Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor the Star Wars franchise.

I would like to apologise for the long wait between chapters, life has been pretty hectic for the past month or so and I had barely any time to myself. First up, my grandfather had been hospitalised for a severe bowel illness so I had to spend every day by his bed side to keep him company. After about 3 weeks of hospitalisation he was discharged, much weaker than he had been before the illness had struck. After a week or so, I had to stay in camp for about a week straight for Parade Drills and rehearsals for an upcoming army parade I had back then.

After I was done with my parade, a week later and my grandfather had passed away in his home. Even right now, I am typing this on the third day of his wake. I had some free time so I decided to start working on the next chapter, something to keep my mind off the death of my grandfather.

As promised there will be more action in this chapter and it will be more Naruto-centric.

Chapter 2: Repelling an Invasion

Shouts of alarm rose through the ranks of Konohagakure shinobi when a portion of the high-rise stone wall that protected their village was blown apart, the debris sent sailing through the air crushed both friend and foe alike. Through the dust generated from the collapse of the wall, several large snake summons slithered their way through the gap created and proceeded to wreak havoc among the shinobi protecting their home.

Despite their best efforts and coordinated combination techniques, the reptilian summons shrugged off the damage as if the attacks were nothing more than an irritation. Upon seeing how ineffective their tactics were proving to be, morale among the Konoha shinobi took a huge dent as the summons continued their rampage among the village unhindered.

That is until a large magenta-coloured toad with black markings adorned along its large body fell from the sky and crushed the midsection of one of the snake summons under its weight. Upon closer inspection the toad was wearing a black kimono with a white sash, underneath which was a layer of mesh armour. In addition the toad wielded a large sasumata in one hand an equally large Sakazuki-like shield in the other.

Barely a second later and another toad, this time coloured two different shades of aquamarine with yellow eyes, landed on another snake summon but this time turning its head into a bloody pulp. This toad had little on in terms of clothing besides the orange sash tied around the waist, it wielded a pair of giant katana that was currently sheathed on its back.

"Good job Gamaken, Gamahiro!" A voice praised from atop the head of the magenta-coloured toad, now revealed to be Gamaken.

"Everyone look! It's Jiraiya-sama!"

Upon this announcement, a round of reinvigorated cheers echoed throughout the ranks of the Konoha shinobi when they recognised the white-haired Sannin standing atop the magenta-coloured toads' head. His face, usually set in a jovial or perverted expression, was set in stone and bellied the rage he held at the invasion forces that dared raise their hand against his home.

'Normally Hiro alone would have been enough to deal with this threat but I had just found out that the Godson I thought I had killed was alive, I can't afford to be playing around now! I have to make sure he is safe!' Jiraiya thought to himself as he leapt from the head of his summon, landing in the midst of the enemy forces.

Alas the bulk of the opponents were no higher than Chunnin in strength and their only advantage so far has been the sheer numbers they held along with the large reptile summons that had been provided by Orochimaru. With the white-haired Sannin inserted into the equation, the defending forces soon gained the advantage as Jiraiya completely decimated the opposing forces. Above their heads, another battle was waged between the gargantuan summons with the momentum going towards the weapon-wielding toads.

With Naruto

As the toad-summoning Sannin was busy holding the line against the forces that had breached the west wall of the village, so too was our blond-haired protagonist neck-deep in enemies that had breached the eastern wall. Standing alone in the middle of a crowded residential district, his eyes glancing left and right to confirm that he was indeed surrounded on all sides by Oto and Suna forces. Their tan and grey themed uniforms actually blending in well with the buildings in the area, though it was of little issue to the blond as he could sense their Force presences clearly.

"Genin Uzumaki Naruto here, I seem to have run into some invading forces near the eastern wall of the village…" He whispered into the communication earpiece that he had procured from a deceased Konoha shinobi.

"…troublesome. This is Genin Nara Shikamaru, I am leading a group of Genin shinobi in defence of the area around the hospital. Do you require assistance, we can dispatch a few to assist you in repelling the invaders."

"Pfft that wasn't a call for help, I was just reporting the situation. In fact I think this is the perfect chance to stretch my limbs, keep your channel open and I'll contact you once I've cleared this sector."

"…troublesome."

Naruto closed the channel before the lazy genius could comment further, his stance still relaxed with hands by his side as he rolled his shoulders a few times before a cordial smile spread across his face as he addressed the enemy shinobi that had closed in around him.

"I just have one thing to ask… would anybody like to leave before we begin?"

His answer came in the form of a hail of steel, kunai and shuriken launched from every which direction and formed a cage of deadly weaponry that seemed to guarantee death for anyone caught within its embrace. This did nothing to ruffle the feathers of the grey-clad shinobi, who merely took a deep breath before flinging his arms out wide with fingers splayed. Wisps of blue energy swirled around his body, moving upwards along his arms like a conduit and dispersing into the air around him.

