Naruto and Neji stood against each other, both glaring at each other. One with malice and vengeance the other with contempt and arrogance.

All of the rookie 9 went staring intently at the fight, hoping Naruto would give Neji his just deserts, or in Hinata's case, show Neji that he's wrong.

The only exception was Sakura, still knocked out by chakra exhaustion and the exploding tags.

"This is your last chance, punk." Naruto snarled. "You apologize for what you said to me and Hinata, I might not make you pay in blood."

"Silence, Uzumaki." Neji scoffed, readying himself for screams and rage. "I have merely stated facts. Facts that you cannot refute."

What he wasn't ready for was for Naruto to start laughing.

"Is something funny?" Neji frowned.

"Heheheh. I kinda hoped that you say that." Naruto said darkly.

"Because you know I'm right," Neji stated.

"Oh no, not that." Naruto grinned.

"Let the match begin!" Genma declared.

"Because I can say to Hinata that I tried to make you see reason," Naruto stated, a few dozen popping up around him. "So she can't blame me for what happens next."

Neji's Byakugan flared to life, the bulges around the eyes acting almost as an intimidation factor.

Naruto charged with all of his clones in a full-frontal attack.

"What?" Sasuki frowned.

"You idiot!" Kiba shouted, aggrieved. "A frontal attack will just get wrecked!"

Neji smirked at his opponent's stupidity, weaving around the many fists coming at him and popping them all. "Game over."

His fingers poked the last Naruto in the chest, which immediately went down.

Hinata made a distressed sound at the sight.

The other Hyūga of the clan watching were not surprised, the boy may have strength, but the Hyūga was the greatest clan of Konoha.

"Do you understand now?" Neji demanded. "You have no way of beating-"

Poof.

The Naruto popped, leaving Neji seemingly alone.

"What?" Neji blinked, his face finally showing something other than arrogant or stoic. "I thought I-"

And that was all he got to say before the real Naruto burst from the ground. "Surprise, Bitch!"

Neji whipped around to take a punch right in the face, breaking his nose immediately.

The sight of the dead last getting a hit like that on a Hyūga, branch or not, was mind-blowing to most and horrifying to the clan, but to the rookie 9, it was glorious.

"Yeah!" Kiba and Ino roared.

Sasuki gave a big fist pump, wishing Sakura could've seen it.

Shino didn't show it, but he had a small smirk on his face at the brutal attack.

Naruto would have found the Neji's flabbergasted and furious expression highly amusing, had he not been thinking about all the hellish things he was going to inflict on the smug Hyūga.

"How?" Neji snarled, holding his bleeding nose.

"Fuck you, that's how," Naruto stated, jumping away and making seals.

"You-" Neji snarled.

"Mass shadow clone." In an instant, over a hundred clones surrounded Neji, all with dark smirks and flashing hand signs.

"Suiton!"

"Futon!"

Neji's bulging eyes widened and spun rapidly.

"Wind/Water Bullet!"

A barrage of water and wind converged on the Hyūga, intent on destroying him utterly.

"Kaiten!"

Naruto frowned as a spinning dome of chakra formed around Neji, simultaneously shielding him and sending part of the onslaught back at the attackers, popping a substantial amount of them. He knew that Neji was better than him in close combat; that simply wasn't debatable. As such he chose the unfair, practical, boring, and cruel path, by abusing his large reserves and an army of clones to blast him en masse with long-range attacks. But that Kaiten complicates things.

"Woah." Kiba gaped.

"But that was…" Hinata said, shocked. "Only the Main Branch…"

"The hell was that?" Naruto demanded.

"It is the Hyuuga clan's greatest defense. The Kaiten." Neji stated. "Do you now see how futile your endeavor is?"

"Nope," Naruto said simply. "I told you that you were going down. I will make it happen."

"Wrong." Neji snapped. "You shall fall like the loser and the failure you are, like the loser and failure that Hinata-sama is."

"Grand Rock Wave!" The remaining clones roared, sending forth a tidal wave of the ground like they did in Wave.

Unlike in Wave, Neji was perfectly capable of stopping it.

"Kaiten!" Another dome of chakra formed to shield against the great earth jutsu. The offending wave hammered the dome in an attempt to overwhelm it, yet the spinning defensive technique not only held strong but threw away a good portion of the earth that made the attack to the side.

