Shikamaru gulped down the water Asuma had offered him with greed. Dealing with the pursuers had been way too troublesome. Catching all eight of them with his shadow, then finding out that one ninja was still not within his grasp had almost led to his death. He had tried to find out the hiding spot of the ninth ninja before his chakra ran out, freeing the shinobi from his grasp. Alas, he was too late and almost killed, had it not been for Asuma-sensei's timely arrival.
Asuma had taken the ninth ninja out, preventing him from assisting his comrades. Then, he proceeded to help out Shikamaru by taking out the other eight ninjas in just a few seconds. Shikamaru just muttered 'troublesome' and just sat down to take a rest.
Asuma smiled at his student as he sat on a log. "For your first time in deep enemy territory, that was not so bad, Shika."
Shikamaru scowled at his sensei, "It would have been better if you had just done it without hiding like that. Exerting so much had been such a drag."
Asuma snorted, but accepted it in stride. He had learnt long ago that Shikamaru was smart, but lacked the motivation to actually use those smarts in battle. Both the student and the teacher were lost in their own thoughts until they heard the tell-tale sound of a kunai whizzing through the air. Asuma prepared to tackled whatever enemy was coming, but was confused when the kunai landed on the ground in front of them rather than being thrown at them. Asuma immediately understood, while Shikamaru relaxed.
A tri-pronged kunai.
As soon as the kunai was lodged on the ground right before them, Naruto appeared in a blue flash, his grasp already on the thrown kunai. Asuma couldn't help but be amazed every time he watched that jutsu in action. To able to travel from one point to another in an instant, so fast that your enemy doesn't even have time to react would be devastatingly useful.
Naruto pulled the kunai out of the ground and stood up. Once again, Asuma was astounded on seeing the similarities between Naruto and Namikaze Minato. The almost identical shade of hair, similar hairstyle same shade of the eyes, the similar shaping of the face and the same, deadly expression on the face. Shikamaru straightened up out of instinct, even if there was no enemy around. Naruto exuded a dangerous aura right now, an aura that made it clear just who was in command. Even in the presence of a jonin like Asuma, who had the most authority over Shikamaru, that aura was blazing like a star.
Naruto turned to Shikamaru, a serious expression on his face, "Shikamaru, you and Sakura were pursuing Sasuke, right?"
Shikamaru raised his hand and pointed behind him without a word, too bothered to even speak right now. Naruto nodded and made to move when Asuma's voice stopped him, "What's the situation back in the stadium, Naruto?"
Naruto rose an eyebrow but replied, "The ANBU have almost fully evacuated the civilians from the stadium and most likely, are in the process of escorting civilians all over the village to the shelters. Suna and Oto forces are swarming the stadium in groups. Me and Gai-sensei were taking out the forces until Kakashi-sensei switched with me and told me to pursue Sasuke. He said he had sent a team of Sakura and Shikamaru as backup incase things get bad for that impulsive idiot."
Asuma thought over it a bit and asked, "Is there anything else?"
Naruto frowned and and then lightened up, "Oh! And your old man is fighting Orochimaru inside a barrier!"
His reply had the predicted result as both Shikamaru's and Asuma's eyes widened in shock. "O-Orochimaru?" Wow, didn't know Shikamaru was capable of stuttering like Hinata.
Naruto turned to him, "I didn't hesitate, did I?"
He watched as Asuma's expression changed to reflect his thinking on this piece of news. Just when Naruto was about to say something to ease the man a bit, all of them felt it, even if Shikamaru didn't know what it was.
The unmistakable feeling of demonic chakra, washing over them like a wave of malice. Naruto mentally cursed, 'Shit! Things are getting serious on that end. I better get going!'
Turning to Asuma, who was looking in the same direction with narrowed eyes, he quickly said, "Asuma-sensei! I better get going. I cannot afford to waste any more time here!"
Asuma's head snapped to Naruto, and it was a bit amusing to see the student and his sensei with identical expressions of disbelief. "Y-You surely don't mean you want to go over t-there, do you?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, causing Asuma to tense up a bit. He did not have time for this! "I have a way to stop whatever is going on over there. We can't afford to make things worse than they already are! I know what is going on, and I'm sure you do as well, Asuma-sensei. If you have a better option than fuinjutsu, I would be happy to hear it."
Asuma only looked at him with dead seriousness, "If you're sure about this."
