Ahah! I went a little overboard with this chapter. By overboard I mean it's 3k words over my normal goal and 2k over the last chapter. Feck.

Anyhow, This chapter will wrap up Sasuke's retrieval, and I promise I'll give the gan some downtime in the next chapter! They definitely need it.

I don't own this.

Naruto, Sakura, and Choji all sped through the treetops in the direction that the latter two had seen the rest of the team run off in. The corpse of Jirobi lay in a pool of blood behind them, and their friends lay in various states of health or battle ahead of them. The conversation was sparse, and Naruto wasn't prone to banter during active missions as it was.

Before too long, however, all three shinobi started to notice massive spiderwebs hanging from the trees. Half a minute later Choji got his leg stuck in one, and the action alerted the trio to the fact that the webs weren't from natural spiders.

"Uh, guys? I swear I'm strong enough to break out of normal webs," Choji asserted as he tugged against the stout threads.

Sakura then tried to pry them apart, and even her super strength couldn't break more than one thread. Maybe if she opened the first gate again, but that would be overkill for such a small task.

"Looks like one of the enemies fights like a spider the same way Anko fights like a snake," Naruto mumbled. He nudged Sakura to the side and created his preferred chakra claws on his right hand, the wind chakra cutting easily through the web easily.

"Well Naruto, you have seniority here. What's the plan?" Sakura asked as Choji was freed.

Naruto then sat down cross-legged before replying. "I need three minutes to enter Sage Mode. After that, I should be able to pinpoint and eliminate whoever is responsible for this."

Sakura grabbed the pair of completed chakra tags from Naruto's pocket as he was prepping himself. She handed one to Choji and explained how they worked. After the pair felt rejuvenated, they simply watched Naruto. Gradually they could feel a serene presence surround their little group, and Naruto's eyes had an orange stripe run across them.

"You know, I don't actually think you've shown me this one before," Sakura said absently as Naruto stood back up.

"I've never had to. Kurama says it's on par with his more powerful cloaks, and the sensing capabilities are almost unmatched. In fact, I've picked up on Neji fighting our spider friend," was Naruto's response.

"What's the plan, then?" Choji asked him.

"You two wait here with a clone until he pops. My wind chakra and Neji's Gentle Fist are the only things we have that can probably cut through the webs."

Sakura looked like she wanted to protest, but technically Naruto was her senior officer in the situation. That in mind, she simply nodded along with Choji. Naruto flicked a quick, two-fingered salute before dashing off at a speed mistakable with a shunshin. He didn't use the actual technique just in case the spider-nin was also a sensor, but Sakura surmised he wouldn't need it with his augmented speed.

Naruto crouched in the branches of a leafy tree, using both his eyes and his Sage Mode's sensory ability to scope out the scene in front of him. Neji had just avoided the massive arrow aimed at his heart by mere inches, allowing the deadly projectile to plunge through his shoulder.

Naruto followed the string that was attached to the back end of the arrow, the same string Neji cut and pulled through his shoulder. There, up in the trees and completely hidden by both webs and foliage. A large, six-armed man sat holding a bow and yet another arrow aimed at Neji's position.

Naruto felt a spike of urgency, and he shot out a sharp tendril of Calm at the spider man. He had activated a curse seal of some kind, and Naruto didn't know if Neji could survive another shot.

The bow was drawn back, and Neji took off running unsteadily, showing just how many injuries he had taken fighting this Oto Jonin.

Naruto managed to get his Presence to take hold, and due to its calming nature, it went unnoticed.

A clone popped into existence behind the man, but the string was released anyway.

Naruto made a split-second decision and decided to trust in Neji's Byakugan to keep him alive, and he swapped places with his clone.

Naruto grabbed the bun of the spider-like nin and pulled him down onto the branch, straddling his waist as he did so. Naruto saw the maniacal glee leave the man's eyes as they bore into Naruto's furious, striped orange ones.

A Rasengan appeared before getting slammed down onto the shinobi's chest, tearing through a hard, yellow substance used for the bow and arrows like it was tissue paper. Once the protective shell was gone, Naruto felt the all-too-familiar grind of chakra against bone, and then the spread-eagle man's sternum gave way to the purely destructive nature of the jutsu.

Shards of bone cut into Naruto's cheek, small cuts that were almost instantly healed. Blood flew up around Naruto's arm and hit him in the face like a hot, demonic onslaught of raindrops. The Sound nin screamed loudly, and once Naruto got his hand into his chest cavity he ended the poor being's suffering. A quick, upward twist of his wrist obliterated the heart of Neji's attacker.

Naruto pulled his hand free and took a page from Sakura's book, cleaning the weapon of destruction on the man's clothing.

"Your claws would have been cleaner, you know."

"This one is obviously one of Orochimaru's elites. I had to be sure."

"Hm. Fair enough. I'd help Neji if I were you."

Naruto's head spun, and the scene that met him was disheartening, to say the least.

