Welcome back folks, this chapter will be more of a build up chapter than anything. Everyone is about to see what the three boys can really do as their fighting personalities from their previous lives begin to shine through, and even Zabuza-sensei will be getting into the action. Alright, now that I've got your mouths watering, let's kick this.

Announcements! - Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, There are about a handful of bleach references/lines in this story. Oh and Naruto's energy wave does NOT Getsuga Tenshou! His fighting style ain't Kurosaki Ichigo's. OH YEA! I still need a beta for this story and Etched in Stone (which is currently in a funk!)

Disclaimer - I do NOT own Naruto (and just to cover my ass I do NOT own any drabble or crumb of bleach either)

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-Chapter 17: Attack!-

Naruto, Gaara, and Zaiaku were looking down on the arena floor as they watched Temari square off against Shino. Naruto watched as she unsheathed her battle fan.

-Flashback-

"I REFUSE!" yelled an enraged Sand Kunoichi

Naruto glared back, "I'M THE ONE THAT WAS TOLD TO PULL TOGETHER A SQUAD!"

"BUT THEY'RE BUGS!" retorted Temari, "LITTLE DISGUSTING COCKROACHES !"

"Actually," interupted a jounin, "They're Kikai."

Naruto scowled, "NOT HELPING, SHINO!"

-End Flashback-

'Worst. Mission. Ever,' Thought the blonde, 'two days of tracking and we came up with nothing.' Turning his head he noticed Zaiaku looking intently at the Hokage booth, "What's wrong?" he questioned

"I don't like the look of that guy," he whispered in reply, pointing to the tall black haired man, "Something about him isn't right."

As the three boys inspected the bodyguard of the Mizukage from afar, they neglected to notice Hinata and Sakura re-enter the finalists area, "A-arigato Gaara-san," said a pink cheeked Hinata.

Gaara turned and offered a small smile, "It was no trouble."

"What about y-your match?" she questioned, "N-Neji-nii-san is strong, w-won't you need all of your chakra?"

"We took a soldier pill each, we'll be fine" interjected Zaiaku, "besides, we only gave you a miniscule amount." He glanced at Sakura and noticed she was shivering slightly, "Are you cold?"

The pink haired girl smiled timidly and shook her head, "I was at first, but it's fine now." When he turned around she furrowed her brow, 'his chakra has so much power it's giving me chills. No wonder he beat Sasuke-kun so easily.' She stepped up to the railing inbetween Zaiaku and Naruto, "Do you think Temari can beat Shino?"

"If she keeps her wits about her," replied Naruto, "and if she can keep the fight out in the open he can't use his bugs efficiently."

Down on the arena floor Temari was frowning, "I hate bugs."

"They," replied Shino as he extended his arms, "don't seem to like you much either." His insects began to crawl out of his sleeves and swarm violently around his body.

"FOURTH MATCH, TEMARI VERSUS ABURAMI SHINO, HAJIME!"

Extending his fingers, Shino commanded his bugs to close in on the sand kunoichi. Going wide-eyed Temari began a series of sidesteps and other acrobatic maneuvers to avoid being overtaken by the swarm of chakra eating insects. As she vaulted into a high backflip she quickly opened her fan and lashed out, "Ninpo: Kamaitachi!" (Ninja Arts: Slashing Wind) the huge burst of wind blasted the kikai, killing many of them. 'If I can keep my distance I'll be ok," she thought.

"Alirght then," said Shino as he recalled the kikai, "time for another approach."

"She's the worst opponent for Shino," said Kurenai, "Her long range attacks not only bat away his insects, but the wind contains chakra which also inflicts damage."

Naruto frowned, 'Shino is stronger than that though.'

Temari watched as the bug boy extended his arms out to the sides, instead of his normal out front position, "What's he?-"

"TEMARI! LOOK OUT!" cried Kankuro

"Crap," hissed Naruto, "He might have her here."

Looking to her left and right, she immediately discerned the source of her brothers concern. Instead of the insects coming from the front, they were approaching from either side. "If you attack to your left," said Shino calmly, "then the insects on your right, along with myself, will attack. The same holds true for the opposite, even if you attack me directly you will be overwhelmed. Give up."

