Three weeks have gone by since the Preliminaries. The last of the Chunin finals was going to start soon. Yuri had mastered walking on water but was still struggling with manipulating water to move. She panted, letting it drop into the river.

"I think it's time for a break." She spoke and walked back to land.

Yuri wondered how the others were doing with their training. The must be getting stronger as well. From overhearing a conversation with her father with another Leaf ninja, she heard that Naruto was in the hospital.

"He probably over trained himself." Yuri murmured before thinking. "Hmm, maybe I should go see him and visit Yukina at the hospital and see if Lee's improving."

Yuri headed to the hospital and walked in. She was surprised to find it completely empty and quiet and walked to the front desk. There was no one there as well.

"Maybe on lunch or something?" Yuri wondered and she signed in and looked at the rooms to find out where Lee and Yukina, Naruto was in. She headed down the hall and stopped by Naruto's room, opening the door. But he was in there. The bed was messy as if Naruto had been in a rush to get out.

"He better not training. He should be resting." Yuri frowned, wondering where he was. Then she started to head towards Yukina's room and opened the door. She saw Yukina sitting in her bed, silently staring out the window. She turned and her eyes widen a little when she saw Yuri when she walked in. Yuri smiled at her.

"Hello."

Yukina grabbed a notepad and a pen and wrote on it. Yuri walked over to see what she wrote.

"Why did you come to see me?"

"I wanted to see how you were. You did lose a lot of blood, if I had known that you were anemic, I wouldn't have done it." Yuri spoke and grinned. "But that was some good acting."

Yukina bit her lip, blushing a little.

"So, what are you going to do when you get back home once the Chunin exams are over?" Yuri asked her. Yukina's eye widen a little before they dropped a little. Yuri noticed.

"Is there something wrong?"

Yukina wrote again in her notepad and showed it to Yuri.

"My parents abandoned me when was little when I found out that I was disabled. I have no one. It was Orochimaru who found me and helped me with my gift."

"Your whistling?" Yuri questioned. Yukina nodded.

"He helped me make it stronger and not just me the others as well."

"The other sound ninjas that attacked us?" Yuri frowned, asking her.

"I'm sorry." Yukina wrote. Yuri's eyes widen and she shook her head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'm mad at them, not you! You didn't want to have a part in the exams!" Yuri quickly told her. "But what are you going to do now? Won't they be angry at you if you returned?"

What Yukina wrote next made Yuri's blood run cold.

"I would be killed."

"Y-You could defect and move to the Leaf. You can stay with me for a bit until we can figure out your living conditions." Yuri spoke, rubbing the back of her head. Yukina's eyes widen a little and she quickly wrote something.

"Why are you being nice to me? I'm a shinobi from another village. I'm your enemy."

"I-I don't know. I guess I get what you're coming from. I'm from two different villages and I'm still trying to figure out where I belong. But you're not my enemy. You're my friend." Yuri told her. Yukina's eyes widen and she made a small smile.

"That would be nice."

Yuri left Yukina's room and started to head towards Lee's room. When she stopped at the door, Yuri heard voices inside.

"What are you doing in here, you rat!?" Her eyes widen. That was Naruto's voice!

"Naruto, I'm using my shadow possession jutsu on him. So, when you hurt him, you hurt me as well!" She heard Shikamaru's voice as well.

"Sorry, Shikamaru."

Yuri opened the door, seeing the two of them. "What's going on in here?" Then she noticed Gaara was there as well, standing close to Lee's bed.

"Yuri! We caught this punk trying to do something to Lee!" Naruto shouted. Yuri looked over at Gaara.

"Gaara..." She spoke, softly. "What were you going to do?"

"I was going to kill him."

Yuri, Shikamaru, and Naruto's eyes widen in shock.

"What!?"

"But why though? You already won the fight! Wasn't it enough for you? Do you have some personal grudge against him or something?" Shikamaru asked.

"I have nothing against him. I was just going to kill him because I wanted to." Gaara spoke.

"You're sick in the head, you know that, you jerk!" Naruto shouted, furiously.

"You must have had a pretty messed up childhood. How self-centered can you be?" Shikamaru frowned.

"If you get in my way, I'll kill you too." Gaara replied.

"Go ahead and try!" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, cool it, Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted at Naruto then glanced at Gaara. "We know from your fight that your strong. But we're not too bad ourselves, either. And we didn't show our "special moves" in the preliminary. Plus, its three on 1. You're at a disadvantage. If you listen to what we say, we'll let you leave, quietly."

