Well, well, surprisingly, I was able to actually write this up. Sweet XD

Again, my fight writing scenes are a bit rusty, so excuse any crappiness lol.

Read. Enjoy. Review! XD

Disclaimer:I own nothing!

—Interference—

"Pass?"

Rummaging through her things, the young girl standing before the gate entrance desk pulled out a small set of bound papers and handed them over, before pushing back the hood of her dark beige cloak. "Higurashi Kagome. Genin. Id 328574K."

"Well, well, if it isn't Chibi!" one of the guards drawled wryly, letting his partner check over the papers. "Where've you been?"

Kagome, rolling her eyes at the old nickname, grinned. "Around," she said vaguely, easily recognizing the men as old friends of Kakashi's, and more specifically, two of the many people he used to dump the responsibility of watching her on whenever he had a mission outside of the village. Kagome grinned wider at the man's playful scowl, which the senbon only made look even more ridiculous. "Maa, Genma, whose puppy did you kill to get such a shitty job, hmm? Isn't gate duty for chuunin?"

Genma Shiranui was a tokubetsu jounin who happened to be just one of Konoha's many unique individuals and enjoyed toying with danger, if the senbon dangling from his lips – a signature look for the man – was anything to go by.

The brunet merely smirked at Kagome's remark, and flicked his senbon to occupy the other corner of his lips. "Is it a shitty job, or an easy job?" he shot back smoothly.

Kagome snorted, shaking her head. "So you requested it?" she asked needlessly, finding her answer to be a smug grin. "You're ridiculous.

Genma chuckled lightly and elbowed his partner. "Hey, hey Raidou, your remember Chibi, don't you?"

Raidou Namiashi was also a tokubetsu jounin, known for his trademark blade, the Kokutou, and the wheat-like scar running over the bridge of his nose to his left cheek.

The man sighed as he finished looking over the papers, closing the booklet before pushing it away so he could offer the young girl a weary smile. "I do. Hello Kagome, how was your trip? Kakashi mentioned you were off training at your mother's shrine," he inquired politely.

Kagome offered a vague, thoughtful hum. "Interesting, to say the least." Changing the subject, Kagome leaned closer to Raidou's scarred face, grinning as she playfully covered the side of her face and lips. "I bet it's times like these you regret partnering up with that idiot, eh?" she whispered loudly, jabbing in thumb in Genma's direction.

"Oi!" Genma said loudly. "I heard that!"

Raidou's lips twitched, and he merely rolled his dark eyes. "The jounin were asked to help out a bit, and Genma jumped at gate duty since he's been feeling lazy lately," he explained, understandably exasperated, and Kagome couldn't help but snicker when Raidou leaned back at the very last second to narrowly dodge the senbon Genma spat in his direction.

Raidou grinned a little. "Things around the village are still a bit hectic so we're somewhat short of people on hand. It's only until a permanent roster can be produced, thankfully."

Kagome leaned back, head cocking in confusion. "Hectic? From what?"

The two tokubetsu jounin shared a look, as if suddenly realizing something, and the Genma sobered, becoming seriously melancholy.

"You've… missed a lot the past year," Raidou said hesitantly. "Orochimaru, one of the Sannin and Konoha missing nin led an attack against us during the chunnin exams with his new village, the Sound, and tricked Suna into helping. We lost some good people," he murmured, and bowed his head.

Kagome went pale. "Oh, gods…" she breathed out, fists clenching unconsciously. "That bastard!" she hissed.

"The casualties could have been worse. Jiraiya-sama, Orochimari's teammate, was here when the attack was initiated. His toads were a big help against the snakes," Raidou continued quietly.

"The genin were a big help too," Genma added, another senbon already in place of the one he previously spat out. "Heard one of Kakashi's kid, Uzumaki, took out the Sand's top genin. Not many realize it, but… he saved a lot of lives…"

"Naruto!" Kagome gasped. "They're all fine, right? Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke?"

Raidou and Genma shared another look, before the former answered. "Yes, they're alive. Uzumaki just got back from a mission, actually. They're probably at the Hospital if you want to find them. You should probably check in with the, er, Hokage soon…" he trailed off awkwardly as his eyes widened suddenly, just as Kagome quickly swept her things into her bag.

