AN: Hey guys, I'm back, and for those who may or may not have noticed, I changed my pen name, so it's still me! :) Sorry for such a long wait, had a rough few weeks, but I managed to type up another chapter. This is a pretty long one, so I apologise to those who hate reading long chapters, but I had a lot to write, and this was the only place I could find to end it =)

Although I honestly don't feel like this is one of my better chapters, but there's not much more I can do about that... I've tried rewriting bits here and there, and going over everything but I couldn't find a way to make it better in my opinion :P The past few weeks have really put a damper on my inspiration, but I tried to put something up for you guys :)

On a brighter note, we're almost at 100 reviews guys! So if we could push over that marker after this chapter, I'll push to get another up and done before I start Uni again on the 1st of February, which I would love to do, but as you know, reviews do make things go faster :D Any ways, onto the reviews quick and then you guys can read the chapter ;)

buterflypuss - As always, thanks for the review bud, glad you liked the chap, and hope this one is all right :P Not one of my better chapters in my opinion, but I'll leave it to you guys to decide.

Yana5 - Haha, Snake-pedo indeed :D Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and always a pleasure ;) Hope this one is just as good, but I have my doubts :P went through a slight rough patch, so it might not be as good.

CharitysSongbird - Thanks for the review bud, and I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter :) Yep, the pain of going through the exams is real lol, but I'm muscling through it as best I can :D I'm really glad you like my OC, and I enjoyed most of my holiday, save for some RL issues that messed it up a bit :P I hope I do a good job of this chapter, I had a rough past few weeks so this chap may not be up to standards, but I tried my best :) Enjoy ;)

bcoleton1 - Haha, you have no idea what this review meant to me buddy =) I couldn't stop smiling, so I'll dedicate this chapter to you =) Although like I've said, I don't feel as good about it, but that's up to you guys. Thanks again so much for your review bud, I really appreciated it =)

Guest - Thanks you for this review guest. I made a mock up in the previous chapter with regards to the piercing power, and I had actually completely forgotten about Lightning being the piercing power, not wind. I can't really patch that up because it's pretty integrated into the story, but know that I won't make a mistake like that again :) Thanks again for the review, still wish I had a name to call you by, but enjoy the chap ;)

Musubi Kazesaru - Thanks bud, I appreciate your honest opinion of my fic :) I know that my writing is above average, but I've always had a slight problem with the actual plot of a story, so that's why this story might not seem like it's out-of-this-world kind of thing :D But I apprecaite the review nonetheless, and good call bud ;) Right on the money there with your guess. Enjoy the chap!

waterdemon9 - Haha, glad to hear that you tried to read every chapter in one go! =) It made me smile hearing that someone liked my story enough to do that :D But please do get some sleep lol, don't want to lose one of the few who really love this story :D Haha, HSTD does rock, and I really love zombies as well lol, same with my sister :D No need to feel like you're zombie freaks, because so am I :D Glad you can't wait for the next chapter, so here it is =) Hope it's as good as you hoped, I personally don't feel it is, but I might be a pretty harsh judge (shrugs). Enjoy! :)

Kronus96 - Good guess bud, third raikage was right on the money, but don't tell anyone else... shhh :) That's one of my most well kept secrets at the moment, so keep it on the DL ;) Sorry about the false accusation about not enjoying the story, I think it was pretty late the last time I updated, so I might have mistaken you for someone else :D I didn't mean, honestlyy, so please enjoy this chapter as a token of my appreciation :D Glad you liked the animals, I felt it was a cool twist, and I'll see about adding in one more encounter into the next chapter maybe ;)

Kairan1979 - Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and always a pleasure for the update :) Yeah, Anko may be troublesome, but there sure are a lot more people who are more troublesome lol xD Enjoy the chap... hopefully :D

Haruchai - Hey bud, thanks for the review! :) But I was speaking about High School of the Dead, with the zombies, not High School DxD :) But I recommened High School of the Dead, it's really good :) I'm gonna try and get to the canon timeline soon, but do you mean Shippuden or just the canon timeline in general? Thanks again for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter :)

AN: Okay, that's it for the reviews, just the boring old disclaimer and then you guys are free to move onto the actual story and read it, hopefully enjoy it, and then definitely review it afterwards, am I right? :) I hope so :D Enjoy the chap ;)

Warning: Contains scenes of a slightly gory nature towards the end.

Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 13: Non-confrontational Confrontation

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

"Bijū/Summon talking"

'Bijū/Summon thinking'

Day two of the Chūnin Exams, early nightfall...

The shining star known far and wide as the sun had just vanished beyond the horizon, and darkness encompassed the entirety of the Elemental Nations. But more importantly, darkness encompassed the Forest of Death, and the time was right for the trio of genin operating as Team Genma to get into gear and begin searching out an enemy team for an Earth scroll.

As things stood, they'd run into unexpected primatial visitors on their first day after entering through the gates, and they'd taken the night and day to rest and prepare themselves to begin advancing on the enemy teams. And that was where they found themselves at the current point in time. They'd planned accordingly and made the decision to head up along the edge of the river where they were most likely to find an opposing team. The fact that it was night made it all the more likely that the team they sought out would be asleep or preparing for such. That would be the key facet to their night operation.

The trio of genin leapt from tree branch to tree branch with nary a sound, their movements the definition of stealth. They moved at a pace fast enough to make substantial progress distance-wise, but slow enough to keep their presence undetected. They were all draped with black hooded cloaks that they'd procured before the exam, their sensei having not so subtly hinted that it would be better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. 'Just like those sheaths you humans palce on over your genitals before engaging in coitus,' chimed Kurama, his teeth bared in a toothy grin.

The fox's comment succeeded in almost tripping the whiskered-blonde up, and had he not been concentrating completely on making his soundless leaps from branch to branch, he might've found the ground coming up to meet him on his way down. 'Y-Yes, that's the same principle you damned fur ball! And it's called a condom! And coitus? What the hell is that?!'

The fox snickered softly to itself, its soft wheezes echoing around Naruto's mind. 'Oh I know what it's called, but you humans have reduced your dialect to the point that it's almost primitive... I will call it whatever I feel like calling it. As for coitus, ask your fellow teammates if you are so curious. I shall retract to the sidelines for the moment...'

Naruto shook his head in a deadpan as the fox receded into his mind for the time-being, actually able to hear himself think for a change. 'Whatever happened to just speaking normally?! I swear...' Glancing to his left and right though, he coughed into his hands to get his teammates attention before posing the question that was now sufficiently gnawing at his curiosity. "So uh, what's coitus?"

