Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Yu Yu Hakusho. My work is merely that of a man trying to entertain myself and others. With any luck, someone will recognize my immense talent and awesome, and then help me buy out Naruto from Kishimoto. After that, I will own Naruto and then I will buy Yu Yu Hakusho once I get enough money.
...yeah, like that's ever gonna happen.
Chapter 9: Dry as a Desert
Naruto sighed as he watched Ino get pulverized by Temari, who fought her as Shikamaru had forfeit the match. The match hadn't lasted more then maybe four or five seconds at most. Nearly the moment Genma had begun the match, Ino had been blasted into a wall by Temari's Kamaitachi No Jutsu. Not that all of it could be blamed on Ino, Temari had looked pretty steamed before the match began. No doubt she was upset about more or less losing to Shikamaru. After all, she may have technically won, but it was only due to the laziness on Shikamaru's part then any ability or skill on hers.
Still, the fact that Ino had lost so quickly did not reflect well on her abilities, or those of her teacher.
"Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do with these girls. Sakura and Ino are so... pathetic. It's like they never even took the time to really train themselves."
"That is what happens when one spends so much time staring at their crush and not training," Shino said, pushing his glasses up on his nose so that they flashed in the sunlight.
"I hear ya, Shino," Naruto said with a heavy sigh. "Man, I wish our kunoichi were like Temari, strong and hot. Not little twig-girls who believe dieting is the best way to lose weight." Honestly it was something he didn't understand. Ino and Sakura, along with all the girls in his class spent their time doing one of two things; staring at Sasuke, or dreaming of having said Uchiha's babies. They never trained, never put any effort into getting strong or being a good ninja, believing their 'knight in brooding armor' would come and rescue them. He couldn't figured out how the girls in his class, especially when the ones that did pass were all said to be exceptionally bright, could ever think like that after having seen how Sasuke acted.
Naruto liked putting fangirls into two categories. One type was at the very least useful, either because they went the only way that gave them any respect and trained like crazy to gain enough skill so that they could impress their crush. Or they had useful connections, which had their own benefits though not as much as those with skill.
The other type, seemingly the one Ino and Sakura belonged to, were completely and utterly useless. They spent more time stalking their crush then they spent on their training, would spend their money on make-up hair care products instead of ninja supplies and weapons, gave their looks more attention than their muscles, used perfume instead of scent killers, and did the worst possible thing a ninja could do, diet. Any idiot knew that you lost weight from training, and that even gave the advantage of gaining muscles and strength. Honestly, the only real use those girls had as ninja were canon fodder, and since there were laws that prevented them being used as such they shouldn't even be allowed to graduate the academy.
Maybe it was thanks to Kyuubi giving him this new perspective, or perhaps he had always had it, but Naruto could never comprehend why women liked to simulate interrogation by starvation. Like they thought not eating would actually help their figure. And once they started starving themselves, they would give anyone who was actually smart enough to exercise and was not afraid to eat a healthy meal in their presence hateful and malicious glares. Even a simply bandit with no knowledge on chakra could defeat, and it wasn't surprising that they were extremely popular amongst rapists since they had good looks, little bark and no bite. And no matter how many times you told them, how many points people made about how unhealthy and dangerous it was, they never changed, believing their knight in shining armor would come and rescue them. Having spent months with Sakura and having already been in several dangerous, life and death situations, Naruto knew it to be true as she still hadn't even made an attempt at getting stronger. It was the most frustrating thing in existence and personally, Naruto couldn't wait to get off of team seven so he wouldn't have to deal with her crap.
"Will Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku No Gaara please come down to the arena!"
Naruto smirked as he heard his name called. He looked over at Gaara and grinned. "Are you ready, little Tanuki?" he asked, getting three shocked looks from the Suna genin. Well, Kankuro and Temari looked shocked, Gaara's face was mostly impassive but the blond saw a hint of apprehension. He chuckled, no doubt they were wondering how he knew of the red head's host. He absently wondered if Shikaku knew he was the descendant of Raizen. And if so, had it told Gaara?
Not that it mattered to Naruto whether or not Shukaku knew of his relation to the most powerful demon to have ever graced Makai. It wouldn't change the end results of this match.
He jumped out of the fighters booth, landing on the ground with a dull thud. He walked over to the middle of the arena, where Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand a few seconds later.
"Are both contestants ready?" asked Genma. He received no answer, but then he hadn't expected one from this battle. Gaara never really seemed to talk much anyway, and Naruto was being exceptionally quiet. "Then Haji -"
A swirl of leaves picked up between the two soon to be combatants. Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke appeared within its center. Sasuke had changed his look. Instead of the blue outfit, he was now clad in a black pair of pants and shirt, with white bandages along his arms, he had elbow pads on and black shinobi sandals. He and Kakashi stood back to back in what Naruto figured the pair felt was a cool opening pose. He snorted, maybe if they had been on time.
