(Author's Note: Wretched Yuri: Look guys! It's Tuesday and I am updating! [Does little dance] So this chapter is a fairly long one, roughly 6,000 words I reckon, but I did say that the next few chapters after chapter 8 would be fairly long! So I've been going through my stash of fanfics I've written (I have whole folders of them) thinking, what stories would be good to start uploading? Well you'll just have to keep an eye out for them won't you? :3 Enjoy chapter nine guys!)

Chapter 9

"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU." The cry rang through the Konoha forest. It had been a week since the preliminaries, and Naruto was already exhausted. Not only had she signed the summoning contract for the toads, but she'd also signed the one for the foxes and after Jiraiya and Sarutobi had talked about it with Gamabunta, the Toad Boss Summons and Makiri, the Fox Boss Summons and some huge Ape Enma and before Naruto knew it, she was trying to prove to this huge ape that she deserved to have her name on his people's summoning contract. Proving this, of course, included lots of running around a forest on little or no chakra, while using Hiraishin and fighting lots of huge apes. She collapsed, exhausted, when Enma said they were done for the day. It had only been a week, and already her body showed signs of the hardening and toning of an incredibly fit ninja. Jiraiya looked down at her proudly. She was doing very well against the monkeys, and was learning the Hiraishin in leaps and bounds. Another week or two and she'd have the Hiraishin down and have done something incredibly rare. Signed three summoning contracts. Not very many people had a summoning contract with a creature, and those that did, usually only had one. So for her to have three, showed just how unique and special his god-daughter was. She was also getting the hang of a special technique her father had created. It was a wind technique that could only be used by their family. It worked by coating the entire body with a layer of wind. Kunai and shuriken would bounce right off of her as long as she had the wind guard activated. It would also stop a Hyuuga Gentle Fist palm strike. He crouched down next to her and tipped a bucket of cold water over her gently. She gasped and woke up. He smiled down at her.

"Go home and get yourself cleaned up. The rookie twelve is having a special dinner with the Hokage tonight. Even Sasuke will be there, which means you'll have to as well." The girl nodded and pulled herself upright with a slight groan. Jiraiya ruffled her hair affectionately. "You're doing really well. Another week and you should have the hang of what we're learning. Then it will just be a case of truly mastering it and thinking up strategies against the Hyuuga before you take a break before the finals." She nodded up at Jiraiya and slowly made her way through the forest and into the village. Out of the Konoha genin in the finals, Shikamaru was training with his team in the village and his family at their compound, Shino was locked in his compound training, Neji was in his compound training and Naruto and Sasuke were both training outside the village. It would be the first time she'd been home for a week. No one had any idea where Jiraiya had taken her for her training, although she thought people had figured it out by the large dust and smoke clouds that erupted from the forest a few miles away. No one knew where Sasuke was either. Her legs trembled as she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Stamina freak she may have been, but if anyone else did the kind of training she did, Jiraiya told her quite bluntly that those people would die. But even she and the great Kyuubi were exhausted. Her muscles trembled and ached. The first thing she did once in the apartment was take a nice long shower. Kyuubi had given up healing her bruises, aches and pains. As quickly as he healed them she had new bruises and hurt even worse than before. He healed her at night so that she would be able to train the next morning. Outside of the shower she slumped onto her bed. There was a tap on the window just as she'd been about to doze off. Almost crying at the unfairness of it all she limped over to the window and opened it, glaring at the ANBU sitting on her window sill.

"What?"

"Your presence is required at the Hokage mansion in half an hour in semi-formal attire." The ANBU bowed. She nodded and he left. Groaning as her arm muscles pulled as she closed the window, she went over to her wardrobe. She'd better get ready now and then leave straight away as it would take her a while to get to the mansion in the state she was in. At least she had something to wear; the semi-formal kimono that Ino had bullied her into buying. She arrived at the Hokage mansion and Konohamaru, Sarutobi's grandson and Asuma's nephew, opened the door to her knock.

"Ohayo Oneechan! You're the last one to get here! Hey Oneechan where'd you got those bruises! Is someone picking on my Oneechan?" The younger boy asked, tugging on her hand as he led her into the mansion after she left her slippers in the entry with everyone else's shoes.

"Ohayo Itouto. Sorry I'm late. I got these bruises training Konohamaru, nobody's picking on me." She told him as they entered the dining room where everyone else sat cross legged on their cushions around the table.

