Temari and Kankuro suddenly felt sick to their stomach, the amount of blood that covered the floor was too much for any one person to witness. And the fact they were subjected to watch that cloaked man mercilessly slaughter innocent nurses forever scared the two young genin. But this was supposed to happen? Is was what needed to happen, right?
The man left without a word, leaving the two siblings alone in a room filled with dead bodies and their unconscious brother.
"How long do you think it'll take for that to take over?" Kankuro asked.
Temari shook her head. "I-I'm not sure."
Silence passed between them as the realization of what as about to happen suddenly set in. This village was about to set ablaze, hundreds of innocent lives were about to be lost. All for what exactly? What was the point in attack this village? Konoha and Suna had been on good terms, strictly politically, for the past few years. What warranted a surprise invasion where so many lives could be taken in the name of what? Glory? Bragging rights? Neither of the two knew. They were way too low in the chain to know what the reasons were behind this.
Kankuro shook his head. "This shouldn't be happening…"
Temari could only nodded in her head in agreement. "It's not worth Gaara's sanity, or our own."
The only thing that made this whole situation worse was they could do nothing to stop it from happening. It simply too late…
"…Maybe it's not too late."
Temari looked at her brother. "What are you talking about?"
"Maybe we can stop this whole thing from happening."
"How could we do that?"
"We could go talk to father and-"
"Are you stupid? There's no way he'll listen to us! Lord Kazekage will never listen to us!"
"There's gotta be something Temari! We can't just let Gaara follow through with the plan! Maybe Baki sensei can help us get Gaara out of here!"
Temari thought over that idea, honestly it was the best course of action as far as she could see. During their training and planning for this attack, both Kankuro and Temari could tell Baki wasn't entirely onboard with this either. They both knew the man's hate for Konoha ran deep but he even knew attacking mainland Konoha was a hard task to overcome, due to the overwhelming amount of strong ninja Konoha possessed.
"Yeah…let's go."
-In the battle arena-
"Alright! This is the final match between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha!" Genma shouted, drawing the crowd's interest back to the battlefield. The two genin in question stood across from each other, both sporting proud and excited smirks towards one another. The tokubetsu jōnin then looked back up to his Hokage. "Lord Hokage, do you have anything to say?"
The aging Kage nodded and stood from his stone chair. His ceremonial robes billowed in the wind as the gust passed by. "First off, congratulations to the both of you for making it this far. Never before have two members of the same team faced each other in the final match, it's history in the making. Furthermore, I can't think of any two more deserving of the chance to fight for the rank of chunin. Sasuke was the Rookie of the Year during his time in the Ninja Academy and Naruto has proved just how strong he truly is over his hard-fought matches here today. This match is practically guaranteed classic and sure to be remembered by all! Good luck to you both!"
The crowd cheered in sure fire approval. Sarutobi sat down in his stone chair and let out a deep breath, he really needed to get out more and cut back on the smoking. Damn, he was hypocrite now for scolding Asuma about his smoking. He hoped his winded breath went unnoticed but the Kazekage was quick to pick up on it.
"A bit out of breath just from speaking, Lord Hokage? Maybe it's time for you to retire."
The Third Hokage snickered. "Now now, I'm not that old. I still plan to be Hokage for another five years before I turn in this hat."
"But you must have a successor in mind to take the reins."
"I have a few in mind."
"One of your former students I presume."
Before Sarutobi could offer up a response, a small boy with a long blue scarf jumped into the old man's lap seemingly from out of nowhere. "Grandpa!"
The aged Hokage let out a soft 'oof' when Konohamaru landed in his lap. "Konohamaru, what are you doing up here? Does your mother know where you are?"
The young boy nodded furiously. "Yeah! I wanted to watch Big Brother Naruto's match with you, grandpa. We haven't seen each other in a long time and I've missed spending time with you. Is this okay, grandpa?"
Hiruzen smiled fondly at his lone grandson. It was true that the aged man hadn't been spending much time with his beloved grandchild, but his schedule as Hokage prevented him from having the free time to do see his family. In fact, most of Sarutobi's free time was spent catching up on paperwork or dealing with unscheduled meetings.
"Of course, Konohamaru. I'd like nothing more."
