ch. 2.5

Upon arriving at the field, he saw Temari was a bit annoyed, which no doubt stemmed from him taking his sweet time getting there, but hey, what was she gonna do? Try harder to hurt him? Pfft, he dealt with that daily with his mother and her frying pan and rolling pin why would he worry about a teenager with an iron fan?

Shaking those thoughts away, Shikamaru merely reached his starting point, "Both contestants ready?" Genma asked making Temari nod and Shikamaru to shrug uncaringly, which caused Temari to twitch her eye.

Naruto meanwhile smirked and shook his head, "Copycat." Naruto thought since he saw that Shikamaru was using his laziness to piss Temari off so she wouldn't be focused, calm, and collected.

It was arguably the easiest strategy for someone like Shikamaru since he just had to be himself while looking like he was reacting to Temari. Naruto has primarily done it as a way to break down the thick wall of bullshit that Neji had built up for his beliefs and delusions, which meant Naruto had to tear it apart to get through to his brain and get it back to thinking intelligently.

Naruto then turned his attention back to the field as Genma called the match to start and jumped back.

Temari ran at Shikamaru and leapt into the air to bring her fan down on his head while Shikamaru merely looked at it coming at him. A huge cloud of dust occurred when her fan hit and many held their breath in anticipation before everyone was surprised to hear Temari scream in pain before she was launched out of the cloud and rolled across the ground.

When she came to a stop, everyone saw her body twitching and she had some burn marks on her body while her hair was a bit frizzy too. Looking back at the dust cloud, they saw it clearing and saw Shikamaru standing beside the fan, which was still part way in a crater when it hit the ground, and he had his hand on the fan. The main thing though, his hand was coated in electricity, which meant that Temari had received a massive jolt thanks to her fan being a powerful conductor.

Shikamaru may not have been able to progress very far in his elemental training, such as being able to do some of the Jutsu, but he did know how to coat his hand or weapon in it and it was useful for such an occasion as this.

Shikamaru merely walked and looked at Temari as she tried to get up, but it was hard since her body was tingling and numb in some areas while the burns were also slowing her, "You showed your cards in the prelims, you know." Shikamaru stated making sure he didn't walk too close just to be safe, "You're overdependent on your fan just like your brothers are overdependent on their puppets and sand. It's not that hard to come up with a plan, no matter how simple, to make that dependency work against you." Shikamaru stated making Temari grit her teeth.

"Y-you p-purposefully m-made m-me m-mad. Y-you knew I'd at-ttack with m-my fan as a b-bludgeoning t-tool." Temari stated with her mouth twitching and making it hard to talk.

"Call it personal experience when it comes to pissing off a woman." Shikamaru stated before he pulled a kunai out and then had his shadow launch out and snag her, "Now you can either surrender or I can come over there and either kill you or make things very painful and possibly embarrassing for you." Shikamaru stated seeing her flinch and twitch in pain as her body tried to mimic his movements, but the electricity was still making that hard and painful.

Temari grit her teeth while being pissed with herself for letting this slacker play her for a fool and had to reluctantly give up, "Winner: Shikamaru Nara." Genma called getting applause as while short, it was impressive on Shikamaru's end.

The Genin and even some of the Jonin were just watching in shock and surprise at seeing the usual lazy genius of a Nara winning a match and in less than five minutes of it starting. They were also surprised he could use lightning and was able to do Shadow Possession without the hand-seal for it.

Asuma merely smiled, both for Shikamaru showing some of his new and improved self and for the fact he just made a good amount of money from his bet. Though he knew he'd blow close to half of it just on BBQ meals with his team, it was still worth it.

Of course, he and a couple others also bet on Naruto too so he still had a good chunk of money coming his way regardless.

Asuma turned back to the field as Genma spoke, "Will Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara Subaku come down." Genma called and Gaara came down again and Sasuke was still a no show, "Sasuke Uchiha, come down now or you will forfeit your match." Genma called and still nothing, "Due to his absence, Sasuke Uchiha is disqualified from the competition." Genma called making many groan at missing a fight while Sakura slumped her head.

"The next match will be Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara Subaku, are both competitors ready or is a break needed?" Genma called making Naruto appear on the field and pop his neck before both nodded to Genma, "Very well, the match between Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara Subaku, begin!" Genma called before jumping up onto the wall in case this got nasty.

Gaara merely stood there as his sand popped the cork off his gourd and began funneling out around him, "Mother wants your blood, Uzumaki. She wants it even more than she wanted the Uchiha's." Gaara stated in his usual monotone.

"Yes, though I'm surprised Shukaku is willing to let you think he's a woman." Naruto stated making many stiffen in fear, both in Naruto knowing what Gaara contained and the fact that Suna sent its Jinchuriki into the village.

