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Gaara let out a bloodthirsty laugh "That's exactly why you can't win, as long as you fight for the sake of others you'll never advance beyond this level. Only one can remain undefeated, and only he will feel what it's like to truly exist. Forget your friends and fight for yourself."

"You're insane. Forget my friends?"

"The trivial feelings like friendship and loyalty cloud your focus, and you'll die."

"Yeah yeah, keep talking while you can because I'm about to shut you up once and for all!" he charged.

"You don't understand what real strength is."

"I'm taking you down!"

Gaara was about to attack, but stopped when he got another flashback, and whacked Naruto away using his tail, groaning in pain all the while.

Naruto gulped.

"What's the matter? Why don't you attack? Don't you care what happens to your precious friends?" he tightened his grip on Dosu, causing him to groan in pain.

"Let him go!"

Sasuke noticed something off 'Naruto, just standing there, that's not like him. Why's he hesitating?'

'I've gotta find a way to save that guy no matter what, but how? I can't bring in the Chief Toad just yet, I'm gonna need to wait for him to fully transform for that. Still, for now I'm gonna have to make it work. I'm the only one that can save them!'

"Worried about the others?" Gaara snarled, now transformed further "When I fight I fight for me and me alone." sand enveloped his other arm, leaving Dosu trapped by a claw of sand that separated from Gaara's body "Only by attacking and defeating me can you free him, and you should hurry. With each passing second the sand will harden until it crushes him to death."

'Those eyes.'

"Sand Shuriken!" Gaara unleashed a barrage of shuriken made of sand.

Naruto quickly leapt out of the way, only to slam into a tree.

Now Gaara was almost entirely enveloped in sand.

'Eyes full of loneliness, I've seen that look before in myself. Now he's turning into a monster, like me. I remember how I hated them because they hated me and I couldn't understand why. I wondered why I even existed. That's when I found out I had Kurama inside me, it wasn't my fault but everyone acted as if I was. That just made it worse. But then…' his mind flashed to Tatsu, Sasuke, Iruka, Mizuki, Sarutobi and Kakashi 'But then I found some people who paid attention to me. That made it better. It was alright then, even though I had this monster inside me- no offense Kurama, just go with it- even though everyone else acted like I didn't exist, because it meant that I wasn't alone anymore. For the first time in a long time, I was happy again, really happy. They all made me remember how good life could be. They made me glad to be alive. But when I think back on where I was before I met them, it's scary, nothing but pain and darkness. What would I be like if I'd stayed there all alone. That's how I can understand him. I don't know how it happened but this guy's been there all alone in the same bottomless pit of darkness and pain. He's still there, that's why he has no one. He fights only for himself. Maybe he's right, maybe it's made him stronger. Maybe it is a weakness to have friends you care about, to know what happiness is. Can I really win against a guy like this?'

Gaara tightened his grip on Dosu "What's the matter? Are you afraid of me, or are you still thinking of the best way to save your friends? Fool, forget them. Think only of yourself, love only yourself. That's what it means to be the strongest. What's wrong? You were so bold and cocky before. Show me your strength, let me grind it into dust before your eyes! Attack you coward, fight me or I'll kill them all right now!"

"Okay, you asked for it!" Naruto let out a growl and charged "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and a massive barrage of clones charged in "Wind Style: Crimson Wind!" they all launched sharp and powerful slashes of wind.

"Wind Style: Sandstorm Devastation!" Gaara unleashed a blast of sand and wind from his mouth.

Naruto found himself face down 'He just blew them away, that's not good.'

"I think I'll toy with you awhile, I'll watch you abandon your friends and beg for mercy before you die." Gaara unleashed sharp blasts of sand, pushing Naruto back into a tree.

"What… What the…?"

"And again!" he repeated the attack, pushing him back further.

"What… What's this feeling?"

"Sand Shuriken!" Gaara launched a barrage of shuriken made of sand, sending Naruto tumbling back even further.

"What's this… this strange feeling? It's getting stronger, flowing through me as if I was on fire. I see it now, I can't lose.'

"Weakling!"

'I have to beat him, even if it kills me.'

"What is this? You come at me and that's all you've got? All that effort and you couldn't even touch me. What a joke!" his grip on Dosu tightened.

Naruto pulled out a kunai with a paper bomb wrapped around it "I don't really know how much damage I can do, but it doesn't matter. I've just gotta give it my best shot. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he summoned several clones "Here goes, get ready for the ultimate secret taijutsu! Naruto Uzumaki Clone Body Slam!" the clones all charged in.

