'So brat. Are you sure you are up for training today?' Kurama asked while Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha. It was two days after the Preliminary round ended. Yesterday, Kurama and Naruto found an isolated place at the outskirts of the village where they could train. This was a precautionary measure since they would be working with Kurama's hate fuelled chakra.

'Of course I am. What is with that question?' Naruto asked in a casual manner. He didn't look deep into the question at all.

'Listen. You are going to learn how to use your anger as a method of using my powers, not just my chakra. You know very well about the extra quick healing that I give you; I am also able to sense people and negative emotions. That will be the last stage of this control training, but first we need you to be able to pull out my chakra at will and have a better understanding of your anger.' Naruto listened intently. This was training time with Kurama so he does not want to waste a single moment. 'Do you remember what I said a while ago about where my power is seeded?'

'Yeah…' Naruto said somewhat robotically.

'Don't lie you stupid brat. I'll remind you. I said that I have seeped into the hatred with your heart. It is something that all of us Tailed Beasts do, and more often than not it isn't our choice. I seeped into your heart when I was first in you, that was when I wanted to break out at all costs, but now I am honestly interested in staying for a little longer.'

'Naaaaawwww. Thanks Kurama.'

'SHUT UP AND LISTEN! THERE IS A SECOND PERSONALITY IN YOUR HEART! Like all humans, you hide everything within, which causes multiple personalities. Like you know every time you piss of that Sakura girl, she punches you. That is her inner personality that she usually hides from the world. Your personality is a little different that your normal separate personality and that is because of me. Since I seeded your hatred to become my source of power, it became your alternate personality. This other you remains in your heart but has grown because of your suppressed hatred. What you will need to do is make your personalities merge.'

'Wait, won't that change who I really am?'

'Honestly, it is more like you finally recompleting your personality. You subconsciously start to merge with that personality in a rather forceful manner whenever you get REALLY angry with someone or something. In your fight with Neji it showed more than it ever had before. What I am saying is that you should come to a mutual understanding with your other personality. The only way to do that is by being able to see him. That is usually impossible without the Waterfall of Truth or something that shows you the depths of your heart, however I have thought of a way of making this possible.' While conversing with Kurama, Naruto had reached the discovered training area.

The area was covered in rocks and dirt, and had a shallow river flowing through it. The river flowed off a cliff creating a waterfall. There were no trees in the nearby vicinity, but there was the occasional bush. If he needed shade, he could simply walk down the cliff and relax there.

'So how do I contact my other half?'

'It's simple. You need to flood your system with my chakra then visit your mindscape. Theoretically, he has to appear for you to be able to merge with him, so if you are using me then go searching for him in your mindscape you should eventually find him. But once you do, it's up to you.'

'Are you sure nothing bad will happen to me?' Naruto said as he sat down cross legged. If he was going inside his mindscape for a long time he wouldn't want to be standing that whole time.

'Well…' Kurama's hesitation caused Naruto to fall onto his face. 'There is a chance that you will lose control completely and I will be freed.'

Naruto picked himself up. 'You're kidding, right?' After a brief silence Naruto realised that this wasn't a joke.

XXX

"I still can't believe he managed to convince me to stay." Naruto laughed to himself at the ironic situation he found himself in. He was currently the dark side of Naruto's heart and had agreed to work with Naruto every now and then. Now was one of those times where they both wanted the same thing. Naruto stood across from Temari waiting for Genma to start the match. There was a lot of noise in the stands so they couldn't hear what they were saying on the battlefield. Temari and Genma were put off by the sudden change in Naruto's voice. It was the same voice, but there was an audible difference. If they had to describe the change, the best words would be disturbing and evil. Temari couldn't help but compare this to the way Gaara is when he gets excited, well, maybe Naruto seems a little less crazy then Gaara. "Hey Temari. This is the first time I get to fight against someone, so I ask that you make this worth it." With that Genma took a step back. "Oh no. I'm not the Nine Tails. I guess it's best to say I am an alternate personality of Naruto. Can you start this match already?" Genma looked at Temari who nodded her head. She was just as ready to fight as Naruto was. She had to protect her brother even if he doesn't want her to.

"Alright then" Genma said. "NOW! THE THIRD FIGHT!" The crowd instantly stopped speaking as Genma said this. They weren't expecting too much from this match but it was still a match to watch. "BEGIN!" Instantly, Temari jumped away from Naruto, but she wasn't fast enough. Naruto leaped forward and punched her in the chest sending her flying a fair distance away.

"Is that all? I said I wouldn't use Kurama's chakra for this fight, and it looks like I won't need to." Naruto looked a little disappointed as he stared at Temari. She managed to pick herself back up. Because she jumped back the attack was softened. "The other me holds back when he fights because he would prefer not to kill anyone. I am not as nice as he is, so don't expect to win unless you are fighting all out."

Temari was now properly standing with her fan out. She hadn't opened it, and planned to use it to defend rather than attack. If she hadn't instantly jumped back at the beginning, she would have broken something. She has to fight this with the best of her ability or she will be in trouble. She saw a blur approach her from her left. She quickly spun the san and placed it in between her and the blur. A massive amount of force smashed into it, but she was able to stand her ground. Naruto was standing there with his fist against the fan.

"That is one hard fan." The Naruto smiled as Temari swung the fan around her back and towards Naruto's face. However he quickly backed off and started to charge again. This time Temari couldn't block properly so she dived to the side.