Naruto merely turned his gaze towards Gaara with no anger, disgust, or even pity, just understanding, "Yes, I can see it in your eyes, there's a voice in your head that really does make you feel safe and cared for like a mother, but there's also that voice demanding blood, death, and carnage to appease it. I wonder which one belongs to Shukaku?" Naruto stated then asked making Gaara frown before he sent the sand at Naruto, who merely side stepped and swiped through it while coating his hand in wind chakra causing the sand to scatter.

"See? The sand you attack with has to be told to attack, while your inner amount of sand protects you without you even knowing of a threat." Naruto stated as he had seen it in Lee's fight: Lee was too fast for Gaara but the sand would still react and protect him.

Gaara merely frowned further before gripping his head in slight pain, "Shukaku's getting annoyed isn't he? He doesn't like that I'm breaking down his little 'mother wants blood' routine that he's been doing to get you to kill." Naruto stated before dodging the sand again moving efficiently around the field with little trouble or issue, "You know, I had to think this past month on why it was that some of your sand had to be controlled and the rest acted on its own, and for the longest time I didn't have an answer til I learned about your sealing." Naruto stated dodging another blast of sand and then some shuriken as Gaara was scowling as his head was hurting.

Up in the stands, Kankuro was nervous since not only was Naruto surviving, he was actually egging Gaara on and messing with his head. The fact he apparently knew about the sealing and what Gaara contained and was still calm and collected didn't make him anymore comfortable

In the recovery area, Temari was worried too since no one had ever talked to Gaara and analyzed him like Naruto was doing, she didn't know how Gaara would react or lash out.

However, everyone's thoughts and the fight were interrupted by a swirl of leaves and two people appearing.

Gaara merely frowned and recalled his sand while Naruto stood there with a bored look as Sasuke and Kakashi stood there back to back, "Are we late?" Kakashi asked Genma with an eye smile making almost everyone sweatdrop, scowl, or faceplant.

"Not only are you late, but you're so late that we already went through the other first round matches, disqualified Sasuke for being absent, and have already started the next match." Genma stated shocking Kakashi while Sasuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before they saw Gaara there and then turned and saw Naruto there and grew shocked at the change in appearance.

"What is Naruto doing here? There's no way he beat Neji." Kakashi stated making the Genin shocked that he had no faith in Naruto at all and many of the ninja, Hiruzen included, to scowl at him.

"Not only did he beat him, but he didn't take any hits except for one that he let Neji have on him. Now get off the field, you're interrupting a match." Genma stated making Kakashi gawk at him while Sasuke smirked and gave Naruto a thumbs up causing Naruto to nod towards him knowing he and Sasuke still had to have a fight later.#1

"Kakashi! Get off the field now." Hiruzen shouted making Sasuke shrug and head for the viewing area while Kakashi quickly left in a shunshin.

It wasn't that Sasuke didn't want to compete, but to be honest, Gaara kind of freaked him out. Plus, he was honestly expecting to be disqualified since Kakashi wasn't exactly known for his punctuality and being prompt. So he was honesty expecting to be disqualified, which wasn't that bad since Kakashi had run him through a few drills before they left so he wasn't 100%. Oh well, he'd talk with the others about the matches he missed and then watch to see how his teammate had improved.

"Alright, let the match between Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara Subaku continue." Genma called leaving the field once more as Gaara and Naruto stared at each other.

"See Gaara? Doesn't matter the village we come from, those like us are all the same. At some point or another, village residents whether their civilian or ninja despise us, hate us, and abuse us in some fashion. Granted you had it worse since your village actually tried to kill you while mine just wanted me to fall in a ditch and die. Still, unlike you I refuse to become the thing they see me as, I refuse to stoop to their level, and I refuse to become anything other than what I want to become." Naruto stated merely staring at Gaara while the Genin were all confused while the older ninja were wondering if he was actually going to state he was the container for the Kyubi or not.

Hiruzen and a few others merely sighed since Naruto was free to tell whoever he wanted and only hoped the younger generations wouldn't turn their back on him should he reveal his secret.

The sand and Sound Shinobi though were scared shitless at Naruto hinting he had a Biju sealed inside him too.

"That just makes you weak, why help others when you could just fight for yourself?" Gaara stated as his sand floated around him.

Naruto snorted, "Because what's the point of existing if you're all alone? What's the point of being the best if you have no one to share it with? How can you get stronger when all you want to protect is yourself? Your mother knew this lesson, it's why her strength is so impressive." Naruto stated making the Subaku siblings tense.

"Choose your next words carefully, Uzumaki." Gaara stated in a rare bout of emotion and showing anger.

"You really don't get it do you? That sand that protects you, it's your mother. She died as you were going through the sealing and I'm willing to bet she forced her will, love, and spirit into the seal and infused it in your sand. That's why it always protects you and never attacks anyone, she doesn't have it in her to harm people but she's not going to let anyone hurt you either." Naruto stated making the three siblings widen their eyes in shock as Gaara held his head in slight pain again.

