Chapter 18 - chapter 18

Kin and Sakura faced each other right where Neji and Naruto had previously stood. Genma looked between the two and could see the hatred in their eyes. 'I'm going to have to keep a close eye on these two. Otherwise this is going to end in a bloodbath...' Checking the fighters he stepped back as before. "Begin." After the last match the tension in the stadium was obvious. The crowd wanted to see more of what these little ninja were capable of.

"What is it that you see in that Uchiha asshole anyway pinkie? From what I've heard he is the most arrogant prick on the planet, and from what I've seen he's no match for Naruto-sama in any aspect of being a ninja. The only thing he does overshadow Naruto-sama in is his ego." Kin stood there without a care in the world. Not even trying to defend herself against the other girl since she knew it would be far too easy to beat her based on what she showed in the preliminaries.

"Shut up you bitch! How dare you talk about Sasuke-kun like that! He could kick Naruto-baka's ass around Konoha blindfolded!" Sakura huffed as she ran towards the Oto-nin. Grabbing a few kunai she whipped them at her opponent who easily dodged or parried with her own senbon.

"Pathetic." Kin stated in a disgusted tone. Sakura ignored the statement as she created two bunshin hoping to confuse the other girl. "Like I wouldn't know how to beat a bunshin. Especially when they are made so poorly." She whipped out a some more senbon and threw three towards separate opponents. Two passed right through, but the third was dodged. She didn't stop there though and charged towards the one that dodged. As she got close she brought out a kunai and with a few quick slashes, that Sakura could only half block, she jumped back to admired her handiwork.

Sakura looked at herself wondering just where the girl had cut here. She couldn't see any blood and began to grin thinking that maybe her opponent missed. Her hopes were dashed aside though as the fabric of her dress started to separate. To her horror, chunks of cloth started to peel away and float to the ground until she was standing there in nothing but panties. She covered her chest and sank to her knees screaming as she clenched her eyes closed. "Kyaa!" She had never in her life wanted to disappear as much as she wanted to now.

"So pathetic. Naruto-kun told me how such a thing wouldn't bother you since you had been this exposed before when you tried to get back to your dear Sasuke-teme. I do see though that at least Ino-chan was right when she told me you didn't need a bra. You really are like a boy in that respect."

"Sh-shut-up!" Sakura screamed with tears in her eyes.

"Crying at your age. What would your dear Sasuke-kun think of you now? Probably the same thing most of the people here are thinking. 'What a worthless little cunt she is.' You're an embarrassment to the term kunoichi. At least Ino-chan seems to have gotten over that egotistical piece of shit that you're so infatuated with." Over in the stands Ino flinched a little. She knew she was bad, but at least she was now considered better than Sakura. That was a start. Likewise, Inoichi was smiling up in the stands. He had noticed the difference in his daughter, and while it was a bit late for it to be of any help in this exam, he already saw a change in her that she wanted to become stronger rather than follow a boy around blindly.

"I'll kill you!' Sakura leapt to her feet and charged at Kin with one hand wrapped around a kunai, and the other keeping her chest from view.

"You really intend to fight me with only one hand?" Kin jerked her fingers and immediately two bells rang.

Sakura was sent to her knees as she grabbed her head in pain. She looked at Kin with loathing. "Wh-what did you do you bitch?!"

"These are special bells. The sound they make disorients those who hear it, and the more they hear it the worse it gets." She rang the bells again and saw Sakura wince. Sakura listened to Kin's short explanation and when the bells rang again her vision distorted. She now saw five Kins standing there smirking at her. "Now how about we finish your punishment." Kin walked slowly over to the confused and frightened girl as she took out another two kunai. With a flick of her wrist the blades were gone and imbedded in the ground at Sakura's sides. "There now, that's better."

Sakura once again checked herself, but once again found no scratches. She wasn't called a brain for nothing though as she soon realized exactly what happened. Her eyes widened at the realization. "N-n-no!" Tears renewed themselves in her eyes as the crowd struggled to understand what happened.

"Get up bitch." Kin didn't give her a choice as she roughly hoisted Sakura to her feet by her throat. The pinkette grabbed the front and back of her panties just as the sides started to peel away. "Now that won't do. We're ninja, we have to up the stakes every fight. Since you ran out in your panties in the forest, that means we have to show more now!" A sadistic grin passed Kin's face as she punched Sakura in the gut. The girl doubled over in pain and reflexively grabbed her abdomen. This of course released her hold on her panties and they settled onto the ground, completely exposing her to the view of everyone in the arena. "Now get up!" Kin once again hoisted Sakura up. This time by the hair as the girl's hands once again reflexively move to the source of highest pain. Sakura grabbed at Kin's wrists and flailed around completely forgetting her state of dress, or lack thereof. Her body was completely exposed as Kin slowly turned her around for everyone to see.

Up in the stands people were starting to wonder if this was even a serious bout, or if it was comedic relief staged by Konoha. Those in the stadium who knew the two though knew that this was a real fight, and that it was simply pathetic.

"L-let me go!...Pl-please let me go!" Sakura cried as all hope of leaving with decency was shattered. Kin obliged and let go of the girl's hair, but before she could cover herself she had another fist imbedded in her stomach, followed by a foot to the jaw making her fall backwards. Crying and dazed, Sakura held the side of her jaw as she tried to push aside the pain and embarrassment in order to put up some sort of defense. She could barely see shapes through her tear blurred eyes and the pain of her mouth made it hurt to even try to talk. Some part of her mind wondered if her opponent had broken her jaw and she could already feel it swelling in her palm. She looked towards the proctor hoping he would call the match since forfeiting seemed out of her abilities at the moment.

Unknown to the fangirl, the Oto-nin was behind her now. Kin brought her mouth close to the girls ear. "You've been a pain in the ass for Naruto-kun for a long time. Perhaps it's time to return the favor." Kin poked a senbon into Sakura's posterior to let her know just what she meant. "On second thought, I have a better idea." She move the weapon forward slightly. 'How about I take the one thing that all girls want to give to their one and only...I'm sure Sasuke-teme won't mind at all."

Sakura's eyes went wide as she felt the point of a weapon switch from one of her openings to another. "N-no!"

Genma's eyes widened as he saw what Kin was planning, but he was too late in moving into action. With a jerk of her hand, Kin shoved the blunt end of the weapon up towards the other girl's hole, but was stopped as Sakura's legs clamped together tight enough to completely stall the intruders movements. The assailant was rather surprised and impressed until she saw a liquid running down her victims legs. "Oh now that's just disgusting. You really are the worst ninja ever. Soiling yourself over such a thing." Disgusted with the bubblegum princess now and not really wanting to risk getting the foul liquid on herself, she jumped back, watching as Sakura staggered a couple steps back herself from the loss of balance. Willing to add one last insult, kin took out two more senbon and shot them into the backs of Sakura's knees.

As Kin let go of her, Sakura fought to keep her balance. She wanted nothing more than to disappear right now. Not only was she humiliated, beaten and nearly defiled but she would now have to face her Sasuke-kun completely defeated. Thinking things couldn't possibly get worse, or afraid they very well might, she started to raise her hand to admit defeat but was forced to scream out instead when she felt pain in the backs of her legs. Before her mind was able to process what was going on she started to fall forward. As she hit the ground she found it was surprisingly...wet. The source of the liquid was realized as soon as she took a breath. Sakura had landed into the puddle that she had made herself. 'Somebody, just kill me and get it over with.' As if accepting her fate, the girl made no move to pull herself out of the muck as she instead curled into a ball and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Winner Tsuchi Kin!" He rushed over just in case the girl planned to continue anyway, but to his relief Kin just huffed at the completely defeated Sakura on the ground, leaving her to weep as she strode off towards the competitor's booth. Genma quickly signaled for the medics to come get the girl. She may not have been hurt, but he'd do what he could to help cover the girl on her way out of the stadium. They complied and put her on a stretcher after covering her with a blanket, then rushed off the floor to make room for the next fight.

• • •

"Haha! That was awesome Kin-chan!" Haku was the first to greet the Oto-nin but was soon joined by Naruto who gave Kin a congratulatory kiss.

"Good job Kin. You really went too easy on her though."

"Yeah but if I beat her too much we wouldn't be able to see her face when the teme comes, right? Speaking of which, shouldn't he be here by now? His match is next."

As if to answer Kin's question, Genma's voice rang out over the stadium. "Due to one of the next fight's participants not being available at this time we will be moving on to the fourth match."

"Figures, teme gets special privileges."