"How can you be so fast?" Naruto stopped moving and turned to face Temari. "You were much slower against your first opponent."

"Do you want to know? Beg for it and I might tell you." After a moment of silence by the shocked Temari. "No? Then let's keep fighting. I will make you beg to stop. Oh this is going to be fun."

XXX

"Is that… really Naruto?" Ino couldn't help but be taken aback by the sudden change of Naruto's personality. She wasn't the only person taken either. Kakashi, Gai, Lee and Sakura were just as surprised by the change. Kakashi and Gai were listening from the very beginning so they knew that it wasn't the Nine Tails but a different Naruto.

"Kakashi…" Gai said in a rather serious manner. "This could be bad. He says it's not IT but that is not the youthful Naruto-kun that we know." Kakashi didn't know about this side of Naruto so he had nothing to say in reply. Gai may be right about this not being Naruto, but that is probably not the case.

"What happened to him?" Lee asked. Naruto was one of the few who he considered a rival. He, Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto made that unspoken agreement to fight with everything they had against each other. Yet here Naruto was, very different from the person he met. He had met Naruto a month out of the Chuunin exams, and Lee saw the youthfulness within him. But now, he looked just evil.

Sakura couldn't find any words to say. She had pretty much neglected Naruto from the very beginning and the first time she encountered him in the month before the exams remained fresh in her mind.

XXX

Sakura walked through the rows of graves looking for Naruto. She had been looking for Sasuke for the last few days but has been unable to find him anywhere. She heard from Kiba that he could smell Naruto out here every morning and so she thought that she might as well ask Naruto if he knew where Sasuke was. It didn't take long for her to find the orange suited blond. She was about to call out to him until she saw his face. He was crouched over a grave with a very sad look on his face. Sakura slowly walked up behind him. Naruto placed his hands together and bowed before he turned around to see Sakura standing there.

"Um… hi." Sakura said uneasily. Maybe coming here wasn't the best idea. Naruto was giving her the worst death glare she had ever seen. Even so, she couldn't hold back her curiosity, so she looked past Naruto at the name on the grave. "Who are you visiting?"

"This grave belongs to my mother." Sakura read the name Kushina Uzumaki on the grave. Naruto started to walk away. He was done here and if Sakura needed something she would follow, and so she did. Sakura just followed him in silence until they were out of the graveyard. Speaking would have been weird considering where they were.

"So…" As soon as they left, Sakura wasted no time in speaking.

"What do you want Sakura-chan? You honestly don't care about me so I guess this is about Sasuke." Naruto didn't turn around, he just kept walking.

"That's not true Naruto. I do care about you. We are a team." Sakura was offended by Naruto's words.

"Bullshit. You have never cared about me.It's always Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that. You know he's not interested at all right. He's got more important shit to deal with right now, and so do I." Sakura just looked at Naruto thinking that his voice had slightly changed. She brushed it off as her imagination.

"You know that is not true." Sakura was now desperate to deny Naruto's allegations.

"You know that it IS true." Naruto now stopped and turned around. Sakura felt that he was looking down at her. "Listen Sakura-chan. I am no longer the same Naruto that you know nothing about. But no matter what happens there is something that you need to know. I will always protect those who I care about. No matter how much you don't like me, you are included in that list Sakura. As much as I regret having these feeling for you, they won't change, even though I will." With that Naruto turned away to greet the oncoming person. Sasuke waved as he approached. Sakura didn't jump up to greet him. She was too busy thinking.

The three of them walked towards the training area that Naruto found. As soon as they arrived Naruto made an incredibly large number of clones that left in different directions. It was explained to Sakura that every single clone was going off to train elsewhere. With a larger number of clones, Naruto could train more than anyone else. Naruto and Sasuke started sparing. It was a pure Taijutsu spar with no Sharingan or any other jutsu. Kakashi arrived a good hour after they started and they started using jutsu to spar. Naruto used his cloak, and Sasuke used his Sharingan. After a full day of training Sakura just watched as Sasuke walked away exhausted and Naruto passed out. It turns out that when his clones burst he gets mental recoil.

Sakura looked at the unconscious face of Naruto and couldn't help but notice that Naruto had become a lot more than what he was at the Academy. You could argue he was now cool. Not Sasuke cool though. No one can ever be Sasuke cool.

XXX

Sakura couldn't help but remember that day.

"I will always protect those who I care about."

Sakura smiled at the Naruto fighting. This must be what he meant by change. Ino gave Sakura a suspicious glare, but didn't think much about it.

XXX

"Come on. This really can't be it." Naruto said as he stood on the fallen Temari. No matter what she did she wasn't able to avoid all of his attacks. She is a long range specialist, and will always struggle against close combat fighters. She wasn't weak in close combat, but against someone this strong she will have no chance of winning. "Why don't you beg me to stop this match? That way you won't get hurt anymore."

"Never." Temari said. Naruto stepped on her head causing her to eat dirt with her open mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear that through the dirt in your mouth." A grin appeared on Naruto's face. After giving Temari the ability to move her head again, he crouched down next to her. "Listen. I really don't want to hurt you that much. But if you keep going I might have to kill you." From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Genma prepare to end the match. "It's not over yet. She is a long range fighter. If you ask me nicely I will let you gain enough distance to fight properly."

"Let me get some distance." Temari was clenching her teeth.

"Say please…" Naruto mockingly said.

"PLEASE!" Temari refused to lose, even if it meant doing this.

"Please what? You really aren't good at this."

