Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

by Kingkakashi

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke nearly kills Naruto and it affects everyone in many ways. See a vastly different direction after this battle to the Naruto story, than what the Canon did. There will be action, surprises, & romance NarxHin KakxKur JirxTsu & many more. Warning be prepared for the most Evil Sadistic Sasuke ever, and Sakura takes a beating in the early chapters. Enjoy!

44. Death Comes in the Morning Light

Chapter 44 Summary: The dire news has arrived that Orochimaru and Sasuke lead an army of Otogakure shinobi to invade Konohagakure. Outnumbered nearly 7-1 the Leaf village shinobi will have to rely on their amazing skills, intelligence, and the will of fire instilled within them all to survive.

Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath

Chapter 44: "Death Comes in the Morning Light"

As Tsunade watched the war conference room fill up with her Jounin commanders, she was growing increasingly concerned about Konoha's chances of successfully defending this impending invasion by Orochimaru and his forces. However, it wasn't the superiority in numbers of Otogakure shinobi that worried the buxom blonde Hokage. Tsunade was confident that her forces were more skilled, better trained, and more experienced then the rabble her treacherous fellow Sannin was bringing. No what troubled Tsunade more than the number superiority were Orochimaru himself and his two apprentice's Yakushi Kabuto and the Leaf village traitor Sasuke Uchiha.

Because while Tsunade did have some very powerful shinobi at her disposal, deep down she knew the only three people who could actually fight that evil trio and come out alive were no longer in the village and hadn't been for nine months. The Slug Sannin fought to hold back a tear, as she believed in her heart that she would not live to see her grandson or the love of her life ever again when she met Orochimaru on the battlefield. Clearing her throat to bring the room to attention, Tsunade announced with authority and conviction.

"Commanders, we face an SS class security threat to Konohagakure. As you know the invasion alarm has been sounded and the civilian populace save those who wish to stay behind for village civil defense is currently being evacuated into the safety shelters and tunnels underneath Hokage Mountain. As of this moment Orochimaru of the Sannin, Yakushi Kabuto, and Sasuke Uchiha ride upon the head of the great summons snake Manda and they lead a force of Otogakure shinobi at least two-to-three thousand strong to attack the Leaf village. At their present rate, they should arrive at our gates within 4 to 5 hours."

This announcement by the Hokage sent a shockwave through the room at the sheer number of invading forces and many shinobi commanders began murmuring with one another in a buzz of apprehension. They all quieted down when Tsunade raised her hand to speak once more with confidence.

"I've sent word to our ally Sunagakure to request their assistance per our treaty, but as you know it will take their forces two days to reach the Leaf village, not enough time to help us. However, Strategic Commander of Konoha's shinobi forces Shikaku Nara has already devised and implemented a plan to delay Orochimaru's forces and buy us the time we need for Suna's reinforcements to arrive in time to help us."

(Flashback one hour)

"It's troublesome Hokage-Sama, but Otogakure outnumbers our forces 7-1 and we can't win against such numbers without bolstering our strength with Sunagakure reinforcements."

"So what do you propose we do Shikaku, give up!" Tsunade angrily snarled.

"No, I do not propose that. However the fact remains that we must delay Orochimaru in some way before he reaches the Leaf village and buy us the time for Suna's forces to arrive."

"Do you have any ideas on how we can accomplish that?" Tsunade asked with curiosity before someone knocked on the door of the conference war room.

"Actually I do, enter."

Both Tsunade and her Chief Commander and Strategist looked over to see the door swing open and in strode Shikaku's life-long friend, teammate, and fellow clan leader Chouza Akimichi enter the room followed by the fabled sexy green beast of Konoha Might Gai and the infamous Mokuton user of the ANBU Black ops Yamato.

"Excellent Chouza my friend, you found both of them."

"Yes, Chouza-sama said you had a mission for me Shikaku-sama, one that would ignite my flames of youth to burn brighter than ever!" Gai excitedly proclaimed, before flashing his trademark smile and striking his renowned Nice Guy pose.

Everyone in the room gazed upon Gai with a look of utter confusion and bewilderment before Shikaku finally shook his head to clear his mind and said.

"Troublesome, yes Gai-san I do have a mission of utmost importance for you to take along with Chouza-san and Yamato-san. I can't stress enough the urgency of this mission because the fate of the Leaf village rides upon its successful completion."

"What do you have planned Shikaku?" Tsunade asked with interest.

"As you know Hokage-sama, from the information we gathered from Hawk, Orochimaru is taking the most direct route from Rice country to Konoha. Which means he and his forces will be traveling across the Oshina plateau. Which is situated about five miles from the inactive volcano Mount Kuttara whose past eruptions created that basaltic lava plateau."

"Yes, but you said Mount Kuttara is an inactive volcano so it's not going to help us out by erupting and spewing this balsatic lava onto Orochimaru and his forces."

"Basaltic lava Lady Tsunade."

"Whatever, just tell me how a dead volcano is going to help slowdown the snake-teme!"

"Most troublesome, it's not the volcano that is going to help delay Orochimaru from reaching the Leaf village, but what sits in its caldera or crater on top of it."

"Lake Kuttara!" Yamato exclaimed.

"That's correct Yamato-san."

"I think I'm beginning to get a picture of your plan Shikaku, but how exactly are you planning on flooding the Oshina plateau?"

"By utilizing the skills of these three shinobi standing before you."

"Explain your plan."

"Well, time is not on our side, so these men will need to leave immediately after this meeting per your approval of this mission Hokage-sama."

"Hai, I understand, please describe to me what their mission is?"

"I'll try to be brief, you guessed correctly Lady Tsunade, I do wish to flood the Oshina plateau using the water from Lake Kuttara. But it's going to be troublesome to do in the short amount of time we have which is why we needed these three shinobi in implement the mission. We learned from Hawk that Orochimaru has chakra sensor shinobi scouting all around his forces as they march towards Konoha. It was how Hawk's ANBU team was ambushed as these people sensed their chakra and relayed the information back to Orochimaru's command center who then sent out sufficient forces to take down Hawk's team. If my plan is to work, then the chakra sensors guarding Orochimaru's eastern flank where Mount Kuttara sits need to be taken out."

"How do you propose to do that?"

"This is where Gai-san's role in the mission comes into play. Using his incredible speed, he can reach Orochimaru's eastern flank quicker than Chouza-san or Yamato-san can. Gai-san's task is to find and eliminate these chakra sensors before they notice Chouza and Yamato-san's arrival."

"But won't they sense Gai's chakra before he reaches them?"

"They might Hokage-sama, but Gai has purposely over the years suppressed his chakra signature and relied solely on his Taijutsu mastery. As such he does not radiate much of a signature above that of a weak Genin. It's troublesome and a bit of a gamble, but I believe the odds are in our favor that if the chakra sensors do detect him, they won't perceive such a weak chakra as a threat to them, thus allowing Gai-san to eliminate all of them before they even know what hit them."

"I shall cut them down like wheat to a scythe Hokage-sama!" Gai boasted with confidence before extending his arms forward and snapping both of his thumbs into the air.

Once again, everyone present could only gaze upon the green-colored spandex jumpsuit wearing shinobi with looks of utter confusion and bewilderment. Tsunade finally tore her attention away from her exuberant shinobi and asked.

"Alright, after Gai takes out the chakra sensors, what then?"

"Then, this is where my comrade Chouza-san's role in the mission begins. As he will be the one tear down a portion of the crater using his clan's renowned Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique) and the incredible strength that comes with it."

"But why have Chouza-san on such a mission as this? It sounds like so far that this mission could be accomplished with one or two man team. Couldn't Gai or Yamato or for that matter just Gai bring some explosives to take down part of the crater and release the water. I don't like the idea of one of my top field commanders and a prominent clan leader on as dangerous a mission as this unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I can assure you, all of these men's roles are vital to the mission for its success. If we blasted the caldera crater the resulting explosion would certainly alert Orochimaru and his army. By having Chouza-san tear down a portion of the crater using nothing more than brute force and strength, this should go unnoticed by Otogakure's forces."

"I see, well you've explained Gai and Chouza's roles in this mission, what is the need for Yamato?" Tsunade questioned.

"It's troublesome, but Lake Kuttara is a relatively small crater lake roughly a little over two miles in diameter and three to four hundred feet deep. I've done the calculations and I estimate it holds about 4,188,397,505.7046914 gallons of water give or take a few gallons depending upon my mathematical calculations Lady Tsunade."

"Show off." Chouza commented in amusement to his fellow clan leader and friend.

"I'll take your word for it Shikaku. Ok, that seems like a lot of water and should flood the Oshina plateau nicely, but that didn't anwer my original question of why Yamato is needed on this mission?"

"It may seem like a lot of water, but it's not. Lake Ikeda in the Rock country which is over three times the size of Lake Kuttara holds roughly 28,928,832,351.80601 gallons of water."

"Grrrrrr, enough with the math, just answer my question about Yamato!" Tsunade angrily growled, while pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration at the Nara Clan head."

"Most troublesome, what I'm trying to tell you Lady Tsunade is that Lake Kuttara doesn't have enough water to reach the Oshina plateau and flood it sufficiently to delay Orochimaru. An uncontrolled release of the lake would result in most of the water dispersing over the five miles it would travel to the plateau and would do little more that get the feet wet of the Otogakure forces. What we need is a controlled release of the lake and a way to release all of the water onto the plateau at once. This can be accomplished by Yamato using his Doton, Suiton, and Mokuton elemental styles to channel the water to the Oshina plateau and flood it completely thus halting Orochimaru and his forces."

"You could have just said that from the beginning." Tsunade groused with annoyance.

"Troublesome, I suppose I could have, so do I have your approval to assign the mission Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked.

"I don't know there are several aspects of this mission that trouble me Shikaku-san. First off is the gamble of Gai reaching Orochimaru's chakra sensors undetected or if they do notice him we're banking that they will not perceive his low chakra signature as a threat and won't inform their commanders."

"I agree with you, it is troublesome and it is a gamble. Ideally I would have assigned Gai's student Rock Lee for this mission as his speed nearly rivals his sensei and the fact that he has no chakra signature, but given his current health status that is not an option for us. So, we have no other choice but to use Gai-san for the mission."

