"Blah": Talking

'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Extreme voice

'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto

Hello and welcome back! My final exams are done and to celebrate, I decided to post this new chapter!

But before we start, I have a bit of a bonus for you guys that I want to share with the release of this particular chapter: I have illustrated one of the scenes in this chapter and added it to my official deviantart account, which is "uzumakidoctor123" I also left a link to the illustration on my homepage here on so feel free to check it out and comment on it. I also made two other illustrations from this fanfic series, so feel free to comment on those as well, and I might post more illustrations in the future. I don't use deviantart that often, but I decided to post the first 5 or 6 original chapters of Dark Path of Shinobi once I finish the fourth book in the series. I figured it would be nice to have an actual compare-and-contrast for you guys to judge Dark Path as soon as I start rewriting it.

In other news, I checked what I had written in the introduction to this chapter and… it was unbelievably long and drawn out to the point where I wouldn't be shocked if some readers simply gave up reading the story.

Basically, my friend Azeroth44 goes nuts with Deathwing the dragon from World of Warcraft, terrorizing me, Naruto, and Iruka, until Leaf Ranger made another cameo, transforming in a holy dragon made of light and an all-out brawl going on for several paragraphs. While it was awesome at the time (and still is because of the dragons and Leaf Ranger's epic appearance) it was still kind of a waste of time and made the chapter longer than it was to begin with. I didn't really feel like re-creating it this time around, but now that I have a deviantart account, I might whip up something of a remake of that epic fight in the future.

But for now, please enjoy this chapter and be sure to leave me a review to let me know what you liked, reviews are always helpful to me and a great motivation :D Also, check out the illustration for this chapter on my dA account if you'd like to and I think you might like what you see… especially if you really hate Kakashi in this story right now

Reviews are welcome and wanted!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto

Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling

Chapter 25: The Will of Fire

The Shukaku raised its massive arm and hovered it over the trees where Naruto, Sasuke, and the others remained hidden. The Shukaku smirked as sand rained down from the ends of its claws and covered the forest. The sand soon surrounded Naruto and solidified around him. Before Naruto had a chance to react or Disapparate, the sand cocooned him, save for his head, feet, and arms. He tried to run, twist out of the sand, but he was stuck. The sand was like cement as it swathed around his torso and weighed him down as he let out a terrified scream.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Sasuke turned his head at his teammate and shouted, "Naruto!"

The Uchiha was about to run over to him, but then he froze, flinched, and then collapsed as he clenched at the curse mark. Pain coursed through him like the flow of his blood and forced him to double over. In the mindscape, Harry panicked and tried to focus his magic around Naruto to loosen the sand. It didn't seem to work as the blonde wizard tried to swim out of the sand, but there was too much, and it weighed too much. The sand soon started to swath around Naruto's face, about to smother him before it crushed him to death. But before he was surrounded with the darkness, he caught a glimpse of both his teammates; Sasuke collapsed over a branch, weak and in pain, while Sakura was still pinned to the tree and the claw of Gaara's removed appendage continued to tighten around her.

"Sasuke… Sakura-chan…" he muttered.

Outside the sand, the Uchiha heir tried to stand but was drained of his chakra and too weak as he watched his teammate vanish beneath the sand.

He muttered in anguish, "Kakashi is gonna kill me for this…"

But in the sand, Naruto calmed down as he took a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. He then weaved a set of handsigns, slowly as his arms were weighed with the sand. Gaara, in his Shukaku form, turned his clawed hand and let out a low, monstrous growl.

"This is the end for you…" he said and then he roared as he clenched his hand, "SAND BURI-"

Naruto's voice cried out, "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

The cocoon around Naruto was blasted out as massive cloud of white smoke filled the forest. There was a loud boom as a hundred trees were crushed in an instant, and there stood a toad, far bigger than any of the toads Naruto had ever summoned. Those shinobi far out in the distance could see the toad from afar and recognized it as the same one Minato Namikaze summoned when he battle the demon fox to the death. Naruto now stood on the crown of the same toad's head; unable to believe he summoned the very creature seated beneath him. The toad's skin was like a dull red, like rust, though it had brighter red markings along its eyes, maw, and chest. It had a scar that ran down its left eye to its lips. The creature wore a blue happi vest, and carried a massive dosu blade while it bit down on an enormous kiseru tobacco pipe.

Sasuke, Pakkun, Gamakichi, and Temari stared in awe at the animal Naruto had summoned. The sheer mass of the toad took the words out of their mouths but it was Pakkun who was the first to break the silence.

"That's… unbelievable," he said, "that Naruto can summon a creature of that size after everything he's done so far? This kid is miracle…"

Naruto crouched low on the crown of the toad's head. He raised his arms out to maintain his balance over the creature before he used his chakra to stick to the moist surface of its skin. The blonde shinobi thought about Sakura and the others below, but he was more focused on Sakura as she was still trapped in the sand.

'Sakura-chan… I made a promise that I would protect you back at the arena… and I will not back down now… THAT'S A PROMISE! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN!'

The Shukaku waved its tail side-to-side as it stared at the massive toad that appeared. The massive demonic beast identified Naruto, torn, bloodied, and burnt as he was but still looked as determined and hardened as ever. The massive tanuki smirked and made loads of sand fall down to the trees

"Naruto Uzumaki…" the voice of Gaara chuckled from within the enormous Shukaku, as it sounded like their voices were combined as one, "You really are good at amusing me…"

Sasuke stared at the toad seated above him. He was certain his teammate was about to die no more than a few seconds ago. The Uchiha had never seen a creature of such massive size, let alone believe his blonde-haired eccentric teammate would have summoned such an animal. Sasuke didn't have the chakra reserves or the skill to summon animals of such massive size, so he couldn't help but wonder.

'How in the hell can you do that, Naruto?' he thought, 'How did he learn such a technique, and who taught it to him?!'

The massive toad moved its head from side-to-side, to find the human that summoned him.

"JIRAIYA! WHY THE HELL DID YOU SUMMON ME?! I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD OIL BATH!" the toad bellowed.

Naruto almost lost his balance when the amphibian darted its head about. The wizard fell over and slid down the face of the creature, unable to slow his descent as the creature's skin was covered in oil. At the base of its snout, Naruto was able to slow down in sight of the creature he summoned.

'This toad sounds like it's from the Yakuza! I think that's a Hiroshima dialect!'

'That's reassuring…'

Naruto tried to stand before the beast, slid once or twice, and almost fell over a second time until he faced the gigantic toad.

"Jiraiya didn't summon you," he shouted, "It was me!"

The toad stared at Naruto with a blank face, vacant of readable emotion, "What?"

"I'm the one that summoned you! It wasn't Jiraiya! I need your help or my friends will die!" the blonde wizard tried to convince him.

But then the toad burst with laughter and mocked the rookie shinobi, "BWAHAHAHAHA! You really shouldn't lie to me, brat! There is no way a small shrimp, such as yourself, would be able to summon me! It's not possible! But it makes for a good joke! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who are you anyway?!"

Naruto would have lost his temper when the toad seemed to mock him for his height. He was about to unleashed one hell of a rant, but then Gamakichi hopped out of nowhere and leaped on top of Naruto's head. The tinier toad waved its hands at the giant toad and smiled as Gamakichi's voice turned a lot more innocent and cute.

"DADDY," he cried, "You're here!"

Both wizards stared at the toads with identical expressions of comedic shock and looked between the two creatures.

"HUH?! Y-Y-Your dad?!" stammered the blonde rookie.

Gamakichi nodded in confirmation, "Yeah! This is Gamabunta! He's the chief toad! And I'm his son!"

Gamabunta recognized his son at once and asked in a stern voice, "And just what do you think you're doing here, Gamakichi?"

The tinier toad rubbed the back of his head and answered, before he looked at the Shukaku, "I didn't have anything else better to do! I was bored! But never mind that! That big, fat, ugly lug over there was picking on me earlier! He was real mean! He almost killed me!"

Naruto felt Gamabunta lower his head and almost tripped again. The chief toad stared down at the demon as his stomach rumbled, which made it all the more clear that he was livid.

"Say that again, son…" he billowed.

Gamakichi smiled, "Yeah! He almost killed me! But this kid saved me from him! He went head to head with that beast and tried to make sure I was safe! This kid was almost killed too! You should have seen him! Some real hero action from this kid! There's more to him than meets the eye!"

The chief toad raised his head a bit and said, "Is that right?"

The Shukaku roared at the massive toad and Gamabunta reached for his sword.

"I suppose I was wrong to underestimate this human child… I never would have believed it if Gamakichi weren't such an honest son… Thank you for saving my son's life… What's your name, brat?"

Naruto retreated back to where he stood on the crown of Gamabunta's head, focused his chakra to stick to the skin of the massive toad and then he answered, "I am Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki!"

Gamabunta took a second to take in his name and nodded, "Ok, Naruto Uzumaki… You and I shall fight together… Sit tight!"

Gamabunta drew his sword and held it like a gangster. The chief toad licked his wide, enormous lips with its wart-decorated tongue. Gamabunta stared down at the Shukaku with malice as he rumbled in his throat.

"THIS LITTLE HOODLUM IS GOING DOWN! IT'S PAYBACK TIME!"

The toad took a great big step back and then hopped forward. Naruto was almost blown off his feet and started to roll backwards. He clenched the collar of Gamabunta's gigantic clothes and held on for dear life. Gamakichi almost flew off too, but Naruto embraced him and held him close to his chest.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" roared Gamabunta.

Gamabunta crushed countless trees beneath him as he dashed after the tanuki and let out a roar, eager to draw blood. He took his sword in hand and drove it deep into the right shoulder of the demon. Gamabunta tried to force his blade through the flesh, but its skin was so thick, it took at least ten intense seconds. He then sliced off the Shukaku's arm with one swift movement and let out another intense roar. With all the strength he used in the attack, Gamabunta flew six hundred feet into the air and shouted at the demon.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, PUNK?"

Naruto almost blacked out from the sudden, fast, intense speeds, as Gamabunta was soon airborne. While still in the air, Naruto looked down to see the arm of the demon in the air before it fell down with a loud boom and an earthquake. After it hit the earth, Naruto watched as the skin, flesh, muscle, and bone of the beast turned back into useless sand.

The sword Gamabunta used had been disarmed from him and flew thousands of feet into the heavens before it slammed back down, into the earth, blade first. The sheer size of the blade created a wind, like a hurricane as it lifted dirt and rocks. Temari, Pakkun, and Sasuke were almost thrown out of the trees when the wind hit them and Sasuke's head was almost sliced clean off when a slate of rock flew an inch above his head and took down a branch instead. Naruto noticed the winds reach the location of his friends and he almost had a heart attack.

Gamabunta grunted as he stared back at the Shukaku. He had barely managed to make that cut and felt worried that he might end up destroying the entire forest if he let the fight drag on for too long.

Naruto screamed down at the chief toad, "GAMABUNTA! BE CAREFUL! Sakura-chan and the others are over in that direction! Lure the battle from them!"

