Interlude - Such is Life
Hyuuga Hinata
Hinata found she could barely even keep up with Naruto-kun – she had known he was strong, but had he always had such speed? The crushing weight of disappointment dulled her senses – especially as she realised that the two boys she was chasing had both slowed the moment they'd noticed her to allow her to catch up.
Because of this, she had no warning before a clone of the boy she admired so barrelled into her side – and saved her from being impaled by the white blade that ripped through the air, whistling until it instead found purchase on the sandy skin of the Sand boy that had caused the impromptu chase to begin with. All three of the boys she had been following whirled around to spot this new threat, as Hinata herself cursed her inattentiveness – the fact she should've heard the attack coming aside, she had no excuse to not have at least had her Byakugan active.
I can't even use that right…. I am useless. The veins near her eyes bulged, as the clone that had saved her unwrapped his arms from her torso, hurriedly asking if she was alright. With a start, she realised Naruto-kun had been basically hugging her – but before she could turn red, and die from embarrassment, the person who had thrown the white… thing, spoke for the first time.
"Uchiha Sasuke." He intoned almost robotically. "You will come with me."
"And if I don't?" Sasuke barked back, Sharingan blazing and expression defiant.
The man – no, teenager – reached behind his back, pulling another blade from… his shoulder? "I will take you by force."
Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah, not happening. Naruto!" He shouted, kneeling low on the branch he was perched on, flicking through handseals before electricity sparked in his palm. "I'll deal with the creepy one. Keep the other one busy!"
"Don't tell me what to do, bastard!" Naruto-kun shouted back, even as he turned to face Gaara, a spinning blue orb appearing in his hand as he did so. "Just don't take too long. I don't wanna have to save your ass!" He said, leaping at the sand monster, who began to roar.
"You… You will prove my existence!" He screeched, sand projectiles flying at everyone gathered, forcing everyone to dodge. Hinata watched both battles begin to unfold, despair clawing at her heart as she knew that she simply wasn't good enough to be more than a nuisance in ether one.
Why had she come in the first place?
"Hinata, wait!" Rinka found herself calling, along with Kurenai-sensei. But it seemed like for whatever reason, the girl had decided today of all days that she wouldn't listen to reason, and as enemy ninja began to descend on the group of rookies and sensei, there wasn't any opportunity for someone to chase their retreating backs.
Rinka stumbled back, as a man in camo fatigues waved a knife in her face. What do I do he's going to kill me what do I do am I going to die what do I- Rinka's panic didn't even have a chance to reach her face before Asuma-sensei swung at the offending shinobi with his signature trench knives. The blade only seemed to graze the man, yet Rinka could sense the whirling energy coming off of the knuckle-knife, and so wasn't surprised but still was horrified when the ninja's head separated from his body, sending blood spurting into the air, and dousing her with more than a bit of it.
Rinka's scream served to break Ami out of her malaise, and Kakashi-sensei's barked order snapped her to attention. "Get Rinka and the other civilians to the shelter, now!" She blinked, momentarily unsure of what to do, the time she spent not moving enough for another shinobi to try and ambush them. This time, Aya was the one to react, driving a dagger into the woman's chest, and as she simultaneously flipped away and ripped her weapon out of the corpse, spraying the gathered group with fresh blood, she lightly grasped both Ami and Rinka's hands, causing both to look to her.
"Come on, we need to go! The higher-ranked ninja will handle things here!" Rinka looked at her friend in wonder, while Ami broke through the daze brought on by the shock of the situation for a second time. Nodding to her friend, she wrapped Rinka in her arms, and leapt out of the arena, heading for the Hokage Monument, Aya and the other rookies following.
"NEJI!" Tenten screamed, as her teammate sunk under the huge mass of sand that had appeared from nothing. Distracted as she was, she didn't notice the gust of wind that would have blown her over the edge of the viewing platform if not for the intervention of her other – still alive – teammate.
"You!" She spun, eyes locking on to Temari, who simply smirked, though there was a nervous glint in her eyes. Tenten didn't much care. She flung a barrage of weapons at the older kunoichi faster than she ever had before, fear for her teammate's safety fuelling her body, only for them to be easily knocked back by a gale that this time did knock her over the viewing platform, along with Lee and Shikamaru, who it seems hadn't broken out of the genjutsu.
The weapon user panicked. They were too far to adhere to the walls using chakra, and falling uncontrolled like this would probably not end well. Lee wouldn't be able to do anything either, not without ninjutsu. Think, Tenten! What can you- A thin, unfamiliar arm wrapped itself around her waist, as well as Lee's. A tendril of shadow flew up from the arena, grabbing hold of the railing of the spectator balcony, as another extended from the ground, attaching to Shikamaru, who she realised must have been awake the entire time.
The shadow tethering them to the ground swiftly and safely brought them down, and the other tendril twitched, as if to pull them back up, but Tenten wriggled free from Shikamaru's grip before it could, instead running as fast as he could over the now desert-like arena to where Neji had fallen, scooping away the blood-soaked sand with her hands as she searched for her teammate.
She gasped as she finally uncovered him, bloody flowing freely from his head wound. He was breathing still, though it was incredibly shallow, and Tenten instantly knew that without medical attention this very second, he would die. She turned around to try and call for help, but as she saw the current situation, her breath caught in her throat and her cry for assistance died, as she began to realise what exactly was actually happening.
Konoha was burning.
Jiraiya grunted, as he summoned Gamaken to combat the snakes that had breached the village walls. He'd known something was coming, but this? How long had Orochimaru been planning this for? He shoved a Rasengan into the stomach of some idiot who thought it would be as easy as getting to the top of his summon to deal with it, even as he jumped off, expelling a fire jutsu that incinerated three more shinobi.
His eyes flicked over to the exam arena, seeing the purple barrier that now covered the top of it, and again regretting his sensei's offer to be one of his honour guard for the day. "Tch." He grunted again, biting his thumb in preparation for another summoning. Don't die, sensei. You might be old, but it's not time to bury you yet.
Genma leapt back as he spat a senbon into the eye of the jonin he had been fighting, hands blazing through the seals of his signature lightning jutsu. The Oto nin, to his credit, ignored the pain entirely, managing to catch Genma with his katana, biting into the tokubetsu jonin's thigh before he was electrocuted by the high voltage technique he fired. Genma dropped to a knee, clutching his shoulder where he had been hit earlier in the battle, a pained grin on his face.
