Author's note: Another chapter here. I hope it's up to your expectation and you don't mind it being a bit OC-heavy.

One reader asked me to show more of Naruto's canon team. Don't worry, you are going to see them. All of the Konoha 12 are going to appear, though it's going to také some time. At this moment they are still 10, weaker than they were during their first canon appearance and would get killed on the kind of missions NAruto goes to. Their only possible role now is as damsels in distress and I've already did that with Team 8. But all of the teams will appear eventually. I have it all planned and partially prewritten. And their role will become bigger once they reach chuunin level. A little spoiler: the first appearance of Team 7 is close, in-story time. It still is several chapters before it comes to that. Also this chapter contains a treat for the fans of Konoha 12.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If you believe I do, I still have some shares in Gatou corporation to sell. Don't worry that their price is plummeting right now, it's going to rise again soon so buy while they are still cheap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Weapons storage room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They could work undisturbed. They thought it was a miracle, but considering they were far from the actual fighting, it wasn't all that odd. The Iwa forces were concentrating on holding off the attackers and few were left inside, where the battle hadn't reached yet. And the few who were nearby assumed that the intruders had been dealt with by the jounin and his team and then were too busy defending the fortress to realize they hadn't returned yet. But the four friends hurried because their good luck couldn't hold for long. It was mainly thanks to Kankurou's expertise with traps and various mechanisms that they were finished so fast. Naruto realized with a twinge of shame that he had let his training with traps slip a lot. But there wasn't much use of them on a battlefield and there were so many skills that were much more important to train in to survive a battle. Now he realized how inferior his abilities in traplaying were compared to the Suna genin. He resolved to brush up on his skills later. Once he wasn't so busy training for heavy combat. Maybe when this war was over.

Then it was finally finished. They called out to Gaara and his sand lifted them out of the room. It was just in time. Somebody from the Iwa base finally stumbled upon them. The group didn't stop to fight them. Gaara urged the platform to ascend as fast as it could. Naruto shot a Fuuton: Daitoppa at the Rock Ninja to knock away anything they might have hurled at them.

Then the detonation came. It was too soon, they didn't get far enough yet. 'Did we set the timer wrong?' was the question in their minds as the shockwave caused by the explosion of all the stored Blast Notes slammed into them. Gaara tightened his sand around them, pushing whatever strength he had left into it.

It was over quickly. Gaara was grateful for that because he couldn't keep up the defense for much longer before he'd have to tap into more Shukaku's chakra than he could safely handle in his current exhausted state. He let the sand cocoon dissolve. They could see the results of their handiwork.

"It's bigger than I expected," Naruto said when he saw how much of the fortress had collapsed.

"That's because I'm an expert," Kankurou boasted, sitting up straighter before his face twisted in pain as his broken limbs protested the sudden movement.

"Got them," Temari smirked and coughed. Gaara looked at his siblings worriedly.

"They need a medic," Naruto stated. "Fast," he added when Temari coughed again, this time with an ominous gurgling sound. Gaara quickly steered the sand platform towards the allied camp, this time staying so high above the battle that no stray jutsu could hit them.

They arrived at the medical tents shortly. There they unloaded Temari and Kankurou and Gaara threatened the medics into giving them premium treatment.

"Shall we go?" Naruto asked when the two were being taken care of. Gaara looked at him questioningly. He planned to stay close to his siblings and make sure they were alright. He couldn't fathom why he should be doing anything else. "The battle is still going on and we should help."

"That you should," one of the medics interjected, "instead of bothering us here."

"We're tired," Gaara replied. That was unfortunately very true.

"Try some Soldier Pills," the medic answered, with an unsaid 'moron' at the end. The two boys looked at each other. They never carried any Soldier pills, because exhaustion was rarely a problem for either of them. "Oh, you don't have any?" the medic shook his head in disbelief. "Sheesh, and you call yourselves shinobi. Take these." He threw them two little pills. Naruto looked at his suspiciously for a moment and then swallowed it. He could feel the effects almost immediately. His chakra was replenished fast, but it stung in his chakra pathways still raw after the use of Kyuubi's power. He grimaced. Gaara noticed it and turned towards the medic with murder in his eyes.

