No one knew what just happened.

The Hyuga watched as their youngest most promising prodigy succumbed to his emotions and gave in to the control of that dreaded cursed mark. They watched as their honored clan head used their own mark to subdue him in a swift move.

It backfired terribly.

Somehow, the simultaneous activation of both of the seals on his body made them go into conflict. Neji had to endure an impressive deal of pure agony as the very thing that had made him a slave fought fiercely against the mark that aimed to turn him into nothing more than a simple vessel.

Neither really won that match, the only thing they both managed to accomplish was destroying each other; an inevitability of fate perhaps, or maybe just pure luck. Either way, the course of events that led to it happening was so improbable that it is safe to say it will never happen again.

But Neji didn't need it to happen again, it happened, and if only for a brief moment, he allowed himself to feel free.

Not everyone shared that sentiment, the tournament had been paused for a short while to allow them - the Hyuga - to properly deal with the situation. There wasn't a shortage of people demanding that Neji be marked with their Caged Bird seal again immediately.

Hiashi knew that's what had to be done, he knew that to be the rules of the clan he himself had upheld for ages, so why was he doubting himself now? Tension was palpable in the air as the Hyuga in the stands were trapped in a battle of wills.

Neji was taken away to the medic guard along with Hinata and Hiashi followed suit, he didn't know what he was going to do about him just yet, but he knew what he could do for him, something that he should've done long ago.

He walked in and found his daughter out-cold with wires attached to many places in her body, it was hard to look at, he had always seemed like a cold man and people thought he held no real love for his daughters...

He did, he does.

It was too painful to see so he decided to dwell on her current state and his many regrets about his treatment of her at a later time. He walked to a surprisingly conscious Neji lying motionless in bed and said, "This is something you need to read, and something I should've shown you many years ago."

That letter meant a lot for Hiashi but... it meant even more for Neji. He just didn't know it. Granted, it was because he had been denied the knowledge of ever knowing, Neji was after all the one it was addressed to, better late than never was Hiashi's reasoning.

The truth shall set him free.

He left promptly, not feeling strong enough to face his nephew just yet; he didn't see Neji read his father's letter, apologizing to him and explaining that his sacrifice had been exactly that, something he did willingly and against his uncle's wishes. He missed Neji finally understanding what Hinata had been trying to convey and he missed Neji breaking down as tears flowed down his face finally allowing himself to fall into the realm of unconsciousness.

Or did he?

Hiashi activated his byakugan the moment he left the room to observe Neji's reaction from a distance, allowing him to face his reality alone, he watched as Neji finally fell asleep and decided it was for the best, he would let him rest and have a long-postponed conversation with him after this whole thing was over.

It was a real pity though.

Hiashi left the medical guard without knowing that Neji wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

—

"Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto, come down here."

It was finally time, the final match of the first phase had finally arrived. The fifteen minutes recess that had followed Neji's collapse was finally over and Naruto now found himself going down the stairs to the arena. He could've jumped off the railing, he had already done it after all but there was more to this match than the eye can see.

The time to face off his latest sworn enemy had finally arrived and Naruto still didn't know what he would do about it. Was he going to try and kill Gaara? Was he going to try to help him? Would he even be strong enough to do anything against him?

"I will give mother your blood, Uzumaki Naruto, your death will make me feel alive." It didn't matter how many times Naruto or anyone listened to Gaara's creative speeches, they were all disturbing as fu-

"You're sick and delusional Gaara, I will show you just how much." Serious Naruto wasn't a regular occurrence. Everyone who knew him felt chills running on their skin when they heard his icy tone.

It was very uncharacteristic of him.

"Are you both ready?" Genma asked the question but was only looking at Naruto, he had been informed of the current situation and what might happen, he wasn't sure why but something told him that this would be it, the beginning of the end for one side of the upcoming conflict.

Naruto nodded his approval and Gaara's maniacal laughter was enough confirmation for him as he jumped away from the arena and left ample space for them to fight.

