2/3

Ino stood there with her fist outstretched and covered in blood that wasn't hers, her teeth grinding furiously "You just crossed that line Billboard Brow, insult me if you want but I won't let you insult my friends."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto cringed at what he was hearing "Eesh did you hear that stuff? Sakura was so mean, that's gotta be out of line isn't it?"

"Did you not hear any of the stuff she was saying about you and Tatsu, who wouldn't lose it at stuff like that." Sasuke pointed out "But even then it's a lot more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura wouldn't normally be the kind of person to do things like needlessly flaunt her own power or callously hurt people, but whatever pointless hatred she has for you and Tatsu has now completely clouded any judgement she actually has. Combine that with the fact that she hates having Ino take pity on her and pull her punches, and now she's basically fighting on pure rage and hatred alone. She's too far gone."

"But is that really fair to say?"

"She insulted you for being an orphan."

"I know, but… to just callously hate her like that just doesn't feel right."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura looked at Ino with pure disdain "So you think I'm a bud that hasn't flowered yet now do you? All along Ino, I tried to live my life by the things you said to me so long ago. I thought that if I tried hard enough then I could do it, that I could become a beautiful flower instead of just of just a bud always waiting but never blooming, so I set my sights on you because all I wanted from the start was to be just like you. You set the example for me that gave me a goal to strive towards. For a long time that actually worked, and slowly but surely I did get stronger."

"So then why?" Ino's voice was soft.

"Because you turned your back on me! You sided with those pieces of trash up there and turned your back on Sasuke, you should've stood by him! So for your betrayal I'm gonna prove it to you right now, that I've surpassed you because you lost sight of what's important!" she pulled her headband off her head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was taken aback by the events of the battle "Okay that's insane, what the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tatsu.

"Why are the two of them getting so worked up just looking at each other?"

"Do you not hear yourself right now?"

"What?"

"It's basically a chick version of what you have going on with Sasuke."

"It is?" this caused everyone present to facepalm.

"Look a rivalry between friends is a pretty tricky business, hell I've got the same thing going on with Lee over there." he noticed Lee looking at him and he gave a nonchalant wave "Hey what's up?"

Lee's eyes narrowed at this 'No wonder Guy sensei gets so worked up when Kakashi sensei acts so cool, Tatsu being so calm and chill is honestly rather irritating.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ino looked at Sakura with what seemed like a mix of pity and sadness 'I guess our friendship kind of went to hell when I heard what you said about Naruto and Tatsu, you just didn't care about what you said and thought it was no big deal. That was when I realized that you weren't the Sakura that I knew, not anymore. She died a long time ago, so whoever this is that's standing before me… she's a monster that needs to be taken down a few pegs.' she pulled her headband off her waist and tied it around her forehead 'No more holding back, no hesitation. She has to go down, whatever it takes.'

Sakura promptly tied her headband around her waist 'No more holding back, no hesitation. She has to go down, whatever it takes. Come on Swine."

"Fine by me Billboard." and so they both charged.

"Clone Jutsu!" Sakura formed a few hand seals and summoned a few clones at her side in a blur.

"Just the basic Clone Jutsu? This is more than just the graduation exam for the Ninja Academy, a basic jutsu like that one. Unlike you I've actually bothered to learn some real jutsu in the past few weeks. Water Style: Raging Waves!" Ino formed a few hand seals and spewed out a wave infused with chakra from her mouth, revealing the clones on Sakura's left and right as it spewed further until it left a large dent in the wall.

'You think that's gonna stop me pig? I can send chakra into my feet for a burst of speed and power through this technique!' Sakura channeled chakra into her feet and leapt into the air over the technique "You think that's enough to beat me?"

"It's enough to get your attention." Ino blitzed behind Sakura and dealt her a sharp kick to the abdomen, sending her crashing to the ground.

Sakura spat out some blood and pulled herself back to her feet "I'm not… the same weak… brat that I used to be… You play with fire and it'll burn you alive. Now come on swine, stop holding out on me."

"You say that like I ever needed your invitation, I'm more than willing to give you the best that I've got Sakura, but you're not going to like it."

"I think we'll see about that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu observed the battle from the stands "Sakura's making decent use of basic academy jutsu but that's about it. As for Ino, decent taijutsu skills and use of basic Water Style jutsu, not to mention she can make quick judgements in battle." he shot a glance over at Asuma and gave a quick nod of approval "Respect."

