"Get back here loser," Kiba shouted as he threw a shuriken forward. The man known as Tobi ducked under it then turned around, still jumping from tree branch to tree branch.
"Missed me, missed me!"
"God damn it this guy's annoying!"
"You're hardly one to talk," Naruto sniped with a smirk.
"Focus," Neji snapped. "He has the scroll we need. If we work together then we can take him down!"
"But he's too fast," Kiba snarled. "We need to catch up with him first."
"The only chance we have to catch up with him is if Naruto uses that chakra," Neji replied, turning to said blonde.
"Wait, you and Yahiko said I'm not supposed to use that type of chakra!"
"Not in battle, but you can use it to increase your speed to catch up with him. Kiba and I would only need about fifteen seconds to catch up with the two of you. Think you can hold him off until then?"
"No problem." Naruto looked ahead and smirked before closing his eyes. The boy concentrated and reached deep within himself before he felt a sudden surge of power. Naruto launched forward like a rocket, leaving a gust of wind as he shot off the tree branch, nearly knocking Kiba and Neji back.
"Damn," Kiba shouted over the wind before laughing triumphantly.
Tobi sprung off another branch before turning around, seeing the two brunettes following him. "Hey, I thought there were three of you guys!" Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Tobi, a sneer on his face and fist cocked back and ready to fire. Tobi turned his head to Naruto, his mask covering whatever expression he wore.
"Surprise," Naruto shouted as he launched his fist forward. In the blink of an eye, Tobi's hand snapped around Naruto's wrist.
Neji, whose Byakugan was active, gasped with shock as he saw something move underneath Tobi's robes.
The masked man pulled forward on Naruto's arm and spun the boy head-over-heels as he slid behind the blonde. Suddenly, a long chain came out of Tobi's robes and was ready to snake around Naruto.
As soon as Neji sat foot on the next tree branch he hurled two kunai forward at the Tobi's chains. The knives struck between two separate holes in the chain and pulled Tobi back into the base of the tree he and Naruto were standing on. Tobi looked up and tugged his chain a bit, but it wasn't moving.
"Hey, no fair!"
Tobi looked forward, seeing Kiba flying towards him. Tobi flipped upward next to Neji's kunai just as Kiba struck. The masked man grabbed the knives and yanked them out of the tree in time to block Naruto's shuriken. Tobi's chain fell limply towards the branch in front of Kiba's face. The spiky haired brunette grabbed the chain and pulled down on it with all his might. Tobi cried out as he was pulled downward, where Kiba waited with a shuriken between his fingers. The masked man flipped over just as Kiba thrusted his arm at him. Tobi landed behind Kiba and then pulled both arms forward, bringing the young Inuzuka to him. Kiba screamed as the chain tightened around him and threw him towards his opponent. Tobi turned and kicked Kiba in the back, sending him smashing back into the base of the tree.
Neji appeared in the air behind Tobi with one kunai in hand. Tobi spun around, lashing his chain with both wrists at Neji. The young Hyuga used his kunai to catch the chain, preventing the boy himself from being bound. Tobi pulled back on the chains, wrestling the blade free from Neji's grasp. Luckily, Neji had enough time to land in front of Tobi. The masked shinobi thrusted one hand holding a kunai forward. Neji ducked under the strike and spun his arm upward, knocking the knife out of Tobi's hands. Neji then thrusted his fist forward, nailing Tobi in the gut. Neji then threw a punch directly at Tobi's face, hitting him right in the mask. Tobi stumbled around a bit, whining loudly as he held his hand over his eyes. Neji rushed forward then thrusted his arm forward as hard as he could, making direct contact with Tobi's chest. The masked man stumbled back before he fell off the branch and plummeted several meters down before slamming into the ground with a thud.
"Good job," Naruto beamed as he landed next to Neji.
"I almost had him," Kiba said as he rose to his feet.
"He's not dead," Neji growled. His two teammates looked at him with shock. The blows that Neji landed were in the exact same form as the Hyuga Clan's fighting methods. The only difference being that Neji used his fists instead of the accurate, two fingered jab. Neji's technique was still a work in progress, but he sent chakra through his final impact on Tobi's chest. If anything, Tobi's heart should be blown to bits. Despite this, Neji still saw chakra flowing through Tobi's body.
Kiba screamed as he threw a kunai with a paper bomb on it next to Tobi's head. The man didn't move as the explosion went off. "Take that sucker!"
"Yeah!" The three Genin screamed with fright and turned around, seeing Tobi standing behind them. "Way to show that guy whose boss fellas!"
