Chapter 10: Change of Heart
Naruto and Haku stood side by side on the outskirts of Konoha waiting for their signal. The last month that the two had spent in Konoha had them in each other's company less then Haku would admit to feeling comfortable with, however, that was not without its benefits.
For one, Haku was able to meet with and hopefully aid a Jinchuuriki, one just like Naruto but with a lot more bloodlust. Secondly, Haku was able to pilfer more scrolls, or rather Naruto was and he had given them to Haku, on medical ninjutsu which he studied with after Naruto said that he should become as skilled as possible in the field to cover for the both of them. Already liking the field of jutsu and having a good amount of skill in it, Haku was quick to acquiesce to that request.
Naruto on the other hand had been doing more spy work and pondering. Spying on the late apprentice of the Serpent Sannin Mitarashi Anko from the shadows to see if she would be a possible threat or possibly be in league with the snake sannin himself. Both, he found, were very unlikely seeing the hatred she held for the man that was so intense that faking it seemed doubtful, not to mention that she seemed very devoted to the Sandaime Hokage for some reason – he could only assume that it had something to do with her abandonment at the hands of the Snake Sannin.
He had been pondering however what to do with the information he had 'acquired' about his mother and sister. His first impulse was to search for her immediately but when he thought about it, that was a rash and foolish thing to do, so instead, he had another plan which he was sure he would work, and if it didn't, it didn't really matter anyway. He doubted that there were many forces in the shinobi nations that could stop him from finding and obtaining something that he wanted.
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the stadium within Konoha's walls, the stadium that was used as a host for the chunin exams. Haku looked in Naruto's direction to see him with his eyes closed, seemingly in thought until they fluttered open and his partner turned in his direction, his eyes haded by his straw hat though he could still tell he was being looked at.
"The attack has begun, my Kage Bunshin dispelled itself and informed me that the Jinchuuriki from Suna has fled in the Northwest direction into the dense woodland surrounding Konoha" he concluded, ignoring Haku's eyes widening slightly "It appears Hatake-san taught the Uchiha is original technique and Uchiha-san used it to pierce Gaara-san's sand shield, the result was the three Suna genin fleeing for Gaara-san to recover before returning…"
Haku listened patiently. It wasn't that he was taking orders from Naruto or anything, but the blonde's analytical mind, tactical prowess and quick thinking was more often then not, the source of many ingenious plans and strategies for the two, so he just listened to his suggestion which he knows he'll follow anyway.
"You have already made contact with the Jinchuuriki of the Suna no Shukaku, I suggest you head them off and incapacitate them, we cannot have a demon on the loose reaping havoc on the Fire lords, not to mention that should he be allowed to do so, this invasion will most likely be a success and Orochimaru's power base will grow exponentially, we cannot let that happen" he paused, allowing Haku to absorb all that information.
"What will you do?" asked Haku with some signs of trepidation to which Naruto replied with a shrug.
"I will defeat as many opponents as possible and make my way to Orochimaru" he paused before continuing "his ambitions are becoming quite troublesome and he is destroying the lives of many innocents…" he said, seemingly done and Haku was about to leave for his task before he caught the parting words of Naruto, just barely.
"Be safe Haku"
The words, usually unheard of from the stoic blonde brought a genuine smile on Haku's face behind his white mask.
"You too Naruto"
With that, both shinobi disappeared using Shunshin.
Hatake Kakashi stood back to back with his self-proclaimed 'eternal rival' Maito Gai, Jounin instructor and Taijutsu expert of Konoha. Not moments ago, during the fight between one Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara, the long anticipated invasion had begun with a mass Genjutsu being cast on everyone within the stadium by an unknown shinobi which seemed to be the signal for the invasion to begin.
At first, as soon as the mass Genjutsu was cast, anyone that knew anything about shinobi immediately suspected Uzumaki Naruto, however, there have been no sightings of the blonde Jinchuuriki as of yet so that assumption seemed to have no merit. As soon as people started to fall asleep due to the affects of the Genjutsu, there were explosions all
around the stadium and Konoha in general which blew holes in Konoha's protective walls to allow passage for Suna and Oto shinobi to infiltrate the village and attack.
Seeing as the invasion was expected though, there was an immediate reaction to the invasion of the kind that wouldn't be expected from the enemy less they knew that the invading village already knew they were being invaded. Luckily for the Konoha shinobi, they knew of the invasion and acted by implementing the three step process they are taught to follow when under these circumstances. Evacuate the civilians to the mountain paths, Counter-attack with all available shinobi and then crush the invading forces. Part one was still in motion but unless it was finished soon, they ran the risk of being overrun, which seemed highly likely if the large amount of Oto shinobi circling around the pair of jounin was any indication.
Things didn't seem to be going so well with the Hokage either for as soon as the invasion began, the Kazekage took to the roof of the stadium with the Hokage before having four of his subordinates using some sort of Fuuinjutsu to create a large pink barrier that seemingly burnt anything it came in contact with instantly; so their Hokage was fighting alone against another Kage and despite his upmost confidence in his village's leader, he couldn't help but worry.
"Kakashi, these most unyouthful opponents seem to have us surrounded and though quite unbelievable, I seem to be reaching the peak of my youthfulness and am tiring, do you have any suggestions my eternal rival?" asked a slightly panting Gai and Kakashi couldn't blame him, they had each taken out at least fifty shinobi each and as good as they were, being ranked as two of the strongest shinobi in the village, even they had their limits which were quickly being reached against the hordes of two enemy villages.
