"Lord Tyranus." Neji looked up at the booming voice of Vader, though he could see nothing. His uncle had left several minutes before, leaving him alone in the darkness.

"What is it you wish of me, My Master" replied the ex-Hyuuga.

"I merely wish to see what has happened. I felt you in pain, and I must say, I am disappointed in my teammate's fighting ability. I expect he won't make it to Chuunin. And so here I stand" said Vader.

"Yes" replied Neji. "For none to see." Vader nodded, his raspy breathing unnerving Neji, as it accentuated the darkness of his new world.

"So my feelings were correct" he said. "The Hyuuga's have taken your vision. But through me, you shall find that they have not taken your sight." As Neji pondered this statement, Vader continued. "Now, I have recently gained information of an invasion to take place today in this village. As you are, you do not have the power to fight. I am going to have a clone escort you to a more secure location. This place is not safe for you at this time of vulnerability."

Clenching his fists and growling, Neji tried to hold back his rage. He was supposed to be strong. He was his year's Rookie of the Year. He wasn't supposed to be like this.

"I suggest you get some rest" said Vader. "Just because you can't see, doesn't mean you can't be a force to be reckoned with." Neji felt a hand at his shoulder, and stood up, throwing an arm around his master's neck for support. "Before you take him away, take Tenten as well." The clone nodded, before exiting the room. Exiting the room himself, Vader made his way back to the arena to see what was happening in Sasuke's fight. Entering the stands, he moved up to the railing, and looked down into the arena. Seeing a large dome in the middle of the arena, but not Sasuke, Vader began scanning for his teammate, his eyes searching all over from within his mask.

He finally found him. Standing on the wall, Sasuke crouched into a low position, and stared down at the dome. Stretching out his senses, Vader tried to feel out Gaara, finding him within the sand dome. The sand itself seemed saturated with the red-head's chakra. Turning back to Sasuke, the Hakumei Grand Master saw the dark-haired boy flash through three hand signs before he felt a wave of chakra. In Sasuke's hand, lightning began arcing across his fingers. It was in a way, a chakra-powered version of Sith Lightning. The entire arena had gone silent, allowing a strange sound to permeate the air. It sounded like a flock of birds, chittering loudly.

Dashing down the wall at high speeds, Sasuke made a mad dash for the sand dome, his chirping-lightning tearing up the ground as it passed over it. As he neared his target, several spikes of sand came shooting out from the surface of the structure, going in for a spearing motion, but Sasuke was too fast, dodging them all easily, before thrusting his attack straight through the sand.

For a moment, all was silent, before a bloodcurdling scream was heard from the inside of the dome. Vader found himself assaulted by a wave of Gaara's emotions, and they were powerful. Ranging from fear, to rage, to surprise, the black-clad Force-user almost stumbled at the sheer immenseness of the feelings rippling through the Force. Up in the Kage's box, Ahsoka dropped to her knee, feeling the same intense emotions that Vader was. From the corner of his eye, Orochimaru saw this.

"Is your guard alright?" he inquired, voice as even as ever. As Grievous began helping her up and tending to her, he continued.. "She doesn't look well. Perhaps she needs medical attention."

"That will not be necessary, Lord Kazekage" replied Sarutobi. "Because of her clan's peculiar bloodline, its members possess a high degree of empathy. She probably is currently feeling everything felt by your son at the moment. Perhaps he is the one in need of medical attention." Orochimaru turned back to the match.

"All of my children knew the risks of entering these exams" he said. "Besides, my son is very strong. I doubt he is finished just yet." As if to prove his point, down in the arena, Sasuke jumped away, a second before a giant, monstrous arm shot out from the punctured area of the dome. It froze for a moment, before it turned to sand, and the dome fell apart, revealing Gaara, clutching a bloody shoulder and panting heavily.

Narrowing his eyes, Orochimaru made a motion with his hand, and his guards nodded, before blowing a smoke bomb, setting off the signal for the invasion to begin. Down in the stands, the civilians and low-level shinobi began dropping like flies, falling prey to the 'House of Nirvana' genjutsu.

"Surprised, Sarutobi-sensei?" asked Orochimaru.

