Here's the disclaimer this time. I don't Naruto at all.

So without further ado, onto the chapter.

Forest southeast of Oni No Kuni (a week and a half after Sakura's defection)

In a forest clearing, it is all quiet. The morning sun had arisen hours ago and the birds had already woken everyone up. It is tranquil to say the least.

Then suddenly, a clash of metal on metal was heard as two people were in the midst of a duel. Switching from thrusts and jabs and parrying like mad, both combatants met again. As they slowed down to catch their breath, we see it is Uzumaki Naruto and his silver haired student, Amarante. The two had been going at it for the better part of three hours, each one refusing to yield. Of course, this was their training method, trying to beat the other one in a show of endurance and speed. So far, Naruto has won all of them but Amarante was not discouraged. She, along with the others, had been growing in strength, speed and endurance. Their Kenjutsu had also improved by leaps and all of them have learned at least several new elemental jutsus as well.

Amarante was smiling. 'This ninja training was truly worth it,' she thought. Leaping upward to avoid a slash from Naruto's katana, she sheathed her kodaichis, ran through five signs and shouted "Fuuton: Ken o Senkai" (Wind Release: Swirling Swords)*! Naruto back flipped and ran through ten signs "Fuuton: Genzai no kūki o tsutsumu" (Wind Release: Enveloping Air Current)*.

'Damn,' Amarante thought. When her jutsu hit Naruto, the air swords disappeared into the shield, which protected Naruto. Landing on her heel, Amarante unsheathed her kodaichis and charged. Naruto smiled, brought his katana out, switched to the reverse grip and charged as well. They both proceeded into a Kenjutsu match, each giving it their all. Amarante ducked Naruto's slash and thrust her left kodaichi in the direction of Naruto's heart. Naruto smirked, brought his left hand out and was able to redirect her kodaichi to miss his heart and even his shoulder. Amarante reacted quick and jumped back. Reevaluating the situation, she made a cross seal. "Kage Bushin No Jutsu." A clone popped right next to Amarante and both clone and real charged at Naruto.

For his credit, Naruto smiled. 'Of course she would use a kage bushin,' he thought. He had taught all of them the jutsu and even though the girls couldn't create as much as him, they were able to create a decent amount, about thirty to fifty, depending how much chakra they used. He had also explained the side effects about using shadow clones. They all took it to heart and never created more then twenty. 'They are all growing up faster then I imagined, Naruto mused. I know they are going to become great ninja.' Leaping back from a slash to his neck, he sheathed his katana and ran through fifteen hand signs "Fuuton: Washi no kōtō" (Wind Release: Soaring Eagle)*

Amarante cursed again. 'How many jutsus does sensei have?' the real Amarante was able to avoid the attack, but the clone got caught in the attack and puffed out of existence. Amarante had just landed when she felt cold steel put against her neck. She then heard her sensei's voice. "Yield," Naruto said. Seeing how she couldn't turn this around, Amarante nodded. "Don't be discouraged, my flower, Naruto said. You are getting better each and every day."

Amarante shook her head. "Not enough to beat you."

Naruto chuckled. "Like I said, don't be discouraged. I'm not looking for you to beat me, though it would be nice to see you do that. I want to see you get better, no matter how little it seems to you. Your jutsu nearly collapsed my shield. As such, I think I could teach you another wind jutsu." Naruto made twenty-three signs and Amarante was able to memorize and copy them. With a nod, both of them made their way back to the others. All of them needed a little rest. For today, unknown to them, all of their lives would change forever.


Oni No Kuni

Shion was seated at her chair, checking yesterday's traffic report. Sighing, she set it down, rubbing her eyes. 'Nothing more then the usual merchant here or there,' she thought. Nothing much had changed between her and Naruto, though they had gone out on more dates, each one ending with a kiss and a wave goodbye from the blond god. Even though Shion liked these, she would love it even more if Naruto would make the kiss longer, if Naruto's hands would travel just a little more south, if Naruto…

Shion blushed. 'Am I turning into a pervert,' she wondered. They were up for another date tonight and Shion had an inkling that she had to initiate the kiss if things were to go further between her and Naruto. So far, she had been too shy but that didn't bother Naruto. 'Well now, looks like I'm going to have to step up a notch for my Blondie.'

