Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto...Still so sad about it...

Chapter Seven:

The Battle at Waterfall

It's okay if you don't have an answer; just keep searching for it.
That's right; it is time for us to act like adults.
I wish to tell you this right away, but my trembling wouldn't stop,
And my heart, with the worst timing, is now screaming at me to run away.

~Hemenway~

The trio approached the lake cautiously after telling the woman and children to head towards the nearest village. They removed the resistance seals from their arms and legs to be ready. Naruto and Sai were about to leap into the waterfall when Sasuke unexpectedly threw himself on top of them.

"What did you do that for," hissed Sai while spitting dirt out of his mouth.

"Someone's coming," whispered Sasuke. He leapt from the ground and jumped into the ankle-deep water. Seconds later, several men came through the waterfall. It was obvious by the look on their faces that they were not expecting to run into the boys.

One of them shouted, "We can't have them getting help!"

Another grinned maliciously as he reached into his pouch. "I've got it," he said.

A rain of kunai headed straight for the trio. Sasuke was ready. He pulled out his fuma shuriken, opened it, and threw the massive weapon with precise accuracy. The demon wind shuriken jutsu easily knocked the smaller hurling kunai off their incoming path and headed straight towards the men.

The four men broke apart and prepared to block the shrieking missile, but were surprised when it split into two shuriken, each going in another direction. Three of the men were hit, but the last managed to get away in time. He escaped through the entrance behind the falls.

"He's going towards the village!" shouted Naruto, "We've got to stop him."

"Be careful Naruto. Watch yourself," said Sasuke in a low undertone.

"Funny, I was about to say the same to you…" Before anyone could stop him, he recklessly rushed into the waterfall after the man. Sasuke smothered the urge to strangle the impulsive boy and quickly followed with Sai right behind him.

Inside the cavern, they caught a flash of Naruto's orange top as he disappeared into the water filled tunnel. The speed with which he moved was almost a blur with the seals now removed.

"We better hurry," he urged and jumped in after Sai. He swam as fast as he could and was able to catch up to Naruto before they broke through to the surface of the lake. As their heads popped up, Sasuke grabbed his arm and hissed, "Calm down before you get us all killed baka!"

"But they're in danger. We've got to help them."

Sai calmly pulled himself out of the water and walked across the surface. When they were all standing on the bank he said, "We can't help anyone if we just run into the situation blindly. We need a plan."

Sasuke had an uneasy feeling as he looked around. There were no signs or sounds of a struggle. Something was wrong. Just as he was about to warn them, two men and a woman attacked him. He flipped out of their reach and into a crouch.

Crossing his fingers, Naruto made four shadow clones and attacked using his own versions of a technique he had learned from Rock Lee. The clones shouted "U – ZU – MA – KI" with each kick sending the rogue ninja into the air. After the last clone kicked, Naruto jumped up and nailed him with a rotating heel drop, shooting him to the ground with a bone jarring thud. Dirt from the impact flew all around, blinding him for a moment.

As the air cleared, the man tried to lift himself from the small crater but quickly fell back with a groan.

"Sai!" shouted Naruto.

"Already on it," he yelled back. Just finishing his drawing, he murmured, "Super Beast Scroll."

Ink snakes slithered off the paper and over to the incapacitated man. They sinuously wrapped themselves around the shinobi and squeezed tight. He tried to struggle, but couldn't escape their powerful hold.

Sai began to draw again. This time, huge lions leapt off the scroll as he completed the jutsu. They roared with bestial fury and assaulted the kunoichi with their razor sharp teeth and claws. One of them managed to slash her across the midsection. She fell to the ground in a large splash of water.

"Water clone," he muttered with a sigh.

Sasuke was left with the last person. He was a hulking man with long green hair and a broad blunt face. He almost looked as though he were carved from stone. His huntsman's eyes were black and steady. In a cold voice with a rusty rasp, he tried to demoralize Sasuke. "I'm going to kill you, little boy. Your own mother won't recognize you by the time I'm done with you," he taunted.

Sasuke muttered, "Tch, you're pathetic."

He dodged the man's fists with a quick roll, then jumped up and flew through the familiar hand seals of his best jutsu. He took a deep breath and released the great ball of fire which engulfed the man. As he landed, a thick water whip wrapped itself around his upper body.

A woman's voice cooed in his ear, "Not bad kid."

