Every other member of Naruto's graduating class and half of Team Guy were more than confused when they received summoning orders from anbu. When they saw each other going to the same place and in the main office, they knew something big was happening. The dire look on the Hokage's face said as much. Her cracked floor helped affirm it too.

"What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room under any circumstances." Tsunade closed her eyes. "Naruto left the village last night with servants of Orochimaru, no doubt to the Land of Rice."

"What?!" Sakura yelled, voicing the almost all their thoughts.

Hinata felt the urge to look away when their Hokage directed them to her. "I saw them approach him and overheard. There were five of them. Their leader offered him power, the truth behind his parents, a place in the Sound Village, and vengeance against the Leaf."

"Vengeance against the village for what?" Tenten asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" Shikamaru frowned. "I used to think it was because Naruto was kind of an asshole, but it's obvious to me now everyone looked down on him because he was a jinchuriki." He looked to Sasuke and Sakura. "And he hasn't exactly been himself for a while, has he?" He shook his head when they nodded. "Troublesome."

Neji cleared his throat. "What about Naruto's parents?" He noticed the slightest of winces from their Hokage.

"Orochimaru said the same when we encountered him a few days ago before I returned to the village." Tsunade remained unfazed by their surprised looks. "He is preying on Naruto's desire for a family. The leader of the group sent to retrieve him was there too."

"What exactly does Orochimaru want with Naruto?" Choji asked.

"In Anko Mitarashi's defection reports, she included numerous projects relating to immortality, one of which was exchanging bodies with another person."

Shikamaru clucked his tongue. "He wants the Nine-Tailed Fox, and Naruto's ridiculous reserves of chakra." Hinata covering her mouth in horror almost drew his eye.

"But he already knows that," Sasuke said before looking down. "Or at least he should." Their questioning gazes drew his back up. "Do we have permission to disclose information we were forbidden to by the Third?"

"You have my permission," Tsunade said.

"Orochimaru ambushed the three of us in the Forest of Death. While it looked like he was toying around at the time, he was really trying to see what we were capable of. Naruto impressed him with the amount of shadow clones he could make and by suppressing the Nine-Tails after he did something to the seal."

Ino's eyes widened along with everyone else's. "Is Orochimaru the one who started the fire?"

"There were two, and we started one," Sakura said.

"You're the one who did that?!" She stepped towards her. "Are you kidding me!?"

She returned the gesture. "I was being chased by a giant snake!"

"And we almost died, puke girl!"

"Yeah," Sasuke said, "sorry. That was my fault."

Her hostility faded into admiration. "I forgive you, Sasuke!"

Sakura twitched at her earlier remark. "It was the one time." Noticing the unamused look on their Hokage's face, she let it go.

"This is an S class mission." Tsunade's gaze steeled. "You are to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki alive, even if it may cost you your lives. No one else knows him as much as you do, and everyone I would normally trust with a mission this important are already on other ones." She pursed her lips. "You all know about the One-Tail, so I'll tell you what you might've missed: Naruto killed an S class missing-nin, Kisame Hoshigaki, and nearly killed the man who approached him with Orochimaru's offer, the same man bested me in a manner of seconds."

Tenten gaped, as many of them did. "No way! You're one of the Legendary Sannin!"

Ignoring her outburst, she continued. "His name is Kimimaro. He can grow and protrude bones strong enough to take explosive blasts. He's even capable of shooting them from his fingers like kunai. Taijutsu is suicide, so you have to fight him with ranged Ninjutsu, preferably fire and lightning to bypass his physical resistance. Watch out for Earth Style though. The abilities of the four with him are unknown to us, but we know the one with six arms can spit webs like a spider. As for Naruto, you already know most of his abilities." She looked to the two members of Team 7.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu, Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, Explosive Shadow Clone Jutsu, Gale Palm Jutsu, and the Rasengan," Sakura listed.

"He also knows the Vacuum Blade Jutsu, but that's close enough." She focused back on the other ninja. "If you haven't already figured it out for yourself, you can't fight Naruto alone or directly: he was promoted straight to jonin for more than just his destructive ability. Take him on as a group and try to catch him off-guard, as you should with Kimimaro."

Shikamaru almost groaned. "You're asking us to take on what seems to be two Kage-level ninja and four ninja of unknown ability as a group of chunin and genin?" He and a few others jumped when the cracks on the floor spread.

