Be warned! This is not an April Fools Gag! Those who treat it as such are idiots.

First I was to apologize for taking so bloody long with this chapter. I've been having a bad year. I had to leave school because of money issues. Long distance relationship with a girlfriend ups and downs, my father died the day after valentines, I'm working a full time job, got two root canals and a plethora of other minor and major issues that have kept me well occupied.

I'm not going to stop writing but get used to more long waits. I haven't felt as... motivated for this story as I was before. I've changed and you should get used to it. The story will too. I do not know if this means it will take a darker path or what, but there we go.

It isn't like I was ever really writing this for you people. This is my own project that I just so happen to let you read.

Reviews are always accepted. Criticism is also accepted. I could use a good laugh.

Sit down, shut up, enjoy.

Chapter nineteen - Invasion

"Oh my god…" Sakura muttered as she looked down at the arena. "He won, he beat Neji."

"Yea," Choji munched on some chips. "He's gotten a LOT more powerful then I remember him." The chips disappeared steadily as the people around them talked about the fight, the strengths of both Naruto and Neji.

"Wow, I didn't know he had it in him," Ino was up, leaning against the railing looking down at Naruto as he walked away from the still prone Neji. "I knew he had a lot of energy in him but whoa…" Ino blushed a little as she looked down at Naruto. His hair shifted back to blonde as he walked to the stairs that would take him back to the waiting area. "He looks better with the red hair, but since when has he been able to change it like that. Is it some bloodline or something?" She turned to Sakura, looking for an answer.

"I… I don't know," she muttered as she tried to remember. "He's been so secretive. I haven't heard from him or Sasuke at all since the end of the preliminaries. Something really big happened in the Forest of Death," she sighed and put her hand to her head, it was starting to throb.

"Another headache?" Ino settled into the seat next to her friend. "You've been getting them a lot since our fight," she put an arm around the pink haired girl's shoulders. "Did you think about going to a doctor?"

"I went, and they said there wasn't any reason they could find," she took out an aspirin from a pocket and popped it into her mouth, grimacing slightly as she swallowed it. "That's what I get for going to a civilian hospital. I should have just gone to the ninja hospital. My mom is so paranoid." She sighed and the others let her be, thinking of Naruto's battle.

***

"Oh my god…" the blonde woman's hands shook as she looked up at the TV display on the wall of the casino. She looked down at the slip of paper in her hand. Her assistant had already fainted and she was thinking about joining her. At 75 to 1, Hyuuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto, she had bet $10,000 on Naruto. Which meant that the slip of paper in her hand was worth ¾ of a million dollars. $750,000. The number kept running thought her mind. And then it stopped.

"I won." She whispered, and then followed it with a louder exclamation. "I won. I WON! … Hold on… I won? Oh shit." She kicked her Assistant until she was awake. Their pig making little worried noises. "Shizune, get out stuff from the inn. I'm getting the winnings."

"Tsunade-sama?" her assistant looked up at her. Standing up with the worried pig clutched in her arms.

"Something is wrong, very, very wrong… We're going home to the Leaf."

***

"Oh my GOD!" Kurohyou squealed as she saw and felt Naruto's burst of demonic chakra and the following brutality against Neji. "Seeing that just made me all kinds of happy," she squirmed in her seat and bit her lip as she watched Naruto depart the field. Hato frowned disapprovingly at the girl in black but blushed a little as well as she saw Naruto turn one last time to wave to the people before walking to the waiting area.

"You wish to meet him then?" Nanabi looked at her servant and then at Gobi's. Neither of the girls noticed the mischievous smirk that twitched at the corner of the mouth of the Demon of Night.

"Yes!" was Kurohyou's immediate response and after a moment Hato raised a hand and made an affirmative motion accompanied by a nod.

"Keep your kimono on," Nibi chuckled and got a laugh from Sanbi. "We'll make sure you meet him once this is done. We won't interfere. Besides, it looks like the next battle is starting. Odd," he checked the pamphlet they had been given. "I could have sworn it was a different match next."

"You missed it, brother," Rokubi laughed and pointed across to where the fighters were. "They postponed the second fight because the Uchiha kid isn't here. Then one with the face paint gave up before even reaching the arena. The other guy must be good to scare him that much."

