14

As He Descended Into Madness

Kankuro kept looking back over his shoulder as he jumped from branch to branch. "Please… be alright…" The boy whispered, hopping that by some way, his sister would hear him.

It had already been twenty minutes since she went to try to hold off that blond boy, and five minutes since he was able to feel her chakra at all. The puppet user kept telling himself that it was all because they were now too far apart and he never bothered to hone his chakra detection skills. It was needless to say that it was failing miserably and he was getting more and more worried with every minute that passed.

The brown haired boy sighed. "At least you're still out…" He thought as he looked at the sleeping form of his younger brother, not daring speak it out of fear of jinxing it.

Suddenly, Kankuro's eyes shot open, he had been so preoccupied with his sister's status the he had not caught on to a more imminent problem. While he had been musing in his mind, the Uchiha guy had been getting closer and closer, to the point that, if Kankuro dared to look back again, he would now be able to see him approach.

Before the Sand genin could think of something to do, he was unexpectedly pushed aside against a tree. Opening his eyes, the boy froze in his place as he beheld the terrifying sight of his younger brother baring his fangs at someone. Forcing his neck to turn, Kankuro's eyes set on the raven haired genin that was now foolishly standing just a few branches from Gaara.

The redhead observed the Uchiha as he clenched his head in obvious pain, yet as a smile started to form in his face.

"Whatever it is you're trying to pull…" Sasuke began as he took out a kunai. "… It ends here…" The Sharingan appeared in the raven haired genin's eyes.

"End…?" Gaara asked, his voice coming out strained. "Nothing is going to end…" A weird, blue pattern appeared in his right arm as the hold of the redhead's left hand on his head tightened. "Nothing is going to end until Mother is satisfied…!" The Suna genin exclaimed as the blue pattern spread all the way to the right side of his face and he dropped to his knees.

Sasuke fought the urge to step back. His eyes watched in disbelieve as the redhead in front of him started to change.

Gaara's right arm had apparently changed into what appeared to be a sand claw, awfully similar to the thing that had grabbed his arm back in the stadium. The Sand genin's face had become a grotesque sight as his right side resembled that of a monster, all the while a frightening chakra seeped out of his body.

The Uchiha's Sharingan eyes widened when he felt the redhead's chakra, its terrorizing feeling seemed familiar to him, somehow, someway, the chakra reminded him of Naruto.

Snapping out of his trance, Sasuke jumped just before the Suna genin's sand claw came crashing through the tree branch he had been standing on. The Uchiha had little time to contemplate the situation as the sand arm immediately shot up, destroying everything in his path, and leaving the Leaf genin no other choice but to jump from tree to tree as the sand monstrosity chased him around.

The sand limb retracted back to the redhead. "What's the matter?!" Gaara's voice had become raspy and grunt-like. "It's no fun if you just jump all over the place; Mother won't like that at all." The Sand genin commented as he looked at his opponent.

Sasuke took notice at how the redhead's right eye had changed, it had become all black with a yellow pupil; it was the yellow color that got to him, it remind him of a certain blond, and the mere memory of his teammate, accompanied with the strange chakra that the Suna genin was giving off, put the Uchiha on edge. Shaking those thoughts off his mind, the raven haired boy took out a kunai just as the sand claw shot directly towards him. Jumping to meet the attack, Sasuke impaled his kunai right on claw's palm.

There was no reaction or sign of pain from the Sand shinobi, instead the claw begun to close in on the Uchiha.

Realizing his mistake, Sasuke used his impaled kunai to propel himself away from the monstrous limb just as the piece of metal sunk into the sand.

Gaara merely smiled and proceeded to do a flailing movement with his sand arm. Suddenly, the captured kunai shot straight towards the Leaf genin's face.

Sasuke was barely able to move his head a few inches, but managed to evade the incoming blade with only a cut on the cheek. Landing on a nearby branch, the boy brought his hand to his cheek and checked his wound; deeming the cut as nothing to be worried about, he set his attention back on the redhead.

"Are you going to get serious…?" Gaara asked in a taunting voice. "We were told that the Uchiha were elite shinobi, it seems Mother and me were misinformed…" The red head commented.

