A/N/: Just so everyone knows, I've started revising the story, which includes combining chapters, so for the moment the numbers will mismatch. The idea was brought to my attention by a reader who pointed out that I'd actually spent a year and a half on just the chunin exams. I hadn't truly been aware of this fact until I'd gotten responses to my earlier question about how to handle the length of this fanfic. I just want to apologize for making this such a long arc, and I intend to do better about my mistake. The previous chapters will be cleaned up, and the flow of the story will be corrected.
I am thankful to all of you who've seen fit to stick it out this long, and hope you see my version of the invasion as a reward for your long wait.
Demon of the Hidden Leaf
Ch.21- Konoha Crash!
xXx
With the blare of the invasion alarm Naruto's focus was thrown off and he fumbled to the ground before he managed to stumble and stay on his feet.
The black-clad genin's instincts kicked in and he immediately turned to look towards the Kage box. Naruto's azure eyes widened when they took in the site of both the Kazekage and his own village's Hokage trapped inside a large, purple barrier.
Seeing this, and finally tuning his ears in to the screams around him, allowed Naruto to finally understand that what he heard hadn't been a mistake or a drill. No, the sirens were real, and Konoha was under attack!
Movement from the corner of his eye drew the blonde's attention back towards his opponent...only for the boy's throat to clench at what he found.
Temari. The first girl he intended to try and open up to since Sakura, was standing with her Jounin instructor and younger brother beside Gaara. And she was posed in an aggressive stance.
Temari was part of the invading force.
So shocked was he that Naruto almost didn't notice when the proctor, Genma, moved beside him. Although the man's voice was enough to shake the blonde from his dumbstruck state.
"Hey, Naruto, I need you to focus here. This is definitely not the time for you to slip back into idiot mode; your village needs those skills of yours now more than ever." Then, turning his attention to the team of Suna ninja he asked, "What kind of scum turn their back on an ally?"
It was Temari who answered. The pig-tailed girl hoped her words reached the other blonde that stood before her, and helped him understand her actions. "We aren't scum! Suna's just tired of getting kicked around by the other nations; especially the Leaf. We just want our fair share!"
"And this is how you get it? By trying to hurt innocent people, and bully back the same village you claim is bullying yours?"
The ice-cold tone of Naruto's voice cut the Sand kunoichi to the bone.
Baki, the Suna Jounin, answered the blade-wielding blonde's question with a scoff. "Feh, what would a snot-nosed little punk like you know about it? Especially one who's lived his entire life inside the sheltered walls of the great Konohagakure!?"
Both Leaf shinobi easily caught the man's sarcasm, but only Naruto gritted his teeth at the barb. Who was this man to tell him that he'd lived an easy life? Reaching back the blonde gripped the handle of his overly-large sword and got ready to engage the haughty Jounin—until said shinobi dropped a smoke bomb. Now, with their vision clouded, neither male could see the new trio motion to Gaara and disappear from the stadium.
"Son of a bitch!" Naruto found himself cursing as he looked around wildly for his prey. A hand on his shoulder stopped him though.
"Let them be for the moment kid, I've got a mission for you first."
Blue eyes looked over incredulously at the Jouin beside them as their blonde owner rashly demanded to know what kind of mission was more important than catching the four that got away.
"How about the safety of all those still stuck up in the arena!" Genma admonished. "Or did you forget about the thousands of civilians that can't fend off the deadly ninja trying to kill them up there!?"
For the first time Naruto actually did look up in the stands...and did not like what he saw. There were ninja, possibly from Suna but that wasn't important right now, aiming to kill off the very same innocent lives he himself had just defended moments ago.
And then he remembered—Isarabi!
Blonde locks whipping around, Naruto snapped his head over to where he'd left his little Isa-chan in the care of his latest instructor, only to find her safely in the woman's arms as they were shielded by the other Jounin close by. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Naruto turned and quickly asked for his mission parameters.
"I need you to make as many shadow-clones as you can kid, and send them up their to offer back up for the other shinobi fighting off those intruders to our home. Then, if you so choose you may run off after those cowards from before, but not a moment sooner."
Naruto didn't need telling twice and, as Genma made his own way into the stands, created almost three-hundred shadow-clones in one sitting. The mass of black that filled the arena floor quickly had it looking like a pool of ink before the original gave the order and had them leaping into the fray.
The genuine copy rushing full-speed to protect his young charge.
When he arrived it looked to be just in time, as one of the enemy shinobi had managed to slip by Asuma and was rushing up to Anko's back where Isaribi was huddled on the floor. The snake mistress cursed when she heard the bearded Jounin's warning, but just as she was turning to defend the screaming girl at her feet a black blur streaked by and jammed a ninjato into the Oto freak's throat.
"Stay away from them!" Naruto revealed himself as he shouted at the gurgling dead man who dropped to his knees. To punctuate his demand, the blonde punted the dying shinobi with the toe of his boot into the seats that surrounded them.
"Big Brother!"
"Naruto!"
Isaribi and Anko both cried at the same time, the relief and joy at seeing him almost palpable. Although the Special-Jounin's joy quickly turned back into a hard mask of battle as she asked where he'd been.
"I was being given an order by Genma-san; one, as you can see, I've taken very seriously."
Anko and a few of the other Jounin chanced a look around when the blonde swept his arm over the stadium. What they saw astounded them.
Everywhere you looked was a copy of Naruto. And that wasn't all; the multitude of blonde's were cutting through the enemy with ease! Some even had their replica of the Kubikiribocho out and were widely swinging in an effort to cut down numerous enemies at a time. A strategy that seemed to be working, as the group of Jounin were quickly finding less and less targets to take on.
But it wasn't just the older shinobi that were astounded. The younger generation watching couldn't believe their eyes either.
Naruto, almost single hand-idly, was cleaning house.
For those like Shikamaru and Sakura it was an amazing thing. They could see the new Naruto in true action, and couldn't help be shell-shocked. But for the likes of Sasuke, it simply flared his jealousy as the last Uchiha's insecurities about his own skills reared their heads.
How come he couldn't make hundreds of shadow-clones with ease, and then go on to fight off just as many enemy ninja? What did the dead-last have that he did not? What was his secret!?
However, whatever anyone's reaction to the blonde's show-stopping performance, the spectacle was over in minutes as Naruto's clones finished off the last of Oto's arena swarm. And while it wasn't without casualty, that number was far less than those suffered by the invading force.
Seeing that they now had time to strategize, the Jounin whistled over all low-rank shinobi and relayed orders to them; this included the genin as well.
"First and foremost we need to protect those in the village who cannot defend themselves," Kakashi explained. "Which means many of you will be heading out to act as guards while the civilians are escorted to the emergency shelter. However, some of you will be relocated to the hospitals, to protect those who cannot be moved."
Hearing this Shino immediately volunteered for hospital duty; stating that Hinata would need his help. And while Kurenai swiftly sent him on his way with Guy sending Neji as back-up, Asuma turned his attention to his own team.
"Ino you and Choji are gonna act as defense for those being moved to safety; Shikamaru you're with me in the field."
This did not sit well with the Yamanaka heiress at all.
"What the heck Asuma-sensei, why only Shikamaru!? Choji and I are just as good, in case you forgot!"
Ino's rant would have ran farther, if not for the very serious look her bearded Jounin instructor gave her. Scowling through his cigarette, Asuma gruffly derailed his female students attitude.
"Actually Ino, no, you aren't. And I would have taken Choji along if I didn't think you were going to get into trouble on your own—so he's going to make sure you don't die. And once this is over, don't think we won't be having a talk about your direct insubordination in front of numerous higher-ranking shinobi. Now, get going."
The platinum-blonde's powder-blue eyes widened in fear before she quickly bobbed her head in understanding and ran off with Choji after being given some gear by Shikamaru.
