Damn, I wanted to get this out earlier but I was lazy on day one and busy on day two. Still, here it is, a fitting result to the rather large cliffhanger I left you with last chapter (I know you hate those, but screw it, it's my style). Anyway, got some things to think about for the next chapter, I can't really say I have it fully planned as it is.

Disclaimer: It still wierds me out to see Kakashi's changed hairstyle, y'know that?


Crumbling walls of an inner temple

The thin falls crashed down onto the boulders below, almost shattering the rocks with their gathered force. As a result the earth was damp, giving firm footing at first, but treacherous to those who pushed a little too hard. The wind howled through the valley, giving the place a chilling feeling that contradicted the warmth of the setting sun. Overhead an eagle soared, watching the two figures far below with eyes that would as well as put it right next to them.

Gaara stood several metres above Naruto, taking place on a boulder nearby one of the small waterfalls. He watched his blonde friend with cold eyes, his arms folded as he silently awaited what he expected to come. The sane was already formed around him, outstretched a little towards Naruto. It looked like the mystery as to how the Ekokaeten was carried away had now been solved.

Naruto slowly turned around, looking up at Gaara with a grin on his face. The numbness in his body had now left him, and was quickly being replaced with anticipation for what he knew was going to come. "It's been a long time…" he said, his eyes bearing a bright sheen as they met with Gaara's. "Since you've done something like this."

Gaara didn't reply, nor offer any acknowledgement to what Naruto was saying at all. Instead, he allowed the sand to do the talking for him. It curled in the air, before lashing out at Naruto like a serpent moving in for the kill. Naruto grabbed Eko and ran to his right, avoiding the striking sand and leaping up to the wall. He moved just enough so that he was running across the stone surface, heading straight for Gaara with his blade held at the ready.

Naruto met Gaara on the very ledge he stood upon, striking Eko with great force. As expected, the sand rose to defend Gaara. But the force of Naruto's swing was so great that it left an indent in the near impregnable wall. As such Gaara was forced to take a step back to allow his defences to recalibrate themselves, else risk them breaking under the pressure of the attacks. Naruto didn't give him time to counter, he moved in with several more slashes of equal strength, resulting in both him and Gaara taking a walk of sorts across the long outcrop.

They passed behind the falls as they moved, Eko's massive form cutting through the water and spraying warm droplets everywhere. Naruto could see the concentration in Gaara's creased brow; neither were making the mistake of putting minimal effort in. The sand continued to defend against the blade, but the indents seemed to be growing deeper, as if the sand were weakening.

"Now!" Naruto thought, bending his knees and leaping overhead. He had reacted in the nick of time, not a second later the sand that had surreptitiously gathered on the ground shot up to strike him. He whipped around in the air and slashed at the coming sand, adding a little chakra to Eko to disturb the chakra in the sand.

He didn't need to watch to see his attack have effect, the sand collapsed after being struck by Eko. That was a handy way of getting rid of the sand Gaara used offensively. However, he had no such luck with the defensive sand; only brute force could break through that. Although it wasn't like he was lacking in that area either. He wore a smirk as he hit the ground, using one hand to pull Eko back and point it at Gaara. He then took a small jump back, before using the friction with the ground to launch himself forward.

With a powerful thrust, and the aid of some Fuuton chakra, Naruto drove Eko straight into the shield of sand. Unable to take the force of the attack, the shield broke and Gaara was forced to leap back to avoid being impaled. Naruto didn't pursue him though; he stood still as he watched Gaara's expression. "You done warming up now?" he asked, taking Eko on both hands and holding the blade angled a little to his right. "I wanna see the thing that knocked both you and Yagura unconscious!"

Gaara's focused expression left him as rational thought returned. That alone made Naruto all the more keen to see it, the thing that could instil such a reaction from someone so unresponsive. Gaara straightened up, losing his combat stance. He considered what Naruto was asking, he was well aware that Naruto knew that this was the true reason behind his actions anyway.

