53 Chapter 40: Invasion 1/2

I had intended to start off this chapter in a different way, but I had an influx of reviews that, for one reason or another, I need to answer here instead. So next chapter, I suppose. *pouting face*

So you all hated the cliffhanger and sorry about that, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me with this chapter. Guess we'll see.

As mentioned in my Maelstrom Siblings fanfic, a writer named Aclux has a NarutoxWarcraft challenge for anyone who is interested. Please speak to them about it if you are, but they have written the challenge in Italian, so you'll need to ask for a translation. Sorry.

Now, onto the review replies. First off, to the anonymous reviewer 'A fan'. With regards to your questions, I cannot guarantee at this time that the Apple will reappear, but neither will I say it won't appear at all. I'm debating bringing it back in eventually, and how to do so. To your other two questions, we will not be seeing the Templars or Assassins from the Assassin's Creed universe. Neither can reach the Naruto universe without recreating the freak accident that happened to Raphael. I hope this answers your questions.

To the anonymous reviewer Orca, thank you for your review, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

And to KamiKageRyuuketsu, I thank you for adding one review count to my fanfic. This particular reviewer/flamer actually at least had the courage to sign in on their account, though not enough courage to actually have their private messaging feature enabled. They're exact words were "Hinata fanboy trash has been reported for story theft". Clearly, their rage at someone daring to have a different like or opinion then their own is quite intense. *rolls eyes* I really love these people who don't even bother to try and understand characters, instead judging them entirely based off of a few scenes or something. And then threaten other people who happen to like that character. I'm sure it makes them feel all big and powerful, but it honestly is hilarious seeing them trying to justify their existence by flailing and yelling at everyone around them. To KKR, if you happen to read this, I have this to say: take a chill pill and realize that your opinion is not the only one that matters in this world. I know your ego probably has a hard time accepting that, but there it is.

So, with that out of the way, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively. This is a nonprofit fan made work of fiction. Please support the official releases.

Chapter 40

Invasion

Naruto and Sasuke immediately leapt away from both each other and Gaara as the red haired jinchuuriki stood there while sand poured out of his gourd, swirling around him and waiting for his command. The two Konoha genin, now at a distance, both began thinking of how they would deal with the situation.

Sasuke had been training almost non-stop all month long in order to try and overcome Gaara's sand. He had seen how short and bloody Gaara's fight had been, how he could use his sand to block and defend, then quickly grab and crush his opponent. It would be very hard to overcome given how quickly it moved. So in response Kakashi had worked on improving Sasuke's speed to help overcome the speed of Gaara's sand. He had also trained him how to use a special jutsu he claimed would overcome any solid defense Gaara could put up with his sand, but told Sasuke only to use it if he absolutely needed to. Sasuke's own clan members, under his mother's orders, had furthered his training with his Sharingan, taijutsu, and ninjutsu arsenal, helping him prepare for fighting any of his other opponents in the Finals, provided he won against Gaara. What Sasuke had not been expecting, however, was to find himself in a three way match against Gaara and Naruto, the latter he considered one of the other top contenders in the Finals, given his previous experience fighting against and alongside him. Fighting Gaara would be hard enough but with the added distraction of Naruto, it would make the fight all the more difficult. His only saving grace was that Naruto would be as distracted as he was.

A thought that was going through Naruto's mind as well. Naruto had been expecting to face off against Dosu, a fight he had easily enough prepared for through the use of earplugs to prevent himself from being disoriented by Dosu's bracer, as well as plans to disable his opponent's primary weapon. He had also given thought to his potential other opponents, working on how to defeat them if he should face off against them. He had, at the insistence of his various sensei, worked on improving his ninjutsu, adding a couple of wind and fire ninjutsu to his arsenal and improving his ability to manipulate both. And he had also continued to work on the Rasengan, though he had not yet finished said ninjutsu, as he was still having some trouble maintaining both power and focus in the final stage of the ninjutsu. But on his own, he had still focused on his hand to hand and weapon skills, believing that he could utilize them to overcome most of his opponents and prevail in the Finals.