He quickly put his plan into action and used the same Kage Bunshin to send many of him to fight Gaara while he watched from a distance and analyzed his situation. Being this focused wasn't Naruto's regular modus operandi but Kakashi had made sure that he would use his brain before he used anything else in a match like this one.

Just as he expected, Gaara dealt with the 10 attacking Narutos without moving a single muscle, his gourd popped open and strings of sand flew out of it, piercing each one of the clones and dispersing them before they even had time to react.

More clones emerged behind Naruto and ran at Gaara again, this time running around him in circles as they each fished a couple of shuriken from their pouches. They all stopped suddenly and threw the shuriken at a smirking Gaara and then went through a quick sequence of hand seals as they yelled,

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!

The few shurikens suddenly turned into hundreds that rained on the red-head from multiple angles, it all proved for naught however when the sand simply surrounded him and stopped the advance of the shurikens without any effort.

The clones dispelled and Naruto huffed in annoyance, he raised his hands in a single half-ram seal and yelled, "Kai!" making his special bracelets - designed by no other than Konoha's fuinjutsu expert - release the weight they were applying into his whole body, Naruto then grabbed his twin staffs and smirked as he made them crackle with electricity. "Let's get a little serious."

At speeds far superior to those of regular Genin and even Chunin, Naruto started running around Gaara, his speed was still not nearly as fast as Lee's, not even without his weights on but he was still pretty damn fast, definitely faster than Gaara.

Naruto kept running around him to disorient him and got inside of his defense to place a single hit with an electrified staff only to step away and keep running before his sand had enough time to catch up to his advances. Contrary to what everyone would think the more Naruto ran - the faster he seemed to get and only some people in the stands realized just what he was doing.

Gai was incredibly proud of his semi-student, truly, he could only take credit for teaching Naruto how to fight properly but couldn't help but marvel at his incredible progress and display of ability. "How is he doing that Kakashi?"

Kakashi turned his gaze to his eternal rival, revealing his Sharingan eye uncovered and carefully watching the match; he smirked at the question and answered simply by saying. "Which one?"

Gai was confused by the cryptic response but after a few seconds of concentration, he understood. Naruto was keeping an illusion of sorts to appear faster than he actually was.

The boy kept running at impressive speeds that made his image blur for the regular eye, it was even harder to see him with the dust that rose every time he took a step on the ground, Naruto knew this and started slowly adding more clones running around Gaara, making more blurry figures appeared around him that could easily be mistaken for after images, something only extremely fast people are capable of.

It was working, Gaara was finding it hard to know from which side Naruto would attack and his sand had a hard time catching up to it, his look started becoming more unstable and enraged as his chakra spiked. Naruto knew the chakra to be his and not the one of the demon in his gut, making it somewhat more impressive.

The Jinchuriki got tired of being trashed around and used the sand in the ground to form a wall all around him that eventually shot large spikes of sand, piercing all the Naruto clones and sending the real one who managed to block the attack just in time flying and crashing against the arena wall, leaving a dent in the form of his body on it.

Gaara wasn't one to waste an opportunity and laughed maniacally as waves of sand started rushing towards Naruto set on finishing him for good. "Yes... you are strong, killing you will prove my existence!"

"Killing you will make me feel alive."

The sand crashed strongly into the wall and earned a loud yell of pain from Naruto making everyone in the stands gasp but that wasn't enough for Gaara, he encased Naruto with his sand, and once he was all swallowed up - he tightly close his fist, calling out the deadliest of his jutsu.

Sabaku Sōsō!

The sand contracted and started pressing against its captive from every direction. The pressure was so great that Naruto wasn't able to scream or yell in his position. The arena suddenly went silent and some couldn't even bear to look anymore. Gaara kept laughing more and more as he called his sand back to his gourd, it was only when the sand left the room that the audience felt like they could breathe again.

