"BLOOD! GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD! MOTHER WANTS YOUR BLOOD!"

What a horrible thing had come to life within the arena. Gaara, the jinchuriki of the One Tails, had completely allowed the beast to take over. Ready to rampage through what might have been an entirely unprepared audience. It would have been a massacre.

But Naruto had been waiting for something like that. Had been here for explicitly that reason. One of the few people in the village with a skillset specifically tailored to suppressing such a beast. Lord Jiraiya was outside the walls to face one that would come from outside. While the Uchiha were prepared to deal with the other they knew was in the village. So many dangers. So many high level threats. It was almost pure luck that the Seven Tails jinchuriki had chosen to assist in suppressing the maddened Sand jinchuriki, with no orders to do so whatsoever.

"Genin of the Leaf! Eliminate the hostile ninja!" a young woman shouted, bringing them all to awareness of the changing situation as a Chunin vest was unsealed to wrap around her torso. With growing awareness, the Genin gathered their wits and prepared for real battle.

Hinata wanted to help Naruto, but she knew she couldn't. She could see just how above her abilities the battle already was. Naruto's chains whipping about, ensnaring the beast's limbs to toss him around like a ragdoll. Putting up barriers to block the devastating attacks, all while Fu flew overhead, distracting the monster to keep him off balance. The Gentle Fist could do nothing against a monster like that. Potent as it was, it was meant to disable human opponents. Gaara didn't fit such a category anymore.

Besides, she had her own objective. She had been promoted to Chunin, the same as all the others on their fateful missions. And so, it was her job to lead. To rally the Leaf ninja competitors and command them in this one moment of confusion.

There were few among the enemy ninja she had to worry about. Especially with so many Leaf Genin involved. All of them understanding the changed situation and adjusting as readily as they were capable of. But Hinata's orders were clear. She couldn't help against Gaara, but she could stop any from assisting him. She had been expecting two main enemies but one had mysteriously vanished.

And so as the battle was joined, as her allies battled the invaders, it was just her against the boy with the puppet. As much as she would have loved to track down the boy who had tried to do unspeakable things to Sakura, he was not her objective. She trusted Shino to keep a close eye on him.

Meanwhile, she would sever the puppet's strings as many times as necessary to bring down the puppetmaster. Her lover, her future husband, or master, or whatever he ended up being, her Naruto was fighting hard. And she would protect him with all she had.

-(-)-

"This isn't going to plan," a female Rock ninja with short, dark hair grunted, staring down at the arena floor and the battle within that had barely begun. "That racoon-eyed brat was supposed to slaughter everyone. Now he's being held down like they knew it was coming? And by him of all people?!"

"Kurotsuchi," her fellow bodyguard of the Tsuchikage Akatsuchi murmured. "I know what you want to do, but we can't. You know what happened when you put your vendetta first before. We have to look at this strategically."

"Shut up, you big wet blanket." The words were harsh, and entirely unfair. He was right, after all. After her sudden change of plans from assassinating one of the Leaf's heavy hitters to assassinating the Uzumaki, everything had gone to hell. And that bastard Deidara had made sure the blame would fall squarely on her shoulders. Sure, he was a mercenary, traitor and missing nin, but he was also someone who didn't make excuses. She had changed the objective. Even if her grandfather hadn't believed that such a change prevented the success of the mission, it wasn't her call to change targets in the first place.

Much as it hurt her pride, it was only their familial connection that let her join him to be here and take part in the invasion directly. The irony of seeing her rash decision might have been the right one based on the half-manifested tailed beast pinned down by chains wasn't much vindication.

Trying again here... She didn't like her chances. The Uzumaki brat was doing well, the Seven Tails offering support, and the battle in the stands was going in the Leaf's favour. If someone decided to stick their nose into the battle in the ring, an aware Jonin would undoubtedly swoop in to even the odds.

