Disclaimer: I do not own or am in any way related to Naruto. I am simply a fangirl trying to make her way in the world while at the same time dealing with the stories that the Naruto characters play out in my head. I am making no profit from this, unless you count readers and reviewing love.

Summary: Five years ago Naruto brought Sasuke back but received only anger in return, and so he left. Now it is Kitsune, strong and deadly, who returns to his old village. When war erupts with Konoha at its heart, what will he choose to do?

Warnings: More character introspection than plot. Not much action either. Lots and lots of spoilers, mainly about the Akatsuki and Naruto's parentage.

Chapter Nine

And So It Begins


Only the dead have seen the end of war.

-- Plato

They had been coming without end since yesterday – alone, in pairs, in groups, in really large groups – and there were still people hurrying in until now. The level of noise was astounding; the level of excitement was through the roofs and to the sky. Every single store in Konoha was doing unbelievably good business.

It was pretty amazing, Konohamaru mused as he threaded his way through the crowd. It was like being in a few foreign countries all at once. Every direction you turned in, you encountered a hitai-ate with a different symbol on it, even the occasional one that represented Hidden Steam, or Hidden Waterfall, or the like – villages with few shinobi and fewer still who ventured outside into the world. Every group you brushed past, your ears caught a different language, or a different dialect – a colourful, fascinating mix of tongues that sounded strange but beautiful.

There was skin ranging from snow-white to coal-black, and skin ranging from fully covered to – Konohamaru stared, awed, until his view was obstructed – almost barely covered at all. Speaking of clothes, too, there were fashions ranging from the most conservative (some people were wearing formal kimonos, of all things) to the most outrageous, even worse than Anko's fish-net or Kurenai's bandages or – Konohamaru shuddered at the thought – Gai's and Lee's blindingly green jumpsuits. There was hair way past even the normal colourful shades you could find everywhere – hair with more than one, two, three colours in it all at once, hair that was approaching neon, or hair that defied gravity even more than Hatake Kakashi's hair defied gravity (and that was saying something).

There were so many foreign shinobi around that not only the sheer number of them crowding every available inch of space made Konohamaru's head spin, but the sheer variety of them. He hadn't realized that people could be so vastly different and yet still be people.

But it wasn't only the rest of the world touring in Konoha. As Konohamaru walked on, he realized that the Konoha clans were out in full force today, too. He kept encountering the Inuzukas, with their enormous dogs happily sniffing all the strange smells, and the Aburames, snug in their trenchcoats even in the sweltering weather and stuffy crowd. Oddly enough, around them there was usually a Hyuuga to be found, too, dressed informally but set apart by their eyes.

"Konohamaru-kun! Over here! Over here!"

That shrill voice led him easily to the rest of his team, standing at the mouth of an alley. They were looking so excited they could almost burst. Moegi latched onto his left arm, Udon onto his right. "This is so cool, Konohamaru-kun!" Udon said fervently as they peered out from the relative safety of the alley, watching the world – almost literally, really – stream past.

"Yep, it is," Konohamaru said, nodding decisively. "But we must keep our cool. We must show them that even Konoha genins are not to be looked down on!"

"You're so right, Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi said worshipfully.

"But people can't help but look down on you, you know… literally," came an amused voice from behind them. "I mean, your heights leave a bit to be desired."

The three genins whipped around. Konohamaru had a haughty tirade all ready to fly off his tongue, when his eyes registered who it was that had spoken and his words were so terrified they zoomed right back down his throat, making him choke a little.

With everyone talking about the examinees this year, it was easy to recognize the man in the white mask as Kitsune.

Moegi squeaked.

Kitsune crouched down, tilting his head curiously to look up at them – crouching, he was shorter than they were. "Are you three still genins?" he asked.

Konohamaru cleared his throat. Still genins? It was an odd question. "We're genins," he replied, trying to act nonchalant, "but sensei says he's gonna recommend us for chuunin exams next year!"

"Really?" Kitsune sounded sceptical. "How long have you guys been genins again?"

