Third Person's POV

Naruto panted as he looked at Gaara, his face softened to a look with worry as he sees his fellow Jinchūriki.
"Gaara..." he mumbled,

"He's half transformed" Kurama pointed out as he narrowed his eyes. Gaara looked below with wide eyes, his breath shaky.
"No.. I didn't.. want him... to see me... like this.." he mumbled to himself. He was starting to calm down but when he looked up again his eyes landed on Sasuke. His bloodlust took over again as he narrowed his eyes. Naruto gasped as he feels the killing intent then turned to his teammates
"You guys, hurry up and- !" he yelled but stopped when Gaara passes by him aiming his transformed hand at Sasuke. Sakura gasps as she sees Gaara fast approaching them
"Die, Uchiha Sasuke!" he yelled out, he was going to hit Sasuke but Sakura stepped in holding a kunai in an attempt to defend Sasuke.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled out in a panic. Gaara widened his eyes as he remembers the person he trusted the most, Yashamaru, protecting a kid his age who he was about to hurt.

He grunted as he hit her with his transformed arm
"Move it!" he yelled as he slams Sakura to a tree who then fell unconscious, he panted for a while when he suddenly felt pain through him, he held his head as he yelled in pain. Naruto quickly took Sasuke and went to another branch, he lay him there as he thought 'Damn it, he used the Curse Mark..' he looked back at Sakura and Gaara with a worried look.

After a while, Gaara seemed to calm down, he slowly looked up at Naruto
"Who are these two...? Who are they to you?.." Gaara asked, Naruto stood up as he looked at him
"They're my precious comrades! And you are precious to me too!" Naruto replied as both Gaara and Sasuke widened their eyes. 'What..?' Sasuke thought as he glanced at Naruto.
"Gaara calm down" Naruto said as he took a step forward but Gaara tightened his transformed arm on Sakura causing her to groan in pain making Naruto stop.
"Don't.. come near me..." Gaara said, but Naruto didn't listen and tried to go near him

"Gaara-"

"I said don't come near me!" Gaara yelled as he hit Naruto with his transformed tail, but good thing Naruto landed safely on a branch with leaves. Naruto slowly got up as he panted holding his side. Gaara exhaled before speaking

"Weak.."

"Huh?"

"You're weak because you fight for others. Unless you fight for yourself you will never get to this level.." he said as Naruto widened his eyes
"Gaara, what are you-"
"You can't beat me.. you won't" Gaara cut him off again giving him a stern glare
"That's because you don't have enough hate towards them and you fight for others. You can't beat me, even if you have him inside you!" Gaara yelled as Naruto widened his eyes. He completely understood what Gaara meant while Sasuke could only wonder 'Hate? Him? What is he talking about?' he thought.

Naruto grunted as he clenched his fists
"Gaara snap out of it! This isn't right!" Naruto yelled
"Then what is?! I'm a monster who isn't supposed to exist! I can only prove my existence by killing stronger opponents!" Gaara shot back as he felt tears threaten to fall from his eyes. Naruto understands him but he gets the feeling he doesn't understand him completely. Unlike him, Gaara hated the villagers of his village with every cell of his body but Naruto chose to protect the villagers of his own village. He closed his eyes as he looked down, he inhaled and exhaled then he looked back up at Gaara.
"Gaara please stop. We can talk about this.." Naruto said taking a step near him but Gaara narrowed his eyes as he tightened his transformed arm on Sakura making her groan in pain
"No, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled but Gaara only smiled, a sinister one. He looked at Naruto with wide eyes like he was insane.

"What are you gonna do? I've hurt your precious comrades, are you gonna kill me?" Gaara asked in a calm but crazy way making Naruto furrow his brows as he sweat drop
"I don't want to fight you!"
"Heh, you think you can talk your way out of this? You're comrades are hurt, they might even die because of me. Are you gonna kill me? Aren't I one of your precious comrades?" Gaara asked slightly raising his voice as Naruto clicked his tongue, 'Damn it! What should I do?' he thought. Gaara laughed a bit before saying
"What are you gonna do Naruto?!"

