The Wanderers

Chapter 14 – Ruins

A/N: Apologies for the serious lateness of this chapter. University, exams, personal life, all work and no play, such and such…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the Konoha 11 would act their ages.

***Previously-On***

Kakashi and Itachi woke up from their memory recovery technique to discover that they had been indisposed for six months. Shizune helped them back to town and they meet back with the Konoha 11, except for Neji and Shino who were scouting the village. They catch up with the group quickly, and as Itachi and Sasuke were sparing Neji arrives. After a day a message arrives from Shino and the group moves towards the Uzu village with haste. They meet Shino on the outskirts, who informs them that the village is occupied by Sound shinobi, and that they may be holding Konoha survivors at the Sound village. Now they prepare to take the village by force.

***End Summary***

The group frowned collectively as Shino gave them the Sound shinobi numbers. He had been surveying them for three days, and even though they couldn't tell through his covered features, Shino was quite proud of the fact that they hadn't caught him yet. Kakashi considered their position and strengths for a moment, before shaking his head slowly.

"We don't have the numbers to take them all" said Itachi across from him.

The silver-haired Jounin nodded in agreement, the two of them already trying to figure out a different type of plan. According to the insect user, there were close to two hundred shinobi garrisoned in the village, though their position was not very defensible and it appeared that they weren't the most experienced of forces, but it was still enough to cause them to be cautious.

The ruined village was a mess of destroyed buildings and stone, with a long river running through the centre. Uzu village was small compared to Konoha, since there were only three clans that made up the shinobi village before it was destroyed. On the way to the village Kakashi had told them what little he knew about the destruction of the Uzu village, he was only young at the time. The combined destruction of the Uzu village was one of the reasons Konoha had joined the Third Shinobi War, but he didn't know much more than that.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" asked Shizune, unable to contain her interest in attacking the Sound force, since her master's death she had borne a hatred for the Snake Sannin's village.

Taking his hands apart from his thinking pose, Shikamaru turned to his orange-clad companion with a serious look on his face.

"Naruto. I need at least two battalions."

The blonde shinobi frowned for a moment before nodding with a smile and placing his hands together.

"I don't think Kage Bunshin will help us that much, Naruto" said Itachi.

He recognised the value of the diverse technique, but it wasn't stable enough to fight a war with. Several of the Genin in the group laughed softly, causing the two male Jounin to frown in response.

"What is so funny?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto kept his hands together and was still concentrating as Shikamaru laid out his plan to the reawakened Jounin.

Naruto smiled as Hinata gave him a peck on the cheek, causing the pony-tailed shinobi next to him to snigger in amusement. The plan was simple by normal standards, though it required perfect precision and execution.

"You guys really need to dial that stuff down. This is about to be a battlefield you know."

They both gave Shikamaru the same amused look, before Naruto leant over and kissed Hinata full on the mouth for several seconds before releasing her and grinning at his lazy companion. Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Hinata struggled to keep her feet, unable to keep a wide grin off her bright red face. Naruto patted her on the head affectionately and sat down with his feet crossed and his hands pressed together. They had chosen to attack at night, using Naruto as a diversion whilst the others attacked those left in the village. The three of them were on a hill above the hidden shinobi village, Hinata volunteering to protect Naruto and Shikamaru as the Nara heir directed the blonde's actions. Hinata shook herself out of her haze and activated her doujutsu, taking a defensive position behind the two shinobi.

"You ready?" asked Shikamaru, taking a cautious look at the Sound scouts near their position.

Naruto nodded and stared at the open battlefield, "Yep. You give the commands, and I'll relay them directly. You sure you can do this, Shikamaru? This isn't a board game, you know."

The Nara heir smiled grimly as he looked over their army before taking a look at the Sound shinobi they had been able to lure out. To his surprise, they had forced nearly eighty percent of the Sound force to face them in the field, much more than he had anticipated. However he wasn't worried, he had already considered such a possibility.

"You're wrong. This is just like a game, just for bigger stakes. Naruto, move the battalions onto the battlefield."

The blonde didn't respond, but his two companions smiled as they saw the two hundred Naruto clones move quickly to meet the Sound forces. While he had spent a lot of time trying and failing to perfect the Hiraishin, Naruto had made an interesting discovery about the Kage Bunshin technique. The clones were literally masses of chakra in solid form, and Naruto had discovered that if he took personal mental command and gave directions, along with providing a constant flow of chakra, the clones performed a different function then they originally were intended to do. The Sound shinobi rallied against them knew they were facing clones, but considering the numbers they weren't taking the army of Narutos lightly.

"The Sound shinobi will attack on two fronts, the left and the middle. Collapse the right flank into the middle and send them a volley of shuriken before reforming the lines."

The army moved as one in response to his command as Shikamaru observed the battle from above. He watched the Sound army attack as he had predicted, dozens of them falling to the hail of metal projectiles though most were able to deflect them with ease. The Konoha army had the advantage over the Sound army in several areas, but as the shinobi struck at the blocks of Naruto's they realised what they were truly facing. He hadn't come up with a name for the technique yet and there were more disadvantages than advantages, but as the Sound army hit the lines the truth behind his clones became clear to them.

Naruto was not considered a genius by the same standards that Neji and Sasuke were, though his tenacity was legendary and his technique reflected that. Dozens of Naruto's were peppered with projectiles and cut on their arms and legs, but so long as they weren't struck in vital areas they fought on with copies of Hirameki and kunai alike.

"There are forty shinobi moving to flank the army from the right. Move up the reserve units and meet them head on."

