Chapter 24: Return Of The Vengeful Leafs
The sound village's Uchiha Sasuke stands only a few meters away from the leaf village special jounin Matarashi Anko with a look of confidence across his face that glows red with the vibrant aura of his fully evolved sharingan.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Anko addresses. "You have been dubbed a missing nin by the Hokage and the rest of the leaf villages ruling council. You have betrayed your comrades and your village . . . " Anko is quickly interrupted as a shuriken flies just past the left side of her head.
"Enough talk Anko, I don't have time for this." Sasuke says as he readies himself in a fighting stance.
"How? How did he? He was so fast I didn't even see him move? Yet he managed to get a shuriken past my guard?" Anko says to herself. "This kid could be a problem."
As Anko readies herself in a fighting stance, preparing herself for Sasuke's attack, only to watch helplessly as Sasuke disappears in a flash.
"What!" Anko shouts.
"To slow Anko!" Sasuke says, as he appears behind Anko, drawing a clubbing fist to the right side of the leaf Jounin's head that is caught easily in Anko's left hand.
"And you're too cocky!"
Anko slams a back elbow into Sasuke's stomach sending the former leaf genin reeling and unwilling to block a follow up punch to his face. Anko leaps forward and thrusts her knee into Sasuke's gut knocking the wind out of him once again. Sasuke tries to counter with a left hook to Anko's face, but his punch is dodged as Anko bridges backward. Then using her hands for balance, pushes up with her legs and steps backward in a back flip like maneuver, clipping Sasuke's chin with the top of her foot. Anko gathers her balance quickly, leaping into the air and forcing Sasuke to the ground hard with a back spin kick. Sasuke rotates out of control as he spins backward before hitting the ground hard.
Anko lines up her arm as she readies her favorite technique. "Senei Jashuu!" (Shadow Snake Hand) Anko says as she releasesfour snakes from her sleeve toward the prone Sasuke. Sasuke turns his glance toward Anko with a vicious stare that halts the approach of Anko's snakes.
Anko begins to grimace in pain as she clutches the back of her neck. "Wh-what? How?" Anko asks aloud.
Sasuke stands to his feet slightly dazed from his impromptu lashing at the hands of the leaf examiner. "Did you think that Orochimaru-sama wouldn't prepare me for anyone that I may face in this village? Especially people that he once found useful?" Sasuke then raises his hand in the seal of a half ram as he focuses his chakra into the formation. "HA!"
The skill causes the curse seal on the back of Anko's neck to reappear as it throbs and throbs as it reaches deep into her very being to cause her intense pain. "You . . . you're just like . . . Orochimaru."
"Heh heh heh . . . Not yet. But soon I will be." Sasuke then looks on the ground as even the snakes extending from up Anko's sleeves are unable to move. "Hmpf. Such a useless technique. You need to keep up Anko. Or you'll miss the updated version." Four snakes the slither out from each of Sasuke's sleeves baring their fangs as they slowly creep toward Anko's helpless frame. The snakes then clamp down on each of Anko's limps causing her to scream out in pain as the strength of the snakes lift the helpless Anko off of the ground. The remaining four snakes coil around Sasuke's body, still hissing and snapping at the helpless Anko.
"I could kill you easily right now Anko." Sasuke says with a chilling cockiness in his smile. "But I think that right should be reserved for Orochimaru. Why don't we just go find him?"
Sasuke then disappears in another brilliant display of speed as he leaps from tree to tree cutting slightly through the forest of death on his way further back into the leaf village. As Sasuke leaps down from the last tree along his path, he can sense another strong chakra close by. Sasuke lands on the ground firmly and readies to continue on his way ignoring the chakra signal nearby. As he tries to leap away, he quickly notices . . . that his feet will not move.
"Wh-what . . . is this?" Sasuke asks out loud as he turns his head in the direction of the Chakra source.
(Music: Queue "Fake" from the Naruto OST III)
It then becomes very evident as to why Sasuke has found himself unable to move.
