Ok, kinda taking a risk with this chapter. As a certain man named Stinger once said, my ego may be signing cheques my body can't cash... ok, maybe that's a little out of context, but I think you get my meaning. In any case, next chapter will either be fun as hell, or just plain hell. Guess I'll find out for myself huh? And with that, I give you my highway to hell... alright, that one was probably lame.

Disclaimer: KUH-YUU-BI! CAN'T SEE ME! SO I SAY! DIE KYUU-BI!


Assault on the village's own

The village was in full sight now, under the eyes of the shadows high above it. The half moon shone down on the grey community, casting it in a pearlescent light that put on the place an ethereal haze. Though the buildings were silent, it would be unsurprising if there were few people sleeping. Too much havoc had ensued too recently for people to rest easily even at this midnight hour.

However, that was soon to come to an end. The Village Hidden in the Rocks had received word from their fastest messenger, and with equal speed they had responded to that plea. But for the moment, there was only a scouting team in place for this operation. They watched the village with familiar eyes, ready and able to spot the slightest irregularity without faltering for a second.

One of the scouts, a man wearing a black balaclava and dark goggles, crouched down at the edge of one of the cliffs to the north west of the village. His uniform was fairly standard; black underclothes covered his entire length with his flak jacket being the only thing of any other shade. He scanned the village with his goggles, adjusting the dials at either side as the lenses zoomed in and out.

Raising his fingers to the button on his collar, he spoke into the microphone there with a clear voice. "Multiple targets; possible Bunshinjutsu." he said, as he watched the tiny identical figures flitting between buildings far below. They all certainly looked similar, much too uniform for even a Shinobi village. "Note; they each possess large blades. Stay out of close combat if possible."

"Same targets at south side." called in another scout, her voice buzzing in over the earpiece of the scout in view. The other scouts called in too, giving much of the same notes. From the looks of things this was definitely a mass Bunshinjutsu of some sort. There was no way this many forces could sneak in undetected. "It looks like they're gathering the civilians in one place."

A bargaining chip then, or perhaps emptying the field. Whatever the case, it told them much about their enemy. For one thing they had anticipated the arrival of backup. To that end they had taken out all the forces present and were taking the villagers as hostages. And for another thing, they were waiting for them. There was no doubt in that; sneaking in would be tough.

"Any identification?" called in someone. The scout peered in closer, trying to get a good enough look at one of the figures that were moving around down below. He just managed to catch sight of one of them; a blond boy in red clothing. Along with the others, he was one to voice his reply as a negative; he had no idea as to who that person down there was. "Alright then, guess that's all you're good for."

The scout suddenly reacted to those words, looking over to his earpiece uneasily. But before he could do a single thing about it, the ground in every direction around him erupted within moments he was in the grasp of a giant pale centipede, clutched tight with no room to move. He cursed to himself; the enemy had tapped into their transmissions?

"I don't really get to say this enough, so let me have my moment here." came that same voice, now with noticeable amusement to it. The centipede holding onto the Shinobi was steadily growing hotter as something inside it reacted with dangerous volatility. Suddenly the scout realised who it was that was attacking the village, and let out a gasp of shock. "Art… is a blast! KATSU!"


Deidara looked out the stone window to watch a pair of the explosions off to the distance. He wore a peaceful smile on his face as he watched the flickering lights and the faint poof of the carried sound. Iwa nin always covered each of the compass points when they were scouting somewhere, placing his little creations had been a piece of cake.

Now however, was where things became serious. He turned away from the sky and to the old wooden table he was sitting at. The oil lantern provided him with a fairly strong light, but he still needed to lean in close to study the map laid out before him. Glancing from the old piece of paper and down from the clock tower he had taken position in, he was devising the most probable routes that would be taken and could be used.

"Man… I'm not really cut out for this type of planning." he thought, as he marked a spot on the map with a pencilled circle. There were a few other places marked with those scribbles, places that he would contact Gaara to check on. "It's a whole lot easier be the one on the offensive than it is to be defensive… there's too much waiting involved, it's irritating."

