Naruto: Shadow Legion

by Zeltic88

Naruto Uzumaki has a lineage that should grant him legend status alone, however the truth of his lineage must be kept secret from everyone, including himself. As the life of a shinobi is dangerous, actions will always have consequences. It is for this reason that Konoha decided that the heir to Tobirama Senju, Kushina Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze must be kept a secret from the world

25. Snakes in the Leaves

Naruto

Naruto: Shadow Legion – Chapter 25 [Snakes in the Leaves]

Disclaimer: I Do not own Naruto nor its Characters

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Sasuke looked ahead as the bellowing scream of Gaara died down. Within the hole of the sand dome he created, he could see flickers of shadowy movement, it was unnatural to Sasuke. A pair of eyes suddenly appeared in the hole, a pale-yellow color with a black cross in the middle. "What the hell is that?" He thought before a sand tendril sprang out of the dome faster than he could react, sending him flying across the arena.

Sasuke sprawled through the dirt before he stopped, beginning to stand. "What the hell?!" Sasuke questioned as he staggered upwards, wiping blood from the corner of his lip as he returned on guard, his eyes focused on the dome as it began to wither away slowly. Out of the corner of Sasuke's eye, he could see some purple energy emanating above him, but he paid it no mind as he watched the sands deterioration become faster than before.

"My blood!" Gaara cried out as the sand became significantly thinner, large quantities sliding off of Gaara's now exposed body. "My blood, my blood, my blood, my blood…" he continued rambling as Sasuke examined Gaara's eyes.

"What? Those are not the eyes I just saw…" Sasuke thought as he looked at the now bloodshot eyes of Gaara, his pupils seemingly smaller than they were before as he gave into a disturbing madness. Sasuke noted that as the sand grew more scarce, it also showed a more crimson color, revealing a gaping hole in Gaara's right shoulder, the hand covering it in a deep scarlet.

"Kill… Kill you…" Gaara started muttering as he fell down to one knee.

"Gaara!" a voice called out, causing Sasuke to look away for a moment.

"What's going on?" Sasuke said aloud as he saw the crowd seemingly in the midst of a mass slumber, as well as the sand nin Kankuro making his way to Gaara. When Kankuro arrived at the pair, he hoisted Gaara onto his shoulder, standing him up.

"Shit, he's out cold." Kakuro muttered. "Baki!"

Not understanding what was going on, Sasuke didn't have the time to react as he just barely perceived the sand jonin standing before him, landing a punch across his face and sending him flying further. "It's starting! Get him far enough away so he can be awakened!" He ordered.

"But Temari—"

"GO!" he roared, causing the boy to nod in affirmation before vanishing from the stadium.

Sasuke stood in confusion as he drew a kunai, pointing it towards the man who had struck him. Before he had the chance to engage, another figure appeared in front of him, stopping him just before he left the starting block. "Oi, no interrupting the fights. I'm going to have to escort you out of the stadium now." The voice of the proctor Genma expressed as a smile appeared on his face. "Sasuke, follow after that sand nin. Take your team with you."

"But what about—"

"Orders likely came directly from Kakashi, now go!" Genma roared.

"Come on, no time to lose!" the familiar voice of Naruto said beside him as a hand grasped his shoulder.

Quickly turning, Sasuke was met with the serious faces of Satsuki and Naruto. While still shook due to the rapid chain of events, Sasuke quickly shook his head, replying to his teammate. "Right, give me a run down as we go." Sasuke expressed as he regained his composure.

"Right!" Satsuki replied as she and Naruto began running in the direction of the sand nin, Sasuke following close behind as to hear what was going on.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"What the hell is this?" Kiba questioned as he reached up grabbing what appeared to be one of many feathers raining down on the stadium. "Why are there *Yawn* Feathers."

Naruto began looking around to see similar expressions coming from the rest of the crowd as well, many falling over into a deep sleep. "Somethings not right." He announced as he too let out a yawn.

"Genjutsu!" Ino announced as she quickly analyzed the mass jutsu that was affecting the arena, only a select few shinobi counteracting the effects as she raised a half tiger seal. "Release!"

Naruto decided to play it safe, making a similar gesture as he shouted "Release!" To his surprise, the sudden grogginess left as soon as it had arrived. "She's right, quickly! Before your out cold!" Naruto urged as the remaining genin on the platform began, although Shikamaru did contemplate just allowing the jutsu to take hold before Ino shot another stink eye at him.

"What's going on?" Hinata asked worried as a figure appeared beside her.

"It's a genjutsu, but we can't tell the source." Shino explained as he slightly startled the Hyuuga girl, laying Choji and Tenten at the group's feet. "I'm not good at breaking genjutsu for others, could you help?"

"Yeah, we got this." Sakura said as she gestured to Ino as they both began focusing on their release seals, as well as their targets.

"Naruto look!" Satsuki shouted, pointing upwards toward the kage viewing box.

Naruto turned to see a large plume of smoke permeating from where they were sat. Shooting out of the smoke was the figure of the Kazekage, as well as four oddly dressed shinobi. As they landed on the roof, each of the four started what seemed to be a ritual jutsu, creating a giant box of chakra around it. Naruto watched as the Hokage's guards charged the barrier, however as soon as they made contact their bodies went up in flames, causing them to crumple back down to the balcony below.

"Naruto." Shino called, snapping Naruto from his stunned gaze.

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he tuned to see Ino and Sakura revitalizing their now awoken comrades.

"Kakashi told me to tell you to follow those sand nin!" Shino conveyed as he motioned towards Kankuro.