"Four years," Konohamaru said defiantly, and a little defensively. "But it doesn't matter how many times you fail, as long as you don't give up!"

"I see." It was hard to tell what Kitsune was feeling from his voice alone. "Don't you think that's a little foolish?"

Konohamaru drew himself up as tall as he could, bristling. How dare this person insult him, and belittle the Commander's words? "Do you know who you're talking to?" he demanded. "I'm going to be the Shichidaime Hokage one day!"

"The… Shichimdaime?" Kitsune sounded confused. "Isn't the current Hokage the Godaime? You're missing one number."

"You really don't know anything," Konohamaru sniffed. "Our Commander is going to be the Rokudaime Hokage, and I'll be his successor, and when the time comes you'll regret it!"

"Your Commander?"

"Un!" This time, Moegi and Udon nodded enthusiastically with Konohamaru as he said, "Our Commander is Uzumaki Naruto – remember the name! He's going to be the Hokage real soon."

Kitsune was quiet for a moment. Then he rose to his feet. "You really do have faith in this person, don't you?"

"Of course! He's been gone for a long time, but he'll be back and he'll be stronger than ever, and everyone will see how worthy he is!"

"I see." Konohamaru wasn't good at this sort of thing, but he could have sworn that there was wistfulness in that voice. "Well, it was nice meeting you… Konohamaru-kun."

Then he was gone, striding down the alley to disappear into the crowd at the other end. The three genins stared after him, awed.

"We just spoke to Kitsune," Udon whispered, amazed.

"He's so cool," sighed Moegi.

But all Konohamaru could wonder was: "How did he know my name?"

Two days of preparations.

Only two days to get everything together.

Things were still so sketchy, and no one was sure if any of their plans would work… but no, he couldn't think like that. They had done the best they could, and as long as each of them played their part, hopefully things would be more or less okay.

Two days would have to be enough.

Naruto strode through the streets, ignoring the whispers and stares as he passed groups of people, and thankful for the way that those in front of him, alerted by the commotion, hastily moved out of his way when they turned to see him. It made getting to the Leaf Arena much easier.

He sighed when he saw the huge crowd already waiting for the gates to open – the seats were on a first-come, first-served basis, and so many had been queuing bright and early. Naruto didn't want to know when the first groups had started queuing – it was not even eight in the morning, and there was already a crowd that big? It boggled the mind.

He sensed a familiar presence come up to him – no, two. He turned to greet his friends. "Morning, Lee, Neji."

The Hyuuga gave him a rare smile as Lee returned his greeting with bubbling happiness. Naruto tuned out his babble about the flames of youth outlined against the morning sky, and leaned closer to Neji so that he didn't have to shout above the noise. "You okay with the plan? I know you must be impatient, having to delay your ascension to jounin rank another two years."

Neji shrugged. "The rank doesn't matter. I know what I'm capable of, and so do the other shinobi." His pale eyes went dark. "I'm just thinking about the casualties… I don't agree with the part of the plan that includes not letting the crowd know."

A hand rested on each of their shoulders. Lee smiled at them, not one of his ridiculous smiles; he squeezed their shoulders, and his eyes were serious. "I, too, feel badly for those thousands not in the know," he said quietly, "but it is towards a greater purpose that we work today. We strive for the stability of the shinobi world – and if many must die, then their deaths will be on our conscience, but we cannot prevent them. We must instead face their deaths head-on, and make sure that it's not all in vain."

He let them go. Naruto looked at this unfamiliar Lee, the pomp and glitter gone, and was honoured that he was being given a glimpse of the man behind the mask that was his ridiculous appearance and grin. His chest felt tight. "Try not to die, either of you," he said. "I only just got to know you guys again."

"I won't die if you won't," Neji said dryly, but Naruto could see the same emotion in his eyes.

He grinned, knowing that they could hear it in his voice as he said, "Deal. Lee?"

Lee gave them a thumbs-up. "Count me in." He looked at the clock above the gate. "We should start pushing through the crowd, or we won't make the meeting time."