Now though, finding himself in a three man free-for-all, Naruto was more hesitant about his chances of winning. He had experience fighting like this, thanks to Anko having the team face off against each other in such a manner, but this was against two new opponents, with at least one of them ready and willing to kill him. He would need to stay on his toes if he had a hope of winning.

Gaara simply stared at his two opponents, a psychotic grin slowly twitching its way onto his face. Seeing neither of them ready to jump into action, he finally spoke. "Are you two going to fight me?" He asked, his voice trembling slightly in excitement. "Then fight me…fight me or die!" He shouted, as his sand shot towards them.

Reacting on instincts honed from hours upon hours of training, both Naruto and Sasuke dodged, the former drawing his sword in an instant and shrouding it in wind chakra. The whirling wind cut through the sand tendril, dispersing it, while Sasuke quickly hurled several shuriken at Gaara. The projectiles slammed into a tendril of sand, being slowly engulfed and crushed as Gaara merely smirked, only to blink as the sand was scattered by a cutting blade of wind slicing through it and barely missing his cheek. His aqua eyes immediately shifted to Naruto who was readying his sword from another swing, only to be forced back by a pillar of sand shooting towards him, intending on smashing into him.

Sasuke growled as he quickly ran through hand signs, launching a large fireball at Gaara. The Suna genin merely blocked it with a wall of sand shooting out of his gourd, protecting him easily from the fireball, though the sand on the surface of the wall was superheated to glass, shattering as the wall came down. Gaara's eyes widened however as Sasuke was already in his face, a fist cocked back and ready to throw. More sand moved to intercept the Uchiha, only for him to spin with blinding speed, coming down and around on Gaara's blind side as he kicked up, his foot smashing into Gaara's chin and actually momentarily lifting him into the air before he fell back.

In the crowd, Baki and Kankuro, both watching the fight, could only gape in utter disbelief and shock. No one, in the time they had known Gaara, had ever been able to actually land a blow on the jinchuuriki. Everything that was thrown at him had always been stopped by his sand before it could hit. To see this genin move with such speed and skill, and actually land a hit on Gaara, was unthinkable to them.

With the Konoha jounin, Gai nodded in approval. "I see you increased Sasuke's speed to help him overcome his opponent's defense. Impressive, my eternal rival," he said with a smile to Kakashi, who merely shrugged, his one visible eye lazily watching the fight.

On the arena floor, Gaara slowly pushed himself up, shock evident on his face at being hit, even as his face seemed to crack, revealing that there was a layer of sand adding an extra level of protection. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he saw that, getting back into his ready stance. "So, you've got some kind of sand armor, huh? Guess I'll need to break through that too," he said, preparing to rush in at Gaara. He was stopped however by two tendrils of sand launching towards him, forcing him to back flip away. They pursued him, about to smash down on him, when Naruto appeared from above, slashing with his wind-fused ninjato, dispersing them both. He shot forward as Gaara raised his sand again to try and block Naruto, the blade cutting into the shield of sand and actually cutting down through almost three feet of sand before it hardened enough to stop the blade. Naruto quickly drew the sword back before the sand could compress around it, back flipping away like Sasuke did as Gaara slowly stood up.

Naruto landed not too far from Sasuke, quickly giving a glance to the Uchiha to make sure he wasn't about to be attacked. Yet Sasuke wasn't making any move to attack, instead watching Gaara, his eyes now the blood red of the Sharingan. He crouched down, quickly sprinting forward, moving fast enough to blur his appearance as Gaara shot sand towards him to stop him, now looking more murderous. Sasuke leaped to the side, cart-wheeling in the air to avoid the sand as he landed and jetted towards Gaara, quickly turning and spinning around Gaara to deliver a powerful back hand to the back of the surprised boy's head. Sand barely rose up in time to block him, only for Sasuke to turn quickly, reaching past the sand to grab Gaara and yank him into a hard knee, before delivering a powerful haymaker to Gaara's cheek, dropping the boy to the ground. He was about to punch again when a whistling, almost shrieking sound alerted him, and he quickly tilted his head as a crossbow bolt, shrouded in spiraling wind blades, ripped through the air near where his head had been and slammed into a wall of sand that had appeared behind Sasuke, the wind scattering the sand in multiple directions as the crossbow bolt continued onwards and buried itself deep into the arena wall. Sasuke looked to Naruto, who was already reloading his crossbow, and gave him a slight nod.

