"Still nothing?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

Hinata activated her Byakugan briefly, then shook her head. "No," she answered. "The other teams are still keeping their distance. No sign of any enemy ninja."

I sighed and grumbled to myself. We'd been out here for two days already, and I'd honestly expected something would have happened by now. Instead it'd been just like any other mission, except for the constant tension flowing through all of us as we constantly prepared for an attack from Orochimaru's ninja as they tried to kidnap Sasuke.

"Well..." Sasuke said after a few seconds, frowning to himself. "We'll just keep going, then. Not much else we can do. The other teams will let us know if they manage to intercept the attack. If everything goes right we won't see combat at all, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving him off and turning back to Hinata. "So what has Kurenai-sensei had you guys working on? We've had so many missions lately I can't even remember the last time we actually had an actual team meeting with Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura's been stuck recovering with her mom hovering over her."

"O-oh, um," Hinata said hesitantly, pushing her fingers together for a moment. "Well, we're still focused on teamwork m-most of the time, but she's started introducing us to more complex genjutsu techniques now."

"Awesome!" I grinned. "Kakashi-sensei's always going on about teamwork too, but he doesn't do anything with genjutsu. What has she taught you?"

"W-well, she showed Shino how to make it seem like his bugs were appearing from nowhere to help him mask their approach, and she has Kiba refining his man-beast technique with Akamaru so that it's even harder to see through."

"What about you?" I pressed. The only new technique I'd gotten from Kakashi-sensei was that kage bunshin variation with the kunai - which totally kicked ass, yeah, but it was still just the one technique. And some work on my taijutsu, I guess. It sounded like Kurenai-sensei was doing a lot more than that.

"She's teaching me, um, the demonic tree technique."

"That sounds kick ass!" I said. "What does it do?"

Hinata ducked her head and pushed her fingers together again. "I-it makes the target think they've gotten wrapped up by roots and branches, locking them in place and making them panic. If it works, it'd be very easy for anyone on my team to land their attacks afterward."

"Cool! What about-" I cut off abruptly as all of us froze, feeling a large flare of chakra in the distance. Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan, the veins around her eyes bulging and giving her generally calm and gentle expression a fierce cast. Her eyes widened even further as she let out a gasp. "Incoming!" she snapped quickly. "Four ninja wearing Sound headbands from the south, and two more engaging the strike teams."

Sasuke shifted to face that direction, dropping into a stance and pulling out a pair of kunai. "Stick to the plan," he called out firmly.

"Got it!" I replied, bringing my heads up in front of me. "Kage bunshin!" I called out, filling the clearing around us with puffs of smoke. I'd made roughly twenty clones, and they all quickly spread out, some hiding around the clearing and others darting to the east and west, preparing to circle around and hit the Sound ninja from behind. Hinata leapt into the trees above Sasuke's position, her Byakugan still activated and leaving a normal bunshin behind.

We heard the group of Sound ninja plowing through my clones, their shouts and insults floating through the air back to us before they were dispelled. Once the group finally made it close enough to be visible, they'd already taken a few hits and wasted a bit of chakra.

The first one into the clearing reminded me of Chouji, though he was taller and more of his bulk seemed to be made up of muscle than fat. He looked like he'd taken the most damage, with several cuts on his arms and a long rip along the side of his shirt. Shortly behind him were a thin, gray-haired teen and a black-haired teen who -

"What the fuck? Why do you have six arms?" I shouted, shocked.

"So I can beat your face in!" the ninja in question shot back, flipping me off... six times. "That one's mine," he called out, scowling.

"Don't forget the plan, Kidomaru," the gray-haired one reminded him. "We don't have time to fuck around."

"Shut up, Sakon," Kidomaru replied.

"Guys..." the larger ninja said slowly, "we shouldn't be fighting right now..."

"You shut up too, Jirobo!" Kidomaru growled. "Just do your job and keep the Uchiha busy until we take care of his team."

"Fine," Jirobo grumbled, turning back to face his target only to find Sasuke already in his face, kunai flashing out. His head jerked to the side, barely avoiding the blade that would have pierced his skull and instead taking a long gash along his jaw.

