Naruto:A New Path

When Jinchuuriki Collide!!!

A million thoughts raced through Naruto's head as Shukaku's giant claws descended upon him, with the most prominent one being, 'fuck!' The blond replaced himself with a log, before putting some distance between himself and the giant demon. He had no idea what to do. He was almost out of chakra so wind jutsu would only be a waste of since it wouldn't hurt something that big. Summoning was very tempting but he wasn't able to summon Gamabunta without the fox's chakra.
"Where are you?" Naruto heard Shukaku yell.
The blond sat against a tree, hidden from the demon's view, and began to brainstorm ways of beating it without the aid of the Kyuubi. Shadow clones might be able to slow down the one-tailed demon but they required a lot of chakra, something he couldn't waste at the moment. His improved 'Uzumaki Barrage' was out of the question since, again, he didn't have enough chakra. Summoning the chief toad seemed to be the only option he had left.
With much hesitation, Naruto closed his eyes and focused his attention on finding the Kyuubi's chakra. It took a few seconds but he found the vile chakra and began to draw from it. The blond hated every minute of it. He hated needing the help of a demon, he hated the burning of his skin whenever he used the fox's chakra, and most of all, he couldn't stand the amount of hatred that came with the vile chakra. Even though he was still conscious of the things he did, under the influence of the fox's chakra, he would feel a large amount of hate towards anyone that looked his way. He would grow more aggressive and lust for blood.
The blond's appearance begin to change. His fangs grew in size until they stuck out of his mouth, his cheek marks darkened, and his hair became spikier. Naruto felt his hatred towards everything and everyone grow. Repressed emotions from his childhood flared and a growl escaped his mouth. Those damned fools had treated him like dirt, they should pay. He would kill them. The blond jinchuuriki opened his eyes to reveal piercing red eyes with black slits.
With the little amount of reason Naruto had, he tried to calm himself. He had forgiven the villagers since they were only scared and had lost a lot of things to the fox. He had grown to love the village, it was his home. All of his friends lived there and he would protect them at all costs. The people who took away some of the pain and saved him from that dark and lonely place. Naruto felt some of the hate leave and focused his attention on defeating the large demon.
Naruto bit his thumb and ran through hand signs before slamming his hands on the branch he had been standing on. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant cloud of smoke appeared in the middle of the forest, gaining Shukaku's attention. There was a loud sound of crashing trees before the smoke begin to disappear. Standing on the forest, facing Shukaku, was the chief toad Gamabunta with his summoner, Naruto, on its head.
"Why have you summoned me kid?"
Gamabunta asked in annoyance, he had been in the middle of a meal.
Naruto pointed at Shukaku. "Are you blind?" Naruto spat out, "That's the reason I summoned you. I want that demon down!"
Gamabunta frowned, there was something off about the kid. The blond reeked of demonic chakra and the chief toad instantly knew that he was using the fox's chakra at the moment. "I'll help you fight him. But the minute you stop using that chakra, I will kick your ass."
"I'll kill you all!" Shukaku yelled as he opened his mouth, "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"
Giant balls of wind came out of Shukaku's mouth, making Naruto's look like a drop in the ocean.
"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Gamabunta yelled as he shot out giant balls of water that countered Shukaku's, "Hang on kid!"
"To what?" Naruto yelled as the toad jumped up. Using chakra to stick to the toads head, Naruto watched as the two giants clashed.
Gamabunta grabbed Shukaku's shoulders but was easily pushed away. The toad reached for his blade and charged at the one-tailed demon. With a clean swipe the blade dug into Shukaku's skin but made no damage, it simply dug into the sand, the demon struck the chief toad on the face before Gamabunta jumped away to put some distance between the two.
"Nobody's capable of stopping me!"
Shukaku cheered, "I'll destroy everything!"
Naruto growled, still under the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. "Any ideas chief?" The blond jinchuuriki asked, "Kick his ass already!"
"I'm no match for a tailed-best, you fool!" Shukaku snapped in anger, "We have to wake up Shukaku's host."
Naruto looked at the demon and saw no sign of Gaara. "How the hell do we do that?" He asked with a frown, "I don't see that Gaara bastard anywhere!"
