A/N: Don't own Naruto.
"What! What do you mean that Shikamaru and Kankuro forfeited?" Naruto asked at an obviously irritated Genma.
"It's just as I explained. We will now hold the final match." Genma replied.
"Shikamaru you lazy bum!" Naruto shouted at the balcony.
Naruto turned to look at his opponent. He was a little disgusted to think of what kind of a person Gaara was. To Naruto, they were complete opposites of eachother. One driven by hate and the other by the urge to help his friends and the people he cares about.
"Let the final match begin!" Genma shouted.
Naruto opened up with his trademark barrage of shadow clones. With the sharingan on the main Naruto. He was not worried about revealing himself he just wanted to conserve chakra. Having a Sharingan active on too many clones would be a silly waste. He also left the Byakugan down because in all honesty he admitted that he had no idea how to use it. He studied from a distance with the Sharingan.
'Damn, looks like I'm not going to be fast enough. Lee and Sasuke were naturally fast enough and even then then they still had trouble. I would have to waste way too much chakra with chakra forcing to even consider it an efficient strategy. Looks like I'll have to try something else. Overwhelming him with numbers doesn't seem to be working either, so how about I take a combination of both speed and and numbers.' Naruto thought to himself as an idea came formed in his head.
Ice Style: Demonic Ice Crystal Mirror
Naruto formed a mirror behind him, along with a fresh set of shadow clones. The clones charged and were promptly stopped by the sand defense. Just as the sand began to counter and dispel the clones Naruto slipped into the mirror's reflection and reappeared in a new mirror behind Gaara. Before Gaara even realized what had happened he received a hard right hook to the side of the head.
"Gotcha" Naruto shouted as Gaara was knocked to the side." Doesn't look like your sand is fast enough to perceive a threat from the mirrors on its own. Either you stop me or the clones, but you're gonna get hit either way."
With another set of clones Naruto repeated the same attack. This time Gaara manually command the sand and ignored the clones as he waited for the Naruto from the mirror. As Naruto popped out of the mirror he was engulfed in sand.
"Sand Coffin! Kill the caster… stop the jutsu. Sand Burial!" Gaara roared.
As the sand constricted the Naruto was crushed, but to Gaara's surprised disappeared in a puff of smoke. Gaara realized his mistake as he received a small barrage of blows from the clones he had decided to ignore.
"You're going to have to figure out which one is the real me first. Even the Byakugan couldn't tell me apart from my clones." The grin on Naruto's face grew as he boasted.
Naruto prepared another set of clones, but just before he could continue his attack he noticed Gaara wince in pain. Gaara held his head, and for just a second he thought he could feel a hint of fear in Gaara's usual wall of killing intent.
"N-No mo-ther. I won't let him keep hurting us. I'll make him stop. I'll make him dead." Gaara whispered to himself.
In a flash Gaara extended his arms like he had done against Sasuke. The clones were instantly destroyed and only with the help of his right eye Naruto was able to dodge the quick attack. When Naruto looked back he noticed that Gaara's tail had already begun to form, and unlike last time the 'transformation' was beginning to spread from his arms to his torso and even a little to his face.
'What?! That's not just a jutsu. He's actually turning into some kind of sand monster. I don't know if I can dodge all of his attacks now. I'm not as fast as Sasuke, so I guess I'll have to try and fight through them. Man, it's really hard to focus with Hinata constantly send that weird feeling at me." Naruto ended his train of thought as he formed his one-handed seals.
Ice Style: Frozen Claws
As the ice began to encase his fist Gaara went on the offensive, but as his extended arms reached Naruto, he swung his finished Ice Claws and managed to actually break through the sand. It took almost no time for the sand arm to reform but in that short window Naruto was sure he could find an opening.
All around the arena the temperature began to drop as Naruto used the Ice Style more and more. Everyone watching was captivated by the fight. Naruto was putting on quite the display of ninjutsu, and while Gaara was unsettling in his current form the amount of power he was displaying was a sight to behold. Naruto was slowly starting to change his view in the village. Most people present thought that he was a liability to the village and hated him for it, but now everyone in attendance at least was beginning to see him as something more than a nuisance. The sight and the feel of his jutsu were leaving their impression.