"Fine." he said, slowly raising his hands like a conductor directing an orchestra. All around him the sand rose into the air, moving past Naruto and towards the red haired boy. Naruto looked around with an excited grin on his face, wondering if the outcome would be like the first time he and Gaara fought.

The sand whirled around in a fierce storm as it surrounded Gaara like a small tornado. It slowly contracted on the boy, until he had completely disappeared within it. Naruto squinted, but not even the vaguest form of the desert boy could be seen through the sand cyclone.

"Hey, his chakra level is rising fast."

Naruto nodded from Eko's warning, but he failed to take it to heart. He was so eager for what was coming that reason was beginning to fail him. His posture was enough to attest to that, his arms and legs were both tensed for whatever would be coming. The answer to the question running through his mind finally came to light, as the sand tornado suddenly scattered apart.

Now Gaara stood, quite different from before. His gourd had completely disappeared from sight, and had been replaced by a long, thin appendage of sand the seemed attached to Gaara's right arm. Naruto looked at the arm, an odd glitter to his eyes as he studied the impressive looking addition to Gaara's body. The blackened claws hanging a foot past the end of Gaara's hand… Naruto was feeling more than ready to see what they could do.

Gaara himself seemed interested in what had happened. He looked over the third arm stuck to his own, golden eyes marked with black stars scanned the sand form with interest. "This is all I will use for now." he said, letting his arm drop to his side as he returned his gaze to Naruto. "As it is, I will not be able to hold back."

Naruto laughed lightly at this bold statement, even though he was disappointed that Gaara was limiting what he would use, he was at least happy that what the sand manipulator was using would be utilised without restraint. He could see Gaara's fist clench, and with it the sand claw too did tighten. Unable to hold it back any longer, Naruto ran in at top speed.

"What're you gonna do then?" he thought to himself, as he drew upon his momentary opponent. He leapt up into the air with Gaara still watching him, blotting out the sun with his form as he raised Eko high above his head, before bringing it down with all its weight and some effort on his part. "Hya!"


There were ten people remaining in the arena after that, excluding Utakata. Both of the fighters were looking up at him, along with the so called spectators. They all watched the lone boy, who stood with his eyes hidden in shadows and wielding a bloody tanto. There was no mistake as to which role he was playing, the still twitching corpse of another man lay before him.

With no one else present in the room, the ten people around saw no further reason to disguise themselves. They each reached for their collars and pulled their disguises off in a flourish, only the fighters maintaining their appearance. In moments the ten people had become ten Konoha Shinobi, their green flak jackets and leaf emblazoned forehead protectors certifying their identities.

Utakata slowly crouched down onto the ground, before wiping the blood from his blade off onto the body of the now deceased Shinobi. A thought then struck his mind, marked by his momentary hesitation. He reached up to the collar of the corpse and with a pull, he removed the disguise. As expected, here lay another Shinobi of Konohagakure. Even though Utakata had had little doubt, he still got a feeling of relief from that. Once the feeling was passed however, he did what he intended to do.

The Konoha Shinobi watched him as he removed the forehead protector from the dead man's body, holding it in the air for them to see. Their expressions were each angered by his taking an item so precious to Shinobi, but they kept themselves enough not to react. Utakata got back to his feet, and looked to the Shinobi with a challenging look about him.

"So either he was the weakest link, or you Konoha nin are just too trusting." he said, a one sided smirk appearing on his face. His eyes turned to the forehead protector, to which he promptly threw aside, letting it fall into the shadows. "Either way, this guy's plate isn't even worth adding to my collection."

"Formation D!" called the person who must have been captain. In an instant each of the Shinobi were moving, forming hand seals as they rapidly headed to take on Utakata. It seemed that last action had struck a nerve with them; they were all giving him full on glares.

"Perfect." Utakata thought, casually throwing his tanto through the bars of the cage. It sailed through the air and struck the light that hung over the arena, shattering the bulb and bathing the room in deep darkness. "With them focused on me, niisan and Fuu-chan can move freely."