"I like your dress Oneechan!" Konohamaru told her with a grin. She smiled back, ruffling his hair. Hiruzen's wife, Aomi, came forward from the dinner table where the rest of the Rookie Twelve sat and hugged the girl.

"Ohayo Naruto-chan. I see that Jiraiya is taking your training seriously." The old woman said gently, tracing Naruto's fading black eye. "What happened here?"

"Ohayo Obaa-chan. I didn't see the tree that leapt out me while I looking over my shoulder."

"Now you know to look forward while you run."

"I wasn't running."

"What were you doing then?" Aomi asked with a laugh, gesturing for the girl to sit between Shikamaru and Chouji. Kiba grinned at her from across the table. "Practicing." Naruto said with a small smile before bowing from to Hiruzen from her seat.

"Ohayo Jiji-san."

"Ohayo Naru-chan. So your training is going well?" Hiruzen asked as the Rookie Twelve greeted her, Ino gushing about how beautiful she looked in the kimono while Hinata fussed over her bruises.

Naruto nodded as she answered Hiruzen's question, but in a vague way so as not to alert Neji to any of her plans. She winked at the boy as she answered. "Ero-sennin says it's going well. All I know is that I don't get enough food and I'm always exhausted." She told the old man who laughed.

"Well if you, the one with never ending stamina are exhausted then it must be going well." Naruto slumped slightly.

"You get three years of this to look forward to." Kiba teased her.

"Oh yay." She said, stretching slightly and wincing. They all kept talking as dinner was being cooked by the household staff of the Sarutobi family. She didn't realise she'd started to nod off until she slid sideways into Shikamaru and came to with a start.

"Huh what?" She sat up straight and yawned before realising what had happened. "Gomen Shikamaru." She stretched and shook her head, trying to wake up enough to not fall asleep on anyone again. Aomi smiled at her from across the table.

"You look exhausted little one and those bruises look horribly painful." Naruto touched her cheek gently and traced her black eye with her fingertips.

"The bruises aren't so bad Obaa-chan. They looked worse earlier. I feel exhausted."

"Well then it's a good thing the food's being served before you can pass out on us isn't it?" Hiruzen commented, looking over from his conversation with some of the others. The girl shrugged and slumped, her cheek on her hand as she listened to the others and yawned with a sleepy smile. She closed her eyes again. Someone gently shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find Chouji shaking her shoulder, everyone grinning at her and Shikamaru using his chopsticks to hold a mouthful of noodles in front of her. Without thinking about it she leaned forward and ate the mouthful. She grinned her thanks at Shikamaru who simply shook his head before handing her his chopsticks and breaking apart new ones.

"What's the matter Shikamaru afraid you'll get girl germs?" Sakura teased. Naruto shook the chopsticks at her.

"I've been a boy and let me tell you, there is no such thing as boy or girl germs. Germs are germs." The blonde said before she stopped moving her hand. They could all see the shaking that Shikamaru had noticed from the start. "This is why he gave me his chopsticks. My hands are so sore I wouldn't have been able to snap the chopsticks apart." Chouji filled a plate with food and gave it to her. She thanked him and looked from her hand to the plate.

"Are we going to have to hand-feed you?" Naruto frowned and lifted the plate up to her face, using her chopsticks as shovels. The plate was empty in minutes. She held it out to Chouji, ignoring how badly the plate was shaking and how much her muscles strained.

"Refill please." Chouji grinned and took the plate while Naruto stuck her tongue out at Sakura across the table.

"Why are your hands so sore?" Neji asked questioningly, trying to look uninterested.

She held her hand up palm outwards so that they could see all the half healed bite marks from where she'd bit her fingers to make them bleed.

"Training Neji. Training, training and more training." She explained slowly clenching her hand into a fist. It wouldn't close properly. She sighed and dug into the second plate of food Chouji had put in front of her. They all watched as the more food she ate, the quicker her shaking went away. The bruises faded and her healthy glow came back.

Sleeping in her own bed that night was like heaven. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Welcome to the Chunin exam finals. I'm the proctor of these matches. My name's Genma. Turn and face the crowd kiddies, you're the main attraction." A tall man with a senbon in his mouth turned and looked up at the Hokage box. Shikamaru looked around nervously. Where were Naruto and Sasuke? They would get disqualified if they didn't show up. Then he remembered the plan. Naruto was meant to get there just in time, and Sasuke was supposed to show up late, very late.