Hinata swallowed hard. Naruto was strong, no question, but Neji wasn't called the greatest Hyūga genius of the branch for no reason. He recreated the main branch's ultimate defense by himself and mastered the basics of the gentle fist. Naruto needed more than brute force to win this fight.

Kiba grimaced, her pack instincts flaring up greatly. Her alpha hadn't seemed pushed yet, but she knew that bastard Hyūga could change the second he got a good hit in. Her packmate Hinata needed to be avenged, if not to teach the prick a lesson, then to stop him from picking on Hinata.

"You are in the range of my divination…" Neji growled, bursting out of the dome with incredible speed, shocking Naruto greatly as he started to land the first few blows. "2 palms! 4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms! 32 palms! 64 PALMS!" He roared, assaulting Naruto constantly with sharp stabbing fingers until the final strike had blasted him far away.

"Naruto!" Kiba and Sasuki roared.

"No!" Hinata gasped.

"Tch." Shino scowled.

The crowd watched in awe as they processed what they had seen. Many of the experienced shinobi were amazed that the many ninjas here today were mere genin when they showed such great prowess.

"You're the one hanging back for fear of my striking your chakra points," Neji deduced. "The more the others attack, the more you stand out for holding back. It must be frustrating. To realize how utterly hopeless it all was. How utterly useless you are. To become Hokage is only a fantasy for you."

Poof!

Neji was blown away as the Naruto exploded into water. "What happened?" Neji thought in confusion as he got back up. "I definitely hit–"

"Gah!" Neji cried out as water crashed into his back, nearly falling to his knees again.

"What was that?" Naruto asked smugly. "Something about me fearing you? How funny."

"You." Neji glared murderously at Naruto. "You are, by a country mile, the most infuriating opponent I've known."

"I've been driving ANBU up the wall since the age of 8." Naruto mocked. "You'll have to be less obvious than that."

Neji snarled. "Why do you try so hard Uzumaki-san? You cannot defy Fate. I am hailed as the greatest Hyuuga Prodigy in the branch. You are a dead last nobody; you failed the Academy Exam twice, and are loathed by most of the village. So why do you keep trying against your obvious superior?"

"Dude. According to your fate," Naruto stated, saying the word fate in a mocking tone to further enrages Neji. "I am doomed to be loathed and treated like nothing for my entire life. Why wouldn't I try to fix that?"

"Because it's impossible!" Neji roared.

"Says you." Naruto scoffed, making more clones. "You still haven't even hit the real me yet."

Neji scowled, trying to use his Byakugan to find the Naruto to no avail. "The chakra paths look the exact same for all of them. I can't tell them apart at all!" He even checked underground for anything, again getting nothing.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" A few clones roared, shooting blasts of air at Neji, who dodged and swerved around them at great speeds.

"If I'd let my destiny happen, I'd be dead." Naruto snarled, as more of the clones attacked. "And almost nobody would've cared when I died! I don't want a shitty destiny like that!"

"It wasn't my choice and it isn't yours!" Neji roared, spinning into another Kaiten. "It is how the world works! You can't fight your fate!"

"Really?" Naruto growled. "Then why are you fighting against yours?"

"...What are you talking about?" Neji blinked, visibly caught off guard.

"Hinata told me everything," Naruto explained. "Your father, Kumo, everything."

Neji visibly started twitching. "That...failure spilled the beans?!"

"So I wouldn't break you in half," Naruto growled. "Hinata was suffering, just like you. She was from the Main Family, but she tried her best to change herself because no one would acknowledge her. That's the determination she had and she fought you even after she was injured. The Branch Family is supposed to protect the Main Family, yet you tried to off her outright. If you're fated to serve the Main family, then why would you do that?"

"...Why?" Neji rasped, his tone tired and miserable. "Why do you try so hard?"

"Many reasons," Naruto stated. "It pisses you off, my fate wasn't good enough for me, my friends want me to, etc. The biggest reason I have? To make this village how I want it to be. Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"

Yet another onslaught of attacks, now in the form of slicing winds rushed at Neji, who spun around into another Kaiten-

"GAH!"

A small hole formed right below Neji, who accidentally planted a foot right in it, abruptly halting the Kaiten. Now unable to dodge or block, Neji could only scream as he was cut up from all angles by the vacuum spheres.

"Neji-san!" Hinata called out.

"Oh shit!" Kiba gaped.

