And here's part two! :)
Disclaimer: Still applies
Chapter 10: Clash of Beasts, Part Two
(On top of a building near the Chuunin finals arena)
Hiruzen wasn't having much luck in his fight.
Shortly after the invasion started, the Third Hokage was apparently taken captive by the "Kazekage" who then revealed himself as Orochimaru in disguise.
After the shock wore off, the old Hokage and his former student began their battle with ninjutsu and taijutsu before the Snake Sannin used the Second Hokage's forbidden jutsu: the Reanimation Jutsu.
He brought back the First and Second Hokages to fight for him and the battle became fiercer. Even with his monkey summon, Enma, Hiruzen was still pushed to his limits. In his last effort, he utilized the jutsu of his deceased successor: the Reaper Death Seal. With the use of his shadow clones, he used to jutsu to seal the souls of Lord First and Second and was now struggling with Orochimaru.
"Won't you just lie down and die already?" the Snake Sannin seethed, "You're well past your limit now. Hurry up and perish along with this village!"
Hiruzen groaned in his struggle as blood trickled out of his mouth. This whole process was taxing his chakra reserves as he only managed to pull out a part of the traitor's soul, but he was far from finished and was determined to put an end to the current terror.
"This village will not fall!" he managed to declare despite his predicament, "I will continue to fight for its people and the generations coming after them!"
He couldn't quit when he had so much to fight for. He began to look back on his time with his former mentors and comrades, his former students, Avatar Aang and his wife and friends, the students of the Sannin, and the current jonin sensei's and their students along with the new Avatar.
Drawing on all of the strength he had left, the Third Hokage attempted pull out Orochimaru's soul once more to be rid of the villain once and for all.
(Unspecified area within The Hidden Leaf)
Various Sound ninja were scattering about the Leaf Village seeking anyone to kill. One target that seemed appealing, for example, was an elderly woman apparently helping a wounded ninja with a few men with strange clothing surrounding her. Why the woman wasn't running for her life was of little concern to them.
"Please, ma'am. I appreciate you helping me, but it's dangerous right now. You must go to safety," the wounded Leaf ninja pleaded with the woman who was somehow using water to heal him.
"Nonsense," Katara replied, "I may be old, but I'm not helpless. Besides, I need to help whoever I can."
The ninja was about to protest more, but then realized a group of Sound ninja land where they were.
"Well, this will be some easy kill," one of them jeered, while him and the others took out kunai.
However, the White Lotus members guarding Katara stepped in front. The Sound ninja ran to continue their attack be the guards sent fire blasts and earth lines at them in response. The offending ninja were initially surprised, but soon shook it off and continued to fight. The White Lotus guards were able to knock out a few of them, but their enemies soon gained the upper hand and injured most of the guards. The Sound ninja were about to kill them before Katara intervened with her water tentacles created from the water in her pouch that she carried around.
"I'll give you this chance to give up," Katara said with a stern expression as she seemed to be done healing the Leaf ninja, "or I'll make you do so the hard way."
Still the thinking they had a chance, the leader of the Sound group snorted, "What makes you think we will, and why bother since you don't seem to be from this village."
"I may not have been here enough to call it home, but I have friends that hold this village dear to their hearts, and I refuse to let you destroy what they would give their lives to defend."
"So be it," the leader answered as he and his subordinates moved in again while Katara stood firm with able-bodied White Lotus sentries standing by her.
Korra… Naruto. Please be strong and stay safe. Katara thought while preparing for her opponents' strike.
(Back to Naruto and Gaara's fight)
Naruto in his Initial Jinchuuriki state clawed against Gaara's arm as the other tried to stab at him with the claw of his hand.
Sakura and Sasuke couldn't believe the fight they were seeing. Never before have they seen their blonde teammate attack with such ferocity. The fight was going one for several minutes and was becoming more dangerous by the second.
Naruto. What's gotten into you? Sakura thought worriedly.
This is no longer a fight between shinobi. This is a battle between two monsters! Sasuke also thought. What kind of power has Naruto kept inside of him?
Temari, who was also standing away from the fight, looked shocked as well.
No way. This kid… She thought. …he's just like Gaara!