The duo of grandfather and grandson turned their attention back down to the arena. Jiraiya looked on from his position on the arena wall, he couldn't believe his eyes. If it was obvious to him, how could it not be obvious to the Third Hokage. The old man's senses were dulling.
-With Sakura-
The pinkette wasn't completely sure what to do with herself. Sakura was torn between her two teammates, she wasn't sure who to cheer for. Or even how to feel about them fighting each other again. She was constantly replaying Sasuke beating the hell out of Naruto while he was enveloped with that purple chakra, which was caused by that cursed mark on his neck. Sakura really hoped that Sasuke's mark didn't get involved in the match, she knew how much this fight meant to them both and what it would mean if some outside force were to get involved.
Speaking of the curse mark, Sakura wondered how Naruto was dealing with his own curse mark that Orochimaru gave him. She was forever grateful that Naruto was not affected like Sasuke was but that it didn't make it any less serious. From what she saw during Naruto's matches the mark did not seem to bother him, or he just didn't let it show.
"There's a lot of things he doesn't show…" Sakura shook her head and decided to leave the viewing area. She didn't want to watch this fight alone. Hopefully finding Ino would be easy.
-In the arena-
"Before I start this match I'm going to say something, so listen up you two."
Naruto and Sasuke kept their gaze on each other but Genma knew the two were listening intently on what he was about to say. He took the senbon needle out of his mouth to signify the importance of his words.
"Like what Lord Hokage just said, the two of you have already proved why you've made it this far. But that doesn't mean its time to slack off, in fact you need to kick it up a notch. Everyone here knows you two are strong, now it's time to show us what you guys are really made of. Hold nothing back and become the next chunin."
A gust of wind blew into the stadium that carried a single green leaf that began to fall towards the battlefield.
Genma raised his hand.
The leaf billowed towards the ground just as Genma's hand came down.
"Begin!"
The two ran towards each other, clashing forearm jabs that caused them to continue their paths passed each other. They turned around to face each other simultaneously, Naruto spun with a kick that Sasuke blocked near his head. Sasuke saw an opening to hit Naruto in his stomach. Sasuke staggered Naruto enough punch Naruto across the face. Using the momentum caused by Sasuke's punch, Naruto spun around again and used the back side of his fist to strike Sasuke across his face. Naruto followed up with a strike to Sasuke's midsection, but Sasuke threw both his hands up to direct Naruto's strike away. Sasuke went to punch Naruto square in the face but Naruto was able to dodge with a simple lean of his head. Naruto countered with a strong kick that threw Sasuke back and rolling on the ground.
Sasuke rolled to a stop and flinched from the pain of the kick. He opened his eyes just as Naruto was coming down with his knee. Sasuke rolled out of Naruto's landing, that actually cracked the ground from the force, and stood on his hands and flipped over Naruto's crouched form. Naruto went for a swiping kick to knock out Sasuke's feet as he landed but he was just a second too late, Sasuke had jumped back into the air. Sasuke struck Naruto with an airborne kick that the blonde blocked with his forearms. The Uchiha used Naruto's forearms as springboard to jump back, simultaneously pushing Naruto back slightly and drawing a kunai.
Sasuke slashed at Naruto, which moved to the left to dodge. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist to stop anymore use of the weapon, but Sasuke simply tossed in his other hand to attack again. Naruto dodged two quick slashes and countered with a perfectly timed disarming technique to launch the kunai into the air. Naruto grabbed ahold of Sasuke in attempt to headbutt him but Sasuke realized this and separated himself before his opponent could follow through. Sasuke had been tracking the kunai's free fall above him and flip kicked it with the back of his heel, slicing Naruto's cheek and drawing blood. Naruto came back around with a furious strike that launched Sasuke across the battlefield.
Sasuke drew two more kunai once he rolled into a crouched position, the knives spinning around his fingers. Naruto smirked as his cut cheeked healed and steamed to a close, he picked the kunai that had cut him and drew one of his own. Naruto cracked his neck and ran towards Sasuke.
The two genin fighters charged once more, clashing weapons with a flurry of sparks in each wake. Naruto and Sasuke were showing each other just how far they both had come since their days in the academy, it was always a blowout win in Naruto's favor. But now the two were fighting on par with one another, true equals.