"No," Hachibi mumbled as he straightened up in his seat and looked around. "There is something else. Can't you taste it in the air?" The other demons paused at his words and opened their senses.

"Anticipation," volunteered Shibi, taking a moment to smell again. "Of battle."

"Discontent," Rokubi closed her eyes and listened to the wind. "Tired of waiting."

"Desire," Sanbi grumbeled and shifted, taking a deep breath. "For blood."

Nibi kicked off a sandal and put a bare foot against the floor. He closed his eyes and felt with senses hard for a human to understand.

"There's a massive number of shinobi in the forests around the village. Can't tell where they're from but I'm reading several large concentrations of chakra," he put his sandal back on. "Joint Summoning, probably something big by the feel of it, or several something."

"Does the village know, do you think?" Nanabi watched the battle taking place on the arena floor. The boy was attacking the fan girl with her own element. She had thought those skills gone long ago. She watched as the boy herded the girl with the shadows. If he truly knew how to use them she would have been finished long ago.

"Hard to tell, I don't know what the defenses of this village are normally like. But the wall seems well defended." Nibi watched the match as well. "I didn't know you taught any of those skills to humans," he said, glancing sideways at the elder woman.

"Oh, it was centuries ago," she waved a dismissive hand. "A man who showed promise with my Dark Skill. It had diminished by appearances. If the boy wins, I may show him the True Way."

"Um…" Kurohyou had something on her mind. "If it does come to a big fight…?" she left the thought hanging but it was obvious what was left unspoken.

"Yes, then you may fight, and I shall leave it up to you as to how and with what," Nanabi was immediately hugged by the girl who backed off a moment later, apologizing for her action but Nanabi waved her off. "But remember this is our Brother's Village. As for the rest of you…" she turned and looked at the others. "Should it come to actual battle what do you suggest?"

"It isn't our fight," Hachibi closed his eyes and sat up straight, looking every bit the part of a monk of some importance.

"I disagree," Shibi pouted at her brother. "This is our Brother's home, and he isn't able to defend it to his full extent. If one of us was under attack in our Sanctuaries then I have no doubt he would come and help. And you're just being lazy"

"I owe him from long past," Gobi said, to the surprise of the others, she glared at them as only an Ice Queen can. "None of your business."

"There are many happy trees here," Sanbi rumbled. "I will defend them."

"I'm with our Ninth," Rokubi giggled. A small white bird fluttered down and landed on a railing, chattering away. "The ones in the forest have symbols like an hourglass and a musical note. That's Sand and Sound."

"Send your bird to him, let Naruto know we will fight on the side of our Brother," Nanbi smiled.

"You forget our First Brother is a member of Sand," Hachibi frowned at his dark counterpart.

"However our First Brother's replacement doesn't have our approval yet," Nanabi countered him and the others nodded agreement. "Send your bird." The bird flew away a few moments later.

"We need to restrict our power then," Hachibi sighed. "These trinkets are useful for hiding our power, but we need to do our own part. We can't give ourselves away here."

"Lets have some fun though," Rokubi laughed. "A little challenge then. Restrict to one tail of power, and then only use one weapon or item." The others thought about it and nodded.

"It's settled then," Nanabi smiled at them but frowned down at the arena. "He gave up," she sighed. "How disappointing. This younger generation needs some serious motivation," she picked up her cane from across her lap and used it to stand. "I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to have a word with that boy." And she walked towards a set of stairs then down and out of sight.

***

Shikimaru was walking up the stairs towards the contestant area. Sasuke had arrived just after he finished his match, but he was in no hurry, if he was lucky the match would just go on and on for a while. He was thinking about having a snack then taking a nap, he thought he had earned a nap at least. But he stopped when he saw the hallway ahead of him disappeared into darkness. He turned and saw the same behind him. The only thing keeping his own bit of hall from pitch black beyond was a single light above him.

"Shit, this is going to be troublesome," he muttered.

"Only if you let it be, child," an old woman in a black kimono materialized out of the darkness in front of him, using a black cane for support, though he doubted she needed it at all.