Naruto was scratched from Gaara's claws before he began to quickly heal while Gaara reformed his sand arm that was clawed off. The Sand genin then sent Sand Shuriken at the Naruto. The blonde jinchuuriki quickly dodge and ran from tree on all fours to dodge more incoming shuriken. The young ninja leaped above Gaara and gave a Tailed Beast Roar, which Gaara responded to with a roar of his own which resulted in a powerful shockwave from the clash.
Naruto continued his descent and sent his barrage of punches and kicks that sent Gaara further away on the branch they were on. Gaara jumped away from Naruto and used his sand/wind style attack.
"Sandstorm Devastation!" he yelled as he blew a combination of wind and sand style chakra in Naruto's direction.
"If that's how you want to play it," Naruto snarled before he made the necessary hand seals and fired his own jutsu.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he yelled, firing his gust of wind chakra enhanced even more by the Nine-tails' chakra.
The two jutsus collided and produced a shockwave of wind and sand which cut up the branches and barks of trees surrounding the two.
Sakura and Sasuke along with Pakkun and the orange toad took cover behind a tree as they were farther away from the battle. As they were wondering what they could do about the situation, they all failed to take notice of the sand that Korra was trapped in. Unbeknownst to them, the sand was tightening and hardening, and the Water tribe Avatar wasn't any comfortable inside.
Ugh. What is with this sand!? Korra screamed in her head in frustration.
She's been struggling with the Sand Coffin she was put in for quite a while. She figured from Katara's stories that sandbending was possible because it's loose earth that she would be able to break out of it. Simple, right?
Unfortunately, as Korra tried this, the sand seemed to have a mind of its own and her efforts were fruitless.
Darn it! Just how do I get out of this? She thought.
To her surprise, the answer came in a way she didn't expect.
"This sand is strong because it is infused with Shukaku's chakra. Your energy must be stronger to overcome it," a voice said, though it sounded more like a whisper.
Korra's eyes immediately widened.
Who was that? She thought as she had no way knowing who was speaking to her. She would have thought it was Aang or another past life, but didn't think any of them would whisper to her.
"Don't be alarmed," the voice spoke again as if it sensed the Water Tribe girl's unease, "It is rare for you to be this closely connected to my spirit. However, with the threat outside, it will be necessary for me to intervene."
"Who are you?" Korra managed to get out as sand tightened around her.
"Don't worry," the voice replied, "You will learn in due time, but you must stay calm and allow my power to flow through you."
It wasn't like Korra had much of a choice, so she complied.
"Alright," she said.
"Good," the voice responded, "Now bear with this."
Korra suddenly felt incredible power surge through her before eyes glowed pure white.
The two battling jinchuuriki were knocked away opposite each other after another clash. Gaara was reforming sand on the missing chunk of his mini-Tailed Beast form, while Naruto sported several slashes and bruises which were already healing. Regardless, both of them becoming exhausted, but neither were going to stop before the other was destroyed. Sand was moving wildly around Gaara while the same could be said for the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra around Naruto.
Naruto's teammates and the two summon animals watched in anticipation before Sakura noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
The sand that trapped that girl from earlier was expanding at a fast rate.
"What's happening there," she said mostly to herself, but caught the attention of the others with her.
The sand reached to a certain point before it exploded leaving the tan-skinned girl with outstretched arms as if she pushed the sand away from her.
She wasn't completely unscathed, however, as the others saw scars on her arms with small blood flowing out and some tears in her clothing. Also, her top ponytail came undone and her hair was flowing down, but a little messy.
However, what caught the group's attention the most was fact that her eyes were now glowing white.
"Wh-what the hell is happening?" Sakura said, bewildered.
Just what is she? Sasuke asked to himself.
"Whoa. Things have gotten a whole lot weirder," Pakkun commented.
No way. Could she be…? The orange toad wondered.
The now-free Korra looked to see battle between the two jinchuuriki. She then levitated with airbending and made her way over there.
"This has been fun, but let's put an end to this," said Gaara with a sadistic smile as Naruto stood across from him.
