Chapter 4:

Chouji spoke the obvious. "We have company."

I unbuttoned the pouch on my side and took out a kunai.

With confidence I announced to our little group. "Let's take care of business."

They both grunted in agreement.

Shikamaru spoke up loudly. "Sakura, take Ino now. Get back to the village as fast as possible and get some backup."

I didn't think that was such a good idea. "What, are you crazy? You said yourself there are at least thirty enemies, some of which are Jounin TEAMS. This is suicide!"

"God Sakura, stop being so troublesome and just do it. We can more then take care of ourselves."

I didn't have any other choice then to do what he said. The forest around us began to come alive, the sound of breaking branches and feet hitting the grass signified the bandits have made their move and are rushing the camp at top speed.

Shikamaru turned quickly in the direction of the village and brought his hands up into a seal. "I'll clear the way, take Ino and run as fast as you can!"

He yelled. "Kage Nui!"

A dark shadow sprung from Shikamaru's feet and flew towards the oncoming enemies. Only seconds away from its target, the shadow jumped from the ground and split into at least six different tendrils, each automatically finding their own target and impaling the bandits.

I immediately leapt to the still standing tent that held Ino. She was trying desperately to get to her feet, but was having little success. "We have to go now, Ino." She began to refuse, mumbling that she couldn't leave Shikamaru and Chouji here to die. I ignored her and easily lifted her over my shoulders and took off out of the tent and into the direction of the village.

Near the forest wall, I leapt over the moaning bandits that had been critically wounded due to Shikamaru's shadow stitches and into the forest. I began my journey back to the village as fast as my body could, with an uncooperative Ino on my shoulders.

It was me and my best friend, Shikamaru, versus twenty, maybe thirty enemies.

This should be a piece of cake.

MMM Cake, now I'm hungry.

Can't think of food at a time like this, okay, keep it together. We got caught off guard last time; we know what we are dealing with today. They will pay for what they did to Ino.

On cue, the first group of bandits reached us, all of which were holding different weapons. Shikamaru and I separated a little, giving each other room to work. The bandits followed suit, and of the twelve that showed up first, six came my way.

The one in front let a group of shuriken fly, four to be exact, straight at my head. I easily put up my arm and blocked it with the metal guard on my wrist. The cling of metal hitting metal confirmed my block. I brought down my arm just as the bandit that threw the shurikens reached me and leapt into the air, trying to smash my head with an overhead attack using hiss spiked club.

I easily sidestepped, and closed lined him in the throat with the metal on my arm, sending him into a back flip as his momentum caused him to fly behind me. The others bandits weren't so keen on rushing in, and stopped a few feet in front of me. They all lined up, waiting for the perfect chance to attack.

The one of the far left thought he saw an opening in my stance.

He rushed and swung the katana he held, slashing down. He completely missed as I was easily able to dodge. They think just because I'm big that I can't move. How wrong they are. The sword swung past me, causing him to go off balance. This gave me the chance to grab him by the throat and I slam him as hard as I could into the hard ground below. The sickening sound of his neck snapping signaled his demise.

The other bandits, now only four strong screamed at their comrade's death and began to get more riled up.

"WE WILL KILL YOU FOR THAT YOU FATASS!"

My eyes lit up with fire.

I was going to go easy on them, since they were only bandits; I wasn't even going to use any jutsus. They just screwed themselves now.

My hand exploded in size as I reached out at the remaining bandits. I easily grabbed the one who screamed at me. I whipped my arm around and released, sending the bandit flying across the clearing, smashing into the other bandits that were still on their way. The remaining three's eyes doubled in size and I could tell they were tempted to run. However, I suppose they were being paid good money because they didn't.

They all rushed me at the same time. Their technique was horrible; their weapon use was less then that of an amateur's. I was easily able to dodge and block with my armor. I blocked a katana strike to the face with my left hand, and use the right enlarged hand, now a little smaller, yet still bigger then normal to smash the bandit in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground in pain.

I brought my right hand back to normal size as the final two swung their weapons like children. I found another opening, and grabbed one of man's wrists when his attack missed. I easily snapped it, the man screamed in agony as the pain shot through his body. I reached around with the other hand and grabbed him by the chin, and pulled hard. His necked snapped just like the second bandit that attacked. He fell to the ground, dead before he hit.

The last one backed off for a second, giving me a chance to try something that I've wanted to do for a while. I forced as much Chakra as I could into my feet and leapt high into the air. The bandit below watched me in wide eyed amazement. Coming down, I made my right foot puff into the size of a human and slammed it down on the still gawking bandit. The sound of bone breaking and flesh tearing echoed through the field. The bandit's blood shot out from all sides and the ground became drenched in his crimson. I quickly reformed my leg and landed next to the ruined body.

I looked over at Shikamaru, who was also finishing off his last bandit.

Okay, twelve down.

Five more bandits reached my location. Their previously fallen comrades' condition didn't even faze them. They all rushed me at the same time. I enlarged both of my arms, and brought them down hard on the ground like two giant gavels. The ground cracked apart as the tremor sent the bandits flying into the air. They all landed hard, knocking the wind out of two of them. The three left slowly got to their feet and once again rushed towards me.

I also rushed forward, and before the bandit could react, I struck him hard in the nose, cracking it and sending him flying. I pivoted on my heel and brought my leg around, kicking the one beside him hard in knee, causing it to buckle and give way, the man crashed to the ground in pain. The last one was the only one with any real sense. He dropped his weapons and ran as fast as he could.

I jogged over to Shikamaru, who was giving the final three bandits their last blows.