I didn't have time to follow that fight as I charged towards my own target, activating Army of One and sending a Bunshin Barrage towards the gray-haired one as I did so. I quickly found out that trying to go hand-to-hand with someone who had six was... different, to say the least. He tried to pull the same kind of thing Anko-sensei did, catching my fists and holding on as he launched his own attacks, but he quickly found that he couldn't actually make contact with me. The expression on his face as his hands passed through my body like it wasn't even there was priceless. He quickly let go and fell back, taking a more defensive approach as he tried to figure out what was going on. I didn't have time to press my advantage, though, as the gray-haired one, Sakon, came up behind me, trying to stab me with a kunai and having just as much success as Kidomaru had.

I caught a glimpse of Sasuke wailing away on the big guy, his eyes sharp and that damn smirk on his face - it wasn't nearly as annoying when it was directed at somebody else, though.

A group of my clones came up behind Kidomaru, blind-siding him and landing some powerful hits that I heard clearly through the chaotic melee. Sure that he would be occupied for a little while at least, I focused back on Sakon again, hoping to knock him out quickly so I would only have to fight one opponent at a time.

Come to think of it, where was Hinata in all of this? Her bunshin had disappeared at some point, but there was no sign of the real one anywhere. Hadn't she also said there were four ninja coming for us? Maybe she was taking care of that one, then; it was the only thing that made sense.

"Asshole," Sakon growled, wiping some blood away from his busted lip. "Think your stupid ass technique is going to save you, you trash?" He glanced over at Sasuke's fight, a frown flitting across his face. "Jirobo!" he snapped suddenly. "Stop fucking around!"

Jirobo hesitated for a moment, allowing Sasuke an opening to land a spinning kick and slam him backwards into a tree. I took advantage of Sakon's distraction too, yelling out, "Kage Bunshin Barrage!"

Sakon's gaze snapped back to me just in time for his feet to get yanked out from under him. He flipped into the air, bouncing back and forth as a series of clones landed hits that kept him airborne. I began running forward to where it looked like the last clone would send him, only to stumble to a halt when a long stream of golden thread flew past me, sticking to the trees and grass around me and hanging suspended in the air, forming a barrier.

I whipped around to find Kidomaru closing in again. I pulled out a kunai, deciding to focus on taking out some of his hands only to find that his punches were connecting now. Whatever that stuff was apparently used up the rest of Army of One. I stumbled backwards at the unexpected hits, though I still managed to slash at one of his hands and land a nasty cut across the back of it.

"You assholes should have known better than to mess with Konoha," I called out mockingly as I recovered. "Now you get to enjoy an ass kicking delivered by yours truly!"

"Fucking trash," Kidomaru smirked. "Whatever you were doing isn't working anymore. We'll see just how long you last now, won't we?"

A loud boom drew both of our eyes to the side, where a cloud of dust was billowing up from the ground. I looked over just in time to see Sasuke jumping backwards, a pained expression on his face as he clutched at his shoulder. Jirobo followed him out of the smoke, only the Sound ninja's body was covered in some sort of black markings and he seemed to be moving a lot faster than before.

"Fucking trash," Kidomaru spat again, "making us use this."

"Wha-" I started to ask, only to see more black marks flowing across my opponent's skin as well as he crouched. If this was anything like what the big guy had done, Kidomaru was about to get a lot stronger and faster.

"Plan B!" Sasuke yelled out.

My hand blurred as I pulled out a kunai, but I hesitated before I actually threw it. I still had no idea where Hinata had gotten to, and I didn't want to risk hitting her. I needed to end this quickly, though, since Plan B called for killing everyone except Sasuke's opponent; he would have only done that if he felt we couldn't hold out long enough for reinforcements while trying to keep all of them alive and reasonably uninjured.

I could see Kidomaru straightening, most of his skin covered with those black marks. He was doing something with his hands, spewing forth more of that golden stuff and shaping it into something. Dammit, I needed to do something fast, but melee wasn't going to cut it with this guy. I needed to find some way to make sure I didn't hit anything behind-

My eyes widened in realization before I took off running, angling away from Kidomaru. He turned to follow me, his hands almost a blur as they continued to craft that golden stuff into some sort of long object. I leapt high into the air, landing against the side of a tree and using it as a springboard to leap even higher, putting me directly above my opponent.

He smirked, raising the object he had been making and revealing it to be a large bow. He already had an arrow notched and pulled it back, his arms bulging with the effort. I raised my kunai in response, my arm whipping forward as I threw the kunai as hard I could straight down.

