Damn. i just pulled an all-nighter on this & i don't feel tired at all. writing fanfics is a lot of fun, isn't it? i've been obsessing about this story since i started it! to anyone who just reads, give writing a fic a try, it's great.

Disclaimer: I'm gonna write a Naruto's Not Mine song. just for the helluvit.

The curse of the former

They had been travelling for a few hours now. It was difficult to tell how long they had been in the forest; time had little meaning among the titanic trees.

They had found Sasuke's trail about half a mile back & were now racing to catch up with him. All of a sudden, Gaara spotted Umibe crawling out from the ground to the distance. He dispersed & reformed o Gaara's shoulder.

"Did you find them?" Gaara asked.

"Hai, Gaara-sama. They are fighting with a Kusa shinobi… but he was riding a giant snake."

"Orochimaru." Gaara growled, "Are the preparations complete?"

Umibe nodded, "I did as you asked."

"So Gaara, what's the plan?" Kankuro asked.

"Orochimaru has genetically enhanced his body so that he can sense vibrations. He also has a strong sense of smell & can see heat. So it is almost impossible to sneak up on him."

"So what do we do then?" Temari asked.

Gaara told them his plan. As he went through it, Kankuro's eyes widened.

"That's brilliant." Kankuro breathed.

"I don't know." Temari countered, "There's no guarantee it will work."

"My mission is to make sure he fails to take Sasuke-san. Orochimaru uses an immortality jutsu were he takes over a body, allowing him to increase his lifespan. This process isn't permanent however, & my master believes that Sasuke-san is Orochimaru's next target."

"…Wait, so… if all we have to do is stop him from gaining the Sharingan, then why don't we just kill Sasuke-san?" Temari asked.

Gaara shook his head.

"I will not kill anyone who hasn't wronged me or my master unless I have no other choice. Orochimaru has done so, so I aim to kill him anyway."

Temari & Kankuro nodded slowly.

"Umibe, how far away are they?" Gaara asked.

"At this pace, we will reach them in about a minute… I think."

"You think?" Kankuro questioned, "You mean you don't know?"

"He's only a child!" Temari scolded him, "He hasn't had shinobi training!"

"Quiet you two." Gaara said, as he spotted a cloud of dust appear in the distance.

They stopped a hundred yards away from the actual conflict. They saw Sasuke hunched over, he looked exhausted. The Kusa shinobi was tied to a tree covered in burn marks. The pink haired girl hurried to Sasuke to see if he was alright.

The Kusa shinobi broke free of the wires & took a few steps forwards. He did a hand sign, causing Sasuke & his team mate to lose control of their bodies. The pink haired girl fell to her knees while Sasuke fought to stay steady.

"I'm impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age." the Kusa shinobi said, his voice becoming higher & raspy, "You live up to the name Uchiha."

The Kusa shinobi had the skin missing from the left side of his face, revealing a paler face & a yellow eye with a snake-like pupil. He raised his hand to his headband & the symbol changed from Kusa to Oto.

"I want you after all." he said.

"Kankuro, get ready." Gaara ordered.

"Alright." Kankuro replied.

Sasuke screamed in pain, keeling over.

"You two are definitely brothers." Oto shinobi said, "Your eyes say that you carry more potential than Itachi."

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Temari." Gaara said.

"Yeah, I'm ready." she replied.

The Oto shinobi tossed a scroll in the air & caught it in his hand.

"My name is Orochimaru." he said, "If you wish to see me again, get through this Exam as if your life depended on it."

"What?" Gaara thought, "You're not taking him?"

The scroll in Orochimaru's hand began burning in green fire.

"In other words, you'll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Oto ninja."

"I thought you said he was going to kidnap Sasuke-san?" Kankuro said, frowning.

"This is strange. What is he doing?" Temari wondered.

Gaara lifted a finger to his lips.

"What nonsense are you chattering?" the pink haired girl said, "We never want to see your face anymore!"

Orochimaru chuckled, "It doesn't work that way."

He then formed another hand sign & his neck stretched at an impossible rate.

"What is that?!" Temari exclaimed.

His head shot through the air, aimed right at Sasuke. He opened his mouth & bit into his neck.

"Sasuke-kun!" The pink haired girl cried.

Sasuke was twitching in pain. After a couple of seconds, Orochimaru let go & his neck retracted back to normal.

"He bit him?" Kankuro thought aloud.

Sasuke groaned & grabbed his neck, clearly suffering.

"Sasuke kun…!" the girl cried, "What did you do to Sasuke-kun!"