Neji dangled a good few inches off the ground, the last arrow of the spider man impaling him to a rock. Considering that the path of the arrow had blown through several trees before it had found its mark meant that Neji was unlucky in not receiving another clean pass. Instead, all the Hyuga could do was jump and hope that the arrow passed underneath his most vital organs.

Naruto raced to Neji's side and placed a splintered piece of a log under his feet, doing his best to relieve what must have been unbearable pain.

"Neji! Neji, are you with me?" Naruto asked frantically.

"Naruto? It's good that you're here… the others… will need help," Neji whispered. All of his strength was gone, and the light was slowly leaving his pale eyes.

"No, no no you bastard, you aren't allowed to die yet!" Naruto transferred one of his four spare chakra tattoos directly onto Neji's head, not healing him at all but buying him a few more precious minutes of life.

A clone appeared before immediately popping. Naruto pulled out a Hirashin kunai but was interrupted by Neji, "Naruto, it's no use. I'd need Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura here to save me, and judging by the stories I don't think I'd survive you Hirashin-ing me home. I just wanted to tell you… You were right. About Hinata, and my stupid Fate deal. I talked with my uncle and… I just want to ask for your forgiveness. Before I… join my father."

Naruto blew air through his nose in exasperation. "He must have given you a concussion, too. Of course I forgive you, dumbass, but you sure as hell aren't gonna die here. There's more than one way to get you healed."

Naruto slammed the kunai into the dirt, and the clone he had left with Sakura and Choji appeared with both of them in tow.

Now, since it was Sakura and Choji's first time traveling via Hirashin, they had less than spectacular responses to warping through space and time. Sakura dry heaved off to the side, gagging almost violently. Choji, whose stomach was almost always full, ran off to the bushes to throw up whatever he had inside of him.

"What the hell, Naruto? I haven't seen you in a year and you do all this stupid shit to me?" Sakura complained wiping down her mouth.

"Sakura…" Neji whispered in immense pain. There may have even been a bit of hope mingled in that tone, but it was definitely almost all pain.

Sakura whipped her head around and went into a full-on medic mode when she saw the damage.

"Naruto be ready to catch him. I have to bust the rock to free the arrow," she ordered. Naruto knew that field ranks held no bearing in emergency medical situations like this, and the medic was always given the lead.

Naruto created a dozen clones to search for the remaining groups and provide what help they could. He then moved over to a nearly unconscious Neji as Sakura placed a hand on the boulder behind him.

A light tap from her knuckles and the large rock crumbled, freeing the arrow and allowing Neji to fall limply into Naruto's waiting arms. There was no preamble as Sakura motioned for him to place the Hyuga on his side.

"Okay, now I need you to cut the arrow off in the back as close to his skin as possible. After that, start pulling it out slowly and as straight as possible while I heal what I can on its way out. That should keep him from losing too much more blood," Sakura ordered even as she began to work on closing Neji's other various wounds.

Most of his serious injuries were located on his back, with several wounds looking much the same as one another. Likely the odd kunai that littered the clearing. Naruto's chakra claws made short work of the arrow, and the six inches protruding from the middle of Neji's back fell to the dirt.

Getting a nod from Sakura, Naruto slowly began to pull the arrow out the way it went in. Sakura's hands glowed brightly as she did her work, and no blood left the exit wound as she promised. When the end of the arrow left the front of Neji's body it was accompanied by a rank smell and a small spurt of blood. Sakura's hand was there immediately to both stem the flow and close the surface of the wound.

Now that Neji wasn't at risk of externally bleeding out Sakura laid him on his back. He was still unconscious, and Naruto was glad that the Hyuga was afforded that small comfort. He had taken a lot of damage and deserved the break from the pain.

"I just have to focus on heling what organs I can in the field. I should be able to stabilize his lungs, but that arrow took out a fair amount of his small intestine. At best I can stop the internal bleeding, but he has to get to the hospital for real treatment," Sakura told him.

That was Naruto's cue to take back over. "Okay. I'll leave three clones to carry him and escort Choji back. Choji, I need you to give a report on what's happened so far to the Hokage."

Choji held up a thumbs up from his spot halfway into a bush. He'd be good to go by the time Sakura was done with Neji. Probably.

"Sakura, be on standby for another clone to Hirashin you to wherever you're needed. That may be for either healing or combat, so be prepared for anything."

Sakura scowled lightly as she worked. "Ugh, we need to practice with you flashing us around everywhere. That first time sucked. Also, leave me another tag if you can, this is going to drain me."

Naruto did as he was asked, transferring one of his tattoos onto a sealing tag for his teammate. With that, Naruto took off in the direction of some of the clones that had popped. They had found Kiba and had been taken out in the ensuing fight with someone named Sakon. Or Ukon. The memories were pretty erratic.

Kiba spun to a hasty stop, his passing fang having ripped up the earth beneath him. His technique had gotten much stronger, and with Akamaru's new size he was hitting harder as well.

On the downside, they were fighting even numbers although they had expected to be fighting just one Sound jonin. This guy had some crazy ability to split off into two different people, and they were keeping him and Akamaru pretty busy.