"I should have known" replied Sarutobi. "Oh yes, that's right…I did." Before the smoke could clear, several shouts could be heard. As the wind picked up and the smoke cleared, Orochimaru's eyes widened. His four disguised bodyguards were all bloody, but none seemed to be dead. They just seemed to be in horrible pain. Standing before them with their katanas drawn were Sarutobi's guards, blood dripping from their blades.

In front of him stood Sarutobi, dressed in full battle gear. Down in the stands, he watched as his concealed army was being decimated by the Konoha forces. Looking up at Sarutobi with pure hatred, Orochimaru hissed in anger.

"This isn't possible. How did you learn of my strategy?" he demanded. A smirk appeared on Sarutobi's face.

"An old servant of yours. When you sent him to kill Vader, you destroyed any chance of succeeding in your endeavor." If it was possible, Orochimaru's eyes widened even further.

"You lie, Old Monkey" he said. "Kimimaro was my most loyal subordinate. He would have died before betraying me."

"Perhaps" said Ahsoka. "Or perhaps rather than die, all it would take would be for him to have been reborn…Isn't that right Grievous?"

"Indeed, My Lady" replied the metal monstrosity. And in that moment, Orochimaru was hit with realization.

"So…" he said. "You indeed betray me Kimimaro."

"Kimimaro is dead, just as you wished for, my former Master" Said Grievous. "He no longer exists. "I am Grievous, and give you none of my loyalty."

As his guards began to get back up, each holding a wound, Orochimaru rose, throwing away his disguise. "It's over, my former student" said Sarutobi. "You cannot stand against the leaf."

"We will not back down now, Lord Orochimaru" said the larger guard.

"Form the barrier" said Orochimaru, getting nods from his subordinates.

Down in the stands, Vader cleaved the head off of one of the Sound Shinobi that had jumped at him. Reaching out with the Force, he brought his hands together, picking up several other enemy ninja, and slamming them together with a sickening thud as heads collided. Seeing Gaara's sensei and siblings gathering around the young red-head, Vader launched himself into the arena. He could feel every aspect of his senses heightened to unbelievable levels as he approached them. As Gaara's older siblings helped him stand upright, supporting him on their shoulders, they caught sight of the black-clad young man drawing nearer.

"Stay back" demanded his sensei, but with a flick of Vader's wrist, the man was thrown aside, slamming into the wall of the arena, several bones breaking, as well as the concrete wall. Gaara's brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari, both widened their eyes in shock.

Lifting his hand, Gaara sent a wave of sand at the Force-user, which wrapped around him like a cocoon. "Too easy" growled the red-head, as he started to close his hand into a fist. "Sand Cof-" Suddenly, the sand trap exploded with an enormous shockwave, blowing the three back, causing them to skid across the dirt. Sasuke wasn't so lucky either, but he was far enough back to remain on his feet.

"Sasuke" said Vader, addressing the boy. "I think your match is over. Get up into the stands and help subdue the invading forces."

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded. "I'm not going anywhere until you fill me in."

"I'm not going to argue this fact with you. Go find Kakashi, he'll explain everything" replied Vader. "Now go. You're not needed here." While he may not have liked it, Sasuke nodded, before complying. Seeing Temari beginning to stand, Vader smirked beneath his mask as she went for the fan.

"Bad move" he said. Channeling Force-lightning, he sent it straight at Temari. Instinctively moving her fan up to act as a shield, she didn't realize her mistake as the metal in the fan conducted the lighting straight through her body, effectively making her into a living lightning-rod. As he ceased his attack, Temari groaned, her literally smoking body falling to the ground, unconscious. Calling upon the Force, Vader placed his hand on Kankuro's forehead, forcing the puppeteer into a Force-induced sleep. Turning his attention to Gaara, as the boy began desperately backing away.

Gaara was frightened. He kept sending wave after wave of his sand, but all it took was a flick of Vader's wrist to deflect every attack. Taking another step back, Gaara stumbled, his tired, injured body dropping to the ground. Before he could hit, he was pulled into the air by Vader.