"I agree with you, but I'm also concerned that Chouza-san will have the time to bring down a portion of the crater and that Yamato-san will be able to control and move the subsequent water being released before my fellow teme of a Sannin reaches the Oshina plateau."

I agree Lady Tsunade, which is why these men need to leave now. Time is not on our side and unless this mission is successfully completed, our odds of keeping the Leaf village from falling to Orochimaru until Suna's reinforcements can arrive are slim at best."

"Very well, you have my approval. Chouza, Gai, and Yamato-san, good luck and may Kami be with you to complete this mission."

All three shinobi bowed in honor to their Godaime Hokage and were about to leave when Gai paused and stated with regret.

"Lady Tsunade, with me away on this mission, I won't be able to lead during this crisis my Genin teams, as I have these past few months."

"That's true Gai; you've done a splendid job with them over these past few months with Kurenai out of action and Asuma still under suspension. The fact that you've had to absorb and lead their teams and maintain your own while still completing missions with all of them is a credit to you. However, all of my other Jounin commanders are occupied with other matters during this invasion and I have no one to take over for you as their commander."

"They don't need a Jounin commander to lead them, just someone they respect and trust with their lives."

"It sounds like you have someone in mind."

"I do, assign Shikaku's sochi (son) Shikamaru to take command of their duties during this crisis."

"Shikamaru, are you sure about this? He's only been a Chunin for a little more than a year."

"I'm sure Lady Tsunade, while Shikamaru's flames of youth burn rather dimly, his mind is every bit the strategist his Otousan is famed for being. Truthfully, it has been with his help in assigning the right combination of his comrades from the Konoha 11 that has allowed my Genin teams to successfully complete our missions and flourish with the flames of youth as proud shinobi of the Leaf village. He has the respect as a leader from all of them and they trust him with their lives."

"You make a good argument Gai, what do you have to say about it Shikaku?"

"It's troublesome, but I agree with Gai-san. As a father I would much rather keep him out of harms way, but as a shinobi of Konoha I know we will need him for this upcoming battle."

"Very well, it shall be done."

Gai bowed respectfully once more in appreciation before bounding out the door to start his mission followed by Yamato and Chouza.

(End of Flashback)

Tsunade was broken out of her train of thought when the nervous murmuring of her Jounin Commanders was getting louder. Knowing she needed to bolster their strength, confidence, and conviction, as well as send a message to the people. Tsunade turned on the microphone at her podium, which would broadcast throughout the village and proclaimed with bravado and zeal.

"Citizens of Konoha, I know we face a daunting task in repelling this invasion, but all of you know your assignments in this situation and I am confident in our forces training and skills that we can prevail and keep Konohagakure from falling to these Leaf village traitors. In the name of my grandfather Hashirama Senju the Shodai Hokage who established the ideal that the Hokage and their shinobi serve as the foundation for which Leaf village stands. Like he did, I will do all in my power to protect the Leaf village and its people even giving my life in the line of duty to ensure its survival. Let the traitorous sons of Konoha who have thrown away their will of fire that lives within us all at being proud members of the Village Hidden in the Leaves come. We shall meet them and show them why the will of fire is so strong and that it shall lead us to marugachi (Total victory)!"

All of Tsunade's commanders rose from their seats and shouted out while pumping a fist into the air.

"MARUGACHI!"

Soon all shinobi stationed all over the Leaf village we're doing the same and the mantra marugachi seemed to echo throughout the Fire nation.

---

It had been an hour since Tsunade had given her impassioned oration to the people of the Leaf village and now the blonde Hokage along with Shikaku Nara were waiting for the final active member of the Konoha 11 to arrive to the war conference room. As she looked around at the young shinobi before her, she could only shake her head sadly as she thought to herself.

'Kami, they're all so young to be facing war again in their short lives.'

Tsunade train of thought was broken when she heard Sakura approach Ino and attempt to strike up a conversation with the blonde kunoichi only to be rebuffed in not so pleasant terms by the girl. Sakura bore a look of deep hurt, as she turned her head and walked away from her fellow kunoichi's glare. Neither Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, nor Chouji had noticed this exchange between their fellow classmates or if they did, they just didn't care as Tsunade silently pondered.

'There's still a lot of anger and resentment they still hold towards Sakura, especially with Ino. I pray to Kami that will change soon for Sakura's sake.'

It was then that the final member of the Konoha 11 everyone had been waiting for had arrived when Shikamaru walked into the room.

"You're late son, now is not the time for your trademark lethargy."

"What a drag, like your one to talk Otou-san. Who do you think I get my trademark lethargy from? I'm late because after Lady Tsunade's impassioned speech, Okaa-san decided she didn't want to go to the shelter and wanted to stay and help protect the village. It took me and four other clan members to drag her kicking and screaming to the shelter, it was most troublesome."

"I apologize son; indeed your mother can be most troublesome at times."

"Alright, now that all of you are here we can get started."

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but should we not wait until Gai-Sensei is here, he has been everyone's Jounin commander these past several months except for Haruno-san."

"Gai-san is currently on an important mission Neji along with your father Chouji and is part of the reason why we've called you all here."

"What is the mission Lady Tsunade?"

"I'm sorry Chouji, but that's classified. All I can say is that the assigned operation is of vital importance to the Leaf village and that your father's renowned skills were needed for its successful completion."

"Then why are we here?"

"You're here Kiba because we need to assign to you your duties during this invasion."

"Hokage-sama, if Gai-Sensei is not available to lead us then who will be our commander?"

"Gai has recommended Shikamaru be your commander during this campaign. And I along with Shikaku-san here have approved his recommendation unless any of you have any objections to this."

The room remained silent until Tsunade was going to speak again when a voice rang out.

"I object!"

"Duly noted and disregarded Shikamaru. Now get your ass up here and look over these reports on the enemy and defensive strategies your father has proposed and decide where to place the others in this room to help bolster the Leaf village's defenses except for Sakura and Hinata." Tsunade sternly ordered.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled, as he made his way over to look at the plans Shikaku had developed when another voice called out.

"How come Hinata and Sakura are being left out of the fight?" Kiba openly complained.

"I agree with Kiba-kun, I don't want to be protected, I want to fight to defend my village!" Hinata exclaimed with conviction.

"Hinata-sama is indeed one of our better fighters Hokage-sama, she should be allowed to fight if she so chooses." Neji stoically commented.

"Yeah, Hinata has been kicking ass and taking names these past nine months with her training. I can understand you wanting to keep billboard brow out of the fight, but you shouldn't lump Hinata in with, with…..her." Ino spat with disgust in defense of her friend.

"BE QUIET ALL OF YOU!" Tsunade angrily snarled, as she slammed the palms of her hands onto the desk, which caused the entire to room to shake before saying with malice.

"I am the Godaime Hokage not you and I have no need to explain my orders to any of you!"

Tsunade inhaled and exhaled a deep breath to calm herself while nearly giving every male in the room a nose bleed, as their eyes suddenly grew bigger at the sight.

"I am not trying to protect Hinata or Sakura and I already know both of them have become outstanding fighters with their training since Naruto left, all of you have. However, there's going to be casualties from this invasion people, a lot of them. So I need every available shinobi with medical training to treat the wounded when they arrive and save as many lives as they can. Through their training by Shizune-san, and myself the medical skills both Hinata and Sakura have learned in such a short amount of time is exceptional. So I need their skill set as healers more than I need them on the frontline as fighters. Is that understood by all of you now?"

"Hai Lady Tsunade, I understand. I apologize for my outburst earlier; I just didn't want to be kept out of harm's way because I was considered weak." Hinata explained while bowing with respect.

"I would never think that about you Hinata or ever do that to you." Tsunade sincerely replied with assurance.

The buxom blonde Hokage then turned her attention back to Shikamaru who had been meticulously studying his father's strategic defensive plans for the village and the reports about the enemy during this whole encounter. Putting the plans down, the Nara heir then put his hands together in a strange formation before closing his eyes and seemed to slip into a deep meditative state. After a few minutes, Tsunade's patience had grown thin and she asked with irritation.

"What do you think Shikamaru?"

The brown-haired Chunin eyes snapped open and he openly stated for everyone to hear.

"What a drag, we can't win."

"WHAT!" The members of the Konoha 11 in the room exclaimed in unison.

"I didn't ask for your opinion on the outcome of the upcoming battle Chunin Nara! I wanted to know where you think your comrades are needed for it!" Tsunade snarled with fury.

"That's not what you asked Hokage-sama. You asked me what I thought and I told you."

"Most troublesome, but he's right Lady Tsunade that is what you asked him." Shikaku grumbled.

"What do you mean that we can't win?" Kiba asked with confusion.

Shikamaru looked over to his father and Tsunade and silently looked for permission to answer his comrade's question. Tsunade finally waved her hand dismissively at the young Chunin and said with sarcasm.

"Go ahead Mr. Nara, boost the morale of the people under your command some more, you've done a splendid job already instilling confidence within them."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered to himself, as he gazed at all of the concerned looks his friends and the people he would soon be commanding bore upon their faces. He realized the Hokage was right and he should have kept his opinion about the invasion to himself. Exhaling a sigh, the Nara heir cleared his throat and stated.

"What I meant Kiba was right now, we can't win a battle against such numbers as what the enemy is bringing. We have roughly 400 to 500 Chunin level or above shinobi at our disposal to defend the Leaf village. Orochimaru is bringing six to seven times that number of Oto shinobi under his command to attack with. And while our shinobi are much more skilled than his and could probably handle a three or possibly even four to one numerical advantage. Eventually the numbers the Snake Sannin is bringing will simply overwhelm us."

"So are you saying that we should just give up because we are outnumbered?" Neji angrily asked.

"No, I'm not saying that because we have reinforcements coming from Suna to help us don't we Hokage-sama."

"Yes, I've sent word to Sunagakure for their aid as per our treaty with them. They will send some of their forces to bolster our defenses no doubt led by your girlfriend."

The Nara heir winced at Tsunade's girlfriend comment and a few people chuckled at his discomfort about that particular subject.

"So all we have to do is holdout until Sunagakure's reinforcements arrive." The normally silent Shino Aburame declared.

"That's correct."

"Then what's the problem?" Ino dismissively quipped.

"The problem Tenshu-youjo (God-daughter) is…."

"Time!" Shikamaru stated interrupting his father.