"That was too easy." I stated.

"Yeah, there were no actual ninjas. Just these troublesome flies with no training."

I looked around the clearing; the fallen bandits that weren't dead were slowly getting to their feet, staggering back towards the direction they came.

"We should go after Sakura and Ino; The Jounins might be after them instead." Shikamaru stated. I immediately agreed and was about to run off when I heard a voice shout from behind us.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" I dove at Shikamaru, forcing him to the ground as the giant fireball hit my back, sending hot flames seeping through my armor and started to boil my skin. I screamed as I still held Shikamaru, who was completely safe.

That was all that mattered.

I stopped screaming and closed my eyes. Darkness took a hold of me.

I was at full speed, the weight of Ino on my shoulder not even a burden thanks to the Hokage's training. I was almost home, almost to safety.

Out of the corner of my eye, a piece of paper caught my attention.

The explosion rocked the forest, sending me and Ino flying apart. I hit branch after branch, each slowing my decent down just enough. I hit the ground below hard, my body bouncing up a little from the impact. I slowly got to my feet; the pain in my back was easily fixed using some self healing jutsu.

I scouted around for Ino and the culprit who planted the explosive tag. Unfortunately the enemy showed up first. Two ninjas, each wearing skin tight black were standing on a branch over my head. Their slashed head protectors showed that they were from the Sound village. Just what I needed, Sound remnants to deal with.

I spoke first. "I swore we killed all the Sound ninjas still faithful to Orochimaru."

The largest one spoke with malice. "You're one of the main reasons Orochimaru is dead. Your damn friend betrayed him, its time for revenge. After you, we will kill the new Otokage and then the blond haired one. Orochimaru will finally be able to . . ." I didn't let him finish, I sprang up and focused my chakra into my fist. It hit hard, crushing the man's skull and sending him flying back, I knew from impact that he was dead as soon as my fist touched him. Having Tsunade's strength sure comes in handy.

"Cha, he will feel that one tomorrow."

The remaining one jumped back to get some distant. He screamed at me and then formed some seals of his own. The large tree trunk above me shape shifted into a large metal cleaver and it swung down incredibly fast. I barely dodged, the blade smashing into the wood trunk behind me, cutting it in half. The cleaver then hit the ground and puffed back into a regular tree branch. As soon as I landed, several smaller branches to my side shifted into small knives, all of which floated in the air for a split second before bolting towards me at insane speeds. I dodged and was able to miss three of them; however the fourth nicked me in the leg, cutting a deep gash across my butt.

"This jutsu, however it worked was a pain in the ass."

I jumped from my position and sprinted to the base of the tree in which the ninja was perched. With all my strength, I kick the base of it, causing the wood to splinter and crack. I grinned.

"Timber!"

The entire tree snapped and started to fall over. The sound ninja above me lost footing and broke his jutsu to escape. He leapt to another branch, one in which I knew he was going to go to. I was already on my way; as soon as he landed I struck. My foot smashed into his face, sending his head ripping from his neck. However, my victory was short-lived as his body exploded in smoke, and became another huge cleaver. I back flipped off the branch, the blade following my movements. I landed on the soft ground, and looked up to see my reflection on the oncoming cleaver. Seconds before it hit, I twisted my body and flipped out of the way. The cleaver smashed into the ground, causing the dead leaves that covered the ground to explode up along with smoke. The cleaver, once again a piece of word, I began to look for the Ninja doing this insane jutsu.

I spotted him a few trees down. I didn't know how he got there, but it didn't matter. An evil smirk came across my face. I ran over to the tree that I kicked. Lifting it up from the base, I picked it up like a giant baseball bat. I heard the reaction of the other Ninja clearly. "HOLY SHIT!"

I spun around quicly and slung the entire tree towards the ninja. It ripped through the forest, leaving a wide destructive path. It cart wheeled towards its target, who went wide-eyed as it sped towards him. The sound ninja jumped just as the huge tree came his way; he barely cleared it and was thinking he escaped when I pointed my finger. The explosive tag that I slapped on it just as I picked it up bloomed. The explosion ripped the tree apart, wood fragments flew in all directions. The explosion caught the ninja perfectly, sending him to the ground in flames.

I rushed towards him to deliver the final blow.

It was the worst mistake I could have made.

I saw the Ninja make some seals when he was still on the ground, the shattered fragments of the tree all warped into cleavers and knifes of every size. They swarmed towards me with blinding speed. I tried to dodge, but the knives were to just many, and too fast. They passed by me, ripping me to shreds, cutting my cloths and impaling every part of my body. The brute force of the attack forced me back into a tree. The bigger cleavers were shoved through me and into the tree I was forced up against. I was pinned, wounds all over my body and the knives circling around for the final blow.

The ninja croaked, who was also on the verge of death. "You will be pay for what you have done."

I had no way out. The hundreds of blades hissed through the air as it neared the gap. I braced for the end.

It didn't matter. I was happy to die. My entire life was torn from me in only minutes. The man I thought loved me didn't. The girl I thought was my friend wasn't. As far as I'm concerned, I died as soon as I opened the door and saw them together. If I wasn't trying to protect Ino, I would have just let them kill me without a fight. It would be better without me. Then they could go on with their little affair without a care in the world. Yeah, it's better if I am dead.

I closed my eyes as a single tear dropped.

Í love you Naruto-Kun.

I thought it was all over when I heard a female voice yell.

"KAITEN!"

TBC

Don't expect the next chapter to be so fast :D Thanks for all the reviews, I enjoy reading every one of them.