Omni Force: ORIGINS

by NegaiFreak

Where did it all start, you might wonder? Well, some stories aren't about just beginnings. They're also about how bonds between our heroes were forged. Join in as we partake in this 100-chapter story of how the Omni Force came to be, with each member getting a tale for themselves! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

3. Naruto Uzumaki

Hey folks! Welcome back to "Omni Force: ORIGINS"! With the last chapter focusing on Ash Ketchum, this time we're looking into another old favorite from my younger years, Naruto Uzumaki! I'd argue that he's one the most recognizable characters in media, even as his series has ended, having continued in its sequel.

When I first started Naruto, he was definitely a character I could root for. I couldn't watch much of the series since I was young at the time, and some of it was a little risqué, but when I did get the chance to watch it, I was amazed by Naruto's growth. From the Chunin Exam Arc to the Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc, there was a lot he went through. But he was able to push through it.

And as the time-skip came about, I thought he was even more amazing. I still love the Shippuden series, even if its ending was divisive for some people. Now getting into this story for him is gonna be a bit strange, but I'm confident in what I'll be putting out there. I hope you enjoy this, everyone!

OMNI FORCE: ORIGINS

The story of a boy born in a time of turmoil, a boy who lost his parents the day he was born, a boy who was cursed to have a monster sealed within him, and a boy who was shunned by most of the village in which he lived… is a story I'm sure most know too well at this point. Complicated as it might be, this boy in particular took on all those burdens and persevered, living his life as a shinobi and fighting for the sakes of the people around him, not just himself. It's how he became a hero in his own right.

I'm of course talking about the one and only Naruto Uzumaki. With spiky blonde hair and a mainly orange attire, it's hard to believe that he's supposed to be some kind of ninja. But as I've always said, the multiverse works in mysterious ways.

And speaking of the multiverse, we saw Ben and Gwen take their first steps when visiting the world of Pokémon. Since then, Azmuth has been working to harness that capability to travel to different universes. Two years have gone by, and he's finally created what we now know is an MPG, the Multiversal Portal Generator.

Learning of this project, Ben and Gwen were most excited about the opportunity to see Ash and his friends again. However, they might've celebrated a little too early… The MPG was able to open portals, yes. But there was no way for it to pinpoint unknown worlds… including the one that our pair found themselves falling into…

There, they'll be introduced to much more… aggressive world…

UNIVERSE-700

THE FOREST OF DEATH

"Man…" a 13-year-old Ben groaned as he and Gwen trudged through the forest, with its shadows casting over them, "And here I was hoping I'd get to find a Pokémon the second we got here…" he grumbled in admittance.

"Well, are you sure we're in Ash's universe?" his cousin asked of him, "Seems a bit… different…" she pointed out, "And besides, it's not like the portal was gonna take us directly to Ash," she mentioned seriously.

"Ugh…" the Omnitrix bearer groaned again, "If I knew that, I wouldn't have volunteered to go through with this whole MPG thing…" he muttered.

"Oh, suck it up…" Gwen grumbled back, "You wanted to see more worlds too, didn't you?" she inquired of him, "Besides, this is a great opportunity," she pointed out, "Other kinds of worlds with other kinds of things that make them up?" she noted as she looked around, "It's so… uh…" she tried to say, only to slowly widen her eyes as her mouth gaped open.

"It's so… what?" her cousin asked, arching an eyebrow as he glanced back at her. He then heard a hissing coming from in front of him, enticing him to turn and gasp to see the giant snake looming right ahead. "Whoa!" he yelped as he stumbled back. The beast lunged at him, opening its mouth as it was about to strike.

"Ben!" Gwen screamed, quickly reaching into her pocket to pull out something. Unfortunately, she seemed to be too late as the snake crashed onto the Omnitrix bearer in a flurry of dirt and dust. "Oh no…" she uttered in disbelief. However, she then caught the faintest green glow from the cloud, followed by the sound of squelching, making her cringe. The dust settled, revealing the snake lying dead on the ground with many holes in its body. Standing by it was a humanoid plant with one eye in the middle of his face, five vine-like legs, four long fingers on his hands, flytrap-shaped flaps with teeth covering his head, and pods on his back. He had green skin, green teeth, five legs, the eye on his head was blue, and he had secondary eyes of the same color on each of his shoulders. The Omnitrix symbol was upon his chest.

"Okay… big as that was…" he began with a heavy breath, "that was an actual snake, right?" he presumed, looking back at his cousin.

"Mm-hmm…" she responded meekly with a nod, "We're definitely not in Ash's universe…" she concluded, looking around, "And I'm not looking forward to what other kinds of crazy stuff we could find…" she added.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat…" Wildvine grumbled, "Weren't you the one just saying how excited you were about seeing new worlds?" he inquired of Gwen.

"That was before we almost got eaten!" she shouted back. All of a sudden, the deceased snake's body started bulging.

"Huh?" the Florauna uttered in surprise as he and his cousin watched it grow. It then burst apart, with its innards splattering about. Though that wasn't what surprised the pair. It was the multitude of boys emerging about, seemingly copies of each other.

He had yellow-blond, spiky hair and blue eyes. His trademark characteristics were the three whisker markings on his cheeks. He wore an orange and blue jacket with a white collar, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, and a red crest on the back. He also wore orange pants with a shuriken holster on his right knee, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector. He and his clones landed down, breathing heavily with exhaustion.

"Sorry, but you picked the wrong shinobi!" he remarked proudly, "I'm gonna be Hokage one day!" he proclaimed on, "If you think I'm gonna end up a pile of snake crap in the woods, you're—!" He stopped his shouting as he and his copies took notice of both Wildvine and Gwen.

"Whoa, good thing you got yourself out…" the former noted aloud, "If I knew you were in there, I would've pulled you free before—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the boy and his clones screamed in fright.

"Th-That monster's talking!" he stammered out, pointing a trembling finger toward the Florauna.

"Uh, hey, hold on a sec…" he advised as he put up his hands, "I'm not a bad guy…" he said to the blonde-haired boy's surprise, "In fact, I'm—"

"Oh, crap!" he suddenly exclaimed, "I gotta find Sasuke and Sakura!" he realized, leaping off into the trees in an instant.

"Hey, wait!" Wildvine yelled. Meanwhile, all of the boy's clones suddenly disappeared in bursts of smoke.

"Whoa…" Gwen uttered out, "What… was that?" she inquired.

"Not sure…" her transformed cousin replied, "But I think that guy needs help," he concluded.

"Wait, you're gonna just help some random kid that burst out from a dead snake?!" the young mage inquired out of shock.

"It's basically what we did the last time we wound up in another universe, remember?" the Florauna questioned back as a retort, smirking before stretching his left arm out, latching onto a tree, "Alley-oop!" he exclaimed, swinging off.

"Huh…" Gwen sighed, jogging after him, "Fair point…" she muttered in admittance.

OPENING

Insert "Hero" by Martin Garrix X JVKE

Opens with Naruto Uzumaki sitting alone on the swing outside of the Ninja School, isolated and shunned from everyone else. As much as he tries to get people to notice him with his pranks, he's left hated by most of the Leaf Village. It isn't until the day that Iruka Umino saves his life that he feels freed from the darkness. We see him put on his forehead protector, letting off a big grin.

Naruto gets introduced to his teammates of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, along with their teacher, Kakashi Hatake. The team doesn't get along at first, especially when they fail their teacher's bell test. However, they slowly start to bond with each other. Naruto and Sasuke form a rivalry as they continue forward, taking part in their first big mission in the Land of Waves.

We see Naruto freeze up with fear as he and his teammates get attacked by bandits, only for Sasuke to thwart them with ease. Naruto stabs himself with a kunai to bleed out a poison he received earlier, vowing to never freeze up again. We see the team training more with their chakra, learning to climb up trees and stand upside down on surfaces. They face another challenge against a man named Haku, who wounds Sasuke as he moves in the way to protect Naruto. Overcome with rage, Naruto's eyes turn red and monstrous as a reddish-orange chakra swells around him, all while he holds his friend.

Next, the team gets themselves put through the Chunin Exams. After passing the first phase by the skin of his teeth, Naruto enters the Forest of Death along with Sasuke and Sakura. There, they end up confronted by a disguised Orochimaru, who weakens both boys with ease. However, he's suddenly punched away by a stretched-out green fist, belonging to none other than Wildvine.

Later, Naruto wakes up, and is introduced to Ben, who holds his hand out to him in greeting. What follows is flashes of the two working side by side in missions, with Ben helping Naruto round up bandits and fight enemies all across the world. We also see him and Sakura paying witness to Naruto and Sasuke's first fight on the rooftops, which is luckily stopped by Kakashi. Unfortunately, the fight happens again at the Valley of the End, where Naruto fails to defeat Sasuke, thus allowing him to leave and defect to Orochimaru.

Opening his eyes years later, Naruto blinks in surprise to find Ben there alongside Ash Ketchum, Gingka Hagane, and Rex Salazar. He cracks a smile, ready to join them on their journeys. We see him and Rex coming together to form the Tornado Nanite Rasengan to stop Shinno, followed by him summoning forth a multitude of shadow clones to fend off Equalist forces in Republic City. However, we also see Naruto succumb to the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, becoming enveloped in its chakra as he takes control of him.

Though he feels hopeless, he lifts his head up, widening his eyes to find his father, Minato Namikaze, and his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, smiling at him encouragingly. He stands up and grins, much to the Nine-Tailed Fox's surprise. He grins back himself before the two share a fist bump, cementing their new bond.

There are several moments we go through, such as Naruto entering his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode to confront the other Tailed Beasts, battling foes like Obito and Madara Uchiha alongside his comrades, and even facing Sasuke one last time at the Valley of the End. As they fight, Naruto reflects on his past and his present, coming to terms with who he is as a person now. He opens his eyes again to find himself and Sasuke lying in the valley's remains, now each without an arm.

The song ends with Naruto achieving his dream of becoming Hokage, looking out at the Hokage Rock beyond the village. He puts on his hat, only to blink in surprise and sigh with exasperation to see his son, Boruto, pulling pranks at his expense by painting over the monument. However, he smiles, knowing that those kinds of antics were what made him become a greater man going forward.

END OPENING

NARUTO UZUMAKI

Before we continue, I believe a summarization of what's been going on this world prior to Ben and Gwen's arrival. Naruto and his teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, are participating in a test known as the Chunin Exams. By passing through phases of the exams, they have the opportunity to obtain a higher ranking amongst their fellow shinobi.

As of this moment, they're in the second phase, surviving the aptly named Forest of Death. Their main objective is to obtain a pair of scrolls, labeled heaven and earth. At the start of the test, they already have one, and need to take the other from another team participating in the challenge.

That said, it hasn't been easy with all of the forest's obstacles. And it's even more difficult to discern who to trust. Beyond that… there's much more danger lurking around the corner.

So when faced with this danger, what will Ben and Gwen do to help?

Sasuke and Sakura had been practically paralyzed by fear. The first instance someone tried to disguise themselves as Naruto in order to get their scroll, they managed do away with him easily. But this time was different. The shinobi that they were confronting, one from the Hidden Grass Village, had made them see visions of their own deaths.

The Uchiha survivor had never felt so afraid from his gaze. And he could tell that he wasn't like the others he fought before. He was on a different level compared to him. He was barely able to compose himself, managing to escape with Sakura into the dense trees.

Their foe managed to find them, however. He had his giant snake go after Sasuke, who retaliated with his ninja tools in order to kill it. But at the same time, Shiore emerged from the beast's head.

"I sense your fear and desperation…" he noted, while Sasuke widened his Sharingan eyes, "It's only natural…" he added, "The prey must never let down its guard, not even for a moment…" he pointed out, "in the presence of its predator!" he snarled, licking his lips as his long, snake-like tongue hung out and waved. All of a sudden, his body started stretching towards the raven-haired genin, as he laughed all the while. Sakura gasped, while Sasuke screamed. He didn't know what to do against such a foe as he coiled around the tree branches, closing in on him. But just then, a volley of shuriken and kunai flew down, piercing into the bark just before him, forcing him to stop.

"Looks like I came just in time!" a familiar voice remarked, getting everyone's attention. They turned to see none other than Naruto standing upon one of the upper branches with his arms folded over his chest.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed with relief.

"Oh, and by the way…" the blonde-haired genin continued, "what was that password again?" he questioned.

"Oh, forget it!" his female teammate shouted, "We already know it's you for sure!" she pointed out, followed by blinking in surprise, "Wait, watch out!" she yelled to his confusion. All of a sudden, something landed down next to him, being Wildvine.

"Ah!" he yelped out, "Wh-Why'd you come after me?!" he questioned of the Florauna, stepping back from him while taking a ready stance, "Here to finish the job?" he guessed, clenching his teeth.

"I'm here to help, duh!" Wildvine retorted to his shock, "Sounded like you needed to find your friends, so I figured I'd tag along," he told him, "So I'm guessing that guy who's all stretched out isn't your friend, right?" he assumed.

"Uh… yeah…" Naruto answered, somewhat baffled that the Florauna was there to help. Shiore glanced over, narrowing his eyes onto the pair.

"Naruto, get out of here!" Sasuke yelled, "You don't know what you're up against!" he pointed out desperately.