Naruto's clones had appeared and tried to help, but the two Oto shinobi (or one?) were too slippery to get caught. They phased in and out of each other to both avoid and attack the clones, leaving them useless other than to alert the original Naruto of the location.

'Come on, Naruto where are you?'

Kiba took a hard blow to the shoulder, one that sent him spinning through the air. Luckily he was quite used to spinning, and when he caught the transformed Akamaru's eye they both went into Fang Passing Fang.

The Sakon Ukon duo smirked when they saw the twin destructive twisters barreling their way, the swerving and switching patterns of the Inuzka and his hound destroying anything in its path. Splitting at the last moment, the brothers took off in opposite directions. Kiba and Akamaru split up on a silent signal, Kiba going in after Sakon to the left.

The revolting technique of the Oto man saved him once more when he phased backward into a tree, tempting Kiba to plow into it and send its splinters flying everywhere. He did so, and the destruction was honestly magnificent to behold... but Kiba had played almost directly into Sakon's hands.

Sakon shot out of the ground, kunai at the ready, and did his best to skewer Kiba as he spun past. All he got for his trouble was a badly damaged kunai and torn up hand. Kiba's strength would make a one on one fight tough, so Sakon had to rely on Ukon to take out the puppy.

"Well," Kiba started as he reoriented himself, "I guess we get to see who has the better teamwork. An Inuzuka and his ninken or a pair of fucked up brothers."

Sakon smiled gleefully. "Silly boy, I am one of Oto's ELITE! I don't need my brother to kill you. Of the five, my brother and I are the most versatile, and it would be a cold day in hell before we lost to some genin and his mutt!"

Kiba knew he couldn't hope to kill both of these guys. He was buying time, at best. At worst, he'd shoot for a pyrrhic victory and hope his mother would understand.

"Why are you guys even doing this? What do you want with Sasuke?" Kiba asked as he readied a kunai.

Sakon perked his ears up and tilted his head to the side, and then was joined by his brother. Kiba had a horrible feeling in his gut, and he looked behind the two jonin.

Laying on his side, beaten, broken, and quite possibly dead, was Akamaru. Two of his legs were snapped at reverse angles of their norm, and his spine looked like it was in two pieces. That could just be his fur… Kiba hoped it was. There would be no real comeback from an injury like that.

Ukon answered Kiba, "Because he's part of our orders. Lord Orochimaru wants him, so Lord Orochimaru will get him. And you, little boy, are simply in the way."

Kiba saw red. His partner was… he'd be okay. Kiba just had to end the fight and get Akamaru back to the clan. Maybe Kiba's sister could do something. At the moment, though, he had to contend with the speeding brothers moving in to flank him.

They ran at Kiba with twin kunai drawn, sprinting directly at the Inuzuka from either side. Kiba knew he couldn't overpower them both, and they were faster than he was. He'd have to… think.

Kiba launched himself forward at a tree trunk at the last minute possible before flipping around charging at the spot he was once at with a Passing Fang, hoping to hit them both. Unfortunately, the brothers simply phased through each other and thrust out both a kunai and a foot each. Kiba's spin was interrupted, and twin gashes appeared along his sides. Painful, but far from lethal.

"When will you learn, little boy?" Sakon drawled as he and his brother sauntered closer.

Ukon continued as Kiba backed away on the ground, snarling like a cornered animal, "Your little tricks are powerless here. Nothing you do can stop us. We're just better than you."

Kiba found himself with his back against a tree and the brothers no more than ten feet in front of him, and steadily getting closer. Kiba gave one last look to Akamaru, taking solace that he'd die in battle with his best friend before fingering one of his last kunai.

There was a pause, and everything in the forest seemed to freeze. Birds and insects seemed to vanish, the air dropped in temperature, and everyone present felt the same, horrifying feeling. Well, Kiba was relieved at least.

Naruto's Power flooded through the woods, the cold, bitter fingers of hopelessness wrapped themselves around Sakon and Ukon's hearts. Kiba dropped his weapon and simply tried to relax. He was losing a bit more blood than he would like.

Naruto walked out of the shadows of the trees, his hair being one of the only things visible until he was close enough to hear.

"When will you Oto trash learn? I've already killed your resident spider freak and watched my teammate blow out your fat ogre's spine. We're just better than you."

Naruto's voice was low, calm, and smooth with confidence. Added to the feeling of pure Power he was exuding and Kiba would believe any claims he made. Hopefully, the brothers would do the same.

"Uzumaki. Or is it Namikaze now?" Sakon taunted. "We were wondering if you'd show your cowardly face. Word has it you've been hiding for almost a year now."

Naruto's face remained completely passive, and his body looked totally relaxed. Faster than anyone could follow, Naruto had a hand lazily outstretched towards Sakon, and the horrified twin had a long, shallow cut along the right side of his neck. Centimeters from actually killing him.

"Keep in mind you're alive because I feel like talking," Naruto added calmly. "Why are you after Sasuke?"

Ukon responded this time, "We already told your mutt of a friend here that was Orochimaru wants he gets, alright?"