The expressions of the invading forces turned from anticipation into disbelief when they witnessed all of their projectiles suddenly come to a halt in mid-air, as if held there by some unseen apparition. His sandy-blond bangs cast an ominous shadow over his face, hiding his eyes and only revealed the grin that had stretched across his whiskered cheeks.

"Looks like that's a no."

Through some unheard command, the floating weapons all spun around and pointed back in the direction that they had originated from. Majority of the shinobi felt the blood drain from their faces when they correctly predicted the next course of action, quickly scrambling to safety just as Naruto sent out a pulse of energy that blasted the projectiles back towards their owners. Screams and shouts of pain echoed throughout the area as the deadly weaponry peppered the area, sinking hilt-deep into either concrete or flesh.

Without missing a beat, the Force-wielding shinobi leapt into action before any of his opponents could recover from the wide area attack that he had unleashed. Performing a flawless force-enhanced backflip onto the nearby rooftop, he unsheathed his katana in one fluid motion that removed the heads from two unsuspecting Oto-nin. Landing lightly on his feet, he immediately dashed forward and set about relieving several shinobi off their heads and limbs.

"Pull yourselves together! It's just one freaking kid damn it!" A large burly-looking Chunnin from Otogakure growled as he hefted a large steel hammer above his head and charged straight into the conflict.

Taking the advice to heart, majority of the remaining forces started to place themselves in positions of advantage. The Futon (Wind Release) users from Sunagakure lining themselves along the rooftops where they had a better vantage point to unleash their techniques, the varied shinobi that made up Otogakure moved in to keep their target occupied.

Naruto clicked his tongue in irritation as he noticed the opposing forces start to organise themselves, unfortunately he was unable to do anything about it as he was occupied with the unending onslaught of grunts and fodder. Slicing another Oto-nin from shoulder to waist, he felt the Force prickling the back of his mind and he flung his arm backwards to unleash a devastating Force Push. The wall of Force energy slammed into the unsuspecting duo that were attempting a sneak attack, bruising several ribs before launching them clear across the street into the wall of a building several feet away.

Deciding to deal with the threat of several powerful Wind Release users rather than the cannon fodder that consisted Orochimaru's army, he dug his heel into the dirt and spun around to release his katana like a buzz-saw. The deadly aerial instrument of death immediately claiming the life of the unprepared Suna Chunnin who had just snapped open her battle fan by severing her head from her torso.

"He just lost his weapon, everyone focus on him now!" Another Suna Chunnin pointed out, earning multiple shouts of agreement before he saw their blond-haired target had held out an empty palm skyward and performed an anti-clockwise motion with his fingers.

Hearing sounds of pain and anguish coming from his left flank, the aforementioned Chunnin barely had enough time to register that the spinning katana had somehow changed direction mid-flight before it bifurcated him vertically down the middle. Not to say the other deaths were not as gruesome as the majority of the Suna platoon had been fatally maimed in one form or the other.

The sight of their better-trained allies being taken down dealt a serious blow to the morale of the Otogakure shinobi, many of whom had already started to back away from the grey-clad Genin that stood in the middle of the blood-stained street. The Genin who had systematically taken down almost two-thirds of their entire platoon, now had his arm outstretched and snatched his katana out of mid-air by the handle.

"What is with this kid… he's even stronger than the Sound Four!"

"Let's get out of her before we get killed as well!"

"I didn't sign up for this!"

"His a monster, a fucking monster!"

Naruto merely flicked his katana to the side, allowing the blood to splatter off the blade before calmly sheathing it. He watched as the remaining forces scrambled away from him and back towards the breach they had entered through the wall, taking a single step forward he let the Force gently ebb from his system.

Immediately he felt the bile rushing up his throat and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground next to him, his eyes darting around the blood-stained battlefield as his nose picked up the heavy scent of copper in the air.

'Looks like the Force Trance only holds back the symptoms until the technique is deactivated.' Naruto dry-heaved a few more times before wiping his mouth against the back of his sleeves.

'The next technique that I would like to impart to you is a more advanced form of meditation, it is known as the Force Trance. For a period of time, the user will heighten their sense of awareness as well as reigning in their emotions thus creating a better state of mind during intense combat situations. However do take note that you would have to be perfectly still to enter the trance and it is not something that can be triggered during mid-combat.'

Taking a moment to clear his mind of the sudden flashback, he composed himself before pressing a hand to his communications device and reopened the channel to his peers that had been defending the hospital.