"Proctor I forfeit!" Kankurō shouted out over the railing. He looked over at Shino, but the boy was just leaning up against the wall as though nothing happened. Honestly he couldn't tell if the bug user was awake or asleep.

"Fine, Temari versus Nara Shikamaru."

Temari huffed at her brother and waved her fan before hopping on it and riding the current to the stadium floor. "Are you coming down, or are you going to forfeit too?" She called up to Shikamaru.

'So troublesome. Fighting another girl and I don't even want to be here. After Those two matches ours isn't going to be that exciting, and with the matched coming up it'll be easily overshadowed. I shouldn't have even come today...' Shikamaru considered his options for withdraw, but it was soon taken out of his hands with a quick shove from behind. As he crashed to the ground he could hear the voice of his assaulter.

"Go get her Shika! Show em what Konoha can do!" Naruto shouted as he gave his fellow genin a thumbs up while Kin and Haku smirked from his sides. With their hands out, showing who else had pushed him.

"Troublesome blonds and their troublesome girlfriends..." Shikamaru said to himself as he looked from the balcony to his opponent, only turning his head to change views so he didn't waste energy.

"Are you going to get up and fight, or are you going to wait there and get crushed?" Temari said as the boy got pelted with trash from the crowd. After a minute of no response she got tired. "Fine!" she hoisted her fan and charged him.

"Well I would rather just lay here and watch the clouds, but a man really shouldn't lose to a woman." He dug in his pouch and finished just as Temari's fan came down and made the ground where he'd been laying explode in a cloud of dirt. Once it cleared enough to see, Shikamaru was standing on his kunai which was embedded into the stadium wall. "I guess I don't really have a choice. I'll fight."

Temari blasted out another burst of wind from her fan, but just like her previous attack he disappeared from where he was. Suddenly she was forced to retreat as his shadow came from her side and attempted to connect to her. An inevitable game of cat and mouse ensued as Temari blasted apart the trees that surrounded the area while Shikamaru hid amongst them. Meanwhile Shikamaru used any opening to send his shadow out, showing how it constantly got longer with each passing minute as the shadows of the environment grew longer.

Temari could see the problems she would have if she continued to drag the fight out. "Are you going to keep hiding in the trees coward of Konoha?" She had to immediately dodge the incoming shadow and once again marked it's peak before making a barrier out of her fan as she stuck it into the ground. 'Ok this is getting old fast. If I make a bunshin I might be able to trick him long enough to make an opening. Then I'll take him out in one swing' She quickly began the needed hand signs but had to stop midway as her body suddenly refused to move. Realization dawned on her as she looked at her own hands in horror, not wanting to believe what was going on. 'There should have been no way for him to get this much distance...how?'

Shikamaru stood up and stretched, causing Temari to make the same movements much to the crowds amusement. Some of them couldn't help but wonder if they would get the same show as the previous fight. "Kagemane no jutsu success. Glad you didn't see through that one, I was running out of chakra. I'll admit you did well to figure out so many of my plans, but it seems you didn't take into account the field of battle."

"What are you talking about? There should be no way your shadow could go that far. Were you deceiving me the whole time into thinking your shadow couldn't go as far as it can?"

"Not exactly. Explaining things is such a bother...oh well. You see with you cutting all the trees up you weren't thinking about what else you were doing. See all the leaves and branches on the ground?" He watched as Temari took a quick glance and saw exactly what he meant. "I see you figured it out. You see my shadow can pass freely through other shadows, so it doesn't waste as much length there. With the shadows of all these branches and leaves littering the ground, it was easy to just weave through them to make my shadow go just a little farther each time. You were beaten by your own wind."

"I'm not beaten yet. You can't make me give up!"

"I can't?" Shikamaru said, cocking an eyebrow. He slowly put his hand up causing Temari to panic a bit and the crowd to be on the edge of their seats. More from the long match finally being over than anything. "I give up."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT?!"

"Jeez...Like you said I can't make you give up, and I don't have a whole lot of chakra left. I've run through numerous plans in my head, but they are either too exhausting or use too much chakra, so there's no point in delaying anymore. I give up." Shikamaru released his jutsu, freeing Temari before stretching again.

"...Winner Temari..."

"He's not the most aggressive fighter here, but he's definitely got the planning down. He thought quite a bit ahead and even though he didn't win it was still impressive."

"Yeah, If we look at chūnin qualities he's definitely got a good head on his shoulders. Coming back saying you got the mission done but your team was slaughtered isn't as good as coming back after failing, but bringing everyone back alive, well at least for non-vital missions. I think we've got ourselves another good candidate, though he is a little lazy and that's going to hurt him. That Kin girl doesn't seem quite ready though. Sure she played with the Haruno's mind and basically embarrassed her into submission, but those are more specialized qualities. Her opponent was weak though, so we can't say if those were her full capabilities. We'll just have to wait and see in the next round."

• • •

As the two combatants left the field Genma called the next set. "Dosu versus Amagawa Haku."

"Good luck Haku-chan." Naruto kissed her quickly before she left.

"Kin-chan, this one's for you ok?" To the surprise of those paying attention, Kin extracted herself from Naruto's arms and gave Haku a kiss as well. Naruto wasn't the only one left open-mouthed as the girl left the room.

'Not just two, but they are into each other too? Now I kind of hope we fail so I really can get some tips.' Kankurō was able to think as he slumped against the wall with a crimson waterfall shooting from his nostrils.

Dosu just tsked before walking out the door as well, leaving a silent room until the last two competitors came back in. "Hey Shika. Not too bad. You know you missed a few ways to beat her, but your strategy wasn't bad at all."

"Gee thanks Naruto, maybe next time you can give me some pointers before hand." The Nara replied sarcastically.

Naruto just laughed. "Good job to you too Temari. You did well considering you were up against one of Konoha's best strategists. You really put him on his heels."

Temari looked at him once before looking back at the ground as she passed. "I still lost...to a Konoha ninja." Her brother didn't seem to miss the meaning of her words as he grimaced at the thought of a Konoha-nin being able to beat his sister like that, and that same ninja trading barbs with another that seemed powerful as well.

"Eh, don't get so down. We all have to lose sometime."

"Like we've seen you do so often huh?" She shot back.

"I had enough ass kicking done to me to last a lifetime. Don't even think you know my life." His voice was cold and sent chills through them. Only one of them really knew what he meant though. It startled Temari and Kankurō a little when their youngest brother turned around and seemed to be sizing up the blond. They were even more amazed when the boy didn't flinch.

"You will prove my existence, Uzumaki Naruto."

"So you are friends with Kin now. More than friends it seems. Don't worry though. If you both live through whats coming I'll make you both my slaves. Unfortunately the blond won't be so lucky."

"So you're Kin-chan's teammate Dosu huh? Not much to look at. I think I'll stick with those two for now. I heard about how you treat your girls and I'm not really into the whole ropes and whips thing. Neither was Kin, so unfortunately for you I'm going to have to pay you back for all the pain you've caused her." Haku readied a couple senbon and got ready for a fight.

Genma looked between the two before backing away. "Begin."

Dosu wasted no time getting in close. With a clang of Haku's senbon against Dosu's melody arm. He used his chakra on the sound wave and twisted it towards Haku's ear. Expecting the resulting scream of pain he jumped back, but no sound came from the girl. In fact she didn't look fazed at all. "You can negate my jutsu?" He asked curiously.

Haku smirked. "Something like that." She darted in again, tossing more senbon as she went. "If you have no better tricks then you might as well give up. Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki." Out of the small amount of water left over from Kurata came a swarm of ice swallows that darted for Dosu. While he did his best to evade them he still took a few hits. Meanwhile Haku took out a couple of her own bottles of water and began to calmly pour them on the ground. Not even caring when Dosu made a break for her. As he got close she suddenly jumped away while forming more hand sighs. "Consider this your punishment. Hyōton: Hyōchū!" Dosu, having completely ignored the water on the ground was far too late to even have an idea of what was coming. Genma as well had no clue what was about to happen. The only one who did, turned his back on the spectacle that was about to take place.

Just as Dosu put a foot down near the patch of water numerous spikes of ice grew out of it at an alarming rate. It seemed the hyōton users decided to give their jutsu names that belied their potency. Mere fractions of a second after they had formed, Dosu was already hanging limp but twitching, suspended two meters in the air for all to see on crystallized cones of water. As one last punishment, and before Genma could call the match, Haku turned her back and muttered one last word. "Sakuhen..." She could hear the cries of horror from the crowd as behind her the ice spikes exploded inside the still impaled Dosu.