Naruto looked at Kiba and Akamaru, and he felt a twinge of guilt at taking so long to find him. A genin shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing, war or not. "Kiba, take Akamaru and follow this clone to Sakura. She'll patch you up enough to get him home to your clan vet," a clone appeared next to the downed pup and brought him immediately to Kiba. Kiba shakily stood and accepted his injured friend before walking after the clone as fast as he could manage.

"And what makes you think we're letting any of you leave these woods alive?" Sakon asked with bluster back in his voice.

Naruto sighed in apparent annoyance before disappearing from sight. Suddenly, a pair of Naruto's were behind each of the twins, and a sharp kick broke the outside leg of each brother. Their yells of pain were drowned out by the sick snap of their kneecaps, and then Naruto was back where he started.

"You two make it very hard to keep you alive. You're lucky I'm here and not Anko. She wouldn't even ask the question first, she'd start off by waterboarding one of you with your brother's blood."

At that morbid thought, Ukon gave in. "Fine. What do you want to know."

Sakon hissed at him but didn't protest. Naruto asked again, "What does Orochimaru want with Sasuke?"

"Lord Orochimaru has wanted a set of Sharingan for a long time, and right now he's hunting for a new host body."

Naruto followed up with, "How many of you are left, and who has Sasuke?"

Ukon hesitated to answer, and Sakon smiled triumphantly. At least he did until Naruto's knee was burying his face into the ground. "I only need you alive since you're the one talking. Your brother is just collateral to me at this point."

"Wait!" Ukon screamed just before Naruto plunge his chakra claws into Sakon's chest. "Sasuke and that jonin killed almost everyone except the Sound Five. The four of us were heading to meet up with our leader at the meadow in these woods, and we left Tayuya with Sasuke to hide him in the field as she fought off whoever followed her."

"This sound Five, who all is included and what is its purpose?"

Ukon swallowed heavily. "Sakon and myself, Tayuya, Jirobo, and Kidomaru are the original Sound Four. Kimimaro is our newest and strongest member, he's the one waiting in the field. We're the hand of Lord Orochimaru, his bodyguards and elite soldiers. What he wants done we get done."

Naruto didn't lift his knee from Sakon's face as he contemplated the new information. "You're more like servants to him than Elite fighters. I fought stronger Sound nin during the invasion while I assume you all held up that barrier. And it looks like Tayuya and your leader are the only ones left alive. I'll have to tell Shikamaru and Tenten to capture her."

Ukon had a confused look on his face, but it was soon wiped clean as a clone buried a kunai into his neck. Sakon's fate followed shortly after, and Naruto stood to get to the field. A clone would have to find Shikamaru.

Shikamaru had figured out Tayuya's game long ago, and with Tenten's expertise in weaponry, things shouldn't be too difficult to kill her. Her massive summons would be a threat, but as long as his shadow or one of Tenten's many blades could reach her it should be over fairly quickly.

"Hey, fuckheads! Even if you kill me, there are people in my group that could still kick your ass!" Tayuya's hidden voice called out. Ah, Shikamaru and Tenten also had to find her.

"And you think we're the strongest of our own group?" Shikamaru asked aloud, trying to keep her talking while Tenten searched the shadows.

"That Hyuga kid? Ha! He likes taijutsu, and Kimimaro would tear him a new asshole in taijutsu if he managed to get by Kidomaru! Or are you talking about that pink bitch? I'm still not even sure how she made chunin she looks so damn weak."

There was a wave of familiar Power that swept over the woods, freezing everyone in place. When it lifted, Shikamaru couldn't help but smile. "You know who that was, right?"

There was no response that time. She knew damn well who it was, it was one of the only people that age she was ordered not to engage alone.

Another minute of avoiding the three large Doki and Shikamaru was getting frustrated. Tenten should have found her by now, or at the very least flushed her out of her hiding place. All of a sudden, Naruto ran into the clearing, cutting one of the ghost-like Doki in half with a stream of his breath.

"Shikamaru! How you doing?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

"Naruto? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be tracking Sasuke?" the shadow user asked.

Naruto flapped a hand nonchalantly. "Eh, I'm just a clone. The real me knows exactly where to go, but I had to activate Sage Mode to track you down quickly. Oh, hi Tenten," Naruto didn't wave in order to allow her to remain hidden. "I'm just here to tell you that the boss said to capture Tayuya alive since everyone else except their leader is dead. She's up there," Naruto pointed behind without looking.

Shikamaru only nodded in appreciation. Yup, with Naruto back, things were bound to get interesting. And very, very troublesome.

Naruto bolted onto the field that he knew Sasuke to be hidden at. At most he had expected a fight with this 'Leader' that Ukon had talked about, but the field was a bit more… populated than he had expected.

Lee was jumping around, throwing his deadly kicks at a shinobi who seemed to fight with his own bones. If that wasn't freaky enough, Lee had the third Gate open and his shots weren't doing too much to the mystery shinobi.

Naruto stood in appreciation for a hot second, it was rare to see two masters of taijutsu fight all out against each other. Lee had access to the gates, but the Sound nin, presumably Kimimaro, had a cursed seal activated.