"You mean other then using wide spread destruction ninjutsu that will most likely harm friends as well as for?" asked Kakashi, not facing the green spandex wearing jounin known as Maito Gai as they were still standing back to back, kunai and nunchaku being held in defensive manners by each shinobi.
Gai simply answered with a cry of 'how unyouthful' before Kakashi continued "In that case, no, no I don't and our friends also seem to be quite busy" indicated Kakashi, motioning to the Senbon chewing jounin Shiranui Genma who was fighting against Suna's jounin instructor, Namiashi Raido, the scarred bodyguard to the Hokage during this portion of the chunin exams who was up against several Oto chunin, Yuhi Kurenai who was on the other side of the arena using her powerful Genjutsu techniques on several Oto and Suna jounin before picking them off and Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Hokage and jounin instructor of team ten who had his trench knives out and fighting against one of the more powerful Suna jounin "so unless you got any ideas" Kakashi continued "we're all on our own" he commented, gripping his kunai tighter while his uncovered Sharingan eye was continuing to drain his chakra reserves.
Gai agreed with his rival's opinion and as they both tensed as if to commence another attack, there was another explosion that caused several of the shinobi to look in another direction, from where the sound came from, to show a large portion of the stadium wall to have been destroyed and covered in dust. Still keeping their guards up, several of the shinobi, invading and defending both, not knowing who would have caused such destruction, eyed the now broken area of the wall warily wondering what had come through.
When the dust cleared, a most peculiar sight met them. It seemed to be a wooden puppet with a large Kabuki mask on its back and a huge drill where its head should be. The drill only just stopped spinning, indicating that it was most likely the cause for the now demolished wall.
Oto and Suna shinobi, knowing this shinobi was not a part of their forces approached this new threat only to be systematically cut down in the most efficient and effective ways possible. Immediately, after the puppet's appearance, a figure in a grey cloak and straw hat walked in calmly behind it, not even pausing at the sight of what was going on within the stadium and continued to walk towards the wall below the seats of the stadium. The first shinobi that attacked him was a Suna jounin who used a Futon ninjutsu to blow a large compressed ball of wind in his direction. The shinobi, now identified as Uzumaki Naruto by most of those who bothered to read the Bingo Book, didn't even move to avoid the blast, however, the large puppet leapt into the path of the blast and turned swiftly to show its back to the ball of wind. The puppet, which easily towered over Naruto, absorbed the blast with the makeshift shield on its back quite easily, showing that when the dust was cleared, it didn't even sustain damage and protected Naruto completely from harm. The most interesting part of what happened though was that Naruto still had not stopped walking, as if these shinobi were not worth his time, he didn't even look in their general direction!
Not liking how he was so easily ignored, the Suna jounin prepared for a second attack, preparing to cast a more powerful Futon jutsu, however, before he could get it odd, out of the mouth of the large puppet came a metallic and flexible scorpion like tail that shot out at the jounin at incredible speeds and impaled the shinobi through the stomach with its razor sharp looking tip. The tail went straight through his stomach and into the back of an Oto chunin that was focusing on his opponent and not the new threat directly behind him. The tail retracted itself from the two shinobi's bodies and came back to the puppet so it was flaying protectively around Naruto and itself, which was good because the tail then had to deflect several dozen Shuriken thrown by the newly arrived Oto reinforcements perched on the stadium walls.
"That was not wise" was all Naruto said when, from behind where the four Oto shinobi perched on the stadium wall, garbed like the rest of their comrades in weird skin tight black pants, tops and facemasks, only showing their eyes and camouflage coverings that were not really practical at all considering they were a bluish colour, how would that hide them in a forested nation?
As soon as Naruto said what he had, a shadow loomed over the four Oto jounin which caused them to turn only to see another puppet with six wings, a tail much like the first puppet revealed and two arms with some form of contraptions on them – said contraptions were being pointed right at them. Immediately, two large streams of scorching hot fire shot out of each contraption, each rivalling in power to that of an 'A' class Katon jutsu, shot at them, causing them to abandon the position on top of the wall, only to meet their dooms as another puppet with six limbs all aimed at the descending shinobi shot kunai after kunai from each limb and a large poison cloud from its mouth, unbeknownst to everyone witnessing that though, each and every kunai was poisoned with a deadly organ eating venom that only needs to make contact with the opponent's blood to take effect. The surprise appearance of the third puppet marked the end of the four Oto jounin quite easily.
While Naruto had distracted the Suna and Oto shinobi, Kakashi and Gai used that to their advantage to begin the attack again, taking down eight of the surrounding shinobi before they could realize their prey had begun attacking again.
"Naruto-kun's most youthful display has indeed given us another chance to continue our competition Kakashi! I am now on 54!" exclaimed Gai, his cheerful and competitive nature back now that things didn't look so grim. Kakashi, though inwardly suspicious of Naruto, turned his head slightly and raised a single eyebrow before replying.
"I'm on 57 Gai" was all Kakashi replied before they continued. His response prompting Gai to sprout off nonsense about defeating his eternal rival less he wants to strap a two tonne boulder to his back and walk old ladies across the street for two weeks straight.
Those who still paid attention to Naruto would have noticed that he didn't break stride once and continued to make his way towards his destination, which now seemed to be the big pink barrier on the roof of the stadium, Oto and Suna shinobi continuously assaulting him only to have their attacks stopped by Doriru's shield and both Doriru's and Tenshi's tails. Also, anyone foolish enough to attack was quickly put down by any one of Tenshi's impressive offensive weapons, Doriru's tail or Dokueki's numerous poisoned appendages.
