15

All I Have

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 life, 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.

If the redhead had been intimidated by the strange Sharingan, he was able to hide it perfectly. The deranged Suna genin let out a malicious laugh as he stared right back at the Leaf genin's glare. "That look in you eyes is perfect!" Gaara commented as he smiled in glee. "I want you to look at me like that until the very moment when I'll spill your blood for Mother!" The jinchuuriki exclaimed as he thrust but arms forward in the direction of the blond.

Naruto jumped upwards, but instead of landing on a higher branch, the Konoha genin used it to propel his body forward, creating enough force to speed past the incoming sand limbs. The blond jinchuuriki closed his hand as he approached the redhead, the punch failed as the Suna shinobi jumped to a different branch before it could connect.

Gaara wasted no time to attack. Not giving his opponent a chance to even turn around, the Sand genin shot his body forward, his claws ready to strike his prey.

The blond jumped back the moment he sensed the incoming attack. Doing a back flip in mid air to dodge his opponent's attack, the Leaf genin sunk his feet in Gaara's back as he completed the three hundred and sixty degrees spin, sending the boy down towards the ground.

Taking the offensive, Naruto stopped the redhead's trip downward by graving one of his ankles and swinging the genin's body towards a tree, breaking the trunk as he flew through.

The Suna shinobi stretched his sand claws in order to stop his flight. Landing on a nearby branch, the monstrous genin glared at the blond. "It's that best you have?" The boy exclaimed. "Mother and I waited for you after hearing your call, but is this all you have to show for it?"

Naruto met the redhead's glare with his own. "I guess I'm putting quite a below average performance." The Konoha nin admitted. "I guess it'll be ok if I went a little wild…" The moment the words left his mouth, the blond disappeared from Gaara's sight just to reappear hovering over the Sand genin the next second and drive his knee into the deranged boy's stomach.

Even through the sand protection, Gaara could still feel the force from the blow his stomach received. His breath escaped his lungs and the Suna nin's head was brought forwards as his body recoiled due to the pain. Blinded because of the strike, the redhead could not see the fist traveling straight towards his face.

The punch's sound was heard throughout the forest as the Sand genin was thrown flying backwards by its force.

Moving at blinding speed, Naruto seemed to disappear again and reappear at the branch Gaara was traveling to. The blond swung his leg forward, driving his kick into the redhead's back, stopping the deranged boy's flying trip and causing him to release a scream of pain. The Leaf genin spun his body around and driving his heel into the Sand shinobi's gut, in a similar fashion to what Sasuke had done before, and sending his fellow Jinchuuriki flying down towards the ground.

The Sharingan user did not waste any time. The boy's hands immediately started on the already familiar set on handseals. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed before shooting a sizeable fireball down to chase the red head. The explosion signaled the impact.

Before the dust and flames could dissipate, a pair of sand claws shot from the cloud of wreckage with the blond Jinchuuriki as their target.

Jumping to higher branches, Naruto took out a kunai and slashed the pair of monstrous limps as the approached him.

The two arms seemly started to fall before the suddenly came back to life and reformed themselves before returning to their pursuit of the Konoha shinobi.

Naruto continued to dodge the two transformed limps until they finally retreated and grabbed a nearby branch in order to pull Gaara back up. "Heheheh… HAHAHAH!" The redhead started to snicker but it soon turned into an all out laugh. "That's more like it!" He declared. "Mother is starting to enjoy this fight!" The bloodlust in the Sand nin's eyes was evident as he looked at the blond. "Let's together make Mother happy!" The deranged boy shouted as he threw a piece of his sand body into the air. "Sabaku Ame!"

The barrage of sand lumps immediately started to fall down on the blond. The Sharingan user was put on the defensive once again as all his movements were strictly to evade the flurry of strikes raining down on him.

Branches and trunks were reduced to splinters as the onslaught of sand pierced through the trees as it sought the Leaf shinobi. "Damn it…" Naruto cursed, he never expected that he'd be forced to use it so soon into the battle. "Amaterasu!" The teenaged boy gazed at the sphere of sand above the trees where all the projectiles originated with his Sharingan eyes. The piece of sand was immediately overwhelmed by black flames that consumed it in a matter of moments, leaving nothing behind to prove that it existed.

