The Blood of Fallen Heroes: A Story of Civil War

Author's Note: Here's my formal apology to all my readers. I'm sorry I haven't update the Road Less Taken in six months and Requiem of a Demon in two months. I came to a point where writing Naruto was meaningless to me as I continued to read the manga, a sense of horrid dread filled me as to me Kishimoto came really close to ruining a series I loved dearly. In doing so, I just felt disinterested in writing Naruto fanfiction, leading me to cross over into the fanfiction realm of One Tree Hill. Hopefully this fic will bring my mojo back with Naruto, my last ditch effort in feeling the love I once did for the series.

I

The sun kissed jinchiruuki sat atop the Hokage monument as he pondered what he'd do in tommorrow's fight against Hyuuga Neji. He hadn't been able to sleep so the whiskered boy had leapt into the night, running and leaping from roof to roof much to the ANBU's dismay. Then again, he really wasn't expecting not to be noticed, after all he wore an orange jumpsuit. 'I should use the money from the Zabuza mission to get some new gear. But I love this outfit…' Naruto thought, sitting with his legs crossed.

It had been a regular day for him. The people of Konoha hated him, because of the demon that had been sealed away in him to protect their very lives. He never understood that since finding out about his jinchiruuki status. How could the people hate him when his existence was their protection from the Nine Tailed Fox?

He had some light sparring by himself since he didn't want to bother Sakura-chan, and Sasuke was nowhere to be found as well as his lazy sensei. Afterwards, he had headed over to the hospital to make sure Lee was okay, and hadn't been killed by that psycho Gaara. He barely concealed the shudder that came over him as he thought of the red haired Suna genin.

After that he had gotten lunch at Ichiraku, and after a few bowls had left to see if he could find that pervert Ero-sennin for some useful techniques, but the white haired ninja was nowhere to be found. Then again, he hadn't bothered to check the hot springs which most likely would be the likely place to find the creep peeping.

Naruto didn't really know what to think of the old sage. He was always too busy peeping to show him anything useful, other than the Summoning jutsu and how to control the demon fox's chakra. At least he actually showed him something, unlike his perpetually late sensei Kakashi.

As Naruto's mind raced away, there was a deafening howl breaking him out of reverie and surprising him into stupor. As his cerulean eye's looked for the cause of the maddening howl, he looked up at the sky by the Hokage's Tower and saw what looked like a hole in the sky. Which didn't make sense and wasn't possible, but he was seeing it with his very own eyes.

As he tried to make sense of what was happening, he looked into the hole in the sky and saw nothing but flames, and an orange mask swirling in the background.

"Pretty…" Naruto exclaimed, until he felt a pain in his stomach, where the seal of the Kyuubi lay.

"Save this world Naruto-kun, because I couldn't save mine." A voice called out, and Naruto screamed as what felt like a thousand pin pricks stabbed into him, and the world swirled around and faded into nothing.

…

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." The old and aged voice of the Sandaime Hokage interrupted the boy's thoughts the next morning.

Naruto had woken up and felt different, it was almost wrong. He didn't wake up to be his cheery self, but rather felt morose and depressed. He felt like he knew things that weren't right, that couldn't be right. What the hell happened last night?

"Morning, Hokage-sama." Naruto greeted, suprising himself at the honorific.

The Hokage looked surprised, but brushed it off as he ruffled the blonde's unruly spiky hair. "What happened last night?" The Hokage asked.

"I don't know." Naruto admitted quietly. "There was fire, a lot of it."

"ANBU last night gave report of you spontaneously catching on fire, so they brought you here. You've been here for about eight hours now. It's actually almost time for the Chuunin Exams, I dropped by to let you know it's unfortunate that you were attacked last night and now miss the exam." The Hokage said sadly.

"I'm not missing the exam… I'm not going to be some sixteen year old genin. How much time do I have left?" Naruto asked.

"Three hours until the start, are you sure Naruto-kun. There's another one in six months." The Hokage pointed out.

"I'm sure. Old man, I need to know something…" Naruto trailed off, not looking him in the eye.

"Sure what is it?" The Sandaime asked, giving a hearty laugh at Naruto calling him old man again.

"The Yondaime… he's my father isn't he?" Naruto asked bluntly, making the old kage dropped his pipe.

"Where would you get such an idea?" the Sandiame asked gently.

"I don't know. I just know, just like I know Orochimaru's going to kill you today at the exams. Be careful old man, he'll be there. And you don't have to answer, the way you replied to the question's answer enough." Naruto replied, jumping out of bed.

"Naruto, wait?"

"No time jiji." Naruto shot back, jumping out of the window and sprinting across to his apartment.

The Yondaime Hokage was his father. He knew it somehow and the answer in that lay in the odd occurrence of the night before. Whatever happened yesterday is the reason Naruto knew of his father, or of Sandaime-jiji's death, or the stock of jutsu in his arsenal. Jutsu he'd never heard or dreamed of, or even actually seen but he knew how to perform them.

Sasuke… Naruto thought quietly. He had a sense of foreboding now when it came to the black haired Uchiha. Perhaps it had something to do with the mark Saskuke received in the forest of Death.

Grabbing a pair of khaki shorts and a black t-shirt with the orange spiral on the front, he realized how childish he looked. What kind of ninja paraded around in an orange jumpsuit?

Thanking Kami he had three hours left, he grabbed Gama-chan, who was filled to the brim with his savings and took off to the closest ninja clothing store. He dreaded going there, they always yelled at him, followed him around the store only to overprice whatever he bought anyway. That orange jumpsuit had cost him a whole week's worth of allowances, and it had been used too.

"What are you doing here?" The owner of the store barked, upon seeing him. "You know you're not welcome here… demon." The shop owner hissed when he saw no one was in the immediate area.

"Shut up." Naruto said, leveling him a glare.

Walking over to the outfits section, the owner followed him. "What did you say, boy?"

"Are you deaf, or just a plain, stupid civilian? What part of I'm a ninja and you're not do you not understand? And let's say I am what you so stupidly think I am, do you think antagonizing me is the best course of action, baka!" Naruto growled out, his hand twitching as it ached to grab a kunai.

The sudden blood lust he was afflicted with was almost out of control and he let out a stream of killer intent subconsciously. The shop owner froze fearfully, pissing himself in doing so. "Stop." He pleaded.

Naruto realized what he was doing and let up. "Go away before I do something I might regret." Naruto spoke disinterestedly.