Orochimaru raised a finger to his mouth.

"I gave him a farewell present." he said, "Sasuke-kun will seek me. He will seek me for power."

"Now!" Gaara ordered.

Kankuro raised his hands & his puppet appeared. Orochimaru spotted it & his eyebrows raised.

"Karasu?" he noted.

The puppets mouth opened & out shot a poisonous gas. Orochimaru smirked.

"Are you trying to trick me?" he said playfully, glancing behind him, "That will never reach here."

"Temari!" Gaara called.

"Hai!" she replied, whipping out her fan, "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"

She waved her fan & the massive gust blew the gas straight into Orochimaru.

The sannin tried to escape, but for some reason his feet were trapped. He couldn't see the reason through the smoke but his attention was diverted as the branch he was standing on was cut clean through. It fell through the air & landed on the ground with a crash. As he looked at the ground beneath him, he realized that there was a peculiar creature wrapped around his legs. But what was stranger was that instead of moss & grass, sand sat beneath him. Gaara leapt off the tree & as he fell, he thrust his arm out.

"Ryūsa Bakeryū!" he yelled.

The sand Shifted into a large wave & slammed straight into Orochimaru, who yelled out in fear.

"Sabaku Taisō!" Gaara yelled again, slamming his hands into the sand as he landed. A shockwave flew across the surface of the sand, crushing anything inside it. Gaara stood & surveyed his work. He turned to leave but froze as he heard a sound.

"Ku ku ku, aren't you a rude child?" Orochimaru said, rising out of the sand, "You shouldn't interrupt others."

Gaara spun round and threw his right arm out. As he moved it changed, enlarging & growing blue markings. It flew through the air. Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock as he was hit with the attack & slammed into a tree.

"Gaara!" Temari called out in shock.

"That arm." Orochimaru said through gritted teeth, "Where did you get that arm?"

"My master gave it to me. You betrayed him." Gaara growled, walking slowly towards the sannin, "I will make you pay."

Orochimaru smirked.

"So you are on a quest for vengeance? Alright then, tell me, who did I kill that you call master?"

Gaara hung his head as he walked, not looking at the snake.

"Heh heh heh."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, "What's so funny?"

"That you would assume my master is dead." Gaara replied.

He was now very close to Orochimaru.

"I assure you he is very much alive. He is disappointed in you, Orochimaru-san. You attacked Itachi-san & fled. Now I must kill you."

Orochimaru's eyes widened, "The Rinnegan user sent you?"

Gaara laughed again.

"Him? He is not my master. In fact, once I take care of you, he will be my equal."

He was now but a few feet from Orochimaru.

"The man who sent me to kill you." Gaara said, slowly raising his head, "His name, is Uchiha Madara!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened further.

"Uchiha Madara lives? That's impossible!"

Gaara's expression was that of insanity.

"Apparently his immortality jutsu is better than yours, Orochimaru-san! He wants you dead & I shall fulfil his wish!"

Orochimaru looked panicked.

"No, please! I surrender! Don't kill me!" he begged.

Gaara frowned. He focused chakra to his right eye & felt it change. He looked at Orochimaru growled in anger. He crushed the Tsuchi Bunshin in his Shukaku hand & used his other arm to block the mud that flew at him. All around him came Orochimaru's voice.

"Ku ku ku ku ku ku. I will see you soon Gaara-kun."

"NO!" Gaara roared, throwing his mutated fist into the tree, leaving a massive gouge in it.

"NO! NO! NO! GOD-DAMN-IT!" he screamed, each syllable resulting in a another punch at the tree, the hole growing larger each time.

"Gaara!" Temari cried, grabbing his shoulder & pulling him towards her. She gasped.

His right eye was different from his left. It was black with a gold iris and a small black diamond surrounded by four blue dots.

"Gaara… what did you do to yourself?" she asked.

Gaara shrugged her off.

"Where's Sasuke-san?" he asked, eye & arm returning to normal.

"Kankuro's getting him." she answered.

The two of them jumped up to were Kankuro was. He was currently in a vocal fight with the pink haired girl. Sasuke was unconscious.

"Why don't you leave us alone? We don't have a scroll!" she yelled.

"I don't care about that!" Kankuro said.

"So you just want to kill us?" she asked, looking afraid.

"Pink-haired-girl-san, we mean you no harm. Here." he said, tossing her his scroll, "Now would you please go get Naruto-san? We will look after Sasuke-san, I give you my word."