The objective the Sand jinchuriki was supposed to handle was left ignored. They needed to humiliate the Leaf. Ruin their reputation. The slaughter of those under the Leaf's protection. None of that was happening. Strategically, that seemed the best option. Set the plan back on track. It didn't matter if they Leaf beat the Sand jinchuriki. So long as blood still flowed, it would still be a victory for the allied villages.

"Hey... Akatsuchi," she said suddenly with a widening grin as she stared at a particular part of the audience. A very clearly separated part of the audience with several guards keeping a sturdy perimeter. "We have to humiliate the Leaf, right? You ever want to kill a noble?"

Akatsuchi could see her aim. Could see everything she could. And more besides. "Kurotsuchi, something's weird about that. Why aren't they–? Kurotsuchi!"

But she was already gone, making a quick darting path around the arena stands with one target on her mind. Evasion was her priority as her hands moved through seal after seal, preparing one devastating alpha strike. She leapt upward, toward the Lord of Fire's personal box and slammed her hands down onto the ground. Spears of stone shooting up and outward in a ring around the noble to divert his bodyguards. So much for the Guardian Ninja. "Lava Release! Quicklime Congealing!" From her mouth spewed a deluge of grey liquid, enough to fill the makeshift pit in which she had trapped her target. The bastard's face, like he didn't even know what was happening as she followed up her technique with a water jutsu. Hardening the quicklime and burying him alive.

"Kurotsuchi!" she heard Akatsuchi shout as she was savouring a victory. The Leaf would never recover from–

"Man, hotheaded little thing, aren't you?" asked a voice from behind her, only a quick substitution saving her from a blade that cut far further and more cleanly than it should have. A blade that carved through her quicklime, and through the man trapped inside it.

She noted his Guardian sash. "Are you a moron?! You just killed your boss! Not that he would've lived through this anyway!"

The bastard smirked around his cigarette, taking a long drag to blow out a cloud in her general direction. "Did I? I don't think so. You look pretty young, so I can forgive a little brashness. But I saw you guarding the Tsuchikage earlier so you shouldn't be so foolish as to fall for such an obvious trap." Plucking the cigarette from his lips and flicking it away, he twirled the blade in his other hand. "Biggest target standing all on his own. You didn't wonder why all your comrades weren't coming near? I worried the bait was a little obvious, but, here you are."

Akatsuchi. He had tried to warn her. She had been so desperate to make up for her earlier mistake she ended up stumbling into another. One potentially far more dangerous to her personally. "The Fire Lord was never here, was he?"

"Not within a hundred miles," he confirmed with a maddening amount of faux sympathy. "Orochimaru knew this was coming months ago. Made sure to drum up some excuse to keep my boss away while telling me the real truth. I really do feel a little bad for you. This isn't gonna end well. I'd like to let you go, but..." Once again, the blade twirled in his hand before he raised it and its twin in a ready stance. "I might have left, but this is still my village and I'm still a Sarutobi. Can't let you have your way with it."

One by one, three other ninja wearing the Guardian sash took positions atop the pillars she herself had created. The pillars that now trapped her instead.

-(-)-

Sho Senkai moved with confidence as he made his way through the small amount of woodland that separated the stadium from the village proper. Three, two, one, and there was the maximum range to maintain his water clone. The jig was up anyway so no big loss. Besides, the Leaf were already on to him. They knew he was a sensor. Did they neglect to tell the Aburame whose bugs were currently following him? Well, the Cloud ninja could only guess, but in a strategic calculation they probably decided it was better to know what he was doing than not. That he would recognise their tracking didn't diminish that value enough to matter.

As he emerged from the forest, he could recognise the bright flares of chakra all around him. Great expulsions of energy as Leaf ninja fought the invaders, protected civilians. A great conflagration of chakra coming from the west, probably Yugito Nii wreaking havoc. Looked like... Ah, one of the three places the Leaf had barred them from going. Well, she was given leave to do what she pleased so it was what it was. The Uchiha were hardly the same kind of threat they were in the olden days. The Hyuga might have been a more strategic pick but... It made little difference.