Naruto looked down as he thought 'If I can't talk this out with him then I have no choice but to fight him' he made up his mind, he looked at Gaara with seriousness in his eyes
"You leave me no choice Gaara" he said, Gaara only smiled sinisterly at his words. Naruto bit his thumb as he did a few hand signs and slammed his hand on a branch near him
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he said, smoke came out from where his hand was. In hopes to see the Chief Toad, they were crushed from seeing a young orange toad with purple markings around his eyes, mouth and stomach.
"What? What do you want kid?" the toad asked, Naruto blinked a few times before yelling in his head. 'What the heck?! Where's the Chief Toad?!' he thought
"Who are you?" Naruto asked
"I'm Gamakichi" the toad responded as Kurama facepalmed

"It must be the anxiety.. yeah, it's gotta be" Kurama said holding a laugh, 'This ain't funny Kurama!' Naruto clenched his fist as he looked at it, 'Damn it! I gotta do what I can, I'm the only one who can stop this!' he thought to himself. Gaara chuckled as his face transformed
"Which will it be? My strength from fighting for myself or your strength from fighting for others? Which will win?!" he yelled out as his whole body tansformed, detaching his transformed arm from Sakura so a hand remains.

He crossed his arms then opens them
"Suna Shuriken! (Sand Shuriken)" a couple of shuriken made out of sand came out aiming at Naruto. Naruto quickly took Gamakichi and jumped back hitting a tree then fell to a branch. Gamakichi looked at Gaara then at Naruto
"So uh.. who's the freak?" he asked referring to Gaara, Naruto panted for a bit then responded
"He's a friend. A friend who needs saving" Naruto said as Gamakichi's eyes went wide
"Wha- that's your friend?" he asked clearly amused. Naruto nodded as he looked at Gaara's eyes. He sees loneliness and pain, the same look he used to have as a child. But then he met Kurama, and Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke. They helped him fill the loneliness in his heart, but Gaara had no one. Naruto was sure that the other Jinchūriki felt like this, that's why he made it his goal. To help them so they won't feel that same loneliness and pain. And saving Gaara was the first step.

He heard Sakura groan in pain as the sand hand holding her tightened. Naruto deduced that the sand hardens as time passes by and he needs to hurry.
"What's wrong? Thinking of a way to save your comrades? Forget them. Love only yourself and fight for yourself, that's what it means to be the strongest!" Gaara said as Naruto clicked his tongue
"Show me your strength! Naruto! Or else I'll kill the girl and the Uchiha!" he yelled as Naruto grunted and jumped towards him forming a hand sign

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled out as plenty of Naruto's appeared.

"Futon: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa (Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough)" Gaara inhaled then breathed out a storm of sand getting rid of all the clones instantly. Naruto lay on a branch feeling the pain from the attack then slowly stood up. Gaara then crossed his arms then opens it using the same move of throwing Sand Shuriken, it penetrated through some trees and eventually hit Naruto on the process, sending him to another tree. He tried to stand up again but Gaara used the same move and sent Naruto to another tree. This happened a few more times but Naruto still stands up shocking Temari and Pakkun who were watching.

"Why do you hesitate? Show me your strength!" Gaara shouted. Naruto stood up again, a trickle of blood on his mouth. He wiped it away as he furrowed his brows.

"Kit, you need to take this seriously"

'I know, I have a plan. I'm gonna use that move' Naruto responded making Kurama raise a brow at him

"You're not talking about the Oiroke right?" Kurama asked as Naruto in front of him stumbled
"Wha- no way! Who would use that in a battle?!"

"You"

"..."

"No way!"