Gaara grabbed 3 clones with his claw.

"Okay, let's do it!" one clone through the original, who formed the hand seal "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he formed a clone, which was promptly caught by Gaara "And another! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he formed another clone and used it as a springboard "Take this! Leaf Village Secret Taijutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!" he then shoved the kunai up Gaara's ass.

'...Seriously?' Gaara then promptly backhanded Naruto away.

Naruto was quick to rebound "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." he then launched a fireball, igniting with the paper bomb on the kunai in a fiery explosion, before he slammed into Sasuke "Hey, you okay?"

Sasuke watched as Gaara emerged, somewhat disfigured "All of that work, and you only scored one blow?"

"Oh shut up."

Gaara was quick to realize Naruto's plan "He attacked at the base of the tail where the defense is weakest, he didn't wound me but the sand couldn't absorb the impact. Have I underestimated him?" his grip tightened on Dosu.

"Naruto, listen to me." Sasuke told him "You've gotta stop this guy and save Dosu if it's the last thing you do. He was being used by Orochimaru, along with his teammates, but Tatsu, Kakashi and I saved them. Anyway, once you've got Dosu, I want you and Tatsu to take her and flee as fast as you can."

Naruto recalled what happened with Haku in the Land of Waves "Sasuke…"

"I can hold him here a little longer, if it ends here then it just means this was as far as I was meant to go. I lost everything once, I don't ever want to see that again. I'll never allow my friends and comrades to die before my eyes. That's my nindo, my ninja way."

"Sasuke… I get it now.' Naruto stood once more 'Of course. He's no different than I am, going through life with the exact same sadness and loneliness that I had to carry. He fought only for himself, never relying on anyone, and because of that I thought that he possessed strength, I really did."

"Naruto…"

"I don't know, I guess I should've known better. That's not what real strength is, if you never fight for anyone but yourself then you'll never be strong no matter what." he began building up his chakra.

'He's releasing a massive amount of chakra, how's he doing it?'

"No matter what happens, I swear I'm going to protect you! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he then unleashed an unbelievably massive barrage of clones "Gee I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long, so get ready for an original jutsu straight from my ninja handbook!"

Gaara looked around in astonishment "What the-? How could he have summoned so many clones?"

"How… How did you do this?" Sasuke wondered.

"Sasuke, take it easy for awhile." Naruto told him "You deserve it after all you've done, but for now just leave it to me."

'Naruto… this is the strength that comes from your desire to protect, isn't it? I guess I've gotta find people of my own to protect…' he looked around 'Then again… maybe I already do…' he managed a small smile 'Go, Naruto.'

"Look out, here I go! Let's do this! Direct from Naruto's ninja handbook! Everywhere Shuriken Jutsu!" every clone launched a barrage of shuriken.

Gaara's mind was racing 'My body hasn't recovered yet, have to use the sand to defend.' he blocked the shuriken.

The clones all charged in, a few kicking him into the air "NA-RU-TO-2K! UZUMAKI BARRAGE!" the rest of them all punched him, with the last 2 ending it with brutal suckerpunches "From Naruto's handbook!" the final punches sent Gaara crashing to the ground below them.

'That kid…'

"This time I'll use both legs for a barrage of 4,000 kicks!"

'Where did this come from all of a sudden? Where did that strength come from? There's no way, not to him! There's absolutely no way I'm going to lose to a guy like him!" he unleashed a massive burst of sand, dissipating every single clone, and when the smoke cleared, Shukaku appeared in his full form.

"So that's it, the monster inside of him."

"Well what do you know, I never thought you'd bring this out of me!"

Naruto suddenly found himself enveloped in sand 'I used up all my chakra on all those Shadow Clones.' he was about to be enveloped, but his mind flashed to those around him 'Tatsu… Sasuke… all of you…' right before he was completely engulfed, he wiped some blood from his lips and began forming hand seals from within the Sand Coffin.

"This is the end for you. Sand Buri-"

"Summoning Jutsu!" the Sand Coffin burst open, and Naruto appeared atop of Gamabunta, the toad boss 'No matter what, I'll protect both of you!'

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Gaara let out a sinister chuckle "You really are good at amusing me."

'Those hours of practice are finally paying off, this'll be a breeze.'