"You can hear them can't you? Two different voices fighting it out in your head wanting you to follow their own advice and not the other's. But you don't know what to do or who to trust since the voices get jumbled and fight each other. But that's okay, you see I did this to give you a bit of closure and peace from your Biju, but I still have to beat you because my own Biju will not tolerate losing to one of its siblings especially since Shukaku was the prideful brat of the bunch." Naruto stated as Gaara grit his teeth while the Genin around the place and the nobles were shocked at Naruto stating he and Gaara held one of the Biju inside them.

Naturally, any and all sand Shinobi were scared out of their minds at the fact Naruto held a Biju and since Shukaku was the lowest on the tail count, Naruto assuredly had a stronger one sealed inside him.

It wasn't looking like the invasion was that good of an idea.

"Don't get me wrong Gaara, I feel for you and sympathize with you, but you made a costly mistake: you not only crippled a friend and comrade of mine, but you also tried to kill him TWICE. And THAT is unacceptable!"Naruto stated with his voice gaining an edge and demonic quality that caused many to flinch away as Naruto's eyes became ice cold.

Before anyone could say anything, Naruto vanished from his position and Gaara's sand quickly rose to protect him from harm and exploded as a foot passed Gaara's head by mere centimeters. However, when the sand tried to grab the foot, it burst into smoke showing it was a Shadow Clone before several more bursts of sand occurred as Gaara saw various limbs get within spitting distance of him.

"The problem Lee faced was that he had only one body to attack with, but I can make hundreds." Naruto's voice echoed from around the area as explosion after explosion of sand occurred, "I also figured out one little flaw in your sand." Naruto stated as the sand kept exploding before Naruto appeared before him a distance away with a smirk, "Boom." Naruto stated confusing everyone before a sizzling sound occurred and they saw dozens of Kunai with explosive notes.

Gaara had time to widen his eyes before a massive explosion occurred scattering sand all over the field and causing Temari to grow worried for her brother.

As the smoke cleared, they saw Gaara standing there panting as his sand protected him, but from the singe and burn marks in his clothes, the sand had only barely gotten there. It was also worth noting that a portion of his sand had turned to glass from the intense explosion.

Naruto smirked before he began a string of handseals, "Lightning Style: Rain of Chidori." Naruto stated surprising and shocking many at the name especially Sasuke, Guy, and Kakashi.

Naruto smirked and looked up causing everyone else to do so as dark storm clouds had gathered and everyone widened their eyes at seeing a swarm of chirping birds made of lightning launch from the cloud and heading right for Gaara, who quickly used his sand to shield him. However, that was what Naruto wanted.

As the birds impacted the sand, they exploded in a large display of lightning going in all directions and even fueling some of the other birds to become even bigger. In fact the lightning was so intense that it was super heating the sand and turning it into liquid glass. However, this just distracted Gaara from the next attack.

Said attack came from a half dozen clones launching out of the ground and flipping through handseals, "Water Style: Wild Water Wave." The clones called spewing large torrents of water at Gaara, who quickly made more sand and commanded it around him turning the sand to sludge, but that was only the first reaction.

The second reaction came as the birds began hitting the soaked sand destroying it because the hot and cold fighting each other caused it to become instant glass and shatter.

Gaara grit his teeth since no one had ever pushed him this hard or found ways to combat his sand. It was making him feel… elated, scared, excited. Finally someone worth killing and that could give him a real fight, "Yes! Fight me Uzumaki! This is the most fun I've had in years." Gaara stated with a bloodthirsty grin as the ground began turning more and more into sand as it lashed out and grabbed the clones and Naruto, "Sand Coffin." Gaara called as Naruto looked at him impassively while many tensed having seen what that move could do to people, "Sand Bur-"

"Boom." Naruto said before he and his clones all exploded forcing Gaara to shield himself with his arms since his usual sand was depleted.

When the smoke cleared, Gaara began looking around wildly before the ground beneath him cracked and he looked down wide eyed as Naruto emerged holding a blue spiraling sphere, "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted slamming the ball into Gaara's chest making him scream in pain as he was launched back into a tree while also getting cut from the shards of glass that were everywhere.

Meanwhile, all the adult Shinobi were shocked at the Rasengan, even Orochimaru was stunned. A boy not even 16 fully using the Fourth Hokage's second most famous Jutsu and an A rank one at that! It was unheard of.

"W-where did he learn that and in such a short time?!" Kakashi stuttered out and Kurenai smirked.

"Jiriaya-sama taught him it. Naruto had it down in under a week." Kurenai stated shocking many others.

"What's so special about that Jutsu?" Sakura asked and most of the adults smirked.

"It's an A rank Jutsu that the Fourth Hokage himself created." Asuma stated shocking the Genin as they turned back to the arena and saw Naruto walking towards Gaara, who had his torso bare and it was both burned and bleeding.

