Moving quickly through the trees, a small group of ninjas led by a small brown-furred dog were in search of someone specific.
"First of all, I have to say this because I've had enough of getting into so much trouble. Naruto is a loser, you're a sack of fleas, Sakura... is Sakura, same goes for Ino. The only decent thing here is Toru, but we shouldn't depend on him."
Shaking his head, Shikamaru's mind was already working on a plan for everything that was going on, even if this was all a bummer for him.
On the other hand, Toru kept his eyes straight ahead as he remembered what happened before he went in search of Sasuke.
(I didn't realize until we started running, I should have forgotten, but... Hinata was still injured from her battle against Neji, I had no choice but to leave her next to my clone, but it's for the best, since if she accompanies us she would become a burden. Still, the Byakugan would have been very useful).
A few minutes ago, before going after Sasuke, just as the team started running, Hinata fell to her knees while coughing up a few drops of blood. Toru saw this and it was something he didn't like at all, so he decided to leave her together with Kakashi, Guy and the clone of himself.
It was the best option, after all logical thinking is something Toru mastered very well. Adding more numbers to the team is not always better, you always have to take into account the situation and the capabilities of each member of this team.
However, Toru felt strange, he was not used to this strange feeling that ran down his spine every time new memories came into his head.
"Hey dog, do you know how close to Sasuke we are?"
"Um... I'm not sure, the trail is very fuzzy because of the blood the kid from the Hidden Sand Village fills in the gourd bottle. I have to concentrate more, when we find them we must act right away and immobilize the enemy."
Understanding these words, Toru responded with a slight nod. The moment Pakkun finds Sasuke's trail, Toru planned to run at full speed and knock Gaara out, after all he could see it with his eyes, the death lines of a monster hiding in that guy's body.
"Hey, Toru. Now that we're after Sasuke, I wanted to ask you about your eyes... are they like the Sharingan?"
Hearing this question from Naruto, Toru sighed, since it was the second time someone asked him the same thing, and since it was Naruto asking this time, it would be hard to make him give up.
"I can only say that they are similar..."
Giving an ambiguous answer, Toru decided not to reveal anything else, but this made everyone feel disappointed, as Toru wanted to evade this question.
"Really? From what I saw from Kakashl-sensei, the Sharingan can copy each other's jutsu."
Feeling more curious about this kind of ocular abilities, Naruto scratched his head.
"Enemies..."
Toru and Pakkun said in unison.
Behind them, there were thirty in all. Apparently they were Sand Village ninja, as the smell of the dry desert made Pakkun instantly notice them. On the other hand, the Shigan in Toru's eyes activated, seeing anomalies in the death lines in the surroundings, being twenty entities whose death lines moved among the leaves of the trees.
"This is a bummer, so they followed us?"
"Apparently yes..."
Shikamaru felt tired hearing this, he couldn't understand how he always ended up getting involved in such complicated things, he had already had enough surrendering to Temari during their duel, why be punished with a whole squad of ninjas? It was just ridiculous, so much so that it made Shikamaru feel like laughing at the shitty luck that accompanied him wherever he went.
At the same time, Sakura and Ino looked at each other. They were trying to think about the situation. On the one hand, Sakura was worried about Sasuke who was being hunted by Orochimaru, while Ino just followed Toru without protesting, which she did because she still felt a bit embarrassed about what happened during the second chunin exam fight.
"There are too many of them, I don't think we can against them."
With an annoyed expression, Pakkun felt disappointed, they had sent so many ninjas after some kids and a dog, but the reason for sending so many ninjas was in front of him, the boy from the Asahi clan, who was able to stand up to Gaara, although for some reason he lost during their confrontation.
"They are getting closer."
With the blue glow of the Shigan in his eyes, Toru was thinking about what to do. He could kill everyone using clones, but he wanted to save chakra in case he faced Gaara.
"Ha~ this is a bummer..."
Resigning himself, Shikamaru accepted his fate as a secondary character, going against the approaching enemies, but Toru stopped him.
