Chapter 25: The Final Fight
Sasuke's eyes widen in shock as he take a good look around him.
"What... The hell is this..." Temari said her eyes widen in shock.
"This... This is incredible..." Pakkun said in awe.
Surrounding the entire forest was Uzumaki Naruto's shadow clones.
"Teme... You take it easy... Leave the rest to me..." Naruto said smiling, "ALRIGHT! EVERBODY! LET'S GO!"
"This... Can't be... Naruto..." Sasuke thought staring at Naruto's back in disbelief and a hint of envy.
Sakura gritted her teeth, "This is bad... The more Naruto show his true power, the more Sasuke-kun will be envious... And if that happen... Orochimaru... Is this what you meant when you said he will seek you? He will seek you for power... I'm not going to let that happen... I will not let you take him..."
"No way... It can't be... It's... It's finally here..." Temari thought her eyes widen in fear as she watch her brother transform into his final form, "I have to get out of here."
"What... What is that..." Sasuke said his eyes wide in shock.
"Shit... This is bad..." Sakura thought sensing Shukaku's chakra.
"This... Is the monster inside of him... It's gigantic..." Naruto's jaw drop as he stare at the tailed beast in front of him, all of Naruto's clones disappear in a puff of smoke, "Shit... I used up all my chakra with the clones earlier... I don't have any left..." He thought as sand started surrounding him.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled with a hint of worry in his eyes.
"I won't let anything bad happen to Sakura-chan..." Naruto thought determination in his eyes, he bit his thumb before the sand could fully trap him, "I, Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji..."
Sasuke tried to move but his body was still weak, "Shit, my body..."
"Sabaku Kyū..." Gaara said, "To think I was forced to use this form... But this ends now..."
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" Naruto yelled inside the sand coffin.
"What the... You again... What do you want?" Gamabunta said annoyed by the fact that the kid summoned him again.
"The result of my training finally appeared! Now we're talking!" Naruto thought proudly.
Gamabunta notice the tailed beast in front of him, "That's... If I remember correctly Suna no Shukaku..."
"Gamabunta, fight with me, I'm counting on you Gama Oyabun!" Naruto said with determination in his eyes.
"Naruto... You... What in the world..." Sasuke thought confuse.
"Nope..." Gamabunta said in a bored tone.
"NANI!?" Naruto yelled in disbelief, "Why!? You said you'll make me your underling last time. A Boss is someone who's suppose to help out an underling when he's in trouble, ain't that your job? That's what the way of family is, ain't it?"
"Hai... I said I'd make you my underling... But I ain't working with you yet... You have to drink sake with me first" Gamabunta said, "Why should I do what this kid said... A big pain in the ass."
"But, but... I'm not 20 yet! I can't drink sake" Naruto yelled in protest.
Gamakichi suddenly jump on top of his head, "Now don't be sayin' that and listen to the fellow would ya! I was saved by him, Ojisan."
"Ojisan?" Naruto said bewildered.
"Why are you here? Gamakichi?" Gamabunta ask.
"I was bored so I came out to play, but never mind that, that guy tried to bully me around" Gamakichi said indignantly while pointing at Shukaku.
"Say what?" Gamabunta said angrily, "Tell you what kid, I'll recognize you as my underling and I'll show you all about the way of the family" he said unsheathing his katana, "It's payback time."
Sasuke watch in disbelief as Naruto and the gigantic toad fight Gaara's final form, he clench his hand, gritting his teeth angrily, "Naruto... Just... How strong are you... Where did you get all your power... How can you be... Stronger than me... Fuck... Fuck... FUCK!..."
Sakura stare at Sasuke watching as different emotions flash in his eyes, "Sasuke-kun..."
"Oi, Oi Boss. My friends are over there, so try to lure Gaara away from them" Naruto said pointing at the direction Gamabunta's katana was impaled in.
"Friends?" Gamabunta said narrowing his eyes.
"We have to defeat him or else we can't save Sakura-chan" Naruto said glaring at Gaara, his whiskers becoming more visible.
Gamabunta smirk, "Sakura-chan? Is she your girlfriend?"
Naruto's eyes widen, "Hell no, she's my best friend and Sasuke's girlfriend."
"This is fun..." Gaara thought smirking.
"What the..." Naruto stare in shock as Gaara emerge on top of Shukaku's head.
"Thank you for the entertainment, to show you my gratitude... I'll show you the true power of the sand demon" Gaara said while doing a hand seal.
"That kid shows the sign of insomnia... From being possessed by the Shukaku... Look at those black rings on his eyes..." Gamabunta said.