Truthfully there were only a couple people whose admiration Naruto really wanted, and if he could feel positive emotions he would know he already did.
The battle was currently at a stalemate. Naruto was able to keep both sand arms at bay without time for much else. Gaara had decided to keep to keep his tail back as a defensive measure just in case Naruto tried to blindside him again. His impatience slowly built and before long he added his tail to the offensive out of frustration.
As soon as Naruto's right eye saw the third sand stream an opening also saw his opening. He began a full retreat, and Gaara began to think he had the upper hand. Naruto released one of his ice gauntlets and began to make signs. He jumped straight up and as he fell dodge the sand a disappeared into a mirror that had formed horizontally lying on the ground as opposed to the ones who stood vertically.
Since the mirror was lying flat Gaara didn't see it until Naruto literally dove into it. He realized his mistake as he turned his head to see Naruto already behind him again. Naruto having realized that he didn't have a jutsu strong enough to hurt Gaara in his new monstrous form instead chose to tag him in the base of the tail with a paper bomb. Naruto was quickly swatted away as soon as Gaara got the opportunity.
"Boom." Naruto whispered as the paper bomb exploded at point blank.
When the smoke cleared Genma saw that the match was clearly over. Naruto had Gaara's neck pinned in between the claws of his remaining gauntlet.
"It's so cold." Gaara whispered as he lay on the ground with the heat beginning to leave his neck.
"Well I'll be damned,: Genma spoke with an incredulous look on his face. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf." The pride in his voice was evident in the last couple words of his announcement.
\
Again Naruto was surprised by the applause. The positivity still so foreign to him. As he looked around Gaara's team jumped down into the arena to retrieve him. Temari and Baki looked at Naruto incredulously as they lifted Gaara. A small team of medics made there way out also and they began to take Gaara to the hospital. The entire time Gaara looked only at the ground as a deep hatred festered in his heart.
"The Kazekage and I would like to thank you for attending the Chunin Exam's Final. We hope you all enjoyed what our young talent had to offer., " Hiruzen proclaimed drawing everyone's attention to the Kages' balcony.
"We will consult with the feudal lords and judges to determine if any of the candidates deserve a their respective promotions. Please in enjoy the celebratory festivities this afternoon and evening. We will announce the promotions at a later date if we deem any candidate worthy." the 'Kazekage' added.
'There's something oddly familiar and offsetting about him.' Naruto thought. 'Must just be my imagination.'
"We hope you all enjoy yourselves," both Kages added as they took their leave.
After everyone had left the arena he spent longer than he would like admit trying to find Hinata. He was unsure why he like hanging around her so much, but whether he would admit it to himself or not he was starting to figure it out. Just as he caught a glimpse of her midnight blue hair he was stopped by Kakashi who appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"Hey, what's up? Why are you in such a hurry?" Kakashi asked.
"Oh it nothing. I was just going over there for a… a thing,: Naruto softly muttered in showing in his eyes as he could see the familiar head of hair moving farther away.
"Yeah sure… She can wait for just a second, This is important."
"She! I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't. Anyway, first I wanted to congratulate you."
"Oh. Thanks I guess."
"You really are starting to remind me of your father." Kakashi's comment left Naruto speechless with a slight blush.
"Second and lastly, the Hokage would like to speak with you tomorrow morning. He didn't tell me what it was about but if I had to guess, it has to do with your match with Neji. The Hyuga may not be happy about. OR, hey you know it might be a good thing. Like I said I don't know. Tonight on the other hand is for you to enjoy. Go celebrate with your friends. You've earned it."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," with a mutual nod Kakashi disappeared in swirl of leaves.
"Oh Naruto-kun thank goodness you're okay," Hinata whimpered as she once again hugged Naruto.
"It wasn't too long ago when you were too shy to talk to me. I even thought you were scared of me, ya know," Naruto teased causing Hinata to step back with a light blush on her cheeks.
"Hinata-chan thank you."
"F-for what?"
"It's just that you are the first person I can remember giving me a hug." Naruto admitted shyly with a silly grin on his face.
Hinata was really disheartened and saddened to hear Naruto admit such a sad fact about his life.
