I want to start this chapter out a bit different than the others by saying a big THANK YOU! To all of my reviewers, whether you pop in one review every five chapters or you're one of my diligent reviewers that hit me every new post. So to each and everyone of you, Arigato, from the bottom of my little black heart. Also I realize that my last chapter was a bit Zaiaku-centric, gomen. Alright let's get to the story!

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-Chapter 30: The Legendary Three-

Temari watched as the medic nins ran around covered in red, attempting to slow down the number of lives the shinigami was taking on this bloody morning, "Temari-san!" came the voice of Sakura, "give me a hand!" The sand kunoichi complied and was quickly being guided by her pink-haired companion as to what she should be doing, "Alright now hold this tightly...good." After a moment the Medic nin gave a smile, "That's one, only fifty more."

She was about to move on to the next when an ANBU appeared in the lobby, it wasn't unusual, but he was uninjured, "Who's in charge!" he shouted over the scrambling medics. Sakura stepped up to the man, "Ah," he started, "Haruno-san, Tsunade-sama wants to send as many medics as we can spare out into the field. Orochimaru's forces are focusing on killing the medics as they are helping the wounded."

"Understood," she replied, the ANBU then poofed into smoke. "Hinata!" she cried over the lobby, the lavender haired girl looked up, "We're going out into the field on Tsunade-sama's orders."

"I'm going with you," interjected Temari

Sakura frowned, "You're not a medic-nin."

The sand jounin matched her frown, "You seem to think I'm giving you an option."

Hinata stepped in to avoid the situation escalating, "We don't have time for this, Temari-san can come, an extra fighter won't be frowned upon."

"Alright, let's get every available hand and get out there," stated Sakura. After less than three minutes an adiquate team of six medics were gathered and were setting off for the gate, "Help who you can, don't waste your time on a lost cause." They all understood her meaning, in the field you have a limited amount of chakra and the fact is, you can't save everyone.

A streak of lightning shot across the field of battle, causing several mist and sound nins to hit the ground with gaping wounds. Another crack of thunder indicated that Naruto had began to blitz to another kunai, leaving a trail of slashed bodies, "Naruto," gasped Kakashi as he watched his former student use his former sensei's signature jutsu. He was reinvigorated at seeing the technique of the strongest Kage, to ever lead konoha, again. "PUSH THEM BACK!" he cried to his comrades

While Kabuto was now holding the bloody stump of what remained of his left arm, Orochimaru was in a clash with the toad hermit, 'I have to stop that boy,' he reached to his back and launched a kunai.

The sannin tilted his head to the right and the dagger zoomed by without contact, "Your aim is horrible, Orochi-kun."

"I wasn't aiming at you," he replied with a sinister grin. As he predicted, his former friend had avoided the simple attack, missing it's true purpose. The dagger slammed into the red kunai with the 'Jutsu-Shiki' engraved on the handle, and exploded, destroying the target, "You think I don't know how the Yellow Flash's famous jutsu works? You forget who you're dealing with Jiraiya!"

Naruto frowned as he felt his jutsu break, 'damnit!' He skidded in the dirt as the 'Jutsu-Shiki' was destroyed, effectively breaking his jutsu. He could still use the Hiraishin, but the other two daggers were too close to each other to cover any significant amount of ground and he doubted that Orochimaru's forces would allow him to prepare the attack again. He gave an audible grunt, 'Go Kyuubi.'

'Hai,' replied the demon and released his first and second tail

Several nins gave a visible shudder as the blonde nin released an enourmous aura of power. "I'll just have to do this the hard way!" he cried as he gripped his sword and charged the enemy, the ethereal form of the Fox demon encasing his body. The first nin had no chance as he stared into the eyes of the Kyuubi vessel, his feet frozen to the ground as his body was nearly split in half. Pivoting on the ball of his foot, Naruto sent the hilt of the long handled weapon crashing into another nin's throat, crushing his windpipe. After dispatching another two ninja's he found himself surrounded, "Great."

"Time to die," stated a mist nin with a fanatical grin. It was quickly wiped away as Naruto's own laugh rang out, "You're surrounded, I don't see what's amusing. You're about to die, do you find that funny?"