"I'm ordering you to." Her eyes flicked over every shinobi before her. "Do you have any idea what will happen if Orochimaru gets his hands on Naruto, much less if the other villages hear he's gone rogue?"

"The Fourth Great Ninja War," Sasuke answered, attracting a few doubtful looks.

To their horror, she nodded. "One of you three chunin pick a leader and start tracking. We don't have time for you to waste."

"Before that," Kiba spoke up finally, looking at his sole female teammate with questioning eyes, "Hinata, you smell like Naruto." Her jump told him what he already knew.

"Is now really the time to complain about body odor?" Tenten asked.

"No, I mean she really smells like Naruto."

Shikamaru blinked. "Oh… Oh!"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, noticing Sasuke of all people blush from the corner of her eye. "Uh?"

Tsunade focusing on Hinata made her freeze. "What really happened last night?" She squinted when she began to shake.

Her quivering lips parted, closed, and spread into a warm smile. "I gave myself to Naruto as a woman." She looked on all their shocked faces with pride. "And he took me as a man."

"L-Lady Hinata!" Neji's Byakugan involuntarily activated. "I'll drag back that imb–"

"Oh, stop it!" She stomped towards him. "I let him go! I had the man who beat you beneath me! His chest to his stomach was skinned by my jutsu!" Tears fell from her eyes. "I confessed my love for him, and he accepted me with open arms." She sobbed. "I had to let him go when he asked me to, but I didn't know that's what Orochimaru had planned for him." Looking to the Hokage's stern face, she did not falter. "Imprison me if you must but keep me with Naruto."

Neji blushed as his dojutsu deactivated. "Lady Hinata!" He dodged a slap from a crying Ino.

"It's obviously not like that, you idiot!"

Hinata held her own blushing face. "Actually, it is somewhat like that."

"That's fine!" She wiped away her heartfelt tears. "I understand completely!"

"You beat Naruto?" Sasuke asked, cheeks still pink.

Hinata nodded. "I used the Infinite Darkness Jutsu Kurenai-sensei taught me before I launched my attack. When I knocked him into the air, he couldn't defend himself. I combined the Rotation and Sixty-Four Palms into the ultimate attack and defense." She closed her eyes at the blissful memory of what happened next. "I finally bridged the gap between us, and he gave me everything I ever wanted."

"Did it ever once occur to you that he was using your feelings against you?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow when her Byakugan activated.

"You weren't there!" She looked down with half-lidded eyes, veins returning to normal. "He was crying. I didn't know why, but I know now: my words broke his heart because, for a moment, I tore him between leaving and staying." A pit grew in her chest. "If I knew what Orochimaru intended, I would've told him to stay."

"Why did you let him go?"

She scoffed at the questioning look on most of their faces. "Do any of you even remember how you used to look at him?" The realization settling in made her scowl. "Before he showed everyone how good of a shinobi he was, you all thought he was dung on the bottom of your sandals. I'm ashamed I even thought of asking him to stay for the village that despised him." Her hands shifted over her fluttering heart. "But he would have stayed anyway for me."

"You're staying right here." Tsunade turned to the remaining squad. "All of you go before Naruto's trail goes cold!" As they obeyed, her focus settled back on the stalwart Hyuga. "I recognize that look." Her expression was always the same with Dan. "Just because you're Hiashi's daughter doesn't mean you're getting off easy though." She smirked and gestured at her piles of paperwork. "From now on, you're my assistant."

"...I would prefer to be thrown in prison with Naruto."

"Do you want visitation rights?"

"Conjugal."

She shot her a look. "You're not married."

"Yet." Walking over, Hinata took Shizune and Aoba's place. "Now, what is this about a trade deal with the Sand?"

The nine ninja were dead silent as they walked through the halls of the Hokage Residence. Too much was at stake as there was to talk about. Civilian and what little shinobi staff there was gave them odd looks but knew they had something important to do. While they didn't want to think about it, there would definitely be war if they failed. Their village lost too much face, and an alliance with the Sand would be seen as a potential threat to the others, even if they were battered. All were distracted by one thing though.

"Oh my fuck," Sakura said, breaking the silence.

Tenten glanced at a seething Neji before shaking her head. "She is hopelessly in love with him."

"Isn't it beautiful?!" Ino wiped a tear from her eye. "They fit each other perfectly!"

"Lord Hiashi will never allow it," Neji said, balling his hands into fists.