"I'm sorry, are we late?" asked Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head as he gave everyone an eyesmile.
"As a matter of fact Kakashi, you are. So late in fact that Sasuke's match was over two hours ago. Because he couldn't show up on time he was disqualified," Genma said, much to the shock of Kakashi and the anger of Sasuke.
"What do you mean I'm disqualified!" asked Sasuke, flaring his sharingan at the proctor as if it would somehow convince the man he should be allowed to fight. Meanwhile Kakashi was looking at Genma in shock, he had been positive that Sasuke would still be allowed to compete. After all, many of the people who came here had done so simply to see his prized student fight in this tournament.
Genma rolled his eyes. If this kid thought he was going to bend to his will just because he brought out a pair of jutsu thieving monkey marbles then he had another thing coming. "You had your chance to fight, and you blew it by showing up late. If we can't even expect you to show up on time for your own match, then you don't deserve to be Chunin anyways. Now step aside, I've got a match to run."
It was then Kakashi and Sasuke saw the competitors. "How dare you steal my match!" Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto who just sighed at the raven-haired kids anger. It wasn't his fault the Uchiha had decided not to show up on time.
"I stole nothing from you," the blond replied. "You lost your chance at competing by taking up your sensei's bad habits. Perhaps you should remember this and use it as a reminder of why its important to be on time. Then again, you were probably too busy licking Kakashi's ass to even know what time it was."
"I'll teach you not to insult your betters, dobe!" Sasuke crouched down low and went through three hand-seals. Lightning began sparking from his hands, right before the Uchiha disappeared in a blur of speed. Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's new-found speed. Not because he was fast but because it was all fake. The blond easily recognized the Shunshin movement technique, which made a person speed up so quickly it seemed as if they had teleported. Naruto could easily follow Sasuke's movements, and the moment the Uchiha appeared at his side, Naruto was already in motion.
He grabbed Sasuke's face, lifting the boy up before he even had time to react. Then he proceeded to slam the other genin head first into the ground. The earth cracked and cratered slightly under Sasuke's head. The lightning technique, which Naruto recognized as the Chidori, disappeared from Sasuke's hand and the boy's body went limp. Naruto took his hand of the genin's face to reveal the Sasuke's eyes were still open, though they were rolled up into the back of his head.
Naruto picked up the Uchiha by the shirt and chucked him at Kakashi. "Hatake, take your butt buddy and leave."
"This isn't over Naruto, attacking a fellow genin is an act of treason," Kakashi warned, his eyes glaring at the blond.
"In case you didn't see, Sasuke attacked me first," said Naruto with an incredulous snort. "Of course, everyone knows of your blatant favoritism, and I'm not surprised your showing it here as well. Now get the fuck off the arena floor before I smash your face into the ground as well." Kakashi narrowed his eyes, but left with an unconscious Sasuke over his shoulder.
"Now maybe we can get this thing started. Proctor-san, if you would?"
"Right, the first match of the second round, Sabaku No Garra vs. Uzumaki Naruto! Hajime!"
Birth of the New Demon King
"SASUKE-KUN!" Everyone who was in the general vicinity of one Haruno Sakura winced as the ear-splitting, glass-breaking shriek came out of the pink haired girls mouth. It was the kind of sound that one would never expect from a human girl. Not even a banshee could make that kind of sound. Then again, maybe the girl wasn't completely human. Perhaps Sakura was some kind of human/banshee hybrid and it gave her unparalleled shrieking powers. It seemed like legit theory to the many people that were sitting even remotely near her.
Said girl was by Kakashi's side instantly, grabbing Sasuke and attempting to wake him up. Of course attempting to wake up was a completely relative term. She was screaming out his name with worry, thankfully her volume was at least slightly turned down. However, the way she was... touching him, was definitely not something most people would do when trying to wake up someone. Well, unless they were attempting to wake them up by disturbing them so thoroughly that it forced them to wake up. Were the girl more attractive it might have even been a nice wake up call. However, given the girl's shrieking, that overly large forehead, and the fact that she was flatter then a billboard made her seem almost like a man.
Then again, maybe Sasuke was into that kind of thing? Many people knew the Uchiha had girls throwing themselves at him left, right and center, and yet he never did anything with them. He wouldn't even go out on a date. It made a few of the more observation and less Clan obsessive shinobi wonder. Perhaps Sasuke played for the other team.
"Having some trouble with your genin, Kakashi?" asked Asume with an amused grin once the ringing from his ears stopped. "Perhaps this will teach you to follow your own motto. What was it again, oh yes, something like 'those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrade's are worse then trash'. I believe it was something like that."
Kakashi scowled. "I didn't abandon anyone, I've been helping Sasuke this whole time."
