Kakashi winces as the sound ninja, Abumi Zaku, has his arms blown up by his own chakra thanks to the blockage caused in his arms by Aburame Shino's bugs. A good rule of thumb, in Kakashi's humble opinion, is to never get on the bad side of the Aburame clan. Just … never.
"That one was kind of a given, really," Jiraiya comments quietly next to him,
Kakashi hums in agreement, watching as the medics hurry out to stem the bleeding and carry their patient away.
"Next match: Sunugakure's Temari vs. Konohagakure's Nara Shikamaru!" Shiranui Genma announces, looking vaguely green to Kakashi's eye. Not that Kakashi blames him, considering the first-row view the poor man has of these kids trying their best to slaughter each other.
Has the Chunin Exams always been this bad? Kakashi can't recall, but then his promotions have been field-ones so he can't really say.
You'd think Obito or Rin would've mentioned it though.
Thankfully the next match is not nearly as bad; more of a battle of minds than brute force, ultimately ending in the victory of the Nara heir - to the sound of a shrill "Don't you dare lose to that ugly bitch, Shikamaru!" from the stands. Glancing over, Kakashi spots Asuma and his team, sitting next to an uncomfortable looking Kurenai and the Inuzuka boy.
Considering what he's seen so far of the matches, Kakashi is still happy that none of his students are fighting today. He imagines Sakura in Hinata's place and shudders at the thought. Or Naruto, for that matter. Sasuke might have won, considering everything, but Kakashi still would've worried.
He offers a curt nod to his fellow sensei and returns to watching the arena.
"That was the first round of matches, folks! For those of you who've been keeping up, we're now down to five finalists: Sunugakure's Kankuro and Gaara, and Konhagakure's Hyuga Neji, Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru!"
The masses roar in excitement. Kakashi suppresses a yawn and pulls out his book to keep himself entertained. Perhaps he'll ask Jiraiya to sign it later.
Then again, perhaps he won't.
"Now, because there is an uneven number of participants, Nara Shikamaru will sit this round out."
The crowd cheers at this, apparently bored by the earlier display of strategy over practical skill.
"He will then fight one of the winners of the next round, and the third participant will fight the winner of that fight!"
"Come on already! Get on with the next fight!" Naruto shouts, waving his arms.
Jiraiya groans quietly but doesn't move to silence him this time, like he had before when he'd been cheering on the Hyuga heiress. Kakashi glances up at the premium balcony, noticing that Sakura still hasn't returned from wherever she went after that fight. Should he go check on her?
"Next match: Sunagakure's Kankuro vs. Konohagakure's Hyuga Neji!"
Nah, Kakashi decides as the participants make their way out into the arena. None of the people she's with seem worried. Probably just sick from watching the violence then.
Besides, he'd have to leave Sasuke alone then, since the boy seems determined to keep watching the matches. Kakashi studies the two boys, Naruto and Sasuke, over the edge of his book. They both have a little bit of a tan since last they saw each other, thanks to spending so much time outdoors. From what Kakashi has gathered. Jiraiya and Naruto have been travelling around the neighbouring towns and villages, never staying too long in one place and training far away from people.
Kakashi and Sasuke have taken a similar approach, Kakashi deducing that a change of scenery would be good for Sasuke. And it has. They've only returned for Sasuke's weekly appointments with the Yamanaka clan head, which Sasuke have dutifully if reluctantly attended. Kakashi isn't quite sure how things are going, other than that Inoichi is as worried as Kakashi is about the cursed seal's effect on Sasuke's mind.
Sasuke has improved by leaps and bounds though. He's now able to produce the chidori successfully, though he's limited to twice a day due to the drain on his chakra. Considering Kakashi's limit is four per day, that's quite good, actually. Besides that they've been training taijutsu and using the sharingan, both of which Sasuke is already good at and promises to be even better at than Kakashi one day. Sasuke had already figured out how to run through the trees but has improved on the skill, and is now able to shift between different surfaces almost seamlessly. His chakra control is still not perfect, the water rippling beneath his feet in the moment it takes him to adjust to walking on water and trees groaning under his chakra if he jumps from water to tree, but it's good nonetheless.