Temari smirked, "Too soon," she said simply

"What are you talking about?" questioned Shino frowning, "this is inescapable."

"You revealed your best hand," she replied, "entirely too soon." Expanding her fan fully she began channeling her chakra. Shino reacted immediately by sending in his bugs and charging. As he drew a kunai and prepared to attack the insects were simultainiously closing in for, what he thought, was the inevitable end.

"Shino-kun is g-going to overwhelm her," said a wide-eyed Hinata

Zaiaku nodded, "I hope she has a plan, or it's match over."

Temari gritted her teeth in concentration as she called out, "Ninpo: Kamaitachi no Arashi!" (Ninja Arts: Storm of the Slashing Wind) bringing her fan around her body, in a full three hundred and sixty degree motion, a large wind funnel formed. The kikai and Shino were both caught in the raging storm of chakra and wind, unable to escape. After several hanging moments the bug gennin was sent flying to the ground, landing with a dull thud.

Genma approached, "WINNER, TEMARI!"

Naruto was beaming, then in a state of temporary insanity he poked his tongue out at his teammates. "NARUTO!" growled Zaiaku who then charged, but he was quickly detained by Gaara.

"Go bother her," grunted Gaara as he continued to hold Zaiaku in a half nelson. The blonde only continued his prodding, "I will let him go," said the redhead. The white haired teen grinned evily while Naruto bolted for the stairs.

"I'm impressed," said Asuma, "that was a hell of an attack."

Kurenai nodded, "She baited him and he fell for it."

In the Hokage's booth the Kazakage was smiling, "Your daughter is very skilled," said Sarutobi, "To not only draw in her opponent, but to also remove multiple threats at once, is an impressive feat."

The Kazekage nodded, "She's the strongest gennin kunoichi," then he looked at the finalists balcony, "Gaara is next."

"Do y-your best Neji-nii-s-san," said Hinata, "you t-to Gaara-san."

Both boys nodded and headed down the stairs to the arena, "Will Gaara win?" questioned Sakura

Zaiaku shrugged, "We learned a long time ago to never-ever count an opponent out till they are dead or incapacitated." Then he closed his eyes and smirked, "but Neji will be hard pressed to pull this off."

Naruto made his way down the hallway to the exam room, absentmindedly whistling. When he approached the door he saw the two ANBU, "Can I go in?"

"No," replied one, "We are to stop any unsavory characters from entering until Tsunade-sama has completed her examination of the young woman inside."

"Like him?" replied Naruto dryly as he gestured to the form of Jiriaya, who was currently perched on several chairs attempting to look through a very high window. 'Ero-sennin never gives up,' thought the blonde

'Ah, the old pervert,' growled Kyuubi

"JIRIAYA-SAMA!" yelled the raven masked ANBU, "Tsunade-sama would not be pleased!"

The Toad Sannin stumbled off the chairs and fell on his backside, "Shhhh or she'll-"

"JIRIAYA!" boomed a female voice from inside the room

Jiriaya went pale, "Oh crap."

Tsunade placed a very hard kick to the door, causing it to rocket off the hinges, "YOU WERE PEEKING!" she yelled.

Throwing up his hands in front of himself, the sannin shook his head quickly, "I was just admiring how beautiful you are when you work!"

'How lame!...wait,' thought Naruto, 'is she blushing?'

Kyuubi gasped, 'Get inside the room before you scar yourself mentally.'

Without a second thought Naruto bolted into the medical room. Looking around he didn't see anyone inside, 'did they all leave?' as he looked around one of the curtians that was drawn around a bed he recieved more than what he bargained for.

"Naruto!" yelled Temari as she attempted to cover herself and vehemently whack said teen, "pervert! pervert! PERVERT!"

"I am not a PERVERT!" he yelled as he moved himself to the proper side of the curtain, "I was coming to see if you were ok!" Naruto frowned, 'you could've warned me, you knew she was there!'

Kyuubi was howling, 'and miss this?'

"Well," she said dryly as she came around the curtain fully clothed, "I hope you enjoyed the show."