"Who is Sakura-chan?" he asked, "Isn't that a carnivorous plant?"

Gamakichi looked down at his father and said, "I think it's the name of the kunoichi he has a crush on!"

"SHUT IT!" shouted Naruto, but then he said in a brave voice, "We have to defeat that monster, Gamabunta! If we don't, Sakura-chan and the others are dead! No matter what happens, Gamabunta, we have to stop him… If we don't, Gaara won't end it here. His next target will be the village as soon as he finishes us off… We can't let that happen no matter what!"

Gamabunta tried to look at the little blonde human that summoned him and remained silent as he realized whom he was related to based on his hair color and the tone in his voice. The old toad hadn't met a human that summoned him show such devotion to his home since the late Minato Namikaze.

But then the Shukaku spoke to Naruto with Gaara's voice, "You're fun… YOU'RE SO MUCH FUN! NOT BAD, NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Back in the forest, Temari stammered at her brother's voice and shivered, 'This is bad! This is real bad!'

She stood as hard as she could and tried to retreat. She decided it would be safer for her to search for Kankuro and flee before Gaara crushed them.

'He's about to do it! He's about to fall asleep!'

Naruto heard the sound of the sand as it shifted in the distance. He tried to focus on the face of the Shukaku, but his vision was so blurred, he couldn't make it out. He heard the sand continue to shift while the rest of the Shukaku seemed to shut down, as if it were a machine.

'I can't see!'

'Remind me to force you to get your eyes checked when this is done and we can finally get you a pair of glasses.'

'I AM NOT GOING TO WEAR GLASSES!'

Harry did his best to correct Naruto's vision for the duration of the battle and allowed him to see Gaara emerge from the forehead of the Shukaku. Much to their shock, Gaara's mutations had vanished. He was lean; his skin wasn't bloated or covered with veins. Gaara seemed to have returned to his human form but still looked as dangerous as he did then. The jinchuuriki stared down at Naruto from afar while he took slow, audible breaths.

Gamabunta studied Gaara while his son hopped onto Naruto's head and covered his face his webbed hands, "So that's the demon's medium, huh?"

Gaara did not move his head as he stared at Naruto. Somehow the wind carried his voice to Naruto and Gamabunta while Gamakichi continued to shiver and cower. Naruto and Gamabunta could hear Gaara as if he stood a few feet in front of them.

The red-haired rookie said, "I would like to thank you for entertaining me… But now the time has come for me to show the true might-"

Gaara raised his head and revealed his face to Naruto. The blonde-haired shinobi shivered and felt his blood drain down to his feet when he saw Gaara's colorless eyes.

"-OF THE INCARNATION OF SAND!"

Gamabunta said, "This isn't good… I think I know what move he's use next…"

Naruto looked down and asked, "What is it?!"

"It's obvious he's a jinchuuriki, cursed with the burden as the host for the Shukaku. The black lines around his eyes show that he must have suffered from insomnia his entire life," he said as Naruto recalled the information Temari told him earlier, "The human host of the Shukaku must remain awake due to the demon's violent and savage nature… If the host sleeps, their mind and their soul is eaten away… bit by bit, until there is nothing left but a hollow shell of a human brat… The lack of sleep the medium suffers tends to leave their mind and soul damaged and unstable… But so long as the host remains awake, then Shukaku's true powers are suppressed."

Naruto swallowed and said, "But if Gaara were to-"

"Sleep Possum no Jutsu!" both the toads and the wizards heard.

Naruto's face turned with comical shock as he looked back at Gaara and saw him weave a handsign before he lowered his arms, sank forward, and fell asleep.

"Oh bullocks…"

'You would happen to know a good exorcist, would you?'

'Shut the front door, Nii-san…'

Back in Konoha, the invasion forces of Otogakure and Suna were seen in the streets and hunted for civilians and shinobi alike. Teams ran down the streets in search of victims to claim, women, and treasures to collect from houses and stores. But to the surprise of most of the teams, there wasn't a soul to be found. The homes were abandoned, the stores were vacant and shut down, the festival from earlier had cleared out and no one tended to the vendors.

"Where the hell are the civilians?!" shouted a soldier from Oto.

The streets were deserted and most of the stores still had lights on, but no one was home. Offices had been cleared with documents still out and about, but no secretaries, or even a useless custodian.

Around the corner of one particular establishment, a team of Suna and Oto shinobi were huddled to discuss the situation at hand.

"Something isn't right…" said one of the shinobi.

Another member of the team nodded, "Why are we meeting with so little resistance out here?"

It should also be mentioned that few Konoha shinobi had been seen aside from the forces that battled the snakes with Jiraiya of the Sannin. There were no soldiers to be seen in the streets or on the roofs.

"We're in the heart of Konoha," another member of the team mentioned, "We've been here for awhile now, so how come we haven't seen a single woman or child?"

Unbeknownst to the team below, a lone chunin from Konoha stalked them, like how a lion would stalk its dinner. The tan-skinned man withdrew what appeared to be a boomerang as he went through the guidelines that he memorized, as he became a shinobi. Iruka Umino smiled as he realized how idiotic the shinobi from Suna and Oto at witness to their ignorance.

He thought, 'If the village is under attack, then there are very specific guidelines that we have to follow…'

Iruka ran his hand along the handle of his new boomerang, surprised at how warm it felt to the touch.

'First step… Eliminate the enemy's advancing-forces… If that doesn't work, second step: Evacuate the civilians into the shelters…'

He looked over his shoulder, checked to make sure no one followed him, and then he clenched his boomerang. Iruka smirked as he used the reflection of the blade on his boomerang to see where the enemies stood below. He clicked his neck and took a brief stretch of his muscles before the chunin stood at the edge and cracked a wide, confident smile.

"And then the final step… Eliminate the enemy by any means necessary… Which means it sucks to be them!"

With that said, Iruka dove down towards the shinobi below before he let out a roar for battle.

"GERONIMO!"

The shinobi raised their heads too late as the darkened outline of Iruka Umino obscured their collected vision.

The commander let out a loud, "WHAT THE-"

Before Iruka drove the blade of his boomerang into his face and sliced the life clean out of him. Iruka kicked the lifeless commander in the chest and kicked the opposite Oto-nin in the neck with a smooth turn when he landed. The deceased commander collapsed onto another man from Suna while Iruka swerved and swirled out of the direction of fifteen shuriken. He drew out a kunai and locked blades with his aggressor, before he threw him back and used his boomerang to club him in the head when the two ran towards each other.

"Is that the best the force of two militant shinobi armies has to offer? C'mon! I've had Academy students fight better than that!"

Iruka soon turned around when he heard a noise behind him. When he looked, he was almost impaled when the Suna warrior fallen beneath the headless commander emerged and attacked with a sword. But the chunin reacted in a heartbeat, and in a flash, he hopped and stood on top of the blade the Suna-nin tried to kill him with.

The chunin smirked and said as he remembered a line from one of Naruto's comic books, "You invaded the wrong village, bub!"

Iruka then bounced off of the blade with one swift backflip and he threw his boomerang at the man from Suna. The weapon struck the man in the head with the force of a rubber bullet, killing him in an instant before Iruka even landed on his own two feet. Soon after he landed, two other shinobi from Oto heard the commotion and darted towards Iruka. The chunin smirked as he gripped his favorite choice weapon and deflected a small barrage of kunai thrown at him.

"Time to bust out MR. BOOMERANG," he shouted and tossed the weapon at top speeds, and with his mental link to the boomerang made it zoom down the alley and knocked the two soldier out with one swing, "WACK-A-POW!"

Iruka caught his weapon with one short jump and took a few victorious swishes in the air with a smile on his face. The tan-skinned chunin couldn't describe the thrill and exhilaration he felt while he fought. But as much as he would have liked to clean the floor with more bad guys, he soon pounced from wall to wall until he stood over the deserted market. He heard the sound of bombs all around him, but focused his attention to the direction of the arena. More black smoke continued to rise into the heavens before the chunin dashed towards it. He did notice his fellow comrades fight back and drive the enemies back, far from the direction of the shelters. But as relieved as he was to see his comrades' work as one to defend their home, there was one citizen he was more worried about as he ran faster, until his muscles burned.

"Naruto," he chewed out with determination, "You better still be alive!"

Back at the arena, Kakashi and Gai continued to fight back, their uniforms dirtied and smeared with the blood of their slaughtered enemies. The walls of the stadium had whole chunks cut out from them. Craters lined the inside of the arena with the boulders used from the matches blown into millions of smaller rocks. Bodies from all three armies lined the corridors and scattered, littered across the arena like trash. The trees of the battlefield were torn down, burnt, as the roofs of the boxes were cracked and scorched.

Most of the unconscious citizens in the stands were evacuated from the boxes and into the stadium corridors, but a lot of them had no such luck. Their bodies were left behind in their seats, shinobi and civilians alike. All the while, the shinobi and kunoichi of Konoha fought to the death to defend their village and protect their comrades all the same.

Kakashi tossed a wave of kunai with bombs attached to the handles and took out over a dozen men from Suna.

The masked shinobi could have smirked as he counted, "That's thirty-six."

Behind the rail where Naruto and his friends were once hidden, Gai bounced in the air and took out three shinobi from Suna and Oto in a series of intense kicks that threw each of them into the chairs and walls, with broken bones, necks, and lifeless bodies.

Gai landed on his feet and smiled, "YOSH! That's thirty-five for me!"

"It looks like I'm in the lead," chuckled Kakashi, but then a Suna warrior with a massive, bloodied machete attacked him, "WHOA!"

The man from Suna was also massive and muscular as he towered over Kakashi and thrust his sword down at him. Kakashi used his available kunai to block and hold back the man's blade. But the man was so much heavier and Kakashi couldn't muster the strength he needed to thrown him off. Sweat ran down his face, as he remained stuck where he was. Kakashi wouldn't be able to move in time for the blade to miss him

With no other alternative available, he shouted, "Gai! Give me a hand over here!"

Gai didn't have time to come to Kakashi's aid as he had his own enemies to deal with.

Gai boasted out loud, "I'll be one moment, Kakashi! YOSH!"

"HELP ME, YOU FREAKIN' IDIOT!" the masked man shouted as his hold over his kunai faltered.

With the sweat on Kakashi's hands, his kunai slid out of his hand and dashed backwards as fast as he could as the blade sliced several silver hairs from his head. The masked shinobi recovered as fast as he could and tried to reach back for his weapons.

Kakashi breathed, "Oh…"

The massive man from Suna let out a victorious before a brunette chunin flew out of nowhere and roared as loud as he could.

"FOR THE CHILDREN!"

Iruka clubbed the man hard in the head and rolled onto the concrete before he slid backwards on his feet in front of Kakashi. The man from Suna backed off to tend to the massive bruise on his forehead. The chunin smirked and the masked man behind was shocked and dumbfounded when he recognized the voice, hair, and skin color. Gai blinked when he noticed Iruka arrive and even more surprised when he held his own against the tall man from Suna.

