DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Welcome back, everyone. This latest update pushes us over the 100k words mark, so I thank all of you that have stuck with it from the beginning. It's been a long road, and we still have a long way to go. But that's not all. This chapter is the longest chapter I have written for a fanfiction EVER. 7k+ words may not seem like a lot to you guys reading it, but writing it takes a while, so I'm quite proud of that mark.

While I'm happy with the length, I struggled for a bit with where to take some of these scenes, so I apologize if some seem a little short or clunky at times. Even so, I believe that the point gets across most of the time. Anyways, I hope all of you enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 22 - Chaos

The entire stadium stared upwards at the giant sand monster in utter shock. Some of the spectators were even beginning to rush to leave, not wanting to be stuck anywhere near that thing. But the Kage knew better.

Minato's eyes were wide. "Is that…?"

"The One Tails," A finished for him, equally shocked.

Now it made sense. The reason that Rasa had been so calm and arrogant about Gaara's victory was because he was a jinchuriki. But to willingly give himself over to the beast like that, Gaara had been walking the line, and he'd crossed it this time.

"He's out of control!" Minato exclaimed. "This match has gone on for too long! I'm ending it."

Rasa responded only by removing his hat and white and blue robe. "On the contrary, Hokage," he said, now only in a simple pair of black pants and a black hooded shirt with mesh lining. "I'd say that things are just beginning!"

Minato didn't even have time to blink before a tendril of golden sand shot towards him. He was about to activate the Flying Raijin to escape it, but a strong pair of hands wrenched him out of the way.

"Thanks," he said to A, who grunted in response.

Asuma produced his chakra blades and took up a defensive position in front of the two Kage, while C of Kumo flanked the Raikage, ready to provide any assistance he could.

The Raikage removed his hat and robe as well, down to only his pants and sandals, leaving his muscular torso completely bare. "I may not be on the best of terms with Konoha, but attacking their Hokage during a peaceful gathering such as this is unforgivable! Hokage, you stop that beast from rampaging, C and I will handle him."

Minato nodded his thanks, then called to Asuma. "Find your father, tell him what's happened."

Without waiting for Asuma's response, Minato flickered down to the arena, causing Naruto and Sasuke to jump with surprise. "Get out of here," Minato said quickly. "Help evacuate everyone, then get to a safe distance. This could turn bad."

Even as they spoke, Shukaku the Sand Spirit swiped a giant claw downwards at the trio. Minato quickly grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by the shoulders, then they suddenly stood in the stands next to Obito.

"Evacuate, now! Spread the word! I want a perimeter created around this arena! Now go!" Minato snapped, passing the two Genin along to their sensei before flickering back down into the arena to face the monster.

Minato stared upwards at the beast, making a mental note of Gaara's unconscious body dangling from its forehead. "Well, I can't go all out, or the village will be destroyed. I also have to avoid damaging Gaara's body, fo fear of killing him."

It was times like these that he wished Jiraiya was still here, but he'd sent the old man to keep tabs on the Akatsuki. He'd likely be gone for weeks, combing through his spy network to find out what he could.

Minato's brow scrunched with determination as he stared upwards at the tailed beast. He could feel that this was not going to be something he would enjoy.

Not even missing a beat, Obito slipped into a mindset that none of the Genin had seen before. "You heard him! Guy, you're in charge of setting up the perimeter. Take Kurenai and Anko and gather any shinobi you can find. Get on it!"

The taijutsu master nodded wordlessly and leapt away, Anko and Kurenai following him. That left Obito to face Rin. "You're in charge of setting up a medical station for any wounded civilians or shinobi. Once Guy sets the perimeter, you and the Medical Corps need to set up a temporary location. Go!"

As Rin disappeared, Obito looked down at his students. They were filled with awe at this new version of their sensei. His barking of orders meant that the quiet Obito was long gone. This Obito meant business, and you shouldn't get in his way.

"You three, gather any other Genin you can find and focus on escorting the civilians out of the stadium. Under no circumstances are any of you to engage that monster, is that understood? Go!"

But before his students could leave, they were halted by the appearance of dozens of shinobi wearing different headbands. Some had the musical note of Oto, Orochimaru's village, while others had the emblem of Suna.

"Scratch those orders. Evacuate the entire village. And get word to Guy and Rin that all Jonin and Special Jonin are to remain behind as a rear guard. I'll deal with these guys," Obito said, his voice turning stone cold as his eyes morphed into the three blood red scythes of his Mangekyou.

