Author's note: After so many of you asked so nicely, here comes another chapter. Sorry it took so long. I don't have any excuse why it took so long besides a writer's block and general laziness. Before somebody asks, this story is going to continue. I have it planned and even a lot of material prewritten to the point where Naruto is twelve. There are just some parts that are hard to write and some of them happen to be in this arc and the following one. I'll do my best to finish the next chapter soon, but I don't know when exactly it is going to be.

Also this arc reintroduces some characters that have appeared before. Check my DA profile for their pictures and brief description if you have trouble recalling who they are. Check it anyway, because there is a new illustration there.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I still haven't made enough money to buy him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Training grounds~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since the idea had first occurred to Naruto in the underground base, it refused to leave his mind. What if he could make the Rasengan using Wind elemental chakra? The possibilities were just too awesome not to try. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he never let things like this deter him. So once he found a quiet while for himself, he headed for the training grounds, ready to begin experimenting.

He decided to begin just like he had with the original jutsu. For that purpose he brought a set of water balloons. He didn't bring any rubber ones, he figured he wouldn't be moving beyond step one today. He picked one and concentrated Wind chakra in his palm.

Pop. The water poured out of the broken balloon. Naruto blinked. That had been fast. He hadn't even begun spinning. Then he smacked himself in the forehead, cursing his own stupidity. Of course the balloon would pop. Wind chakra cut it. That meant that the water balloons were completely useless for the training. He really should have realized that earlier. It would have spared him the time and money wasted gathering them.

He threw one of the balloons away in annoyance. It smashed against a tree with a satisfying splash. Naruto sighed. So much for the balloons. So what was he supposed to do now? Nothing smart occurred to him, so he decided to proceed as if he was using the balloons, only without them. (That made perfect sense to him.)

He extended his arm, palm upwards, and gathered Wind chakra. Then he began spinning it. He couldn't see what he was doing. But there was one way to find out. He slammed his palm into the trunk of a nearby tree. Then he examined the result. There were cuts in the bark and they were shaped like a spiral. But they weren't deep and there weren't many of them. It reminded Naruto of some of his earliest attempts to learn the Rasengan. But well, it wasn't like he had expected immediate results. With that thought he resumed his training in earnest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The members of Team Tenzo were enjoying their third week of quiet stay in Konoha when they received the order to move out and head towards a base in northern Fire Country. That was a pretty normal situation. The only problem was that Tenzo was still recovering from his near complete chakra exhaustion and couldn't go with them. But it wasn't the first time they had to undertake a mission without their sensei, so they just packed their gear and set on the way. What wasn't so normal was that halfway there they were met by Jiraiya.

"Hey, brat," The Toad Sage greeted before turning his attention to the two kunoichi, which he began ogling shamelessly. Especially Hotaru. "And beautiful ladies..."

"Pervert," Naruto scoffed. Jiraiya shot him a dirty look.

"Don't speak ill of me in front of the ladies."

"You really are a pervert," Hotaru said.

"I'm not a pervert," Jiraiya corrected. "I'm a super-pervert!"

"And you admit it in front of the girls?" Naruto questioned.

"Is this really one of Konoha's strongest ninja?" Hana questioned, while her dogs growled dangerously.

"I'm afraid so," Naruto sighed. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" the boy asked before Jiraiya could say something.

"I was just passing by so I decided to visit you before the offensive starts."

"An offensive?" Naruto sounded excited. His teammates weren't as enthusiastic, but even they couldn't keep calm upon hearing the news. "Good. This war has been going nowhere for too long. Finally we're going to kick them out of the Fire Country." His teammates didn't seem quite so happy.

"Let's hope we're going to kick them and not the other way around," Hotaru muttered darkly.

"Why now?" Hana inquired, once more showing she was the most level-headed out of the whole team. Usually.

"Remember how you saved Kurenai's team a while back?" Everybody nodded. "Well, it turned out that the failure of Kumo's latest attempt to obtain the Byakugan and the death of several important shinobi of theirs made some people in Kumo question the Raikage's competence. And they also had a falling out with Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound. So now the Raikage is a bit preoccupied with internal opposition and doesn't pay so much attention to the war. They're just holding positions now."