"What the hell," Naruto gasped.
"What's with this guy?" Tobi laughed before darting off to his left.
"After him," Neji ordered. The three Genin rushed through the trees, once again chasing after Tobi.
Hinata stumbled back before taking a stance, and then spun around, sending her chakra outward to tear a wave of sand apart. Gaara stared at Hinata as her rotation defended her from the sand. Sasuke appeared behind Gaara then fired a series of tiny fireballs. Without so much as blinking, a wall of sand rose up and shielded Gaara from the bombardment. Sakura ran up to one of the open sides of Gaara's shield and threw a pair of kunai with paper bombs forward. The sand moved to the kunai and shielded Gaara again.
"Damn it," Sakura cursed to herself.
"We need a better tactic," Zaku said as he and Dosu jumped back from a wave of sand. "Hey, he can't shield himself from sound! Dosu-,"
"You're crazier than a bag full of cats if you think I'm getting close to that guy! His offense and defense are one and the same. It'll be next to impossible for any of us to get in there!"
"Well we need an idea that'll work, and fast!"
Shino threw his arms forward, sending millions of his bugs forward. Gaara huffed and raised his hand up, bringing a wall of sand to block and trap the bugs inside. The Jinchuriki clenched his hand into a fist, crushing everything inside of his sand with tremendous force. Shino remained motionless before he raised his head up, sunlight reflecting off his shades. A wave of sand threatened to crush him before he leaped back.
Zaku rushed forward, keeping his eyes focused on the half-orb around Gaara. The sand spun towards the black haired boy's direction and shot out a series of spikes. Zaku's eyes widened before he launched himself into the air while simultaneously unraveling a scroll. A pair of steel strings with paper bombs attached up and down it with a kunai on the end appeared out of a cloud of smoke. Gaara turned his attention towards Zaku who was still high in the air. Zaku hurled the daggers forward and used his slicing sound wave as he released them to increase their speed drastically. Gaara's eyes narrowed a bit as he commanded the sand to block the strike. A massive explosion went off, engulfing Gaara completely with smoke and fire.
Sand broke through the smoke and went straight towards Zaku. The black haired boy quickly jerked his upper body back, narrowly missing the sand. Gaara watched the boy carefully, and noticed a smirk on his face whenever he spun around. The Jinchuriki turned his head, hearing a loud rushing sound coming towards him. A massive log came swinging in a few feet away. Gaara had no time to protect himself, so instead he jumped in the air, landing on the log. Unfortunately, the trap also separated him from a large amount of his sand. Gaara looked up, seeing Dosu rushing at him with his sleeve pulled back. The Jinchuriki quickly threw his arms up, bringing as much sand to his aid as he could. Dosu shot forward with an extra burst of chakra through his feet and swung. Gaara gasped as he pulled his head back, narrowly avoiding the blow. Dosu sneered and his single eye widened with satisfaction. Gaara's eyes widened as his entire body suddenly went limp.
"Game, set," Dosu said as he raised his hand up to his device. With a flick of his finger, the device on Dosu's arms rang loudly, causing Gaara to clutch his head and scream in agony. "And match…"
Dosu looked up, seeing that the log was about ready to crash into a tree. The Genin quickly dove off and rolled on the ground while the log and Gaara smashed through a tree, twice as large as the one used for the trap. There was a loud snap that echoed through the clearing as the tree fell over on top of the log, easily crushing anything under its weight.
Temari and Kankuro both looked with shock at the sight, trembling slightly at the thought Gaara could've been bested. "No way…" Temari swallowed the lump she found in her throat, her hand shaking violently.
"If he's not dead," the kunoichi began, "or even knocked out…"
"Then he's going to be really pissed," Kankuro finished.
Dosu, Sasuke, and Shino all kept their eyes on the fallen tree while Zaku and Sakura ran up to their partner and Hinata threw her arms in the air. "Damn it! I was supposed to beat him! Not the one eyed mummy!"
"Shut up," Sasuke ordered Hinata. "He's not finished…" Zaku and Sakura stopped halfway to Dosu with shock at Sasuke's words.
Suddenly a stream of sand launched out towards Dosu. The one eyed Genin shot backwards, using chakra to propel him further and faster. The giant tree suddenly was lifted off the ground and dropped to the side. Gaara walked out of the stirred up dust, his face cracked like glass as his cold eyes focused on Dosu.
"Is that a clone," Shino questioned.
"No," Hinata replied with active Byakugan. "It's…some type of sand armor that he makes from using his chakra. But that's definitely the real Gaara."