"Master Jiraiya" said Vader, before the Toad Sage appeared via shunshin.

"Right" replied the white-haired Sannin. Gaara tried to attack him, but was stopped by Vader.

"You don't want to attack Master Jiraiya" he said. For some reason, Gaara felt a strange euphoric feeling, as though he was no longer in control of himself. Strangely, all malice toward Jiraiya left him, and he even found himself replying.

"I don't want to attack Master Jiraiya" he said. Beneath his mask, Vader smirked yet again. Gaara's psyche was so degraded from his demon, he had little to no resistance to the Mind Trick.

"You humbly ask that Master Jiraiya attempt to fix your seal" he continued.

"I humbly request that Master Jiraiya attempt to fix my seal" replied Gaara, his eyes glazed over. Finding Gaara's seal with no difficulty, Jiraiya pulled out a brush and some ink before swiping a few symbols over it. Flying through hand seals, he placed his palm over the markings, which glowed a bright blue color before setting.

"Right" said the Seal Master. "It's not permanent, but it should hold for now. Put him out." Nodding, Vader waved his hand and Gaara fell to the ground and into blissful sleep, the nightmares that plagued him never appearing. For the first time in his life, with his sleep, his demon did not awaken.

Out in the village, the battle raged. Neji, supported through Tenten acting as guide, moved through the ruckus, hoping to get to the safety tunnels in the Hokage Monument without major trouble.

"Where do you think you're going?" Descending from the rooftops, nine enemy Shinobi dropped and surrounded them. "Lookie here boys" said the same voice as before. "What do we have here? Two lovebirds taking a stroll through the burning and bloodshed." The others laughed as both Tenten and Neji settled into fighting stances, Tenten unsealing a bo-staff.

"What are we dealing with Tenten?" asked Neji, which caused their opponents to laugh harder.

"Oh that's rich" said one of them. "A blind Hyuuga. This is gonna be hilarious." As Tenten dashed in, Neji merely stood, his form shaking, seething in rage. And in his rage, a glimmer of something entered the blackness. It was only for a moment, but it was as though he was seeing through his Byakugan. For a split second, he could see everything in such detail. And all the people around him seemed as if they weren't even physical. They seemed almost luminescent. As quickly as his vision came, it left, and he was kneed in the gut, forcing him to his knees, before a he was grabbed by the front of his robes, spun and hurled away.

"You're pathetic, you know that, kid" said his attacker. "If you can't see, you can't fight. And if you can't fight…well, you'll get the picture as you enter the next life." Neji began to stand, coughing up a bit of blood. As he stood, he began to attempt to regain his focus. Reigning in his rage, Neji closed his eyes, before opening them once more to see with his amazing new vision.

"So are you ready for death?" asked his attacker.

"Are you?" hissed back Neji. The enemy ninja was about to retort, before feeling a pressure at his throat. He let out a horrible gasping sound, causing his teammates who were focusing on Tenten, to move in on Neji. However, the three others that came to help were also caught in the invisible grip of Neji's Force choke, his barely restrained anger giving his attack far more power. As they fell to the ground, dead, Neji turned his attention to the five others who had just knocked Tenten back into a corner.

"Tenten, drop!" he shouted. The girl heard and instantly dove to the ground. As the last five assailants turned to look, they were blasted with an intensely powerful Force-lightning attack, completely frying them, as they too dropped. Feeling drained, Neji fell to his knees, his vision fading in-and-out.

"Neji!" cried Tenten, dashing over, throwing her Jedi-style cloak over the boy, helping him stand. "Are you alright? What happened? What was that?" Neji looked at the girl, her luminescent form looking on him with concern. Neji just let a small smirk grace his lips, before throwing the hood up on the cloak, concealing his face.

"I'm fine Tenten" he said, chuckling a bit. "Merely…fulfilling my destiny. Let's continue on. I'm not sure I have the strength to do that again." Tenten just nodded, allowing Neji to throw his arm around her shoulder, leaving the massacre Neji had caused.

