Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto the anime or manga. This story is based off the world of Naruto. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 21 – Shaken, Not Stirred

Konoha Stadium, Main Stands

CLING! CLASH! CLING! CLASH!

"Oh no you don't!" Kakashi said as he pulled back an Oto ninja who tried to run away from him. "Wearing that mask, pretending to be an ANBU member of Konoha. You fooled the people and disrespected the ANBU. I just can't let that pass."

STAB!

"ARGH!" the Oto ninja gurgled out. Blood leaked from his mouth. A river of red flowed down his jaw and chest, a horrific image was created.

Kakashi pulled out his kunai from the chest his enemy and flicked his kunai clean. The vile blood came off straight away. Kakashi reverse gripped his kunai and went after his next target. His next prey.

"There's so many of them. Oto and Suna, why did they do this?" Kakashi murmured beneath his mask.

A group of three ninja appeared in front of Kakashi. One Suna ninja and two Oto ninja. "We have you cornered, Hatake Kakashi. Prepare to die," one of the Oto ninja said.

Kakashi sensed three more enemies behind him. One of them was a kunoichi by the sound of her landing.

"Oh? Is that right? Well, I suppose this calls for some special treatment," Kakashi said. He gripped his forehead protector and pulled it up. His three-tomoe sharingan revealed itself.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan. Unfortunately, this is your end. A six on one with all the same rank. The only result will be your death," the Oto Jōnin said.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, making the ninja around him anxious. "That doesn't work around here. I'm sure you have heard of my feats as well as my good friends'. I'm not trying to boast, but it would do you good to think twice before you run your mouth," Kakashi spun his kunai around his finger and then gripped it hard. "I'll tell you why you're going to die here. When threatening a man who has everything to lose, that's when he is most dangerous," he said.

Kakashi's smile turned into a set of pursed lips, his eyes focused onto his new prey. Lightning chakra pulsed out of his right hand and coated his kunai.

Kakashi bolted forward, pulling back his fist and using his sharingan, he moved his body to stand in front of the Suna Jōnin. Kakashi pushed his left fist forward and punched the enemy right across the right side of his jaw.

The Suna Jōnin's head rocked back. This was what Kakashi was looking for. Swinging his right arm across, Kakashi sliced the vulnerable and now open side of the throat belonging to the Suna Jōnin. His lightning chakra aiding in the slice of life. The Suna Jōnin's head came off with a clean cut. Blood sprayed in the aftermath.

Kakashi's sharingan focused on the Oto Jōnin on his left. He moved his body to the left and pushed his right foot out across the ground, lowering his centre of gravity. Kakashi regripped his kunai and then thrusted it into the heart of the Oto Jōnin.

Kakashi quickly pulled it out. His head turned to see what was going on behind his back. The three other enemies that were behind him all threw shuriken and kunai at him, hoping to kill him with the throwing weapons.

Kakashi thought quickly on his feet, he threw his kunai at the second Oto Jōnin that was in front of him. It stabbed the Jōnin right in the head and he died in an instant. Kakashi then gripped onto the kunai, and in a feat of amazing acrobatics, Kakashi jumped over and positioned himself behind the limp corpse.

The shuriken and kunai stabbed the Oto Jōnin's corpse, Kakashi used it as a human shield.

Kakashi dropped the body and then dusted his hands. Tilting his head back, he eyes looked lazily at the remaining three.

"Ah, great. Now I have you three to deal with," Kakashi said as he walked over slowly to the remaining three Oto Jōnin.

The three Oto were shaking in their boots. "He killed them all so easily. We have to run away!" the middle Oto Jōnin said.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. His pace did not change. "Run away? How pathetic. All my wonderful students have much more courage than all three of you combined. And they're only Genin," he said. "Now come on, try your best to kill me."

The three Oto Jōnin looked to each other. Then they all nodded and crouched low to their feet. It seemed they were going to retreat and regroup with more numbers. A smart tactic if you're against a shinobi on the level of Kakashi.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

Gai came through the air and spun in circles, his feet implanting themselves into the three Oto Jōnin. Each and every one of them flew off and crashed into either the tough seating or the concrete wall.

Gai stabilised himself and looked at all three. He didn't know if they we unconscious or dead, but for now they were all definitely down for the count.

"How many have you taken down Kakashi?" Gai asked.

Kakashi yawned. "Twenty. What about you?"

Gai smiled. "Ah, my eternal rival. I also took down twenty. Though, this is not the time to be playing games. The main stands have dwindled. What should we do with Hokage-sama?" Gai asked.

Kakashi sighed. "I wouldn't worry about him. He's still strong. Though, we can't do anything since that barrier is up. That Four Violet Flame Formation barrier won't allow anyone go in or out. All we can do is hope is that Hokage-sama defeats Orochimaru and puts an end to this," he said.

Gai went into deep thoughts. "Could Kotaro-san not do anything about it? He has great knowledge on seals and those sort of things," he asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, that thing isn't fūinjutsu, just a group ninjutsu technique. And Kotaro knows he doesn't have anything to break it down. It's not in his arsenal. Finally, he's not here with us, he's gone to protect the future. We should go over to Kurenai and Asuma and support them with the Daimyō protection," he said.

Gai smiled. "Good call Kakashi! Let's show them what we Konoha ninja are all about!"

Main Streets of Konoha, Southern Half

The streets of Konoha were a mess. Rubble laid across the paths, food and stalls were destroyed from the various attacks. The people were in a desperate panic. Hours ago, there was a festival full of joyous people, now it has transformed into a death arena.

Naruto was on top of a building, scanning his surroundings. He was mainly looking for any children that could have been caught in the wreckage. He was also looking out for any men or women; however, the streets below were clear.

Naruto jumped down to the street and landed beside Shikamaru.

"Anyone else?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto could see that Shikamaru's laziness has completely vanished and he was taking the situation very seriously. It was a nice change, but an odd change nonetheless.

Naruto shook his head. "The streets are clean. Everyone has been evacuated. Thankfully the enemy hasn't reached this location. Where is Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"I'm right here Naruto," the voice of Sakura said.

Both Naruto and Shikamaru turned their heads and shifted their bodies to see the girl run up to them.

Shikamaru scratched his cheek. "What was holding you up?" he asked.

"I was helping a woman with her son. He broke his ankle, so I helped lead them to the hospital," Sakura said. "What should we do now?"

Naruto smiled at her. "Good work Sakura. This area is clear, and I saw that the areas nearby is mostly clear. However, with all the Chūnin flying around, I think it's fair to say that we have completed our roles so far and evacuated everyone here," he said.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, the easy part is over unfortunately. What should we do now Naruto?" he asked. Shikamaru was hoping for a retreat order, he really didn't want to get into any confrontations.

Naruto ran his fingers through his blond hair. The intense situation was making him worry in sweat.

"Kiba, Hinata, Ino and Chōji should be close to being finished as well. I think Sasuke is alone. We were separated after when the explosions came. He's going to get isolated. Alright! We're going to go and find Sasuke, then we'll go to the hospital and defend it from further threats," Naruto said.

Shikamaru thought for about it for only a second. "That's a solid plan. I don't want to fight, but we have to look out for our own," he said while nodding his head.

Sakura gasped. "I completely forgot about Sasuke-kun," she said.

Naruto's face remained stern, but inside he was struggling to contain a laugh. Not taking the attack seriously would be completely inappropriate for the dire situation they're in right now.

Naruto exhaled heavily and narrowed his eyes on Sakura. "I honestly didn't think that was possible. We have to go now, every second we waste here means more time for Orochimaru and his goons to try and capture Sasuke," he said.

"What about you Naruto? You and Aniki are both targeted by Orochimaru as well," Shikamaru said with concern.

It never occurred to him before this that the two people he considers his family could be targeted in this way. Shikamaru felt grief at the idea of losing either one of them. If his mother Yoshino found out, she would try and kill Orochimaru herself.

Naruto grinned at both Shikamaru and Sakura. "We don't need to worry about Kotaro-nii. Orochimaru would need to do it himself if he really wanted him. And for me, I have you guys."

Sakura clenched her fist and kept it close to her chest. "What if your brother does get captured?" she asked.

Sakura watched as Naruto's expression turn cold. She felt her skin crawl. Naruto was radiating in deep fury. She was wondering how Naruto could exert so much emotion, so much pressure.

"Never again. Never again will I let Nii-chan get trapped like that," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

Shikamaru slapped Naruto's shoulder, making the latter snap out of his dark emotion. "Don't think like that. You couldn't have done anything back then, you were still in the academy. It's been two years since Aniki was on that mission. Both you and Aniki have gotten way stronger," Shikamaru said loudly, all of it was directed at Naruto.

"Naruto… are you okay?" Sakura asked. Having never seen this side of Naruto, she grew worried for her friend.

This past month, the Chūnin exams, the preliminaries and finally the finals, Sakura has learned more about Naruto than from their last few months together as a team. Gone was the façade of a true idiot that only ate ramen to now a sophisticated shinobi with a goofy and loveable side. Her whole opinion of him has changed.

Naruto shook his head and sighed a breath of mighty relief. "Yeah! I'm fine. Let's go and find Sasuke," Naruto ordered.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. We will be the ones to collect the Uchiha, right after we dispose of your two friends and take you in, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Who was that?" he asked. Naruto's eyes quickly moved to Shikamaru's. The two pairs of eyes met, and an unspoken plan was made.

A four-man cell of Oto ninja appeared onto the streets. They were approximately twenty metres away from Team Naruto.

Naruto was confused with the introduction. 'Why did they come straight out to the open? Unless if they have a trap hidden up their sleeve, they've only hampered their chances of capturing me. What idiots,' he thought.

Naruto crossed his arms and stared at the Oto ninja that was in the front. He assumed that this ninja was the leader. Naruto saw that all the Oto ninja wore the same outfit. A black mask that covered their whole face, only a section revealed for their sight. The Oto forehead protector was sewn onto the forehead section of their masks.

Naruto assumed there was some type of armour underneath their purple and black camo outfits. In his mind, there had to be. This made him think of a plan that will only need two moves. All he needed was a Nara and something deadly.

Naruto breathed slowly before speaking. He only had one chance to do this right. He had to make sure that his team could hear him properly.

"Capture me? And kill my friends? That's not going to happen," Naruto said confidently.

The Oto ninja laughed. "You and the black-haired kid are tired from your fights. The pink girl looks weak. This is going to easy. Just make things nice and simple, surrender," he threatened.

Naruto smiled. "Let me think about that. But, I have to say to always watch out for your shadow. It might get you stuck in a real bad situation. You wouldn't want a gustily wind to blow in your face either," Naruto said.

Sakura couldn't understand what Naruto was doing. "Naruto… Stop this, you're only provoking them," she said. In her eyes, this was not the situation to act all cocky in. They should run away from the threat.

Shikamaru grunted, making Sakura look at him. She saw him shake his head at her. Was he trying to say he understood what Naruto meant? The thought was running through Sakura's mind.

"What the hell you talking about kid? This isn't fun and games," the Oto ninja said. "I'm going to kill your friends."

Naruto exhaled loudly. His eyes then focused. "Shikamaru!" he said.

"Understood!" Shikamaru didn't waste any time. His hands were already formed in the Rat hand seal. His shadow grew and hid itself in the building's shadows. It then stretched out and linked all the Oto ninja's shadows. "Shadow Possession successful," he said.

"What! My body!" one of the Oto ninja said. For all the effort he put in, he couldn't move an inch.

Naruto took out his Wakizashi blade, Silver, from its sheath. "Shikamaru. Make them hunch down now," he ordered.

Shikamaru kept his jutsu going and moved his body forward, leaning forward and letting his arms hang off his shoulders. He made sure to reveal the left side of all four of the Oto Ninja's throats.

Naruto reversed gripped Silver and crouched slightly. He moulded chakra, letting his body prepare itself for the next set of motions.

"Naruto, what're you doing?" Sakura asked.

She was ignored.

Naruto opened his eyes and focused on the first, then the second, third, and finally the last. His free left hand formed into the one-handed Tiger hand seal.

"Swirling Blade Style: Cyclone," Naruto said. Silver glowed a faint silver colour as soon as the words left his mouth. He could feel the intense chakra circulate through his two legs and sword arm.

Sakura and Shikamaru watched as Naruto disappeared from his spot in a flash, generating dust clouds from where he was.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! STAB!

Blood sprayed straight up into the air. Three cuts were made to the carotid artery of the first three Oto ninja. Their throats were completely cut open. Their bodies stayed in position due to Shikamaru's jutsu. The jutsu however couldn't stop the bleeding.

The final attack was a thrust through the abdomen. Naruto's blade went straight through the final Oto ninja's belly. The eyes of the ninja that Naruto just stabbed were nearly popping out of his skull.

Naruto gripped onto Silver with just his right hand, and then it sliced out to the man's left hip. Silver came out without resistance; the Oto ninja's blood came off Silver as Naruto flicked his blade before sheathing it back to its sheath.

Shikamaru released his jutsu, the first three Oto ninja dropped to the ground. They were already dead as Naruto already dealt the killing blow long before his last kill.

Naruto turned around to see Sakura covering her mouth, and Shikamaru looking at him with hard eyes.

Naruto made his way to his team. "Come on guys. We need to hurry," his head looked in every direction, trying to find any threats, "Staying here will only put us in danger, ANBU will clean this up," he said.

Naruto watched as Sakura coughed violently. This was the first time she saw this much gore at once. He sympathised for her, but only a little. Naruto knew what he was, what they were all. Shinobi. This belief made these things easier to deal with. Hopefully in the future, things will change.

"Sakura, have you calmed down yet?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded, but her face showed a deathly pale. "I'm fine. Let's just get out of here. But you guys worked so well together, and you didn't say anything to each other at all," she said.

Shikamaru smiled at the words. "That's probably because we understand each other so well. But you're right, we better go," he said.

"Shikamaru is right. Let's go," Naruto said, already moving towards the stadium, the last known location of Sasuke.

Shikamaru and Sakura followed in his footsteps. They were on the move.

Naruto looked around as they moved. Team Naruto were making good distance. The open streets made it easier to run without distractions.

CRACK! CRACK!

Two large and thick walls erected out of the ground and trapped Team Naruto. The walls sudden appearance made the team worry.

"What is this?" Shikamaru said. "We're boxed in."

The walls reached up to the eaves of the buildings around them. The team were trapped in.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the two new walls. "This looks familiar. It must be an Earth ninjutsu," he said. "It looks just like Kakashi-sensei's."

"Look what we have here. Three Konoha babies."

Naruto looked up to the rooftops and saw four people, two men and two women. They all wore red. Naruto focused his eyes to their faces, their forehead protectors. A gasp escaped his lips as his eyes widened. It was a big surprise to him.

"What are Iwagakure ninja doing here!?"

Konoha Academy

The day of the Chūnin exam finals have belly-upped in a spectacular fashion. The village itself has now become the warzone of four different groups.

Throughout the massive grounds and properties, Konoha, Iwa, Oto and Suna ninja were fighting. It seemed that Konoha was the only one being targeted as Iwa, Oto and Suna ignored each other for the most part.

Many have died already, both the civilian villagers and ninja of Konoha. The enemy forces are dwindling down in the Oto and Suna armies, however so far, the Iwa ninja were applying guerrilla warfare tactics and using the whole environments to their advantage. The worst part was that it was working magnificently for them.

Sarutobi Konohamaru was being lead out with his fellow classmates and his Chūnin instructor, Umino Iruka, to the playgrounds of the Academy.

Konohamaru saw the children on their knees, their hands tied behind their back, hunching towards the ground.

Looking to the left and right, there were thirteen men and women in red shinobi clothing. He recognised the symbol engraved in their forehead protectors. The symbol of a rock. It was Iwagakure.

Konohamaru's heart started to beat faster. Moegi and Udon who were beside him, started to cry. He has never felt this scared before in his life. He couldn't understand how this could be happening, to him, his friends and Konoha. It made no sense!

Konohamaru's trembling mouth couldn't stop moving. The three teams of four Iwa ninja were making him even more fearful for his life.

The leader was the scariest one of them all. Konohamaru saw that the man was the average height, he had toned muscles and a loud voice. The shaggy brown hair with the shaved sides made the leader a scary image for the young boy.

"Get a move on!" one of the Iwa ninja said as he kneed the back of Konohamaru, making him cry out in pain.

Konohamaru dropped to the floor, but quickly got back to his feet. He didn't want to give anything or anyone an easy excuse to hurt him.

The Academy students were lined up and forced onto their knees, much like their fellow classmates.

"That's the last of them," one of the Iwa kunoichi said, "the whole building is empty now."

The leader dusted his hands and smiled. "Good. Finally, that's the first order now complete. We now move onto phase two," he said.

"Crua-taichō, what are your next orders?" one of the Iwa ninja asked.

Crua, a Jōnin of Iwagakure, looked at the back of his hand. There were many scribbles and doddles written on it.

"Yes, what was it again? Oh, there it is! Okay, we need to plant the explosives around the Konoha Academy," Crua ordered.

A squad of four Iwa ninja nodded and vanished, all travelling via body-flickers.

Crua walked up and down the lines of the academy students and the Chūnin instructors with a stern expression. He stopped once he saw the face of Konohamaru.

Konohamaru's heart stopped beating, just seeing this man's face, Crua's eyes made him lose all control. This pressure was nothing Konohamaru has ever experienced before.

Stab!

Konohamaru choked and coughed. He looked down to his chest and saw no wound. No damage whatsoever.

As Konohamaru looked back up, Crua hasn't changed his expression or has moved an inch, not even one little bit. He was a still image.

Konohamaru wasn't stupid, he knew it was the sheer bloodlust that made him feel that pain, that phantom pain.

Crua knelt to the floor. His eyes pierced through Konohamaru's. He then rested his jaw on his palm and grinned at the boy.

"Hello there Sarutobi Konohamaru-kun. Grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen," Crua said, his grin never fading.

Iruka, who was beside Konohamaru, narrowed his eyes on the Iwa ninja. "Why are you doing this? What reason do you have to do this?" he asked.

Crua turned his head to see the shouting Chūnin instructor. He picked out his ear and blew out some wax into the air.

"You're loud. Quiet down and I'll answer your questions, or I'll else your head will be pulsed by my fist," he threatened. Crua cracked his knuckles which made the threat even more frightening.

Iruka closed his mouth, a cold sweat rolled down his back. This man was something else, scary couldn't be enough to describe him.

Crua sighed. "Since we must wait for the bombs to be planted, I'll be the kind man my Kaa-san tells me that I am and tell you. Why are we doing this? Simple, to bring Konoha down on its knees."

Iruka gasped. "Bring Konoha down on its knees?" he asked.

Crua smiled and nodded. "We knew today was going to be the day that one man was going to attack Konoha. A spy was seen in Iwa years ago. A teenage boy with glasses and grey hair. Instead of apprehending him, we spied on him. A smart move in my opinion. We fed him false information while we learnt about him and his new informants. We didn't know who he was as we assumed he was under a false name.

Eventually, we found out that he was betrayed by his own, and then went to Orochimaru, a member of the legendary Sannin. He then began to work for him, we eventually lost his trail, but we reaped some good rewards from it all.

We wanted to have put down this place, this village. But there was also another big reason, the Tsuchikage-sama and us as well want one man to go down, broken to tiny pieces or even killed. He was the pushing factor for this surprise charge," he explained.

"One man?" Iruka asked. "Hokage-sama?"

Crua laughed and wagged his finger in front of Iruka. The bindings around Iruka's ankles and wrists made it impossible to make him stop. The wagging was infuriating.

"No. Not him at all, he isn't even part of the plan. We don't care if he survives or not. No, we want to get rid of three things. First, the future generation. Kill them before they get strong. Second, demolish and destroy any building we see in our sights. And finally, repay our dearest friend from this damned village for what he did to us two years ago," Crua spat out at the end.

"Two years ago?" Iruka said. Memories flashed quickly through his mind. The voice of Naruto rung through his ears.

Kotaro-nii! He was sent on a mission and he was ambushed by thirty ninja. The leader of the group was like the son of the Tsuchikage. He fought them all alone and he could be dead! Hokage-Jiji even came to my house last night to tell me!

"You're after Kotaro-san for what happened two years ago?" Iruka asked. "You were the ones who tried to kill him in the very first place!"

Crua nodded sluggishly. "I know that, but with politics, we have to show we don't take shit from anybody or anyone. I didn't lose anyone important, but there are some in our little army who have. His death will make them happy. Like I said, a repayment for what Uzumaki Kotaro did to Kitsuchi's 'Earth Squad' in the Land of Stone," he said.

"Naruto-niichan's Nii-chan?" Konohamaru muttered under his breath. "Kotaro-nii…"

WHOOOSH!

The four Iwa ninja who left before, have now returned. They waited behind Crua, waiting for his acknowledgement.

"The bombs are now set up Crua-taichō," one of the Iwa ninja said. "What shall we do next?"

Crua stood up and dusted his hands. "What else? We set them off, kill these guys and move out," he said. His voice was dry and deep, he was dead serious despite the wry smile on his face.

BUZZ! BUZZ!

Crua clicked his tongue and pushed a small button on his earpiece. "Yeah what is it Kitsuchi-san?" he asked. "I'm in the middle of something yeah."

Iruka listened closely. He couldn't hear anything from the earpiece, but he wanted to hear every single word that left Crua's mouth. However, the way Crua referred to their leader made Iruka think that the man was of similar rank. It was a frightening prospect.

"Huh? You need support. Yeah, everything is calm around here. Alright, see you in a few," Crua said.

Crua turned around and looked at all his subordinates. "Alright, myself and team Alpha are going to support Kitsuchi-san. He's in trouble and the bastard needs me to get him out of it. Team Beta and Gamma will continue phase two here," he said. "Where's my second in command Reo?"

"I'm here Crua-taichō," a tall, broad shouldered man with brown eyes and hair tied in a bun came to the leader's space, "What do you need me for?" he asked.

Crua looked at him from head to toe. "Yeah, you will oversee everything here. Come back once the operation is finished. I'll shoot a flare once we've reached Kitsuchi-san's location, so you'll know where we are. Though, once you reach it, we'll have to change location since Konoha will know where we will be," he said.

Reo nodded his head. "Of course, Taichō. We will return with nothing else but total success."

Crua crossed his arms and smiled at Reo. "That's my man. Alright, let me give you a little something special before I go."

Crua did the Snake hand seal and focused on moulding his chakra. "Diamond Release: Weapons Creation," he said.

A tantō and multiple shuriken were created out of thin air. Starting as small particles, it grew rapidly and took shape into deadly weapons. Everyone took the new weapons and inspected them.

Reo looked at his new weapon with a shine in his eyes. "Truly remarkable. The hardest material with such a sharp cutting edge. Such a dangerous weapon can take down any Konoha or Suna scum," he said.

Crua sighed. "I suppose, but those weapons won't last forever, there is a limit. My chakra diamonds are not the same as normal diamonds. I would have to put more effort into them if I wanted them to last forever," he said. "Ah, but they will last for a few battles or so. Good enough for today."

"More than enough," Reo said with a mad grin.

Crua nodded. "Alright. Reo, don't lose your cool if you see him. We'll take our leave. Team Alpha on me, let's go!" he shouted.

"Yes sir!"

Crua and four of the Iwa ninja moved towards Hokage Tower and the Konoha bunkers. Being one of the densest spots of conflict in the village, it should be no surprise that Iwa needed support.

"The bombs are set. Where's the switch?" Reo asked his ninja.

One Kunoichi moved her way to the new leader and gave him a small stick with a red button on top. Reo smiled once it was in his possession.

"Alright, in three… two… one… blast off!" Reo shouted, pressing hard on the button.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Six huge explosions all around the academy building, destroying it and the buildings surrounding it. The floors started to collapse, and everything fell apart.

"Oh, my Goodness…" Iruka said stuttering. His favourite place in Konoha, where all his most amazing memories were made, was completely blown to smithereens. The bombs destroyed everything. The large sign that was proudly placed above the door of the academy fell and struck the ground hard, creating a large divot and sound.

Konohamaru's eyes started to well up in tears. This was too much for him and his friends. Now that the academy was destroyed, their deaths was the only thing left for the Iwa ninja had to do.

Konohamaru could see everyone crying, some were even screaming. The explosions, the sound of death around them. This was a huge mess. Konohamaru looked up to the new leader, Reo, and saw he had a grin on his face. A plan was in his head and he was ready to say it.

Reo walked around the tied-up Konoha citizens and laughed. "You're angry and sad. Aren't you all!? Well, just before we strike death upon all of you, you might have some solace if I tell you this. Blame the man who killed our comrades two years ago. You could say it's his fault for placing this terrible doom on you and this village. Uzumaki Kotaro is the spawn of the devil.

Don't worry though, as all of you curse him in your deaths, the Iwa shinobi will send him back to Hell!" he shouted to the top of his lungs.

Konohamaru saw that people were in a state of distress. They were thinking of the words. He knew that a lot of people didn't like Naruto for some strange reason. Kotaro was in the same boat, receiving some glares here and there but never on the same scale Naruto did.

In the last seven months, since his first meeting with Naruto. Konohamaru noticed that the opinion of the Uzumaki brothers was a strange one. Respected for their strength but disliked greatly by the majority.

Mainly from the civilian populace of the village. The ninja body had good respect for them, but it was clearly the minority. Konoha has grown from a simple village with just ninja clans. It's now a hub of every type of person, all with their own opinion.

One thing was certain to see in the eyes of the other academy students and some of the Chūnin instructors. They were scared for their lives, fear has overridden everything in their systems.

The tears couldn't stop flowing from Konohamaru's eyes. This was simply too much for the young Sarutobi.

The sound of footsteps was heard, they were close by. Konohamaru stopped his crying. His lips trembled, and his fear grew tenfold, he believed more Iwa ninja came for them. To kill them all.

"Send me back to Hell? I don't know about that, it seems like an awful long way down."

Konohamaru saw Iruka flinch. "That voice!" Iruka said.

Reo stopped his speech and looked towards the now destroyed entrance to the Konoha academy grounds. He saw crimson hair and purple eyes. A ninja outfit mainly consisting of green, grey and black.

"It's you. The guest of honour has finally arrived. Uzumaki Kotaro. 'Crimson Leaf'… It's a ridiculous name for a ninja, no an imbecile like you," Reo said with a cold tone.

Kotaro walked closer but stopped once two Iwa ninja stopped in his path with unique clear weapons on the ready. Kotaro moved his eyes to Reo, who was glaring at him.

"Imbecile? That's a bit harsh," Kotaro scratched his cheek while focusing on Reo, "You seem to have some problem with me from the look of that glare of yours? Don't leave me out of the loop, spit it out," he said bluntly.

Reo clenched his fists. "Two years ago, you killed many people. One of them was my sister. Others lost brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts. How do you feel about that?" Reo asked.

Kotaro exhaled through his nose. "Kitsuchi and his squad initiated the assault on my team. What was I supposed to do? Let them kill me? No, I wouldn't allow that to happen. I fought and fought hard. Prevailing through, I left it behind me and learnt from my mistakes. It's not my fault that she died, blame your village," Kotaro said.

Reo gnashed his teeth. "Blame my village!? Do you take me for a fool? Never, Iwagakure flows through my heart and soul. You're the one I have to blame, you're the only one I can blame for all this pain."

Kotaro could see the heavy eyes of the man. Reo, must have loved his sister dearly to still be in this much pain two years later. His vengeance was hungry for Kotaro's head.

Kotaro knew Iwa hated him and wanted him dead, but he didn't know by this much. His feelings would be similar, maybe even more if it was his Naruto that died.

Kotaro moved his head from right to left. There were only eight enemies in total. However, each looked strong, a fierce battle was surely to come. The only problem was the number of hostages in the blazing yard. There were many different classes and many Chūnin instructors in danger.

'I do love a challenge though!' Kotaro thought as he took out a kunai from his leg holster. Looking across once more, he could not see a single way to kill or distract every Iwa ninja and not lose a Konoha life. The numbers were totally not in their favour.

If he didn't want Iwa to win in any form, Kotaro needed to save everyone here. Yet, it seemed to be an impossible task.

Kotaro's expression darkened. This was a tough predicament. Blowing through his nose heavily, his eyes refocused on the eight enemies, a plan was made up in his head.

"Kotaro-san! Just save the children! We would sacrifice ourselves for them!" Iruka shouted, before getting smacked in the face by an Iwa kunoichi. He spat out blood, the woman had a powerful punch.

Kotaro sighed. "That was the plan already. Sorry, but the future is important to us. The King has to survive," he said.

Reo scoffed. "You there, kill that Konoha man who just shouted," he ordered.

The Iwa kunoichi pulled back her kunai, ready to deal the death strike to Iruka.

Kotaro hunched down, he prepared himself for the outrageous task of saving Iruka and everyone else.

However, he heard footsteps behind him and stopped his movements immediately. The presence was familiar. Too familiar, and he knew the presence shouldn't be here in the village anymore.

"Bang," a feminine voice said.

Kotaro's eyes saw a blue ball of fire with a white core fly past him at unbelievable speeds. He saw it move past the hostages and hit the Iwa kunoichi that was about to kill Iruka.

"AHHH!" the kunoichi screamed as her whole body lit up in blue flames.

The hostages, the Iwa ninja as well as Kotaro watched as the kunoichi's body drop to the floor, becoming a desiccated and mummified corpse. All life was evaporated from her body.

"What the hell happened? Who did that!? No Konoha ninja should have that type of ability!" Reo shouted to his men and women.

Kotaro watched as the remnants of the special blue flames vanished from the corpse. "That power. She's here… why?" he said under his breath. "I told her to leave like five minutes ago."

The footsteps became louder and louder and then they stopped.

Kotaro looked down to his right. "I thought I told you to get out of here, Niko. This is Konoha's problem, not yours," he said. "Get back to safety and go home."

Niko scoffed at Kotaro's words. She flicked her hair and then rested her hands on her hips. "Yeah you said that. But, what makes you think I'll follow your orders though? I'm not a shinobi of this village, you have no command over me," she said.

Reo, the Iwa squad leader, focused his eyes on his two enemies. He was familiar with Kotaro, having been in the Iwa bingo books for so long, all ranked ninja above Genin knew about him. He had a large bounty on his head not only from Iwa, but also the Land of Frost. If someone was to kill him, they would become very rich overnight.

This woman however, he has never seen or heard of her. She was much shorter than Kotaro, her white hair flowed with the wind. Despite her attractive appearance, she wielded a deadly ability. Her attire was a mix of battle and class, it seemed that she prepared herself for a fight.

The pressure emanating from the two was intense, more than anything he felt before. It was similar to his captain's, Crua, but with both of the pressures together, it was on a whole other scale.

"What was that ability? You killed her in an instant and she's dried to a crisp!" an Iwa ninja shouted. It seemed this was too much for him.

"It doesn't matter what ability she has, we have to eliminate her now," Reo shouted as he threw one of his newly made diamond shuriken at Niko.

The shuriken flew across the grounds, Niko raised her right hand up and caught it, however letting it stab her palm in the meantime. There was no leakage of blood, confusing the Iwa ninja, the academy students and the Chūnin instructors who could see. The woman didn't flinch with any sort of pain.

Niko proceeded to pull out the shuriken and then inspected it. One end of the shuriken tips morphed into a curve, rendering it useless.

Her supposed wounds caught in blue flames and then vanished. The Iwa shinobi were shocked to see there was no wound marks whatsoever, yet it was a direct hit. Was it a demoralising tactic?

"Oh, this is made out of diamond. You see that Kotaro?" Niko said as she threw it up to him.

Kotaro nabbed it out of the air and looked at it. His eyes widened once he looked at it closely, it really was diamond.

"So, the rumours are true. You, the Iwa squad leader, are you the infamous ninja that has the ability to make diamonds?" Kotaro asked.

Reo smirked. "No. But Crua-taichō can. He has awakened his ability and is unbeatable. He is the ace of Iwagakure," he said.

"Awakened his ability?" Kotaro said. "It seems like this Crua guy is a lot stronger than I thought."

Niko huffed and puffed. "Seems like we have our work cut out for us here," she said. "Do you think we can take them all on and keep everyone safe?" she asked.

Kotaro bit his lower lip. "I don't know, but we have to try, don't we?"

Reo looked between his squad and the two enemies, Uzumaki Kotaro and this strange woman Niko. If they start the executions now, they will all surely get killed in the meantime.

It was clear that Reo was buying time for himself and his comrades. It would be very bad if they all died, which would be an obvious mission failure.

Reo knew they had to kill those two before anything else could be done. "Eliminate those two now!" he ordered.

Kotaro saw tens of diamond and metal shuriken fly his way, the diamond kunai were hiding themselves behind the other projectiles. It was too much to deflect all at once, even if he had his two swords which he stupidly left at home. In the back, it seemed that a few of the ninja were preparing for their own individual jutsu. He had to act now.

Kotaro weaved through five hand seals and ended it with Tiger. He moulded his chakra and focused on the scene ahead.

'Water Release: Water Wall,' Kotaro thought as water gushed out of his mouth and created a high and thick wall of water.

The volume of water was huge, resembling a large flowing river, it completely negated the shuriken and kunai attacks.

Kotaro released his jutsu and stopped spewing out water. The water wall dissipated, and water flowed across the grounds. The knees and legs of the Chūnin instructors and academy students were now soaking wet. The waters revealed the large number of weapons that he blocked.

Kotaro looked to see that an Iwa ninja slammed his palms to the ground. He felt a rumble at his feet and jumped up immediately.

Four large spears of rock emerged out of the ground and jutted to where Kotaro was standing. Like last time in the Land of Stone two years ago, the Earth Release: Earthen Stone Shoots jutsu nearly pierced through his guts.

Kotaro landed on the new stone shoots. His eyes watched as the Iwa ninja reformed their positions. He was wondering if the projectiles and the shoots were only a distraction for something greater. He knew he'll find out eventually.

Kotaro's eyes turned back to see Niko wasn't at her spot anymore. He looked around and saw her standing to his back left, there was some blue flames residing on her right hand. Looking in her body direction, Kotaro saw another mummified body, this time a male member of the Iwa squad.

Now there was only six, and the Iwa ninja hasn't killed one hostage yet. 'They want to kill us first… The guy is not as ruthless as I thought he would be. Or maybe he's just not taking the full advantage,' he thought.

Kotaro watched as Reo grabbed Konohamaru from the ground and pulled a diamond tantō against Konohamaru's throat.

"Don't do anything stupid. Or else the Hokage's grandson gets killed. His blood will be on your hands," Reo threatened.

Kotaro's expression darkened. It seemed that he was dead wrong from before. Reo was taking advantage of the dire situation, Konoha was in trouble now.

Reo watched in glee as he saw the change in Kotaro, his frown became more apparent. However, it didn't last long before Kotaro changed it into a grin. This confused not only him but Konohamaru, Iruka and the other hostages.

"Shinobi Rule Number five: A shinobi should always be aware of their surroundings," Kotaro said. "You failed."

"Huh?" Reo said. His face showed his total confusion.

PIERCE!

"AH! Fuck me!" Reo shouted as a stream of focused water pierced through the back of his shoulder and left through his front deltoid muscle. The pain made him jerk in reaction and drop his weapon. Konohamaru was now free.

Kotaro, who already took off his Jōnin jacket, formed the Snake hand seal while jumping off the stone shoots.

He then landed on the ground and six chains came out of his back, they launched themselves to each of the Iwa ninja and snaked their way around their waists. The chains secured tightly and picked up the Iwa ninja and kept them up in the air.

Kotaro then slammed his left foot onto the ground, making it go deep a few mere inches to secure his position.

"What are these chains!? This wasn't in the bingo books!" Reo shouted. "You guys get out this the best you can. We can't let them win!"

Kotaro could see the Iwa shinobi slashing at the chakra chains with their kunai and other weapons. It was ineffective, any damage it received was meaningless. The chains repaired itself after every strike by consuming more of Kotaro's chakra.

Kotaro kept his hands in the Snake hand seal and looked to Niko. "My clone just popped there. Finish this off would ya? Use your power!" he said.

Niko smiled and nodded. "Will do. Alright, Scorch Release: Will-O-Wisp," Niko said as she crossed her arms over her chest, with her index fingers pointing in opposite directions.

Six blue flame balls of fire with a white core formed around her, circling in quick motions. Niko focused her chakra and then formed the Horse hand seal. The balls flew into the air, all in different directions. Each ball of hot fire hit each of their targets.

"AHH!" the cries of the Iwa ninja could be heard from miles away. The agonising pain of being burnt to the core was a burden nobody wished to have.

The flames that covered their bodies and grew more and more. Niko was satisfied with her work and then clicked both her fingers. "Let's go," she said with a grin.

BANG!

Each flame covered body erupted in more flames, scorching the Iwa ninja. They were like bombs. The shrieks of the Iwa ninja could be heard within the blaze. A terrifying group of screams.

Kotaro felt the bodies that his chains held up were shrinking, the blue flames were doing their job of making the bodies completely dry.

Kotaro released his chains and let the bodies drop to the ground. Five bodies dropped and cracked into separate pieces, the final dropped and shattered completely.

Kotaro focused on the last body and noticed it was different from the others. There was no corpse, it was a fake. He knew what it was, a special earth ninjutsu which creates a golem to the shape of the user. It's very similar to an earth clone, but it had its key differences.

Kotaro looked to the wall and saw someone standing on it, bleeding and coughing blood. There was a large burn wound on his right arm, ranging from his shoulder to his elbow.

"That was a close one," the man, Reo, said. "Crua-taichō won't be happy with this."

Kotaro clicked his tongue in annoyance, Reo escaped his and Niko's team move. "Where do you think you're going?" he yelled out.

Reo tugged his lips up. "What the fuck do you think I'm doing!? I'm retreating you son of a bitch. You and that woman, I knew it, you are definitely related to the devil.

With those powers of yours. Ha, I have to tell the chief about this. Konoha will know that you are to blame for this, Uzumaki Kotaro," he said.

Dropping a smoke bomb, Reo had escaped and ran away. His presence has vanished from the vicinity.

Kotaro ejected the hidden blade that was in his right wrist guard and nabbed it in the air. With second nature, he launched it forward to the Academy ground's wall where Reo was standing on, enhancing it with Wind chakra. It went through the wall and split the old tree behind it.

The man, Reo, was gone already. Kotaro spat out his built-up saliva in frustration and went on his way to retrieve it. It didn't take him long to find it and put it back where it belonged. Turning around, he walked back to the destroyed Academy.

Kotaro shook his head and moved his way to the academy students, picking up a diamond kunai along the way and cutting up the ropes that tied their ankles and wrists together. He saw that Niko proceeded to repeat his actions. Eventually they got to the Chūnin instructors.

Iruka rubbed his wrists, the ninja rope used on him was wrapped extremely tight. He was afraid he would have lost the use of his hands from lack of blood flow.

"Thanks to you and your friend here Kotaro-san, the children are safe," Iruka said. "Now we have to get them to the bunkers."

Kotaro nodded. "Absolutely. You know the drill already. Just make sure everyone gets there safe," he said.

"What are you going to do now?" Iruka asked.

Kotaro sighed and looked into Iruka's eyes. "I'll have to go to the hospital. There were many serious injuries and they were all bottlenecked into there. Making sure that they don't die is a priority now. It is also a base of operations during invasions, so I'll try and help coordinate other ninja to where they're needed most," he explained.

Iruka smiled at the news, his worries calmed slightly. Then it suddenly peaked back up. "How is Naruto? Is he okay?" he asked.

Kotaro grinned. "Oh? Naruto is fine. He's helping out the village right now and I bet he's doing a fantastic job as always. This will be great experience for him," he said.

Iruka wiped his forehead. "Thank Goodness, I shouldn't worry so much, but I can't help it. I love all my students."

"And they love you too," Kotaro said. "You're a good sensei. Make sure they stay safe Iruka."

Kotaro's eyes focused on Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi who were surrounding Niko, complimenting about her special Scorch Release powers, having never seen anything like it before.

It surprised Kotaro how everyone was ignoring the mummified corpses that she created, but he wasn't going to make them look at them now, that would just be cruel.

Kotaro crossed his arms and made his way over to Konohamaru's group. He noticed something strange about Moegi's left arm once he got close to them. "Moegi? Did you hurt your hand?" he asked.

Moegi flinched once she heard the voice and turned around quickly, seeing Kotaro was already there beside her. She looked at her left wrist, there was a large swelling and her hand was very limp.

"I think they did something to it," Moegi said. She was biting her lower lip to brave through the pain.

Kotaro knelt and took her arm gently, analysing the wrist closely. He could clearly tell what happened without having to use a diagnostic jutsu.

"Ah, Moegi, it's broken. This needs to get checked out immediately," Kotaro said.

WHOOOSH!

The leaves blew out and a member of the ANBU appeared from Kotaro. The person was wearing a mask of a boar.

"Uzumaki-san, the hospital is full to capacity. They require assistance in first-aid and minor surgeries. You are required," he said.

Kotaro focused on the ANBU's arms and saw the tattoo on his upper right shoulder. A flame mark only put on those who become official ANBU members. Kotaro knew this guy was legitimate.

"Understood. I'll be there ASAP," Kotaro said. "Go and help the village."

The ANBU vanished as quickly as he came. Leaving nothing behind him.

Kotaro rubbed his face and looked to Iruka. "Iruka, take Konohamaru and Udon to the bunkers with the rest of the students. I'm taking Moegi to fix her arm. Don't worry, she'll be safe with me," he said.

Iruka nodded and grabbed the hands of Konohamaru and Udon. "Come on boys, we have to get you guys safe, so your future comrades can save Konoha," he said.

Iruka lead the two boys off with the retreating pack of academy students and Chūnin instructors.

"Konohamaru-kun, Udon-kun," Moegi said with worry.

Kotaro hummed, making the small girl look up to him. "Don't worry, they'll be alright," he said.

"Promise?" Moegi asked.

Kotaro brushed away his sense of déjà vu and smiled at Moegi. "I promise. I am Naruto's Nii-chan after all. It'll look bad if I didn't keep my promise," he said.

Kotaro grabbed Moegi's right hand and held it tight. His head turned to Niko who was waiting for him to come to her. He went over with a puss on his face.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed," he spat out.

Niko tilted her head with a devious smile on her face. "Oh? Are you really that worried for me? I'm touched. But honestly, if I wasn't here to throw them all off, someone on your side would have died," she said sternly at the end. "Or many."

Kotaro focused his eyes on her. She was right, there was no possible way of him saving everyone in that situation. Even if they all had the skill level of a Chūnin, it was simply impossible to leave without one casualty, which most likely would have been Konohamaru. Being the grandson of the Hokage had its downfalls. It seemed that Naruto's famous luck has finally rubbed off him for today.

A part of Kotaro wanted to thank the woman in front of him, she has truly helped out him and the village, Kotaro wanted to show his gratitude. However, a much larger part of him was suspicious of her actions of late.

Kotaro narrowed his eyes onto her. "Why are you doing this Niko? I may not know everything about you, but I know that you don't do things just for the sake of it. You don't do things for the greater good. You're selfish in your actions. I like you because you're honest about it. Yet, what just happened doesn't fit your personality, now does it," he said.

Niko smiled and batted her eyes. "Now, now. I'm human after all, we have to do a selfless one thing once in a while," she said.

Kotaro scoffed at her words. "That applies to everyone apart from a select few, which includes you, and you know that. Look, cut the bullshit. Do you want Konoha to survive for business? I know that some of your channels get through to here," he said. "You 'Kings' control the whole information and drug trade, it's no surprise if that's what you wanted."

Niko crossed her arms. "That's not all of it you smart bastard. Yeah, Konoha is important for business. But it's also your home, and your little brother's," she said with a huff. "That's enough of a reason for me to kill some of these assholes."

Kotaro exhaled through his nose and pulled himself and the confused Moegi towards the hospital. "And we're only pieces to your gaming board, right? Pawns for your future goals," he said.

"I don't think so," Niko said as she came her way and stood beside Kotaro. "You're more important than mere pieces on my gaming board. You'll see… eventually."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

More explosions happened thought out the village. The dust clouds rose to the skyline, blocking the sunshine. Kotaro could feel the shivering action off Moegi's arm.

"Eventually, yeah right," Kotaro said. "I'd say it would be for the best if you left now and got back to the Capital."

"Where are you going now? The Hospital?" Niko asked.

Kotaro nodded and picked up Moegi off her feet, holding her tight. "Yep, gotta get this little one there to fix her arm," he said. "So like I said, get the hell out of here and I'll see you later."

Kotaro ran forward and jumped onto the closest rooftop. He then proceeded to run towards the Konoha hospital, keeping Moegi in a tight but comfortable grip.

Niko sighed and wiped her forehead. "Kotaro, haven't you learnt yet? You don't tell me what to do. The hospital huh?"

Konoha Stadium, Main Stands

"Damn, there's a lot of them."

"You don't say Asuma, I wonder how the others are doing."

Asuma and Kakashi were taking a quick breather between their many bouts with Oto and Suna ninja. They have received reports that the people responsible for the explosions were the ninja of Iwagakure. It made all their lives much more difficult.

Asuma took out a cigarette and lit it quickly. Smoking did always calm his nerves. "I'm worried for our Genin. Kotaro though, we don't need to worry about him at all," he said.

Kakashi had his forehead protector covering his sharingan, trying to restore some of his drained chakra. "Iwa… It's sure to bring up bad memoires from that mission. Let's just hope it doesn't make him flustered," he said. "I heard the shouts of his name flying all around. What was that about?"

Kakashi saw Kurenai walk to him and Asuma with her kunai gripped hard. "Gai, Aoba and I have taken care of the enemies here. You two lazing about didn't help," she said.

Asuma clicked his tongue. "If you didn't know Kurenai, we took most of them out, didn't we Kakashi?" Asuma said.

Kakashi looked away from his nails and back to Asuma. "Did you say something Asuma?" he asked.

Asuma slumped his head slightly. "God damn it, sometimes you really piss me off," he muttered under his breath.

"Haha," laughed out Gai. "Asuma is not the only one to endure Kakashi's hip personality," he said. Gai's face turned serious and his laugh died. "We have protected the various Daimyō and lead them to safety as well as eliminating the threats in the stands."

Kurenai crossed her arms. "What should we do next?" she asked. "Us standing around here isn't benefitting anyone."

"Kakashi, what do you suggest we do?" Asuma asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Come on, we're Jōnin. We should know what to do now. Eliminate the threat to Konoha. Let's leave the stands and go after any Iwa, Oto or Suna ninja we see."

Main Streets of Konoha, Southern Half

Naruto looked up to the rooftops. Four Iwa ninjas were looking down at him, Sakura and Shikamaru. A clear disadvantage was here. A three-on-four, with the latter being Chūnin or Jōnin, a fight with them was most likely suicide.

'There's no way Shikamaru could pull off his shadow jutsu so I can use another of my clan's sword techniques. We're not only in the wrong position, but they look way stronger than those Oto ninja from before, Shikamaru doesn't have enough chakra to hold them all down at once for me to do it,' Naruto thought while gritting his teeth.

Naruto's right hand hovered above his leg kunai holster, he was on the defensive. "Shikamaru, think of a plan quick," he ordered.

"I already have," Shikamaru grumbled.

Sakura gasped. "Really? What do we have to do?" she asked.

Shikamaru sighs heavily. "Run away as fast as we can," he said simply.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Shikamaru. "That's the best you can think of!?" she hissed.

"That's a great plan Shika, I had the exact same one," Naruto said. "The only question is how."

One of the Iwa kunoichi jumped down to the ground, she was staring down Naruto. "What do you think you're doing? You know we're going to kill you now," she said. "There's no point of running away."

Naruto and his team jumped back to gain some distance. He watched the kunoichi with careful eyes. He looked strong, her short brown hair made her look scarier in his opinion.

The three other Iwa ninja jumped down and joined the kunoichi. They all looked ready to fight.

"I cannot let you do that."

Naruto turned his head towards the left and saw a teenager appear, jumping down from the new walls. It was a young man. Naruto saw that he had white hair, vivid green eyes and masculine features throughout his appearance. The wind blew his medium length hair, a braid moving wildly with the breeze.

Naruto focused on the finer details. Scarlet dots near his eyebrows and scarlet markings around his eyes. Naruto has never seen a young man like this before yet that was not making him worried. It was the attire that the young man was wearing. Light lavender clothing, from head to toe. A purple rope like belt wrapped around his waist. The exact same as Orochimaru's.

'Who is this guy? He is way… stronger than the other Oto ninja,' Naruto thought, as he bit his lower lip.

The Iwa ninja turned their bodies to the newcomer. "Get the fuck out of here. This is none of your business," the Iwa kunoichi spat out.

The young man aimed all the tips of his fingers at the kunoichi.

Naruto was confused by the actions and watched carefully. His hand reached towards his pouch filled with ninja gear. This was the perfect opportunity to escape.

The skin of the young man's fingers ripped apart and ten white projectiles shot out of them at a high speed. The Iwa kunoichi had no idea what was happening and raised her kunai to deflect the incoming attack.

It was no use however, there was simply too many to deflect at once. The kunoichi deflected the white projectiles that would have stroke a major organ, yet she couldn't stop the projectiles from hitting her arms and legs.

She howled in pain and went to her knees. Her comrades all took up arms and went on the defensive.

Naruto carefully watched the scene. The situation completely flipped in mere seconds.

"Orochimaru-sama does not wish for Uzumaki Naruto to be killed. I will be taking him in," the young man said. "He is needed for Orochimaru-sama's ambitions."

"These are bones!? I thought the Kaguya clan were extinct after their attack on Kiri!" the wounded kunoichi said through gritted teeth. She was pulling out the white bullets from her wounds, looking at each one with shock.

'Bones? A bloodline limit?' Naruto thought. 'I knew this guy was strong, but he has that as well!'

The young man pulled his arm towards himself and looked at the forearm. "You are correct. I am the last member of the Kaguya clan. I am Kaguya Kimimaro, user of the Dead Bone Pulse," Kimimaro said. "My name shall be the last thing you learn before your death."

Naruto flinched as he watched a bone push its way out of Kimimaro's arm, it had no resistance. Naruto saw Kimimaro pull out the bone with ease, if he didn't see it come out of his body, Naruto would think it was just a fancy white blade.

"Naruto… This is too much for us," Shikamaru whispered.

Naruto could hear the words from behind his ear. Shikamaru was right, four Iwa ninja and a bloodline limit user was too much for him, Sakura and Shikamaru. Most ninja would struggle with that. There was only one way to survive this scenario.

Naruto took out shuriken and kunai from his pouches and threw them at all five enemies.

Having taken their eyes of Team Naruto, they didn't realise an attack would come so soon. The Iwa ninja shifted their eyes away from Kimimaro and prepared to dodge or deflect the incoming projectiles. Kimimaro stood his ground and simply waited for the shuriken and kunai to come to him.

POOF!

In the midst of smoke, Naruto picked up Sakura and ran up the building walls. Shikamaru was on his tail, running away from things was a speciality of the Nara boy.

"AH! Naruto, what are you doing!?" Sakura shouted as she had no idea what just occurred.

Naruto didn't respond and ran forward once he stepped onto the flat roofs. All he cared about was getting out of the crosshairs of the Iwa ninja and that scary Kimimaro. His bone trick made Naruto's skin crawl.

Jumping from roof to roof, he slowed down and dropped Sakura to her feet, he then started running once again.

Shikamaru appeared to Naruto's right. "Good work, they're fighting each other. Where are we going now?" he asked.

"The Hospital. It's a base of operations in cases of emergencies. Nice one on the smoke bombs, you really saved our skin," Naruto said.

Shikamaru smiled. "I know. The hospital though, how'd you know that?" he asked further.

"Nii-chan and Shikaku-ojisan talked about it before at dinner," Naruto said. "You should listen more often."

"Naruto, what about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as she finally caught up to Naruto's left.

Naruto bit his tongue before saying a snarky remark. He calmed down and sighed heavily. "We should see if we're needed elsewhere rather than focus on one person," he said.

"But Sasuke-kun is our teammate, our friend," Sakura said in a plea.

"This is not the time to be selfish, we have to do what's best for the village," Naruto said with a bit of bite, hoping to drive home the message. "I'm just as worried as you are. He's my friend damnit!"

Sakura did quiet down after the words were said. Naruto couldn't blame her worry. He was worried himself about his friend.

The trio ran for a short while before reaching a heavily guarded area. There were many Konoha ninja surrounding the area. Naruto saw the familiar building and landed to its front.

The team had arrived outside of the Konoha hospital. As he eyes peeled around the perimeter, it seemed that the hospital had emergency walls erected for added protection. There many kunai embedded within each layer.

"We're here. Let's go inside to see what we can do to help out," Naruto said as he walked quickly towards the front door.

Opening it wide, Naruto lead his makeshift team into the lobby. The nurse didn't bother to stop him, they were already familiar with the loud, but loveable blond.

The lobby was filled with people, ranging from young to old, from minor injuries to missing fingers. Everyone was suffering, some more than others, but they were all suffering.

"Who are we supposed to get orders from?" Sakura asked. "Kakashi-sensei isn't here."

"I doubt Asuma-sensei would be here either, they're most likely taking the brunt of the forces right now. Aniki should be here though," Shikamaru said.

"Aniki?" Sakura asked. She then smacked her forehead, "You must mean Kotaro-san, I forgot you had close relations to him."

Shikamaru nodded with a small grunt.

Naruto's eyes scanned around the lobby. It was a sea of people. Looking for someone would be quite difficult unless the person you are looking for has unique hair. Seeing the Crimson strands, Naruto made his way through the crowds.

"Nii-chan!" Naruto called out. He made his way further to see a surprise. Moegi had bandages wrapping from her elbow all the way to her wrist. "Moegi!" he said with worry.

Kotaro turned around and smiled. "Naruto, you're safe. I'm glad. Now, give me one second. Airi! Do you have the cast prep ready?" he shouted.

"Of course, Kotaro-sensei, it's ready to go," Airi said. She came in with a tray with multiple medical items. It mainly consisted of rolls of casting tape, bandages and fiberglass.

"Okay Moegi, remember, keep your arm straight and your thumb pointing at the ceiling," Kotaro said. He proceeded to wrap the casting tape meticulously around Moegi's arm as efficiently as possible.

As the roll finished he picked up the black fibreglass roll. "Good, it's already soaked," he said.

Naruto watched as Kotaro finished off Moegi's bandage. Kotaro took a scissors and trimmed the bandage to make it a neat job.

Kotaro dusted his hands off and smiled. "Job done. Alright, Airi can you lead Moegi off to the back?" he asked.

Airi nodded. "Yes. Come Moegi-chan, we have to go and give room to Kotaro-sensei and the others," she said.

Moegi looked between Naruto and Kotaro with worried eyes. She was in a state of confusion.

Sensing this, Naruto gave her a thumbs up to calm her down, he even gave her his thousand-watt smile making her feel safer, stronger even.

Kotaro, Naruto and company watched as the blonde nurse lead the child to the back of the hospital. Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru then turned their bodies to face Kotaro. Being a Jōnin meant that right there he was their commanding officer, regardless of them already being in different established teams with other Jōnin.

"Now, Naruto. Run-down report," Kotaro ordered.

Naruto nodded. "I, Sakura and Shikamaru did as requested and ventured through the Southern half of Konoha. We helped lead the majority of the citizens to the bunkers and only those with big injuries to the hospital here.

I declared myself as the leader and decided to find Sasuke, we had no idea of his whereabouts or status and we were worried about him.

A short while later, we got ambushed by Oto ninja," Naruto said.

Kotaro nodded. "Good work. Shikamaru continue where he left off. Leave out no details," he said.

Shikamaru flinched slightly from the order. He was already in a relaxed state. He shook his head and sighed before he talked.

"Naruto and I dealt with the Oto ninja with good teamwork. One of our moves we practiced ages ago came off without a hitch. We then continued on until we were trapped by Iwa ninja. There were four of them.

We were going to retreat but then this guy came in and started to fight the Iwa ninja. His name was Kaguya Kimimaro. He had this weird bone power," Shikamaru said.

Kotaro gasped. "Kaguya clan? They should be extinct, funny how things happen. A few years ago, they attacked Kirigakure during its reign with Karatachi Yagura, the Tormenter. Every clan member was killed. Though it seems they missed one.

That bone power you mentioned is a bloodline limit. The Dead Bone Pulse, I learnt about it during my time in the Civil War for the Mist. The user can manipulate the density and shape of any bone in their body. It also regenerates after it had been shaped or taken out. A powerful ability. So, how did you escape, Naruto?" Kotaro asked.

Naruto ran his hands through his hair, his adrenaline from the tight situation hasn't worn off yet. "Shika dropped smoke bombs and we ran the hell out of there. It was too much for us there," he said. "Anyway Nii-chan, have you heard anything about Sasuke?" he asked.

Kotaro nodded and crossed his arms. His face showed worry. "Yes, I have. Genma sent him after Gaara. The latter was being pulled away by his siblings towards the Eastern Forest. I'm worried about him. Genma is seriously underestimating those Suna siblings," he said.

"It's nice to know you worry about someone that isn't your little brother," Niko said, walking in from the corridor with medical supplies. "Here's the stuff you wanted."

Kotaro nodded his thanks to the woman. "I expected you to leave already. But... You've been a great help," he said with a wry smile.

Kotaro then turned back to Naruto and company. "Alright, I'm assigning you an emergency mission. Naruto and Shikamaru, you two will go towards the Eastern Forest and look for Sasuke.

Once you have located him, bring him back here. Do not go into contact with Gaara or his siblings. If Sasuke is already fighting any of them, distract them and retreat," he ordered.

"What about me Kotaro-san?" Sakura asked. Despite her body showing her deep-rooted fears, her eyes showed determination to help find her teammate.

Kotaro looked down to Sakura. "You're staying here with me and helping with the last of the injured in the lobby. We seriously need another pair of hands," he said.

"But I can fight-"

Kotaro cut her off by raising his hand. "That's good spirit you have there, Sakura. I admire it. However, you will only hold Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke back if you go with them and then come back. As of right now, you are simply not good enough," he said bluntly making the girl slump. "You have potential. Lots of it. Become the kunoichi you are destined to be and don't let your lack of skills hold you back any more. You would die if you left here right now."

Sakura nodded slowly, she has never had the truth laid into her so quickly and concisely. "Ok…"

Kotaro clicked his tongue. "Don't put yourself down. I want you to stay here as well, I need your help," he said. "There are too many people here for the staff available."

Kotaro's words seemed to put Sakura in a slightly better mood, however it was nothing compared to her usual perky self. Though, the times of dire battles was never a time to act like your usual self.

"You really do have a sliver tongue, huh," Niko said with a sly tone.

Kotaro narrowed his eyes on the woman who was resting on chair, casually lounging and watching the scenes unfold in front of her. No doubt thinking of her next plan for both the world and the Underworld. "Niko, please give me just a few moments of peace," he said in a sigh.

Kotaro's eyes then focused on Naruto and Shikamaru, they were dead serious. "Listen to me. Gaara is dangerous. He could kill either you in mere seconds if you're not careful," Kotaro warned.

"Shouldn't we fight Gaara?" Naruto said. "Sasuke is probably already fighting him and his village attacked Konoha. We should bring him in."

Kotaro shook his head and then moved forward so his mouth was right beside Naruto's ear. "I don't care if they're already fighting. Once you see Sasuke, bring him back here," he whispered. "Gaara is not normal Naruto. He's a Jinchūriki just like you, only difference is that he can control his power a whole lot better than you can. Don't put yourself in an uneven contest."

Naruto shook from the news. A Jinchūriki just like him. 'That means he must be the Ichibi's Jinchūriki. Shit…'

"Nii-chan, is there anything else we should know about?" Naruto asked.

Kotaro bit his lip before sighing deeply. "Jiji and Orochimaru are having a huge battle in that Four Violet Flame Formation barrier. Other than that, nothing that you don't already know. Now go, you're wasting time. Sasuke could already be a bloody corpse. Sakura, you go to the back and help out Nurse Airi. She will guide you through the procedures," Kotaro said.

Naruto could see the discouraged body language of Sakura. He patted her shoulder making her look at him with wide eyes. "You're helping Konoha. Don't worry. We'll get Sasuke back," he said.

Sakura stayed still, then she beamed a smile. "Okay! Naruto, Shikamaru, good luck you two!" she cheered out.

Kotaro smiled from the scene, it was heart-warming. His brother had a talent for making people bring out the best in themselves.

"Alright you two, move out!" Kotaro ordered.

"Understood!" both Naruto and Shikamaru said in unison. They turned heel and left quickly through the lobby, then the front door.

Naruto saw the sky was filled with smoke and smog. The cinders of Konoha trees and buildings were in the air. The metallic smell of blood was there for the tasting. The village has become a warzone.

Naruto looked to his left, towards the eastern sector of Konoha. "We need to move. Let's go Shikamaru," Naruto said, as he wasted no time running forward and climbing up the buildings.

Naruto heard no response, but he did hear the heavy footsteps of Shikamaru's feet. He was getting tired, sometimes Naruto truly forgot that there were very few people who could keep up with him in stamina.

"Shikamaru, do you need a soldier pill? I have a small bag of them if ya need it," Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath. Kiba had to stay in bed from the pill he took in his fight against you a month ago. I don't want to end up like that," he said.

"You could end up dead instead," Naruto chided. "Just saying."

Shikamaru grunted. "And I'm just saying shut up and focus on the mission. We're already entering the forest," he said.

Naruto nodded and kept moving forward, his feet started to jump from branch to branch. Leaping quickly through the forest.

"Naruto. Stop moving now," a deep voice called out.

Naruto stopped at the next branch. He knew the voice already. "Pakkun, what're you doing here? How's Kakashi-sensei?" he asked.

Shikamaru landed on the branch close to Naruto and saw a pug dog come. He was small and wore the Konoha forehead protector as well as a sleeve-less blue jacket with the symbol of a scarecrow face on the back. Shikamaru shook his head from the sight, he knew summons were weird.

Pakkun sat on his hind legs and focused his eyes onto Naruto. "Too many questions. Kakashi is fine. He ordered me to tell you to find Sasuke and for me to help you in the search," he said.

Naruto smiled after he heard the words. "Good. Nii-chan ordered Shikamaru and I to look for Sasuke as well. With you here will make things easier," he said.

"Great minds think alike, or so they say," Pakkun said. "We better move forward or else we will get attacked."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and moved forward, Pakkun leapt forward and took the lead of the group. His nose was the best and gave the best advantage for tacking any enemies that might be in Naruto and Shikamaru's way.

After a few minutes of quick trekking, Pakkun sniffed new scents hot on the groups tail, and another group of scents standing still much farther ahead.

"Pakkun, what is it?" Shikamaru asked. "You keep sniffing through your nose harder."

"We have a group of trackers on our tail. Eight of them. No… Nine trackers. That's not all, there's a group of four foreign ninja much farther ahead. Most likely Iwa ninja from the scent,"Pakkun said.

Shikamaru showed his annoyance by the click of his tongue. "An unfortunate pincer formation. If we change directions now, the trackers will catch us. If we don't change direction, we'll encounter the Iwa team. This is a really bad situation," he said.

Naruto nodded. "Having to fight either one will attract the others. It would be better if we could get them to fight each other… I got a plan!" he said.

"Let's hear it," Pakkun said.

"Alright, let's rush up ahead. We need to set up a trap for the team that's tracking us," Naruto said.

"Naruto, we don't enough time to set up a proper trap to kill the team," Shikamaru said. "I know you're fast but that's asking for too much."

Naruto shook his head. "Who said anything about killing them?" he said. "All we need to do is attract the other team to them."

Pakkun smiled. He knew it from the very start, Kakashi's student was a smart kid. "How are you going to attract them?" he asked.

Naruto took out a small pile of explosive tags from his pouch. "I never got to use these in my fights. We'll set up a fake trap and make footprints to distract them. Once they come and look at them, we'll set these off and hopefully get one of them. The Iwa team will come and finish the job for us," he said.

Shikamaru listened and the rest of the plan formed in his head. "And then we take out the Iwa ninja in a surprise attack. That's smart Naruto," he said. "If only we had more time. Then we could make the trap with a hundred percent success rate."

"Pakkun, what's the distance between the two teams?" Naruto asked.

Pakkun sniffed hard through his nose, never losing his stride as he jumped with Naruto and Shikamaru. "The trackers are three kilometres on our tail and are closing in fast. The Iwa ninja are two kilometres ahead. My nose is telling me that our trackers are Oto ninja," he said.

Shikamaru nodded when he heard the new information. "Makes sense. Two of Orochimaru's objectives are to capture both Naruto and Sasuke. He would need to have a specialised team in tracking down either one," he pointed out.

Naruto laughed lightly. "Doesn't matter. He isn't getting either of us in the end. I won't let anyone take my friends away from me," he said. "Let's rush up ahead. Pakkun, once we are five hundred metres away from the Iwa team, tell us and we will set up the traps."

Pakkun nodded. "I will. You better hurry, the trackers are moving faster than we are."

Naruto, Shikamaru and Pakkun put their heads down and ran ahead at a faster pace. Naruto could see that Shikamaru was struggling to keep up with the speed increase, but he wasn't complaining or slowing down the team.

Naruto's heartbeat was beating fast, not because of the running but because of the whole situation. It wasn't even the end of the day and the whole village has been infiltrated by three opposing sides. He knew Konoha will surely have to improve on their defences in every aspect after this terrible invasion.

"Stop, we're here," Pakkun said.

Naruto and Shikamaru jumped off the trees and landed on the dirt ground. "Shikamaru, make lots of prints and put out some ninja wire quick. I'll do the tags," Naruto said.

Shikamaru pulled out a ninja wire could from his pouch and began to set up the trap. Naruto proceeded to plant the explosive tags at various trees, bushes and rocks around the forest spot.

They didn't take their time, they tried to do as much as possible. They were cutting it close.

Pakkun sniffed once again. "Naruto, Shikamaru, the trackers are incoming. Fifteen seconds until they see us," he warned.

Shikamaru turned his body to Naruto, he then made his way to Naruto, he knew the blond would know the best hiding spot.

Naruto jumped into the crowns of the trees. Pakkun and Shikamaru followed him without hesitation. They all settled down and hid themselves within the leaves.

During this time of year, the trees of Konoha grew large leaves, it was perfect camouflage for the Konoha ninja.

Naruto, Shikamaru and Pakkun watched carefully at the quick trap they created. They didn't have to wait long.

Eight Oto ninja landed in front of the footprints. They crowded around it to investigate. It didn't take long for them to see Shikamaru's obvious ninja wire. It didn't matter, that wire was only a distraction.

"Which direction did they go off to?" the Oto tracker leader asked his team.

"We don't know, the tracks go off in every single direction," one of the other trackers said.

In the crown of the trees, Naruto formed the Ram hand seal, he was ready to set off his explosive tags. Looking between Shikamaru and Pakkun, he smiled at them. "Let's get this show on the road already, shall we?"

~ 0 ~