The Rookie Twelve: When Stone Bleeds

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Another explosion rocked the forest and Sakura flinched, waiting for the trap to hit her with yet another shade of neon colored paint. Her other teammates had little trouble avoiding the traps but she was now covered in varying shades of electric blue and neon orange. Various rips in her dress showed where the traps had proven to be less than harmless and the scrapes on her knees told of how she had almost fallen into a covered pit and had to scramble for the edge before she became trapped. The forest grew quiet again and she breathed out a careful sigh of relief. "This is too dangerous Sasuke-kun," she whined annoyingly. "What was Kakashi-sensei thinking putting us in as rookies?"

Sasuke frowned and turned his back to her. "You're annoying," was all he replied. Sakura gasped and silently cursed Naruto, sure that the whole thing was his fault somehow.

"You didn't trip a trap," Rin informed her with frustration clear in her voice. It was obvious that her team was not ready for advancement but the mistakes that Sakura had been making were downright embarrassing. She turned towards the source of the blast. "I'd say that someone just used a hell of a lot of explosive tags about a mile in that direction. They must have really been serious about taking out that team if they were willing to draw that much attention to themselves. In any case, we should mover before the fight comes our way."

"Who asked you ghost-girl?" Sakura spat out. "Yeah," piped her inner-self. "Can it before I rip that un-highlighted hair right out of your head, shannaro!"

Sasuke groaned and prayed that Sakura's screeching wouldn't attract and unwanted attention. At the moment he doubted that she would even be able to take on the snake that was slithering through the bushes behind them. He pulled a kunai and contemplated letting the snake attack long enough to at least knock her out. Then maybe he could have some alone time with Rin.

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Gaara side-stepped the fuma shuriken that was aimed straight for his neck and caught it neatly with one hand, just as Zabuza had taught him. Moving into close range combat, he flicked the oversized weapon closed and bashed the broad side into the skull of the Iwa kunoichi who had sent it at him in the first place. She flew back from the impact, crashed into the ground, and lay unmoving.

Not far away, Haku was battling her two teammates, one of whom already had his feet firmly secured to the ground via Haku's ice. Gaara directed his sand and ruthlessly swatted the free shinobi into the air. The poor Iwa nin cleared several trees before his body disappeared into the foliage. Haku took that chance to catch his prisoner with senbon needles to the neck. The remaining Iwa nin, who was probably about as old as they were, collapsed into a false death.

"We should have just killed them," Gaara groused angrily. "Do you know what Anko's going to do to us for getting surprise attacked?"

"Let's worry about that after we get Naruto," replied Haku as he retrieved his senbon. He left behind the one that kept his victim in a false death and took a quick inventory of his remaining supplies, which were alarmingly low. "It's three on one and that's probably the stronger of the two teams. Why would they specifically target Naruto anyway?"

"They must have noticed his resemblance to the Yondaime and put two and two together. They don't have the village's prejudices to blind them." Haku signaled his readiness and they raced off towards the direction that they had last seen their brother.

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Koga grinned sadistically as he pressed the blade of his katana to the neck of the miniature Golden Flash. At long last he was going to get revenge, both for himself and his village. The gaki was starring at him with wide, horror filled eyes and Koga fixed on them, eager to see the life leave them when he completed his blow. In one swipe, he ran the edge of his blade along the gaki's neck and cut through the windpipe without touching most of the vital areas. The gaki would choke on his own blood before he had to worry about bleeding out. His teammates laughed sinisterly but they were quieted at the blonde's garbled laugh. Koga jumped back in shock as the blonde launched himself forward but Minase was not as quick. The blonde latched onto him and a short hiss was heard before the leaf nin blew up, taking Minase with him.

Koga and Shiro tracked Minase's charred body as it flew back in the air and landed in pieces at the ravine floor. "A kamikaze technique?" asked Shiro warily. Koga shook his head and motioned for his teammate to start searching to the left while he made his way to the right. He was barely five steps away when a scream started, and was cut short, behind him. He spun to find Shiro sliding slowly down a spike that had impaled him clean through his body. Blood ran down the spike, forming a pool for the body to land in at the end of its slow trek downward. "Damn you gaki," he spat out in fury. He sent out a chakra pulse infused with his earth element and a score of traps were thrown apart in a miniature earthquake.

