I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story. I hope everyone is doing ok in life and that everyone is in good health.

This chapter has been difficult to write as I'm having a serious writer's block on this story. Still I won't give up and I'm sure that I'll get passed this. The recent chapters in Naruto have given me some information and inspiration to work with so that's good. I just have to get past this Sasuke retrieval Arc part and then I'm positive that I can come up with new stuff. I'll probably divert from cannon more and more as this story moves along.

Anyway, I just loved the last few chapter of the manga. Finally Naruto gets some recognition and kicks ass. Though I'm careful so I don't get too carried away; Kishimoto has disappointed me before. For example the fight between Naruto and Kazuku. It could have been a great moment for Naruto if he only didn't fail his first try of his new technique. He always make Naruto look like an idiot in the end but I hope that won't happen now.

Enough rambling enjoy the chapter and let me know how I did.

Chapter 38: Leaf VS Sound

Each of the Konoha shinobi was facing extraordinary opponents and they all knew that they would have to push themselves beyond their limits to defeat them. The group had recognized the Sound Four as those who had created the barrier that surrounded Orochimaru and the Sandaime during their fight. To be appointed as the personal bodyguards of one of the Sannin they would have to be strong and reliable. That didn't mean however that they would allow them to just abduct a Konoha shinobi even one as annoying as Sasuke.

Sakura and Hinata were currently facing one of the Sound four called Jiroubou and he proved to be a formidable adversary so far. For someone his size he was surprisingly fast and agile and that complicated the fight quite a bit. On top of that Jiroubou had superior strength compared to the girls so one hit could mean the end for them. Luckily Hinata and Sakura had been training together for several months now and they had build up quite some decent teamwork along the way.

Hinata and Sakura knew each other's strong and weak points so they made sure to cover each other's back during the fight. Hinata used her Jyuken to distract Jiroubou while Sakura used her chakra-strengthened punch to deal damage to Jiroubou. Right now the Sound-Nin was ducking under one of the pink-haired kunoichi's punches but Hinata slipped through his defense and nailed him straight in the leg limiting his movements just enough for Sakura to hit him in the face. Jiroubou stumbled backwards angered that these two weaklings were able to hurt him.

"Great job Sakura-chan." Hinata said pausing for a second.

"Thanks, you too." Sakura said breathing a little harder than her friend. Like always, her stamina was her weak point even though she had made a lot of progress.

Jiroubou couldn't believe that he was going to be forced to use his cursed seal to defeat these two girls. In his eyes it was humiliating as he knew that both girls were still genin but he honestly started to doubt the reports the Oto intelligence gatherers had supplied them with. No genin was this strong in his opinion. It didn't really matter what rank they were since they were going to die anyway he grinned.

"Enough with the games." Jiroubou said menacingly. "From now on I'm getting serious." Hinata and Sakura noticed how marks in the form of triangles seemed to appear on his body. This made them instantly on guard as they both knew what that meant. Sakura had seen something similar when Sasuke activated his Cursed Seal in the Forest of Death all those months ago. She was still terrified at the power and strength it seemed to give Sasuke not to mention how messed up his psyche was under the influence of the Seal.

Hinata too knew what the marks meant as Naruto and Anko had warned their team more than enough about this event. The Seal would allow the user more strength and power so she was sure that defeating Jiroubou had just gotten a whole lot tougher. Still, she wasn't about to throw the towel in the ring just because of that; she too had some ace upon her sleeve. She hadn't been training for months with her father and Neji for nothing after all.

"Sakura-chan, be careful and stay focused." Hinata said confident. "We can beat him even with his Cursed Seal active."

"R-Right; we can do this." Sakura said slamming a fist in the palm of her other hand. "Let's show this guy what Konoha Kunoichi's are capable of."

Hinata smiled and nodded to Sakura and focused back on Jiroubou. She glanced at Sakura and together they shot forward to engage the enemy once more. Sakura threw the first punch and Jiroubou had barely time to block the punch but he winced as he felt the pain in his arms from blocking. He cursed her strength and used one of his own techniques called 'Houshou' to nail Sakura in the gut but his fist was slapped away by Hinata using her Jyuken.