No remaining genin dared to question the smoking man's choice in words with Ino, not even Sakura, and instead simply waited for their own orders. Kakashi was the next to give them out.
"Sakura, I know your skill is limited, but I want you down at the main hospital to aid in defense of the bed-ridden. I also want you lending aid to the medics in any way possible; do you understand?"
While miffed, like Ino, that she wasn't on the front lines Sakura knew better than to argue because the pinkette herself understood that her level of skill would make no great difference there, and instead would simply get in the way.
"Naruto, I want you to send a handful of your clones to go with her as back up...and send some after Ino and Choji too."
The blonde gave a sharp nod of understanding and motioned for his doppelgangers to do as the man said. "You got it Kakashi-sensei; and Kurenai-sensei don't worry, I'll send a few down to the medical bay here at the stadium to watch over Hinata too."
All eyes turned to the red-eyed Jounin in question to see that she was indeed just about to ask for that very favor. When the blonde did it without a second thought, the raven-haired beauty couldn't help throwing a thankful smile his way.
"Speaking of you kid," Anko cut in, "you're gonna be with me. You and I are gonna go after those four I saw you staring down in the arena. Something tells me that those guys are the real bad news around here."
Before Naruto could confirm his understanding though, another voice cut him off.
"Then I guess I'll be going with you two then." It was Sasuke.
Once again all eyes found a single target, only this time many of them looked on in disbelief or annoyance. Kakashi was the one to break the swiftly mounting tension.
"Um, actually Sasuke I was going to have you come with me and run perimeter control. With the element of surprise in their favor we have no idea just what kind of damage the enemy has already done, or where their force is strongest or weakest. You and I are going to scout the streets and gather Intel for the War Council."
Sasuke looked over at his Jounin instructor and barked, "Why can't you bring one of the loser's clones with you; he's definitely made more than enough. I should be following the primary threat to our village and helping to put it down."
"And what qualifies you to make that decision, genin?" The question had been posed by Anko, who was looking at the Uchiha youth like he was mud on the bottom of her shoe.
"I'm clearly one of the best among those in my age group, otherwise you would have shipped me off already on some background assignment. It's obvious, with my Sharingan, that I should be on the squad sent after Gaara."
Anko simply shooed the boy's observation away as she off-handedly replied, "Eh, I'd rather have the kid's endless clone supply and skill than your silly little kekkei genkai. Why don't you just do what your told, and we'll see afterwards if you're worth as much as you claim."
Sasuke made to retort, but was silenced when Kakashi shut him down.
"Enough, Sasuke, we don't have time for this. As your superior I am not asking you to do this, I'm ordering you. We're under attack, genin Uchiha, and every moment we spend prattling on is another that the enemy could be using to gain a foothold in our home. So from here on, I need you to pull your head out of your ass and be a team player."
Burned by the insults and his pride taking a direct hit Sasuke was still wise enough to bow out, as any further contention would result in even worse consequences than were sure to come at the end of the battle. He simply crossed his arms in a show of displeasure and clenched his jaw.
Seeing that the boy was silenced for the time being, the Jounin each relayed their own plans to each other before it was decided that Naruto's many clones would act as reinforcements to help defend the village; with a small contingent being sent to take Isaribi to the shelter, and then aid in the recovery of wayward civilians.
With all plans laid out, the circle of shinobi broke off, and headed out to perform their duties as assigned or decided.
xXx
"I can't believe Asuma-sensei," Ino pouted as she and Choji sped over rooftops looking for any stragglers who needed their help. "How could he embarrass me like that in front of everybody; especially Sasuke-kun!"
"Ino not that I agree with how he said it, but, sensei did have a point." The heavy-set Akimichi told her. "Next to probably Sakura you've gotta know, you put in the least amount of effort when it comes to training. It wouldn't be responsible to have you—"
"You too Choji!?" The Yamanaka heiress cut him off, "You're supposed to be my friend; how can you say something like that?"
Choji frowned at the girl's questioning his loyalty. "Because you aren't thinking Ino; this isn't a game. You say you're ready for open combat, but what happens when you're out there alone and you get in over your head. Who is supposed to be the one to tell your father that his little girl is dead?"
That question stonewalled any other argument the pretty young diva had left in her. For all her attitude and snobby attempts to seem mature, Ino Yamanaka was indeed a daddy's girl. And the thought of causing the man any sort of pain, be it physical or emotional, caused the young kunoichi's heart to break. So much so, that Ino didn't even notice that there were enemy ninja coming her way.
But Choji did.
"Ino, watch out!"
The purple-clad kunoichi nearly got whiplash as she was jerked out of the way of an incoming volley of kunai. From there the two Leaf genin stumbled to a halt atop a roof and stood face-to-face with the four Oto invaders.
Choji and Ino stared in apprehension at the enemy. Neither clan heir had seen real-time combat, as their only C-rank mission had been the transportation of goods for trade, and so both could do nothing but fall into a defensive stance and wait.
"Well, well look what we've got here," the front-most Oto ninja taunted. Behind him the other three laughed menacingly.
Taking initiative Choji took a step forward and placed himself subtly in front of the blonde beside him. As he stared the enemy down, the over-weight boy growled, "What are you foreign ninja doing in our home; what did we ever do to you?"
"It's not about what you've done," the older man scoffed. "It's about Oto making a name for itself, and what better way than to take down the strongest of the five Great Nations?"
"So than this is all about greed," Choji spat.
The Oto ninja smirked dangerously as he replied, "There's nothing wrong with wanting more. And speaking of, I think my friends and I would be willing to let you go if you hand over your friend."
Behind her team-mate Ino shuddered in disgust as her mind locked up with image of what these men would no doubt do to her. For Choji, the images in his own head prompted him into action.
"Over my dead body! Ninja Art: Partial-expansion jutsu!"
In quick succession both the Akimichi heir's arms swelled to enormous size, and the boy took a direct stance in front of Ino to defend against any frontal assault. The first of which came just seconds after.
"Heh, that was the idea kid."
All at once the four invaders rushed in on Choji. The young rookie managed to swipe his large fist fast enough to knock one man away, but he soon found himself on the defensive as he tried to avoid being turned into Swiss-cheese by the three katana that came thrusting in his direction.
Choji grunted in pain as one enemy managed to slice a gash along his left side, and then almost stumbled when his head took the blunt impact of a roundhouse-kick. The young brunette tried calling on his months of training but, against more than one enemy at a time, he soon found there wasn't much he could do alone.
"Ino, I need you're help! I can't take them all by myself!"
But Choji's cries fell on deaf ears, as the girl in question could only stand frozen in fear at the sight before her. Ino's hands shook so bad she almost dropped the kunai she'd grabbed to defend herself. The same went for her legs, which soon gave out on her and forced the heiress onto her knees.
Inside her mind screamed at the platinum-blonde to help her friend, but Ino just couldn't move. She was afraid, and that fear turned the once haughty diva into a quivering little girl.
And then, in a blur, it was over.
Or, more specifically, five blurs. Five copies of Naruto seemed to just suddenly appear out of nowhere and make quick work of the men who were trying to kill Choji. When the blondes were finished, one went over and killed the Oto ninja Choji had felled into unconsciousness, while another walked over to the still-downed Ino.
"Hey, princess, you okay over here?"
The snappy tone spoke to the inner-attitude of the girl in question and caused Ino to jolt in surprise.
"W-Wha...N-Naruto? What the heck, who do you think you're talking to like that you dork!?"
Azure eyes met powder-blue as both blondes stared the other down. Finally, after what seemed like hours, one of the clones that had stayed beside Choji called out that the boy was safe. "He's just got a couple bruises and some cuts; one on his side is pretty bad, but the rest are shallow."
Seeing Ino sag in relief further fueled the clone's ire. How dare she act as if everything was okay!
"I wouldn't relax if I were you Ino, because in a situation like this even the smallest weakness can be exploited, and Choji could get killed."
