Welcome to the 34th chapter of Team Itachi :)

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"Temari... what should we do?" Gaara whispered. His arms grew into those of Shukaku's, and with them, he smashed his way out of the ground. Then, he collapsed, exhausted.

"Gaara! Stop using the-"

Kankuro cut his sister off. "Temari... I'll hold these guys off. You take Gaara and keep going."

"But, Kankuro-"

"Go!" Kankuro laid three scrolls down onto the ground.

Reluctantly, Temari took Gaara and fled.

"Oi! Lady! Come back here!" Naruto charged after Temari, but from one of the scrolls came one of Kankuro's puppets.

The puppet revealed it's barrel-like stomach, which opened. Naruto tumbled right into the barrel, and with that, it closed.

"Naruto!"

"Meet my puppet - Black Ant," Kankuro smirked. "This will bring the numbers down to three versus one." He summoned Crow.

"You are still going to lose," Neji remarked, his Byakugan now activated.

"No," Kankuro chuckled. "Because this time I will be going with the intent to kill."

Itachi and Kakashi appeared beside Hiruzen. The two Jonin explained the plan to the Sandaime.

"It could work," Hiruzen agreed.

Orochimaru took out his Sword of Kusanagi.

"So you've come to witness your own funerals... Itachi, Kakashi," Orochimaru chuckled. His sword lengthened towards Kakashi, who dived away to dodge the extending blade.

"Do not kill him," Itachi warned. "We will need him to cancel the Reanimation technique."

"Understood." Kakashi bit his finger to draw blood. "Earth Style: Fang Pursuit Jutsu!"

The masked ninja's Ninken appeared in a puff of smoke. All of the eight hounds attacked Orochimaru, biting and tearing away at the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru growled, using his sword to fight Kakashi's summonings off.

As the last of the dogs disappeared, Itachi appeared behind Orochimaru with his katana.

Orochimaru was quick to react, turning to counter Itachi's strike with his sword.

Hiruzen jumped into the air, raising his staff.

Kakashi charged forward with a chakra-infused kunai.

"You can't dodge three attacks at once. Give up." Itachi spoke.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Orochimaru's technique blew Hiruzen and Itachi away with a strong gust of wind.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!"

Kakashi was knocked back as the snakes from Orochimaru's sleeve tackled him away. One opened it's mouth and aimed for his wrist, but Kakashi cut it's head off with his kunai.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" Hiruzen cried. An earth dragon appeared, firing mud bombs at Orochimaru.

"Tsk," Orochimaru grunted, cutting off the attacks with his sword.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Caterwaul," Itachi placed his hands in the Tiger seal. Multiple flames shot from his mouth and took the shape of five dragons. Orochimaru jumped away from the blast, but one of the dragons got to him.

"Graaaaa!"

Orochimaru fell, and noticed his arms were now full of burn marks.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu." Kakashi sent a gigantic tornado of water spinning towards Orochimaru.

The snake-like man avoided the attack, reappearing in front of Kakashi and thrusting his sword forward.

Having no time to dodge, Kakashi grabbed the sword and pushed it away, but the blade lengthened and stabbed him in the arm.

Swiftly, Kakashi used his other arm to grab a kunai, infusing it with Lightning chakra in two seconds, and then slamming the weapon into Orochimaru's arm as well. With a shriek of pain, he dropped his sword.

Itachi placed his hands into the Shadow Clone hand seal, and a clone of himself leaped onto Orochimaru's back.

"Shadow Clone Explosion!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened.

A brief moment later, the clone exploded.

Kankuro flexed his fingers, and Crow came forward to attack Sasuke, who was standing at the front of the group.

"Sharingan!" He activated his dojutsu, and jumped into the air just as a blade extended out of Crow to strike him. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" He blew a fireball towards Kankuro.

"Salamander!" Kankuro called.

His defensive puppet appeared, shielding Kankuro from the blast.

"Damnit," Sasuke cursed, landing on the ground again. Crow attacked, and Neji jumped into the fray, dismantling Crow easily with a couple of Gentle Fist strikes.

"Got you," Neji said, as he disconnected Crow's head from it's body with a strike.

"Is that so?" Kankuro wiggled his fingers.

The body parts of Crow, all strewn onto the ground, floated back into the air, now with a blade attached to them. The head had a blade on it's chin, while the arms had blades on it's elbows.

Neji frowned, as the blades flew towards him.

"Rotation!"

The body parts of Crow were flung around. Kankuro grunted in annoyance, and the Hyuga prodigy stopped his technique with a smirk on his face.

Suddenly, he felt pain shooting through his back. Neji's Byakugan eyes widened.

"I didn't throw all of them at you at once..." Kankuro chuckled, as Neji collapsed, revealing the blade on the head of Crow stabbed right into his back. Sakura gasped, and Sasuke glared at their opponent.