In the spot where Naruto's unrecognizable body should've been was nothing but a log turned into splinters; Gaara didn't have much time to be confused however when three different Naruto's emerged from the ground surrounding him, each holding an open scroll pointed at him, with a flicker of their chakra, the scrolls activated and released three powerful jets of water that hit Gaara head-on and damped his sand, making him temporarily unable of using it to defend it.

From the trees in the arena the real Naruto started going through a quick set of hand seals that he finished as he ran to Gaara, once in his presence, he pointed both of his hands at him and used the same jutsu he had used to knock out Kiba and Akamaru before.

Raiton: Raikou Kousen no Jutsu!

A beam of lighting shot from his arms and hit Gaara head-on, his damped clothes and sand amplifying the effect of the Jutsu and making him drop to the ground as he trembled in pain.

"Your mother taught me this jutsu, Naruto, I think it will help you in the fight." Jiraiya tossed Naruto a scroll with the Uzumaki cress on it and watched as the boy read over it.

"A barrier jutsu?" He asked without taking his eyes from the scroll.

"A containment jutsu." Corrected Jiraiya. "Though similar in nature a barrier and a containment jutsu are not the same, this specific jutsu will allow you to absorb the chakra of your captive and use it to make their prison stronger."

Two of the clones that had shot the water at Gaara moved and stood in a perfect triangle formation around him with the real Naruto in one of the tips, no words needed to be exchanged between them as they started going through the same set of hand seals while they watched Gaara start to recover. 'You better be right pervert!'.

They all finished their sequence with their palms together in a praying motion and called out.

Fuinjutsu: Sanhō Fūin!

Light purple energy emerged from the ground and connected itself to each of the Narutos holding the seal and then shot up from the ground encasing Gaara in a perfectly shaped prism of chakra but Naruto wasn't done just yet, he went into a different sequence of hand seals and an array of different symbols appeared on the ground where the red-head was standing.

His chakra started being absorbed and transferred into the barrier keeping him locked making it slowly but surely change its color into a stronger shade of purple, signifying it was becoming stronger; inside the barrier, Gaara could feel his energy start to leave him and he became frantic, pulling his hair and yelling pure nonsense.

"No! You won't defeat me! I'm strong!" Naruto's hands started trembling at the sudden surge of energy inside of the barrier, he focused and used even more of his energy into keeping the barrier stable and strong.

"Sakura-san..." The voice of Shino was the first to break the silence that had taken over the contestant's booth, everyone had their jaws open at Naruto's display of ability, even Gaara's siblings who had returned there just in time to see his brother's match couldn't believe what was going on.

"Yes, Shino?" Sakura answered him but didn't turn her gaze away from the match and her struggling teammate.

"What is Naruto-san trying to do?" Shino was a great shinobi, even for a genin, but few were privy to the intricacies of Fuinjutsu, to the outsider the only thing Naruto was doing was keeping Gaara locked in place, it didn't seem useful.

"He's trying to drain Gaara's chakra but..." Sakura looked as dark energy started pouring out of the red-head and Naruto's struggle became more apparent "I don't think it's working."

She was right, Naruto's chakra was strong, stronger than even the Jōnin in the village but the chakra of Gaara's tenant was more powerful than anything he had ever felt before, he was being overwhelmed by it and he knew it, his plan had failed. The barrier wouldn't be holding for any longer.

"YOU WON'T DENY MY EXISTENCE!"

The powerful chakra became too much and the barrier exploded, Naruto was sent crashing into the wall of the arena once again and he watched as Gaara enclosed himself in a dome of sand where the energy of the monster he housed became stronger.

He carved himself out of the wall but remained sticked to it with the use of chakra, his lone visible eye looking around the arena for a certain silver-haired man.

"What if it doesn't work, Ero-sensei?" He believed in the knowledge of his newest master, he was perfectly aware that few people could claim to be as strong and capable as he was so he shouldn't even be asking the question, right?