"Dosu, can't you use your sound-mind-fuck thing," Zaku asked.
"Yeah, stand next to a falling tree and tell me that you could hear something else besides a loud cracking sound," Dosu snapped. "And now because of your plan that Jinchuriki is pissed at me!" Gaara's eyes shifted towards Zaku and Sakura, focusing on the former.
'So he's the brains of the team…and those traps must've been set up before I arrived. To actually come up with a plan that could've actually hurt me…' Gaara grunted as he slammed his palms together, "I'll kill you first!"
All six pairs of Konoha eyes were on Gaara as the sand around him began to swirl and stir wildly. Shino readied his bugs, Sasuke tensed up, and Hinata took her clan's signature stance. Sakura and Zaku took a stance while Dosu slowly moved backwards.
Gaara screamed as he threw his arms forward, launching three massive waves of sand forward. Sakura and Zaku started pacing backwards, slowly at first, until they turned and full on sprinted away. Dosu spun and did the same. Hinata smirked and actually rushed towards the sand. Sasuke ran to the side, running up a large, nearby tree. Shino turned and followed the other team as they fled. Hinata landed on the sand then rushed forward.
"Fool," Gaara whispered as he extended his arm and clenched his fist. Hinata jumped to the side just as a small amount of sand popped up, threatening to crush her. Gaara narrowed his eyes with annoyance then threw his other arm forward, crushing his hand into a fist. Once again Hinata dodged and continued forward.
"That idiot," Kankuro muttered. "He needs chakra to use the sand coffin, and that opponent of his has the Byakugan! I said she was a Hyuga at the beginning of this fight! He can't beat her like this!"
Gaara threw one arm forward, clutching his hand into a fist over and over again while Hinata continually dodged and slowly increased her speed. It was all too easy for her to see where the chakra was being concentrated in the sand and dodge. Eventually, Hinata started to close in, causing Gaara to take an uneasy step backwards. The Hyuga heiress screamed with all her might as she thrusted her palm forward. Gaara raised a wall of sand quickly to block the strike. The Jinchuriki cried out as he quickly thrusted his arm forward. Spikes shot out from the wall of sand, causing Hinata to quickly launch herself back. From above, Zaku was falling towards Gaara, spinning around once before opening his palms directly at the Jinchuriki.
"Slicing sound wave!" A wall of sand flew up and shielded Gaara's head, prompting the Jinchuriki to snap his head up. Sakura swung in on a rope tied to a nearby tree branch and grabbed Zaku before Gaara's sand could crush him. "Nice save!"
"Don't ask me to do it again!" Sakura dropped Zaku, allowing the boy to roll across the ground while she swung off into the treetops.
"I had him," Hinata shouted at Zaku.
"No, he had you. I distracted him and saved your sorry behind." Hinata huffed then turned back to Gaara, who was bringing his sand back to him. "So do you have an effective plan oh-queen of the fat-heads?"
"Sacrifice you and run," Hinata hissed angrily. Zaku rolled his eyes then focused back on Gaara. "I'm serious."
Gaara looked around, trying to find where the other Genin disappeared to. He had already learned what happens when he took his eyes off one of them. That wasn't a mistake he was going to repeat again. Gaara felt the ground vibrate through his sand. He looked down, seeing the dirt pushing up a bit with a soft, orange glow. The Jinchuriki's eyes widened and he screamed as he raised his arms up. A second later, a large explosion went off, followed by another, and another, and a fourth. Dosu shot out of the ground behind Zaku, shaking the extra dirt off his head.
"Good one," Zaku said with an impressed tone.
"Yeah, I can't believe we forgot about that trap." Suddenly, an enraged scream came from the smoke and three streams of sand shot out. Hinata ducked, Zaku dove to the side, and Dosu jumped into the air, flipping over once before landing on the ground. "You're joking right?" Zaku hit and rolled over onto his feet in a crouched position.
"I think we're running out of traps to spring," Zaku said with a frightened tone.
"Good, then we can fight fairly," Hinata said with a grin.
"In case if you didn't notice: our traps have been the only things getting close to breaking through his defense," Zaku snapped. "Even your Gentle Fist couldn't break his defense with a solid hit."
"I'll think of something," Hinata replied angrily.
"We don't have much time," Dosu told both of them, pointing to an angrier than ever Gaara. The Jinchuriki's eyes were wide with rage, and pieces of his sand armor started to fall off his body. "I think we really pissed him off now…" Gaara's breathing was heavy, almost feral as he focused his cold eyes on the three targets in front of him.