Below, the two contestants are exchanging blows, Neji seeming for some reason to be aiming for his opponents back this time around. Kakashi can't recall the Hyuga having a fighting style that requires attacking the back, but then maybe the boy has developed an original style of his?
A movement from the corner of his eye tells Kakashi that the Hyuga clan head has returned from wherever he's been - probably visiting his daughter in the infirmary, if he has any paternal instincts at all, not that Kakashi would be very surprised if that wasn't the case. Kakashi watches him curiously, but Hiashi is as level-faced as ever. If he's at all upset about his daughter losing her match he doesn't show it. He does, however, applaud with everyone else when his nephew is finally declared the winner of the match and the Sand-ninja is revealed to have hidden in the back of what was actually a doll the whole time.
"Next match: Sunagakure's Gaara vs. Konoha's Aburame Shino!"
The roars of the audience seem especially loud this time, as if egged on by the bloody display of the Aburame's previous match.
"Now that kid is trouble," Jiraiya whispers to Kakashi.
Kakashi eyes the red-headed Sand ninja: pale as if he's never seen the sun in his life and carrying a gourd that looks as if it weighs twice as much as the boy himself. He doesn't look like much of a threat, but all of Kakashi's instincts tell him that this is a dangerous child.
"That's the weird kid from before!" Naruto says. "The one who kept staring at me! All creepily!"
Kakashi looks between Naruto and the red-headed boy. Surely it's not-?
"It is," Jiraiya confirms quietly. "According to my sources, that kid is the Kazekage's third and youngest child, and the jinchuriki of the one-tails."
Well, shit, Kakashi thinks. Now he's even more happy that his students aren't fighting. The thought of Naruto and that boy fighting, tailed beast versus tailed beast … He shudders at the thought.
That could go badly.
As if to prove Kakashi's concern the boy proceeds to defeat the Aburame-boy without getting so much as a scratch on himself. The crowd boos, because neither participant has moved, staring each other down as bugs fight sand.
The Aburame boy looks aschen, but steps out of the arena on his own two legs.
"That was the second round of matches, folks! Hyuga Neji will sit out the next round and fight the winner of the next match, which will be Sunugakure's Gaara vs. Konohagakure's Shikamaru."
Kakashi winces at the declaration and the audience boos loudly enough that the Nara boy's "I forfeit," can barely be heard.
"Alright then," Genma says, fighting to make himself heard above the audience. "Nara Shikamaru forfeits the match. Gaara wins."
This time the roar of the masses is deafening and Genma has to duck the trash being thrown at him.
"Last match of the day, folks! Sunagakure's Gaara vs. Konohagakure's Hyuga Neji!"
In the periphery of his vision Kakashi sees the Hyuga clan head sit up straighter, shaking his head wordlessly.
To the crowd's roaring approval the Hyuga boy joins the Sand ninja in the arena, and the two of them face off.
"You can do it, Neji! Trust in the power of youth, and victory will be yours!"
The enthusiastic roar, followed by a smaller but almost equally enthusiastic cheer, draws Kakashi's gaze to Gai and the one of his students that is not participating today. Somehow they've snuck a big banderoll into the stands, saying GO NEJI-KUN! on one side, and GO LEE-KUN!" on the other side. Now they're both cheering for all that they're worth, waving the banderoll around wildly.
Hyuuga Hiashi twitches in his seat but does not comment on the chaotic display of support for his nephew.
Down in the arena, the match has started. The boy from Sand isn't moving, his sand blocking every attack from Neji as if it has a consciousness of its own. The Hyuga boy isn't giving up though; with the skill required of his clan's prefered battle style he swivels and swirls, jumps and dodges and attacks from every direction, testing the defence of the sand.