"You, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, the old man, Teuchi, Ayame, and even the teme are the only people to really care about me, ya know. You are all so precious to me. Thank you again. And don't tell the teme i said that."
"Y-you're W-welcome." Hinata whispered softly back. 'If only I could thank you Naruto. All the strength given me has truly chaged me into a better person. I just wish i could tell you all I feel. If I just wasn't so damn shy I could have come to you sooner and helped us from our loneliness.' A blush made it's way to Hinata's cheeks as she realized something that had just flown over her head because of recent events. 'H-H-Hinata-ch-ch-an. W-when d-did he start c-c-calling me that. I d-d-didn't even notice.' (A/N: Chapter 9. Had to check out of curiosity myself)
"So… How about we go get that ramen I promised you. My treat. I want to celebrate, ya know." Naruto said after a brief but comfortable moment of silence.
"I would like that." Hinata answered.
"So… yeah, after that old man Hokage and Kakashi decided to keep it all a secret." Naruto said as he recounted his previous life altering events.
"If it's supposed to be secret why are you telling me?"
"I already showed everyone at the arena remember. The only secret I told you was about my parents, and that's because I trust you to keep it a secret.:
"Oh. I'll try my best." The thought of sharing secret information with Naruto excited her a little bit.
"Well it's starting to get late. I wanted to got the hospital to see Sasuke. Would you like to join me before I take you home.?"
'Oh my god! He wants to walk me home,' Hinata's mind raced causing her to stutter her response. "S-s-sure."
As they approached the hospital Naruto began to feel the animosity Sakura and Ino were shooting at eachother, and Sasuke's growing sense of annoyance towards them.
"Hey Hinata, when Sasuke was fighting Gaara and getting beat up I couldn't help but feel that Sakura and Ino were really worried about him at the time, but the feelings they had were a little different. It's like they were worried, scared, and nervous all at the same time. You do it a lot too, towards me especially. Do you know what that feeling is, and why you girls feel it?" Naruto asked out of genuine curiosity.
"U-um… well, I'm not sure I know, Naruto-kun,"Hinata replied as she looked away embarrassed
"Oh. Only reason I brought it up was because I can sense them up there with him right now"
Just as they arrived at Sasuke's hospital door it burst open before they could knock. Ino had burst out and did not even look at Naruto and Hinata as she ran off. Sakura told them that it was okay to come in.
"Hey Sasuke! You feeling okay?" Naruto shouted as he entered and saw Sasuke.
"Shut up dobe. You're annoying," Sasuke paused for a moment as everybody took in his rude response. After a brief moment Sasuke began to shout," Sakura told me everything. Show me!"
"What do you want me to show you?"
"Everything!"
With a sigh Naruto activated both of his eyes and made a small kunai shaped icicle.
"Wow Naruto, that's really cool." Sakura spoke as she took in Naruto's appearance. "But you're eyes look a little weird since they don't match."
"I guess I never thought about that." Naruto admitted with a goofy grin on his face.
"Why? Why you.?" Sasuke whispered.
"Huh? What was that Sasuke?" Naruto asked having barely heard Sasuke speak.
"Leave. I want to be alone."
"But, Sasuke?"
"I SAID LEAVE!" Sasuke shouted with venom in his voice.
Quietly everyone walked out. Just before anyone could say a word a loud crash and monstrous roar echoed throughout the hospital halls. The sound came from the level below them, and it shook the whole hospital.
"W-what was that?" Hinata squeaked.
"Let's go find out." Naruto shouted as he took off running to where he heard the crash from.
As Naruto and Hinata approached the origin of the crash they noticed Sakura had not followed them. Naruto also noticed the rise of fear and hysteria in the people all around them. Once they arrived they noticed dust and rubble scattered around where a hospital room had once been.
"I'm pretty sure that was Gaara's room," Naruto told Hinata.
"Are you sure?"
"What's going on?" Naruto asked as they slowly walked through the dust and into the destroyed room. Hinata gasped as she activated her Byakugan and saw what awaited them in the room.
"I will not cease to exist. I won't!" Gaara shouted as he leapt out of the side of the hospital through the opening he had made.
"Gaara wait!" Naruto shouted as he realized what had just transpired.