The brunette and female blonde on his left and right flanks respectively almost nose dived into the next tree branch they were landing on from the sudden question, but managed to correct themselves mid-landing, the brunette glaring at his whiskered-blonde friend incredulously, while the female of the team adjusted her glasses before they fell off, her cheeks now sporting a mild blush. "What the fuck Naruto?! This is most definitely not the time for that!"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked from the brunette to Shiho, his eyes almost begging now. "But I wanna know," he whined softly, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

Shiho once again pushed up her glasses before softly coughing into her hands, her blush coming back full force. "Well, ah, you see Uzumaki-kun, in layman's terms, coitus means... well you see, it defers too—"

"It means sex you whiskered moron!" Shūhei snapped angrily at his friend, slapping him upside the head for causing such a fuss, especially at a time like this.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, apologising to both his teammates. 'Although I probably could've figured that one out logically...' His eyes snapped forward though as the brunette's fist came up to order their team to a halt, Shūhei's eyes closed in concentration. "Hey, what's up?"

The blonde's voice was a whisper, but the brunette heard him clear as day as he searched out for the chakra he'd sensed a second ago. His eyes snapped open and he glanced ahead and to the left, a trio of chakra signatures a little further in that direction. "I think I just found our targets," he relayed softly, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Naruto quietly fist pumped the air with a wide smile, earning a mutter of 'immature child' from his brunette friend. He ignored it completely however and unsealed his bow, glancing at the brunette and bespectacled blonde. "All right, so what's the plan?"

They gathered together in their signature huddle, the brunette already relaying the parts of their plan of attack. It was a simple immobilise and subdue operation, and if unable to subdue then kill. But that was an absolute last resort, because none of them had actually killed before. And to be completely honest, they were trying to keep it that way for as long as they could. Many would argue otherwise and suggest the sooner the better... But not in the middle of a hostile environment without the supervision of their sensei. That was just a recipe for disaster.

The trio of genin nodded their heads at the plan, and with their targets pinpointed to a few hundred metres ahead of them, they slowed down tremendously and proceeded with the utmost caution, refraining from doing any noisy tree jumping and opting to transfer from tree to tree by way of the over-and-under passing branches, crisscrossing this way and that.

They had moved a little bit higher up the tree, now standing a little over 20 metres in the air. As Naruto manoeuvred around the trunk of another tree, their targets came into view: a trio of genin, sitting around a small smokeless fire. Naruto's eyes had always been sharper than most; same could be said for the rest of his senses, and Kurama had theorised it was due to his presence within the blonde, but that was wholly unconfirmed; either way, Naruto's sharp eyes zeroed in on the unsuspecting group of genin, and the symbols represented atop their foreheads were all too clear. Amegakure no Sato.

His eyes darted this way and that, and eventually he spotted the hidden forms of his two teammates, both of whom were hidden up in the trees just like him. They effectively had the genin below surrounded, but now it was time for Naruto to enact the rest of their plan. Bringing his hands into the cross seal, he created a single shadow clone and had it join his other two teammates. The clone would take his spot in apprehending their targets while he himself prepared for the immobilisation of the genin below.

He pulled his bow off his back and unsealed an arrow, the shaft of which was covered in a multitude of flash bombs. Naruto crouched low on the branch and pulled the arrow taut in his bow, his right hand brushing against his cheek. Breathing in and breathing out, he let fly with the arrow, the missile zipping through the air and landing square in the middle of the huddled up genin. Bringing his right hand up in the Ram seal not a second later, he detonated the flash bombs below, making sure to avert his gaze for the moment to allow the blinding flashes to pass. It did nothing for the accompanying deafness though, his ears ringing loudly.

The blindness and deafness induced by the flash bombs would only last for about five seconds, so not wasting any more time, the remaining two members of Team Genma along with Naruto's clone dropped from the tree branches above to the ground and made to subdue their targets. Their targets weren't standing still anymore however, the disorientation from the flash bombs sending them stumbling around the immediate area. Shūhei sent a roundhouse kick right at his target's head at the same time Shiho launched a salvo of senbon into her target's neck, and the Naruto clone grabbed his target around the throat, holding his trench knife at the captive's neck.

Instead of all their attacks hitting home and effectively immobilising each of their targets, their attacks seemed to pass through their targets' liquid-like bodies, the Ame genin seemingly made out of a black sludge-like substance. The genin Shūhei struck had its head cleaved clean off, but the genin's head simply dissolved in a shower of black rain before another body of the genin materialised out of the wound inflicted, the wound itself regenerating until it was like the genin had never been struck in the first place.

The same process occurred with each of the other genin who had inflicted serious damage on their opponents, the only thing the genin of Team Genma having succeeded in doing being multiplying the number of targets around them, each attack having split the Ame genin into more clones of themselves.

"What's going on?" Shūhei muttered irritably with a noticeable frown on his face, palming a kunai and holding it up in front of himself defensively as he stood beside Shiho and the Naruto clone who had both backed away upon discovering their latest problem. "The fact that slicing them open only led to further enemies means we must be dealing with clones here..."

Shiho nodded her head slowly, finding the assessment on par, as was usually the case with her brunette teammate she'd come to realise. "But if these are all clones, then where are the originals?" She fisted another trio of senbon as she said this, and her eyes swept over their now quintet group of enemies.

Shūhei and Shiho's enemies had both doubled up after their respective attacks, but what drew wide eyes from each of the genin below was the emergence of more clones from seemingly everywhere, the rebreather-clad genin surfacing from the ground, trees and rocks all around the small clearing they found themselves at a stand-off in.

A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Shiho's forehead as she eyed the ever increasing number of enemies filling up the clearing all around them, and the beating of her heart filled her ears as the hand holding onto her senbon shook worriedly. 'T-There's... there's too many of them! There's just no way we can take on this many enemies, no matter how good we may be!'

She chanced a glance to her right to see how here brunette teammate was fairing, to see whether he'd divulged the seriousness and danger of the current situation, and her eyes widened minutely. His face was as calm as ever, his eyes as steely as they were not two minutes ago when they'd engaged their operation. He looked perfectly composed, not a care in the world for the ever growing number of enemies traversing on their position.

And then she saw it. It was quick, almost too quick to notice, but he glanced at her, then up into the trees and then back into the swarm of clones surrounding them. It took her a couple of seconds to decipher the glance, but her eyes widened again once she had. 'Of course! Uzumaki-kun is still up above in the tree tops! He's our eyes in the sky so to speak, and he should be able to locate the casters of the jutsu from that vantage point!'