"PLEASE GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"

"Please get the fuck off me Naruto-sama. Say it."

"Please get off me Naruto-sama." Temari gave up. This was humiliating, especially since she was in front of her father the Kazekage. She had lost all sense of pride as she lay face down with a monster on top of her.

"See that wasn't so hard. You know you are cute when you're obedient." Naruto finally got off of Temari and started to walk away from her. He continued to walk with his back turned until he was half the arena's distance away from her. "Actually. I did say I would tell you why I am so much faster, didn't I? The thing is I use our chakra differently from the other personality. I use my chakra for speed while the other me uses it for power. I don't hit anywhere near as hard, but I am a lot faster. That is why I use mid-range dashes to hit you with my entire body weight. It is unfortunate for you since you need to get to long-range while I work with mid-range and short-range. You never had a chance until I gave you this distance. Now, do you want to continue fighting, or do you want to give up?"

In response Temari opened her fan and sent a wave of wind towards Naruto. Naruto placed both of his hands in front of his body and shielded himself from some damage; however he still went flying further away from Temari. "HOW'S THAT YOU SADISTIC FUCK?" Temari was literally fuming. Having her will broke in front of the crowd was the most humiliating experience of her life.

"Ouch." Naruto picked himself back up and dusted his cloths. His body was riddled with small cuts but all of them healed before long. "Ignore what I said earlier. You are cuter when you're angry."

X Inside Naruto's mindscape X

"I shouldn't have let him out."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"People are going to think I'm a sadistic playboy by the time he's done."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"Shut up Kurama."

XXX

"It seems like Naruto likes more outgoing girls, eh Hinata? Maybe you should work on that." Kiba couldn't help but pick fun at his incredibly shy teammate.

"K-K-Kiba-kun…" Hinata's face was tomato red as she forced the words out of her mouth.

"Hahaha." Kiba laughed at his teammate's misfortune. He had been concerned about the change of Naruto's personality, but Naruto still smells the same so it's nothing to worry too much about. Hinata reached a similar conclusion. Even if Naruto changed, he would still be the hard working person she admired.

"Is that really the guy you like, nee-sama?" Hanabi couldn't help but ask. She expected the person that a member of the Hyuuga house to fall in love with be dignified and strong, not sadistic and questionably insane.

"H-H-Hanabi-chan as well?" Hinata had blown a fuse and was steaming from her ears.

XXX

Naruto didn't take a step forward but stood at the limit of Temari's range. At this distance all she could do was give him minor cuts but no serious damage. Although that was fine with her, she was pissed. Cuts appeared on Naruto's arms as the next wave hit his defence.

"How are you going to hurt me if you don't come closer?" Naruto asked as Temari once again waved her big fan.

"I'm fine where I am." Temari knew that if she stopped attacking him, Naruto would leap closer, and the closer he was, the higher chance she had of losing. Her whole body ached as she brought down the fan to send another wave of wind at Naruto. This time she directed the wind into a single streak in an attempt to pierce through Naruto. Naruto let the wind pierce the skin of his hands and stop. Temari was too injured to fight properly even though she was fighting her specialty. All she could manage was keeping Naruto from advancing.

Naruto sighed. "I may have hurt you too much before. I was hoping you'd give me a challenge, but if you can't do that. I guess it's time to use this arm of mine." Naruto looked at the palm of his left hand as he started to flow his chakra into it. "Sorry Temari. You might want to duck." Temari lifted her fan to attack him again, until she saw something come straight at her at an incredible pace. Just as Naruto said, she ducked to avoid whatever it was. She was completely unharmed from the attack, but the same could not be said for her fan. The fan was forced out of her grip and went flying towards Naruto with whatever he threw.

"What the…" Temari stood back up, to see what exactly happened. In Naruto's left hand was her fan, but hand was not the right term. Naruto's hand had changed into an orange fur covered claw. The fur reached all the way up to his shoulder, and disappeared under his shirt.

"This is a nice fan." Naruto said as he opened it. He held it with his right hand and used his left claw to slice through it. "Oops. You might need to buy a new one. Now…" Naruto looked up to the waiting area, straight at Gaara. "Listen here Gaara. I believe the crowd would like to see you fight, so I want you to get down here now. If not, I will kill your sister." With that Naruto turned his attention back to Temari, and smiled. Naruto pointed his left claw at her and it started to grow in length and go straight for Temari.

"Shit…" She dived to the side to avoid the claw. "That was slower that before…" She couldn't help but observe. Was he messing with her the whole match? How strong is this guy?

"Nice observation." The claw retracted back to its normal length. "I will explain it to you. I've already seen you beg so I'll do it for free this time. This arm was given to me by someone, but it was fundamentally changed. This arm is activated with my chakra, and it grows in length with my chakra. Now here is the best part. I don't actually lose any chakra doing this. The chakra I use is instantly replaced by natural chakra from around me. But wait there is more. The faster I flood my chakra into it, the faster it grows. Do you understand?" Once again Naruto pointed her hand at Temari who avoided his attack again. "By the way. Do you remember when I said I was a speed fighter? You no longer have a chance at winning." Naruto glanced up at the waiting room where he saw Gaara still standing with no intent of moving.

"Hey Naruto. I have to stop this match." Genma said as he stepped forward.

"She hasn't surrendered yet. Max speed attack. Good luck Temari. I hope you survive this." Naruto once again pointed his arm at Temari.

"I sur…" Temari started.