Damn… Gotta find Raido and Iwashi. Hokage-sama needs us… even the ANBU can't get in that barrier. Three of us aren't exactly Sannin material or anything, but we should be able to turn the tide against Orochimaru- Genma rolled out of the way of the water bullet that another Oto nin fired, and turned to face him, when-
Blood filled his mouth, and he had no choice but to expel it violently as a blade of wind pierced right through him from behind. He looked over his shoulder with a shaky, bloodied grin, and stared into the impassive face of a Suna jonin who had half of his face covered by some sort of cloth. "It's you…" He realised, the dots connecting in his mind, and he would've sighed, had his lungs still been intact.
Sorry, Yugao… he thought, stumbling forward as the wind blade was ripped from his body. At least someone'll get to avenge him, even if you didn't yourself. He spun, hand reaching into his weapons pouch as he did. Baki was surprised at the speed he was moving, considering how injured he was, and so wasn't able to react before Genma slapped an explosive tag on his flak jacket and detonated it, the explosion engulfing the two of them and tearing apart the arena wall on top of which they had been fighting.
Ami growled, using her body to block off and protect Rinka as two Oto chunin creeped ever closer. She'd been separated from the other rookies, and a quick glance over her shoulder at a shivering, panicking Rinka very quickly told her she wouldn't be getting any help from her. Not like I blame her… She might be a Senju with Wood Release, but she's also basically a civvie. That first training session proved as much…
She grit her teeth. I don't know if I'd be able to fight one of these guys while protecting her, let alone two… Are we done for? I'm not strong enough to do this! I don't even have a jonin sensei! What do I- In her mounting panic, Ami's gaze flicked to her right hand, and more specifically, the clawed glove that now covered it.
Dad said… only in emergencies, right? Isn't this an emergency!? She hesitated. The Oto nin were sneering at her. She had three, no, two seconds before they- But… Mom! What if I- Her clenched jaw released, as the realisation that she really was about to die dawned on her, and she fell back, landing just in front of the cowering Rinka.
Someone… Someone, please! Anyone! I can't- I can't do this! Someone, anyone! Where are you!? Sakura, please! Saku- She gasped, the fear draining from her face as she did. What would Sakura do? The Oto shinobi ended their menacing approach now that they were well within reach, their sneers becoming sadistic grins as Ami stood once again. She'd never panic like this… At least she'd try.
Anger flashed through her eyes, and fury marred her expression as she bit down on her tongue. And why the hell am I waiting on her to come fucking bail me out!? She fucking left- and it doesn't matter that she knew this would happen or not! She left without even saying goodbye! The wind around the area began to pick up. That bitch… She needs to understand that you don't just do that. Not after that last conversation…
She looked at the Oto chunin, and both of them stumbled back in shock at something in her eyes. She needs to apologise. Before she gets a chance to give me that fucking smile and tell me everything worked out… Before she makes me forget why I was mad. That's not the point. I need to make her apologise. And I can't fucking do that if I let this Sound fodder take me out now!
"Rinka." Ami quietly intoned, raising her glove to her face. "Close your eyes, and cover your ears." She continued, pulling off the glove, and flexing what lay beneath. "You won't want to see this." Ami said, sudden confidence filling her tone, as blue light began to bathe all four gathered there.
Choji stood back to back with his father, wondering where his friends and his teammates had all gone. At the very least, he knew that Aya was safe… He raised his hand to rub his cheek where she had kissed him, before running off to find Ami and Rinka. He was confident that they'd be fine. Aya was ridiculously strong, and Ami wasn't weak by any means. They'd be fine. Everyone would be fine. They had to be.
"Come on, Choji! Let's show these invaders what being an Akimichi is really about!" Chouza roared, and Choji along with him, father and son both expanding their arms to sweep away the gathered Suna ninja, along with countless others from their clan. The Akimichi were defenders, and in the event of a day like today, where Konoha's walls had fallen and her buildings were becoming cinders, they would become the barrier that protected the rest of the citizens. That's what it truly meant to be an Akimichi.
Kakashi grimaced as his hand became slick with blood once again. Why do I always get the squirters… He thought to himself, driving the kunai hilt deep into the man's body to confirm the kill. Besides him, Gai was hollering something about youth or rivalries like he always did, kicking a man into and through a wall from the arena into the village proper.
Kurenai was busy slitting the throats of those she had caught in her genjutsu, while Asuma had been lucky – he'd managed to break off from them, and was on the lookout for all of their wayward students. Although… Kakashi stabbed another kunoichi, her death punctuated by an explosion in the village. Maybe we're the lucky ones up here.
Sasuke grunted as he narrowly avoided yet another slash at his face from the weird bone guy, retaliating with a kick that he easily blocked. Sasuke spun away from him before the other boy could have a chance to grab his ankle and slam him into the ground like he had before, quickly going through the handseals for his trusted Gokakyu, sending the inferno at the other ninja to hold him off.
He watched the man burn, silently thankful that Kakashi had made his and Naruto's training as intense as he had. As he was now, he could use two Chidori and still have some chakra left to fight, but that wasn't what he was really grateful for – that would be the extra tomoe Kakashi had essentially forced him to develop in his eyes. Without it, he was sure that this guy – whoever he was – would have hit him by now.
He spotted movement, reacting quickly and jumping off of the branch he was on, watching it get torn apart by some sort of bony projectile his opponent had thrown at him. He whipped out a kunai when his Sharingan predicted that the other boy was about to charge him, and so was able to hastily block his attacks by the skin of his teeth.
"You will be brought to Orochimaru-sama. You have no choice in the matter." The other boy said almost passively as they locked blades, as if he were talking about the weather instead of a kidnapping.
"Like hell I will!" Sasuke stared directly into the other boy's eyes, trapping him in a Sharingan genjutsu. His inexperience with them and his opponent's skill meant that he was only trapped for a moment, but that moment was all Sasuke needed, kicking him off of the tree they were perched on and driving a kunai into his chest.
To his surprise, Hinata burst from wherever she had been hiding, fiercely shoving the heel of her palm into the hilt of the knife, driving it into and then through the white-haired boy's body. Sasuke blinked in shock. He'd forgotten that she was even here. She landed on a branch below him, and Sasuke opened his mouth to congratulate her, before what should have been the other ninja's body rose from the ground, his wound sealing shut before their eyes.
"I am sorry, Orochimaru-sama, but I will have to injure your vessel." He said, seemingly to himself, as black markings began to creep along his body, coming from a central mark on his chest. "I will ensure that I keep the damage as minimal as possible." He said, pointing a sword of bone at Sasuke, his breath seeming to catch in his chest as he panted.