As expected, Asuma did not have a reply for Naruto, nor did Shikamaru. Naruto nodded and turned to Shikamaru, "Hold out your arm."
Shikamaru blinked, "What for?"
Naruto sighed in annoyance, "I don't have time for this at all." He forcefully grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and released it after a moment. Shikamaru looked down and curiously enough, there was something imprinted on his wrist. A seal formula, to be precise.
He raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "I'm guessing this is your Hiraishin marking?"
Naruto nodded and started walking away from them. "If I find any one of ours in the way, I'll directly send them to you. It's best if you wait for five minutes before returning to the stadium, though."
Shikamaru could hold it no more. "Wait Naruto! You might be good, even jonin level maybe, but this is too much-"
Naruto was touched how much the shadow user cared about him but now was not the time. He waved a hand in his direction, not stopping from walking away. "I'll be fine, Shika. If you want, have Asuma-sensei tell you why only I can do this. I give my permission for you to tell him, Asuma-sensei. Either that, or you can wait for me to tell you. Just remember though, it's a secret. It stays a secret until I say so, got it?"
With a flash step, he was gone.
Jumping through the through the trees at a breakneck pace, he was just a blur to anyone saw him. He stopped though, when he saw an unconscious Shino on the ground. He jumped down, keeping an eye out for any enemies that might be waiting in an ambush. When he sensed none, he ran to the insect user to check his vitals.
'Kakashi didn't mention he had sent Shino as well. He's mostly fine, even if his breathing is rather quick. Also, the body does not twitch like that when unconscious,' he deduced. Looking around, he glanced over at Shino's opponent, a knocked out Kankuro.
He glanced back to Shino. More specifically, the back of his elbow which has a senbon sticking out of it. He deftly plucked out the senbon and threw it away. Knowing how Suna favored its puppets, there was a possibility that the senbon might have poison coated on it when it stuck Shino. 'Better send him to Shikamaru,' he thought. He was about to send him through the Hiraishin when another thought struck him.
Asuma and Shikamaru don't know that Shino was poisoned. What now?
He stood up, carrying Shino in fireman style and vanished from the spot.
Shikamaru and Asuma were about to head back to the stadium when Naruto arrived in a sudden blue flash. They automatically jumped back, tensed up for a fight, relaxing only when they saw who it was. Asuma gave a sigh of relief, but Shikamaru grumbled, "I won't ever get used to that."
Naruto ignored that and handed Shino to Asuma, who asked, "What happened? I thought you were going after Gaara."
Naruto informed him, "Had to personally get him to you. Pretty sure he has been poisoned by the puppeteer. You should get him to the hospital as quickly as you can."
Asuma nodded, and as one, he and Shikamaru took to the trees, making haste on getting back. Naruto nodded as well and resumed on his way, making haste in response to the steadily growing aura of malice that the bijuu chakra created.
'You didn't mention the puppeteer to them,' Kurama stated curiously, referring to the fact Naruto prevented the capture of an enemy.
Naruto flippantly replied, "Gaara will thank me later for that." He knew he was getting closer. The burnt marks from Sasuke's fire style, the scratches on the trunks made by the claw that had formed on Gaara's body. However, it was a completely different story when he arrived at the scene. Crouching on a branch high above, he observed the scene carefully.
Sasuke was barely standing on his legs, no doubt having exhausted himself by using jutsu after jutsu. He also had the curse mark spread all over him, showing that he had run out of juice a while ago, and now was relying on the power from the curse mark. And even that looked like it was running out.
Sakura had been stuck onto a tree with sand, unconscious. But it seemed Gaara was not interested in her at all, so it was a bit better.
A few branches away, Temari looked to be a bit better, if not in a similar condition such as Sasuke. She was breathing heavily, probably from having to fight off Sasuke to allow Gaara more time to recover. But she was injured as well, if her holding her left side tenderly was any indication. He turned his attention to Gaara and had to stop himself from gaping.
Sand had fully covered his entire upper body, with only his feet remaining uncovered. His facial features had changed as well, becoming more animal like, and his eyes resembled to that of his tailed beast, with the same seal marking on his body that Naruto had seen on the arm in the stadium. Now both his hands looked like giant claws, and his tail had also gotten somewhat bigger.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'His transformation has progressed way more than I had anticipated. Taking him down in that form will be way more difficult than when he was only half covered with sand. But there has got to be something I can use. Some weakness has to be there in this form.'