"Too late." With that Naruto flooded chakra into his arm. Genma started to run in the way to block the attack. He was too late; the claw went straight past him and was going straight for Temari's face. She was too injured to avoid it in time. Instead she closed her eyes. She didn't want to die. No one wants to die.

But death never came. She cracked open her eyes to see what happened. What she saw surprised her. Her younger brother stood in front of her with a layer of sand protecting the both of them.

"Gaara." She managed to force out. She didn't think he would come down to her rescue.

"Leave." Gaara looked back with one eye. Temari could see the grin on his face. "You're in the way." Gaara was thirsting for blood. Without waiting another second she ran out of the field.

Genma walked up to Naruto and lifted him up from his shirt. "What the hell was that? You don't go killing people for no reason." Genma was pissed off to see that attitude coming from Naruto.

"There was something I needed to test. I wasn't actually going to do it." Naruto looked straight into Genma's eyes. "I may be the darker personality, but we are the same person. I won't kill someone without a valid reason." Genma wasn't satisfied, but had no choice but to let him go.

"WINNER! NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Genma yelled out for the crowd to hear. Unlike the previous matches no one applauded this announcement. "WE WILL NOW HAVE A TEN MINUTE INTERMISSION!" That earned him a look from both Gaara and Naruto both of them were revving to go. "Hey don't give me that look. Your match isn't even next. I am letting it happen next but let me have this intermission." With that Genma turned around and walked away. He needed this break just as much as the fighters.

"Why did you jump down Gaara?" Naruto asked. Dark Naruto swapped with light Naruto. "If you really don't care about anything, why did you jump down?"

"I can fight you faster this way." Gaara said while he kept his bloodthirsty grin.

"Bullshit. Don't lie Gaara." Naruto said. "Do you really feel that way? How would you react if I told you your father was dead?"

"I wouldn't care." Gaara's grin had disappeared. He was patiently waiting for the fight. He will get the chance to kill him then. Also his 'mother' was awfully quiet.

"Okay. Then how would you react if I told you your sister was dead?" Naruto asked in the same tone as before. Gaara thought a bit about Naruto's question, but before Gaara could speak Naruto spoke louder. "There was a hesitation. Don't try to deny it. It's that hesitation that makes me wonder whether you are as heartless as you think. Maybe you should rethink your reason for living." Gaara just closed his eyes and pretended to not care about what Naruto said. Naruto also closed his eyes to enter his mindscape. He appeared in front of the cage right next to dark Naruto.

"Hehe. It went better than we thought." Dark Naruto spoke as soon as light Naruto appeared. "When you were talking to him he couldn't hear Shukaku and he couldn't hear Kurama."

"That's good. To think that practising with clones like that would have helped. So did you warn him properly?" Naruto looked up to the beast in the cage.

"I told him what I needed to."

X Moments ago X

"Hey Shukaku. I need to tell you something, and it has nothing to do with our hosts." As soon as Gaara and Naruto started speaking, Kurama started a conversation with his brother. Although his brother wasn't happy to be spoken to.

"WHAT!? I really don't care Kurama! If you're going to tell me something it's probably not important at all!"

"Actually this is pretty important. There is a group that is trying to collect us Tailed Beasts." Shukaku made no remark which means he was listening. "This group released me from my previous host and tried to use me. Not only that but someone has been investigating this group. From what I have been told these guys are 9 S-Rank Missing Ninja's from different villages and could probably take down countries alone. I know that you hate me for being stronger than you." For Shukaku to hold his tongue at that remark, he was definitely interested in what he was saying. "But I have to at least warn you about the oncoming threat. Supposedly they can't make their move for three years or so, but I'm not sure."

"As if I care! Leave me alone!" Shukaku had to think about what he was just old. "By the way! It's best not to underestimate my host!"

"Same with mine."

XXX

"Was that it?" Naruto said accusingly.

"Yes that was it." Kurama answered while looking the other way.

"You know that we share memories right." Dark Naruto snickered at Kurama.

XXX

"WHAT! You think your host is stronger?! You stupid fox, there's no way!"

"Do you really think your midget host is strong enough, you damn racoon?"

"I'M NOT A RACOON! I'M A TANUKI(Japanese Racoon Dog)! AND YOUR HOST IS SHORT ASWELL! WHISKER FACE!"

"Whatever you say. Why don't you go find some bugs or something, that is what you eat isn't it racoon?"

"Oooooh that is it! Let's make a bet on our host's battle! The loser has to do one thing that the winner says!"

"Deal. Also don't mention what I just said to Choumei. EVER."

XXX

"Don't look at me like that. I told you betting on these matches are a common thing." Kurama was trying to defend himself.

"Are you serious Kurama? Why would you bet on this match? You know it's not going to finish." Naruto was annoyed at the fact that he was being bet on again.

"It was in the heat of the moment. Just leave me be. I haven't seen any of my siblings in ages." Kurama just lay down on his paws in an attempt to fall asleep.

Naruto just sighed. "Time is up anyway. Thanks for keeping a look out."

"Thanking yourself is just retarded." Dark Naruto said as he walked up to Kurama's cage. "Are you sure about what you felt earlier? If you made a mistake then we will be in some serious trouble."

Kurama cracked open his eye. "Yeah I am. I wouldn't lie about something like this. I did say there was something I need you to do for me, and I will hold you to that, and this is the best way to do that."

"It's fine. We trust you." Light Naruto said before he turned to his other personality. "Are you sure you don't want to start the fight? I mean, there is a high chance that I am going to get angry and you take over."