This caused Ino's head to snap in the clone's direction as she seethed, "Well sorry for not being as good at taking lives as you seem to be Naruto; I got scared, so what!?"
"You think what I just did was easy Ino? Do you really believe that the boss is really just bale to end someone's life and feel nothing? Well, let me tell you something, what we do is no where close to easy; the things that we do haunt our dreams at night, and we're lucky to be as sane as we are. You have no idea how all of this makes the boss feel, so don't make assumptions!"
The clone's loud outburst and wild gaze caused Ino to shrink back in fear, but the blonde doppelganger wasn't finished with his tirade yet. Pointing an accusing finger he went on to say "And I'm not getting on you about being scared, but about how you chose to handle your fear. Instead of stepping up to the plate and facing it, you nearly let the fact that you were afraid get Choji killed—he almost died Ino!"
Ino was close to tears now as she hung her head in shame. Because as much as the diva in her wanted to retort, and get in the clone's face, Ino knew he was right. She had failed. And worst of all, it had been at a time when someone close to her needed her the most.
Naruto's clones spoke up again, bringing the downtrodden girl from her thoughts and back into reality.
"As much as it pains me to keep going, I need to say this. Ino, there's no time for you to have one of your crying fits—we need to get moving. There are sure to be stragglers in the streets and we need to get them to safety. So I need you to get up, wipe your face, and get moving. The rest of the clones and I are going to act as you and Choji's back up now with me taking point."
With her head still down, Ino nodded I understanding and managed to shakily make her way to her feet. Once she was standing again, the Yamanaka heiress did indeed wipe away her tears with the palm of her hand before sniffling one last time and peering up I embarrassment to show she was ready.
Naruto's clones reached out and placed a soothing hand on the girl's shoulder and offered an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry for sounding so harsh Ino, but you're a member of my village and that makes you important, so I just don't wanna see you getting hurt. I know our job is hard, and after this is over I'm more than willing to sit down and listen if you need to talk. I won't even say a word if you don't want me to, I'll just listen, and be a shoulder for you if you need it."
The clone turned his head and offered Choji the same smile as he recanted his offer, "That goes for you too Choji. But first, we gotta get through this, so let's move out."
With the clone's help, Ino and Choji went on to rescue a number of civilians during the invasion, the kunoichi herself making an accidental first kill when she was nearly captured by a Oto ninja in disguise. She having flailed her arms upon being snatched, and unknowingly driving her kunai into the man's stomach several times.
Needless to say, Ino decided she would take her fellow blonde up on his offer once the invasion was over.
xXx
While that was going on, Neji and Shino were busy aiding Hinata in the staving off of those enemies that lurked among the shadows of the infirmary.
With both Hyuga swiftly patched up by medical-ninja, Hinata and her cousin found themselves, while not at one-hundred percent, well off enough that they could handle the scattered cockroaches they found hiding in the occasional corner.
And to that that Shino and his bugs acted as their support, and the enemy didn't know what to think.
Neji listened as another enemy's heart exploded underneath his palm-thrust before the spun on the ball of his foot to slide around the man and use him as a meat shield against an incoming katana strike.
With his safety taken care of, Neji sprung up into a back-flip and landed facing the unprotected blind-spot of his next target. The Hyuga genius made short work of this man too with a few quick shots to his spinal cord, before a gurgle from behind caught his attention.
Turning to find where the noise came from, Neji was shocked to find that it had been the enemy ninja he'd seen coming with his sword raised. And even more so, was that when the invader crumpled into a lifeless heap, it was Hinata that stood in in a post-deathblow stance.
Hinata, the Main Branch heiress that he had despised for over ten years, and had ridiculed as well as trashed for just as long...had just saved his life.
Something, a few short hours ago, he himself would have given no thought to had the situation been reversed.
And then Hinata turned right back around and began dealing with her next opponent.
After the invasion was over, and he was safely sitting up in bed, Neji Hyuga would wrack his brain with questions as the genius pondered the enigma that was his cousin. The girl who, not once, had ever so much as raised her voice at him let alone raise a threatening hand in spite of every nasty thing he himself had said or done.
The girl who, despite all the bad blood, watched his back in battle, and unconditional trusted him to do the same. All because they were family. It was as she'd said many times; to Hinata, there was no branches, they were all one family.
The prospect kept Neji awake all night.
xXx
The infirmary wasn't the only medical facility under attack, as Kakashi's orders to send Sakura and a contingent of clones turned out to be a good idea.
Upon making it to the hospital, Naruto's clone was immediately briefed on the situation as well as the building's current standing in terms of defense. There were a number of chunin that had already been dispatched to the area and were setting up a perimeter, so Sakura and the clones were instructed to act as a last line of defense in case the others went down or enemies slipped inside.
With sensory-types among the staff, any break-ins were swiftly dealt with by a pair of clones, and for a time many of those inside believed everything would run smoothly.
Sakura included.
So much so, that she let her guard down enough that when she went to make rounds with one of Naruto's copies, the pinkette found herself held at knife point by an enemy masquerading as a patient. The girl's immediate reaction was to scream fro help, but even she feared Naruto's clone wouldn't be fast enough to stop her throat from being slit.
From her place on the floor, as her captor had tackled her, Sakura looked up with tears in her eyes silently pleading with the blonde to save her.
"Don't even think about it kid," the impostor grinned. "One step, and I'll cut open her pretty neck, and you can see her blood stain the tiles on the floor."
The clone just stood and stared for a moment, as if contemplating what to do, before he gave a smirk of his own...and then was replaced with a befuddled Sakura in a cloud of smoke.
With his eyes now clouded from the replacement, Sakura's former captor was unprepared for the headbutt that smashed into his nose before his throat was slashed by a whirling blonde. Hands dropping their weapon, the Oto ninja grasped at his windpipe in a pathetic attempt to stop the bleeding before his life finally gave out and he crumpled to the floor.
Ironically, it was now his blood that stained the tiles.
The deed done, Naruto's clone hauled himself off the floor and quickly made his way to the door. Not even looking at Sakura he boldly informed her to follow him as they moved back to the core of the building to inform the staff of the new development. Even the patience couldn't be trusted.
And while there were thankfully no more close calls, Sakura continued to subconsciously rub her neck for the rest of the invasion whenever she found the time.
In all her dreams of being a kunoichi, never had any of them involved Naruto saving her from danger. But that night, when her head hit the pillow, Sakura's mind could think of nothing else...not even of her failure.
xXx
Crimson orbs jumped from one dark corner to the next as Sasuke's Sharingan actively searched for enemy ninja. From the moment he and Kakashi started their patrol, they had yet to encounter any enemy ninja.
And while the Jounin of the pair considered this a good thing, as it meant their own defenses were holding up, Sasuke was left largely unsatisfied. He wanted a chance to prove himself; to test his skills.
It had been well over an hour now, and the Uchiha heir was getting restless.
That pent up energy exploded when Sasuke's eyes caught sight of a fireball launching through the air, and heading his way. Landing on one foot, the fidgety young man pushed off and shot himself backwards and out of range. Once he was safe, Sasuke turned his gaze to the incoming enemy.
There were three; all Sand ninja.
With Kakashi and himself momentarily separated by the fireball, Sasuke took this opportunity to launch himself into action.
Using his newly acquired speed Sasuke bolted from his position and rushed in to take on all three opponent's at once. He opened with an overhead-kick. When the first Suna shinobi blocked it with his forearm, Sasuke flipped back and and pushed back in with a hard knee strike. His speed in such a close quarter one him the day as his hit struck home, while his eyes caught the edge of an attack coming his way which allowed him the chance to duck under it.
From his crouched position, Sasuke landed an elbow strike to the man's gut before coming up with a rising uppercut. Once in the air though, the Uchiha was jerked back by his collar by the third enemy and thrown to the ground.