Gaara looked up with a horror stricken face as his sand was reduced to nothing by the black flames. A piece of his Mother that had always protected him simply disappeared in front of the redhead's eyes as though it was never even there. "Bastard…" The words left the boy's lips like a ghostly whisper. "You bastard!" The Jinchuuriki's eyes set on the blond in front of him, yellow eyes blazing in fury as they burned into the Leaf genin.

The spiky haired boy hadn't felt such a strong killer intent since Itachi. Shifting his body slightly to the side, Naruto was able to hide the shaking in his hand.

"How dare you try to take Mother away from me?" The transformed Suna shinobi shouted as his killer intent kept on rising. "Mother is the only one important to me in this world! The only one that never deserted me and always remained by my side!" The words roared through the forest, making some of the people present cringe at the fury they held. "Mother is all I have!" Gaara declared.

Naruto remained silent for a couple of moments as his gaze regarded the redhead in front of him. "All you… have…?" The blond simply repeated.

Suddenly, a matching killer intent emanated from the Konoha nin as his eyes narrowed, forming a glare directed to the other Jinchuuriki. In less than a second, Naruto had moved in front of Gaara and drove his fist into the Sand genin's cheek sending him flying back once again. Two spiky haired clones appeared ready to receive the airborne boy.

Using his Sharingan, Sasuke could follow as the three identical Leaf genins trashed the deranged redhead around trees and branches. What surprised the raven haired boy the most was not his teammate's impressive physical strength, nor the blinding speed of his movements, but the look that the once smiling face held.

As much as Gaara's look carried dementia less than five minutes ago, Naruto's was now pure anger and disdain. Something that the Suna shinobi had said had made the former loudmouth snapped, sending the boy into a raging frenzy.

A powerful kick sent the transformed teenager flying through numerous tree trunks, finally stopping several feet away. "That thing is not all you have…" The blonde's words were full of contempt. "You have siblings, you have a family, you were probably even able to meet your father!" Naruto closed his fist to try to stop the furious shaking. "So don't come here and tell me that that thing inside you is all you have when you have pushed away everything else around you!" His teeth were gritting now and his voice was coming out strained due to the anger. "You had so much yet you still chose to become like this… You chose to be feared over than loved…" The Jinchuuriki's voice started to die out. "It's because of you… It's because of people like you that I had…" The teenage boy never finished the sentence as his hands suddenly went through the required handseals and another fireball was released in direction of the redhead.

The swiftness of the attack caught the redhead by surprise. Gaara could only bring his arms forward to protect himself as the flames engulfed his body. The impact of the fire jutsu was enough to send the Sand genin flying a few branches back.

"I really hate people like you…" Naruto declared as he glared at the deformed boy in front of him trying to stand back up. "People that thrive of the knowledge of being feared. You claim being alone in this world, but the truth is that you view yourself above all other!" Things that the blond thought he had under control were running wild now. "Locking yourself inside a barrier of sand and trying to sound like a victim… You don't know what real pain is, what it feels like to be betrayed by the few things you thought you had-"

"Shut up!" The redhead boy interrupted. His eyes set on the blond holding a mixture of anger and sorrow. "You don't know anything about me!" The Suna shinobi shot back. "You don't know all I had to go through and how, at the very end, Mother was the only one that remained by my side." The Jinchuuriki's voice came out strained as memories plague his mind.

"This is it… Please die…"

Suddenly, Gaara's killer intent returned full force. "Betrayal?" His strange yellow eyes glared at the blond. "Don't you dare speak to me about betrayal…!" Anger flooded out of the transformed boy as his breath started to come out strained. "I'll never… I'll never let anyone else betray me!" The Sand nin exclaimed before he thrust his arms forward.

Monstrous limbs shot towards the spiky haired boy, forcing him to jump from branch to branch in order to avoid their devastating rampage.

The hatred that had been harbored in the blonde's eyes had now transferred to the redhead's as he continued to tear through trees and branches. "I'll push everyone…! I'll push everyone away…! I won't allow them to get a chance to betray me again!" He declared before retreating his sand claws and the "mouths" appeared on his body again. "Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!" The powerful gust of wind and sand erupted from the Jinchuuriki's mouths.

Naruto immediately jumped behind a thick tree in order to escape the savage burst of dust that swept through the forest.