"Correct son."

"I don't understand Kyoufu (Godfather) Nara, what do you mean by time?"

"What my father means Ino is that it will take Suna's forces at least two days before they can reach us to help. And the Leaf village can't last that long if were hit within the next few hours by as many Otogakure shinobi that are coming."

"So it's hopeless." Tenten said with disbelief.

"No it's not hopeless Tenten, because I'm guessing Lady Tsunade and my father have already implemented a plan to delay Orochimaru's arrival and gain the time we need for Suna reinforcements to arrive. Hence Gai-Sensei and your fathers mission Chouji. Am I correct in that assumption Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade remained silent and unmoving, shocked that Shikamaru had already deduced what the mission was she had just assigned only an hour ago.

"Most troublesome, you've intrigued me son with your analysis. Exactly how do you think we've gone about to delay Orochimaru and the sound forces?"

"I won't say exactly what I think you've come up with father since the mission is classified. However, in studying the enemy reports, the direction of their advance, and the topography of the land between them and us, it is possible to delay the enemy for at least a day or possibly even two using the Oshina plateau and Lake Kuttara."

Both Shikaku and Tsunade shot a quick and pensive glance at one another before the Nara patriarch asked with curiosity.

"Let's say your hypothesis is correct. Do you see any problems with the operation son?"

"Only a couple, the first problem is the same as Konoha's problem…time. Can they reach Mt Kuttara and implement the mission before Orochimaru and his forces have already crossed the Oshina plateau. The second problem is the distance between Lake Kuttara and the plateau. For that you're going to need someone who has Doton, Suiton and Mokuton elemental style capabilities to successfully complete the mission. I'm guessing we have such a person within our shinobi ranks and that he is the unnamed third member of the mission Gai-Sensei and Chouza-san are currently on."

Shikamaru and the rest of the people within the war conference room stared at both the Godaime Hokage and the Strategic Commander of Konoha's shinobi forces Shikaku Nara waiting for some sort of response or answer to Shikamaru's query. Much to their disappointment, they received no type of confirmation from either of the two, as Tsunade spoke once again.

"Thank you for your analysis of a hypothetical mission Shikamaru. Now, turn that vast IQ you possess and tell us where you feel the people under your command should be best placed for defense of the Leaf village."

"It's troublesome, but in my estimation, I don't believe they should be placed anywhere specific for defense of the village Lady Tsunade."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"What I mean is none of us will significantly enhance any of our forces assigned to defend the village at a fixed position. We can be of much greater use as a mobile independent force directed by me during the battle."

"Exactly what do you have in mind son?" Shikaku queried with interest.

"It's troublesome, but as you know no line of defense is absolute. With the vast number of Otogakure shinobi attacking, our forces won't be able to deal with all of them and some will slip through cracks in our defenses. Well you know from the last Sound invasion what havoc a few enemy ninja can wreak within the village."

"That's true, civilian casualties were higher than they should have been because we couldn't pull any of our shinobi away from their ongoing battles to deal with these rogue ninja."

"We can expect the same type of scenario with this invasion and although this time we will be able to get the majority of the civilian population into the shelters before the attack. There will always be some villagers who refuse to go to the shelters and want to protect their homes or businesses. But aside from that, it's never a good idea to have any enemy on your rear flank where they can disrupt supplies, communication between our forces or outright attack us and our shinobi suddenly find themselves fighting a battle on two fronts."

"So what do you propose?"

"I think the best option you have for using us Hokage-sama is to allow us to do a roving patrol of the village from the inside during the battle to locate and engage these rogue ninja before they have a chance to do any of those things."

"An impressive stratagem Shikamaru, what do you think of the plan Shikaku?"

"Most troublesome, I hate to admit it, but his plan does have merit. I have only one question, will this mobile independent force work as a singular group or in multiple groups."

"It's a drag, but to cover more of the village during our patrols it will have to be multiple groups consisting of two man squads with a short and a long range fighter on each team. All the groups will be in radio contact with me and I can direct them to where they are needed most or as back-up to another two man squad if necessary. I propose to have Chouji as the short-range fighter paired with Ino as the long-range fighter. Neji paired with Tenten and Kiba paired with Shino for the same reasons."

"What about you Shikamaru?" Chouji asked with concern.

"I'll be on my own patrol Chouji listening to all of your radio reports and directing all of you accordingly."

"Without any back-up, are you crazy?" Ino exclaimed at her lifelong friend and teammate.

"I don't like it any better than you do Ino, but that's just the way it has to be. Believe me I would love to have Naruto or Lee as the short-range fighter paired with me, but fate decided otherwise. Anyway Hokage-sama, Shikaku-sama, do you approve of my plan?"

Tsunade looked to her Strategic Commander and could tell the man was troubled with the thought of his son all alone during the upcoming battle. Shikaku looked for any significant flaw within his son's strategy, but couldn't deny the tactic was sound in principle for what his son was proposing. So while the father inside him wanted to reject the plan outright and protect his son. The shinobi warrior was proud at seeing the intelligence and bravery his son was now demonstrating. Looking up towards Tsunade, he could see she would support whatever decision he came up with. Heaving a heavy sigh he commented with annoyance.

"Hai, we approve of your plan son. Just try not to get yourself killed, it would prove most troublesome for me and the rest of the clan in dealing with your mother."

"Not to mention Temari-chan." Chouji chimed in with amusement.

"Good point Tenshu-sochi (God-son). Shikaku agreed with a smirk.

"Troublesome!" Shikamaru groused, while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry Shikamaru; if you die I'll take care of Temari for you." Kiba announced with zeal.

"That in and of itself should provide enough incentive for you to survive Nara, unless you truly hate the girl to leave her to such a fate." Neji declared, earning snickering from the other people in the room and a murderous glare directed upon him by Kiba.

"Alright, if everyone is done commenting on my troublesome girlfriend, I want to have a meeting with all of you who are under my command downstairs to go over your assignments. May we be excused Hokage-sama."

"Hai, you're all excused. Sakura, Hinata, I want the two of you to go over to the hospital and coordinate your assignments with Shizune. She will be Lead medic and in charge of the hospital during this invasion."

"But milady, why won't you be in charge at the hospital?" Sakura asked with confusion.

"I won't be at the hospital because when the time comes I will be on the battlefield facing Orochimaru."

"But, but you can't milady!" Sakura exclaimed in a slightly panicked voice.

Tsunade could see the concern and fear etched upon Sakura's face and knew the girl was scared of losing her. Over the months, Tsunade had become a surrogate mother-figure for Sakura to lean on. It was one of things that were helping the young kunoichi to slowly begin to heal psychologically from Sasuke's attack over a year ago. As much as Tsunade wanted to alleviate Sakura's fears of losing her, she knew the girl had every right to be scared. For the blonde-haired Sannin herself didn't believe she would survive her battle with Orochimaru, only Jiraiya was strong enough to defeat him. However, she couldn't let Sakura or anyone else know about her doubts and in a calm and reassuring voice said.

"There's no one else available strong enough who can face my fellow Sannin and live to tell about it Sakura. I alone have the best chance to defeat him. Don't you worry, I'll be alright. I am after all a Sannin too, or did you forget that Sakura."

"No milady, I didn't forget, I'm just worried for you."

"I know you are and I appreciate it. But you're going to have your hands full at the hospital saving lives once the battle begins and I don't want you making mistakes because you're worried about me fighting the snake-teme. Do you understand?"

"Hai milady, I understand." Sakura softly answered.

"Good, now you and Hinata get over to the hospital and check in with Shizune. We all have a lot of work to do to get ready for this fight."

Both Sakura and Hinata bowed to their Hokage with respect before they both hurried out the door to get to the hospital. It was then Tsunade noticed Shikamaru was standing by the doorway and hadn't left the room with the rest of the Konoha 11 he would be commanding.

"Shikamaru, why are you still here?"

"There was something I wanted to say to you and my father Lady Tsunade, but I didn't want to do it in front of the others."

"What did you want to say son?"

"It's troublesome father, because overall I approve of all the defensive strategies you want to implement for defense of the Leaf village, but I also think you've overlooked something."

"What did we overlook?" Tsunade questioned with concern.

"Well, if Orochimaru has been planning this invasion for months and judging by the size of his forces he has. I would surmise that he's also placed in advance of his attack sleeper agents within the village to sabotage and cause chaos in the village and our defenses. However, nothing in your defensive plans for the village addresses that possibility. I could be wrong and I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think we can take that chance."

Both Tsunade and Shikaku gazed at one another in complete silence with stupefied looks upon their faces, as they could not believe they had made such a glaring error. Shikaku finally exhaled a weary sigh and stated.

"Most troublesome, you're right son; we can't afford to take that chance. Thank you for pointing this out to us. I'll order our ANBU patrols within the village increased for the next 24 hours to be on the lookout for anything remotely suspicious from civilian or shinobi alike."

Shikamaru merely nodded his head in acceptance and gave a small bow with respect to his father and Hokage before quietly exiting the room to join his comrades downstairs. Both Tsunade and Shikaku sat in silence for a minute before the buxom blonde Hokage stated with admiration.

"That's one smart kid you've got there, lazy as hell, but he more than makes up for that with his IQ that's for damn sure."

Shikaku Nara could only grin at Tsunade's praise for his son and reveled in the sense of pride he felt for the boy at that moment.

---

When Shikamaru reached the meeting room downstairs he saw Hinata saying goodbye to all of her friends and family with Sakura standing off to the side alone. Just as the two young kunoichi's turned to exit the room and head over to the hospital, the Nara heir called out to them.

"Hinata, Sakura, can you stay a moment, there's something I want to discuss with all of you."

"What do you need to talk to Hinata and….her about?" Ino asked with a sneer.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath with regards to his former kunoichi teammate's attitude towards Sakura. Knowing it was something those two girls would have to work out for themselves, he brushed off Ino's question and stated.

"What I wanted to talk to all of you about is one subject…Sasuke."

A pall of silence engulfed the room like a shroud of death upon the mention of that name, as all the kunoichi present involuntarily shivered at the thought of encountering the psychotic Uchiha. Shikamaru could see the looks of unease and slight fear on some of his comrades' faces and knew they had every right to be worried considering what Sasuke had promised to do to all of them. It was for that reason why the Nara heir had wanted to speak to them and implement his strategy should any of them meet the Uchiha during the upcoming battle.