"I'm going to report you to Hokage-sama." The owner threatened.

Naruto laughed. "Whatever… and tell him that you broke article one hundred and three of the Uniform Code of Shinobi Justice." Naruto shot back. "'At no point in time are you to mention the existence of the Kyuubi to anyone who remains ignorant of the truth. At no point in time are you to openly call the container any names in public that could threaten the secrecy. Any violators of this decree will be executed immediately with no trial or summons.'" Naruto said, repeating the Sandaime's law verbatim.

"Fine, just get what you need and get out." The owner bit off crossly.

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "You owe me anyway." Naruto replied smugly, grabbing himself a three sets of his new outfit as well as a few extra miscellaneous items, and a couple of storage scrolls.

"That'll be ten thousand ryou." The shop owner said once eyeing the items.

"Like I said, you owe me anyway." Naruto stated, leveling him with a glare that begged of the owner to complain. The civilian bowed his head, hiding his watery eyes and let the young shinobi disappear his shop in a flurry of leaves.

Seconds later an ANBU arrived at the shop. "Everything okay?" the Neko masked ANBU asked, a female with long, violet hair asked.

"Yes shinobi-san, everything is squared away."

"I suggest you take the boy's advice and keep this pretty quiet. A few of us overhead you call him something you shouldn't of." Neko replied, disappearing a second later.

…

Naruto looked in front of a mirror and didn't know what to think of himself. The new outfit was nice, but he barely recognized himself, with all the orange stripped away. He had on a tight navy blue shirt with the chain mail shirt underneath, revealing his lean figure. He wasn't bulky at all, but he packed on enough muscles for someone his age.

He had on chain mail armbands on both arms from the elbow on down to protect them from kunai and shuriken. His hands had on their own protection with finger-less gloves and a metal plate on the top center of the glove.

His hitai-ate had been redone, sitting on a longer, black cloth this time rather than the standard blue. His hitai-ate was polished, with his blond locks hanging over bits of it. He had on standard black shinobi pants, with the white bandana wrapped around his shin, securing it easily into his blue sandals. Lastly, holding his pants on was a black belt, with two scrolls sitting on each side of the belt for weapons.

He still kept his kunai holster and shuriken holster though.

Both kunai and shuriken were polished and sharpened.

He looked like a whole different person. He looked more like his father… ugh it was really weird trying to think of the Yondaime, his hero and idol as his father. Brushing away those thoughts, Naruto headed out of his room and out of the door only to find Jiraiya waiting for him outside. "Good luck out there kid." Jiraiya greeted.

"Whatever Ero-sennin, go back to peeping or whatever it is that you do." Naruto said dismissively, before walking away from the white haired sage.l

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya asked, halting the boy in his tracks by putting his hand on the genin's shoulder.

"You knew my father didn't you? You were like his sensei or something, right?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya gave him a wary look. "You shouldn't know that… who told you?" Jiraiya demanded.

"Doesn't matter." Naruto replied. "Just answer the question, Jiraiya." Naruto said gently.

"Yeah, he was my student. I loved him, almost like a son." Jiraiya said sagely, his eyes lighting up with nostalgia.

"Then where were you for me?" Naruto asked.

"I was busy, checking out for Orochimaru and the Akatsuki." Jiraiya confessed.

Naruto frowned at the mention on both. "I'm thirteen and haven't met you until now, there's no excuse for that. I don't expect you to be there for me, but you could at least let me know." Naruto replied.

"I know I should have been a better godfather, but after the Yondaime's death…"

"You're my godfather…" Naruto said laughing sadly. "Man I thought the Yondaime was a genius, but naming you my godfather, brilliant man." Naruto added sarcastically.

Jiraiya's brows furrowed. "Look you can badmouth me, but don't badmouth the Yondaime. It wasn't his fault that I slacked on my duties." Jiraiya growled out.

"No, but it was his fault that he sealed the Kyuubi into me, died, and chose someone for godfather who'd never bother to stick around." Naruto pointed out. His eyes were emotionless, he didn't even seem saddened by any of it at all. He seemed defeated and resigned to his fate, as if it were all preordained and he was just going through the motions. "Look, thanks for showing me how to use the summoning and let me sign the toad contract. But I didn't need you before, and I don't know. Have a good life, Jiraiya-sama." Naruto added, giving the old sage a mock salute.

Naruto disappeared via shunshin. He had to be at the Konoha Central Stadium for the final portion of the Chuunin exams, and while he felt more powerful than he'd ever been, he felt more aware as well. There was a sense of foreboding today, as if yesterday's occerence had been mere foreshadowing and he just couldn't fathom what was supposed to happen today.

He knew Orochimaru killed the Sandaime, he felt it after waking up in the hospital and seeing the old man's wrinkled face. But the details, the where, when, and how were missing. Arriving at the stadium's door, he saw Konohamaru waiting for him at the entrance.

"Naruto-niiichan." Konohamaru greeted him brightly.

Naruto returned the megawatt grin, and ruffled the boy's hair, bending down to one knee to look the boy in the eye. "Ohayo, Konohamaru-chan." Naruto replied, wrapping his arms around the boy to give him a hug. It surprised even him, but instead he found himself saying. "I'll always be here for you kid."

Konohamaru's eyes watered up. "Don't get soft on me, nii-chan, I don't want any excuses when I beat you and become Hokage." The small nine year old ordered.

"You'll never beat me." Naruto shot back, giving him the peace sign before heading into the stadium. Walking in slowly, he saw six of the other contestants standing side by side, with a Uchiha Sasuke missing from the group. But for some reason Naruto already expected this. Walking up to the group, Naruto's eyes scanned the crowd, and the masses of Konoha were looking down of him.

He wasn't sure what they saw when they looked down on him. Did they see a different him, someone other than the childish jumpsuit wearing prankster he'd always been? He himself wasn't sure of who he was anymore. He knew he was the son of a dead Hokage, the vessel for the Kyuubi, but what defined him as him?

He used to be known for his pranks, but now amidst the changes that altered his very essence the night before, what made him Uzumaki Naruto now?

"Hey Naruto." Nara Shikamaru greeted as Naruto stood beside him on the end of the line. He avoided looking at the other contestants, not wanting to reveal his nervousness. But while nervous and scared he was, there was something gnawing away at his insides.

He was excited.