A sand claw went through the trunk that the blond was hiding behind, causing the Leaf nin to jump to another branch to escape the monstrous limb that followed him. "I'll destroy everyone in my path! I'll offer all of their blood to Mother and prove that I exist in this world!" Gaara announced in his crazed rage. "To prove that I was betrayed and that I will take my revenge on the world!" He exclaimed as his transformed arms continued to chase his opponent.

Without stopping his movements, the Konoha genin was able to set in eyes on the other Jinchuuriki. "I really can't forgive people like you…" He stated as he jumped to a new branch seconds before the one he had been standing on was destroyed by the pursuing claw. "Letting the rage and bloodlust consume you and turning into the demons they fear us to be…" The teenage boy added.

"Shut up!" The redhead shouted. "You don't know anything about me!" The speed of the sand claw suddenly increased, managing to grab a hold of the Sharingan user and slamming his body against a tree. Less than a second afterwards, the sand was already starting to cover his body. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you for the disrespect you have shown Mother and me!" Gaara declared as his eyes glared at the blond.

Despite his seemingly imminent death, the spiky haired boy merely continued to observe the Sand genin. "I meet a guy just a few months ago…" Naruto started. "He showed me a hell that now haunts my nightmare… But, I tried, and I'm still trying, to look past all the things I saw in that place." The Leaf shinobi revealed as his eyes narrowed. "And now I meet someone like you, who has given up and thrown himself into the depths of madness with foolish thoughts of retribution." A dark blue chakra started to emanate from the blonde's body. "It irks me to no end knowing that you have given up on the world so easily!" With the boy's outburst, the navy chakra burst, freeing the Sharingan user from the sand. "I really can't forgive you right now…" He said as he set his eyes on the redhead in front of him.

The two Jinchuurikis glared at each other before dashing off forward. Blows were exchanged in mid air.

– Flashback –

"You know, you really didn't have to accompany me shopping…"

A small, black haired boy looked up at the young woman next to him before answering. "Okaa-san is worried about you since you have been going out so much lately, so I offered to come with you." Four year-old Itachi simply stated.

Uchiha Kagome sighed as she looked at her cousin's oldest child. "You do know that I'm a jounin, right? If anyone is doing any babysitting, it's me looking after you." She tried to explain.

"Rank doesn't really matter, a well trained chuunin could sneak up on even a Kage if the target's unaware and alone." Itachi merely said as he continued to walk.

"Do you expect me to be attacked by a group chuunin in the middle of the village?" She asked.

The boy's eyes didn't even shift from the path ahead. "Please don't put words in my mouth, Kagome-neesan." Itachi shot back. "I said a chuunin, not a group, besides, I've seen you sparing, if you're distracted enough, you won't even see a genin coming…"

To say the least, the young woman was bewildered by four year-old's statement. "Hey! I already told you that there was a specific reason why I did so poorly in that sparing match!" She tried to defend herself.

"Then, what is it?"

"I told you, I can't tell you right now, you're too young."

"For a Leaf kunoichi, you sure make a lot of excuses, it's not fitting…" The black haired boy commented.

Another sigh escaped Kagome, she should have known better than to get into an argument the Uchiha clan's resident genius. Uchiha Itachi will make a great shinobi someday, she was sure of it, but for now, he was nothing more than a know-it-all kid that could go against experienced adults in a myriad variety of discussions and still come out making them look silly. She had grown really close to the boy, especially after Obito's tragedy, but that terrible weapon of destruction he called his mind did put a strain in their relationship.

"Well, fancy meeting you here…"

Both Uchiha turned to look at the sudden interruption. Casually walking towards the two black haired relatives was one Namikaze Minato with, what had become a trademark for the blond man, a grin adorning his face. "Minato-san!" Kagome called out. (A/N – See the ending note for explanation.)

Itachi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden excitement in his cousin's voice at the sight of the, already legendary, jounin.

"How are you on this fine day, Kagome-san?" The young man asked as he gave the black haired woman a small, courteous bow.

The giggle that escaped the young woman almost made Itachi kick her in the shin and make a run for it. One thing that the four year old boy really didn't want to see at the moment was his cousin acting all girly.

Minato's gaze lowered to set on younger Uchiha. "And what about you, Itachi-kun? Your name is coming up again and again as of lately, Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san must be really proud!" The blond man commented as he ruffled the boy's hair.