Sho, though. He had been given very specific direction. An important mission for which he would play a vital part. To Hidden Cloud, everything else they could do to diminish the Leaf was simply a bonus. This mission was the true purpose of joining this alliance. And...

And he would get right on it, as soon as the familiar chakra signature moving to intercept his path would get out of the way. "What is it?" he demanded, standing on a Leaf rooftop, staring at the half-veiled Sand ninja glaring at him. "You've got your orders from your Kage, I've got mine. What do you want?"

"You're right," Baki agreed, his stance lowering. "I have my orders. So I will ask politely exactly once. What did you do to the Kazekage's daughter?"

"Excuse me?" the redhead scoffed out a laugh of disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about? She bolted at the first sign of trouble just like we planned. I haven't seen her since. Now get out of my way. I've got somewhere to be."

"I don't accept or trust that answer," Baki replied, raising a hand. "She disappeared. You were the last to see her. And you revealed your nature yourself." The hand slashed horizontally, only Sho's sensing abilities recognising the technique well enough to dodge the blade of wind. Baki was already moving. "The Lord Kazekage charged me with getting the truth out of you, by whatever means necessary! Admit your disgraceful actions now and your death may be quick!"

"I didn't–!" His denials were impotent and unfinished, the Cloud ninja forced to evade to save his own skin. His eyes narrowed. He didn't have time for this. "Fine! The hard way then!" Golden chains burst from his back, snaking out, up and over his shoulders to strike at the Sand Jonin. Only to get blasted back by more scything winds. An evasion as he performed hand seals to create two water clones from the nearby river. Clones that joined him in sprouting chains, encircling the Sand ninja in a maze of golden links. The only thing he could do to deal with the enemy ninja quickly. The Uzumaki chains were often an overwhelming advantage. A tool with few equals.

But it was also very visible and obvious. So while he continued to focus on the enemy in front of him, he was unprepared for what came from behind. "Gah!" His left arm fell limp. The cause coming from a head of pink hair that kicked off the wall as she fell behind him to launch herself away to another rooftop. "You!"

"Did you think I'd let you get away with what you did?!" Sakura Haruno demanded, her hands alight with the green of chakra scalpels.

"You!" Baki shouted. "You were in the forest with her! What happened to Temari of the Desert?!"

"She left me to be used by him!" she answered furiously.

The Sand ninja's eyes narrowed. "We are allies of convenience," he declared. "Help me subdue him so I can interrogate him, and we will part peacefully."

Sho could sense the conflict in her mind, but also how quickly it resolved. "Right now I hate him more than you or her. You have a deal."

The redhead growled. "I don't have time for this!" Another foe. Running up the wall. Two chains launched at the figure from his clones only for them to keep moving.

"This was a bad idea!" Ino Yamanaka shouted up at her teammate and lover, her body moving in uncanny fashion as she dipped and swayed bonelessly to avoid the golden implements attacking her. Her avoidance came as a complete shock to the Cloud ninja, but he wasn't unable to avoid her just because she could get close. The chains as he said, were an overwhelming advantage. Especially against a Yamanaka of all things. Anchoring the chains, he used them to propel himself upward, far out of her reach.

Only for her to continue upward. Using one of the chains as a rope with uncanny climbing ability. The Snake Style. Right, she was one of Mitarashi's students! The clones continued trying to tear her off but she kept going! "Damn Leaf pest!" he coursed, bringing himself down on top of her, aiming to crush her by binding her as she rose to attack him directly.

Her limbs elongated, curved, and wrapped around him, trapping his movements and preventing him from doing anything at all but manoeuvre his chains. Even that was a limited option. She was so tightly wrapped around him, he'd hurt himself as much as her! All while her arm shifted and tightened to wrap around his neck–!

"Sand guy! Knock out his chains!" Baki raised no complaint as he broke the anchor points of the golden chains, forcing Sho to plummet the last distance to the ground. "And the clones!"

