Title: Night raid on Konoha

Rating: G

Pairing / Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi

Word Count: 949 words

Warnings: Nothing serious, I don't think

Summary: Naruto resorts to drastic measures, Tsunade and Jiraiya contemplate the night, Kakashi breaks the news of Naruto's murders

A/N: WOW, I'm nearly done! This whole spiel has broken my mind, it really has. Someone remind me again why I'm writing a twelve chapter tale consisting of nothing but fighting and general mayhem and disorder…

The blade went deep, and Naruto gasped aloud – it hurt more than he had expected it to. Staring down at the handle protruding from his skin, he could already feel the kyuubi's control of his mind slipping, and he rejoiced, despite knowing what he had just done to himself.

The life was rapidly leaving his limbs and he fell forward, bracing himself on his hands for a moment before they too, refused to support him, and he collapsed, trying to jerk the kunai free but unable to find the strength to.

Darkness slowly blurred his vision, and he closed his eyes, surrendering to it.

Ino nearly screamed at the sight of Shikamaru carrying Sakura up the stairs towards the caves. His face looked pinched in the firelight, and fearful, Ino ran down the stairs to meet him.

'Shikamaru – what happened? Is she all right?'

'I don't know – I think she's exhausted, Ino. Help me get her settled in the caves –'

Ino guided him up the stairs into the caves, where scores of civilians and at least a dozen and a half wounded shinobi were gathered. Choosing a spot where the light was dim, yet bright enough to check for injuries, Shikamaru laid her down gently, yanking off his jacket and using it to cushion her head.

Ino knelt down beside her, stroking her hair with a gentle hand. 'Sakura…'

The medic nin stirred, but did not wake.

Neji paced the mountain top restlessly, silver eyes continuously scanning the tree line for enemies. His byakugan saw nothing save for Lee, perched on a tree branch, and Tenten crouched gracefully atop a large boulder. Frowning, Neji knelt at the edge of the mountain, glancing down into the chaos below.

Konoha was a mess.

He could hear the low murmurings of the villagers in the caves below him, but he tuned it out, instead focusing his attention on the fires that lit up the streets below. Bodies were everywhere, and he knew that somewhere out there, the other genin were fighting. Kiba and Shino… Naruto… the three of them were still out there, fighting for Konoha, and Neji hadn't seen any of their jounin senseis since the chaos had began.

'Neji?'

Neji got to his feet. 'It's nothing. I just hope everyone is all right.'

Tenten touched his shoulder briefly before returning to her position.

The wind ruffled Tsunade's hair as she braced her hands on the wall. She couldn't detect any presences outside Konoha's borders, something that pleased her immensely. Katsuyu she had sent out to patrol the outer walls, and so far, had sensed nothing that alerted her to danger.

'Nothing, Tsunade,' a voice reported quietly. 'It seems that the last of the Kirigakure nins have been disposed of.'

'I certainly hope so,' Tsunade replied sharply. 'If there are more of them, I'm not sure how much longer we would be able to hold out for.'

Jiraiya's low chuckle floated out into the darkness. 'Konoha is again a force to be reckoned with.'

'Apparently so,' Tsunade said dryly. 'I don't know whether to be happy about that or not.'

'Be happy,' Jiraiya advised. 'At least we can stop sending shinobi out on suicide missions to prove Konohagakure's worth.'

Tsunade winced. 'I've had no choice, Jiraiya. The situation is how it is.'

'Not anymore,' Jiraiya said promptly.

'True,' Tsunade murmured.

Just then, a new voice made them both turn. 'Tsunade-sama… Jiraiya-sama… Gai told me I could find you here…'

The undisguised panic in Kakashi's voice made Tsunade stare at him; it was not only unusual to hear him panicking, it was totally unheard of.

'Kakashi? What's wrong?' Tsunade asked in bewilderment.

'Have either of you come across Naruto? I've been looking for him for the past three hours and I can't find him anywhere…'

Tsunade frowned. 'Naruto can handle himself, Kakashi. You and I both know that.'

'Not when he's drawn so heavily on the nine tails' chakra that he's biting the throats out of every mist nin he comes across,' Kakashi pointed out darkly.

Jiraiya blanched. 'He's what?'

'You heard right, Jiraiya-sama. He was very badly wounded when I last saw him, and had already formed the chakra shield. By the time he ran off, he had two chakra tails. I need to find him.'

'And fast,' Jiraiya told Kakashi, mind racing. 'We don't know how much of kyuubi's chakra Naruto is capable of handling – a two tailed state might actually kill him.'

'What about your ninken?' Tsunade demanded, the gravity of the situation striking her. 'Can't they trace him?'

'I've already tried – Pakkun thinks the kyuubi's chakra might be concealing Naruto's scent.'

'Damn it,' Jiraiya muttered. 'All right, let's just think about this – if Naruto was rational at some stage, he might have tried disrupting kyuubi's chakra flow – we've discussed it before, but we never tried it – which doesn't help us at the moment. He could also have tried getting himself out of the way of the fighting which means that he could be anywhere.'

Tsunade grimaced. 'I wasn't expecting this. I'll send a message to several of the jounins to keep an eye out for him, as well as the ANBU captains. We'll find him.'

'Kakashi – take the back alleys,' Jiraiya ordered. 'I'll search the main throughfares, but I doubt we'll find him there.'

'Right,' Kakashi said briefly and disappeared into the darkness.

Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade. 'Don't tell them why we're looking for him, Tsunade,' he cautioned. 'This could be potentially damaging to Naruto if it gets out.'

'I know, Jiraiya. Go on, find him before it really is too late.'

Jiraiya threw her a salute and went off in the opposite direction.