A/N: I am really sorry that I took so long to get this chapter up. Boards kept me occupied until the end of June and then I got thrust into the most intense clinical rotation I could ever got (General Surgery) which gave me absolutely no time to even think about the story. I'm on a less intense rotation now which provided me the time to make this for you (Pediatrics), so hopefully you'll all enjoy it.

The latest manga files for Naruto have been pretty damn amazing. I'm going to have to figure out what to do regarding the Madara-Obito situation in this story, given that for this story's "Tobi," given that Minato saw his face already.

I'm going to try to start showing more redeemable characteristics for Sasuke. He's proving rather stubborn but we'll see how things go.

Bijuu lord: I'm sorry for the delay. I really thought I'd get to get a chapter in by the end of June but I hadn't known how intense the rotations would be. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

Myroseyangel: I'm contemplating on the Obito/Madara situation. I think I'm going to have them both. The creeper is definitely Madara but Obito should have a role as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… *hangs head in defeat*

Chapter Forty: Beginning of Chaos

Sasuke smirked at the dumbstruck look on Naruto and Shikamaru's faces. He was happier with the fact that he was the one who put that look on their faces in the first place. It was good that they were finally learning to be in awe of the Uchiha…

That is, until he was met with a fist to the face, courtesy of an angry Naruto.

"Where the hell were you this entire time, bastard? You nearly got yourself disqualified! How could you get here so late? Even Kakashi-sensei got here before you!" he yelled, angry with Sasuke's irresponsibility. He was shedding a bad light on Team Seven as a whole.

Sasuke scowled. How dare Naruto strike him?

He was about to retaliate when Shikamaru flanked Naruto with a fierce glare on his face, daring Sasuke to try anything. There was something in the Nara's eye that made Sasuke actually heed the warning. He wasn't going to admit that Shikamaru had succeeded in intimidating him.

"I have my reasons," he replied vaguely. He didn't want to give away his trump card so easily.

It wasn't hard for the observant Nara to tell what Sasuke had been up to.

"You were training," Shikamaru mused, looking at the scratches and bruises that littered Sasuke's skin. "You threw the entire Final exam into disarray because you wanted a little extra time to train?"

Sasuke growled at Shikamaru. "Shut up, Nara. This has got nothing to do with you… or you, dobe. Now back off and let me have my fight."

"I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait for that now, Uchiha-san," Genma interrupted things before they could escalate any further. "Due to your tardiness, your battle with Subaku no Gaara has been pushed back until the end. We still have one more battle to go. It's Akimichi Chouji and Temari's turn to fight. You're lucky enough to still be getting the chance to fight at all. By all means, you should be disqualified."

Sasuke sneered. He knew what battle everybody wanted to see and it wasn't the one between the wind bitch and fat ass. Nevertheless, he had already interrupted things enough. He'd concede for now.

Things worked to his favor, however, when Temari's voice rang out.

"I forfeit," she declared. She had been weighing her options throughout the other battles. It would be best for her to follow in Kankurou's footsteps and conserve her chakra for dealing with the invasion.

While it was their intention to reach out to the Suna forces and get them to withdraw, getting them to listen and dealing with Oto would not be easy. They would need every resource they could afford.

"Another forfeit?" Genma frowned. He wondered if this had anything to do with the invasion the Sandaime had told them about. If it was, it meant he was going to have to be more alert. He turned to Sasuke, who was looking expectantly at him. He fought back the urge to roll his eyes. The village's last Uchiha was acting spoiled. He thought Kakashi would have beat that out of him by now.

He turned to Naruto, chuckling at the memory of Naruto decking the arrogant Uchiha. Maybe he would do that instead of the Copy Nin.

He turned back to Sasuke. "It looks like it's your lucky day, kid. You get to fight now, after all. I'll let you know this… due to your tardiness, you have forfeit any chance of becoming a Chuunin even if you do win this fight."

Sasuke didn't really care. He hadn't entered the Chuunin Exams to actually become a Chuunin. He just wanted to fight strong opponents to measure himself against. His eyes fell on Gaara. It looked like it was finally time to prove his own worth. If he could defeat Gaara… he would be one step closer to being strong enough to beat Itachi.

"I don't care. Just announce the battle already," Sasuke replied coldly.

'I really don't like this kid…' Genma decided, his eyebrow twitching as he looked up to the viewer's box. "Would Subaku no Gaara please come down for the upcoming battle?"

"We should go up now," Shikamaru advised Naruto and the boy nodded.

"I want to say good luck to Gaara," Naruto voiced his desire.

They were about to head up when Sasuke called out to Naruto.