"Who's surrounded?" questioned the blonde as his laughing ceased. "Bakuretsu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" (Exploding Shadow Clone Technique)came another voice outside the circle of nins. As their bodies were launched skyward, Naruto crouched low and channeled his chakra through the artificial chakra system in his sword, "Ichi," he growled. The first tail of his ethereal armor disolved, then in a flash, the weapon ignited in flames. Leaping high into the air and drawing back, he focused his eyes on the forms of the disoriented enemies, "Katon: Shounetsujigoku!" (Fire Style: Burning Hell) He smiled grimly as the weapon slammed into the ground, the enemies looked at it in horror. The flames roared to life then exploded out, creating a quickly expanding dome of burning death, the nins could only cry out as their bodies were incinerated.

"Naruto-kun seems to be enjoying himself," stated Inoishi with a grin. He caught sight of several nins converving on the whirling storm of blonde destruction, "I think we should go help though, we don't want him dying, he owes us drinks." The ShikaInoCho team charged into the group of enemies, binding, confusing, and flattening them as they made their way to Naruto. "Ohayo, Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Inoishi as he parried a kunai with his own, then eviscerated his attacker.

"Inoishi, HIT THE DECK!" cried Shikato as he lashed out with his shadow covered arm, "Kage Mori!" (Shadow Lance) The spear of shadows pierced the hidden nin through the heart. "Baka! Keep your eyes open!" cried the elder Nara

Tsunade slammed her fist into the ground, it in turn, split open and engulfed several nins. Correcting her posture she looked around the battle field, the teams were getting back together. Truth be told, the initial phase of the attack was a cluster-fuck, teams were broken apart and everyone was just fighting whomever they ran across. She then began to search for the leader of this army, "There you are," she stated as she found Orochimaru fighting Jiraiya. Sprinting across the field, she swung a hard right at the snake sannin, on impact his form burst into mud. "Bastard!" she yelled as her rage grew, "Come out and fight, coward!"

"A bit impatient," chuckled Orochimaru as his body grew from the ground, "Tsunade-hime." His chuckle turned to a full blown laugh as he stared into the faces of his former teammates, "The geriatric lovers of Konoha are going to save it from the big bad Snake? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Reaching up, he ripped his face off, exposing one with softer features, "While you two have been getting older and losing your edge, I've stayed in my prime! At my peak! I could easily beat you both!"

"You're disgusting," replied Jiraiya, "that jutsu has ended your life as a ninja and merely turned you into a parasite." He then cut his finger open, "All the words have been said," he stated sadly as he began to seal, "you have been lost for too long, now all we can do is end your existance." Slamming his hand on the ground and flaring his chakra he called out, "Kuchyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) The resulting explosion sent several nins, friend and enemy, sprawling into the dirt. When the smoke cleared it revealed the toad hermit standing atop the frog boss, Gamabunta.

Tsunade and Orochimaru had realized what his intentions were, and emulated his actions. Now, the battlefield was set.

Naruto felt the huge gust of energy roll off the area where the sannins were, now he was glaring as he saw the giant form of Gamabunta. "Shikato-san, stay here and try to thin out the number of enemies, I have to go help the Hokage!" Securing his weapon to his back he broke into a full sprint, running more like an animal than a man, all four appendages pounding the ground in a syncronized rythem. 'Let's see if we can't make this battle a bit more one sided,' continuing his sprint towards the battlefield, he reached back and cut his finger on the blade of his sword, "Kuchyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

The three sannin turned their heads to the newly erupted cloud of smoke, Jiraiya frowned, 'There is no summon that can stand up to the three great summons, what idiot is trying to interfere.' His eyes grew wide as a white and black clawed hand slammed into the ground, "Kami-sama." A white tail, tipped in black, whipped out from the cloud; then another, then another, till there were a total of seven in all. Finally the last of the smoke was blown away by the mid-day winds, "That's.." he could only stammer. Standing in all of it's seven tailed glory was a giant arctic fox, it's white fur tipped in black, piercing blue eyes staring down the three summons.

Then an elegant female voice came from the fox, "Ah, Naruto-kun, how are you?"

"Fine, Eba-Howaito-chan (Everwhite)" he replied with a fangy grin, "sorry to bother you, but things are getting a bit out of hand."

"Hello, worm," she growled at Manda, "A pathetic creature in our world so you come here to cause terror?"

Manda's anger flared, "Do not mock me ONI!" He charged in a flash, his rage overcoming Orochimaru's summoning control. Lashing out with his tail, he attempted to end the fight quickly by impaling the Kitsune.