Naruto huffed. Gaara started rambling again, Naruto took a kunai from his holster and took a paper bomb from his pouch, he then wrapped it around the handle. 'This shouldn't do much damage. I don't want him to be badly injured..' Naruto thought as he formed a sign

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" four Naruto's appeared and they all jumped towards Gaara. Gaara smirked as he stretched an arm towards Naruto but was stopped by three clones taking the hit. The fourth Naruto gabbed onto the original's collar as he stepped on Gaara's arm, throwing the original towards Gaara.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" another Naruto appeared taking the hit from Gaara's arm that attacked. He was now behind Gaara but he needed to get near him, so he created another clone as a stepping stone and stepped on his back then jumped.
"Be prepared!" he yelled as he took out the kunai he prepared and stuck it on Gaara's butt
"Kakashi-sensei's A Thousand Years of Death!" he said as Gamakichi, Temari, and Pakkun slumped. Gaara looked at Naruto and smacked him away with his tail.

As Naruto was smacked he simply smirked
"Boom.." he mumbled as the paper bomb detonated. Instead of hitting the tree, Sasuke used what's left of his strength to catch Naruto but he ended up getting hit. Naruto looked at Sasuke with a surprised look. The smoke cleared out to see that half of the transformation turned into sand, Sasuke sighed
"All that work and you only got one blow?" Sasuke scoffed
"Shut up. I'm the one fighting here" Naruto replied as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Nice work kit"

'Yeah.. I figured that the base of the tail has the weakest defense. It is the butt after all' Kurama sweat dropped at Naruto's response.
"Naruto, you have to save Sakura no matter what. Once you've got her, I want you to take her and find someplace safe" Sasuke said as he looked at Gaara
"Huh?" Sasuke slowly stood up trying to ignore the pain the mark caused
"I lost everything once. I don't want to see... my precious comrades fall in front of me" Sasuke stated as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Sasuke.." Naruto mumbled, he reached out to Sasuke's arm and pulled him down standing up in the process. Sasuke grunted in pain as he fell on his butt.
"What do you think.. you're doing..?" Sasuke asked as he groaned in pain, Naruto sighed
"And here I thought you weren't an idiot. Well, I guess it's fine" Naruto said with a shrug
"What?"
"I mean, we're all idiots. It's just our choice to show it or not in places or times we want to" Naruto explained as Sasuke clicked his tongue
"Not that. I'm telling you to save Sakura and run away, I'll hold him off until you two are safe!" Sasuke insisted as Naruto sighed again
"I know, I know. It was supposed to be a touching moment, but you're clearly in no condition to fight, ya know!" Naruto said as he put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders looking into his eyes
"With how you are right now, you can't fight at your best and you might get even more hurt. And I don't want that. Leave this to me Sasuke" Naruto said in hopes to reassure him.

He let him go and stood facing Gaara, Sasuke could only watch him and he didn't like it, he felt even more weak. He looked at his hands in anger, disappointed at his current state
"You know..." Naruto said catching Sasuke's attention
"It's alright to rely on others. Don't take the burden all to yourself" Naruto stated, he looked behind him and grinned
"So leave it to me!" Naruto beamed. He then looked at Gaara as Gaara looked back at him
"He's no different from me. Going through the same sadness and lonelines I carried. He fought for himself and only him, at some point I thought that was true strength but no, that's not what true strength is. If you never fight for anyone but yourself then you'll never be strong, no matter what you do." Naruto stated as he remembered Haku's words to him.

He looked at Gaara in determination, he did the ram hand sign as Sasuke gasped. Naruto yelled to help let out his chakra, blue chakra surrounded Naruto as Sasuke put an arm in front of him from the force he was feeling. He was surprised with how Naruto is easily releasing chakra,
"I'll protect you.. I'll save you..!" he said to himself, he then did a hand sign and created about 2,000 clones. Gaara, Temari, Pakkun, and Sasuke widened their eyes in shock, the Shadow Clone jutsu was a forbidden technique that could kill you and an average Jonin could only summon 5 at its best, with this many the caster should've died. Gamakichi only smirked,
"Not bad"

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I'd like you to see a not-so-original move that I just thought of a while ago!" Naruto announced, Gaara looked around him in confusion but he understood why Naruto could do this. He has a huge amount of chakra after all.
"Nice one kid! You're showing a lot of promise!" Gamakichi exclaimed,
"How.. did you do this?" Sasuke asked in disbelief
"Sasuke, you should take it easy. I'll handle things here, okay?" Naruto said with a close eyed smile as Sasuke sweat dropped still shocked with how Naruto is right now. Kurama smirked

