Chapter 14: Acknowledgement

Naruto watched as Temari and Kankuro leaped from the stands and carry a half-transformed Gaara out of the stadium as Sand and Sound shinobi alike began invading, fighting the Leaf shinobi in the stands. 

Naruto turned his head and saw Sayuri, Shikamaru, Shino, and Sakura running towards him. As they arrived, he rose an eyebrow. 

"Obito-sensei said we need to follow you and take care of Gaara!" Sakura said quickly, worry evident in her voice. Naruto looked at the giant hole that was now in the stadium, no doubt Gaara having made it in his escape with his siblings. 

"Alright," He said. "Did he put anyone in charge?" 

"Yeah, you," Shikamaru said a bit bitterly, still angry about how Naruto had poised a sword at his throat just an hour ago. Naruto didn't look the least bit surprised, angering Sayuri further.

"Don't let it get to your head, dobe." 

"A pity," Naruto said as he suddenly whirled around and beheaded a Sound shinobi who was trying to sneak up on them with his sword. "Alright, just follow me. Shino you'll be taking care of Kankuro. Shikamaru and Sakura, you'll be facing Temari. Sayuri and I will take down Gaara." 

With that, they left the stadium, sprinting towards their goal. 

"Are you sure they're going to be alright?" Sayuri asked as they left behind Shikamaru and Sakura to deal with Temari and Shino with Kankuro. Naruto nodded.

"Positive." He knew what he was doing. He knew what he wasn't doing. 

He was failing to save Hiruzen in order to protect everyone else. He knew it. Hiruzen was going to die and he was the only one besides Hiruzen himself who knew of that information. He shook his head. 

He would mourn later. 

As they dashed forward, Naruto's eyes widened. "Duck!" He shouted as he tackled Sayuri to a large branch that could support both of their combined weight, a large hand of sand hitting down a tree right where they had been moments before. 

Sayuri's face turned bright red when she realized that Naruto was hovering over her body, holding himself up by holding his hands on the bark on either side of her head, his head turned towards Gaara who's mental state kept deteoriating. 

"UZUMAKI! PROVE THAT I EXIST!" Naruto pushed himself up, glaring at Gaara. 

"You do exist, Gaara. I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I'm going to change you." With that, he took off, rapidly gaining on Gaara, flipping and spinning over the sand that Gaara sent his way. "I want to save you, Gaara!" 

Sayuri watched as Naruto expertly dodged each of Gaara's attacks, all the while talking about saving the crazed Sand ninja. 'Naruto,'  She thought as she stood up. 'Let me save you too!' 

Sayuri dashed forward, not having to avoid any of Gaara's attacks since the red head was focused solely on Naruto, giving her a chance to stop at a nearby tree branch and make a couple signs, her right hand sparking blue as lightning began surrounding around her, her left hand clutched to her wrist as she prepped the shot. 

'Sasuke,'  Naruto thought as he heard the familiar sound of birds chirping rapidly, no doubt a Chidori. 'No, Sayuri. Good, attack him while I distract him!' 

Naruto dodged a quick blow from Gaara and was now in front of that boy. "This is going to hurt you a lot more than you'd like to think." Naruto spoke before stabbing a kunai into Gaara's sand armor, a paper bomb laced along the handle. 

Jumping back, Naruto made a small hand seal and watched as an explosion rippled through the air, smoke clouding up his vision as well as Gaara's. "NOW!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Sayuri shot forward, putting every bit of energy into her legs and into her Chidori, pushing as fast as she could as she emerged from the smoke, surprising Gaara who's eyes widened as she struck down, piercing his sand armor and hitting him right in the shoulder, piercing it. 

"AGGGHHH!" Gaara shouted out as his shoulder screamed in pain, blood pouring down onto the tree branch he was standing on as well as his sand. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed as he punched Sayuri with his sand-encased arm, sending her flying into a tree. 

Sayuri coughed as she slid down the tree trunk, blood trailing down her chin as she clutched her stomach. "Sayuri!" Naruto shouted as he instantly appeared by her side. "Are you alright?" He asked her, concern laced in his voice. 

"Do I look alright dobe?" She asked sarcastically before wincing in pain again. 

"This time mother will kill you both! None of you or your friends will live to see tomorrow!" Gaara roared as he made a single hand seal. "Playing Possum Jutsu!" He shouted as his eyes rolled back into his skull, his body collapsing. 

"I-Is it over?" Sayuri asked, her Sharingan eyes deactivating as she rested her head on the bark behind her. Naruto smiled sadly at her and placed a single hand on her head, causing her eyes to widen momentarily.

"I'm afraid not," He slowly stood up and turned around, making a barrier of himself between Gaara and Sayuri, the former who now had sand swirling around him like a sandstorm. 

Soon, the sand began taking form into a giant monster, with that monster being Shukaku. "Oh hoo! I'm finally free from that brat's mind!" Naruto looked back at Sayuri. 

"I'm sorry for what I said, it was insensitive of me. Out of everyone in the entire village, you are probably the only one who understands the way I feel." Sayuri wanted to ask him what he meant, to ask him why he was saying this now of all times. Her eyes widened. 

"D-Don't talk as if you're going to die, dobe." Naruto smiled at her. 

