31: Akamaru Trembles: Gaara's Cruel Strength!

Suiren Uzumaki: Okay, so I am skipping a good bit of the Battle Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho episode as unlike Sakura, Raika isn't useless. But, don't worry Sakura fans, I have a plan the pinkette in Shippuden. As I can admit that I hate pre-Shippuden Sakura, but actually mildly find Shippuden Sakura a little annoying. Now, onto the disclaimer: I do not own Naruto cause if I did then Sakura wouldn't be a useless fangirl in pre-shippuden, and Naruto would have his father's smarts while keeping his mother's personality and knows about seals and how to use to them. I do, however, own Ryurama Senju, Yuki Senju nee Miran, Raika Miran (Senju), & the White Tiger Summoning Contract (A/N: If there is already a White Tiger Summoning Contract…then please ignore the last part). Remember to Read and Review to let me know what you think. Also, if you don't like any twist that I might make then stop reading and find something else to read plus don't leave a review that's a flame or I will find a way to block you. Ja ne!

…My Line…

Sasuke stood in a completely gold and sparkling place much to his confusion as he looked around.

"What is this?" he asked. "Where am I?" The Uchiha looked in front of him again only to see someone. 'Who's this?' He then realized, who was standing in front of him. 'It's me. From a long time ago.'

"Mother and Father shouldn't have died," young Sasuke stated. "It didn't have to happen." The sound of liquid hitting the floor was heard before flashes of two bodies appeared talking the older Sasuke by surprised as the place, he was in changed into a familiar room and scene. "They're all died, but I wasn't strong enough to save them! My whole clan has been destroyed."

{A/N: Dude, you were a FUCKING KID. AN ACEDEMY STUDENT! What could a KID have done against a TEENAGER, who had more experience fighting?}

…My Line…

Everyone in the clearing was unaware of the vile chakra surrounding the Uchiha.

"We already took care of the ones, who did this to Lee."

Tenten jumped down to join her looking worried for the green clad ninja.

"Is he going to be, okay?" the brunette asked.

"He'll be able to make it to the tower just fine," the hidden Senju Princess answered softly. "However, I advise that he sees a medic once at the tower to double the healing of his eardrum just to be on the safe side."

By then, the Hyuuga had joined them to watch.

"Thank you," he thanked the greenette. "You didn't have to heal Lee, but you are."

She gave a nod to that.

"It's no problem," the Miran stated. "In this exam, we maybe enemies, but at the end of the day, we're Leaf Shinobi." She gave a smile to the other two. "We look out for our own."

Neji hummed at that while Tenten nodded her head in agreement.

…My Line…

"Because I was weak everyone is dead," young Sasuke said. "I couldn't save them. If only I had been stronger. If only I had more power." The older Sasuke's eyes widen in shock as his younger self looked up. "Instead, you stood by and watched them die. So, helpless, like lamps to the slaughter. If only you were stronger. If only you had more power."

…My Line…

Both Neji and Raika snapped their heads up at the feeling of vile chakra while Naruto moved to stand in front of them while glaring at the wake Uchiha. However, they all noticed something was off as they all took note of the dark marks that covered a good portion of Sasuke's body.

"Fuck," both Naruto and Raika said at the same time as the dark hair Genin turned to them with an evil grin.

"Neji, Tenten, take Lee and get out of here," the Miran told them softly as she falls into a fighting pose with Naruto not too far behind her.

"Are you sure?" Tenten asked as she and Neji picked up their teammate.

"Yeah," the blonde answered for her as he kept his eyes on the Uchiha. "This is a team problem, so leave this to us."

The two members of Team Gai shared a look with each other before they quickly took off. However, the Uchiha moved to follow only for both Naruto and Raika to get in his way and block him.

"Get out of the way, Naruto, Raika," Sasuke growled.

"No chance," Naruto stated. "I won't let you attack them when they only came here to help Raika protect us."