Eba-Howaito responded by gripping the tail with her teeth and flinging the serpent into the trees, "This cannot take place here, there are too many humans." She looked up and eyed Gamabunta and Katsuyu, the frogs and slugs weren't on the best terms with the foxes, "Your assistance would be most appreciated, a battle can never be ended too quickly."

Jiraiya and Tsunade broke out of their stunned silence long enough to eye each other warily, "OI! ERO-SENNIN! OBAA-CHAN! LET'S GO!" rang out Naruto's voice.

Tsunade was fuming, "Let's go teach that brat how we do things, Katsuyu!" Inside her mind she was caught between admiration and horror, 'A seven-tailed fox, how powerful is this kid?'

"The Seven-tailed Fox, Eba-howaito: The Everwhite," stated Gamabunta as he took a puff of his pipe. Then he let out a booming laughter, "I haven't been this excited about a battle in a long time, let's go Jiraiya!" The toad sannin matched his grin and nodded. The three summons began to close in on the area where the Kitsune had thrown the great snake, like a chew toy.

Gaara jerked his head up as he felt Naruto release his chakra and summon his giant fox, 'I see, so the battle has come to this.' He looked back down at Sasuke, who now had his cursed seal crawling over half his body, "I no longer have time to play with you, little Sasuke!" Extending both his arms caused the iron sand to launch into a wave of spikes, "Satetsu Kaiho!" (Iron Sand World Order) Sasue managed to dodge the first wave, but the second came crashing down on him. Gaara, however, wasn't conviced. Whipping his arm around he called down the sand that was now hovering in the air, "Satetsu Shigure!" (Iron Sand Shower)

The Uchiha's reflexes were in overdrive, guided by his sharingan and his power increasing cursed seal. Unfortunately Gaara's word had proven true, with no chakra flowing through the black substance, his sharingan wasn't doing much. 'Orochimaru is severely outnumbered,' he narrowly dodged as a spike shot at his throat, 'I have to stop this relentless assault!' Leaping to the right he began sealing, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Mythical Fire Flower Technique) As predicted the iron sand came up to block and that was all he needed, "Kindomaru! NOW!"

Gaara had no time to react as five arrows shot out from the forest, his sand responded quickly but not quick enough, all five impacted his body. "Che," snorted the six armed man, "What a jo-" he narrowed his eys as the arrows fell to the ground, instead of his target, "All of those were lethal!"

"Satetsu no Yoroi" (Armor of the Iron Sand) whispered Gaara as he regained his composure.

Kindomaru glared and began releasing his second level of the cursed seal, completely forgoing level one, "I'll show you!" Opening his mouth he produced an arrow with a drill-like tip, "Accuracy one-hundred twenty percent, power one-hundred twenty percent." Narrowing his eyes he grinned, "DIE!" As he attempted to loose the arrow he felt his seal begin to retract, his chakra was being drained, "WHAT THE HELL!"

Shino stepped out from behind a branch, "Uchiha Sasuke is not the only one with teammates." His bugs began to crawl over the form of Kindomaru as they ate away at his chakra, "You are beaten."

The spider-like man jerked his head to the side as he heard another voice, "I will be the one to defeat Sabaku no Gaara," stated Neji as he dropped low to the ground, "You are in range of my divination, Hakkeshou: Rokujuu Yonshou!" (Hand of the Eight Divinations: Sixty-four Palms) Once the sound nin hit the ground with a thud, the Hyuuga genius turned his gaze on Gaara and gave a nod.

"Hurry, the Uchiha will tip the scales in a battle of that size," stated Gaara to Yumi as she attmepted to reset his dislocated arm

'Eba-sama can handle a snake, but if the traitor releases his second part of the seal the combat could become bothersome,' replied Shukaku as he began to channel his chakra into his vessel, 'Be quick, we can't hold this form for long.'

'Hai,' replied Gaara as he began a sprint to the epic battlefield. He began to crouch low and run on all fours, much like Naruto, the iron sand converging and covering his body. Several gasps were heard as he lept over a group of fighting nins and continued his run. His body was now that of the compact one-tail, save that his outer shell resembled obsidian glass rather than sand. As he was catching up to Sasuke, he watched the traitor spread his blood over a tattoo on his forearm. Naruto nor the sannin had noticed his incoming assault, being too involved in dealing with Orochimaru and Manda, 'NOW SHUKAKU!'

"Kuchyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) cried Sasuke as a huge cloud of smoke engulfed his body, his explosion masking the one that had just occured near him.

As Sasuke's twin snakes erupted from the smoke, intent on sneak attacking his cornered master's assailents, two black clawed hands gripped the snakes around the neck, "Our battle is not concluded, UCHIHA SASUKE!"

Naruto and the three sannin turned to see the giant form of the One-tail, stopping a previously unseen assault. "Go Manda!" cried Orochimaru, trying to capitalize on the distraction.

The Snake charged forward, intent on striking the throat of the white fox. Baring his two giant fangs, now dripping with a black sludge-like poison, he made his strike. Both of the ivory spears, sunk into the soft fur, then tender flesh of the white fox, "Who is the worm now, Mongrel!"

The form of the fox eploded into a cloud of smoke, "You are, FOOL!" came the voice of Gamabunta, "She is not your only opponent!" Thrusting his giant knife forward he managed to only knick the armor-like scales of the serpent. "Now Jiraiya!" sucking in deep and placing his hand on his stomach, he forced a stream of oil from his mouth.

The toad hermit quickly picked up on his plan and began sealing, "Gama Yuendan!" (Toad Oil Cannon) As the stream of intense flames engulfed the serpent another voice rang out.

"Eba-chan!" cried Naruto as he began sealing, landing on the tiger seal, his first tail began to glow

"Hai, Naruto-kun!" replied the white Kitsune as her first tail also began to glow. She drew in a harsh breath, then exhaled a stream of blue flames.

Naruto then exhaled his own stream of red fire, which inturn mixed with the fox's blue, creating a purple flame with an intensity that had never been felt, "Katon: Kitsune Gouka!" (Fire Style: Fox Hellfire)

"I believe my job here is done," whispered Kabuto, "I have much to report." Making several half seals, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"What heat," gasped Gai as he shielded his eyes, "It feels like we've stepped into hell itself."

One of his ANBU teammates looked up at the giant forms, "The Kyuubi boy is..." he gave a slight smile under his mask, "impressive."

Tsunade scanned the battlefield as the flames died down, "Did they get him?" she questioned her summon. Suddenly the ground split open, the giant snake erupted from the cracking earth and ensnared Katsuyu.

"I'll just kill you first!" cried Manda as he began to crush the great slug summon

"Baa-chan!" cried Naruto as he and Eba-howaito charged. Tsunade loooked down and gave a nod to her summon before leaping onto the head of the white fox along with Naruto, "How can one snake be such a pain in the ass!" exclaimed the blonde as Katsuyu exploded into smaller slugs and slipped through the grip of the snake.

"Fighting Gamabunta and Katsuyu is a difficult task," stated Orochimaru as he stared down the two sannin, "but," he turned his eyes to Naruto and Eba-howaito, "The kyuubi brat and that seven-tail alone are more than a match for us."

"We should withdraw," hissed Manda as he coiled back into a defensive position, "We are outnumbered and outclassed."

"You aren't getting away!" cried Jiraiya as he and Gamabunta appeared overhead

The frog boss puffed up his cheeks, "Suiton: Teppodama!" (Water Style: Gun Bullet) As the snake darted to the right he fell into the direct path of Naruto and Eba's building attack, "Now Eba-san!"

This time Kitsune's second tail began to glow, while her summoner's first ignited. Going through his previous set of seals, Naruto again stopped on the tiger seal as Eba expelled a violent gust of air, "Katon: Bachiatari no Arashi!" (Fire Style: Storm of the Damned) Manda had no time to react as the fire laced wind storm slammed into his body, his armor like skin provided no protection as it was torn away. With one final cry of agony, the great snake hit the ground with an earth shattering slam. Naruto slumped down and rested his hands on his knees, gasping for air. His tails and ethereal form fading as kyuubi's chakra retreated back into his sealed stomach

'Great job, kit,' praised the nine-tails

Tsunade placed a glowing hand on his chest, "You've scorched your lungs," she stated as she began healing. 'Two attacks like that would've killed a normal person,' she smiled as Jiraiya and Gamabunta approached, "Did you find his body?"