"W-what is this? Blood? It-it's… IT'S MY BLOOD!" Gaara stated before freaking out only to be pinned to the tree by Naruto's hand around his throat and his sand armor was completely gone, "No! Stay away from me." Gaara stated in fear as he tried to summon some sand or any strength to resist.

"You have no more chakra, you have no more sand, you have nothing between you and meeting the Shinigami right now except my whim." Naruto stated lifting Gaara off the ground easily and holding him there as Gaara weakly clawed at his arm and grit his bloody teeth, "I want to talk to Shukaku, now." Naruto stated surprising many even Gaara showed his surprise, "Either let him out or I'll beat your face in until you lose consciousness." Naruto stated making Gaara close his eyes and slowly he slumped over.

Just as sand erupted up from the ground, Naruto shocked everyone again by releasing a chakra chain from his back and it quickly ensnared Gaara's body.

Everyone who knew of Kushina Uzumaki was stunned and in shock at seeing Naruto use her fabled adamantine chains. It showed to some of the slower people that Naruto had to indeed be a true Uzumaki to use it while some of the smarter and "in the know" people quickly saw the resemblance.

Gaara's head rose and showed his eyes were black with a gold shuriken design, "Let me go you fucking bastard!" Shukaku stated with his own voice and Gaara's mixing since he couldn't get a true possession because of the damn chain around him.

Shukaku then turned his head as Naruto backhanded him, "Watch your mouth Shukaku, with your partial possession I can kill you simply by ending Gaara's life and you wouldn't return in a year like you normally would." Naruto threatened with a glare as Shukaku, realizing that since he was technically only halfway out of the seal, he'd be utterly screwed if Gaara died right now, "Good boy, now I want you to listen very carefully because I'm not repeating myself." Naruto stated making Shukaku nod slightly, "You're going to leave Gaara alone from now on and let him sleep, you're only going to possess him if the situation is life or death for him and he can't fight anymore. You're also going to let him hear and speak to his mother without your interference. If I hear even a whisper of you causing him problems again, I will slowly tear you out of your seal and imprison you so tightly you'll BEG to be put back in the tea kettle." Naruto stated with his eyes and tone becoming so cold you'd think he had ice in his veins.

"Y-you're bluffing, removing me will kill Gaara!" Shukaku stated with some fear, that damn tea kettle was the worst and now this guy was possibly going to seal him up even tighter?

"I don't bluff, and you're making the assumption I don't know how to extract you without killing Gaara." Naruto stated making Shukaku and the gathered Shinobi's eyes widen in fear and shock respectfully, "Besides, if it came down to it, I think Gaara wouldn't mind dying to get payback against you and the chance to finally meet his mother in person and not what she was able to impart on his seal." Naruto stated and Shukaku could tell Naruto was dead serious, there was no bluffing, hesitation, deceit, or anything that would give Shukaku hope in his eyes.

"Alight! Fine, you win. Just don't seal me up like that again." Shukaku states and Naruto nodded.

"Good, now bring Gaara back out." Naruto stated making Shukaku grumble and Naruto raised an eyebrow, [Kyubi, did Shukaku just complain about "damn Kurama and his host"?] Naruto thought to his tenant, who was growling and grumbling.

[Yes, he did. Pain in the ass idiot! I guess you know my name now, brat]. Kurama complained since he wanted Naruto to earn his name.

[Ah, well I'll be fair, I'll only call you by your name when you start calling me by mine or at least stop calling me brat]. Naruto thought back making Kurama grunt as Naruto turned his attention back to the awakening Gaara.

Gaara gasped awake and looked at Naruto in both shock and fear, "Y-you scared Shukaku." Gaara stated and Naruto frowned before slamming Gaara into the tree shattering the bark and causing Gaara to gasp in pain.

"Remember this moment, Gaara. Because if you ever try and harm a comrade of mine again, I will end your existence without hesitation and I won't even flinch doing it." Naruto stated making Gaara nod weakly before Naruto tossed him to the center of the field, though it also caused some more pain due to him hitting the ground and rolling over rock, dirt, sand, and glass, "He's done." Naruto stated walking away before he paused as feathers started falling.

Naruto snorted before he built up his chakra and released it in a pulse shattering the genjutsu around the stadium. Immediately, the ambushers were ambushed themselves and killed quickly while explosions echoed out from the Hokage box and outside the village.

However the outside ones weren't from the enemy, they were from Naruto's traps quickly removing several of the invaders charging for the walls and gates.

Acting quickly, Naruto summoned his sword from a seal and immediately created and sent out hundreds of clones to help keep casualties on the village's side to a low quantity. A clone also grabbed Gaara and placed chakra seals and suppression's seals on him to ensure no one could try and force Shukaku out.

