A bit earlier than intended, but the story is progressing well and I'm slightly ahead of schedule. To give you a bit of insight. There are currently 12 chapters after his one, that only need minor tweaks before they are ready for release, with at the very least, another 10 to wrap up the story entirely. That's a rough estimate, so take the latter part with a grain of salt!

A quick thank you for the people who reviewed, favorited, or put the story on your alert list:

SphinxNeo897, dartanias75, Eduardo Amaya, Lee Newberry, Stalker1, hiasdgff95, MinatoSol, muhammadfairuz, KaiEmblem, Nithi velu

Apologies if I've forgotten anyone!

Enjoy!

Protocol: Fallout

Micheru looked on in horror as Naruto was blasted off the roof and came crashing down into one of the buildings far-far below. "Naruto!"

"Kami! What just happened?!" Kakashi looked on in shock at the event that had just unfolded.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, anger lingering just below the surface. He reached for his headset and clicked it on. "Kankuro-san, you need to order Gaara to immediately divert his defenses to the wall. If he doesn't put up a wall to stop the shifters from attacking, we're going to lose a lot of men.

As he was saying that another group of shifters attacked and took another few dozen shinobi with them down below.

"I'm on it!"

"We need to go looking for Naruto!"

"There's no chance in hell he's still alive!" the Ame-nin from earlier exclaimed.

Kakashi had to agree with the foreign shinobi. "Kitase's right Micheru. We need to keep our focus on the defense."

"But…" She trailed off, looking at the small smoke plume erupting from the building. "What if he still is alive and needs our help?"

"I…He can't have lived through that, Sun-san." Said Itachi quietly, a sorrowful and broken look on his face, he too was looking at the caved in building.

Micheru grit her teeth as immense sadness threatened to overtake her. Unshed tears glistening in her eyes, threatening to break through. "A-Alright."

Itachi's gaze remained on the ruined building as anger continued to build in his chest. His eye twitched and balled his hand into a fist. He abruptly turned around and gave one order to the men around him. "Give me space."

He waited for a mere couple of seconds before out of nowhere a colossal upper body of a skeleton appeared around him, colored bright red with an aura around him. The skeleton just as swiftly made way for a humanoid shape as if flesh emerged from the skeleton. The color changed to dark orange.

Multiple circular shaped objects appeared in its hands. "Yasaka Magatama…" Itachi whispered before sending them flying towards the massive army below.

A seeming endless wave of circular objects were sent forwards killing them by the hundreds as they impacted, sending the Reaver army in a frantic disarray. He turned his focus to the towers that were now within his range and started attacking them relentlessly. Destroying the first two rows before the Reavers could fall back.

The defenders looked on in awe as Itachi continued to inflict many casualties on the invading army.

Kakashi knew the double-edged blade Itachi was using and stepped forward. "Itachi! You have to stop! You know this is destroying your body!"

The Uchiha seemed to pause momentarily before sending out one last wave of long ranged attacks. With a grunt he released his Susanoo and fell to one knee, clutching one of his eyes, blood pouring through his fingers.

"That was insane…" Micheru whispered as she crouched down next to the man and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"…I'll…Be fine…I needed to..."

Micheru nodded solemnly in agreement, sadness clutching at her throat. "I understand. For Naruto…"

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

With a groan Naruto slowly regained consciousness. His entire body was screaming in pain as he tried to move.

Looking around he could see the hole he had come crashing through. Coughing he once more tried to move, only to scream in pain, collapsing back on the stone slab behind him.

The only other time he had felt this kind of pain was when he was used as a chew toy by Kenpachi. Instead of trying to move again he tried to give himself a once over.

Looking at his trembling hands he could see multiple broken fingers. At various places, the skin of his knuckles had been split open, revealing the whiteness of his bone underneath.

He hissed loudly before looking down further. Slabs of stone and rubble covered most of his body. With another yell he pushed away the first rock, only to nearly faint in pain as it increased tenfold.

"T-this i-is not how I-I'm going t-to go out…" he managed to puff between gritted teeth as he tried to break free.

Slowly but surely, he managed to clear the rubble. With a moan of pain, he laid back down, allowing his body a moment of rest.

'Okay…next step, getting up.'

The odd angle of his foot suggested otherwise.