He drew a kunai and seemed to move so fast, that to his three students, he looked to have teleported. His kunai flashed left and right, opening throats, chests, and limbs in a flurry of steel.

"He's clearing a path, let's go," Sasuke said, leading the way up the stairs. Distancing themselves from Obito and the fighting, they ran towards what looked to be the largest crowd of civilians. Heat began to assault their backs once they were far enough away, signaling that Obito was living up to his nickname.

Running along the concourse, the sounds of fighting began to reach their ears. Combat seemed to be raging in front of a large group of civilians, what looked to be some of the last left in the entire stadium.

Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino were there, fighting off a pair of Suna shinobi. Neji quickly decked one of them with the Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms technique, closing off all of his tenketsu points. The other was defeated once Shikamaru caught him in his shadow possession, and Shino covered him with insects, completely draining his chakra.

Team 7 skidded to a halt in front of their comrades. "Obito-sensei said to evacuate all civilians from the village! We also need to find Bushier Brow-sensei, we have a message for him," Naruto announced.

"The safest route would be past the Hokage's Tower and into the mountain," Shikamaru advised. "This way, everyone!"

Shikamaru and Neji began to lead the civilians out of the gate once Neji destroyed the sandstone that had encased it. As they filed out, Shino turned to Team 7. "I will have my insects begin searching for Guy-sensei. In the meantime, we should act as a rearguard for these civilians in case of an attack."

Sasuke nodded, motioning for Shino to lead the way. The four of them ran in a square behind the civilians, allowing Shikamaru and Neji to guide them towards the Hokage's Tower. The citizens all had looks of worry and fear, some even screaming at the sudden explosions in the distance.

"Just calm down, guys, we're gonna get all of you to safety," Shikamaru said from his position a the head of the column.

"Yeah," Naruto echoed from the rear. "My dad will take care of the monster in the stadium, then it's game over for them! Nothing to worry about!"

As they neared the tower, Neji slowed his pace until he was even with the rear guard. His Byakugan was active, the veins around his eyes relaying that information.

"I could see a staging area up ahead. They seem to be escorting the civilians in groups with the help of other Genin and some Chunin," he informed.

Naruto allowed a small nod. Despite his confidence in front of the civilians, he knew that cockiness would get them nowhere, but he had to appreciate the small victories when they came. They would just have to keep up the confident facade in order to prevent panic among their ranks.

"We should join them and help with their efforts," Shino advised. "At least until I can locate Guy-sensei."

"Agreed," Sasuke said as the base of the tower finally came within sight.

The area surrounding it was full of civilians, while the courtyard itself seemed to be a triage area, where the most critically injured were being treated. Naruto smirked at that, knowing that Big Sis Rin had completed her task rather quickly. On the surrounding rooftops, Chunin sentries had been posted, but it seemed like the fighting hadn't reached this deep into the village. Even the sounds of combat had faded some time ago.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura! Shino! Shikamaru!" a voice called.

"Iruka-sensei?!" they all exclaimed as the Academy instructor landed in front of them.

He gave a soft smile. "Thank goodness you're all alright," he said, looking each of them over. "Are there any civilians in this group that have serious injuries?"

"No, sensei," Shikamaru shook his head. "We managed to defeat our attackers and escort them here without any further trouble. It's probably thanks to Obito-sensei. He's taking on what looked like a full platoon by himself at the stadium. Lord Yondaime is dealing with that monster as well."

"That's great to hear," Iruka said, making a mental note to thank Obito later. He may not like the man, but he knew that the Uchiha's strength earned a modicum of respect. "We could use some extra hands. We don't have enough escorts for all of these civilians to escape into the mountain."

"We're on it," Neji said, moving off towards the crowd, followed by Shikamaru.

Sasuke looked apologetically at their former mentor. "We'd love to help, Iruka-sensei, but Obito-sensei sent us with a message for Guy-sensei. You haven't seen him, have you? Shino's trying to track him down with his insects, but nothing so far."

Iruka's eyes widened. "Must be important. Guy was here not five minutes ago. He rounded up a small group of Jonin and made a break for the gate, trying to contain the enemy before they spread too far. I'd advise staying away from there. Is there any way you could send someone else with the message?"

