I recieved one review that rubbed my feathers the wrong way this time, but thank whatever Gods there are, the good out weigh the bad, so on with the show! XD

11: Ambush

Naruto snapped awake, feeling something was wrong. He looked around, seeing his two friends asleep on either side of him, snoring peacefully. He sat up, careful to keep his balance on his branch.

"What's going on?" Naruto whispered, "My heart's pounding like crazy!" It was the truth, his heart was beating in his chest harder than when he was in a spar with Tayuya. "Kurama?"

I don't know, Kit.the great fox said, It feels like the whole forest is on edge.Inside the seal, Kurama raised his head, and took a deep breath, catching scents from Naruto's senses. Then the hackles on his back raised, I smell smoke, Kit! Lots of it! You need to wake the others, and I mean now!

"Shit!" Naruto growled, and turned to the others, "Wake up! Tayuya," he jumped over and started shaking her shoulder, leaping over to Saiga when the girl started to wake, "Saiga, come on! We gotta go!"

"What the fuck?" Tayuya mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "What's got your whiskers in a twist?"

"G-g-go 'way Ushio-chan," Saiga mumbled, rolling over. "It's too early."

The blonde felt his eye starting to twitch. "Wake up!" He gave the boy a solid kick in the ass.

"GAHA!" Saiga yelled, jumping up, "What the hell was that?"

"That was my foot in your ass!" Naruto growled, "Now let's get moving, there's a forest fire!"

"What!" Tayuya yelled, "How the fuck did that happen?!

"Hell if I know!" Naruto snapped, checking his scrolls, "But I don't want to e here when it gets this far!"

"We heading to the tower, then?" Saiga asked, finally waking up.

"No shit!" Tayuya said, then lept down to the lower branches, "Let's go!"

xXx

As Naruto and his team hit the ground running, the blonde felt something wrong with the whole situation. The forest, he knew, was not prone to fires even in the drier parts of the year. This had the feeling of being flushed out. But the smell of the smoke so nearby made him fear for his team.

"What's the plan?" Saiga asked, "Keep heading to the tower?"

"Yeah, but we need to avoid the fire," Naruto growled, "But this doesn't feel right. The fire's too close!" In truth he could already feel the heart of the flames coming from all around. "And it feels like it's only in this area!"

"Fuck!" Tayuya snapped, "We were flushed!"

"Exactly!" Naruto said, feeling Kurama's Chakra seeping into his own. "We're being hunted, and I wanna know who or what it is!"

"Akatsuki?" Tayuya asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No, they'd probably come at us head-on. This feels more like something more like a flat-out man hunt."

Saiga shot a glance at his friends, "The Iwa nins?"

Naruto nodded, "That's the only thing that I can think of. We left two alive last night, and killed another. Plus there were six more, so we may have eight people on our tails before this is over."

Tayuya scowled, keeping her eyes in front of her, "Yeah, but it doesn't look like they knew where we were." The two boys looked at her. Feeling their eyes boring into her back she turned to them, "Look, we were in that tree all night, and the fire is at least a mile away from us in any direction by the smell. Plus the wind is coming from the North, where we're heading, so the fire is going toward the South, away from us. It would have made more sense to find us and then set the fire at the base of the tree."

Naruto thought about that. It made sense. When flushing out quail or boar, one would drive them from their hiding spot toward the hunter, who would be just a few feet away. Unless...

"Unless they're driving us!" Naruto lept into the trees, "Off the ground now!"

Saiga and Tayuya were right behind him, and not a moment too soon. An earth dragon erupted from ground just in front of them. The dragon smashed into the base of the tree, making it shudder. Naruto was impressed at the power behind the technique. Tayuya, however, was pissed. She formed the dragon and tiger seals, "I've had enough of these dickwads!" She yelled, "Suishū Gorugon!" A huge amount of water formed around her in a giant ball, then snake-like tentacles shot out, "Now where are they?"

Naruto grinned, "There's one just under ground below the tree."

"Fuck yeah!" The watery tentacles shot down the trunk, slamming into the ground. The three heard a scream from where they had struck, and out came another male Iwa nin wrapped by then tendrils. Tayuya grinned as the boy was lifted to their level, "Hi there, gaki, how's it hanging?"

Naruto groaned, "Really? That's what you came up with?"