'These two work together too well.' Jiroubou thought. 'One attacks while the other defends, rests or waits for the right moment.'

Hinata didn't let up and seeing she was currently inside his guard she used one of the techniques Neji had taught her over the past few months. A quickly as she had appeared she started spinning real fast and expulsed her chakra creating a moderate 'Kaiten' flying Jiroubou several yards away. Jiroubou crashed into to ground painfully and tried to get up before they could attack him while he was down. He wasn't fast enough however as Sakura planted a powerful chakra enhanced punch into his gut burying him into the earth.

"Alright." Both girls yelled loudly before high-fiving each other. They were sure that nobody would survive such an attack. They were tired though and sat down a bit too rest up before they would join the others. To their surprise and shock a huge explosion threw them on the ground wondering what had happened all of the sudden. They looked at where the explosion came from and couldn't believe their eyes when they saw a figure appearing from the smoke. The figure looked a lot like Jiroubou but had more hair and his skin was a darker tone as well. On his head and shoulder there were horns that would deal some extra damage when hitting an adversary.

"I can't believe I had to activate Level 2 to fight two little girls." Jiroubou said with a menacing voice. "But it all ends here; this form gives more than 10 times my original strength."

He proved it by appearing in front of the girls and throwing a punch at them. Hinata and Sakura were stunned at his new speed but managed to evade the punch by somersaulting to the side away from him. They looked in shock as they saw the crater Jiroubou had made with only one punch. They both knew that if they got hit with such a punch they would be out for the fight if not be killed on the spot. Slowly Jiroubou pulled his arm out of the ground and turned to the girls once more.

"Too bad this form eats at my chakra but one attack should be enough to dispose of you two." Jiroubou said with an evil sneer on his face.

"Sakura-chan, we only get one shot at this." Hinata said. "I'll slow him down enough by hitting his pressure points and his Tenketsu; you attack him from behind."

Sakura nodded and prepare to do her part in the attack. She knew she could count on Hinata to back her up and she followed Hinata when she stormed straight at Jiroubou. The Sound-Nin was a bit confused as why the kunoichis would run straight at their own death but he guessed it was okay. He could deal with them on their own terms; he still had enough chakra left and he loved to see the faces of despair on his enemies face's when they realized that nothing they did worked.

He noticed that the pink-haired girl stayed behind her friend and figured they would once again double-team like they had done throughout the fight. Hinata slipped into her own fighting stance and started hitting Jiroubou who simply evade most of the hits. Hinata smirked inwardly as she saw how Jiroubou ignored the hits that did land; if he paid attention he would have noticed that she hit several pressure points throughout his body that would slow him down quite a bit. She had to stop attacking him when he retaliated and she barely survived the kick that send her flying. Jiroubou laughed and ran straight at her intent on using 'Gangeki'. Hinata nodded at Sakura indicating that she should be ready to attack; looking at Jiroubou advancing on her she used her own technique 'Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō'.

Jiroubou couldn't believe that this little girl had managed to stop what was one of his strongest attacks just by creating a shield of chakra. Still stunned of being stopped he didn't notice Sakura and Hinata move and by the time he did Sakura hit him straight in the back where his heart was positioned while Hinata attacked him from the front. Normally Jiroubou might have been able to dodge or block these attacks but just then his body refused to move thanks to Hinata hitting the pressure points earlier. Jiroubou's heart exploded from the attacks killing him instantly; he slumped down and reverted back to his normal appearance.

Sakura and Hinata fell down as well; they had both used every bit of chakra they had left in those last attacks and both were spend. They checked to make sure Jiroubou was truly defeated this time; as they felt no pulse they relaxed and lied down on the ground breathing heavily.

"We did it." Sakura said breathing deeply. "I can't believe we managed to defeat such an opponent."

"Guess all that training together really paid off huh?" Hinata nodded.

