Naruto REAL Chapter Nine Fire Versus Sand, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

Finally, it's up! Maybe it just seemed a long time because of my Math test, but nevermind!

This chapter took pretty long because I needed to make Sasuke's fight good and had a writing weirdness for a while, so there was a lot of edits.

Thanks to these people who reviewed! 2stupid, MagusKyros, katie, Cornett, noearthlyclue, Edengrave! I was crazy for a long, long time…

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Chapter Nine- Fire versus Sand

Sakura never felt more excited for her ex-husher. Not that she had forgotten her crush on Sasuke, but after Itachi's tutorship, things had changed. Sasuke(-kun) could be her crush later. The very fact that Sasuke was facing the Suna snob who had thrashed Lee, and that she was excited instead of fearful for him, was the proof.

And, Hatake Kakashi, the closet pervert was sitting beside her. Sakura had heard a lot of him from Sasuke. A closet pervert, yet one the Itachi would trust with his life. Now that Kakashi was so close, Sakura could feel a calm, sorrowful, but driven power that bubbled beneath that lazy exterior and head protector.

Before, she would have been pissed at his perverse tendencies, but now, it was mixed with respect.

Things had changed.

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The Sandaime stole a look under his kage hat at the Kazekage. He chuckled, hiding it by taking huge puffs on his pipe. No matter how good Orochimaru was, the excited licking of lips was always the giveaway. But it also meant one thing, that the war would start soon.

The first round of the Third Test had hardly started, but what was this premonition rising up within him like bile?

"Hijikata."

Hijikata leant in close.

"Inform all personnel that the war is coming. Send at least two teams of Chuunin to protect the hospitals. Also… I need a team of Jounin outside the door as soon as possible. Orochimaru might have his five Sound nins with him."

"Yes, sir!" Hijikata whispered fiercely.

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The sun was striking hot now, warming the cool river water. Sasuke did not fancy jumping into the water and out, with his clothes already soaking with sweat. But that was not his main concern. His target was to beat a boy who had killed countless Chuunins. The boy in question appeaered undaunted. Sasuke grinned darkly. He would make Gaara daunted, that, he would.

"Begin," Genma said distractedly as his earpiece buzzed with information.

Gaara put his arms out and shouted, "Sabaka no Kyuu (Desert Coffin)!"

The sand, which had gotten faster over the month, clenched over the younger Uchiha brother before he could react.

Gaara closed his fist. "Sabaka no Sousou (Desert Funeral)!"

The sand covering Sasuke exploded inwards.

Almost immediately, Gaara set up a wall of sand to his right. It had been all too easy, and the black blur he had seen behind his Desert Coffin was the proof of that. Genjutsu. Uchiha Sasuke is proficient in that aspect. The expected punch landed on the sand wall, and Gaara made more hand seals. "Sabaka no Kyuu."

"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no jutsu!"

Gaara's eyes widened as his own sand blossomed out and swatted him away. His defensive wall had softened so that it could cover Sasuke rapidly in the Desert Coffin attack, and in that precise moment, Sasuke had performed a powerful Exploding Bunshin Jutsu.

Gaara sailed through the air like a doll. Thankfully, a soft pillow of sand protected him. Then the Uchiha was in his face, then gone. And he felt a kick at his back, before the Uchiha was forced to dart away from the waterfalls of sand.

Sasuke gathered chakra into his shurikens and spun them at Gaara, hoping that the weapons would be as fast as he had been. The shurikens spun in an arc around a wall of sand, the deflected each other, one embedding into a sand clone, another into Gaara's personal defense.

The others failed to hit anything, clattering to the floor.

Gaara's walls of hard sand melted away, and he looked at Sasuke, unflustered. Sasuke frowned. His psychological attack had not worked.

Sasuke charged again, pumping chakra into the air before him. "Wind Cutter no jutsu!"

The crowd watched in fascination as the air between Sasuke and Gaara suddenly seemed to rip in all directions, making the earth crumble. Then Gaara had extended his arm, directing heaps of sand towards the Kaze jutsu.

Gaara saw the Uchiha shift around the sand and extended his other arm. "You're not escaping me, Uchiha Sasuke!" He shouted.

Then a long arm of sand burst out at him, and Sasuke ran away from it, as fast as he could, then muttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu."