Ino wondered just how exactly she'd ended up fighting with the resident dog-boy, of all people. Couldn't she have at least been separated with a girl, or one of her teammates? Even Shino would've been better – at least he was smart! Although, she noted as she watched Kiba and Akamaru both tear into enemies that would have taken her apart with reckless abandon, he is decently strong. At the very least he's not lazy, not like that bum Shikamaru.
"Wahoo! We didn't get a chance to show our stuff in the Exams, but we'll show everyone exactly what we can do now, Akamaru!" His puppy howled in return, transforming into a clone of Kiba, and the two of them jumped into a spinning attack, ripping through the group of ninja blocking their path. Ino hopped along behind, watching where she stepped – she had no problem with killing or anything, but she'd like it if she didn't get blood all over her new leggings, thank you very much.
The two kept charging forward, following Kiba's smell to more and more enemy nin, neither one of them particularly remembering the order they had been given to retreat to the shelters. They shouldn't need to – if Kiba and Akamaru were capable of this much, they weren't in any real danger, were they? Onwards they fought, leaving the Hokage Monument behind them as they creeped closer and closer to the destroyed village walls.
Shino found himself in what one might call a dire predicament.
The chunin that he had been fighting with had just been cut down, the older Aburame's panicking colony beginning to set his own on edge. This was less than ideal when now facing two opponents of unknown strength that should, by all rights, far exceed his own. Still, Shino remained calm. Out of anyone in his entire graduating class, he prided himself on having the greatest emotional control over himself, even outstripping Yamanaka-san, the mind-walking heiress being too focused on what most their age were to truly understand herself as Shino did.
Of course, that comparison was unfair to make. She was a Yamanaka, he was an Aburame. One from a clan who, while understanding the mind almost completely, had some of the strongest emotions out there, and one who retreated from the world and closed themselves off entirely, despite having a similar, yet no less comprehensive, understanding.
Why then, did the two clans act so differently? His father attributed it to their hives, and as Shino grew and understood his kikaichu more with each day, he found himself disagreeing with the idea more and more. The queens and their hives surely did have an effect on the Aburame psyche, but he knew for a fact that there existed Aburame that despite having a stronger hive than he, were more open and emotional than he had ever been.
His mother was one of them, after all.
Perhaps the Yamanaka had the right of it, then. They had seen something the Aburame had missed, understood something they didn't, and that was why they held their hearts on their sleeves. They knew that in the end, it was the better call. And one would be inclined to agree – the Yamanaka were both well-loved and powerful, while the Aburame could only claim to be the latter. It made sense.
Perhaps with that understanding, he could be more like Yamanaka-san. At that thought, a small smile crept up on his face. He once again was obsessing with the differences between him and Yamanaka Ino, as he often did in times of stress, as if it would bring the two of them closer together by magic. It seems that once again, his own mind betrayed him, proving he didn't understand himself as well as he thought he did.
But that meant there was still room to grow, and he was finally beginning to take that to heart, as Yuhi-sensei and Hyuuga-san had implored him to so many times before. He could not let the chance for further growth slip from his fingers, he reasoned to himself, which meant that he could not allow himself to fall like his brethren had. And so, as his colony billowed from his sleeves, he took the panicked colony of his dying kin unto himself, preparing to fight for his chance to grow.
Tenten was panicking. Neji's breathing on her back was becoming shallower by the second, and she couldn't find anywhere to take him – the hospital had already been overrun, and that had been in the opposite direction from the arena as the Hokage Monument – if she ran back to the shelter in hopes there would be a med-nin there, Neji would die before they even got halfway.
Besides her, shadow locked three ninja into place. She hastily threw a handful of kunai at the enemies that Shikamaru had mobilized, killing one, while Lee span into action, knocking out the other two with well-placed kicks. The three stopped for a second, Shikamaru visibly sweating from exertion, Tenten looking at him as she weighed options in her head.
He's exhausted. He can't fight any longer… We need to get him to the shelter. Running around here isn't doing Neji any good anyway… Maybe if Lee takes him, he can get there in time, get him healed… She gulped something down in her throat as a horrid thought came to her. Worse comes to worst… an exhausted ninja is more useful than an injured one. Once Shikamaru regains his chakra, he'll be able to fight again, but Neji… who knows how long he'll need to rest to recover compeletely?
If I have to abandon one of them… She furiously shook her head. No! I'll save them both, I have to! "Lee-" She began to call, before an explosion rocked the air and a shockwave knocked all of them to the ground. She looked up at where the explosion had come from, only seeing dust and rubble remaining from the building. Slowly, two girls emerged from the smoke, one with purple hair and one with brown, both seeming uninjured.
"Ami, Rinka…" Shikamaru forced out, Tenten sparing him a glance. He knew these two? They hadn't been part of the Exams… "Did you do that?"
"Yeah." The purple haired one sighed. "Don't ask."
In a flash, another dark-haired girl appeared with the group, breathing a sigh of relief as she recognised those gathered. "You two are safe." She breathed, looking the two who had joined right before her, and they both nodded, the one with purple hair doing so with considerably more confidence than she had spoken with a moment earlier.
"Was there ever any doubt?" The black-haired one looked at her… friend? Teammate? Whatever – with a rueful smile, and while their little reunion was touching and all, Tenten felt it was prudent to remind them of the current situation.
"Listen, you guys are fine, so let's focus! We need to get back to the shelter. Shikamaru is exhausted, and Neji here is dying-" Once again, Tenten was interrupted, this time by the arrival of enemy ninja. She grimaced, before the black-haired one took Neji off her back and Shikamaru crunched a soldier pill, wincing at the taste but standing ready regardless.
"We'll take him. Rinka's a civilian, so she needs to get there ASAP. We'll get your teammate their safely, I promise." Tenten looked at her cautiously, before deciding to trust her fellow kunoichi, and with a single nod, the two groups broke, the newcomers dashing off with Neji, while Tenten, Shikamaru and Lee engaged the enemy.
"Shit!" Sasuke cried, only barely managing to block the attack from the now tattooed enemy. Beside him, Hinata leapt out of the way of more projectiles, panting with exhaustion as she struggled to keep her Byakugan active. Whatever the white-haired boy had done had increased his power immensely, and it was taking all she and Sasuke had just to stay alive. She was glad she'd managed to finally step in when she had… Sasuke would have lost long ago if he were fighting alone.
Sasuke landed beside her, panting himself, but still having a decent amount of chakra left. Enough for a Chidori, at the very least. "Listen," He harshly whispered. "This guy heals whatever damage we do to him, and he's faster than either one of us. We're only alive because he's not trying to kill us." Hinata's eyes widened at those words, before thinking back on the fight.