"You're living up to your family name" Naruto smirked mentally as he replied 'Of course. After all, the Uzumaki clan is known for their longevity and their huge chakra reserves'

"All right! Let's go everyone!" Naruto yelled as he punched the air. They then made their way towards Gaara, some Naruto's took out a few shuriken and threw it at him all at once hitting Gaara's arm in his attempt to defend himself. Then some Naruto's appeared from below as they each gave him a kick
"U!"
"Zu!"
"Ma!"
"Ki!"
"Naruto Niisen Rendan! (Uzumaki Naruto 2k Barrage)" they then all gave Gaara a bunch of punches to destroy his sand defense, his transformation was now starting to lose its form. Then two Naruto's gave him an upper cut letting Gaara fall to the ground creating a small crater. The Naruto's then proceeded to do their next move as Gaara thought, 'Where did that strength come from?' he thought that Naruto was only strong because of Kurama and that if it weren't for him then he'd be weak but Naruto proved him wrong.
"No.. there's no way.. there's no way I'll lose to a guy like you!" Gaara yelled as he did his final transformation.

A huge wave of sand rose up getting rid of all the Naruto's, well the original was pushed to the tree.
"What the?" smoke was created as Gaara did his final transformation, Naruto squinted his eyes to try to see throught the smoke seeing a huge figure in it.

(I may refer to Gaara as Shukaku since he transformed into him. Just to lessen the confusion)

"It's Shukaku!" Kurama said as he narrowed his eyes
"Shukaku? How did he get out?" Naruto asked the large fox within him

"He didn't get out, there's a jutsu that's only for Jinchūriki, and that is the Tailed-beast Transformation technique. The Jinchūriki gets to tansform into the Bijū within them and control it" Kurama explained as Naruto looked at Shukaku in awe
"That's.. that's so cool! I can't even do that yet!" he exclaimed as Kurama sighed. Gaara looked at Naruto and raised an arm as sand started to surround Naruto. Naruto gasped as he tried to get out but he couldn't
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled in worry and tried to go to him but his body went numb as he crouched. Naruto closed his eyes but then had a vision of Gaara, Sakura, and Sasuke. He opened his eyes again as he thought 'No! I can't give up! I have to save them!' he then calmly wiped the blood on his mouth with his thumb and did the needed hand signs as he was fully engulfed in sand. Just as Gaara was about to use Sand Burial Naruto beat him to it
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he yelled as he finally summoned Gamabunta, the Chief Toad.
"I'll save you.. Sakura-chan.. Sasuke.. Gaara..!" he mumbled to himself as he looked at Gaara in Shukaku's form. Gaara chuckled as he found Naruto's unexpected actions amusing, Sasuke could only watch in awe.

Naruto panted as he felt relief to see Gamabunta. Gamabunta looked above him as he raised a brow
"Not you again. What is it this time?" he asked then noticed the opponent in front of him.
"Will you look at that, Shukaku the Sand Spirit" he said as Shukaku moved his tail
"Come on Chief Toad, will you fight alongside me?" Naruto asked, Gamabunta breathed out smoke from his mouth

"No" Naruto looked at him shocked and wide-eyed
"There's no way I'd mess around with him. I'm not an idiot"
"Oh come on! I thought you said you'd work with me! It's only natural for a boss to help is henchman right? Don't you have any sense of duty?" Naruto ranted as he sat down cross-legged and smacked Gamabunta's head which didn't affect him at all.
"I did say I'd work with you but we didn't seal the deal over a cup of sake yet" Gamabunta calmly replied
"Oh come on! I'm not even 21 years old yet!" Naruto yelled as he held his head in a panic. Just then, Gamakichi hopped on Naruto's head
"Come on pops, why don't you settle down and hear him out?"
"Huh? Pops?" Naruto asked in disbelief, Gamabunta glanced up
"What are you doing here Gamakichi?" he asked in a slightly mad tone
"I had nothing to do so I came to hang out" Gamakichi replied
"Hold on, you're father and son?" he asked but neither of the toads answered him
"By the way pops, that big ugly lug over there picked on me!" he said as he pointed a finger at Shukaku
"What?" Gamabunta asked as he narrowed his eyes on Shukaku
"Yeah! And when he did, this kid protected me! He went head to head with that guy. I'm telling you pops, this kid is interesting!" Gamakichi said with a cheeky smile
"Is that so?" he said as he made a short glaring contest with Shukaku.