Stepping into the shadow of his bunshin, Sasuke used that split second of coverage to flash through three hand seals. It was the same genjutsu he had seen one dark night, performed by Itachi. His form melted into the floor…

Gaara smirked as the Uchiha broke under his sand. But this is not him… The many dangerous missions against top ninjas told Gaara that in order to survive the attempts of his father to kill him, improvisation was the best after his sand.

Now that his sand was a tad slow for the opponent, he had thought of another plan. As the sand had chased after Sasuke, Gaara had concentrated a burst of chakra into one tiny patch, so that a trickle of his sand would slip into Sasuke's pocket as a homing device.

Gaara closed his eyes and listened for his chakra… There!

Gaara pumped chakra into the water bed under the boulders and shouted, "Quicksand no Jutsu!"

"Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Gaara spun around, bits of sand piecing together. The sand wall asorbed most of the flame, but weakened. Then a chopping sound alerted Gaara, and he flashed through hand seals, but the gathered chakra was wasted, for a chakra-powered Fuuma Shuriken ripped through his sand defense and sliced his arm, before spinning away like a boomerang, returning to the young Uchiha's hands.

Sasuke folded his Windmill with a jerk of his wrist and grinned deviously. Kakashi's lessons on Wind Techniques had been useful.

Gaara frowned at the thin slit of blood, his sand armour cracked. "Your presence really irks me now, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Good to hear that, Gaara. I was meant to do that, isn't it?" Sasuke questioned, before slamming his Fuuma Shuriken, blades flat facing front, shielding from the sand walls which had suddenly thrust forward. He felt his sandals slipping under the smooth rock beds. No matter the chakra power, Gaara's sand was forcing through the gaps.

Then the water behind him exploded, just as the sand infront of him had, then crashing down… Sasuke sweated as the sands threatened to kill him in half a second. Spreading chakra around him, Sasuke cried out, "Doton armour!"

The rocks built up around him just as sand fell forwards. Sasuke felt the sands pummeling his weak rock armour, and in turn, bruising his shoulders painfully. But there was no time, not now. Sasuke performed handseals, grabbing his right forearm.

"Raikiri!" A thousand birds chirped wildly as blue chakra gathered at his hands. Sasuke threw his arm forward, then sprinted the fastest that Kakashi had helped him to. Jounin speed. His Sharingan instinctively focused on the beads of sand falling away in slow motion as his Lightning Edge broke through the attack, then he was suddenly up close at Gaara. The Suna-nin's automatic defense was setting up, his green eyes widened at the spiky black hair.

Sasuke put his entire arm through Gaara's midsection, feeling real organs palpilating. Bloody flesh, pouring over his own skin. Then sand.

Sasuke jerked his arm out in horror. It was Gaara's body shell, just as in Rock Lee's fight, when he had done the Secondary Lotus, only to find Gaara gone. Which means that he's behind me. Shit!

Sasuke pivoted quickly, feeling tendons creak in protest. "Sand Barrier no jutsu!"

It was a brave move, reckless and rash even. Sasuke crossed palms and slammed them into Gaara's oncoming sand, and tried to make a sand barrier out of Gaara's personal supply. The barrier was weak, but saved Sasuke from sprained muscles or shattered bones. Instead, the slammed into the stadium wall.

Gaara was sneering derisively. "Feeling pain now, Uchiha Sasuke? That's the sound of your death."

"Oh yeah? All I hear is lip, Gaara-sama," Sasuke taunted. Gaara fumed inwardly and outwardly, and unleashed the full force of his killing intent. Most of the Stadium froze and the shivers that clanged through their bones.

Gaara chuckled and raised both arms. "Kaasan, I have a sacrifice at last, one whose blood will sate you for decades!"

Sasuke struggled against the invisible hands of fear as the sands surged forward like tentacles of the Ichibii.

Above him, Sakura prayed. Move it! Sasuke… you, you promised never to let your brother down…! Move! But his legs were jelly. Come on… genjutsu. There must have been some genjutsu that Kakashi or Itachi taught you. Sakura could feel her own hope slipping.

Sasuke's brain was on overdrive as the first sand crushed his leg. Blank.

Sakura's hands instinctively went to her mouth, most of the female population screeched. The voice that they knew so well escalated into a scream of agony.

