The crowd watched with bated breath as the two genin stared at each other. Those that heard and saw what Gaara could do knew that he was strong. He was a genin in rank only, his skill was far better. Combine that with what they saw Naruto do against Neji, they knew that this would be an amazing match.
Meanwhile, Naruto was going through various strategies in his mind. He knew that only greater speed would allow him to engage Gaara in close combat, speed that he had. He was certain that he was as fast, if not faster, than Rock Lee without his weights. The only problem was that if he was caught by Gaara's sand, he could be crushed instantly. 'Ninjutsu it is, then,'but which one?
Naruto knew only two elements that were superior to Gaara's sand, water and lightning. He didn't know any water techniques and he regretted that right now. That was actually the best element for this match since he would only have to cover Gaara's sand with water and all his sand would be useless. Lightning though, he had and he was glad for that. His lightning techniques would easily penetrate Gaara's sand because of its earth element attribute. He didn't know how far his lightning techniques could help him against Gaara, but there was only one way to find out.
Not wasting any more time, Naruto created five shadow clones and sent them at Gaara. Each clone seemingly charged in recklessly to their deaths, but there was something underneath all of that. The clones had only one purpose, to see what Gaara could do. Shadow clones, besides training and spying purposes, were also great for making strategies on the spot. If you sent them at your enemy, they would send you information about your opponent's fighting style. With such information, you could easily think of a good plan to defeat your opponent.
It wasn't long before the memories of his clones returned to him. Reviewing them, he noticed that they were killed rather gruesomely which made him wince. He was surely glad that he had his trusty clones up front. The info they brought back though, was very useful.
Confirming his suspicions from the preliminaries, Gaara didn't move even when his clones managed to somehow bypass his automatic defense. This proved that Gaara didn't have any taijutsu experience and that he solely relied on his sand. His control over sand was very good though, and he could use it effectively without moving a muscle. Still, if Naruto passed through his sand, Gaara was finished.
Xxxx
"Why did Naruto-kun send his clones, but didn't attack after them?" Lee questioned his sensei.
The bright grin on his mentor's face told him that the reason was really good. "That was a part of Naruto-kun's youthful strategy! You see, a shadow clone when dispelled sends the information he received back to the original. Naruto-kun used that advantage to figure out Gaara-kun's style of fighting and come up with a plan!"
Lee's widened eyes filled with fire and his fists clenched. "Sugoi! Naruto-kun's flames of youth burn brightly while facing such fearsome opponent!"
"What a diamond in the rough you had and you just ditched him, Kakashi," Anko spoke suddenly making everyone look at her. Sure enough they saw Kakashi standing there looking at the two genin fight.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed upon seeing him. "Where is Sasuke-kun?"
"Sasuke is in the hospital," Kakashi replied with a sigh. "It seems that Naruto's kick gave him a concussion and his nose was broken."
Sakura gasped after hearing this and sent an angry glare toward Naruto. She was about to say something, but stopped when she heard someone snicker. Turning around, she saw Anko holding her hand over her mouth, trying to not to laugh… too much.
"Is there something funny, Anko?" Kakashi asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yes there is, actually," she said, still trying to hold in her laughter. "It's funny how the dead-last kicked asses of two rookies of the year in a day… one of them with a single kick no less."
"And what's so funny about that?" he asked, his eyes still narrowed.
"It's funny because you wanted Sasuke to fight against Gaara because, as you said it yourself, Naruto wasn't ready to face him," Asuma said with a smirk.
"And the gaki totally kicked his ass!" Anko exclaimed with a fist raised in the air. "I never thought the weak should replace the strong ones in a fight."
"Sasuke-kun isn't weak!" both Sakura and Ino exclaimed at the same time.
"Compared to the cutie down there, he is," Anko said with a bored look.
"Well, you chose wrong in regarding which student of yours is better," Asuma said, making others nod.
Kakashi said nothing, but merely stared at the two genin or more precisely, at Naruto. How strong had he gotten? Who trained him? Lot of questions coursed through his brain, making it difficult to concentrate on the fight. One question though, was louder than others. 'Minato-sensei, would you be disappointed of my choices?'
Xxxx
'Let's try this one,'Naruto thought to himself as he charged at Gaara and began a hand-seal sequence. "Kaze no Yaiba!"
