Author's note: Another chapter here! I'm very sorry for the delay. I just couldn't brink myself to write it. I was also running a hundred laps around Konoha for breaking my youthful promise. But now it's finished. I can't say when the next chapter would be ready. But on a more positive note, I finally finished the illustration I've promised two chapters ago. So if you want to see Team Gai in disguise, go to my DeviantArt profile.

A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I still haven't made enough money to buy the rights. It might be because I write too much fanfiction.

Naruto had heard that great excitement or danger washed away the tiredness and sleepiness and made you temporarily feel as fresh as if you had just gotten from your bed after a whole night's sleep. Now he wanted to have a few choice words with whoever came up with this crap. There was plenty of excitement around, his life and the lives of the three genin were in peril and he still felt like he wanted to just lie down on the forest floor and sleep for a week. It turned the odds against them even further in this already uneven battle.

Yet he mustered the strength for a Wind jutsu to blow away Suzumebachi's bees. Then his tired senses noticed too late that Takeshi had thrown an explosive ball at him and the blast threw him several paces. He landed close to Kurotsuchi's feet. The girl stabbed a kunai at him, but he managed to draw his ninjato and block her attack. He kicked at her knee, but she jumped away. He wondered if he fared so bad in this battle, how the three genin were doing.

Neji activated his Byakugan. It allowed him to see perfectly what was going on. At the moment, three of their opponents were concentrating on Naruto. The fourth was just standing in the background. That was odd. Why didn't he attack yet? From what the Hyuuga had gathered from their previous encounter, he was probably the strongest of the Iwa group. Though the behavior bothered him, Neji decided not to dwell on it too much. If Fate had decided that their strongest opponent wouldn't fight, then they should just accept its blessings and help Naruto. The chuunin needed it.

He quickly analyzed which one of the Iwa group was the most vulnerable to a surprise attack. The younger girl stood with her back to them, her fingers flying through seals in preparation for a jutsu, probably a genjutsu. Her attention was fully focused on Naruto. That made her an easy target. He quickly signaled his teammates, who both stood on guard, trying in vain to pierce the darkness with their inferior eyes, and the trio sprung into action.

Kurotsuchi noticed the approaching danger in the last second. The Juuken strike aimed to close the chakra flow to her internal organs hit only her right arm, making it temporarily useless. Her dodge brought her into the path of Tenten's shuriken, which scratched her thigh. She cried out in pain and anger. In the next moment Lee's kick slammed into her ribs, sending her flying.

The commotion announced the rest of the Iwa group that Team Gai had joined the battle.

"Small fries think they can play with big guys?" Suzumebachi sneered. She commanded a part of her hive to deal with the three genin. Takeshi just tossed one of his exploding clay balls between them.

Tenten was relatively far from the explosion, so she was only knocked to the ground. But as she got up, she was attacked with the Kamizuru bees and their poisonous stingers. She could feel the poison spreading through her veins, slowing her down. 'Curse it,' she thought. 'Now we are in trouble and we don't even have the sake to give to Lee.'

Neji was closer to it. As the blast threw him at a tree and the shrapnel bit into his flesh, he wished that he could learn the Kaiten. With that technique, he could have defended against the explosion easily. But the Kaiten was reserved for the main family, damn them. 'The moment I return, I'm going to learn the Kaiten, whatever the Main House says.' But as he tried to get up and realized that his left leg refused to support him, he understood that they wouldn't return home to Konoha. They were going to die here. How could he ever think that they might get out of this? They never stood a chance against these opponents. Such was Fate.

Lee was the closest to the explosion. He didn't mind as the air slammed into him, he was used to worse from his training with Gai-sensei. The shards of clay were the problem. As he landed on the ground painfully, he realized that getting up would be hard. He could tell that he was seriously injured. But lying on the ground while his comrades were fighting would be unyouthful. He had to get up. But he couldn't the way he was. He'd have to remove his weights. But was he allowed to? Gai-sensei had given him strict rules on when he could remove them. Lee couldn't remember what they were. He had written them down, but it was too dark to read. 'Forgive me, Gai-sensei, if I do something wrong, but I have to do it.'

He removed the weights. Suddenly getting up was much easier. Everything still hurt, but his Flames of Youth burned brightly and overcame the pain. He dashed forward, attacking Takeshi. Kurotsuchi would have been an easier target, but attacking a wounded opponent and a girl would have been unyouthful.

