The Road to Toad
Disclaimer: If you think I own this, you are mistaken. I own nothing except my own ass. Literally. Even if you buy a house, you still have to pay taxes for it, and if you don't pay them, you'll be kicked out by the government. Now how messed up is that?
Hey guys. I just have to say, I'm amazed with the feedback this fic is getting. Thank you guys for the reviews. It's a little too much to take in for me, the review count doubled with the last chapter. So did the favorite and follow count. Thank you guys. But I need to say something, I don't normally do review replies, seeing as it just needlessly enlarges the word count, something that I don't want. I don't like deceiving people on how many words I have uploaded. So, here is my compromise, every 5 or so chapters, I'll dedicate one chapter with replies. Now note; I'll keep the replies short. And I will upload a chapter with it, meaning that you don't have to wait for the next chapter, and just skip over this reply chapter. Hope this will get your attention, I don't want people being shocked by a sudden review reply chapter.
Also, in this chapter, there will be more fighting. But it will simmer down. Somewhat.
Next, as I'm writing this, you'll find things that will be very different then canon. Most noticeably when Naruto goes for his training trip. But not only that, it will have a lot more surprises. Hopefully, this will get your attention and keep reading. Now, on with the show!
Also please note, there will be a lot of scene changes in this chapter. Just a heads up.
XxX
A menacing roar resounded through the stadium. A roar that was eerily and terrifyingly familiar to the older generation of people. It was the roar of a creature so powerful, that it could crumble mountains. A creature so massive, it left earthquakes as it moved. A creature so malice filled, it made everyone want to die instead of being subjected to it. And right now, that same creature was inside the stadium, right in the middle of them all.
"RAARRGGHH!" The sound of the roar reverberated, causing chills to go down everyone. No one dared move, for they feared they would be targeted. The audience just sat dumbfounded at this turn of events. While the Shinobi were frozen in shock, afraid for their lives as they remembered what happened all those years ago.
The creature in the middle of the stadium was releasing malice in waves. Its red chakra oozing off its skin. It barely looked human, the only thing evident that it was once human, was that it had the look of the boy it was sealed in.
The creature's hair, sun-kissed blond, was even more of a mess then before. It grew spikier and unkempt. The whisker marks thickened, as well as darkened. Its dark orange trench coat disintegrated the moment it released its chakra. However, its previous blue and orange jacket was still opened, revealing the badly damaged black t-shirt underneath. Likewise, it had on orange pants that reached just before its ankles. The creature also wore blue sandals.
The crowd could not – would not – move. They didn't want what was down there to charge at them. As they looked on in shock and awe, the creature seemed to twitch, though it was barely seen by the civilians, the shinobi saw it the moment it happened.
Suddenly, the twitching intensified. The head rapidly moving left and right, almost as if it was in pain. The creature let out another roar, and it started convulsing right after. The creature bucked, and fell on the ground writhing and twitching, roaring all the way.
The audience couldn't believe what they were seeing, the malice filled creature suddenly looked like it was in pain, like it was fighting something inside its body. The crowd of civilians took this opportunity to start throwing whatever they could, hoping to end the creature's life. They threw sacks of potato chips, shoes, even heavy purses filled with coins. All in the hope that whatever was down there, would continue being in pain and ignoring them.
The shinobi would have stepped forward, but they feared for their own skin too much. They wouldn't go down there, not unless it was a direct order by the Hokage. They knew what it was, and they didn't want to have anything to do with it.
As all of this was happening, the creature, which was previously known as Naruto Uzumaki, kept writhing, grasping its chest as if its heart was burning. The creature started crying, almost as if in the worst pain imaginable. The creature suddenly stopped, catching everyone's attention. They stopped throwing, they stopped being scared. Their feelings changed from fear, to curiosity at the sudden cease of movement.
After a few seconds however, their fear returned tenfold.
The suddenly started to get up, radiating wave after wave of red, blood colored chakra. The creature seemed to form a cloak of red chakra around itself. The cloak started forming a shape, a shape of a bipedal fox with one tail.
As the creature fully stood up, everyone suddenly felt a chill run through them. Its eyes, which were previously covered by its hair. Was slanted, not horizontally like before. But vertically, shaping like a diamond, unlike rectangle before.
The creature roared again.
XxX
"Neku, Tenzo!" Sarutobi shouted as he stood up. The two ANBU suddenly appeared by his side, kneeling. Sarutobi turned and started walking towards the exit. But not without telling both ANBU what to do.
"Neku, go find Jiraiya, tell him that the Kyuubi is breaking free. Tenzo, try to subdue Naruto. I give you permission for restraint release. Go now, do not waste time." Sarutobi ordered as he exited the Hokage box. He didn't even hear his ANBU respond before he was out of there.
This however, left the Kazekage alone with his lone bodyguard. The bodyguard approached the Kazekage before kneeling down and whispering to the Kazekage's ear.
"Orochimaru-sama. The army is waiting for your signal. They won't attack yet, but they are getting impatient." The bodyguard said. The Kazekage – Orochimaru – only smiled under his mask.
"Tell them to wait a bit more Kabuto-kun. Jiraiya away from the frontlines gives them a bigger advantage. Not to mention the fact that having a demon loose in the middle of an invasion would turn heads in fear. And I want to see what happens to young Naruto-kun. He is just full of surprises it seems." Orochimaru mused as he looked at the blood red cloaked genin start to approach its down opponent. The proctor having been knocked away like it was a fly. He tried to protect the Hyuuga, how foolish. Was Orochimaru's thoughts as he eagerly waited for what was to happen next.
Kabuto only smirked under his hood, silently agreeing with his master.
XxX
Kakashi had taken a stand in front of the genin as he saw Naruto start changing. He cursed silently as he watched Naruto start convulsing and then stops, only to stand up with an even more menacing roar. Add to that fact that Naruto was using the Kyuubi's chakra, well; you can guess why he had a colorful vocabulary right now. Judging by Gai's body language, well, he could guess that he was thinking the same thing too.