"Yes… Now that I think about it…" She could think of no less than three instances where if this man had wanted, he could have easily stabbed right through her and then dealt with Sasuke, but each time he had simply knocked her away in a half-hearted attempt to knock her out instead. She winced as she thought of her bruised ribs, wondering how powerful this enemy truly was if that was him when he wasn't even trying. "But why would he not want to kill us?"
"He said he wanted to capture me, or whatever… And besides that, he might just be the type that enjoys knocking people weaker than him around. I've fought someone like that before." His thoughts flicked back to Wave. "And I know that their very nature is what leads to their downfall." Hinata glanced at him, but the boy's eyes had seemingly glazed over, reliving the fight against the Iwa nin that had awakened his Sharingan for the first time.
"The lightning technique I used earlier. I've got enough chakra to use it one more time… If I can get a direct hit, I should be able to kill him before he can heal it. I need you to help me land that hit." Hinata hesitated, looking at the white-haired boy who was simply staring at the two of them impassively, even if his breathing seemed somewhat laboured. Behind her, the sounds of battle raged through the forest, as she realised that Naruto-kun's fight was still raging on, and probably wouldn't be ending any time soon. I'm the only one…
"O-Okay. I'll… I'll do my best!" She responded as resolutely as she could. Sasuke gazed at her out of the corner of his eye, before nodding, and turning his attention back to the white-haired boy.
"Hey. You're pretty strong. What's your name? I'll need to know it so I can claim your bounty later."
"Kimimaro." The boy answered easily. "And you may do what you wish. After Orochimaru-sama is done with you."
"How many times do I have to tell you… That's not happening!" Sasuke charged Kimimaro with startling speed, but the Kaguya was easily able to block the attack, the tainted senjutsu chakra flowing from the Cursed Seal of Earth powering his body to levels that Sasuke simply could not match as he was now. But Sasuke wasn't alone, and he flipped away as Hinata charged in with a palm strike, the faintest trace of visible chakra forming a halo around her hand.
Kimimaro, of course, could easily tell that that technique was not something that he could afford to be hit by, and leapt to avoid it, but in a way the Leaf genin hadn't expected, diving forward past Hinata's outstretched arm and suddenly exploding outwards into a pincushion of bone. Hinata slipped back on the mud out of shock, and if not for Sasuke's timely intervention, tugging on her hoodie and pulling her backwards, she likely would have died.
As it was, she still was stabbed thrice in the chest, and had a severe laceration on the arm she had been trying to attack with, where one of the bones had entered it and had then sliced down almost its entire length, cutting down to the muscle. Hinata gripped her injured arm, doing all she could to not shriek in pain, only letting out a whimper instead, as Sasuke angrily glared at Kimimaro, before rolling under a slash that would have sliced his neck open.
It seemed that for whatever reason, their opponent had decided that he would stop going easy on them, and was now attacking with the intent to kill. Sasuke couldn't tell what had brought on this change in behaviour, but as he ducked below another attack, he caught eyes with Hinata, seeing that she was alright.
He quickly stepped back, making distance between him and Kimimaro, as Hinata leapt at him from behind. Their opponent paused, before a huge amount of bone sprouted from his back in an attack that would surely impale Hinata long before she reached him. The bones pierced her body in a spray of blood and the light left her eyes, before she disappeared in a poof of smoke and a log was instead stuck on the bone.
Kimimaro's eyes widened, and he quickly retracted the bones, the log dropping to the ground, as his eyes turned to Sasuke again, the sound of chirping birds filling the air as the Uchiha's hand tore right through his chest and destroyed his heart. Sasuke ripped out his hand, causing the Oto nin to stumble backwards, and he began to cough up blood. "Impressive…" He managed to gasp out with the last of his breath.
"But not quite enough."
Sasuke's hair stood on end and Hinata's eyes widened, as fear threatened to overtake them both. They could both clearly see the chakra being released by… something on his chest, thanks to their dojutsu, but more than that, they could both feel it. It was intense for sure, but that wasn't the issue – it was simply vile. Unbelievably so, as if they were sensing the energy of a yokai that had crawled up from the depths of hell.
They watched as the gaping hole in Kimimaro's chest sealed itself shut without a problem, and the markings on his skin began to cover him completely, leaving him with darkened skin and hair. His eyes looked like the sand monster that Naruto was fighting – black sclera with golden irises. Four spikes of bone jutted out of his back, and they watched disgusted as a tail began to grow from the base of his spine.
Kimimaro looked at Sasuke, a black mark framing his eyes and nose. The intensity of that disgusting chakra had lessened, but its vile feeling remained, even as the now grey haired ninja began to speak, sweating profusely. "I truly am impressed, Uchiha Sasuke. I did not think I would have to use the Cursed Seal at all, let alone its second level against one such as you, even if you have had assistance. I fully understand why Orochimaru-sama has chosen you. I absolutely cannot fail him now."
"How many times do-"
Sasuke was sent flying by Kimimaro's fist to his gut, slamming against a tree and sliding down it until he came to rest in a seated position, coughing up blood. Kimimaro glanced at Hinata, clearly taking in the fear in her face and posture. "I do not wish to kill you, and I can see that any desire to fight me is long gone. If you do not interfere, you will live." That nuisance dealt with, Kimimaro walked over to where Sasuke was sat, growling at him through bloody teeth.
"Do you give up?"
"Never!"
Kimimaro sighed, closing his eyes. "Fine. Then I will-" The leader of the Sound Five was engulfed by the flames of the fire jutsu Sasuke had surreptitiously cast, using most, if not all, of the chakra he had left. The fire abated, leaving Kimimaro completely unharmed, and with only a slight look of annoyance on his face, as if the jutsu were Sasuke throwing a tantrum. "Are you finished?"
Sasuke looked up at Kimimaro in shock, almost not being able to believe that his attack hadn't worked, when Hinata appeared, thrusting one desperate palm strike into Kimimaro's side. He looked at her in annoyance as well, backhanding her and sending her flying across the clearing. "Stay out of this. I don't understand why you wish to throw your life away over this. Your friend won't even- Won't even-"
Kimimaro collapsed to the ground, retching blood into the palm of his hand. He had used too much power. His illness had been acting up before the invasion even began, but he had forced himself to be present once Orochimaru-sama had personally requested him. But now… the healing he had done over the fight, and the chakra he had expended… It had accelerated his cancer and weakened his body. He was dying.