Managing to roll into another crouched position Sasuke stared confidently at his trio of foes. Even with the element of surprise brought on by his speed gone, the young heir still believed himself capable of handling all three of the ninja in front of him.
A theory he would never get to prove, as at that moment two of the men were dragged underground by what Sasuke recognized as Kakashi's Head-hunter jutsu. Although this did give the genin a chance to catch the last Suna invader off-guard.
Swiftly pulling out a kunai, Sasuke moved in like a snake; fast and lethal. The bite of his kunai striking his opponent's jugular as went to tackle the man to floor.
Blood splashed against the Uchiha's torso and right hand, while specks of red splattered across his pale face like ketchup. From his place atop the man's body Sasuke watched, Sharingan still active, as the life left his eyes. Their was a glint of disbelief in the Suna native's eyes; as if he couldn't believe he'd just been beaten by a kid.
Kakashi would later inform him that this was because the man had been a Jounin, and had not expected Sasuke's attack.
However, in spite of the ex-Anbu captains warnings, Sasuke felt his ego swell at the thought of managing to bring down an elite shinobi by himself. In his mind, the Uchiha heir considered it a tribute to his blood's power, and was in the belief that he had gotten that much closer to killing his brother.
The dark appetite that sprouted at the sight of the man's death and all the blood was pushed back into the darker corners of his mind though, although when the invasion was over and Sasuke was asleep, the fledgling Uchiha's dreams were filled with whispers of desire for more blood...and the power to make it so.
xXx
Kiba grinned maliciously as he barreled through another enemy. The Sand ninja didn't have a chance to fully dodge his Gatsuga and was left with a bloody gash over his rib cage.
The Inuzuka heir hadn't bothered going to the exam finals, mostly because he couldn't stomach seeing Sasuke, but there was also the fact that his mother had set him up with an appointment that same day...to see a counselor.
Tsume Inuzuka, Matriarch to the clan, had begun to greatly worry for her youngest child's mental health. It was never easy for a member of their clan to lose ninken, as the dog was like their brother/sister, but Kiba's mother was starting to fear that her son was suffering from a disorder known as Soul Tearing. A syndrome found mostly among members of the Inuzuka clan do to their unusually close bonds.
With Akamaru's death, Tsume had of course been driven into fury, but eventually managed over the month to settle it into a livable hatred for Sasuke Uchiha. The same however could not be said for Kiba.
The young genin had begun to show up to the family meals with bags under his eyes, prompted from lack of sleep. This, Tsume later found out from her daughter, was due to nightmares Kiba had that were keeping him awake. Along with this came a shaggy, unkempt appearance. Kiba's hair had grown shaggy and now reached between his shoulders while his nails had lengthened and hardened into claws similar to his transformed state; his teeth had also taken on a similar look.
But in the end it was his eyes that forced Tsume to act. Because when she looked into her son's eyes, all Tsume Inuzuka could see was en emptiness that didn't belong on the face of one so young. Kiba's eyes held no joy, or sense of real happiness. Instead the only time his mother or sister saw anything was during training; and then, it was a feral sort of lust for battle.
It was the day after seeing this that Tsume called for the appointment.
And now, on the day he was meant to begin his road to mental reconstruction, Kiba instead found himself splattered in blood as he clawed his way through numerous invading shinobi.
From atop a nearby roof top both Tsume and her daughter Hana looked on at their youngest family member with worry in there eyes. The two of them watched morbidly as Kiba slashed another man's face before shooting out his leg and smashing a kick into another ninja's sternum.
"We're gonna have to do something quick mom before..."
"Before his markings split, and there's no turning back."
xXx
It wasn't just Leaf ninja whose minds were occupied in thought during the invasion though. Temari found herself in pain as she thought back to the look Naruto had given her before she and her brothers had escaped with Baki.
He looked so...betrayed.
And while she tried to tell herself that she didn't care, that her interest in the other blonde was purely physical, Temari soon found that she couldn't lie to herself. Naruto was someone she had wanted to get to know; and the pig-tailed kunoichi couldn't convince herself she was as heartless as she tried to be.
So that pain and realization was only compounded when her teams movement was halted by the appearance of a pack of wolves circling around them.
Followed swiftly by not only Naruto, but Anko and one of the blonde's warrior wolves as well.
Eyeing the trio of Leaf ninja, Suna's team decided to take their chances with the wolves and Temari made to sweep them away with her fan. This plan failed however when those same wolves seemed to anticipate this and rushed her instead.
Many of them did indeed get pushed aside, but one managed to get lucky and chomped down on Temari's left forearm.
The Suna beauty cried out in pain before Baki pummeled the animal's nose, and finally tossed it aside. With Temari clutching her bleeding wound, the foursome turned to face their opponent's, seeing as running was no longer an option.
"Looks like this is as far as we're gonna get Gaara; you're gonna have to do it here."
Baki's whispers drew incredulous looks from the aforementioned red-head's elder siblings. Kankuro in particular looked frightened.
"W-What, are you crazy!? What if he hurts one of us?"
"We can't worry about that right now; Gaara is the key to winning, he has to do this now, or else everything we've planned for will fall apart!" Baki's low tone escalated at the end and drew the Leaf ninja's attention to the dangers of Gaara.
Anko flicked a pair of kunai from the holsters in her sleeves and readied herself for battle. "Whatever you guys are planning ends here; you're going to pay for turning on us!"
Without anymore words the Special-Jounin showed off impressive speed as she launched herself at Baki. None of the Sand genin could keep up, and so were unable to help defend their sensei when Anko trucked him with a shoulder press.
Once the burly man was knocked from his perch in the trees, Anko quickly followed after him, leaving just the genin to handle each other.
Kankuro didn't like it, but the painted teen turned to his younger brother and gave the order to 'begin the transformation'. This confused both Naruto and his summon, but neither one wished to find out what would happen if they let it him finish, so they moved to engage their enemy.
Both of Gaara's siblings stepped up to block their way, and the red-head himself flew high into the trees to find solitude for his change. Naruto tried to send his wolves up to follow, but they were again knocked away by Temari's wind.
"You'll have to get through me first," she declared boldly.
The upright wolf made to engage her, but a hand on his wide shoulder stopped him. Turning his amber eyes, the furry warrior looked on to see his summoner shaking his head.
"No, let me handle her. Temari fights in a style that a close-quarter specialist like you wouldn't do well against; take her brother instead. If I remember right he deals with puppets, so you should probably use the pack as reinforcements Lobo."
The large white wolf with green runes tattooed along his fur nodded in understanding before setting his sights on Kankuro. He waved his muscular arm, and once his fellow wolves were ready, Lobo jumped at the Suna teen with his claws raised high.
With Kankuro jumping away, to get distance for unleashing his puppet-jutsu, Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the last remaining Suna shinobi; Temari.
"Before we do this, Naruto-kun please, let me explain-"
The words were shut back into her mouth when Temari was hit by what felt like an invisible smash attack. But she knew better; it was Naruto's seal-less jutsu, the one she'd seen him use against that girl Ten-Ten.
Realigning herself in the air, Temari's frost-green eyes popped when the jutsu was followed by a hard knee to the stomach, before the black blur grabbed her head and smashed it with the same joint.
Her head snapped back from the force, and the Suna kunoichi soon found herself flipping back through the air. This was brought to an abrupt halt when Naruto suddenly appeared above her and slammed his elbow through her gut.
The force of the blow as it hit home sent the fan-wielding girl rocketing towards the forest floor.
Desperately scrambling for her fan, Temari wretched it from its place on her back, where she'd replaced it after being bitten, and whipped it against the open space between her and the earth. The kunoichi's wind jutsu activated, and allowed her to descend in a float aboard her weapon.
From her place on the ground, Temari hunched over in pain as she held her bruised mid-section and used her now closed fan to keep herself standing.
