Chapter 24: The Battle Begin!
Sakura's back hit the tree behind her with Gaara's claw trapping her.
"Gomen... Naruto, Sasuke-kun... I can't disobey my Otou-san..." Sakura thought closing her eyes in shame.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as he watch the only female member of team 7 'lose' consciousness.
Gaara tightened his claw around Sakura intending to hurt her, unknown to him Sakura's body is immune to pain since she did train with the Akatsuki since she was a child.
"What's the matter? Weren't you gonna retreat?" Gaara ask grinning at him maliciously.
"Sakura..." Sasuke said trying to stand but failed to.
Gaara look at the worried look on Naruto's face "What do they mean to you?"
"T-they are my best friends, leave them alone or else, I'll kick your ass!" Naruto threaten glaring at him.
Gaara gritted his teeth, tightening the claw wrap around Sakura, Sakura didn't even flinch, good thing Gaara didn't notice, Naruto and Pakkun's eyes widen in alarm.
"Now what? Aren't you gonna kick my ass?" Gaara ask mockingly.
"Bring it on" Naruto said glaring at him before running towards him intending to punch him but Gaara's sand block him without effort, sending him flying next to Sasuke on the branch he was lying on.
"He's not acting like himself... Did... Something happen between the two... It doesn't matter... I... We have to save Sakura...." Sasuke thought gritting his teeth while trying to stand up again this time successfully.
"Teme..." Naruto said amaze that he could stand.
"We... Have to save her... No... Matter... What..." Sasuke said breathing heavily.
"Hai..." Naruto said grinning at him before looking at Gaara with a serious look on his face "But how?... I know... I've got no other choice... Although it'll drain me of so much... I must summon Gama Oyabun..."
Sasuke watch as his best friend slam his palm on the branch "What the?...."
Naruto's eyes widen, instead of a gigantic frog a small frog appear.
"What the...? It's only a kid, gimme snacks if you wanna ask a favor! Otherwise, I won't play with you" the frog demanded.
"Well, you know what? I hate you frogs altogether!" Naruto yelled at the frog.
"What's that? Don't you dare take this amphibian for a fool" The frog yelled back.
"Matte... I don't have time to play with you, you little frog..." Naruto said shaking his head "Kuso... Why... After all the training I went through it's no use..."
"Friends...? You make me laugh... I fight for my sake only..." Gaara thought glaring at Sasuke and Naruto.
"He... Transformed even further...." Naruto thought watching as Gaara transform.
"She won't be release from the sand unless you beat me, not only that it'll get tighter and tighter as time passes and eventually kill her..." Gaara said grinning at them.
"At this rate even I will... He's getting closer to the fully transformed form... Although Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu hasn't been activated yet..." Temari thought worried for her own safety.
"Those eyes...." Naruto thought biting his lower lip.
"SUNA SHURIKEN!" Gaara yelled sending countless sand shurikens towards them.
Naruto picked up Gamabunta before jumping away from the shurikens.
"Boy you're weak... Gamakichi is my name by the way..." Gamakichi said.
"Shuddup! Kuso... Why you..." Naruto said gritting his teeth.
"But what is he?"
Naruto stare at Gaara's partial form "He's the same as me... What a sad eyes... A very lonely eyes...." He remember looking at the mirror when he was still a child, he remember looking at the same eyes as Gaara, "Him... And a monster... Just like me... I... Loathed every one... I couldn't understand who I was or why I existed as a hated being...."
"Because you... Are the nine-tailed fox that destroyed the village, all your life, you've been fool by everyone..." Mizuki said glaring at him.
"Since I learned the nine-tails exists within me the villagers seemed to look at me with eyes colder than ever... It was so painful... But..."
"Dobe... Don't mind them... It doesn't matter what they think or what they know... As long as you know that your doing anything wrong... To heck with them..." Sasuke said smirking at him.
"Naruto, are you even chewing your food?" Sakura ask staring at him as he eat his precious ramen.
"Naruto... It's been a while let's go have ramen..." Iruka said smiling at him.
"Naruto you will die if you only eat ramen and oshiruko... You're a ninja eat more vegetables, here you go" Kakashi said giving him a basket full of vegetables.
"Now I have people that acknowledge me... That's why... I can be unconcerned about being possessed or being treated coldly by the villagers... I had no idea how happy that would make me... I felt blessed from the bottom of my heart... I am allowed to be here... Knowing that I do exist, make me feel relieved... That's why... It pains me to think about how it used to be... That pain is unusual, it's pitch black hell... If... If only I were still alone... For this reason I can sympathize, I don't know what happened... But he's been suffering from loneliness... Not knowing how it's like to be relieved... He can trust only himself... He continues fighting in hell... Even till this day... I have people that acknowledge me compared with him... I am probably a weakling, living in a happy, tension-free world... Do I really have a chance against someone like him...?"