He critically examined Gaara's transformation, looking for a weak spot. 'Okay, His entire upper body is covered in sand, both back and front, which means it is useless to attack those areas. They are likely reinforced with dense sand to be more durable. His hands are a no-go, he would smack me away with those. There is no point in attacking from a blind spot using Hiraishin since he is a tail to take care of that. His speed, strength and durability has likely increased beyond what they previously were as well. But his legs…..they are uncovered. That is the only weak spot that I can see….Wait a second! His entire body above the origin point of his tail has been reinforced, but not below it!'
A smirk graced his features. He had found the place he needed to attack. The whole thought process didn't take more than five seconds. His danger sense rang out, bringing him out of his thoughts. His eyes went wide when he saw that Gaara was attacking not Sasuke, but his own sister! He then noticed that the positions of both of them seemed wrong from what he had seen two minutes ago…..
'That son of a bitch! He used Kawarimi to avoid Gaara's attack! And knowing Gaara, he may not even care who he's attacking as long as he gets his blood! Oh, I'll have your hide for this, you asshole!'
Naruto was already moving from his spot, his danger sense slowing his perception to allow him to appropriately react.
Gaara was laughing madly as he jumped from his branch, claw outstretched to tear Uchiha Sasuke apart. He did not even stop in confusion when the Uchiha was suddenly replaced by his sister. It only meant more blood for his mother! And plus, she was also among those who caused him pain. He would kill her and bath in her blood!
Sasuke panted heavily as he knelt down on a knee. He had pulled the substitution off very close, and was running on fumes now. He felt a bit bad about using the girl as a replacement, but it eased him somewhat that Gaara was so clouded in his bloodlust that he failed to distinguish his enemy from his sister. One enemy less for him to deal with later, right?
Temari had never been so much terrified in her life as she saw Gaara racing towards her. She had been pushed aside by Gaara earlier when he began his fight with the Uchiha. She had hit a tree trunk and had probably cracked some ribs. Deciding that it was better to rest rather than interfere in Gaara's fight, she sat down on a branch. She was resting when she felt a pull and suddenly, she was facing Gaara who looked like he wanted to tear her apart.
It suddenly became clear to her. That bastard Uchiha had switched places with her! She was filled with grief that her life would end by her own little brother's hand and in his blood lusted state, he wouldn't even remember he killed his own sister.
As she had read about how in your last moments, your entire life flashes in front of your eyes. That is exactly what happened to her right now. The last thought before Gaara almost got to her was of a certain, blue-eyed blonde.
She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the pain to come. However, instead of pain, something suddenly grabbed her, causing her to open her eyes and involuntarily shriek in surprise. They moved, so fast that it was a blur and the next thing she knew, she was a safe distance away from Gaara.
"I never had any siblings, but what I do know is you never, ever, attack your sister like that." The voice was almost shaking with rage. Her eyes shot open and she finally got a good look at her savior.
Naruto had an expression of dead seriousness on his face as he looked at Gaara, with Temari in his hands. Never had he felt such cold fury before. First, the asshole he called a teammate had the nerve to substitute with Temari, and make her own brother kill her. Then, Gaara has the gall to almost kill his sister in cold blood. Rest assured, he would get his payback on Gaara right now.
Sasuke would have to wait.
Temari felt her face getting warmer as she found out that Naruto was carrying her bridal style. His right hand was behind her shoulders, clutching her so that her face was right next to his chest. His left hand was supporting her legs from behind her knees. She tried to move around a bit, try to get him to drop her, but he took at as a sign of her being uncomfortable, and therefore readjusted her in his arms.
Gaara grinned a maniac's grin, "Uzumaki Naruto. She was one of those who caused me pain. Tell me, why shouldn't I kill her?!"
Temari grimaced as Naruto tightened his hold on her at Gaara's response almost protectively and dare she think it, possessively. Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was watching him with wide eyes of shock. "Sasuke, I'll leave you to handle him for a few more moments. It's your fight, isn't it? Try not to lose until I return."
In a flash step, he was gone. Sasuke gaped at the scene with total shock and disbelief. He just couldn't believe Naruto's speed. Gaara was an arm length away from tearing the girl to pieces when she had suddenly disappeared. Even Sasuke with his sharingan had only caught a blonde blur. When the blur had settled down on a branch, he got his first good look at who it was. And he was blown away.
