Disclaimer: I do not own any wrights to Naruto or Shadow Skill. I merely use their characters and themes for entertainment purposes.
The news stunned everyone that was listening. None could believe what was just said. Although in the news of the Cloud moving should not have been all that shocking. After all, that was the reason they were here, to stop the Cloud before they got a foothold in Fire Country.
Tsunade for her part was remaining calm, "Where are they moving? How many are there? And what are their ranks?"
One of the scouts that reported the movement of the Cloud stepped forward. "By our estimates, there appears to be at least two hundred and fifty. They appear to be moving through the pass about fifty kilometers to the north. And I am sorry to report but from our location we were unable to get a good estimate on their ranks."
"There is no need to be sorry," Tsunade said. "As of right now we must delay them." She then turned to the shinobi that gathered, "Kakashi take four squads with you and try to delay them while we set up for a counter attack. Don't take them on directly, just hit them heavily then retreat."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi saluted. "Teams 5, 12, 18, and 9 come with me!" The four teams nodded and bound away to try and intercept the advancing Cloud.
"The rest of you break camp and head to the fall back position!" Tsunade ordered. "We shall plan the counter attack there. Once we get more reliable estimates of the enemy."
Quickly those that remained began to break camp. If one were to watch from the out side one could not help but be impressed by the efficiency of the process. The first to move the Anbu, they were the ones most used to the breaking camp quickly because of the nature of their duties. They packed their equipment and dashed off a head of the others, securing the routes others were to take. The next to leave were the strategist and scouts. Their job was to make any notes as they traveled behind the Anbu so they could use the terrain to their advantage latter. Soon after the scouts and strangest were the primary force, consisted of several Chunin and the few Jounin that lead them. They were to cover the strategist backs, for without them they would have no chance of mounting an effective counter attack. The last to leave were Tsunade, her small unit of guards, and those designated as Runners. Naruto was part of this group; he silently followed Tsunade as they sped away from the newly abandoned site.
A part of Naruto wanted to be with Kakashi as he went to face and hopefully delay the advancing enemy. But he knew that his role would come later when they got set up for the counter attack. He knew that he would either be sent to Konoha or Jiraiya's force with a message to send reinforcements. Thus he decided to be patient and wait for his turn.
Kakashi lead his four teams in the opposite direction of everyone else. As they moved a squad leader came up next to him and asked, "What's the plan?"
Kakashi, keeping his gaze forward said, "The pass they are traveling through is an old trade route, that means its pretty wide and perfect to move a large force through. We are going to narrow that pass, causing them to either move slower or stop all together to remove some of the debris. That is also why I choose yours and the other teams. Each one is capable of causing high levels of damage with maximum collateral damage."
"How long are supposed to hold them?" Another commander that came up next to Kakashi asked.
"We won't be engaging them up front that would be suicide," Kakashi informed. "We'll be attacking from four directions at once. Two on each side of the pass, one up front one in the back. This should confuse them as well. Use the strongest Ninjutsu you have that causes the most collateral damage. Try to target the walls but don't hesitate to hit enemy targets either. We'll each use three jutsus then retreat and rejoin the others."
The rest of the journey passed in silence each contemplating the best technique they could use. Unfortunately they did not have much time to decide. Traveling at the impressive speed that shinobi were capable of they reached the pass in under an hour. Fortunately they were able to make it just as the Cloud ninja were about half way through the pass. From there they split up into the four teams, with Kakashi joining one of the ones up front. Once in position everyone began a long series of hand seals that were required for their powerful jutsus. Not surprising many of the jutsus were fire jutsus. There were other jutsus as well; a few water jutsus and one or two lighting jutsus too. And then there was one earth jutsu that was perfect for this situation. This one came from Kakashi, he first saw it when he first became a Jounin, one that cost him the life of his friend and allowed him to receive the Sharingan. "Doton: Iwa Yado Kuzushi!" The walls of the pass began to shake and several boulders began to dislodge from the surroundings and fall towards the Cloud shinobi. Once Kakashi completed the jutsu he called out, "Alright that's it! Fall back!" The four teams complied and retreated but not without some getting caught by some of the jutsus the Cloud-nins attacked them with.