Gaara laughed maniacally as his bloodied sand slipped off the dead Uchiha's face, crushed and mangled, with blood dripping off. He walked across his beloved sand, saying, "Take this from me, Kaa-san, be relinquished in his blood."

His green pupils contracted as his smile widened. He could feel his boots stepping on Uchiha Sasuke's legs easily; the bone had been crushed to fine bits. "Kaa-san, do you feel his blood now?"

Chck. Chck. Chck-Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck- Chck-Chck---

"Shi-ne, you demented sadist!" Sasuke shouted as he pressed his Chidori into Gaara's back. It was a low-powered one, but at such a close range, it would be enough. Sasuke started to unactivate his attack as soon as he felt hollowness. "Shit. How good is this guy?"

"Sabaku no Kyuu!"

To his horror, Sasuke felt Gaara's protective casing wrap around his arm. Damn. Quick, Chidori. Don't fail me, Kakashi! The unactivating Chidori came on at full power immediately, driven by the full gales of Sasuke's chakra. "Desert Funeral!"

Sasuke smirked as the tight sand collapsed and spun around, his hands clasped together. "Katon! Gokakyuu no jutsu!"

"Sand!" Gaara screamed, building up three layers infront of him in case the Uchiha did irritating things again. Gaara shook in anger. He's challenging my existence! He dares! I'll…I'll show him… that I'm the only one!

Sasuke took advantage of Gaara's blindness to mentally control his defense. Sure, the Sand could move for itself, but he would be faster. Thanking Kakashi mentally for the back-breaking training, Sasuke hardly broke a sweat as he ran ahead of the three blasts of defensive walls, who crumbled to ashes at the Fireball technique.

Dodging more flares of Sand, Sasuke mule kicked Gaara into the air.

The stadium watched in awe as the infamous Sabuku no Gaara was thrown into the air and beat to the ground succesively in the blink of the eye. Sasuke had not even used the Shadow Leaf Dance.

Sasuke spin-kicked Gaara into the earth. "I'm not gonna give you time to run, racoon boy!"

"Lion Combo!"

The Konoha crowd went up in cheers, as if it had been a brilliant exhibition, not a fight. But the lower level ninja were nodding appreciatively. Hinata giggled when Kiba forced to keep down a look of admiration.

Sasuke stepped out of the crumbled earth, stumbling into the risky river waters. He breathed in the cooler air, sticking his hands into the water, forming seals. Even if he was sure that Gaara was gone, there was a chance that the sneaky mammal had sneaked off. He frowned at the too-still body of the Sand nin.

"Water clone no jutsu," Sasuke muttered disappearing into the water himself, letting his water clone into the air.

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Gaara climbed out of the pit shakily, his gourd gone, his protective shields gone. "I'm still high on chakra, Uchiha! I can still get your sorry ass! I apologize, Kaa-san, but I assure you, I will appease you with his blood. You will taste it!"

Kankurou shuddered at the demented look pasted on Gaara's face. That was his brother, different from Temari or him. Different, but not wrong. Kankurou told himself, chanting the mantra. They were siblings. The least he could do was try to be one, even though Gaara was not. Then again, he should not be thinking about humanity.

Humanity is for the weak. Gaara had said coldly when they were very young. Kankurou stumped out of his thoughts when he saw Gaara face the sky laughing maniacally. Why was he feeling all sorry for Gaara now? Gaara would only be angry…

Gaara lifted his hands to the sky, very well aware that Uchiha Sasuke was both underwater and on water. He was very well aware that the kazekage sitting next to the hokage was not his father, but an imposter. He was very well aware that he could have stopped the disgusting scum from murdering the kazekage, but he had not. He was very well aware that very soon, he would do what he was born… no cursed to do. I need… to prove my existence. Father… your death has provided me with the very opportunity to vanquish one people..

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Now that Sakura felt the Sand ninja's killing intent, maybe she should be worried. Excusing herself, Sakura left the front row seats and exited through the door. Kakashi still had his arms folded, only half a mind on Sasuke as he watched Sakura from the corner of his eye.

