Disclaimer: Who's stupid enough to think I own Naruto? Come on, let's have a show of hands. Wow...I wasn't expecting that many... (sweatdrops)...

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Not So Simple After All

Chapter 8

The Sound nins gathered just outside their village gates. Since Orochimaru was nowhere to be found, Sasuke had burned down most of the village, and Kabuto had gone missing, the remaining Sound nins took it upon themselves to choose a new leader.

And that leader was Bunmei Norikazu. He was a strong ANBU with many successful S-classed missions under his belt. Originally, he was a ninja in the Mist Country, but he had to flee when he was caught stealing money from the rich and wealthy. He was prone to peace and detested war, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fight when needed to. He had been in many meetings with Orochimaru and his council and he was trusted throughout the Sound Village (or as trusted as one could be). He had the most experience in defending a home front, so he was chosen as the temporary leader of the Sound nins.

Or rather, what was left of the Sound nins. The Sound force was already small, and now they had been cut down to 2/3 of their original size. The other third hadn't shown up when everyone was called out battle, whether they burned to death or fled the city wasn't that important, they just hadn't shown up.

No one wanted to go after the Uchiha; Norikazu and the others decided to let him be. Fighting him was a risk they weren't willing to take. Honestly, they didn't stand a chance against him, and they all knew it.

But then he had to direct his men to guard the south gate. A large amount of chakra had been sensed heading that way. Norikazu had been expecting a team or a small army. One of the last things he expected was a blonde spiky-haired man running full speed into the clearing and crashing into the gate. The man's eyes couldn't keep up with the speed he was running, apparently.

And now, nearly everyone was in the fight that had been going on for hours. That single man had created over a hundreds of kage bunshins Norikazu himself was busy fighting off one of the many clones. The Sound nins were being overwhelmed by one man? It seemed impossible, but now, anything seemed to be possible. Oh boy, wasn't this turning out to be a great day?

Just then two scouts appeared beside Norikazu and helped him finish off the bunshin he had been fighting.

"Any news?" inquired Norikazu.

We're not holding up so well. Our forces are tiring out and our reinforcements from our neighboring villages haven't arrived yet. To top it off, a few of the clones breached our walls. They're inside Oto right now."

That couldn't be good…

"Send a squad to fend them off. Try to get them out of the city as soon as possible. What about Orochiamru-sama? Have you found out anything about him?"

"No, unfortunately not. No one can find a trace of him. Last he was seen, he was in his office this morning waiting for Uchiha-sama's return."

"Well, I'll guess he got what he was waiting for. What else have you got?"

"Our scouts have confirmed that Kabuto is dead. We found his body about a mile from here. He died of poison from a snake bite. We have reason to believe Uchiha-sama was responsible for his death. His headband was found at the place of death."

"That would fit in with his recent actions. He's betraying the Sound Village," said Norikazu, preparing to charge at a different clone.

"That's not everything. A group of ninja are headed this way. We figure there are about a little over 10 of them. They all have strong chakra. If they're anything like this guy," the scout said pointing to one of the many bunshins, "we're doomed."

"Let's pray they're not here to fight. We can't take much more damage."

Norikazu wiped the sweat off his forehead as he surveyed the scene before him. His ninja were finally gaining some momentum as more and more of the clones, however slowly, were vanquished. If another enemy showed up, they would just fall apart.

Their homes were all burning down. Two of their leaders were missing and one leader had betrayed them. Some of their comrades had not shown up for the battle. They were losing comrades at this very moment. Their entire way of life was being destroyed, and they still kept fighting on for a home that wasn't even there anymore.

If Norikazu could pick one moment that he was proudest of his nation, it was then. Maybe the Sound nins had some integrity, it was just their leaders that were cold and ruthless. Maybe there was hope for them after all in the future, hopefully, a future without so many wars and enemies.

--------------------------------------------Inside the Sound Village, on the corner of Main and Second Street-------------------------------------------------

"Where are you now, Naruto?" asked Sakura over the microphone.

"I'm in the Sound Village. I've been here for a couple hours already," was his reply.

"How are things over there?"

"Well, those Sound nins must have known I was coming. They were all at the gate waiting for me. But don't worry, Sakura-chan. My bunshins are taking care of them as we speak!"

"Naruto, I told you not to get into a fight!"

"Well…they started it!"