"Yo, sorry I'm late. Slept in." They turned as the slim cat like blonde girl joined them. She came to a halt next to Shikamaru, her hands in her pockets. Anyone who didn't know her would have thought she was simply putting more effort in because it was such an important event, but Shikamaru knew just by looking at her that she was ready for war. Her long blonde hair she usually wore in a low ponytail down her back, but today her hair was up in a braid, a leather stripe with spikes in it. She had arm guards and shin guards. There were four scrolls attached to her belt and an extra kunai and shuriken pouch on her leg.

"Did you really sleep in?" He murmured to her leaning over to whisper in her ear. She shook her head slightly.

"No. I had some things to get ready." She murmured back.

"Your part of the plan?"

"Yup." Shikamaru smirked as they walked up to the balcony where the competitors stood watching the matches. She rested her elbows on the railing, Shikamaru on her left and Neji on her right.

"Nervous?" The Hyuuga murmured to them. Naruto shrugged.

"A little. But I've got this fur ball in my belly getting all hyped up. My blood is literally singing." The girl said, rubbing her hands over her arms. Shikamaru bumped his shoulder against hers.

"Your skin's tingling." He murmured. Neji leaned on her shoulder slightly.

"Shikamaru's right. What's up with you?"

"I told you. The fur ball is itching for a good fight. I've got tingles all over. My senses are heightened even more than usual. You, Neji, use a mango and spice shampoo. You, Shikamaru, use something fruity. I can't put a name to it." Shikamaru grinned.

"Secret." She snorted quietly.

"So do we smell good or bad?" Neji teased with a grin on his face as he turned so his back was leaning on the railing. She laughed just as the proctor asked her and Neji to come down. He'd given Sasuke an extended time.

"You both smell good." She said before she leapt lightly down into the arena over the railing, followed by Neji. Shikamaru leant on the railing. He'd cheer for them both, but that required energy. He was interested in what talents Naruto would show today. Down in the arena, the two genin squared off, grinning at each other.

"Begin." The two watched each other for a moment before sliding into their respective taijutsu styles. The fight, when it started, left jaws slack. Neji and Naruto looked as if they were dancing, not fighting. Their blows, glanced off of each other as they spun, flipped, rolled and ducked. The fight was over sooner than anyone would have thought it would be when Naruto vanished and clones started fighting Neji.

"Kaiten." He called, spinning as chakra sounded him in a dome. The clones hit him and bounced off. He dropped the kaiten and spun around looking for her. His 159 degree vision caught her and his head snapped up. Everyone craned to look and there was two Naruto's, one holding her wrist while the other used both hands to create a spinning blue ball in her outstretched hand.

"Kaiten!" Neji yelled, re-creating the blue dome, just as Naruto's clone dispersed and she held out the hand holding the blue ball of chakra.

"RASENGAN!" She yelled. All of Konoha who was old enough to remember that word gasped. With her blonde hair streaming around her face and the blue ball of chakra in her hand, any people who had still had doubts about Naruto's heritage had no doubts anymore. The ball of chakra in her hand went right through the Kaiten. She dropped it as soon as it was gone and punched Neji in the face, knocking him unconscious. She went back upstairs and found Shikamaru about to forfeit so kicked him into the arena again. He glared at her as she leaned over the railing and cheered him on. He forfeited his match against the girl Temari from Suna in the end anyway, after having displayed enough strategy knowledge to get him promoted to Chunin. Temari gave him the fish eye over it, knowing he could have won if he wanted to. Naruto snagged Shikamaru's arm as he came back up to the balcony, meeting him in the corridor on the floor between the balcony and the arena ground. She led him into a room, shutting the door quickly and listening as Temari paused, having thought she heard something before shrugging and continuing back up to the balcony. Naruto waited another minute; her head tilted as she listened to the sounds outside the room, her nose quivering as she tried to pick up any foreign scent before she led Shikamaru to the other side of the room and leaned over to whisper to him. Shikamaru put his arms around her waist, resting his hands in the small of her back so that if anyone came in, they'd just think it was two teenagers fooling around.

Flashback.

Nobody thought it odd when the entire shinobi forces decided to move throughout the village. Although it could have been because they were shinobi so nobody thought there was anything odd. When they were all gathered in a secret room in the Uchiha compound, the clans, all having gotten there their own ways, Sarutobi was about to start talking when there was a knock at the door. It was opened by a ANBU. They jumped the people who had knocked, only to find the members of team seven, all yawning and clearing sleep filled eyes.

