Kakashi found the weak link among the four Oto shinobi that made the barrier, a large teenage male, large in both height and weight, with tan skin and an orange mohawk. Genjutsu wasn't even required, the Sharingan allowed basic hypnosis with eye contact. The difference being genjutsu was based on chakra and observation while hypnotism was, in a few words, intelligence and willpower.
The orange haired rotund young man was particularly weak to it, unfortunately the enemy realized what was happening and the attack plan of the Konoha shinobi trying to back up their Sandaime Hokage went wrong as soon as contact was made with the enemy.
A six armed young man attacked Kakashi immediately, stalling his attempt to attack the Nidaime. Gai was stalled by a young man with silver hair and green lipstick, at least Kakashi thought it was a young man, hard to tell at that age.
Worst of all a young woman with dark-pink hair, not much older than Tenten from the looks of it, completely held off the remaining Anbu from helping the Sandaime with the Shodai or Orochimaru using a flute to weave genjutsu over them.
Even if these three had only stalled them, which was what happened so far, that was a tide changer, "Shodai-dono, remove the pests." Orochimaru ordered smugly and the Shodai Hokage, free of the barrier that once fettered his abilities clasped his hands together in the snake sign, almost as if in prayer, and the forest on the roof expanded to attack the Konoha shinobi.
The Anbu broke the genjutsu, but one was too slow and the Oto kunoichi with dark-pink hair took him out of the fight with a punch to the head. Whether he was dead or unconscious was difficult to tell in the chaos of battle, so his allies could only think of him as 'down and out' lest they risk leaving themselves open in order to help him.
The Sandaime leaped at the Shodai and swung a large adamantium staff, the monkey king transformed into a weapon crashed through Mokuton defense and forced the Shodai to halt the advance of his growing forest. In a puff of smoke Enma, the Enkoo himself, appeared wearing a black suit over mesh armor and a tiger-print sleeveless kimono on top tied with a red sash to engage the Shodai Hokage in taijutsu to stall him.
Hiruzen then leaped at Orochimaru as the pale skinned traitor brandished a tsurugi, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" he declared and threw a volley of shuriken that become a hail of steel, only for his target to dissolve into mud.
The building across from them collapsed under the weight of a giant toad and a giant snake clashing, writhing around each other with the toad keeping an edge by using a sectioned staff to hold the natural weapons of the serpent at bay. Above them Jiraiya and Orochimaru engaged briefly in taijutsu before the golden eyed pale Sannin kicked off his former teammate to force some distance.
"Jirobo get up you fat useless bitch."
"Wha-? Tayuya-san, girls shouldn't talk like that."
"Shut your flabby jowls! We need to go!"
Kakashi glanced with surprise that the Oto kunoichi had recovered her fallen ally so quickly, but at the cost of allowing the Anbu to assist Enma with the Shodai, and to the shock of quite a few onlookers Mokuton met Mokuton.
Orochimaru's eyes widened with delight, "Oh you kept that experiment? Marvelous!" he praised before he chuckled, "The difference in ability is obvious even if Shodai-dono is diminished a tad." he mused, and it was true the Anbu's Mokuton seemed less alive, less natural, more rigid and as the two chakra animated forests wrestled, an odd sight to the watching shinobi, it was clear that the Shodai's was stronger.
Kakashi caught sight of Gai losing ground against the Nidaime and moved to assist against the white haired and blue armored Hokage, he saw the hand signs being weaved but knew matching them without a source of water was pointless, so he planned to use a Katon no Jutsu instead.
Unfortunately the Hatake was interrupted by webbing that caught him to the roof and he narrowly avoided being mortally wounded by thrown weaponry that seemed to be made of similar webbing, a kunai dug into the back of his left shoulder and two more went down his back alarmingly close to his heart and spine. He turned back to see the Oto shinobi joining Orochimaru, except for the large one named Jirobu.
The orange haired young man performed what could only be described as a sumo stomp as Gai dodged the Suiryudan no Jutsu from the Nidaime Hokage, the building cracked, the shinobi standing or still fighting evacuated, and Gai scrambled to rescue Kakashi.