"As I said I wanted to discuss what any of us should do if we run into Sasuke during this battle?"

"What do you mean what do we do, we fight him of course." Kiba declared, as if there was no other answer to the question.

"Though I loathe to admit it, I'm in agreement with the Inuzuka. Because the only other option if you are suggesting it would be to run away, and I for one am not a coward Nara."

"Neither am I Shikamaru!" Kiba announced with defiance.

Shikamaru eyes narrowed upon the two shinobi standing before him and he stated in an icy and deadly tone of voice.

"If either of you two attempt to fight Sasuke on your own then you will die, Shino will die, and Tenten will be captured, raped, and brought back to Otogakure to be continuously raped by the Uchiha until he finally grows tired of her and kills her outright."

In an instant, Neji was gripping the front of Shikamaru's Chunin vest and glaring with murderous rage at him, while releasing a massive amount of killing intent. Shikamaru to his credit didn't flinch or move, but merely cocked his eyebrow to the Hyuga prodigy as if silently saying, tell me I'm wrong. After a moment, Neji realized that the Nara heir was indeed correct and let go.

"I apologize, there is indeed validity to what you say and I was letting my pride get in the way of rational thought." Neji contritely stated, while hugging a visibly shaken Tenten to him to comfort the girl.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Kiba apologetically added.

"I assume you have strategy in mind to deal with the situation if one of our two man teams were to encounter the Uchiha." Shino stoically commented.

The Nara heir gathered up as much strength, confidence, and authority as he could to his voice and proclaimed.

"I have and I'm giving all of you under my command orders right now that if you do meet up with Sasuke during the invasion, do not try to take him on in battle. Retreat if you can, but if that is impossible and you're forced to fight then fire off one of these before you do."

Shikamaru then reached into a small satchel he had been carrying and pulled out several different colored shooting flare sticks. Passing out each of the sticks to everyone in the room, he set the empty satchel down on the floor and announced.

"Now each of you has a different colored flair so the others will know who it is who fired it and their position. If you do encounter Sasuke and you have no avenue to escape and are forced to fight, fire off the flare and the rest of us will converge upon your position to assist you. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded their head in understanding. Shikamaru then told Hinata and Sakura that they you go to the hospital now. However before Sakura left, she called Shikamaru over and in a quiet and timid voice said.

"Thank you for thinking of me Shikamaru, but maybe you should give this flair to someone else. I'm not sure if any of you would want to come to my aid if I was to run into Sasuke again and I don't blame you."

"Sakura stop! I know some of us are still angry and upset with you about some of the things you did over a year ago. But, you're still a comrade to us, and if you have to fire off that flare, I promise you, we will come to help you. Now hurry up and get to the hospital, I'm sure Shizune-san has plenty of work for you to do." Shikamaru replied with kind assurance to his former classmate.

"Thank you Shikamaru." Sakura softly stated with tears in her eyes, as she hugged the Nara heir before racing off towards the hospital.

"Getting awfully chummy with billboard brow aren't you Shikamaru, what would Temari say if she saw that?" Ino quipped with sarcasm.

"Troublesome, she would say I was giving support and comfort to a girl in desperate need of it, because she's terrified that she might run into her worst nightmare again. Now if you're done with your sniping about Sakura, why don't you shut-up and join the others while I pass out your patrol assignments." Shikamaru snapped with irritation at the blonde kunoichi before walking over to the others and leaving Ino silently fuming at what he had just said to her.

---

Meanwhile, as Shikamaru was going over the patrol routes he wanted his comrades to follow. At the base of Hokage Mountain at the entrance to one of the tunnels that led to an underground safety bunker Iruka was kissing his wife goodbye after she had just deposited their twin daughters inside. Anko was very nervous about leaving her kids inside the shelter, but was comforted by the fact that Iruka would be the shinobi in charge once the tunnel was sealed. Flashing open her long-coat and promising Iruka a night he'll never forget to give him incentive to survive. Anko leapt away laughing at the cute blush Iruka now sported upon his face. It was then a Chunin by the name of Masajun slapped Iruka on the back and stated appreciatively.

"You're a lucky man Iruka-sama; I wish I had someone as fine as your wife waiting for me back home should I survive this upcoming battle."

Iruka turned and grinned at his fellow Chunin before asking.

"Are all the women and children evacuated into the bunker?"

"Yes, once we finally got the Nara matriarch inside and settled down, we were able to proceed much more quickly. This bunker is the largest and strongest one, now we can start placing some of the elderly men into it before it's filled to capacity."

"I'll leave you to it then Masajun. I'm going to go and check on the progress at the other safety bunkers, I'll return shortly." Iruka stated, before leaping away.

Masajun turned his attention back to the crowd of civilian men waiting to gain entrance into the shelter. Announcing that the elderly would be entering first, the young Chunin watched an aged man in a cloak hunched over and leaning on a walking stick make his way to the tunnel opening. Reaching out to help the old man up the steps, Masajun's eyes suddenly grew wide in realization when his hand touched the shoulder of the elderly villager and he exclaimed.

"Henge!"

"Too late." The old man sneered before a kunai slipped into his hand and he thrust the weapon into Masajun's gut. The elderly man then threw off his cloak and tossed Masajun at two other shocked Leaf shinobi before his body shimmered a moment and the henge was released revealing an Otogakure shinobi. Darting into the tunnel before anyone else could react; the Oto ninja slapped an explosive note on top of the tunnel entranceway and upon its explosion behind him brought a rockslide down blocking the tunnel from the outside world. About a quarter of a mile away, Iruka heard the explosion and raced back to the shelter. Upon arriving he found Masajun seriously wounded and avalanche of rock blocking the tunnel to the safety bunker.

"What the hell happened?"

"It was an Otogakure shinobi Iruka-sama, he was disguised using a henge as an old man and attacked Masajun before running into the tunnel and bringing a portion of it down behind him. We didn't have time to react to stop him."

Iruka was in a state of near panic at the thought of a single enemy ninja inside the bunker filled with nothing but women and children and more importantly his children. However, he couldn't let the people around him know of his distress and he quickly commanded to one of the Chunin.

"You there, get Masajun to the hospital as quickly as possible and inform the Hokage and Shikaku-sama of what has happened. The rest of you help me to clear this tunnel of the rubble and get to the bunker."

"Hai Iruka-sama!" All the Chunin answered in unison, before one of them picked up Masajun and shushin'd away in a swirl of leaves, while the rest joined Iruka in excavating the tunnel.

Meanwhile inside the bunker people were screaming and crying at the sight of the Otogakure warrior standing at the doorway of the safety shelter. Many of the civilians cowered to the back of the bunker in an effort to put as much distance between themselves and enemy ninja.

Hisoka could only smirk at the sight of all of these women and children howling out and shrinking away from the very sight of him. The genius of Orochimaru was never more evident to the Oto shinobi than it was at that moment Hisoka mused to himself. The Snake Sannin's plan to destroy the morale and will of fire of all the Leaf village shinobi was brilliant if for nothing else than the sheer audacity and evilness of his plan. Being a former Konoha ninja, Orochimaru knew of the evacuation procedures in case of an attack upon the village. So he knew that first priority would be given to all the women and children of the village.

So Orochimaru's mission orders to Hisoka had been simple enough. Infiltrate the village a week before the invasion. Gain entrance into the safety shelter after all of the women and children had been evacuated into the bunker. Seal off the entranceway before any Leaf shinobi could stop him. Then slaughter every woman and child young or old within the shelter. Once the Leaf ninja gained access to stop him, they would be too late. And when news spread of the massacre of every woman and child within the village, the will of Konoha's shinobi to fight would be utterly broken leaving Orochimaru entry into the Leaf village unopposed.

Hisoka knew this was a suicide mission, but he didn't care. He was a failed cursed mark experiment of Orochimaru's and was dying anyway. However, he was grateful that Orochimaru had promised that his family would be taken care of and wont for nothing the rest of their lives upon successful completion of his mission. So with a smirk on his face and an evil murderous glint in his eyes Hisoka stepped forth and announced with malevolence.

"My, my, so many weak and feeble lambs for the slaughter and so little time, who wants to be first to meet Kami in the afterlife? Maybe I'll start with those purpled-haired babies crying over there in the corner."

"You will do no such thing!" A brunette woman wearing a white apron over a red sundress and holding a large wooden rolling pin stepped forward and stood between the Oto shinobi and Iruka's daughters. Yoshino Nara bore a fierce look in her brown eyes as she glared defiantly at Hisoka who merely laughed and spat.

"So I guess you're volunteering to meet Kami first, fine with me. I can wait to kill those two wailing brats after I'm finished with you."

As Hisoka stepped forward and Yoshino raised her rolling pin in defense, another voice rang out and said with unbridled confidence.

"Don't worry about this guy old lady, he ain't gonna be killing anyone, not while we're around."

Both Hisoka and Yoshino looked over to see two small brown-haired boys and a girl with dark orange hair all wearing goggles upon their heads step forward while glaring at the Oto shinobi. One boy wore glasses and appeared to have a runny nose, while wearing a simple blue coat and beige pants. The young girl bore dimples upon her face and was dressed in a pink blouse and dark brown pants, while sporting a red over shirt with no sleeves. Finally the young boy standing in front of the other two giving off the impression he was the leader of this trio wore a yellow shirt with short sleeves and bearing the Leaf village symbol on the front. He also wore light grey pants which stopped below the knees and had dark blue knee-pads sewn into them. However, the most unique feature of the boy's attire was the long royal blue scarf tied around his neck and flowing behind him.

"Three more fools who want a quick death and all of them snot-nosed brats!" Hisoka sneered with disdain.

"Surrender now you jerk or face the wrath of the Konohamaru Corps!" Konohamaru Sarutobi challenged with bravado while pointing an accusing finger at Hisoka."

"So you pint-sized ninja wanna-be's think you can take me on what a joke. Go ahead you little runts take your best shot before I gut all three of you like a pig."