"How did you three get here? Sasuke, you can we understand, but when I talked to you earlier girls you just said you'd get here easily." Sarutobi asked as they were ushered in.

"Sure it was easy." Sakura said yawning.

"We decided to have a sleepover here at Sasuke's." Naruto explained with a slight grin as she threw herself across Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba's laps, very conveniently using the three boys as a new bed. Sakura dropped down next to Ino and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. Sasuke sat down among them and rested his chin on his knees.

"We would have been here earlier, but we fell asleep." He explained. "We still wouldn't be here if the smell of candles hadn't woken Miss Fox over here." Naruto grinned at Sasuke.

"It wasn't just the smell of candles. I went to sleep with only yours and Sakura's scent around and then suddenly my nose was filled with all these intriguing scents, many of which I know." She yawned and buried her head against Shikamaru's lap.

"Are you comfy?" The three boys asked her. She nodded and yawned.

"Uh huh. If I fall asleep will you three tell me what's going on? Ero-sennin pushed me off a cliff today so I'm kinda tired."

"Sure." Chouji told her.

"Off a cliff?" Inuzuka Tsume asked, turning to Jiraiya with an angry glare. He shrugged.

"Had to get her to use Kyuubi's chakra somehow. She was out of hers and what we were about to do needed lots of chakra, so as she can really only use Kyuubi's chakra in high emotional states, I pushed her off the cliff. I thought imminent death would rate pretty highly on the emotional scale." The sannin explained.

"Did it work?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto snorted.

"Oh sure it worked. After I broke my left leg in four places, my right foot completely crushed, my pelvis broken, my spleen ruptured, five fractured ribs, four broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken shoulder, a dislocated collarbone, a broken elbow, both wrists broken, my fingers dislocated and broken, the muscles in my shoulder blades torn to shreds when I tried to catch myself on the edge of the cliff, a broken tailbone, my spine bent out of shape, the blood vessels in my right eye burst, and my eardrums both burst." The girl ticked off the list of injuries on her fingers. Many people blinked at her.

"How did you survive that?" One Jounin who didn't know her asked. She lifted up her shirt and channelled the chakra to the seal before patting it gently.

"Let it never be said that having a 40 foot demon fox that is terrified of dying and dies if you die sealed inside you is a completely bad thing." Naruto said, shifting slightly. "So much of Kyuubi's chakra was released that I was healed in minutes and then proceeded to get to the top of the cliff and hit him a few times." She said, pointing to Jiraiya, who fingered a bruise on his face in remembrance before looking at the boys from the Rookie Twelve.

"Make a note of it boys that women do not like being thrown off cliffs. No matter how small or annoying they may be." Sarutobi shook his head with a chuckle.

"Well it's a good thing she's okay Jiraiya or I think those eleven young ones over there would be pushing you off the cliff at this very moment." He shook his head again. "Anyway, let's get this gathering started. I have called you all here, because in two weeks, on the day of the Chunin exam finals, Otogakure, of which Orichimaru the snake sannin is the leader of, will be attacking the village with their ally Iwagakure. Now Orichimaru believes that Sunagakure is also on his side in this battle, however Sunagakure is deceiving him, thanks to the help of two of our genin teams and Asuma and Kakashi and our resident Jinchuuriki." Naruto gave him the thumbs up. "This is what you will all be doing." He then went on to explain to the Jounin and Chunin what their posts were before turning to the Genin.

"Of you Genin, you will all answer to three of your peers. Shikamaru will be your strategist and information gatherer, with information from Jounin and Chunin coming constantly to him. Naruto will be you war chief, if she tells you to jump somebody with a frying pan you do it. Neji will be your eyes. If he tells you not to go that way, you don't go that way. Your job will be to join up with the Sand siblings and protect Konoha hospital. Naruto, I'd also like it if you could revisit your pranking days and set up a few 'welcoming surprises' for our enemies." The blonde girl grinned savagely and everyone shook their head, pitying which ever ones of their enemies ran into the girl's pranks. Every shinobi in Konoha had been pranked at least once. Naruto had never been caught and no one had ever had any evidence to say that it was Naruto who had done it, even though it was obvious to everyone who had it was. "If you need, you can get the other Genin to help you set up the pranks understood?" Sarutobi told the girl, who nodded absently as she pulled out a little note pad and pencil and with her blue eyes glowing with mischief and a cheeky grin on her face, started scribbling ideas.