With one last nod all around, the three men turned to face the arena. Those in front of them glanced back at them, and then saw who they were and did a double-take. Neighbour nudged neighbour, and the crowd parted.

Layer after layer of people split, moving aside to let them pass, the noise level around them dropping and then roaring up again louder than ever. Naruto rolled his eyes, in the safety of his mask – what were they, celebrities?

Oh. Right.

They finally broke free of the crowd, to face the four ANBU standing guard before the gates. The two in the middle nodded to them, and stood aside to let them pass. Lee found the small door set into the larger gate and opened it, stepping through; Naruto followed, and Neji brought up the rear.

The stands rose impressively on either side, going higher and higher. Straight ahead they could see sunlight shining down on sparse grass and brown dirt. The three of them automatically fell into step as they headed right for the centre of the arena.

"Where's Gaara-san?" Lee asked in an undertone.

"He refused to brave the crowd," Naruto replied, equally soft. "He's coming by sand."

"You could have gone with him," Neji pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, remembering his meeting with Konohamaru and company earlier. "I wanted to see Konoha as it is now one more time… before everything," he said simply.

He knew the others understood. They didn't say anything more.

Then they were there, morning sunlight gentle on their faces. They stood in the centre of a vast spread of land. The Leaf Arena was the largest in Konoha, and its stands could hold many thousands. Everyone else was already there – as the three men approached, Gaara swirled into being amongst the small gathering.

Raido and Genma stood before them, Raido looking as proper as always, Genma looking bored as usual. "Finally," Genma said as they joined the group. "Okay, firstly, if you didn't already realize, Raido and I are going to be your referees. Secondly, there's been a change of plans – we're shifting the order around a little, to spice up the exam. To get the crowd going, we'll have Uchiha and Lee's match first. The rest of your matches will follow the same order. Okay with everyone?" He didn't wait for them to respond as he said briskly, "Good. Now, there are waiting rooms that are soundproofed if you don't want to be disturbed while you wait for your turn, and there's the little balcony thing set into the side of the arena for those who want to watch. Take your pick, but pick one. We're opening the gates in five minutes."

The group moved towards the side of the arena where they could see the aforementioned balcony. Naruto strolled along behind them, feeling a little bad about their eagerness – only he, Neji, Lee and Shino knew that soon, they would not be fighting for jounin rank in an arena, but rather for their lives in a war. But they needed the element of surprise, and the less people who knew, the better.

And Sasuke – did he know? Did he suspect? Probably not; one of the most important parts of the plan was to keep him from knowing. Naruto wondered what he thought about suddenly going first, instead of last. The only reason why they'd done it was to preserve the strength of the shinobi for the true fight, because after – or perhaps more accurately, during Sasuke's match it would begin, and the conspirators hadn't wanted the others to waste their chakra in fighting one another when they would probably need as much strength as they could to fight off the invaders.

Everyone was in the soundproof room for now, waiting for the crowd to settle down before they all trooped out to watch Sasuke's match. Naruto sat with his back to a wall, meditating, trying to settle his nerves. Gaara was beside him, which he was thankful for – even if things were awkward between them now, even if he knew he might have to give the other man up, he still loved Gaara, and having Gaara there did wonders for his mood. Besides, he'd spent almost all the past five years with Gaara, and he'd kind of developed an addiction to Gaara's presence.

They sat there in meditative silence until Raido came for them. As according to plan, Naruto and Gaara declined to follow the rest, and remained in the room. When the door shut behind the last person, they looked at each other. Then Naruto made the hand-seals, and held out his hand mutely. It was Gaara's choice. For fear of being spied on, they couldn't speak, but Naruto couldn't bear to leave things like this.

The Kazekage looked for a long moment at the hand. Then, his green eyes softening a fraction, he took it.

Gaara… I'm sorry.

What for? You have apologized and I have already forgiven you for the incident involving Uchiha.

Yeah, I know, but still… I'm just sorry in general. I've been keeping my distance, I know you've noticed, and I know I'm hurting you but… there are reasons. Important ones.

