Author's Note

I disclaim all anime, video game and movie references. Again, I'll translate the Latin used by Skorge. Enjoy this chapter because there is a lot of fighting in it!

Chapter Thirty Three

Hidan clashed his scythe against Kakashi's kunai in frenzy. He swung at Kakashi again only to be blocked again. He stopped to catch his breath as two of Kakuzu's hearts came to fight Kakashi. Hidan then turned his attention towards Kakuzu and RAAM. Kakuzu broke into a sprint towards RAAM but RAAM outran him and charged up to him first and punched Kakuzu in the face before he could harden his skin. Hidan was confused at first to how he could have been faster than Kakuzu until he noticed the Kryll Queens on his back. They were holding him above the ground and flying him towards Kakuzu; RAAM was able to move at incredible speeds because of the Kryll.

"Does it hurt?" RAAM asked as the Kryll Queens lowered him to the ground and Kakuzu picked himself up.

"That tickled." Kakuzu said as he fired his right arm at RAAM with his tentacle like innards and punched RAAM in the face with an iron skinned fist. RAAM backed off but it didn't seem to hurt him that much. "DIE!"

The Kryll Queens began to pick RAAM up again but RAAM didn't want to run. He telepathically told the Queens to keep him where he was so he could fight Kakuzu close up and not have to worry about being attacked by any distance ninjutsu. Kakuzu dodged fist after fist thrown at him by RAAM and hit the Locust general with an uppercut. Again RAAM appeared unmoved by the attack. Kakuzu became frustrated as RAAM smirked at him. Kakuzu began to punch RAAM repeatedly in the stomach but RAAM stood there laughing at Kakuzu's attempts to hurt him. Even his iron skin couldn't beat RAAM.

"What the fuck Kakuzu!? Finish the big asshole already!" Hidan shouted as he charged back at Kakashi who had just narrowly escaped the blast of Kakuzu's wind heart. "Your iron skin is tougher than him! Beat his head in!"

"It's like punching a steel wall!" Kakuzu shouted as he threw a heel kick at RAAM's head and had his leg caught by him. RAAM whipped Kakuzu into an open area and charged at him while he was in mid air.

"Boomer Shot!" RAAM shouted as he built up a large amount of chakra into his right arm. He then punched Kakuzu with a now burning hot fist of chakra and blew him away with stream of chakra.

"HOT!!!!!" Kakuzu screamed as he felt his hardened skin and innards burn from RAAM's attack. It was as if he had been struck with the blast of a volcano; the chakra was condensed tightly and filled with fire element. Kakuzu crashed into a tree as RAAM landed and drew his turret gun. "I'll have to take your heart after this battle RAAM-rikugunshokan.

"Fat chance! Eat lead!" RAAM shouted as he fired away at Kakuzu who was now on the run from the bullets. He hardened his skin for protection; he had heard on the street that Locust turrets used what were called armor piercing rounds which could rip through solid walls and even steel. Kakuzu would end up wasting all his chakra at this rate. "Scream like the bitch you are! You Akatsuki are nothing but talk! Akumu could put up a better fight than you with less than half of his powers!"

"He's open! We can get him!" Choji said as he dogged a ravenous Kryll Queen. Choji expanded his fist and readied himself to attack.

"Wait for us Choji!" Shikamaru shouted as he dogged the other Kryll Queen and chased after him.

"Don't leave me here all alone!" Ino screamed as she threw shuriken at the insects and swatted at them as they came closer to her. Ino was living in her worst nightmare; she was being attacked by huge flesh eating insects! "Please don't leave me here! Ah! They're going to eat me alive!"

"Eat this!" Choji shouted as he threw his fist at RAAM who was reloading his gun. RAAM rear kicked Choji sending him flying. RAAM then turned around and acted as if he was going to kick something at Choji. "Ah! Crap!"

"Konoha pig! I'll blow you to pieces! Grenade Launcher Strike!" RAAM shouted as he kicked a huge ball of chakra at Choji. The ball then exploded and dispersed into smaller fragments of hot chakra like a grenade. Choji yelped in pain as he felt the hot chakra bury deep into his skin and even burned through his armor. "You fascists will be crushed!"

"Now's not the time to be giving bad guy speeches!" Shikamaru said as his shadow took hold of RAAM's shadow. "You build your chakra up like Tsunade and Sakura do for super human strength and use a technique similar to the Gentle Fist to fire it. If you can't move your body in any sort of way to launch your attack then it's useless. Now let's drop the gun and make this a fair fight."

"You are the worst kind of schemer! You think that all your plans will go perfectly and that you can come up with a new one fast when the first one doesn't work! You pride yourself in your intelligence; you are an arrogant son of a bitch." RAAM said with a smile. He was staying on his toes and just attacking so that he couldn't give his enemy time to think. A strategy he learned from Nazo. Suddenly two huge holes opened in RAAM's legs. "What will you do now when your ace in the whole technique can't work!?"

Smaller, normal Kryll began to crawl out of the holes in RAAM and crawled down his legs into Shikamaru's shadow. They began to eat his shadow; they were using the darkness of his shadow to cover themselves as they swarmed closer and closer to him! RAAM had broken free by making the Kryll eat Shikamaru's shadow!

"Shit!" Shikamaru shouted as he canceled his technique and ran away from the Kryll who flew at him but soon burnt up in mid air. RAAM picked his gun back up but was soon hit with a right hook by Kakuzu who sent him skidding against the ground and made him drop his gun. The Kryll Queens quickly picked up RAAM but he was sent flying again by a round house kick to his head. Kakuzu wasn't going to let him get up.

"So that's your secret! You are invincible on the inside so long as your Kryll are there to protect you!" Kakuzu said as he began attack with a fury of punches. RAAM began to block his enemy's attacks so he could regain his footing and defense. "They bulk up your muscles and other innards so that you can absorb attacks even as hard as my iron skin! But when you unleashed those Kryll from before you lost your defenses! You're mine now!"

Kakuzu punched RAAM in the face but it was absorbed like before. RAAM then grabbed Kakuzu's arm and whipped him around before attaching a tag frag grenade to him and throwing him into another tree. Kakuzu quickly used a substitution to escape. Kakuzu reappeared on the branch of a tree and glared down at RAAM. RAAM was making a fool out of him.

"Damn, my guns are useless here." RAAM said as he whistled to the other two Kryll Queens to come to him. They then landed on his forearms and almost merged into his flesh. Then their wings folded down his arms and became almost like sharp brass knuckles on the Locust General. "Now come at me! Let's see you beat all four of my queens!"

"With pleasure!" Kakuzu shouted as he ran down the trunk of the tree he was in at RAAM ready to attack him with an iron body. RAAM flew at Kakuzu with his fists bared and ready. "It doesn't matter what kind of weapon you use! My iron skin can withstand even a rockslide!"

RAAM ignored the arrogant Akatsuki ninja and punched Kakuzu in the chest plate with the sharp wings of a Kryll Queen. Kakuzu fell back in shock that his skin had been penetrated a second time by this brute of a man. Kakuzu watched at RAAM withdrew his right fist and threw his left fist at him. Kakuzu quickly dodged and now was put on the defensive side. He blocked attack after attack until he felt something cut his face. He looked over at RAAM's right fist which he had just dodged and saw that wind chakra was being generated through the wings of the Kryll Queen!

"The Kryll Queens have their own elemental chakra! They can generate it through their wings!" RAAM shouted as his left fist landed a nasty uppercut into Kakuzu's stomach. Kakuzu felt a shock of electricity; the other queen was a lightening type! "And there's plenty more!"

RAAM Grenade Launcher kicked Kakuzu away and charged at him. Kakuzu tried to catch RAAM's arms but he was too fast. Kakuzu tried to run away but was blasted away by RAAM's Thruster technique. Kakuzu held his stomach as he felt himself bleed slowly. He saw RAAM land a few feet away from him and began to walk towards him. RAAM pointed at Kakuzu, he was going to execute him. RAAM began to reach for his huge knife that he used to impale people on. Suddenly RAAM froze in place; he had been caught by Shikamaru again.

"You're going to need a bigger triumph card than this boy!" RAAM shouted as smaller Kryll crawled out of his back and ate away Shikamaru's shadow. "I have plenty of chakra left! I barely use any to coat my smaller Kryll to allow them to come out in the day time to fight!"

"Now Ino!" Shikamaru shouted as he jumped away from the Kryll and Ino charged at RAAM with a hand full of paper kunai bombs.

"Eat this asshole!" Ino shouted as he jumped up into the air and threw the kunai bombs at RAAM. He had poured out a lot of Kryll, there was no way he could stop the bombs!

"Entertain me, please." RAAM said as he pointed his palms at the kunai and two huge holes opened in his hand. "Kryll Hive Cannon!"

Suddenly Kryll fired out of the holes in RAAM's hands and took out the kunai. RAAM then flew into the air and grabbed Ino by the arm.

"No!" Ino screamed at RAAM began to spin her around and threw her at Shikamaru below. "Shikamaru help me!"

"Hold on Ino!" Shikamaru shouted as he caught Ino in mid air. She fainted for a moment and came back to being conscience when she realized she was on solid ground. "This guy is crazy. Hiashi-dono didn't get anything nearly as bad compared to how this guy fights now."

"You'll pay for what you did to my friends!" Choji shouted as he made a series of hand signs and ran towards a ramp shaded outcrop in the area and launched himself at RAAM as he began to roll into a spiked ball. "Nikudan Harisensha: Spiked Meat Tank!"

RAAM kicked Choji away like a soccer ball at Kakashi and Hidan who were still going at each other. They saw Choji coming at them and pushed off each other to get away. Choji crashed in a tree and fell down with a loud thud. He didn't land properly with the crash and was injured. RAAM saw what was going on and took this as his chance to fight back.

"Let's see you handle this RAAM-rikugunshokan!" Kakuzu shouted as he performed a series of hand signs. Suddenly the lightening heart split in two and revealed another hear hidden within it. It was a water heart with a fish like body. RAAM saw this and he also saw how it fired a beam of water hard enough to break wood at Kakashi earlier. "You can't out fly my water heart! If anything, it's father than the wind heart!"

"I guess I better switch gears then!" RAAM said as the Kryll Queens in his arms crawled up his arms and appeared on his back. RAAM then began to fly two times faster. RAAM then zipped past Ino and Shikamaru and picked his turret gun back up. "Alright, fair game, let's go fly fishing!"

RAAM began to fire at the water heart that began to maneuver around the bullets and fire huge balls of water at RAAM. Kakuzu turned his attention towards the young ninja and attacked Choji who now was well enough to fight again. The battle was now put into a scramble; everyone was now paired off with an opponent and everyone was putting all their efforts to fighting the opponent they now faced.

Meanwhile, deep in the shelter made for the civilians and children in the village, Konohamaru and his squad stood guarding the cadet ninjas and civilians.

"This is bull! We should be out there protecting the village!" Konohamaru complained. He knew that the Locusts were strong but there had to be something that he and his friends could do besides sit in a cave a listen to a bunch of little kids cry.

"No way Konohamaru! Don't you remember what happened the last time the Locust Horde invaded!?" Udon asked in shock that Konohamaru would even want to fight the Locusts. "They blew up more than half the village and they let lose those weird bugs! We don't know if those things are out there or worse!"

"Udon is right Konohamaru!" Moegi said as frightened tears began to pour down her face. "I never want to have to see a Wretch, a Drone, or a Grinder ever again!"

"Don't cry Moegi, everything will be fine!" Konohamaru said. He hated seeing her like this. "We'll be fine but still though, this is our village and we should do everything that we can to protect it. I'm not afraid of a couple of grubs and neither should you."