"Idiot," Kidomaru snorted as he loosed his arrow.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin!" I declared as I finished the string of hand-signs. My vision was cut off suddenly as my single kunai was suddenly replicated into dozens, hundreds of identical blades. They slammed into the ground, the thunk of metal sinking into wood and dirt filling the air and drowning out all other sound. The golden arrow fell behind them, its flight slowed and knocked off course by the multitude of kunai that had impacted it. The mass of kunai dispelled a moment later, revealing the bloody stain on the ground that was what was left of my opponent.

My head snapped to the side as I recognized the sharp, crackling sound that reminded me of an entire flock of birds chirping all at once. I looked over just in time to see Sasuke shoving his hand through Sakon, who had somehow managed to grow an extra pair of arms himself. Man, what was with these Sound guys and extra limbs?

Hinata rejoined us at that point. She had one arm hanging limply at her side and several bloodstains on her shirt and pants, but she also had a wide grin on her face.

"Give up now," Sasuke called out, looking over to the only remaining Sound-nin. "Your teammates are dead, and you can't possibly hope to beat all of us at once."

Jirobo looked around, his eyes lingering on the body near Sasuke's feet and the remains of Kidomaru before turning to examine Hinata. "Sakon... Ukon... Kidomaru... Tayuya..." he said slowly, his voice mournful.

Ukon? Tayuya? Who the hell was that? I looked around again, but still only saw three other ninja. Had Hinata taken out two at once?

"You... you..." Jirobo growled, the black marks on his skin writhing and growing to cover even more of his body. "You bastards!" he screamed.

The black marks covered his entire body before fading to a dull red and his sparse hair suddenly lengthened, turning blond as it spilled down his back. "I'll kill you!" he growled, launching himself towards Sasuke.

"We can't have that," a sly voice called out. Jirobo suddenly gasped, his skin reverting to its normal hue and the black lines retreating entirely. He collapsed to the ground, panting and groaning in pain.

I turned to face the one who had spoken. I recognized the voice, but I hadn't expected to hear it in this kind of situation.

"Kabuto?" I asked. "Were you part of the teams the Hokage assigned?"

The gray-haired genin, still wearing his normal outfit of purple shirt and black pants turned to look at me, surprise on his face. "Oh? If it isn't little Naruto-kun. It's been a while since the Chuunin Exams, hasn't it?"

"Naruto-kun," Hinata hissed quietly.

"Yeah, it has!" I called back, smiling. "Man, I didn't know you could kick ass like that. You took out that guy like it was nothing!"

"Naruto," Hinata hissed again, louder this time. I glanced over at her, wondering why she looked so worried.

"Kabuto helped us out during the exams, don't you remember?" I asked her. "He was the guy who had those cards with all the information on them."

"Well, I couldn't let him kill all of you, now could I?" Kabuto called back, laughing. "We need Sasuke alive for Orochimaru-sama, after all."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said fiercely, "he's wearing a Sound headband!"

I felt a sick feeling settle into my gut as I turned back to look. It was hard to tell from this distance, but now that I was really paying attention the symbol on his headband wasn't quite the right shape for Konoha.

"For... Orochimaru?" I repeated dully.

"Oh? You mean you really didn't know?" Kabuto called back, smirking as he adjusted his glasses. "I did have a little showdown with your teacher, after all. I'm surprised he didn't say anything." He laughed then, shaking his head. "On the other hand, what would be the point of telling a useless ninja like yourself, anyway?"

"You... you traitor!" I yelled, taking a step forward. "Why would you betray the village for someone like Orochimaru?"

Kabuto just shook his head sadly. "Tsk, tsk, Naruto-kun, your education is sorely lacking. To betray something, you have to be loyal to it in the first place. There was never a single moment where I though of that stupid little hovel as my village."

My fists clenched. "We'll see if you can still say that after I beat you and drag your ass back to the village," I told him.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses again. "As fun as this little reunion is," he said with infuriating calm, "I really must be going." He looked over to Sasuke. "Say goodbye to your friends, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke took a step forward, raising a kunai. "I'm not going any-" he began, but was cut off by Hinata's gasp.

I whirled to face her, only to see her whipping around to defend against a blur that was coming out of the woods behind her. I'd barely made it two steps towards her before it was over.

