Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 14: Attack on Konoha

"BLOOD! It's my blood!"

The sand surrounding Sasuke's arm gripped tighter as he attempted to pull it out of the sand sphere. Sasuke's Chidori crackled from within the sphere and surrounded his entire body, causing him to yell out in pain. He kept pulling his arm through the pain, and finally was able to free himself.

However, something was still gripping his arm as he jumped back and Namiko was in the audience, trying to maintain her composure. 'Is that an…arm? That doesn't look human by any means.' Namiko's heart and mind were racing. 'What if that is that sand spirit that Gaara told us about yesterday? Oh Sasuke, you've got to end this quick or run.'

A giant arm made of sand chased Sasuke for a moment before retracting back inside the sphere, but the hole it made didn't close. Sasuke knelt on the ground, holding his left arm, as he peered inside with his Sharingan. He heard a growling from inside and saw something moving from within.

An eye of black and yellow stared ominously through the hole back at him, causing fear to run down his spine. 'What…is he?'

The sphere began to crack before the sand began to crumble, revealing an injured and unhinged Gaara. Gaara was breathing heavily and his blue eyes were bloodshot and panicked. 'Blue? So the eyes I saw inside…weren't his?' Sasuke was equal parts confused and fearful.

"Why are they just staring at each other?" asked Namiko, turning to look at Kakashi but not receiving an answer.

She heard Naruto's voice from behind her, "Hey, what's with the feathers?"

"What are you talking about?" She turned to look at him, walking up a couple of steps toward him, and was an arm's length away when she saw them as well. Exhaustion hit her out of nowhere and she slowly sank to the ground unconscious.

Gai and Kakashi, along with Sakura and several jounin, quickly recognized the genjutsu and dispersed it around themselves. "Release!" A smoke bomb went off where the Hokage and Kazekage were sitting and before Gai and Kakashi could react, several ANBU leaped past them to check on the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama," said Raido as he came to Hiruzen's side, "Hokage-sama, you must flee." Two kunai came into view, aimed for Hiruzen, but Raido stepped in front of him taking both kunai straight to his chest. "Escape now!"

Hiruzen never got the chance to act on it as the Kazekage grabbed him from behind with a kunai to his throat, jumped in the air, and onto the roof of the building. Four cloaked shinobi leaped on the roof with them and quickly erected a barrier to keep anyone out.

Kakashi looked towards the scene on top of the roof. "A barrier jutsu. They've outsmarted the ANBU and the ANBU are supposed to be the best."

Gai and Kakashi started down the steps when another ANBU jumped in front of them. "What are you doing here? Hokage-sama's in danger!" questioned Gai. The ANBU ignored his question as several shinobi who had been disguised as civilians joined him at the front of the audience seats. "An enemy masquerading as ANBU Black Ops, so he was the one using the genjutsu," stated Gai.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, there's no mistake."

Sasuke was puzzled as to what exactly was happening. His fight with Gaara had been odd enough, but to see the smoke bomb quickly followed by the barrier jutsu left him baffled. Gaara's siblings had jumped down to the arena floor.

"Stop it Gaara!" cried out Temari.

"I must kill him…" Gaara was staring blankly ahead.

Kankuro stood in front of Gaara, trying to rationalize with him. "There's no point in continuing this fight!"

"That's right," agreed Temari. "Don't forget our mission."

Gaara pushed Kankuro away. "Get out of my way!"

Baki flashed down between the Suna trio and Sasuke. "What are you three doing? Can't you see the plan is already underway?"

Genma flashed down as well, standing in front of Sasuke. Sasuke looked up at him. "What's going on? Tell me!" Genma didn't answer and kept his focus on the Suna jounin.

Genma and Sasuke couldn't hear what they were saying until Baki yelled "Go!" to the trio and they leaped over the arena's wall without hesitation.

"And is the host of this little party Orochimaru?" Genma asked accusingly.

"Don't know and don't care," replied Baki. "Now let's heat things up, shall we?"

Genma adjusted the senbon in his mouth as he addressed Sasuke without turning around, "Sasuke, I'm sorry, but the Chuunin Exam ends here for you. You've already achieved chuunin level. You're a Konoha shinobi, so put your training to good use."

"In other words, I'm supposed to take down Gaara, right? Our match continues?" questioned Sasuke.

"Just be careful," warned Genma. "It's the real thing now, not a match."

"What I have to do is still the same." With that, Sasuke took off after them, up and over the arena's wall as well.