"What do you want? I have no Chakra left, so I can't fight you," he sighed and put his hands into his pockets.

"I don't want to fight you," she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a scroll. She tossed it to him. "You have talent, boy. Talent that shouldn't go to waste using those weak techniques." Shikamaru caught the scroll and opened it some, reading the first foot or so of parchment then unrolling it more until more than 6 feet had spilled out.

"These are the secret techniques of my clan," he paused and looked at them again. "Well, some of them, I haven't heard of half of these. How did you get this scroll?" he looked up, but she was gone. Not only was she gone but the lights had returned to normal. "I knew this was going to be troublesome," he grumbled once more and put the scroll away as across the arena, Nanabi returned to her seat with a small smile.

***

The others only glanced up as a bird flew in landed on Naruto's shoulder and started chattering into his ear. The fight between Sasuke and Gaara

"Hold on, not so fast," the bird slowed down but continued its chattering. Now that it had slowed down the others could hear the bird's rapid speech.

"EnemiesaremassingoutsideLeaf. ," Naruto nodded and smiled while the others turned briefly away from the fight to give him a questioning look. The bird flew away and out of sight.

"Tell them not to go overboard!" Naruto shouted at the bird but it was already gone. He saw the others were looking at him. "What?"

***

Gaara was not having fun. That wasn't to say that Gaara had a normal definition of fun, the warped events of his childhood saw to that. But usually a good bloody fight made him… happy. But he wasn't happy, this boy wouldn't bleed, and he just kept smiling. He was also concerned because the voice eternally whispering for blood and death and revenge in his head was oddly silent.

It had never been silent before. Never. Before he had words or images to speak he knew thoughts of the metallic taste of fresh blood. When he could see he saw flesh being torn from all around him in ecstasy. And when he knew words the whispers started, and they had never stopped. Not until a month ago. Not until the blonde boy had shouted. When he had called forth the special chakra he thought only he possessed. Then the whispers had stopped, but only for a moment.

Gaara was so lost in thought that he nearly missed when the Uchiha started to get even faster. Just like the green boy before. What was with these Leaf Ninja? He grit his teeth and moved. His hand rose and the sand ceased being passive, shooting up from the ground and streaming through the air where he directed it. Lashing out at the black haired boy who twisted and dodged as the sand moved as no human opponent could.

The sand split again and again, two torrents became four streams, became eight, then sixteen. Tendrils of sand whipping at the Uchiha. Finally cutting him, a whip across the cheek, the arm, the leg. The tendrils that stuck absorbed the blood, dying them red momentarily before it was drawn into the whole of the sand.

Blood, give me more, I need more! A thought not his own sprung to his mind and he winced at its force. Gaara ground his teeth to keep the whispers back, to keep the Monster back. He succeeded, barely. The Monster wanted out, badly, and blood was the key.

Unfortunately the wince was all that Sasuke needed. The uppercut was powerful, and on a normal human it could have broken their neck. But Gaara was obviously not normal by any means. Knocked off his feet, he flew back, but his sand caught him and set him down gently, the only time it ever was. His armor flaked off where it had been broken. But quickly was replaced and the rest of his body was fortified more. It weighed him down, but it could safe his life.

Enough! Let me OUT! Let me rend this Pest and raise this village to dust! Gaara let out an involuntary cry and clutched at his head. Never had he felt the Voice of the Monster be so strong. And it made him grin. Maybe this would be fun after all.

***

"Uh oh…" Kurohyou shivered as she felt the demonic chakra of the Ichibi, the First Brother, gather around the Sand boy, covering him in a protective ball of sand which the Uchiha couldn't attack through. It didn't feel as exciting as when the Ninth Brother fought. It felt wrong to her senses.

"What did they do to him?" Shibi's large eyes were nearly at tears when she felt the tainted demonic chakra.

"His nature has been corrupted," Nanabi spoke softly. She took a closer look, her eyes sinking into darkness. "The seal on the boy is trying to change Ichibi's nature."

"He must be in terrible pain," Hachibi clenched a fist.

"Which one?" asked Kurohyou, giving voice to Hato's question.

"Both of them."