Her opponent was dressed in the same kind of clothing as the other Sound ninja; a gray shirt that hung down towards his knees, black pants, and a large, rope-like belt that was tied into a bow in the back. His form was covered in blood, but his expression was calm, almost blank. He had one hand extended, holding some kind of white blade that he'd just stabbed Hinata with.

The blade had gone all the way through her and was sticking out of her back, and I could see the bloodstains slowly spreading on her shirt. Her good hand reached toward him, the blue glow that indicated the use of her family's taijutsu style fading rapidly, and then her arm dropped as her entire body slumped.

I heard an odd sort of ringing in my ears, that only grew stronger when the new enemy withdrew the blade and stepped past Hinata's slumping body, not even sparing her a second glance.

"Bye bye, Hinata-chan!" Kabuto called out, waving and smiling. "Hope you liked meeting Kimimaro-kun!"

My body let out a bestial roar as it launched forward, hands extended into claws and a snarl on its face. I almost welcomed the abrupt shift in my perceptions, but I was unable to tear my eyes away from Hinata's body. There was a pool of blood around her now, and it just kept growing and growing like it was never going to stop.

"Hinata! Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, and I glanced over to see him trying to get past Kabuto, his fists and feet flying wildly and his Sharingan whirling.

My body was still swiping at Kimimaro, but he'd produced a strange, spiked whip from somewhere and was whipping it through the air, the end of the weapon leaving bloody gashes along my body as it pushed forward. The situation continued like that for a few seconds, Sasuke and Kabuto trading attacks, my berserk body spilling the Kyuubi's tainted chakra into the air as it threw itself at Kimimaro again and again, and Hinata's blood staining the ground darker and darker.

Finally, apparently tired of using his whip to take my body apart, he thrust out his hand and that white blade appeared, emerging out of his own body to stab through my chest just like it had through Hinata's.

I looked up, staring into Kimimaro's pitiless expression and smiled grimly. "I'm..." I choked out as blackness started seeping in at the edges of my vision. "I'm going to... kill you," I promised him.

His eyes narrowed for a moment before he withdrew his blade and stepped past me.

"Naruto!" I heard Sasuke scream again, but it was distant and quickly fading.

~ Scene Break ~

I blinked.

Then I blinked again, taking in the oddly... dim surroundings.

In the distance, hanging in midair like some sort of strange photograph, I could see Sasuke pitched over Jirobo's shoulder, his arms and legs bound tightly and a look of absolute fury and loathing on his face as he looked up at a smirking Kabuto and an expressionless Kimimaro.

Following the death of his teammates Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha was successfully captured by Orochimaru's forces. The loss of the Sharingan to the Snake Sannin proved to be a critical factor in the conflicts to come, but it was the loss of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that ultimately led to the downfall of Konoha.

You have failed.

"Wh-what?" I called out, stunned. I'd never seen anything like this before, but it was what I just heard that left me reeling. That Orochimaru bastard getting his hands on Sasuke's Sharingan was bad enough, but Konoha itself was... because I died?

"That's bullshit! There's no way Konoha would fall!"

Do you wish to restart at a checkpoint?

"Of course I do!" I yelled out. "No way I'm going to give up now, you dumbass!"

Please choose a checkpoint:

Chuunin Exams Victory

Know When To Fold 'Em

The Snake's Tail

"Well... huh," I muttered, scratching my head as my anger faded just as quickly as it had come. I actually got to choose this time, apparently. "The Snake's Tail," I said after a moment.

~Scene Break~

"You won't touch him!" Hinata spat, lunging forward and driving her hand into and through the door in front of her.

"When I get free I'm going to shove a Chidori so far up your-" Sasuke snarled, raising one hand. Electricity was already starting to spark around it, and the sharp chirping filled the office.

"What the hell is going on here?" Tsunade barked, her killing intent flooding the office and driving us all to our knees. She shot to her feet and slammed her hands on her desk. "I said dismissed, not tear up my office!"

"Wh- how- I- I..." Hinata stuttered, her eyes widening. She jerked her hand out of the door, staring at it, Her breathing grew fast and shallow as she clutched at her chest with her other hand.

Sasuke lowered his hand as he stumbled to his feet, turning to look at me and Hinata. His eyes were slightly wild and I could see his Sharingan whirling in their sockets as he studied us.

"Alive," he said after a moment, his voice rough. He shut his eyes tightly, his hands coming up to clutch at his temples as his shoulders sagged. He drew in a shuddering breath and shook himself, then lowered his heads and fixed his gaze on me. "Checkpoint?" he asked roughly after clearing his throat.