Gradually the speed of his attacks increases, his movements turning into a blur of movement. The crowd cheers. Naruto and Sasuke are both sitting at the edges of their seats. Hiashi is clutching the fabric of his robe in his hands but his face remains perfectly calm, if a little bit tense, and finally - finally - with a speed so great that even Kakashi is barely able to follow it without his sharingan, Neji is able to reach beneath the guard of the sand.
The red-headed boy goes flying with the force of the blow, careening into the ground with a look of astonishment on his face.
"YOHOOO! GREAT WORK NEJI-KUN!" Gai's female student cheers, echoed by her sensei.
Neji doesn't wait for his opponent to get up before he attacks, but somehow the sand still manages to block. Now it starts to form a dome over Gaara, as the boy slowly gets up, the sand not only protecting him but also actively reaching out for Neji with each blow. It forms into spikes, nearly piercing him straight through the chest several times as Neji continues his assault.
Kakashi yawns, wishing that the match would be over already. It's been a long couple of weeks. He's longing to go home to his apartment, have a nice shower and sleep in his own bed.
Actually, he might just skip the shower and head straight for bed. The exhaustion is really catching up to him. He yawns again, fighting to keep his eyes open, and -
"Kai!" he says, bringing his hands together and flaring his chakra.
The genjutsu breaks, releasing him from its hold, but Kakashi soon realises that he's not the only one under its grasp. Rather, he's one of the few people in this part of the stands that are still actually awake.
A shriek pierces the air, loud and terrified and chilling Kakashi to the bone. Looking down into the arena he sees that the sand at last has caught Neji in its hold, slowly crushing him.
Simultaneously, there's an explosion at the Hokage's balcony before it is enveloped in smoke.
Distantly Kakashi notes that the ANBU posted throughout the arena - far too few for Kakashi's liking, but stretched thin to cover the security at such a large event while also maintaining the normal, village-wide security - splitting into two groups, one heading for the Hokage's balcony and one to protect the Daimyo and the nobles.
Then the stands are swarmed by enemy shinobi, wearing the headbands of Sound and Sand, and Kakashi doesn't have time to think anymore.
Hell breaks loose.
He and the other jonin - Jiraiya, Asuma, Kurenai and anyone else who've come to watch the matches and managed to escape the genjutsu - jump to defend the unconscious civilians and fellow shinobi unlucky enough to be caught in the genjutsu.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi roars. "Wake Naruto and everyone else!"
Grateful that Sasuke is naturally skilled at resisting genjutsu, the way most Uchiha are - regardless whether or not they're actively using the sharingan at the time or not - he proceeds to make as much of a safe zone as possible for his two students.
On the roof, some sort of cubicle-shaped, chakra-field technique has appeared, locking the Hokage in with the Kazekage.
Below, Genma jumps in to save Neji, joined by Hiashi.
In the distance, Kakashi can hear the sound of fighting. The enemy must be attacking both from within and from outside the walls. How big is the genjutsu? The fact that it's big enough to affect the entirety of the arena is ridiculous enough, is it possible that it's affecting the entire village? The guards stationed at the wall?
"Wha-what's going on?" Naruto slurs.
Sasuke hurriedly explains, already working on releasing another shinobi from the genjutsu.
Kakashi cuts down a jonin from Sand.
Neji howls again. A glance below tells Kakashi that despite Genma and Hiashi working together they have yet to manage to release him. Two other Sand-ninjas have joined the red-head - his siblings?
"Hey! You've won the match! Release him already!"
And, despite Kakashi's prayers otherwise, Naruto jumps down into the arena to help Neji. Kakashi would groan, if he weren't otherwise occupied at the moment.
"Go after him Sasuke! Make sure he doesn't die!"
Sasuke obeys without a word.
"Are you sure sending those two after him is the best idea?" Jiraiya asks, jumping in to stop a Sound-ninja from stabbing Kakashi in the back.
"No. Feel free to stop them though."