Shion heard her palace doors open. In came a running Mayumi, one of Naruto's shinobi apprentices. She was wearing a blue sweater, despite the heat outside and bowed in front of Shion.

Shion smiled. "You know you don't have to do that Mayumi."

Mayumi smiled' If I didn't bow Shion-san, then I'd turn out like Naruto. Though now that I think about it, that might not be a bad thing."

Shion giggled. "You're right on that part. So what do you have to report?"

"Our training has been going faster then we predicted, Mayumi replied. Naruto is an awesome sensei."

Shion nodded. "So where is Naruto now?"

"Far as I know, he was still training himself when he sent us back," Mayumi replied.

Shion frowned. Sure it was nice for Naruto to be training, but did he have to run himself into the ground to do so? 'Maybe I'll bring that up on our date tonight.' Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Shion dismissed Mayumi and sat back on her chair.

This was turning out to be one long day for her. Shion couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss in their country and would bring harm to her people and her boyfriend.

What she didn't know was that trouble was knocking at her door and Naruto would be the one opening it.


Forest Path (Afternoon)

Dashing through the forest, Haruno Sakura was tired. She had running on and off for the better part of ten days, using soldier pills and her own determination to get to Oni No Kuni. 'Took us a little less to get to Oni No Kuni the first time, she thought. I'm really out of shape.' But still, Sakura knew she was close.

It was over ten minutes when Sakura saw the village gates. She greatly sighed and went down to the dirt path. Adjusting her backpack once more, she started to walk to the gate. The two gate guards themselves saw Sakura and began to walk toward her.

Unbeknownst to both parties, a group of soldiers were hiding in the shadows of the many trees and forestry around the area. When they saw Sakura walk down the path, they took action. All of them sprung from the shadows and threw shuriken at Sakura.

Only years of being a ninja saved Haruno Sakura that day. She had heard the rustle of leaves behind her, sent some chakra to her hands, turned around and punched the ground, sending rocks flying into the air. The rocks were able to block all the shuriken heading her way. Sakura looked at the ninja that had landed a few yards away from her. 'Those aren't ANBU ninja, though they have the leaf symbol on their hiates,' she thought. Judging by their expertise and execution, these ninjas are above chunin low jounin.'

The two guards were far from idle, as one turned to the other and said "get the others. It looks like Konoha is here." The other nodded and began to run back to the gates. One of the Ne ninjas saw this and threw a kunai, which pierced the guard's left leg, near the man's ACL. The man cried out in pain and fell down. The other guard unsheathed his sword and got into a stance. He turned to look at Sakura. "Looks like they came after you."

Sakura nodded. "Do you have any other guards on the way?"

He shook his head. "I can only hope that someone heard your punch and that they send for the right people."

Sakura nodded and got into her Taijutsu stance. "Let's hope so."


With Naruto and his ninja

As Sakura had punched the ground, Naruto and his group were currently enjoying their lunch at one of the restaurants. As Naruto looked among his group, he couldn't help but smile. All of them had excelled in Kenjutsu study and their Ninjutsu were top notch as well. They even got as far as making their own Ninjutsu, which were also top notch as well. Even though Naruto knew they would become fine kunoichi, he never expected to excel this much.

Naruto was roused out of his thoughts when a crashed into the front door. Naruto and his group immediately looked at the guard as he picked himself off the floor and ran to Naruto. "Sir, there appears to be some kind of disturbance at the main gates."

Naruto looked incredulous. "What sort of disturbance?"

"We do not exactly sir, the guard replied. But some citizens heard a huge earthquake and we have lost contact with both of our gate guards."

Naruto went into his thinking process. 'Earthquakes don't happen naturally around here. There are only two people that can cause them…' Naruto immediately slapped some bills onto the table and turned toward the guard. "Does the person have pink hair?"