Genma gulped a little from the display. "...Winner...Amagawa Haku..." He hastily waved a clean up crew in. While it wasn't uncommon for someone to die in these fights, it usually wasn't done so...dramatically. The worst they normally saw was someone burnt to death. Now though they had to pick up separate pieces of Dosu's body from around the arena as the sharpened ice shards had sliced through it just as well as any regular blade would have.

"Well that one was brutal..." Kotetsu said as his eyes roamed over the scene of the men cleaning up the pieces of what was once an Otogakure ninja.

"...Yeah. I think we're going to have to name her the ice queen instead of Kurenai..."

Up in the Kage box the Kazekage was gripping his seat a little tighter. "So many good candidates this year Hokage-dono. You seem to have another group of fine ninja at your disposal. I envy you greatly." In his mind though he had very different thoughts. 'A Hyōton user...I thought they were dead...and that blond kid at the beginning. I have to try and get them later. For now though Sasuke-kun will have to do.'

"Oh ho ho. Yes, they are doing very well...well most of them. I admit I'm not certain how that Haruno made it this far. That Oto-nin made short work of her, but I would bet that even a proper academy student could have done the same. I thank you for the compliment though Kazekage-dono." The twitch in the Kazekage's hand was not missed by the older ninja. "The real problem now is the Uchiha. He still hasn't shown I'm told so we will have to disqualify him and move on." He turned to give the order to his attendant but was stopped when the Kazekage spoke up.

"I think that would be unwise Hokage-dono." Sarutobi stopped and looked back at the other Kage. "Many people have come just to see this fight, myself included. It would be a shame to take away that purpose don't you think? Perhaps a short delay is in order." The Hokage arched an eyebrow, curious of the motives of his fellow Kage, but passed the word on. Thank you Hokage-dono.

"I am agreeing to this only to allow such an anticipated fight, but he will still be ineligible for promotion to chūnin. My ninja are expected to be on time when it is required of them. Such disrespect for protocol will not go unpunished." Hiruzen announced with a scowl.

As Genma was about to announce the final fight of the first round a ninja once again landed next to him. "Understood." He told the ninja before addressing the crowd once again. "Due to the...expectations...of the next fight and the preparations required for it, we are going to have a ten minute break in order for you all to take care of any business you may need to in order to not miss the match. We understand how important this one is to many of you." Many groans were heard from the stands, but others were relieved for the break. Many didn't want to risk leaving the scene of the clean up and end up missing the Uchiha's fight.

"Figures, more special treatment for the Uchiha." Naruto scoffed.

"He must be really good for them to wait this long for him.' Kankurō wondered aloud.

"Hah. Even you could beat him kabuki boy." Haku laughed.

"It's war paint!" the puppeteer yelled, then turned sharply. Angry at the insult.

"Ignore him. He gets that a lot." His sister informed them. Nods of understanding bounced around the room.

A knock on the door interrupted them. "Tsuchi Kin. Your jōnin-sensei is here to see you." Kin stiffened.

"Tell him that I don't want to see him right now."

A brief pause. "He says that it's for something you forgot to pick up for your matches. I suggest you take any advantage you can get in this one girly. That Uchiha is going to be tough to get by."

"Don't worry she'll be right out." Naruto called over much to Kin and Haku's horror. He just winked at them before putting up a henge and heading for the door. Getting the idea, Haku moved in front of Kin to keep her hidden from view.

After Naruto left Kin shoved the older girl out of the way. "Are you crazy?! We just let him go with a jōnin! My jōnin-sensei. I know this is Naruto-kun, but what if he's found out?!" She was on the verge of tears knowing what could be in store for the boy so Haku hugged her close.

"Shh don't worry. He knows what he's doing. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he's faced a jōnin, and won." People in the room looked at her shocked. Most didn't know what she was talking about, but from the glare she gave them they knew she wasn't gong to be spilling anything else either.

On the other side of the room Temari had a firm hold on Kankurō, who turned to her. "What are you stopping me for? That kid could be getting information about the invasion!" He whispered to her sharply.

"If my hunch is right, they already know. I would rather not break our cover with a confrontation here. Gaara would walk away fine, but I plan on staying in once piece for awhile longer if you don't mind." She shot back. He glared at her once, but didn't say anything else.

• • •

"So sensei, what did you need to give me?" Naruto asked the man he met in Kin's voice.

"You should feel honored Kin-chan...You get to be a main part of Otokage-sama's plans for this place." The nin lead Naruto to a room in the subbasement of the structure and opened the door to reveal three coffins labeled one, two and four. The lid to the middle one was still open and he could see the seals on the inside. The jōnin pushed 'her' into the room roughly and he staggered forward. Two more men came out of the shadows and grabbed 'her' before shoving 'her' inside the box and closing the lid. Inside the seals took on an eerie glow as he went over them. It wasn't long before he felt his chakra being absorbed and his strength waver. Before he fell asleep though there was one more thing to do.

Outside the box the jōnin went into a trance, channeling their own chakra to the three coffins and activating their seals. They stopped suddenly when they heard the door open behind them. The one that brought Kin down turned to see their door guard looking inside. "Idiot! Stay out there and guard the door. If someone were to discover us Otokage-sama's plans would be ruined!" Instead of listening the man stumbled into the room before falling flat on his face as a gout of blood spurted from his back. "Shit. They found us. Guard the coffins!" All three ninja shot up and watched the entrance. They watched it so intently that almost all of them missed the commotion behind them.

With cries of pain the two Oto-nin on each side fell forward. The one to the jōnin's left was already dead but the one to his right was writhing around, trying to grab his back to stop the pain of the long slash down his back. He spun on his heel just in time to block the black bladed sword of his opponent. "You...you followed us down here? You must be more foolish than I thought. I commend you though for taking out my teammates, even if they were pretty worthless. Too bad you're a bit late though. Your little girlfriend is already half way to worm food."

"Well you made a few mistakes there. First, that wasn't Kin you lead here that was my kage bunshin in a henge. Thanks to that, I know what is going on inside the coffins right now too. Your seal has a flaw in it, did you know that. It's a small one, but easily exploitable. I plan to do just that when those other two activate. No, I won't try to destroy them. I'm no moron."

The jōnin looked shocked at first, then scowled. "You've already ruined enough of Otokage-sama's plan. You will have to be disposed of. I'll try not to kill you though. With any luck I can stuff you in that coffin and still have what we need." The man grinned as he pushed on his kunai a little harder.

"Oh I plan on getting in that coffin now that I know what it's for, but not with your help. I'll admit you're stronger than I am now though."

"Then give up and rest peacefully. It'll be like going to sleep." the jōnin smiled at Naruto sadistically.

"Not quite. You see I still have a trick up my sleeve." Naruto literally pulled his sleeve back with his free hand and touched the seal on it. Instantly the lines he touched turned from black to grey. He did the same on his chest and instantly the jōnin knew what had happened as his grip began to falter.

"J-just what kind of monster are you!" The man exclaimed just as Naruto's sword overcame him and slashed him deeply in the shoulder.

"The kind that haunts your worst nightmares." He said coldly as he began to stalk towards his prey.

"S-stay away!" The jōnin searched for another kunai. Finding none he began a series of hand signs. "Katon: Endan!" He cried and spat a ball of fire at Naruto.

"For the crime of trying to hurt one of my precious people...I sentence you to death!" It could have been a suicide move, or just instinct, but Naruto ran right at the flame and swung his sword through it. To both his and the Oto-nin's surprise the fire did nothing they expected. It didn't blow out, split and fly off, it didn't continue going on to incinerate its target either. Instead it rebounded and shot right back at its user. The jōnin screamed out as the ball hit him as he was too stunned and it was too fast for him to move out of the way. As the screams died along with the man, Naruto used a simple water jutsu to put him out so the smoke wouldn't alert anyone of what happened. He created some Bunshin to pick through and find anything useful as he went back to the now empty coffin. He opened the lid with and looked over the seals inside, considering them a moment.

Taking out one of his scrolls he unsealed his own sealing supplies and got to work. The first thing to go was the seal that drained chakra, and by the time he was done the only part remaining was the one that anchored the summon to it's creator. "Heh. Hebi-teme's in for a surprise." He looked at the other two coffins and a grin split his lips. "Well I can't do anything for the poor bastards inside, but that doesn't mean I can't get a little revenge for them." Once again he took out his brush and got to work.

