Genma lined up with Kakashi to stare down the Suna trio and Oto shinobi. Before anyone could question what was going on, the Jonin sensei of the Suna team attempted to make a move for Gaara. Reacting quickly, Kakashi threw several kunai at the Jonin to halt his approach, "Naruto! Use your chains to bring Gaara over to us! Keep him away from them!"
"Right!" Following his sensei's orders, Naruto dragged Gaara to the Konoha group. At this Kankuro brought out what was wrapped within his bundle, revealing a six arm, three eyed humanoid puppet with long shaggy black hair and exposed teeth.
Kankuro sent his puppet to retrieve his otouto. This time Sasuke acted. Despite not understanding what was happening, Kakashi made it clear that they needed to keep Gaara away from Suna shinobi in front of them. To counter the puppets charge, Sasuke unleased a gokakyu with the intention of incinerating the doll. The Suna trio and Oto shinobi scattered, as even though the puppet dodged the attack they were still in its path.
The enemy shinobi moved to surround the Konoha group, though their journey did not go unimpeded. Sasuke chased down Temari. From what he remembered of the Suna kunoichi, she is a Futon user meaning his Katon should be the perfect counter to her. The only thing he had to overcome is the distance between the two.
Kankuro moved to face Naruto, his main goal to get Gaara released and if he can kill the blonde in the process … all the better. The Jonin and Oto shinobi were facing the worse of the odds. He was facing Kakashi Hatake, which was bad enough, as well as a Tokubetsu Jonin. The Suna Jonin was thankful his face was covered in some way so as to hide the worry his eyes were likely showing. Temari was the first to strike, releasing a gale of wind blades to shred Sasuke and end her fight quickly.
Sasuke dodged and continued the confrontation by throwing two kunai at Temari. Not deterred by the action, Temari unleashed another gale of wind, using her ability to attack and defend simultaneously. Sasuke anchored himself to the ground with chakra, attempting to weather the storm as many cuts appeared across his body. When the attack ceased, Temari was surprised by what Sasuke did next. Sasuke suddenly vanished from her line of sight only to appear behind her and throw out a strong straight to Temari's face. Shocked by the speed Sasuke demonstrated, she didn't protect herself from the strike. The hit launched her a few feet back while she landed on her side. She was able to keep ahold of her fan as she was knocked down. Sasuke chose not to press his advantage in the situation. Instead, he merely stood in a ready stance reminiscent of Rock Lee.
His sharingan was blazing, taking in every action of his foe to not be caught off guard. Temari slowly got to her feet, using her fan as support. "Tch! You think your good?" spat Temari. Sasuke chose not to answer, instead he rushed forward once again to strike the Suna kunoichi but his path was blocked as a flurry of senbon that nearly landed in his arms. A look to his left showed on the puppet. 'The damn puppet must have launched them.' The split-second moment where his attention shifted away from Temari was when she struck. Sasuke was slammed back by another gale of wind. While it did cut into him like the previous blast, Temari's main intention was to launch the Last Uchiha back. As soon as Sasuke's feet left the ground, Temari throw another blast at Naruto, believing that stunning Naruto was all that was needed to disrupt his chains.
Kankuro sent his puppet Karasu lunging at Naruto, his goal to break the chains that bind his otouto. Naruto had no real long-range abilities aside from his chains, however he was already using six to bind Gaara. Creating anymore would cement him to the ground making him a stationary target. Remembering this to be a terrible option, he was relegated to throwing weapons until he can find a way to either strike the puppet or get to Kankuro without losing Gaara. Naruto threw three shuriken at Kankuro, hoping to distract him from controlling his puppet. Kankuro effortlessly dodged the incoming projectiles.
The next thing Naruto knew, the puppet was coming from his left. Soon one of its arms broke where the elbow would be on a normal human revealing foot long blade. Moving quickly, Naruto dodged the strike effortlessly by ducking under it. As the puppet was now in striking range, Naruto lashed out with an uppercut to destroy the puppet with a super strong punch. However, due to the puppet being controlled by a person. The puppet flew higher from its position to avoid the strike. Naruto's punch was soon followed by a high kick that managed to catch the puppet in the chest, launching it further into the air. Kankuro was immediately concerned. 'Damn! With how hard Karasu was launched, many of its internal systems may be damaged!' Kankuro called Karasu back to him to launch a new offensive. As Karasu was flying back, Kankuro noticed Sasuke speeding toward his onee-chan. Acting quickly, Kankuro had Karasu open its mouth and fire a volley of senbon at Sasuke. The next thing Naruto knew, he was struck by a blast of wind from Temari. The strike disrupted his concentration, releasing Gaara.