Naruto had not only tracked him down, but had gotten here in just enough time to save the enemy from Gaara? Why would he want to save the enemy? It just didn't make sense for him.
Then Naruto told him to hang in here until he gets the girl to a safe place?! Just whose side is he on anyway?! Can't he see how he was running empty here.
He turned back to Gaara. No use complaining now. He would just have to wait until Naruto got here. He hated to admit it, but Gaara was on a totally different level than him. His fire style was useless, his taijutsu was null against the transformed Gaara, and the sand monster was unusually strong to have tanked his chidori. The bastard had forced him to use it three times, while his limit was only two.
Speaking of Gaara, his chakra had become a crushing, malicious force. If Sasuke hadn't felt it before, he would have been frozen in fear. As it was, he had felt a similar chakra from Naruto back in wave, when he had shielded Naruto from the ice senbon. Did that mean Naruto was somehow related to Gaara, since their chakra had some similarities?
He shook his head. Now was not the time to delve into chakra theory. He was almost completely out of chakra, so he could no longer attack effectively. He would have to stall Gaara long enough for Naruto to return.
Naruto had handled Gaara with relative ease, but he doubted Naruto could handle Gaara when he was like this.
XXXXXXX
Naruto had tree hopped until they were a good distance away from the fight. A hand came to rest on his chest. "My side," Temari whispered with an expression of pain.
Naruto blinked and then grimaced. "Sorry," he whispered back, loosening his hold a bit. Once he was sure that they were almost a mile away from the fight, he jumped back to the ground and settled Temari at the base of a tree.
Temari shifted until the weight was off her left side and relaxed a bit. Looking up at Naruto, she almost expected him to finish her off. But instead, she found him looking at her with concern. As if killing her was the last thought on his mind.
"Are you alright?"
Temari frowned suspiciously at him. "You won't be killing me?"
To her surprise, Naruto snorted and knelt down beside her. "What makes you think I want to kill you?"
Temari tilted her head with narrowed eyes, "The fact that I'm your enemy."
Seeing that Temari still refused to drop her guard around him, he sighed and said softly, "Temari, I…I can never bring myself to kill you."
Temari's eyes softened as she easily heard the genuine truth in that statement. Naruto wanted to grasp her hand to comfort her, to feel her comfort, but he was on a tight schedule.
"Temari," he called her. When he had her attention, he said, "You know that I need to stop Gaara. He's your village's jinchuriki, so you guys must know of a way to stop him from going on a rampage. I need to know what it is."
Temari shook her head, "You can't! It's a tailed beast, a demon of epic proportions, nothing can stop it! It's impossible!"
Naruto smirked softly and flicked her nose playfully. He grinned as a surprised blush came over her face as she rubbed it, "I'll have you know that a word like that doesn't exist for me. That's a word for people who have run out of ideas."
The temporary playful mood once again turned somber as Naruto whispered. "No way, you say?"
He then stood up, looking in the direction of the fight. He sighed with resignation as his dead expression came over his face, "Then I have no option left."
Temari's head shot up at that statement, eyes wide with terror. Her hand shot out to grasp Naruto's, who turned to look at her with a quizzical expression. "What?"
Temari felt tears pricking her eyes, and as much as she tried to stop them, they flowed out anyway. "If you are going to stop him, don't kill him, please. He's my brother," she pleaded with tears flowing down her face. Even if Gaara was homicidal, he was her little brother. She couldn't bear the thought of him dying, at someone like Naruto's hand no less.
Naruto's expression softened at her tears. There was no way he could leave her like this. He knelt down once again and with the thumb of his other hand, he softly wiped her tears away, "Please don't cry, hime. It's so difficult for me to see you like this. And whenever did I say that I was going to kill him?"
Temari did not protest at all as Naruto wiped her tears away. She could use a bit of some external comfort. She felt herself calm down a bit as Naruto rubbed her hand tenderly. Naruto wiped all her tears away and brought up their joint hands. "I promise you, Temari. Gaara won't die today."
Kissing her hand once, he got up and turned away. In a stronger voice, he announced, "I'll just smack some sense into him is all."
He was gone in a blue flash. Temari stared at the spot before shaking her head with a small smile. She reached into her hip pouch and took out some medical supplies. As she tended to her side, she muttered with a fond smile, "Baka."
She wholeheartedly believed Naruto would stop her brother without killing her.