A selection of clones from the rear of the army that weren't doing anything moved in perfect unison towards the sectioned off Sound shinobi. Naruto continued to follow Shikamaru's commands, a small artillery unit of clones sending a volley of cluster bombs into the Sound army. Many clones had fallen, even with their new endurance they weren't invincible, and they certainly didn't fight as well as Naruto normally did. However as the Sound army had learnt, when an army moved without hesitation and as one, the battles become another level of intense.

Shikamaru frowned as he continued to command the battle, having a strange flashback to his old shogi games with Asuma and his father. The Jounin had reminded him several times that it wasn't really a game, but the more he commanded the battlefield the more he realised that this was the reality they now lived in. The battle was slowly turning in their favour, and he was amazed as Naruto was slowly reinforcing his clone army with new clones, while still maintaining the others.

Naruto…even without the Kyuubi you are really scary. If all the Uzumaki's were like this, I can understand why the other villages were so fearful of them.

A small group of Sound shinobi had snuck around the main battle through a dense forest nearby and were close to the small shinobi group; however neither of the male Konoha ninja were worried. Hinata had set traps around their position, but the Sound shinobi were skilful enough to pass them by. Shikamaru and Naruto were preoccupied with the battle, and as she saw the four of them with her doujutsu she felt her arms tremble. She wasn't afraid; the fact that the two of them trusted her to protect them was enough to boost her confidence to the point that she believed in her own strengths. However, she never got used to the fear before a fight and didn't think she would ever like the taste of it.

"Move the right side to the north-west and attack the rearguard."

Hinata moved to the side of her two sitting companions and grabbed a kunai that was thrown at Shikamaru by the hilt, dropping it to the ground as the four of them came into proper view. By their expression she could tell that they were underestimating her like most of her opponents did, but as her Byakugan vision expanded she noticed a second platoon that was holding back to back up their companions.

I can do this. I can do this.

The first Sound shinobi pulled out a sword and swung it at Hinata, hoping to easily cleave her in half before removing the more obvious threats next to her. The younger Hyuuga was able to read the attack easily, sidestepping the blade while driving a chakra infused finger into the shinobi's wrist, causing him to drop the sword and stare stupidly at the loss of strength in his arm.

"Take down the one with the red bandana, he is leading the army."

Hinata didn't give him a spare moment, driving a palm into his face, sending him spiralling down the hill as his companions charged at her. Considering their village, it surprised Hinata that they weren't using any sound-based techniques, preferring to attack with taijutsu and weaponry. Her training with Naruto had sharpened her reflexes in close quarters, though she was a different style of fighter than both him and her cousin. As she ducked and weaved under the attacks she began to see the patterns in their style, summoning a reasonable amount of chakra before rolling backwards and thrusting her palms towards the three of them.

"Hakke: Kuushou!" (Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm)

Using her wind abilities, she was able to drive her chakra straight into the Sound shinobi, sending them in the same direction as their companion. To her surprise the technique had worked perfectly, she could see with her Byakugan that they were struggling to get up from where she had sent them. Neji was her superior when it came to their family techniques, when he used the technique he was able to shut down chakra points at the same time as sending them back.

"Transform four clones in Fuma Shuriken and send them into the enemy army covered in explosive tags."

She saw the backup platoon moving towards her position, and through her Byakugan she could tell that they had watched the battle and weren't going to engage her in close combat like their companions. She reached into her weapons pocket and laid out a scroll she had prepared earlier, running a small stream of chakra as she saw the four opponents complete a familiar set of handseals.

Isn't that an Uchiha technique? What have they been doing in that village of theirs?

They were too far away for her to hear the technique, but she clearly saw four large fireballs flying towards the three of them very quickly.

She placed her palms on the scroll and activated the seal, "Fuinjutsu: Suijinheki!" (Sealing Technique: Water Wall).

From the pool of water that was leaking out of the scroll shot up a large shield of water that covered the three Konoha shinobi as the fireballs slammed into it. Hinata had made sure she had put in enough chakra into the water technique that the fire techniques simply fizzled out. Neither Naruto or Shikamaru had moved from their positions, with the Nara still directing the battle like an army general, and with a slight glance Hinata could tell that the battle was going surprised well in their favour, though she noticed with alarm that Naruto's chakra levels were very low, though you couldn't tell by his concentrating expression.

"Fire up three flashbangs near the left side, then push the advantage in the middle."

The Sound shinobi held their position just outside of her attacking range; Hinata wasn't willing to leave the two of them alone, even though she could tell there weren't any other enemies around to attack them. She waited patiently with her hands in the water from the scroll, watching as the Sound shinobi discussed how they were going to attack her. It was clear her water shield was too strong for their fire techniques, yet she could tell from their mouth movements that they still underestimated her. Hinata was still confident she could defend her companions, though she couldn't hear their plans or understand what kind of technique the leader of the group was planning to use with his handseals.

Her eyes widened as she saw one of the Sound arguing with the platoon's leader, causing the leader to yell back at him and threaten him with a kunai. Seeing her opportunity, Hinata began to run her chakra into the water, calculating the distance between her and the arguing shinobi. The water underneath her hands began to float around her body as she ran her wind chakra through the water. She wasn't a genius in battle like Neji or Sasuke, but she had a natural affinity towards her two elements. Hinata put her hands together as the water formed into small solid bullets, and her hair began to fluctuate at the high winds she was creating around her body.

"Suiton: Dangankaze" (Water Release: Wind Bullets)

The water projectiles wavered for a moment as Hinata aimed the attacks, before she slammed the wind into the bullets. Her attacks were faster than most people could follow with their eyes, and with the distance covered the Sound shinobi stood no chance, their heads snapping back as Hinata's attack knocked them out cold. In the black and white vision she could tell that they wouldn't be getting up any time soon, though to her dismay the ones she had knocked out earlier had been sent over the edge of a nearby cliff, to their deaths. While Hinata had been in such an unfortunate position before, she never liked the idea of taking someone's life, and Naruto had to keep reminding her that she was a good person and that they didn't think less of her. She breathed out a sigh of relief as her scan showed no other enemy activity nearby, allowing her to recover a small amount of chakra while watching the rest of the battle. Even as he was controlling his clones, from behind she could see a small smile grow on Naruto's face as she took her position between the two male shinobi.

