"Gaara..."

Naruto muttered while staring at one of his best friends... well, sort of, who was writhing in sand and snarling creepily while turning into his grotesque monster form.

'I take offense to that!' Shukaku growled in annoyance inside Naruto's head.

'Seriously Shuki-chan,' Gyuuki snorted. 'If that's not gross, I don't know what might be anymore.'

'Shut up you! And stop calling me that!'

In front of them, Gaara had already finished transforming. Right now, his upper body was covered in sand, forming a mini Shukaku body with two clawed arms and a tanuki face with coin-like eyes.

He grabbed the branch he was standing on with his clawed hand, and Naruto suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

He jumped aside, right before the cannonball called Gaara crashed into his face and obliterated the tree under his feet.

"SCARED OF ME, UZUMAKI? WHERE IS THAT POWER OF YOURS? SHOW ME! GIVE IT TO ME SO I CAN CRUSH IT!!"

And I thought the Gaara of our time was creepy enough...

Naruto grimaced. Before, when Gaara hadn't been his friend, he could strike him down without hesitation, as Gaara still had been his enemy at that time. But now... He hesitated.

He couldn't shake the feeling of Gaara being his friend out of his head.

How can he possibly fight a friend he had known for such a long time?

'Naruto! Look out!'

Naruto blinked, only to see sand crawling up his legs. Too focused on Gaara in front of him, he didn't notice the tiny particles' hidden movement.

Oh shit!

'Don't worry, I got this!' The voice of Shukaku suddenly echoed in his brain. A blast of magnetic chakra from the tanuki, and all the sand was blown away from his body.

Gaara blinked.

Under Shukaku's influence, it looked freakishly weird.

"HOW... HOW DID YOU REPEL MY SAND!?"

It sounded both scary and funny at the same time, hearing the tone of confusion and fear in Gaara's voice. Creepier, that was also the expression of the Shukaku inside Gaara's body.

"AAAAARRRRGHHH! NO!! AAAAARRRRGGHHH!"

Everyone glared at Shukaku inside Naruto's head.

'Stop that! It's annoying!'

"Heh, heh, hehehehe... Don't worry Mother... No matter what... I will still give you his blood... He will not deny us our existence... I will definitely kill him... aahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

'Stop hesitating Naruto!' Kurama yelled inside Naruto's head. 'If you don't start fighting, you will be the one who get beaten to a pulp, not Gaara!'

'But...'

'No buts!' the fox didn't let Naruto finish. 'If you choose to fight Gaara right now, you will be able to release him from that chain of misery he is restraint in. But if you chicken out, you will not only lose your chance to save him from darkness, but your beloved village, your friends, and even you might be killed when he goes completely mad and rampages around! What would you do if that happened, huh? Watch out!'

Naruto ducked, and Gaara's sand arm soared over his head, cutting a few strands of his spiky hair.

'You're right,' he answered after a few seconds of thinking. 'I cannot hesitate now; Gaara needs me, if I don't do anything it will turn everything we have done to trash. But before we start...'

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A clone appeared next to Naruto in a poof of smoke, and the real Naruto commanded. "Go back Sasuke up!"

After the clone had aye aye-ed and leapt away, Naruto turned back to Gaara, who was charging at him full speed again, and caught his extending arm aiming for his head in a grapple.

"Let's go Gaara! I'll bring you back from the darkness, again!"

Blue chakra exploded from Naruto's body, and Gaara cackled madly.

"Yes, yes!! That's it!! Show me your power, Uzumaki!!"

Sakura puked out a glob of blood. She collapsed on the ground next to Hinata's bed; her injuries had turned even worse after taking a blast of sound wave from the Sound shinobi in front of her.

Her body was screaming in excrucriating pain. All of her bones felt like being smashed, and her hospital clothes, together with parts of her skin, were ripped by the Decapitating Air Waves. Tears of anguish and fear were threatening to trickle out of her eyes.

Had those sadists called Sound shinobi not wanted to play with their prey before finishing it, Sakura would have been dead meat by now.

Yet, she still pushed herself up, standing on the way of her and Hinata's assailants.