Throughout their armed combat, Naruto and Sasuke looked almost perfectly in sync with one another. When one would attack, the other would counter. When the one would counter, the other would counter that counter. They flipped over each other. Tossed a kunai into the air to free their hand for an unexpected punch, only to have blocked because the other was ready for an unreal counter of his own. One would go for pins on the ground by taking out the other's legs, but the other would simply fight out and back to his feet.
It was truly a great match already.
But it was nowhere close to being over.
On their final clash, both had a kunai break from the sheer they put into their slashes. They caught each other's fists and struggled for dominance while their weapons fought one another in their other hand. Sasuke smirked as begin to move his captured hand.
"I'm going to borrow this."
From his own muscle memory, Naruto completed the other half of Sasuke's hand seals. By the time Naruto realized this it was too late and Sasuke kicked Naruto in the bottom of his chin. Sasuke jumped back and gathered chakra in his mouth, he took in a deep breath that puffed his chest out something fierce.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
Naruto went through a series of his own hand seals. He slammed his hands on the ground. "Doton: Doryūheki!"
A small wall of earth erupted in front of Naruto to shield himself from the fast-incoming ball of fire. The fireball enveloped the mud wall and blew off chucks of the earth, leaving a small portion of the wall to keep Naruto unscathed from the attack but hidden in a black smoke cloud.
Sasuke ran towards the cloud, picking up a kunai that was embedded into the ground. He grabbed a piece of cloth from his back pouch and tied it around the open end of the knife. He tossed to one side of the cloud while he jumped through the other side. His plan worked to perfection when he saw Naruto's attention solely on the floating kunai that passed through the smoke a second before he did. The Uchiha slammed Naruto's head into the barely standing mud wall, preparing to end this fight. But a white plume of smoke erupted in front the kunai and another Naruto appeared. The second Naruto jumped over the first Naruto and came close to Sasuke.
'SHIT!'
The clone instantly exploded and dispersed the black cloud of smoke, also launching Naruto and Sasuke their separate ways. The blonde Uzumaki rolled across the ground until he slammed against a tree, the raven Uchiha was thrown into the arena wall and fell to his hands and knees. Both genin heaved deep, heavy breaths from their quick-paced combat.
Sasuke was the first to gain control of his breathing. "Not bad, Naruto. I expected nothing from you."
Naruto wiped the excessive sweat from his face. "You've gotten a lot stronger Sasuke. I can't believe you're fighting on par with me without using your Sharingan."
"You aren't even trying and we both know that, I've fought you enough to know when your holding back."
Naruto smirked. "Is that so? Then why don't we kick it up a notch? Activate your Sharingan."
It was Sasuke's turn to smirk, he grew more excited from the fact Naruto was practically begging him to use more power. The black haired Uchiha funneled chakra to his eyes and his kekki genkai spun into existence. But then an unwanted ability kicked in as well, the curse mark on the young Uchiha's neck pulsed and caused pain to erupted all across Sasuke's body. He clutched the mark and grunted heavily from the pain.
'Damnit not now! Of all the times for this thing to act up.'
Naruto looked on in confusion for a moment before realizing what was going on with his teammate. 'Damn, I was kind of hoping the curse mark wouldn't act up during our fight.'
A deep growl echoed inside Naruto's mind. "Consider yourself lucky you don't have to deal with the mark any longer, Kit. But I'd suggest you wrap this fight up quick."
'What? Why?'
"The feral was not satisfied during your match with the Hyūga, it requires more."
'But how come I haven't felt anything?'
"I've been suppressing the urge in hopes of calming it so you wouldn't end up killing the Uchiha, but your battle is making the lust for blood grow stronger. If this fight continues on like it has been, the feral will over take me and then you shortly after. The Uchiha is strong but not strong enough to fend off animalistic you."
Naruto thought the Kyuubi might be kidding or over selling this whole feral thing, but he could feel the lust deep inside of him. The Kyuubi was not kidding in the slightest, even with the demon suppressing the lust Naruto could still feel it growing. He really did need to end this fast or else who knew what would happen if he didn't. Damn, he really should've considered the implications when he healed Sakura.
Naruto stood to his full height, Sasuke following suit. The two glared at each other before shaking off whatever was occupying their minds and moving towards each other. Just as they were about to burst into full sprints…
BOOM.