The rest of the crowd was roaring with confusion and shock, seeing the Kaiten foiled, and by the demon of the village no less. Everyone was trying to understand how this was possible. How could the demon brat find a way to pierce the Hyūga's perfect defense?

When the attack ended, Neji was cut up from all angles, bleeding from far more than his nose. In particular, the left side of his head was bleeding fiercely, his headband cut off as well, showing the caged bird seal.

Naruto looked at the revealed seal with barely hidden disgust. He didn't like Neji at all but knew how much being sealed with something without your consent sucked. So he couldn't hate him outright. "Can you get up?" Naruto growled. "That last attack cut you up hard and fighting will only irritate the wounds. You'll be slower, weaker, and the Kaiten won't stop what comes next. You can save face now, and give up, or we can continue." Personally, Naruto wanted Neji to continue. He really wanted to bleed the Hyūga.

"Idiot…" Despite all logical reason that would say that Neji should surrender, the Hyūga seemed to be more pissed than anything. Blood poured from his face as he glared at Naruto murderously. "You fucking dumbass!"

He flared out his chakra enough that some of it was visible to the naked eye and shattered the ground around his ankle, making a hole big enough to jump in, and Neji did just that.

The rookie 9 paled as they came to the same conclusion that Neji most likely had. Naruto was underground for the whole fight, letting his clones bombard Neji from a distance to give the illusion that the original was speaking to him. And that last trick, clearly aimed to finish the fight, gave him away.

"Fuck!" Kiba roared. Neji was seriously injured and exhausted, but he could still do damage with a few touches than Naruto could with his clones. It was why he hid for the whole fight.

"H-hey." Ino stammered. "Neji practically on death's door, and Naruto should be still at 100%. Maybe he can still-"

She didn't even get to finish her sentence as all the clones popped, and a second later Naruto flew out of the ground and crashed back into it.

"Ah." Kakashi frowned.

"Oh Kami damn it," Sasuki growled, almost unwilling to believe what she's seeing. Naruto was so close! Neji was on the verge of passing out, and he still pulled a victory out of his ass. It was Sakura all over again, only worse because there was so much more reason to want Neji beaten.

"You should know your place in destiny, Uzumaki." Neji gasped as he crawled out of the hole he blew Naruto out of, the battle running him utterly ragged. "And you shouldn't get involved in the Hyūga clan's business. You have no idea of the pain I feel with this seal on my forehead. pain all branch mem-"

A hand closed on Neji's shoulder, stopping his last monologue right as he was on his feet. "You're not the only one suffering, you know."

"Wha-" Neji whipped around, only to get slugged in the face by a brown fist, knocking out cold.

There was a long pause.

"Winner," Genma pointed at the brown Naruto that popped from the ground. "Naruto Uzumaki."

The rookie 9 cheered.

"Yes!" Kiba laughed, Akamaru howling in victory, if there was any doubt of Naruto being an alpha, it died right there. "Naruto, you rule!"

"Neji never even hit the real Naruto." Sasuki grinned as she Naruto take a bow.

"And not a sliver of the Kyūbi's chakra no less." Kakashi thought.

"You were amazing out there!" Kiba grinned, she and the rest of team 8 trailing behind Naruto like the puppy trailing behind her.

"Absolutely superb presentation of technique and power," Shino stated. "It's very obvious that you'll get chunin."

"You did great out there Naruto." Hinata smiled. "Hopefully Neji got the message."

"Yeah, You wrecked Neji!" Kiba laughed.

They were making their way to the emergency room, chatting with the rest of their classmates about the final round. Most of the conversation was directed towards Naruto and Sasuki, the apparent strategic masterminds of their fights. A lot of the students were wondering just how in the hell they'd come up with such insane plays. Naruto was soaking up the attention and answering with all the arrogance one would expect from him, while Sasuki was much more humble, yet was still soaking up the attention.

Unfortunately, the pleasantries had to take a backseat when the group of students turned the corner to the lunchroom and found a tall, intimidating figure blocking their path.

Hinata's father.

Hiashi Hyūga.

Hinata's face went white, but Sasuki's eyes narrowed. "The hell do you want?"

It took a while, but eventually, Hiashi spoke. "Hinata. Naruto. Come with me for a moment, both of you. I've got some things to say."

Sasuki scowled at Hiashi, who had been staring at the lot of them in silence for nearly a minute. "For what?"