The chunin smirked as the warrior took his machete and started to march after him with thunderous footsteps, "Wow! That's a nice sword there! But is it me, or is someone overcompensating a bit?"

The Suna warrior roared in frustration and ran after Iruka with the intent to crush him. Iruka then twirled his boomerang in his hand, dashed after the warrior with a boost of chakra, scaled his stomach, chest, and then kicked him in the face, so hard that he knocked the man's teeth in with a loud, sick crack. In the same swift movement, Iruka landed in front of Kakashi and turned around to see the warrior's nose bleed out and then watched him collapse. Kakashi had to blink a few times and allow his mind to process what he had bared witness to.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

Iruka stood and twirled his boomerang as if he were the sheriff from an old western movie with a small smirk on his face as he turned his head to look at Kakashi.

The chunin said with an excited grin, "That was Iruka-Style! LEARN IT!"

"I-Iruka-sensei?" was all the silver-haired shinobi was able to utter as he stared at the chunin.

But then the tan-skinned schoolteacher blinked and turned a lot more serious and focused when he noticed someone in the distance.

"Hold that thought, hot shot," he said, before he threw his boomerang as Kakashi and Gai stood and stared when five enemies from Suna and Oto rise from the arena before the unique weapon knocked all of them out in one attack.

With the sounds of five bodies hit the floor of the arena, the chunin caught his weapon and turned his attention back to his comrades. Gai cracked a wide smile and shook, while his masked friend looked more annoyed and stared at Iruka while he stood.

"It's all in the wrist!" smiled an overconfident Iruka.

Tears flowed down Gai's face as he raised a fist in the air and shouted, "IRUKA UMINO! YOUR YOUTHFUL ENDEAVORS HAVE MOVED ME!"

Kakashi marched over to the chunin while he collected a few kunai for the next wave of enemies to come, and asked in a frustrated tone, "What are you doing here, Iruka-sensei?"

"Hikaru-sensei and I switched positions," answered the chunin, "He was too inexperienced in battle to get involved with the other soldiers. So he took over at the Academy for me once all the students were evacuated. So I came over here. This is where most of the more advanced forces are concentrated."

Gai seemed as delighted as a schoolgirl while Kakashi stared down at the chunin and chewed him out, "You should have remained in the shelters with the other students! You shouldn't have even come here!"

Iruka didn't bother with Kakashi or care what he had to lecture him on. He was more concerned for his little brother as he looked around and tried to find him where he stood. He darted his head about the arena while Kakashi ranted about how he should have remained where he was supposed to, based on his rank and his position as a schoolteacher. Iruka wasn't able to find Naruto or even one of the other rookies and he started to feel more worried than ever. He turned to look at Kakashi and cut off whatever he was about to scold him for his 'reckless behavior'.

"Where is Naruto?" asked the chunin.

Kakashi blinked, "What?"

Iruka looked back at Kakashi and asked, "Where is Naruto, and the other rookies for that matter? Where the hell are those kids?!"

"I sent Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru out and retrieve Sasuke after he took off after Gaara and the other kids from Suna," he answered, unaware of the frozen look of horror on the chunin's face, "Now watch out for the-"

"You did what?"

Kakashi answered back with the same tone in his own voice, but much slower so as to mock him, "I sent out Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru to retrieve Sasuke because he ran out of the arena earlier."

Iruka stared at Kakashi for a while before he cracked an unnatural smile and asked in a fake upbeat tone, "You did now?"

Kakashi thought all was well for a few seconds, until Iruka clenched his fist into a ball and punched him in the face. The older shinobi was knocked off his feet and tumbled back into the seats where he covered his face with both hands.

"MY NOSE!" he muffled into his hands.

Iruka glared down at Kakashi and royally chewed him out right then and there, "YOU SENT THREE TWELVE YEAR OLD GENIN OUT INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN BATTLEFIELD?!"

Kakashi looked back at the chunin, about to tackle him or bash his face in for what he did, but that was before he saw the look on Iruka's face. His often soft, tan-skinned face was red while he bore his white teeth like some kind of ferocious animal, about to take a bite out of his face.

"I… I had to send them to retrieve Sasuke…" he stammered but then said in a more firm voice.

Iruka threw back at him, "So he lost his match and ran after the kid that beat him? You couldn't find the time to lecture him to not be so stupid in middle of an invasion, huh?!"

"I am the senior officer here, Iruka Umino. You're no more than a useless schoolteacher in a uniform to me," the masked shinobi stated in a harsh tone as he stared back at Iruka with a disconsolate look, determined to take control and remind Iruka where his place was, "I don't have to take criticism from a chunin on what I do with my students."

But then Iruka chewed him out as he approached the masked shinobi in defiance; "Qualifications and rank are meaningless to me at this point! YOU ARE A GODDAMN MORON, HATAKE! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF A TEACHER RECKLESSLY SENDS THEIR STUDENTS OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF A WARZONE?!"

Kakashi breathed through his nose before he turned from Iruka when he could think of what to shout back at him. He looked towards the arena, withdrew a new kunai, and looked out ahead as he sensed more enemies were close.

"Never mind," he said, "You wanna stick around, then fine! You better not cost us one of our limbs!"

Iruka took his boomerang and bounced back when a shinobi from Suna arrived and tried to slice him with a sword. He reacted fast and took them out with one toss. As soon as Kakashi and Gai dealt with their share of enemies, Iruka bashed the heads of his share and approached the masked man.

"Kakashi," the chunin chewed out between skirmishes with other shinobi, "You didn't even think this out, huh?! You didn't stop and wonder if Naruto and the others would be chased down out there?! What if one of them is harmed? What if Naruto breaks an arm or twists his ankle? What if someone from Oto and Suna comes in and finishes them off while he's down?!"

Kakashi looked back at the chunin and shouted, "RELAX! I sent Pakkun to lead them and track Sasuke down! He's a ninken of mine and-"

But then the chunin tossed his arms in the air and shouted, "Oh that's a relief! At least we know the kids will remember to take out the mutt out to do his business!"

"IF YOU WANT A FIGHT, IRUKA, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE HELL OF A FIGHT!" shouted the silver-haired shinobi.

Iruka didn't care if Kakashi could beat him in less than a second and send him off with most of his bones broken. With Naruto's life on the line, Iruka didn't care who he upset and opposed them all the same. Kakashi could have been the Hokage, and he would still show the same defiance he showed now. But before the two men could throw themselves at each with clenched fists and iron knuckles, Gai noticed the conflict and tried to settle the rift between them.

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen," he cried as he raised his arms, "Now is not the time to bicker with one another! We should love our comrades and treat one another with-"

Both Iruka and Kakashi looked at Gai and shouted in unison, "SHUT UP!"

Gai raised his arms in surrender and backed off out of defeat and intimidation. But Kakashi seemed to calm down fine on his own and backed off too. Though he was still furious as he felt the hot bruise on his face started to swell.

"Naruto and the others will be fine," he said with forced confidence, "When I was their age, I fought and killed shinobi from Iwagakure without breaking a sweat. If I could do so much as that at their age, then my students can follow my example and complete the simple mission I tasked them with."

Kakashi's words almost set Iruka off for the second time. But the chunin tried his best to calm down as his fists shook with rage. He tried to cool his temper as he also remembered the current situation. But the low, distant bombs he heard in the distance, the subtle roars reminded him of the worst night of his entire life. It caused a wave of terror to fill his heart and made his stomach ache. Iruka felt sick, like he was about to fall over and vomit. His precious Naruto was somewhere out there and one of those bombs could have forced his little brother to share the same fate as his parents.

Iruka tried to remain as calm as he could, but Kakashi's overconfidence came across the chunin as a complete lack of concern for the students' lives. Kakashi turned his back on Iruka, but the chunin still called him out with a low, dark, calm voice.

"You overconfident son of a bitch… These kids shouldn't have been allowed to be in these exams. You should have listened to me at the recommendations and none of them would be out there, on their own, in the middle of a warzone," the chunin's fists continued to shake as he said with sheer rage in his voice, "I swear, Kakashi, if anything bad happens to Naruto while he's out there, I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE AND GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!"

Kakashi looked back at the chunin and whatever color he had in his face drained at the look on Iruka's. The sudden, loud and intense tone in his voice caused Kakashi to shiver a little, as it reminded him of Anko Mitarashi.

But soon, the chunin looked to the net flock of enemies that entered from over the wall opposite the boxes and vented his rage out on them, "But before I do that…"

Iruka channeled his frustration and hatred towards Kakashi well as he slashed at his enemies. He also used his chakra as a boost to his speed and quickly caught up with the other two jounin. Gai was the most impressed as he watched Iruka devastate the battlefield and even take out the enemies he and Kakashi were focused on before either of them could even attack.

Gai cried fountains of tears as he admired Iruka's remarkable skill and cheered, "IRUKA! BE MY NEW ETERNAL RIVAL! AND TOGETHER, THE FLAMES OF OUR YOUTH WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE FARTHEST CORNERS OF THE WORLD! TOGETHER!"

Iruka had to take a moment to stared at Gai with a perplexed look and said, "Uhhh… ok…"

Naruto remained still while he felt Gamakichi's webbed hands swath around the metal of his headband. The blonde-haired rookie couldn't move as he watched the pupils of the Shukaku creature shrink, swirl, and then return to normal as the irises radiated. The creature's maw twitched and then the beast looked to the heavens and let out a high-pitched screech that almost deafened Naruto and snapped him back to normal.

"I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I'M FINALLY OUTTA THERE!"

After he heard the beast's true voice, Naruto uncovered his ears and shook his head.

"So that's the Shukaku's real voice…" he breathed.

Shukaku let out a high-pitch howl before it looked back at Naruto and the other toads. The creature screeched as it pointed at them with one of its fat talons.

"I FOUND THEM! I FOUND SOMEONE I WANNA KILL!"

Gamabunta removed his giant pipe from his mouth and placed in within the confines of his massive vest.

"We're gonna fly… Hold on tight!"

Naruto blinked and clenched at the collar of the vest as fast as he could. Gamakichi held onto Naruto and the two of them were in the air, on the back of Gamabunta. The chief toad leapt into the air as the Shukaku took in a breath of air. Naruto watched as the beasts' fat belly swelled until it was as round as a balloon. The demon then took its hand and unleashed a massive release of intense air.

"FUTON: RENKUDAN!"

The blast shot out from the Shukaku's mouth and took the form of a solid, transparent sphere as it rushed through the tops of the trees and took all of them down as well as the earth. It would have hit Gamabunta but the toad bounced over it. While still in the air, Gamabunta weaved handsigns and gathered a vast amount of chakra that was converted into water. His throat swelled with water until he unleashed it on the oblivious Shukaku.

"Suiton: Teppodama!"