From the arena Naruto could see some of the fight, not a lot but enough to learn that Jiraiya had arrived, judging from the toad, Orochimaru was up there, judging from the snake, and that someone could grow a forest. The blonde was pretty sure that feat was supposed to be unique to the Shodai Hokage, seeing a forest fall because the building it was rooted to crumbled stirred the shinobi in the stands into action.
Baki noticed a lack of any signs of a particular fighter among the Kage and glanced around to see the Konoha shinobi surrounding him, as far as he could tell Amegakure no Sato's shinobi had all retreat, not that he blamed them, but his own forces had been pushed back.
The Suna jonin glanced down to see Gaara was struggling to stand, Temari was trying to get to him and Shikamaru was trying to stop her. He'd lost sight of Kankuro in the chaos, "I surrender." he said as he raised his arms, "The remaining Suna forces will obey me unless Kazekage-sama overrules me, but I have the suspicion that won't be an issue." he finished darkly.
Despite wearing a mask Yugao still looked ready to kill the slippery jonin, but Asuma put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll take prisoners." he ordered, knowing his father wouldn't want them to execute enemy who were in the process of surrender.
Genma nodded and rushed to assist the Sandaime Hokage, he made a subtle hand sign to Yugao as he left who nodded.
Naruto saw Kankuro enter the arena and collapse, he saw Shino enter and collapse a moment after him and wondered what that was about, "Naruto!" Anko called out as she held off an enemy dressed like Konoha Anbu, "Capture Gaa-" she began to order but her opponents left hand on her left wrist glowed and she lost muscle control, her guard dropped and a kunai lodged deep into her left shoulder.
Naruto ignored Temari rushing Gaara, he ignored the blasts of wind she sent at him as he avoided them by sprinting at Anko and the enemy shinobi that hurt her. The blonde could see that the Suna kunoichi was terrified of him, as his kage bunshin popped outside and around the arena he got glimpses and impressions of awed expressions from Konoha ninja he'd helped and terrified expressions from invading shinobi he'd helped capture.
Anko's right hand lifted up to try and hold the kunai in but her opponent pulled away with a sudden yank and her blood sprayed out, a bit more than she was comfortable losing and she tried to stem the flow. Naruto leaped and swung his Nokogiribocho, the cleaving edge aimed for his targets left shoulder in vengeance.
An elbow struck Naruto's diaphragm when his target moved to counter him, "Being airborne limits your ability to evade damage, even if you could keep up with me." a familiar voice lectured before the disguised enemy lodged his kunai in Naruto's chest and made to disarm him of the Nokogiribocho.
Asuma and Yugao both leaped at the enemy shinobi as Naruto swung his left fist in a hook, the enemy dodged back but a high pitched chime rang out and the mask cracked. Naruto staggered away from his opponent with his grip still on his Nokogiribocho as the mask dropped, Kabuto staggered back with cracked glasses, a furious expression, and blood dripping down his ear.
"Naruto-kun don't-" Anko tried to warn but the blonde genin ripped the kunai out of his chest and threw it at Kabuto before he fell back to be caught by the purple haired tokujonin. Asuma nearly took Kabuto's head off as the supposed 'genin' dodged the returned kunai but the young man displayed abilities far exceeding what he did in the chunin exams as he evaded the jonin and even used Kawarimi no Jutsu as Yugao tried to stab him from behind.
Naruto looked around for his bandolier as he felt weak, unable to stand, light headed, and the most telltale sign of all he was dying was that he was losing consciousness, "I need my scroll, the one with the cross." he muttered, "Take some of my spilled blood to heal, get it for me." he requested.
Anko shook as she felt blood loss hitting her too, "Shit, where?" she asked as she looked around, she felt as though her heart dropped into her stomach when the blonde genin shrugged helplessly in her grip, "I hope this works." she muttered as she lifted her left hand, wet with Naruto's blood.
The tokubetsu jonin payed no heed to the way some of the blood dripped into her open wound, or the look of disgust on Asuma's face that was no doubt mirrored on Yugao's as the two approached to assist. Because it worked, her wound sealed shut. Anko looked around again for the scroll he was talking about, but the sand was still everywhere, she wasn't even sure where his bandolier had landed amidst the chaos or when he'd dropped it.