Something inside of him was calling out for him to battle it out with the world's strongest and brightest genin, and prove his very existence. He didn't know what to call it, it wasn't bloodlust, he knew that much. But the stadium, the environment, everything around him called out for a promise of battle, where skills would be shown and a possible chuunin advancement was displayed.

"How's it going Shika?" Naruto answered, looking at the lazy cloud watcher with his peripheral vision.

"Meh… this exam's going to be troublesome." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Hai… that it will." Naruto responded under his breath but he knew his fellow Konoha genin had heard him.

"What's with the new getup? It looks appropriate." Shikamaru asked.

"I'm a shinobi, not some idiot child. Time to dress like it." Naruto replied coldy, though the anger was being inferred to himself, rather than Shikamaru.

"That's good. Good luck Naruto." Shikamaru stated proudly, as if impressed by Naruto's newfound initiative.

"You too." Naruto shot back, nodding.

The proctor for the last portion of the exam, a young jounin appeared in front of them. "Hello, I am Genma and it looks like most of you are here with the exception of some. Let's not delay. As you know, all of you are the best of the best in the whole world, and the hitai-ate which you so proudly display is a sign of the country you represent. Do remember that and do not make a fool of yourselves as the Kage, Daimyo and leaders here will decide your advancement. Good luck to you all." Genma spoke complacently. "Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto, you two are our first fighters, everyone leave the arena." Genma ordered, and suddenly it was just the two genin and the proctor.

Naruto turned and faced his opponent, a fellow leaf ninja who while he despised defended his village with the same pride and dedication he did. "Prepare to lose." Neji called out stoically.

Naruto didn't answer and instead slid into an offensive stance.

"Are you ready?" Genma asked loudly.

Naruto and Neji simply nodded.

"Begin!"

Genma disappeared from view, leaving the fighters alone. "Are you prepared to lose Uzumaki?" Neji asked, contempt lacing his voice.

Naruto ignored the question and instead slid a kunai out of his holster.

"Do not waste your kunai on me. I'm a Hyuuga, meaning there isn't anything I don't see. Weapons will be ineffective against me." Neji boasted, and Naruto wanted nothing more than to wipe his smug smile.

Naruto applied chakra to the bottom of his feet and launched himself forward, sprinting as fast as he could, a blur like movement that stunned the Hyuuga and before Neji could summon chakra to his eyes for the Byakugan, Naruto sliced his cheek open with the kunai. Neji's eyes widen in surprise, and received a kick to the solar plexus in his momentary stupor.

Naruto watched as Neji stumbled backwards, blood shooting up into the air from his kunai slice. Neji got up immediately, his face red from embarrassment. "Do not take me lightly because of your kekkei genkai. That was a warning, next time it's your throat." Naruto called out viciously.

He didn't actually intend to kill Neji, but it didn't mean he was going to let the smug bastard verbally torment him like he did to Hinata.

Angered, Neji slid into the classic Hyuuga stance. "Byakugan!" he cried out, his blood line coming to life.

Naruto shot forward, about to test the Hyuuga's taijutsu to find any flaw and found none in the first five minutes as the two through punches and kicks, Neji's Gentle Fist technique aiming to disable Naruto's chakra points though he did his best to block every single strike. Not that it was easy, he thought as sweat beaded up his forehead, blocking a shot aimed at his kidneys.

Kuso, I shouldn't of pissed him off, Naruto thought. Ducking under one of Neji's strikes, Naruto quickly rammed his fist in Neji's stomach, sending Neji stumbling back off balance for a second. He was about to follow up with a kick to the face when Neji sprung to life, rotating around in a spin while Naruto was in midair.

Chakra was released from Neji's chakra points forming a perfect barrier dome around him that spun. "Kaiten." Neji shouted, continuously releasing chakra as Naruto collided with it, and got flung backwards for his trouble, before slamming into a tree.

Naruto groaned as his back and ribs felt more bruised than they'd ever been. Stumbling to his feet, he saw Neji was honing in on him and before he could bring his hands up for defense Neji struck like an angry viper, calling out, "Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Strikes."

Naruto groaned out in pain as one of Neji's strikes caught him in the stomach, then all over his midsection. "Sixteen." Neji announced. A few more strikes caught him and he would of screamed but his throat was hoarse and tasted like copper, and suddenly blood flew from his mouth. "Thirty two."

He couldn't move now, it was too painful and troublesome. More blows landed, and he couldn't keep up with the count, his eyes shut painfully, and he heard Neji shout out, "Sixty four strikes." He hit Naruto one last time with a burst of chakra and Naruto went sailing in the air, before crashing down with a resounding smack onto the earth.

"Proctor call the match. His chakra's been sealed away." Neji announced coldly.

"No…" Naruto croaked out, forcing his body to roll over, then to his feet.

"What are you doing? Can't you see you've been outclassed and defeated? It was fate to lose to me, from the very second you showed up to the arena, fate had determined I would be called the winner." Neji shouted out cruelly.

"Fate is but what we make." Naruto replied, trying to summon chakra up forcefully, only to find pain instead.

"You're chakra's gone. That is your punishment for your arrogance. You thought that you, a lowly orphan genin could defeat one of the Hyuuga?" Neji demanded coldly.

"You might believe in something as stupid as fate, but I don't. The arrogant one here is you, believing that you are superior to people because you're from a clan with a powerful kekkei genkai. But in the end I'd rather be a lonely orphan against the world, then some Main Branch servant who's upset at his situation." Naruto replied.

"What did you say?" Neji's eyes lit up in fury.

"You heard me Hyuuga Neji. Isn't that why you humiliated your cousin Hinata at the preliminaries. You can't take the Main Branch on, so you settled for destroying her. Your arrogance is astounding." Naruto commented.

"You don't understand anything." Neji said snarling, removing his hitai-ate with one fluid motion. "I've been marked by fate to be nothing more than a caged bird. On that day, that day of betrayal…"

"Your father was murdered in Hiashi's place." Naruto finished for him. Neji looked at him in shock. "Be thankful you knew yours. I don't even know my parents, who they were, what they did, and yet you don't hear me bitch all day about it. It sucks, but don't call it fate and resign in life to just bitch about the wrongdoings you've suffered through. That's the coward's way out." Naruto stated.

"Shut up." Neji warned.

"It's true and you know it." Naruto responded with a somber glance.