"It's alright," Naruto said hurriedly before the red-haired boy could do something stupid. "I already feel stronger. It just stings." Gaara didn't look convinced, but he ate his pill too. He didn't seem to be in as much discomfort as Naruto.

"Now let's go." The two boys headed back to the battlefield.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near the crumbled wall~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jiraiya finally found the place where he had last seen the Kyuubi's chakra. It had taken him much longer than he liked. Though there was nobody within the Iwa fortress who could really go toe to toe with the Toad Sage, there were enough who were willing to try. They all ultimately failed, but each of them cost him precious minutes. When he finally reached his destination after what had felt like hours, he couldn't find Naruto anywhere. He looked around, killing the occasional Iwa ninja who came across him, but still no Naruto.

'At least I haven't found his body yet,' he thought in a futile attempt to lift his spirits. He knew that it meant nothing. Considering the amount of rubble and corpses everywhere and the insufficient light, missing Naruto's body would be very easy. In fact, it would be quite unlikely if he did find him.

'Where did you wander off to, brat?' the white-haired man asked himself, trying to convince himself that his godson was still alive. Anything else was unthinkable, so he refused to even think about it, which was proving to be easier said than done.

Then the fortress exploded. Jiraiya used Hari Jizou to block the flying debris. Once the dust settled down a bit he looked in disbelief at the destruction the blast caused. The central part of the fortress was collapsing in a cloud of smoke, burying anybody who was unfortunate enough to be near ground zero.

'I just hope Naruto wasn't there,' he prayed, trying not to think about what chances the boy had to be still alive. 'He has to be,' he thought. 'The Kyuubi wouldn't let him die.' But he couldn't feel the demonic chakra at all. 'He wasn't there. He wasn't.' The words became a mantra, but they failed to calm him. He needed something much stronger to calm his frayed nerves, at least a bit. Luckily there were plenty of opportunities to vent some anxiety around. The next Rock ninja who showed up felt his wrath. The one after him too. And it still wasn't enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Right outside the walls~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana coughed as she picked herself from the ground. The dust in the air was irritating here eyes and her sensitive Inuzuka nose. Her dogs were likewise coughing. She looked around for her comrades. She quickly found all of them, getting back to their feet too. At least that much was good. Otherwise there wasn't much good news.

They had managed to fight their way closer to the Iwa fortress' walls again. They even pulled it off without losing a single member of their small makeshift squad. And just as they were preparing to reenter the fortress and finally look for their missing teammate, there was a giant explosion. The shockwave knocked everybody to the ground. And if it was like this outside the walls, just how bad was it inside?

She squinted, trying to see through the clouds of dust. It was a lost cause. She'd have to wait for the dust to settle to find out what was going on. Usually she could rely on her sharp Inuzuka senses, but this time her sensitive nose was running, struggling to expel or the dust that threatened to enter her lungs, and her ears were ringing with the echoes of the explosion. Though she could hear some thuds that probably weren't just blood pulsing in her ears. What could be so loud that she heard it even in her current state? Was the fortress collapsing? Had the explosion been strong enough to inflict large-scale structural damage to a building as sturdy as this one? If so, then whoever had the misfortune of being inside was either dead or dying. That was good for their war effort, but...

"Naruto," she whispered. She could just hope that her teammate hadn't been caught in the blast. Because if he was, then even with his enhanced healing he'd be done for.

A metallic cling snapped her from her stupor.

"Pay attention!" Gennosuke shouted as he directed his horse-like puppet towards an Iwa ninja who had almost killed her in her distraction.

"We have to find Naruto!" Hotaru screamed, echoing Hana's thoughts.

"If he was inside, he's dead," Daiki spoke, unconsciously adding despair to his voice. It nearly broke Hana. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and it wasn't just to wash out the ever-present dust.

"I know you just lost a teammate, but get a hold of yourselves," Gennosuke scolded them.

