19 18.1

Naruto watched with narrowed eyes as chaos seemed to make its presence known across the whole stadium in just a moment. 'No doubt about it. The invasion has begun. And most probably, this is not the only place that is being attacked. Oto and Suna shinobi would most likely be attacking the most vulnerable areas as well….like the academy.' His eyes narrowed at the last thought in silent anger.

It was a perfect strategy to kickstart Konoha's destruction. If they attack the foundation of shinobi in the village, the field where the future generation of shinobi were born and bred, Konoha would be absolutely crippled. The amount of time it would take to recover from such an attack would be so long that it wasn't even funny.

' I really hope ero-sennin is still in village. For now though, I have other things to concentrate on.' He sensed foreign chakra in his system, a genjutsu settling on him, trying to put him to sleep. A quick pulse of his chakra shattered the genjutsu, and just in time too. His danger sense rang in alarm, alerting him of a threat behind his back. He didn't need to turn around to find out what it was, he already knew.

Just as the arm of sand reached him, red lightning wildly danced around his body. Naruto ducked right under it, and spun on his heel, thrusting his right palm right into Gaara's chest. Only then he got a good look at what Gaara had transformed into.

His right arm had transformed into a giant claw of sand, which had purple lines, looking suspiciously like seal markings. His gourd seemed to have melted into sand, having spread over his right arm and his back. A huge tail had formed on his back, which Naruto deduced had enough swing force behind it to smack someone right into unconsciousness. Naruto then saw where he had struck and smirked. Gaara's chest was uncovered by the sand, exposed for all to strike.

He amped up the lightning, causing lightning to streak across Gaara's body. Gaara roared in pain, his muscles spasming and contracting against his will. On instinct, his tail swung around with devastating force to strike Naruto away. Naruto neatly backflipped away, and was up in his stance immediately, his Hiraishin kuni held in both hands, reverse grip.

The shock of Naruto's lightning was enough to throw Gaara back several feet, light burns appearing on the places that weren't shielded by his sand. Gaara sat up groaning, putting both of his hands on either side of his head. Naruto knew well enough what was going on, and this was his chance to stop it. Just as he was about to rush at Gaara, four figures dropped between the two of them, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes. The eyes narrowed further when two more figures jumped right in front of him.

Sasuke saw the genjutsu and easily dispelled it, wondering what the hell was going on. He then set his eyes on the arena, seeing Naruto face off against all the three siblings?

Sasuke frowned, looking around. The entire population of the audience seemed to have fallen asleep, most likely the result of a genjutsu. Looking back at the field, he made a split-second decision and jumped off, landing right in front of Naruto and dropping into his stance. 'I may not know what is going on, but I'll be dammed if I let you fight all of them alone! You already have stolen one of my fights, I won't let you do it again!'

Genma was not entirely surprised when the invasion began. The senior shinobi had been briefed upon the invasion by the Sandaime, so they already had their orders on what to do. Genma looked at Naruto, who was in a fighting stance against the sand siblings and a jonin, most likely their sensei. He chewed on the senbon he always kept in his mouth. 'Considering what I've seen up until now, Naruto could easily hold his own against those. But it's better not to take chances!'

He jumped in front of Naruto as well, noting with slight surprise that the Uchiha arrived as well. 'Good, I wouldn't mind some extra backup, especially an Uchiha.' He took his stance as well, facing the four sand shinobi.

Baki sweated a bit as he looked at his opponents. A jonin of Konoha, one who he could likely take on and win, but he wasn't sure if his students could win against the other two.

He wasn't that much worried about the Uchiha. While he had won his fight in the prelims, he had shown nothing special over there. If Temari and Kankuro were to team up, they could likely defeat him. But it was the blonde that he was most worried about.

The cold, azure eyes that reminded him of a legendary shinobi of the past. Those eyes contained no mercy, only cold deadliness that could kill you in the blink of an eye. Uzumaki Naruto had just become a major obstacle in their plans. With the Hiraishin no jutsu, Namikaze Minato had finished off a thousand of Iwa's shinobi in mere seconds, single-handedly securing Konoha's victory of the third great shinobi war. Baki had no doubt that his son could do the same. He had almost defeated Gaara, and would likely have if the signal for the invasion hadn't been given and he hadn't interfered. They would have to tread carefully.

Looking back at Gaara, he noted the various burns on him that were healing slowly, but surely. A bad sign, considering that the redhead was clutching his head, no doubt fighting an inner debate. "Temari, Kankuro," he spoke in a low voice. Once he had their attention, he said, "Gaara's a vital part of the invasion. But right now, he can't fight. Take him to a secure place until he heals and recovers his chakra. Once he is fully recovered, resume your mission."

Kankuro nodded and picked Gaara up, "Understood." Temari nervously glanced at the opposing side, specifically at Naruto. For the last two days, she had spent most of her time thinking on what she would do if she and Naruto faced each other in the invasion. After much thought and deliberation, she had come to the conclusion that she won't be able to bring herself to kill Naruto. Her feelings for the blonde were only growing. She pushed back her tears on seeing him now; his eyes were colder than what they had been two days ago. She could see no hesitation in them, only iron-hard resolve.

Kankuro nudged her, "Let's go, Temari." Steeling her own resolve, she nodded and they both jumped over the stadium walls, heading into the forests of Konoha.

Genma made a sound of irritation, and slightly turned his head to address the two genin. He didn't know why this decision made sense, but he had no choice. Kakashi had already issued his orders to him. The nerve of that cyclops…

"Uchiha Sasuke," he spoke in a serious tone, drawing the attention of the said Uchiha. "You have been said to be above your peers, so I'm going to assume that you are chunin level already." He was interrupted by a smirking Sasuke.

"You want me to pursue them and defeat Gaara, right?"

Genma nodded. He hated sending genin, who he didn't even know the level of, after a murderous, homicidal psychopath who was also a jinchuriki. But orders were orders, after all. "Try to hold out as long as you can. I'll send backup as soon as I can!"

Sasuke snorted. "Backup won't be necessary. I'll defeat them!" He shot Naruto a challenging look before jumping after the three siblings over the wall.