"Shut up!" Neji cried out, rushing in to deliver a harsh Juuken blow to Naruto's chest. Naruto fell over, blood spraying from his lips, and sending him into a semi state of unconsciousness. Naruto felt a pull into a dark void, and was sent tumbling into the gates holding the Kyuubi back.

There was a voice in his mind, telling him that if he begged the Kyuubi for power, he'd be rewarded with chakra in abundance. "Nooo!!!" Naruto yelled, and forced himself back out into the real world.

"Killing me won't make that pain go away…" Naruto whispered, forcing a scowl from the white eyed genin.

"You don't know anything about this pain, don't judge me. You don't know what it's like…"

"Shut up." Naruto spoke, anger rattling in his voice. "Do you think you're the only who suffered in this world. You know nothing about me, how do you know what I went through? I never had parents, a family, a clan, or a kekkei genkai, and yet I fight everyday to prove to this village I'm not what they think I am. I'm hated by everyone when they know nothing of my burden, of my sacrifice. I've never been recognized by anyone, which is why dream is to become Hokage so the whole village is forced to recognize me as the best. Your fate suggests I'd never do that, but I don't believe in having a preordained destination as to what we do, which is why by beating you here and now, I'm going to show you that fate is what we make. By beating you here, I'm going to be one step closer to Hokage, and the village's recognition.

"I'm sorry your life sucks, and that you've been branded by the Main Branch. But one day I'll become the Hokage and I'll change the ways of clans, even the Hyuuga." Naruto explained.

"You can't beat me, you have no chakra left." Neji replied, astounded by Naruto's resiliency.

"You're right, but I'm just a clone. Bunshin Bakuha!" Naruto yelled and blew himself up, the explosion rocking Neji, blinding him as it sent him flying backwards.

"What? When?" Neji demanded.

"From the very beginning." Naruto replied, hopping out of the stadium, in a henge. He looked like another bystander, until he released the Henge.

"I've been fighting a shadow clone? But I hit you." Neji cried out in surprise.

"Yes you did, and that's my secret to keep. Like I told you Neji, your arrogance knew no bounds. Perhaps this battle will be a lesson, despite your bruised ego. Now yield." Naruto commanded, holding a kunai in his hand, he walked up to the beaten genin, and held the kunai to his throat.

"Proctor, I yield." Neji complied, before closing his eyes in shame.

"Smart move, Neji." Naruto replied, before sliding his kunai back into his holster.

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause and Naruto took it in for a second, and then decided to head on upstairs, until Genma stopped him. "You showed not only power, skill, guts and bravery, but you also showed patience and strategy, you deserve the promotion to Chuunin and I'm definitely recommending you for promotion." Genma stated, then gave him a small wave.

…

"Naruto, that was so cool." Chouji shouted out, before diving back into a bag of chips.

Naruto smiled at the big boned Akimichi and nodded, before taking a seat next to him and Shikamaru. "He's right Naruto, you should definitely make chuunin. When did you get so strong, just month you were still a fool wearing that orange jumpsuit?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Some of us are just born to be good." Naruto replied.

"Troublesome."

"Naruto! Nice fight out there." A voice called out and Naruto turned his head to see Ino Yamanaka and his teammate on Team Seven Haruno Sakura walking towards them.

"Nothing special." Naruto replied easily, and bit back his surprise when the young kunoichi sat down next to them.

"Nothing special? You just wiped the floor with Hyuuga Neji, last year's top rookie genin. He's a year older than you and you beat him with a shadow clone." Ino complimented him.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm surprised you're not boasting, claiming it's your first step to Hokage, but seriously that was awesome Naruto." Sakura said smiling at him. "I hope Sasuke does as good as you did, maybe you'll face off in the finals." She added hopefully.

"It'd be nice." Naruto mused, before waiting for Genma to announce the next match.

"Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara!" Genma called out.

Seconds later Gaara materialized out of sand in the arena. As they waited for a few minutes, Sasuke still had not shown up. Genma had left to talk to the Hokage and returned saying that the Gaara versus Sasuke match would be postponed until the end. Afterwards he called for Shino and Kankurou, and Kankurou promptly quit, refusing to fight the bug user.

"Shino wins by disqualification. Next match is Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru." Genam called out.

"Meh… I don't want to fight a girl, it's troublesome." Shikamaru whined.

"Good luck Shika." Naruto shouted out, giving the shadow user a confident smile.

Shikamaru nodded, before lazily making his way to the arena. The fight was not a disappointment, though Shikamaru had given up since he had ran out of chakra. He had fought valiantly and nearly defeated the Suna kunoichi who had been tough and smart herself.

"Okay, the fight we've all been waiting for Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara." Genma called, and Gaara again was the first fighter to appear. After a ten minute wait did Sasuke finally appear with Kakashi. Naruto couldn't help but think that maybe Kakashi had rubbed off on him.

Most likely no matter how good Sasuke was, he wouldn't be promoted. Shinobi rule number 8 stated that all shinobi must show up on time, for a shinobi's reputation is more valuable than his skill alone. Gaara and Sasuke began their fight and though Naruto was watching, he couldn't help but feel on edge. Something was gravely wrong, he could feel it in the air.

Standing up, he decided to go for a walk and check things out, but not before he heard Sakura's indignant cry. "Where are you going Naruto?" she demanded.

"For a walk, I'll be back in a bit, Sakura." Naruto replied, and neither of them missed his lack of adding the chan honorific to her name.

The blonde shinobi headed to the top of the stadium, overlooking everything. He could the Hokage and the Kazekage having idle conversation, and ANBU in their designated positions watching over everything, so why did he feel so scared?

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. His hands fumbled around in his kunai holster, and he distracted himself by watching Sasuke fight. Sasuke's skills had improved tenfold in his month away with Kakashi-sensei, as he watched Sasuke use a taijutsu resembling Lee's Goken style. In fact it looked almost to be identical, he thought as he watched Sasuke go through the same moves that Lee did.

It was sad really. That one fucking Sharingan could be so powerful it could record jutsus and allow the user to use him himself. He thanked Kami Sasuke and his brother were the last of the Uchiha's, and he really doubt that he'd run into Itachi anytime soon.

"So I heard you won your fight, congratulations." His perpetually late sensei greeted, interrupting his thoughts.

"Whatever, you don't care anyway." Naruto replied bitterly, sounding like the thirteen year old he was.

"That's not fair Naruto. You know I had to train Sasuke on how to use the Sharingan." Kakashi accused.