"I need to be alone for a moment." Moegi said as she walked away to a quite place where she could cry. She was more scared for her life than she ever had been. Suddenly she heard the sound of loud footsteps coming from down a hall. Moegi stopped sobbing for a moment to speak. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Moegi followed the noise until she came to a corner. Suddenly an ugly helmeted beast head appeared before her. It was a short legged beast only a bit larger than a pony that had huge clawed feet and mantis like arms. Its jaws were huge and filled with large canines and giant grinding teeth in the back of its jaw. There was a Locust riding on the back of the beast and he turned his attention towards the frightened Moegi.

"Ground walker!" The Locust shouted as Moegi ran away screaming as the beast lunged out at Moegi with its mantis claws while growling at her. "You won't get away!"

The Beat Rider Grenadier fired a shot from his hammerburst at Moegi and shot her in the back of the leg. He then began to approach her as she crawled away in a panic.

"Help me! Someone please help me! I don't want to be eaten! Please! Someone! Anyone! Help me!" Moegi screamed with tears of pain and fear running down her face. She couldn't escape! She was going to die! "NNNOOOO!!!"

"Fool! Don't bother with the kiddies if they're not from any sort of clan! It's just a waste of ammunition!" Another Beast Rider said as he rode up to his comrade and grabbed his shoulder. "Kill the Chunin and Jonin and any ninjas from the prestigious families in Konoha!"

"But my Bloodmount is hungry." The first Beast Rider complained.

"That's an order! Leave her be! She can just bleed to death!" The second Beast Rider barked. "We don't have anything against the kids! Just the adults who fed us to that teme from the west!"

"Fine, I'll let her live." The first Beast Rider said as he stomped off on his Bloodmount and left through another tunnel where Jonin were lined up ready to fight. Moegi couldn't believe how lucky she was!

"Moegi! What is going on!?" Udon asked as he and Konohamaru ran up to her and helped her up. She began to limp from the bullet lodged in the back of her leg. "We're going to get you out of here! Don't worry!"

"They brought monsters here to kill us!" Moegi said between sobs. She couldn't stand the pain of having a bullet lodged into her flesh. It was more agonizing than any other pain she felt before. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! WHAAAAHH!"

"MOEGI CALM DOWN!!! We're going to get you some help!" Konohamaru shouted at her. The fighting began in the caverns; all the ninja left to guard the academy ninja and civilians were now caught fighting against the Beast Riders and their Bloodmounts. Things were getting bad; there wasn't a lot of room to fight and the Locusts began to fire at some of the people in the shelter. Inoichi's father had been shot down, a distant cousin of Neji's was eaten alive by a Bloodmount, and Shino's grandaunt was shot several times in the chest. The elders and children of Konoha's clans were in danger! "We need to get everyone out of here now!"

Suddenly one Beast Rider was knocked off his Bloodmount and the beast began to run unrestrained at the people in the caverns. It then sniffed out the blood from Moegi's wound and charged forth at the hurt Genin and her friends. Udon and Konohamaru began to walk faster with Moegi dragging her leg behind. There was nothing they could do; Konohamaru and his teammates were going to be eaten!

"No! No! No! No! No! No!" Udon shouted as he tried to run with Moegi now trying to use her injured leg. The Bloodmount came closer and readied its claws. "We're dead!"

Suddenly the Bloodmount stopped in place and began to rub its clawed foot against its head and press its mantis like claws against its ears. It was trapped in genjutsu. Konohamaru and the others looked to see who had caught the fiend in the strange noise genjutsu. It was Shinnosuke Hosoku, Saiban's son!

"I caught him but you guys need to get out of here!" Shin shouted. "Evacuate everyone here needs to get out before the Bloodmounts kill any more people!"

"Thanks Shin! We'll do that once we help Moegi here!" Konohamaru answered back. He was glad to have run into him at this time.

"But if everyone goes outside, then they'll get caught in the fighting going on outside!" Udon said. He was afraid of what would happen once everyone got outside.

"We'll have to take that chance! If we stay in here then the Beast Riders will get us!" Shin said as his genjutsu technique wore off and the Bloodmount focused its attention on Shin. "Let's go now!"

Shin got underneath Moegi and began to carry her legs while Konohamaru and Udon supported her arms on their shoulders. They then began to run for dear life and broke out of the exit of the shelter and ran to find a medical ninja. The civilians, elderly, and cadet ninjas ran out screaming as Beast Riders and now Tickers came chasing after them. All hell had broken loose in the Hidden Leaf Village! No one was safe now!

Team Kurenai arrived at the hospital. There were ninjas guarding the entrance as well as the inside. They ran in to see what was happening. There was a Jonin barking orders out at the medical ninjas trying to move the patients.

"We're Team Eight, what is going on here?" Shino asked. As he and the rest of his squad approached the Jonin in charge.

"We have a full platoon of Locusts heading this way and right now we're trying to evacuate everyone!" The Jonin said with a hoarse voice from all his screaming. "We need to move fast and get as many people out of here as possible before the fighting starts. We were going to send out more medical ninja to the frontline but now that's not possible."

"What can we do to help? Our instructor Kurenai Yuhi is here, is she alright?" Hinata asked. She was very concerned about her sensei's well being.

"We are setting up a trap at the entrance for when they arrive but we need as many ninja as possible to be ready to attack them when they get here." The Jonin said finally stopping to catch his breath. "Head up stairs; that is where everyone now guarding the front will be to stop the Locusts from entering."

"Alright, let's do this!" Kiba said, eager to kill more grubs. The party then went upstairs to meet with the other ninja there. They walked up the stairs and through the doors where they met Sakura's team. They had been called back when word got out that Locusts were on their way to the hospital and returned to help guard it and treat the wounded.

"Oh, h-hello, Sakura." Hinata said without looking Sakura in the eyes. After the fight they had, she couldn't look Sakura in the eyes. It wasn't out of disrespect but out of shame; Hinata couldn't believe that she had beaten her so badly.

"Um, hi." Sakura said looking down. Her conscience was now racked with guilt. She was still feeling bas after Tsunade's lecture and wanted to apologize but now really didn't seem like the time to. "Um, Hinata?"

"What is it?" Hinata asked softly. She could tell that Sakura wasn't feeling good.

"I…um…it can wait." Sakura said looking down. She wished she had come up with the courage to say sorry but she didn't and now felt even worse. Hinata also wanted to say sorry for what had happened and even though a lot of bad things happened between them, she wanted Sakura to know that she forgave her.

"No time to talk! Everyone get ready at the upper floor! We are going to light explosives on the Locusts when they reach the entrance!" A Jonin shouted as he burst into the room. Team Kurenai and Team Sakura obeyed. They went to the balcony on the second floor and took cover behind the ledges and waited. "Anyone who has radio contacts on them, turn your channel to a universal channel. We need everyone to hear what is going on."

"Those grubs have some serious sacks busting into here." Kiba said as he began to sniff the air. He could smell explosives being set up on the first floor.

"I doubt that this has anything to do with courage. They just don't know that they've been sent on a suicide run." Lee said as he peered over the edge and saw that nothing was going on.

"Maybe their desperate or something else is going on." Shino said as he looked sent a beetle outside to scout for him.

"What do you mean?" Sai asked as he made ink mice to scout for him and see if the Locusts were on their way.

"Maybe something else is going on and this is a distraction. Or maybe the Locusts are desperate to end this fight before the Brumaks arrive. Maybe there is something going on behind the scenes of this battle for something more gruesome plotted." Shino said as he picked up the beetle he sent out and listened to what it had to tell him. Sai's mice returned also. Both scouting parties had the same thing to say; the Locusts were on their way!

"Everyone be alert! Locusts are in the hospital! I repeat Locusts are in the hospital!" A Jonin shouted through a headset microphone letting everyone wearing them know. "Wait until they arrive in the center of the hospital then blow them to hell!"

Hinata's heart began to race with adrenaline, her senses were hyped beyond belief, and she held a kunai paper bomb ready to be thrown at the gas tanks left out downstairs. Suddenly there was banging on the hospital doors; it was the Locust Horde and they were ready to attack!

"ATTACK!!!" A Grenadier Elite shouted as he burst through the doors and began firing up at the ninja who were waiting. A good number of Locusts were struck with shuriken and kunai but it wasn't enough to kill them with their bullet proof armor. "Shoot them down and don't let them flank us! Someone get a grenade up there!"

"Now! Hit them now!" One Jonin shouted as he made a series of hand signs and spat out six fireballs at the Locusts. Hinata threw her paper kunai bomb at the gas tanks hit one in the dead center. It began to flame then exploded killing the grubs below. "Good work!"

"Mayday! Mayday! We are under heavy fire in the back of the hospital! There are several Locusts coming in from the rear!" An Anbu shouted over a radio signal into the radio signal of another Anbu in the hospital. "They have Grinders and Maulers with them! They are pushing us back with Tickers! Be careful!"

"Alright, Team Kurenai will go take care of the lower level. Team Sakura come with me to finish off any Locusts that may have gotten up stairs." The Jonin in charge of the hospital said. The teams obeyed and spilt up.

"What the hell are we going to do with all the big guns raiding this place?" Kiba asked as he and his team moved through a hall way to get to the lower level.

"Just deal with it when we get there." Hinata said. She didn't see Kurenai amongst the people being evacuated from the hospital. She was beginning to worry. "I just hope Kurenai-sensei is alright."

"Fall back!" A voice below shouted. It was another Grenadier Elite leading a squad that was being pushed back. Hinata and the others came to the balcony of the floor and looked down on the running Locusts. Kiba drew a handful of shuriken and threw them at the Drones below.

"Don't stop! Keep hitting them! Keep hitting them!" Shino shouted as he sent a swarm of bugs down to attack and Hinata made use of her new Dangan technique to shoot down the Drones. Most of the escaping Locusts were killed and the party moved on. "At least this time we have the vantage point."

The team moved on and came across three different hall ways which lead to the lower floor. Hinata activated her Byakugan to see which way was safest. None of them were; all three paths had Locusts ascending the stairs.

"It's no use taking one path. We'll have to split up and deal with any Locusts we run into along the way." Hinata said as she watched the Drones come closer to her team's position. "I'll take the hall on the far left."

"Alright, be careful Hinata. And keep a close eye out for Kurenai-sensei. We have to make sure she gets out of here in one piece." Kiba said as Akamaru jumped on his back and turned himself into a doppelganger of Kiba and followed him down the center hall.

"Thanks, good luck to you guys." Hinata said as she ran down the hall and slid into cover behind a fallen table as the approaching Locusts spotted her. "I can't get a good angle to use Dangan from and normal projectiles are useless."

"That was a Hyuga! Shot her down!" One Drone shouted as he switched his hammerburst from semi-auto to auto fire to better his chances of hitting Hinata. Luckily the table Hinata was behind was made of metal and was able to absorb the bullets. The Drone and his comrades approached closer and closer to Hinata's position but unfortunately for them, they standing in front of large glass windows and a team of ninja outside spotted them. The Drones were then taken out by a shower of kunai and shuriken.

"Is anyone here?" One Jonin asked as he and four of his team mates jumped in from the windows. "If you are, are you okay?"

"I'm fine thank you." Hinata said as she rose up from her cover spot. "There are still wounded people being evacuated from here. Everyone here needs help clearing the building."

"Okay, we'll provide back up for you back up for you Hinata-sama." The Jonin said as two of his team mates joined him to come with her.

"You don't need the honorific. I'll lead the way." Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan to see what was going on. She watched as ninja trapped in the small room below struggled to take cover behind the walls as a Grinder ripped through their defenses with his mulcher. "We have a Grinder up ahead."