It was when he looked past Sakura's pink locks when he finally spotted the suspicious figure. Kakashi had felt the intense presence, but had been waiting for the excuse to look around. In a black ANBU cloak, with a cat mask that was that of a desceased member. Kakashi touched his ear, casually brushing the mechanical part attached to it so that he was on air. The professional ventriloquist, he muttered, "Gai, Asuma, Kurenai. I have our man. Black cloak, cat mask, seven o'clock, twenty feet from my position. Over."

"Got it. My age old rival, the fiery passion has finally touched you. Over."

"Yeah, I'll be the woman with a cigarette Expensive dress. Over."

"I'll report it to the hokage right away. Over and out."

Kakashi sweated at the first two statements. His head returned to Sasuke's match, but his eyes slid to a beautiful hottie that had just taken a seat near to the ANBU imposter. She was puffing on a cigarette casually.

Sakura disappeared through the door, feeling a shiver of apprehension as she passed a ANBU member. Powerful, and creepy.

She needed something hot to hold.

Sakura pushed in two coins from her purse and selected a mocha from the vending machine. As it mixed the coffee from different nozzles, Sakura lent on the wall, listening to the spectators outside gasp and scream.

"Go for it, Sasuke-kun!" A bunch of fan girls shouted. Sakura smiled. Once upon a time she would have been with them. Funny how one month can seem like years. I feel old.

Sakura collected the paper cup and made her way down the stairs and another half-hidden staircase into the participant's waiting room.

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The Kazekage reached deep into his cloak pocket, then drew two powerful smoke bombs. He was about to throw it into the middle of the arena when Sarutobi caught his wrist. Pulling the Kazekage forward, Sarutobi twisted the captured wrist and spin kicked the man away. The Kazekage grunted from his fallen position and adjusted the dislodged bone with a snap of pain.

Shrugging off the large kage hat, Orochimaru revealed himself to his former master.

Sarutobi gave a bitter smile, determination etched in his eyes. He pulled his cloack off and let it drift to the stands far below. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the battle suit. "You've been expecting me, Sarutobi?"

Sarutobi put own hand behind his back, performing one-handed seals. He said, "I would be a poor sensei not to know his student's mind. Yours was always the easiest to read, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru dropped his sinister façade and frowned. "This is how you irked me, Sarutobi."

"I told you I was a good mentor… Wind Slash no jutsu!"

The ground before the Sandaime split from an invisible torpedo, cutting from his feet towards Orochimaru. Flashing through hand seals in time, Orochimaru shouted, "Ninpou! Snake's Beard no jutsu!"

"Doton Stampede no jutsu!"

"Sonic Blade no jutsu!"

"Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

"Mystic Storm no jutsu!"

Simultaneously, Orochimaru and Sarutobi bit their thumbs, drawing blood. Flecks of blood trailed as they slammed their thumbs into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

The Konoha Invasion had begun.

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Naruto and Rukawa looked up as Sakura entered the room. The temperature rose sharply.

"Sakura," Naruto said dumbfoundedly. Sheesh. That's one hot body…

Oh my sheesh! What am I saying! But that body's really cute. Shit! Shut up Naruto!

"Shut up, fox!"

The entire room turned to look at the blond haired boy. Laughing sheepishly, Naruto said, "It seems like a lot has changed in one month, Sakura."

"In other words, you mean my body, Naruto?" Sakura said seductively. The simmering cup of mocha was as hot as Naruto's burning face now. After two seconds, Naruto had the hotter face. World Record. Rukawa could have thrown confetti.

"Yes.. I mean no! No! I meant no!" Naruto stuttered out as he threatened to puke.

Rukawa looked from Naruto and Sakura and caught what he meant. With her leaner body, the pink hair went well with her tanned skin, and her chest appeared…fuller. Muffling a blush, Rukawa pointed a thumb at Sakura's paper cup. "That for me?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and smiled. This time, a mild blush really came on, and Sakura downed the scalding cup in one gulp. "No."

Rukawa got up in a flash and whipped out a kunai. In one swift but fluid motion, he slit Sakura's throat.

It was approximately this time that Sakura stepped into the room with a cup of mocha in her hands.

The coffee splashed to the floor as the paper came to a rest at Rukawa's feet. Sakura watched dumbfounded as she saw Rukawa's maddened eyes, the blood that was splattered on his face. She had seen him kill her without hestitation… he looked like he actually enjoyed it! Sakura took a step back uncertainly. She saw Rukawa look up at her. The glint in his steely eyes had not quite faded.

