Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.
A/N: important announcement on the next page.
---7-
The orders were sent. Naruto would face the leader, while everyone else would defend the village and protect its villagers. Naruto had already sent word to Hidden Sand about what was happening and was expecting some back up in a couple of days if the situation got worse.
Sasuke had insisted on coming along, refusing to let Naruto kill himself.
"Go back Sasuke. If I fail, you'll be the only thing standing between him and the village."
"Baka! Don't think you get to die so easily."
Naruto turned to face Sasuke and then gave him one of his Uzumaki Naruto grins.
They were well outside the village now; they could hear the attacks being hurled at the gates of Konoha. They dropped into a clearing that contained a number of unidentifiable ninjas, taking them by surprised.
Sasuke grabbed two fists that were thrown at him and threw both the owners while flinging himself up wards off the ground to do a summersault to avoid a kick. He threw a fireball at his attacker and landed safely on the ground near a tree. Naruto had used his rasengan to throw several of his enemies into trees and then finally kicked a man so hard in the stomach that he coughed up blood. Sasuke's attacker was slightly charred but he was still capable of a fight and swiftly attacked the Uchiha with several mud balls, which Sasuke countered with water but hidden in the mud were shurinken that continued on their path. Sasuke avoided each of the projectiles with the help of his shringan and then flickered into appearance next to his attacker. Naruto immediately walked to the man who was gushing blood and slit his throat. Naruto didn't like to kill but in war it was a necessity. When he turned he saw Sasuke standing beside a dead body.
They both nodded to each other and jumped into the trees. They proceeded even further into the forest where they would face more enemies.
After a few minutes they happened upon another clearing where the enemy had settled. Here lay several tents and a table with stacks of scrolls and maps lying open. The camp was mostly empty with the exception of a few people standing around the table.
Naruto and Sasuke both nodded to each other and jumped down from the trees. The enemy shinobi heard the rustle of leaves and immediately went into high alert. They were keen not to be too alarmed as this was a forest and had many creatures but they were cautious not to be overly relaxed either.
Sasuke summoned a fairly small bright green and yellow snake and told it to slitter out and if possible, bite a few. The ninjas relaxed again as they saw the camouflaged snake emerge from the forest and they turned back to their maps and charts. The snake slithered up to one of the men and bit him on the ankle. The man yelped and kicked the snake away. The snake landed a few feet away and picked up its head dangerously, hissing and staring at the man who had kicked him.
Naruto and Sasuke took the opportunity to attack the enemies from behind, immediately killing two of the ninjas. The two others turned and one gave a condescending grin to the young men.
One of the men was still young, in his mid-twenties. He had short black hair and large blue eyes that made him look boyish. He was tall and wore a mask similar to Kakashi's and tight black clothes of an ANBU with a vest. The other man was older and he did not hide his face. He was in his early forties and was just as tall as his subordinate. He had long gray hair that was braided and a scar that ran the entire length of his face through his left eye. He wore a black robe and carried a katana on his back.
"Ah, the Hokage himself came out to greet us." The older of the men said facing Naruto, he then shifted his gaze to Sasuke and addressed him. "And the last surviving Uchiha, lucky me, I don't have to go looking for you. Are you sure it was a wise decision to leave your village behind."
The sounds of an explosion carried to them from the village, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke turned their back on their enemies.
"I trust my friends to protect the village. And the sooner we defeat you the sooner we can get back to them, so would you like to tell us your names before we kill you?"
The older man grinned at this. "My name is Ume."
The other man stepped forward in front of the older man. "My name is Ichi. I have waited long to fight you Sasuke-san."
"Have we met?" Sasuke questioned.
"We have, not that you'll remember."
Suddenly an earth dragon erupted from the ground and with no hesitation Sasuke countered with a water dragon. The earth crumpled apart and the water hit the ground hard knocking down a few trees near by and flooding the area with a few inches of water.
Sasuke and Naruto flipped back into the trees just as their enemies ran into the forest.
"I'll take Ume." Naruto said to Sasuke who gave a grunt and they split up.