Of course, his siblings and sensei tried to interfere only Kankuro was intercepted by Shino and his insects, Genma blocked Baki, and another clone blocked Temari while the real Naruto jumped to the stands to help his team and classmates.

"Give me back my brother!" Temari shouted swinging her fan at the Naruto before her only for the clone to catch her fan and delivered a punch to her gut knocking the air from her lungs and launching her away. The clone then showed the difference in strength as he bent her fan in half before throwing it and hitting Baki in the back letting Genma incapacitate him and a clone quickly scooped him up and put seals on him while another clone did the same to Temari.

A clone near Shino saw Kankuro's puppet attempting to release a poison cloud on Shino as a last act of defiance and quickly flipped through handseals, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." The clone shouted pushing the poison away from Shino and into a group of Sound ninja that were moving to flank a few Jonin.

Shino nodded to the clone as another came and took Kankuro after the seals were put on him. Shino then moved to join his father and carry out any orders given and tried to ignore the dying gasps and screams from the Sound ninja.

The real Naruto quickly cut down a Sound ninja near him before throwing a Kunai into a Sand Shinobi's head as he attempted to flank Anko, while still keeping an eye on his former classmates, "Sakura, Ino, Choji, take formation around Lee, I don't want these assholes trying to target him while he's wounded." Naruto shouted parrying a kunai and head butting the offender before grabbing them and throwing them into a squad moving towards Kakashi and Guy.

"Right." Choji stated as he tackled a Shinobi aiming for Lee and knocked him out. Ino and Sakura quickly moved with him to help before three kunai hit some charging Jonin taking them out before Anko landed beside them.

"Keep your wits up brats, I am not burying any of you so look sharp." Anko stated fighting off a few more Shinobi.

Just as another squad was going to rush them, Naruto appeared in front of them and bisected them with a swing from the Kubikiribōchō before he twisted it sideways to block a hail of kunai.

"Naruto, that… that sword." Sakura started to say as Naruto kept fighting.

"Save it for after we live through this. We kind of have a war going on." Naruto shouted as he quickly launched another Great Breakthrough at a group of enemies sending them over the railing to the field below.

It took a few more minutes before the stands were clear and a few more screams echoed out from outside the stadium. Naruto then created a few dozen more clones and sent them out to help the areas a clone had dispelled in before creating another three, "You three, escort Lee to an evacuation area then go further support the hospital. You see any straggling clones send them to the Academy, hospital, or Hokage Tower." Naruto ordered making the clones nod before two grabbed Lee and took off with one following them.

Naruto then turned towards the village and began walking off, "Naruto, stay with the group!" Kakashi ordered and Naruto waved him off.

"I have my orders, Kakashi, and I intend to fulfill them." Naruto stated glancing at him, "Kin, stay with Kurenai or Anko, do not go anywhere alone." Naruto ordered making her nod.

"Yes sir." Kin stated before kissing his cheek shocking the Genin there before Naruto jumped up onto the Stadium wall and flipped through seals before slamming his hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu." Naruto called as a cloud of smoke occurred and two large toads came. One was a large blue toad with two swords on his back named Gamahiro and the other was a magenta toad with a sasumata staff and a shield named Gamaken, "Alright, you two know what to do." Naruto stated making them nod before jumping off.

Naruto popped his neck before seeing Jiraiya with Hiruzen facing Orochimaru and the first two Hokages in a fight. Naruto frowned before making a mental note to take care of the stragglers before coming back since Hiruzen wasn't as strong as he used to be. Making a clone, he ordered it to stay and observe to ensure nothing went wrong before he took off.

Jumping off the wall and running along the roofs, Naruto came across an Inuzuka female with three hounds fending off a squad of six Jonin, but another group was coming in to flank her. Not liking that, Naruto jumped down with a massive overhead swing and roared as he slammed Kubikiribōchō onto the ground at its full length sending a large wave of wind at the flanking group.

The few who dodged had to see the ones hit get split in half before Naruto was upon them with his sword back to katana length. Using surprise to help him, Naruto cut one in half before twisting to dodge a kunai and lashed out with a mule kick sending the enemy back before Naruto spun and cleaved another while delivering a kick to a second attacker.

Looking over his shoulder, he quickly threw a kunai at an enemy that was moving to attack the Inuzuka from behind killing him and letting the Inuzuka take advantage of the enemy in front of her being surprised.

It only took another minute or so to finish the stragglers and Naruto had clones incapacitate the wounded and take them off to a prisoner area before nodding to the Inuzuka and, after noting she wasn't hurt, took off again.

As he jumped, Naruto was idly glad for Ibiki teaching him how to essentially deaden himself to the world when in combat. Taking a life wasn't something he was fully comfortable with, but he understood it and he would have time to puke, shudder, and process when they weren't stuck in a war or it could cost him or someone else dearly.