"Are you okay, Sakura?"

Sakura edged out of the room, her green eyes widened in fear. A monster had talked. Naruto got from his couch and took her arm. She recoiled from his touch, then welcomed it when she recognized Naruto.

Other than them, the room was empty, echoing with hastened footsteps from above. Neji and Temari were in the healings wards, Kankurou, Sasuke, and Gaara were out at the arena fighting a war. The three of them had not left yet.

Sakura stared into Rukawa's eyes. The dark orbs had a touch of uncertainty; holding a tint of fear. She watched his mouth move. "Sakura."

Whether it was a question or a statement, Sakura did not know, but Naruto shook her and said, "Sakura, that was an enemy impersonating you, it was only right that Rukawa killed him. It's a war now, I know you know that. We have to help our comrades in battle, that's what Itachi-sensei has been teaching us, right? Teamwork."

Sakura looked at Rukawa's uncertain eyes once more before she tore her gaze away and nodded to Naruto. "Right."

Naruto motioned at the broken window that Kankurou had shattered. "Let's go!"

The three of them took a running leap out onto the battlefield. Ninjas were dropping from the stands either dead or fighting. Sakura ducked away from Kurenai's fight and did a low drop kick to a Sound kunoichi who had leapt away from a Leaf Jounin, who took up the opportunity to spear her in the heart.

Sakura twisted around sharply. Taking a running leap, she kneed a sand ninja and stabbed him with two kunais. Suddenly, a shadow passed over her face. Looking up, Sakura did some handseals and shouted, "Katon! Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Rukawa, Sasuke, and Naruto gaped as a full-blown dragon fire technique barbequed a sound nin. Their mouths did not hang open for long, because a man behind shouted, "Thunder melody!"

A sonic blast ripped through the air in a twang. Luckily, their jaws had been slack, if not their teeth would have been shattered. The ground crumbled up, opening to reveal a crevass of a lava. Molten rock melted before their eyes, and several ninja fell in. Rukawa looked over at the large hulk standing over the edge.

Having done such a powerful jutsu, he'd be an easy kill. Rukawa motioned over to Naruto. Kill him.

Naruto nodded confidently and leapt over the widening gap. He pulled out two sais, twirling them expertly before dodging around the large man. The sound nin shouted, "Sonic Blast!"

The man slammed a palm into Naruto's small frame, shattering the bone. Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, his original form appearing behind the large man. With speed not usually connected with a man with such build, the man swivelled around and jumped away. As he sailed over the crevasse, Sasuke drew his Fuuma Shuriken and hurled it at him.

The large blade sliced through the torso and returned to Sasuke's outstretched hand. The weightlifter split into two, and the pieces fell into the crevasse like slabs beef. "Nice move, Naruto."

Naruto flushed with radiant joy and killed two Sand genins after that.

Sasuke landed neatly beside him. "I've got three!"

Naruto gave one man an upper cut before forming some hand seals. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

All the Narutos kicked enemy genin into the air in a flash, before leaping up behind their flailing bodies. Double kicking them in two flips, Naruto dispelled his clones as the genin crashed to the floor with kunais sticking out of their necks. "Read my lips, Sasuke. Seven."

Sasuke grunted and performed several hand seals. "Shuriken Homing no jutsu!"

The shurikens that had spun to the floor earlier when Sasuke had thrown them were suddenly powered up with chakra and sheathed into several ninja's necks easily. The jugular vein. Obviously, they died at the fountain of blood spurting from their necks. Sasuke smirked at Naruto's awed look and said, "I was planning to use it on Gaara, but, well… Eight."

"Nooooo!"

With that, the genin hopped around the arena, climbing up onto the stands, then onto the roof, before jumping back down onto the ground, fighting in tandem but claiming kills, though not killing as easily as earlier, since they had lost the advantage of surprise..

Meanwhile, Rukawa had led Sakura out onto Konoha's streets to aid their fellow genins. Rukawa followed Sakura into the array and said, "Sakura, Itachi has taught you a lot, right?"

Sakura nodded.

Rukawa smirked and said, "Then, it's time you put your effort to use."

