A/N Rejoice. It's that time of year again, motherfuckers. Another installment.

It only took me eight months. Am I just bad at this?

Anyways, my wonderful readers: Thank you for keeping up with the story.

You wrote very nice things about the last chapter; keep it coming guys! Some of you also left some criticism, I've gone back and made some edits, because most of you had very valid points. Thank you for the help!

Also, Sasunarulover2413: You wondered about my first language. I'm Norwegian, and thus my mother tongue is Norwegian. Your compliment was very flattering btw, thanks.

Special thanks to RedBloodedMoon, if not for him, this chapter would not have gotten out in 2019 haha. You also leave great reviews, thanks for that.

Now, I've been keeping you long enough. Enjoy the chapter folks!

Legacy Ascending

The Deadly Three-way Showdown

~ Locker Rooms ~

Naruto looked up when he heard the door knocking. He fully expected an official to enter, but was surprised when he realized he had a pre-fight visitor.

Shimura Danzo stepped into the room, supported by his walking stick. The old man glanced over the spartan interior. The white tiled walls, the lockers and the spread-out benches. Without even looking at him, Danzo began speaking while slowly moving across the floor.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I wanted to share a few words before everything comes crashing down."

"That so?" Naruto asked calmly, his mask settling over his face easily. He didn't get up from the bench, but he did pocket the kunai he'd been idly twirling around.

"Indeed, and there's this." Danzo bent down and placed a long brown parcel on the bench beside him. "Sarutobi wanted me to give you this."

"What is it?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows creased.

"Open it." Danzo handwaved his question away. "Hiruzen had it tailored for you."

Naruto picked up the package and promptly tore off the paper. White fabric spilled out and nearly fell to the floor. Naruto grabbed the garment and held it up for scrutiny.

"Making you wear this is a mistake, but Sarutobi would not be swayed on the matter." Danzo eyed the clothing in his hands as if it had slighted him somehow.

At first glance, Naruto took it for a white cloak of exquisite quality, with an ornate golden hem. When he twirled the piece around however, he realized it wasn't a cloak at all, but a traditional long-sleeved Haori.

A flame red Uzumaki spiral dominated the upper part of the backside. Underneath the symbol and on the lower back, was his own name imprinted in thick, brown letters.

Uzumaki Naruto

"You have shown yourself to be, at the very least, somewhat bright. I hope you are able to understand the subtext here." Danzo peered down at him with thick furrows etched into his face.

Naruto wasn't slow on the uptake. "There will be no turning back if I put this on."

"There will not. Hiruzen is a fool for doing this, but if you refuse it, I will gladly take it back."

Naruto hardly heard him, his mind was awhirl with activity. His parent's relationship had not been a secret affair, they had even married at some point. Any halfwit who looked up the name Uzumaki in Konoha's registers would discover that immediately. The information was out there.

Not that most people would need to go that far to confirm his identity if he wore this. Many would realize it the moment he walked out there with the Haori on. While he closely resembled his father on any given day, the Haori would make it hard not to notice the similarity.

Revealing his name – and heritage – to the world like this was a very bold move.

Up until now, Naruto had been an invisible player on the field. That could change now, which would have both pros and cons.

His heritage was renowned after all. His Uzumaki ancestors were a celebrated clan of Fuuinjutsu masters, and his father had been one of the most reputable men in the elemental nations. Naruto's name and ancestry would instill a certain amount of respect into people, and it would no doubt give him some political clout, as well as a few fringe benefits here and there.

On the other hand, he would also become a target.

Not just to nations like Otogakure, but to groups like the Akatsuki. If he did this, they would undoubtedly take notice of him and piece out his identity. A confrontation with them would be imminent. The question was; did the benefits outweigh the deficits?

"..."

"..."

"I'll wear it." Naruto told Danzo determinedly, and threw the Haori on. It fit him snugly, and fell all the way down to his knees.

Danzo looked at him with a single flinty eye. "I misjudged you."

"If you're about to tell me that you thought I was smarter than this, save it." Naruto told him with a snort.

"You're just as reckless as your mother."

Naruto decided to take that as a compliment. "If this is what the Sandaime wants, I'll let it play out. I trust his judgement."

"You are too naïve, putting so much faith in the Sandaime is unwise." His voice could not hold back the contempt anymore.

"And you are too distrusting, you fret so much over your imagined enemies you don't have a single true ally in this world." Naruto replied coldly, he really couldn't stand the man.

Danzo clacked his walking staff into the floor. "You do realize things will come to a point today? It might be this next match that sets everything off."

"It might." Naruto said, giving none of his thoughts away.

"Things will turn ugly fast, but you need to keep calm. I have instructed some of my operatives to find you when the attack begins. Follow their lead and beat back the invaders."

"By all means, send your Root personnel, but they will be taking orders from me, not the other way around." Naruto told him with great delight, he had already received his instructions.

Danzo merely stared at him with his one eye. The tense silence was broken when the door opened, and a head popped in.

"The stage is ready, if you would follow me Naruto-san."

"Sure, lead the way." Naruto strode out of the room with his new Haori swishing behind him. He left the Root leader without so much as a look.

"Damn Namikaze spawn." Danzo spat out venomously and smacked the bench closest to him with his walking stick.

xXx

~ Tribunes ~

"Guys, shut it, it's about to start." Anko told the group, annoyed with the mongrels she had sat down with – Guy's incessant nagging had made her relent. So, despite her better judgement, she was sitting between team 7, Kakashi and Guy.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the screen suspended in front of them. Three pictures of each competitor were displayed, Rock Lee, Gaara and Naruto. From speakers around the tribunes, an announcer began speaking.

"Dear audience. Welcome to Konoha's Chunin Exam! The Tournament will begin momentarily. Our proctor for the day, Genma Shiranui, will be refereeing the bouts." The shot on the screen switched to a close up of Genma, standing at ease in the center of the arena. "The first matches of the day will consist of a series of free for all fights, where only the last man standing will advance."

There was a pause, and the screen switched back to the previous image of the trio who were about to fight, only this time, big 'VS' signs popped up between the three.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Katsuro Aiko, and I will be your commentator today. I admit I am no Shinobi, but I will do my best explaining what we all will be witnessing today! Now then, unless I am mistaken, the first few competitors are taking the stage!"

The screens gave close ups of three Genin as they approached Genma.

Kakashi blinked profusely when Naruto came into the picture wearing what he did. Is that the Yondaime's . . . no, it only looks similar, but still, what is the boy thinking, wearing that thing here of all places!

Kakashi wasn't the only one surprised, both Anko and Guy frowned. Naruto had a striking resemblance to the Yondaime, but with his current apparel, the similarity was almost uncanny.

"Oi, Kakashi, is that who I think it is?" Gai muttered to his eternal rival.

Kakashi let out a resigned breath. "I'm afraid it is."

"Of course . . ." Anko muttered in realization. What a sly brat! Did he reveal his Uzumaki heritage to me just to distract me from his link to the Yondaime?

"From Sunagakure, we have Sabakuu No Gaara. A Genin with an amazing mission record, Gaara-san has been making short work of the competition this year. According to our statistics here, the average encounter any Genin has with Gaara-san, is over in less than fifteen seconds, that's just ridiculous!"

"He's not kidding about those stats. I'm worried about those two, Gaara will try to kill them." Kosuke wrung his hands in his seat.