"No," replied the toad sannin, "but with fire that hot, I wouldn't be surprised if he was burned to ash, instantly." He looked down at the blonde that was being treated, "Not bad, brat, not bad at all."

Naruto attempted to stand and get back into the battle, but Eba's tail held him down, "Your battle is done, Naruto-kun." Then she set both her summoner and Tsunade on the ground, "I thank you both for your help, without you, the battle might've cost Naruto-kun his life." With a bow to both Gamabunta and Katsuyu, she vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke was shaking visibly with rage, his source of power was dead, and he was only a fraction stronger than he had been before he left Konoha, "I'LL KILL YOU NARUTO!" he cried as he began charging up his Chidori and unleashed his second level of the cursed seal. Leaping off his summon he began a decent on Naruto's prone form.

Gaara was doing his best to hold both of the summoned creatures when Sasuke lept off, 'Now what?' he questioned himself. His power was already being taxed. Between the giant form, restraining two summons, and controlling the iron sand he wasn't going to last much longer. He finally thought of a plan, a sinister smile crossed his face as he jammed his spiked tail into the head of the snake held by his right arm. When he felt the body go limp, he swung it around like a whip and crushed it into the form of the assaulting Uchiha. As he watched the traitor skid into the dirt he mustered the last bit of strength he had and snapped the neck of the remaining snake, 'I cannot hold this form anymore.' Landing on the ground, as the iron sand fell from his body, he scanned the area. "Damnit," he hissed in a rare moment of frustration, Sasuke was gone.

Zaiaku was staring down the three mist swordsmen, "Your side is losing, no one can stand up to Naruto's summon and Gaara in that form," then he smirked, "not even me." Inside though, his head was spinning, 'Naruto was using seals? AND mixing attacks with Eba-chan? Then Gaara, that wasn't his normal form,' gritting his teeth, he clutched his two ice-blades tightly, 'I'm getting left behind.' His train of thought was broken by another fast approaching presence, "Zabuza, look out!"

The demon of the mist ducked low, 'You again,' he thought as he ripped Sangemaru from it's scabbard. "This time I'll kill you," stated the leaf jounin as he sprinted off towards the lake, Kimimaro right on his heals, 'Zaiaku, I'll leave this to you.'

"Now that Zabuza is gone, I think we'll start!" snarled the green haired swordsman as he lashed out with his blade-like weapon. Zaiaku neither flinched nor moved as the weapon passed right through his form, which then dissappated into nothing, "What?" He turned his head to see Zaiaku charging him, "Too slow!" he cried and launched his weapon, with the same results. Glancing around he noticed his other two teammates were in a similar struggle, none could hit a solid target. "What is this?" he questioned as he lashed out at another projection.

"Some kind of clone technique," stated the larger man as he opted to not strike the fast approaching form of the Ice-nin, "See they're simple bushin, they can't hurt us."

"Wrong!" came the voice of Zaiaku as he vaulted over the huge man and dug his blades into the mist swordsman's shoulder. The giant responded by swinging his huge weapon with his good arm, only to see the form of his enemy dissappate like before. "You're all thinking like swordsmen and not ninja, I'm both," came the voice of Zaiaku from infront of them, looking up they saw him in a solid form. That form then split from one to three, then to six, and then twelve. "This is the first skill of Shimotsuki in her second form," all twelve vansished, reappearing periodically inbetween the completely confused mist warriors, "You will not get a chance to see her second skill." His first target was the largest one, he was the most wounded, therefore should be the first one to die.

"Bastard, who the hell do you think you are!" cried the man as he spun his body into a horizontal swing that would split a horse in two. Zaiaku's body split in half on impact, one leaping over the blade, while the other ducked. "Shit!" cried the mist swordsman as he ducked, what he thought, was a fatal strike. In reality he had brought himself into the range of another blow. He could only watch as the first blade sliced through his upper torso, cutting through his left lung, the second blade then pierced his gut. He smiled as his giant axe fell from his grip, hitting the ground and forming back into his sword, "I...think...I was...wrong...about you," he said as he choked on his blood.

The green haired man's anger flared, "FUCK YOU!" he cried and lashed out with his whip, surprisingly it wrapped around the form of Zaiaku, "I've got you!" Jerking his arm back, the blade began to dig into the body of the ice-nin.

"Wait, STOP!" cried the female swordsman, "That's not-!"