"Wait hold on a second." Naruto shot a look at him "You're not saying that Ino is better than me are you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, your basics are a shit show."

"Oh come on!"

"Hey I'm just telling it like it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're going down you swine!" Sakura charged at Ino in a rage and fired off a quick barrage of shuriken.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Billboard brow. Water Clone Jutsu!" Ino formed a quick hand seal and summoned two water clones and had them charge forward.

'Just another kind of clone jutsu like Naruto's stupid Shadow Clones, I just have to look carefully to see which one is the real one.' Sakura looked at the clones and let a fist fly towards one of them, only for it to be caught by one of the clones "What?"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Ino unleashed a stream of water from her mouth and hit Sakura with it dead on, the force blowing her back into the wall behind her.

Sakura forced herself back to her feet "I won't… let you… see me as… as weak! I'm stronger than you Ino, I won't let you make a fool out of me!"

"Sakura the only one making a fool out of yourself is you. All this time all you've been doing nothing but fawning over Sasuke and trashing Naruto and Tatsu for no good reason. Your stupid grudge against the two of them has gone way too far, and now you've totally abandoned them because of it.

"Shut up! It was their fault for acting so cool!" Sakura stumbled forward as fast as she could in a blind rage and let her fist fly

With a heavy sigh, Ino formed a series of hand seals and caught Sakura's fist "I was hoping I could get through to you, but I guess it was just a stupid pipe dream. Sorry Sakura, but this battle is over. Water Style: Ripping Torrent!" she summoned a small spiralling water vortex in her hand and slammed it straight into Sakura's gut, sending her crashing into the wall behind her in a soaking wet heap, while Ino herself fell to one knee from exhaustion.

Hayate went over to examine Sakura's unconscious form 'Well not only has she had it, but she's also demonstrating some serious mental instability. Since her opponent is unable to continue, by a knockout victory Ino Yamanaka advances to the final rounds."

"Yay…" Ino pumped a tired fist in triumph.

Tatsu jumped down to help her back into the stands "Congratulations, you won and now you've officially proven that Sasuke created a meme."

"Very funny."

"I guess Naruto is rubbing off on me. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah I think so, I just need to lie down for a few minutes."

"Well I think you earned it after the fight you put up. You know you had me worried for a little while there, top kunoichi or not I didn't think you had what it takes to not pull your punches against someone like Sakura, but I guess I just underestimated how much you've grown since those days."

"I just wish I could've gotten through to her." Ino glanced down to where Sakura was being taken away to the infirmary.

"Well you can't save everyone, but a lot of good still happened in that fight. I think Asuma made the right call in letting you take the exam."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dragon stared down Orochimaru with clear suspicion and hidden anger in his eyes "Enough of your mind games, what are you after this time?"

"If you insist." Orochimaru let out a chuckle "This Hidden Sound village that everyone is so curious about, it belongs to none other than yours truly. To put it quite simply, I'm the one who created it in the first place. I think you understand my point without me having to say any more, don't you?"

"You and your wild eyed ambition."

"Oh yes indeed, as always. But to play the game as you put it, I need pieces on the shogi board, pawns that are ready and willing to do my bidding."

"Meaning that you consider Sasuke to be one of your pawns?"

"Oh he's far from being a pawn, Sasuke is a much more valuable piece to me than that. But as for the others, well you know how it is in a game of shogi. No win can be secured without being ready to sacrifice at least a few pieces here and there." he slowly stepped forward.

Dragon held up the Rasengan in his palm "Come closer, I dare you. We both know what happens when you get within the range of this jutsu. It doesn't matter to me if you are one of the Legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf, take one more step or take any action against the Leaf and one of us will die here."

Orochimaru let out a chuckle, which then turned into full on laughter "My my."

"You find something funny?"

"Poor Dragon, as noble as your efforts are they're all in vain. Do you truly believe that I can be kept from Sasuke, do you really believe that Sasuke can be kept from what it is that he desires the most? You know I'm right, a heart like his that hungers for one thing and one thing alone, he will not be denied, no matter what obstacles you try to place in his path. Sasuke Uchiha is a true Avenger is he not?"

"Far from it, he's a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. You can't take advantage of him as you please you know."

"You cannot hope to stop the inevitable, at some point he will come to me for power of his own free will. Unless of course you carry out your threat to kill me. Now is your chance, take that chance if you dare."

Dragon said nothing, he just de-materialized his Rasengan, sweat dripping down the side of his face from within his mask.