Once he finally reached his destination, Naruto spotted a group of three ANBU, one of which draped in a white cloak as opposed to the standard black, kneeling beside a pink barrier which seemed to be housing Orochimaru and the Sandaime who were having a little jutsu battle. Naruto observed the barrier, completely ignoring the ANBU who were too concerned with their Hokage to take notice, to see four of Orochimaru's elites, each enclosed in their own mini-barrier, supplying the chakra needed to keep the barrier up.
As he continued to observe the barrier and try to think of a way to bypass it, several foolish shinobi who thought they could take him down tried to kill him with attack from behind, only to be foiled by his still active puppets. This seemed to catch the ANBU's attention now as they were immediately on guard when Naruto calmly stood there, looking at the barrier while his three puppets waged war on anything that came close. The ANBU captain saw, with shock, that Naruto's fingers on his left hand were twitching slightly, however his right remained motionless within his cloak, signifying that the boy was controlling all three puppets with one hand, simply amazing.
The last of the attacking shinobi was marked with Doriru blindsiding him by shooting his two large arms that were still connected to its body with a thick cable at him and wrapping around his opponent. He didn't stop there however as a compartment in the puppet's chest opened showing the charred remains of two other shinobi as Naruto made Doriru pull the screaming Oto jounin into its chest cavity where it closed immediately, amidst the banging heard on the inside. As soon as the compartments closed, Doriru's hands both crackled with visible electricity as he touched his own torso, which was obviously made of metal, sending wave after wave of electrical currents into the screaming Oto jounin who was fried within. Smoke could be seen coming from different cavities of the puppet before the screams died down. The ANBU captain cringed at the brutal yet effective kill.
Now that the immediate threat was gone, the three puppets hovered side by side behind Naruto as he continued to inspect the barrier "Have you attempted to find a way to stop the casters of the barrier from sustaining the barrier?" asked Naruto, catching the three ANBU off guard.
"There is nothing we can do, the barrier incinerates anything it comes in contact with" the ANBU captain announced, getting the attention of the two occupants within the barrier.
"Ah, Naruto-kun, I was wondering when you would show yourself, Kukuku" Orochimaru chuckled, revealing to Naruto that his suspicions about the Yondaime Kazekage were founded "I'm afraid you will find this barrier to be impenetrable" he said smugly, though Naruto simply ignored him and with his vacant right hand, he unbuckled the top of his cloak revealing the lower half of his face which was neither in a frown or any sort of smile. Naruto then placed, much to the ANBU's surprise, Sarutobi's amusement and Orochimaru's chagrin, a piece of vanilla pocky in his mouth.
"I promise you Orochimaru, if you tell your guards to lower the barrier, I will let you have some of my Pocky before I kill you" he said, no emotion in his voice, though he was inwardly enjoying how Orochimaru was glaring at him, his killing intent completely useless against Naruto.
"You dare threaten me?!" shrieked Orochimaru, as he went through a long chain of hand seals, putting the ages Hokage on guard.
"No, why? Do you feel threatened?" countered Naruto, enjoying his psychological warfare he was waging on Orochimaru from the other side of the barrier. However, before a reply came, Orochimaru used an unknown technique, one that even Naruto and the Hokage hadn't heard of.
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei" he shouted with a large amount of smugness laced in his voice. The technique caused three black portals to open up from the ground, each releasing a numbered coffin. Each numbered with the Kanji for one, two and four.
From the first coffin, the Shodaime Hokage stepped out in all his glory, dressed similarly to how Naruto has his own puppet version dressed. From the second coffin, the Nidaime Hokage, his pale face and woollen shawl draped over his shoulders stepped out, looking around with confusion. Before the third coffin could fully emerge, Sarutobi cancelled it before its occupant, which was now obvious, could come out and spell doom for all of Konoha.
"Have you no respect for the dead my foolish student?!" yelled Sarutobi, panting slightly at the effort needed to cancel the last summoning of the Edo Tensei but before Orochimaru could reply, Naruto sighed.
"Sarutobi-san, that wasn't necessary" he supplied, causing Orochimaru to raise an eyebrow and smirk and Sarutobi to look at him in confusion.
"Naruto-kun, do you not know who would have come out?" urged Sarutobi, wanting to explain his actions to the obviously disillusioned youth.
"Nobody would have come out" explained Naruto "Orochimaru-san believes his technique powerful enough to overpower Shinigami's hold on Yondaime-sama's soul, obviously, his ego has rendered him delusional" he commented, causing Sarutobi to chuckle and Orochimaru to narrow his eyes.
"When I kill this old fool, you will be next Naruto-kun" he finished with a smirk which didn't affect Naruto at all.
While Orochimaru was threatening Naruto, the Shodaime and Nidaime finally gained their bearings and saw their opponent, their summoner and who he was talking to.
"Hello Sarutobi" greeted the Shodaime Hokage "I'm sorry for this, but we'll have to serve out summoner"
"You look old Sarutobi" commented the Nidaime, with a small grin causing Sarutobi's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance, though he didn't deny it.
Shodaime and Nidaime now both looked toward Naruto now before they would be converted into mindless killing machines.
"Naruto-san, we know of your…creations that you keep hidden very close to you" the Shodaime said, motioning with his eyes to Naruto's left forearm. The blonde Jinchuuriki simply cocked his head to the side and waited for what they would say about it.
"Though we are not exactly thrilled about the prospect" began the Nidaime "it's the least we can do for the wrongs the village my brother and I founded have caused you, I only hope you use them well" he said, with a small grin which was mirrored by Naruto and the Shodaime.
