A/N: Happy very late Independence and Canada Day to my North American readers!

Sorry about such a long wait for this chapter, work sucked during the holiday. To make up for such a long wait, here's an extra long chapter for your summer laze-around-in-the-AC pleasure.

Also, I start vacation today, and I wanted to post this chapter for you guys before I left, otherwise it'd be another week long wait, so if there are more typos than usual, I apologize. In my haste it isn't as proof read as it could be, but those are the breaks.

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888888888888888 SPOILER ALERT WARNING 888888888888888888

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Again DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ CH.545 of the Manga

Okay, who else found that Minirasen-shuriken freakin' badass? As well as that crazy Rasengan riot and vacuum thing? Gooo learning how to be a proper jinchuriki! And I have to say, I was very proud of Tsunade for sticking up for Naruto against A! And very, very relieved when that wasn't really Neji going insane.

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88888888888888888888 End Spoiler! Read the Chapter! 8888888888888888

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Part 4: Clash! Team Kakashi vs. The Sound

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

- Andy Rooney

The lone Sound-nin remained hidden and made his way carefully towards his target. The rest of his scouting party was close behind him, but his job, as their fastest shinobi was to scout out the river ahead of the group. They had come across the bodily remains of a squad of his fellow Sound-nin along with signs of multiple explosions, yet there was no Leaf-nin amongst the bodies. His leader figured no one could get out of that kind of fight without some serious injuries though, so the Leaf-nin had to be close by, and he was sent to scout ahead.

His search proved fruitful as he slowly and painstakingly moved into position for a better view.

Peering through the dense green foliage he was able to see the enemy ANBU they had been pursuing. The Leaf-nin was lying sprawled and unmoving on his back. The moonlight filtered through the breaks in the canopy and reflected off the ANBU armor and the shinobi's blond hair.

The ANBU mask was missing and from his vantage point he could see his enemy's face, even with the damp blond hair falling over his closed eyes. The ANBU's features were slack and pale in the moonlight. The dark circles under his eyes and feint blue sheen to the lips stood out in stark contrast against the overly pale skin. The Sound-nin wasn't sure if it was the play of light or fact, but the enemy ANBU looked young. Had this boy really taken down that entire squad as well as an entire base back in Oto?

Powerful or not, ANBU or not, the boy looked dead. It would be so easy to go search him for the scroll they were after, and then slit the brat's throat in his totally defenseless state – if not for the presence of the large orange toad. The toad was lying on his side next to the boy. The thing wasn't moving, but if the summons was still there, that meant the kid wasn't dead. There was no way to know if the toad could fight without engaging it. Waiting for his squad was the safest bet, so he settled down closer to the ground.

The man cried out in alarm as he was plucked from his crouch and hoisted into the air before he knew what happened. Something was wrapped and constricting painfully around his mid-section, effectively pinning his arms down. It was impossible to move or breath. The Sound-nin glanced down in fear to trace the knobby tongue holding him in the air back to the toad now glaring at him. His eyes went wide as he realized his mistake. He had thought the pair defenseless and gotten too close in his curiosity.

The Sound-nin shrieked as he was slammed into a tree, then the ground just for good measure. Gama was pleased when he heard the telltale cracking of bones and the shinobi went slack in his unyielding grasp. Payback for breaking some of the boss' bones, the toad smirked to himself.

Gama tossed the limp shinobi into the water to be swept away by the river.

The large orange toad retracted his tongue and sighed. Pulverizing a straggler or two was easy enough, as well as satisfying, but the toad knew if a larger force came upon them, they were done for. He had been farther from the center of the blast than Naruto had, but he still sustained some painful injuries blown around like that. He would have thought of retreating home then, if not for the fact that the jinchuriki never resurfaced in the river on his own. It had taken everything he had to dive into the water, latch onto the boy with his tongue and keep him above the water until he managed to get them out of that miserably strong current.

Naruto hadn't moved since he fished them both out of the cold water. The toad suspected he cracked his head pretty good in that explosion and listening in the stillness now, the boss' breathing was rough sounding. The most disturbing thing though, was he could feel that furball's chakra still coming from Naruto, and it made his skin crawl. Most likely the damn fox was trying to save it's own ass by doing what it could to keep it's host alive, but even knowing that, the feeling gave him the creeps.

The toad's powerful rear leg was broken so he couldn't stand. The most he could do was use his tongue, which was effective against idiots like the one he just chucked in the river, but he couldn't fight a group. What he should do is return to Mount Myōboku, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Naruto defenseless. Gama wasn't wearing the kanji for loyalty for nothing. Help would either arrive or the enemy would find them and if they both died here, then so be it. He refused to run.