"There's no time! Let's go!" Naruto said urgently, eyes flitting between Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm staying here to help. Rin-sensei taught me some emergency first aid, so I can help with the wounded even though I don't know medical ninjutsu. You two go ahead. Good luck!"

Sasuke looked like he wanted to question her, but Naruto was already running. The Uchiha turned and bolted after his best friend, trusting Iruka-sensei to keep their third teammate safe.

If looks could kill, then A certainly would have won his fight by now. As it was, the Golden Sand of the Kazekage was turning out to be more trouble than he thought. His brute force could shatter it easily enough, but it swirled quickly, repairing any holes in the objects that Rasa created.

Fortunately, A was much faster than the sand, and Rasa knew it, which was why he kept the Raikage on his toes by directing most of his attacks at C. A was forced to step in each time, blowing apart the sand long enough for C to escape. It was becoming repetitive, and it had turned the roof of the stadium into a cracked concrete mess.

He dodged the latest of the golden sand constructs before planting and shooting towards the Kazekage. His left arm came up in preparation for a Lariat, but the golden sand rushed up to meet him, forming a thick wall. A's arm punched through it easily enough, but it slowed him down just long enough for Rasa to change locations, the sand retreating with him.

A growled in frustration. "C! This is taking too long!"

"It's his Gold Sand, sir! It's much heavier than ordinary sand, making it a more dangerous weapon. What's more, it seems like he can summon it at will, most likely out of the ground around us. It's impossible to know how much there is out there, so we can assume that his reserves will never be depleted," C relayed as he dodged a tendril of sand, only for A to break apart one that had threatened to stab him in the back.

"Watch yourself, C," A warned. "As far as I can tell, his fighting style is the same as his son's. We just need to get up close and personal with him."

A regarded Rasa with a cold glare that was returned equally. As much as A knew that he could take him alone, he knew that Rasa wouldn't let C escape, seeing as how he was his greatest advantage over A. Which meant that A needed to make C his greatest advantage over Rasa.

"Now listen up, C, I've got a plan."

Obito had been aware of the exact moment his Genin had stepped out of his line of fire. Already, nearly half a dozen enemy shinobi lay dead in their own pools of blood, slash and stab wounds from his kunai seeing to them. But now that he could let loose without fear of collateral damage, Obito began to weave hand signs.

"Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance!"

The spiraling flames incinerated four of his enemies instantly, a couple others escaping with severe burns. Two more attacked simultaneously from either side of Obito, but he quickly transported his body using his Mangekyou. The two kunai that would have been buried in his ribs were instead plunged into the hearts of both shinobi. They fell backwards with the other's weapon protruding from their chests.

Already racing to the next opponent, Obito engaged one of them with taijutsu, cracking three quick jabs against his enemy's chest and nose, followed by an uppercut that lifted the man off of his feet. Obito finished him by flipping up into the air and bringing down a severe axe kick that caved in his skull.

His enemies took advantage of the fact that he was in the air, assailing Obito with many shuriken and kunai, but he simply transported his body again, the weapons clattering harmlessly to the ground as he landed lightly on the balls of his feet.

Five Oto shinobi launched some ninjutsu of their own, hoping to overwhelm him with power. Two of the jutsu seemed to be waves of sound, distorting the air as they flew. The other three were an assortment of earth, water, and fire jutsu. Obito weaved the signs as fast as he could, then brought a hand to his mouth, forming a circle with his fingers.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

A volley of fireballs were expelled from Obito's mouth, flying to clash with the enemy jutsu. But the abundance of fireballs meant that Obito not only cancelled out their jutsu, he also attacked them directly. Three of them met grisly deaths by fire, while two others managed to avoid the flames. The explosions created a small smoke cloud that billowed outwards and into the sky once it escaped the concrete roof.

Some movement in the cloud alerted Obito to the two burned shinobi from earlier as they attempted to rush towards him with their kunai. Before they could reach him, Obito simply teleported the top halves of their bodies into the Kamui dimension, one after the other. Their legs toppled to the ground a second later, blood gushing from where their torso should have been.

Drawing his kunai, Obito faced the remaining six shinobi out of the two dozen that had begun the fight. Doubt was behind each of their eyes. They were clearly not expecting to meet someone strong enough to kill three quarters of their number seemingly without trying. He hadn't said a word to any of them the entire fight, and his silence made him seem less than human. A demon that used red to paint his surroundings.