"Hold on, what the hell is going on?!" Kiba asked intensely as Shino turned to answer.

"It looks like an invasion." Shino replied calmly to everyone's shock. "I have orders for the other teams as well."

"Well then hurry it up, we need to get moving." Ino said as she took charge. "What are our orders?"

"Team 10 will escort Temari and the cloud nin to the attack shelter we were shown in the academy. We cannot afford to lose any of them." Shino began.

"Why the sand nin?" Shikamaru questioned.

"We're being attacked by the sand." Shino explained with a chilled tone that caught everyone off guard.

"R-Right." Ino's voice shook for a moment before she looked back to Naruto.

"Team Gai is to be escorted to the Hospital by Sakura to retrieve Lee, and then make their way to the hospital tunnel that connects to the attack shelter. Team 8 will join them." Shino finished.

"This is insane…" Naruto thought as he looked around seeing shinobi now littering the stadium. Some in leaf uniforms, others in brown flak jackers with turbans, and some in what looked to be a purple or grey camouflage similar to… "KIN!" Naruto thought in horror as he recognized the uniform of the sound ninja littering the stadium.

"Naruto, we have to go!" Satsuki's voice cut through as Naruto was brought to his senses.

"Right." Naruto confirmed as he looked to see the rest of his friends exiting the area.

"Naruto." Ino called back, catching his attention as his eyes met hers. He saw that unlike normal, there was fear in them. "Stay safe."

"I'll come back, don't worry." Naruto replied as he gave a reassuring smile that seemed to at least calm Ino's nerves a bit.

"Right, good luck." Ino finished as she ran down the stairs.

"Are you two safe?" the voice of the proctor asked as he appeared beside them.

"Yes, but we have orders to pursue the sand nin!" Satsuki expressed as she pointed down towards Kankuro, who was slowly picking up Gaara before a man slammed Sasuke backwards.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out before Genma vanished yet again. "Come on, lets go!" Naruto roared as he hopped the wall, making his way towards his downed teammate with Satsuki in tow.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"Kazekage, what is the meaning of this?!" Hiruzen questioned as a kunai was positioned at his throat.

"KAZEKAGE!" A shouted as he stood by his slain guards.

"Oh come now, surely you wouldn't forget my voice." A voice that was not that of the Kazekage replied, sending a tremor down Hiruzen's spine.

"So, you have returned, Orochimaru." Hiruzen expressed as he shot a fireball at his feet, causing the two to leap in opposite directions as the roof they were standing on shook.

"Lord Hokage! Are you alright!" a cloaked and masked man asked has he and a squadron of anbu approached, landing beside the infuriated Raikage.

"I will be fine, what is the status of the village!" Hiruzen shouted back.

"The outer gates have been breached by massive snakes! Sand and Sound nin have flooded into the village and are slaughtering any who wear a leaf headband or fight back!" The anbu reported, giving Orochimaru reason to allow a wide toothy grin.

"Then it looks like my plan is going well." Orochimaru hissed as he began laughing in a guttural manner. "I would very much love to test my abilities against you, however I cannot afford to be careless."

Thinking quickly, Hiruzen threw a kunai towards the closest shinobi maintaining the wall. It looked to be a rather tan man; however he had an extra set of arms that quickly reacted, placing another barrier between him and the kunai, melting it as it made contact. Like clockwork, the other three elite shinobi barricaded themselves off from the roof, making it impenetrable from both inside and out.

"That took you longer than I expected." The snake replied as he began to shed the disguise he wore, the traditional robes falling and his skin peeling to reveal a pale, slender man. The purple markings under his eyes contrasting with the deadly yellow reptilian eyes.

"Orochimaru… you didn't—"

"I did!" He began chuckling. "I would have had another for you, but those Uchiha brats really did a number on it!"

"You damn snake!" The Raikage announced as he looked poised to charge the barrier.

"Lord Raikage, you should go and find your own people, we can handle this." The lead anbu urged as A turned, his look of rage falling now on the emotionless anbu.

"I see I cannot avoid this." Hiruzen admitted disheartened as he threw off his own robes, a battle suit layered underneath. "I will do what must be done."

"Will you?" Orochimaru jested, hitting a nerve.

"I can't just let him get away with slaughtering my men you welp!" Ay roared at the anbu, causing one in the back to flinch a moment as the rage caught them off-guard.

"Now that certainly won't do. I cannot allow you to delay my plans" Orochimaru said in a chastising manner as he began to quickly form a set of hand seals, placing his hand on the ground before anyone could react. "Edo Tensei!"

"Get out of here Raikage!" Hiruzen shouted desperately from inside his prison. "You need to find Yugito before—"

Hiruzen was struck by the head Orochimaru, sending him flying towards the back of the roof. The elongated neck of Orochimaru then began to retract slowly as the far more snake like face began to speak. "You should really focus on me. You can't afford anything less." Orochimaru expressed eerily as two coffins appeared before him, however that was not all.

"What the hell is this?" The Raikage questioned as the anbu moved to step between him, and another coffin that had risen out of the ground outside of the barrier.

"That is the edo tensei. Prepare yourself." Was all the explanation the anbu gave before the coffin began to jar open.

"What the…" Ay began as he watched a familiar figure step out of the coffin, his grey coloration filling in his flushed face, an ocean blue covering the armor he wore.

As Hiruzen resituated himself, looking back towards Orochimaru, his eyes froze at the sight of the two shinobi that stood before Orochimaru.

"What is going on?" one in red armor questioned as he looked around seeing the situation at hand.