A frustrated grunt escaped from his lips as another injury showed itself. Yet he still tried to pull himself up with the help of a low hanging corner piece.

Wiping away a stream of blood that kept getting into his remaining eye, he slowly but surely dragged his body towards the nearest exit.

"Is there anyone in there?" A voice came from the other side of the wall.

With another painful grunt he managed to push the door open and came to a stumbling halt in the door opening, leaning against the post.

"Oh, my Kami…" A chunin said as she noticed the mess in front of them.

"I-I c-could use s-some medical…"

As if on cue a medical nin appeared and started taking in his wounds. "Alright, these are wounds I can fix…Moving around is not going to be pleasant though."

With a groan Naruto nodded, letting himself sit down, with help from the medical-nin. In the distant explosions and other rumbling could be heard.

"This isn't going to feel nice, but before I can do anything, I have to set your fingers, shoulder and leg first.

"Huh, I-I t-thought my shoulder felt off." He tried to joke but failed miserably as his blood started blurring his vision once more.

"Humor is good, that is a positive sign." The medical nin said, a smile on his face.

"Y-you know w-what e-else-." He roared in pain as they fixed his leg and foot first in one fluid motion.

"O-oh y-you…" He tried muttering but trailed off as the pain made it difficult to focus on anything else.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

The surprise attack Itachi had committed had bought the defenders some time. The Reavers were reorganizing and were reforming their ranks surprisingly quickly and their siege equipment was once more moving towards the wall.

Gaara had been successful in stopping the surprise ambushes but could do little to stop the incoming advance.

Nervous chatter could be heard throughout the wall as the advancing army looked as intimidating as it had the moment it first arrived. They hadn't even put a dent in their forces, it seemed.

The defenders however didn't let the hopelessness of the situation take control and instead were preparing for the next clash.

"I somehow feel that we'll no longer have any more breaks." Kakashi softly spoke as he steeled himself, his Sharingan visible for everyone to see.

"Yeah, we were lucky before, but we won't be able to repel the towers any longer. They strengthened their defenses around it."

Micheru who was standing close behind Kakashi looked at the imposing towers. "I don't see any defensive layers while they're moving…"

Kakashi looked at the towers as well before nodding. "You're right," he pressed a button on his headset, strapped around his neck. "Kankuro. Aim all our heavy siege equipment on the towers. They are vulnerable while moving. We need to reduce those numbers!"

Kankuro gave an affirmative once more and the catapults and ballistae adjusted their aim before letting it all fly once more.

Micheru looked on with trepidation as a few towers were hit and crumbled down. Not that it seemed to stop the marching army. 'Even in Mirarca it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now…'

Her mind wandered to Naruto once more and sadness threatened to break through her carefully constructed dam. A sob escaped her lips before quickly wiping her tears, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Another tear escaped and streaked her face, swiftly followed by more until the dam broke entirely, silently letting it out.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder to his right and morosely looked at her. His own emotions bubbling just underneath the surface.

There was soft rustle behind her but ignored it as she continued to silently cry over her fallen friend, who had managed to sneak his way into her heart, without her ever realizing it.

Wiping away the stream of tears did little to stop it, and surprisingly a sad smile appeared as she suddenly remembered his antics when she tried dying his hair, which was well over two years ago by now. A near silent sob escaped her lips and her shoulders quietly shook with it.

"Come, let's get you seated." Kakashi said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, guiding her through the masses.

"N-no, I am being an I-idiot. I…I should f-focus on the f-fight."

Kakashi sadly looked at her as he eased her down on a crate at the walkway section of the wall. "You haven't been trained in suppressing your emotions like we have. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

She slumped as she covered her face with her hands, silently letting grief take control of her body.

Kakashi slowly stepped away and gave her some space.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

One hour later

With a groan of pain, Naruto managed to get up, using the medical-nin as support.

"How did you even manage to survive?" The medic asked as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"I got some tricks up my sleeve…" He muttered as he put his gaze to the top of the wall, barely visible, except for torches that were lit all around.

"The best idea would be for you to head to the extraction area while you still can."

The blonde shook his head and slowly moved back towards the wall. "It doesn't matter. If the wall falls, we all die."

Ignoring the medics objections, he slowly picked up the pace and started running to the wall, with a heavy limp at first.

"Get extra men to the gate! They're starting their approach on the passageway!"