With two flickers of movement, enormous chunks of building were carved open, and the chains still whirling and threatening disappeared into motes of chakra. "Already dealt with."

In a last desperate attempt, Sho swung his own chains again, aiming for the Sand Jonin. It couldn't–! Why would it end like this?! He didn't even do anything to that Sand bitch! But while he was focused on the biggest threat, hoping to somehow catch him by surprise by tunnelling his chains through a building to strike from behind, he missed the real threat. The woman he had once defeated so easily, and dismissed because of it.

Sakura Haruno looked down at him, past the blonde coiled around him. "Naruto is a hundred times the man you are. Do you know what he did when he found out what happened? What you tried to do to me?" She grabbed one of the chains and yanked on it, pulling him up. "He showed me his. Let me use my techniques to see exactly how they work. And exactly how to stop them."

"W-Wai–!" he tried to beg, but she wasn't listening. The small knife of chakra on her hand stabbed through him without parting the skin, parting something far more important beneath. And with that single pinpoint strike, the tenketsu that manifested and allowed him to control his chains was severed. The chains themselves immediately falling limp and dissipating into light. "No...! NO!" He struggled, he panicked, he stared at the advancing Jonin with wide eyes as the Yamanaka released him. He tried to move, tried to run, but the pinkette followed up her disabling of his greatest tool with the severing of the tendons in his ankles. Even still he tried to run, dragging himself along the roof with one arm. "I didn't–! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! STOP!"

Baki didn't listen. He pulled the young Cloud ninja up and threw him over his shoulder. Nodded at the two women. "Thank you. I wasn't certain I would have been able to take him alive on my own."

In a swirl of sand, Baki was gone. The last sound heard from Sho a yelp of terror. "Do you feel any better?" Ino asked softly.

"No," Sakura admitted, frowning as she turned back to the village still in chaos. "I'll feel better when we're all home safe. Come on. We've still got work to do."

-(-)-

Far in the distance toward the south side of the village, two Cloud ninja watched as the glow of the Uzumaki chains disappeared from the far rooftop.

"Damn it," Darui cursed. By the time they even knew anything was wrong it was already over. "What do you think?"

"I think the Raikage is gonna be pissed his golden boy just bit it, and our mission just got a lot harder," Samui admitted. "But we're in too deep to give up now. This is the main reason we're here. If we can't pull this off, the whole invasion is a failure as far as the Raikage is concerned."

"A seal expert would've been real nice to have," Darui shrugged, looking toward a sparse and silent section of the village. "But a retired ninja? A water nature? Against us? I'm still pretty confident."

"Hope that confidence holds up." The elite ninja nodded at the squadron commander, giving the order to move. And from the very walls themselves, Cloud ninja appeared in the dozens. All ready and waiting for this assault in particular. Each one highly trained, cautious, and dangerous.

And as they neared the main compound of the Uzumaki Clan, a quarter of them died in explosions of gore. All of the remaining falling back to await orders rather than throw their lives away pointlessly. Darui coordinated their response to what looked like seal-based automatic defenses. The glow of chakra giving away the position and potency. "Really wish we had a seal expert," he repeated, coordinating a response of lightning and earth jutsu to overwhelm the traps. "This isn't working." He could tell almost immediately. Static protective seals the Uzumaki must have prepared for situations just like this one. They needed chakra to function, but with years to keep them charged? Assuming the lady herself wasn't feeding them from inside?

"They'll have reinforcements coming sooner or later. They'll notice their guards here went out of contact, not to mention this isn't exactly quiet."

"Not quiet," he agreed, "Or invisible." He gave the order to cease. "I think I can make a hole with my Storm Release. It'll cover an incursion for a little while. Won't get everyone inside, but enough for us and a few others."

"You think?" Samui asked, her lips curling into a smirk. "A gamble, huh? Cool. Let's do it."