The sound of movement caught the toad's sharp senses. Looks like someone did hear that Sound-nin's dying cry. The toad waited to see which it would be. Within a few moments another Sound-nin jumped from the trees to land a respectable distance away. Figures, he sighed. Gama narrowed his yellow eyes at the enemy shinobi, but neither moved. He knew the shinobi was wary to come any closer. He was just biding his time, most likely waiting for his fellow Sound shinobi to catch up, but there was nothing the large orange toad could do about it in his current state.

One by one, five more shinobi showed up to surround them in a semi-circle, effectively closing them in next to the river. The shinobi stayed away from the pair as they drew varies weapons. Gama knew what was coming; they were going to attack him and Naruto at long range. Fill them with holes from all sides while staying out of striking distance. The toad thought about launching a water bullet at them, but if he were lucky that would only take out one of them spaced apart like that. The rest of them would pick him and Naruto apart from a distance and since he couldn't stand and Naruto was still unconscious, there would be no running from fate.

So this was it then? The loyal toad couldn't help but smirk a bit. Him and the kid had fought some good battles over the last couple of years. He had no regrets. For the second time that night, time seemed to slow down.

The toad, accepting his fate, watched calmly as the Sound-nin all launched their attacks at once. Most threw weapons, while a few launched various ninjutsu. The toad could do nothing but watch them come.

Gama's eyes went wide in surprise as the shadow of a person appeared right in front of him. The person landed gracefully on one foot, took one step back with the other, and pushed off.

"Kaiten!" a familiar voice yelled.

Rotating blue chakra formed a protective sphere around the trio and the weapons and ninjutsu bounce harmlessly off the shield. As the shinobi spun to a halt, long hair swirling around him, Gama recognized him immediately as one of Naruto's friends.

"Nice entrance, Hyuuga-kun. I owe you one."

Hyuuga Neji flashed the toad a rare, if quick, smile.

"I think I'll take that favor out of Naruto instead, Gama-san."

To say the sudden interference shocked the Sound-nin was an understatement. Before the group could collectively grip this new development a second familiar voice rang out.

"Doton: Doryūsō!"

Stone spikes shot out of the ground at the Sound-nin forcing them to jump back from the group or be struck. One Sound-nin cried out as a stone spike impaled him in the middle before he could react.

"Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" a third familiar voice entered the fray.

A shark made from water rose from the river and slammed into two more Sound-nin mid-air. The two were flung out of sight into the surrounding area. The three remaining Sound-nin skidded to a halt some distance away.

Yamato used the distraction to jump between the group of Sound-nin and Naruto. The Sound shinobi silently regarded this new group of enemies.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called from right beside the orange toad.

"Right!" the pink-haired kunoichi responded already running for the pair.

"Thank you for staying Gama, but we'll handle it from here. Please return to see to your own injuries. Sai, stay close to Sakura, you already know what to do," Kakashi ordered.

Without waiting for a reply Kakashi jumped to land beside Yamato. Neji gave one final stoic look down at Naruto and silently followed the silver-haired jonin.

Sakura ran up to the pair and knelt down beside Naruto.

"He's in good hands now," Gama remarked tiredly laying his head back on the ground.

The orange toad disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Team Kakashi is engaging the hostile shinobi that surrounded Naruto-kun. More are coming into range to join the fight shortly," Hinata explained.

"Is Naruto's chakra still as you described it before?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes," the Hyuuga confirmed.

Team Nara stood perched in the trees as Shikamaru briefly evaluated the situation. Choji could see his teammate's intelligent mind running through every possible scenario and jumping ahead to all of the conclusions. The Nara would then choose the course of action for the outcome he most desired.

Shikamaru knew this situation became largely unpredictable from the moment Naruto went down. Being fluent and adaptable was a part of shinobi life though and possibly the only real plan they could make. The lazy jonin hated to play it by ear, but sometimes it was annoyingly unavoidable. Hinata's information about Naruto was the most worrisome piece of the puzzle at the moment… that, however, he could do something about.

"We'll intercept the group from the east trying to flank Team Kakashi. It leaves them to deal with the brunt of the force until we arrive, but they'll handle it. Getting caught from behind, even though they can't surprise Neji, would still be the most troublesome situation while trying to protect Naruto and Sakura from all sides."

"Ino," Shikamaru looked to the blonde, "can you sneak by to get to Sakura? It'll break our formation, but I think you'll be needed more there."

"Of course," Ino responded without needing to consider the request.

"Good, then go."

Ino gave a nod and turned to jump away from the group.

"And Ino? Don't get caught," Shikamaru remarked before she could leave.

The platinum blonde smirked prettily at Shikamaru over her shoulder.

"Remember whom you're talking to," Ino said in her most flippant manner.

Without further delay, Ino disappeared. The Nara knew she would be fine. She may not be the strongest shinobi in a close range fight, but Ino was smart, and damn stealthy when she wanted to be. She wouldn't get caught, she knew it and he knew it, but he still had to rag on her for appearance sake. It was how they worked.