"I think he was talking about your other two students," Kurenai said with a frown. Her respect for the copy ninja had been continuously decreasing ever since the preliminaries, where she had learned that he hadn't taught Sakura or Naruto anything. Of course, that had been because he was too busy training the Uchiha, which was another black mark as far as Kurenai was concerned. She didn't show favoritism to any of her genin, even though she was extremely close to Hinata. "You do know that Sasuke was not your only student in this exam, and Sakura's battle with Ino was pathetic." Asuma winced since he knew Ino had done no better, especially after this latest match. Kurenai ignored Sakura's obnoxious protest on her performance as she glared at Kakashi. "Her techniques and strategies were all academy level work. I would have at least thought you might teach the girl a few genjutsu or something."
"I'm not very good at Genjutsu," was Kakashi's excuse for not teaching Sakura. "And there was no point in training Naruto, it's not like he would have won just because I was training him."
"And yet he did win," Asuma pointed out. "He not only won, he beat Neji to a pulp. How much better would he have been if you had actually trained him from the beginning, rather then wasted all your time on Sasuke."
"I don't need you two giving me a lecture," Kakashi said, scowling behind his mask.
"No, what you need is an ass-kicking," Anko said from her spot. "You neglected two of your students, showed favoritism to one, disregarded your own code, and are still trying to come up with excuses for your current lack of intelligent decisions. Now why don't you head somewhere else, I have no desire to sit near someone who would abandon his own students." She hated people who would abandon someone else just because they thought that person was worthless. It reminded her too much of Orochimaru for her taste.
Kakashi looked at all of the others and noticed none of the looks he was receiving were friendly. Well, accept for Sakura who was more or less ignoring him in favor of molesting the still out cold Uchiha. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, and fearing that the female's who knew him may do something to painful to him, like burn his Icha Icha if he stayed, Kakashi left in a quick Shunshin. Leaving his prized student who was still being tended to by a Sakura, who disgustingly enough was cooing to the Uchiha and doting on him like some kind of sycophant.
Birth of the New Demon King
Naruto and Gaara stared at each other as Genma called a start to the match like they hadn't even heard him. This had been the battle Naruto had been waiting for. During his time in Makai he had fought many different kinds of demons, all of varying strength. However he had never faced of against a demon higher then a B-class. Shukaku was an A-class Demon Lord, and while he did not have the raw power Naruto did, he had better knowledge of his own power then the blond Uzumaki. That alone made this a worth while test for him.
For a moment neither moved. Naruto was just content to see what the insane Suna genin would make as his first move, and Gaara was just staring at the blond.
"Mother is afraid of you, Uzumaki. Why is this?" the red head finally asked. There was a look of confusion on his face. It was almost funny to see how confused he was without hearing the voice of Shukaku in his head, though any humor the situation may have had was tempered by the fact that he didn't seem capable of making choices without Shukaku telling him what to do. "Why won't mother talk to me?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he heard the name Gaara called Shukaku. He shrugged the amusing thought of Shukaku being a mother, especially when his mind conjured an image of said male demon wearing a pink apron and stiletto heals, and grinned. "Your... ahem... mother is afraid of me because it knows that I have the power to kill it. Now, if your done playing twenty questions, why don't we get this party started?"
As Naruto began to walk towards the red-haired genin, having decided that if Gaara wasn't going to bring the fight to him, then he was going to bring the fight to Gaara. Said genin held his head and began shaking it back and forth. "Mother doesn't like you... mother recognizes that stench and mother doesn't like it!"
"Well isn't that just too bad," Naruto replied. "Mother's going to have to get use to it because I'm going to be kicking your ass really soon."
Just as the blond took another step, Gaara began screaming. "MOTHER WANTS YOUR BLOOD UZUMAKI! MOTHER WILL NOT BE COWED BY YOU! MOTHER REFUSES TO BE AFRAID OF YOU!" Sand burst from the gourd on the red head's back, as youki began pouring out of Gaara like a sieve. Naruto watched in an odd fascination as the sand split into four different parts, which then split into four more, and then began to morph as soon as they touched the ground.
The creatures that formed looked odd. They didn't possess any solid shape, and were constantly changing. Some had four arms, others had two, some had what looked like swords for arms, or axes, maces. They were constantly changing and shifting. The only thing all four had in common was the single eye on top of the small lump that more or less acted as the head.
Naruto looked at the sixteen creatures that were converging on him with a large grin. "So this is how you want to start things off, eh? Well that's fine with me, I could use a little exercise before we get to the main event. Let's rock!"
The sand creatures came at him all at once, converging on his location like the blond was a lit beacon. And with that hair, maybe he was.
Naruto burst towards the first one in a blur of motion, coming in hot and driving a knife edged hand right through the creature's eye. It let out a loud shriek, the kind that sounded like it was coming from a dying beast. Naruto was just thankful this creature's shrieking wasn't any where near as bad as Sakura. Then it burst into sand particles and converged on the other fifteen sand monsters left.