"I MEAN IT!" the Uchiha yelled. "Move or I will attack you two instead."

"Uchiha calm down," the Miran told him. "Remember what Hatake sai…"

"Fire Style…" the dark hair Genin said as he ran through the hand signs and ended on tiger. "Great Fire Ball Jutsu!"

The greenette quickly rushed in front of Naruto where she has her right-hand cupping her left with her thumb up before entire locking her fingers with them pointed up and then moved them to be even with her chest with the tips of her fingers a few inches from touching each other.

"Water Style: Water Wall!" the Miran called out before she expelled the water from her mouth.

A wall of water formed a barrier in front of the two of them blocking the fireball.

"Sasuke stop this!" Naruto called out.

"Shut up!"

Raika then held her hands out to where her palms faced with her fingertips inches apart again and then clapped them together.

"Water Style: Water Shockwave!"

A stream of water swirled around her as she pulled it from the air before she sent the high-pressure water towards where Sasuke stood. But, the Uchiha jumped out of the way, however, Naruto was right there in front of him with his hands in the snake sign.

"Wood Style: Four Pillar Prison Jutsu!" the Uzumaki called as he slammed his hand onto the ground.

Four wooden pillars rosed out of the ground surrounding the dark hair Genin, who looked around in shock.

"Five Prong Seal!" a familiar female voice called out before a hand with the fingers covered in purple slammed into the Uchiha's stomach.

Sasuke gasps in shock before the markings resided and he collapsed once again.

"What the fuck was that?" the blonde asked as he released his jutsu.

The greenette let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair.

"I am not one hundred percent sure," Raika answered as Naruto picked the Uchiha up. "But, we need to get to the tower and fast."

"Right," the Uzumaki agreed.

The two of them shared a look each other before they took off for the tower.

…My Line…

"Neji?" Tenten asked as she looked at the Hyuuga, who had his Byakugan active. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah," Neji answered as he deactivated his eyes. "Both Uzumaki and Miran are alright." He looked at his teammates. "They managed to handle Sasuke just fine." The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes. "But, Miran has a strong Water Affinity that rivals the Nidaime's own…" Neji looked back towards the clearing. "However, Uzumaki…"

"What about him, Neji?" Lee asked.

"It would seem that he has been playing us all for fools," the Hyuuga answered.

"What!?"

"The Uzumaki is actually a Senju."

The other two gasps in shock as they shared a look with each other.

…My Line…

Inside of the tower and after dropping Sasuke off at the hospital wing, both Naruto and Raika walked through the walls to find Team 8 in a large area with Akamaru laying between the three of them.

"Hey, Akamaru," Kiba spoke up softly as he patted the puppy's head. "Are you okay?"

"Is he still shaking?" Shino asked. "He's been at it for half a day already."

"Akamaru," Hinata said softly as she knelt down.

"I don't blame him," the Inuzuka stated. "Not after what happened. It's because of what he saw."

"What did Akamaru see?" the blonde asked as the two friends walked up.

"Naruto! Raika!" Kiba yelled in shock.

"Kiba," the greenette nodded her head.

"What happened, Kiba?" the Uzumaki asked as he knelt down to pat Akamaru's head as well.

"Well, you see..." Hinata softly spoke up.

This made the two members of Team 7 to look at the other team.

"It's like this," Kiba added before he launched into a story of what happened.

…My Line…

Team 8 were rushing through the Forest of Death with Kiba and Akamaru in the lead.

"Haha," Kiba laughed. "I know that we'll be the ones to survive this. Right, Akamaru?" The little puppy let out a bark of agreement. "Of course, it's lucky for us that those people caught in that trap had an Earth Scroll. And now, we'll be the first ones to reach the tower."

"Don't get overconfident," Shino told him. "That's a dangerous mistake to make. No matter how small a bug is it still has to guard itself at all times. We have to make sure that we don't encounter any enemies. That is the only way to be safe."