Itachi's glare immediately set on the man in front of him. It was certain that the four year-old Uchiha was incredibly mature for his age, he was well aware that most people were both amazed and annoyed by his intellect, he could deal with anything or anyone without losing his composure, anyone except Namikaze Minato. Something about the Konoha Yellow Flash always managed to get on the boy's nerves. Swiping his hand, the black haired kid pushed the man's hand away.

"Well, it seems that we still have the attitude problems to deal with…" Minato commented, unfazed by the young boy's actions. "I guess it's just normal for you to be jealous, after all, I'm already a renowned shinobi, while you're still a little kid with a kunai play set." He said as he straightened his body and stood proudly.

A snort escaped the four year-old. "Yeah, like I'm supposed to be envious of you. I've already heard about the incident between your Hiraishin and the waterfall." The boy shook his head to add to the insult. "Seriously, it's just a matter of time before you find yourself falling in a volcano or something."

"Hey, watch it you brat! That only happened while Hiraishin no Jutsu was still on its development stages, and stop gossiping with Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato shot back, already falling into the boy's game.

"Oh, touched a sore spot, didn't we? And what was that about you blowing up the bulls' corral while practicing that spiral sphere of yours?" Itachi asked, his voice fully tainted by a mocking tone.

The blond man gave a small grunt. "Like I have to explain my genius to you…"

"Only a sorry shinobi would have such a sorry excuse." The black haired boy commented.

"Do you have something to say, you little punk?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I want you to remain in that little throne of yours until I become a shinobi and beat you up myself!" The blond man and the black haired boy glared at each other intensively.

"I accept that challenge! Hurry up, I don't want to wait too long for the day that I can finally kick your as-!"

"Namikaze Minato!" Kagome suddenly interrupted the argument. "Are you really engaging in such childish fights against a four year-old?"

"And losing too…" Itachi added.

The young woman gave her cousin a warning look before her eyes set back on the Yellow Flash whose face had turned red out of embarrassment and his eyes looked at everything but Kagome. "He started it…" Was all that the man could say.

Kagome sighed in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me…"

Itachi watched in curiosity as Minato tried to explain himself to his cousin. For some reason, it was while talking to the blond jounin, that Kagome seemed the happiest she had appeared ever since Obito's…

What was it about Namikaze Minato that could possibly bring such a smile to Uchiha Kagome's face?

– End Flashback –

A pair of onyx eyes opened to look at the rain falling into the ground. Uchiha Itachi stood in one of the entrances to the Akatsuki base pondering on his sudden remembrance. "Why am I remembering something like that now?" The young man thought.

As of late, Itachi's head had been plagued by his blond target and the events of the night of their meeting, the image of the blue Sharingan seared into black haired man's mind.

The Akatsuki member had tried a basic meditation exercise to try to clear his head when the old memory found its way into the surface.

Suddenly, realization hit him. "Could it be…?"

His train of thought was unfortunately cut of by the sound of approaching steps. Looking up, Itachi could see his blue skin companion walking towards him. "There you are…!" He said once he reached the black haired man. "I've be looking everywhere for you. The others told me that you got our new orders..." Kisame commented.

The Sharingan user nodded. "Yes..." He answered. "We are to go to Konoha once again…" The Uchiha added before simply walking into the rain.

The former Kiri nin follow his black haired companion. "Goody, I finally get chance to meet the kid that kick your ass a couple of months ago." He said.

Itachi remained silent at the swordsman's words.

"I really don't know if I should capture him or thank him." Kisame remarked, adding a chuckle for effect.

The Uchiha was able to keep himself in check as he continued to walk.

"I mean, the great Itachi being defeated, no humiliated, by a genin brat! When I heard about it I thought it was my birthday!" The shark-like man commented before starting to laugh. "HAHAH… I really wish I could have been there to see your face…" He managed to add between his laughter.

The Sharingan user didn't even stop nor did his voice carry any sign of frustration. "Keep it up…" He started. "And when you fall asleep I'll just take you down the pier and trade you for ten boxes of pocky, again." Itachi warned, earning a glare from the former Mist shinobi.

A tree came crashing down as the redhead's transformed body went through its trunk. Naruto stood panting on a branch as the Sand nin's body was completely engulfed by dust.