"Ohoh~," the girl, Kin, sneered. "The pinky bitch still wants to play hero!"

She kicked the pinkette at her chest, and Sakura thought her body was going to explode in agony. The remaining of her ribs seemed to shatter under the force of the kick. She couldn't even scream it out anymore; the voice seemed to choke inside her throat and came out as a gurgle of saliva. She collapsed on the ground once more, and this time she couldn't force herself up anymore.

"Enough!" She heard the bandaged one snarling at his teammates. "We're here to complete the mission, not to fool around kicking Konoha bitches! Just kill her and finish it fast!"

Sakura's spine went colder with each word.

It's over, she told herself. You're going to die. Dying like a useless fangirl you are, without even being able to help your comrade...

...If you believe in yourself, there is nothing you can't do!

Naruto's words still echoed through her head. During her match with Neji, they were the source of confidence for her; they helped her overcome her fear, gave her the strength to stand up again after the Hyuuga prodigy had beaten her down to the ground...

But now...

I'm sorry... I cannot do it... This is the end for me...

Her sight was fading. Through the screen of blood leaking into her eyes, she could vaguely see the people who were standing over her body moving, but she couldn't care less; dying in anyway was fine, as long as the pain would just stop...

Then she heard a wheeze of air, a loud crash, and a high-pitched gasp. But that's just strange; she couldn't even choke out any sound right now, so how...?

Darkness fell around her...

Karin smirked when Sakura was struck down by Zaku.

Those three were right on time. They must be here to rescue me... Orochimaru-sama isn't abandoning me...

The only thing she was annoyed about was that Zaku and Kin liked to fool around with the pink-haired bitch and just didn't finish her off.

"Enough!" Dosu, who was standing next to her, snarled angrily. "We're here to complete the mission, not to fool around kicking Konoha bitches! Just kill her and finish it fast!"

"Meh, stop being such a spoilsport, Dosu," Kin pouted. "What's wrong with having some fun?"

"Ugh, you idiots! Just finish whatever you need to do and get me out of here!" Karin stomped on the floor in frustration. She was getting sick of this. "And remember to bring that Hyuuga girl with you!" she added and turned away.

Suddenly, her instinct screamed at her to duck. She followed it without any thought, and was startled when Dosu's gauntlet soared over her head.

Unfortunately for her, the bandaged genin's jutsu cannot be avoided through mere ducking. Karin felt like her eardrums were going to shatter under the force of the sound waves from Dosu's gauntlet. She gasped out and stumbled to the ground; blood started dripping out of her ears and nose.

"Tch," the bandaged man growled. "I missed."

"What... do you think... you're doing...?" Karin gritted her teeth in pain.

"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Zaku sneered at the collapsed girl in a cheerful tone. "He's killing you, of course!"

"What...?" Karin choked out. "How dare you...? Orochimaru-sama will..."

"Oh, we're so scared!" Zaku laughed. "Tell me Karin, do you know what the mission assigned to us today is?" When the girl shook her head slightly, he exploded in laughter again. "It is to kill you, silly girl! You are useless for Orochimaru-sama, and you knew too much about us, so you must be kept silent forever!"

The world shattered in Karin's eyes. Orochimaru-sama, her savior, her protector, her master... had decided to abandon her...

She turned to Kin, who was standing there impassively with a look of disgust. "Why Kin...? I thought we're friends..."

"Friends, you say?" The other girl sneered in disdain. "All those years when we were taken in by Orochimaru-sama... You're just a useless brat, yet Orochimaru-sama has always favored you over me, always pampered you, just because you're a member of some Uzumaki clan I don't even know anything about! And you think that we're friends? Ha! Just wish for it in the afterlife, bitch!"

Those words served as the final nail to the coffin of Karin. She slumped down on the ground; every sign of spirit left her eyes, and she just lied there, broken both in spirit and in body.

Dosu walked towards Karin's motionless body, his right arm raised high. "Good bye, Karin. We won't miss you."

And the deadly arm was brought down on Karin's head. She didn't make any attempt to avoid; it's not like she had any power left in her body to do it.