-With Sakura-
Sakura was starting to get extremely frustrated with the layout of the medical wing of the stadium, Ino wasn't kidding about there being too many turns and unnecessary empty hallways that lead to a dead end. She couldn't stand being up in the viewing area alone and watch her two teammates fight again, the memories of what happened in the Forest of Death were still fresh in her mind and being alone didn't seem like a fun idea. She wanted to go find Ino and be with her in hopes it would calm her worries.
Still, why was this place so full of these pointless turns? It was beyond stupid in Sakura's mind.
Sakura made a turn down another pointless hallway, hoping it would finally lead her out of this disgrace of a building, and stopped when she saw a single room at the end of the hall. Another dead end. But she thought this room looked out of place, it was in such a secluded part of the medical wing. Sakura felt the sudden urge to back way but she moved towards the door.
Sakura approached with caution, thinking that every step she took it would alert some monster that would attack her. Sometimes she really hated her overthinking mind. She reached for the knob and turned it slowly, the door opened with ease and her nose was instantly filled with copper.
'What the hell is that smell?'
Sakura opened the door further and couldn't believe her eyes. The room was riddled with the dead bodies of the medical team that been overseeing the matches. Each one was laid in giant pool of blood that had mixed together on the floor, and in the center of the blood stood a lone figure. The figure had blood red hair, a kanji 'love' tattoo on his forehead, and half his body was covered in sand that formed a large arm and even larger tail.
Sakura locked eyes with the figure and gasped, his eyes were black with yellow irises and pupils that took the shape of a four-pointed star. The girl was utterly terrified to move or even scream.
"You're the girl he likes…I'll kill you first!"
Gaara launched his large sand arm at Sakura, throwing her back down the hallway. The pinkette crashed into the wall at the end of the hall. The sudden pain jolted Sakura out of her fear ridden state and she was filled with adrenaline, it was time to run or fight this thing.
Her mind flashed images of Sasuke and Naruto fighting to protect her throughout their time as Team Seven, the only thing she could really remember about those moments is how much she hated being protected like that.
Not this time. Sakura was alone, she needed to prove she could stand on her own.
The pinkette drew a kunai and prepared herself for battle with a monster.
Gaara snarled into a sadistic smile, his fangs growing with his power. "You want to fight me? Mother loves it when her prey fights back!"
Gaara's massive sand arm extended towards Sakura to trap her against the wall. The girl rolled out of the way just as the massive claw crashed through the wall. Sakura threw the kunai she had taken out at Gaara, but the projectile was caught by small sand wall that formed in front of Gaara. She figured that wasn't going to work but she didn't have any clue how to beat this thing. Was this Gaara's true power? Was this what he was capable of?
"Mother screams for blood!"
Gaara launched sand projectiles out of his arm of sand towards Sakura. The pinkette turned and sprinted down the hallway just as the projectiles were getting close to her. She turned down the corridor just as they were about to hit her. Realizing he had the advantage in this environment, Sakura continued to run.
The Suna jinchuriki moved to the intersecting halls to follow his prey, he was so focused on killing her fast he failed to realize the explosive tag sitting on the wall.
Boom.
The explosion was quick and easily rocked the entire stadium, there was no doubt most of the crowd heard it. Sakura used this opportunity to find a good place to hide and hopefully out a way to beat this guy. She peered out from behind her spot, what she saw terrified her even more.
The portion of Gaara that wasn't protected by the sand that was on his body was covered in blood and severe burns, while the actual sand was struggling to stay on his body. But that's not was terrified Sakura. Gaara still held that same psychopathic smile on his face.
'What…what is he?!'
Gaara manically laughed through his pain, as if he was enjoying it. "Oh yes! The blood! The pain! Mother will be very satisfied when I unleash her on this village!"
Sakura trembled at the thought of this 'Mother' being allowed to attack the village, whatever it may be. That's probably what scared Sakura the most, the unknown of this threat. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her sporadic breathing so her stalking enemy wouldn't find her. But when she did she felt the demonic chakra that radiated off Gaara.
It felt just like Naruto when he unleashed a massive amount of chakra on the bridge in the Land of Waves.