Scattered wood, burn marks, and craters laid throughout the forest as evidence of the fight between the two Jinchuuriki.

"What's going on…?" At the sound of a new voice at the scene, Kankuro turned around to see Temari landing on the branch he had been standing.

A sigh of relief escaped the puppet user at the sight of the blond girl. "Well, as you can see the scenario is getting worse by the second. Something about that guy is just irking Gaara further and further." He said before looking at his older sister skeptically. "…How come it took you so long to get here?" The brown haired boy asked.

Surprising Kankuro, a blush appeared on the Suna kunoichi. "None of your business!" She declared looking away from her brother. Shrugging his sister reaction off, the boy set his eyes back on the fight between the two apparent monsters.

Just like the blond had expected it, a sand claw appeared flying towards him. After jumping into a higher branch, the Leaf genin started to move in the direction of the deranged boy.

Gaara look up to see his opponent's foot about to connect with his face. Once again, the sand coat had been virtually useless in trying to block the pain.

Before the kick could send the redhead's body flying back. Naruto grabbed one of the transformed arms and swung the monstrous body, slamming the Suna genin into a tree. The spiky haired boy followed by delivering a devastating uppercut under Gaara's chin, causing his body to lift off from the ground.

Catching the rising body but the ankle, the Konoha shinobi slammed the redhead back into the ground before jumping into the air and starting on a set of handseals. "Enten Kawa no Jutsu!" He called out before a blast of heat shot towards Gaara's transformed body, an explosion followed.

The new cloud of dust and ruble was big enough to engulf some of the trees. Jumping to one of the highest branches, Naruto waited once more.

"Suna Shuriken!" The barrage of sand projectiles appeared through the cloud of dust, destroying several trees on their way out.

The blond genin jumped higher up as his hands went through the necessary seals. "Housekan no Jutsu!" a barrage of small fireballs met with the sand shuriken, cancelling each other out.

As Naruto's feet were about to touch a branch, one of redhead's transformed arms came crashing through, forcing the spiky haired boy to create a clone to change his direction in mid air. The moment when the Leaf shinobi was finally able to land, the pain that had been bothering him for the last few months suddenly shot through his body, paralyzing the boy just as the second claw approached.

Standing helplessly on a branch, the boy could do nothing to defend himself as the monstrous limb grabbed him by the arm and forcibly pulled him towards the source.

Naruto found himself looking directly at Gaara's eyes. In his desperation, the Konoha nin didn't think twice. "Tsukuyomi…"

Immediately, all the sand left the redhead's body. The Suna genin tried to move as terror invaded his face just to find himself unable to move. "What's going on?" The Jinchuuriki exclaimed. He was no longer in the Konoha forest, but in some sort of dark wasteland. "What have you done with Mother?"

Standing a couple of feet away, the blond simply glared at the redhead. "Your Mother won't be able to manifest in here…" The genin stated. "This is a place where all of your sins come back to pass judgment…" A katana appeared between the two Jinchuuriki. "This is my world…" Naruto took a hold of the sword. "This is my hell…" He said before thrusting the blade forward.

Blue Sharingan eyes widened when the sword was stopped less than an inch from the Suna shinobi by the sand that had supposed to have disappeared.

A wicked smile appeared on Gaara's face as his body was covered by the sand once more, returning to the raccoon-like form. "I told you…" The redhead's voice carried an ominous yet mocking tone. "Mother will never desert me!"

Suddenly, Naruto was violently pushed back by an unseeing force as he found himself out of the Tsukuyomi mindscape. Finally stopping by hitting a tree, the blond felt a new pain coursing through his body, this time originating from his eyes. "Damn it… The scroll warned that this would happen if Tsukuyomi was rejected…" The boy whispered to himself as he clenched his head. "It must have been the One Tail's doing…" He commented, still trying to shake off the genjutsu's recoil.

"HAHAHA…!" Gaara's demented laugh sounded through the forest. "Was that your hell?" The redhead asked as his chakra started to spike. "Then allow me to bring mine out here!"

The blond could only watch dumbfound as sand suddenly skyrocketed from the Suna genin's body and took the form of a giant raccoon. The enormous monstrosity roared, causing several of the trees in the surrounding area to shake.

An massive claw started to move towards the still thunderstruck boy. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she saw that her teammate wasn't about to move.