Jiraiya blocks the attack of two other ninjas and backs up, fighting back to back with Kakashi. The enemies don't give him enough space to use his summoning jutsu, which is his usual prefered fighting style. Which might be just as well, given the destruction giant toads would cause in such a relatively confined space, with so many unconscious civilians and lower-ranked shinobi to get trampled.
Somehow Naruto's and Sasuke's combined efforts manage to distract Gaara enough that Hiashi and Genma are able to pull Neji free, and they are immediately joined by medics hurrying away with the boy. A moment later the Sand-siblings' sensei, Baki, attacks them.
"Snakes!" someone roars from beyond the arena. "Giant snakes-"
"I believe that's my cue," Jiraiya states, cutting down another enemy. "Excuse me, Kakashi. You can handle things here on your own, right?"
Kakashi grunts in agreement, not so much because he's certain that he can manage this mess as because he's certain that no one but Jiraiya will be able to manage giant snakes. Especially if those snakes are Orochimaru's summons. Kakashi will just have to be able to manage this.
Jiraiya disappears, and Kakashi tries to make his way over towards Asuma and Kurenai, soon thereafter joined by Gai.
"The kids are trying to wake people up," Asuma tells him.
They need to keep the kids safe then, Kakashi thinks.
"Ten Ten went to the infirmary, to make sure Lee was alright," Gai adds.
Kakashi takes a mental count of this particular part of the stands. Him, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, protecting Asuma's Ino and Choji as well as Kurenai's Kiba while the three of them work on releasing the genjutsu. It's not a very good starting point, but for the time being they'll have to do what they can to protect both the genin and the civilians.
"I WILL KILL YOU!" a monstrous voice roars, somehow managing to be heard above the noise of battle.
The shout is followed by the, to Kakashi's ears, familiar sound of chirping birds. Sasuke is holding up then. Kakashi glances down into the arena, and his breath catches in his throat. Where before there was a red-headed boy now stands a monstrous creature, half human half something else. A large front paw, more than twice the size of the boy, extends out from his shoulder, before Sasuke's chidori very nearly cuts it in half - if not for the sudden burst of wind throwing him off course.
Definitely a jinchuuriki, Kakashi deduces. And clearly Sand is intending to release the beast within Konoha.
Kakashi stumbles as he cuts down another enemy, abruptly realising that his two students are currently the only thing distracting from a disaster of potentially even greater scale than the Nine-Tails' attack. Currently Gaara is focused on Naruto and Sasuke, not on the transformation of the beast, but the other two Sand-siblings are doing their best to draw Naruto and Sasuke away.
"Asuma!" Kakashi barks. "Tell your kids to help mine!"
"What?!"
"They need to distract the Sand ninja. Temari and Kankuro. Naruto and Sasuke are distracting Gaara from transforming."
Asuma takes a moment to study the scene beneath them before nodding grimly.
"Ino! Choji!"
The two only hesitate for a moment before they jump to do as told.
"We need to empty the stands, in case that kid transforms!" Asuma continues. "Kurenai, you work on releasing the genjutsu. The rest of us will protect you."
Kurenai cuts an enemy's throat before diving into the relative cover of the seated crowd, where she is at least somewhat hidden from sight. Kakashi and the others move to cover her, without being too obvious about it. A couple of moments later he can feel Kurenai's chakra reaching out, searching for the root of the genjutsu.
Too bad Kakashi really isn't that good at genjutsu, despite his sharingan. For a moment he recalls his time in ANBU, back before the Uchiha massacre, and how useful it had been to have an Uchiha on his team. Have Itachi on his team. How he'd been able to detect, track and dispel genjutsu in moments, long before anyone else even realised it was there - or before the enemy even realised they'd been discovered.
But that's the kind of sharingan-mastery that Kakashi can only dream of. True, his sharingan will help him detect genjutsu when exposed but Kakashi's true strength lies in copying the moves of his enemies.
For now, he'll have to trust Kurenai's mastery of genjutsu.
Ino is not ashamed to admit that she's terrified.