"Would he die that easily?" It was Kaede that spoke the question. That helped the two Konoha kunoichi shake off the spell.

"Of course he won't," Hana stated, mostly for her own benefit. If she repeated it enough times, then she might get to actually believe it, so she did so. "Of course he won't."

"Then let's beat some Iwa ninja," Hotaru suggested and immediately slashed a Lightning-charged blade at the closest one.

"Sounds good," Kaede agreed and blew a Wind Bullet at an approaching group. Her combat effectivity might be greatly reduced without her special sleeves, but that didn't mean she was useless. Teono-sensei would never allow it.

The Iwa group lost some members, but they kept running. Kaede quickly shunshined out of their way. She saw her companions doing the same when they realized they couldn't stop them, just throwing token attacks at the running group.

"They're panicking," Daiki observed. His clan's abilities allowed him to read other people's emotions clearly.

"Their big fortress fell and now they're running," Hotaru smirked bloodthirstily. "Now we can get in."

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Gennosuke warned. "Only the young ones are panicking. The experienced shinobi still hold the fort and would do so until their last breath."

"Then we'll help them draw their last breath," Hotaru suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outskirts of the battlefield~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mizue sighed. Things weren't looking good for them. Not that they were losing the battle, so far everything was going more or less according to the plan from what she could see, (well, she wasn't sure whether the big explosion a while ago was a part of the plan, but it seemed like a good thing,) but because of that contest. It had happened not long after they had arrived at the outpost and Youkou-sensei had met the Konoha jounin who must have been his long lost brother, despite the fact that they looked nothing alike. They began immediately comparing the Blazing Spirits to the Flames of Youth and then they suggested a Youthful/Spirited match to decide which one was better.

Team Youkou had been pretty sure they would win, after all they were all chuunin now and the Konoha team was new and still just genin, but then the Konoha kunoichi suggested that they should decide it by who'd kill more shinobi in the upcoming battle, because they shouldn't waste their strength and risk serious injury before the fighting broke out. Both jounin agreed and even their teams were relieved with the solution, they because they were sure they'd win anyway and Team Gai because they were sparing themselves a painful defeat. But then Team Youkou learned that they were assigned to the perimeter guard. Their only chance to see any action was if the Iwa forces broke through the attacking forces and tried to escape in their direction. It didn't seem particularly likely. They had no idea where Team Gai was, but they were all pretty sure that they were having more action than them. The Suna trio had yet to see one Iwa ninja.

"This sucks," Mizue grumbled.

"At least we don't have to be there," Toshiro remarked, looking at the inferno raging at the Iwa fortress.

"That's nothing compared to what Youkou-sensei will put us through if we lose the contest," the kunoichi pointed out.

"I'm not sure," Akira said watching as a part of the building just crumbled down.

"If we could kill just one Iwa ninja, just one little ninja, so we won't be the slackers who did nothing, we might survive the special training, but this way..." Mizue muttered.

"Calm down," the Kineko said. "I want to fight too, but we have our orders." His giant black cat meowed. "Yes, Kurotsume, I don't like them either," Akira answered, "but I obey them."

In the next moment there was a clang of metal on metal as a kunai suddenly headed for the distracted cat user and was blocked by Toshiro's giant sword.

"Looks like you'll get your wish," their teammate said. "Here they come."

Then they were swarmed by Iwa ninja trying to break through the joined Suna/Konoha lines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not far away~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is unyouthful," Rock Lee complained. "We have to wait here while everybody else is fighting."

"Be glad we don't have to fight," Tenten said watching the chaos going on around the Iwa fortress.

"We'd be wiped out," Neji added. Though he had improved a lot since their first encounter with enemy ninja, they all had, he knew that they had no chance to survive in such hell. He thanked Fate that they had been assigned to the rear guard.

"But this way we're going to lose the youthful contest," Lee complained.

"Who cares about some stupid contest," Tenten muttered.

"Our survival is more important," the Hyuuga added.

"The youthful Suna team must have killed many enemies already."