My apologies, Orochimaru-sama. I am a useless servant who cannot even accomplish a task as simple as retrieving a single genin. I am sure that you will be victorious even without my assistance from now, but… I wish that I had been able to serve you for longer. Kimimaro did not panic, or beg. He had known this was coming. He had tried to hasten the fight, but that had only caused his cancer to accelerate further and his body to weaken faster.
I wonder, had I not used the Curse Seal… Would I have survived this day? …Perhaps. But what's done is done. It's far too late for regrets. "Uchiha Sasuke… I may have died this day, but mark my words – Orochimaru-sama will have you be his next vessel. I swear it." With that, Kimimaro lowered his head, closed his eyes, and died.
Sasuke stared at the body for five seconds, overcome with shock, before Hinata came over, clutching her arm, left eye beginning to swell shut. "Did you do that?" He asked.
"N-no. The Gentle Fist… It's not capable o-of something that extreme."
"…So we just got lucky…"
"It s-seems so…"
Sasuke sighed, realising just how close he had come to becoming a… vessel, or whatever it was he had been talking about. He tried to stand, but stumbled to his knees – or would've, had Hinata not caught him. She nervously smiled at him, and though he wanted to scowl, he couldn't help himself smile back, even if just for the fact they were alive.
"Come on. Let's go help that idiot."
Isago could barely believe what was happening. The Leaf had had no idea that their attack was coming, that they were already in the village, that it'd be the joint forces of two villages attacking them. Yet somehow, Oto had lost more than a third of their forces, and Suna a fourth. Baki wasn't responding to any attempts to contact him, and Orochimaru, that snake, was still locked in battle with the Hokage. The chain of command had been disrupted completely.
And despite the damage that those damn Leaf nin had done to their forces, somehow they had only lost a handful of their own shinobi. It was as if they just suddenly got stronger as the situation deteriorated, which sounded fucking ridiculous, but he had no other explanation as to what was happening.
Hell, their fucking genin were ripping through the chunin rank-and-file like they were nothing!
"Baki said this operation was a mistake… Was this what he had meant?" Isago hadn't fought much with or against Konoha nin in the past, but Baki had told him many times of the sheer power the Leaf had. Whenever he began talking about it, Isago always just played it off to the immutable differences between their villages – where the Sand was a collection of families, Konoha was one of clans. Where Konoha had money and food, Suna did not. It was as simple as that, in his eyes.
Most of the time, Baki humoured the other jonin, not commenting on it after, simply telling him that one day he would understand. But there had been that one time he had challenged Isago, the first time they had had the conversation.
"The Hyuuga, Uchiha, Aburame… All of those well-known noble clans, and the lesser ones too. That's what everyone always says Konoha's power come from. But let me ask you this – there's only one man in the history of the world who has ever gotten a flee on sight order. What clan was he from?"
Isago stopped, thinking the question over. His superior had a point. The Fourth Hokage didn't have a clan, did he? "Okay, fine, Namikaze was a genius, I'll give you that Baki-san. But he's an exception to the rule. You can't use his example to tell me that Konoha's power doesn't come from its clans."
Baki raised his one visible eyebrow. "Can't I? Okay, then. Who are Konoha's current top ninja?"
"That'd be… Gai and Hatake, right?" Isago blinked at the question. Baki nodded, before continuing.
"And what clan's are they and the Sannin from?"
Isago blinked again, thoroughly confused at the question. "Well, Tsunade is a Senju… And Hatake is a clan, isn't it?" At that, Baki shook his head.
"It's a clan insomuch that we have clans. What do all of these people have in common?"
"That they're ridiculously powerful?"
"No." Baki stood from the fire they were sat around, turning away from his friend. "It's that they, along with almost every Konoha nin you've ever heard of, did one thing. They all went into borderline suicidal situations that should have killed platoons of ninja just as or maybe slightly stronger than them…
"And they all survived them with barely a scratch. That's the Leaf's strength."
Isago was more confused than he'd been when the conversation started. Surely that just meant the Leaf nin were stronger than they thought? 'Whatever', he thought to himself, rising just as Baki had, throwing dirt over the campfire as they prepared to set off again.
"It must be. There's no other way – I saw that kid fight and lose earlier today! He wasn't even close to as powerful then as he is now!" He murmured to himself, watching an Inuzuka boy claw the throat out of a chunin, as a blonde girl with him stabbed another one of his shinobi in the back as they tried to ambush the Inuzuka themselves.
"What the fuck is wrong with this village!?"
Orochimaru winced, as the pain in his arms intensified and the barrier jutsu fizzled out of existence. Kabuto was by his side almost instantly, like the good pet he was. "Damn you, Sarutobi-sensei…" He hissed at the corpse of the man he had once considered a father. "How goes the battle, Kabuto-kun?"
Kabuto readjusted his glasses. "Not well. Initially things seemed in our favour, but from the start we were taking heavy losses without dealing much damage in return. At this rate, they'll almost certainly repel us if nothing is done."
Orochimaru scowled, though he was impressed. Konoha was nothing if not resillent, though he supposed he should have expected that. It was the village that had birthed him, after all. "I cannot fight like this. I suppose it's time for our retreat. This should have bought Kimimaro-kun enough time to have retrieved Sasuke-kun at least, so it shouldn't be a total loss…" He glimpsed at the Sound Four as they entered the first stages of their Cursed Seals, fighting against the ANBU that had gathered.
"Order the Sound Four to ensure they kill as many of the ANBU as possible before they retreat. And if that old project of mine appears… He gets priority. I do not wish to have a Wood Release user to fight against." Kabuto nodded.
"And the rest of the troops?"
"Don't tell them anything. All the ones I care about are back in Oto."
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." A clone split from Kabuto, as he went to help Orochimaru up, a devilish grin marring his face. "You know… I have you completely at my mercy now. What's stopping me from ruining the rest of your body and watching you squirm?"
Orochimaru simply huffed exasperatedly, having gone through this routine countless body. "Oh, do shut up, you foolish boy. I want to get out of this dungheap, today preferably."
"As you wish, master." Orochimaru rolled his eyes at his subordinate's insubordination, as the two of them left, making a beeline for the edges of the village.
A tall man in a red vest and green kimono watched them go. "Not this time." He said, leaping off the giant toad he was on, chasing after them as they entered Konoha's surrounding forest.
Rinka shivered, as a civilian doctor put a blanket over her, watching no less than three med-nin crowd over Neji's limp body in an attempt to heal him. "Will… Will he be alright?" She asked nervously, looking up into the eyes of the doctor, he smiled at her warmly, expression fading as he turned his glance to the Hyuuga scion.