Well, not too ashamed.
Her home is being invaded by enemies, by Sand and Sound, the Hokage is isolated and fighting the Kazekage, there are giant snakes destroying large parts of the village and in the middle of the arena a boy no older than her is transforming into something not human. Something monstrous. And she'd seen him in the Forest of Death, seen him kill a whole group of genin just for the fun of it, seen him laugh at their deaths - she knows that he's a monster, human-shaped or not - but this - this is something different.
She's terrified for herself, realising just how outmatched she is against all of these enemies, terrified for her parents and her clan, both of whom are no doubt fighting to defend their home, their village, and whom she might never see alive again.
This is not the right time for Ino to be terrified. She'll have to spend a lot of time in meditation, healing her mindscape later, but for now she shows her terror down, channeling it into one single, primitive thought.
She's going to take down that ugly Sand-bitch.
"Choji, cover me!"
Immediately upon them landing in the arena Choji is on the offensive, moving to herd the two semi-normal looking Sand-shinobi away from the monster. Ino remains closer to the arena's wall, crouching down and forming the seal for the mind/body disturbance technique, waiting for a suitable opening. She's been training with her parents this past month, ever since her defeat at the hands of The Bitch, and she's faster, more flexible, but she still needs her opponent to stand still for a couple of moments for the jutsu to take.
Unfortunately, neither of the Sand-shinobi seem to intend to stand still for long enough to make a target out of themselves. Choji is doing his best against the both of them, but then The Bitch notices Ino, and with a short order from her Doll-Boy manages to distract Choji with his stupid doll while The Bitch attacks Ino.
"Troublesome woman," a familiar voice suddenly drawls next to her.
Shikamaru's shadow shoots out, catching The Bitch just a moment before her ugly, stupid, hideous, terrifying fan is about to smash Ino to pieces.
"Perfect timing, Shika," she manages to squeak, before taking the opening he has provided for her.
Kindly enough he does not comment on the high pitch of her voice, and a moment later she's in The Bitch's mind - and urgh, she's so going to need a bath after this, even though she knows that she's not physically getting dirty, she just feels dirty from being in the mind of someone so ugly.
Sand will pay for making her feel ugly.
She can feel the moment Shikamaru releases The Bitch from his shadow jutsu, recognising that she has taken over The Bitch's mind, and together they turn towards Choji and the remaining enemy.
"Let's teach Doll-Boy here what happens when you invade Konoha," Ino says, smiling sharply.
The weight of the fan is unfamiliar in her hands but The Bitch's muscle memory serves her decently enough that she at least can wield it as a club.
"Temari?!" Doll-Boy shrieks as she attacks.
"This way! Hurry this way an' evacuate!" Kurenai's Kiba shouts, trying to make himself heard over the noise of fighting.
Genin and civilians alike awake from the genjutsu, groggy and confused and panicking at seeing the many enemies and the fighting happening all around them.
"This way-"
The boy is pushed aside as some civilian tries to flee, only succeeding in drawing the attention of one of the enemies. Kakashi throws himself in between, blocking the sword with one of his kunai and stabbing with his free hand.
"Please follow the genin and evacuate the arena as quickly and orderly as possible," he roars, using his most commanding tone.
It's chaos, but at least it's a chaos that is trying to evacuate. Kakashi can only hope that no one gets trampled in the process.
Down in the arena, Asuma's kids are ganging up on Kankuro, forcing him on the retreat, while Sasuke and Naruto are fighting Gaara. Between the two of them they are somehow able to keep the enemy occupied, not giving him enough time to properly transform. Which is exactly what Kakashi wants.
"How's it going, dear rival of mine?" Gai asks as the fighting brings the two of them closer together for a moment. If he's anything but thrilled at the fighting he does not show it. "How many have you killed?"
"22," Kakashi grunts.
Not that he's been counting or anything.
Gai laughs victoriously.
"Victory will be mine then! This was number 23 for me!"