Naruto watched as his teammate disappeared over the wall. Arrogant, impulsive idiot. Not dropping his guard, he addressed the proctor. "Genma-san, was it a good idea to send him alone to fight an unstable jinchuriki? Particularly when he has no backup?"

Genma replied, "Sorry kid, but I had no other choice at the moment. Kakashi already gave me orders to send you to him once the invasion begins! Report to him for your assignment immediately!"

Naruto did not like the situation at all, but could do little about it. Nodding, he immediately located Kakashi's marker and flashed away, leaving Genma and Baki to face off. Genma began in his usual lazy drawl, "You guys have a lot of nerve, attacking us like you did."

Baki scoffed as he pulled out a kunai, "Less talk, more fighting, tree hugger."

Kakashi was keeping a close eye on his surroundings, and couldn't help but worry when Sasuke leapt off in pursuit of the siblings. Naruto would have been a way better choice, but he had not counted Sasuke's disqualification as a part of his plans. He could only hope Sasuke remained alive until backup arrived. 'Backup….now that's an idea.'

He was posted for protection duty. He was to ensure that the civilians were safely transported to safety under the protection of the ANBU. He looked over to the arena, and saw Naruto nodding at something that Genma said and vanishing a moment later. That was perhaps the only reason he did not jump in surprise when Naruto suddenly appeared beside him.

"Naruto, you are working with me today, if only temporarily. The forces would soon be swarming in the stadium any moment. The ANBU are clearing the stadium of the civilians. We will be tackling the forces inside the stadium."

Naruto nodded seriously. "Was it really a good idea to send Sasuke after those three instead of me, sensei?"

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh. He had already questioned himself that plenty of time already. "Not really, but I'm hoping he would be able to hold out until I send you after him. Now pay attention! The first of the forces are coming!"

Indeed, the sand and the sound shinobi had started entering the stadium. Naruto narrowed his eyes and made a half ram sign. Kakashi watched curiously as a shadow clone popped into existence, with the same seriousness on his face. He watched as Naruto pulled out a scroll from his right hip pouch and handed it over to the clone. "You know what to do."

The clone nodded and vanished a moment later. Kakashi turned serious, "What was that you gave to your clone, Naruto? And where is he going?"

Naruto gave him a smirk, "Don't worry, sensei. Just a little help for our dear Hokage."

Kakashi narrowed his eye, but let it go. He trusted Naruto not to do anything stupid in this situation. "Alright, I'll trust you on this one. But first, you engage them with Gai. I'll join you in a moment and tell you when you have to go!"

Naruto nodded and almost flinched when Gai appeared by his side. "Yosh! Let's go, Naruto! We'll show them the consequences of their unyouthfulness!"

Naruto just muttered, "Hai, whatever you say."

The two of them vanished, appearing on the battlefield. Kakashi looked around; the ANBU were engaging the shinobi on the stands, providing cover for panicking civilians to escape and head to the shelters. He easily dealt with the two shinobi that were headed his way, slitting their throats within a minute. He looked over the stands, trying to find where his pink haired student had crawled off to. He spotted her in the very back, and smiled. She had dragged the entirety of team 10 with her in the back, in the hopes that they won't be discovered. He had to give it her; the girl had grown some balls to be able to get her comrades into a safe zone in the middle of the enemy.

He stealthily made his way to her. "Sakura!" He was immensely proud when she immediately turned to face him, a kunai in hand. She immediately lowered the kunai. "Kakashi-sensei! Don't scare me like that!"

Kakashi eye smiled, but then turned serious when Sakura asked him. "Sensei? Do you know where Sasuke-kun and Naruto are?"

Kakashi contemplated on what to tell her. "I know where Naruto is right now, but you don't worry about him right now. As for Sasuke, I've got a mission for you."

Sakura blinked, "A mission?"

Hiruzen 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 drop as 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 came into existence in front of them, taking the shape of a cubic barrier. An ANBU was about to test the barrier when the voice of the ANBU captain rang out.

"Don't touch the shield, or you will burn!" he said to the ANBU standing by his side.

"But taicho, what about Hokage-sama?!"

The captain grit his teeth and looked at the four Oto-nin holding up the barrier. He was not a fool; whatever was going to happen inside the barrier, it would likely be something big and dangerous enough to kill the hokage. If he attacked the Oto shinobi, there was a chance that the danger inside the barrier would be unleashed onto the village. He could not take that chance.

Not to mention, the four nin had secondary barriers around themselves, the function of which they were unaware of. He had no idea how to release either of the barriers. Their odds were very, very bad.

"Guess we'll have to have some faith in our Hokage….."

The clone watched from his hidden perch with calculative days as a purple barrier went up on the roof of the building of the Kage box. "So they decided to use that barrier… not bad," he mused as the barrier went up as tall as almost four hundred feet.

"Good thing the old man already has a mark on him. Otherwise, doing this would have been almost impossible," he remarked to himself as he flashed away.

Hiruzen glared at the smirking form of his former student. He had entirely expected this to happen, so he had worn his battle robes under his hokage robes.

"Orochimaru…..," He whispered, ready for any trick his student might pull. Orochimaru noticed this and chuckled.

"It seems you expected all of this sensei. It didn't miss my attention that the Konoha shinobi were rather, unusually tense."

Orochimaru looked at the old, but determined form of his sensei and almost chuckled. Did he really think he would win against him today? He was already pushing himself at the age of seventy, which was no age to be exerting yourself as a shinobi. Not to mention, he had a guaranteed success, with his newest ace in the hole.

Orochimaru smirked deviously, "Do you think you can defeat me at your age, sensei?"

Hiruzen ignored the taunt and said, "This time you went really far, Orochimaru. It was my greatest mistake to let you escape that day, but no more. Today, you will die, even if I have to take you with me."

Orochimaru asked curiously, "Where is all this courage coming from, sensei?"

Hiruzen was stoic and instantly replied, "This is….my will of fire. As long as it burns strong within me, I can guarantee your defeat. You can never defeat someone whose will of fire burns strong."

Orochimaru chuckled, which turned into a full laugh, "What courage you display in the face of your death, sensei. But today, I'll show you just how weak your will of fire is, that is, when I extinguish it and raze this village to ashes."

Hiruzen glared at him, and was about to attack when something flashed blue in his peripheral vision. He almost fell due to surprise. "Naruto! What are you doing here?!"