"It took you a month to show him how to use a set of eyes that copy everything?" Naruto shot back.

"Well that and we had to work on his speed for his fight with Gaara." Kakashi replied.

"Of course, because my fight with Hyuuga Neji wouldn't be that hard." Naruto said sarcastically. "You just didn't expect me to win. All you ever care about is Sasuke, and he's strong enough as it is in comparison to me and Sakura." Naruto added.

"I had all the faith in the world in you Naruto, you're my student after all." Kakashi replied complacently, putting his hand on the top of Naruto's head as he ruffled his hair.

"And just what have you taught me sensei? How to walk on trees? I could see how that'd be useful in a fight against Neji." Naruto remarked.

"Look I know you're not going to understand and I don't expect you to but you had Jiraiya as a teacher, and he's a sannin." Kakashi fired back angrily.

"He's also a pervert who only taught me how to summon toads and the Kyuubi's chakra. He was too busy checking out chicks to show me the 'basics' as you put it. Don't you think that's a reflection on your teaching, that I'm not good on the basics?" Naruto asked, not looking his sensei in the eye.

"I can see your going to be troublesome about this. I did what I had to do to protect my student, and if you don't understand that, then you've learned nothing in your career as a shinobi." Kakashi reprimanded harshly.

Naruto looked and saw that Sasuke was powering up a powerful Raiton attack. "He sure as hell didn't know that before." Naruto commented and walked off.

"That attack is for guys like me and Sasuke, it wouldn't have done you any good anyway." Kakashi informed him.

"Whatever, it's the thought that counts sensei." Naruto replied, not once looking back at the man he used to worship religiously.

Moments later, a lot of things happened at once, an enraged Gaara screamed as he saw his blood pouring down his shoulder, a byproduct of Sasuke's new Chidori attack. The second was that feathers started falling from the sky, and suddenly Naruto's eyes were slowly closing, the feathers beckoning him to go to sleep.

Naruto knew it was a genjutsu, and slowly brought up his right hand to do a one handed release. The genjutsu broke around him, and before he could grab a kunai, Oto and Suna jounin flooded the stadium. Naruto was about to leap into the battle and release the genjutsu on any possible shinobi caught unaware, when an explosion caused him to rock forward, and fall right over the edge into the stands. As he fell, his vision was blockaded by a huge three headed snake summon that was tearing the village apart.

Where to start?

The Suna and Oto jounin or the giant snake?

He didn't have to make a choice as one of the enemy jounin jumped at him, and Naruto's eyes widened in fear, and blood sprayed his face. He looked shocked, and then realized he had stabbed the jounin right in the heart, he had killed someone for the very first time. "Ugh…" Naruto cried out, frantically wiping the blood on his face.

Where the hell was the Hokage when you needed him?

Looking up, he saw the Sandaime-jiji and Orochimaru in battle, the hebi sannin dressed in the Kazekage's royal garbs. He had been right… the Sandaime would truly die today. There was a four point barrier, purple in color and four enemy ninja on each side of the barrier. There was a few ANBU there, standing as they watched the Hokage fight.

Frustrated, Naruto launched a set of shuriken at them. They turned and saw it was him, and he imagined they were glaring at him through their porcelain animal masks, but right now he really couldn't care. "Help the Hokage idiots!" Naruto shouted out, and ducked underneath the wild swing of another Oto jounin. Before the jounin could strategize another attack, Naruto's kunai found itself buried in his ribs, and then yanked out. The jounin cried out in pain, clutching his bloody side, until Naruto launched his kunai and struck the jugular vein, killing him instantly.

Eyes swiveling, looking for any more of the enemy ninja, he saw his sensei and Maito Gai locked into a heated battle with the enemy jounin, as Sakura and Ino tried waking up all of the people who were asleep. Looking down at the arena, he saw Sasuke had already left, gone somewhere as well as the red haired Suna genin.

Taking that as a sign to continue battling, Naruto saw Kakashi was about to get ambushed by two fake ANBU, and launched some shuriken at them, embedding the blades into their necks before they could reach his sensei. He might not like jounin-sensei at this particular time, but he was still a member of the leaf, and death would not be wished on anybody.

Kakashi gave Naruto a thank you, using hand movements and Naruto disregarded it, vanishing in a shunshin and reappearing to slice the throat of a Suna jounin about to kill Sakura. His kunai met flesh, and blood sprayed from the wound, hitting Sakura in the face and soaking Naruto's navy blue t-shirt as well.

Sakura screamed in panic.

"Keep working on everybody!" Naruto shouted. He then yelped in pain as a kunai was found buried into his side. Pulling it out, he turned around to see the perpetrator, only to have a boot impact with his face. Naruto fell backwards, crashing into the cement wall crying out in pain. His attacker, another random Oto jounin launched himself at the sun kissed jinchiruuki and Naruto ducked under the next kick that was sent his way, the jounin crashing into the same wall that he sent Naruto into.

Naruto's hands were flying through hand seals as fast as they could and he didn't remember ever having performed this attack. He was limited to the Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose no jutsu, and a few variations of taijutsu, but instead he reared his head backwards, collecting up chakra in his lungs and throat and in his mind, he screamed, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He pinched his thumb and index finger together forming a small circle as he brought it to his lips, blowing a large fireball from his mouth, burning his throat on the way out, and incinerating the jounin in front of him.

He turned around and saw that Kakashi, Maito Gai and Sakura were giving him a shocked look, and he ignored them, applying chakra to his feet and began to run across the walls sideways before leaping at a Suna chuunin that had been about to attack Ino and decapitated him cleanly.

He didn't have time to cry, which he really wanted to right now. He had lost in a sense and innocence that would never be returned as this day marked a black stain in the calendar of his heart. Rather than dwell on the life he just took, he silently killed his feelings and emotions and decided to protect the village, what he was paid to do.

The snake summons, two massive three headed snakes were still running amok the village, and nothing could stop them, none of the Leaf's attacks were working as they launched every fireball and every ninjutsu they could muster.

He wasn't sure as to what to do as he ran forward, ignoring the shouts of his pseudo-sensei and teammates and suddenly thanked the perverted sannin for having bothered to have taught him this. 'Give me chakra Kyuubi.' Naruto demanded coldly from the most powerful bijuu in existence, currently sealed away within the confines of his belly.