The Inuzuka, who happened to be Hana Inuzuka, watched the blond go and was surprised at seeing him since from what she heard, he was the dead last of the Academy. However, his fighting and mannerisms didn't show that at all, she'd swear she was looking at a veteran as he fought. Being friends with Kurenai, Yugao, and Anko let her know that he was getting trained, but this was a whole other level than what she thought she'd see. She'd have to look into him a bit after this mess was over.

Off at the wall, Ibiki stood there with a smirk on his face as he saw the charging hoard of enemies be reduced to a small few through various traps including punji stick traps (both pit and swinging), pit falls, exploding seals, electrifying seals, adhesive traps, gas bombs, flash bombs, swinging logs, kunai spring traps, razor wire traps, bolo traps, spear traps, and more all aimed to incapacitate or kill. The few the traps didn't get had to survive Konoha forces launching attacks and then Jiriaya riding Gamabunta as well.

This effectively made the defenders only have to deal with 10% of the invasion force on the outside and any that tried to flee from inside the village would get caught in the remaining traps.

Naruto truly lived up to his "Prankster King of Hell" nickname that the various ninja gave him from his early years. The different intricacies and layouts just made it impossible not to set off at least one trap if you didn't know where they were.

He broke from his musings as a Chunin came up, "Sir, more than half of the enemy force that made it to the wall has been handled whether through our own people or the different defenses that Naruto-san set up before hand." The Chunin reported making Ibiki nod.

"Good, once we handle the rest, I want a portion of our forces to help sweep the village. I don't want to risk enemies staying in the village causing problems for us for Kami knows how long." Ibiki ordered making the Chunin nod and leave to give the orders.

In another part of the village, Hanabi Hyuga was having a bad day as she was trying to fight a Chunin that was trying to capture her while he guards were being attacked by a squad of Jonin and were having difficulty. Currently she was against the wall panting with her clothing having some cuts and blood on them while her opponent was brandishing a kunai with one hand as the other arm was dangling by his side.

The problem was that Hanabi was getting tired and wasn't going to last much longer. As the Chunin jumped at her, she instinctively closed her eyes only to hear a gasp and the sound of flesh beings pierced. The sound was soon followed by more of the same noises before several soft thuds occurred.

When Hanabi tried to open her eyes, she felt a hand come over them, "It's alright Hyuga-san, you're safe, but keep your eyes closed." Naruto's clone stated making her relax a bit, "I'll be helping escort you to the shelter." The clone stated to the two guards, who nodded, "Now miss, I'm going to remove my hand, but keep your eyes closed, trust me." The clone stated making Hanabi frown and nod her head before the hand was removed and she was turned with the guards taking position next to her and the clone behind.

Once Hanabi opened her eyes, the group took off with Hanabi not seeing the dozen or so dead bodies with some being dismembered, decapitated, run through, or stabbed in the head and blood filling the street slowly. The guards would make sure to mention this occurrence to Hiashi after this was all over.

In yet another part of the village, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were with Kurenai escorting the group of Academy students to the shelter while one in particular was being a pain in the ass, "Aw c'mon! We can fight too!" Konohamaru complained as they were led off with Iruka helping keep them together.

"Konohamaru, enough. You're too young to be trying to defend the village and you're not even a full fledged ninja yet." Iruka stated finding Kono to be an almost exact replica of Naruto at that age.

Before anything else could be said, a scream of pain echoed out making them tense before a person smashed through the building on their right and collided with the one on their left. They tensed before seeing it was a sand ninja and he looked to be in rough shape.

"Son of bitch sand ninja. Attacking me while I'm helping a kid and tearing my cloak." They heard Naruto grumble as he stepped out from the building on the right and the bottom of his coat was a bit cut up, which only made it a bit cooler since it looked like a flame design on the bottom.

"Boss!" Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon all shouted as they rushed to him and he chuckled as they tackled him in a hug though he stayed standing.

"Good to see you three are alright, but you gotta keep moving." Naruto stated as he ruffled Kono's hair.

"Aw, c'mon boss, we can help you. We're strong." Kono stated and Naruto smiled before he knelt in front of him and put his hand on Kono's shoulder.

"I know you're strong, Kono, that's why I want you to go with the others." Naruto stated making Kono tilt his head in confusion, "Kono, the other kids and the civilians need as much protection as they can get. If the enemy gets to them, then they'll be killed, that's why I want you there: to protect them. Who better to protect them than my rival and friend?" Naruto asked making Kono look at him in surprise before he grinned, "So can you do that for me?" Naruto asked making Kono nod.

"Of course Boss!" Kono shouted and Naruto nodded.

"Good, and listen to Iruka, he may be a bit boring at times, but he knows what he's doing." Naruto stated before sending them back to the group and nodding to the others.