"Kakashi, look in the barrier," said Gai as he nodded his head toward the Hokage on top of the building next to them.

Kakashi turned to look. "Orochimaru…"

"Orochimaru!" That name caught Sakura's attention and she stood to get a better look. 'Why is he here? Has he come to take Sasuke?' She looked over to the arena floor and noticed Sasuke was no longer there.

As she was focused on the fact her teammate was gone, she didn't notice the enemy shinobi coming toward her until it was too late and she ducked her head. Kakashi came to her rescue, effectively deflecting the enemy. "Sakura, just stay there while I trim the enemy's numbers down to size." Kakashi and Gai helped several other jounin eliminate the Oto shinobi that attacked.

Kakashi landed next to Sakura. "Sakura, it was worth training you in genjutsu during survival training in the Genin Exam. You truly do have a talent for it. Release the genjutsu and wake Naruto, Shikamaru, and Namiko."

Sakura turned her head to look at her friends and Kakashi continued. "I'm sure Naruto will be delighted to get a mission after such a long time."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "What kind of mission?"

"You'll have to be careful on this one," warned Kakashi. "It's the first A-Rank mission since the Land of Waves."

Her eyes went wide in worry. "But sensei, what are you doing? With this battle going on, why send us off on some mission?"

"Sasuke is chasing Gaara and the other Suna shinobi," explained Kakashi as he took out a kunai and cut his thumb. "Go release the genjutsu around those three and follow Sasuke."

"Shouldn't we wake Ino and Chouji as well and go as a group? There's strength in numbers, right?" Sakura suggested.

"There's no time and I already suspect there's a large number of Oto and Suna shinobi in our village. Anything larger than a four-man squad would slow you down." Kakashi glanced in her direction. "You remember that from your academy training, don't you?"

Sakura nodded but still held a look of concern on her face. "How can we do this without a jounin though? We're all still genin."

"I'm going to send one more with you," said Kakashi as he put his hand on a man slumped over in front of him. "Summoning Jutsu!" A small light brown dog with dark brown ears wearing a hitai-ate appeared from the summoning circle.

"A dog?" questioned Sakura. "What can a little dog do?"

"I'm no mere dog!" scoffed Pakkun and Sakura stared at the talking dog.

"Pakkun will help Namiko track Sasuke for you," explained Kakashi. "Now hurry and release the genjutsu!"

Sakura crawled carefully from her seat and up the steps to where her friends lay with Pakkun right behind her. She approached Namiko and Naruto first since they were closest to each other. "Release!" she said as she touched Namiko and Naruto.

Namiko yawned and rubbed her eyes before sitting up. Naruto sat up groggily, drool on the side of his mouth as he asked, "What's going on?"

The whistling of a kunai cut through the air. "Get down!" shouted Sakura as she shoved Naruto to the ground. "I'll explain in a bit."

Sakura started to move over to Shikamaru when Namiko cut off her train of thought, "Shikamaru-kun, I know you're awake. Your chakra is absolutely fine so I know you're not under a genjutsu."

Sakura raised a brow in irritation. "Seriously?"

Shikamaru groaned quietly but ignored the girls. Pakkun walked over and bit Shikamaru on the calf causing him to sit straight up and yell out in pain. Sakura rolled her eyes. "You idiot, you deserved that for faking when you'd already released the genjutsu."

He rubbed his leg gently after Pakkun let go. "I didn't want to get involved. Give me a break. I couldn't care less about Sasuke."

Naruto just sat still, observing the fighting going on around them. Suddenly an Oto shinobi appeared behind him, ready to strike, but was quickly punched into the wall behind the four genin by Gai. Then he pushed harder and sent the shinobi through the wall, leaving a large hole behind.

Kakashi landed among them. "Now I'll explain your mission. As soon as I do, leave through that opening. First, track down Sasuke and stop him. Namiko, Pakkun will help you until you can get him into range with your chakra sensing." Namiko nodded in agreement before Kakashi continued the instructions, "Then find a safe space and await instructions that I'll send through Pakkun."

"What happened to Sasuke?" asked Naruto with concern and Namiko sat behind him, a worried look starting to creep across her face.

"I'll explain on the way, so let's go!" ordered Sakura as she tugged on Naruto's jacket she leaped out of the hole in the wall and Shikamaru, Naruto, Namiko, and Pakkun followed closely behind.

"I guess Sasuke must've got all impatient," said Naruto as they ran through the forest.

Shikamaru groaned. "Why'd you guys have to get me in this mess?"