"Kagemane no jutsu success!" Says a focused Shikamaru with an almost angry scowl on his face.
"Nara . . . Shikamaru . . ." Sasuke says with an almost disgusted look on his face. "Still running down the same technique I see."
"Let her go Sasuke." Shikamaru insists.
"Why don't you try and make me? You may be able to keep me from moving . . ." Sasuke's snakes then begin to slither off of Sasuke as four of them extend toward Shikamaru and the other three only tighten their grip on Anko who is now almost unconscious. "But your useless technique can't stop my friends here."
"That's what YOU think." With the blink of an eye Shikamaru throws out three more quick hand seals. Dragon, tiger, Rat. "Kage kubishibari no jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow then extends further more into eight small hands that clasp down around the heads of all of Sasuke's snakes. Shikamaru pours his chakra into four of the hands and they crush the heads of the snakes holding Anko, releasing her from their grip, as the other four hands move slowly up the remaining four serpents, much to Sasuke's surprise. "A lot has changed in the year that you have been gone Sasuke. I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve."
Sasuke looks on in surprise as Shikamaru's new technique has caught him off guard. "Hmpf. You may have learned a few new techniques . . . but I have learned MANY!" The mouths of the four remains snakes then open wide as they face Shikamaru as Sasuke calls out his next attack. "Shinja Kasai no jutsu!" (Sacred snake flame technique) The four snakes then unleash a hailstorm of fireballs from their mouths aimed toward Shikamaru. Shikamaru can only look on in shock as the fireball's impact all around him and the area where Shikamaru once stood is quickly reduced to fire, ash and smoke.
Sasuke looks on to the smoldering ruin before him as his snakes retreat back up his sleeves. Sasuke lets out an amused grin as he notices that he is no longer restrained by Shikamaru's shadow copy technique. "Pathetic. After an entire year you still haven't progressed." Sasuke says as he stalks toward Shikamaru's last location.
The smoke begins to clear and Sasuke soon notices that there is no sign of Shikamaru at all. "No replacement?" Sasuke asks, "But I saw it with my own eyes, he never moved. How could he have evaded? He isn't fast enough to elude my sharingan." A dark shadow soon appears behind the oblivious Sasuke moving in fast. As Sasuke finally turns around to notice Anko charging in fast, he fails to notice a second shadow now charging in from where Shikamaru once stood. As Anko lines up a thunderous left hand Sasuke leaps into the at the same time as the shadow turns out to be Shikamaru charging in with an identical punch. Anko and Shikamaru collide directly with each other's fists as Sasuke stands perched on top of both of them with an arrogant smile on his face with a foot planted firmly on each of their shoulders, applying just enough pressure to maintain his balance, as Shikamaru and Anko remain stuck in their prone position.
"Nice move Shikamaru." Sasuke says as he looks down to see Anko and Shikamaru's shadow's connected in between them. "Anko was too weak to move so you used your technique to move for her. How cunning."
Shikamaru grimaces as he realizes that his strategy has been figured out and he must now think of a new plan of action, while at the mercy of the dangerous Sasuke.
"I still don't understand how you could have dodged my attack with agility as pathetic as yours. So tell me how . . . won't you?" Sasuke holds his hand just over Shikamaru's head as one of Sasuke's snakes begins to slither down from his sleeve.
Suddenly a shadow hand bursts out from behind Shikamaru at incredible speed toward Sasuke's ankle. Sasuke notices the shadow hand and he quickly leaps off of the leaf ninja's shoulder's, back flipping in the process and pulling out several shuriken from his leg holster. As Sasuke's rotation brings him around, he launches a flurry of shuriken at Shikamaru and Anko who quickly leap apart in unison, avoiding all of the shuriken.
Shikamaru arms himself with a kunai as he releases Anko from the shadow copy technique. "Anko-sensei! You need to get to the triage center. Can you make it on your own?"
"Y-yes. But what about you?" Anko asks.
