Fallen Leaves Chapter One: Invasion, a naruto fanfic

A/N: Hello, hello, hello! Well now, isn't this a surprise? I posted the beginning parts to a story here, ten years ago, and what a wild 10 years its been. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to devote the time this story required. But despite it sitting abandoned here for over a decade, it never really left me. I've done some background work on it here and there, and I've decided, no matter how long it takes me, I'm gonna get this done. If any of you who previously followed this story should find it again, that's great! To any new people who should stumble across it, let me introduce myself. My name is Holly Skulltaker, and I'm here to finish what I started. If you wanna stick around, you're welcome to do so. Reviews are welcome and constructive criticism is always encouraged. I'm reuploading it with some changes, because looking back, 16 year old me was not exactly the best. So it's up to 26 year old me to try and salvage this.

Well. Enough chit-chat. Here we go.

Fallen Leaves

by: Holly Skulltaker

Chapter 1: Invasion

The warehouse had been deserted when Hinata and Kiba had found it. It was in a village long since abandoned, and the Konoha 11 had agreed long ago that it would be their meeting place in the event that something terrible ever happened. Something like this.

Hinata had used her Byakugan as they approached, and they had found the place empty, the first ones to arrive.

"Man, what… I…" Kiba was, for once, at a loss for words.

"The others… Shino…" Hinata said quietly.

"…Don't worry. They'll be here, Hinata!" Kiba reassured her, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

Thirty minutes later, the warehouse door creaked open, Kiba pulling a kunai while Hinata readied her Byakugan. And in stepped Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, all with kunai in hand.

"Ino-Shika-Cho." remarked Kiba, lowering his weapon.

In an instant, the weapons were put away and Ino and Hinata wrapped each other in a tight embrace, Hinata sobbing lightly.

Choji and Shikamaru stepped to Kiba.

"Did you see anyone else outside?" Kiba asked hopefully.

"No… We left the village with Ebisu-sensei, but he stayed to fight off a squad of the enemy to buy us time to escape." explained Shikamaru.

"It didn't look good though… Man, I really hope he's okay…" Choji said.

"Unfortunately not…" came a voice, and everyone turned to see Shino and Akamaru come inside.

"Shino! Akamaru!" Hinata and Kiba both exclaimed, dashing to the hooded boy and giant dog.

"Yes, good to see you all as well." Shino said, nodding to Kiba while accepting a light hug from Hinata. Akamaru bounded over to his master, licking Kiba's face enthusiastically. "As I was saying… Ebisu-sensei brought down three of his five opponents. Unfortunately, he was killed by a water technique from another. I brought down the final two."

"…What the hell happened?!" Kiba suddenly shouted, making Ino, Hinata, and Akamaru jump slightly.

"Well… Most of the Leaf was destroyed. We've lost entire companies of our shinobi. The last thing I saw before leaving was a huge group of the enemy descending on the Hokage Tower. Somehow I thought we were prepared for this…" Shikamaru stated.

"We should have been! This shouldn't have happened!" Kiba retorted.

Hinata could do nothing but hug Kiba, who sighed in sorrow.

Akamaru began acting excited, standing at the door with his tail wagging.

"What's up Akamaru? " Kiba asked.

The warehouse door opened quickly, Neji and Lee struggling to hold an enemy shinobi with Tenten wielding a katana behind them.

"Team Guy!" Hinata said with a smile. "Neji!"

"Could someone please help us to secure this man?" Rock Lee asked with a grunt.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" called Shikamaru, and the pair's shadows linked, the enemy ninja finally ceasing his struggle. "You can let go, I got him."

Neji and Lee released the ninja, and Shikamaru directed him to a chair, where Ino and Choji roughly tied him up with chains. Hinata sealed the man's major chakra points with her Byakugan, negating him of his jutsu.

"Wait! If you'll just let me-" started the ninja.

"That's enough from you!" Ino snapped, wrapping a roll of electrical tape around his mouth. "You're lucky I'm letting you have air!"

"The enemy shinobi…" Neji said, deep in thought.

Choji sat in front of the shinobi, guarding him.

"We'll wait for the others, then we can question him." said Neji, the highest ranked ninja present.

Hinata and Kiba had fallen into a sort of fitful sleep, Akamaru sitting loyally by his master. Lee had taken over watching the enemy from Choji, who was now absently eating chips from a bag. Tenten was sharpening her blade and chatting lightly with Ino, while Shikamaru sat slumped against a wall, staring at the opposite wall.

Neji and Shino sat on the second floor loft, looking out at the field outside. The area was quiet for the longest time, with Shino's bugs performing distant reconnaissance, while Neji's Byakugan surveyed the immediate area. Both were surprised when two bodies suddenly appeared at the edge of the clearing.

"There they are. But… Where's Naruto?" Neji asked.

"…I'll go get them." said Shino, hopping down to the first floor.

Moments later, the Aburame returned with the pair, Sai looking composed and Sakura distressed.