Lee's head was never in one place, always weaving to avoid lightning fast jabs of a bone sword Naruto knew even he would find challenging. The same could be said for Lee's opponent. Even if Lee didn't have anything strong enough to kill him, the blows that did land were still obviously very painful. Kimimaro weaved just as much as Lee did, and Naruto marveled at the constant motion.

Before Naruto could intervene, Lee was blasted away by what appeared to be a hail of ribs, sharp enough to pierce him and pin him to the ground. Naruto figured he should probably step in.

"Hey Lee, you look like you could use a hand," Naruto called out, getting the attention of both fighters.

"More Konoha trash? How many more of you are there?" The pale, stoic man asked flatly. It was hard to tell if he was taunting them or was genuinely curious.

"Friend Naruto!" Lee shouted before blasting up from the ground, leaving the bones protruding from the dirt after ripping the rest of the way through his body. "It is shoo good to seeing you!"

Oh, gods Lee got drunk. And he has the Gates open.

"Should we run?"

All at once the fight seemed to catch up with Lee, and he fell to his knees as the drunken blush left his face. The energy from the gates dissipated, and he knelt still simply trying to breathe through the holes in his chest. And back and stomach and sides.

"Nah we're fine."

Naruto held up an old, familiar cross sign, the shortcut for his mass Shadow Clone Jutsu. In the blink of an eye the, field was littered with a hundred clones. Enough to pose a threat by sheer numbers but not enough to the point of chaos ruining any plans made on the fly.

"Adding trash to a pile only allows the blaze to burn brighter," was the calm response of the bone user.

As the clones started to keep Kimimaro busy, Naruto had one dispel to bring Sakura to the location. The clone left with her dispelled upon completion of the Hirashin, leaving Naruto with a gagging Sakura and heavily bleeding Lee.

"Who is it this time?" Sakura asked once she got her gag reflex under control. Naruto simply pointed to Lee, and she got down to work as her teammate transferred his second to last store of chakra to another tag. The last one was probably for Sasuke.

"I'll also need you to distract the bone guy my clones are fighting once Lee can run back to Konoha. I'll free Sasuke while you do."

"No! I can still fight!" Lee interrupted himself by choking a little bit on his own blood.

"I'm the medic, I'll make the call, Lee," Sakura's tone left no room for arguments, and Lee looked more than a little crestfallen.

"Look at it this way, Lee," Naruto started to reassure the green-clad boy as he walked to the forest edge. "You're just giving Sasuke, Sakura and I our first battle as a team in a whole year. There's gotta be something… youthful about that!" Naruto sped off before he could be bombarded with the shouts of the dreaded 'Y' word as well as Sakura's curses for setting Lee off on a tangent.

Naruto found Sasuke's odd prison within two minutes, enough time for Lee to start his escape and Sakura to absorb the chakra from the tag. Unfortunately, Kimimaro was down to the last dozen clones, all twelve of which had now resorted to using ninjutsu instead of just their fists. They couldn't risk it earlier without taking out some of the other clones.

The biggest thing holding Sasuke out of the waking world was some kind of barrel. It was easily the oddest prison Naruto had ever seen, but definitely one he could break his friend out of. It WAS guarded by fuuinjutsu, after all.

Naruto took one look at the tag on the outside of the barrel, and he noticed it was a relatively simple Dark Sealing Method. It was sloppy as well, and it left several gaps in the Kanji for his chakra to seep into and break.

"Release," Naruto muttered, not even bothering with a half hand seal. Too easy.

The paper slip fell, and immediately sounds originated from within the barrel. The barrel itself was sealed with a multi-member level seal, something that would take at least as many members to infiltrate at the same time. Which would pose a real problem for most…

"Release," Naruto and three clones muttered, freeing the barrel of the restrictive lock. The clones all popped, leaving Naruto alone with his bewildered final teammate.

Sasuke launched the top of the barrel off before stretching violently. He was ready to fight for his life despite how tired and ragged he seemed.

"How the hell did these idiots capture you?" Naruto asked with an amused smile.

Sasuke spun to face the blond, eyes wide and surprisingly devoid of his dojutsu. "Naruto? When did you get back? How long have I been trapped?"

Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke shoulder and started to transfer the chakra seal directly from his arm. "I dunno, maybe an hour. Gai-sensei busted down the Hokage's door to tell her about your capture and I happened to be there. How did it happen again?" Naruto's tone was almost teasing, and it annoyed Sasuke to no end.

"I had just finished my fifth hour of training and was out of chakra. I don't know how they got into the village, either. They must have a mole."

That actually worried Naruto.

"I managed to kill a good six of them, and then Gai showed up to kill off a few more before they got me and he had to chase some into the village. Itachi's gonna be pissed about all the blood in the training yeard… anyways, they managed to pin me, shove some weird pill down my throat, and lock me in that damn box. Four of them seemed like they were in charge, but I could have killed them all if they hadn't caught me with my pants down."

Naruto believed him. He could feel that the one seal wasn't enough to refill Sasuke's reserves entirely, and he would need a second one to top him off. Sakura could probably handle herself for another minute while he scribbled the seal onto his arm.