Tayuya sneered, "Didn't hear you coming up with anything!"

Saiga ignored them both and stepped up to the dangling shinobi, "Where are the others, and how many are there?"

"Fuck you!" He spat at him. Saiga grimaced and wiped his face.

"Either you will tell us," he said, "Or we can drown you." He reached out, gripping him by the face, and making him look at him, "Your choice."

The boy went pale. Naruto grinned, "You have a sadistic side to you, ne?"

Saiga grinned, "When I want to."

Tayuya grimaced, "Can we fucking move this along? I'm not too good at this Jutsu, so if you want to drown him, he has five minutes before I lose it."

"Go ahead and drown me you cock suckers!" The Iwa nin snapped, "You won't get anything out of me!"

"Oi," Naruto grinned, "Watch the language, there's a lady here."

"Who?" Tayuya asked. Naruto's grin widened. Finally it hit Tayuya that he was talking about her. The blush on her face would have lit up half the of the Land of Fire. "You jackass!" She yelled, causing the water to tighten around her captive.

"Urk!"

"Tayuya-chan, ease up, we need him alive." Saiga said, smiling at the pair, "You should really save that for the honeymoon."

"Shut up!" Both of them yelled.

Kit,Kurama said, As much as I enjoy your banter with your mate, perhaps I can lend a hand in this little interrogation? Naruto grinned, looking at his companions. "Kurama wants to help out here."

Tayuya looked a little shocked at this, "How the fuck's he gonna do that?"

Hehe, brace yourself, Kit. Naruto could feel the smile on the fox's face as a surge of demonic Chakra raced through him. Saiga winced and backed away was red mist swirled around him, and his features started turning feral. The partial change had the desired effect on their captive. The young Genin's eyes widened with fear as the whisker marks on his face darkened and his teeth elongated into fangs while his nails became claws.

Tayuya felt a shiver run down her spine, but it wasn't fear. Damn, girl, focus! She told herself. Naruto walked to the young shinobi's face, looking him square in the eye.

"Now then," Naruto growled, "Where are your friends?"

But there wasn't an answer. The Iwa nin's eyes had rolled back in his head, which lolled down against his chest. Naruto could smell it on his last breath. "Poison."

xXx

Seven figures watched the drama unfold. "So our target is a Jinchuriki?" One said in interest, "And he has control over his beast."

"Yusuke, this changes things a bit," a female said, "A normal shinobi from the Namikaze clan was bad enough, but a Jinchuriki is way out of our league."

"What makes you say that?" Yusuke asked, "Konoha doesn't really care for this one, apparently. From what I've picked up, they would be happy if here were killed."

"That's not the point!" Another male snapped, "This village is known to house the Kyuubi no Kitsune! What chance do we have against that!"

"We can certainly try," said another, eagerly, "Think of it, when we go back home, they'll make us heroes for killing the last Namikaze!"

The three female members of the teams looked at one another, "Remember Onoki-sama saying that he tried to propose a political marriage to this shinobi?"

"I do," one of the girls said, "My mother nearly had a heart attack when she heard about it. She's wants nothing to do with it."

"I doubt he'd force anyone into it," said the third, "His granddaughter would be the obvious choice."

"Oi, we're talking about an assassination here!" Yusuke snapped.

"Will you all keep quiet!" the second male snapped, "We'll need to split them up. I can hear them making plans to send the two others ahead to the tower. Namikaze will be staying behind and leading us away!"

xXx

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Tayuya screeched, causing a certain fox to cover his ears, "We can't go on without you!" Naruto was rubbing his ears against the ringing the red-head had caused.

"She's right," Saiga said, his own ears ringing, "What makes you think we'll leave you behind for them to ambush?"

Naruto sighed, knowing this would happen. "Look, guys, I know this is a little crazy, but they're only after me, so it makes sense that I should stay behind and keep them busy until you get to the tower."

"Fucking crazy is right, Shithead!" Tayuya growled, "It's seven against one!"

"Yeah," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head, "It's kinda unfair for those guys."

Tayuya face faulted. "That's not what I mean, you dope!"

"What she means is that we're worried about you," Saiga said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "You may be a Jinchuriki, but you can't use much of the fox's Chakra without damaging your seal!"

Naruto chuckled, "Oh, I won't need that. I've got a little secret up my sleeve." Naruto rolled up his sleeve, revealing a gravity seal, a large one. "I have five of these on me. If I release them, nothing's gonna stop me!"