Naruto narrowed his eyes in anger, "Bring it on! I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The two leaped at each other, both determined to kill the other…
…before Korra in the Avatar State landed between them and blasted them away from each other with air. Naruto recovered from getting pushed away and was about do away with the interference until he realized that it was Korra.
"Korra," he breathed out. She's alright. He thought as the shock of that fact made him revert back to normal.
Within Naruto's seal, the Nine-Tailed Fox growled in frustration as his attempt to influence his host was thwarted.
"Grrr. CURSE YOU RAAVA!" the beast roared.
Back outside, Korra brought her focus to Gaara, who seemed to have recovered and looked very pissed.
"How dare you interfere!" he yelled, "I won't be denied my existence, and I'll crush anyone in my way!"
He sent a blast of sand at Korra as he finished saying this, but the young Avatar struck her hand at the attack and it dispersed.
What!? Gaara thought in disbelief.
As he did so, Korra blasted a large amount of fire at him, sending him several feet away.
The transformed Sand genin grunted as he was trying to recover from the intense heat. When he saw Korra floating on a column of air, he attacked with blind rage. When he tried to strike with his arm, however, Korra forced her hand through the sand of said arm as she was taking control of it. She then proceeded to whirl her enemy around her at increasing speed. When she decided she had gone fast enough, she let go of the sand, leaving her enemy to crash at great speed to the ground at an angle. He didn't stop as he skidded across the ground, knocking down every tree in his path. When he finally stopped, he seemed to have been thrown quite a number of yards away.
Everyone couldn't believe what they just saw, especially Temari.
How is this possible!? She knocked down Gaara that easily? She thought.
Naruto just stood in amazement at what his friend just did. Korra was just standing still for a bit with her eyes glowing. Suddenly, the glow faded and she was about to collapse before the blonde ninja came and caught her.
"Korra! Are you alright?" he asked with worry.
"Ugh," Korra groaned, "Man, that gave me a headache."
She then realized that she was being held and looked at Naruto.
"Naruto? What happened all of the sudden?"
Everything around them seemed to be forgotten as Naruto gave his wide grin.
"Are you kidding? You just showed up with your eyes all glowy and clobbered Gaara like it was nothing!" he said in excitement, "You're really amazing, you know that?"
Korra would have accepted the praise if she wasn't thinking about what happened. It took a little while before what her blonde friend said registered.
Glowing eyes? Did I go into the Avatar State? She thought in astonishment.
"Naruto!" they both heard Sakura call.
The Avatar and jinchuuriki turned to see the pink-haired genin and Sasuke land where they were.
"Just what happened here," Sasuke spoke up, "What was that energy you were using against Gaara, Naruto? And what ability was she using?"
The last part of that question referred to Korra. Korra may not have exactly seen Naruto and Gaara fight before she went into the Avatar State, but she could guess what the Uchiha was asking about. That fact that he was asking those questions surprised her though.
"You didn't tell them?" Korra asked Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well… I kinda wanted to wait for the right time to talk about it," he nervously said, irritating Sakura and Sasuke in the process.
Before anyone could say more, however, they all heard a loud roar in the direction that Gaara was sent off.
"That guy still isn't done!?" Naruto yelled in frustration, "What the heck is it gonna take?"
Over where Gaara was, he was struggling to get up again after the beating he took. He couldn't believe that not only Naruto, but this other girl that showed up had the power to match him… or perhaps surpass him.
NO! He screamed in his mind. I will not let my existence be made worthless! I will not disappear!
The Tailed Beast inside him seemed to agree with this.
"Become stronger. Show them the power you hold and crush them!" he said.
"I WILL NOT LOSE TO THEM!" Gaara declared as more sand gathered around him.
Back where Korra and Team 7 were, the group saw a large mass of sand as it grew larger and eventually became the form of the One-Tailed Tanuki.
Naruto grew nervous by the second.
"Uh… Korra-chan. 'You mind doing that glowy-eyed thing you did before?" he said as he kept his eyes on the monster in front of them.
"Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how I did that before," Korra said with matching nervousness.
"Just how do we beat this thing?" Sasuke wondered out loud.
Once it was done forming, the beast took notice of group below it.
"I think this might be a good time to run!" Pakkun alerted the others.