By some unspoken agreement, the two Konoha genin realized the truth. Their best chance at winning was to bring down Gaara first, as he would be the hardest to take out. Once Gaara was no longer able to fight, they could then face each other and settle the match. Sasuke quickly grabbed Gaara, straining as the boy's weight was greater than it should be due to the gourd on his back and the sand armor he seemed to protect himself with. He quickly tossed the jinchuuriki away, jumping back in the opposite direction as this time Naruto aimed directly at Gaara, pulling the trigger and firing a bolt at him. Immediately sand rose up, forming a thick wall that the bolt slammed into, only for an explosive tag wrapped around it to ignite and explode, engulfing Gaara's position in smoke and flames.

In the kage viewing booth, the Kazekage's eyes narrowed. "I must say, I am quite surprised at how this match is going so far. Your two genin combined are giving Gaara quite a tough fight. Not surprising since one of them is an Uchiha," he said.

Sarutobi chuckled softly, glancing at the Kazekage. "Sasuke Uchiha is one of our star genin for his year group, becoming the rookie of the year. However, do not underestimate the other genin down there. Naruto Uzumaki can surprise you."

A frowned slightly as he heard that name. "Uzumaki…is he related to that clan? He does not bare any of their traits," he commented.

"I'm afraid I can't really comment on that front. I hope you're not thinking of repeating the offense your village did against the previous Uzumaki we had in our village?" Sarutobi asked, his tone indicating he was joking, but with a hint of steel. A just stiffened slightly at the mention of Kumo's attempt to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki when she was a young genin, only to be rescued by Minato Namikaze, before focusing on the match.

Baki and Kankuro, now joined by Temari, could only gape as they saw the smoke and flames that engulfed where their younger brother and student had been. They couldn't believe that two genin were giving Gaara such a hard time. But what's more, they were terrified of what might happen now. If Gaara was driven too far, he might unleash his biju. And here in the stadium, it would be a massacre. The smoke slowly started to clear, drawing their attention as they saw something in the center.

Naruto and Sasuke both watched as the smoke cleared, revealing charred ground from the explosion. But there was no sign of Gaara. Instead there was a dome of what appeared to be warped glass that began to crack, before shattering, falling away from what it had formed around.

Gaara, unharmed, slowly stood up, sand cracking off his body as he was surrounded by broken glass. A psychotic grin had formed on his face as he looked at Sasuke, then Naruto. "Yes, yes YES! I HAVE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE! SHOW ME MORE!" He shouted, as the glass was blasted into the air, mixing with sand that formed into multiple pillars and tendrils that shot towards the two Konoha genin.

Sasuke, his Sharingan activated, was barely able to dodge out of the way, constantly hopping, back flipping, and somersaulting to get away from the sand. Naruto was doing the same, but without the advantage of the Sharingan, he was hit by one of the tendrils that sent him flying, his haori and shirt both ripped a bit from some of the glass inside the tendril, leaving behind superficial wounds to his chest as well. He hit the ground, rolling and tumbling before managing to right himself and land on one knee, gritting his teeth as he clutched his chest.

Hinata gripped the rail tightly, watching the fight, worry now in her eyes as she watched her teammate and friend get hit. Beside her, Lee clenched one first as well as he watched. "Gaara-san is powerful and dangerous," he said quietly. "But I'm sure Sasuke-san and Naruto-san will prevail against him. Do not worry about him," he reassured Hinata.

"I know. I have faith in Naruto-kun…but I still don't like him being hurt," she responded, watching as Sasuke landed near Naruto.

On the ground, Naruto grimaced as he felt the stinging wounds, wiping them as clean as he could of any dirt and sand. He looked to Sasuke, who was holding his stance, warily watching Gaara. The sand wielding jinchuuriki was grinning at them psychotically, his sand whirling and streaming wildly around him.

"Well, that didn't work," Naruto said softly, seeing how Gaara seemed unscathed, beyond his mental state. "All we've managed to do is drive him into a battle frenzy."