"Lord first?" the other man questioned shocked, causing the armored man to look beside him at a man wearing the typical Konoha uniform, the only difference being a chilling symbol of the Konoha police force attached to his shoulder.

"Yes, I am, and who might you be?" the man now confirmed to be the first Hokage asked.

"My name is Fugaku Uchiha, and I am very confused." The reanimated Fugaku expressed as he looked to see Hiruzen in front of him, his eyes now beginning to fill with anger.

"Wait a moment, is that you Hiruzen?" the first Hokage Hashirama asked with a smile. "You've gotten old!"

"If I could explain." A voice came down from below, emanating from the coffin below. Standing there was a silver-haired man, wearing blue armor marked by the Senju clan, a white fur mane blowing in the breeze behind him.

"No." the Raikage said in disbelief, his fists beginning to shake with rage. "Tobirama!" the Raikage shouted with rage.

Ignoring the Raikage, Tobirama continued. "It would appear we've been brought back from death to aid a shinobi in battle via the Edo tensei."

"As perceptive as ever lord second." Orochimaru complimented as he grabbed a kunai from his pouch, an odd talisman hanging off the ringed end. He quickly flicked the kunai with blistering speed towards the barrier, and for a split second, it opened, allowing the kunai to harmlessly pass through the barrier.

"Stop it!" Tobirama boomed, causing one of the anbu to spring into action, putting themselves between Tobirama, and the kunai.

A scowl came across Orochimaru face as he looked towards Tobirama, a murderous gaze settling on him. The anbu turned for a moment. "Is everything all—" was all he got out before Tobirama's blade was sunk into his chest.

"You monster!" The Raikage roared as he attempted to surge forward, only to be met with a resistance as the remaining four anbu stood in his path before he could utilize his speed, almost needing to physically restrain him.

"Lord Raikage! It was not the hokage's doing, but that snakes!" the captain started.

"What are you doing! Let him attack!" Tobirama barked out.

"Ah yes, as I've been foiled in exercising full control and suppressing his personality, I suppose I'll just have to deal with your conflicting orders." Orochimaru mused as he approached his summons within the barrier. "You're lucky I only had three prepared."

"So it would seem that even after death we are to do battle." Hashirama chuckled before the kunai was sunk into his back, causing the light in his eye to fade, and his smile to straighten.

"Lord Hokage, if I could ask you a question." Fugaku started, causing Orochimaru to hold for a moment.

"This should be good." Orochimaru said in interest as he had heard of the infamous massacre.

"Itachi… did you give the order?"

Hiruzen paused, nearly saying something before hesitating in releasing his words. "It was Itachi's plan, and it was Itachi's will. However I gave the order for him to follow through with the attack." Hiruzen admitted quietly as he glanced to his side, seeing the Raikage and those outside the barrier to preoccupied to notice.

Fugaku paused for a moment, thinking on what the Hokage had said, and letting a small smile crack across his face. "In a way, I'm proud…" Fugaku admitted reluctantly before his smile faded. "And what of Sasuke?"

To this question, Hiruzen was able to answer much quicker. "Him, Satsuki, and another survived the attack. Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi deliberately spared them." Hiruzen explained.

"Another? Who else would they spare?" Fugaku questioned, his joy mixing with curiosity.

"Are you referring to that Naruto brat?" Orochimaru questioned, causing a ping to go off in Fugaku's head.

"Naruto?" Fugaku thought aloud as the young silver-haired boy that visited Kagami for a brief while before the massacre occurred entered his mind. "What are you saying?!" Fugaku got louder as his dead eyes focused on Orochimaru, and then Hiruzen.

"That was his grandson." Hiruzen explained.

Fugaku froze as the revelation settled in. "Grandson…"

"I figured as much." Orochimaru grinned as he looked down towards Tobirama. "He's going to have some issues with his grandson being the spawn of an Uchi—"

"Get this over with." Orochimaru was cut off mid-sentence by Fugaku, causing him to look back with a frown. Looking Fugaku up and down, he saw a half-hearted smile coming from the man. "I've learned all I've needed to rest peacefully."

"Very well then." Orochimaru obliged as he shoved the kunai deep into Fugaku's back, the much more forceful thrust causing him to flinch, arching forwards.

"I can't wait to tell Mikoto…" he said softly as his eyes drained of all thought, his body turning into a drone like state as he stood side by side with the first Hokage, prepared to attack.

Orochimaru's smile grew wide as his eyes locked with Hiruzen's "Now, shall we begin?"

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"This is not good." Yugito said aloud, her mouth agape as she watched the sand tendril that just struck Sasuke retreat into the now deteriorating dome.

"What isn't?" a confused Neji asked as he stood beside her, giving her a quizzical side eye.

"That… That thing!" Yugito expressed as she pointed towards the arena.

"Is the jutsu that powerful?"

"That's no jutsu…" Yugito explained as the doctors began to walk over.

"What's the matter over he—"

"We have to go, now!" Yugito snapped quickly, causing the medic to jolt in confusion.

"I'm sorry? What seems to—"

"We need to go! Once that thing is on the loose, we won't be able to stop it. We need to get out of the way of those who can!" Yugito explained as she tried to stand, stumbling into the medic's arms.

"Time is of the essence, but you cannot walk right now! Your already at your limit because of your chakra loss! I can only regain so much so quickly!" The Nibi expressed with worry as the medic stood her up.

"What is going on?" a calmer voice asked from behind her, clearly the Hyuuga boy who now bore scars across his body.