"That's what I thought." and with that, Orochimaru disappeared, leaving Dragon alone.

'One of us will die here… Perhaps Itachi was right when he said I get too into these sorts of things.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next few matches got well underway.

The fifth match was between Tenten of Team Guy and Temari of the Hidden Sand team, and despite Tenten showcasing her impressive mastery of weapons, Temari's wind based attacks easily negated them, allowing her to defeat Tenten without too much effort.

The sixth match was between Shikamaru and Kin from the Hidden Sound team, and despite being caught in Kin's genjutsu, Shikamaru managed to trap her with his Shadow Possession Jutsu, allowing him to knock her out cold.

The seventh match was between Naruto and Kiba from Team 8, and while Kiba's speed and power were impressive, as was his tag team skills with his ninja dog Akamaru, as well as Naruto being at a disadvantage due to being unable to access his Crimson Wind jutsu or any fire style jutsu due to the Five Pronged Seal Orochimaru had placed on him, but eventually he managed to disrupt Kiba's sense of smell thanks to… certain circumstances, and he managed to use a combination move utilizing his Shadow Clones, allowing him to secure the win.

The eighth match was between Hinata of Team 8 and Neji of Team Guy, cousins of the Hyuga clan. Hinata fought as hard as she could, but the match proved to be very one sided due to Neji being that much stronger than her, and despite Naruto encouraging her Neji beat her down with ease and taunted her, forcing Naruto to be restrained in his rage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kabuto met with Orochimaru in a secret location in order to report to him "The preliminaries are still ongoing but they should be done soon, then they'll be moving onto the final rounds as we expected."

"Excellent." Orochimaru let out a chuckle "While all of these countries are racing to expand their military might the birds continue to sing, I believe that this country of ours has been at peace for far too long as it is."

"Then please, allow me to do it."

"I'm not too sure about that, how much fun would it be to take out an old man like the Hokage to begin with?"

"So that's how it is, but then what's the problem? You're not still having second thoughts about it are you Lord Orochimaru? From now on each of the Hidden Villages will clash with each other in a long and violent struggle. Even the Hidden Sound village won't be able to escape from that violence. And what you intend is to be the trigger for all of that hostility by firing Sasuke as if he was your own bullet. Isn't that correct?"

"You guess very well, so well that even I find it a bit creepy in fact."

"You give me far too much credit, I still didn't know about your plans involving Dosu and the other Sound genin. While I was gathering information on Sasuke I wanted to learn about the skill levels of those three Hidden Sound ninja, so I confronted them in a clumsy way and allowed them to attack me. I learned a great deal from them. It seems that you don't quite trust me now do you Lord Orochimaru, not yet at least."

"Would it really be necessary to tell my right hand man about those three ninja? My silence is proof of my trust, I trusted in you to act without that knowledge. For that very reason, I'm planning to leave Sasuke and the others in your capable hands. Unfortunately I was unable to give my mark to Sasuke in the Forest of Death, but in any event that is not my concern at the moment. The boy still has darkness left in his heart and we can and will manipulate that to our advantage, which is why I want you to take care of him."

"It's unusual for you to act so hasty is it not?"

"Perhaps it is, but there is still a little bit of something that has me troubled."

"You mean Naruto Uzumaki and Tatsu Kamikaze do you not?"

"You're quite sharp aren't you Kabuto? Sasuke is driven by his desire for revenge against his older brother Itachi, he's burning with a desire to kill him for what he did to their family, and he won't rest until he achieves that goal. And yet when we fought each other, even though he knew he would be unable to prevail against me he came at me without any fear of death. I didn't think he would be the type of person who would be in such a hurry to die a death without any true meaning or purpose. According to the information I received from you, contact with the likes of those two brats has altered Sasuke's heart and mind, so much so that they now hold a certain level of influence over our Sasuke. The thing to do is get Sasuke away from them as soon as possible, because the sooner we do the easier it will be for me to make him mine forever."

"...Very well then, so be it."

"Just one other thing Kabuto, you know that if it's your desire to stop me then I'm afraid the only chance you would have would be to kill Sasuke now. You can't possibly hope to kill me, even if you did have the courage to do so it amounts to the likes of nothing. You're no stronger than the likes of Kakashi, and you know how he compares to me." this left Kabuto petrified, but then he let out a chuckle "Calm yourself, I'm just kidding you. But you had better run along now, do be sure to keep in mind that I'm trusting you Kabuto."