"So we're attacking Kumo?" Naruto asked. It sounded like the logical option, but they weren't heading towards Lightning Country.

"No," Jiraiya shook his head. "If we did that, the Kumo factions would quickly set aside their differences and rejoin the war with vigor. They might even make up with Orochimaru. So we'll just leave them to their internal struggles and attack elsewhere."

"Where? Iwa? Ame?"

"I don't know whether you've heard about it, but there is something strange going on in Rain Country," Jiraiya informed them. Naruto just shook his head. Hana looked thoughtful.

"I might have heard some rumors, but I don't really know anything."

"Nobody really knows what's going on," the Sannin explained. "Just that Ame decided to pull out of the war."

"That's tough, considering their location," Hotaru commented. Ame was right between three of the warring countries.

"It is," Jiraiya agreed. "And of course Iwa wasn't happy about it."

"I can imagine that," Hana muttered.

"They sent an envoy to tell the leader of Hidden Rain to straighten his act, but the whole group never came back."

"That had to piss off Iwa even more," Naruto commented. He couldn't imagine the Tsuchikage would just let it slide.

"It did," Jiraiya confirmed with a nod. "But they couldn't do much about it. Odd things happen in Rain Country. Iwa can't send their troops through there freely anymore. Too many of them are never heard from again. Even we and Suna have lost shinobi there under mysterious circumstances."

"So we'll attack there?" Naruto asked, now sounding more worried than excited. Rain Country sounded scary.

"No," the Toad Sage shook his head. "Our target is elsewhere. Iwa's base in northern River Country. This is where they support their operations in Fire and Wind Countries from. If it falls, they won't be able to rebuild it and the war moves away from our territories."

"That sounds simple," Naruto remarked. "So experience is telling me that it isn't going to be."

"Tiny," Hana said ominously, "you shouldn't say such things. Now it's going to be a nightmare." Nobody disagreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha's base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fortress was bustling with life. That was Naruto's first impression upon arriving at the stronghold where the allied forces of Konoha and Suna were gathering before the attack on the Iwa base. Everybody was busy checking their equipment, getting in some last-minute training and catching up with friends they haven't seen in a while and might not see again once the battle starts. Even Team Tenzo was looking around for any sign of somebody familiar. Naruto was the first one to spot a friend.

"Anko!" Naruto exclaimed when he recognized a familiar face in the crowd. The purple-haired woman turned to him.

"Brat!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? It's been so long since I last saw you. You didn't even congratulate me on making full jounin."

"You made full jounin?" Naruto was surprised. "Congratulations! When did it happen?"

"Almost half a year ago," Anko answered.

"I can't believe you actually made it," the chuunin shook his head. "It must be the lowered standards for wartime promotions."

"Watch it!" Anko scowled.

"I'm sorry! It's great that you're a jounin!" the boy apologized hastily.

"Yeah, I thought it was going to be great," Anko grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

"This is wrong!" the woman pointed behind her. Only then Naruto noticed that there were three children trailing behind her. "As soon as I made jounin, I got saddled with them!"

"So you're a jounin-sensei now?" Naruto just had to ask because even seeing it he had trouble believing it.

"Yes. And this is Team 4. But I prefer calling them Team Cannon-fodder. They're hopeless. They would have never made genin if we weren't short on manpower." The three genin didn't look too happy with their sensei's assessment of them.

"I was the fourth best kunoichi in our year!" the girl of Team 4 stated proudly.

"Considering the competition this isn't an achievement to be proud of, Ami," Anko commented.

"I'm strong. I'm good with traps," Ami insisted.

"You mean you're not completely useless," Anko corrected. The genin kunoichi scowled, but didn't dare to talk back to her sensei. Anko had beaten the tendency out of her during their first month together. "Fortunately it doesn't matter that they're so useless. They'll be leaving tomorrow."

"We won't be here for the attack?" one of the boys asked. His tone was both relieved and disappointed.

"Of course not, Tobio. You'd just get slaughtered," Anko informed him sweetly. Tobio looked mildly offended, but didn't say a thing. "And now go get some rest. You're leaving early morning." Team 4 obediently left.