"His sand is what makes him dangerous. We need to try and remove it if we're going to beat him," Sasuke murmured, studying Gaara. "Fire is working well enough. If we can force his sand into glass, and not give him a chance to grind it back down, we can reduce his sand. Do you know any fire jutsu?"

"I've got something better," Naruto said, standing straight now. "Get ready to use one of your fire jutsu on my mark," he said, making a cross emblem. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Immediately ten clones of Naruto all appeared around them. Five of them drew their ninjato, charging forward to engage and distract Gaara, while the others all moved into an arc with the real Naruto and Sasuke in the middle of them. "I want you to use a fire ninjutsu on my mark," Naruto said softly, as his clones all prepared their own ninjutsu.

Gaara's tendrils struck at the clones, dispersing two, but the other three dodged and attacked, cutting through the sand tendrils. The trio kept him distracted as the real Naruto nodded to Sasuke, who quickly unleashed a fireball. Immediately, all six Naruto finished their own hand signs. "Fūton: Reppūshō! (Wind Style: Gale Palm!)"

Six palms shot forward, and from that, six compressed waves of wind blasted forward, striking the fireball which turned into a massive blaze, its intensity fueled by the wind while its velocity was skyrocketed by the momentum of the six wind techniques. People in the audience flinched as even they could feel the heat from their seats.

The three remaining shadow clones quickly jumped out of the way of the inferno, which Gaara could only stare at, awe and bloody glee on his face even as his sand swarmed into position again to protect him. The flames washed over his position in a sea of reds and oranges, sweeping past him and scorching the ground before smashing into the opposite wall, leaving a massive blackened mark on the wall.

Mikoto, with her clansmen, felt pride at the sight of her son in the arena, so far showing great skill and capability. But also seeing him work alongside a fellow genin to go after the greater threat. She glanced at Naruto, a sad smile appearing on her face. It wasn't hard for her to see the resemblance in appearance. Minato's hair, but Kushina's face and eyes. She had never said anything, because she knew his identity was being kept a secret for his own protection. She had wanted to help him out, but when her husband was alive, it was impossible. And when she became the clan head, she had to focus on maintaining her clan. She hoped that perhaps she could approach him one day, and ask for his forgiveness. For now, she cheered both Naruto and Sasuke on.

As Sasuke, Naruto, and his clones finished their jutsu combination and cut the chakra off, the flames disappeared, leaving behind only a massive curved wall of warped glass. Immediately the eight Naruto clones rushed in, moving to engage Gaara and distract him, as Sasuke began running up the wall of glass. Naruto however began to circle the glass from a distance, planning to keep striking at a distance when need be.

The Naruto clones rounded the glass wall, only to be immediately met by tendrils of sand that pierced all of them, dispersing them. Gaara, behind the wall of glass, grinned more in excitement, only to look up as Sasuke dropped down, striking at him with an axe kick to the top of his head. Gaara's sand barely blocked it, but Sasuke leapt back before it could grab onto his foot, bouncing off the glass wall and creating some distance. He landed, panting as he did so.

Gai, watching this, gave a quiet nod. "As I expected though. While you were able to get his speed up, his stamina cannot match. It took both Lee months of intensive training to raise his stamina to the point where it is," he commented.

Kakashi crossed his arms, nodding quietly. "You're right. But the point wasn't about giving him the endurance to fight the way you and your student do. I was focused mostly on increasing his speed for another reason."

The jounin, listening to him, blinked in confusion save for Gai, who turned to his 'rival' with a stunned look on his face. "You didn't," Gai said, worry in his voice.

Kakashi merely remained silent as he watched Naruto giving Sasuke a temporary respite by engaging Gaara with his ninjato again.

On the arena floor, Naruto quickly cut through another tendril of sand with his wind infused blade, ducking under another as he put all his time training with his sensei and on his own to use. Dodging one tendril he slashed through another, flipping through the air to avoid one aimed at his feet, before landing and back-skipping to avoid another tendril. Gaara growled, about to unleash a large wave of sand against him, only to blink as his sand instead surged to stop another attack from Sasuke. The Uchiha bounced off the sand, throwing a kunai with an explosive tag at point blank range. It embedded in the ground at Gaara's feet, with the red haired jinchuuriki covering it in sand as it ignited, sending dirt and smoke flying everywhere.

