NARUTO

Nox Noctis Ingredior

Hunters

Along the beach…

Naruto stood at the front of the shack he had learned the location of, looking at it up and down with a very displeased look on his face. He noted all the graffiti painted across it, not to mention the repairs made and the damage that still showed on the wooden walls, roof and framework. He also saw that the graffiti painted all across the outside of the building formed visibly identifiable words, a lot of them were very inappropriate and a lot made Naruto fume on the inside.

He let out a sigh and shook his head, the scene before him being almost reminiscent of his past, only made different by the fact that he was able to defend himself. He was not going to have another repeat of the past inflicted upon somebody else; he was not going to let this go on…

Stepping over debris and stone, the boy made it to the front door and without hesitation, knocked on it. It was on the third knock he received an immediate response.

"Go away… leave me alone…"

"Sorry… but I've come to see the owner," Naruto replied calmly, knuckle still held up toward the door. "I got curious…and…"

"I don't care! Please leave!"

"I just want to talk," the blond continued to persist, desperately wanting to meet this girl, but not showing his emotions outwardly. "I saw you down at the market by the fruit stalls, and I saw how that clerk was being unfair with you." He held up the small leather money purse he was carrying with him and shook it, the coins jingling inside it. "I've come to give you the rest of your change back…"

He didn't receive any response for the next minute or so, and if his senses were accurate enough, he knew the girl was checking out her guest from a safe place where he couldn't see her. However, with the heightened senses of a shinobi, he knew he was being watched.

Another minute later, he heard a series of clicks of locks being undone, and a second later, the door in front of him opened.

It was just a crack, but the blond could see the girl's face peering out at him. She looked quite timid, around his height and age, and as he saw her, was covered in bandages. Of course, his sense of smell told him that she wasn't sick or ill, and that she looked perfectly normal. He smiled slightly at her when she opened the door to greet him.

"Hello," Naruto exclaimed in a friendly manner.

"Y-You're not here to hurt me, are you?" the girl asked, now with her voice being fully audible, sounded quite cynical in nature, and not at all timid. The blond was able to discern from that easily. "Because I'm tired of you lot coming around to pick on me."

"I'm not here to cause you any trouble," the Genin replied, before holding at the small bag to her. "Although… a nice cup of tea would be very nice…"

The girl frowned at him, and looked him up and down suspiciously. She spotted the bag and reaching out, snatched it from his grasp and withdrew her arm immediately. The moment she did so, she shut the door in his face.

The purple haired girl sighed and looked down at the bag in her hand, while still standing safely behind her front door. Opening it, she poured out its contents, finding quite a handful of gold coins, way more then the amount she was expected to receive, or even paid for over the week. In fact, this appeared to be the fruit stand's profits made from this Monday. This thought made the girl frown even more, her mind wandering into the not-to-distant future, and quickly retrieving the knowledge that she was going to be catching hell for this later on from the villagers.

Deciding to put it away for now, she turned to head back for her lounge room, only to jump at the sight of the Genin standing right behind her, facing her. She fell back into the door, and stared wide-eyed and fearfully at the masked ninja, panting rapidly and heart racing.

"Now… how about that cup of tea?" Naruto asked, turning on his heal and heading into the lounge room, removing his wide-brimmed hat. Setting it down on the floor around a fire place, the blond also sat down and relaxed back on a pillow. He looked around the place, finding it quite cozy compared to the outside, which literally shouted 'go away'. "Wow… nice place…"

The girl moved from the hallway and into her little lounge room as well, watching and listening to the blond shinobi as he sat himself down next to the fireplace, helping himself to her valuable space. Uneasily, she moved around him, and stood in plain sight of his eyes.

Naruto looked up at her, smiling still. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. What's your name?"

"Isaribi… just Isaribi," the girl replied, still looking at the by wearily, not really trusting him. "You're really a ninja then, huh?"

"Yeah… oh… don't worry about anything; I didn't come here on any bad intentions, honest," the boy said, raising a hand and patting the empty space beside him. "I'm just on a mission to the former Land of Whirlpools. I saw you and… well… I just came by to talk to you…"

Still not willing to completely open up to the boy, the girl named Isaribi still felt she should at least be a good host, and upon sitting down next to Naruto, started making some tea for both of them. Every few seconds, the girl would look at him, checking to see that he wasn't pulling anything funny. But Naruto just sat where he was, like a rock.

"Why did you really come here?" Isaribi asked, pouring the tea into two separate cups. "I mean… yes… I know you're headed for the island… I saw your teammates sailing off half an hour ago. But… why did you really come down here to my place? It's not like I'm of any importance to you ninja for you to even care?"