"Shit," Anko muttered, "Naruto-kun, stay with me." she ordered, "Yugao, find his bandolier, he said something about a scroll with a cross on it." she informed and the Anbu nodded stiffly and moved.
Asuma frowned, "I need to back up the others with that," he said with a gesture towards where the biggest fight was, trees and torrents of water collided with pillars of flame and earthen walls. A giant toad was still grappling with a giant snake, "keep the hero of the hour alive for us." he ordered.
Anko nodded as Asuma left, and to her surprise the blonde was not quite fading as fast as she would expect from a sucking chest wound. It even seemed to be slowly sealing shut, as the purple haired kunoichi wondered at Naruto's supernatural vitality the cat masked Anbu returned with his damaged bandolier, scroll already in hand.
Naruto reached for it but Yugao unfurled it and revealed the fuin array, then she pulled out the contents in a puff of smoke, "What?" she asked, even with a mask on it was obvious she was confused. Anko didn't get it either, they seemed to be vials of blood, like syringes with no plunger.
"Just give it here." Naruto groaned, reaching for the vials, Yugao handed the three vials over and watched as the blonde jammed one right into his chest, the blood suctioned through the needle and into his body. Before the eyes of the kunoichi Naruto's cheeks regained some color and his wound healed faster, "Alright, now what?" he asked.
"What?" Yugao repeated, she shook her head, "Do you-? Are you thinking you're still going to be fit to fight?" she asked incredulously.
Naruto nodded, "I'm all healed." he pointed out, "I recover fast." he added.
Yugao's body language was fuming, "Anko-san, get him to a medical tent with the others who evacuated, you two need to rest." she insisted, the tokujonin being addressed nodded.
Naruto frowned, "I can still fight." he insisted, "I'm Uzumaki and a jinchuriki, I'm basically made for this." he pointed out.
"The body and mind still need rest," Yugao hissed, "I saw how exhaustion affects your healing factor just now, I do not know why that red elixir," she didn't want to think of it as blood, "reinvigorated you but you still need to go rest, eat, and be ready if we need more reinforcements since you are apparently a one genin army." she insisted, putting her foot down.
"Yes Okusan." Naruto agreed without thinking of his term of address for the Anbu kunoichi, mostly because he was a little intimidated and unsure how to react to such non-violent and caring aggression. The praise also threw him on the back foot, but he noticed he'd received some already through his kage bunshin that he had yet to mentally process.
Yugao's reaction to his choice of words was to leave without comment as Anko giggled, but once she was gone the remaining purple haired kunoichi tentatively touched her left shoulder, "So, that was a bit more intense than usual." she muttered, "I think I got some of your blood in my wound." she added tiredly, she knew she was supposed to get the genin to safety but even after being healed she just didn't have much stamina left and she ended up leaning against the blonde boy which of course resulted in neither of them getting up.
Naruto tensed, while it was nice to be held by the older woman what she said was very concerning, "We should move." he said, he wanted to discuss it with Karin. Maybe even explain what had happened to the red haired Uzumaki a bit better and get her medical opinion on things, like the fact he might have just made Anko immortal.
The woman groaned, "I don't wanna get up." she complained.
Naruto sighed as he saw a pair of chunin and a man who looked like Shino Aburame's father pick up Kankuro and Shino, "Come on, Anko-chan, time to get up." he said like he was talking to a child and stood up to support the woman on his back.
Anko blinked owlishly, "Wow you are stronger than you look," she commented, "I didn't know your muscles were this hard under your clothes." she added approvingly and the blonde blushed as he supported the dazed kunoichi out of the arena.
Two blonde ninja met at an exit, the kunoichi had been moving quietly and carefully but Naruto had just carried Anko to the nearest exit, so both he and Temari were surprised to cross paths already. Gaara and the blonde Suna kunoichi both looked terrified, it was jarring seeing the auburn haired boy looking like such a frightened child.
Temari steeled herself, "Get back." she warned, trying to seem intimidating but her knees were shaking. Naruto frowned as just how terrifying he was to common ninja finally hit him, he met Gaara's eyes and realized what had happened.