XXXXXXXShikamaru gulped down the water Asuma had offered him with greed. Dealing with the pursuers had been way too troublesome. Catching all eight of them with his shadow, then finding out that one ninja was still not within his grasp had almost led to his death. He had tried to find out the hiding spot of the ninth ninja before his chakra ran out, freeing the shinobi from his grasp. Alas, he was too late and almost killed, had it not been for Asuma-sensei's timely arrival.
Asuma had taken the ninth ninja out, preventing him from assisting his comrades. Then, he proceeded to help out Shikamaru by taking out the other eight ninjas in just a few seconds. Shikamaru just muttered 'troublesome' and just sat down to take a rest.
Asuma smiled at his student as he sat on a log. "For your first time in deep enemy territory, that was not so bad, Shika."
Shikamaru scowled at his sensei, "It would have been better if you had just done it without hiding like that. Exerting so much had been such a drag."
Asuma snorted, but accepted it in stride. He had learnt long ago that Shikamaru was smart, but lacked the motivation to actually use those smarts in battle. Both the student and the teacher were lost in their own thoughts until they heard the tell-tale sound of a kunai whizzing through the air. Asuma prepared to tackled whatever enemy was coming, but was confused when the kunai landed on the ground in front of them rather than being thrown at them. Asuma immediately understood, while Shikamaru relaxed.
A tri-pronged kunai.
As soon as the kunai was lodged on the ground right before them, Naruto appeared in a blue flash, his grasp already on the thrown kunai. Asuma couldn't help but be amazed every time he watched that jutsu in action. To able to travel from one point to another in an instant, so fast that your enemy doesn't even have time to react would be devastatingly useful.
Naruto pulled the kunai out of the ground and stood up. Once again, Asuma was astounded on seeing the similarities between Naruto and Namikaze Minato. The almost identical shade of hair, similar hairstyle same shade of the eyes, the similar shaping of the face and the same, deadly expression on the face. Shikamaru straightened up out of instinct, even if there was no enemy around. Naruto exuded a dangerous aura right now, an aura that made it clear just who was in command. Even in the presence of a jonin like Asuma, who had the most authority over Shikamaru, that aura was blazing like a star.
Naruto turned to Shikamaru, a serious expression on his face, "Shikamaru, you and Sakura were pursuing Sasuke, right?"
Shikamaru raised his hand and pointed behind him without a word, too bothered to even speak right now. Naruto nodded and made to move when Asuma's voice stopped him, "What's the situation back in the stadium, Naruto?"
Naruto rose an eyebrow but replied, "The ANBU have almost fully evacuated the civilians from the stadium and most likely, are in the process of escorting civilians all over the village to the shelters. Suna and Oto forces are swarming the stadium in groups. Me and Gai-sensei were taking out the forces until Kakashi-sensei switched with me and told me to pursue Sasuke. He said he had sent a team of Sakura and Shikamaru as backup incase things get bad for that impulsive idiot."
Asuma thought over it a bit and asked, "Is there anything else?"
Naruto frowned and and then lightened up, "Oh! And your old man is fighting Orochimaru inside a barrier!"
His reply had the predicted result as both Shikamaru's and Asuma's eyes widened in shock. "O-Orochimaru?" Wow, didn't know Shikamaru was capable of stuttering like Hinata.
Naruto turned to him, "I didn't hesitate, did I?"
He watched as Asuma's expression changed to reflect his thinking on this piece of news. Just when Naruto was about to say something to ease the man a bit, all of them felt it, even if Shikamaru didn't know what it was.
The unmistakable feeling of demonic chakra, washing over them like a wave of malice. Naruto mentally cursed, 'Shit! Things are getting serious on that end. I better get going!'
Turning to Asuma, who was looking in the same direction with narrowed eyes, he quickly said, "Asuma-sensei! I better get going. I cannot afford to waste any more time here!"
Asuma's head snapped to Naruto, and it was a bit amusing to see the student and his sensei with identical expressions of disbelief. "Y-You surely don't mean you want to go over t-there, do you?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, causing Asuma to tense up a bit. He did not have time for this! "I have a way to stop whatever is going on over there. We can't afford to make things worse than they already are! I know what is going on, and I'm sure you do as well, Asuma-sensei. If you have a better option than fuinjutsu, I would be happy to hear it."
Asuma only looked at him with dead seriousness, "If you're sure about this."
