And so the battle begins! Chapter 22 has arrived, hope you all enjoy :)

Where are all my reviewers ? :( well nothing i can do other then respond to the ones who did review and hope i get more soon :P

xzavx - the only way to find out if your bad feeling is right is to keep reading ;) Thanks for the review :D

naru-ca-titan - unfortunately, in war, people die :(. and really?! that would be great, i can't draw to save my life!... well i can do stick men! :D but that's about it lol i would love to see what you would come up with :) and of what or who as well, i look forward to seeing more reviews from you, as well as that fan art if you decide to do it :) Thanks for the review

That's all of them, keep them coming guys, now on with the story

This chapter was revised on May 29th 2017. Most grammar errors should have been addressed (Hopefully :P) I did a few enhancements and changed a few things around but the story remained unchanged

Saving old bonds

Chapter 22 (Revised)

Konoha Defenders were throwing everything they had at the charging enemy. Archers were shooting arrows; others were throwing spears or kunais. However, no one did a better job than Tenten. She had prepared for this battle for the past few days, she had 100's of weapons scrolls filled to the maximum. However, a few of them reached the walls and began to climb it. Some of the Konoha defenders hurried to the edge and poured large buckets full of burning tar, causing the ones who had made it to the walls to fall down in pain as the tar stuck to their skin. But a few had gotten to the top and began attacking the defenders

Ichigo and his eleven captains were watching from a distance. They had not attacked themselves wanting to see what the Konoha's defenders could do first as they analyzed their defense "That one defender is shredding our forces before they can get anywhere near the walls on the east side, she must be dealt with Kurokage Sama" Renji said wearing the number three on his back

"I agree, but we should concentrate our attacks on the west side for now since there defenders are now busy fighting with the few who got through. Shift our forces to concentrate on that side and send in the second wave" he ordered

A second wave of attackers began screaming as they began their attack, Naruto was guarding the north side, which was the main gate, he had noticed that they had switched their attacks to the west side. He wanted to order additional forces to go but he had no one to spare. Sending anyone to that location would open up holes in their defenses for them to strike at "Kakashi, keep this place safe, I am going to help them out on the west side since we can't afford to send anyone else"

"Understood Hokage Sama"

Naruto hurried as he ran as fast as he could

Meanwhile inside the city there was a small patrol marching around the village making sure no enemy had gotten through from somewhere else. They heard something, it sounded like a crying child "I thought all the villagers had safely been evacuated" one of them said

"We must have somehow missed one" One of the female members of the group said as they made their way to the source of the crying. They found a small kid that looked about ten years old. He had green eyes and his hair was almost as white as snow "Aww, it's a little boy, where are your parents little one?" she asked

"I don't know, I was playing at the lake trying to catch a butterfly when I heard the big bell ring, but I didn't know what it was so kept on trying to catch the butterfly. But when I came to show it to my mommy she was gone" he said while showing them the butterfly tears still rolling down his cheeks

"Aww your so cute, your parents must be with the others in the shelter. Come, I will take you to them. I am sure they are worried sick" she said with a smile

"Ayuke, I don't know, everyone was evacuated and no one mentioned that they were missing a child" one other others members said

"Oh come on, he is just a kid, I am sure his parents were hoping that he would be at the shelter. You guys keep patrolling; I will take him to the shelter" she said as she smiled at the small boy and took his hand as they began to walk towards the mountain "What's your name little one?" she asked

"My name is Hitsugaya" he said while smiling a bit at the girl's kindness

"That's a pretty name" she said as they continued walking, his smile turned into a grin when she wasn't looking

Back at the gates Naruto had joined in the battle pushing back the enemies on the west side

"Their leader has moved to help them defend the west side sir" one of the captains told Ichigo

"It was to be expected. Prepare two more waves, concentrate on the north and west. Have the vice captains lead the charge. It's time we stop playing around, once they are launched prepare next 2 waves, led by captains"

"Yes Kurokage Sama"

"Kisuke, is the 12th division almost ready?" Ichigo asked

"Yes Kurokage Sama, we have gathered the chakra needed in order to destroy the main gate, we just need to safely arrive at the gate" the 12th division captain responded

"Have your division ready to move out after the captains lead their attack. The defenders should have their hands full with our attacks leaving your team the time they need to take out that gate, plus I will join you"