"What the-?" Gamabunta looked up "Oh great, you again." then he saw Shukaku "Well will you look at that, Shukaku the Sand Spirit"

"What do you say, will you fight alongside me today Chief Toad?"

"...Kid, you really know how to rack up a debt. Fine, but we're drinking sake after this the age limit be damned. Got it?"

"Got it."

Gamabunta drew his tanto "Alright kid, let's do this." he charged "Hang on tight now small fry!" he stabbed Shukaku with the blade "How do you like that?!" he managed to cut off one of Shukaku's arms before breaking away, causing it to dissolve into sand, the blade landing a fair distance away and summoning a shockwave 'This guy's no joke, I barely managed to make that cut he's so heavy. If I don't end this quick, the landscape's going to start changing around here."

"Hey chief hold on a second, don't go over in that direction. Tatsu and the others are still there, try and lure him over this way if you can okay? I've gotta take him out, otherwise they're all as good as dead."

"Interesting, interesting! Not bad, Naruto Uzumaki!" Gaara roared, and suddenly appeared on top of Shukaku's head, his eyes void of pupils.

"What the hell is that?"

"A spiritualist medium." Gamabunta told him.

"To thank you for entertaining me here today, I'll show you the true power of the manifestation of the sand." Gaara snarled with a malicious smirk.

"The circles under his eyes, they're signs of insomnia, evidence that the medium's been possessed by the Shukaku. Those possessed by Shukaku the Sand Spirit are no longer able to sleep soundly through the night, the terror is too great. If one does sleep, the Shukaku will eat will eat away at your psyche until the person that you once were ceases to exist. Since he normally doesn't get much sleep, the medium's personality tends to become quite unstable. But as long as the spiritualist medium is awake, the Shukaku's true power is held in check. The only danger is if the medium finally falls asleep."

"Playing Possum Jutsu." Gaara formed a hand seal, then his upper body slumped.

"Oh crap."

The jutsu then awoke Shukaku to its fullest extent, and he let out a psychotic howl "I'm finally free, here I come baby! Here we go, I hope you're ready to die! Let's do this!"

"I'm gonna jump."

"Huh?" was all Naruto could get out.

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Shukaku unleashed a sharp and fast blast of wind.

"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Gamabunta leapt into the air and countered Shukaku's blast of wind with a blast of water, raining down on the forest like a hurricane, the process repeating itself.

"Chief, there's one more coming!" Naruto cried.

Gamabunta took a direct hit.

"YEAH!" Shukaku howled triumphantly "I did it, I killed him! I KILLED HIM!"

Gamabunta emerged, hurt but alive "Now that kind of hurt, that was an awful lot of chakra that you blasted me with I have to admit. Hit me with a couple more of those, even I won't last much longer."

"Chief, what should we do?"

"Well for starters, you could wake up the spiritualist medium to release that jutsu!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Just fire off a few rounds at him! Liquid Bullets!" he quickly countered an Air Bullet with a Liquid Bullet and grabbed Shukaku by the shoulders "Now's your chance!" unfortunately, he lost his grip and was forced to retreat.

"Hey chief, you're going to have to keep a grip on him if you want me to get a shot in."

"My body doesn't have any claws or horns to dig into the enemy with."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Use a transformation jutsu to change into something that has what we need. Then again, I'm not particularly good at transformations."

"HUH?!"

"Don't worry about it, you shall act upon my will and make a hand sign. A combined transformation, conjure up something with fangs and claws!"

"Let's see…"

"Here we go!" Gamabunta charged.

Naruto felt inspiration hit him "I've got it! This one's for you Kurama!'

"Transform!"

"Transformation Jutsu!" in a puff of smoke, in place of Naruto and Gamabunta was Kurama in all of his foxy glory, as I will refer to him from now on.

"Air Bullet!" Shukaku was quick to unleash another blast of air.

Kurama was quick to jump over it and leapt forward.

Shukaku smacked Kurama away with his tail.

Kurama charged in and attempted to grab Shukaku with his claws, then dodged another blast of air "This isn't gonna work, his power just keeps increasing."

"Come on, he just needs a good smack on the head!" Naruto yelled from within the transformation.

"Tell me something I don't know. Here we go!" Kurama grabbed a large tree with one of his tails and charged, using the tree to counter a blast of air, then charged through the smoke and bit down on Shukaku's sand-flesh, causing him to scream in pain "Okay kid, you're on!"