Tayuya crossed her arms, "Fuck you, Shithead, I'm still not going!"

Naruto glared at her, "Tayuya, listen, I'm not giving you an option. These guys are good, and I know you know it. With seven of them on our tails, we'll be in trouble if they come at us all at once!" Naruto sighed at the hurt look that came across the girl's face. "Look," he said, looking at both of them, "Kakashi-sensei once told me that those that break the laws of the village are scum." Tayuya and Saiga flinched. They had been trying to disobey their leader's orders. But Naruto continued with a smile, "But those that abandon their comrades are even lower than scum. I'm not asking you to abandon me to the mercy of the enemy teams. I'm making a strategic desicion."

Saiga sighed himself, "Alright, Naruto. I'll follow your orders as team leader." Then he smirked and socked the blonde playfully in the stomach. "Don't go dyin' on me just yet. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the finals."

Naruto returned the punch with his usual foxy grin, "Right back at'cha, Teme."

Tayuya watched the little exchange with a small smile tugging at her lips. Naruto looked over at her next, the grin disappearing. "Tayuya-chan? You okay?" She scowled at him, making him flinch.

"Fuck no I'm not okay!" Tayuya yelled, "Remember the last time I left you alone? You almost died because I wasn't there to watch your back!"

"That wasn't your fault!" Naruto growled, "I just got over confident because of all the training we did!"

Saiga looked between the two, seeing a fight in the making. "I'll...wait a little further ahead. Come find me when you're ready." He leapt away, leaving them alone, neither of them noticing his absence.

"Idiot," Tayuya yelled, "You were out numbered, and if I had just been there - "

"The result would have been the same!" Naruto roared back, "That time the only thing that kept you from getting hurt by those shinobi was you barreling in at the last minute and helping me. If you had been there from the start, then you would have been in worse shape that I was in the end. I have the Kyuubi in me, Tayuya-chan, which basically makes me immortal as long as his Chakra keeps flowing."

"But the seal - " She started, but he cut her off again with a wave of his hand.

"Tayuya-chan, the seal will hold as long as I don't go into the Nine-tails cloak." He said, his grin returning. "I'll come back, so don't worry about me, Tayu-chan." The girl blushed at his nickname for her, but let it slide.

She smiled a little, "Seems all I ever do is worry about you, you shithead. Then again," she stepped closer, placing her head against his chest, "You always manage to come out on top somehow."

Naruto smiled, letting his arms encircle the girl, "Yup, you know it. I'm just too awesome to be put down by a couple of Iwa rockheads."

Tayuya snickered, and reached up to flick him on his nose, "There's that confidence again." Naruto laughed, blushing as she wrapped her arms around him, "But, like I said, you wouldn't be you without it." She stretched out and pressed her lips against his.

Naruto immediately went rigid, hardly knowing what to do. Sure he had nearly kissed her last night, but he had thought that had something to do with Kurama. But now...

Damn her lips are soft, he thought, and sighed into the kiss, finally returning the favor and clutching her tightly against him. It was an awkward kiss at first, but Tayuya fell into a rythme as she moved her lips against his. Naruto attempted to match the movements, angling his face so he could kiss her better. Neither one was confident enough to try anything clever with their tongue or teeth. The thought of Naruto's already fang-like teeth scraping against her skin sent a shiver up and down Tayuya's spine. He always looked so much more handsome to her when the fox's Chakra changed him. The fangs and claws never frightened her, even when she'd seen them for the first time. It was a part of who he was.

Naruto himself was on cloud nine. He felt completely light-headed as he continued to kiss his best friend of three years. Again the thought the Kurama might be directing his actions crossed his mind, but at the moment he did not care at all. The Biju in question could not help chuckling a little at the boy's accusation, but he was simply happy that his "kit" had finally seen what had been before him the entire time. A friend, a companion, and a partner.

After what seemed like hours, which most likely boiled down to two to three minutes, the two broke apart breathing heavily. Both were blushing furiously, but smiling at what had just happened.

"W-where did that come from?" Naruto asked, not really caring.

Tayuya smirked, "Fuck if I know, but I liked it." She slipped out of his grasp. "Think of it as a good luck charm, but I want it back when you get back." She giggled and leapt away, leaving Naruto looking after her.