Acting with the speed of a veteran fighter, Naruto flew forward towards his next target. The creature swung it's left hand, which was currently in an axe form, but was too slow as the blond moved under the attack. One of Naruto's hand's came up, slicing off the weaponized hand before his foot lashed out in a high kick that caught the creature in the face.
He would have finished it off, but by now two of the sand beasts were upon him. Naruto ducked under a sword swing that was meant to decapitate him, jumped back from a kick from what looked like a hammer-foot, then jumped to the left in time to miss the mace bearing down on his position. The mace weapon hit the ground with earth shattering force, and Naruto decided to lash out with his own attack. He channeled youki into his foot, deciding that since he was facing a demon, or a boy possessed by a demon, turn about would be fair play. His foot began to take on a red hue as it lit up like a fire, blazing red energy poured off the foot as smashed it into the mace. The mace blew up in an explosion of sand, along with the rest of the creature who could not withstand the youki Naruto had unleashed.
A smirk came to Naruto's face as he set his target on another creature.
Birth of the New Demon King
"AH!" Hinata cried out in pain as she shut off her Byakugan as soon as Naruto began pouring on the power.
"Hinata-chan! What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" cried Kiba as Hinata rubbed her eyes furiously.
"I-It's, Naruto-kun c-chakra," stammered Hinata. "Th-that attack. It's so p-powerful. L-looking at it with my B-Byakugan is like staring di-directly into the sun. it's so powerful it hurts just looking at it."
'No, that is not chakra,' Hizashi thought to himself as he heard his eldest daughters words from where he was sitting. 'That is something else entirely, but it does not belong to the Kyuubi. What is that power?'
Birth of the New Demon King
Naruto thrust his palm into a sand creature's face, unloading a powerful blast of youki that annihilated the entire beasts head. The body soon followed, bursting into sand and coalescing around the other creature's.
A frown marred Naruto's face as he looked at the remaining creature's. He had destroyed seven so far, there were only nine left. However, those nine were significantly larger then when he had started. 'The sand from the other monsters I beat are being added to the remaining sand creatures.' That meant the more he killed the larger the creature's would get. 'Maybe I should just destroy them all in a single shot?'
Deciding his previous plan was the best, Naruto jumped high into the air. He formed a gun shape with his left hand, with both index and pointer fingers sticking out, and held onto it with his right. Red and black youki began to form above the tip of his fingers in the shape of a ball. "Akumo No Taihou (Demon Gun)!" the ball deconstructed as Naruto pushed his youki out, exploding and turning into a large fifteen foot wide cylinder of energy that shot towards the ground at insane speeds. It exploded in the midst of the sand monsters, decimating them all with a single blow. When all was said and done, all that was left to let people know the sand creature's existed was the large crater in the ground.
Landing on the ground Naruto looked at Gaara and grinned, "that was a nice warm up. But I think it's now time we got down to the main event, don't you?"
Birth of the New Demon King
"W-what was!" Shouted Ino as she stared at the crater in the ground, her eyes so wide it looked like her eyeballs would fall out of her orbital sockets. "Did you guys see that! He just blew up all of those... those things in a single attack! What kind of attack was that!"
"I... don't know," said a stumped Asuma. "I've never seen anything like that, and that chakra..."
"It was even worse then what I remember feeling from the Kyuubi," Kurenai said, staring at the destruction Naruto's attack had lane waste to. She shivered, Kurenai may have been young when the Kyuubi attacked, being thirteen years old and just a Chunin at the time. But she could still remember the bloodlust and power that had rolled off of the Kyubi in waves. But this... "The Kyuubi felt like an infant compared to the power behind Naruto's attack."
Everyone heard her words, but no one said anything. Whether what Kurenai said was true or not, no one could deny that whatever the blond Uzumaki had done was a powerful attack. Many of the civilians that had hated Naruto for being the Jinchurikki for the Kyuubi, were now feeling fearful that it had come to take it's revenge on them for their treatment of it.
Birth of the New Demon King
"What kind of jutsu was that, Hokage-Sama?" asked the still disguised Orochimaru. On the inside the hebi-sennin was cackling in glee. 'What power! What strength! I was a fool not to give him my gift in the forest, but it matters not. Soon, Naruto-kun, you will be mine!'
"I couldn't tell you, Kazekage-Sama," Sarutobi replied evenly, even though he was shocked at the attack Naruto had done. The attack greatly reminded him off the few times he had seen a Bijuudama (Tailed Beast Ball), only on a slightly smaller scale. What's more the blond had not used the Kyuubi's chakra, however he had not used his own either. Whatever power he had used was far more powerful then even the Kyuubi. Which should not be possible, since the Kyuubi was the strongest Bijuu in existence.
"Well what ever that was, it was very powerful."
"Agreed."
Birth of the New Demon King
"You are powerful, so very powerful..." Looking into Gaara's eyes Naruto realized that the boy was no longer in control. The sclera of Gaara's eyes had become black, containing yellow irides with pupils that each takes the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it. They were the eyes of Shukaku, and it was obvious the boy was possessed. "What power! What incredible power! YOUR POWER WILL BE MINE!"