His heartbeat increased rapidly as he saw the blonde standing right beside him inside the barrier, facing Orochimaru. Before he could enter the state of outright panic, Naruto raised a hand. "Don't worry, Hokage-sama. I'm just a clone."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes curiously as he set his eyes upon the blonde mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. When he had first encountered the genin in the forbidden forest, he had been slightly impressed that the boy had been able to kill his summons with complete ease. Not only that, but he had formed an impressive tag team with the youngest Uchiha and managed to put him on the ropes. Now one month later, he had been surprised by the blonde, yet again, when he managed to learn to learn and apparently, master the incredibly difficult and complex Hiraishin no jutsu, the jutsu that earned the Yondaime his name of 'Yellow Flash'. He then proceeded to best a Hyuga in taijutsu, and utterly humiliate him. Not only that, but he managed to completely turn the tables on a jinchuriki, without using his own bijuu chakra.

Here was a dangerous combination of genius, power and skill, that too at such a young age. Even Itachi hadn't shown such abilities at this age, and that guy was right up there with Orochimaru and the Yondaime in terms of being a genius.

Right now, he curiously watched the interaction between his former sensei and the genin. Perhaps he was here to offer some help to the old fool?

Hiruzen almost sagged in relief that the Naruto beside him was just a clone. No matter how powerful and talented Naruto was for his age, he was not ready to deal with the likes of Orochimaru just yet. "So why are you here?"

The clone then pulled out a scroll and held it out to the old leader. "Prime sent me to give you this."

Hiruzen accepted the scroll with a raised eyebrow. Most probably, 'prime' was the original Naruto. "What is it?"

The clone smiled, "Some reinforcements, just in case. Use it only when things really get out of hand. Remember," he gave a look so serious that Hiruzen thought he might as well be looking at one of his senior jonin, "Prime is counting on you to use it, Hokage-sama. Don't disappoint him."

The clone then vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving an amused Hokage, despite the situation he was in. Tucking the scroll securely on his waist, he turned to his equally amused student. He settled into the Sarutobi clan's taijutsu stance. "Shall we begin then, my wayward student?"

Back down in the arena, it was a bloodbath. Suna and Oto shinobi were on the ground, either dead or knocked out. But mostly dead. Gai and Naruto had almost been like a force of hurricane. Gai had tore through the forces with his powerful taijutsu, breaking bones and ending lives with only one or two hits.

Naruto on the other hand, decided not to use the Hiraishin, instead choosing to rely on his flash step. With his tri-pronged kunai coated in wind chakra, combined with his speed, almost nobody escaped his slash. He also made full use of his ability of a slower perception. He was flash stepping across the whole arena so fast that even a blur was difficult to spot. In a single flash step, Naruto would sometimes slash two enemies simultaneously, ending their lives in an instant. In a few seconds, it would be all over and a new group of shinobi would enter the arena, only to suffer the same fate as their dead comrades.

"This is getting kind of boring…..," Naruto muttered as he ended the life of another Oto shinobi. This was the third batch he and Gai had taken care of, and Naruto was not impressed, at all. No shinobi was able to counter his speed; before they could even begin thinking of a counter, Naruto would catch them off-guard in their blind-spot and slash! Dead. Everyone moved almost painfully slow for him to kill. "I wonder if this is how dad felt, being the fastest man alive."

"Naruto!" Naruto turned around to catch the challenging grin of Gai-sensei. "How many?"

Naruto internally sighed at how hyper the man was. He really did not see how one could be so hyped after killing so many shinobi. Still, he would humor the guy. "Sixty-eight," he replied after going over it in his mind for a second.

The reaction from Gai caused him to flinch in alarm. Gai cried tears as he held up a fist, "OH! IT SEEMS I HAVE BEEN BESTED IN COUNT!"

Naruto looked at Gai as if he had started speaking Latin. Since when had this become a freaking competition?! He slowly started freaking out as Gai began to make absurd promises of how he would do 5000 push-ups if he lost again. If he couldn't do that, he would run 500 laps around the village on his hands. If he couldn't do that-

"Alright, that's enough Gai!" Kakashi's voice came as he jumped his way towards them. Kakashi landed right next to Naruto, who was blinking as if coming out of a trance. Kakashi gazed at Naruto with slight concern; working with Gai for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. He knew that from firsthand experience.

Leaning down a bit, he whispered in Naruto's ear, "You okay?"

That seemed to do the trick, as Naruto shook his head to clear it, probably from the excess youthfulness. "Thanks," he murmured, but quickly added, "But don't think we are good. I'm still upset with you."

Kakashi nodded to himself. He would have to correct his mistake with Naruto once this was all over. "We'll talk later then."

Naruto nodded, putting his kunai back in his pouch. "So what am I doing now?"

Kakashi first asked him, "Can you really handle the Ichibi as you are now? How much chakra have you left?"

Naruto chuckled and patted his stomach with a fist, "Don't underestimate me, Kakashi-sensei. I've yet to fully spend even a quarter of my total reserves. I will manage. Now where am I going?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask. 'He really does have ridiculous reserves of chakra,' he mentally whistled. Outwardly, he spoke, "You are a sensor, right? Sasuke went in pursuit of the sand siblings, so as a backup, I sent Sakura and Shikamaru to track him down with the aid of my summon, Pakkun. Shikamaru probably had pursuers, so you'll meet him on your way to Sasuke. Meet up with him, track them down, and stop the Ichibi from rampaging the village."

Naruto nodded, "Roger that."

He placed two fingers on the ground and in just two seconds, he had the location of Shikamaru locked on his sensory radar. "Got you," he whispered. He stood up and leapt up to jump over the stadium wall.

Kakashi sighed and turned to Gai, who looked like he was about to burst with joy upon seeing Naruto go. Before he could open his mouth, Kakashi pointed behind him towards the oncoming shinobi. He rushed past him and killed the first sound ninja. "Concentrate Gai, otherwise you'll lose to me as well."

Probably one of his many bad ideas, but really, who was counting?