"I have a backup plan. But it will only hinder my progress if I have to try and protect you. Please go, I will hold Sasuke back here and further away from the village. Go, HURRY!"
Anko nods as she makes her way back to the village at high speed. She looks back at Shikamaru who continues dodging Sasuke's shuriken barrage. "I'll send help Shikamaru. As soon as I can."
Sasuke looks at the retreating Anko and pulls a kunai from his back pouch. "I'll be the one that decides who leaves this fight Anko. NOT YOU!" Sasuke readies his kunai to his side, preparing a side arm throw. Sasuke releases the kunai that then speeds out toward the fleeing Anko.
Shikamaru acts quickly to stop the kunai, preparing his hands in the seal of the rat and extending his shadow ahead of the kunai to connect with the shadow that the kunai has cast upon the ground, stopping it in mid air. "Safe!" Shikamaru shouts with a smile on his face.
Sasuke looks over to Shikamaru well amused by his cunning and quick thinking. "Very good Shikamaru. Looks like you have improved a bit! You have gained more control over your technique. But it still isn't enough to defeat me."
Shikamaru grinds his teeth in anger as he retracts his shadow as fast as he can sending it toward Sasuke, with the kunai still seized. Sasuke stares down the kunai confidently as it gets closer and closer, raising his hand with two fingers extended. The kunai finally reaches Sasuke and is stopped by Sasuke's middle and index finger that clasp it tightly on either side.
"Damn!" Shikamaru says quietly to himself as he pours more chakra into the jutsu, trying to push the kunai through Sasuke's nonchalant grip. But it is to no avail as Sasuke just chuckles at Shikamaru's futile attempts.
"Do you really think that you can simply push a kunai past my guard?" Sasuke laughs as he repositions his grip, clasping the ring at the back of the kunai with his index finger. "You are smarter than that Shikamaru."
Shikamaru lets out a laugh of his own as he smirks at Sasuke's arrogance. "You're right Sasuke. I AM smarter than that!"
Sasuke then drops the kunai from his grip as he realizes that he has been ensnared by Kagemane no jutsu for a second time. He turns his head just enough to notice a second shadow that had snuck up behind him while he was mocking Shikamaru.
"Clever." Sasuke mocks, "But you are still underestimating me."
Shikamaru stands up straight causing Sasuke to do the same through his jutsu. Shikamaru stands proud with a look of seriousness and determination not often seen from the leaf chuunin. "Uchiha Sasuke. I, Nara Shikamaru, Shinobi of the leaf, will be taking you into custody for the crime of treason against our village. You have taken part in another attack on this village and aided Orochimaru in destroying the lives of many of our shinobi. You have betrayed your people, destroyed your credibility, and disgraced your clan's very name."
Sasuke grits his teeth as Shikamaru's last comment has slapped the arrogant smirk right off of Sasuke's face.
"But on a personal note Sasuke. You betrayed your friends." Shikamaru's lip begins to quiver as he releases a lot of built up feelings that have weighed heavily upon his mind for more then a year now. "Because of you, six of us, that considered you a comrade risked our lives in order to bring you home, almost costing the lives of everyone in the group. And why? Because you were kidnaped? Because you were taken from the village against your will? No . . . because you turned your back on our village . . . on our home. Because of you, three of us almost died and for what? For the sake of your selfish ambitions! If any of us had died on that mission, what would it have been for? Nothing!"
Shikamaru makes the hand seals for his shadow neck bind technique as he continues on with his speech. "I am not one to take a stand, hell I am the last one of us that would show a care for anything. But in this case, I will lay my life on the line in the pursuit of bringing you . . . not home to the village . . . but to justice. To see that you pay for what you have done. And I swear to you Sasuke . . . I will not . . . fail again."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Iruka and the other teachers struggle to get all of the children into the tunnels. The forces of the cloud and sound race through the streets of the village, encounter numerous wayward leaf shinobi on their way and many of them being dispatched quickly.