"That's enough," Rokubi stood up from her seat cracking her knuckles as a sharp wind descended on the stadium.

"No," Gobi lay a restraining hand on her sister's shoulder. "This is a human problem. Let them know what happens when they try and change a Demon." Rokubi started to object but stopped when she saw the cold fury in her sister's eyes. She looked at her siblings, meeting their eyes one by one, and they silently agreed. She took her seat and fidgeted at the fight that continued.

***

Naruto's hair was a vibrant red and his eyes shown as he leaned against the railing looking down at the arena. He didn't make any sound as he watched the battle, but it was obvious to all who saw him that he was anxious. Some thought it was because he would have to fight one of the two power houses in the next round. They were wrong.

Kyuubi was shouting in his head, rage and fury at feeling the chakra of his sibling that had been twisted. But Naruto was frozen. The chakra was chilling, and it frightened him. More than Kyuubi's shouting or the mastery of power that he displayed over the sands. That power frightened him as none since the first meeting with Zabuza could.

It wasn't merely Killer Intent that his demonic eyes saw in his sibling. It was the twisted Intent of Destruction. It wasn't merely his focus on killing, but destroying, everything. He could see it on him. And he saw the insanity. The opalescent aura that his eyes could pick up. It was worse than when he saw it before, and seemed to grow as he drew on the demonic chakra.

What can I do against him? He's overwhelming. None of my attacks could possibly break that barrier, while he could still attack. He would destroy me! Naruto was scared to say the least. He didn't even notice the metal bars of the railing twisting under his grasp as his grip turned his knuckles white.

"You aren't fighting him alone," growled the deep demonic voice from within his core. The voice echoed through his head and reminded him of the power that he had within him. "This… thing is not our brother. It is a parody of his nature, twisted by humans who think they knew how to control a Great Demon." Kyuubi's voice was more full of bile then Naruto had ever heard before. "We will beat this thing, and reclaim our true brother to our side."

"I… we… could have been like that…" the boy whispered, not registering that he said it out loud, earning him several sharp looks, particularly from the two genin from Sand.

"And the destruction would have rent this village from the face of the earth," Naruto smiled bitterly at the image that Kyuubi's self assured comment raised. He noticed the twisted bars in his hands and released them at last. Reminding himself once more that he was not without considerable power of his own.

Down on the field Gaara has retreated inside a ball of his sand, which frightened the remaining Sand siblings even more then Naruto's display of strength. Sasuke had backed off, sticking to the arena wall half way up as he tried to think of how to combat a complete defense like that. Inspirations struck and a moment after the hand seals finished the chakra crackled to life with the sound of a flock of birds chattering away. Kakashi's signature move, Chidori, had been unleashed, by a mere genin.

Naruto watched impassively as Sasuke charged down the wall and then across the field at the stationary ball of sand. But Gaara wasn't just waiting it seemed. With every step that Sasuke made a spike of sand sprang forth from the earth at odd angles, trying to impede his way, hurt him, anything to keep the attack from hitting the shield and threatening Gaara within. But Sasuke was not to be stopped, with his Sharingan active the spikes posed little threat to him as he dodged under, over, sidestepping them as they shot from the ground.

Sasuke drove his enhanced fist enough the sand to the shock of everyone. Silence descended on the arena as everyone held their breath to see if the attack had been enough, if the genius had defeated the untouchable.

The silence was interrupted by a most unexpected of sounds. Laughter. It started as a low snigger, and grew to a tremendous cackle. The sand of the orb started to shift around the hole that Sasuke had punched though the barrier. Twisting around his arm as he tried to yank it back, refusing to release him. He braced a leg against the barrier thinking he could get some leverage but the sand merely folded around his foot as well trapping him even more securely.

"Nearly got me…" Gaara's voice from inside the dome of sand. "But not enough… power…" the voice growled as there was sudden pressure around Sasuke's arm, trying to crush it.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and powered up the Chidori again, but without the control it hurt him as well. But it was enough to disrupt the sand around his arm and allow him to pull free. Immediately he started hand seals and took a deep breath. Gaara had only a second to seal his shield before the fireball hit, Fusing the outer layers of the sand into brown broken glass. Sasuke kicked his foot free and back flipped out of range panting at the exertion that the combination of techniques he was forced to use merely to escape the Sand Nin.