After the three genin disappeared from their sight, Naruto asked: "Are they really so bad?"

"Well," Anko scratched her head, "Ami really isn't bad with traps, Tobio has an interesting fighting style with two knives, he just has to refine it and work on his speed and strength and everything and Kouta, well, he has just the Academy basics, though he has the most physical strength out of the team. But that doesn't mean anything. So yes, they're pretty bad. But I'm going to turn them into fine shinobi yet. Or kill them trying." Naruto wondered which possibility was likelier to happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day a convoy of Suna forces arrived. The barely organized chaos inside the outpost increased twofold. Among the mingling crowds Naruto saw a face he hadn't seen in years.

"Gaara!" he exclaimed.

"Naruto," the redhead replied. It sounded completely flat and unemotional. Yet Naruto was sure that his friend was glad to see him.

"How are you doing?" the blond boy inquired. "And who are they?" he looked at Gaara's two companions.

"This is my sister Temari and this is my brother Kankurou," the redhead introduced them.

"Pleased to meet you," the girl smiled, but it was forced. Both she and Kankurou were eying Naruto warily.

"Pleased to meet you too," Naruto smiled back, hoping that it would put them at ease. It didn't work. They still couldn't forget that he was the one who had once defeated Gaara, who seemed like an undefeatable force of nature to them. Naruto naturally had no idea what was going through their heads, so he was confused by their reaction.

"Why do they look so scared?" he asked.

"I don't look scared," Kankurou protested, but it wasn't very convincing.

"They're like that often," Gaara said.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. Though it wasn't odd for shinobi to get scared occasionally, because there was a lot to be scared of during a war, being scared often wasn't normal. A ninja like that would sooner or later freeze during a fight and that was usually the last thing the shinobi ever did.

"They usually perform adequately," the redhead stated. Naruto realized that it was all he was going to hear on this topic, so he decided to change it.

"So how's life going?" he asked. "I haven't gotten a letter in ages..." then he looked a bit embarrassed. "I haven't written in ages either," he admitted. Gaara took it with a nod. Wartime wasn't good for writing letters. There was little time for it and the intelligence department had the nasty habit of reading them first and censoring them. Most shinobi didn't like it, but they understood why it was necessary.

"We've successfully completed many missions and weren't wounded." Gaara's conversation abilities hadn't improved much in the time Naruto hadn't seen them.

"I'm glad to hear it," the blond boy smiled. "We've been successfully completing missions too, but unfortunately I can't say the same about being wounded. At least everybody healed." Gaara didn't reply. His siblings weren't any help in keeping up the conversation either. Naruto had to manage on his own.

"So how do you think it's going to go tomorrow?" It wasn't the best choice of question. Everybody looked grimly in the direction of the Iwa base. They couldn't see it from their position, but they could imagine its ominous presence.

"Gaara can squash them," Kankurou said after a while of heavy silence. A slight tremble in his voice betrayed that he was trying to convince himself. He usually had full trust in his younger brother's abilities, but this was a lot bigger than any opponent they have faced before. "Turn them into bloody mincemeat. Can't you, Gaara?" The redhead nodded. And then it was quiet again. Naruto wondered what should he ask next that wouldn't be awkward. Was Gaara a chuunin yet? He wasn't wearing the vest, but that meant nothing. And if he wasn't, asking about it would be rubbing it in.

"What's up with the make up?" he asked when the silence grew too long. It probably was one of the least tactful questions he could have asked, but it was better than something. And Kankurou's appearance did intrigue him.

"Make-up?" the puppeteer bristled. "This is traditional Suna warpaint! It scares the enemies away."

"What's so scary about it?" Naruto questioned. "You look like a clown. And if it is so traditional, why have I never seen another Suna ninja wearing it?"

"Now listen you little..." Kankurou growled angrily, making a threatening step towards Naruto. The Konoha boy slid into a defensive stance instinctively.