"Uh, yeah," I muttered. I looked over at Hinata, growing concerned. Her eyes were still wide and it looked like she wasn't even seeing her own hand any more. Her breath was wheezing in and out of her lungs, so rapidly that there was almost no time between her drawing in a gulp of air and pushing it back out as a low gasp.

I stepped over to her slowly and knelt beside her, raising my hands in the air as I tried to catch her attention. "Hinata," I said slowly.

She jerked suddenly, her head snapping around to face me. Her eyes widened even further and the veins bulged as she activated her Byakugan.

"Hinata, it's alright. Everything's fine now," I assured her.

She raised one trembling hand up and slowly reached out to lay it against my chest. "Real," she whispered, her breathing beginning to even out. "But I- I was-"

I grimaced and nodded. "Yes," I admitted. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," I told her. "It happened so fast and you were just..."

"N-no, I was- I should have seen him," she said, whipping her head from side to side. "I shouldn't have gotten distracted. I should have-"

"As amusing as this is," Tsunade said dryly, interrupting whatever Hinata was going to say, "I just gave you a mission - against my better judgment, I might add. Unless customs have changed significantly, this is the point where you go and do the mission."

I looked over at the new Hokage, mouth opening to inform her of just what it was we had survived - or rather, hadn't survived - but then shook my head. I'd already seen where that led, and she either wouldn't believe me or forget about it before we got out the door. I turned back to Hinata to see that she'd stopped breathing entirely, her eyes focused on the hand she had laid against my chest and her face glowing bright red.

"Hey, Hinata," I said, waving my hand in front of her face.

No reaction.

"Hinata, you ok? Hinata?"

Sasuke walked over and grabbed Hinata's wrist, pulling her to her feet and leading her out of the door. "Come on, dobe," he muttered. "Let's get out of here before we make the Hokage any more upset."

"The cost for replacing the door is coming out of your mission pay, by the way," Tsunade called out tauntingly, her voice following us as we finally left her office.

~ Scene Break ~

We'd barely made it out of the Hokage's Tower before the others came running up to us. Shika looked worried, Chouji seemed confused, and Hanabi just looked annoyed.

"What happened?" Shika asked bluntly.

I laughed nervously, reaching up to rub the back of my head. "It, uh... didn't go so well."

Sasuke snorted, shaking his head. "That's an understatement," he muttered.

"Did you use a checkpoint?" Shika pressed. "One minute we were trying to catch that troublesome cat again and the next I was back at my house playing shogi."

"Yeah," I said, "I did."

Shika nodded, his eyes flickering as his expression grew thoughtful. "So we all remember everything that happened up to that point, but the transition itself happens without warning..." he mused. "Why did you end up using the checkpoint?" he asked then.

I shifted uncomfortably, looking over at Hinata and Sasuke. Hinata was ducking her head and pressing her fingers together again, her face still looking red; I wasn't even certain she'd heard anything we'd been talking about. Sasuke, on the other hand, was scowling and looked like he wanted to punch somebody.

"We, uh, lost," I admitted.

"You died," Sasuke growled, his fist clenched. "After that, they surrounded me and took me prisoner, bragging about how Orochimaru would be thrilled to finally get his hands on the Sharingan." The group fell silent at that, and even Hinata finally looked up, her face pale.

"Something was different, though," I spoke up after a moment. "Always before I just woke up back at Ichiraku's, but not this time. There was some sort of weird picture thing that showed Sasuke getting carried off by the big guy, and then more of those words showed up."

"What did they say?" Shika asked intently, leaning forward.

"They said, uh," I frowned, trying to remember the exact wording. "They said that Sasuke got captured 'cause me and Hinata-chan died, and that Orochimaru getting his hands on the Sharingan was a big deal. They also said that, uh, Konoha would... would fall because I was dead."

"Did it say why?" Shika asked softly, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the group. Hanabi was looking back and forth between me and Hinata, her eyes wide. Chouji was frowning darkly, an unusually fierce expression on his normally calm face, and Shika... Shika's eyes were gleaming and he looked more awake than I'd ever seen him.

"Yeah. It's because of the, uh, other thing," I finished lamely, trying to figure out how to tell him without giving everything away to the rest of the group.

His eyes narrowed for a moment, then flicked down to my stomach before looking back up at me again. I nodded, relieved that he'd figured out what I was trying to say.