"I understand." and with that, Kabuto took his leave.

'That look on his face, I can't help but wonder what's going on in his head.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu looked at the names that next appeared on the screen and gripped the railing, a bead of sweat dripping from his forehead 'Shit…'

"Tatsu, listen." Lee got his attention "You know you're up against Gaara after this, right?"

"Yeah, I know. There aren't many things or people who can make me sweat like this, but Gaara is definitely one of them."

"Whatever happens, just be careful out there."

"I only promise to try."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Choji found himself on the arena floor facing off against Dosu 'Oh boy, this is gonna be pretty tough.'

"Go for it!" Ino cheered "Come on Fatso, you can do it!" and that set him off.

"Oh that is IT, I'm gonna flatten this guy like a pancake in the next ten seconds and then I'm coming after you Ino! You got that?!"

Dosu rolled his one good eye "Suit yourself fatso, if you want this match to end quickly then I'll just win it quickly."

"Oh you are so gonna go down hard you mummified asshat. I know his techniques all too well from my last battle with him, those holes on his gauntlet emit a pulsing sound but if I can't hear it then he can't hurt me. Ninja Art: Expansion Jutsu!" he expanded himself into a large round form "And now for the Hidden Leaf style of taijutsu!" he pulled his arms, legs and head into the boulder form 'This can protect my ears from his attacks, and now I can crush him like a goddamn bug! Chubbies rule mother fucker! Human Boulder!" he started rolling forward at full speed.

"And just like that I can tell he's having way too much fun with that." Dosu just started jumping around and dodging Choji's attacks with ease 'I don't even need to touch this one in order to hit him with my sonic blast, but I can imagine that this one thinks that it only works when his ears are showing, and that now that his ears are covered by his jutsu. So that means that all I have to do is…' he jumped out of the way and let Choji get himself stuck in the wall and stuck his sound gauntlet into Choji's body "You barely have any control over where you're going, that type of jutsu does more harm than good."

"Yeah like you're one to talk, you can't hurt me while my ears are covered!"

"You would think, but no." he promptly activated his sound gauntlet, sending out a vibrating sound wave that pretty much left Choji down and out "You see the human body is 70% made up of water, and water is able to transmit soundwaves. To put it simply, when it comes to my attacks your entire body is basically one gigantic ear."

Hayate examined Choji and made the call "The winner of the ninth match is Dosu Kinuta, and as such he advances to the finals."

"As expected." Dosu promptly made his way back to the balcony while Choji was taken away by the medics 'You understand it now don't you Orochimaru? Myself and the others, we're far more than just mere puppets of yours.'

"And now we shall begin the final match, will Tatsu Kamikaze and Gaara of the Desert please come down.

'This is it.' Tatsu jumped down into the arena and formed some quick hand signs 'I might have to release those gravity seals after all.' his legs glowed blue for a quick second.

'Finally.' Gaara appeared on the arena floor in a swirl of sand, his cold eyes making Tatsu sweat slightly, eyes full of rage, hatred and bloodlust.

Tatsu quickly took a moment to compose himself 'I haven't been scared of an opponent since the likes of Orochimaru or… Itachi. I know he's a jinchuuriki, but he's so different from Naruto in just about every way. Well either way, I've gotta give it my all. Kazuma wouldn't back down, and neither will I.'

The cork on Gaara's gourd wriggled, then shot towards Tatsu like a bullet.

Tatsu cranked his neck to the side, the cork whizzing past and missing by mere inches, then looked at where the cork was stuck tight in the wall behind him.

Sand emerged from Gaara's gourd and circled around him.

Tatsu dropped into a taijutsu stance 'Just to get a hold of his attack power and style.' he listened as Hayate called for the match to begin.

Gaara's sand lunged forward.

Tatsu quickly fired a volley of shuriken and formed several hand signs "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Shuriken Jutsu!" he fired a barrage of fire-enhanced shuriken, just enough to cancel out the sand, the force causing multiple explosions that shook the stadium. Tatsu's foot touched the ground and leapt sideways in order to get an angle on Gaara, and found a chance when he saw him standing there motionless 'This is my chance! Lightning Style: Purple Thunder!" he fired a blast of purple lighting from his left hand, then jumped up onto the ceiling "Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" he finished the assault with a crimson fire dragon, the colliding fire and lightning resulting in a fiery explosion, and he waited to see if any damage had been done.