--
Sasuke had guessed right. They had been no match for Naruto or himself. They had easily killed the two men.
They were getting ready to leave when Naruto laid a hand on Sasuke's forearm. "Wait."
They were still standing in the clearing two bodies not too far from themselves.
"I need to set a trap before we leave." Naruto said. He then cut his hand on one of his kunai and spilt the blood on the ground he was standing on. He then formed many seals and slapped his hand to the ground on top of the blood and mumbled something that Sasuke could not hear. The blood gathered and took shape and when Naruto took away his hand, Sasuke could see a perfect print of Naruto's hand in blood, but nothing else seemed have changed.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow Naruto's way, questioning his actions but Naruto dismissed the look by jumping up into a tree. "We have to get back." He commanded.
--
They arrived outside the gates of the village to find it still in the middle of the battle.
"Sasuke, pass on the word to retreat and then come back, I'll be right here. I'll need you." Naruto said in a commanding tone.
Sasuke trusted his friend and the Hokage of the village to do what was best for the village even if retreating wasn't the best of ideas. Sasuke blurred away in a second and Naruto was left alone, standing in front of the devastated village gate.
-
Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. Kyubi, just this last time. He internally begged. Then he released his chakra along with Kyubi's. He spread it so far in thin lines it was hard to control.
He released the first of the 9 tails.
He felt for all the enemies and wrapped a thin line of chakra around them. He tried not to touch any of his own people; Kyubi's chakra would poison them.
As the need for control grew the second of the tails emerged and his power flared to where people stared noticing.
-
Sasuke noticed as Naruto's power flared again, he felt the chakra of the Kyubi mixed with Naruto's own chakra in the air. He dismissed the ninja he was speaking with and moved on to another. As soon as he had told enough people he could get back to Naruto. Naruto was going to need him.
-
Naruto released another of the tails.
He wrapped the thin lines of chakra around many of the enemies and bound them. He could feel the area empty of his own people and he sighed a breath of relief; Sasuke had gotten the word out. He saw a flash and felt a kunai hit him, but now there was a chakra shield around him and the kunai had just simply bounced off. He looked around to see who it was and found the assassin in a tree hiding. Naruto could feel the fear roll off of him and this made Naruto grin. He sent another line of chakra out and bound the assassin as well.
-
Sasuke blurred next to Naruto and almost felt to his knees. He had not been ready for the denseness of the dark chakra in the air around Naruto. He adjusted and straightened. He stared at the tree that the assassin that Naruto had bound sat on still camouflaged among the leaves.
"Everyone's retreating. They should be out by now." Just as Sasuke finished Naruto released a fourth tail.
Naruto struggled to maintain control of himself.
He tightened all the lines of chakra he had around the enemies.
"Hyuga!" Naruto growled over his shoulder. "Leave! Bring Tsunade-sama when it is over." He issued another command.
Sasuke turned and glanced at Neji who stood by the outer wall of the village. Neji gave a quick bow. "Hai Hokage-sama." And then he blurred away.
"Anyone else?" Naruto asked Sasuke and Sasuke shook his head to the back of Naruto. "Okay then." Naruto's chakra grew more intense. Naruto was covered in blood now and only an outline of Naruto could be seen. There was a shadow of chakra around him that looked like a fox.
Naruto made several seals in a second and mumbled something while holding his hands up to his chest. For a second it looked like Naruto was praying.
Sasuke felt the change. He looked at the tree that held the assassin and found that the assassin was no longer there.
"Sasuke." Naruto struggled out the name from between clenched teeth. "Seal me now!"
Naruto found himself in front of the gate where Kyubi was sealed. Kyubi's chakra was all around him but Sasuke was there next to him. Sasuke reached out a hand and touched the chakra formed Kyubi in front of them and suppressed it.
When Sasuke returned to reality he found Naruto, bleeding on the ground, on the ground unconscious and he himself was on the ground not too far from Naruto. "Kuso." The word slipped out of his mouth as he reached for Naruto but never quite reaching him before he himself slipped into the darkness.