"I wish I got to know more about you, Sayuri-chan." He then turned back around and began walking towards Shukaku, who had made a large clearing due to his massive size. Sayuri had a blush as red as tomato spread across her face at his words. 

"HEHEHEHE!" Shukaku laughed madly as he saw Naruto's small body walking towards him. "You dare challenge me? The mighty Shukaku? One of the nine tailed beasts? I'll kill you and the rest of this village for your arrogance!" 

"I'm sorry, Shukaku-san." Naruto spoke loudly and clearly, his hair standing up straighter as two bangs stood straight up, his clothes moving slightly due to the wind as they began glowing a bright golden yellow, several insignia marks appearing all around his body, his eyes turning a golden yellow with two lines as his pupils, overlapping with each other as one was going down vertically and the other going across horizontally. 

"But I'm afraid I can't let you do that, you see, I made a promise when I first got here," He glanced back at Sayuri, who emitted a gasp as she met his now completely different look. "And that's to protect everyone that I could in this world and change the future," He looked back at Shukaku, glaring at him. "You can threaten me all you want, but the moment you threaten my friends and family is the moment I don't care how badly you're beaten!" 

Shukaku quickly punched the blonde backward, but only succeeded in making the blonde skid backward. "I don't care about your petty speeches! Just die along with your little girlfriend!" Shukaku rose both of his fists in the air. 

He swung with all his might down towards the blonde and raven-haired Leaf shinobi, intending on squishing them like bugs. "I refuse!" Naruto roared at the top of his lungs as a large hand of chakra sprouted from his arm, catching both of Shukaku's arms as he grit his teeth. 

"I won't let my friends die! I won't let anyone else die! I won't let anyone I care about die ever again!" He shouted, tears streaming down his face as he pushed back, shocking Shukaku as well as Sayuri, who could do nothing but watch. 

"What are you?!" Shukaku screamed as he drew back, fear now in his voice. 

"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Naruto roared as a single black ball, a Truthseeker Orb, appeared in his right hand and shifted into a chakra rod. "AND I WILL BECOME THE HOKAGE AND SAVE THIS WORLD!" He hurled the chakra rod forward, it moving so fast that not even Shukaku could see where it was going before it hit Gaara right in the forehead, effectively waking up the redhead. 

"NOOOOOO!" Shukaku screamed out in rage as he began dissolving, being put right back into Gaara as the boy free fell from the sky, his body hitting the ground hard. Naruto then turned back to normal and the chakra rod disappeared and he collapsed to his knees and then his stomach. 

"I can't, I can't give up yet!" He whispered frantically as he tried moving but to no avail. "I have to keep going! I have to try!" He began using his chin to move closer to Gaara. As he moved closer, Gaara turned his head to see Naruto slowly moving towards him, his eyes widening in fear.

"S-Stay away from me! I don't want to disappear! I don't want to die! Stay awaaayyy!" He cried out. 

"It's painful, isn't it?" Naruto asked him, shocking the Jinchuuriki. "Being all alone with no one there to help you? To not be able to rely on someone else to save you when you need it most? That loneliness, I know it too Gaara! I know it too well," Tears streamed Naruto's cheeks as he kept getting closer.

"How? How are you able to keep fighting?" Gaara asked. Naruto stopped crawling for a moment.

"Because I found people I need to protect! I failed last time but I was given a second chance! I fight because I need to protect my precious ones no matter the cost, even if I lose every limb in my body I'll still fight!" Gaara looked up at the sky, his entire body aching.

"I don't have anyone like that." He replied. "I've only had one person in my life that I've truly cared about and they betrayed me." 

"I won't betray you Gaara!" Naruto shouted, causing Gaara to look at Naruto in shock. 

"W-What?" 

"We're friends now! You're not alone anymore! We've experienced the same pain and we've fought, we understand each other a lot more than you realize. You're my friend now, Gaara!" Gaara looked at Naruto for a long time before the tiniest smile appeared on his face. 

"That's. . . fine." He whispered just loud enough for Naruto to hear. Naruto smiled brightly at his fellow Jinchuuriki. As if on cue, Temari and Kankuro appeared by Gaara's side and lifted him up. 

"I don't need to be the only bond you have, Gaara. You have two siblings that care about you very much." Naruto spoke as he met the teal-green eyes that were Gaara's. Gaara glanced at Temari and Kankuro.

"I'm sorry for the way I've acted before, please forgive me." Temari gave her brother a weak but genuine smile.

"It's alright, you're our little brother. We could never hate you." 

"Yeah," Kankuro agreed. "Let's go home." Gaara looked at Naruto.

"Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki. May we meet again." 

"Count on it," Naruto said with a grin. With that, the sand siblings quickly left, not wanting to be captured by the Leaf forces that were no doubt on their way. Naruto put his head down and forced himself to roll over, where he saw Sayuri standing over him. 

"Come on, dobe." She said as she lifted him up and placed an arm around her shoulder. "We need to go back to the village." Naruto smiled.

"Thank you, Sayuri-chan." A small blush ran across her face, but she didn't respond. 

It was time to go back home.

And done. How was it? Good? Bad? Tell me! 

Anyways

Ye

Til next time my lil demons!