29. The Invasion Begins

After attacking Gaara, the sand shield that surrounded him fell apart. The Suna genin staggered backwards in pain, still screaming. Naruto jumped backwards to put some distance between the two. He then focused his eyes solely on Gaara, waiting for the red-head to make a move and trying to decide how his next attack should go. His focus on Gaara was broken at the sound of an explosion. The Uzumaki turned his head in the direction of the noise and his eyes widened in fear.

"What… The…" Naruto was barely able to speak at the sight.

The explosion had occurred within the stands of the stadium. Most of the people were asleep and unable to do them. Only a few were awake. They were currently being engaged in combat by a group of Suna and Oto shinobi, all of whom were in uniform and equipped to do battle: as if they had planned to fight.

"What's happening-"

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as he was forcefully knocked back further by a powerful gust of wind. He was sent flying into a nearby wall and winced in pain. The Sunagakure jōnin, Baki, had jumped down on to the battlefield where he had previously been, along with Temari and Kankurō.

"Dammit Gaara. He has no patience whatsoever." Baki grumbled to himself as he studied the condition of the jinchūriki. "He's useless like this… Temari! Kankurō!" Both Suna genin saluted the jōnin, showing him that he had their full attention. "Take him away from the stadium. Find some secluded place where he can calm himself down. Once he's recovered from his pain and shock, get out of there let him release Shukaku!"

"Yes sir!" Both Suna genin nodded as they grabbed their brother and picked him up.

Naruto pulled himself off the ground and recovered from the attack on him in time to see Temari and Kankurō use the shunshin to get themselves, and the dazed Gaara, out of the area.

"Captain Baki!" A Suna chūnin called out as he jumped down to the battlefield. "I've received word from the groups around the village. The invasion is underway in all areas of the village."

'Invasion? They're…' Naruto's eyes widened even further at the proclamation.

"Good." Baki nodded his head. "You… I have new orders for you, Daichi. Temari and Kankurō were tasked to assist with Gaara and get him somewhere safe so he can calm down. I'm worried they'll be ambushed. Join up with them and make sure they can complete their task."

"As you command." The Suna chūnin, Daichi, nodded as he vanished, using the shunshin as well.

Once his subordinate had left, Baki turned his attention towards Uzumaki Naruto. He noticed the blonde was now standing on his feet after being knocked away by his own wind-style ninjutsu. He seemed, for the most part, unharmed. The boy was also the reason for Gaara's current condition and actually managed to physically harm the red-head, a task that some shinobi in Suna considered impossible. With that in mind, the Suna jōnin glared at the boy as he started making hand signs rapidly.

"While you did manage to impress me with your little battles today so far, especially with Gaara, I'm afraid you're on the wrong side." Baki commented coldly. "Don't take this too personally. Just die!"

Baki immediately finished his hand signs and released a large gust of hurricane-like winds directly towards Naruto. The blonde had prepared to jump away in time before the attack struck him, but the wind was intercepted before it could reach him. The proctor for the exam, Shiranui Genma, had jumped in the way and deflected the wind with an earth-style ninjutsu, creating a giant pillar from the ground that stopped Baki's attack.

"Uzumaki Naruto, are you alright?" He questioned seriously.

"I'm fine." Naruto replied as his eyes continued to scan the area. "What's going on? Are we being invaded? Is this war?"

"… 'Fraid so." Genma shook his head in response. "I know you've been working hard during the exam so far, but you're gonna have to work even harder. I have a mission for you: a mission for our village's safety."

Due to his heritage and recent studies of genjutsu with Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke noticed the genjutsu that was unleashed on the stands in the stadium the moment it was released. Unlike Hinata and Shikamaru, he made a hand sign and dispelled the genjutsu before it could affect him. Sasuke remained awake and watched everything around him.

"So… this is what war is like, huh?" Sasuke commented quietly to himself as he saw Konoha shinobi fight against Suna and Oto shinobi.

There were many theories that Sasuke was aware of about the reasoning behind his brother's actions during the massacre. Although Sasuke did know his true motives, one theory he heard made a lot of sense: Itachi went insane after being exposed to the evils of the Third Great Shinobi World War at such a young age. It was only a theory, but Sasuke thought it did make some sense. As a result, he did not have any enjoyment at the idea of going to war.

'This environment creates people like Itachi… I'll destroy all who are trying to create people like him!' The Uchiha snarled within his head.

On instinct, he was about to jump away and join his sensei to fight against the shinobi. He then stopped and looked at the two sleeping genin around him: Hinata and Shikamaru. Sasuke then quickly brought his fingers to their heads and dispelled the genjutsu, waking them up.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked upon waking up.

After a very brief explanation that Konoha was being invaded, Hinata looked downward in-time to see Naruto get nearly hit by a wind-style ninjutsu. Her eyes widened in panic.