She gave him the tea, the steam wafting from it warming Naruto's skin. He sniffed it, and sighed, before blowing on it, and taking a sip. Afterwards, he returned his attention to the girl beside him.

"This is some very nice tea…"

"Thanks…" Isaribi furrowed her brow, looking away.

His face falling as well, the blond set the cup down and focused all his attention on his host. Turning on the spot, his mood became one of seriousness now.

"If you really want to know… I came by here… because I do care," Naruto said, catching Isaribi's attention. She turned to him, a little bit surprised by his answer. "I may be a shinobi, but I'm not as cold hearted as they are supposed to be. Regardless of my upbringing as a ninja, I am still a human with feelings and choices… not a tool or weapon that others can push around."

Isaribi blinked, looking at the boy in bewilderment. "But…"

"Heck, I may still be too young to be making these decisions, but because I am still just a kid, I'm not bound by that many laws," Naruto said, fisting his hand and thumping his chest. "It's my Ninja Way… I follow my own path. It's my life, and I choose what to do with it."

The girl blinked even more, listening to what the boy had to say. It was obvious he wasn't done yet, he just paused for a moment to take another sip from his tea, and after which, continued on with what he had on his mind.

"I'm just like you," Naruto stated. "I've had a hard life… just like this one." He looked around her cabin, and then back at her, his look all serious, and Isaribi could see a glimmer of hurt in his eyes. "Being shunned by everyone around you, chased away, ridiculed… being called things I would never say myself; and it happened throughout my entire life, ever since I was only four… heh… at an age where I could barely understand anything!" He shook his head and looked into the fireplace, watching as the flames crackled calmly in the cool atmosphere of the shack. "I ran and hid… just like you, away from everyone around me, and I didn't have a single friend. That feeling… loneliness… that feeling of being completely alone… it's… it's unbearable…"

He looked back up at Isaribi, seeing her back away a bit, a growing look of shock etched on her face. "So tell me… why? Why do people treat you the way they do?"

Isaribi looked down at her self, and raising her right hand, touched one of the many areas of her skin that was bandaged up. She sniffed and looked away, closing her eyes.

"I may look like a normal person… but I really am not…" Isaribi said, Naruto listening intently, and watching as tears brimmed at her eyes. "These bandages… t-they… they hide what I really am underneath; the skin of a monster. That's why people hate me so much! I am sick with the disease of a demon, an accursed spirit! That's what people from my home village saw me as; a demon… and what people from other villages see me as; a sick child that nobody wants to take care of!"

Naruto frowned, finally finding out why this girl was living all on her own, and why people from the village shunned her so. But she wasn't done. After she said that she undid the bandages around her face, and showed the blond what she was hiding underneath the gauze. What she revealed surprised him quite a bit, and he moved forward to take a better look.

His eyes weren't fooling him. When he got a better look, he saw that the girl had small areas of her skin covered in tough scales, fish like scales, or maybe serpent like. It didn't matter. As he scrutinized it, the girl turned away more, and hid her face, sobbing slightly.

"Back in my old village…I was spirited away by what the villagers thought were people from another world… but in reality, I was taken away by these shinobi… and was experimented on," she sobbed, wiping the tears away from her eyes, and tightening up the gauze around her face. "They… they surgically gave me the ability to turn into a monster… a being that was amphibious; and… even though I could transform and take the beast's shape, I couldn't fully turn back into a human. They said…I… I wasn't fully integrated… and t-they said… that they didn't have any intention of turning me back into a full human…"

Wiping away her tears, she looked back up at Naruto, eyes red. "I ran… I managed to escape from the facility! B-But… when I returned to my home village… the villagers refused to help me… even look at me. Because… out of everyone who was spirited away from my village… I… I was the only one to return. So… it was because of this… I fled from my home village… wanting to start a new life elsewhere…" She shook her head, clenching her eyes shut. "It … it was the same everywhere I went… pain… torment… ridicule… it continued to follow me every step of the way!" She gritted her teeth, her body suddenly spasm as she started to sob again. "Y-You're the first person… w-who… who even dared approach me…"

She started to cry, putting her hands over her eyes, just to hide her tear strung face from the boy in front of her. Naruto blinked away sadness of his own, and shuffling over to the girl, wrapped his arms around her, hugging her closely. The hug came as a big shock to her, and when she realized that she was being cradled in his gentle embrace, let out all the pent up emotions she had been suppressing all her life, and wailed into his shoulder. Isaribi cried into his jacket, clenching it tightly, hoping that he would not go.