Once they were a safe enough distance away Kakashi surveyed the damage with a bit of pride. The pass had been reduced by nearly a quarter and the terrain became much harder for anyone to transverse. He turned back to the teams and asked, "Casualties?"
"Three are dead and six are injured to various degrees," One of the commanders spoke with a limp corpse on his back.
Kakashi looked at his group, one side of him was glad that their mission was a success but the other side of him hated to see that it cost the lives of three of his comrades, "Price of war," he thought. "Those who can, help the wounded and carry the dead, we'll give our friends the burial they deserve once we get back home." The others nodded and went about to make it back to the rendezvous point.
The teams under Kakashi's command made their way back as quickly as they could. It took them three hours to make it to the rendezvous point. As soon as they arrived the injured were taken to the medics, the dead were taken to area that was designated for the fallen, and Kakashi was taken to see Tsunade. As soon as he came before the Sannin Kakashi gave his report, "The mission has been accomplished, the pass has reduced in size by a quarter and the exit had been almost entirely closed off. It should by us at least a day before they can move again."
"Good," Tsunade said, "That gives us time to plan and send word to Jiraiya to send reinforcements."
An Anbu came up to Tsunade and said, "A team of Runners have come from Jiraiya's force. They say that they came as with standard message."
"That means Jiraiya has not encountered the enemy," Tsunade surmised. "We'll have to send Runners to get a message to Jiraiya right away."
"It will take them more than half a day to get there, and it will take just as long if not longer for help to arrive," Kakashi said.
"They won't make in time before the Cloud make it through the pass," Hiashi said.
"They will if someone can get there in half the time," Tsunade said.
"No one can travel that far that fast!" a Jounin objected.
"I can," Naruto stated. Every eye in the area became fixed on the blond. "I've done it before."
"Then you will lead a team…" a Jounin began.
"No they will only slow me down," Naruto interrupted. "I can only make it on my own and only if a go all out."
"But what happens if you are caught or get delayed?" Another Jounin asked. "Then Jiraiya will never get the message."
"Then send a Runner team after me," Naruto responded, "But unless I leave now it won't matter."
"Very well Naruto," Tsunade said, "You are given the mission of getting to Jiraiya's forces and tell them that we need help."
Naruto nodded and began to run towards the Stone border. After he left the area one of the Anbu present asked, "Can he really make?"
Tsunade was the one to answer, "One thing everyone should be aware of is to never underestimate that boy." She then took a breath, "Lets begin the strategy meetings and send a full Runner squad with same message I gave Naruto."
Jiraiya was looking over several maps make plans incase the Stone invaded Fire Country. He had this feeling that something big was going to happen soon and he wanted to be prepared for the any outcome. While he was looking over the maps he recalled the measures he took so that he would not be caught off guard. Jiraiya sent three Anbu teams to follow the scout teams he sent to search for any sign of enemy movement. He had sent them both across the border and back towards Konoha. With the message he received about Stone shinobi already in Fire County he wanted to be sure that they had not be out flanked and caught from the rear. He glanced outside and noted that his Runners to Tsunade should have gotten there by now, and that she would be sending Runners of her own. He just hoped that nothing had happened to his fellow Sannin.
He was about to go back to his maps when three Anbu Captains appeared in front of him. "What do you have to report?"
The one to Jiraiya's right stepped forward, "The scouts and Anbu that were sent over the boarder have just returned. They report no sighting of Stone shinobi or traces of a camp."
The middle then stepped forward, "The Anbu that were scouting inside of Fire Country have not found any trace of the enemy either. They did however find traces that suggested some Mist shinobi were in the area."
"Hmm," Jiraiya thought for a moment, "They are probably in the area to assess the situation of the war. Tell the patrol to be on the look out for Mist-nins as well. We don't want our secrets to get out to anyone."
The last Anbu then stepped forward, "A sweep of around the camp has yet to produce any evidence of intrusion."