More tears fell. "Forbidden love!"

"Are you all really thinking about that right now!?" Shikamaru almost punched the nearest wall when the four of them and Shino nodded.

"Yes!"

Kiba groaned. "We are going to fucking die."

"I know ranged fire and lightning jutsu," Sasuke said. "I'll take care of this 'Kimimaro.'"

"How well do you do against Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

He hummed. "In pure Taijutsu, we are evenly matched when I use my Sharingan. We've never fought against each other with Ninjutsu or Genjutsu."

"Do you know what the Rasengan is?"

"It's a ball of pure swirling chakra Kakashi-sensei said only four people ever mastered, Naruto and himself included," Sakura said.

"What does it do?" Shikamaru clucked his tongue when they shrugged. "Troublesome."

"Has Naruto...really become that much stronger than us?" Kiba asked, voicing some of their inner most insecurities.

"Hinata managed to best him with her ultimate attack, but she had to take him off-guard first," Shino said.

Sakura swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "I know some Genjutsu that could create an opening."

"My clan jutsu can create openings too," Ino said, smirking. "Better than yours since he'll recognize them."

"Actually, chances are you'll meet the Nine-Tails if you go into his head: he can hear it," Shikamaru, attracting more than a few questioning eyes, said.

"Since when?"

"How am I supposed to…" Drifting off, he and a few others went through a few thoughts.

Neji scoffed. "Don't tell me you think Naruto is listening to it. We all know how he's like." He didn't flinch at the few scornful looks he got.

"Ayame once said he used to be the sweetest little boy until one day he wasn't," Sakura said, more to herself than anyone else.

Sasuke parted his lips, paused, and frowned. "He told us Mizuki was the one who let him know he was a jinchuriki."

Shino murmured. "The way he talked about hearing a voice in his head made it sound like he's always known." He kept calm as almost everyone else grimaced.

"He found out the truth in the worst way possible." Shikamaru shook his head.

Tenten looked down. "Don't know he could keep a secret like that for so many years, but everyone else kept it from him and the rest of us."

"How could you trust anyone after that?" Kiba asked. "I mean, it took a fucking traitor of all people to tell him the truth."

"And we were only told when he nearly lost it back in the Chunin Exams Arena," Ino said.

"Yeah…" Sasuke stared out into nothing, attracting a concerned glance from Sakura. "That was...awful."

It took them little time to reach the main gate. Patrolling shinobi and civilian passerby shot them looks while they rushed through but didn't say anything. Kotetsu and Izumo did their best to ignore them for some reason, not that they really cared. The sight of the forest-surrounded path ahead was unusually foreboding. Death was a big possibility for any of them.

Shikamaru stepped forward and turned to face them all. "Alright, Lady Hokage said to pick a leader so…" He blinked at the utter lack of response. "Come on, really?"

"My heart feels like it's going to shoot out of my chest," Sakura said.

Sasuke shook his head. "I wish I could say it should be me, but I can't."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru looked to Kiba. "Got a scent?"

The Inuzuka nodded. "It's mixed up with a few other people, but I can sure as hell make out the scent of blood." He chuckled. "Hinata really did fuck him more than one way." Neji's glare made him jolt.

"I didn't expect her to be the one to catch up first," Tenten said, putting a comforting hand on her teammate's shoulder.

Ino whined. "She surpassed all of us in the field of love!"

"That's enough of that." Shikamaru focused on his sole female teammate. "Be on the lookout for Naruto's chakra or any chakra signature you don't recognize." He looked to Shino and Kiba. "You two are leading us to him." Shifting to Neji, he pointed at his eyes. "When we approach the enemy, I want you to survey the area with your Byakugan before we engage." His attention move to them as a whole. "All of us have been training nonstop to match our runaway delinquent. We probably won't ever have a better chance than this to showcase just how much we've improved. Your safety is a priority of mine as your team leader, but we're under special orders by the Hokage to sacrifice our lives if need be." He turned to face the path ahead. "Let's do this." With those words, he led them toward their objective.

Choji moved close to him in their mishmash formation. "Hey," he whispered.

"You've barely said anything."

He looked down. "...I'm scared."

"So am I." He patted his friend's shoulder. "But we have to go forward."

"I know. Just…I never thought Naruto would do something like this."

Shikamaru frowned. "Neither did I." He glanced at the faces around them. "And I don't think any of us did either."