His instinct alerted him to something approaching at high speed, but not at him. It was approaching at the squad of enemy forces. He watched, fascinated, as a highly compressed ball of impacted right between the shinobi forces. It exploded with the compressed wind with great force, easily taking out seven of the enemy shinobi. Kakashi looked up with his sharingan to see Naruto standing on the wall, a smirk on his face. With a two-fingered salute, he was gone in a flash-step.

"YOSH! LET'S GO WITH OUR YOUTH AT FULL POWER!"

Yup, one of his bad ideas.

Shikamaru gulped down the water Asuma had offered him with greed. Dealing with the pursuers had been way too troublesome. Catching all eight of them with his shadow, then finding out that one ninja was still not within his grasp had almost led to his death. He had tried to find out the hiding spot of the ninth ninja before his chakra ran out, freeing the shinobi from his grasp. Alas, he was too late and almost killed, had it not been for Asuma-sensei's timely arrival.

Asuma had taken the ninth ninja out, preventing him from assisting his comrades. Then, he proceeded to help out Shikamaru by taking out the other eight ninjas in just a few seconds. Shikamaru just muttered 'troublesome' and just sat down to take a rest.

Asuma smiled at his student as he sat on a log. "For your first time in deep enemy territory, that was not so bad, Shika."

Shikamaru scowled at his sensei, "It would have been better if you had just done it without hiding like that. Exerting so much had been such a drag."

Asuma snorted, but accepted it in stride. He had learnt long ago that Shikamaru was smart, but lacked the motivation to actually use those smarts in battle. Both the student and the teacher were lost in their own thoughts until they heard the tell-tale sound of a kunai whizzing through the air. Asuma prepared to tackled whatever enemy was coming, but was confused when the kunai landed on the ground in front of them rather than being thrown at them. Asuma immediately understood, while Shikamaru relaxed.

A tri-pronged kunai.

As soon as the kunai was lodged on the ground right before them, Naruto appeared in a blue flash, his grasp already on the thrown kunai. Asuma couldn't help but be amazed every time he watched that jutsu in action. To able to travel from one point to another in an instant, so fast that your enemy doesn't even have time to react would be devastatingly useful.

Naruto pulled the kunai out of the ground and stood up. Once again, Asuma was astounded on seeing the similarities between Naruto and Namikaze Minato. The almost identical shade of hair, similar hairstyle same shade of the eyes, the similar shaping of the face and the same, deadly expression on the face. Shikamaru straightened up out of instinct, even if there was no enemy around. Naruto exuded a dangerous aura right now, an aura that made it clear just who was in command. Even in the presence of a jonin like Asuma, who had the most authority over Shikamaru, that aura was blazing like a star.

Naruto turned to Shikamaru, a serious expression on his face, "Shikamaru, you and Sakura were pursuing Sasuke, right?"

Shikamaru raised his hand and pointed behind him without a word, too bothered to even speak right now. Naruto nodded and made to move when Asuma's voice stopped him, "What's the situation back in the stadium, Naruto?"

Naruto rose an eyebrow but replied, "The ANBU have almost fully evacuated the civilians from the stadium and most likely, are in the process of escorting civilians all over the village to the shelters. Suna and Oto forces are swarming the stadium in groups. Me and Gai-sensei were taking out the forces until Kakashi-sensei switched with me and told me to pursue Sasuke. He said he had sent a team of Sakura and Shikamaru as backup incase things get bad for that impulsive idiot."

Asuma thought over it a bit and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Naruto frowned and and then lightened up, "Oh! And your old man is fighting Orochimaru inside a barrier!"

His reply had the predicted result as both Shikamaru's and Asuma's eyes widened in shock. "O-Orochimaru?" Wow, didn't know Shikamaru was capable of stuttering like Hinata.

Naruto turned to him, "I didn't hesitate, did I?"

He watched as Asuma's expression changed to reflect his thinking on this piece of news. Just when Naruto was about to say something to ease the man a bit, all of them felt it, even if Shikamaru didn't know what it was.

The unmistakable feeling of demonic chakra, washing over them like a wave of malice. Naruto mentally cursed, 'Shit! Things are getting serious on that end. I better get going!'

Turning to Asuma, who was looking in the same direction with narrowed eyes, he quickly said, "Asuma-sensei! I better get going. I cannot afford to waste any more time here!"

Asuma's head snapped to Naruto, and it was a bit amusing to see the student and his sensei with identical expressions of disbelief. "Y-You surely don't mean you want to go over t-there, do you?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, causing Asuma to tense up a bit. He did not have time for this! "I have a way to stop whatever is going on over there. We can't afford to make things worse than they already are! I know what is going on, and I'm sure you do as well, Asuma-sensei. If you have a better option than fuinjutsu, I would be happy to hear it."

Asuma only looked at him with dead seriousness, "If you're sure about this."

As expected, Asuma did not have a reply for Naruto, nor did Shikamaru. Naruto nodded and turned to Shikamaru, "Hold out your arm."

Shikamaru blinked, "What for?"

Naruto sighed in annoyance, "I don't have time for this at all." He forcefully grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and released it after a moment. Shikamaru looked down and curiously enough, there was something imprinted on his wrist. A seal formula, to be precise.

He raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "I'm guessing this is your Hiraishin marking?"

Naruto nodded and started walking away from them. "If I find any one of ours in the way, I'll directly send them to you. It's best if you wait for five minutes before returning to the stadium, though."

Shikamaru could hold it no more. "Wait Naruto! You might be good, even jonin level maybe, but this is too much-"

Naruto was touched how much the shadow user cared about him but now was not the time. He waved a hand in his direction, not stopping from walking away. "I'll be fine, Shika. If you want, have Asuma-sensei tell you why only I can do this. I give my permission for you to tell him, Asuma-sensei. Either that, or you can wait for me to tell you. Just remember though, it's a secret. It stays a secret until I say so, got it?"

With a flash step, he was gone.

Jumping through the through the trees at a breakneck pace, he was just a blur to anyone saw him. He stopped though, when he saw an unconscious Shino on the ground. He jumped down, keeping an eye out for any enemies that might be waiting in an ambush. When he sensed none, he ran to the insect user to check his vitals.

' Kakashi didn't mention he had sent Shino as well. He's mostly fine, even if his breathing is rather quick. Also, the body does not twitch like that when unconscious,' he deduced. Looking around, he glanced over at Shino's opponent, a knocked out Kankuro.