"Kankurou!" Temari grabbed her brother's arm and squeezed it furiously, snapping him from his angry fit. If he had momentarily forgotten who they were facing, she didn't. This situation could get very ugly very fast and they wouldn't know about it because they would be dead. It was a very stupid thing to threaten a jinchuuriki. Even after Gaara's attitude had improved, he was still very swift to deal with perceived threats to himself and his team. Kankurou seemed to realize it too. He probably paled, but it was hard to tell under his thick make-up. He took two hasty steps back.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to..."

"Nothing happened," Naruto replied, relaxing from his battle stance. Temari and Kankurou watched him as if they weren't sure he actually meant it. He was a bit puzzled by the Suna team's behavior. Gaara's siblings were seriously weird.

"Here you are," a new voice interrupted the already halting conversation. Naruto looked up to see a jounin he remembered from Suna. Temari and Kankurou looked happy to see him. Much happier than the situation called for, the Konoha chuunin noted.

"Baki-sensei!" the girl said, sounding relieved.

"What is the matter?" Gaara inquired, his voice devoid of any feelings.

"There will be a briefing in half an hour," the tattooed jounin announced. "You should get settled into your tents before that."

"The briefing!" Naruto realized with a start. He had almost forgotten about that. He was curious to know what kind of strategy had the command come up with. And he secretly hoped that they didn't assign him some crucial role.

"We should go," Temari said hurriedly and Kankurou nodded in agreement. He didn't even wait for a confirmation and started walking away.

"They really are scared," Naruto muttered. Then something occurred to him. "Hey, are you scared of me?" he asked a bit louder. Kankurou yelped, as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Temari merely paled a bit. "Why?" Naruto didn't understand. He didn't think he was that scary. The two older Kazekage's children looked at him as if he was stupid. To them it was unbelievable how somebody could not fear him.

"It's just twenty-six minutes now," Baki interjected, cutting the conversation short.

"I'll see you later," Gaara said.

"Yes. I'll see you too. After the briefing. Bye!" Gaara nodded. And then they went their separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere in the base~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We'll overcome those unyouthful Rocks with the Power of our Youth!" a loud man's voice bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"We'll melt them with our Blazing Spirits!" Another man's voice tried valiantly to outdo him.

People turned to where the voices were coming from. There they saw two men: one in a green leotard and a Konoha flak jacket, the other in a yellow tiger-striped suit and a Suna flak jacket. Maito Gai of Konoha and Youkou of Suna had gravitated towards each other in an inevitable manner, sensing a kindred soul.

"Oh no, there are two of them," somebody groaned. The sentence perfectly summed up the feelings of the assembled shinobi, no matter what village they were from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near Iwa's fortress~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gaara watched the enemy fortress impassively. Even in the dark he could see that it was much bigger and a lot more dangerous than any enemy he had faced before, but that didn't bother him. He had the power of Shukaku at his command. That was a power much worse than anything the Iwa garrison could throw at them. And they were soon going to realize it.

"Yes!" the tanuki's voice cried in excitement. "Give me their blood! I want blood!" Once Gaara would have given in to its demands, forgetting about the plan and squeezing somebody in his sands, it didn't matter whom. But not anymore. He didn't believe that the One Tail was his mother anymore. He didn't obey it. He obeyed only himself. And Baki-sensei and the Kazekage (don't call him father) if he had to. Tonight he was going to be on his best behavior, following his instructions down to a tee. Only if everything went right, there wouldn't be too many casualties on their side.

His eyes and thoughts drifted to the two figures standing beside him. Temari. Kankurou. Once virtual strangers, but during the last year they had become real siblings. It hadn't been easy. At first they hadn't trusted him, not believing that a monster could change so much in such a short time, but after the war started and they were made a team, they spent almost all their time together. They trained together, they took missions together. After Gaara saved their lives a couple of times, they finally accepted that he meant well and warmed up towards him. It still took several months after that, but they grew really close. It was mainly because of them that Gaara didn't want to endanger the strategy.

"I want blood!" the Ichibi pouted in his head.

"You will get it," Gaara promised. "Later."

"I want it now!" the demon demanded. It sounded like a petulant toddler. His vessel ignored him. He had more important matters to worry about.