While the three of them held off the main force, the rest of the group made their way into the ruins of the Uzu village under cover of darkness. Their entrance was barred by two Sound Chuunin that were on high alert, but Shino had been preparing for the attack for days, leaving bugs all around the area. After the loss of his hive after the battle with the Hidan creature, Shino had spent a long time rebuilding his hive with stronger insects. To their credit, they didn't scream as they were swarmed by destruction bugs, though that was likely due to Sasuke placing them under a genjutsu until their throats were full of chakra-eating bugs. Even though they had worked with him for a reasonable amount of time, it was hard not to be freaked out as the bugs flew back into his coat. Neji took a moment before indicating to the group that the way was clear.

"How many?" asked Kakashi next to him.

He placed up his hands to indicate, causing most of the group some surprise at how many were left.

"Can Naruto hold them off?" asked Itachi, still unsure on how stable the blonde's new technique was.

It was beyond his area of expertise, though after a demonstration he had faith in the hyper blonde teenager. The Genin around the two of them smiled, and Shizune simply shrugged. Lee pulled out his staff and clicked it into place as the others got their weapons out.

"Knowing that idiot, and considering Shikamaru's abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if they win the battle and come in to help us" said Sasuke as he identified his first target.

Kakashi placed up an open hand for a moment, before closing his fist. The group dispersed immediately at his command, with explicit orders to capture any Sound shinobi they could, and remove all other threats. With the knowledge that the Sound may have some of their people captive, the Konoha group was more enthusiastic about the attack than they had ever been. The teenagers weren't ecstatic about the idea of killing the enemy shinobi, however the Jounin had reminded them, and Shizune had been adamant about this, that the Sound shinobi may have been part of the destruction of Konoha. That had caused enough of their backs to straighten, and even the more caring types in the group were sufficiently angry enough to comply.

Near the centre of the village epicentre, Neji found himself surrounded by a dozen Sound shinobi all wearing flak jackets, wary of attacking the Hyuuga teenager. He was the embodiment of confidence, not even adopting a stance as he glared all around him with his Byakugan. Underneath his white robes Neji ran chakra through his arms, thankful that he had the opportunity to test out a technique he had been developing since the battle with the Akatsuki. It was far too damaging to use in their practise bouts, though Neji had been close in his last match with Lee. Two kunai were thrown at him from his 'blind spot', but he simply shifted his body so that they passed harmlessly by. He watched as the Sound shinobi moved cautiously towards him, his keen eyes noting as the last of them came into his range. With a pulse of chakra, Neji flicked his hands out and pushed out from his feet in a circular motion.

"Inazuma Kaiten!" (Lightning Rotation)

As he spun on the spot rapidly a large blue and white circle of chakra slammed into the shinobi around him, similar to his normal rotation technique, but with one key difference. As they were thrown back by the force of the chakra dome, large tendrils of lightning struck out from the rotating dome at their bodies, striking with eerie accuracy. When designing the technique he had initially aimed to strike at their chakra points with lightning, shutting them down at a distance. However as he practised, he realised that there was a far simpler effect that the technique could perform. The lightning struck out wildly and uncontrollably, several of the Sound enemies being fried within their clothes as they were struck in the face by lightning. Many others were blinded by lower strength lightning striking them in the eyes, however all of them were highly electrified as the dome slammed them away from Neji's position. He took little pleasure in hurting the Sound shinobi, yet he took some pride as he saw the devastation around him.

The burn marks on the ruins indicated to him that he couldn't use it while allies were nearby, though the groaning bodies of the Sound shinobi told him that his technique was worth performing even though it sucked out a large portion of his chakra reserve. He walked over and knelt down next to two surviving Sound shinobi, who were barely alive but still conscious.

"What do you know about Konoha prisoners in your village?" he asked, not holding his breath on them giving him a straight answer.

One of them coughed up blood and stared hatefully into his white eyes, not offering a response. The other one trying to slash at him with a kunai, but Neji easily grabbed the metal weapon and threw it away. He showed them a hand glowing blue, crackling with a small amount of lightning. He had no interest in learning a technique like Sasuke's Chidori, but he was still able to use lightning chakra to a smaller extent.

"I will not ask again. Do you have any information on your Konoha prisoners?"

The attacking shinobi didn't respond, but the other one leant up and spat blood on his face, "Your village deserved its fate. What makes you think we would help you?"

He laughed painfully as Neji wiped the blood off his face, pulling away a section of his shirt to reveal a large amount of explosion tags on his chest. He kept laughing as Neji jumped away quickly, the Hyuuga recognising that he wouldn't be able to entirely escape the explosion radius. Neji moved as far away as he could as a blinding light flashed from the Sound shinobi's chest, his hands already out in front of him as he began his rotation defence. The explosion thundered loudly throughout the village and blew away large portions of the ruins, disintegrating all the Sound bodies from Neji's initial attack. His blue shield struggled against the power of the explosion but stayed strong, Neji forced to give up a majority of his remaining chakra so that the worst injury he faced was being knocked to the ground from the sheer force of the explosion. Picking himself up from the ground with a cough from the smoke-covered area, he used his Byakugan to locate his allies, making sure that none of them were struck by the explosion before moving to the next area, making note of the fact that he would need to recover his chakra before fighting another battle.