"Let's do it! Rise and shine!" as the transformation disappeared, Naruto lunged forward through the air and slugged Gaara in the face "How's that?"

"Good, not much time has passed since the medium went under. That one blow should've done the trick."

"Aw that's just great!" Shukaku howled "Give me a break, I just got here!"

Gamabunta was now being pushed back as he struggled to hold back Shukaku "We may have released the jutsu, but this guy's still got some fight left."

Gaara's eyes shot open and he glared at Naruto's charging form 'He disrupted my jutsu. Sand Coffin!" he trapped Naruto within the sand.

Naruto found himself being protected by Gamabunta's tongue 'The Chief's tongue is surrounding me.'

"Do you think I'm a fool?!" Gaara's sand began swallowing Naruto's lower body.

"Damn, how much strength does this guy have left?" Gamabunta wondered "This ain't good, Naruto and I have already used up all of our chakras."

"I'll wipe you from the face of the Earth, I will not cease to exist!"

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At the site of the battle with Orochimaru, Sarutobi realized that he didn't have enough strength left to full seal Orochimaru's soul, and instead settled for sealing the part of his soul within his arms, robbing Orochimaru of his ability to use jutsu.

Once that was done, Sarutobi bid Orochimaru a fond farewell and died with a smile on his face after reciting one last proverb.

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After being poisoned by Kankuro but winning the battle, Shino regained consciousness after his father Shibi injected his parasites in him to remove the poison.

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Naruto looked back and saw Gaara's hold on Dosu tightening 'Just hold on a little longer, I've almost got him.'

"Believe me, I will kill you." Gaara vowed, "I will not cease to exist."

"I'm running out of time, I have to stop this monster before it's too late. I don't need much Kurama, just please give me some of your chakra.'

"Right, just be careful."

'Thanks.' with a mighty roar and his headband coming off and jacket bursting open, Naruto began generating Kurama's chakra 'I don't care what it takes, I'm going to protect everyone! Get ready you crazy monster!" he charged forward.

"DIE!" Gaara caught Naruto with his sand.

"I… I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" and with that, he rammed his forehead into Gaara's, causing Shukaku to crumble into sand and disappear.

"A plain old headbutt huh? Well he's not the most elegant fighter I've ever seen but to dredge up the chakra he needed, worn out as he was, he might be the biggest knucklehead I've ever come across, but I haven't seen a kid with this much promise in ages. Wish I could stick around to see how this ends, but I've reached my limit too." Gamabunta disappeared in a large cloud of smoke, leaving only his tanto behind.

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Critically damaged, Orochimaru called off the invasion and fled the village with his forces, but the damage had been done.

Sarutobi was gone.

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Naruto and Gaara were both thrown back onto trees, bloody and exhausted.

"That's it… I can't go any further…" Naruto panted "I've used up all my chakra, and from the look of it so have you. You and I are a lot alike, more than you know. We shouldn't be doing this."

Both took a stance, charged, and charged forward to finish it.

But only Naruto's fist connected and he slugged Gaara in the face, but both were sent crashing to the forest floor, with Naruto being the victor 'It's over… I won…'

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"He pulled it off…" the sand crumbled, and Dosu fell to one knee as he hit the branch.

Tatsu formed a Shadow Clone that slung Dosu's arm over his shoulder "I've got you, you alright?"

"Considering I was almost crushed by sand, not that bad actually. Still, I can't believe he pulled it off."

"I can, I never doubted him for a second, and I also knew he had to do it alone. Sure I could've helped him and one-shotted Gaara, but what would've happened to his pride if I did? If I did help him he would've lived sure, but that would've meant crushing his pride completely. Hayate-sensei taught me a lot, but this definitely stood out. There are two types of battles, and as he weight we have to know the difference between the two. There's a fight to protect one's life, and a fight to protect one's pride. In that battle, Naruto was fighting for his pride."

"I see. You're really wise."

"Not really, I just had a good teacher."

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Gaara stared at Naruto's downed form 'What could it be that makes him so strong? Him and Tatsu Kamikaze both, how are they so strong? I will not disappear, I will not cease to exist. I won't!'

'I won…' Naruto slowly started inching his way forward, recalling his past and how he'd felt the same loneliness as Gaara, and how Haku felt he had no purpose either.

"No, stay away!"

"It's almost… unbearable, isn't it? The feeling of being all alone. I know that feeling. I've been there, in that dark and lonely place. But now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I won't ever give up, I will stop you even if I have to kill you."