A solid sphere of water was launched at the demon below with the speed of a bullet. To defend itself, Shukaku used the same technique it used earlier and shot at the toad's attack. When water and air met, the entire forest was blanketed in rain. Sasuke and Pakkun were unharmed, but the rain soaked them both before the wind kicked in and the rain struck them like a monsoon. Pakkun held onto a branch while Sasuke retreated under a thick branch to shield himself from the rain.

Pakkun barked while Sasuke tried to look around the branched that cover him and asked out loud, "What kind of a battle is this turning into?"

Naruto looked back at his friends and almost went insane when the storm of rain and wind hit them, "GAMABUNTA! NOT-OVER-THERE!"

"SHUT UP, BRAT! I KNOW!" roared the chief toad.

Gamabunta landed several hundred feet from the Shukaku but blinked when the demon unleashed another identical attack before he even landed but the toad ducked to the left as the demon unleashed the same attack for the second time.

"FUTON: RENKUDAN!"

The demon's stomach swelled and deflated twice, both times he released two violent blasts of air at Gamabunta. The toad ran through the same handsigns for his water jutsu twice and deflected the attacks, both times. Both times, the forest was hit with two more sudden storms that forced Pakkun to retreat to Sasuke. The Shukaku smirked and unleashed a third attack while it still had the chance and the mist of the previous two collisions masked it.

Gamabunta landed but then Harry noticed the attack and shouted, 'Naruto, there's still one more!'

"GAMABUNTA! WATCH OUT!" the blonde-haired wizard cried.

But it was too late.

The blast of wind struck Gamabunta in the chest and the toad crashed down to the earth, covered with hot, black smoke, with a loud crash. The Shukaku cackled and howled as it rose it's one arm in a victorious stance and caused earthquakes as it danced and earned the attention of the rest of the invasion in the distance. Shinobi, such as Iruka, Kakashi, Gai, and the forces of Suna and Oto felt the tremors and could even hear the distant sounds out the demon itself as it cheered in madness.

"YEAH! I KILLED HIM! I KILLED HIM!"

But while the Shukaku took its time to cackle and dance, Gamabunta launched out of the smoke, unscathed but livid as all hell.

"THAT HURT, YOU BUTT-LICKER!"

The smoke cleared and revealed Naruto and Gamakichi as well. Naruto's clothes were burnt here and there and shreds had been torn off and lost. Naruto's coat was ruined, so he threw it off and tossed it while the right shoulder of his black shirt had been burned off and showed his burnt and dirtied skin. Gamakichi was unharmed as Naruto used his coat to cover him from the attack. While Naruto held on to Gamabunta's vest and held close to Gamakichi, he retreated inward and asked for some advice.

'Any ideas, Nii-san?'

'How about prayer?'

Gamabunta soon said, "Listen, brat! I won't last long if I'm hit with another one of those balls of air…"

"What should we do, then?" the rookie asked.

Gamabunta answered, "If we want this fight to be a lot easier on the both of us, then we must punch that Goth-kid awake! After that, the Shukaku will be forced to retreat back into its human host!"

"That's it?! All I have to do is hit him?!" shouted a bewildered Naruto.

"Yes!"

While the trio was still in the air, Shukaku attacked and used the same jutsu he used earlier.

"FUTON: RENKUDAN!"

Shukaku missed this time and Gamabunta ran through the same handsigns as before and launched another bullet of water. Shukaku dodged in time but was surprised when Gamabunta came after the beast head-on and grasped onto the shoulders of the demon. For a few short seconds, Gaara and Naruto were no more than a few meters from each other. Gaara slumbered as his arms flailed with lifelessness. Naruto was determined to launch himself at the fellow jinchuuriki and would have reached for his wand when his scar burned for a second. Before he could react, he felt Gamabunta throw off his balance. The Shukaku retreated from the chief toad with ease as Gamabunta fell forward. Naruto felt a sense of weightlessness when the toad beneath him fell, but then the chief toad stood back and Naruto was slammed back onto him. The blonde rookie clenched Gamabunta's vest and the toad retreated back far from the demon as the Shukaku let out another monstrous screech.

Naruto shouted, "CHRIST! What the hell happened?!"

"I'm a toad! I don't have claws or fangs to hold onto him with!" said Gamabunta.

Naruto then asked, "So what do we do then?"

"I will transform into a creature that has claws and fangs!" the toad answered, and then he admitted, "But then again, I'm not all that good at transformation. And… Given the fact that you probably used up most of your chakra to bring me here, I'll have to leave you in charge of creating the form of the beast we need while we used the chakra I have to fuel it!"

The blonde rookie asked, "You're serious?"

"YES! It's called a Combined Transformation!" answered the chief toad.

'I've never heard of that before! Can that work, Nii-san?'

'Yes! It'll work! It's a variation of the normal transformation we learned at the Ninja Academy. I think Kiba Inuzuka is able to use that variation with Akamaru. You're brilliant with transformations, Naruto, but we only have one chance to do this! Don't waste it!'

Naruto nodded and listened to Gamabunta, "I need you to think of something that has fangs and claws!"

Naruto nodded but he took a few seconds to think of the creature he needed to turn into.

"Let's see…" he mused.

But Gamabunta was too impatient to wait for Naruto to come up with an answer, "We're going."

"WAIT!" he shouted.

But Gamabunta focused his vast amount of chakra into his hind legs and took off at top speeds. Naruto bounced up and down as he tried to use his own chakra to stand straight while he ran through the simple handsigns for the transformation.

"Wait! Wait one second! I NEED TO THINK!" he tried to shout.

'THINK FAST, NARUTO! TEETH AND CLAWS!'

Naruto wracked his brains for a useful animal that matched the requirements. At first, Naruto had a vision of the demon fox sealed inside of him. It was fearsome; had claws, teeth, and unbelievable strength. But then his stomach turned cold at the thought when he remembered when he was possessed and then another fearsome creature entered his mind but filled with insides with warmth and courage. Naruto smiled for a second and Gamabunta focused the enormous amount of chakra into Naruto. The rookie felt his whole being become flooded with chakra and he soon filled the forest with white smoke when he released the technique.

About two seconds later, out from the smoke, arrived the magnificent form of the great King of Beasts. Naruto had transformed into the ferocious lion of Gryffindor House.

Naruto and Gamabunta combined their abilities to transform into a lion the same size as the demon fox. The two of them formed a thick, elegant mane, full of bright golden-brown fur, Golden eyes flickered with an intense hunger while white fangs shined as the magnificent beast opened its maw and let out an unbelievable roar.

"OOOOAAAAARRRRRRRR!"

Sasuke, still soaked from the rainstorms looked towards the clouds and saw the massive mane of the brave beast. For reasons unknown, Sasuke trembled and shivered at the lion more than when he first looked into the face of the Shukaku. It could have been from the cold rain that soaked him from head to toe, or the sheer size of the fearsome creature, but either way, the sight of his transformed teammate left him speechless.

"It's… It's a lion…" he breathed.

Gamabunta closed in on Shukaku's front side and pounced into the demon head-on. The vast lion extracted its silver claws and sank its teeth into the fat mass of the Shukaku's neck while its claws sank into the shoulders of the beast. As the lion chewed into the flesh, Gamabunta's normal voice boomed out from nowhere and roared at the rookie.

"NOW, KID!"

White smoke caused the lion to vanish as Naruto launched himself at Shukaku's head. The rookie soared through the air with a trail of white smoke behind him as he shot out like a human bullet. Naruto felt the cloth of his headband unravel but caught it and slipped it into his pocket. He closed in on Gaara's unconscious form as his blonde hair flew behind him and revealed the scar on his forehead. Naruto flinched when he saw Gaara's torso start to sink down into the sand and retreat. The Shukaku must have sensed what Naruto was about to do and tried to shield his human host from harm.

Naruto reached for his wand and then he shouted in the knick of time, "ACCIO GAARA!"

The red-haired rookie started to rise out from the sand as Naruto tucked his wand back in his trousers, reeled his arm back, and then slammed his fist into Gaara's left cheek while he screamed so hard, his throat could have been torn.

"WAKE UP!"

With Naruto's intense hook to the face, Gaara awoke and held his breath in sudden shock while Gamabunta and his son both smirked.

"Good," said the toad, "Not much time has passed since the medium fell asleep… That one punch did the trick, Naruto Uzumaki."

The Shukaku's radiant eyes twitched as he lifted its head towards the skies and screamed.

"GODDAMMIT! I ONLY JUST GOT OUT! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

At once, the demon's eye color was forcibly changed; turning back into the same color it was before. The Shukaku arched it's back and froze before it slumped down as if it's spine were removed. Down below in the trees, Pakkun stared in disbelief as he watched the whole scene with Sasuke.

"Unreal… He did it… Naruto did it…" breathed the small canine.

Sasuke couldn't even make a sound as he too watched the whole battle. Never before in his life would he have ever expected to see such skill from like Naruto Uzumaki. He couldn't even form a sentence, but instead sat on the branch and stared at his teammate without a word.

At the forest grounds, the area where Gamabunta was seated, the toad blinked as the Shukaku was suddenly thrown at him. Gamabunta caught the lifeless beast and tried to push the Shukaku far from Naruto's friends, struggling to do so. It was like a sumo match as Gamabunta was beginning to lose as the creature was forced backwards and tore down whole sections of the forest. Sasuke flinched at the sudden noise and heard the sounds of massive trunks torn down followed with a low rumble headed towards them.

Gamabunta shouted back at Naruto a few words of wisdom, "NARUTO! Even if the Sleep Possum Jutsu is canceled, the medium still has some power left to control this current form! END THIS IMMEDIATELY!"

Naruto blinked as he fell onto the snout of the soulless demon and slid down backwards until he touched the base of the Shukaku's nose. Gaara touched the bruised and swollen mark on his face as he glared down at Naruto with eyes full or rage. Gaara commanded the Shukaku to continue charging forth, hoping to crush Naruto's friends out of spite. But Naruto used the momentum of the Shukaku's movement to run after Gaara over the face of the demon.

Gaara watched Naruto closed in on his fast, "This… this fool was able to cancel out my jutsu?"

"What?" he asked back when he heard Gaara's voice, "Never taken a real right hook before?"

The blonde-haired rookie dashed across more flesh covered in veins but then felt his scar burn for less then a second. Naruto reacted in time as Gaara caused claws and columns of sand to rise out of the Shukaku's flesh. Naruto used his reflexes to swerve around them untouched. But his luck ran out when the sand beneath turned loose all of a sudden. Naruto sank into the sand as Gaara cracked a twisted smile and reached a hand out to him.

"SAND COFFIN!"

Tentacles of sand shot out from around Naruto and zoomed towards him. But then Gamakichi, shouted to his father as he watched Naruto from the distance.

"DAD! SAVE HIM!"

Gamabunta reacted fast and swathed his massive tongue around Naruto before the sand even reached him. Naruto heard the sand bounce off of the tongue on the outside and he touched the smooth, warm, foul surface of Gamabunta's tongue. He rubbed the smile off his hand and backed off from the warts, which were about the size of basketball balls.