Sakura gulped when she realized the chakra was oddly similar to that day. But that was about to be the furthest thing from the pinkette's mind, she was in the fight for her life and needed her full attention to win this.
"Hey! Is there anyone down here?"
Sakura jolted at the new voice. It was a Konoha shinobi walking towards them. He must've heard the explosion and came to investigate. Just as Sakura was about to jump from her hiding spot but Gaara was too quick to notice the newcomer's arrival.
"H-Hey, what happened here?!"
Sakura was too freaking terrified to look. All she heard was the chunin's scream of utter terror and pain, the sound of bones cracking caused Sakura to cover her mouth so she wouldn't scream or puke. She even had to hold her hand in place so she could muffle any attempt of her screaming. She concentrated so hard on suppressing her chakra signature so she wouldn't be discovered.
Gaara scanned the hallway for any more potential sacrifices for Mother. He slowly rotated his head, analyzing every minute detail that could possibly turn into his next kill. He grunted when he could not find anything and turned to leave.
Sakura wasn't sure how long she stayed in her hiding spot, it felt like hours to the girl. By the time her heart had finally began to calm and return to a regular steady beat, Sakura moved from her spot and saw the devastation Gaara caused. Besides the room of nurses that he came from, there was only one gruesome death to be seen. The blood of the dead chunin was painted on the walls and his limbs were spread throughout the hall.
Sakura looked over the gore and instantly felt guilty, she could've helped him if she was terrified to move. Maybe he'd still be alive if she had done something. She approached torso of the man, which was the only piece of him that was still together. She needed to know his name, who he was, if he had a family, a wife, kids. Sakura needed to know.
Another explosion rocked the stadium that shook Sakura from her stupor. Something bad was happening in the village and that was her place of duty. She would figure this man's identity later. The pinkette took off down the hallway.
Unbeknownst to Sakura, a man with very special eyes emerged from his medical room.
-With Konohamaru, minutes prior-
"Go Big Bro Naruto! Kick that lame Sasuke's ass!"
The young honorable grandson was smacked upside the head by his grandfather. "Konohamaru, I know your mother did not teach you curse."
The boy grumbled to himself before turning his attention back to the fight in the arena. "Sorry grandpa, but Naruto's fight is getting me all excited! I can't believe how strong he is!"
Hiruzen chuckled as he put his pipe in his mouth. "He sure has grown quite strong. I am quite excited myself to see what he's able to do in the years to come. Maybe he'll be the one to take my title from me."
There was a chuckle, both Konohamaru and the Third Hokage turned to the other Kage on the platform. The man in the blue version of the ceremonial kage robes couldn't seem to hold it in.
"Is something funny, Kazekage?"
"No no, excuse my unprofessional act, but you plan on being Hokage long enough for that Uzumaki to become the next Hokage? That seems a bit of a pipedream to me."
"I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, I still plan on being Hokage for another four years before I even consider retirement. That's plenty of time for young Naruto to gain the necessary experience to take up the mantle, especially the way he trains."
"Hm. Five years is a long time for someone to grow and mature. But do you expect you'll be the one who will hand off the hat to him?"
Hiruzen eyed his fellow kage suspiciously. "Are you hinting at something, Lord Kazekage?"
The Kazekage shrugged slightly. "I'm not hinting at anything, it's just anything can happen at any moment. Everyday can be one's last if one is not prepared."
"Hey! Who are you to say anything?! My grandpa isn't going anywhere! He's the strongest in the village! He could mop the floor with you!"
Hiruzen placed a hand on his young grandson's shoulder, forcing him back down off his lap and making stand. "It's quite alright, Konohamaru. He means nothing by it. I'm not going anywhere, and I certainly don't plan on dying anytime soon."
Another chuckle escaped the Kazekage's throat, this one was more sinister, and it even caught Jiraiya's attention. The white haired Sannin moved closer to them.
"You may not plan on dying but somebody else may have other plans…Sarutobi sensei."
Suddenly two cloaked Suna shinobi appeared behind the Kazekage, each with their own palm sized capsule that exploded into large clouds of white smoke. Across the stadium, another large explosion of white smoke appeared and out came three large snakes that instantly began to lay waste to Konoha. Shinobi sprang into action as a mixture of Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi attacked.
