Another awkward chapter, and another one below the 4k mark (3.6)

Hopefully, you don't mind too much.

The battlefield they found themselves on was obviously better suited to the enemy, Lee concluded. While he was just as good as any other leaf ninja when fighting in the treetops, his one and only style was straight up taijutsu, something he judged the opponent to be wary of.

He won't be able to finish this one alone, that much he knew. While it was bold of him to take initiative, the decision was ultimately Shikamaru's to make, and he blatantly ignored that fact... Hopefully, scattering the foes will prove to be a good call.

As for his foe, he was currently trying to seal off a section of the forest in his web-like substance, creating what was essentially an arena for the two of them. That was ok, a fight without challenge is not a real fight...

Leaping from branch to branch, flipping around the tree trunks and having enough close calls to be reminded that he's not at his best, Lee tried to find an opening, but his opponent didn't seem willing to leave even one.

"I see. Your preferred range is long-distance." He observed, dancing between the branches, realizing that his opponent's arena would soon be finished. He had no problem fighting in an enclosed space, but if his opponent was successful, the reinforcements he figured were on their way would be delayed.

If only he could get a clear line of sight at the foe...

/OST: Strong and Strike

A blade tinted gold flew by his ears, making the genin flinch for a split second. His eyes fixed on the visage of the spider-like foe, and he darted forward. His path was cut off, however, by an entire salvo of similar bladed weaponry, the enemy ducking out of sight.

"Your evasive tactics are effective, but speak volumes about your vulnerabilities," he began, having hidden himself well enough to avoid immediate retaliation, "am I right in assuming that taijutsu is your weakest discipline?"

"Stop talking!" came the reply, another golden blade lodging itself into a tree not too far from where Lee was crouching, "Is talking all you Konoha trash can do?"

He swung around from his perch, revealing his position for the time being, "Here I am! Come at me, punk!"

Of course, Lee needed not be told twice. In barely a second, his leg was being driven through the branch the spider was standing on, sending it plummeting to the hard ground, the sound ninja leaping away with a confused expression on his face.

"You... attacked the branch?" he asked, hands already busy readying another glob of webbing.

"A long-ranged foe compensates for his weakness in close combat with evasiveness. Taking out your footing gives me the advantage." the green-clad genin answered, leaping back in order to make more room for the inevitable dodging.

Kidomaru didn't seem impressed, throwing on an annoyed expression, "See? Why the hell would you tell me that!? What the fuck is wrong with you?" he all but roared, splitting the large glob into six smaller ones, chucking them in a steady barrage at the spots Lee occupied moments after the genin had already moved.

The kid was fast, and there was enough room for him to dodge... the solution was simple then - take away that room. Eventually, he'll slip up and then it's pretty much game over.

So, with plan in mind, he began chucking globs left and right, knowing full well that he'll probably have more than enough chakra even if something unexpected happens. Of course, his foe didn't seem to agree with the idea, doing his best to get in close and use that ungodly speed to overwhelm him.

After a few seconds, he realized that the circle they were moving in was getting smaller with every go around, more and more of the surrounding forest becoming indiscernible behind the layers of white substance. Unless he could somehow stop the enemy in the next minute or so, he would undoubtedly end up caught in the web.

Deciding to up his game, Lee shot forward once more, fast enough to appear beside the spider quicker than he could react.

"Now!" he shouted, swinging his leg outwards in a wide arc, intending to sweep the foe down into his own web. It would probably be little more than an inconvenience for the sound ninja, but at this point, the genin would settle for any advantage he could get.

Only... the hit didn't connect... not with the enemy.

Hitting what looked to be the foe, Lee realized all too late that it was a clone of some kind, dissolving into thick white material on impact. He tried pulling away before it takes hold, but the substance was stuck to him the moment he had touched it, and he realized that he was a sitting duck.

Brief panic flooded the genin, the realization that he had bitten off more than he could chew hitting him like a kick from Guy-sensei. He grit his teeth, trying to find something to shield himself with; if he is to survive this, he'd need a lucky break...

"Seriously?" a voice came from somewhere above, sounding exasperated, "All it took to get you was a damn clone?"

"I will admit that illusions of any kind are my primary weakness." he answered, his voice somewhat colder due to the severity of the situation. Once again, his over-eagerness had landed him in trouble... only this time, there was no one there to back him up.

"Your entire being is weakness, punk." The spider answered, smirking to himself, "If you think you can make it as a shinobi just with punches and kicks, you've got another thing coming!"

His arms unfolded, sending the assembled bunch of knives he crafted whizzing through the air, intent on burying themselves into the genin's flesh. At this distance and altitude, the odds of every hit being perfectly accurate were just below 'guaranteed'.