"Reports have indicated that there is a pink haired woman."

Naruto turned toward his group. "Get your weapons."

All of them nodded and shushined away from the restaurant. Naruto pulled out a scroll, bit his thumb and swiped the blood across the seal. His chakra katana immediately appeared, sheathed in its holster. After strapping the katana diagonally across his back, he heard the others return, their various weapons strapped around their waists.

Naruto nodded. "Let's go.


With Sakura

Sakura jumped backwards, narrowly missing a fire jutsu one of the Ne forces had fired. Simply, it was not going good for her. She hadn't been able to hit one of ninja and the guard that had helped was lying dead, pierced by no more then five shuriken. Sakura was breathing heavily and her legs were burning. The Ne forces knew this and all of them had only been using low ranked fire jutsu. But Sakura could see them now, walking calmly toward her while the leader himself prepared a jutsu. Her legs felt like lead and she no longer had to strength to jump out of the way nor enough chakra to even perform a Kawarimi. She put her head down, waiting for the end. 'The only regret that I have is that I never got to see Naruto's face again.' A single tear formed on her eyes.

The leader had finished his signs, crying out"Katon: Hōenka." (Fire Release: Flame Flower)

"Doton: Īsutā-tō no atama (Earth Release: Easter Island Head)*

"Suiton: Suijinheki" (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)

"Katon: Jigoku no hōyō" (Fire Release: Inferno's Embrace)*

"Mokuton: Mokujōheki" (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)

"Raiton: Dōtai shīrudo (Lightning Release: Conductor's Shield)*

As the fire flowers came at Sakura, five simultaneous jutsus were called out. The next thing Sakura knew, she was eclipsed by five young girls, all having various weapons strapped across their waist. The one with the blond hair spoke first. "Damn, that jutsu was strong. It nearly knocked down my jutsu."

"Ye, the one with the green hair replied. These guys are no pushovers."

The others nodded and faced the Ne forces. Sakura could only watch in awe as both parties stared each other down. 'Those jutsu were really well done, she thought. I've never heard of the Doton and Raiton jutsu those girls used. They even have a Mokuton user. What in the world is happening here?' Sakura was mused from her thoughts when two other figures appeared. One was a girl and had long silver hair which reached the middle of her spine. She was wearing a silver battle kimono and had two kodaichis on her hips. The other one was tall, taller then her by at least four inches. He wore a black muscle shirt and midnight black pants. His katana was out and the man was wielding it in the reverse grip. When Sakura looked up, she saw spikey golden hair adorned his head. She gasped and was rendered speechless. When Sakura was able to speak again she said "Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "Never thought I would be seeing you on your knees, Sakura-san."

Sakura just smiled, not having enough strength to clobber Naruto. Before she could thank him, Naruto said "Guards, take Sakura into the town and let her rest. We got this." Sakura looked behind her and saw two guards. Both grabbed each of her arms and started escorting into the village. Sakura turned her head to Naruto and said "Good luck."

"We don't need luck, Naruto replied. But thanks anyway."

Once Sakura was out of sight, Naruto turned to the Ne forces. Seeing that there were four, he turned to his students. "I take one; you guys take the other three. Got it?" all of them nodded. "Disperse."

Everyone, including the ROOT forces, scattered into different parts of the surrounding forests. The fight had truly begun for Amarante and the rest.


With Amarante and Sayuri (northeast of Oni No Kuni)

When the ROOT ninja landed on the ground, he faced the silver haired girl and the emerald haired girl. Wasting no time at all, the ninja ran through signs and shouted "Suiton: Mizu Teppō (Water Release: Water Gun).

Amarante and Sayuri themselves also flashed through signs, both shouting at the same time. Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough), Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot). Combined with Amarante's wind jutsu, Sayuri's water jutsu overcame the ROOT's jutsu and caused a small crater where the jutsu's collided.