Kakashi took a subtle glance at Gai, who nodded as he readied himself. Kakashi knew that they had to subdue Naruto, as he was now. He'll kill a lot of people if he wasn't knocked out. The only problem was the genin behind him. He didn't know how they would react to this revelation, but that didn't matter right now. Naruto was a bigger problem. He made a note to talk about what they saw later.
Kakashi readied himself to jump in the stadium, aiming to fight the berserk Naruto. But he suddenly froze as sand started gathering and forming a figure in front of Naruto and Neji. The sand took the form of the red haired sand ninja that had injured Lee during the preliminaries. Kakashi's blood went cold.
Of all the people that didn't care about collateral, it was this boy – Gaara. Whatever was going to happen now, it would best to keep away from it. He was surprised however when Gaara picked up the injured form of Neji, followed by the proctor, before he forcefully threw them to the bleachers using his sand. Thankfully, they landed by the crowd, so they had someone to catch them. But, the problem now was what was going to happen.
Kakashi almost charged, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned his head, and was met by Gai's solemn face. Gai shook his head, indicating that if he stepped in there, where a battle of demons was to take place, he would die. Naruto right now had no control, so the only way to get him to stop was to fight him. And Gaara had given them that opportunity. He sighed as he turned around and faced the terrified genin. Well, except Sasuke and Shikamaru. One was scowling, while the other had a serious face. He then motioned his hands, silently prompting them to look at him. Now it was about getting the people out of the stadium and to safety.
XxX
"RARRGGHH!" Naruto's body roared as it charged at the manically grinning Gaara. Gaara made no move to stop him, only raising his hand, and sending a wave of sand towards Naruto. The sand impacted and managed to stop Naruto in his tracks. The sand pushed against the standing Naruto, trying to overpower him. Naruto, who had raised his hands in an X to defend himself, started steadily walking forward. Pushing against the raging sands with his strength. This caught the sand ninja off guard for a fraction of a second, but started pushing back even more, trying to overpower the frenzied boy. Finally, Naruto snapped, losing his footing for a second. That was all it took to have his body being thrown into the air by the sand. The sand continued to push against him in the air, and finally, he impacted on the stadium wall. The sand pushing against him was making him stay in place.
Gaara was smiling manically as he pushed even more sand at the struggling Naruto. He knew that he still had strength; all that was left was to release it. Naruto gurgled as the sand started piling up, starting to get in his open mouth.
As he was buried and the sand stream stopped however. The ground started shaking, and then Naruto burst from the sand, the sand erupting at all sides, forwards, sideward, and up against the wall. Naruto's red cloak flared up, suddenly heating the air. The sand, which was still airborne, started to crystallize into glass, turning the harmless sand into lethal projectiles. The glass skewered against everything, the ground, the trees, and the now empty seats of the stadium.
After that little display of power, Gaara was in awe. He never would have guessed that that would happen. He guessed th-
He didn't get to finish that thought as Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him, right arm stretched upwards, the cloak forming some sort of claw. Before he could get his defense up, Naruto slashed down.
Gaara shouted in pain, blood spurt from his right shoulder where the claw landed. Before he could finish his scream however, Naruto had kicked him, throwing him sideward, blood flowing through the air in front of him. He waited for the wall to hit his side, but he was suddenly kicked on his other side, suddenly stopping him in the air. The counter acting g-forces pushing his body in itself, crushing him. He coughed up blood, before it the forces finally relented.
He then heard a roar, before he was suddenly grabbed by something made of chakra, - presumably the tail -, and then thrown into the air, spinning backwards.
The blood still dripping, he grabbed his shoulder and looked at his hand. Red blood, his blood was being spilled. His vision started darkening as he let out an inhuman scream. Naruto however, was undeterred. He reached out with his hand and a red chakra hand extended towards Gaara, who was still screaming blood. Naruto then promptly threw his hand downwards, dragging Gaara with him. Gaara was forcefully slammed on the ground, a large dust cloud kicking up as he landed. Naruto's chakra hand receded, before he let loose another roar. Gaara's screaming had stopped during this roar; Naruto seemed to snap to attention as he looked on towards the dust cloud.
Suddenly, a hand made of sand exploded from the dust cloud, extending towards Naruto, who batted away the hand in time. The hand soared past Naruto's face and impacted on the wall, puncturing it. The hand receded back towards the dust cloud, the wall crumbling as it did so. Naruto didn't seem to be deterred, only opting to crouch down on all fours as he growled.
The dust cloud was suddenly dispersed, revealing a possessed Gaara.
Gaara was now fully incased in sand that took the form of a bipedal raccoon. The upper body was bulky, while the lower body had no sand whatsoever. The arms were thick with sand, while the chest seemed to puff up and down, as if the sand itself was breathing. Gaara's face was hidden underneath a new face, this one made of sand and more animal like. It resembled a raccoon, and had black eyes with yellow irises. Its sand teeth seemed to be razor sharp as well.
Gaara roared, almost as if taunting Naruto. Naruto, roared back, not backing down.
"NYAHAHAHA! UzUmaKi! I wilL kIll you!" Gaara's inhuman voice roared as he charged.
XxX
Tenzo was now carefully eyeing the fight between both demons. He couldn't just blindlessly charge in there. He would die. Instead, he prompted to watch and strike at the right time. He can't restrain both demons, he was nowhere near that level. He watched as the possessed Gaara threw multiple shuriken made of sand at Naruto, who nimbly dodged each and every one. Tenzo clicked his tongue as he watched the speed of Naruto and the power of Gaara. He really couldn't make a mistake here. Thankfully, Kakashi-senpai had evacuated the premise. Meaning no one would get hurt, but still, he had a sinking feeling that something was wrong. Hokage-sama had ordered for Naruto to be restrained. And that was the gist of it, only restrained. Whatever he was going to do, he can't knock the boy out, only restrain him. Just what was the Hokage thinking?