"Huh?" the blonde-haired genin uttered in surprise, having never heard his teammate sound so conflicted.

"Go now!" he insisted, "While you still can!" he added on.

"Sounds like this guy's tougher than all of you…" Wildvine noted aloud, reaching to his back to pull off the pods there, "Well, not that that matters to me," he mentioned, rearing his arms back. All of the shinobi looked at him in surprise, "If someone's in trouble, I gotta help!" he declared, flinging the pods down at Shiore. He cracked a grin, uncoiling his body from the branch before the pods could strike. They hit the bark, exploding in bursts of green smoke.

'Smoke bombs?!' Sasuke exclaimed inwardly as he braced himself.

"Hey, what are you thinking?!" he shouted in question to the Florauna, getting his attention, "And who even are you anyway?!" he inquired on.

"I just said, I'm here to help!" he answered, only to suddenly hear a chuckle echo through the forest.

"Help, hm?" Shiore's voice repeated, "You won't be able to help anyone, not even yourself…" he proclaimed as his four opponents looked around in fright, trying to discern where he had gone. The smoke settled, revealing that he was nowhere in sight. Sasuke grimaced. He knew that fighting was pointless, especially if their foe could make even him freeze up with fear. There was only one option. He deactivated his Sharingan.

"You can have it!" he called out, much to everyone's surprise.

"Wait, what?" Wildvine uttered, "What's he talking about?" he questioned further. Reaching into the pack on the back of his belt, Sasuke pulled out the Heaven Scroll.

"This is what you want, right?" he inquired of Shiore, holding the object up, "You can take it and leave us in peace," he assured. His teammates gasped in shock. The Florauna blinked twice.

"Sorry, I'm a little lost here…" he admitted apologetically, "What's that guy want?" he questioned.

"Sasuke, are you crazy or what?!" Naruto shouted to his rival, "We're gonna just hand over the scroll to the enemy?!" he guessed out of frustration, "No way! What's wrong with you?!" he yelled on.

"Shut up and stay out of it!" the Uchiha survivor shouted back, "You and that freak!" he added over to Wildvine, who clenched his teeth.

"What…?!" Naruto snarled.

"Very wise…" Shiore's voice chimed in as he suddenly came down from the treetops, landing in front of Sasuke as he took a cautious step back, "Very sensible, too," he added, "Sometimes, the helpless prey, if they are to save their own skins, realize that they have to distract the predator with something even more precious," he explained. There was a long silence between him and the dark-haired genin.

"Take it," he said, tossing the scroll over. He was ready to catch it, but all of a sudden, Naruto leapt over to snatch the object, hopping off of another branch back over to his rival. "Stop playing the damn hero!" he yelled angrily, "Just stay out of this and leave it to—!" Before he could finish his declaration, the blonde-haired genin whipped around and clocked him squarely in the face with his right fist, sending him flying back as he coughed up blood. Sakura gasped. Luckily, Sasuke was able to catch himself on another branch, crouching down upon it as he breathed heavily. "You idiot…" he growled out, "You don't know what you're doing!" he shouted. Wildvine watched on in awe of what Naruto had just done. What was so important about the scroll that he didn't want to have it given to their enemy? He breathed heavily for a few moments.

"I may not know the password…" he admitted, "but I know who I am!" he affirmed proudly, "You're the one I'm not so sure about…" he noted to Sasuke, who blinked in confusion, "How do we know you're who you say you are?" he questioned of his rival.

"What do you mean?!" Sakura shouted in question, "It's him! I know!" she confirmed, "Don't be so stupid!" she added vehemently.

"Uh, guys…" Wildvine tried to chime in.

"What's gotten into you, you idiot?!" Sasuke shouted toward Naruto, "I'm me, loser!" he affirmed. The blonde-haired genin kept breathing heavily.

"Liar…" he growled out, while Shiore smirked.

"Guys, seriously…" Wildvine said, trying to interject on the conversation.

"You may look just like him…" Naruto noted, "You may sound just like him!" he mentioned on, "But… there's no way you're the Sasuke I know!" he affirmed, much to Sakura's surprise, "I don't care how tough a fight you've been through…" he added, "Surrendering? Giving up the scroll?" he listed off in inquiry, "When did Sasuke become a coward?!" he questioned angrily, "You keep saying I don't understand what's going on, but I do!" he declared, pointing at his rival, "You've choked, that's what it is!" he proclaimed. The dark-haired genin gritted his teeth. Shiore chuckled again.

"Sad… but true," he commented, letting his tongue stick out wildly. Both Sasuke and Sakura widened their eyes with fright. "As far as the scroll goes, I can simply just kill you and take it…" he pointed out while rolling up his left sleeve, revealing a dark, snake-like tattoo upon it. He then reached her right thumb up to his mouth, only for his wrist to suddenly be grasped by the stretched-out arm of Wildvine.

"Look, I don't know how things work in this world…" he admitted, "but I'm not gonna let you do anything else!" he vowed firmly.

"So you say…" Shiore responded to his surprise. He grabbed his arm and pulled him over in a yelp, resulting in him crashing against another tree upside down. What followed was him biting his thumb, drawing blood that he used to smear the tattoos on his arm. Taking notice, Naruto immediately drew a kunai from his holster and charged toward him.

"Naruto, don't!" Sasuke yelled desperately, "She's too powerful!" he pointed out. Unfortunately, the blonde-haired genin didn't care, still thinking that his rival was just too afraid to fight.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Shiore exclaimed, rapidly going through all sorts of hand signs.

"Huh?" Wildvine uttered in surprise, "Wait… is she supposed to be a ninja?" he wondered aloud. All of a rush of air burst out from the woman's body, spreading about and tearing through the surrounding foliage. The Florauna gasped as he saw that Shiore was now atop another giant snake. "Okay, that's not good…" he realized as he hopped onto another branch, grabbing a trio of pods off of his back. The beast lunged out at Naruto, who barely managed to leap away in time as it slammed its body against the tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out. The snake then found itself bombarded by Wildvine's pods in powerful blasts. However, it emerged from the smoke, seemingly unfazed.

"Ergh…" the Florauna growled out.

"You're quite an interesting one," Shiore commented, getting his attention as he glanced over to see the ninja standing upon one of the upper branches, "Tell me, what did you mean by 'this world'?" he inquired curiously. Before Wildvine could offer a response, he was suddenly ambushed by the giant snake himself. He gritted his teeth, protruding thorns from his body that pierced through its skin. However, that didn't keep it from slamming him hard against the back. He gasped in agony, barely managing to latch onto a branch as he fell down.

"Agh…" he groaned. This was starting to get disorienting, and not in a way he imagined it'd be. As he pulled himself back up, he saw that the snake was heading after Naruto, with Shiore atop its head. "Hey, wait!" the Florauna yelled, stretching himself after him. What was yet to follow would be quite the ordeal…

X

To surmise, the person that Naruto and Ben are facing isn't just some random shinobi. He's actually one of the three legendary sanin of the Leaf Village, Orochimaru. His goals will be determined in due time. As of now though, he's currently playing as the ninja Shiore, whose face he stole after killing him. And now, he's looking to have some fun with our heroes…

"Stupid doofus…" Gwen grumbled as she jogged through the forest with Esper alongside her, "Of course he goes swinging off because he wants to help someone as soon as possible…" she muttered.

"Espee?" her Espeon squeaked in concern.

"Uh, sorry…" her owner apologized, "I just hate how Ben always seems to rush into things without thinking," she pointed out, "What if he gets hurt? Or worse?" she inferred, only to hear a rumbling nearby, "Hopefully it's not worse…" she said, hurrying off in the direction of the rumbling. There, Wildvine was swinging about, launching more black pods onto the giant snake as they exploded upon contact. Shiore wasn't even remotely intimidated, grinning all the while.

"You said you were going to help these three, weren't you?" he inquired of the Florauna, who landed down, taking a deep breath, "You haven't really proven that you can, however…" he pointed out.

"Oh yeah…?" Wildvine growled out, stretching his arms out to try and snatch the ninja atop the giant snake's head. He easily flipped away from them, smirking all the while. Suddenly though, a kunai slashed past the right side of his face from behind. He turned to see Naruto there, who breathed heavily with exhaustion.

"Hm," Shiore huffed, "Perhaps I should have him finish you off first…" he realized, enticing his snake to lash its tail out at the blonde-haired genin from below. He attempted to jump away, but then winced suddenly, halting him as he wound up struck upwards.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke and Sakura screamed.

"No!" Wildvine yelled, seeing him go crashing through tree branches before finally slamming against one above, spitting out blood. Everyone watched him fall towards the snake, completely unconscious.

"Now finish him!" Shiore commanded of his giant snake, having it lunge up and open its mouth. The Florauna was quick to stretch his left out to wrap around a nearby tree, attempting to swing himself over to catch the falling genin. But all of a sudden, he noticed his eyes slowly open. And his irises had turned red, while his pupils were slit like an animal's.

"EAT THIS!" he roared, somersaulting around to add momentum to the kick he landed upon the giant snake's head.

"Whoa!" Wildvine yelped in surprise, while Shiore gasped. His summoned beast recoiled, now with a distinct red mark on its head as its foe leapt back. The Florauna noticed aside from just his eyes, Naruto's whisker-like markings were a lot more pronounced, and his teeth and fingernails had sharpened.

"But how…?" Shiore wondered aloud, "It's impossible…" he pointed out.

"Dude, what did you just do?" Wildvine asked of the blonde-haired genin as he swung over. He didn't respond, lunging out and rapidly punching at the giant snake over and over. "Uh, hey!" the Florauna yelled, seeing him strike the beast down without relenting. It managed to swat him away with its tongue, but he lunged out again, ready to strike. Shiore cracked a grin, holding his left hand out under his lips. He then blew out a stream of what looked to be fire, engulfing Naruto and sending him flying backwards. "Crap!" Wildvine yelped, seeing him crash through more branches. Fortunately, he caught him on another, allowing him to stand back up. He could still tell that he was ready to keep fighting. And it scared him a little…

"Now then…" Shiore said, turning his attention onto Sasuke, who grimaced, "Let's see how you do…" he challenged, having his giant snake lunge towards him. He wanted to move, but his body was practically frozen in fear.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed.

"Hey, move already!" Wildvine yelled desperately. The Uchiha survivor couldn't think to do anything else. He was still shell-shocked. And he was about to get crushed. A loud bang erupted just as Gwen and Esper arrived. They looked up and gasped in surprise. The snake had been stopped just before it could reach Sasuke by none other than Naruto, who stabbed a kunai into it while holding the beast back by himself.

"What the…?" the young mage below uttered in shock.

"Espeee…" her Espeon said, blinking rapidly. Up above, the blonde-haired genin breathed heavily. Sasuke was staring at him, shocked at his display of strength. And then…

"Hey kid…" Naruto uttered, making him perk up, "You're not hurt, are you?" he inquired in between breaths, while everyone looked on in awe, "You scaredy cat!" he yelled as he looked up at his rival dead in the eyes. He widened his, remembering having said the exact same thing to the blonde-haired genin before on a prior mission. And now, he was the one trembling with fear. "Standing there frozen like a frightened rabbit!" his rival pointed out, "No way!" he shouted, "You're not the Sasuke I know!" he proclaimed.

There was a long silence between them. Meanwhile, Wildvine took notice of Shiore, whose tongue extended out and wrapped around Naruto, pulling him away in a yelp. Sasuke and Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" the Florauna yelled, lunging out at the man with his fists at the ready. Unfortunately, his foe was quick to grab him by the Omnitrix dial at his chest, slamming him down before stomping on him with his left foot.

"Ergh… let him go…!" Naruto grunted out, "And let me go too, while you're at it!" he demanded angrily, trying to wriggle himself free. Shiore chuckled, forming his hands into a seal before gathering a purple energy at the fingertips of his right hand. He used his tongue to lift up Naruto's jacket, revealing the seal at his stomach. Wildvine blinked in surprise upon seeing it.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud. Shiore reared his arm back.

"Five-Pronged Seal!" he exclaimed, jabbing the blonde-haired genin with his fingertips, making him cry out in agony.

"No!" Wildvine yelled, stretching his fist up to punch Shiore in the face, making him recoil as he reflexively dropped Naruto, who lost consciousness as his eyes went back to their normal blue.

"Sasuke, hurry!" Sakura cried out, knowing that Naruto wouldn't survive such a fall. However, the Uchiha survivor was paralyzed with fear still. Luckily, Wildvine was able to stretch his right arm out to wrap around the blonde-haired genin, grabbing hold of him before he could fall further.

"Huh…" he exhaled in relief.

"I wouldn't relax just yet, creature," Shiore's voice advised, causing him to gasp as he was suddenly struck by the man's fingertips like Naruto, right around the Omnitrix symbol at his chest, "Five-Pronged Seal!" he yelled again, sending him flying back in a yell as he started falling. Sakura gasped, while Sasuke widened his eyes. Neither of them could seemingly save the pair. However, both of them were caught in a bluish light that outlined their bodies, gently being brought down to the ground.

"Agh…" Wildvine groaned as he stood up, unraveling his arm from Naruto. He looked ahead and blinked in surprise to find Gwen there with Esper.

"Ben, are you okay?!" his cousin immediately asked as she approached.