"You have no idea how proud I am of myself at this moment." Sakura admitted. She had been working very hard to catch up with her peers after all those months of ignoring training to chase after Sasuke. It hadn't been until the Chuunin exams that she finally realized how misguided she truly was and that she started to take being a kunoichi serious. Thanks to Hinata and the rest she had been training seriously for months now and in her opinion it showed today.

"You've made some amazing progress Sakura-chan." Hinata said to her friend. "You've become a true kunoichi of the Leaf today."

"Thanks Hinata; hearing you say that means a lot to me." Sakura said with a small tear in her eyes. This was what she had been fighting for; recognition from the girl who had inspired her to become strong. All the pain she had to endure during training meant nothing to her as long as Hinata and her friends accepted her.

"Let's rest for a bit and when we're up to it we'll join the rest. I'm worried about everyone." Hinata said.

"You're right; we're lucky that neither of us is hurt." Sakura nodded. "I'll take first watch while you rest."

Hinata nodded and closed her eyes trying to rest as much as possible in a short time. It took her only a few seconds to fall asleep making Sakura smile. She would protect her friend no matter what she promised. She went over the body of Jiroubou and took everything of value before sealing his corpse into a storage scroll like her sensei had taught her. She was sure that people at Konoha would like to investigate everything that had to do with the Cursed Seal.

A few miles further Shino was engaging Kidoumaru and things hadn't been going that well for the bug-using shinobi. While he managed to evaded most of the spider-like man's attacks he hadn't been able to land a hit of his own. Both shinobi were long-range fighters; Shino who used his bugs and Kidoumaru who seemed to be able to create weapons from some substance that came out of his mouth. So far neither of them had gained the upper hand but it was only a matter of time before one succeeded in hurting the other.

"This is so much fun." Kidoumaru said before launching another volley of self-made kunai.

Shino didn't bother to respond and used his own kunai to block the incoming attack with ease. He realized that fighting this opponent would last forever if one of them didn't engage the other directly. They had been fighting for over a half hour now by using long-ranged attacks. While he understood this he wasn't exactly thrilled to be the one to switch to close-ranged attacks as those weren't really his strong point. He remembered what happened at the beginning of the fight when Kidoumaru grabbed him with his extra arms and threw him into a three. Luckilly he had been able to land properly otherwise who knew what might have happened to him. Seeing another volley of kunai heading his way he decided that he didn't have a choice in the matter if he wanted to leave this fight alive.

"Doton: Doryuuheki no Jutsu" Shino said quickly before creating a huge wall made of dirt that stopped the weapons from reaching him. He quickly made a 'Mushi Bunshin' and used another Doton Jutsu called 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu' that allowed him to sink into the ground.

The 'Mushi Bunshin' jumped over the wall appearing in plain sight and started searching for Kidoumaru who was hiding in the trees above. The real Shino used this moment to hide himself in the bushes on the other side and ordered one of his bugs to search out Kidoumaru. This bug had a special ability; it was a female of the species he had and the bug would release a scent that was only noticeable to the male bugs. This would allow him to track his opponent no matter where he might hide. The bug was also very small so it was hardly noticeable if you didn't know it was there.

Kidoumaru was having a lot of fun with his opponent. He had to admit that the kid was good at dodging and blocking his attacks so far. Kidoumaru loved to play with his enemies; it was one of the things that Orochimaru-sama liked about him or so he had been told. What was the fun in immediately defeating your opponent? No, to him the chase or hunt was much more fun than the actual killing of the prey. This was also the reason why he didn't really get along with the rest of the Sound Five as most of them didn't understand this. It didn't really matter to him anyway.

Kidoumaru was also an expert in traps and he had made several to deal with the Konoha shinobi. His abilities allowed him to make spider-like treads with that were made with chakra and with a flick of his finger he could make a trap go off. Seeing that Shino stood waiting for him he let loose another trap filled with dagger like weapons that headed straight towards him. He loved seeing his prey dodge and evade desperately and smiled blissfully.