"LEAF HURRICANE!"

And Dosu was kicked out of the room through the window by a blur of green and orange.

Rock Lee burst into the room, standing in front of the two redheads' bodies in a dramatic pose.

"Stop right there, Sound shinobi! I, the Beautiful Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf, will not allow you to hurt these two pretty blossoms anymore!"

"Why me...?" Next to him, his teammate Tenten groaned pathetically.

Mei raised her arms to block a vicious kick from the Fourth Kazekage, and skidded back a few steps.

She let out a slight sigh. This was, no doubt, the worst battle she had ever gone through in her life. Even her titanic battle with Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage and the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails Turtle, was not as terrifying as this one.

Yet, it was still the best fight she had ever got in her life.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the First Hokage from afar clapping his hands together.

"Wood Style: Wood Dragon."

The giant serpentine creature erupted from the ground and writhed around with loud cracks and creaks. It descended down the three allied shinobi with its mouth agape, obviously going to devour all of them alive... if you ignored the fact that it was just a construct made of wood.

Without even thinking, Mei flipped through her own set of hand signs.

"Lava Style: Lava Golem!"

The ground rumbled again. This time, a giant humanoid construct made of earth and magma emerged from underground. The two titanic creations clashed against each other, and the golem's massive hands grabbed the maw of the wood dragon in midair and tore it apart, before grabbing the body and flinging it into the wall of flame, destroying it in the process.

Kage-level battle, indeed.

But Mei didn't even think of just stopping there.

"Giga Drill Knuckle!"

She thrust her arm forward. The golem, at her command, immediately launched its arm at the two zombie Hokage with the speed of a rocket, the fist spinning wildly as if it was a drill made of rock and magma. The force generated from the punch was so great that the air hissed furiously when the rock fist soared across, and the Second Hokage had to resort to his Flying Thunder God again to avoid being crushed to bits by the deadly fist.

The two zombie Kage appeared again behind Mei, and Tobirama swung the kunai on his hand at her for his signature Flying Thunder God Slash...

"Water Style: Hydro Cannon!"

The two zombies were blasted away by a high pressure stream of water coming from Hiruzen.

"I have known this will be a great battle, but this is just ridiculous," the old man noted, landing next to Mei with a thud. "Are you all right, my Lady?" he asked in concern.

"Don't worry about me, Lord Hokage," Mei answered him with a confident smile. "I had taken down the Fourth Mizukage alone, remember? And he's the Three-Tails' jinchuriki."

Talking strong like that, Mei still had to do her best not to choke on her breath. Even having Kage-level chakra, enough to handle the Three-Tails jinchuriki alone, her reserve was not unlimited. Right now, she could feel her chakra depleting rapidly after performing so many large-scale jutsu.

"Is that the best you can do?" From afar, Orochimaru's voice rose mockingly. "With that level of power, you won't ever stop me from crushing Konoha!"

"You can still say that, seeing your minions falling like flies out there?" Hiruzen bluffed, pointing out of the barrier at the stands, where Otogakure shinobi were being killed easily by the alliance of Konoha and Kiri. But Orochimaru just laughed.

"Oh, do you really think this is the only thing we have?"

"Our first wave was repelled, wasn't it?"

"Yes sir! Konoha's defense is too strong for our normal shinobi; it's just like they have prepared for us in advance!"

"I see... It's just like Orochimaru-sama has predicted. Then, it's our time to move."

Sasuke winced when his sword collided with his opponent's rather weird choice of a weapon.

Instead of a kunai, or a sword, or anything similar, the glassed man in front of him was fending off his attack with an operation scalpel.

And yet, it felt just like he was just toying with him.

"I knew it," Sasuke gritted his teeth while backing away, breathing heavily. "You're not a normal genin at all. There is no normal genin who can fight as well as you..."

"I'm so honored to receive such praise from you, Sasuke-kun," Kabuto did a dramatic mock bow.

"What do you want from me?!" Sasuke snapped, eyeing the seemingly relaxed man in front of him warily. His hands started sweating heavily, just like the time with Gaara in the hallway of the Chuunin exam testing room. But this time, he was alone.