Turning her eyes forward again, she clenched her fist a little tighter, her stance regaining a measure of confidence. 'We'll just have to put our faith in Uzumaki-kun... it's up to him to expose the true casters then...'

XxX

Naruto watched triumphantly from high up above in the trees as his teammates and clone successfully struck each opposing genin from Amegakure. Their plan had worked like a charm, and it wouldn't be long now before they walked out of here with another scroll in hand, and hopefully an Earth scroll at that. Everything was going swimmingly, until their targets below began splitting into copies of themselves. 'Wait a sec—that's not supposed to happen!' It wasn't long before the clones of their enemies were popping up from all over the show, and Naruto gripped the handles of his trench knives tightly as he prepared to dive down and help out the rest of his team—

'Wait gaki! Don't be so hasty!' came the booming voice of his furry tenant from within. Naruto halted in his tracks and frowned inwardly, sending nervous glances towards his teammates who were being further surrounded the more time they wasted up here! 'Don't you think I know that gaki! But haste makes waste, so slow down and allow me to explain... your team will be fine for the moment.'

Naruto grit his teeth but grudgingly acquiesced and turned away from his team to focus on Kurama's voice, his frown more pronounced than ever. 'Just make it quick Kurama! Every second we waste here could mean life or death for Shūhei and Shiho-chan!'

The fox harrumphed in frustration and lifted his head from atop its perched position, ignoring the blonde completely. 'As I was saying, you clearly have not sensed it yet, but those clones below are nothing more than a genjutsu which you have been ensnared within... so first and foremost, you need to break yourself out of the illusion. I would break it for you, but we have yet to experiment with using my chakra, so break the illusion.'

Naruto blinked owlishly for a few seconds before a loud growl from Kurama kickstarted his movements once again. He stole another wary glance at his team before bringing his hand up into the Ram seal to help him focus his chakra. He and Kurama had spoken briefly about their trust in one another, and after realising that Naruto had been slightly squandering his partner's, he'd made a concerted effort to start listening to him when he spoke. It wasn't often when the giant fox did offer up advice in a pinch like this, but Naruto had learned that Kurama was oft correct most every time.

So with a practised ease that his best friend Shūhei had beaten into him after countless hours of genjutsu training, he momentarily stopped the flow of his chakra before jump starting it once again. He stole another momentary glance to the clearing below and delightedly found the clones wavering in an unstable fashion before vanishing from before his eyes.

He widened his eyes in surprise as the illusion was broken, but his frown returned once more when he noted that his team and his clone still seemed to be stuck firm within the ruse. He gripped his trench knife and readied to launch himself below to break his teammates out of the genjutsu as well, but the echoing voice of Kurama stopped him once again. 'What is it this time?! They're still stuck in that illusion and they need to be broken free!'

'Stop questioning my reasons and just trust my judgment you ingrate!' the almightiest of the bijū roared loudly, moving onto all fours as its patience thinned. Naruto visibly recoiled from the outcry, but he stayed his tongue and frowned exasperatedly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kurama, but his teammates were down there in the middle of the meat grinder so to speak, so he couldn't help the sense of urgency brought about by the situation.

Huffing irritably and descending onto its hind legs, the fox began once more. 'Now, like I was saying, this a genjutsu, and if your best friend of a teammate is as smart as I know he is, then he's already figured that out too.'

The fox spoke of experience, having marvelled at the brunette's intellect more than a few times during his partnership with the whiskered blonde. It had a nagging sort of familiarity that he just couldn't quite place, and it was that familiarity that annoyed him to no end. But that was a matter for another time. They were on the clock as the blonde had so morosely pointed out, so he turned his eyes back to the inner-blonde.

'Knowing that he's caught in a genjutsu, he'll also know that the casters of said genjutsu are attempting—and have so far succeeded—in keeping themselves hidden.' The fox slowed for a moment to make sure that the whiskered blonde was still following, and with a proud-ish smile realised that he was. Pride wasn't to be mistaken for relief however, and the fox quickly reassured itself with a curt nod before clearing its throat and continuing that he was feeling relief, not pride. Never pride. '... you starting to get the picture here gaki? You've been granted a golden opportunity to find the enemy while they are under the distinct impression that you and your entire team is captured, and that brunette friend of yours is acutely aware of this as well. For the sake of maintaining his and the rest of your team's oblivious expressions however, he is remaining ensnared...'

Naruto's eyes slowly took on an understanding glint, and he was momentarily shocked that Shūhei, one of the smartest guys he knew, as well as his one and true best friend, had vested so much faith in him. He believed that Naruto would be able to deduce all which Kurama had just explained, and save their hides from impending doom which was sure to have befallen them had the blonde jinchūriki not uncovered the brunette's plan. A deep sense of gratitude and honour filled the blonde at the shocking revelation, but a just as deep, if not deeper feeling of guilt haunted him as he realised that if not for Kurama, he doubted he would've had the capacity to perceive Shūhei's intentions. He hung his head in shameful regret, but the uncharacteristically soft voice of the aforementioned bijū gave him pause.

'Do not think so lowly of your intellectual capabilities gaki... you do not give yourself enough credit, and your friend would not have vested so much in you if he did not feel that you were capable of performing... he knows you better than I could ever hope to...' Silence reigned for a moment before a gruff cough escaped the fox's maw and he smashed his tails atop the floor of the seal, once again barking out at his jinchūriki. 'Now don't make him regret placing all that faith in you!'

The shame that had previously washed over the blonde vanished in that instant, and with those determined azure-blue orbs, the blonde set about to prove that his friend was right to put so much faith in him. 'Thanks Kurama... just hang in there Shūhei, Shiho-chan... help is on the way!'

XxX

In the ground-level bushes several metres away from the ensnared trio of genin known as Team Genma, another trio of genin sat and waited with mocking grins as they watched the helpless green-as-grass genin struggle futilely against their genjutsu trap. They were all garbed in a similar tan coloured jumpsuit, each genin sporting a rebreather that was a common occurrence among shinobi from Amegakure.

"Ha! How lucky are we that these brats decided to attack us, huh?!" one of the Ame genin barked out at his two teammates, a dangerous gleam in his eye. Glancing at his black-haired short-trimmed teammate, he clapped him softly on the shoulder and pointed back towards the clearing where the 'brats' were still fighting their imaginary opponents. "Quick thinking placing that genjutsu on all three Mubi; although I gotta say, how much longer do we need to wait this out? Surely we can make our move already?"

