The Power to Heal and Destroy by Phoenixsun

Chapter 16: Mourning Fire

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 he 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.

Gamabunta let out a sigh as he watched the lustrous flare. "Just like Minato..." The Toad Boss commented as he took his smoke pipe back out. Gamabunta could feel the summoning jutsu wearing off, the last thing that the enormous toad saw before returning to his world, was the gigantic body of sand starting to break down and dissolving as it fell into the ground.

Kankuro watched in shock and amazement as the light and the black flames faded away, leaving a cloud of dust in the middle of the clearing. "Gaara was... defeated..." The puppet user managed to say in utter bewilderment.

Down in the clearing, Gaara was equally surprised when he found himself standing back on the ground. His body was extremely weakened and his legs were about to give up at any moment, but, despite what the redhead had thought a couple of seconds before, he was still pretty much alive. "Why...? Why did you stop those flames...?" The Suna Jinchuuriki asked the boy standing in front of him as the blonde's image appeared through the dissipating dust.

Ragged breathing followed by a low laugh were the initial answers to Gaara's question. "I already told you... I can't forgive you right now..." Naruto answered as his Sharingan eyes set on the redhead's light blue ones. "The right thing to do is give you a chance to change; after all, everyone is supposed to deserve at least one, right?"

The inquiry was received by a scoff. "Supposedly, yeah..." Suddenly, the Sand genin's eyes narrowed. "But what makes you think I'll change, there's no way that you can make me betray Mother!"

"Stop calling him your 'Mother' already!" Naruto exclaimed as he brought up one of his hand to rub his temple. "I get all sorts of disturbing images when you call the Bijuu by that term..." The blond commented.

Anger resurfaced inside Gaara at the Konoha nin's words. "Shut up! You don't understand the bond between Mother and me! You don't understand anything!"

"Baka!" Naruto's outburst silenced the redhead. "It's you who doesn't understand. As carriers we are discriminated by others, I spent most of my life trying to change their views, trying to show that I wasn't some sort of demon to be feared and hated, yet you, by choosing that thing over anything else, prove their perception of us right!" The boy exclaimed as his Sharingan eyes narrowed on the Suna genin. "There's a world out there apart from the Bijuu, I know, this eyes have seen it, and I already used my chance to try to reach it..." Abruptly, Naruto's voice went quiet.

The Leaf shinobi's silent immediately caught Gaara's attention. "You failed?" The redhead wondered.

A dry laugh followed the question again. "I don't really know..." The blond admitted. "I ended up turning into someone who doesn't really know what he wants anymore." Naruto commented. "It's like I'm stuck in a crossroad without knowing where either path will take me..." The spiky haired boy let out another humorless laugh. "Funny isn't it, here I am trying to get my point across to you while I don't really know what it is myself." Naruto added before his eyes narrowed once again. "But what I do know is that I will protect my comrades and teammates no matter what, because they are all I have..."

Gaara stood silently as he regarded his fellow Jinchuuriki and trying to match the glare he was receiving.

"You have a better shot than I did." The blond said as his glare weakened. "You have people that will stay by your side at any given time." Gaara was surprised when the other boy's gaze move up to look at Kankuro and Temari standing on the branches. "They've proven how much they truly worry about you..." The Leaf genin commented.