Several blades of wind formed around Naruto and flew straight at Gaara. Even though they were almost invisible, Gaara's sand still raised in defense to block the blades. Naruto expected that so he put more chakra than necessary while creating the blades thus increasing their propulsion speed. As the blades reached Gaara, they struck the sand and, much to Gaara's surprise, they passed right through it. The attack broke down Gaara's defense and left several cuts on Gaara himself.
Naruto didn't waste a moment and continued his charge, with a plan in his mind. As soon he saw the sand around Gaara crumble, hi did few more hand-seals and charged his right hand with lightning chakra. Nearing Gaara, he thrust his right arm forward and slammed it into Gaara's chest. "Raiton: Shogeki Mahi no Jutsu!"
The result of Gaara falling down paralyzed, what Naruto expected, did not happen. As soon as Naruto sent his lightning chakra into Gaara's body, the red-head crumbled into sand, leaving Naruto standing alone in the clearing.
"Fucking clone," Naruto muttered to himself and began to look around for his opponent. Only his well honed senses allowed him to jump away from his current position, lest he be crushed by sand.
"You are the second person that managed to pass through my defense, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara's monotone voice resounded throughout the clearing. "You are worthy for me to prove my existence. Mother will feast on your blood today!"
Naruto finally spotted Gaara who was standing at the edge of the arena, with his hands in the air. The ground shook slightly and Naruto could feel chakra coursing through it. Suddenly, a wave of sand began to rise in front of Gaara, something that Naruto didn't expect. "Oh shit," Naruto muttered as the sand began to climb over him.
"It's over!" Gaara shouted maniacally with a bloodthirsty grin on his face and slammed his hands on the ground. The sand that was above Naruto dropped down loudly, covering the entire arena. Gaara wasn't over though and the sand condensed as he uttered two words. "Sabaku Taiso!"
Everything went silent as Gaara slowly rose with a manic grin on his face.
Xxxx
"N-no way," Sakura muttered.
"Is he dead?" Kiba asked with a tinge of fear in his voice.
'No! Naruto-kun can't be dead!' Hinata though to herself, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
The jonin watched the sand with wide eyes. They didn't know how to react or could they help the blond who was currently under all that sand. Kurenai held a hand over her mouth while Anko clutched her trench coat.
"He can't be dead!" Anko exclaimed suddenly. "That's the gaki! The unpredictable brat who painted the monument in broad daylight!"
"I sure hope you're right, Anko," Asuma said quietly, his eyes never leaving the field.
Suddenly, a surge of chakra was felt by everyone and the sand on the field began to vibrate. Everyone looked hopefully, wishing that Naruto would just jump out of the sand. At the spot where Naurto was standing before the sand crushed him, the sand began to swirl inward and sink before a figure jumped out. Gasps of relief were heard as Naruto landed on the sand, completely unscathed. The fight was still on.
Xxxx
"Man that was close," Naruto said before stretching himself.
"How?" Gaara asked, his grin turning into an angry snarl. "You couldn't have possibly survived that!"
"I'm resourceful," Naruto said matter-of-factly. 'Good thing I managed to time my release with Gaara's attack. If I sent my lightning chakra at the wrong moment, I'd be crushed.'
The snarl on Gaara's face only intensified when he heard Naruto's response. Nobody ever managed to survive this attack! Rock Lee was lucky that his sensei jumped in and saved him otherwise he would be crushed as well. He raised his arm to send his sand at Naruto, but the shook of the blond's head stopped him.
"I won't let you do that anymore," Naruto said and Gaara's eyes widened.
Lightning coursed through Gaara's body, burning his skin under that sand armor, as a second Naruto emerged from the ground behind him and used his Shogeki Mahi to attack him. Gaara couldn't believe it. First, he survives his strongest attack and now he gets behind him without Gaara noticing. It was… frightening to say the truth. Gaara never got hurt, he always had his sand for protection and now he gets hit by a jutsu that rendered him useless in a single moment. A blood curling scream of anguish escaped his throat as the electricity burned his skin.
Naruto didn't let up his attack for thirty seconds, long enough for him to completely neutralize Gaara. Ignoring his screaming, Naruto increased the amount of chakra thus increasing the intensity of electricity, burning Gaara even more. Finally, after what seemed like eternity for the red-head, Naruto pulled back, letting Gaara to slump on the ground, unable to move.
"It's over," Naruto said to the proctor who jumped by them with an amazed look on his face.