Sasuke and Naruto now landed next to each other, both panting, as they watched the smoke clear, revealing Gaara with broken portions of his sand armor streaming off of him, and that grin still on his face. "Yes…YES! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!" He shouted, only to clutch his head, groaning out. "N-No…mother…I-I promise…blood," he groaned out, as his sand started to form around him, turning into a giant sphere.

Naruto and Sasuke both looked at each other, before Naruto readied another crossbow bolt, channeling chakra into it before firing it. The bolt became wreathed in wind chakra, a shrieking cry as the bolt shot towards the sphere of chakra. It barely buried in the sphere, even with the wind chakra enhancing it. The bolt only penetrated an inch or so, then was pushed out of the sphere and dropped to the ground. Naruto cursed softly, holstering his sphere. "There's no way I'm penetrating that sphere," he said, looking to Sasuke. "What about you?"

"I've got something, but I'll need to work up some speed to use it," Sasuke said. "Can you keep him distracted, so he doesn't pop out and attack?"

Naruto nodded, as Sasuke began gauging the position of the sand sphere, before realizing he'd need more distance then he could get on the ground. He quickly turned and began running up the wall of the arena, to position himself properly.

In the stands, Baki, Temari, and Kankuro were now incredibly nervous, boarding on terror now. They knew that Gaara only would have secluded himself inside a sand sphere if it meant he was about to let IT out. And that was not only interfering with the plan, but would most likely mean they'd be right in the path of destruction that would follow. Baki clenched a fist, his face grimacing. "That fool is going to blow the plan," he whispered.

Meanwhile, the cloaked ANBU tilted his head a bit behind his mask, an amused smiled on his face. "My oh my. Jumping the gun a bit, aren't we Gaara-san?" They whispered to themselves.

Naruto quickly summoned several clones, watching as above the sphere of sand, a single eye was formed out of the sand, slowly scanning around. "So that's how you're planning to watch us, huh?" Naruto asked himself, as he made several more clones, each one quickly spreading out. Two of them charged in to try and cut through the sphere with their ninjato, only to be pierced by spikes of sands that shot out of the sand, then retracted when the clones were gone. Naruto cursed and sent more of the clones in to distract Gaara as Sasuke stuck to the wall of the arena, crouching down.

Kakashi leaned forward, watching Sasuke now, as Gai shook his head. "My eternal rival, I cannot believe you taught your student that jutsu. It is far too deadly for a genin to use," he said, causing Anko, Raphael, Kurenai and Asuma to look at Gai.

"What jutsu are you talking about?" Asuma asked him. Gai merely watched Sasuke, as Kakashi started to speak.

"I'm known as Kakashi of the Thousand Jutsu, because I have copied many jutsu over my career. Definitely not a thousand, but you know how people are with the nicknames they give," he said. "However, in my career, I've only created one single original jutsu, one that I was inspired by my sensei to create. An assassination jutsu made to penetrate any defense," he finished, as Sasuke finished running through his hand signs, holding out his left hand, as lightning began to form.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he felt the power, and did his best to maintain control over the jutsu now forming in his hand. He looked up, Sharingan blazing, as the lightning formed into a sparking ball, the shrieking noise sounding almost like birds as he gripped his wrist.

Gai, watching it, shook his head quietly. "Chidori," he said, looking to Kakashi, who seemed to smile slightly as he watched Sasuke start to bolt down the wall in a blur, trailing a streak of dust, dirt, and lightning behind him.

Naruto, seeing Sasuke charging towards Gaara, blinked in surprise, before nodding to his clones. They quickly moved to attack the sphere, distracting Gaara, as the real Naruto fired a bolt at the eye, dispersing it. The clones were all pierced by sand spikes that shot out from almost every angle of the sphere, creating a hedgehog like effect. Yet Sasuke, his Sharingan seeing it in perfect detail, dodged to the side slighty, missing the spikes as he drove his fist forward, the ball of lighting piercing through the sand easily and allowing Sasuke's arm to disappear deeply into the sphere.