"Shut up!" The raven haired boy exclaimed as he glared at the Suna genin. "You know nothing about the Uchiha Clan!" Sasuke declared. Suddenly an image of his blond teammate and his blue Sharingan appeared in his mind, the raven haired boy's eyes widened slightly. "It seems you don't know the Uchiha Clan as much as you thought either…" The voice his mind had chosen to send him this message which had been too familiar to the young Uchiha, causing his body to shake slightly.

Merely laughing at the raven haired boy's outburst, Gaara brought his deformed arm back. "Well then, show me!" he exclaimed as he thrust his arm forward.

The sand claw increased in size as it flew towards the Uchiha. Sasuke evaded the attack by jumping over the limb while the claw proceeded on clenching the tree the Konoha genin had just been standing on and break the trunk as though it were a twig.

Gaara swiped his sand arm without releasing the tree, leaving the Sharingan user no other choice but to jump from branch to branch as trees were taken down one after the other.

Sasuke was taken by surprise when the sand claw hurled the tree towards him, but managed to bring his feet forward to absorb the impact. The boy had less than a second to figure out what to do next as the sand claw came bursting through the tree trunk. Finding the monstrous limb less than two feet away from his face, the Uchiha's hand automatically went through a familiar series of hand seals. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" The raven haired boy shot a fireball towards the claw, successfully blasting the sand arm away.

After the fire blast, the sand claw was reduced to nothing but a stump as it started to drop towards the ground.

Sighing in relief, Sasuke started to prepare his body for a safe landing. Suddenly, the Uchiha's attention spanned back at the sand limb whose claw had reformed itself and was flying straight towards him at great speed. Being already airborne, there was nothing that the Sharingan user could do to defend himself as the sand claw seized his body and started a violent dive towards the ground.

Acting out of desperation, Sasuke's hand started on another set of hand seals. "Housenka no Jutsu!" Several fireballs shot from the raven haired boy's mouth and hit the sand arm without any evident result. Shaking off his growing anxiety and trying to focus his mind, Sasuke directed the fireballs in a single point right at the end of the sand hand, successfully detaching the claw from the rest the limb just in time for the raven haired boy to grab on a tree branch and prevent his body from meeting the ground.

"That's it…" Sasuke thought as he stood up in the branch and he glared at the laughing redhead in front of him before shooting his body forward.

"HAHAHAH…! That's more like it!" Gaara exclaimed. "Come on and attack me!" The Suna genin shouted as he thrust his sand claw forward.

Sasuke moved towards the redhead at great speed. Looking straight up, he could see the Sand genin's claw approaching towards him ready to strike. Jumping to the side just as the arm went crashing through the path he had previously walked, the Uchiha started circling the redhead, moving higher and closer to the evidently deranged boy.

Gaara willed his sand arm to chase the Sharingan user among the trees. The branches were no obstacle for the sand monstrosity as it got closer to the raven haired boy. The jinchuuriki started to smile at the thought of the blood he would soon offer Mother, the smile soon became an all out laugh. Suddenly, the sun was blocked off for the redhead. Turning his head up, Gaara could see many of the branches that his claw had cut through falling towards him. Immediately, the genin pull back his transformed arm and brought it over his head to protect himself from the incoming debris.

With his arm taking the role of a shield, Gaara stood defenseless as Sasuke appeared in front of him, a smirk adorning his face, and delivered a hard punch on his face; sending the Sand shinobi flying back.

As the redhead flew back, too shocked to do anything, he was able to sense the Uchiha appearing behind his still airborne body. Gaara didn't have to look back to know that the smirk was still in the raven haired boy's face.

Flexing his body, Sasuke executed what seemed to be a spinning kick, burying his foot in the Suna genin's gut and sending him flying down, hitting the ground hard. Taking advantage of his offensive streak, the raven haired boy immediately started making hand seals. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He shouted before shooting another fireball at his opponent, creating a massive explosion.