Naruto sniffed, a tear running down his face as he took her pain, and smiled, patting and rubbing her back in comfort.

"It's okay…" he whispered to her. "I'm so sorry. You did not deserve what happened to you… you didn't…"

"T-Thank… you…" Isaribi sobbed, rubbing her eyes against his jacket. While Naruto was still cradling her in his arms, he looked ahead of him.

It was then he received a rather unpleasant surprise, when he spotted something sitting on the small table against the side of the wall. A large black cloth or what looked like a piece of a cloak, with a red cloud on it outlined in white. He easily recognized the symbol and pulled away from Isaribi, the girl now smiling slightly with shining eyes. She was grateful for his comfort, but was unaware of his reaction to the sight behind her.

"N-Naruto… i-if there is something you need…"

"Y-yeah… there is something I need," Naruto replied, getting to his feet and walking around her. Isaribi followed him with her eyes curiously, and watched as the blond stopped at her wall side table and pick up the piece of material sitting there she uses as a table cover. He took it into his hands and looked down at it, examining it carefully to make sure it was genuine.

"W-What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"This piece of clothing," he turned to her, eyes reflecting a look of concern and fear. "Where did you get it?"

"I… I don't know…" Isaribi replied. "W-When I was at the facility I found it… and took it to cover myself when I ran away!"

"What happened to the rest of the cloak?" he asked nervously.

"I tore it up, and used it as rags and stuff to help clean my house," she said.

Naruto gulped and looked back down at the piece of cloak, his eyes running up and down it as he felt the fibers between his fingers. "If it's been like this for a bit, then it should be fine. However…" he sniffed the cloth, before licking it, making Isaribi raise an eyebrow at his actions. Naruto's sensitive taste buds took it all that was on it, and he mellowed over his saliva for a few seconds. "Yup…just as I thought; Kirin Nectar… and a dash of ocean salt… originating from the Land of Sea," Naruto murmured, furrowing his brow as to the geography from which he was picking up the trace elements in the cloak. "It's got a lot of traces of you on it, which means you were the last to wear it. But…I'm able to distinguish another taste. Strange…I swear I've picked this up before…"

"I…I don't know if it means anything, b-but I overheard they were just using me as a test subject for somebody else," Isaribi explained, also getting to her feet. She walked over to Naruto and looked down at the cloak, pointing at it. "Somebody at the facility wanted the same abilities I had, to use in their own arsenal of jutsu…"

"Orochimaru…" Naruto hissed, clenching the cloth between his fingers. Isaribi looked at him, surprised.

"Y-You know who it is that did this to me?" she asked. Naruto nodded his head, now looking enraged when he realized who the new scent belonged to.

"Snake slime… an old stain on the underside of the piece of cloth," the blond said, holding up the red-cloud rag. "My master has been hunting him down for years now…"

"I-Is that bad?" Isaribi asked.

"Worse," Naruto said, looking at her with concern. The purple haired girl now looked terrified, and she walked up closer to him, the blond taking her by her shoulders. "Orochimaru was a part of a group called Akatsuki at one time… but left because of his own greed and selfish ambitions. And I think you've found his old cloak. But there is a bigger problem then Orochimaru here." The blond picked up something on the wind, a flutter of another material on the wind, and he glanced out towards the window, looking outside of the shack. "If the organization is still hunting down that bastard… then that means they are following any sights or gossip they can… pick… up… on…"

The moment he glanced out the window, he saw the distinct sight of a butterfly, sitting on the windowsill. It fanned its wings, while looking straight into the shack.

It was quite an unusual sight, seeing as that butterflies weren't made of paper…

Naruto frowned. "Isaribi…I think we should run…"

Several Miles Out…

Deep inland, sitting at a local dango stand along a far out country road enjoying a nice plate of treats, sat a pair of silhouetted figures. Under the shade provided by the small restaurant, and enjoying the sweet air and sights to see, the two hunters made themselves appear as unsuspicious as possible, at the same time searching for their target, even though they looked like they were just enjoying a nice stroll through the countryside.

But the pair weren't ordinary shinobi anyone would see on a daily basis, even though shinobi were common in this area of the Land of Fire.

Regular ninja, as well as samurai or any other warrior class of this nation, did not wear black cloaks, with red cloud patterns outlined in white covering their main item of clothing. That stuck out way too much.

The two of them were quiet, not really saying anything, just enjoying each other's company. It was only until the shorter of the pair was about to take a sip, when the figure received feed back from its scout.

Underneath the cover of the straw hat with white paper covering the person's face, the cloaked hunter glanced towards the West and furrowed their brow.