"Oi, dobe. I'm your teammate, shouldn't you be wishing me luck?"

Naruto turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. "Well, do you want it?"

"You should be wishing me well, not my opponent," Sasuke voiced his conviction.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I don't have to choose in between," he declared. "Good luck, Sasuke."

"Hn."

"Why ask for luck when you just grunt at it?" Naruto grumbled as he and Shikamaru distanced themselves from the battlefield.

"I suppose it's the principle of the matter," Shikamaru responded. "He didn't like the thought of you wishing his 'enemy' well."

"Well, Gaara's as good as my brother," Naruto responded. "I won't choose Sasuke over him, even if he is my teammate. If he let up a bit on that attitude, I'd care for him just as much."

"I don't think he likes to share," Shikamaru commented. He knew the only reason Naruto was so cold to Sasuke was because of Sasuke's arrogance. Naruto had a great ability to forgive but Sasuke's jealousy had rebuffed any chance that a friendship could have bloomed between them. Shikamaru saw it as a good thing. He didn't want to see Naruto get consumed by Sasuke's darkness.

Gaara was heading down towards the arena, already expecting that he would meet up with Naruto on the way there.

He was looking forward to the battle. He wanted to bring Sasuke down a notch. Maybe if he defeated Sasuke, the Uchiha would learn a valuable lesson about pride and actually treat his brother better. He would like it if Naruto's team dynamics improved. It would make things a lot better.

Now all he had to do was find the right way to do that…

He was broken from his thoughts when a cloaked man blocked his path. He frowned.

"Move aside," he ordered, not liking being stalled.

His sand stirred around him restlessly.

The man moved through hand signs faster than Gaara could follow and before the Suna Jinchuuriki could do anything, a bright light engulfed him and his mind went blank.

Kabuto slipped away from the dazed Gaara with a smirk hidden behind the ANBU mask he was hiding behind.

Orochimaru would be pleased now that the last loose end in his invasion plan was dealt with…

Gaara blinked as he came back to himself. He wondered for a moment why he was wasting time just standing in the middle of the stairwell before he brushed it off. Never mind that. He had more important things to do… like kill the Uchiha and provide his blood to Mother.

He began to walk again when he met with another interruption.

"Gaara!" a loud exclamation filled the air as Naruto rushed up to him. The boy aimed to glomp him when he found himself rebuffed by the sand.

Naruto pouted. "If you didn't want a hug, all you had to do was say so. "I just wanted to wish you good luck."

Gaara stared at the blonde impassively, wondering why the annoying creature was bothering to talk to him. Did it look like he cared? Who was he to dare attempt to touch him? More importantly, why did he want to touch him?

Pushing the thoughts away, Gaara glowered. "Move aside."

Naruto's brows furrowed. This wasn't the Gaara he knew. He hadn't talked to him so coldly since they had first met.

"Is everything alright, Gaara?" he inquired, trying to step towards him again, only to be pushed away by the sand once more.

"I won't repeat myself again," Gaara said evenly. "Move aside or I'll kill you."

Naruto's eyes widened and he recoiled, hurt in his eyes.

"What's your deal? Naruto's just worried about you!" Shikamaru snapped.

Gaara didn't look the slightest bit remorseful. "I don't care."

He continued to walk off.

Shikamaru glared at his back. "I wonder what's up his ass right now…"

Naruto stared after Gaara, debating on what to do. In the end, he simply couldn't bring himself to leave Gaara alone when he was like this.

"Gaara, wait!" he protested, chasing after the other Jinchuuriki.

It was only Minato's quick movements that deflected the sand that had rushed at Naruto with the attempt to crush him.

Minato shot a confused and reprimanding look Gaara's way but recoiled in surprise when he realized something.

Gaara couldn't see him. He just glared at Naruto once more before teleporting away.

"We need to get to Kakashi and Jiraiya-sensei, Naruto. There's something seriously wrong with Gaara," he declared.

Naruto could only nod in agreement, feeling his heart sink.

They had been preparing themselves for the upcoming invasion but he hadn't suspected that Gaara would become a casualty…

"Looks like Sasuke gets to fight now after all," Kakashi mused as he observed the Uchiha who was waiting impatiently in the center of the arena for Gaara to arrive. He wasn't pleased with the brat he was cursed to call a student.

He couldn't exacly be upset over his tardiness, given that it would make him an absolute hypocrite but Sasuke's sheer disregard over everything and everyone was beginning to wear on his already thinning patience.

"He better show good results from that last minute training or I'll kick his ass when this is all over," Kakashi promised.