He glanced back to Shino. More specifically, the back of his elbow which has a senbon sticking out of it. He deftly plucked out the senbon and threw it away. Knowing how Suna favored its puppets, there was a possibility that the senbon might have poison coated on it when it stuck Shino. 'Better send him to Shikamaru,' he thought. He was about to send him through the Hiraishin when another thought struck him.

Asuma and Shikamaru don't know that Shino was poisoned. What now?

He stood up, carrying Shino in fireman style and vanished from the spot.

Shikamaru and Asuma were about to head back to the stadium when Naruto arrived in a sudden blue flash. They automatically jumped back, tensed up for a fight, relaxing only when they saw who it was. Asuma gave a sigh of relief, but Shikamaru grumbled, "I won't ever get used to that."

Naruto ignored that and handed Shino to Asuma, who asked, "What happened? I thought you were going after Gaara."

Naruto informed him, "Had to personally get him to you. Pretty sure he has been poisoned by the puppeteer. You should get him to the hospital as quickly as you can."

Asuma nodded, and as one, he and Shikamaru took to the trees, making haste on getting back. Naruto nodded as well and resumed on his way, making haste in response to the steadily growing aura of malice that the bijuu chakra created.

' You didn't mention the puppeteer to them,' Kurama stated curiously, referring to the fact Naruto prevented the capture of an enemy.

Naruto flippantly replied, "Gaara will thank me later for that." He knew he was getting closer. The burnt marks from Sasuke's fire style, the scratches on the trunks made by the claw that had formed on Gaara's body. However, it was a completely different story when he arrived at the scene. Crouching on a branch high above, he observed the scene carefully.

Sasuke was barely standing on his legs, no doubt having exhausted himself by using jutsu after jutsu. He also had the curse mark spread all over him, showing that he had run out of juice a while ago, and now was relying on the power from the curse mark. And even that looked like it was running out.

Sakura had been stuck onto a tree with sand, unconscious. But it seemed Gaara was not interested in her at all, so it was a bit better.

A few branches away, Temari looked to be a bit better, if not in a similar condition such as Sasuke. She was breathing heavily, probably from having to fight off Sasuke to allow Gaara more time to recover. But she was injured as well, if her holding her left side tenderly was any indication. He turned his attention to Gaara and had to stop himself from gaping.

Sand had fully covered his entire upper body, with only his feet remaining uncovered. His facial features had changed as well, becoming more animal like, and his eyes resembled to that of his tailed beast, with the same seal marking on his body that Naruto had seen on the arm in the stadium. Now both his hands looked like giant claws, and his tail had also gotten somewhat bigger.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, 'His transformation has progressed way more than I had anticipated. Taking him down in that form will be way more difficult than when he was only half covered with sand. But there has got to be something I can use. Some weakness has to be there in this form.'

He critically examined Gaara's transformation, looking for a weak spot. 'Okay, His entire upper body is covered in sand, both back and front, which means it is useless to attack those areas. They are likely reinforced with dense sand to be more durable. His hands are a no-go, he would smack me away with those. There is no point in attacking from a blind spot using Hiraishin since he is a tail to take care of that. His speed, strength and durability has likely increased beyond what they previously were as well. But his legs…..they are uncovered. That is the only weak spot that I can see….Wait a second! His entire body above the origin point of his tail has been reinforced, but not below it!'

A smirk graced his features. He had found the place he needed to attack. The whole thought process didn't take more than five seconds. His danger sense rang out, bringing him out of his thoughts. His eyes went wide when he saw that Gaara was attacking not Sasuke, but his own sister! He then noticed that the positions of both of them seemed wrong from what he had seen two minutes ago…..

' That son of a bitch! He used Kawarimi to avoid Gaara's attack! And knowing Gaara, he may not even care who he's attacking as long as he gets his blood! Oh, I'll have your hide for this, you asshole! '

Naruto was already moving from his spot, his danger sense slowing his perception to allow him to appropriately react.

Gaara was laughing madly as he jumped from his branch, claw outstretched to tear Uchiha Sasuke apart. He did not even stop in confusion when the Uchiha was suddenly replaced by his sister. It only meant more blood for his mother! And plus, she was also among those who caused him pain. He would kill her and bath in her blood!

Sasuke panted heavily as he knelt down on a knee. He had pulled the substitution off very close, and was running on fumes now. He felt a bit bad about using the girl as a replacement, but it eased him somewhat that Gaara was so clouded in his bloodlust that he failed to distinguish his enemy from his sister. One enemy less for him to deal with later, right?

Temari had never been so much terrified in her life as she saw Gaara racing towards her. She had been pushed aside by Gaara earlier when he began his fight with the Uchiha. She had hit a tree trunk and had probably cracked some ribs. Deciding that it was better to rest rather than interfere in Gaara's fight, she sat down on a branch. She was resting when she felt a pull and suddenly, she was facing Gaara who looked like he wanted to tear her apart.

It suddenly became clear to her. That bastard Uchiha had switched places with her! She was filled with grief that her life would end by her own little brother's hand and in his blood lusted state, he wouldn't even remember he killed his own sister.

As she had read about how in your last moments, your entire life flashes in front of your eyes. That is exactly what happened to her right now. The last thought before Gaara almost got to her was of a certain, blue-eyed blonde.

She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the pain to come. However, instead of pain, something suddenly grabbed her, causing her to open her eyes and involuntarily shriek in surprise. They moved, so fast that it was a blur and the next thing she knew, she was a safe distance away from Gaara.

"I never had any siblings, but what I do know is you never, ever, attack your sister like that." The voice was almost shaking with rage. Her eyes shot open and she finally got a good look at her savior.

Naruto had an expression of dead seriousness on his face as he looked at Gaara, with Temari in his hands. Never had he felt such cold fury before. First, the asshole he called a teammate had the nerve to substitute with Temari, and make her own brother kill her. Then, Gaara has the gall to almost kill his sister in cold blood. Rest assured, he would get his payback on Gaara right now.

Sasuke would have to wait.

Temari felt her face getting warmer as she found out that Naruto was carrying her bridal style. His right hand was behind her shoulders, clutching her so that her face was right next to his chest. His left hand was supporting her legs from behind her knees. She tried to move around a bit, try to get him to drop her, but he took at as a sign of her being uncomfortable, and therefore readjusted her in his arms.