The taller partner across from the figure, also about to take a drink, stopped when he noticed his partner's sudden reaction.

"What's wrong, Konan?" the person asked in a monotone voice, while gazing at his partner from under his straw hat. "Did one of your scouts find Orochimaru?"

"Not exactly," the woman replied, lowering her cup back down to the table, so she could fully concentrate. "I may have been following a whisper on the wind…but I never expected this; I've found one of our old comrade's experiments… along with the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki…"

The man raised an eyebrow at her, before bringing his cup back up to his lips and taking a sip, closing his eyes.

"That's Itachi-san's target… besides… we already have a mission," the man replied. "We have been assigned to eliminate Orochimaru first, that is our priority. Hunting down Jinchuriki isn't on our list of things to do for some time…"

"But…" Konan looked back at her partner, about to argue.

"… The Six Tails and Seven Tails are our targets for later. We can't be acting outside of our orders …"

"That's fine," Konan replied, lowering her head and looking down at her tea. "However…he seems to know quite a bit about our former companion. He might even know where the Snake Sannin is…" The blue haired woman looked up at her partner, now beginning to contemplate the words she was speaking to him. "If you are uncomfortable in engaging a Jinchuriki so early, I'll understand."

The two sat in silence for the next twenty minutes, eating, staring, and thinking. It was around the time they finished that Konan's partner came to a reasonable conclusion. Looking at the bottom f his empty glass and at his empty plate, the cloaked figure let out a sigh and stood up, leaving the pay for their tea on the table beside the empty plates.

"I've finished my tea," he stated, "…I guess we've got some free time…"

Konan also stood, looking up at her partner, and waiting for instructions. The figure looked at her, eyes overshadowed.

"I'm willing to go along with any lead of finding out where our old acquaintance has gone," the Akatsuki member stated, reaching up and tipping his hat. "We'll go and ask the Jinchuriki some questions, and if he or his comrades are hostile towards us, well… I will not be held responsible for my actions." He turned and headed for the road. "Come, Konan…"

"Yes, Yahiko…"

On the island of the Land of Whirlpools…

"Whoo…" Anko exclaimed, wiping her brow. "That was one long boat-ride…I'd say it took us about an hour… maybe a bit more…"

Sakura, Ino and Lee hopped out of the small boat, now anchored at the shoreline of the island. The moment they set foot on the shores of the Land of Whirlpools, they were immediately greeted by a wondrous, fantastical sight. Aside from the beautiful waves crashing in the surf behind them, before gently gliding into the soft sand of the island, and the cloud cover forming above them, yet showing no signs of raining, it was the sight right in front of them that captured their attention.

Rocky Mountains reaching high into the sky, lush, exotic forests, and ruins of an old civilization resting on the coast of this small land, made up the sight before them. The whole place seemed untouched for years now, what with the flora growing on the walls of the buildings they saw. The small Genin, in their admiration of the tropical island sight before them, also noted the swirl symbol on one of the pillars of the fallen buildings, with Sakura pointing this out.

"Isn't that the…?" she began.

"Yup!" Anko exclaimed, smiling up at the ruins. "The symbol of the Ninja Village of Uzushiogakure is the same as the one transcribed on the backs of Konohagakure's ninja vests."

"That's so weird," Ino said, tilting her head at the markings.

"Uzushiogakure's ancestral leader was said to be a relative of the First Hokage. They were either cousins or more likely, brothers," Anko said, smiling down at her rather flabbergasted students. "Our village was once an ally with Uzushiogakure, a strong bond held onto by both leaders, with the values shared branching out throughout the history of the two villages. But the Land of Eddies disappeared over time, leaving only us. That symbol on the back of Konoha's Jonin and Chunin vests is that exact same symbol used by this village; a symbol of good faith."

"That's incredible," Lee exclaimed, smiling as he looked upon the ruins. "What happened to them?"

"Attacks from other nations, war… events that eventually swept sand over the entire country, and eventually blowing away on the wind over time," Anko replied, smiling slightly. "There are some ninja in our village who are direct descendents from this land, but that is strictly classified information: Hokage's Eyes only…"

"That's pretty deep," Ino said, stepping forward. "I wonder if anyone is living here…EEEEEEKKK!" The girl suddenly let out a shriek when unexpectedly, her foot sunk into the ground, followed by the rest of her body when the sand collapsed beneath her feet. The loose grains of the surface continued to give way, and suddenly, even Sakura, Lee and Anko fell into the ever expanding pit, all of them suddenly becoming trapped in the large hole.