"If that's the case, then the Uchiha's shit out of luck," Jiraiya decided. "There's no way that he can beat Gaara after I spent the last month training him."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You spent the last month training a foreign nin to defeat Konoha's Last Uchiha. How unpatriotic of you."

"Please," Jiraiya snorted. "Gaara has more of the Will of Fire in him than Sasuke could ever hope to possess."

"That is sadly true," Kakashi remarked, thinking of his fallen teammate. Obiot would never forgive him for letting his last living non-traitorous relative turn out the way he was.

It was at that moment that Gaara appeared in front of Gaara in a swirl of sand.

"It looks like things are about to start," Jiraiya mused, watching the scene with interest. He was eager to see his student defeat one of the many threats to his godson's safety.

"Ero-Sennin!" a familiar voice rang out and the two white-haired shinobi turned to see Naruto and Shikamaru rushing over to him.

Seeing Naruto's pale face, Jiraiya grew concerned. "What's wrong?"

"You've got to stop the battle," Naruto exclaimed. Jiraiya and Kakashi looked at each other in confusion.

"Why?" Kakashi inquired.

"Gaara will kill Sasuke!" Naruto reported with conviction.

"I'm sure Gaara wou;ld't go that far no matter how much he wants to kick Sasuke's ass. He's suppressed his murderous thoughts away with Shuukaku, had he not?" Jiraiya commented.

"That's the thing. The Gaara we know wouldn't kill him the Gaara before we met him would," Naruto said.

"I'm not following," Kakashi declared, confused.

"There's something wrong with Gaara. He's acting like he did when we first met him. he acted like he didn't even know me… like he didn't remember everything that we've been through," Naruto admitted, eyes shining with hurt.

"It gets worse," Minato finally spoke up, looking grave. "He can't see me anymore… somebody interfered with our bond."

Now, Jiraiya and Kakashi fully understood the magnitude of the problem.

"… Is it gone?" Jiraiya asked, referring to the bond.

Minato shook his head. "It's still there. Gaaaara simply doesn't acknowledge it. He doesn't know it's there."

"When was it established?" Kakashi asked.

"The night of the day we first met," Naruto declared.

"And he's acting the way he did before you met… it seems like somebody tampered with his memories," Jiraiya realized. "We have to stop the battle." This must be Orochimaru's doing…

"Too late," Shikamaru replied, gazing at the arena where Sasuke and Gaara were already fighting. He felt like he had missed half of the conversation somehow.

Kakashi and Jiraiya swore. Now they coulnd't do much without Orochimaru realizing that they knew what he was up to.

"We've got to do something!" Naruto cried out. He hated seeing his brother like this… so cold… and so broken. All of the work he, his dad, Ino and Jiraiya had put into healing Gaara's heart had gone down the drain.

"I'm sorry, Naruto… but we can't do anything… yet," Kakashi apologized, hating that he couldn't fulfill his little brother's desperate request.

Naruto grit his teeth and was about to argue when Minato put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll save Gaara, Naruto, don't worry," Minato promised, eyes narrowing with determination. "Orochimaru will regret messing with my children…"

"You mean our children," Kyuubi added her own opinion. Hadn't Gaara suffered enough with her insane younger brother's horrible manipulations?

Naruto relaxed with his father's promise. Minato would never let him down. "What about Sasuke? He's going to get hurt."

"If it looks like Gaara is going to kill him, we'll step in," Jiraiya assured the blonde.

"Why are you so concerned about Sasuke?" Shikamaru wondered. "You don't even like him."

"I don't like how he treats all of us," Naruto agreed but his eyes were shining with a sort of deeper understanding. "But he's simply lashing out. If I had lost my parents the way he had his and if I didn't have any of you guys here with me, I could have ended up the same way he did. I'm going to try to show him that he doesn't have to do things alone… nor be such an arrogant asshole about it."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise. Naruto always saw the good in everybody. He saw redemption where nobody else could. "Why do you try so hard for him when he doesn't give you the time of day?"

"He's my teammate," Naruto shrugged. "I'll be there for him even if he tries to push me away. I'm going to do my best to bring him out of the self-imposed darkness. What kind of Hokage would I be if I didn't even try to help out my own comrades?"

Shikamaru stared at Naruto, surprised by what he said. It was now that he began to realize just how good of a Hokage Naruto would be. He could probably give the Yondaime Hokage a run for his money with his charisma. His one weakness was that naïve belief that everyone could be redeemed… Shikamaru would just have to work extra hard to make sure that those beliefs didn't come back to haunt his future Hokage. He would support him to the very end.

"I can't wait to see how your reign as Hokage will go," he said. "It will be the dawn of a new age."

