I do not own Naruto

Thanks for the great reviews shae, Ahmenet, Goatis, devoid69, Kuri Hana, earthbender68, Shelbycybor016, twiggy-shino, kaotic321, Soubi Shoukyaku, and benswife. I'm glad you guys like it.

Well, it looks like next week will be the last chapter, (sniffles). But I plan on making it a long one with lotsa fluff and lemons. There's none in this chap though. Sorry:-(

Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

"Here's what's going to happen," Shibi heard the Kamizuru gasp when he lifted two fingers up to his face in preparation to activate the exploding tag, "We are going to trade both kunoichi for the Tsuchikage's scroll at the same time."

A tick developed on the right side of Suzumebachi's face as she took in the sight of her grandfather's precious jutsu in the filthy Aburame's hand, 'I've been waiting too long for vengeance! Like hell, I'll let the bastard rob me of that.' There was a few minutes of tense silence as Suzumebachi tried to think of a way to get back that scroll.

"An exchange then," she spat out and lifted Sakura up, "We'll give you the kunoichi and then we go our separate ways."

Jibachi frowned at his cousin, "Really? Just like- HRHM!" The blond man bit down on one fist as he tried to sooth his crushed foot from Suzumebachi's sharp heel while still hanging on to Sakura.

'Tch,' Inner Sakura sneered at her captors, 'I thought Iwa-nin were supposed to be feared.'

Kurubachi resisted the urge to roll his eyes and pulled up Kurenai as he readied for the exchange, but he was held back by Suzumebachi.

The Iwa-kunoichi looked down at the Aburames, "We'll hand you the medic first. You throw us the scroll. Then you'll get the other one."

"And why would I do that," snapped Shibi, "All I need to do is say a single word and this forbidden jutsu is turned into dust."

"And all I need to do is move a finger," Suzumebachi motioned to Kurubachi, who poised a kunai to cut across Kurenai's neck.

The Aburame grit his teeth and lowered his hand, "Very well."

Jibachi grabbed Sakura from behind her neck with one hand, dragged the girl to the dome's edge and reached out one hand, "Throw it to me."

Shibi threw the forbidden scroll to Jibachi, who in turn tossed the shackled medic down the dome hive.

Trying to keep her bearings, Sakura bumped and rolled down the slippery slope, but Shino was quick to catch her before she hit the ground. He carried her back where his father waited and gently placed the other Chuunin on the forest floor.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan," said the young Aburame as he helped removed the last bit of wax from her wrists and ankles.

"Yes, Shino-kun," the medic stood up and glared at the satisfied Kamizuru, "But we need to get Kurenai-sensei now." She pulled out the blue soldier pill from Shino's Kikai and crunched it between her teeth.

"Working on that" grumbled Shibi then he raised his voice, "Now for the other."

Swearing at her cousin, Suzumebachi tore off the exploding tag as soon as Jibachi handed it to her then she nodded at Kurubachi.

The man removed the kunai then kicked the brunette off the dome, "It's been a fun date, 'Anko'!"

Hissing each time her body hit the hive wall, Kurenai spun around on her trip down then felt strong arms wrap around her. Her senses filled with the familiar scent of cinnamon and sandalwood. Kurenai looked up into Shibi's dark glasses and sighed into his shoulder as he body-flickered to the rest of the team.

After breaking off the last of the beeswax from the brunette's limbs, Shibi handed Kurenai and Sakura his spare kunai, "Keep on your toes. It's going to get interesting from here on out."

Smirking at Shibi's serious tone, Kurenai quickly ate her pill and rolled her rejuvenated arms, "That suits me just fine!"

Shibi walked to the head of the team and shouted aloud, "As agreed, we will go our separate ways."

The Kamizuru men looked quite satisfied to leave things as is and began to walk away, but Suzumebachi held up an arm to stop them.

'Some people are so damn predictable,' Shibi's small smile was hidden under his high collar and he watched the Iwa kunoichi glare hatefully down at him.

With a twitching smirk, Suzumebachi stretched her arms out on either side and her flexed fingers, cracking knuckles in anticipation, "I predicted the demise of The Aburame and his Heir. I intend to make it come true."