He then held on to his dagger,
"Okay kid, you're hereby accepted as my henchman. Sit tight" Gamabunta said as he drew out his dagger. He then readied himself and charged at Shukaku, Naruto holding on to his seat. He stabbed Shukaku's arm but Shukaku threw him behind as his arm was cut off. 'Amazing..' Naruto thought as Kurama rolled his eyes. The spectators below had to hold on to the trees to prevent themselves from flying away. Gaara breathed heavily as he looked at Gamabunta.
"By the way Chief! Don't go over there, Sasuke and Sakura-chan are in there so lead him over here!" Naruto said as he pointed to where Sasuke and Sakura were. Gamabunta questioned who they were and Naruto replied saying that they were his teammates.

"Interesting! How interesting! Not bad Uzumaki Naruto!" he yelled out. Gaara appeared on Shukaku's head showing the upper half of his body
"To thank you for entertaining me, I'll show you the true power of the manifestation of the sand" he stated as he looked at Naruto with an insane smile. Gamabunta started explaining about what Gaara was about to do and how it is as Shukaku's host, having insomnia and how his personality is slowly being eaten away, Gaara did a hand sign as he closed his eyes
"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Play Possum Technique)" Gaara said as his body went limp and he finally fell asleep. As Shukaku's eyes regained its color he yelled out in happiness

"I'm finally free!" he then looked at Naruto and Gamabunta and pointed a finger at them

"I hope you're ready to die!" he yelled. Kurama scoffed at the Ichibi

"Freaking Tanuki"

"Futon: Renkudan! (Wind release: Drilling Air Bullet)" Shukaku smacked his stomach as he spat out a bullet of wind, Gamabunta jumped to dodge and did a few hand signs

"Suiton: Teppodama! (Water release: Liquid Bullet)" he spat out a bullet of water which Shukaku countered with his Renkudan which sent a rainstorm kind of affect to the one's watching. As Gamabunta jumped away, Shukaku sent him a few more of his air bullets and Gamabunta countered them with his own water bullets. Unexpectedly, one more air bullet came and hit Gamabunta. Shukaku cheered a high pitched squeel

"I did it! I killed him! I killed him!" but then Gamabunta came out again angry
"That seriously hurts! That was an awful lot of chakra you blasted me with!" he yelled angrily, Naruto gulped as he looked down
"What should we do.." he said to himself. Kurama opened his eyes then closed then again

"Wake him up. Shukaku's host." Kurama said as realization hit Naruto
"We.. we gotta wake him up! We gotta wake Gaara!" Naruto yelled to Gamabunta
"Heh, good thinking kid"
"H-how should I wake him?"
"Just give him a good punch!" Shukaku fired another air bullet which Gamabunta dodged and fired his own water bullet which Shukaku dodged by taking a step back. Gamabunta held on to Shukaku the best he can
"Now's your chance!" he yelled but with a simple move back Shukaku was free from Gamabunta's grasp. He jumped away as Naruto shouted

"You need to hold on to him!"
"I'm a toad! I don't have claws or fangs to dig into the enemy with! We'll need to use Henge no Jutsu!" Gamabunta suggested as he faced Shukaku
"I'm not good at transformation so I'll leave it to you!"
"Huh?"
"A combined transformation! Come up with something that has fangs and claws!" without giving Naruto time to think he charged at Shukaku.
"Here we go!"
"Hold on!" Naruto racked his brain for a transformation with fangs and claws, just as they were closing in he remembers the day he first meets the Kyūbi no Kitsune.

