Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Naruto.

Warning: The rating of this story has been pushed up to M for explicit scenes with violence. From this point on there will be many graphic fight scenes with blood and gore. Read at your own risk.

A/N: So yes after about a little more then three months I finally got my self to finish writing the next chapter. Why did it take so long? Well no reason other then the fact that I have been very lazy and have been busy with school and life. Anyway I decided to write an entire chapter without Team 7 or Team Gai mentioned at all. This is because I think that Team 8 and 10 do not get enough attention in the anime/manga. So this chapter will be entirely Team 8/10 centric, no Naruto or Sasuke (who has yet to appear) stealing the spotlight.

-----Hydra Marshes-----

The noxious fumes emanating from the swamps mix into the atmosphere and create a thick foul smelling air that is hard to breathe. This smell fits right into the wet, slimy scenery of the Hydra Marshes. Yamanaka Ino gags as she steps into the wet marsh underfoot, a scowl appearing on her face as she swats away a large insect hovering inches away from her face. In front of her Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma slowly make there way through the dank marsh.

"Shikamaru! How long until we get to the target? This swamp is seriously starting to disgust me, not to mention my hair is all messed up…"

"Now, now Ino I'm surprised your worried about your hair at a time like this. I suggest you put more attention on the mission and less on your hair." says Asuma while blowing smoke at a dragonfly, as an attempt to shoo it away.

"According to this map we should be arriving at the target soon. ETA is about seven minutes; the first base seems to be mainly a training facility so there will probably be many low ranking shinobi there." replies Shikamaru to Ino's question.

Akimichi Chouji shakes the contents of his empty chip bag and sighs in disappointment. "Aww a training facility? Damn I was hoping we could go to someplace where there is a lot of food or something…"

Ino smacks her forehead in annoyance. "Why did I have to be stuck in the same team as a glutton, a chain smoker and a lazy genius?"

"You forgot a drama queen…" mutters Shikamaru.

Ino wheels around and grabs Shikamaru and twists his ear.

"Ow! Why did you do that?"

Ino grins a menacingly "That's for calling me a drama queen."

Shikamaru sighs and rephrases Ino's question. "Why did I get put in such a troublesome team?"

"Because our father's thought it would be a good idea to continue the Ino-Shika-Cho legacy." replies Chouji with a grin.

-----Team Eight-----

The members of Team Eight sprint across the swamps at an impressive speed. They are traveling in a basic diamond formation with Kiba and Akamaru at point, Shino and Kurenai in the center and Hinata taking the rear, with her Byakugan activated.

A series of barks from Akamaru informs Kiba that there is danger ahead. The dog user signals the rest of the party to stop.

"Akamaru says that he smells humans ahead of us, Hinata you want to check it out?"

"Okay!" Hinata focuses chakra into her eyes and the veins around her eyes begin to pulse. "Yes Kiba is right, fifty feet ahead of us is what seems to be a Jounin instructor and a team of Genin."

"Good, thank you Hinata, keep your presence hidden everyone we will try to sneak past them. If we are discovered take care of them as fast as possible, understand?"

"Yes!" says Kiba and Hinata while Akamaru barks and Shino nods.

Team 8 continues toward their direction, being cautious to mask their presence.

-----Team Ten-----

Shikamaru scans the small camp with a binocular before passing it along to Chouji. Using a stick he sketches a small map showing the layout of the enemy base on the dirt below him. The camp and its surroundings are built on elevated grounds, most likely achieved by filling in parts of the swamp.

"Okay there are twenty or so Chuunin in the training grounds and four Jounin that are in a tent here."

Shikamaru points to a square drawn on the map, representing the mentioned tent. The shadow user then points to the North and East gates, the only two entrances to the camp.

"Chouji will be attacking from the North and Asuma-sensei will attack from the East. This will draw in the Chuunin allowing both of you to take out your targets with ease. Ino and I will sneak around and take care of the Jounin. After you two eliminate the Chuunin fall back to the rendezvous point and wait there till we give the signal."