Jibachi quickly ran back to his cousin's side and whispered harshly, "Don't be a fool, Suzumebachi! Your hatred is clouding your judgment!"

Nodding at the other man's assessment, Kurubachi came up from the other side and laid a sympathetic hand on the kunoichi's shoulder, "He's right! We have what we've been searching for all these years. We need to go!"

"NO," she shook off her cousins and stepped forward pointed to The Aburame, "He was there when our clan came to ruin. He helped destroy the lives of our parents, our futures, even the next generation. If all it takes to restore the honor of the Kamizuru Clan is killing just these two, then I say it's a done deal!"

She spun around to face the men and pulled them close, "All three of us have worked so hard to get to the level we are now and with grandfather's scroll, we can do it!"

"Ah yes," interrupted Shibi, "About that scroll. I'm afraid I can't let you have it."

Suzumebachi sneered as she held the item up, "I already have it, baka. You lost!"

The Aburame openly grinned at the confused Kamizuru, "On the contrary, I have never failed a mission in years and I don't intend to now!" He held two fingers up and activated the hidden exploding tag.

The Iwa kunoichi felt searing heat fill her palm from the inside of the scroll, "NO!" She threw it into the air before the three of them were caught in the explosion.

"AAHHHH!" Now all three Kamizuru shinobi were enraged to see their grandfather's forbidden technique consumed in a huge fireball and drop to the ground as pitiful ash.

The Leaf nin readied themselves in defensive positions when they heard the furious roars from the Kamizuru. Before the smoke cleared, thousands of bees barreled down upon the Konoha shinobi, filling the air with senbons and ear-splitting buzzing.

The kunoichi were about to jump in the air to avoid the poison needles, but the Aburames simply raised their hands and the Kikaichu flew out to create a protective spinning dome around all four shinobi. The fierce airflow deflected all the senbons in random directions, leaving the Leaf nin safe.

Shibi called back to his son, "We need to drop the shield, Shino!"

The Kikaichu broke their cycling to reveal several of Kurubachi's bombing bees heading straight for them. Shibi and Shino quickly ordered their beetles to return and the Leaf nin tensed to dodge the bombs, except Sakura, who turned to the other Chuunin.

"Got any spare tags?"

Quickly calculating the bees' positions, the pink kunoichi lifted a kunai with a burning tag attached and she threw it at a particular bee in the middle of the forward cluster. The sky lit up with a rapid chain reaction of explosions circling from the front right and around the Leaf nin to end at their left side.

Inner Sakura grinned as she took in her handiwork, 'This one was better than in the Land of Snow.'

"Heh," the medic nin smirked as the others picked themselves off the ground and stared at her, "A ready made Sakura Fubuki No Jutsu. Gotta love it!"

When the heat blast receded, the Iwa nin removed their arms from their faces to see several treetops in the distance burning and the Leaf shinobi still standing.

"Kurubachi, you're with me," hissed Suzumebachi as she readied to summon her giant hornet, "Jibachi, take out the Chuunin."

Suzumebachi and Kurubachi jumped on to her giant hornet as it rose out the smoke, while Jibachi slid down the hive, lifting his arms wide to release more insects.

Shino jumped in front of Sakura and his Kikaichu rushed from his coat to battle with the bees. Jibachi sped past the fighting mass of insects and attacked the waiting Chuunin. The young Aburame blocked the first few kunai slices, but the shoulder of his coat tore on the sharp edge.

The blond man sneered as Shino backed away to glance at his coat, "Thought you would have gotten better since I last saw you, brat!"

"How would you know," murmured Shino as he adjusted his coat and went into a fighting stance, "Last time I let my teammates do all the fighting. I was twelve years old and I didn't even have to lift a finger to outsmart you bakas."

Jibachi growled and dove for the young Aburame, who leaned to the side, caught the man's wrist twisted the arm, then slammed the heel of his palm into the exposed elbow. The Iwa nin grit his teeth as he held back the pain, spun around to free his arm and kicked out at Shino.