"Is Sakura safe?" Sasuke asked.

"She's out kicking the leaders' ass. Wanna watch?" Naruto turned and let Sasuke get a view of his girlfriend in action. Naruto would only need about thirty seconds to fill up the seal, and Sakura would make great entertainment while the boys waited.

She was charging in right along with the clones, much to Kimimaro's annoyance. In fact, the first punch he saw coming he simply rolled his eyes and allowed her to cock her arm back. However, when her fist shot forward almost as fast as Lee's he realized his mistake. He realized this even more so when her punch landed and sent him rocketing away with a dislocated jaw. It had been a long time since someone had hit him that hard.

Naruto whistled, "She sure has started to pack some power behind her punches."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, just wait until she asks to spar with you. I can't even block her hits anymore or we have to call it a day. You won't believe how hard she actually hits now."

Naruto had a small flashback to a dark, painful, and very embarrassing cave. "I got a pretty good idea."

Sasuke felt the second hasty seal of chakra flood into him, and he felt his reserves fill almost all the way back up. "Well, we can't let her have all the fun. I take it no one brought my sword?"

Naruto dusted his hands as he shook his head. "Sorry, you'll have to do without."

Sasuke's eyes flashed red before swirling into the exotic pattern of his Eternal Mangekyo. "I have no problem with that."

And the two disappeared from normal view, speeding away to help out their third teammate.

Kimimaro sat up from the grassy crater his body made after receiving that single punch. That seriously could have killed him if his bones weren't strengthened from the level 1 curse mark. He allowed his eyes to unfocus as his jaw reset itself through a series of sickening cracks. When they focused on his opponent again, there were three instead of just one. The pink bitch, the loud clone user, and his target. How unfortunate.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she cracked the knuckles of her hand.

Sasuke grunted, making Naruto smile. Some things never did change. "I've been better. I've been worse."

Naruto spoke next, eyeing Kimimaro as he stood up across from the trio, "So, Sakura, exactly how strong is this guy?"

Sakura shrugged, "He's pretty tough, but nothing the three of us can't handle. I hit him the hardest I could without opening any of the Gates."

Sasuke rounded on her, "Opening any of the WHAT?"

"Surprise, babe," Sakura's smile was both demure and mischievous,

"You Konoha trash have delayed me for far too long, as well as setting back the progression of Sasuke's curse seal. My master will not be pleased."

Naruto laughed out loud, replying with, "Did Sasuke forget to tell you that he doesn't have a mark anymore? I removed it like, half an hour after he got it!"

Kimimaro would have gotten paler if he could have.

"Stop talking Naruto, I want to go home and clean up the mess before Itachi comes home from his mission," Sasuke groaned before narrowing his eyes at the Sound Elite.

Naruto nodded, fired off a tendril of Malice to freeze the bone user, and had a clone slam a full power Rasengan into his back. The attack hit flush, and Kimimaro was thrown face-first into the dirt as the jutsu drilled into his spine.

Oddly enough, the ball of violently rotating chakra didn't progress past the bone, and the chips that wet flying told Naruto that the trick should have worked. A rib shot out and dispelled the clone, ending the attack.

"The fuck?" Naruto asked as Kimimaro stood up calmly. That should NOT happen.

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke muttered. "Amaterasu!"

The boney opponent was engulfed in black flames, flames that devoured everything it touched without fail. Unfortunately, the screams only lasted for a split second, as did the flailing associated with being burned alive by fire straight from hell.

Kimimaro molted. He looked like a sick crab walking forward out of an old exoskeleton, the suit of pure bone burning to ash around him.

"The fuck?" Sasuke asked in a comic mirroring of Naruto.

Sakura bent over, picked up a small pebble, and hurled it with all her strength. Kimimaru looked actually bored as he deflected the tiny projectile with a bony protrusion on his hand.

"The fuck?" Sakura's version didn't fit quite as well, and her teammates looked at her in confusion.

"She didn't actually expect that to work, did she?" Kurama's voice was almost concerned.

"For the sake of all of our lives in the future, I sure as hell hope not. She's not nearly that useless!"

Upon seeing the worried expressions of the boys, Sakura simply shrugged and said, "What? Shizune says comedy works best in threes."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and gazed up into the heavens for answers.

Sasuke only sighed and muttered, "You're lucky you're cute."

Kimimaro, who heard nothing of the conversation, spoke up next. "I see you are truly garbage set aside from the rest of your village. I understand now that I will have to take you more seriously."

The trademark black marks adorned his body then, ascending the power and influence of the curse mark to its level 2 state. Kimimaro shifted from his somewhat normal appearance to a darker-colored, twisted bone monstrosity. He maintained basic anatomy, but extra bone jutted out from places that there should be no bones, and he pulled bones from himself to use as weapons.

"Behold the power Lord Orochimaru has bestowed upon me. Behold the bringer of your death, see me and fall to despair as you will fall to the bone of my blades!"

Naruto scratched his head at the loud proclamation. "You know, that could have been really badass if it was just one of us facing him."