"Die!" he roared, uninhibited glee shining maliciously in his eyes.

Lee's eyes widened as the life-threatening salvo edged closer with each second. This was it, he realized; the blades would pierce a vital organ of his and he would lose all his strength in a heartbeat. He could get his leg out of the web, and the web itself was stuck to the branch...

The branch.

Instincts kicking in, the green-clad genin brought his fist down onto the very branch he was standing on, breaking it apart with the same ease he demolished training logs, sending it, and himself, plummeting towards the ground.

The fall won't be an easy one, but it would be better than becoming a human target, he reckoned.

He watched with surprising indifference as the look on the spider's face changed from smug confidence into one of pure surprise and anger, watched as the treetops and the small crack of sky between them grew more distant with each moment, realizing that the undeniable force that is gravity was going to smash both him at the branch at speed that easily overshot 'dangerous'.

Few things could be compared to a fall. It wasn't like Guy-sensei's strong fist punch, nor was it any similar to Neji's juken strike. It was as if the entire world fell upon him, while the truth was the exact opposite - he was the one who had fallen.

It hurt. The amount of pressure would definitely destroy any ordinary ninja.

Fortunately for him, Lee was anything but ordinary.

Once his eyes snapped open, he realized that both his legs were somehow free. For a split-second, his stare darted to the branch beside him, ruined as it was, only to notice that the webbing was split, as if cut apart by some invisible blade.

Blinking once, he stood up, still feeling a bit shaky. His vision seemed blurry, and the fall had knocked most of the air from his lungs, turning his breath deep and gluttonous for more life-giving oxygen. If the enemy took a potshot at him right now, he might not be able to...

"Take a moment to catch your breath, Lee. I can handle him."

It was Neji.

Lee grinned, reinforcements have arrived, just in the nick of time. Rarely did he appreciate seeing that thin scowl trademarked by the Hyuga, but this time he could make an exception.

"You little bitch!" came a roar from somewhere up above, "bringing friends to do your fighting for you!"

The two members of Team Guy exchanged momentary looks, both giving a smirk. Of course they would do the fighting for one another... wasn't that the whole point of being teammates?

"Rest up, help Sakura. I'll teach this one some respect." Neji briefly spoke, then leapt up, disappearing into the treetops.

Sakura, who was already finishing up the process of wrapping the unconscious girl with enough ninja wire to hold several people, gave him a grin and a thumbs up, mimicking his and Guy-sensei's trademark expression perfectly.

She took care to bind her as a volatile target, meaning that the wire needed to be knotted and positioned over some crucial chakra points, suppressing chakra usage somewhat, hopefully enough to keep the girl from using the curse mark.

"Do you need any help?" Lee offered, having recovered somewhat.

She shook her head, not taking her eyes off of her work.

"You need to get back into that fight as soon as possible, Lee. Let me worry about the small stuff ok?" she spoke, her voice somehow distant.

There was a strange expression on her face, one of focus and worry, but he opted to listen to only her words. If the situation was less intense, he would've asked her about it, but that needed to wait. A minute or two, just for his leg to stop pulsing with the dull pain of impact, and he would be leaping right back into the fray...

Hopefully, Neji would have an easier time dealing with the foe than he did.

For some reason, their target stopped fleeing.

Kiba, being the nose that he was, pointed out as much, wondering aloud if it could be an ambush. Then again, unless he got his locale mixed up, up ahead was nothing but a clearing, a terrible place to set a hot ambush. The terms 'hot' and 'cold' ambush were sometimes used by more experienced ninja to differentiate between a classic bushwhack and a simple surprise attack by a pursued unit that had reached more favorable terrain.

"It could be. Let's get closer and check it out." Naruto offered.

They had stopped taking the treeway, walking the forest path with a somewhat calmer pace. If the colossus moved, Kiba would know, and they could go back to tree-hopping in a moment; taking it easy was simply a better decision at the moment.

"And if he sees us?" Kiba protested, his voice naturally aggressive.

"We attack him?" the blonde replied, slightly surprised that the Inuzuka couldn't come to the same conclusion.

"And he's just going to sit there and take it?"

"It'd get the mission done?" he offered weakly, realizing that it's a losing argument.

"Idiot." Kiba muttered, crossing his arms.

"Woof!"

"I don't care, Akamaru. I'll speak my mind if I so please!"

"Woof."

Kiba only rolled his eyes at that, while Naruto chuckled at the exchange. He didn't know many other Inuzuka, most of the ones he saw being veteran tracker-nin, people too devoted to their job to recall the fact that they're actually people who should enjoy themselves from time to time.