The giant hornet flew over Jibachi and Shino's heads, heading for where Shibi and Kurenai waited for their opponents. Suzumebachi instructed her hornet to dive bomb the Jounin with massive spews of honey in hopes of trapping them to the forest floor.

Shibi and Kurenai weaved from side to side, making sure to avoid the splashes so as not to have their movement hindered by the sticky tendrils.

Kurubachi waited until the hornet made a close enough pass and he flickered away from Suzumebachi and appeared right behind Kurenai.

Feeling his presence immediately, the kunoichi dropped and circled her leg around to trip the bearded man, but he bounced just out of her radius.

Up in a burned out tree, Jiraiya looked down at the fighting shinobi, "Tch! They started the party without me!" The Senin glanced at the Jounin, who seemed to be holding their own against Suzumebachi and Kurubachi.

Then he hopped over to another tree to get a better look at the Chuunin. Sakura was keeping a safe distance and waiting for the right moment to intercede, while Shino taking a few blows to the stomach from Jibachi. Jiraiya looked overhead to see the cloud of Kikaichu and summoned bees still battling in mid-air with the occasional insect falling to the ground.

The Senin rubbed his chin with one hand, "Hmmm, looks like the boy is a little too dependent on his beetles. Aw well, a tiny bit of help won't hurt." He flickered to the ground and picked up a few pebbles then jumped back into a tree. He pulled one hand back and side swiped a pebble at the back of Jibachi's head.

"Argh," wincing slightly the man reached up to rub his head.

Shino kicked his foot across Jibachi's face and the man fell back a few meters to drop to the ground so he could regroup.

"You need to pay more attention to the fight instead of the mullet," said the young Aburame as Jibachi slowly got back on his feet.

Jiraiya then turned back to where Kurenai was dodging Kurubachi's bombs. The Kamizuru was keeping the kunoichi on her toes, barely getting a second to hold her hands up for a jutsu. The Toad Senin body flickered to where the Jounin was fighting Kurubachi and tapped his bottom lip in thought.

"Let's see, what can I do here," He grinned when an idea popped into his head, "Hah! Why not! Naruto's jutsu has to be good for something." Jiraiya jumped into a tree behind Kurenai but well in Kurubachi's view.

The Iwa nin was too busy trying to kill the brunette to notice Jiraiya until he saw a huge puff of smoke in a tree. The bearded man glanced into the sparse foliage to see a naked lady with a huge white mane and red streaks down her cheeks posing seductively against the tree trunk.

"Wha-wha-what the fuck?!" Kurubachi sputtered and gaped at the nude woman winking valentines then blowing kisses in his direction.

All of a sudden, Kurubachi found himself trapped against a tree with vines wrapped tightly around him. He looked up to see Kurenai rising above him with a kunai reared back to slice his neck. He quickly bit down on the inside of his cheek and broke away from the genjutsu in time to only get his cheek cut.

The Iwa nin looked back into the tree to see it empty then lifted his kunai in time to block Kurenai's stab, "That is one nasty genjutsu you have!"

Kurenai frowned before she burst into a whirlwind of pink petals, surprising the man again. He automatically kicked out from behind to find nothing. Kurubachi spun around, waiting for her attack and when nothing happened figured she ran off.

"Tch, Konoha kunoichi are quick to run!" He headed towards Suzumebachi where she was soaring through the sky on her hornet to avoid the Aburame's Kikaichu chasing after her.

Then Kurubachi noticed a shadow at his feet shrinking at a fast pace, he looked up to see the flat of Kurenai's boot baring down on his face.

The brunette braced for the shock wave of pain that ran through her leg when Kurubachi's skull impacted with her boot then bounced off him to land a meter away.

Blood and teeth flying in the air, Kurubachi crumpled to the ground from the instant concussion.

Kurenai waited a few minutes in a crouch to make sure he didn't pull a substitution on her then stood up, satisfied that the man was out cold.

A distance away, Jibachi was getting more angry by the second when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere in the fight. The young Aburame was quick with his defense, despite only moving when necessary and without their insects, neither was going to make headway. Then the Iwa nin noticed the pink kunoichi waiting in the wings.