"All right then," Shikamaru said to the rest of the group, "lets go."

"Ambushing the ambushers," Chouji chuckled pushing into the air.

"About damn time we did something!" Kiba cheered.

"Mmm," Hinata, hair flying freely behind her, made an agreeing sound.

The Inuzuka was clearly at the end of what little patience he had. Shikamaru could feel the need to take action rolling off his remaining team members, even quiet Hinata. To those who knew her though, that wasn't so surprising. The Hyuuga heiress might be shy and timid acting, but she fought like a wildcat when it came time to protect those she cared about. Shikamaru didn't envy their enemy, Naruto was her first crush, after all.

With everyone so wound-up, the Sound-nin wouldn't even know what hit them.

Sakura paid the toad no heed as he disappeared. She looked down at Naruto's still form. She couldn't remember ever seeing him so pale and it frightened her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but he was far too still as well. If she couldn't hear him struggling to breath, she'd of thought he was dead.

The thought made her heart feel heavy and a knot formed in her throat. She had to force herself to swallow that lump down. The pink-haired kunoichi brushed the blond locks out of Naruto's eyes and let the back of her hand linger at his cool cheek. The blond shinobi didn't respond to her gentle touch.

"Sakura!" Sai's quiet warning came from above her.

Sakura looked up startled at Sai in time to see a small bird come to life from her teammate's scroll and take flight back toward Konoha. The action and Sai's quiet warning reminded her of the urgency for speed. Right. No time for that now. She had to stabilize Naruto enough to move him and then they could get him back to Konoha, where her Master would be waiting to help take care of him. Now was not the time to wimp out. He was a patient, nothing more. Sakura forced her mind to look at it clinically and detach herself from who it was she was examining.

The kunoichi blocked out Sai's movements beside her and the fight already beginning nearby and focused on her task. With a steady hand she activated and used the chakra scalpel to precisely cut the straps securing the breast plate down, then lifted it free from her patient and tossed it aside. Now that that obstacle was out of the way she felt her patient's pulse.

Pulse irregular and tachycardic. Skin cold and clammy. Obvious cyanosis to the lips. Shock and probably hypothermia have set it. The hypothermia works to my advantage temporarily and slows down blood loss. Chakra exhaustion and blood loss apparent.

Sakura leaned down to listen to her patient better, and then lifted each eyelid.

Breathing shallow and rapid. Definite wheezing and diminished breath sounds. The lungs are filling up, blocking his ability to inhale properly. He probably inhaled water from the river. Blood around the lips and teeth. Internal injury to the chest likely. Patient unresponsive, pupils dilated. Concussion, but no signs of bleeding from the nose or ears.

The kunoichi gently ran her fingers through the damp blond hair until she felt the lump at the back of the skull.

Found you. Possible fracture to the skull, she thought.

Sakura took a deep steadying breath. Now to take a deeper look. The kunoichi brought her hands above Naruto's chest and activated the Shōsen Jutsu. A green glow enveloped her hands and extended down to the blond shinobi.

The three remaining Sound-nin stared down the three Leaf-nin. Stalling for time, Kakashi realized, because of course, they were just a scouting party. The stronger fighters would be behind the group. They would bide their time until help arrived.

Kakashi's only objective was to keep the enemy shinobi distracted from Sakura and Naruto until Sai was able to carry them away. So time was on his side for a change as long as they stayed focused on him and his teammates. The longer they stalled, the longer Sakura had to work. The biggest issue would be if they were flanked from behind. Guarding Sakura and Naruto from three sides could be trouble, but the silver-haired jonin trusted Shikamaru to help with that and it was almost impossible to sneak up on Neji.

It would be so easy for this skilled group to take out these scouts then wait for the others and end the fight quickly with ninjutsu. Powerful ninjutsu used to take on groups was fairly wide-scale, though, and ran the risk of Sakura and Naruto getting caught in it if the enemy did something unexpected that deflected or changed the course of their attacks. They would have to play this cautiously for a short while.

"I don't suppose you'll just turn around and go home?" Kakashi asked calmly.

The silver-haired jonin almost chuckled when the middle shinobi, probably the leader, looked at him like he had grown three heads.

"Quit jerking us around," the leader said back.

"Well," Kakashi shrugged, "it was worth a shot. Now Naruto can't say I didn't try."

The corner of Yamato's mouth turned up in a half smile.

"I'll attest to the fact that you at least offered, sempai," the younger man responded bringing his hand to his chest in a submissive gesture.

"He is getting awfully picky about that lately," Kakashi remarked.

"Naruto will be Naruto," Neji spoke up.

"Um, hello?" the Sound-nin asked.

"True, but I hope he never changes. Don't tell him I said that, though," the silver-haired jonin said standing with his hand in his pocket.