"DIE!" Gaara threw his arms forward, launching his sand at his opponents.
Tobi cried out as he pulled his arms and legs forward, giving him extra momentum as Naruto bashed through a tree branch in an attempt to hit him. Tobi continued forward with Kiba and Neji hot on his trail, while Naruto remained unseen on the ground below.
"If we keep this up he'll lead us all the way back to Konoha," Kiba seethed. "We need a plan!"
"His evasion abilities are practically Jonin level," Neji murmured. "And his speed is far beyond ours. It's like trying to pin down a bear with a kunai."
"If Naruto uses that chakra then-,"
"NO! Yahiko, even the Sannin, gave explicit orders that Naruto is not to use that chakra under any circumstances!"
"But if he does, then we can just kill this guy off and nobody will know!"
"The risk is too great," Neji snapped. "I won't allow it!"
"Well we've gotta do something! Otherwise we're just burning time by chasing this guy!" Neji blinked under his headband before a realization came to him.
"That's it. Kiba, stop now!" Neji landed on the last tree branch and stayed still. Kiba stopped on the next one and looked back to his teammate. Naruto, looking up, stopped a few feet from Tobi's position, curious about his teammates' intentions.
"Hey," Tobi snapped, standing a few branches ahead of the two brunettes. "What gives? Are you guys done chasing Tobi?"
"You're too fast for us," Neji called out, his tone sound rather patronizing. "There's no way we'd ever catch up to you, so we'll just go look for a scroll elsewhere."
"Neji," Kiba hissed under his breath.
'Clever little brat…' Tobi whined and slumped down with disappointment. "But I thought we were having fun!"
"Well now the fun is over," Neji replied, turning his back to Tobi. "Come on, let's go."
"No, stay! I won't run anymore! Promise!" Neji smirked then spun around quickly.
"GET HIM NOW!"
Naruto flashed behind Tobi. The masked man turned his head before Naruto's arms were suddenly wrapped around him, keeping Tobi restrained in a bear hug. Kiba and Neji shot forward, ready to assist their comrade. Tobi struggled against Naruto's grasp a bit until Neji closed in on him. Tobi lifted his legs up, kicking Neji's initial strike away, and then used his other foot to boot Neji in the foot. Kiba moved past Neji, pulling his hand back to strike Tobi. The masked man pressed his foot against Kiba's wrist, keeping the strike from ever being dealt. Tobi then hooked his foot behind Kiba's neck, pulled the boy down and forward. Kiba stumbled forward, his head downward before his skull hit Naruto right in his groin. The blonde gasped then groaned with pain, loosening his grip on Tobi. The masked man threw his arms up, breaking free from Naruto's hold. Kiba lifted his head up with confusion. Tobi jabbed Kiba swiftly and lightly in the face. The spiky haired brunette cried out and stumbled around as Tobi backhanded Naruto, causing him to spin around completely. Tobi grabbed both spiky haired boys by the back of their necks then thrusted them together, causing them both to head butt each other. They both cried out and stumbled back further, holding their heads in pain.
"Almost had me, almost had me," Tobi said with a playful tone.
Suddenly, Neji appeared behind Tobi, open palm pulled back and read to finish Tobi. The masked man didn't turn his head as Neji thrusted his palm forward. Much to his shock, Neji passed, literally, through the man. To add to the shock, Neji caught on Tobi's chain. As soon as Neji set foot on the ground, the chain tightened around the boy's neck, preventing air from getting to his lungs. Neji gasped desperately for air, trying to pull the chain away from his throat. Tobi laughed mockingly as he continued to strangle Neji.
Suddenly, a kunai came flying by, narrowly missing Tobi's head. "Hey, that was close ya know," the masked man shouted at Kiba.
Neji's eyes widened, immediately realizing Naruto and Kiba's tactic. He had seen it a hundred times before. Neji used all of his strength to spring up into the air as Naruto grabbed Kiba's kunai and was ready to strike Tobi from behind. Naruto screamed loudly as he struck, but like Neji, passed right through Tobi. Neji looked down at Tobi, snarling angrily as he still held the chain around his neck. Naruto rolled forward next to Kiba, both of them looking at Tobi with shock. Naruto passed through Tobi and Kiba was an eyewitness to it, and they were both equally baffled by it. Neji landed behind Tobi and pulled back on the chains as hard as he could. Tobi stumbled back a bit, yelping with shock as he tried pulling his arms forward.
