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"..." regular speech, '...' beast speech, *...* mental telepathy

Chapter Eight: Tamed Beasts

'...Gaara...Gaara...Gaara...' stated a voice deep with inside of his mind. Gaara opened up his eyes seeing a huge raccoon beast in front of him. Gaara stared at the beast wide eyed as the beast just smiled at him. 'It is about time that you came around.'

*Who are you?* he asked the beast mentally.

'I am you or you could say that I am your beast form. I am Shukaku.' replied the beast. His beast form was far different than Naruto's full feral form. He could remember Naruto stating that he was striking a deal with his other half. Shukaku smiled as big as a cat. 'I knew that you and I would get along so well together. You are pretty smart and resourceful.' stated Shukaku.

*So how come I am only seeing and hearing you now?* Gaara asked.

'Think back to what happened.' replied Shukaku. A light bulb went off in the back of Gaara's mind as the raccoon beast nodded his head. 'Being in an environment that best works with our powers and getting pissed off, helped awaken me. Hence the reason why I am appearing before you now. I wish to co-exist with you Gaara. I want to help protect the people that you love and care for. I also want to help protect the places that are important to you. With this agreement, it will enable you to call upon me and use my full powers at will.' stated the beast. Gaara just simply looked at the beast as it seemed much different in comparison to Naruto's in the way of mannerisms. In a sense Shikaku was a little bit like Gaara, laid back and relaxed as he would only get mad when someone pushed him the wrong way. 'It is true that Kyuubi and I are not alike but the fox is willing to work things out with his other half to put the past behind them.' stated Shikaku.

*Is Kyuubi the name of Naruto's beast?* asked Gaara.

'Yes and the one within Sasuke is Taka but he hasn't awakened yet. Only the humans that we reside within can hear us as well as the other beasts.' replied Shukaku.

*Then I would love your help Shikaku. I want to protect the people that I care for, the village that has taken us in, my team mates, my friends and family.* Gaara told the beast as Shikaku simply nodded his head.

'When you awake, I might suggest that you train in order to control my powers. I will always be here if you ever need me Gaara.'

*Thanks Shikaku!*

AT THE SAME TIME...Naruto found himself face to face with his other half. The feral fox smiled almost wickedly at the human in front of him.

'Not bad Naruto. It seems that you have better control over my powers but, you still have a ways to go.' stated the fox.

*Kyuubi are you really willing to change your ways and work with me? I don't want to have to fight you for control.* stated Naruto.

'Of course I do Naruto. I am trying really hard to control myself. It's not our fault that those idiot scientists mixed wolf into us. This is why certain lunar cycles have that effect on us. I will try hard to help you by controlling it better. But lunar cycles are still going to effect us but, hopefully if we work together we might be able to control the effect that it has on us.' stated the beast. Naruto could sense and tell that Kyuubi was being honest with him as he knew that he couldn't blame all of his troubles on the fox. Naruto sighed out loud as he walked up to his other half gently patting him on the head. Kyuubi looked up at Naruto almost wide eyed.

*I guess that neither one of us has it easy. I think I can forget about all of the stuff that has happened to us in the past. The important thing is to work together.* A smile stretched across the fox's face as he was grateful that his human half was willing to give the fox a second chance.

'Thank you Naruto. I am only going to make one suggestion for you and that is to train. Both you and Gaara need to train yourselves in order to better understand and control our powers. Each one of us have a certain elements that we are strong with and also weak against. There is also certain places that will increase our powers ten fold as we have a strong connection to the element.' stated Kyuubi.

*That's why Gaara's power seemed much stronger in the desert.* stated Naruto as Kyuubi nodded his head.

'Exactly. For us, our power is increased whenever we are near fire and also around volcanoes. For Gaara and Shikaku it is the desert and beaches. And for Sasuke and Taka it is electrical and thunder storms.' replied Kyuubi. Naruto seemed to understand as he now actually looked forward to building a better relationship with his beast half.

Both Naruto and Gaara awoke finding their team mates looking relieved that they were both all right. Sasuke was the first to move as he hugged his brothers tight.

"Dam it you two, I thought that I had lost you both when you went full feral. I don't want to loose you both so don't scare me like that ever again!" Sasuke snarled at his brothers.

"Sasuke...you are...chocking...us..." Naruto and Gaara gasped.

"Sorry!" he replied as he let go of his hold. Both Naruto and Gaara looked at their brother shaking their heads. They could understand Sasuke's concern. Everyone know how bad Naruto got when he went full feral, now Gaara had done it as well.

"All right you two have a lot of explaining to do." stated Kakashi. Both Naruto's and Gaara's faces paled as they knew that they had to explain what was going on. Both Naruto and Gaara let out a long sigh before explaining what happened to the best of their ability.

The look of shock stretched across everyone's faces after Naruto and Gaara had told them about Kyuubi and Shikaku, their beast forms being a part of them, how certain places that connect to their elements that they controlled can increase their power ten fold, how they were weak against certain elements, and about the beast still sleeping with inside of Sasuke. The three monstrous teens knew that they were able to transform into full beast forms but learning that the beast was a part of them was something new.

"That would explain why Naruto had better control over his full feral form than before." stated Kakashi.

"Even though Kyuubi is helping me, the lunar cycles will still have some effect on us until we can learn to control that aspect of our power." stated Naruto.

"Naruto...I was wondering why do the lunar cycles affect you that way when you are clearly a fox when in your beast form?" asked Shikamaru.

"That is because they had combined wolf in with the fox. It is the same way that they created me by mixing bird and dragon together. Since the wolf and fox are closely the same species, the change isn't as noticeable as mine is." replied Sasuke.

"And your beast halves are willing to work with you and not against you?" asked Temari as both Naruto and Gaara nodded their heads.

"Naruto how come you and Kyuubi didn't work out an agreement before this?" asked Sakura.

"After my first transformation, they had placed on power inhibitor collars on us which restricted us from using any of our powers. Seeing how Kyuubi is a part of my power and I can only hear him mentally, the collar prevented me and him from communicating." replied Naruto.

"Well any ways we should head back to the village. Considering you three took care of Orochimaru." replied Kakashi.

"Oh man what a drag. How are we supposed to be a part of this team if those three do everything?" moaned Shikamaru. He did have a point, they weren't much of a team if Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke did most of the fighting. Their team mates had to increase their skills so that they wouldn't be so much of a hindrance to the three monstrous teens.