"Come on children! Into the tunnels!" Iruka shouts as he gets the last of the children into the tunnel entrance. Another one of the shinobi instructors comes running from inside the tunnels with a report to Iruka.
"Iruka-san! We are missing two students!"
"Wh-what? Who? Who is missing?"
"The thirds grandson and Moegi."
"Well where are they?
"Well . . . where are they!" Iruka snaps.
"I don't know! They must still be at the academy."
"Well I'm going back for them!" Iruka says sternly.
"Iruka-san, the invaders are everywhere. If just one of them gets in these tunnels, it would be a disaster. I cannot defend all of these children by myself!"
"What do you suggest I do! Just leave them behind?" Iruka snaps.
"They know how to get here, and they know that this is where they need to head. All we can do is stay close to the entrance awhile longer while we wait for them." The instructors' words are hard for Iruka to hear, but deep down Iruka knows that he is right. "I don't like it either, but there isn't anything else that we can do."
With a heavy heart, Iruka then closes the entrance door to the tunnels, leaving Konohamaru and Moegi to fend for themselves. "Hurry back kids . . . please."
Back at the academy Moegi and Konohamaru are sneaking about the outer perimeter that has been swallowed by thick black smoke. The two do what they can to avoid the random shinobi leaping past the front of the academy.
"Konohamaru-kun, I think we lost the rest of the group!" Says a frightened Moegi.
"Don't you think I know that!" Konohamaru shouts. "We just have to make it to the tunnels ourselves."
"But how?" Moegi asks. "These ninjas are everywhere and the smoke is too thick."
"We will find a way, don't worry." Konohamaru says, as he and Moegi then make a run for the next wall to hide behind.
At that moment, one of the sound shinobi passes in front of the two academy students, and then begins to advance on the two of them. "Well what do we have here?" The masked shinobi asks.
Konohamaru steps in front of the frightened Moegi as he prepares to try and defend her with his life, knowing full well that it would be all in vein. "G-get away from us!" Konohamaru says, doing his best to sound tough.
"Oh? And what are you going to do about it little brat? You know you can't stop me!"
Suddenly a voice comes from behind the sound shinobi. "No, but I CAN!" The voice belongs to a dark silhouette that soon leaps out from the shadow and strikes the shinobi in the stomach with an open hand blow. The dark feminine silhouette pours chakra out from her hand and into the stomach of the attacking sound shinobi, disrupting the shinobi's vital organs and sending the attacker hurdling into the concrete wall that borders the academy.
As the smoke begins to clear, Hinata stands in front of Konohamaru and Moegi with her hand extended to the two young academy students. "Come with me. I'll help you get to the tunnels!"
The two children take Hinata's hand as they begin running for the tunnel entrance. The trio manages to remain hidden as much as possible, using Hinata's enhanced vision to see larger groups of shinobi and managing to steer clear of them.
Iruka and the other instructor finally hear a loud banging on the door as Hinata and the two students try to gain entry to the tunnel system. Iruka opens the entrance door and the two students join the rest of their classmates.
"Hinata, we are going to make our way into the tunnel system, hopefully we will meet up with others. You're welcome to come with us."
"I can't Iruka-sensei. I have to help as much as I can. I haven't seen Naruto-kun either. I have to find him too."
"All right. Good luck." Hinata then turns to head back out into the war zone, when Iruka grabs her shoulder. "Hinata, look after Naruto . . . won't you?" Hinata smiles and nods as she heads back out into the chaos of the village.
Meanwhile, Tsunade quickly makes her way to the academy to try and help with the evacuation of the students, unaware that the students have already made it to the tunnels. As she moves past the burning wreckage of some of the buildings around her, she notices that the area has become strangely void of any attacking shinobi. Tsunade slows down her pace as the strange feeling soon begins to intensify around her. The scene is quiet, with no villagers or leaf shinobi in the area either. Only the sound of fire crackling around her can be heard amongst the utter silence surrounding her. Tsunade stops in an open area between a number of buildings that are all ablaze from the initial explosions from the invasion. She looks around the area suspiciously as she knows that she is not the only one around. Finally she has an odd feeling fall upon her setting the hair on the back of her neck up straight up. She turns around to end of the street partially engulfed by black smoke and clenches her fists tight.