On the roof of the Kage box, a fierce battle was going on. At least on Orochimaru's end it was fierce. With Kimimaro having betrayed him, even his trump card of the Impure World Resurrection had failed. Kimimaro was keen to every function of his plan, on the off chance that he would have been needed. Sarutobi had been correct. His biggest mistake was sending his subordinate after the Kyuubi vessel. The Sound Four had to dispel the barrier keeping out the Anbu and other Shinobi, in order to help him in his battle.

Unfortunately, with Ahsoka's bloodline, she could take on two members at once. Grievous, when he had been Kimimaro, trained along-side the Sound Four until his disease forced him onto bed-rest. He knew every move that his former teammates could make, and counter them. Thrusting one of his katanas forward, he caught Tayuya in the shoulder, before pulling his leg up and actually gripping Sakon by the throat with his highly dexterous feet, and throwing him away into the red-headed girl. Because of his metal body, Grievous couldn't even be affected by the twins with their Cursed Seals at level two. Without having most of his body, they could not merge into him.

As Jirobo came in for a strike to Ahsoka, she side-stepped at the last moment, Force-pushing him off the roof. Sensing her second opponent behind her, she whipped around and swung in a downward angle, blocking an arrow with her blade. Gripping Kidomaru with the Force, she pulled him to her, swinging her blade and slicing off the two lower arms on his right side. Twisting, she sent a backwards stab into his thigh.

"How the hell did you stop my arrow, you stupid bitch?" growled out the spider-like man.

"I could sense you preparing an arrow" replied Ahsoka. "Your thoughts betray you. By the time you had fired, I'd already begun slowing the arrow down enough to deflect it with my sword." After she explained, she slammed the blunt end of her blade down on the back of Kidomaru's head, knocking him out.

Sarutobi, however, being old, was barely holding his own against Orochimaru. Sarutobi vowed that when the invasion was over, he was going to give up the Kage title, as he flipped backwards to avoid a hail of kunai and shuriken. As he landed, however, Orochimaru sent out dozens of snakes from his sleeves, which coiled around Sarutobi like ropes, rendering him immobile.

"My invasion may fail, Sarutobi-sensei" growled Orochimaru. "But you will not escape this day with your life." A snake slithered up Orochimaru's throat, delivering him his Kusanagi sword. Gripping it with both hands, Orochimaru dashed toward Sarutobi, bringing the blade up, looking to make a downward-angled swing, which would cleave off his former sensei's head. Seeing this, Grievous moved in, using his cybernetic speed to close the distance quickly. Whipping around, he made a downward sweep, slicing the snakes off of Sarutobi, before throwing his sword down and continuing with his momentum, catching the Kusanagi between his metal hands.

Try as he might, Orochimaru could barely move the Kusanagi from his grip.

"Why betray me, Kimimaro?" asked Orochimaru.

"Perhaps it was the fact that you knew what was causing my disease, and did nothing about it" replied Grievous, coughing a bit, but never loosening his grip. "You are going to die, my former-Master. At the moment, you are at quite the disadvantage."

"How so?" grunted the Snake Sannin. Grievous merely let out an empty, hollow chuckle.

"For starters, your invasion is collapsing around you" said the Mechanical Monstrosity. "And secondly, you cannot do anything while your hands are occupied with your blade."

"Neither can you" said Orochimaru, trying to remove the Kusanagi from Grievous' grasp.

"That is where you are wrong" said Grievous, before a strange sound began emitting from both arms. Orochimaru's eyes widened as Grievous' two arms became four, and his grip barely loosened. Reaching his newly reveal arms behind him, he unsheathed his other two Katana, and swung them together, hoping to slice Orochimaru in two, as though caught in a giant pair of scissors. Deciding on his life over his sword, Orochimaru leapt away.

"Ah" said Grievous. "It appears that the famous Kusanagi blade is now mine. The first of many blades to add to my collection"

Orochimaru looked out. His Sound Four were defeated, and his invasion force crushed. Off in the distance, he saw his snake summons defeated by toad summons. Gaara had been taken out, and across the village, the top Shinobi from the most prominent clans were defeating his forces left-and-right. As he began to give the retreat order, he was pulled forward, as though slammed into the ground by an invisible boulder. As he struggled against the invisible force holding him down, he felt an incredible pain in his arms. Managing to lift his head, he saw Grievous standing above him, a bloody Kusanagi in hand.