"They're scared of you too, huh?" Naruto asked Gaara, "I guess I could have turned out like you too, a little push was probably all it took right?" he asked, Anko frowned, her head was swimming and her vision blurred, she could barely understand the blonde carrying her.
Temari on the other hand understood perfectly but remained quiet as she watched Gaara, her younger brother, nervously, "Yash-" Gaara began but bit his lip, "Otousan ordered my assassination, a lot." he confessed, "Killing is the only way to prove my existence, so why aren't you killing me?" he asked.
Naruto frowned as the eyes of the other genin, completely lost, looked to him for answers or guidance, "I'm not like you," he said and the other boy's eyes widened, "we're both jinchuriki, both genin, both pretty young, and both scary and dangerous." he pointed out, "You gave up though, you're scared of what you are, of everyone around you. I guess it makes sense, that would be the sane thing to do y'know." he continued as he cocked his head to the side, "I'm not scared of you though, I have a weapon that can deal with you and the ability to use it against you. You're beaten, and now I can see you aren't a yaju, yaju lash out and their death throes can still hurt. You're just a scared kid, otherwise you would have just killed her when she tried to rescue you."
Temari stared at the other blonde in shock as he verbally tore her sibling to shreds, she winced at the final phrase due to the fact that was a fear she'd held but the auburn haired boy merely nodded dumbly at the end of it, "Temari-nee," he addressed the kunoichi suddenly, "sorry about everything." he apologized, "Can we go home?"
"Oh no," Anko spoke up, her speech slightly slurred, "none of that, you're prisoners now." she insisted, "We won't kill you, but we need to get to the bottom of this attack on our home." she growled with narrowed eyes.
Temari cast a worried glance at the brother she was carrying away, she felt bad for leaving Kankuro but she knew Kankuro was mentally sound enough to take care of himself. Gaara however just nodded, "That's fair," he agreed to the surprise of his sister, "we'll come quietly?" he phrased it as a question as he looked to the blonde kunoichi.
Temari was not used to Gaara of all people looking to her for guidance but she saw more Konoha shinobi on the approach and nodded, "Yeah, we don't really have room to argue with that demand." she acknowledged tiredly.
The fight against Orochimaru was not going well, the man and his four Oto shinobi were on the retreat with the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage covering for him. Jiraiya and Hiruzen tried to corner the serpentine man, pincer him between their attacks by forcing the traitor to dodge into one attack with the other.
It almost seemed to work, a spike of stone went through the man as the makeshift and artificial Mokuton of the Anbu barely held back the more natural Mokuton of the undead Shodai from killing the Sandaime. Then Orochimaru burst from his own mouth fully restored and holding his Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
Hiruzen was armored for this fight, not dressed in robes but his old war gear, but his guard could not withstand a weapon like that and the blade cut deep before Kakashi could interfere. The jonin's Raikiri struck true to deliver his right hand through Orochimaru's back but the Kusanagi went through his wrist and the serpentine man bonelessly leaned back.
"Kakashi-kun, joining in with us S rank combatants?" Orochimaru asked casually before vomiting himself up, his new left hand gripped the horrified Kakashi's face as his right hand disarmed his old body of Kusanagi and pulled it up.
Jiraiya halted what would be a mortal wound by forcing Orochimaru to defend against a lion made of chakra infused hair that slammed into the guard of the serpentine man, his sword halting most of the damage but not stopping him from getting knocked up and over the Sandaime where he landed on a tree branch.
"Well, I've had my fill for now," Orochimaru decided, "I'll retreat, and return to crush Konohagakure no Sato once your injured have bled out from todays wounds." he declared with a mocking smirk and the Konoha shinobi all cast worried glances to the Sandaime Hokage, the Kusanagi was said to be poisonous but to what degree was unknown.
Kakashi's wrist burned which concerned the jonin himself even further, "You think we'll let you get away?" he asked.
Orochimaru smirked, "Let me?" he asked rhetorically, "Nidaime-dono, hold them off to your best ability." he ordered, "Shodai-dono, come with me, we'll return once I've run further tests and some fruit is more ripe." he continued as he turned to leave.