The girl still looked uncertain, but a warm smile from Temari seemed to convince her. She nodded & went to get Naruto. When she was gone, Gaara checked the place Sasuke was bitten. He found a seal on his skin that probably wasn't there earlier.

"What is this?" he wondered.

The girl returned with Naruto over her shoulder.

"What are you doing to Sasuke-kun?" she demanded.

Gaara stood & looked at her.

"Orochimaru-san has placed a seal on Sasuke-san." he answered, "I don't recognize it, there's no way of knowing what it's doing to him."

The girl looked shocked. Gaara turned to his siblings.

"I need to contact my master for guidance. Do not follow me." he said, before disappearing.

He climbed to the top of the tree, overlooking the forest. He sat on the uppermost branch & pulled from his pocket a small stone with the kanji for 'voice' on it. He closed his eyes & channelled chakra into it. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a dark room.

"Gaara-kun?"

Gaara looked round & saw Madara standing in a doorway as if he was just about to leave. He came back in & closed the door.

"How is the communication stone?" he asked.

"It is weak, it requires quite a bit of chakra to use." Gaara replied.

Madara smirked.

"Well, when you wear the Akatsuki ring, you won't be required to use quite so much chakra. So how goes your mission?"

Gaara folded his arms.

"The situation has changed. when I attempted to abandoned my siblings, they refused to leave me & have decided to abandon Suna & follow me."

Madara's eyebrows raised.

"That is a surprise. You understand that we will have to interrogate them to make sure they aren't working undercover."

"Of course, but there is something else. We encountered Orochimaru."

"By 'encounter', I assume you haven't completed your mission."

Gaara looked away.

"He escaped. But he didn't take Sasuke-san."

Madara frowned.

"He didn't? What did he do then?"

"He placed a seal on him."

Madara's eyes widened.

"The curse seal! That must mean… Gaara! The situation has changed entirely! You will not seek to kill Orochimaru. You must protect Sasuke-kun!"

Gaara stared at his sensei.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"Orochimaru wants Sasuke-kun to join him willingly. Listen to me Gaara-kun. Sasuke-kun will eventually seek to join Orochimaru. You must delay this from happening until Orochimaru switches bodies. You must remain in Konoha until then. At some point I will come to you in person & give you further instructions, but until then you must make Sasuke-kun's hate for his brother grow. It is possible that Sasuke-kun will be instrumental to my our goal."

"Hai Madara-sensei."

Madara smiled.

"You have done well Gaara-kun. Once Sasuke-kun has joined Orochimaru, at the appropriate time, you may finally take your place by my side."

"Madara-sensei." Gaara said, bowing. He vanished from view.

"Soon, Gaara-kun." Madara whispered, "Soon you will know the truth."

* * * * *

Gaara rejoined his siblings. They were now seated on the same branch, with the pink haired girl sitting beside Sasuke & Naruto, who were still unconscious. Umibe was with them too, rocking back & forth.

"Hey Gaara-sama, how'd I do?" he asked.

Gaara smiled at Umibe.

"It was a little more sand than was necessary, but you did a great job."

Umibe looked very pleased.

"I have new orders." Gaara said, "I am to protect Sasuke-san at any cost."

Kankuro looked up at Gaara.

"Why the sudden change?" he asked.

"My master believes that Sasuke-san will be useful at a later stage. I will not say anymore right now."

The pink haired girl was staring intently at Gaara.

"You're going to protect Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

Gaara nodded. She smiled.

"Thank you." she said, "We haven't been introduced. My name's Haruno Sakura."

Gaara nodded at her.

"My name is Temari." she said, smiling at Sakura.

"Kankuro." he said, mock tipping his cap.

"I am Gaara." he said & patted the young sandworm's head, "This is Umibe."

Sasuke groaned. Everyone looked in his direction & Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder, looking worried. He settled.

"We had better move them closer to a water source." Gaara said, "Temari, how far is the river?"

"About a half a mile that way." Temari replied, pointing to her left.

"Right. We'll head there then." Gaara said. He summoned his sand beneath Naruto & Sasuke.

"What are you doing to them?" Sakura asked, looking worried.

"It's alright." Temari said, "He's just using his Sabaku Fuyū to carry them safely."

"Oh, sorry." Sakura mumbled to Gaara.

"It's fine, now lets go." Gaara said, moving out with Naruto & Sasuke floating on either side. It took them a few minutes to reach the river. When they got there, they found an indent in a pile of rocks which Gaara placed Naruto & Sasuke in. Sakura tore two pieces of cloth from her outfit & wet them in the nearby river. She then placed the pieces of cloth on the boy's foreheads.