"That I don't know. Your friend was very injured, and had been for a while. If you had taken any longer to get to the shelter, he very well might've been beyond our help. As it is, it's very touch and go… But our medics are some of the best. I'm sure they'll be able to help." Rinka smiled at him shakily, and the doctor almost faltered. They'll probably be able to save his life… But only Tsunade would be able to get him back to how he was before the injury. But I can't tell her that… She doesn't even feel like a ninja. I fear it'd completely break her…
Rinka hugged her knees, fear, disappointment and shame clawing at her heart. Disappointment that Neji might not be okay, shame that she was so useless, fear that her friends were all probably in danger. And she couldn't do anything about it.
She sat there, waiting.
Naruto had honestly thought it would be harder to fight this guy. I mean, everyone was talking about how strong he and that Neji guy was, and looking at him now, he's probably even stronger than he was during their fight. Yet despite that, Naruto was kicking Gaara around like a ragdoll, the other boy seemingly completely unable to defend himself against Naruto's clones and Rasengan.
He grinned. "Guess I'm just that strong!" He yelled, him and fifty other clones charging Gaara with fists raised and Rasengan howling, while Hinata watched in awe with her mouth agape, while Sasuke looked at her with a knowing smirk.
"Not what you expected, huh?" She shook her head. She'd known Naruto-kun was strong, but this… it went beyond her wildest imagination what she was seeing. "Yeah," Sasuke continued. "That idiot got pretty strong over this last month. I'm pretty sure he'd beat me in a heartbeat." Hinata glanced at Sasuke after that admission. It was something she'd never have thought he'd say, back when they were in the Academy, and it served to show how much he had changed since then.
Both of these two had become unbelievably powerful, and had changed for the better… and she was still the same weakling she'd always been. If not for the fact she was holding up Sasuke, she would've completely retreated into herself.
"I won't… I won't lose to a guy like this!" Gaara roared, evidently having had enough. A huge amount of sand erupted from the ground, dispersing more than half of Naruto's clones as it did, and raising a huge cloud of dust. The dust cleared, leaving only a massive creature of sand behind, a single tail swishing behind it. Hinata and Sasuke's eyes widened, as they both took in the size of the thing, and the amount of chakra contained in it.
Naruto wasn't scared, though. Gaara was shouting something from atop the things head, but the blond paid him no mind, summoning three clones, two of which grabbed him and the last clone, throwing them up into the air as hard as they could. They flew up, higher than even where the creature stood, and as a Rasengan span to life in his hand, Naruto's other clone grabbed his arms, throwing him back down, on a direct collision course to Gaara.
Naruto roared as he pulled his hand back, ready to score a direct hit and end the fight. He couldn't wait to tell everyone about who he'd beaten, and how strong he was. He bet Kiba wouldn't believe him, but he'd just beat him up, and then he'd have to. Sakura-chan would be so impressed when he told her, when she finally came back. Maybe then they could go on a date!
A tendril of sand sprouted forth from Shukaku's head and ripped Naruto apart before anyone could blink, and Uzumaki Naruto died before he even knew that he had been hit.
Sasuke's pupils dilated and his hair stood on end, while Hinata watched the shower of blood that had once been her crush splatter all over the maniacally gloating Gaara. "No…" She whispered. "NOO-"
Her shriek of anguish was halted by Sasuke, who clamped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet! Shut up! We can't let that thing remember that we're here!" Tears streaming down her face, Hinata had no choice but to nod in agreement, even through her sudden grief noticing that Sasuke's eyes were sporting a black and red pattern she had never seen before.
Gaara's wild laughter quickly faded into Shukaku's hysterics, and now that the Tailed Beast was in control, its eyes raked the surrounding area, spotting Konoha in the distance. "I can play with them over there!" The beast crowed as if it had just made a new friend, and lumbered over to the village as fast as it could go.
Sasuke and Hinata remained silent until it was long gone, before Sasuke eventually removed his hand from the kunoichi's mouth. "We need… we need to go back. And warn everyone." Sasuke said, doing his best to not completely lose himself to the tsunami of emotion that was threatening to overwhelm him. Hinata nodded, knowing that if she spoke at all, she would break into complete hysterics, and the two of them followed the walking weapon of mass destruction as fast as their injuries would allow.
The scene that awaited them back in Konoha was one of complete chaos.
The thing had seemingly walked through the Hokage Monument on its return to the village, destroying the shelter as it did, and now was in the centre of the village, fighting countless shinobi and destroying everything it came near. With the Byakugan, Hinata was able to see that a man she thought she recognised as Neji-nii-san's teacher was fighting, along with Kakashi-sensei. She wasn't certain if she was right however, as the man's chakra was… red? And she could see flames coming off of him… He was meant to be a taijutsu practitioner, wasn't he?
Whatever or whoever he was though, what he was doing wasn't working. His attacks would blow huge portions of the creature away, but they would reform almost instantly as the thing gathered more sand. It opened its mouth, sending three huge bullets of air ripping through the village, completely destroying the main entrance and the surrounding area.
As she scanned the rest of the village however, Hinata saw something that made her heart go cold, and she immediately let go of Sasuke, rushing over as fast as she possibly could. "Damn it, Hinata! Wait- Argh." Sasuke tried to shout after her, but his body wasn't responding to him. He'd used too much chakra, and he was injured from the fight. He could barely move.
"S-Sasuke!" A familiar voice called, and he felt hands wrap around him from behind and what seemed to be a wet face press into his back. "Sasuke, you're safe! Oh god, you're alive!"
"Rinka…" Sasuke breathed, painfully turning around to look at her. "You're alright… At least that's-" He stopped, thinking about what had just happened earlier in the forest. Rinka, normally one who was quite empathetic, was so caught up in her own distress that she didn't quite catch Sasuke's.
"Sasuke, what's going on?" She asked tearfully, hands clenching his shirt as she looked up at him. "I was in the shelter, but then suddenly that… that monster destroyed it. I was okay, but there were… So many people were…"
She began to cry openly into his chest, and Sasuke felt his heart clench. He didn't know what to say to her, but what he did know is that they couldn't just stay here in the street. He was about to interrupt her to tell her as much, when two shinobi landed in front of them, stopping Rinka's crying for him as she heard them.
Sasuke grit his teeth, straining his body to push himself to his full height and get Rinka behind him. "Rinka… run. You need to get somewhere safe." He grunted, sweating, pulling out a kunai in an attempt to try and intimidate his new opponents. Rinka looked to Sasuke and then to the enemy nin in shock, not believing what she was seeing.