Sasuke sat in quiet contemplation while his team continued to worry about the upcoming match. The commentator was introducing Rock Lee now, but Sasuke didn't pay attention to that either. The raven-haired boy felt the disappointment in himself rise at the sight of the trio who were about to fight. He should have been down there today.

Orochimaru had screwed up his chance at the finals, and for that, he felt a burning hatred towards the man. Sasuke had put Orochimaru on his list. Of course, below his brother's name, but a target to kill nonetheless.

"Our next contender is from Konoha, his name is Rock Lee! Now, Lee-san might be the underdog in this fight, he only barely managed to qualify for this after all. Even so, he has a decent mission score, and his Taijutsu is rumored to be incredibly good. I believe he will undoubtedly have an impact here! Now! Our last entry for this fight is also from Konoha, and his name is Uzumaki Naruto!"

Two of team seven's members shared confused looks.

"Konoha?"

"What?"

Because Sasuke had been off training with Kakashi for the last month, he hadn't seen either of his teammates at all before today, and he had yet to tell them what had happened in the arena that day.

"Naruto has been with Konoha all along." He told his teammates with no particular inflection.

Both of them looked at him with large eyes at the revelation while the commentator continued his introduction.

"-and what's worse, Uzumaki-san has consistently been on top of the scoreboard throughout the entire exam. What an incredible line-up, our first match today is sure to be explosive!"

"What do you mean? Naruto has been with Konoha all this time?" Sakura asked him.

"I don't know much else." Sasuke told her with some heat to his voice, his ignorance on the topic actually stung a bit.

Sakura frowned. "Well, we should ask him then." She said. "Once this is over."

Sasuke looked at her and gave a begrudging nod.

"Good." With a resolute nod, Sakura looked back down at the three Genin standing in a loose triangle. She would have some answers after this.

"And Genma is signaling that everything is ready, the start of the first match today will begin any minute now!"

xXx

~ In the Kage Box ~

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled to himself when he saw Naruto adapt a relaxed stance on the field below, the Haori he had given the boy was a good fit. Today, the Yondaime's legacy would step into the limelight for the first time, and Naruto's heritage would soon be common knowledge.

On the far-left side of the Kage box, Ōnoki nearly spat out his drink in shock at what the screen displayed. The Tsuchikage coughed violently before turning his smoldering gaze to the Hokage. The Raikage situated in-between the two, stared pointedly down at the arena.

"What is the meaning of this, Hiruzen?" The Tsuchikage asked with red cheeks.

The Sandaime merely rose an eyebrow in silent question. "Excuse me, Ōnoki?"

"The boy!" Ōnoki said with a raised voice. "Don't play coy, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Very well, let us say that I do. In Konoha, we allow our people to wear what they like. If you have a problem with Naruto, I suggest you tell me, so we can address it."

Ōnoki's face scrounged up, and it looked as if he'd taken a bite of something sour. "There will be no need for that, but I am not impressed, Sarutobi. I will remember this."

"Duly noted." Sarutobi dipped his head in acknowledgement and leaned back into his seat.

Of course, it didn't end there. The person to his immediate right was the next one to complain.

"I find this amusing in a way." The Yondaime Kazekage told him without a hint of humor. "The first match is about to begin, and as it just so happens, it is two Konohagakure Genin and one Sunagakure Genin on the field."

"Let me assure you, the draws of the match are completely random, Kazekage-dono."

"I would never suggest anything else, but if unsportsmanlike behavior sets in, I will be very disappointed."

"As would I, Kazekage-dono." Hiruzen gave him his best ingratiating smile.

xXx

~ In the Arena ~

"Remember, anything is allowed, but keep your fight within the confines of the arena. I will also stop you if excessive violence takes place. Good luck, you may begin." Without further ado, Genma began to step away from the trio.

Naruto kept up a relaxed stance and merely watched his opponents. Gaara stood a little way off to his left, arms folded and imperious in demeanor. Lee made up their loose triangle and stood like a coiled spring over to his right, it was clear he was overflowing with energy.

Nothing happened for about five seconds.

Gaara acted first, his gourd burst open with a loud pop, and a thin stream of sand slithered out and began to swirl around him – the red-head himself remained perfectly still. In response, Lee bent down and removed something from both ankles. He straightened and held out both arms, clutching a pair of weights.

Why is he doing this here? Naruto wondered. He could have removed those earlier.

Lee flipped the set behind him, and the two weights hit the dirt and literarily caused parts of the ground to collapse in on itself.

Naruto felt a touch of awe pass through him. Gaara was also staring at the small crater with disbelief.

"Incredible! Rock Lee's weights alone were heavy enough to do that to the terrain! How heavy are those things!?"

Naruto hoped it was just a trick to make Lee seem strong, and that he wasn't actually wearing weights that heavy. But from what he'd seen of Lee so far, that didn't seem like his style at all.

"Very good, you two will suffice. . . Ahh, mother is getting hungry." Gaara spoke, his voice was unusually calm, detached even. The sand swirling around him gave his words a dangerous edge.

"She will have your blood now, both of you."

An uncomfortable shiver ran up Naruto's spine, and not for the first time, he had to wonder if maybe Gaara was beyond saving.

Instead of being intimidated by Gaara, Lee crouched into a sprinter's stance. His intention was clear as day, he was coming straight for the Suna boy.

Naruto didn't even get to shout out a warning to the boy in spandex. Not that it was necessary, because when Lee kicked off, he nearly disappeared into a blurry black line.

Gaara's face morphed into that same dumbstruck expression Naruto himself had gotten during his brief exchange with Lee last month.

"Konoha Senpu!" Lee jumped and spun into a powerful kick, obviously meant to go roundhouse.

It never came full circle, because a shifting wall of sand appeared between Lee and Gaara. It absorbed all the force, despite several evident cracks.

Naruto blinked rapidly. Gaara had no control over that. He was completely caught off guard by Lee's speed, and yet his sand rose up anyways. Is it autonomous!?

Lee reacted quickly to the sudden change in events, and burst out of his spot to reappear behind Gaara. Lee attacked again, and once again a thin sheet of rock-hard sand rose up. Lee vanished again and again, and every time he reappeared, another attack came forth. The sand shield was starting to crumble. Gaara tried in vain to target Lee with his sand, but his method of attack was simply too slow.

Then, in a clear fit of rage, Gaara held out both arms and beckoned the sand to him. The sand obeyed and whirled around Gaara like a hurricane. Lee got caught in it and dragged up into the air. In a single move, Lee had gone from being the aggressor to being the victim.

Gaara held up a clawed hand, and the sand whirling around the red-head levitated up. The Suna boy was the epicenter of a sand maelstrom, and constrained above him in the sand was Lee.

"Sabaku." Gaara uttered the word like it was an execution.

Surprising even himself with his urgency to move. Naruto vitalized his body with an unholy amount of chakra and disappeared with his fastest Shunshin. He slammed into the airborne sand creation and immediately felt his own feet get submerged. He heard Lee scream.

Naruto shot out his arm and grabbed a stray limb, then popped away with another Shunshin.

The two of them reappeared where Naruto had stood just a moment ago. Only Naruto was standing however, Lee was on the ground, and growing spots of red was dying his spandex.