"Very well return to your duties," Jiraiya ordered.
"Yes Sir!" two of the Anbu Captains left.
"I don't like this," Jiraiya commented, "The only evidence that Stone is here is from the report from Konoha. It would be stupid to just send one advance party."
"Could it have been a diversion?" the Anbu asked. "An attempt to draw our forces to Stone border then come in through Cloud?"
"Possible," Jiraiya answered, "But until we get more concrete evidence we will not move from our position. Still we should probably increase our patrols in any case. Which teams are on patrol now?"
The Anbu thought for a minute, "I think Genji's, Sasuke's, Hayate's and Anko's."
"Send out two more teams to assist them and be on the look out for Konoha Runners," Jiraiya stated, "It's getting close to the time they would arrive."
"Yes Sir," the Anbu complied and left Jiraiya alone.
Not long after the last Anbu Captain left another Anbu, this one in the standard uniform, ran up, "Jiraiya-sama! A Runner is approaching!"
"From Konoha?" Jiraiya asked surprised, "I thought it would be at least an hour or so before they would show up."
"No Sir," the Anbu corrected, "The Runner appears to be coming from the direction of the Cloud border."
"As soon as the Runner comes," Jiraiya said firmly, "Bring them to me." The Anbu was about to leave when another person pushed him out of the way. When Jiraiya saw the person who came in he was rather surprised, "Naruto?"
Naruto breathing very heavily said, "The Cloud…on the…move…Tsunade…help." With that he passed out only to be caught by the near-by Anbu.
"Take him to the medics," Jiraiya, "Then spread the word that we'll be leaving for to help Tsunade. Also send Runners to Konoha to tell them of the situation!"
"Yes Jiraiya-sama!" the Anbu said carrying Naruto to the medics.
When Naruto woke up he noticed that he was in a tent of some sort and there was little light. When he sat up his suspicions of it being nighttime were confirmed. For a brief moment he wondered where he was. Then he remembered the mission he was given and in order to make it on time he had to use the Kamui principle to reach Jiraiya in time. The problem was he could not remember the last half hour of the journey. The taxation on his body made his memory a complete blur, he just hoped that he was able to give Jiraiya the information. Naruto's thought were interrupted when he detected a presence enter the tent. Turning to see who it was he was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Hinata.
When Hinata looked at Naruto's bed she was slightly startled to see him awake, "Naruto-kun, you're awake! I thought it would be at least another day until you woke up."
"Hey Hinata-chan," Naruto greeted, "Did I get the message to Jiraiya? And, just how long have I been asleep?"
"Yes," came a third voice, "And you've been asleep for a little over a day." The two turned to the new voice and saw Sasuke enter the tent.
"Hey what are you two doing here?" Naruto asked, "Since I got the message to Jiraiya then that means he should have left."
"I and about twenty others were selected to remain here in case the Stone try to make it across the border," Sasuke then turned to Hinata, "As for her, she volunteered to stay to look after you."
Hinata blushed at Sasuke's comment and tried to turn away. Naruto saw this and smiled at her reaction, "So who's in charge now?"
"Ibiki," Sasuke answered. "He's the senior Jounin here. He'll want to see you a little later once you have recovered completely." He turned to Hinata who was already scanning Naruto with a medic scanning technique.
When she was done Hinata said, "At the rate he's healing I would say, he would be back to full strength in a few hours."
"If I didn't know the source of that healing ability I would be a little envious," Sasuke admitted.
"Feel free," Naruto smiled, "The demon's gone, and this is just an end result of it being in my body."
"I've got to get back to my patrol," Sasuke said leaving. He stopped at the entrance turned and with a smirk on his face said, "Don't do anything too rough you two." With one last glance back he saw Naruto scowling and Hinata blushing at his comment.
A couple of hours later Naruto was feeling well enough to get up and meet with Ibiki. He went to meet the scared Jounin at the center tent. There, Naruto was escorted by two Chunin inside and then left alone. Only a few minutes passed and the Ibiki arrived. "Glad to see you're up."