None of it felt real yet. Despite receiving orders from the Hokage herself and the news from one of their own, they couldn't quite believe what they heard, even though he was the likeliest one out of them to go rogue. His accomplishments since graduating spoke for themselves. He acted out, but he, to their knowledge, never did anything approaching the level of treason. There was a missing piece to the equation none of them were in the mind to see.

The moment Naruto's head hit the camp bed, he lost consciousness. While he was still together enough to be physically active after Hinata's attack, his mind was exhausted from the whirlwind of emotions. He was coasting off the newfound passion in his heart when he left through the front gate. It was good for him the Sound ninja set a camp nearby to rest. Stray beams of sunlight made his eyes flutter open. A lack of throbbing in his torso let him know he was healed, not that it surprised him. Memories of laying down with Anko in his mind told him his clone had done its part.

"You're finally awake." Kimimaro held out a hand.

He pushed himself up. "We should get going." He laughed. "Really, we should've headed off straight after I left."

He looked to the Land of Rice. "Said goodbye to the wrong person, I take it?"

"Something like that." Stretching, he yawned. "There's no one left in the village that can stop me, much less the two of us put together."

"Not even Tsunade?"

He scoffed. "I was already kicking her ass before you pinned her to the ground, but if she does show her floppy tits, try not to lose your arm again."

Kimimaro paid Tayuya's muffled snicker no mind. "I don't know whether your bravado is well-warranted or foolish." He started walking, prompting them to follow.

It took a few minutes worth of travel away from the abandoned camp sight for trouble to rear its head. Two jonin they vaguely recognized flickered into view, reaching for ninja tools in their pouches. They stopped at the sight of one particular member of their odd group. Considering the state of the village, he would have never been sent out, and there were no signs of duress on his face or in his body language.

"Naruto," Genma said, "what are you doing out here?"

Raido glared at those he recognized. "With enemies of the Leaf no less." He focused on the jinchuriki. "The ones that kept Lord Third trapped with Orochimaru."

"You were there?" Naruto turned to Kimimaro.

He eyed the duo with disinterest. "I was tasked with safeguarding these four while they kept the barrier in place."

"He admits it!" Raido yelled.

Naruto spared the jonin a glance and hummed. "So can these four handle them or?" He tilted his head at the Kaguya's shrug.

"I have no idea who these two are."

"Then let's send them in anyway!" He chuckled at the Sound Four's uneasy looks and the club members' disbelief. "Not like you need them, right?"

Kimimaro looked to them before pointing at their enemy. "Attack."

With those orders, they activated their Cursed Marks and got into formation: Sakon and Jirobo taking the front while Tayuya and Kidomaru jumped back. Sakon drew a kunai just in a time for a wind-enhanced needle to be spat into the side of his neck. Jirobo, seeing them make hand signs, slammed his hands into the ground, creating a wall of earth. Tayuya lifted her flute to her lips while Kidomaru weaved his hands through a strange substance in his mouth.

Genma dodged the kunai before finishing his seals the same time Raido did. A blast of wind left his lips as a ball of fire left his partner's. Their jutsu combined into a scorching blast that overwhelmed the earth defense, even forcing Naruto and Kimimaro to jump aside. Not letting up, they went through another set of hand signs. He concentrated water chakra into his palm, shot a vortex at a tree over their defense to splash impure water on them, and watched Raido throw a Thunderclap Arrow into the stream. Several cries of agony made them smile.

Naruto, behind a tree by Raido, made the Shadow Clone Jutsu sign. Four of him rushed toward the jonin, two sliding to grab his legs and the other pair bounce-stepping to him. They secured the lower limbs before he could jump away. When he was forced on to the ground, the remaining clones locked his arms. The real one walked out to wave at Genma before Kimimaro, emerging from the earth, ran a sharpened ulna through his gut.

"I suppose I should've expected as much." He tore the bone out, slipped to the jonin's side, hooked his arm, broke it, swept his leg, and drove the makeshift short spear into his chest.

"Did I ever mention how hardcore your kekkei genkai is?" Naruto created a Rasengan in his hand as he walked over to the other. "Because it's probably the most brutal thing I've ever seen."

Raido's eyes widened at the jutsu he only ever saw one person perform. "That's…" He could fully put together the resemblance without the forehead protector. "Lord Fourth?" His eyes shut when the swirly-death-ball approached his face.