Genma nodded mutely and turned to the crowd to announce the winner. "The winner is Uzu-"
"No!" Gaara interrupted him with a loud shout. "You will not take this away from me! I will prove my existence!" as he said that, dark chakra began to seep out of him, coiling around him like a snake around its prey. The sand from the field began to stick to Gaara's body, turning him into some sort of a monster. The grin on the red-head's face did nothing to refute that claim. "Mother will have your blood, Uzumaki!"
An explosion was heard at the top of the Hokage's box and shouts of anger sounded from the stands. Naruto didn't get a moment to gather up his thoughts as Gaara began to attack him angrily. 'So the invasion begins. Great,' Naruto thought as he began to evade Gaara's attacks.
Xxxx
Screams of fear were heard all across the stands as both Oto and Suna ninja began to appear. No one noticed them under their transformations and they had perfect chance to get a drop on the unsuspecting Konoha ninja. Several weaker ninja fell immediately but as the confusion wore off, the retaliation began.
Asuma blocked a kunai swipe from an Oto ninja before using his second trench knife to cut his throat. "What the hell is happening?" he screamed out as two more Oto ninja attacked him.
"We're under attack!" Kakashi yelled as he stood back to back with Gai while they fought off Suna ninja that attacked them. "Seems like they used the Chunin Exams as a cover to invade us!"
"So unyouthful!" Gai screamed as he kicked two ninja away.
"It's pretty obvious what's happening so shut the hell up and fight!" Anko yelled as se used her snakes. Near her, Kurenai used her genjutsu to disable the enemy as much as possible and giving Anko more openings.
It didn't take long for the experienced jonin to clear out their portion of the stands. Seeing that the enemy around them was defeated, they regrouped around their students.
"Alright listen up," Kakashi began, his voice completely serious. "I will say this only once so listen carefully. "You kids will be in charge of leading the civilians to safety."
"What?" Kiba shouted. "Why can't we stay and fight?"
"Because we are fighting already," Asuma replied. "And we need someone to get the civilians to safety. Ino, Choji take the left, Hinata and Kiba will take the right while Sakura and Tenten help here. Lee, you're to get to safety with the civilians, alright?"
Lee nodded, somewhat reluctantly but a look on his Gai's face reassured him.
The other genin also nodded and they spread out to begin helping civilians. Now alone, the jonin looked at each other and nodded, knowing full well what they needed to do.
Xxxx
Up above the Hokage's stands, a giant purple barrier formed with four Oto ninja at each corner being the creators. Inside, the Kazekage held Sarutobi with a kunai to his neck, yet the old Sarutobi wasn't afraid at all.
"What is the meaning of this, Kazekage?" Sarutobi asked calmly, although seething slightly inside. He couldn't lose his temper now though.
"Oh I'm sure you know what's going right now Hokage-dono. Or should I say, Sarutobi-sensei," the Kazekage replied, his voice changing towards the end.
"Orochimaru," Sarutobi noted, not really surprised. Danzo was correct after all. "Why am I not surprised that the snake is behind this?"
"Ku ku ku it's marvelous though," Orochimaru replied as he ripped of the mask of his face along with the fake skin to reveal himself. Pale skin and slitted yellow eyes that many knew and feared. "Look at all destruction that spreads around. With only a few words I managed this!"
Sarutobi looked around and saw what his former student meant. Everyone was fighting and in the distance he could see three giant snakes destroying the village walls. It was almost terrifying how everything went to hell in mere moments.
"So you're after my head then I guess," Sarutobi said.
"Precisely," Orochimaru said with a sick grin before he jumped back to avoid a kick. His sensei was now standing in a stance wearing his battle armor. "Ku ku ku it won't be as easy as I thought right, Old man?"
"I will do what I should've done all those years ago, my old student. I will end your life today," Sarutobi said with finality as he stared his student down.
"I better call in for reinforcements then," Orochimaru said with a smirk. Making several hand seals, he slammed his hands into the ground. "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!"
One by one, three coffins began to rise out of the ground. As two were fully out, Sarutobi sent a barrage of shuriken to stop the third one. The two coffins suddenly opened and two figures stepped out.
"No…" Sarutobi gasped as he looked at the two.
"Ku ku ku say hello to your predecessors, Saurobi-sensei," Orochimaru said with a smirk as he motioned at the two.
Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama stood in their full dead glory as they looked around. Only real evidence that they weren't really alive were the cracks across their faces and black sclera in their eyes.