"I'll leave it to you Genin to come up with your plans." Everyone had gone their own way soon after that. They had their orders.

Flashback ends.

"How's Neji?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

"He's fine. He wasn't really unconscious, just pretending. He should be back at full fighting strength by the time everything starts." Naruto whispered to him. Shikamaru nodded.

"You know the plan?" He asked. She nodded. "What are we going to do if we run into trouble along the way?"

"Improvise."

"Are you sure that's going to work?" He asked worriedly. Shikamaru was a plotter and a thinker. He came up with plans and strategies. Everything he did was methodical and well thought out. Naruto shrugged.

"No. But then again, a well thought out plan might not work either. We'll be fine Shikamaru. There are twelve of us to mess with after all, and the three Sand Siblings. We're prepared for invasion. The academy students have already been evacuated, as have most of the civilians. Our allies are here to help." The lazy boy sighed and shifted slightly so that he was leaning against the wall.

"I just don't want anything to go wrong." He admitted. Naruto smiled at him and kissed his forehead. Shikamaru blinked in shock.

"Don't worry worry-wart. Nothing will go wrong. For us anyway." She told him before leading him from the room and back up to the balcony to find that Kankuro had forfeited to Shino. Naruto frowned as she looked around for the Oto Nin who had made it to the finals.

"What happened to that Oto genin?" She asked Shino quietly. He pointed at Gaara who winked subtly at her. Just as Sasuke was about to be disqualified, he and Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves as Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand and then reappeared on the arena ground.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke. He grinned up at her before turning his attention to Gaara while Kakashi used some excuse about a black cat and the road of life before vanishing up to the stands to where Sakura and the other Genin were.

"The other night, the Oto Genin tried to eliminate Gaara on a rooftop. Gaara eliminated him." Shino murmured for her and Shikamaru's ears only. Naruto whistled quietly before turning her attention to the match, curious about what Sasuke had learnt. Kyuubi had locked himself in his cage. He gave her his chakra but he wasn't going to risk accidentally possessing her, so he blocked himself from her emotions. She felt a little lonely without him to give her advice, especially with her Otousan still in his coma like state in his cabin. Sakura up in the stands looked at Kakashi who nodded to her with an eye smile. Sakura nodded and took a deep breath before returning her attention to the match.

We'll be okay. She thought to herself. We're all strong, and with Shikamaru's smarts, Neji's sight and Naruto's strength nothing can beat us. Sakura gripped her belief and faith in her friends and relaxed. When Gaara screamed as Sasuke pierced his ultimate defense, white feathers began falling on the arena. In all the commotion that followed as Jounin and Chunin went at each other, the Oto and Iwa ninja revealing themselves, only for the Suna, Kiri and Taki and Konoha ninja to reveal themselves in return, nobody noticed fifteen teenagers as they raced along the streets. What they did notice, was the large sonic booms followed by plumes of coloured smoke. The fifteen Genin noticed it too.

"Your handiwork?" They asked Naruto who grinned. They made it to the hospital without a hitch, Neji's and Hinata's eyes leading them out of trouble. They reached the hospital and the medic staff sighed in relief.

"Right." Naruto told the rest of them as they gathered in a circle. "There are seals all over this place, put there by Ero-sennin himself to protect the hospital. The only way in is through the main door. No one can enter through windows or anywhere else. If they want in this hospital they have to come through this door and before that they have to come through us. Shikamaru got any plans?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Just the one. We stop anyone who tries to come through this door and if all else fails we let you and your improvisation run wild." The boy told her with a grin. She nodded.

"Sounds good to me. The rest of you okay with that?" They all nodded and spread out in a line to cover the door. A large group of Oto and Iwa Chunin and Jounin came to a halt before the group.

"Excuse us kiddies. We're going into that hospital." One of the Jounin said with a broad grin. His grin faltered when, instead of moving aside or running away, the twelve young teens stayed quiet and settled into fighting stances. The man growled slightly. "They're joking sending children up against trained shinobi. They don't take us seriously. Well, your fifteen dead bodies will change that." His and the other enemy Nin's KI rose so high that some of them started sweating. All except one of the blonde girls, the pink haired girl with green eyes, a black haired boy with black eyes, a red haired young boy with green sea foam eyes, a boy with brown eyes and purple paint on his face and another blonde girl, this one with a large fan strapped to her back. They just looked bored. Shikamaru nodded slightly at Naruto and Gaara who shared a look before letting their KI and that of their demons seep out.