"You asked for it, Konohamaru Corps attack plan O!" Konohamaru ordered as all three members of the corps flashed through a series of hand-signs before yelling out in unison.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" (Sexy-girl Technique)

In a flash of smoke Hisoka suddenly found himself staring at three nude, sexually appealing young women all of whom were blowing him a kiss. Before he realized what was happening, a geyser of blood erupted from Hisoka's nose and propelled the Oto shinobi backwards where he slammed the back of his head against the tunnel wall. Shaking his head to try and clear his mind, Hisoka looked up too late, as one of the nude women had charged forward and the Oto warrior grunted in immense pain. Looking down he saw the young women had thrust a kunai into his chest piercing his heart before in another puff of smoke she had changed back into Konohamaru. Using the last of his fading strength, Hisoka knocked Konohamaru aside and staggered forward only to drop to his knees, his last thought to himself as he fell forward and death claimed him forever.

'I can't believe I was killed by a 10yr old brat, how pathetic.'

A few minutes later a rumbling sound was heard before the rock slide inside the tunnel barring the way to the safety shelter fell away and Iruka stepped through followed by several other Chunin. He quickly ran up to the bunker to check on his kids and was relieved to find them in the arms of Yoshino Nara who was softly cooing at them causing the young babies to squeal with delight. Iruka went over to Yoshino to check on his daughters and the Nara matriarch commented in appreciation.

"Your daughters are adorable Iruka-san, they're so cute."

"Thank you Yoshino-san and thank you taking care of them."

It was then one of the other Chunin walked over and reported to Iruka.

"The Otogakure shinobi is dead Iruka-sama."

"What were the casualties?"

"None, before the enemy could inflict any harm upon the villagers, he was taken out if you can believe it by a single Leaf pre-Genin."

"Who was it?"

"It was that young boy over there." Yoshino commented, while pointing over to where Konohamaru sat with his knees to his chest staring blankly at the dead Oto shinobi.

"You should talk to the young man Iruka-san; he saved us all even if he did use some…unusual means to do so."

Iruka nodded to Yoshino and walked over and sat down next to his student. The academy instructor could tell Konohamaru was visibly shaken by what he had done. The first kill is always the toughest to overcome Iruka silently mused before speaking to the young boy.

"Tell me what happened, Konohamaru."

'That, that guy over there, he came into the shelter and everyone could see he was an enemy ninja. Then, then everyone started to panic and scream when he started talking about how he was going to kill all of us starting with those babies over there."

Iruka's breath hitched in his throat upon hearing that and now knew he would forever be in debt to Konohamaru for doing what he had, but first he needed to help his pupil recover from taking his first life.

"What happened next?"

"Well then that old lady over there stepped up to protect the babies and I couldn't understand it."

"What couldn't you understand?"

"I couldn't understand how this old lady wasn't scared like everyone else was of that guy. I mean she isn't even a shinobi or anything like that, just some civilian. Yet there she was refusing to back down and ready to take the guy on with nothing but a rolling pin and I felt….ashamed."

"Why did you feel ashamed?"

"Be-because I was afraid of that guy just like everyone else, but when I saw how brave that old woman was being I felt ashamed for being scared. So I gathered the Konohamaru Corps and we stepped forward to stop the guy and I, I…"

"You killed him." Iruka stated in a gentle voice.

Konohamaru nodded, while gripping his knees tighter to his chest before saying.

"That guy, he looked kind of funny when I killed him Iruka-sensei. His eyes were staring at me and he had this look of total surprise on his face. I, I mean we did give him a chance to surrender before I killed him."

Konohamaru could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks but didn't even realize that he was crying.

"When I shoved the kunai into his chest, I could feel his blood pour onto my hands and I swear I could see the life drain from his face as he looked at me."

Iruka put his arm around his student for comfort, as Konohamaru leaned his head against his teacher's arm, his chest heaving with the force of his sobs.

"Sob, I don't know if I can ever forget that look Iruka-Sensei. I'll never be able to sleep again without seeing his face and the feeling of his blood on my hands."

Iruka cradled Konohamaru in his arms and embraced the remorseful young boy and said with honesty, conviction, and assurance.

"Konohamaru, I know it may seem like that to you right now, but I promise you it won't be like that forever. You're a hero, did you know that. It doesn't matter whether you were afraid or not, you overcame your fear and did what you had to do and saved a lot of innocent lives today by doing so. You're grandfather would be so proud of you. You upheld the guiding principal that Hiruzen followed faithfully his whole life and that Lady Tsunade talked about in her speech. Do you remember what that principle is?"

Konohamaru shook his head while still hugging Iruka.

"That the Hokage and shinobi serve as the foundation for which Leaf village stands. As shinobi we will do everything in our powers to protect the Leaf village and its people even giving our lives in the line of duty to ensure its survival if necessary."

Konohamaru looked up to gaze at Iruka's face before the Chunin instructor added.

"What you did today protected the people and the Leaf village and you should not feel sad or ashamed for what you had to do, you should feel proud. And on a personal note I want to thank you for doing your duty as an honored shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"Why is that?"

"Come with me, there are two very special people I want to introduce to you." Iruka replied, as he and Konohamaru walked over towards Yoshino and the babies. It was then Iruka picked up one of the babies and gently placed her into Konohamaru's arms and said.

"Konohamaru, I want to introduce you to my twin-daughters Aniko and Anika. If you hadn't done what you were forced to do, I may never have seen my little angels ever again. I'm forever in your debt and I humbly ask a favor of you."

"What favor?"

"I want you and the rest of the Konohamaru Corps to help and protect Yoshino-san and my daughters until I return. Can you do this for me?"

Konohamaru stared at the cute cherub face of Aniko smiling back at him as he held her in his arms. He looked up to Iruka and flashed his trademark grin while nodding indicating that indeed he would watch over his Sensei's kids and protect them with his life.

"Thank you Konohamaru, I'm honored that you will do this for me." Iruka stated before bowing in respect to his student. He then leaned forward and whispered in his student's ear.

"I wouldn't refer to Yoshino-san as old lady anymore. She's actually the matriarch of the Nara clan and I'm sure you've heard the reputation of that woman in the village."

Konohamaru's eyes grew wide and he quickly shook his head in understanding. Rising and thanking Yoshino for watching over his children Iruka bid everyone farewell as he still had many duties to perform before he could come back. On his way out, he stopped and smiling turned back to Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon and proclaimed with certainty.

"Naruto would be so proud of all three of you if he could see you now."

As wonderful as the all the praise and gratitude Konohamaru and the rest of the corps were receiving from everyone. Konohamaru knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would never really forget his first kill. But in seeing the happy innocent face of the baby he held in his arms, he also knew that his first kill was something that he could live with now.

---

Sakura was running through the halls of Konoha hospital trying her best to implement the war protocol procedures Tsunade had ordered for the hospital. Room after room was being cleared of patients who were moved to a separate and more secured wing of the hospital. This was being done to allow additional wings to be solely dedicated to the wounded that would soon be arriving from the invasion. Medics were rushing around keeping only the patients who absolutely needed to remain in the hospital, while healing the ones with minor injuries and sending them to a safety shelter. Hurrying from room to room, Sakura was doing her best to heal all the patients she came across to clear room for injured Leaf shinobi. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Hinata down the hallway doing the same thing. It was then Sakura heard Shizune's voice on the hospital intercom blare.

"Sakura Haruno, report to the Trauma Center at once."

Sakura immediately rushed to the trauma center and saw Shizune giving orders to another medic. The first apprentice of Tsunade looked exhausted, as the strain of so many responsibilities with regards to the hospital was starting to take its toll. As Sakura approached the young woman Shizune handed a clipboard to the medic she was speaking with before turning her attention to Sakura and said.

"Come with me to surgical room one, we have our first casualty already."

Sakura quickly followed behind Shizune and they entered the surgical room. When Sakura saw who was lying on the table prepped for surgery she gasped and cried out.

"Shikamaru!"

"Yes, it's Shikakamaru, he's suffered a deep puncture wound to his abdomen and you need to suture it shut before he runs the risk of bleeding out. I'll be monitoring the anesthesia and keeping an eye on his other vitals while you're working. Now come on let's go!" Shizune stated with authority.

"But, but it can't be Shikamaru I just saw him a little while ago!" Sakura exclaimed in disbelief, while standing rooted to the floor and staring with abject horror at her bleeding friend.

"Damn it Sakura, I don't have time to explain everything to you! There was a sleeper Otogakure agent within the village and he attacked Shikamaru. Now get over here and help him unless you want to watch him die because you did nothing!" Shizune snapped at the young kunoichi.

Like an unseen slap to her face, Sakura was brought out of her shock and immediately moved over to the surgical table and began suturing Shikamaru's wound while doing her best not to throw up. After an hour of work, Sakura stitched the last suture and Shizune looked over the pink-haired kunoichi's work. Sakura stood off to the side and waited for the young woman's judgment when she heard Shizune comment appreciatively.

"Very nice work, the placement and distance between the sutures are perfect."

"Does, does that mean Shikamaru is going to be alright?"

"Shikamaru, oh yes he's fine, now as for this man." Shizune commented before flashing a hand sign and yelling out.

"Kai no Jutsu!" (Dispel or Release Technique)

A second later the Genjutsu that had disguised the face of the wounded Chunin Masajun as that of Shikamaru Nara faded away and revealed the true image of the young man. Sakura could only stare with shock and dismay at the man on the table before she whirled around angrily and shouted at Shizune.

"Why did you do that to me? How could you do that to me! I was scared to death that if I made a mistake Shikamaru would die. Do you hate me that much to do such a cruel thing to me?"

Shizune for her part didn't move a muscle or even blink as she stared at the young woman standing in front of her who was literally shaking with rage and screaming at her, before she lashed out and slapped Sakura across the face to calm the girl down and stated with no remorse.

"Get a hold of yourself Sakura. I did what I had to do because I needed to know if you could handle what we're about to face. I need you to realize that within a few hours you face the real possibility of your friends being brought in here seriously wounded and that their only hope for survival lies with you. I had to know if you would step up and be able to function under such circumstances or wilt under the pressure. I'm sorry if what I did seems cruel to you and perhaps to a certain degree it was. However, it was also necessary and I'm proud to see that you didn't succumb to the pressure and because of it that young man over there stands a good chance of living now. If it's any consolation to you, Lady Tsunade tested me the same way except she didn't use a Genjutsu of close friend, but instead chose the only family I had left my uncle as the subject I had to operate on."