He was suddenly released from his thoughts. He dodged to the left as a giant sand shuriken landed where he was watching the fight.
'That was way too close.' He thought as he eyed the sand shuriken impaled on the wall. It had cut deep and was halfway buried into the wall. The shuriken then started to dissolve into regular sand. Tenzo refocused on the fight, and saw that he had a chance to restrain both demons. Both fighters were locked hand in hand in the middle of the field, each trying to overpower the other. But neither budged as they pushed against each other. One had a manic grin on his face, the other, an angry expression. Tenzo jumped down towards the field, swiftly forming the horse seal.
Suddenly, the ground around both demons started to get uneven. After a few seconds, wood sprouted from the ground and enveloped both demons. The wood was smooth, but that didn't stop it from spiraling around both demons, carefully enveloping both in darkness. After those few seconds of forming a wooden stalactite, Tenzo pushed even more chakra into his technique.
A wooden box with a smooth surface was made, the box landed on top of the wooden spire, covering it. The wooden box had bars, almost as if it were a wooden prison. Tenzo released a breath he didn't know he was holding. That took a lot from him.
He carefully inspected his creation, looking around it for any cracks or any misshapen sides. The last thing he wanted was for either of them to break free.
He was taken out of his thoughts by a sudden spike of chakra behind him. He turned, ready to strike, but relaxed right after. Neko had come with Jiraiya, and judging from Neko's body movement and Jiraiya's bruised face, he didn't come without acting like himself. Jiraiya approached Tenzo, whistling as he eyed the wooden structure.
"Well, at least we have a way to restrain him, now tell me. What the hell happened that caused him to go berserk?" Jiraiya asked as he approached the wooden cage and placed a hand on it. As he was inspecting the cage, he heard a voice that made him turn around in shock.
"I'll answer that Jiraiya-chan." The nasally old woman's voice sounded.
XxX
Orochimaru smiled as he saw his previous team mate enter the stadium. He gestured for Kabuto, who nodded and sent out a flare of chakra.
'This will be too much fun.' Orochimaru thought with a small smirk as he disappeared with a shunshin. Kabuto following right after.
XxX
"Ma!" Jiraiya shouted in surprise as the small old toad landed on his shoulder. Shima only nodded her greeting as she looked at the wooden cage.
"I know for a fact that you trained him Jiraiya-chan, but I need to ask a question. Did you teach him about Sage mode?" Shima asked as her eyes narrowed at Jiraiya. Jiraiya felt the scrutinizing gaze on him. He shook his head in the negative.
"No. And if I ever did, he'd still be training with me, not out here fighting. Why? Did he activate Sage mode?" Jiraiya asked curiosity in his voice evident. Shima only nodded, which caught Jiraiya's attention. Jiraiya sighed; he knew this kid was unpredictable. But seriously? Activating Sage mode? Might as well pull Samehada from his ear and a Sharingan eye from his ass.
"I won't ask, but right now I have to make a suppression seal. Hey you, wood ANBU." Jiraiya tried to get Tenzo's attention. Tenzo snapped to attention, but not without a noticeable grimace.
"Hai Jiraiya-sama?" Tenzo asked with a small hint of sarcasm. Jiraiya either ignored it, or didn't hear it.
"Can you hold the boy for ten minutes? This seal is intricate and takes time and a steady hand." Jiraiya said, Tenzo visibly grimaced.
"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama, but I can't. If he was alone, then I could, as it stands; I can only stall them for three minutes." Tenzo said. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this. It was Shima who answered his unspoken question.
"He ain't alone in there Jiraiya-chan. Another boy, I'm guessing the Shukaku Jinchuriki judging from the raccoon face, is in there as well." Shima explained. Jiraya clicked his tongue in frustration. This woulda been so much easier if…..
"Alright, I'll see what I can do, but stall as long as possible. The old man probably has backup seals, and he's probably getting them as we speak. But, just in case, I'll try making some right here. Now, just try to- DUCK!" Jiraiya shouted as he jumped to the ground, Neku and Tenzo following suit. A large blast of air impacted with the wooden structure, shattering it and sending wooden splinters in the air. Neku was the first to recover as she unsheathed her ninjato, she scanned the area and saw that a Sand shinobi had sent that attack their way. She jumped and charged at the Sand shinobi, ninjato poised to strike.
She landed behind the shinobi, her sword extended to her side. She carefully stood up, and flicked away blood from her sword. The shinobi erupted in blood. The shinobi gurgled, and fell down on the floor, dead.
Neku carefully eyed the shinobi, wondering why he had attacked. But she needed to dodge an attack coming at her from behind. She rolled to the right. After the tumble, she took a kenjutsu stance as she eyed her opponent. It was another Sand shinobi. She narrowed her eyes at what was happening. She could see that behind her opponent, were several other Sand shinobi in the stadium, some had hostages, while others were fighting the couple Leaf shinobi that stayed during Naruto's relase.
She clicked her tongue, letting out audible 'tsk'. Turns out, the Intel was right, and that they were now being invaded.
XxX
As the dust cleared, Jiraiya had to dodge as a sand shuriken tore through the air towards him. The sand shuriken dissipated in the air as he landed on the wall. Before he could recollect his thoughts however, Shima jumped in the air and enveloped Jiraiya with her tongue as she pulled him from the wall and into the air. She had just saved his life.
Naruto was sailing through the air as he landed on the spot on the wall where Jiraiya had landed before. The wall crumbling as Naruto burst on the other side, giving the thick battle wall a hole. The possessed Gaara roared as he gave chase, jumping through the hole and towards the other side.