It seemed that their enemies had had enough of the situation, charging Sasuke as he readied himself to defend. Rinka watched in disbelief, everything seemingly happening in slow motion. Sasuke's going to die… And then so am I. Why now? Why me? I don't- A voice in her head spoke to her.
You wanted to be a ninja, didn't you?
After a moment, she realised it was her own voice. Yes, but-
Then now's the time. It's now or never, quite literally. You know what to do.
And Rinka found that she did. Even as she shut her eyes and clasped her hands together in a prayer, she felt her chakra leaving her chakra, sprout in the earth beneath them, and then rise from it again in a new form. She opened her eyes, seeing the two enemy ninja impaled by wooden stakes. And oddly, despite the fact that she'd done this herself, seeing those bodies… It didn't bother her like all the ones before had.
Because you know you had a reason. Senseless death is disgusting…
"…But death to protect another is… acceptable." She whispered to herself, understanding a little more about herself now. Sasuke turned to face her, a little shocked that she'd done that and wasn't freaking out, ret relieved at the same time. She gave him a shaky smile, before really taking him in again, gasping.
"Sasuke, what happened to your eyes?"
Hinata gasped, even more tears coming to her eyes as the scene she had seen from afar turned out worse than she had even expected. The Hyuuga compound was demolished, sand covering almost everything she could see. It was the only clan compound that the monster had seemingly gone for purposefully, and Hinata found herself wondering if that was because of Gaara's earlier fight with Neji. When she thought back on that, it felt like days had passed, while really the fight had began less than an hour prior. The attack had truly been that swift.
She clawed her way through the sand-crusted debris, searching wildly with her Byakugan for any survivors trapped by the fallen rubble, even to the point where she was nearing chakra exhaustion. All she received for her efforts were visions of her kin, head and branch family alike, smothered by sand and crushed by what had once been their noble home.
Everything caught up to her at once, and a wave of nausea hit her, but the sound of fighting alerted her to what she thought might be at least some surviving clan members. Trying and failing to shake her sickness away, she rushed over to where she had heard the combat, not noticing that her lack of chakra had caused the Byakugan to deactivate.
She turned the corner, only to see her father, in robes stained bloody red, fiercely fighting against three enemy ninja. Beside him, she could see her little sister, lying face down in a sea of red blood. She almost ran out to help, when a fourth nin dropped down from the sky, running her father through the back.
She couldn't help but gasp, and all of the gathered shinobi's eyes flicked towards her, her father's included. Blood bubbled at his lips as he tried and failed to speak, but Hinata was a Hyuuga, meaning she was an adept lip reader. Even so, what he had mouthed was obvious even to someone who had never even attempted to read someone lips before.
Run.
And she did, turning back the way she had come, her muscles and chakra straining as she pushed both as hard as she could, finding two jonin that saw the enemy on her heels and quickly engaged, allowing her to escape. Once she was sure she was safe, bile rose in her throat, and she expelled the contents of her stomach, crying and vomiting freely as the last few pillars of her world crashed to the ground around her.
"…ata-san. Hinata-san!" A voice called, breaking through her descent into despair. She turned to see the injured face of one of the jonin who had just saved her. "Good, you're back with us. Listen, you need to join one of the evacuation parties. We don't know if we can push the tailed beast back, so if the worst happens… well, at least you'll survive. Do you understand?"
Hinata nodded dumbly, listening to what the man said but not really hearing him. The jonin could tell, but he didn't have the time or the energy to deal with a despairing girl, even if she was the Hyuuga heir.
"Good. My partner over here is leading one away now. If things go… poorly, it'll likely be a while until we can…" The man's words faded into static as Hinata fainted.
"What do you mean we have to evacuate!?" Kiba yelled, before his mother smacked him to the ground viciously.
"Listen, pup! I don't care how tough you think you are, you are not fighting a bijuu today if I have anything to say about it." Tsume snarled.
"But-"
"Shut it! This is just in case. When we take it out after about five more minutes, we'll go and get you back into the village. Understand?" Ino looked at Kiba's mom as she said that. She could fool him, but not her. The adults… they were all preparing to die, so they were sending all of them away so they could rebuild… eventually.
She wasn't sure she wanted to do that. Seeing that monster crush three people right in front of her… and even worse, hearing the cries of the people it attack but didn't kill… She never wanted to be anywhere that could get her anywhere near it. Let alone the chakra and killing intent coming off of it. Ino's left hand grabbed the wrist of her right, trying to stop the shaking.
"Kiba, she's right. We'd just get in the way here. It's better to let them deal with it." Ino added, trying to convince Kiba to leave. She didn't understand why he wanted to keep fighting in the face of that monster. They'd been together for the whole attack, didn't he see what she had? Akamaru was whining too, pulling on Kiba's leg away from the sand-thing. Attacked from all sides, the young Inuzuka had no real choice but to obey.
Shino wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten himself in this position, dueling one on one with a jonin level opponent. The fire jutsu user had already taken out half of his normal colony, and a third of the ones he had assimilated from his brethren earlier. Shino knew that this was a horrible match-up for him, and also that in terms of skill, he was completely outclassed. For once, he couldn't seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
Lucky for him then that Rock Lee emerged from the burning, destroyed streets, smashing into his opponent with a Leaf Hurricane. The Oto nin was sent flying, and seemed to stick in place the moment he regained his footing, before being perforated by a multitude of flying weapons. The ninja looked down at his wounds before he collapsed to the ground in a splash of blood.
Shino looked, panting, at his saviours, all three of which looked worse for wear, Shikamaru especially, sporting an angry cut that ran down the side of his face. The Aburame uncharacteristically chuckled. "First you defeat me in the Exams, and now you save my life. Will there be no end to the embarrassment, Lee-san?"
Lee scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but Shino did not hear what he was about to say, as his kikaichu alerted him to danger. Jumping in front of his… friends (?), he released what was left of his colonies, using them and his body to defend against the enemy jonin's final attack.
"RINKAAAA!" Ami screamed, having run back to the shelter the moment she had seen it be destroyed. She couldn't find any trace of her, no matter how hard she looked, and her heart dropped as she began to fear the worst. In the distance, she saw a large group of civilian looking people leaving the village, and looked around of what was left.
Almost everything was either rubble, covered in sand, on fire, or some combination of the three. Dead and dying corpses of ninja and civilians lined the streets, which were beginning to run red with blood, though the sand was ironically doing a good job at soaking up a lot of it. And in the distance, the battle against the huge sand thing still raged on, not looking like it would be stopping any time soon.