Ino hands Shikamaru back his binocular, which he puts back into his backpack. "Hey Shikamaru, this will give us the opportunity to try out our new techniques. I hope those Jounin aren't pushovers I want to practice 'that' technique."

"Fine, but don't push yourself too hard. Don't use 'it' unless you have a clear opening…"

Ino crosses her arms and fakes a pout. "Fine I won't use 'it' then…are you sure my father didn't tell you to watch out for me?"

Shikamaru sighs before staring up into the clouds. "Of course he did, he always does…oh well I can't really blame him, it would be devastating if daddy's little girl didn't make it home." says Shikamaru with a smirk.

Ino blushes as her face turns a light shade of pink. "Yeah I should have known, but I'm not a kid anymore and I can protect myself now."

Asuma drops his burnt out cigarette and lights a new one. "Are you two done yet? I want to get this mission done as fast as I can, this place really sucks. Besides you two can flirt once we get home…"

Hearing Asuma's words Ino begins to radiate a killer intent. Seconds later the psycho blonde begins thrashing, trying to kill her sensei, the only thing holding her back are Shikamaru and Chouji.

Asuma sweat drops at his student's antics. "Ino calm down you are going to give away our position…anyway I think we should start the objective before it gets dark."

Asuma turns around and begins walking toward the East gate. "Sigh I should really stop teasing her or I might not die from lung cancer like I had planned…"

-----Team Eight-----

Team Eight quietly travels through the swamps, suppressing their chakra and hiding their presence in hopes of sneaking past the Jounin Instructor and his Genin. However Kiba accidentally steps on a twig, which creates a loud 'snap' in the silence. Stopping the dog user silently curses at his mistake. Everyone stops and Kurenai signals Hinata to use her Byakugan to check for the Jounin.

"Kurenai-sensei, the Jounin has detected us and is now bringing his team here to investigate."

Kurenai nods at the news. "Ok then it can't be helped. The three of you first take care of the Genin, try not to kill them, knocking them out will do. After that we will take care of the Jounin using the 'Binding Formation'.

Team Eight disperses into the surrounding, lying in wait for the approaching team. Minutes later the Jounin and his team come into view. The Jounin, a young man with brown hair and eyes, kneels down to examine the ground. At the same time Kiba throws two smoke bombs into the area and Team Eight flashes into action.

As the area is filled with blinding purple smoke all the members of Team Eight attack their separate targets. Hyuuga Hinata rushes into the smoke, rushing toward a Genin with short purple hair and black eyes. The startled boy throws a handful of shuriken at the Hyuuga heiress, however the shuriken are thrown with poor aim and miss their target. Hinata reaches the Genin and swipes at him with her hands. The boy jumps back to avoid the attack, while at the same time he goes through some hand seals.

"Doku Funki no jutsu!" (Poison Gas technique)

The Genin takes a deep breath and releases a stream of poisonous fumes from his mouth. Dodging the attack Hinata disappears and reappears behind the Genin. Before the Genin can respond, Hinata hits a few pressure points on the Genin's back, knocking him out.

Aburame Shino passively stands in front of a female Genin with long brown hair, waiting for her to make the first move. The Genin, seeing that her opponent is not willing to make the first move puts her hands in a single seal

"Kanakirigoe no jutsu!" (Shrill Voice technique)

The girl begins to scream a very ear piercing screech that sends out a wave of sound at the bug user. Shino does not even try to evade the technique; instead he allows the sound wave to hit him. Instead of falling to his knees with his ears bleeding like the Genin had expected, Shino instead erupts in a swarm of Destruction Bugs. Shocked the girl gags in disgust, not noticing a shadow that drops behind her until it is too late. Turning her head around the Genin sees Shino's stoic face before the bug user chops her neck, knocking her out.