No matter how fast Lee was, Takeshi was a jounin and therefore faster than the genin. As Lee sprinted to him, the Iwa ninja kicked, hitting the younger Green Beast in the ribs and sending him flying. Rock Lee got up again, but this time slower. Takeshi's kick aggravated his wounds. Before he could attack again, he noticed a clay bomb flying at him. He dodged, but it wasn't fast enough. The explosion threw him into a tree. This time he wasn't able to get up again, no matter how he invoked his Flames of Youth. He lay on the ground helplessly, cursing his unyouthfulness.

Naruto blew a Wind jutsu to sweep away Suzumebachi's bees and then swiftly dodged a volley of kunai from Kurotsuchi. He almost ran into the path of Takeshi's explosive clay ball, but managed to avoid it with a Kawarimi. The situation was dire. They were only alive because Roushi didn't join the battle yet. Then an explosion caught his attention. He watched as the genin team tried to attack and were promptly curb-stomped. Were they still alive? He couldn't tell. But he could already tell that he was failing his mission to protect them. He was failing to protect them. If they weren't dead already, they would be soon. And he couldn't do anything about it because he was barely holding his own.

He felt red hot fury rising in him. He recognized it immediately. Any other time he would resist it valiantly, but not this time. Their situation was dire and there was nothing to lose anymore. He lifted his right hand to one of his small wounds and smeared the red line in blood. He opened himself to the power. The world turned red.

Kurotsuchi fell to her knees when the wave of poisonous Kyuubi's chakra slammed into her. It was just like when the monster had killed Akatsuchi, only this time it was much worse.

"Roushi!" she called the moment she found her voice. "Kill that thing! What are you here for?"

Roushi sighed. That pesky girl was ordering him around again. Oh, how he hated her. But she was right. He was there to deal with the Konoha jinchuuriki. Seeing how the currently two-tailed brat effortlessly swatted away Takeshi's exploding balls and Suzumebachi's bees refused to come anywhere near the tainted red chakra, he was really the only one who could do anything about it. But he still absolutely hated it.

"You know, you can just leave them here," Yonbi no Satori suggested. "The Kyuubi will make a short work of them."

"Shut up," Roushi replied trying not to show how tempted he was by the idea. The Satori wasn't fooled, as was apparent from its chuckle. "We have a job to do."

"As you wish," the Yonbi answered with a hint of irony in its voice. Then the familiar heat of the demon's chakra filled his veins. He was prepared to fight.

Naruto was seething. The bastard responsible for the worst injuries of his team was right in front of him, throwing his clay balls at him. The chuunin swatted the tiny bombs away effortlessly. They were too weak to pierce through his chakra cloak. He noted the shock and surprise in the man's eyes as he realized that his technique wasn't working. He felt a sense of satisfaction. He was more than happy to make the worm feel even more shocked before killing him. A part of his mind tried to tell him that such bloodthirstiness wasn't him, but he didn't care. Takeshi had hurt his genin and despite knowing them only for a short while, Naruto came to care about them.

Takeshi threw another volley of clay bombs at him, using them as a smokescreen to get away. Naruto wasn't fooled. He leapt through the explosion, pouncing on the Iwa jounin. It was so fast that Takeshi could only scream in terror before Naruto tore him in two with his chakra claws. Then another wave of demonic chakra slammed into him. He sneered and turned around. The Four-tailed Ape stood there, currently only in three-tailed manifestation. It roared its challenge. Naruto answered in kind. Then the ground under his feet turned into lava. He jumped out and rushed towards the Iwa jinchuuriki. It erected a wall of lava in his path. Naruto slammed his tails into it and ran straight through. Roushi hit him with his tails. Naruto was knocked down, but he sprang to his feet quickly. The two demon containers engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle.

Neji watched the fight with terror. The killing intent in the air was unbelievable. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew it was very bad. He had deactivated his Byakugan the moment Naruto had released the red chakra. The intensity of chakra threatened to blind him. He knew it was their fate to die here, but he couldn't help but feel scared. He didn't want to die. He had to get out of here. He had to help his teammates get out of here. He searched the surroundings for them.

Tenten was crawling over the ground. The bees that had stung her had fled from the two demons, but their poison lingered. The kunoichi was barely able to move. Rock Lee was worse off. The bees hadn't even touched him, but he had bee wounded by the explosion the most. He was slumped on the ground and Neji wasn't able to tell whether he was awake. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to his fallen teammate.