• • •

As Naruto reentered the competitor's box he was immediately glomped by a crying Kin. "Thank Kami. I was so afraid. I though he would kill you. What happened?"

"Oh we talked and he gave you some tips for the next round. Nothing much. Well, we did learn something about my sword." He smiled at her but found her narrowing her eyes at him. "I'll tell you later."

"You better...What happened to my sensei?" She asked a little unsure if she wanted to know that he was still stalking around.

"Oh he decided to go to take a smoke break, so he won't be joining you again. He wishes you the best though, in your new life." He watched Kin's confusion turn to realization just before she hugged him even tighter and kissed him hard. Once he was able to peel away from her he looked at Haku. "I've been gone for a bit, did teme show?"

"He just shunshinned in with Kakashi down in the arena a few seconds before you came back. They had to extend the wait another five minutes for him, and he even had the nerve to ask if he was late when he showed up. I hope that Suna guy turns him into paste." She glared over the railing at the source of her annoyance.

"It's been bothering me for awhile now. You're from the same village and yet some of you seem to hate each other like opposite sides in a war. Why is that?" Temari asked, walking cautiously over to the three.

"He's a self righteous, egotistical asshole that thinks he's better than everyone just because of his name. He's also power hungry and ever since his brother slaughtered his whole clan and went missing, making him the last Uchiha in Konoha, he's considered anything he wanted to be his without question. He even tried to break into my property numerous times to steal from me as well as fight me for my possessions, have the council try to make me give them to him and even try to take my girlfriends by similar methods. Hell he was going to try to rape them in the forest until I beat him into unconsciousness to stop him. It doesn't help that most of Konoha pampers him, at least the civilians do." Naruto's rant ended with a huff as he joined Haku at the railing to look at the two competitors in the stadium.

Temari just turned back to her brother with a surprised 'O' on her face. Apparently it was a rather touchy subject.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Sabaku no Gaara, are you ready?"

"One moment proctor." Sasuke said and turned to one blond in particular that was glaring at him. "Hey dobe. Don't look so mad. After I wipe the floor with this one you're next!" He smirked, but grimaced suddenly and jerked forward as something hit the back of his head. He turned around and saw that Gaara hadn't moved. Looking toward the ground he saw the large wooden cork from Gaara's gourd laying at his feet. His head jerked around to the booth again as he heard and saw most of it's contents snickering at him. Even Shino's shoulders looked to be shaking a bit. Infuriated he turned back to Gaara. "You'll pay for that."

"Then stop wasting my time. You have blood to spill and mother is thirsty."

Genma looked between the two once more. "Begin!" He was forced to jump back further than normal this time as Sasuke jumped the gun and went immediately for his signature move. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The fireball was fruitless however, no matter how big it was. Gaara's sand completely blocked the flame with seemingly no effort from the boy. Undeterred, Sasuke followed up by switching to taijutsu. With a few shuriken leading the way he rushed in and began pounding away at the sand.

"This is futile Uchiha. You are not one to prove my existence as I once thought. You are weak, even that strange green clad boy was worth more than this." His words only served to make Sasuke smirk.

"You want a stronger opponent? As you wish." Suddenly Sasuke blurred from view.

Gaara was startled a little, but the sand rose to keep up and formed a ring a couple feet off the ground. His opponent began circling the ring looking for an opening. "Is this all you have, Uchiha? Come. Mother is impatient."

"You asked for it." Sasuke suddenly changed directions, sliding under the ring of sand he was able to land a kick to Gaara's jaw, sending the boy flying away only to be caught by his sand. He left his foot high in the air to illustrate exactly what happened as he grinned at his opponent before slowly bringing his leg back down. He readied himself for another assault, but before he could rush in Gaara made a hand sign and the sand around him began to shift around. Wasting no time, he threw a barrage of shuriken only for them to be caught by a sand replica of his target. The Uchiha rushed in and attacked the suna bunshin, pummeling the clone into particles with a few hits. Not that Gaara really cared.

Because of the Uchiha's insistence to fight close range against him, he put himself well within range of the sand. With a movement of his hand, Gaara manipulated the sand near the boy's legs and had him suspended in the air in moments. He slowly walked up to Sasuke and stared him in the eyes. "You are pathetic Uchiha. I may have to question my existence just by beating you. The strong were not meant to prove themselves to ants." His captive growled and swung out at him, but it was futile as more tendrils of sand came up and wrapped around his wrists before stretching him out, upside down. Gaara then did the unthinkable in the minds of his siblings. Instead of attacking his victim with his sand he took it into his own hands, literally.

Sasuke felt every kick and punch that hit him. It was surprisingly softer than he'd feared it would be, but his body had no defense against the onslaught. He struggled against his bonds but was unable to move until Gaara simply dropped him. 'What the hell was that all about. No one told me he used taijutsu. I wasn't ready for that.' He tried to keep from holding his stomach in pain as he stood. Not willing to betray any pain even as a small trickle of blood left his split lip.

"it seems that will not provide enough blood to appease mother. I will have to find another way to drain it." Gaara spoke almost to himself.

"Sorry pal, but you're not draining me of any more blood."

Gaara looked up at the raven haired boy as if just noticing he was standing again. "No, mother doesn't care about your blood, but you will be of use to find the best way to drain Uzumaki's."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and growled at the insult to his pride. This mere genin was trying to say that he was only worthy of being some kind of experiment for a better opponent. What was worse was that the kid seemed to think Naruto would be a more satisfying fight than any the Uchiha could give him. Seething, Sasuke went over his options as he watched Gaara consider his own. Just as he was about to charge in again the Suna-nin made a sign and the sand around them began to swirl inward towards it's controller.

"Mother says to end this quickly. She wants to taste the Uzumaki faster. Good by Uchiha Sasuke. Suna no Tama." There was no hate, no arrogance, just a blank statement as though he already knew the outcome.

Knowing nothing about the jutsu Sasuke rushed in and tried to bunch through the barrier ending up rewarded with only a set of bruised knuckles as spike surrounded him. The only thing saving him from being impaled was the fact that he activated his sharingan as he rushed in. "So now I can't see you..." Sasuke jumped back and the spikes receded. He could hear Gaara talking inside the shell but couldn't make out what was being said. Shrugging it off he took no notice of the smaller sphere of sand that appeared nearby as he rushed back in, intent on testing the durability of the shield. Every kick and punch was met by a reaction from the sand as spikes shot out where ever he tried to attack. "...but you can see me. Then I guess I'll have to try something new. I had hoped to save this for a different fight, but it seems to be my only option." he quickly ran across the arena and up the wall. Stopping he made some hand signs getting some gasps of disbelief from the audience and ninja alike.

"Kakashi! You taught him chidori?! What were you thinking?" Gai scolded his rival.

"First, you aren't one that should be talking, teaching Lee the gates and lotus. Second, I didn't teach it to him, he stole it with the sharingan. I just taught him how to not kill himself from using it." Apparently that wasn't enough of an explanation for Gai, who snorted and turned back to the fight. Sighing Kakashi did the same.

Naruto smacked his forehead. "Kakashi you moron. Teaching him something like that."

"Naruto-sama what is it?" Kin asked while Haku indicated as being a little curious as well. The ice user had seen the attack before at the bridge in Nami, but didn't know the details.

"It's his chidori. A lightning based attack. The perfect thing against Gaara's sand, but at the same time far too dangerous for a genin to be using." He explained.

"You're one to talk Mr. Kage Bunshin." Shikamaru chided.

"That may be Shikamaru-san, but this technique is an assassination jutsu meant for one thing only. Naruto-san's clones have many abilities, and he has proven to use them to their fullest extent in all aspects of his life." Shino decided to break his silent streak for once as he looked toward the crackling ball.

"You seem to be interested in it Shino-san..." Kin said, wondering why the bug user was so intent on watching the jutsu.

"I am merely trying to keep my hive under control. They are a bit active because of the raw chakra, but if I were to let them near it they would assuredly be electrocuted." They had to stifle some chuckles at the 'moth to flame' reaction of Shino's bugs.

Sasuke charged down the wall, chidori in hand as he ran at top speed toward the ball of sand on the ground. Dodging the sand spikes as fast as he could he was able to, through some amount of luck, pass by them and shove the attack into the sphere. The stadium went quiet for a few seconds as everyone waited to see the result. Then Sasuke suddenly screamed in pain and tried to pull his hand free. Finding himself unable to move he reactivated his sharingan and formed another chidori inside the ball and pulled himself free. A tan arm with purple stripes followed him as he retreated until it stopped and began to drag itself back to the sphere.