"Six…seven…nine…twelve…"

The Sound shinobi seemed quite angry as Lee counted their numbers, not at all intimidated as he was being surrounded by the older foes. He kept his staff in its sections on his back, relishing the opportunity to practise his taijutsu against the dangerous foes. He had sworn an oath at his teacher's tombstone to not remove his weights or use the Inner Gates unless he saw no other way of surviving a battle, or his companions were in danger. The two enemies in front of him ran towards him with kunai raised, slashing at his head. Lee ducked underneath the strikes and drove his fists into their stomachs, using a small amount of chakra combined with extremely dense muscles to crush their ribs through his bandaged hands as they were sent flying back. He smiled slowly and stood in his usual defensive stance.

"Next."

"This seems quite strange."

Sasuke pulled his sword out of the stomach of a Sound shinobi and flicked off the blood on the steel. He watched as Chouji grew to a gigantic size and began swinging wildly into a group of Sound shinobi as Ino was using a large pool of water to drown her opponents and protect the giant Akimichi from enemy projectiles. Nearby Lee ducked under an axe swing and drove a fist into his last opponent's chin, sending the Sound Chuunin crashing into a nearby wall with dozens of broken bones.

"What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?"

The young Uchiha looked around the ruined village with his Sharingan, taking note of the smaller battles around them. He wasn't at Shikamaru's level of analysis, but he had a decent grasp on how to read a situation, and it didn't sit right with him. His brother had disappeared at the beginning of the battle, most of the group not paying attention as they concerned themselves with their own battles; however Sasuke had suspected that the elder Uchiha had his own mission to take care of.

The resistance of the Sound shinobi was suspiciously light; the Konoha group had suffered very minor injuries and had taken down a large portion of their enemies, not including the ones fighting against the Naruto army. At the side of his vision he watched a blue outline rise from one of the nearby tents, and for a moment he dismissed it as just another Sound shinobi until he saw a strange dark blue-black colour creep into its chakra outline.

Who…or what…

Next to him he saw Neji walk towards him with a slight limp, as Shino and Sakura assisted Lee in finishing off his enemies. The strange figure came into proper view, and Sasuke could feel the intense killer intent coming from the white-haired shinobi. He had two dots on his forehead and the Konoha shinobi could tell that he was extremely powerful by the way he walked casually towards them. Sasuke shared a look with his companions before preparing his blade. This was not an opponent to take lightly.

Kimimaro had not expected to be on the battlefield, fighting against the remains of the Konoha village. He had not expected to be alive so long either; he had been given months to live by their current village leader nearly a year ago. Kimimaro was the last descendant of a bloodthirsty clan from the Land of Water, and with his death it would be the end of one of the most powerful bloodlines in the shinobi world. When his master died, Kimimaro had lost all hope and almost abandoned the Sound village altogether when his closest companion gave up his own life and ability to save Kimimaro's. It was at that point that he swore that he would find a way to perform his duty and, if necessary, die in honour of his friend's memory.

Before him stood five Konoha teenagers, and to his estimations were likely not a threat to him, but Kimimaro was not in the business of underestimating his opponents. With a pulse of chakra his right shoulder began to move violently, Kimimaro placing a hand above it as a large bone protruded out of his shoulder into his hand. The Konoha shinobi appeared disgusted at his ability, as were most who see it, but he paid them little heed as he wrenched out the long bone and grasped it in his hand. It ran the length of his arm and was razor sharp as his shoulder closed up and the bone he had removed regenerated within his skin.

His clan, the Kaguya, had a specialised bloodline ability that allowed them to use their bones to fight, and he had been considered the most dangerous of the destroyed clan. The green-clad shinobi ran towards him, eager to make the first strike as he jumped towards him. Kimimaro could tell by his movements that he was an experienced taijutsu fighter, and he had a determined look in his eyes as his leg came crashing down towards him. He put up his blade pointed at the shinobi's leg, aiming to spear him through the leg. The shinobi's legs swung around in the air as his other leg kicked away the bone and struck at Kimimaro's head. The bone-user ducked easily underneath the blow and rolled away, his eyes analysing the fiery-looking shinobi's movements.

He has a blunt style, focused on hard striking with speed and strength. Based on his leg movements he's carrying heavy weights on his legs, likely as a training or a restraining measure.

His opponent stood up and regarded with trained eyes, Kimimaro noticing that his opponent was trying to analyse his movements as well. Not willing to give him a chance for another attack, Kimimaro ran forward with his blade raised. He wasn't surprised as the Konoha teenager dodged and weaved away from his attacks, though it spoke to the taijutsu-user's inexperience that Kimimaro was able to easily manipulate him towards the bone-user's initial position. It surprised him that the others weren't attacking him, which would have made his plans more difficult, however as the bob-haired shinobi jumped back and landed on the particular stone formation Kimimaro was aiming for, the bone-user stopped his attacks.

His opponent straightened up and took up a defensive stance, suspicious of his opponent's movements. Kimimaro activated the seal embedded on the middle of his chest, causing black crescents to cover his chest as he shoved his bone blade into the stone beneath his feet.

"Sawarabi no Mai" (Dance of the Seedling Ferns)

The ground rumbled as the technique activated, the Konoha shinobi unsteady on their feet. His green-clad opponent screamed out in pain as two large spikes made of bone shot out from the ground beneath him, piercing through his feet as they reached past his head, two more spikes coming from behind him and trapping him in place. He jumped back and let the shinobi's companions try to help him, his bone was harder than steel and gave Kimimaro the chance to look at his other opponent's techniques. A young pink-haired girl lent down to her companions feet and placed her glowing blue hands next to them.