"Yeah, I think so…" he replied, looking over to the unconscious Naruto, "Hey, look after that guy for me," he requested, "I got unfinished business with that tongue guy," he noted, right before letting out a grunt of pain.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gwen asked of him.

"I don't know…" the Florauna answered honestly, not noticing the green glow coming from the Omnitrix symbol, "That freakshow did some sorta weird thing to that kid and now me…" he told his cousin, bringing his hand up to the symbol, "I'm not sure if—" The moment his hand touched the Omnitrix dial, a green flash of light enveloped his body, also causing Gwen to Esper to flinch from its brightness.

"Sasuke, snap out of it!" Sakura insisted of the Uchiha survivor back upon the branches, "We gotta go help Naruto and that… plant guy!" she pointed out, only to get no response from her teammate. She teared up, but then gave off an angered look. "Say what you want about Naruto…" she continued, "but at least he was doing something to try and help us!" she noted vehemently, "Don't be such a coward!" she insisted.

Hearing that, Sasuke was thinking back to when he had paid witness to the extermination of his clan… by one of their own. He kept hearing his voice in his head, mocking him for his fear, saying that he would run away. But now… he wouldn't. He reactivated his Sharingan, glaring out at Shiore. He chuckled, making his giant snake disappear in a burst of white smoke. He was excited to see just what kind of power his foe wielded. But suddenly…

"Surprise!" a voice yelled, getting his attention too late as he was kicked aside by the balled right foot of XLR8, sending him crashing against one of the nearby trees. Sasuke and Sakura widened their eyes. Below, Gwen was sitting Naruto up against the base of one of the trees. She looked up worriedly.

'What in the world happened?' she wondered inwardly.

FLASHBACK

As the green light around her transformed cousin subsided, the young mage looked in surprise to find that he had turned from Wildvine to XLR8. Even he seemed surprise as he looked himself over.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "Didn't think that could happen…" he admitted aloud.

"What did you do?" Gwen asked.

"That's the thing, I don't know…" the Kineceleran confessed in response, "But I bet XLR-Eight's a better match for Mister Tongue-Face than Wildvine," he concluded, making his visor come down over his face, "You help that kid get back on his feet!" he insisted of his cousin, speeding up one of the trees.

"Ben!" his cousin cried out.

END FLASHBACK

'Did he unlock some sort of semi-Master Control?' Gwen wondered inwardly. Meanwhile, her Espeon was checking on Naruto, trying to wake him up. Back on the treetops, Shiore blinked in surprise to see the Omnitrix symbol upon XLR8's chest.

"You have the same seal as the other one…" he noted curiously with a grin.

"Seal?" the Kineceleran repeated, "Look, snake-man…" he began, "I don't know what your endgame is, but I'm not letting you lay another finger on these guys…" he declared with a glare.

"So you say…" Shiore responded, right before getting ambushed by kunai flung his way from Sasuke. After hearing what Naruto and Sakura had said, he knew that he had to fight. If he didn't stand up here, how could he hope to face his brother in the future?

Putting his left hand up in the form of a tiger seal, Shiore made a rush of wind burst out. However, that didn't keep XLR8 from rushing in and kicking him rapidly in the stomach. He let out a grunt, followed by throwing his arms up to block off Sasuke's attempted kicks. He counterattacked with his own blows, attempting to punch the Uchiha survivor before he could react. Unfortunately for him, his fist was caught by the Kineceleran.

"So long," he remarked, spinning around rapidly and flinging Shiore away. He quickly maneuvered his body to land feet first against the tree he was heading toward, crouching down and leaping around quickly. "Ugh, guy's like a damn snake…" XLR8 muttered as he let his visor come up.

"I can see him," Sasuke confirmed, causing the alien beside him to look over in surprise.

"How?" he asked, only to notice the Uchiha survivor's Sharingan eyes. As Shiore slithered in, the genin whipped around and unleashed a fireball from his lips toward him, blasting the bark in a powerful explosion. He then weaved through several hand signs before releasing a stream of fire like a dragon. XLR8 was left amazed, and it seemed as if the flames had engulfed their foe. However, he was grinning. He ended up somehow coming up from underneath the pair, forcing them to jump back. Growling, the Kineceleran let his visor go down before speeding out at him.

"Wait, don't be hasty!" Sasuke insisted. The Hidden Grass Village ninja brought his hands up, slamming them down in a powerful yell. Just as XLR8 closed in, he was suddenly blown away by the rush of wind expelled from his foe. He crashed against a nearby tree in a pained grunt, while the Uchiha survivor leapt away, seeing the bark break apart below as he landed upside down on another branch. He jumped down, grabbing Shiore as he yelped.

"Hey!" the Kineceleran yelled as he saw them fall. Sasuke wrapped his arms and legs around his foe, making sure he was descending headfirst. He slammed him against one of the branches, making its bark crack as he trembled. As his body seemingly went limp, the Uchiha survivor jumped back. XLR8 sped down to meet him, having his visor come up as he blinked in surprise. "Dude, that was overkill…" he muttered to him, getting his attention.

"If I didn't, he'd kill us," he retorted, glancing over at the Kineceleran, noticing the Omnitrix symbol at his chest, "You were that plant monster earlier, weren't you?" he assumed of him, causing him to blink in surprise, "Is it some kind of Transformation Jutsu?" he inquired on.

"Uh…" XLR8 uttered. Just then, the pair heard a creaking coming from Shiore's body. They gasped to see it suddenly melt into mud.

"Substitution!" Sasuke yelped in realization, "Move!" he yelled, shoving the Kineceleran aside before they could get skewered by the volley of kunai sent their way. As he fell, the Uchiha survivor quickly drew wire strings from his fingers, using them to wrap around a branch and swing his way to another one. He landed upon it, breathing heavily as he looked around for XLR8.

However, he was left distracted as Shiore suddenly rushed in and clocked him in the face with his right fist. What followed was a flurry of continuous blows, knocking the genin down in a yelp on his side.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out upon noticing. Shiore stepped closer to her foe, but then noticed XLR8 closing in from afar.

"Special delivery!" he remarked, ramming into him and crashing up against the tree in a flurry of dust. The pink-haired genin blinked in surprise, but then widened her eyes as she saw the Kineceleran fall over as well.

"That was quite close," Shiore admitted as he walked away, "If I hadn't moved at the last second, you would've surely crushed my body…" he pointed out, "Not that it would've helped," he added, while XLR8 groaned, trying to push himself up, "What a disappointment you turned out to be, Sasuke Uchiha…" the Hidden Grass ninja remarked to the downed genin, "Your ancestors weep…" he mocked, "The Uchiha Clan should thank me for killing you," he mentioned on, while the Kineceleran took notice of a few small objects that were hooked onto their foe's outfit, "Silly little worm," he said, right before a set of small explosions occurred, knocking him off his balance. That allowed for Sasuke to leap away, while XLR8 went ahead and kicked rapidly at their opponent, keeping him from regaining his focus. The Uchiha survivor went ahead and drew a pair of fuma shuriken, flinging them out.

They flew by Shiore, but that was his intention. Thin wires were attached to his weapons. And as the shuriken flew around the tree, he was able to pull on the wires themselves with his fingers. They wrapped around his foe, pinning him against the tree in a grunt.

"Nice!" XLR8 exclaimed with a grin.

"Get out of the way!" Sasuke yelled, getting his attention. He weaved through multiple hand signs, having a strand of wiring in his mouth.

'Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!' he roared inwardly, having flames expel from his mouth and sear along the wire toward his target. Realizing what he was doing, the Kineceleran sped away. The fire engulfed Shiore head on, making him scream with agony as it burned through both him and the bark.

"He did it!" Sakura exclaimed, while XLR8 sped over to her, "Ah!" she yelped in surprise.

"Let's get you outta here," the Kineceleran insisted, picking her up zooming down the tree with her. As the flames quelled and smoldered, Shiore was still pinned to the burned tree, groaning with agony. Sasuke breathed heavily in exhaustion. It had been a rough go, but he managed to emerge victorious. XLR8 zipped over, putting Sakura down onto her feet as his visor came up. He looked over at the defeated ninja. "Thought he'd look crispier…" he joked.

"You did it though, Sasuke!" Sakura happily pointed out, while the Uchiha survivor kept panting, "Hey, it's all over…" his teammate assured. Just then the Omnitrix symbol upon the Kineceleran's chest started beeping.

"Well, better now than sooner…" he muttered as the two genin looked over at him. A red flash of light enveloped XLR8, followed by subsiding to reveal that he had turned back into Ben. Both Sasuke and Sakura widened their eyes slightly.

"You're… just a kid?" the latter inquired.

"Look, I can explain more later," Ben affirmed, "Your friend's with my cousin right now," he pointed out, "His name's Naruto, right?" he presumed of them. Just then, the trio heard the wires snap. They looked over in disbelief to see Shiore walking forward. The Omnitrix bearer grimaced, seeing that his device was still red and recharging. But he also something different about the man they were facing. Like a snake, some of his skin was peeled away, revealing a pale face underneath and a snake-like golden eye. He clapped his hands together.

"Ah!" the trio before him gasped, suddenly becoming immobile.

"What the… crap?!" Ben grunted out.

"I… can't move…!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Impossible…!" Sasuke breathed out, while his pink-haired teammate fell to her hands and knees.

"Such mastery over the Sharingan at so young an age" Shiore commented, with his voice suddenly deepening, much to the group's surprise, "You're a true Uchiha after all," he mentioned, "And as for you…" he continued toward Ben, who fell onto his right knee, "you may not be a shinobi…" he kept going, narrowing his eyes, "but you might serve some purpose yourself," he admitted, "You'll both do nicely," he decided, waving his hand across his forehead protector, revealing a different marking engraved upon it.

"Ergh…" the Omnitrix bearer growled, "Gwen! Hurry!" he yelled out, getting his cousin's attention down from below, "We need help up here!" he insisted. She blinked in surprise, shocked to think that even Ben was in trouble. She looked back at the unconscious Naruto, who Esper was still guarding.

"Stay here," she advised of her, creating panels of pink light to climb upon like a staircase. Her Espeon whimpered worriedly.

"ERRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke yelled, trying to break free of whatever was rendering him immobile.

"You really are his brother," Shiore commented, causing him to perk up in surprise, "If anything, your eyes are even keener than Itachi's…" he added.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Sasuke shouted in question. The man chuckled, holding the Heaven Scroll he had taken from Naruto earlier.

"My name… is Orochimaru," he answered, "But as to what I want, that will have to wait until we meet again," he decided, "Which won't happen until you finish this test with the best score of all…" he added, burning the scroll in his hand with green flames.

"The scroll!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Hey snake-face!" Ben shouted, "What do you mean by best score?!" he inquired loudly.

"You'll have to defeat the Hidden Sound ninja who serve me," Orochimaru declared.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you're finished why don't you just beat it?!" Sakura yelled, "If we never meet again, it'll be too soon!" she bellowed on.

"Oh… he and I will meet again…" their foe vowed, putting his hands together into another seal.

"Now what?" Ben said. All of a sudden, Orochimaru's head stretched out towards the group, targeting Sasuke specifically. Like a vampire, he bit into the genin's neck with his fang-like teeth.

"Sasuke, no!" Sakura screamed.

"Gwen, hurry!" Ben yelled desperately, seeing that the Omnitrix wasn't recharged yet still. Sasuke trembled and groaned from the sudden bite. Orochimaru then let go, retracting his head back to his body. A trio of tomoe appeared upon the side of the Uchiha survivor's neck, making him grimace.

"You…!" Sakura growled, "What did you do to Sasuke?!" she questioned angrily.

"I just gave him a little parting gift…" Orochimaru replied, seeing the Uchiha survivor fall to his knees, "Very soon, Sasuke will seek me out," he proclaimed, "His desire for power will draw him to me…" he added. All of a sudden, he jumped away from the glowing discs of energy flung his way from below.

"Ben!" Gwen cried out, causing him to look and see the young mage floating herself up, "Are you okay?!" she asked immediately.

"Not really…" he responded, "We can't let that guy get away!" he pointed out, gesturing toward Orochimaru.

"That isn't necessary, boy," he responded to his surprise, "As interested as I am in someone like yourself," he continued as he started sinking into the bark, "I'd rather focus on what I know I can control…" he affirmed.

"Hey, wait!" Gwen yelled, readying her hands as a pink energy wafted off from them, "Eradico!" she chanted, unleashing several beams of light towards the sinking Orochimaru. He chuckled, vanishing just as the rays struck the tree, causing the branch to collapse. "Huh…" the young mage exhaled afterward. She hopped off of the panel she was upon onto the tree where the group was. "Okay, what happened?" she asked.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Sasuke suddenly bellowed with pain.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out. Gwen blinked in surprise, looking over to her cousin.

"Snake-face bit the guy in the neck," he told her, "And you saw what he did to the other kid…" he mentioned with a grimace.

"At least you're alive…" the young mage affirmed, "But who was that guy?" she wondered aloud.

"Someone whose butt I'll kick next time," Ben declared in reply, "For now…" he continued as he looked at the writhing Sasuke, "we oughta' help these guys out," he insisted, earning a nod of agreement from his cousin.