Gaara's sand shifted and pulled back, revealing his new form. The sand making him more bestial, no longer a gourd but a long tail, claws and a layer of protection like armor fur. Dark patterns shifting through the sand that covered his body.

"My turn," he barely spoke the words before his right arm shot out and attempted to impale Sasuke on a spike of sand. Only his activated sharingan and reflexes saved him from a terminal defeat.

***

"Interesting," Gobi spoke as she looked down at the battle. "It seems the host is unable to transform into a more suitable form for using our Chakra. So has let it take its own shape through his sand. Quite innovative, I can't say that I thought he would have the control for such a technique. These hosts are quite interesting people."

"Yea, it's pretty cool," Kurohyou watched with rapt attention as the host of the Ichibi put the sharingan user on the defensive constantly having to dodge the ever shifting attacks of the sand as it changed from tendrels to torrents and lashes, forcing the Sasuke to jump into the air. No sooner was he airborn then Gaara crossed his arms and sharp growths appeared along his arms. With sharp motion shuriken of condensed sand shot through the air.

Unable to dodge Sasuke tried to deflect the projectiles with shuriken of his own with marginal success. Three of the eight sand shuriken fell apart when they were hit, two more missed, but the others hit. They cut easily though Sasuke's shirt and pants, though he was able to keep them from hitting anything vital.

Sasuke forced himself to focus harder, he had to find a way. There had to be some way to break through the solid sand defense of the Sand Shinobi. He dodged back into tree cover and rummaged in his pack for anything that could be useful. A few exploding seals, wire, a vile of poison. Nothing that was likely to get through the sand armor. Before he could try and devise a plan the sand appeared, snaking between the trees two tendrils tried to attack him from the front. He jumped into the air avoiding them both, but was unaware of the other tendril which came from behind. It wrapped around his legs and before he had a chance to cut himself free he was being dragged out of the cover of the trees and slung across the field.

Gaara laughed as his elongated tail pulled Sasuke around, slamming him into a wall and then hoisting him into the air again and dangling him by his feet in front of the demonic sand form. Gaara grabbed his arms and held them out so there was no chance of seals being made.

Sasuke struggled upside down his legs bound by the sand tail, his arms held out in the vice-like grip. He looked around franticly trying to think of some way out. But there was none. He tried to call on Chidori again but the sand twisted his arm painfully, breaking his concentration before he could gather enough chakra to make even the attempt. His pain caused him to miss the spike of chakra coming from somewhere outside of the arena. But Gaara didn't miss it.

Gaara's demonic form paused, his mouth wide, teeth sharp ready to bite into the morsel in front of him and kill him for the sheer pleasure of it. He turned, and looked towards the contestant area. The boy, Naruto, the same one who stopped him before from killing the fast green boy was watching him with glowing red eyes. He moved to bite into Sasuke again, the sand head stretching in inhuman ways, ready to rend Sasuke open and end the fight. But he was stopped again. More spikes of Chakra, different from before. He looked around and saw them. A group watching him, with glowing eyes. He growled and twisted Sasuke's arms, dislocating both shoulders and slamming him into the ground hard.

***

The Arena was silent as the broken and bloodied Uchiha lay at the feet of the sand demon. Everyone was sure that he was going to die, but he had held back when Chakra had spiked. Everyone felt it. Many thought that it was one of the Kage, using what limited influence they could to prevent death in the arena, it wouldn't be good for the publicity of the either village after all.

"Winner… Gaara of the Sand." The referee's voice could be clearly heard and people all over the arena let out breaths they didn't know they had been holding. Gaara stepped back, the sand contorting and then shifting off him, returning to the form of the gourd on his back. But everyone knew what he could do now, and the medics gave him plenty of room as they rushed out to pick up Sasuke. Setting his arms back into the sockets before moving him.

"Are you prepared for the next battle?" the jounin referee asked Gaara. "I'm permitted to give you time to rest after the battle because of the rearrangement…" the look that he received from Gaara was more than enough to tell him that it wouldn't be necessary. He looked up at the contestant area and made a motion. "Naruto Uzumaki, please come to the arena for the first match of the second round."