As expected, Asuma did not have a reply for Naruto, nor did Shikamaru. Naruto nodded and turned to Shikamaru, "Hold out your arm."
Shikamaru blinked, "What for?"
Naruto sighed in annoyance, "I don't have time for this at all." He forcefully grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and released it after a moment. Shikamaru looked down and curiously enough, there was something imprinted on his wrist. A seal formula, to be precise.
He raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "I'm guessing this is your Hiraishin marking?"
Naruto nodded and started walking away from them. "If I find any one of ours in the way, I'll directly send them to you. It's best if you wait for five minutes before returning to the stadium, though."
Shikamaru could hold it no more. "Wait Naruto! You might be good, even jonin level maybe, but this is too much-"
Naruto was touched how much the shadow user cared about him but now was not the time. He waved a hand in his direction, not stopping from walking away. "I'll be fine, Shika. If you want, have Asuma-sensei tell you why only I can do this. I give my permission for you to tell him, Asuma-sensei. Either that, or you can wait for me to tell you. Just remember though, it's a secret. It stays a secret until I say so, got it?"
With a flash step, he was gone.
Jumping through the through the trees at a breakneck pace, he was just a blur to anyone saw him. He stopped though, when he saw an unconscious Shino on the ground. He jumped down, keeping an eye out for any enemies that might be waiting in an ambush. When he sensed none, he ran to the insect user to check his vitals.
'Kakashi didn't mention he had sent Shino as well. He's mostly fine, even if his breathing is rather quick. Also, the body does not twitch like that when unconscious,' he deduced. Looking around, he glanced over at Shino's opponent, a knocked out Kankuro.
He glanced back to Shino. More specifically, the back of his elbow which has a senbon sticking out of it. He deftly plucked out the senbon and threw it away. Knowing how Suna favored its puppets, there was a possibility that the senbon might have poison coated on it when it stuck Shino. 'Better send him to Shikamaru,' he thought. He was about to send him through the Hiraishin when another thought struck him.
Asuma and Shikamaru don't know that Shino was poisoned. What now?
He stood up, carrying Shino in fireman style and vanished from the spot.
Shikamaru and Asuma were about to head back to the stadium when Naruto arrived in a sudden blue flash. They automatically jumped back, tensed up for a fight, relaxing only when they saw who it was. Asuma gave a sigh of relief, but Shikamaru grumbled, "I won't ever get used to that."
Naruto ignored that and handed Shino to Asuma, who asked, "What happened? I thought you were going after Gaara."
Naruto informed him, "Had to personally get him to you. Pretty sure he has been poisoned by the puppeteer. You should get him to the hospital as quickly as you can."
Asuma nodded, and as one, he and Shikamaru took to the trees, making haste on getting back. Naruto nodded as well and resumed on his way, making haste in response to the steadily growing aura of malice that the bijuu chakra created.
'You didn't mention the puppeteer to them,' Kurama stated curiously, referring to the fact Naruto prevented the capture of an enemy.
Naruto flippantly replied, "Gaara will thank me later for that." He knew he was getting closer. The burnt marks from Sasuke's fire style, the scratches on the trunks made by the claw that had formed on Gaara's body. However, it was a completely different story when he arrived at the scene. Crouching on a branch high above, he observed the scene carefully.
Sasuke was barely standing on his legs, no doubt having exhausted himself by using jutsu after jutsu. He also had the curse mark spread all over him, showing that he had run out of juice a while ago, and now was relying on the power from the curse mark. And even that looked like it was running out.
Sakura had been stuck onto a tree with sand, unconscious. But it seemed Gaara was not interested in her at all, so it was a bit better.
A few branches away, Temari looked to be a bit better, if not in a similar condition such as Sasuke. She was breathing heavily, probably from having to fight off Sasuke to allow Gaara more time to recover. But she was injured as well, if her holding her left side tenderly was any indication. He turned his attention to Gaara and had to stop himself from gaping.
Sand had fully covered his entire upper body, with only his feet remaining uncovered. His facial features had changed as well, becoming more animal like, and his eyes resembled to that of his tailed beast, with the same seal marking on his body that Naruto had seen on the arm in the stadium. Now both his hands looked like giant claws, and his tail had also gotten somewhat bigger.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'His transformation has progressed way more than I had anticipated. Taking him down in that form will be way more difficult than when he was only half covered with sand. But there has got to be something I can use. Some weakness has to be there in this form.'