'I knew he'd be mad, but I hoped to at least talk to him,' the battered sandy-blonde thought morosely.
Was it too much to ask that he hear her out?
Shooting her eyes around in hopes of finding her fellow blonde, Temari wondered for a moment why the boy wasn't using his mist. Until she remembered that doing so could harm his own comrades chance at victory.
Such a level of thoughtfulness was unheard of among most shinobi, and only raised the kunoichi's respect for Naruto.
"Now that I've let out most of my anger," the voice Temari had wanted to hear echoed through the trees. "How about you get on with that explanation of yours; you have five minutes."
Shocked that she was given this chance the eager fan-wielder quickly filled the void of silence with her pleas.
"I'm sorry this happened Naruto, really, it was never personal. When my sensei informed my brothers and I about the invasion we were already in the midst of the exams, it was long before I met you in the stands. And yes, I know it seems strange that I would agree to see you again with the invasion Suna planned on the horizon, but I couldn't help myself!"
By this time Temari's face was screwed into a mask of pain as she tried to express her regret for making Naruto think she was leading him on.
"There's no one like you back in my village, okay!? The men in my village are either too afraid to hold a conversation with me, or aren't really interested in anything other than my connection with the Kazekage; none of them have ever seen me the way you do. None of them have made me feel as if, finally, I had someone I could just talk to!"
Now Temari was on her knees; the anguish she felt weighing her down like the world was on her shoulders. Tears welled in the normally strong-willed kunoichi's eyes as she pleaded for her fellow blonde to believe her. Because even if they couldn't be together romantically, Temari knew she couldn't lose the chance to have her first real friend.
The silence that filled the air once she was done had a lump rising in Temari's throat as her heart dropped into her stomach.
It seemed to stretch on for hours, a lifetime even, before Naruto's voice broke through it and the girl's numb psyche. "What did your Jounin friend mean by Gaara 'transforming'?"
It was a test. Naruto was seeing if she really meant what she'd said about not trying to use him. And while it pained her to do it, Temari had never agreed with her father's plan to invade Konoha. So swallowing her pain, the kunoichi rasped out her answer.
"G-Gaara is a...a jinchuuriki, and the plan is to have him transform into the Ichibi and help l-level your village."
From his place among the trees Naruto nearly toppled over in shock. There was someone else like him? What the hell was wrong with these people!?
Then Naruto's mind recalled the much bigger problem.
"You mean Gaara can actually bring out the Tailed-Beast inside of him!?"
Temari just nodded her head, before remembering that Naruto may not be able to see her, and then called out that her brother had to have at least finished twenty-five percent of the transformation by now.
Naruto cursed; that wasn't good. Because while he'd never faced off against a Biju before, the blonde was sure that twenty-five percent of infinite power was still more than any of the smaller villages could handle even with their full force. And he was just one genin!
But before he could start to doubt himself, Naruto recalled his dream. To become the next Hokage. Such a title could not be held by a frightful child, or one who coward in the face of danger. No, if he was going to take the mantle one day then there was no time for letting fear cloud his mind.
Calling out to his fellow blonde Naruto told her, "If I'm going to stop him then I'm going to need your help."
xXx
Anko felt the lust for blood that the curse-mark brought on, coursing through her veins like molten lava. The heat of battle and the prospect of bringing pain to her opponent fueled that fire, and left the woman breathing heavy in excitement.
Her opponent had kept up with her for well over ten minutes now, and for Anko that was more than enough for a round of applause.
"Ninja-art: Striking Shadow-snakes!"
The Special-Jounin's signature jutsu sprang from her coat sleeves and soared through the air in an effort to pin down the Suna Jounin that faced her.
But Baki was quick, and the husky man managed to leap away and avoid being tagged. And then, while he was in the air, Baki managed to throw out his own jutsu as a counter-attack. "Wind-style: Air Bullet!"
A well-sized pocket of pressurized air shot towards Anko like its namesake. The kunoichi proved herself just as fast and easily maneuvered outside of the blasts' range. Letting her feet touch down on an adjacent tree trunk, Anko pushed off strong, and leaped forward to try and get in close to her opponent.
Ducking under Baki's defensive swing of his katana, Anko was surprised to find she still felt a few of her hairs come loose. She was sure she'd cleared the attack...hadn't she?
Choosing not to dwell on it the woman in the trench-coat continued her strike, and landed a powerful jab on her foes stomach. From there Anko went for a roundhouse-kick, but had to turn it into an ax-kick with her other leg when Baki blocked with his forearm.
The male Jounin leaned back to avoid the follow up to Anko's first kick and then held his sword with both hands before trying to run the woman through with it.
Thinking fast Anko whipped her coat-tail around and let it take the attack. The chain-male woven into the clothe helped absorb the blow, and Baki's katana was stopped short of its true target. Using her opponent's surprise to her advantage then, Orochimaru's apprentice slipped her arm out from her billowing sleeve and sucker-punched the man in his jaw.
The strength of the blow forced the Suna Jounin to drop his katana, as his head was twisted from the force. But this momentary loss of focus was all it took for Anko to eject another kunai into her right hand and slash it across Baki's throat.
Blood gushed forth in an instantaneous expulsion, covering the purple-haired kunoichi's entire top-half in the splatters of crimson, before just as quickly dying down into a series of squirts. And as the powerful Sand ninja's body stumbled off the branch they were on, Anko allowed herself a few seconds to pay her respects to the man's skill before deciding that Naruto needed her help.
xXx
Inside his meditative trance Gaara could feel his body changing, transforming, as his mother covered him in her acknowledgment. She was showing him that she knew he existed.
And it felt good.
The red-head had shivered in grotesque delight as chakra flared from his person and soon wrapped him in a cocoon. That had been over ten minutes ago, and now his entire left side from waist up was entombed inside a body of sand; the the large cover of armor taking on a disturbing likeness to the Ichibi.
'Just a little longer.'
"Wind-style: Wind-scythe jutsu!"
Whoever the voice belonged to wasn't enough to fully break Gaara's concentration, feeling more like they were speaking from a hundred feet away, but the shattering of his meditation sphere, and the sharp burning pain erupting from his chest certainly did the trick.
"GAAH!"
Gaara's cries echoed throughout the entire forest, shocking Temari who had cast the jutsu with her fan, and unnerving Naruto as he'd never heard such an animalistic howl before. It bordered on demonic.
Both blondes watched as Subaku no Gaara was ejected from his perch and sent careening off the branch and down towards the earth below. The shock of feeling pain was written clear across the young jinchuuriki's twisted face, and the blood that seeped from his first wounds real coated the red-head's chest a crimson color that matched his own hair.
From her own place among the trees Temari couldn't believe what she was seeing. In all her life, the sandy-blonde had never seen her brother be touched by more than a hand on the shoulder, let alone get hurt. It had just seemed...impossible.
And yet, with her own two eyes, Gaara's older sister could see clear as day the oozing cuts that littered his misshapen torso. Harm she herself had caused.
It was surreal.
It gave her hope. Hope that, even her seemingly invincible brother could be defeated.
Then Temari's gaze switched, and watched as Naruto threw himself after Gaara. It had been the plan after all; she used her superior elemental affinity to break Gaara's defense, and Naruto would face him head on.
With her as support, of course.
Naruto's azure eyes narrowed in focus as he leaped from his own tree and torpedoed through the air to follow the falling Gaara. His large zanbato was drawn and angled so the first swing would hit with all the force of gravity. That plan was derailed though when the red-head below him seemed to snap back into focus, and proceeded to twist sharply before launching an air-bullet his way.
"Shit," the blonde cursed. From the range there was no time to avoid it and Naruto was hit full-force by the blunt pocket of air. The jutsu slammed square against his chest, knocking the air from his own lungs and cracking a few of his ribs, before sending him spinning back and into one of the many huge trees surrounding the pair.