The calm village of Konohagakure quickly turned into an all-out warzone.
Jiraiya sprang into action and chased after his master, who had been suddenly grappled and brought to the roof of the Chunin exam stadium. But he wasn't the main reason Jiraiya was jumping up there, poor Konohamaru had been taken hostage by one of the cloaked Suna shinobi and that was a more pressing matter. Jiraiya quickly dealt with the man and saved the Third's grandson.
By the time Jiraiya turned to go help his sensei, there was a giant purple box dome with four different people in each corner, all holding a seal to hold the jutsu. As Jiraiya examined the protective seal barrier, cloaked members of the ANBU landed on the roof behind the Sannin.
"Lord Jiraiya, the village is under attack!" One of ANBU pointed out.
"Yes, I can see that. And it looks like Orochimaru is behind it all."
"Orochimaru?! How do you know?!" Another gasped.
"Because I can see him in that barrier."
The ANBU looked more closely through the chakra barrier and, sure enough, the Snake Sannin Orochimaru had the Third Hokage held at the throat by a kunai. It seemed the snake was impersonating the Kazekage the whole time. Who none of them were able to figure out that the Kazekage was a fake would be cause for concern, but now was not the time for that.
Jiraiya approached the barrier and placed a hand on it. His skin was instantly burned and pulled away. He decided to examine it from just his sight from now on. "An interesting defense, I'll give you credit on that one."
Orochimaru sinisterly smiled, still holding the tip of a kunai to the Hokage's jugular. "I designed it just for you, Jiraiya. I can't have you interfering in my battle with our dear, old Sarutobi sensei." His long tongue crept out of the Sannin's mouth and licked the blade of the kunai.
"Do you really think this will keep me from ripping that tongue out of your mouth?"
Orochimaru laughed just as menacingly. "I would love for you to try, my old friend. But it will not happen today! Today is Konoha's final day! And I will see to it personally!"
Jiraiya snickered. "If you think I'll let you-"
"Jiraiya..."
The white-haired Sannin stopped mid-sentence and looked at his old mentor, what he saw in the old man's eyes surprised him. Jiraiya saw…regret in the eyes of the Third Hokage. And the Sannin couldn't believe it.
"I am to blame for the current situation. Orochimaru has become this way because of my negligence. Allow me to right this wrong. Save the village."
Orochimaru looked at his former sensei and began to laugh manically once again. "I'm so glad you feel that way, Sarutobi sensei, because I feel the same! I want nothing more than to finish what I started the day I left this wretched village!"
Jiraiya's fists balled into fists. "Sensei…" The Sannin was torn on what he should do. On one hand, he knew he had to figure out a way to get through this barrier seal and help his old master end Orochimaru once and for all. But simultaneously, Jiraiya wasn't sure he even wanted to help. Sarutobi had been feeding him lies for the past six years, all in the name of keeping Naruto in the village for an unknown reason. That unknown reason continuously causes an unbelievable amount of torment and suffering on his godson, which could turn out to be irreversible. All for what?
"Lord Jiraiya?" A member of the ANBU asked.
"…C'mon, we need to stop to snakes from destroying the infrastructure of our main defenses." Jiraiya leapt off the building and into the fighting below.
-With Naruto and Sasuke-
Boom.
The sudden earthquake of the stadium snapped Naruto and Sasuke out of their stare down and they both became aware of what was happening around them. Villagers were running for their lives as Konoha shinobi fought off a mixture of Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi in the stands of the Chunin Exam stadium. Another rumble of the ground came and went and three large snakes burst through the main, outside wall of Konoha and began to lay waste to the village.
"What on earth is going on?" Sasuke questioned.
"An invasion. The village is under attack."
The two genin looked at the proctor of their match, Genma. "Under attack?" Naruto questioned further.
"Yeah, under attack. A war, a battle. Meaning fight anyone who's not a member of Konoha!"
Naruto and Sasuke both had a small shiver run down their spines. War was not a word to the taken lightly. Sasuke recalled multiple lessons from the academy about the three great Shinobi Wars and the impact that was still felt in today's treaties, the possibility of him going into what his ancestors were raised in both bothered and excited him. Naruto, on the other hand, instantly remembered what Jiraiya informed him what he learned during his six-year hiatus. He knew that he would eventually have to fight in a real war, and not just dealing with low life criminals and Chunin exam opponents, but that didn't mean he was particularly excited about it.