The now named Mubi glanced at their de facto leader through his lone eye hole cut out of the sash around his face and slowly shook his head in the negative. "For this to work completely in our favour, we must wait until they are fatigued and at their physical limits; as easy as they may seem, even the worst of shinobi can get in a lucky shot now and again Oboro."

"But they're completely helpless now," the third and final teammate whined, gripping a kunai tightly in his left hand. "Even I can see that," he deadpanned sarcastically, gesturing to his sash-covered face, his sight completely blocked off. Whether he was blind or not was debateable, because his teammates sure as hell had no idea either.

The leader of their group glanced back at the clearing, his eyes conveying his displeasure at waiting, but he trusted his comrade. If he said they needed to wait, then they'd wait. "As lucky as I'm feeling right now, I'd hate to have something unexpected ruin our chances. Let's just wait this out, do it properly the first time and head to the tower." A small chuckle escaped his mouth, the sound coming out raspy and warped through the rebreather. "Besides, I'm sure there'll be plenty more teams along the way to the tower that we can play with Kagari."

"Sounds like a plan to me Oboro—"

"So, you're the one who's casting the jutsu," came a playfully serious voice from the trees above before a figure appeared in a flicker of wind behind the short-trimmed Mubi, a trench knife held dangerously close to the Ame genin's neck.

The rest of the Ame genin were immediately on high alert, kunai drawn and held defensively in front of their bodies. Oboro's eyes widened in surprise though when he got a good eyeful of his blonde attacker, and his eyes flicked to the right. Much to his surprise, the blonde in question was struggling much the same as the rest of his teammates, fighting off the phantom clones in the genjutsu with the rest of his team. But he was here too?! "You're a clone?" His voice was laced with confusion, and he failed miserably in attempting to hide his uncertainty.

Naruto just grinned all the wider from his position behind the still struggling Mubi, tightening his grip around the boy's neck, flowing the minutest amount of wind chakra into his knife and gingerly grazing his target's throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the blonde warned softly, his eyes narrowing and slowly moving from Oboro to the other genin who was named Kagari.

Said genin slowly lowered his hands that had been extending to perform hand signs, and with a click of his tongue he growled at the blonde. "So what's your plan here Blondie? You really think you can take on all three of us by yourself?!"

Naruto let out a soft chuckle as he slowly shook his head. "As fun a challenge as that would be, I'm not about to gamble with my teammates' lives." His smile morphed into a small frown as he flowed a little more wind chakra into his knife, a thin line of blood flowing out of Mubi's neck as the invisible blade of wind extended ever further. "Now, either you release the genjutsu because you cut off your chakra to the technique, or you release the genjutsu because your head is no longer attached to the rest of your body... the choice is yours..."

Mubi gulped audibly as he felt the warm sensation of blood slowly trickling down his neck, beads of cold sweat dripping down the side of his face. "N-Now just wait a second, don't be hasty and do something you might r-regret—"

"Y'know," Naruto cut in, his eyes lazily sweeping over the Ame genin ahead of him as his wind chakra extended ever further. "My teammate often tells me how haste makes waste... I'm beginning to see what kind of waste she was talking about..." His frown deepened, and his growing annoyance was evident in the way he pushed his blade further into the genin's throat, his blood now freely dripping onto the grass below.

Naruto had tried the non-violent approach, because frankly he wasn't too comfortable with acting so gruesome, but his teammates' lives were on the line, so how could he be anything else if it was gonna give him the results he wanted and saved their lives in the process? 'Just do what you gotta do,' he mentally berated himself, fixing his narrowed eyes on the genin in his grasp. "You said not to do something I might regret? That decision is in your hands now..."

The team leader of the Ame genin stared long and hard at the blonde, his eyes searching for any sort of waver in his resolve, but the seriousness drifting off the blonde told no lies. He would kill Mubi if it meant protecting his own teammates, and as much as Oboro wanted to win this battle, he valued his teammates more. With a small nod in Mubi's direction, the genin in question cut off his chakra to the Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu (Mist Servant Technique).

It took all of three seconds before the three genin who had been ensnared in the genjutsu were in the bushes right along with the Ame genin and Naruto. It took all of two more seconds for them to get a grasp on the situation, and it was quickly made clear that the genin of Team Genma had the higher ground.

"We did what you asked, now let go of our teammate," demanded Kagari, his frown evident even through all of the clothing hiding his face. His grip on his kunai was turning his knuckles white, and he took a step forward to emphasise his growing frustration.

"You guys are outnumbered and in no position to make any sort of demands," Shūhei belted out with the authority of a leader, pointing a kunai at both of the Ame genin who were still relatively safe, albeit slightly pissed at the current predicament they found themselves in. "So just give us your scroll and we'll let you walk away from this alive."

The statement only seemed to further infuriate the Ame genin, specifically the completely blinded one named Kagari, but before the two genin could take more than a step forward and physically demonstrate their anger, three well placed senbon found their way into the necks of both Ame shinobi, and their bodies impacted with the dirt ground a couple seconds later.

A small thud drew Shūhei and Shiho's attention back over to the original Naruto, and they found that he'd knocked his target out with a swift hit to the side of the head, that sheepish grin pulling at his lips as he glanced up at his fellow teammates. "Glad to see you guys made it out okay."

Shūhei smiled proudly in his best friend's direction, shaking his head wryly as he bent down and searched the leader's backpack. "I'm just glad you managed to figure out my plan. I had my doubts, but in the end I knew you could do it." His smile turned completely upside down though when he noticed that the team they'd just defeated had a scroll all too familiar to their own, and he tossed it Naruto's way after double checking it. "Here, you keep it. You were one who managed to save us and defeat these guys, so it's only fitting you be the one to keep their scroll. Albeit they've got a Heaven scroll too, but there's not much we can do about that."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the praise, but didn't dispute. Shūhei should actually be thanking Kurama for saving his ass, because Naruto was just about ready to ensnare himself in the genjutsu as well had it not been for the fox's timely intervention. But as it stood, they had no idea about his burden – at least that's what some would call it – he preferred the term 'partner'. Any ways, nobody knew about his partner, so for now, he would ungraciously accept the praise that should be handed over to Kurama.

Glancing over in the direction he assumed was east judging by the growing presence of light, Shūhei grabbed both of his teammates' attention and inclined his head back in the direction of their impromptu base. "The sun's starting to rise, so just like last night: we head back, take it easy for the day, get some sleep and rest up before going out again when night falls. Any objections?"