Sasuke cursed himself as he thought, "I didn't even sense her presence. She is good." He quickly looked around and noticed that Sai and Naruto had been drawn away and fighting with different ninja. He was about to use an escape jutsu when the woman electrified the whip. As the lightning coursed through his body, he jerked back and forth before passing out.

The new man that faced Naruto was deceptively thin. He tried to use the shadow clone jutsu again, but his opponent was too strong. He easily dispelled them all. Naruto leapt high in the air to kick the man in the face but he was able to deflect the blow. He quickly shoved his hand into his pouch; a single shuriken abruptly fanned into many like a deck of cards. Suddenly he whipped his arm around and the shurikens were flung through the air and into the man's thin chest.

The lean whippet of a man laughed and said, "That kinda tickled." His thin mouth was pinched in anticipation of the taste of ground up Naruto. He smashed his fist into the blonde, slamming him backwards. "It's gonna take more than a little bitty toy like that to fuck me up, boy." He pulled the sharp weapons from his body leaving bloody holes, which he seemed to not even feel.

Naruto attacked again but it became immediately apparent that it would not be easy. Several ferocious blows that would have broken the neck of a smaller man only seem to make the man angrier. He pulls out kunai by the handful, a storm of jagged steel racing for Naruto's flesh.

Naruto blocked some of the shuriken, but missed many more. The kunai struck muscles, tendons, flesh. He swung around, still trying to attack, but many more raced towards him. An instant before they could bury themselves into his flesh, a large earthen wall rose up and blocked the attack. A sigh of relief escaped Naruto's lips. He pulled the kunai out and stood up shakily. "I need some breathing room Sai," he called out.

"A minute's about all I can do, whiskers," shouted Sai back.

Sai slid his tantō out and attacked the large rogue Mist ninja. He hit his opponent under the chin with the hilt of his sword. Then he rapidly kicked him three times, sending him flying into the air. As he plummeted to the ground, Sai appeared where the man was about to fall and hit him as hard and powerfully in the gut as he could. His opponent crashed into a nearby boulder, got back up, shook himself off and rushed Sai.

Naruto moved his hands through the forty-four practiced seals, knowing it was a big risk to use a jutsu he had just barely learned. The water rushed out of the lake in a spiraling funnel before it started to lose its shape and collapse in on itself. He gritted his teeth and focused his chakra harder. A huge dragon's head with glowing yellow eyes emerged.

"Come on! Come on! Come on you stupid thing!" He ground out urgently, "Water… Dragon… Jutsu!"

All those hours his clones spent learning the technique finally paid off. He strained with all his might until the roaring torrent of water slammed into the man and threw him into the air. It opened its maw wide and swallowed him whole before rushing back into the lake.

Panting heavily, Naruto jerked his body in a full circle, looking for his other friend. He saw him being carried away by the enemy. "Sasuke!" he yelled as he ran after him. "I'm coming!"

Sai grunted in frustration as he saw Naruto running towards the center of the village. Using every ounce of stealth he possessed, he went in a different direction to sneak through Takigakure. "I'm coming my brothers," he murmured to himself.

~~O~~

Fū and several of the other villagers who were well enough to fight positioned themselves to face the remaining enemy shinobi. They did nothing as the enemy's leader Suien, held the leader's son, Shibuki in a headlock with a kunai pressed tight against his throat.

Shibaku stood before the leader of the rogue ninja. His body was stiff in anger and fear. "Release him Suien," he demanded. "You were a jonin of this village. How could you betray your countryman like this?"

"Give me the Hero's Water and he won't have to die."

Shibaku eye's darted about, analyzing the situation. Suien was once an elite jonin and a trainer of the village. Although a strong and powerful jonin in his own right, he knew he was no match for the rogue shinobi. He felt the weight of the Hero's Water against his chest and hesitated for a brief moment. The risks were very dangerous indeed.

Suien jerked the kunai closer to his son's throat causing a thin red line of blood to seep down. Anger and protectiveness overtook his survival instincts. He pulled a jug of water from his shirt and took a swig from it before Suien could stop him. His chakra levels jumped so high, it became visible. In a flash, he stood before the rogue ninja, jerked his son from the man's arms, and created a gigantic spinning vortex of water around himself.