Curses could be heard from Temari and Kankurō as they figured out what was happening. An inhuman screech went through the stadium and for a moment the Konoha portion of the audience looked around for any sign of pink hair before realizing it came from the stadium floor where Sasuke stood shocked at something he saw through the hole he made in the shell. Then it was calm again as numerous feathers started to drift down through the stadium while the sand crumbled away revealing Gaara who was holding a bleeding area in his shoulder. In seconds Temari and Kankurō were at his sides. Sasuke started forward, but Baki appeared and blocked his path as Genma did likewise on the Konoha-nin's side.

Baki looked at Gaara quick before looking at his siblings. "Get him out of here. Let him recover, then come back and continue with the plan!" Hoisting their brother on their shoulders the genin team quickly left nearly unimpeded as the rest of the shinobi were now too involved in their own battles to pay attention to three harmless kids.

"So this is what Oto and Suna were up to all this time?" Genma looked around at the organized chaos unfolding before looking over his shoulder at Sasuke. "You are no match for those three Uchiha-san. Go to the shelters and wait out this fight. We don't need someone inexperienced getting killed from being foolish." He swore as the boy seemed to ignore him as he smirked and headed off after the trio.

In Sasuke's mind Genma had said 'You are already chūnin level Uchiha-san. Now go and defend Konoha like a true shinobi. Don't let them get away.' Though he could care less about the second portion he was more than willing to accept the third.

"That's a very obedient ninja you have there. Too bad he just went to his death. Now how about we join the fun?" Baki charged in, forcing Genma to block his kunai rather than stop the seemingly rogue genin.

As Naruto watched the feathers fall he immediately dispelled them. Shouts of "Kai!" rang out in the small room as the rest of those inside realized what was happening as well and followed his lead. It was a good thing they acted so quickly too as two Oto-nin crashed through the door along with two Suna-nin. "Kill them all!" Both sides shouted as the small room was quickly filled with the sounds of battle. No one wanted to risk a jutsu for fear of taking out their comrades though, save those who had the control to hit only their target. Naruto quickly separated two of the enemy from the others with a stream of fire down the center of the enemy line. The two he didn't face were further separated as Haku and Kin faced one and Shikamaru and Shino faced the other.

Kin and Haku had a pretty easy time even though their opponent was a chūnin. With Kin disorienting him with her bells Haku was able to trap him in ice. Once he was immobile Kin walked up and calmly put a kunai in his temple. They turned to see the other ninja being incapacitated by Shino's bugs as Shikamaru held him fast with his shadow. Seeing as they now had no one left to go after they all turned towards Naruto to see him cleaning off his blade on the shirt of on of the two beheaded ninja at his feet. He looked up at them and shrugged. "What?" Kin and Haku just rolled their eyes while Shikamaru and Shino looked a bit pale. Naruto turned serious though. "Haku. Help those two as much as you can. You have twenty seconds." She nodded and took the two to the side. "Kin go check on the Daimyos. If they are safe then check on our friends in the council box." She was about to leave but Naruto grabbed her arm. She thought he was going to kiss her but instead he reached up and ripped her Oto headband off. "Stay safe. Go." She nodded to him and vanished over the side of the box. After she was gone Haku was back at his side as he looked up towards the Kage's box.

Sarutobi took note of the feathers falling as he turned his head towards the Kazekage. The other man took the same action and as their eyes met a smoke bomb exploded on the balcony hiding them from view. The Hokage's attendant yelled for him to run but it was too late as a kunai buried itself in his chest. The Kazekage leapt to the roof with the Hokage under his arm and a kunai to the old man's throat. A team of ANBU darted after them but had to turn as the Kazekage's attendants appeared behind them. With a quick slice the two men became four, but the pieces of the bodies didn't stop ans they tossed off their cloaks revealing four teens. The four now exposed Oto-nin quickly flashed through seals before pushing their palms out and naming their collaboration jutsu. "Shishienjin!" A purple wall formed around them and the two Kage. One foolish ANBU tested fate and tried to jump through only to be repelled and have his clothes catch fire.

"It's a shield. Don't touch it or it will burn you alive!" the ANBU captain called out for all those in hearing range.

"What about Hokage-sama?"

"We'll have to have faith that he can still hold his own..."

Inside The Kazekage looked out over the mayhem. "It's beautiful isn't it...Sarutobi-sensei?"

"War is a terrible thing, but I have no doubt that you are enjoying this...Orochimaru."

The Kazekage tore his mask off and part of his face to show that he was exactly who Sarutobi said making those outside shake with rage. "Orochimaru..." The ANBU captain whispered through gritted teeth. "So the traitor came back after all."

Naruto watched the purple barrier go up and immediately made some clones. He handed one of them a scroll and pushed some chakra into it to break the seal. "Take this to the ANBU captain. There are instructions inside telling him what to do. If you can help it get there in one piece but your main mission is to get the scroll to them. Go!" The clones rushed off toward the roof of the kage booth as fast as they could. "You three are with me. We're going to see who is the closest jōnin and get our instructions from them." The four took off out of the room and scaled the wall of the stadium to the stands. Genma was technically the first one they saw, but he was busy with Baki and they were flinging too many jutsu to risk getting close, though Naruto sent a clone to him as a distraction anyway. Upon capping the stadium wall they found Kakashi and Gai fighting both Oto and Suna ninja back to back. "Distract them as best you can, but don't risk getting yourselves hurt. Fight defensive while I talk to Kakashi."

As they split up to do what they could to hold the enemies at bay Naruto rushed to Kakashi's side just as he stabbed a kunai into another Oto-nin's head. "Kakashi-san, myself and three others are ready for orders." Naruto said as he dodged a thrown kunai effortlessly and threw his own in return which struck true in a Suna chūnin's eye socket.

"What do you know of the situation?"

"Sir, Hokage-sama is inside of a barrier on top of the Kage booth. I'm unsure who is in with him, but I would guess at least Orochimaru and the Kazekage. Sasuke ran off after the Suna genin team when they retreated after Gaara was injured..." He had to pause in order to block and slash an Oto ninja that was trying to take him from behind. "...against Genma-san's orders. I sent Kin to check on the Daimyos and the council box for the preliminary examinees. I already sent a clone with special orders along with a gift to try to deal with that shield. Orochimaru has something big planned, but I've thrown a kink in that plan too though I'm not certain what it's entire effect will be." Again he had to stop and dodge a barrage of shuriken headed his way. "Now what are your orders sir?"

Kakashi took a minute to digest everything he was told. 'Impressive. He's issued orders well, and allocated everyone according to their abilities. Hopefully his tricks will work in Hokage-sama's favor. That leaves the invasion and the Suna genin that Sasuke is following...' He took a minute to scratch his chin, idly throwing a kick into the ninja that tried to attack him. "Tell me what you think should be done Naruto." The blond looked at him a bit annoyed.

"Since I've done what I can to help Hokage-sama and the Daimyos, short of helping them myself, I would say stopping the Uchiha. If he goes alone he's going to get himself killed and we'd never hear the end of that. Shino and Shikamaru should be plenty of help for that. Haku can go help Kin with the others." He said without hesitation.

"Then those are your orders. Shino, Shikamaru go with Naruto after Sasuke. This is an A-rank mission and Naruto is in charge." Kakashi summoned a small dog on the back of one of the unconscious people next to him. "This is Pakkun, he'll track them through the forest if they got that far." He turned to the last person. "Haku, go help Kin with the others. After that assist in healing anyone you can."

"Hai!' All five said at once. Before taking off to their respective goals.

"Are you sure that was wise my rival? They are just genin."

"Gai, when the invasion began, where do you think these ninja tried to strike first? They would have wanted to hit our most promising upstarts before they became an issue in later years. No doubt they sent experienced chūnin or higher to the competitor's box. If those four got out of that then they'll be fine." Gai gave a quick nod before punching his next target through the wall of the stadium. 'Besides, if Gaara is what I suspect than Naruto may be the only one we have to match him.'

Outside the village walls a huge cloud of smoke rose up as an enormous snake plowed through it and directly into the village wall, creating a fissure as it passed through. It stopped just inside and looked around at all the tasty treats standing on the rooftops.

"Hit it with everything you've got! Don't stop until you have to!" Came a cry from one of the men as the ninja surrounding the snake cut loose with all the jutsu and weapons they had. It was futile though as the snake just shrugged them off and began snatching ninja up in its massive jaws.