"That is no jutsu." Yugito began as she had the medic help her over to the door. "That is a Jinchuriki who's bond with their tailed-beast is at it's absolute lowest! If we do not leave, we will be prey for the Bijuu that will take over his body!" Yugito explained, having flashes of stories that Bee told her back when she was training her bond with the Nibi.

"You can't be serious…" the medic said woefully as she watched the bloodied boy appear from the dome. "Look, he is but a boy!"

"It doesn't matter! It's only a matter of time before it's too late!" Yugito explained frantically as she watched one of the sand nin from the tournament kneel beside the Jinchuriki, followed by Sasuke taking a damaging shot, sending him across the arena.

"Quickly! Secure the girl!" Neji shouted following the sudden attack at another idle nurse, processing what she just heard.

"R-Right!" She agreed as she walked over to a nearby bag, pulling out some seal paper that she then placed onto the blonde Suna nin, using what time she had to bind her to the best of her ability. "That seal will suppress her chakra until it is removed.

"Good, now all we have to do is—"

"Is everyone okay?!" a voice called down the stairs as eight genin, all of them participants from the tournament or prelims, came rushing down the stairs. "We have orders to get you to safety!" The blonde one she recognized as being Ino explained to Yugito. "Sakura!"

"Right, I'm on it!" Sakura expressed as she moved to get Neji on his feet, being helped quickly by Tenten. "We're getting you to the Hospital, and then to the shelter." Sakura explained quickly as Neji shrugged the two off.

"Understood." He replied relieved as his eyes met Kiba's.

"They're coming with us so you better not start—"

"Lead the way." Neji cut off as he spoke directly to Kiba.

"Right, the back exist is this way." Kiba explained as his calm exterior began to slowly manifest itself once more as he pointed towards the rear exit.

"You two should come with us or them, or one of each, it doesn't matter." Sakura explained as she gestured over to the group of three that had moved over to Yugito as they began to help her up.

"We'll be taking you and the sand girl directly to the bunker. I'm certain your team is receiving word from any number of leaf nin to do the same." Ino explained as she watched Shikamaru tie the unconscious sand nin to Choji's back.

"Same thing as the forest alright?" Shikamaru explained quickly, causing Choji to nod in acknowledgement.

"We'll stay here, we still need to tend to—"

"We're in the middle of an invasion! If you stay here, you'll be hurt or worse!" Sakura expressed passionately, causing the two to recoil in shock, before settling themselves.

"All the more reason to stay here and aid the wounded." One of the nurses expressed gratefully.

"Invasion? By whom?" Neji questioned.

"By—" a hole was busted through a nearby wall as a man in a dark camo was sent unconscious through it. "By them!" Sakura explained as she pointed to the headband. "It's a joint invasion from the sand and the sound!"

"We can't waste anymore time with questions, we have to go! We'll explain while we move!" Ino expressed aggressively as she began pulling Yugito forward, taking the lead as the groups began to exit through the back.

"I like her." A voice echoed in the back of Yugito's head as she watched the girl closely as she escorted her into the sunlight.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Zabuza sat quietly as he watched Hana preform a basic evaluation on Haku. He watched as Hana had her try put pressure on the previously stunned legs courtesy of the grey-haired coward. "All right, your doing great." Hana expressed as she watched Haku shakily begin to take steps around the hospital room.

"It's good to know that the procedure still works." Haku said calmly as she gradually began shaking less.

"True, but it will still be a while before you can properly channel chakra into them." Hana warned with a toothy grin, her larger fangs showing in full force.

"Tournament… attack…" Kin mumbled from across the room, catching Hana's and Haku's attention.

"She's awake?" Haku questioned as she began wobbling her way over towards her bed, followed quickly by Hana.

"Don't rush yourself kid, if you break yourself again, we might have to pay for it this time." Zabuza said to no reaction as the two loomed over Kin's body, Hana beginning to do a few quick checks.

"She's not awake, but this is a good sign. She's no longer in a coma, just asleep." Hana surmised.

"Attack… tournament… sand…" Kin continued on, causing alarm bells to go off in Zabuza's head.

"What did she just say?" He asked as he stood up, walking over to see Hana and Haku turning.

"Its just some babblings probably." Hana shrugged off as she was much more caught up in her treatment success to properly think through the words.

"Attack, Tournament, and sand." Haku echoed, realizing what she said as she repeated it.

"Sound… invasion…" she said, this time even Hana began to understand Zabuza's implication.

Zabuza decided to take matters into his own hands as he began to shake Kin's shoulder.

"What are you doing! This could be very dangerous!" Hana protested as she reached out to stop Zabuza.

"You said yourself she was just asleep." Zabuza replied as he watched Kin's eyes begin to flutter open, ceasing his shaking. "You see, she's fine."

He watched as consciousness returned to Kin. He could see that she had begun processing the faces around her before she shot up quickly. "What day is it!?" she asked without hesitation, looking towards Hana frantically. "Has the tournament passed?!"

"The tournaments happening right now—"

"You need to mobilize NOW! There's an invasion com—" Kin tried to say as a massive tremor hit the facility, causing Haku to fall into Hana's arms. "Oh no. no, no, no, no no, no, NO!" Kin began to mutter as she tried to stand on her own, quickly falling towards Zabuza.

"What's going on?" Zabuza asked as he caught the girl.

"Its and invasion!" Kin shouted as she straightened herself in Zabuza's arms. "The sand and the sound are trying to destroy Konoha!"

"Hold on, slow down. What do you mean?" Hana asked as she tried to calm Kin.