The last Genin, a tall boy with black hair and a scarf covering his face takes out a short staff and stands in a defensive position, awaiting an attack from the blinding smoke. Out of the smoke a large white dog charges at the boy. Raising his staff the Genin lunges at Akamaru, but the ground below him suddenly gives way and the boy is dragged underground until only his head is visible. A second later Kiba pops out of the ground and grins at the scowling Genin before spraying him with sleeping gas.

The moment the Sound Jounin sees the smoke bombs hit the ground he quickly orders the Genin to take a defensive formation before taking out a kunai and running into the smoke. Peering into the smoke he strains his senses, trying to locate the position of the attackers. Seconds later he hears three consecutive noises signaling that all three Genin have been knocked out or worse. Running back to where he last saw the Genin the Jounin finds all three unconscious on the ground. Suddenly a woman with black hair and red eyes materializes in front of him. The Jounin leaps back and throws the kunai at Kurenai but the genjutsu specialist waves her right hand at the kunai and they freeze in midair. Suddenly the ground under the Jounin erupts below him and roots and tendrils curl around and latch onto his body immobilizing him.

"Damn it this is a Genjutsu…" Bringing his hands together the Jounin summons chakra and searches for the "overlap" in the Genjutsu. Finding it the Jounin concentrates and uses the release technique.

"Kai!"

As the Genjutsu is dispelled the roots and vines disappear. The Jounin quickly finds that Kurenai has disappeared and his legs are immobilized by a swarm of bugs. Behind him Kiba has his arms latched around his arms successfully preventing him from moving. As the Jounin struggles against his captors Hinata appears in front of him her Byakugan activated. Unable to move the Jounin is helpless to prevent Hinata from attacking him as the Hyuuga strikes multiple points on the Jounin's body temporarily paralyzing him. Hinata finishes him off by using a Juuken Ryuu thrust straight to the chest, forcing chakra into his heart and causing it to collapse. Kiba lets go of the Jounin and Shino releases his bugs. The Jounin falls to the ground and as the darkness begins to spread the last thing he sees are the members of Team Eight running off in the distance.

-----Team Ten-----

Akamichi Chouji stands in front of the North Gate of the small Sound Camp. Behind him are the two Chuunin that had the unfortunate luck of having guard duty at that time. Chouji focuses chakra into his arms and prepares to use his family's special technique.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" (Partial Multi-Size Technique)

Chouji's arms enlarge, growing in size and forming massive fists. Using his new larger appendages Chouji smashes his arms through the gates. Stepping inside the compound Chouji walks toward the training yard.

The noise of the gates being broken catches the attention of all the Chuunin in the training area. Once they see the massive shinobi walk toward them the Chuunin rush toward the enemy.

As the Chuunin charge at him, Chouji extends his massive right fist and punches the leftmost Chuunin in the chest, shattering his ribs. Then Chouji sweeps his arm rightward smashing it into every ninja that is unable to evade.

The remaining Chuunin that managed to evade Chouji's attack stop running toward the Akimichi, no one wanting to be crushed by the giant appendages. Suddenly the Eastern Gate explodes as Asuma storms into the camp and rushes at the remaining Chuunin.

In the tent on the far side of the camp four Jounin sit around a square table and are playing a game of poker. One of the Jounin folds his hand and places it on the table in defeat. Loud explosions and screams of pain cause all four of the Jounin turn their attention toward the direction of the North Gate. They all walk out of the tent and two of them run toward the training yard to investigate while the other two remain.

------ Ino and Shikamaru-----

Yamanaka Ino slowly creeps up behind one of the Jounin; her presence masked by her Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (Camouflage Concealment Technique). Behind her Shikamaru places a scroll on the ground, which is conveniently filled with the shadow form a nearby wall. The lazy genius bites his thumb and traces his blood onto the seal before closing it and placing it vertically onto the ground. Shikamaru then goes through a short seal sequence and slams his hands onto the scroll which sinks into the shadows on contact.