Panting as he waited for the smoke to clear, Sasuke stood on a tree branch trying to catch any sign of movement among the cloud that his attack had raised. Suddenly, a jolt of pain shot from his left shoulder. As the boy winced in pain, his attention was diverted from the dissipating cloud of smoke for a second, enough time for the sand claw to shot towards him and enclose his left leg.

Sasuke was flailed through the air and slammed again the trunk of a tree with tremendous force. When the Uchiha's body started to fall, the sand claw returned hitting him in the chest and driving the boy through many branches before throwing his body do the ground, leaving him apparently unconscious.

The raven haired boy was brought back to reality by the Suna genin's laughter. Looking up, he was greeted by what seemed to be a giant fist made out of sand rushing down towards him. The Sharingan user was able to roll over at the last minute, managing to evade the attack. Getting up as quickly as he could, Sasuke was caught by surprise when the sand arm immediately recovered from its missed impact and shot towards him. Out of desperation, Sasuke jumped to a tree as he took out a kunai and starting to cut down the tree's smaller branches, causing many leaves to fall off and managing to conceal his body.

Gaara's laughter boomed through the forest. "HAHAHAH…! Come out! This is just getting interesting!" The redhead exclaimed as he laughed. "You can't be done already, Mother is still expecting more!" The deranged boy informed as he looked around.

Kankuro closed his fist tightly to try to stop his shaking. "This is bad…" The puppet user though as he watched his younger brother laugh manically. The brown haired boy knew what his brother wanted; blood to offer to that thing inside of him, and, at this point, it didn't matter who it was from. So, if he can't find the Uchiha, it would be just a matter of time before Gaara would set his sight towards him. "Temari… what should I do?" The genin thought, not knowing if he would feel safer having his sister by his side, or as far from their younger brother as it was possible.

"Come on Uchiha Sasuke!" Gaara shouted with glee. "I'll try to make it as quick as possible, but I can't make any promises!" The redhead followed his statement with another fit of maniacal laughter. Giving his surroundings one last quick look, the Sand genin started to take down random trees with his sand claw in his search for the Uchiha.

The Sharingan user pressed his body firmly against the trunk of a tree, trying to make it the least visible possible as he heard the sound of trees being snapped in two like they were pencils, he silently prayed that the redhead wouldn't chose the one he was hiding behind. Another jolt of pain shot from the Uchiha's shoulder, causing the raven haired boy to bite his lips in order to prevent any yelp of pain from escaping him as he gritted his left arm tightly.

Sasuke's eyes wandered to the left side of his body, setting themselves on his left shoulder. The Leaf genin's eyes widened as he saw most of his shoulder covered by black, flame-like marks. Closing his eyes, the boy tried to concentrate into willing the strange marks into retracting.

"I'm getting bored!" The redhead announced as he took down another tree. "You better come out before I-…." Gaara suddenly stopped his statement as he looked at the direction of they have come from and smiled. "…It seems that we're going to have company really soon…" The Suna genin informed before starting on another fit of laughter.

Behind his hiding spot, Sasuke's eyes shot open at his opponent's revelation. Focusing his senses, the boy was able to sense a pair of familiar chakra signatures approaching.

By now, Gaara's laughter had died down into a malicious chuckle. "I wonder…" The redhead begun as he started giving off an even more terrifying killer intent. "…If the sight of their blood would excite you the same way it does me…"

As soon it as the words left Gaara's mouth, the whole forest changed while its physical state remained the same. The whole area was filled with the sound of electricity charging as killer intent, strong enough to match the redhead's, was released.

Turning around with a smile on his face Gaara faced his opponent.

Sasuke stood just a couple of branches away from the Sand genin. His eyes glared at the redhead with pure contempt as a Chidori burned in his left hand. "You will not touch them…" The raven boy declared as his mind was drowned with images of how all the people that he held dear had been taken away from him in one single night. "I'll kill you before you get a chance to harm them!" The Uchiha shouted as he shot towards his opponent, not caring about the pain his body was in or about the fact that the flame-like marks had spread all the way to his neck.

Gaara's smile widened as he jump to meet his prey, the sand claw already prepared to strike. "That's what I wanted!" The boy roared.

"Chidori!" Sasuke screamed as he brought his electric charged hand forwards. Lighting met sand.