"So someone finished this technique," Tobirama said gruffly.
"I told you not to create this technique, little bro," Hashirama replied with a whine. "See what happened now?"
"Shut up Hashirama," Nidame said, annoyed.
"Hashirama-sensei, Tobirama-sensei," Sarutobi said quietly. "I really hoped we wouldn't have to meet again like this."
The two heared him and looked at him. "Saru-kun? Is that you?" Hashirama asked with a grin. "Man you grew old."
Before Sarutobi could reply, Orochimaru slipped two kunai with strange notes attached into the necks of the dead Hokages. The blades sunk into their necks as Orochimaru smirked. "I will not be the one to kill you today sensei. They will."
"You despicable monster!" Sarutobi growled.
Orochimaru only smirked as he sent his puppets to attack.
Xxxx
As the confusion and panic spread across the village, Naruto could only stare in shock at the grotesque sight in front of him. Standing taller than before, Gaara's physical appearance was upgraded with a pair of huge sand arms. He also had a huge sand tail on his back. He looked like some kind of a monster and the bloodthirsty grin on his face didn't calm Naruto at all.
"I will have your blood Uzumaki!" Gaara screamed out as he lunged at Naruto who barely had time to evade, not expecting Gaara's increase of speed.
Jumping back, the blond sent several wind blades at his opponent which did nothing more than enrage him further. 'So that's the power of the Ichibi,' Naruto thought to himself as he avoided Gaara's arm thrust.
"Stay still so I can kill you!" Gaara screamed, attacking again but he missed.
"No can do," Naruto replied before sending a barrage of shuriken at Gaara. The shuriken were blocked as Gaara raised one of his huge arms to intercept them. "Why don't you just calm down and let's talk about this?"
Gaara ignored the joking question as he lunged at Naruto again however he found himself unable to move. Looking back with a growl, he saw Shikamaru holding him back with his shadow. Before he could even think of breaking free, a swarm of insects covered his body.
"Naruto you ok?" Shikamaru asked, straining to hold Gaara as Shino appeared beside him.
"Shikamaru? Shino?" Naruto asked in confusion as he saw the two. "What the hell are you doing here? Get away before you get hurt!"
Shikamaru shook his head. "We came to help you, you idiot! You can't fight this monster alone!"
"God damn it Shikamaru! He's too dangerous for you! Get out before you-" his speech was interrupted when a gust of sharp wind passed through. He managed to jump away but he soon had to block a blade with a kunai. "What the hell?"
Expecting a person, he was confused to see a wooden puppet in front of him. He raised his leg for a kick, the puppet suddenly backed away. Following its movements with his eyes, he saw it stand back beside Kankuro and Temari.
"Three on one doesn't seem so fair now," Kankuro said with a smirk.
"Damn," Naruto growled. "Shikamaru, Shino, deal with them and leave Gaara to me!"
Shikamaru didn't like it but Naruto had a point. They couldn't focus on Gaara with the two new arrivals on the scene. "Fine, but don't get yourself killed!"
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto waved him off as Shikamaru released his shadow. "Just make sure to fight away from here. This is going to get ugly."
Shikamaru and Shino looked at their opponents and nodded. The Suna siblings didn't like it but they knew that Gaara wouldn't hesitate to attack them. The four soon filed out of the arena looking for a safer place to fight.
Now that he was alone with Gaara again, Naruto prepared himself for the fight. Gaara was still covered by insects, but they began to die one by one from the corrosive chakra. Soon they were all dead, dropping on the ground and revealing Gaara again. He looked the same as before only now his legs were encompassed in sand. The manic grin was still on his face and he began to drool slightly.
"You're dead Uzumaki," Gaara said with a growly voice. "Mother will enjoy your blood!"
Naruto frowned. Gaara seemed to be getting stronger with evey moment that passed. If he didn't stop him soon, he would turn into full formed Shukaku and it would be even more difficult to defeat him. Sending chakra to his glove, he activated a storage seal inscribed in it and a sheathed sword appeared in his hand. Unsheathing the sword, he held it tightly in his right hand while the sheath was in his left in reverse grip. The sword was a standard Anbu ninjato with a black sheath.
"Let's dance," he said and channeled lightning chakra in his blade as they charged at each other.