"The kid should be on Shukaku's forehead," Gamabunta explained, "You have to get through the sand in order to wake him up. I'll get close to him, be ready to attack."
"Got it!" Naruto said with a firm nod.
Ino, Shino and Shikamaru watched the battle from a safe distance. Ino wanted to be there in case Naruto needed help while Shino and Shikamaru were too tired to go any further. Gaara was winning by the looks of things but the giant toad wasn't so far behind. Shikamaru thought that they were about even but the giant raccoon had the upper hand since the toad's blades couldn't cut through the sand.
"It's going to be a long fight," Shino said.
Shikamaru nodded. "I just hope Naruto makes it out alive," he said with a sigh, "That Gaara is way past genin level."
"Don't say things like that!" Ino snapped, "Naruto will come back safely… he promised."
"Get ready kid!" Gamabunta said as he charged at Shukaku. The chief toad took hold of its sides and held him in a tight grip, "Go wake him up!"
Naruto jumped off Gamabunta's head and onto Shukaku's. "Wind Style," Naruto began to run through hand seals before bringing a hand to his mouth, "Devastation!" A powerful gust of air came out of Naruto's mouth and blew part of the sand on Shukaku's head away, revealing Gaara's unconscious form. "Wake up you bastard!" The blond yelled as he raised his fist, ready to punch Gaara awake.
Shukaku's eyes widened. "I won't go back in!" The one-tailed demon began to thrash about, breaking Gamabunta's hold on him, "Get the hell off!" It began to shake its head rapidly, enraged at the brat that was trying to put him back on that damned prison.
Naruto tried to hold on by using his chakra to stick to the head but found it incredibly hard. With one last shake of its head, Naruto was thrown off the Shukaku and fell towards the ground at an incredible pace. The blond saw the oncoming ground and closed his eyes, it would hurt. He felt something wrap around his waist and his fall stopped.
"I got you kid," Gamabunta said with his tongue wrapped around Naruto.
"I'll kill you both!" Shukaku yelled. It opened its mouth and small bubbles started to form around it. There were small blue bubbles mixed with black bubbles, the small bubbles simply floated around until they began to move towards Shukaku's mouth. The bubble's began to merge and started to create a large black sphere.
The chief toad put Naruto back on its head just in time to witness the attack beginning to form. "What the hell is that?" Naruto exclaimed in anger.
Gamabunta's eyes widened, he had seen that attack before. "There's only one thing to do kid. You're going to get one last shot at waking the kid. If you don't then your village is doomed." Naruto's eyes widened and he narrowed his eyes, he would stop the Shukaku for his friends. He had promised himself to protect them all on his own power, the fox wouldn't help end this fight he would make sure of it. His appearance began to turn back to normal, showing that the Kyuubi's chakra was leaving his system,
"I'm going to throw you high in the air. Use the momentum to deliver your strongest attack and wake the kid."
"Don't worry chief, I'll wake him up." Naruto assured with a confident grin. Gamabunta's tongue wrapped tightly around Naruto's waist as Shukaku's attack was done charging.
Shukaku swallowed the black ball as Gamabunta threw Naruto in the air. Shukaku's stomach inflated before returning to normal. The Shukaku opened its mouth and released a powerful yellow beam that tore into the ground and obliderated trees as it made its way to the chief toad. Naruto watched the attack in awe while rocketing up the sky. He looked at the chief toad facing the powerful attack with nothing but his large sword and smiled, Gamabunta was truly brave.
As the attack approached Gamabunta, the chief toad left in a cloud of smoke to return home to safety. 'What the hell?
Naruto thought with an angry expression,
'Why did he just leave me here?' The attack exploded into the ground in a display of raw power. Tree's were blown away and smoke filled the entire area. When the smoke cleared, there was a huge crater where Gamabunta had been standing only moments ago.
"I killed them!" Shukaku cheered, not seeing Naruto sailing through the air.
"He's distracted, now's my chance." Naruto muttered to himself. He wouldn't let the stupid demon hurt his friends or the village. He had promised to protect them and had told Ino that he would go back to the village safely. He had to win!
Naruto's momentum ended and he began to fall rapidly. 'This is it!" He thought as he held his right hand to the side and began to forge wind chakra into his palm, wind gathered on his hand and a ball of wind began to form. The ball of wind chakra flashed blue for a second before turning back to its original white and grey color.