"Arigato Shodaime-sama, Nidaime-sama" Naruto said with a small bow before another explosion caught everyone's attention. Each occupant of the roof looked to the forest to see a giant Tanuki made of sand ruse out of seemingly nowhere causing Sarutobi's eyes to widen, Orochimaru to grin, and the two dead Hokage's to look on in confusion. Naruto cursed under his breath and turned back to the barrier where Orochimaru was placing some sort of seal into the back of the Hokage's necks.
Naruto then looked at Sarutobi and the odds he was up against "It looks like I'm needed elsewhere Sarutobi-san" he began, reaching for something from beneath his straw hat and taking out his slashed Konoha forehead protector. He then threw it at the barrier and watched it ignite in flames before turning back to the Hokage "I wish you luck" he said, before sealing away his puppets in three separate scrolls and disappearing with a Kaze Shunshin.
Orochimaru looked at the spot Naruto just was moments ago and at his two very own 'puppets' in confusion due to the small conversation they just had – how could they have any connection what so ever? He put it out of his mind though and focused on the battle at hand.
Sarutobi smiled sadly at Naruto before he left, knowing full well that it will most likely be the last time he would see the blonde Jinchuuriki again, if what Orochimaru had just done was any indication before focusing back on the fight as well.
Haku was most definitely not having a good day. He had arrived on the scene where he had sensed the extreme amount of demonic chakra from Gaara only to find the Uchiha boy from the village squaring off against the berserk Jinchuuriki. The Uchiha had no chance and to top it all off, his pink-haired team mate was standing on the sidelines cheering him on to his death like some cheerleader instead of helping him. Not only was it embarrassing for the girl, who seemed to be oblivious to how ridiculous she seemed, it was demeaning to Kunoichi all over the world who try their hardest to prove that they are respectable shinobi just like any male, only to have some common civilian swine bring that idea crashing into the ground by becoming a kunoichi for all the wrong reasons. Haku scoffed mentally at his train of thought – if Naruto had heard it, he would most definitely have commented on how he was trying to 'get in touch with' his feminine side.
Haku mentally paused, processing exactly what he had just said before scowling. Naruto had even gotten him to insult himself in his own subconscious! This was just ridiculous.
Haku continued to watch as the Uchiha used some jutsu that had lightning sprouting from his left hand as he charged at the seemingly unstoppable Jinchuuriki. He was also surprised to see the boy utilize the power of the cursed seal to do so – from what Naruto had told him of it, he was probably already losing himself to its promises of power, not that he cared, but he didn't want Gaara to kill the boy – that would cause unnecessary troubles for himself and his village. If there was one thing Haku was sure of, it was the burden carried by Jinchuuriki. That is a burden that should not be carried alone or added to, which in retrospect, is probably why he continues to travel with Naruto so willingly, that and the good company.
Gaara himself seemed to be transforming into a miniature version of the Ichibi no Shukaku with most of his body covered in sand that took the shape of a large clawed arm and a large tail swishing behind him. The demon seemed to be doing most of the fighting and not Gaara – Haku hoped Naruto could do something to fix that.
Just as Gaara was about to kill the Uchiha by using his large arm to crush him, Haku decided to strike, performing the seals for a Suiton jutsu with the only source of water the hydrogen and oxygen particles surrounding him.
"Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu" he said calmly, Haku couldn't understand how Naruto could perform jutsu without saying their names. Sure, he could see the advantage of doing so, but by saying their names, it gave Haku the extra mental focus to gather his chakra and mould it to his whim, it just went to show how powerful Naruto was, he mused, as a large dragon made of water rose of from the ground and charged at the unsuspecting body of Gaara.
The water dragon slammed into Gaara and sent him staggering as the weight of his large sand arm seemed to be too much after the impact, making him lose his balance. Gaara, Sasuke and Sakura all turned to look at the intruder, as well as Temari who was hidden as to avoid the wrath of her brother should he lose control of his demon. Haku calmly stepped out of his hiding place to face Gaara.
"Gaara-san, please retake control of your bijou and stop his madness" requested Haku calmly "you are letting its urges control you and are disgracing the name of Jinchuuriki everywhere who are trying their hardest to prove that they are anything but that which they contain" he said, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" began Gaara, his voice slurred slightly as more sand covered his body as he called on more of the demonic chakra "I exist only to destroy others, by doing that I prove my existence as something more then a relic of the past" he said, pausing as more chakra seemed to cover his body and his rage growing even more "I live only for myself, I love only myself and because of this, I am truly strong" he said, as another arm of sand materialized on the opposite side of his body and the sand covered the rest of his head, forming that of a Tanuki "If you get in my way, I will kill you and don't think I'll let you place one of those seals on me again, my sand will protect me from it" he concluded, his body now completely covered in sand changing his appearance to that of a mini Shukaku, save his legs which were still those of Gaara.
Haku sighed, noticing the only way to have Gaara see the light would be to literally beat it into him. He would not be foolish and underestimate the Jinchuuriki though, as Naruto always told him, even the weakest of shinobi could catch you while your guard is down and kill you. How the blonde Jinchuuriki could always be on guard was slightly worrisome for Haku, but for now, he headed his advice and watched his opponent carefully.