The Konoha Shinobi each came to a stop as the lights went out, cancelling their seals as they lost sight of their target. They each rummaged quickly through their pouches, before several snapping sounds could be heard. In moments, nine flares lit up in a red hissing glow, before getting tossed into the air and scattered around the room. Though it was nowhere near enough to light up the room, it did make the floor an impossible place to sneak around on. And judging by that fact, it was safe to assume that there was in fact no one on the floor at that time.

"Very clever." Utakata's voice called, from somewhere within the shadows. In an instant that place was bombarded with shuriken, along with the area around it. "But you realise that's a double edged sword don't you?" the voice came again, this time from the opposite side of the room.

He smirked to himself inside the darkness, he knew that he was at as much of a disadvantage as those around him; his ability with the silent killing technique left something to be desired. But what he could do was a little trick of his, one that thankfully made up for his lacking ability. He raised his bubble blower to his lips, and let out a long stream of bubbles that floated in the direction he gave to them.

After a few moments with nothing happening, the Konoha Shinobi began to act on their own. Though soundless, Utakata could still get the feeling that there were people moving around him. To that end, his smirk widened further when his bubbles reached their mark. Then they all struck together, conflicting chemicals causing them to spark, and eventually bathe the room in the light of a custom flash grenade.

Utakata was protected from this with a raised hand; the place the bubbles exploded failed to reach him. But what he did manage to find was the location of several of his opponents, nearly all of whom were shielding their eyes in pain. He took immediate advantage of this, slipping his bubble blower away before forming the ram seal. Then the light faded, with only the blazing flares breaking the otherwise absolute darkness.

Silence passed for several moments, with no sign of attack on either side. But the Konoha Shinobi were by no means unprepared, even now they were taking methods to improve their situation. "Raiton: Incandescence!" called a voice from the shadows. Suddenly the room was lit up in a pale blue glow as the metal bars of the cage coursed with electricity. Almost all shadows were completely eliminated, and everyone present was now visible. However, that proved to be only part of the problem; there was once more ten Konoha Shinobi.

All eyes turned to the two identical ninja, who locked eyes with each other. In moments the two of them were locked in close combat, fighting to decide who the original was. Each of the other Shinobi made haste surround these two, each one holding kunai at the ready. "Itsuki!" called the team captain, looking between the two combatants with narrow eyes. "Don't kill him, knock him unconscious."

The two Itsuki's nodded in reply, but neither took their eyes off the other for a moment. Each of the surrounding Shinobi wore a more relaxed look; it would be clear who the fake was soon. "Damn, looks like I should give them more credit." Utakata thought, as he blocked the real Itsuki's punch. It looked like his choice of moves had been a faulty one; once more his weakness at direct combat could be shown. But he wasn't too worried by this. He still had ideas even for this situation.

Steadily growing impatient, Itsuki's attacks grew more intense. He knew that if he stayed on the offensive, there was nothing to worry about. All he had to do was make sure that the enemy didn't have the chance to counter or parry, and he would be just fine.

However it was that mindset that failed him when Utakata ducked under his punch and threw him over his shoulder. Itsuki was sent flying through the air, knocking straight into one of his comrades. Not one to waste opportunity, Utakata ran at Itsuki and stepped on his back, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a smoke pellet. He tossed it down to the ground, causing the two colliding nin to inhale a mouthful of smoke as he left their range.

It was there that the other Shinobi acted however, but in this caser they didn't chase after him. Six of them rapidly moved their hands through the same set of seals, before planting their palms onto the ground. "Kuchiyose: Origami!" they called, each of them fixing their eyes to the fake Itsuki. Utakata barely had time to turn his head around, before their Jutsu came into effect.

Smoke exploded around his feet as something appeared beneath him, before rising all around him. In barely a moment, he was trapped inside a tall iron box, connected to the ground with chains that ran around it. But that wasn't all. Each of the six Shinobi who summoned the box raised their hands before them as more smoke burst in front of them. Then, in a sudden rush they all ran at the box, wielding long black katana in their hands. They quickly surrounded the box, and without the slightest hesitation, forced their blades through the small holes in the iron walls.