The ROOT ninja cursed. Taking out his short sword, he charged at both girls, his cockiness apparent. For their part, Amarante took out her chakra channeling kodaichis and Sayuri unsheathed her chakra channeling katana and charged as well. All of them had switched to chakra channeling weapons three days ago. When Naruto had first asked them about it, all of them declined, thinking that Naruto had no money to pay for all of their weapons. To their utter surprise, Naruto had already ordered them after their first day training. Just in this case, he brought the hardest metal known to them, so the swords wouldn't break.

Going back to the battle, the ROOT ninja swung his sword, aiming for Sayuri's midsection. Amarante blocked the slash with her left kodaichi while Sayuri swung her katana straight toward the ROOT's neck. The ninja ducked, took out a kunai and tried to stab Sayuri in the neck. Sayuri saw this and brought her own kunai from her weapons pouch. When the two kunai clanged, Amarante kicked the man in the stomach, sending the ROOT ninja back. Using the momentum from Amarante's kick, the ROOT ninja kicked off the ground and back flipped. While in midair, the ninja ran through one hang sign and shouted "Suiton: Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)."

Amarante flashed through the ram sign and shouted "Fuuton: Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage)!" the jutsu's collided, canceling each other out cause of their equal strength. Sayuri was far from idle, shouting out "Doton: Dochūbaku (Earth Release: Landslide)!"

This was absolutely ridiculous in the ROOT ninja's mind. He thought this would be an easy victory, but both girls had whipped out impressive jutsu and the emerald haired one had two affinities. Jumping to the side to avoid the earth jutsu, he ran through twenty-five hand signs and shouted "Suiton: Taki o koete (Water Release: Transcending Waterfall)*!"

Both Amarante and Sayuri looked at each other before jumping back to avoid the crashing waterfall. 'Looks like he stopped playing around,' they both thought. 'However, he is not the only one without a powerful jutsu.' Planting their feet firmly on the ground, Amarante ran through twenty hand signs while Sayuri went through twenty-nine.

"Fuuton: Dai tatsumaki (Wind Release: Grand Tornado)*!"

"Suiton: Nami o abare (Water Release: Rampaging Wave)*!"

The ROOT ninja cursed again. Before he could ask himself where they learned all these jutsus, he had to roll out of the way, narrowly avoiding both techniques. However, this left him wide open to Sayuri's other jutsu, which she had begun after performing her water technique. She formed the last sign and shouted "Mokuton: Mori no ikari (Wood Release: Woodlands Rage)*!"

All around the ROOT ninja, the woods started coming alive. Roots started to sprout from the many trees around the area and it started to scare the ninja. 'What the hell are these things,' he thought, fear evident on his face. He was roused when one of the roots from the trees grabbed ahold of his leg, picked him up and threw him hard on the ground. The ninja's head hit the ground with a sickening crunch, his skull crushed from the impact.

Amarante looked at Sayuri. "No matter how many times I've seen you use that jutsu, it scares the living crap out of me."

Sayuri giggled. "So? You jutsu scares the living daylights out of Naruto. I'm sure mine only scares you. Ayaka and Rei seem to like it.

Amarante shook her head. "Come on, we gotta find the rest. We might be able to help them out."

"Yeah, Sayuri replied. Could you help me a little bit? That last one took a lot out of me."

Amarante nodded, picked up Sayuri in a fireman's carry and jumped into the remaining trees.


With Mayumi and Ayaka (northwest of Oni No Kuni)

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)."

"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)."

While Amarante and Sayuri fought the Suiton ROOT, Mayumi and Ayaka were fighting a Katon ROOT. The fight had been at it for several minutes with each ninja only showing medium to low level jutsu. Ayaka stood next to Mayumi and smirked.