"Lee," he called. The taijutsu specialist didn't answer. He was staring blankly at the two fighting jinchuuriki. He seemed to be in shock, but at least he was conscious. "Lee," Neji repeated. Once again he got no answer. "Lee!" Neji called. Nothing.

By that time, Tenten reached them. "Lee, can you hear me?" she asked. When he still didn't answer, she slapped him. That seemed to get through to him, because he blinked. Neji wondered why he hadn't thought of it.

"Tenten?" Lee asked in a small voice. It was so at odds with his usual boisterous nature that it slammed home the point how badly wounded he was.

"We have to get out of here," Neji said.

"Running is unyouthful," the taijutsu specialist objected, but it lacked his usual conviction. At the moment, a dragon made of lava flew through the forest so close to them that it almost scorched them. It was shortly followed by a Fuuton jutsu that stripped the trees above them of its leaves and knocked off the smaller branches.

"It's dangerous here," the weapon mistress pointed out.

"We have to get out of here quickly," the Hyuuga amended his original statement. Rock Lee nodded. No matter how bright his Flames of Youth burned, he could understand that they stood no chance against this.

"Can you move?" Tenten inquired. Lee tried it. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, but almost immediately collapsed with a pained yell.

"Not good," the girl frowned.

"We have to carry him," Neji said. The kunoichi looked at him oddly. They were unable to walk themselves. How were they supposed to carry their wounded comrade? But they couldn't leave him there. They had to manage. Somehow. In the end, each grabbed Lee under one arm and dragged him on the ground. It was slow going. The malicious chakra in the air made their breathing difficult and the jutsu the two combatants tossed in all directions made them scared that they would be hit at any moment. But by some miracle, all the techniques missed them. They were getting away from the source of danger. Or more likely, the two combatants were moving away from them. It didn't matter. What mattered was that they could breathe freely again and the lethal jutsu weren't flying so close to them anymore. Soon, they will be out of danger. They needed it. Even without medical training, they could tell that Lee's condition was serious and worsening and the poison in Tenten's veins was slowly spreading. They needed to stop and treat him as best as they could. Just a little longer and it would be possible.

"Well, well, well," a familiar and definitely unfriendly voice spoke. "So the worms are trying to crawl away? Tsk, tsk, we can't have that."

"Worms have to be squashed," a second voice added. Neji and Tenten looked up in stunned disbelief. Kurotsuchi and Suzumebachi stood there, both their faces twisted in a mask of rage and hate. The two Iwa kunoichi had fled the danger zone near the two jinchuuriki's fight and waited on the perimeter for whoever would try to escape.

Tenten couldn't believe their rotten luck. After all they did to escape, were they really going to perish here? She reached for her trusty kunai, but she knew it wasn't going to be enough.

Neji just sighed and closed his eyes in resignation. So it was their fate to die here. How could he have ever believed anything else?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto snarled as Roushi's lava attack slammed into him. He swung his tails at the opponent, but the Iwa ninja avoided them easily. The battle wasn't going his way. Roushi was using three tails of chakra and he only two. And he also seemed to be more in control. As a result, the Yonbi jinchuuriki was tossing him around. Naruto felt the urge to just pull on more chakra and smash the stupid monkey, but he suppressed it. He couldn't give in to the Kyuubi's temptations. This was as much chakra as he could handle without losing control completely. Even this was almost too much. The rage was threatening to consume him. He wasn't sure that he would be able to suppress the chakra again. But he couldn't dwell on it now. He had to deal with the old man from Iwa first. And he needed to keep a cool head for that. Because without a strategy, he would be screwed.

He dodged a punch and quickly jumped away from a patch of soil that suddenly turned into lava. He sprung at Roushi, attempting to punch him, but the Iwa jinchuuriki twisted to the side and kicked his torso. The chakra cloak blocked most of the hit, but it still sent him flying. What did he just say about strategy? He should listen to his own advice.

Well, so what did he so far find out about his opponent? Roushi was strong, skilled and his chakra cloak protected him from most attacks. Very few of Naruto's attacks connected and even fewer did any damage. He'd need something more powerful to get through his defenses. The problem was that using the Kyuubi's chakra disturbed Naruto's chakra control, so his attempts at jutsu had unpredictable results, usually nothing too dangerous for the enemy.