The group quickly did so as Sakura slung Sasuke's arm around her shoulder and Naruto did the same for Korra, while to small toad jumped on Naruto's head.
The group tried to get further away before the sand beast swung his arm and caused a wave of sand to speed after them. They tried to get to higher ground, but the tremors were becoming too much and they lost their balance.
They managed to land roughly on another branch as the sand monster came closer. Things weren't looking good.
What do we do know? We can't get away from this monster, I've already used up a lot of chakra to fight. Naruto was thinking before he came to a realization. Wait! That just might be it!
"Guys, you might want to get back," he called to the others, "I'll handle this."
The others weren't so agree especially Korra who protested.
"Are you nuts? This Gaara-guy's gotten even tougher now. You can't expect to take him on alone!" she said while the others agreed.
"I've got one more thing that might work. Besides, running away's not an option and we can't let him near the village. Just get going!" he argued back.
Before more could be said, however, the fully-transformed Gaara got closer to them and sent more sand at them. Out of time, Naruto immediately summoned the amount of chakra necessary, bit his thumb and pressed his hand to the branch he was on.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A huge puff of smoke appeared, and it cleared a giant red toad was shown wearing a blue coat and had a pipe in its mouth. He also wielded a massive dosu blade.
Gamabunta the chief toad had entered the battle.
"Alright! It worked this time!" Naruto yelled in excitement.
"Whoa! I've never heard of animals this big where I come from!" a voice said next to him.
"I know. It's amazing, righ- Wait, what the hell?!" he yelled when he realized Korra was next to him on Gamabunta.
"…What?" Korra asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Why are you here? I told you and everyone else to get back!" Naruto answered back.
"Well, forget it. You're stubborn enough to keep fighting, so I'm not leaving you alone in this fight. I've got your back whether you like it or not," replied Korra with a stern look.
Naruto was lost for words seeing that Korra willing to face danger for his sake.
"Kid, what do you think you're doing summoning me like this?" a grumpy voice bellowed.
The voice brought Naruto out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand.
"Oh, Chief Toad!" he said, "Alright, I need some help to take on that sand monster!"
"You think I'm an idiot!?" the giant toad yelled back, "This Shukaku is bad news. Even I don't think I could take him on and win."
"Are you kidding me!?" Korra yelled this time, "After all the trouble Naruto went through to summon you, you refuse to help?"
Gamabunta just smoked his pipe and blew out smoke.
"Look, girl. I don't know what your business here is, but I know a bad gamble when I see one. Besides, even though I agreed to make the brat my henchman, we haven't even settled it over a cup of sake yet," he replied.
"Bullcrap! I'm not even twenty-one!" Naruto yelled.
Before the argument could escalate further, the small orange toad made his presence known as he jumped on Naruto's head again.
"Yo, Pops! How's it goin'?" he said.
"Gamakichi? What are you doing here?" The chief toad asked.
"Well, that big monster over there was pickin' on me earlier, but this guy saved my life," the now-named Gamakichi answered.
"Is that right?" Gamabunta responded.
"Yep. Not only that. This chick that he's with here is the Avatar," Gamakichi replied.
Both Naruto and Korra were surprised that the small toad figured out who Korra was.
"Hmm? The Avatar?" Gamabunta questioned, "She sounded quite small though."
A tick mark appeared on Korra's forehead at that comment, but she chose not to say anything.
"Oh, believe me. She was actually clobberin' that guy earlier, but she doesn't seem to be in full control of her power, so we're gonna need some help," The smaller toad replied.
"Well, I guess I'll be fighting after all," The huge toad summon decided, "Alright, brats. You better hold on tight, 'cause this will only get rough."
Though Gamabunta couldn't see him, Naruto nodded at this.
"Korra," he said as he turned to her, "you'll have to hold on to me. This is your first time on Chief Toad and you'll fly right off if you don't have something to hold on to."
Korra nodded and held onto him from behind. After all this, they finally noticed something over at Gaara's location.
On the head of Shukaku, Gaara in his human form was exposed on there and made a ram hand seal.
"Feigning Sleep Jutsu!" he yelled before his body fell limp as if he was in a sleeping trance.