"You heard Sakura-chan, it was Kakashi-sensei was the one who ordered us to do this mission," emphasized Namiko.

"Come on guys, hurry it up!" yelled Pakkun as they ran, leaping from tree to tree. He took a sudden deviation causing puzzled looks from the four genin.

"What is it?" asked Sakura.

Naruto piped up next, "Is it Sasuke?"

"...oh," was all that came out of Namiko's mouth. She felt several shinobi on the edge of her chakra senses.

"So you sense them too," Pakkun said more like a statement than a question.

"We're being tracked. Two squads of four shinobi traveling parallel to each other and one straggler traveling behind them," assessed Namiko. "Anything I missed, Pakkun?"

"No," said Pakkun as he picked up speed through the trees, "I don't think they know our exact position yet, but they're gaining on us and guarding against ambush. I'm almost positive they are Orochimaru's henchmen and they'll know Konoha's layout. We need to go faster."

'I can certainly go faster, but I know no one else could catch up. I wish there was a way to just teleport everyone away.' Namiko focused intently on their pursuers' chakra signatures. "By their signatures, I'd say they're most likely all jounin," she said with a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

"Just great," groaned Shikamaru. "If they catch up to us, we're dead."

"We could ambush them?" suggested Naruto.

"You really want to take on nine jounin?" Shikamaru said sarcastically. "Ambushing only works if two essential conditions are met at the same time. First, the pursued must be able to move silently and locate the enemy. Second, the pursued must be able to swiftly find, secure, and conceal themselves in a position where they can inflict the most surprise and damage to the pursuers.

"While we can meet the first condition easily thanks to Pakkun and Namiko, the second condition isn't easy to meet since they'll know the land as well thanks to Orochimaru. They were specifically chosen for this mission, while we're a rag-tag bunch that Kakashi threw together on the fly."

"You see, battle strategy comes from knowing your existing fighting strength and formulating the best possible plan based on that. And so, what's within the realm of possibility for us right now is only one thing…" Shikamaru sighed heavily as he trailed off.

"Which is?" asked Naruto.

"A diversion that only looks like an ambush. One of us is going to stay behind and slow them down," explained Shikamaru.

Sakura nodded as she understood. "One of us will be a decoy."

"Exactly. Considering we need Pakkun and Namiko to track, and you two," said Shikamaru as he gestured to Sakura and Naruto, "are Sasuke's teammates and he'll need you. Which leaves me as the decoy."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" questioned Namiko. "I'm faster than anyone else here, so I could delay them and then flash away before they had a chance to react…"

Shikamaru cut her off. "It won't work. You're not strong enough to hold them back. Plus, the Nara clan's Shadow Possession technique is made for situations like this. I'm about the only one of us who could manage to survive this scenario."

"I don't like this idea," said Namiko cautiously.

"Just trust me!" called out Shikamaru as he stopped on a tree branch. "Good luck and keep going!"

Naruto smiled at his friend. "We're counting on you, Shikamaru!"

"Be careful!" called out Sakura. Namiko kept her mouth closed, an uneasy feeling in her throat as their now three-man and a dog team continued on.

The Suna shinobi had stopped deep in the forest and Temari had her ear pressed to the tree branch beneath their feet. Kankuro held onto an unconscious Gaara. "Well, Temari? What's up?" asked Kankuro in a whisper.

She raised her head and stood up. "He's close. Very close."

"I knew it," said Kankuro. "What do we do?"

Temari smirked and took out some wire. "Leave everything to me."

A few minutes later, Sasuke came through the same area. As he crossed one of the tripwires, a chain of explosive tags went off. Narrowly avoiding them and gluing his feet to a tree branch with chakra, he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Well…that was close."

Several kilometers away the sound of the explosions could be heard. Sakura's head snapped towards the sound. "Whoa! What was that?"

Namiko leaped down beside her. "Not sure, maybe explosive tags?"

Naruto followed suit and landed next to his sister, just as Pakkun landed on his head. "They're trip-wire traps," explained Pakkun. "They're certainly not making Sasuke's job easy for him."

"Sasuke…" breathed out Sakura. "Do you think—"

"Oh, don't worry about Sasuke," said Naruto confidently. "It would take a lot more than that to get rid of him."

Namiko closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stretch the limits of her chakra sensing. She could barely sense Sasuke's chakra. "He's on the edge of my senses but it's foggy since he's so far away. He seems to be okay though."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Good."