"Naruto-kun!" She nearly screamed as she, without a second-thought, jumped down to the battlefield to help out her friend and crush.

'This is bad. This is really bad. The village is going to need help: Naruto's going to need help!' Realizing that his friend was in danger, Shikamaru rushed over to the edge of the balcony to jump down and help his teammate. He, however, winced in pain upon reaching the edge. His body was still sore. 'Dammit. In this condition, I'll just be a hindrance…'

"Shikamaru, if you want to help them, then you'll need some of these." Sasuke spoke up as he pulled out a small container of pills and held it out towards the Nara.

He realized immediately what they were and took the container. He then popped open the cap. "Soldier pills, right?"

"Yes. If you really are running that low on chakra and stamina, then you'll need those if you want to help out at all." The Uchiha informed him. He then started to head out of the area. "I'm going to help out Kakashi-sensei. You stick with Naruto and Hinata and make sure they're okay. You all then should help with the fighting. We need to do everything we can to end this invasion fast!"

With those words, Sasuke jumped off, heading directly for his sensei, ready to do battle. Shikamaru, upon listening to Sasuke, grabbed two pills from the container and took them. Once he started feeling the effects, he jumped down to meet up with his teammates.

Unlike the people around them, Han and Rōshi both noticed the Temple of Nirvana Jutsu and dispelled the genjutsu, remaining fully awake. They quickly became aware of what was happening: Suna and Oto were invading Konoha.

"Of course there's an invasion. It's been too long since the last war. People really can't just enjoy peace, can they?" Rōshi shook his head in anger and disappointment.

"It's human nature. It's as if the species can't thrive without something like this." Han noted with a scowl on his face as he quickly assessed the situation around him.

The Gobi jinchūriki noticed that the Ichibi jinchūriki, along with his siblings, had fled the area. He also noticed that their sensei had attempted to try and kill Naruto with a wind-style jutsu, only to be intercepted by the proctor of the exam.

Despite his improvements in his attitude and relationships, Han had no loyalty towards Konoha and he was still uncertain about many things about his faith in humanity, amongst other things. One thing was certain to him, however: Uzumaki Naruto was somebody he was close to, the boy possessed people that truly cared for him despite his jinchūriki status, and the village of Naruto and these important people of him was being attacked. Their lives were being threatened…

'They won't touch him or this village. I won't let them!' Han mentally told himself.

The Iwa jōnin put his fingers on the forehead of Roto, who fell asleep to the genjutsu. The civilian-born genin quickly woke up and started to look around the area in confusion and fright.

"Wh-What's going on?" Roto asked, surprised at all of the fighting.

"Konoha's being invaded. It's not safe right now." Han answered simply. He then pointed a finger towards Risho, who was still asleep from the genjutsu. "Roto, grab Risho and take him somewhere safe: wherever Kurotsuchi is. He's in no condition to be fighting and neither is she. I need you to work together with any capable Konoha shinobi in the area around them and keep your teammates safe."

'Protect Risho and Kurotsuchi? Me?' Roto's eyes widened at the request. He had always considered himself the 'weak link' amongst his teammates. Being forced into the responsibility of taking care of them, in the middle of an invasion, was a big shock to him. It took a few seconds before the initial fear and surprise faded and he was able to look at his sensei with determination in his eyes. "I will!"

"Good. Please, be careful Roto." Han requested his student. "Rōshi and I will be assisting Konoha in actual battle. Stay hidden and stay safe. Use all of your training in stealth to get you and Risho out of here undetected. Do whatever it takes to keep yourself and your teammates alive."

Roto nodded and quickly picked up Risho's body over his shoulders. He then made a hand sign, causing himself and the sleeping-Kurogane shinobi to turn invisible. He then hurried out of the area, making sure to avoid any of the battles going on around them.

"You know, we have no orders to get involved, right? This could go against Ōnoki's wishes." Rōshi pointed out to his fellow jinchūriki.

"I realize that, but I'm not going to wait for any orders. Naruto is in trouble and there is an invasion underway; I will do what I can to help." Han noted as he jumped down from the stands to join up with the Uzumaki.

"I wasn't saying that we shouldn't do anything. I'm just a little apprehensive about pissing off Ōnoki too much." Rōshi commented, more to himself than his friend. "… But I'm not going to let you risk your life in this fight alone. If you're going in, then I'm going with you."

With those words, Rōshi jumped down along with his fellow jinchūriki. As the two landed on the ground, the older, red-haired man turned his head slightly to check-up on the Tsuchikage and see if he could gauge any reaction from him about whether or not they were acting against Iwa's wishes.

Instead of seeing the Tsuchikage, along with the other kage, Rōshi saw a giant purple barrier form around the Hokage's balcony. He also saw a Konoha ANBU agent attempt to jump into the barrier, only to have himself burn to death upon contact with the barrier.

The Yonbi jinchūriki's eyes widened as his mind processed the sight. "What the hell is going on here?"