That's when things started to go crazy.
The Shukaku standing before them started to laugh wildly.
"HAHAHA! I'm free, baby! Oh yeah!" he screamed in delight before directing his attention to Gamabunta and those on him, "Alright, it's time I get rid of you pests! Let's do this!"
"Get ready," Gamabunta said to Naruto and Korra before he unsheathed his blade and charged at the enemy.
The Tailed Beast and summoning toad clashed in a close-quarters fight. The chief toad sliced his blade at Shukaku while the beast in turn hardened his body so as not to get his limbs chopped off. The sand spirit fought back by trying to slash his arms at the toad.
Seeing as how close combat wasn't getting him anywhere, Gamabunta jumped away to fight from a distance.
"Water Style: Gunshot!" he yelled as he shot large, condensed balls of water at the sand beast.
Shukaku dodged the attacks and breathed in a lot of air before pounding his belly to send out air bullets.
"Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Gamabunta now had to be careful to dodge the bullets of compressed air as Korra and Naruto held on for their lives… though mostly Korra.
"OH MAN! You weren't kidding! This is just plain crazy!" Korra yelled as she clung tightly to Naruto.
Naruto just grinned as the fight continued. At this moment, Shukaku stopped firing his air bullets.
"I've had enough of you brats surviving! I might as well kill two birds with one stone with this technique. Can't believe I'd use it on the likes of you!" the Tailed Beast yelled before keeping his mouth open.
In a few seconds, a ball of energy was forming in front of his mouth and grew in size.
"What is that?" Korra asked.
"Beats me," Naruto replied.
Damn it! Gamabunta cursed in his mind as he immediately recognized that technique.
"Kids, if it's possible, you better hold on tighter than you are now!" he yelled.
Though confused, the kids on the toad complied.
When he was satisfied, Shukaku fired his technique. Luckily, Gamabunta quickly dodged the condensed ball of chakra and it whizzed past him. After it travelled a considerable distance away, it exploded into a dome-shaped blast.
To say that Naruto and Korra were shocked at the destruction was and understatement. Gamabunta, meanwhile, thought about the power of the blast.
Hmm. It seems Shukaku isn't at his full power yet since his host hasn't been asleep for very long. It doesn't make this battle any less dangerous, though. He thought.
"Alright, brats, listen up!" he yelled to get Naruto and Korra's attention, "We need to end this battle quickly, and I have an idea that might work. Shukaku is only in control when the host is asleep, so if one of you can force him awake, then that sand spirit will be suppressed again, but I have to get close first."
"Alright! Then let's go!" Naruto yelled as he and Korra steeled their resolve before Gamabunta made his move.
He managed to get close and grab on to Shukaku, but before either of our two heroes could leap onto the monster, the chief toad lost his grip, and jumped away before he got attacked.
"What happened?" Korra asked after their attempt failed.
"My hands are too slippery to keep hold of him," replied Gamabunta, "We need something with fangs and claws to hold on to him. Use a Combined Transformation Jutsu for that. Then it'll be up to your little Avatar friend wake up Shukaku's host."
Naruto thought for a moment before he looked at his friend with concern.
"Are you sure you're up to that?" he asked.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Korra answered with a smile before her face turned serious, "Just worry about the sand monster over there."
"Think fast, kid. I need to move now," Gamabunta said as charged at Shukaku again.
Alright. Naruto thought, while preparing for the jutsu. Fangs and claws. Fangs and claws.
His eyes widened when he decided what animal to use.
"Transform!"
A huge cloud of smoke covered the chief toad, before it cleared away and revealed a giant fox with nine tails. Korra was on top of it alone and held on to the fur as tight as she could.
When the right moment came, the transformed Gamabunta grabbed onto Shukaku.
"Now!" he yelled.
Korra immediately leaped from her position and propelled herself upward with firebending. Shukaku, however, opened his mouth to create another energy attack which he aimed at Gamabunta and Naruto. This was right as Korra was landing Gaara and she brought back her fist for a punch while in the air.
"Alright, you jerk. It's time to wake up!" Korra yelled as she punched Gaara hard on the cheek.