Naruto was hit with one tumbling emotion after the other. Horror first, not at Gaara's actions, but at Lee's wounds. His own failure rang in second. Then after another intake of air, came that age-old feeling of righteous anger, and the need to make an injustice right.

The commentator was spouting five words a second at the sudden turn of events, but Naruto tuned him out.

"I'm sorry, Lee." Naruto said and turned his gaze towards Gaara, who was looking very displeased with the situation. Lee glanced up at his words, and despite the obvious pain he was in, he managed to speak normally.

"It's not so bad, Naruto-kun. I think I can continue, you pulled me out in time."

"You really don't know when to give up, do you?" Naruto asked lightly, but Gaara stole his attention.

The red-haired boy had started clutching at his head, sand whirling around him in an agitated pattern, never resting in one spot. The Suna boy looked at him, and Naruto quickly noticed his right eye. It was discolored. It had a slit yellow pupil, and it was looking straight at him.

"You weren't supposed to stop it! Arrgh! I will end your existence!" He shouted, a touch of mania had crept into his voice. It was enough to make Naruto frown in worry. Lee was trying to get his legs back under him.

A feral grin brimming with insanity took hold of Gaara, and the sand surrounding him shot towards them. With an animated hand motion, Gaara split the attack in two and the sand came at them from both sides.

Naruto's frown creased further, and he held out both arms. He released his pent-up chakra and watched his wind affinity blast away both attacks, even bits and pieces of the grassy ground was torn up forcefully.

If he stayed where he was, Lee would get caught in the crossfire, so Naruto ran ahead to close the distance. He was slower than Lee however, and Gaara intercepted him with more sand.

Naruto skidded to the side of the incoming sand wall and held up a hand sign, in the next instant there were suddenly three of him. The Suna boy lashed out with his arm and had all of his sand cascade after the three lookalikes like a wave.

One of the three set out and flipped over the sand, one darted to the side and burst ahead, and the last one jumped far into the air. The sand rushed up and caught this one in mid-air, Gaara immediately hardened his sand and drove several spikes into the airborne blonde. Who promptly vanished in smoke.

Gaara ground his teeth together, but went slack jawed when he saw the two other blondes already moving towards him in a pincer attack. The red-haired boy called his sand to him.

Naruto smiled in grim satisfaction when Gaara attacked the closest target - namely his clone. Naruto started molding the necessary chakra in the palm of his hand. He stepped into Gaara's guard just as a muddled bunch of pictures and thoughts came to him from his doppelganger. Naruto ignored it in favor of attacking Gaara.

The sand shield came up as it had done a dozen times before with Lee. Naruto drove his palm up. An elongated pale blue vortex of chakra blasted through the sand shield like a drill penetrating a wall.

Gaara stumbled back, confused but mostly unharmed. Naruto had been careful, he'd used the Rasengan like an uppercut, and had only taken out the sand shield.

Gaara managed to blink one more time before Naruto nailed a solid punch into his face. Now bent over, Naruto delivered a kick to his stomach, the force of which was enough to lift him slightly into the air. Naruto then channeled chakra through his upper body and drove his fist into Gaara's face. The Suna boy was slammed straight down into the ground.

Letting out a breath, Naruto paused a bit to observe the damage.

Gaara however, simply stood back up. Naruto stared with large eyes; he was taken aback from how his face was literally flaking off in places. Several bits dropped from Gaara's face and turned to sand in midair.

Amazingly, Gaara was completely unhurt beneath the layer, and Naruto suspected he knew why. Somehow, his entire body was encased in sand to absorb any damage that got past his autonomous defense system. Unfortunately, despite not suffering any wounds, Gaara looked more murderous than ever.

"I'll KILL YOU!" He shouted.

But before he got to so much as lift a finger to that goal, Lee crashed into him with a compact fly kick that sent Gaara flying into the undergrowth of the forest.

Lee turned to look at him, and Naruto noticed immediately how his entire body was thrumming with latent energy. What the fuck is that aura!?

"Let's not gang up on one opponent, Naruto-san! We must also match our youth! Here I go!" Lee proclaimed loudly.

"But! Your legs. ." Naruto's protest died in his mouth.

"The second gate of healing, Naruto-kun. It temporarily re-energizes the body. Don't worry, I can fight!" Lee told him, overflowing with conviction.

"Let's fan our flames, Naruto-kun!" Lee then immediately shot off like a bullet towards him.

His power has gone up!

Naruto disappeared in a Shunshin just in time to avoid Lee. He reappeared on one of the crooked columns on the outskirts of the field. He turned around to look and immediately had to burst of off the stone pillar. Rock Lee drove his foot into the stone, and the whole thing broke off and toppled over.

Naruto landed in the meadow where the grass stretched all the way up to his midsection. I'm not dealing with a monster here. He thought frantically and kept low. I'm dealing with two.

Rock Lee hit the ground, and was surprised to see Naruto moving to strike him from the tall grass. The bowl cut Genin immediately snapped into his Gōken stance.

Naruto attacked with Prancing Horse, but Lee stopped him and counter attacked with ferocity. Naruto moved into Uncaged Lion and then followed up with River Cuts The Reed. Lee narrowly sidestepped him and attacked again.

Naruto grunted in pain, even blocking him was difficult to endure, but the moment he backed down against this guy, was the moment he lost.

Naruto stepped out of the way of a dangerous body shot and moved into Springing Frog, Lee drove his iron hard arm down and stopped him. Naruto quickly stepped away and used Parting Waves to hold him off.

Lee was dominating him. His Taijutsu was top tier, and right now he was ridiculously powerful. Most people would call Naruto insane for even engaging the Gōken user at this point, but Naruto was not most people.

Besides, he wasn't here just to win, he was here to prove some points. Plural. He had a list.

Despite his new aura, Naruto could tell Lee was still getting used to opening the first and second gate, and all the strength that came with it. His speed was a hurdle to be sure, but Naruto had some experience fighting fast opponents by now, and his teacher had taught him how to deal with them more efficiently.

Naruto had read up on the Gōken, and he knew Lee, or he had an understanding of him at the very least. He didn't think Lee knew him though, and he could use that.

Naruto dropped his stance and changed up his style completely. He dodged a compact punch, and leaned away from the follow up. Naruto anticipated Lee's next attack, and twisted out of the way before snapping off a fast backhand himself, which Lee stopped. Naruto swayed to the side and avoided Lee's next punch, he swayed back in as Lee withdrew and hammered his fist under Lee's guard and into his ribs. Lee merely exhaled the pain and continued his offensive, completely unbothered.

Lee continued to thrum with energy, and Naruto kept vitalizing himself with as much chakra as possible. The tall grass around them fell victim to their fierce struggle, and was occasionally blown away by some forcefully expelled chakra.

Naruto dodged two more attacks and attacked Lee from below, but Lee blocked him without issue and returned fire. Unsurprised, Naruto continued to weave in-between attacks so quick they were hard to see. He knew he had to find a weak spot soon.

xXx

~ Competitor's Overlook ~

"How the fuck is blondie keeping up at this point?" Kurotsuchi asked surly from her slouched position in the corner of a sofa.

The remaining nine Genin had gathered around the screen to watch the fight, but no one had an answer to that question. Lee moved faster, he looked physically stronger. The fight should have been one-sided.

Yet, it wasn't. The two fighters had fought their way across the meadow and was now punching their way through a thin belt of trees. They were about to reach the river while Gaara was stomping around the meadow, clearly looking for the two.