It was too late, the blade began to bite down into the now frozen form of Zaiaku, "An ice clone!" cried the enraged swordsman, as his target turned to ice, "there's no such technique!" He went wide-eyed as the ice crept over his linked weapon, then shot up the blade and covered his arm, "I can't move!" Jerking violently he attempted to pull free, to no avail, he turned and gave a glare to his teammate, "Kill this bastard." Looking back he saw Zaiaku running along the blade of his weapon, then vanished. In a flash he was behind the frozen man, both blades piercing the mist swordsman's chest.

Zaiaku then turned his hardened gaze on the woman that had tears running down her face, "Why are you crying?"

She glared up at him, "Why did you kill my friends?"

"Why did you attack my home?" he retorted as his chakra flared up

The woman ducked her head again, "Genjutsu," she murmured, "you're radiating a genjutsu, it's beyond anything I've ever seen. Alone, it's confusing, but with your inhuman speed, it's devistating." Standing up she spread her cloud-type weapon over the battlefield, "Now that I know, you won't hit me." She focused on him, "Fantomu, Hisui, and Kyojin," she hissed, "all three were mist swordsmen, and all were killed by you. I shall be the vessel for their revenge."

"Vengence doesn't have a place on the battlefield," replied Zaiaku as he reactivated Shimotsuki's genjutsu and multiplied his body images.

"I TOLD YOU THAT WON'T WORK!" she cried and forced chakra into the cloud. It responded by sending a pulse of electrical energy towards the ice-nin. Zaiaku barely managed to evade the shock, "I can't break this strong of a genjutsu, but my weapon tells me where you are! I've defeated your swordsmanship!"

'Now what?' he thought, 'I only have a limited number of attacks, with the second skill.'

Shiva shook her head, 'It is of no consequence, little one. You must use it.'

Zaiaku stood and dispelled the after image genjutsu, "No point in that anymore," he stated.

"Resigned yourself to death then?" she questioned with a sinister grin, "I shall make it-"

"Houton: Fuyu Kodachi no Jutsu!" (Ice Style: Winter Grove Technique) swinging both blades towards the ground caused the ice spikes to shoot in a straight path to the woman.

'Impossible, he made no seals!' she thought as she lept out of the way. Turning her head she saw him in the air, both swords extended to the side, and needles forming around them.

Zaiaku swung both weapons forward and launched the senbon, "Hyouton: Fuyu Shigure no Jutsu!" (Ice Style: Winter Shower Technique) He watched as a crack formed on each of his frozen swords, 'Shit, two more attacks is all I have.' Drawing his right arm back he channeled as much chakra as he could spare into the blade and launched his final attack, "Hyouton: Haryuu Mouko!" (Ice Style: Piercing Dragon Fierce Tiger) as the attack launched, the blade in his right hand shattered. Pushing his body to the limits he sprinted into the oncoming path of his launched attack and emulated it with his left hand, the blade mirrored it's twin, and shattered. Now weaponless he sprinted to the recovering form of the mist shinobi and locked her into a half nelson, "Gomen," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled in resignation as both attacks converged on her form, "At least you'll die too," she stated. At the last moment she felt her opponent's body become like ice, "Ice clone," she sighed, "I guess not."

Zaiaku landed in a crouch as both dragons met head on, crushing the body of the mist swordsman. His eyes reverted back to normal and a sheathed Shimotsuki reappeared in his left hand, finally the fang like markings vansished from around his eyes. "Four attacks seems to be our limit for now," he stated, "We'll have to work on that."

"Hinata take your team and head to the northern end," stated Sakura as she took three medics to the southern area. When they arrived they found Momiji and Shinto's teams piling up bodies, "Ka..er...Captain, do you have any wounded?"

Momiji shook her head, "Surprisingly no, but I don't see Zaiaku-Teicho. He was in a standoff with Zabuza-san and three mist shinobi, that has me concerned." As she was about to send a team out to check, a figure came over the hill, "Nevermind."

"Zaiaku-kun!" she shouted and sprinted at him, 'I should be calm and in control, not squealing like fan-girl.' Despite her wise thoughts, she did just the opposite, "You're ok!"

The ice-nin went wide-eyed as the pink haired girl glomped him, "ACK! SAKURA-HIME!" he gasped out, 'she's forgetting her strength!' They both hit the ground with a thud, Sakura still firmly latched around his neck, "Sakura...air...breath...can't!" He felt her body shake slightly, she was crying. Wrapping his arms around her, he smiled, 'Air's overrated anyway.'