"You bastard."

Ignoring the insult, Kankuro shot the Konoha ninja a thumbs-down. "One down."

Sasuke charged forward, but couldn't get to the puppeteer with Salamander shielding it's owner. The body parts of Crow came together once more, and shot several poison senbon at the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun, watch out!"

Getting out a kunai, Sasuke knocked the senbon away.

Crow charged towards Sasuke, it's scythe protruding out again.

With two kunai, Sasuke countered the slashes of the scythe, and managed to kick Crow away.

Sakura decided to join in, encasing her right fist with stone and punching Crow to create a massive hole in the puppet's chest. Undeterred, Crow's scythe shot out again to slash the pink-haired Genin.

With another giant punch, Sakura's fist connected with the scythe, bending the blade and rendering it useless.

Kankuro growled, as his puppet's primary weapon was demolished.

His attention returned to Sasuke, as the Uchiha boy shattered the rock-hard shield of Salamander with a Chidori.

"How did you...?" Kankuro frowned. "Your Chidori attack shouldn't be enough to..."

"These eyes," Sasuke smiled triumphantly, pointing to his Sharingan. "They located your puppet's weak spot."

"Damn." Kankuro jerked his arm back. "Crow! Get back!"

Sakura did a hand seal. "Earth Style: Landslide!"

A pile of dirt rose from the ground, flying into the air before descending onto Crow and burying the offensive puppet under.

"Damn you Konoha ninja..." Kankuro cursed, backing away. He waved his arm forward, and Black Ant released Naruto.

"About time!" The blonde complained. Black Ant then shot towards Sasuke and Sakura. Two scythes protruded from it's torso. Sasuke dived out of the way, while Sakura used her Stone Fist to puncture both scythes.

Black Ant then raised it's arms, launching poison senbon from it.

"Watch out!" Sasuke called, and all three Genin of Team 7 leaped out of the way.

"Sword Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. "It's payback time!"

Kankuro looked up, dismayed to see the rain of katanas about to fall on him. With the puppeteer distracted, Sasuke managed to slash off the chakra strings connecting his fingers to his puppets with a kunai. Black Ant fell onto the ground lifelessly.

The rain of katanas fell.

Orochimaru was thrown forward.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Hiruzen asked wearily.

A body forced his way out of Orochimaru's mouth.

"No." The newly-shedded Orochimaru hissed.

Hiruzen stepped back. "Are you... are you even human...?!"

"I'm stronger than a human being! A God!" Orochimaru cackled. "You won't defeat me!"

"Kakashi-san," Itachi nodded to his comrade. "Can you land a Raikiri on him without killing him?"

"Hard to say," Kakashi replied, thinking. "But a lowly-powered Chidori will serve to injure instead of kill." He charged up said Chidori, knowing what his fellow Jonin's answer was going to be.

Itachi smiled, nodding.

"The Chidori, huh..." Orochimaru smirked. "I just have to avoid it." He started to move, but found he couldn't. "What?" The long-tongued man hissed in anger, as Kakashi charged towards him.

"Paralysis Genjutsu," Itachi said with a hint of a smile on his face.

What? He cast a genjutsu so easily? Orochimaru growled. Itachi Uchiha, indeed...

"Chidori!"

Kakashi slammed his hand into Orochimaru's body.

The snake man roared in pain, coughing out blood from his mouth that landed in Kakashi's gravity-defying hair. The masked ninja groaned in disgust, but concentrated on his technique.

"Itachi, now!"

Orochimaru's eyes were shut tight, as he groaned in pain. When the snake-summoning Sannin opened his eyes again, he was looking into a pair of red shuriken-like pupils.

A second later, he found himself in a purple void.

Damn it... I looked into his eyes... Orochimaru looked around.

"You must now do everything I say." The voice of Itachi spoke. Orochimaru turned, to see two deadly-looking Mangekyo Sharingan eyes glaring at him. The powerful man felt fear grip him - something he'd failed to experience for years. The eyes seemed to be piercing right into his soul.

"Rat." Orochimaru blinked, and he felt his arms moving against his will to form the Rat seal.

"Ox."

"Monkey."

"Tiger."

"Dragon." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed by this point. He's trying to make me release the Reanimation technique!

"Boar."

Orochimaru placed his hands in the Boar seal.

"You are free to leave." The Mangekyo Sharingan eyes disappeared. Orochimaru frowned, and realized the void was starting to blur. Recognizing this as the genjutsu weakening, he quickly decided to seize the opportunity to escape.

"Release!"

Asuma panted, as the dust reformed as the Shodaime for what seemed to be the millionth time.