At this thought he couldn't help but chuckle; that sounded just like something his partner would have said. But then, if it had been his partner who was here instead of him, most likely Han would be strapped onto Sasori's back right now, regardless of whether his orders were to convince Han to willingly comply. It was a funny enough image, but somehow it also gave him an unsettled look. That really was the kind of person he was partnered with… damn.

"I'm gonna run out of juice soon." came Naruto's voice over the bulky handheld transceiver placed just beside the lamp. It was a brick of a tool, but its range spanned over the whole village, so it was handy in its own way. Naruto and Gaara each had one of the same, so the three of them could easily communicate with each other via the radio transmitter down by Deidara's chair. This way it was difficult to tap into since the devices didn't send out radial signals, but directed to the radio instead.

"What's your progress?" Deidara asked, picking up the transceiver to talk into it. He looked over the map to the square he had told Naruto to gather civilians. If everything was going ok, the majority of the villagers should be there, with Naruto's dogs standing guard. It would be troublesome if Naruto ran out of chakra though, had he misjudged what the Jinchuriki were capable of?

"Hey, is it ok if we take some stuff from the stores?" Naruto asked, in an overly casual voice. Deidara faltered for a moment, what the hell was he talking about? But then his ears were hit with a loud slurping noise, one that made him move the transceiver away from his ear a little. "Seriously, I need something hot. Who knew it got so cold at-"

"YOU'RE NOT ON VACATION!" Deidara yelled, his eyes bugging out as he put the receiver as close to his mouth as he could manage. He was stuck up here in a dusty room while he was taking his fill of who knew what? That was definitely something that pissed him off. "GET BACK TO WORK!"


Naruto winced, pulling the walkie talkie from his ear as he heard Deidara's yells. He held in his other hand a large paper cup which had once contained hot tea, but was now empty. With a sigh, he slipped the transceiver back into his pouch and discarded his cup over his shoulder as he moved towards the next building. He could faintly smell the smoke of a candle or lantern; it was clear that someone was hiding their presence.

He stepped through the stony street placed on top of another, larger building, following the scent that his nose picked up. It took him to a door not too far from where he had been standing; the smoke smell was definitely strongest here. Raising his hand, he rapped upon the old wooden door half heartedly, wondering why he was even doing this in the first place. "Yo, any civvies in there?" he asked, in the vain hope that this would be simple. Of course though, he was given no reply.

With a sigh, he decided that he would have to try the next method. Placing his hand upon the wood, he pulled out some chakra and changed its nature, until he had created the fundamentals for his Fuuton: Wind Palm. Then he released it in one shot, spreading the chakra throughout the entire door. As expected, the door was reduced to splinters in moments, and he was stepping in as if there had never been a door in the first place.

"I'm coming in!" he called, as if there was any need to do so. The first thing he did was look to his right, fixing his eyes on the middle aged man standing in his pyjamas. The much older man looked at Naruto with panic stricken eyes, a work hammer gripped above his eyes as he stood frozen. The forced entry had taken him off guard, and in that moment the hammer slipped from his sweaty hands. Unfortunately, this caused it to land straight on his balding head. With a faint gasp, he collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness from his own attempt at self defence. "… Wow!"

Naruto shook his head as he stepped in further to the room, looking around with half closed eyes. He fixed his gaze upon the ceiling as he heard a dull thud; it looked like there were more people hiding up there. For a moment he considered just taking the ceiling out, but he had been instructed to bring the civilians in in one piece. So reluctantly, he left the foyer and headed to the hallway to the right. It was here that he found the staircase which he then began to ascend.

"Kaachan, I-"

"Hush!"

Naruto cocked a brow as he reached the next level; he didn't need to remember where he'd heard the thud anymore. With silent steps he made his way through the cold, dark hallway towards the room that the sounds came from. Without the desire to add emphasis or such, he simply pushed the door open and awaited any attack that may come as a result. When none came however, he entered the room and looked around.

There in the corner sat a mother with two young children; a boy and a girl. They were huddling away from Naruto with a fearful look, possibly wondering what had happened to the man downstairs. Naruto however didn't really care about this. However, the terrified children did make him a little uneasy. "Hey, everyone's gathering down at Hitojichi Square." he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder indicatively. "Think you guys could head over there as well?"