The shot on the screen panned down and zoomed in on the two Konoha competitors. The two were on a level of their own, exchanging series after series of tight attacks.

Looking at the two duking it out, Shikamaru exhaled slightly harder than normal.

Which both Tenten and Hinata caught, and immediately glanced at him for.

"Naruto is playing with Lee." Shikamaru explained. That statement garnered some attention, and more people looked at them inquisitively.

"Why do you say that?" Hinata asked.

"Naruto's not using Ninjutsu. He's handicapping himself. He wants to fight Lee as an equal I guess, but why? They don't know each other."

"Who cares? He should have been mincemeat by now." Kurotsuchi ranted. "The spandex guy is fighting him head on, with some of his gates open. How the fuck is it so . . so even."

She was right, sort of. While Naruto had yet to take a direct punch, he was constantly backtracking, and none of his retaliatory attacks got past Lee's guard.

"Because the Uzumaki boy is really good."

Just about everyone glanced briefly away from the match to discover the person who said that.

She stood a little way off to the side, with her arms folded beneath a modest pair of breasts, something her tight combat vest did very little to hide. She had messy brown hair and a matching tan from long days under a hot sun. She was taller than most of the other Genin, and had a self-assured demeanor that hinted at a few years of field experience.

"Obviously." Neji quipped condescendingly.

The girl gave the him a cool stare, and a few beams of light was reflected off of her forehead protector. The Kirigakure symbol was easy to spot. She was one of the favorites, Hikaru.

"How does he keep up?" Hinata asked, her eyes back at the screen.

"There isn't a trick to this." She rolled her eyes at the question. "Both of those two are awesome, but very different. The black haired one is super strong, his style is very well rehearsed, flawless even. The blonde one is also well trained, but he knows he's outmatched, so he's putting all his efforts into reading his opponent. "

Shikamaru tossed the Kiri girl a doubtful look. "Naruto is somehow anticipating Lee? You are seeing the speed they are moving at, right?"

She let out a small laugh. "There's more to it, but sort of, yeah. Either way, unless something happens, Lee will adapt, and he will win."

xXx

~ In the arena ~

Naruto changed his footing slightly and presented more of his side, which he knew would spur Lee into snapping off one of those skull-breaking high kicks.

That's what he would have done if he'd been the Gōken user at least.

When the first movements of the kick began, Naruto dodged forward with a recklessly small margin. Conventional attacks had little effect on Lee right now, Naruto knew he had to surprise him with something unexpected in order to get through his tight guard.

Lee wanted him at arm's length, where his Taijutsu worked best, so Naruto blasted the earth beneath him with chakra to propel him ahead.

He felt Lee's compact fist breeze past him above, Naruto flexed his calves and sprung up from his bent posture. He clamped down on all his muscles and pulled out his best punch.

It passed through Lee's guard on the inside and firmly connected with his jaw - just as Lee's counter punch reached Naruto's face.

Being counter punched by Lee was pretty much like having a small explosion go off in your face. He was sent crashing into the ground, and his vision turned black.

Naruto blinked and returned to his senses after what felt like a second or two at most, but he quickly concluded half a minute had passed.

He was standing in his most defensive stance, with his boots partially submerged in water. A quick glance down told him he was at the edge of the river.

I don't remember getting on my feet . . . but I'm not complaining. His thoughts were sluggish even in his own head.

He looked back up, and saw Rock Lee just a little way up the river bank. The bowl-cut boy was bleeding out of the corner of his mouth, he had tried to wipe the blood away at some point, but he'd only smeared it all over his face.

Naruto took a steadying breath while Lee began to approach him at a slow gait. That was not an equivalent exchange . . . Fuck, that counter nearly did me in.

Naruto tried to ignore how his neck hurt so bad it was hard to move his head, and instead focused on Lee. How much longer can he keep up this pressure? He's been fighting with the gates open for a while now, two minutes maybe, any normal person would keel over soon.

The commentator was raving again, but Naruto ignored that.

Lee was too tough to fight head on like this, Naruto had given it his absolute best, but at this point he had to resort to other methods. He couldn't take another hit like that from Lee.

Naruto pulled his boots out of the water and balanced himself on the surface of the lazy river.

That should have showcased Konoha's Taijutsu proficiency pretty well. Right, old man? Naruto threw a glance towards the Kage box, not able to spot the fond smile on the Sandaime's face.

"I'll give you this Lee." Naruto spoke loudly, for the benefit of the audience. "When it comes to Taijutsu, you're a monster. You're way stronger than me."

The effect of his words surprised Naruto, because Lee stopped and turned teary-eyed.

"Not at all! Naruto-kun! You're way better! I had no chance catching you, I just got lucky!" He shouted with clenched fists.

You have no idea how close you were several times there, and you got me in the end.

"No, your skills are the real deal. That said, can you open your third gate?" Naruto asked him. Lee flinched slightly.

"You're someone I can fight evenly, but only if you open the next gate." Upon finishing the sentence, Naruto kickstarted his pathways and flooded his large Jinchuriki coils to the brim with chakra.

The effects were instantaneous. Ripples were expelled into the water through his feet, they cancelled out the natural wavy lines of the river. A small wind began to whirl and buffet around him, drawn to the maelstrom of chakra within him.

Woah, this is new . . . Naruto noted to himself. He kept the surprise off of his face however. I guess I've gotten a bit stronger over the course of last month.

"N-Naruto-kun . . ." Lee looked awed. "YOOOOSHHH! LET US MATCH OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

Without further prodding, Lee settled into a stance of intense focus. Naruto knew Lee had activated the third gate when his skin began to turn red from the increased blood flow.

He then gave the tribunes a thumbs up. "Watch me! Guy Sensei!"

That's when Gaara ran out of the tree line, a manic shout left him when he spotted them. Naruto frowned at the intrusion, but when he saw Gaara's physical shape, he realized things were getting out of control for the Suna Jinchuriki.

Gaara was a lumbering form of sand now, large parts of his body had been completely covered. It made his gait extremely awkward and uneven.

I have to give him a quick pounding and suppress the Ichibi. Gaara can't lose control here!

"You! I'll cru-" Gaara never got to finish the sentence. Naruto crashed into the ground in front of him, and from there the blonde teen delivered a solid punch into Gaara's gut. The sand shield made no appearance, so his fist made solid contact. Naruto pulled back quickly and skidded behind Gaara on quick feet, he then spun into a round house kick.

Gaara flew and skidded across the water surface until he eventually submerged. Naruto chased after him across the river. He kept Lee in his peripheral, in case the boy jumped into action.

But Rock Lee looked torn on what to do.

Naruto had launched Gaara into the river to turn the sand around him to mud, thus rendering his ability useless. His assumption that Gaara couldn't use his sand underwater however, had been wrong. So, in the blink of an eye, his feet got snagged and he was pulled under.

Naruto let out a cry of surprise, losing precious bubbles of air, but he kept from swallowing any water. Acting on instinct, he quickly molded some chakra and tried to cut the tendrils dragging him down.

It worked, but he had already reached the bottom of the shallow river. Instead of trying to whirl around to locate Gaara in the pale green hue of the river, Naruto kicked off for the surface.