Shiho shook her head in the negative, but Naruto scratched the back of his head again in the same way that he always did, and with a somewhat lopsided smile he shrugged his shoulders. "I was thinking that... I dunno, maybe we should split up tonight to cover more ground and try find a few more teams to hit, just in case we come up short on a scroll again?"

Shūhei looked thoughtful for a second before nodding in acquiescence. "Sounds good to me. We'll just need to be extra careful, and Naruto will send a clone with each person so that we can relay information between each other." He turned his eyes to the unconscious bodies on the ground and waved at his teammates. "Now help me tie these guys up and cover your tracks when you leave... we don't want these guys coming after us in a fit of vengeance."

Naruto chuckled good-naturedly, but Shūhei just gave him a look that said he was being dead serious, and nothing more was said as the trio of genin tied up their respective Ame targets and took to the trees, making sure to cover up any trace of their presence.

The next night, in the bushes of a clearing further to the north...

"W-Whoa, these guys are pretty rough!" Chōji hissed loudly, his voice barely above a whisper as they watched the moonlit clearing through the bushes off to the side. The clearing, despite being well into the hours of the night, was quite well lit, and they could see everything that was going on with relative ease. And at the moment, Rock Lee had just been taken down by a member of the Otogakure genin, the one whose head was completely wrapped in bandages with the large poncho and straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf. The girl from Oto had long black hair and the same snake-patterned scarf as the other two, and the last guy from Oto had spiky black hair, an happuri attached to his hitai-ate, and the kanji for 'death' printed several times down the front of his shirt.

The Handsome Devil of Konoha was lying face down in the dirt, and the blood trailing from his ear glistened ominously in the moonlight. Shikamaru didn't respond immediately, his throat thoroughly choked up at the moment. These Oto punks looked like they were ready to go in for the kill on that Rock Lee guy, and the calm with which they were talking about killing left no doubts in the Nara's mind about whether or not they would go through with it. This clearly wasn't their first time spilling blood, and they had no qualms with doing it again.

Bravely or stupidly – the choice was debateable – Sakura chose that moment to re-intervene, garnering all the Oto genin's attention once more by throwing a trio of kunai at Dosu, the apparent leader of the Oto team. It did the job of taking their attention off the downed Lee, and they were once again approaching Sakura. "Lee's completely out of it, and it seems that Sasuke and Sai are just as banged up as him," Shikamaru began to explain softly, his brows knit in confusion. "No, that's not quite right. I don't know all the details, but it's clear something's happened to them."

Ino had remained fairly silent from the time they began watching the entire ordeal going on between Sakura and the Oto genin, and she had been trying – and failing miserably at that – to quell her shaking hands, but to no avail. She was scared out of her wits, and if that wasn't enough, she was scared for Sakura. Her once best friend was facing these monsters without batting an eyelid, and Ino could only awe at her friend's iron resolve. "And Sakura's facing them all on her own..."

The shakiness of her voice drew a worried frown from Shikamaru, who was finally coming to grips with the seriousness of the situation. "I'd personally prefer to observe for a little longer, but I don't know if we have the liberty of time on our side." Letting out a soft wearisome sigh, he glanced to his right at the shaking blonde beside him and frowned in worry. "What do you wanna do Ino?"

The blonde in question slowly turned to him with an incredulous look, her green-blue eyes wide with surprise. "What are you asking me for?! It's not like there's anything I could actually do to help! I'd just get killed out there!"

Shikamaru recoiled at her harsh tone, but his frown never dropped, and he just continued to stare at her. "Well she was your friend once wasn't she? If we don't do something now, she'll be done for!" He gulped audibly and stared into her green-blue eyes. 'Also, I'd rather not incur your demonic wrath, so I'm giving you the reins here.' He didn't dare give voice to that thought though, lest he incur that wrath he was thinking about.

Ino just turned to look at him once more, her legs now having joined in on the shaking spree her hands were going on. "W-Well what could we possibly do?!" She shut her eyes in frustration and held her fists tight at her side, hoping upon hopes that she could get it to stop shaking. "I'm scared Shika, and I just don't know what to do..."

Her voice was just as shaky as before, if not more so, but before he could comment on the distress his female teammate was going through, a whimper from Chōji drew his attention, and glancing in the direction his rotund friend was looking, he found the cause, getting his own eyes to widen in concern.

Sakura was kneeling on the ground, her hair being fisted tightly by the female Oto genin, and she looked to be in a world of pain. Listening to what they were saying, it sounded like they were gonna kill Sasuke right in front of her eyes, making her watch the whole agonising ritual of ending his life just to make her suffer more. These guys were monsters in every sense of the word, and it didn't help that they hadn't jumped in to help her yet. Them just sitting here, watching as it all happened could be considered just as bad, if not worse. The guilt welled up in his stomach, but he couldn't make himself move to go and help. He was shaking just as much as Ino was, and he was just as scared. His body was paralysed with fear; pretty ironic considering he was the one who usually did the paralysing.

Balling his fists at his sides, he looked up again only to wish that he hadn't. It only made him feel worse, watching as the pink haired genin from Team Kakashi began crying, tears openly falling from her eyes. He could see Ino's eyes glossing over with a thin layer of moisture as well, looking to be on the verge of crying herself, but his eyes were drawn back to the clearing, his muscles still completely unmoving. The Oto genin by the name of Zaku began advancing on Sasuke, drawing nearer to the downed genin who was lying sheltered within the trunk of a massive tree, and Shikamaru braced himself for what was to come, not being able to tear his eyes away.

But that's when the most bizarre thing happened, and his entire team widened their eyes in shock when Sakura withdrew a kunai and sliced through her pink hair. Her hitai-ate and strands of pink locks drifted slowly towards the ground below, impacting the dirt with a small clang, and in a strange turn of events, Sakura began fighting back, taking on the Oto genin all on her lonesome.

She was doing fairly well too, and managed to outsmart Zaku with some clever usage of the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique). But that's when things started to turn pear-shaped once again, and as Sakura clung to the Oto genin's arm with naught but her jaw, she was pounded on relentlessly, Zaku nailing her on the head several times over with his fist. With one more forceful blow, Zaku managed to detach Sakura from his arm and threw her a good couple metres away from him, rubbing gingerly at his forearms before aiming his hands in Sakura's direction, his face set in a menacing snarl.

"Oh this is bad!" Chōji cried out softly, whipping his head in Shikamaru and Ino's direction, his eyes pleading. "What should we do?! She's gonna get creamed if we just stand here! It's now or never!"

