One morning, the sun is shining in my room where I'm sleeping in my bed.

Me: Ahh, this is perfect, summer vacation, I get sleep in, no homework. I can relax without having to worry about any-

(Two feet suddenly kick me out of bed)

Naruto and Korra: WHAT ARE YOU DOING SLEEPING IN! HURRY UP AND WRITE ALREADY!

Ugh. Anyway, I'm finally back, guys. Done with college for the moment, so this frees me up for more updates! I actually meant to get this done before May ended, but... haha, well, you see... man this chapter put me to work. -_- Anyway, after a little bit of debating with myself, I decided to split this up into two parts like I did before. I hope it turned out ok. I may have overextended things. Enjoy!

"Normal speak"

Normal thought

"Biju/Spirit/Summon talk"

"Jutsu"

Biju/Spirit thought

Disclaimer: Still applies

Chapter 9: Clash of Beasts, Part One

Naga was racing through the forest as fast as she could with Korra riding. They kept passing tree after tree with their goal nowhere in sight, but they kept moving.

Naruto. You better be alright when I get there. Korra thought as she rode on.

She thought things couldn't get any better when she saw Naruto win his first match. She couldn't wait to see him prevail against the other competitors in the finals. However, things took a turn for strange when Sasuke didn't show up for his match with Gaara. Then it went on to Kankuro forfeiting to Shino, and then to Shikamaru vs. Temari in which Shikamaru forfeited in the end. Korra could never really understand that guy and his lack of motivation. After the complaints from the crowd, the last Uchiha finally made it to the stadium with Kakashi, and not long after, his fight with Gaara began.

Now, Korra never liked Sasuke very much from hearing how he always used to put Naruto down, but she had to admit he was really good. No wonder Naruto worked so hard to beat him. However, Gaara was really a force to be reckoned with because of that sand of his and Korra wondered if he learned to be one heck of a sandbender. Things got more complicated as the Sand ninja surrounded himself in a ball of sand, and when Sasuke managed to strike with a serious injury, …all hell broke loose.

The young Avatar watched as petals were falling around the area and the audience around her fell asleep. She then noticed that Kiba and Hinata were performing a hand seal, as if to dispel whatever effect was happening.

Not long after that, random shinobi began to attack. Hinata and Kiba got into positions to defend the people and joined their sensei, while Korra and Katara were immediately escorted by White Lotus sentries. While that was going on, Korra noticed as Gaara was being taken away by his teammates with Sasuke following them. She then noticed Naruto and Sakura talking with their sensei along with Shikamaru and then heading out, seemingly leaving the area in the same direction as Sasuke.

Since the fighting was sudden, the White Lotus sentries were wary of all of their surroundings and couldn't watch Korra the whole time. Taking advantage of this slip-up, the water tribe girl waited until they were distracted enough to leave and find her way outside. Naruto's lessons on sneaking away certainly worked wonders. Her faithful polar bear dog was right out there since she wasn't allowed inside. She then had her furry companion track Naruto's scent and head in that direction.

Part of her felt bad about leaving Katara in the midst of the chaos, but she knew she was a waterbending master and could take care of herself. Her main concern right now was finding Naruto before he got to Gaara. It's not that she didn't trust in her friend's capabilities – far from it – it was Gaara that had her worried. Something just wasn't normal about that guy. If whatever was roaring inside of that sphere he made in Sasuke's fight was any indication, this Sand ninja was a lot more dangerous than what Korra had already seen. She wasn't sure what help she could be. Even after airbending on the night of Mizuki's betrayal, she hadn't been able to do it again since and she didn't know why.

Korra pushed these thoughts to the side as she kept going.

"Naga, let's speed up a little bit," Korra said to her polar bear dog before said beast responded with a bark and increased her speed.

Right now, the odds for Team 7 weren't looking good.

After a long time leaping through the trees of the forest, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi's dog summon, Pakkun, managed to make it over to Sasuke and Gaara's battle. What they saw shocked them greatly.

Gaara seemed to be covered by larger layers of sand. Those layers took the form of a monstrous-looking hand, a spikey tail, and half a face of a beast.

Sasuke was lying on a branch near his teammates. He had strange black marks covering his body and appeared to be in horrible pain.

Sakura and Pakkun made their way over to him while Naruto kept an eye on Gaara.