"Uzumaki Naruto, reporting that the invaders along the eastern wall have been repelled. All sectors cleared." He had stretched out his Force sense to cover a wide portion of the eastern part of the village, dispatching several squads of Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to mop up the survivors that had yet to flee the scene.

"…troublesome. We have repelled several waves of invaders and it finally looks like things are starting to calm down on our end…" Shikamaru paused as the blond heard sounds of metal clashing against metal happened in the background.

"Sounds real calm over there…" Naruto stated sarcastically, earning a quick snort of amusement from the pineapple-haired boy. "I can make it there in about five minutes at maximum speed."

"Actually I think your… skills might be needed elsewhere. A couple minutes ago, Kakashi-sensei dropped in and tasked Shino with tracking down the trio of sand siblings from the tournament. Both Sasuke and Sakura were with him, he assigned them to go with Shino after he had summoned a ninja hound to pick up the scent trail."

"Gaara huh… do you know which direction they were headed?"

"Luck seems to be on your side… last I saw of them, they were headed in your general direction. Probably trying to escape through the less defended route, which happens to be the eastern wall."

"Roger that."

Using a series of Force-enhanced leaps and acrobatic manoeuvres, he had repositioned himself upon the top of the eastern wall. Making sure that there were no enemies in his immediate vicinity, he crouched down onto a knee and spread his Force sense out into the surrounding forests. It did not take long as apparently the Suna Genin had not managed to get much distance before they had been cut off by their pursuit party. It looked like two of them had stayed behind to fight as the other two pairs resumed the chase only to stop at a further location to face off against each other.

Deciding not to waste any more time, the blond-haired shinobi utilised the surface-walking technique to sprint down the outer wall before gaining enough momentum to shoot himself off the wall and into the forest. Using the branches as steps, he fired small bursts of Force energy through the muscles in his legs every time he launched himself off a branch.

Soon enough he had arrived at the first location, which appeared to be going in the favour of the bug-wielding clan heir as he had easily defeated the puppeteer by severing the chakra strings with his Kikaichu. Shino having noticed his presence, gave an almost undetected nod in the direction of the other fight. He gave a terse nod in return before resuming his dash towards a large man-made clearing in the distance, probably from the wide-area Futon Ninjutsu that the fan wielding Kunoichi uses.

Arriving in the clearing, he quickly took stock of the situation. The blonde Suna kunoichi appeared to have been knocked unconscious through blunt force trauma, her body laying awkwardly against a tree stump and a trail of blood leaked from the corner of her lips. His pink-haired teammate was being pinned to a tree trunk by a large beast-like hand composed of sand and what looked like blue pulsating veins. His raven-haired teammate was panting rather heavily but was otherwise uninjured, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes but gave a sigh of relief when he noticed the new arrival.

"Better late than never eh dobe?"

"You look like shit teme (bastard)."

"Well this guy isn't normal… he just keeps taking hits and gets up angrier and more dangerous." Sasuke huffed as he rolled his shoulder, wincing slightly at the pain generated from that small amount of movement. "Plus I couldn't even make a tactical retreat to recover with him holding Sakura hostage over there…"

"…I can create several clones to free Sakura but we have to keep him busy enough not to notice."

Sasuke seemed surprised at the change in the thought process of his blond-haired teammate, though it was definitely a pleasant surprise.

"He has been slowly assimilating more sand onto his body ever since the start of the fight, I'm not too sure what is it for but I'm also pretty sure I don't want to find out…" The Uchiha pointed out the abnormal sand lumps that made up about fifty-percent of the red-haired Genin, including covering half his face and replacing one of his arms.

"If we can keep his rage centred on us, my clones would be able to sneak in and free Sakura from the sand bindings… looks like it's time for you to put those flashy Katon Ninjutsu of yours to use…"

"Looks like we finally agree upon something." Sasuke replied with a smirk, his hands already flashing through several familiar handseals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball technique)!"

Utilising the large explosion and subsequent smokescreen as cover, Naruto formed several shadow clones and sent them off into the forest to bide their time. Not stopping there, he created a dozen more doppelgangers to dash into the smokescreen to engage the sand-wielding redhead. His rival was not idle either, taking to the trees and launching a barrage of kunai into the smoke ahead of the charging clones. The sound of the deadly projectiles sinking into flesh went unheard as the smoke cleared to reveal that the target had used his sand construct arm to block them.

The shadow clones fanned out as the surface of the arm construct rippled and fired off waves of high velocity sand projectiles, each one capable of putting a large dent into a thick tree trunk. Closing in from their respective sides, the clones moved in sync to engage the redhead in a fast-paced Taijutsu battle that fell to Naruto's advantage due to his opponent obviously not being trained significantly in close quarters combat. Though it did not make it any easier when it was revealed that the armour of sand around his punching bag consistently absorbed the majority of the blows.