Sand swelled around Gaara, covering his body. Black markings began to spread out along the sand. It wasn't long before Gaara became a miniature version of Shukaku, with large, claw-lie hands, stubby feet and a large raccoon tail swishing behind him.
"Well aren't you just the ugliest thing I've ever seen," Naruto said with a laugh. "That's a face only a mother could love!"
"SHUT UP YOU!" The Shukaku's voice came out, a loud wining sound that was almost as bad as Sakura. Naruto frowned, Kyuubi had told him Shukaku had a grisly voice. "I'LL STEAL ALL YOUR POWER!"
"You can try you overstuffed bag of sand," Naruto taunted. He held out his hand and beckoned the possessed genin forward, "come."
"RAAAAH!" Shukaku threw himself forward rather fast for a guy on two stubby little legs. He swiped a claw at Naruto, which extended in it's attempt to hit the blond. However the demon-shinobi just grinned as he charged youki into his fist, meeting the claw in an explosion of power. Shukaku's entire arm was blown up and the creature reared it's back to scream in pain. "AAH! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"
It began attacking again, with all it had, claw swipes, wind attacks, sand attacks, nothing it threw at the blond Uzumaki worked. Naruto wove around the claw swipes, occasionally using a knife edged hand to cut off the claws fingers. He used his youki attacks to neutralize the wind attacks, and whenever the sand tried to crush him, Naruto would release his youki and blast the sand away like it was nothing more then a minor irritant.
Naruto ducked under another claw swipe. His hand shot up, covered in an intense red and black energy that took on the shape of a blade. With movement quicker then the Kiroii Senkou himself, Naruto sliced off the entire clawed arm like it was paper. Shukaku reared back as if struck, roaring out in both pain and frustration. The Demon Lord attacked again, fighting with that much more zeal as it did everything in it's power to kill the blond who was more or less mocking it's inability to kill him.
The Shukaku seemed to be getting frustrated that it had yet to even land a hit on the genin, who had already destroyed his arms at least ten times. With a loud roar Shukaku let loose his youki, a muddy brown color that saturated Gaara's body. A giant tower of sand exploded upwards, engulfing the entire arena in smoke. As quickly as it had come the smoke was blown away by a powerful gust of wind. Many of the spectators reeled back in shock and horror at the sight that greeted them. In the center of the arena, standing at least a good thirty meters in height, stood the terror of Sunagakure, the Ichibi No Shukaku.
Birth of the New Demon King
"Oh this is so not good," Asuma said with a groan.
"Releasing his Bijuu here! Is he insane!" asked Kurenai with a shout. "We need to do something before Naruto get's killed!"
"Now hold up, Nai-chan," said Anko before Kurenai whirled on her.
"Hold up? HOLD UP! Naruto is not facing off against some insane ninja! He's fighting a Bijuu! There is no way a genin, no matter how good can fight that thing!"
"And you can?" asked Anko, looking at her with an incredulous look. "None of us have the power to fight a Bijuu. Besides, look down at the gaki, he's completely calm."
Kurenai frowned but did as told. Anko was right, Naruto did look rather calm. To be honest, if he was showing any emotion at all, Kurenai had to say it was excitement. There was a large grin on his face as he eyed the giant Demon. It looked like he was enjoying the battle more then anything else.
"I still don't like it," Kurenai said.
"You don't have to like it," Anko returned. "Hell, I don't like it, but there is nothing we can do. Fighting a Bijuu would crush us. Besides, we've seen what the kid can do. If anyone can defeat that thing, it's him."
Birth of the New Demon King
"Well this is more like it, I was beginning to get bored of fighting the mini you," Naruto commented lightly. His eyes took on a red glow, which when combined with his Rinnegan made for a freaky affect. "It's time for me to really let loose!"
"YOU THINK YOU'VE WON! I'LL KILL YOU! FUUTON: RENKUUDAN (wind release: Wind Bullet)!" As the giant bullet of wind sped towards Naruto, said blond unleashed a large ball of youki, which he launched at the mass of displaced and compressed air. The two attacks struck, and Naruto's proved to be the stronger by a large margin. It struck the demon in the face, and Naruto decided he was lucky Gaara was no located near it's head, since the red head would have been destroyed along with that particular appendage after the blast had struck.
Naruto ran towards the giant Demon Lord, which began sending out sand tendrils to crush him once it regained it's head. However, with Naruto having decided to use youki for this battle, he was able to use Shundo to great effect in dodging the sand that came his way.
"GET OFF! GET OFF!" Shukaku shouted as Naruto appeared on the Demon Lord's head after one of his Shundos. Shukaku tried to wrap its sand around his ankles, but Naruto used his youki to keep himself from getting stuck. Grinning, Naruto placed his hands on the massive demon's head. They began to grow a dark red, and were soon crackling with power as Naruto channeled more and more youki into his hands. He soon released it in a powerful burst, and the effects were rather astonishing.