A wicked grin crossed Jibachi's face and before Shino realized what the man had planned, the shinobi flashed from sight to re-materialize, pressing the edge of his kunai against Sakura's neck.

Shino growled at the man taking the coward's way out, "I am your opponent, Kamizuru. Leave her out of it."

"Actually, Shino-kun," Sakura looked remarkably calm for almost having her neck slit.

A gloved fist slammed into Jibachi from the right, sending the man back into a tree trunk, "I've got it." Her clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a smirking Sakura ready for her turn to fight.

Shino nodded at Sakura then turned to see how his Kikaichu were doing. The cloud of insects had decreased in number and from the amount of dead bees on the forest floor, it looked like the Kikai were winning.

Forgetting about the young Aburame, Jibachi rushed at the kunoichi and threw everything he had into finishing off the pink-haired girl. She was twice as agile as the brat, but for some reason she was reserved about landing any hits. Hoping to take advantage of her hesitancy, he dropped his guard and openly attacked the kunoichi.

She backed up quickly in order to avoid his rapid punches until her back hit a tree.

"Nowhere to go now, Pinky," Jibachi swung his leg around only to have it caught and held tight by the girl's hand.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the struggling man, "Stop calling me that!" She kicked her chakra-enhanced leg up the fork of his pants.

'Hoohaa,' Inner Sakura pumped a fist in the air, 'I always wanted to do that!'

Watching Jibachi soar high over his head from Sakura's Painful Sky Leg, Shino winced and mumbled, "Note to self... Don't call her, Pinky."

Noticing a familiar humming not far off, the young Aburame looked up to see the rest of his Kikaichu return victorious and slip under his coat to recoup in his body.

Sakura ran up to Shino, "Everything accounted for, Shino?" He nodded and they both took off to find what happened to the Jounin. It wasn't long before they came across Kurenai, who was limping slightly from her fight with Kurubachi.

"Let me take care of that, Sensei. Why don't you lean on that tree," Sakura knelt down to heal the brunette's bruised heel and aching joints.

As the medic's chakra soothed her foot, Kurenai glanced at Shino, "What happened to Jibachi?"

"I wouldn't worry about him," said Shino to his Sensei, "He's too busy singing soprano to be a problem."

"All done," Sakura hopped up, "How's it feel?"

Kurenai tested her leg and smiled, "Now let's go help Aburame-sama."

The Chuunin followed their superior who led them to the last place she saw Shibi and they stopped at a newly made clearing. The ground was covered in sticky honey globs and trees had been knocked down by the Iwa kunoichi's hornet which now fumbled uselessly on the ground. After a few more seconds, the hornet left behind it's mistress in a puff of smoke.

Huffing for air, Shibi was leaning on his knees in the middle of the field with several meters between him and the Kamizuru. Suzumebachi was struggling to pull herself up, spitting out dirt and wiping blood from a cut on her forehead.

Being careful to avoid the honey, the Leaf nin rushed to their leader's side.

"You okay, Shibi," asked Kurenai all the while keeping one eye on the scowling Iwa kunoichi.

The Aburame straightened up and nodded, "I'm fine. What of the others?"

"Not dead," reported Sakura, "But definitely out of commission."

Suzumebachi screamed in frustration to find out that her cousins had failed her and now she was going to lose what little honor she had left, once again to the hands of the Aburames, "You think I'm done for? You think there's nothing left for me to do but run? THINK AGAIN!"

She wiped off some blood from the cut on her head and pressed her hand to the ground. Vast clouds and Suzumebachi's maddening laughter filled the forest then a wind gust from an unknown source pushed the smoke away to unveil a Queen Bee.

"Ah-hah hahaha," The Iwa kunoichi's insane crowing shot out at the Konoha shinobi as she balanced herself on the summon, "Guess who opened the scroll the very second she got her hands on it!"

The thing was twice the size of Suzumebachi's normal hornet and it's wings spanned across the darkening sky.

Slowly tipping his head back, Shibi gawked as he took in the size of Suzumebachi's new summon, "Big."