They seemed reluctant however, though Naruto was hardly going to blame them. The mother spread her arms out as she kept her children back, her worried face doing what it could to keep strong. "W-why?" she asked, making up for her faltering voice with a clear tone. "Why can't you leave us be?"

"Kaachan, I'm-"

The mother snapped her head back, strictly hushing her daughter in a much fiercer tone than she could give to Naruto. The blond boy let out a sigh; he was really starting to get tired. What was more, a couple of Kage Bunshin had been dealt lucky shots and were gone. It was really difficult to keep going when he was using so many. So in this case he tried his best to keep from being violent. He took Eko from his back and placed it against the wall, before taking a couple of steps forward and crouching down so that he was eye level with the mother.

"Look, this is only for a little while." he said, trying his best to sound unintimidating in spite of the eyes fixed upon the Ekokaeten. He returned the attention to him with a snap of his fingers, causing all three of them to flinch at the sudden noise. "Pretty soon there're gonna be a lot of things happening here. No one knows you're here, so if something happens, you and your family will be in danger. You don't want that to happen, I'd suggest you get over to Hitojichi Square with everyone else."

Still unwilling, the mother backed a little further into the corner. However in spite of the situation this made her children uncomfortable; they squirmed as they tried to loosen themselves from their mother's hold. "Where's tousan?" asked the son, as he pushed his way out of his mother's grasp.

That question struck the mother. And she looked at Naruto in shock. Naruto however, gave an apologetic grin back to her. "Yeah, he kinda got a little overexcited." he explained, pointing downstairs with a faint chuckle. "He knocked himself out, so you might wanna wake him up."

Their situation was forgotten for a moment as all three of them, the mother and her children, gave an exasperated look that suggested they were less than surprised. Naruto chuckled again before getting to his feet and picking Eko back up. "Anyways, don't get lost or you'll probably get hurt." he said, as he began to make his way out. "See ya."

And with that he left the house. From here on out it was up to them; he wasn't gonna hold their hands to get there. In fact, right now he had other priorities. It seemed that somewhere at the eastern part some of the villagers had ganged up. Strong though he was, he was pushing two hundred Kage Bunshin after a very long day. If he wanted to subdue them without causing injury, he'd need to give it the personal touch. "What a pain." he thought, as he leapt up to the nearest rooftop.


Hitojichi Square was a swarming mass of people, all looking fearful and worried of the state of affairs. Many heads turned this way and that as they searched through the light of the blazing torches placed along the walls of the surrounding buildings. This place, which was most commonly used for festivals and the likes, was now filled with more people than it had seen in many years. In this case however there were no sounds of merchants selling their wares, or of any shows to entertain giving air. What instead came were the fearful whispers and calls of people looking out for one another.

There was another sound too, one that came to he whoever dared venture outside the square. Whenever that happened, the offender was treated to a deep snarl that soon had him retreating back into the midst of the crowds. Whatever beasts lurked in the depths had no qualms with letting people inside the square. But leaving it seemed was a different matter altogether.

The scene below was watched by unsympathetic eyes; Gaara took on full command of this place. He sat cross legged atop the roof of the only other place that served to provide the village with security; the police station. Inside there the officers of the village were locked in the prison cells, unable to do their duty in their current state. Some were badly wounded; those who had resisted had been dealt with. It was for that reason that the rest were silent, obeying the whim of the invaders reluctantly.

Gaara took in several calming breaths as he witnessed the timid fear of the village, who were quickly losing space to move. It had been calculated that this place was big enough to fit them, but that was yet to be proven. In any case, he was much too busy to pay it any serious thought. His gourd was missing from his back. He could only be doing something that required much sand then.

Beside him appeared the tired figure of Naruto, crouched down and watching the masses with an uneasy expression. Well, to say this was Naruto wasn't entirely accurate. Most likely it was a Kage Bunshin that had come in his place. "Yo." the copy said, his breathing a little heavy from effort. He looked over to Gaara, who had moved his eyes to the visage of his single friend. "Things going ok over here?"