But his feet couldn't launch him away. The sandy riverbed had wrapped itself around his legs and was slowly twisting itself up his calves. Grinding his teeth, Naruto turned his upper body to look behind him, where he could sense both Gaara and the Ichibi's distinct presence.

What he saw had him momentarily freeze in fear. Gaara was standing with his feet firmly planted to the muddy river floor. But Naruto was eyeing the thing behind him. The sand and mud drifting in the water behind Gaara made out a huge and animal-like face with two large, empty eye sockets.

Shukaku . . .

Pure dread passed through Naruto. He had to get away, now.

Channeling his chakra, Naruto intentionally went overboard with his nature and shape manipulation. He needed a small-scale explosion. He aimed the technique down at his enveloped legs and spiked his chakra. The wind-natured chakra erupted with a blast and tore away most of the soaked sand clinging to him.

Naruto swam for the surface, but Gaara had no trouble catching him again, this time with far more muddy sand than earlier.

Fuck! Naruto cursed inwardly, he hardly had any air left, and it was getting hard to keep calm. His Suiton capabilities were low, and with his hands restrained, they were practically none-existent.

I can't even pull of a summoning Jutsu like this! Naruto thought frantically.

Acting by instinct, Naruto molded chakra. He watched with intense focus as the water around his right palm began to swirl. A faint blue light began to shimmer. The muddy sand clinging to him tightened around him, and Naruto felt some of his last air leave him through a row of tiny bubbles.

He fought down his reflex to swallow water and kept his focus on the Rasengan, but it wasn't growing, it was dimming. A stab of fear hit him, and the very real possibility of drowning hit him so hard the panic alone nearly cost him the rest of his concentration.

The small blue sphere continued to struggle in the palm of his hand, and bit by bit, the last blue light faded into nothing. But then, suddenly, the sand around him lost all sentience and simply fell away.

Without questioning his incredible luck, Naruto took two desperate crawl strokes and resurfaced. He immediately sucked in as much air as possible, and after getting back his bearings a bit, he pulled himself above the water line with chakra. He tried to sense Gaara's presence, and managed to pinpoint the Jinchuriki at the river bottom.

What surprised him was that he could sense Lee down there with him. So close to each other they had to be fighting. Lee must have attacked Gaara, Naruto realized.

That's why Gaara let me go, because Lee fucked up his concentration. But what can Lee do down there? He'll be at an even worse disadvantage than I was . . .

Naruto made his decision quickly and broadened his stance, he formed the ram sign and started gathering the necessary chakra. He wasn't going down there again, but with this particular Jutsu, he didn't have to.

Naruto began flipping through all forty-four signs at a quick pace.

He finished the Jutsu, and the calm river water beneath him became denser. A concentrated shape of something burst ahead towards the two chakra signatures at the river bottom.

Just to leave no doubt about what kind of element and Jutsu he was using, Naruto called out the name.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

In the very next moment, a water dragon shot out of the river with Gaara in its jaws.

xXx

~ Konoha - Some Shinobi Bar ~

Jiraya smiled slightly at the live feed coming from the TV up against the corner. The bar was crowded, and his godson's latest stunt in the arena had caused a ruckus of noise.

"Oi, look at that thing!"

"That's not bad for a Genin."

"Wasn't he wind-natured?"

One of the serving girls came around the counter with a full tray and quipped to the bartender. "You know, I actually think that blonde kid might just win the entire thing."

Jiraiya snorted to himself. Well, duh.

He stood up from his stool and downed the last contents of his glass. He placed it on the counter and slid it over to the man on the other side.

"Put it on my tab."

He frowned at that.

"You know I'm good for it." Jiraya gave him a meaningful look and walked away.

He had work to do.

xXx

~ Tribunes ~

Like most of the people in the stands, Kakashi admired the Jutsu. However, the real reason he was impressed was because Naruto had shown him his 'strongest' Suiton Jutsu last month. To be sure, he had showcased a solid water bullet that day, but this was a clear cut above that. The Suiryūdan was B-rank - even if Naruto was channelling it directly from a river.

How much of his skills did he downplay in that assessment? Kakashi had suspected a few hidden trump cards, but at this point he had to acknowledge Naruto had kept far more under wraps. Kakashi briefly flashed back to something Naruto had said that day.

"Doton and Suiton are my worst elements – zero harmony. But Jiraiya wanted me to learn at least one or two techniques with every element. At the time, I didn't realize how much of a tall order that was, so after half a year of on and off practice, I was able to pull off enough techniques to satisfy him."

Looking at the scene unfolding in the arena, Kakashi had to resist the urge to shake his head. Zero harmony, huh?

xXx

~ In the Arena ~

I didn't think this through. Naruto berated himself mentally. The Haori draped around him was dripping water onto the dry, cracked earth. His Suiryūdan had taken the fight from the river and into the neighbouring zone. Gaara stood a stone throw away from him, in the epicentre of a swirling sand vortex. The sight was worthy a few goose bumps.

You had to launch him into the desert, of all places? Kurama asked him smugly.

Give me a break . . .

Naruto felt his goose bumps rise even further when Lee appeared right next to him within the blink of an eye.

"Holy!-" He's so fucking fast!

"Naruto-kun!" Lee proclaimed. "Thanks for the save!"

His skin still had that deep red hue, and his aura was more present than ever.

"Never mind that, you saved me first." Naruto set him straight. "Anyways, would you step back while I deal with Gaara? Unless you want to help?" An alliance with Lee would make everything so much easier. Lee stilled completely while Gaara's vortex continued to grow in size, it was difficult to see him now.

"Normally, I would not have accepted your proposal. It's not youthful." Lee explained, his voice burning with zeal.

The red skinned boy then set his gaze into Gaara. "Even so, Sabakuu No Gaara is not an honorable opponent. Trying to kill your adversaries in a contest of skill is truly poor form! Let's show him true youth, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto felt the spikes in chakra almost immediately, they were big and unnatural.

Is that . . ?

"That's great, Lee, because I think Gaara is losing control." Naruto turned his full attention towards the miniature sandstorm in front of them.

Gaara was completely obscured at this point, but Naruto could still sense him, and in addition to Gaara's own chakra, there was another, a darker one.

Shukaku is taking over . . . or maybe Gaara is letting him take over? Like I would let that happen.

Naruto swivelled his head towards his new ally. "Lee, I'm gonna depend on you here."

The teen looked at him with intense eyes and nodded vigorously. "Of course, Naruto-kun!"

"Okay, you move in from the right while I take the left, but be careful, he's more unstable than ever right now."

"Yosh! Let's go!" And Lee left in a sprint just like that. Eyes wide surprise for half a second, Naruto brought his hands together and formed three rapid hand signs.

He vanished from the spot and reappeared on the outer rims of the whirling sand. Naruto closed his eyes and charged right through the thousands of whipping grains. Once he felt Gaara's presence get closer, Naruto cracked open an eye.

From what he could make out, Gaara was completely encased by rock hard sand. The sand surrounding him shaped like a dome, and layer after layer was rapidly being added to it. On a side note, that unnatural chakra in there was now spiking consistently.

Naruto stepped closer, but he had to back off when the sand shell suddenly morphed. The dome reacted to his presence like a porcupine and a multitude of large pointy spikes of sand came close to skewering him. Then the sand whirling around changed behaviour and surged straight for the dome, it was absorbed into it, and the sharp spikes withdrew with it, leaving a hardened coarse surface.

