Sakura: Witness
Sakura had been absolutely petrified by the semi-monstrous form emerging around Gaara and was dizzyingly relieved when the homicidal redhead ignored her entirely in favour of attacking Naruto. The blond was a tank on the battlefield: there was no way Gaara could possible prevail against her team-mate. In fact, the only reason the other jinchuuriki was still alive and unbroken was Naruto's reluctance to hurt a fellow sufferer.
Crouched in the fork of a tree near Temari, the pinkette kept her eyes on the fight. Naruto had asked her to spot for him, which meant keeping an eye on his form, mannerism and Yoko's ki. He hadn't even formed the first tail yet, but if he did she'd have to monitor the situation closely in case the second tail tried to emerge. If it did she'd have to take Temari and flee towards Kankurou; that way even if Gaara died Naruto would only be responsible for the death of one of the kazekage's children. They had since graduating been made to go over past battles and wars with an eye for strategy and tactics and all knew that valuable hostages were essential for favourable negotiations. Winning helped too, but was not always necessary. Besides, victory was, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder.
If she did have to run for her life then Sasuke would come down out of the sky to cover her retreat and calm Naruto down if possible, since the modified seal on the Uchiha heir meant that even drunk on youki-fuelled rage the blond jinchuuriki recognised the raven as Kin. Demons did not attack their kin without severe provocation.
"You," Gaara growled at Naruto, "they aren't afraid of you. They don't whisper at a distance or run away or try to kill you. Why!"
"They are my friends, Gaara-kun," Naruto replied, voice steady in spite of the luminous orange aura cloaking him, "just as I would like to be your friend. I take no pleasure in your pain. There is no need for you to fight me."
"Why?" Gaara moaned, his still-human hand rising to clutch at his head. "What do they mean to you?"
Sakura knew instinctively that Naruto's answer would be both uplifting and horribly embarrassing. The blond made no secret of the fact that there was nothing he wouldn't do for his friends.
"They are my friends and I would suffer any pain for them. There is no mission I would not take, no fortress I would not infiltrate, no person I would not seduce, no enemy I would not murder to spare them the horrors I know are out there and the depravity which lurks in the hearts of evil doers," the blond jinchuuriki said flatly. "Life without friends is not worth living. It's like being dead, except less pleasant."
Sakura blushed bright scarlet. So, so, so embarrassing. So cute, too...
"So," Gaara said with a lopsided snarl, "if I want you to take me seriously and fight me with your full power I have to threaten your friends." His mismatched eyes roved around the clearing and focussed on Sakura through the leaves camouflaging her presence. "I can do that."
Naruto however did not give the redhead the time to follow through on his threat, lunging forwards in a blur of orange to knock Gaara flying.
"Finally," the redhead growled, recovering quickly. "Sand Shuriken!"
Naruto dodged, a long orange tail of viscous chakra curling around him to knock the projectiles away. Gaara's upper half was completely transformed now, his face entirely hidden within the sandy, purple-veined features of the Ichibi. Despite the sheer unnaturalness of the younger boy's appearance Sakura was still more nervous of Naruto, whose chakra cloak had sprouted long, pointed ears which twitched and undulated like hungry flames. Beside the Konoha kunoichi Temari made a small, choked sound as a deep growl rumbled across the clearing: Naruto was not pleased. Not actually angry yet, but definitely not happy at all.
"Fight me," the Uzumaki rasped harshly, "not them."
"Come on then! I will crush you!" Gaara yelled crazily. "I'll kill your friends if you don't fight!"
Naruto leapt, hands flashing through handseals as the half-transformed jinchuuriki facing him took a deep breath.
"Mugensajin Daitoppa!" Gaara roared.
"Katon: Endan!" Naruto countered, pouring orange energy into the technique. Sakura grabbed Temari and threw them both off the branch: wind versus bijuu-enhanced fire would be very messy. The white-hot explosion overhead that slammed her into the bushes confirmed that retreat had been a very good idea indeed. A sequence of crackling flashes only drove the point home further: Naruto had likely attached his shock tags to kunai to attack Gaara's body with. Sakura had noticed that, despite its attacks being wind natured, the Ichibi's body was largely earth natured, so the heavy-duty electric tags had to hurt it.
As the smoke cleared Sakura noticed Naruto was poised behind Gaara. Seeing the red-edged tag in his hand she dived under a nearby bush and performed a D-ranked earth jutsu to soften the ground around her: that was one of the 'Uzumaki Specials', an explosive tag that could drive a fist-sized hole through reinforced concrete.
The world went white even through tightly closed eyes and as the shock-wave passed Sasuke tumbled out of the sky almost on top of her.
"Sasuke-kun?"
"Hakobugarasu was too close to the blast," the Uchiha said shortly, wincing as he examined his bruises. "We need to gain height again."
Sakura was most comfortable at ground level and her summons only heightened that preference, but Sasuke's new summons drove him to gain altitude whenever possible. Silently agreeing that, in this case, flight was probably safer than tunnelling, the pinkette followed her brunet team-mate upwards. Temari would have to manage on her own for now.
On reaching the canopy Sakura noted that Gaara had now been completely swallowed by his bijuu's form, though it appeared to be weak and misshapen now. Naruto was perched a dozen yards away from his opponent, tail flicking steadily from side to side as slit-pupilled eyes stared unblinkingly at the Ichibi jinchuuriki.
"He's gonna lose," Sasuke muttered as the two of them quietly moved further upwards, away from the battlefield. "He's just fighting for himself but Naruto's fighting for us."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed as another explosion rocked the trees, forcing them to channel more chakra in order to hang on for dear life. It was followed by a second, even larger explosion which blasted the trees they were gripping to and threw them high into the air.
Sasuke flashed through the handseals for the summoning technique as the crimson seal on his shoulder came alive, spewing deep red and feathery-looking markings across his face, neck and arms:
"Kuchiyose: Yatagarasu!"
Sakura landed with an inelegant splat on a soft, smooth surface. Steadying herself she looked around, gripping lightly with chakra to prevent further embarrassment, then stared: She was perched between the shoulderblades of a crow slightly larger than the hokage's tower.
"Sasuke?" she whispered incredulously.
"Sakura-chan, this is Yatagarasu, the largest of the crow clan," Sasuke said from his perch on the top of his summons' head, twisting around to face her as he spoke. The dark red markings had not receded, rippling across his exposed skin in a vaguely hypnotic manner. "He is the most powerful true crow I can summon, though not without effort." A negligent gesture suggested he was talking about the seal currently painted across his skin. "There are more powerful beings I can summon through my contract, but they are karasu-tengu rather than true crows and follow different rules besides tending to be physically smaller."
"It is an honour to meet you, Yatagarasu-sama," the pinkette managed to say. "Sasuke, what just happened?"
"Gaara finally achieved full form," the Uchiha said flatly. "We're staying high until Naruto beats him or needs us to intervene."
There was yet another explosion down below, this one of chakra smoke, which swiftly cleared to reveal a massive, six-tailed, stormy-grey fox towering over the trees.
"Somehow I don't think he'll need much help," Sakura said dryly.
As the dust settled a deep, grumbling voice echoed over the treetops:
"What is that, an'nai?" the fox said disdainfully, eying the sand tanuki. Sakura was too far away to discern what Naruto's reply was, but the fox's next words made it easy to divine what had been said:
"Ichibi no Tanuki, ne?" Well, I shall take payment out of his hide then: such a feast is rarely available after all."
Peeking over the edge of the wing of the crow carrying her and her Uchiha team-mate through the air, Sakura watched the fox pounce on the tanuki, teeth digging into the Ichibi's shoulder and ripping off its left arm. It did not discard the dismembered limb, instead tossing back its head and swallowing it down in three bites.
"Mmm, tastes like chicken," the fox snarked. "What's that you wanted, an'nai?" A pause in which Naruto likely repeated whatever it was he'd just said. "Call me Arashigizashi, an'nai."
Storm omen, Sakura decided, is a fairly suggestive name for a fox capable of manipulating chakra.
"Look," Sasuke said, pointing downwards. Squinting at the now one-armed Ichibi, Sakura could just make out Gaara emerging from its forehead.
"Now I'll show you the true power of the Demon of Sand," the redhead said loudly and clearly, voice echoing up to where the younger half of team seven was circling. "Thank-you for keeping me entertained for so long."
"This isn't about amusing you, Gaara," Naruto's voice rang out, "this is about proving that having friends matters."
"Spell of fake sleep!" Was all Gaara said before slumping over forwards.
"I'm out! At last! Hahahahaha!" the tanuki cackled, voice entirely different to how it had been only minutes previously.
"That is the real Ichibi," the gigantic crow cawed thoughtfully. "We need a bit more height in order to stay out of range of him."
"Renkuudan!" a massive blast of wind tore through the trees towards Arashigizashi, who nimbly bounded high into the air over the attack and lunged forwards, lightning crackling around his muzzle.
"Inazuma!" the fox roared as burning white arcs of pure energy stabbed the bijuu, piercing deep into its body as the summons collided head-on with the Ichibi. Sakura noticed from her vantage point that Naruto, no longer glowing quite so violently, had collided head-on with Gaara's slumped form. She winced: the 'Uzumaki wake-up glomp' was an experience she wouldn't wish on anyone.
Except possibly Shikamaru.
"Shit!" the Ichibi moaned. "I only just got out and I already have to go again!"
Gaara straightened up just in time to take a solid kick to the face from Naruto via a steel-reinforced geta trailing orange chakra like a comet. Sasuke made a small pained sound in sympathy. Sakura agreed: that must have hurt. Really, really hurt, she amended silently as the gigantic tanuki collapsed into sand.
"See ya, an'nai," the grey fox said casually, batting Naruto higher into the air, "Thanks for standing me lunch!" He dispelled.
"Yatagarasu!" Sasuke said quickly, "can you catch him?"
The crow swooped low, diving steeply in a heart-stopping rush before back-winging and perching lightly on top of a tree in time for Naruto to bounce onto its back and roll to a stop.
"Where's Gaara?" were the blond's first words to his team-mates on landing, eyes still orange and slitted despite the chakra cloak having dispelled.
"There!" Sakura said, pointing. The redhead was perched on a treetop a few yards away. Naruto ran lightly up the crow's back and launched himself off the bird's head, hitting Gaara in the stomach and following up with an acrobatic heel to the back of the head when the redhead jack-knifed forwards. The younger jinchuuriki lost his balance and tumbled downwards, Naruto dropping after him.
"I thank you, Yatagarasu, for your gracious assistance," Sasuke said firmly, the reddish, feathery markings finally receding. "We'll take it from here."
"You are most welcome, young one," the giant crow said amiably, letting them get off before he dispelled.
Sakura took the lead as they hurried down the trees into a small clearing where Naruto was kneeling in the grass and breathing harshly through his nose. The pinkette knew he only did that when he was trying to calm down so she hurried closer, stroking his face and running her fingers through his loosely spiked hair.
"S'okay, Naruto," she murmured in his ear as her fingers traced the thick, sensitive whiskermarks on his cheeks. "You won. We're safe now. Easy." The blond took in a deep, shaky breath and sagged a little.
"My existence will not be extinguished!" Gaara raved from across the clearing, lying limply in the dirt. "I refuse to just disappear!"
With a deep groan Naruto gently extricated himself from Sakura's nervous grip and shakily crawled towards the fallen redhead.
"D- Don't come any closer!" Gaara screeched, eyes wide and wild.
"Shh," Naruto gasped. "I know. Being alone hurts, hurts so much you would do anything to get away from the pain. That's why I offered to be your friend: to acknowledge you, so you wouldn't be alone ever again. But that doesn't mean I'll let you hurt the other people dear to my heart. If you try to harm them again I will stop you."
"Why? Why go so far for other people's sake?" Gaara whispered as Naruto reached his side.
"They love me," the blond said simply.
"Love..." Gaara rasped softly as Naruto gently patted the younger boy's hair. "So you love me, being my friend?"
"I will learn to," the older jinchuuriki promised with a faint smile.
Sakura turned sharply, moving swiftly forward as the other two Suna genin dropped from the trees near Gaara, both looking a little worse for wear. She and Sasuke placed themselves flanking Naruto, weapons at the ready.
"Taicho?" Sasuke inquired, eyes fixed on Gaara's siblings.
"Enough," Gaara rasped quietly, closing his eyes. "It's over."
"Konoha has your sensei in custody," Naruto said, levering himself to his feet. "Will you be joining him without a fight or will you try to run?"
"Try?" Kankuro repeated belligerently.
"Sakura and Sasuke are still fresh. You two are not," Naruto went on calmly, raising blue but still vertically slit eyes to stare at the Suna duo. "Gaara has been through enough that I do not want to have to beat up his siblings in front of him, but I will if I must."
Sakura did not smile at the emotional blackmail, much as she would have liked to.
"Temari, Kankuro, I'm sorry," Gaara whispered, closing his eyes. "Please?"
Temari hesitated. "An exchange," she decided firmly. "We'll come quietly and stay until the treaty is re-established or other arrangements are made, so long as Baki-sensei is released and can return to Suna immediately."
"Since I was the one to seal him I can actually negotiate that," Naruto said, huffing softly in amusement. "C'mere and let me seal you both. I won't put anything on Gaara: call it a good faith gesture."
Once sealed –with a less confining technique than Naruto had used on the Suna jounin– the two siblings picked up their younger brother and the six genin set off back towards Konoha.
Notes
Mugensajin Daitoppa = infinite sand cloud great breakthrough; special bijuu ability
Hakobugarasu = 'lucky crow' or 'transport crow', depending on your interpretation of the kanji
Yatagarasu = eight-span crow; considered a messanger of the divine
Renkuudan = drilling air bullet; offensive wind technique
Inazuma = lightning bolt; term suggests a connection to Inari, patron of foxes
A/N: Naruto defeats Gaara again and we get to see a little of how Sasuke's seal has been changed. All from Sakura's point of view, since she's the one who pays most attention. Most of Gaara's dialogue is taken from the Online Manga Reader website, as was most of the dialogue in the last chapter. I love that website!