X

"At least he's breathing easier now…" Sakura noted as she felt Sasuke's head, having removed his forehead protector, "but he's still got a high fever…" she mentioned. Both him and Naruto were lying on the ground under a mass of roots that acted as a shelter. Their teammate lowered her head sadly, wondering if they would get better soon. She then felt something nudge against her, enticing her to look over and see Esper there.

"Espee?" she squeaked out. She nuzzled against the genin gently, trying to ease her conscience. She smiled a little, petting her.

"Esper's always great as emotional support, especially to those who really need it," Gwen pointed out as she trotted over, kneeling beside the pair, "My name's Gwen, by the way," she added, letting the Espeon come over and lie her head down on her lap.

"Sakura," the young genin introduced in reply, "And that guy out there…" she continued, looking over to Ben, who was standing guard at one of the openings for the roots.

"That's my cousin, Ben," Gwen replied.

"Thanks for all your help," Sakura said gratefully, "I don't know how we can repay you," she pointed out.

"No need," the young mage assured, "From where we're from, it's part of the job," she noted.

"From… what?" Sakura uttered in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

"You could've already guessed, but we're not exactly ninja," Ben told her as he walked over.

"Well, that doesn't explain those weird Transformation Jutsus you were pulling off…" Sakura noted.

"Ben does that with the Omnitrix, the watch on his wrist," Gwen explained, "He can turn into all sorts of alien creatures with different powers and skills," she mentioned, "Provided he doesn't screw up and turn into the wrong thing…" she remarked on.

"Ha-ha…" her cousin laughed dryly with sarcasm, "Anyways, something happened back there that was really weird," he pointed out, "That guy hit me with the same move he used on Naruto," he recalled, "probably trying to time me out or something," he presumed.

"But instead, he ended up making you change from Wildvine to XLR-Eight," the young mage noted.

"Only after I touched the dial on my chest…" Ben mentioned. Sakura was looking all the more puzzled by the conversation.

"Okay, timeout!" she exclaimed, "Aliens? Omnitrix? Wildvine? XLR-Eight?" she listed off in inquiry, "Just what kind of place are you from?!" she questioned emphatically.

"Uh, another universe," Ben answered bluntly to her shock.

"Huh…" Gwen sighed, "That's the simple way of putting it…" she grumbled out, "That reminds me, can't you get in touch with Grandpa or Azmuth?" she inquired of her cousin.

"I tried," he responded, pulling out the MPG he had in his pocket, "Thing's out of juice or something," he pointed out to the young mage's shock, "So, we're stuck like last time," he concluded, "At least until they can find us," he added in correction.

"Ugh…" Gwen groaned.

"We could really use the help, too…" Sakura muttered on.

"Hey, don't worry," Ben chimed in reassuringly, crouching down beside her, "We're gonna keep you guys safe," he affirmed.

"That reminds me…" Gwen said, "What are you guys doing in this forest in the first place?" she inquired curiously.

"It's part of a test…" Sakura responded to her surprise, "We've got five days to get two different scrolls and head to the deepest part of the forest to bring them there," she explained, "The one we were given at the start…" she continued before sighing, "was the only one we had…" she pointed out.

"So now you need two scrolls in order to pass, and the one you had got destroyed by that snake guy…" Gwen noted.

"He said his name was… Orochimaru…" Ben remembered, "That name ring any bells for you?" he inquired of Sakura, only for her to shake her head. She looked over at Naruto and Sasuke again.

"Those two are strong…" she noted solemnly, "Seeing them like this… it's just…" she tried to say, tearing up. Ben and Gwen looked to each other in concern.

"I'll take first watch," the former decided, much to the genin's surprise, "You get some rest," he advised of the girls.

"Sure, thanks," his cousin replied, taking out her Poké Ball, "Esper, time to get some sleep," she told her Espeon, making her perk up before she was returned to the container in a beam of red light. A flabbergasted Sakura blinked twice as her mouth gaped open. She then looked over at Ben, wondering just what else he was truly capable of. The night went on, with the cousins rotating watch shifts.

The Omnitrix bearer thought back to the battle with Orochimaru, remembering what he had said about the ninja who served him. He closed his eyes, deciding not to worry about it until morning. When the morning did arrive, he sat up from the ground, yawning as he looked over to see Esper psychically levitating a dry towel off of a branch to Sakura, who watered and wrung it out before placing it upon Sasuke's bare forehead.

"Surprise, surprise…" Gwen mumbled repeatedly, getting her cousin's attention, "You slept in…" she noted in annoyance.

"Sorry…" Ben apologized, standing up, "Anything happen?" he inquired.

"Only bad dreams about things getting worse," the young mage answered, looking over at the worried Sakura.

"Can't blame her," the Omnitrix bearer admitted, "I mean, think about what happened," he pointed out in remembrance, "Some random snake-face shows up and takes out her teammates with barely a scratch…" he commented quietly.

"Yeah…" Gwen said, "Should we try and find some more help?" she inquired of him.

"Good idea," he responded, "You hold the fort down, okay?" he requested, earning a nod in reply from his cousin. They bumped fists in understanding, followed by Ben heading off.

"I never knew cousins could be so close…" Sakura commented.

"We've been through a lot," Gwen noted in reply, walking over and crouching down to check on Sasuke, "Ben got that watch of his three years ago," she pointed out, "Since then, he's done everything he can to help people in trouble, even when he can't go alien all the time," she mentioned, putting her hand up against the Uchiha survivor's head. She gave off a little smile. "It's not totally gone, but his fever's definitely down," she assured. The pink-haired genin sighed with relief. But then she heard rustling. She flinched, drawing a kunai from her holster. "Whoa, easy…" the young mage advised with her hands held out, "It's probably just a squirrel or… whatever small animals are in this world…" she presumed. As it turned out, it was just a squirrel… that was running towards them.

"Ah!" Sakura gasped, reflexively flinging the kunai out as it pierced into the ground just inches from the fluffy little creature, startling it.

"Hey!" Gwen yelled.

"S-Sorry!" Sakura stammered apologetically, "Just got a little freaked out…" she admitted, "I… haven't really slept…" she confessed on. The young mage looked at her worriedly before glancing back at the fleeing squirrel. She blinked upon noticing something on its back, looking like a tag.

'Maybe she's right to be wary…' she noted to herself. As it turned out, they were being watched from afar by a trio of Sound Village ninja: Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi, and Dosu Kinuta.

"I thought for sure that would work…" Zaku muttered in admittance, "You think they saw the paper bomb?" he presumed.

"No, they're probably just on guard," Kin responded, "Especially with that other guy gone," she added with narrowed eyes, "Lord Orochimaru said that he had a peculiar Transformation Jutsu…" she recalled.

"Well, while he's gone, let's make our move…" Dosu advised of his teammates. Elsewhere in the forest, Ben had transformed into Wildmutt, wandering about and sniffing for a sign of anyone. Though in hindsight, he knew that the next person he would fun could very well mistake him for the beast he became. Then he heard nervous laughter nearby.

"Let's see if we can find some weaklings!" a girl's voice exclaimed amidst her laughing.

"I doubt we can find anyone weaker than us…" a boy's voice grumbled. The Vulpimancer sniffed, sensing three individuals through the shrubbery to his left. He slowly went through, causing the bushes to rustle. On the other side, the team of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akamichi, and Ino Yamanaka perked up upon noticing.

"Uh oh…" the plump boy of the group uttered, taking a nervous step back.

"Nice going, Ino…" Shikamaru grumbled, "Now you jinxed us…" he pointed out to her shock.

"Well, I was sure that my charm would've worked on that guy!" she shouted back. Wildmutt then emerged from the bushes, much to the trio's surprise as they blinked.

"What… is that?" Choji asked.

"Some kind of… bear?" Ino guessed.

"Looks more like a dog to me…" Shikamaru admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "Man, what a drag…" he complained.

"No, this is perfect!" Ino proclaimed, readying a kunai in her right hand, "We can kill this… whatever it is and have a grand old feast!" she declared.

"Wait, let's think about this for a sec…" Choji insisted nervously, "The poor thing's got no eyes…" he pointed out.

"Exactly!" his female teammate responded, "Better to put it out of its misery than let it live such a cruel, unseeing life," she decided, rearing her arm back. Shikamaru sighed, but then realized something. Wildmutt hadn't done anything yet. He seemed to be just standing there in wait.

"Uh… Ino?" the ponytailed teen said. His teammate flung her kunai out at the Vulpimancer, whose gills opened slightly. He leapt over the incoming weapon, letting it pierce into the ground. The trio gasped as they saw him somersault down and land on his feet, grinning afterwards.

"Um… what just happened?" Ino asked out of disbelief.

"Figured as much…" Shikamaru grumbled, causing his teammates to look over at him in confusion, "This guy was using his sense of smell to find us," he pointed out.

"Whoa, really?" Choji said, "That's incredible…" he complimented.

"Okay…" Ino uttered, "But then… why isn't it attacking us?" she wondered aloud.

"'Cause it can tell we're weaklings?" Shikamaru presumed in reply. Wildmutt started growling, getting the group's attention as they saw him shake his head.

"I think he's trying to tell us something…" Choji said.

"Well, it's not like we can understand what a… uh… this thing is saying…" Ino stammered as she rubbed her head. Wildmutt whimpered with frustration, but then turned his head to the Omnitrix symbol positioned on his shoulder brace. Shikamaru noticed it.

"What's that symbol for?" he inquired curiously. Reaching his right arm over, the Vulpimancer tapped the dial on the shoulder brace, enveloping himself in an emerald flash of light, making the trio before him flinch from the brightness, shielding themselves with their arms. Once it subsided, they looked out and widened their eyes.

"Guess I can do that, too…" Ben noted as he looked himself over.

"You're… just a kid…" Ino realized in shock.

"Was that some kind of freaky Transformation Jutsu?" Choji wondered aloud.

"Who are you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Look, questions later," Ben advised in response, "I need help from somebody," he told the trio as they blinked in surprise, "Do any of you guys know a Sakura?" he inquired of them.

"Uh, yeah…" Ino responded, "But… why?" she asked.

"She's in trouble," the Omnitrix bearer confirmed in reply to her shock.

X

Skipping a bit ahead, those goons of Orochimaru's closed in on Gwen and Sakura, looking to do battle with Sasuke. Both were ready to fight, only for Rock Lee to jump on in to their defense. However, he was finding himself left helpless against their sound-based attacks. Gwen and Esper were also victims, their ears bleeding profusely. Though Ben arrived at the scene with Team 10, there was nothing he could do until his Omnitrix recharged…

But he was about to see just how courageous a ninja truly was…

"Catch these!" Sakura yelled, flinging a quartet of shuriken out at Dosu, who was standing over the downed Lee. However, Zaku zipped in and held his hands forward, unleashing a blast of air from his hands that blew the weapons away. Gwen and Esper weakly lifted their heads, grimacing all the while.

'Those holes in his hands…' the former began inwardly, remembering how Zaku had caught her off guard and blasted her squarely in the back with an air blast earlier, knocking her down as she had gotten discombobulated from Dosu's vibration attack. Her Espeon had been felled by the bandaged ninja herself, whimpering from the pain she was suffering. Sakura grimaced. She knew just how capable her two newest friends were. To see them get felled meant that their foes were tough. And they were smart, too. She tried to move to the side, but suddenly felt her hair get grabbed from behind. She yelped in pain as it was Kin who took hold of her, smirking all the while.

"My, my…" she uttered, "What soft and shiny hair…" she commented. From afar, Ben clenched his teeth, trying desperately not to jump in as he was hiding in the bushes with the Team 10 trio.

"Oh man, this is bad…" Choji whispered out.

"What are we gonna do here?" Shikamaru asked, looking over Ben and Ino.

"Once I give the signal, you guys make your move," the Omnitrix bearer advised, "Back me up if it looks like I need it," he added in instruction.

"Wait, hold on a second…" Shikamaru said, "What do you mean, if you need it?" he questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"Let's just say I can be a lot more than a blind dog…" Ben remarked in reply. Meanwhile, Kin was mocking Sakura for being a failure of a ninja, allowing herself to get captured as her teammates were still recovering.

"Hey Zaku, I know what would be fun…" she noted to her teammate, "Let's make Miss Beauty Queen watch while you finish off that Sasuke guy!" she suggested deviously.

"Why not?" Zaku responded with a chuckle, "Sounds like fun to me," he noted. Ben gritted his teeth, pressing the button of the Omnitrix to try and activate it, only for it to give off a low beep.

"Dang, I gotta wait for a full charge…?" he presumed in frustration. Sakura tried to break free of Kin's grasp, but was yanked back by her hair.

"Don't even think about it," she advised.

"Let her go…" Gwen's voice groaned out as she staggered to her feet, drawing forth a pink energy around her hands.

"So, you're still kicking?" Zaku noted in question, "Heh," he chuckled, "I like that…" he mentioned, licking his lips.

"Gwen…" Sakura uttered.

"Who's that girl?" Ino inquired quietly from afar.

"She's my cousin," Ben answered to her shock, seeing him twist the Omnitrix dial impatiently, "Come on, come on…!" he begged. The others looked at the device in confusion, wondering just what he was trying to do.

"Zaku, let me deal with her," Dosu advised, readying the speaker on his forearm, "You take care of Sasuke," he insisted. With a smirk, his teammate casually started walking over. Gwen lunged out at him, only to suddenly get bombarded by the bandaged ninja's vibrations, causing her topple over onto her stomach as she grabbed her bleeding ears. From afar, her cousin widened his eyes with fright.