When the blast subsided, the smoke cleared and revealed Gaara, completely unharmed.

'That's not possible, even if he's a jinchuuriki he should've taken at least some damage! And the sand around him doesn't help, it's acting like a shield and protecting him subconsciously.'

The top of the sand shield writhed around, and another sand pillar shot forward.

Tatsu began phasing out, disappearing and reappearing as he dodged the barrage of sand needles being hurled at him "Take this!" he channeled some chakra into his fist and thrusted it forward.

Gaara's sand sprang up to protect him without him even having to move.

Tatsu's fist met the sand with a thud that echoed across the room and made the very floor itself shake, blood dripping from his wound due to the contact with the sand 'Dammit, it's like punching a wall of steel! Even enhancing it with chakra didn't work!'

A spike shot forward from the shield.

"Shit!" Tatsu threw himself back and flinched when the spike grazed his cheek, opening a noticeable cut, before he did a few backflips to gain some distance.

Sand shot towards him during the third backflip.

Tatsu blitzed through hand signs "Wind Style: Skybound Wind!" he fired a sharp blast of wind, the sand exploding effectively.

The grains of sand shot down from above, and Gaara had yet to even move or turn to look at what Tatsu was doing. Sand sprang up in anticipation of the attack and defended against it, though it received a shallow slash.

Tatsu leapt above Gaara and flashed through hand signs "Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" a flaming red dragon shot downwards, slamming violently towards Gaara in a fiery explosion.

When everything settled, an umbrella of sand was present above Gaara's head.

"Dammit." Tatsu touched down on the floor and had a brief staredown with his opponent 'As I expected, he's tough. He doesn't have a scratch on him even after all that.'

"Is that all?" Gaara's rasping voice indicated his ever-growing fury "Is that all you've got?!" a huge tidal wave of sand rose from beneath him and shot towards Tatsu like a runaway train.

"Crap!" Tatsu bolted in the opposite direction in an attempt to get airborne, jumping and ducking under tendrils coming from the wave of sand chasing him. Thinking quick, he hit the wall and ran straight up it and onto the ceiling, then formed hand signs "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he fired several small fireballs.

Gaara's sand once again rose up and protected him, and when the smoke cleared, it revealed a slowly dissolving sand wall "You're nothing but a bug!" a sand pillar burst forward and took a quick swipe.

Tatsu ducked under it, fazed out and re-appeared on top of the gigantic hand sign statue 'This isn't good, I'll have to get serious if I want to win. Sorry Kakashi, but I'm gonna have to take them off if I wanna come out on top." he pulled up the pants on his gi, bit down on both of his thumbs, and placed one thumb on each leg, revealing weights 'Gravity Seals are actually weights sealed inside of tags, making them really effective for physical strength training.' he dropped them and let them fall to the ground.

Temari smirked 'Come on, you really think he'll be able to get through Gaara's defences just by dropping a couple of pounds of weight?'

Tatsu's weights hit the ground and the floor exploded, leaving two very deep craters where the weights once were "Oh yeah, that's better. Now I can breathe easy."

Everyone but Team 7 gaped at the hole, then started gawking at Tatsu.

"What?"

"Go for it Tatsu, kick his ass back to where he came from!" surprisingly enough, it was Sasuke who cheered this.

"That's the plan." Tatsu gave a thumbs up, then vanished.

'What the-?' Gaara blinked when his sand shield sprang up behind him only to explode, and he turned towards the disturbance. It happened again, multiple times in fact.

Picking up speed until the shield couldn't form without exploding, Tatsu became only a blur as he hit the shield and moved on, slowly managing to overwhelm the defenses bit by bit "This is it! Rasengan!"

Gaara found a spiralling ball of chakra filling his vision, before he was sent spiralling across the arena and slammed into the hand statue, which soon crumbled into a cloud.

Tatsu straightened himself up and watched the cloud expand "Come on out already. I know you're not dead, I can sense your chakra and your bloodlust.

A shape slowly became visible, and Gaara emerged, seemingly unharmed, his gourd shattered and sticking out behind him, his face crumbling away and his skin just falling off, but it appeared as if he was using a sort of armor that had protected him from the blow. He was grinning, a psychotic and insane grin that sent chills down Tatsu's spine.

'Of course, how did I not see it? The gourd is made of sand too, he used it to cushion the blow! Stupid stupid stupid!'

"Finally!" Gaara's sanity leached away before everyone's eyes "Finally, I can kill you and prove my existence!"