"Hey, go get your own!" Neji opened his mouth, trying to force words out of his mouth, but lacked the air to do so. Tobi growled as he tried to overpower the stubborn Genin in disguise before he snapped his head forward. Tobi shrieked with terror as he saw a kunai flying towards him. As the blade got to Tobi, it passed harmlessly through him. "Ha, you suck! Tobi rules!" Neji grabbed the kunai with one hand, raised the blade high above his head, and with one swift motion cut through the metal chain. "Uh oh…" Tobi turned, hearing the sound of his chain being broken. Neji shot forward, causing Tobi to flail his arms around wildly. The young Hyuga shot through Tobi, hit the branch and rolled next to his teammates.
"You alright man," Kiba asked worryingly.
"Ha-ha, nice try, but Tobi is just too smart for ya!" Neji smirked then rose to his feet, showing Tobi a heaven scroll. "AH-WHA?" Kiba and Naruto both looked at the scroll with wide eyes and gapping jaws. "No, no, how did you—when did?" Tobi started frantically looking through his robe in search for his missing scroll.
"Whatever technique you possess, allowing people to pass right through you, it only applies to your body, not the physical objects in your possession. I passed right through your entire body, robe and all, but your chain ensnared me. That time when I dove through you I made sure to take your scroll away from you as well." Neji tossed the scroll over his shoulder, allowing Naruto to catch it and store it away safely. Tobi's back was turned to the Genin and he seemed to be frozen, until his shoulders began to shake, followed by a deep, low laughter. The masked man turned around in a slouched position.
"Not bad," Tobi said, his tone slightly darker than before. "Not bad at all Neji Hyuga…" The three Genin gasped with shock as Tobi straightened up, his arms still hanging limply by his sides. "However, I have business with a certain teammate of yours, so I won't be needing you or Kiba Inuzuka."
The black eye hole in Tobi's mask began to radiate an eerie blood red glow. Kiba and Neji groaned quietly then fell limply to the side. Naruto looked to the two brunettes with alarm before looking back towards Tobi. He was surprised to see the man was now towering over him and looking directly down at him. Naruto threw his fist forward, but Tobi caught it and knelt down to eyelevel with the boy. Naruto tried to pry his hand away, but it was futile.
"Let go of me freak!" Tobi caught Naruto's other fist. Suddenly, Naruto felt his strength being drained from him and something compelling him to look the man directly in the face.
"Naruto Uzumaki," a dark, sinister voice coming from Tobi announced. "Son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki…" Naruto's eyes widened with shock. How did this man know who his parents were? "And Jinchuriki host of the Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox spirit…" Naruto began trembling with fear. It was a horrible nightmare. It had to be. There was no other way that anyone could know this much except the rebels and most likely the Hokage.
"H-how do you know me," Naruto asked, almost afraid to know the answer. Tobi started to chuckle, dark and coldly before his eye burned brightly, engulfing Naruto in a blinding flash of light.
"Wake up," a voice shouted before Naruto was slapped across the face. The blonde sputtered a few mindless words and sat up, shaking his hazy head. "Are you alright," Kiba asked.
"Wh-what happened to that Tobi guy," Naruto questioned with a terrified tone.
"After Neji took his scroll the guy whine and ran off," Kiba answered smugly. "But that was after he casted some type of Genjutsu on you."
"Genjutsu," Naruto repeated, holding the side of his head.
"That's right," Neji replied. "Whatever it was it took us awhile to break it. Still, he's gone and we have both scrolls, so we should head to the tower as quickly as possible."
"Alright," Naruto murmured as he rose to his feet. Kiba and Neji nodded before jumping off into the forest with Naruto following behind them. The Jinchuriki couldn't shake the fear still coursing through his veins. The voice Tobi had, his power, and how the hell did he know everything about Naruto? What's more, Naruto got a good look in that eye hole just before the Genjutsu was broke. 'The Sharingan…' Naruto looked over his shoulder then back at Kiba and Neji.
On the branch the three just stood on, Tobi walked onto the scene, placing his hand against the base of the tree and looking out to where the Genin ran off to. Suddenly, the wood from the branch began to move upward, revealing a strange plant creature with what one could consider to be a man inside. One half was white and the other half was black.
"How'd it go," the creature asked.
"Rather well," Tobi replied in his dark voice. "Did you get the scrolls I asked for?" The creature raised its hand out of the ground, revealing a heaven and earth scroll. "Excellent…" Tobi took the scrolls then hid them safely into his robe. "You've done well Zetsu."
"Thank you master," Zetsu replied before melting back into the tree. Tobi jumped down from the tree branch and onto the ground. He decided to take his sweet time walking back to the tower.