"What's wrong? Are you afraid of me? To fight yourself or to fight for others... Just love yourself, fight only for your sake, these define the strongest. C'mon fight me! Show your powers like the time you defeated the Hyūga, I will crush those powers..." Gaara yelled raising his claw "Well? C'mon. I'll kill the girl if you don't fight me..."
"Sakura-chan what the fuck happened to you, you could have defeated him in a blink of an eye but... Why didn't you? You could free yourself from his claw instead of just letting yourself be trap like that...." Naruto thought gritting his teeth.
"Well? If your not going to attack then I will... Fūton: Mugen Sajin — Daitoppa" he inhales air with the mouths on his face and all over his body, and blows it out along with a chakra-coated sand cloud.
"Nagato..." Konan said walking towards her husband.
"Nani?" Nagato ask looking at his wife.
"Why did you do it?" Konan ask standing in front of him.
"Do what?"
"Why did you forbid Sakura in helping her teammates?"
"Sigh... Like I told her... She is not a Konoha Kunoichi... And she's getting too attach with her team... A team consist of the Kyūby vessel, Itachi's Otōto, and the copy nin... The three of them are capable of destroying an Akatsuki member in the future..."
"Is that really the only reason?"
"I'm... I'm... Afraid that she'll choose to stay in Konoha instead of going back to Ame... To us..."
Konan's eyes soften ask her husband's words, she walk towards his and hug him from behind, "You know that will never happen... She loves us, sure she form a bond in Konoha and maybe your right she will want to stay in Konoha... But Ame would forever be her home and she knows that... But Nagato... You can't stop her from growing up and living her life like how she wants to... All you can do is support her in what she want... The Akatsuki is her family... But so is Team 7..."
"KONOHAGAKURE HIDDEN SECRET TAIJUTSU TECHNIQUE! LEARNED IT STRAIGHT FROM KONOHA'S COPY NINJA, HATAKE KAKASHI! ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" Naruto yelled sticking the kunai with an explosive tag wrap it in Gaara's butt.
"Seriously..." Sasuke, Temari, Gamakichi, and Pakkun thought sweat dropping.
"Hn... Who knew Naruto actually does have a brain" Sakura though with a barely there smirk on her face.
"Boom!" Naruto murmur with a smug smirk on his face while in mid-air.
The Kunai stuck on Gaara's butt exploded, before Naruto could crash into the tree, Sasuke shielded him.
"That was one heck of a Jutsu and that Sasuke shielding him even in his current state..." Pakkun thought impress.
Temari's eyes widen "Ga-Gaara" she thought with a hint of worry in her eyes.
"T-Teme, are you alright?" Naruto ask helping his best friend stand.
"Finally decided to go back to your normal self? Even after all that you only manage one blow... Shape up will you..." Sasuke said breathing heavily "I can't save you this time like I did in the wave country, Dobe..."
"Shuddap Teme" Naruto said pouting.
"Seems like I underestimated him a little..." Gaara thought "Oh well, I'll just end it here"
"Oi, Dobe..." Sasuke said without looking at Naruto "Sakura... You have to save her no matter what... I know you can save her... Once you've got her... Carry her... And run... As fast as you can... As far as you can... Don't ever look back or hesitate... I'll hold him off..."
"Teme..." Naruto thought looking at his best friend's eyes, seeing different emotions flashing in his usually emotionless eyes "You..."
"Never again... I already lost everything once before... I don't ever want to watch those I lo... Dear to me die before my eyes again..."
"You... You... Teme... You lo-" Naruto's thought was cut off by Sasuke.
"Dobe, are you listening to me?" Sasuke ask annoyed.
"Hai... I get it now actually... I thought he was strong cause he survived the feeling of loneliness, fighting only for himself... But I was wrong... His strength isn't real, strength doesn't come from fighting alone... Real strength is not what you have when fighting for only yourself... When you have someone you want to protect... Only then can you become truly strong..." Naruto said with a serious look on his face while doing a hand seal.
"Dobe..." Sasuke said feeling the immense chakra coming off Naruto "I can't believe it, the amount of chakra he's gathering... Is... Is this really... Naruto!?"
"I WILL PROTECT THEM NO MATTER WHAT!" Naruto yelled a great amount of chakra gathering around him.
Well that's it...
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