Despite all of his worry, Naruto couldn't help the bright smile that crossed his lips at Shikamaru's compliment. It took Shikamaru's breath away. This wasn't the smile Naruto used to hide behind. It was one of true happiness.

"I trust that you'll be there with me. What can a Hokage do without his right hand?" Naruto responded. "When I become Hokage, I intend to make you my main adviser, so you better get used to hard work."

Shikamaru groaned in complaint, mostly to keep up appearances. His put out look quickly morphed into a smirk. "The things I do for you, my troublesome blonde…"

Naruto just grinned.

Minato, Kakashi and Jiraiya glanced at each other. Shikamaru was good at making Naruto forget about his worry. Maybe he was good for Naruto after all.

Sasuke leaped out of the way as Gaara attempted to catch him with his sand again.

The speed he had gained during the month had certainly helped him keep up with Gaara but he still couldn't break through Gaara's guard. The sand kept getting in the way. He would need to use another strategy.

A dark smirk crossed his face. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

He moved quickly out of the way of Gaara's subsequent attacks and settled high on one of the arena walls. He was going to need the room.

He started going through a series of handseals, a look of pure malevolence on his face.

The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air.

Kakashi's eye widened in disbelief as he witnessed Sasuke bring out his signature move.

Minato whirled on him, incredulous. "You taught him Chidori?"

"I – I didn't," Kakashi stuttered, trying to comprehend how Sasuke got his prized jutsu. The answer came to him quickly and suddenly, everything made sense. "He copied it last night."

"That's why he was late today," Shikamaru caught on quickly.

Kakashi's eye narrowed with barely contained anger. How dare Sasuke steal his jutsu? Kakashi had chosen not to teach him that move for a reason. The boy was far too unstable or such a technique at the current moment.

Sasuke should consider himself damn lucky that Kakashi was unable to remove him from the team without the Council breathing down his neck, otherwise, Kakashi would beat Sasuke into an early grave. He was already formulating ways to make the rest of Sasuke's stay on Team Seven absolute hell.

"He's going to hurt Gaara!" Naruto voiced his horror. Lightning trumped Earth. Gaara's sand wouldn't be enough to protect him.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Minato responded. He had a plan that would not only protect Gaara but hopefully shock Gaara into realizing the bond's presence. Unfortunately, he didn't think Naruto was going to like it very much…

Just as Sasuke was about to stab straight through Gaara's sand sphere and into the boy himself, Minato intercepted the blow… using his own body.

All around the arena, various individuals had various reactions.

Naruto turned deadly pale and collapsed into Shikamaru's arms, who looked confused.

Kakashi and Jiraiya sat frozen in their seats, shellshocked.

Hinata let out a gasp, covering her mouth to mask her shock as Kiba turned to look at herr curiously.

Ino shot up from her seat with her mouth gaping open as she saw the Yondaime Hokage impale himself again for the sake of saving his son.

Gaara stared in incomprehension at the transparent blonde man that had taken the blow for him as his sand sphere collapse. He flinched back as the man turned to him with a bloodied smile.

"Are you okay, Gaara?" Minato queried. He was surprised that the blow had actually pierced through him. No previous attacks had ever affected him like this since he'd gained this state all those years ago. He thought back to the battle in the Forest of Death, he really was becoming more solid…

Gaara's cold visage began to waver as he tried to make sense of the look in the stranger's eyes. He had never been given a look like that before. What was it?

Love.

Gaara freaked out and his anguished cry filled the air as the last of his sanity left him.

Minato's eyes widened at the sight, barely making note of Sasuke pulling his arm out of his body as he backed away from the crazed redhead. He did, however, notice that his body was healing rapidly until there was no sign of him having been stabbed. He wondered if this was Kyuubi or the Shinigami's doing… He pushed those thoughts to the side. They weren't important at the moment. He lurched forward towards Gaara in worry but he paused as Gaara glared at him with eerie golden yellow eyes.

Shuukaku was beginning to emerge.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sasuke exclaimed, not understanding why Gaara had gone completely mental.

Gaara ignored Sasuke, eyes completely focused on Minato. "Don't look at me with those eyes. They only lie. Stop. Looking. At. ME!"

He sent a large wave of sand towards Minato, only to grow frustrated when Minato simply deflected it with a wave of his hand.

"Enough, Gaara," Minato spoke firmly.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Gaara growled, lashing out again. Minato dodged easily.

'Who is he trying to hit?' the forgotten Sasuke thought to himself. He wasn't going to waste any more time, though. He would finish Gaara off while he was distracted.

He never got the chance as feathers began dropping down from the sky.

Minato recognized the Genjutsu for what it really was.

The Oto-Suna Invasion had begun.