Naruto blinked owlishly a couple of times, surprised at the turn of events. At least there was no whirling sand obstructing their vision anymore. He had a bad feeling though.

"Lee!?" He shouted. He took a few steps around the sand creation, and immediately realized it was a lot bigger than he'd first anticipated.

The dome was about the size of a small house.

Most of the sand in the nearby area had been used, absorbed into Gaara's giant sand shell.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee appeared around the bend of the sand wall.

"Gaara is stalling the match." Naruto told him.

"This won't hold me back for long, just watch me Naruto-kun!" Before Naruto could get so much as another word in, Lee had at it.

With three gates open, it was quite the experience to simply watch Lee tear into the thing. His fists reared back and was slammed into the dome over and over. Cracks appeared everywhere and sand was sprayed all over the place.

The sand bowl was thick and reinforced with chakra. In addition to that, Naruto noticed that wherever Lee made impacts, sand was quick to fill in the spots. Not enough to stop Lee, but enough to slow him down some. Getting to the centre of the thing would take Lee a full minute of nonstop hammering, and it would tire him out, gates or no gates.

"Lee! Step back, let me handle this." Naruto had to shout to get his attention through the loud meaty sound of his punches.

"Naruto-kun?" Lee paused and looked over his shoulder at Naruto, his thick eyebrows furrowed.

"This will save us some time and energy." Gaara is turtling down for a reason, he wants to surrender control to Shukaku, but it looks like he needs time to do that. I'm not about to give him what he wants.

Lee hesitantly moved away, and Naruto stepped forward. He rolled his shoulders a bit to loosen the joints, and the haori swished behind him, already semi-dry in the hot midday sun.

He held out his arm with a bit of flair – this was a performance after all – and concentrated. There was an extra layer of pressure to perform with so many eyes on him, and his earlier failure in the river was fresh in mind.

This time was different though, the blue chakra morphed into existence and quickly took up the form of a sphere. It whirled in his hand, growing larger and spinning faster. Until the ball reached its third and – admittedly – very volatile stage, Naruto wasted no time in leaning forward.

Wisps of light blue chakra was left in the wake of the Rasengan.

The few who managed to get a good glimpse of it before Naruto slammed it into Gaara's sand fortress, would remark on it not looking very much like the iconic sphere at all. But something else; more elongated, pointy even.

Even so, no one could deny its potency.

Naruto released the Jutsu and watched it burst forth, pulverizing all of the sand in its path. It blew through the dome and punched through the other side in an explosion of dirt. The rest of the structure collapsed in on itself. The dust settled quickly, revealing the prone form of Gaara just a little distance away. He was not moving.

"Would you look at that!? The entire thing was brought down in a single move!" Katsuro was shouting from inside the commentator box. "Gaara is down! He does not seem to be getting up at all, is this it for him?"

"There." Naruto said with finality, cracking his fingers. He turned to Lee. "Ready?"

"Ah, Naruto-san . . . I don't think he's done." Lee told him with an uncharacteristically timid voice.

Naruto turned his head. He raised both eyebrows at what he saw. I'll be damned.

Gaara was changed, but it wasn't what Naruto had expected. The creature in front of them was neither Gaara nor the Ichibi, but a bit of both. A hulking figure as tall as Naruto and Lee combined.

"Whoah! Gaara isn't out! He's taking on another form! This round is not over for Suna yet!"

Kurama, is that the Ichibi? Naruto asked.

. . . Yes and no . . . You should proceed carefully; I have never seen anything like this. Shukaku is not in control, not yet. Despite the implied danger, Kurama's tone remained bored.

Naruto tried very hard not to lose his cool, this was a terrible place to face Gaara, but a weird symbiosis of Gaara and Shukaku would be even worse.

"Yosh! A transformation, let's put it to the test!" Lee declared excitedly. Naruto gave the boy a look that questioned his sanity.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The high-pitched scream was filled with rage.

Gaara stretched his new form and swished a large bulky tail behind him. He had a leathery, sandy brown complexion, and a smattering of dark kanji covered his body. Eerily enough, Naruto recognized at least some of them as cursed seal markings. His face was more blunt now, it held two black sockets with a bright yellow pupil each.

This looked like the Demon of the Sand.

"Let's get started!" Lee shouted in challenge. Gaara craned his thick neck around and stared right at them. His face twisted into an expression of pure malice.

"Lee! We can't fight him in a pseudo desert!" Naruto tried to reason with him, but Lee vanished in a burst of speed mid-sentence.

Gaara roared in response and charged ahead on all four.

The two met in a powerful clash of limbs. Gaara snarled and struck after Lee with a one-track mind of raw bloodlust, an almost animalistic fury drove him. Whereas Lee moved through his stances as calm as ever, in tune with his training.

Despite his comparably small stature, Lee immediately took decisive control. He blocked attacks left and right and slammed his fists into Gaara again and again. Gaara always recovered quickly and snarled after Lee, attacking like a mindless beast.

Over and over, Lee slammed Gaara into the ground or sent him flying, and every time, Gaara recovered like nothing happened and charged back in. After the fifth repetition, it started to gnaw on Naruto. Although he was probably imagining it, it looked like Gaara was getting bigger.

Physical force is not the way to do this, especially if there is sand around. Kurama informed him drily.

I see . . . I have to help Lee then. Even though he's winning now, that could change any moment. Naruto continued to study Gaara, and realized that he was larger now, a head taller than just half a minute ago.

He's growing?

With a small huff of resolve, Naruto eased himself into position and stared unblinkingly at the two adversaries, looking for an opening in their ferocious fight.

But the fight came to him instead, Lee snapped out a kick that sent Gaara flying – straight at him. Naruto instinctively moved to dodge, but Gaara reacted by using his large tail as a way to springboard himself further up into the air. He sailed above Naruto and landed behind him with his claws out.

Naruto whirled around with chakra at his beck and call. Gaara let out a blood curdling scream and kicked off towards him. Naruto slid to the side and struck out an open palm thrumming with wind.

Tchunk!

Gaara's oversized right arm thumped meatily onto the ground.

I thought you said he was durable!? Naruto called out frantically.

It was almost comical how Gaara stopped and stared at the limb with obvious confusion. He then reared his head back and roared loudly, sand whipped up around him like a maelstrom, and Naruto had to hop back.

The sand died down quickly, revealing an even larger Gaara, with his limb now re-attached.

He is. Regeneration is a trademark ability of his, and apparently, this fused state of theirs is benefitting from that.

Fucking great. Naruto wasted no time staring, and breezed through a dozen hand signs.

"Die!" Gaara bellowed and leapt after him. Naruto finished the Jutsu and held out both arms. Dark lines of writing appeared in the air in front of him. Circles within circles of black Kanji spread out and locked into place.

The Fuuinjutsu activated, and a large white ring appeared around Gaara's legs. It rapidly shrunk in on itself until it vanished, dismembering Gaara from the shin and down. With a scream of pain, Gaara crashed face first into the ground. He rolled around, screaming and slamming his large fists into the sand.

Immediately, Naruto noticed tendrils of sand funnelling into Gaara. He stepped forward to stop it, but was caught off guard when the sand from the two legs he'd chopped off, changed form and shot out of the ground like a piston and slammed into his rib cage. Naruto was launched through the air like a cannon ball.

xXx

~ Competitor's Overlook ~

Temari stared unblinkingly at the large screen. One of the cameras swerved after the flying blur that was Naruto. He went down for a rough landing in the grassland zone. He touched down in a sea of tall green grass, and left a single dark stripe of torn up earth in his wake.