Two of the teenagers, one in blue clothing with a sword on his back and one covered by a hooded robe, struggled to remove the impaling bone spikes with no success. Though they didn't know it, the bone spikes were embedded dozens of feet into the ground and were not easily removed. The sword-wielder analysed the bone through red eyes, causing Kimimaro to sigh as he recognised the Uchiha eyes. When his master had been alive, he had raged over the lost opportunity to gain the powerful doujutsu, yet even when Orochimaru was dead the eyes were before him. He wasn't getting any information from the robed teenager, which was impressive considering him and the Uchiha were trying to pull out the bone spikes with their hands. The last teenager stood against him in a white robe and stared at him through pure white eyes and veins popping out of his head.

A taijutsu-user, a medic, an Uchiha, a Hyuuga and an unknown shinobi. What a strange group of people to survive the destruction of their village.

The Hyuuga ran towards him, in a very different style than his companion, attacking him with impressive speed. With his cursed seal active Kimimaro had a huge reserve of chakra and nearly pinpoint accuracy with his bone techniques, so as he dodged and weaved the teenager's Jyuuken attacks he also countered with his bone blade, which the Hyuuga deftly avoided. They sparred at rapid speed as Kimimaro noticed with interest that the Hyuuga was driving him away from his companions. Seeing a tiny window of opportunity, Kimimaro flicked his hands towards the Konoha group, launching ten tiny bullets from his fingertips towards the medic. However his bone attacks were blocked as the hooded teenager stood between her and the attack, placing his hands out as a huge swarm of bugs emerged from within his jacket, blocking the attack.

And a bug-user? I'm at a disadvantage here.

His opponent jumped back at Kimimaro's strikes, landing easily and adopting a strange stance several feet away from him. He was not familiar with the technique the Hyuuga was trying to use, but when he took a glance at the ground and saw an odd outline of a circle covering both of them, and when he tried he found that he couldn't move his feet.

A restraining seal. Now comes his big attack.

He ran a large amount of chakra through his chest as the Hyuuga shot towards him. The seal broke just as the first two strikes hit him in the chest, Kimimaro grimacing as he felt the chakra force itself into his body. Unable to respond to the rapid attacks, Kimimaro was beaten back as the Hyuuga attacked him with pinpoint accuracy and the last strike forced him into a nearby destroyed building. Kimimaro swore under his breath as he fell to the ground, barely able to move his head as he saw a flash of lightning destroy the two bone pillars immobilising the green-clad teenager. The bone-user took a long breath as the teenagers gathered in a circle to defend the medic as she knocked out her subject and kept healing his wounds.

He could hear the Hyuuga tell the others that the fight was over, though the Uchiha wanted to finish him off just in case. His companion conceded the point and walked up to Kimimaro's immobilised body with a hand glowing blue with chakra. He waited until the Hyuuga was inches away with his hand raised to strike before feeling the pulse of his cursed seal on his chest, allowing him to push on his hands and kick the Hyuuga straight in the chest, sending him crashing into his companions. Kimimaro stretched out his arms as he stood up slowly, staring at the ground through cold eyes as they remarked at his recovery. The Jyuuken technique had successfully shut down his chakra points; however with a secondary source of chakra such as the cursed seal he was able to restore the damaged points around his body.

He watched as two older shinobi jumped next to their companions, a woman in a dark kimono and a shinobi that Kimimaro recognised as Hatake Kakashi.

This is taking too long.

He reached over and undid the two sides of his shirt, allowing the flaps to fall to his sides as his cursed seal pulsed on his chest, the black marks slowly moving to cover his entire body. The Konoha shinobi were clearly taken aback as his body changed as he activated the second level of the cursed seal. He was the only one who could still use his cursed seal with such efficiently after the death of its creator. His skin changed to a dark grey and his back exploded outwards with large bone spikes creating a makeshift shell across it as a large bone-spiked tail protruded out of his back. Large bones protruded out his forearms over his hands and he traced his targets with his eyes. The taijutsu user was back on his feet, though barely, and Kimimaro could sense that more Konoha shinobi were coming to join them as his Sound companions fell to their attack.

This battle is lost. We had numbers, but they had superior shinobi. I'm too tired to go back to the village. Constant fighting…with no point.

His tail flicked around while the Konoha shinobi recovered.

Enough of this.

The silver-haired Konoha shinobi stepped forward with a tired look on his face, "You are outnumbered and outmatched. Hasn't there been enough fighting?"

Kimimaro frowned at the comment, glaring at his opponent, "There will always be fighting, war and death. This is no different. I serve masters that require my obedience, and you would have me abandon them? Your hubris is astounding."

Kakashi shrugged in response, "It was worth a try. Besides, it looks like you have fallen too far to come back anyway."

The bone user looked at one of his hands, staring at the grey skin and protruding bones. He had to concede the Sharingan-user's point, though it made little difference now. With the death of his closest friend and his beloved master, he knew that his path was only further into darkness. With a sidewards glance he noticed a change in the air, jumping high into the air as two whirlwinds struck from his blind spot, barely missing his body. He reached up and pulled out two long bone blades from his legs, throwing them at the two fur-covered shinobi that appeared from the attacks, taking them both in the chest.

One of the shinobi transformed into a large white dog and the other one called out in pain, pulling out the bone before crawling towards his companion. Taking advantage of the discord created, he landed on the ground and fired bullets from his fingertips, forcing the Konoha shinobi to scramble in defence while Kimimaro shot towards them. In his current state he wasn't as fast as normal, but he had almost inexhaustible endurance and strength and as he drove a spiked fist into the insect wall and pushed through the barrier, the Konoha shinobi realised how dangerous he was as he appeared in their midst. The Uchiha teenager slashed at him with his sword, Kimimaro didn't bother to dodge it, allowing the blade to be deflected by a set of bones on his back.