"Henge no Jutsu!"

Smoke appeared, and what came out of that was Kurama, the Kyūbi no Kitsune. Kurama was surprised that the first thing that came to Naruto's mind was him but he was a little happy about it. He ran towards Shukaku as he growled, Shukaku scoffed

"Freaking kitsune"

He muttered as he inhaled and smacked his stomach to shoot an air bullet which Gamabunta in Kurama's form easily dodged. He got a little close but Shukaku smacked him with his tail pushing him a few steps back, he ran at him and attempted to hold on to him but Shukaku dodged, he shot another air bullet as Gamabunta jumped to dodge.
"Tch, his power is increasing" Gamabunta said
"Come on Chief! We just need to get close to punch him awake!" Naruto yelled
"I know! Let's go!" he shouted as he used one of his tails to grab three trees and dashed towards Shukaku. They passed by each other then turned to look at each other, Gamabunta jumped as Shukaku shot an air bullet but Gamabunta threw the trees he had to block the attack. He landed in front of Shukaku and bit his chest and dug his claws into his arms to hold him still making Shukaku struggle to escape. Gamabunta smirked
"Okay kid. Go on!" Gamabunta said
"Leave it to me!" Naruto responded as they detransformed and Naruto jumped high in the air and prepared his fist as he closed in on Gaara
"Wake up Gaara!" he yelled as he punched Gaara in the face, Gaara groaned a little as his cheek started to swell. Naruto fell face down on Shukaku's head next to Gaara as Shukaku growled

"Goddamnit! I just came out here!" Shukaku yelled in frustration as his voice trailed off and his eyes lost its color. Although they ended the jutsu it seems like Gaara still had some fight left. Gaara's eyes shot open as Naruto accidentally slipped to Shukaku's nose. He noticed Gaara is finally awake so he took this chance to give him another smack. So he stood up and ran to him, Gaara looked at him in anger so he used what little chakra left to let Naruto's feet sink to the surface of Shukaku and let sand engulf him
"Sabaku Kyu! (Sand Coffin)"
"Help him pops!" Gamakichi said in a panic
"I got him!" Gamabunta replied as he used his tongue to wrap around Naruto to protect him from the sand. Regardless, Shukaku's body was made up of sand so the sand eventually rose to Naruto inside, because Shukaku's body was pushing Gamabunta he had to bring his tongue back.

Naruto struggled to get out of the sand as Gaara narrowed his eyes at him
"I've decided to kill you. I'll wipe you from the face of the earth, I will not cease to exist!" he told Naruto as Naruto gritted his teeth. Kurama growled as he furrowed his brows

"This brat!"

'Calm down Kurama! Let me handle this!'

He glanced to where Sakura is and notices that the sand was hardening again. He then remembers what Sasuke told him. He looked back at Gaara as he clenched his fists, 'I promise! I'll protect you! I'll save you!' he thought

"Believe me. I will kill you. I will not cease to exist" Gaara said
"Killing others won't do you any good! You have to snap out of it and think again Gaara! I'm running out of time.." Naruto told him but he whispered the last part. He closed his eyes as he did the ram hand sign. 'Kurama.. will you help me out?' Naruto asked but Kurama was reluctant to answer, 'Please. I promise I won't die, I won't lose. I still have things to do, people to save!' Naruto pleaded, Kurama looked at him. He exhaled to calm himself down as he slowly nodded, Naruto smiled as he felt a bit of Kurama's chakra flow through him. He yelled as he molded chakra, the red chakra surrounded his body as it pushes away the sand holding his feet. Even his forehead protector was blown away and his jacket was zipped open showing the black shirt he wore underneath. He opened his eyes as he thought 'I'll protect everyone! I'll save you Gaara!'
"Get ready Gaara!" he shouted as Gaara did a hand sign in anger
"Die!" he yelled, Naruto jumped towards him ready to punch but as he was getting close the sand grabbed a hold of his arms and legs restricting any movement. He tried to punch through but he couldn't, as seconds passed by he's getting more frustrated. He growled as he tried to pull back his hand