As Roushi nearly buried him under a lava waterfall, Naruto wondered whether he should lower the use of Kyuubi's chakra he was using to gain better control of it. But would it be worth the risk? He was sure that if he had any less power at his disposal, he wouldn't have escaped Roushi's last technique. But if he progressed this way, he was going to lose sooner or later anyway. Probably sooner than later, he thought as Roushi's tail sent him flying. He needed to end this fast and do it without resorting to using more of his tenant's chakra. He needed some move that would put all his power into one concentrated attack and then hit the Iwa jinchuuriki head on. Of all the techniques he knew, the one that packed the most destructive potential was the Rasengan. But that was hard to perform correctly even under the best of circumstances. Now, he wouldn't be able to keep the ball properly focused. Not even if he used both hands. One-handed version was something he still struggled with, so it was out of the question. But maybe he didn't need a perfect Rasengan. Even the incomplete version was dangerous enough. If he just sent Roushi flying, he could follow-up his attack. Now if he only could concentrate long enough to form the vortex.

Roushi seemed determined not to allow his opponent the time necessary to use any powerful technique. He needed some distraction. There wasn't much he could do. The landscape around them was desolate and heated by the Yonbi's chakra, nearly melting and tricky to stand on. It was something that gave the Iwa shinobi an advantage. Naruto had to change it. Despite his instincts and Kyuubi's voice screaming for him to attack, he turned around and ran.

Exactly as he expected, Roushi pursued him. The Iwa ninja was fast. Naruto had to try hard to stay ahead. Fortunately he didn't have to run far. Just a bit off their original battlefield, trees grew taller and thicker than was usual in the forest. Naruto headed straight for them. As he ran between them, he smashed his tails into the trunks of two nearby trees. The wood couldn't withstand the destructive power and began falling. Right into Roushi's path.

The Yonbi jinchuuriki just grunted and smashed the falling trees with his own tails. Splinters and logs rained onto him. He batted them away and ran on, but not without a couple of seconds of delay. And that was all Naruto needed. As Roushi ran through the obstacle, the chuunin was already waiting on him with a swirling ball of chakra in his palms. It wasn't a completed Rasengan by any measure and Jiraiya would probably scold him if he saw it, but it was enough to fulfill its purpose. When Roushi thought he had caught his prey, he found himself faced with the chakra vortex instead. He had just enough time to look surprised before the attack slammed into his chest.

The concentrated chakra of the incomplete Rasengan drilled through Roushi's chakra cloak and reached his flesh. Naruto realized that he was losing control over the technique. In a moment of panic, he fed it with more chakra. The ball exploded, throwing both the combatants in opposite directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Team Gai~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how are we going to kill them?" Kurotsuchi asked. "We can just slice their throats, but that would be too quick. After chasing them all the way here, I want some fun."

"I agree," Suzumebachi said. "When we can't kill the blond brat personally, we have to make do with these three weaklings. They aren't even worthy dirtying our kunai. Maybe I should just let my bees sting them to death?"

"And where would be the fun for me?" Kurotsuchi objected.

"There are three of them," Suzumebachi pointed out. "Even if one of them is almost dead. Just pick whichever you want to kill personally. I'll deal with the others."

"Why would you get two and I only one?" Kurotsuchi asked angrily.

"Well," the Kamizuru shrugged, "the ugly one will die on his own, so that leaves one for each of us."

"Fair enough," Kurotsuchi shrugged. "I'll pick the bitch."

"Than I'm left with the Hyuuga pansy," Suzumebachi shrugged. "Well, I never liked pansy boys."

The two Iwa kunoichi started towards them. Tenten gripped her kunai tighter. Despite the poison coursing through her veins and making her movements sluggish, she was determined to fight until her last breath. Even if they had no chance to survive, they were going to deal as much damage as they could. As she saw Kurotsuchi draw her own kunai with a bloodthirsty smirk, Tenten threw her own weapon. The kunai struck Kurotsuchi in the stomach and was stopped by her flak jacket. The Tsuchikage's granddaughter smirked maliciously.

"Is that all you can do? You tree-huggers are even weaker than I've thought. I can't understand how did your pathetic village last so long."

Seeing Tenten's desperate attempt, Neji was a bit ashamed that he didn't do anything. But what could he do? Both Rock women were too far away to use Juuken. And it would probably do them no good anyway. Fate had already decided that they would die here.

Suzumebachi commanded her bees to fly. So he was going to be stung to death. That wasn't a good death for a warrior. But what could he expect? He was just a lowly member of the Branch House. He should be glad that he had the honor of dying in battle and not after the activation of the Caged Bird Seal.

But the stings never came. Instead there was a dull thud.