Naruto was faster than Gaara which was evident when he ducked under Gaara's huge arms and with a spin, cut one off. Gaara screamed and swung his other arm at the blond but Naruto used the sheath to swipe it aside as he cut it off as well. Now that his opponent was armless, Naruto went in for the kill, only to be knocked back by the tail on Gaara's back. Slightly surprised at the unexpected move, Naruto managed to right himself in the air before dropping on the ground in a crouch. His body hurt from the hit, but it wasn't anything that would last.
"You will prove my existence!" Gaara screamed as his chakra spiked. More sand enveloped his body and soon he looked like a miniature version of the Ichibi. The monster snarled and attacked the blond again, with more speed and ferocity.
Naruto began to avoid Gaara's attacks. They weren't precise but they were fast and ferocious and if a single one hit, it would spell trouble for the blond. Finding an opening, Naruto batted one of Gaara's arms with his sheath and thrust his sword into Gaara's chest. The mini-Shukaku screamed in anguish as Naruto rotated the blade in his chest for good measure. The blond prepared to pulld the blade out, but he had to let it go and jump away before he was crushed. With the blond away, Gaara pulled the sword out of his chest and snapped it in two before tossing it away with a snarl.
Frowning as he saw his sword being broken, Naruto tossed the sheath away as he considered his next move. With his only weapon broken, he had to use ninjutsu until the end. Gaara's thick sand would render his kunai and shuriken useless even if he charged them with wind chakra. His musings were cut short however, when a barrage of sand shuriken began to fly toward him. He quickly jumped away but the barrage didn't stop. As he dodged the shuriken, his hands flew through hand seals.
"Futon: Daitoppa!"a strong gust of wind flew out of Naruto's mouth at the shuriken, stopping them and sending them back towards Gaara. Wasting no time as he saw Gaara cover his face, Naruto flew through hand seals again as his hands became encompassed with wind chakra forming two sharp blades. "Futon: Kazekiri!"
With a swipe of his arms, Naruto cut both Gaara's arms off again before spinning around and slamming both of his hands in Gaara's chest. Gaara screamed in pain as blood began to seep through the wounds. Naruto didn't let his hands leave the redhead as he channeled lightning chakra through them. Gaara's gurgling screams became even louder as the lightning spread through his body. Using last ounces of his strength, Gaara moved his tail behind Naruto, wrapping it around the blond and throwing him away. As Naruto hit the arena wall, Gaara's chakra spiked again.
"I'll kill you Uzumaki!" Gaara screamed as form began to increase in size. Soon he was taller than the arena itself and almost as wide. Gaara screamed to the heavens as his body emerged out of Shukaku's head, his eyes filled with madness. "This is the end! Taniku Neiri no Jutsu!"
Gaara's form slumped as if he was knocked out and Shukaku's eyes gained life.
"I'm finally free hahaha!" the giant biju screamed. "I will kill you all!"
Naruto could only gulp as he gazed at the towering form of Shukaku. "Oh fuck."
Xxxx
All around the village, the battles stopped for a moment as all heads turned towards the giant beast in the arena. Everyone shook slightly in fear as the venomous chakra could be felt, but the invading forces soon began to retaliate even stronger now that they saw their trump card activated.
Jiraiya frowned as he stood atop his giant toad, fighting against the snakes. He needed to clean this up fast so he could stop Shukaku from destroying the village. He was the only one with enough fuinjutsu knowledge to stop a biju.
"Jiraiya-sama, the Shukaku broke free!" Ibiki yelled from the ground.
"I can see that!" Jiraiya yelled back. "I have to stop the snakes first before I can do anything about the tanuki"
Ibiki nodded and sent his men to better aid Jiraiya.
Xxxx
"Ku ku ku," Orochimaru chuckled as he saw Shukaku break free. "Looks like the village is in danger eh, Sarutobi-sensei."
Sarutobi looked outside with a grave expression as he saw the giant tower over Naruto. As strong as the boy was, the old man wasn't sure he could defeat the biju. He couldn't help him however as he was defending himself from his two dead teachers. "Damn it Orochimaru! How low can you go?"
"I don't know sensei," Orochimaru said with a smirk. "We will see, ne?"
Sarutobi growled as his hands formed some hand seals. "It's time I end this," two clones appeared beside him as he prepared his final technique. "Shiki Fujin!"
Xxxx
As Shukaku's laughter bellowed across the village, Naruto was cursing to himself. How the hell would he be able to defeat a demon taller than a damn building. He soon had to avoid being stomped by one of Shukaku's giant legs as the beast began to attack again.
