In the middle of the night, a figure bursts through a roof and leaped into the sky. He started attacking civilians who were still awake and walking on the streets, causing a mass panic.

"GAARA!" His siblings tried to stop him.

Sakura jolted awake and left her house with her katana. The urgent situation did not allow her to change out of her night clothes. Everyone was awake and ninjas scurried around the village, trying to evacuate the civilians. Everything was a mess.

While her father gathered every ninja from her household, the pinkette had arrived at the scene. Standing in the middle of the streets was Gaara, but his appearance had changed into half of a beast.

Sakura gasped.

He spotted the female and lunged his giant arm at her.

She jumped away from the inhuman hand and tried to lure him away from the village where no civilians would be harmed. He took her hair and followed her into the forest. Temari and Kankuro joined the pinkette in her quest and told her about the situation.

"His mental state has been unstable since he got injured in the fight." Temari explained. "The tailed beast inside of him is taking over his body!"

Sakura nodded. She knew why Temari told her that. She didn't want her to kill her brother.

The Kazekage stood on the roof as he watched the scene.

"Lord Kazekage." A gruff voice spoke.

He turned to his back and saw the Hokage looking at him in his shinobi attire. His eyes were full of suspicion and anger.

"Who are you?" He demanded to know.

A laugh escaped the Kazekage's lips from beneath his mask. His voice changed into something more raspy and menacing.

"No use hiding it now."

The imposter stripped off the Kazakage's robe. Standing in front of Sarutobi was his student, Orochimaru.

His eyes narrowed, "I should have guessed."

"Your prodigiessss are quite promissssing.." The Sannin hissed.

Four ANBUs reached the roof; then removed their cloaks and masks, revealing four unfamiliar faces. They stood on every corner of the rooftop and did the same hand signs simultaneously.

"Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!"

A cuboid trapped the two inside. Anyone who touches the barrier would burn in flames, which happened to a fellow Leaf Village shinobi who attempted to rescue the Hokage.

While the village leader was occupied in a battle with one of the legendary Sannin, ninjas from the village hidden in the sound and hidden in the sand entered the village like raging waves. The village soon became a battlefield as the Leaf Village's ninjas try their best to fight them off.

On the other side, Neji and Sasuke had caught up with the pinkette. Two bodies laid on the ground, utterly defeated and unable to move. The only one still standing in front of the half beast was the Haruno heiress, but she was not in a good shape. Bruises covered her body and a laceration wound stretched across her left arm. Her forehead bled and covered her right eye. The scene absolutely hurt the two heirs.

"SAKURA!" They shouted.

She panted as she gazed at them in exhaustion. "Neji... Sasuke..... Ru- AH!"

The heavy palm slapped her and she flew towards a tree bark. Neji was quick to his feet; he grabbed her before she could receive the impact. He laid her on the ground, but she grabbed his hand tightly.

"Shukaku..is too strong..." She said in between breaths.

Sasuke kneeled next to her, "Just rest, we'll take it from here."

She's drained. Sasuke thought in pity and worry.

Before the pinkette could detest any further, the boys had left her side to fight with The Tailed Beast. He had transformed into something that looks nothing like a human. Sand covered his upper body and formed a head of the beast on his face. It's not longer a 'he', it's an 'it'. That figure was no longer Gaara.

Mouths appeared on different spots on the beast's body.

"Wind Style: Sand Storm Devastation."

Wind blew from all those mouths, almost pushing the two boys away. When the sand storm cleared away, Shukaku shot sand shurikens.

Neji and Sasuke jumped onto higher tree branches and the Hyuga leaped into the air.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Water shot out from his mouth, but the beast was smarter than that. It wouldn't fall for the same trick again when they fought with Gaara. It dodged the water swiftly and it's tail slammed Neji to a tree trunk.

He grunted in pain and removed himself from the tree. Meanwhile, Sasuke was behind Gaara.

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire!"

Flames in various shades from red to yellow formed the shape of a dragon and hit the beast's back. When the sand spirit noticed it, it was too late to dodge.

Grey smoke enveloped the area. When it cleared, the beast was disfigured half way. Sand flowed like blood from the places that were injured and its tail was gone.

The Tailed Beast roared in anger. "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

While it was vulnerable, Neji activated his Byakugan and used his kunais to aim for its chakra points. The Hyuga's weapons successfully stabbed his chakra points which led the beast to scream. The impact stopped it's chakra from flowing.

Shukaku started to melt into sand as sand poured out of its body. A loud and angry roar escaped his mouth and the kunais were shot out from his body. Neji gasped when the beast regained his strength so quickly.

The body was covered in white smoke and a shadow of a giant monster appeared behind the smoke screen.

It was the full form of Shukaku, the sand spirit. The boys stared at it in worry. It was not something they could take down, at least when they have yet to develop their skills.

Three familiar roars greeted their ears. They looked towards the direction and found their large tiger-nins. The tigers found them amidst all the chaos. The trio had left the tigers to defend the village, but the safety of their owners were their top priority. Never have they been more glad to see them.

Sumire's eyes were sad when she saw Sakura struggling to stand up. It assisted the pinkette and purred under her touch. Her blood stained the snow white fur of the tigress, but Sumire could care less about it. Sakura only looked at it sadly, she was not strong enough. The tigress lowered herself so the pinkette could easily ride on its back.

Sakura reunited with her team and they showed concern, but she brushed it off. They have a more important matter in hand: taking down the Tailed Beast.

==

Dedicated to  for following me and dropping a meaningful comment!

I added this fight because it doesn't really make sense if Gaara becomes a good guy without a push. Furthermore, there will be something at the end of this fight which links this story to the second season which is titled 'Konoha's Prodigies: Legacy'.

I'm aware that I made the 2nd part as a separate book, but I'm going to add it here. That's my current plan, unless if you want it to remain separate. So comment below about your opinions!

For old readers, I would like to hear what you have to say about the difference between the first version and the second version. I hope my improvement made this story worth a read!

Critiques are very welcome as well, unless if it's unreasonable or not supported, I will not entertain it.

~Joelle

Published: 14 May 2018