When the vertical tunnel stopped collapsing, the people who set it up eventually appeared out of hiding, the bushes rustling loudly as they leapt onto the beach.

The three shorter figures appeared first, and surrounded the hole, the team leader stepping up first.

Samui looked into the hole, half-smiling. "Konohagakure Ninjas: Incapacitated…"

"They took their time getting here," Karui commented with a smirk. "Ha! They all must be pretty weak to fall for a trap like this!"

"Don't underestimate Konohagakure Ninjas," Omoi began, rubbing his chin in thought as he looked into the pit. "All ninja tend to have back-up plans in response to these situations. This was just a half-baked idea and they fell for it. Maybe they planned this? Maybe they intentionally fell for this trap so to lure as out? Perhaps our trap, has become our trap?"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?" Karui shouted, glaring at her teammate. "Kami, your out-loud thinking is annoying!"

Just as the Kumogakure ninja were about to scout out the giant pit further, a commotion at the bottom of the hole suddenly caught their attention, with a loud rumbling knocking them out of their reverie.

"Summoning Jutsu!" a loud shout echoed from the hole, followed seconds later by an explosion of white smoke, that caused all three Genin to back up in surprise.

A split second later, the rumbling reached its most violent, and in a link of an eye, the pit exploded outwards, a large reptilian creature shooting out of the pit and rising over the three Kumogakure Genin. Crouching low and shielding themselves from the flying smoke and sand, the member of Team Samui looked up, and gaped in shock when they saw a huge King Cobra summoning leering over them, fangs bared and hissing loudly, its long body crawling the rest of the way out of the pit it was summoned in. And of course, riding a top of its hooded head, sat Anko Mitarashi, joined by her three students, all of them glaring angrily down at their would be captors, now turned targets.

"That hurt you brats!" Anko shouted, frowning when she recognized the symbol on their headbands. "Kumogakure Genin, eh? You're a long way from home, aren't you?"

"What are you doing on this island?" Ino shouted, holding up a fist. She was pretty bruised up from falling into that hole, but definitely still fighting fit. "A bunch of amateur trap builders wandering around the middle of nowhere. You must be drifters… maybe even delinquents!"

"We could ask you the same thing!" Samui replied, standing up and dusting herself down. Her teammate Karui, of course, responded in her usual, ill-tempered manner, and shook a fist at the girl in return.

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, WE ARE KUMOGAKURE NINJAS! AND PROUD OF IT!" Karui shouted. Ino smirked at her.

"Well, you don't look like Kumogakure Ninjas from up here!" she retorted.

"Why don't you come down here and say it to my face, bitch!" Karui roared back, while her teammates shook their heads in exasperation at their friend's goading of the Konoha Nin into a fight.

"Alright! You're on, herring!" Ino shouted back, before leaping off of the summons head and descending flat out to ground level. Anko sighed and frowned as she watched one of her back up jump into combat so hastily, while Lee and Sakura were more inclined to back up their friend more then anything else.

"A most youthful confrontation!" Lee exclaimed, punching a fist in the air in declaration. "Count me in! YOSH!" With that said he too leapt off of the snake and descended towards his opponent, which he chose was the male of the Kumogakure Ninja Genin. Omoi saw the weird, green kid flying towards him, and in response rose to his feet, reaching back for his sword, while his other teammate Karui, had already charged forward to meet the blond girl half-way.

"Ugh… here we go!" Omoi muttered, drawing his katana. Lee landed a good ten feet from the Kumo Genin, and in a blink of an eye, he charged, tackling the Kumo Genin full on and knocking both of them rolling across the sand in a clean attack.

Samui watched from where she stood as both her teammates went at it with the Konohagakure Ninjas, Karui seemingly wanting to get rid of some of her anger, while Omoi was forced to deal with a hyperactive opponent. She rubbed the base of her neck in annoyance and returned her sights to the giant cobra, which lowered itself to the ground before vanishing in a large cloud of smoke, the two remaining Konohagakure Ninjas hopping off of its head before hand.

Anko and Sakura approached, but stopped a good distance away, watching as Ino and Lee fought the Kumogakure Ninjas in a rather stale-mated contest. With the Snake Jonin being a spectator for now, Sakura decided to focus her attention on Samui, who was just standing where she was, also watching.

"What do you guys want with us?" Sakura asked, glaring at the blond Kumo Genin, who also glared back at her. "What made you decide to try and capture us all on your own?"

"It's a mission of ours," Samui stated. "We are to engage you until the Nightwalker, a shinobi without a shadow, shows up. We have information that says he's traveling with you."

