Gaara laughed at the blond boy's pitiful attempts of punching him. "As long as you fight for the sake of others, you will never win. Forget your friends."
"You're insane, forget my friends?"
"With trivial feelings like friendship and loyalty, you'll lose focus and you'll die."
"Yeah? Well keep talking, because I'm about to shut you up, once and for all." Naruto leapt at Gaara, only to be smashed down once again.
Avaya could only whine. Gaara, her Gaara, was hurting. And she was powerless to stop it. She could only watch as Gaara was stuck reliving painful memories alone. She wanted nothing more than to be there and hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But it was impossible. She knew that. She had to trust the Konoha genin had something up his sleeve, despite the fear e was emanating.
Gaara goaded him on. "Come on, why don't you attack? Aren't you worried about your friends?" Gaara's body took on more of the Shukaku form before attacking Naruto. The blond was once again knocked down.
Avaya could smell the fear coming from everyone. Things were not going to end well.
The one sided battle continued on with Gaara continuously knocking him down. It was not until the blond stood up and began a counter attack did anything change. Using his shadow clones, Naruto made his way closer and closer until finally he stuck a kunai into the rear of Gaara's sand form. When the blond was knocked away, his dark haired team mate managed to catch him as an explosion from the kunai went off. Avaya herself was forced to shield the pink haired girl from the blast.
When the dust cleared, the wolf could see the sand dripping off of Gaara, as well at the large chunk missing from the tree. Maybe things would work out after all. An excess amount of work was put into it for just one blow, but it was a good blow. Avaya had never seen Gaara take a hit like that.
"When someone had something they want to protect, it is only then that they become strong." Naruto's words rang across the forest as he remembered something. The blond stood with determination, causing a growing respect to blossom in Avaya. No doubt the battle would be hard. But this was Uzumaki Naruto. He could do it. He released a massive amount of chakra and dozens of Naruto's filled the clearing. They charged at Gaara.
It tore at Avaya to see her redhead be beaten up like that, but she knew it was necessary. This was their fight. Getting involved now would kill her and set back all the planning she had done for this moment. Gaara had to be beat for this to work. She would lament over his pain later. But then his scent changed.
Gaara lay motionless on the ground, but Avaya knew it would not be for long. The scent coming from him, it was that of the monster sealed within him. Shukaku was going to be arriving soon. Every clone that Naruto had summoned was dispersed at sand flew up. And once the smoke and dust settled, Avaya cold only stare in horror and worry.
The wolf's fur stood on end and her ears were pressed back. The sight before her was no longer Gaara. Shukaku now stood in his place. Sand covered Naruto and Avaya let out a whine as Gaara prepared to do his Sand Coffin. However, instead of being crushed, Naruto, in his depleted state, summoned a giant toad, breaking the sand coffin. Now the real battle began.
Avaya could not help but to let her ears and tail droop in exasperation. Her canine ears were able to pick up the conversation going on between Naruto and the two toads with him. It was only thanks to the smaller toad that the Boss Toad agreed to help Naruto out with dealing with Shukaku. She had to hand it to him though; the Boss knew how to fight, for an amphibian.
Avaya was hard pressed to keep the larger pieces of dirt and trees from striking the girl behind her, despite the toads attempts at keeping the fight away from them. The wolf knew she was going to be sore for a few days after this. Her nose perked up and she whipped her head around.
At the top of Shukaku's form the sand began to ripple. Avaya heard Temari run away as her feel tripled. Then, Gaara was visible, his upper half of his body protruding from the head of the demon. All at once, Avaya felt her heart plummet. She remembered a few months back when Gaara had sat with her, telling her of the invasion. Before he had left, he had hesitated before telling her something.
"Wolf, if the opossum jutsu is used, run."
This was it, the jutsu Gaara had warned the wolf about. She was powerless to do anything. The demon let out a laugh. It was no longer her Gaara in charge, he was asleep, and the demon inside had come to play.