The party went on and stopped at the top of the stairs. They needed to wait for an opportunity to arrive for them to attack the brute. Hinata's Byakugan began to wonder and she saw something crawling through the air vent above her and her party. It was a Locust but an ordinary one. Hinata saw a Trinity of Worms pinnacle hanging from the Locust's neck; it was a Kantus!

"Look out!" Hinata said as she and her party jumped away from the air vent as the Kantus broke through and began firing at them. The Jonin attacked but the tight space they were in gave an advantage to the Kantus whose scream blasted them away and distracted them long enough to shoot them. Hinata had been knocked down the stairs. She quickly got back to her feet and looked over her shoulder. The Grinder had spotted her!

"GRIND!!" The Grinder shouted as he fired away at Hinata who quickly ran away from his fire. She had to nowhere to take cover at and the ninja down stairs were too injured to help her. "I've only killed common fascist pigs today! You'll be my first prized Hyuga kill for the day!"

"Don't take that shit Hinata!" Kiba shouted as he dashed into the room and used his Tsuga technique to drill through the Grinder and kill it. He and Akamaru had just gotten down stairs and made it just in time. The Jonin who were with Hinata earlier came down stairs in one piece; they had defeated the Kantus. "Whoa, that's a lot of blood there."

"Thanks for pointing that out." Hinata said sarcastically feeling disgusted by the pool of blood on the hospital floor. "Where is Shino? Did you see Kurenai-sensei anywhere?"

"No, I hope that their still alive though." Kiba said as he began to sniff for his sensei and his teammate. "I can't smell either of them. I'm just as worried as you. It's hard fighting in theses tight spaces."

"Doesn't matter, we need to move on though." One of the Jonin who was on the bottom floor to begin with said as he got up from behind one of the walls in the hallway while holding his side. "The top floor should be clean. We pushed most of the Locusts back and out of the hospital but the bigger ones still remain inside."

"Well, at least we're almost done here." Kiba said as he wiped some of his own blood off his forehead. "I can't take much more of this. I need to find a place to be healed."

Suddenly a scream was heard in the hospital cafeteria; it was a Mauler! The ninja still mobile ran to see what was happening and out of pure luck flanked the enemy once they arrived. The Grenadiers turned around to try and fire but the ninja didn't give them time to attack. Hinata struck one Grenadier in the heart, Kiba and Akamaru took out the other Grenadiers and Drones with their Gatsuuga technique and the Jonin started to attack the Mauler. The Mauler took cover behind his shield and swung his flail causing the dead bodies lying around to be blown all over.

"Look Hinata! Grub fell face first on the salad!" Kiba pointed out to one of the bodies now lying in the salad bar face first.

"Now is not the time to be joking around Kiba!" Hinata shouted as she and the other Jonin readied themselves for the Mauler's charge. Suddenly someone ran up and sent the Mauler flying from a right hook to the face causing him to drop his shield. It was Sakura!

"Sorry I'm late! I had to heal some of the people still here." Sakura said as she and her team made their appearance. "Is that all of them?"

"There shouldn't be-"Before the Jonin could finish his sentence, a metal arrow went flying into his side causing him to fall down.

"Archers too!?" Sakura said in disbelief. She couldn't believe that the Locusts would use such primitive weapons to take them by surprise. "Hold still! I'll get it out!"

"No! Don't Sakura! That thing is going to blow!" Kiba shouted as a ticking noise went off. Sakura jumped away and screamed as bits of flesh and bone splattered on her from the explosive arrow. 'There's a Theron here!"

"Die ground walkers!" The Theron said from the next floor up looking over the balcony ledge. As soon as he began to reload his torque bow, a swarm of insects began to eat him alive. "What is this!?"

"This is the power of the Aburame clan. Remember it!" Shino said from behind the Theron's back as the bugs eat away his last bit of chakra. "Is everyone okay? I think that was the last Locust in the building."

"Shino! Who loves ya man!?" Kiba shouted with a smile. He and Hinata were grateful that he was alive. Suddenly Shino was knocked to the ground on the floor above. A sniper had kicked him down! "Shino!"

"We're not done yet you little shit!" The sniper said as he pressed his gun against the Shino's head. He was going to blow Shino's head off! Hinata and Kiba raced upstairs to save him. "Eat lead asshole!"

Suddenly a root shot out of the ground that only the sniper could see. He stood there terrified by the plant that had taken hold of him and he felt something fly into his neck. The sniper dropped dead and Shino was safe. Shino looked up to see who had killed the sniper and his eyes grew wide with shock. It was Kurenai! She had used genjutsu to distract the sniper and take him out with needles from a nearby doctor's office!

"Sensei! You're alive!" Shino said in awe. His teammates arrived and were just as surprised and overjoyed to see her.

"You thought that I was dead?" Kurenai asked. She held her stomach to make sure her womb was unharmed.

"You shouldn't be fighting sensei. Not in your condition." Hinata said. She was so happy to see Kurenai safe but she was just as worried about the baby's life as Kurenai was.

"I'll be fine. Thank all of you for coming for me." Kurenai said. She was happy to see her students alright and to know that they cared enough about her to come all this way to find her. "I had to hide when the gun fire started. I've been waiting for things to clear up since then."

"We will escort you out of here Kurenai." One of Jonin from downstairs said as he and his teammates came up to make sure that everyone was okay. "All of you should go find other things to take care of. We need to make sure that everyone is safe and evacuated from the village should the Brumaks that Akumu mentioned appear."

Suddenly another Jonin joined the scene. He was only fairly injured compared to the others and no one recognized him. It was as if he didn't belong to the village. Who was this man who had just appeared?

"Lady Hinata, we must go quickly! The entire Hyuga clan is being rounded up at the clan's estate for safety. Kiba and Shino, your clans are probably doing the same thing. Go find any members of your clans and go to the designated safe spots." The Jonin said. Hinata activated her Byakugan and looked at the Jonin in a skeptical way. She didn't trust him.

"But there are still people who need to be evacuated before the Brumaks come." Hinata said. "The Hyuga clan pledged its loyalty to this village and I intend to support it to the very end."

"What good will the Hyuga clan be if it's dead!? We have to get you and the other Hyuga ninja to safety!" The Jonin said as he desperately needed Hinata to come with him. "I you die, then-"

Hinata struck the man in the heart causing him to drop dead. Everyone stood back in shock that Hinata would kill one of her fellow Leaf Shinobi.

"Hinata, what are you doing!?" Kurenai asked as she watched Hinata unzip the Jonin's jacket, reach down his chainmail and pull some sort of necklace off his body. It was a tag, the kind that the Locusts used to keep track of their fallen men. The Jonin was a Locust in disguise!

"I searched him with my Byakugan, he was one of them; he was a Locust." Hinata said as she showed the tag to everyone as proof.

"If there are more Jonin like this one, then that means that the Horde is setting up some kind of trap!" One of the real Jonin in the room said. This was bad and he and everyone else would have to do something. "We need to change our plan here. Kurenai, we'll still take you to safety but the rest of you will have to go find out what is going on with the Horde is up to. Hurry! We don't know how many ninja have been deceived already!"

"I still need to help treat the wounded out on the field." Sakura said. She was beginning to worry about where this was going. This invasion was worse than the last one and the enemy's tactics were so much more gruesome. The Locust Horde now seemed almost impossible to defeat.

"No, I need to confront my clan about this. Shino and Kiba can help you guys." Hinata said. She was disgusted with what the Horde was doing to kill of her clan; to go so low as to impersonate ninja in the village to deceive them into going along with some sort of wicked plot. "I need to know that my father and sister are safe."

"Wait a minute Hinata! Think about what you are saying." Lee said. He had a feeling that things were about to get worse from here. He was worried about Sakura as well as his other teammates who were scattered, hopefully in one piece and not several, about the village. If was really frightened about the one monk he heard about that was going around cutting people to pieces with some sort of strange staff. "I know that it's your family and everything but what if this is all part of the trap?"

"I'll worry about that later! I'm not going to let them hurt Hanabi and my father." Hinata said. She still held a small grudge against him for what he did the last night but he was still her father. "Shino, help Kurenai-sensei get out of here. Kiba, do you think that you could help Sakura out?"

"You know I got your back!" Kiba said with a smile. He was eager to see more action. "Where are you going Sakura?"

"The frontline, wherever that is right now." Sakura answered. Sakura then tried to look Hinata in the eyes. She still felt ashamed for everything. "Um, Hinata?"

"What is it?" Hinata asked.

"G-Good luck, and be careful." Sakura said as she looked up at her with a smile. She was feeling a little better and so was Hinata.

"Thank you Sakura." Hinata said. She was happy that Sakura was being supportive at a time like this. She hoped to make amends with her once this whole thing was over. "Alright, let's hurry! We don't have much time!"

The parties spilt up to take care of what needed to be taken care of. Hinata went off to find her family, Sakura went off to treat any wounded left on the field, and Shino left to help escort his sensei. Everyone was staying positive about the matter but it would take more than that to make it through the battle; this was getting worse as the Brumaks drew ever closer.

Meanwhile, outside of the hospital, two Hyuga Cadet Branch ninja were making their way to the designated area for their branch to meet. They were escorted by two Jonin.

"We're almost there." One Jonin said as he and the others continued to jump through the forest trees.

"Good, I'm tired of running." The first Cadet said. "Once we regroup we can come up with a way to kill off these grubs once and for all!"

"Do you two ever stop to think about all the people you killed? Have you ever wondered how others felt about it or what sort of impression it would make on your clan?" The first Jonin asked.

"What are you talking about?" The second Cadet asked.

"What about what happened after the fighting? Did you ever think about what this village did to the people who survived the bloodshed?" The second Jonin asked. He and the first were up to something.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" The first Cadet asked he and the second stopped and landed on a tree branch to find out what was going on. Suddenly the two Jonin stopped, turned around, and tackled the two Cadet Branch ninjas. They revealed their Locusts tags and suicide bomber jackets; they were Locusts disguised as ninja!

"This is for my wife and two daughters that you god damn Leaf shinobi rapped and murdered in the war!" The first Locust shouted in tears as he prepared to go on to the afterlife, unsure if it would be in paradise with his family or not.

"This is for feeding me and the survivors of the Whirlpool Village to that pig Niles!" The second Locust shouted as he remembered all the pain and suffering he went through in Niles's lab and cell. The bombs strapped on the Locusts exploded and the Hyuga Cadet Branch ninja were killed along with the Locusts before they hit the ground. All around the village, the similar things were happening to Cadet Branch Hyuga ninja where either gun shots to the back or explosives were killing them off. There was one party however that knew learned the truth during the time of the explosions.

"Did you hear that Neji?" Miki, another Cadet Branch Hyuga, asked. Neji activated his Byakugan and looked at where the explosions went off. There were remnants Locusts where the explosions went off.

"Yes I did and I have an idea of who is responsible for it too." Neji said as he stopped running through the streets of the village and faced the Jonin accompanying him and Miki. "DIE!"

Neji killed the grubs in disguise with palm strikes to their hearts. Neji then pulled out the tags on the Locusts and showed them to Miki to reveal to him who the Jonin really were. Miki couldn't believe what had just happened. The Locusts were now going to extreme lengths to kill off the Hyuga clan.

"Neji, if this is what the Locusts are doing, then our clan is in danger." Miki said as he activated his own Byakugan and began to search for his clan members. "Those grubs said that they were gathering all the Cadet Branch members into one designated area before taking them to the Hyuga Estate Safe House. Do you think that they are planning to have suicide bombers kill all of us off before we even gather?"