"Thanks," Naruto responded, "So what will be my assignment here?"
"Right to the point," Ibiki stated, "I like that." He then looked directly at Naruto, "You will stationed here under my command. You will help with the patrols and will be taken off the status as a Runner."
"Yes Sir," Naruto replied.
"Get yourself situated and report back to me for the team you will be assigned to." Naruto nodded and left to get familiar with the camp. After he wandered for a bit he felt he had a good grasp on the layout. It did not take him very long to search the camp, its size was much small than Tsunade's. When he was finished he returned to Ibiki to receive his assignment. He was given command of two of the younger Chunins that were left behind and they were assigned patrol duty.
Two days later a Runner arrived saying that Jiraiya's forces had joined up with Tsunade's and the combined forces were pushing the Cloud forces back. This was cause for small party to be held with in the camp. If they halted the Cloud advance then they may be able to stop the war before it escalated even more.
During the party Naruto and his group joined in the celebrations. They had to pull a double shift on patrol because one of the other teams became injured do to an accident, even shinobi can be clumsy at times. So when they got back they were all more than ready to relax and take it easy. Naruto not being used to being all that social, was content to watch from the sides as some of the shinobi got drunk and make a fool of themselves. After about an hour Sasuke joined Naruto having just finished his patrol. "Not much for parties?" Naruto asked.
"Not really," Sasuke said. "Never been one to enjoy the spot light."
"Funny that's not the impression I got when we were at the Academy," Naruto smirked, "Don't tell me you actually hated all the attention you were getting."
"Trust me having a dozen fan-girls follow your every move was not the kind of attention anyone would like," Sasuke said sighing at the memories. "Not even you."
Naruto chuckled, "And believe me you would hate to be me when they focused their wrath on me, I think they were scarier than anything anyone could imagine."
The two continued to enjoy the party from the sidelines when a panicked Chunin came running up to Ibiki. "Sir Team 3 has spotted Stone-nin on the move!" The announcement made everyone freeze and focus on the Chunin. "They have already crossed the border and are heading this way!"
"How far away are they and where is the rest of Team 3?" Ibiki asked.
"Their only about twenty five kilometers away," answered the Chunin. "And the rest of Team 3 stayed behind to try and hold off the enemy advance."
"How many Stone-nins are there?" Ibiki asked.
"Last I saw I think about seventy-five," the Chunin sadly said.
The others present were stunned by the number, " That many?" one asked. "That's suicide."
"It must be an advance invasion force," Ibiki concluded.
Sasuke seemed to remember something and whispered, "Hinata."
Naruto hearing Hinata's name asked, "What about her?"
Sasuke turned to his friend and slowly said, "She was the medic for Team 3."
Sasuke said more but Naruto did not hear him. The only thing in his mind was that Hinata was on Team 3 and they chose a suicide mission. Not even looking up Naruto rushed away from the others.
Everyone turned to see Naruto run in the direction the Chunin came from. Knowing exactly what was going through his mind, Sasuke called out to try and stop him, "NARUTO!" Unfortunately Naruto either did not hear or simply ignored the call.
"Damn that kid!" Ibiki said angrily. "Now's not the time to go rushing off like that." He then turned to Sasuke, "Go after him. We'll need him and his power, stop him before he gets himself killed." Not even bothering to acknowledge the order Sasuke took off after Naruto.
While Naruto was running the only thoughts going through his mind were, "Hinata, Team 3, and that's suicide." The words were being chanted inside his head over and over again. Pushing him faster and faster to get to Hinata. He had to find and save her, there was no other option.