The Konoha shinobi made to intercept but the Nidaime sighed, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." he said it more as a warning than a declaration and from the cloud of smoke each Konoha jonin and Anbu who attempted to back up the Sandaime was forced to fight against an unfettered Nidaime Hokage.
"If any of you can confine me for long enough to bind me with fuinjutsu, do it." The white haired Hokage ordered, "I'm not in my prime, so I can't do anything against the control Orochimaru has over me, but I am still Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju." he continued proudly as he weaved hand signs while the Konoha jonin managed to dispel their attacked, "Prove you can stand against me diminished as I am, or perish. This kinjutsu used to revive me, Edo Tensei, is not easily undone, my stamina will be limitless, and mortal injuries mean nothing to me." he warned before he unleashed another Suiryudan no Jutsu from thin air.
Hiruzen intercepted with a Doryuheki no Jutsu, but that didn't get rid of the water that the Nidaime conjured with pure chakra, "Tobirama-sensei certainly feels as powerful as I remember." he grumbled.
Jiraiya bit open his right thumb, "Think you can stall him for a little bit?" he asked as he weaved hand signs.
Hiruzen shook his head, "Jiraiya I am spent, I'm afraid you may have to face him alone while the jonin and Anbu protect our home from his kage bunshin." he pointed out.
Enma landed beside them, "I still have some stamina, but I cannot guarantee how long I will last before I am returned." he warned, reminding them he was there via Hiruzen's Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
Jiraiya sighed, "Figures," he guessed as much, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he said, and there was a pair of toads, Fukasaku and another that Hiruzen vaguely recognized as the wife of the Myobokuzan no Kashira from her purple markings and warty head, "This is going to be ugly, Fukasaku-jiji, Shima-baachan, we're up against the Nidaime Hokage himself revived by kinjutsu." he warned as he altered his make up.
Fukasaku frowned, "Orochimaru I presume?" he asked and Jiraiya nodded, "So, no messing about for this one then?" he asked and the Sennin nodded again.
Shima hopped up first onto the Sannin's left shoulder, "Well, oh dear, Tobirama Senju wasn't it? I heard he's quite dangerous." she mused as Fukasaku joined her on the right shoulder, "It's getting close to supper though, Tousan, this won't do at all." she huffed with a shake of her head.
Fukasaku hummed, "Well, we'll just have to go all out so I can get back and enjoy your cooking, Kaasan." he decided as if it really was that simple. The jonin and Anbu all realized they were about to witness Senjutsu first hand.
Before that though Enma displayed that he was capable of the shinobi arts as well, surprisingly using a basic bunshin no jutsu of all things to close the gap between himself and Tobirama, it almost seemed like an after image with the way Enma used it and such an optical illusion was likely intentional.
The Nidaime Hokage palmed a kunai as he clashed with the Enkoo, Tobirama tried to get his blade past the guard and through the armor of Enma but ended up with his right wrist grabbed by his opponents left foot, then in a display of inhuman acrobatics the Nidaime Hokage was flipped and slammed through the snaking root of a tree left behind by the Shodai's ninjutsu.
Then a second Tobirama, a kage bunshin, slid a kunai into his back with the force of a body tackle behind it, Enma's eyes widened but before he could so much as exhale his pain he returned from where he was called by the Sandaime's Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
"Credit to Enma-dono," The Nidaime on the ground spoke respectfully, "even in his old age he broke my back." he said before he stretched out and hopped to his feet, "Unfortunately, that won't be enough to deal with Edo Tensei."
Kakashi saw the hand signs and his eyes widened in alarm, "That's-!" he didn't bother continuing and began hand signs of his own, "Doton: Doryuheki no Jutsu!" he declared, technically earth chakra beat water chakra but ninjutsu the Nidaime Hokage used was like conjuring a lake and using the water as a mallet.
Even with other jonin and Anbu joining in, Hiruzen himself adding a Doryuheki despite his exhaustion and the Mokuton using Anbu creating wooden lattices to reinforce their attempts the Konoha forces would still have to deal with more destroyed buildings and a flooded district.