At least his classmate wasn't likely to head down that path, if his temper was any measure...

"Up ahead." Kiba muttered.

"Alright. How do we do this?" Naruto began, hunching down a bit instinctually.

The Inuzuka fixed him with an exasperated stare. "What the heck? I thought you said we're going to jump him."

Uzumaki shook his head. "I said we should take a look."

"Idiot." the hooded boy muttered once again, hunkering down. They were at the edge of the clearing, and the enemy was clearly visible, sitting smack dab in the middle of it, meditating.

It could be a trap, but it didn't smell like any kind of clone, and senior Inuzuka usually knew most of the commonly-used clone techniques in order to train themselves. Kiba didn't have the reserves for a clone of his own, of course, but after the personal fiasco that was the chunin exam, he made sure to learn how to tell a copy apart from the real thing.

"So now what?" The boy growled, keeping his voice down.

"We get his attention and hit him when he comes to investigate?"

"That would work." Kiba nodded.

"Really? Ok, then we could..."

"On an academy student." the boy finished, frowning. Predictably enough, Naruto mimicked the expression not a moment later.

"Well, what then? I can pop a few clones and try and get his attention, but there's a chance he might see the smoke..."

oOoOoOo

Jirobo stared at the two bickering genin from his perch on the tree, feeling the wind whip against his bare skin.

Inuzuka were tricky pursuers to shake, so he had to get creative and leave his shirt on a hastily constructed earth double. It's not going to do anything but sit there, but then again, it was doing the one thing it was intended for perfectly - distraction.

Up on the tree, his scent was carried away by the wind, effectively concealing him. Not only that, but he had clear line of sight on the two, and could easily drop down and knock their heads together if they turn out to be stupid enough to try and make a move against the dummy.

He took a breath, focusing on the argument once again.

"So, let me get this straight, you want to knock him out with just two jutsu?" Kiba asked, astounded.

"My Rasengan and your Gatsuuga." Naruto replied, giving a confident smile.

"The only way that's going to happen is if he's unable to protect himself from the Gatsuga, Naruto. Sure, I can tear his guts out, but even the tiniest bit of chakra ruins it." the Inuzuka deadpanned, wishing he could cross his arms several times over to show just how frustrated he was getting.

"And I'm telling you that once I hit my jutsu, you'll have no trouble hitting yours." the blonde defended, still looking confident.

"So we kill him?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can we risk trying to capture someone..." he pointed to the 'Jirobo' that was meditating in the clearing, "...that big?"

Kiba gave a reluctant nod, "Guess not."

Akamaru waved his tail quickly for a few seconds, then began circling around his partner's legs.

"Ok, so let's say that that idiot plan of yours works... what then?"

"Guide me to where Shikamaru and Sasuke are, and then go help Lee and Neji."

"Or I could leave your bum ass here."

Naruto shrugged.

"This blows." Kiba declared.

"Eh?" Naruto eloquently answered, not really getting the sudden change of topic.

"It's always you or Sasuke," Kiba frowned, crouching down to scratch Akamaru behind the ears, "It's always you two taking the spotlight, leaving the rest of us in the dust."

"What?"

"Think about it! How the hell am I supposed to feel after seeing you take down that thing Gaara turned into? How am I supposed to match the big-ass toad boss you brought out?" the boy went on, sounding progressively more bitter as it went on.

"What, am I supposed to be happy with being a background character while you guys reap all the glory? I'm supposed to become head of my clan some day, Naruto, and the Inuzuka value individual strength a whole lot more than the Konoha shinobi system." he explained, sighning.

"I didn't know you felt that way..." Naruto drawled, finding himself unable to come up with an answer for the unspoken accusation. How could he apologize for being a good shinobi? For being strong?

"You beating me was a fluke, dammit!" Kiba all but shouted, forcing the blonde to quickly cover his mouth.

"Damn it! You'll give us away!" Naruto hissed, slowly pulling his hand back, "we can have a rematch later, ok? Right now, we need to take this guy down."

/Prepare OST: Turn Over

There was a rustling sound, followed by the hum of the wind. Both genin paused, wondering why that sound surprised them so much, only to turn their gazes upwards and discover the sound's source a few moments too late. The titan, chest bare and stomach flapping, came crashing down, landing with enough force to unbalance both boys and send the pup rolling away into some nearby shrubbery.

"IDIOTS!"Jirobo roared, grasping their heads with his gigantic hands and pulling them together with as much force as he could muster.