"Dynamic entry!" a familiar voice shouted. Neji lifted his head. Was he hallucinating or did Gai-sensei just appear out of nowhere and kick Suzumebachi so hard she flew a good ten meters?

Suzumebachi cursed. She didn't see what hit her and where did it come from, but she immediately commanded her bees to attack it. It did her little good. Gai moved so fast that the insects couldn't catch up with him. He appeared next to her in her instant and kicked her with all his might. Her world went black.

Gai turned around. Where was the second enemy? He couldn't see her anywhere. Kurotsuchi, once she had realized that the situation had changed drastically, had used a jutsu to disappear underground and fled. Maito Gai could feel where she was and his first instinct was to pursue her. But...

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten's voice stopped him. "Lee's bad off!" His precious Lee, all of his youthful students, were more important to him than some escaping enemy. The moment he had seen the explosion of Bijuu chakra on the horizon, he had discarded his weights immediately, opened the Initial Gate and raced towards its source, leaving his companions in the dust. And now he found his youthful students and saw they needed help, he couldn't abandon them for anything. He was no medic, but he had some basic knowledge and a first aid kit. He began applying it as best s he could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto picked himself from the ground. Everything hurt, but Kyuubi was already taking care of the injuries. He could move freely. He looked around, searching for his enemy. He was alone. Where was Roushi? Sure the blast couldn't have thrown him too far? But he couldn't see him anywhere. He couldn't feel him either. That was strange. The Yonbi's host should shine like a beacon, especially if he was using his tenant's chakra. Surely the explosion wasn't enough to kill him? A jinchuuriki could withstand much worse. So what could have possibly happened? Naruto didn't know. And he didn't care. He just wanted to find his opponent and finish the battle. He started off into the forest in search of him.

"Naruto!" He had no idea how long he had been searching in vain when the voice broke into his thoughts. It sounded familiar. Who was it? He couldn't remember.

"It doesn't matter. Kill them," Kyuubi suggested. It sounded like a good idea. There were enemies around. They've hurt... killed... uh... somebody. Who? It didn't matter. The enemies had killed somebody and they ran away before he could take his revenge on them. He had to take his revenge on someone. He had to kill someone. "That's how it supposed to be," Kyuubi grinned happily.

"Naruto!" the voice called again. It was closer now. And it was a woman's voice. Hey, that was wrong. Wasn't his opponent a man?

"There were women with him too," the demon fox reminded him. "It's one of them. Kill her."

But that sounded wrong. This voice, this wasn't the voice of an enemy. But why couldn't he remember who did it belong to?

"Does it matter? There are enemies all around. Kill her before she kills you!" That made sense. They were alone among enemies. They couldn't count on getting any help. Whoever this woman was, he should just kill her before she could cause him any more harm. Demonic chakra surging, he headed towards the source of the voice. Inside his mind, the Nine-Tailed Demon smirked triumphantly.

"Naruto!" the voice sounded for the third time. This time the boy could see its source. The girl was standing there, looking at him, her hands empty. She wasn't expecting a fight. If he pounced at her now, she wouldn't be able to defend.

"Do it. Kill her while she's defenseless." But Naruto still hesitated. Why should he kill her? "Just do it!" Kyuubi sounded impatient. "This is the perfect chance!"

A dog barked. Naruto blinked. What was a dog doing here? Only Hana had dogs and Hana wasn't here. Then he looked at the girl again. It was Hana! How comes he didn't recognize her earlier?

"Kill her!" Kyuubi demanded angrily.

"No!" Naruto shouted. Curse it, the wretched kitsune had almost gained control of him again. How could it have happened? Probably because he had used its power for too long at once. How much time had passed since he had begun his battle with Roushi? He couldn't tell, but it felt like hours.

"Kill her!" the demon fox demanded in a voice that didn't suffer disobedience. Red hot anger seethed and threatened to consume Naruto's consciousness.

"No!" the chuunin shouted, turning the rage he felt against his tenant. "You aren't going to control me! Never! I'm the master here!"

"Don't get so cocky, mortal! You can never control my power!" the Bijuu raged. Naruto concentrated on pushing it back. It was hard. It got a solid hold on him during the fight. But Naruto was nothing if not persistent. It took a lot of struggle, but he prevailed. The Kyuubi was locked safely in its cage again.

Naruto collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. This battle had taken a lot out of him and he had been exhausted before it even began. The only reason he didn't faint right away was that everything hurt too much. But why did it hurt? Kyuubi had healed all his wounds almost immediately. And the pain wasn't coming from any wound, it permeated his whole body.