He went to slam a bladed fist into the Uchiha's chest, but his opponent's Sharingan allowed his to move just enough to avoid the strike, as Kimimaro's attention was drawn to his side. Kakashi was running through a long set of hand seals as their Hyuuga companion struck at him with his finger tips. At the same time the bug user was sending hundreds of insects at him while the taijutsu user attempted to slam a fist into his head.

Kimimaro placed his hands at his sides, "Karamatsu no Mai" (Dance of the Pines).

Bones shot out of his shoulders as he span in place, striking and slicing at his surrounding opponents as he fired two sets of fingertips at the pink-haired medic and the woman in the kimono standing in the back. He fuelled more chakra into the attacks than usual, making sure to beat his opponents back to give himself room. The two women were peppered by the attacks but were largely unharmed. The teenagers attacking him were slashed repeatedly and forced back, and Kakashi was forced to cancel his hand seals to stop the Uchiha from landing badly. Kimimaro stood up straight as he watched the two female shinobi he attacked began healing their companions. Reaching to the top of his back, Kimimaro grimaced as the top of his spinal column began to emerge.

Placing the injured Sasuke on the ground, Kakashi grimaced as he pulled out a thrown bone spike from his leg. Their opponent was both powerful and cautious, and was not wasteful at all with his movements. Seeing little alternative, Kakashi reached up and revealed his Sharingan. Their opponent appeared uninterested in his reveal, though after a few seconds he realised that Sasuke was staring at him strangely.

"What?" he asked, as the young Uchiha picked himself up from the ground.

Sasuke stared at his old teacher with his Sharingan, "Your Sharingan is different."

The silver-haired Jounin frowned at the comment and asked his student to describe it. He was surprised to hear that it was flickering between the normal three-tomoed form and a triangle-like shuriken form. Sasuke asked him if it was a Mangekyou, to which Kakashi shrugged in response. He suspected as much, but he didn't feel any different and hadn't been given any instructions from Itachi on what to do with it. He stared at the bone user with his normal eye closed, watching Neji and Shino fighting the Sound shinobi as an odd feeling ran up his body. His Sharingan began to pulse with chakra uncontrollably, and he could see the air around the three fighters fluctuate and change strangely.

"Neji, Shino, get out of there!" he called out as a pulse of pain ran up his spine, unable to control his strange ability.

The dinosaur-looking shinobi wondered why the Jounin had called them back, watching cautiously as he saw the strange looking Sharingan on Kakashi's face. The air seemed to follow Kakashi's vision, but as he tried to concentrate on their opponent's body he found himself unable to focus the technique. Around him the Konoha shinobi didn't want to interfere, though Kimimaro wasn't able to see what he was doing. Running a large amount of chakra through his eye, Kakashi watched as the air on Kimimaro's chest began to collapse in on itself, but as he felt the knowledge flow through his mind the area moved slightly and missed the bone-user barely over his right shoulder. Kakashi cried out in pain and clutched at his eye as his companions stared in awe. Kimimaro was confused at why they were looking at him strangely, taking the time to look behind his shoulder before his eyes widened. Behind him was a large column made of stone, however there was a giant hole missing from the side.

"What did you do?" asked Sasuke.

He knew all the Mangekyou Sharingan techniques from the information Itachi had given him, yet this was something he had never heard of. His teacher was on his knees sweating heavily, feeling like he had just been beaten to within an inch of his life.

"I'm…not sure…"

Turning back to his opponents, Kimimaro flicked his spinal column whip angrily. He was bored of this fight, and even though his opponents had the advantage they weren't attacking him with full force.

They want to capture me. They know that I was in charge, and they think I have information for them.

Wrapping his whip around his chest, he put his hands outstretched to the sides.

"If you won't attack, then I shall."

His body fluctuated and shuddered as his bones began to shoot out of him and land in the ground around him. He saw the Konoha shinobi try to erect a defensive formation, but they also saw that the bones were sinking into the ground, and that there would be little defence against it. Kimimaro felt his chakra reserves plummet at the activation technique, but he knew that there would be no way for the Konoha shinobi to stop him, so it was worth it. Kakashi was back on his feet and calling out orders for the group to retreat, but to Kimimaro's surprise he began to run towards him as giant bone spikes began to shoot out of the ground rapidly. Even in its strange form, his Sharingan allowed him to dodge the spikes from the ground as he stared at Kimimaro, the rest of the ground retreating, but not fast enough as the bones emerged beneath the group and pierced through several of their legs and bodies, forcing them to the ground in agony.

Satisfied that his attacks would take care of the rest of them, Kimimaro turned his attention back to the Sharingan user attacking him, but to his surprise the silver-haired Jounin was no longer there. He frowned and looked around for him, but as he sensed the Jounin behind him he felt his strength disappear suddenly. His cursed seal receded rapidly as his skin turned back to its pale colour and his bone spikes started to disappear from his sight. As he looked down at his chest, he realised his error, smiling sadly as he saw the large hole in the middle of his body.

They trapped me in an illusion to distract me and Kakashi used that technique to finish me off, since they knew I had an extremely tough bone defence. Orochimaru-sama…Juugo…I did what I could. I'm…sorry…

They had only been able to capture two Sound shinobi in the aftermath of the battle. Itachi had managed to subdue a Sound Jounin with one of his more powerful genjutsu, and Kakashi had imprisoned him while they interrogated the other one they held. They didn't have much hope on him talking, most shinobi were tight-lipped under duress. Ino sat the young shinobi down and placed a hand on his head. She wasn't as good as her father, but her family techniques were designed to take information from the subjects mind without their consent. The Sound shinobi's mind wasn't very complex, he was a young addition to the village, yet after half an hour Ino was able to get all the information she could. She stumbled as she removed her hand from his head and cancelled the technique, but refused her teammates help as Sasuke restrained her target.