"I.. I've had it with you!" he yelled as he hit Gaara's forehead with his own. Blood started to trickle down from their collided heads and Shukaku's form started cracking and broke down into sand. As much as Gamabunta wanted to see how this ends he was at his limit so he and Gamakichi decided to return home. The smoke blew both Gaara and Naruto into different tree tops, they both sat up as they panted looking at each other.
"I can't go any further, I've used up all my chakra. And from the looks of it, so have you" he said pointing out to his and Gaara's current state.
"We're both alike. We're Jinchūriki who were ostracized by our own village, we really shouldn't be doing this" Naruto said as he slowly stood up, Gaara did the same and they both had a staring contest. They both shifted one foot to the side then they both jumped with a fist to punch the other. In the end, Naruto was the one who was able to land a hit first. They both fell down to the ground, Gaara landing on his back and Naruto landing on his stomach. There was a fair distance between the two, Gaara groaned as he slowly turned his head to the left to see Naruto.

The sand holding Sakura finally cracked and turned to sand, she fell but Sasuke had enough strength to catch her. He landed to where Pakkun is and lay her there,
"I'll leave her to you" Sasuke said as he left.

Naruto panted, despite the fact that his body is aching all over he used what little strength he had to drag himself towards Gaara.

"Naruto you shouldn't move" Kurama scolded but Naruto didn't stop, 'I.. I have to talk to him...' Naruto replied as Kurama sighed

"Take it easy, I'll start healing you" Kurama said as he did that. Gaara looked at him as he thought 'What could it be that makes him so strong?' he thought, 'I won't disappear. I won't cease to exist!' he thought as he slowly closed his eyes and memories from how the villagers treated him came flooding back. Naruto groaned as he kept dragging himself towards Gaara, at this time he started remembering how the villagers treated him, before and even until now. Gaara slowly opened his eyes and gasps as he sees Naruto still dragging himself towards him, his eyes and mouth quivering
"No... stay away from me!" he warned but Naruto didn't listen. He groaned again as he looked at Gaara
"I know.. it's unbearable. The feeling of being all alone" he said as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.
"But now.. there are people who mean a lot to me. My teammates, senseis, you and the other Jinchūriki! I care more about the others than I do myself and I'll do anything to protect them!" he shouted weakly
"Why.. why would you do this for anyone but yourself?" Gaara asked
"Because they saved me from myself, from my loneliness. They accepted me for who I am. They're my precious comrades.. friends.." Naruto said, Gaara then looked at the sky remembering Yashamaru's words.

"Love is the heart's desire to serve someone who's precious to you, to watch over them, like my sister did for you Gaara-sama"

Gaara slowly blinked as he pondered on the word 'love'. 'Is that what makes him so strong?' he asks. He thought back to the events he's witnessed, from how parents protected their child to how friends protect each other. Why Naruto fought him to protect his teammates that he had hurt, he then thought back to the day he received Naruto's letter. Even though they hadn't met Naruto still told them about his plan to gather and help each other, even though he hurt his teammates he still insisted on saving him, stopping him from going too far. Did that mean Naruto loved him too? Did that mean Naruto wanted to protect him too?

As he thought about this he flinched when a hand touched his shoulder. He looked up to see Naruto kneeling and smiling at him
"I told you before didn't I? You're not alone Gaara, I'm here for you. Right now. And soon all 9 of us will be together" Naruto said as Gaara saw a vision, standing behind Naruto were 7 more silhouettes smiling at him. A tear rolled down his cheek as more came out
"I.. I'm sorry.. Naruto..." he said as he started crying, Naruto slowly sat him up as he wrapped his arms around him. Still not used to the hug Gaara slowly returned it as he cried to Naruto's shoulder
"I'm sorry.. for everything...!" he apologized, Naruto rubbed his back to comfort him although he himself released a few tears.