It blasted Suien back and slammed him through the infirmary, which luckily happened to be nearly empty. He coughed harshly, spat out a wad of blood, and then pulled himself from the wreckage. Then swiftly flowing through the hand seals, he began to fiercely battle with Shibaku using the secret technique of Waterfall, the Watercutting sword.

Back and forth, they traded blows. The rest of the thugs and Waterfall shinobi began to fight as well. Jutsus were exploding all around the center of the village, endangering the civilians and still weakened shinobi as Naruto arrived. Although frightened for the villager's safety, he bravely tried to protect them from harm.

Shibaku was cut down and the jug was taken from him. Suien eagerly gulped down the Hero's Water, his face twisting into an evil smirk as he relished in the new-found power coursing through his veins. He was about to end the fallen leader's life when a kunai came flying from nowhere and embedded itself in his arm. Sai came from behind a building and joined the fray. His tantō gleamed in the sun as he hacked and slashed his way towards Sasuke.

When Fū saw her leader fall, a growl escaped her and her eyes blazed with ferocity. She opened her mouth and exhaled a shimmering substance that blinded everyone. It provided the perfect opportunity for her to attack. Two men fell before they could even see her.

Once their vision had returned, they saw that her whole body was now bathed in an orange glow. She had transformed into a giant bug and had flown up into the air. Fū attacked several men at once and was able to bite one. He fell down to the ground screaming in pain before his body instantly necrotized, turning black and becoming still. Although she hated this ability of hers, she felt no remorse. She looked around for the last man; the man whom she hated above all else, her former sensei.

The Hero's Water made him too powerful for her to defeat. With the last bit of strength he had left from the water, he lifted his Watercutting sword, knocked her down from the sky, and slashed her in the upper chest.

Sasuke groggily awoke. Several ink mice scurried over to where the boy lay still tied up. They chewed through the hardened whip and freed him.

Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke paled when they saw their sister fall. Sasuke's eyes widened with horror and fear, before morphing into blazing red Sharingan. His face twisted into a furious scowl darkened with hatred, his hands shaking with rage.

Sai felt a rush of adrenaline as his heart rate and blood pressure increased. His muscles tightened and his face flushed. He barely contained the urge to charge.

Time slowed for Naruto. His heart seemed to stutter to a stop before it picked up again and began to pound in his chest. His eyes became cat-like and red; his whiskers lengthened. He positively seethed with wrath, transforming into his Nine-Tails' cloak. He growled out, "I'll kill you!"

Fū opened her eyes and breathed out, "Stop Naruto," but he was beyond hearing as was Sasuke.

Sai was the only one who saw that she was alive. He swiftly ran over to her to look over her wounds.

"No," she said, "Help Shibaku first."

He nodded then went to the village leader to attempt to heal him enough so that he wouldn't die from his wounds.

Sasuke and Naruto attacked in tandem.

Sasuke jumped in the air and shot three giant bullets of fire that came down like giant meteors then erupted into a geyser of flame. Suien, who was already weakened from his previous fight, barely made a water wall in time to block the attack. The water canceled out the flames, but the kunai hidden in the flames flew through it and pierced the man's chest. It distracted him enough that Naruto clones caught him in a barrage of fists and feet. The enormous power of the boy was no match for the shinobi.

With the after effects of the water leaving him feeling so defenseless and weak, he uncorked the jug and attempted to drink from it again, but a well aimed fireball from Sasuke caused it to shatter before it reached his lips.

"No!" he screamed.

Sasuke blew a great fireball and Naruto finished him off with a punch that sent him sailing over the falls.

Sai ran over to them and looked down. Unbidden images of blank-masked shinobi telling him that mercy was a weakness flashed before his eyes. He shook his head slightly to clear the confusion he felt each time he got one of those odd memories and asked, "Should we not go after him? He might still be alive."

"I think he learned not to mess with us," said Naruto while puffing out his chest.

"Why bother; he's probably dead," added Sasuke.

~~O~~

When Jiraiya returned to Takigakure a week later and learned what had happened, he was not pleased at all. While Naruto had already healed completely, Sai and Sasuke still sported numerous cuts and bruises.

The normally mellow Toad Sage berated them, "I leave you three here for two weeks and you go half-cocked into a battle that you were lucky to have survived! All of you could have been killed."

"But we weren't Pervy Sage. We had to help. It was the right thing to do," said Naruto quickly. He added, "Too many of their shinobi were still too weak to be able to defend their village."