"They're older than us and they're already chuunin," the kunoichi pointed out. "We're still new. We stood no chance anyway."

"Then we'd have to train hard to win the next contest," Lee resolved. "Gai-sensei is going to train us even harder." His teammates winced. Compared to Gai's 'special training' an all-out life and death battle suddenly didn't sound so bad.

"Maybe we won't lose," Neji said.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked before she noticed he had activated his Byakugan.

"Enemies approaching fast," the Hyuuga explained.

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed. "Let's show them our Flames of Youth!"

"Lee," Tenten spoke slowly, "have you ever heard about setting an ambush and the moment of surprise?"

"That's unyouthful!" the green-clad genin declared. He sounded almost offended that she suggested he should use such underhanded tactics.

"Forget I ever asked," the kunoichi sighed. Then she prepared her weapon scrolls. She was going to need them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Crumbled wall~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anko smiled as she jumped inside the enemy fortress. She was in her element. Some Iwa chuunin tried to stop her, but she slashed his throat and then licked his blood off her kunai. Yes, she loved battle. Especially the shocked looks on her victims' faces when she unleashed her Shadow Snakes on them.

After a few minutes of enjoying herself she finally ran into somebody who gave her a real challenge. Her grin widened. Killing grunts was no fun. Every kill tasted sweeter when she had to work for it. She evaded nimbly as the man thrust his kunai at her.

"Sen'eijashu!" she called, shooting a bundle of snakes from her sleeve. That usually freaked her opponents out, but this time it didn't do a thing. The Rock ninja dodged and kicked her in the stomach. He was fast, Anko barely saw him move. She grunted in pain and took a step back. Then she grinned again. She was going to enjoy this kill very much.

A few minutes later she had to reassess her opinion. Though she'd enjoy killing an opponent as strong as this one very much, right now it seemed that she was going to be the one killed. The man was pressing her back steadily. She was already bleeding from several shallow wounds and it was only a matter of time before she sustained a serious one.

Just when she found herself with her back pressed against a wall and nowhere to run, another figure stepped into her field of vision. The Iwa ninja noticed it too and turned a bit to block the newcomer's attack. Anko used the opportunity to slash at him, but her kunai swipe was blocked too. The Iwa ninja was just that good. The only injury both attacks managed to inflict was a shallow gash on the back of his hand caused by the newcomer, who, as Anko could see now, was a Suna kunoichi in the standard Suna uniform, only she seemed to have forgotten to put on her pants.

"Oh my," the Suna woman purred, "you're good to block this." The Iwa man didn't listen to her praise and attacked her. She dodged his punch nimbly, performing a backflip that gave him a perfect view of her panties. The man paused for a moment, which Anko used to stab his upper arm. This time she succeeded. She felt her kunai stop when it stuck the man's bone. He grunted in pain and backhanded her, throwing her back into the wall.

"Fight all you want," the Sand kunoichi spoke, "it's already too late for you." The man turned to her. She kicked at his chest, once again showing off her racy black lace lingerie. The man blocked a bit too slow, gaining a bruise on his arm. "You didn't freeze enough. Maybe I should remove my panties too?" The Suna woman suggested and immediately reached down to do just so. The Iwa man reddened. Anko snorted. She really liked this girl. She knew how to handle men. She used the opening to stab at his head. He dodged, but his movement wasn't as fast as it used to be.

"Do you feel it now?" the Suna kunoichi asked, attacking too. "Your movements are slowing down. Your limbs don't obey you as they should anymore. And it's going to get even worse as the poison takes effect. You have only two minutes left to live and that's only if I don't finish you off sooner." The man was doing his best to avoid the attacks of both women, but his movements were slowing down. Finally it was Anko who managed to slash his neck. The Iwa man fell down dead.

"You're good," Anko said after she licked his blood off her kunai.

"You're not bad either," the Suna kunoichi smiled. "But you shouldn't do this. If you cut your tongue, the poison from his blood would kill you too. Fortunately it does nothing if you eat it."