Dispelling the jutsu, Naruto tapped his fingers against the man's face. "I'd tell you to take care." He stood up and snapped his fingers, commanding his clones to snap his limbs. "But I don't know you." The clones poofed away as their victim began to scream.

Kimimaro removed his cast-off ulna from Genma's lung. "Two jonin with complimenting jutsu, likely a small team coming back from a mission." Swiping the bone free of blood, he walked away from his heaving foe.

"Are we even going the right way?!" Naruto yelled through Raido's screams.

He parted his lips, paused, and pointed more to the left. "I was a bit off!"

Tayuya, somewhat electrically burned, stomped toward the fallen. "You motherfuckers!" Kimimaro holding out his bone made her freeze.

"We don't have time for that!" Walking in the correct direction, he paid the rest of the approaching, wounded squad no mind. "Lord Orochimaru despises waiting."

"Shouldn't we be rushing then?" Naruto asked, following.

"Running leaves obvious tracks and makes us more noticeable: very unwise in enemy territory. We've already encountered returning shinobi. If the wrong one catches on to our trail, we may fail Lord Orochimaru."

"The longer we stay here doesn't help either."

"Correct but it is better to take the cautious route."

Naruto clucked his tongue. "Being cautious doesn't get you anything."

"On the contrary, it's what's gotten us this far." He glanced at him. "You're only used to your way of doing things."

"Not really. I've been doing things by other people's ways for most of my life. After this, everything's going my way." He grinned.

If Kimimaro had a sense of humor, he would've laughed. "Lord Orochimaru will have more than a few things to say about that."

"...Man, you are such a buzzkill."

The six of them, after several more minutes of walking, entered a clearing in the forest. It was beautiful but dangerous: enemies could latch on to trees from all sides and bombard them with kunai and shuriken. While the flat terrain ensured an even close-quarters battle, wise ninja would take the ranged route. They were lucky no one was attacking them.

"Naruto!" An assortment of voices cried when they neared the other side.

"Told you." Naruto spun along with them to face their pursuers, who dropped down in the center of the clear space. "Grandma Tsunade would send all of you, wouldn't she?"

"Orochimaru wants you to join him so he can take over your body!" Sakura yelled.

He remained unfazed as almost all the Sound Ninja by him panicked. "Had a feeling it was something like that." He scoffed at the confused looks on his former peers. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to think he has my best intentions at heart!?"

Tenten frowned. "Do you really hate us that much?" A confused quint from him added to her own confusion.

"Who the fuck are you again?"

"You really are an asshole." Kiba scoffed. "How could you forget a comrade?" He twitched at his complete lack of acknowledgment.

Shino murmured. "When we were watching Sasuke's fight with Gaara, you stood up for me, even though you say it was for yourself. I can't speak for the rest, but I understand why you're doing this. That doesn't mean I can just let you go though. Please come willingly."

"None of you could understand, and I'm not being a self-pitying shithead when I say that." Naruto looked down, a bitter smile on his face. "If I told you right now, you wouldn't believe me."

"For not being a self-pitying shithead, you sure sound like one," Shikamaru, crouching down and forming the rat sign, said.

He rolled his eyes as he brought his fingers together, creating well over a dozen shadow clones to more than render his jutsu ineffective. "What now, genius?"

"Naruto!" Ino yelled, tears building in her eyes. "What about Hinata?!" To her joy and everyone else's disbelief, all of them began to swoon.

"Oh, Hinata!"

Another nodded. "I love Hinata!"

"You love Hinata!?" Its kin embraced it. "I love Hinata!"

"I love Hinata more!"

Another clone squared up. "No one loves Hinata more than me!"

One Naruto got between them both. "Hey!" Blushing, it held itself. "Hinata would love all of us!"

"Aww!" They collectively cooed. "Hinata!"

The real Naruto dispelled all the others, face bearing a look of earnest worry. "Is she alright?!"

Ino wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Y-Yeah! Lady Hokage is just making her do some paperwork!" She sobbed.

"That fucking bitch!" His eyes flashed red.

She cried even harder. "I told you that you were a romantic!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig! What they did was…" Sakura's face turned as pink as her hair, driving Sasuke's to do the same. "That's just… I mean…" She whined. "You're taking Naruto away!"

Naruto smirked. "Bye, bye!"

"Stop it!"

Neji's knuckles turned white. "After what you did to Hinata, I–" The hatred they all felt at the arena returned in a subdued form as a red cloak of chakra bubbled over Naruto.