"Sakura!" yelled Ino as she grabbed her friend in the largest of hugs.

Sakura returned it with force, sobbing lightly as she met her.

"Sai, where's Naruto?" asked Neji, in a light voice so as to not upset Sakura anymore than she already was.

"…I believe that we can recount that story better if we can get settled in first." Sai answered.

"Right." Neji replied, stepping away from the new arrivals as Lee jumped up to greet Sakura.

Minutes later, Sai and Sakura stood in the center of the room, and the others sat around the warehouse, waiting to hear how they'd escaped. Sai was first to speak up.

EARLIER THAT DAY

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai stood in the village center, facing twenty enemy ninja, all wearing headbands with a small cross like shape.

The three Leaf ninja braced themselves as the enemy encircled them.

"Just who do you think you are to attack our village, huh?!" Naruto yelled out in outrage.

"Boy, your village won't exist after this day." said the apparent enemy leader with a nasty grin. He was a fairly short man with a katana on his back, wearing the beige flak jacket of the enemy.

"You're gonna pay for this!"

"And I guess you'll be the one to collect my toll? What a joke!" smirked the enemy.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto announced, summoning a large group of clones which engaged many of the enemy. Naruto pulled a kunai and dashed towards the enemy leader, who pulled his katana and attacked.

Sai shrugged and pulled his tanto, summoning his ink animals, then engaged another of the enemy, who pulled a pair of kunai.

Sakura's hands were enveloped in blue chakra, a furious glint in her eyes as she pulled a slab of concrete from the ground and hurled it, smashing a ninja who was too slow to evade it. Before she knew it, two ninja attacked. She punched one in the face quickly, sending him flying, but the other was quick, and dodged her jab, returning with a sharp elbow.

Sai stabbed a shinobi in the chest and kicked him away before turning to a second one. A third ninja shot a fireball at him, but one of Sai's animals took the blast for him, Sai throwing a handful of shuriken at the surprised shinobi.

"Not so fast!" exclaimed the leader as he blocked a slash aimed for his throat. "Wind Style: Hurricane Palm!"

He gathered white energy in his right hand and touched it to Naruto's chest, blowing the boy back with hurricane force. Naruto flew through the air, spinning six times before he hit the ground. He was still for a moment, then stood, spitting blood from his mouth. As he stood, the enemy saw that Naruto's shirt had ripped, exposing a seal across his stomach.

"Ah! You must be the Leaf's jinchuriki. The nine-tails, if memory serves. Maybe this'll be more fun than I thought."

"You like palm jutsu? I'll show you one!" Naruto roared, not acknowledging his foe's comments. A Shadow Clone ran to Naruto's side, and began swirling chakra around his original's hand.

The leader smirked, and pulled his katana, a brilliant white light enveloping the blade. He rushed Naruto, raising the sword.

Naruto roared as he began charging, his clone right alongside him as the chakra in his hand solidified into a brilliant blue sphere, wild like a raging cyclone. "RASENGAN!" he shouted, as his palm reached for the leader's chest.

"SECRET TECHNIQUE: BLINDING WHITE FLASH!" shouted the leader, bring down his sword.

Sai, Sakura, and the enemies were forced to stop fighting, and could only watch the massive yellow flash from the connecting attacks. The crowd all braced themselves as shockwaves flew from the light. Several of the enemy shinobi went tumbling to the ground, Sai and Sakura staying on their feet somehow. When the light and rumbling finally subsided, the enemy commander and Naruto had completely disappeared.

"Naruto!" shouted Sakura as the enemy shinobi fled the area. "Where is he? Naruto!"

Sai quickly scanned the area, finding no sign of his flamboyant orange-clad friend. "We can't worry about that right now, Sakura. We have to go before they come back." Sai said in his monotone drawl.

As if on cue, a pair of the enemy returned, katanas in hand, and Sai's animals attacked them. Sai looked at the shocked Sakura. "Sakura?" When she didn't respond, he grabbed her arm and took off, dragging her behind him.

Sakura and Sai finished recounting their story to the others. Kiba sat with a scowl on his face, gazing out the window. Neji had a saddened look on his face, while Lee sat with his default intense stare.

All was quiet in the warehouse.

Finally, Kiba spoke up. "What about the Sand?"

"As far as we know, they could have been attacked as well." Neji said, thinking realistically.

"Yes but what if they're okay? What if they haven't been attacked, or they fought them off?" Tenten asked in a hopeful voice.

"The Sand has a smaller and weaker military than the Leaf did… It's not likely they'd survive an attack of the same scale. Though I suppose they do have Gaara." Shino said.

"Gaara is their best chance of survival. But if we can warn them, they can prepare a better defense!" said Lee.

"…I think I know how we can find out about the attacks." Shikamaru said, glancing down at the captive shinobi. This wouldn't be pleasant.

A/N: It's good to be back. I've got the first three chapters done, but I can't say what the upload schedule will look like after that. Next chapter will be up shortly!