"What other thing?" Sasuke asked, frowning.

"You know how Naruto keeps going berserk whenever one of us is incapacitated?" Shika asked.

"Hey, Shika," I said quickly, starting to panic, "what are you-"

"It could be a new bloodline," he continued calmly. "He can't really control it right now, but given time it could prove to be very powerful; powerful enough to tip the scales in the future. We don't want it spread around or anything, since enemies could start targeting him if they suspect he might be a serious threat in the future."

Sasuke was still frowning, but nodded slowly in acceptance. Chouji shrugged as if it didn't really concern him, and Hinata and Hanabi were staring at me wide-eyed.

"Konoha hasn't gotten a new bloodline in decades," Hanabi pointed out thoughtfully. "If you can prove it, you'd be able to get some serious benefits. The Hyuuga get a lot of perks and advantages because of our bloodline, after all, and if yours is as powerful as you say then you could probably qualify for the same treatment." She smirked. "Father would probably help you with that, if you asked the right way."

"That's not something to worry about right now," Shika interrupted before I could come up with a reply. He turned back to me. "Was there anything else that happened?"

I thought for a minute, then shrugged. "I could pick any checkpoint to go back to, but that was it. As soon as I picked The Snake's Tail we were back in the Hokage's office."

He nodded slowly, then dropped into a crouch as he closed his eyes and brought his hands up to form a circle. I'd seen him do this a couple of times already, although it still looked really weird, and Chouji didn't even bat an eye. The others, though...

"What's he doing?" Hanabi asked after a moment, staring at Shika.

"That's his thinking pose," Chouji supplied. "It helps him concentrate."

"He has a pose just for thinking?" Hanabi asked in disbelief.

Chouji shrugged. "It works."

Shika's eyes snapped open and focused on me. "You said that whenever you died you woke up back at Ichiraku's, right?"

"Yeah?" I said, wondering where he was going with this.

"And this time you woke up looking at that picture of Sasuke getting captured, and then the words showed up, right?"

I nodded and he turned to Sasuke. "Why do you remember that?"

None of us quite got where he was going with that, judging by the expressions on everybody's faces.

"Why do I remember what?" Sasuke asked.

"Why do you remember getting captured? Always before everything ended as soon as Naruto died, but this time he died before you were captured. Yet, you still remember it."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Because I was still free, maybe?" he asked slowly, obviously starting to think about it himself.

Shika shook his head. "That doesn't make sense either. None of the rest of us were in any danger, and Konoha likely would have mounted a rescue mission for you in short order. And yet, it stopped as soon as the whole team was taken out or captured, not when Naruto himself fell."

"W-what about my ab-ability?" Hinata asked quietly. "Re-resuscitate can bring someone back after they d-died."

Shika nodded slowly. "But you were already down by that point, so you couldn't have used it, and Sasuke doesn't have it." He sighed and shook his head. "There has to be something else to it."

"Another way?" Chouji commented, scratching his cheek.

Shika's eyes lit up. "If that's the case then... yes, it fits! No one was around to do it before Naruto recruited us, and once Sasuke was captured he couldn't do it either. There must be some sort of time or distance limit to it as well, otherwise the three of us still in Konoha could have theoretically done it."

My head was spinning as I followed Shika's train of thought. "Ok, fine, so we can revive people with more than just that Resussi-thingy. That would be really useful if Hinata ever... if that happens again, but how?"

"I... don't know," Shika admitted, frowning.

Sasuke nodded. "Keep thinking about it. In the meantime, we need to head out for our mission."

"Are you guys going to be alright? Do you need backup?"

Sasuke shook his head, scowling. "No. We aren't going to screw around with them this time. We'll take care of the first group quickly to focus on Kabuto and that Kimimaro."

Shika nodded slowly, then froze. "Wait, what? Kabuto? That guy from the exams?"

~ Scene Break ~

We spent a little while explaining everything we could recall about Kabuto's involvement, which really didn't add up to much. Shika promised to look into it from within Konoha to see if there was anything more to it, then we set out once again.

We refined Sasuke's plan a little as we traveled, deciding that we should attempt to link up with the support teams as soon as possible and help them take care of Kabuto and Kimimaro. Hinata wasn't certain what had happened to them the first time, but it was likely that they had been killed. With our new plan in mind, we were ready when the Sound ninja showed up again on the second day.