Gaara fell limply to the floor. Due to Naruto and Sasuke taking incredible hits from Temari, neither were able to stop Kankuro and Temari from retrieving Gaara. The two siblings wrapped one of Gaara's arms around their necks. The next thing they heard was their orders from their sensei as he landed next to them, he was the only survivor in the confrontation against Kakashi and Genma. His brown Jonin vest was covered in scratches as was his face cover. "Kankuro! Temari! Get Gaara out of here!" This shocked the two Suna siblings. "Gaara is integral for this invasion to work so he needs to be kept away from that blonde" said their sensei while pointing at Naruto. "Whatever ability he has can shut down Gaara's chakra and access to Shukaku. Get Gaara out of here and get him to release Shukaku, his part of the plan can still be salvaged." Temari and Kankuro nodded with a "Yes, Baki-sensei!" before retreating beyond the walls of the stadium.
"HEY! WAIT!" shouted Naruto. Before he could move however Baki appeared in front of Naruto to strike him down. Before Baki could strike however, Kakashi lashed out with a heavy side kick to the Jonin's chest. The kick launched the Jonin back to a safe distance from Naruto and Sasuke. "Now now, let's let the Genin play, besides …" here Kakashi's laid back demeanor changed to something murderous. "I need to teach you why you never make an attempt on my student's life" said Kakashi coldly. Naruto was surprised that Kakashi referred to him as "his student". He was sure that sense Kakashi didn't want anything to do with him. Why else would he refuse to train him for the Chunin Exam Finals and pass him off to someone else?
Baki now knew he couldn't attack the blonde lest he risk his own life in the process. Even more so now that Genma appeared next to Kakashi. Now Kakashi issued orders to his Genin. "Naruto. Sasuke. Pursue Gaara and the other two. Do whatever it takes to stop them. Gaara is clearly integral to their invasion plans if they put so much effort into retrieving him."
"Right!" responded Naruto while Sasuke nodded in affirmation. Believing his students didn't have the means to track Gaara, Kakashi summoned one of his ninken to help the boys track the fleeing Suna trio. The ninken he summoned was a small, brown pug that had a Konoha hitai-ate on top of his head accompanied by a blue vest while his right foreleg appeared to be wrapped in bandages. "This is Pakkun. Pakkun these are two of my Genin; Naruto and Sasuke."
Pakkun did something that surprised Sasuke but not Naruto. "Yo" he greeted as he raised a paw. "Wow Kakashi-sensei! You have a summon animal too?! That's so cool!" cheered Naruto. '"Too"? I'll need to ask Naruto about that later for now I need to stay focused' thought Kakashi. "Focus dobe" reprimanded Sasuke. "What do you need Kakashi?" asked Pakkun. "Pakkun, I need you to track three Suna youths that just fled from here. Guide Naruto and Sasuke to them and keep out of the fight that will no doubt ensue."
"Got it! Let's go!" Pakkun stated. Naruto and Sasuke followed Pakkun in pursuit of the Suna trio. As the Konoha contingent set out, they did not realize they had a tag along in the form of Shino.
"Your students don't stand a chance against Gaara" taunted Baki. "I don't know about that" replied Kakashi cooly. "I agree" cut in Genma. "With as strong as Uzumaki is, I think it's you who should be worried about your Genin. After all, without our interference, Neji wouldn't be fighting right now" continued Genma. This comment surprised Kakashi. 'Just what did Naruto do to Neji that would require Genma's interference? Did he use the Kyuubi's chakra' questioned Kakashi as a small amount of worry crept through his thoughts. He was worried about Naruto coming into contact with the creature that nearly destroyed Konoha.