"Nightwalker?" Sakura furrowed her brow in thought, then looked up at Anko, realization snapping in her brain like a twig. "Does she mean Naruto-kun?"

Samui caught that whisper, and reached back, drawing her trench-knife. The black blade flashed through the air as she assumed a fighting stance.

"So… you know him?" the blond Genin asked, catching Sakura's attention. "Then I will be your opponent."

Sakura blinked in surprise, but then frowned, and in turn, drew a kunai of her own. She spun it between her fingers, before grasping hold of its handle, having the blade held up defensively.

"Fine by me!" she replied. "If you are after Naruto-kun, then I won't let you have him! He is my teammate!"

"Then that means I'll have to try even harder!" Samui replied. Without another word, the Kumo Nin charged. At the same time, strange electricity like chakra flickered off of the girl's body, and from Sakura's point of view, the Genin became slightly distorted. Not only that, but her image seemed to flicker as she charged at her, covering quite a large distance in just those few seconds.

"No matter how fast you move!" Sakura shouted, charging as well, bringing her kunai down as she ran. In a flash they both met, both their blades colliding. The pink haired kunoichi acted quickly, drawing another kunai from behind her with her free hand and knocking the Kumo girl's left wrist upwards. She hooked her arm around her staggered arm, and using the energy colliding between them on the charge, spun them both through the air in an anti-clockwise direction. Using the momentum to her advantage, Sakura side-kicked Samui in the stomach, and sent her flying through the air. Not at all hampered by the electric current flying off of the girl, Sakura landed with ease, and smirked as Samui also took a stance after landing from the kick. "I can still follow you…"

Samui flinched. "She's quite strong…" Taking a stance, more electric currents began flying off of her, before being diverted to her trench knife. The electricity cracked and flew through the air, cutting swaths into the sand.

Sakura smirked and reengaged; tossing a kunai in the girl's direction and charging the moment she did so. Samui ducked the flying blade and also went to meet the girl mid-way. In that instant, Sakura pumped chakra into her right hand where her kunai was, blue energy flooding over it like a sheath. The moment their blades collided, sparks exploded between them, knocking both Genin skidding back across the sand for a few feet, before they reengaged and repeated these actions, charging, attacking, and parrying, the beach becoming their arena.

Anko watched on from afar, looking left and right between her three students. Ino was engaging Karui blade to blade, the red-haired girl's katana clashing with the blond's kunai. In spite of the relative speed displayed by the Kumo ninja, Ino was able to keep in time with her quite well, enough that the two of them were actually having a hard time dealing with the other. Rock Lee on the other hand, was having a hay-day dealing with Omoi, the boy who thought way too much being overwhelmed by the Genin's incredible hand-to-hand fighting prowess, so much so that he was staggered by a couple of good blows. However, he was able to hold his own against the fuzzy-browed ninja. And Sakura and Samui were exactly on par with one another.

"Ah…they grow up so fast," Anko mused to herself.

Her face suddenly changed from proud and smirking to one of surprise, and to her right, on her blind side, the Jonin leader of Team Samui came lunging at her, three katanas drawn with one held in his mouth, with the two in his hands alit with blue, crackling electricity.

"I move like lightning, and swiftly cut down my foes!" Killer Bee shouted, just several feet from his opponent. "Yo all had betta watch out, and stay on yah toes!"

Anko ducked the moment he slashed out at her. On her descent into her crouch, her hands flashed through the series of hand seals of Tiger, Hare, Boar and Dog, and the moment her knee hit the ground, she slammed her palms into the sand.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Mud Wall!" the Jonin shouted, a second later, rocketing into the air atop of a rising pillar of rock and mud shooting out of the sand. The sudden propulsion into the air of his opponent forced Killer Bee back, the Jinchuriki back-flipping away from the pillar of rock. He leapt away till he was a good fifty meters away, and looked up towards the top of the wall about a hundred meters up to see where his target had gone.

When he saw Anko come to the edge, hands in her pockets, he grinned on the sword in his mouth.

"Nearly caught me off guard there for a second," Anko called out from where she stood, smirking. "To bad I knew that a Genin Team like this would not venture so far out of the country without a forth Team Member, that meaning, there had to be a Jonin leader hanging around. Nice try though…"

"Your reaction was quick, snake user shinobi!" Killer Bee exclaimed. "But know that I won't go easy, little lady!"

With a spark of lightning shooting off of his blade, the Kumo Jonin shot forward, quickly hitting the side wall and changing direction, now running vertically up the stone pillar towards his target. Anko smirked and slapped her hands together into a hand sign, forming several more before slamming her right palm into the top of the mud wall.