Naruto smiled with satisfaction, "This is Gamabunta's tongue… Brilliant!"

'Brilliant? It's bloody disgusting…'

As soon as Gaara realized his attack failed, he screamed at Naruto, "THAT WON'T SAVE YOU FOR LONG!"

Naruto looked down at his feet and saw the sand slither towards him and buried his ankles. He tried to escape but it was no use. The hiss of the sand was like a thousand curious snakes as he felt it rise and crawl across his skin. But Gaara had trouble as most of his chakra had been drained and he used half of his concentration to command the Shukaku to crush Sakura and the others. Gamabunta was exhausted as he strained to defend Naruto and his friends, but still determined to defend Konoha from the wrath of the demon child. He felt his strength start to waver and was forced to retract his tongue and concentrate on the Shukaku.

Naruto squinted as the sun shined in his face, but then he seethed at Gaara while the jinchuuriki stared down at him.

"Naruto Uzumaki… You will die here… And I will not cease to exist! NOT EVER!"

The blonde rookie turned around to where Sakura and the others were and saw Sakura's radiant hair in the distance. With is enhanced vision, he saw she was still stuck to the tree and blood started to leak from her mouth. He flinched and noticed Sasuke was still weak and bruised from the battle. The sight of both his teammates, weak and alone, caused that fire within Naruto's chest to burn hotter than he ever felt in his life before he looked back at Gaara.

(A/N: I decided to briefly cover the battle between Hiruzen and Orochimaru, but this battle will not have a lot of details about the battle or a lot of dialogue)

Within the barrier on the central box above the arena, the Sandaime and Orochimaru continued to fight. The former teacher and student unleashed their most impressive skills and exampled remarkable talent in the shinobi arts. Sarutobi had been prepared for the fight and had removed his red and white robes to reveal that he wore a black suit with armor. Orochimaru had also removed his robes, but the robes where caught beneath his sandals before their skirmish started, much to Orochimaru's humiliation.

Sarutobi had chuckled once he saw the bit of cloth stuck onto Orochimaru's foot, "Looks like someone had some trouble in the bathroom earlier!"

Orochimaru was somewhat surprised at how prepared his former teacher was and seemed somewhat unnerved as Sarutobi continued to talk.

Sarutobi turned more serious as he said, "Looks like someone hasn't had the best luck as of late… Your disguise wears off too soon and now the fight of your life is falling apart before it's even begun… I assume you knew I was aware that you were the one that assumed the Kazekage's identity?"

"What?" twitched the Sannin.

The old man smirked, "Why else do you think that I would ever allow Sasuke's match to be postponed? You should know me well, Orochimaru. I never favor one particular person during an official event as big as the Chunin Selection Exams. I figure this time, it was the least I could do before I end the life of a former student…"

For the next several hours, three-cloaked ANBU watched as Sarutobi and Orochimaru went head to head within the barrier. After the first fifteen minutes of the battle, Orochimaru used a forbidden technique called the Impure World Resurrection. From the base of the roof there both stood two coffins, marked with the numbers "1" and "2". The coffins soon turned to dust and revealed two bodies that walked closer towards a horrified Hiruzen. To the despair and delight of the old man, Orochimaru had resurrected Hashirama Senju and his brother Tobirama Senju: the first two Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

Orochimaru had smirked, "Now things are going to get a little bit more interesting…"

The white snake then inserted a talisman attached to two kunai and shoved them into the backs of the heads of the two fallen warrior leaders. From there, the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage's deteriorated faces became filled with more color and life, as if the two of them had been restored to the fullest. But at the same time, their faces lost all traces of their former personalities, becoming cold and focused like two robots. Orochimaru must have used the talisman to control the deceased leaders as he used them like puppets.

"Orochimaru… You summoning those two…" Sarutobi muttered as tears threatened to fall down his face, "You've committed one of the most unforgivable crimes… You are a monster… YOU'RE A DEMON!"

Soon after that, Sarutobi made it his mission to annihilate his former student. He hardened his resolve to battle his former masters, his beloved mentors as he burned their bodies into ash. But Tobirama created a series of solid walls made of water that took the form of monstrous dragons. The water would have drowned Hiruzen or threw him into the barrier and kill him in an instant. But he erected a solid wall of earth to stand on. But then, Hashirama unleashed a technique that caused trees to fill the interior of the barrier and crushed Hiruzen column of earth. It was then, that the old man summoned an ape named the Monkey King: Enma, to aid him.

Enma was the animal companion of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Though he was known to be fiercely loyal to Hiruzen, he didn't always approve of his actions. After he was summoned, Enma scolded Hiruzen when he saw Orochimaru standing confidently in front of them both with his two servants.

"Orochimaru, huh? I told you that you should have killed him while you had the chance, Sarutobi!"

Sarutobi told him, "I intend to resolve that mistake I made, Enma… Today, I will finish what I should have done those many years ago."

The two of them fought the resurrected Hokage with shadow clones. Hiruzen used his clones as a distraction while he ran after Orochimaru. The Sannin was forced to unsheathe his famous levitation sword, the Kusanagi. For the next half hour, the student and teacher dueled each other while the shadow clones did their best to hold back Hashirama and Tobirama and aim for the back of their heads for those talisman.

After another half hour of constant blows, kicks, fire, crossed swords and transformations, the shadow clones were able to move around the two former Hokage. From there, the clones dove their hands into the back of their heads and ripped out the talisman. Both of the Hokage froze and gasped as the two shadow clones of their former student freed them from Orochimaru's control.

"WHAT?!" screamed a shrill Orochimaru.

All of Hiruzen's shadow clones smirked but soon stared at the former leaders of Konoha with a stammer. Hashirama and Tobirama bother staggered and shuffled about before the color in their faces faded, their eyes darkened, and cracks formed over their once smooth skin. Both of them cracked small smiles at Hiruzen before tears ran down their faces.

Hashirama soon said as his voice sounded like it did the last time Hiruzen ever saw him, but then his voice started to fail and deteriorate, "The fellow countrymen of Konoha make up each part of my body… those of the village believe in me, and I believe in them. That is what it means to be Hokage."

With that said, the Shodai Hokage crumbled as did his armor and clothes. Tobirama started to do the same, but was able to look at Hiruzen one more time before the skin on his face turned to dust and flowed down to the roof.

He said one last time, "I knew I made the right choice of a successor, Hiruzen… You over Danzo… Gomenasai, dear friend… I wish we didn't have to meet each other like this… Please don't think ill of us… Learn from our mistakes…"

Tobirama let one last tear fall down his face before he cracked a smile that caused him to crumble into dust as well. Each of the two Hiruzen clones saw upon proper examination that buried beneath the remains of the first two Hokage were the lifeless bodies of soldiers from Otogakure. One of them was Zaku Abumi and the other was another random Oto-nin with no name. Their eyes were both wide open and the backs of their heads appeared to have been blasted. It was an obvious result to when Sarutobi shoved his hands into them to remove Orochimaru's talisman.

Sarutobi's clones frowned as the real Hiruzen did the same, "You… You sacrificed your own people, defenseless genin, so you could bring back the images of my teachers… You truly are a monster, Orochimaru… HAVE YOU NO SHAME AT ALL FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! HAVE YOU NO REMORSE?!"

Orochimaru scoffed with arrogance and then hissed at his former teacher as he continued to lock weapons with him. The two combatants engaged in another battle, fighting staff with sword. The battle dragged on, but Sarutobi was able to hold his own, while his former student had more trouble. More than once, Orochimaru was slammed in the face with the blunt end of Sarutobi's staff and sent backward almost into the wall of the barrier. Orochimaru tried to slice his sensei in two, but for whatever strange and unusual reasons, all of his attempts to harm his former sensei had failed. Orochimaru was a master with a blade and should have killed his former master ages ago. But never once did he even leave a scratch or mark on his face.

Orochimaru hissed while exhausted, "I do not care about such pointless things as you do Sarutobi-sensei! All I care about is obtaining Sasuke-kun and leaving this village to burn down the very foundations that it was raised upon! No student, servant, man, woman, or child can ever be more important to me than my own ambitions!"

Sarutobi mumbled, "You remain so foolish, Orochimaru… Your ambition will die…"

"MY AMBITION WILL NEVER END! IT IS YOU WHO WILL DIE HERE, SARUTOBI!"

Orochimaru dashed forward and swung his Kusanagi straight down against Sarutobi's staff and a loud voice of outrage echoed from the staff.

"OWW! Sarutobi! Don't forget that I can still suffer from damage while in my staff form! You idiot!"

Sarutobi rumbled, "Orochimaru… Your ambition will not harm this village ever again!"

"Still," smirked the Sannin as he leaned closer, "You've grown old… You alone have the strength to rescue the entire village? Look around, old man…"

Sarutobi had noticed earlier, outside the barrier, what damage Orochimaru and his forces inflicted. He saw the scattered bodies of his grandchildren piled amongst the bodies from both Otogakure and Sunagakure shinobi. He saw craters from explosions littered all over the arena and saw buildings fall and crumble out in the distance.

Orochimaru continued, "I've ordered my subordinates from Sunagakure and Otogakure to kill every single man, woman, and child on sight… KONOHA WILL FALL!"

Sarutobi mourned the lives lost in the invasion before he glared at his former pupil and caused the Sannin to flinch at the cold, focused look, "You should know Orochimaru… To never underestimate the strength of Konohagakure no Sato… and the Will of Fire that burns within all it's citizens!"

Out in the middle of a field in the forest, close to the Konoha border, there stood Hiashi Hyuga and he wasn't alone.

He was surrounded with an ambush of shinobi from Suna. But Hiashi remained calm even while the forces from Suna drew their kunai and attacked him all at once. But once the soldiers from the desert were close enough, Hiashi released a massive amount of chakra and started to swirl. Similar to what Neji did back in the arena, Hiashi had used the true version of the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. But the leader of the Hyuga clan formed a massive dome that caught all of the foreign shinobi around him. The field became filled with the sounds of bones snapping, one after another as the soldiers were killed beneath the immense pressure of the concentrated chakra.

Hiashi stood in the center of a crater, awesome in size, as he saw the bodies of his enemies fall dead around him. With his Byakugan activated, the dauntless clan leader saw other shinobi hidden in the trees, terrified at his level of skill

The clan leader then called out to the cowards hidden in the trees and watched them flee after he announced, "The spirit of Konohagakure no Sato burns strong! Be sure to remember that!"

Back in the village, on a roof somewhere in the middlemost section, four shinobi from Suna that were frozen. Each of their shadows appeared black in the bright sunlight as all their shadows fused together into a single shadow originating bellow the frame of Shikaku Nara, the clan leader of the Nara clan and Shikamaru's father.

Each of the Suna shinobi caught in his shadow were terrified.

"I-I-I can't move!" several of them cried out.