"Kage Hokou no jutsu" (Shadow Walk technique) whispers Shikamaru. The lazy genius puts his hands into his thinking position and descends into the shadows.

Ino sneaks up behind one of the Jounin and releases her jutsu. Before the Jounin has time to respond, Ino slams her hands onto his back, with the index and thumb of both hands touching.

"Kage Hokou no jutsu" (Shadow Walk technique)

The Jounin drops his head down and looks unconscious, but moments later he reawakens. This time however the Jounin's eyes are faded grey a sign that Ino's jutsu has worked.

At the same time that Ino begins her technique, Shikamaru walks out of a shadow behind the second Jounin. The Jounin jumps back, but when he lands onto the ground Shikamaru's shadow connects with his.

"Heh Kage Mane no jutsu is a success!"

Standing up from his crouched position Shikamaru puts his hand into his weapon pouch and walks up to the captured Jounin. The Jounin imitates Shikamaru's movements perfectly, even as he struggles to get out of the jutsu. As captive and captor walk up to each other Shikamaru sticks a seal onto the Jounin's forehead and follows up with a technique.

"Nekashitsukeru no jutsu" (Force Sleep technique)

Shikamaru places his index and middle finger on the seal and suddenly the Jounin's head droops down as he falls into a forced sleep. The seal then burns up and is taken away by the wind, leaving no trace of Shikamaru's technique. Releasing a sigh the Chuunin wipes the perspiration on his forehead with the back of his hand. Ino begins to giggle as the sleeping Jounin imitates Shikamaru's actions and turns her attention to her captured Jounin. Ino closes her eyes in concentration and the second Jounin begins to move slowly.

"This feels weird, it's almost like how it feels when I enter someone else's body but moving requires more concentration. It's amazing how out techniques were made to compliments each other so perfectly."

Shikamaru turns toward direction of the training grounds. "Ino you should hurry up and figure out that jutsu of yours, we still have to take care of the other two Jounin…"

Ino stick out her tongue at Shikamaru. "Fine, fine you're such a killjoy. Ok let's get this over with, by the way is it just me or are these ninja's pushovers? I mean these two Jounin were captured so easily…"

"This is a training facility for newly promoted Chuunin so that would explain why the Chuunin are so weak. As for the Jounin, it seems that Sound has a different promotion policy from Leaf. Otogakure seems to favor quantity over quality and trains a huge amount of shinobi at once, as well as promoting them with an easier standard. While Otogakure focuses their efforts on sheer numbers, Konohagakure focuses on each ninja's quality and skill. That is why Konoha has a smaller promotion rate. However that does not mean that Konoha's ninja force is inferior to Oto's, even though they might have more shinobi our shinobi are far more skilled and I assume most of their Chuunin are actually mid to high Genin level."

Ino nods in agreement as she comprehends all the information. "So I guess then the majority of their Jounin are actually Chuunin by our standards?"

"Yes but don't underestimate them just because of that, among all their shinobi I would assume that there are shinobi that actually deserves their rank, some of those are probably Orochimaru's most loyal subjects…"

Ino shudders when Shikamaru mentions the Snake Sannin. Even though she has never actually had the bad luck to witness the Sannin she has heard tales of him from various shinobi and has heard first hand experiences from Sakura. From all the information she has seen Ino concludes that Orochimaru was definitely bad news. Coming into combat with the Snake Sannin would definitely be suicide for someone at her level.

Shikamaru watches silently as Ino shivers in fright. Concerned he places a hand on Ino's shoulder and turns her around. "Ino are you alright?"

Ino, forced out of her thoughts by Shikamaru's sudden contact, takes a step back and shakes her head. Forcing a smile the blonde assures Shikamaru that everything is alright before suggesting that they take care of the remaining Jounin and then meet up with Asuma and Chouji. Ino and Shikamaru both run after the Jounin, their captives running ahead of them.

