I don't own Naruto, now enjoy.

Chapter 15

Naruto was surprised. Never would he have thought that Madara and Hashirama would have worked together.

"So Vallen has returned?"

"Yes," said Zane. "Now that he has returned, he will stop at nothing until he has taken over the world."

"So what do we do?" asked Tsunade.

"First you must prepare for war. He has convinced the Sound and other villages to fight for him. Prepare your villages. Send messengers to intercept the Raikage. Hurry, we don't have long. Vallen is not patient."

With that, Zane left the room, along with many of the other kages. The only ones left were Naruto, Tsunade, Shikamaru, and Kari.

"Lady Tsunade," said Shikamaru. "Earlier in the conversation, you and Master Zane mentioned something about Jiraiya. Did he fight Vallen?"

"Yes and no. Vallen found a way out back when Jiraiya and I were younger. It was right after the Nine-Tails attacked. Vallen had sensed weakness. He somehow used a jutsu that allowed him to project himself from the prison, without truly leaving. Sort of like how the Nine-Tails was able to influence you, Naruto. He was planning to use his 'clone' to hunt down the five scrolls in the five major villages, but Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I stopped him."

"Orochimaru?"

"Yes. We had no choice. Jiraiya and I weren't strong enough alone. We needed Orochimaru's help. Orochimaru decided that if he couldn't take over the world, he wasn't going to let Vallen do it. Even against his clone, which only had about a tenth of his power, the three of us barely stood a chance. We would have died, if it hadn't been for Sarutobi-sensei. He saved our lives. Even with his help, it was difficult."

"That was only a tenth of his power?" asked Shikamaru.

"Unfortunately."

"Alright!" said Naruto, fired up. "Let's go get ready. According to Zane, it won't be long until he comes to Leaf for one of the scrolls. By the way, which one do we have?"

"Fire. It was the strongest of Vallen's affinities because it was his first. Each of the other villages were given scrolls based on the basic chakra nature found in the village. The Mist has water, the Stone has earth, the Cloud has lightning, and the Sand has wind."

"So let's get going!"

"Alright. We'll discuss it with the other kages and leave in the morning."

"Fine," said Naruto. He wanted to leave now.

Meanwhile, in the Sound Village…

"Well, Master?"

"The time has come, Otokage. Our leader has commanded us to prepare for battle."

"Are you sure he can be trusted, sensei?"

"I do not know. Probably not, but that is nothing to worry about. When the time comes, we will take his power for ourselves. Then all will bow down to the might of the Sound Village. Prepare the army!"

"Yes, Master."

Somewhere in the Land of Rice Patties…

Vallen rose from his meditation. Lady Death noticed and walked over to him.

"Did Mammoth succeed?"

"No, he failed. He was stopped by one of the Shadow Beast."

"I see, and what of the Sound Village?"

"You were right. They plan to betray me. Fools. No one can control my chakra but me."

"Would you like me to destroy them?"

"No. They may still prove useful. They are leaving soon. We will meet them at the Sand. What have you found out about the Kazekage?"

"He's strong. He was once a jinchuriki. He carried Shikaku, but not anymore. He may be trouble."

"Even without my five affinities, I'm still stronger than Shikaku. Don't worry. Now go get Zir. We need to go."

"Yes, sir."

The Sand Village, one week later…

"Lord Kazekage, we are under attack!" said a young chunin to Gaara. They stood on the roof of the Kazekage's mansion.

Gaara sighed. "So the time has come. Very well. Defensive positions!"

In the village, the order was relayed, and the ninja began to jump into action. Explosions rocked the village. Thankfully, the citizens had already been evacuated. Gaara looked out over the chaos that now en enveloped the village, his village.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hello, Vallen," said Gaara.

"Give me what I'm here for, and your village will be spared, assuming you swear loyalty to me."

"That will never happen."

"Oh, well. Worth a try, I guess."