Naruto's youki was not only very poisonous, but also had a similar to effect to heating. Most of the reason his youki blasts disintegrated his opponents when used, was quite simply because his attacks usually ran upwards of one thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That meant anything his youki attacks hit, were more or less vaporized.
It was a little different with Shukaku. Since the entire creature was made from youki infused sand, the Demon Lord was much sturdier then most. This meant that it's body did not dissolve when struck with a point-blank blast of Naruto's youki. Instead, Shukaku was turned into a large shard of glass. "Ah! What art!" Naruto sniffed as he looked down at his 'creation'. "Truly I should have gone into glass making. Sometimes I astound myself. I shall call it, Demon Lord A la Sand! Too bad I can't let this thing just stand here. Oh well..." He tapped his foot on the now glassed Bijuu's head, cracks started appearing around the spot Naruto tapped, spreading out in an ever increasing web until the entire demon's body was filled with tiny cracks. Giving one more tap the Demon Lord's form shattered.
Birth of the New Demon King
"I don't believe it," Kankuro choked out as he stared at the glass shards that fell to the ground. "He... he beat Gaara..."
"Gaara!" Temari cried out in worry. Ignoring her other brother's cry of "wait" she opened her fan and flew down to the arena floor. There she found Gaara, alive but unconscious. Her youngest brother was sitting on the floor, eyes rolled in the back of his head. And the blond who had defeated him like he had been fighting Bijuu all his life had a hand on his head. "What are you doing to him!" cried Temari. "Let him go! He's already defeated!" She would have just attacked him but Naruto had Gaara hostage.
"Relax," said Naruto in a calm voice, his eyes closed. "I'm not going to hurt Gaara, but I need to see what is wrong with Shukaku."
His words caused Temari to stop short. She tilted her head and a look of confusion crossed her face. "What? What do you mean?"
A smile appeared on Naruto's face. "Nothing. Don't worry your pretty little head over a thing. Now, let's see what's behind that cage..."
Temari heard the boy's last mutterings and wondered what he meant. What cage? Was he...? could it be possible that Naruto was inside of Gaara's seal? But how? Was it the Rinnegan? Temari could only stand there and watch, hoping and praying that her brother would be ok.
Birth of the New Demon King
"Man, this place is even more of a dump then my own mind!" Naruto said with a grumble as he looked around the red heads mind. The entire place looked like a dessert, everywhere he looked was sand, sand and more sand. Well, maybe it was a little better then the sewers his had been. Not that Naruto could access it anymore, since he no longer had a seal he couldn't actually enter his mind anymore. Oh well, there was nothing useful there for him anyways as far as he was concerned.
Looking around, Naruto decided on a destination to head to. A place where he saw a giant cavern in a large wall. Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed and made it to the cage in record time. The cage was a lot like his, with large steel-gray bars, and a seal in the center. However, he noticed that the seal was frayed and worn. It looked like it someone had taken a fire jutsu to it. Inside of the cave was Shukaku... and yet, it wasn't.
There was something that he couldn't see, yet he could feel. It was like Shukaku held two souls, which was impossible. And yet, that was what he was feeling from the Demon Lord.
And it seemed the beast had learned of his presence, for it whirled around and glared at him.
"IT'S YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Though it spoke brashly Naruto heard the worry in it's voice. Not surprising, it probably realized just how helpless it was. He ignored it for the moment as he tried to decide what to do.
"You!" Naruto turned and saw Gaara standing just a little behind him. The boy looked frightened. "What are you doing here! How did I get here! What's going on!" Naruto had to blink at the rapid fire questions the boy was asking. He was rather surprised the boy was being so emotional, then again, it's not everyday the Demon your carrying inside of you gets beat in five minutes flat by a genin.
"Oh, I'm just here to see what's wrong with Shukaku," Naruto said lightly.
Gaara stopped and blinked at him. "What?"
"Shukaku, something's wrong with him," Naruto repeated. "I doubt you can feel it, but I can sense two souls coming from Shukaku."
"Two souls?" Gaara muttered. "Could it be? I had been told that the Shukaku was an insane priest who was sealed into a tea kettle..."
"A priest?" Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, "yes, a priest could merge with a demon if done right. Though they and the demon they merged with would lose their minds. It is a very foolish thing to do, especially attempting to merge with a Demon Lord." The blond sighed. "Very well, it looks like that priest is going to have to go."
"What are you doing?" asked Gaara, who by now seemed to realize Naruto wasn't going to hurt him. Though he was curious as to why.
"I'm going to get rid of that priest, what else?" asked Naruto in a rhetorical fashion. "Anyone stupid enough to try and merge with a demon is dangerous. Besides, that priest is the entire reason Shukaku is so insane. Once the priest is gone, Shukaku should become normal again, and you should be able to sleep."