Gaara was grinning maniacally as he faced off against two powerful foes, both of them were strong enough to prove his worth a thousand times over if he managed to kill them. His remaining visible eye dilated further as he swung his non-construct arm out in a wide sweep, unleashing a rolling wave of sand that dispelled a portion of the clones and forced the others to retreat.

"Yes… MOTHER WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!"

His deranged battle cry marked the beginning of his offensive, the redhead darting towards their position with sand projectiles firing out from the palm of his arm construct. To make matters more complicated, the sand that made up the construct started branching off into multiple tendrils as the owner closed in on their location. Sasuke was forced to rely on his Sharingan to slow down his perception of time while Naruto allowed the Force to guide his body through the onslaught, both of them twisting and dodging in mid-air and using the trees as spring boards.

Out of the corner of his eye, the blond spotted his clones moving into position to free the pink-haired kunoichi from her sand prison. Looking over at his rival, he slice through several tendrils using a pair of kunai before landing on another tree branch to catch his breath.

"Sasuke… we need to close in on him. He holds too much advantage in a long-ranged battle, not to mention he barely seems winded while we are both quickly losing stamina due to our previous fights."

"Hn…"

Placing his fingers into a familiar cross-shaped handseal, he spawned several dozen shadow clones around their position and had half of them perform the Henge (Transformation) to alter their appearance into the raven-haired Uchiha.

"The clones will be used as a distraction for us to close in, when dispelled they erupt in a cloud of smoke that should momentarily blind him. We can use those moments to coordinate our attacks… hopefully enough to inflict some damage on him." Naruto explained, getting a nod of acknowledgement.

Through an unspoken command, the shadow clones moved in on their target in several different waves with the original duo weaving in between the copies. Gaara had started drooling at the challenge his prey was putting up, more sand had started creeping up his body and had transformed about seventy-five percent into a miniature sand monster. The only part left uncovered was the right half of his face and both of his feet. The large arm constructs proved to be quite bothersome due to their wide sweeping area of attacks and the fact that none of the damage applied to them transferred back to the owner.

There had been multiple opportunities that the pair had taken to strike at the insane redhead, be it with either Katon jutsu, projectiles or katana. However even with his eyesight obscured by the smoke, that sand defence always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to intercept all of their attempts. Leaping back after yet another failed attempt to strike down their target, Naruto felt a tingle in his mind that signified that the original objective had been completed.

"Sakura has been successfully retrieved…" He whispered to his rival beside him.

"Good… now what are we supposed to do about him." Sasuke groaned in annoyance when he saw another batch of clones crushed under a wave of sand.

"We're running out of time, options and clones…" Naruto muttered to himself, silently weighing the pros and cons of revealing his new powers to his so-called rival.

Unfortunately he did not have much time to think nor did he have any cards left to play, "Sasuke… during the month long training before the finals. I unlocked a… Kekkei Genkai of some sorts. It should give you an opening to take down this punk."

While shocked that his teammate, the dead-last of the academy, had acquired a Kekkei Genkai of all things, Sasuke knew that it was not the time nor the place to question him about it.

"I can hold him still for a few seconds, maybe ten at tops… use that opportunity to get in close and take him out."

"Hn."

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he once again opened his body as a conduit for the Force to flow through. Feint wisps of translucent blue energy drifted around his body, his eyes closed momentarily before snapping open again to reveal an ethereal glow behind his already usually clear cerulean-blue eyes.

"Go."

One word was all that was needed as the remaining clones darted forward first, using their presence to distract the tendrils of sand as well as drawing fire from the sand projectiles. Sasuke, with Sharingan blazing in his sockets, weaved through the chaos of clones, tendrils and projectiles as he closed in on the grinning redhead. Said redhead could only cackle as he stomped heavily on the ground, summoning a tidal wave of sand that crushed everything in its path as it surged forward.

Upon seeing this, Naruto performed a somersault over his rival and landed in front of him with both hands placed back to back and palms facing outwards. Channelling the Force through his body, he flexed his muscles as if trying to force open a pair of jammed doors. Grunting from the effort, he let out a roar as he flung his arms out wide and ripped the large volume of sand apart right down the middle. Revealing a straight path down the middle to the shocked visage of their opponent, whom was still trying to comprehend how the blond had managed to rip the control of his sand from him.

With the advantage granted to him by the shock factor, Sasuke wasted no time in closing in on the redhead and thrusting his kunai straight into the jugular of his target. Unfortunately it was not meant to be as a single tendril of sand had managed to snag his wrist right as he was about to plunge it in, the tip of the blade drawing only a small rivulet of blood from its target. Realising that he was trapped, he quickly discharged a burst of lightning-natured chakra through his hand to free himself from the tendril. His hands forming several handseals as he leapt backwards, taking a deep breath he cupped a hand around his mouth.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire technique)!"

