"Lee, I'm going to help Naruto, okay?" Sakura said quietly. Lee looked worried, but he slowly nodded.
"Be careful, okay Sakura-san?" Sakura nodded, then darted off. Lee watched her go.
'Be careful.' he thought, wishing that he was able to help her, but he couldn't.
Scene Change!
Kakashi studied the scene before him. Kyuubi was getting badly beaten up by some Sound ANBU that had not left. Kakashi squinted, as if he thought his eyes were decieving him.
'Why is Kyuubi not moving to defend himself?' A rustle next to him in the bush diverted his attention away from the fight for a moment.
Next to him lay Iruka, unconscious after trying to fight one of the ANBU by himself.
"Where am I?" Iruka asked, stirring a bit.
"In a bush, now be quiet." Kakashi said, turning back to the fight. Iruka's eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, but was stopped when Kakashi put a hand on his chest and held him down.
"Don't move." Kakashi warned.
"Is Naruto okay? What happened?" Iruka demanded.
"Kyuubi took over and is now getting beaten by the Sound ANBU. It looks like he can't move." Kakashi saw- out of the corner of his eye- the blood drain from Iruka's face.
"Will he be okay? Can we still win?" Iruka asked.
"I was going to join the fight, but I was too busy guarding you to make sure someone didn't take the opportunity to kill you." He turned to face Iruka. "There are more wounded nins in nearby bushes, but I couldn't hide everyone. Just guard them and stay here." Iruka nodded, and Kakashi took the opportunity to leap out of the bushes into the fray.
Scene Change!
Shikamaru and Ino lay behind a stone pillar that had been knocked on it's side. Ino was barely wounded, just a few scraps and cuts, maybe a bruise or two. Shikamaru was much worse off. He had been guarding the stone pillar and had before guarded Ino with his body, so he was covered in cuts. Some were deep and would require stitches, but he didn't need immediate attention.
"Shikamaru, are you okay?" Ino asked, obviously concerned and scared. 'Why did Shikamaru go to such lengths to protect me? Usually, he'd just let me fend for myself while complaining that this was bothersome...'
"Don't worry about it, Ino. This is what I get for getting involved in something bothersome..." Ino glared at him and wacked him upside the head.
"Ouch!" he hissed, rubbing his head.
"So, protecting me is bothersome? Sorry to annoy you, Shikamaru." Ino said. Shikamaru sighed.
"That wasn't what I meant. I shouldn't have gotten involved in battle at all. I could've dropped you off somewhere safer and not had to fight at all." Ino's face softened as she saw Shikamaru's numerous wounds.
"I'll be fine, Ino." Shikamaru said, noticing where her gaze had landed. "The battle seems to have stopped, so I just have to find a medic nin..." He added something that sounded like "So bothersome... has to be done." under his breath, but Ino ignored it.
"Then we should get moving!" Ino said, standing up. She watched as Shikamaru got shakily to his feet.
"Fine." Shikamaru said, looking exhausted with his hands on his bent knees. He glanced over the battlefield, and then straightened up, eyes wide.
"What-" Ino said, following his gaze. She gasped.
All of the citizens of Konoha seemed to be gathered around on place, and she could just barely see what they were watching.
It seemed that they were watching Naruto as he was getting beaten by Sound ANBU, but something seemed a bit off about Naruto. He didn't seem like his usual self...
As some of the shouts of the Sound ANBU drifted to her on the wind, she realized why.
"You shall be master Orochimaru's new body-"
"Konoha will be doubly afraid of master Orochimaru now-"
"Dumb fox-brat- did you think you could take us on?"
"Kyuubi will be ours-"
"Kyuubi... Kyuubi is fighting?" Ino said. Shikamnaru nodded, shocked.
"And he seems to be losing." Shikamaru said. Without another word, he turned and began to walk towards the battle.
"Shikamaru, where are you going!" Ino demanded, walking towards him. Shikamaru didn't pause for a moment.
"To help my friend who has always helped me."
Scene Change!
Iruka carefully crawled in the bushes, checking to see who was in the bushes that he was guarding.
'I'm lucky that these are just outside the door.' Iruka thought. The bush he had been in was closest to the door and you were able to see into the stadium from there, but the rest of the bushes were spread across the outside of the wall.
So far, he had come across many shinobi- some of which he did not know, but most he did. The Hyuugas had been badly wounded, having fought together against ANBU and they were overpowered. Hinata had a bad slash across her chest and had passed out from blood loss before she had been bandaged temporarily. Neji had multiple bruises on his skull- possible concussion- internal bleeding from being hit hard in the kidneys, as well as a broken leg and multiple burns and cuts.
Kiba had been next to Hinata in the next bush over. He had cracked ribs and was obviously unconscious. No major damage.
Shino was next, and he was dripping in sweat. He seemed to have inhaled some sort of poison, and it was taking its toll. He was breathing heavy and had a fever, but as Iruka knew nothing about poisons, he couldn't help.
Gai was obviously injured- a large sword must had sliced clean through his jonin vest to slice a cut two inches deep and starting at his shoulder to end at his other hip. Nothing vital had been damaged, but Gai was extremely pale from blood loss, and his hair was matted with blood, making Iruka suspect he had been thrown into a wall head-first. There were multiple burns on his arms and legs- mostly first degree, but there were a few second-degree burns, making the skin pop up and blister.
Choji seemed to have passed out from lack of chakura. He, too, was covered in multiple cuts, but it was nothing a medic should be worried about.
Iruka hadn't seen Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Sakura, or Lee, so he assumed that they were all right, not wanting to think the alternative.
Scene Change!
Kyuubi gritted his teeth as he felt each blow hit. His leg was all but impossible to move now, and he could barely move his neck to see what was happening.
'I can't die like this!' he thought desperately. He struggled to move, but he coudln't.
"Master Orochimaru will have to be satisfied with another body. I'm taking way too much pleasure in killing you. We can always get that other demon- the one from Sand- to be Master Orochimaru's new body." The ANBU drew his katana, the one strapped to his back. "Goodbye, Kyuubi." he said spitefully, the brought the blade screaming down, aimed for Kyuubi's neck.
Kyuubi closed his eyes, not wanting to see the death that was surely upon him...
A/N: I know- great, another cliffie!
Bad news folks- I'll be busy this entire weekend and all of next and may not get much of a chance to write for a while. I have the next chapter already written, so expect that next Saturday (not in two days, in nine), but maybe not another one for maybe a week or two after that, depending on my motivation to get it written.