Iruka, Hinata, and Kurenai smiled at the scene while the latter two noted he'd be a good father, which caused both of them to blush at the thought, "Everyone, go quickly." Naruto stated giving a pointed look to Kurenai and Iruka as he saw Akamaru sniffing the air.

"He's right, let's go." Iruka stated as they began moving again while Naruto waved to the others.

However, once they were out of sight, Naruto's eyes hardened and he summoned his Butterfly Swords. Turning around, he found two squads of Sand and Sound ninja coming towards him, "You're not touching those kids." Naruto stated with an edge to his voice as he readied himself.

The Shinobi smirked thinking this would be an easy win… before Naruto leapt at them with a war cry and cut down two of them in quick succession. Before the others could try anything, three clones dropped in from above and killed them with their swords before throwing kunai into three others.

Another dropped into the center with a full length Kubikiribōchō in hand and swung around decapitating several while a few were fast enough to dodge away. However, they're relief was short lived as the four clones attacked them immediately putting them on the defensive.

However, before the real Naruto could join in on the attack, he froze as a clone popped and sent him the memories causing him to curse and make another two dozen Shadow Clones to help out before he took off back to the stadium.

As he left, he had to snort in amusement as different clone memories showed the enemy losing. It was amazing how easily veteran and elite ninja could be taken down because they got cocky, arrogant, or just didn't bother to pay attention to their surroundings.

Then again, Orochimaru probably just grabbed any and all ninja he could and didn't care about how strong they were. He just wanted bodies and cannon fodder to throw at his enemies to overwhelm them with numbers and surprise.

Shaking those thoughts away for another time, Naruto pushed chakra to his legs and sped up his movements.

Stadium: Rooftop just above Kage seating.

Hiruzen was having a rough day. While it was good to see Naruto living up to his potential so flawlessly, it didn't help that an invasion was going to occur and he'd be fighting his old student again. However, thanks to Naruto's work he knew of his student's plans and the way he was going to fulfill those plans, so he himself could plan accordingly.

Hence why he had Jiraiya with him while a clone of the Sannin was handling the snake summons with Gamabunta.

However, even that wasn't solving the problem that much since the two of them had only stopped Orochimaru from summoning three of the five beings he was attempting to summon. Apparently his spies being exposed and two of his pawns being captured made him up his plans a bit so he had prepared five summons for the Edo Tensei instead of the original three.

While certainly great that he didn't summon another entity, him summoning the first two Hokage wasn't that confidence inspiring even with Jiraiya going into Sage Mode to help fight the three opponents.

They couldn't get any support either due to Orochimaru's guards creating a barrier around the roof they were fighting on, which was supposed to be handled by two squads of Anbu and only one showed up, late. He could only assume that Kabuto or another pawn of Orochimaru's had thinned any nearby ninja just in case things went bad.

Lucky for him, reinforcement was arriving courtesy of the clone Naruto left to watch the situation.

Naruto landed on the rooftop looking over the situation and then saw the Anbu standing there and blinked, "Why the fuck are you just standing here?" Naruto asked with a growl.

"W-we can't do anything, the barrier destroys anything that touches it." The Anbu captain stated since Hiruzen had made it clear that Naruto was to be treated with respect thanks to his help planning the counter for the invasion.

Naruto facepalmed, "For the love kami." Naruto groaned before sighing, "Follow me and be quick about it." Naruto stated as he went to the edge and they quickly followed as he went under the roof and had them go to the four corners, "Alright Cap, you should each be under the four guards. However, you're specifically under a redhead, do not kill her, she's a valued capture target." Naruto stated making them nod as he formed a Rasengan, "Give me a 40 second head-start then attack." Naruto stated making them nod as they drew their weapons and readied themselves.

Up above, Orochimaru was smirking as he stood before Hiruzen, who was panting and trying to keep fighting even as Hashirama and Tobirama prepared to continue. Jiraiya was also panting while keeping the two former Kage busy as long as possible.

"Such a pitiful sight, Sarutobi-sensei. To see you in such a state, it brings glee to my heart." Orochimaru chuckled as Hiruzen readied for another round.

"You'll find you'll be disappointed with how you think this is going to turn out Orochimaru." Hiruzen stated as he was trying to catch his breath. He'd have been down for the count much sooner if not for the fact him using Shadow Clones to do paperwork gave him more time to relax and get some old people sleep. However, right now he was fully prepared to sacrifice his life to take Orochimaru down with him.

Orochimaru merely chuckled, "Oh sensei, still the naïve sentimental foo-" Orochimaru taunted before he widened his eyes in shock as the roof beneath him split open and Naruto was coming right at him with a Rasengan in hand.

"Eat this you bastard." Naruto shouted shoving it into Orochimaru's chest causing him to scream in pain as he was launched back and slammed into the barrier burning him even further.

"Lord Orochimaru!" The Sound Four shouted before the ground under them caved in causing them to fall and be met with Anbu attacking them causing the barrier to fail.