"That's Obito Uchiha, the Fire Storm," a Suna kunoichi finally recognized, gasping the words out loud.

An Oto shinobi flicked his eyes between them in alarm. "You mean the guy that only leaves charred corpses behind on the battlefield?"

"Yeah," the kunoichi gulped, fear finally emerging in its fullness as Obito stared each of them down. "Should we run?"

Another Oto shinobi shook his head slightly, his feet rooted to the ground with fear rather than chakra. "He won't let us escape. We should surrender."

Hearing that, Obito began to pace forwards, his killer intent coming off of him in waves. "Unfortunately for all of you," he finally said, voice dangerously low. "I don't take prisoners."

A blue spectral light seemed to cover the Uchiha, the power rolling off of him like an avalanche. The Oto shinobi that suggested surrender immediately dropped into the fetal position, cowering in fear as his body convulsed against his will. The other five watched helplessly as the blue aura around Obito turned into a spectral ribcage, then grew a skull and arms. Tendons followed, then muscle, and finally, skin and armor.

A helmet covered the yellow eyes that glowed from beneath it. Pauldrons were attached to the upper arms and shoulders, and twin katana hung at either hip. The torso was covered in a simple robe, and hip armor was secured by the sword belt. Obito stood at the center of it, eyes impassive as he studied them.

Without any movement from Obito, the warrior drew a katana with its right hand, then held it at its side. The Uchiha within snapped his fingers, and blue and orange fire coated the blade. The five shinobi's eyes widened in realization, but it was far too late.

"Don't fuck with Konoha," Obito said darkly. Moving his arm, the kunai in his hand acted as the flaming katana. A horizontal slash, it separated five heads from their shoulders.

The fire cauterized the wounds before they could spurt blood. As the heads clattered to the ground, the Susano'o faded away, and Obito approached the final shinobi, who still cowered in fear on the ground. Hauling the man to his feet with one hand, Obito unceremoniously jammed his kunai into the man's throat.

His eyes bulged, and his tongue wagged as he attempted to gasp for air, but all that came was blood. His headband made a pinging sound when his body fell to the concrete, the stones beginning to turn dark red from the blood gushing out of the wound. Obito looked around, eyes scanning the bloody or burnt corpses that were scattered around him by the dozens. There were simply far too many of them for this to be a simple mission. This had to be a full-scale assault.

Wiping his kunai clean on the dead body's vest, the Uchiha turned to observe the scene. Minato was still occupied with the One Tails, and the sounds from above made it abundantly clear that the Raikage was fighting someone on the roof.

Trusting the combat abilities of both Kage, he quickly Body Flickered up onto the wall to survey the scene. He dropped to one knee, sharingan beginning to scan the village from the high vantage point. The gate was a warzone. Even front his distance, Obito could see that.

The giant red wooden doors had been blown completely off their hinges, and one had been reduced to splinters. Several giant snakes roamed around, leveling buildings and putting holes in the wall, where more and more enemy shinobi poured through. They were clearly snake summons, which meant that only one person could have orchestrated this attack: Orochimaru.

The visible jutsu exchanges meant that at least a few Konoha shinobi were attempting to hold back the enemy, but Obito had some serious doubts about whether or not they could hold back the sheer numbers of the enemy. He just hoped that his team could rally together a group of Genin and make it somewhere safe with the civilians.

They may have survived their fight with Zabuza and Haku, but they hadn't faced real combat nearly to the extent that something like this would require.

For now, Obito allowed the Mangekyou to recede, and he leapt down from the stadium. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he sprinted as fast as possible towards the gate. He'd hold it back alone if he needed to, but he'd be damned if they would catch the civilians before they had a chance to evacuate.

As he ran, he became aware of a powerful presence approaching behind him. Obito slid to a halt, the Mangekyou flaring to life as his pursuer landed. Seeing that it was the Kumo Jonin sensei from the Chunin Exams, Obito's eyes narrowed a bit.

"What do you want?"

The man had just as much of an impassive gaze that Obito did, only he hid behind his sunglasses rather than the sharingan. "Your village is under attack, throwing everything out of whack. You let me help, yo, I ain't no whelp."

"But you're from Kumo, this isn't your fight. Why would you care?" Obito asked suspiciously.

"Yo, that doesn't matter to me. I gotta beat every bad guy I see!" the Kumo shinobi replied.