Uchiha Sasuke watched the proceedings while grinding his teeth in annoyance. He had given it everything he had and still it wasn't enough, perhaps if the Hyuuga on his team wasn't aiding her clan in the defence of Konoha, together they would have been able to stop this demon, however, with the only team mate available to him being a useless cheerleader, he could do nothing but watch this mysterious shinobi and perhaps learn a few ninjutsu, much like the Suiryudan no jutsu he had just observed the masked shinobi perform. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Sakura several dozen feet away torn between rushing to his aid and petrified at the appearance of the Suna genin. She couldn't be any more useless, in his opinion, even if she tried. So for now, he simply climbed up the tree he was leaning against and rested against the trunk while recuperating his strength and watching the fight.
Gaara immediately launched both of his large arms of sand at Haku who disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared behind the Suna genin to try and sweep his legs from beneath him with a horizontal leg sweep, only to have his plans foiled by a rather large tail only barely missing him as it crunched into the ground, creating a large crater where it hit. Haku grimaced at the sight; he would need to avoid being hit at all costs.
"Suna Shigure" hissed Gaara as he opened his large palms to have several dozen projectiles made of sand launch from them in Haku's direction. Haku took out a twin pair of Wakizashi from under his robes and while holding them in a reverse grip, blocked all of the ones that would have caused major damage to him, letting some graze his arms and legs slightly. He would be prepared for such a fast attack in the future and would avoid it at all costs.
Gaara growled fiercely as his attack failed, only to send in his arms again, however, Haku jumped on the first arm and run up it to where it connected only to have the other arms swipe at him. Haku then leapt onto the second arm to avoid being hit before launching an elbow to Gaara's face, having it connect perfectly and sent the boy staggering slightly. Haku's danger senses tingled however and he performed several back flips to get out of the way as several dozen large sand spikes were created from Gaara's sand skin that would have pierced him easily he had not gotten out of there.
Haku cursed mentally, the boy was build like a tank with the perfect defensive abilities with excellent counter offensive abilities also. The only main weaknesses Haku could find were that he was incredibly slow, given his massive weight, and he was also letting his rage consume him, not letting him think while fighting.
Haku dodged several more strikes from Gaara's arms and tail with his speed while contemplating what he would do next before he saw exactly where Gaara was standing and exactly what was surrounding him.
"I tried to warn you Gaara-san, but you would not listen" said Haku as he held his right hand in a single hand seal "Hijutsu, Makyou Hyoushou" he announced his jutsu as the water all around Gaara that was created from his attack earlier rose up from the ground taking the shape of large rectangular mirrors in a dome around Gaara. When the mirrors were finished being formed, Haku stepped into the mirror causing his reflection to appear in every mirror around and above Gaara, confusing the Jinchuuriki greatly.
Sasuke and Sakura gasped when they noticed the jutsu. Sasuke had thought that the shinobi that had intervened was familiar and now this was the proof, this was the shinobi that was paired with Zabuza in wave, the shinobi that was supposed to have died by Kakashi-sensei's hand, the shinobi that had him and the Hyuuga beaten until he intercepted the strike from Kakashi to save his partner's life.
"Not many are able to survive this technique Gaara-san" said Haku, his voice projected from all around him so Gaara couldn't tell which was the real one "but you refuse to listen to reason and continue on this warpath that you call a life" he said, shaking his head sadly "I know for a fact that, should you change your ways, we could be friends, but seeing as you refuse to do so, you are forcing me to stop you to help you."
Not wanting to hear anymore, Gaara launched his two sand arms at one of the mirrors, hoping to get lucky and grinned as the mirror shattered. The grin left his Tanuki face though when he saw the mirror just as quickly reform itself upon being destroyed.
"It will not be that easy Gaara-san, prepare yourself"
Sasuke watched from outside the mirrors as the same technique that was used on Hanabi and him was being used to efficiently on Gaara on a much larger scale. The shinobi would send needles from seemingly every direction in waves and all Gaara could do to guard from it is block them with his sand appendages.
Haku frowned as his needles continued to be blocked by his sand appendages before getting an idea. Every image of Haku began to make more one handed hand signs before calling out his jutsu.
"Hijutsu, Sensatsu Suishou"
To Gaara's surprise, several hundred small and sharp needles of ice formed themselves our of thin air around the upper part of his body, merely floating there harmlessly before they all rocketed toward his head, torso and arms. All Gaara could do to ward against the attack was cover his upper body with his tail and arms.
Seeing Gaara's suspected reaction, Haku immediately commenced the next part of his plan. Attaching explosive tags to three Senbon, he came out of the mirror he was in and threw the three Senbon into the base of his tail, the part that looked the most vulnerable, before activating the explosive notes. He then quickly, before Gaara could tell, went back into a mirror.
Gaara heard the telltale sizzling sounds of an explosive note and looked around to find its source, however, it was too late to stop the three large explosions that erupted from below his tail and send him flying with a massive amount of force into one of the ice mirrors. Gaara felt pain like he had never felt before, from the explosions and especially from smacking into an ice mirror and not breaking through.
From her position hidden in the trees, Temari looked on in shock "There's no way he can stand up to Gaara in this form…just who the hell is this guy?"
Sasuke watched on from his position, helpless to do anything as Sakura finally made her way over to him and began fussing over his injuries. Normally he would have put up with the fact that there were people stronger and more able then he was, but with the pink cheerleader fawning over him and continuously pestering him to talk to her, even having the audacity to ask him out on a date in this situation, his patience was waring thin – it was a testament to her 'fangirlness' that Sakura didn't feel his spiking killing intent.
As he lay on the ground broken and beaten, he looked up past the mirrors into the sky and began mumbling to himself.