"I knew that you would be behind this," Tsunade says with a stern look across her face. "Orochimaru! Get out here!"
Orochimaru's unmistakable laugh can be heard coming from behind the dark cloud of smoke that now fills the entire street. "Tsunade, I am glad to see that none of my new allies got to you first." Orochimaru says from the darkness.
"Show yourself you bastard!" Tsunade shouts, "Stop hiding you coward and face me."
"You know Tsunade, I had thought about facing you one to one. But in the end, I thought up a scenario that will turn out to be so much more fun for both of us." Orochimaru laughs. The sudden sound of bending wood can be heard from behind the smoke as Orochimaru has begun his plan.
Tsunade readies herself in a fighting stance preparing for whatever it is that Orochimaru has in store for her. "What do you have planned you sick freak?" Tsunade asks herself.
As the smoke from the raging fires fills the sky and blocks her path, Tsunade can see two dark outlines amidst the dark shroud of the choking smoke. Suddenly two three meter high rounded wooden planks more then a meter wide and half a meter deep fall out from the dark smoke, landing hard on the dirt.
"What is this? Those look like . . . coffin lids . . ." Tsunade says to herself, just as two dark silhouettes begin to emerge from the black smoke. As the silhouettes true forms come into Tsunade's view, she is beyond shocked by what she see's. "No . . . this . . . is not possible!" Tsunade's words offer a response of laughter from Orochimaru as he too emerges from the black smoke with two kunai in his hands, both connected to the bottom of the kunai's.
The smaller of the two silhouettes makes eye contact with Tsunade as it steps forward and into full view. "Sis?" The figure asks. "You haven't aged much at all!"
Tsunade falls to her knees as tears begin to run down her face. "Nawaki? . . . no . . ." Tsunade then turns her attention to the second figure that emerges from the smoke. "Dan? . . ."
"You still look beautiful Tsunade." Says the resurrected former boyfriend of Tsunade, now reduced to a pawn of Orochimaru's bidding. "I am not familiar with this technique. Why have we been summoned here?"
Tsunade puts aside her tears for a moment as her rage builds up inside of her as Orochimaru has decided to exploit Tsunade's biggest weakness. "Orochimaru . . . YOU BASTARD!" Tsunade lashes out at her former comrade only to receive a response of mocking laughter. "There is no need for this! If you wanted to kill me, then KILL ME! There was no need to do this!"
"You're probably right Tsunade." Orochimaru says as he implants the two kunai into the back of Nawaki and Dan's head. "But I find this to be so much more fun." Tsunade can only look on in horror as steam begins to rise from the resurrected bodies of her once cherished loved ones.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru struggles as hard as he can to maintain his grip on Sasuke who is managing to overpower him with the sheer force of his chakra. Both opponents grimace as they struggle back and forth to break the other's concentration.
"Chikushou!" Shikamaru says to himself. "I can't believe that he has become this strong. What have I been doing for a year? I still am no match for him. He is pushing through my shadow bind with almost no effort at all. I think maybe it is time to use my backup plan."
"You still don't understand do you Shikamaru?" Sasuke's words send shivers up Shikamaru's spine as the seal on the back of Sasuke's begins to open. The black flames of Sasuke's curse seal begin to envelop the left side of Sasuke's body, stopping its progression in the middle of Sasuke's chest. "You have no chance of defeating me here."
Sasuke's arrogant attitude causes him to fail to notice the extension of Shikamaru's shadow creeping up the tree just behind him. The shadow expands behind Sasuke to take up the entire width of the tree. Only Shikamaru knows, just what its purpose is.
Shikamaru cracks a confident smirk as beads of sweat continue to run down his face. "You may be right Sasuke. But there is one thing that you fail to realize as well."