Just before he could follow he noticed someone else was still in the room. He was wearing the Kazekage robes, but as the dust cleared Naruto realized it wasn't the Kazekage at all, and why he had seemed so familiar to him before.
"Oh Naruto, I'm Hurt. You didn't like the gift I left you, did you" Orochimaru asked coyly.
"It's you. That's what you call a gift? Kurama hated it more than I did. Why are you here? What did you do to Gaara?" Beginning to feel aggravated by merely Orochimaru's presence.
"I didn't do anything. In fact I stopped doing something. Let's just say that during your little match with Gaara, I made him hold back, but you'll find that won't be the case anymore." Orochimaru chuckled as a smug grin grew on his face.
"But the tournament is over. What's the point?"
"Just for fun I suppose. Oh! Look at him go. Someone should probably go stop him. I've got my own matters to attend to, so if you would both excuse me." Orochimaru said before he leapt out of the hospital as well.
"Naruto-kun? What should we do?" Hinata asked nervously raising her fingers to her lips.
"Go report to old man Hokage. If Gaara is really at full strength now I have to try and stop him, or at least slow him down enough for some who can." Naruto responded with determination growing in his voice with every word.
"But you could get hurt, or wor-"
"Don't worry about me. I Already beat him once." Naruto interrupted and flashed the smile Hinata had come to love so much. "Okay let's go!"
"Hai."
"Gaara!" Naruto shouted as he followed the trail of destruction left in Gaara's wake. He wasn't sure if there were any casualties, but the injured people he could see reminded him just how different Gaara was than the people around him.
As Naruto caught up to him he noticed that they were near the edge of the village. 'If I could just get him outside the village to avoid any more damage that would be ideal.'
Gaara!" Naruto shouted in hopes to get his attention.
Gaara's head cocked back when he heard the familiar voice. "It's you. I hate you. Mother hates you. I want you dead. Once I kill you my existence will finally be legitimized. I will not cease to EXIST!"
Gaara unleashed a mighty roar that cleared all the the debris around him with its sheer intensity. Naruto quickly realized that Orochimaru was not bluffing. Gaara truly was stronger than before. Everything about him was more intense than it had been before. Naruto wasn't allowed to much time to think because Gaara began his attack. Naruto quickly evaded and began to retreat to the outer wall of the city.
'Well as least I know he is only focused on me, but I can't help but think that his eyes were different from last time. They had a pattern in them. He also felt different. Other than the obvious killing intent he is afraid. He is desperately worried about something. It's like he truly believes that if he can't kill anyone he will actually disappear.' He finished his thought as he reached the outer wall of the village. It didn't take him long to scale and jump over said wall.
Just as Naruto landed on the outside of the village Broke through the reinforced wall that was meant to defend the village. 'Damn, I thought he would go over. Now he's right on top of me. I need more distance from the village.' With a quick series of one-handed seals , Naruto slipped into an Ice Mirror and further into the forest surrounding the Leaf Village.
Once Naruto reached what he thought to be a good enough distance he stopped in the tree canopy to wait for his opponent. He had a feeling that this would be the hardest fight of his life up to that point. Gaara quickly caught up and stopped on a tree branch just in front of Naruto.
"Are you finally done running, coward?!" As Gaara shouted the leaves and branches around them rustled under the sheer might of the roar.
"I am. But let's get one thing straight, I'm not a coward. I beat you once, so I'm going to do it again." Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he was as confident as he sounded. 'Man… It's going to be different this time I can already tell. His transformation is further along than last time. His legs are the only thing exposed now. Funny, he almost looks like tanuki. Well if a tanuki was made of sand and covered in odd marks that is.' From deep inside his subconscious Naruto heard an annoyed growl from Kurama.
Before he had a chance to ask Kurama what the growl was about he was swiped directly by one of Gaara's sand arms, and slammed into another tree.
'I'll worry about you later,' Naruto turned to Gaara, and as he got up he activated his right eye.
Gaara's onslaught began once again. Naruto quickly realised that Gaara's attack was much faster than before. He only had enough time to dodge and not much else. Tree branches, leaves and even whole entire tree trunks flew as Gaara destroyed everything in his relentless pursuit of Naruto.