Sakura and Rukawa fought back to back, fending away ninjas using jutsus with such good teamwork that could be passed off as chuunin or jounin. Sakura battled with two long kunais and pyro jutsus, using an occasional genjutsu, but evaded melee combat. Rukawa covered her slower and sloppy moves, Sharingan and Rai bloodlimits activated and ready to kill.

At last, they had cleared part of the road. Rukawa tugged at Sakura's sleeve. "The rest of them can handle this. The west district seems to be taking a lot of damage."

Nodding, they disappeared into thin air.

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Naruto flicked sweat off his face lightly and grinned ferally at Sasuke. "Twenty-five."

Sasuke downed two more ninja and straightened. "Thirty."

"Tch. Dammit. Hey, Sasuke, how come the ninjas we meet are so weak?"

"Dobe. This is a full-blown invasion, of course the enemy's entire workforce would be employed. They'd have genins, remember? Anyway, the Chuunins and upper levels on our side have picked out the more powerful ninjas, leaving the midgets to genin like us. It's natural."

"I never knew there was such planned things."

"Art of war, dobe."

"Grr."

Sasuke smirked at the team of Sand Genin that appeared in front of him. He recognised them to be one of the teams that had left the examination room before the tenth question. He smirked. Easy pie.

"Naruto, leave these to me. There are two teams on our left."

"Claiming glory, Sasuke?" Naruto commented before leaving.

Sasuke performed handseals before jamming his hand downwards. "Raikiri!"

The Sand Genin yelled war cries and pulled out hooked kunai and charged. Sasuke's Sharingan captured their blundering movements perfectly before he dashed forward, pulling his chakra attack through them cleanly, blood flashing through the air in thick wads.

Keeping his Raikiri activated, Sasuke continued to charge through the stadium at full speed, climbing up the walls into the stands, helping the outnumbered become even. Deactivating the chidori, Sasuke hurled two shuriken at an enemy ninja before joining with another chuunin to fight off another three Sound ninja.

They took turns in offense and defense, flashing through the air, beams of fire or claws of wind techniques sprouting from the blur of movement. Finally, Sasuke gave the last ninja a flying spinning kick before stretching his body upwards, letting his temporary partner run below him and cut down the Sound nin.

"Nice working with you, kid," the Chuunin panted.

Sasuke grinned back wearily before they engaged in fight again. He looked down at the stadium. Naruto was handling himself very well, and had gotten shadow clones to help him, but the work was almost done here, there were only a few enemy ninjas trickling in over the walls.

Jumping and landing beside the real Naruto, Sasuke looked at the blond with his Sharingan. "We need to go. The west district seems to be in the worst condition."

Naruto nodded, and they jumped off, leaving his clones to fight.

Sasuke bristled once they had crossed Central. The sun still hung brightly in the sky, but there was no warmth. It was as if the heat had been blocked out, leaving nothing but icy cold to chill his skin. The clear, bright day, with muffled heat, was far too unnatural.

"Sasuke, this cold. Either a very powerful genjutsu, or just pure killing intent fused with chakra," Naruto deduced seroiusly. Sasuke nodded and replied, "Yes, either Sannin or Kage level for the jutsu part. Highly unlikely, judging from how they were fighting just now. I take your second option."

Then they bordered the West District, and flaming arrows flew over them, striking wood or human flesh. There was an almost distant clash of swords, but there were ronin fighting directly below them. Sasuke frowned. Then there were screams of agony, sizzling or chakra dispersions, all in the same blurry quality.

Sasuke's frown deepened, and they stopped at an unharmed rooftop. Then two figures landed beside them. Naruto greeted Sakura and Rukawa, who said, "I've scouted the area. We have to fight as a complete team now. Up ahead is a demon form of Gaara, like a fully unleashed Naruto. Then there are powerful Suna ninjas around him, plus what seems to be Orochimaru's most powerful ally who is not ninja. Probably a ronin organisation which is really good. Let's go, remember, we're a team."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Okay. So, who do we go for?"

"The ronin. There are teams of ANBU handling the Suna groups and Gaara. Itachi and his team is there, against Gaara. It's best we do not interfere; the teamwork is their weapon."