After traveling as fast as he could he saw sighs of various traps. He could only assume that Team 3 in laid them in order to try and slow down the approaching Stone shinobi. Naruto searched the surrounding area for any sign of Hinata. All he saw was several Stone-nins heading in his direction. He knew he should stay hidden but his worry over Hinata overrode his reason. So not even bothering to cover his tracks he sped off to find her. Several minutes of searching, he picked up a faint but very familiar chakra signature. Naruto knew at once it belonged to Hinata, so he followed it to its source. As he got closer Naruto detected at least seven other chakra signatures. Two were weak while the other five were strong. He could only assume that she was being attacked and her two comrades had fallen. As the realization hit, Naruto doubled his effort to find Hinata. He soon came across five Stone-nins approaching a battered Hinata while she guarded her two teammates. Seeing her in such a condition caused Naruto's rage to explode. Not wasting anytime Naruto charged the surprised Stone shinobi. "Rapier!" he shouted taking out one. He landed and immediately performed another move, "Chainsaw!" taking out three more. The last one, he finished with, "Tomahawk!" In less than thirty seconds Naruto killed five Jounin level Stone-nins, normally anyone who watched would have been impressed. But to Hinata all she felt was relief, as soon as Naruto stopped he turned and faced her asking, "Are you alright?" Hinata's only response was grab a hold of him and kiss him full on the lips. After what seemed like forever Naruto pulled away and said, "We have to get you out of here."
"That won't be easy." Came a voice behind the two. Naruto spun around and relaxed when he saw it was Sasuke that said it. "You did not bother to cover up your trial and that burst of chakra drew a lot of attention. The Stone's forces are moving this way."
"How many?" Naruto asked.
"I wasn't able to get a good count," Sasuke answered. "But I would say at least half." He saw the disbelief on Naruto's face and said, "You let out a large pulse of chakra. So they're sending a lot of shinobi to deal with it."
Naruto nodded, "Then that means we'll have to stop them here."
Sasuke and Hinata were both caught off guard by that comment, "You can't be serious!" Sasuke angrily said.
"I am serious," Naruto retorted, "I can stop them, but I'll need that summon you did during our fight for it to work."
Sasuke was about to object until he saw the absolute confidence and determination in his eyes. "Why do you need my summon?"
"For the altitude," Naruto answered, "For the technique to work on a large area it needs to be done rather high up."
"Alright Dobe," Sasuke said, "Lets see what this technique can do?" Naruto nodded and Sasuke cut his finger, did the hand seals, and called out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The smoke cleared and Sasuke summoned a large white dog that looked closer to a wolf, about the size of large house.
"What is your wish?" the summoned dog asked.
Sasuke gestured to Naruto, "Get on!" Naruto leaped onto the dog, then Sasuke ordered, "Take us to where the Stone-nins are. Then jump as high as you can." The dog took off and in a few minutes the reached where several dozen shinobi were advancing in their direction, "There's more here than I thought, I hope you know what you're doing!"
Naruto did not respond to Sasuke, but he did start talking, "I Am Invincible! No One Can Defeat My Shadow Skill! And No One Can Survive One of My Blows!"
Sasuke starred in awe at the amount of power Naruto had unleashed. Naruto looked at Sasuke when he finished, the look brought Sasuke out of his daze and he remembered what he was here to do, "Jump!" he ordered the summon. The dog did as told and leapt as high as it could.
Once the dog reached the apex of its jump Naruto jumped off as high as he could. He was still radiating massive amounts of chakra. When he reached his apex he looked like he was about to perform an attack. Back at Sasuke, he had his Sharingan activated, he did not want to miss what Naruto would do. He watched as Naruto called out, "Shadow Skill Ultimate Attack: KANON!" several glowing orbs shot out of Naruto's extended foot spreading out over the ground. When they impacted each one cause a large explosion sending dust and debris several meters into the air.
Sasuke was stunned by the amount of damage the technique did. When he turned back to the now falling Naruto he noticed the blonds eyes were close and he was falling head first into the ground. "Catch him!" Sasuke ordered. The summoned dog leapt into the air and caught Naruto in his mouth. When it landed it gently place him on the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke slowly approached the prone form, kneeling down he asked, "Just what have you become Naruto?"
Two days later three Kages read almost the same report, "The invasion of Fire Country failed. The Cloud forces retreated, and the Stone advanced force nearly wiped out. Cause, the shinobi from Konoha known as Shadow Claw."