Instead of answering, Kabuto chuckled. "Such intense spirit. And a powerful body, no less. No wonder why Orochimaru-sama got his eyes on you, Sasuke-kun. A pity you refused his gift he was going to bestow upon you in the Forest of Death..."

Sasuke spat out. "I don't need any gift that pedophile of a Sannin wants to give me!"

"Oh really?" Kabuto smiled. "I wonder what you would say after you see this..."

And Sasuke cringed when he felt an incredible source of chakra exploding from afar, in the direction of the village.

Neji stared at the five men standing around him with narrowed eyes.

He didn't even need to activate his Byakugan to know what was happening outside. All those sounds echoing through the infirmary wall were more than enough for him to understand that there was a great battle going outside.

And the fact that five Otogakure ninja were surrounding him helped a lot, too.

His uncle had departed, leaving him alone with many things to think about. But it seemed there was no time for him to sit down and meditate through it anymore...

The five enemies jumped Neji at once, and the Hyuuga acted in reflex.

"Rotation!"

His absolute defense, a little bit weaker due to his lack of chakra, was still enough to send the five assailants into the walls of the infirmary. A quick tap to each of the enemy shinobi's chest, and they slumped down on the ground.

His body still hurt from his battle with Sakura, but Neji considered himself still able to move and fight, and that was enough. His chakra was replenished mostly by a few soldier pills he found in the infirmary.

He stood up and walked out of the room. Konoha needed another soldier for her defense against the invaders, and she had one more already.

"This guy..."

"I should have known, lazy bastard."

MUNCH

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Shikamaru bolted up right from his lying position when Akamaru bit him at the bicep. He jumped up flailing, swinging the poor white puppy around in the process.

"I can't believe you, Shikamaru!" Ino screeched. "The village is under attack, and you are lying here sleeping? What kind of shinobi are you?"

"Ugh, troublesome girl..." the Nara boy groaned. "Why should I fight? I just wanna sleep!"

Akamaru answered him by sinking his fangs deeper on his arm.

"OWWWWWW! Stop that, stupid mutt!"

"Hey! Don't speak of Akamaru like that!" Kiba protested.

The bickering of the kids was rudely interrupted by a body soaring over Shikamaru's head.

They turned, and saw the last dozen of Otogakure's shinobi standing on a line, their hands weaving through the same set of hand seals.

There's no doubt; they're getting desperated. They're trying to kill all of them, together with as many civilians as they can...!

"Not on my watch!"

The genin could only feel what seemed to be a gust of wind swept through where they were sitting before the Oto-nin were blown away, one by one. The poor enemy ninja slammed at the barrier surrounding the arena, and were immediately burned to cinder in the infernal flame forming it. Terrified and agony screams filled the air.

Maito Gai, the one who was responsible for the attack, turned back to the terrified genin and gave them his trademark youthful thumbs-up.

"And that was the end of them!"

The invading Oto shinobi in the stadium were all exterminated by the jonin of Konoha, with the help of Zabuza and his students from Kirigakure. The only enemies left in the stadium were Orochimaru, his zombie Kages, and the Sound Four, who were busy holding the deadly barrier intact.

"What... what speed..." Ino spluttered in disbelief.

"Y... yeah..." Choji also muttered. He was so surprised he even dropped the last crumb of chip, which had been in his gaping mouth for a while. "I can't even see him move..."

"What are you five doing?" Kurenai landed next to Kiba. "You should have evacuated while you still could! Or you could have just stayed in Kakashi's genjutsu and slept..."

"Well, I would have if those troublesome people hadn't had the brilliant idea of letting a dog bite me!" Shikamaru retorted. Everyone glared at him.

"Sorry Kurenai-sensei, we cannot do that," Shino said stoically. "The village is under attack, and it is our duty to protect her, even if we're just genin. That's what we learnt all the time during our days in the Academy."

Kurenai cringed hearing the answer from her student.

"But..."

"Such youthful thinking, Aburame-kun! Your spirit is definitely fueled with the Flame of