"Naruto, summon a clone. I'll do the same."
Not quite understanding Toru's plan, Naruto crossed his fingers and summoned a shadow clone, Toru did the same.
"What are you planning?"
Curious about what Toru had just done, Pakkun didn't know what was going on in the head of the boy in front of him.
"The clones will stay with Shikamaru. Don't worry, my clone knows the plan I came up with."
"Really, so I can leave all the work to the clones?"
Getting a little closer, Shikamaru didn't know what to think of Toru anymore, on the one hand it seemed like he knows very well what he's doing, but on the other hand he couldn't trust the guy who made Gaara bleed very much.
Still, he decided that it was all a nuisance, so he would let the clones take care of everything while he hid in the bushes.
(That's the best I can do)
It was a pity that Shikamaru is in on Toru's plans, since when you get involved with him, you'll have to follow his every order.
With this in mind, Shikamaru stayed behind along with Toru and Naruto's clones, while the real ones continued along with Pakkun, Sakura and Ino.
"Are you sure about this, Toru?"
"Yes, my clone knows what he's doing, all the information is already with him, so it won't be hard for them to kill them all."
With an expressionless face, Toru answered Ino's question. At the same time, Pakkun was surprised by this boy's coolness when it came to making plans, although he also had to admit that he really liked that Toru could come up with a plan so quickly just by seeing enemies approaching.
*Ahhhhhhhh*
The screams of the enemy ninjas began to be heard, as if forming a chorus, filling the cold, dark forest with the melody of suffering and death.
"Hm... I don't think I'm going to be able to eat after this..."
Shaking his head and resigning himself, Naruto felt as if his insides were stirring just thinking about what was happening behind him.
-Somewhere in the forest-
His breathing was heavy and this was becoming a problem. Gaara was too strong, he was like a demon, not only in the way he acted, but also in the way he looked, as it was as if a large layer of sand covered the right half of his body, showing a strange appearance similar to that of a tanuki/raccoon.
"Why are you hiding, Sasuke? Come here, are you afraid?"
With a sharp fanged smile, Gaara looked around the surroundings in search of Sasuke.
(Damn... this is getting complicated...)
Sensing the danger of being stalked by a predator, Sasuke had no choice but to hide. He was up against the wall, there was nowhere to escape, he could simply stay behind the tree and wait for an opportunity to attack.
"My hatred... my hatred is much greater than yours, Uchiha Sasuke."
After hearing these words, Sasuke ducked his head and clenched his fists tightly. This had somehow hurt his pride and, to allow something like that, was never in his plans.
So, holding his right wrist tightly, the screeching of a thousand birds was heard.
(Itachi chose me to be the avenger of our family. Toru is an imbecile, they killed his own mother and yet he doesn't want to avenge her death, but I am here, I promised to avenge the death of my clan and Toru's clan).
With a pained expression on his face, Sasuke came out of his hiding place, jumping up and aiming the Chidori at Gaara.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
As if it was a sharp blade, the Chidori managed to cut Gaara's sandy arm in half and seemed to hurt him quite a bit, but....
"Kukuku... Hahahahaha!!!"
Slowly, sand began to cover much of Gaara's body, now both of his arms had deformed into strange claws much like a raccoon's.
"That wasn't enough, you can't beat me, Sasuke!"
Gaara seemed to increase his power as the seconds passed. This was scaring Sasuke, who didn't know what to do about it. If he was killed in this place, he won't be able to complete his revenge against Itachi, all his efforts so far would go to waste.
"Even if I run out of chakra, I'm going to kill you."
Holding his arm tightly again, Sasuke summoned the Chidori again. The lightning light in his right hand shone brightly as the thousand birds sang the melody of death, but then....
"Ahhhh!"
Letting out a cry of pain, Sasuke fell to the ground unable to move, at the same time, the curse mark on his neck grew larger, spreading all over his back.
(Shit, the curse mark again... I can't move).