Gaara grinned a maniac's grin, "Uzumaki Naruto. She was one of those who caused me pain. Tell me, why shouldn't I kill her?!"

Temari grimaced as Naruto tightened his hold on her at Gaara's response almost protectively and dare she think it, possessively. Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was watching him with wide eyes of shock. "Sasuke, I'll leave you to handle him for a few more moments. It's your fight, isn't it? Try not to lose until I return."

In a flash step, he was gone. Sasuke gaped at the scene with total shock and disbelief. He just couldn't believe Naruto's speed. Gaara was an arm length away from tearing the girl to pieces when she had suddenly disappeared. Even Sasuke with his sharingan had only caught a blonde blur. When the blur had settled down on a branch, he got his first good look at who it was. And he was blown away.

Naruto had not only tracked him down, but had gotten here in just enough time to save the enemy from Gaara? Why would he want to save the enemy? It just didn't make sense for him.

Then Naruto told him to hang in here until he gets the girl to a safe place?! Just whose side is he on anyway?! Can't he see how he was running empty here.

He turned back to Gaara. No use complaining now. He would just have to wait until Naruto got here. He hated to admit it, but Gaara was on a totally different level than him. His fire style was useless, his taijutsu was null against the transformed Gaara, and the sand monster was unusually strong to have tanked his chidori. The bastard had forced him to use it three times, while his limit was only two.

Speaking of Gaara, his chakra had become a crushing, malicious force. If Sasuke hadn't felt it before, he would have been frozen in fear. As it was, he had felt a similar chakra from Naruto back in wave, when he had shielded Naruto from the ice senbon. Did that mean Naruto was somehow related to Gaara, since their chakra had some similarities?

He shook his head. Now was not the time to delve into chakra theory. He was almost completely out of chakra, so he could no longer attack effectively. He would have to stall Gaara long enough for Naruto to return.

Naruto had handled Gaara with relative ease, but he doubted Naruto could handle Gaara when he was like this.

Naruto had tree hopped until they were a good distance away from the fight. A hand came to rest on his chest. "My side," Temari whispered with an expression of pain.

Naruto blinked and then grimaced. "Sorry," he whispered back, loosening his hold a bit. Once he was sure that they were almost a mile away from the fight, he jumped back to the ground and settled Temari at the base of a tree.

Temari shifted until the weight was off her left side and relaxed a bit. Looking up at Naruto, she almost expected him to finish her off. But instead, she found him looking at her with concern. As if killing her was the last thought on his mind.

"Are you alright?"

Temari frowned suspiciously at him. "You won't be killing me?"

To her surprise, Naruto snorted and knelt down beside her. "What makes you think I want to kill you?"

Temari tilted her head with narrowed eyes, "The fact that I'm your enemy."

Seeing that Temari still refused to drop her guard around him, he sighed and said softly, "Temari, I… I can never bring myself to kill you."

Temari's eyes softened as she easily heard the genuine truth in that statement. Naruto wanted to grasp her hand to comfort her, to feel her comfort, but he was on a tight schedule.

"Temari," he called her. When he had her attention, he said, "You know that I need to stop Gaara. He's your village's jinchuriki, so you guys must know of a way to stop him from going on a rampage. I need to know what it is."

Temari shook her head, "You can't! It's a tailed beast, a demon of epic proportions, nothing can stop it! It's impossible!"

Naruto smirked softly and flicked her nose playfully. He grinned as a surprised blush came over her face as she rubbed it, "I'll have you know that a word like that doesn't exist for me. That's a word for people who have run out of ideas."

The temporary playful mood once again turned somber as Naruto whispered. "No way, you say?"

He then stood up, looking in the direction of the fight. He sighed with resignation as his dead expression came over his face, "Then I have no option left."

Temari's head shot up at that statement, eyes wide with terror. Her hand shot out to grasp Naruto's, who turned to look at her with a quizzical expression. "What?"

Temari felt tears pricking her eyes, and as much as she tried to stop them, they flowed out anyway. "If you are going to stop him, don't kill him, please . He's my brother," she pleaded with tears flowing down her face. Even if Gaara was homicidal, he was her little brother. She couldn't bear the thought of him dying, at someone like Naruto's hand no less.

Naruto's expression softened at her tears. There was no way he could leave her like this. He knelt down once again and with the thumb of his other hand, he softly wiped her tears away, "Please don't cry, hime. It's so difficult for me to see you like this. And whenever did I say that I was going to kill him?"

Temari did not protest at all as Naruto wiped her tears away. She could use a bit of some external comfort. She felt herself calm down a bit as Naruto rubbed her hand tenderly. Naruto wiped all her tears away and brought up their joint hands. "I promise you, Temari. Gaara won't die today."

Kissing her hand once, he got up and turned away. In a stronger voice, he announced, "I'll just smack some sense into him is all."

He was gone in a blue flash. Temari stared at the spot before shaking her head with a small smile. She reached into her hip pouch and took out some medical supplies. As she tended to her side, she muttered with a fond smile, "Baka."

She wholeheartedly believed Naruto would stop her brother without killing her.

Naruto flashed back to the tree he had put his mark on. He took stock of the situation and nodded, satisfied. His teammate had managed to survive against Gaara in his absence.

Sasuke frantically dodged Gaara's sand claw. Just where was Naruto?! Gaara screamed, "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING, UCHIHA SASUKE?! COME FACE ME!"

Sasuke was about to snap back a reply when another voice called, "How about resuming our fight from earlier, Gaara?"

Both Gaara and Sasuke turned towards the direction of the voice. Sasuke released a long breath of relief while Gaara seemed to get pumped up even more. There was Naruto, standing on a branch with one hand by his side and the other twirling a tri-pronged kunai by its ring. A confident smirk graced his features as he looked Gaara in the eye, not at all unnerved by his toothy grin.

Gaara said in a low voice, "Excellent suggestion, Uzumaki Naruto. Let's make each other FEEL ALIVE!"

The last part was shouted in glee as he prepared to attack. Naruto's expression turned serious, and he turned to Sasuke. Sasuke immediately straightened up from the look, though he didn't know why.