Gaara's eyes widened, "Really?"
"Really."
Naruto walked up to the cage and glared at the giant sand demon. "I'LL KILL YOU!" it screeched at him. Naruto ignored it's cries as he rushed through the cage. "WHAT ARE YOU – NO! NO! STOP THIS! I WILL NOT DIE! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T!"
"I can, and I will!" Naruto shouted as his hand was plunged into Shukaku's head. With an upward yank, Naruto pulled out a gastly, pale white soul. It wiggled and squirmed as if trying to break free. Shukaku quieted and began to sink down, as layers and layers of sand dissolved from it's body.
Naruto jumped back out of the cage and held the soul. "Disgusting," He muttered before cocking his youki covered fist and ploughing it into the soul. There was a piercing wail that emanated from the soul as it was destroyed. When the apparition was gone, the clearing was silent.
"There!" Naruto said in a pleased voice. He was rather proud of himself, Naruto had only been getting the basics of his Rinnegan down, and only knew that he could theoretically drag a soul out of a body. He had never actually tried it before, but that he was capable of doing so on his first try made his feel very good about himself. He turned to the stunned looking Gaara. "The real Shukaku should be waking up in about an hour. When he does, I suggest you two talk. If he starts being stubborn, tell him that Raizen's descendant will beat his ass for not working with you. Ok?"
"Uh... kay," Gaara said. Not like he could have said anything else. He was still trying to understand what the hell just happened!
"Alright then. It looks like my work here is done. Laters!"
Birth of the New Demon King
Naruto came back to the real world. Time inside of a seal was notoriously slow, so not much more then a second had elapsed outside of the seal. He looked at Temari and smiled. "Gaara's going to be fine," he said. He set the red head on the ground and stepped back, allowing Temari to rush to her brother's side. "Just make sure he get's a lot of uninterrupted rest. From what I understand he has twelve years of making up to do."
Temari looked at the blond who had just defeated Gaara's demon. Not just beaten it, but did so easily. He could have killed Gaara but he hadn't, and whatever the blond had done, Temari was sure it had been beneficial. "Thank you," she said with a watery smile.
"Your welcome! Now," Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the kage booth. "I want you to tell all of your forces that Orochimaru has killed and is impersonating your kage. Tell them they are not to attack with Oto, and any that do will be killed. Understand?"
Temari's eyes widened. Not just at the fact that he knew about the invasion, but what he said about her father as well. "What?"
"Orochimaru has killed and impersonated your Kazekage, that man you see up there is not your father. Tell all your invading forces to either back off or help us drive off Oto. Do. You. Understand?" asked Naruto in a growl.
"Y-yes," Temari stuttered.
"Good, then get to it!" and with that Naruto disappeared.
He reappeared right next to the disguised Orochimaru, whose eyes widened as the blond threw his fist out. There was a large explosion that destroyed the seat that the hebi-sannin was sitting on, and the entire wall behind it. However, Orochimaru had managed to escape, using his quick reflexes to jump out of the way.
"Orochimaru!" Naruto roared as he came at the disguised Sannin again. "Todays the day you die! I just hope you give me a better fight then these wet behind the ear genin!"
'How did he find out who I was!' Orochimaru was forced to shed his disguise as Naruto's youki enhanced fist blew another hole where he had been just seconds before. The two of them landed on a roof not far from the stadium.
The entire area was now pandemonium.
Birth of the New Demon King
As the shock of their leaders discovery wore off, the Oto ninja that had disguised themselves as civilians began attack anyone they could. However they soon found out that without the genjutsu that Kabuto had been going to cast in effect, they were out-manned and outmatched.
Maito Gai, who had arrived a little while ago with his student Rock Lee was a whirlwind force of destruction. He had already shed his weights, determining that in a battle for the safety of his village, he could not afford to hold back. He used his fists and feet to pound any ninja that was close to him into the ground, or the air, or through a wall. Every hit he sent broke bones and liquified insides.
Asuma had his trench knives out. They were covered in green wind chakra, and he was using them to their greatest potential as he sliced through Oto ninja in his way. While he may not have Gai's... enthusiasm when it came to fighting, he was more then able of handling the ninja that were in his path.
Right by his side, Kurenai was using her genjutsu to confuse any opponent that Asuma did not get right off the bat. She would use her skills in stealth to sneak up behind them and slit their throat, or kill them with a well thrown kunai. Mostly, she worked defensively, allowing the more battle oriented Asuma to take charge.
And just a little ways away from her was none other then Anko. Currently said woman was cackling in glee as she launched several snakes at any enemies that got close. The snakes clamped down on the Oto ninja, not only eliciting screams of pain, but slowly killing them from the snake venom her summons carried. While she killed her enemies, Anko was releasing a string of taunts and insults at all those who were still alive, enraging them further and making them that much easier to kill.