"Oh really? And just what is that?"
"That I never reveal all of my intentions with the first attack." Shikamaru's shadow begins to churn as if vibrations had begun to flow from inside. "In fact, my first move is almost always, nothing more . . . than a . . ."
Suddenly Sasuke's attention is drawn behind him as Keinea leaps out from the shadow with his fist lined up and aimed straight at Sasuke.
"A FAKE!" Keinea shouts, as Shikamaru releases the shadow bind at almost the exact moment that Keinea's fist connects hard with Sasuke's face, sending the missing nin hurdling into a tree trunk just behind Shikamaru.
Shikamaru and Keinea stand side by side as they ready for Sasuke to stand back up. "That turned out to be a decent plan Shikamaru!" Keinea exclaims as he readies himself in a fighting stance, ready to face off against Sasuke.
"Yea. But I am not sure how to proceed from here." Shikamaru says as he notices Sasuke beginning to stand back up, with his curse seal receding back to its point of origin. "Sasuke is formidable in both close range and long range attacks. He was ranked number one amongst all of the genin graduates and was always first in all of the classes at the academy. He is not someone that we can underestimate. And for the last year he has been training with Orochimaru, so there is no telling how much he has improved."
Sasuke reaches a vertical base and removes some blood from the edge of his lip. "That hurt." He says, just before he spits more blood out from his mouth to the ground as he looks on to his new adversary with the utmost disdain. "Who are you?"
Keinea stands up tall with an arrogant look of his own to combat Sasuke's scowl. "Akira Keinea. I already know that you are Uchiha Sasuke, I managed to hear everything you said while I was hiding in Shikamaru's shadow. I'd love to get further acquainted, but I don't plan on letting you live long enough."
Keinea's words bring a smile to Sasuke's face as he does not seem to be intimidated. "I see. So this is the brother of the target. We need his brother alive, but we don't need him alive. I will finish this one quickly."
"You shouldn't act so careless around him Keinea." Shikamaru adds, "I mean it when I say this guy isn't to be underestimated."
"I know that!" Keinea says sternly as a bead of sweat begins to run down his face. "I can feel this guys' chakra just as well as you can. But even with that being said, I think that it would be wise if I took him on . . . alone."
"What! Are you insane? Our chances will be higher if we fight together!"
"You may be right Shikamaru, but you said it yourself that the people of the village need our help to fend off the attackers." Keinea readies himself once again in a fighting stance as he begins to plan his first moves. "I may not be able to beat this guy, but you need to get away and help out the rest of your comrades. I am just a guest here. There is no need for both of us to waste our time on this guy. Besides, I have a jutsu that should be able to restrain him, if I can get it off then there should be no problem taking him into custody . . . or kill him."
Shikamaru tries to come up with a flaw in Keinea's reasoning, but deep down he knows that he is right. "I suppose you're right. Be careful though Keinea! He likes to use katon skills, and the advanced bloodline based in his eyes allows him to copy any techniques that see's. So don't use any techniques that you yourself can't counter."
"Got it."
"Also, he has a tremendous amount of chakra at his disposal. If he fully releases the seal on the back of his neck, he will become too much for you to handle. And if that happens, do yourself a favor . . . and hide. Use your shadow walking technique to flee the area."
"It won't come to that." Keinea says with a determined look. "But I will remember your advice."
Shikamaru then begins to run off back toward the center of the village where a large number of shinobi have joined the fight against the invaders. To Keinea's surprise, Sasuke does nothing to stop Shikamaru from escaping the battle.
"You were so automate to try and prevent that jounin from leaving, and yet you just let Shikamaru run away?" Keinea asks.
"I don't need to worry about that loser. He will die soon enough. You however, have sparked my interest . . . and I would like the tactile pleasure of tearing you apart. Then I can move on to my real target without any interruptions."
"I see." Keinea places his weight down on his left leg as he readies to attack. "Come and get some Sasuke!"