"I really don't know. These people are completely unpredictable." Neji said feeling very frustrated by how powerless he and everyone else were to prevent this. He felt like he was wasting his time standing here just to discover more of the Horde's mischief in the village. "There haven't been that many explosions so I doubt that they are going to do in the entire Cadet Branch with suicide bombers."

"What should we do?" Miki asked.

Neji had felt his fair share of ill feelings toward the Main Branch ever since childhood; he had every reason to. But he didn't want to lose the Main Branch the way that Horde was probably intending. It would be the same for the Cadet Branch as well; they would be blown from here to kingdom come and the pride of Konoha would be extinct. They were still family. Neji remembered how Naruto said that he would change the Hyuga clan once he became Hokage; he was beginning to believe that this could happen now if he believed in his uncle and worked with him. Neji was going to stop this genocide right now; he wasn't going to let either branch be hurt anymore by the teme that had come to the village. Neji was going to stop this problem at the source and save his entire clan and make a change now.

"Miki, I know that the Cadet Branch does not look kindly on my beliefs of a more united Hyuga clan but please tell them that I love them all very much as my family. Tell the same to my oji-san Hiashi and the rest of the Main Branch." Neji said as he calmed his body and focused a great amount of chakra into his Byakugan and began to search the village with a bird's eye view.

"Neji, what are you talking about? You sound like your giving me your final words." Miki said as he looked at Neji with deep concern. "What are you doing?"

"Cut off the head of a snake and the whole problem dies; I'm going to cut off the source of authority for the Horde in the village." Neji said as he spotted some nearby Jonin who actually belonged to Konoha.

"Neji that's crazy talk! You can't be serious!" Miki said as his eyes grew wide with shock and fear for Neji's life. "You're not really thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of are you!?"

"Yes I am; I am going to find Akumu and kill him!" Neji said as he began to search for Akumu. "Tell everyone what is going on and make sure that no more of our clan members die in either branch. I found some real Konoha shinobi who can help me. Once I regroup with them, I'm going after Akumu."

"Good luck Neji. I really hope you know what you're doing." Miki said. He then did as Neji asked and the two went their separate ways.

Back outside the village, Tsunade's fight with the Brumak was coming to a close. She had to summon Katsuyu to help once the forest had been too desolated for her and the other ninja with her to hide. Katsuyu would have been able to keep ahead of the Brumak had it not dropped its rocket gear. It was now relying on only its turrets which fired faster than Katsuyu could maneuver around or break her body apart in time to evade. She, for the first time in her life, was bleeding heavily from the armor piercing rounds that had hit her. Green blood oozed out her body swollen purple welts. Tsunade and the others riding weren't sure if they were going to make it out of this one.

"Please forgive me Lady Tsunade, ah." Katsuyu said with a cough. She was in a great deal of pain.

"No, I'm sorry Katsuyu. I shouldn't have put you in this danger." Tsunade said as she glared back at the two Locusts riding the Brumak. They were running out of ammo and this fight had done a toll on the Brumak who was suffering from minor acid burns. "I should have kept on the temes when I had the chance."

"Okay you wrinkly old witch! Now we end this!" One Locust shouted as he activated the turrets and fired away at the giant slug. Katsuyu slithered away as quickly as she could with Tsunade and the others. Brumak chased after them with all of its remaining strength. "Come on big guy, you can catch them! Don't run out of steam on us yet!"

Suddenly the Brumak let out a holler and fell down on its stomach. The second Locust got out of his seat to see what had happened to the Brumak. He saw that there were several needles in the Brumak's leg but those wouldn't be enough to stop it. The Locust was then taken out by a needle through his throat. The first got up from his seat to see what had happened and saw a mysterious Anbu Black Op with a hole in the mouth portion of his mask.

"Ninja Art: Hornet's Nest Technique." The Anbu said to the Locust glaring at him. The Locust soon stopped as acid slime poured down on him and the Brumak and was melted like butter. The Anbu remained silent.

"Thank you that made things easier." Tsunade said as she got off Katsuyu's back along with the ninja with her. The Anbu then nodded his head in welcome. The boss slug then returned to her home and vanished in a poof of smoke. "Now let's hope that the second Brumak has been taken care of."

"Who are you?" One of the Jonin accompanying Tsunade asked. The Anbu didn't answer.

"That doesn't matter right now." Tsunade said. "We need to get back to the village and make sure that everyone else is okay. There are still two Brumaks left and we don't know if they have been stopped or not."

The Hokage's party left for the Hidden Leaf Village. They moved as fast as they could but even that wasn't fast enough to stop the tragedy that was approaching. Meanwhile, back with the Ino-Shika-Chou Trio, things had become very bad. The crazed Brumak was still charging towards the village and the trio was still way behind it. Chouza enlarged himself and prayed that he could still catch it.

"It's almost to the village's walls! Stop the Brumak now Chouza!" Inoichi shouted at the now Brumak sized Chouza.

"Get back here!" Chouza shouted at the Brumak as he dove and tackled it down to the ground. He then began to beat the beast on the head hoping to cave its skull in. "Die! Die! Die!"

Chouza didn't stop to catch his breath as he continued to beat the monstrosity. Soon the beast became enraged and attacked Chouza. Chouza was over powered by the beast and was pinned down. Chouza wanted to shrink back but he was afraid that he would be crushed to death if he did.

"We're coming Chouza! Hang on!" Shikaku shouted as he and Inoichi ran towards the Brumak unsure of what they were going to do to stop it. They watched in horror as the beast sank its teeth into Chouza's right shoulder.

"AAHHH! This thing is going to eat me alive!" Chouza shouted in pain. Suddenly he saw a Jonin go flying through the air and ready a kick aimed at the Brumak's head.

"Come on Chouza! You're stronger than this!" The Jonin shouted. It was Might Guy. "You shouldn't need my help!"

Guy kicked the Brumak in the neck snapping it. The Brumak dropped dead on Chouza who pushed its mouth bleeding corpse off of himself and shrunk back.

"Thanks Guy, had I not been hit by the missiles on that thing earlier I might have been able to handle it." Chouza said as he caught his breath and observed his bitten shoulder. The others with Chouza caught up and let out a sigh of relief knowing that their friend was okay. "That's the second one down. Hopefully Lady Tsunade killed the first one. Now we just need to find the third one."

As Tsunade and the others entered the village, Shizune and a party of three were getting ready to leave. They had just gone to pick up the council members. Homura was gasping for breath as he ran with Shizune, Koharu and the rest of the party trying to get them out of the village.

"Where are we going?" Koharu asked while panting. She was too old to be running like this.

"Somewhere safe." Shizune answered. "There is a safe house that all the village's elderly and-"

Before Shizune could finish, three snipers took out the ninja accompanying her. She watched them drop dead and then looked in front of her. Akumu stood there staring her down. Shizune threw a kunai at Akumu and watched it hit him in the left side of his mouth. Akumu pulled out the kunai and a long barrel revolver and shot Shizune in the leg.

"Pitiful." Akumu said. The stitching in the left side of his mask had come undone exposing his mouth underneath. Shizune looked at his face in horror; he had no lips because of terrible third degree burns on his face! Shizune could see burnt and exposed gums and singed white and black teeth. "You're coming with me."

Three Drones came out and took hold of Homura and Koharu and Akumu took hold of Shizune. Shizune shook her head no telling Akumu to let her go but he only dragged her on glaring at her. Shizune began to cry tears of fear; fear of what Akumu was going to do to her.

"No, no, let me go. Please let me go!" Shizune cried as Akumu shot her other leg. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm making things fair." Akumu said as he threw Shizune over his shoulder with Shizune's bloody legs dangling. "Now we only need to wait for Tsunade to come and watch."

"What are going to do to her!? What are going to do to me!?" Shizune cried out as she began to beat and stab Akumu with her kunai until one of the Drones man handling the council members shot her in the hand. "Someone help us!!"

Tsunade stopped at the village gates to catch her breath after running. She didn't see any Brumaks on the way back and she didn't see any in the village.

"Do you think that maybe Akumu was lying about there being a third Brumak?" One Jonin in her party asked.

"I doubt it; the Locust Horde hasn't lied about anything that they'll do yet." Tsunade said. Suddenly she and the other ninjas heard stomping up ahead. Tsunade's eyes grew wide in a panic as she saw a Brumak appear above the Hokage Stone Memorial. It was way ahead of her and the party and in the perfect spot to launch missiles from without a hassle! "NO! NO! NO! NO! We need to stop that thing now!"

"We'll never make it! We're too far away!" Another Jonin said as he and the others began to sprint with Tsunade to catch the beast. "Shit! What are we going to do!?"

"Let's blow to hell and back!" The machine gunner said to his partner in the missile seat on the back of the Brumak. "Eat shit and die Konoha!"

Before the missile pilot could fire anything, a large shadow appeared above the Brumak and the machine gunner directed the Brumak backwards to avoid whatever it was that was above them. As the Brumak moved away quickly, a giant red toad wielding a huge sword came crashing down. There was a middle aged man with long white hair riding on the back of the toad. It was Jiraiya!

"Did you really think that you'd come here and attack with someone here to defend the village's back?" Jiraiya shouted as he took his classic sage stance on Gamabunta's back.

"Did you really think that we weren't expecting to be attacked by the second Great Sanin of Konoha?" The machine gunner said with a smirk to Jiraiya who didn't know what the grub had up his sleeve. Suddenly there was a tremor in the ground behind Gamabunta. "You need back up if you want to take on the legendary Toad Sage and his boss toad!"

Suddenly a Corpser burst out of the ground behind Gamabunta and dug its claws into his back. Gamabunta quickly jumped away before the giant spider like beast crushed him. Gamabunta stood in a fighting stance observing his enemies as they stood side by side waiting to attack.

"This really is a freak show Jiraiya. A dinosaur like beast turned fire arm and a tunneling spider. I never thought I'd ever have to fight something like these creatures." Gamabunta said.

"Don't let your guard down Bunta; this isn't going to be easy with an armed opponent and a heavy armored opponent." Jiraiya said as he began to think of a strategy to fight the beasts.

"Oh thank God. Jiraiya is here." Tsunade said with a sigh of relief.

"Do you think that he can handle a Corpser and a Brumak at the same time? Those are the power houses of the Locust Horde." One Jonin asked Tsunade. He was worried about what was going to happen.

"Jiraiya is a survivor, he'll be fine." Tsunade answered. "Let's go. I should try to heal as many-"

Before Tsunade could finish, an explosion went off by her and her party. Luckily no one lost any limbs but the debris from the explosion was embedded in the bodies of the party and it hindered their movement. Tsunade tried to get up but two Maulers ran out from behind cover and stomped down on her arms breaking them. The other ninjas were shot in nonfatal areas and were picked up by Drones. Tsunade was then lifted up and thrown over the shoulder of one of the Maulers. She had no way of fighting back with her arms broken and with bits of debris buried into her legs.

"Temes!" Tsunade shouted as she glared at her captures. "What is this!? Where are you taking us!?"

"To Akumu, it's time to make things fair between him and your damned village." One Drone said who was helping a limping Jonin walk with him in the direction lead by a Grenadier Elite. "After things are made fair here, he'll make the odds even in the other four countries that are a part of the Five Great Nations."

Tsunade grunted in anger as she was carried away by the grubs. She was going to get Akumu for this if it was the last thing she did.

Sakura's party had made it outside and to the village square where the center of the village was and where Hiashi had his now legendary battle with RAAM. It would soon become famous for another battle. Sakura and the others stopped on top of a building to see what was going on below. There were civilians and elderly running in the streets; they were being chased by strange two legged creatures with mantis like claws.