Sakura and Naruto nodded, and they hopped off the roof simultaneously into the mass of ronin. Konoha's samurai and ronin were good, but no match for the Sound's force, which was far larger and skilled. With the new team of genin, they took on one platoon of Sound swordsmen and started to pick each one off carefully and slowly, sliding under swords, landing brief hits before drawing kunai to collect slashes or jabs.

Naruto did a handseal and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Eight Narutos appeared and took over Team Seven's opponents. Then Naruto, Sakura, and Rukawa performed a genjutsu on the Narutos, who defended against blood thirsty men. Sasuke did his final hand seals and shouted, "Katon! Flame Rings no jutsu!"

Team Seven leapt into the air as Sasuke's attack sent rings of flame cascading into the ronin like a tsunami. Rukawa twisted his body to evade a flurry of arrows. Good, that attack took about a minute or more. We still have time. The four of them somersaulted, drawing long knives, cutting down arrows, before they flipped into the unarmed shooters, slitting throats. These shooters were positioned behind a low wall of sandbags. Behind them was another row of marksmen, who had already reloaded.

Sakura flashed through seals and put her hand to her mouth. "Katon! Housenka no jutsu!"

Three marksmen fell under the fire balls. Meanwhile, Sasuke disarmed a shooter skillfully and strung the bow. He concentrated Wind Elemental chakra to the arrow and released it. The arrow blew through three hearts, blood splattering so freely that it blinded a shooter.

Naruto took advantage of his relapse and stabbed him with his long knife. Then he twisted around to backhand another, straight into Sakura's knife, before butterfly kicking another away.

Rukawa did a set of handseals so fast that his fingers were a blur. "Doton Spears no jutsu!"

Stalagmites of earth sprouted from the ground and pincered the remaining marksmen. Rukawa brushed blood from his cheek and faced his teammates. "We have to move on to another place. With all these arrows and stray katana, the jounin and ANBU won't be able to fight their best."

Sasuke nodded and let the way to the rooftop trapdoor. Placing his ear to the ground, Sasuke heard footsteps and voices. Then he performed some hand seals and slammed his crossed palms into the wood. "Wind cutter no jutsu!"

A destructive beam of cutting air destroyed the trapdoor and the ronin waiting on the steps, disfiguring the tattered corpses. Sasuke descended the steps quickly, his team following suit. Secret operations style, Team Seven searched each room of the large house carefully, killing any enemy, even freeing two hostages. The operation was so smooth and proffesional due to Itachi's ANBU teachings. Then they were out onto the chaotic street, fighting against men whom they had never met.

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Kankurou conciously stayed away from the West District, where all the demonic destruction was. Instead, he was fighting along side his sister and sensei in the East District. He had been the one to lead them there, and he had a feeling that his more passionate sister was angry at him for leaving their brother.

But Gaara was currently not his brother, but a full fledged Jinchuukri who was out of control, enjoying the taste of blood, the bloodbath. The East and South District was full of specialist ninjas, and techniques of advanced bloodlines were savaging the land.

They were currently against the Aburame family, a clan of only three men and a kunoichi, one of them was Aburame Shino, who Kankurou was fighting. Temari, as usual, was against the kunoichi. Temari was handling herself well even though she was not up to standard; the healers had not been able to return her to full strength until she was forced to slay them when the war started.

Temari laughed as she killed a whole bunch of the disgusting mites with five swipes of her battle fan. She was half-crazy, over leaving Gaara by himself, and for losing her fight against a small kid. Killing the masses really soothed her, if masses could be considered as bugs. Masses of humans would have made her sick.

Her opponent looked ready to either die of grief or go stir-crazy and kill Temari, which was all to Temari's advantage. Certain ninjas were just too emotional over pets… like children, she though derisively.

"Ninjas aren't meant to be childish, girl," Temari taunted at the older woman. Aburame Yuri frowned allowed even more bugs to fly out from her long, baggy sleeves. She was Jounin, but because of recent injuries and a mission, she was low on chakra and was slow on the uptake. The Suna girl, only genin, was only irking her beyond control. If only she could slap Temari until blood spurted.

Temari chuckled. Her tactic was working. She waited until Yuri was almost within attacking range when she waved her fan.

Shino blocked Kankurou's backhand and caught a glimpse of the Suna kunoichi dealing a deadly blow to his cousin.