Obito quirked a brow at the unusual method of speech, but nodded nevertheless. "We need to hold the gate, then secure the civilians."

"Man, leave me the gate. Those people shouldn't meet their fate," came the response.

Obito looked him up and down. He'd known that this Kumo Jonin had a seriously powerful chakra ever since the first rounds of the Chunin Exams, but knowing he was powerful was a far cry from actually trusting him with this task. Then again, the Raikage was currently engaged, meaning that Kumo hadn't betrayed Konoha like Suna had. As much as he wanted to refuse and accompany this man to the gate anyways, Obito needed to make sure that their rear was secure. If the front lines crumbled even a bit, the rear guard had to be ready to hold off the enemy long enough for the civilians to escape.

"Fine," Obito relented. "I'll secure the rear guard and make sure all of the civilians escape. Tink you can hold them off until then?"

"They won't get past me, I'm the rappin' Killer B! WHEEEE!" he said, leaping off of the building and heading towards the gate.

Even in these circumstances, Obito found it somewhat amusing that B could keep up such a ridiculous act. His eyes briefly flashed with it, but he quickly turned and moved back the way he came. Speeding across the rooftops, Obito actually wondered why he'd trusted a complete stranger. That was Naruto's thing. Were those brats actually rubbing off on him?

He made a mental note to increase the difficulty of their training regimen once this shitshow had ended.

Each time one of the massive sand claws was swung down at Minato, he blew it apart with a Rasengan. He needed a plan, and fast. Otherwise, the beast would potentially level the stadium, or worse, the village itself.

He tossed a kunai up towards the One Tails' face, then teleported to it, hoping to get an understanding of how Gaara had let the beast take over. In midair, he could see Gaara was still completely unconscious, so he prepared to throw another kunai in order to get next to the boy, but before he could, another sand claw entered his field of vision. It was apparent that the One Tails didn't want Minato anywhere near its host's body.

Minato threw his kunai backwards and teleported to it in order to avoid the blow, his Hokage's cloak billowing around him as he fell. He landed lightly on his feet and flexed his free hand. "This is going nowhere. I might have to pull out the big guns."

"I agree," said the deep, raspy, demonic voice from within Minato.

He hadn't heard from the voice in years, despite their agreement to cooperate. Truth be told he still blamed it for his wife's death, and that wasn't something that easily went away. Seemed like everyone int he village had mixed feelings about people these days.

Despite that, Minato grinned internally, his spirits actually lifted by the voice's emergence once again.

"Then it looks like we've got some work to do...Kurama."

"We haven't done this in a while. You sure you're up for it?" the Nine-Tailed Fox asked, a teasing tone coming through in his tone.

Minato shook his head at the jest. Standing up straight, he clapped his hands together in front of him, and orange, fiery light covered his entire form. Black marks lined his clothing, and the whites of his eyes disappeared, also turning black.

Shukaku evidently saw this, and his mouth opened, a bellow of rage emanating from deep within him. "I don't think he likes you," Minato joked dryly.

"He doesn't think he should be counted among the weakest of us," Kurama said from within. "We should show him differently."

"Not exactly how I would have worded it, but we do need to defeat him," Minato replied.

Another claw of sand fell to crush Minato, but this time, a claw of orange chakra rose to meet it. The two paws battled for dominance, pushing back against one another. The chakra arm was coming from Minato's back, so that left hs arms free. He threw another kunai up towards Shukaku's face, then teleported to it.

Using another chakra arm, he made a grab for Gaara, but that too was batted aside by Shukaku's tail. Minato instead grabbed the tail with the chakra arm, then used it to drag him towards Shukaku's face. He landed next to Gaara, creating a fox-shaped head around him to use as protection.

He shook the boy by the shoulders, even slapping him a few times on the cheek, but that didn't seem to be working. "The beast's hold on him is too strong. We need to weaken it so that I can wake him up."

"Then let's teach this One-Tailed fool a lesson," Kurama growled.

Minato vaulted backwards off of the Sand Spirit's face. As he fell, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Kurama's orange chakra began to pool around him, forming the shape of an animal. Soon enough, Minato was suspended in the center of the head of a giant Nine-Tailed Fox.

Shukaku roared again, even louder than last time. His anger had only built upon seeing the manifestation of his hated sibling.

"Yeah, he really doesn't like you."