Though she hated herself for it, Ami thought about things rationally – if they still hadn't made any progress beating that thing, they probably never would. That meant Konoha was done for, at least in the sense that this physical location was dead and buried. And… Rinka was probably dead. Even with the power that she had now, she wouldn't be able to do anything against that thing, but…
She looked again at the refugee group leaving. Unlike the majority of the refugee groups, that one seemed to be mostly civilians, instead of more evenly split. And she could see at least a few people that she had run into at the shelter in said group. If Rinka was alive, she'd definitely be one of the ones evacuating, which meant chances were…
Ami dashed for the refugees, tears flying from her eyes as she did. She couldn't help but feel as if she was just running away.
Jiraiya stared at the bodies of Orochimaru and his lackey, sweating profusely. It had taken longer – and been harder – than he had expected, especially considering his former teammate's arms were useless, and he had literally just come out of a fight with someone called the God of Shinobi. The fact that he'd had to enter Sage Mode to be sure of the win… He shook his head. He was slacking.
It didn't matter now. The chase had gone on for quite a while too, but since he was in Sage Mode already, he saw no reason to turn it off, so the journey back would probably only be… what, five minutes? Then he could help the jonin clear off the stragglers and then get himself straight out of there before that insane council even thought of naming him Hokage.
He smiled grimly. Things certainly hadn't gone perfectly, but they could be much worse.
Things could not get worse.
Tenzo stole a glance at the rampaging Ichibi, knowing that this invasion would already be over if not for these four. The four teenagers all looked like demons, and while they had absolutely no semblance of unity or teamwork whatsoever, they still paradoxically worked together extremely well, ensuring he was always off-balance. A single second was all that he needed to turn the tides, but they simply refused to give him one.
He grunted, as the large one planted a fist in his chest, and he felt his sternum crack. That's what he gets for getting distracted. With that one blow, Tenzo knew he was done – there would be no chance of victory or escape if he was injured as badly as he thought, and so he ignored the four Sound teenagers completely, instead turning to Shukaku, and unleashing his strongest Wood jutsu in an attempt to restrain it, before a golden arrow ripped through his chest and his world went dark.
Isago looked with glee at the remaining Akimichi he and one of the three last elite squadrons had managed to restrain in the wake of Shukaku's attack. He smiled at the beast, glad that the Kazekage's demon of a child was finally good for something. "Alright, men. Take them back to Suna. We'll discover first hand where Konoha's power comes from!"
He wished he'd been able to capture the Hyuuga, or Inuzuka or something, rather than Konoha's living obesity warnings, but a clan was a clan, and deep down, Baki's words resounded in his mind. And if Baki was right, then it hardly mattered what clan they were in. He walked up to one of the youngest Akimichi they had restrained, pulling off his strange, underwear-shaped forehead protector as he did. "Suna's possessions don't need Leaf hitai-ate."
Lee and Tenten stood back to back, looking at all the ninja surrounding them. There were at least seven, with more joining as they spotted the easy prey, and Tenten began to shake at the prospect of defeating them while also protecting the now completely drained Shikamaru, and the injured Shino.
Shikamaru could move if absolutely forced, but Shino… Half his face was burnt to the muscle, and his right arm was so badly scorched and mangled, Tenten feared they would have to amputate it. Not to mention the plastic in his coat that had melted and fused into his skin and open wounds… It made Tenten sick, and she wasn't even looking at him directly. He was dying, just like Neji had been.
"Tenten-chan… Please, give Gai-sensei my apologies for using this without his permission!"
Tenten was confused, both by the words and Lee's darkly serious tone. "Lee, what are you-"
"Eight Gates, release! Gate of Opening, release!"
Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had sensed it when he had been halfway back, but he hadn't believed it until he had seen it first hand.
Konoha was in ruins. Not even the Hokage Monument and Hokage Tower were still standing. And in the middle of the village was a raging Shukaku, breaking free from some wood restraints. Jiraiya didn't hesitate, immediately charging forward at the raging beast. Unlike the other shinobi who had been fruitlessly attacking the bijuu itself to essentially no effect, Jiraiya knew what he had to do to defeat Shukaku, leaping up and over it to land on the thing's back.
Once there, Jiraiya saw the out of control jinchuriki, and his fingers lit up. He easily dodged Shukaku's futile attempts to brush him off with sand, seeing them before they even hit him, and thrust his hand into the jinchuriki's chest. The Five Pronged Seal did exactly what it was meant to, instantly cutting off his connection to the Ichibi, and he and Jiraiya both began to fall to earth as Shukaku broke apart into sand with a cry of fury.
Without warning, while they were still falling, a puppet emerged from nowhere, tackling Jiraiya in mid-air. As the puppet pushed him back, a blonde girl on a fan caught the unconscious Gaara, continuing her flight straight out of the village, as the puppet disengaged, also flying up to the girl on the fan. Jiraiya watched them go, briefly considering chasing after them before deciding against him.
All around him, he saw various ninja and civilians who hadn't been fighting and instead had hidden emerge at the disappearance of Shukaku, just as the ones who had currently been fighting him turned to look at him. Jiraiya knew that they were all looking to him for what to do next, and as well they should – this was his fault. If he hadn't been so gung-ho in going after Orochimaru…
He could've directed them on what to do against Gaara. It would've been simple. And instead, half the village was dead, and another third had no doubt ran, whether in refugee groups or by themselves.
So If he caused it… He would have to fix it. "Gather everyone still alive up. We'll push out all the remaining stragglers, and then…" He paused, before sighing.
"We'll go see the Fire Daimyo."
And how was that? I tried to use many different characters perspectives and have loads of scenes going on to try and portray how chaotic everything was, and also how concurrent they were – pretty much the entire chapter takes place over about five minutes, until about the point where Jiraiya leaves to fight Orochimaru – everything after that is about thirty minutes (The Hinata/Sasuke/Naruto section takes place over about five minutes too, it just starts later than everything else so that Shukaku arrives pretty much right after Jiraiya leaves).
Also, you might notice we're back in the original story again! I decided to make it just one large fic in the end after thinking about how many different stories I would need to make just to tell everything I've got planned. Just keeping it in one massive fic just makes things easier, if a bit daunting. On that note, I actually have finally written down what my actual plan is – I've had the general idea for years now, but now it's actually down on paper and set. Look forward to it!
Oh, and just so that there's absolutely no confusion: Neji, Hanabi, and Hiashi are all 100% dead. As a doornail. Sorry Neji fans. As for everyone else who was injured but I didn't make clear about, well, you'll have to just wait and see!