"Zip it gaki," growled Jiraiya, "I'm not done yelling yet."

Each boy held a mutinous expression of varying degrees as they kept quiet and let the man rant. Words such as: danger, trouble magnets, morons, lucky, and just barely genin level were flung at them. Their eyes were glazed over with boredom and inattention by the time he calmed down. Sai's head even nodded a few times as he fought sleep.

They were all wide awake, however, after Jiraiya said in an unmistakably disapproving tone, "I heard you let Suien go."

"Well, he probably died," said Sasuke resentfully.

"That's right," shouted Naruto, annoyed at his tone, "We totally kicked his ass!" He bumped fists with the other two smugly.

Sai added, "Yes, we made him our female with a malicious or spiteful attitude."

Sasuke sighed, "Bitch, Sai…we made him our bitch."

"That's what I said."

Naruto slapped his hand over his eyes and shook his head in defeat. He said, "Man, you're nuts."

Sai replied with utmost seriousness, "I'm not crazy. My father had me tested."

"Yeah yeah, we know Aho." Naruto looked at Jiraiya and gave him a wide smile. "So, are you done yelling at us yet, Pervy Sage? We're sorry we didn't stay out of the way like good little boys and joined in the fight instead…"

Jiraiya's eye twitched.

"…but you know…I mean… hey, if you gotta choose between two evils, then you gotta at least pick the one you've never tried before, right?"

The Sannin resisted the urge to strangle the boys. "Go," he sputtered, "Just go and pack your things. We are leaving in the morning for the SummoningIslands." As they walked away, he sighed in frustration and raked his hand through his hair. "And don't think we aren't done with this discussion yet!" he shouted to their retreating backsides.

In the morning, they said their goodbyes to everyone. They had made many friends during their stay there and it was a little hard for them to leave.

Once they reached the base of the falls, Jiraiya stopped them. "I have a very important lesson for the three of you. Sasuke has already tried it, but now is the time to do it for real."

They boys looked at each other with a trace of reluctance. That twinkle in his eye did not bode well for them.

He held up a huge roll of bindings. "A true Shinobi lives in darkness. The night is his weapon..."

~~Konohagakure~~

Kakashi was at Ichiraku with the other parents when they opened their letters. They all looked at them in confusion. Ayame peered at it and asked, "Is it upside down?"

The copy-nin flipped it and studied it before turning it again. The letter was smeared in ink and covered in splotches. The kanji was not legible at all. "What is this," he finally asked. "Can anyone read theirs?"

No one could read his or hers. Ayame handed him a letter addressed to them all. He opened it and read aloud:

In case you're all wondering why you cannot read the boy's letters; it is because they have all been blindfolded for the entire journey to SummoningIslands. They are working on using their other senses. So I'll tell you what they all wrote. Jiraiya is the greatest ninja that ever lived. He is awesome, smart, and powerful. We all want to be just like him when we grow up. Oh and they also said they missed you all.

Jiraiya

Kakashi snorted. Ibiki let out a short bark of laughter. Mikoto smiled gently. They were all thinking the same thing… "Yeah, right!"

~~OMAKE~~

Nothing moved in the small section of the village where the intruders stood. Even the wind seemed to be holding its breath. Even though they were packed down with equipment, the three black clad individuals made no noise as they crept closer to the building in front of them.

"I can't believe we are actually doing this. Are you sure this is the right place?"

"I know what I'm doing. These are the correct coordinates, plus I've been here once before."

Several minutes passed in silence except for a slight metal scrape. One voice lowly muttered, "Damn thing won't open. Anyone else have any bright ideas?"

"Umm…open sesame, abracadabra, open please, bippidy boppidy boo…?"

With a small huff, one interjected, "Oh move over." There was a small tap and then a voice whispered, "Alohomora."

"This isn't Harī pottā to kenja no ishi," hissed another a second before they heard the soft click of the lock being released. "Well damn, it actually worked."

One of the intruder's blue eyes glittered as they took in the surroundings. "We have to hurry. Just get in and get out as fast as we can."

"Where is that room?" whispered one.

"How the hell would I know?"

"Shut the hell up before you two get us caught. I'll check upstairs, you two look around down here," hissed the third trespasser.

The black clad individual merged with the inky shadows and slowly, stealthily went up the stairs, hugging the wall to prevent any creaking from loose floorboards.