"Heh. You didn't notice, did you?" Dark Naruto stepped forward and grabbed light Naruto's shoulder. "When you tried to stop be from killing Temari we temporarily merged together. As soon as Gaara blocked the attack we split again though."

"Wait. Does that mean you know when and how we merge?"

"I don't. But maybe we can figure it out during this fight. Go now. He's about to start it."

Naruto quickly ejected out of his mindscape to see Genma standing a fair distance back. "BEGIN!" Naruto realised that he missed the whole introduction part and instantly took his all-fours stance.

"Time for you to prove my existence." Gaara said as he raised his hand. Sand started to flow out of his gourd at a reasonably slow rate. Naruto leaped backwards as the sand got closer. He now stood the same distance away from Gaara as he did Temari in the previous match.

"Is that really the way to prove your existence?" Naruto said as Gaara's sand continued to approach. Gaara hadn't changed the speed of his sand as he was waiting for the right moment to attack.

"I told you already. That was the conclusion I reached when I was forced to think." Gaara never lost his concentration as he spoke.

"And I asked you if that was the only way. Maybe I was being too hopeful." Naruto looked a little sad. That was until red chakra wrapped around him creating a cloak with two tails. He looked completely pissed off when that happened. "If you are going to continue thinking like this, I will kill you. This way the people around you will be safe."

"Heh. I can say the same thing about you. I can tell that we are the same." As soon as Gaara finished talking, a fist smashed into his chin sending him airborne. Gaara's automatic sand tried to follow him up, but was unable to reach that high up quickly enough to stop Naruto's follow through. Naruto jumped higher than Gaara and kicked him back down to the ground. A massive cloud of dust appeared at Gaara' site of impact.

'This is going to be a little bit harder than what I thought.' Kurama commented as Naruto landed away from the cloud. And true to Kurama's words, Gaara had landed softly in a pile of sand. It should have been too fast for Gaara to protect himself, and this sand had a different feeling chakra run through it. 'Shukaku is helping him.'

'Don't complain about that you dumb fox! You are helping your host! This seal doesn't let me give him the cloak like that so all I can do is control the sand!' Shukaku's voice rang out in both Gaara and Naruto's heads.

'Don't you always do that? His ultimate defence.' Naruto was getting annoyed by this conversation; he just wanted to fight to prove that Gaara's reason for living was wrong.

'Actually no! His mother who died giving birth to him resided in his sand! She is the one who automatically protects him! I have done no such thing until today!'

"ENOGUH!" Naruto yelled as he once again charged at Gaara. However this time Gaara had Shukaku's chakra flowing through his system on top of his own. So to Gaara, Naruto was no longer as fast. Gaara lifted both of his arms to send a wave of sand towards Naruto. Naruto wouldn't normally be stupid to run straight through it, but right now he wasn't thinking. Powering through the sand, Naruto prepared to launch his still activated left arm at Gaara. However, Shukaku saw this coming and covered Naruto's arm with sand which prevented Naruto's arm from growing in length. Gaara's wave of sand fell backwards and surrounded Naruto.

'I think me making the bet made things worse.' Naruto jumped straight up in the air to escape all the sand. Once again, Naruto pointed his left hand at Gaara, and flowed as much chakra as he could into it. It launched straight at Gaara who lifted his arms up as quick as he could. A layer of sand intercepted the arm, but Naruto managed to push through it. Shukaku also launched a layer of sand to protect Gaara, but that was broken as well. A third layer appeared closer to Gaara than the previous two. This was Gaara's automatic defence. However, Naruto's claw was too strong to be stopped.

"Mother." Gaara said as he looked at the sand, and the claw that broke through it. Gaara had no time to move, but he didn't need to. The claw smashed into the ground next to him. The three layers of sand managed to change its trajectory enough to protect Gaara. "Mother…" Gaara said with a bit of disbelief. He had heard the voice that he thought was his mother's for so long, but recently found out that it was all him being manipulated by the Incarnation of Sand. He didn't really care when he realised, since all the voice did was help him validate his existence. But just then he learned that his mother was always protecting him, even though he took her life. Why would she do that?

'Hey! It is a mothers right to protect her family! But think about that later! Get your head in this match!' The fake 'mother' spoke the Gaara once again, and Gaara listened to it. Naruto's claw was stuck in the ground just beside Gaara. Gaara quickly sent three small surges of sand at Naruto as he fell back to the ground. Naruto used his buried claw to grab onto the dirt and pull himself towards it as it retracted, easily avoiding Gaara's attack. Naruto stopped retracting the arm when he landed halfway closer to Gaara. Naruto ran forward while retracting his left arm by the same amount. Suddenly he jolted his left shoulder back causing a large rock to fly out of the ground behind Gaara and go straight for his back. Naruto also jumped forward and launched a punch at Gaara's face. Two different feeling sands protected Gaara from both sides, while a third feeling sand formed a fist and punched Naruto away.

"Dammit!" Naruto landed on all fours. "How am I meant to beat three different wills controlling these sands? I can't take them one at a time, and I am not longer fast enough to get inside his defence. What the hell?"

'First of all you need to calm down and think. You don't want to lose control. You have broken through all three defences before, you have enough power to do that but you will have to go all out.'

"Kurama. You don't seem to remember, but THAT SAND FUCKING HURTS!" Naruto yelled as he once again charged forward.

XXX

Asuma pulled out a cigarette and lit it while he watched this match. He had to actually focus to keep up with this fight.