I know.

I'll explain it to you after this is all over, I swear –

Naruto. It is alright. There was such peace in his mental voice. I understand.

There was nothing he could say to that. Then… I guess it's time.

Yes.

Okay.

Naruto?

Yeah?

Gaara smiled, and it was the smile Naruto had been yearning for the whole week. Do not die.

He grinned back. Same goes to you.

They let go of each other's hand at the same time, fingers lingering. Then, shelving their emotions, green eyes met blue, both set and determined. They formed their hand-seals.

Kyuubi and Shukaku appeared. Naruto winced at the glare that Shukaku shot him, and he was grateful when the two demons turned without a word and left the room, heading to their positions. Naruto looked at Gaara. "Shall we?"

Gaara gave him a faint smile, and swept out of the door. Naruto caught up to him, and they quickly made their way to the viewing gallery.

The match had just started; Lee was already going strong. He was a blur around Sasuke, too fast to be caught by the Sharingan or any other ninjutsu. Sasuke was forced to defend blow by blow, clearly not having expected Lee to go on the offensive so strongly and so quickly. Slow but sure, Lee herded him towards the centre of the arena, never letting up on his attacks. Naruto watched like a hawk.

Gaara tapped his shoulder. Naruto was a little surprised – what could Gaara want at this critical time? He turned, and green eyes were suddenly very close to his own. He swallowed.

The softest lips imaginable brushed against his own in the lightest of kisses. Gaara's eyes were really impossibly beautiful, Naruto thought crazily. And his lips were like butterflies, gently fluttering, powder-soft.

Gaara pulled back. "Just in case," he whispered, but there was unbelievable sadness in his voice. Then he was gone, in a rush of sand.

Naruto stared at where Gaara had been, almost unable to believe it. Then Neji hit his arm, wrenching Naruto's attention back to the match. "He's almost there," Neji hissed.

With all his strength of will, Naruto shoved the memory of that kiss to the back of his mind and turned back to grip the railing. He watched Lee and Sasuke closely. It was almost time.

Just in case.

Lee chopped at the back of Sasuke's neck, sending him reeling. A blow to his stomach knocked his breath out. A blow to the back of his knees sent him kneeling on the ground. The crowd gasped.

And then Lee raced away, a blur that vanished in a blink of an eye.

Just in case.

"Don't you dare fucking die on me, Gaara," Naruto whispered under his breath, and jumped.

Lee, panting with the exertion, leaned against the wall of the arena that Naruto had told him was safe to lean against. He watched the arena with his heart in his throat – did it work? Had he not brought Sasuke to the right place? Had he been too early? Too late?

In the distance, there was movement.

Sand, to his left, and a flash of red and clear green.

Gold eyes, to his right. Further down, long crimson hair swept the ground.

A figure dropping from a balcony set into the wall, landing lightly. Light reflected off a white mask.

Four sets of hands slammed into the ground.

The ground began to glow.

And Sasuke began to scream.

The designs glowing on the ground were really beautiful, Kakashi reflected. He couldn't interpret them well, but he could read enough of the symbols to understand what they were meant to do. It was so simple that it was almost elegant.

Sometimes you need to use poison to burn another poison out.

The power required was immense, though, and the whole operation was pretty delicate – the moment it was interrupted it would fail, as was usually the case with rituals like these. But if it was successful, then Sasuke would be finally, finally free of the curse seal – and not only the seal, but its poisonous effects on his psyche would be cleansed.

Kakashi was really hoping that the seal was the source of the boy's pain-in-the-ass-ness, but he doubted it. A small bit, maybe.

He could see what they had meant when they'd said that it was a fail-proof method to force Orochimaru's hand, though – a guarantee of starting the battle in the way and with the timing that Konoha wanted, not Orochimaru. If the old snake pervert wanted to keep Sasuke as his container, he would have to intervene. The seal wasn't only to increase its bearer's power, after all. It also prepared the bearer's body for Orochimaru's possession.