"Get out of here and to a safe distance Sasuke, and keep Sakura safe while you're at it. I doubt you can fight any more in your current condition." That was all he said before turning his attention back to Gaara. Sasuke wanted to snap at him for dismissing him like that, but he was smart enough to not do that in the middle of such a fight.

Ever since he had begun fighting Gaara, he felt that somehow, Gaara was growing stronger in their fight. He seemed to have a crap ton of chakra like Naruto, while Sasuke had steadily run out of chakra in their fight. Even chidori had been useless as for it to work, you had to be extremely fast, faster than your opponent and catch him off-guard. One of those conditions was sadly, negated. Partially due to his own stupid bravado of wanting to face Gaara in the open. Also, Sasuke had struck only sand, which had reformed, causing no real damage to Gaara

He was more than glad to let Naruto take over. Retreating to a safe distance, he settled to observe Naruto fight.

Naruto jammed the kunai in his hand on the branch he was standing on. He put his hands in both of his pouches and in three quick draws, he scattered all the remaining Hiraishin kunai all over the area. Gaara seemed unaffected by this development, while Sasuke was closely examining one of the kunai that had lodged right in front of him. Was this the reason Naruto was able to get from one place to another in almost an instant?

He looked around, and upon seeing Naruto was concentrating on Gaara, he deftly took the lodged kunai out and put it in his pouch. He would examine it later.

Naruto pulled out the kunai he had jammed near him and took a stance. He already had set up his field, all he had to do was get Gaara into position. He channeled wind chakra into his kunai and jumped at Gaara, deliberately going slow enough so Gaara would be able to aim his attack at him. Sure enough, Gaara did exactly as he wanted him to.

" Suna Shuriken!" A hail of shuriken made of sand came racing towards him while he was in mid-air. He flashed to one of his kunai at the last second, right above Gaara. The sand shuriken completely missed their targets, crashing into some trees behind where Naruto was standing.

Gaara looked around, trying to find out where Naruto had vanished to. "Oi!" The call made him look upwards, where Naruto was crouched upside-down. He waved cheekily at Gaara before vanishing once again.

This time, he appeared right in front of Gaara, who snarled and made a hand sign. Multiple mouths appeared all over his body, which took a deep breath as one. "Fuuton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!" (Wind style: Infinite sand dust storm)

A huge dust storm blew towards Naruto, who simply flashed to another kunai, which was on a tree behind Gaara. Gaara grit his teeth and once again looked around to find Naruto.

"Are you that incompetent? You can't even catch me with your eyes, let alone your jutsu."

Gaara whipped around and sure enough, Naruto was standing on a branch with a taunting grin. Gaara's tolerance finally snapped. He was used to playing around with his stronger opponents before crushing them to death. But this time, his opponent was playing with him and was brave enough to taunt him? He would show him just who he was messing with!

With a roar, he jumped towards Naruto with the intent of tearing him into pieces right where he was standing. Naruto grinned; Gaara was so easy to rile up. Jamming his kunai on the ground between his legs, he feel into a stance as if preparing to tackle Gaara. Just when Gaara's claw was about to make contact with his face, he flashed to another kunai, away from Gaara.

Sasuke watched with awe and jealousy as Naruto neatly avoided all of Gaara's attacks, looking at complete ease. It seemed that the seal on the kunai was some sort of beacon for Naruto to flash to. Whatever it was, Sasuke was sure to crack it later for himself. If he could learn the secrets of that kunai, he would be able to fight on par with Naruto. Turning his attention back to the fight, Naruto seemed to be waiting for Gaara to some into a specific position, and if Sasuke knew one thing about his teammate, it was that Naruto was a master at setting traps up.

He watched with anticipation as Gaara snapped and bodily rushed at Naruto, intent on crushing him by himself. Naruto dropped the kunai and looked as if he was preparing to engage Gaara hand to hand. At the last second, he flashed to one of his kunai, neatly dodging Gaara's attack. Just what was the blonde planning?

Naruto smirked as Gaara released a roar of frustration as he once again missed him. He took out a regular kunai, wrapping a regular explosive tag around it. After all, he only wanted to weaken his armor. He made a promise to Temari to not kill her brother. He would be breaking that promise if he blew Gaara's ass to chunks with one of his own tags.

Nasty.

Anyways, he flashed back, this time, right behind Gaara. Without waiting for his tail to react, Naruto jabbed the kunai on a spot right below his tail. "Right here!"

Gaara reacted to the poke first, then the voice. As soon as he heard the voice, he immediately swung his tail to smack Naruto away, but Naruto was no longer there.

Naruto had flashed to a kunai a few trees away, grinning at the blast that covered Gaara. He felt Sasuke land beside him, saying in disbelief, "You poked him in the ass…..with an explosive kunai?"

Naruto scowled and turned to him, "It worked, didn't it? I don't see why you are complaining." He then turned around, looking at the giant remnant of a sand claw grabbing Sakura in what looked to be a very painful hold. He stepped to the claw and placed a palm against it. Yep, it was rock solid.

To Sasuke's amazement, Naruto seemed to channel red lightning onto the sandy rock. He was about to stop him, telling him that he might hit Sakura with her lightning, when cracks appeared in the claw around Sakura. It then shattered, freeing Sakura. Naruto caught her before she could faceplant on the branch. He handed her to an open mouthed Sasuke. "H-How did you that?"

Naruto waved a hand, "Not the time, Sasuke. Maybe later." He then flashed away to a kunai that was on the tree right before the one on which the explosion occurred. He whistled, thoroughly impressed at the results of the explosion.

The entire right half of Gaara's armor had collapsed, and the other half was barely holding on. Naruto wasted no time in seizing this chance. Ever since he arrived in this area, he had dispersed a moderate amount his own chakra in the air. Grasping that chakra, he entirely converted it to water. Dog-tiger; 'Suiton: Dai Suigadan no jutsu!' (Water style: Great water fang projectile)

Just as it had happened with Jiraiya, a huge spinning drill of water took form behind Naruto, going above him and rushing down towards a dumbstruck Gaara. He was so focused on recovering and reforming his armor that the water drill had caught him completely off-guard.