"Oh definately," replied Naruto without thinking. He immediately froze in his tracks and looked at Temari, she was turning a bright shade of red.

"Why...you," she growled as she gripped her battle fan

'Why can't your precognative thought work OUTSIDE of battle?' questioned Kyuubi

On the arena floor Gaara and Neji were glaring at each other, "FIFTH MATCH! GAARA VERSUS HYUUGA NEJI, HAJIME!"

Gaara stood with his arms crossed as he ordered his sand to attack, Neji reacted immediately by slamming a palm into the attacking mass, "You're sand has chakra," said the hyuuga, "the jyuuken style attacks that, did you learn anything from Hinata-san?"

The redhead smirked, "Of course I did," he replied as his eyes flashed to yellow. "Now," he said as he formed the half ram seal, "please observe."

Neji watched as the sand around Gaara began to swirl and his chakra went from blue to yellow, 'He's like Uzumaki and Zaiaku, none of them have normal chakra. It explains their unreal abilities,' he thought.

The Kazekage and his body guards were horror stricken, "Shukaku," he whispered, "Hokage-sama I believe this situation is becoming dangerous."

"He is in control," replied Zabuza, "I don't know what Gaara you remember, but the one in the arena never loses control."

"You know?" questioned the Kazekage, "Yet, you are his sensei?" Zabuza nodded, "Why?"

"Those three," he replied in a serious tone, "saved me."

"Gaara-san," whispered Hinata, "he's g-going to fight Neji-nii-san s-seriously."

Zaiaku nodded as he felt Shukaku's chakra come from his friend, "He takes no opponent for granted, sometimes I find myself getting overconfident and taking my adversaries lightly. Gaara never does, he'd fight an academy student the same as he'd fight a jounin."

"He is the one with the least amount of mercy in your team," stated Kakashi

"No," came the voice of Naruto from the stairs, "that would be Zaiaku." He was sporting a black eye and grinning like an idiot, "Gaara is calm and calculated. Frosty on the other hand has a temper, he'd never raise a hand to a friend, but if you're an enemy don't expect any quarter."

"Frosty?" questioned Sakura

Zaiaku cleared his throat and waved his hand slightly, "that's what he calls me." Sakura and Hinata burst into giggles, while Temari and everyone went into full blow laughter. 'It's not that funny,' Thought the teen

Shiva was stiffling her laughter, 'Of course not, little one.'

"How's he doing?" questioned Naruto as he approached the railing

"He's just released his chakra," replied Zaiaku, "he's become serious."

Gaara's sand was in an all out attack coming from all angles. Neji was spinning and dodging with grace and finesse, as he lept back something gripped his ankle. Looking down he saw that sand was coming from under the earth and forming a shackle on his leg. 'Damnit,' something else entered his range of vision, it was a wave of sand approaching his back. They byakugan user began releasing his chakra, "Kaiten!" (Whirl) he called out as he spun his body. The sand exploded away on contact, leaving Neji unscathed, "I told you Hinata-sama's technique was not as strong as mine."

Gaara shook his head, "A battle of attrition then?" he questioned

"I have a theory though," said Neji as he charged the demon vessel. Like the Hyuuga predicted the sand charged on an intercept course for him, he nimbly dodged wave after wave. "My theory is," he stated as he came within range of Gaara, "You only have so much sand that responds to you through your thoughts, if you use it all to attack then you have none for defense." Dropping low he smirked, "You are in range of my divination, Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou!" (Hand of the Eight Divinations: Sixty-four Palms) Neji quickly began a precise attack on the redhead's tenketsu

Zaiaku noticed Hinata fidgeting and grinned, "You didn't tell him anything did you?"

"I told him Gaara-san's s-sand had chakra in it," she said while poking her fingers together.

Naruto was fighting full blown laughter, "In all that time you never used Rokujuu Yonshou on him?" Hinata nodded slightly, the blonde reached over and supported himself on his teammate's shoulder as he let out a laugh.

"Zaiaku-san," questioned Sakura, "What are you two laughing about?"

The white haired teen leaned over and pointed a finger at Gaara, "Watch very closely."