"Gwen, no…!" Sakura exclaimed, only to yelp as Kin tugged on her hair again. She teared up in frustration, cursing herself for being so weak in this time of crisis. She was the only one who could still protect Sasuke and Naruto… and she was failing them. Everyone who had been at her back through the whole ordeal couldn't help her. She needed to help herself… to help them. She drew a kunai from her holster, holding it in her hands. Kin noticed.

"That's not going to work on me…" she pointed out. To her surprise though, Sakura glanced back and smirked.

"It's not meant for you…" she said. Before she could properly react, Kin was shocked to see Sakura slash off her own hair, leaving her holding just a large clump in her hand. Ben widened his eyes like the others, amazed that she would take such an action at all to free herself. Her forehead protector fell off as she took to her feet. She wasn't going to cower behind her friends as they suffered to protect her. She was going to take the lead… and fight back.

"No way…" the Omnitrix bearer uttered out.

"I mean… that's one way to free yourself…" Shikamaru commented, "But she's still in a big bind…" he pointed out.

"Not for long," Ben assured, looking at the device on his wrist.

'If she can hang in there for at least a minute or two longer…' he began inwardly.

"Kin, finish her!" Zaku ordered of his female teammate, who drew metal needles in between her knuckles. She rushed out at pierced Sakura through her back, only for her to disappear in a puff of smoke. In her place was a log.

"A Substitution Jutsu?!" she gasped out. Zaku huffed, smirking without a care. He figured that she was going to still look to avoid a direct fight. He looked to see her coming toward him, with a trio of kunai readied in each hand.

"Kin, get out of the way!" he called out to his colleague, enticing her to jump to the side.

"Sakura, move!" Gwen yelled, seeing her fling her weapons out at Zaku.

"Thanks for the present!" he remarked, "Hope you don't mind if I return it!" he yelled. However, he noticed her weaving hand signs again. "Slicing Sound Wave!" he exclaimed, unleashing a burst of air from his hands that sent the kunai flying back at Sakura. She disappeared again in a puff of smoke, with a log in her place as the ninja tools were pierced into it. "So where'd you go now?" her foe inquired. He looked up to find her falling towards him, going through another set of hand signs. "You really wanna keep playing this game?" he inquired of her as he smirked, "'Cause I've news for ya, I ain't fallin' for it!" he declared, reaching into the pouch at his belt to grab some kunai of his own. He flung them out, letting them pierce into her skin as she shielded her head with her arms.

He was expecting her to have a log take her place again. But to his shock as a drop of blood dripped down onto his face, she had actually taken the kunai to her body in order to get close, drawing one in her hand. She knocked him down to the ground, piercing her weapon through his right arm as he grunted with pain, followed by biting into his left arm. Everyone watched in astonishment.

"What are you, crazy or something?!" Zaku yelled as he repeatedly started punching her head, "Get off of me!" he demanded. Blood was trailing down her face with each blow, but she kept her grip firm on her foe. Ino was finding herself tearing up at the sight of brave Sakura was. They were childhood friends turned rivals over their affection for Sasuke, but neither of them really had any goals beyond that. So seeing her pink-haired girl desperately fight back… it made her realize that she was the weaker one in the end.

Zaku finally managed to throw Sakura off of him, gritting his teeth in frustration. He couldn't believe that she had gotten the drop on him. But now, he could finally finish her off and move on to whom he really wanted to kill.

"Say so long, kid!" he shouted, aiming his hands forward. At that moment, the Omnitrix glowed a bright green, getting Ben's attention.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, pressing its center button to make the dial pop up.

"That supposed to be the signal?" Shikamaru inquired as the brunette-haired boy twisted the dial, going through the various silhouettes of his transformations before finding the one he wanted.

"No…" he answered, "This is!" he confirmed, slamming the dial down in a flash of emerald light. It caught the attentions of the Sound Ninja, along with Sakura, Gwen, Lee, and Esper.

"What… is that light…?" the bushy-browed genin wondered aloud upon noticing.

"Could it be the one with the Transformation Jutsu?" Kin presumed, taking a ready stance.

"Huh," Zaku huffed, "Even if it is, he's not gonna do a thing before I—!" His proclamation was interjected as a figure suddenly landed down hard in front of him in a flurry of dirt and dust, causing him to yelp as he shielded his eyes with his arms.

"Before I do what?" a deep voice inquired, causing him to gasp. He looked ahead to see a rather imposing, tall figure looming within the dust cloud. It cleared, revealing Four Arms standing there, narrowing his eyes into a glare onto the Sound ninja. He widened his eyes in shock, much like his teammates.

'That symbol on his shoulder…' Dosu noted inwardly, 'No doubt that it's him…' he mentioned to himself.

"Ben…" Sakura uttered out weakly, "It's you… right?" she presumed of the Tetramand.

"Sorry I took so long," he apologized, cracking his upper and lower knuckles, "I'll handle things from here," he decided. Though he trembled a little, Zaku let off a smirk.

"You'll handle things?" he repeated, getting Four Arms' attention, "Oh, don't make me laugh…" he muttered, aiming his hands forward, "A Transformation Jutsu like that isn't gonna scare me!" he proclaimed, only for his hands to get grabbed by the Tetramand, who pulled him in close as he yelped.

"So, you like beating up girls, huh?" he presumed with a snarl, lifting Zaku up before slamming hard onto the ground.

"GWAHHH…!" he gasped out, blood flying from his mouth.

"Zaku!" Kin exclaimed. She then drew more metal needles in between her knuckles, rushing out at the Tetramand.

"Wait, don't be hasty!" Dosu called out, but to no avail.

"Based on what you just said to Zaku, I guess you don't like going up against girls yourself!" Kin assumed of Four Arms as she leapt up, ready to strike, "Which means you're finished!" she proclaimed. But all of a sudden, she found herself stopped as she was encased in a blue light, struggling to move. Dosu blinked in surprise, looking back toward the tree to find Esper standing up in spite of the pain in her body, with her eyes glowing a bright blue as she growled.

"Espee!" she screeched out. Just then, another figure leapt up, being none other than Gwen as she readied her hands, encasing them within a pinkish luminosity.

"TURBO!" she chanted loudly, unleashing a torrent of wind that blew Kin away, making her crash against another nearby tree. She landed beside her transformed cousin, staggering a little.

"You okay?" he asked of her.

"A little hard of hearing, but fine otherwise…" she responded, "What took you so long?" she inquired back.

"Had to make sure the guys I found knew Sakura," the Tetramand replied, "And the watch had to recharge," he mentioned. Dosu grimaced.

'So there are others…' he realized, looking to see his teammates slowly getting to their feet, 'Even so, we still need to take out Sasuke while we can!' he decided inwardly. He aimed his resonator towards the pair of foes, ready to fire. But all of a sudden, he found himself immobile.

"What?!" he exclaimed, "Why… can't I move?!" he grunted in question. Four Arms and Gwen blinked in surprise, noticing how his shadow seemed to be darkened and curved into the shrubbery. Emerging from it was Shikamaru, alongside Ino and a reluctant Choji.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu," the former said with his hands in a seal, "You know, I figured you would've had this all by yourself if your Transformation Jutsu did that…" he pointed out to the Tetramand.

"It's not a jutsu…" he retorted bluntly in exasperation.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Ino asked of her pink-haired friend, who was shocked to see her there.

"Ino…" she uttered out.

"Okay, everything's all over, right?" Choji assumed, "So let's get outta here…" he insisted in fright.

"This was the help you found?" Gwen inquired of her transformed cousin.

"Hey, I wanted to make sure they'd wanna help…" he grumbled back as a reply.

"Who cares what kinda help you've got…?" Zaku's voice muttered, getting the group's attention as they saw him staggering to his feet. Kin did the same. "We're not going to let some four-armed freak and his stupid friends keep us from what we want!" he affirmed.

"And what's that?" Sakura asked, "If it's our scroll, your master already took it and burned it up!" she pointed out angrily. Dosu started chuckling.

"Oh, it isn't the scroll we're after…" he confirmed, much to the surprise of the Leaf Village genin, "The only thing we want… is Sasuke," he declared.

"Wait, Sasuke?" Ino repeated in confusion, "But why?" she asked.

"You don't need to know that…" Kin chimed in, readying another set of needles in between her knuckles, "Now either you stay out of the way, or you'll end up dead…" she threatened.

"Yeah…" Zaku confirmed, readying his hands. Meanwhile, the shadow binding Dosu came undone, causing Shikamaru to grimace.

"So your paralysis Jutsu has a pretty limited duration…" he noted aloud.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, get it right!" the ponytailed boy retorted.

"What makes you think you can beat us?" Zaku inquired of the group, "Even if you've got that four-armed freak on your side, he'll be as good as dead soon enough!" he declared, unleashing a powerful burst of wind from his hands out towards his foes. They all grimaced in fright, only for a figure to jump in the way and take the blast in a flurry of dust. Zaku huffed with a smirk, but then widened his eyes to see Four Arms there with his arms crossed in front of himself, with hardly a scratch on him.

"Good as dead, huh?" he repeated, making his opponent grimace. Rearing his arms back, the Tetramand swung them forward, clapping his hands to unleash a seismic shockwave. It blasted Zaku back in a yell, as he crashed into another tree and slumped down it.

"Zaku!" Kin yelled, rushing out at Four Arms again. All of a sudden though, she fell over and seemingly lost consciousness. The Tetramand looked over in confusion, followed by noticing that Ino had also collapsed in Gwen and Shikamaru's arms.

"What just happened to her?" the former of the two asked.

"It's her Mind Transfer Jutsu," the latter replied, "She pretty much just took over that girl's body," he affirmed, "That leaves the mummy man for you, big guy!" he called out to the Tetramand, who cracked a grin. Dosu grimaced under his bandages.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet…" he grumbled, readying the porous metal gauntlet on his right arm. Gwen noticed and widened her eyes.

"Ben, careful!" she warned, getting her transformed cousin's attention, "That thing on his arm, it's—!"

"Too late," Dosu said, rushing in and landing a strike to Four Arms' stomach. However, he seemed practically unfazed.

"This supposed to be some kind of—? ERK!" he grunted out, yelling with pain as he covered his ears, clenching his teeth together. The others gasped.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Choji stuttered in question.

"Hahahaha…" Dosu chuckled, "The bigger the target, the more susceptible it is to things like sound and vibrations," he noted, "Considering all that, trying to withstand something like this is pointless," he affirmed of his foe, "It'll distort your senses like vertigo and make you no stronger than the others who dared to face me," he mentioned on, while the Tetramand dropped to his knees.

"Ben!" Gwen cried out, ready to go and help him. Unfortunately, she and the others were suddenly caught up in a shockwave of air unleashed by Zaku, who chuckled.

"I told you…" he muttered with a smirk, "That guy's all bark and no bite in the end…" he proclaimed. Grimacing, Four Arms looked up at Dosu.

"Now then…" he began, placing his gauntlet up against his enemy's chest, "I think it's best to remove you from this battle as soon as possible…" he decided. The Tetramand clenched his teeth. He then took his lower arms and punched his foe back, followed by staggering to his feet. "It's no use!" he proclaimed, "I'll finish you off right now!" he declared, lunging out at Four Arms. Quickly, he smacked the Omnitrix dial upon his left shoulder with his upper right hand, enveloping himself in another flash of green light. Dosu struck, chuckling to himself as he thought he had landed the finishing blow. But suddenly… "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he bellowed with pain as he pulled his arm away, which had smoke wafting off of it.

"What the hell?!" Zaku gasped out.

"Agh…" a voice groaned from the smoke, which slowly started clearing, "Gotta admit, that could've gone really bad…" he admitted, "But you know what they say…" he continued as the smoke settled, revealing Heatblast standing there, "Play with fire… and you'll get burned," he remarked, narrowing his eyes. Dosu grimaced.

'He transformed into another creature?!' he exclaimed inwardly, 'And to make it even worse, he became something that was hot enough to burn me!' he mentioned to himself.

"No more playing around…" the Pyronite decided, "Either you get lost and give us your scroll, or I barbecue your butts," he threatened as his flames burned brightly. The team leader didn't know what to do. But then, he widened his lone eye upon noticing something else. Everyone sensed what felt like a sinister presence. They looked back over to the tree where Naruto and Sasuke lied.

"Espee…?" Esper squeaked out. A purple energy was wafting off of the Uchiha survivor, who was being haunted by the memories of his clan getting slaughtered. He wished there was a way he could've prevented such a catastrophe… and longed for the opportunity to seize revenge upon the one who did it.

But after his battle with Orochimaru, he couldn't. At least, not with his current power. And that's what he had been instilled with. The aura flaring around him burst to life, causing the Espeon near him to reflexively jump back. Everyone looked over to see Sasuke standing to his feet slowly.

"Sasuke, you're awake!" Sakura exclaimed with relief, only to blink in surprise upon sensing the rather ominous aura building around him. The others grimaced as well.

"Wait…" Heatblast uttered, "He didn't have those before, did he?" he inquired, pointing towards the various black marks along the Uchiha survivor's body. He stepped forward, approaching Sakura. His Sharingan eyes were narrowed into a fearsome glare.