"How is he, Sakura?" Naruto asked, hesitant to turn his eyes away from Gaara for even a second.

"His whole body seems to be in a lot of pain. He must have used up a lot of chakra, but I think he'll be alright," replied Sakura, trying to keep herself from panicking.

At least I hope so. She thought. That curse mark is causing all of this. Please pull through Sasuke.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he kept his focus on the enemy in front of him. Said enemy gave a maniacal smile.

"So you've come, Uzumaki," Gaara said, "Are you here to fight? To prove the value of your existence against mine?"

Man. What the hell is with this guy? Naruto thought. He's become more of a monster! I'm not even sure…if I could win.

"If you refuse to fight," Gaara said, as if sensing the blonde ninja's unease, before leaping past him, "THEN DON'T STAND BETWEEN ME AND MY PREY!"

Naruto immediately brought himself out of his thoughts and yelled back to his teammates.

"Sakura! Sasuke!"

"DIE, SASUKE UCHIHA!" Gaara roared got closer to his target.

As the Sand jinchuuriki came forward, however, Sakura got in front of Sasuke and executed hand seals for her jutsu.

"Water Style: Gunshot!"

The pink-haired genin shot a condensed ball of water out of her mouth and straight at the incoming Gaara.

As the jutsu made contact, though it wasn't enough to stop Gaara, the water from the attack clung to the sand and slowed him down. This was enough so that Naruto could catch up to Gaara and kick him away from his teammates.

"Naruto! We need to stay focused here," Sakura lectured to her teammate who was breathing heavily.

"Right. Sorry about that," Naruto replied apologetically.

She's right. I can't let my fears get the best of me. He thought as he looked at where Gaara landed.

Gaara, meanwhile, held his normal hand to head as his head started hurting. He glared at the sight of Naruto and Sakura standing protectively in front of his teammate. It reminded him too much of someone who told him what love was. Someone who betrayed him.

Meanwhile, Sasuke began to struggle to get up. He didn't want anyone else dealing with such a monster.

"Why (cough) did you…come here?" he said angrily, "This…is my fight!"

Naruto gained a tick mark on his head as he did not take kindly to Sasuke's words.

"Are you outta you mind!?" Naruto yelled at his teammate comically, "You're already beat up as it is!"

"Just stay out of it," said teammate insisted as he continued to struggle before Sakura firmly restrained him.

"He's right, Sasuke. You've already pushed yourself too far. You shouldn't be fighting now," she pleaded.

The last Uchiha was still irritated about having to sit out on this. His own fight with Gaara proved to be very taxing to his body and chakra reserves, and he didn't think Sakura or Naruto could do much against him. Plus, if he couldn't take him on, what chance does he have against Itachi?

"Sasuke," Naruto said, facing Gaara, "Just leave this to us. You've done all you could."

Sasuke just looked over at his rival in surprise as the blonde ninja bit his thumb in preparation for a jutsu.

There's only one way to deal with this guy. He thought. It's time to bring out the Chief Toad!

After performing some hand signs, Naruto placed his hand with the bit thumb on one of the branches.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke followed after that, and the mighty creature that came out of it… was just a small orange toad with a blue jacket.

"What? Whaddya want, kid?" the small amphibian said rudely, "Ya better have snacks for me 'cause I ain't doing anything if ya don't."

"ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!?" Naruto screamed in frustration. This is all I can do!?

Well, we're screwed. Was the only thing Sakura could think after seeing her teammate's failed attempt.

"I guess this is a bad time to mention that I'm not the fighting type either," said Pakkun deciding to add in.

"OH YEAH, THAT REALLY HELPS!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled in frustration. Even Sasuke felt his eye twitch in annoyance at the situation.

A yell brought the bickering to an end as everyone realized that Gaara was charging at them again. Naruto quickly grabbed the orange toad summon and jumped out of danger, while Sakura grabbed Sasuke as she and Pakkun followed suit. They managed to get away as Gaara brought down his monstrous hand, breaking the branch they were on previously.

"Boy, that was a close one," the little toad spoke once everyone was a safe distance away, "So who's that freak of nature?"

Naruto largely ignored the orange toad to focus on the enemy in front of him. Ok. He thought. So that didn't go well. So what? We can still find a way to beat'im, right?

