We are back! Plenty of people to reply to and thank, so let's get down to it. Interestingly enough, only ONE person guessed the species of Sasuke's summoning when I popped the question last chapter. I'm impressed, I wasn't expecting anyone to have a correct guess ;)

If you want a hint, Sasuke's summoning animal is based off the suggestion of an anonymous reviewer who went by the name Danish78. If you dig his review out from one of the many pages of reviews for this story, then you'll know what animal I'm talking about :P

enerongoku77: I really haven't thought about that yet, but probably, yeah.

Arch The Ripper: No, not a Baku :P

NTA FANFIC: And we have a winner! Ding ding ding! Jokes aside, no, it is most definitely an ANIMAL ;)

TheOrangeStar802: We'll see about Naruto being Jonin! He'll definitely be taking the Jonin Exams sometime soon though. A lovely little hint for one of my self-created arcs in Team Itachi: Shippuden ;)

Pyr00tje: It MUST be a hawk? Are you sure? ;) And I totally agree with you! Hate Sasuke in canon :/

Cookiesany1: Our lovely pink-haired maiden will only return in Team Itachi: Shippuden.

Lin: Dogs? Monkeys? Snakes? What will it be? :P

Hachibi8tails: To be fair, I don't think Kishi has the decision of the existence of fillers in the anime and what the filler episodes should be about :P thanks for the awesome review once again.

NewWings: DEFINITELY a hawk, eh?

zarethuzumi: I have actually read the works of our little friend Fadedwriterpiece and I am quite a fan. My favorite work of his is Menma's Sexy Jutsu. I do have a perverse side ;) and to be honest I would love to write a lemon but I have no confident in my lemon skills. I'll think about approaching Faded, but I think this story will do without a lemon at the moment really.

GrandMasterSkywalkerDaemonhunt: Firstly, nice name! Secondly, Kurenai and Asuma are together and I don't want Itachi to be a third party.

Thanks to enerongoku77, JuliaUchiwa, Arch The Ripper, NTA FANFIC, TheOrangeStar802, Pyr00tje, Awais, Fernlight, Hhjig, Cookiesany1, Lin, Hachibi8tails, NewWings, zarethuzumi and GrandMasterSkywalkerDaemonhunt for the reviews!

Sasuke rushed into the gates, along with the five Kiri, Suna and Konoha shinobi.

We only have one and a half day... I have to reach Neji, fast.

He has the Byakugan, and I have the Sharingan. We should locate each other pretty quick.

Alright, now... Sharingan!

His eyes giving off a glow of red, Sasuke scanned the area. The ninja he had entered the gate with had all scattered, and he was now left alone in the gloomy forest. With his Sharingan unable to stretch to far distances unlike the Byakugan, Sasuke could spot no one nearby.

Grunting, he kept his dojutsu activated, just in case.

That certainly paid off.

Turning sharply, Sasuke jumped off the branch he was standing on, narrowly avoiding an incoming foot.

He landed on the ground. His attacker soon joined him, and Sasuke frowned.

"Asuma-sensei... You are taking part in this too, huh?"

Asuma grinned. "I never said I wasn't."

The kid's got moves... he dodged my surprise attack... not many people have done that... well, he is an Uchiha, after all.

"I didn't think the stationed Jonin would be moving this quickly," Sasuke commented. "Well, I suppose it will be enriching to test my abilities against a Jonin..."

Asuma's grin broadened. He liked the kid's style. The Chakra Blades in his hands started glowing blue with Wind chakra.

Both ninjas began charging at each other.

Neji leaped up into the trees.

This is a good spot.

His hands clapped into the needed hand seal.

"Byakugan!"

His vision immediately extended, and was surprised at what he saw. There were at least twelve Chunin scattered around the Forest of Death, lying on the ground, unconscious, as if they had been beaten up.

The Leaf Jonin around the forest were doing their work quickly. Neji was quickly on the alert. A man wearing the garb of a Jonin was not far from him.