Shikaku leaned on a wall to his side, which made it clear where Shikamaru inherited his laziness from. But soon the clan leader stood tall and revealed himself to his frozen enemies. Shikaku and his son were almost identical to each other; both of them wore similar clothes, had the same hair, facial features, and piercings. But Shikaku wore a coat made of deerskin, had several scars on his face, and overall, seemed more battle-worn and mature than his son.

Shikaku weaved through handsigns as he spoke to his enemies with a low, rough voice.

"C'mon, fellas," he boasted, "You haven't heard of the Shadow Possession Jutsu? Either way, you guys are gonna love this next trick. This one is something I like to call the Shadow Strangle Jutsu…"

All at once, the shadows of the men stretched and slithered across their bodies like snakes before the shadows swathed around their necks. All of the men cried out in terror, before the lot of them were muffled and silenced after about five intense minutes. Somewhere down the road, Shikaku's teammate and friend, Chouza Akimichi was to be seen. Chouza was an obese man and Choji's father, and didn't look much different than the first time Naruto had seen him. He had red hair that flowed down his back, wore shinobi armor with the mark of his clan on the front, a black suit beneath that, and a rope-like belt that made him appear more like a professional sumo wrestler. The rotund man was surrounded with his own swarm of enemies before he let out an incredible roar.

"EXPANSION JUTSU!"

And then, Chouza swelled to a massive size in a matter of seconds. His clothes and armor stretched and strained to contain and cover his flesh while Chouza soon towered over entire structures while his shadow blanketed the enemies in darkness. The shinobi from Suna shivered and stared at the man in horror. Before even one of them could flee, Chouza roared like a monster and thrust his staff down on them. He crushed the enemies beneath his feet and killed dozens. With his increased mass, he crushed several towers on accident, but resulted in the deaths of more soldiers from Suna and Oto.

Not too far from Chouza, there stood another man and a close friend and to Shikaku and Chouza. It was Inoichi Yamanaka, the father of Ino Yamanaka. He was tall and had a darker shade of blonde hair than his daughter and wife, styled as a mullet, shorter on the top, with a ponytail that ran down his back. He had the same shade of blue eyes as his daughter, but his face was more carved with a broad nose and prominent chin. He wore the standard jounin flak jacket over a black outfit, his headband, and a sleeveless red coat.

Inoichi was faced with two chunin from Suna that were about to attack him. But then he formed a box with his thumbs and index fingers, while he roared.

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

The man on the left froze still and then took a sudden turn towards his teammate and tackled him. He then took his kunai and Inoichi controlled the attack to kill his teammate.

The shinobi that was attacked shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT!"

"I CAN'T STOP! I CAN'T CONTROL MY BODY!" the shinobi on the right screamed in horror.

Inoichi took a break from the battle once the two invaders eliminated each other. Shikaku appeared beside him in a crouched stance smiling as if he were much younger again. Chouza stomped through the streets close to his old teammates as he too smiled and searched for more enemies to crush.

Inoichi smiled and said, "Reminds you of the good old days, doesn't it?"

"It sure does!" thundered Chouza.

Shikaku smirked with excitement and said, "The Ino-Shika-Cho trio is back!"

On the roofs of the western half of the village, far from the arena, Tsume Inuzuka stormed after a team of Oto-nin with her ninken, Kuromaru. The canine was massive, wolfish, with black fur, a missing left ear, and had an eye patch over his right eye. Followed behind Tsume, was a woman with identical red marks on her cheeks, her daughter Hana Inuzuka. The kunoichi and medic-nin ran behind her wrathful mother with three other canines that she called, the Three Haimaru Brothers.

Tsume dashed after the Oto-nin with her canine in the lead, as she roared, "LET'S GO, KUROMARU!"

Somewhere in the forests, a few miles outside of Konoha and a fair distance from Naruto and Gaara, Shino Aburame battled and defeated Kankuro. He used the exact same attack he used on Zaku and attacked Kankuro with his swarm of insects and drained him of his chakra. But before Kankuro fell to his defeat he exposed Shino to a poisonous fume and forced him to inhale. Shino lost consciousness as his heart beat slower and slower. Death would have welcomed Shino with a cold embrace, but soon his vision returned as he felt his strength start to return.

Shino breathed, "The poison…"

But soon a shadow loomed over Shino as a warm, familiar voice reached out to him.

"Don't move. I'm sending my bugs to draw the poison out of your body…"

Shino couldn't resist it and turned his head as he let out the word, "Dad…"

Countless forces from Suna and Oto started to flee across the streets of Konoha, outnumbered and outclassed. Several teams retreated towards the main entrance until a storm of shuriken and kunai came out from nowhere and killed all but one frightened Otogakure jounin. The shinobi looked above and saw an entire team of ANBU tower over him, their faces hidden beneath animal masks with their swords drawn.

"NOT ANOTHER STEP," shouted the voice of one ANBU, a woman with purple hair and a cat mask, "You're done here!"

She sounded furious, determined, vengeful, and heartbroken all at the same time, before she and her team dove down to unleash their wrath.

Back at the arena, Sarutobi smiled at Orochimaru in the middle of their stalemate.

"It was one of the first lessons my teachers taught me at the beginning… It's not until you protect those that are precious to you that the true strength of the shinobi can EMERGE!"

Sarutobi made a swift strike at Orochimaru's sword with his staff and knocked the Kusanagi out of his hands. Orochimaru held his breath and watched as his sword flew into the trees. He then froze as his former master aimed at Orochimaru's throat with a cold look of sheer determination as he drew out a kunai.

The Sannin snarled and he flicked his wrist, "THIS ISN'T THE END FOR ME!"

From out in the trees, the Kusanagi sword rose itself into the air as if someone cast a Levitation Charm on it. The sword rose then aimed at the center of Sarutobi's back. Orochimaru did one solid motion with his hand and the sword zoomed through the air with a cold swish. Sarutobi heard the noise at the last second, but as the blade closed in on his back, he remained calm and smiled.

"I don't think so…""he muttered under his breath.

Sarutobi concentrated an intense amount of chakra to his feet and slid to the side so fast that Orochimaru didn't even notice. The sword continued to soar at breakneck speeds and struck Orochimaru in the chest.

"AAAARRGHHHHH!"

From outside the barrier, Orochimaru's shinobi team heard him scream and looked inside to see their master fall on his back with his own sword through his chest.

"OROCHIMARU-SAMA!" screamed the one named Sakon.

Orochimaru looked down as blood ran down his chest from his mouth. The sword must have pierced one of his lungs as he coughed countless times. Sarutobi let Enma return to his normal form and the two of them stood beside each other and watched Orochimaru remove his own sword from his chest. Enma smirked while he crossed his large, muscular arms, but at the same time he scoffed at Sarutobi's performance.

"Don't go on thinking that you finished what you should have yet. You still didn't kill him."

Sarutobi frowned and then nodded, "You're right. I need to end this now."

The old warrior took his kunai and marched forth to end his former student.

Sarutobi raised his kunai and breathed, "Your ambitions end here."

"EAT THIS, YOU OLD BASTARD!"

Orochimaru used whatever chakra he had left into his sword. The blade transformed into a snake with black skin. It let out a terrible hiss and attacked Sarutobi head-on. It sank its teeth into his flesh and released its venom into his bloodstream.

"HIRUZEN!" roared Enma.

Enma dashed after his friend but the snake had vanished as Sarutobi staggered. He tore at his black suit and saw the bite marks as he felt himself fall back into Enma's arms. Orochimaru didn't waste another second and called out to his team.

"The mission has failed! We must retreat! Fall back!"

All of the Sound Four nodded their heads and the barrier was blasted out of existence. All of the shinobi in the arena stopped and watched as the barrier ballooned and vanished out of thin air. The shinobi from Konoha stared in shock as the trees, earth and water from within were released. The shinobi from Suna and Otogakure watched as Orochimaru's servants dove inside the forest and carried their master from the scene.

Jirobo and Tayuya carried their leader on their shoulders while Sakon and Kidomaru stood to annihilate the ANBU about to move in and kill them soon. But Tayuya looked between her comrades, their master, Sarutobi, and the rest of Konoha with a frown.

She then said, "You people are such scum sometimes! This whole invasion was a waste of time! WHAT DID WE EVEN ACCOMPLISH?!"

While he was carried and fled from the scene of the crime, Orochimaru taunted his former teacher one last time, "Good luck with that little wound, Sarutobi-sensei…"

The ANBU outside the barrier ventured into the forest before the Sound Four could leave. But from the outside the barrier, the shinobi in the arena heard the sound of shrill screams and then silence. Soon after, the Sound Four and Orochimaru made their escape without further hostile confrontations. Iruka, Gai, Genma, Kurenai, and Kakashi looked from the field and watched as the enemies fled. Soon all of the shinobi donned in Oto uniforms followed their leader.

The tan-skinned clenched his fist and bounced into the air as he assumed the Sandaime killed Orochimaru, "WHOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!"

Kakashi, Gai, and Genma looked more anxious as the enemies fled the scene.

Gai looked to the more enthusiastic chunin and asked, "Should we go after them, Iruka?!"

"Gai," the masked shinobi behind him called out, "You're supposed to ask me if we should follow them!"

But then two shinobi appeared before them, one of them was Baki and the other was an ANBU, the one who released the genjutsu to initiate the invasion. All of the shinobi of Konoha stared him down while Baki looked around and realized he and the traitor were the two soldiers left alive in the arena.

The masked and cloaked ANBU shook his head as his voice made it clear that he smiled at the assembled Konoha shinobi, "I wouldn't do that… Rush after him and you might get caught in a web of traps."

"What are you suggesting, then?!" barked Gai, "That we stand here and let that swine escape? After what they've done here?!"

Kakashi stood forward and knocked Iruka to the side, as the chunin scowled at his comrade, "So… You propose that we do sit around and do nothing… Kabuto Yakushi?"

The unidentified ANBU chuckled as he removed his mask. It was Kabuto. He looked about the same as ever with the same glasses, but no headband this time. But Iruka and the others noticed he had a white line run from his cheek to his chin, a scar from a blade he wasn't able to heal.

Kabuto smiled and said with a sinister tone, "Well, aren't you the clever one?"

Baki seemed more nervous as none of the Suna forces in the arena were alive or had fled the scene much earlier. He looked to Kabuto for answers as it looked like their mission had failed.

"Well?" he asked, "What do we do?"

Kabuto ran his hand across the scar on his face and seemed bored as he frowned and tilted his head at his former comrades. He soon let out a distinct chuckle as he shrugged.

"Time to throw in the towel, Baki," he sounded as if the entire invasion were all some game as he giggled in his throat, "Looks like its time to retreat."

Kakashi stood more firm and chewed out, "You're gonna run away from me again?"

Iruka looked between Kakashi and Kabuto as he held on to his boomerang and focused his aim on the cloaked traitor.

Kabuto smirked as he said, "That would be too obvious. Why should I show my hand when it is so much fun leaving you in the dark?"