"Clan business," Hiashi said, not even trying to curb his suspicious manner.

"Everyone," Hinata said. "It's okay."

"The hell it is!" Kiba snapped. "He can spit out what he wants to say with me here or not at all."

"It's none of your business, Inuzuka," Hiashi told him firmly.

"Pardon my language but, the hell it isn't," Shino retorted, stunning everyone. Aburame has a tendency to stay calm in all situations. To hear one swear was as rare as a Kage without multiple chakra natures. "Hinata is our teammate. Her life is our business."

Hiashi was getting more and more incensed by everyone's tone and Naruto finally drew a line before his friends said something that could make the situation escalate more. "Guys. I can handle this guy. And if anything happens, our senseis are right outside in the bleachers."

Hinata added her two cents. "Everyone, it'll only be for a minute. We'll be right back, okay? Just…tell me when Sasuki's fight starts."

Kiba scowled at that and Naruto thought she would refuse again, but the teen-only snarled and spun away. "Fine, but he says any bad, and I'm siccing my mom on him."

The others didn't keen on leaving either but soon relented as well.

And like that, they were standing alone in a quiet hall, Hiashi on one side leaning against the wall, Hinata, and Naruto on the other. "Well?" Naruto growled.

"You intend to be Hokage, is that right?" Hiashi stated.

Hinata swallowed hard.

"Oh, here we go again." Naruto thought, before replying. "Of course I am!"

"...Then I have a request." Hiashi stated, confusing both teens. "Can you fix the Hyūga clan?"

"...What?" Naruto thought. "Where is this coming from?"

"I have been in opposition to the seal since my brother's death," Hiashi stated. "You've said that Hinata told you about the Kumo incident, did you not?"

"Ah." Naruto could've kicked himself, of course losing your brother would sour one's opinion of what was responsible. Hinata was feeling similarly foolish for not seeing the facts.

"Were it not for the facts that we do not know of another seal that could adequately protect our clan's bloodline, and the constant opposition of the clan's elder council, the use of the seal would have been forbidden the moment I became the Hyūga clan head," Hiashi explained. "Now I will ask again, Can you fix the Hyūga clan?"

Naruto frowned, mulling over the request. He could very potentially make seals capable of doing the job if he knew how to make seals, the problem is that seals are a far more difficult branch of shinobi. Even with clone training, getting good enough to make brand new seals, let alone ones better than seals that have gone through no competition despite how many people loathe it, would most likely take decades. And that's not counting the number of seal masters he had available to him, which could be counted on one hand. Them being Kakashi, Sarutobi, and Jira-

"That's it!" Naruto roared, catching both Hyūga off guard.

"What's it?" Hinata asked, confused but hopeful. "Do you have a plan?"

"I may not be able to help the clan in that area right now," Naruto admitted. "But I know someone who might."

Hiashi gaped at the youth. "Who?"

"Jiraiya!" Naruto states. "Long story short, he owes me one. It wouldn't hurt to ask."

Hiashi blinked, he'd come here to this boy more on wishful thinking than anything concrete, but this may actually go somewhere. "That's one half of the problem, the other is much more imposing."

"What is it?" Naruto asked. "Kumo?"

"No." Hiashi sighed. "The elder council."

Naruto frowned. "They want to stay in charge, do they?"

"Yes. Even if Jiraiya's hypothetical seal does better than the caged bird, the elders will most likely oppose the change." Hiashi explained. "Many of them are too addicted to the power that they have over the Branch house to allow both houses to join and change their way of dealing with clan matters, and many would simply dislike the idea of going against tradition, especially since, ignoring the ethical issues, there's no real reason to fix what isn't broken. The fact that an outsider made the solution, one of the sanin or not, will not help either."

"Well, they don't have to know," Naruto stated.

"...Naruto-k- Naruto." Hinata, nearly slipping her honorifics, questioned her crush. "Are you stating we keep a secret from the Hyūga clan?"

"Your dad said it best," Naruto stated. "The old farts on the Hyūga council will not like my gift no matter how good it is. And something tells me the Hyūga council will be as stubborn as the civilian council. If your dad pushes it too far, he might lose the clan head position, and whoever takes it will probably be someone they can trust, i.e., someone we can't. Just tell branch members, and only ones you can trust."

"So the plan is to ask Jiraiya to make the seal, and hope we can give the branch family the seal under the main family's nose?" Hinata asks, who was clearly hoping for a less flimsy strategy.