The bug that Shino had ordered to find Kidoumaru didn't have any trouble at all to find him. After all Shino and Kidoumaru were the only sources of chakra in the vicinity and the bug could easily find them. Like his master ordered the bug placed itself on the Sound-Nin's body; Kidoumaru didn't notice the bug landing on his back near his waist and continued to attack Shino unaware that it was a Bunshin he was attacking. Shino however now knew where his opponent was and slowly but surely positioned himself behind him in order to attack him. He knew he had to surprise him so he opted for a double attack. He ordered his bugs to attack and drive Kidoumaru towards him so he could attack him with a Jutsu.

Kidoumaru almost yelled out when the Konoha genin was struck with several of his projectile but cursed when he noticed that the Bunshin was nothing more than bugs. He quickly looked around him in order to spot Shino but a sound alerted him. He looked up and saw thousands of bugs descending towards him intent on sucking him dry of Chakra. He smirked and jumped backward but the bugs followed him; it seemed like a huge black cloud was following him. To his surprise the cloud separated into three smaller clouds each one following him and trying to attack him. Kidoumaru evaded the bugs not realizing he was being led to a specific place. He jumped down from the tree into a clearing and prepared to deal with the bugs when he suddenly heard a voice.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu" Shino's voice said from behind him. Kidoumaru didn't have time to dodge the dragon made of fire because of the close distance and was engulfed in fire.

Shino looked on as Kidoumaru was being led towards him by his bugs and prepared to attack. When Kidoumaru finally reached him he went through the necessary handseals for his fire jutsu and attacked. He expected Kidoumaru to be able to dodge it but clearly he had been wrong when he saw the Sound-Nin being burned alive. Shino's bugs returned to him and he breathed deeply. That was his strongest Fire Jutsu and it had taken a lot of chakra but it had been worth it. He turned his back on the dead shinobi when his bugs alerted him; shocked he felt something pass him by when he looked back and his right arm exploded in pain. He heard a 'thud' and saw that an arrow had planted itself into a tree behind him. He looked at his arm and saw a gaping wound just above his elbow. The arrow had cut a deep wound missing the bone by only half an inch.

Shocked he looked up and saw Kidoumaru standing there but what puzzled him even more was the fact that his whole appearance had changed. Kidoumaru's skin had darkened and he had much more hair than before. That wasn't what surprised him the most though; no it was the third eye on his forehead and the two horns that he now had that did it. Shino had never heard of such a Jutsu and wondered what was going on.

"From the look on your face I can tell you've never seen the Cursed Seal Level 2 before." Kidoumaru said smirking. "I admit that you're attack was well planned and you might have defeated me if it wasn't for this. Nevertheless, I grew tired of this game so I'm going to finish it once and for all."

Kidoumaru then threw a smoke bomb and disappeared from view. Shino was thinking about what he had just seen and wondered if the rest had to face such a monstrous opponent as well. If this was something that someone with a Cursed Seal could do then he couldn't help but worry for his friends. He also wondered if Sasuke was capable of such a feat and if so what would happen to those who fought him. He didn't really like or dislike Sasuke but he acknowledged him as a strong and talented in the Shinobi arts. He shook his head knowing that now wasn't the time to worry about the others; he had to defeat Kidoumaru so he could help Naruto in stopping Sasuke from reaching Orochimaru.

He thought about his current situation and predicament; his opponent had gotten an upgrade and seemed stronger than ever while he was running low on chakra. He guessed he had about enough Chakra left for three more jutsu. That meant that he couldn't waste any attacks needlessly; judging from the arrow that wounded him his opponent would probably use the same attack again. Shino had learned enough about his adversary to know that he was a long-range fighter and the bow was an excellent weapon. He focused his mind and started planning for his defense and attack. He asked his bugs if they could still locate the female bug that he had placed on Kidoumaru. Unfortunately the bug had been killed by the Katon Jutsu but the scent was still there; it was weak and fading fast but it would work. All he had to do now was wait for Kidoumaru to make the first move.

Kidoumaru was judging the distance between him and his prey; he grinned knowing that Shino had no way to locate him. The next attack would be the last he was sure of that. He had never missed a target with this particular bow before; it was created by the substance that his body produced and the arrow was hard enough to pierce through rock. Carefully he took aim at Shino's back and after a few adjustments he fired.