A dozen fireballs, each the size of a head, descended towards their target in large sweeping arcs like a group of screeching eagles. Without respite, each attack struck their mark with barely a second interval between. Black smog obscured the area where the bombardment had landed, the sound of laboured breathing could be heard from ground zero.

"Blood… mother demands more blood! I WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!"

Faster than they could follow, a large tail-like construct shot forth from the smog and ensnared the raven-haired Uchiha within its grasp. Rearing back, the tail launched its victim straight into the trunk of a nearby tree, shattering it and sending him tumbling further into another tree.

"Futon: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)!"

Naruto felt his eyes widen when he realised that the attack was headed straight for his downed teammate, reaching out with the Force he grasped hold of the body and performed a powerful tugging motion that pulled the body through the air towards him. Catching the airborne male, he groaned in annoyance when he noticed that he had already been rendered unconscious from the previous attack.

Feeling his Force sense warning him of impending danger, he performed a perfect backflip just as both arm constructs slammed down onto his previous position. Creating a clone, he passed the unconscious Uchiha into its arms and ordered it to retreat to a safe distance. Turning around he saw that smog had cleared to reveal Gaara, fully encased in sand and his hands placed together in a Ram handseal.

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (Feigning Sleep technique)!"

A feeling of dread washed over the young Uzumaki as he noticed a large amount of sand converging towards the suddenly asleep redhead, the sand kept flowing upwards and forming into a large Tanuki with its eyes closed. Though it did not stay that way for long as they soon snapped open, revealing that the sclera of its eyes were black with yellow irises and pupils that each takes the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it.

"I'm free baby!"

The glee-filled cry of the One-Tailed Bijū echoed throughout the forest, prompting the blond to heave a deep sigh.

"Fuck my life."

Within the streets of Konohagakure

During the initial fallout from the invasion, Hyuuga Hiashi had entrusted the safety of his youngest daughter to two of his personal bodyguard before moving off to engage against the enemy forces. Things had been proceeding smoothly as the two highly-trained Hyuuga guards had systematically taken down all of the enemy shinobi that had managed to cross their path. Alas things did not always go according to plan, as proven when the secondary round of explosives that had been hidden within the village detonated.

The ensuing explosion had taken out both of the guards, though she was unsure whether they were dead or merely unconscious. Regardless of that, the fact was that both of the bodies were trapped under a pile of rubble that she would not be able to move anytime soon. Memorising the layout of the street that she was in, Hanabi made a decision to move in the direction of the Hyuuga estate.

Unfortunately what she failed to rationalise due to her inexperience was that one of the invading forces belonged to Orochimaru of the Sannin, a highly disturbed individual with a desire for knowledge. The snake-summoning Sannin was no fool, he knew that the invasion was a perfect time to snag some Kekkei Genkai wielders from his home village. True to this, he had assigned different squads to scout out the areas that the clans resided in.

It was one such squad that the young Hyuuga had managed to run into when they dropped down around her from above, two in the front and two in the back to cut off her escape route. Falling back into the traditional Jūken stance that had been drilled into her from a young age, the veins bulged around her eyes as she activated her Byakugan.

"Well looks like our patience has finally paid off…" The first Oto-nin in front said as he popped his neck a few times.

"A Hyuuga, a main branch one at that…" The kunoichi of the pair added on.

"Orochimaru-sama will be pleased if we bring this catch before him…" One of the duo behind her started.

"…we will definitely be rewarded greatly for this!" His partner finished for him.

Their words sent chills up her spine, she definitely did not want to be within the clutches of the traitorous Sannin. Despite her young age, she had already heard multiple tales and rumours about how he performed disgusting and illegal experiments while he had been inside the village. Not wanting to find out the hard way if those rumours were true, she channelled the necessary amount of chakra into her fingertips while slowly easing the tension from her body.

"Looks like the little girl wants to fight… how cute. Get her!"

With the near perfect three-hundred and sixty degree vision given to her by her Kekkei Genkai, she noticed the pair behind had lunged at her in an attempt to restrain her movement. A smirk made its way onto her face as she easily used her excellent chakra control to kick off the wall beside her, flipping over both shinobi and landing a series of strikes against their shoulders.

"Wha… that bitch disabled my arms!"

"Mine too!"

"Grrr fools! You still have legs right, it's just a little girl!" The kunoichi snarled, prompting both of her teammates to glance at each other before charging towards the young heiress again.