Jiraiya grew frustrated at this. They had just taken their fight from a controlled environment, towards a heavily urban environment.
'This just got a hundred times more difficult.' Jiraiya thought in frustration as he was carefully placed on the ground by Shima. Shima then promptly unwrapped her tongue around Jiraiya before landing on his shoulder.
"Damn it. This is bad, looks like the invasion is in place, and both Jinchuriki running loose in the middle of the village will speed things up for them." Jiraiya thought out loud. Shima only nodded. She then started running though hand seals.
"Alright Jiraiya-chan, I'll summon Pa. Just make sure Naruto-chan stays alive. Pa'll love to meet him." Shima said as she finished her hand seals. She then promptly slammed her hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. A puff of smoke erupted from her hand. After a few seconds, the smoke started to recede into Jiraiya's other shoulder, revealing another bi-pedal toad standing.
This toad had a coat just like Shima's, except it was olive green. The toad also seemed to have a white piece of hair on its head.
The toad looked around with its small squinted eyes, before finally landing on the sheepish smile of Jiraiya.
Jiraiya was nervous. He was sweating, and he his legs were shaking. Who knows what Pa'll do? But nonetheless, he smiled and spoke. "Yo! Pa! Long time no se- OW! Damn it!" He grabbed his head in pain. He looked up to see that the small toad had an enclosed fist.
"Right Jiraiya. I don't have time for any of your foolishness. Tell me, why did you summon me now of all times? And why did you decide to take away the coat I was making?" The old toad asked Jiraiya, who was still nursing his head from the punch. Jiraiya looked up in confusion at the last part of that sentence.
"Coat? What coat? And I didn't summon you. It was Ma. OW!" He reeled again as he was bonked once again. "What was that for?!" He questioned. The old toad only shrugged.
"For summoning Ma instead of me." The toad said bluntly. Jiraiya just grumbled something about senile deaf old toads under his breath. It was at this time however, that there little reunion was cut short as a Sand shinobi charged forward, kunai in hand, poised to strike. Jiraiya nimbly dodged the strike, and planted a kick to the ninja's face. He didn't let up as he used the force of the kick to drag the ninja to the ground, his foot on the ninja's face.
"Ma, tell Pa about the situation. I need to focus right now, with Naruto running around fighting that other kid, who knows what kind of damage they'll both do. To themselves as well as the village." Jiraiya said calmly as he took a fighting stance as more Sand shinobi surrounded him and the toads on his shoulder. Ma didn't respond, only nodding her head slowly as she moved to Jiraiya's other shoulder to talk to Pa. They needed to get to that Naruto boy, but first, they had to deal with these people in their way.
XxX
At the same time, outside the arena…
A loud crash erupted from the stadium, followed by a dust cloud. From that dust cloud, a red cloaked figure shot out, landing on a nearby building, causing a similar dust cloud and crash from before. After that crash, another figure leapt out of the hole the first one had made, this one, dripping with sand.
Gaara roared as he took a steady stance on the ground, waiting for his opponent to recover. He raised his right arm up just in time as a red claw extended from the building and charged at him.
His sand arm blocked the burning red claw. The claw receded back into the building and into a standing figure. The figure roared as it disappeared from the building, picking up dust and wind with it.
Gaara scanned the perimeter. He took in the chaos of battles around him. The chaos of a war, he watched as blood splattered on walls, as bodies started piling up, as limbs were severed.
But he didn't care about those right now. He was too preoccupied with looking for his opponent to care about others blood. He wanted the blood of his opponent, his mother wanted it.
Gaara then raised his left arm up and grabbed a red claw that tried to swipe at him. He pulled hard and threw the figure over his head and on the ground.
Naruto landed with a thud as the force pushed saliva out of his mouth. He groaned in pain, but managed to roll out of the way as a sand fist landed on the ground he was on. He pushed his body from the ground and turned around, his fierce canines elongating as he stared at the Sand monster.
He started to froth at the mouth as he clenched his teeth in anger. His eyes redirecting focus towards his one target. He got on his hands and feet, and charged at full speed, fist raised.
Gaara couldn't block the punch in time; he was pushed back by the punch's force. A velocity ring formed behind him as Naruto pushed back harder. After an instant, the force caught up and he was launched backwards at amazing speeds. He crashed through a building and went through its other end, but didn't stop there. He went through two more buildings, before stopping on a third one. The building crumbled down on top of him, burying him in rubble.
Naruto let loose another feral howl as he watched the building implode onto Gaara. He waited for his opponent to surface, but was blindsided by a strong gust of wind from his right.
He skidded on the ground as the wind picked him up; but the force wasn't enough to send him flying needlessly. He was picked up from the ground, and he kept falling on the ground repeatedly as he was swept away. He crashed on the side of a building, the building's walls crumbled before him like Gaara's had on him.
Whoever had attacked him had apparently not been convinced that he was down, as he heard a strong hissing sound right above him. And judging from the numerous echoes, it sounded like there were numerous tags right above him. And he had nothing to defend himself with.
XxX
Temari shielded her body with her large fan as the explosion erupted from the building. She dug the fan on the ground and hid behind the thick metal, but the shockwave had still managed to move her back a bit.
The dust picked up as the shockwave washed over her. Finally, after a few seconds of a breathtaking shockwave washing over her, reprieve. She sighed in gratification that the worst was over.
She shot a glare to her right side as she watched her brother step out from his iguana puppet. "You know you didn't have to go overboard with that? That probably attracted a lot of Konoha nin."
Kankuro only snorted dismissively. "Yeah, and I'm supposed to be more scared of them than a rampaging Gaara? Yeah right." He said with reserve.