"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!" A voice echoed through the chaos as another plume of smoke rose and the snake writhed in agony under the giant toad that now sat on it's back. "Behold! The great Jiraiya has arrived!"

"Jiraiya-sama. You're timing couldn't be better." Ibiki said as he landed next to the man on the amphibian's head.

"Ibiki. Where's Sarutobi at?"

Ibiki pointed solemnly towards the center of the village. "He's at the stadium." It was all he needed to say as they could clearly see the purple barrier from where they were, along with exactly where it was positioned.

'You better be alright old man.'

The ANBU squad watched the exchange between the Hokage and his former student as they waited for any sign that the barrier might be weakening. They had tried everything they could think of to break through, from jutsu to throwing kunai at the four keeping the barrier up. All they got in return were laughs at their futile attempts. A small cough behind them made them spin and drop into their fighting stances. The danger they now faced was one they hadn't expected. With arms crossed, four Naruto clones stood looking at the ANBU captain. "This is no place for a genin Uzumaki, even one of your...talents. Flee with the others to the shelters and wait for orders."

"Sorry ANBU-san but boss already gave us orders." The clone replied as it tossed the scroll to the captain. "He said there are instructions in there that should help with that thing in your way. Since we're just clones we'll stick around. Worst case we become distractions while you help Hokage-sama."

The captain eyed the boy for a minute before turning his attention to the scroll. Opening it he indeed found instructions, along with numerous seals. He nodded and began issuing orders to his subordinates while he handed out sheets of parchment as he unsealed them from the scroll. The other ANBU took them hesitantly though and looked at them in confusion. "...Sir, are you sure it's ok to trust him? This could just be a trick."

The captain looked from the man who spoke, to Naruto, then back. "If you have a better idea then spill it. If not then shut up and do as you're told." A little killing intent was enough to send the man bounding over to the shield to do his part as the captain turned back to the blond. "My apologies Uzumaki-san. Sometimes they forget their place."

"Don't worry I'm used to it." Naruto replied dryly.

Once all of the pieces of parchment were applied to the roof the captain placed the final seal and ordered one of his men to activate it. "Neko you'll stay here and keep the seals up until we're through. After that you will go back to HQ, pick up a team and get ready for the counter attack."

"Taicho, wouldn't it be better for me to be with you? I am one of the stronger members of the team."

"You are, but you specialize in close combat. Orochimaru excels at almost all aspects of the ninja art. We can't risk catching you in the crossfire as we will be engaging from long range as much as possible."

Neko huffed, but sat down at the main seal and prepared to activate it. "Ok brat, this better do something amazing." As the ANBU got into position she placed her hand over the seal and began to channel chakra. The effect took awhile, but after a couple minutes the seal began to glow. Five lines of chakra shot out to the other seals which also started to glow before shooting their own lines into the barrier. Symbols began to etch themselves into the surface of the shield itself.

Inside Orochimaru was grinning like an idiot as he rose from the roof after surviving Sarutobi's Doton: Doryūdan. Glancing over he saw the seals battling against his enclosure and laughed. "So it seems my old teammate is still hanging around with useless old fools. It's too bad for you I know all of his ticks. His petty seals will never break through such a powerful barrier."

The Hokage smirked. "If there is one thing I've ever taught you that you should have remembered, it should have been to never underestimate an opponent." Not a second after the words left his mouth the seals on the barrier finished. The glowing lines slowly connected the five points as they grew from each seal towards its clockwise neighbor. As the lines finished the portion of the purple shield vanished from inside the newly made pentagonal doorway. The two inside had different reactions from rage to glee as the faceless ANBU bolted through the opening, along with the four clones.

Seeing he was outnumbered didn't seem to phase Orochimaru much though, and he instead laughed a bit, though he was relieved to see the hole in the barrier closing behind them and the seals spread on the roof burn to ashes. "Well, well, well. It seems I underestimated Jiraiya-kun. No matter we'll just have to even the odds. Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." Focusing on the dragon hand seal Orochimaru got the greatest satisfaction in seeing their faces as coffins began to raise from the ground. The only one who didn't look concerned was the little blond Uzumaki. 'Typical ignorant genin.'

"Focus on the third coffin. Whatever happens we cannot let that one come up!" Hiruzen shouted as all the ANBU focused their chakra on keeping it down.

"No! Let it alone!" Naruto suddenly panicked. When he saw them not listening every clone rushed over and grabbed onto the Konoha-nin's and the Hokage's hands. "Stop it now!"

"Naruto! Get away! We have to do this or we'll all die!" His argument was pointless however as the last coffin rose and Orochimaru laughed hysterically. "You fool! Now you've doomed us all!" The Hokage spat at Naruto. He had never been so harsh with the boy, but at times like these it was warranted. The boy may have very well cost them dearly, and if he didn't know it, it showed clearly in his...bright...smiling...face.

The front of the coffins labeled 'first' and 'second' fell away and out stepped two men that all those present had not seen in far too long and yet not nearly long enough. "Sir who are those old men?" One of the ANBU asked his captain.

"Shodai-sama...and...Nidaime-sama...H-Hokage-sama...what should we do?"

"..." Sarutobi just glared at the deceased Kages.

"Oh? Monkey is that you?"

"Sarutobi you've grown so...old."

"It seems as though this young one summoned us her, he must be quite powerful."

"I'm sorry Hiruzen, but it looks like we will have to fight you."

With another loud clank the lid to the coffin labeled 'fourth' hit the ground and the bad day turned into a nightmare. There, in all his glory, stood the fourth Hokage. "...Yo-Yondaime-sama!"

"Well this isn't where I expected to be..." The blond Kage looked around and noticed the other Kages standing around too. "Oh Shodai-sama, Nidaime-sama. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I would have hoped to do so in a less tense environment." His voice sounded cold and dead as Orochimaru began to walk up behind them with three kunai in his hands. Two were ready to strike and aimed at the back of the heads of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages, but they never made it to their destinations as all three kunai disappeared from the sannin's hand's along with the Yondaime disappearing from the lineup. "Well that was fun! You can chalk that one up with painting the Hokage monument Jiji-san." He tossed the three kunai and gave a foxy smile before poofing into smoke.

Had he not been still facing two of the three former Hokage along with his former student, Sarutobi would have been rolling on the roof laughing at the best prank the blond had ever pulled. As it was, he still let out a loud chuckle.

"What's the matter old man? Smiling in the face of death? Two kage against one, do you really think you have a chance?" Orochimaru was still mad that his plan didn't go completely as he wanted, but having two Kage on his side, even if they weren't invulnerable now and would be a little stiff, was still good odds. He still wasn't sure why the fourth had acted the way he did though. It unsettled him a little.

"I'll just inform you that it wasn't the fourth that you summoned here. It was just a clone of one of my more...creative ninja. I don't know what these kunai were for, but judging by the seals it couldn't have been good, so..." With a quick flick he tore the tags off each kunai and tore them to shreds, rendering them useless. "Two Kage against one would normally be a very difficult fight, but I have faith that the odds will be in our favor this time...my foolish student." Orochimaru gritted his teeth and in a flash of hand signs and speed the two resurrected Kage began the confrontation signaling the end of idle chatter.

"Danzo-sama, the invasion of Konoha has started. What are your orders sir?" A ROOT-nin knelt in front of his commander with his head slightly bowed.

"Do? We will do nothing! It's about time those soft imposters under Hiruzen's rule realize just how weak they are. When this is over they will realize just how much they need a strong leader. When Konoha has fallen a new, stronger village will rise from the ashes with me at it's head!" A cheer would have went through the cavern had this been a normal ninja gathering, but these were ROOT ninja. Men and women brought up to be completely emotionless. The only reactions they showed were curt nods to show they understood.

"We're being followed..." Shino stated.

"Yeah, they've been following us since we left Konoha...Two teams...All chūnin or higher judging from their chakra." Pakkun confirmed.

Shino and Shikamaru stutter-stepped a bit at hearing the dog talk, while Naruto reasoned in his head. 'Hey if toads can talk, why not dogs too?' He looked back to see the shocked faces of his two human companions. "Relax guys. He's a summon, they do that." They nodded slowly, but still eyed the dog warily. "So what to do about those ninja...I could set some traps, but there's no guarantee that they'd pass over them or not see them in time. Shino could leave some bugs behind, but that would hurt him later."

"I'll stop them." Two heads turned towards the Nara. "My jutsu are based on delaying an enemy. I can keep them occupied for a bit. Just don't take too long with Sasuke and come get me." They all knew it was a bold move and could have disastrous results.