-----Asuma and Chouji-----

Asuma drives the chakra enhanced blade of his knuckle knife through the neck of a Chuunin, cutting through his windpipe and snapping his neck bone in half. Quickly turning around Asuma sweeps the blades in a horizontal arc, slashing two more Chuunin in the chest. One of the Chuunin falls to his knees as blood spurts out of his wounds and the other is replaced by a log. The Chuunin reappears behind Asuma and slashes at him with a kunai. However the Jounin easily sidesteps the attack and forces the knife in his right hand into the Chuunin's shoulder. Said Chuunin stifles a scream as he glares at Asuma in rage. He then spits in the Jounins face as a last resort for escaping with his life. Unfortunately for him, his last actual proved to be a big mistake as Asuma slowly drives the knife up through his shoulder bone and out. Not able to resist the pain any longer the Chuunin yells out in pain. However his scream is quickly silenced as Asuma drives his other knife into his skull.

Wiping the saliva off his face with the sleeve of the Chuunin, Asuma turns toward the direction of Chouji who is taking are of the remaining Chuunin. The large shinobi is currently in the form of his 'Nikudan Sensha' technique. However this time Chouji is using a variation of his usual "Meatball Tank". Instead of all of his limbs being incased inside the sphere, his arms are stretched out beside him. Chouji rolls toward a group of the four remaining Chuunin. As the gigantic sphere rolls toward them the Chuunin jump out of the way and surround Chouji. Chouji suddenly stops and begins to start spinning horizontally causing his outstretched arms to slam into the Chuunin with high speeds and send them flying.

Releasing his jutsu Chouji reverts to his normal form. Asuma puts away his knuckle knives and lights a new cigarette. Taking in a whiff of smoke Asuma blows out a ring of smoke. Chouji takes out another of his never ending bag of chips and begins to eat to regain his lost calories.

"Ah, I wonder if Shikamaru and Ino are finished with their part of the plan yet..."

"Don't worry Asuma-sensei Ino is there so Shikamaru won't slack off."

"Hah your right okay lets get back to the rendezvous point and wait for them."

Both Asuma and Chouji walk out of the encampment toward the predetermined meeting point.

-----Ino and Shikamaru-----

The two Jounin arrive at the training facility only to witness a gruesome scene. Lying scattered across the field are the corpses or unconscious bodies of all the Chuunin. One of the Jounin kneels down and examines the body of a Chuunin that has a clean slash straight across his chest.

"Damn, what happened here? Whoever did this must have been strong to take out this any Chuunin…"

The second Jounin walks up to a few Chuunin that have been literally crushed to death. Leading up the courses is a deep track that runs right over the corpses.

"Daichi, there was definitely more then one attacker, these bodies have been killed differently then the ones near you…"

"Hmm you're right Kenta, which must mean that..."

Daichi is cut off as two shadows appear behind them. Both Kenta and Daichi turn around to find the other two Jounin behind them.

"Takashi! Yasu! What are you two doing here?" asks Kenta. "We told you two to stay and keep lookout at the tent."

"Never mind that, since you guy are here now we need the both of you to relay a message to Sound. Tell them that at least two unknown shinobi infiltrated the base…"

Daichi suddenly gets suspicious and takes a defensive position. "Wait a minute you two aren't acting like yourselves…who are you? Reveal yourselves imposters!"

Takashi (the one under Ino's control) takes out a kunai and slashes at Daichi. Daichi jumps back, avoiding the attack and takes out a kunai of his own. Yasu throws a wave of shuriken at Daichi however Kenta jumps up in front of him and deflects them with his wakazashi.

Kenta then begins a set of hand seals, ending with the snake seal. He then rubs the flat edge of his wakazashi with his index and middle finger.

"Ninpo: Suteresu Hasaki" (Ninja Magic: Stealth Blade)

The entire blade of the wakazashi disappears leaving only the hilt visible. Kenta smirks while he balances the sword hilt on his index finger.