Immediately after the signal was released, the 'Kazekage' jumped backwards and stood directly behind the Hokage, holding a kunai knife with his right hand. He used his left hand to make a hand sign, knocking back all of the body guards of the Tsuchikage and Hokage off the balcony with a powerful gust of wind. Once the kage were isolated on the balcony, the 'Kazekage's' bodyguards revealed themselves to be four Otogakure shinobi, who used the Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation to trap Ōnoki and Hiruzen within a purple barrier of flames.

'What the hell?' Both Ōnoki's eyes and mind were running rampant at all of the chaos around him. He studied everything intently and braced himself to make a move and fight. "What's going on here?

"Ōnoki-san, I regret not letting you know sooner of my plans. I had so many things that I needed to get done, that I simply didn't have the time to talk to you." The 'Kazekage' noted, his voice changing into a more sinister, darker tone. "But I'm sure you can tell what's going on right now. And I'm sure you know exactly what must be done." The man then brought the edge of the kunai closer to Hiruzen's neck. "Isn't it about time Iwa got revenge against Konoha for the last shinobi world war? Together, with Suna and Oto, we can burn this village to the ground and get revenge!"

"Quite hypocritical of you to offer revenge for the third shinobi world war. If that's the case, you'd need to die to for all of the damage you did… Orochimaru." Hiruzen spat out the name of the 'Kazekage'.

The 'Kazekage' used his left hand to pull off the mask and the 'kage' hat, revealing his true identity to the kage in front of him.

"You did know about the invasion, didn't you Sarutobi-sensei? You knew this whole time." Orochimaru noted as a grin developed on his face. "Quite interesting. I wonder what clued you in, Sarutobi-sensei."

Hiruzen ignored the words from his former student and turned his head to face the Tsuchikage.

"Ōnoki, I wished such an event didn't occur during your stay in Konoha. I wished for this to be a peaceful event, for the two of us and our villages. But sadly, that didn't come to pass." The Sandaime Hokage stated. "It's time that Konoha and Iwa had moved past our history and joined together to create a bond that will protect both of our villages. I ask that you and your village with the creation of this bond… by driving out a certain snake from this village!"

"Surely you don't believe such a bond could be created, Sarutobi-sensei!" Orochimaru taunted, bringing the edge of the kunai closer to Hiruzen's neck. "Time does not erode the events of the past. Nothing can change all of the damage Konoha has done to Iwa." The Sannin took a moment to look towards the Tsuchikage. "Ōnoki-san, the two of us can create a real partnership, beneficial to us. We can start by destroying Konoha and the Hokage together!"

Ōnoki remained silent for a few seconds as he processed exactly what the two men were trying to pitch to him. Among all of the possible emotional reactions he was experiencing at the situation, he was furious more than anything else.

'Both of them knew this was happening. Orochimaru had planned this invasion and Hiruzen was aware of it. But they both kept me in the dark, just assuming I would be okay with working with them in the end!' He realized. 'Bah!' His eyes narrowed in anger, disgusted at the thought that both men assumed that they could earn his trust so easily with a few words.

Despite his anger, Ōnoki was not somebody who let his emotions cloud his better judgment. The man was aware of genuine facts: the third shinobi world war exhausted Iwa and he, as the Tsuchikage, wanted to do everything he could to prevent another war like that from happening to his village. He knew that Hiruzen wanted their villages to become allies. The Sandaime Tsuchikage was also aware of the desires of some of his own shinobi, such as Han, Rōshi, and his own granddaughter.

Times had changed. While the events of the war and all of the lives that had been lost would never leave Iwa's heart, they could do the part to try and start over and look away from the past. Even a shinobi like his granddaughter, who was the biggest patriot for Iwa he had ever seen, was willing to vouch for Konoha and desire an alliance with them. If she could be willing to, then so could the rest of Iwa at some point… and so could he.

'… Besides, if I'm supposed to be remembering what happened during the war, I can also remember some of the shit you did to us, Orochimaru.' Ōnoki grinded his teeth together as he recalled the damage the snake Sannin had done in battle. He recalled with disgust all of the bodies he had found had been used for Orochimaru's 'experiments'.

With every thought he put into it, the decision was clear to Ōnoki.

"… Let this be the day where Iwa and Konoha stand together as one." Ōnoki spoke quietly before shouting out, loud enough for all Iwa shinobi in the area to here. "IWA SHINOBI! DEFEND THE VILLAGE ALONGSIDE THE KONOHA SHINOBI!"

Although no one within the barrier could directly see what was going on, they all knew the result of Ōnoki's declaration: the Iwagakure shinobi that had been within the audience were now joining the Konoha shinobi side-by-side in battle.

'Ōnoki… Thank you.' A small smile developed on Hiruzen's face.