"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto yelled as he crashed into Shukaku's head. The attack resulted on a large crater on Shukaku's head and a huge cloud of sand.
"Dammit!" Shukaku screamed in pain. Gaara's unconscious form became visible on Shukaku's head and Naruto ran at it with his right fist held back.
"Wake the hell up already!" Naruto yelled as he brought his fist to Gaara's face. His fist connected with Gaara's jaw with a loud breaking bone sound, from Gaara's jaw or his own knuckles, he didn't know.
Gaara's eyes snapped open and Shukaku's body began to break. "No! Dammit!" The Shukaku yelled as it began to disappear. Soon Shukaku's whole body turned back to ordinary sand, leaving Naruto and Gaara falling helplessly to the ground since they were not able to move anymore from the strain their bodies had taken. The two landed on the unforgiving ground with loud thuds and everything grew quiet on the woods. No more sounds of battle, no more curses, no more tremors. The only thing heard was the heavy breathing of two shinobi.
Gaara was sprawled on the ground. His whole body ached and his jaw was in incredible pain. He couldn't understand how he had gotten beaten. He had experienced more pain than anyone and lived only for himself. How had he lost? What did he lack?
Naruto's muffled groan was heard. He had fallen on the ground face down, hurting most of his bones. His chakra was almost gone and his body was in pain. With the adrenaline gone, he could feel each of the wounds Gaara had inflicted on him. But he wasn't done yet. Gaara was still there and was a danger to the village, to his friends. The blond gritted his teeth and began to drag himself towards Gaara. He and the redhead were the same but Gaara had taken a turn he had avoided thanks to Iruka and all of his friends.
Gaara's eyes widened when he saw Naruto moving towards him. The redhead's body wouldn't move, he was vulnerable, Naruto would kill him. "No," Gaara said in fear, "I won't have my existence erased! Get away! Stop!" The blond didn't stop and continued to move towards Gaara, causing him to scream in fear.
Naruto stopped dragging himself towards Gaara, making the redhead stop screaming and look at him in fear of being killed. Naruto understood why Gaara didn't want to die. All Gaara had was himself, his life was all he cherished. Just like Naruto had. "It's almost unbearable… isn't it?"
Gaara gave Naruto a confused expression. The blond slowly lifted his face to meet Gaara's gaze. The redhead looked into Naruto's eyes and his eyes widened slightly. Those eyes, were just like his own, full of loneliness.
"I know what it's like…" Naruto began, "Having everyone look at you in fear. Being ignored by everyone and avoided like the plague. I have a demon inside of me too." Gaara's eyes widened, someone else knew of his pain, "There was a time when I felt just like you… I hated everyone. I wanted them all to feel my pain, wanted to make them suffer for acting like I didn't exist… like my life didn't even matter."
A few tears escaped Naruto's eyes and he gave a small smile. "But then, I met Iruka-sensei. He was the first person other than the Hokage, to acknowledge me. At that point I thought that there was hope… maybe I could be acknowledged by more people." Gaara listened to every word, wondering if he too could be acknowledged, "As time passed, I met more people that looked at me as a friend… someone important to them." Naruto smiled thinking of his friends, the people he would give his life to protect, "I grew to cherish those bonds and nothing will ever break them, even if they are damaged. That's why I'll give my life to protect them! They took me out of that dark and lonely place, they are my saviors."
Naruto's gaze turned to one of anger and he began to try to stand up. He used his left hand to support himself before doing the same with his right. It was hard and painful but he managed to get into a crawling position. "If you ever try to hurt them…" He glared at Gaara, "I'll slaughter you!"
Gaara turned his gaze to the sky, reflecting on his life. 'Love is what made him strong,' he thought, 'Maybe I can form bonds also. I still don't understand completely but I will try.' The redhead turned back to Naruto and gave him a nod, "I don't want to fight anymore. I won't hurt your friends."
Naruto smiled weakly. "I understand why you acted like you did." The blond gave Gaara a grin, "I won't hold it against you. Maybe we could become friends in the future, Gaara."
Gaara managed a small grin. "I'd like that," he said weakly, "Naruto Uzumaki."