'Damn! He's too fast I have to slow him down somehow.' Naruto's mind began to race as realised how long he could keep away from Gaara's reach. 'Wait… He's made of sand isn't he. If I could get it wet, I might be able to weigh it down and slow him down in the process. Damn! I don't really know any large offensive water style jutsu though, but I do know…' A smirk grew on Naruto's face as an idea came to his head. 'I don't need to beat him. I just need to slow him down enough for the Anbu and Hokage to come find us and deal with him. I just need a distraction to get myself set up.'
Almost as if on cue someone slammed Gaara from behind, and knocked him over. Naruto's smirk faded as he realized who it was that had struck Gaara. "Hinata get out of here it's too dangerous!"
Naruto could only watch as Gaara turned and swiped back at Hinata and sent her slamming into another tree. Before she could recuperate or Naruto could react he pinned her to the trunk of the tree with one of his sand arms. He detached the hand and kept her clamped to the tree.
Naruto felt his blood boil but before he lost himself into his rage, he realised he now had the opening he needed. 'I'm sorry Hinata. I'll get you out as soon as I take him down.'
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu
After the large puff of smoke cleared there were now hundred's or maybe thousands of Naruto clones stood around Gaara on as many branches and trees that could hold the weight.
"Okay! Now everyone together."
Naruto 2K Icicle Shard Barrage
Seemingly every Naruto made a one-handed seal and formed kunai shaped icicles in said hands. At the same time they all aimed at Gaara and thousands of Icicles slammed into his sand. Once any clone was out of ice they would simply make more shards and continue the onslaught, resulting in a seemingly endless stream of sharp ice.
Gaara frantically began to use his sand to defend himself as it became clear that the shard could penetrate the sand if only just a little.
'Okay now he's on the defensive, but I still need to slow him down because I won't be able to keep the ice offensive forever. Sasuke. Thank you. Without you the next part of my plan wouldn't work. The ice doesn't melt on its own naturally and fire jutsu can do it unless I let them. I've seen Sasuke do this enough, so with my own Sharingan it's only natural that I can do it also.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu
The main Naruto poured the rest of his chakra inefficiently albeit into making as big a fireball as he could manage. The flames on their own weren't doing anything to the sand, but it was melting the ice already imbedded in it and the shards that were still flying. Slowly but surely with a constant stream of ice and fire Gaara's sand was beginning to weigh down with moisture.
Nearing the end of his seemingly infinite pool of chakra Naruto ended his stream of fire and some of the clones began to dispel.
Once the attack cleared Gaara was even angrier that he was forced into such a situation. He began to move to begin attacking again but was surprised to discover how sluggish he was moving.
"What! What did you do to me?!"
"I just got your sand wet. Now it's heavier and you're slower." Naruto chuckled and as if to prove his point a couple of clones punched Gaara before his now much slower sand could defend him. "Now it's my turn."
The remaining clones began their own onslaught. Gaara was almost defenseless as his sand struggled to protect him. As the clones suppressed Gaara the original Naruto ran to Hinata. When he made it to her he saw that she was conscious and had seen the whole plan unfold. She was still trapped against the tree in the sand clamp, but instead of discomfort Naruto could see a look of admiration on her face.
"Hinata-chan are you okay? Are you hurt?" Naruto asked with concern written on his face.
"I-I don't think so. Just kind of uncomfortable to be in here."
"Okay I'm gonna try to tear it off. Just stay still okay."
Hinata nodded as she saw the ice claws form on his fists. Just like during the exams he was able to break away at sand. He did it slowly this time to avoid hurting Hinata.
Once she was free she gave him a quick hug, knowing now how much the gesture meant to him.
"Thank you for helping me, but where is the old man?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know. I couldn't find him anywhere, even with my Byakugan, so I came to find and help you instead. Most of the villagers were on the other side village enjoying the celebrations. When the sounds of Gaara's destruction started they were all sent into a panic and even the other shinobi didn't know what to do. I think they'll figure it out soon enough and they should be heading this way soon," Hinata explained.
"Something is going on. I got a bad feeling about this," A chill ran down Naruto's spine as a lot of his clone that were still fighting Gaara began to dispel. "Hinata run. You need to get out of here."