Shukaku roared in frustration as the ball of chakra he made dissipated.
"AAWW, COME ON!" Shukaku whined as he lost control, "I just got here! Damn that girl! When come back out, I'm so gonna-"
He didn't get a chance to finish as went back to sleep within Gaara. The auburn-haired ninja blinked his eyes in confusion as he was waking up. He glared over at Korra realizing that she woke him up and used the sand they were on to trap her feet.
"Korra!" Naruto yelled after the transformation on him and Gamabunta dispelled and rushed onto the Shukaku head as well.
He summoned the Nine-Tail's chakra that he could as the resulting energy knocked off his headband. He fired his wind jutsu at Gaara who brought up sand to block the attack. The lack of focus on keeping Korra trapped and the exhaustion from the battle on Gaara's part helped Korra break free and attack with fire blasts. Naruto joined in as he and Korra ran to attack Gaara once more.
In a desperate attempt, however, Gaara used the strength he had left to make the sand stop the two heroes in their tracks.
"I will not disappear," he declared, "I won't let my existence be denied!"
After struggling with the sand constricting them, Korra finally sent a blast of fire from her mouth, which caught Gaara off guard. This distraction weakened the Korra and Naruto's bonds as they pushed forward and punched Gaara in the face at the same time.
That final blow caused the Shukaku they were standing on collapse into a large pile of sand. Gamabunta chose this time to disappear along with his son as their summoning reached its limit. Gaara lied on the ground after he fell and was too exhausted to fight anymore. He soon became startled when he saw Naruto crawl over to him with the little strength that he had left while Korra struggled a bit to get on her knees.
"Stay back!" Gaara said panicked. He had never been beaten before, and this was now a frightening reality for him since he was at the mercy of his enemy.
"The pain of loneliness," Naruto said as he showed sad eyes that seemed to empathize with Gaara, "it's almost unbearable, isn't it? I've been there before and it's been rough, but I have other people in my life that are precious to me and I won't let anything happen to them, even if I have to kill you!"
Gaara was shocked, "But why? Why fight for anyone but yourself?" he looked over at Korra, "And that girl. Just what is she to you?"
Naruto smiled, "She's someone who's very strong, but not only that. She accepted me from the very start when I was in so much despair, and she stayed by my side in the worst of it. Other people then came into my life and like her, saved me from myself and accepted me for who I am. They're the reason I fight to be strong."
Gaara was speechless and contemplated those words and the words of his uncle when he told him about love.
"Naruto!" a male voice called.
Everyone turned to see Sasuke and Sakura enter the scene.
"Hey guys, you're alright," Naruto said with a satisfied smile.
"Yeah," Sakura replied, and then looked at Gaara, "It looks to me that this guy's chakra is all used up. I'd say he's done now."
"That's good," Korra said as she walked over to Naruto's side and sat down, "I doubt this guy could go another round."
Naruto chuckled, "Speak for yourself. You look like you've been through enough hell today."
Both friends chuckled as they messed with each other despite their injuries and exhaustion. Suddenly, Temari and Kankuro appeared and seemed ready to fight before Gaara told them to stop, saying the fight was over. They then chose to carry Gaara and leave.
"It's time we head back," Sasuke said as he walked over to pick up Naruto and put him on his back. Sakura went over to Korra.
"C'mon. I'll carry you back," she said with a reassuring smile.
Korra would have protested if she wasn't so tired from the fight so she complied and got on the pink-haired kunoichi's back. The group took off through the trees and headed back to the village.
"Hey," Korra spoke to Sakura, "I saw how you backed up Naruto when you guys fought Gaara. I guess, for what it's worth, you're not so bad. Thanks for helping him out," Korra said with a smile.
Sakura was stunned for a bit before she smiled back, "Thanks for saying that… Korra, right?"
"Yep," the brunette replied.
All in all it was a tough battle, but the Leaf prevailed… though it didn't come without a price.
"Lord Third," Kakashi said in sadness.
The one-eyed jonin was joined his fellow jonin and several ANBU black ops surrounding the body of the now late Third Hokage.
Finally done! Hope you guys enjoyed. Please review, follow, and favorite. God bless you all and have a great day!