Sakura was also struggling with her thoughts as she guarded Sasuke with Pakkun. Our mission was to get to Sasuke-kun to keep him from Gaara, but now we're stuck. With that strength Gaara has, it's obvious that we should run, but he'll just hunt us down and we won't get very far. Our only option is to fight, but what chance do we have?

"All this effort is worthless," Gaara said which brought the Leaf shinobi and kunoichi out of their thoughts.

"If you keep trying to keep your so-called friends safe, you'll never advance past this level. Only by loving yourself and only yourself can you truly be strong," Gaara continued directing his attention at Naruto, "Quit worrying about your friends, Uzumaki. Embrace the power of hatred. Show that strength to me like before! Make me feel alive!"

The partially transformed jinchuuriki cackled in excitement as more sand started to cover his body. Soon, his began to appear more like a beast, with his right hand and face matching his monster side.

"What does he mean by that?" Sakura muttered to herself after taking note of the transformation.

Naruto, however, knew exactly what his opponent was referring to.

He's talking about the Fox's chakra. But… I can't use that too often right? And Sakura-chan and Sasuke are right there. Naruto thought as he remembered his life before met his friends… before he met Korra.

Having people like Korra-chan and everyone else in my life… they all treated like I mattered and made me so happy to be alive. This guy. He's been alone just like I was and he's still alone and I could've ended up just like that. He continued to think while looking at his hand. But he's so much stronger. Was he right? Should I only fight for myself to be stronger?

"Naruto," Sakura called from next to him.

Naruto turned to listen to his pink-haired teammate.

"I don't know what chance we have, but it looks like our only option is to fight," Sakura continued as she began to shake, "I…I'm not sure we beat him, but we might as well give it our all…if you're up to it."

Naruto was shocked at Sakura's willingness to fight despite the odds, and then looked back at Sasuke. Immediately, the Uzumaki started to gain a look of determination.

What am I thinking? I can't turn my back on my comrades, and I can't go back on my word now. Having people important to me… is enough reason to fight!

"Yeah! Let's do it, Sakura," Naruto responded looking back over to Gaara, "but let's fight to win!"

Sakura was stunned at first, but then gained that same determination Naruto always pushed forward with.

"Right," she agreed with a smile before they both charged into battle.

Temari, who was standing on a branch a safe distance away from the fight, had watching the events that transpired. The best idea for her would've probably been to run, but part of her couldn't help but keep watch over her little brother, though she couldn't comprehend why those two Leaf ninja would still want to fight.

"Have those two completely lost it?" she muttered, "They'll be slaughtered for sure."

Naruto OST: Strong and Strike

Back to the fight, Naruto prepared his jutsu as he and Sakura went head first at Gaara.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Three copies of Naruto appeared next to the original as they each brought out shuriken and proceeded to toss them at the transformed Sand genin.

Gaara just blocked with his transformed arms.

"I've told you before. It's worthless!" He yelled after that attempt.

"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"

Gaara heard a voice from above him and looked to see Sakura shooting another Water Style jutsu at him from above. He immediately moved out of the way the attack since he didn't want his sand to get soaked with another water attack.

He quickly noticed three other Shadow Clones of Naruto try to get a punch at him. He swung at them with one of his transformed arms and knocked them away, causing them to disperse.

Suddenly, he saw a dozen more clones charge at him from the front, some of them throwing kunai and shuriken, while others used Great Breakthrough to shoot gusts of wind at Gaara while increasing the speed of the projectiles.

Gaara took in a large amount of breath, and then blew a powerful gust with the combined power of wind and sand chakra at the clones.

"Wind Style: Sandstorm Devastation!"

Said jutsu wiped out the entire group of Shadow Clones and left behind a cloud of dust and smoke. As Gaara began to look where his prey may be hiding, he failed to notice four kunai sailing toward his front before they made contact.

Gaara's face showed annoyance at this, though he wasn't in pain because of the sand covering him, as he searched for the attacker.

Who he saw on the branch across from him was none other than Sakura.

"Fool," Gaara snarled, "Are you in that much of a hurry to die?"

Sakura simply smirked in response and brought up her two fingers in an upward position as if signaling off a jutsu.