"That's some good stuff," Anko nodded approvingly.

"It's the specialty of the Museitabi clan," the Sand kunoichi informed her proudly. "I'm Asami, by the way."

"Mitarashi Anko. Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too," Asami replied. "I think we'll get along splendidly. What about killing some Iwa ninja to celebrate the occasion?"

Anko grinned. "Sounds perfect to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Naruto and Gaara~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were in the thick of the battle again. Naruto had to admit that Soldier Pills were really wonderful. He wasn't feeling tired at all. Or maybe the brief reprieve had helped him replenish his own chakra stores. Whatever the reason, he could fight again now, though he suspected he was going to feel terrible comes tomorrow. For now he was content to throw jutsu after jutsu at whatever enemy they came across. Gaara was covering his back, squeezing everybody in his sand. Despite never training together before, their teamwork was good.

Their first sign that not everything was going to be peachy was when an Earth Dragon smashed into Gaara's shield and knocked them both down. 'This is really getting repetitive,' Naruto thought as he scrambled to his feet. He looked around for their attacker. He spotted him quickly. The attacker was obviously a jounin and he had brought along five friends, all of whom looked like jounin too. And one of them was already finishing the seals for yet another Doryuudan. The third one was just beginning them. It looked like the jounin squad had decided to just pummel them with A-rank jutsu and see how long they can take it.

Naruto didn't wait for the attack to hit and shunshined away. Gaara wasn't so fast. Dodging really wasn't his forte. The second Earth Dragon slammed into his hastily erected sand shield and knocked him through a nearby wall. The only good thing that came of it was that the Iwa team now couldn't see him.

Naruto blew a quick Fuuton at the Iwa squad in hope of distracting them, but the hastily performed jutsu had only enough strength to ruffle their hair. And then he had to dodge the third Earth Dragon. As he landed, one of the Iwa jounin, this one a medium-sized man with short deep reddish-brown hair, appeared next to him and punched him to his ribs. Naruto went flying again. Still in the air he realized that a black-haired Iwa kunoichi was standing in his path, twin kunai in her hands prepared to skewer him upon landing. He managed to twist so that he was going feet first. He tried to kick her, but she was faster. He felt the kunai stabbing into his foot. It hurt. He swallowed the pain and created Wind Blades from his stabbed appendage. The Rock kunoichi dropped the kunai, her fingers now bloodied and useless.

Naruto landed on the ground and quickly yanked the kunai from his foot. It was going to heal soon, but until then he was going to have big trouble dodging. And dodging was what he needed to do right now, because yet another Iwa jounin, this time a bulky bald man, was standing above him, prepared to smash him with a giant steel mace. Naruto knew that his measly kunai couldn't possibly block such force.

Just as he was about to despair a sand spear slammed into the man's side. It didn't pierce through his flak jacket, but it knocked him away and the mace crashed into the ground harmlessly. Gaara reentered the fight. But it was too soon to consider himself saved. The first jounin, Naruto noted he was tall and thin with graying brown hair, just finished the handseals for Earth Spear. Naruto escaped with a quick Kawarimi before it could strike.

He didn't get even a moment of respite because the red-haired ninja, obviously a taijutsu specialist, was next to him again. Naruto knew he couldn't dodge with his still injured foot. But he had to do something. Only evading attacks would get him killed sooner or later, more likely sooner than later.

He twisted his body to avoid the falling fist, but didn't quite make it. It struck him in his left shoulder. Something cracked. He cried out in pain. The Rock Ninja smiled maliciously and twisted the fist in the wound. Making the splinters of broken bones grind together was usually enough to make the victim faint of pain. Naruto had a much higher pain tolerance then he anticipated. His right arm flashed up and grabbed the Iwa ninja's wrist. At the same time Naruto's uninjured foot kicked his thigh. Both palm and toes glowed with Wind chakra for a moment. The Iwa ninja could only look in surprise as his hand was cut cleanly off and a deep gash opened in his thigh, spilling blood in a thick stream. Naruto kicked him off. This was one enemy that wasn't going to give them trouble anymore. There were still five more to go.