The Jounin and Chunin all took a step back, while the other Genin relaxed. This KI they knew and in the face of their enemies KI it was more impressive.

"For the last time get out of our way!" The Jounin who had spoken before sputtered at them. Naruto turned her blue eyes on him.

"No." He roared and threw himself at her. With practiced ease she blocked his attack and kicked him back over to where the other Chunin and Jounin were standing.

"Leave this village and you'll keep your lives." Gaara informed the enemy nin. They swallowed audibly and then shared a look.

"If we leave this village before the invasion is complete we'll lose our lives anyway. Get them!" As one the Chunin and Jounin attacked.

"Naruto, we're going to need some more fighters. Not all of us are heavy assault oriented." Shikamaru told her. The girl chuckled and flew through a series of seals.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" 30 shadow clones of Naruto sprang into life around them. "That enough for you?" She asked Shikamaru who nodded.

"For now." Naruto nodded and pulled out a kunai. Her clones copied the movement. Her first opponent, the Jounin again, lunged at her.

"LET'S GET WILD!" the blonde cried with a huge grin as she lunged forward to meet him. Her clones yelled with her and surrounded the enemy nin, helping the others to destroy them. Naruto's face was expressionless as the Jounin buried a kunai in between her ribs with a savage grin. With a flick of her wrist, her kunai was lodged deep in his heart and he was falling backwards with an expression of surprise on his face. She pulled the kunai out and dropped it, a sheath of red chakra blanketing her momentarily as the wound healed. Once their enemies had all fallen, Gaara destroyed their bodies using sand and Naruto using her foxfire. The fifteen of them fell back and re-grouped. Hinata was holding her side and breathing heavily.

"Naruto, cover me." Sakura told her. Naruto left a clone where she'd been standing and with a kunai in each hand, took a defensive stance in front of Sakura as the pink haired girl ran through seals and her hands glowing green, used a healing medical jutsu on Hinata, whose colour returned to normal.

"You should be alright until it can be properly healed." Sakura told her before nodding at Naruto and patting her shoulder. Both Naruto and Kiba's noses started going crazy.

"Do you smell what I smell?" The boy asked. The girl growled, her chakra spiking as her canines lengthened.

"Snake." She hissed, blue eyes narrowing. A large group of Oto ninja, led by a certain grey haired young man appeared. A large snaked wrapped its tail around the twelve of them and began squeezing.

"Naruto now is the time to improvise." Shikamaru gasped out. Naruto reached over and grabbed a hold of the boy's jacket and on her other side, Tenten's arm.

"Grab a hold of each other and hold on tight. This might feel a bit weird." She told them. They latched on to each other and with a surge of Naruto's chakra they all shunshined to the top of the hospital.

"Hinata!" Neji yelled. The young girl was still in the clutches of the snake as it prepared to strike at her. Temari sat down heavily, tears pouring down her face as she sobbed noisily.

"She just slipped out of my grip." The girl explained, showing them the piece of cloth from Hinata's sleeve. Shikamaru glanced at Naruto and understood.

"Back up." He whispered to the others. Naruto closed her eyes and focused solely in on Hinata.

"Kawarimi no jutsu." She vanished, only for Hinata to appear in her place and the sound of blood spurting forced them to the edge of the rooftop. The snake had one of its fangs buried in Naruto's shoulder, while she was in the process of snapping the other off. She tipped back her head and unleashed a yipping howl that had Kiba snarling quietly.

"What is it Kiba?"

"The call of a fox." He told them simply. More of those same howls erupted as large foxes, the same ones from training ground 44, leapt out at the snake, tearing into it. Naruto formed a ball of chakra in one hand and thrust it at the snake.

"Rasengan." She whispered. The snake exploded and she dropped to the ground.

"Naruto please get up." Sakura whispered.

"There's a lot of poison in her system." Kiba muttered. Hinata burst into tears. Shikamaru leant over the edge of the roof.

"Oi! You! Troublesome woman! Get up! Or there'll be no more Ramen for you! And you still have to show me that cloud watching spot!" There was a groan from below and they watched as Naruto's hand twitched into a fist. She slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees, spitting out the poison. She threw a wad of it up and her muscles relaxed.

"Baka lazy genius." Was all they heard her mutter as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Well, well, well. It seems that the rumours I've heard of your healing ability are true." Kabuto said as he stepped forward. The foxes surrounding Naruto snarled, recognising the smell of snake on him. She coughed lightly, spitting out more poison.