His back slamming against the thick trunk Naruto bounced before dropping like a weight atop the nearest branch. Landing in a heap, the blonde genin groaned from the pain radiating from his entire upper-body.
There were spots dancing in Naruto's vision and his head rung, but the young swordsman could still catch the fuzzy taunt that Anko was giving him, as she made her way onto the scene.
"Geeze kid, ten seconds in and he's got you on your hands and knees?" The Special-Jounin shook her head in mock disappointment as she tutted. "And after all that bragging I did to my friends about you too."
Spitting out a mouthful of blood Naruto managed a cocky grin as he looked up. "What, this? I just let him have a free shot Anko-sensei."
"Uh huh," the woman in question smiled back incredulously. "Well, now that I'm here, play time's over Naruto. It's time to get serious; you gonna be okay after that last hit?"
Hauling himself to his feet, the blonde grimaced at the feel of his own blood spattered against the bandages over his face before looking over at his female sensei. "It hurts, but I can already feel the fox's chakra coating the breaks with his chakra. The bruise on my back is gone, and while the bones aren't fully mended yet I should be able to bear the pain long enough to get this done."
"Glad to hear it," Anko said before looking over at Gaara. The red-head was standing, nursing his own wounds, on a branch a few yards away. Grinning, the woman flashed through a trio of hand-signs.
"Fire-style: Fireball jutsu!"
When the attack was expelled from her lungs Naruto reacted immediately. Disappearing in a burst of speed, the blonde seemed to materialize above the leaping Gaara and brought down his sword in a hard swing.
Azure eyes widened in surprise as they watched their fellow demon container block Kubikiribocho with his deformed forearm. That shock multiplied when Naruto watched his blade start to sink into the grainy mold. Thinking fast, the blonde pushed off his zanbato's handle and spun into a kick.
The move hit home on the crown of Gaara's head and sends the roaring red-head down towards Anko, who was waiting for her part in the duo's team attack, while Naruto flew a few feet and stuck himself to a nearby trunk with chakra.
Licking her lips, Anko rolled onto her back before shooting her coiled legs up to smash into Gaara's sternum. That Anko then dissolved into mud, and the original came rocketing through the air to truck the Suna genin with her shoulder. But the woman wasn't done there. Flinging out her arms, the Special-Jounin's signature jutsu flew from her sleeves and captured Gaara in a bind of snakes.
Swinging the jinchuuriki around, Anko angled her captive so that Naruto's knee could slam against Gaara's sand-covered face.
This was where Anko let her snakes go and the woman came up behind her opponent and jammed two kunai into the boy's exposed back. Despite his partial armor, the woman still managed to lodge one of the knives into his right shoulder-blade, and then she kicked off before using the sign for 'release'.
"BOOM!"
The exploding tags, which had been wrapped around the kunai handles, exploded in a bright flash of orange before a tattered Gaara sank from the cloud of ashen smoke left behind.
This time there was no surprise attack at the battered Suna ninja crashed against the earth below.
Three pairs of eyes watched everything seemingly come to a halt as Gaara lay, bleeding and burned, in the dirt. Anko and Naruto turned to look at one another, and when the woman gave an affirmative nod, her blonde student jumped from his position and dropped like a rock towards his downed opponent; zanbato poised for a killing blow.
It was the third pair of eyes though, belonging to Temari, that shot wide in realization before she whipped her fan around and screamed.
"NARUTO-KUN, NO! IT'S A TRAP!"
Using her wind, the sandy-blonde managed to catch a confused younger genin in a sweep. The move came just in time as a second sand arm burst from the pile of , now noticeably, growing armor surrounding Gaara.
The arm found nothing but air as its target was whisked away, but the truth of the action was clear. Gaara wasn't down, and he was ticked.
A guttural moan reached everyone's ears as Gaara managed to steady himself on both feet. The young Suna genin now had his entire upper-body covered in a veritable mountain of sand, dollops of grainy particles periodically plopping loose due to the damage it had taken a moment earlier. There was now also a large tail that sat above Gaara's butt.
With the exception of a patch of red hair, Gaara now heavily resembled the One-Tailed Ichibi. Even the boy's eyes held a sickly golden, four-point star inside a see of black. His bottom half though was still that of a human, giving him a disfigured hybrid-like look.
This worried the bloodthirsty jinchuuriki's enemies, but didn't stop them.
"Wind-style: Wind-scythe jutsu!"
Another series of wind blades sliced through the air aimed at Gaara, but this time the hybrid was prepared. Rearing his head back, the monstrous red-head sucked in, and let loose an earth-shattering roar.
Temari's jutsu collided with the vocal burst and, to everyone's surprise, crumbled under the weight of what someone might consider a simple noise. But that wasn't all; the roar, after dispersing the wind blades, continued to travel. It's target: Temari.
The pony-tailed blonde managed to jump away in time but, was unprepared for the heavy blow that struck her open back, as Gaara's tail shot up from the ground and whacked her in mid-air.
The roar had been a distraction.
Temari was sent flying in her younger brother's direction, but before Gaara could continue his assault, Anko appeared and tackled the sandy-blonde out of the air. This angered the leaping demon-container, but Gaara was given something else to worry about as Naruto appeared next attempting to cleave him down the middle.
Gaara's tail had long since retracted, and so was used to block the over-head strike.
This left the red-head's other misshapen paws free to plow directly into Naruto's chest.
Except instead of sending the blonde rocketing back, Gaara's strike set off one of Naruto's newest techniques; the exploding shadow-clone. Another boom filled the air as the clone's target was blasted full-force by another explosion.
The hanyou was again shot back, but this time he recovered, and Gaara rolled into a series of flips before landing heavily on his feet.
From his new place on a branch the read-head quickly found himself the target of Anko's jutsu. The woman sent a hail of baseball-sized fireballs his way but, instead of trying to avoid them, Gaara unleashed a jutsu of his own.
"Wind-style: Great-breakthrough! "
Gaara's outstretched claws unleashed a mighty blast of air, one that easily overpowered Anko's phoenix-fire jutsu, and carried so far that it shattered the tree she had been perched on.
With the Special-Jounin in the air now Gaara let a gross, slobbering smile work its way onto his face as he sucked in for his next jutsu. But the target was changed when motion straight ahead caught his eye.
Naruto was rushing him.
Dropping his head, Gaara let loose his attack: "Wind-style: Vacuum air-bullet!"
First, the red-head expelled a large shot of air in Naruto's oncoming direction, before following it up with another blast aimed for the still airborne Anko.
While gold eyes watched their female opponent twist away from the attack, they were soon drawn forward again as Naruto used his zanbato, once again, as a springboard that allowed him to haul himself over the devastating jutsu.
Gaara's tail shot out in an effort to skewer the blonde, but Naruto evaded it and slid down the sandy appendage so he could reach his red-headed target.
Pushing off from the deformed forearm beneath him, Naruto whipped into a roundhouse-kick that struck the side of Gaara's head. The force of the blow sent the red-head's brain spinning, and gave Naruto time to use his own wind jutsu to rocket the Sun genin backwards.
Being rocketed off his feet Gaara soared through the air before he was hit in the back by another attack; this time by Temari.
"Wind-style: Dance of the Dragon!"
A series of fierce cyclones ripped through the air in the form of a dragon's claw. The jutsu buried itself smartly into Gaara's back, and Temari watched as it tore away enough of the sand for a moment to reveal her brother's clothed black.
With his back arched in pain Gaara's chest was wide open to the next blow that Anko went to strike herself. The violet-haired woman was coming in to unleash another explosive note combo, but was knocked back by a blinding headbutt. Then, the Special-Jounin was tossed aside by a fierce tail-whip.
"Enough!" Gaara shouted in blind fury. He was tired of being made a fool of!
Finding a spot to land, the red-head decided to go after his traitor of a sister first. So Gaara turned his attention on Temari, and with a speed one would think him incapable of, sent his arm thundering towards the exhausted older girl.