"How is he so strong? How is he able to hurt me? Mother wants his blood…Mother will get his blood…I will not die here…my existence shall not be erased…I WILL NOT LOSE TO THIS GUY!" he finished, yelling at the top of his lungs as wave upon wave of sand gushed out from Gaara's body in a massive display of power before the whole area was enveloped in a large smoke cloud, obscuring the entire field of view.
Haku felt all of his mirrors get destroyed at once as he escaped them right before they had been destroyed so. He couldn't see much, but from the large 'waving' sound he could hear, as if something large was swaying in the air was anything to go by, he could be in trouble.
Temari stared in shock at what just happened "It's finally come out…I need to get out of here!"
Haku sighed and waited for the inevitable. By the two glowing yellow orbs floating high above in the sky, it was fairly obvious what had happened. As the smoke around the towering figure cleared, it revealed a huge, if not slightly fat Tanuki glaring down at him. The Ichibi no Shukaku's true form.
"I've had enough of this nonsense" the towering figure of Gaara's announced "I'll kill you now to prove my existence!"
The gigantic Tanuki lifted its hulking arm in the air as tendrils upon tendrils of sand launched themselves at Haku at incredible speeds, each one trying to get Haku from behind while another would distract him from all angles, above and below also.
It was a testament to Haku's speed that he was able to dodge for as long as he could, using trees and rocks as obstacles to shield form the sand, but even they were grinded into dust when faced against the might of the Ichibi's sand attacks.
When Haku was cornered and sand began pouring in at him from all directions, he began to quickly form hand seals to counter the onslaught.
"Suiton: Suijinheki"
Upon using the jutsu, a wall of water surrounding Haku, protecting him from all angles save above and below, stopping the sand periodically in its tracks. As a testament to Haku's mastery over his manipulation of water, he had merely conjured the water from the jutsu from within, with no outer source of water.
When Gaara chose to redirect the sand to get Haku from above, seeing as he couldn't penetrate the wall of water, Haku had to quickly use Kawarimi so that he wouldn't be crushed by the tonnes of sand that came down from above.
"Shine!" Was all Gaara said and then next thing Haku noticed, more sand then he had seen before rushed to destroy his still recovering form as tonnes and tonnes of sand descended upon the spot where Haku had replaced himself with a log. Shielding his eyes and thinking this was the end, Haku turned away and awaited the impact that never came.
Uncovering his eyes he was greeted to a sight that brought a smile to his face, Dokueki, Doriru and Tenshi, the only three puppets Haku had ever seen Naruto used, three of his own creation, where shielding Haku from the sand in their own ways. Dokueki was supporting Doriru with his limbs while impaling himself on the ground with his blades so it wouldn't crumble, Doriru had its back to the sand with his large shield and tail holding off the sand and Tenshi aided the battle with its own tail, holding off the sand.
"Haku-chan" the voice of Naruto called out "it would be wise to move before my puppets give out" was all he said and Haku didn't need more prompting as he quickly got out of the way, just as the several tonnes of sand finally crushed Naruto's three original puppets, never to be used again.
Looking up at the hulking figure of Gaara, Naruto narrowed his eyes from under his straw hat in annoyance "Cease this foolishness Gaara-san, you are disgracing Jinchuuriki everywhere with your actions" he said firmly, tossing aside his straw hat and unbuttoning the top half of his cloak so that his face wasn't obscured at all. His hair, no longer held up with the Konoha forehead protector was swaying in the wind with his ponytail still remaining within his cloak.
"Why did you save him?" Gaara asked through the mouth of the huge Tanuki, completely disregarding the threat Naruto gave him, looking curiously at the spot Haku was resting at, leaning against a tree, trying to regain his breath and energy.
"That is none of your concern Gaara-san" replied Naruto, equally ignoring his question. Gaara didn't take too kindly to this and quicker then either Naruto or Haku could react, Gaara had Haku pinned up against the tree with his sand squeezing Haku who let out a yell of pain.
Thinking quick, Naruto took out a kunai and flicked it in the direction of the sand. The kunai imbedded itself into the sand and a sizzling was heard. With a loud explosion, the sand broke off from its place of origin, however, the remainder was still attached to Haku and slowly squeezing the life out of him.
"Release him" Naruto ordered in a calm voice, implying no nonsense, however, Gaara chose to ignore him again.
"What does he mean to you?" he asked with amusement in his voice as the sand constricted more "What are you willing to do to save his life?" he asked, sneering at the end of his comment.
"I will not warn you again, Gaara-san" Naruto said, looking up at the huge Tanuki without an ounce of fear which boggled the minds of the onlookers, mainly Temari "should you not release him, I will kill you, and I do not want to kill a fellow Jinchuuriki" that comment got Gaara's attention.
"Fellow Jinchuuriki, hm?" asked Gaara, amused and interested "Is that why that boy was so intent on me changing my ways?" he asked, constricting the sand's hold on Gaara even more "does he feel it his duty? Being your friend?" he asked again, the sand constricting more causing Haku to yell out again in pain.
"He was sprouting off nonsense about protecting precious people is what makes us truly strong" he said, pausing "can you prove this? Can you protect your friend from me? Someone who fights only for himself?" he asked as the forehead of the large Tanuki began to ripple. Gaara knew that if he was fighting a fellow Jinchuuriki, he would have to pull out all the stops, he had the Ichibi, the weakest of the nine bijous, and therefore, regardless of which bijou his opponent had, it was stronger than his. He couldn't hold back.
"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu" Gaara announced after going through a set of hand seals and with one final gasp, he slumped over, falling asleep.