"Shut up monkey, do not presume as to order me around as if I were some simple housepet! I will not give you anything!" Kyuubi roared in his head.

"I'm not giving you a choice, either willingly or forcefully, I'm taking your chakra. I suggest the former as the latter will hurt a bit." Naruto warned.

"You dare threaten me, the King of Bijuu!? I offered my services earlier and you denied me, now suffer the consequences you hairless ape."

"Earlier my village wasn't being threatened. You can't say I didn't warn you." Naruto said bashfully, before forming the ram seal in midair, as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop to get to the snake summon.

In his head, he envisioned himself tweaking the seal a bit, and he pulled as hard as he could, summoning up a flare of chakra that burned away at his insides, flooding his tenketsu and rejuvenating him.

"What are you doing? Stop that now!!!" Kyuubi roared in his head, feeling the pain that Naruto had described.

"I told you so." Naruto snapped back, pulling as much chakra as his thirteen year old body could handle, as a red aura formed itself around his body, his eyes turning red with a vertical slit, his nails lengthening into harsh talons as he took on the Kyuubi's characteristics. His whiskers darkened, and suddenly he felt more power and speed than he'd ever felt before.

Bringing up his right thumb to his mouth, he bit down hard causing blood to flow freely as he leapt one more time and landed a hundred yards away from the twin snake summons. Going through the hand seals fluidly, he brought his hand up, summoning all the Kyuubi's chakra he had taken and slammed his hand on the ground. "Ninpou: Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto screamed, and gagged as there was a burst of smoke and suddenly he was up in the air, high in the sky and on eye level with the snake summons.

With all the chakra he had taken, he had summoned up three massive toads, the one in the middle being Gamabunta and two dark blue toads with katanas strapped to their backs. "Who dare summon us at a time like this?" Gamabunta roared.

"Boss, I need your help. I need you to protect the village and take out the snakes. Orochimaru is destroying the village and I know I didn't pass your test and stuff, but protect the home that I, Jiraiya, and the Yondaime Hokage fought so hard for. Please help." Naruto begged.

"Hai. We will take care of the snakes, but afterwards do not summon me unless you are ready to drink up and complete the last part of the toad's rituals." Gamabunta spat, pulling his kodaichi free. "Get off my head." He ordered, and Naruto complied, leaping off his head and landing in the thick, bustling trees.

"Thank you, Gamabunta-sama." Naruto stated morosely.

He would defend the village whatever it took.

His tenketsu were now reopened and he felt flooded with his own chakra plus the Kyuubi's. Releasing the demonic energy source, he felt it all dissipate and swirl back into the seal on his stomach.

Disappearing via shunshin, he sent himself speeding back towards the arena, arriving moments later. Sakura had managed to wake up Shikamaru, and the enemy jounin around them had been all but killed. Maito Gai was finishing the rest of them up using taijutsu alone, breaking their necks and skulls with well timed kicks.

Kakashi summoned him with his hand, and Naruto appeared in front of them in a swirl of leaves. "Naruto, I need you to lead Sakura and Shikamaru to Sasuke and help him defeat the Suna siblings. Good job on summoning the toads, I haven't been able to locate Jiraiya-sama. Can you do that for me?" Kakashi asked warily.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied, the sensei part sounding forced past his lips.

"Alright good. I'm going to summon up Pakkun, one of my ninken to help you get there." Kakashi replied, before slamming his bloody hand to the floor, summoning a small pug.

"Let's go." Naruto stated to Sakura and Shikamaru.

"Naruto, we're having a talk when you return." Kakashi informed him with a disappointed look.

"Whatever, that can wait." Naruto replied, before leaping off into the woods of Konoha in search of Sasuke. Immediately after departing, Naruto walked up to the ninken and asked complacently, "You do know what Sasuke smells like right?"

"Yes. I know all of your scents now, I'll lead you to him. Beware though, there is at least twelve different scents I don't recognize." Pakkun said, warning him.

"Alright, thank you. Here's the game plan, I'm going to lead, we're going to form the standard triangle formation. Pakkun you're going to hang on to my back and let me know if you smell out any upcoming enemies. Shika, you're going to flank my left and use your shadows to stall the enemy and give me enough time to slit their throat. Sakura, you're going to be my long distance fighter, since your taijutsu sucks frankly and you have no powerful jutsu whatsoever. Arm yourself with as much kunai and shuriken as possible and have no mercy whatsoever. We cannot afford to be squeamish and act like children." Naruto commanded.

Sakura's eyes widened at Naruto's instructions and felt hurt that he called her essentially useless. "There's one problem with that plan." Shikamaru interrupted.

"What's up Shika?" Naruto asked.

"I'm out of chakra, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stall or how useful I'll be when we find them." He pointed out.

"I know, I got soldier pills and plenty of them." Naruto replied tossing one of them to Shikamaru. Shikamaru nodded gratefully and grabbed it, biting it down and then swallowing it, feeling his energy returning to him. "By the way Sakura, I'm not calling you useless, else I wouldn't take you with me, but I need to strategize effectively as the mission's leader or else we'll die. It's not your fault we have a lazy sensei, but when we return, perhaps it wouldn't be bad to take initiative and train a bit harder rather than chasing Sasuke." Naruto pointed out, and then turned away.

"Hai, Naruto-taichou." Sakura replied.

Naruto turned around to give a smile. "Don't make me blush, you don't even call Sasuke that." Naruto replied. His teammates gave him the confirmation nod to go ahead and lead them, and Naruto burst forward.

…

The group had been moving at a decent pace in their attempt to find Sasuke. "Alright guys, I know it's been half an hour of looking, but we have to keep trying." Naruto ordered. They were about to move forward when suddenly eight shinobi leapt in their way.

"Where do you think you're going little genin?" one of the Oto ninja asked.

"The bathroom." Naruto replied back sarcastically.

"Smart mouth on you huh?" the jounin fired back. "I'll be sure to cut those lips right off your mouth." He added cruelly, a smile lighting up on his face.

"Guys we can beat them." Naruto stated, sliding into an offensive stance.

"Really, three genin and some dog against eight elite Oto jounin?" another one of the jounin shot back.

"Yeah, it's a good thing an elite Oto jounin's only as good as a Konoha genin, so not worth much." Naruto replied.

"We're going to kill you now." The Oto jounin leader stated and they all pulled out a set of kunai and charged them. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru fought valiantly. Sakura was the first to die, but she was incinerated in a fiery explosion. Shikamaru was next, stabbed right in the chest by on the jounin, and he fell back and died, a sad expression on his face.