The former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja got into a fighting stance once more and charged forward. Hashirama dodged and grabbed Asuma with his right hand. His left arm changed into a wooden blade once more.

Struggling, Asuma managed to kick Hashirama away.

Suddenly, the Wood Style user's body disappeared into dust. What appeared to be Hashirama's soul floated into the air.

"I will always be watching Konoha from the heavens," he spoke. "Farewell."

Asuma watched the mesmerizing sight, and bowed. "Farewell... Shodaime-sama."

"Gate of Closing, open!" Guy roared. He sped towards the Nidaime and broke into a series of violent kicks.

Tobirama blocked each one with his fists. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" He called, after jumping a distance away. Guy disappeared as the water dragon smashed into the position he was in before.

Reappearing behind the Nidaime, Guy's foot slammed into Tobirama's cheek.

"Howl! Youth!" Guy leaped into the air and did a somersault, and landed with his foot on Tobirama's head, knocking him down.

The red-eyed man got up, and found his body was starting to disappear. Guy stared as the soul of Tobirama dispersed into the air.

"It looks like my time is up." He said, as he began to fade. "Hopefully Konoha will continue to produce fine shinobi like you."

Deactivating his Eight Gates, Guy saluted the fading soul.

"Damn it, you..." Orochimaru found his senses returning to him as he was released from the genjutsu. "You tricked me...!"

"That was always the plan from the start," Itachi remarked coldly. "Now, since the Reanimation has been released, I suppose we can kill you now." He placed his hands into the Tiger seal.

"Amaterasu!"

Black flames were fired from Itachi's right eye, blazing towards Orochimaru.

"Nooo!" The pale man screamed. "Noooooo! Arghhhhh!" The flames began working their magic as Orochimaru fell to the ground and thrashed about. Itachi covered his right eye, feeling it aching. Swiftly, he deactivated his dojutsu.

The burnt body of Orochimaru lied on the ground.

Asuma and Guy rushed up, as Hiruzen stepped forward.

"Is he dead?" Enma questioned.

The question was answered, as Orochimaru leaped to his feet. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The gust of wind blew Hiruzen and the team of Jonin away. Stumbling backward, he smirked.

"I am defeated..." He admitted. "But you have not killed me... not yet."

"Is he fucking immortal?" Asuma swore.

"Yes! That's what I am! Immortal!" Orochimaru threw his head back and laughed. "It's time to go!" He called to his four subordinates. They all nodded, and the barrier around them was released.

The visibly severely-injured Orochimaru was carried by one of the four Sound nin. The five shinobi then leaped off the roof, fleeing the scene.

"Dad?" Asuma turned to his father.

Hiruzen sighed.

"Let them go. We have other priorities. I want all four of you to get out there now and protect the village."

Kankuro lay on the ground, his body impaled by four katanas. Miraculously, the Suna nin was still alive, but barely. He coughed out some blood, and felt himself blacking out.

No! You have to stay alive! Kankuro told himself.

Sakura felt a little sick staring at the bloodied form of the hooded Genin, and as a result, decided to look away.

Naruto did a hand seal, and the katanas disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Is he... is he alive? Did I kill someone?"

"He's alive," Sasuke confirmed, his Sharingan deactivated.

"Wait... Neji!" Naruto ran over to his preliminary opponent. "Neji! Are you okay?"

Neji was unconscious, but the violent shaking soon caused him to slowly open his white eyes. As he regained consciousness, the first feeling he registered was pain at the spot where he'd been stabbed.

Sakura dug a hand into her ninja tool bag, and took out bandages. Lifting Neji's shirt up, she quickly wrapped them around his wound.

"Good job, Sakura," Sasuke smiled. "Neji... can you hear me?"

Neji looked up, and weakly nodded. "I... I think I can continue."

Sakura shook her head. "Rest."

Neji glared at his fellow Genin in protest.

"She's right, you know. You won't be able to help with a wound like that, anyway." He said bluntly. Neji frowned at what he deemed an insult, but after thinking for a bit, figured out the raven-haired boy was right.

"Rest here, and when you feel better, catch up with us." Naruto suggested.

Neji nodded slowly.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Sakura frowned.

Scowling, Neji closed his eyes.

"Alright, Sakura," Sasuke hauled the bloodied body of Kankuro up. "You take this guy back to the Leaf. Naruto and I will continue on. Can you do that?"

Sakura stared at the blood from Kankuro's wounds reluctantly, but nodded and took him off of Sasuke's hands. "Good luck... Naruto... Sasuke-kun." She smiled at her teammates, and departed.

"Now that's over with..." Naruto pointed forward. "Let's go."

Orochimaru totally got his ass handed to him on a plate, didn't he? In the next chapter, the remainder of Team 7 fights against the remainder of the Sabaku Siblings! Until next time.