"Yeah, I know that Shino," the Inuzuka sighed. "But, as usual, you have to point that out in a weird vague way, bug nerd."

This made Shino to growl a bit.

...My Line...

"Shino growled?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Naruto!" Raika growled as she smacked him upside the head. "Please..." She looked at Kiba and smiled softly. "Continue, Kiba."

The Inuzuka nodded his head before he continued.

...My Line...

"Yeah, but Kiba," Hinata spoke up softly. "What Shino said…he does have a point you know."

"Yeah, I know. Just come on."

'I hope that nothing has happened to Naruto out here.'

Akamaru made a noise as he sniffed the air which had Kiba doing the same thing.

"Hung on, you guys," the Inuzuka said as he came to a stop. "We have to stop."

"Why?" Shino asked as he and Hinata also came to a stop.

"We have to be careful not to encounter any enemies, right?" Kiba asked. "Hinata, I want to check out a kilometer that way."

The Hyuuga nodded her head before standing up straight.

"Here it goes," she said softly as she placed her hands into a sign. "Byakugan!" The blunette focused in the direction that Kiba suggested with her bloodline. "Yes." She watched a sand team stand there. "Someone's there alright."

Shino then knelt down on the ground and placed his ear to the tree.

"It sounds like there are 6 people there," Shino added.

"Alright, let's check it out," Kiba told them making Hinata to gasp in shock.

"Kiba!" the Aburame said in anger. "What are you talking about?" He lifted his head to look at his teammate. "We're not going to do that."

"Why not?" the Inuzuka asked. "The examiner said that all we have to do is get a Heaven and an Earth Scroll, right? But, she didn't say we couldn't take more then that." He had a smirk on his face. "If we get more scrolls then that means there will be fewer to go around and the other teams will be cut from the competition."

"B-But..."

"Look, we'll just check, okay?" Kiba asked. "If it looks to dangerous then we won't battle them. Now come let's go!"

The brown hair, dog using, male took off after that.

...My Line...

"KIBA!" Raika yelled.

The Inuzuka flinched as he had always found the Miran scary when pissed.

"Really?" Naruto sighed as he face palmed. "And I thought that I'm the reckless one of our class."

Hinata giggled while the blonde got deadpan looks from the other three.

...My Line...

"He's the kind of guy that even the hungriest insects would avoid," Shino stated before he followed.

The Hyuuga stood there for a moment before she quickly followed.

...My Line...

The greenette let out a giggle while Naruto cackled in amusement at that.

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba groaned. "Laugh it up."

Shino hid his smirk behind the collar of his jacket as Hinata giggled quietly.

...My Line...

"Huh?" Kiba blinked as he looked at his shaking nin-hound. "What's wrong Akamaru?"

"What happened?" Hinata asked as the two joined him. "Why did you stop all of a sudden?"

"Yeah," the Inuzuka said as Akamaru crawled into his jacket. "Something spooked the little guy."

"What scared him?"

"I don't have any idea," the nin-dog user answered. "Akamaru has the ability to sniff out a person's chakra level, but man...I never seen him this scared by it before." He looked in front of him. "Whoever those ninjas up ahead are, they're not normal guys."

...My Line...

Raika and Naruto shared a look at that as it was true. Akamaru wasn't scared of them even though they have more chakra. Chunin borderline Jonin in the Miran's case and above Hokage level while also being a Jinchuuriki in the Uzumaki's case.

...My Line...

"Can you believe the nerve of these Sand Village ninjas, Shibuya?" a Rain ninja asked.

"Yeah," another agreed. "They're a bunch of fools."

Gaara and his siblings all stood facing them without saying a word.

...My Line...

For a second a time the two cousins shared a look with each other at that.

"Shikuku," the Kyuubi growled inside the seal.

'Shikuku?' Naruto asked him.

"Yes," the fox answered as he knew that this is important information for his host. "Ichi no Tanuki or the One Tail Raccoon Dog."