The overhead angle changed, and for a while there was just a lot of grass swaying in a small breeze. It then cut back to Rock lee and Gaara – both of them fighting.

Is he going to be fine? Temari worried for a small moment about the blonde, Gaara had not held back at all. He couldn't hold back; he was struggling more with this one fight than he'd ever done before in any fight. She could hardly believe it, but these Konoha Genin were in a class of their own. Although Rock Lee was alone now, he was still a serious threat.

"Come on . . ." She mumbled under her own breath. "You can do it Gaara."

Kurotsuchi hummed to herself from the couch. "Huh, I would have liked to beat the blonde shmuck myself, but oh well."

"Oh, what's this? Is Rock Lee looking even more impressive now? Wow! How far will he go today!?" The voice of the commentator cut through the room.

"So, that's like, the fourth gate, right?" Kurotsuchi commented with a touch of incredulity.

"You sure talk a lot." Hikaru told her with a smile reeking of insincerity.

Kurotsuchi shot her a dark look, and nearly popped a blood vessel when she stopped herself from raising to the bait.

"Actually, it's his fifth gate. He opened two at once this time." Shikamaru corrected them.

Neji and Tenten shared a look, they knew the fifth gate of limit was - quite fittingly; Lee's limit, he couldn't open the other gates beyond that one. Besides that, the stress of it all had to be taking a toll on Lee by now. His teammates knew him better than anyone else, and realized this was an act of desperation. Lee had to be running on fumes.

The fight in the arena was turning down a supernatural route. Gaara was the size of a small cabin by now, and Lee was more impressive than ever, disappearing from view completely at times. They were pummelling each other into tomorrow, but despite Gaara's size, Lee still had the edge.

But no matter the attack, Gaara always recovered. And the fight continued like that, the seconds trickling by. Until . . .

"What just happened?" One of the girls behind the sofa exclaimed. Going by her forehead protector, she was from Takigakure. Short bangs of sea green hair hung over a pair of narrowed down, orange eyes.

"Did Lee just . . ?" She continued uncertainly.

"He lost his gates." Hinata confirmed without any particular inflection. Beside her, Tenten was staring at the screen with trembling lips.

Lee stood on shaky legs, arms in position, but he had clearly pushed himself beyond his limits. His wounded leg was now dying his spandex with a fresh red palette.

"Just surrender, you moron." Neji whispered to himself, shaking his head. "Dying is pointless."

xXx

~ In the Arena ~

Naruto looked up in alarm when Rock Lee's powerful chakra was snuffed out like a drowsed flame.

He paused and let his feet slide to a stop in the sand, there was a moment of inaction. Then, Naruto took two quick steps and vanished in a Shunshin.

xXx

~ In the Tribunes ~

Maito Guy stood up from his seat and placed his right leg down on the railing in front of him so firmly it was bent out of shape.

Kakashi got up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Guy . . ."

"Don't try and stop me Kakashi, this is between a master and his student."

"No." Kakashi replied back, his eyes on the huge hulking figure down in the desert zone. "I'm worried too."

"Guys?" Anko looked at the two from her seat with questioning eyes, team 7 looked equally bewildered.

Guy gave Kakashi a small nod, and turned back around just as the commentator began shouting.

"What just - WOW! Gaara just got blasted away! Incredible!" Katsuro cried out in excitement.

Gaara's huge form could be seen rolling down a shrubby sand dune on the big screen.

"The fuck just happened?" Anko asked loudly.

Sakura answered with another question. "Isn't that Naruto?"

Indeed, standing beside Lee, was Naruto. He looked as fresh as ever apart from a few grass stains on his haori.

"Uzumaki Naruto just made a comeback! I don't know how, but he somehow sent Gaara head over heels!"

Guy frowned at the scene while the commentator kept running his mouth. Lee was not in any immediate danger at the moment, but Guy knew Lee wouldn't surrender, and Gaara was a juggernaut right now. I shouldn't risk Lee's future like this! Gaara is clearly too dangerous.

"Guy!" Kakashi stopped him from bursting off the tribunes.

"What, Kakashi?" Guy asked his rival, his voice unusually harsh.

"Guy, I will be the first person to intervene with you, but right now, let's see this play out." Kakashi looked at him intently with his lone eye.

"Kakashi has a point." Anko said, her eyes focused on the screen, where an image of Naruto was displayed. "Because that guy is done playing."

xXx

~ In the Arena ~

"Lee!" Naruto slid to a stop in the sand next to the Taijutsu monster.

"Naruto-san . . ." Lee responded weakly, before falling over.

"Oi! Lee!" Naruto shouted with worry. He knelt by his side, but saw that Lee had actually fallen unconscious. He must have taken things way too far! How many gates did he have active!? For how long now!?

"Step away from the wounded contestant!" A voice behind him shot out sharply.

Naruto rose back up and did as instructed. The first responders had already arrived, they were going to remove Lee, and help him recover.

"S-sure." Naruto acquiesced and gave the three Medic-nin more space. That was when he saw Gaara claw his way back up the sand bank.

Naruto threw Lee a last glance. You better make a full recovery! We have a spar to finish.

"You!" Gaara shouted vehemently. Their eyes met, and Gaara's face contorted into a grotesque grimace. "I'll kill yo-"

"-Kill me, yes. I know!" Naruto interrupted him with a shout. "You've mentioned it."

The creature that was Gaara, looked him down with slit yellow eyes filled with murder. And with no warning, he charged for Naruto. Each step caused the ground to shake and rumble. He was huge, incredibly durable, and super strong.

Even the most competent Shinobi would struggle with an opponent like this.

But Naruto had come prepared.

"Weaken. Immobilize. Subdue. Re-seal."He muttered the words under a quiet breath, and held out his right arm, where his slim tanto popped into existence.

Naruto reared back his arm and took careful aim of the rapidly approaching giant. His wind natured chakra blew up around the edge of the tanto, and Naruto hurled it ahead. It penetrated Gaara's torso and burst out on the other side.

Naruto used Kawarimi, and the tanto fell to the ground in his place.

The blonde reappeared behind Gaara in mid-air, and with both arms raised, Naruto unsealed his katana. Once again, his wind element sprung into life, this time across the length of his katana.

As he fell towards ground, Naruto cleaved the air in front of him and watched as Gaara, who was stumbling away, was sliced deeply from shoulder to hip by what most onlookers would describe as a white ethereal sword.

Gaara let out a pained roar as Naruto tumbled to the ground and bounced back up.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Gaara turn after him, his yellow eyes enraged. He's tougher than I thought!

Acting quickly, Naruto re-sealed his cumbersome katana and brought out his Bō staff instead. He shoved the butt end into the ground and used it to launch himself away, just in time not to get crushed by a frenzied Gaara.

But the Suna Jinchuriki was fast, and hurled himself after Naruto. Again and again, Gaara slammed into the spots Naruto had just been. The young blonde remained one step ahead, but a single wrong move right now would get him killed.

With the situation turning so grim, Naruto employed a very familiar hand sign. Six clones popped up around him, two of which were instantly flattened by Gaara. But the remaining few dashed around the huge sand figure and flipped off half a dozen hand signs.