"Insomnia?"
"Those possessed by the Demon Shukaku have insomnia... They inability to have any decent sleep... Because of the terror... If they fall asleep Shukaku will torment them and use it as an opening... Because the medium suffers from lack of sleep their personality becomes unstable... But while the medium is awake, Shukaku's real powers are suppressed... If the medium fall asleep on his own... Then... All hell will break lose..."
"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu!" Gaara said before slowly losing consciousness.
Naruto's eyes widen in alarm, "Shit!"
"I'm finally out! And here's someone that I want to kill right now!" Shukaku said in glee, "Fūton..." the Tanuki took a deep breath.
"We're gonna jump..." Gamabunta warned.
"... Renkūdan..." Shukaku said pounding his stomach, a highly compressed air ball shoots from his mouth heading straight to Naruto and Gamabunta.
Gamabunta jump in time to avoid his attack, "Suiton: Teppōdama" a continues gunshot of water emits from his mouth.
Shukaku fires another air ball while Gamabunta is still in the air.
"This is bad, Gama Oyabun, we won't be able to dodge that" Naruto said panicking.
"I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM!" Shukaku said in glee believing that he killed his opponents.
"Killed who?" Gamabunta said landing a couple of feet in front of him.
"What are we going to do?" Naruto ask.
"Right now you have to wake up that medium kid in order to break the spell."
"How?"
"We'll have to get close to that Tanuki and stop him from using any attacks, we'll do it once his guard is down, I'm asking you to do exactly what I say... I'm just a frog, I don't have any fangs or claws to stop him, using the Kawarimi no Jutsu I'll transform into something that does. Although, I'm not good in that Jutsu, so you'll be the one to do the transformation, I'll lend you my chakra and it'll be a combo transformation."
Naruto did some hand seals, "Something with claws and fangs... Umm, umm..."
"Here we go" Gamabunta said heading towards Shukaku. A huge puff of smoke appear surrounding him and Naruto.
"Holy... Shit" Sakura thought her eyes widening in shock.
"A fox?" Sasuke said in wonder.
The transformed Gamabunta subdue Shukaku by biting its neck and holding him down with his claws.
"Do it now!" Gamabunta said gritting his teeth, the transformation Jutsu dispersing.
Naruto run toward Gaara's sleeping form and punch him square in the jaw, "WAKE UP!"
"Naruto... Why did you... Transform into a fox? Have you met the Kyūby?" Sakura thought biting her lower lip.
Gaara's eyes open glaring at Naruto with malice.
"Shit!" Naruto run towards Gaara ready to attack him, his eyes widen shock when his feet started sinking on the sand.
"Ojisan" Gamakichi said worried for Naruto.
Gamabunta wrap his tongue around Naruto to block the sand Gaara shot toward him.
"What kind of power does this guy have?" Gaara thought breathing heavily.
"This is bad... I don't think I have enough chakra left to battle him but it looks like he doesn't have much chakra left either" Naruto thought gritting his teeth, "Sakura-chan... "
"You're going to be killed by me..." Gaara said glaring at him.
"It's useless fighting him in his current form" Naruto close his eyes, "I'm begging you... All I need is a little bit of chakra of your chakra... Give me... Enough to protect my friends" Immense chakra started surrounding Naruto, his headband flying away and his orange jacket opening because of the force.
"DIE!l" Gaara said doing a hand seal.
"Here I go!" Naruto said running towards him.
Gaara's sand stopped him a feet away.
"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto yelled angrily head butting Gaara.
Gaara's eyes widen in shock as blood trail down his forehead.
"Did he... Win?" Sasuke said watching the sand trickle.
"Only an ordinary head blow... His fighting style is really awkward but... For him to have created his own chakra after he reached his limit is impressive..." Gamabunta thought smirking, "Gamakichi let's go home."
Gamabunta disappear along with Gamakichi in a huge puff of smoke. Gaara and Naruto glared at each other both standing on top of a tree with Gamabunta's katana between them.
"You know... You and I... We're not so different... Let's end this Gaara" Naruto said breathing heavily.
ΩΩΩ
"Oi Shikamaru, where are you going?" Asuma ask scratching the side of his head.
Shikamaru sighed looking at the clouds, "I told them I'll catch up with them... I already wasted time regaining half my chakra."
Asuma gave him a confuse look, "Catch up with who?"
"Sakura and Naruto" Shikamaru said shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly.
Asuma started to grin, "Sakura eh?"