"Stand still you puny human and let me squash you!" Shukaku bellowed through his laughter as he continued to stomp.
"No fucking way, you overgrown tanuki!" Naruto shouted back. "Raiton: Gian!"
A beam of lightning flew out of Naruto's mouth straight at Shukaku, hitting the beast in the chest. The biju screamed, more out of anger than pain and in retaliation kicked the blond away. Naruto screamed in pain as his body flew through the air before hitting the back wall of the arena. He dropped on his knees, coughing blood.
"How the hell can I beat him?" he asked himself, coughing blood. "He's too fucking big."
"Wake the container and the biju will fall."
Naruto froze as he heard the voice in his head. "What the fuck?! Who the hell are you?"
"Shut up and do as I say!" the voice said again, this time sounding annoyed.
"Well how the fuck can I reach him to wake him?!" Naruto asked the strange voice. "If you didn't notice, he's enormous!"
The voice chuckled. "Jump."
Naruto could only stare in confusion before he heard something flying toward him.
Xxxx
As soon as Naruto dropped to his knees, Shukaku roared in laughter. "No puny human could ever hope to defeat me!" he was about to go over and crush the blond when he heard him talking to himself. Angered by being ignored, the beast sucked in air before slamming a fist in his stomach. "Futon: Renkudan!"
Xxxx
Time seemed to slow down as a giant air projectile flew towards Naruto. He watched in shock as it neared, knowing that he would be in serious trouble if the attack hit. He didn't know what to do, he had no way to escape the massive ball of air. It was then that a warm chakra filled his system and his eyes turned red.
It seemed like he was on autopilot as he jumped over Shukaku's attack and began to run towards him along the arena wall. His speed was frightening and he was sure he could never run this fast before. His eyes were focused only on Gaara's sleeping form as he mindlessly avoided any attack Shukaku sent at him.
"Stand still you human!"Shukaku raged as he couldn't hit the blond. He also felt a slight chill as the chakra the blond possessed seemed very familiar.
Naruto however did not stand still nor did he stop when Shukaku's arm slammed right where he was standing a moment ago. Using his momentum, he jumped on the outstretched arm and began to run towards Shukaku's head. Another arm came crashing down on him but he easily evaded it and continued his run. As he began to run along Shukaku's head, sand began to latch onto his legs. He quickly channeled lightning chakra in his legs to stop the sand from grabbing him.
After what seemed like eternity, Naruto found himself on top of Shukaku's head. Wasting no time, he jumped towards the sleeping boy and kicked him in the head. "Wake the fuck up!"
"Nooooo!" Shukaku screamed as he saw realized that Gaara was awake. His entire body began to crack until it fell apart fully, sending the two boys to the ground. The two fell hard, hitting the ground several times before they stopped in place.
Naruto grunted in pain as he slowly rose to his feet. His right arm broken from the fall and it hung limply on his side. He felt so much pain at the moment that he could barely walk, yet he couldn't stop now. He slowly began to walk toward the still prone Gaara who managed to look up and saw the blond approaching.
"Stay away!" Gaara screamed in fear as Naruto neared him. "I won't die! I can't! I have to prove my existence!"
"You idiot!" Naruto roared effectively shutting the read haired boy up. "How will killing prove your existence? If you kill everyone around you, there will be no one to acknowledge that you exist! You will be alone, which will be like you don't exist at all!"
"What are you talking about?" Gaara asked in panic.
"Proving your existence means you have people around you who acknowledge you and care for you. People you fight for until your last breath, those you would never hesitate to protect," Naruto said honestly. "If you surround yourself with people like that, you will prove you exist."
"I-is that why you're so strong?" Gaara asked, somewhat confused.
The blond nodded. "There are some people in this village for who I'd give my life without second thought. And the will to protect them makes me push myself harder so I'm strong enough to protect them," Naruto then gave him a small smile. "Find your precious people, Gaara, because being alone won't give you strength."
Gaara could only nod dumbly as he heard Naruto's words. He was still mostly confused what the blond was talking about but he was going to find out exactly what he meant.
Suddenly the blond was swept away by a sharp gust of wind which sent him directly into the arena wall. Seconds later, Temari and Kankuro appeared and grabbed Gaara before running away with him. As they carried him, Naruto's words rang in his head and Gaara allowed a small smile.