"I meant what I said! We have to get out there and—" Kin winced as she tried to stand on her own, falling back into Zabuza's arms.

"Does this place have a saferoom or something?" Zabuza asked as he turned to Hana.

"Yeah, we have a tunnel to the attack shelter—"

"Put the building on alert!" Zabuza ordered as he grabbed Kin, carrying her bridal style. "Haku, go inform the twins!"

"Right away!" Haku obliged as she slowly began to walk her way across the way.

"We don't know if that's necessary! This could just be a dream!" Hana expressed skeptically as Kin looked back at the Inuzuka.

"No, this was Orocimaru's big plan! I was going to tell you back then, but I passed out on the way back!" Kin explained as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Zabuza had seen this expression before. Betrayed and left by the ones she trusted, unable to stop an atrocity, guilty about not saying anything sooner. It was all too familiar. "Proof enough for you?" Zabuza asked in a deep tone.

Hana contemplated it quickly before she looked between the two contrasting faces, inevitable giving in as she ran out of the room without a word, running to the nearby wall where an alarm of sorts was left. "You better be right about this!" She cried as she pulled the lever, starting a loud alarm sequence sure not only to get the hospital moving, but also light their location up like a beacon.

Zabuza quickly handed Hana the immobile Kin "Take her, I'll clear a path."

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Naruto was quickly making his way thought he trees with his companions behind him, however as he expertly maneuvered through he forest, he came upon a troubling discovery as he seemed to have lost any sign of the sand nin "He's carrying a near unconscious genin, he should be slower than us right now…" Naruto thought in a slight panic as he stopped on a branch.

"After that we jumped down towards you, and at this point your basically caught up." The voice of Satsuki came from behind Naruto as he knelt to inspect the rather thick branch. Landing beside Naruto, the Uchiha siblings stopped as well. "What's the matter?"

"We should have caught them by now." Naruto explained as he dragged his finger across some rather fresh blood, rubbing it between his thumb and index finger. "How is your tracking?" Naruto asked generally.

"Not exactly my strong suit." Sasuke replied.

"I can, but not with this little to go off of." Satsuki added disappointed.

"Right then." Naruto replied as he stood up, making the seals for the summoning jutsu. As he bit his un-bloodied finger, he focused specifically on the fox he wanted to call. "Come on Kaze…" Naruto thought as he slammed his hand into the dirt, sending a plume of concentrated smoke in front of him.

As the smoke cleared a relieved smile came to Naruto's face as a red fox, much like Inari, only older, and significantly more beat up and scarred appeared before the trio. "All right kid, you summoned me. Now what do you want?" The fox Kaze asked impatiently as he looked around to see new faces. "And who are these chumps?"

"These are my teammates Kaze, I need you to track down our target." Naruto explained calmly as he held out his red fingers over the small blood splotch that he had dipped them in previously.

"Another one of your summons?" Satsuki asked as she looked at the rather large fox impressed.

"One of a few more that you haven't seen yet." Naruto grinned as Kaze began sniffing the Gaara's blood.

"Wait, Kaze? As in the Kazekage? Why would you choose to bring him out?" Sasuke questioned, suspicious of the fox for seemingly no reason.

"He's the oldest, and the best tracker of my summons." Naruto explained briefly, even if its technically a lie. "Besides, just because he uses wind nature, doesn't mean that he's from that area. He's a summon after all." Naruto continued, sure that Sasuke simply didn't understand the intricacies of summoning yet.

"So the kid's from the sand huh? That explains the smell of death that's woven into his blood." Kaze replied as he took his nose away from the blood. "I have his scent, but we better move quickly."

"Smell of death?" Naruto questioned as Kaze turned slightly to the left of where they were just heading. "Are you talking about him, or something else?"

"You know what I'm talking about." Kaze said bluntly as he lept off of the branch, moving quickly through the tree line.

"Come on." Satsuki urged as she began following the fox alongside Sasuke, Naruto being the last to lead and bringing up the rear of their group.

"Be on guard, there are many foreign presences throughout the forest, however none seem to be aware of us at the moment." Kurama reported as he was seemingly keeping an eye out through some other means.

"Can I get an estimate on distance or how your able to tell this?" Naruto questioned as he went through the motions moving through the familiar trees outside of the village.

"It's a form of senjutsu that allows me to get a general sixth sense of sorts, however in my current state it is very limited." The Kyuubi explained honestly.

"Senjutsu, you mean nature energy? That's the kind of techniques my summons use, right?" Naruto questioned, remembering vaguely the lessons that Jiraiya and his various summons taught him throughout the month.

"Precisely. Now that I'm done stating the obvious, you should know that there is a squad of rather high chakra signatures directly in your path. I can't sense your target specifically because Shukaku is interfering with his own signature." Kurama replied sarcastically as he casually dropped the name of the one tail.

"That doesn't make sense, he should give off the largest chakra pool in the forest outside of you!" Naruto thought confused before an annoyed sigh echoed through his head.

"Listen again. He is choosing to give off a lower chakra signature. We Bijuu have rather good control of our chakra if I do say so myself, so it is very possible, if not plausible that this is the case." Kurama said in a rather condescending manner, causing Naruto to physically frown as he briefly thought of entering his mind to tell off the fox.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Satsuki questioned, startling Naruto as she was traveling beside him.

"Oh, yeah. Just talking to him." Naruto explained as he moved a hand over his seal, signifying the nine tails.

"Oooh I see." Satsuki expressed slightly skeptically, but without time to ask further. "Well anyways, Kaze says that he smells unknown scents in the area."