"Are you sure Shika? If we don't get back in time..."

"You need to go after Sasuke. You're the only one that can match him that we know of, and if he catches that Suna team Shino would be a lot more help than I would. Don't worry. Leave this to me and you two go on ahead." He turned and gave them a wave over his shoulder. Shino and Naruto gave him a respectful bow before heading off in the direction the dog started heading. "Well now all I have to do is wait..." Shikamaru started gathering some sticks as he started his plan.

"Shit he caught up Temari!" Kankurō said to his sister as they bounded through the treetops.

The blond looked back and cursed before making them stop on the next tree branch. "Keep going. I'll keep him occupied for awhile. We need to let Gaara rest some more or he will be in no condition to fight."

"You are going to fight me alone woman?" They both turned as Sasuke landed on the tree behind them.

"Go!" Temari yelled at Kankurō as she whipped out her fan in a wide enough arc that he had to jump out of the way. "Kamaitachi no jutsu!" A large gust of wind headed for Sasuke to which he simply moved behind the tree to avoid. Gritting her teeth she shouted again. "Fūsajin no Jutsu!" This gust was slightly different as it tore at the trees creating a fine powder on the branches it hit. After the wind passed Sasuke leapt out onto one of the targeted branches and immediately fell off. Smirking Temari met him on his decent and flung a handful of kunai into him. When they landed on the forest floor she walked up to his body to ensure the job was done right. The body though puffed out of existence and she realized too late that she was now staring at a log with explosive notes attached. With just enough time to guard her face she was sent flying backwards as the explosion rocked the forest.

Sasuke dropped down next to his injured, but still alive victim smirking just as she had. Unlike with her experience though, there was no replacement and he was able to kneel down and none too gently punch her in the face. "So you worthless piece of Suna garbage. You thought you could stand up to the might of the Uchiha. Let this be a lesson to you." He rummaged in his pouch for a few seconds before bringing out some ninja wire and a kunai. Forcing her off the ground he half dragged her to the nearest tree and tied her up. With Temari now restrained she was helpless as he ogled her. "You're not half bad for a kunoichi. Maybe after I go kill your two brothers I'll bring you back to Konoha with me and I'll use you to breed more Uchiha. You will bare me strong heirs."

The smile on his face sickened her like nothing she knew could. "You'll ne-never beat my brothers...Kankurō, maybe, but G-Gaara...Not a chance." She huffed out around the pain. "And ba-baring your...brats? There are...more worthy p-people than you here...Like Nara-san or that Uzumaki kid...Heck I'd even take that fat kid from the preliminaries over someone like you!"

That was enough for Sasuke as his smile turned into a snarl and he threw his fist into her gut, making her wheeze in pain. "If you're so intent on that dobe then maybe I'll just show him how much of a slut you are." He whispered in her ear as he brought his kunai around and in a few slashes he had her completely exposed. "No one will want you after I'm through, and by the time anyone finds you it will be too late for a medic to heal you." That said he began assaulting her body directly, leaving numerous bruises and scrapes. He was getting so into it he almost didn't hear the sounds behind him. "Shit, not again." Sasuke grit his teeth and shot off into the trees again in the direction the other Suna genin went leaving a badly battered blond still strung up hopelessly to the tree.

"Naruto, whatever that explosion was we should avoid the area. We don't want to get caught up in whatever is happening it could delay us." Pakkun informed the blonde as they leapt towards where the explosion had originated.

"I know Pakkun, but I have a bad feeling about that. Besides you said Sasuke was there a minute ago and it's just ahead."

"Yes, but Sasuke-san has redirected his path towards the Suna-nin." Shino fixed his glasses a little as he spoke.

"Fine. You two go after Sasuke. I'm going to check what happened over here. Don't worry I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, just leave me some signs for the direction you went." Without waiting for them to argue Naruto continued on his path while the other two turned off towards the Uchiha's trail. 'Sorry guys I just have a feeling that if I don't do this things will just get that much worse.' His thoughts were stopped as he came to a clearing that sported some burn marks from an explosion. He followed a furrow in the ground that looked to be caused by something that was thrown away from the explosion. When he got to the end there were less pronounced drag marks but he already knew somewhat what he would find at the end. True to his thoughts Temari was strung up to a tree, exposed and badly beaten."Teme..." Naruto curse the boy as he came closer.

Despite her wounds, Temari was still conscious enough to see the blond haired person walking towards her. 'Oh Kami, not him, please not him too.' But as she prayed that it wasn't who she thought she felt her bindings suddenly drop away and she fell forward. Waiting for the hard impact with the ground, she was surprised that it came so slowly and that the ground was so soft. Looking around for a second she realized that she was no longer near the tree, but rather on a soft patch of grass nearby. 'I must have blacked out for a bit...What did he do to me?' She looked down to see that she was still exposed, but what she didn't expect to see was a green glow around Naruto's hands as they passed over her and she began to panic. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Naruto glanced up to her before going back to work. "Stay still. You have some internal injuries. I'm doing what I can to heal them. I'm sorry I'm not a trained medic though so you will probably still need to see a real one before too long to check you over a bit better. I got the worst of the cuts and bruises though, so you should be able to move without too much difficulty." There was silence for a few minutes while Temari screwed her eyes shut. Embarrassed at being so exposed in front of Naruto. "There, that's the best I can do for now. Can you get up?" He held out his hand and she took it.

With a few stiff movements Temari got to her feet and covered herself as best she could with what scraps of clothing she had left. "Why did you heal me? We're enemies. I could just turn around and attack you." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Naruto laughed a bit. "No offense, but you're hardly in any condition to fight an academy student, let alone someone like me. Now I have to go catch up with my team before they get in too much trouble. Stay safe Temari-san and don't get caught by the teme again. I may not be able to stop and help next time. For now, here." He threw a set of his own spare clothes that he had sealed in a scroll at her. "Wouldn't want a beautiful lady like yourself walking around the woods like that. Now, goodbye." He leapt into the branches and was gone, leaving a blushing girl behind who stared after him for another few seconds before quickly dressing and heading to where her siblings would be. He gave her a second chance and she wasn't going to let the Uchiha hurt her brothers.

Naruto couldn't shake the bad feeling that remained and instead of going after Shino and Sasuke he turned himself back towards Konoha. 'Shikamaru has been on his own for awhile now. The enemy hasn't caught up so I can only assume that he successfully stopped them, but at what cost.' He raced as fast as he could until he got to where they split off from the shadow user. No one was there, but he did see tracks on the ground of a dog and a few humans. 'Smart move Shika. Now how far did you lead them.' Following the trail he soon was able to hear voices ahead of him. Taking to the trees he kept himself hidden as he got closer.

"So you know there is another one? Not bad kid, but it looks like your jutsu is almost up. Hey! You can come out now. While you're at it take this kid's head off." Shikamaru's eyes widened and his jutsu was interrupted from the shock as a large shape landed behind him, but not as wide as the Oto-nins' eyes got at seeing who it was.

A stream of smoke was all the boy needed to see to know who stood at his back "Heh. Sorry, but I can't let you harm my student." Asuma charged the ninja and began to take them apart with his trench knives. As the third and fourth nin fell there was some rustling and three two Suna teams came out of the brush.

"You were foolish to run off alone Sarutobi Asuma. Don't worry though we'll ease your pain." Asuma got into a defensive stance as the group of nin closed in around him.

'Damn this could be a few too many. The Oto-nin were low rank, but there are some high chūnin here, and maybe a jōnin or two.' He stared them down as they inched closer. He spotted a blur to his left and made to dodge it but found no need as the shape landed right next to him. "I appreciate the thought Naruto, but this isn't looking good for us. You should have just taken Shikamaru and gotten away." The man grimaced at the thought of the boy who was now in a lot of danger.

Naruto just smiled. "And miss out on all this fun? No way! So Asuma-san...How many do you want?"

"Oh this is too good. A genin who thinks he can save a jōnin by taking us on. Well little kid you're about to find out the worst part of being a ninja. The part where your life ends, on my blade!" The Suna chūnin charged Naruto, but never made it halfway before he was stopped by an explosion from his back.

"Oh I guess I forgot to say. I spread some explosive notes around. They're on about half of your backs. Say goodnight!" Naruto formed a tiger seal and instantly the enemy was in a panic, scrambling to get the notes off themselves and each other. Naruto smirked and charged. Taking the hint Asuma followed and they began to cut down the opposition like grass in the confusion. When it got down to two on two they were faced off jōnin to jōnin and jōnin to genin. "Well this is an odd match up, but I guess I shouldn't have expected anything easier." He said a bit dejectedly as the jōnin across from him laughed.