"Sasuke… what happened to you?" his teammate asked of him. He looked at his left hand for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm alright," he affirmed in response, glancing over and spotting the Pyronite, taking note of the Omnitrix symbol at his chest, "Thanks for looking out for us," he said in gratitude, causing him gasp a little in surprise, "This is just the new power flowing through me…" he told them.

"New power…?" Gwen repeated in confusion.

"From snake-face…" Heatblast remembered, thinking back to yesterday when Orochimaru had attacked and bit the Uchiha survivor, marking him, "Dude, I don't know how that crap works, but I doubt it's good to use it!" he yelled out to Sasuke.

"It doesn't matter," he retorted to his shock, "I'm an avenger," he pointed out, "I'll take all the power I can get, even if it means I'm consumed by evil in the process…" he affirmed on, "Now…" he continued, "who did this to you, Sakura?" he inquired of his injured teammate.

"That'd be me," Zaku answered for the pink-haired genin.

"Uh oh…" Heatblast uttered, "Guys, I think we better let him handle this," he advised of the others.

"Y-Yeah!" Choji stammered in agreement, "Come on!" he beckoned, hurrying into the shrubbery with Shikamaru and Gwen to follow, as they carried the unconscious Ino. She awoke however, glancing back at Sasuke with concern. Whatever had happened to him, it made him so unlike the person she had a crush on. He glared over at Zaku, who scoffed. His markings started to spread as they glowed like flames. The Pyronite watched on, not wanting to retreat into the bushes in case of accidentally starting a fire and wanting to make sure that the Uchiha survivor had backup.

But he didn't need it. While Dosu recognized the threat Sasuke posed, the arrogant Zaku thought he could take him and the others with ease. Little did he expect to get knocked aside by his foe, who had gotten his teammates out of the way in the nick of time.

What followed was him bombarding him with shuriken as a distraction, leading to getting behind Zaku and grabbing both of his arms. Heatblast was awed, as was Sakura. But something still wasn't right. Sasuke had a murderous look in his eyes.

"You seem to be very proud of these arms of yours…" he pointed out, tugging hard on Zaku's limbs while having his right foot pressed against his back, "You must be… very attached to them…" he added as a joke.

"Hey… hold on…" Heatblast tried to say, but it was too late. Sasuke effectively dislocated both of Zaku's arms as he screamed with agony, falling onto the ground. Everyone was shocked by the display of power. And it was terrifying.

"Looks like you're the only one left," Sasuke noted to a trembling Dosu, "I hope you at least make things more interesting…" he remarked on.

"That's enough!" Heatblast yelled as he slid out in between the two, holding his hands out to them, "Make a move, and I'll fry you both," he threatened. However, Sasuke huffed with a smirk.

"You couldn't even if you tried…" he proclaimed, continuing his approach. Sakura watched on, shocked by her teammate's demeanor. It was like he became a completely different person. And that scared her. Without thinking, she got to her feet and ran forward.

"STTTOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!" she screamed, lunging out and embracing Sasuke from behind, much to the surprise of everyone watching, "Don't do it…!" she pleaded as she teared up. Her teammate glared back at her, while her tears streaked out from her eyes. "Stop… please…" she begged through sobs. In a matter of moments, Sasuke's markings receded and disappeared. In a grunt, he fell to the ground on his bottom.

"You alright?" Heatblast asked as he cautiously approached.

"Sasuke…" Sakura uttered, hearing him breathe heavily with exhaustion.

"You're quite strong, Sasuke," Dosu noted, getting their attentions as they looked over to see him holding up a scroll in his right hand, "Too strong for us," he admitted, "We can't hope to defeat you with the way you are now…" he mentioned on, "So let's strike a deal," he decided, "You take our scroll, and we leave you be," he said. Just then, a beeping sounded off from Heatblast, who glanced down at the Omnitrix symbol. It timed out in a flash of red light, transforming him back into Ben. He turned to Dosu.

"You got yourself a deal," he confirmed, holding his right hand out. The Sound ninja tossed it over, allowing him to catch it in his right hand.

"You're an interesting one, aren't you?" Dosu inquired of the Omnitrix bearer, making him perk up, "It's that thing on your wrist that lets you transform, yes?" he presumed, "Quite a useful weapon…" he pointed out, picking up his downed teammates and carrying them away. As Sakura tried to demand answers about the curse mark that Sasuke had received from Orochimaru, Ben sighed with relief. This world was a lot more dangerous than he anticipated. But at least he was able to help the people he could.

"Can't believe this guy slept through the whole damn thing…" Shikamaru muttered as he approached the scene, seeing Naruto snoring upon the ground.

"He… kinda went through a lot himself the other night…" Gwen confirmed.

"Well, we should at least wake him up…" Choji affirmed, holding onto a stick that he poked the spiky-haired genin with.

"Es! Espee!" Esper chimed in as she ran over, getting their attentions.

"The heck's that?" Shikamaru inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"Esper," Gwen answered as she came over, "She's… my friend, so to speak," she told the two boys. The Sun Pokémon used her tail to tickle Naruto's nose, causing it to scrunch as he trembled a little.

"AHCHOO!" he sneezed as he sat up in an instant, startled awake, "Huh…" he exhaled, looking around, "What's… going on?" he asked out of confusion.

"About time you woke up," Ben commented as he approached, getting his attention. He narrowed his eyes onto him.

"And who the heck are you supposed to be?" he inquired.

"Just a guy who helped save your life," the Omnitrix bearer responded to his surprise, "My name's Ben," he introduced, holding his right hand out to Naruto, "Ben Tennyson," he confirmed further. The genin grinned, accepting his hand.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he introduced back as he was brought up to his feet.

And like that, an alliance that would turn into a lasting friendship formed between the pair. Together, they'd work together on various missions in Universe-700, even after Ben and Gwen were able to return home. But there was still one battle that the pair had to tackle…

So for the moment, we'll be skipping ahead quite a bit…

X

In spite of the various issues, the Chunin Exams continued, even with Orochimaru's presence made known. After the second phase, there were preliminary matches in which participants would battle in one-on-one matches as a form of a round-robin tournament. As much as I'd love to talk about them, there's one in particular we need to focus on, as it was the catalyst for a massive conflict in the Leaf Village.

Sasuke was set to do battle against Gaara, a genin from the Sand Village, who was integral to Orochimaru's plan. Their match would've ended in Sasuke's victory, had it not been for the anticipated attack led by Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Gaara was taken away by his siblings, only for Sasuke to follow him.

Amidst the chaos, Kakashi Hatake, Team 7's instructor, advised for Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ben, and Gwen to take on an important mission for the village's safety, to track down Sasuke and stop him before things get worse. However, that will be much easier said than done. For the foe he's facing… is like Naruto in terms of a dark secret.

"Agh…" Sasuke groaned out in agony as he lied upon the branch on his stomach, his curse markings appearing as a result of him using his Chidori a second time. He had already used it once to wound Gaara back during their match in the arena. And that was what led to his pursuit of him. However, things had changed drastically from then on.

The Sand Village shinobi was actually known as a jinchuriki, a person that had one of the nine Tailed Beasts sealed within him. In his body was the One-Tail, Shukaku. With all of the chaos that had unfolded and his sheer panic, Gaara had unwillingly let the beast take partial control of him. Sand had formed on the right half of his body, with the right side of his face looking quite monstrous.

Although Sasuke had managed to sever off the sand arm on his right side, he quickly generated a new one over his left. He turned and chuckled sadistically, seeing that his foe was down. He lunged out at him, ready to kill him as a hunger for blood was in his eyes. But suddenly, a familiar foot swung by and kicked him away upside his head, followed by a volley of pale green crystals slashing past him. He crashed through a few tree branches before managing to catch himself on another, sliding to a stop.

"Sasuke, you alright?!" the voice of Diamondhead inquired as he landed down next to the Uchiha survivor with Gwen, Sakura, Esper, and Pakkun.

"Sasuke…!" the pink-haired genin gasped out. Meanwhile, Naruto breathed heavily as he glared down Gaara. The Petrosapien looked over, widening his eyes at the One-Tail jinchuriki's appearance.

"Gwen, Sakura," he said, getting the girls' attentions, "Take Sasuke and get outta here," he insisted, "Naruto and I'll handle this," he decided, morphing his left arm into a blade.

"Are you sure?" his cousin inquired, "Don't forget, that's the same guy who crushed Lee's limbs in their match…" she pointed out to his shock, "At least… I think it's him…" she corrected in concern.

"No, you're right," Pakkun confirmed, "His outward appearance might be different, but that is the one you know as Gaara," he told the group.

"What…?" Naruto uttered in disbelief, remembering a conversation he had with the Sand shinobi about his upbringing, and how he had told his story of being cursed with a beast that dwelled inside of him.

"Okay, first thing's first," Gwen said, "Let's get Sasuke out of here," she advised as the Uchiha survivor was writhing with agony, "Mister Kakashi'll probably know what to do about the markings," she mentioned further.

"R-Right," Sakura stammered out.

"You…" Gaara growled, specifically toward Naruto, "You're the one I didn't kill that day…" he remembered, causing the blonde-haired genin to lightly gasp as he trembled. Even Diamondhead seemed uneasy. The One-Tail jinchuriki's past was checkered with hardships. And as such, it led him to live only for himself, and no one else. Naruto could tell just how dangerous he was.

"Guys, get moving!" he called out to Sakura, Gwen, Pakkun, and Esper, "We gotta go, now!" he insisted in panic. But all of a sudden, Gaara suddenly leapt past him and Diamondhead.

"Hey!" the latter yelled, seeing him close in on his cousin and the pink-haired genin. They both looked over, widening their eyes to see their foe approaching.

"DIE, SASUKE UCHIHA!" he roared. Drawing a kunai from her holster, Sakura ran out in front of her downed teammate, steeling herself. The moment she did, Gaara hesitated. A memory of such a person moving to defend someone else from such harm flashed through his head. "Move it!" he yelled, using his sand-formed arm to grab the pink-haired genin and slam her up against another tree.

"Sakura!" Gwen cried out. Gaara then turned to her with grit teeth, whipping his tail of sand out at her. "Contego!" she quickly chanted, bringing forth a wall of pink energy in front of herself to block off her foe's attack. However, she couldn't hold him back as her barrier shattered, with her being sent flying back.

"Gwen!" Diamondhead screamed. Fortunately, Esper was quick to catch her in a blue, psychic energy, floating her onto a nearby branch.

"Huh…" she exhaled with relief, "I'm okay!" she assured. Gaara growled, but then appeared to grab his head in pain. That allowed for Naruto to jump over and pick up Sasuke, carrying him off to another tree.

"Sakura!" he yelled to his female teammate, who seemed to be unconscious as she was pressed against the tree. Seeing that Gaara appeared to be struggling for the moment, Diamondhead quickly leapt over and lopped off his arm of sand, freeing the pink-haired genin from his grasp. She started falling forward, only for the Petrosapien to catch her.

"Sakura, hey!" he yelled, while the sand arm disintegrated off of the One-Tail jinchuriki, falling down from the branch, "Can you hear me?!" he questioned in concern, "Sakura!" he shouted. He then heard the groans coming from Gaara, enticing him to look over at him. His teeth were still clenched as sweat and saliva were trickling down his face. He was remembering his past, where he had been attacked multiple times as a boy. At one point, he stopped an assassin himself, only to discover that it was someone he thought was supposed to be his friend. His sand arm regenerated over his left side.

"Uh oh…" Gwen uttered upon noticing, while Esper and Pakkun leapt over to her side.

"What's the matter…?" Gaara suddenly asked through his groans, "Aren't you going to run?" he inquired of his foes, who both grimaced. His eyes were lusting for battle and blood. And given that he had managed to outlast Sasuke, their chances of trying to beat him were next to nothing.

"Sasuke…" Sakura's voice weakly said, getting the pair's attention as they saw that was barely managing to say anything, "Naruto… Ben…" she continued.

"Who are these people… to you?" Gaara inquired of his foes.

"Gwen, take her!" Diamondhead yelled, tossing Sakura over to his cousin. With her eyes shining a bright blue, Esper caught the falling genin in her psychic hold, floating her over.

"Who are they to you?!" the One-Tail jinchuriki inquired on, demanding an answer.

"Who are they to me?" Naruto repeated in question as he stood up, "They're my friends!" he bellowed out, "And I'm not gonna let you hurt them!" he declared on.

"Same here," the Petrosapien agreed, "So you better believe we're here to make sure you don't hurt them… or anyone else!" he proclaimed as he aimed his bladed arm at Gaara, who growled. He thrusted his sand-made arm out at him, enticing him to throw his own arms up in defense, only to end up slammed against the tree.

"Ben, no!" Naruto yelled.

"What's the matter?!" Gaara growled in question, "Aren't you going to pulverize me already…?!" he inquired further.

"Oh trust me, pal…" Diamondhead began, slashing his way free from the One-Tail jinchuriki's grasp, "We're only getting started!" he affirmed.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed as he lunged forward, rearing his right fist back.

X

The moment Naruto attempted to strike, he was whipped away by Gaara's tail. Grimacing, Diamondhead shot out a flurry of shards from his arms out at the One-Tail jinchuriki, only for him to use his tail to catch them, shattering them to pieces. The Petrosapien widened his eyes in shock.