The masked shinobi almost snarled at Kabuto as he clenched his fists, furious at the childish traitor that orchestrated the massive invasion and now turned to flee like a complete coward. Kakashi couldn't stand the sight of Kabuto as he smiled and shrugged like a smug little brat.

Kabuto mocked Kakashi, "That Sharingan can't see everything, can it, Kakashi? You haven't even mastered it… Unlike the Uchiha clan…"

Kabuto smirk widened at Kakashi's livid expression while he shared Iruka a look, as well as Genma, Gai, and Kurenai. He was about to leave with Baki at his side, but that's when Iruka made a surprise move. He shoved Kakashi to the side and threw his weapon at the traitor. Iruka used his mind to focus on Kabuto neck to slice his head off or cut his throat and the traitor blinked as he let his stolen ANBU mask fall and crack on a rock. The tan-skinned chunin almost hit him, when Kabuto made a sudden swift movement under his cloak, the boomerang flew back into Iruka's hand, but before he could attack again, the weapon broke in his hand. Iruka stared as his trusted boomerang had been sliced in half and it fell to the ground at his feet, useless.

Iruka fell to his knees and cried, "BOOMERANG!"

"That was close," smirked Kabuto, "But it's obvious I'm the best shinobi here."

Iruka sneered at Kabuto as the traitor waved to his former comrades and vanished with Baki in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi's fists shook and he turned to the first person he could blame to take out his frustrations.

"Way to go, Iruka," he said, "You went ahead and scared him off!"

Iruka turned his head towards the jounin and scold him like one of his students, "WHAT?! HE WAS ABOUT TO FLEE ANYWAY, YOU IDIOT! YOU JUST STOOD THERE AND SULKED LIKE AN EMO-KID! At least I had the balls to attack him!"

Kakashi stared down at Iruka but the chunin showed no fear as he scowled at the older shinobi. Genma and Kurenai were exasperated at their behavior while Gai seemed more amused and wondered who would cave in first.

{{Broken Wire by James Newton Howard}}

Naruto felt the Will of Fire burn within him and remembered the first time he had ever heard about it. Iruka had lectured him and his class about how: how it was the strong will that granted the shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato the will to keep fighting no matter what; but not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of their fellow comrades and loved ones. It was the symbolic spirit that represented all the hopes and dreams of the previous generation passed down to the next. It was what made everyone in the village one gigantic family.

Most of Naruto's classmates didn't care much about Iruka's lecture. But Naruto was the most attentive student that afternoon as he smiled and listened to his teacher. That ideal comforted him at a time when he had the most doubts about his future, after he learned that he was a jinchuuriki. The idea of the Will of Fire made him feel hope for the future, that the citizens of Konoha could see him for who he was and consider Naruto a fellow citizen and beloved comrade one day, instead of the unwanted jinchuuriki. It was the one lecture from Iruka that didn't overwhelm Naruto with drowsiness.

And now, Naruto could feel it in his chest. This was the same fire that made Iruka take Mizuki's shuriken to the back, what drove Kakashi to save his students in the Land of Waves, and what motivated Hayate to teach Naruto how to use a sword.

Naruto felt the fire burn hotter as he heard his parent's voices ring inside his ears one more time. He turned to look back at Gaara as he sank deeper into the sand beneath him. He concentrated as much chakra as he could and even combined it with his magic. He thought about his teammates, his older brother, Iruka, Kakashi, his mother, father, Rock Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Choji before he thought about Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man that started him down his path. And soon Naruto was enveloped with a rush of chakra combined with magic.

His hair danced in the wind as the sands around his feet loosened and he floated towards the skies. Leafs and dust swirled around him before Naruto landed on the sand that formed a solid platform for him to stand on. Gaara flinched at Naruto and stared at him with confusion and fear. Naruto opened his eyes that flashed emerald green for a second before returning to his original sapphire blue.

'I AM GOING TO PROTECT EVERYONE!'

Gaara shivered in fear of his opponent before he seethed, placed his hands together, and then unleashed an inhuman roar.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Naruto Disapparated, free of the sand, before he reappeared far above Gaara. He then reached back and unsheathed his sword. He clenched the handle of his blade and aimed at Gaara's arms, determined to slice one of them clean off if he had no choice. He raised his sword above his head and in silence he zoomed down on Gaara, before the jinchuuriki sensed him. Naruto roared when the red-haired rookie saw him and threw down his blade. Gaara caught Naruto with his sand as Naruto still tried to slice one of Gaara's arms. With his teeth bared, he started to lower his blade down on Gaara's left arm while the sand slithered around his arms. Gaara felt the blade cut his skin and drew blood. The sight of his own blood caused Gaara to panic and in one swift movement, Hayate's sword was thrown out of Naruto's hands and flew far into the distant mountain forests.

"YOU BASTARD!"

The blonde warrior tried to strike at Gaara, enraged at the loss of his master's sword but was soon silenced. Gaara glared at Naruto as continued to hold him in the air. Naruto tired to break free but he remained stuck as he felt his scar let out one more hot burst of pain. Still shaken and enraged from his blood being drawn, Gaara closed his hand into a fist and the sand around Naruto's right arm closed inwards and a sick crack was heard.

"ARRRGGGGHHHH!"

Naruto had never broken one of his arms before, but the pain was unbearable. It was so intense and hurt so much that he could move it at all while all he could do was scream and let the pain take his consciousness.

But Naruto tried to hold on, as horrible as it felt to remain awake. His chest continued to burn and his desire to beat Gaara and save his friends and comrades was strong enough to keep him awake. Naruto tried to shake it off as much as he could, took deep breaths through his nose, breathing harder and harder and harder, until he gathered as much strength as he could to reel back and then-

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!"

Naruto launched his torso foreword and hit Gaara the strongest head butt ever imaginable. Gaara's armor of sand didn't cover the skin of his forehead as the red-haired rookie let his mouth hang open in mid-vocal. He froze still, as did the form of the Shukaku, as blood streamed down from his forehead and covered his face.

Gamabunta felt no more resistance from the creature and stopped before he was even close to Sasuke and the others. Gamakichi hopped around while his father relaxed and smirked.

"All it took was a strike to the head, eh?" the toad croaked.

Gaara felt a river of warm blood ooze from his forehead and soon the flesh of the Shukaku he unleashed had cracked. The demon behind Gaara cracked once, twice, over a hundred, two hundred, two million times as the flesh lost its solid structure and turned back into normal sand. It broke down and rivers of sand rushed down into the woods until the Shukaku crumbled into oblivion.

Naruto and Gaara fell towards the earth, their faces covered with blood and Gaara restored to his normal, weakened human form.

Sasuke and Pakkun stared from the base of the tree, unable to make a comment or even remember how to breathe.

Gamabunta frowned once he felt his chakra depletion getting to him, "It's a shame that I won't see to the end of this fight, but I must leave now. I'm all out of chakra… Gamakichi, we both have to return home now!"

The small toad seemed hesitant to leave Naruto behind but did as his father commanded and the two of them burst into white smoke. The force of the white cloud from Gamabunta's disappearance threw Naruto and Gaara in opposite directions. But the two rookies landed in the cushioned treetops. Both jinchuuriki used what little strength they had to stand on their own two feet. Both of them were exhausted to no end; heavily breathing, bleeding from their heads, with no sand armor, and one of them with a useless broken arm.

Naruto found the strength to speak and said, "Listen…We've both used… almost all of our chakra… You and I are much alike… You have no idea how similar we are Gaara… and we shouldn't fight… we have to stop this now… or it will be the death of us…"

Harry used as much magic as he could to heal Naruto and fuel him. He also took noticed of Gaara's movements and knew what he was about to do next.

'Watch out.'

The blonde-haired rookie was about to launch himself at Gaara and the red-haired rookie was about to do the same. As soon as Gamabunta remembered he left behind his blade in Konoha and summoned it, the burst of white smoke caused Naruto and Gaara to both pounce at the same time. Gaara reeled his arm back and Naruto did the same with his left, but Gaara never stood a chance as Naruto nailed him in the face with a solid left hook. Gaara fell into the forest and crashed into a tree with a solid bruise on his cheek, in the shape of a fist. Naruto fell as well and prepared himself for a world of hurt.

Where the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames… the Fire Shadow will illuminate the village… And once again tree leaves shall bud anew

The two rookies fell into the trees, leafs and branches cushioned their falls as the two of them plummeted to the earth. Gaara landed hard on his back, the wind knocked clean out of him, but Naruto hit the ground hard and screamed in agony as his broken arm was thrashed down. Naruto could have cried from the pain as he rolled onto his stomach and found he and Gaara landed in a small, barren meadow in the forest, filled with leafs and sand.

The two rookies laid it out there, miserable, and in more physical pain than anyone could imagine. Gaara twitched in as he tried his best to breath again, the sounds of his miserable sobs being the only noise Naruto could hear to let him know Gaara was still alive.

Still determined to settle his business with Gaara, Naruto rolled onto his stomach and used his chin to crawl after Gaara. He screamed as he moved his arm and didn't dare look at it as he tried to crawl towards the jinchuuriki.

'Naruto, that's enough… You've done it.'

'No… NO! I still have something I have to do!'

'Naruto, the fight is over! You've won!'

'NOT YET!'

'You will die if you push yourself any further!'

'JUST LET ME DO THIS!'

Naruto's thoughts sounded like a painful wail as Harry relented and let Naruto do what he felt he had to. The blonde-haired rookie used whatever strength he could draw to crawl closer to Gaara. He moved like a Flobberworm as Gaara struggled to breathe and turned to see Naruto come closer. The red-haired rookie wheezed in fear and tried to run, but he was too weak and thrashed about for a second. He tried to breathe, harder and harder, faster and faster while tears threatened to run down his face. Gaara thought, for the first time in his life, he was about to die at the hand of Naruto Uzumaki's determination and strength.

Gaara shivered, insane with fright, 'Why… is he so strong?'

Gaara wished for Naruto to vanish, like a small frightened child would but he still continued to come closer. Gaara's worst fear, a fear he never realized in ages, the fear of his death loomed over him now more than it ever did before.

'This can't be happening… I can't die! I can't! I won't disappear! I won't!'

Gaara saw Naruto was now fifteen feet from him now, and he screamed with a childish voice, "GET AWAY FROM ME! STAY AWAY!"

Naruto couldn't move another inch as he looked down at the earth and shivered. The sound of Gaara's voice cause the blonde-haired rookie to shiver as the ghosts of his childhood echoed in his mind. He remembered that voice, his voice, as he cried and tried to hide his face out of shame, humiliation, and loneliness. Naruto started to sob as his face kissed the dirt and remembered what Gaara had told him in the hospital.

To them, I am now a relic of that past. A relic that they wish to erase and forget that I even existed…

Naruto soon remembered another voice and heard the echo of Haku when the two of them stood in the middle of Tazuna's bridge in the mist.

I was forced to accept it… Accept that I was alone in the world… Superfluous. Unwanted. Shunned…

Tears ran down Naruto's face in torrents as he was certain Gaara suffered the same as him and Haku, but had it so much worse. Gaara stared at him, frozen as he heard his ached sobs.