"Temes, they're sicing their beasts on the village again!" Kiba said as he watched in disgust. Suddenly the most unimaginable thing began to happen; Locusts appeared and began to call back the beasts. They then mounted them and began firing at only the ninja. "What the hell? Why aren't they shooting the civilians?"

"I don't know, but for whatever reason, we need to stop them." Lee said. He was just as hateful of the grubs as Kiba was.

"I don't see the one monk that everyone has been talking about." Sai said. He wanted to see the monk that everyone was so frightened by and see if he was as ugly as everyone said he was. Suddenly on Locust began to fire at the civilians. "There's one that is killing the non-nin in the village."

"Eat lead mother fuckers!" A Drone shouted as he fired aimlessly out at the crowd. He let out a cruel laugh doing so and felt a sick pleasure fill him. He loved watching people die.

"Hey pal! Hold your fire! We got nothing against these people and they haven't done anything to fuck with other people! You hear me!?" A Grenadier Elite said as he grabbed the Drone by the arm. He was one of the few Locusts who were sickened by what happened in the Hidden Grass Village; it reminded him too much of what the Five Great Nations did to his home land and of how the people of the village turned on themselves. "They didn't send us to Niles; they weren't the ones who made those God awful rules on how to do things. We're trying to be the better bad guys here and only kill of the people that won't draw attention to ourselves. We only want to be known for killing ninjas because all ninjas die in battle; civilians don't die like this. Think about what happened back in the Whirlpool Village; do you want to be like those fucks that did those things to us?"

"I really don't give a rat's ass! I didn't go through whatever shit you went through!" The Drone said as he began to fire again. "I'm a new recruit for the Horde! I was just a serial killer that killed people on a daily basis! Now I can kill more than twice my filling of people each day!"

"I don't really care! You'll do as the queen said!" The Grenadier Elite said as he took hold of the Drone's gun and tried to take it away from him. He hated the new kind of people that were being recruited into the Locust Horde; most of these men weren't even from the former Whirlpool Village and many of them weren't around to see what the Five Great Nations did to it. They were low life animals that had no class at all.

"Fuck you man! I'm not stopping for anything!" The Drone said as he tugged on the bursthammer he was carrying. Suddenly a chainsaw blade was put to the Drone's throat; it was Skorge.

"Do as he says, or else I'll cut your head clear off your shoulders." Skorge said calmly yet angrily. "We need to focus on getting the other Locusts out of here before the Brumaks arrive and the bombs go off as a going away gift for the Leaf temes."

"Fine." The Drone grunted as he stopped what he was doing. Sakura and the others hid so that they wouldn't be noticed by the Locusts below.

"Get everyone going. Akumu will do what he needs to do to the Hokage, The Brumaks will tear down the village, and the Hyuga clan will cease to exist along with the entire village of Konohagakure." Skorge said. His eyes shifted to where Sakura and the others were. "Be sure to take some rock worms with you for cover. I need to take care of something before I do what I need to do to Hiashi-dono."

"Very well master Skorge." The Grenadier Elite said as he ran off to find the rest of his platoon and four rock worms came out from a collapsed building and followed him. "Go easy on them will you? There hasn't been a single Leaf shinobi today that has been able to put up a fight with you."

"SHIT! Does he know that we're here!?" Kiba whispered in a panic as he got out from behind the water tower he had hidden behind on the roof he and the others were on. Suddenly Skorge let out a loud scream and the roof was blown to pieces making the young shinobi come out of hiding. "Shit! I guess he did!"

"I was hoping for something more than a few termites but I guess you'll have to do." Skorge said as he glared at Sakura and the others. Sakura had to look away for a moment when she saw how deformed Skorge's face was with the extended jaw, snout like nose, and split end, snake like tongue. "I recognize the one as an Inuzuka, the rest of you are unknown to me. Just die quickly so I can move on without any setbacks."

"Yeah right! Like I'm gonna sit back and let you walk on out of here after what you've done to our comrades!" Kiba shouted as he turned Akamaru into a doppelganger and the two charged at Skorge with their Gatsuuga technique. "Gatsuuga: Fang Over Fang!"

Skorge activated his chainstaff and cut open Akamaru and Kiba before they could hit him. Kiba went spiraling through the air and landed in some ruble, holding his slashed chest while Akamaru crashed into a building and got back up and charged at Skorge with his fangs bared and ready to rip him to shreds. Skorge stood up straight and put his hand out in front of Akamaru and stopped him.

"Licentia canis. Reperio a locus occulto. Operor non procedo insequequo pugna nisus." Skorge said in his strange Trinity language. Akamaru calmed down and ran away from Kiba and the others.

"Where are you going Akamaru!? Wait!" Kiba shouted but was kicked back down by Skorge. Lee ran up and threw a Konoha Hurricane kick at Skorge but was blasted away by his Ventus scream. "What did you do to my dog asshole!?"

"I have a strong kinship with animals; I can speak to them so that they do not get caught up in human affairs." Skorge answered as he jumped away from the party and took a fighting stance; he was ready to fight them. He was just waiting for them to make the first move. "I respect the Brahman that is in the creatures of earth; I do not let them go through what we must go through. Some of them are messengers and avatars of the gods; to allow them to be harmed would be bad karma as well as an insult to the gods. Come, I do not have the time or patience for children."

"FUCK YOU!" Kiba shouted as he got back up and used his Tsuga technique on Skorge. Skorge slashed him again this time in the side making Kiba go crashing away. "Ah damn that hurts!"

"The raw power of youth is a stronger than any blade! Eat this!" Lee shouted as he jumped at Skorge and threw a Konoha Hurricane kick at him. Skorge let out another Ventus scream blowing Lee away. "AH! My ears!"

"You can't use that scream without inhaling!" Sakura shouted as she ran up and punched Skorge with her super human strength. Skorge let out a low pitched scream as he went flying into a building. Sakura stood up feeling proud of herself knowing that she had just defeated one of the Locust Horde's sub-leaders. "That takes care of that! Hold still Kiba, I'll-"

Before Sakura could finish, Skorge jumped into the air hissing at her with his chainstaff fired up and ready to cut her in half. Skorge was inches away from her as he brought his staff down but Sai intervened and blocked Skorge's staff with his sword on his back. Sai looked at Skorge with a plan face and Skorge glared at him. Skorge's chainstaff was about to cut through Sai's sword until Sai reinforced it with a kunai to keep the spinning saw away from himself and Sakura who had fallen to the ground in shock of how close she was to dying.

"Don't just sit there Sakura. Do something to help Kiba." Sai said as he looked at Skorge's hideous face and felt disgusted even though his face didn't express it. "You are a very ugly man."

"Either you are fearless boy or you hide your fear well." Skorge said as he pressed harder down on Sai. Sai pulled his sword away in fear that it would break and leave him defenseless and pulled out two new kunai to block the homicidal monk. "I admire that. You could be a worthy opponent."

"Thank you for the compliment but really my face appears emotionless because I don't know how to express the fear you provoke in me now." Sai said as he stepped back and Sakura quickly got out of the way to heal Kiba quickly. Skorge ignored her; he was intrigued by this strange boy. "I'll admit that you are by far the ugliest person I've ever seen but I just don't know how to express myself. I suppose this angers you."

"Not at all." Skorge said as he cut back on the engine power of the chainstaff so he could stand still in a standoff between Sai and not cut through his kunai; he didn't want to cut him just yet. He wanted to learn more about Sai. "Why can't you express yourself? Why do you want to? Feelings have never been kind to me."

Skorge knew that he had a short temper; it came from how mistreated he was by everyone at the Fire Temple. He experienced a lot of pain, and his joy was often short lived. He did find a lasting happiness with his new family, but the pain they were in hurt him as well on the inside; it was like he was being attacked by his feelings. Skorge almost wished that he could be like Sai and not have to feel anything.

"Why should I give up trying to feel? I remember some good feelings. And I've begun to feel bad feelings too." Sai said to Skorge whose face seemed to be calm now. "But that doesn't mean that they're bad for me like my old master always told me. I want to think for myself and learn to feel emotions again. From what I've come to understand through my studies, you are someone who either does not appreciate what you have or you do not realize what sort of a blessing you have."

"Don't you dare lecture me!!" Skorge shouted at Sai as he began to speed up his chainsaw again. He didn't like being told things that didn't come from what he considered to be an authority like the Horde Leaders, elders, wise men, or anyone else that had some sort of experience.

"I'm not here to lecture you." Sai said as he kicked Skorge back into a puddle of ink he left out as a trap. Skorge stepped into it and Sai made a series of hand signs; ink tentacle like creations came out of the puddle and made leverage on a scroll beneath the puddle to hold Skorge's waist and legs in place. Skorge was stuck! "I'm here to trap you."

"Payback time now bitch!" Kiba shouted as he jumped after Sakura had just barely healed him and charged at Skorge from his right side with his claws ready. "Let's go Lee!"

"Here I come!" Lee shouted as he charged at Skorge form his left side also ready to attack. "It doesn't matter if you scream! You'll only blow one of us away and you can't move fast enough to free yourself and black at the same time with that weapon! You're finished!"

"Sayonara." Sai said as he charged at Skorge with a kunai drawn. Skorge let out one of his Ventus screams and blew Sai away. Kiba and Lee charged at Skorge thinking that they could still land an attack until the unthinkable happened; Skorge's chainstaff came apart into three pieces and he was able to block both Lee and Kiba. His chainstaff was a three piece staff!

"Paguwasampha, paguwasampha, paguwasampha, paguwasampha." Skorge chanted as a Trinity of Worms pinnacle appeared below him and the earth began to spiral downward like some sort of ant lion. "Earth Style, Terra Partis Vermis Turbo: Land Shark Worm Whirlpool!"

The party began to crawl out of the sinkhole but soon began to jump off in directions not caring where as shark fins began to pop out of the vortex and come at the ninjas with their sharp, blade like fins. Lee managed to get out but soon a large shark like worm jumped out of the sink hole and bit his shoulder. Lee fell to his knees as the worm burrowed back down into the ground. The other ninja barely managed to crawl out of the ground with the land shark worms biting at them. Kiba had been bitten in the back of the leg and Sakura had her stomach cut by the fin of one worm. Luckily it wasn't deep. When the sinkhole stopped, there was a large hole in the ground with Skorge standing on the only piece of rock standing as a pillar.

"This hole is deep, good." Skorge thought to himself as he put down his chainstaff and began to make hand signs as he did his same chant. "Paguwasampha, paguwasampha, paguwasampha, paguwasampha."

"Don't let him finish his technique! He's probably got more worms up his sleeve!" Sakura shouted as the party began to charge at Skorge with whatever projectiles they had left on them. Before they could attack, the land shark worms returned with two rock worms that began to spit acid at them. Sai's scroll for his ninjutsu had been dissolved by the acid and his back had been cut by the fins of a land shark worm. This was bad! "Shit!"

"Earth Style, Nutritor Vermis Annapurnae: Feeding Worms of Annapurna!" Skorge shouted as he clapped his hands together and the image of some sort of goddess with long black hair, wearing red clothing, sitting cross legged, wearing gold bracelets, with food in front of her, wearing some sort of crown and having a strange dot or symbol on her forehead appeared in the hole Skorge stood above. Suddenly a bright light came off of the image and worms began to crawl out of the light. They were bright green and appeared to have softer bodies than the other worms that had appeared and they resembled caterpillars. "Nutritor vulnus cadum!"

The worms crawled out onto the surface and spread out. They were not here to fight but to heal. They left the battle as soon as Skorge summoned them. They were going to heal the wounds any of the Locusts on the field. Sakura and the others moved out of the way not knowing what the purpose of the worms was.