A door opened. Moonlight filtered through the window casting weak light to illuminate the room. The prowler carefully stepped over the items strewn all over the floor. On the desk lie photographs of various people. The interloper picked one up and studied the picture. Small creaks from downstairs made the person jump a little and move away. The photo was shoved into a bag as the person zipped out of the room with a racing heart.

Downstairs, the two other burglars found the room they were looking for. They groaned at the unintentional noise they made, but after several seconds of perfect silence, they heaved a sigh of relief. The third person entered quietly, making them give tiny squeaks of surprise. "There they are," hissed one, "Grab them and let's get the hell out of here before we get caught!"

A single narrowed eye watched the three figures flee from his house. He released the genjutsu and touched the spines of his treasured books, glad they were still safe.

~~O~~

Ayame woke with the feeling of lips pressed against hers. Without opening her eyes, she ran her fingers through the silver hair on man she loved with all her heart and deepened the kiss. Heart now pounding with anticipation, she looked up at the grinning man. "What has you looking like a cat that got the cream?"

Kakashi laughed out loud. "Anko's little devils tried to steal my Icha Icha books."

"Tried? And you didn't kill them!"

"Mah, only if they would have actually succeeded." He leaned over her and touched her breast. "Now where were we?" he asked lustily.

She ran her finger down his chest and said coyly, "How about page 271 from the second Icha book?"

Kakashi let out a sinful chuckle and said, "Why you wicked little thing, are you reading my mind?"

~~O~~

Sakura, Hinata, and Ino ran pell mell through the streets of Konoha; their bodies rushing with adrenaline. "I can't believe we actually did it!" Hinata gasped out, "Anko said this mission would be difficult, but we actually did it!"

"Of course we did it, we're awesome!" shouted Ino with a whoop.

"Be quiet, you two. We still have to meet up with Anko Sensei."

A figure stepped out of the shadows, bringing them to a halt. Anko gleefully held out her hands and said, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Ino handed her four orange and red books with a proud look.

Anko's look of glee was quickly replaced with disgust. "Cooking with Noodles… The Complete Companion to Curing Canines, Childrearing for Dummies… The Kama Sutra, hmm, maybe I'll keep that one…

"Girls, you failed…these are definitely not the books you were supposed to take."

"They were when we grabbed them!" said Ino hotly.

~~O~~

Bright and early the next morning, Ibiki opened his front door to leave for work. Kakashi was leaning against the railing with his nose buried in a book. At the squeal of the door, he lifted his head, gave a smile, and said, "Yo."

Ibiki grunted in reply. He eyed the three females next to him who were tied up, gagged, and shivering. "That's not for me is it?"

"Nope," replied the copy-nin cheerfully, "I'm just returning these to Anko."

"Ah." Nonplussed, he turned his head and said in a loud voice with a hint of humor, "Anko-chan, you have a package." He left the door open as he turned to leave. Ibiki shot over his shoulder, "Try not to kill her…I'm kind of attached to her."

Anko appeared seconds later and grinned unrepentantly. "Really Kakashi, did you have to keep them all night?" She pulled a kunai from who knows where and cut her students bindings. "Go home," she ordered, "I'll deal with you three later."

The three very annoyed girls slunk off with their sensei's mocking laughter ringing in their ears.

Kakashi smiled. "Mah," he said, "At least your other group made it all the way to my door before I sensed them. I actually had to rush to disarm all the more dangerous traps in my house. This team didn't even make it over the wall before getting caught. I thought it would be beneficial for them to spend the night in the trap to teach them a lesson." He leaned forward and held out his hand, "Come on now, hand it over. My wife is rather fond of that cookbook."

Anko stuck out her tongue and laughed at him. She tossed him three books lying on the side table just inside the apartment and tried to leave.

Kakashi shook his finger and intercepted her. "I think you're forgetting the Kama Sutra, Anko. While I'm sure Ibiki would love for you to read that one, I'm kind of fond of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Uh-huh." He tapped his Icha Icha and said, "Just keep it. Who knows, maybe you'll learn something new. This one is much better anyways." He gave the red-cheeked kunoichi a wink and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Pervert," muttered Anko.

AN:

Big thanks to my beta cookiemonster77; a person with vast amounts of patience. (She has to be that way to deal with me!). Also big thanks to my bestie, Nighttheraven, who I force to read my chapters at least three times each!

Thanks again for everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed my story. You all are so awesome.