"Anyway, right now we have to watch out for Gaara. His defense may be thick, but there is no way he'll surviv- Ghk!" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she was suddenly grabbed by the neck. An arm made of sand turned her around and face to face with a manic Gaara, complete with closed eyes and bleeding forhead, he also appeared to be numerously bigger then before, - and still growing at that - as if more sand was accumulating around his body. She suddenly felt very small.
Similarly, next to her. Kankuro shared the same fate, albeit in a different position. He was held by his ankles and dangled upside down. His hands dragging on the ground as he looked up to see Gaara's face.
"NyaHahA! FiNalLy! A ModIcUm of ConTroL! I caN FiNaLlY leT loose!" The voice was that of Gaara's, but the user was not that of the Sand genin's. Instead, it sounded like a demon had possessed and taken over his body. Which didn't sound farfetched as he was already starting to transform beforehand.
Kankuro tried to swallow as best he can. But being upside down wasn't helping him at all. He carefully eyed the sand arm, and wondered if he could cut it with one of his puppets.
Similarly, Temari was thinking the same thing, only, she was thinking of smashing the hand off. But her fan had fallen from her grip when she was grabbed. And she couldn't reach it from this high.
Both siblings waited with baited breath as they observed Gaara/Shukaku start gathering more sand and increasing his size exponentially. Before long, the monster was over fifty feet tall and towering over most of the village buildings.
Temari and Kankuro were dragged up as the monster size increased. They were now level with Chuunin exam stadium. They let out a break of nervous sweat as a fall from that height could easily kill them. They were panicking now, how were they supposed to get out of this situation?
But as they were pondering how they were getting out of this predicament. The sand arms suddenly jerked, dragging them with it. They caught a brief look of two sticky mucus covered red ropes tie themselves around the arm. The arms were pulled to the side, opposite each other and to the side of the giant raccoon sand monstrosity.
The ropes tightened and before long, the strain was too much and the arms were torn by the ropes. The sand arm started dissipating midair, freeing both Kankuro and Temari. They both screamed as they fell towards the ground, helpless to stop.
But to their surprise, another pair of stick ropes caught them and put them down gently on the ground. Before it then receded back to where they came from. They searched for whoever owned the ropes. But was caught off guard as a man with a red obi and wooden sandals appeared in front of the released Shukaku.
XxX
"Woah! This thing's as big as 'Bunta!" Jiraiya whistled as he stared up at the giant Tanuki. As he was observing the overly large raccoon, a pair of familiar weights landed on his shoulder. Signaling that the old pair of toads finished their jobs. He heard coughing on both sides and repressed his giggle at that reason.
"Bleagh. The Kyuubi tasted better than this thing. At least the Kyuubi had fur, this thing has sand, lots of sand." A voice sounded on his right. Jiraiya turned and smiled at the old sage toad.
"Relax Pa, you don't have to keep doing that. But thanks for doing it anyway; at least it brought us time." Jiraiya explained, his face steeling as he looked up at the giant raccoon who was screaming bloody murder.
The giant figure was pretty straight forwardly shaped. It was the figure of a plump raccoon made of sand, one giant tail, two stubby legs, a face that only a mother could love, and two giant arms with claws. Well, two stumps for arms.
Jiraiya was pondering on what to do; he looked up to the arm stumps and saw that it was beginning to regenerate back into full arms. 'This is going to be annoying. We can't rightfully destroy this thing. It's made of sand, any and all physical damage will just be soaked up. Damn it.'
Jiraiya was racking his brain for a plan, and he was currently drawing a blank. He dodged the giant tail that swept towards him, knocking over buildings as it swung towards him. He jumped high into the air, trying to jump over it.
He cleared it, but his right leg, which was lower than his left as he used his right to push himself up, was nicked. He tumbled to the right, spinning wildly. He carefully placed one hand out in front of him as he tried to brace himself for impact. He landed and rolled himself on the ground. He straightened himself as he assessed the damage done to his leg. Thankfully, it was just a light graze, but a rather strong graze it was.
The old male toad gazed up at the giant Tanuki, and let out an audible sigh. Jiraiya and Shima turned and looked at the old toad. One had a look of terror, and one with confusion respectively.
"H-hey Fukasaku. Don't tell me you can't beat this thing? I know you're old and – " Jiraiya didn't get to finish his sentence as he was abruptly rapped on the head, again. "Son of a- What the hell was that for?!" He asked while rubbing his head of the now newly formed bruise. Fukasaku didn't respond as he just sighed again. Shima was looking at him expectedly however, as if waiting for something brilliant.
"Listen Jiraiya-chan. I know you're scared right now, and I know you want me to think of something spectacular. But this thing won't go down so easily, it has enormous power, and it's pretty fast to boot. Not to mention that it's made entirely out of sand." Fukasaku listed, each one made Jiraiya twitch. He knew all that for crying out loud. What he needed was a way to stop this thing from rampaging to for him to seal it, at least, seal the beast back in. Also, it didn't help much that he didn't know what kind of seal was used on this Jinchuriki, for all he knew, it was a custom made seal and nothing he knew about. He was going to be taking a shot in the dark when making the seal of this thing.
He shook his head as he tried to refocus on the giant raccoon. The sand monster roared loud, as if it were about to attack. And then it started walking away from the stadium and over towards the center of the village. He let out a low growl as he jumped up high, towards a buildings rooftop.
"Listen Jiraiya. I know you want to stall this thing, but right now. Me and Ma won't do much, I could slow it down with water. But it'll only delay the inevitable. What you need is someone else, someone its size." Fukasaku explained to Jiraiya, who was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to keep up with the currently walking monstrosity. Jiraiya didn't give any indication that he heard what the old toad said, but his reply made the toad think otherwise.