Not interested in throwing himself into an unneeded confrontation, Neji swiftly escaped the area, his Byakugan eyes searching left and right for a certain Sasuke Uchiha.

The Chidori crackled to life in Sasuke's hand. Asuma watched with interest as it turned into a blade.

As soon as Asuma was within range, Sasuke swung his weapon, and it clashed with Asuma's trench knives.

"Wind is strong against Lightning, but..." Sasuke smiled. "... you'll be downed in no time."

Asuma ignored his opponent, attacking again. Sasuke parried his knives' blows with his sword, and knocked the Chakra Blades off Asuma's hands and onto the ground.

He then received a kick in his gut, knocking him back. The brief lapse in focus caused the blade in his hand to flicker away.

Picking up his Chakra Blades quickly, Asuma leaped into the air, and descended on Sasuke with his knives ready to deal some damage.

"Chidori True Spear!"

He used the Chidori again, and it extended into a spear to blow Asuma away.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Small fireballs were spat towards Asuma, who dodged them easily and charged towards Sasuke again.

He's trying to lure me into a battle of close combat, Sasuke concluded. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

Asuma leaped into the air, and the flame dragon went charging through his legs.

Damn, Sasuke shook his head, as Asuma continued his charge. If he wants to fight head-on, I'll give him a fight.

Lightning chakra began generating from his fists.

With a roar, Sasuke jumped into the air over the charging Asuma, and tried to sock his back. However, the Jonin turned, blocking the punch with his weapons.

Feeling his Chakra Blades slowly being pushed back as Sasuke pressed his fist against them, Asuma kicked his opponent away, and pocketed the knives.

Not giving Sasuke time to recover, Asuma dashed up, aiming a flurry of punches at the younger teenager.

Amazingly, Sasuke dodged every single one of them, and crouched down, before sending Asuma flying into the air with a kick to his chin, a rather surprising move.

The Dancing Leaf Shadow, Asuma thought with a frown.

Sasuke, having made a leap into the air, was behind Asuma. The duo were suspended in mid-air, gravity threatening to win the battle against them at any second.

"Hyaaa!"

Asuma used his arms to block a kick launched by Sasuke, who smirked. Just what he'd wanted.

As the Sandaime's offspring pushed his left leg off, the right side of Sasuke's body rose further into the air. Now fully on top of Asuma, he proceeded to attack the higher-ranked ninja with punches and kicks.

A punch went up his stomach, and a foot slammed into his face, causing Asuma to groan, and pushed further towards the ground.

"Haaa!"

Now, a punch went into his face, and then three consecutive kicks into his chest.

Gravity was at full force on the Jonin now as Asuma plummeted towards the ground with increased velocity from Sasuke's blows. Just before Asuma landed, Sasuke got close, and tilted his entire gravitational energy into his fist, landing with it in Asuma's face.

Asuma's head was trapped between Sasuke's fist and the ground.

Time seemed to stop, and finally, Sasuke dealt the punch, his fist slamming into Asuma's cheek, and in turn, his head slammed against the ground.

"Lions Barrage!"

A small, almost undetectable crack could be heard.

Asuma spat out a puddle's worth of blood. More blood dripped from his lips, and he soon fell unconscious.

Sasuke gulped. Had he hit Asuma too hard?

He had no time to think about that. As he looked around, his Sharingan detected several shinobi around the area, hidden from sight... was it an ambush?

Deciding not to waste any time, Sasuke generated Lightning chakra in his palm. They shaped into multiple mini-sized needles.

"Chidori Senbon!"

He swung his arm, and the senbon flew into the trees. A scream was heard and Sasuke smirked as a teenager slightly older than him fell from his hiding spot, the Lightning needles pierced around his chest and abdomen. He donned a forehead protector that signaled his loyalty to the Hidden Mist.

The next thing he knew, another three Kiri shinobi descended from the trees, all glaring at him. They looked beaten up, like they'd been through a war.

"It's three against one! Surrender your amulet half!" One of them barked.

Sasuke blinked.

Another one of them turned back, suddenly noticing the unconscious Asuma in the corner. "Hey! That's a Jonin!"