"Right, Kurama said that there are a few chakra signatures in our path, likely trying to ambush us if I were to guess." Naruto explained as he recalled the beast's statement about Shukaku suppressing his chakra. "Once we get to the shinobi intercepting us, you two go on ahead with Kaze, I'll catch up when I'm finished."

"What? That's a terrible idea!" Satsuki scolded as this caught the attention of Sasuke and Kaze, the ladder of which seemed indifferent to the scuffle.

"What is it this time?" Sasuke asked in a rush, seemingly growling out the familiar words.

"He wants us to keep going after we intercept a team of shinobi between us and the target!" Satsuki expressed in an unflattering roar.

"Again with this?! Do you not remember what happened in the forest?!" Sasuke questioned angrily as he put a hand on his neck, feeling a slight twitch of energy coming from the mark.

"That's not good…" Kurama piped up.

"We'll talk about that later!" Naruto thought as he brought himself back on track. "I can handle a few chunin, but we cannot lose those sand nin!" Naruto explained.

"What are you talking about! We have a tracker and we'll move faster now. If anything stopping together would be our best play. It may even be faster in the long run." Satsuki pleaded as Sasuke shared a similar look.

"But I—"

"No!" Sasuke brutally denied. "Why do you even want to?!"

"Well I… I…" Naruto paused as he looked back towards Sasuke. "Your fight isn't finished. I'd rather not interrupt. And with Satsuki there, Kankuro shouldn't be an issue." Naruto explained sheepishly.

"What?!" Satsuki asked in disbelief. "Of all the reckless—"

"I get it." Sasuke interrupted, Satsuki's fiery gaze shifting to him.

"You what?!"

"But I don't care. So long as he goes down, I don't care how it's done." Sasuke smirked. "Besides, a mission is more important than a regulated fight. The only fight I want is between me, and you."

Naruto paused, not exactly surprised with the Uchiha, but blindsided nonetheless. "I mean you have a point…" Naruto started reluctantly.

"Narutooooo" Satsuki started grumbling in a low and guttural tone.

"Alright, alright! Relax!" Naruto relented. "We'll stick together."

"I'm glad you three figured that out, because we got trouble up ahead!" Kaze said as he stopped on a branch, using his paws to form hand seals. "Gale Palm!" He exclaimed as he shot a pressurized beam of air towards a similar attack that came from the tree line.

"There here!" Naruto expressed as he immediately drew his sword, his teammates drawing their weapons as well.

"So this is the squad the send to attack our ace?" a voice called from nearby. Naruto looked toward Satsuki, who motioned with a little ear twitch that she had a bead on him. "There just some brats!"

"Careful. They look like participants from the chunin exams." Another voice, this one female expressed sternly.

"Come on! We can do this!" a third cried as he exploded from the forest. Naruto only got a brief look of him before Sasuke's sharingan activated. Naruto watched the lifeless corpse fall to the ground with a small arsenal of kunai sticking out from his stomach.

"AGH!" another voice was heard as Naruto looked back to see Satsuki reloading, and a limp sand nin falling from a nearby tree, landing lifeless on the ground.

"Well that was quicker than expected." Naruto expressed somewhat disappointed.

"Those idiots…" another gruff female voice cut through the trees from a different spot. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that two fresh chunin underestimated wildcards. Especially since we didn't get to see the matches." She scolded quietly, possibly thinking she was out of earshot from the three.

"Well we better finish up here quickly, we gotta get moving." Naruto smirked as he looked towards a nearby tree with his own sharingan, staring at the now terrified eyes on one of the few remaining sand chunin.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Tenten wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but after she woke up from what she was told was a genjutsu, she was thrust into an invasion that seemed to just appear out of nowhere. Running alongside Neji, Sakura, and team 8, she was making a beeline for the hospital not only to retrieve Lee, but also to make it to the attack shelter.

"The hospital is just a few more blocks away!" Sakura expressed as the group ran through the city streets, trying their best to ignore the cries, blood, and intense battle that ran rampant through the streets.

"How has nobody attacked us yet?" Tenten asked confused as she kept an eye on the still sore Neji.

"The Invasion only just started, it's at its most chaotic right now." Shino explained as a leaf nin flew across their path, slamming into a building before being pounced on by a sound nin.

"We have to help!" Hinata called out before Kiba grabbed her arm, yanking her along as they left the grappling pair where they were.

"We can't afford that right now; we have to keep moving!" Kiba expressed aggressively, causing the meek girl to shrivel up in the moment, only keeping her legs moving out of necessity.

"If nothing else, we need to make sure that we make it to the hospital so we can get Lee into the shelter, then get back out here!" Tenten expressed in an attempt to give the Hyuuga hope, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Neji.

"No, we are all to go to the shelter and protect the civilians and academy students within." Shino denied as several eyes fell on him, the only exceptions being Kiba and Sakura, likely figuring out their orders before they left the arena.

"What are you saying?! Look around, they need our help!" Tenten objected as the group began to make their way through streets that had been used as a battleground for a significantly longer period, the number of bodies growing to match.

"We have our orders." Shino stonewalled.

"Tenten, our priority is securing Lee. I'm in no condition for a prolonged battle, and he is in no condition to fight. This is for the best." Neji agreed as Tenten's eyes quickly shifted to Neji, feeling betrayed by the boy.

"Then why can't I come back to help huh?!" Tenten argued, the looks of her teammates that were once focused on looking at their surroundings now falling on her.

"That's enough!" Kiba cried out.