There was a satisfying 'bonk', and the two boys collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Wait, that was it? He went to all that trouble to deceive these two morons? In his surprisingly storied career as a shinobi, Jirobo never came across a couple of specimens as ill-suited to being ninja as the two cretins he had relieved of consciousness just now. If this was the extent of the backup that the Uchiha gathered, there was hope for the four of them yet.

"To think that I wasted my time with trash like you..."

All of a sudden, there was a pop, and the two boys disappeared, leaving only a smallish cloud of smoke behind. His eyes widened, realization coming far too slow for him to do anything.

"Wha..."

"RASENGAN!"

Naruto sprung from the bush the puppy was tossed into, slamming the spiraling blue orb into the colossus' stomach, sending him torpedoing backwards, out to the clearing and straight into the decoy Jirobo.

"Gatsuga!" Came a shout from somewhere.

He wanted to focus, to activate the curse mark and get out of the way... but with no air in his lungs from the blonde kid's jutsu, all he could do was let off a soundless scream as the spiraling duo shot across the clearing like a pair of arrows, making a straight, unmistakable line towards him.

In his last moment, Jirobo thought only of the fact that it was far too chilly a day to go around shirtless.

"Booyah! Teamwork!" Naruto shouted, completely ignoring the fact that the sound ninja was a bloody mess in the middle of the clearing. He knew the job when he applied for it, and Kakashi made sure they all killed their fair share of nameless bandits, killing off any sympathy they may ever get for the enemy.

Kiba walked over from the clearing, both him and Akamaru surprisingly clean for a duo that had just burrowed their way through a person.

"I'll say it again, this blows." Kiba deadpanned, but then followed it up with a smirk.

"Oh, come on! It worked perfectly!" Naruto protested, turning around and starting in the direction opposite of the clearing. They didn't have the time to clean up the body, but both boys knew the exact location, so it won't be much of a hassle to go back later.

"Yeah, yeah. Lemme see you do that without me to point out that the big fuck was waiting to jump us." Kiba boasted, grinning.

"You don't mess with leaf ninja!" Naruto concluded, returning the grin.

"Damn right."

"Woof!"

The sound five were a bunch of ragtag misfits, as far as he was concerned. And in all honesty, aside from him and lord Orochimaru himself, no one gave two figs about the four of them.

Kimimaro stood atop a small cliff, watching over the forest. He could sense that two of the five had already gotten themselves killed, if the sudden disappearance of their chakra was any signal. The other two were still kicking, and fairly actively too.

The Rashomon was summoned, that much was obvious. Seeing the demonic visage of the great gate confirmed that the twins were alive, but there was no other way of telling exactly who evaded death. He had expected the Uchiha hours ago, and it seemed as if he was going to have to go retrieve him himself...

They shouldn't bother coming back, he thought. He would not allow them to live after failing lord Orochimaru.

Silent and scowling, Kimimaro leapt from the cliff, intent on finding the Uchiha and hauling him back to the sound. Over the past few months, the disease he was sure would kill him was all but gone, a miserable reminder of its' existence being the fact that his body was no longer fit to serve as a vessel for the man to whom he owed everything.

It pained him, being unable to serve at his fullest capacity, but if this Uchiha would be some solace for the sannin, he would go to any lengths to retrieve him. After all, what could a mere genin do to him?

Even if there were several squads of them, it was very likely that they would all fall to his first dance... there was no need to exert himself dealing with trash, after all. But if he is late, and Orochimaru-sama had taken a different host body... he won't show it, of course, but the disappointment would be so painfully obvious in the way he would look at him...

What good is his loyalty if he fails his assignment? Would he not be any different from the misfits? He had the Kaguya bloodline, of course, but that granted him only so much leeway...

On the inside, Kimimaro was slowly working himself up to a rage... on the outside, however, he simply kept walking, edging ever closer to the Rashomon in the distance with each step. If he could trust anything, it was the fact that the Konoha shinobi wouldn't be smart enough to back off the moment they took down the four.

Once he arrived, however, anything they would do would be too little too late.

Scouring the latest big hits among the Naruto fics, I've come to realize that Sakura empowerment fics get tons of positive feedback (reviews, follows, favs) for very little work. Is that because the Naruto fandom has a surprisingly noticeable female fanbase, which led to many a fan identifying themselves as the promising yet conflicted pinkette? Or am I just missing something?

If anyone can PM me a promising summary, I will be eternally grateful.

Also, 100th reviewer (if by some miracle the story reaches 100 with this chapter) can ask anything of me as a writer, and if it is within my power to grant, they shall have it. (If they're a guest, they might have to wait :P)

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next one will be better, believe it!