Genma and Asuma arrived in a blur of speed indicative of shunshin, both already weaving hand signs. Gai prepared to back them up as he caught his breath, then Genma unleashed a Karyudan no Jutsu that was enhanced into a grand dragon of an inferno by Asuma's Daitoppa no Jutsu.
"Suiton:" Tobirama responded as he weaved hand signs, "Suijinheki." he intoned before he unleashed a gout of water from his mouth at high pressure into the water he'd already created and his chakra, molded by his hand seals, did the rest and formed a wall of water that turned to steam, "Impressive combination, my defense would have left me too badly scalded by the steam to continue were I still alive." the Nidaime praised.
Being praised by a legend lost some of its punch when said legend was so casually dealing with them, the jonin all got a better appreciation for the Sandaime Hokage for being able to survive against both the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage while fending off Orochimaru.
Gai was ready to jump into close quarters but there was no need, Jiraiya finally finished gathering the energy he needed. Tobirama seemed to dodge the initial punch but was launched back into a wall as though struck anyway, "Senjutsu." the Nidaime acknowledged, "Good, you should be able to defeat me and protect Konohagakure no Sato then." he said approvingly.
The watching jonin noticed the changes Jiraiya had gone through, it was hard not to, with toad like eyes, warts, and his pierced nose becoming far more bulbous, he looked like a hybrid of man and toad. He didn't retort verbally and instead made to sweep the legs of the Nidaime with his right leg.
Tobirama hopped over the sweep but as before an invisible force struck him anyway, ripping his legs out from under him and while he was horizontal Jiraiya spun and delivered a vicious axe kick. However he lifted his foot off a splintered log when the smoke cleared, the Nidaime made to attack from behind but without looking the Sennin delivered an elbow to the face.
With the first direct hit Tobirama felt the full force of Senjutsu enhanced taijutsu, then a back hand that missed his backward swaying head unleashed a force that struck him aside and through the wall of an urn store. Shima clasped her webbed hands and started humming, Tobirama's head span and his vision became a bit too psychedelic for his comfort.
Jiraiya took this opportunity to make the bird then snake seal as Fukasaku began a string of hand signs before the Sannin crouched, planted his hands to the ground, and flowed his chakra into the earth as Doton. The ground rose up before the Nidaime could dodge and trapped him, then Fukasaku spat oil and made an odd hand sign not even Hiruzen recognized, "Fuin!" the Kashira declared.
"I can't move? But I can talk." Tobirama acknowledged, "Interesting solution, can you move me to a convenient location?" he asked, he was technically still in the urn store.
"How long will that oil last?" Jiraiya asked.
"Stop gap measure, but it'll hold for a few hours at least and I can reapply it until we find a way to undo this Edo Tensei." Fukasaku grumbled.
Tobirama frowned, "Oh, well," he began, "that may be awkward." he mused, "I invented this kinjutsu, so I know the only way to undo the jutsu is to have the practitioner perform a set of hand signs. So killing Orochimaru would only free me from his control and allow me to do it myself, but I'd have to teach Kyodai." he explained.
Fukasaku didn't blink, "You invented this?" he asked, visibly and audibly affronted.
"I sought a way to overcome death," Tobirama confessed, "no method I found was worth the cost, so I abandoned the search and met Shinigami-sama on the field of battle willingly." he explained proudly, "I suppose some scoundrel unlocking my secrets and dragging me back from my honorable death could be called my punishment for having invented it." he mused.
Yugao dropped down on the flooded street, standing on the surface of the water while most of the jonin who had been present just accepted the ankle deep hindrance, "Evacuations are mostly complete, Oto forces are retreating and Suna forces have surrendered." she reported.
Genma frowned since something about the Anbu being there bothered him, then he realized what it actually was, "Neko-san," he began, "who is currently with Naruto Uzumaki?" he asked, Hiruzen and Jiraiya both frowned with concern.
Yugao was silent and still for a moment, "Anko Mitarashi." she confessed quietly, Kakashi was gone as quickly as he could mold the chakra for shunshin.
Naruto glared at Neji as Iruka helped Anko into a cot, since the woman seemed fairly out of it, "Don't fall asleep here, Anko-chan." the blonde warned quietly, which just confused the woman more. He felt guilty, he was still hiding it and now someone else was involved on top of that, but he had to deal with something, "Neji, apologize to Hinata-chan." he insisted.