"Clever brat," Koga muttered grudgingly. "But you're not getting away with killing my team. I've been their jonin sensei for a year so you won't catch me as easily." He didn't care anymore that revealing his status as a jonin would be seen as a breech of the tentative treaty between Konoha and Iwa. He would kill the brat before he had the chance to tell anyone anyways. His revenge would not be stopped now.

"You know I figured that I'd have most of Iwa out for my head sooner or later but you're treating this like its personal What the hell did I do to you?" came Naruto's disembodied voice. Koga sneered and narrowed in on the ripples in the natural flow of chakra coming from further along the ravine floor.

"You exist," he growled. "Our spy's knew exactly what you precious daddy did to you. They were in the area when the Kyuubi attacked, trying to assassinate the 'Golden Flash'. It looks like the gods where on our side there. The elders wanted to replicate it, so that we would have our own weapon, but they couldn't track down any demons to use. It was then that a man appeared to them and told them that he could bring the eight-tailed snake to us but that it would require a sacrifice of no less than twenty of our finest jonin. The elders determined it to be an acceptable sacrifice and ordered twenty comrades to their deaths: my father was among them. My mother died because she was the closest to term and the elders forced her body into an unnatural labor. My little brother was born as the 'chosen vessel' and an orphan. The elders placed all their trust in this man but when he moved to summon the hebi all that appeared was the gigantic snake summon boss, Manda. That damn snake devoured our comrades and both he and the summoner disappeared. The village was left terribly weakened, families were left bereaved with nothing to show for it, and in the midst of the chaos all blame came to lay on the 'chosen vessel'. All that's left of my family has suffered for more than a decade because of you and now you will pay."

"Come on," said Naruto in disbelief. "Your elders were the one's who made those decisions. No one twisted their arms. Besides, if your spies were nearly as good as you say they are then you'd know that the holder of the snake summons contract is Orochimaru, an S-ranked nukenin."

"It's well known that the snake summons contract comes from Konoha. If you tree huggers controlled your shinobi better then no nukenin could ever have made off with a summons contract. And the elders would never have considered such a ludicrous proposal were it not for fear of you. But I'll erase that fear right now and my family will finally have its redemption. Now be a good little gaki and die!" He flung a kunai to a trap that lay in ruins not ten feat away and a puff of smoke rose as Naruto released his henge and jumped for all he was worth. The kunai sailed harmlessly underneath him and Naruto made a dash for the top of the ravine with Koga hot on his heels.

The forest was silent as the deadly chase continued deep into the foliage and Naruto burst into a clearing only to find that his pursuer had somehow gotten in front of him and blocked his way. He pulled out a kunai and prepared the ram seal. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Six Narutos appeared and took up the standard academy defense formation. Koga sneered at the nin, he had obviously overestimated the gaki.

"I see that you aren't trained well for face to face confrontations. You pathetic leaf nin are all alike. You surprise attack and then run instead of staying and fighting like am man. Its no wonder your old man was called 'The Golden Flash'. The thing he was best at was running away."

"Teme," Naruto spat angrily. "I'll show you the true power of the leaves. Let me introduce you to my will of fire: Fox Fire!" Koga gasped and jumped aside as a large jet of flames incinerated the area where he had just been standing. He hadn't even touched the ground when three of the bushin attacked and drove him into the dirt with a well placed corkscrew kick. The bushin acted like a relentless drill that had him plowing farther into the ground. Koga felt his nose break and used the anger to fuel his jutsu. The leader of the team of shadow clones moved to make a final kick to the head only to have his enemy disappear in a burst of smoke.

"Replacement Jutsu!" the clone called out. Anything else it was going to say was cut off as a blade cut through all three of the clones' heads and dispersed them into smoke as well. The other three clones were running to catch the nin when the ground gave a shudder and dirt hands reached up to pull them down into the ground. One decapitation technique later they were gone.