Suddenly it was just Naruto left.

"All talk huh?" the jounin asked, advancing on Naruto.

"Yeah, and I know you got another hidden in the trees, tell him he can come out now." Naruto replied.

"Prepare to die like your friends." The ninth Oto shinobi called out, appearing behind Naruto and pressing a kunai to his jugular.

"Can I say one thing?" Naruto asked politely.

"Sure, feel free." The jounin replied cruelly, before letting out a laugh.

"Bunshin Daibakuha!!!" Naruto replied and his body as well as Sakura's and Shikamaru's turned bright, white light beaming out of their eyes and mouths. The Oto jounins gasped and suddenly everything within a half mile radius exploded, a beam of white light firing into the sky as everything was destroyed.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto halted in his tracks, hearing and seeing the aftermath of the explosion. "Guess that worked." He said simply.

"Good job Naruto, making clones of us like that." Sakura complimented him.

"Yeah but it was your ideas as well as Shika to intentionally get caught to stall, I just exploded them." Naruto replied.

"Naruto-kun, there's a kunoichi up ahead. I guess the explosion wasn't such a good idea." Pakkun interrupted their conversation.

"I wanted them to know we were onto them." Naruto replied.

"Why would you do that?" Pakkun asked.

"Simple. They'd separate in an attempt to stall us. Three against one is better odds, so unless they got exploding clones, which I doubt, I don't think we have much to worry about." Naruto replied.

"Yeah but that leaves Gaara and the puppet sibling." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Yeah and Gaara's injured. I have faith in you and Sakura, Shikamaru. I'll take care of the kunoichi, you guys go ahead and catch up to Sasuke." Naruto replied.

Giving the group a mock salute, he smiled cheerily and leapt away from them, disappearing in a blur as he rushed forward to meet up with the Suna kunoichi. "Hello there, Suna-chan." Naruto greeted.

The Suna kunoichi Temari glared daggers at him, staring him down with such intent it almost made him nervous. Her teal eyes had such anger in them, that Naruto knew it would be deadly to underestimate the wind user. "It's Temari to you. Temari-sama will do as well." She replied, reaching behind her to pull out her large battle fan.

Naruto grinned. Rather than replying to her immediately, he pulled out a small scroll from his belt. "I kinda borrowed this technique from that kunoichi Tenten that you humiliated at the preliminaries." Naruto admitted, unrolling the scroll and biting his thumb again, since it had already healed.

"The weak deserve to be humiliated." Temari replied coldly.

"Then should I humiliate you?" Naruto asked, his eyes lighting up aflame with passion.

"You won't beat me… I'm not as weak as that Hyuuga Neji or any of your opponents. If you really think your little ragtag group's going to beat Gaara even if they have Uchiha Sasuke with them, then you Leaf nin are as stupid and blind as we believe you to be." Temari shot back.

"We of Konoha tend to adjust to circumstance. It's a good thing your Kazekage's already dead, because after this squabbles over, we of the leaf will make Sunagakure pay." Naruto stated cruelly, smiling at her. "We could even use a strong spirited female like yourself for breeding." He said, bluffing.

"The Kazekage's dead?" Temari asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, it seems Orochimaru already killed your father before you guys even arrived and took his place. If Sunagakure was already weak with a Kazekage, you guys will be so much weaker without one, there will be no treaties, no peace, nothing but punishment for your insolence. We left you alone to prosper and you arrogantly betrayed us to Orochimaru, prepare for the consequence." Naruto boasted.

"We will not go down without a fight." Temari shouted and opened her fan to all three moons. "Futon: Kamatachi no jutsu." She shouted at him, swinging her fan in a heavy arc, blowing out a gust of vicious wind chakra ready to slice him to shreds.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Naruto shot back, going through the hand seals for the Goukakyuu, before wordlessly firing out another ball of flame that collided with the wind chakra and became even more powerful as it rushed back to Temari.

"Fuck… Futon: Daikamatachi no Jutsu!" Temari shouted, firing an even larger gust of wind, blowing the fireball into the sky, scorching the trees as it went.

Naruto appeared in front of her and punched her in the stomach with such force, she keeled over. "I'm sorry I had to hit you, I don't hit women, but when it comes to my village, the place I love more than myself and anything in this world, there's not much I won't do." Naruto said sadly.

Temari clutched her stomach. "Ugh…"

"What did you guys think was gonna happen? Did you think you could beat the Leaf because you had an alliance with Oto, a brand new village? Do you forget history, when Suna, Iwa, and Kumo allied against us all and yet we still won the Second and Third Shinobi war. We of the Leaf, protectors to Hi no Kuni have a Will of Fire that fear itself will never put out." Naruto informed her, before karate chopping her in the neck, sending her tumbling into unconsciousness.

Grabbing a length of ninja wire, he wrapped it around her, tying her to the tree, tight enough so she shouldn't be able to escape, but not tight enough to draw blood.

Gathering his bearings, he rushed forward, intent on catching up to his teammates until minutes later he saw two prone bodies laid out on the treetops. Naruto rushed over to check to see who it was and saw one of them was Kankurou, the other sibling to Gaara and the other was Shino the bug user.

Apparently there had been a battle and it had ended in a draw. Kankurou looked drained of chakra if the bugs running across his body were any indication. Shino had no visible cuts but Naruto figured if he was taking on a puppet user, he more likely than not had been poisoned. Grabbing one of the scrolls on his right, he unsealed it and grabbed one of the flares he'd purchased earlier today.

Setting one off in the sky, he only hopped one of the medical teams cured Shino of the poison. It sucks that he had to leave him here, he sure as hell didn't want to, but there was nothing he could do for him, he didn't have any antidotes or medical knowledge on even finding which poison he'd been afflicted with.

He had to go, there was still one loose end left.

Gaara.

Applying more chakra to his feet, he sped up. He could feel it calling in the air, there was a big battle going on, beckoning him to hurry up and not miss anymore of it. His blood was singing with excitement, his muscles taut and demanded for a real battle. His last fight with Temari was disgustingly easy though it was mainly due to her being tired and underestimating his abilities as a shinobi.

Defending the villagers from the attacking shinobi had been hard due to their caliber, but the fights had been short, leaving him unbound and ready to spring into action. This battle with Gaara, a mere genin like himself though promised a battle that he would never forget. He would tire himself out and then some against the Suna genin and if he'd win, it would not be an easy fight.