Whether it was through sure luck or an insane amount of cockiness, the group that had ambushed her had chosen a rather enclosed alleyway and it proved to be their undoing. It was sheer stupidity to engage a Hyuuga within such a confined space, especially one that had been trained since a young age by the clan head of the family himself. Using this to her advantage, Hanabi closed in against her opponents so that they could not lash out with their legs.

Fingertips blazing with chakra, she wasted no movement as her hands fluidly moved through the paces of the Jūken to seal off their tenketsu as well as heavily bruising their internal organs. She finished off her assault with a well-timed backflip that connected her heels with their jaws, instantly knocking both of them out. Seeing two of her teammates knocked out, the kunoichi could only slap a palm to her face and growled.

"If you want something done right, you got to do it yourself…"

"Careful Ibaya, she is stronger than she looks." The Oto-nin that had first spoken cautioned, drawing a tanto from its sheath on his back.

Hanabi groaned mentally, her opponents had stopped underestimating her and one of them had even pulled a close-ranged weapon. Something that she was not yet as well-versed in fighting, opposed to the usual hand-to-hand combat drills and spars that she had on a daily basis. Without a choice, she widened her stance and settled into a more relaxed form of the Jūken that revolved around counter-attacking. It was safer to have them close in on her than the other way around, plus she noted that the female of the duo seemed to have a temper.

"Really? Four grown Otogakure ninjas having a problem against little old me?" Hanabi taunted, a grin threatening to stretch across her face when she saw the effect it was having on the kunoichi. "Man, your village must have some pretty poor standards…"

"Ibaya, don't let her rile you up…" The male gripped his partners' shoulder, only for her to roughly shrug it off.

"Plus you could've helped your buddies there, yet all you did was watch as they got beaten up by a little girl. Excellent leadership skills!" She mocked further by performing a clapping motion with her hands.

"Bitch…" Ibaya growled lowly, a rather prominent twitch making itself known on her forehead.

"I mean if this is what passes off as skill in your village, your leader must be pretty shitty himself-"

"NOBODY INSULTS OROCHIMARU-SAMA!"

Without missing a beat, Hanabi stepped forward and into the guard of the enraged kunoichi that had leapt at her. Her left hand brushing a wild haymaker aside, she delivered a crushing palm thrust into her sternum followed by a quick series of finger strikes that disabled her respiratory system. However due to the position of her target, it obscured her vision of her secondary target who had ruthlessly thrust his tanto through his gasping teammate.

Hanabi grimaced slightly and thanked whatever gods existed for the short length of the blade, having only managed to inflict a small incision along her stomach area. Stumbling back slightly, her eyes widened in alarm when she realised that her limbs felt as if they were moving through a thick viscous fluid.

"Don't forget that we were part of a capture squad, my weapon is laced with a quick-acting paralyzing venom from one of Orochimaru-sama's snake summons…" Taking the time to glance at his fallen comrades, he shrugged uncaringly. "Looks like the rewards all mine then."

Biting her lower lip, she struggled to stay on her feet even as all feeling abandoned them and she crumpled onto the floor. Using what little motor control she had left, the young Hyuuga reached into the pouch of the fallen kunoichi beside her and retrieved a single kunai that she flourished in her hands.

"I would recommend against resisting, I applied more than the needed amount of toxin onto the blade. Better safe than sorry I always say, though with the way your body is trembling it might be too much to handle… oh well, I just need your eyes anyway." The shinobi remarked offhandedly, his tanto easily slapping aside the kunai from her feeble grip.

Seeing the man reaching for her, she could only close her eyes in resignation and despair. However instead of whatever she had been expecting to happen, she felt a warm spray of liquid splash across her face. Cracking open her eyes an inch, they flew wide with shock when they registered the tip of the katana that protruded from her attackers' chest. The warm liquid on her face having been the blood that emerged from the exit wound, though it was not something she was concerned about.

Following the blade back to its owner, she first noticed the familiar shade of blond hair before the katana was withdrawn and the body collapsed without the support.

"Yo, fancy running into you again."

The first thought on her mind was to immediately berate him for such a callous response in their situation, to her chagrin she realised that the poison was preventing that as she felt her chest constrict and her breath come in short bursts.

Naruto, or rather a shadow clone that he had earlier dispatched to run damage control around the village, had heard the tail-end of the conversation and saw the small incision along her stomach. Dropping to his knees, he roughly tore apart the cloth around the area and pressed his lips against the cut. Working quickly, he tried his best to draw out as much of the residual poison as he could and at the same time using the Force to bolster her bodies' systems.

Despite the situation she was in, Hanabi could not help but flush heavily at the feeling off his lips pressed against the sensitive flesh of her abdominal area. A few seconds later, she could feel a drastic improvement as her breathing slowed down and a phantom tingling along the extremities of her limbs.