The blond smiled before he laid down on the ground and closed his eyes, the effects of the fight finally too much for him. He slipped into blissful unconsciousness with inner peace, he had succeeded on protecting his friends.
"Is it over?" Ino asked. She, Shikamaru and Shino had seen the disappearance of the Shukaku after a big explosion happened on its head.
"It appears so," Shino said.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and smirked. "He actually did it," he said, "We might as well go get him." He opened his eyes to see Shino pointing towards Naruto's direction.
"Ino left while you were talking," Shino said.
"Man," Shikamaru replied with a sigh, "Blondes are way too troublesome."
Kakashi arrived to a weird scene. Naruto was sleeping on the ground with Gaara gazing at the sky only a few feet away. He expected to arrive to see the two trying to kill each other but, to be honest, he was glad they were done. It meant he was probably done fighting for the day. He would fight for his village any day but it was always good to lay back and relax.
"I take it you beat Naruto?" Kakashi asked the redhead.
Gaara shook his head with his gaze never leaving the sky. "I was defeated by Naruto." He admitted, "His merely resting, a luxury which I do not have."
Kakashi eye-smiled, he was proud of his student. He had assumed that Naruto had calmed Gaara down after losing but he had actually defeated a chunin level ninja, it would be the last time he didn't believe in his student. "I take it Naruto told you of his burden." Gaara turned his gaze to Kakashi and nodded, "Good. I hope you two become friends. Because you know of each other's pain then it'll be easier to cope with it. It's always a good thing to have a friend you can familiarize with."
"I hope I'll be able to follow in Naruto's example," Gaara said with a small nod.
"Well," Kakashi said with an eye-smile breaking the tension, "Sorry to say this but I have to take you back to the village. Don't worry though, you won't be trialed since you were listening to the orders of an imposter."
"The Kazekage died?" Receiving a nod from Kakashi, Gaara gazed at the sky once again, "That's good."
Kakashi sweat dropped, he probably didn't want to know why it was a good thing. With a shrug Kakashi created a shadow clone and had him pick up the two jinchuurikis. They would need some medical attention but then again, many ninja did. It would probably be a while before they were discharged. Kakashi inwardly smirked, it would give him a lot of quality reading time.
Naruto's eyes opened slightly before closing again. He could probably get a few more minutes of sleep. The blond went back to sleep but felt something soft on his cheek. He was puzzled as to what it was, he had never felt anything like it and it left a tingling sensation on his cheek. The blond regained some conscience and wondered where he was. The last thing he remembered was talking to Gaara and then going to sleep.
The blond slowly opened his eyes. He was greeted by white walls and immediately closed his eyes due to the light they reflected. He waited a few seconds before opening his eyes again and making sense of where he was. His right hand was heavily bandaged and he was in a white bed.
' Great, I'm in the hospital,' Naruto thought with a groan. He hated hospitals, they smelled funny and had the worst tasting food that would only taste worse because of the hospital's smell. The sound of footsteps got his attention and he turned his gaze to the white door, seriously why did everything have to be white in hospitals. Ino stood in front of the door with a hand on the door knob, she turned around and got a shocked look on her face.
"N-Naruto?" Ino asked still with the shocked look but it slowly turned into a smile. "You're awake!" Without thinking, Ino threw herself at Naruto and enveloped him in a hug.
Naruto felt a blush make its way to his cheeks but returned the hug with his good hand. "Why am I here?" He asked, the blond had no idea what happened after Gaara's defeat.
Ino broke the hug and smiled at the blond. "You've been unconscious for six days," she informed him, giggling at his shocked expression, "After you beat Gaara, Kakashi-sensei brought you here. You were pretty hurt but at least you won, right?"
"I guess," Naruto said with a puzzled look, "What happened to Gaara?"
Ino frowned. "He was here for one day and then they just let him go!" She snapped, "Can you believe that? He didn't get in trouble for anything!"
Naruto chuckled, Ino was funny whenever she got riled up. "Don't worry about it Ino!" Naruto said with his usual cheerfulness, "It's not like Gaara did anything wrong. He was just following his village's orders. Besides, he didn't actually attack the village himself."
"What are you talking about?" Ino snapped with an angry look, "Loot at you Naruto! You're hurt! Do you know how worried I was? I don't know why they let him go after he left you like this!"