The tendrils of his power reached the walls. So far, everything was quiet there. Most of its inhabitants slept soundly and the guards patrolling the perimeter were calm too. They had no idea that his power was already working its magic underneath them. But soon they would find out just what exactly he did. But by that time it would be already too late for them.

Then a shout of alarm sounded from the stronghold. Gaara startled. Did they notice his work? Or was it something else? But the surroundings of the fortress were still quiet, only inside the Iwa ninja began rousing and running to their posts. Well, it didn't matter to him. Even if they did detect his presence, something a chakra sensor was capable of doing, they couldn't stop him. He just stood calmly and continued his work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha and Suna forces command center~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They've noticed."

"Well, it would have been nice if they didn't, but we didn't really count on that."

"Let's just progress with the plan. Give the signal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near the fortress walls~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was slowly making his way forward. He suppressed his chakra and concentrated on becoming invisible. He knew that should his technique fail, he would be sitting duck. There was nothing to take cover behind this close to the enemy fortress. The Iwa ninja had made sure of that to prevent surprise attacks. And destroying all cover wasn't all they did. He had passed several traps on his way here, only barely avoiding springing a couple of them. He could fall right into another one any moment. Or he could just trip some kind of detection seal and there would be jutsu raining on his unprotected back any moment now.

He took several deep breaths to compose himself. Fear would only hinder him. He knew that this was as close to a suicide mission as he ever got, hell, it probably was a suicide mission, but he understood the strategic importance of what he was doing. The Iwa forces were at a great advantage as long as they were behind their tall, thick walls. Many Konoha and Suna ninja would die if they just attacked and there was no guarantee that they would be able to break through. That was why the walls had to come down first.

And that was where they came in. The human weapons. Naruto really hated thinking like that, but he understood the strategic need. Somebody had to tear down the walls and there were only three people in the joint Konoha/Suna alliance camp with the power to do so. Gaara was probably already working his magic, slowly turning the bedrock under the fortress to sand. But it was going to take him a long time to finish. Naruto hoped that he'd have the time to do so and his part in the plan wouldn't be so crucial.

A loud cry from the Iwa fortress informed him that his prayers went unfulfilled. He froze for a moment. Had he been spotted? Or did something else tip the Rock shinobi off? Considering he couldn't detect any deadly jutsu heading for him yet, it was probably the second possibility. But he couldn't count on remaining undetected much longer. Now the enemy was on alert, they'd have a much easier time discovering him. He increased his pace, trying to cover as much ground as he could before it happened.

Then a red flare lit the sky. Their signal to attack. He abandoned all attempts at stealth and sprinted forward. The wall was just a short distance from him now.

As he ran, he smeared some blood over the red line. The familiar unwelcome sensation of red fire coursing through his veins came immediately. The chakra cloak formed around him and two tails sprouted from his back. Naruto hated it, but he understood the need. A shout informed him that he had been spotted at the same time as he stepped into a pit trap. He just hit the ground around the pit with his tails and chakra claws and sprung forward, leaving the trap behind. Then he finally reached the wall and struck at it with all his might.

It was a testament to the builders' skill that the wall held, Naruto's attacks making only a small dent into it. Well, it wouldn't be considered a small dent on any other wall, but the sheer size of the fortress wall made it appear so. Then there were boulders raining at him from the sky. Naruto swung his tails and batted them away. Then flames tried to fry him, but they had just as little success as the boulders. Naruto ignored them and pounded at the wall, breaking off chunks of stone. Then rocks fell again followed by kunai with Exploding Tags and then the ground beneath his feet turned into a swamp, threatening to swallow him. Naruto swore. He couldn't stay there anymore.

He sprung upwards, his chakra claws biting into the smooth stone wall. He climbed fast. The Iwa ninja tried to stop him, but he dodged their first barrage of jutsu and what he couldn't dodge was stopped by his chakra cloak. Then he was on top. He was alone in the heart of an enemy stronghold, but it didn't bother him one bit. Though considering the giant toad sitting on the wall he could see out of the corner of his eye, he wasn't completely alone. But Jiraiya and his summons were far away so they didn't really count. It didn't matter anyway. What mattered was that there were enemies to kill everywhere. And they were already readying themselves to kill him, so he should make haste when disposing of them. Deep inside his mind the Kyuubi growled approvingly. Naruto swung his tails, smashing them into a small group of shinobi who tried to sneak behind his back. Then he sprung forward and tore into those trying to fire jutsu at him.