Shino was a talented shinobi coming from a strong clan; during his time at the academy he had downplayed his skill a bit so he wouldn't be the best but also not the last. At the end of his time at the academy he was in the top 10 of his class and that was more than good enough for him. When Naruto had joined their team he was surprised at how strong the blond had become in such a short time so he too had doubled his training. He asked his father for more training with his family Jutsu and how to interact with his bugs. The Aburame Clan had a close relationship with the bugs they used in fights and they had to learn to communicate in order to fight effectively. Thanks to intensive training he and his bugs were able to communicate as well as senior members of his clan; in fact he had acquired a bit of status because of that.

The bugs that the Aburame Clan used had several purposes one being the leeching of Chakra from an enemy. If enough bugs landed on an enemy they could suck him dry in less than a minute but of course most shinobi were careful enough to avoid that. Another purpose was recon and spying; this was how Shino had used them to pass the first part of the Chuunin exam. They would also be used to warn their host of danger if capable. This was why Shino was able to know that Kidoumaru had started his attack. He twisted on his feet facing the incoming arrow and raced through handseals intent on stopping the attack.

"Aburame Hijutsu: Mushi Tate" and a shield of bugs appeared before Shino just in time to intercept the arrow.

The force of the moving arrow seemed to strong however and the arrow broke through the shield; Shino realizing the shield had been penetrated moved just in time to evade the arrow. He wasn't in the clear however and the arrow managed to cut through his clothes and skin making a large horizontal wound on Shino's chest. He had twisted his body sideways just in time to avoid being skewered by the arrow. Ignoring the pain Shino used his remaining Chakra to use the 'Shunshin No Jutsu' and appeared just behind Kidoumaru with a kunai in hand. Kidoumaru who was still angry about having missed his target didn't register Shino's attack until he felt a kunai pierce his heart.

Kidoumaru stumbled back in shock and fell of the branch he was sitting on hitting the ground hard. He didn't feel it however as he had already died; his body transformed back to his normal appearance. Shino jumped down and calmly sealed the body into a scroll after checking for any sign of life. Only then did he allow himself to give into the pain his chest and arm gave him. He sat down and took out a small first aid kit out of his pouch. He knew he had to bandage the wounds lest he bleed to death. When he was done he tried to move but his legs finally gave out on him and he fell down; sighing he accepted that he was in no condition to fight so he might as well rest for a bit.

Kiba and Akamaru were stumped by what they had seen. Kiba had attempted to punch Sakon only to have his fist blocked by a third hand. Taking his distance Kiba wondered what the hell was up with this guy. First of all there was the second head that seemed to grow from the back of Sakon's neck and now a third hand? What kind of freak was he dealing with?

"I'm guessing you're wondering what's going on?" Sakon laughed loudly. "You see, I have a brother Ukon but his body is weak so he rests inside me most of the time."

"Rests inside you?" Kiba asked shocked.

"Like this." Sakon said and Kiba watched how the second head turned and spoke to him. "Sakon, don't waste time with this trash."

"Don't worry Ukon; I'll finish this one soon enough." Sakon said to his brother.

"Gross!" Kiba exclaimed loudly. "I've seen some weird shit but this is just plain wrong. Your brother lives INSIDE you?"

"Huh, someone like you wouldn't understand so why bother explaining." Sakon said shrugging.

Sakon shot towards Kiba and hit him right in the chest knocking him back. Before Kiba could retaliate Ukon's arm grabbed him and Sakon punched him simultaneously in the face and in the gut before throwing him into a rock formation. Kiba's head was spinning for a moment but he quickly got up and told Akamaru to get ready. The puppy barked signaling he was ready and together they used one of the Inuzuka Clan Jutsu called 'Gatsuuga' to attack the two brothers that shared one body.