"I don't know why you are but if you mess with me you will get cut."

Kenta grabs the hilt and rushes toward Yasu while Daichi goes through a set of hand seals. Yasu throws a flash bomb into the air before taking out a kunai with an exploding tag attacked to it. Jumping into the air Yasu throws the exploding kunai at Daichi. Takashi also jumps up and throws another wave of shuriken at Kenta, this time with reinforced wire attached to them.

Both Jounin prepare to deflect the projectiles but at that moment the flash bomb hits the ground and explodes into blinding light that forces the Jounin to cover their eyes.

Using the light to his advantage Shikamaru slips out of the shadows and kneels on the ground, his hands intertwined in the bird seal.

"Kage Nui" (Shadow Sewing)

The shadows near Shikamaru emerge from the ground in tendrils. The shadow tendrils then shoot ahead and pierce into Kenta. Kenta drops down onto the ground, killed instantly from multiple pierces to his forehead.

As Kenta falls dead, Ino drops her concealment technique and sweep kicks Takashi. Takashi falls back onto the ground and Ino pounces on him, driving two kunai through his palms and into the ground. Ino then puts her hands together into her family's special seal and focuses an intense amount of murderous intent at the Jounin.

"Shinhakai no jutsu!" (Mind Destruction technique)

Takashi begins to scream in agony as he struggles to fight the Genjutsu. Ino clenches her teen in concentration as she tries to overpower her opponent's mind. Takashi cannot take the intense mental torture for long and his mind snaps. Seconds later Takashi stops struggling, dead before his head even hits the ground.

Ino slowly takes herself off the dead Jounin, her entire body shaking from both physical and mental exhaustion. Shikamaru is instantly beside her, supporting her head with his arms. "Ino! Are you alright? Your face is pale…"

"I-it's ok I'm fine, just drained from the technique that's all…"

Shikamaru smiles once he finds out Ino isn't in any immediate danger. "Jeez why did you have to use a jutsu you haven't mastered at a time like this?"

Ino lets out a weak smile. "Aren't you going to say 'too troublesome'? " She then falls asleep from exhaustion.

"Tch, don't scare me like that…" Shikamaru takes out a soldier pill and gently slips it into Ino's mouth.

"Women are too troublesome…"

The shadow user picks up his teammate and walks toward the rendezvous point.

-----Team Eight-----

The team of four shinobi and one dog jump from tree to tree on their way to the Hidden Village of Sound. Nearly twenty minutes ago they exited the Hydra Marshes without any further incidents. Once they were out the Konoha ninja's were relived to see a dense forest, much like the ones back home.

Hinata, with her Byakugan activated, suddenly signals everyone to stop. "There are two shinobi following us. From the look of their headbands they are from the Sound."

Kurenai looks behind them then turns her attention to Hinata. "Is there any way we can avoid them Hinata?"

The Hyuuga shakes her head. "No they seem to know exactly where we are. They will arrive here in five minutes..."

Shino stretches his arms out in front of him and releases a few of his destruction bugs. The bugs spread out and fly toward the enemy's direction.

Kurenai nods her head. "Good job Shino, you can keep surveillance. Kiba, go set up your traps in the clearing ahead. Hinata go take cover in the trees and tell us when they get close. I will draw them into the clearing. Be careful and don't hold anything back, these are most likely advanced Jounin."

"No problem Kurenai-sensei, we'll just kick their ass and send them back to Orochimaru, right Akamaru?"

Akamaru barks in agreement.

Everyone scatters taking their positions and preparing to take on their pursuers.

-----Five Minutes Later-----

Two shinobi confidently enter the clearing, both wearing Sound forehead protectors. One of them is a male, wearing a long black cloak with a Chinese dragon design etched around it. The cloak's right sleeve is torn off, revealing a tattoo of a dragon above his elbow. The ninja has long black hair, tied in a ponytail and lazy brown eyes.