At the sound of her voice, the monstrous creature shifted its eyes towards the girl. A piece of sand unexpectedly shot towards the pink haired kunoichi, catching her by surprise and slamming her body against a tree.

"Sakura!" Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino shouted at the same time.

The three boys immediately jumped towards the now unconscious girl. Reaching his former classmate first, Shino tried to get rid of the sand that was currently chocking her by using his bugs. To the genin's dismay, the Kikai Mushi could not digest the chakra in the sand.

"Can you get her out?" Shikamaru asked as he arrived.

Shino was about to answer his friend when suddenly the sand came back to life and trapped the two black haired boys. "Guys!" Sasuke exclaimed as his body got closer to his trapped comrades.

Managing to free one of his legs, Shikamaru kicked the incoming Uchiha away, saving the raven haired from been trapped by the sand.

Naruto realized that his body was now shaking, though not out of pain nor shock, but of pure anger and rage. "Damn you…" He said as he looked up at the enormous raccoon. "This fight is between the two of us! You didn't need to get them involved!" The blond shouted.

The monster's only reaction was to laugh at the Konoha nin's words before starting to reach for the boy again.

"You'll pay…" The Leaf genin couldn't hold back his rage anymore as the sand claw was almost over him. "I'm going to make you pay…" The navy blue chakra engulfed his body once more. "I'm going to make you pay for hurting them!" Naruto exclaimed as his hand automatically started on a set of handseals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A giant cloud of smoke went off in the forest. "Naruto… You better have a damn good reason for summoning me…" Gamabunta commented as the smoke around his body started to dissipate.

"I'm sorry Gamabunta-sama…" The blond apologize as he stood on top of the Toad Boss' head, the dark blue chakra still emanating throughout his body. "But this guy just really got on my nerves…" The genin's voice had become low and quiet, yet it still held something powerful. "…And I just feel like knocking some sense into him."

The toad looked at the monstrous raccoon standing in front of him. "I see…" Gamabunta sighed as he put his pipe away. "But you owe me one…" He added as he unsheathed his sword and pointed its blade at the sand creature.

The monster brought its arm forward, both claws immediately shot towards the enormous toad. Jumping high in the sky, Gamabunta prepared to strike the sand creature down with his sword.

Looking up at the Toad Boss, the raccoon shoot a barrage of what appeared to be wind blasts. "Teppoudama no Jutsu!" The brownish amphibious countered, releasing several water bullets to intercept the incoming attack. Wind and water meet in mid air; the toad's technique managed to stop all the blasts but one. "Naruto!"

Hearing his cue, the blond prepared his own attack. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" the last wind projectile was taken cared of by the genin's fireball.

Landing on the other side of the raccoon, Gamabunta immediately shot forward with his sword ready.

At the last second, the monster turned around and brought one of its arm up to block the blade strike.

The Toad Boss immediately took the chance and moved his head up, given the boy that summoned him an opening. "Enten Kawa no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed, releasing another powerful blast of heat towards the raccoon's head.

Unfortunately for the team of toad and boy, the sand monster managed to bring its other arm up to shield himself, at the cost of the limb. "HAHAHAHAH!" A deformed version of Gaara's laughter was heard coming from the gigantic creature. "It's this how you were going to make me pay, Naruto-kun?" The redhead's voice mocked. "Renkuudan!" The Jinchuuriki exclaimed before releasing another set of air bullets.

Gamabunta immediately jumped back to evade the wind based attack. "I'm not really sure you're worth all the trouble, Naruto…" The amphibious commented as he brought his sword forward, just in case the sand creature launched a sudden attack.

"Please, Gamabunta-sama, just give me one more opening." The blond requested. The Toad Boss gave an exasperated sighed, but still charged forward.

Laughter was the deformed genin's first response. "That's it! Come on! Mother and I can't wait to spill all of you blood!" The boy exclaimed from somewhere inside the enormous creature.

Just like before, the sand monster block the incoming sword strike with its good arm, but this time, as the Jinchuuriki started to raise his other limb for the second strike, Gamabunta opted to turn his head towards the wounded arm. "Teppoudama!" He said before releasing a barrage of water balls, hardening sand that formed the extremity and causing it to break up, before he left the stage to the Konoha shinobi.