"I'm good at making at tricking people and battle strategies, but politics isn't something I have real experience in," Naruto said, not liking their lack of a concrete plan either.

"A pity." Hiashi sighed. "If it's any consultation, it's more headway than I've made in a decade."

"Thanks." Naruto leaned against the wall. "Considering Hinata's treatment, I expected you to be a giant prick."

Hiashi groaned. "The reason why I treated her in such a poor manner these past few years was to maintain my position of clan head. If I did not, then someone more … in line with the council's intentions would replace me, and without a doubt subject Hinata and Hanabi to whatever the clan elders have planned, if not just exile Hinata outright." Hiashi gave a stern look. "However… I believe that this particular… gamble is worth the risk, and I believe I can trust you to uphold your end of the bargain." Hiashi stated, walking away. "Don't disappoint me."

As soon as Hiashi left, Hinata slumped down the wall and onto the floor. "Are you okay?" Naruto held out his hand.

"Y-Yes." Hinata grabbed the hand and pulled herself up. "Just exhausted. " She sighed, mulling over what happened in this hallway. "You really want to help my clan, do right?"

"I don't feel like letting your old man down," Naruto explained. "Plus, if my 'fight' with Neji didn't dislodge that stick up his ass, then this will."

Hinata giggled.

"Next Match. Sasuki vs. Gaara."

The rookie 9 stared intently at the upcoming battle, while there were less personal stakes in this fight than the last, the danger posed their friend and the best of them all, at least to most of their knowledge, was more than enough to invest them in it.

Sakura had managed to wake up at this point. While very disappointed and frustrated at missing Naruto's fight, hearing how handily he won improved her mood.

Genma jumped back from the center of the area, knowing this fight was gonna be intense.

Gaara's face twisted from its usual blankness into a bloodthirsty grin. Sasuke's frown deepened as he listened to the chuckles of the disturbed Suna-nin.

"Yes, mother," Gaara muttered. "I can tell her blood will be delicious, far more than the other one."

"What the hell is she talking about?" Sasuki thought, visibly unnerved.

"Shit," Kankuro whispered to her other sister in a near panic. "She's already talking to it!"

"I know." Temari grimaced. "Hopefully she doesn't transform before the signal."

Shino frowned, hearing the sand sibling's conversation through his bugs. "Signal?"

"Here it goes," Sasuki said, sending shuriken spinning towards Gaara with a quick flick of her wrist. They were stopped easily by Gaara's sand shield, which morphed into a sand clone. The clone surged toward Sasuki, planning to grab and crush her into a paste.

And then Sasuki disappeared.

"What?" Naruto blinked. "Where did she-"

A quick fireball reduced the clone to glass, which was quickly shattered by a thrown kunai from Sasuki, right above Gaara.

The mad girl barely had the chance to turn before a fist impacted with her face. A quick kick was thrown right as Sasuki landed added to the onslaught.

"...Did that girl just get a hit on Gaara?!" Temari half-shrieked.

"Impossible..." Kankuro gasped.

"Incredible," Gai-sensei said. "He's almost as fast as Lee's normal speed."

"It is almost a mirror image of my own Taijutsu," Lee added, mild hints of jealousy in his tone.

"Amazing." Sakura beamed.

"Holy crap." Naruto gaped, as Sasuki darted around, a blow landing firmly across Gaara's face, before darting back out of range. "It was clear that she sped up to something fierce from her fight with Shino, but this is insane."

"Katon! Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Sasuki roared, spitting a second fireball that impacted with the sand shield, creating glass that was shattered by a well-aimed shuriken.

Her shield gone, Gaara found herself unable to stop the dropkick to the stomach Sasuki proceeded to deliver, before springing off the girl and out of retribution before the jinchuriki even hit the ground.

"Come now, Shukaku," Kyūbi grumbled. "Your host should at least try to put up a fight here. The Uchiha hasn't even used genjutsu yet."

"Actually..." Naruto frowned, taking a closer look at the fight.

"What the..." Sasuki took a step as she saw what looked like a second skin over Gaara. "More sand? On the skin?"

"The sand armor. Shit." Kankuro griped. "She's really in trouble in trouble if she's using that."