Hinata ducked under a strike of sand then used her rotation as three more tried to attack simultaneously. Zaku ducked while striding backwards, then back flipped as two streams of sand tried to impale him. Dosu spun to the side, ducked, spun back around, and then jumped back.
Gaara stood as he watched the three Genin evade his strikes, his rage bubbling up. Temari and Kankuro watched with fear, worrying that Gaara might slip and lose control.
High above in the tree tops, Sakura and Sasuke were moving quickly to set off the final trap that Sakura and her team had set up. During the last attack, Sasuke questioned Sakura about any other traps. Luckily, thanks to Zaku's overzealousness, they had set up the mother of all traps.
"Is everything set up," Sasuke asked, his patience wearing thin.
"We just need to cut this last rope and everything will go off automatically," Sakura replied. 'I hope…' Sakura and Sasuke stopped on a nearby branch with a special sealed tag pressing down on a rope. "Get ready…" Sakura reached up and quickly tore the tag off the tree.
There was a loud crushing sound heard, causing Dosu and Zaku to snap their heads up. "Oh…crap," Zaku murmured.
"RUN," Dosu shouted as he bolted to the side. Zaku quickly followed and a confused Hinata did the same.
"Oh no you don't," Gaara bellowed as he threw his fist forward.
Suddenly, something caught the Jinchuriki's eye, causing him to avert his sand to the side. Five kunai stuck into the floating sand and five explosions went off shortly afterwards. Another explosion went off behind Gaara, causing the redhead to turn his head around. The trunk of a giant tree was blown wide open, causing the tree itself to fall towards Gaara. The Jinchuriki raised his arms up, bringing a wall of sand up to defend himself. The tree landed against the sand, but the weight of it and the force of the impact caused Gaara's feet to dig into the ground a bit.
'Now,' Sakura thought to herself, throwing a kunai from the trees.
The blade stuck into the ground, nearly four feet behind Gaara. A split second later, a series of explosions erupted at Gaara's feet. The tree hit the ground, splitting the cloud of smoke in half. Gaara himself slid out of one half shortly afterwards, his sand armor cracked in various places over his body. The redhead was burning with murderous rage as he looked around for anything he could kill.
Sasuke and Sakura jumped down from the treetops on opposite sides and sliced through a series of barely visible steel wires. The wires tugged back on the tree that was used to try and kill Gaara. The Jinchuriki looked over with confusion as he heard something being pulled apart. The massive tree was split in half by the wires. Gaara quickly raised his arms and sand to shield himself. The half of the tree swung by and smashed into the sand and pushed Gaara himself with it. The two halves slammed into each other with a thunderous banging sound, throwing dirt up into the air. All was silent as the dust began to settle.
"Okay," Hinata began as she turned to Zaku and Dosu. "What the HELL would you need a trap like that for?"
"Well the tree would fall on someone right, and in case if they were alive, the paper bombs would finish em off," Zaku explained.
"Oh lord, now you got him started…"
"But that wouldn't take out an entire team most likely, since someone would've noticed right? So, that's where splitting the tree in half takes place, so that it can smush the other remaining survivors and BAM they're all dead."
"What about the kunai with the paper bombs at the beginning?"
"Those were just to make sure that nobody moved," Zaku replied with a smug grin. "Pretty impressive huh?"
"The exams haven't even gone over a day yet," Hinata murmured. "How the hell did you get all that setup?"
"Zaku is a busy beaver," Dosu answered, adding a quick eye-roll. The black haired shinobi shrugged with a cocky grin on his face.
"Took care of mister-," A loud, pained roar of rage echoed throughout the woods. The two halves of the tree were thrown apart by two massive arms of sand. Inside, an infuriated Gaara with cracked armor panted heavily, eyes burning with rage and blood visibly running down his face. "Ah crap…"
"N-no way," Kankuro replied. "They…Gaara is…bleeding…!"
"This is bad," Temari stated. "Really, really bad."
"We'd better get out of here before he kills everyone," Kankuro muttered. Temari nodded and the two siblings turned around. To their shock, Shino was standing behind them with his hands in his pockets. "What the—get out of the way!" Shino huffed then raised one of his hands above his head. The ground beneath Temari and Kankuro gave way and they fell into a pair of holes that had been dug by Shino's bugs, which still occupied the holes. "What the hell?"