"Hmph, I guess you got your wish, ne, Kurama?" Naruto asked, receiving a throaty chuckle from the Biju. Then he turned toward the trees, "Alright, you can come out now."

A moment later, three shinobi dropped to the ground in front of him. Naruto cocked his head curiously, "Only three? I thought there were seven of you left."

"Heh, there are," said the one in front, "We sent the others ahead to deal with your teammates."

Naruto grinned, "Well, that's just too bad." His eyes turned red and his puils became slits, "You should have brought more."

xXx

Saiga was waiting for her when she finally caught up, wearing a cheeky grin. "So? How was it?"

Tayuya blushed, "H-ho-how was what?"

Saiga chuckled and shook his head, "Never mind, Tayuya-san." He leapt ahead of her. "Come on, we should get going."

"Right," she grumbled, chasing after him.

"Oi, don't be so gloomy," Saiga grinned over his shoulder, "He'll be fine." He turned around, leaping backwards, making Tayuya role her eyes. "Naruto won't go down without a fight. He'll be back before we even get to the tower!"

Tayuya grinned at him, "Yeah!" Then she noticed something coming out of the canopy our of the corner of her eye. Something that made a bee line for Saiga! "Look out!"

"Huh?" Saiga turned just in time for a body to tackle him out of the trees, sending both of them to the ground.

"Fuck!" Tayuya growled, shooting off her branch after the falling figures.

"You're not going anywhere, Red!" Tayuya whipped around, catching sight of three more figures coming at her. She back flipped down to another branch as three kunoichi landed where she had been just a moment earlier. One of them she recognized as the Iwa kunoichi she had fought the night before.

Tayuya grinned up at her, "Oh, back for round two?"

The girl turned red, "That wasn't funny! I'll be having nightmares for the rest of my life!"

"Oh~ poor widdle baby," Tayuya sneered, "So your brought a couple of friends to pay me back?"

The three of them sneered right back in answer. Tayuya thought about reaching for her flute to cast the Genjutsu she used on her last time just to piss her off, but decided against it. She cracked her knuckles instead. "Well, come on then."

xXx

Saiga swore profusely as he and his attack hit the ground. He kicked and rolled away from him, jumping back to his feet, bringing a kunai in front of him from his pouch. "I can't believe I was that careless!" He spat, "What do you want?"

The Iwa nin stood up, "Revenge for my teammate," it was the shinobi from the previous night, "Tomoyo didn't have to die at the hands of a nothing like you!"

Saiga growled, "I'm not a nothing. I may not have their pride or arrogance, but I am an Uchiha!"

"Impossible," the shinobi laughed, "They were wiped out ages ago by one of their own! You're nothing compared to them."

"I am!" Saiga roared angrily.

"Prove it then," he said, sneering, "Show me your Sharingan!"

Saiga flinched, making the enemy shinobi laugh even more. "I don't have my family's Kekkei Genkai. But I don't need it to beat a whimp like you!" His hands came together in the snake seal. Lightning started crackling around his body, making the Iwa nin sweat, finally seeing the young Uchiha as a threat. "Raiton: Gian!" Saiga opened his mouth, aiming the following blast of lightning at his opponent.

"Shit!" He lept out of the way. Saiga followed him with the attack.

It's still not fast enough! He thought, shooting another blast. Kakashi said this was a near unavoidable attack, but I still haven't perfected it yet! For Saiga, the Jutsu was slightly draining, and was not one he could keep up for long.

The Iwa shinobi landed, digging his feet into the ground making the ram seal, "Doton: Arijigoku no Jutsu!" The ground around him shook and fell, forming a massive pit that nearly made Saiga lose his footing. The Iwa shinobi sank into the ground out of sight, leaving Saiga guessing where he was, that being the center of the pit.

"Coward!" Saiga yelled tauntingly, "Come out and fight me!"

It worked. His opponent shot out of the hole he had made, the rat seal already formed, "Doton: Ganban Kyū!" Four pillars of rock shot out of the ground toward Saiga. He jumped from his branch and watched as it was crushed by the pillars. Suddenly the shinobi was right beside him. He aimed a kick at Saiga's back, sending the boy to the ground.

Saiga coughed, tasting blood in his mouth, and tried to get to his feet. The Iwa shinobi landed beside him grinning. "So this is the power of the mighty Uchiha?" He jeered, "I can't say I'm impressed if this is all you have."