"This is a no smoking area." Kurenai grabbed his just lit smoke and threw it to the floor before she stepped on it.

"Aww. Come on. I need that to relax right now." Asuma said, his eyes never leaving the match. He saw Naruto dive to the side to avoid more sand. "This match is making most of the Leaf nervous."

"We all recognise that feeling Asuma, but Naruto has control over it." Kurenai said as she continued to watch. "Besides, I don't think any civilian, nor any Genin can watch this match properly. It would be a lot of sand and red blurs flying around."

"That's what's making everyone so nervous. It took one Tailed Beast to fight all of the Leaf Village twelve years ago, and now there are two of these beasts dishing it out in the middle of the village. The civilians would be even more concerned that they won't be able to see if anything bad actually happens." Asuma subconsciously started to pull out another cigarette, until he realised what he was doing. He really needed to calm his nerves. "This is far too intense for a Genin match." Kurenai nodded her head as they continued to watch the match.

XXX

"What the hell is this?" Kiba barked at the current match. He couldn't follow it at all. Partly because they was too fast, and partly because he had an incredibly short attention span. "They both smell different when they use whatever this power is." Hanabi and Hinata were watching the match intently. Hanabi had turned her Byakugan on to get a closer look, as well as to see their chakra systems. Every time they stopped she could see what was happening with them, but if they were moving she couldn't see them at all.

"Nee-sama. What is this foreign chakra in both of their systems?" Hinata was told about the Nine Tailed Fox that was inside Naruto and was told that she had to keep it a secret from everyone who doesn't already know, so she knew what this power that Naruto was using was. Turning her Byakugan on would result in a decline of her health, so decided against doing it.

"It's a special ability they both have." Hinata answered. She could barely keep up with the match. How strong had Naruto become?

"Special ability? Oh is this that cloak thing that Shino talked about before?" Kiba asked curiously, Akamaru was trying to keep up with the match so he remained silent. Hanabi looked up at Kiba in confusion. She didn't know about this cloak. Kiba saw that Hanabi wanted to know more so he continued "Supposedly, he used this against Neji in a spar and won with ease." Hanabi would have had trouble believing him if she wasn't watching the match that was taking place now. She watched as Gaara used a lot of sand to deflect Naruto's axe kick. The power that they were using seemed overwhelming. Too overwhelming.

XXX

Naruto once again retreated from Gaara's immediate range. "How long have we been fighting for?"

'A good five minutes. You still have a good hour of this level of chakra. The training really paid off.'

"I might need to go stronger. I need to use the third tail."

'Are you insane? You could lose control. We've never tried it because we knew that two was your limit.'

"But right now I am absolutely pissed off. I don't think we have a choice."

'Don't do it just yet. You could lose control and then the plan is up.'

Gaara was also annoyed by these turn of events.

"Why won't he die? He HAS to die."

'Wow! And I thought I was crazy! Wait… I AM CRAZY! Listen brat! Killing people indiscriminately is fun and all, but it isn't a reason to live! Focus more on maiming this brat rather than killing him! If the match stops and he survives it's fine! It's less fun but fine!'

"Killing is not a reason to exist? I don't want to hear that from you. You are the reason I am hated."

'Oh get over it! Do you think I honestly care?! Let's break our current opponent then we can talk about your shitty life issues!'

"Fine…" Gaara had no choice but to agree. He couldn't change the past, but he could kill Naruto right now.

The two jinchuriki stood a fair distance away from each other as they had their own conversations with their Tailed Beasts. Both of them wanted to end this match quicker for their own reasons, yet neither of them was willing to back off. This match could last a lot longer, but Naruto didn't have that time to waste.

"Hey Gaara." Naruto called out to the Sand ninja. "Have you thought about your reason to live yet?"

Gaara just smiled. "I told you already, and I don't think it will change."

"But Gaara. I'm not the only person who told you that your way of thinking is wrong." Naruto stood up from his stance. There was no point in keeping it for his plan. Besides, it wasn't getting him anywhere anyway. "Is everyone else wrong? Or are you the one who is wrong?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, you say that I am wrong, but what does anyone else know about me? Who is wrong, the person who thinks for himself, or the people who try to force their own opinion on others? Life is not something someone else can determine for you." Gaara also relaxed his posture for this conversation. Both were just as curious as the other.

"That is an easy question. Those who try to force their way of life on others are nothing but selfish people who are wrong." Naruto said as he looked down. Gaara looked like he just won, until Naruto started speaking again. "But there are people who are more wrong than even those people. The people who lie to themselves because they want the easy way out are the most wrong people. Gaara. I have no right to lecture you like this, but as someone who doesn't have a reason to live, I believe that you are trying to avoid this pain that I feel right now. With no reason to live, there is no drive to do anything. I have to literally force myself to do everything. I understand why you want to pretend you have found a reason, but in all honesty if you thought that way we wouldn't be having this conversation. You need to find your own reason to live, and until that point you need to live day by day like I do." With that Naruto finished everything he needed to say. Taking the Academy basic stance he prepared for Gaara to start again.

"Heh. Do you really think we are the same? You wouldn't be this strong if you had no reason at all. I will prove to you that my drive is real. You will not live past this battle." Gaara lifted both of his arms causing sand to rise from the ground where he left it. "This battle will not last for much longer."

"I can agree with that." Naruto said as he glanced towards the crowd. Suddenly feathers started to float down in front of the entire crowd.

