"Oh yeah! Smashed him flat!"

Naruto turned a cheesy smile to where Kakashi was. The one-eyed jonin waved back. Suddenly Naruto was pushed off balance. He stepped off Gaara and saw that the Suna nin was not flattened, but instead was hidden in a pool of sand. The pool then rose up to a great height and began to take form.

"Naruto! Get him out of the city now!"

"Huh? But how do I-"

The sand coalesced into the form of Shukaku and backhanded Naruto through the arena wall. The impact caused him to poof back into his original size.

"Uzumaki! You will die here!"

Kakashi dashed forward, grabbing Naruto and fled on the quickest path out of the village. The monstrous Gaara followed. Many buildings were desolated as a result. Kakashi heard a moan form his passenger.

"Naruto! C'mon wake up!"

"Huh? Wha?"

"Snap out of it! We still have to deal with Gaara!"

"AH! Wait what happened to the stadium?"

"We're making a b-line for the surrounding forest to keep damage to the village to a minimum"

"Many what can we do against him? My giant form only lasts as long as a regular shadow clone!"

"We need some bigger help. The biggest summon you can manage"

"Okay. I'll need to concentrate on it though"

Gaara roared as his quarry reached the dense forest. They were able to hide now. Kakashi set Naruto down on a thick branch.

"I'll get him to follow me that way. You summon once his back is turned. Got it?"

"Sure thing!"

Kakashi leapt out into the treetops, throwing some explosive note rigged kunai. Gaara tried to swat the jonin but his arms were too slow. He slowly lumbered after Kakashi.

"Enough running! Fight me!"

"Sorry, I can't until I know you've had your rabies shots"

With another wordless roar the sand tanuki smashed another batch of trees. Kakashi hid for a moment to think of his next move. A large poof of smoke heralded the coming of Gamabunta. Gaara turned to look at the giant frog.

"Oi, gaki. Why did you summon me here? I haven't made you my underling yet"

"sorry… I… need…ed… help.."

"Against the Ichibi container eh?"

Kakashi raced over to the amphibian's head.

"Gamabunta! Please, we need to stop him before he kills us and destroys the village"

"Fine I'll help. But that gaki is almost spent. He can't even stand up"

Kakashi put a hand on the panting Naruto's shoulder. Naruto weakly smiled back. Gaara reared back and tried to smash the toad and his passengers but the surprisingly nimble Gamabunta evaded the blow and launched two giant water balls. They smashed against the sands of Gaara's form but did little damage.

"Looks like that won't cut it. Ideas?"

"Gaara's body is sticking out of the tanuki's head. If you can get me close enough I should be able to take him out"

Naruto weakly grabbed his sensei's leg.

"Don't kill him. We just gotta show him being alone isn't what makes him strong"

"Don't worry Naruto. We'll all get out of this alive"

Gamabunta smirked and drew his massive blade. After firing off two more water balls he charged. Gaara easily blocked the water attack but had his sand form's arm sheared off by Gamabunta's sword. Taking the opportunity of their close proximity Kakashi leapt from Gamabunta at Gaara.

"Sorry, playtime's over!"

"I will destroy you all!"

Dozens of tendrils of sand formed and tried to pierce and ensnare the grey haired jonin. Many caught replacement jutsu fodder, others missed entirely. Frustrated Gaara sent a wave of sand that swept everything off the sand form's head. His victorious grin did not last long.

"Tag you're it!"

"What?!"

Kakashi landed a haymaker to Gaara's jaw, nearly ejecting him from his sand. Before the dazed jinchuuriki could react he blazed through some handsigns.

"Omotai Sokubaku Haji!"

At Kakashi's touch Gaara went silent and the tanuki collapsed into shifting sands. Gamabunta saw that his work was done and left. Naruto, still woozy from using too much chakra almost made it to the safety of the ground before he tripped and landed on his head.

"Ow! Aw man why does this always happen to me?"

"You'll grow out of it. But for now let's head back to the village. I'm a bit worn out myself"

ggggggggg

After the shock of the invasion had passed the realization of the lives lost kicked in. The outpouring of grief over the death of Sasuke was enormous; many refused to believe it even happened. But life moves on and the village still received mission requests. A sense of normalcy slowly began to settle in. For team seven the lost was still palpable; compounded by the lack of Kakashi. He was away on a string of high class missions.

"It's hard to believe, even after the funeral and everything"

"Yeah. I never liked the guy but I never wanted him dead"

Another silence came over the pair. A sudden impact and Jiraiya made his appearance.

"Hey there glum faces. What's shakin'?"

"Oh. Ero-senin"

"Don't all jump up at once. Look. Death is a part of shinobi life. It happens. You just have to deal with it. Anyways Naruto, you and I have a mission. We leave right away"

"But what about-"

"No buts"

Unable to argue Naruto sadly waved to Sakura and walked off with the older shinobi. Finding herself alone the pink haired girl wandered aimlessly. Without a team she couldn't go on missions. With all other teams off on missions her friends were all busy. On a whim she decided to go to the clearing where Lee's team usually trained. With a slight spring in her step she hoped to run into the green clad lad.

ggggggggg

As Sakura came to the clearing she was disappointed to find no one there. As she turned to leave she heard a slight rustling. Listening even closer she heard what could have been a gasp and possibly a groan.

'Someone might be injured! I have to find them!'

Sakura quickly located the sound and approached. What she found was-

"Eeek! G-gomen!"

And with that she ran off. Tenten and Neji broke for air.

"Did you hear something?"

"No, I don't think so. Should I use my eyes?"

"Never mind. It was nothing"

ggggggg

Omotai Sokubaku Haji – severe restriction grasp; forcibly consumes physical energy resulting in the jutsu's target being unable to use chakra and in some cases lose consciousness. Must have contact with the target to work