"They're here, from the south again," Hinata called out.

"You're up, Naruto," Sasuke said, nodding to me.

I nodded back solemnly before creating a few clones and tossing a kunai to each. They spread out, moving through the trees around me as I darted towards the incoming enemy ninja, Sasuke and Hinata keeping pace a few steps behind me. The Sound team stopped short when they saw us, glancing around warily and spreading out slightly as they prepared for combat.

"Looks like the trash came out to play," Kidomaru sneered.

I raised the kunai I had in my hand, preparing to throw.

"What the fuck are you going to do with that, shithead?" the red-headed girl called out. "You throw that and I'm going to shove it right back up your-"

"Now!" I yelled, launching the kunai forward and speeding through the hand-seals for the Kunai Kage Bunshin technique. All around the clearing more kunai appeared as my clones copied my movements, and a moment later the air was filled with the screech of metal striking metal and the smoke of dispersing clones.

When the noise finally died down and the last of the shadow kunai were gone, very little remained of the Sound team.

"Let's go," Sasuke said quickly, leaping back into the trees and following Hinata's directions towards the Konoha teams that were fighting a losing battle against Kabuto and Kimimaro.

~ Scene Break ~

I burst out of the trees, doing my best to ignore the three ninja who were lying on the ground unmoving as I darted towards Kabuto. He was occupied with the last remaining ninja as he used short blue blades of chakra emitted from his fingers to cut through the ninja's kunai and flesh. He whirled around, one hand driving towards my chest as I leapt at him.

He was shocked when his blades passed right through me, and even more shocked when I slammed a kunai into his chest. My aim must have been a little off, though, because the blade glanced off to the side, leaving a long cut along his shoulder but not doing nearly as much damage as I had expected. He ducked and whirled away a moment later, opening up the distance between us quickly.

"Well, well, if it isn't Naruto-kun," he called out, adjusting his glasses as he ran a hand along the cut, the green chakra of a medical jutsu removing the damage with ease. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Abort the mission, genin," the surviving Konoha-nin called out, panting. He looked to be in rough shape as he staggered to his feet, but his hands were moving through a hand-seals quickly.

Kabuto frowned, moving towards the wounded ninja again.

"Kage Bunshin Barrage!" I yelled, pointing at Kabuto. The moment the words left my mouth the sound of chirping birds filled the clearing, and even as my clones dog-piled Kabuto Sasuke darted out of the trees behind me, moving about as fast as I had ever seen him.

"Chidori!" he yelled as he blitzed the pile of clones, thrusting one hand into the center of the mess. He jumped back a moment later, panting with exertion but glancing down at his blood-covered arm with grim satisfaction.

The remaining clones dispelled and the smoke quickly cleared away to reveal Kabuto down on one knee and grasping at the stump where his left arm used to be. Despite the pain he must have been in and the seriousness of the wound, he was still grinning widely.

"Impressive, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto said as he pulled himself to his feet. "Orochimaru-sama will be greatly pleased with your progress."

"Kimimaro is coming, from the northeast," Hinata said quickly, already turning to face in that direction.

"Naruto," Sasuke said quickly, nodding towards Kabuto. "Take him out."

I nodded grimly, pulling out another kunai and moving a few paces to the side so that the surviving Konoha-nin wasn't in the way. Kabuto had slowly walked over and picked up his severed limb, eying it carefully before looking back up at me.

"Oh, Naruto-kun is going to take me out, is he?" Kabuto asked, smirking. "Do you really think you-"

I launched the kunai forward, running through the familiar hand-seals once again. The wall of kunai swept through the air, tearing up the dirt and grass and slamming into the sparse trees in the distance.

"He's here!" Hinata yelled, barely getting the words out before she was desperately fending off Kimimaro, her hands moving rapidly as she deflected his strikes with that freaky bone-sword of his as best she could. Despite her efforts Kimimaro had already landed several cuts along her arms and a nasty one on her left leg.

"Kage Bunshin Barrage!" I yelled, jabbing one hand towards Kimimaro as I charged forward.

The first clone landed a mule kick that launched him into the air, and Sasuke didn't waste any time crying out, "Overpower!" and blurring through hand-seals before drawing in a deep breath. A large fireball emerged, barreling towards Kimimaro's form and engulfing it in an inferno.