The shinobi turns toward his partner and lets out a sigh. "Hey Haigara it seems they have found out we have been following them. I'm bored can't we just burn the whole forest down?"

The woman referred to as Haigara brushes a few strands of brown hair out of her eyes, which are also brown. She wears the same type of cloak as the male nut both her sleeves are torn off and a phoenix is etched on the back, fiery wings ending at the shoulders. The hemline of the cloak only reaches above her knees, revealing her black shorts and elegant long legs.

"We cannot burn the forest down Katsu, because if we did we could not be sure that they have died. Besides they are probably nearby, watching us right now…"

"Alright neesan I won't burn the forest down, but the Konoha Shinobi better be interesting because I'm bored…"

Haigara snaps her attention toward the edge of the clearing. "Katsu, it seems things might get interesting after all. They are making their first move."

Both siblings take a defensive position as the members of Team Eight step into view. Kiba and Akamaru charge forward and quickly close the distance between themselves and the siblings. Both beast and master lash out with their fangs and claws. Both Katsu and Haigara evade the attacks with ease, weaving in and out of the fray of fangs and claws.

Haigara jumps back, her hands flashing through a blur of hand seals. Katsu brings his hands together to form a unusual hand seal. His thumbs and pointer fingers are stretched and touching while the other fingers are clenched, resembling a candle flame. Both shinobi release their techniques in perfect synchronization.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Great Fireball Technique)

"Ninpo: Gyoshi Ryu!" (Dragon Gaze)

Haigara unleashes an enormous fireball that envelops the members of Team Eight, while at the same time prevents the results of Katsu's technique from being seen. From behind the receding fire Haigara calls out to her brother.

"Katsu, now that we got rid of those irritating illusions lets take care of the real targets."

The flames left behind from Haigara's technique suddenly spring to life as they rise and begin to hover in midair. Seconds later the hovering flames separate and shoot off into different directions, burning through trees as they shoot toward their target.

Hiding in the branches of a nearby tree, Kurenai curses silently as a torrent of fire rushes toward her. Using chakra to amplify her jump Kurenai shoots back to avoid being burned. The scathing flames barely brush past the Genjutsu master, singeing her waist. Kurenai lands once again on a branch only to witness the torrent of fire bend and head for her again.

"Shit! What kind of jutsu is this!"

Kurenai flashes through hand seals as the flames get closer.

"Suiton: Fukaikiri no jutsu!" (Dense Fog technique)

The water particles around the Jounin condense to form a barrier of fog. The torrent of fire hits the fog and burns out, leaving Kurenai safe from the fire. After releasing the barrier Kurenai pants slightly from the intense heat. The Genjutsu specialist then dashes off to find the rest of her team.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hinata jumps from tree to tree, gracefully evading the long streams of fire that constantly rush towards her. Focusing chakra into her palms Hinata deflects a stream of fire with hands and forces it to go out by channeling chakra into it. After doing the same thing to the other streams of fire, Hinata focuses her Byakugan to check on her teammates.

"…Kurenai-sensei seems to be fine; she is going toward the direction of Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba is also okay but Akamaru seems to be a bit burned. Shino…SHIT! He's in trouble! I need to help him!"

Hyuuga Hinata dashes off to help her friend focusing more chakra into her feet in an attempt to force herself to run faster.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Aburame Shino has found himself to be in a very perilous situation. After the female shinobi known as Haigara had used her technique, he had momentarily lost track on the brother's actions. Thus he was surprised to see the flames left behind from the Goukakyuu no Jutsu spring into life and rush at him. Unfortunately Shino was the one closest to the clearing therefore he was the first one to be forced into the clearing by the waves of manipulated flames.

"Damn it..." cursed Shino quietly. "This could turn out to be bad; fire really isn't my favorite element…"

The Aburame is repeatedly forced to draw nearer to the Sound Duo, against his better judgment. To his dismay it seemed to be the one named Katsu manipulating the flames, and the younger brother seemed to take a mild sadistic interest in Shino's predicament.