'Something is up,' the blonde thought back to him. 'It is against the rules of the Chunin Exams to send a Jinchuuriki to take part in another village that isn't your own.'

...My Line...

Within the seal, a vicious grin appeared on the face of the monstrous fox.

"I applaud you, Naruto," the Kyuubi said as his nine tails swayed behind him. "You actually read the rules. But, you are right, it is against the rules."

...My Line...

'I needed to know what I can and can't do during the exams,' Naruto growled. 'So, of course, I was going to read them. That's not good.'

All he got in return was a dark cackle before it went silent though he noticed Raika looking at him in worry. The blonde quickly went through the signs that was taught to him by the ANBU Tenzo of what he and the Kyuubi talked about making her to frown in worry.

...My Line...

"What's he thinking?" Kiba asked. "That guy is way to little to take on an opponent whose that big." Akamaru let out a whine. "Huh?"

"What did Akamaru say?" Hinata asked him.

"That big guy...he's big trouble."

'They all look like bad news to me,' the Hyuuga thought. 'Like their really strong.'

...My Line...

'Kiba must have miss interpret Akamaru,' Raika thought as she blinked. 'I mean, Gaara is the one, who is really bad news.'

...My Line...

"To bad kids," the Rain ninja said. "You should have picked your opponents better. Now you all are going to die."

"I've heard enough out of you," Gaara stated. "Let's make this quick. I don't want to waste time on this guy."

This just pissed off the Rain shinobi.

'We don't even know what kind of scroll this guy's got,' Kankuro thought as he looked at his little brother. "Hey, Gaara! Doesn't it make more sense to follow these punks and gather information first? I mean, if they have the same type of scroll as us then we'll be fighting an necessary battle."

"I don't care," the redhead said. "They looked at me the wrong way, so their going to die."

This took everyone by surprise even Gaara's own siblings, who were use to this side of him.

...My Line...

"Seriously?" Naruto asked. "This Gaara stated that he was going to kill those Rain ninjas just because they looked at him the wrong way?"

"Yup," Kiba answered with a nod. "It was surprising and creepy."

'A classic sign of what could happen if a Jinchuuriki doesn't have support from family or friends,' the Miran thought. 'On top of having a faulty seal, too.'

...My Line...

'This is exactly why I didn't want to be stuck in the forest with him,' the older male sibling thought.

"If you think that you an kill us?" Shibuya asked as he reached behind him. "Then try it!" He tossed five umbrellas up into the air and did a hand sign. "And now. Ninja Art: Senbone Rainstorm!"

The umbrellas spun around in the air before unleashing a hail of senbone needles.

...My Line...

'A rainstorm of needles,' Hinata thought.

...My Line...

"Left, up, right, down," Shibuya said "No matter where you go, I can get you. There is no blind spot in this jutsu. It's deadly accurate." The guy smirked at the needles rain down on Gaara. 'Child's play.'

[A/N: Is it just me or does this Shibuya guy sound like Ichigo from Bleach?]

However, he got a surprise when the dust disappeared and showed Gaara being protected by a dome of sand.

"Is that all you can do?"

"It can't be!" the Rain ninja said in surprise. "Not one wound." He placed his hands into another sign. "Alright."

He tried to send senbone into a gap in the dome only for more sand to raise up and protect Gaara.

"A rainstorm of senbone, huh?" the red hair Sand Genin asked. "I have an idea. Why don't we make it rain blood instead?"

This took everyone by surprise even more.

...My Line...

Naruto looked over at the greenette to see her eyes narrow as she glared a far off wall.

'This Gaara sounds dangerous,' the blonde thought as he turned back to Team 8. 'But, given that I could have been like him if not for old man Hokage and Raika then I guess I can understand a little of why.'

...My Line...

"Man, he's chakra is so powerful," Kiba stated. "And that sand...do you smell that odor? It stinks."

"Odor?"

Hinata looked at the Inuzuka in surprise.