"If I was there right now I would beat you into a pulp!"

"It's nice to know you care about me, Sakura-chan."

"Consider yourself dead meat."

…gulp…

"Whatever, just tell me what's going on up there."

"Everything is on fire, and I mean everything. Most of the buildings and houses are a pile of ashes right now."

"Did you find Sasuke-kun?"

"No, not yet, and it's weird. I was sure I sensed that teme's chakra, but now I can't find trace of it.

"What about Orochimaru?"

"It's the same thing. It's like they disappeared."

"Did they leave?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, Naruto, I want you to find the surviving civilians and help them into safety."

"Civilians? I don't see any civilians, Sakura-chan. I think all of Sound is basically ninjas. I haven't seen a civilian yet."

"Alright then…just wait until we get there. I and the rest of the team should be there in about 15 more minutes. Just wait!"

"Hai, Sakura-chan!"

"See ya!"

Naruto sighed as he switched his earpiece and mini-microphone off. This day was getting more and more irritating fast! He could be sleeping right now…or eating ramen…mmm…ramen...

Naruto began pacing through the village, peeking into houses to make sure everyone was out. There was no one that he could find, unless he counted a few bodies here and there. There really couldn't be any civilians here, the Sound wasn't a place for villagers in the first place. And it was a good thing too, nothing was spared when it came to Sasuke and his big bonfire.

He sighed once again as he looked around at the bleak and tragic scene. Was Sasuke-teme really capable of all of this? Yes…But why? Ummm…

Naruto's attention was diverted when the ground gave a short tremor. He hurriedly looked around to find its cause. Then he found it. Straight ahead was a large burning tower about to crumble to the ground. And what was that? It looked like an arm…and there was the head…torso…What was someone leaning out of a window for? That building was about to fall!

Naruto ran ahead to see what the man was doing when he noticed the man had very familiar black spiky hair…

Was that…could it really be him?

Just then the figure awkwardly heaved itself out of the building and began plummeting towards the ground.

"TEME!"

-----------------------------------------In a Cluster of Trees Just Outside of the Sound Village---------------------------------------

"Goddamn it! I didn't think he meant all the Sound nins were out here!" yelled Kiba.

"Well, what did you expect?" said Sakura, "The Sound nins are probably thinking right now that their village is under attack."

"It kind of is," added Kakashi, "seeing as it's burning to the ground and we're about to join in the fight."

The group was now waiting, hidden in the trees on the outskirts of a small clearing. Beyond this clearing was the Sound's southern gate into their city. In between these trees and this gate were the Sound's finest (okay, maybe not the finest) fighting a bunch of Naruto kage bunshins.

"Everyone ready?" asked Shikamaru.

Neji activated his Bakuyan and Tenten pulled out her weapon scrolls and Chouji got out his food pills and Lee was mentally preparing himself going over all of Gai's advice and Ino was sharpening her nails razor sharp and Hinata activated her Bakuyan and Shino gathered his bugs and Kiba got Akamaru's food pills out and Sakura molded her chakra into a scalpel on her hand and Kakashi pocketed his Ichi Ichi Paradise Volume 17 and pulled his headband up to uncover his Sharingan eye and Shikamaru yawned and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes before muttering, "what a drag…"

"Hai," came everyone's reply.

"Let's go!"

The group leapt into the battle to aid the many Naruto clones.

Yeah! Another chapter! And I still don't have writer's block! I am so going to jinx myself...oh well. I felt this chapter was kind of short, especially compared to my last chapter, but what could I do? It all seems kind of anti-climatic now. There were a few more paragraphs at the end, but I cut those off and I'm going to use them to start my next chapter. This story should end after the 10th chapter anyway. I can't wait till I end this, then I can start writing a new chapter story. I am so excited about the next one! I already have it all planned out in a prewrite (that web kind).

Bet all of you can already tell what's going to happen next? At least some of you do, I know that. Especially with that last Naruto scene. It felt kind of funny to yell "Sasuke-teme!" in a hurry, so I just shortened it. Typical...Naruto's first words to Sasuke in over 2 years are when he calls hima bastard.

Also, I don't expect that I can update as often as I like anymore. School is starting next Monday for me. I'm going to be a freshman in high school this year! which means more projects, more homework, more studying, more parents ragging on me, and more unecassary drama. In the words of Shikamaru, "How troublesome..."