"Now you can no longer use the jutsu you love so much" said Grievous. "And thanks to the Kusanagi's poison, your arms cannot be reattached or regenerated. It matters little, for now I take your head."

"No!" Grievous was suddenly tackled by Jirobo, who had climbed back up to the roof. The distraction proved to be enough to allow the defeated party to gather the severed limbs of its members, before turning tail and running.

"You will all pay for this!" shouted Orochimaru. "Especially you Kimimaro. Nobody betrays me!"

"Should we follow?" asked Ahsoka. Sarutobi merely sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but no" he said. "With his limbs severed by the Kusanagi, he cannot use jutsu again. With this failed invasion, they have lost an ally in Sand, and know they are outmatched by our own forces, especially by themselves. We've essentially taken the venom out of the snake. Right now, we should worry most about stopping the last of the combined army, and then begin clean-up of the village as soon as possible."

"But there are other villages he could ally himself with" said Grievous, breaking into a coughing fit.

"Indeed" replied Sarutobi. "I let him go all those years ago. That was a mistake. I may not have ended his life this time, but I feel the mistake has at the very least been ratified." Ahsoka and Grievous just nodded, before leaping from the roof down into the arena below.

Timeskip

One week later

"For your bravery, your resourcefulness, and easily proving yourselves in battle, I hereby in my authority as Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, grant the following members of the Shinobi forces, the rank of Chuunin" said Sarutobi. "When I call your names, you may step forward and receive your Chuunin vests. Shikamaru Nara…Tenten Hakumei…Neji Hakumei…Vader Hakumei." Sasuke fumed that he didn't manage to get promoted, but said nothing.

"And, I grant entrance into the Konoha Shinobi forces to Ahsoka Hakumei" continued Saurtobi, "Who receives the rank of Chuunin. And Grievous, who based on current skill and past merit, gains the official rank of Jonin." Once everyone had either gotten a forehead protector, or a Chuunin vest, applause broke out.

After the invasion, it didn't take long to return to a semblance of order. With advanced knowledge of the attack, they had eliminated a lot of death and collateral damage. Even though they still had plenty of cleaning and repairing to do, as well as political actions to take concerning the Sand village, Sarutobi wished to give credit where credit was due, and give the promotions that had been earned during the exams and the invasion. And so, once more in the arena, the promotions were given, for the entire village to witness. Shikamaru turned out to be the only one to put on his vest. Neji stood slightly back from the group. In his hand was a walking stick, and he wore a pure-black robe, with a hood that concealed most of his face. He preferred to stick to that, rather than put on the vest.

Vader merely accepted his, but didn't put it on. Ahsoka stood beside him, her brown, Jedi robe blowing in the slight breeze, her hood up to conceal her face as well. She took her Chuunin vest and, like Neji and Vader, just hung on to it rather than put it on. Tenten wore similar robes, but preferred not to wear her hood. She didn't wear her new vest either. Grievous merely took his new Konoha forehead with a polite nod.

"I also have another announcement" said Sarutobi, and the entire crowd became silent so he could continue. "After carefully considering some issues, I have decided…to step down as Hokage." This declaration was met with many shocked murmurs throughout the stands. Even Vader raised an eyebrow beneath his mask, as Sarutobi hadn't even mentioned his decision to him.

"I will remain Hokage until such a time that my Successor is ready to take responsibility. In the event they absolutely refuse the position, Jiraiya of the Sannin will fill the title of Hokage, until another suitable Shinobi is found. But, until then, I am issuing an order, that effective immediately, Tsunade Senju return to this village, and be filled in on her situation as my chosen successor." The crowd in the stands broke into thunderous applause of approval. Tenten had stars in her eyes, causing Vader to chuckle at the girl. He of course knew that Tsunade was her idol.

Off in a casino near the Konoha-Kusa border, a busty, blonde haired woman sneezed.

Chapter end.

A little shorter than usual, but I hope you all enjoyed it.

Peace to all my fans

Fan of Fanfics