Set on taking full advantage of his second chance, the spiky haired boy wasted no time in forming the necessary handseals for another attack. "Enten Kawa no Jutsu!"

Acting on instinct, the monstrous creature stretched his body in order for his head to escape the blast, the Katon jutsu instead created a hole through the Jinchuuriki's chest.

Gaara screamed in pain from the attack. Immediately, the monster's tail moved on its own and went around its body to strike the toad.

Seeing the attack coming, the amphibious jumped back in the air. Once airborne, Gamabunta set his eyes down on the sand creature. To say the least, the Toad Boss was getting tried of the demented Jinchuuriki. "Naruto, I'm going to take the initiative for a bit…" He informed before releasing a stream of oil on the raccoon successfully distracting the creature and allowing the brownish toad to strike down with his sword, severing the remaining monstrous arm.

The victory was short lived. When Gamabunta looked up at his opponent, his eyes widened in surprise as the Jinchuuriki's deformed body suddenly opened and lunged forward to swallow the Toad Boss. Thinking quickly, the amphibious shook his head back, throwing the blond out of hamr's way as he continued to fight off the sand that was sand that was trying to engulf him.

"Gamabunta-sama!" Naruto shouted as he created a shadow clone in order to break his fall and jump towards the mass of sand that was currently Gaara. Before the Leaf genin could even take a kunai out, a new sand claw suddenly sprout from the mass and shot toward the blond, catching the boy in mid air and driving him straight into the ground.

Sapphire eyes slowly opened as Naruto found his body in the forest's, or what was left of it, ground while the sand engulfed his body. "Look…!" The redhead's voice came out, excited. Gazing around, the blonde's eyes soon set on what the Suna nin was referring to.

The sight of the unconscious Sakura, and the barely conscious, Shikamaru and Shino, being crushed by the sand that encased them, while a weakened Sasuke tried to use Housekan to free them, but failing due to the lack of chakra.

"They're all going to die soon…" Gaara announced. "And you can't do a thing about it…" The glee was evident in the Sand genin's voice. "I'm going to take them away from you and offer them to Mother!"

The sand was now covering most of the blonde's body by now. Naruto's eyes pleadingly gazed at his comrades, hoping for a miracle to happen and save them. "I'm not strong enough to save them…" The sand was already starting to cover genin's neck. "It's just like that fox mask… I-I'm unable to protect the things that I-…" The sand was now reaching his face. "I…I want to keep them safe… I wa-want to protect them, because…" Images of the few pleasant memories that the boy had had flooded into his mind. With sudden gasp, the Jinchuuriki realized how much most of those memories, he had shared with his comrades, no, with his friends mean. "I won't let you hurt them! Gaara!" Naruto declared, by now most of his face was already covered by sand. "Because… they are all I have!" The Sora Sharingan returned to the blonde's last visible eyes and set on the abomination over him. "Amaterasu!"

Taking most of the boy's remaining chakra, the black flames engulfed the gigantic mass of sand. "AAAHHH!" Gaara screamed as the flames spread through his deformed body. "Mother! Mother!" The monstrous creature backed away from the toad as the dark fire continued to consume his body.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Gamabunta asked as he looked down at the boy that was struggling to get up. "Take easy, it's over now…" The Toad Boss stated, knowing quite well the effects of the Amaterasu flames and what would be the sand Jinchuuriki's ultimate fate.

The blond shook his head. "No… I have one more…" The Konoha genins stated as he began to pull up his right sleeve and revealing a bandaged forearm.

Gamabunta's eyes widened at realization. "Are you sure you can pull it off?" The amphibious asked with concern.

Nodding, Naruto looked up at the enormous toad. "Yeah, but I'm going to need a lift…"

At the boy's words, the Toad Boss sighed and lowered one of his hands. "Ok… Get on…"

The Leaf nin proceeded to jump on the toad's palm. After stretching his arm back, Gamabunta shot the young Jinchuuriki towards the burning raccoon with all his strength.

"I only have one shot at this…" Naruto thought as the tore the bandages in his arm to give view to a summoning tattoo. Smearing the mark with blood from one of his wounds and gathering his remaining chakra, the blond preformed the necessary handseals. "Namikaze – Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Just as Naruto was about to reach Gaara, both Jinchuuriki were swallowed up by a blinding light.