The gate was a complete mess from what Guy could see. Izumo and Kotetsu seemed to be the only remaining members of the gate squad, the rest lying dead on the ground or in the bellies of the massive snakes that were causing destruction everywhere they went. One such snake, the largest of them all, was bearing down on Izumo and Kotetsu.

Kotetsu had his dual elongated kunai blades drawn, a chain connecting them at the hilt. Izumo held his bo in a two-handed grip, watching as the shadow of the giant snake covered them.

Its purple body with black stripes made it stand out amongst the village atmosphere, and that wasn't even mentioning its size. Four spikes protruded from the back of its skull, and four massive fangs could be seen, dripping with venom as its mouth opened with a hiss.

Moving fast, Guy activated four of the Eight Gates, then dashed forwards to land a spearing kick to the side of the giant snake's head, throwing it sideways into the village wall. The gray concrete cracked under the impact, but didn't crumble entirely.

"Who dares strike me?!" the snake demanded. "I am Manda, the great snake of Ryuchi Cave! I will not be touched by a mere human! All of you are simple sacrifices to me!"

"I'm Konoha's fiercest beast of battle. Might Guy," the taijutsu user smiled as his squad lined up behind him. Consisting of Genma, Raido, Aoba, Kurenai, and Anko, ge was sure that there was no better team to back him up. Asuma had also joined them en route after delivering a message to his father.

The snake made what sounded to be a laugh. "A simple insect. My time would be better spent slaughtering your friends behind you."

"That's the boss summon of Ryuchi Cave," Anko recognized. "But that means…Orochimaru." A growl escaped her lips, rumbling in her throat as she realized who was behind this attack.

"He must have formed an alliance with Suna," Asuma offered. "The Kazekage attacked Lord Hokage then engaged the Raikage."

"But why would Suna ally with a snake like Orochimaru?" Kurenai asked.

"Save it," Guy said. "We can theorize later, but not until the village is safe. They're counting on us. So not one of these enemies gets past us. Understand?"

"Right," a chorus of voices answered.

"Asuma, you're my backup. We need to keep this monster occupied. Kurenai, you, Izumo, and Kotetsu need to secure the western side of the wall. Genma, Raido, and Aoba, secure the eastern side of the wall. Anko, use your snake summons to get rid of the other snakes, then return here to support Kurenai's team."

Anko was the first to disperse, perhaps out of eagerness to get back at Orochimaru, but who knew. What they did know was that her snake summons would cancel out the other summons, since summon animals refused to fight others of their kind.

Kurenai and Asuma exchanged worried glances, but Guy did his best to ignore that. He knew they felt for one another, any fool could see that, but the man in charge needed to remain calm under pressure. Worrying about placing these people in harm's way would do nothing but get them and himself killed. He needed to trust their abilities to do their jobs so that he could execute his.

"How do you wanna play this, Guy?" Asuma asked as they stared the snake down. "My chakra blades can cut through almost anything, but this snake is huge."

Guy nodded. "I'm well aware of that. I'll keep him occupied with the Gates. You need to go for vital points, like the eyes, throat, or brain."

"Got it," Asuma grunted, spitting out his cigarette and brandishing his knives that already glowed blue with jagged wind chakra.

Guy opened another Gate, making it the Fifth Gate of Closing as Manda began to charge towards them, mouth agape. But before he could even begin to think about attacking Guy and Asuma, a giant brown fist smashed into the snake's head, once again forcing him backwards into the wall. This time, the concrete gave way, dropping tons of stone on top of Manda.

The savior turned out to be a massive ox, with the tip of one of his horns missing. It sat upon eight tentacles, looking as if it were a cross between an ox and an octopus. Guy raised both eyebrows in surprise, but it was Asuma who voiced it.

"The hell is that thing?"

"I believe it is the Eight Tails, from Kumo," Guy said in disbelief. "His flames of youth rival even my own!"

Asuma facepalmed. "You idiot. Hey! Eight Tails! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Yo, I ain't no fool, attacking Konoha ain't cool!" came the response from the giant beast.

Asuma was taken aback by the rhyme. "Does that mean he's on our side?"

"He attacked that giant snake, so that's good enough for me. Guess our backup arrived," Guy said with a grin.

"Now let's get to work."