Shino nervously adjusted his sunglasses, "Very big."

'Big, my ass!' screamed Inner Sakura while pointing the new insect, 'That thing's fucking HUGE!'

"Look out," shouted Kurenai when she noticed the Queen Bee begin to fly in their direction. The Leaf nin jumped away from the monstrosity leaving behind a wake of devastation just by the airflows. The four shinobi ended up rushing to anchor themselves in the trees for safety.

Once again, gigantic gossamer wings heaved in the air and stirred up whirling dust devils that tore whole pieces right out of tree trunks. While trying to hold on to the trees, the Leaf nin had trouble avoiding limbs and boulders ripped from the ground from each gust of the Queen's wings.

"Time to re-write history," Suzumebachi screeched on top of the summon, who was wondering what noisy creature was on dancing it's head, then noticed the rush of fear pheromones filling it's senses. It turned to find the four Leaf shinobi readying themselves for battle.

The Aburames sent out their Kikaichu at once in hopes of draining the Queen of it's chakra, but one wave of it's wings sent the beetles flying back to the ground.

Kurenai and Sakura pushed chakra into their feet to springboard off the treetops then onto the Queen.

Suzumebachi sneered as she stood on the head of the Queen and simply let the kunoichi have their fun.

Kurenai tried to slice through the body, but the hardened skin was like armor and her kunai didn't even make a dent. Sakura slammed her fist down on the Queen's midsection then tried a Painful Sky Kick, but all it did was make the summon buck, sending the Leaf kunoichi back to the ground.

Suzumebachi was quick in grabbing the antennae before she was thrown off like the other kunoichi then she loosened her obi and tied herself securely to the Queen.

Hanging off the Queen's antennae, Suzumebachi pointed to the four shinobi on the ground, "Enough playing around! Use your Stinger jutsu!"

The Queen reared into the sky to spit out a flood of beeswax. It didn't even bother aiming, but filled the forest for a kilometer radius with the sticky substance that quickly hardened to a thick shell. Then the summon turned around and launched it's huge stinger nearby the Leaf nin. It buried itself past the beeswax and deep into the ground. As soon as the Queen shot out her stinger, it used the last of Suzumebachi's chakra to create another.

The Aburame looked at the top of the stinger in the ground to see a shuddering white sac filled with poisonous gas, "Sakura where's your anti-venom from Tsunade-sama?" Shibi and Shino knew they already had a natural immunity to the Iwa poison, but the kunoichi were a different matter.

The medic quickly dug into her pack and came up with nothing,"It's not here! The Kamizurus must have taken it!"

"Oh fuck," whispered Kurenai.

Shibi pointed upwind of the stinger, "Both of you, get out of here now!"

But before the kunoichi could put chakra into the feet, the venom gland burst open sending out a cloud of poison into the air.

Inner Sakura waved a hand and wheezed from the gas, 'Somebody crack a window. It's a silent, but deadly!'

The cloud covered the forest first then rose to even the Queen's height, blanketing it and Suzumebachi with toxins.

Kurenai and Sakura were immediately overcome with the poison, falling unconscious into the men.

The Aburames cradled the women close to keep them from dropping out of the trees, all the while coughing uncontrollably from the dense gas.

Up in the air, the Queen remained unaffected by her venom, but Suzumebachi was coughing up a storm like the Aburames.

Feeling somewhat disoriented from her summon's technique, the Iwa kunoichi managed to catch a glimpse of the Konoha shinobi below.

"Now! Kill them now!" She nearly choked giving out that command, but the Queen readily obeyed by surging upwards to greater heights.

The heaving wings pushed the poison gas away, giving the Leaf nin some much needed air, then dove down at the tiny shinobi below.

Off in a far corner of the forest, Jiraiya hummed as he surveyed the giant Queen Bee climb in the sky, "Hmmm, not nearly as big as it should be... she's probably not skilled enough with her chakra for the real Tsuchikage's summon. Still it's impressive that she managed to decipher the scroll. Tch, nothing for it then." Shrugging, he bit down on his thumb and pressed the blood to the ground, causing the jutsu pattern to spread out from his hand.