"You rest here for now." Gaara told Sakura, "We'll check the area for enemies."

The sand siblings split off in three directions. Sakura was kneeling by Sasuke as he groaned & grabbed his neck.

"Crack."

"Huh?" Sakura wondered, looking around.

Gaara had finished his round & was on his way back when he heard Sakura scream. He ran to her & found the three Oto genin surrounding her. For some reason, most of her hair was on the ground. The invaders turned as they saw Gaara arrive, who folded his arms. By his side, Umibe appeared. Gaara glowered at the invaders.

"Sic 'em." he ordered.

Umibe dispersed & flew towards the female Oto. He hardened in the air & slammed into her head, instantly knocking her out. He then wrapped himself around the arms of guy with the hair & squeezed.

"AAAAGGGHHHH!!!" the boy screamed, as his arms broke in several places. He collapsed on the ground, unable to maintain balance. Umibe released him & turned to the bandaged Oto, growling.

"Wait!" the genin shouted, "We'll leave! Here, take our scroll, just let us live!"

He tossed his scroll through the air & Gaara caught it. He glanced at it before pocketing it.

"Get out of here." he ordered.

The boy nodded & picked up his comrades. As he turned to leave, he paused.

"The next time we meet, I will not surrender at any cost." he promised, before disappearing into the bushes.

Sakura was steadily rising to her feet, she looked strange with her hair now shortened.

"Thanks for- Sasuke-kun!" she cried.

Gaara whipped his head around & was met with a large fireball heading straight for him. Gaara easily blocked it with his sand. When he removed his guard, he saw Sasuke holding his neck, strange black markings covering his face.

"You-" Sasuke croaked, "What are you doing here?!"

"I see the effects are already starting to come into play." Gaara noted.

Sasuke blinked a few times.

"You… wait, you're." His eyes grew in size, his Sharingan active, "YOU!"

He ran at Gaara, pulling a kunai out of his pouch. He lunged, trying to slash at Gaara, but the sand wouldn't let him through. He then began forming hand signs.

"Sasuke-san, I wouldn't advise that, you are clearly out of chakra." Gaara said, but Sasuke wasn't listening.

"Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, before taking a deep breath. He then held his hand up to his mouth & exhaled, the grand fireball spewing out.

"No!" Sakura cried, appearing between Gaara & the fireball.

"Sakura!" both Gaara & Sasuke cried out. Gaara threw the sand forward & immediately enveloped the fireball. Gaara groaned under the strain of holding it in there, but eventually the fire extinguished.

Sasuke was on his knees, the markings retreating towards his curse seal. Sakura hurried to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned.

"Sasuke-san." Gaara said.

Painfully, Sasuke rose his head to meet Gaara's gaze.

"What?" he spat out.

Gaara glared at him, "You should already know that a shinobi keeps his emotions in check."

"Like I care what you think." Sasuke growled.

"One more thing."

Gaara stopped glaring and his expression looked peaceful.

"Itachi-san says hello." Gaara told him.

Sasuke's eyes burst open as wide as they could, but before he could react, he lost consciousness again.

"Sakura-chan." Gaara said, "Your team mate will not be in a clear state of mind as long as I'm around. I will have to leave you for now, but I promise you, you will not be seeing Orochimaru anytime soon."

With that, Gaara left. A short distance away, Temari & Kankuro were waiting for him.

"So what do we do now?" Kankuro asked.

"We finish this exam." Gaara answered, "Lets go."

It didn't take them long to find someone with the scroll they were looking for, some idiot with an umbrella that fired senbon.

"You can make a rain of 1,000 needles." Gaara said, "I will make it rain blood."

The three geniuses were now dead & the sand siblings were headed towards the tower with both scrolls.

"Geez, after seeing what Orochimaru can do, this was kind of a drag." Kankuro complained, as they opened the tower door.

They were the first people there, the lights weren't even turned on.

"Pretty gloomy, huh?" Kankuro said, looking around the room.

"You two get some rest." Gaara ordered, taking a seat by a window out looking the forest.

As time passed by, Gaara didn't move from his position. Genin teams entered the building. But Sasuke's team was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" Gaara wondered.

"Hey!"

Gaara glanced back. Tenten was standing a little way away, a hand on her hip, smiling.

"Not long now!" she said, eying Sasayaki, "How about we make a little wager? If I win our fight, you give me her."

