised, met up with them a little ways down, he helped Temari carry Gaara.
"Temari…Kankuro…thank you…" muttered Gaara as he lost consciousness…
The two sand nins looked at each other in shocked before continuing the carry Gaara off…
Naruto sighed as he lost consciousness.
---Sasuke and Sakura---
Sasuke sat on the ground, resting his bruised body.
Sakura opened her eyes and saw Sasuke… "SASUKE-KUN! You saved me!"
Sasuke sighed, "It was only because Naruto distracted Gaara that I was able to save you…it looks like Naruto defeated him as well…"
Sakura's eyes widened, "Naruto did that…"
Sasuke nodded.
---Haku---
The browned haired girl landed in the clearing and quickly found Naruto…
She stared at the unconscious boy as she slowly walked up to him…
She kneeled down beside them and grabbed one of her kunai, slowly moving it to his neck…
Her face was full of indecision…
A/N: CLIFF HANGER! I hope you enjoyed it...
Stay tuned for the next chapter... "Twins Reunited"