As he landed on a branch, the Uchiha looked back to find the monstrous claw detached from the redhead and flying through the air, a smile formed in his lips. Being too distracted by his accomplishment, Sasuke didn't realize when his feet touched the tree branch, nor when his legs gave up and he fell on the branch.

Forcing his body off the wood, and trying to ignore the tremendous pain that was cruising through his body, the raven haired boy looked at the redhead. Sasuke eyes widened as he was consumed by terror.

A wicked smiled had appeared on Gaara's face as his deranged eyes focused on his opponent. The gourd on his back started to disintegrate, turning into a new claw to replace the detached one and a gigantic tail with the same blue pattern as the other sand limp. "HAHAHAH…!" The Sand genin laughed manically as he dashed towards the Uchiha. Brining his claw up, the crazed boy prepared to strike.

Sasuke waited for the pain to come when he heard a blow connect, but when the only pain that he felt was the one already running through his body, the Uchiha opened his eyes. Once again, the boy was surprised by the sight that greeted him.

"You should be more careful, Sasuke…" A monotonous voice said. Shino stood in front of the fallen Uchiha while in a branch beyond him stood Gaara with a bruise in his left cheek.

The raven haired boy found himself at lost of words as he stared at his former classmate pushing his sunglasses up. "Sasuke-kun!" Turning his head around, the Sharingan user could see his pink haired teammate, and what seemed to be a dog wearing a Konoha headband, running towards him. "Are you alri-?" Sakura begun to ask as she reached the fallen boy, but stopped when she saw the flame-like patter on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm alright…" Sasuke murmured, reluctantly taking the pink haired girl's help to stand up.

"Ok, we got the Uchiha; now let's get out of here before something bad happens." Pakkun merely said.

"Did that dog just talked…?" The raven haired boy asked confused as he examined the strange canine.

"I'm afraid we can't go anywhere…" Shino informed, his eyes set on the deformed Suna shinobi in front of them. "I doubt that he would simply let us walk out." The Aburame said simply.

Sakura cringed at the sight of the redhead's current form, but monstrous as it may appear, the thing that surprised her the most was how his chakra felt so similar to Naruto's.

Gaara simply let out a laugh as he regarded the group of Leaf nins. "Sasuke is my prey, so if you'd please stand aside…" The boy said in a mocking tone.

Sasuke tried to move his body forward to face his opponent, but was blocked by Shino. "Sasuke is in no shape to fight right now, so I'll be taking his place." The black haired boy said calmly.

"What?! Shino, no-" The Uchiha tried to convince his former classmate's mind, but the Aburame simply ignored him and jumped a few branches forward.

The only reaction at the change of opponents was a gleeful laughter from Gaara. "Why don't I just kill all of you?!" The redhead exclaimed as he shot the sand claw forward.

The Sharingan user watch what appeared to be a replay of his battle as Shino moved to evade and the sand limb chased him through the trees, running through any branches, and some trunks, that were on his way. The raven haired boy couldn't help but notice that the claw's movements had become faster; leading him to conclude that his comrade had no chance of winning this battle.

As a realization of the Uchiha's fears, the sand claw ran through the branch that the Aburame was about to land on, leaving the black haired boy in a free fall towards the ground.

Before Shino's body impacted the ground, the boy was caught by the sand monstrosity.

Brining his prey's body up, Gaara smiled maliciously as his sand started to cover the struggling Leaf genin's body. Enjoying the look of absolute terror in the eyes of his opponent's comrades, the redhead raised the sand covered shinobi further, making sure to be in clear view of his friends. "Sabaku Sousou!" The deranged genin shouted as the sand coffin contracted to crush his victim as the redhead laughed gleefully.

Sasuke immediately forced his body to move, positioning it in front of Sakura in order to block their friend's tragic fate from her view.

Roaring laughter celebrated the forest's new crimson taint. As the Sand genin looked around to examine his artwork, Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and anger. In his fit of laughter, the boy's mind had visualized the glorious rain of blood, while he hadn't realized that the forest had remind as green as before.