"F-fuck you!" Saiga coughed. His ribs were on fire. He had not felt any of them break, but he knew that the fall had bruised them badly. His opponent grinned again and raised his foot and stomped on his chest. "GRAUGH!" His straggled scream tore at his throat.

"Pathetic," he said, "The only one on your team we were really worried about was that damned freak of yours." Saiga glared at him. "But that was only natural, him being a Namikaze, and a Jinchuriki after all. Then there's that red-haired bitch of his." Saiga's whole body started to shake with rage at the insults. "Before we set out after you two, we thought we'd get a little show from those two the way they were going at each other." He laughed, "It's amazing that she could feel anything for that demon!"

Saiga grabbed a hold of his ankle, gripping his tightly, "You're wrong! He isn't a demon!" He felt his Chakra begin to spike. "It's people like you that are the demons!"

The Iwa shinobi's eyes widened, "You really are an Uchiha!"

"No shit!" Saiga yelled, sending all the lightning Chakra he had left into his right hand, "Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu!" There was no way for him to dodge the attack that erupted from the Uchiha's hand as a giagantic lightning beast lept at him, striking him in the chest and ripping into him. Saiga lept to his feet with renewed energy. The world seemed slower now as him charged his opponent.

He ducked down and kicked the Iwa shinobi in the jaw, sending him flying. Saiga blurred after him, ramming another kick into his stomach, and flashed behind him, turning him upside down and wrapping his arms and legs around his limp body. "Kage Buyo!" They spun, spiraling to the ground. The Iwa shinobi never saw the end coming as his upper body was slammed and plowed into the ground, only his legs showing.

Saiga fell flat on his back, gasping for breath. "And that...is what...you get...for messing with my friends!"

xXx

Naruto looked around at his handy work. All but one of the shinobi that had attacked were dead. But that one wouldn't be moving for a while. You know, I think we might have gone over the top this time?

I don't think so.Kurama yawned, It was rather boring once their leader was taken down. But you have to admit that he had that Rasengan coming after he insulted your mate, plus you only needed to release one of your gravity seals. Naruto conceded the point, not even bothering to deny Tayuya as his mate anymore.

We should probably catch up to them and see if they're all right. He lept off the ground and and shot off in the direction they had gone.

xXx

Tayuya, for the first time since she had gotten into the forest, was having the time of her life. The three kunoichi were good at close range combat, each one of them trying, without success, to leave their mark on her with either kunai or shuriken. But she was much too quick for them. Over the years, Tayuya had become almost graceful in her fighting skills, and seemed to dance out of the way of their strikes.

To them it was frustrating that the red-haired kunoichi kept avoiding their blades. But they had no other alternatives. She was a long range fighter. Close range was her weakness, but now they saw that it was not a severe weakness as they had hoped. She was light on her feet and faster than any kunoichi they had ever seen in Iwa.

Their Earth style Jutsu would never be able to catch her before she had fled from the the attack. "Come on," Tayuya taunted them, "Can't you catch me?"

"You crazy bitch!" Yelled her pursuer, and hurled a kunai at her. Tayuya snatched it out of the air before it hit her, and sent it right back double-quick, hitting the girl square in the chest. The girl screamed and fell to the ground.

The other two shuddered, then looked at the red-head nervously. Tayuya grinned at them, "Looks like it's time to stop the games." She brought her hands up and went through ox, horse and ram seals. "Suiton: Rekkū Suigeki!" She took a deep breath, and shot out large bolts of ice. The darts sliced through the trees and their branches like they were nothing.

One of the kunoichi had the sense to run before the darts could get her, the other, however, wasn't so luck as a large spike impaled her her through the stomach, destroying her spine and pinning the now lifeless body against a tree.

Tayuya watched the other one go, and took out her flute grinning maniacaly, "Oh, hell no, you ain't gettin' off that easy."

Azusa, the one remaining female Iwa nin, heard the flute being played and went pale as her world blurred. She found herself in a dark corridor with only candles to light the halls. "Oh no, not again!" She groaned. A hiss came from behind her as the snakes from the last time came out of the shadows. She furiously tried to break the Genjutsu before they could reach her, but it was no use.