"Let's see how strong that armor is." Sasuki shivered before regaining her cool, before blurring from vision again, reappearing right up in Gaara's grill. She then proceeded to grab Gaara, knee-check her in the face, before slugging her in the gut and jumping over the sand coming at her. Seeing this, Gaara tried shooting bullets of sand at Sasuki while still in the air, thinking she couldn't dodge in mid-air.

"Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" She roared, spewing more flames at the sand, melting even more of it into glass. Another blur, and was suddenly slamming through the glass and into Gaara with another dropkick.

Gaara fell on her knees as Sasuki darted away, both breathing heavily.

"It sure looks like it takes a lot of stamina for him to maintain that speed," Lee commented.

"Fortunately, Gaara's sand armor seems costly as well." Sakura saw, seeing that Gaara hadn't stood up.

"What kind of training did you do, to get to that level in a month?" Gai-sensei asked Kakashi.

"Hmm?" Kakashi-sensei murmured casually. "Oh. Sasuki had merely copied Lee's taijutsu with her Sharingan, so I merely had her imagine Lee's movements… and then copy them. Sasuke mastered that taijutsu only because she knew Lee. Although, she still had to work very hard to get to this, and the replication isn't perfect, especially considering she didn't see Lee without his weights for very long."

"Even still," Naruto looked at the Sasuki, who had recovered enough to continue the beatdown. "Hot Damn."

"Gah!" Gaara yelled out as she was kicked into the air, her sand saving her from a suitably harsh landing.

"Is this your best?" Sasuki taunted, wondering she'll even need her ace in the hole.

"I'll…" Gaara dragged out, voice raspy and pained. "Kill you...mother will...catch you." She proceeded to make the Ram Seal with her hands. The sand swirled around her, covering her completely in a dome. A floating eyeball made of sand formed outside the dome, staring intently at Sasuki.

"OH..." Kankuro gaped.

"SHIT," Temari growled through strained teeth.

"Gaara...you reckless little fool!" Baki was inwardly panicked.

"What is this?" Naruto frowned.

"I'm sensing Shukaku's chakra," Kyūbi warned. "We may have a problem."

Naruto's eyes widened as Sasuki came charging at the giant ball of sand-like she did at the sand shield. "Wait, no!"

Suddenly spikes erupted out of the ball. Its nothing short of the combination of her super-speed training and the Sharingan that allowed her to avoid being impaled right then and there, and it was very close even then.

"Fuck!" Sasuki swore, retreating steadily. This was more than she could reasonably do much against, she had to use her ace. She ran up the wall, stopping only when he was halfway up, quickly making seals for another jutsu.

Then she started gathering chakra in her hand. To most of the audience's shock, the chakra quickly turned visible, a bluish-white crackling forming around her hand.

"What the hell?" Kiba gaped.

"That's not fire release." Sakura looked in dumbfoundment.

"But… it can't be," Gai-sensei muttered.

High up on the kage stands Sarutobi's and Rasa's eyes widened.

"That's Kakashi's technique," Sarutobi stated.

"Yesss..." Rasa hissed.

"Naruto. Sakura. I must apologize." Kakashi stated.

"For what?" Sakura asked, her eyes still on Sasuki.

"I may have planned to train Sasuki alone this month, regardless of Gaara," Kakashi admitted. "She merely gave me a great excuse."

"Why?" Naruto questioned.

He pointed to his headband, specifically the part covering his Sharingan. "It's because she's just like me."

Sasuki charged down and forward at Gaara, moving faster than anyone had seen during her fights.

"What is that?" Ino blinked, staring at charging Uchiha.

"It's a jab," Gai-sensei explained. "But this jab is a jab like no other. It's the only weapon in Kakashi's arsenal he didn't copy from someone else."

Naruto's eye widened as he remembered the technique from the fight from Wave. He didn't think much of the attack when he saw it pierce through Zabuza, but now...

"The secret of the jab is in the speed at which it is delivered and the ninja's ability to focus his chakra at the point of impact." Gai continued. "Once these two elements - speed and focus - have achieved certain levels, the chakra actually becomes visible and gives off that distinctive sound that you hear. Like birds chirping."

Said chirping sound started to register in everyone's head as they turned back to the fight in awe, Sasuki blurring around the spikes coming out of the sand ball.

"It is this sound that gives the technique its name;"

"CHIDORI!" Sasuki roared, absolutely burying her up arm up to the shoulder in the sand.

"One thousand birds." Kakashi finished.