He hoped his friends were okay though. That was the primary mission for him, and not even his desire to fight could override his mission to protect those he held dear to him. Leaping faster and faster on the trees, he saw them up ahead and his heart froze for a second as pure unadulterated fear struck him.

Sakura was pinned to a tree by a giant hand composed of sand, threatening to crush the life out of her. Shikamaru was weaving and dodging the flurry of sand as a sand like monster advanced on him. It looked like Gaara was possessed as his body was covered by sand with blue markings and only a tuft of red hair remained on the top of his head. One eye was light green while the other was gold and malevolent.

Gaara swung arm, thick with hard sand and tried to impale Shikamaru with the talons on the ends of his hands.

Now that Naruto thought about it, Gaara looked like a mini raccoon, enraged and bedeviled. Gaara tried to attack Shikamaru again, when a blur appeared out of the trees, an odd chirping sound could be heard screech along as Sasuke held his Chidori attack in the air, his face and body marred by ugly black markings and he rammed it straight through Gaara's ribs.

It didn't stop Gaara's fist from colliding with Shikamaru and knocking him into oblivion. Gaara screamed, an unholy sound escaped his lips, completely guttural, but not before kicking Sasuke in the chest, whose hand was stuck in the sand after the attack.

Sasuke was blown backwards next to the tree that Sakura was pinned to. Gaara was about to make another move and Naruto found himself springing to action, jumping in the way as he cocked his foot back and kicked Gaara clean across the face, sending him tumbling backwards into a tree trunk.

"Don't interfere." Sasuke interrupted, giving him a look over as he took in Naruto's new look.

"Now's not the time to be prideful. Sasuke I'll fight him while you try to get Shikamaru and Sakura to safety." Naruto ordered, glaring daggers at Sasuke.

"I want to fight him, I have to fight him." Sasuke demanded, his Sharingan eyes enraged.

"Would you risk your comrades for the fight of your life? You're ridiculous Sasuke, and your tunnel vision is gonna do nothing but get you killed." Naruto spat, his cerulean orbs giving Sasuke a look of pure contempt.

"You don't get it… he killed them all, he has to pay!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes watering with tears.

"He's not Itachi." Naruto replied gently.

He understood the Uchiha's mentality. He felt he had to take on the strongest opponents until he defeated them because only then would he feel strong enough to beat Itachi, the brother that massacred his entire clan.

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes spun faster, a calculated scowl marred the Uchiha's handsome face. "Shut up, you know nothing! I have to beat him, I don't have time to worry about Sakura or anyone else, not you or sensei. I have to fight alone, live alone, and die alone. Now get out of my way or I'll kill you too." Sasuke shouted out.

Rather than argue with him, Naruto punched him in the face as hard as he could. Sasuke fell to the ground, glaring at Naruto. If looks could kill, he'd be in the afterlife with his father right now. "This is the last time I'm going to tell you Uchiha Sasuke, now is not the time to be full of pride. I'm full of chakra and you're about to kill yourself from exhaustion. I'm going to fight Gaara, you're going to save Sakura and Shikamaru, and if I die, then you can kill yourself fighting Gaara, but until then I suggest you either rescue them, or I'll beat you to death." Naruto threatened.

Before they could say anything, Gaara tackled Naruto, ramming his entire body into the blonde as they flew off the branch and into the air. "You cannot save the girl, she is for mother to kill. Only by killing me can you save her." Gaara announced, smirking smugly.

"Then I'll have to kill you, the ratio of Suna's losses will just keep adding up." Naruto replied, kicking Gaara in the stomach though it was ineffective as Gaara swung his claws at Naruto, catching him in the stomach, grazing him badly enough to cause a little bit of bleeding.

The two shinobi crashed to the earth, Naruto losing his breath and his lungs worked overtime to try to regain his breath. Jumping backwards, he avoided the wave of sand Gaara launched his way.

Naruto went through as many strategies as he could while avoiding all the sand Gaara shot. Grabbing some shuriken, he launched them in an attempt to distract Gaara but the sand automatically came up to his defense batting them away as if mere child's play.

"Kuso." Naruto cursed. He wasn't as fast as Sasuke been in the fight, he didn't have the leisure of copy all of Lee's taijutsu for that. He wasn't too keen on using the Kyuubi, and the sand kept blocking him from even hurting Gaara.

Grabbing a kunai, he sprinted as fast as he could towards Gaara, faster than Gaara himself and leapt up in the air, intent on driving the kunai through one of Gaara's eyes, but Gaara smiled and batted him out of the air, sending him crashing into some trees.

Gaara attempted to grab him with the sand, and probably use that Sand Coffin move, but Naruto strafed left, leaping away from it, and tossing a kunai at Gaara. Rather than batting it away, Gaara let it hit his sand harmlessly, and was about to launch it back when Naruto spoke out, "Boom!"

Gaara looked and saw that there was a fat roll of explosive notes wrapped around the handle of the kunai. His eyes widened in fear and was blown backwards as a large explosion rocked his body, sending sand flying everywhere, mixed with Gaara's own blood.

Gaara screamed as he stood up, looking at his badly damaged arm, nearly completely mangled and he pumped demonic chakra in an attempt to heal it. Naruto looked at the damage and saw the explosion had blown off a good bit of Gaara's forearm, the skin charred revealing the burnt muscle and bone underneath. His right hand was missing his index and middle finger. Perhaps he really shouldn't have rolled twenty explosive notes around one kunai.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO, FUCK YOU!!!" Gaara screamed, and succumbed to the demon in him, his whole body encompassed in sand as he became a mini tanuki. Gaara charged forward firing sand bullets as he went. Naruto tried avoiding the sand bullets but some struck him in his arms and legs causing a little bit of bruising and bleeding.

He didn't know what he was doing, he felt as someone else was taking over, but he thrusted his right hand out, and began pooling as much chakra as he could in it, similar to Sasuke's Chidori. The chakra began to swirl and form a sphere, swishing around to form a miniature blue vortex inside the sphere.

He continued powering it up, and launched himself at Gaara. He had no idea what was going on, all he knew was that Gaara had to die.

"RASENGAN!!!"

A/N: Let me know what you think. I'll let you know if I plan on updating again sometime. Updates will be sporadic most likely if you're lucky. Sorry.