Thanks to the months of intensive training Kiba had made some impressive progress and his speed while performing the techniques went up by a lot. He was easily twice as fast as he was in the Chuunin exams and he attacked viciously. Sakon managed to dodge the first two attacks of the two spinning Kiba's but he couldn't avoid being hit with the third attack. Kiba hit him straight in the back and drilled him into the cold hard ground. Kiba and Akamaru halted their attack to see the damage they had inflicted but the dust cloud prevented them from seeing anything. He had to dodge quickly when two shadows shot out of the cloud and almost succeeded in hitting him.

"If there are two of you then we should fight as two as well. What do you think Ukon?" Sakon asked.

"Right you are brother." Ukon said smiling.

Kiba cursed; he had thought that Ukon was unable to leave his brother's body so that he would have the advantage but that idea went straight out the window. Also their body seemed to change in front of his eyes; first a pattern of lines appeared before they fused together and covered both their bodies. Soon their skin had changed into a darker color and their faces seemed to transform into a devil's face. Ukon had a large horn on the left side of his head while Sakon had one on the right side. Their chins had become long and pointy just like their fingernails. Each brother had a transformed left or right side that seemed to be made out of horns and claws.

'What the hell is going on with these guys?' Kiba desperately thought. 'This definitely wasn't in the job description. Stupid Uchiha betraying Konoha.'

Akamaru became worried about his master; clearly his master had started panicking and that wouldn't do. So Akamaru did the only thing he could do to calm his master down; he bit him. Kiba winced at the sudden pain in his hand and looked at his faithful companion. Akamaru barked his opinion to Kiba who couldn't help but agree; he couldn't give up now. He had to stay strong and defeat this bastard so he could help out Naruto and the rest. Kiba thanked Akamaru and started planning for an attack. He still had a lot of chakra available to him and a few techniques he had been holding back so he could use them in battle.

"Akamaru, we're going in so be ready to mark the targets." Kiba said to which Akamaru barked his agreement. For his plan to work he would need to distract the brother for a bit but that wasn't a real problem. "Let's go, Akamaru."

Kiba went through some handseals and slammed his fist into the ground. As soon as his hands hit the ground a dragon made of dirt rose and shot towards the brothers. The brothers didn't move as they were sure that they could dodge the attack on the last moment. They were surprised however when the dragon fired some bullets made of dirt straight at them just before it reached them. Sakon managed to dodge the bullet but Ukon was hit in the face making him cry out in pain. Sakon distracted by his brother's yell turned to look at him and didn't see Akamaru aiming for him. Suddenly he felt something wet hit him in the face.

"Urgh, what the hell?" Sakon yelled out surprised. "It stinks; is this dog piss?"

Kiba didn't answer the question but instead took out two simple smoke bombs and threw right in front of Sakon. He and Akamaru then used 'Gatsuuga' once more and tried to hit Sakon before he managed to leave the smoke.

"I might not be able to see you but you can't me see either." Sakon said but was only barely able to finish his sentence when Kiba hit him in the gut pushing him straight up in the air. When he reached him maximum height he twisted away from Sakon to allow Akamaru (henged in Kiba) to hit Sakon in the back sending him back down. Sakon who hadn't even recovered from the first hit winced as he felt several bones break under the force of hitting the ground again.

Ukon who had finally recovered from the hit in the face saw his brother hit the ground and hurried his way over. Sakon's body melted into Ukon's so he could rest; the advantage of this was that healing went much faster that way. Ukon doubted his brother would be fully healed by the end of the fight but there was nothing that could be done about it for now.

"Good job Akamaru." Kiba said to his puppy.

"You little shit. Don't think you have won already." Ukon yelled out. "That attack won't work a second time."

Kiba knew the Sound-Nin was right and that he had to change tactics if he wanted to walk away from this fight. Right now he had the advantage but his chakra reserves were almost empty as that Doton Jutsu was a high-ranked one; that combined with the combination attacks had pretty much used all his chakra. Seeing no other way he prepared himself to use their ultimate Jutsu. He had been training for that Jutsu for months now. It was highly taxing on his muscles and tendons as his body wasn't completely ready for it but he had no other choice in his eyes.