He had no idea who the other two men who were feeding power into the ritual were, other than Naruto and Gaara, but their power was unbelievable. Kakashi doubted that they were normal shinobi. They were probably wanted dead somewhere.

Not his problem, though. His job was to… ah. There.

Kakashi grinned, the light in his eyes feral, as he leapt forward. The Sound nin who had been intent on trying to kill Gaara died with a gurgle, his throat slit with a kunai. A distance away, Gai broke the neck of another shinobi trying to kill Naruto. Across the arena Genma was laughing as he killed the men trying to get at the gold-eyed one kneeling on the ground; Raido was protecting the crimson-haired man with cold, deadly efficiency. Kotetsu and Izumo were standing guard over Sasuke, killing anyone who tried to get near him to remove him from his place.

The ground still glowed. Sasuke still screamed.

And in the crowd, a good number of shinobi were suddenly standing, blades out, hand seals beginning to form – but then, around them, yet more shinobi rose, eyes deadly intent on their prey. One by one, the disguised Sound nin went down at the hands of the disguised civilians – chuunins and jounins, revealing their hitai-ate, etched with symbols from all the Great Five countries, working seamlessly, grimly together.

The real civilians started screaming.

The Sound nins started fighting back.

And then things began exploding outside, the sounds echoing inside the arena, and all hell broke loose.

Tsunade watched the chaos unfolding beneath her with grim eyes from the Kage balcony, set high above all. Then she turned to the other Kages beside her. "Well, gentlemen?" she said. "It seems like our calculations were right – Orochimaru was forced to move early and so the Akatsuki will not be here for some time."

The Raikage nodded. "And the plan must go on." He looked up and around the city – the Great Five nins trying to push back the Sound nins swarming over the wall, the exploding buildings, the battles in the streets, the frantically escaping civilians streaming out of the arena. "Although it does not sit well with me what we must do next."

"It has the unhappy feel of escaping to save our own skins," the Mizukage agreed.

The Tsuchikage stood. "It may feel that way now, but when the Akatsuki descend, we will be thankful that our battles are taking place far from here, where innocent people will not be pulled into our fights. Even if it may rankle now, for our people, we must do this."

Tsunade and the other Kages stood as well. "For the sake of our villages and the shinobi world," the Mizukage said gravely, "fight well, my colleagues."

"We will strip Akatsuki of so many members that it will never be able to raise its feeble head again," the Raikage said with a touch of vehemence.

"For our people," Tsunade said softly. They looked at one another. Then Tsunade moved first, taking off her Kage hat and placing it on her chair. The other Kages followed suit, as she removed the robes. When they were done, they looked like normal shinobi but for the authority that they exuded, and the ANBU from each village that flanked them.

The Tsuchikage grinned suddenly. "It's been a long time since I wore my shinobi outfit," he said, dropping the formal speech. "It feels good. The robes can be damn stifling at times."

"I know exactly what you mean," Tsunade said, grimacing. "And the hat! You can't see anything from under the hat."

"Try wearing the robes in my village," the Mizukage grumbled. "Do you know how humid it is there? It's like wading through mud after a while."

"Um… Hokage-sama?" Eagle said, sounding a little bemused. "We should probably start moving."

"Yeah, yeah." Tsunade sighed, and then nodded at the others. "Let's kick ass."

"Oh, let's," said the Raikage, grinning madly.

The Tsuchikage nodded. "See you all later."

In the next second, the Kage balcony was empty except for hats and robes, lying forlornly over their chairs.

Orochimaru frowned as he stood on top of one of Konoha's watchtowers, looking out over the village. The situation looked bad – why the fuck were there so few Sound shinobi fighting in the areas where his main forces hadn't been able to reach yet? He'd clearly sent a good third of his forces into Konoha disguised as spectators, for the element of surprise and internal confusion, so why…?

"Because we took most of them out before the battle even started."

Orochimaru turned with a sneer, looking at Jiraiya, who stood on the other tower facing him. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Jiraiya was smirking. "You remember the Aburame and the Inuzuka? The Inuzuka dogs have amazingly sensitive noses, you know… and the Aburame bugs – now that's really impressive. Did you know that either clan can detect the stink of snake on a shinobi?"