Shikamaru turned his gaze from Chōji to Ino, his expression dire. "So what's it gonna be Ino?! We need to act, and we need to do it now if we're gonna stop this!" He couldn't keep the urgency from his voice, and it surprised him just as much as it surprised his teammates. He hadn't known Sakura nearly as well as Ino, but he found himself worrying just as much over her as he would his own teammates, a strange feeling of camaraderie washing over him.

Ino's mind was a torrent of emotions, and she fumbled with her hands as she continued to stare at Sakura's helpless form. She withdrew a kunai from her pouch however and shakily brought it up, glancing at Chōji and Shikamaru out of the corner of her eye and nodding shakily. "O-Okay guys, come on, Sakura needs our help, so let's—"

Her courageous words were cut off as a small gust of wind rustled the nearby bushes and howled sharply through the midnight air, and the form of Zaku went sailing through the air towards his two teammates, a small whelp escaping his lips. And then in another howl of wind, a whiskered blonde appeared before Sakura, standing firmly between her and her attackers.

"N-Naruto?!" Shikamaru's surprise caught both his teammates' attention, and just like that their resolve had faded and they were once again hiding behind the bushes, opting to rather observe for the time being. "What's he doing here? And where's the rest of his team?"

Ino let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, and she looked on towards the blonde who had appeared out of nowhere with a sorrowful look. 'Please... please save her Naruto... do what I was too scared to...' A feeling of shame tugged at her heart, but she couldn't bring herself to get back onto her feet. She felt useless, and she watched quietly to see what would come of the battle.

XxX

Naruto had been watching the fight for quite a while, but had smartly decided to keep his distance at the behest of Kurama. It had been the fox's plan to wait out the scuffle, let the two teams fight it out, and after one took out the other, he would swoop in and take out the weakened team. But Naruto had vehemently declined, especially after seeing that it was one of the other rookie teams, just like him. He agreed to watch however, and held out as long as he could. But once the one named Zaku had begun beating down on a defenceless Sakura, his blood began to boil, and after she was thrown across the clearing, it had been the last straw.

Unable to continue observing, Naruto moved in and roundhouse-kicked the Oto genin away towards the rest of his team, pulling up defensively in front of Sakura, leading to his current position. "Who the fuck are you?!" cried the now fuming Zaku, nursing his throbbing jaw from his position on the ground with an angry snarl.

Naruto ignored the genin and glanced behind him at the downed Sakura, his eyes perusing over the cuts and slowly forming bruises on her face, the trails of blood freely dripping from her nose and the various cuts aforementioned. His eyes softened as her large wide green eyes gazed up at him, and he found himself bending down to the ground, his right hand extended to her. "I think this is yours."

The kunoichi from Team Kakashi glanced towards the extended hand, and her eyes widened minutely as she spied her hitai-ate in his hand, a small grateful smile tugging at her lips. "T-Thanks—Naruto, was it?"

Naruto nodded softly, helping her to her feet and gently placing a soldier pill from his rear pouch in her hand. "Yep, that's my name." He offered her a small smile before frowning worriedly at her. "Are you all right?" Oh, he could see that she was most definitely not all right, but it was all he could think to say besides pointing our her obvious cuts and bruises and the way her face was starting to swell. A miniscule amount of guilt pooled in the pit of his stomach, gnawing at his emotions that he let things go this far. But he was here now, and he was gonna help.

She nodded meekly at him, and he offered her a small smile again before turning around to face the team of Oto genin. "I had decided to mind my own business and stay out of this fight..." His face morphed into an angry snarl and he clenched his fists at his sides as he looked at the smug looking Oto genin before him, his fury clear as day in the darkness of the night. "But you self-righteous assholes went too far, and now I'm making this my business! Not just Sakura, but Rock Lee as well. There's a score to be settled, and it will be settled."

Zaku got back onto his feet and spat a glob of saliva at the ground, glaring in the newly arrival's direction with a mocking smile. "Ha! Don't get all high and mighty there Blondie! You're gonna pay for that lucky shot you landed earlier!"

The leader of the Oto genin, Dosu, took a step forward and held out his hand in front of the outraged Zaku, an inquisitive frown reflecting in his only visible eye. "You never answered Zaku's question, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. So who are you, and which village are you from?"

Naruto didn't answer at first, just staring at the opposition ahead of him with those same fury-filled eyes, his heavy breathing being the only sound within the clearing. Slowly withdrawing his two trench knives, he held them out in front of him in a reverse grip and missed the way that an aura of orange chakra began wafting off his body. "It really doesn't matter who I am or which village I'm from! Just know that I'm gonna be the one to kick your guys' asses!"

Kurama felt the slight tugging of his chakra, but instead of informing Naruto, he opted to calmly observe the consequences of the blonde using his chakra. It was clear the seal was designed in order to allow Naruto to use the fox's chakra, the way that it was slowly melding their chakra's into one, but he was just as intrigued by this development as he was about the seal itself, so he just watched quietly from his usual perch.

When jinchūriki drew on a certain amount of the chakra of their respective tailed beasts, the bijū's very own psyche would fuse along with it, resulting in an inner struggle with the jinchūriki as they drew on more of their beast's chakra. But in Kurama's case, he had given up on most of the hatred he had previously harboured, and he considered Naruto a partner in every sense of the word, so there was a lack of that inner struggle that would usually accompany the use of a tailed beast's chakra. The results were unknown to him, and he hoped this battle could shed a little light on the subject.

Naruto dug the balls of his feet into the ground, preparing to push off at the still crouched Zaku, but a gentle hand on his shoulder gave him pause, and he looked back to find Sakura behind him with a trio of shuriken in one hand, and a determined look in her green eyes. "I-I'm gonna help too. My teammates have done enough for me already, and I don't wanna be a burden to them any longer. So just leave the girl to me. Please."

Naruto found himself staring at Sakura a little longer than he'd planned, but something in the way she wanted to prove herself to her teammates struck a chord with him, and he couldn't help but allow her to take the girl. He figured she'd be okay on her own, so he gave her that same small smile and nodded softly. "She's all yours Sakura. I'll take the asshole with 'death' written all over his shirt. Something tells me the guy in the back covered in bandages isn't gonna interfere much."

She nodded in his direction and turned her attention onto the sole female of the Oto team, spitting out a small glob of blood that had pooled in her mouth. "It's time for some payback you bitch. I was kind of fond of my long hair, and it's your fault I had to cut it. How about I return the favour?" she finished with a devilish grin, pulling out a kunai in her free hand.