All was silent for several moments as all took in what happened. The majority were impressed at Sasuke's attack and its results. Only those who knew of Gaara's reputation and capabilities were gaping in horror at seeing one of his strongest defenses breached. The trio of his siblings and sensei could only stare, shocked at what they were seeing.

And that's when the screaming started from inside the sphere. The wails of agony and surprise from the red haired jinchuuriki, as Sasuke's smirk disappeared and he frantically pulled on his arm, trying to escape. He barely managed to free his arm as the scream morphed into an almost inhuman roar, and what looked like a long arm of sand with blue tattoos shot out of the sphere, trying to grab him again.

Naruto quickly moved in, slashing at the arm with his wind shrouded ninjato, managing to drive it back, as both he and Sasuke panted, staring in horror as the arm retracted and they momentarily saw a dark eye with a star shaped yellow pupil inside the sphere, glaring at them. It vanished as the sand sphere began to collapse around Gaara, revealing him standing there, panting heavily as he clutched his left arm with blood seeping from his left shoulder where he had been pierced by Sasuke's attack.

"H-he's bleeding…Gaara's bleeding!" Baki said in horror, staring at the injured jinchuuriki. This was more than any of them had thought ever possible. Their experience with Gaara had led them to believe he was all but invincible, and yet these two genin, especially the Uchiha, had not only been able to hit him several times, but even injure him.

In the kage booth, the Kazekage could only narrow his eyes. Gaara being injured would not do, especially since it could trigger him unleashing his biju here in the middle of the arena, which did not work for him. He made a hand motion with his left hand, out of sight of the other kage.

The masked ANBU, seeing the hand movement, smirked as he finished the hand signs for his jutsu. Soon, chakra began to flood through the arena, creating a genjutsu that began affecting everyone present.

The civilians began to fall asleep, shrouded in feathers in their minds, but the Konoha shinobi, save for some of the genin, easily recognized what was going on and dispelled the genjutsu. They all immediately began to ready themselves to fight, searching for the caster of the genjutsu, or any enemy.

They were momentarily surprised as a number of civilians suddenly leapt up, shedding their clothes to reveal the tan uniforms of Suna shinobi, or unfamiliar purple, grey, and black outfits with headbands bearing musical note emblems. A few of the Konoha shinobi, caught off guard, were quickly cut down, but the rest leapt into action, engaging the enemy.

In the kage booth, Sarutobi immediately locked eyes with the Kazekage, who was looking at him, before his two cloak wearing henchman surged forward, releasing powerful smoke bombs that didn't just engulf the booth but sent up a massive pillar of smoke. A signal to those waiting outside the village.

A Suna jounin, seeing the pillar of smoke rising over the walls of Konoha, signaled the hundreds of shinobi with him, knowing other battalions were moving out now. As one they charged towards the wall, hoping their support promised by their Oto allies would arrive in time.

Sarutobi felt himself being grabbed and dragged from the kage booth, finding himself soon clear of the smoke as the Kazekage held him at kunai point, forcing him to watch the combat below. "This is an excellent vantage point, don't you think?" He asked, as his two bodyguards attacked the Konoha shinobi who had been guarding Sarutobi, quickly killing him. A and his two attendants, Mabui and Darui, quickly moved away from the conflict, remaining neutral. (1)

In the arena, the Hyuuga capable of fighting had gathered together to form a perimeter while Hiashi looked to two of the branch member guards who had accompanied them. "Escort Hitomi and Hanabi back to the compound immediately, and rally the rest of the clan. We will be along once we've cleared out the enemy here," he ordered. The two Hyuuga nodded, moving to escort Hitomi and Hanabi away, both of them unaffected by the genjutsu thanks to activating their Byakugan's as soon as they felt it, as did the other Hyuuga. Hanabi however could only stare in horror at the dead bodies, some Konoha shinobi, others the enemy, starting to litter the ground as screams and yells filled the air. Hitomi barely managed to turn her daughter's gaze away, picking her up and carrying her as they were escorted away. Unaware of unfriendly eyes watching them.