"It smells like blood."

...My Line...

The two childhood friends looked at Kiba with understanding. Naruto has a strong sense of smell thanks to the Kyuubi while Raika's sense of smell was more because of her summons.

...My Line...

"He created a wall of sand!"

"That's right," Kankuro agreed. "It's a defense and nothing can get through it. He carries around all that sand in the gourd that he has on his back. And when he is attacked, he uses the power of his chakra to harden the sand. It's a jutsu that only Gaara can do. And somehow, it acts on it's own independent of his will. So, any attacks against him are doomed to fail."

"Yeah?" Shibuya asked in anger. "We'll see!"

"Just face it," the older sand shinobi said. "You guys can't hope to defeat Gaara."

"Give me a break."

The Rain ninja rushed at the Sand Siblings while Gaara placed his hands in a hand sign.

'He's a dead man.'

'We warned him not to face Gaara.'

"Sand Coffin!" Gaara called out as sand started to surround his opponent.

'I can't move,' Shibuya thought as those watching were shocked while his umbrellas fall to the ground. "Let me go."

Gaara walked forward and placed his hand on the handle of an umbrella.

"All I have to do is place sand over your big mouth and you'll be dead," the redhead stated as he lifted and opened it up. "But, that would be to ease and to boring." The red hair Sand Genin held his arm out and lifted the cocooned enemy shinobi up into the air. "Sand Burial!" Shibuya cried, but the sound cut out all to soon as blood rain down on the group. "There wasn't any pain. I crushed him with more force then was necessary, so it was over quickly. A corpses bitter crimson tears flow and mingle with the endless sand, feeding the Chaos within me and making me stronger."

"Just take the scroll," one of the last two remaining Rain ninjas said as he took a scroll and placed it on the ground. "Go on. Here."

"Yes," the other one agreed. "Take it. Please spare us?"

Gaara tossed the umbrella away before holding out his hands to them while sand started to cover them and then crushed them as well.

...My Line...

"Take about cruel," the blonde sighed. "Kill those, who were surrendering."

This made him to shake his head.

"There are people out there that do not have an ounce of mercy in them, Aniki," the Miran told him as she also let out a sigh.

...My Line...

"Man, this bad," Kiba said as he turned around. "He have to get out of here before he finds and kills us."

Both Hinata and Shino quickly followed the Inuzuka.

...My Line...

Kankuro walked up to the scroll that was on the ground and picked up.

"We've got lucky," he said as he turned around. "It's a Heaven Scroll. Alright, let's head to the tower."

"Just shut up," Gaara told him.

"Huh?"

"It's...it's still not enough for me," the redhead as he looked in Team 8's direction.

...My Line...

'Oh, no. Did he see us? If he did, we're done for.'

...My Line...

Raika pulled a trembling Hinata into a hug while Naruto placed a hand on both Kiba's and Shino's shoulders.

...My Line...

"Come on Gaara. Let's go."

"What? Are you scared? Coward."

"Look Gaara," Kankuro spoke up as he walked towards. "I know that this test is no problem for you, but it is dangerous for Temari and I. One set of scrolls is good enough. It's all we need to pass."

"Losers can't tell me what to do," Gaara told him as he held out his hand making his older brother to narrow his eyes.

"Alright, that's enough," Kankuro growled. "Some times, you have to listen to what your big brother says."

"It's to bad that I don't see you as my big brother. If you get in my way, I'll kill you."

The redhead smacked his hand away before once again holding out his hand.

"Now wait just a moment Gaara," Temari spoke up. "You don't have treat us like we're the enemy. Look just do it as a favor to your sister, please?"

Gaara placed his hand in front of him before once again holding it out to his side as Sand swirled around it.

"Huh?"

...My Line...

"Oh, no."

...My Line...

"GAARA!" Temari yelled as her youngest brother closed his hand.

"Alright, this time," Gaara finally agreed as he placed the top on his guard.