"Naruto!" Hana cried as she rushed to him and caught him before he hit the ground. "Are you alright?" That was a stupid question. Couldn't she see that he wasn't alright? But it was nothing serious. He hoped. He had trouble thinking. He was just too tired. He wanted to ask what was his teammate doing there when she was supposed to be recovering in Konoha, but opening his mouth would take too much energy. He briefly wondered what had happened to the genin team, but he was too tired to hold on that thought. His eyes closed on their own volition. Soon, he fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Roushi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roushi grunted as he climbed to his feet. That last hit with whatever it was really hurt. Once he might have just shrugged it off, but that had been years, if not decades ago. Now he was just too old for this kind of crap. Being tossed around was something he would gladly live without. That Konoha jinchuuriki had some quite powerful technique if he was able to break through his chakra cloak so easily. He suspected some of his ribs were broken. The Yonbi would take care of it eventually, but what to do about the Kyuubi brat in the meantime? Use even the fourth tail? Roushi hated doing that. The chakra was too much to handle safely. But it was the only way to win.

"Why do you bother?" Yonbi no Satori asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why does it matter if you win?"

"Because... just because." He was in no mood for his tenant's arguments. He could be sometimes almost as annoying as the Tsuchikage's little brat. He didn't want to deal with her or the exalted midget himself in case he failed.

"Look around carefully," the Four-tailed Ape advised him. "Who do you feel?"

Roushi stretched his senses. He had learned long ago that if the Yonbi ever said something like that, he'd better pay attention. It proved true this time too. He couldn't feel his companions anywhere. Wait, he could feel Kurotsuchi, but just barely. The girl was far away and running fast. It wasn't hard to figure out why. Three new chakra signatures appeared in the vicinity and two of them were really strong. Elite jounin. So the Konoha brats got reinforcements. Figures. Just his luck. He was really too old, injured and tired to fight them now.

"We should just make ourselves scarce, shouldn't we?" the Satori suggested.

"I agree," Roushi answered, already starting to run. "It's a long way back to Iwa." He sighed when he imagined the reception that was awaiting him there. The Tsuchikage wasn't going to be happy that he had failed the mission and lost two of his elite jounin in the process.

"Do we even have to return to Iwa?" Yonbi asked.

"Well," Roushi mused, "that's something worth consideration."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With the Konoha shinobi~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everybody gathered on a small clearing. Team Gai and Naruto were lying on the ground and the three members of the rescue team were working on them, trying to patch them up to the best of their abilities. Which unfortunately wasn't much.

"Gai-sensei," Neji asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking after my youthful students, of course!" the Green Beast answered. "I'm sorry I left you alone for so long."

"But... how did you find us?" the Hyuuga didn't understand. Why did the jounin appear so suddenly? How did they know where to find them? He had been so sure that they were fated to die.

"We tracked you. The most youthful Inuzuka kunoichi and her companions helped us," the jounin explained.

"But why were you tracking us?" Neji questioned.

"Because you're my precious students! The moment I returned to Konoha and realized you were missing, I wouldn't rest until I found you!" the Green Beast didn't understand how could his student ask such a question. Did he doubt that he would do everything in his power to protect his students? How unyouthful.

"I thought it was our fate to die here," the Hyuuga prodigy said. Even now, he still didn't understand how they were alive. Fate sometimes worked in mysterious ways. His head began to hurt when he tried to comprehend it.

"Don't say such things," Maito Gai scolded him. "It's unyouthful." Neji for once didn't even grimace. "If your Flames of Youth burn high, you can get out of anything!" At that moment, the Hyuuga boy almost believed him.

"Hm, did you say something?" Kakashi asked from behind his orange book.

"My eternal rival! So hip! I'll have to train hard to match his hip attitude!"

"Stop it!" Hana shouted. "Shouldn't you be helping the wounded?" The two jounin looked a bit abashed. "This is no time for reading and fooling around! If you are finished, we should get them back to Konoha quickly. There is only so much I can do for them."

"Will Lee be alright?" Gai asked worriedly.

"That depends on how soon he'd see a real doctor," the vet answered. She didn't know nearly enough about human anatomy to be sure.

The reminder of their situation was enough to make them stop their shenanigans. Soon the group was ready to move, the four children being carried. The journey to Konoha was going to be long.

And that's it for today.

Next time: The return to Konoha