"You think that weak thing is good enough to defeat Mayumi?" she questioned. Well let me show you how a real fire technique is supposed to go." She punctuated her statement with a sign and shouted "Katon: Fureafenikkusu (Fire Release: Phoenix Flare)*!" Ayaka then blew out a stream of fire which formed into a shining phoenix. The phoenix then flared its wings which produced a bright light and blinded the ROOT ninja. While the ninja was rubbing his eyes, Ayaka flashed through seven signs and shouted "Katon: Honoo o funsai (Fire Release: Crushing Flame)*!" Mayumi also ran through seven hand signs and yelled "Suiton: Mizuiro no iki (Water Release: Aqua's Breath)*."

Both jutsus collided with the still stunned ROOT, knocking him onto his rear end. The water technique had knocked the air out of him while the fire technique destroyed his clothing and melted the armor underneath said clothing. Shaking his head to clear the pain, he tried to stand, only to be knocked down again by another water jutsu courtesy of Mayumi. He was really getting mad. He was getting beat by freaking pre-teens here! If he lived, he would never be able to swallow this down. Course, none of this showed on this face, having been trained to be nothing more then emotionless shell of a person. Running through signs, he shouted "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu."

Even though both girls were able to dodge the incoming fireballs, both had been distracted by the jutsu, allowing the ROOT member to get back on his feet. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he engaged Ayaka first with his short sword. Leaping away from horizontal swipe courtesy of the ROOT, Ayaka didn't pull out her weapon, opting for Taijutsu. The ROOT ninja was surprised to see the young girl opting for Taijutsu rather then Kenjutsu but he wasn't complaining. 'If she wants to die that quickly, so be it.' He punctuated his thought with a vertical slash, missing Ayaka by a couple of inches.

Ayaka smirked again. "Come on, I know you can at least lay a scratch on me." Another swing from the ROOT missed, prompting Ayaka to laugh. "I guess not. Oh and by the way, goodbye."

The ROOT ninja looked confused that is until a sword was thrust into his heart from behind. Turning his head around, he saw the young blue haired girl smiling at him and gripping the very sword that had killed him. 'When…what?' that was all that was going through the ROOT ninja's mind before he closed his eyes, dead to the world and to the two girls standing with him.

Mayumi spoke first. "Well, that was overly easy."

Ayaka nodded. "Come on; let's catch up to sensei and the rest."

Mayumi nodded and she disappeared, going southwest. Ayaka soon followed her after burning the body of the ROOT ninja.


With Natsuki and Rei (southwest of Oni No Kuni)

Natsuki and Rei were in the fight of their lives. While Amarante and the others had faced mid-chunin level ROOT, they were facing a low to mid jounin ROOT. The fight had been going on the same time as the other fights, but both girls had been hit with separate Raiton jutsus. The jutsus had fried them and had scrambled their movement for a little over three minutes. Luckily for both of them, the other had gone on the defensive, protecting the one for those minutes until she could get back on her feet.

The ROOT ninja was far from fine however. He had gotten hit from two Raiton jutsus courtesy of Natsuki and three low level earth jutsus from Rei. Even though they didn't hurt that much, the numerous amount of hits had gotten to him. This was evident by sprained foot he had along with a few crushed ribs. Steeling himself, he shouted "Raiton: Shōgekiha (Lightning Release: Shockwave)*."

Natsuki stood in front of Rei and shouted "Raiton: Jiki shadan (Lightning Release: Magnetic Blockade)*!" After the two Raiton jutsus hit, Natsuki's protecting her and Rei, Rei shouted "Doton: Dosenkiryū (Earth Release: Earth Dragon)!"

The ROOT member dodged the incoming earth missile, formed a sign and shouted "Raiton: Kaminari no hakai (Lightning Release: Thunder Destruction)*!"

Natsuki once again stood in front of Rei and was able to absorb the attack. Her defensive jutsu however, sparked out, leaving Natsuki heavily breathing and nearly out of chakra. Natsuki turned to Rei. "You got any juice left?"

Rei nodded her head. "Enough to use that jutsu. Can you cover me for a little bit?"

"Yeah I can," Natsuki replied. She stood, still breathing heavily. She ran through nine hand signs and shouted "Raiton: Gensō-tekina shōheki (Lightning Release: Illusionary Barrier)*!" While Rei started the different signs, Natsuki stood in front of her, ready to intercept any and all jutsus and physical attacks.