All around the stadium similar battles were taking place. Izumo and Kotetsu were using teamwork to defeat anybody that came to close. Genma was attacking several Oto ninja that appeared on the arena floor. Huddled together were the Konoha Twelve, those who had not sent to the infirmary. Shikimaru was using his Kagemane no jutsu to hold enemies in place, while Tenten bombarded them with kunai. Shino had his bugs sucking the chakra of any enemy ninja that got too close, while Hinata and Kiba were using their respective taijutsu styles to deal as much damage as they could. Even Ino was doing what she could, using her Shintenshin no Jutsu to take over people mind and have them kill their teammates. The only people who weren't fighting were Sakura, who was huddled in her seat in fear, praying for her Sasuke-kun to save her. And Lee, who was unfortunately too injured to fight and had to rely on Tenten for protection.
A little ways from them was none other then Uchiha Sasuke. Said genin was currently slaughtering Oto ninja left and right, an insane grin on his face as he reveled in his skills and the power he had over these weak opponents.
Birth of the New Demon King
"Baki!" Temari shouted as she neared her sensei, who was fighting with Genma. "Baki! The Kazekage has been killed! That man is really Orochimaru in disguise!"
"What!" he hadn't been close enough to hear what had been said by the blond, and only saw him attack their kage.
"Orochimaru killed our kage and disguised himself to get into the Chunin Exams!" Temari shouted. "We've been used!"
"Shit!" Baki did not doubt Temari's words. She would never lie about something so important, she rarely every lied period. Which meant she was right and this battle was meaningless. "Looks like our battle has ended," he told Genma as he leaped back. "I'm going to recall our forces and help you drive out Oto."
"How can we trust you?" asked Genma. "You did just attack us, and from the looks of things you guys have been planning this for a while now."
"It was our Kazekage's orders," Baki said. "However, it seems our Kazekage was wrong to trust that snake. If he is dead, then fighting you would be pointless."
"...Very well," Genma said. "Inform your men of what's happened and change your allegiance, I'll let those on my side know as well."
"Thank you," Baki nodded to the konoha jonin, before turning around. "Come on Temari, let's find Kankuro."
"Hai!"
Birth of the New Demon King
"Kukuku, well done Naruto-kun," Orochimaru chortled. "Tell me, how did you know who I was?"
Naruto cocked his head to the side and tapped his fingers to his temple. "Not much can get past these eyes, Orochimaru. Surely, you know the stories of the Rinnegan."
"Of course, and such delectable stories they are." Naruto felt a shiver of disgust run up his spine as Orochimar licked his lips and eyed him like a piece of meat. "If even half the myths on those eyes are true, then they would be very powerful."
"You won't be laying a finger on these eyes, Orochimaru," Naruto said. "Today is the day your life ends."
"Kukuku, your welcome to try Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said. "I wanted to test your potential anyways."
both fighters slid into their respective stances as they prepared for battle. Around them a purple barrier sprang up as four people in white robes with a purple bow holding them closed appeared on roof. Naruto took in the double barrier, noting that it was both designed to keep people in as well as out. Picking up a rock Naruto threw it and watched as the barrier sizzled and the rock disintegrated.
"You like?" asked Orochimaru with a grin on his face. "It's a rather genius Kekkai Ninjutsu (Barrier Ninjutsu) that I created. It's called Shinshienjin (Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment), the barrier does not allow anyone to enter or exit so long as the ninja are unharmed. The body of anyone touching it will immediately be engulfed in flames. In addition, there is no way to destroy the formation from inside the barrier, since the four people also have a barrier on the inside protecting them. So breaking out is extremely difficult, if not impossible. I had originally designed it so I could kill Sarutobi-sensei without any interference. However, I think I would much rather test your potential. The old man's death can wait for another day."
Naruto smiled. "You say that like you actually have a chance of surviving this encounter, Orochimaru. I assure you, this will be the last stand you make."
"Kukuku, then why don't we begin?" suggested Orochimaru.
A grin formed on Naruto's face, one that threatened to split his face in half. "Very well." Naruto blurred from view as the battle began.
Birth of the New Demon King
"Naruto-kun!" Sarutobi shouted as he jumped in front of the barrier. The ANBU team he had gotten together all stopped with him, all except one who ended up running straight into the purple barrier. The man was killed near instantaneously, his smoking and burnt corpse fell to the ground with a meaty thud.
"I don't think there's anyway to get in this barrier," the ANBU captain said pensively as his commanding officer watched the battle going on inside anxiously.
So There you have, one bonafide chapter with giant sand monsters getting their ass kicked. The battle between Orochimaru and Naruto is about to get underway, and the Sandaime will just have to sit his wrinkly old ass back and watch the show. Considering I don't think this has ever happened in a story before I'm rather pleased with the results.
And now I'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of jobs. Because, because, because I hate being unemployed.