I do not own Naruto.

Speaking/Thoughts

"Today you're fight is with me." Gaara said holding out his hand, and they stopped waiting for his signature sand attacks.

"We don't have time for this Gaara; we need to stop Naruto from leaving the village. You should know how serious of a crime this is, and you're in on it just like Naruto." Satsuki tried to reason, but Gaara didn't waver. "Don't you have any village loyalty?"

"Why should I have loyalty to that place?" Gaara asked in his monotone voice. "They condemned me to a life of an outcast, my own father tried to have me killed for the last six years, and everyone feared me. Now that I've found someone that I can trust there's no reason to abandon him; my loyalties are not toward the place I was born, but toward the place I believe deserves it."

"Careful guys, this guy could take down Lee." Shikimaru said quite literally keeping on his toes, and his eyes analyzing any break in his stance. "Shadow possession jutsu!"

Gaara didn't bother to move instead a sand wall blocking off its progress. "A cheap trick like that won't work on me." Gaara said blocking Choji who had used the "Human Boulder" technique. "You'll need more speed than that to break through my defense."

'We need to break through that sand barrier of his, and the only one capable of doing that with speed is Lee, and he's still bandaged up. We need to pound right through it with pure brute force.' Shikimaru said biting the inside of his cheek. "Satsuki can your Chidori get through his sand."

"Maybe, but touching his sand is a death sentence. We need to get through without touching it." Satsuki said realizing the impossibility of the task. 'Why hasn't he attacked, he could have killed us all by now.' "That's it." Satsuki said surprising them all. "He can't kill us, isn't that right Gaara."

Gaara scowled at this, but didn't respond instead being forced to stare at them. 'I can't use lethal force simply because I would risk killing Satsuki; I'm in this fight with an extreme handicap. They'll come at me ready to kill, and all I can do is maim them.' Gaara thought to himself watching them closely. "If you're not going attack then run on back to the Leaf Village."

"Don't be scared, he won't kill you." Satsuki said performing several hand signs. "Fire style: Grand Fire Ball Jutsu!" Satsuki blew her a jet of fire at Gaara who defended effortlessly. 'That's it keep on using up all your sand to defend!' The fire stopped, and revealed a solid wall of glass.

"Impossible that much heat would be impossible for a Genin to produce." Gaara said shocked seeing his sand turned to glass.

"You overlooked the fact that fire style jutsu are the Uchiha specialty." Satsuki said narrowing her eyes. Gaara was trapped in a glass dome. "We can't spend too much time on this guy, someone has to stay, and take care of him."

"I'll stay." Choji said confidently, but Shikimaru looked at him with worry in his eyes. "Don't worry I have a secret weapon that'll definitely let me beat him."

"If you're sure Choji, but whatever you do don't eat that red pull." Shikimaru said, but he didn't get a response from the rotund boy as they leapt off.

Gaara was especially frustrated with the situation every time he tried to block their path with sand Satsuki would turn it to glass, and they would go around. Eventually he reconciled to the fact that he would have to go after them once he had beaten the one in front of him. "You would do well to call back your team mates, and return." Gaara said Shiki tapping the glass.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu! Choji yelled out his wrapped hands expanding to mass proportions before slamming down over the glass dome. 'Did I get him?"

"That was close, but no cigar." Gaara said his voice strained. Choji's fist had collided with a sand dome very low to the ground making it so he had a few inches of wiggle room even less with Shiki pinned under him. "Now it's time for my counter attack!"

Choji pulled back his fist when spikes impaled it. "God damn that hurt!" he yelled out to no one in particular. "Let's try this again!" Choji spun around wrapping himself in kunai, and once again preformed the human boulder technique charging at Gaara. A new sand dome rose around, but Choji's technique nearly tore through. "Alright I just need a little more to break through."

"I need to get rid of those kunai they tear at my shield, and act like natural shovels." Gaara said analyzing as Choji wrapped more kunai, and wire around his body before going at him again. This time Gaara had to lean slightly back to avoid his face being cut. "No death, but I wonder if tubby here bounces as well as he seems to."

"Who are you calling tubby?!" Choji screamed angrily increasing his rotation speed only for a sand column to slam into his side sending him into a tree his expansion fading away. Without Gaara noticing Choji popped a pill into his mouth. "Take this raccoon boy!" Gaara was caught off guard when Choji had a sudden burst of speed, and to his surprise he was punched right in the face cracking his sand shield. "Whoa I actually hit him."

'This isn't good without Shiki controlling the sand my defense isn't as good because my instincts aren't as honed.' Gaara thought holding his face with a scowl on his face. "You're not going to get a lucky strike like that in again."