Suddenly, sand rose up around Vallen. He expected this, however, and jumped away. He moved quickly, so fast that Gaara couldn't keep up. The sand moved to protect him, and barely stopped Vallen's fist.

"Hmm… I was under the impression that you no longer had the Shukaku."

"You are right. I don't."

"Interesting. Then how are you able to protect yourself with the sand?"

"My mother created this jutsu. She left this protection for me. It's her protection, not the Shukaku's."

"I see. Very well. I'll just have to work harder. I'm sure that your sand has no chance against my high-speed taijutsu!"

"Many have tried to move faster than my sand, but it is no use. You will fall, just as they have."

"We shall see!" said Vallen, charging toward Gaara. He began to strike the sand. He was moving so fast that it seemed to Gaara as if he struck the sand shield from every direction at once, but the shield had not yet failed.

Gaara decided that now was the time to begin the offensive. He created a rain of sand to fall onto the area, but Vallen dodged every strike. He then appeared behind Gaara, and threw a powerful right hook, which the sand intercepted. Gaara fired a blast of sand at the source of the impact, but it didn't matter. Vallen was too fast.

Gaara knew that eventually Vallen would have to slow down, but would that happen before or after he broke through the sand. Gaara debated what to do next. Against someone so fast, there would be little he could do. He decided he would have to trap Vallen. That would be the easiest way to win, but how could he do it. He had to plan.

Vallen continued to strike from random directions. He was barely winded even though he had been going at it for around ten minutes. Because of the advanced imprisoning jutsu used on him, his body had not fallen out of shape. He was still perfectly fit, and thanks to all of his training, his body was fully used to this kind of workout. He noticed that Gaara was deep in concentration. What was he planning?

Gaara's eyes jerked open. He had an idea. He used his chakra to manipulate a miniscule stream of sand out across the field. After two minutes passed, he had created a small film of sand on the rooftop behind him. It was only three feet wide and a foot long, but it would work. Now all he had to do was wait. Sooner or later, Vallen would step on the sand, which would grow to encase him. It was a special trap. The sand would encase Vallen, and create a sand coffin.

Vallen was completely unaware of the small area of sand. Even if he had noticed it, he would have believed it was stray sand from his pounding of the sand shield. He was shocked at the shield's resilience, but now he was noticing that it was weakening. A few more minutes, and he would break through. Would have, if it hadn't been for that step.

Gaara smiled as Vallen stepped into his trap. The sand immediately responded and moved to cover Vallen. Vallen glanced down when he felt the movement. He saw a small stream of sand wrapping around his leg. He tried to jerk away, but the sand held fast. More sand moved to encase him, and sealed him away inside a coffin.

"You shouldn't have come here, Vallen," said Gaara. "This will be the end of you! Sand Burial!"

The sand contracted, crushing Vallen. Bloody sand fell all around. Gaara sighed. He had been worried about the fight. He had heard of Vallen's skill, and he had wondered if Vallen would be too strong for him.

He opened his eyes, only to be struck from behind. Gaara was instantly paralyzed, and fell to his knees. His vision blurry, he struggled to turn around. Behind him stood Vallen, Mammoth, and Lady Death, who had delivered the blow.

"How?" he asked.

"Lord Kazekage, you didn't really believe that you could defeat me. A powerful attack, that Sand Coffin. I have no chakra to replace myself, so it very well could have killed me. Of course, thanks to the brutal punishment my body has been through in the past, I was able to survive. Just a few deep cuts. Nothing to worry about. Mammoth, secure our friend here. I don't want him causing trouble."

Suddenly, a puppet struck Mammoth from the side. Gaara recognized the puppet. Kankuro was standing over him, three puppets at the ready.

"Temari!" he ordered. "Get Gaara out of here! Take him somewhere safe. Don't worry! I'll be fine!"

As Temari scooped Gaara up, he saw Kankuro manipulating his puppets to take on the three enemies. Gaara felt a tear run down his cheek as he was carried away, having to watch as Kankuro was defeated.