Naruto and Sasuke had made up considerable ground. Teleporting to Naruto's house had easily eaten up half of the distance already, and it barely put a dent into Naruto's reserves, thanks to his naturally large pools, as well as the extra training he'd done with his father. The pair ran along the rooftops, avoiding the streets so they wouldn't be caught at a disadvantage by being on lower ground.

"The gate looks like a warzone," Sasuke called out.

"Yeah," Naruto responded. "But we can't turn back! Big Bro Obito gave us this mission and we have to complete it!"

"I didn't say anything about turning back," Sasuke smirked. "Even so, Obito always did say that comrades came before the mission. If we can't reach Guy-sensei without running into serious trouble, then we turn back. Agreed?"

Naruto turned his attention to the path ahead. "We're getting close. The gate's just up ahead."

Sasuke thought that Naruto's lack of an answer was suspicious, but he didn't bother to call him out on it. Knowing the blonde, he would leap at the first opportunity to get involved. Naruto may be a strong Genin, and a smart shinobi, but he would jump at any chance to prove his worth to his father. Minato's duties as Hokage had given Naruto large shoes to fill.

The sounds of combat grew louder and louder as the pair closed the distance. They'd been able to see giant snakes for a while, but they seemed to be contained for the moment. Unfortunately, the largest one was directly where they were heading.

They dropped down onto the street in front of the gate just in time to see a giant octopus with a bull's head punch the large, purple snake into the village wall. Seeing Guy and Asuma, Sasuke jerked his head towards them, Naruto following behind.

"Guy-sensei!" the Uchiha heir called.

The taijutsu user snapped his head around, his face immediately taking on a look of concern. "What are you two doing here? It's dangerous-"

"We have a message for you!" Naruto cut him off forcefully. "Big Bro Obito said that he was ordering a full evacuation of the village, and all of the Jonin were supposed to make a rear guard to cover the evacuation."

"I assume he means to employ a strategic retreat, followed by defending key positions to maximize the delay on the enemy," Sasuke offered.

Asuma glanced between Guy and the two Genin, seeming to weigh the situation. Beneath the rubble, Manda was beginning to stir, causing Asuma to jerk his head to Guy. "Whatever you're gonna do, you gotta do it now. Are we pulling back?"

Guy furrowed his brow in thought for a few seconds before meeting Asuma's gaze. "You think you can take charge of the squad?"

"Well I am the leader of the Hokage's guard platoon. Why, though? What're you gonna do?" Asuma asked.

Guy turned his attention back to the Genin. "I'm gonna go set up a fallback line. Since we're the advance squad, you'll have to make a slow retreat through the village. Try and lead the enemy into choke points. I'll find Obito, and we'll set traps for them in those spots. Relay all of this to Kurenai and the others."

Asuma nodded. "Right."

Guy placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't let your flames go out. Be careful, Asuma."

"Yeah, you too," the Sarutobi nodded before leaping away to relay the new set of orders.

Guy clenched a fist and looked up to the giant octopus ox. "Did you hear that? Fall back slowly, follow Asuma's lead."

"Yo, me and Eighto heard you, we'll give you time for what you're gonna do!" the beat responded in a lighthearted voice.

Guy flashed a grin, then returned his attention back to the Genin. "Let's go."

The three of them took off in a V formation, Guy in the center. "What's the situation in the rear?" he asked as they ran.

"Iruka-sensei and Big Sis Rin have a staging area at the Tower," Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded. "They're using Genin and Chunin escorts to take groups of civilians to the evacuation shelter, but when we were last there, only a handful of Chunin guards were present, and they were low on escorts. We would have stayed, but Obito sent us with a message for you."

Guy quirked an eyebrow. "And where is Obito? I figured he would have been at the gate long before us."

"We got ambushed by a few dozen enemy shinobi in the stadium. Big Bro Obito took all of them on at once while we helped the civilians escape," Naruto said.

"Obito's flames of youth are strong!" Guy proclaimed. "He'll defeat them in no time. Make no mistake, next to Lord Yondaime, Obito and I are Konoha's greatest weapons!"

A deep, gravelly voice halted the three of them in their tracks. "Konoha's greatest weapons, huh? I've fought Obito. He's worthy enough. But you look like the poster boy on how not to be a ninja."