"But why? Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?"

"Because they saved me from myself, they rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They're my friends."

'Love… is that the thing that makes him so strong?'

"Naruto, that's enough." Sasuke leapt down beside him "Dosu's okay, the sand crumbled away when you beat him. This guy's out of chakra, he's no threat anymore."

Naruto sighed "That's a relief."

That was when Kankuro and Temari showed up "You…"

"That's enough." Gaara said softly "It's over…"

"But Gaara… I never thought I'd see this. He's had it. Alright Gaara." they slung his arms over their shoulders and left.

Tatsu leapt down "Let them go, there's no need to fight anymore."

"Right." Sasuke looked down to where Naruto had fallen asleep "He really did it…"

"I never had a doubt. Hey sorry about knocking you out in the Forest of Death, there were a couple of things I thought you weren't ready to see."

"Like your Rasengan?"

"And something of Naruto's. Tell you what, when he wakes up we'll tell you everything."

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As Temari and Kankuro carried him away, Gaara's thoughts drifted to Naruto 'Who knows, Naruto Uzumaki? Perhaps even I, someday… Temari, Kankuro, I'm sorry."

They shared an awkward look "Don't worry about it."

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With the barrier down, Kakashi and the rest of the jonin rushed in and discovered Sarutobi's body.

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2 days passed.

Naruto sat in his apartment, thinking of Sarutobi 'Old man… he's really gone…' he looked at his photo of Team 7.

Then he heard a knock on the door "Naruto, you ready?"

"Yeah, just a second." he came out and met Sasuke "Hey, where's Tatsu?"

"I stopped by his apartment, he wasn't there."

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The funeral for Sarutobi and the rest of the casualties from the invasion was being held on the roof of the Hokage building, with rain pouring down, with some believing that even the heavens were weeping.

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Tatsu sat on the 4th Hokage's head on the Hokage Monument, mourning by himself 'That's another person I care about that I've lost, not to mention that Hayate-sensei fell into a coma because of his sickness. Yet another bitch-slap by the gods themselves.'

"I figured you'd be here."

Tatsu looked back to see a purple-haired woman standing behind him "Yugao."

"I know you're really hurting right now."

"Why the hell would I be hurting? Just because the closest thing to a grandfather I've ever had died, my sensei/father figure is in a coma, and my brother's dead which I still haven't gotten over, doesn't automatically mean I'm sad." then he calmed down considerably "Tell me something Yugao, why do they do it? Why do people risk their lives for others?"

"Well when someone passes away, it's the end. His past and future, all the dreams he once had, they disappear along with him. This is true even if he dies honorably in battle, as so many have, as your parents did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed- all but one, the most important one of all, people. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who were important to him. And those people, the ones left behind, are joined together in a great circle by their shared memories of him- a circle of friendship, trust and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it. We remain in the circle together, we have no choice. It's important to us."

"So we do it because we have to. I get it, somewhat. My brother used to tell me the same thing. Still, I'm sad he's gone."

"Thing how sad it would be if he died for nothing, but he left us something priceless. Don't worry, you'll understand someday."

"Actually Yugao, I think I do." Tatsu looked up to see the rain stop and the sun come out "I owe you Yugao, thanks. Don't worry old man, even though you're gone the will of fire is stronger than ever before. The sparks you left behind have kindled the flame among us young leaves of the next generation, a mighty flame burning brightly and shining its light on the village and protecting it for years to come. I swear it on my life.'

A/N:

It didn't occur to me that I didn't describe Tatsu's appearance until now. He's about 3 inches taller than Sasuke, short kurt brown hair like Kazuma from Noragami, brown eyes, glasses and basically the same gi design as Goku from Resurrection F, only there's no symbol, the gi is a medium blue, the wristbands and boots are black, and he has a katana strapped to his back.

For the record, since Zaku and Kin were saved by Kakashi and the others, Orochimaru used Kabuto's other teammates Yoroi and Misumi as sacrifices for the Reanimation Jutsu instead. I figured it only made sense since they got their asses handed to them in the preliminaries and they were never seen again, so at least I made got some use out of them this time.

Dosu was caught by Gaara in place of Sakura in this to make up for Sakura's absence, and to prove that Naruto can make friends even if they come from different villages.

That little speech about fighting for one's pride was a quote from Bleach, Ukitake said it when Ichigo was fighting the Grand Fisher.