Naruto watched as the form of Shukaku began to rumble before its eyes shone with a brighter yellow light, signifying the demon taking over. This disgusted Naruto, someone claiming to be strong yet relying on someone else's power to do so. What did it prove when he called upon the help of Shukaku? That he had a weak will and couldn't contain the demon within him? Then he had the audacity to trap Haku with that claw of sand that kept constricting his…friend.
"YATTA! I'M FREE! BUT WHY WAS I LET OU TO KILL A LOWLY HUMAN BUG?!" shrieked the demon tanuki in a surprisingly 'funky' voice.
Immediately, several dozen tendrils of sand shot at Naruto "I WILL KILL YOU!"
Naruto stood calmly in the face of this sand, much to Temari's, Sasuke, Sakura's and mostly Haku's shock "NARUTO!" yelled Haku, as the sand closed in, however, something that shocked all those watching just occurred.
As the sand razed closer and closer, Naruto seemed to glow with a bright green light all over his body before crouching ever so slightly. Just as the sand was about to make its mark, Naruto spun around at incredible speeds while moving towards the giant Tanuki. The result both shocked and awed the onlookers, for, from around Naruto, a humongous Tornado formed and shot out towards the Tanuki, obliterating the tendrils of sand making their way toward the blonde Jinchuuriki. Shukaku, not expecting this at all, allowed the 'puny' tornado to strike its leg, however, much to his shock and fury, the tornado shredded into its leg and tore it off from the rest of its body, causing the leg to collapse in a flowing river of sand.
Temari looked at the scene in shocked awe "N-no way…such power and control over wind…"
Sasuke looked at the scene with barely suppressed jealousy, this shinobi, who looked no older than himself just used a jutsu that shredded the leg of a demon! Why was he so weak?!
Sakura looked at the destruction that strange jutsu caused and then at Sasuke before shrugging. Her Sasuke-kun could do better if he tried, but he was being kind enough to allow this stranger to waste his energy before destroying the demon himself. Yep, Sasuke-kun was the best!
Haku couldn't help but grin at what he saw. At least now he knew what Naruto had been practising on for so long when they were apart, at least it had results, but by the look of Naruto panting, which he had never seen him do, it must have taken a lot out of him.
"I warned Gaara-san what would happen if you crossed me, Shukaku-san" Naruto said, recovering his bearings and looking up at the large Tanuki who was visibly seething, now having to balance himself with one of his arms less he want to flail about on the ground without one of its legs "I urge you to go back to your seal before I force you back in there" he said, deadly serious.
"I'LL KILL YOU PUNY FLESH BAG! RENKUDAN!" the tanuki screeched, puffing his chest up and hitting it with his free arm, releasing a drilling bullet of wind in Naruto's direction, the thing was huge, probably as big as a hundred regular shinobi sized Gokakyu no jutsus. Thinking quickly, Naruto used Shunshin to disappear in a burst of speed and reappear to the right of Shukaku, on the side of his shredded leg as he continued to run with all his speed to get behind the large Tanuki.
"RUNNING ARE WE NOW YOU COWARD?! RENKUDAN!" it shrieked, sending two more balls of wind in Naruto's direction, but due to its shredded leg, it couldn't turn quick enough in the direction Naruto was running around it and before it could stop him, Naruto, using chakra to enhance his leap, leapt up onto the Ichibi and stuck to its side using chakra before resuming his scale to the beast's head and ultimately, Gaara.
"GET OFF ME YOU LITLE BUG!" yelled the Ichibi, trying to get him off by using the sand on his body to grip at him but Naruto was simply to quick to be caught and even when he did get snagged twice, he just used Shunshin to get out of the hold. When he finally appeared on the head, he used Shunshin to appear in front of Gaara and slammed him in the stomach with his knee before following the strike up a hit to the solar plexus, quickly waking him up.
"NO! I JUST GOT OUT! DEFEATING BY A MERE HUMAN! THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!!" yelled the Tanuki and to the shock of the onlookers, and jealousy of others, the eyes of the Tanuki dimmed as Gaara awoke, showing that the Tanuki was forced back into it seal.
"You dispelled my technique" Gaara muttered quietly as Naruto stood several before him while glaring. Gaara had to hold back a flinch at the sight of Naruto's eyes, the piercing red slitted eyes of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, not that Gaara knew that.
"I warned you Gaara-san, do not harm my friends, but you didn't listen" Naruto concluded and before Gaara could bring his hands together in another seal, hoping to ensnare this shinobi who dared try and stop him in his sand, a pain erupted in both his arms that shocked him into silence. His arms fell limply by his sides as he looked down in shock to see two kunai embedded in his arms, severing the tendons and ridding him of the use of his arms. He didn't even see his opponent move let alone throw them!
Naruto rushed at Gaara and with an open arm thrust, he struck Gaara in the chest, winding him and relinquishing his hold on the Shukaku, causing both shinobi to plummet to the earth, only one of them remained standing though. As soon his hold on the Shukaku's form relinquished, the hold on Haku also was stopped and he fell safely to the ground, wincing in pain.
"I warned you Gaara-san of what would happen should you not release Haku" Naruto said, though Gaara was ignoring him. This was the strength the boy was speaking of, the strength to protect one's friends. He understood now, when fighting for something, one will become stronger then ever so he could put everything on the line to save them, he was wrong.
Naruto saw that Gaara was barely paying attention to him but he didn't think much of it, taking out a kunai, he aimed it and with a flick of his wrist, he launched it at Gaara's heart, intending on ending his life when in a flash of lavender and black, someone jumped in front of Gaara.