For much of the journey, the group traveled mostly in silence, preparing for the conflicts ahead. It wouldn't be until the group were in the woods surrounding Konoha that the silence was broken. Sasuke had been questioning if Kakashi was a good sensei if he was late to face off against Gaara, while Naruto was focused on Kakashi referring to him as one of "[his] students". If that were true then why did he pass him off to Ebisu and not train him himself? As these thoughts plagued the two, they were brought back to reality by the brown pug. "Hey focus you two! We are closing in on the trio. Also, I have noticed that another has been following us since we left the stadium. He appears on and off, as if something is masking his presence."
This put the two Genin on guard. Someone has been following them since they left the Chunin Exams arena. What were their intentions? Where they friend or foe? Many questions like this went through the boy's minds. Naruto then had an idea. "Hey! How close are they?" asked Naruto. Pakkun gave the air a quick sniff before replying. "They are about five hundred yards behind us" answered Pakkun. Once told this, Naruto quickly stopped on a branch and close his eyes. Sasuke and Pakkun followed suit. "Naruto! What're you doing?"
"Shut-up teme! I'm focusing!" Using his chakra sensing abilities, Naruto was able to sense the presence was familiar. When the image became clearer in his mind, the outlined showed to be that of Shino. "It's Shino!" proclaimed Naruto. This caught Sasuke and Pakkun by surprise. "How can you tell?" asked Pakkun.
"I have the ability to sense chakra. I can see it to such a fine detail that I can see the person thanks to the shape their chakra takes inside them. Even they are under a henge I'll see the person and the cloud of chakra that surrounds them. I think he has been following us by the bug I sensed inside my jacket collar" explained Naruto. Pakkun was impressed with the kid's ability. He knew how useful sensors were and to have one, even if he can't use it while moving, definitely helps. Sasuke was shocked. This was another skill Naruto had shown he had no knowledge of. Again, the whispers of the Curse Seal played in his head, "See the skills your useless teammate has that you don't! Was Kakashi truly the best sensei for you? Surely there is someone is better out there for you" it whispered. Sasuke visibly winced. This worried Naruto, "Hey Sasuke, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" bit back Sasuke "Just drop it!"
Silence encompassed the group once again. "So what do we do? Do we wait for Shino or go on?" asked Naruto. "We should keep with the pursuit, that Shino kid will catch up to us" stated Pakkun. Though Naruto wanted to wait for his friend, he also knew how important it was to stop Gaara if he is a jinchuriki like himself. With a reluctant nod from Naruto, the group set out once more, hoping Shino will catch up to them before the fighting picks up.
The two plus ninken caught up to the Suna trio. Sasuke took the initiative, throwing a few kunai in the path of the fleeing Suna shinobi. Temari let out a tsk in annoyance while Kankuro frowned that they had been halted in their "repositioning". The Suna trio turned to face the landing Konoha party, watching intently as the two shinobi got into taijutsu stances. Temari made a decision in that moment to keep her otouto's safe. "Kankuro go get Gaara out of her." Kankuro looked at his onee-chan in shock. "What! But Temari…"
"Karasu is vulnerable to fire so you are the poorest option against some with known fire jutsu. Besides it is the job of the elder sibling to protect the younger" said Temari with a resigned smile. What neither sibling knew was that Gaara was beginning to regain his bearings. Sasuke wouldn't admit it out loud, but he jealous of the sibling bond the Suna trio was demonstrating. He was haunted by his memories of Itachi being a caring oni-chan before that night and his shift to being a cold murderer that night. Sensing his weakness, the Curse Seal began to whisper to him once again. "People will flaunt what they have in front of you unless you take it from them. Use your power. Take what she holds precious from her!" This time he listened to the whispers. "Naruto, ninken. Continue the pursuit. I'll handle her." Naruto looked toward his teammate, "Sasuke, you sure?" As he asked this, Kankuro left with Gaara. In an angry tone Sasuke shouted, "I HAVE THIS! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Surprised by Sasuke's outburst, Pakkun told Naruto to follow him, making a note to tell Kakashi about the boy's snap at his teammate.