"Nice one, teme!" I cheered. I turned my attention to Hinata, who was struggling to wrap bandages around her wounds as quickly as she could to halt the bleeding. Before I could move to help her, though, a large whip emerged from the dissipating fireball, slamming into Sasuke and sending him spinning to the side with a splash of blood. Kimimaro stepped forward, portions of his skin seared and blackened and a grimace on his face, but still obviously capable of continuing the fight. He looked like he was wearing some sort of white armor that he hadn't been just a few seconds earlier, and I'd swear it looked like it was made out of bone.

This guy was seriously creeping me out.

Kimimaro's whip coiled around him for a moment before he snapped his arm forward, sending it towards me faster than I could have possibly dodged.

I didn't need to, though, since Army of One was still up. "Sasuke! Plan C!" I yelled out as I charged forward, ignoring the way the whip was cutting back and forth through my body.

"Got it!" I heard him yell back.

I closed in with Kimimaro, fists flying quickly as I struck at his ribs and joints but completely failed to do any visible damage through that freaky bone armor of his. His eyes narrowed in irritation as his own attacks failed to do any damage to me either.

Then the sound of chirping birds filled the clearing again and I dove forward abruptly, tangling myself up in his legs and pulling him to the ground. His blade stabbed through me several times without effect, and I grinned up at him.

"I told you I'd kill you," I said.

He looked down at me, confused, even as he continued to try to tear himself free. I held on grimly, preventing him from moving easily as the sound of chirping birds rapidly drew closer.

Then he stilled abruptly and raised his left arm, his skin bulging as it something was moving under it.

"Chidori!" Sasuke roared as he thrust his arm forward. The technique was too bright to look at from this close, so I shut my eyes and turned my head, still holding on grimly.

I felt something wet and warm dripping onto me and finally opened my eyes to see Sasuke and Kimimaro locked in place. Kimimaro had somehow gotten more of that freaky bone armor of his - I was trying very hard not to think about just where that stuff was coming from - but either he hadn't gotten enough of it in time or it hadn't been strong enough, since Sasuke's arm was sticking through it. Kimimaro had twisted the shield around or something, though, because from where I was it looked like Sasuke's arm was being held in place by it.

Kimimaro had also grown some other spikes, several of which were sticking out of Sasuke's arm; that was the source of the blood that was dripping onto me. I could see Sasuke's face twisting in pain, though the only sound he made was a low grunt.

I pushed off the ground, rising up and striking at any exposed areas on Kimimaro I could see. I still didn't feel like I was doing any real damage, but it was enough to make him shift his position, loosening his grip on Sasuke and allowing my teammate to jump backwards, clutching at his arm. Hinata came running up, one hand glowing green as she reached out towards Sasuke's arm.

Huh, since when did Hinata know medical jutsu?

Her hand lashed out, slamming into the back of Sasuke's neck and dropping him like a bag of rocks. She spun towards me next, the green glow dissipating and four short chakra blades emerging from her hand as she tried to stab me.

"What the fuck!" I yelled as I dropped back, only to find Kimimaro wielding a pair of white sword-like bones slashing and stabbing at me.

Hinata's form wavered for a moment then vanished to reveal Kabuto in her place, both of his arms firmly attached and that smug grin in his face.

"That was a good try, Naruto-kun," he said as he adjusted his glasses, "but I'll be taking Sasuke-kun now. Bye bye!"

"Dammit!" I yelled, trying to push past Kimimaro. I looked over to see Hinata sprawled on the ground, a pool of blood once more forming around her. I felt my control over my body slipping even as Kabuto picked up Sasuke and took off, and I knew this wasn't going to turn out any better than it had the last time.

~ Scene Break ~

Following the death of his teammates Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha was successfully captured by Orochimaru's forces. The loss of the Sharingan to the Snake Sannin proved to be a critical factor in the conflicts to come, but it was the loss of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that ultimately led to the downfall of Konoha.

You have failed.

Do you wish to restart at a checkpoint?

"Well... shit."

~ End Chapter ~

A/N: It should be clear now, but Naruto isn't locked into using the most recent checkpoint whenever he gets a game over. They are, however, stuck with the most recent checkpoint taking place after they accepted the mission. It's now also confirmed that the party members keep their memories (and progress) following a checkpoint load.

Special Missions, as you may have gathered by now, are a serious step up in difficulty from the more run-of-the-mill missions.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews!