Title: Night raid on Konoha

Rating: G, Action

Pairing / Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Mitarashi Anko, Sarutobi Asuma, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru Haruno Sakura, Shizune

Word Count: 820 words

Warnings: Nothing?

Summary: Chapter two – half past seven to half past eight

A/N: This is fun…

Half past seven to half past eight

Kakashi yawned, stretching wearily, rubbing at his temple as he took in the piles of hated paperwork.

'I would give almost anything to get out of this,' he muttered under his breath, only seconds before a kunai with an exploding tag shattered the glass window behind him.

With the grace and speed usually attributed to jounin level shinobi, Kakashi dived across his table, taking shelter on the opposite side as the kunai hit the floor and exploded, sending papers, furniture, pencils and other paraphernalia flying. Kakashi threw up his hand, shielding his face from the debris, and in the deafening silence that followed, he got to his feet, hearing pounding footsteps in the corridor outside.

The door flew open, and Gai's white face could be seen through the dust.

'Kakashi – are you all right?'

'Fine, fine,' Kakashi answered absently. 'Gai, we –'

The second explosion a little way down the corridor made both of them exchange glances before they flew out of the ruined office.

'Sakura, come over here,' Shizune called urgently.

Sakura dropped the book she was holding and crossed the room, her eyes taking in the strained expression on Shizune's face.

'Is something wrong, Shizune-sama?'

'Konoha is under attack,' Shizune replied. 'Tsunade-sama told me to assign you to the medical team; go straight to the hospital. They'll be following your orders when you're out in the field, so be careful.'

'Who should I attend to first?'

'Civilians if you come across them, otherwise our shinobi. Two other teams are being sent out as we speak, yours is the last.'

Sakura straightened. 'I understand,' she answered calmly, although her heart was pounding.

Shizune watched anxiously as she left the library hastily before following her.

Kakashi had his sharingan uncovered before they reached the source of the second explosion. He could see Anko, a kunai in each hand, tussling with a masked shinobi. In the harsh light, the Kirigakure nin's hitae-ate was clearly visible.

Without hesitation, Gai threw himself into the fray, a yell of pure glee echoing above the sounds of fighting as he slammed his opponent through the wall and into an empty office. Kakashi saw the katana coming towards him, and twisted out of the way, already bringing up his hands to form a seal. The nin sprung towards him, abandoning the katana in favour of a shuriken. He threw it hard, and Kakashi didn't move away from the spinning black disk. It caught him across the throat, and Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

The nin swore. 'Kage bunshin!'

The real Kakashi tutted from behind the nin. 'Slow…'

The nin turned slowly at the sound of Kakashi's voice, his eyes widening in pure horror at the sight of the sharingan.

'Sharingan no Kakashi…' he whispered.

'You lose,' Kakashi informed him calmly, not even blinking as his kunai tore apart the nin's throat and he went down in a rain of blood.

'Sen'eijashu!' Anko shouted, flinging up her right hand. Several snakes burst free of her sleeve, straight towards her attacker. The nin flailed wildly as the snakes bit down on his exposed skin. His movements grew more frantic as the deadly poison entered his bloodstream, and within seconds, he collapsed, limbs still twitching despite the fact that he had already been dead for at least five seconds. Backing up to give herself more room in the narrow corridor, Anko found herself back to back with Asuma.

'This is going to be a hell of a night,' the jounin muttered wryly.

Shikamaru froze. How the hell had he been so careless, so –'

'Missing something, Shikamaru?' a familiar voice asked.

Shikamaru relaxed. 'Took you long enough, he grunted.

Ino laughed softly as she stepped up beside him. 'Aw, were you worried, Shikamaru?'

Chouji glared at Ino as he fell into place beside her. 'Don't start, Ino.'

Ino glared back. 'What are you talking about?'

'Do you mind?' Shikamaru asked unenthusiastically. 'We're fighting here.'

At the conversation, the nin in the middle grinned. 'They're just a bunch of brats playing ninja. I admit your jutsu is powerful, but it requires light – and you don't have any!'

Ino's expression was scornful as she reached behind her, pulling two items from her weapon bag. 'Brats?' she asked. 'Really?'

Unhesitatingly, Ino threw the first item into the air – a small paper ball with a kanji on it. The second item made Shikamaru grin broadly – a kunai with an exploding tag. She hurled the kunai at the ball, shielding her eyes as the tag exploded and so did the ball, casting an ethereal light over the rooftop.

'Bubun baika no jutsu!' Chouji yelled. 'Left arm!'

The nin gasped as Chouji extended his arm, easily reaching him. As he wrapped his huge hand around the shinobi, Ino had already brought up her hands. She grinned menacingly.

'Formation Ino-Shika-Chou complete! Shinranshin no jutsu!'