"Don't worry, those bugs aren't poisonous," Shino stated. "They're only going to eat your chakra so that you can't fight back or run away." Temari and Kankuro tried to fight the swarms of bugs, but there were simply too many. "Now the bugs I sent after your brother earlier however…"
"MY BLOOD," Gaara yelled. "IT'S MY BLOOD!"
"Great, now he's super pissed," Hinata sniped. "Great work guys."
"He's a damn Jinchuriki," Zaku stated, emphasizing every word. "What the hell do you want from a team of Genin?" Gaara turned his murderous eyes to the three visible on the ground. "Uh oh…"
"DIE!" Gaara threw his arms forward, flinging his sand at the Genin. Zaku, Dosu, and Hinata prepared themselves, but suddenly the sand fell out of the air and rained on the ground. The Konoha ninja looked with shock as Gaara's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he hit the ground.
"What the hell just happened," Dosu asked, turning his head to Zaku.
"I did," Shino replied as he approached the group. "My insects that Gaara 'crushed,' remember?" Zaku quickly went through the memories of the battle, and images of Gaara's sand crushing a large number of Shino's bugs popped into his head. "Granted Gaara did kill a number of them, but there was no way even he could crush all of them. They're practically microscopic individually. Some of them were poisonous, so once he used the sand he used to crush my bugs as his armor, they were able to get onto his skin and inject him with their venom. He's not dead though, just paralyzed for a few minutes. Long enough for us to take the scroll and run."
"Damn, that's some serious thinking," Zaku admitted.
"Your traps weren't so bad either," Shino replied.
"Right, if you two are done making out, who gets the scroll," Hinata asked, glaring her active Byakugan at Zaku and Dosu.
"We will," a voice called out. All heads turned towards Sasuke who walked out of the bushes with Sakura's arm behind her back and a kunai to her throat. "Otherwise she gets it." Sakura's expression showed fear and betray as she looked pleadingly to her teammates. Zaku and Dosu exchanged the same knowing glances to each other. In an instant, they stepped aside, allowing Hinata and Shino to walk past them. Hinata quickly ran up and snatched the scroll out of Gaara's possession before standing next to Sasuke.
"I say kill her and be done with it," Hinata muttered.
"That'd be dishonorable," Shino replied as he walked next to his teammates. "Plus I have no idea how long my poison will last in a Jinchuriki's system. If you kill or even harm Sakura, those two will come chasing after us, leaving a trail for Gaara to follow. If you let her go, then we part our separate ways, then Gaara won't be able to go after both of us." Sasuke stared at Shino for a long moment before nodding and releasing Sakura. "Run, get out of here while you still can."
Sakura nodded then sprinted towards her teammates who were already running. The three jumped into the forest and made all haste to get the hell away from Gaara. The Jinchuriki was groaning and grunting as he commanded his body to move, but got no results. The other three Konoha Genin gave Gaara one last look before vanishing in a blur. Gaara roared with anger at his first real defeat.
In the dead of night, hours after the battle, Naruto, Neji, and Kiba just made it to the tower safe and sound. Kiba sighed with relief, having been eaten alive by mosquitoes for last few hours. Naruto and Neji walked forward and entered the first door then found.
"We made it," Kiba screamed, throwing his arms up in the air in victory.
"Sure did Fang," Neji replied. Kiba gave a puzzled look to Neji, but eventually realized that they were switching back to code names. Neji was always the subtle one of the group.
"So what now guys," Naruto asked, turning to his brunette companions. "It's a dead end. Should we open the scrolls now?"
"Might as well try it," Kiba murmured. Neji nodded and knelt down along with Naruto. The two unraveled the scrolls across the floor. A cloud of smoke emerged from the scrolls, revealing a figure standing before them. A man with tan skin and a scar running across his nose, hair pulled back into a ponytail stood before them with a stern look on his face.
"Oh," the man exclaimed. "Looks like you guys made it."
"Uh yeah…who are you?"
"My name is Iruka. Basically I'm just here to grant you three access to the next stage. Here." The Chunin turned around then made a quick hand sign. The back wall began to tremble and slowly rise up, revealing a hidden passage. "Hurry up and go already. Sheesh…" The three teammates looked to each other and shrugged before walking further into the complex.
"So how many other teams do you think have passed already," Naruto asked.
"There's no telling really," Neji murmured. "It could be any number of contestants waiting for us."
"We still have a couple of days before the second stage is actually over though right," Kiba asked.
"That's right," Neji replied with a quick nod. "Most likely we'll have to stay in this tower for a few days so that they can tell each team's sensei about it and bring them here. Until then, let's not try to pick fights with the other teams that are here. The last thing we need is for-,"
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto bolted forward. Kiba and Neji both slumped forward and sighed with disbelief at their teammate's behavior. Sakura whirled around with a surprised look on her face, which quickly changed to a bright smile once she saw the blonde coming towards her.