"Temari, Kankuro, I'm sorry," he said stoically although hint of remorse could easily be picked out. The two looked at him in confusion but nodded nonetheless as they approached the walls of the village.
Naruto meanwhile dropped to his knees again. He was covered in cuts and his clothes were almost ripped to shreds and completely bloody. With a final bout of strength, he looked up and saw Shikamaru and Shino running towards him. As he dropped on his face he could only hope Gaara understood his words.
Xxxx
It was whole four days later that the blond finally woke up to the familiar smell of antiseptics. Those that knew him were confused as to why the blond slept so long. He usually jumped back up a day later, two days at most. However, they didn't know what he was up to for the last month and they didn't know that he barely slept during his month's break. In Root, he slept two to three hours at best and he stopped training the moment he had to go to the arena. Add a fight with a prodigy genin and a giant biju and the blond was utterly exhausted.
Now that he was awake though, he groaned as his stiff muscles tried to move. He was also very annoyed at the location he woke up in. With some effort, he sat up on his bed and pulled out the infusion tube from his arm. Looking around, he noticed he was alone in the room and he couldn't find his clothes. Sighing, he dropped back on the bed and waited. Someone was bound to come in sooner or later.
And not even a moment after he thought that, the door opened. A silver haired man with a facemask entered with his familiar eye smile. "Yo."
"Kakashi," Naruto said blankly without even looking at the man. "The hell you want?"
"To apologize," Kakashi replied with one of his rare serious expressions as Naruto looked at him in confusion."I… failed. I know that doesn't mean much and I'll understand if you never forgive me but I had to say it."
Naruto looked at him blankly before nodding. "Alright," he said much to Kakashi's surprise. "Now get me some clothes, I want to leave this place," he added with a grunt.
Kakashi looked at him for a moment before he smiled. "I'll run to your place and bring you something."
Naruto shook his head. "I've grown out of my old clothes. I'm going to have to buy new ones," he said with a grumble.
"Alright, I'll buy you something. I'll be back soon," Kakashi said and turned around to leave only to be stopped by Naruto's voice.
"I haven't fully forgiven you, Kakashi. One day I might, but not anytime soon."
Kakashi could only nod as he left the room.
Now alone again, the blond had to fight boredom. He couldn't go back to sleep since he wasn't tired anymore and he couldn't leave without clothes. Fortunately, another person came to visit him.
"You're finally awake," Shikamaru said as he sat on a chair by the bed. "I think this is the longest you slept in forever," he added with a chuckle.
Naruto snorted. "Yeah I usually don't fight huge monsters. So what happened after I blacked out?"
"Shino and I brought you to the hospital. It was pretty calm them because the enemy began to flee as soon as that giant tanuki disappeared," Shikamaru said as he tossed an apple to the blond before taking a bite of his own.
"Casualties?" Naruto asked biting his own apple.
"Minimal civilian and shinobi casualties," Shikamaru replied. "Also… Hokage-sama."
Naruto almost choked on his apple as he heard that. "The Old man died?" he asked in shock. "Who killed him?"
"Orochimaru of the Sannin. He trapped Hokage-sama and somehow defeated him. No one knows how," Shikamaru said.
"Damn," Naruto cursed. The Old man was one of the rare people Naruto respected and hearing that he died was a heavy blow to the blond. "What's going to happen now?"
"The council will choose a new Hokage. Most likely it will be Jiraiya-sama," Shikamaru said. He was also saddened by the death of their leader.
Naruto nodded. "How are the others?"
"They're alright. Most of them went to protect the civilians so they didn't fight. Sasuke woke up a day later and he was pissed though," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "Kakashi-sensei had to stop him from killing you in his sleep," he might have exaggerated there but with Sasuke you were never sure.
"Idiot," Naruto said with a snort. He sighed then. "When is the funeral?"
"It was yesterday," Shikamaru replied.
"I missed it," Naruto said with a sigh.
Shikamaru could see how this was hitting the blond hard and he put his hand on his shoulder. "Hokage-sama died protecting his village. I'm sure he couldn't wish for a better end."
Naruto could only nod at that. He knew how much Sarutobi loved Konoha and he would give his life for the village without a second thought. Sighing, he realized that wallowing won't do anything other that spit on the dying man. If he could see Sarutobi, he would be smiling now.
With that, the two moved on to a happier topic as they waited for Kakashi to return.