"I wasn't aware this was a challenge."
Kakashi's voice is drowned out as Gai roars and jumps another group of enemies.
Above them, on the rooftop, Kakashi can feel massive amounts of chakra contained by the cubical chakra field; two Kage fighting. The field obscures any chance he has of seeing what goes on within it, but there are several cloaked ANBU waiting outside so Kakashi will just have to assume that they know what they're doing.
And pray that the Hokage is spry for his age.
It's not enough.
He's not enough.
Sasuke pants heavily, retreating for a moment to regain his breath as Naruto spams and spams and spams their enemy with his stupid, fucking clones.
The same stupid, fucking clones that succeeds with what Sasuke is failing is failing to do.
That is, causing any damage to their enemy. To Gaara.
Whatever he does his taijutsu doesn't seem to be enough to even scratch him.
None of his fire-techniques seem to affect him.
Were it not for the sharingan, Sasuke is convinced that he himself would have been flattened by that giant paw a long time ago.
Only the chidori seems to hurt him, and he has already used it twice. He's at his limit.
Weak, a voice whispers in his mind. His voice.
Foolish little brother-
Cling to your pitiful life.
There is no value in killing the likes of you.
Weak.
If you want to kill me-
-no value in -
-cling to your pitiful-
Sasuke growls, clenching his jaws together hard enough that it hurts. He can't be this weak. He can't let himself be overshadowed by the idiot. He has to get stronger!
He thinks of the seal on his neck, of the power it promises. It's tempting. But he also recalls the lantern in his mindscape, the unnatural wrongness of it. He'll use it if he has to - if he absolutely has to, because Kakashi can't blame him for using it to save his life - but for now, he'll just use whatever other means he has.
If that means forcing another chidori, then so be it.
He runs through the seals of the jutsu, focusing his chakra and clenching his jaw again as the electricity starts to peel away at his skin.
With a roar he charges, straight at his enemy, mindless of the clones popping right and left as he tears a path for himself through them, his eyes locking with those of the monster. The monster smiles gleefully, facing him head on.
Sasuke will show him.
Show everyone.
He won't be weak any more.
Then, just a few steps before he's there, before his chidori-charged fist makes contact, his chakra flickers and dies. His Sharingan turn themselves off, sight returning to normal, and in that moment of blurry vision Sasuke stumbles.
Landing face-first before the Sand-monster.
His limbs won't move, his whole body aching horribly, protesting even the thought of moving even as that unnatural front paw moves to strike him down. To flatten him like a bug against the ground.
"Summoning jutsu!"
He's not sure what happens next, just that it's the idiot. Again.
Something large tears the monster away, sending him crashing into the wall of the arena. Clones, several of them, come to carry him away to safety. Sasuke growls angrily at them but his body won't obey him enough to even slap their idiot hands away from him.
"Don't worry Sasuke, we've got you," two of them echo each other at him.
Sasuke would say something scathing, except his attention is drawn to the absolutely giant frog currently beating Gaara into the ground.
When and how did the idiot learn to become this strong?
At first Kakashi thinks that Jiraiya is back from fighting Orochimaru's summons. Then he catches a glimpse of the blonde on top of the giant toad's head, and for a moment his heart leaps with joy, because - Minato-sensei.
Then reality - and a Sound ninja - comes crashing back down on him, taking his breath away.
He kills the Sound ninja and glances back down into the arena, where the giant toad is now beating Gaara into the ground, the transformation of the jinchuriki disappearing with every blow.
Jiraiya must have taught Naruto the summoning jutsu. Not only that, but he'd allowed Naruto to sign the toad summoning contract. The very same contract that Minato-sensei had signed. Kakashi can even remember the damn toad's name; Gamabunta. The stubborn, grumpy old chief toad of Mount Myoboku, whom Minato-sensei had spoken so fondly about.
It's as if the sight has opened up a wound Kakashi thought was healed a long time ago, only to discover that it's been festering beneath the skin for the last decade. Maybe Inoichi was on to something, after all, back in Kakashi's mindscape.