As Sakura listened to Shizune, she began to calm down and realized that though the test was cruel in her mind. But if it was her shishou Lady Tsunade who first created the test then it must be necessary. Sakura looked back at Shizune and bowed her head slightly before saying.

"I apologize for my outburst Shizune-sama."

"It's alright, I was just as angry with Lady Tsunade after I took the test many years ago."

"Is Hinata going to have to take this test?"

"No, it's not necessary for Hinata to take the test. She's already proven in the past that she can handle the pressure of operating on a loved one."

"When did Hinata have to do that Shizune-sama?"

"She's had to do it twice with Naruto and never once yielded to the pressure of working on him. So I already know if she can handle the stress of operating on the boy she loves, she can handle doing that on any of her friends or loved ones."

Upon the mention of Naruto's name, an image of Naruto's face flashed across Sakura's mind as she remembered his goofy grin and voice that always radiated warmth and friendliness. It brought a smile to Sakura's face for a moment before she came back to the reality of the situation Konoha was facing and she nervously asked.

"Shizune-sama is it going to be bad for us, the invasion I mean. Are we going to be alright?"

Shizune turned her gaze to the young kunoichi and could tell Sakura just needed someone to tell her everything would be ok. Sakura had made great strides in her recovery over the past nine months, but she was still far from being completely healed. The young girl was still very shy, apprehensive, and introverted about many situations. This was a far cry from her personality before Sasuke's vicious assault upon the young kunoichi. However, as much as Shizune wanted to reassure Sakura that everything and everyone would be fine. She knew that lying to the girl would accomplish nothing and only give a false sense of hope or security to her, which would crumble away instantly the moment things got bad during the attack.

"I wish I knew, I really do. Orochimaru is a Sannin and he's bringing a sizable army to attack the Leaf village. On face value, it would seem like we have little chance of winning. And I would feel more confident if Master Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto-kun were here to help us. But knowing Lady Tsunade like I do, even without them I know she has a few cards to play up her sleeves against her former teammate and remember she's a Sannin as well. We just have to believe in her, our shinobi, and in the will of fire she spoke of earlier that lives within us all to guide us to victory Sakura. Now I'm going to take this young man into the ICU recovery wing, take a 15 minute break and then you can resume your previous duties."

As Shizune wheeled Masajun away out the doorway of the operating room, a small tear rolled down Sakura's cheek as she thought about her former blonde-haired teammate and she softly said to herself.

"I wish you were here Naruto-kun, we need you…...I need you."

---

Tsubasa looked around and was growing increasingly concerned. He could still sense that weak chakra signature somewhere in the area he was patrolling. When he and his fellow sensor shinobi first perceived this signature they weren't overly concerned about it considering how feeble it was. But now Tsubasa was beginning to wonder if that was a mistake considering he hadn't heard a word from his two Oto comrades since they went to investigate the source of the signature. Even more disturbing was the fact that they were not responding to his radio calls either. Tsubasa decided then and there he should radio into his command center for orders on how to proceed. Just as he raised his arm to activate his radio earpiece, the Oto shinobi heard a twig snap to the right of him. Turning his head to that direction, a green blur suddenly appeared behind him and the last sound Tsubasa ever heard was the snap of his own neck.

Gai stood over the dead Oto ninja and raised his arm to activate his own radio earpiece and called out."

"Big Cho, Woodpecker, this is Sexy Beast, do you read me, over?"

"Roger, this is Big Cho and Woodpecker, we read you Sexy Beast, over."

"Roger Big Cho, the field is clear of snake eyes, do you copy, over?"

"Roger Sexy Beast we copy, over."

"Roger Big Cho, will rendezvous with you at point K after I check on the big snake, do you copy over?"

"Roger Sexy Beast, we copy, over and out."

After Chouza finished his radio communiqué with Gai, Yamato looked over at him while the leapt from tree to tree and asked with annoyance.

"Why did you let Gai pick the codenames Chouza-sama?"

"The Akimichi clan leader could only shrug his shoulders and say with a grin.

"Why not, it's not that big a deal. Besides you're just irritated about it because you don't like your codename."

"I've had many codenames on many missions as an ANBU operative, but Woodpecker without a doubt is the worst one I've ever been assigned in my entire life." Yamato openly grumbled, as off in the distance Mount Kuttara came into their view.

About an hour later, both Chouza and Yamato stood at the base of the caldera crater on top of Mount Kuttara that held the waters of Lake Kuttara. Using his Doton elemental style capabilities, Yamato had already started carving a riverbed trench leading off in the direction of the Oshina plateau. Now the Mokuton user was in the process of bending trees over the trench and forming a dome or cap over it. Yamato stopped for a moment and took a Soldier pill to increase his chakra level, as he realized he would have repeat this process for nearly five miles before it reached the edge of the plateau to be released.

For his part Chouza had utilized his clans renowned Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique) and had grown to over 100 ft tall and was hammering away on the outside of the crater and forming a vertical chasm running almost 400 feet in length down the side of the mountain. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, the Akimichi clan leader estimated it would probably take him another hour before he would reach the point to where one blow would finally crack the crater and spill Lake Kuttara out of it. Just as Chouza was about to resume his work, Gai appeared and was waving his arms frantically at him. The Akimichi clan leader reduced his size to normal, as he and Yamato made their way over to Gai who bore a grim look upon his face and said.

"The flames of youth have not been kind to us today my comrades, I fear all of our efforts have been in vain."

"What do you mean?" Chouza asked with concern.

"The Snake Sannin and his forces….they've arrived and begun crossing the Oshina plateau."

"Damn it, then we're out of time!" Yamato exclaimed with disgust.

"Not yet we're not! Gai how many of Orochimaru's forces have crossed the plateau?" Chouza hurriedly questioned.

"None had crossed yet; they were still about a mile or two away from reaching the plateau when I saw them. But I would surmise in the time it took me to get back here that the front edge of Orochimaru's army had reached the plateau and have started crossing it."

"Then we still have a chance." Chouza declared with hope.

"What do you have in mind?"

"This!" Chouza answered by snapping open a small pillbox containing four red food pills.

Both Gai and Yamato's faces grew pale, as they both remembered Kakashi's ordeal with the infamous Akimichi drug. Chouza could see the look of concern of both his comrades' faces and stated with honesty.

"I know what you're both thinking and I understand your apprehension. However, if you're thinking that what happened to Kakashi will happen to you, I can assure you that it won't. Remember he took two pills and suffered an overdose because of it. I'm suggesting each of you take one pill. I won't lie to you the aftereffects you will suffer won't be pleasant. Once the drug wears off, you'll both suffer full body fatigue; pronounced sweating, periodic spasms of pain. But nothing to the severity of what Kakashi had to go through. Also the time period to recovery is reduced and the drug will be fully purged from your bodies within 12 to 16 hours after ingestion. I want you both to know, I will not order either one of you to take this pill. This is strictly voluntary on your part and if you refuse I understand and will bear no grudge against you for that decision."

Both Gai and Yamato looked to one another and after a moment they nodded and each one took a pill out of the box before Yamato asked.

"What's your plan Chouza-sama?"

"My plan is fairly simple; I will ingest the two remaining pills and then crack this crater open like an egg with one blow."

"Two pills, but doesn't that mean you will overdose on the drug and suffer what my eternal rival had to go through! You could die from doing that!" Gai exclaimed with alarm for the Akimichi clan leader.

"It does mean I will suffer what Kakashi had to go through and yes it could kill me, but gentlemen, we are out of options at this point. However, I have no intention on dying and this is where you come in Gai. I'm going to putting all of my chakra into that single blow and once I've delivered it, I'll be at near chakra exhaustion. The red food pill will give you a tremendous increase in chakra and I'm counting on you to get me back to the Leaf village as quickly as you can for medical treatment."

Chouza then turned his attention to Yamato and declared.

"Yamato-san, like Gai-san here your chakra is going to increase immensely as will your strength and speed to control the flooding water while simultaneously pushing forward to construct your Doton and Mokuton water-pipe all the way to the plateau. Then once you release the water make your way back to the Leaf village as quickly as you can."

Chouza then stuck his hand out palm side down and looked to his two fellow Leaf village Jounin. After a moment, Gai place his hand over Chouza's and Yamato did likewise with Gai. The Akimaichi clan head then spoke two words.

"For Konoha!"

"For Konoha!" Gai and Yamato repeated in unison, before all three warriors broke apart and set about their assigned tasks.

Gai watched Yamato take the pill and then go racing off down the pipe-way he had created to continue its construction. The notorious sexy green beast of Konoha then ingested his pill and a moment later staggered, as it felt like a tidal wave of chakra exploded within his body. Turning his attention to Chouza he watched as the Akimichi clan leader stood at the bottom of the immense vertical chasm he had already carved in the mountainside of the crater. Gai then saw Chouza swallow the two red food pills before dropping to one knee. A few seconds later, the veteran leaf village warrior rose and began channeling all of his chakra into his right arm, fist, and the gauntlet he wore. Gai gazed with awe as Chouza's arm grew brighter and brighter and one could actually see the chakra crackling and dancing all around the appendage.

"FOR KONOHA!" Chouza roared to the heavens, before rushing inside the chasm with his fist poised and ready to strike and a second later a thunderous crack was heard that seemed to echo throughout the Fire nation.

"CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

Miles away Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head on a hill with Kabuto and Sasuke beside him, as they watched their Sound forces begin to cross the Oshina plateau, when they heard in the distance the impact of Chouza Akimichi's blow.

"It sounds like we might be in for some rain Lord Orochimaru."

"It matters not Kabuto, it will take more than a little water to stop ussssssssssss."

Meanwhile Gai heard a low distant rumbling and the ground he stood on began to shake. Looking back to the chasm, the green clad Jounin searched for any sign of the Akimichi clan leader. Then a few seconds later, there was an explosion of water erupting out of the chasm and Gai caught sight of Chouza being buffered about in the churning turbulent water. In an instant, Gai plucked the unconscious and now very frail looking clan leader out of the water before he fell into the pipe-way and began racing back to Konoha with Chouza in his arms. The duo of Leaf village Jounin were moving at such an incredible rate of speed, that one could not even see a discernable shape of the men, just a green shadowy blur that blazed through the forest.