"Hey Ryu! You made it!" Zaku and Dosu, both of whom were sitting down, looked up to see Naruto. Zaku went back to focusing on something he was mixing up while Dosu watched his teammate and the blonde boy.
"Of course, you didn't think that we wouldn't be able to make it did ya," Naruto questioned smugly. "What other teams are here?"
"Well we were the first ones here," Sakura replied almost sheepishly. Dosu and Zaku snapped their heads, glaring at the back of Sakura's head. "We sort of got lucky I guess. Zaku is really good with setting traps. One team got reckless and tripped it off."
"Oh really, that's really lucky."
"Very lucky," Zaku murmured before lowering his eyes. Sakura turned her head, giving a forgiving stare to her teammates before turning back to Naruto.
"Well it's great that you're here. There's another team of Konoha shinobi upstairs. They got here a few hours before us evidently."
"Anyone else," Neji asked.
"So far no," Dosu replied. "It's strange enough for three teams to have completed this earlier in the second stage anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see any new faces for a few days."
"So…what do we do for fun while we wait?" Dosu, Zaku, and Sakura shrugged in response.
Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the echoing sound of approaching footsteps. All six heads turned to the side, eyes widened slightly with shock, as they saw a single figure approaching out of the darkness. A man with an orange spiral mask, wearing a black trench coat with a hood down walked forward. Naruto's eyes widened with horror and a cold sweat came over him. Neji's eyes hardened, noticing Naruto's body tensing. Kiba's jaw dropped with surprise as he pointed an accusing finger at Tobi.
"What the hell, how'd you get two more scrolls?"
Tobi remained silent as he approached, walking towards Sakura and Naruto. The masked man slowed his pace as he approached the Jinchuriki in disguise. Tobi kept his head turned towards Naruto as he walked by. The blonde shuddered under his gaze, believing that there was a Sharingan hidden behind that mask. Tobi snapped his head forward and continued down the hall in silence. Naruto kept his eyes on Tobi's back as if the man would turn around and attack at any moment.
"Who the hell is that guy," Zaku asked, breaking the silence. "And why the hell is someone that old a Genin?"
"His name is Tobi and he's usually as annoying as hell," Kiba replied. "But why the hell didn't he say a single word." The spiky haired brunette turned to Naruto. "And why the hell was he looking at you? Neji was the one who jacked the scroll from him." Naruto snapped his head away from Tobi, staring at the floor with distraught eyes. "Hey, you okay man?" Neji placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder, causing the latter to look over his shoulder.
"Tobi casted a genjutsu on him remember," Neji whispered. "For whatever reason, Tobi chose Naruto, plus we have no idea what that genjutsu did to him. Be reasonable." Kiba lowered his eyes then looked to his teammate.
"Are you alright Ryu," Sakura asked. Naruto shook his head, coming out of a daze as he looked up at Sakura. "You look really shaken up…"
"It's nothing. It's just…that guy's is…really weird. If any of you have to fight him I'd be careful…"
"The guy looks like he's twenty something and he's still a Genin," Zaku stated bluntly. "I don't think I'd have a whole lot to worry about."
"Maybe he's a Jinchuriki," Dosu stated. Naruto, Kiba, and Neji flinched at the last word Dosu uttered. "Ya know, like Gaara?"
"Okay, if that weird mask wearing dude is a Jinchuriki, then I'll put my guard up." The three ninjas in disguise sighed with relief. Naruto was in the clear. "But like these guys said: he's just an annoying guy, who for some reason, is still a Genin."
"I'm gonna laugh when you have to fight him," Dosu said, smirking under his bandages. Zaku rolled his eyes and shook his head. Sakura looked from her teammates back at Naruto who was still visibly upset.
"I uh…need to use the restroom," Naruto finally spoke.
"I'll show ya where it is," Dosu offered. "Follow me." The hunched over Genin stood up and started to walk down the hall. Naruto followed after him, leaving a worried Sakura, Kiba, and Neji behind.
So, yeah…I couldn't find a good ending for this chapter. The next chapter will pick up right where this one left off, and then the preliminaries will start. Yes, there will be preliminaries, and yes, there are more contestants yet to come. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get all the fights into one chapter, but hey, we'll see soon enough won't we? After the Chunin Exams though, it'll all be more war-ier than it has been lately. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Read and review please =)