"After what you did?!" He stomped forward, making them step back. "I should've fucking killed you back in that arena for touching a single hair on her head, you piece of shit!" His eyes faded back to cold blue and the cloak dissipated at the memory of her words that day. "...But I didn't because she told me it would've been pointless, and I thought as much at the time." A grin spread across his face while Ino's sobbing grew. "Right now, I'm itching to kill you."

Kimimaro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lord Orochimaru is waiting for us ahead." With a gesture of his other, he gave a command to the somewhat amused Sound Four.

"Finally doing things my way?"

He shrugged. "I suppose you could say that."

Jirobo slammed his hands down, creating a dome of earth around the nine ninja before they could escape. "Looks like I'm having breakfast after all." Laughing, he planted his hands against the prison.

"Is that going to hold?" Naruto asked.

Kimimaro turned him back to direction of the Land of Rice and began running. "They're already dead."

"Oh…" Following, he glanced down. "Just in case." Putting his fingers together, four Narutos spawned into existence, one of which went back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm the objective. If they break out, they'll be forced to choose between leaving people behind or fighting all at once. That fatass isn't going to last long if they dog-pile him, so my clone will help stall. If they decide to split up to reach us faster, they have to leave more people behind. You're obviously too important to sacrifice like these idiots are. We'll be more than a match if they reach us."

He hummed. "Good thinking." He looked at the doppelgangers. "You intend for them to take damage?"

"We can take it!" One punched a hand into an open fist.

Another nodded. "The main man's been too cautious about using us to our full potential."

"It's not like we're going out of our way to take fatal blows or anything" The last chuckled. "Just a lot more mileage if we choose to take more hits. Even if we do get obliterated, it's not that much chakra."

"The fatigue and experience are transferred back, and your concentration is divided until then," Kimimaro said.

Naruto and his clones smirked. "Didn't you learn anything from our fight? I can take it. A fifth of me is more than enough for most of them."

"If they break out."

"They're probably out already." He scoffed.

Back in the earth dome, the nine Leaf shinobi had sweat dripping from their brows. Two of their force-oriented comrades failed to break through it. What little damage they did was automatically repaired. Something was obviously off about the structure. Sakura tried to move through it with her earth chakra, but the jutsu canceled out her manipulation.

"I was planning on using this against that 'Kimimaro,' but I guess now is as good a time as any." Sasuke brought his fingers together for the dragon sign.

"Don't!" Sakura grabbed his hand, making him stop. "That jutsu uses too much chakra!"

Neji activated his Byakugan and narrowed his eyes. "If we don't do something soon, none of us will have any." He scowled. "We're being drained as we speak."

Sasuke gave his teammate a comforting smile. "You know I can use it more than I first could." When she relented with a blush that made Ino seethe, he finished the set of signs and concentrated lightning chakra into the center of his palm. "I wonder what would've happened if I struck Gaara's dome like this." It was somewhat more difficult to perform with the tug on his chakra, but the signature chirping of his jutsu filled the prison.

"Holy shit!" Tenten stared with the rest of them at the vibrant blue in his hand. "Lightning Blade?"

He jumped back and charged at the wall. "Chidori!"

The deathtrap burst open, forcing Jirobo back. "Dammit!" His eyes widened at the one who broke it. "Yo–" The sight of nine approaching shinobi stopped him.

"Hey." A Naruto clone jumped down at his side. "Figured you could use some help." It grinned at the uneasy crowd of his old comrades. "Come on! Weren't you all waiting for this since you heard I made jonin?!" Scoffing, it narrowed its eyes. "Don't pussy out now."

And so it began.

AN: Woke up in an absolute haze the second day I was writing this. Constantly felt like I was missing something. Could be the focus on just the two groups this time instead of divided up. Either that or I just felt so tired I thought everything I wrote had to be triple-checked.

Genma and Raido weren't low on chakra this time. I was tempted to write out a full combat scene between the Sound Four and them, but Kimimaro wouldn't let things escalate to that point. Naruto joined in to just speed things along. Recover easily, my poor forgotten-by-canon jobbers. At least you didn't get taken out by the Sound Four this time.

There is no Cursed Mark to put Naruto in a box for, so he gets to hear what almost everyone has to say, save Sasuke who doesn't know what to say...yet. Also, he gets to add to the fun thanks to the power of Shadow Clones. Hope you pick up my hints.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.