Sasuke nodded as if to agree. "You think you're the only one here with transformations or power-ups?"

Taking that as a signal, Sakura opened the first gate. Sasuke followed her lead and manifested the ethereal skeletal head of his Susanoo. In between the two of them, Naruto called upon Kurama's perfect cloak, wreathing himself in the golden shroud of pure power.

"I'm liking the gold, Naruto. Really suits you," Sakura complimented. As she finished, the four took off from their respective positions, meeting in the middle of the once serene meadow to clash.

Kimimaro was hard pressed to stay alive. Very, very hard pressed. These three fought together better than the Sound Four did, and these three were infinitely more powerful. Sakura had hit him extremely hard in the side, shattering several of his ribs. As he was flying through the air, Naruto had sliced at him with manifested claws of chakra, destroying the protective layer of bone on the arm he used to block. Just as his ribs were replaced, Sasuke slammed a Chidori into his chest while protecting his own body with parts of some massive ghost skeleton. These teenagers had no idea how to give him a breather.

That's not to say Kimimaru didn't do his best to give as good as he got. Naruto and Sasuke took most of the blows, using their bodies to protect their teammate from his deadly bones. His spine was in one hand in the form as a whip, and a sharpened humorous was in the other as a sick type of sword. The sword had the best chances of slipping between the 'Susanoo's' ribs while the whip could temporarily immobilize the jinchuriki.

The four fought in a blur of speed and power, chunks of the earth flying whenever Sakura landed one of her punches. Blinding light appeared every time Sasuke tried Chidori, not willing to use a fire jutsu with his team so close to the target. Nine powerful, glowing hands/claws would whip around Naruto, destroying anything they slammed into while avoiding both Sasuke and Sakura.

By this point, Sakura had released the Hundred Healings seal on her forehead, covering her face in markings and opened the second gate without fear of injury. She was taking just as many slices and whip strikes as her teammates now, but no matter what they hit this boney fucker with he wouldn't seem to die.

Suddenly, the blade slipped through Susanoo's ribs, and the whip cut too deeply into Naruto's calf for them to escape. The three members of Team 7 locked eyes and passed a silent signal. The depths of their team's connection was difficult to understand, but in rare moments like these, they doubted they'd find a closer-knit team.

Sasuke slammed one of his modified Chidori strikes into the crook of Kimimaro's left elbow. The blow sent electricity coursing through the Oto nin and stunned the left side of his body.

At the same time, Naruto lashed out with a massive burst of cutting wind chakra, the most any of those involved had ever seen. The bone whip held up incredibly well considering the breath of air left a deep, clean cut into the dirt and rock dozens of feet deep. In the end, it snapped in half and released Naruto's leg. Now freed, Naruto sped forward and threw the strongest Rasengan he could manage directly at the throat of Kimimaro, the least protected target, at the same time Sasuke's Chidori landed.

Seeing her opening, Sakura drew her fist back into the same powerful punch that blasted a hole through Jirobi. In a split second, her knuckles shattered against the bone of Kimimaro's stomach before instantaneously healing themselves. They did their intended damage, though, and the energy dispersed into Kimimaro.

The impact knocked him to the far side of the field, leaving the three members of Team 7 sweating with both their exertion and hesitation to continue the fight. He should very well already be dead.

To their dismay, the Oto shinobi slowly and shakily rose from the dirt. The beautiful, grassy meadow they were once at was no longer grassy at all. Rocks and dirt were strewn about from the battle, and it wasn't over yet.

"How much more do we have to hit this guy with?" Naruto asked in awe. This was easily the most resilient opponent he had ever faced.

Kimimaro was about to respond with some derogatory phrase, but the only thing to spew from his mouth was dark blood.

Upon closer inspection, one could see the damage that would do in the bone user. His throat was absolutely ravaged, flaps of skin and flesh flapping in the light wind. A layer of bone closed off his throat from the elements. His upper left side was hanging limp, most of the nerves completely fried from the extreme voltage pumped into him.

The biggest issue, though, was that the energy and power from Sakura's punch had nowhere to escape. It couldn't fire out his back like with Jirobi, and this time she had an extra gate open. All of that raw power transitioning straight into his organs… the world was fading for Orochimaru's second choice of body.

There was always one move he could use upon death, and by Kami would he take these brats with him. He fell into a chasm of his own making, using the very last of his strength to complete his ultimate technique. "Dance… of the Fern…"

Above ground, the three members of team 7 stood ready for him to emerge anywhere, but all were startled when they felt a small rumble. Sakura, however, smiled and told the boys, "You guys are gonna wanna jump for this."

Knowing what she was capable of and caring for their personal health, Naruto and Sasuke obeyed, jumping as high as they could.

Sakura, still under the effects of the Hundred Healing Technique, opened the third gate. It was something she had just started to work on and was nowhere near ready for use without the seal active, but the single minute of power she gained from it would be all she needed.

With her arms stretched up and in a hammer-fist like position, both boys heard her yell of, "Gate of Healing! OPEN!" as her hands descended.