With her body banged up from Naruto's beating Temari had needed to stay back out of harms way; the save from Anko having further aggravated her injuries. Now, coupled with the chakra depletion brought on by using so many C-ranked ninjutsu, as well as her one B-rank, Temari was in no position to evade her brother's murderous attack.
All the sandy-blonde could manage was to throw her closed fan in front of her and let it take the initial force of the blow.
The sound of broken metal echoed throughout the forest.
Temari's fan caved instantly under the weight of Gaara's giant claw, and the Suna kunoichi was only allowed a nanosecond of shock before her brother's attack smashed into her, and then rammed her against the bark of a tree.
When the arm broke off and then reformed, the blurry-eyed Temari's cracked head dimly realized that Gaara had trapped her inside a slow-acting sand-coffin. A modified version of the red-head's signature killing technique. Her body wracked with pain, and her head pounding from a concussion, the Kazekage's daughter still managed a notion of fear as she realized one thing...
Her brother was going to kill her.
Gaara's demonic eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty relish as he watched his own sister slowly, agonizingly, be compressed under the weight of his sand. All the while, in his head, mother was praising him with glee; loudly acknowledging his existence as she told him what a great job he was doing.
Although that all soon turned to fits of rage as a pack of wolves flushed out from the trees, and proceeded to pile on top of him.
Teeth and claws buried themselves inside the red-head's sand armor as a thick mist began to shroud over everything in sight. Soon, Gaara was reminded of his match with the blonde during the tournament, and he laughed.
"Come now, Naruto Uzumaki, do you truly believe this foolish parlor trick will work on me now, when it failed so terribly the first time!?"
His only response was a soundless Water-dragon jutsu to the chest.
The impact sent the red-headed jinchuuriki flying into another attack; this time, a weighted sword thrust. Naruto's Kubikiribocho rammed into Gaara's armor and, with the aid of the other clone's last jutsu, managed to ride all the way through to the flesh underneath.
Unfortunately, all Naruto managed was a gash along his opponent's side.
And yet with the level of pain it seemed to cause Gaara, the blonde black-clad blonde decided that was still good enough. With his job done, the next clone dispersed in a cloud of smoke.
While Suna's most powerful shinobi stood hunched over in pain, somewhere in the back of his brain an alert went off. Being told by his mother to always trust this feeling, the red-head arched his tail up in a block that kept him from losing his head.
Mentally Naruto cursed as his triple strike was cut short, and his position was given away. Rolling through the air, the blonde moved to the side of Gaara and tried for a sweep of his sword aimed at the other boy's human legs. This failed when he was whacked away by the very same tail he'd just been blocked by.
'Damn it, that things too fast!'
Rolling to a crouch, Naruto sent chakra to his senses and stretched them. His ears picked up the sound of Gaara's hitched breathing, and the blonde worked through a series of hand-signs before sending out his next attack. 'Exploding water shock-wave.'
As the diamond-cutting jet of water shot from his mouth, Naruto was surprised to find that it was stopped short of its goal by a wall of some sort.
And then frightened when Gaara's tail wound around his back in an attempt to gut him from behind. Jumping into the air, Naruto spewed more blood into his bandages as a giant fist of sand rammed into his still fractured ribs.
Fear and shock turned to horror when the blonde was slammed against the branch he'd just been on and he began to lose consciousness.
It was as his mist was dissipating that Naruto thought he saw Ten-Ten rush in to protect him.
xXx
Azure eyes fluttered open again and Naruto soon found himself floating along inside the shallow waters of a sewer.
Sloshing into a seated position, the blonde whipped his head around left and right in an effort to take stock of his new situation. Where had the battle gone?
And, more importantly, where was he?
The pain that he'd suffered still shot through his body, but Naruto noticed that it was more of a phantom pain now. Like an echo that faintly reached his nerves. It was a strange sensation, but one the formally battered blonde was thankful for.
Once he got to his feet the Leaf ninja ambled a few steps forward before a feeling in his gut urged him in the opposite direction.
Naruto felt his stomach twist into a knot as he turned his head to look behind him.
He was standing in a long pipeline, almost like a hallway, and the way he had intended to go was shrouded in dark shadows. But when the blonde moved to look behind him, his weary blue eyes widened to the size of billiards as they took in the image of a giant cage.
One that, where the keyhole should be, had a paper with the word 'seal' resting instead.
And that's when Naruto felt it. Power. Raw, destructive, malevolent power the likes of which Konoha's strongest genin had never known. It was heart-stopping.
And it all seemed to belong to the two large eyes that stared down at him.
Eyes, he just knew, belonged to the one-and-only Kyubi.
A set of fangs large enough to bite the heads off the Hokage Mountain gleamed for a moment before a thundering, demonic voice filled the young human's ears.
"Hello, Naruto Uzumaki, I've been very excited to meet you."
The blonde in question could only stand there for a moment as his wide, unblinking eyes took in the full size of Konoha's most illustrious terror. The Nine-Tails was as big as a mountain, standing for sure at eye-level with his village's famous monument. Its entire body was covered in a ruddy, crimson fur with paws large enough to crush a house. And then there were the tails; all nine of the legendary Kyubi's fierce statements of power lashed languidly behind the demon's back.
There was only one thing Naruto could think to say when faced with such a fabled definition of power.
"Whoa."
Kyubi looked down his nose at the blonde that stood on the other side of his cage. In the time since his awakening inside the seal the great and terrible Nine-Tails had watched every day of Naruto Uzumaki's life. While at first the demon cursed the gods above for landing him with such a pathetic container, Kyubi gradually came to accept the boy as someone he may wind up tolerating.
Or at least, that's how he felt until just a moment ago.
Peering down his snout at the tiny human Kyubi growled, "Do you know exactly why it is you've been brought before me, human?"
Naruto had no idea, and shook his head accordingly. The last thing he remembered was battling Gaara before being knocked unconscious. How was he supposed to know it would land him in front of a Biju?
"You are here because that insect of a Sand genin managed to overpower you; something I find most unacceptable. For one who thinks to call himself a demon, you seem incapable of handling even the weakest of my kin...it is most disgraceful."
"Hey!" Naruto rebuked in anger. "What the hell's that supposed to mean!? I was doing just fine up until he got the jump on me; and it's not like he was a sitting duck ya know. Gaara was using his Tailed-Beast."
Kyubi just looked upon Naruto as if the boy were a special child. "Then why didn't you?"
Naruto looked up, dumbfounded for a moment, before he seethed. "Because the last time you got loose, I completely blacked out. I can't remember anything about what I did to Haku after I lost control!"
The response the Nine-Tails gave was not what Naruto expected to hear.
"Exactly; you lost control. Instead of harnessing the power you let it consume you, let MY rage and fury overtake your sense of reason. I am power incarnate boy, and as such, you cannot truly expect a puny human such as yourself to be able to just unleash my chakra so carelessly and control it do you?"
"So then how do I use your power? Because right now I think I could really use it; especially if Gaara gets any stronger."
The mountain of a fox gave the blonde genin a devious smirk before answering.
"Simple, you open yourself up to me. This seal can be loosened by you, and allow you access to a steady outflow of my chakra. However, you must not undo too much too soon or else you'll risk releasing me...something that, should it ever happen, will immediately cause your demise."
"Why are you telling me that?" Naruto asked skeptically. "I figured you'd want nothing more than to be free from me."
Kyubi chuckled before telling the blonde that, while in the beginning that was true, now Naruto had become so interesting to him the fox wanted to see how far the genin could progress before making a final decision.
On his end Naruto still worried about the consequences of what he was about to do, but felt that if such power helped him protect Konoha, then he couldn't really be faulted for it...right?