Slitted eyes narrowed even further. "Really."

"Oh, and you know the Hyuuga? I'm sure you remember the Hyuuga." Jiraiya examined his nails, the insolent bastard. "They're really good at finding the exact nerves and chakra points to hit to immobilize people, so that they don't kick up a fuss when they're removed from the streets."

Orochimaru hissed at him.

"We missed some, but we got most of them, I believe. You should have seen it. It was one of the most brilliant manoeuvres I've seen in a long time." Jiraiya was smiling, but there was no humour in it at all. "Who knew that those two brats had such good brains in those pretty heads of theirs?"

With some effort, Orochimaru composed himself. When he next spoke, it was with a silky smile. "It doesn't matter, Jiraiya. I still have the rest of my forces coming in. And there is still… me."

"Not for long."

Jiraiya charged. Orochimaru had to abandon his summoning and leap away; Jiraiya came after him, relentless. He didn't bother using jutsus – just his hair, physically lunging at Orochimaru.

There was no time to summon anything, or use a jutsu. Orochimaru barely had time to draw out his sword to counter the hair. Snarling, he fended off Jiraiya's attacks, wondering why on earth the old pervert didn't use anything else… his knowledge of jutsus was legendary. A spike of hair slashed a deep cut on Orochimaru's arm, and he hissed, abandoning his thoughts to concentrate fully on the battle.

He finally managed to score a deep wound in Jiraiya's side, and the old idiot finally backed off, leaping to a few branches away.

Branches?

Orochimaru looked around, and realized that Jiraiya had driven him away from Konoha and into the forests surrounding the village. So this was why Jiraiya had chosen his method of attack – it was true that a close-quarters taijutsu battle needed all concentration, more so than a battle with other forms of fighting.

"Thinking of the civilians, Jiraiya?" he called. "How touching."

"No, just thinking of the cleaning-up." Jiraiya smirked. "It'd be such a pain trying to remove a snake carcass from the village."

"I imagine a toad carcass would be easier, then!" Orochimaru snarled, his hands already moving.

There were two huge explosions of smoke.

As it cleared, Orochimaru could feel the rumble of Manda's hissing voice through the top of the scaly head he stood on. "Only the frog this time, Orochimaru?"

"The toad," came the deep croaking voice of Gamabunta, "is more than a match for you, Manda."

"We'll see about that, Gamabunta."

The smoke cleared, revealing Jiraiya on top of the huge toad's head. At this distance, Orochimaru could not make out his expression, but the grim intent that he radiated was clear. Orochimaru cackled, and pitched his voice to carry across the distance: "I'm afraid your suicide mission is only going to claim one life, Jiraiya!"

There was a pause.

"You know," Jiraiya said, "that's really too easy."

Orochimaru snarled. "Die, Jiraiya!"

Snake and toad rushed at each other, and their battle begin in earnest.

Seven heads under straw hats looked up at the explosion in the distance. The figures of an enormous toad and snake could just be made out.

"What the hell? It's not even mid-morning yet! The battle was supposed to start late afternoon!"

"I can't bloody believe that fucking snake managed to screw up something so shit simple as starting a fucking war!"

"Kisame. Hidan. Be silent."

"Who are you to fucking tell me –"

"It's begun already. The Konoha nin forced Orochimaru's hand. The Konoha shinobi are sneaky, they managed to –"

"Yes, thank you, Zetsu. Both halves of you. We can see."

"Also, the Kages have split up. They're each in a different part of the forest, far from the village. They're dressed for battle, it looks like they know we're coming. Somehow they knew about our plans, and are ready to fight each of us."

"I see. In that case, our primary objective of killing them holds priority over helping to destroy Konoha. We shall have to split up –"

"Don't be so hasty, Itachi. There's more. Itachi, Kitsune is also one of those alone in the forest."

"Kitsune's here? I want to fight him, un!"