"Don't worry, those worms won't harm you but the others will!" Skorge shouted as he jumped off of the pillar of stone he had created during his Land Shark Worm Whirlpool technique. He was on solid ground and the hole he created filled in after the healing worms of Annapurna exited the hole. "You have belittled the animals that my brothers in faith and I have worshipped for years! Now see why we venerate these sacred creatures!"

"Venerate this in hell!" Lee shouted as he dodged the jaws of a rock worm and kicked it at Skorge. "You can't kill one of your sacred worms can you!? How can you evade or block when a worm is being tossed at you!?"

"Teme!" Skorge shouted as he threw his chainstaff like a boomerang off to the side as he jumped up and caught the worm. Kiba then took this opportunity to claw at Skorge's exposed back. Skorge began to let out a low pitched scream as he set the worm down while Kiba continued to claw at him.

"Just die already!" Kiba shouted as he thrust his hand through Skorge's side while Skorge continued to scream in a low pitch. Skorge turned around and punched Kiba in the face causing him to go spiraling backwards. "Fuck! How did he not feel that!?"

One of the worms of Annapurna returned to the battle and spewed strange yellow foam onto Skorge's wounds. The claw marks and stab wound from Kiba closed up instantly from it.

"He's mine!" Lee shouted as he charged at Skorge ready to attack but was blown away by Skorge's Ventus scream again.

"You're open now!" Sakura shouted as she charged at Skorge with her fist ready to blow him away again. But Skorge expected this and elbow struck Sakura in the face repeatedly before striking her stomach with a reverse punch, palm striking her face and knocking her back off her feet with a side kick. "Now Sai!"

Sai thrust a kunai into Skorge's stomach and the monk let out another low pitched scream. He then double chopped Sai's neck and tossed him over his shoulder and into Kiba who was still on his knees. Skorge's chainstaff returned to him and he caught it with expert timing and reflex. Everyone looked at Skorge with disbelief; how could he withstand so much pain without so much as flinching? Sai thought about what had happened to him and recalled how Skorge had used the same low pitched scream when Sakura punched him and when Kiba was clawing at him. Sai watched one of the rock worms crawl up to Skorge and stick some sort of a protein stick into his wound, probably to help him heal. If Skorge felt pain afterwards then that meant that the technique only had a temporary effect depending on what the damage was. Sai had figured out Skorge's secret!

"Sakura, don't bother attacking him after his loud scream!" Sai shouted to his comrade with his same plain face. Skorge was still intrigued by how he could show such little emotion. How did Sai not feel? "He's using his low pitched scream to nullify the pain!"

"You have good observation skills. You've figured out the secret behind my Reverse Ventus; I let the power of the blast ripple through my body to act like a shock absorber and nullify the pain wherever I am struck." Skorge complimented. Sai and Kiba got away before Skorge made another move. Skorge broke his staff into three pieces and charged at the two. "Maybe this fight will be worthwhile!"

Kiba ducked away from one staff head while Sai blocked the other with his kunai. Skorge kicked away Kiba and then swung the other staff head at Sai who ran away for dear life. Skorge whipped the right head of his three piece staff at the fleeing Sai and cut his arm. Sai fell to the ground holding his deep cut wound. Skorge crisscrossed the two staff heads in the ground and beheaded Sai. To his surprise, Sai's body burst into ink and he appeared above Skorge on top of a crumbling building. Skorge let out a Ventus scream knocking down the building, but Sai had escaped the high pitched blast. Skorge cut away the debris with his chainstaff which he had put back into one piece. Skorge was unaware that Lee had kicked a giant piece of debris at him. Skorge turned around to try and stop it, but the rock worms that had joined the battle raced up and took the blow for him. The worms dropped dead from the force and weight of the debris.

"Teme! How dare you kill two worms!!?" Skorge shouted. While Skorge was angered by Lee, he saw a shadow appear around him. He looked up at saw Sakura holding the entire roof of a building above him. She had jumped into the air while he was busy with Sai and Lee and now she was going to throw it at him.

"Let's see you stop this!" Sakura shouted as she threw the roof at Skorge. She landed on the ground and watched the roof go crashing down on Skorge. She grinned thinking that she had won but to her surprise Skorge was still alive. "What!? How!?"

"Pathetic." Skorge said as he stood with his chainstaff held high and with sparks of electricity coming off of it. Skorge could use chakra channeling like Sasuke! "Are you really that afraid to come close to me? It's the only way to fight me if you want to win."

"He's an earth type! How can he control lightening type chakra too!?" Kiba said in disbelief as he rejoined the battle.

"All reality is one thing; all elements are one." Skorge answered Kiba who was angry that Skorge answered his question. "The categories, weaknesses, and attributes you add to them are just Maya, illusions that trap us in this world."

"Bite me!!" Kiba shouted as he charged at Skorge and used his Tsuga technique and tunneled at Skorge. Skorge cut Kiba down again like when he first tried to use Gatsuuga on him. Kiba fell to the ground and Skorge cut open his back. "AAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Kiba felt the chainstaff's rip open his back and cut through the bones. Skorge left him to die and everyone watched in shock as Kiba began to bleed terribly out his gaping wound. Everyone was afraid to come near Skorge now.

"Kiba!! Hold on!" Sai shouted now with a more concerned look on his face. Skorge then charged at him with his chainstaff and Sai blocked with his sword. "Grub teme! You'll pay!"

"Now you look more concerned. You said that you didn't know how to express your feelings. How do you feel the way you do?" Skorge asked. He wanted to know how Sai was so level with his feelings. Even though Skorge was a monk, he did not have to clear head of one and he greatly desired to. The negative feelings he felt from the Fire Temple ran deep into his psyche and he wanted to find a way to let it go. He felt that Sai was the key to that. "You can do not have to suffer the hell of feeling. How is that? What did you do?"

"Not feeling is my hell. I don't know how feeling is your hell but I don't intend to save you from it!" Sai said now glaring at Skorge. Somehow this battle had taught him how to. "You are a monster, freak grub teme! I won't help you!"

"RRRAAHHH!!!!" Skorge screamed as he withdrew his chainstaff and stabbed Sai in the stomach with it going at full speed. Sai tried to block it with his sword but the blade snapped from the power of Skorge's thrust. Sai screamed in agony as the blades of the chainstaff head ripped open his stomach. Sai fell to his knees holding his stomach, trying to hold back the bleeding. "FREAK!? FREAK!? TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T ALREADY KNOW FROM THE FIRE TEMPLE!!!!"

"When I said that you were the ugliest man that I had ever seen, I was trying to insult you. I wanted to say something to you but I couldn't remember how the phrase went." Sai said as he glared up at Skorge who glared back at him and looked deep into his eyes. "What I wanted to say was this. You are one ugly,-"

Before Sai could finish, Skorge kicked him down onto his back to bleed to death.

"Mother… fucker." Sai said as he closed his eyes in pain and struggled to keep himself alive.

"NO SAI!!" Sakura shouted as she fell down and crawled backwards away from the approaching Skorge. When she heard him mention the Fire Temple, she knew immediately who he was. "You're Wrath! Wrath from the Fire Temple! Chiriku told us about you! You monster!"

"NO! IT IS NOT WRATH ANY MORE! NO MORE OF YOU TEMES TELLING ME WHO I AM!" Skorge screamed as he threw his chainstaff like a javelin at Sakura. "IT'S SKORGE! THAT IS MY NAME! I CHOSE IT AND I WILL DECIDE WHO I AM NOW!"

"NNNOOOO!!!!!" Sakura screamed as she tried to get to her feet. Suddenly she heard the sound of ripping flesh. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Lee had taken the hit for her. Sakura lye there in shock which was soon short lived and resulted in her injury as Skorge crossed his fingers and made the chainstaff split into three pieces and whip out and cut her right thigh. "LEE!!? W-Why!? Argh! My leg!"

"Don't worry Lee, if I may call you that, the cuts aren't nearly as deep as they seem. I was only trying to impede both of your movements and I did it knowing that you'd most likely try to protect your comrade." Skorge said as he made a series of hand signs. "I respect your chivalry and devotion to your duty but I'm afraid this has to end now. Earth Style, Grappling Vermis: Grappling Worms!!"

Suddenly, three giant worms with millipede like heads and large three fingered arms came out of the ground and held Sakura down. Her super human strength was not enough to get the worms off of her; they were stronger than her. Lee stood up holding his chest tightly as he felt his heart race, adrenaline pump through his veins, and his chest go cold in shock. He then jumped out of the way as a land shark worm returned to retrieve Skorge's chainstaff. Lee knew that Skorge was going to finish this with his worst. But he wasn't going to let Sakura down!

"Damn right this needs to end!" Lee said as he took off his weights and charged at Skorge. Before Skorge could react, Lee had kicked him up high into the air from an uppercut kick to the jaw. Skorge felt his head spin from the blow and his body become wrapped tightly in bandages. Lee was going to use his Lotus technique! "Here we go! Foreword Lotus!!!"

"Paguwasampha, paguwasampha, paguwasampha, pagusampha." Skorge chanted as a Trinity of Worms symbol appeared below on the ground that Lee was going to crush Skorge into. Suddenly a long worm popped out of the earth with wide open mouth about to swallow both of them whole. "Earth Style, Complexo Vermum: Embrace of Worms!!!"

Lee and Skorge were swallowed whole by the giant worm and Sakura watched in terror, not sure what would happen to Lee as the worm withdrew into the ground and another worm popped out. This worm spat out Lee and Skorge who were both covered in a sickening green mucus from the throat of the worm. Lee continued to spin Skorge in his Lotus technique but this time upwards instead of downwards. Lee began to slow down due to the force of gravity working against him now. Skorge broke free from Lee's bandages by letting out a low pitched scream and kicked Lee away. Skorge landed on his feet but Lee landed on his side exhausted by the use of two of his inner gates. The land shark worm from earlier returned and returned Skorge's chainstaff to him. Skorge took a fighting stance and hissed at Lee. He was about to end this.

"Come, you still have some fight in you. Don't stop until you are truly finished." Skorge said. He was giving his opponent the respect he deserved. "I don't want to have wasted my time for nothing. Show me that you are strong. Prove to me that you are one of Konoha's prided shinobi! I know you aren't done! Fight Lee!"

"With pleasure." Lee said with a cocky grin as he brought his arms up and prepared to release his third inner gate.

"DON'T DO IT LEE! SAVE YOURSELF AND RUN!!" Sakura shouted with tears in her eyes. She couldn't watch anymore of this massacre. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!! JUST RUN!!!"

"I can't do that Sakura-chan. You are too precious to me." Lee said. He had a feeling that this was going to be the last fight he ever fought. "I trained hard for three years now to be strong. Now I want to use the strength I have earned to protect all that is dear to me. My home, my friends, and those who were unfortunate enough to get caught in this battle. Sayonara, Sakura-chan, give Neji and the others my regards."

Lee opened Seimon the Third Gate and his skin turned red. To his surprise, Skorge began to open his inner gates as well. Skorge started with Kaimon and Kyumon and charged at Lee at a much slower speed. Jumped in front of Skorge and punched him with all his might. Skorge tried to block with his chainstaff, but the power of Lee's punch broke the staff straight down the middle. Lee snapped the staff in two!

"THIS-ENDS-NOOOWW!!!!" Lee shouted as he kicked Skorge high up into the air. Skorge released the Third Gate Seimon and let out a low pitched scream at a slow pace. Lee continued to strike Skorge despite the fact that Skorge was nullifying each blow. "FOURTH GATE SHOMON RELEASE!!!"