"Gwen, grab Sasuke and book it!" he yelled out to his cousin, "We can't let loose if you're still here!" he noted.

"Right, got it!" the young mage responded, forming a pink rope of energy to wrap around the Uchiha survivor, pulling him over to her. However, Gaara's sand-formed arm suddenly thrust out at her and the others. Esper slid out in front of her owner.

"Es… PEEEEE!" she screeched, unleashing a multicolored ray of light from the gemstone upon her head. It struck the sand-formed arm, holding it back. All the while, Gaara laughed.

"Hey, stop!" Diamondhead yelled, running over with his arms formed into crystalline blades in an attempt to lop off the sand-formed limb again. But seeing him coming, the One-Tail jinchuriki whipped him away with his extra appendage, making him fall down from the treetops towards the ground below.

"Ben, no!" Naruto cried out.

"That's why you'll never win…" Gaara growled out, getting his attention, "As long as you fight for the sake of others…" he continued, "you'll never advance beyond this level!" he proclaimed, "Only one can remain undefeated!" he mentioned further, "And only he will feel what it's like to truly exist!" he added, "Forget your friends… and fight for yourself…" he insisted.

"You're insane…" Naruto growled as his fists trembled, "Forget my friends?" he repeated in question, "I'd never do that!" he declared, "Keep talking all you want, 'cause I'm about to take you down!" he proclaimed, drawing a kunai from the pouch on his belt before lunging out at the One-Tail jinchuriki, who snarled as flashes of his memories kept pounding away at his head.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Diamondhead yelled as he continued falling through the trees, crashing through branches as he was dangerously close to hitting the ground. He grimaced, looking at the Omnitrix symbol on his left pectoral. "Now would be a really good time for Stinkfly!" he pointed out, smacking the dial to envelop himself in a green flash of light. When it subsided, it revealed that he had turned into a hulking, broad-shouldered alien covered in natural, yellow armor plating on his back, shoulders, and the backs of his arms. He was mostly white with black on his upper half and has four claws on both of his hands, having a color scheme and claws similar to that of a panda. He was covered in fur across the thickest parts of his body, while every other part except for his elbows and knees was short fur. He also had sharp teeth, yellow eyes, and wore the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead.

"Oh man…!" he gasped out before crashing onto the ground in a flurry of dust, "Ugh…" he groaned in agony, slowly sitting back up, "So much for that…" he grumbled, getting to his feet. He looked up, unable to see either Naruto or Gaara in the treetops, along with Gwen and the others.

'Damn it…' Cannonbolt cursed inwardly, 'This semi-Master Control crap hasn't worked out the way I would've liked it to…' he admitted, looking himself over, 'Even when I'm thinking of it, I don't always get the alien I want…' he pointed out to himself, 'It's like Master Control, but with a random choice,' he mentioned through his thoughts, 'I got no idea if I'll get who I want in the end…' he inwardly noted. He could at least the sounds of battle up above, making him grit his teeth in frustration.

"How the hell am I supposed to get back up there?" he wondered aloud, only to blink in realization, followed by grinning, "Or maybe… I'll just bring 'em down here!" he decided. He rolled up into a ball, with his backplates and the plates on his hands covering him. His sphere form had semi-circular stripes across his body, with black lines around the circular plates, and his side plates were the plates on his shoulders. Spinning in place for a few moments, the Arburian Pelarota dashed out and rammed into one of the trees, followed by bouncing around the forest. The rumblings caught the attentions of those above, as they could feel them.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Gamakichi inquired with a panicked stutter, having just been summoned by Naruto by accident. The blonde-haired genin blinked in surprise before grinning.

"Don't worry," he reassured, "Help's on the way," he affirmed confidently, crossing his fingers as he lunged out at Gaara, who had become much more monstrous in a short amount of time, with hardly any part of his body looking remotely human anymore. From afar, Gwen looked on in shock and horror.

"What's happening to him…?" she asked worriedly.

"Espee…" Esper squeaked out in fright, hiding behind her.

"Unfortunately, that's Gaara giving into his anger," Pakkun answered, getting the young mage's attention, "The monster inside of him's taking advantage of that emotional imbalance, and he's channeling his chakra into him," he explained further.

"Wait, monster?" Gwen repeated in confusion.

"Wind Style…" the transformed Gaara began as he reared his head back, with multiple mouths forming along his body as they inhaled a great amount of air, "Sandstorm Devastation!" he exclaimed, expelling a powerful blast of wind mixed with his sand, striking the barrage of Naruto and his clones before they could even reach him. The duplicates disappeared in bursts of smoke, while the original crashed through more trees before landing down hard upon a branch.

"Naruto!" Gwen cried out. The blonde-haired genin clenched his teeth as he tried to bring himself up. He knew the One-Tail jinchuriki was strong. But something about him resonated with the boy from the Leaf. From how he had said he lived only for himself… it sounded like he was isolated for most of his life… like Naruto.

"What is this?!" Gaara yelled in question, "You come at me, and that's all you've got?!" he bellowed on in frustration, "What a joke!" he roared, extending his sand-formed right arm out at Gwen and the others again. Before she could even cast a spell, she was ensnared, along with Esper and Sakura.

"Guys, no!" Naruto screamed, seeing them get pressed up against a nearby tree. Gaara detached the arm from the claw, regenerating it while keeping his foes in place.

"Ergh…!" Gwen grunted out, trying to break free, "Pakkun!" she yelled.

"Don't worry, I got him," the ninja hound affirmed, having taken Sasuke to another branch, "Kid, you better figure out a way to get us outta here," he advised of Naruto.

"Yeah, I'm working on it…" he grumbled in response, grimacing all the while. The situation was far from ideal at the moment. And it was only going to get worse if he didn't do something. The rumblings started occurring again, causing everyone to yelp in surprise.

"What is this…?!" Gaara growled in question, "Is this your doing, you runt…!" he snarled toward Naruto.

"New game!" a deep voice exclaimed suddenly, causing the One-Tail jinchuriki to whip around too late to see the rolled up form of Cannonbolt coming at him, "It's called dodgeball!" he yelled, slamming into his foe head on. He then uncurled himself, latching onto a tree branch before swinging himself over to land upon it. However, he lost his balance, waving his arms frantically as he yelped. Thinking quickly, he smacked the Omnitrix symbol upon his forehead, enveloping himself in an emerald flash of light.

"You again…" Gaara growled out. In the Arburian Pelarota's place was a vaguely humanoid amoeba-like creature with green skin, six sprout-like growths on the back of his head, a dark-green patch of skin on his head, light-green skin on his face and belly and a crooked teeth overbite. He had whisker like lines on his face, and a green tail. He also had white eyes and wore a black open-front suit with white over-sleeves and white bands around his legs and white padding under his three-toed feet. He wore the Omnitrix symbol on his left hand.

"Phoo…" he exhaled in relief.

"Ben, you alright?" Naruto called out in question to the Gourmand, who found his balance.

"Yeah, better now…" he responded, only to gasp upon spotting the trapped trio of Gwen, Esper and Sakura, "Gwen!" he exclaimed.

"Ergh…!" his cousin grunted out, "Don't worry about us…!" she insisted, "Just hurry up and beat that guy!" she yelled on. Upchuck looked back at Gaara, whose appearance had drastically changed from the time he last saw him. He didn't even look human anymore.

"You got a plan, Naruto?" the Gourmand asked of his blonde-haired friend, who wrapped a paper bomb around the handle of his kunai.

"Working on it…" he responded with a grimace, crossing his fingers, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, making several puffs of smoke appear next to him. They dissipated to reveal duplicates of himself, which lunged out towards Gaara with him. He threw his sand-formed right claw up to catch three of them.

"Okay! Let's do it!" Naruto and the clones exclaimed, with one landing atop the One-Tail jinchuriki's arm and grabbing the original by his jacket's collar, throwing him forward.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the blonde-haired genin shouted again, summoning forth a clone to take his place as Gaara attempted to grab him his with his left claw, instead getting the duplicate. The real Naruto somersaulted behind him. "And another!" he yelled on as he fell, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed, bringing forth another clone to use as a foothold to leap toward his foe's behind. "Thousand Years of Death!" he roared, jabbing his kunai… into the One-Tail jinchuriki's posterior.

"Uh…" Upchuck uttered, while everyone else looked on in shock.

"An animal… great…" Pakkun grumbled out.

"Oh brother…" Gwen muttered.

"Rrrr…" Gaara growled as he turned and whipped the blonde-haired genin back with his tail.

"Naruto!" Upchuck cried out, stretching his multiple tongues out from his mouth to wrap around a branch above him, swinging himself over. However, he couldn't help but notice the grin on his friend's face. He glanced back at the kunai jabbed into Gaara's behind, spotting the tag upon it.

"Boom," Naruto said. An explosion engulfed the One-Tail jinchuriki, while his foe was about to crash against a tree. Luckily, Sasuke lunged in front of him, saving him from hitting the bark hard as they both fell down. Upchuck landed next to them. "Hey, you okay?" the blonde-haired genin asked of his teammate.

"Ballsy move, dude," the Gourmand remarked, "But I doubt it's over," he affirmed, narrowing his eyes onto the smoke. It started clearing revealing that Gaara's sand-formed body was coming apart as he growled.

"All of that work… and you only scored one blow?" Sasuke noted to Naruto, much to his chagrin.

"Ah, put a sock in it!" he grumbled back.

"But look at him…" Upchuck pointed out, getting their attentions, "That sand's coming apart…" he said.

"Guys, listen to me," Sasuke chimed in, "No matter what, you two have to save Sakura and the others," he advised of them.

"Can't really do that with Sandy holding us up…" the Gourmand retorted.

"I'll hold him off, while you get out of here," the Uchiha survivor to his colleagues' shock, seeing him slowly bring himself to his feet "If I fall here…" he continued, "that just means that this was as far as I was meant to go…" he concluded.

"Sasuke… you…" Naruto uttered out. Upchuck gave off an annoyed look.

"Something tells me you've pulled this crap before," he muttered, reaching his multiple tongues out to reach into Sasuke's pouch and holster.

"Ah, hey!" he yelped out, "What are you—?!" The Gourmand took all of his ninja tools, ingesting him into his stomach, which glowed a bright green.

"I'm still ready to fight," he affirmed, "You're clearly not," he pointed out to the Uchiha survivor's frustration.

"I get it now," Naruto suddenly said, causing them to perk up and look over at him as he got to his feet, "He's going through the exact same thing I was growing up…" he noted, "All the sadness and loneliness that I went through…" he kept going, "He fought only for himself, never relying on anyone," he told his comrades, "And because of that, I thought he possessed strength…" he added.

"Naruto…" Sasuke uttered, seeing his fists tremble.

"I guess I should've known better," he admitted, "That's not what real strength is!" he proclaimed, "If you never fight for anyone but yourself…" he continued, "then you'll never be strong no matter what you do!" he declared firmly. He thought back to a time where someone important to him asked if he had anyone precious to him, telling him that wanting to protect that person would give him strength. He clapped his hands together into a tiger seal. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he roared, chakra surging around his body.

"Guess we're doing this…" Upchuck realized, puffing his cheeks before shooting a ball of glowing green, slimy energy. Gaara noticed too late as he was struck, with more of the sand around him coming apart as smoke filled the air. Meanwhile, Naruto concentrated intensely before readying himself, crossing his fingers. A huge burst of smoke enveloped the area. It cleared, revealing a huge multitude of clones.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed. Everyone was surprised by the sudden amount of duplicates that had appeared. The Gourmand just smirked.

"Nice," he remarked, earning a grin from the original Naruto in response.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" he yelled, "So get ready for an original jutsu straight from my ninja handbook!" he declared proudly.

"What…?!" Gaara exclaimed, "How could you have summoned so many clones?!" he asked angrily.

"Way to go, blondie!" Gamakichi complimented, "You're showin' off a lot of promise!" he pointed out.

"How did you… do this…?" Sasuke asked out of disbelief.

"Sasuke, why don't you take it easy for a while?" Naruto suggested of his friend, causing him to blink in surprise, "You deserve it," he affirmed, "Just leave the rest to Naruto Uzumaki!" he insisted on.

"And what about me?" Upchuck asked, only for the Omnitrix symbol on his arm to start beeping. It timed out in a flash of red light, transforming him back into Ben.

"Aw, man…" he groaned out, slouching his shoulders. Meanwhile, Sasuke was shocked by how Naruto had seemingly changed. He showed the same amount of determination he was used to seeing, but the sheer power he unveiled was such a surprise. Was he really the same person he remembered being so foolish from the past?

"Alright, here we go!" Naruto exclaimed, with he and his clones lunging out at Gaara, whose body was still recovering. He managed to use his sand to defend himself from the volley of shuriken flung his way, as he used his sand-formed arm to block them all. However, he then found himself barraged by the multitude of clones, who kicked him up into the air.

"Na! Ru! To!" they exclaimed together, "Two-K!" they continued, ready to bombard their target, "UZUMAKI BARRAGE!" they yelled, simultaneously striking the One-Tail jinchuriki as the others watched on in amazement.

"Nice!" Ben yelled as he pumped his fists.

"I don't believe it…" Sasuke uttered out. More of the sand was peeling away from Gaara with each consecutive blow he took. Ultimately, he was sent crashing down onto the ground in a flurry of dirt and dust. Looking on from afar while grimacing against the grip of the sand-formed binding around her and the others was Gwen.