'Sakura-hime has returned to us,' cooed Shiva as she severed her mental connection with Zaiaku, giving him his privacy.

"You're going to kill him Sakura-san!" exclaimed Shinto, the others just burst into laughter

Shikato stood up and dusted off his hands, "Well, I think that's enough work for today!"

Chomaru threw two bodies onto their quickly growing pile, "These two were a pain in the ass," he stated as the forms of Jirobu and Tayuya landed with a thud.

"I didn't expect them both to have cursed seals, Orochimaru was playing dangerously," replied Inoishi. Clapping his hands together he smiled, "Let's go find our dear captain, it's Sake-O'Clock!" His two life-long companions let out hearty laughs as they headed to where the Hokage and toad sannin were.

Gai landed next to Kakashi, "forty-five," he stated with a smug look

Kakashi grinned under his mask, "Forty-six," he replied as his second in command threw the bodies of Sakon and Ukon onto the pile, "Forty-seven and a half."

"NOOOO!" cried Gai as he slumped in defeat, "So hip!" he sobbed.

Gaara flopped onto the ground next to Naruto, "I am impressed, you effectively mixed jutsu and managed to destroy Manda."

Naruto cracked an eye open, "Sasuke?"

"Nothing," added Jiraiya, "No trace of Orochimaru either, but like I said, that fire could've very well burned him to ash."

"If you didn't find his body, then he's alive, that bastard is more than resiliant enough to survive," interjected Tsunade, she looked up and gave her fellow sannin a warm smile that said, 'glad you're ok.'

Jiraiya grinned and scratched the back of his head, 'Of course.' He then turned a cocked brow at Naruto, "So want to explain to me what happened up there? Calling a tailed demon?" then he turned to Gaara, "and if I'm not mistaken, that was the famed 'Iron Sand' of the Sandaime of Suna?"

Naruto flopped back into the grass and was about to explain, when a face came into his vision, two sets of blue eyes locked onto each other, "You ok idiot?" came the voice of Temari, more than a hint of concern in her question.

He grinned like a cheshire cat, "Of course! What did you think I wou-" He was cut off as Temari held his head and pressed her lips to his. His surprise only lasted a moment though, he slowly closed his eyes and slid his fingers into her hair.

'Still such a forceful female,' quipped the Kyuubi, 'some things never change.'

"Ahem!" came the voice of Tsunade. Jiraiya meanwhile was scribbling like a madman, letting out a perverse giggle every now and then.

Gaara was about to add something when he felt a warm hand on his neck, he turned and locked eyes with Hinata, who was blushing profusely, "Everyone else is taken care of," she stammered, "and you had a fairly large bruise on your neck."

"Thanks," he replied with a tinge of pink in his cheeks, "Where is Zaiaku and Zabuza?"

"Here," came Zabuza's voice as he tossed the crumpled body of Kimimaro to the ground, "Died halfway through the fight, I think that thing on his chest killed him," he stated as he pointed to the cursed seal.

"Zabuza-kun!" shrieked Anko

He let out a chuckle as the woman wrapped her arms around his neck, "Hi, Anko-chan." He then frowned, "I left Zaiaku with three of the mist swordsmen, I hope he's ok." He jerked his foot back as three shattered weapons hit the ground, "Well now, that's impressive."

"What," replied Zaiaku feigning a hurt look, "You doubted me?" He looked to Sakura who was holding his hand, "everyone was expecting me to just croak," he added with a pout.

Naruto's stomach let out a rumble, "I need ramen!" he cried in mock pain, "can we go home yet?"

Tsunade smiled and nodded, "Let's go."

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End Chapter 30: The Legendary Three

Read and Review - Not much to go here, the fights with the sound five were a bit anticlimactic, but I hit on everything that I was intended on. The boys showed off their powers, but not all of them, while still having to push themselves. The story is far from over, and the relationships are starting to develope. Also you didn't see any of the Chunnin rookies, simply because this was a jounin level battle. They'll be getting involved in the story shortly! Have no fear. With Orochimaru still possibly out there, Sasuke still roaming free, Akatsuki starting to move, and finally a dark force shifting in the shadows of Konoha. STAY TUNED!

Chapter 31: Aftermath