This action made both of his siblings to sigh in relief as he walked away.

'Yeah,' Kankuro thought. 'That's why I hate brats.'

...My Line...

"It's okay, Hinata," Raika whispered. "Your safe here at the tower."

"Go on, Kiba," Naruto urged softly and gently.

...My Line...

Team 8 were panting after having run off.

"I guess, we now know why you were so freaked out," Kiba said as he looked partner. "I just wish that you said something sooner."

Shino looked over at him surprise.

...My Line...

"Animals all did have a good sense of when danger is near," Shino stated.

However, he was still freaked out about that encounter.

...My Line...

"No one's here," Hinata stated.

"Ha, ha," Kiba laughed. "We're the first."

"No," Shino spoke up. "I'm sure that I sensed someone here a little while ago."

"More importantly is Akamaru okay?" the Hyuuga asked as she gently patted the nin-hound. "The little guy has been so scared for so long."

"Come to think of it," Shino said. "What did Akamaru say before?"

"Well, I guess what he has been saying is that bigger ninja was in trouble because that little pipsqueak was going to kill him," Kiba answered.

"Just like I thought," they heard Kankuro's voice. "There's no other place to go."

"We're already waited for half a day," Temari was next to be heard. "How much longer are they going to make us wait?"

The three Sand Siblings walked into the same room as Team 8 stood in before taking notice of them and just kept on walking.

'I don't know what that Suna squirt is, but whatever he is, he's to dangerous to mess with,' Kiba thought. 'He's bad news.'

...My Line...

"Whatever you three do, do not face Gaara," Naruto told them.

"Forfeit the match if you end up against him," Raika added.

"And do not pissed him off," the two hidden and unaware cousins finished together.

"Right," Team 8 agreed.

'Looks like I will need to talk to Tenzo-Sensei about learning how to handle fellow Jinchuuriki,' the blonde thought as he narrowed his eyes.

Both members of Team 7 shared a look with each other before offering some form of camaraderie to Team 8.

...My Line...

"This is turning into a real mess," Anko said as she sat in a room with two ANBUs. "But, there's no real way we can conceal the test."

"What do you mean?"

Just then the door opened up.

"Sorry to interrupt."

"Huh? What do you want? We're talking about something important."

"I...I...uh...I'm sorry, but it's this tap. You have to see it."

"What is it?"

The Chunin exam helper placed the tap into the VSH after having turned on the TV.

"Okay, when you see this, pay close attention to the time."

He hit play and at the upper left hand corner was the time 16:07 (4:07 pm).

"What? But, that means..."

"That's right, Anko. This was recorded from right inside the tower. It's unbelievable. Those ninjas finished in 1 hour and 37 minutes after the test started. They completely demolished the record for finishing the second test."

"What?" Anko asked in shock as she got to her feet. "That's impossible."

"It took just 97 minutes. Nothing like this has ever happened before. No one has ever come close. Those Ninjas from Sunagakure (The Hidden Sand Village) are way above Genin level. They beat the record by 4 hours."

"I afraid that it's not just that."

"I don't get it. What do you mean?"

"It's 10 kilometers from the entrance to the tower," Anko explained. "And in between are ferocious animals and poisons insects. Not to mention all of the other ninjas. Could they have really avoid all of those things? Especially, the brown hair kid in the front."

"What's so specially about him?"

"You mean, that you didn't see?"

The Chunin rewind the tap and played again.

"Interesting. That is quite the surprise."

"I still don't get it. What am I suppose to be seeing here?"

"It's what your not seeing. Looking closely at his body."

The Chunin did as ordered.

"I see it now."

"Not one single scratch and I haven't been able to spot one speck of dirt on his clothing."

'Not even I...no...none of the other Chunin would be able to make it to the tower without getting a stretch. It's impossible.'

"He must have some special ability."

"It's been a long time since we have had a promising candidate, but he's eyes are pure evil."