Just as the burst of power erupted from her, the meadow began to burst into towering blades of bone. The bones started in the last place Kimimaru was seen, but would fill the meadow in less than a few seconds. Sakura's fists met the hard ground a split second before she was overtaken.

The shockwave was almost unbelievable. The ground immediately cratered beneath her, and she was suddenly staring at the lip of the depression at eye level. The power that spread like a ring around her flattened both earth and bone, a fifty-foot circle of sunken dirt around her surrounded by cracked bones that withstood the blast. Shards of the white material littered the ground around her.

Sasuke and Naruto were sent careening even higher from the 'explosion'. Although neither would admit it, they both screamed more than a little. Eventually, Naruto grabbed hold of Sasuke's arm and used Hirashin on the kunai with Sakura, bringing the boys safely to the ground.

Sakura's aura of power vanished, and she fell to her knees exhausted. Sasuke remained in the dirt crater, gagging from his first Hirashin and doing his best to maintain his lunch. Naruto looked at Sakura with more than a little irritation added to his satisfaction.

"A little warning next time, maybe?" he asked her.

"Hey," she panted and then laid down, "it worked didn't it?"

Naruto simply scoffed. Since he was the only one left that was fighting fit he absorbed one of his Senjutsu seals, entering sage mode to try and feel out if Kimimaru was still alive.

"I don't feel him, guys. I think we did it," Naruto smiled.

Before he could celebrate, however, he was forced to add, "Hang on. I'm picking up on someone I really shouldn't be right now."

His teammates looked up from the dirt in worry.

"Hmm, very good, Naruto! I'm quite pleased with your progress…" an oily voice called out from the top of one of the splintered bone spires.

"Great, the fucking pedophile is here," Naruto spat, motioning to his teammates to stay down.

"You're still convinced about that are you? It won't matter too much once you're dead, or better yet on my side…"

"Naruto, let us help you," Sasuke asked lowly.

"It's okay guys! I feel someone else too, someone I'm MORE than happy to see right now!" Naruto assured everyone. His team relaxed into the dirt while the present Sannin quirked an eyebrow.

"And who would that be, little Naruto? It's been a long time since I've been followed without my knowledge—"

A crow flapped onto another one spire. "Tsk, you've made many mistakes, Orochimaru."

The Sannin looked nervous for a split second. "Itachi," his face returned to the smirk it was seemingly fixed on. "It's been a long while."

Sasuke stirred from his position in the dirt. "Guys, this was Itachi's mission. Find and trail Orochimaru… I had no idea. I have to get home NOW!"

"Why?" Sakura asked lowly.

"I have to clean up before he returns from the mission or I'll get my ass kicked!"

He then on went ignored.

"Why, whatever do you mean Itachi?" Orochimaru asked.

The crow hopped to look directly at the Sannin. "You went after my baby brother."

"That's fucking adorable," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Fuck off," was Sasuke's response.

Orochimaru laughed in the face of the crow. "Silly Itachi! Did you think I wouldn't improve myself after our last encounter? Snake eyes see more than just light and colors. Genjutsu won't work on me anymore!"

The crow made a barking sound, almost mistakable for a bird's version of a laugh. "Silly Orochimaru. You're in a genjutsu right now."

"Holy fuck he's right! He's good."

That was high praise coming from Kurama.

Orochimaru scowled before breaking the surrounding genjutsu, freeing everyone in it. They were all in their respective positions, but the crow was gone and Orochimaru was slumped on the ground. The Sannin sprung to his feet in anger.

"Perfect!" Naruto yelled out, getting everyone's attention. "I'm still I Sage mode, and I've wanted to try this out ever since I got it."

"Oh, hell yes!"

Naruto sped through the summoning signs, one of the Senjutsu seals traveling to the large array on his back. Naruto slammed his hand down, a massive cloud of smoke rising as a deep, powerful roar split the air.

Kurama stood protectively over an awestruck Sasuke and Sakura, with Naruto standing firmly on his head. All nine of his powerful tails swished through the air behind him, knocking down towers of bone as if they were made of cardboard. He was the picture of power at its peak.

Orochimaru looked once at the towering Kurama, and then to the rapidly emerging Itachi. Then back to Kurama.

"Well, I seem to have forgotten to turn off my lights at home. I'll see you all later."

And the snake was gone, having swan dove into the ground and melding away before Itachi could act.

Kurama was more than a bit disappointed. "Wow. What a fucking pussy."

Yeah, this one was a doozy. So! I'll just clear a few things up here for you lovely readers.

My version of Kimimaro wasn't sick. If he seems too strong here, keep that in mind.

The Sound four really were more of special lackeys or semi-successful experiments to Orochimaru (Kimimaru being the exception) so he really isn't all that devastated at their loss.

Yes, I did cut out a few fights here, mostly because Naruto wasn't there to either witness or take part in them. If anyone would like to read my take on how those fights would have gone, (Neji, Shikamaru/Tenten, Lee) Let me know and I'll find some time to type it up as a separate one-shot!

As always, thanks for stopping by guys. Let me know how you think this went!