Pakkun hopped down from his perch on Naruto's head. "Come on, he's not too much further away. His scent and the scent from those Suna brats are getting stronger. We can probably catch up to them soon." The trio followed Pakkun in the direction of Sasuke.

A kunai whistled through the air and hit its mark in a tree next to Temari causing the Suna shinobi to turn and see where it came from.

A voice called out of the shadows, "I finally caught you. Did you really think I'd let you get away?"

"If it isn't Uchiha Sasuke," Temari bit out.

Sasuke tossed a kunai casually in his hand. "This is as far as you guys go."

"So what're you going to do, huh?" asked Kankuro.

"Go Kankuro! Get Gaara away from here." Temari threw a few kunai at Sasuke, but they just ended up in the tree behind him. "I'll take care of him."

"Don't be a fool, Temari, this kid's too much for you to handle by yourself," whispered Kankuro.

"Don't argue. Our mission is to make sure that Gaara is safe. He's our first and only priority." Temari tilted her head up in confidence. "Don't worry about me, this is what I've been waiting for. Now get going Kankuro."

A groan was heard from next to Kankuro. "Oh Gaara, you're awake…"

"Let me down, Kankuro," said Gaara coldly as he set his feet on the ground.

Kankuro reached to steady Gaara and he swiped at Kankuro, sending him flying into a tree and knocking him out cold. "Get away from me! I don't need your help!" Gaara gripped his head and groaned in pain.

Gaara's sand armor started cracking like a porcelain doll. Temari quickly ran to her youngest brother's side. "Gaara, we need to get away from the Uchiha. You need to rest still."

Gaara turned and glared at her before shoving her into a tree and knocking her unconscious as well. "You're such a nuisance. I can do this myself."

Something was different in Gaara's eyes as he now turned to stare down Sasuke.

Something sinister.

Something almost demonic.

Temari stirred slightly and looked between her brothers. Kankuro was still unconscious and she finally noticed a trickle of blood from his head, but she could tell he was still breathing. 'Gaara hit him harder than I realized. He won't be waking up any time soon.'

Sasuke eyed Gaara cautiously. "I want to see what you really are."

The armor around Gaara cracked even more, larger chunks falling to the ground. Temari's eyes widened in panic. 'Oh no…it's begun. Any moment he's going to let that thing out…not now, please not now!' She called out to him, "Gaara, don't! Remember our mission!"

Gaara held the side of his head as if to hold the sand armor in place. "You and I are so alike, Uchiha. I don't have friends, as you have, but that's not what makes you strong. It's your purpose that does it. In that way, we're alike."

A pulse of chakra came from within Gaara. "…but mine is a stronger purpose. For only by destroying you and all you represent can I even begin to prove that I exist." Gaara's bloodshot eyes bore into Sasuke's. "Only by killing you can I know what life is."

Sasuke tried his best to keep a straight face. 'He's insane. I only plan to kill one person, and that is Itachi. The bloodlust coming off this guy is smothering.'

"You. You are—" A scream tore through Gaara's throat as he clutched his head. The armor on the right side of his face shattered and he gripped his head to hide it. "You. Are. My prey!

Gaara raised his head for Sasuke to see a grotesque sight in front of him. Half of Gaara's face and body had changed, becoming almost monstrous in nature. His teeth and mouth had changed into an animalistic, menacing grin. He watched Sasuke closely with his black and yellow eye…the same one that Sasuke had seen inside the sphere.

'That eye! What is he?' thought Sasuke as he stared at Gaara in absolute terror. He felt the same grip of fear in his chest as he did when he faced Orochimaru.

Gaara's right arm had become as thick as a tree trunk and as Gaara lunged toward Sasuke, it stretched with frightening speed and clawed through tree after tree. Sasuke barely dodged the attack in time to hide behind another tree as Gaara continued his path of destruction. Trees exploded in every direction.

The tree that Sasuke was hiding behind splintered apart and Sasuke leaped back to find safety again. "Is he human or a monster?" Sasuke asked himself as he hid behind another tree.

Gaara's face contorted with malevolence as he called out, "Why do you hide, Uchiha Sasuke? Do I frighten you? Are you shocked by my true form? Come out, come out, Uchiha! To live, I must kill and you are my prey!"

Gaara crouched down, mismatched eyes scanning everywhere for the Uchiha. Sasuke leapt out from his hiding spot and Gaara swiped at him with his monstrous arm. "So there you are!"