Naruto gave Ino a reassuring smile. "I'm fine Ino, really." He lifted his right hand and waved it around, "This is nothing. I'll be back to normal in no time." Ino was about to retaliate but Naruto interrupted, "It's really okay Ino. I know why Gaara did what he did. He didn't have anyone so he was only trying to find a way to show he existed. It's okay Ino."
Ino sighed, leave it to Naruto to have such a forgiving heart. "Fine… but!" She pointed a finger at Naruto and smiled, "You owe me."
"W-what?" Naruto exclaimed, "I don't owe you anything."
Ino's smile grew bigger. "Of course you do," she started, "You promised that you would get back to the village safely and you did not."
Naruto shuddered, he knew that Gama would be taking another blow soon. "What did you have in mind?" He scratched the back of his head, "I-it's not shopping again, is it?"
Ino crossed her arms. "What is it with men hating shopping?" She asked with a fake frown. She gave Naruto a smile that he knew all too well, it usually led to something he didn't want to do, "You're going to have dinner with me and my parents!"
"W-what?" Naruto half-yelled.
"You heard me," Ino said with a triumphant smile, "My parents wanted to know more about you and they never got to talk to you. It's only fair that you have a decent dinner with them."
"F-fine," Naruto said. He assumed that facing his fear of adults would be a good thing, what kind of future Hokage didn't talk to adults?
"Good!" Ino exclaimed with a smile, "I'll tell my parents and then we'll set the date."
The door opened once again, getting the attention of the two blondes, and the Hokage entered the room. "Hello Naruto," Sarutobi said with a small smile, "It's nice to see you finally woke up."
"Hey old man!" Naruto greeted with a smile, "Glad to see you're okay!"
Ino turned to Naruto and gave him a cold glare. "Naruto," she whispered harshly, "You can't talk to the Hokage like that."
Naruto was about to disagree but saw the intensity of the glare. "R-right." He said with a nervous smile, "What brings you here... Lord Hokage?" Ino gave Naruto a sweet smile. Naruto found himself blushing slightly and quickly turned his gaze to the Hokage, expecting him to say something.
"I came here to thank you," the Hokage said. He smiled at the odd looks the blondes gave him, "Thanks to your intervention Orochimaru's plans were ruined."
"It was nothing," Naruto said with an embarrassed blush.
The Hokage chuckled. "I also wanted to thank you for not only stopping Gaara, but for steering him to the right path. You completed your first A-rank mission as a leader and proved to be capable of making right decisions concerning your teammates' well-being." Sarutobi took out a sealing scroll and gave it to Naruto. "I would like you to open it and be the first to congratulate you."
Naruto poured some chakra into the scroll and watched as something appeared in a small cloud of smoke. The blond's eyes widened and he gave Sarutobi an exited smile. The Hokage smiled, Naruto had truly done him proud and deserved what he gave him.
"I would like to congratulate you on becoming a chunin," the Hokage said with a smile.
Naruto looked at the vest sitting on his lap and smiled. "Alright!" The blond cheered, "One step closer to becoming Hokage."
"You deserve it Naruto," Ino said with a smile.
"I have to leave now," Sarutobi said with a nod of his head, "There's much to do in the village."
"I'll see you later old m… I mean Lord Hokage!" Naruto said while giving Ino a nervous smile. The Hokage smiled and left the room, happy that Naruto was turning out to be a strong shinobi.
"I have to go too Naruto," Ino said with a hint of dissapointment, "I have to go help in the flower shop."
Naruto nodded before getting a confused look on his face. "Hey, Ino," Naruto said in a confused tone. Ino gave him a questioning look and motioned him to go on, "I'm not really sure but I felt something on my cheek earlier, do you know what it was?"
Ino's whole face turned red and she turned her gaze to the floor, "I d-don't know what you're talking about." She muttered quietly.
"I don't know," Naruto continued, "I really think I felt something press against my cheek."
Ino snapped her gaze at Naruto and gave him an angry look that didn't have the desired effect with the deep blush adorning her cheeks, "S-shut up!" She exclaimed, "I'm out of here!"
Ino ran out of the room, leaving a very confused Naruto. "What did I do?" He asked himself with confusion written all over his face, "I really don't understand girls."