Meanwhile Yamato couldn't believe the influx of chakra he had received and was carving the riverbed trench and bending trees over the trench capping it at a fantastic rate of speed. The Mokuton user had also formed using all of his elemental capabilities a type of floating cork inside the makeshift water-pipe to keep the water emptying from Lake Kuttara from spilling out the pipe-way as he constructed it. However, Yamato knew he had to continue to build at a breakneck speed lest the pressure building up inside the pipe became too much and it burst before it reached the Oshina plateau. Because if that were to happen, there would be no hope in saving the Village Hidden in the Leaves, from falling into Orochimaru's scaly hands.

---

As Orochimaru watched his Otogakure shinobi army cross the Oshina plateau, a distant rumbling was heard coming from his eastern flank. Soon the plateau itself began to vibrate causing everyone already on the plateau to stop moving and gaze off in that direction. Everyone looked on with confusion towards the forest edge that ended at the plateau. When suddenly what looked like an enormous wooden tube 300+ feet in diameter with some sort of earthen cap within it burst forth from the trees and forest floor onto the plateau. Some of Orochimaru's forces veered off to investigate what this strange object was before the Snake Sannin's eyes grew wide upon realizing who could create such a structure and he ordered in a panic.

"Retreat you foolsssssssssssss, everyone get off the plateau now!"

However, by the time Orochimaru finished that sentence, it was too late. The earth and stone stopper that had been containing the waters of Lake Kuttara exploded from the Mokuton pipe like a cork popped from a champagne bottle. This over 300 foot wide and 100 foot deep piece of earth, rock, and wood skidded across the plateau and smashed into the Oto shinobi already on the flat terrain like a giant bowling ball crushing tiny pins. Before the Oto ninja who weren't injured or killed by that monstrous water plug could even stagger to their feet and get their bearings. Over 4.1 billion gallons of water was bursting forth from the giant tube flooding the plateau and those men suddenly found themselves being swept away in tidal wave of water.

Orochimaru scowled angrily, as he watched the churning water that now lay in front of him that had destroyed some of his shinobi, weapons, and supplies. The Snake Sannin silently vowed that one day he would find his lost experiment and make that man pay for what he has done here today. Sasuke sat next to the fuming Sannin, his chin resting in the palm of his hand as he leaned into his arm and ironically commented.

"You were right Orochimaru-sama. It won't take a little water to stop us, but a LOT of water to stop us."

"Silence Sasuke, I'm in no mood for your levity right now!"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in his typical fashion, as he watched a drowned and obviously dead Otogakure shinobi float by. A moment later, Kabuto appeared and Orochimaru turned to his apprentice and snarled.

"Report Kabuto, what is the damage and how long will we be delayed?"

"This is only a preliminary report Lord Orochimaru, but my initial estimates of the damage are this. We've lost about 15% of our shinobi due to the attack. Over 200 are dead and another two to three hundred are wounded. We've also lost roughly 25% of our supplies and weaponry we were to use for the siege of the Leaf village. As for how long this attack will delay us, I estimate it will take the flood waters to recede from the plateau at least a day and possibly two before we can proceed to Konoha."

"Those are heavy losses Orochimaru-sama; do you still wish to proceed with the attack?"

"Sssssssssssssasuke-kun, how could you even ask such a question? Of course we shall proceed with the attack. Remember our true purpose for this attack is find out if the rumors are true that my fool of a Sannin teammate Jiraiya and your former Sensei have left the village to train the Kyuubi no Youko container or if it is a ruse to draw us out into the open."

"What if its not a ruse Orochimaru-sama?"

"If the rumor is true Ssssssssssssssssasuke-kun, then we conquer the Leaf village and leave them no home to return to. Besides it doesn't matter if the rumor is true or false, that is why we've brought such a sizable army with usssssssssssss. Even with the losses we've suffered today, we still hold a six to one numerical advantage in shinobi over what our accursed former village can bring to the battle. Konoha will fall and there is nothing they can do to prevent that, especially if three of their most powerful shinobi are away from the village."

"That's true Lord Orochimaru; I've studied extensively why we were unsuccessful in taking down the Leaf village during the Chunin exams. What turned the tide in their favor was the untimely arrival of the Toad-Sage Sannin Jiraiya. As well as Kakashi along with Might Gai defeating so many of our advanced Chunin and Jounin shinobi at the stadium. And finally there was Naruto's stunning victory over Gaara the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku Ichibi. Those three main factors are what swung the pendulum of the battle from victory for our forces to defeat."

"Hn, well I could care less if the Leaf village falls, just so long as I get to kill the dobe if he's there and take the Hyuga bitch and a few of the other sluts to start rebuilding my clan." Sasuke sneeringly stated with malice dripping from his voice.

"Ku, ku, ku, there's no need to worry about that Ssssssssssssasuke-kun. Naruto's demise I leave to you and I promise that both you and Kabuto can have the women you want once they are captured."

A wicked grin spread across both faces of the Snake Sannin's protégés before he continued on.

"However Kabuto, a two day wait is unacceptable. I want to be ssssssssssitting in Hokage tower by then with Tsunade either dead or in chains at my feet. I don't care if the men have to wade through this water up to their necks, but I want to be in Konoha as soon as we possibly can."

"Hai Lord Orochimaru!"

"OROCHIMARU!" Manda hissed menacingly at the trio standing upon his head.

"YOU DIRTY WORTHLESS GAS-BAGS! I WILL NOT STAY IN THIS LAME REALM FOR TWO DAYS OR ACT AS YOUR TAXI SERVICE. YOU PROMISED ME AT LEAST 200 SACRIFICES TO HELP YOU DESTROY YOUR PATHETIC FORMER HOME TODAY. IF THAT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN THEN I'M LEAVING!"

"Very well Manda, will you stay if I give you 100 sacrifices now and three times that number of Leaf villagers once we conquer them." Orochimaru bargained with the King of the snake summons.

"HMMMMMM, 100 SACRIFICES NOW AND 300 MORE LATER ON…... YESSSSSSSSSSS, I'LL AGREE TO THOSE TERMS!"

"Kabuto, cull 100 of our weakest and most injured shinobi out from the others and deliver them to Manda at once."

"It shall be done Lord Orochimaru."

As the Sanke Sannin watched his first apprentice leap away, he silently mused to himself.

'Ku, ku, ku, a pity Sarutobi-Sensei isn't here to witness my greatest triumph, the destruction of my former homeland and the village he so dearly loved. And once I've taken the body of Sssssssssssasuke-kun with his powers combined with my own all of the elemental nations will bow down to me!'

---

When the morning rays shown through the windows of Hokage Tower and awakened Tsunade she silently wondered if today would be the day. A little over 36 hours ago, Gai had come racing back to the village with Chouza in his arms and proceeded to collapse in the lobby of the hospital. After learning what had happened from the bushy-browed Jounin, Tsunade was tempted to ban the use of the Akimichi drug. But in hindsight, without it the mission would not have been successful as the blonde Hokage learned a few hours later when Yamato returned to the village and gave his report before he too succumbed to the aftereffects of the red food pill. All three members of that vital mission were currently recovering in the hospital, as Tsunade rose from her chair to gaze out upon the village when someone knocked on her door.

"Enter!"

A young Chunin entered the office and bowed before the buxom blonde Hokage and spoke.

"Hokage-sama, we have received word from Sunagakure that their reinforcements are 12 hours away from reaching us. They are being led by the Godaime Kazekage himself."

"Very good, is there anything else to report?"

"Hai, moments ago Shikaku-sama requested your presence to the lookout point on Hokage Mountain."

"Very well, you may leave."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

A few minutes later, Tsunade found herself standing at the lookout point atop Hokage Mountain with the two assigned Chunin sentry's manning the post and Shikaku Nara who was currently looking through an immense telescope onto the horizon. After a moment he lifted his head and turned to Tsunade who asked.

"Is it them?"

Shikaku nodded his head grimly and stepped out of the way so Tsunade could peer through the eyepiece. As Tsunade knelt down and gazed through the telescope, her eyes quickly focused on a dark silhouette against the backdrop of the morning sun. Instantly she recognized the distinctive slithering mass and the four horn-like protrusions that came from its head. There could be no doubt about what was coming….Manda the King of the snake summons. Turning her attention back to Shikaku, she asked only one thing.

"How long?"

"Two hours." The Nara clan leader replied forebodingly, as Tsunade's visage grew pale upon hearing the answer.

---

Author Notes: Yes, I am still alive such as it is and still writing obviously. Life is still treating me like a baby treats a diaper, but I'm still kicking. My apologies for the long delay in updating my story, there are several reasons as to why this happened. One reason was the critical need to update my other projects that I'm co-authoring, which thankfully I got accomplished these past few weeks thus allowing me to finally work on this chapter. However, the main reason for the delay was a horrible case of writers block when I suddenly realized. "Holy shit, I've got to write a freaking invasion!" Upon this realization my mind suddenly drew a blank as to where to even begin?

So after struggling with the writer's block for many weeks, I had an epiphany and decided to take a different approach then what you usually read in invasion scenes where the enemy appears out of nowhere and attacks the Leaf village. I wanted to examine some of things that could happen with the characters when they know an attack is soon coming. How they would act, things they would do, emotions they would convey, etc, etc. And viola, chapter 44 is born! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and my approach for it, but I'm anxious to see what your responses will be via review for it. The chapter itself is the longest one I've written even without my usual sizable author notes. Consider it my gift for the lengthy wait you all had to endure for this update.

Now I wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter, it's much appreciated by me. In fact a couple of milestones occurred after the posting of my last chapter. First, I eclipsed the 2,000 reviews barrier and want to thank all of you who have reviewed this story in the past and helped me to achieve this feat. I give a shout-out to Sargent Mehoff, who was the one to leave that milestone review. However, I would have appreciated more of a review from you sarge other than you indicating that you were the 2,000th review.

The next milestone that was reached at least I think it's a milestone is that my story Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath has been placed into the favorite story category of over 1,000 ffnet members. A special shout-out goes to Bludy's Valentine who was the 1000th ffnet member who deemed my story good enough to be placed on their list. I feel especially honored by Bludy, as he has seen fit to only place two other stories within his favorite story category. A Father's Love by lord of the land of fire and Chunin Exam Day by Perfect Lionheart. I'm flattered and most grateful that Bludy deems my story worthy to be placed alongside those outstanding works on his list.