"I know. But right now, you're my best shot here. Making a seal for a giant raccoon monster made of sand will take some time and chakra. All I'm asking is five minutes, after that, you can both rest." Jiraiya tried to reason. Fukasaku silently contemplated it, thinking over if Ma and he could stall this thing for that long. The kyuubi's tail was one thing; a giant rampaging sand monster was another. After a few more seconds of silence, and a few seconds of Ma's eyes on him. He sighed. "Alright Jiraiya, we'll try stalling. But if things turn south, summon 'bunta. At least he can hold this thing down if he tried."
Jiraiya turned his head and gave a smile to the old toad. "Thanks Pa. I owe you a drink next time." Jiraiya said rather cheekily. As if they were talking casually and without a giant monster rampaging right in front of them.
XxX
"…ke…p….wa…- UP!" A commanding voice jolted Naruto awake. He jumped up and took a ready stance, looking around frantically for an attacker. But all he saw was a rather dreary sewer. He lingered around that thought for awhile, wondering if there was a sewer that was never dreary. But he shook his head clear and refocused on his surroundings. Waiting for an attacker to show themselves. What he got however, wasn't an attacker, rather, a menacing feeling of dread.
"I cannot accept this." A deep bellowing voice reverberated behind him. He knew that voice. And come to think of it, he knew this place as well. He knew where he was, and he knew who was right behind him. He steeled himself and carefully turned around and faced the demon that was sealed inside him. He looked up, and met its eyes. "Kyuubi…. What the hell do you want?"
The Kyuubi growled at him. "I cannot accept this. Right now, out there. The Shukaku is laying siege on Konoha. And you're under a whole building knocked out. I cannot accept that the Shukaku is better than me." The Kyuubi angrily explained. Naruto scoffed at his explanation, eliciting another growl from the Kyuubi.
"And what the hell do you expect me to do about it? During my match with Neji, you were trying so hard to pump my body with your chakra. And incase you didn't know, that hurt like a bitch!" Naruto shouted before the Kyuubi could say anything. The Kyuubi growled at him, angry that it was interrupted.
"I don't share my own space. That chakra you used, I didn't like it. So naturally, like you humans always do, I expelled it." The Kyuubi explained eerily calm. Though there was a hint of resentment in its voice.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that explanation, not entirely understanding, but he knew one thing. It was his body. "Your space? It's my body! It's not YOURS!" Naruto shouted at the demon, no fear whatsoever in his voice. The Kyuubi merely chuckled at his bravado.
"No, that it is not. But I'll be damned if I have to sit back and accept that." The Kyuubi replied letting loose a few strands of chakra and into Naruto's side of the cage. Naruto tried to resist taking a step back, for it would show weakness, a weakness the Kyuubi could exploit. But the strands of chakra were thick, and the air seemed to permeate the smell of blood. He couldn't think straight, he was scared, scared that he was going to die. He looked up and stared at the eyes of the giant demon, and took a step back in fear. The Kyuubi smirked.
The red trails of chakra suddenly hardened, and charged at the boy. Its edges sharp, its speed blinding. Naruto couldn't let out a scream, as he was suddenly impaled by the chakra. He started convulsing as red marks started forming all over his body and clothes, as if he was being possessed.
"Don't worry kit. I won't take full control, I can't. But right now, Shukaku needs to know his place." Were the last words Naruto heard before he fell face first into the water, blacking out. His fear on the forefront of his mind.
XxX
She was getting tired. She didn't know what else to do in this situation, she never needed to fight this many people at one time. Not to mention she was a greenhorn ANBU. True, she was a chuunin before being scouted by an ANBU officer, but she really didn't have that much head on combat experience, especially when facing with three other jounin level shinobi.
She dodged to her left, narrowly avoiding a wind chakra coated shuriken sailing through the air. She returned the favor by throwing a few shuriken of her own. She cursed as her projectiles were dodged.
This was getting irksome for her, they had her surrounded, and she was already wearied down by previous fighting. She saw the gleam in her opponents eyes. She saw them smirk, she saw them steadily walk up to her position, and for the first time in a long time. She felt fear.
She was about to jump back to give her some breathing room, but found that it wasn't necessary as one of the Sand jounins surrounding her suddenly slumped down on the ground, bleeding profusely. She shifted her gaze towards the fallen shinobi, and found that his head was barely on his shoulders as he had a deep cut on his neck. Her fear evaporated at the sight, and after a minuscule second, she sprang into action.
She charged at the nearest one on her left, drawing her sword as she charged. In one swift motion, she was suddenly behind him, sword drawn with blood dripping on the edge. Before the body could fall however, she was already on the move. Charging the other shinobi, she poised her sword, ready to kill. And she did, with one swift slash through the torso.
Blood gushed out of the wound she had made, and the shinobi gurgled in pain, before falling back, having died on the way down.
She straightened herself and flicked the blood off of her sword. She glanced back at the first fallen shinobi, and found someone standing over the body, facing behind her.
This someone was a man. He had black hair and was wearing a green flak jacket and dark blue pants, signifying him as a member of the Konoha corps. On both hands were trench knives that had the faintest traces of blood on them. As the man turned around, she observed that he had a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. She silently grimaced as he took in a deep breath, shortening the stick and his life span. The man didn't mind however as he closed his eyes and savored the taste. She saw that he had a beard, a rough beard that stretched down to his chin and was connected with sideburns. On his hip, she saw that he had a white cloth with the kanji of 'fire' inscribed on it. It was also encircled with a small thin red circle.
The man opened his eyes after having his fill, and his gaze seemed to unnerve her. "What? No thank you?" He started, trying to get a response from her. She didn't respond, only staring blankly at him from behind her porcelain mask.
The man let out a small sigh and mumbled something incoherent from her position. "Whatever. Anyway, the guys and I have the stadium covered. Right now, the north and west gate are in danger of falling. They need backup right now."
She nodded her head in understanding, but before she could take off, he stopped her again. "And you won't be going to help either of them."
This set off alarm bells in her head as she turned around and readied into a fighting position, in case this man was implying what she was thinking. The man rolled his eyes at her, almost as if he was asking 'really?'