"Kill me to prove your existence?" for once, Tatsu was completely lost 'Not gonna lie, that's a new one.'

"Die!" Gaara thrusted one arm forward and sand shot forward like a bullet, much faster than before.

'It's faster!' Tatsu threw himself out of the way, the sand just barely catching him and tearing a gash in the stomach of his shirt 'Way faster! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he unleashed a quick fireball.

The sand shield formed, again much faster than before, and the attack detonated harmlessly.

Tatsu shot forward, becoming a blur, and there was a clapping noise as he slammed a Rasengan fist into the shield, shattering it like a piece of armor, before the attack drilled into Gaara's gut, shattering the sand and sending him tumbling back.

Then a kick snapped forward and caught Gaara in the chin, lifting him into the air.

Sand began circling around Tatsu's feet, signalling he had to act then, so he grabbed Gaara's sash and tugged him towards him "Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" he unloaded into Gaara's stomach so hard and fast he sprouted multiple fists.

Gaara let out a pained gasp, blood coming up soon after.

Noticing sand rising up behind him, Tatsu knew he was out of time and used a chakra-enhanced fist to punch Gaara away into the wall beneath one of the balconies, and he then watched as the sand sped after Gaara 'Good, just as I'd hoped. I had to take a risk since I didn't know if the sand would go for me or save Gaara fist. I guess my hunch was right.' he heard a maniacal laughter filling the air 'Oh shit.'

"So strong!" Gaara lunged forward from the cloud obscuring him "So strong! I will have your blood!" blood covered his teeth and lowered face, making him seem that much more insane and terrifying, like he'd just devoured someone, and sand began clumping up on his right arm.

Tatsu gulped slightly 'Well that evil feeling I'd been getting just increased about 100-fold.' then he staggered and held his head, another wave of sand slamming down on him.

"Kill you… kill you… I will… I WILL KILL YOU!" the sand on Gaara's arm shot out and caught Tatsu off guard.

'Its speed shot up again!' Tatsu found himself scooped off his feet and flung across the arena before slamming into the wall with enough force to knock even a couple of the shinobi present off their feet.

"TATSU!" Ino, Lee, Naruto, Sasuke and everyone else present leaned over the rail in order to clarify what had happened.

A yell and a flash lit the air and the sand and expanding cloud of powder were blown away, revealing Tatsu, panting heavily with blood running down the side of his face, one eye forced shut 'Okay… that hurt…'

Sand gathered again for another strike.

Tatsu wiped the blood from his face to get both eyes back 'I'll need both of them if I wanna survive, let alone win…'

The sand finished gathering and shot towards him again, the end opening up and appearing like a giant hand reaching towards him.

Tatsu quickly rolled, the attack just barely missing and slamming through a wall, a section disconnecting and coming at him like the arc of a water fountain, forcing him to keep rolling to survive, before eventually bumping into a wall 'Okay, this is gonna hurt…'

"Now I've got you!" Gaara let out a victorious howl, his sand quickly descending. Another explosion rang out, the smoke roaring out from beneath their balcony like a hurricane.

"Tatsu!" Naruto was the first one to round on Gaara "I'll make you pay for that you son of a bitch!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Naruto, but I'll take it from here." a voice said dryly, and a shadow emerged from within the smoke 'I might be used to heavy-hitting fights like this, but I've never taken on a jinchuuriki in a life or death battle before. If I'm not careful, I will die.'

Gaara actually looked confused for once "Why? Why can't I kill you?!"

"The better question is, why do you want to kill me? What could I have possibly done to earn your hatred? I barely even know your name!"

"Because you're strong!" Gaara's right eye faded from teal to a faint gold, a star-shaped pupil with 4 dots in between points of the star, sand slowly creeping over the side of his face "I'll kill you for that reason, and then everyone will know that I exist?"

"That's your reason? You're basically killing me just because, you're no better than a fucking wild animal!"

"Yes, I'm an animal! Hated and despised by my village, I have nothing! And you…" his gaze wandered over to Ino and the ret on the balcony "You have everything, and I hate you for it! So let me show you what it's like to have nothing!" his arm shot out, but this time at the spectators on the Leaf's balcony.

The jonin moved to protect their students, but they were rather startled when a shape appeared in front of them, revealed to be Tatsu, sword drawn to beat back the sand, and was slammed into the wall between Naruto and Sasuke, who watched in horror as Tatsu spat up blood and was dragged from the hole in the wall and slowly lowered to Gaara's mercy, or lack thereof.