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"Pain is not without reason," Kakashi said calmly, tearing the man's forearm deeply with a curved kunai. Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma were covering him, fending or killing any enemy ninja which came along.

Kabuto groaned as he felt the curved tip gouge his ligaments. "This, won't get you anywhere, Kakashi-san." He tried to force a sneer, but failed. "You won't get anything out of me."

Kakashi drove the kunai steadily into the elbow bone and with a wrench, worked the forearm off. He let Kabuto see the bloodied, broken arm and put the fingers at the younger shinobi's neck. Kabuto shivered and spasmed in pain. Kakashi then dislodged a vial from his pocket and poured its bitter contents down Kabuto's throat. The truth serum was effective, but extremely deadly.

The researches of the Sannin Tsunade had stopped ever since she left. Only a few ninja now, including Kakashi, could postpone the effects for a moment. His Sharingan's genjutsu could numb the mind, and in effect, slur the victim's heartbeat.

"It appears, Kabuto, that you failed to realised the true meaning of pain. I have no choice but to waste resources here." Easily, Kakashi kept his knee on Kabuto's groin as he lifted his head protector, revealing a spiralling Sharingan. Fall under my doujutsu… now.

Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma shivered at Kabuto's piercing screams, then the silence, then the babbling of complez plans, unaware that how they shaved the lives off their opponents was just as brutal.

Kakashi broke his genjutsu and snapped Kabuto's dead neck with a sharp twist and said to his teammates, "I'm done here. The Sound Five will be at the west wing at around… now."

Grinning, his teammates disappeared after his image.

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Sasuke, Rukawa, Naruto, and Sakura landed lithely on the brickwork. It was the Tengi Square, and on the intricate tiles were blood, lost limbs, and bodies. Over the gruesome artwork danced clans of ronin, with so many uniforms that Sakura almost lost who was one which village's side.

Sasuke saw the graceful, but quick movements of sword and spear at one glance and came to his conclusion, "This is the elite clans, as fast as us and probably more experienced. They won't be easy prey. We have to use more jutsus now."

At a decisive signal, they flipped over the roof and crashed down onto the Enomoto clan of the Hidden Sound.

Rukawa powered his Sharingan to level three grimly. It would be a long battle.

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Author's Notes: Oh man, thanks for all of the reviews! I was so happy that I was high for a long time. Sorry for this slow update, I had a math test, and I didn't want to keep Sasuke's fight bad. And… something feels wrong about this chapter, as if its longwinded or something.

But I hope the fight wasn't too short, because I was trying to make the battle seem fast and powerful. The hard part was making Sasuke much better but not like a superpower. The Wind element thing about Sasuke is sort of based on the newest chapters of the manga, like when Kakashi is teaching Naruto how to make a new move. I guess that even though Sasuke has the Chidori, he should be Wind because the Uchiha fan symbol symbolises wind, and wind only makes fire even stronger. Kakashi taught Sasuke a lot, and Sasuke managed to master so much because he's known as a prodigy.

Sakura might have become more powerful, but she freaked out when Rukawa killed her imposter because she wasn't quite ready. Naruto. I didn't bring Kyuubi into this, and I guess I haven't been writing much about his newly aquired stealth, but his skills are there.

Konoha ninja might seem too powerful for Suna and Sound ninja, but that's not true. Like I explained, Konoha has a tatical fight, and Team Seven is the most powerful genin in Konoha currently, if not they wouldn't be in the Third Test at all.

There was a review about how the Third Hokage shouldn't die since he knows that Orochimaru is there, and I agree with that. A Hokage and a sensei of a kage should be really powerful, so that's it. As for Jiraiya coming in, that will be sometime later.

I included ronin and bandits because they seem to have to be in a world like Naruto, though they're weak compared to ninja because of the lack of chakra.

Itachi had almost no space here; I'm saving the next chapter for him, which will also be about Gaara. I hope it didn't seem as if I disliked Gaara in this chapter, but he did have some mental problems in the manga, and if Kyuubi was a tyrant, then Gaara should be super powerful instead of being a runt, so I wanted to potray that.

This chapter feels like the worst I've done, but it won't happen for the other chapters ever again.

Please review, it's really appreciated, and I go really crazy. See you in the next chapter!