Dispersing the sand immediately, the redhead boy was surprised to find only a horde of insects instead of the black haired boy. "No one has fallen for that one since Kiba…" A monotonous voice said from behind Gaara. Turning around, all that Gaara's widened left eye could see was the Konoha genin's fist traveling straight towards him.

The force of the punch was strong enough to send the Suna shinobi into a nearby tree.

"I may lack a Sharingan, but please don't underestimate me…" Shino simply said as he pushed his sunglasses up and regarded the redhead.

A sight of relief escaped Sasuke when his former classmate reappeared. "Uh… Sasuke-kun, what are you doing…?" Sakura's words came up barely above a whisper, catching the Uchiha attention.

The blush that appeared on the normally brooding boy's face was only matched be the one in the pink haired girl's. In his attempt of preventing his teammate from witnessing their friend's "imminent" death, he had positioned his body in front of her. She was in a kneeling position while his chest hovered a couple of inches away from her face while his right hand had a firm, yet soft, hold on her left shoulder. "…Sorry…" The Uchiha said, his voice managing to come out even lower than Sakura's as he mentally cursed his awakening teenage hormones.

Gaara growled as he glared at the black haired boy. "You're going to pay for that one!" The Sand genin declared as he swung his deformed arm forwards, sending the sand claw straight towards the Aburame.

Kankuro stood dumbfounded, he had only heard about the Aburame clan once in his village from two elder shinobi discussing, as they put it, "unorthodox" ninja techniques, but to think that one of them could have fooled the person he feared the most, so easily. The puppet user watched as the boy with sunglasses evaded his younger brother's attack with apparent ease, causing the redhead to growl and grunt in annoyance and frustration.

Suddenly, Shino stopped moving, he simply stood on a branch with his hand in his pockets and waited as the sand claw approached him at a blinding speed. Sakura tried to scream, Sasuke tightened his fist, Kankuro gritted his teeth, and Gaara smiled wickedly as his claw was about to strike the black haired boy.

Just as the claw was about to close in, the monstrosity came to an abrupt stop in front of the Leaf genin's face. Shino merely pushed his sunglasses up again, observing the sand limb as it begun to breakdown and chunks of sand fell to the ground.

"What's going on?!" Gaara exclaimed as he watched in terror as the sand, his sand, ignored his will and fell lifelessly.

Shino brought one of his hands out of his pocket and pointed at the redhead. "You haven't realized yet…?" The boy asked.

Looking down, the Sand genin's eyes widened as he found numerous black bugs crawling around his body.

"Kikai Mushi" Shino simply stated as many more bugs appeared crawling around his whole body. "They have the ability to eat chakra, rendering techniques like yours…" If Sasuke didn't know any better he would have sworn that behind the collard of his shirt, the black haired boy was smiling. "…Useless…" The boy added before starting off towards the redhead.

Gaara brought his crumbling sand arm up in order to defend himself.

Shino merely closed his hand into a fist and drove it straight through the sand arm, the sand crumbled away like it was nothing, and the Aburame's fist sunk into the right side of the Sand genin's face, sending him flying back.

The redhead was able to use his tail before it broke down to get back on his feet, but the boy had not time to regard the situation as his opponent suddenly appeared in front of him and delivered a strong uppercut on his chin, causing the redhead's feet to leave the ground again.

The black haired boy followed with a kick on the Suna genin's stomach that sent him flying into a tree trunk.

With the Destruction Bugs still on his body and his sand falling slowly to the ground, Gaara struggled to stand up as everyone present remained quite. "HAHAHAH!" The silent in the forest was broken by the redhead's crazed laughter. "You really think…" The boy begun as what remained of his gourd turned into sand and what had fallen to the ground returned. "…That you could just separate Mother from me that easily!"

Everyone watched in shock and horror as every part of Gaara's body from the knees up was covered in sand and took a bestial form with the tail swinging lively in the back. Both eyes had become black with a strange yellow pupil while the boy's teeth became sharpened, resembling an animal's.

A smile spread on the redhead's face as he regarded the people present in the forest. His sand body stirred slightly before he brought his closed fist forward. Unclenching his hands slowly, the deformed boy let the Kikai Mushi fall to the ground as his smile widened.