"I'll beat you, and we'll get Naruto back!" Choji said running forward his fists pulled back. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" His arm expanded to mass proportions, and launched forward at Gaara who brought up as much sand as he could to protect him and Shiki.

Choji felt Gaara's sand block his fist, but he put more, and more pressure into the punch until he felt it crack under pressure, and he forced it through. "This guy might prove to be more of a challenge than I thought." Gaara said gaining some distance between them, and hiding Shiki away. He breathed in deeply before letting out a gust of chakra, and air from his mouth. "Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough!"

Choji was torn at with gale force winds the sand getting in his eyes, and blinding him. While he couldn't defend, or attack Gaara pummeled him with strong attacks one right after the other until Choji was on the ground on his knees panting. "I believe we're done here." Gaara said turning away going to go, and grab Shiki who was hiding in the bushes.

"Don't underestimate me!" Choji yelled gaining his second wind, and he started pummeling Gaara's sand shield pulling away fast enough so that Gaara's sand couldn't grab his arms. "I'll pound you!"

Gaara brought his arms up a few seconds later Choji managed to burst through his barrier, and he launched back skidding across the ground. "I need to end this fast, or I'll fall too far behind." Gaara said sand rising from the ground, and forming shuriken. "Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!" A large wind whipped forward the shuriken riding it, and ready to impale Choji.

The large boy pulled an unexpected move raising his large foot, and slamming it down over the shuriken effectively stopping the attack. "You're going to need to do better than that sand man!" Choji yelled out to Gaara who looked mildly impressed with the boy. 'Gaara will just keep pushing me back no matter how close I get, so I've got to find a way to draw him in to close ranged combat, and do enough damage to knock him out. I might have to use the third pull after all.'

"Where is he getting all of this energy?" Gaara asked panting from the toll of using Shiki's chakra.

"He smells nasty." Shiki said from her hidden area.

"Excuse me?" Gaara asked turning one eye to look at her.

"He smelled like spinach before, now he smells like curry, yucky!" Shiki said sticking her tongue out, and making a disgusted face. "He's taking these pills, and then he gets really strong."

"Were you ever planning on telling me this Shiki?!" Gaara asked somewhat angrily, and she gave a coy smile before shying away back into the bushes. "Where is he keeping them, if I let him take another one then I'm not sure that I'm going to beat him."

"Alright let's go!" Choji yelled charging forward punching at a radical pace before leaping back. "Full body expansion!" Choji did something that completely shocked Gaara. His entire body expanded making him incredibly large man, and making Gaara slightly nervous. "How do you like me now?!"

"I think that you looked better when you were less fat." Gaara said, and this infuriated the giant who raised his foot ready to stomp the red head. 'This got a whole lot more complicated.' Gaara raised his hands sand forming a protective barrier, but he wasn't too sure.

Choji brought his foot down hard, and felt the resistance. "I can't believe that you can still be holding up after the pounding that I gave you, most people wouldn't be able to stay conscious let alone fight like you are." Choji said straining, and putting more pressure on the heel of his foot trying fruitlessly to crush the redhead.

"I've got to end this now, or I'll risk being defeated." Gaara said straining under the pressure Choji was putting up against his barrier. "Shiki, I could use some help out here."

"Yay! I get to fight too." Shiki said a little too happily before her eyes narrowed, and a killer gleam got into her eyes. "I'm going to summon up my sand body, and then we'll beat fatso here no problem!"

"How many times do I have to tell you people; it's not fat its big bone, and muscle!" Choji screamed a giant tick mark appearing on his giant forehead.

"Alright then Shiki, you can start any time now." Gaara said forced down onto one knee.

"Sand, and earth of the elements, I command you to hear the call of your queen. Lend me your strength, and give me my demon shape!" The sand started to swirl around causing Choji to back up leaving Gaara to recover before the sand wrapped around him and Shiki like a comforting blanket.

"This isn't good, if Gaara turns full monster like I heard he did at the Chunin exams then I'm definitely going to have to take the Chili pill." Choji said under his breath, and he held the pill case in the palm of his giant hand before tossing it into his mouth, and immediately the affects of the pill took place two chakra butterfly wings forming on his back.

"Now he smells like Chili." Shiki said wrinkling her nose on her old body's head along with Gaara.

"He must of taken the last pill, and that means there's a real chance that I can lose here." Gaara said a deeper frown etched on his face. "Shiki leave the control of the body here to me, just hide, and stay out of any danger." Shiki nodded before sinking into the body leaving Gaara to control every little move that the hulking monstrosity made.

"Come on demon, let's do this!" Choji said, but he had no idea how big of a nerve he struck.

"I'll hurt you so bad that your children will feel it." Gaara said his eyes narrowing, and a slightly insane gleam coming into them.