In the arena center, Gaara was still screaming in agony, as Baki, Kankuro, and Temari appeared, the two siblings grabbing their brother. Baki, standing between them and the Konoha shinobi, looked over his shoulder. "Get Gaara out of here! We still need him for the plan!" He shouted.

The two older siblings nodded, putting his arms around their necks and fleeing. Genma moved forward, stepping in front of the genin. "You two better get after them. Whatever they have planned with him can't be good. Stop them," he ordered, even as he prepared to fight Baki.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, before nodding to Genma and quickly dashing off in pursuit, before the Suna shinobi could get too far away.

In the contestant area, the genin still there all had shaken off the effects of the genjutsu, and now were springing into action, quickly moving to join the fighting inside the seating area. Hinata, her Byakugan activated, was drawing her bow to fire at the first available Oto or Suna shinobi she could find, only to stop as she saw her mother and sister being escorted away. She also saw several figures, dressed as civilians, suddenly 'awaken' from their seats and began to discreetly follow them. Eyes narrowed, she quickly moved to follow, worry gripping her heart.

Kirabi and his genin, Samui having joined them after her defeat, had quickly pulled back, not wanting to get caught up in the fighting. Kirabi however looked anxious, not enjoying being a bystander. Even if the Konoha shinobi were from another village, especially one his own had an antagonistic history with, he disliked seeing the civilians of the village put in harm's way, knowing that most likely, more were dying outside the arena. Yet A had made his orders clear: the Kumo shinobi would not engage unless attacked first. They were not here to join the fight, save for those assigned to Operation Blind Eye. Instead, Kirabi did his best to start shepherding his genin away, much to Karui's annoyance.

"We should be using this opportunity, going after that blonde bastard, or finding the traitor!" She shouted angrily, only to be shushed by Omoi.

"Please be quiet. Otherwise some Suna or Oto shinobi will come after us, and then we'll end up getting Kumo in a war against them, and maybe Konoha too!" Omoi said. Karui was about to respond when Samui put a hand over her mouth.

"He's right Karui. Be quiet and follow orders," she said sternly, causing Karui to growl but otherwise remain silent.

With the jounin sensei, all of them had leapt into action, quickly moving to engage the nearest enemy shinobi. Kurenai was doing her best to shield Yakumo, who had made great strides with her genjutsu and was improving quite well physically, though still below the level of a newly graduated genin. That didn't mean the Kurama heiress couldn't fight though, as she closed her eyes, reaching out with a genjutsu and trapping a group of enemy shinobi. Immediately they all froze, then began to scream as cuts appeared on their bodies and blood began gushing out. Raphael, pulling his sword out of an Oto shinobi, saw the carnage and winced.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side," he mentioned to Anko, who was watching two Suna shinobi being strangled by the snakes she had launched at them from her arms.

"Yeah. Regular genjutsu is bad enough," Anko murmured, drawing her ulaks and dodging a slash from an Oto kunoichi spinning around and slashing her across the throat.

Yakumo, seeing the dead from her attack, gaped as she realized she had just made her first kill; multiple ones in fact. She began to tremble until she felt Kurenai's calming hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Kurenai's reassuring smile, and felt a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, before the jounin moved to attack the next group of enemies. Yakumo took a deep shuddering breath, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself, for now at least. Her eyes opened only for them to widen fearfully as she saw a Suna shinobi charging to her, bloody kunai in hand as he readied to end her life, a snarl on his face.

Before she could scream there was a green blur, followed by Lee appearing, one bandaged fist buried in the side of the Suna shinobi's face, sending him flying from the force of his punch. Yakumo could only gape as Lee turned to her, worry on his face.

"Yakumo-san, are you hurt? Are you alright?!" He asked worriedly, only for her to hug him tightly, kissing his cheek.

"Thank! Thank you Lee-kun! Thank you!" She sobbed, as Lee blushed madly, smiling a bit. He gently patted her on the shoulder, before gently pulling away from her.

"I-It was no problem, Yakumo-chan," he said, before looking around. "Will you be okay? I must return to the fighting."

She shyly nodded, before gently squeezing his arm. "P-Please come back," she said quietly. Lee just gave her another smile and nodded, before turning and heading off to fight.