"No its not! People are dying!" Tenten shot back.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kiba shouted loud enough that it certainly drew the attention of any remaining shinobi in the area. Tenten was about to continue further before she saw the dog that was riding in Kiba's shirt look back in concern. Taking a closer look, Tenten could see that the Inuzuka was fighting every urge, every ounce of instinct he had to turn around and fight. "We need to do what we were told." He said through his teeth, barely sounding convinced himself as the groups pace began to slow.

"There's the doors!" Sakura called out, both to inform her team, but also to defuse the situation. "We just need to…" she slowed to a halt, causing the others around her to stop similarly.

"What…" Tenten said before she saw the wrecked Hospital with corpses lining the streets in large numbers, along with what looked to be a dozen or so shinobi guarding the entrance.

"Look! Over there!" a man wearing a sand uniform called out, shifting the attention of the other guards to their unit. "Let's take care of'em." He continued as he, along with about half of the shinobi began rushing in their direction.

"Ready yourselves!" Shino expressed loudly and without emotion as a band of insects began exiting his body.

"R-Right!" Hinata replied first as she got into her gentle fist stance, closing her eyes and beginning to breathe slowly, followed closely by a smiling Kiba readying his own.

"Looks like I put on that show for nothing." He said shakily as he looked over at the other Hyuuga. "Keep yourself paced, we can't have you dying on us."

"Likewise." Neji replied as he got into a more refined stance, facing down the enemy. "Tenten, stay back and use your range to your advantage."

Tenten let out a smile, but it wasn't one of happiness, or victory. "Right…" was all she said, using the frustration of the others as a catalyst, disappearing into the debris.

"Remember, once we clear a path, we head directly for the shelt…" Shino's voice faded as Tenten positioned herself further and further away.

"This is what I was trained for." She thought as she closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. As her eyes opened there was already a kunai leaving her grasp, the calculations perfect. As Tenten watched in almost slow motion as the kunai nailed the head attacker right between the eyes, her smile returned. "This is what it must feel like to have a sharingan. This is as close as I may ever get." She thought as she grabbed a scroll, and lept towards her next position

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Zabuza stood overtop a now dazed and disarmed sound shinobi. "Please have merc—Agh!" the cry was cut off as the executioner's blade cleaved through his torso.

"Come, we still have plenty of building to clear." Hana urged as she carried Kin on her back.

"Right." Zabuza replied in a way that reminded him of his mist nin days. As he led the way, he was followed directly by Hana, then Haku, and the twins covered the rear.

"Meizu, how you holding up?!" Hana called back.

"I'm doing just fine." He replied as a sound nin jumped from out of a room next to him, only to be met with a metal claw punching through his chest. "Just a little groggy is all." He finished by retracing his hand from the now limp assailant.

"We only have one more floor to go!" Hana exclaimed as they made their way to a set of stairs that hadn't been covered by debris set by the sound. As the group stepped over sound nin and leaf nin alike, the gruesome scene became still, the only remaining signs of life being the shouting and ruckus that was coming from the floor below.

As Zabuza quickly made his way down the stairs, he allowed a smile to creep across his face as he saw an all-out brawl in the west wing. There were sound nin, sand nin, leaf nin, medics, and even some patients battling out across the lobby, and the few hallways and rooms along the ground floor.

As Hana reached the bottom to see what was happening, she only had three words. "What the hell…"

"Where is the entrance to the shelter?" Zabuza questioned anxiously.

"Once we reach the main lobby, there will be a fork where we can continue going straight, or we can turn behind the main desk to go to the far north wing. At the end of the hall is the entrance." Hana explained.

"Any more entrances around the village?" Gozu asked as he looked to Zabuza.

"Only the one in the academy, one in the middle of the village for the rest of the citizens." Hana answered quickly. "However that one is heavily guarded, it's where the main barracks is located."

"Good." Zabuza responded as he took a step forward. "I shall deal with these whelps ahead of us. Gozu, Meizu, do your thing." Zabuza ordered as he leaped into the fray, taking the head off an unfortunate sound kunoichi in the process.

"You heard him." Gozu said aloud as he punched Meizu in the arm with his un-clawed fist.

"Yup!" He cried in excitement as he and Gozu charged in as well, their chain tightened between the two as it wrapped around an unsuspecting sand nin, close lining him and giving the leaf chunin the opportunity he needed to finish him off.

Zabuza watched as the two began tearing through the weakest of their opponents, looking much more in sync and powerful than they did before. "I should have started training them much sooner." He thought as he quickly blocked an incoming sword from behind him, turning to see a frightened sand nin standing before him.

"W-Why are y-you here?" He asked in fear as he dropped his sword.

Zabuza smiled under his mask as he let his blade rest on his shoulder, violently grabbing the man by the neck and raising him off the ground. As he watched the sound nin struggle, he gave a chilling answer. "Killing you." He said quietly before snapping the man's neck with a twitch of his fingers.

"Zabuza! Pick up the pace!" Hana called from behind him, as she helped up an injured leaf nin, and began gathering those with her that had defeated their opponents, as well as patients and medics that had not fallen.

Obliging, Zabuza began to carve a bloody path through the invaders, stacking body after body to his side as the force of chunin and low jonin fell one by one, many of which losing limbs in the process as the sword tore through their flesh.

The twins weren't as efficient; however their kills were even more gory. Their steel claws grew crimson, and their chain dripped with blood. "This clearly isn't the heavy hitters." Gozu pointed out as they made it to the main lobby, seeing that the far hall was still in brutal combat, however in what appeared to be a stalemate.

