Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters in this fan fiction. This is done simply for enjoyment of myself and my readers.
Chapter 3 Gaara of the Sand
Hiruzen had tried to stop him. He had wanted to stop them. But the look on his students face when he said he would take Naruto back to the arena was too much for the old man. It was a look of pride and happiness he had not seen on Jiraiya in almost thirteen years. And it stalled him just long enough to let Jiraiya and Naruto escape.
I suppose it would happen sooner or later since Jiraiya's going to take over his care and training. Might as well let them have their moment, the old Kage thought to himself before smirking at the thought of the reaction they were going to get and disappearing in wind and leaves to retake his seat to watch the show.
The moment the blonde haired Uzumaki Naruto appeared with the white haired sannin the entire stadium erupted. Despite calming down slightly as Genma pushed the matches along, the thought of their greatest hero's abilities living on was on the forefront of every spectators mind. Potential clients were imagining the possibilities, shinobi were trying to figure out how he had learned the technique, and civilians weren't sure what to think. That this child, the carrier of the Kyubi no Yoko, the demon brat, the pariah of Konoha, had used the hirashin raised both questions and thoughts of grief and anger among the people of Konoha.
The stadium appeared split into factions. Some were calling for his death for taunting them, for stealing their hero's technique. Another group was cheering for him, more than once the name 'Namikaze' was shouted. Lastly there seemed to be thousands cheering for him to repeat his performance with Neji against Gaara.
Naruto wasn't sure how to take the thunder from the stadium as the screams and cheers mixed together to form an unintelligible roar but when he felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder give him a firm, comforting squeeze relief immediately spread through him.
I'm not alone, Naruto thought to himself and took a deep breath before and looked up at his godfather and sensei.
"Kick his ass, Naruto-kun," Jiraiya told him with a big smile.
"You got it godfather!" Naruto told him with a grin in response.
The exchange was not lost on many in the crowd who remembered another Chunin exam some two decades prior. In their minds they saw the overlay before him as the white haired sannin had once before stood with another blonde haired boy and many minds began to click then and there. Why Naruto had been chosen, how Kushina and Minato had always been seen together, Kushina's pregnancy, the date of his birth, his looks and personality, it all came crashing down and thousands began to realize they had made one blindingly, glaring error in their lives. And as the citizens and shinobi of Konoha connected the dots a similar thought passed through their minds.
The Fourth's last request wasn't to treat a random boy as a hero and keep him safe but to treat his own son as a hero and raise him and keep him safe. My god, what have we done?!
Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves to take his place by the Hokage's side to watch his godson face the most dangerous opponent in the tournament.
Naruto stared at the red haired boy in front of him and gave a nod.
"Mother wants your blood. Will you prove my existence?" the monotone voice of Gaara asked.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question, "Mother? Who are you talking about?"
Gaara merely stared at him an emotionless face. He knew no fear but after seeing what the blonde had done to his opponent Gaara was more than willing to view the boy as worthy of his time.
Genma looked between the boys and with a nod raised his hand, "Begin!"
"Mother wants your blood! You will die this day Uzumaki! Show me! Show me that power! PROVE MY EXISTENCE!" Gaara shouted as streams of sand burst from around him to attack Naruto. The sand broke into four separate strands from the gourd on his back. They weaved and bobbed, the streams mixing and unmixing as they flowed toward their blonde haired target.
Naruto jumped back, avoiding the sand at all costs. With the price of failing to avoid the sand well in his mind Naruto worked continuously to avoid it. He remembered what happened to Lee and would not be caught so easily.
It was such a strange sensation to Naruto, once again he felt into his mind for the trigger that now was so obvious to his consciousness. But while he wrapped his charka around the trigger the 'radar' seemed to automatically activate with little to no obvious cost to his reserves. The sand that Gaara was using was infused with his own charka. Because of this Naruto's new ability allowed him to see the charka moving toward him from no matter the direction. He could easily pinpoint which way they were going from the way the chakra moved within the sand, directing it. It was like watching a puppet's strings being pulled and knowing which way the puppet would move when each string was pulled.
As each grain of sand moved in response to the chakra and Naruto's radar saw it granting him advance warning before the full bulk of the sand moved together. Each grain was acting like a tell for the boy, and no one knew it as he dodged effortlessly through the sand sent before him.
Gaara's eyes narrowed at the blonde's movements, trying to figure out how he was avoiding his attacks. He didn't have the Sharingan, so he shouldn't be capable of predicting the movements of his sand, yet it was almost like he could see where the sand was going to be before it got there! As the fight wore on Gaara continued to remain motionless and his frustration rose and he decided to switch tactics.
All of a sudden the sand pulled back and massed together to create a massive wave heading toward the blonde. Naruto's new ability would be useless against a wide spread attack. Narrowing his eyes Naruto jumped back and stuck his feet to the wall of the stadium as he jumped over the sand wall.
Naruto was breathing hard now, he wasn't sure how much longer he could continue to dodge Gaara's attacks like this. Despite everything his use of the new abilities were draining on him and he was still extremely tired from the first fight. He recognized his movements becoming more and more sluggish and it wouldn't be long before he made a mistake. Knowing his kage bushin would prove useless in this fight Naruto decided to try the same trick that had defeated Neji so easily.
He wasn't sure if he was just getting used to it but the squeezed and compressed feeling on his body did not feel quite so bad this time around, but even still it hurt like hell and left his body feeling like it had just gotten pressed flat by a steamroller. But it was all worth it as he appeared behind his enemy in a flash of yellow light and proceeded to pound Gaara's backside with his fists as quickly as he could.
Gaara immediately knew he was in trouble the moment he saw the flash of light and the blonde before him vanished followed by the vicious attacks coming to his back and right sides. When he turned however the blonde had already disappeared and was now to his left. His sand armor was peeling off him as his body took a pummeling he had never felt before.
Gaara tried to bring his sand back to him to protect himself, he tried to form his ultimate defense but the speed of the attacks, his inability to defend himself, it drove his concentration from him and he was unable to command his sand. He was disoriented from the feeling of his entire body being pounded and all of a sudden he felt his stomach take a massive shot and he was hurtled to the wall, just as Neji was before him.
Gaara's head lolled around him, his eyes wide as he let out an ear piercing scream. He was in pain. For the first time in his life he felt pain. His right arm was broken, he had cracked ribs and bruised muscles from the pure force of the number of strikes made on him. Never before had the red head been so badly hurt and it was drove him beyond the last vestiges of sanity.
His eyes focused on the source of his pain. Naruto was on one knee, sweat was dripping from his forehead as he struggled to regain his breath. He was tired, too damned tired. But as he saw the other boy scream a sense of utter foreboding entered his soul and he knew he had to finish things now or they would get much, much worse.
Naruto struggled to his feet, he could feel the exhaustion in his body as he forced himself forward trying to find the last scraps of his chakra for one final 'flash attack' as he had come to think of the new ability. Pushing the exhaustion from his mind, willing his tired body to move, he launched himself in a final move that brought his fist into the sand boy's stomach with enough force to cause cracks to appear in the wall and rendering Gaara of the Sand unconscious.
Sweat was dripping off Naruto as he fell to a knee and struggled to regain his breath. Before he could even stand he heard a swirl of wind and leaves were felt behind him. Kakashi and Sasuke had finally arrived.