Naruto tensed and watched the forest warily. His opponent had effectively disappeared and could now attack from any angle. The only thing that Naruto could do now was to wait for the attack. A glint of sunlight off a blade caught his left eye and Naruto dove aside, only to receive a spinning back kick to the head as his opponent came by. Naruto was flung head first towards the ground and was able to handspring back to his feet in time to receive a round house the sent him flying to the left, straight into the path of his enemy's katana. Naruto pulled out a kunai and matched the force of the sword for all he was worth. The kunai was torn from his hands but the katana was only able to bite into his shirt, slicing a long hole into the sturdy material. Naruto shot out another Fox Fire Jutsu but the shot went wild as his enemy delivered a front kick to his forearm and disappeared back into the foliage.

"You little idiot!" the Kyuubi screamed at him. "Are you just going to let him use you as his personal kick bag until you screw up enough for him to kill you! Why the hell did I enhance your senses if you weren't even going to use them? Get your head in the game or you won't have to bother worrying about Anko!"

Naruto shuddered and closed his eyes, spreading out his senses just as the kyuubi had taught him to do before. He could feel the sun shining on him gently. He could hear the trees waving in the small breeze. He could smell the damage that his jutsu had done to the ground and, underneath that, a faint trail of blood. The smell got close and an errant leaf was slashed as the katana came down on its target. Naruto dove forward and under his enemy, pulling out a kunai as he went.

Koga turned quickly and blocked the thrust of the kunai to his back and channeled chakra into his blade. "Earth Style: Hell's Descent!" He thrust the blade into the ground in front of Naruto and the ground split like the water for Moses. Naruto quckly created a clone and jumped from his back to a nearby tree. The clone fell in his place, to the bottom of a grand fissure, and the ground slammed shut behind him. Naruto cringed at the realization of the crushing death he would have suffered if he had not thought so fast.

"So this guy can manipulate an element, huh?" thought Naruto silently. "I guess its true that he's a jonin. So what do we do Kyuubi?" The fox in him grinned and flooded Naruto's body with chakra.

Koga gasped in shock as the gaki screamed in rege and his body began to change. Fingernails lengthened into claws; the whisker marks on his face thickened and his eyes became red; the pupils became slit much like a cat's. "Or a fox's," Koga whispered in horror. An evil red aura raged around him, both visible and in the shape of a fox with nine tails. Koga raised his katana and entered into a trembling stance, watching the flash of blood red chakra charge him with a single minded determination.

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Gaara and Haku gasped as the feeling of a strong youkai reached them. "That's Naruto!" cried Haku worriedly. "Why is he using the Kyuubi's power so close to the village?"

"We have to hurry," called Gaara. "Before the proctors feel it and come to kill him." They raced through the forest and to the site of what appeared to have been a large and fierce battle. Trees were down all around the site and the ground was terribly scorched. The middle was more like a crater then a clearing and in the center were two figures, one laying on the ground unmoving and the other standing quietly over him. Gaara approached quickly and caught his brother as his knees gave out and he went crashing to the ground. Haku was right behind him, checking their brother for any injuries.

"It looks like he's okay," said Haku in relief. "There is evidence that he was injured but it's all been healed, no doubt, by the kyuubi. He should get over the chakra exhaustion soon."

"Let's get him to one of our bolt holes," said Gaara. "The longer we're out in the open, the better the chance that someone will take advantage of our weakened position." Haku nodded and took point while Gaara used his sand to carry Naruto.

They arrived at the nearest bolt hole ten minutes later but were shocked to find that it was already taken. A team of three was hunkered down inside the hollow or a large tree and the area in front of it had a crude but deadly trap in place. Gaara shifted to move on but Haku grabbed his arm quickly. "That's Rin team," he whispered worriedly. "It looks like Sasuke-teme is down for the count." Gaara gave a frustrated sigh and followed Haku down to the tree, easily bypassing the trap.

"Who's there?" said a trembling voice.

"Its team Anko," said Haku soothingly. "Let us in Sakura. We already have our scrolls so we're not a threat." Sakura nodded and lowered her kunai, allowing them to enter. Rin raised herself up weakly and bopped her on the head.

"What the hell was that for Rin?" growled Sakura angrily.

"Baka, everyone is a threat in this test. You can't lower your guard just because your opponent says that they are safe."

"Rin is correct," said Gaara as he set Naruto down next to Sasuke, "but in this case we are not lying. We both have unconscious team members so a fight at this point would be of no use to us. And we really do have our scrolls."