"NO!" yelled Temari, taking the kunai to the back to save her brother. Gaara, expecting to die now that his opponent had bested him stared at his sister in shock as his brother stood up and defended him and Temari from this strong foe.
"Why?" was all Gaara could rasp out in confusion and desperation "Why do you do this for me? Why do you care? Would it not be better for me? A relic of the past, to just die?" he asked, in genual confusion.
Temari, fighting to hold back tears just smiled down at her brother "You're my otouto and I love you" she said, smiling sadly "despite what you may think, both Kankuro and I care for you, why else would we stick by you for so long…please Gaara, lets just go…" she pleaded.
Naruto stood, having now found his straw hat again and replacing it on his head while looking at the scene, ruthlessly crushing the feeling of jealousy the tried to grip his heart at the sight as he took out a stick of Pocky.
"Your sister saved your life" Naruto began "I never miss, that kunai would have killed you" he said as he threw a vial of liquid from his pocket to the guy in black, however, before doing so, he couldn't resist commenting.
"What's with the footie pyjamas?" he had to ask, ignoring the twitching of the annoyed Kankuro's eyebrows and the strained chuckle coming from Temari, however, Temari was shocked to see a small smile on her younger brother's face also.
"That vial contains the antidote to the poison on the kunai I just used, I suggest you supply it to your sister before her body ceases to function" however Kankuro finally catching up to what was said to him snarled at Naruto "THEY'RE NOT PYJAMAS!" he yelled, to an ignoring audience. Naruto advanced on Gaara, shoving aside the two siblings who tried to get in his way.
"Leave him alone! He can't defend himself!" yelled a furious and desperate Temari after Kankuro applied the antidote to her wound and removed the kunai. As they saw their words not working, they tried to do so with physical force, however, Naruto sensed this and rounded on them and used a 'Kanashibari no Jutsu' by merely looking at them with his eyes after lifting the brim of his hat so they could see him causing them to freeze in place.
Naruto lifted up the shirt of the defenceless Gaara and made a thinking sound as he examined the seal. It was appalling to say the least that a demon such as the Ichibi was being held back by a simple Gogyo seal. However, Naruto knew how he could fix it given that it was already sealed and intertwined with the body of its host.
Taking out his inkpot and brush, Naruto began to paint seals around the Gogyo Fuin on the left side of Gaara's chest before going through a long set of hand seals as his hands began to glow. After around 50 hand seals he slammed his hands into his sealing.
"Fuuinjutsu: Hakke no Fuin Shiki" he yelled, causing Gaara to start screaming in pain and Temari and Kankuro to try valiantly to break their body binds or whatever this strange shinobi had done to them.
After the light had died down, Gaara was panting and looking pale however there was a new intricate design around his Gogyo Fuin that neither of the two who were watching could recognize. Before Gaara could rest though, Naruto continued by snapping all five of his fingers on his right hand together causing his fingertips to light up with blue chakra with the kanji of the five primary elements on each finger, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
"Fuuinjutsu: Gogyo Kaiin" he yelled before slamming his hand into the Gogyo Fuin on Gaara's chest, making him scream out in pain again as the original seal holding back the Shukaku was released. Before the Shukaku could take over again, Naruto called over to Haku who was watching safely from a distance.
"Haku, give me one of those seals I made for you the other week" he said calmly, holding Gaara down as his pupils became yellow like the Shukaku's. Haku did just that and Naruto slammed the O Fuin Seal on Gaara's forehead, causing the Shukaku's chakra to subside.
Temari and Kankuro watched in awe as this shinobi worked his techniques on their brother who seemed to be in pain but judging by the ever so small smile on his face, he liked what was happening.
Naruto took out his brush and inkpot again and where the Gogyo Fuin used to be in the middle of the Hakke no Fuin Shiki design, he painted a spiral before going through 30 hand seals and slamming his hand into Gaara's chest one last time "Fuuinjutsu: Shishou Fuuin".
As soon as the light died down, the seal that Gaara had on his body had changed completely into a strange spiral seal with extra symbols surrounding it. Gaara had passed out at one point with a smile on his face.
"His seal has been fixed, if he continued to act the way it does, he cannot blame it on his demon. He should be able to sleep without the fear of Shukaku effecting his personality also" he explained "Shukaku's influence has effectively been removed from his subconscious however the control over his sand and the demon's chakra remain should he chose to use it" he finished, while panting, the sealing he had just done seemed to have taken a lot out of him.
"Tell him to stop disgracing Jinchuuriki and that this is his second chance, take care of him" he said, releasing his hold on Temari and Kankuro who are no longer paralysed "Come Haku, we should go before the leaf shinobi find us, I need rest" and with a nod, both disappeared using Shunshin, ignoring their other spectators completely, one awed and the other fuming.
Author's Note:
Chunin exams arc end, hope you enjoyed it. No more crappy puppets also, so next time he uses them; I guess he would need to use his others.
I really tried to be creative with the new sealing jutsu but I'm not Japanese and I know as much of the language that I could pick up from reading fanfiction and watching anime, which is next to nothing when it comes to learning Japanese, the language is just too damn troublesome. If someone is willing to translate the English names of the
techniques of have, like the name of the wind jutsu I showed Naruto using, into proper Japanese like in the show, well, it would be appreciated.
I was having trouble with trying to 'convert' Gaara, seeing as I couldn't see my Naruto talking him through the precious people spiel, Haku still being alive in the incident and Naruto proving how his statements were true were a coincidence, though Naruto was a bit colder about it unlike cannon.
The aftermath in Konoha will be next chap, as well as Oro, though it won't be that different then what happened in cannon.
Adios.