The ROOT frowned. 'Whatever she is planning, I can't let her finish it.' He pulled out his short sword and charged at Rei. Natsuki was able to intercept him and the ROOT member received a shock. Swearing, he jumped back, reevaluating his situation. 'I can't fire any Raiton jutsu. She'll just absorb it. Kenjutsu and Taijutsu are also out of the question since she can shock me if I touch her. I think the best way is to wait till her chakra runs out.' With that in mind, he shouted "Raiton: Gian (Lightning Release: False Darkness)!"

Natsuki cursed. Even though all of her lightning shields could absorb some part of Raiton jutsus, it was still not strong enough to absorb all of the Raiton jutsu. She had to keep reinforcing her shield with chakra, which only drained her already dwindling supply of the much needed energy. She spared a glance toward Rei. It looked like she was almost done.

No sooner had Natsuki finished the thought when Rei shouted "Doton: Terakotta no ikari (Earth Release: Terra's Wrath)*!" All around Rei, an earthquake had started on a much stronger scale then Sakura's chakra enhanced punch. The earth itself split apart, revealing something that would be imprinted into the ROOT's mind forever. It was almost like the entire earth had split and as the ROOT ninja looked down, he too fell down into the dark abyss.

There were no words spoken between the two girls as they watched the hole seal up. Suddenly, Rei started to fall forward, exhaustion etched across her face. Natsuki did her best to hold her up. She heard the grass rustling behind her and when she turned to look, she saw Ayaka and Mayumi, both looking a little worse for wear. Natsuki spoke first.

"Were you able to kill your guy?"

They both nodded. "Yeah he wasn't too hard. What happened to Rei?"

"She's exhausted, Natsuki answered. She had to use that jutsu."

Both of them gasped. "When she used that jutsu before, Ayaka started, she nearly fell unconscious."

"I know, replied Natsuki. Come on; help me get her to the village. I think Amarante and Sayuri are headed toward sensei."

Both of them nodded and Mayumi took Rei while Ayaka helped Natsuki out.

Naruto had taught them teamwork and now it was time to put that teamwork to the test. The coming weeks would surely prove that.


With Shion

The bustling of the village was all but lost to Shion as she ran to the gates. She had received word about an injured person and had bolted from her chamber doors. Flanked by four guards, she had the gates in her sights. Two guards were carrying a young pink haired woman, a person Shion recognized as Sakura. A closer inspection yielded that Sakura was suffering from pure exhaustion and there were at least several cuts on her body. Turning to the guards, she said "I've heard what has happen, but I want your side of the story." She then turned to the other guards. "Get her inside one of the hospitals near the temple. Our best doctor is on his way." When the guards were able to pick up the now unconscious Sakura, her gaze turned back to the gate guards.

"Where is Naruto and his group now?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"They went to engage some enemy ninja that were following her, one of the guards replied. He told us to bring her to the village."

Nodding her head, she turned to the many trees surrounding her village. 'You better come back alive Naruto, she thought. Otherwise, I will go into the afterlife myself and kick your butt.


With Naruto (southeast of Oni No Kuni)

In contrast to the other battles that had been going on, Naruto's battle had been really quiet. In fact, neither of the combatants had moved from their spot, each perfectly content to watch the other. Still though, it was really odd that neither had moved an inch. The winds kept picking up, blowing Naruto's hair over his eyes. Suddenly, the wind stopped moving and Naruto could no longer hear his own ninja's battle. 'I only hope that they were able to win,' he thought.

That was the signal for both the ROOT squad leader and Naruto to begin their battle. Both drawing out their weapons, Naruto used wind to enhance his speed and was able to surprise the ROOT with a quick slash. The wound was not deep but it forced the ROOT to take several steps back. However, Naruto wasn't about to let him get back on his feet, shouting "Kenpō: Fuuton: Aiorosu no surasshu (Sword Art: Wind Release: Aeolus's Slash)*!"

