It is not hard finding Naruto, just follow the ma.s.s of chakra. I flew through the air and killing run away sand and sound ninjas on the way. I arrived above Naruto's location finding an unconscious Sakura trapped in the sand hand of Shukaku like in the original, a hurt and gawking Sasuke and Naruto on top Gamabunta finis.h.i.+ng up with Gaara. Temari and Kankuro show up and Gaara was taken away. Sasuke gets up and leaves. Naruto is holding Sakura and takes off as well. I stopped in front of him and teleported them to the hospital. I was chatting with Naruto trying to get the skinny on his fight.

Sage: How did your fight with another Jinchuuriki go?

Naruto: It was a little hectic but I was able to beat him down. It would have been a lot faster but Sasuke interfered. I let him have a go, he got a few hits in, nothing major but in the end he couldn't finish the job.

Sage: Ok. So, why was Sakura trapped?

Naruto: She tried to save Sasuke by pus.h.i.+ng him out of the way.

According to Naruto, the fight followed the original story line except for Sasuke getting beat faster due to no longer having the cursed seal for an extra boost and not using the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique) with Gamabunta to look like the Kyuubi. Naruto took way less damage and inflicted more damage as well. From his narrative, Naruto could have finished off Gaara faster but Temari and Kankuro intervened. s.h.i.+no took on Kankuro and Temari was kept away by s.h.i.+kamaru. Naruto looked exasperated when mentioning Sasukes interference, I couldn't stop laughing. Sasuke kept using the Chidori that Kakas.h.i.+ taught him to exhaustion. Gaara was hurt from Sasuke's initial Chidori attack but then Gaara became aware of its strength so he found a way around it so, it didn't work anymore against him. Sakura came in at the last minute and took on the sand binding for Sasuke. When Naruto stepped in he had Kakas.h.i.+'s summon, Pakkun the ninja dog, watch over Sasuke. Naruto bombarded Gaara with Rasengans and used an exploding tag on the base of where the biju tail was forming, the weakest part of the partial transformation of Shukaku. At that point Naruto told me that he saw a giant pillar of light coming from Konoha. The light and power felt from the pillar made Naruto and Gaara's bodies shake. Kurama warned Naruto to not go near the light, that it made him s.h.i.+ver or that it gave him a bad feeling. Basically he sounded like a scared b.i.t.c.h, but I digress. When Gaara felt he was in danger he used the Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Feigning Sleep Technique). When Shukaku was unleashed, Kurama spoke to Naruto again telling him to use 1 tail only and he was not going to lend him any more chakra because he found it beneath him to lose to the Ichibi with more tails. Naruto agreed and summoned Gamabunta. Naruto told Gamabunta to use water bullets so he could infuse them with wind nature chakra. The result was great and made quick work of Shukaku's armor. Naruto then jumped off Gamabuntas' head unto Shukakus' head where Gaara was located and beat him awake. When Gaara awoke the transformation dissipated. Naruto was standing above an immobile Gaara ready to eliminate him, until Kankuro and Temari came to stop him. Naruto let them go because he felt how sad and miserable Gaara must have been. He believed that if he didn't have any friends or parents he would be in a similar situation and sympathized with Gaara. No matter how much a person changes their nature will still be the same. It was said before that Naruto's greatest weapon was not his vitality or techniques but his mouth. He talked all his enemies down, Zabuza broke down and thought more of Haku than just a tool when she died, befriended Gaara and talked Nagato into reviving the dead in the village when he attacked. There are many other examples of this. One of my goals was to back up his mouth with actual skill, to be the kind of person that would only talk s.h.i.+t and beat you down when you provoke them not just be a loud hyperactive kid. When I think about the dubbed voice I cringe every time, "Believe it", ugh.

Sage: Let's go back and check in with our parents. Like your mom, mine is pregnant too.

Naruto: Yeah. Mom couldn't make it to the finals because she was a little under the weather. I'm glad she didn't too, since she was kept out of danger.

Sage: Too many people were hurt and there might be danger on the way. We will go out to eat when everything gets settled.

Naruto: Ok Sage-nii. I want extra helpings of ramen.

Sage: f.u.c.k yeah.

Naruto: Also Sage-nii. Gamabunta told me that he felt way more power coming from you than he did at Mount Myoboku. Did you get a breakthrough? Was that beam of light you as well?

Sage: So he felt that? I had an improvement not a breakthrough. I was sooo f.u.c.king close too. At least I can put together some sparring partners. Yeah that beam was me.

Naruto: Dammmnn. I was pretty far from the village and I still saw and felt it.

After making sure that my folks were ok Naruto told me his mom was fine as well. He was going to stay with his mom until the situation has been cleared. My father stayed with my mother so I went out to help with whatever needed to be done. There were giant snake summons which were handled by Jiraiya when he came the last minute like in the original.

A week pa.s.sed. Once the dust settled and the census was done, the Hokage scheduled a funeral ceremony for the fallen. Even though the Sandaime didn't die, a funeral is still a sad event. In the beginning I felt that in this dream-like world I would rule with absolute power, which I still can, but throughout my years here, like in my original world, I have much to lose. My family, friends, women I have yet to bang, will be gone if I am not careful with my strength and who I kill. I can risk my life but using someone else's whom I care about I wouldn't be so confident. The event continued all were dressed in black, the clouds gathered and turned gray. The weather was the same as the original, where a mild rain poured down. "Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on"- The Great Gatsby.