"That's not what I meant. Right now, Jiraiya-sama needs help with the rampaging Shukaku. In case you were deaf, that thing was released in the middle of the village, just behind the stadium. It roared pretty loud, makes me wonder if your hearing is any good." He chided humorlessly. She wasn't fazed. Only letting out a silent nod before jumping up on the balconies and exiting the stadium.
The man shook his head at the way that was handled before mouthing off 'No sense of humor.' At the retreating figure of the ANBU.
XxX
Asuma watched the ANBU leave. As he saw them leave, he took a whiff of his cigarette. Thanking whoever made them for the stress relief. Because right now, it was taking all his willpower to not run around and find a safe place to hide out.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to go out there and find his students and get them somewhere safe. Fearing for each of their safety. He reasoned with himself that they could take care of themselves. And besides, he had bigger problems in here. Namely the large number of Sand shinobi coming out of the wood work. He had to cut down the numbers in here, else the village face the wrath of hundreds of Sand shinobi attacking from the center of the village.
He had rushed here the minute he saw Sand shinobi advancing from the opposite direction than the Sound shinobi.
The Sound shinobi were fighting to move inwards, towards the center of the village, as they were attacking from outside and coming towards the inside. Most of the Sound shinobi came from outside the gates, having come in after pushing back the Leaf shinobi from each respective gate.
But the Sand shinobi were a bigger threat. They came from inside the village, carefully moving their way towards the gate to meet with the Sound shinobi, effectively pinching the Leaf shinobi. The Leaf shinobi were literally between a rock and a hard place.
So, being the smart guy he was, he immediately charged towards where the Sand shinobi were coming from. He was close to the east gate when he noticed this, and he had cut down dozen's of Sand shinobi advancing outwards. They didn't put up much of a fight as they didn't expect resistance that far out from the gate, so he effectively cleared a path towards the source.
But as he neared the source, the chuunin exam stadium. He had heard a loud roar, a roar that was familiar, yet different at the same time.
It was the roar of a demon. The Shukaku namely. He was able to witness firsthand the transformation of the giant Raccoon, how it went from a bulky monster with human legs sticking out below it. To the full on sand raccoon demon it was now outside causing havoc and destruction.
He wanted to fight it, but the Sand shinobi were a bigger problem. With the Shukaku, it was being gunned down and fought by one of the Sannin. But with the Sand shinobi, they were being fought by shinobi with their back turned and not expecting an attack from the back. No brainer.
He took another whiff, before letting the cigarette drop on the ground. As he exhaled, he took off running, stomping down on the cigarette and effectively smothering it.
He jumped down into the stadium and prepared for a grueling battle. But before he could cut down a single person however, the battle was interrupted by another demon's cry. This one, even more malicious and powerful than the last one.
He knew what it was, and he knew it was bad news. But right now, he had a number of stunned and cowering Sand shinobi to cut down.
Yeah, being a ninja was never about the honor anyway.
XxX
"I think he should be around here! Ino please! Help me!" Sakura shouted with desperation as she desperately dug through the piles of rubble to where she saw Naruto land and the building collapse under an explosion.
Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sasuke, and Sakura were all herding the terrified civilians out of the stadium after Naruto's weird transformation. They were more or less ordered by Kakashi to take the civilians to a safe place, namely outside the stadium.
Sakura had never been more thankful to Kakashi in her life.
Right after the last civilian was evacuated from the stadium. Multiple explosions rang out from inside the stadium and around the village.
At first they were surprised by that, but the surprise soon turned into realization as Sand shinobi started exiting the stadium, engaging any unsuspecting Leaf shinobi outside. As to why they weren't being targeted, well, maybe they weren't such a threat.
Sasuke had wanted to engage the Sand shinobi in combat, but thankfully. Shikamaru managed to talk some sense into him, explaining that they were way out of their league if they tried to fight. Shikamaru ordered them to hide, telling them to refrain from fighting head on. He told them to only engage if they had a clear shot and would knock the enemy out inconspicuously.
They all hid in different places, Sasuke jumped onto the stadium wall, scanning the battles going over around the stadium. Chouji and Shikamaru hiding in an alley, waiting for any sign of danger. And Ino and her, hiding behind the pillars holding up the stadium, just outside.
At first, nothing really happened, save for the occasional Sand shinobi bypassing their hiding places. But then, a loud crash and a building being smashed later. They were watching a transformed Naruto fighting an equally, if not more, transformed Gaara.
They watched as Naruto kicked Gaara, and Gaara blocking said kick. They watched Naruto punch Gaara with so much force and speed that the force needed to catch up to his punch. They watched Gaara sail through the air and crash into three buildings. They watched as the building Gaara stopped on crumbled down on top of him, seemingly ending the fight.
They watched as Naruto was suddenly picked up by a strong gust of wind that they had trouble staying on the ground with. They watched a repeat of what happened to Gaara happen to Naruto. They watched as the boy with the black suit and kabuki makeup throw numerous explosive tags attached to kunais at the rubble Naruto was under. They watched as the explosion tore through the building, effectively destroying the foundations and letting more ruble fall on the downed Naruto.
They watched as the kabuki kid and the fan girl were picked up by arms made of sand. They watched as said arms of sand were attached to Gaara who was steadily getting bigger. They watched as two small toads; one was the one Naruto summoned during his match, and the other a newer one; threw their tongues at the giant sand Raccoons arms and wrapped around on them. They watched as both toads squeezed both arms to oblivion. And they watched as both sand arms fell on the ground picking up wind and dust. Said wind and dust flew around the area, effectively blinding them for awhile.
It was at this point that they both stopped watching. Sakura turned to Ino, who was looking unsure as to what to do now. But Sakura knew what to do; she had to get her team mate out of the rubble he was under.