Before Suzumebachi and her new Queen Bee could deliver the final blow, a long studded tongue appeared from the side, wrapped itself tightly around the summon.

With Suzumebachi scrambling to untie her obi, she screamed bloody murder the entire way as the tongue rolled the Queen right into the waiting mouth of a red toad four times bigger than the bee.

"OOOWAH," yelled Gamabunta as his yellow eye looked up at Jiraiya, "Th-tupid thing sth-tung my th-ongue. Dthamn it! Now I'm gonnah have ta' geth anothah sth-tud!"

The Toad Sage sighed and stamped on the toad's head, "Well, if you would just swallow faster instead of eating them so slowly, you wouldn't have that problem!"

Gamabunta shrugged, "I can'th help it! All that royal th-elly they feed the Queenths giveths 'em sth-uch a ni-the fatthy unther-belly!" Then he continued to enjoy the delicacy he hadn't been able to acquire in decades.

Jiraiya then jumped off Gamabunta's head and landed next to the kunoichi. He reached into his pouch for the spare anti-venom and tipped the liquid into each kunoichi's mouth.

"Jiraiya-sama," Sakura blinked as she woke up then rubbed her eyes to be sure she wasn't hallucinating, "What's he doing here?"

Kurenai massaged her temples and shrugged, "Hell if I know. Is that Gamabunta? And what is he eating?"

CHOMP! SQUASH!

"Ewwww," Kurenai and Sakura were already feeling queasy as it was. They didn't need to see that tiny bit of gold obi flapping out of the toad's lips. Then they tried to hold back their retching when all could hear the Queen Bee's innards spurting from the hardened outter skin.

CRUNCH! CA-RUNCH! Shibi and Shino cringed when they noticed vast amounts of insect-peppered drool hang off one corner of Gamabunta's mouth to drop on the ground with a splash.

The giant toad's bottom jaw rounded slowly as it savored the deliciously sweet snack with just a hint of salt and slightly bitter aftertaste.

As the Senin shook his head in disgust, he felt Shibi's hand tap him on the shoulder.

"No offense meant, Jiraiya-sama, but could you send Gamabunta back. He's making all the Kikai nervous."

The Toad Senin waved his hands in apology, "Of course! Of course! If you're quite finished with your snack, Gamabunta, it's time to head on home!"

"But I justh goth here! I wanth to thake a look around," the toad summon continued to protest loudly until the Queen's poison that lace it's body began to enter his system.

The giant toad lifted his forward webbed foot and watched it make tracers in front of his eyes, "Whoooaah! I've never sth-een it do THAT before. Heh heh, freeaaky. Wow, look ath all the colorsth. The colorsth! They're sth-ooo... intens-the!"

The Leaf nin stared at the tripping out toad until Jiraiya sighed and released Gamabunta, who finally disappeared in a huge column of smoke.

"So sorry about that," chuckled the Senin, "Gambunta can get a little unpredictable when it comes to food. NOW!" The man clapped his hands together and gave each kunoichi a happy pat on the head.

"Why don't we get the both of you to the hotel for nice hot baths and soft warm beds!"

Kurenai blinked as she waited for the come-on and got nothing, "What? You're not going to pinch my butt or beg me for a kiss?"

Jiraiya perked up, "Why? Do you want me to? Uh, I mean, no no. I'm passed that now, Kurenai-san. You just head on back to town and get some rest. Lots and lots of rest!" The man blew a sigh of relief when Shibi's Kikaichu receded back into his long overcoat.

Inner Sakura had her arms crossed and toe tapping, 'Did everyone in all of the five shinobi countries know that we're pregnant, but us!'

Sakura and Kurenai shared a frowning glance, but sighed as they shrugged off the Senin's obvious behavior.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's get you in bed," Shino lifted Sakura up with both hands and swept her up in his arms. Cradling her closely, he carried the young kunoichi off to the city, where the buildings were turning on their lights and the night life was starting to get into full swing.

Gently taking the brunette by the hand, Shibi wrapped her arm under his and they both jumped away, heading towards the town lights.