"The Greatest Idea Ever"
By Quick-n-Popular
Disclaimer: "Naruto" and all of its characters are not my property.
A/N: Apologies for the long absence. This is an extremely short chapter as I am trying to get my muse working again, so further apologies in advance. Now on with the show.
Chapter Twelve: A Farewell to Innocence, Part Three
The clamor over Naruto and Neji's fight was loud and abundant before the start of the next match. The village misfit, the unspoken jinchuriki, had beaten someone of clan status. Not only that, his methods, and the jutsus he used; had shocked those who recognized the two of them.
One man in particular was intrigued.
'That blond brat has real Uzumaki genes in him.' Orochimaru thought to himself, hiding in his disguise. 'I might have to include him among those I plan to harvest once this invasion is over with.'
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, having watched his new student's victory from the stands with satisfaction, was taking a breather outside and he soon looked astounded when he suddenly recognized someone in the crowd at the betting booths. In a disguise of her own but not as well thought out, Jiraiya walked toward his fellow Sannin as she was eagerly counting her winnings.
"Hime? You've come back to Konoha?"
Tsunade's head snapped up and she grunted in exasperation, "No I haven't and don't tell Sensei that I am here, you pervert."
Jiraiya smirked, "What makes you think he doesn't already know?"
Tsunade decided to change the subject, hoping to end their conversation and to get back to the arena.
"I noticed that jutsu you created being used by that Uzumkai boy. Are youTRYINGto take on another student?"
Jiraiya nodded, "The kid's got potential."
Tsunade smirked, "Well, he's definitely good enough for me to make some quick cash. Tell him to keep it up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see how the rest of my bets are holding out."
Jiraiya watched her leave and thought for a moment of trying to rope her in on dealing with the potential attack that might be happening in the village. However, knowing her disposition, he knew she would probably leave the village once the fighting happened or even sooner should he, or their sensei, try to corner her. Like it or not, it'd be best to leave Tsunade to her own methods and just do what they can with those they have already.
With that in mind, Jiraiya started heading back to the arena to check for any sleeper agents from Suna or Oto.
The match that followed Naruto and Neji's was Sakura vs Shino Aburame. While not as heated or emotionally driven as the previous bout, there was plenty of spectator intrigue as it was another case of a non-clan fighter versus one of clan status. However, it didn't last nearly as long as its predecessor. Sakura had made a foolish attempt to start the match by making a charge at the boy and ended up colliding with his bug clone. The insects soon drained her of her chakra to the point she passed out; thus making Shino the winner.
The next match had Kiba Inuzuka being pitted against Ino Yamanaka. This too was a rather short fight as Ino was quicker than Kiba to act and possessed him with her clan jutsu. Having him place his kunai to his throat ended the match in her favor.
Soon, after a smug Ino left the arena and a scowling Kiba exited, the fourth match was announced.
Tenten walked down to the arena floor with her heartbeat echoing in her ears as she met with Gaara. The boy met her gaze with a hard stare that unnerved her slightly but she swallowed her nervousness and recalled all the methods Anko had drilled into her to help her win this match.
Genma looked between the two before calling the start of the match. As soon as he lept aside, Tenten flung a kunai at the redheaded boy who swatted it away with sand that came out of his gourd.
Tenten (along with her temporary instructor, Anko) figured that the boy had a control over the sand in his gourd and willed it to a frightening degree. Knowing this, Tenten started the next phase of hers and Anko's plan. Tenten grabbed one of her scrolls flung it up in the air which then unsealed a series of kunai with explosive tags attached to them. They landed in a circle around Gaara who eyed them suspiciously before Tenten triggered them causing a series of small explosions.
The audience waited with suspense along with Tenten and when the dust settled it showed to the amazement of everyone that the boy was unharmed. However, Tenten noticed that it seemed Gaara's face, which seemed to have sand falling off in places.
'This looks promising. It looks like he uses sand as a type of armor as well. But it doesn't look unbreakable. That's good.' Tenten thought to herself in relief.
Gaara, meanwhile, was looking at Tenten with boredom and he raised his hand and sent a tendril of sand rushing towards her. Tenten immediately used the substitution jutsu with the kunai she had used earlier and got out of harms way. From there she unsealed another kunai with an explosive tag and flung it near the back of the red haired boy's head before triggering the tag. Gaara was then jolted forward by the blast.
Up in the stands, watching, Kankuro and Temari were watching anxiously. While they didn't believe this girl could at all actually hurt their brother; seeing the usual way she attacked him and that Gaara was not immediately ending this match (and the girl's life) had them troubled.
Naruto was also holding his breath. He could now see what had Tenten so worried about this opponent. Yet his gut told him that what they were seeing was only scratching the surface.
Dodging another wave of sand by using a shuriken she had used earlier for substitution, Tenten was starting to lose steam with the constant dodging. Gaara was starting to use his sand to knock away any projectiles with tags attached to them, so the Weapons Enthusiast was trying to think of another alternative. Anko had suggested poison being an option but it wasn't something Tenten's father carried in their store and she wasn't able to find a place to get some within the village before her match. She knew she was running out of options.
However, before anything could be attempted, the entire arena erupted in fighting as loud explosions erupted all around.
Tenten, halting by surprise as she recognized the genjutsu that came from feathers floating down, soon found her ankle grasped by Gaara's sand. Remembering the fates of the two Oto Genin, Tenten struggled in getting her feet free as the sand was crawling up her legs.
Naruto, who had been abruptly awoken from the genjutsu, looked around in a stupor at what was happening around him. He was shaken from his delirium when he heard Tenten's cry of pain and saw Gaara encasing her up to her waist in sand.
Using the body flicker technique Tenten had taught him, he moved to the arena floor and tackled Tenten to the side, breaking her from the sand mold she was in.
Unsheathing his sword and assisting the bun-haired girl back on to her feet, the two of them had found that Gaara was not alone facing them as his siblings and a man who had half of his face covered.
'Probably the bastards' sensei' Naruto thought to himself. Hearing Tenten grunt beside him, he looked and saw that her leg was now at an odd angle.
"Tenten, how bad is it?"
Tenten squinted as she tried to correct her battle stance, "He might have broken something. But nothing special."
Naruto nodded. Thinking on what the hell he should be doing as it was obvious that Konoha was under some sort of attack and that these guys were in support of it.
Before he could ponder their situation any further, The Sand trio's Sensei gave the three of them orders.
"Proceed with the plan, Gaara. The two of you protect him like planned, while I handle any distractions."
Gaara didn't seem to hear their sensei as he was gazing still at Naruto and Tenten with a sense of bloodlust.
Naruto, felt within him something stirring in response to that look. Two figures landed next to Naruto and Tenten, which revealed Maito Gai and Rock Lee.
"Allow me to assist you in your Youthfulness, Naruto-kun."
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was with his teacher the Sandaime as Orochimaru, having torn off his disguise, the face of the recently deceased Kazekage; faced them with with a singular coffin rising out of the ground.
"Well, Jiriaya, Sensei, seeing as this is a historic reunion, let's invite someoneelse... historic to the table. I'm sure you'll remember him, Jiriaya."
The coffin opened and a tall long haired man emerged who had a breathing mask on his face and held a kusarigama, a sickle attached with a chain and a weight at the end.
"Hanzo…" Jiraiya breathed in a whisper. Sarutobi, dressed in his shinobi gear with his staff Enma, also looked perturbed by this development.
Hanzo of the Salamander looked around his surroundings before grunting, "I recognize you," He turned his head to the side peering at Orochimaru behind him, "And you. The two of you were a couple of the whelps who I recognized and let go. Why bring me here?"
Orochimaru chuckled, "Why, so you can have a bit of fun, of course." He then thrust a kunai with a tag into the back of the head of Hanzo before it was swallowed up. Hanzo soon went rigid before settling into a stance with his weapon.
"While you play catch up with our old adversary, Jiraiya, Sensei and I will get reacquainted as well..."
While Gai was off in a fight with Baki, the Kazekage's Children's Sensei; Naruto, Tenten, and Rock Lee were facing off against the Sand Siblings with the tension mounting high. Gaara in particular was clutching his head making ominous mutterings while giving murderous glances at Naruto and Tenten.
"Gaara, We need to head to the designated area." Kankuro whispered to his younger brother.
Gaara ignored his brother's urging and sent a surge of sand from his gourd at the rookie Konoha swordsman and the injured kunoichi, while ignoring Rock Lee.
Temari took that as her cue and she launched into a wind jutsu against the three.
Naruto, immediately, scooped up Tenten and dodged both the jutsu and the sand while Tenten threw a shuriken while forming the handsigns for the kage-shiuriken no jutsu that Anko had taught her among her other teachings. The shuriken multiplied into fifty shuriken.
Gaara blocked some with a sand barrier while his sister knocked the others away with another wind jutsu. Gaara's control over himself was slipping as he clutched his head as the sand was soon wrapping around his arms and legs turning into a grotesque image.
"Shit! It's starting too soon! Temari, what should we-" Kankuro was interrupted when Lee delivered a roundhouse kick at the boy causing him to block him.
Temari was about to assist her younger brother when Gaara made a beastly gutteral roar Sand exploded from his gourd shooting sand projectiles in every direction. Then with a crazed look he chased after Naruto who was still carrying Tenten in his arms.
"Naruto, we need to get far from here. There's something incredibly wrong about that guy."
Naruto nodded, knowing that something inside him, probably the Kyuubi, felt something about the boy as well. Thus the two of them ran out of the arena with Gaara hot on their trail.
Jiraiya dodged the weighted chain headed his way as Hanzo made his mindless pursuit of him, all the while Jiraiya watched anxiously as his Sensei fought with his attacker, his ex-student, Orochimaru. Turning back to his opponent he formed a grew his hair into sharp spikes and then sent hundred of needles from that hair at his foe but Hanzo dodged to the side and then threw the blade of his sickle at Jiraiya. Jiraiya, knowing the poisonous element of that weapon, had his hair swallow him up and blocked the weapon.
'How do we get out off this?' Jiraiya thought to himself.
Naruto was of similar thoughts as a tentacle of sand snaked its way around his feet causing him to fall down with Tenten coming tumbling out of his grasp. Flipping over, he drew his sword and channeled chakra through it and with a burning slice freed himself. Gaara, then, came crashing through the trees more than four times his size, encased in sand.
"UZUMAKI!"
Tenten paled as she saw what he was slowly becoming. But she wasn't granted the luxury of thinking on it any further as Gaara was increasing his size and threatened to crush her underfoot. Forming the hand signs for the body flicker technique she barely escaped but soon found a wind jutsu slamming into her and sending her far away from Naruto and Gaara. When she came to a skidding stop, Temari revealed herself breathing hard but smirking.
"While the boys play, I'll get my little payback on you, you damn Konoha Nin."
Tenten huffed, "Bitter much? Weren't you the one who got the last word in? Well, whatever, I have as just enough reason to make you feel some pain as well. Konoha is not going to lose today."
Meanwhile, Naruto while worried about what happened to Tenten was forced to deal with Gaara suddenly going into a slumber and his sand monstrosity suddenly coming to life.
"Finally! I'm free!"
The towering sand monster was in the shape of a one tailed tanuki. It's eyes soon set on the village of Konoha and made its lumbering direction there. Naruto dumbfounded by what he was seeing soon snapped out of his stupor and thought desperately about what he could use. At first he thought of the toads but knowing that he wasn't able to summon anything larger than Gamakichi Knew it wouldn't help in this situation.
Then what could her do? What were his options? Konoha, his friends, his senseis, ALL of them were in danger. Even Tenten….
'Tenten..' Naruto thought desperately.
Suddenly, a deep sinister voice echoed throughout his mind.
"Weak, pathetic, human...What can you hope to do without the assistance of those better than you…"
Naruto knew, instinctually, that voice. Though this was the first time it was given such loud volume.
'The Kyuubi? If you're talking then now is the perfect time.'
'Oh? Perfect time for what, fool?' The Kyuubi sneered.
'To have you give me what you owe. Give me some of your strength, bastard.'
Naruto could feel the Kyuubi bare its' fangs deep inside him.
'Why would I do that, human?'
'Because, for better for worse, we need each other you stupid fox.'
The Kyuubi was quiet but after some time and as Gaara's transformed form was gaining towards its goal, it seemed to make a decision.
'Just this once….'
Naruto, feeling the demonic chakra flow within him, increased his speed till he gained upon the monster. Then feeding the Kyuubi's chakra, along with his own, into his sword he made a large swipe of his blade causing a tidal wave of flame cut through the entire body of theTanuki sand being. The body being sliced diagonally across fell sideways with the monster screaming.
"What?!"
Naruto didn't stop there as he did many more flame slashes until the body was reduced to Gaara's slumbering form. As the sand tried desperately to gather and reform itself, Naruto punched Gaara across the face causing the boy to awaken and for the creature to scream in anguish as it was silenced.
Tenten grimaced as she nursed the bleeding gash across her cheek. Temari in the meantime was looking smug as she readied another wind jutsu. Suddenly, however, she turned away from Tenten and her demeanor changed from smug to panic as she yelled, "Gaara!" and took off, leaving Tenten recoiling from the tension of their one-sided fight.
Struggling to get to her feet, despite the injury to her left one, Tenten gave a small smile of relief.
Naruto readied his sword as Gaara backed off wearily,
"Why?"
Naruto halted from moving forward as he cocked his head to the side confusingly. "Why, what?"
Gaara grit his teeth, "Why are you denying me my existence!?"
Naruto sighed, "That should be obvious. You're trying to harm my home and the people I care about. Besides…"
Gaara slumped down to the ground out of exhaustion, but looked inquiringly at Naruto. "Why….what?"
Naruto sighed, "I could have become like you, Gaara. I NEEDED to stop you. To Stop you from yourself."
Gaara looked bewildered, "Why?"
Suddenly Temari burst in on the scene and put herself between Gaara and Naruto. "Gaara!"
"Becasue someone might feel sad losing you to what you might be becoming." Naruto answered.
The fighting had stopped at the beginning of the morning with most of the forces of the Suna and Oto siege being completely annihilated. Stragglers fled and numerous had been captured. While most of Konoha's forces had managed to survive the greatest loss was that of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen who died in his fight against Orochimaru.
The funeral service happened in the morning amidst the heavy rainfall, which seemed to represent everyone's feeling. Konohamaru wept sadly into a relative's side while everyone else looked at the flowered mound in quiet solitude.
Naruto was silent but inside was deep in grief. All the memories of his Jiji taking him to Ichiraku's and the encouragement from the man when he decided to be come a shinobi for the village and finally to their discussions about his parents recently, made the loss deeper.
Soon, a calloused yet soft hand wrapped around his and gave a gentle squeeze.
To be continued….
A/N II: My writer's blocks and back and forth indecisiveness lead to this being what size it is and this probably would have done better being the ending to the previous chapter. Jiriaya's fight with Hanzo, I wasn't sure where to go with it as you can probably tell. However, I do believe I will do better going forward. So please be patient or continue being patient with me as I do my best to give you all a good story.
Thank you again for reading.
Q-n-P