"Ah, an Aburame…I have never had the in facing a member of that clan." Katsu waves his right hand lazily and the hovering flames recede slightly, giving Shino a chance to catch his breath. Currently not being attacked by he flames, Shino finally has a chance to examine the Oto-nin.

Katsu's right eye has changed from brown to pitch black, an insignia with the kanji for fire overlapping the pupil. The entire right side of his face is covered in an intricate seal that resembles a cursed seal. The seal pulses from black to red every few seconds, giving the shinobi an eerie look.

"Hey Haigara neesan, how about you take care of the other Konoha ninjas while I play around with this one?"

Haigara turns toward her brother and gives him an annoyed look. "Fine but do not waste too much time, I'd rather not waste valuable time on these inferior shinobi." Haigara runs off toward the forest in search of the remaining shinobi.

Shino stands impassively in front of Katsu, a fair distance between the two shinobi. Katsu stretches out his hands and the flames once again spring to life and rush toward the bug user. Shino kicks back a few feet and sends out a wall of destruction bugs to shield him. The wave of fire parts in the middle and surrounds Shino before coming together and incinerating everything in its path.

A/N: There we go, after a few months chapter nine is finally finished. This chapter was mostly written to show how the ninjas in Team's Eight and Ten have advanced since the time skip. I felt that both teams showed great teamwork in the anime so I decided to show how well they worked together and how their techniques could be sued together. Since I have created many original techniques as well as have used some unfamiliar ones from the manga I will explain them all in the following section.

-----Explanation of Techniques used in this chapter-----

Doku Funki no jutsu (Poison Gas technique) - An original Ninjutsu. Basically a genin level poison technique.

Kanakirigoe no jutsu (Shrill Voice technique) - An original Ninjutsu. Another genin level technique. Basically chakra is channeled into the sound wave being emitted from her voice to create a mini sonic wave.

Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique) - An Akamichi family technique. Using this technique an Akamichi alter the size of their body, or a part of their body

Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (Camouflage Concealment Technique) – A Genjutsu used by a rock ninja in the Kakashi Gaiden series. I needed a camouflage technique for Ino and didn't want to make on up so I decided to have her use this one.

Kage Hokou no jutsu (Shadow Walk technique) – An original Nara family technique. Using a scroll and the needed hand seals, Shikamaru can meld into a shadow and reappear in another shadow.

Nekashitsukeru no jutsu (Force Sleep technique) – An original Ninjutsu. Using a scroll and the needed hand seals, the user can force the target into sleep state.

Ninpo: Suteresu Hasaki (Ninja Magic: Stealth Blade) – Original ninja skill. It basically makes the blade of a sword disappear, making it harder to dodge or calculate the length of the blade.

Kage Nui (Shadow Sewing) – A technique used in the manga by Shikamaru. After using the needed seals, Shikamaru's shadow will rise up in tendrils and whip and pierce the target.

Shinhakai no jutsu (Mind Destruction technique) - An original Genjutsu. Using her family's specialty and knowledge of the human psyche, Ino will focus her killer intent and try to over power her targets mind. This technique is very dangerous and can be only performed when the opponents mind is weaker then the user. An advanced shinobi can easily overpower Ino and cause her own mind to be destroyed.

Ninpo: Gyoshi Ryu! (Dragon Gaze) – An original supplementary Ninjutsu. Using a special seal Katsu activates a seal on his right pupil. After the seal is activated Katsu is able to manipulate the surrounding flames to his will. An in-depth explanation on the seal and technique will be revealed when Katsu begins to speak about his past in a later chapter.

Suiton: Fukaikiri no jutsu! (Dense Fog technique) – An original Ninjutsu. A small scale water technique that uses chakra to condense the water particles in the air into a shield of fog. The shield can be used to protect the user from small fire techniques.