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"And if I win?" he asked.

Tenten smiled coolly, giving Gaara a look.

"Then me & a friend of mine can maybe reward you."

Gaara grunted.

"You really are something, aren't you?" he said, annoyed, "You think Sasayaki's worth that little to me? For a one night stand? No deal."

Tenten hung her head.

"Well, I can't blame you for valuing her, but one day she will be mine!" she vowed, walking off with her head held high.

Gaara turned back to the window. The sun fell & rose again with still no sign of Sasuke. As he looked out the window, he saw Shikamaru's squad appear. In a couple of minutes, Shikamaru was sitting on the other side of the window.

"Man, you always know the best spots for a break." Shikamaru said, leaning back in his chair.

Gaara grinned, "I didn't expect to see you til the end of the exam."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"It was a drag, but now I've got a couple days rest til we move on to the next stage."

Gaara nodded in agreement. Behind him, the blonde girl was pacing back & forth.

"Where's Sasuke-kun? If those two are slowing him down!" she said angrily, & loudly.

Shikamaru looked at Gaara & smirked.

"Yes, all the women in this village are crazy." he said, answering Gaara's unasked question.

Gaara pointed with his thumb towards the Hyuuga girl, who was sitting quietly by herself.

"What about her?" he asked.

Shikamaru chuckled.

"You may have just picked out the one girl in this village that isn't troublesome." he replied, before leaning forward & whispering, "That's the kind of girl for me, one like Hinata-chan, one that isn't a bother."

He leaned back & cast another glance back at Hinata, smiling lightly.

"So what's the deal with your team mate?" Gaara asked.

"What Ino-chan?" Shikamaru groaned, "That is definitely the most troublesome woman in Konoha. What are the chances they would put her on my squad?"

Gaara grinned, "We're all a victim of irony as soon as we say 'no way'."

Shikamaru laughed, "That's a good one. I'll have to remember that."

After a minute of silence, Shikamaru yawned & took a nap. Gaara watched as the moon rose over the trees. He decided to stretch his legs, so he walked around the building, glancing at the teams that had gotten through. So far all the Konoha teams were here, the exception being Sasuke's & the grey haired guy with the flash cards from the first exam. Aside from that, the only other was the Oto team that had attacked Sakura. They were keeping as far away from Gaara as possible. Gaara passed Kankuro & Tenten. Apparently Kankuro wasn't lying about the second-base thing. Not far away was Temari, who was busy being disgusted with the two.

Gaara returned to the window & spotted four unknown figures staggering through the woods. Well, three unknown figures. Naruto had a way of making his presence known.

"YEAH! WE MADE IT!" he yelled, before receiving a whack across the head from both his team mates.

On the fifth day, each team made their way to their respective room & opened their scroll. From the scroll, a Konoha chunin appeared.

"Congratulations on completing the second exam." she said, expressionlessly, "If you will now please follow me, the Hokage will give you your next instructions."

She turned away & headed for a door off to the side. Gaara & his siblings followed her into a large chamber with stairs leading to platforms on either side. Their was a stage at the opposite end of the hall with a statue of two hands forming a seal. Some of the genin were already standing in wait. At the stage, stood the Hokage and a sick-looking chunin.

Once everyone had taken their places, the Hokage spoke.

"Greetings to you all & congratulations on completing phase two of the chunin exams." the old man said, "Before we move on to the next stage-"

"Hokage-sama." the ill chunin interrupted, "Perhaps I should tell them this part."

"Of course." the Hokage replied, before turning back to the genin, "I leave you with Hayate-san."

Hayate stepped forward & keeled over in a fit of coughs.

"Shouldn't this guy be in hospital?" Temari muttered.

"Before we move on to the third stage of the chunin exams, we must hold a preliminary round." Hayate announced, "This is because there are too many of you who passed."

The genin didn't like the sound of this. Most of them were still recovering from the second exam.

"If there are any of you who feel you are not up to the challenge, you may leave now. Unlike the first & second exams, your team mates may remain."

The grey haired genin raised his hand.

"Sorry, I'm out." he announced, leaving.

"If you will all head up to the platforms, the screen will pick randomly which two shinobi will fight each other for their place in the third stage."

Reluctantly, all the genin moved up to the platforms and waited for the screen to announce the first combatants.

"Alright, the first two are… Akadou Yoroi & Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate said.

Gaara glanced at Sasuke. He looked like hell, the curse seal was still causing him pain.

"Alright then." Gaara thought, "Lets see just how much that seal has affected you."