"… You disappoint me, Ōnoki. I let you remain within the barrier because I assumed you would have enjoyed the thought of destroying Konoha with me." Orochimaru commented. Despite his words, the Sannin still appeared to be 'amused' more than anything else.

"Don't make assumptions about me, Orochimaru. Leaving me in here was a mistake, and because of it, you are going to die today!" The Tsuchikage hissed.

Immediately after the Tsuchikage finished speaking, Hiruzen jumped away from the Sannin, freeing himself from the man's hold. Once he had placed distance between himself and his former student, the Hokage quickly pulled off his robes, revealing a black combat suit with green gauntlets on his right wrist, forearm, and shoulders. He had on a black, armored hood and was wearing a scroll on his back. Once he had taken off the robes, the scroll fell to the ground and burst, creating a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke was cleared, Jiraiya appeared where the scroll had been, prepared to fight.

"Ah, and Jiraiya is here as well. You had him disguised as a scroll underneath your robes. Interesting. You really did prepare for a fight with me." Orochimaru commented. Once again, he seemed more amused than upset or angry.

"I wouldn't miss the opportunity to help Sensei and the Tsuchikage take you down." Jiraiya spat out, glaring at his former teammate. "Orochimaru… this ends now!"

"Oh, it will. But I don't like the odds of a three versus one fight." The snake Sannin noted as he immediately started to make hand signs. "How about I make this fight a little more fair?"

Upon finishing his hand signs, three coffins appeared from underneath the balcony. One of the coffins was marked with the kanji for 'earth' and 'one' while the other two were marked with the kanji for 'fire'. One of them also was marked with the kanji for 'one' and the other possessed the kanji for 'two'. Orochimaru then proceeded to make another hand sign and cause another coffin to rise up, but Sarutobi immediately tossed a series of kunai at it, preventing it from rising.

"So you prevented that one from rising. Oh well. You didn't react fast enough to stop these." Orochimaru commented with a sinister grin.

The coffins opened and fell the ground, revealing three figures inside. In the coffin marked with the kanji for 'earth' was a man with long, blackish-grey hair. He had a mustache and a long, pointy beard and was wearing a silver-colored kimono with wide sleeves. Underneath the kimono was mesh armor that extended all the way down his legs and arms. In the coffin marked with the kanji of 'fire' and 'one' was a man with waist-length black hair and tanned skin. He wore dark red armor over his body and had on with black pants. In the coffin marked with the kanji of 'fire' and 'two' was a man with white, shaggy hair and had red markings underneath his eyes. He wore blue armor over his body with black pants and also wore facial armor that covered his ears and the side of his face. There was also white fur on his armor that covered his neck.

All three men slowly walked forward after being released from their coffins and looked forward. They all possessed black, dead eyes that showed that they were not from the land of the living.

"Hashirama… Tobirama… my senseis." Hiruzen gasped at the sight of the men in red and blue armor.

"Orochimaru, you really perfected that jutsu, huh?" Jiraiya glared at his former teammate.

"Perfected? No, there's still room for improvement on my part. But I suppose the results are more than satisfactory at the moment, wouldn't you agree Jiraiya?" Orochimaru replied with a grin on his face.

"Kamizuru Ishikawa…" Ōnoki's mouth was wide open at the sight of the Shodaime Tsuchikage. "This isn't possible. This can't be possible." The Sandaime Tsuchikage soon recovered from his shock and proceeded to glare at Orochimaru. "What kind of trick is this, snake?"

"Trick? This is no trick. This is the Edo Tensei. It a jutsu designed by the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama himself. I figured he, along with his brother and the founder of Iwagakure would enjoy seeing the jutsu in action." Orochimaru explained with a chuckle. "Anyway, the numbers have changed a little in my favor. I suppose now we can begin our fight!"

"What do you need me to do?" Naruto asked Genma seriously upon hearing his order.

"I don't know what their purpose is, but those three Suna genin are needed for something. Especially Gaara. I need you to follow them and take them down and prevent them from doing what they are trying to do." Genma ordered. "I don't have time to leave. There's a lot of fighting going here, so I'm going to stay here and do what I can. You looked like you were going head-to-head against Gaara, so I think I can trust you to be able to stop whatever Suna has planned with him."

"I understand… I can do it." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned his head at the sound of the voice. Hinata jumped down to the ground and reached him. Shortly after her, Shikamaru followed behind, seemingly rejuvenated after his fight with Sasuke.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked frantically. She was thanking whatever God existed in their world that had managed to keep him safe from Baki's last attack.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Naruto told her confidently. "But right now, we don't have much time to waste and worry about each other."

"Tell me about it. The village is in danger…" Shikamaru mumbled as he reached his friends. The Nara's eyes were focused on the battles that were occurring around them between Konoha/Iwa and Suna/Oto shinobi.