Before she could protest Naruto created another clone that carried her away. Hinata blushed because of the way Naruto was carrying her even if it was just a clone.
Naruto turned as the rest of the clones dissipated and the forest began to rattle. He jumped over to Gaara who was now thrashing and flailing around in a tantrum.
"I won't cease to exist. I can't lose to him. I Won't Lose To A Guy Like HIM!"
Naruto looked on in horror as Gaara transformed and grew into one of the largest creatures he had ever seen. His tanuki comment earlier proved to be correct as before him stood a tanuki made entirely of sand. He was several stories tall and had odd markings all over his body.
Naruto began to feel large amounts of fear and hesitation but not from himself, but from the shinobi and Anbu that were finally starting to show up around them. 'Huh, it's too late. What can they do now? What can any of us do now?'
Just before Naruto let despair take hold of him he began to think about Hinata and his friends. 'I need to protect. I swore to myself that no harm would come to my precious people. I have to protect them. It's not about what I 'can or can't' do anymore. It's about what I 'have to' do. I don't know how much I have left, but I can't worry about that now.'
Summoning Jutsu
Naruto now stood on Gamabunta once more. As he looked around he saw the large amount of Leaf Shinobi that had finally arrived. He recognized a lot of them. Some friends, but most were people who didn't really like him.
All shinobi that were rushing to try and stop the rampaging jinchuriki came to a halt when they arrived to an oddly familiar. The shinobi who were old enough to remember gasped when they saw the familiar sight of a blonde-haired shinobi riding on top of a giant red toad.
Once Shukaku was truly released the intensity of the battle grew, but Naruto and Gamabunta were given an obvious opening. To end the battle they simply needed to wake-up Gaara who was now acting as a medium on Shukaku's head.
As Gamabunta continued to fight, Naruto decided it was time to find out what was making Kurama so aggravated.
"Hey Kurama! What's your problem?" Naruto shouted as he entered their shared mindscape.
"Nothing! It's just that Shukaku is tailed-beast, like me."
"I kinda already figured that."
"Yeah, well he get's on my nerves even more than you do."
"Oh yeah! And why's that?!"
"The difference in our power is laughable, and he hates me for that, but he is able to use the magnet style, and that alone makes him almost a match for me. It's aggravating."
"The magnet style? Is that like a kekkei genkai?"
"Yes it is."
"So do you think I could...?"
"I don't know. The only reason I told you is because I want you to try."
"Oh really? You know. I really like that you've been talking to me lately. Thank you."
"Don't get used to it brat! I just really hate that damned tanuki, and I want you to knock him down a couple pegs."
Naruto shot Kurama a genuine smile as he returned his consciousness to the real world.
"Chief toad! I have a plan to wake him up. You just gotta get me closer." Naruto shouted.
"I'll do what I can. Just hold on kid."
Gamabunta jumped in the air to dodge an air bullet fired from Shukaku. He almost landed on top of Shukaku but he evaded. Naruto saw his chance and leapt off Gamabunta and onto Shukaku, his headband slipping off his forehead as he struggled to maintain his balance. Gamabunta kept him distracted as Naruto climbed to where Gaara's body was. Just as he was about to strike him, his right fist was caught by sand. He was only inches away and the sand was beginning to cover his body.
"Okay here goes nothing," Naruto mustered everything he had left and fired a chakra chain from his right hand. It burst right through the sand around it and went directly through Gaara's chest and into Shukaku as well. As it returned it took a something from both Shukaku and Gaara.
Naruto that like before there had been no physical damage done, but to his horror Gaara was still asleep. Before Naruto could do anything else he heard a horrifying crack from his right arm. He knew exactly what it meant.
"How are you still asleep?! Damn it. Damn it ALL!" With desperation growing, Naruto did the only that came to his head . He headbutted Gaara with as much force as he could manage from his restrained position.
Blood seeped from both their foreheads. As Gaara's eyes opened Shukaku's form began to fall apart. As Shukaku completely dispersed Naruto and Gaara fell to the ground in the clearing Shukaku had just created.
Gaara fell on his back and Naruto on his stomach not too far from each other. Naruto looked over to see Gaara was still, too exhausted to move. They turned to look at each other at the same time and Naruto gasped when he looked into Gaara's eyes. He felt the grief and desperation in him, but what he saw in his eyes shook him to his core.