"The hospital? Who got hurt?" she asked quickly, worried and already swinging her pack onto her shoulders and completely missing Raidou's slip at the end.

"The Uchiha," Genma supplied helpfully, "He'll be fine though, just was a little roughed up. Itachi paid a visit and—"

Genma never got to finish, because as soon as Kagome heard him say "Itachi," she started cursing loudly and took off. A faint, "Thanks Genma, thanks Raidou!" echoed after she kicked up a dust cloud as she took to the roofs.

"—and never mind," Genma muttered dryly, leaning back into his chair. Raidou snorted lightly, lips twitching slightly, before frowning in contemplation.

At that, Genma looked over at his partner. "You never mentioned the Hokage," he commented quietly.

Raidou sighed, and shook his head. "Figured I'd better let Kakashi handle that one, you know? Hear it from someone close."

"Yeah." Genma nodded lightly and spat out his senbon, letting it split the wood of the desk slightly. "Yeah, I know…"

o.O.o

It was a beautiful day as a cacophony of metal clashing with metal echoed sharply, accompanied by the slaps of flesh hitting flesh and explosions of jutsu.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Atop Konoha's Hospital Roof stood three genin, surrounded by the water towers within the fenced-in vicinity.

One faced another while the last stood to the sidelines, watching and fretting.

Naruto, who had been the one to shout angrily earlier, glared at his teammate, his friend, only to leap to the side when he received a kunai for his efforts. It missed him by a few inches, digging into the concrete where he once stood.

Languidly, Sasuke dug into one of his pouches, slipping out three shuriken in between his fingertips. "I'm fighting you, dobe – what does it look like?" he said calmly, voice cold. He flicked his hand, sending the shuriken flying.

Naruto flipped back, dodging them as he stared at Sasuke incredulously. "B-but why?" His voice faltered, confused, hurt, and indignant.

For some reason, that only made Sasuke angrier. "Fight back, damn you!" he demanded, ignoring his question as he launched himself at the boy, fist cocked back.

"Sasuke, just fucking stop this already!" Naruto shouted at him, panting harshly. He threw his arm up, maneuvering it, blocking the volley of punches his teammate threw at him. Block. Block. Counter-punch. Dodge. Block. Duck. "What the hell is your problem!" he demanded as he caught Sasuke's fist, throwing it to the side and swinging low to miss being hit by the other one.

Sasuke sneered at him and struck out with his leg, easily checking the punch aimed low at his waist. "You." His reply was said with no room for mistake – it was even, dark, callous, and most of all, it was final.

Naruto paused to gape and it cost him; he brought up his arm too slowly, leaving his face open for Sasuke to slam his fist against it. Naruto stumbled back, stunned, and choked as a foot buried itself sharply into his gut within the next second.

Naruto stumbled back from the force, the foot removing itself, only to be hit with another kick, and then another. The last kick was executed with additional force and it sent him flying a few feet back; had him rasping for air. He landed on the concrete roughly, body rolling listlessly until he ran out of momentum.

Naruto gasped as he tried to catch his breath, his hands finding the ground, the stability, and he wasted no time pushing himself up. He stumbled as he got to his feet, body tensing, arms rising in a weak defensive stance out of reflex, as if preparing for the next hit – but it never came. Naruto looked up, azure eyes searching, and found Sasuke standing across from him, waiting and in stance.

"Take me seriously," Sasuke bit out at him, practically snarling as his face contorted with blazing, unchecked rage. "Or die."

All breath left Naruto's lungs in a whoosh. "This isn't a spar," he breathed out, dazed. "What the hell are you trying to do Sasuke! The hell are you getting at?" he asked frantically, denial churning in his gut, knowing what was happening but not wanting to believe it. "What's got you so goddamn uptight!"

Sasuke just stared at him coolly. "I want to measure how far I've gone, how stronger I've become. And if I have to, I'll make you take me seriously."

Naruto shook his head firmly. "I'm not going to fight you Sasuke," he refuted fiercely. "Not like this!"

Sasuke sneered. "You think I can't take you with a few injuries!"

Naruto sputtered. "I didn't mean—no, you teme! You're my teammate, my friend! This—you don't want a spar. I don't know what this is, but I'm not playing along!"

Sasuke glowered and went at Naruto, his words chilling.

"You don't have a choice."