While his sunglasses and collar hid Shino's expression from everyone else, nothing prevented the others from seeing the Aburame's fist tightening in anger as he watched his dead Destruction Bugs being discarded.

Gaara merely laughed before he tilted his body upwards and several mouths appeared on his monstrous body and begun to inhale air. "Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!" The Sand genin shouted before blasting a powerful gust of wind and sand. The force of the blast of air was strong enough to blow the Aburame away. Smiling once again the redhead shot both of his arms forward towards the Leaf nin.

Seeing the two sand limbs coming towards him, Shino tried to shift his body to dodge them, but due to his current airborne condition, one of them caught him by his right arm.

Before the black haired boy could react, Gaara willed his sand to contract and break the boy's arm just like he had done to the green-wearing one during the preliminaries. Delighted at the Aburame's screams, the redhead smiled as he used his arm to pull the body towards him and slamming his body into a near by branch.

With a victorious smile on his face, Gaara launched his body forward to deliver the final blow. Landing on the Konoha genin's branch, the boy raised his disfigured claw.

Once again, the finishing strike never connected as the Suna nin found his body unable to move just a few inches away from the Aburame. "You people are just too troublesome to deal with sometimes." A somewhat bored voice said from bellow the two genins.

Shikamaru hung upside down from the branch that held his former classmate and the deranged Sand genin, his shadow connected to the former, restricting his movement.

"Shino, if you please get out of the way, this position is not as comfortable as it may appear." The Nara said sarcastically.

Nodding, the Aburame lifted his body off the branch and moved away just as the redhead next to him willed the sand in his body to attack the hanging shinobi bellow them.

The Nara immediately disconnected his shadow from Gaara's and jumped to another branch before the sand could reach him.

"So… You're going to fight me next?" The Suna genin asked, his voice was a strange mix of both amusement at the sight of another prey and frustration at the lack of bloodshed.

Shikamaru simply gave the redhead a confused look. "Fight? Me?" He asked pointing at himself. "Sorry, you must have me confused with someone who likes jumping around and go back and forth in fist fights." The black haired boy said with a shrug of his shoulder. "Besides, my abilities are meant for stalling, not fighting."

Gaara let out a frustrated growl. "Then get out of my sight!" The boy exclaimed as he thrust his arms forward.

The Leaf genin dodged the incoming attacks by jumping into a higher branch, now standing at eye level with the redhead. "Sorry, no can do." The black haired boy simply stated. "Otherwise he won't let me hear the end of it." The boy informed as he got into a meditation stance.

Letting out another growl, the deformed shinobi jumped towards the Nara. The moment Gaara step on the branch, he found his body unable to move agin, caught in the same technique as before. "Stop that!" The boy demanded as he willed his sand to attack, but by that time the Konoha genin had already dispel his jutsu and jumped to another branch.

"Simple yet extremely amusing to watch." Shikamaru commented as the stood over his, unofficial, opponent.

"GRHAAAW!" Gaara screamed in frustration before swinging one of his arms, cutting through the tree where the Nara was standing and the ones around.

Jumping as far as he could, Shikamaru barely managed to hang onto a branch on one of the trees that survived the Suna genin's assault. The black haired boy only had time to take out a kunai and a pair of shuriken before his right leg was pulled down by Gaara's sand claw. Thinking quickly, Shikamaru threw the three blades upward, cutting off several leaves and branches, and used their shadows to connect his with the redhead's, successfully stopping the boy's movement long enough to set himself free from his hold and jump to another branch.

Shikamaru had no time to assess the situation. Before he could even react, a gigantic sand fist connected with his body, blasting him back against a tree, impacting the trunk hard. The Nara's body felt numbly on branch in a sitting position. "All of your attempts have been futile!" Gaara exclaimed victorious and gleeful.

A half smile appeared on the black haired boy as he lifted his head up. "I told you already, my abilities are meant for stalling." He said as his smile turned into a smirk and his eyes mockingly regarded the redhead. "I was only buying him enough time…" Shikamaru commented as his eyes set on something beyond Gaara.