"Kukukuku, well look who's back," said a cold voice.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

xXx

Tayuya stood over the girl's thrashing body as the Genjutsu did its work. Her mouth was already starting to foam with terror. She smirked and decided to cut her a break and released it, then delivered a punch to her head, knocking her out once more.

"Not fucking bad if I do say so myself," she said, dusting her hands off smugly.

"I'll say," she whipped around, finding Naruto standing right behind her, "Remind me never to make you mad again." He said, shivering, "Kurama gave me the run down on that Jutsu when I got here. Tayuya-chan, that is seriously wrong!"

She shrugged, "What can I say?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Just promise me you'll never do that to me."

Tayuya giggled, "Not that it would work. Kurama would dispel it before it effected you."

Naruto sighed, conceding th point, "What happened to Saiga?"

Tayuya sighed, "The other Iwa nin knocked him out of the trees, and then these bitches came after me...I haven't had a chance to go look for him."

xXx

"NYAAA~CHOO!" Saiga sneezed, making his ribs ache, "Man, I hope those guys find me before something else does." He had barely moved since his fight ended, barely managing to lean himself against a tree. His ribs made it too painful to move around much.

"OI! SAIGA!" Saiga looked around. That was Naruto!

"Down here!" He yelled. A moment later Tayuya and Naruto landed just in front of him. "Boy am I glad to see you two!" He grinned, looking over at Tayuya, "How did your fight go?"

"Boring!" She scoffed, waving her hand flippantly, "I've fought nukenin that put up more of a fight than those three bitches!"

"Same here," Naruto sighed, "The three that found me were a bunch of whimps."

Saiga grinned, "I hate to say it, but I had a little difficulty with mine." He grimaced, "I think my ribs might be cracked."

Naruto leaned down over him, "Maybe I can help with that?"

"How?" Saiga asked, smiling, "You know some Medical Ninjutsu?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, but being part Uzumaki I have a little healing abilities. I found out about a year ago because Tayuya told me I helped her get over an illness."

Tayuy blushed as she remembered that. At the time she'd practically clung to him while she was half-naked.

Meanwhile, Naruto placed his hand on Saiga's chest, and focused on sending a small amount of Chakra into his system. The boy shuddered, "That feels weird! Like my chest is going numb!"

"It takes a minute," Naruto said, "But it works."

xXx

Hours later found the trio at the base of the tower. Saiga was happily back on his feet after Naruto's ability had helped him heal, though Naruto found that he was suffering from a light spell of Chakra exhaustion. Saiga didn't know why this was. He had not used enough Jutsu to even use three-quarters of his Chakra, but he felt it all the same.

"Finally here," the young Uchiha sighed, "That was rough."

"We made it here with three days to spare," Naruto said, "The last time we only just made it, but this time around was easier because we didn't have some crazy Hebi-teme to deal with."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just go inside already!" Tayuya said, pushing the door open, "I wanna see whats on those scrolls!"

Naruto grinned as he helped his friend inside, following after the red-head. Once inside Tayuya rolled out the scrolls, over lapping them as Naruto instructed. Then the symbols glowed, followed by a large puff of smoke. Naruto remembered that the last time it had been Iruka that had popped out. But this time it was a different person, though he wasn't any less familiar.

The masked shinobi snapped his little orange book and raised his hand in greeting. "Well, that was quick. Good to see you three so soon."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Saiga smiled.

"So," Tayuya smirked, "What's next for the exams?"

"Well," said the one-eyed Jonin, "Since you took out possibly three teams, the next round will be the finals. Unfortunately, Iwa, and Suna's teams were unable to get through the forest this time around. Kumo and Konoha had two teams each. Ay-sama will be happy to hear that news. He had high hopes for this year's crop of Genin. Besides your team, only a Konoha team that had a Hyuga with them managed to get here."

"Cool," Naruto said, "Will it be another month before it starts?"

"Afraid so," Kakashi said, nodding, "But this will give you all a chance to rest up and train before you fight again."

"Will Iwa and Suna's Kage still be coming?" Saiga asked.

"They will," he said, "Gaara and Onoki want to scope out the competition."

Naruto grinned, "This' great, now we can show our stuff in the finals!"

Well I finally got this chapter out! Sorry for the wait, but I had a little trouble getting my fights in line. Either way, the next chapter will be just as crazy, and I'm sure you can all guess why XD