The ROOT stared in shock. Only years of training allowed him to get his senses back and jumped, narrowly avoiding the wind jutsu.

Naruto had more tricks up his sleeve, however, and shouted "Kenpō: Fuuton: Kaze no gairan (Sword Art: Wind Release: Disturbance of Winds)*!" Naruto was far from over. Creating a shadow clone, the real Naruto shouted "Fuuton: Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage)" while his clone shouted "Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"

'Damnit,' the ROOT member thought. He was able to avoid two of the wind jutsu but got blown back by the third jutsu. The ROOT member used chakra to plant his feet on the ground to avoid getting blown back further. He then shouted "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!

"This is starting to get interesting," Naruto muttered. Quickly strafing to the side, Naruto charged wind nature into his katana and shouted "Kenpō: Fuuton: Tengoku no namida-fū (Sword Art: Wind Release: Heavenly Wind Tear)*!" he then slashed his sword horizontally, releasing the pent up wind.

The ROOT ninja ducked and was about to shout a jutsu when he heard Naruto shout "Kenpō: Hoshi no dansu (Sword Art: Dance of the stars)*!" he cursed, ducking once again. The small opening was all Naruto nodded. He shouted "Fuuton: Daburu-fū no hakai (Wind Release: Double Wind Destruction)*!"

This jutsu came too quick for the ninja to dodge. Two slices of air impacted the ninja and kicked up a huge dust cloud. When the dust settled, it showed a heavily cut up ROOT ninja. The ninja was bleeding from a cut near his stomach and his left Achilles tendon had been cut. The ROOT ninja's head rose up and his eyes took in Naruto preparing one last jutsu. He lowered his head, knowing the end was near.

To his credit, Naruto couldn't help but admire the man. 'At least he knows that he is beat. You were truly a fine ninja, whoever you are.' Naruto then shouted "Kenpō: Hanketsu o kōjun (Sword Art: Descending Judgment)*!"

There was truly nothing left of the ROOT member when the jutsu hit. It completely demolished all of his body parts and sent those body parts to different parts of the surrounding forests. As Naruto stood and looked at the carnage, he doubled over. 'Damn that last one jutsu hit me hard,' he thought. Shaking his head to clear out the pain, Naruto stood again and heard two people landing on the ground behind him. Turning his head, Naruto saw Amarante and Sayuri.

"So, you guys done with your fight?" he asked.

"The guy wasn't too hard, Amarante replied. Though Sayuri was forced to use her ultimate wood jutsu."

Naruto nodded but Sayuri asked a question that would further shake Naruto's resolve. "Do you think they will come back?"

Naruto lowered his head and collected his thoughts. "Honestly Sayuri, I hope not."


Dark Room Somewhere

A fireplace was crackling, making the only known noise in the room. An old man was sitting in his chair, his eye staring at the fire. He had already received the news of the deaths of four of his ROOT ANBU. Still though, their deaths had proven to him that both Naruto and the new traitor Sakura were alive in Oni No Kuni. He was roused from his thoughts when one of his ROOT members bowed in front of him. He sighed. "What do you want?"

"I am wondering if your going to take any action against Oni No Kuni the member began. It would be beneficial to us."

The man shook his head. "Only in the short run. Pull all ROOT members away from that area. We'll let them live for now."

"By your word, Danzo-sama." The ROOT member then disappeared, leaving no trace that he was ever there.

Danzo once again turned his head toward the fire. 'I will let you live this time, Kyubi Jinchuriki. But know that sooner or later, you will watch the world burn down.'


Well, nothing to say. Sorry for the late update but school has gotten me locked up. I also had a long time deciding the pairings for the girl's fights.

Well R&R. this chapter is my second longest and I hope you guys like the battle scenes.

*=A jutsu I created. All created jutsu will be posted on my fanfiction profile in a little while.

Also note that I will be taking a short break from battle scenes so I can focus more on other stuff.

Next Chapter: Konoha's Reaction