"What did he know?" asked Shizune next to her, looking over the ruins as more of the group gathered towards them.

Neji and Kiba had declared the village clear of enemies, though even after the battle they didn't feel any better about their situation. Ino took a drink of water from a bottle handed to her as Kakashi restrained the young Sound shinobi.

"It's…difficult to understand. He didn't know much, but by the looks of it none of the Sound shinobi are happy with the leader of their village since the death of that Oro…something guy."

"Orochimaru" interjected Itachi, remembering his few encounters with the snake user with disgust.

Even when he wasn't trying to steal his eyes, Orochimaru had been a vile and twisted person, though Itachi had to admit that he was brilliant at what he did.

Ino nodded at his comment, "Yeah him. Anyway his successor is apparently experimenting on the Sound shinobi, without much success."

"That sounds horrible" said Sakura.

She was healing Lee's injuries, even though the taijutsu user protested he was fine, she took amusement in informing him that if she didn't heal his feet properly he wouldn't be able to use the Lotus again.

"Any word about our people?" asked Kakashi, not willing to get his hopes up, though he knew which shinobi were outside of the village at the time and they weren't ones that would have gone down easily. Unfortunately, Ino shook her head in response.

"He had no information about that. I can't confirm whether they ever had our people or not. But if they did…and these things about their leader are accurate…then I fear for their lives."

The group collectively turned as three figures walked into their makeshift campsite they had taken from the Sound forces, with one of them using the other two as support since he couldn't walk by himself yet.

"You are damn heavy, Naruto" said Shikamaru.

The blonde shinobi laughed then grimaced as his whole body ached in pain. She was tired as well, but Hinata was more concerned over the severe lack of chakra in Naruto's body. He had enough to survive and recover on, but he wouldn't be able to fight for a long time.

"Naruto! I can't believe you guys pulled it off" said Sakura.

He grinned and nodded at his pink-haired teammate before patting his helpers on the shoulders.

"I couldn't have done it without these two. You guys should have seen them."

Itachi finished restraining the more dangerous Sound shinobi, making sure that he wouldn't wake for hours, giving them appropriate time to prepare a campsite. He watched as the group welcomed the three of them back, nodding to his brother as the young Uchiha asked him a wordless question. Sasuke reached into his pocket and produced an old looking scroll, slowly walking to his teammate and handing him the scroll.

Naruto stared at it with suspicion, "What is this, teme?"

The younger Uchiha frowned, turning slightly so that he could face his brother, "Remind me brother, why can't I kill him again?"

Itachi gave him a rare smile as he stood back up and patted himself down. His brother shook his head at the lack of a response and simply told Naruto to take the scroll. He accepted it while poking out his tongue, allowing his companions to sit him down on the ground. He smiled as he read the symbols on the scroll, placing a thumb between the sheets as he opened it up. Shikamaru left him and Hinata to look at the Uzumaki scroll and went to give a report to the Jounin of the group. Naruto read the scroll with squinting eyes, not understanding a word of it. He showed it to Hinata, who initially told him she shouldn't look, but Naruto insisted that he needed her help. Her white eyes scanned the scroll quickly, admitting to Naruto that most it was too complex for her to understand. However there was a section that caused her eyes to widen.

"Naruto-kun…"

She went to call out to her cousin, but Naruto shook his head and slowly took the scroll from her hands. He had read the same thing she had, but he also understood Neji's feelings more than he would have liked.

Rolling the scroll up he placed it inside his coat and leant over to whisper to her, "You don't want to get his hopes up for nothing, Hina-chan. We should confirm it, and then show him."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding her agreement slowly. She didn't like it, but understood that Naruto was more knowledgeable about the area then she was. Behind the two of them Shizune had a strange look on her face as a terrible realisation dawned on her, after considering what the Yamanaka had told them.

She turned to Ino, "Did you get a description of their leader?"

The blonde frowned as she recalled the images from the Sound shinobi's mind.

"Yeah. Grey hair tied up in a ponytail, dark eyes, big glasses…"

Her medical teacher swore under her breath and bit into her thumb. She ran through the handseals and placed a hand on the ground, summoning a small orange tiger underneath her hand. The girls of the group squealed as the small animal began licking its paw in the most adorable way.

Shizune leant down and looked at her summon, "Hibiki, I want you to get the body that your father and I killed over six months ago. Get your sisters to bring it here for examination."

The tiger looked at her with big eyes before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Next to her Kakashi offered a hand to help her up.

"Do you think it's Kabuto?" He had gotten a proper description from Shizune after her battle with the medical shinobi.

She shook her head, "It couldn't be. I made sure he was dead. This is someone pretending to be him, I'm sure of it. But I need to make sure."

He nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to the group. They had begun to move the bodies around, making good use of the campsite the Sound shinobi were using previously. The Sound shinobi Ino had 'interrogated' was beginning to shake, forcing the medics of the group to hold him down as he continued to suffer a seizure. Ino swore as they struggled to keep him stable. She had used a more dangerous Yamanaka mind technique to search his mind, and since her technique was not properly trained she had unintentionally caused him massive brain trauma.

After several minutes he stopped shaking and lay still, Shizune forced to declare him dead while wiping her hands on her kimono. She watched as the other girls comforted Ino, turning around as several tigers appeared behind her, with a disembodied body between them. She thanked them for their help and pulled out a scalpel from her pack. She didn't want to perform the autopsy on the decaying body, but her fight with Kabuto was not one she wanted to repeat. The group turned away at the site of her cutting into the body, each going about their own business. Itachi pulled his brother aside, making sure that the prisoner was still unconscious before turning to the confused teenager.

"I have a plan, and I need your help."