"I know, Gaara… That pain… the pain of being alone… is more unbearable than even the most horrible wound, isn't it?"

The red-haired rookie from Suna stared at Naruto, shocked to see the tears on his face when Naruto raised his head to look at him. Gaara was stunned to see his opponent look at him, not with malice, hatred, or rage, but sadness and sorrow. The look Naruto gave him caused Gaara's chest to hurt, like it did when he was a small child, back before his world was thrown into hatred and chaos. All he could do was stare as fresh tears ran down Naruto's cheeks.

Naruto know understood how Iruka must have felt on the night when he realized their connection and their bond solidified, "I know, Gaara… I understand the pain…" he cried, "I know what it's like to have all the people in the world hate you for your existence and want nothing more than to be rid of you… I understand how it feels… I know…"

Naruto sniffed and tried to control himself again. Harry sat down on his bed and watched as his small brother cried his heart out.

Gaara questioned Naruto in a more vulnerable, childish, "What… What makes you think that you know? How?"

Naruto let out one more wave of muffled sobs before he looked at him and answered, "Because we're the same, Gaara… I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox…"

Gaara was stunned. The truth shocked him down to his core as Naruto let his head fall down into the dirt. Gaara flinched and almost tried to reach out to Naruto until he raised his head again to look at him.

"Despite the fact that I contain this demon, life has gotten better for me… Because I found other people who are precious to me… I found friends that cared for me as much as I did for them… and when I'm with them, I can't imagine how life can be anymore perfect than it has so far…"

Naruto then forced his left arm under his chin so that he could look at Gaara. But this time, he looked livid as he stared at Gaara with the same ferocious look he had while the two of them fought. Gaara flinched and let out a small noise, as he seemed to recoil in fear and hurt.

"But even though I understand what it's like, Gaara… I won't let you hurt the people that are important to me…. And if you ever try to kill them again, I will stop you… even if I have to kill you to do it."

Gaara felt himself relax more as Naruto relented from his intense stare and found the confidence to question him.

"But why?" he asked, "Why do you go to such great lengths for other people's sakes?"

Naruto relaxed more and he said with a softer, warmer voice, as he reached out to the other rookie, "Because those people saved me, Gaara… The friends I made and the bonds I formed over time have saved me from the hell of loneliness… Those people acknowledged my existence and gave me a reason to live… That's why they are so important to me… I love them."

Harry closed his eyes as he thought about his mother's sacrifice as he reached to touch his old scar. Gaara looked towards the skies and could have sworn he could hear his uncle's voice, Yashamaru when he lectured him about love. But this time, he didn't think Yashamaru had lied to him when he told him: "Love… is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important… and precious to you… It is expressed by caring for… and protecting that person."

Gaara saw the two trees where he and Naruto fell from and thought back to their earlier battle.

"Love," he whispered out loud and then he thought, 'That's the reason why he's so strong… that's how he was able to beat me… That's where he draws his true strength…'

Gaara turned his head back at Naruto and called out to him in a voice that was so much softer, even a little bit warm compared to how he spoke before.

"Naruto Uzumaki…"

The blonde wizard blinked at the fellow jinchuuriki as his vision blurred and he felt weaker and weaker each second as darkness settled around him.

"You think… that even I have a chance… to live a life like that? Your life? You think… it could be possible… for me… to have… Friends?"

Before Naruto lost consciousness, he was able to answer Gaara with his last breath.

"Yes," he said and then he said as the darkness took him, "Even we could be friends…"

Gaara stared at the blonde-haired rookie and watched him lose consciousness. The red-haired rookie didn't know if Naruto had died but felt a wave of relief when he saw him his back rise and lower. And it was at that moment, Gaara realized, for the first time since his uncle died, that he cared about someone other than himself. He couldn't describe how it made him feel: lost, vulnerable, hurt, stronger than he ever felt, but also weaker. It was so much for him to take in as he stared at the clouds far above the trees.

A moment later, he heard two people arrive and realized it was Temari and somehow Kankuro survived. Temari checked over Gaara while Kankuro looked across the meadow and saw Naruto. Temari dismissed the blonde-haired rookie, but Kankuro didn't. The black-clad puppeteer sauntered over to Naruto and drew a kunai. Gaara flinched when he heard the weapon drawn as Kankuro reached out to Naruto and turned him around.

Gaara couldn't hear it well, but Kankuro wanted revenge on Naruto. Revenge for the constant humiliation and blamed him for the failure of their mission. Naruto didn't respond, as to be expected in his condition, when Kankuro was about to slit his throat with the curved kunai.

"No," moaned Gaara before he saw what Kankuro was about to do and he shouted, "DON'T! DON'T KILL HIM!"

Both Temari and Kankuro stared at Gaara as the redhead eased back down and muttered over and over, "Please don't… leave him alone… don't hurt him… Leave him alone…"

Kankuro relented left Naruto alone as the broken branches of the trees around him fell. He collected Gaara with Temari's assistance and the trio retreated to the direction that led them back to Suna. While the Suna Siblings traversed across the forests, Gaara thought about Naruto the whole time and wondered, if their villages ever knew peace again, he could be reunited with the first true friend he ever had.

When the trio from Suna retreated far from Konoha, at least five miles from the border, Gaara called out to his brother and sister, his voice was calm, sad, and hinted at an unbelievably remorseful as he reflected on his past actions over the last several hours.

He muttered to them softly, "Kankuro… Temari…"

The two rookies blinked at their little brother and heard the uncommon, soft, but genuinely remorseful tone in his voice as he beckoned to them.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Both elder brother and sister couldn't believe their ears and looked at each other. Both of them wondered what had happened between him and Naruto Uzumaki, but whatever he did, it worked. The two elder siblings continued to carry Gaara in their arms, holding him a little bit closer as the three of them continued to bounce from tree to tree. Temari held her brother closer than Kankuro did, Naruto words still struck at her heart even then while Kankuro was the first one to break the silence.

"Don't worry about it… Gaara…"

{{Arena Crumbles by James Newton Howard}}

Naruto slipped in and out of consciousness after Temari and Kankuro collected Gaara and fled. His right arm throbbed as his vision switched from the mindscape to the trees of the forest. With his blurred vision, all he saw were mixtures of green, blue, the yellow sun, and the brown bark and splinters of wood. But as he remained on the ground, the branches above him that were bent, crushed, and torn in the battle started to fall as a wind breezed through. Whole branches crashed down as Naruto lacked the strength to move, even while several branches came close and could have crushed him. He didn't seem to care as he stared out ahead and the sun shined in his face obscuring his vision.

The pain in his arm threw him in and out of the real world. But between these shifts, he would blink and could have sworn he heard feet in addition to the crack of another fallen branch. When he started to come to, he saw someone stand over him in concern. At first he thought it was Iruka, but when he blinked, it looked more like one of the ANBU. His arm throbbed and he blacked out once more. When he resurfaced, Naruto felt a set of strong arms collect him as he stared out towards the sun. He was in so much pain, drained of so much chakra, he didn't care if he lived or died. He welcomed oblivion, as he would be free of the constant, agonizing throb in his arm.

Before he passed out one last time, he felt a needle stick into his broken arm and it went numb in an instant. After that, the whole world seemed to slow down into slow-motion. He felt the man who carried him zoom through the forest as the wind brushed his dirtied blonde hair, all the while he saw what looked like fire, smoke, and leafs dance in the wind. Naruto looked over and could have sworn he saw Sakura in the arms of another ANBU, as well as Sasuke in the arms of a third.

But for all he knew, it could have been a hallucination. For soon the drugs took over and Naruto blacked out in the arms of his savior with the mask of a hound.

To Be Continued…

And that marks the end of the invasion! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I look forward to reading your comments :D

We've also reached the part where I talk about the difference between version, like I always do. So let's get started:

In the original version of Gamabunta's debut, Gamakichi and Naruto had formed a friendship, a brotherhood, kinda like the Sworn Brothers ideal from Ocarina of Time, where Naruto earned Gamabunta's respect as a result of saving his son earlier. I cut this and decided to go with the canon route.

When Iruka's first action scene started in the original, instead of him yelling, "GERONIMO!" Iruka shouted, "ADMIRAL AKBAR!" when he attacked the foreign ninja team. One of the soldiers said, "IT'S A-" before he was decapitated by Iruka and after he finished off the team, the chunin said, "It's a trap, beotch!" which I thought was kinda stupid. So I decided to have Iruka act a little bit like Spider-Man and Sokka from Avatar in the new version but still make his dialogue sound like it would be something he would say, basing his attitude from the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon version of Spider-Man.

Iruka and Kakashi's confrontation is more or less the same, with the expected changes with the improved grammar.

When Naruto transforms into the lion of Gryffindor House in the original, I wrote it based on the description of Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia. Looking back at the original description, it made Naruto seem too… holy, and I wasn't very comfortable with that. I described Naruto's form as, "the Son of the Emperor Over the Sea" and knowing who Aslan is supposed to represent in those books, I thought it best to describe him another way without sounding so over-the-top religious about it.

In the scene about the Will of Fire and the citizens of Konoha, I deleted a scene where Kiba was locked in a holding cell with Hinata. Hearing the invasion, Hinata decides to stop being so timid and weak and used her Gentle Fist to blast the cell doors down when all the ANBU left them behind. Kiba ended up finding a sniper rifle and decided to shoot at Oto and Suna-nin while Hinata helped drive the enemies out of Konoha. All the while, Kiba acts like Angry Joe and screams about "revolution" like in Kickassia

In the scene after Orochimaru and Kabuto flee, Anko arrived too late and distracted Iruka and Kakashi from their argument. When she arrived, Iruka smiled and waved as if he were lovesick and Anko screams for where Orochimaru is. Now in the original version I was implying that Kakashi and Anko used to be a couple, but it didn't make sense unless I hinted at it before the preliminaries started, which I didn't, even in this version. When Kakashi noticed her in the original chapter, he immediately screamed and covered his privates, warning her to, "Stay away from my p***s!" which I thought was pretty weak humor, so I cut it out entirely.

I also added a scene where Kankuro tries to murder Naruto but Gaara begged him to stop, so he relented. You can expect Naruto and Kankuro to have another bitter confrontation in the future ;)

In the final scene of the original version, Jiraiya was supposed to be the one that rescued Naruto and carried him to the hospital. As well as Sakura and Sasuke. But in the new version, I decided to have an ANBU save him and his friends before he passes out

And those are all of the details, and I have to admit: I'm shocked that I'm this far into the story. Two years ago, I was still stuck on the Forest of Death re-writes and I thought I was never going to get this chapter done. But now we're almost at the end of Book 3 and I couldn't be happier with it!

As usual, please let me know what you guys think in the reviews and keep an eye out for the next chapter! It will be a lot shorter than this one, so it shouldn't take me too long to finish and post it! See ya! :D