Gaara gave a nod of reply. He could understand the strain Naruto was putting on himself even if he wasn't complaining about it. He too was feeling the stress of his actions. "We'll need to act carefully, or else they may start acting unwisely." he said, as he recalled whispers among the crowds of Iwagakure coming to help them. Another Kage Bunshin had already helped with that, putting on a henge and spreading word of the destroyed aviary and planting seeds of doubt amongst them. "They're still talking."

The Kage Bunshin Naruto grumbled to himself, reflecting the same weariness that Gaara was feeling about this situation. Neither of them even understood Deidara's plan; they were acting completely on his word alone. And considering how much of what had happened so far was a result of Deidara withholding certain details, or acting unnecessarily, their faith in him was rapidly dwindling. "If this doesn't work, I'm so picking a fight with that guy." the copy murmured, hanging his head low.

"If not for him, we'd probably be looking in the completely wrong place." Gaara replied, though he was clearly loath to admit so. Deidara had gotten them this far at least, so maybe it wasn't too much to ask that they had a little faith in what he was capable of. "I'd rather not use forceful measures to get Han to come with us. If it does come to that, then something will have to be done."

Naruto's clone chuckled dryly to this, before he straightened up. From where they stood, they were only slightly noticeable by the masses. If the crowds really did panic and run off, Gaara would be the only one who could stop them. Acknowledging that, the Kage Bunshin decided he had interrupted him long enough. "Guess I'd better get back to work." he said, as he turned to leave.

"Hold on." Gaara said, looking again at the clone from the corner of his eyes. Naruto's copy faltered, looking curiously over his shoulder to the real him's close comrade. Gaara closed his eyes for a second, putting off his words until he was ready. "If the case ever comes that I lose control like that again… I won't hold it against you if you use any means necessary to stop me." he said, keeping his eyes anywhere but to the person he was speaking with.

The fake Naruto blinked at Gaara in surprise, misinterpreting his words for a moment. But then he realised what the quiet boy was saying, and couldn't help but have a grin slip onto his face. "Sure, no problem." he said, accepting Gaara's request to stop him if an incident ever occurred again. Then, so not to embarrass Gaara any further, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and left him be. Last needed preparations needed to be taken care of, before the conflict that was to come


The sun had yet to rise, but its influence was coming across from the east. The sky had turned a steely blue, paler on one side and darker on the other. The moon had long since disappeared, and the sounds below had finally settled into a quite muttering. The people of the now desolate village were huddled on the ground getting whatever rest they could, sleep made impossible to them by their own nerves.

The three instigators for this village's distress stood atop the police station watching the inhabitants of the place that would not too long from now stage the first battle ever to come to it. Each of them was covered in a warm, sticky sweat from the amount of time, effort and chakra that had been put into this plan. "Looks like things are gonna be heating up soon." Deidara said, smirking down to the crowds that sometimes glanced up at them.

Naruto shared none of his fellow blonde's enthusiasm however. He wasn't the sort that enjoyed herding people in like sheep, he'd much rather leave them be and have them leave him be as well. "When are these guys gonna get here?" he asked, trying to ignore the cries of the children wanting to get back to their homes.

Deidara let out a short chuckle to that question, finding humour in the simple boy's naivety. "Naruto-chan, they're already here!" he quietly announced, waving his hand off to the distance. Naruto and Gaara raised their eyes to the horizons, and the two of them shared the same reaction. Their eyes widened on shock, and even Gaara's ghostly skin paled.

They were surrounded, quite literally, by a horde of Shinobi. Everywhere they looked they could just barely make out the signs, but they were impossible to deny now that they knew what they were seeing. Tiny shimmers all around them indicated more than a mirage; they were already under the sharp eyes of possibly dozens of enemies.

Naruto, growing quite stressed from the sights around him, turned on the spot to Deidara. Taking the barely older man by surprise, he was grabbed by scruff of the neck and pulled in to a bewildered glare. "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" he demanded, his yells startling the people down below. If it wasn't clear that trouble was brewing, there would be no way of hiding it now.