This would be their first taste of what was to come.
The teammates nodded towards one another and stood back to back, drawing kunai to protect the others blindside. Genma was mildly impressed that the two genin weren't cowering away from the potential fighting, or they were just suppressing their fear and just manning up. Either way, the high ranking Jōnin didn't care, he had his own battle to fight.
"Good luck, you two. And don't die." Genma jumped into the air and disappeared over the stadium wall.
Sasuke snickered, he thought the Jōnin would stay and help. "So much for that guy."
"Oh well, we can handle ourselves. But we should search for Sakura and make sure she's alright, we'll be better off as a group."
Sasuke nodded, despite not having much experience in real life situations they were stronger as a group. The male members of Team Seven followed Genma's lead and jumped over the stadium wall and into the already battle-ridden Konoha.
-With Sakura-
The lone female member of Team Seven was sprinting through the streets of Konoha as she followed the destructive path of Gaara. The power driven, blood lusted jinchuriki was laying waste to anything that got in his way, nothing was spared. Sakura ran through so many villagers that were running away, all screaming in terror. As much as she wanted to help them get to the shelters up in the Hokage Mountain, the pinkette pushed.
Eventually, Sakura was able to pinpoint Gaara's location and found him. She was greatly surprised by what she saw, whatever was happening to the boy had stopped and been reversed. Gaara seemed to return to normal. But the red-head was not alone. Holding Gaara upright were his two older siblings.
Kankuro was the first to notice Sakura's presence. "Shit! Not now! Gaara was almost calmed down! We need to get him out of here Temari!"
Temari drew her giant fan in defense for her younger brother. "Get out of here now girl! Do you want to die?!"
Sakura was confused by their reaction to her being here, weren't they supposed to be invading? "What is going on?"
"What's going on is we are trying to stop Gaara from destroying your village! You need to leave now!" Kankuro shouted again, he too pulled his puppet off his back and began to unravel the bandages. "We need to get Gaara out of here before 'it' takes over!"
Sakura was confused further. "Before what takes over?"
Kankuro grunted in immense frustration and moved towards Sakura. "Temari, take Gaara and run. This bitch just won't listen!"
"But Kankuro-"
"Just go! Now! I'll hold her off long enough for you to get Gaara out of the village"
Temari looked at her brother then at Sakura. Couldn't this girl see that they were trying to save them all from total destruction?! Time was running out, the monster inside Gaara was about to take over completely. They needed to as far as possible before that happened. The Suna kunoichi placed Gaara's arm around her shoulders and jumped away.
"Hey wait-" Sakura attempted to follow but something jumped into her path. A humanoid puppet with three eyes and four arms blocked her from pursuing further.
"Stay away from Gaara! We're trying to save your damn village!"
Sakura jumped back to create some distance between her and this humanoid puppet, trying to come up with a plan to quickly deal with this. She had never fought a puppet user and knew very little about the style, something she was going to change once this whole was over. What she did know was that puppets were controlled by chakra threads that were connected to the user's fingertips. She just needed to sever those threads and-
Sakura's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the puppet rushing towards her. She jumped back even further.
"Just turn around girl, Karasu is one of the strongest puppets in my village. You won't be able to get anywhere close to me."
"Then shall I close the distance?"
Coming in from Kankuro's left, Neji appeared seemingly out of thin air and planted a strong palm strike into Kankuro's midsection. The Hyuuga prodigy launched the puppet user into a wall, knocking him unconscious. Neji stayed in his taijutsu stance as he scanned the surrounding area with his Byakugan.
"Are you going to just stand there or are you going to continue your pursuit?"
Sakura was shocked by the sudden change of events; never did she think Neji would come to her aid. Especially not a few hours after using the same palm strike on her. "Why did you help me?"
The Hyuuga smirked at the question. "We are both Konoha shinobi in the middle of an invasion, petty differences and quarrels don't matter in times like these. Besides…I felt like I should."
"Not because fate told you too?"
"Fate had nothing to do with my choice. Now go!"
Sakura nodded and ran past Neji and continued her chase after Gaara.