Chapter 117: Victory Goes To...

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Naruto's / Gaara's / Narrator POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Naruto's entire body ached. His mind whirled with random thoughts, and his body moved independently, in sync with his mind. Determined to fight and struggle even if it killed him.

Naruto rolled through Gaara's impact, sending him flying again. Gaara had already closed the distance, so Naruto sidestepped the lunge and smacked Gaara in the face with both feet. It made the redhead stumble, but that long arm slammed into Naruto's ribs and knocked him down once again.

His ribs ached with sharp pain. Many were broken, and they had been broken multiple times now. Naruto supposed he was either extremely fortunate he healed or unlucky. At least it kept him in the game.

Gaara lunged forward again, and Naruto's mind raced to what the Kyuubi had said. His gut trusted it. Suddenly, Gaara stumbled as the dome around them flickered before returning to normal. Gaara had stumbled in pain and seemed stunned. It was now or never! Naruto raced forward and locked his hand with the sandy paw of Gaara.

"This One is glad you listened. Let's see if you can take advantage." The Kyuubi bellowed before Naruto's vision went dark.

Naruto's POV

It was as if Naruto blinked. Suddenly, instead of the Iron Arena, he stood in a desert. As far as Naruto could see, all he could see was sand. Some are in massive mountain-sized dunes, and the rest are flat. Unlike the desserts Naruto had been told of, there were no cactuses or minor green life among them. All of it was sand.

"So that's why this little shit did that! Kurama, you piece of shit! Shikaku had a plan with Gaara! Now, the little creep will complain!" An odd, shrill voice boomed. It made the sand tremble for its force, yet was not as deep or smooth as the Kyuubi.

"This One does not go by much anymore." The more familiar Kyuubi sounded off. Naruto turned around only to see an incredible sight before him. The Kyuubi, in all its tale, hadn't been justice. The beast easily outsized the dunes around him; it would likely be a disaster even if it moved quickly. Its eyes were red, and its nine tails twirled lazily. Just being by the beast made Naruto feel insignificant.

Amplifying the feeling was the massive beast beside it. Unlike the Kyuubi, it looked almost like a giant mishappen tanuki. Naruto was glad Muri did not see it; the little critter would likely disapprove of it. However, the likeness was only shaped as the massive beast was made entirely of shifting sand. Lines of blue, glowing chakra pulsed throughout it. It almost looked like…

"Hey!" Naruto said, calling them out. "Big fox and raccoon thingy!"

"Ah, this little ant is too cocky! Glad my Gaara is gonna torture you to insanity or kill ya! Insanity made Shikaku way better!"

"This One disagrees." The Kyuubi countered bitterly. "Watch yourself, by the way, brat. This is your only chance to win here, and This One is more than happy to take such a thing away."

Naruto went silent for a moment at that. "Where are we?"

"Inside my mind, brother." Gaara sounded off from behind Naruto. The blonde turned around to see a massive pyramid of sand before him. It seemed to stretch into the sky, yet somehow, Naruto could plainly see Gaara at the peak. "I suppose Kur-"

"This One is limited in what It can do here. But It can make your

feeble mind shatter. Gaara of the Sand."

"The Kyuubi." Gaara amended with ease, nodding at the beast. "Thought that if you were able to overcome me here it may give you the edge needed to win. I fail to see how, however. Assuming you could even do such, I'd crush you immediately following."

"Your mind?" Naruto asked, confused. "I thought only Yamanaka could do that."

"You being This One's host allows you access to a mental state humans cannot normally achieve. Furthermore, This One can allow you to share such with humans."

"Kyuubi convinced Shikaku to do such!"

"Why." Gaara demanded.

"Shikaku may work for you, but Shiaku does not care about your goals. Shikaku wants to be entertained!"

Naruto raised a brow, but Gaara merely nodded.

"As you wish." Gaara answered. "But will this truly entertain? It is meaningless."

"It would be." The Kyuubi agreed. "But Shikaku and This One have agreed that whoever wins shall be healed slightly. If Gaara Naruto is left unhealed, he will be at your mercy. If Naruto wins, he will be healed, and Shikaku will make you pay a toll. This One rather likes the idea."

"Shikaku does as well!"

"As it were—" Gaara suddenly deflected a blast of chakra with sand, glaring at Naruto, who knew he was floating at eye level. "Time to show you I'm stronger, mind and body, brother."

The pyramid writhed as countless strands raced for Naruto.

Naruto was gobsmacked; he could not dodge or counter all of them. There were hundreds of massive ones!

"This One will inform you, Uzumaki. You are not limited as you would be in your own world."

Naruto's eyes widened as he willed his mind. Suddenly, hundreds of Naruto's forme slashed a storm of chakra blades with their Riptides, each slashing through the sand with ease.

But Gaara merely chuckled as massive waves of sand surged forward. Each is well over a hundred feet long.

Naruto willed the clones away and growled at them. He was tired of being on the back foot!