The Nine-Tails watched gleefully as, after instructing him how, Naruto stepped up to the cage and reached his hand out. The sealed lock descended the length of the bars to meet him, and with tentative fingers the blonde pressed and then twisted.
There was a whirling sound, and then a burst of light, as a heavy force of power blew Naruto away from the cage and out of his own mind.
xXx
Ten-Ten was beyond exhausted. She had been tended to by the medics inside the infirmary after her match with Naruto, but her physical condition was still less than half.
Her broken bones were either wrapped, or treated enough to allow minimum movement while many of her lacerations and bruises had been taken care of immediately. However, her concussion was still present, and after jumping around in an effort to avoid Gaara's attacks it and her bones were beginning to scream for a break.
But the bun-haired girl refused. She couldn't stop now, not when Naruto needed her help.
When the invasion had struck Ten-Ten recalled how she'd shoved a nurse out of her way before jamming a prepared needle into a disguised shinobi's eye. From there it was all a blur before meeting up with one of Naruto's clones.
It had informed her of what had been ordered by the higher-ranking ninja before telling her that the original was headed off to find Gaara.
Ten-Ten's eyes had settled into a determined glare before she rushed out to catch up with the blonde.
And now, after arriving on the scene as Naruto was being taken out of the game, Konoha's resident weapon expert had taken it upon herself to defend the unconscious blonde until he could fight again.
Although that was proving to be easier said than done.
She'd thrown everything she had at Gaara, going so far as to even unveil her new skills in ninjutsu by firing a small series of earth spikes from the ground with the Earth-missile jutsu, as well as attempting to lance her opponent with the Gatotsu.
Ten-Ten cringed as she recalled the way her katana had snapped clean in half with that move.
Unfortunately, with her banged up body and insufficient repertoire of varying skills, the bun-haired brunette feared she wouldn't last much longer.
It was as she silently pleaded for help that Ten-Ten felt a pulse of malicious chakra wash over her.
And, from the looks of it, Gaara had felt it too because the red-head's demonic eyes had taken on a wide, frightened quality. Chancing that he was too stunned to attack, Ten-Ten turned her head in an effort to find the source...and felt her eyebrows leap into her hairline at what she saw.
Naruto, who had been unconscious moments before, now stood hunched with Kubikiribocho resting almost lazily over his shoulders. His battle-torn trench-coat had been discarded, and the blonde's bare chest was left to rise and fall in steady rhythm. The bandages around his face slowly burned away as flaming orange arcs of chakra whipped wildly around his stooped frame. Once the wrappings were gone, Naruto's new fangs were easily visible, as were his feral-looking whiskers. Shaggy, blonde hair shadowed crimson orbs as vulpine-like pupils peered up to stare directly at Gaara.
Moving, Naruto stood at his full height and whipped the zanbato from his shoulders so that it pointed straight at the red-head a number of yards away.
Ten-Ten's chocolate-brown eyes watched, enraptured in fascination, as the chaotic red chakra seemed to settle and outline Naruto like a full-body halo. Stretching so far that it even settled over his sword. She looked on at the tense muscles that held up the heavy blade, and could hardly believe someone who was barely thirteen managed to level such a large weapon single-handedly.
Where had this power come from?
Both pairs of eyes watched as Naruto opened his mouth, and then listened as his gruff voice proclaimed his intent to finish Gaara.
"This is the end of the line for you, Subaku no Gaara. You've come to my village with the intent to destroy it, and as the future Hokage I cannot allow that. I promise you, here and now, that I'll do everything in my power to stop you...even if it kills me."
Quick as lightning Naruto coiled his body, and then launched himself at the still-stunned jinchuuriki of the Ichibi.
Or at least, that's what someone would have seen had they been able to keep up with the blonde's movements. Instead, all either Gaara or Ten-Ten could see was Naruto seemingly blinking out of sight before reappearing behind the hanyou.
But while he hadn't seen his enemy move, Gaara definitely felt the power of his attack as Naruto slammed him with a snap-kick.
From there the blonde seemed to phase into the rocketing red-head's flying form before smashing his fist into the Suna genin's stomach. It was here that Ten-Ten caught a glimpse something; Gaara's armor was flaking off.
With just two attacks, Naruto was breaking down the monstrous Sand ninja's greatest weapon.
Naruto wasn't finished yet though, and followed up by swinging his large sword up and clipping Gaara in the chin. The two-handed hold gave the blow twice as much power and sent the sand-covered demon-container soaring into the sky.
With a branch-breaking leap Naruto followed; vanishing just like the first time. But his form could briefly be seen as he twisted in the air and pounded his fist into the back of Gaara's head. But he still wasn't done. Seeming to teleport again, the ferocious blonde reappeared underneath his opponent's falling form and struck a vicious knee into the other boy's gut.
Blood and spittle flew from Gaara's moth in globs as he felt that last impact blow away large chunks of his mothers protection.
The red-head felt his power waning, and he managed a growl before swiping a paw at the blonde that stayed airborne with him. His first strike was blocked, unbelievably, by the Leaf genin's bare forearm before his second was stopped by a raised knee.
And then Gaara howled in pain as his left arm was hacked off, as if the large zanbato was cutting through hot butter.
His mother's sand quickly closed around the goring wound before forming itself into a deadly looking spear. The weapon of sand was thrust forward, in an attempt to pierce Naruto's heart, but it was stopped when the blonde used his swords executioner's hole to catch the attack before a jerk of the arm snapped it in two. Then Naruto whipped around, and sent Gaara flying once again with a roundhouse-kick.
When Gaara felt himself colliding with the trunk of a tree, the red-head also noticed that the impact shattered the last of his transformation. Crumpling to the branch below, the once feared Suna ninja gripped his stump of an arm with pure anguish on his face.
Never before had Gaara of the Sand known such a horrible feeling.
It burned. It pulsed. It...hurt.
And eventually, it became too much, and Gaara felt himself flutter into unconsciousness.
It had taken five years, but Subaku no Gaara had finally been defeated.
xXx
Stormy gray eyes, once filled with life and fire now looked on lifelessly as their owner lay dead atop a battered roof.
All around him, the now dead Hiruzen Sarutobi's loyal Anbu looked down on their former leader with hidden sadness; each of them thankful for their masks, as it hid the tears they now cried.
The Sandaime had fought a long, hard battle against his former student, the rogue genius and Sannin Orochimaru. And while the legendary 'Professor' held the raw power and experience, the aged Hokage was no longer in his prime. In the end, it was youth that won the day.
But not without cost.
Before his demise, the Third Hokage managed to strip Orochimaru of his most prized possessions. His jutsu. They, along with the use of his arms, were sealed inside the belly of the Death God.
With his main objective, the destruction of the Leaf, now beyond his grasp Orochimaru retreated.
And now, as a heavy rain began to settle over the war-torn village, the Anbu had to come up with a way to inform all Konoha's citizens that their beloved Sandaime was dead.
xXx
A/N: This one came out longer than I think any other chapter of the story, but I think it also was worth the time. I feel I did pretty good job dealing with the Sand/Sound invasion.
If anyone has any doubts about Sasuke's feat during the crash, take another look at Team 7's battle with Zabuza or even Naruto's battle with Pain; arrogance and underestimation almost always lead to downfall.
Not really anything I wanna say except that the exam arc is FINALLY OVER! Now, it's the Tsunade retrieval. That one will be no more than two chapters, I guarantee that. But I also hope you are looking forward to the introduction of Itachi, as well as Kisame's meeting Naruto.
Jiraiya will also be getting introduced next chapter, and he will actually be teaching Naruto the rasengan.
There will be reveals next chapter that detail what happened to certain character, like Kankuro, so for anyone who was wondering there's your answer.
Alright, I think that's it, so lets get all those reviews and PM's so I can hear how I did. Oh, and I wanna thank everyone who had pushed my fav/follow numbers over 2,000. It really means a lot, and I hope to reach 3,000 soon.