This went on for a while. Naruto had lost count of how many Iwa ninja he had ripped apart. The bloodlust was intoxicating. Kyuubi was cackling madly. Naruto wanted to smack him and push him back into the seal, but he knew that if he did so, he'd be killed within seconds. Now there were only competent Iwa shinobi facing him and he was having trouble fighting them. And did he already mention that the bloodlust was intoxicating? He wanted to pull on more of Kyuubi's power, but whatever sanity he could keep in this state was telling him that he'd lose control if he did so. But it also couldn't deny that he'd get killed if this kept up for much longer.

It was hard to use jutsu in this state, but Naruto tried anyway. His attempt at Fuuton: Daitoppa gave him a brief respite when it blew away a good portion of his enemies. But it didn't kill them, because he failed to sharpen his chakra enough. Kyuubi's chakra was more suited for Fire, a part of his mind remembered. So fire was what he used next. The fireball fried three ninja too slow to dodge but before it could do more damage, a stone spike slammed into Naruto's side. His technique was disrupted by the pain. He was thrown into the crowd of enemy ninja. It felt like there was a big hole in his side, but he could already feel it mending. He rose from the ground only to have an Earth Dragon slam into him. He was thrown around again, this time landing on the outer wall of the fortress. That reminded him of something. Wasn't he supposed to destroy it? He couldn't remember.

But what he knew very well was that he was losing this fight.

"Kill them kill them kill them kill them!" Kyuubi chanted in his mind. "Take more of my power!" It was a very tempting offer and Naruto was about to accept. He knew that he'd lose control, but if he didn't do it he'd lose his life. He tried to figure out which was the lesser evil, but it was so hard to think with Kyuubi's rage clouding his mind. Then the wall under him suddenly collapsed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Jiraiya~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He saw the wall collapse. That didn't unsettle him. It just meant that things were going according to the plan for the time being. What did unsettle him was that he stopped feeling the Kyuubi's chakra shortly after it happened. He wondered what did it mean. Did Naruto suppress it on his own volition once his job was done and he didn't need it anymore? Or did it mean he was hurt or even dead?

"What are you doing, Jiraiya?" Gamabunta scolded him, using his sword to block an attack headed for the Sannin's exposed back. "You can't space out in the middle of a battle!"

"Sorry," the Toad Sage smiled sheepishly, using his long white hair to bind and squeeze to death an Iwa shinobi who had sneaked too close. "I'm just worried about Naruto."

"This isn't a good time to be worried," the Boss Toad pointed out, using his sword to cut an approaching Iwagakure ninja in half from above. Unfortunately the man dodged and Gamabunta only broke the floor.

"I know," Jiraiya replied, slamming a Rasengan into a Rock jounin who came too close. But he couldn't help it, he had to worry. He wished he had let Naruto sign the Toad Contract before the battle began. That way he could be reverse-summoned out of danger once his job was done. But he had considered the boy too young for it and now Naruto was stuck in the middle of enemy territory with nobody to back him up, at least until the attacking forces would make it there. And that was still going to take at least one minute, which could easily be a minute more than his godson had. He decided that if they both survived the battle, he'd let the boy sign the contract. He would be safer that way.

An explosion shook the ground nearby, shaking him from his musings and reminding him just what danger they all were in. Jiraiya couldn't take it anymore. He had to go and see what had happened to Naruto. His fingers flashed through handseals and an Earth Dragon formed and cleared a path through the enemy lines. Jiraiya immediately started that way, but before he could get far an explosion blocked his path. Only a quickly performed Hari Jizou saved him from serious injuries. Once he let his hair retract, he could see an Iwa ninja charging at him. And judging from his chakra he was one of the strongest fighters here. Jiraiya sighed. Getting through this one was going to take time.

'Sorry, Naruto, it seems you're on your own.'

That's it for today.

Next time: The battle continues and some Konoha shinobi meet their Suna counterparts. (That's something I wanted to write for a long time.)