"You're lucky the boss created a large number of us to assist in securing the village… oh I'm a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)." The clone explained upon seeing her confused expression.

"Solid clones… isn't that… chakra taxing?" Hanabi rasped out as she struggled to stand, only to blush furiously when the clone scooped her up in a princess-style carry.

"Nope, the original has a ton of chakra and creating a hundred barely even makes a dent in our chakra pool."

"Put… me down…" She fought in vain to free herself from its clutches.

"No can do, you're in no position to travel by yourself… I saw a group of Konohagakure shinobi escorting some civilians into a temporary shelter, I'll drop you off there." The clone said as he peeked around the corner to confirm that there were no more enemies, before taking to the rooftops.

"…baka."

Hanabi could only huff as she allowed herself to relax in the grasp of the man that had saved her life.

Eastern forests surrounding Konohagakure no Sato

Naruto was having a tough time as he dodged hails of sand shuriken, giant sand claws as well as the occasional sweeping tail strike that threatened to knock him unconscious like it had his raven-haired teammate. He had depleted almost half of his remaining chakra by spamming shadow clones in hopes of drawing attention away from himself, though it only seemed to excite the demon as it continued its rampage in the direction of Konoha.

"Shukaku-sama smash!"

Naruto could not help the sweat-drop that formed when he saw the insane Tanuki-Bijū level another section of the forest in its attempt to crush another group of unfortunate shadow clones. The bright side was that the beast was easily distracted and seemed more interested in creating chaos and mayhem then helping out with the invasion. The down side was that he had absolutely no idea how to subdue it.

'Tsk… wake the host up.'

"Wha?"

'It's me you idiot!'

'…Kyuubi?'

'No it's the Easter Bunny! Of course it's me you ignorant ningen (human)!"

'You haven't spoken a single word since the incident in the chasm…'

'Hmph, I merely had nothing to say to you at that time… but I will not stand by as my jailor is beaten by that stupid Tanuki! As my Jinchuuriki you represent me, if that idiot defeats you then I would be made the laughing stock of all the other Bijū!'

Creating another batch of clones to distract the giant sand demon, Naruto hoped back into the safety of the forest as the new batch of clones engaged in combat.

'So I just… wake Gaara up? Just like that?'

'From what I've seen, Shukaku only gains control when his host is unconscious. So if you manage to awaken the host from his slumber, he would be dragged back into the seal… a nice solid hit would be enough to dispel the sleeping technique.'

'Easier said than done…' Naruto cursed aloud when he saw that the slumbering redhead was waist deep in the sand that made up the head of the rampaging Bijū. 'Thanks anyway…'

The Kyuubi snorted in acknowledgement as it placed its head back onto its front paws, though it kept an eye and ear open to the proceedings of the match that was happening outside of its prison. Also it allowed a sliver of its power to trickle through the seal to bolster his Jinchuurikis' chakra reserves, though he would vehemently deny it if questioned.

Feeling a fresh surge of power flow through his chakra coils, he sent another mental nod of thanks to the fox sealed within his gut as it was obvious where the boost had come from. Bracing himself, he dashed out of the woods just as the last of his shadow clones was decimated by a larger version of the Futon Ninjutsu that Gaara had used earlier.

"You finally revealed yourself! Shukaku-sama will have the pleasure of turning your bones into dust!"

Placing his fingers into a cross-shaped seal again, he spawned a few dozen clones to distract the demon.

"Clones again, Shukaku-sama tires off your antics!" The Bijū roared before it drew a deep breath.

"Fūton: Mugen Saijin Daitoppa (Wind Release: Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough)!"

From its large gaping maw, a large amount of compressed air and sand shot out to create a sandstorm that blanketed the entire area in front of the attack. The force behind the attack combined with the sand particles dispelled the majority of the clones that had been caught within the attack, only a handful remained that had taken shelter behind some uprooted tree trunks.

Shukaku did not hesitate in pressing the attack as it lumbered forward, arms shooting forward in an overhead blow to crush the hiding clones that had scattered just before the impact.

"Stay still so that Shukaku-sama may crush you!"

"How about Shukaku-sama shut the fuck up…" Naruto deadpanned as he and another shadow clone leapt out from the foliage of the surrounding trees and unleashed a volley of kunai at the face of the Bijū, a sizzling paper bomb attached to the ring of each of those kunai as a surprise.

"You will pay for your insolence!"

Shukaku roared in rage as it stumbled back slightly from the explosion going off in its face, though it had managed to get an arm up in time to prevent the blast from reaching its host. Though this proved to be the opening that he needed, the arm and smoke generated from the explosion being enough to obscure the eyesight of the giant Tanuki.