"Survivors! Push back the remaining attackers down the east wing!" Hana cried passionately. A large cheer rang out as the shinobi and medics charged the east wing, beginning the shifting of tides as Zabuza took stock of those in patient wear or marked as such, noting many injured shinobi, some citizens, and a peculiar boy with a bowl haircut.

"Alright, for those of you that can't fight, wait here for us to clear the way to the shelter." Hana ordered as she began walking towards the hall, leaving Haku and Kin with the group under the protection of the twins.

"Let me fight with you!" the bowl cut expressed proudly, and in a manner that seemed as if it came out of some heroic story.

"Lee, you know that you can't win with those injuries, stay put." Hana ordered firmly, seemingly familiar with the boy.

"Patient of yours?" Zabuza asked.

"Not exactly, but I've run some of his diagnostics when traditional methods failed, along with the initial treatment. We're acquainted." Hana explained wearily, as if to reminisce on the long debates they had regarding his condition.

"Kid, it's best to do as she says." Zabuza spoke calmly before turning the hall, seeing four figures down a massacred hallway, only a few shinobi lining the floor, however all of them leaf nin. All the rooms were opened, and many of their occupants either littered the floor, or were still in their room. It looked as if one of the four sound nin was attempting to break into the attack shelter. "These guys are no joke."

"You need my help?" Hana asked seriously, having the urge to stay with the injured.

"I should be fine." He replied seriously.

Zabuza paused before he made himself known, feeling something go wrong instinctually. With a glance, it seemed Hana felt it too. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a blood curdling cry came from outside the hospital, no more than a few feet away.

"KIBA!" the two said in unison as they looked towards the door.

"You handle that, take the twins with you!" Zabuza ordered quickly as he turned down the hall, giving away his position. "I'll take care of them quickly and meet you there." He said firmly as he quickly made a familiar few handsigns before a thick mist began filling the concentrated hallway, enveloping him and his targets at the other end.

"Give'em hell!" Hana shouted behind him as he heard footsteps running behind him.

"Now it's time to do what I do best." Zabuza thought calmly, entering a relaxed mental state in no time at all as he used his senses to figure out exactly where the four, now panicking, sound jonin were located. "You've made a grave mistake." He said aloud, causing three to put themselves in a protective position around the lock breaker who seemed to have made next to no progress.

Zabuza took this as his que, silently moving to the wall, crawling up it, and onto the ceiling, using his chakra to hold him onto it. He swiftly crossed the length of the hallway, making it a few feet away from the group before he saw a glint within his mist. Focusing on it, he noticed a rather obvious bell attached to a thin string. "What kind of fool do you take me for." He said again before cutting the wire, hopping the distance required to land behind the three, driving his blade straight down into the codebreakers back, killing him instantly.

"You bastard!" one said as he swung, catching the demon with a fist that impacted his shoulder, having enough power to dislocate it.

"Fool" Zabuza thought as he disappeared into the mist. "That was some punch." Zabuza expressed as he popped his shoulder back into place, making sure that it echoed through the room. This caused one of the remaining three to start shaking rather violently.

"Calm yourself coward! This man is no match for an elite team of jonin!" the leader sounded off, as he looked daggers at the shaking man.

"You're next!" Zabuza decided as he lunged forward, utilizing the moment of hesitance, and slicing the leaders neck so perfectly that before he even left, it was still there, no blood spilling.

Zabuza landed further down the hall, watching intently to see the aftermath. "S-sir?" the shaking man questioned as he shook his leader's shoulder, allowing it to cleanly slide off, coating the coward in the blood of his superior.

"AHHHHHH!" the scream rang out, loud enough for those down in the lobby to hear.

"Your turn then." Zabuza said, as he closed the distance.

"Stay away from me!" the man cried as his teammate sent a fireball down the hall, dissipating a large chunk of the mist, however Zabuza was too fast. Zabuza made his presence known as he shoved his face through the mist still residing beside the coward.

"Ah-Mmph" Zabuza gripped the mans face, his hands nearly covering it entirely before dragging him back into the mist with him, making sure that he replenished the mist he had left behind. Returning to a safe spot, Zabuza didn't hesitate to take down the man, giving him a quick death that finally silenced him.

"Stay back!" a female voice called out as the final jonin stood defiantly with a sword drawn.

"Time to finish this." Zabuza said clearly as he charged the woman. As he arrived at his target, he was left surprised, frustrated, and rather intrigued as the woman's blade caught his own, leaving the two in a deadly lock as the mist began to disappear between the two, allowing them to clearly see one another. "I suppose this is about to get more interesting."

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Authors Notes: Happy Easter! I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter! A few things I'd like to point out: This story is stylistically rushed and all over the place to convey an heir of panic, hopefully engrossing readers into the invasion. While not much time passed withing the chapter proper, rather taking time to see carrying reactions at the same times, the next chapter will be much more uniform, and significantly less rushed. Tobirama was chosen to be sent outside the barrier to defeat the Raikage purely due to his ability to use the Hiraishin. Unlike canon, Tobirama is scaled to where he is properly described as being only slightly less powerful than Hashirama. Tobirama is still under the controlling effects of edo tensei, he just has retained his personality. The reason why the Raikage didn't simply blitz Tobirama is because he was still taking stock of the situation, listening to the anbu regardless of his demeanor. As each team has a concrete goal, I will make sure to touch on each group in the coming chapters (The invasion will likely take a 2-3 more). Who is this nameless sound nin that can at least meet Zabuza? What happened to Kiba? How are all the other groups fairing? I hope you join me in the next chapter to find out! [The Price of War].