"We don't even have one," said Sakura sadly. "Some snake freak attacked us and destroyed it. He wasn't even interested in the test. He beat Sasuke-kun badly and then bit him in the neck. Sasuke-kun has been out ever since and this tattoos been appearing on the space he was bitten. If it weren't for Rin then he would have killed us all. She did her disappearing thing and got us out of there. We found this place and Rin recognized it as your handy work so we stopped to try and get Sasuke-kun stable here. That Orochimaru guy did something terrible to my Sasuke-kun."

"Orochimaru?" asked Gaara in shock. "You're sure that's what his name was?" Sakura and Rin both nodded. "Orochimaru is no genin, he's a S-ranked nukenin. You're all lucky to be alive after meeting him." Sakura paled and looked back at her love with even more worry. Gaara fished out their extra scrolls and handed them over to Rin. "We'll head for the tower as soon as these two wake up," he announced. "It is imperative that we speak to the Hokage immediately." They settled in to wait for their comrades to waken.

"Should we attack," asked a voice quietly?

"No," said the second spy. "Those two guys are too dangerous to deal with right now. What was Orochimaru-sama thinking sealing that guy? The other team is obviously stronger."

"It's not for us to question," reminded his bandage wrapped team mate. "Besides, don't forget those eyes the Uchiha has. Let's head for the tower. We'll take them in the one-on-one finals." They dashed away silently. Yards away, Gaara relaxed as the last of their enemies left and settled down to take first watch.

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Senses were the first thing to come back. The light was piercing his eyelids mercilessly and he was sure that he was lying on a rock. Toushiro struggled to remove the senbon logged in his neck and groaned in relief when it finally released and allowed his blood to flow regularly. From the position of the sun, he estimated that he had been out for about an hour now. "That should have been enough time for aniki to kill him. Why didn't he come back to get me?" he muttered in confusion. He shook the thought out of his head. He had his own team to think about right now.

Momo was still unconscious near him and Toushiro made his way to her and checked her over. She had a sizeable knot on her head but a quick medical scan showed that she would be alright. Toushiro looked around for Hajime but there was no sign of his other teammate. He moved Momo to the safety of a large bush and made her as comfortable as possible. He would have to leave her to look for Hajime but he didn't want to leave her exposed to the elements and anyone who happened to pass by. He walked off, unknowing that his teammate was actually returning from the opposite direction.

Toushiro walked for about a half a mile before he came upon the site of what looked to be a large battle. He looked around, eager to see the proof of his brother's victory. His heart froze at the site of his brother lying in the middle of a crater. He raced to his side and looked down at the lifeless body helplessly. Sightless eyes stared out at him accusingly. His brother had been fighting for his life and he hadn't been there for him. He felt tears pouring down his face but he placed aside his grief for the moment. He had a duty as a shinobi that he could not ignore. He closed his brother's eyes gently and crossed his arms over his chest so that they clasped his beloved sword.

As he was moving Koga's hand he spotted a crude writing in the dirt. The marks spelled out the words 'Crimson Flash'. Toushiro stiffened and nodded to his brother. "I understand aniki," he murmured. "I will avenge your death." With one last, loving glance Toushiro set his brother's body on fire and watched as the flames erased both the secrets of their village and his only family's existence. He spent the next half hour searching for his brother's teammates, repeating the process on them.

"I'll get revenge," he whispered over Minase's ashes. "I swear it."

"Then I have a proposition you should hear," came a voice from above him. A moment later the man joined him over his comrade's body.

"What could you possibly have that would interest me, teme?" Toushiro growled out.

"Believe me; both you and your village will be interested in this." He smirked at the look of curiosity on the younger boy's face. Orochimaru may have asked him to do this but he would enjoy playing with the Iwa-baka. Soon he would be kage of Iwa and Suna. Sano gave an encouraging smile, all the while plotting how best to carve the fool up once he was done with him.

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That's all folks. I know, it's been an inexcusably long time since my last update but real life threw me a real monkey wrench. I won't say because it's both private and on going but I am sorry that I didn't deliver as promised. This chapter is coming out without the help of my beta because you guys have waited more then long enough. I will take this time to apolozize to my beta as well: Gomennasai and Sumimasen and Serry no baka. ; sweat-drop