"You should have made these intentions clear from the start." Gaara said, his normally uncaring stature disappearing by the dreadful revelation faced upon him. He too was about ready to beat Deidara to death, if not for the fact that that would only lose them a fighter in this scenario. "Just how do you plan for us to deal with this?"

Once more Deidara chuckled, showing his difference in opinion by the relaxed look upon his face. "You guys are way too uptight." he said, spreading his arms out from side to side in a manner much too nonchalant for him to really be in his right mind. "Trust me, this is definitely going to work out, so just relax yeah?"

He brushed Naruto's hands away, before turning to face the crowds down below. People were now staring at the three of them, wondering if maybe things were going to get better or worse. Their thoughts mattered little though, since they were just to ensure that the whole of Iwagakure wouldn't come for them after this.

With that in mind, Deidara drew all of their attentions by raising his hands into the air. "HEY EVERYBODY, CAN I HAVE A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME?" he requested, almost laughing out loud from his own audacity. When he was sure he had the entire village's undivided attention, he spoke so that all could hear him. "WHAT YOU'RE ALL ABOUT TO WITNESS IS SOMETHING YOU WILL ONLY GET SEE ONCE. SO ALL OF YOU PLEASE GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION, AND I'LL SHOW YOU ART THE LIKES YOU WILL NEVER FORGET, YEAH?"

"Holy shit… I think this guy is actually out of his mind!"

Those were exactly the thoughts going through Naruto and Gaara's minds right now. Eko had it right; things were definitely going to hell. But they had to hand it to Deidara; this new prospect was enough to give both of them an adrenaline rush that almost completely filled their stamina. If ever they were going to have a fight for their lives, this was most definitely a fight like that.

"All right Naru… calm down." Naruto thought, almost shivering from the self given nickname. He turned away from the crowds and took in a deep breath, allowing his thoughts to take him somewhere else. "Think about it… what would Kisame-sensei do if he were here?"

Suddenly he paused, his brow rising as something came to mind. The glee stricken look of his sensei's face was almost tangible before his eyes; if he pushed it to a stretch he could even see Kisame rubbing his hands together. The image alone was enough to cause him to grin, the words that he conjured to go with them made him laugh straight out.

"An army for little old me?" the imaginary Kisame said, is tiny eyes twinkling with a joyful glimmer. "And I didn't even get anything for you!"

Deidara and Gaara both watched with strange looks as Naruto began giggling to himself, gripping his sides as he hunched forward. The pair glanced at each other with raised brows; it seemed sanity was in low supply today. "Uh… Naruto-san?" Deidara called, wondering if perhaps the younger boy had snapped under the pressure.

"Hey… hey…" Naruto gasped, looking over his shoulder amidst laughs. His eyes were brimming with tears, and he wore a grin that would soon cause his cheeks to ache if it were to keep going. But he seemed nowhere close to stopping; in fact he looked about ready to double over. "I get the feeling when you Akatsuki guys were teamed up, you and sensei were kept apart for a reason!"

It was then that Naruto really did overdo it, falling down to his knees as his laughter turned silent from lacking breath. However his words had at least had an effect; Eko for one was quite invigorated by them, and even Gaara seemed to have relaxed some. The only one not to make much of a change in mood was Deidara, though he did wear a smirk at the concept of him and Kisame working together.

"Well then, guess its settled." he said, as he turned back to face the whispering crowd. All of them were steadily growing more and more worried. None of them had any doubts about the mental states of their captors; they believed that at least two out of three were downright insane. "Looks like you'll either make your sensei proud, or go to a place where he can't yell at you for screwing up."

After a few seconds, Naruto finally managed to exert some self control. His laughter subsided, and he managed to get back to his feet. But he was still grinning broadly, allowing himself to become short sighted enough to see nothing more than the fight ahead, and how he would almost definitely end up tearing the entire place to shreds. "Let's do this!" he called, pumping his fists at either side of him. As his heart pounded harder and harder, the blood pouring through his entire body at a breakneck speed, his eyes turned to that scarlet shade that signified one thing; Uzumaki Naruto was going to war.