"Akamaru, we're using 'that'." Kiba said and Akamaru barked. "Inuzuka Jutsu: Soutourou"

Ukon watched as a huge two-headed wolf appeared in front of him and involuntary he took a step back. His brother's wounds were far from healed so he wouldn't be able to split up. This meant that he was the only target thus endangering both of them. He couldn't afford to be hit by an attack of this huge dog. He didn't get the time to react however as the double-headed wolf shot towards him spinning around like the previous attacks. The speed and strength were on a whole other level however and while he appeared to have dodged the main blow, the sharp winds still cut him deeply as the wolf passed him by. Several deep cuts appeared all over his body and he landed on one knee in pain. He tried to get up but the injuries he received before and his brothers own injuries hindered him long enough for Kiba to turn around and hit him once more straight in the chest.

Kiba was on his last legs as well and he aimed to slam the combined brothers into the large rock formation in front of him. Luckily for him Ukon was too hurt to move in time and he succeeded in his plan. With the drilling force the large wolf had and the rock to stop his advancement Ukon's body was torn to shreds fatally wounding both him and his brother. Kiba's Jutsu ended only a few seconds later and Kiba and Akamaru dropped down both breathing deeply and hurting from almost every muscle and tendon they had. Still he knew that he had to finish off the brothers before they managed to surprise him when he had his back turned. He took out a kunai and dragged himself to where Ukon and Sakon were lying.

"W-why?" Ukon finally said.

"Why what?" Kiba asked curious.

"Why d-do you f-fight f-for someone w-who's b-betraying your v-village?" Ukon asked him.

"It's how we do things in Konoha." Kiba shrugged. "Sasuke isn't my friend nor is he someone precious to me but he's a shinobi of the Leaf. That's reason enough for me." Kiba said before he ended the life of his opponents. Akamaru howled in recognition of a strong adversary and in celebration of their victory. Kiba sat down and petted his puppy on the head before laid down on the ground unable to move any further.

Naruto watched as Sasuke jumped away and disappeared into the trees wondering what the hell had happened to the young Uchiha. He tried to follow him but the Sound kunoichi jumped in front of him and blocked the way. Naruto growled in anger at being hindered from chasing Sasuke.

"You're not going anywhere shithead." Tayuya smirked. He might have destroyed her summons but she still had several ways to stop him from reaching Sasuke.

She put the flute to her mouth so she could use one of her favorite Genjutsu. Before she could bring out a single note blood splattered all around her and then pain erupted from her chest and body. She turned her head slowly and saw Naruto standing on a branch behind her with his sword in hand. She didn't understand how he did it but somehow he had passed by her and attacked her without she even noticed him.

"I'm sorry but I can't afford messing around with you." Naruto apologized.

"F-fuck you S-s-shith-head." She said before the light disappeared from her eyes and her body dropped to the floor.

Naruto paid no mind and jumped forward intent on catching Sasuke before he left Hi no Kuni. He wouldn't be able to follow him if he did so it was imperative that he stopped him as soon as possible. He ran across a huge clearing following the tracks made by Sasuke and wondered why he didn't even bother covering his tracks. Naruto jumped into the trees once he passed the clearing and sped up a little; apparently Sasuke had been making lots of progress as he was very fast. Naruto finally saw Sasuke a bit further and he focused some extra chakra into his legs so he could catch up. He left the forest behind him and landed on a huge stone statue of some kind. Across there was another statue and between both was a huge waterfall separating both. Sasuke was waiting for him on the other statue with an arrogant look on his face.

"So you finally caught up with me, Dobe?" Sasuke said smirking.

Thank you for reading and let me know how you felt about this people will ask what happened with Kimimaro and the fight with him. If you remember I wrote that Kimimaro died because of his sickness. The timeframe between my story and the manga is different. The genin and Naruto spend six extra months training with all their Jounin sensei. This was enough time for Kimimaro to succumb to his disease so that's why he isn't in this story.

The next chapter will be Naruto VS Sasuke and I'll try to make this an epic fight worthy of Naruto. See you guys soon.