"HRYAAH!" Utakata's voice screamed, as he was run through by the blades. Each of the Shinobi held on tight, feeling the resistance that had come with their attack. The captain of the large team then closed in fast, forming hand seals before he planted both his hands upon the iron box.

"Raiton: Electrostatic Discharge!" he called, triggering his Jutsu. Blue lighting added to that of the bars behind as electricity coursed through the katana and the box, and of course, Utakata. His screams were almost drowned out by the hiss of the lightning, a sound that only Shinobi like these could listen to unflinchingly.

After a few moments, the Jutsu came to pass. All that was left was the smallest of sparks dancing across the metal prison, and the faint wisps of smoke that rose from out of the holes. The seven Shinobi each took a step back, drawing the blades out and watching for any signs of life. The two Shinobi that Utakata had incapacitated had finally gotten over their coughing fit and had rose to their feet, joining the group in surrounding their probably deceased opponent.

"All right, bring it down." the captain ordered, nodding to the Shinobi in front of them. They each gave their words of reply, raising their hands into seals to dispel their Jutsu. However, just before they could follow through, the captain stopped them. "Wait." he said, watching the box with a frown. "What's… that?"

The Shinobi all looked in confusion, studying the holes in the box with wary expressions. They could hear a faint sound, like something boiling inside. What was more, there was a faint red light emitting from inside, and ominous glow that spread outside the box. To each of the guard's shock and surprise, something began frothing out of the holes. Something faintly red, but opaque. And with it came another sound inside the crate; a deep, guttural groan.


Naruto stood rigid, his arms held high and tense as he wore a surprised expression. He seemed to be almost stuck in place, Eko's massive form held frozen in the air. Around the blade's body were the blackened claws of Gaara's sand arm, gripping him tightly without the slightest hint of indent. Gaara looked at Naruto with a passive expression, his real hand mimicking the grabbing motion that the claw was making.

Then, suddenly, he turned Naruto's force back at him. He pushed the blade away and sent Naruto back with it, the blond stumbling back a bit before collecting himself. However, true to his forewarning, Gaara was unwilling to let an opportunity pass. He dashed towards Naruto, holding his arm in front of him and tensing it. The sand appendage responded to his will, and immediately changed into the shape of a long blade attached to his arm. Naruto quickly raised Eko defensively, his surprise turning to shock as sparks flew from the impact of the two swords.

"Close combat?" he thought, displaying genuine astonishment at Gaara's display of a fighting style he knew next to nothing of. It was this that overshadowed the hardness of the sand, but didn't completely remove it from attention. Naruto looked at it as the two blades scraped against each other, his brow creasing incredulously. "How the hell is it this strong?"

The two of them leapt apart from each other, before jumping back in right away. Naruto gave a sharp horizontal slash, to which Gaara blocked and thrusted upwards. He then used the moment that Naruto was open to slash at his gut, but Naruto managed to avoid it by swiftly kicking at Gaara. The shield of sand reacted as it should, and as a result acted as a platform of sorts for Naruto to bound back off of.

"Looks like his defence is still in place, but seems like you can use that to your advantage."

Eko was definitely right, but it was a feeble thing indeed. Gaara had his own advantage in that his blade was attached to him and therefore impossible to remove. But with that came it's own disadvantage; he had a large blind spot to his left. Deciding to utilise that, Naruto ran at Gaara before making a feign, pretending to head left before rapidly moving to the right. He then mustered a great amount of force as he swung Eko around, aiming the flat of the blade to slam straight into Gaara.

To Naruto's amazement however, even though his attack hammered through the sand shield it failed to connect. The reason for this was the Gaara had raised his left arm and held his right one across his stomach. He had then reshaped his blade back into an arm, which had reached out and grabbed Eko again.

It gripped the blade tight, but even Naruto could see the deformation of the sand; it looked like Gaara had acted just in time. Naruto quickly took one hand away from Eko and thrusted it at Gaara, the wind from his palm knocking the boy back and forcing him to break his hold on the giant blade. Naruto took this chance to back off, making some distance while Gaara's artificial limb reshaped itself.

"Looks like the sand can't stay tough while he's changing the shape."