Naruto looked at the gate unsure whether to head to the wall or head towards the main gate.

The ground trembled around him as more fiery rocks crashed into the village.

'No…The gate will be fine for now. The wall. The wall needs to stand.'

He started sprinting towards one of the elevators, grimacing with every step he took. He reached the platform and hopped on, along with a few others.

As it sped up to the top, he looked down at his white armor piece. It was riddled with dents, streaks of blood and dirt. With a trembling hand he tried to wipe it off but failed miserably.

The elevator came to a sudden stop and Naruto hopped off swiftly just as a tremble shook the wall.

"Naruto? Weren't you on another part of the wall?"

The blonde turned his gaze to the left and noticed Temari standing there, looking at his dented armor and black outfit which had white streaks of dust on it. His radio was destroyed and dangled around his neck.

"Y-yeah, I got sidetracked. Might as well hang around here for now." His mind wandered to his teammate but shook his head. They would hold on for now. They had each other.

"Might as well, let's get to the front…if you can?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Have you had any word of the others?" the injuries he had sustained had been healed for the most part but would still limit his movement.

"We have Kakuzu and Hidan at the far end of the wall. From what I've heard they've been putting up a good fight."

Naruto looked in their general direction. "Yeah, being immortal is a big plus…No wonder they wanted to go here."

Termari nodded. "I heard rumors about them. Luckily they're on our side."

They pushed past the shinobi ranks and took their spot. All the while, ballistae and arrows continued firing, while the catapults were being loaded with new rounds of chakra laced rocks.

"Be aware, Gaara's defense have been dropped." One of the commanders barked, and no sooner had he uttered those words the siege towers picked up the pace and neared the wall once more.

Reaching for two kunai he slightly lowered himself into a defensive stance, the imposing tower in front of him edging closer and closer.

The drawbridge dropped and slammed onto the battlement. Instantly the Reavers rolled out onto the wall like a flood of water.

"Hold!" Temari shouted.

With a grunt he slammed his kunai against one of the first reavers dropping onto the wall.

The Reaver in question let out a furious shout as he tried to overpower the Hunter.

Pushing back, Naruto slipped away one of his kunai and slammed it into the side of the Reaver's head.

More poured onto the wall and managed to slip past the first row of defenders and slowly the first row of shinobi were being pushed away from the front of the mwall and gave way for more Reavers.

"Hold! Hold them here!"

Naruto slashed about, dropping one Reaver at a time, with just as quickly more taking its place.

To his side he noticed more and more shinobi slowly being killed as the horde didn't let up.

By now catapults from the attacker's side started hitting the top of the wall, taking out small section of defenders at a time.

The defenders didn't falter and tried to push back the assaulters. Blades slammed into each other and ninjutsu flew overhead as both parties desperately tried to take or hold the wall. Meanwhile, explosions could be heard from the desert as Deidera continued to harass the Reavers unabated.

At certain places on the wall, people could be seen getting thrown off the wall as both sides used any manner of ways to gain the upper hand, while from time to time an explosion could be heard. Reavers used suicide bombers to clear out entire portions of the wall. Meanwhile elevators were being used constantly to transport replacements up on top of the wall, while bringing the wounded and dead down.

The sight of the stacking bodies was something that would forever haunt his dreams. Shinobi of his age and younger that lay dead at his feet. People that had hopes and dreams. Families and friends. They now covered the ground and people were stumbling over them as the fighting continued, more numbers joining the already fallen warriors.

Support chunin desperately tried to keep the wall as clear as possible. But the amount of people being killed were simply too much for them to handle.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

As the first hours of the fight were over with, the Reavers didn't show any sign of letting up. Instead, the pressure only increased as more towers connected to the wall and slowly started overrunning large portions.

Fear was oozing off the chunin as they slowly started shuffling forward, ready to take the front spot. The sight of your inevitable death approaching was something that even the most battle hardened Jonin could barely handle.

Blood stained the flak jackets, some were even tossed aside, either due to the damage that was done to the gear or because of the blood that had started to drench it.

Genin squads were being called up as replacements, to carry the dead and wounded away from the combat section. Chunin were assigned to this task but were now being drafted into the defense.

Elevators were working overtime, barely able to handle the mass number of corpses that had to be transported, which was quickly becoming a major issue. If the elevator couldn't handle to transport the wounded and dead, the wall would become stacked, mobility would start to reduce and the Reavers would gain yet another advantage.