Shikamaru shot him an annoyed look, "Troublesome..."
"So you like the pink haired Kunoichi... Who would have thought, a lazy genius like you will end up crushing on a girl like her..." Asuma said grinning amusedly at his student.
"A girl like her? What do you mean by that?" Shikamaru ask raising an eye brow.
Asuma shrug, "You know... I really can't explain it..."
Shikamaru sighed, "It doesn't matter whether I like her or not... She's already taken..." He said before walking away.
Asuma raise an eye brow, "Taken..."
ΩΩΩ
The sand surrounding Sakura slowly trickle away, before she could hit the ground or do something, a familiar arm caught her bridal style. Sasuke landed on the branch where Pakkun is, gently placing Sakura next to him.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura ask "regaining" consciousness.
Sasuke sighed in relief, "You're awake."
"Hai..." Sakura said sitting up, "Where's Naruto?"
Naruto and Gaara lay on the ground a couple of feet away from each other, both out of chakra and beaten.
"Why is he... So strong?" Gaara thought staring at Naruto, "... My existence will never be extinguish... There is no way that I would let it disappear.
Naruto gritted his teeth remembering his childhood before he met Sakura and became friends with Sasuke, he remember all the hateful words the villagers always said behind his back, some of them didn't even care whether he can hear them or not.
Naruto started crawling towards Gaara.
"To them I am simply an object from the past that they wish would disappear... Then why do I exist? Why am I alive? When I thought about this I could find no answer... But as you live you need a reason, otherwise it's the same as being dead."
Naruto gritted his teeth in pain while remembering Haku's words.
"Can you understand? Not having a dream… Not being needed by anyone… The pain of merely being alive... I realized the most painful thing… That in this world… My existence was not needed..."
Gaara started to panic, "No! Don't come any closer."
Naruto stopped crawling towards him before looking at him with tears in his pain filled eyes, "It's almost unbearable, isn't it… The pain of being all alone. I know that feeling. I've been there, in that dark and lonely place..."
Gaara's eyes widen.
"But now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up. I will stop you, even if I have to kill you!" Naruto said glaring at him.
"Why?" Gaara ask confuse, "Why do you go so far for other people's sake?"
"Because... They saved me from myself. They rescued me from the hell called loneliness. They were the first to accept me as who I am. They're my friends..."
Gaara close his eyes in realization, "Love... That's the reason he's so strong..."
"That's enough..." Sasuke said appearing beside Naruto.
"Loneliness, huh" Sakura said kneeling on the other side of Naruto.
"Sakura-chan... You're ok... I'm glad..." Naruto said smiling in relief before losing conciousness.
"So that's the reason... Gaara... Stop dwelling on it cause it won't get you anywhere... It will only lead to more pain and suffering... If you want to get rid of that emptiness in your heart, then go do something about it... Having a killing spree and pushing people away is not the right way to deal with it... If you want to fill the void then you should start letting people in... Not everyone is out to get you, you're just giving them a reason to... You have two people who fear you at the same time who wants to help you the most... Let them in... It'll be hard at first but in the end... It'll be worth it" Sakura said half smiling at him.
"Gaara!" Temari said appearing in front of him along with Kankurō, both sibling ready to protect him if the situation calls for it.
Gaara stared at Sakura before looking at the sky, "Temari, Kankurō... That's enough... It's over."
Kankurō look at him with a hint of worry in his eyes, "This is the first time I've seen Gaara beaten up..." He sighed before helping his brother up, "Alright..."
Temari look at team 7 making sure they won't follow them before leaving with her brothers.
"Shika" Sakura said sensing his chakra behind her.
Sasuke raise an eye brow, "Why are you here?"
Shikamaru shrug lazily, "I told the both of them I'll catch up with them... The hell happened to him?" He ask looking at Naruto's unconscious form.
"His uniqueness... That's what happened" Sakura said watching as a smile appear on Naruto's face.
"Maybe someday... Haruno Sakura... Uzumaki Naruto..." Gaara thought with soft smile on his face, "Temari... Kankurō... Gomenasai..."
Temari and Kankurō look at each other with wide eyes.
"It's... It's alright..." Kankurō said not sure what else to say.
I am back everyone... I know a lot of you guys are wondering why I haven't updated for so long... I swear this time I promise to update and finish this story before the year ends. I hope you guys can forgive me...
Please review and enjoy the chapter.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu - Summoning Jutsu
Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu - Feigning Sleep Technique
Fūton: Renkūdan - Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet
Suiton: Teppōdama - Water Release: Gunshot
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