He couldn't even move when the drill crashed into him right into his stomach, with brutal force. To Naruto's immense satisfaction, Gaara impacted the ground with such force, that when the drill finally dispersed, Gaara had been buried into the ground in a crater that was shaped like his own body. All the sand that had been reformed had dispersed from his body, even the sand that was left after the explosion. The only thing that indicated that Gaara was still using his bijuu chakra were his eyes.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and the kanji for the Five Elements seal once again formed on his fingertips. He dropped down from the branch, hand once again outstretched.

Gaara was angry and confused. Uzumaki had once again put his sand out of commission. He was now dropping from the branch, heading towards him with his hand outstretched and his fingertips glowing.

His mother was shouting in his head to do something. 'Gaara! I want him dead! Use my power, and crush him for good! Give me his blood!'

All the stress, attacks from Naruto, his failed attempts to draw blood and patience going towards negative finally did it for Gaara. "I…..I WON'T LOSE TO YOU, UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

Naruto was within five meters from Gaara's now exposed stomach when his danger sense rang haywire. He instinctively flashed to the farthest kunai, which surprisingly turned out to be Temari. Temari jumped when Naruto suddenly appeared beside her. She put a hand on her chest, heart pumping wildly, "You really shouldn't startle people like that."

Naruto shot back, "That's the only purpose I do it. What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were injured." His gaze turned quizzical.

Temari folded her arms, "I was able to heal myself with the medical supplies I had and what little I knew of medical jutsu." Truthfully speaking, she was downright impressed with the way Naruto had handled Gaara. Not many knew of the weak spot Naruto had chosen to exploit. Most of the times, they were busy escaping Gaara's attempts to kill them. Naruto had not only bested Gaara's attacks, but had managed to corner him twice.

Naruto nodded and turned back where Gaara was. It seemed he had flashed for good reason, for Gaara was no longer there. In his place, a huge raccoon made of sand stood, towering clear above the forest. They seemed like ants in its comparison. A huge amount of chakra had been molded, right before Naruto had flashed away.

Naruto stared at the one-tailed tanuki with unusually grave eyes. "This is quite bad…" he muttered.

Temari gave him a look like he had lost his mind, "Quite?! This is very, very bad! You can't stop him when he goes into this form!"

Suddenly, Naruto turned around and blocked a shuriken that was meant for Temari. Sasuke appeared one branch away, clearly angry. "What are you doing, Naruto?! She is the enemy!"

Naruto held a hand to calm the avenger down. "She isn't our enemy anymore, Sasuke. Don't attack her."

Sasuke's expression turned confused, "What do you mean?"

Naruto then tilted his head towards the giant tanuki, "We have bigger problems to deal with, that's why."

Sasuke grit his teeth and angrily gestured to the tanuki, "How the hell are you going to stop that?!"

Naruto then turned away and looked up, all three of them tensing when he saw its head turning to face them. He quickly said, "Both of you, get away from here as far and as fast as you can!"

Temari spoke the question before Sasuke did, "What about you?!"

Naruto gave her a discreet wink, whispering, "Trust me." Out loud, he spoke, "I have a plan. Now go!"

Sasuke looked reluctant to leave Naruto behind, so did Temari. But they still followed his command. Sasuke turned around and tree hopped away, Sakura safe in his arms. Temari was about to go as well when Naruto whispered to her, "Keep a safe distance from Sasuke. Even though I told him not to attack you, he still might do it."

Temari nodded and was about to jump when she noticed she couldn't move. Naruto and her both looked down in horror to see both of their feet stuck in sand, with the sand crawling up their bodies.

Naruto acted on instinct. He quickly put a hand on Temari's back and sent her to the farthest point he could, which he sensed was moving away?

He had no time to ponder on that because he was completely covered by sand.

Gaara watched in his bijuu form from above as he finally had Uzumaki Naruto in has grasp and this time, there was no escape. He clutched his claw into a fist. "Sabaku Kyu!" (Sand Coffin)

Usually when he used the desert coffin, blood would explode outwards, along with the muscles and organs. It always gave Gaara great pleasure to use it. But this time, instead of blood, only smoke seemed to come out.

Gaara was confused. Why did smoke come out?

Temari had been utterly surprised when one moment, she was standing beside Naruto, her feet stuck in sand. The next moment, she had suddenly appeared mid-air beside Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was equally surprised, and nearly lost his footing on the next branch. Temari was barely able to land on her legs, let alone make a graceful landing.

Temari was not so surprised, since she had witnessed Naruto send Shikamaru down for their fight the same way, using Hiraishin. Sasuke on the other hand, was stunned on a much higher level. 'He can even send people through that jutsu?! If he sent her here, does he know that I have one of his kunai?'

"Did Naruto send you?"

Temari looked at Sasuke and scowled. For some reason, she hated that bastard. "Yeah, he did." However, all her breath left her lungs when she heard the gravelly voice of Gaara, amplified in his bijuu form.

" Sabaku Kyu!"

' No,' Temari thought with eyes full of terror as she turned back to the area of the fight. She almost expected Naruto to flash beside her, easily avoiding the one-hit kill. Seconds trickled by, and the blood fully drained from her face.

Gaara had killed Naruto.

Sasuke froze on the branch for a completely different reason. While he had undoubtedly displayed potent jealousy towards Naruto for having techniques far superior to his own, he still considered Naruto his comrade, and Naruto was the closest thing to a friend that Sasuke had. Back in the stadium, is thoughts had been clouded with hatred and jealousy. But while fighting Gaara, the cloud had somewhat shifted, and he had gained respect for the blonde to handle Gaara the way he did. Naruto may have been a genius, but that alone doesn't make you powerful. Sasuke trained his ass off daily to get stronger. For Naruto to be this strong, he must have worked way harder than him. Which meant only one thing.

Sasuke would do anything he could to catch up to Naruto. Anything.

But witnessing the death of that comrade made him reflect back to their bell test. Kakashi had told them that people who broke the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. He had abandoned Naruto to face his death, even if the blonde had told him to go himself.

Itachi had abandoned the entire leaf and by extension, his comrades. Sasuke had abandoned his comrade. Oh god, did that mean they were the same?

Before more horror could fill his being, a scream of horror from Temari snapped him out of his thoughts.

"NARUTO!"