"Get out of my way!" Naruto screamed as he slashed once. Each wave suddenly collapsed into itself, sliced in two. Gaara's pyramid was cut in two, leaving the redhead to fall into the desert and seek deep within the ground. Naruto imagined wind forming into massive hands that reached deep within the sand. He imagined them ripping Gaara free and beamed like Gaara had just done that. Looking as if he was held by an invisible massive hand. "I'm not done yet!" Naruto taunted. With a flick of his accurate wrist, Gaara was sent careening into the remnants of his pyramid.

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT MY UZUMAKI!" Gaara bellowed as he rose from the sand, and two massive sand Gaara's formed. Each could not be seen fully as their heads stretched into the sky. It mattered little however because Naruto flinched as both raised massive fist and slammed them towards the blonde. "GIVE UP!"

Naruto felt a sliver of fear crawls into him. But gritted his teeth.

'Stand tall; your mental strength becomes true strength here…' A voice sounded off from within his mind. It gave him the confidence he needed.

Naruto lowered Riptide and instead raised a palm toward the giants. Right as the fists were mere inches from colliding, they froze. Suddenly, twisters formed from within their arms. The tornados tore the giant Gaaras apart and flung the real Gaara toward Naruto.

Naruto's mind raced for the right words to say. But he had never been a poet or anything. Naruto went for what felt natural.

"Shut the fuck up!" Naruto bellowed as he zoomed through the air and slugged Gaara as hard as possible. As soon as the fist connected, the entire realm seemed to darken. Naruto felt the odd darkness return to him, and as he did, two beasts conversing was all he heard.

"This One was right… he may be different…"

"Shikaku doubts it! But Shikaku's word is his word."

"This One agrees… lying is for weak humans."

Naruto's POV

Naruto blinked as he realized he was staring at a stunned Gaara. Not the monstrous form he had taken but his usual human self. Furthermore, Naruto realized that the barrier was gone. He still felt nothing but pains and aches as exhaustion settled in. Naruto had been at death's door before, so it was better.

Even with the boost, however, it took all of his strength to stand. Despite that, Naruto found more and marched forward, determined to see it through.

Gaara blinked, seemingly caught up like Naruto and aware of what had happened. "You, how did y-you?"

"I assume that place uses willpower or something from us as strength?" Naruto asked between pants. "If so, you never stood a chance, ya know?"

"N-no, stay away, you fool!" Gaara screamed as he fell back onto his rear. "I will lead our people to a better future. I recognize the true order of the world! I am change!"

"No," Naruto answered simply. He tripped slightly, the exhaustion getting the better of him, but managed to recover. "I know what you really are."

This shifted something in Gaara.

Gaara's POV

No.

No!

NO!

Gaara willed his sand to grab and crush the fool before him. However, for the first time in his life, his sand did not listen. Where had it gone?

'Gaara, you must listen! ' An odd voice called out. But it knew different from what it asked. He could not retake it!

Indeed, not even his own blood would reject him. Gaara had told him the truth, offered him a path he could've never found, and even now, he worked tirelessly to recruit him.

Now, even Naruto would say those accursed words!

"What a monster?! A beast?! A murderous psycho! I am what I have been made!" Gaara roared manically.

"Perhaps," Naruto answered as he drew within mere feet of Gaara.

Gaara had lost access to Shikaku and its powerful abilities. His gold was scattered and would take a while to gather enough to be useful. But Gaara had just enough chakra for one last jutsu! Let him draw a close! Gaara would end this!

"But more than anything," Naruto started as he drew back a fist.

Gaara did not let him finish. The fear would not let him. Instead, he called out shrilly.

"Lightning Style: Murderous Voltage River!" Gaara screamed. A massive flowing wave of lighting flew forward and enveloped Naruto mere inches from Gaara. Naruto froze as his muscles locked, and he screamed out in pain. Gaara cheered in jubilation as he maintained it, dropping every ounce of chakra into it! Gaara would not let this fool say it!

Gaara ran out of chakra, and Naruto, perhaps frozen in pain and shock, stood still. Gaara nearly mocked him before the blonde surged forward in a shocking burst of speed. Gaara cried out in fear as Naruto once again reared back his fist.

But instead of a powerful punch, Naruto's fist lightly rapped his forehead, specifically on his "love" tattoo. "You're incredibly lonely. Someone who feels like they have nothing to live for so you rejected your humanity. You lash out not because you're evil but because you're hurting. And in some weird and- slightly creepy way, you're my brother…" Naruto said softly before he collapsed onto the ground.

Naruto was breathing but did not stir or rise again.

'I… I won…'

Gaara didn't feel like he won, however…

Narrator

Kage, shinobi, samurai, and civilians were frozen in shock from the events. However, a certain cyclops marched forward dutifully.

Gaara watched as Kakashi Hatake drew close. If he was in a reasonable state of mind, he might've felt fear or moved, but Gaara was as stunned as everyone else.

Kakashi bodily shoved Gaara back, who was immediately grabbed by Rasa and surrounded by several samurai. But Kakashi paid no heed. Instead, he picked up the unconscious, bruised, and bloodied Naruto.

As he walked him toward the medical section, the signlessly activated a voice jutsu.

"G-... Gaara of the Desert Wins…"