Skorge continued to scream until his body began to slowly turn into a bruised blue color. Lee continued to knock him around like a rag doll hoping that he could at least get Skorge to feel some pain. There had to be a limit to what he could nullify. Skorge's scream began to quit and lessen as his body became a deep, dark blue color and his eyes became a yellow green. Lee continued to pound Skorge in midair until he blasted him straight back down to the ground and caught him in one of his bandages and brought him back for the end of his Reverse Lotus technique.

"DIE ALREADY!!! FITH GATE TOMON RELEASE!!!!" Lee shouted as he pulled Skorge back up to him to finish his technique. It seemed to be the end for Skorge until he thrust his palm upwards and a giant blue palm dressed in gold bracelets and with yellow finger nails struck Lee upward. "WHAT!!!!???!!!!"

"SIXTH GATE KEIMON REALEASE!!!" Skorge shouted as he zipped back up into the air ahead of Lee who still had some strength left in his Fifth Gate. Skorge then back elbowed Lee way in the air by another mysterious arm that appeared out of nowhere. Skorge's braid now held up a sword, a trident, the head of some deity, a cobra, and the remaining braids had tied together to form chakra that had taken the shape of an open palm with a worm coiled around it. "PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA!!!!!!"

"Damn!! I can't fight back!!" Lee thought to himself as he released the Sixth Gate Keimon too. He wasn't sure what to do now. "What's he planning!!??!"

"SEVENTH GATE KYOMON RELEASE!!!!" Skorge shouted as another giant blue arm appeared behind him but this time with some sort of a goddess coming into view. This arm punched Lee who couldn't do anything to fight back. Lee watched Skorge, what seemed to be teleportation, zip above him still chanting. "PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA, PAGUWASAMPHA!!!!!!"

Lee looked in amassment as he saw a giant blue skinned goddess with long black hair that ran all the way down to the back of her legs. She wore a golden crown, her four arms were wearing golden bracelets, her finger nails were yellow, there was what seemed to be a ruby on her forehead, she wore some sort of a skirt that was made of human arms, her breasts were covered by golden chains and jewelry and her eyes were a yellow green. In each arm, there were the things that Skorge's braids now held. She was in a way beautiful yet terrifying. Lee didn't know what he was in for.

"EIGHTH GATE SHIMON RELEASE!!!!" Skorge shouted as he readied his palm to go crashing down on Lee. The goddess did the same as Skorge.

"He's going to kill himself if he releases all Eight Inner Gates! What is he doing!?" Lee thought to himself as he watched the goddess lock her eyes on him. Suddenly the empty palm of the goddess with the worm wrapped around it came crashing down on Lee. "SSSSHHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!"

"CENSURA! MANUS DEABAT RUINAE KALI!!!!!" Skorge shouted as the goddess's palm crushed Lee into the ground below leaving a huge palm print on the ground. Lee's last inner gate was able to protect him from most of the power in the strike but he was still terribly injured. Lee couldn't move from the amount of pain he was in. He watched as Skorge was lied down on his back by the goddess. Skorge was dead.

"I, he, he tried to kill me, at, at, at the cost of his own life." Lee said with a smile as he looked over at Sakura who was still held down by the worms. Lee gasped for breath in his pain and he felt his eye lids grow heavy. He would live but his body was exhausted beyond mobility. "Hold on Sakura-chan, I need to rest before I can help you."

"LEE! LOOK!" Sakura shouted looking up at the sky. The goddess that had turned into a Trinity of Worms symbol in the air made of red chakra. The wheel began to spin slowly and the color of the chakra began to go from red to blue. Lee didn't understand what was going on and neither did Sakura until the Chakra turned completely blue and flew into Skorge's body. Skorge got up, alive, breathing, and feeling very fresh. "HE'S STILL ALIVE LEE! HE'S STILL ALIVE!!!!"

"That was my Samsara Technique. I have died and my spirit went through the process of rebirth. I've been resurrected." Skorge said as he walked over to the two pieces of his chainstaff and snapped them back together. They were never broken! Skorge had snapped them apart on purpose to trick Lee into thinking that he had broken it! "Because it is rebirth, I feel like I haven't used an ounce of chakra. My chakra has been completely restored to the point it was at before this whole attack on the village began."

"That's… not…" Before Lee could finish, Skorge walked up to him and cut open his rib cage with his chainstaff. "….fair…"

Skorge closed Lee's eyes and gave him a short sermon for being a worthy opponent and a good man. Skorge then walked towards Sakura who was still pinned down by the grappling worms and crying her eyes out in fear. Skorge was saying another sermon for Sakura until she shouted at him to stop.

"You don't have to do this! Please stop!" Sakura begged Skorge with tears in her eyes.

"It's my duty, I have no choice." Skorge said.

"JUST BECAUSE AKUMU AND THE OTHERS TOLD YOU TO DO SO DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT!!" Sakura screamed.

"It's not because I was ordered to, it's because that is my duty as a soldier; to fight my enemies and kill them." Skorge said. "I don't enjoy killing people at all and it is a sad duty but that is the duty that I was given when I was born. To not follow my duty would be an insult to the gods and deliberate disobedience to them for not following the path they gave me."

"YOU'RE CRAZY! ALL OF YOU ARE!" Sakura screamed with tears flowing down her face from the death of Lee and the others and for her upcoming death. "That makes no sense! Why can't you just disobey your gods and realize that this is genocide!?"

"I told you, that it would be denying my duty. Just as it would be denying your duty if you didn't treat the wounded like a medical ninja should." Skorge said as he readied his chainstaff.

"But there has to be another duty for you! There has to be something better for you to do than this!" Sakura cried out as her life began to flash before her eyes.

"What else can I do when I'm a freak?" Skorge asked as he cut deep through Sakura's side and called off the worms. He then began to head for the Hyuga Estate Safe House. He began to think about how he would have to deal with the setbacks from the battle he had just won. "I can only use Samsara once a day. If I have to call on the gods again in battle, I'll have to do it with mantras instead of Inner Gates. I just hope that I'm not too impaired technique wise to fight a Hyuga if I have to."

Sakura rose up with her vision going blurry from the loss of blood. She tried to heal her own wound but soon stopped before it was even half way closed. She crawled over to Lee and checked his vitals; he was alive but fading. She healed him and the others at least so they could hold on for a bit longer. She didn't have enough chakra to heal them all. Sakura began to crawl holding her side and dragging her cut leg. Blood dripped out of her mouth and she finally collapsed.

"Not…enough…b…blood." Sakura thought to herself as her vision became worse and her life began to flash before her eyes again. Sakura's fate was all up to chance now. Would someone come to save her and the others or were they doomed to bleed to death? Their futures were uncertain.

Back at the Hyuga Estate Safe House, all of the Hyuga clan's Main Branch members were safe as they gathered into the building. This included Hiashi Hyuga and his daughter Hanabi. Everyone was scared and uncertain of what was going to happen to them. Hanabi clinged to her father in fear for his life as well as the lives of everyone else. Suddenly Kou approached the two of them.

"Hiashi-dono, I don't think this is really all that safe. What was lord Hokage thinking when she gave that order to have all of us brought here?" Kou asked. "We're all compacted into this tight space and perfect for the slaughter."

"I don't know Kou, I really don't know." Hiashi said looking down. He had a lot on his mind right now. His conscience was racked with guilt because of what happened last night with Hinata; he couldn't believe that he had gone so far as to strike her across the face when he lost his temper. If anything, Hiashi deserved the humiliation that his daughter gave him when she told him those things. Now she was out there somewhere, unsure if she was safe or not, and fearful for her safety. He never got a chance to apologize and he didn't want to leave her with ill feelings. What was he going to do? "Is this everyone in the Main Branch?"

"Yes, it is my lord." Kou answered as he watched the doors of the safe house lock. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Everyone quitted down and tried to remain calm. Everyone could hear the fighting going on outside and felt awful for not doing anything to help. For the first ever, the Main Branch felt awful for leaving the Cadet Branch out to fight; they had always put a lot on the shoulders of the Cadet Branch but they didn't hate them so much that they would leave them out to die alone. They were unaware that the Cadet Branch had been set up to be executed on a field of land mines just as they were unaware that they were in for a nasty surprise.

"F-Father, what is that noise?" Hanabi asked as she and everyone else heard a ticking noise. Hanabi and many others began to panic. "What are going to do!? I'm scared!"

Kou activated his Byakugan and began to search the building for the source of the noise. Suddenly his eyes drifted to beneath the safe house. There were bombs planted beneath the safe house! The Locust Horde was going to blow up the entire Main Branch in ten seconds!

"THEY'RE GOING TO BLOW UP THE SAFE HOUSE FROM BELOW!! EVERYONE OUT NOW!!!" Kou screamed in fear. Everyone broke into a panic as they began to unlock the doors of the safe house but only to discover that they had been locked in from the outside. They were all going to die!! "NO! NO! NO! NNNOO!!!"

Kou watched the time markers on the bombs hit zero, and a huge explosion went off that could be heard from every part of Konohagakure………………….but it wasn't the Hyuga Estate Safe House. Everyone stood in confusion about why this was so. What was going on? Why didn't the bombs go off? Were they duds? What was the Horde going to do to them?

"They aren't going to blow us up." Hiashi said as he activated his Byakugan and watched the outside. He could see six Grinders approaching along with four Boomers and an army of smaller Locusts. "They're going to mow us down while we're in a tight spot!!!! Everyone get away from the doors! Locusts are coming!!"

Bullets ripped through the doors and everyone jumped out of the way. Soon the doors were blown down by the Boomers and the Locusts entered the safe house. Hiashi and Hanabi ran upstairs to another room with Kou; they could not afford to die with their positions in the clan. Hiashi hated to do this, but everyone below wasn't giving him a choice and he was being shouted at below to run with Hanabi.

"It's not the best exit, but take the back window out Hiashi-dono." Kou said as he broke open the window. Hiashi jumped out and waited for his daughter. "Be careful and live on for us. We'll handle things here."

"You can't do this Kou! You'll die!!" Hanabi cried with tears pouring down her face. "I won't leave you! You have to come with us! You and everyone else!"

"We can't put your lives in danger Hanabi-sama. Go with your father and look for your Hinata-onesan." Kou said as he lowered Hanabi down out the window to her father below. "Be careful my lord! You have to live no matter what!"

"I will! Kou! You have to have to come back alive no matter what and you must save as many Hyuga clan members as possible! That is an order!" Hiashi shouted. He didn't want any more of his clan members to die today.

"I will Hiashi-dono! I swear on my life I will!" Kou shouted as he went back to the fight.

"Come Hanabi, we-"Before Hiashi could finish he felt several gunshots to the back of his legs and side. Hiashi fell down and pressed his body against the wall of the safe house trying to keep his self up.

"FATHER!! Who did this to you!!?" Hanabi cried as she looked off to the side where the gun shots had come from and fell back against the wall in terror. A man carrying a gorgon pistol had fired at her father from behind; he had a hideously deformed face and he hissed at Hanabi with snake like tongue. It was Skorge. "Leave him alone you bully! Leave him alone!"

"Silence brat!" Skorge shouted as he pressed his hand against the ground and something began to tunnel towards Hanabi. A shadow worm burst out of the ground and tried to bite Hanabi but Hiashi jumped in the way of the worm and saved her. Hiashi had been bitten in the shoulder and now could barely keep himself up with his injured shoulder and other gunshot wounds eating away his strength. "Return worm."

"Master Skorge, the Hyuga clan is fighting back. We may not be able to take them all on as we thought." A Drone said on the channel of the headset that Skorge was now wearing for this operation. "Have you found Hiashi? We need to at least kill him."