As Naruto and Pakkun attempted to pursue the fleeing Kankuro and Gaara, Temari readied her fan to blast the two with one of her Futon jutsu. However, she was stopped when Sasuke used his new speed to get in close to try and punch Temari. Acting quickly, the Suna kunoichi used her still closed fan to block the strike, letting out a loud ringing in the forest. Temari was angered that she was unable to stop the remaining two from pursing her otoutos. "You made a grave mistake" said Sasuke in a dark tone. Temari raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what was that?"
"You've made me angry. Temari threw Sasuke back. As the two separated, Temari unfurled her fan and let lose a windstorm, "Ressenpu". A concentrated blast of wind was launched at Sasuke, forcing Sasuke to quickly move out of its path. Sasuke countered with his own jutsu "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu". As the fireball approached, Temari surprised Sasuke by countering with a Futon jutsu. With a smirk she released her next technique "Fusajin no Jutsu". This time the gust of wind was accompanied by a large blast of sand, smothering the flame and getting sand all over the surrounding area.
Sasuke's anger grew as he was struck by the wind and fell down a level of the trees, landing harshly on a thick branch. "Kill her! Show her why you are stronger. Use my power to show why you are stronger!" It was here that Sasuke let the Curse Seal lose. Black flame like markings spread from the base of his neck as his chakra began to get more malicious. They stopped covering a quarter of his face but the foreign chakra seemed to burn his body as he used it. Temari was surprised by the appearance of the markings.
She was startled when Sasuke looked back up at her with the same glint that Gaara gets when he is about to kill someone. Temari acted quickly striking out with Kamaitachi no Jutsu to keep Sasuke back. Sasuke was struck by the whirlwind of blades, launching him to the tree he was standing on. Thanks to the Curse Seals power, he wasn't down for long. He got to his feet quickly and rushed the Suna kunoichi at a speed she was not expecting. Sasuke struck the girl in the stomach with an uppercut before using a right hook to slam her head into the branch she was standing on to knock her out. It was there the seal began to whisper in his head once again. "Kill her. She has hurt you. Use your new power. Show everyone your new strength." Sasuke reached for a kunai to slay the unconscious blonde before the memories of Sakura crying on his back begging to return to normal and Naruto yelling at him to fight and never give up during the preliminaries. Falling to his knees in agony, Sasuke forced the Curse Seal back behind the seal Kakashi gave him to restrain its influence.
Sasuke was breathing heavily as sweat poured from his brow from the recent fight and resisting the seal's influence. 'That power… it's intoxicating' thought Sasuke as he rested to catch his breath, not noticing Shino moving past him to catch up with Naruto and the ninken.
It wouldn't be long before Naruto and Pakkun caught up with Kankuro and Gaara. Kankuro sneered at the two. "So you got past Temari aye? No mater, I won't let you hurt Gaara" said Kankuro as he placed Gaara against a tree "Oh yeah! Last I checked, it was your ane that beat me not you! So what can you do?" taunted Naruto. Kankuro scowl grew with the taunt. He pulled Karasu off his back once more, "Why you little…." Kankuro sent Karasu at Naruto once more, this time each of its six arms revealed a foot long blade poised to strike the blonde. Naruto acted quickly, leaping toward the puppet with a bravado Pakkun though would get the boy killed. As Karasu closed in Naruto released his chains once again, with two managing to catch the puppet once in its chest while another caught one of its arms. The single arm and chest immediately fell from Kankuro's control.
Kankuro growled in annoyance at the loss of so much of his puppet. Before he could perform his next trick, he was suddenly struck in the cheek by a fist launching him to another branch. Naruto to was surprised by this but was happy to see who struck Kankuro. "Shino!" called the excited blonde. Shino spoke up in his usual monotone, "Naruto go after Gaara, I will fight him. Especially since I was supposed to be his opponent in the first place." Everyone looked to where Gaara was placed only to see a vacant spot. Kankuro was panicking, 'Gaara! Where did you go?!'
"Awe crap! Come on we got to find him! shouted Naruto. "Can't you do that yourself?" questioned Pakkun. Naruto halted in his tracks. Slapping his forehead for the umpteenth time about forgetting about his sensory abilities when he needed them most. Closing his eyes, Naruto concentrated and was able to locate the fleeing jinchuriki.