'Oh shit... cat fight!' The way she was speaking sent chills down Naruto's spine, and he momentarily contemplated whether letting her help was a good idea. But that thought was thrown out just as quickly as it had come, and Naruto found himself staring at Zaku once again, an angry glint tinting his cerulean-blue eyes. "Let's get started then."

In a burst of speed that Naruto hadn't quite felt before without the use of his Fūton: Shunshin (Wind Release: Body Flicker), he took off at the form of Zaku, his trench knives raised to the side and primed to strike. But if Zaku was surprised by Naruto's initial charge, he didn't show it, and brought up his own two kunai to intercept, the two battling to see who could physically throw the other. No ground was gained or lost in their struggle, and Naruto found the lack of progress slightly annoying.

So with a small grin, he halted his forward momentum and allowed himself to be pushed backwards, rolling onto his back and grinning even wider as he brought his legs up and into the stomach of a now winded Zaku, sending the Oto genin careening into a massive tree trunk behind him. Naruto sent a cursory glance to the supposed leader of the Oto team, but the boy named Dosu seemed more intrigued by the battle than anything else, not showing any outward concern for his teammate's life. 'Why am I not surprised—"

"Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)!"

A controlled stream of highly pressurised air struck Naruto clean in the chest, shooting him in the opposite direction that his assailant had just been flung. Naruto impacted solidly with the trunk of another tree, his body denting the bark and sending a shower of splinters and dust into the surrounding atmosphere.

His body ached from the physical force of the attack, and he dropped into a crouch in front of the tree, wiping at his mouth as a line of blood dribbled down his chin. "Ha! We were only supposed to take care of the Uchiha, but if you're ready to die so badly then that's fine by me Blondie!" The cackling form of Zaku slowly materialised through the thick layer of dirt and debris that Naruto had found himself behind, and he was sporting a mocking grin, looking fairly undamaged.

Naruto spat out any lingering blood and slowly rose to his feet again, feeling any lingering pain from his previous brush with the tree trunk ebbing away. His brows knit in confusion as he watched the small scrapes along his arms slowly vanish before his eyes, but he didn't have much time to think on it before the Oto genin was up in his face again, sending a punch straight at his face.

Naruto dodged the punch and sent in his own counter attack, the two becoming a flurry of taijutsu strikes and counters. There movements and speed was fairly even, and whoever this guy's sensei was had taught him well. His taijutsu was more than above average, and Naruto found himself having to keep complete concentration in order to continue to match Zaku blow for blow.

Their exchange finally came to an end as Zaku jumped away, landing in a defensive position and huffing exhaustedly. The Oto genin frowned warily though when the blonde looked no worse for wear than when they'd begun their exchange, and he clicked his tongue in irritation. 'I'm sure I did more damage to this blonde joker than that! I guess I just need something that packs a little more of a punch.' With a confident smirk gracing his lips, the Oto genin raised his arms and directed them at the whiskered-blonde, the small tubes in the palms of his hands making themselves visible.

Naruto's eyes widened as he assumed this to be the build up of the same jutsu he'd received earlier, and with a small curse he clapped his own hands together, standing his ground and building up his own chakra.

"Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)!"

"Fūton: Repūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm)!"

The two techniques clashed in a struggle of dominance, the air pressure between the two techniques creating a roaring rumble in the clearing. The struggle seemed pretty evenly matched once again, just like with their taijutsu before, but the struggle on Naruto's part became all too clear, and he was hard pressed to keep pushing. His technique wasn't meant for a constant push like he was using it, but rather a once off gust of controlled wind.

So it came as no surprise when Naruto eventually lost the ability to keep his jutsu going, diving into a roll to avoid the jet stream that was billowing towards his previous position with a vicious fury. He managed to dodge the gust of pressurised air that blew into his previous position, kicking up another torrent of dirt and leaves and obscuring their line's of sight.

"Ha! Your wind techniques are useless against my sound waves!"

Naruto didn't want to admit it, but the Oto genin was right. The jutsu that Zaku was using was powerful, and Naruto knew that he didn't have any kind of wind techniques that could go up against the sheer force behind it. Weaponry wouldn't work either, because he'd just blow them right back with his jutsu. And then a light bulb blinked on inside Naruto's mind, and as the dust began to clear, he focused his eyes on the palms of Zaku's hands. And just like he thought he'd seen, there were two small tube-like protrusions in the centre of his palms.

The technique Zaku had used may have looked like wind-style, but it wasn't. He'd said so himself. It was sound waves. As a wind-style user himself, Naruto would have felt the lingering wind-natured chakra in the atmosphere. But he could feel no such thing from the Oto genin. The fact that it wasn't a wind-style technique only further proved that Zaku needed those tube-like protrusions on his hands to produce his jutsu, and with that in mind, Naruto had the perfect plan.

He slowly got back up onto his feet, dusting himself off and tightening his bandanna before scoffing mockingly at the spiky-haired Oto genin. "Is that the best you've got?" the whiskered blonde taunted grandly, crossing his arms non-chalantly. "You seem pretty proud of those arms of yours, but they're really not all that great," Naruto pressed with a hidden grin, watching as a small tick mark began forming on the Oto genin's forehead. 'One more little push should tip him over the edge and into a seething fit.' The thought brought a grin to his face, and he couldn't hide the face-splitting smile this time. "They seem to be more of a crutch to replace your lack of talent than anything else."

Crack. That had been the last straw, and the Oto genin's teeth were gnashing together in a quiet rage, his fists clenched at his sides as his whole body shook softly. "That's it! Who gives a fuck about that blasted Uchiha?!" he roared in outrage, scowling heatedly in Naruto's direction. "I'll blow you into a million tiny little pieces you blonde fuck!"

Zaku once again raised his arms to prepare his jutsu, and Naruto could feel the significantly larger amount of chakra he was placing into the technique. Subconsciously drawing on more of Kurama's chakra, a slightly darker hue of orange chakra surrounded Naruto's body, and he quickly formed three hand seals, bringing his right hand up to his mouth and taking in a large breath of air. He would only get a few shots at this, so he needed to make them count.

"Zankūkyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)!"

"Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)!"

"Your wind style attacks won't work on me!" Zaku cried loudly after hearing the blonde's jutsu, a wicked smirk flittering across his face. "Didn't you realise that—"

Zaku's breath caught in his throat as searing hot pain flooded his body, having missed the small marble-sized spheres of compressed air that had zipped his way. They had been hidden under the cover of his massive jutsu, but he felt them all too clearly. The blonde had somehow managed to fire the spheres of air right into the tubes he was firing out of, and due to their small size and dense nature, the spheres had cut right through his jutsu and straight into his arms.