The dark skinned man stepped forward, right up to the edge of the barrier, performed several hand seals to perform a technique that ran his advanced chakra nature along the barrier. The Storm Release. Guiding lightning through the medium of water to perfectly shape it and fry whatever the user needed. In this case. "Go on the bang!" he ordered, Samui and the closest ninja preparing themselves. His chakra flowed out, then flowed back in, creating a blast that rendered a section of seal barrier inert for fractions of a second.

In that short span of time, he, Samui, and four other ninja managed to breach it. Four others died swift deaths for being ever so slightly too slow.

"Damn Uzumaki," he cursed. "Makes me glad I wasn't there for taking Whirlpool."

"She'll know we're here. Let's move."

They didn't need to search long. Or search at all. The very first room. The front room. She was waiting for them. And as a sensor like Sho, Samui had been exactly right. She already knew they were there.

"Cloud again," the motherly woman stated, her eyes somewhat hidden behind a curtain of red hair. "I kind of figured it'd be you, ya know? The Uchiha threw me the last time. But aside from them, it's always your village. Sacking Whirlpool. Trying to abduct me when I was little. Even tried with the little Hyuga girl if I remember right." She shook her hair out of her eyes, still kneeling on the floor in seiza, a naked katana across her lap. Her eyes burned with hatred. "It's always you. But tell me something. You already raped my clan once. What was worth so much that you threw your ninja's lives away just to get in here?"

"It's nothing personal," Samui answered, one hand on her sword as their squad took their positions. "This isn't about the Uzumaki. This is about you. What you have."

"Since we have our own Uzuamki Clan now," Darui continued for her, "The Raikage decided we should go for the real prize. The Nine Tails. Not that the he would mind us bringing another couple of Uzumaki home as a bonus. Pretty sure we just lost one of ours."

"The Nine Tails..." the Uzumaki matriarch whispered into the silence of the room. "It's always something. Someone always comes along trying to take something from me. My home. My family. My husband. My son. Let me ask you something. I've had so much taken from me in my life, ya know. More and more, until I could barely even leave this house without breaking down in terror. Knowing that..."

Her eyes held a fire. A fury. Her hair raised in malevolent tendrils as her killing intent flooded the room. "Did you really believe the only thing defending my family is a single barrier?"

Once again, patterns of chakra ignited. All over the room. Not stationary. Even as the Cloud ninja recognised them for the threats they were and moved, the patterns seemed to follow.

Samui leapt at the Uzumaki, blade drawn, and in a single motion, Kushina met that blade and deflected it with her own without even getting to her feet. At the same moment, chains none of them had seen her create burst from the floor. Two snared necks, used them to pull the two ninja and smash their heads together hard enough to pulp them. One grabbed an ankle and tossed the unfortunate ninja back out the door to be burst by the barrier. And the last, the least merciful, skewered and pinned to the wall. Then ripped away to be thrown at Darui to force him to abort an assault.

"I am Kushina Uzumaki! I have seen my clan destroyed twice over! Once by you, once in this home! Never again! I'll kill every single one of you before I let you take a single thing more from me!"

Darui and Samui glanced at each other, rapidly re-evaluating their chances here. As the murderous woman stood proud and defiant. Untouched and unruffled, having killed four elite Cloud ninja without a thought.

"The last time you attacked the Uzumaki you did it with three armies worth of ninja." She raised her blade as she got to her feet. Her chains rattling menacingly behind her. "By my count, you're two armies short."

-(-)-

A/N: So. Been a long time. That would be for two reasons. First, I'm not exactly encouraged to post on this site with reviewers being kind of jackholes (not so much for this story. Even the people who don't like this one whether for discomfort or dissatisfaction are polite enough about it. But on other stories). Second is that thing the site decided to do where they don't send e-mail alerts unless you opt in. A very stupid policy from my perspective but... Whatever. I don't run the site. I don't know the details. Maybe it made sense to them.

There's two more chapters left of this before it gets to the point it went on hiatus. But it stops at a pretty good point.