He critically examined Gaara's transformation, looking for a weak spot. 'Okay, His entire upper body is covered in sand, both back and front, which means it is useless to attack those areas. They are likely reinforced with dense sand to be more durable. His hands are a no-go, he would smack me away with those. There is no point in attacking from a blind spot using Hiraishin since he is a tail to take care of that. His speed, strength and durability has likely increased beyond what they previously were as well. But his legs…..they are uncovered. That is the only weak spot that I can see….Wait a second! His entire body above the origin point of his tail has been reinforced, but not below it!'
A smirk graced his features. He had found the place he needed to attack. The whole thought process didn't take more than five seconds. His danger sense rang out, bringing him out of his thoughts. His eyes went wide when he saw that Gaara was attacking not Sasuke, but his own sister! He then noticed that the positions of both of them seemed wrong from what he had seen two minutes ago…..
'That son of a bitch! He used Kawarimi to avoid Gaara's attack! And knowing Gaara, he may not even care who he's attacking as long as he gets his blood! Oh, I'll have your hide for this, you asshole!'
Naruto was already moving from his spot, his danger sense slowing his perception to allow him to appropriately react.
Gaara was laughing madly as he jumped from his branch, claw outstretched to tear Uchiha Sasuke apart. He did not even stop in confusion when the Uchiha was suddenly replaced by his sister. It only meant more blood for his mother! And plus, she was also among those who caused him pain. He would kill her and bath in her blood!
Sasuke panted heavily as he knelt down on a knee. He had pulled the substitution off very close, and was running on fumes now. He felt a bit bad about using the girl as a replacement, but it eased him somewhat that Gaara was so clouded in his bloodlust that he failed to distinguish his enemy from his sister. One enemy less for him to deal with later, right?
Temari had never been so much terrified in her life as she saw Gaara racing towards her. She had been pushed aside by Gaara earlier when he began his fight with the Uchiha. She had hit a tree trunk and had probably cracked some ribs. Deciding that it was better to rest rather than interfere in Gaara's fight, she sat down on a branch. She was resting when she felt a pull and suddenly, she was facing Gaara who looked like he wanted to tear her apart.
It suddenly became clear to her. That bastard Uchiha had switched places with her! She was filled with grief that her life would end by her own little brother's hand and in his blood lusted state, he wouldn't even remember he killed his own sister.
As she had read about how in your last moments, your entire life flashes in front of your eyes. That is exactly what happened to her right now. The last thought before Gaara almost got to her was of a certain, blue-eyed blonde.
She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the pain to come. However, instead of pain, something suddenly grabbed her, causing her to open her eyes and involuntarily shriek in surprise. They moved, so fast that it was a blur and the next thing she knew, she was a safe distance away from Gaara.
"I never had any siblings, but what I do know is you never, ever, attack your sister like that." The voice was almost shaking with rage. Her eyes shot open and she finally got a good look at her savior.
Naruto had an expression of dead seriousness on his face as he looked at Gaara, with Temari in his hands. Never had he felt such cold fury before. First, the asshole he called a teammate had the nerve to substitute with Temari, and make her own brother kill her. Then, Gaara has the gall to almost kill his sister in cold blood. Rest assured, he would get his payback on Gaara right now.
Sasuke would have to wait.
Temari felt her face getting warmer as she found out that Naruto was carrying her bridal style. His right hand was behind her shoulders, clutching her so that her face was right next to his chest. His left hand was supporting her legs from behind her knees. She tried to move around a bit, try to get him to drop her, but he took at as a sign of her being uncomfortable, and therefore readjusted her in his arms.
Gaara grinned a maniac's grin, "Uzumaki Naruto. She was one of those who caused me pain. Tell me, why shouldn't I kill her?!"
Temari grimaced as Naruto tightened his hold on her at Gaara's response almost protectively and dare she think it, possessively. Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was watching him with wide eyes of shock. "Sasuke, I'll leave you to handle him for a few more moments. It's your fight, isn't it? Try not to lose until I return."
In a flash step, he was gone. Sasuke gaped at the scene with total shock and disbelief. He just couldn't believe Naruto's speed. Gaara was an arm length away from tearing the girl to pieces when she had suddenly disappeared. Even Sasuke with his sharingan had only caught a blonde blur. When the blur had settled down on a branch, he got his first good look at who it was. And he was blown away.