"If your friends are able to, maybe they can help you in your mission." Genma suggested to the members of Team Three. The proctor jōnin then noticed a rouge Oto shinobi about to attack a few of the unconscious members of the audience. He also noticed that nobody was seemingly aware of his attack. "Shit! Naruto, I'm counting on you to complete your mission!"

Upon repeating his order, Genma jumped off to confront the Oto shinobi before he could kill off any of the unconscious shinobi. He left the three genin members of Team Three alone. Both Shikamaru and Hinata seemed confused at the mention of a mission.

"What mission?" Hinata voiced her confusion.

"Whatever it is, perhaps we could be of assistance."

Upon saying those words, Han and Rōshi arrived at the battlefield of the stadium. The two Iwa jinchūriki were looking around the area, preparing for any potential conflict to occur.

"Han-nii!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the Gobi jinchūriki. He then turned his head towards the red-head and gave him a look of confusion. "And..."

"Nice to finally meet ya kid. I've been wanting to meet the Kyūbi jinchūriki for a while. Name's Rōshi. I'm the container of the Yonbi." He greeted. Naruto's eyes widened at the information and was about to speak to the red-head, but Rōshi shook his head and continued to speak again. "But right now's not the best time for introductions, now is it? If you got a mission to keep your village safe, then we got to get moving and do it!"

Naruto nodded his head and a look of seriousness and determination filled his face. "We have to catch up to Gaara and his teammates before they can get away…" Realization dawned on his face as to what the intent probably was. "… I think they're going to try and release the Ichibi!"

The eyes of the shinobi around him widened. Both Shikamaru and Hinata seemed nervous and terrified at the idea of bijū being released into the village. Han and Rōshi, although not as nervous as the genin around them, realized the severity of the situation. As a result, they looked forward with blank, serious stares.

"I'm a decent chakra sensor and can sense the movements of the Ichibi jinchūriki. I know what direction he is heading in. If we hurry, we can catch up to them and prevent the release of the Ichibi." Han stated. "We don't have time to waste. You all need to follow me."

Han immediately started to run off, rushing towards the stadium exit. Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Rōshi followed behind, trying to keep up with the Iwa jinchūriki.

'They're trying to catch Gaara, huh?' Baki realized as he watched the group about to leave the stadium. The Suna jōnin proceeded to make a series of hand signs. 'Not on my watch. They'll all die before they can get out of here!'

Before Baki could release his jutsu and attack the group of shinobi, a large fireball flew directly at him. The jōnin was forced to cancel his attack and jump out of the way to avoid contact. After the failed attack, Anko jumped down into the battlefield, glaring at him.

"Mitarashi Anko… the famed Snake Mistress of Konoha." Baki recognized the woman. He gritted his teeth, realizing that she wasn't going to be somebody he could blow off. She was going to confront him and, unfortunately, prevent him from attacking the group that was heading towards Gaara.

"Baki, one of the highest ranking shinobi within Sunagakure." Anko nearly growled as she spat out his name. "Your village became a part of my shit list the second this invasion started. But you just tried to attack my students… and for that, I'll personally see to it that your body is nothing but ash once I'm through with you."

"Quite big talk." The Suna jōnin scoffed. "I hate arrogance. Let's see if you can actually back-up some of your words."

"I'll do just that." Anko replied, cracking her knuckles slightly.

Upon exiting the stadium, Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Han, and Rōshi began their pursuit of Gaara and his teammates into the forest of Konoha. They noticed that the village was, indeed, under attack and some of the important buildings of the village were under assault from Suna and Oto shinobi. Naruto and his teammates wanted to intervene and do something to stop the attacks, but they knew the mission that they were assigned to. Therefore, they continued on their pursuit with the Iwa jōnin to reach Gaara.

"How much further ahead is he?" Naruto asked Han.

"… Not much, thankfully. If we continue at this pace, we will surely reach him." The Gobi jinchūriki spoke up. Almost immediately after he finished, though, he felt another set of chakra signatures. "… Although, we have a problem."

"What's going on now?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I can sense nine different chakra signatures coming in our direction. At some point, they'll intercept us." Han answered, scowling slightly. "Judging from the signatures, they are all around chūnin-level in strength. Only one of them is jōnin-level."

"… Well they don't seem that special then, if only one is at the jōnin-level." Rōshi chuckled in response. "Perhaps I could do you all a favor and get rid of them by myself."

After finishing his answer, Rōshi stopped moving and remained motionless on a tree branch. He turned his attention and took a deep breath, preparing for a battle. Han, along with the genin of Konoha's Team Three, turned their attention to the Yonbi jinchūriki.

"Are you sure that's wise, Rōshi-san? Nine against one does not sound safe at all…" Hinata spoke up, wanting to discourage the red-headed Iwa shinobi from going against that many shinobi alone.