"I got him, he is heading that way!" exclaimed Naruto while pointing in the direction that Gaara had gone. "Go" said Shino, "Leave him to me." Naruto looked back to Shino, "Are you sure Shino?" Shino nodded. "Don't concern yourself with me. Give me ten minutes and I'll come and help you." Naruto looked at Shino with concern for his friend. "Alright Shino, be careful" said Naruto as he and Pakkun leapt away.
When the duo were gone, Kankuro began to taunt Shino. "You are an arrogant fool." Shino raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "If that blonde can't wrap Gaara up in those chains again you will learn what true terror is."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"I'll let you find out. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise after all." Seeing the conversation was now over, Shino stretches out hands releasing a multitude of insects, forming a cloud around him.
Kankuro sent Karasu at his new opponent, revealing a smaller blade on a telescope hidden close to the wrist of one of its arms ready to stab the young Aburame. Shino narrowly dodged the strike. He noticed a strange purple liquid running down this blade. 'Poison!' thought Shino. Suddenly the puppets head jerked up and opened its mouth as if to shoot something at Shino. However, nothing happened. 'Dammit! I forgot I used the senbon in the arena!' complained Kankuro. Seeing an opening, another Shino appeared next to Kankuro and lashed out with another punch that grazed Kankuro's cheek. The second Shino made no move to chase down the fleeing Kankuro. The two Shino's regrouped, making Kankuro scowl seeing that he was now outnumbered.
"So you made a bunshin of some kind. So, you gonna tell me which one is the real one?" asked Kankuro hoping that the Konoha shinobi would answer him in arrogance. "To quote you 'I'll let you find out. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise after all'" retorted Shino. Kankuro scowled at his words being thrown back in his face. "Why you!" said an angered Kankuro. He maneuvered his finger in a way that revealed a hidden cannon in one of Karasu's arms. A clear, circular capsule was fired at the two Shino's. Kankuro immediately panicked 'Crap I fired the wrong one!' The capsule exploded at the two Shino's feet creating an obscuring smokescreen.
'Poison smoke!' thought a worried Shino with both jumping away from the cloud. When Shino landed, he let out a cough. 'I must have inhaled some!' thought a worried Shino. When he looked to where he last saw the Suna puppeteer, he saw that Kankuro disappeared from sight. Suddenly, Karasu appears behind Shino with another wrist blade revealed. 'Dammit that blonde haired gaki ruined many of the chest mechanisms when he speared Karasu!' raged Kankuro. As Karasu struck out at Shino, the blade went right through him revealing the one he struck to be a mushi bunshin. Before he could pull his puppet back the bugs enveloped Karasu, smothering it and locking its joints.
'Damn him! He had his annoying insects cage Karasu! I can't move him!' Suddenly the real Shino appeared. He let loose a line of insects from his person that made a trail to the bound puppet. As more crawled over the puppet, some began to crawl along the chakra threads Kankuro was using to control his puppet. 'Dammit those annoying insects will reveal me to him!' thought Kankuro as he cut the lines. Before Kankuro could move again he felt something crawling along his hands. Looking down he saw his hands covered in bugs. Leaping from the bushes in fright, Kankuro asked, "Where did these bugs come from? I was sure to the strings before they could find me!"
"That punch I threw that grazed you, I attached a female beetle to you. From there you were always detectable to my hive. I had many of my kikaichu lying in wait to ambush you when you dropped your guard" explained Shino. Suddenly Shino fell to his knees then face first to the branch he was standing on. 'Dammit the poison I inhaled was a paralytic. With so few of my kikaichu within me it will be a while before I can move again. Sorry Naruto it looks like I won't be able to help you after all' thought a saddened Shino.
Not too far away from the fight between Shino and Kankuro, a dizzy Gaara was wandering through the forest. Often using one of the many trees to steady himself. His left hand was clutching his aching head, wincing with every step he took. Within his head, the Shukaku was screaming at him, ordering him to slay the blonde that dare silence him. The screaming within his mind did not allow the red head to focus, moving purely on instinct to find a location to wait for Shukaku's screaming to stop.