Using his shadow clone as a platform, Naruto blasted off with a powerful Force-enhanced leap that landed him directly on the other arm of the demon. With the same principle that is applied to the water-walking exercise, the blond moved quickly up along the shifting sands that consisted of the arm. Tendrils burst forth from the arm in multiple areas, attempting to dislodge the intruder from its body but the blond used his Force senses to either dodge or slice through the offending obstacles.

"Get off me!"

The One-Tailed Bijū had caught on to his plan and sought to crush the Genin using its free hand, though the blond had calculated this within his plans and leapt upwards to meet the descending palm. Twisting his body in mid-air, he managed to squeeze through the gaps between the pudgy sand fingers and bury the blade of his katana into the back of the hand. Without losing any momentum, he swung himself up onto the handle and kicked off again.

"Time to wake the fuck…"

Rocketing straight past the snout of the Bijū, he cocked his fist back and delivered a powerful uppercut straight into the jaw of the slumbering redhead.

"…UP!"

"Nooooo!"

The decisive blow caused the feigned sleep technique to dispel, forcing the Tanuki demon back into its seal and causing the large sand constructed body to fall apart. Though Naruto was not done as he twisted in mid-air once again and slammed a Force-enhanced fist into his opponents' face, sending him tumbling back to the ground.

Landing lightly on the balls of his feet, the blond retrieved his fallen katana from a nearby pile of sand before placing the sharpened edge of the blade against the neck of the defeated redhead.

"How… how are you so strong?"

"I used to believe that someone could only become truly strong when they had people that were precious to protect… but for people like us… we're alone true, but killing everyone isn't going to prove anything. I've decided to get stronger to prove all of them wrong, stronger than all of the shinobi in the past, present and future! Hopefully by then, I will have discovered something precious that I want to protect with my power…" Naruto paused as he picked up some scuffling sounds, looking up he noticed that the fan-wielding kunoichi and puppeteer shinobi had moved into flanking positions.

"You're lucky… you have siblings that have stood by you through thick and thin. You should treasure those feelings… and use them to grow stronger. Strong enough to defend them against anything that would dare harm them, the ultimate shield against your foes!"

"…Temari, Kankuro… I'm sorry." Gaara whispered after allowing the words to sink in, his voice barely audible but rang as clear as crystal through the empty clearing.

"No worries, I'm still your older brother after all…" Kankuro stated as he hefted his younger brother up, supporting him with his shoulder as Temari moved in to support the other side.

"Let's go home…" She whispered, voice cracking slightly as she reigned in her tears at finally having her little brother back.

The trio of siblings cast one glance back at the stationary blond-haired Konoha Genin, who simply sheathed his katana and gestured for them to scram before reinforcements arrived.

"…Uzumaki Naruto. I will remember your words… nothing less than the best." Gaara threw one last parting quote over his shoulder as they disappeared into the forests.

"Heh of course… that's a promise." He held out a clenched fist, a smirk appeared on his face for a second before it soon gave way in the form of a sigh of exhaustion.

'By the way Kyuubi...'

'No need to thank me ningen...'

'No... I just wanted to say that you kinda look like the Easter Bunny with those ears...'

'...'

Walking steadily back into the woods, the blond collapsed with his back against a fallen trunk.

"Now if nobody needs me… I think I'll faint now…"

Unknown to the now unconscious blond, a certain white-haired Sannin had managed to catch the end of his battle against the Suna Jinchuuriki and had a proud smile stretched across his face. Jumping down from the branch of a nearby tree, he scooped the body of his snoring godson up into his arms and darted back in the direction of Konoha. Hopefully his clones would be done wiping up the remnants of the invasion forces by the time he got back, he was not in the mood to deal with annoyances.

'Naruto… I'll make it up to you. I promise.'

In all honesty, this chapter was a doozy to write. About seven thousand words long of pure fighting scenes, scenes that had to be rewritten several times just because they did not turn out the way I had envisioned them to. I had to strike a fine balance showing that while Naruto had improved vastly from his original self, he still has a long way to go especially in the mastery of the Force!

According to the wiki, Shukaku likes to refer to himself in the third-person as ore-sama (my esteemed self) so I put a different spin on it and had him refer to himself by name. Seeing as it fit in pretty well with his insane personality and destructive child-like glee.

We also see a portion dedicated to Hanabi, showing off her hard-trained skills in the Hyuuga arts and that she can hold her own against several lower-end shinobi despite the age gap. Some obligatory interaction between Naruto, though it was a clone, and Hanabi so as to lay the base for their future dealings.

So now something that I would like the readers' opinion on, forgiving Jiraiya? Yay no nay?

Please do review and let me know what you think!

Ja ne!