The monster awakens and a snake resufaces!

Turning back to Temari to help her now, Naruto froze. The claw of sand around Temari did not disappear. What was the meaning of that? Naruto got a new feeling of dread as he snapped his head back to Gaara.

His seemingly **** form was still on the ground. But then, his sand underneath Narutos feet began moving, shifting. Jumping away from it, just in case, Naruto saw how the sand rushed back to its owner and lifted Gaara back onto his feet. His eyes opened and he stared at Naruto with bloodshot eyes and a manic expression on his face. He looked a bit like Haku-chan, Naruto observed. Only much more dangerous and insane. "Interesting... so very interesting!", he growled as he stumbled forward a bit.

Hunched over, Gaaras head snapped up and looked at his enemy. "I had never thought that this would be so much fun! You're very entertaining, Uzumaki Naruto!", he shouted the name of the one he would kill soon. Gaara cackled, clearly closer on the verge of insanity than Naruto had ever seen him.

But his brother knew only too well what it meant. And like before, he was scared. Scared of his little brother and what he could do. And there was no way he could still stand aside and just let it happen. "Hey kid, get out of there! Gaara's gonna turn into a monster soon!", he warned Naruto.

Naruto looked at the puppeteer with surprise. "What?! I can't leave Temari behind like that! I promised I'd save her.", he replied. Escaping had never once crossed his mind.

Kankuro groaned in frustration as Naruto just wouldn't listen. He knew his father was watching them and what he was about to do could be considered treason, but... like Temari, he would do what he could to get Gaara back to his senses. And to save
his sister, he too would trust Naruto. But this was too dangerous! "You don't get it, do you? If Gaara unleashes his demon here, everyone is going to be in danger!", he yelled loud enough so that everyone could hear him.

That elicited a panicked reaction of the audience. Just the word 'demon' was enough to let those who had witnessed it think back to the attack of the Kyuubi twelve years ago. With loud screams, the ordinary people who had come to watch the finals, the merchants who were looking for sinobi that could be trusted with missions, the all fled as fast as they could. The shinobi present stood their ground, nervous but ready to step in if Kankuros words turned out to be true. In a matter of moments, the ranks were empty, only shinobi now in there as they watched over the fight.

The group of Narutos friends and their Jounin also remained. But that bothered the Jounin a bit. "You Gennin should get out of here as well... it might become too dangerous for you to be here.", Kakashi advised them.

But he earned himself three defiant glares with that well-meaning advise. "No! I refuse, how could I run when Naruto is in danger!", Tenten protested, angry that she was told to abandon him. "I won't run and leave him.", Hinata agreed with Tenten. "Me too! I'll stay, I can't miss to see him win this fight!" Ayame exclaimed, knowing full well that she would be the most helpless among those still present.

"Let them, Kakashi. We're here too.", Kurenai spoke up. She had seen that look on Hinatas face once before and that was when she had fought Neji. She knew she wouldn't back down and Tenten and Ayame looked similarly determined.

Naruto meanwhile witnessed something monstrous happen to Gaara. His sand crawled up his body, clinging onto him as it almost seemed to merge with him. It was already covering half his face and Gaara was now drooling and cackling manically. Now even Naruto was convinced of the danger that was Gaara. But he stood his ground. "I will stop you! You hear me, Gaara? I'll save everyone from you! I won't let you harm anyone here!", he yelled defiantly.

Laughing in a shrill voice, Gaaras transformation slowly but surely progressed. "Then let us fight, Uzumaki Naruto. Let us see who gets to live... and who disappears!", Gaara yelled, his arm along with half of his body now monstrously deformed. It was a gigantic claw formed by his sand, yet... it didn't seem as if it was just his sand at work there. So, Naruto got ready to face his strongest and most terrifying enemy yet...

The Hokage and the Kazekage had watched the fight with interest. The Third had smiled favorably upon Naruto as he revealed he Rasengan, but now, he frowned as the threat that Gaara posed became apparent. Standing up, he turned to his bodyguard ninja. "Signal our shinobi to take down the boy. Try not to harm him, but he must be stopped!", he ordered, worried about the safety of his people.

The bodyguard nodded and was about to take off and spread the order as the Kazekage too stood up and chuckled. "Oh, why would you want to interrupt this fight? It had just gotten interesting, Hokage.", he exclaimed and looked at his equal.

Despite all of his suspicions regarding him, Sarutobi was appalled that the Kazekage would allow this battle to continue. "Don't be ridiculous! This is no longer a fight in an exam. If what your son said was true, then the entire village is threatened. I can't take that risk.", he exclaimed. There had been far too many instances in this exam that tarnished the Leafs reputation, such as Tayuyas sudden apprehension, but this was different. Gaara had to be stopped!

Again, the Kazekage chuckled. "Again, you worry about the pitiful mongrels. Just like always. But, as a matter of fact... you have something completely different to worry about.", he laughed and ripped his mask away. Underneath it was a different face than the Hokage had expected... the moment he was stunned by it, the Kazekages bodyguards turned and were seemingly ripped apart by unseen forces. It happened fast, but three figures burst out of them and they attacked the Hokages bodyguards, taking them down in a single surprise attack.

Bot the Hokage recovered quickly from his shock and blocked the vicious punch that the Kazekagre threw at him. Staring into slitted pupils, Sarutobi frowned. "Orochimaru!", he gasped the name of his former student. Then, in the distance behind Orochimaru, a watch tower that stood guard along the big wall that protected Konohagakure erupted into flames. The invasion of the Leaf Village had begun...