Gaara then immediately heard the sound of burning paper and realized that there were paper bombs attached to the kunai knives that struck him. They immediately exploded and sent him flying backwards.

Naruto and his clones from their hiding spot took advantage of this opportunity and began their assault.

"Alright, let's do this!" one them yelled as he and another clone started with a kick sending the transformed genin upwards, "NA-"

Two more joined in as they also kicked Gaara upwards.

"-RU-"

Another pair kept the momentum up with the same action.

"-TO!"

And lastly, Naruto and another clone emerged from above Gaara and each landed and strong punch on him.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" they yelled.

Gaara grunted as he was sent falling to the ground, but the two Naruto's weren't done.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Both of them sent the wind-based jutsu straight down at Gaara which increased the speed of his descent to the ground and resulted in a loud crash.

(End OST)

"Great work, Naruto!" Sakura called from her position.

Naruto landed on another branch watching with baited breath the area where the Sand genin landed.

Did that get him? Naruto asked in his mind.

After a few seconds of waiting, a loud roar filled the air and loose sand scattered throughout the area like wind.

Naruto brought up his arms to his face prevent the sand from getting in his eyes. He dared a peek to see what was going on just as a sand appendage slammed into him.

Naruto grunted as he was hurled into the air before he was slammed again.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out in fear for her teammate.

Said blonde genin was sent crashing through a branch and landing on another one with a thud. He groaned as he was getting up to face his opponent.

Gaara was staring him down from the branch with the same wild grin on his face in his transformed state.

"I'll admit, that was quite the effort you put up, but you're still below my level," he charged at Naruto, "Let out all of the power of hatred you have if you wish to defeat me!"

Naruto immediately made a hand seal, trying to think of any other options…perhaps even using the Nine-tails' power again.

Damn it. He cursed in his mind.

Before he could perform any action, however, Gaara was knocked away with a boulder launched from the ground.

"Huh?" Naruto thought out loud.

He soon got his answer when he saw a figure launch up from the ground and shot out some fire blasts from her fists and feet while in midair. The blasts collided with Gaara after he landed somewhere else to recover from the previous hit.

How many more interruptions do I have to put up with? Gaara grumbled in his mind, annoyed that his chances to kill were being thwarted.

"It's HER!" a voice yelled in Gaara's head before he looked to confirm that claim.

The girl who attacked began to fall and shot a stream of fire below to slow her descent and land on a nearby branch.

"Ahh!" She panicked a bit as she tried to keep her balance, "How can someone get used to fighting on branches?"

She heard a whine from below her and looked to see a large white animal.

"Just get going, Naga. I'll be fine," the girl called to it, and her animal companion did as told.

"Wait. I've seen her before," Sakura thought out loud.

It's that girl from a while ago. Thought Sasuke from his position with the two summon animals.

"Korra!" Naruto shouted when he realized who it was and leaped to where she was.

"Hey, Naruto," Korra smiled when she saw her friend land next to her, "I'm glad I got here in time. Are you alright?"

If this were any other time, Naruto would have hugged the tan-skinned girl tight and spend some time catching up. This was not one of those times, however.

"What do you think you're doing here!?" he yelled as he pointed over to Gaara, "It's dangerous here! That guy's already trying to kill us, and he'll come after you too!"

Korra pouted at Naruto with half-lidded eyes and had a hand on her hip.

"You know what I would've liked to hear?" she started, "'Hey, thanks for helping me out, Korra.' 'Sure Naruto, anytime.'"

"THAT'S NOT THE FREAKIN POINT HERE!" Naruto yelled comically while waving his arms wildly, "THAT GUY IS CRAZY AND HE'S OUT FOR BLOOD!"

"Yeah, I figured that much," Korra responded as she looked over at Gaara.

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked as he stopped flailing his arms.

"I'm not exactly sure what's going on with him, but I could tell something's… off about this guy. And what's this weird transformation he's going through?" the young Avatar continued.

"Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, Gaara said one time that his body was infused with a sand spirit when he was born," Naruto replied, remembering the time when he and Shikamaru stopped Gaara from killing Rock Lee in the hospital.

Korra widened her eyes in surprise.

A spirit forced inside of him? She thought as she studied their opponent. So he's just like Naruto…except this guy acts like he really is a monster.

Meanwhile, Gaara glared at the two, Korra especially.