"Have some faith in me. I've been a shinobi longer than your parents have been alive, I bet! Not to brag or anything, but they're probably going to need more than nine shinobi to stop me." Rōshi declared confidently. His face then became more serious as he looked at the group. "Besides, you all don't have the time to get distracted. The goal is to capture that Gaara kid above all else, so you can't be wasting your time with some random shinobi. I'm just going to hold this group back so they don't slow you all down."

The determination and seriousness of his voice showed the group that Rōshi wasn't going to change his mind. With that realization, all of them nodded.

"I know we don't know each other well, yet, but you're a jinchūriki like me and I want to meet you properly. Be careful old man." Naruto requested the Yonbi jinchūriki.

"'Old man?' Just you wait. This 'old man' will be just fine. You and the rest are the ones who need to be careful." Rōshi laughed in response.

"… Rōshi: Naruto's right. Stay safe." Han repeated Naruto's request.

The Yonbi jinchūriki immediately stopped laughing and exchanged a look between himself and the Gobi jinchūriki. A second passed before he nodded to his friend.

"I'll be fine. Promise. And I'll catch up with you guys once I'm through with these shinobi." Rōshi stated. "You all just hurry on ahead and catch the Ichibi jinchūriki."

The group finally nodded before they continued on their pursuit, heading in the direction of Gaara and his teammates. Rōshi remained on the tree branch as he started to make hand signs, in preparation for their pursuers.

A minute passed before eight Otogakure shinobi appeared from the trees. Rōshi took note that one of the shinobi Han sensed, the ninth member that appeared to be jōnin-level in skill, was missing. He then decided to assess the skills of the eight present shinobi in front of them. To his surprise, it was nearly impossible for him to find a difference between any of the shinobi. They all looked the same, possessed the same equipment and combat uniforms, and didn't appear any different in strength from one another. Upon this realization, Rōshi started to laugh again.

'I've written enough novels in my lifetime to know that these men aren't anything special. They're nothing more than 'filler characters', waiting to be killed by the power of the author.' He told himself, grinning. 'And as an author, I'm more than willing to do what needs to be done and kill them off!'

"This is a conflict between Konoha and the forces of Suna and Oto. Iwa doesn't need to be involved, old man. I'd suggest just getting out of our way." One of the Oto shinobi informed him.

"Heh. You all think you're worth more than you actually are. I can already tell that you are nothing but pawns to your leader." Rōshi continued to laugh, amused at the Otogakure shinobi in front of him. His laughter soon stopped and he looked at them intently, radiating killing intent. "Let me show you exactly how unimportant you really are!"

With bubbling rage, the eight Otogakure shinobi charged Rōshi, prepared to fight. Rōshi, in response, started to make hand signs.

"Kankurō-sama! Temari-sama!"

Kankurō and Temari looked back in surprise at the sound of the voice. Daichi, a Sunagakure chūnin and chakra sensor, was rushing up behind them. The man was breathing heavily, showing that he had worked hard to catch up to the two siblings.

"Daichi, what are you doing here? You should be helping in the invasion forces with the rest of the shinobi!" Temari informed him sharply.

"Change of plans. Captain Baki wished for me to accompany you three and help you get Gaara to safety. He predicted that you would both be pursued and could use some extra assistance… and he was correct in his assumption." Daichi replied.

Immediately, Kankurō and Temari paled at the chūnin's words. They were both silent for a few seconds before Kankurō gained his voice back.

"… How many shinobi are pursuing us? And how far away are they?" He asked.

"I sense five… no, four chakra signatures following us. One of them seems to have stopped moving." Daichi shrugged in response. "Nevertheless, four are still following, and two of them have extremely high chakra signatures. At the pace they are going, they will eventually catch up to us."

"Shit. Gaara needs to recover more. A battle occurring around him right now could only make things worse." Kankurō hissed at the realization.

"… Then I'll stall them." Temari suggested firmly.

"Temari, what are you suggesting? Four against one is not good odds at all!" Kankurō nearly shouted at his sister.

"Probably not, but I can stall them a little bit. You two keep moving and get Gaara away. That is our orders and it's what needs to be done for Suna! I'll hold them back for you two." The blonde exclaimed. She then loosened her grip on Gaara, allowing Daichi to come and take her place in carrying him.

"… Understood." Kankurō sighed, shaking his head slightly at his sister's actions. "Don't die Temari. Suna will survive today, no matter what. I need to make sure that you do as well."

"I'll be fine." She reassured her brother.

Kankurō nodded before he and Daichi, carrying Gaara, continued to rush ahead through the forest. Temari waited on the tree branches, looking for their pursuers. She gripped her fan tightly in her hands, waiting to attack at the first sight of Konoha shinobi.

A few seconds before she saw the rustling of leaves in the trees in front of her, showing that a group of people were approaching. Temari's eyes widened and she immediately swung her hand, creating a large gust of wind at the rustling leaves.

Han, along with Team Three, jumped through the leaves and saw the approaching gust of wind. They were forced to jump out of the way before being struck and knocked back by the wind. All four members landed on nearby tree branches and saw Temari, standing on a branch higher than the branches they were on.