A soft "thud" as he landed on a branch announced his arrival. "Seriously Shikamaru, I leave you alone for five minutes and you get yourself into trouble again." Naruto merely said, not paying attention at the situation.

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered the blonde's name. Her emerald eyes caught his dark sapphire ones for a second, the boy gave her a simple nod and, for some reason unknown to her, she felt much safer.

"You!" Gaara exclaimed as his face twisted into a sick form of happiness at the sight of the fellow jinchuuriki. "You finally got here, the one that has been calling Mother out!" The deranged redhead stated as he observed the new arrival with glee.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he finally set his eyes on the transformed Sand genin. "I take it that by the form he has, it's Ichibi…" Naruto stated in his mind.

In the boy's mind, the fox grunted. "That stupid raccoon always tended to pick a human and become extremely attach to him or her, that's how he ended up trap in that kettle in the first place…" Kyuubi informed. "But to come off as the boy's "Mother" and eat his sanity away like that, I think Shukaku has been losing it over the years" The biyuu commented, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance towards the tailed beast inside the redhead.

Feeling a nudge from his "Mother", Gaara took advantage of the fact that the blond had become distracted with something. "Suna Shuriken!" The crazed boy shouted as hurled a barrage of sand disk at his opponent.

By the time Naruto became aware of the attack it was already too late and every single disk hit his body, packing enough force to lift his body off.

Sasuke was surprised by what happened after the attack, but what really surprised was that Naruto had been hit by it. The wounded, airborne blond simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Before Gaara could start his search for his opponent, the redhead felt as several kicks connected to his upper back and shoulder, sending him crashing down to the ground. Standing out, the Suna jinchuuriki looked up to find five Naruto about to launch their kunais at him. "Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!" The Sand genin released his attack immediately, effectively blowing all the blondes into clouds of smoke, though not before they released their kunais.

None of the blades hit the redhead, instead landing around him. Something about the kunais caught Gaara's attention, looking down the boy found the five blades with explosive tags wrapped on them.

Preparing to jump away from the blast zone, the Sand genin was surprised when he found his feet unable to move again. Looking back down, the redhead saw two pairs of hands sprouted from the ground holding his head in place. Gaara was helpless as the five tags explode into a huge blast.

"Damn…you…!" The redhead let out as he struggled to lift his body upright. His head move upward and set on the blond standing in front of him.

A smirk appeared on Naruto's face. "Are you still enjoying yourself?" The genin mocked the other jinchuuriki.

Gaara merely grunted before the smile returned to his face. "Of course I am…" The redhead informed, his face twisting and appearing even more insane. "This fight proves that I exist!" The boy declared.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Is this… pity? What I'm feeling for you…?" The blond wondered, causing the Sand genin to look at him confused. "Or do I envy you?" He continued. "All my live I wondered if my life had any meaning, at least you believe yours had one, but something as sad as that…" Naruto's eyes appeared as though they softened. "I guess us beggars can't be choosers." He added with a dry laugh.

Sakura felt like her heart ached at her teammate's words.

Whatever sympathy was there in the blonde's eyes was gone in the next moment as his eyes scornfully set on Gaara. "But you endangered my friends and I can't look away from that…" Naruto stated as his blue Sharingan appeared in his eyes.

Sabaku Sousou – Dessert Funeral

Mugen Sajin Daitoppa – Infinite Dust Great Breakthrough

Suna Shuriken – Sand Shuriken

A/N – Had some problems stating to write this chapter, what can I say? I'm not a fan of Sasuke, so the beginning was a little forced. Overall, not my favorite chapter, as it's basically one long, drawn out fight, I was having DBZ flashbacks while writing it, while having virtually nothing plot wise. Technically, the next chapter shouldn't be as big of a problem as this one, and with more depth, but I'm thinking about starting a new project, I call it the Ultimate Xover Fic. I'm going to try to take a vantage of the motivation period I'm going through and get the new story underway, I have a self-imposed rule that I have to update any new fic I post at least once before working on something else, and then I can work on the next PHD chapter, hopefully I'll make it. Thanks for reading.