Anyway, please leave lots of reviews, as they do help a writer get the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?

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Hottest Anime Girls Poll:

The poll is still going on and quite strongly I might add. In a short amount of time it's already garnered over 785+ people who have voted on it. So if anyone of you hasn't checked it out yet, please do. Also to any authors of stories out there who read my tale, if you are willing please copy and paste the following to add into any chapter updates you might post in the future.

Have you ever wondered "Who is the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful girl ever created in the world of anime?" Well now's your chance to vote for your own Top 10. Kingkakashi besides having a great story has set-up a poll about this very question on his profile page. Help answer and settle this issue once and for all.

I'm trying to get as many people as I possibly can to vote on the poll because I've never seen one done to the scale I have on this particular question. I'm considering ending the poll once it reaches 1,000 voters. So any help you all can provide is much appreciated by me. Thanks to everyone and I hope you have fun with the voting. And believe me when I tell you, picking 10 choices isn't as easy as you would think it be on this poll. (Lol)

Comments with regards about the poll results so far:

Well the Top 10 is virtually set and I'm happy to say that all five of the Naruto girls you could vote for are strongly entrenched in that Top 10 with Hinata leading the way of course. In fact it looks like the top two girls are going to end up being Hinata and Anko and up until a few weeks ago Yoruichi of Bleach fame had a solid hold on the number three position. However, now I'm not so sure as Kurenai has come back from over a 20+ vote deficit to Yoruichi and is making a strong run to claim that third spot. So if you want a 1-2-3 finish on the poll of Naruto women, then those votes for Kurenai need to start rolling in before it ends.

End of Poll Comments:

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Now, onto everyone's favorite section Kingkakashi's rants on the manga yaaaaaayyyyyy!

This time I do have a few positive things to say about some of the last few issues of the Naruto manga!

*Warning I do give away some spoilers in my rants, so read at your own risk.

Before I begin, several readers accused me of being hypocritical for Kishimoto's use of a cliffhanger in chapter 499 of Kushina revealing that she was the previous Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko. I think people have misunderstood my rant on Kishimoto's cliffhanger. I was not railing against cliffhanger endings in general. Far from it, as you all know, I'm the King of Cliffhangers with my story, lol. What I was railing against was the quality of that one particular cliffhanger, as I didn't feel in my opinion that Kishimoto put very much thought into it.

#500 – The big #500 chapter/issue of Naruto and I've got a lot to say about it. In this issue we learn a great many things about Uzumaki clan and Kushina. And while it was interesting, it also completely contradicts what Kishimoto had previously written that only a baby whose chakra coils haven't developed yet could be used to seal away the Kyuubi no Youko. Apparently Kishimoto decided no one would remember that as he threw it out the proverbial window when we learn that the first Jinchuuriki of the fox demon was sealed away into a fully-grown woman who was from the Uzumaki clan and the First Hokage's wife.

Then later on, Kushina as a teenage girl was chosen to become the second Jinchuuriki when the first host was about to die. Why was Kushina chosen? Apparently she was born with "a particularly strong chakra that was well-suited to suppressing the Nine-tails." Ok, once again a complete contradiction for if a vessel must possess strong chakra, then the fox demon wouldn't be sealed into a baby since their chakra is at its weakest. So if we're going off of this premise, then the Yondaime should have sealed the Kyuubi no Youko within himself since he possessed the strongest chakra during the attack. It's these contradictions and Kishimoto's flawed explanations why I thought that cliffhanger wasn't well thought out by him and I believe I was proven correct.

I also I have a difficult time believing that the Uchiha clan would name Sasuke after the Third Hokage's father. They were such an arrogant clan I really can't see them naming any of their kids after someone else's ancestor, only their own. In the end Naruto is born (with whisker marks, please explain that?) while Minato kept the seal on Kushina intact while she gave birth ensuring that the Kyuubi no Youko didn't escape. Then Madara shows up and all hell breaks lose. Overall, a chapter filled with contradictions and suppositions, but with a really evil cliffhanger ending to it.

#501 – This chapter was exciting and we get to see what an evil bastard Madara truly is in it. He kidnaps Naruto and tries to kill him. But Minato saves him only for us to learn it was a ploy to get Minato away from Kushina while Madara ripped the Kyuubi no Youko out of her, took control of the demon with his Sharingan and had it attack Konoha. Minato rescues Kushina before she's killed by the fox demon. Then we get a touching reunion with her and Naruto while Minato gears up to kick Madara's ass and stop the Kyuubi. All in all this was a pretty good prelude chapter to an upcoming badass fight.

#502 – I really enjoyed this chapter. We get to see some of the older characters as teenagers, then Madara drops the Kyuubi right into the Leaf village and it starts running amok. Minato shows up and actually stops one of the fox demons most powerful attacks using his Hiraishin technique in a creative way. Which we come to learn is a space-time technique. Minato and Madara then square off and we learn that Madara's greatest jutsu his eye teleportation is also a space-time technique. Minato figures out its Madara Uchiha who has done all of this. Anyway, the two of them start slugging it out again until Minato wins the battle of the techniques and lands a Rasengan on Madara. This was a really fun chapter to read and I have to give props to Kishimoto for it.

#503 – A continuation of the fight and Minato is able to wrest control of the Kyuubi no Youko from Madara. Minato is able to wound Madara who escapes but gives the classic villain response of I'll be back shtick. Then we get some cool scenes of the Third Hokage and many other shinobi such as Iruka's parents fighting the Kyuubi. We also get a scene of Kurenai's father ordering all the younger ninja such as his daughter, Kakashi, Gai, etc to stay out of the fight with the Kyuubi. Just as Kyuubi is about to unleash a killer attack onto the village, Minato shows up and summons Gamabunta to hold the Kyuubi down. Minato then teleports himself and the fox demon back to where Kushina and Naruto are. Kushina uses the last of her chakra and binds the demon and tells Minato she'll drag it back inside of her and die so Minato and Naruto can live. A noble sacrifice as a parent, I give her props for that. I don't give props for Minato using the Dead Demon Seal just so that Kushina can spend a few minutes with Naruto later on. A good chapter up until the end in my opinion, but I thought Minato was being really stupid and his stupidity cost Naruto a life with at least one parent still alive.

#504 – This chapter pissed me off on so many levels I don't know where to begin? I guess I'll start with Minato's ill-conceived, altruistic, and totally faulty thinking of sacrificing himself and denying Naruto both of his parents when he didn't have to. I'll end it with Kushina's idiotic diatribe of final words to Naruto culminating in her advice on women of "try to find a girl like your mother." Which I'm sure had all the brain-dead, mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging Naruto/Sakura lovers jumping for joy considering the parallels Kishimoto has tried to establish between Kushina and Sakura. To all of the Naruto/Sakura fans such as Frozen-Tundra88 who read this story, none of you fall into the above written description of most Naruto/Sakura fanatics. There is obviously something in your DNA that sets you apart from the majority of those I described since you recognize and read a good story such as this even if it has Naruto with Hinata. Anyway, this marks the end of the flashback chapters as I like to call them and we return to the present where Kushina begins to fade away from Naruto's mindscape. Overall I consider this chapter an epic failure.

#505 – There's not a whole lot to this chapter. Naruto returns to the land of the living from his mindscape and reveals he now has full control the Kyuubi no Youko's chakra. In doing so he discovers Kisame hiding out in the Samehada sword on Killer Bee's back. Kisame makes a break to escape and get back to Madara with the information that Naruto now controls the Nine-tails powers. In a surprise move we also see that Naruto has somehow gained the knowledge of how to the Hiraishin and knocks the hell out of the sharkman. This chapter did have a lot of Might Gai featured in it as well, but it was for comedic purposes, which got old real fast. Until the end where Gai gives the escaping Kisame an elbow for the ages you've just got to see to believe. Overall, this was not a great chapter, but it wasn't a crappy chapter either.

#506 – This chapter rocks as it is the start of an epic Gai vs. Kisame throw-down. All I can say if you like Might Gai and want to see him kicking some ass then you will love this chapter and the next chapter. The ending was epic with Gai and Kisame both unleashing their most powerful attacks on one another at the same time.

#507 – We see in this chapter the continuation of the Gai vs. Kisame fight and we see the outcome of who wins the battle of ultimate attacks between those two. You also get an in-depth look into Kisame's past as a Mist shinobi before he hooked up with Madara. On a personal note what's the name of the Konoha ninja with the sunglasses? Overall a really good chapter and I have to say I'm surprised between this and the previous two chapters, Kishimoto actually strung three chapters in a row that I could stomach. Good job Kishi, lol.

Yes, I'm still thoroughly disgusted that Kishimoto hasn't done anything yet with the Hinata confession to Naruto now reaching 70 freaking issues!

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As always, if anyone wants to discuss my story in greater detail, just shoot me a PM. I enjoy talking about the story with any readers who really have an interest in it. I'll try to respond back to you as quickly as I can. Now I'd like to give a shout out to a couple of stories that I recommend and hope you all will checkout when you have the time.

"The Autumn Sky" by Psycho G: A really creative and interesting one-shot story that reflects in depth Sakura's bullshit confession of love for Naruto in #469 of the Manga. The creativity of putting it into a storyline I thought was quite ingenious on Psycho G's part.

"The Deaths of Kishimoto" by King Hawke: This is a really humorous one-shot in which several of our favorite characters from TV, Film, Literature, and many other genre'stake their revenge on Kishimoto for what they thought was the murder of Hinata by Pein in #437 of the Manga. The creative and downright funny ways Kishimoto is killed by all of these characters make this one-shot a lot of fun to read.

By the way, we just posted the latest chapter of "Supreme Genetics – Creation of a Bloodline" If you want to read a really good Naruto/Hinata/Sakura story, then this is the one you should checkout. According to the reviews we've gotten, it's our best chapter yet. The link to the story is on my profile page and the story is being co-authored with Hefster. In my own opinion, the story is becoming one of the better Naru/Hina/Saku stories on this site.

Now please be kind and leave precious valuable reviews on these stories.

Take it easy and be good!

Kingkakashi

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School Time:

Mantra

Definition: A statement or slogan repeated in the form of an invocation, prayer, or as meditation.

Etymology: 18th Century Indo-European Sanskrit

Part of Speech: Noun