"You," he growled, which got Korra and Naruto's attention.

Gaara pointed at Korra.

"I don't know what's so special about you, but 'Mother' can't stand the sight of you," he said before maniacally grinning, "If that's the case, then you'll be my first victim!"

Korra tried to ignore the shiver she felt down her spine while Naruto and everyone else widened their eyes in shock.

While Sakura, Sasuke, and the summon animals wondered why Gaara would target Korra, it didn't take much thought to rile Naruto up.

"LIKE HELL I'LL LET THAT HAPPEN!" he yelled angrily.

Gaara didn't seem to be affected by the blonde's outburst and merely swung his arms to hurl Sand Shuriken at Naruto and Korra. Naruto grabbed Korra and jumped out of the way of the attack. Sakura made a move her Water Style: Gunshot to put the pressure on Gaara. He, in turn, sent Sand Shuriken at her as well. Naruto's shadow clones came back into play, but the Sand jinchuuriki destroyed them quickly.

He was then struck by ice shards, and then more fire blasts. He looks to see Korra responsible for the attack and decides to move to her, but is suddenly stopped by ninja wire with paper bombs attached to it. Everyone was shocked to see this and use their eyes to trace the wire to none other than Sasuke. He executed the hand seal to detonate the tags.

The resulting explosion destroyed the branch Gaara was on and sent him falling to ground as he was covered in smoke.

Sakura rushed over to the Uchiha once his legs began to give out.

"Sasuke! What are you doing? You shouldn't be over-exerting yourself," she chastised.

"I can't just sit this one out…(grunts) while everyone else is giving it their all," Sasuke replied as he struggled to get up again, "I've already been through loss before, and I'm not going to sit here and watch my trusted comrades fall right in front of me."

"Sasuke," Naruto said in concern, while Korra looked on a little farther away from him.

At this moment, however, no one noticed sand starting to gather toward Korra's location. The brunette realized too late that sand was gathering around her and she couldn't move her feet as the sand trapped.

"What the heck is going on? I can't move!" she said as she struggled.

The others soon took notice.

"Oh, that ain't good," the orange toad remarked.

"Oh no. Korra!" Naruto yelled in panic.

Gaara revealed himself to be near where Korra was and held out hand as if trying to grip something.

"Sand Coffin!"

Before she knew it, Korra became trapped in sand.

"No," Sakura breathed out.

Dammit. Sasuke muttered in his mind.

"KORRA!" Naruto screamed out for his friend.

Gaara then seemed to will the sand Korra was trapped in to tighten.

"Hey! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" growled Naruto, feeling his rage soar to new heights, "Let her go RIGHT NOW!"

Sakura tried to get her teammate to calm down.

"Naruto, hold on a second. We need to find a better way t-" she said before feeling her breath caught in her throat seeing red chakra spiraling around Naruto.

Gaara in the meantime was putting pressure on the sand before doing his finishing move.

"Sand Buri-"

He was cut off when he felt a punch harder than before make contact with his face. This sent him crashing into a tree.

Once he recovered, he looked up to see it was Naruto who hit him, but he looked different from before. Sakura and Sasuke also took the time to take in their teammate's appearance.

Naruto OST: Need to be Strong

They all noticed that his whisker marks looked thicker, his hair was wilder, and his nails were sharper.

What really unnerved the other two members of Team 7 was the red chakra surrounding him and the killing intent accompanying it.

It's that red chakra from before in his fight with Neji, but… it's more immense, and has so much… bloodlust! Sakura thought with a panic.

That's… Naruto? Sasuke also thought in shock. Just where is all that power coming from?

Gaara, on the other hand, smirked wildly at this as he came to a realization.

"So, this is the power you've been holding back. It appears we really are the same. It's made you an outcast; a freak like me," he marveled before laughing, "HAHAHAHA! How exciting! Just the thought of what my existence will mean… AFTER I KILL YOU!"

As he said those last words, Gaara charged straight at the blonde jinchuuriki.

Naruto, however, didn't appear amused as jumped to meet Gaara as well.

"Shut the hell up!" he roared as he and Gaara punched each other's fists resulting in a burst of wind blowing around the area.

A brutal fight between two jinchuuriki had just begun.

That's it for part one. Go to the next one. :)