The Sound Jounin watched silently as the Konoha group searched the ruins much as his forces had previously. The death of Kimimaro was regrettable, but he hadn't liked the bone-user to begin with. He frowned as he saw the blonde-haired shinobi and white-eyed girl looked over the scroll they had found weeks ago. The cage around him was constructed by an earth technique, and was tiny, but as a Jounin it didn't bother him.

Lord Kabuto will need that scroll. And there are several shinobi here that are too dangerous to leave walking around.

A green-clad shinobi was standing guard over him, and if the Jounin's observations were correct most of the kids were at Chuunin level if that.

Their guard is down since I'm the only survivor. I need to get this information back to Otogakure.

He stared up at the sky as his shackles bit at his wrists.

Three hours to sundown.

At the dead of night, his guard had changed to the twin-ponytailed dark haired woman, though the Jounin could tell that she was exhausted and didn't want to be there. She had been one of the group that had told the Uchiha boy to kill him, so her presence was simply an added bonus in his mind. His shackles were such that he couldn't form handseals, but he wasn't a Jounin for just his clan name. He was huddled in a corner of his small cage, making sure that his guard couldn't see his hands.

The clan he had been born into wasn't as specialised as the Kekkei Genkai clans in the Sound, but as his fingers burnt through the metal he had already worked out his plan of escape. The shackles melted away in his hands silently, his guard none the wiser. Most of the Konoha shinobi were asleep in the ruins, though the white-eyed girl was still looking at the scroll a distance away and two teenagers were patrolling the outside perimeter. His gloved hands came together into a handseal as he used his training to mask the chakra signal.

The Sound shinobi didn't know much about the Konoha shinobi's abilities, although he knew he had to avoid the renegade Uchiha, he wasn't foolish enough to believe he could contend with the former Akatsuki member. The black-haired guard's head was drooping, and the Jounin smiled slowly as he saw his opportunity. Once he made sure that nobody was looking at him he completed a final handseal, speaking the technique's name in his mind as he didn't dare give it away verbally. He vanished into the ground for a moment, while leaving a shadow clone in his position, rising out of the earth slowly behind the young female guard as a knife he had hidden in his clothes appeared in his hand. Before she knew what was happening he slipped a hand behind her shoulders and slit her throat, using his other hand to muffle her mouth as he placed her on the ground slowly.

His attention was drawn to a nearby location as he reached into the guard's kimono and removed several weapons that he pocketed. In silence he sneaked around the campsite, taking careful consideration of the patrolling Konoha shinobi before hiding behind a ruined pillar nearby the young girl reading the Uzumaki sealing scroll. He rapidly ran through the seals, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the Konoha shinobi discovered the guard's body. The technique activated as he laid out the weapons he had stolen, the metal collecting into a long sword with a stone hilt. He didn't have time to do the details on the blade, but as a swordsman he was a far superior fighter with the blade in his hands.

The white-eyed girl seemed to notice the slight chakra spike as she turned around from the scroll. Her eyes widened as she saw him and she went to yell out, but he buried the sword into her chest where her heart was and muffled her mouth with a hand, watching as the life drifted away in her eyes. He pulled out the bloody blade without a sound and placed the young girl on the ground, feeling no remorse as he rolled up the scroll and pocketed it. It was a shame to kill such a pretty thing, but such was a shinobi's life. He swore as he heard the guard's body being discovered, activating another technique as he took a few seconds to find his escape route.

To their credit, the robed sunglass-wearing shinobi and ponytailed sleepy shinobi kept their cool as they went to get the other shinobi up. The Sound Jounin knew his cover was broken, and this was the only time he had to escape. He pulled up his sword and activated an earth technique, causing the earth around the two shinobi to erupt upwards and encase them into a dome of earth. He ran up and slammed a hand onto the dome, causing the dome to collapse inwards and kill the Konoha teenagers instantly. Using chakra he leapt over the rubble and made his way out of the village at full pace. A mile down the road he sensed a large chakra signal following him, taking a glance over his shoulder and noticing a blonde-haired orange-clad shinobi angrily screaming at him.

Despite being a Jounin, he was surprised that the boy was able to keep up with him. However, he was a Jounin and far cleverer than the Konoha teenager. The furious boy slammed a fist into the back of his head, his eyes wide in surprise as his target burst out into a plume of smoke, the Sound shinobi rising up from the ground behind him. With a single chakra-infused strike, his sword removed the blonde's head from his shoulders. The Konoha shinobi's body fell to the ground in a strangely comical fashion, as his blood poured onto the ground.

It felt strange how easily the teenagers had fallen under his blade considering how many of his companions they had slain, though he had been captured by their strongest warrior, and he was one of the fastest shinobi in the Sound village. He flicked the blood of his sword and sheathed it at his belt before moving swiftly across the dark countryside. It was a long journey to the Sound village, and there was much he had to tell his lord. None of them liked Kabuto; at least Orochimaru treated his shinobi like people, whilst Kabuto was simply obsessed with his medical experiments. However, the line of succession was clear, and none of them could contend with the glasses-wearing boy just yet.

Author's Note:

I'll be honest; this isn't my best writing ever. It's been that kind of fortnight and my writing has been really flat lately. It'll only get better I promise. I'll have more time to write now, hopefully. And in case you didn't understand the last bit there, consider which characters were killed by the Sound Jounin.

Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.

Anime Spotlight: Excel Saga. There are no words that can properly describe this anime. Highly amusing, completely insane and totally hysterical. This anime is so ridiculous that the final episode was intentionally made so obscene that it wasn't allowed to be aired. If you don't want to go through the series, just watch episode 26, the last one. Also, you never forget the ending theme, which is sung by a dog barking and a woman singing a translation.