(Y/N) Uzumaki

Chapter 74

Naruto jumped forward to punch him. Gaara whipped his tail and hit Naruto. He fell into me we both fell on the tree branch. I sat up pushing Naruto up too. "This guy." Naruto grunted out. We both stood up and looked around for a plan or at least something. This is going to be hard if he stays in this form, but we have no choice.

"Gotta save my friends. It's all up to us." Naruto said looking at me and back at Gaara. Gaara randomly started to laugh really loud. He randomly stopped and glared at us "And that's exactly why you can't win. As long as you fight for the sake of others, you'll never advance beyond this level. Only one can remain undefeated, and only he will feel what it's like to truly exist. Forget your friends, and fight for yourself." Gaara said.

"You're insane. Forget our friends?" I asked clenching my fists. "The trivial feelings like friendship and loyalty cloud your focus, and you'll die." Gaara said. "Yeah, yeah, keep talking while you can, cuz we're about to shut you up once and for all." Naruto yelled. He grabbed a kunai and jumped towards him. "You don't understand what real strength is." Gaara said. "I'm taking you down!" Naruto yelling falling towards him.

Gaara looked like he was about to attack until he grabbed his head and started to groan. He widened his eyes and flung his tail towards Naruto. I quickly jumped to where Naruto was and caught him before he hit the tree. I looked towards Gaara and he was grabbing his head in pain.

"What's the matter? Why don't you attack? Dont you care what happens to your precious friends?" Gaara asked. He pushed more pressure on Sakura. "Huh, Sakura!" Naruto and I both yelled. "Let her go!" Naruto yelled. We need to save Sakura right now before he completely loses it and kills her! If Naruto wants to save her from that arm then I'll distract Gaara.

I turned to Naruto "Naruto, I ca-" I cut myself off when I realized what he was doing. "Summoning jutsu" Naruto said. Wait, I thought we need the chakra of the.. a small poof appeared and I knew things weren't going to go well. A small orange toad appeared on the branch "What is it? What do you want, kid? Well, whatever it is, I hope you brought along some treats. Cause if you think I'm doing anything for nothing, you're wrong!" "Oh, give me a break! I'm really starting to hate you stinking frogs!" "Naruto! Pervy sage told us we can't use our own chakra yet with the Summoning jutsu, we have to use y'know.. his!" I said face palming myself.

"Oh, ho-ho-ho. Anti-amphibian, huh? Well, take that, you big bigot." He stuck out his tongue at him. "Listen. I don't have time to play games, you slimy little squirt." Naruto said. I looked back at Sasuke and frowned. "Worried about the others? That's your biggest mistake. When I fight, I fight for me and me alone." Gaara said and he started to transform again. The arm that was attached to the hand pinning Sakura detached. "Only by attacking and defeating me can you free her. And you should hurry. With each passing second the sand will harden. Until it crushes her to death."

I noticed the look in his eyes. "Sand shuriken" Gaara swung his arms and bunches of sand came flying at us. Naruto grabbed the frog and jumped back while I jumped to the side. I heard a thud so I turned around to see that Naruto hit a tree and fell on a branch. I gasped as I was about to jump over there but a glare from Gaara stopped me. "Wow. Boy, are you pathetic." The frog said. "Shut up." Naruto said. "So, uh, who the heck is this freak, anyway?" The toad asked. I looked towards him and noticed only his leg wasnt transformed. I also looked around and noticed we were basically forming a square. Great, now we're all separated.

I looked back at Gaara. His eyes are familiar to me. I know many people with those eyes, eyes filled with loneliness. Naruto, Sasuke, and even me, we all have had those eyes. Gaara is like Naruto and I. I remembered the hatred I felt for them, the villagers. They hated Naruto and I and we never knew why. I was so angry and I thought that just maybe I can have a family, but it was yanked and taken, taking my best friends happiness and peace too. Everything was explained to me when Mizuki told us.

That's when we found out we have this demon inside of us. Everyone blamed us on something we didn't even do. But, I had Sasuke to keep me balanced. He was always there for me when I needed him and I was always there when he needed me. I always had Naruto with me, he's been my everything since the beginning of life considering we only had ourselves. He's the only real family I have and I plan to keep him around as long as I'm living.

I have Iruka, at first we didn't get along, but one day we just clicked, he was our father figure for so long and even now he still kinda is. We met Kakashi, I really like him. He's really strong and he'll protect us, always believed in us, and I know he'll be by our side for a very long time. Sakura, We hated each other. I know we did, I found her annoying and rude because she always assumed I liked Sasuke, heh, I guess she was right. I guess you found your chance to blossom because now, I see you as a friend, not just a teammate. It's thanks to these guys that I'm not in Gaaras place right now. I thank you.

I looked over at Gaara. I understand Gaara. He's us, but he was stuck alone. He fights for himself and only for himself. Does that actually work? Does not having anybody to care about or not knowing what happiness is actually work? Can Naruto and I win this?

Sakura started to grunt as the sand hardened. Naruto and I both looked in her direction and grunted too. "What's the matter? Are you two afraid of me? Or are you still thinking of the best way to save your friends? Fools. Forget them. Think only of yourselves. Love only yourself. That is what it means to be the strongest. What's wrong? You two were so bold and cocky before. Show me your strength. Let me grind it into dust before your eyes. Attack, you cowards. Fight me or I'll kill the girl right now." Naruto grunted and jumped towards him.

"Okay! You asked for it! Multi- Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto created many clones and they all were falling towards Gaara. "Wind style! Sand Storm Devastation!" Gaara stacked up a whole bunch of air and sand and blew them right at the Naruto clones.

Gaara ended up blowing all the clones away. "I think I'll fight with you two a while. I'll watch you two abandon your friends and beg for mercy before you die." Gaara threw more of those sand bunches. Since I was closer to Sasuke when Gaara threw them at me, they're aim isnt certain so they go in random places. I saw one going towards Sasuke. I dodged the ones coming at me and jumped in front of Sasuke.

I felt it hit right into my shoulder. I tried hard not to fall over so I pushed myself to the side and fell down because I couldn't just sit on Sasukes back. I was taking deep breaths realizing these things actually hurt. I feel this rush, rush of energy. I got up and ran far from Sasuke so he wouldn't get involved. My foot got caught on one of the branches and I wasn't able to pull it out. I saw more of those sand things so I closed my eyes and waited for their impact.

I felt one hit my ribs and the other in the same shoulder. I grunted as I got unstuck and hit the tree beside me. Even if it hurt, I can't feel that tired feeling. I need to take advantage of this and fight him. I looked over at Naruto and saw he was standing up too looking at Gaara. We have to beat Gaara, even if it kills us.

Word count- 1434