"Ninja Art: Multi-Shadow Pythons!"Anko shouted, an explosion of smoke thundering down from the top of the earth wall, heading straight towards Killer Bee. That moment, the wall began splitting and bursting open and multiple points along the structure, and soon enough, a gauntlet of snakes lunged out and began striking at the charging Jonin.

Killer Bee's speed was hampered by the reptiles charging him down, as he lashed out at every one that attempted to bite him or coil around any of his limbs. He skidded to a stop, and changed direction, avoiding another series of snakes attacking him from above. He leapt across the stone wall, rolled along its side and came to a crouching stop, beginning to face off more and more snakes, even though the stunts he pulled were impossible from this angle.

While he was preoccupied with the pythons lunging at him left and right, Anko used this opportunity to her advantage, and leapt over the side, diving towards her opponent, kunai drawn. She spun through the air and tossed a cluster of knives aimed at her opponent, who rounded towards her and knocked away the shuriken, while cutting down several more pythons at the same time. Seconds later, Killer Bee charged up at the Jonin again, blades still in hand. The two met half-way to each other, and clashed, metal clanging and sparks flying as they flew past one another.

Landing against the wall, they both spun around to face one another again, and took defensive stances. On closer inspection, the two of them had cuts on their cheeks, both of them having landed a small blow, but not enough to knock either of them out. Anko grinned and ran a tongue along one of her knives in her characteristic manner, whereas Killer Bee twirled the blade in his mouth on his tongue, flipping it around, then smirking.

"Such delicious blood…" Anko exclaimed.

"Time to bring in da pain!" Killer Bee sang, charging at the woman.

Ino and Karui clashed blades, grappling between one another and glaring each other across the cold steel and sparks. Both girls growled, wanting to intimidate the other, but ultimately failing. Eventually the two of them threw each other off, leaping away. While in mid-retreat, Ino drew a few shuriken from her pouch behind her and tossed them at her opponent. The red haired girl responded by batting away the soaring ninja stars, and skidding to a stop some distance away. Twirling her sword around, she ran at the pale blond, running the tip of her blade along the sand, kicking up a dust cloud as she ran.

When she came up to Ino, who had her kunai held up and ready, Karui, slashed out, throwing sand in the girl's face, temporarily blinding her. Ino cried out and staggered back, blade held up in defense and slashing out blindly to block any incoming attacks. Karui however ducked low under her flailing blade, and kicked out at her feet, knocking her off the ground and eventually over, Ino hitting the sand hard in the end. As the Konoha Genin was withering from the fall and getting rid of the sand in her eyes, Karui, now back on her feet and standing above the downed girl, brought her sword around and attempted to impale the girl in the hand to keep her from moving or being a threat.

Ino however, had an ace up her sleeve. Knowing an attack was to come, she quickly brought around a couple of ninja smoke pellets from her pouch and tossed them to the ground, the spheres exploding and enveloping both girls, allowing Ino to scamper away under cover. Karui ended up impaling something, but she had no idea what and who because of the smoke, and waited until the smoke screen disappeared.

When the smoke finally dissipated, Ino was back on her feet, quite a distance from Karui and her eyes cleared. When it was clear enough to see, the Kumo Genin caught a whiff of powder and looked down to where her sword was. Much to her shock, she found her katana impaling a couple of paper bombs, and quickly withdrew her blade from the sparkling paper. A split second later, they detonated, sending Karui hurling away with a dress and small burns on her arm and leg. She eventually hit the ground some distance away, but quickly flipped back to her feet, recovering enough from her escape to glare heatedly at the blond standing away from her, who was now smirking coolly.

"Don't trip," she exclaimed.

"I don't intend to," Karui replied, twirling her sword around and taking another stance. "I'm far from done!"

In the background, Omoi was in a tough battle against Lee, who was also experiencing some trouble. The Kumo Genin slashed out repeatedly and swiftly at the fuzzy browed Genin, who leapt away, dodging each strike and attempting to keep as far away from his blade as possible. Eventually, Lee decided to change tactics, and one the next swing Omoi took, Lee blocked the strike at the wrists, looping his arm around and twisting the boy's sword out of his hands.

Omoi frowned and began retreating, leaping back quickly to avoid a flash of light that struck across at him, which turned out to be a kunai drawn by the other boy. Rock Lee gritted his teeth and lunged, striking out at Omoi in a flurry of movements, which the Kumo Nin could not predict. Instead, Omoi backed up step by step, moving out of reach of each swing and slash. He back flipped away when Lee kicked out at him, before he was then pursued by the Genin.