The Toad and Shukaku exchanged attacks, causing what felt like a short rain storm. Avaya's pelt became soaked and she watched the battle play out. They two giants exchanged more wind and water attacks, causing it to rain down on them. Then the toad leapt in close, grabbing the demon in an attempt to get Naruto close to Gaara in order to wake him up. But toads do not have claws, and Shukaku easily pulled away.
The toad leapt at Shukaku once more, this time as they got close, smoke erupted around them. When they emerged, it was no longer the toad and Naruto, but rather a large, nine tailed fox. Avaya felt her body freeze. She was terrified. In her years in this world, never had the wolf felt as terrified as she did right then, watching two giant monsters of legend battle it out.
Finally the giant fox managed to grab ahold of Shukaku. In a puff of smoke, the fox was gone, reverting back into the toad as Naruto leapt off and punched Gaara in the face. The redhead groaned as he was woken up.
As Naruto ran toward Gaara once more, sand from the form of Shukaku began to trap him. The blond and the toad were at their limit. Slowly the toad was being pushed back, heading in the direction where Avaya stood, protecting the pink haired girl from debris.
The blond looked back at the two, and for a moment, their eyes met before Naruto turned his attention to Sakura and then the fight. His eyes were steeled with determination and desperation. He was running out of time, but he was determined to make it. A red chakra began to envelope him.
Naruto cast off the sand holding his legs and leapt at Gaara, only for his punch and arms to be caught by more sand.
"I-I've had it with you!" Throwing his head forward, the blond landed a solid hit onto Gaara, forehead to forehead.
The sand began to crumble and lose its shape as blood trickled down the faces of the two boys. Then they were falling. The big toad disappeared, the smoke from his departure adding to the dust filled air. Avaya watched in horror as Gaara fell alongside Naruto onto the tops of trees. Both shakily stood up before launching at each other. Only Naruto's punch connected.
Gaara was sent flying down to the ground, Naruto close behind. Behind her, Avaya could hear the sand crumbling away from the pink haired girl. The wolf took that as her cue to move and jumped down to Gaara. The other member of their team could catch her.
Avaya stood next to Gaara, the redhead not yet noticing the wolf beside him as he stared in horror at Naruto. The blond was inching his way towards Gaara.
"No! Stay away!" Unable to move, Gaara shouted in fear at the boy moving closer. The blond continued on.
"It's almost unbearable, isn't it? The feeling of being all alone." Naruto looked up, his eyes holding an unending sadness.
"I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place. But now there are others. Other people who mean a lot to me." The blond continued making his way forward.
"I care more about them than I do myself. And I won't let anyone hurt them." Avaya watched as the blond continued making his way to Gaara.
"That's why I won't ever give up. I will stop you, even if I have to kill you!"
"Why?" Gaara's eyes were filled with confusion and fear. "Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?"
"Because they saved me from myself. They rescued me from myself. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends."
Gaara looked up at the sky. "Love? Is that the thing that makes him so strong?" Then his sight was blocked by a mass of black fur.
"Wolf."
Her fur was soaked and covered in blood and dirt, but Gaara would recognize his wolf anywhere. She now stood over the redhead protectively, a low rumble in her chest as she warned someone away from him.
"Naruto." It was Sasuke. "That's enough." Gaara looked to see the black haired boy crouched down next the Naruto.
"Look, Sakura is going to be fine. The sand crumbled away, she free. This guy's chakra is depleted."
"Oh, that's a relief." The blond passed out. At the same time, Temari and Kankuro dropped down in front of Gaara, taking up defensive positions in case the Uchiha decided to attack Gaara while he was down.
The redhead was silent. His wolf stood above him while his siblings stood to protect him.
"That's enough. It's over."
"But Gaara." Kankuro started, but froze upon seeing Gaara's face. The younger boy had had it with fighting. The elder brother knelt down and the wolf moved.
"Alright." Placing on arm over his shoulder, Kankuro lifted Gaara to his feet. The four of them left.
"Temari, Kankuro. I'm sorry." Avaya watched as the tow older siblings exchanged a look at Gaara's apology.
"Don't worry about it."