Suddenly Naruto and Pakkun landed in a tree above the struggling red head. 'What's wrong with him? Is Shukaku talking to him?' questioned Naruto. "Kid, I don't know what's going on with him but whatever it is it isn't good" stated Pakkun. Despite how close they two were, Shukaku was distracting Gaara from hearing it… but it heard. The shouting within Gaara's head grew exponentially, to the point that Gaara fell to his knees as he screamed in agony.
Soon Naruto and Pakkun felt it. Even without using his sensory abilities, he could feel the oppressive chakra of the biju leaking out of the Suna boy. The oppressiveness of the chakra caused both boy and dog to recoil from its release. Slowly, robotically, Gaara turned his head to see look at Naruto and by extension Pakkun.
Craziness and rage burned within the teal eyes of the boy as deep blue, vain like markings began to spread over his body as Gaara began to drool like a rabid animal. Soon his right arm and corresponding side of his face began to change. The dirt that was around him was ground away and dried out by Shukaku's chakra, where it then flowed up his body allowing part of Shukaku's form to appear over Gaara. Shukaku's eyes were an ere yellow with the pupil being a black four-pointed star with black circles between the points of the star within black sclera. His new right arm and the right side of his face now looked like Shukaku's. The face was that of a bulkier looking raccoon, as if it were mixed with an aggressive dog breed. It had a pointed ear on the top of its sandy brown head, while its arm was that of a long claw that had additional fingers coming out past its wrists all the while the blue vein like markings stayed through the transformation.
It was at this point Pakkun had something very important to say to Naruto. "Okay kid, I have helped you locate the Suna kid. I'll let Kakashi know what's going on here so … don't die" the dog said before poofing away in a cloud of smoke. Naruto was stunned. "WHAT THE…". Naruto didn't get to finish as Gaara let out a bestial roar as he threw himself at Naruto. Naruto quickly dodged, by jumping far back from his previous position. Gaara barreled through branch Naruto was standing on using his new arm to attach himself to the tree he just ran into.
Naruto and Gaara once again stood facing off. Suddenly in a burst of speed Gaara charged forward. Using the reflexes trained into him by Tsunade, Naruto doges the attack by turning and leaning back to near parallel to the ground. He ferociously brought on of his legs up kicking Gaara in the stomach and lunching him into the air.
This did not stop the mad jinchuriki as he let loose a flurry of sand shuriken as he resumed his decent, though Naruto dodged around all of them. Gaara through his sand arm out to a tree to pull himself towards it. As soon as he made contact, he made a mad dash for Naruto once again. Naruto met Gaara's charge with his own. Being the more nimble of the two, Naruto dodged Gaara's strike aimed at taking his head off and struck him in the face launching him backwards. Not wanting to let Gaara have a reprieve, Naruto pursued with a massive push off his branch with his chakra. Naruto now followed Gaara's flight path as he was now over the flying red head. Naruto lashed out with an enhanced strike where Gaara ricochet off the ground and back towards the soaring blonde who then proceeded to repeat the process until the two crashed through one of the thickest trees in the forest and landing on the forest floor.
As the smoke gathered, a sand claw from Gaara appeared and struck ahead of its position only for another figure to leap from the smoke. A loud, inhuman roar was let loose and the smoke was cleared. What Naruto saw was a Gaara now having his entire upper body was covered by sand, bringing him closer to looking like the Ichibi. Gaara through his hands forward, latching them to the ground as if preparing to slingshot himself forward. Gaara flew at an even more impressive speed forcing Naruto to sprawl to the ground to avoid the strike. The wind pressure that was caused by Gaara's flight nearly tore the blonde from the ground as he sailed over head. Naruto quickly jumped to his feet, not wanting to be a static target for the mad boy.
Gaara let loose a mad laugh and howl. "That's it Uzumaki! Let me feel alive!" Gaara charged forward once again. This time Naruto was prepared and ducked the strike and collided his fist with Gaara's new jaw, cracking his knuckles and the beast's teeth. A shockwave formed from the impact, and the force released forced Gaara to halt all forward movement but was not launched Gaara back. Gaara was relishing the fight, never had he been provided such a foe. Naruto on the other hand kept pushing forward, following his strike up with an uppercut that staggered the red head.