"Temari…" Hinata recognized the girl as the kunoichi who fought against Kurotsuchi in the preliminary exams.

"I'm not going to let any of you get closer to catching Gaara. Your 'pursuit' ends here!" Temari declared sharply as she swung her fan once again, creating another large gust of wind in their direction.

Once again, Han and the genin of Team Three were forced to jump away to separate branches. After they evaded her attack, Shikamaru spoke up with a sigh.

"It's obvious that she's just trying to get us to waste time. So we shouldn't waste our time. Only one of us should fight her… and I'll volunteer to do that." Shikamaru answered.

Naruto and Hinata, both remembering Shikamaru's exhaustion after his fight with Sasuke, looked at the Nara in surprise.

"… Are you going to be okay, Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked nervously.

"I'll be fine. I had a little something to keep me going." The Nara noted, taking out the soldier pill bottle Sasuke had given him. He then tossed the bottle towards Hinata. "You should take one too, by the way. I'm sure your fight with your cousin wore you out, at least a little bit."

Hinata looked a little hesitant at Shikamaru, but seemed to accept his answer. She nodded, agreeing with Shikamaru as she took one of the soldier pills from the bottle.

"Shikamaru, you sure about this? We could all work together and take her out quickly." Naruto suggested.

"Not quick enough. We're already wasting time just arguing about this. Gaara's getting away. You three need to get out of here and catch up to him already." The Nara exclaimed.

"He is correct. Naruto, Hinata-san, we should be going." Han spoke to the other two members of Team Three. "I can sense the presence of the Ichibi jinchūriki getting further away. We need to keep going with our pursuit."

Naruto realized that both Han and Shikamaru were right. The two genin gave Shikamaru one last look, before they finally spoke up.

"Be careful, Shikamaru. If something happens to you, I'll kill you myself." Naruto spoke up with a small smirk on his face.

"Nothing'll happen to me. I'll be fine." Shikamaru replied with a smirk of his own. "Now you three need to go!"

Han continued with his pursuit through the forest towards Gaara, with Naruto and Hinata following behind. At the sight of their movement, Temari prepared to swing her fan again at the retreating shinobi. She stopped, however, at the sight of kunai knives approaching her. She used her fan to deflect the weapons and then looked in the direction they had come from. Shikamaru was now approaching her, holding another kunai in his hands.

"Your fight is going to be with just me. Don't even think about going after them." He informed her sharply as he tossed the kunai knife at her.

"… If you want a fight, then so be it!" Temari nearly shouted as she deflected the knife, once again, with her fan. '… I couldn't keep them all busy. Kankurō… be safe.'

"They're still coming after us. Temari-sama was only able to keep one of them. Three are still following." Daichi informed Kankurō.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Kankurō continued to curse.

"Perhaps I should follow in Temari-sama's example and hold them back and let you keep moving on with Gaara." The Suna chūnin offered.

"… No. That'll be my job. You're a faster shinobi then I am." Kankurō stated with a sigh.

The Suna puppeteer stopped moving and waited on one of the tree branches. He then made a hand gesture towards Daichi, encouraging him to leave.

"Just keep moving. I'll hold these three back as long as I can. Get Gaara out of here, though."

"… Will do." Daichi nodded as he continued to move, carrying Gaara on his back.

Kankurō watched the Suna chūnin leave the area with his brother for a moment before he turned his attention forward, waiting for the pursuing shinobi to arrive. He released his puppet, Karasu, from the bindings on his back and prepared to strike.

A few seconds passed before Han, along with Naruto and Hinata, arrived in the area. Kankurō, upon seeing them, made a gesture with his hands, causing his puppet to release a poisonous bomb from its mouth directly at the group. It exploded directly in front of them, releasing the poisonous gas.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto breathed out a large gust of wind.

Naruto's jutsu blew away Kankurō's poison. Once the gust of wind the and the poison clouds were sent away from the area, Naruto, Hinata, and Han turned to stare at the Suna puppeteer.

"Hmph. Now you're sticking behind, I see." Naruto glared at Kankurō. "The reason you didn't fight today in the exams was because of the invasion, wasn't it?"

"That was definitely part of the reason." Kankurō answered as he returned Naruto's glare with one of his own. "Don't take this all too personally, kid. I'm following orders, just like you are."

The Uzumaki gritted his teeth in response. The Suna puppeteer was right; the shinobi of Suna and Oto were just following orders. He couldn't hate them for that. However, that didn't mean he had to be happy they were attacking his village and that he wasn't going to do whatever he could to end the fighting.

Naruto cracked his knuckles before he started to speak. "Don't take it too personally, then, when-"

"Naruto-kun, you and Han-san should continue moving. I'll fight him myself." Hinata interrupted her crush.