But as he made contact, Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke and the real Sasuke jumped down from a high tree branch kunai in both hands. Sasuke threw them and they hit their mark squarely in Gaara's arm, but it didn't seem to bother the Suna nin as he absorbed the kunai into his arm and shot them back out of his arm towards Sasuke.

"Here, you can have them back!" he yelled as the kunai flew through the air, covered in flames, directly through Sasuke. "Another clone…" growled Gaara. "What's wrong, Uchiha Sasuke? Why do you not attack?" He suddenly gripped his head in pain. "Why do they always run away?" Gaara jumped ahead, cutting several trees completely in half.

Sasuke sat keeping watch on Gaara from below. 'This is insane. His strength is off the charts. If this comes down to physical strength, forget it.' Itachi's face flashed in his mind as he stood, readying to confront Gaara. 'He killed everyone but me. I was the only one allowed to live. For what reason?'

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as he gripped his left arm, preparing to attack with Chidori. '…I know the reason. He had to leave one alive to spare himself the guilt of having exterminated an entire clan. By sparing me, Itachi chose me to be the avenger of the clan. He chose me to be the one to kill him!'

Gaara noticed the flickering of lightning chakra from the Chidori and grinned menacingly. "Good! Now we're going to have some fun, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke peered around the side of the tree as he called out, "With one blow I'll finish this." Gaara leaped off the tree he was standing on and Sasuke quickly followed suit.

The two made contact mid-air and Sasuke's Chidori ripped through Gaara's monster-like arm like tissue paper. Gaara screamed in agony before collapsing on a nearby branch.

Just when Sasuke thought their fight was over, maniacal laughter pierced the air as Gaara sat up. "I see. So that's what it is. Now I see exactly why I've been looking forward to this—this pain. What a thrill it will be to crush such an opponent capable of wounding me so badly. Such a victory will make me feel what it is to be truly alive!"

Temari kept her distance from the fight, watching in unadulterated terror. 'How on earth can Uchiha keep up with Gaara? He's just as much a monster as Gaara. For all Gaara's strength right now, only his right arm has transformed. If he transforms anymore…'

Temari had spoken too soon as a massive tanuki-like tail sprouted from Gaara, whipping back and forth. "There's more, so much more!"

'What the hell is with this guy? How many of these things are going to grow out of him?' thought Sasuke.

Gaara used his tail and right arm to pull back on the branch he was standing on, then launched forward like a pebble from a slingshot. Sasuke's Sharingan sprang back to life as he jumped out of the way, clinging to a nearby branch upside down with chakra. 'Only by predicting his moves do I have any chance of dodging. Without my Sharingan, I'd be dead already. I can't use my Chidori anymore…'

Gaara launched at him again. Sasuke was forced to resort to his clan's specialty, "Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" A large fireball streamed from Sasuke's mouth, but Gaara's sand protected him, covering him in a sphere of sand. Gaara slammed into Sasuke and the Uchiha hit the tree behind him so hard, that he left a dent.

His Sharingan faded just as his attack did. Fire attacks seemed to be useless against Gaara's sand. Sasuke needed to figure out a different plan of action. 'If fire won't work, I guess I have no choice but to use my Chidori. I know Kakashi said a third one wouldn't be possible, but I have to try.' Sasuke sat on a branch in front of Gaara, gathering his chakra subtly for another Chidori in order to trick him.

"Is this all your existence is worth? You're weak!" taunted Gaara, growling and thrashing around. "Your hatred isn't strong enough. The strength of one's hatred is the strength of one's will to kill, and the strength of one's will to kill is the strength of vengeance. Your hatred will never match mine!" Gaara bellowed out.

"Shut up." Sasuke's eyes flashed with the Sharingan, as the lightning chakra around his hand sprang to life. He started to move forward, but a pulse of pain made the Chidori in his hand sputter before bursting with strength as Sasuke tapped into the Curse Mark for power.

The Chidori was successful as Gaara's right arm crumbled into a pile of sand at his feet. However, sand began to form over his left arm, just as it had before on his right.

Sasuke collapsed in pain and exhaustion due to the combination of the Chidori and Curse Mark. 'It's this stupid mark again…I can't move…' Gaara knew he had an opening to kill Sasuke and aimed straight for him, monstrous arm ready to strike.

But before he could make contact, Naruto came seemingly out of nowhere and kicked Gaara in the face, sending the Suna shinobi flying through the trees.

A/N: I was able to update after all! And hopefully, I should be able to next weekend as well. I hope you all enjoyed my Christmas gift to you! Merry Christmas!

-Eriisu