Naruto grabbed the staggered beast by its new ears and kneed it in the face, cracking the sand. This was soon followed by a wide, flying side kick that had the side of his foot meet Gaara's head which launched the boy of his unsteady feet. He once again collided with a tree that collapsed on top of him but did not remain under it for long. As Gaara charged once again, a large mouth was opening on his back taking a massive gulp of air. As Naruto attempted to dodge the strike from Gaara's arm, the mouth let loose an air blast that struck the Uzumaki square in the chest cracking most of his rips as it launched him through the air.
The crazed look in Gaara's eyes only seemed to get worse with that hit. "COME ON UZUMAKI! I KNOW THAT WASN'T EVERYTHING! GIVE ME MORE! GIVE ME MORE!" As Naruto stood, he removed his shredded shirt and jacket revealing the bruising and lacerations done by Gaara's attack. Naruto breathed in deeply before putting his hands in a ram seal. Gaara was more than content to let Naruto do what he was doing. He was enjoying himself far too much to end the fight here. Black marks started to spread across the blonde that originated from a point on his body Gaara couldn't see. Suddenly all the damage Gaara's last attack had done seemed to steam and vanish, leaving no trace they were there. Once that was done the black marks receded.
'Amazing! I can still feel the seals presence on my forehead! Did I not use everything I stored?' Unknown to Naruto but the Kyuubi within him was aware of what was going on. Part of it was pleased that its vessel was able to hold its own against its sibling without its help. It was also disappointed as the boy calling upon his power would grant it the means to attempt to free itself. For now, it would aid the boy, if for no other reason than to watch Shukaku lose to a mere human. To aid the boy, it refilled the seal on his forehead before the boy canceled his jutsu.
Thrilled by the continuation of the fight Gaara cackled maniacally his sand was spawning a tail that matched his arms. "YES! YES! YES! THIS IS GREAT UZUMAKI! YOU WILL PROVE TO THE WORLD MY EXISTANCE! HA HA HA HA HA! COME ON THEN SHOW THAT YOU ARE NOT AFRAID! SHOW ME!" the mad container bellowed. Naruto prepared himself to clash with Gaara once again by getting into the practice stance he was taught for the month leading to the Chunin Exams.
The two ran forward once again. Figuring Naruto would dodge his initial strike, Gaara readied his tail to be the immediate follow up so Naruto would be struck once again. Naruto ducked the first strike as usual but surprised Gaara by slightly leaping over the boy's tail. Suddenly, his tail was struck, imbedding it into the ground causing his speed to slow to a halt. Without warning, Naruto had latched on to it with both hands and began slamming him into the ground repeatedly.
Naruto was channeling chakra to his muscle to stimulate them as a means of boosting his physical strength, though because he was doing it with little practice, he still had some minor damage appear in the form of muscle taring. The Kyuubi was using its own charka to repair the damage as it was enjoying the show far too much to let it come to an end here.
Naruto then threw Gaara across the forest where he proceeded to bounce a few times before being violently punched into the ground by Naruto. When he was stopped Naruto laid into the boy with punch after punch. Hoping that any of the strikes would stop the mad jinchuriki. Eventually Naruto switched to double fisted hammer strikes but nothing seemed to more than crack the shell.
Gaara's tail soon slapped the blonde off of him, striking with enough force to nearly break bones. The blonde was heavily exhausted. A stamina monster he may be, but those heavy strikes he was dishing out were eating away at that fast. Seeing the blonde breathing heavy Gaara began to taunt Naruto. "COME NOW UZUMAKI! SURLY YOU AREN'T DONE JUST YET? MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE!" Coming up with something, Naruto prepared for the next reckless charge.
Being predictable, Gaara charged once again. Naruto was channeling chakra to his right fist and leg. As soon as Gaara was close enough, Naruto struck out with his leg in an upward, straight kick that fully stretched his adductors and glutes. The release of charka enhancing the strike launched Gaara high into the air, clearing the whole forest. Naruto not only caught up to Gaara but passed him. From what the dazed boy could see, the black markings were back once again. Naruto was channeling as much chakra as he could to his arm and fist. There was so much, the muscles that made up his arm began to expand under his skin. A visible coating of chakra could now be seen by the naked eye as the pressure in the air around the two began to increase with how much Naruto was using. "HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" With his loud battle cry Naruto struck. The force behind the strike would have ripped his arm apart if he had not released the Byakugo no In. The strike launched Gaara back to the earth with so much force that his landing not only made a crater but also buried him well beneath the bottom of said crater. Naruto fell back to the ground sore, exhausted and praying that the fight was over.