Neji was smirking as the form of Gaara slumped to the ground, "That," said the redhead, "was a very well thought out theory, and an amazingly executed plan."

"I only figured it out as our battle started," replied Neji, "It is was simple math rea-"

"I said it was well thought out," interupted Gaara, "not effective." Standing revealed that his face, and clothing as well, seemed to be cracking. "Suna no Yoroi" (Armor of Sand) said Gaara as his sand began to recoat his body, "Now let us test the duration of your Kaiten." As he raised his hands from his sides gysers of sand began errupting from the ground.

Zabuza was looking down at the arena, in his periphiral vision he saw the Mizukage shift his hand slightly. After a moment he saw Yajuu and then Fantomu do the exact same thing, 'Not good,' he thought. As he looked to the Hokage he recieved the signal to prepare for a fight, which was a simple nod. The Kazekage mimiced the Hokage's actions, 'well at least they're on our side.'

In one lightning fast movement Yajuu pulled out a smoke bomb and launched it at the Hokage, Fantomu did the same to the Kazekage. The explosions echoed through the arena, "It seems our match is concluded Neji," said Gaara as he looked to Naruto and Zaiaku on the balcony.

"What's going on?" cried Sakura

"We," replied Kakashi as he drew a kunai and prepared for combat, "are under attack, you're mission is to defend Konoha."

Naruto nodded and unclasped Kubikiri, "Here we go," he said as he sprinted towards a group of mist-nins and began to channel Kyuubi's first tail. Swinging his blade he hit one in the gut, nearly splitting him in two. In his peripheral vision he caught sight of an incoming fist, he responded by reaching out and catching the attack with his hand. "Gotcha," he said as he spun the nin around and broke his neck. 'Time to even things out,' he thought, "Kuchyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) Naruto and Hakumei grinned evily as they descended on the nin's. Naruto cutting a bloody path and Hakumei mercilessly tearing through throats

Sakura was standing in shock as she watched her former teammate not only defeat, but slaughter, the attacking ninja's. "Die!" shouted a sound nin as he charged at her with a kunai primed for striking. At the last moment a flash of metal crossed his body diagonally, severing his arm and head.

"Sakura-san," said Zaiaku as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "take a deep breath, you've trained for this." Then he smiled softly, "I'll be right by your side." The pink haired girl nodded as she ripped a kunai from her leg holster, "Now," said Zaiaku, "Let's begin, Sakura."

In the Hokage booth Zabuza was squared off against Fantomu and Yajuu, the Kazakage's guards long dead, "You lose traitor!" cried Yajuu as he jammed his claw into the leaf jounins gut.

After a moment Zabuza grinned, "Do I?" he questioned as his body exploded into water, along with the Kazekage and Hokage.

"Kakashi!" yelled Gai as she broke a mist nin's neck, "That's the signal!"

The copy ninja nodded, "Alright, Sakura!" said Kunoichi had just dispatched her first nin, "Get to the school and help Iruka sensei escort the children to the shelter! Protect them with your life!"

Zaiaku looked at Kakashi and nodded, "Let's go Sakura-san."

"Hai!" she replied, they both sprinted down the walkway

"Hinata come with me," said Kurenai as she lept over the railing. Both kunoichi sprinted to Gaara and Neji, "There are a lot of the lords here, along with citizens of Konoha," she said to the three, "our job is to cover the front gate of the arena, let's move."

'That's everyone,' thought Kakashi, "Naruto! You and Temari will accompany Gai and Lee to guard the southern entrance to the arena."

"What about oji-san?" questioned Naruto

"He has Zabuza, Raidou, and the Kazekage with him," replied Gai as they made for the arena doors, "He's the safest person in the village right now."

"Hn," replied Naruto, "Hakumei, stay alert, we don't want any sneak attacks."

The black fox nodded, "Hai, Naruto-sama."

The Mizukage looked to Yajuu and Fantomu as a large group of leaf Jounin closed in on them, "You know your tasks, I will find the old fool."

Both of the mist swordsmen nodded, "Hai!"

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End Chapter 17: Attack!

Read and Review - It's getting exciting!

Preview Chapter 18: Sacrifice