So the first chance she got, when Shukaku turned and started walking away, she ran towards the building where Naruto was supposed to be, Ino right behind her, albeit unsure what they were doing.
"Sakura… I hate to say it, but under all this ruble…" Ino started, her voice quavering as she watched her friend/rival desperately dig around the fallen building. Sakura did not let up however; instead, she dug with more vigor at those words.
"No Ino! You don't know Naruto! He's tough! I know he's still alive! Will you help me damn it! Naruto needs help!" She cried. Picking up more rubble as she tore through the whole building, looking for any signs of her team mate.
Ino couldn't take it anymore. She moved behind Sakura and hugged her lithe form. She steadied her as she started hyperventilating.
"No…. Naruto, please no!" Sakura cried even more. She stopped struggling as her body slumped, Ino tightening the grasp she had on her, trying to comfort her.
With a whisper, Ino said "I-I'm sorry Sakura. He's gone."
Sakura broke down at those words, her tears cascading down her pale face. Despair etched was etched into her face if one were to look at it.
Her team mate, gone. Just like that. She had failed him. She never wanted him dead, she never truly wished for that. As much of an idiot he was. But now, now he was gone. No more goofy smiles, any more idiotic one way bantering with her other team mate. No more team 7.
Her team was now incomplete without him, and with that thought, she sobbed even more. She leaned back into Ino's embrace, sobbing and letting her heart out. Not even noticing the tremors that were taking place thanks to the Shukaku's steps.
Ino grimaced as she got an uneasy feeling because of those tremors. Some of them were getting weaker, while a few seemed to be closer, like right below them…
"Sakura, we have to move out of here right now ok?" Ino carefully made Sakura stand, taking care as to not rattle the girl even more. They then made their over the fallen building and walking towards the nearby stadium.
As they were walking however, a loud roar interrupted their walk. They both turned and were immediately washed over with a feeling of malice. Not like the one they felt in the stadium, no, that was child's play compared to this. This malicious aura permeated death and carnage, hatred and chaos. They both shuddered as they unconsciously hugged each other in a protective manner.
Suddenly, the fallen building exploded, ruble was thrown through the air and numerous concrete blocks sailed past their position. They stared wide-eyed at who was standing in the middle of the rubble. Naruto.
Gone now was his orange jacket and trench coat. He was wearing a tattered version of his black t-shirt. His pants were shredded; looking like it came out of a blender. His headband was nowhere on his forehead, making his bangs fall in front of his eyes.
As they stared shocked and wide-eyed at the standing Naruto. They watched as he seemed to grow his nails in a matter of seconds. They paled at the implications this meant. He was transforming, again.
His whisker marks became thicker and more savage. His hair seemed to take an edgier side, and his teeth were elongating. They couldn't see his eyes, but they guessed that it was now slanted.
They watched in awe at this happening before them, it wasn't like the transformation inside the stadium, this was more controlled.
As they were watching, they observed a red cloak of chakra started forming around Naruto's body, just like the one they saw in the stadium. But instead of one tail, it seemed to grow two right behind him.
Ino was nervous, she didn't know what Naruto was going to do. But Sakura didn't share her sentiments. She only had one thing going in her mind. And that was that Naruto was alive and kicking.
Sakura struggled to break free from Ino's grasp, wanting nothing more than to hug Naruto, to really feel that he was alive. But Ino kept a steel grip, narrowed eyes observing the still standing Naruto.
It was a good thing she did though. As red chakra exploded from Naruto and blew away the rest of the building rubble. Effectively making them projectiles.
She couldn't react in time, and neither could Sakura. The ruble was going too fast; they had no chance of dodging. She closed her eyes in fear and waited for it to hit them.
XxX
Cut. 30 pages. Too long. Seriously.
Anyway, this chapter was messy in my opinion, and I tried my best to cut out insignificant portions of it. But found that I only removed two scenes. It may look annoyingly rushed, or extremely frantic. But it all ties together, trust me on that.
Now, to clarify a few things.
Where is Sarutobi?
Why is Naruto afraid of the Kyuubi?
Why the hell is this chapter so crazy?
Well, to answer your questions in order.
Sarutobi is busy doing Hokage stuff that will impact the invasion thoroughly. As to him being attacked by Orochimaru, well, he'll have to corner him first.
Naruto isn't afraid of the Kyuubi. He was only intimidated by the serious look and bloodlust of the Kyuubi. Hey, if a giant fox demon looked at you in the eyes saying it wants revenge and won't let anything stop it. Won't you be intimidated too?
This chapter is crazy because people wanted longer chapters. I gave them that. Now, tell me what you think. There is a reason I don't do long chapters anymore. But meh, this is childish reasoning. I had to do a lot of writing, and I originally felt that this chapter suffered because of it. But no one's perfect. I won't bend to the whims of the masses anymore. I'll write how I want to write. Because if I write the way you people wanted me to, well, I'd be your bitch now wouldn't I? But in all seriousness, I have no responsibility in making you guys like this. My only responsibility is to this story, in me making it the best it possibly can be. So forgive me if I sound cold and aloof, but I don't really want to please anyone but myself when writing.
Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter. Whether you like it or not though, I'll keep writing because I like writing. But other people's opinions never hurt me. I want to know if it's interesting or not to you people.
As to my other stories, namely Rise before Dusk and Second chances respectively. They're both halfway done. And be on the look out for two other stories on the way. One is a one shot about Harry Potter. And the other, about Kingdom hearts.
So anyway, R & R. Tell me what you think, if this chapter was crap or if it was THE crap. C.O.Y.L out, Peace!
EDIT: Wow, not 12 hours before this chapter was released, that there's an edited version of it. Anyway, I changed the title of the chapter from Invasion act I, to Fear. Added a small amount of dialogue and sentences to sharpen the general theme of fear. From inconsequential fear, to terrifying heart stopping fear.