Naruto then had to duck as Hashirama attacked him, only he surprised the Kage slightly by exploding sending him tumbling back. Before he could clear the disorientation, Naruto slammed Kubikiribōchō into his head splitting it in two and quickly jabbed his hands forward and tore the talisman from him causing him to stop as he reformed.

"Hashirama-sama, we need to get the talisman out of your brother's head next." Naruto stated making him nod as he went to help Jiraiya against his brother while Naruto stayed beside Hiruzen, "You're getting sloppy, Gramps." Naruto stated making Hiruzen snort as Orochimaru shed his skin and glared at Naruto, both for ruining his plans and for hitting him with a Jutsu like that.

Being too angry to think straight, he charged straight at Naruto and the two locked blades with Orochimaru glaring hatefully.

Naruto, knowing he couldn't handle Orochimaru right now and hearing the Anbu struggling to handle the Sound Four, decided to try out his new attack that Kin gave him an idea for. Smirking at the snake, Naruto charged chakra to his vocal cords, "Chaksaka!"#2 Naruto shouted before Orochimaru screamed in pain and dropped his sword.

Orochimaru was furious at the boy before him. Ruining his careful planning, keeping the Shukaku Jinchuriki from transforming, and now keeping him from killing Hiruzen! It was infuriating! As he locked blades with the boy, he was surprised to see the Kubikiribōchō in his hand and made a note to take it after he killed the brat.

However, it was then he noticed the smirk on the brat's face and felt a very cold chill go down his spine.

When Naruto shouted at him, Orochimaru flinched since the shout was loud, but that was soon blocked out as blinding pain surged through his arms while it felt like his ribs had just shattered. It only worsened as the pain stayed but he couldn't move his arms at all. He couldn't even make a finger twitch.

Naruto then spartan kicked him back making Orochimaru gasp in even greater pain especially when Hiruzen swatted him with Enma's adamantine staff form hitting him in the torso as well.

Orochimaru hit the roof and rolled before coming to a stop as he tried to get up and was joined by Kabuto and the three males of the Sound Four. However, they were a bit worse for wear as the big one had a large cut on his chest, the multi-armed one was missing one of said arms, and the two headed one had a stab wound through his stomach.

"Lord Orochimaru! Are you alright?!" The big one of the Sound Four asked only to get a glare from Kabuto and Orochimaru.

"Of course I'm not, you imbecile!" Just get me out of here." Orochimaru ordered while gritting his teeth at the fact he'd have to leave Kusanagi behind, but with the brat, Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and now the two former Hokage ready to fight there was no way he could get the sword back. Especially with his arms not working so he couldn't even make it move from afar.

Kabuto nodded and threw down several smoke bombs just as Naruto threw some shuriken at them. As the smoke cleared it showed a group of logs and nothing else, "Dammit." Naruto cursed as he sealed Kubikiribōchō away and sighed before seeing Kusanagi.

Walking over to it, he picked it up and swung it a few times finding he liked he feel of it. Kubikiribōchō was a good blade, but it was limited to chopping and slashing since you couldn't really stab with it. Having Kusanagi would give him more options and give him a second blade if needed.

Hiruzen raised his eyebrow in curiosity and surprise since from what he knew, Kusanagi was a picky sword with who wielded it and yet didn't seem to mind Naruto using it at all. His first guess was that since Naruto had disarmed and, technically, beaten Orochimaru that the sword was alright with Naruto using it.

"That boy, who is he Hiruzen?" Hashirama asked breaking Hiruzen from his thoughts.

"He's Naruto Uzumaki, the last known confirmed member of your wife's clan." Hiruzen stated sadly making Hashirama gain a shocked look before he lowered his head in sadness.

"I see, that is unfortunate. From what I've seen, he will become a great ninja indeed. Just make sure he's able to do it." Hashirama stated as he saw him fighting in the stadium after he was summoned and then being able to outmaneuver Orochimaru and even himself to a point was impressive. He broke from his musings upon seeing his body start to break apart, "Ah, it seems our time is done." Hashirama stated and Hiruzen nodded.

"It was good to see you again, sensei. I hope I have done you proud as the village's Kage." Hiruzen stated and Hashirama nodded with a smile that Tobirama reciprocated.

"You've more than done that, Hiruzen, you've kept the Will of Fire burning proudly and we are proud of you." Hashirama stated as he and his brother fully faded away leaving the corpses of two Sound Ninja behind.

Naruto walked back over and was surprised that when he was going to seal Kusanagi away for the time being, the blade retracted into the snake handle's mouth leaving just the handle, "Huh, that's convenient." Naruto thought before he placed it in a pouch and turned to his leader and his sensei.

"Well, shall we go help with the mop up?" Jiraiya asked making the two nod before they headed off to help finish the invasion.

Things would be changing soon, and they'd be for the better…depending on your view of course.