XXX

"Nee-sama. Genjutsu." Hanabi said before she quickly made a hand seal to release the Genjutsu. Hinata and Kiba followed suit. Hinata quickly looked around to see what was going to happen. It was notable that all the Jounin were also freely moving. She heard something hit the ground beside her.

"Kiba-kun?" Kiba had failed at releasing himself. Akamaru leapt out of his hoodie. Genjutsu requires one of the senses to be used as the medium for the Genjutsu. It seemed that Akamaru was trained to avoid Genjutsu's from sight. Akamaru was about to bark but Hinata covered his mouth. She saw a group of unfamiliar ninja appear at the top of the stairs. Judging from their headbands they were Sound ninja's, but what were they doing here.

"Nee-sama, what's happening?" Hanabi asked as she saw the entire arena surrounded by Sound ninja. From what she could tell of their chakra systems most of them were Jounin level, not only that quite a few of them had some sort of unusual chakra.

Hinata just grabbed her sister and went down to the floor. "Hanabi-chan. We are under attack. We need to stay down and let the Jounin handle this." Hinata saw as two Jounin she knew started walking up the stairs.

"Looks like it's our time to shine. Can I smoke now? Everyone is asleep so no one can complain."

"It's a no smoking area. Why can't you be a better example for younger ninja?"

Asuma and Kurenai were sitting lower down the stands then Hinata's group, and now they were walking straight towards a group of enemy ninja without a care. Asuma pulled out two trench knifes and grasped them in his fists. Kurenai merely pushed back her hair so it wasn't in her face.

"I think they can forgive me this once." With trench knifes in hand, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. The fact that he didn't cut himself goes to show how skilled he was with them.

"I'll only allow it if you can take out more than me."

"Deal." Asuma charged forward into the Sound ninja.

XXX

"Looks like they've made their move." Kakashi said as he watched the feathers fall. He quickly released himself from the Genjutsu, and watched as Gai did the same. The ANBU member that caught his attention before was now standing with a number of Sound ninja.

"Yeah. It's time for us to shine." Gai said as he jumped up to do a spinning kick at the Sound ninja forcing them to scatter. "I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Maito Gai and I shall be your opponent." He said to no one in particular. Kakashi jumped up behind him, the two of them would have to fight this alone since they were the only Jounin in this section of the stands.

"Sakura. Pretend to be asleep. They won't attack you if you don't move." Kakashi said as he charged at the closest Sound ninja. They both pulled out kunai and clashed in mid-air. Kakashi quickly turned and threw three shuriken towards Gai who jumped above them. The shuriken were blocked by another Sound ninja, but kept his attention long enough for Gai to land an axe kick on his head, smashing it into the ground. The two Leaf Jounin jumped back and once again stood back to back.

"This is going to be a youthful battle." Gai looked towards the arena field and so did Kakashi. They saw Naruto use a Shunshin to get somewhere and Gaara standing there alone. As well as three other ninja running towards him.

"Let's finish this quickly, Gai."

XXX

"What is this?" Chouji asked as he watched the feathers fall causing the stands of people to fall asleep.

"Genjutsu." Sasuke activated his Sharingan to see what was happening better. The Genjutsu was around a B-Rank, but that was mostly due to its wide range. The waiting area and the battlefield itself were outside the range of the battle. "It looks like we have unwanted visitors." From afar he could make out a large number of Sound ninja who appeared out of nowhere. A sound of a large number of bugs crawling could be heard and Sasuke looked to see Shino send his swarm at Kankuro and Temari. The two of them jumped down as soon as they saw the bugs approaching. Sasuke was about to jump after them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait a second." Shikamaru grabbed Sasuke and Shino to prevent any rash actions from being taken. "My troublesome father gave me this before the start of the exam. He said I would know when to open it, and it won't be during my fights." Sasuke pulled out a scroll with the Nara clan symbol on it. It was obvious that now was the time he was referring to. Shikamaru quickly opened the scroll and it took Sasuke two seconds to read it with his Sharingan. He no longer had any time to waste so he jumped down to the field. Shikamaru, Shino and Chouji didn't try to stop him as they were busy reading.

"Shikamaru, if you are reading this that means the Sound and Sand have decided to attack the Leaf Village. This attack was meant to be a surprise attack, but the fact that I have been able to prepare this letter goes to show that there is always someone who can piece things together. Naruto Uzumaki went to the Hokage with information about a large number of Sound ninja on the border so we expected something like this, especially since Orochimaru was seen in the Forest of Death. So there is no need to worry about the general welfare of the village, you can leave that to us adults. However, because of the circumstances we could spare little Jounin to defend the arena itself. It would have aroused too much suspicion as well as risking a large battle in a heavily populated location. It is for this same reason that we have no choice but to provide you and the other Leaf Genin in the exam with an S-Rank mission. I am sure that you already know about jinchuriki. Gaara of the Sand is one such jnchuriki and if he is allowed to run wild in our village then many civilian casualties will occur. This is why it is your mission to prevent any of the Sand Genin who are participating in the exam to leave the arena. The Jounin will make sure that only you Genin are on the actual field. Shikamaru you are the team leader of this mission. It was my choices to let you lead this group, so don't let me down. Good luck to all of you."

"Dammit, dad." Shikamaru said when he finished. Chouji and Shino were waiting for orders from their team leader. They knew the situation was rather serious so they would do as they were told until the situation has calmed down. "Okay. Sasuke will need our help. Let's go." Shikamaru jumped down soon followed by Chouji and Shino.