'Those eyes. I've seen them before. In my… mirror. Those eyes were my eyes. I'm looking at myself, or rather a reflection of myself. Except the reflection has a little crack in it. Where I found friends and people to care for, he found more hate and loneliness.' Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes as he began to crawl to. With only one good arm he was struggling to move very fast at all. He looked again to see a look of confusion in Gaara's eyes. "It's almost unbearable, isn't it. The feeling of being completely alone."
Gaara's eyes widened as he heard Naruto's voice. Naruto truly understood what he had been through. So much so, that he was shedding tears for him. With the focus Naruto had on reaching Gaara he couldn't feel the growing killing intent all around him.
"There it is. Hurry and kill it before he gets a chance to go on a rampage again." A voice shouted from forest around them.
'It?! Did they just say it?!' Naruto got to his feet as he felt people gathering around him and Gaara. He felt fear spike in Gaara as they both heard what the majority of the crowd was saying.
Finally a mob of shinobi burst into the clearing. They all had one thought on their mind as they found who they were looking for. Many already had weapons drawn, but they came to a halt when they saw Naruto Standing in front of Gaara defensively with a kunai in his left hand.
The blood from his forehead and the limp arm at his right right side made for a grisly sight, but what caught their attention were the tears flowing from his eyes. "Don't you all get it! You all did this. People like you created him. Created… me."
Silence swept over the crowd as Naruto spoke. "He's just like me. A monster inside him with solace as our only friend. Everyone hates us for something we had no control over. I was… lucky. I found friends. People who cared about me as much as I cared for them. He on the other hand found only more loneliness." Naruto dropped his kunai and fell to his knees, as exhaustion and grief threatened to overtake him.
"One wrong move… one mistake from any of you and I could have ended up just like him." Naruto looked at the crowd in front of him now. He had just bared his soul for someone he had fought almost to the death.
The looks in the villagers eyes had changed, and Naruto swore he could almost feel guilt from some of them. Slowly the crowd began to withdraw and put their weapons away. As the crowd thinned a lone person walked forward.
"Hey old man Hokage where have you been?" Naruto managed to squeak out with a big goofy smile before he fell forward unconscious.
A/N: Sorry for the really long note. I don't mind if you skip since it is just me rambling basically. As promised here is the next chapter. Hopefully the wait for those of you following along wasn't too terrible. I have good news however. With the way my schedule works out I might be able to update weekly.
On that note I have a couple questions the first being related to my updates. This chapter was one of the longer ones I've put out so far. I wanted to know if the length of the chapters so far has been okay. I could make them longer or shorter depending. If I make them shorter I might be able to update twice a week, but if i make them longer I'll stick to weekly or even bi weekly on occasions if something comes up. Let me know what you all think.
Next, is Naruto's powers. As of now he has all the kekkei genkai was 100% sure I would give him, so i wanted to ask you all if there were any you guys wanted to see added. As you know their are a lot, so try and stick to the ones explicitly in the manga. As a side note the two elemental kekkei genkai he has now have wind as a base element. I did that on purpose, and elemental kekkei genkai with it as a base will be substantially weakened until Naruto gets proficient in more elements. He does have a small portion of Shukaku in him now too. Kurama isn't going to be pleased. Also, I am aware that Naruto can awaken the Rinnegan now since he does have Sasuke's chakra but I'm 95% I won't give it to him. He is already bordering OP levels and said ability would make him completely unbelievable as opposed to the slightly unbelievable he is now.
Last is Hinata. I want to make her as big a part to the story as Naruto and Sasuke (I don't hate Sakura, just don't like her very much either). I kind of wanted to have her come to the time skip training trip, but I think I'm going to have her completely trade roles with Sakura and be Tsunade's apprentice. Just imagine the gentle fist with chakra enhanced strength. I like it. And just as a personal request if any of you could message me other NaruHina stories for me to read on my spare time that would be awesome. While I do enjoy a good adventure story I'm looking for something more on the 'fluffy' side.
Thank You all again for taking the time to read this and I'll see you all next update. In a week hopefully.