The sudden influx of compressed air forced the power of his own technique back into the tubes, causing the tenketsu along his arms to begin bursting outwards in small little geysers of blood. A piercing scream of unbridled pain ripped through the clearing, and all the onlookers observed in morbid disgust as the tenketsu along Zaku's arms burst one after the other in what looked like a chain reaction of bloody fountains.

His scream eventually died all together, his mouth open in a silent howl of suffering before he flopped onto his knees and then his stomach, passed out from the searing pain he'd just experienced. The grass and dirt all around his body was caked in his lifeblood, but he was miraculously still breathing if the somewhat strained rising and dropping of his stomach was any indication.

The whiskered blonde who'd caused all this pain had not escaped the torturous sensation himself, peeling his body off a massive boulder that he'd been blown into, a steady stream of blood dribbling down his forehead. His body was covered in scrapes and deep cuts from all the second-hand debris that had been blown into him, and his sleeveless shirt and trousers were ripped in several places, the only thing still intact being the black bandanna around his head.

"Holy, *pant*, shit..." Naruto breathed softly, dropping his hands onto his knees and leaning forward, his energy thoroughly spent. By all rights he should've been knocked out cold by the force of Zaku's jutsu, not to mention that he'd just smashed head first into the boulder he'd just peeled himself off of. 'You can thank me later gaki, but we seem to have made a modicum of progress with regards to you using my chakra,' the fox cut in, giving a quick run down of the how. 'But we shall discuss that later, you still have company, so do not drop your guard.'

Naruto nodded and huffed tiredly once again, his face literally feeling as if someone was pouring liquid flames all over it. He supposed being blown in the face with compressed air in the quantities that he'd experienced did that to a person, but still. This shit was intense!

A surprised outcry of 'Zaku' startled Naruto back into awareness, and he glanced to his right to see Dosu landing beside his male teammate, a worried look in his lone eye. The gesture threw Naruto a bit, who'd assumed that these Oto guys didn't really care for one another. But here was their team leader, his concern for his teammate all too clear as he double-checked for a pulse from Zaku.

The bandaged Oto genin breathed a small sigh of relief before rounding on the whiskered blonde with a fury filled eye. His mouth began to open in what Naruto could only assume was no doubt going to contain a string of profanity, but he was cut off as his female teammate dropped down onto the ground beside Zaku. The only problem being that she was unconscious. A good portion of her black hair was missing from her head, and another portion of it was still smouldering softly as if it had been set alight earlier.

Dosu's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden turn of events, and he had to bend down once again to make sure that his other teammate was still breathing. It was in that same second that Sakura landed beside him in a crouch, her breath coming out in ragged huffs. She looked like she'd been through even more hell than before, and her right arm was hanging limply at her side, a couple senbon sticking out the appendage.

She tried to smile at Naruto in what he could only assume was reassurance, but it came out as more of a grimace than anything. "She was... one tough customer... but she underestimated me right from the beginning... so I suppose I got lucky with taking her down."

Naruto placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, waving her off. "Hey, give yourself some credit. I'm sure it was no walk in the park, but good job. Now we've just got one left," the blonde explained, glancing at Dosu and gripping tightly on the trench knife in his free hand.

Dosu rose to his feet again once he was sure that his two teammates were alive, just unconscious, and he snarled angrily in the remaining two shinobi's direction. "You two—"

The bandaged shinobi was cut off once again as a massive chakra began radiating through the clearing, and all eyes glanced in the direction that they'd no doubt felt the presence. In a swirling vortex of potent purple chakra, the silhouette of one Uchiha Sasuke became visible, a pulsating seal crawling along his skin before settling into a flamed pattern.

His blood red Sharingan eyes were glowing ominously in the darkness of the night, his lips pulled into an uncharacteristically maniacal smirk, his teeth reflecting eerily in the moonlight. "So, Sakura, who's the person that did that to you?"

Jutsu List:

Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu (Mist Servant Technique)

The Mist Servant Technique is a genjutsu that creates eerie black ninja illusions of the caster, appearing from all around the enemy. When the illusions are struck, they multiply into further numbers, and the genjutsu will wear out the enemy, allowing the caster to swoop in and finish off the exhausted enemy.

Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)

The Decapitating Airwaves technique is a jutsu specially utilised by Zaku, who uses the air tubes in his palms to control the ratio of air pressure and sound via his chakra. He creates supersonic blasts of air by propelling this combination of air and sound.

Zankūkyokuha (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)

The Extreme Decapitating Airwaves technique is simply a much larger scale version of the Decapitating Airwaves technique, which can level an entire area.

Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)

The user takes a deep breath of air and fires out several small marble-sized balls of compressed wind chakra. Due to the properties of Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, the expelled blasts are capable of piercing into and potentially through an opponent's flesh when they collide.

AN: Well guys, that's the chapter. Sorry about that gory bit, it just seemed to fit the situation. In light of that, do you guys still feel that a T rating for this story is appropriate, because I've come to realise that I add a lot of swearing in too :D Let me know if you think I should bump it up to an M rating :) Also, just a reminder, almost at 100 reviews, so let's make that final push! :D

I found myself taking a bit if a liking to Sakura while writing this chapter, but don't worry, there won't be any kind of pairing there. But I felt that she would've been able to take on Kin, granted she was being underestimated, but I think it's plausible. I'll also explain the details behind Naruto's slight use of Kurama's chakra in the next chapter hopefully, and if not the next one then the one after. I know he may have seemed a little weakened, but the way I saw it, was that he was only using a bit of Kurama's chakra, and therefore only the healing aspects of it. I didn't want him to seem overpowered at all, but I might have had the opposite effect and weakened him too much =P

But I think there will only be one more chapter for the second phase of the chunin exams, maybe even only half a chapter with the other half moving on with the story, but I'll see what comes to mind. I was requested to maybe write another confrontation with some kind of animals just like with the baboons, so if you guys wanna see something like that let me know :)

I hope the fight was all right, it wasn't all that long, but I did my best. And Sasuke is up and kicking, so we'll see what happens with him next chapter ;)

On to my ramblings... have any of you guys seen the Naruto OVA 11, Sunny Side Battle?! It's so hilarious, it's with Itachi... I won't give anything away, but if you haven't, do yourselves a favour and go watch it :D You'll really enjoy it, I guarantee :)

Well, that's me guys, hope the chapter wasn't too bad, and hope it doesn't put you guys off for next chapter :D Till next time...