Both shinobi charge at one another with Sasuke leading in the speed department, kicking up a large stream of dirt behind him just before their kunai clash amongst the tree's sending sparks into the air as the battle between the two has begun.
Just outside the Hokage building, Naruto has managed to subdue a large number of the attacking shinobi by simply overwhelming them with numbers. Naruto leaps off of the building walls striking down several shinobi by increasing his numbers with shadow clones, landing on top of the shinobi with fists flailing.
"GET OUT OF MY HOME!" Naruto shouts as several clones surround one of the attackers. The clones charge in fast, sliding along the ground as they all deliver a thunderous kick to the chest and head of the shinobi. "U-ZU-MA-KI!" The clones shout as the real Naruto thunders down from above. "NARUTO RENDAN!" He says, delivering a massive stomp to the back of the shinobi's head driving his face deep into the ground.
Naruto disperses the clones as it seems that the amount of attackers has begun to dwindle around him. More then twenty sound shinobi lay strewn around Naruto. All knocked out. "Why does this kinda thing always have to happen to our village?" Naruto says out loud.
Naruto hears the sound of someone running coming from around the corner, and he readies himself again to attack. The source of the footsteps is soon revealed to be Hinata, who has been looking for Naruto since leaving the tunnels.
"Hinata?" Naruto asks with a dumbfounded look on his face, unused to seeing the now physically fit Hinata's physique standing before him. "What are you doing here? You should be in the tunnels."
"I just came from there, I had to come and find . . ." Hinata stammers as her shy nature still has not changed. "I came out to try and find . . ."
While Naruto and Hinata calmly converse below, the mysterious white shinobi stands perched atop the Hokage's office building, watching the two of them with much interest. "Sasuke-sama's target . . ." The white clad shinobi says aloud. "That brat should be dead by now. Where the hell is Sasuke-sama? Orochimaru's plan was to have Sasuke-sama deal with this kid while he dealt with the Hokage. And as soon as Toshida returns, I will bring him before Orochimaru . . . and then I will be in his favor!"
The white shinobi can hear Naruto and Hinata planning to go off in search of the rest of the leaf village shinobi force, and that is something the White shinobi cannot allow. "If I were to capture that kid . . . I could bring him before Sasuke-sama for an easy kill. Then I will become Orochimaru-sama's favorite!"
The white shinobi places his hands down on the roof top he is standing on as he eyes up Naruto below. "Well then. These tiles should do just fine!" The white shinobi raises his hands and begins a quick jutsu. Tiger, Dragon, Rat, Tiger, "Kawara Shuriken!" (Roof Tile Shuriken)
The roof tiles around the white shinobi begin to slide off the roof at incredible speed completely removing all of the tiles from the ceiling as the hurdle downward toward the unsuspecting Naruto.
Naruto suddenly hears the sound of the crashing tiles barring down on him and turns his attention upward. Shock overwhelms Naruto in an instant, but with a quick burst of speed and quick thinking, Naruto leaps forward, pushing Hinata away and to the ground, letting the entire weight of the roof tile landslide completely engulf him.
"NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata screams as she watches helplessly from the ground as Naruto is burying beneath hundreds of roof tiles, breaking and shattering as they collide with one another.
The avalanche of tiles finishes its decent completely burying anything within a ten-meter radius beneath hundreds of pounds of pressure. Hinata frantically tries to remove the tiles, but her progress is soon halted as she realizes that something else has descended from the roof top.
"Hmpf. He pushed you out of the way eh?" The white shinobi says, as a cocky look pierces outward from his eyes at a very angry Hinata. "I was planning on rendering you both unconscious. That way I could just leave you here, while I took that brat into my custody. It's a shame really. You are almost too pretty for me to kill, but I suppose it can't be helped."
"Who are you . . . what do you want with Naruto-kun?" Hinata asks as her Byakugan activates.
"Who I am is not important. But I suppose what I want with him is. I need to bring this boy as a gift to my masters."
"A gift? Why?" Hinata asks.
"Because that brat . . . has a date with death."