"Did… that do the trick?" she wondered aloud. On the ground below, Gaara was lying in a crater, grimacing all the while. Naruto and his clones were fast approaching.

"This time we'll use both legs for a barrage of four thousand kicks!" they declared. The One-Tail jinchuriki was in shock at how his foe had suddenly gained so much strength all at once. He couldn't believe that someone like him was winning. And it made his ever-growing rage spill over.

"There's absolutely no way… I'LL LOSE TO A GUY LIKE YOU!" he bellowed out. All of a sudden, the clones were all swept away by a massive tail of sand that appeared, bursting into puffs of smoke.

"Whoa, what just—?!" Ben's question was interjected as he and Sasuke had to brace themselves from the resulting blast of wind that washed over them.

"Agh!" Naruto yelped as he slammed against a tree back first, looking out to see what had happened. The smoke was slow to settle. But as it did, a massive figure towered over the forest.

"What the…?" Sasuke said, "What is that?" he asked. Pakkun and Gamakichi were shocked as well. The smoke finally cleared, revealing a sandy brown-colored tanuki, with dark blue markings all over his face, arms, and tail. He had a jagged, concave mouth with no tongue, and the sclera of its eyes were black, with yellow irises and pupils that each took the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it.

"Oh… so not good…" Ben realized, checking the Omnitrix, only to see that it was still red and recharging, "Damn it…" he cursed out of frustration.

"So that's it…" Naruto said, looking up at the behemoth towering over him, "The monster… inside of him…" he noted aloud.

"Well, whaddaya know?" Gaara's voice echoed, "I never thought you would bring this out of me!" he admitted loudly, aiming his right claw forward. Wisps of sand suddenly started surrounding the blonde-haired genin, restraining him against the tree he was upon.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried out, trying to move, only to topple over onto his hands and knees, "My… body…!" he grunted as Ben went over to his side to check on him. He grimaced in frustration, knowing that there was nothing he could do as he saw Naruto get surrounded by the sand.

"This is the end for you!" Gaara declared, "Sand Burial—!"

"SUMMONING JUTSU!" Naruto's voice suddenly echoed from within the sand. A burst of white smoke enveloped the area again, causing the others to brace themselves once more. It cleared quickly, revealing a giant toad colored a dull, rusty red, but around his eyes and on his lips and chest were brighter red markings. Over his left eye, he received a scar at some point in the past. His tongue had a series of stud-like piercings on both the upper and lower side. He wore a large blue happi vest that had the kanji for ebi on the back, and carried a massive dosu blade at his hip. He also had a large kiseru pipe which he was smoking.

"Okay… that's awesome…" Ben said bluntly with widened eyes.

X

With Naruto still managing to fight back against Gaara, the situation's turned more and more in his favor. At the same time, however, Gaara hasn't relented. In fact, he's even gone ahead up control of his body to the beast within him: Shukaku, the sand spirit.

With Gamabunta's aid after some light banter, Naruto was able to fight back against Shukaku. But it would be all for naught if they weren't able to wake Gaara and undo his jutsu. Fortunately, they have a little more help at their side…

Ben had just seen one of the craziest things ever. From summoning a giant toad to transforming him into a massive nine-tailed fox, Naruto was proving just how strong he truly was. Even though Shukaku was in control for now, he still couldn't overcome the blonde-haired genin's tenacity.

"Okay kid, you're on!" Gamabunta yelled before transforming back to normal with Naruto, still having a firm grip on the tailed beast.

"Let's do it!" the genin yelled as he jumped high into the sky, descending toward the immobile upper half of Gaara, who was sticking out of Shukaku's head, "Rise and shine!" he remarked, landing a fierce right hook to his head, bruising his cheek as blood left his lips, "How was that?!" he yelled out.

"Good!" the giant toad complimented, "Not much time's passed since the medium went under," he pointed out, "That one blow should do the trick!" he affirmed on.

"Gah… that's just great!" Shukaku muttered out angrily, "Give me a break! I just got here!" he mentioned in frustration, only for his eyes to dim.

"Was that it?" Ben asked from afar.

"The jutsu's faded, but…" Pakkun started to say, letting off a grimace. Sasuke's eyes were shaking.

"He's gonna need more help…" Ben realized, checking the Omnitrix again. It gave off a green glow, making him grin. "Some Way Big help!" he decided, pressing the button of the device to make its dial pop up. After twisting it to find the transformation he wanted, he jumped off of the tree branch.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled. Ben slammed the dial of the Omnitrix down, enveloping himself in a green flash of light. When it subsided, it revealed that he had turned into a humanoid alien with a similar size to a child. He had white skin, a black-and-white head and face, black shoulders, large hands with four digits and feet which were merely stubs. He also had three fin-like growths on his head, and gem-like extended sensory nodes on his arms and waist. His clothes were black and had an overall-like design. He had green eyes with light green shines and wore the Omnitrix symbol on his forehead. He blinked in surprise, looking himself over.

"Aw, nuts…" he grumbled out. Luckily a bush below broke his fall as he landed in a grunt, rubbing the back of his head. He stood up, taking notice of Gamabunta getting pushed back, even though Shukaku was no longer in control. "Okay, time for a new approach…" the Splixson decided, duplicating himself as four clones appeared from his body.

"Don't you think we're gonna need more than this?" one of them asked.

"Huh…" the original Ditto sighed out exasperatedly. Meanwhile, Gamabunta was struggling to hold back his foe.

"We might've undone the jutsu, but this guy's still got some fight left in him…!" he grunted out. Gaara himself awoke, realizing that his Play Possum Jutsu had been stopped. He looked to see Naruto sliding back along the head of the tailed beast, coming to a stop. He glared out at the jinchuriki, rushing toward him while roaring.

'He disrupted my jutsu!' Gaara growled inwardly, concentrating intensely. As Naruto approached, he suddenly felt his feet start to sink into the head of the tailed beast, becoming stuck like quicksand.

"SAND COFFIN!" the One-Tail jinchuriki bellowed, having wisps of his sand converge on his target. All of a sudden though, several figures jumped in front of the blonde-haired genin, being none other than the Ditto clones.

"What the heck?!" Gamakichi yelped.

"Where'd these guys all come from?" Gamabunta wondered aloud. Naruto blinked in surprise to find the Omnitrix symbol each of the Splixson clones' heads.

"Ben?!" he yelped in surprise.

"Heh," one of the duplicates laughed, "Bet you're surprised, huh?" he presumed.

"You're not the only guy who can double up!" another pointed out.

"Why you…!" Gaara snarled. His sand wisps were knocking away each of the Splixson clones, but more of them were appearing, gathering around Naruto and trying to dig him out of the sand.

"Don't worry, buddy…!" one of them grunted out.

"Soon as we beach Sandy, we'll be home free!" another affirmed.

"You think I'm a fool?!" Gaara roared in question, making the surface beneath the Dittos soften, causing them to sink like Naruto as they yelped. The blonde-haired genin grimaced. He was out of chakra, and so was Gamabunta. Not to mention that Ditto's last-ditch effort might've just been all for nothing. There was nothing they could do now against Gaara… unless… Naruto clapped his hands together into a tiger seal.

'I don't need much…' he noted to himself as the Splixson clones looked over to him in surprise, 'Just… give me… some chakra…' he insisted inwardly. After a moment, an orange energy burst to life around him, freeing him and the Dittos as they fell back, looking at the blonde-haired genin with widened eyes.

"Naruto…?" the original one uttered out. He watched as his friend's forehead protector flew off of his head, while his jacket's zipper tore open to reveal his black undershirt. He glared out at Gaara.

'I'm going to protect… everyone!' he declared inwardly, 'Get ready, you crazy monster!' he added through his thoughts, lunging out in an instant at his opponent, who gritted his teeth.

"DIE!" he roared as he put his hands together in the form of a seal. Wisps of sand barely managed to snatch Naruto just before he could reach Gaara.

"Naruto!" Ditto yelled out. The blonde-haired genin struggled against his foe. But even more than that, he wanted to reach out to him, so long as it meant giving him help.

"I…" he began, unable to move his fist any closer, "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" he exclaimed, resorting to landing a final head-butt to his foe's cranium. Blood trickled down the heads of both boys as Ditto and his clones looked on in awe. They noticed that the form of the tailed beast was starting to crack as a result of the collision, with sand spilling out. Ultimately, it crumbled away and fell to the earth, with those upon it to follow.

"Whoa!" the original Ditto yelped as he and his clones landed atop Gamabunta's head.

"A plain old head-butt, huh?" the giant toad noted, "He's not the most elegant fighter I've seen…" he pointed out, "But to dredge up that much chakra, even on his last legs…" he continued, seeing the blonde-haired genin fall alongside Gaara, "He might be the biggest knucklehead I've ever come across," he admitted, "But I haven't seen a kid with this much promise in ages," he added on.

"Hey, uh… Mister Toad Guy?" Ditto chimed in, getting his attention, "I don't suppose you can… let us down now, please?" he requested with a smile.

"Huh," Gamabunta huffed, "Even I wanted to, I'm too worn out," he told him and the clones, "Time to head back, Gamakichi," he confirmed to his son.

"Okay, Pops!" he responded, "Let's do it!" he insisted.

"W-Wai—!" The Splixson's shout didn't reach either toad as they disappeared in massive puffs of smoke, blowing him and his clones away. Fortunately, they landed atop nearby trees, much like Naruto and Gaara did. Both of them sat up, breathing heavily as they glared each other down.

"I can't go any further…" the blonde-haired genin pointed out to his foe, "I used up all my chakra…" he mentioned, "And I'm betting you did, too…" he added on, "You and I are a lot alike…" he kept going, "More than you know," he noted further, "We shouldn't be doing this," he said.

"Naruto…" the original Ditto uttered upon overhearing from nearby. Both the blonde-haired genin and his foe stood up, taking ready stances. They lunged out at each other the very moment Gamabunta's dosu blade disappeared in a massive puff of smoke. The Splixson and his clones watched in amazement as they attempted to punch each other, only for Naruto to land the final blow to his opponent's face… before they went crashing down onto the ground, lying just yards apart from each other.

Both of them bore resentment and hatred in their hearts. But one had managed to overcome it thanks to the people that supported. In turn, he would be sure to support the one just like him. He would save Gaara from that loneliness he suffered. A loneliness… that he endured himself.

What Ben had paid witness to over his time with Naruto was an unbelievable willpower. Against all odds, he persevered through thick and thin to save his friends, fighting for their sakes over his own. But even more than that, he saw Naruto's compassion for others, even his own enemies.

After the attack of the Sound and the Sand on the Leaf Village, it was only a short while until Ben and Gwen could return to their world. However, they'd return many times to help Naruto and his friends on other missions. After all, there are other Omni Force members who originated from Universe-700. But we'll save their stories for another time.

Until then… goodbye for now, everyone!

ENDING

Insert "Kitakaze" by SIX LOUNGE

We start with Naruto as a young boy running throughout the Leaf Village, proclaiming that he'll be Hokage one day. Even if he's mocked and shunned away, he'll never give, because that's his ninja way. He grows up, becoming a shinobi as he enrolls in the Ninja Academy. He joins Team 7 under Kakashi and goes on missions, learning more and more, while even going through countless battles. However, he trips and falters when he winds up getting attacked by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.

As he pushes himself up, he sees a hand reach out to him, belonging to Ben. He accepts it, allowing him to pull the genin back up. They then head off together, going through various ordeals.

Naruto narrowly achieves victory in his one-on-one match against Kiba Inuzuka during the Chunin Exams, followed by training with Jiraiya before his eventual match with Neji Hyuga. At the same stadium, Naruto witnesses Sasuke fighting the likes of Gaara before chaos ensues, with several battles taking place as the Leaf Village is threatened to be destroyed. Ben and Naruto join forces, aiming to put a stop to whatever plans are being enacted.

Although, some efforts end up being for naught, like Sasuke defecting from the Leaf Village to Orochimaru. Naruto falls again, but this time has even more friends to pick him back up. He cries, but is determined to keep moving forward.

We see him laughing as he enjoys ramen at Ichiraku's with Ash and Gingka, battling Shinno alongside Ben and Rex, and fending off Equalist forces with Korra. We also see him bonding with several people around the multiverse, like Pinkie Pie, Monkey D. Luffy, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, and many more. The bonds he's forged have crossed beyond generations. And even though he struggled with some of his own, he was able to mend them over time.

The song ends with Naruto as the Hokage standing atop the office building, with Sasuke standing beside him. He holds out the scratched forehead protector to him, and he accepts it with a small grin. The shines brightly over them as their friends watch on.

END ENDING

Phew… I don't think many of the other chapters are going to be as long as this one, but I can never be too sure these days. This was quite the writing project to get through, and I know I've got 97 more to take care of. I hope it gets a little easier, especially since I wanna get to work on other stories in the schedule.

Anyways, that was great to get through! The idea behind Ben meeting Naruto in the middle of the Chunin Exams was something I had thought up long ago, and the story from there would be that they became friends, helping each other out through things like the Leaf Village attack. The gaps in between will get filled in due time, I promise. But for now, I'm glad this chapter's finally finished.

Thanks for reading, everyone!