X Outside the walls X

"We just got the signal." An incredibly large number of Sand and Sound ninja surrounded the walls around the entrances to the Leaf village. This group of Sand ninja was currently outside the East entrance. One of them unrolled a scroll to reveal a seal. Another pulled out a little jar of blood. They were ordered to use Orochimaru's summon snakes to break down the walls to create an opening in the walls to attack in force. Sand ninja continued to arrive as they placed the blood on the scroll.

"Summoning Jutsu." Three large purple snakes appeared and begun charging straight for the walls. The ninja who summoned them fell to one knew from chakra exhaustion. He was nowhere near the level he needs to be to summon these in battle, but it was an order from the Kazekage himself so who was he to complain. "EVERYONE FOLLOW THE SNAKES." A battle cry sounded among the Sand ninja since they no longer had the element of surprise. They charged staying just behind the snake. Suddenly a giant toad appeared on top of the three snakes. This toad was a dull red colour who wore a clue short sleave coat and had bandages wrapped around his waist. In his mouth was a pipe and at his waist was a tanto. He also had a noticeable scar across his left eye.

"Heh. I said he wasn't allowed to summon me like this. I'm going to kill that Jiraiya." The giant toad pulled out his tanto and sliced the three snakes to make them disappear back to wherever they were summoned from. If they didn't they would have died. The toad turned behind him. "If they summon anything else make sure you summon one of the other toads or you will regret it." With that the giant toad disappeared.

The Sand ninja had stopped advancing and looked up the walls. At the top were a large number of Leaf ninja. There were supposed to be more of them under a Genjutsu. However the Leaf kept most of their actually ninja in another location watching the matched off of screens and even went as far as have some civilians dress as ninja to make up the numbers in the arena.

"You want to attack our village? We won't let you in that easily." These groups of Leaf ninja were at every place the Sound and Sand planned to enter the village. They had completely countered their surprise attack.

X Inside the Hokage's building X

"Nicely done Inoichi. To find every single group within a 100km radius. That's incredible even for you." Shikaku said as he let his friend and old teammate rest. He had used all of his chakra sensing the entire attack before it happened which gave Shikaku enough time to send out all the orders through other members of the Yamanaka clan. "Now everyone. I need constant updates; we need to limit the damage that they will do to the Leaf Village." 'Good luck Shikamaru. Our entire plan hinges on your success.'

XXX

Gaara stood across from Naruto as they both watched the feathers fall. Gaara just looked disappointed. "It looks like we won't be able to finish our battle fairly." Naruto just shrugged.

"I will have to apologise Gaara. I am no longer your opponent." Naruto said as he turned around. "I have to go and do something else." Naruto positioned himself perfectly so Sasuke who had just jumped down could read his lips. "This fight will be left to my friends." Naruto then made a seal and disappeared.

Temari and Kankuro stood beside Gaara as Sasuke approached. "Let's go Gaara. We have to follow the plan." Temari was the first to speak.

"He ran away. Looks like we have to follow the plan, but I don't think he will let us." Sasuke had finally reached the Sand siblings and jumped in between them attempting to kick them all away from each other. Gaara's sand blocked the attack for him, and Temari and Kankuro blocked the attack but still slid back.

"Urgh." Kankuro commented. "That's a heavy hit." Kankuro unslung the puppet on his back and let it stand on the floor.

"It was heavier that Naruto's was." Temari said as she reached behind her for her fan. She had forgotten that Naruto had broken it not long ago.

"Hey Temari. Is there enough time for me to kill a few flies before we go?" Gaara asked, but didn't bother waiting for an answer. He lifted his arm and the sand followed. "Are you going to help me with this fight?"

'OF COURSE I WILL! IT'S TIME TO HAVE SOME FUN!' A tunnel of sand started rolling towards Sasuke.

"Human Bullet Tank." A spinning Chouji jumped over Sasuke and met the sand head on causing it to disperse as he rolled. Chouji stopped spinning and bounced himself to land beside Sasuke. Shino and Shikamaru soon joined them.

"All the flies are here. It is time for you to prove that I exist." Gaara smiled at the new arrivals. However he was just ignored.

"Hey Sasuke. You read the whole thing right?" Shikamaru had to ask, and when he got a nod he spoke quiet enough that Gaara wouldn't hear. "Alright, we need to keep Gaara occupied, but his siblings won't let that happen. So one of us needs to go and fight both of them while the other three fight Gaara."

"Then who goes where captain?" Sasuke asked which caused Shikamaru to get slightly embarrassed, but now was not the time for comical reactions.

"I'm in the worst shape and I don't think my jutsu will help with Gaara so I will go. Chouji can spin sand away, and as long as Shino's bugs don't get crushed they can pretty much do the same thing as the sand. You will be the one who keeps him occupied with your speed. I'm hoping you have more tricks up your sleeve than what you used against Neji." Sasuke nodded. "Aright then. Good luck to all of you."

XXX

The still two tail cloaked Naruto disappeared from the field and reappeared in front of the two Kage's who were staring off at one another. "Hello Orochimaru. It has been a while."

A/N

Done. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, yatter yatter, over stuff.

Now to the more important topic of the story that I am uploading along with this one. It is called A Simple Secret and it is a Naruto fanfic. I could tell you what it is about or you can go read it yourself which is easier for me. So I hope you will go and read.

Oh and don't forget to review.

Signing out Comfy Cushion