"Yes I have." Skorge answered as he stood up and glared at the frightened Hanabi who lie on her back with her father shielding her on his hands and knees. "I'll be done shortly."

"Why father? You're hurt!" Hanabi cried as her father wiped away her tears while trying to keep his self steady on his hands and knees. It was going to be the last time he ever had a moment like this with his little girl. "Please don't put yourself through this!"

"I love you Hanabi, tell your sister the same." Hiashi said with a smile. He knew that he didn't have long to live and he wanted to savor each moment he had with Hanabi. He only wished that Hinata could be here right now. "I have one last request even though it sickens me to ask it."

"What is it?" Hanabi sobbed. Hiashi got up and sat with his back against the wall. His face was very serious for what he was about to tell Hanabi. "I'm listening! Tell me!"

Hiashi had put a lot of thought into it and he still didn't approve. But there was no reason that his eldest daughter should not have any happiness while he was gone. Hiashi had swallowed his pride, let go a bit on his grudge and was about to tell Hanabi the hardest thing ever. He was going to let Hinata be with the one she loved despite the fact that Hiashi still hated him.

"Tell your sister, even though I still don't approve, that she is free to see Naruto." Hiashi said as a tear ran down his cheek. He couldn't believe that he was handing her over to that demon. "No one in the Main Branch or the Cadet Branch is allowed to stop her. She may go to him and be with him as she pleases. No one may tell her not to."

"I'll tell her, I'll tell her for you." Hanabi sobbed as she hugged her father and he gave her a final bloody kiss goodbye.

"Are at peace now Hiashi? I cannot wait all day. Cherish these last few moments." Skorge asked as he readied his chainstaff.

"Yes, I am." Hiashi answered. Skorge then charged at Hiashi with his chainstaff activated. He twirled it then jumped into the air ready to cut Hiashi in half. Hanabi got in front of her father but he grabbed her and threw her off to the side so she wouldn't die too. Hiashi sent one final prayer to his wife as he closed his eyes listening to his youngest daughter calling out to him. "Sayonara, Hanabi, Hinata, and everyone whom I've held dear in this life. I'll be joining you soon Hitomi. Please be there to welcome me and please don't be angry with me after all the things that have happened between me and our eldest daughter Hinata. I did and said those things because I loved her. Please forgive me. Here I come Hitomi, sayonara. Sayonara, everyone."

Hiashi closed his eyes and awaited death's cold embrace but instead he heard the noise of metal against a saw blade. He felt sparks land on him and he opened his eyes. IT WAS HINATA! SHE HAD ARRIVED IN TIME TO SAVE HIM!! Hinata blocked Skorge's chainstaff with two kunai and held him back.

"Get father out of her Hanabi! I'll handle this!" Hinata shouted over the chainstaff. Hanabi obeyed and got her father away from Skorge.

"No Hinata-onesan! You can't do this alone! I won't let you!" Hanabi cried. She was afraid for her sister's life. Hiashi supported himself the best he could on Hanabi's small body. She hadn't grown much taller since she became a Genin. "Please! Let me or someone else help you! I don't want you to die!"

"Have faith in me Hanabi! I know what I'm doing!" Hinata shouted as Skorge jumped back and hissed angrily at Hinata for interrupting his kill. Hinata activated her Byakugan and took a fighting stance as did Skorge. "I'm going to make it out of this alive. I have to for a very special person. But I don't think I need to tell you who that person is."

"Hinata!" Hiashi called out.

"What is it?" Hinata asked.

"Gomenasai, for last night. I don't want there to be any ill feelings between us from last night." Hiashi said looking down. He wanted to have faith in Hinata but this just seemed suicidal against an opponent like Skorge. "I'm sorry for last night, I truly am."

"It's alright dad." Hinata said as she turned her attention back to Skorge. She shuddered a bit by how ugly he was. "Now run! Get help for your wounds before any more Locusts come!"

"DON'T DIE HINATA! AND DON'T YOU DARE DISOBEY ME THIS TIME!" Hiashi shouted as he limped away with Hanabi. He was so scared right now. His daughter was now staring death in the eye and was going to challenge him to a fight. "Oh God, please don't let her die!"

"I get to fight the heiress of the Main Branch. What an honor this is." Skorge said as he fired up his chainstaff and glared at Hinata. Hinata still seemed scared by his appearance and weapon.

"May I ask who you are and who it is that is so honored to fight me?" Hinata asked with a quiver.

"My name is Skorge. I'm named after one of the many gods worshipped by the believers in the Trinity of Worms." Skorge answered as he looked Hinata deep in the eyes and saw that she was backed by a strong resolve and had a great amount of determination running through her from an outside source.

"Very well Skorge." Hinata said with a gulp. "I-I challenge you for the protection of my clan. You won't get away with what you've done."

This wasn't going to be an easy fight; this was the first time Skorge had ever fought a Hyuga and Hinata was intimidated by the many factors of Skorge. But she had to stay strong. She had to win this for her clan, her family and for Naruto. She had to make it out alive to see Naruto again. The battle had been ignited. Hinata Hyuga was going to fight Skorge the leader of the Kantus monks.

Translation

"Licentia canis. Reperio a locus occult. Operor non procedo insquequo pugna nisus."- Leave dog. Find a place to hide. Do not come out until the battle has ended.

"Nutritor vulnus cadum."- Feed the wounds of the fallen.

"Censura! Manus Deabat Ruinae Kali!"- Judgment! Hand of the Goddess of Destruction Kaili!

Author's Note

In this episode of the After Show, I interview an OC by the author Kage Biju who has agreed to let me do so. Please read his story "Naruto: Terror of The Einst" when you get the chance. Also, there is fight between his OC and Nazo in this episode. Kage Biju, you haven't showed us all of your OC's powers yet and you sort of started this fight with your comment on my OC. So please don't get mad if I make your OC look weak, I'm not trying to but yours asked for it when he called Nazo a weakling. There are gonna be some spoilers to Nazo's powers in this episode so pay attention.

After Show Messages

DB99: Sorry everyone for the wait! I had exams and to say good bye to some friends leaving town for summer vacation! It's the season finale and…. Unfortunately there is nothing to show for this glorious episode. Well, this has been a rather long chapter so I'll just say-

Me: Wait! No! We can't just stop the show! We need to redeem it!

DB99: What do you mean redeem? Readers love us!

Me: Not anymore they don't! (Pulls out a report on the show's ratings.) This Omake is losing its ratings steadily! Everyone wants to read the "Hinata Hour" now on Kage Biju's fan fic!

DB99: OH NO!! We have to do something! Is there anyone who wants to be interviewed or something!? Can't Nazo or one of the villains pull some stunt!? DAMN IT!

I: (Runs onto set.) Don't worry! I found someone to interview and he's sure to win back our ratings. (I is picked up by a huge brute of a man that looks like Nemesis from "Resident Evil". I is thrown off set.) WHAAAAAHHH!!!

DB99: Kira Kurenji from "Naruto: Terror of The Einst"!?

Kira: That's right. I came to see what is happening in this little fic of yours and I'm not too impressed. Now let's get this over with! Kage Biju needs me for his next chapter soon.

DB99: Okay, (comes up with question off the top of his head based on what he knows from the story by Kage Biju) um, why do you hate Hiashi?

Kira: The reason I hate that teme is a secret.

DB99: What did you do before you were sent to prison?

Kira: I was assigned to track down an Iwa B.O.W and let me tell you we found it. Let's just say that the answer to this question is a reason to hating Hiashi and leave it at that.

DB99: How will you get revenge?

Kira: I'm still thinking on that but I already got a little revenge against him already even if he doesn't already know. But it will be answered in the story.

DB99: What will you do to Hinata exactly?

Kira: Einst Regisseur has been a bit vague about that but he keeps muttering about her being the key to some gate and something else about her going to be the new director of his race.

DB99: What would you do if someone got in your way and tried to protect Hinata from you? What if that person was a Jinchuriki?

Kira: If someone got in my way then I would break their will to live and if they were a Jinchuriki, I will just show them why I'm called the Shinigami no Konoha.

DB99: Can you and Einst handle all this on your own or are you welcoming more people to your group?

Kira: Einst and I are going to invite a few of his old buddies to our group.

DB99: Anything you would like to say or ask?

Kira: Hiashi, wherever you are, I am going to come for your daughter and boy you better watch her. And Nazo, you are a weakling.

Nazo: (Walks onto set, unzips the mouth portion of his mask and the nose portion taking it off the mask.) You know, you remind me an awful lot of those little pricks back at the academy that gave me such a hard time. (Hakaigan activates to a point where it looks like the pupils of his eyes are boiling, his scars become one with his lips creating a huge smile on his face, green hair shoots out the back of his mask, nose becomes long and pointed, and ludicrous laughter escapes him as he punches Kira in the face and jumps on him with his knife in his mouth.) I hated those temes until the day they grew up and died in the war!

Kira: (Throws Nazo off of him.) You son of a bitch!

Nazo: I was saving this for Itachi, but now you get to face it first! (Laughs again in a ludicrous way.)

(Fight begins on set. Nazo's limbs stretch and whip out at Kira and cut through his flesh. Kira knocks him back but Nazo slings back and smashes his head against him throwing him against the back wall. Nazo then twists his arms around as he takes hold of Kira and spins him while crashing him down into the set. His fingers then become sharp as he takes hold of Kira's head.)

Nazo: Look at me. (Kira grunts and tries to look away.) LOOK AT ME! (Digs his sharp fingers into Kira's head and forces him to look him in the eyes.) Sweet dreams, cupcake! (Kira looks into Nazo's eyes and begins to twitch.)

Kira: (Falls back onto the floor thrashing.) OH GOD! GET THEM OFF ME! GET THEM OF ME! NOOO!! AAAHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!!??! MAKE THEM STOP!!! IT HURTS!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!

DB99: What the hell did you do to him Nazo!?

Nazo: Just think of it as Itachi's Tsukuyomi only a billion times worse!!

(Thirty minutes later.)

Kira: (Still thrashing.) AAHHHHH!!! NNNNOOOO!!!! WHAT NOW!? NO! NO! NO! NOT MY FACE!!! NOT MY FACE!!! AH GOD IT HURTS!!! WWWWWWRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! (Wakes up from the realm Nazo sent him into. Sits up and looks at Nazo.)

Nazo: (Looking at Kira in his regular form and mask back together.) Does it depress you Kira, to know how truly, weak, you really are? Does it scare you that there is something beyond the Shinigami no Konoha in this world?

DB99: DON'T START ANOTHER FIGHT!!! Sorry everyone for the mess between these two. (Security comes and takes the two villains away from each other before they start fighting again.) I don't know if the After Show will be back after this! We need to find a way to get refunded for another season somehow! Either way, thanks for reading and stay tuned! In the next chapter we get to see the epic battle between Hinata and Skorge as well as the continuation of the other battles going on and the beginning of another! ALSO THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT POLL THAT I ASK ALL OF YOU TO VOTE ON. I WILL WRITE A NARUHINA MOMENT CHAPTER AFTER THIS STORY ARC BUT A GOOD NUMBER OF PEOPLE ALSO VOTED FOR AN ORIGIN CHAPTER FOR THE HORDE LEADERS. VOTE AND TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO SEE THAT ALSO OR TO JUST WRITE THE NARUHINA CHAPTERS AND TO MOVE ON AFTERWARDS. ORIGINS WILL COME AFTER NARUHINA. REMEMBER, THE SOONER YOU VOTE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, THE SOONER THE STORY PROGRESSES. Anyways, thanks again and stay tuned! I sure hope I can find a way to get refunded for a second season!