Naruto nodded, that definitely seemed to be the case. But it wasn't much use to him; there was no way of attacking Gaara with Eko that would be fast enough to reach that opening. Knowing he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, Naruto decided he needed to come up with another method for getting past that dangerous weapon.

Gaara however gave him no such chance to form any plans, he dashed right in for the next attack. Naruto stepped back to defend, but found to his great shock that he was backed up against a wall; a wall of sand. "So he can still do stuff like this huh?" Naruto thought, as he ducked under what would have been a lethal stab. He quickly let go of Eko and thrusted his hands up at Gaara, utilising both his Fuuton: Wind Palm and Fuuton: Reppusho to break through the shield of sand and hit Gaara in the chest.

The weight of the impact and the slightness of the range sent Gaara flying high into the air, despite his efforts to defend. Naruto kept his eyes on him as he got back to his feet, preparing to chase his opponent into the sky. But that was when he was met with something astounding. Gaara was racing towards him, even though he was still in mid air! The sand flew beneath his feet with each step, providing a momentary platform that allowed him to close the distance to Naruto as if he were genuinely running downhill. Naruto was left wondering just how much Gaara's sand manipulation had improved; he barely had time to raise Eko in defence.

Blade on blade struck hard, with Eko's position and Gaara's intended uppercut resulting in the latter's forced rising of his weapon. It was here that Naruto decided to switch from offensive to defensive, biting through his thumb and hastily scribbling a seal onto Eko's body. He then slammed his palm straight onto the seal, and pushed Fuuton chakra into the giant sword.

What happened next was the equivalent of a gale force wind pulsing out of Eko's entire body. The power of the Fuuton: Reppusho Naruto channelled was released straight into Gaara, hitting him not quite hard enough to send him flying, but enough to seriously wind him. Naruto took advantage of the moment Gaara was stunned to then move around his friend's left and swing the flat side of Eko into his back, breaking through the shield and knocking him forward. He then quickly changed position, ducking down onto the ground and performing a sweeping kick that knocked Gaara off his feet and forced him to fall forward. He finished the move with a rising knee to the stomach, pushing in enough Fuuton chakra to break the shield and even crack the sand armour underneath. Though no injury was dealt to Gaara, he was forced onto his knees, gripping his stomach and wincing in pain.

"Alright… I think that's enough."

Naruto nodded in agreement, pushing the blade into the ground and placing his hands on his knees. Forcing out so much chakra so fast had cost him a lot of energy; he was feeling more than a little tired right now. He looked down at Gaara with one eye open, watching as the blade on his arm disintegrated onto the ground; it looked like the pain his stomach had made him lose his focus.

"Hey, let's call it quits for now." Naruto said, as he unsteadily straightened up. He hooked his hand under Gaara's arm and helped him to his feet, grinning tiredly as the red haired boy looked at him. "That's not bad, for your first time fighting close range I mean. if you can get that other arm working too, you'll be pretty tough to beat!"

Gaara considered Naruto's words, and studied the shirtless boy's sweaty torso. Although it was true that Naruto had a habit of overdoing it in fights, he certainly seemed exhausted even in that instance. He gave a nod of reply; he was satisfied with his results and now knew what to do about it. The sand around him gathered back into the gourd, and he looked up at the cliff above.

"Looks like we've got a climb ahead of us." he muttered, seeing the downside of his choice with a slight look of regret. That look was shared by Naruto, who had already been feeling tired before the fight. The two of them looked at the path above them, but then turned around as they heard a steady, beating sound.

Behind them was Deidara, mounted atop a large owl made of clay. He sat down on the oversize bird with one led hanging down by the model's neck, his jaw resting in his hand while he watched the two boys with an amused expression. "You guys really are Kisame's students." he said, not bothering to hide his thin smile as he spoke. "Going all out right from the start, it's amazing you're still alive fighting like that."

Neither Gaara or Naruto had anything to say to that, the former was being his usual silent self while the latter just couldn't argue. Deidara chuckled faintly as he realised he would incite no response, before jerking his head over to the bird's back. "Come on, I'll give you a ride up." he said.