Neji rolled his eyes, "I stand by my words, she is too weak to be a chunin, and remaining a genin her entire life is shameful. Her mentality is ill fit for the shinobi lifestyle, it is a cruelty for her to struggle." he insisted.
"That's not your choice to make!" Naruto snapped and bared his teeth, the Hyuga boy took a subconscious step back as those watching the exchange noticed how Naruto's canines were longer than normal, "Hinata-chan wants to try, so let her try her best. You're family so shouldn't you support her y'know?" he asked.
Karin nodded, without even knowing Naruto very well she'd wanted to support him once she realized they probably really were family. Neji however just sighed, "Fine," he began and removed his hitai-ate to reveal bandages, which he pulled away to reveal a manji in the center of his forehead flanked by two hooks that wrapped around his temples and under his hairline, "This juinjutsu allows main house Hyuga to torture and kill branch house Hyuga, all for the sake of protecting the dojutsu." he explained bitterly.
Naruto frowned and cocked his head to the side, "So why antagonize and mentally torture literally one of the only people who could kill you with one jutsu regardless of what you can do?" he asked blithely, "Were you hoping to force her to kill you or something?"
Neji's eye twitched, "No, I knew she would not." he insisted.
"Okay but like, wouldn't the current head of your clan want to kill you if he found out how you treated her?" Naruto asked, so far he just thought Neji was stupid.
"Hiashi-sama has practically given up on Hinata-sama." Neji revealed with a casual shrug as he crossed his arms.
Naruto was very still for a moment, then his killing intent leaked out with his exhale before he inhaled and took control of himself, "Apologize to Hinata-chan or I'll prank you for the rest of your life. I have kage bunshin I can make the time to follow through." he threatened as he crossed his own arms.
"I'm not just going to change my philosophy because you were fated to win the day." Neji refused stubbornly.
"I didn't win because of fate you ass! I beat you because I thought ahead and developed a strategy to counter your main strength!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, "You're the overconfident jack ass who didn't think to develop any long range attacks! You didn't even try to throw shuriken back!" he lectured, the other rookie genin were surprised that the blonde of all people was being so smart about thinking back over the fight.
Iruka decided he should interupt, and he felt his concern was pressing enough to warrant it, "Why aren't these two captives cuffed?" he asked nervously.
Gaara looked down and cuffed himself with sand, Temari was perfectly still, "I've been paranoid that if I move someone will kill me." she confessed, a closer look revealed sweat dripping down her neck.
Naruto shrugged, "It seemed redundant." he informed, "They're both pretty soundly beaten." he pointed out.
Sasuke glared at Gaara, "I saw a massive tanuki, how did you deal with that?" he asked.
Naruto shrugged, "I panicked and just hit Gaara with sound waves until it went away." he explained, the auburn haired boy winced.
Baki, who actually was shackled, spoke up, "Shukaku takes control whenever Gaara sleeps, so your efforts woke him up." he explained, "To think, a weapon that ignores his defenses and can force him awake like an alarm clock." he muttered, baffled the solution to Gaara's rampages was effectively a gauntlet that amplified sound somehow, "Wielded by Konoha's jinchuriki no less."
"Our what now!?" Tenten exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, your cell never actually heard about that." Naruto recalled, "Chakra no Bakemono can't die so Yondaime locked Kyuubi no Kitsune in my keirakukei with fuinjutsu." he explained, "I should really learn more fuinjutsu." he added as he recalled the paper tags he'd been given that could teleport him to the last location he dreamed without actually dreaming.
Neji frowned, "Wait a minute," he muttered, "I was the underdog all along!" he realized with a hint of indignation.
"You were not! Shut up!" Naruto denied angrily.
Anko groaned as she sat up, "I think I'm gonna throw up." she complained, and Naruto frowned because he hadn't quite had that reaction to the blood.
"Probably," Kakashi began as he entered the tent that was, for some reason, housing prisoners and wounded, "because Naruto-kun's blood has unknown side effects." he pointed out.
Karin sighed, "How much did you give her?" she asked, not trusting the woman to answer honestly.