Their eyes darted upwards to the nearest rooftop, where four figures stood, outlined against the blue sky. One wore simple robes with purple rope tied around his waist, his pale white skin making him look like a snake. Another had white hair tied back, and wore glasses. The third had his face covered with bandages, and he wore a sleeveless black shirt with a giant sword strapped to his back. The last had spiky white hair, and wore a mask over his lower face, as well as a black cloak with red clouds on it. But perhaps his most striking feature was the pair of sharingan that were visible even from where the three Konoha shinobi stood.

It was the fourth that made Guy gasp, a rare show of surprise from the taijutsu master. "It can't be."

"What? Who is that Bushier Brow-sensei?" Naruto asked urgently.

The man with the sharingan seemed to smile with his eyes. "Hello Guy, it's been quite some time. You don't look quite as stupid as before."

"Kakashi," Guy spat, now devoid of all happiness, veins only coursing with rage.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look of utter disbelief, eyes wider than they'd ever been before. This man in front of them was the infamous traitor that the entire Academy had been taught about. He'd been responsible for hundreds of Konoha shinobi deaths in the last war. And now he was part of an attack on the village.

"I heard you speaking about Obito. Would you mind directing me to him? I have a score to settle and I know you always approve of settling things man-to-man," Kakashi asked in a jovial tone.

"You'll never get to torment him again," Guy growled, exploding with killer intent that made Naruto and Sasuke flinch, as well as the boy with glasses on the roof.

Naruto balled his fists and stepped forward, yelling up at the four enemies. "I don't know what your plans are with my sensei, but you'll have to go through me if you want to get to him!"

"Oh, look my dear Kakashi. Our objective has fallen into our hands! So relieving. Now poor Kabuto doesn't have to search all over the village," said the man with the purple rope.

Guy also seemed to glare daggers at him as well. "Orochimaru. You're behind this attack, aren't you?"

The Snake Sannin laughed. "Oh, no. This was all Kakashi's doing. I'm simply lending my forces. We have a common hatred for this place, you see."

"Enough talk," the man with the sword said, leaping down to the street. He pulled the sword off of his back and slammed it into the ground when he came to a halt in front of Guy and the two Genin. "We all have jobs to do, so the less you talk, the sooner we can get this over with."

"Is that-?" Sasuke began.

"Zabuza?!" Naruto exclaimed. "I thought we were cool! Big Bro Obito said he straightened you out or something!"

The Ninja Swordsman scoffed from beneath his bandages. "You don't know what you're talking about, kid. I get hired, I do a job. Just so happens that Gato never intended on paying me, so I killed him and his entire organization."

Zabuza turned to look up at his three comrades. "You two assholes gonna get moving, or what? And you, Specs, get your ass down here and do your job. You're not paying me to babysit."

Orochimaru cackled with amusement. "Do humor him, dear Kabuto. Zabuza has proven to be a good asset to us thus far. I'd hate to make him even angrier than he already is. Besides, Kakashi and I have our own tasks to complete."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and jumped down to land next to Zabuza. "Anything for you, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru smirked one last time down at Guy before turning to Kakashi. "Shall we go, dear Kakashi? I know how much you want to kill that former teammate of yours. And I still need to capture him for my next body."

Kakashi rolled his sharingan in response. "Whatever. Do what you want. I'm going to kill Obito. Alone."

Hearing that, Guy made to intercept the pair, but a swipe from the massive Executioner's Blade forced him backwards. He utilized the momentum to drop into his stance, sliding to a halt next to Naruto and Sasuke, who had already drawn their weapons.

With that, Kakashi and Orochimaru dispersed in separate directions, each looking for their respective quarries. That left Zabuza and Kabuto to face the taijutsu master, Naruto, and Sasuke.

"Looks like we've got a fight ahead of us," Guy remarked. Truth be told, he didn't know how much the two Genin would be able to contribute. They'd each already been apart of three fights that day. And while Naruto's chakra reserves wouldn't run out anytime soon, Sasuke was a different story.

Zabuza flipped his grip on the sword, bringing it parallel to his forearm. "Show me what you've got, Guy."

The taijutsu user responded only by drawing his nunchucks. He would have to trust Naruto and Sasuke to hold their own against Kabuto. Zabuza was going to be a challenge. His best bet would be to defeat him quickly so that he could ensure the Genin's survival.

They were in for a fight.

If you guys can't tell, I love cliffhangers. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on all of the fight scenes, so leave a review if you feel like sharing your thoughts! They really keep me motivated, and help me see each of your perspectives, not just as the author of the story. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and stay tuned for the next chapter!