A moment of silence shadowed over the area as everyone registered what happened.

"That's impossible," Kankuro gaped in horror. "Next to nobody's gotten through her Sand Shield before."

"And this girl busted in her Sand Shield, Sand Armor, and now even her Sand Cocoon." Temari trembled, having no idea of what was going to happen. "She's a freak of nature, even more than Gaara."

"Holy shit." Ino gaped.

"This jutsu perfects the piercing power of lightning techniques to a level comparable to the 3rd Raikage's Hell Stab," Gai explained. "In fact, Kakashi developed the attack to fight the Raikage, as they were the kage one was most likely to encounter on the battlefield. It is also known as the lightning blade. It got that name because Kakashi once used it to cut a bolt of lightning in half before it could touch the ground."

"I reiterate, Holy Shit." Ino gaped, barely believing what she's hearing.

"Regardless, it's a technique of unimaginable power, requiring almost inhuman levels of speed and chakra. It is a dangerous technique. Not to be taught lightly."

"Yeah, you're one to talk," Kakashi-sensei shot back, pointing out the hypocrisy of the implied criticism. "Right, Lee?"

Lee chuckled sheepishly.

"Well, whatever." Kiba grinned. "It looks fucking AWESOME! Sasuki got this is in the bag!"

As if in direct defiance to the last statement, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the stadium and bleachers, and sent every Inuzuka to the ground. Everyone could barely make out the words hidden in the shrieks. "BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOD!"

"Hey Kiba?" Naruto snarked, tone and face deadpan. "Try not to choke on your fucking foot."

"Is...Is that Gaara in pain?!" Temari rasped in terror.

Sasuki's eyes suddenly widened in pain, confusion, and fear, as she felt something grab onto her arm. She frantically tried to pull it the limb out to no avail, as what grabbed her clenched harder and harder. "What the hell?!" Before it felt like her arm was going to be ripped off, and in a surge of spontaneous fear and pain, charged the Chidori with as much chakra as she could, and pushed further.

Her reward was a second, even louder and more horrible scream, along with the grip loosening. Sasuki violently yanked her arm out, dragging out what seemed like a giant limb made of sand and purple veins with her.

"The fuck?" Ino gaped visible disgust and fear on her face.

Sasuki glared at the hole she made, which the 'limb' was slowly slinking back into.

The third and greatest scream that followed was easily the second most horrific and mind scarring thing she had the displeasure of experiencing. While the first two were insanely loud, psychotic, and pained, this one's very nature was unnatural, as if it were a combination of a human and some sort of immense beast shrieking in conjoined primal rage and pain.

Soon, the ball collapsed in on itself, revealing Gaara, clutching her pierced and bleeding shoulder.

The two girls in the area stood there in silence, glaring at each in rage, fear, pain, and hatred, daring the other to so much as blink wrong.

And then the white feathers began to fall.

Naruto's eyes widened as the feeling of genjutsu washed over him. "What the fu- They're doing this now?!"

"What are you tal-king?" Kiba jerked to the side as a bout of, clearly not natural, drowsiness slammed into her.

"What...Genjutsu?" Ino shakily made a seal before scrambling her chakra and dispelling it.

Naruto and Sakura were able to dispel it rather easily, while their training in genjustsu didn't give Naruto much headway in making genjutsu, he did get some progress in dispelling them.

"So it's finally happening." Gai frowned, undoing the feathers as well.

Kakashi rushed to the back of the stands, clearly trying to track done who was causing.

Smoke exploded in the Kage's box, billowing out into the air.

"What the hell is going on?" Kiba snapped, Akamaru baring his teeth at anyone that got too close.

"Invasion!" Naruto shot back as kunai started soaring at them. "Duck!"

Everyone hit the deck, ducking the storm of metal flying over them.

"Now where's..." Naruto trailed off, eyes going wide as Gaara and Sasuki seemed to have disappeared, a quick glance to the side of the bleachers showed that the other sand siblings were gone too. "Son of a-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled, catching his attention. "I have a mission for you."

"What?" Naruto blinked.

"A-rank. Sasuki is chasing the sand ninja." Kakashi stated. "You take the other genin and give her backup. I'd have someone more experienced leaders, but the other senseis are fighting now."

Naruto nodded sharply. "Okay." He turned to the others. "Everybody battle ready come with me! We've got an Uchiha to catch!"