The sand arm detached and started floating, held in the air by Gaara's chakra and slowly began enveloping Tatsu "Don't bother, no one's ever escaped my Sand Coffin."

Tatsu ignored him and tried to dislodge the sand and get an arm free 'If I try to get my arms free and use a jutsu like this, the explosion would probably just tear my arm clean off.'

The sand continued advancing, passing his elbows and moving on like a glacier.

Tatsu found himself losing more and more movement room 'This is bad…' he was almost entirely enveloped in sand, with only his face showing. He tried to break free, but the sand passed over his face, forcing him to either stop or suffocate.

"Now you die!" Gaara extended his partially sand free arm "Enjoy Hell! Sand Burial!" the sand moved half an inch, then stopped "What?!" the sand began cracking and a bright cyan light pierced the shell, the cocoon shaking and trembling, before a roar was known, muffled by the sand but still there, slowly growing in pitch and volume as more rays burst from the Sand Coffin.

A flash of light appeared and exploded outwards, the screaming almost deafening, the shockwave reaching the stands and almost sending everyone flying. A massive cloud was left in the center of the arena, hanging like a thick fog over where Tatsu had one been trapped.

Gaara released himself from the remains of the hand statue after he'd been blow into it by the previous shockwave, his sand swirling faster and faster as a chirping noise became noticeable.

"You can beat on me all you like, you can even kill be and I'd be fine with it." a voice rang through the air "But involving my friends and the people I've sworn to protect is crossing the line that forfeits your life." Tatsu emerged, now clad in a cyan-coloured chakra cloak "I'm going to end this here and now. I've already used up most of my chakra, so I'd better make these next few attacks count.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What is that?" asked Naruto "Is that Tatsu?"

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask "That's what happens when Tatsu goes at 100% of his full power, with the power of his eyes. You guys better brace yourselves, this battle is going to heat up again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tatsu gestured at Gaara, beckoning with one finger "Come on."

"DIE!" Gaara's arm flew forward.

Tatsu ducked, then blitzed forward with enough force to shatter the ground beneath him, his chakra-enhanced fist being burrowed into Gaara's face, going through the sand and hitting the flesh beneath it, bouncing him off the wall behind him.

"DIE!" Gaara twisted in the air and launched his other hand at Gohan, sprouting a tail like a raccoon.

Tatsu raised one hand and caught the attack with ease, his chakra flaring wildly, the shock blowing the hand apart "Sorry, but that won't work on me again." he blitzed towards Gaara and kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying into the wall above the double doors. Then he formed a hand seal "Sorry, but if you're gonna hurt my friends then I'll do whatever it takes to stop you. Fire Style: Crimson Dragon!" the red fire dragon rocketed forward, but Tatsu then formed more hand signs "Wind Style: Skybound Wind!" he fired the blast of wind forward, enhancing the fire dragon and changing its color "Combination Jutsu: Scorch Style: Blazing Purple Dragon!"

Gaara looked stunned by the size of the attack heading for him, only to be lost amid the fiery purple of the attack, the ensuing explosion shaking the room itself.

"Did I get him?"

A low rumbling noise emerged, and the smoke cleared, revealing a startling surprise in the form of a wedge-shaped shield of sand, sparkling like diamond.

"Son of a bitch!"

The sand dissolved and revealed Gaara, now covered in sand and unharmed. He tapped the sparkle hanging in the air, and the sand shattered.

'So that's it, the wedge of sand split and deflected the force of the blast instead of trying to absorb it all at once.' I'm having a hard time with this guy, I've got him outclassed in terms of sheer power, but he's got range and flexibility, not to mention his attacks have been getting fiercer with his boost in speed, like he's borrowing power from… wait, that's it! He's borrowing power from the Shukaku, and now it's starting to take over! I've gotta get him on the defensive fast!' he blitzed out.

Gaara's eyes went wide as a foot smashed into his jaw, launching him into the ceiling, and he bounced off and began to head down.

Tatsu appeared next to him and slammed him across the arena again, catching and passing by him before belting him into the ground

Gaara bounced off with a loud crunch, then rose just enough for the next kick to get underneath and push him straight up.

"Rasengan!" Tatsu appeared above him, Rasengan in hand, and down it went and burrowed its way into Gaara's gut, folding Gaara around him before the attack finally blasted back towards the ground, tearing a hole in the ceiling.