"Understood Kurokage Sama" He responded

Naruto had his hands full as well as the rest of the west side defenders. They had kept the line from breaking but they wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. That's when he heard the screams of another wave of attackers and it was a large one. But what made it even worst was seeing that it was vice captains leading the charge. Naruto knew that the line would NEVER be able to hold out against such a force. Suddenly he heard someone shout out "Amaterasu!" A large chunk of the battlefield was now burning in the black fire that is Amaterasu. Most of the charge being led by the vice captains were burning as they screamed in pain. They tried to put the fires out but to their horror it wouldn't go out. The vice captains were lucky enough to avoid the fire, they had fallen back seeing this new threat. Naruto turned around and to his surprise behind them stood Uchiha Itachi, however he was not wearing his Akastsuki cloak but his old Konoha Jonin outfit and his headband no longer had a mark indicating he had abandoned his home village. But Naruto didn't know what to think or do. He took up a defensive position, he had had too many encounters with Itachi in the past to be caught off guard.

"Hokage Sama, please allow me to help" he said as he got down on one knee and bowed his head awaiting Naruto's response

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked him. Shizune joined them as fast as she could

"Hokage Sama, he isn't an enemy! Look I will explain everything about him once we get through this, but I assure you that he can be trusted"

Naruto looked at Itachi again "Get up, if she says I can trust you then I will trust you" he said as Itachi raise his head

"Thank you Hokage Sama" he simply said as he got back up and began to fight alongside the Konoha defenders

"What the hell was that!?" Ichigo asked as he saw his vice captains return with whatever few Ninja's had survived

"We are sorry Kurokage Sama. Whatever that attack was devastated our men. Even the ones who survived and tried to put out the fire on the screaming men caught on fire themselves unable to put it out" the vice-captain wearing the 5th division armband said

"So they want to play dirty huh? Well it's time we begin to play dirty as well, join the captains in the next assault, inform them that we have a change of plans, tell them to hit the north gate as hard as they can, while they keep them busy up there, we will use the 12th division and blow that gate wide open. Once we are inside, they will have no choice other than fighting us face to face" he said slightly annoyed at the stiff resistance the Leaf was putting up. It had already been 2 hours and they had yet to penetrate the defenses

The Captains launched their attack, being very careful to avoid the black fire that was still burning. They, along with the vice captains raised one hand up and began shouting out in unison "Way of destruction, blue fire lvl 50!" multiple fire shots were flying towards the defenders, hitting a few and killing them but most had taken cover. This was the chance they needed to climb the wall without getting hit. A large chunk of their forces made it up including most of the captains and vice captains and had begun fighting the defenders. Kakashi raised his hand in the air as he begun to gather chakra

"CHIDORI!" he screamed as he ran in a straight line taking out at least 10 of the enemy ninja's

Meanwhile Ichigo and the 12th division had made their way to the gate entrance and began chanting an incantation as the defenders had no idea they were down there, they were too busy fighting off the major attack. Kisuke smiled as they had just finished the incantation all he had to do was finish the spell "Way of destruction, red, blue, yellow exploding force, level 100!" everyone got back as a very large beam of light left Kisuke's hand and hit the gate. Seconds later the gate exploded into pieces. Ichigo smiled, things were going to change drastically in this battle. He lifted his hand in the air giving the signal for all forces to run inside. The rest of the forces that were staying back in reserve began running towards the gate

Naruto had seen the explosion and looked down in horror as the gate had been destroyed; they would not be able to stay on the walls anymore. He had to give the order to fall back and continue fighting inside the village, he was happy that the villagers were in a safe location

Back inside the mountain, Ayuke had arrived at the entrance to the shelter. But the boy could see nothing and wondered why they stopped walking "What's going on?" he asked

"We have arrived" She simply said with a smile

But there was nothing there, just a dead end. Could she have figured him out? He suddenly thought

"We are using a gengutsu to hide the entrance, don't worry I can cancel it" she began making hand sighs "CANCEL!" suddenly an entrance appeared. It was blocked by a large bolder. She continued to make a few hand sighs and put her hand against the bolder and it began to move slowly "See, now let's go find your parents" she said with a smile

"I am sorry, but we must part ways here" he said with a cold yet calm voice

"What's the matter Hitsugaya?" she asked puzzled

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, 10th division captain of the night country. You have been very helpful, thank you" he said as he hit her with frightening speed, knocking her out instantly, he then ripped off the clothing he had, revealing his black kimono and white cloak under them along with his Katana "Haruno Sakura, your time has come" he said as he walked inside the shelter

End Chapter 22

Well the battle is about to become heated, now they will be forced to fight face to face rather then on the wall, who will survive and who will die? will Konoha be able to hold on long enough for the sand re-enforcements? Or will the night country stand victorious, only one way to find out ;) Read, Rave, Review!