CH 4

Naruto slapped Gaara across the back of his head, "Act like a shinobi damn it. We deal in death for a living. Besides I'm not going to kill you. You're a weapon like me." He dropped Gaara onto the grass and walked away slightly, "You're a weapon that I broke already. And while you can be repaired… Most of the time a repaired weapon is easier to break a second time around."

He turned back to look at Gaara, his cold blue eyes turned back to their formerly bright nature, "I'll beat you down every time you try to harm me or anyone in my village. Because only when you fight to protect and defend others can you be powerful and find the strength to push beyond your limits."

Naruto looked up to the trees, "Sasuke!" The Uchiha in question landed by his side, "Is Sakura-chan safe? Was I fast enough?"

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah Naruto, you saved her."

Naruto looked back at Gaara just as his siblings landed and prepared for a fight. Naruto shook his head at the two Suna ninja, "I just beat the guy that terrorized you since he was six and I still have enough chakra that I'm gonna sprint back to Konoha and finish up the battle there. You both already got your asses kicked by this guy and Shino and he looks like he's ready to go another round. Do really think you can beat us if you were stupid enough to attack us?"

Kankuro and Temari bristled at Naruto's nonchalant threat as he shrugged, "Fine, be that way. We'll just knock you out and drag you to the village, and by 'we' I mean them." Naruto pointed behind them as two Kage Bunshin bashed them in the back of their heads with the blunt end of their kunai.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke, "Alright teme, go get Sakura-chan and Pakkun and we'll get out of here. We still have a battle to fight." Sasuke went to gather up Sakura as Naruto took to tying up the Suna ninja and hoisting them up on his and his Bunshin's shoulders.

As they set off through the trees Naruto mentally berated himself, 'How could I let myself be caught? Damn it! If I had never been sealed then I would have been able to warn Danzo that Orochimaru was planning an invasion and amassing forces. I hope things aren't as bad as they seemed at the stadium.'

XxX

(Konohagakure – Around the center of town)

Jiraiya stood atop the head of his massive toad summon as he watched Konoha forces engaging the Suna and Oto forces. Despite the fact that they had driven the enemy out of heart of the city the enemy had been putting up a dogged fight.

Suddenly Ibiki landed atop the toad's head, "Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya put up his telescope and turned to face him, "Ibiki, report."

"Jiraiya-sama, our forces were caught in several ambushes as they chased the enemy forces out of the village. They ended up getting caught in a crossfire by some of Otogakure's ninja they had held back."

Jiraiya groaned. They would win, but such an unnecessary loss of life was unsettling. Just as he was about to try and switch the topic he saw Ibiki smile, "But when they were closing in on our forces they ended up getting sacked by a lone ninja of Konoha, wearing bright orange if they saw correctly, he was moving too fast for some of them to catch."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "There's only one kid I know that is color-blind enough to run around this place in orange…"

Ibiki nodded, "At the same time a Kage Bunshin of Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha arrived at the hospital with their female teammate. And on the other side of town he delivered the children of the Kazekage to a makeshift P.O.W. site, in good condition too."

Ibiki scratched under his bandanna, "I saw how good the kid could be during his fight with the Hyuuga, but I never would have guessed that he was good enough to take down a squad like that."

"Ibiki, you shouldn't talk about me like I'm not there."

They both whipped around to see Naruto tapping his foot impatiently, "Although I guess you didn't know I was here… Geez if I was an assassin you'd both be dead."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto oddly, he couldn't sense his usual restless aura, and he had snuck up on him, "Gaki what happened to your jacket? And what's with that scar on your face?"

Naruto had ditched his orange jumpsuit jacket and left himself in his black t-shirt, "I tossed that bulky piece of crap so I could move faster to get here without much trouble. And I got this scar years ago. Someone put a bunch of seals on me that did a lot of stuff to me. Hiding that scar must have been one."

Naruto saw Jiraiya flinch when he spoke about the seals, "We can talk about that later… We will talk about that later… dattebayo…"

Ibiki gasped as he looked out over the buildings and saw Orochimaru being whisked away by the Sound Four. Naruto growled and crouched down like a track-runner, preparing to take off in hot pursuit until Jiraiya grabbed his collar, "You're not fresh kid. You can't take Orochimaru and his entire force of bodyguards alone."

Naruto looked at him blankly, "I'm not alone. You should be as strong as he is right? And Ibiki can help me beat his entourage and help you. If he's running away then that means he knows he lost today and he might be hurt. We can turn his retreat into a rout and finish this here."

Jiraiya was about to respond just as a cloaked Anbu landed on the toad, bowing to Jiraiya, "Jiraiya-sama, it's about Sandaime-sama."

Jiraiya grinned widely, "So Sarutobi-sensei sent the old snake back to his hole did he?"

The Anbu flinched under his mask, "Hokage-sama was killed in combat against Orochimaru."

The three other ninja stood in stunned silence atop the toad as the sounds of battle still rang out into the air. Naruto looked to Jiraiya who looked down at him, "That's enough death for one day kid. It's time to regroup… and mourn."

Naruto said nothing and followed Jiraiya back to the chunin exam stadium. He could get his answers later, he had nothing but time. Now belonged to the entire village as a whole.

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