Four fiery bullets hailed into Gaara and gave him a stumble. Large, blackened cracks appeared; and these grooves spilled out miniscule amounts of sand when Gaara moved.

Ineffective. Naruto frowned. Sand has a very high melting point. I would have to fire something like an overpowered fireball technique in order to melt away anything.

However, he couldn't do the fireball.

"RAARGH!" Gaara roared like a beast, and slammed both fists into the ground. A small shockwave ran though the sand floor and his clones fell over. Gaara jumped after the closest ones and popped them out of existence.

Seeing an opening, Naruto burst ahead when Gaara turned towards the last of his clones. The blonde jumped and kicked off of Gaara's calf, and once again unsealed his Katana mid-air. His wind element surged into the blade like before.

The Uzumaki made his landing and watched with satisfaction as Gaara's forearm - thick as a tree - smacked into the sand beside him.

Gaara let out a shriek and in a fit of rage, began to completely tear up the ground around him. The last of his clones were destroyed in the tantrum.

So, I can still cut him. Naruto thought as he stepped back and studied Gaara's stump arm, which seemed to already be in the process of slowly remaking itself. Going for the limbs isn't really working out, but-

Naruto's train of thought was suddenly derailed, when Gaara quickly grabbed and threw his own arm after him like a projectile.

Acting on instinct, Naruto threw himself to the side, but several chunks of hard packed sand still pelted into him and sent him sprawling into the coarse ground.

Fuck! Naruto spat out sand. Not exactly the image I'm going for here. Then the ground began trembling, and Naruto had the good sense to roll over and get himself away with a cartwheel.

Gaara's leg stomp missed him with quite the margin, but the follow up fist very nearly squashed him. Naruto slid to a stop in the sand and flushed chakra to his legs, he jumped like a frog and kicked off of Gaara's stump arm.

Gaara let out an angry growl and tried to grab him with his other arm, but Naruto made a sharp downwards chop, and sliced through the arm like it was nothing. He ignored Gaara's pained groan and stuck himself to the Suna Jinchuriki's midsection with chakra.

Like with all the previous dismemberments, there was a distinct lack of blood. Which made sense, they were just disposable limbs of an animated sand golem after all. Naruto had to target the real Gaara on the inside, but also try not to kill him.

I guess a Raiton Jutsu is worth a shot.

Gaara slammed both arms to his chest, attempting to crush Naruto against himself. But Naruto had already skipped over his shoulder, and was quickly flipping through a handful of signs. Electricity sparked into life over his fingertips, and his Raiton: Jibashi thrummed with power.

Naruto unsealed his wakizashi into his off-hand, and flooded his Jutsu with more chakra. Naruto rammed the sword into Gaara's neck and grabbed the weapon with his electrified hand. All of the lightning surged out of Naruto and dissipated into Gaara.

The sand he clung to started to crumble away, and Naruto took his queue to jump off. He landed just in time to see the upper body of the golem fall apart, and Naruto blinked. That worked out even better than I'd hoped.

"AAAAARGGGHHHH!" Gaara's voice was as lovely as ever. The boy stumbled out of the dense dust clouds that had formed and immediately went on the offensive.

The red head held out a bony arm and reshaped the remaining sand he had at disposal. It rose up and swirled around him, but it behaved sluggishly, slow even. The chakra from his gourd had to have been reduced and diluted by now.

Gaara didn't even seem to care, and attacked with everything he had.

Naruto ran through several hand signs and held out an arm. His Futon: Daitoppa blew away every single speck of airborne sand, and Naruto began to nonchalantly approach the redhead.

"Noooooooooo!" The scream was low, raspy and filled with despair. Naruto continued his approach at a sedate pace.

"I was going to kill him! Mother! PLEASE! I can do it, I will do it! I will get his blood!" Gaara cried out, clutching his own head.

"No, you won't." Naruto called out.

Gaara turned his head toward him so sharply, Naruto was surprised he didn't snap his neck.

"YOU!" He screamed, his red sweaty hair pasted to his face.

"Me." Naruto droned back.

"ARGHHHHH!" Gaara held out both arms, but nothing happened.

"You've run out, Gaara." Naruto told him, and came to a natural stop in front of him.

"I won't let you erase me! My existence will not be snuffed out!"

"Don't worry, you will carry on existing." Naruto held up a hand and watched as several small, blue flames lit up on each of his fingers. "When you're done with all that, and you want to know what living is, come find me."

Gaara's eyes turned bulbous, and a tremble went through him, he gave him no answer.

Without sermon, Naruto shoved all five fingers into Gaara's chest – just above his heart – and twisted them, effectively sealing off the Ichibi.

As expected, Gaara immediately lost consciousness, and crumpled to the sand.

Genma appeared beside Naruto in a Shunshin and knelt beside Gaara. It took him only a moment to find a pulse. When he rose back up, he announced:

"Sabakuu no Gaara has been rendered unconscious, and cannot continue, the winner of this round, is Uzumaki Naruto."

There, mission complete. Naruto cracked his neck, and felt immediate relief. That punch from Lee earlier had really done a number on him. The commentator was gushing about the match, and Naruto tried to remain unfaced as he walked off the stage to a cacophony of screams and applause from the tribunes.

One match down, two more to go.

~ Competitor's Overlook ~

"What happened earlier, when Gaara lost control of that thing?" Tenten asked and looked around the room for anyone with a clue.

Neji was also frowning at the TV. "Naruto used a Raiton Jutsu, but I'm not sure how it made everything fall apart like that."

"The Jutsu didn't look that strong." Fuu replied, her face scrunched up.

"Over ninety percent of sand is made up of quartz." Kurotsuchi told them flatly. "Quartz is a mineral." She added that part condescendingly, and bounced out of the couch.

"Ergo, sand is a Doton element, and he used that. Doton is weak against Raiton, so his Jutsu rendered a lot of the sand – which was infused with chakra – inert."

"Oh."

"That makes sense . . . I guess."

She gave the room a haughty look, before she turned to leave. "Whatever, I need fresh air."

The dark-haired girl from Iwa left the room and went down several broad flights of stairs until she reached ground zero. Where she whirred around the corridors, looking this way and that, trying to find-

"Looking for someone?" A voice behind her asked.

Kurotsuchi turned around violently, annoyed to see him conceal a small smirk.

She walked right up to him with and set her coal black eyes right into his blue ones. She briefly toyed with the idea of killing him, even though she knew it was stupid. Spawn of the Yondaime or not, she couldn't kill him – not here.

"Was that some blood lust just now?" He asked, his face couldn't quite hide his amusement.

"Don't worry, I'll wait until I get permission to kill you." She told him, and made it a point in keeping her voice completely impassionate.

"Ah." He replied succinctly.

"If it really comes to that." He said. "You should know what I told you one month ago still stands. I am going to have to win this tournament." He looked at her serenely, any trace of irony was gone.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She told him with an air of finality.

A/N

That's where we'll end it this time. Next chapter will speed things up a bit, and we will soon get to the end of the tournament.

I have taken up a lot of different side projects at the moment, so I have no idea when the next chapter is going to be out. Add the story to your alert list if you care enough to follow it.

Anyways, it's awesome to see so many people reading this shit, I hope you enjoyed it.

Leave a review if you can, I love feedback.

The Epic Pen – Signing off