For the moment, however, there's nothing Kakashi can do about it. Naruto is doing perfectly fine on his own and there's enemies trying their damndest to cut Kakashi's throat off. Kakashi cuts and stabs and slices - all the while counting, because he's not going to let Gai win, even if they're not really competing, so 44, 45, 46 - and pushes the pain aside.
He cannot help but marvel at just how well suited Jiraiya is as a teacher to Naruto. Not only are their personalities not unalike, but they both have a truly ridiculous amount of chakra: Jiraiya by virtue of being a freak of nature and Naruto by the combined virtues of being an Uzumaki and having the Nine-Tails sealed within him. In other words, he's perfectly suited to teaching Naruto the kind of head on, brawling kind of fighting style that suits him the best.
Not at all like Kakashi, who relies much more on precise chakra control, finesse and carefully honed skills. Plus, you know, his little copying trick with the sharingan.
His heart aches with a premonition of what will happen. In his mind he can already see Naruto walk away, leaving him for a sensei that is better suited to teaching him what he needs to know. And Kakashi honestly cannot blame him.
"YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU DEFEAT ME?"
The voice that speaks isn't human, and loud enough to make the very arena vibrate with it. Kakashi, and just about every ninja remaining alive, stops to stare as two large paws burst into existence, pushing the giant toad back.
"I AM GOING TO TEAR YOU APART, LIMB BY LIMB-"
Gamabunta is forced back, fighting as best as he can as the monster starts to take form, head and shoulders forming out of the sand, still somehow supported by a pair of boy's legs that look impossibly small in comparison. All the while, Naruto is clinging to Gamabunta's head, screaming encouragement and threats alike to no avail.
"-FEAST ON YOUR BLOOD AND YOUR PITIFUL SCREAMS-"
If Gaara transforms they're going to lose. Even if they manage to somehow take him down, the damage he'll cause, the destruction he'll bring -
Kakashi takes a wider stance, swiftly running through the familiar hand seals, feeling the electricity envelop his arm as he reaches up with his free hand to reveal his sharingan, when -
When Gamabunta loses his footing and is sent stumbling straight for the stands where Kakashi is standing.
"-AND YOU WILL KNOW TRUE PAIN! THE KIND OF PAIN THAT I-"
Kakashi just manages to abort the attack, focusing instead on not getting crushed beneath Gamabunta's massive weight. The stands and the wall of the arena comes crashing down, the sound deafening, momentarily drowning out even the sound of Gaara's ranting.
Thankfully the civilians are gone by now, or there'd be massive losses in this alone.
"I will show you true pain."
To the familiar sound of chirping birds and buzzing electricity a creature appears, speaking in Sasuke's voice but having none of his looks. His skin is dark grey, his hair longer and wilder and having taken on a blue hue in the sunlight, with what Kakashi can only describe as claw-shaped wings carrying him through the air and straight towards Gaara. Kakashi can only stare, reluctantly marvelling at Orochimaru's power, as Sasuke cuts down the halfway transformed jinchuriki, reducing him to sand once more.
Gamabunta scrambles back to his feet but it's no longer necessary. Where before there was a monster, now lies an unconscious boy.
A moment later Sasuke's eyes roll back, and he joins the other boy on the ground as he faints.
Kakashi breathes a sigh of relief.
"HEY! That's the infirmary that you just crushed you big, old … toad?"
Glancing back at the wreckage Kakashi spots Gai's female student standing in the remains of a corridor that is now gaping open. Slung over her shoulder is her teammate's - Lee's - arm as she glares confusedly up at Gamabunta.
"Sorry kiddo," Gamabunta grumbles. "I didn't squash anyone important, did I?"
Kakashi snorts to himself, because Gamabunta sounds like a yakuza gangster apologising for stepping on someone's pet hamster.
"HINATA!"
Hiashi Hyuga comes running, an expression of terror on his ordinarily blank face.