Naruto froze, hearing the conviction in his so-thought friend's voice, and realized he really didn't. Confused, torn, and a little frantic, he swallowed lightly and decided to suck it up. "Okay," Naruto said slowly, mostly to calm himself. He pinned Sasuke with a serious stare. "Put on your hitai-ate then."

Sakura, who had been standing at the sidelines, watching helplessly in despair as her two teammates fought, cut in. "Naruto, no! Please, stop this!" she implored; she had already wrote off pleading with Sasuke as a lost cause.

Naruto didn't dare take his eyes off of Sasuke. "Sorry, Sakura. I don't think he'll let me," he said, voice quietly, and made a prompting gesture over at the other boy. "Your hitai-ate, teme?"

Sasuke snorted, chin tilted up as he looked down his nose at Naruto, deigning him with a haughty look. "What? No, forget it. I don't need it—you're not even going to be able to put a scratch on me," he drawled with his trademark smirk spread across his face.

Naruto shook his head, eyes flashing determinedly. "It isn't that," he said, ignoring the jab for once. "Put it on—it means we're fighting as Konoha nin, as equals," he declared, tapping the metal plate of his own with his thumb. "If you don't, then you can forget about it. I'll leave, and you can find someone else to fight you."

A dark scowl marred Sasuke's face, eyes raging at the preposterous notion that the dobe could claim that they were anywhere near equals. "You're delusional if you think we're actually equal," he spat. "Where do you get off, with that big head of yours, claiming shit like that?"

Naruto bristled and he shifted in agitation. "What, can't handle the truth, Sasuke-chan?" he jeered. "What's up with you, anyway? Losing your cool like that—it's not like you!"

Sasuke snarled at the blond, jaw clenching harshly. "Look at you—so full of yourself, thinking you're on par with me… It's pissing me off!" Sasuke's Sharingan began spinning rapidly. "I'll show you just how weak you are compared to me!" he roared, and jumped at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden attack, but he became serious soon enough and shook his head to himself. "You've gone fucking nuts!" he bellowed, arms flailing wildly. "But if you want to fight seriously, you got it! I'll just have to beat the sense into you!" he stated loudly, suddenly breaking into a sprint right in the Uchiha's direction.

Sasuke smirked, whispering with wicked elation. "That's more like it."

The two boys met in the middle of the roof, punches already in swing, and each caught the other with their free hand. They grappled for a moment, trying to push the other back but to no avail—until Sasuke suddenly pulled back, one hand tight on Naruto's fist, cocked his knee back, and jabbed a foot at the blond's face

Naruto let out a sharp breath and swerved, releasing Sasuke. Sasuke's foot slammed into Naruto's shoulder instead, making him grunt and sending him skidding back.

Naruto wasted no time and brought his hands together. "Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Sasuke tensed as he was surrounded by over fifty clones of the orange-clad genin and a second later, an all-out taijutsu battle ensued.

For the most part, Sasuke was handling himself quite well. His Sharingan easily caught Naruto's rough but quick movements, and he able to dispel any clone that came his way. The problem was that when one clone was expelled another took its place, which was becoming taxing on his stamina.

What he didn't know was that Naruto and his clones were merely waiting for an opening, and had just found one.

Four Narutos came at him, and began kicking him up into the air, punctuating each kick with a yell. "U-zu-ma-ki!" they shouted together as they launched him into the air, where the real Naruto was waiting with his leg already in position for a drop-kick. "Naruto-Rendan!"

It was only because the move was a knock-off of his own that Sasuke knew what was coming—he had crossed his arms, blocking the kick, and Naruto was not-so-pleasantly surprised to find his opponent's fingers forming the tiger seal.

"Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

A stream of flames burst out of Sasuke's lips, expelling into a grand inferno that enveloped the crowd of clones beneath him.

The inferno roared as it burned, and screams and yelps of pain pierced the air as the fire burned the clones.

Sasuke, who was slowly descending as the blaze slowly dissipated, dropped the satisfied smirk on his face as the smoke began to not only clear, but also seemed to… swirl.

Through the smoke, Sasuke was able to discern that two figures remained from the aftermath of the fire jutsu, and there was a ball of wildly churning energy in their hands. 'What… what is that jutsu? Wha… what the…'

"Dammit!" Sasuke swore, and held out an arm, his right hand grasping his left wrist as strands of dancing lightning cackled to life in the palm of his left hand.