Naruto tried to get up, but the pain in his shattered shoulder nearly made him black out. High pain tolerance he might have, but it wasn't limitless. And once the first shock of the injury wore off, the wound began really hurting. Loathe he might be to admit it, but he was pretty much out of the fight. It was all he could do to block some shuriken the Iwa kunoichi sent his way. Once she dared to come closer, she would have no trouble finishing him with her one good arm.

Naruto spared a glance to see how Gaara was doing. The Ichibi Jinchuuriki gathered his sand around him in a thick shield and the four Iwa jounin sent technique after technique at it. At least one Earth Spear had actually penetrated the defense. The redhead had no time and energy to spare for offense. Gaara had to either draw on Shukaku's power or lose this fight. And judging by the sudden heaviness in the air, he was already beginning to do so.

Naruto realized that his options were exactly the same. Either draw power from his demon or die here lying down. The second option sounded unappealing, but could he really dare to go for the first? Would he really be able to control even a small portion of Kyuubi's chakra? He wasn't sure, but there was one way to find out.

He just had to will it and the familiar red fire filled his veins. He immediately felt stronger and the pain in his wounds faded away. He knew that it was going to take longer for them to disappear completely, but at least he could move again.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Kyuubi growled in his head. Naruto obliged and finished off the crippled man. It wasn't overkill, he was clutching a kunai in his good hand and trying to stab Naruto with his last breath. Next order of business was the kunoichi who now switched from shuriken to kunai. He sprung to his feet, still limping slightly, and rushed at her.

"Tear! Maim! Rip her apart!" his tenant urged. She hurled her last kunai at him and he batted it away easily. A flicker of fear appeared in her eyes, but she quashed it down. She was a jounin of Iwa and she possessed the Heart of Stone. Even if this battle didn't go their way, they could at least take out the enemy jinchuuriki. Without their human weapons the military strength of both Konoha and Suna would be weakened considerably and she was determined to make it happen, even if it should cost her life.

She raised her good hand and quickly ran her fingers through three one-handed handseals. She had never performed this particular technique before, but she was confident it was going to work. And she had only one shot at this, so she had to make it count. Timing was everything here. She had to make it. She was going to take him with her.

The jinchuuriki was almost upon her. Any moment now he would strike. And then her time would come.

Naruto finally got within striking distance of his target.

"Paint the ground with her blood!" Kyuubi urged. It was background noise for the boy. He planned to kill her anyway so the Bijuu's demands made little difference to him. He struck and sank his claws into her body. Literally sank. He blinked in surprise. This wasn't supposed to happen. He should have torn out a good chunk of her torso, not having his arm sink inside and get stuck there. The sudden victorious smile on the kunoichi's face gave him a very bad feeling about this situation. Then her body suddenly turned to liquid and enveloped him.

It burned. It burned like standing in fire. 'What did she turn herself into? Acid?' Naruto wondered. He tried to shake off the burning liquid, but it clung to him mercilessly. That suicide jutsu was truly annoying. Naruto did the only thing he could think of to get rid of it: increased the use of Kyuubi's chakra and willed it all to form a thicker chakra cloak. The acidic liquid began to boil and generate really nasty fumes. And the fumes still stayed around him. Annoying didn't begin to describe it. Was there no way to get rid of the goo? Naruto was beginning to fear that he would really die here.

"I won't die here!" Kyuubi roared. Even more of the demonic chakra flowed into Naruto's system. The boy didn't resist. He welcomed anything that looked like it might help him from the burning. Getting rid of the sticky liquid took absolute priority in his mind, to the exclusion of everything else. He began clawing at it, trying to scrub himself clean. He roared in pain, thrashing around wildly. He couldn't even see what he crashed into.

And that's it for today. I know some readers complained about evil cliffhangers no jutsu, but this was just the ideal place to cut the chapter short. Especially if I wanted to publish it today.

Next time: We might finally see the end of the battle. I think. It keeps getting longer as I write it.