After avoiding the first wave of attacks, Omoi stopped his retreat and crouched on the sand, watching as Lee charged at him from a distance. Frowning, he formed a couple of hand signs before slamming his hands into the ground.

"Earth Style: Rock Avalanche!" Omoi shouted, a loud rumbling echoing out from the ground at his center. Shockwaves coursed out one after another, before the sand around Lee began to shift and move like waves.

Rock Lee staggered as he ran, looking up in surprise when suddenly, a massive rock shot out of the sand in front of him, and began to roll across the surface of the shifting surface towards him. Lee leapt out of the way, landing atop of what he thought was sand at first, but then found out he had landed n another boulder rising from the sand, rolling as it ascended. Quickly, he leapt away, moving away so to avoid the enclave of boulders rolling up and out of the sands and descending upon him. Lee switched to defensive, and began leaping left and right, avoiding the boulders, rocks and earth as they came thundering down the waves of sand towards him, Omoi taking careful aim with every boulder he summoned with his technique. From his center atop of a mountain of sand, the Kumo Nin raised an eyebrow as he watched the boulders begin crashing into one another, boxing Lee under a barrier of tough earth. It was then, unexpectedly, amidst the avalanche of rocks and waves of sand, a loud bang resounded.

Debris flew as a rock was effectively blown to bits by an unknown force. That force came to be known as Rock Lee's Leaf Whirlwind. A flailing kick spinning like a spin-top, shattering the stones and rock, and blowing them back, with a green blur shooting up and flying into the air. Omoi leapt to his feet, leaping off to the right and making a dash for his sword. Within seconds, Lee was onto him, diving towards the Kumo Nin and marking his attack point.

At the same time Omoi picked up his sword and spun around to meet his opponent, the fuzzy-browed Genin went into attack, spinning through the air and bringing his legs round.

"KONOHA DAI SENPUU!" Lee shouted, thrusting a kick straight down for Omoi's head.

"Collaboration Blades: Rising Dragon!" Omoi shouted, slashing his katana through the air to meet Lee's kick. However, instead of a single slash, a second one followed, crossing over in a blur of movement, forming a defensive 'X' right above the boy. It was a technique that usually required two swords to perform or with a second partner, but Omoi compensated for lack of both with just the one.

The collision of both attacks was explosive, Lee being thrown off by the blast of both his kick and his opponent's blades striking his kick. Omoi was also hit by the shockwave, which knocked him falling to the floor, hard.

Lee hit the sand about twenty meters away, crash landing and tumbling across the mounds, before stopping in a crumpled heap, almost like Omoi, who was lying in a small crater formed by the shockwave.

The two of them struggled to their feet a minute later, and glared at each other across the way. In spite of bruises and being badly shaken up, they reassumed stances, and prepared for reengagement.

Sakura and Samui were in the midst of a heated battle of their own, exchanging blows with their bladed weapons, yet also attempting to inflict as much physical force on the other as possible. Of course, both of them were pretty bruised up at this point, also sporting a number of cuts. But the two were evenly matched, and were right now in a grappling match with their weapons.

Sparks flying between them, the two glared at each other, Samui's blade still crackling with electrical energy, meeting Sakura's own fist, glowing with wind chakra. Eventually, the two of them forced each other away, but immediately lunged again, slashing out at their opponent. The clang of metal ricocheted through the air, and was then followed by gash marks forced in Sakura's right shoulder, and Samui's waist. The two of them staggered forward, before rounding on the other, bearing their weapons threateningly.

A few seconds later, the blades on their weapons split in two, the ends falling to the sand.

Sakura ignored it and tossed her now blunt kunai straight at her opponent. Samui blocked it, and charged at her, just as the pink haired kunoichi was drawing another blade. The blond haired Kumo Nin leapt at her, and struck down with her blunt combat knife, and was about to meet her opponent's shoulder blade when suddenly, an unexpected development exploded in her face.

The Kumo Nin's arm was knocked flying upwards by a kick that materialized out of no where, a blur forming in slow motion right between the two Genin. Samui blinked, eyes widening when she saw a boy dressed in black, and wearing a pale mask and a dish hat, appear right in front of her, knocking her attack away.

Sakura also blinked in surprise, as she watched the shadow knock Samui flying away with a powerful kick to the stomach, disarming her at the same time. The pink haired Genin then grinned when she watched the boy land, crouching low from his attack, accompanied by a purple haired girl, who seemed to stumble out of the same space area in front of her and fall rather clumsily to the ground.

"About time, Naruto-kun!"

TO BE CONTINUED…