Despite Suna's dwindling numbers, reinforcements kept coming and managed to keep a lid on sections that were being overrun. Using everything in their arsenal to retake those pockets.

"Section 12 has been overrun! We need to retake it immediately." The commander barked in the headset of Temari, who relayed the information to Naruto.

A tired Naruto looked to the specified section and noticed that it was a large portion which was relatively close to one of the medical bays.

Looking up he noticed Deidera was nowhere to be seen. Silently cursing he started channeling his chakra into his arm once more. With a roar he activated his demonic ability.

He sprinted towards section 12 and made a chakra enhanced leap. "Reddosāji!" The blonde slammed into the wall which 'groaned' under protest as a wave of red chakra erupted from the impact. All Reavers standing there, along with a few shinobi got blasted into the air and away.

Naruto leaned against the battlement as he landed once more. panting heavily whilst looking over the edge towards the toppled tower that couldn't withstand the pressure that had erupted from his attack. "Let them know, sector 12 is clear once more." He barked over his shoulder with a tired voice.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

Konoha

Tsunade's office still was bustling with activity, despite it being in the middle of the night. Konoha's top strategist, along with several of the Konoha elite were gathered in and around the office as they were discussing the situation unfolding in Suna.

"Lady Hokage, Jiraiya has returned and has footage of Sunagakure. They are being uploaded in the debriefing room."

The Hokage nodded and led the group across the hall, where a large screen was being set up.

A slightly ruffled Jiraiya was standing in front of the screen, to his side stood one of his toads.

"How bad is it?" Asked Tsunade the moment she laid eyes on the boy.

Jiraiya gave her a grim look. "I think it's better if you see it."

Before they could start there was a rap on the door.

"Enter."

Mayu came walking in, along with Hawke who was supporting a pale looking Rome.

"Glad to see you up and about, Rome-san." Said Jiraiya, a small smile etched on his face on seeing the return of an absent leader.

Rome in return gave a small nod. "Glad to be back. Once I heard about Suna, I couldn't lay in bed any longer."

Jiraiya understood his reasoning and turned to the screen, clicking it on. "What you're about to see might just make you regret those words."

"I had contact with Kakashi's squad shortly after their debriefing with Gaara. They were starting to evacuate the village, but their progress was slow. Keeping civilians in a shelter simply wasn't an option."

Tsunade's brows furrowed. "Mind telling us why not?"

He sighed before addressing the room. "The force heading towards Suna can't be stopped. There wouldn't be a place to hide. Their only option was to evacuate."

Hinata was standing off to the side, along with Sakura, Sasuke and a few of their other friends. "I wonder how bad it is." She softly murmured. They had volunteered to help in any way they could as a headquarters was set up to sift through the info they were receiving.

"However, we all know how slow civilians are. Rounding them up would take a day at the very least and the road that would be traveled needed to be cleared first."

He showed the first image, a map with a highlighted road. "They need to reach the port where they will board a fleet, ready to take them to Cha no Kuni. "

"Okay, we get it. The evacuation is going slow. How far out were the Reaver forces when the evacuation started?" Tsunade rubbed her face in annoyance and exhaustion.

"At the most, five days."

"And how long did the evacuation take?" Shikaku interjected, stroking his beard in thought.

"The last civilians left, about an hour before the fight started."

"Only an hour?!"

"Clearing a path, took more time than expected, as well as refugees still coming in. Apparently, there was a small ambush of Reavers lying in wait. Not to mention, other factors."

"How's the fight progressing?"

Jiraiya's shoulder sagged slightly, clicking on the remote regardless, showing the next image.

It was an aerial picture. A picture showing small portions of Sunagakura on fire, but that wasn't the horrifying part.

"Oh…My kami." Sakura whispered, covering her mouth with a quivering hand.

The wave of Reavers was what put the fear in them. A seemingly endless sea of 'monsters' storming the wall. At the wall they noticed various siege towers parked against it.

"What…uhm, what was Suna's fighting strength?"

"Gaara was smart and pulled out all his forces, along with the minor nations to his village. This bolstered their numbers significantly." Jiraiya explained as he reached for a chair and sat down, his years easily noted on his face.