Sadly, it wasn't. As his decent reached the ground, a large rumbling was starting to become active. As soon as he touched down, the ground around Gaara's impact sight was up turned and out came the Ichibi no Shukaku accompanied by a deafening roar that halted the fighting of all that heard its cry. Naruto was forced to retreat from the impact sight lest he be crushed by the upturned earth.
The beast seemed to take in its surroundings before its shoulders seemed to shake. Before Naruto could question what was wrong with the beast it let out a laugh that could be heard for miles "HAHAHAHA! I'M FINALLY FREE! HERE I COME BABY!" It once again surveyed its surroundings. The forest surrounding him for the most part seemed untouched.
Off in the distance, it could see Konoha under siege by three giant snakes… well two as a teal-colored toad with two swords crossed across its back just flattened one. Nearby, it spotted the boy that had been pounding its host into the ground.
Naruto having fled from the crater to avoid being crushed by the ground Shukaku overturned with its appearance, was now more tired than he ever felt when training with Tsunade and Shizune.
Shukaku now knew its target, "I HOPE YOU ARE ALL READY TO DIE!" it shouted while gesturing to Naruto, "LET'S DO THIS!"
Feeling no other choice in the matter, Naruto channeled as much chakra as he could, once again being aided by the Kyuubi. It was the strongest of the biju and thus Shukaku needed to learn its place when it came to fighting its host. When Naruto slammed his hand down on the ground to summon Katsuyu, no one was prepared for what happened next. There was a cloud of smoke a loud boom and when the smoke cleared the only thing that could be seen was a giant white slug with three blue streaks that ran vertically down the middle and side of its body from its head and tapering off at its tail. Shukaku had disappeared. Naruto looked around but couldn't see the giant Tanuki.
"Greetings Naruto-san. Did you have need of my aid?" asked Katsuyu. "Um yeah, the Ichibi was released by this boy named Gaara and I figured I was going to need some help so I was hoping maybe you could help me out but um …" here Naruto scratched the top of his head "he kinda seems to have disappeared," said Naruto. "Oh! By the way, did you get bigger? I don't think you were this big when I first summoned you?"
Katsuya nodded her head slightly in understanding. "Well Naruto-san, when you first summoned me, you only used enough chakra to summon one twentieth of my being. This time however you seemed to have summoned me at my full size. I must say this is a great accomplishment as even Tsunade-sama has never been able to do that before." At this point Naruto forgot about the Shukaku as he began to cheer and dance around Katsuyu. "WAHOO! YEAH! I KNEW I WAS AWESOME!" cheered the blonde.
As Naruto was dancing around, something that Katsuyu was on top of was making her feel uncomfortable, like a splinter in your finger. "Naruto-san" said Katsuyu getting the young blonde's attention. "I believe I know what happened to Shukaku."
"Huh?! Really?! Where did he go?! We got to stop him before he destroys the village!"
"You do not need to worry about that. It appears when you summoned me, you were rather close to Shukaku for ones of our stature. So when I appeared I seemed to have smothered him."
Naruto let the words sink before laughing like he heard the world's greatest joke. The Kyuubi also couldn't help but laugh like its host. Naruto was slapping his knees as he said "Oh that's great. One of the nine biju was taken down because he got sat on!" Katsuyu seemed to not like the phrasing of the comment. "Naruto-san please do not imply such things about a lady, it is very impolite as I am sure Tsunade-sama would be happy to teach you." That brought all merriment Naruto was having to a halt. If Tsunade was not happy about his Oiroke no Jutsu then he may sign his death warrant if he was making fun of a woman.
Quickly Naruto got out, "Of course Katsuyu-san. I would never do such a thing!" As Katsuyu nodded in a pleased manner, Shukaku began to shift beneath her. Katsuyu applied more pressure to that area and while the stinging pain was there, the pressure seemed to cause it to stop after a while.
Naruto began to look around and say, "Now what?" as he was not sure what to do at this point.