"A couple of sips," Naruto said stiffly, "some probably got in the wound she had." he pointed out.
"Wound?" Karin asked, "I didn't notice I thought she just got splattered a bit," she confessed with all of her medical concern coming through, "what happened?"
"Kabuto stabbed her, then me, my blood healed us." Naruto answered with a shrug, since that cat was out of the bag.
"Why are we not using Naruto's blood to heal more people?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Kitsune messed with the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai," Naruto lied, "so think of Anko-chan as a willing test subject." he said and the woman looked like she wanted to dry heave.
"Ugh, the come down is so much worse the more blood there is, but I still say that's worth it." Anko said firmly, "I wouldn't recommend it though, I just need it because of a medical condition." she said smugly, "Karin-chan knows the details, confidentiality or whatever." she finished dismissively.
"You recovered quickly." Kakashi muttered, he noted that the symptoms were not like an alcohol hangover despite what they seemed at first glance.
"I volunteer!" Lee exclaimed eagerly with his unbroken arm in the air.
Naruto winced, "Uh, no, I'm barely okay with testing it on Anko-chan." he confessed.
Karin sighed, "Lee-kun, I'm sorry but I don't think Uzumaki blood could actually help your injury, I saw the charts." she said the last part meaningfully, the bushy eyebrowed boy frowned sadly.
Yugao pulled open the flap of the tent, mask still on, "I'm to transfer the prisoners to Ibiki-san, Anko Mitarashi, Kakashi Hatake, and Naruto Uzumaki are to report to Hokage-sama in his office in the tower." she explained shortly before she gestured for the particularly valuable prisoners to come with her.
Naruto was not sure what he expected, but the Sandaime Hokage having his own medical cot set up behind his desk while iryoninja fussed over IV placement and equipment readings the blonde couldn't understand was not on the list. The Nidaime Hokage just being there, tied to a chair with rope that had fuinjutsu tags along the knotted length, was another shock to the system.
Asuma and Shikamaru were there too, as was a man that Naruto could only assume was the Nara patriarch since he looked like an older and more tired Shikamaru with scars on his face, "Makes sense I suppose." Shikamaru muttered as if he already knew what was going on.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara," Hiruzen began gruffly, "for your efforts during the chunin selection examinations as well as in recognition for your contributions to the protection of Konohagakure no Sato today, I promote both of you to chunin." as the Sandaime said this Asuma presented Shikamaru with a flak vest and Kakashi handed one to Naruto, "In the wake of this attack we must put forth an air of strength, you two will be trusted to lead your generation from here." he said solemnly before he focused on Naruto, "While Shikamaru-kun is assisting with leading genin in D ranks to help clean up and rebuild however, I would send Naruto-kun on a mission with Jiraiya to find my other wayward student, far less treacherous." he explained.
Anko frowned, "Hokage-sama, I would volunteer to go too." she insisted.
Jiraiya stepped up out of the shadows behind the tokubetsu jonin, "Yes, I'm sure we'd love to have you along." he said, almost pleasantly if not for his leacherous tone.
"You really want to flirt with me?" Anko asked in a faux demure tone, "Naruto-kun protect me from the lecherous old man." she joked with a smirk.
Jiraiya frowned, "Well, my presense isn't enough to deter her, but I think I heard a little about your reason for wanting to come with us and I can't say I think it's a good one." he explained as he crossed his arms and approached the Hokage's desk, "On that note, I want to take this opportunity to take Naruto Uzumaki as my apprentice." he said firmly.
Anko frowned, "But I-" she began to protest.
"Anko," Hiruzen interrupted, "you may still work with Naruto-kun, but the immediate threat of Orochimaru in the village is gone, we need to bolster our forces and a small team needs to leave swiftly to return Tsunade Senju to Konohagakure no Sato." he explained, "I in particular am in need of her assistance." he finished gravely.
A fun quirk of Japanese language, Okusama is ma'am/madam and Okusan is wife. Naruto doesn't fully understand that contextual difference and just thinks it's a different honorific, Anko of course found this hilarious and the only thing I'll say about Yugao's response to it is what you saw, she fled.