"I'll say it again. Get in my way and I'll kill you." Gaara repeated.

"I WON'T BE KILLED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" Naruto shouted.

"I told you to stop! This guy is not normal! His strength is like a monster, do you understand?!" Shikamaru hissed, trying to hold Naruto back.

"I have a real monster inside of me. I won't lose to him!" Naruto smirked, glaring at Gaara.

"Stop provoking him, you idiot!" Shikamaru shouted.

"A monster, huh?" Gaara closed his eyes. "Then it's the same for me. From my birth, my upbringing was not what most people considered a happy one. To become the ultimate shinobi...with my father cast a jutsu on me, infusing my unborn self with the incarnation of the sand spirit. I destroyed the life of a woman I would have called my mother. I was born a monster."

"The spirit was called, Shukaku, it was sealed within a kettle. It's the living spirit of an old Hidden sand priest."

"To use sealing jutsu on an infant before it's even born...to go that far is pretty crazy." Shikamaru spoke. "Geez, what a swell guy your dad must have been. He must have really loved you."

"Love?" Gaara questioned. "Don't measure me by your standards. Love, family...Do you want to know what that word means to me? The only emotional ties I have to my family are the ones that I'd like to wrap around their necks that only ties with hatred. Given life my the death of my mother, I was brought into being and nurtured as the salvation of the village. I was a Kazekage child. My father taught me the Innermost secrets of the shinobi. He pampered and protected me and left me to myself. For a time, I thought that was love. That was when everything started..." Gaara paused.

"When what started?" Yuri asked. Gaara didn't answer.

"What was it? Are you going to tell us or not!?" Naruto shouted. Gaara smirked.

"Over the course of six years, since I became six years old, my father tried to assassinate me more times than I can count!" His grin became more manic.

Yuri's eyes widen in shock. "His own father tried to kill him!?"

"But you just told us how your father pampered and protected you. So which is it?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Those who get too strong are out to become feared. The jutsu that I was given at birth, made my mind unstable. The fools in the village finally realized I had emotional problems." Gaara spoke. Yuri's eyes widened and Naruto glanced over at her, silently.

"My father, the Kazekage, created me as his ultimate weapon. But I eventually became a threat to the very village that I was meant to save. By the time six, I became a figure of terror to the villagers. To them I was a relic to the past that they wished would disappear. So, you see I had failed at the one purpose in which I was given life. What else was left for me in my existence? Why go on living? For a long time, I finally found an answer to that. In order to live, you need a purpose. To exist for no reason is the same as being dead."

"What is this guy talking about?" Shikamaru murmured. Yuri glanced over at Naruto to see him, completely stunned as he stared at Gaara in disbelief.

"He's just like me. I know that feeling. The feeling of loneliness before I met..." Naruto glanced over at Yuri.

"Then in time, the answer came to me. To put it simply my reason for living is in the killing of others. For years I aimed in fear in those who were sent to murder me. But now I am at peace. I killed many would be assassins and it was why I was doing it, that the truth was made clear to me. I live solely for myself, and I'll love only myself. As it was the death of my life that first gave me life, now it is the death of others that sustains me, that makes me almost happy to be alive. And there's no end to it, as long there is people to kill in the great world. I will never disappear."

"Iruka sensei and Yuri. They gave me a purpose for living. This guy had no one. We're so different but we're the same. Could I have ended up like that? I don't think I can beat this guy!" Naruto thought to himself. His body began to tremble a little and backed away.

"Hey! Where are you going!? What's wrong!?" Shikamaru shouted. Suddenly, sand slowly started rise, aiming at the three. Naruto stood frozen.

"Naruto! Hey! Wake up!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Naruto, you got to snap out of it!" Yuri shouted.

"Now, let me feel alive!" Gaara shouted and he shot his sand at the three, attacking. Before the sand reached them, the door opened, and Gai sensei stepped inside.

"All right, that's enough." He spoke, keeping his eyes on Gaara. "Save it for tomorrow, that's when the competition begins."

Gaara's eyes widen when he saw him, and he held his head in pain. When his headache disappeared, Gaara slowly began to walk away to leave. He stopped and turned, looking at everyone before setting his sights on Yuri.

"All the same, I will kill you, just you wait. I'll kill you all." Gaara spoke and left the room.