Seeing that Sasuke was on the ground, Gaara burst out laughing as he slowly approached. This had become convenient for him, after all Orochimaru's curse was taking effect.
The sand began to rise surrounding the place, Sasuke no longer had any salvation, because right now he will be killed by Gaara.
"Die!"
*Boom!
Just before the sand managed to hit Sasuke, two incandescent lights appeared turning the sand into crystal, it exploded leaving thousands of fragments falling.
"Naruto!"
Still suspended in midair due to the recoil from the explosion, Toru called out to Naruto.
"Here!"
Punching Gaara's face hard, Naruto looked down at Sasuke lying on the ground, at the same time, behind them came a dog and two girls.
These stood looking at Gaara, who had a non-human appearance, which left them with a strange feeling of fear.
"Sasuke!"
Taking advantage of Gaara's weakness, Sakura launched herself in Sasuke's direction.
"Wait, no!"
Throwing herself at the same time as Sakura, Ino tried to protect her, as a giant hand was approaching her, but she couldn't get there in time, what's more, she was also attacked by the sand hand, getting caught between the hand and a tree.
"Let go of me!"
Trying to free herself, Ino was desperate, as the force the hand exerted could destroy her organs at any moment.
"Hahaha! You can't do anything, you won't be able to save them, you guys should throw away those emotions you're so proud of, I'll kill you all, I'll kill you right now!"
Hearing this, Toru thought it was a bad idea to bring Ino along, as he thought the mind transfer jutsu would do some good, and he wasn't wrong, as Ino formed a triangle with her hands while aiming at Gaara.
"Mind transfer jutsu!"
Hearing the howl of a wolf, Ino's body stopped moving, transferring her mind to Gaara's body, the latter remained static staring into the void because he was possessed by Ino.
But it was strange, since not even five seconds passed and Ino had already left Gaara's body.
"That thing... that monster..."
With a scared expression on her face, Ino was frightened by what she saw inside that boy's mind.
(I knew it, he's just like Naruto).
Squinting her eyes and holding the daggers tightly, Toru thought that Gaara and Naruto were the same, they both had a monster living inside them.
"Naruto, we have to attack it at the same time. His field of vision isn't that great, so I'll go in the back and you'll be the distraction."
"Understood..."
"As for you, dog. You will attack from underneath."
"I don't think you know this, but I'm not a fighting dog, I can't fight, I can only track."
Hearing these words from Pakkun's snout, Toru sighed.
"Then it'll just be the two of us. Naruto, I trust your strength, so show how strong you've become."
As if he had heard good news, Naruto flashed a smile and felt proud of himself, after all someone like Toru considered him someone strong, someone to trust, so he couldn't let down his friend, his science partner.
However, Gaara was not going to allow this.
"I'll kill them, I'll kill them, I'll kill them, I'll kill them, I'll kill them!"
Multiple hands shot out of the ground with murderous intent. Seeing this, Pakkun hid in the bushes, hoping not to be crushed by Gaara, at the same time, Ino and Sakura watched this, worried for their teammates.
But it wasn't enough to worry, Ino wanted to do something about it, but she was trapped, unable to move. Then, her eyes saw Toru and Naruto, who synchronized their attacks and started hitting Gaara again and again.
This was impressive, they had never fought together, yet they were perfectly synchronized.
(You are just like me... if I hadn't been saved by Toru, I might have become the same person, full of sadness and resentment towards the world).
Naruto understood Gaara, he wanted to help him, but words alone would not be enough, so he would try to talk some sense into him with some punches.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Toru and Naruto said in unison and instantly hundreds of Naruto's clones appeared, while Toru's clones were only four.
"No, no, no, no, no! You can't defeat me, it's not possible!"
Touching his head in pain, sand covered Gaara's entire body, at the same time, a giant lump formed and covered the entire sky.
"Yaaaaahooo!!!"
The roar of a monster was heard. Everyone returned their gaze upwards and saw....
"A tail..."