The words were hardly spoken before Naruto jumped over the railing and slid down the wall of the Arena until he got to the sandy floor. He took a deep breath as he walked towards the two remaining ninja, Sasuke having been taken away by the medics to get checked over.

Gaara waited, arms crossed watching, waiting. The voice in his head was silent, but the feeling from it was a combination of familiar emotions, excitement, bloodlust, anger, and a whole set of unfamiliar ones. Though his face gave nothing away, the boy walking towards him worried him in ways that he had never experienced before.

"You still have time to withdraw," the referee spoke softly while looking at Naruto, giving Gaara a glance out of the corner of his eye. But Naruto shook his head, turning and looking at the jounin who stepped back under the power of Naruto's red eyes.

"Leave the arena…" Naruto spoke softly. "You don't want to be here." The Jounin found himself nodding in agreement and stepping back. He walked a bit further away before turning and raising a hand in the air.

"Contestants ready?" neither moved, and a moment later his hand dropped. "BEGIN!" And the Jounin turned and ran not wanting to be near either of these two when the fight began. However neither of them moved. Merely staring at one another. The Jounin didn't stop running until he was nearly against the wall before turning and looking at the two, wondering what we keeping them.

"Why make him leave?" Gaara spoke after nearly a minute since the start.

"Because I wanted to talk with you privately," Naruto looked up at the stands briefly. "Well, as privately as we can expect in this situation." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I am the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the great Nine Tailed Fox. And I know that you are the container of the Ichibi, and that the seal is hurting you both."

To say that Gaara was taken aback by the boy in front of him would be a bit of an understatement. His status was one of the most highly guarded secrets of his nation, or so he thought. Not to mention that this boy was giving away his own secret without any prompting what so ever. But that was not what was on his mind from among the things the boy had said.

"Hurting? I feel no pain, nothing can hurt me." And it was true as far as he could remember. People had told him about pain, but nothing could harm him. Not even when he was fighting Lee, the first person to get past his guards. He had felt the impacts of each hit, but they didn't cause pain.

As if to emphasize his remark the gourd on his back started to shift forward covering him in a heavier armor, but with additions. Claws of sand grew along his fingers, and spines along his back, a tail sprouted and waved behind him as he hunched forward a little. It was not to the extent of the transformation before, but Naruto didn't doubt he was more protected then he was moments ago, and more dangerous.

"I didn't mean just physically," Naruto took a step back as Gaara started to growl. "The incompatible chakras are making your mind-" He didn't get to say any more as a hand of sand lashed out from Gaara and sand darts flew forward at Naruto.

"Are you calling me INSAINE?!" Gaara screamed at Naruto as the sand wrapped around his body transforming him further into the creature that had defeated Sasuke mere minutes before.

"I wouldn't say 'insane'- YIKES!" he barely managed to get out of the way as a massive sand arm crashed down where he stood a moment ago. He gulped and back flipped out of immediate range and got into a defensive position, kunai in each hand. "I really don't want to fight you!"

"Too bad I really want to EAT YOU," the voice changed as the form in front of him started to grow larger. Naruto didn't understand it until he saw thin ribbons of sand rising up from the arena floor and flying through the air, adding to Gaara's sand mass. It didn't stop until the sand made a creature two stories tall with swirling markings over its body, glaring down at the boy on the arena floor.

"Oh SHIT!" Naruto's shout of echoed the thoughts of everyone at the arena, or it would have if the feathers hadn't started to fall and the spectators forced to go to sleep. And if Naruto hadn't been panicking, he might have heard the explosions coming from the gates, as forign Ninja and massive snake summons slammed through the wall. The invasion had begun.

***

"I can have fun now right?" Kurohyou looked up at Nanabi as they all started to rise.

"Yes," the old woman said as she lifted her black staff grasping it with both hands near its center. A soft click could be heard when she gave a little twist and then a soft ring of metal as she pulled the two halves of her dual sword staff came free and the thin blades caught the light. "It is time."

Oh whoops, another cliff hanger.....