"Teme!" Naruto screamed, scowling darkly as he held the swirling ball of blue chakra, waiting. "Think about this! What would Kagome say if she saw you—if she saw us fighting like this!" he tried to reason with him one last time.

For a moment, that was enough to make Sasuke pause in hesitation, and his Sharingan eyes flashed in regret before turning back into steel. With cold finality, he replied with a voice barely tinged with remorse. "Kagome isn't here right now. If nothing else, she's probably dead."

Naruto flinched, as if he had just been slapped. "You fucking bastard!" he roared, face stricken just at the mere thought. "You take that back! You better take that back!"

And with that, the two shinobi charged at each other, specialized jutsu in hand.

As the fight raged on, Sakura had remained to the side, having already resigned herself to staying out of it—knowing that, compared to the two, she wouldn't be able to stop them alone.

But now, it was all too much. The attacks—she could feel the chakra, the power behind the jutsu… The fine hairs at the back of her neck had risen, goose-bumps prickled along her arms.

"Stop," Sakura breathed out as she watched the two ready their final attacks. "You two stop," she kept on muttering, breaths quickening.

A long, piercing scream rang out as Sakura suddenly broke out into a sprint.

"Stop!"

Sakura planted herself between the two and their attacks so neither would—if they wouldn't stop, then she would make them. Her hands were thrown out, and her eyes were clenched shut tightly as she waited for the inevitable.

Sakura's sudden appearance had the boys' eyes widening: Naruto's in fear and Sasuke's in shock.

But it was too late; they were already so close, attacks on the verge—there was no time to stop.

The two sensei, who had hidden themselves ever since the beginning of the fight, were about to make their move to intervene when they both suddenly halted in shock.

A pink tinted barrier had already encased Sakura, shielding her.

Right before either boy took another step, right before their attacks hit Sakura, a hand snatched up both of their wrists, yanked, and vaulted them past the other.

Both were sent crashing into one of the huge water tanks surrounding them, and

There was a loud crashing sound as the attacks were sent through the metal, grinding, twisting, bending, and breaking. The sound of rushing water soon followed as the tanks were draining through their newly made leaks.

It was then that the sound of a new and yet vaguely familiar voice rung out.

"Or… is she?"

Everyone froze and Sakura's eyes flew open to see herself alive, inside a sort of barrier, and standing beside an unknown, cloaked figure while the second one suddenly crumbled into broken clumps of dirt. "Who…" the pink-haired girl breathed out in disbelief.

"Maa, maa," clucked a chiding voice. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you two are trying to kill each other…" she trailed off, and gave an almost mocking 'tsk'. "That's just not on, y'know?"

Just the slightest, Kakashi's eye widened, and glinted with amusement.

Immediately, the two boys froze, color draining from their faces.

The stranger pushed back the hood of her cloak. A wide grin was flashed at them. "Yo," she drawled out, greeting them in a fashion suspiciously similar to that of a certain jounin-sensei.

"Kagome…" Sasuke breathed out in surprise as he gingerly pulled his fist from the water tank, body going lax with shock as she winked at him.

Naruto whirled around and took a few stumbling steps towards the girl in astonishment. Excitement and hope lit up his wide, azure eyes, and a wide grin spread out across his tanned and whiskered face. "Kagome!"

Kagome was grinning right back at him.

Words-3,040

Aaah, action. I basically took the fight and the manga and spruced it up a bit, lol. And Kagome's finally back – yay! XD

Hmm, can anyone remember how I played it out in the last story? Back to back scenes, from Kagome to the boys? Lol, I looked back on it to refresh myself on what I did, and I thought 'Shit, that's pretty annoying' and that it totally disrupted the flow.

Since I just wrote this up, and only did a couple of quick scans, I'd figure I'd just say sorry for any mistakes!

Thoughts? ;)

Till laters!

RainLily^^

A big huge honking thanks to all those who read, alerted, and fav'd this fic, and to these awesome reviewers!

CrescentMelody, Mzr90, Venas, ArmyWife22079, Kyuubi lover 98, Black Lily Angel, irnzenmonk, fofafie, x0Whispering Winds0x, xXcrossoverLoverXx, fierynightangel, Tenshi 'Gome, little101, Valleygoat, Speedykitten1643, SilverStar18