His Kiri companions let that information sink in... and then they turned to look at Sasuke with fear now evident in their eyes.

"Hmph." The Chidori showed up in his hand, for probably the hundredth time that day. "If you want to fight, I can give you a fight."

The three Kiri ninjas backed away.

But the tallest of the three started shouting. "G-Guys! Don't fear! It's three against one! He can't possibly take out all of us at one go! Let's gang up on him!"

This battle cry seemed to liven up his fellow colleagues, and the three Chunin stepped up, their eyes never leaving their Uchiha opponent, who just stared at them in an expression that seemed to describe his boredom.

"Step back, guys!"

"Okay, Daiki," the other two said together.

The one called Daiki made a few hand seals. A nearby river aided in his attack. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

Sasuke did the exact same. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

Both identical techniques clashed with each other, eventually ending with a giant explosion of water and temporary rainfall.

"Whaaat?! You use the Water Style too?" Daiki was in disbelief. Then he noticed the red pupils and the three tomoe in his opponent's eyes, and he almost fell over in shock. "Is that the S-Sharingan? You're an Uchiha?"

Not giving an answer, Sasuke was instantly behind Daiki, the Chidori Blade in his hand.

The Kiri Chunin gave a loud gasp as he was impaled from the back.

The blade flickered away, leaving only the wound, and Daiki collapsed.

"I missed a vital spot," Sasuke said, looking down at Daiki, who was panting heavily. "But of course, if your blood keeps flowing out like that, you are going to be dead within an hour..."

One of the Kiri ninjas rushed over, warily eyeing Sasuke before placing his hands on Daiki's wound and frantically healing him with the Healing Jutsu.

A medical-nin... ah, Sasuke looked down at the scene below him. Still, it's surprising how these guys think they can be Jonin... they are barely Chunin level... How did they even get promoted?

"Water Style: Water Slicing Blade!"

Sasuke roundhouse-kicked the last Mist nin, who had tried to launch a surprise attack. In his hands, he now wielded water manipulated into the form of a sword. An interesting technique, the Uchiha thought, as his own Chidori Blade took form in his hand.

"Mizuki, be careful!" The medical-nin of the Kiri trio yelled in alarm. "You're going to become like Daiki if you aren't careful!"

Mizuki nodded with a grunt, his face now filled with anger, nothing like the alarmed and fearful look he had earlier upon the revelation of Sasuke's association with the Uchiha name.

"You injured my friend and now you're going to pay!" He lunged forward.

Sasuke side-stepped, and sliced the water sword into two with his Lightning weapon. It immediately reverted back to it's original form, and the water sploshed down onto the ground.

However, Mizuki wasn't given much time to demonstrate his prowess again, as he soon collapsed, much like Daiki had.

Neji stood behind him, in the stance of the Gentle Fist.

"Neji," Sasuke greeted.

Mizuki got back up on his feet, but was promptly knocked to the ground again.

"Y-You... bastards..."

Ignoring the opponents he had felled, Sasuke walked over to the medical-nin who had just finished working on Daiki's wound. He stepped back, extremely afraid, but Sasuke rose his arms in surrender.

"Listen, I want you to heal your comrades, and then help that guy over there," Sasuke pointed over to Asuma.

"O-O-Okay," the medical-nin nodded frantically.

Sasuke nodded, and leaped into the trees. Neji followed, leaving the Kiri ninjas and Asuma behind.

Taking out his half of the amulet, he entrusted it to Neji for safekeeping, and the Hyuga prodigy quickly pieced it together with his own half, forming a complete amulet. The two Konoha nin nodded at each other, and made their way towards the tower.

The Sharingan and the Byakugan, Sasuke mused. We make a good team.

I wasn't really satisfied with the chapter but hopefully you guys were.

Question of the Day: So, the raging question continues. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SPECIES OF SASUKE'S SUMMON?

In the next chapter, Sasuke and Neji continue their trek through the Forest of Death, beating off more Jonin and Chunin to reach the tower. See you all next time.