"You know that's funny, coz I'm sure I heard some rumours about your brilliant healing ability too. Funny how these things aren't always true." He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh and what makes you say that?" He asked pleasantly as he came towards her. The others realised what the problem was. She could stand yes, but walk? Run? Move? No. that she couldn't do.

"This." She stated jumped as a huge toad squashed him.

"Gaki. What are you doing down there?" The huge toad asked her. She shrugged.

"Sightseeing." She told him, waving to Jiraiya on the toad's head. The huge toad shook his head in amusement before spying a huge snake and bounding off after it. Kabuto was gone when they looked for him. Naruto was still spitting out poison when the others jumped down to her. Hinata tackled her around the neck, hugging her tightly.

"Arigato Naru-chan!" She cried, as she hugged her. Naruto patted her back awkwardly, turning her head so that she could spit out poison.

"No worries Hinata, but uh, you're sort of strangling me." Hinata jumped back and Naruto took a deep breath before pulling a face and spitting out more poison.

"Snake venom tastes horrible by the way." She told them as she gagged and spat. They chuckled.

"Don't think the war is over little kiddies." A huge Oto Jounin jumped at them only to freeze in place. He tried to move, but Shikamaru, his shadow longer thanks to the shadow the hospital was creating, had the man trapped. They watched as together, Naruto and Sasuke vanished underground, grabbed his ankle each from underneath him and yanked him into the ground. Then enemy Nin just kept coming in waves at them. Obviously they had been told to kidnap the hospitalised people to use as experiments. Slowly, everyone but Naruto and Gaara ran out of chakra. The two Jinchuuriki stood in front their resting teammates, soaked in blood. Naruto unlocked her first tailed form and tore through the enemy Nin before slumping to the ground, unconscious just as the enemy sounded the call for retreat.

When the twelve of them were escorted into the Hokage's office when it was all over, Naruto was slumped over Chouji's back, fast asleep, snoring slightly.

"Is she alright?" Sarutobi asked. They all nodded.

"Just exhausted." Jiraiya appeared through the open window.

"Did she unlock her first tail?" They nodded. He whistled.

"She'll sleep for a few days then." He told Sarutobi as Chouji put her on the couch. The rest of them all sunk gratefully into chairs that were brought out for them. Sarutobi watched them all quietly before he spoke. He was missing his left arm and he looked like he was in pain.

"You have all surpassed my expectations today. You fought bravely for this village, and did so with the skill and strength of higher ranked shinobi. Every single one of you in this room has just been promoted to Chunin. Congratulations." Everyone's eyes widened. The sand siblings bowed from their seats. It was more than the three had expected to gain from coming here. "A large funeral will be held in a few days for Konoha, Mist, Snow and Suna shinobi before the bodies of shinobi from our allied villages are escorted home for their loved ones to bury and hold their own funerals for. We lost some fine shinobi today, but it will be a very long time before either Iwagakure or Otogakure will attack this village, or any other for that matter. Please rest now. If you have any injuries that need tending, make your way to the hospital, which through your efforts is still standing and receive treatment." They all stood and bowed to the old man as he flinched in pain and rubbed his shoulder where his arm was missing. Tsunade appeared in the room and went over to him, her hands glowing green. "Oh and if someone would be kind enough to take Naruto to her home, if it's still standing I'd appreciate it." The twelve ninja nodded and Gaara used his sand to scoop the unconscious blonde up. Her apartment complex, when they found it, had somehow survived the destruction. No one said anything about the graffiti on her walls and how rundown the place was. The only indication that they'd even noticed was the tightening of jaws. They put Naruto to bed, and the sand siblings, spying some spare bedrooms with beds in her apartment, elected to remain there as their hotel had burnt down.

(Author's Note: Wretched Yuri: So there's chapter nine, I hope you enjoyed it. You may be thinking about now; 'Oh Naruto is way too powerful for a twelve year old.' Nope. She has been training to defend herself and be as strong and powerful as she can since she was three years old. And this is the world of shinobi, where those who start training earliest in life grow to be strongest. So no, in my eyes, Naruto is as strong as she needs to be. Yes she is insanely powerful, but she is also, at a perfect power level for her training and dedication to getting stronger. It's her one goal to protect those she cares about, and she is powerful enough to do it. Anyway, chapter ten should be here sometime at the end of this week! Until then, enjoy!)