"Huh? Hinata?" The Uzumaki looked at his friend in surprise.

"It's just like Shikamaru-kun and Rōshi-san said. Gaara is getting further away and you can't afford to let go too far ahead. You both need to catch up to him." Hinata continued as she reached for her bow and an arrow. The arrow she chose was similar to one from her fight with Neji and was, therefore, marked with an explosive tag. "I'll fight and keep him distracted from you guys."

Hinata prepared her bow and fired the arrow at Kankurō. The Suna puppeteer and his puppet quickly moved out of the way and avoided the resulting explosion. Immediately after her explosion, Hinata turned her attention to Naruto and Han.

"You guys need to go." She informed them sharply.

The Hyūga noticed that Naruto still seemed a little uneasy about leaving another of his friends behind. Using the adrenaline that was rushing through her body thanks to the invasion, Hinata moved over to Naruto and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, causing his eyes to widen exponentially. Once she finished the kiss, she looked him in the eye and gave him a smile.

"I'll be fine. Promise." Hinata told him.

"… Keep that promise for me, then. I don't know what I would do anything happened to you." Naruto finally answered, returning her smile with one of his own.

With those words, Naruto and Han continued in their pursuit of Gaara. Hinata remained in the area, alone. She began looking for signs of Kankurō.

"Are you really going to let my friends just get away?" Hinata asked aloud. She activated her Byakugan and proceeded to locate her opponent. She turned her head in his direction once she found him.

"There's no point in trying to stop them. I can tell you'd get in the way." Kankurō responded. Hinata fired another arrow in his direction, but her attack was blocked. Kankurō and his puppet jumped out of hiding and stood atop a branch, ready to fight. "I just have to hope I stalled you all enough for Gaara to recover. If he has, then honestly, your friends are going to die."

"… I won't let that happen." Hinata replied, determination filling her eyes as she prepared another arrow.

"I can feel it. Can't you, Gaara? That damn fox is coming this way, and he's brought our horse-brother Kokuō! We can prove our superiority over two other demons! We can prove your worth over them." Shukaku exclaimed within the mind of his jinchūriki.

'If I kill them… I will show the world who I am. I will have shown my purpose to live.' Gaara commented after listening to his 'mother'.

"Let me out." Shukaku demanded. "I will personally help you kill them. Let's show the world who we are together!"

"Let's." Gaara nodded his head in agreement.

Daichi continued to move through the forest, carrying the unconscious Gaara on his back. The Sunagakure chūnin cursed, sensing the chakra signatures approaching him. He knew that they were the ones with the highest-levels of chakra, meaning that they would be able to easily defeat him and obtain Gaara.

'Just keep moving at this pace… I can get Gaara away and hide him somewhere where he can recover. When he does, he can become the demon and kill them and help with the invasion.' The man repeated to himself.

As he started to think about his situation and what he was going to do, he felt movement on his back. Daichi stopped moving as he realized what was happening: Gaara was recovering from his shock and would be able to fight.

"Thank God." The man sighed in relief. "Our 'ace' for the invasion is combat-ready-"

"ALL WILL DIE SO THAT I MAY PROVE MY WORTH!" Gaara screamed, his voice booming with demonic fury.

Sand began to cover the jinchūriki's body and caused him to resemble a tanuki. He transformed and took the shape and likeliness of the demon, Shukaku. Daichi's eyes widened and the man dropped him. Gaara landed on his feet and gave the Suna chūnin a sinister grin.

"G-Gaara, it's g-good t-to see you are-" Daichi started to stutter.

The man stopped speaking as Gaara rushed him, impaling the man's heart with his newly-formed claws. Daichi died almost instantaneously. Upon killing him, Gaara pulled out his claw and watched Daichi's body fall from the tree branch and hit the ground. The jinchūriki then looked over at his claw and noticed that it was covered in the Suna chūnin's blood.

"Begin with the preparations Gaara. The fox and the horse are coming and I want to personally kill them with you." Shukaku informed his jinchūriki.

"Yes mother. Let's kill them ALL!" Gaara screamed, his voice becoming even more similar to Shukaku's.

"Naruto, we're approaching the Ichibi jinchūriki. He has stopped moving, making me think he is recovered and ready for battle. Be cautious. This won't be an easy fight." Han advised Naruto.

The Uzumaki nodded in understanding.

After a few more seconds of traveling, two jinchūriki arrived at a clearing in the middle of the forest. Han felt Gaara's demonic chakra in the area and knew that they had finally arrived.

They had both arrived just in-time to watch Gaara finish the transformation process. Standing in front of them was not the jinchūriki; instead, they were staring at the towering figure of a large tanuki made entirely out of sand.

"Wh-What is that?" Naruto barely spat out. His eyes were wide and he was staring intently at the tanuki, trying to analyze how big and strong it really was.

"That… that's the Ichibi no Shukaku." Han spoke in awe at the sight of the bijū.