"Can you give an estimate, Jiraiya-sama?" one of Konoha's top strategist asked.

"I'd say about, 20.000? He also recruited former and retired shinobi, which was a good move."

"Jiraiya-sama?" Shikaku called out, waiting for more info.

"Not that it matters, they are outnumbered 10 to 1. There's an army at their doorstep that numbers an easy-"

"200.000 men…" Said Shikamaru, his lips were unusually dry as he tried to roll his tongue over them.

A murmur erupted in the room. "That's…That's…No way they can beat that." Shizune muttered, frantically looking about.

Tsunade turned to Shikaku, her eyes betraying no emotion, her voice calm with a near unnoticeable tremor in it. "Shikaku, I want you to make a list of all our former shinobi. We need to start bolstering our army and fast. All the surrounding countries need to be informed of what will undoubtedly start heading our way soon. Also send out a message to our Daimyō. I want a meeting with him as soon as possible."

With a bow Shikaku left and went to work.

Tsunade turned back to the screen, looking at the wall in particular. "They need to hold on."

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

By now heavy siege equipment started bombarding the defensive layers of the passageway, slowly but surely picking away at it.

Gaara had done everything in his powers to delay the inevitable as long as possible, but his chakra reserves were starting to run dangerously low and was forced to drop his defensive sand wall.

Behind the gate were Suna's best men and women standing ready to defend it to their last breath. Including the rogue company Kisame and Raipa had been in charge of.

"Gaara, we have trouble moving the wounded and dead, it's too much for the elevators to handle." Kankuro's voice crackled in his headset.

"You don't need me to tell you what you already know, Kankuro."

There was no response and moments later a general order was called. ~Initiate protocol - fallout~

There was a series of affirmatives before it went silent once more.

Gaara knew that it was a difficult thing to order. It felt like desecration but in times of war, these things happened. He slowly sat down and looked at a squad of genin carrying corpses towards carts, their horrors easily seen on their face. What they were witnessing now and what they were about to, would scar them for life.

He toyed with the idea to have them evacuate as well. But they had tasks they needed to perform so that Chunin weren't bogged down with menial tasks and could all be put on the front.

Looking up to the night sky he saw fireballs flying overhead, crashing into the village. He could barely see the top of the wall, but that mattered little. He could easily hear the screams of the wounded and dying. They were being massacred up there. A proud but sad smile appeared. 'Yet they continue to fight…'

Moments later protocol fallout was underway and dead bodies of friend and foe alike were being pushed over the edge and were plummeting down to the ground far below.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

A wave of red chakra rolled over their portion of the wall, her eyes swiftly looking for the point of origin.

"What was that?" Micheru asked softly to herself.

Kakashi backed away from the fight and looked at the red chakra as it slowly dissipated. His outfit was starting to show wear and tear, blood streaking his face. "Did you see what happened?"

Micheru shook her head. "No idea..."

"Why don't you go and see what's going on? Get your mind off Naruto."

Micheru nodded dejectedly as she slowly pushed past a group of shinobi. 'I'm being pathetic…I should get my focus on the fight.'

Looking to the medical tent she noticed a few grieving nin as they huddled around a body. Yet while they were grieving, they still grabbed their gear and slowly shuffled back to the combat section.

With a soft thud the large elevator opened and another group of Ame-nin stepped out, marching past her, giving her a short glance.

"Sector 10 is this way."

"I still don't un-"

The rest of their conversation was drowned by the sound of other chatter, along with clanking sounds, originating from the catapults being reloaded for another bout.

She could practically taste the metallic smell protruding the air as bodies littered the wall she was running across. Giving a quick glance to her right, her heart jumped in fear when she noticed red glowing eyes, easily seen from the crowd. The sight of demonic eyes would plague her mind as she continued to watch the desperate battle being fought.

Shaking her head, she continued onwards, the sound of anguish and clashing of metal nearly deafened her.

Micheru pushed through and eventually reached the end where she noticed an exhausted Hunter leaning against the battlement, looking out over the battlefield.

"Naruto?"

In case you were wondering, Micheru's last name is Sun. That's who Itachi was referring to (kinda on the nose.)

I hope you all enjoyed reading this one! Next chapter will probably be next friday. I'll be gone for a couple of days, so I won't be able to work on the story, but I didn't want to miss the weekly deadline.

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter!

'Till next time!