"It's just your tough luck kid. Good job though on distracting us so your jōnin-sensei could take us out."

'He's not my sensei. I don't have a sensei." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Oh?...Well that's unusual..."

Naruto's smile turned into a devious grin. "I don't need a sensei either." Forgetting about Asuma as he would have no room to concentrate on the man's fight, Naruto charged his opponent as he drew both his katana and his ninja-to. The Suna-nin immediately took out a kunai and his own wakizashi as he blocked the blows from Naruto. The man couldn't help but admire the blond's ability with the blade as any opening he left with one blade he covered with the other. Seeing a long fight in the making the nin jumped back to get some distance.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" The jōnin cried out as wind blasted towards the blond, but to his horror it never reached it's target as Naruto made a slash with his strange black sword and the wind bent away from him up into the treetops, knocking a few branches down in the process.

"Wow. Guess it's not automatically thrown back like I thought. Oh well, just means I'll have to practice with it." His comment confused the Suna-nin as he charged in again.

"Don't get cocky brat. I may not know what you just did, but that doesn't mean I don't have tricks of my own!" With a flourish he brought out two hands full of various throwing objects. "Dodge this you little bastard!" With all his strength he threw the shuriken, kunai and senbon at the boy who rushed headlong into the deadly steel storm. He never came out the other end though as smoke rose from where he had once bee. The jōnin looked around for his target as he readied his next volley. Seeing movement to his left he flung more of the projectiles towards what he assumed was his target. He was rewarded with another fluffy white cloud as it rose off the forest floor. "Come out and fight me you coward!"

"Fine..." The whisper was so close and so filled with killing intent that the jōnin froze. Before he could spin around though he found a figure not his target land in front of him as the sharp pain of a trench knife sliced through his stomach.

As the jōnin fell Naruto looked over him. "Asuma-san I was having fun!" He pouted at the man.

Asuma not expecting to see Naruto there just laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh sorry Uzumaki-san. I just thought I'd help out a bit. Hope you aren't too mad."

The boy just waved him off. Meanwhile Shikamaru was sitting on the ground nearby, completely in awe of the display of power the two had made in front of him. "Ne, Asuma...Take Shika back to the village. I have to go catch up to the teme and probably rescue his ego before it pops and blows up half the country." He darted off as Asuma and Shikamaru just chuckled after him.

"He really is in a class all his own isn't he Asuma-sensei?"

"He sure is. I don't know which thought is scarier. How strong he is now, or the thought of how strong he can be in the future. I do want to ask him about that sword though. I know I've heard of it before. If it's the one I think it is then it's got to be powerful. I would say too powerful for the hands of a genin, but I doubt even Hokage-sama would be able to take it away from him."

"Don't bet on that. If the Hokage asked for it, Naruto would give it to him out of loyalty. That's one thing about him that still hasn't changed..." They both spared one last glance in the direction their topic had left in before Asuma picked Shikamaru up and headed for Konoha.

'Dammit he caught up again. You better still be alive Temari …' Kankurō was standing on a branch facing the smirking Uchiha. "So you managed to beat my sister. Maybe you're not a complete Konoha loser then."

"Beat her? Oh I more than beat her, and after I finish with you two I plan on going back to where I left her tied up and ready. She'll be the first to bare the next generation of Uchiha. You should feel honored knowing that the blood that runs in your veins will continue on through the children she has." Sasuke laughed at the fury on the puppeteer's face.

"You bastard! Like hell I'll let you touch my sister. I'll die before I let that happen."

"Then die!" Sasuke was about to charge in, but was stopped as two new arrivals came out. One of which he turned livid at seeing. "You! How are you even able to move!" Her change of clothing wasn't missed by him as he pictured the only one he knew of that wore such attire. He had to admit though, the tight fit did do wonders to show off her assets.

Temari glared at him. "Because it seems not all of Konoha's ninja are complete barbarians asshole."

"I'm glad to see you're alright Temari. Take Gaara and run. I'll hold them off this time."

"He's too strong for you Kankurō, besides I owe him for our last fight." Temari started to get her fan ready for action.

"Forget it. You're too low on chakra and hurting. Even I can see that. Now take Gaara and go!" It wasn't a request it was an order. One of the few he ever gave her, but he only did so when it was serious. He watched as she picked up their brother and reluctantly left the soon to be battle ground. "Now come Uchiha. Show me your strength and I will show you your weakness." Kankurō called out as he readied his puppet, karasu.

Again Sasuke attempted to make his move. "Uchiha-san I will take this one. Since he was supposed to be my opponent initially I would like to not be robbed of my battle again. I will be finished in ten minutes to back you up." Shino was one person that Sasuke didn't really have too many qualms with as he never knew what the stoic boy was thinking.

While he still held his Uchiha superiority over him, Sasuke was willing to back down this time in favor of the bigger target. "Fine. Do what you want, but I won't need backup." He replied as he disappeared into the trees.

"Hey get back here I didn't say you could leave!" Kankurō spun around and sent karasu after the raven haired boy.

"Don't turn away from you opponent." Shino said as he swung at the distracted puppeteer, but Kankurō ducked under and kicked Shino away.

"You don't seem to have much fear of monsters Konoha boy."

"Show me this monster then, and I will tell you if I fear it or not."

"No. Beat me and go help your friend. Then you'll see the true monster." Bringing his puppet back, Kankurō sent it into battle as Shino started letting his bugs out. A new battle began as the two clashed.

Naruto was headed off by Pakkun as he jumped towards the sounds of battle. "Pakkun what's going on? I hear fighting up ahead."

"The Aburame boy is fighting a puppet user. He doesn't want help so it would be best to go around. Though it is ultimately your choice I would suggest we go after the Uchiha. He took off after Temari and Gaara. At the moment that is the riskier fight as it's two against one."

"Yeah, but it would be risky even if it was just Gaara. He's becoming unstable...I can feel it. We need to stop him soon or else we're all in trouble. Lead me to them, then you can leave. This fight will be no place for you." Naruto concentrated on what might happen in the near future and didn't like the scenarios his mind conjured.

"Hmph. Don't underestimate me because I'm small, but I'm not the combat type so I'll do as you say." Pakkun leapt ahead and they made a wide arc around the current battle, keeping a safe distance so they wouldn't get dragged into it."So what took you so long to catch up? I would have thought you would meet up with us while we were talking to the Suna team."

"I found where the explosion came from...It was Temari that fought Sasuke, and lost."

"But she was there too."

"She was beaten pretty badly and he shredded her clothes. I healed her and gave her a new set of clothes."

"That explains the tight fit." Pakkun grinned a bit. "Bet you got an eyeful then."

Naruto scowled at the dog. "I helped her and left. That was it." He snapped, then switched back to a calmer demeanor. "After that I got a bad feeling that Shikamaru was going to get into trouble soon, so I retraced our steps and got there just in time to see his kagemane end, but Asuma-san showed up and started taking out the trash until more nin showed up. That was when I joined in. I created a little distraction and we eventually won. Asuma stole my kill though...After that I sent them back to Konoha since Shika was low on chakra and came to catch up. Now here I am."

"Well I'm sure Asuma and Shikamaru are thankful, but you put the mission at a bit of risk there Naruto. What would have happened if we ran into trouble we couldn't handle." Pakkun scolded him.

"If you haven't noticed, both of my teammates decided to take on their opponents themselves."

"Touché. And the Uchiha?"

"I'm more worried about Gaara if he looses control." He glanced at Pakkun, but if the dog wondered what he meant he didn't show it.

"We're here..."

Naruto looked through the treetops and saw a transformed Gaara standing off against an exhausted and beaten looking Sasuke while, surprisingly, a determined looking Sakura stood between them with a kunai prepared to stab. "Shit, go look for Temari, make sure she's far away. I'll deal with this." They both shot off determined to complete their assigned tasks.

A/N: There will be some custom jutsu coming up, or at least ones that I haven't seen used before, so those will probably be described in this area if they hadn't already been explained in the chapter itself. No, Sakura didn't die. She still has a role to play along with the Uchiha. Will they ever get their divine punishment? When I feel like it maybe...

A special property of the black blade has been seen now. The ability to repel at least some jutsu. There are of course downsides to this, such as needing to aim where the attack goes, but this is a blade that could have been added to the seven swordsman thus it's seemingly overpowered ability.