Wrong.

Always asking questions was one of the first things Naruto had learned from Kakashi.

"If it doesn't work..." Kakashi interjected as he swiftly made his way into the clearing, faster than Naruto could sense. "If it doesn't work you will go ahead with plan B."

He found the face of the man he was looking for and knew that Kakashi had been expecting it. He looked at his uncovered Sharingan and serious face, his eye asking a question Kakashi answered by giving him a short nod.

Naruto sighed. 'This is it.'

Everyone watched confused as Naruto removed his Hitai-ate from his neck and tied it around his forehead making sure that the strands of hair covering his supposedly missing eye were no longer a sight impediment.

What he did next surprised everyone.

Naruto looked up and for the first time in months opened his right eye in public, revealing a Sharingan with two red tomoe.

The crowd went silent for a moment, and then the murmurs started.

"That boy has a Sharingan, is he an Uchiha?" One of them asked out loud, in shock.

Another covered their mouth, connecting the dots together. "Wasn't he in a team with Sasuke-sama?"

"The Uzumaki stole the sharingan of the last Uchiha!" A man angrily exclaimed, pointing at Naruto. "How could he do that to his teammate?"

Some other civilian emerged from the crowd, "He's just like that Hatake guy!" She accused, "His sensei must've taken it for him!"

"He's a traitor!"

The people went into a fit of rage and loud accusations that made Naruto look down to the ground in sadness, he knew everything they were saying was false but it still felt like shit. In the Kage balcony, Hiruzen looked at him with a saddened look at hearing the way his surrogate grandson was being treated.

"Kakashi, is that true?"

"Of course not, Gai." The fact that Gai had even asked was enough for Kakashi to get pissed at him, he seemed to catch up quickly, and apologized for his mistake and for doubting 'Naruto's youthful ways'.

The murmurs didn't stop and every one of them seemed to only get worse and worse, Naruto allowed himself to be distracted and Gaara was slowly gathering the chakra he needed; Sakura was the first to notice and the first one to do something about it. "ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Silence, somehow Sakura's voice filled the entirety of the arena and everyone was now looking at her like she had grown a second head. "You know nothing about Naruto and you know nothing about Sasuke! So shut up and keep your idiotic baseless and hurtful comments to yourselves! Idiots!"

That seemed to do the trick, it's not like people seemed to instantly believe what was being said but it was convincing enough to at least let the matter go for a while. Naruto looked around and realized just how much time he was losing. He gave everyone in the stands a soft and sincere smile that made everyone wonder if such a sweet and kind boy could be capable of the things they were accusing him of.

Naruto re-focused, he went through a sequence of hand-seals that included some that most shinobi didn't know of, once he was done with it, Naruto extended his right arm and started channeling his chakra. Soon, a chirping sound filled the arena and Naruto's hand was engulfed by lightning.

He took a deep breath and ran.

Naruto ran the fastest he had ever run in his life, with each step taken he left a dent in both the wall and the ground he was stepping in, Gaara realized the incoming danger and the sand of the dome extended into spikes and strings of sand that followed Naruto around as he moved.

It didn't help him, the enhanced vision and predictive abilities Naruto gained from the use of his Sharingan far surpassed the speed of his sand, the young Uzumaki ran straight at him as he dodged flawlessly every single attack he sent his way.

Electricity followed Naruto around, small particles of sand became crystal the moment they came into contact with his overcharged state, the Uzumaki finally reached the dome of sand and in a swift motion stabbed his arm in it, going right through it and even piercing the body of the one within; it all happened as he yelled the name of his jutsu, one that few who encountered it survived long enough to hear.

RAIKIRI!

Silence...

No one dared move a muscle as they stared and gawked at the scene. Every person in the audience watched in amazement as a Genin performed one of the deadliest techniques ever invented almost flawlessly and had nothing to say about it.

They didn't have much time to recover.