This went on for a while, soon Gaara finally calmed down, they sat as they talked a bit ignoring their injuries since they'll eventually be healed. A few sharings of their past and what they hope for when the day came that they're complete with the other Jinchūriki. Naruto and Gaara sensed a new chakra coming their way but Naruto reassured Gaara that it wasn't an enemy. It was Sasuke. Sasuke was a bit surprised to see this, the two Jinchūriki were fighting each other not long ago and now they're just talking as if everything's okay. He nervously breathed still putting his guard up around Gaara
"Naruto, let's leave. Sakura is alright, the sand crumbled away and she's free" Sasuke said, Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he smiled
"That's a relief" he replied. Then Temari and Kankuro showed up, still being cautious towards the two Konoha Shinobi.
"That's enough" Gaara said making his two older siblings look at him with a questioned look
"It's over" Gaara said, the two were quite shock to see a soft expression on Gaara's face, it was unusual, even Sasuke was shocked. Naruto sighed as he stood up, he looked at Gaara as he smiled
"I think it's time we leave" Naruto said as Gaara nodded. He brought his fist out towards Gaara
"I'll come get you so wait for me okay?" he said as Gaara smiled
"I will" he replied as he returned the fist. Naruto walked towards Sasuke as Kankuro went to Gaara's side and put his arm around his shoulder. Gaara and Naruto exchanged one last smile as the Sand Siblings left. Now that it was over, a sudden feeling of exhaustion came over Naruto. He stumbled a bit as Sasuke caught him. Naruto closed his eyes and smiled as he passed out.

Gaara's thoughts wandered, he thought that maybe he will find people he'll love and protect. Well, he already has someone in mind.
"Temari, Kankuro. I'm sorry" Gaara apologized with sincerity. The two gasped, clearly surprised with the sudden apology from their little brother. Not knowing how to reply, Kankuro said
"D-don't worry about it"

After dealing with things in the village, Kakashi summoned another Ninja Hound to find his students in hopes that they are okay. He finally arrived to them seeing a passed out Sakura, a panting Sasuke, and a sleeping Naruto.

The three lay near a tree's trunk, as Kakashi made his appearance to them Sasuke jerked his head up
"Kakashi.." he muttered as Kakashi walked to them
"Is everything alright? What happened?" Kakashi asked in worry. Sasuke sighed
"I'll tell you later. We need to get them treated" Sasuke said as he tried to stand up, Kakashi was gonna help him but Sasuke stopped him and told him that he was fine. He went to Sakura as Kakashi went to Naruto.

He kneeled on one knee as he looked at Naruto, unexpectedly Naruto grunted a little as he slowly opened his eyes. After blinking a few times, he sees Kakashi looking at him
"Kakashi... sensei?"
"Are you okay Naruto?" Kakashi asked
"Yeah... just a bit... tired..." Naruto replied. Kakashi sighed. He turned his back as he brought Naruto's arms to wrap around his neck and put his hands under Naruto's legs to carry him. Sasuke carried Sakura bridal style, they nodded to each other as they made their way to the Leaf Hospital.

Naruto slept halfway the travel. He woke up to see Kakashi carrying him and Sasuke carrying Sakura ahead of them. Out of curiosity, he asked
"Kakashi-sensei..." Kakashi hummed in response
"Is everyone safe..? Are they all okay..?" Naruto asked, Kakashi didn't reply for a bit but he reluctantly replied
"Yes" Naruto could sense that something is wrong so he asked
"Sensei, did something happen?" Kakashi was silent for a moment, debating whether he should tell him or not
"The Sandaime. He..." upon hearing what he just said, Naruto widened his eyes
"What... Jiji... Jiji is dead?"

Yaayy!! Finally finished!!! So far, this is the longest chapter since it exceeded 6,000 words and I'm honestly proud ^_^ the next chapter is gonna be about how they'll find Tsunade and the reunion of the Uchiha bro's. It's gonna be the same with the chapter One Month, everything will happen in one chapter only. Kinda like a filler at the same time not??  anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one. See ya!

Wifizone shutting down
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