"We should just leave the guy alone, it's not cost-effective to fight him as well. It's not within the calculations, we don't need –"

"He took off his mask. We know who he is. His identity is confirmed."

"I don't see –"

"It's the Kyuubi vessel. It's Uzumaki Naruto. And it's amazing how much he looks like Namikaze. He really looks like a clone of the man, there's no doubt that he's the son."

"Namikaze? Tobi knows that name! Tobi knows who Namikaze is! Tobi wants to fight his son!"

"Hey, I had first dibs, un!"

"Enough. I am in charge of this mission, and I would appreciate it if you remembered that. I will take on Uzumaki."

"Itachi –"

"He is my target, after all."

"…Fine."

"The rest of you will take on your own Kages, for you know best how to deal with any jutsus they might have. That means Kisame will fight the Mizukage, Deidara will fight the Tsuchikage, Sasori will take the Kazekage, and Hidan will have the Raikage."

"And me? My Kage isn't here."

"Kakuzu will fight the Hokage."

"And me? What about Tobi?"

"You will come with me and stay out of my way."

"But… but Tobi's a good boy! Tobi can fight!"

"Oh, be quiet, Tobi, un!"

"Yes, Deidara-sempai."

"Very well. All of you know your targets? Then let us make haste. We would not want to keep our esteemed Kages waiting, after all."

Naruto opened his eyes to the most horrendous sight that no person opening their eyes should ever have to see.

Gai's face in a very close-up view.

They were practically mouth to mouth.

"YAH!"

Naruto screamed, scrambled away from Gai, and shot to his feet. Oh gods, that had been close!

Then he remembered. "Did it work?" he demanded. He took stock of himself – he was almost at full strength, which meant… "It did, didn't it?"

Gai beamed and gave him a toothy grin with a thumbs-up. "My eternal rival has checked Uchiha thoroughly and there is no sign that the seal ever existed!"

Naruto sighed in relief. He'd expected as much – if the ritual had worked, most of the chakra put into it would return to the people who had given it, since it had been a cleansing ritual where the given chakra would speed though the subject's body in cycles until the foreign chakra – the seal – was erased. So, knowing that he was still mostly at full strength, it must have worked – but it was nice to hear confirmation.

Stop gloating, brat.

Hey, I'm entitled to it, okay? We did it! I'm free of my promise!

Who cares? Look at Gaara, will you?

What? Naruto almost tripped over his own feet as he whirled around to look at where Gaara had been. Kakashi was bending over him as he lay on the ground, the blue-green of healing chakra pooling in Kakashi's hands.

He was beside the two of them in an instant. The arena was practically deserted now – how long had he been caught up in the ritual? How long had he been out? – with only the Konoha nin in the arena and lots of dead bodies, so he could hear Gaara's faintly laboured breathing. "What happened to him?"

"Don't shout, I can hear you perfectly well," Kakashi said calmly. "He's only unconscious because of the backlash when your chakra returned to you – he's just out of it longer than you were, because of his existing injuries. The fall sent a shock of pain through his system, and when he collapsed his chakra hadn't fully returned and his unconscious body couldn't cushion himself from the fall. His rib cracked again. He'll be fine when I'm done healing the rib, the bruises aren't worth bothering with –"

"What rib? What bruises?"

Kakashi gave him a Look. "The broken rib and the tenderized torso," he said. "You didn't know? Aren't you supposed to be his partner?"

Naruto was saved from answering when Gaara blinked open his eyes. "Stay still," Kakashi told him. "Just a couple more seconds… and… yep. I'm done." He pulled away and stood.

Gaara looked down at himself and up at Kakashi. "Thank you," he said.

"No worries." Kakashi smiled down at him. "Need a hand up?"

Gaara took the offered hand and stood, brushing off his clothes. "How long?"

"The ritual took maybe ten minutes, and you've been out for another ten." Kakashi took out a couple of kunai. "I'd best be off now – and you, too. Akatsuki's not here yet, but Jiraiya and Orochimaru fighting with their summons should have alerted them that the battle's joined."