Naruto had not only tracked him down, but had gotten here in just enough time to save the enemy from Gaara? Why would he want to save the enemy? It just didn't make sense for him.
Then Naruto told him to hang in here until he gets the girl to a safe place?! Just whose side is he on anyway?! Can't he see how he was running empty here.
He turned back to Gaara. No use complaining now. He would just have to wait until Naruto got here. He hated to admit it, but Gaara was on a totally different level than him. His fire style was useless, his taijutsu was null against the transformed Gaara, and the sand monster was unusually strong to have tanked his chidori. The bastard had forced him to use it three times, while his limit was only two.
Speaking of Gaara, his chakra had become a crushing, malicious force. If Sasuke hadn't felt it before, he would have been frozen in fear. As it was, he had felt a similar chakra from Naruto back in wave, when he had shielded Naruto from the ice senbon. Did that mean Naruto was somehow related to Gaara, since their chakra had some similarities?
He shook his head. Now was not the time to delve into chakra theory. He was almost completely out of chakra, so he could no longer attack effectively. He would have to stall Gaara long enough for Naruto to return.
Naruto had handled Gaara with relative ease, but he doubted Naruto could handle Gaara when he was like this.
XXXXXXX
Naruto had tree hopped until they were a good distance away from the fight. A hand came to rest on his chest. "My side," Temari whispered with an expression of pain.
Naruto blinked and then grimaced. "Sorry," he whispered back, loosening his hold a bit. Once he was sure that they were almost a mile away from the fight, he jumped back to the ground and settled Temari at the base of a tree.
Temari shifted until the weight was off her left side and relaxed a bit. Looking up at Naruto, she almost expected him to finish her off. But instead, she found him looking at her with concern. As if killing her was the last thought on his mind.
"Are you alright?"
Temari frowned suspiciously at him. "You won't be killing me?"
To her surprise, Naruto snorted and knelt down beside her. "What makes you think I want to kill you?"
Temari tilted her head with narrowed eyes, "The fact that I'm your enemy."
Seeing that Temari still refused to drop her guard around him, he sighed and said softly, "Temari, I…I can never bring myself to kill you."
Temari's eyes softened as she easily heard the genuine truth in that statement. Naruto wanted to grasp her hand to comfort her, to feel her comfort, but he was on a tight schedule.
"Temari," he called her. When he had her attention, he said, "You know that I need to stop Gaara. He's your village's jinchuriki, so you guys must know of a way to stop him from going on a rampage. I need to know what it is."
Temari shook her head, "You can't! It's a tailed beast, a demon of epic proportions, nothing can stop it! It's impossible!"
Naruto smirked softly and flicked her nose playfully. He grinned as a surprised blush came over her face as she rubbed it, "I'll have you know that a word like that doesn't exist for me. That's a word for people who have run out of ideas."
The temporary playful mood once again turned somber as Naruto whispered. "No way, you say?"
He then stood up, looking in the direction of the fight. He sighed with resignation as his dead expression came over his face, "Then I have no option left."
Temari's head shot up at that statement, eyes wide with terror. Her hand shot out to grasp Naruto's, who turned to look at her with a quizzical expression. "What?"
Temari felt tears pricking her eyes, and as much as she tried to stop them, they flowed out anyway. "If you are going to stop him, don't kill him, please. He's my brother," she pleaded with tears flowing down her face. Even if Gaara was homicidal, he was her little brother. She couldn't bear the thought of him dying, at someone like Naruto's hand no less.
Naruto's expression softened at her tears. There was no way he could leave her like this. He knelt down once again and with the thumb of his other hand, he softly wiped her tears away, "Please don't cry, hime. It's so difficult for me to see you like this. And whenever did I say that I was going to kill him?"
Temari did not protest at all as Naruto wiped her tears away. She could use a bit of some external comfort. She felt herself calm down a bit as Naruto rubbed her hand tenderly. Naruto wiped all her tears away and brought up their joint hands. "I promise you, Temari. Gaara won't die today."
Kissing her hand once, he got up and turned away. In a stronger voice, he announced, "I'll just smack some sense into him is all."
He was gone in a blue flash. Temari stared at the spot before shaking her head with a small smile. She reached into her hip pouch and took out some medical supplies. As she tended to her side, she muttered with a fond smile, "Baka."
She wholeheartedly believed Naruto would stop her brother without killing her.