Kotetsu and Izumo came over, carrying Sasuke. "What do we do with him?" Kotetsu asked Kakashi, hefting the unconscious figure in his arms.

"Stick him in the waiting room. One of you stay with him, he won't be out for long. And he's at full strength, so once he wakes he'll be wanting to go off and fight, and you can let him run off then." Kakashi nodded to Gai, who had come over. "Shall we?"

"Whoever kills the lesser number of Sound nin will have to hop all around Konoha ten times!" Gai declared.

"Yeah, whatever. Come on." To Gaara and Naruto, he said, "See you kids later," before running off.

"My eternal rival! What a wonderfully cool answer!" Gai cried worshipfully as he ran after Kakashi.

Izumo clapped Kotetsu on the shoulder. "Then I'll be seeing you, too," he said cheerfully before leaping into the stands and out of the arena, to Kotetsu's howls of 'COME BACK HERE, you traitor!' But he was already gone.

Naruto ignored Kotetsu stomping off to the waiting room, cursing loudly, as he faced Gaara. "Those injuries were from that match with Sasuke, aren't they?" he said accusingly.

Gaara shrugged. "It is not important –"

"The hell it isn't! Why didn't you tell me it was that bad? I thought he just gave you a couple of hits and that was it!" Naruto took a step forward. "Gaara –"

"I do not need your concern." Gaara's green gaze was calm. "I do not need your guilt. I need you to do what we are here to do."

Naruto ignored him. "How could you think that I wouldn't care?" he said. "Why did you let me go off on –"

"It does not matter." Naruto had never heard Gaara's voice this hard before, and it shook him. "There is a war going on. Your beloved village is under attack. This is what you worked for all these years, Naruto – this is what you have been waiting for."

"I never –"

"It might not have been a conscious choice, but I know you, Naruto." Gaara indicated the village around them. "You have always wanted them to see your worth. You have always wanted them to acknowledge your strength. You keep saying you never want to return here, but deep inside you that is all you have wanted. Konoha is your home. That will not change. And no matter what you tell yourself, you will always want to return home."

"Gaara…"

"So go, Naruto. Save your village." Gaara took a step back, and managed a small, weary smile. "I will see you after the battle."

"Wait –"

But Gaara had already been swallowed up by sand, and gone. Naruto was left standing alone amongst the bodies.

"Damn it," he hissed with feeling. "Damn it, Gaara!"

Then he, too, turned and began running. Gaara had been right, at least – there was a war going on. And no matter how confused and conflicted he was inside, he would have to try to set it all aside and focus on the fighting.

Snarling with annoyed anger, Kitsune began running over rooftops, heading for the forest.

End Chapter Nine.

Have I mentioned before that I really, really love my wonderfully supportive reviewers? I have made a resolution to cherish you guys and pay no more heed to the depressing reviews. Yeah!

This chapter keeps alternating between random bouts of odd humour and fits of drama, with sad excuses for action thrown in. I do apologise for the really sorry action bits. Like I said before, I really, really cannot write action or battle scenes. This fact will be demonstrated to you in the next chapter, where my actions scenes flop like dead fish. Be warned.

In case anyone was confused, Naruto apologized for jumping to conclusions, but he thought that Sasuke had only lightly injured Gaara and he still thought that Gaara shouldn't have used his sand, and told Gaara as much. Which is why he feels so horrible when he realizes that Gaara had more than enough reason, with such injuries, to have used his sand.

Also, some of you might be following the anime and not the manga, so you wouldn't know some of the Akatsuki members yet. It's not really important to know who they are, though, don't worry. I just thought it would be fun to write that conversation, because I love Akatsuki and their interactions. Fandom Akatsuki, anyway, since Fandom Akatsuki is much funnier and whackier than the murderous nutters they are in canon.

Only a few more chapters to go! Remember that there are going to be spoilers. I took some canon facts and modified them, so for those of you who do know what's the latest manga-wise, you'll be seeing some familiar info but altered to fit this fic in particular.

Ashen Skies
"Don't you think that's a little foolish?"