"I think it's good to have at least one idiot around who tries to give enemies the chance to surrender as well," Neji almost had to smile, almost.

"Hey!" the Sound-nin tried again.

"Sometimes I wonder whose really in charge of this team," Kakashi complained.

"Well Naruto has led Sakura and Sai out on missions recently and he is your vice-captain. Maybe the strain gets too much for you anymore?" Yamato couldn't help but tease his elder teammate.

"You say that like I'm old," Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Stop ignoring us you bastards!" the Sound-nin screamed, clearly getting frustrated.

"Ohh, are you ready to fight now? I was beginning to wonder," Kakashi deadpanned.

"What is it with you people? Get them!"

Gotcha, Kakashi mentally smirked to himself as the Sound-nin focused on them and charged.

"Kage Senbon!" the man yelled as he threw a handful of senbon.

The long needle like senbon divided mid-air and flew toward Kakashi. The silver-haired jonin heard the slight ring of multiple tiny bells. He wouldn't even need the sharingan for this; he had seen this before. The silver-haired jonin drew the kunai he had been holding out of sight and in a blur of motion, easily parried the senbon.

"I've had some experience with that one before. The jutsu relies on the bells right? A person will rely on their hearing to avoid the senbon with bells and forget about the silent ones. But if you know the technique, it's easy enough to avoid. You'll have to do better," Kakashi explained.

The Sound-nin growled in frustration, drew multiple kunai from his hip pouch, and threw them all in the air.

"Sōshūjin," he muttered and all the kunai hovered in the air around the shinobi.

The rain of kunai shot at Kakashi as one and he jumped to the side to avoid as many of the projectiles as he could. The Copy-nin was forced to parry the remainder and felt a sharp pain as one slipped past and cut a deep gash across his arm.

"Okay, better," he muttered.

The rain of kunai came again and the Sound-nin sneered in venomous delight as the sharp weapons struck the jonin in multiple places.

His celebration was short lived when a puff of smoke enveloped the Leaf-nin. When the smoke cleared the kunai were firmly embedded in a tree stump, which clattered nosily to the ground. The Sound-nin felt a sharp prick and glanced back to see the shinobi he thought defeated standing behind him with a kunai to his throat.

"Better, but still not good enough," Kakashi said as he finished off his opponent.

Yamato didn't miss the hidden gesture the Sound-nin made before he charged the Wood user. There was no telling what the shinobi was doing until he saw what type of combat style he used.

Oto was made from a collection of shinobi from other nations that had banded together there, first under Orochimaru, then Kabuto later on. Since they were a mixture of shinobi from different origins there was never any defining style attached to Sound-nin. They came in all different combat styles and elemental affinities. That was one thing about Sound-nin that kept them unpredictable… and interesting to fight.

There wasn't any way to predict what this shinobi was about to do until he saw it. Yamato held up his kunai in one hand and steadily transformed the cells in his other arm into wood. The Sound-nin swept his hand in an upward arc at the Wood user and even though the man wasn't that close to Yamato, he instinctively jerked his upper body back.

The Wood user felt pain sear across his chest and jumped back from the enemy shinobi. He glanced down to see a decent slash across his chest. The slash went through the flak jacket into the flesh and blood ran from the wound. It was painful, but not deep enough to be life threatening. If it weren't for his quick reflexes the attack might have done serious damage. Hmm, blades of wind eh? Wind user then. Well, that he could deal with.

The Sound-nin gave him a triumphant smile and Yamato couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the guy. Cocky after one surprise attack, isn't he? The Wood user almost felt sorry for this guy. He spared with a stronger wind-type user often. People didn't get up that easily after being hit by one of Naruto's attacks though, so compared to that, this guy's direct attacks were weak.

The Sound-nin charged him again. Yamato was prepared for it this time. Even if he couldn't see the wind blade, that didn't mean it was unavoidable. He jumped back and rolled to avoid getting in range of the wind blade and put some distance between them. After he gained his footing, the wood user stopped and squared off against the Sound-nin.

"Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu!" Yamato called.

The arm he was hardening to wood before shot out at the Sound-nin. Wooden branches wrapped firmly around the enemy shinobi's arm locking it in place. The wind blade, invisible or not, was useless unless it could be moved.

"Need help?"

Yamato jumped slightly and looked over to see Kakashi standing there.

"No, I'm good."

"Really? Looks like he hit you to me," Kakashi said giving him the one-eyed smile.

"I'm not the only one bleeding here. Why don't you go rest over there or something, sempai?" Yamato asked in the sweetest tone he could muster.

The wood user was rewarded when Kakashi's eyebrow gave a feint, almost unnoticeable, twitch. Yamato had to force back a smile. They knew Kakashi wasn't old at 32, he was especially still young by non-shinobi standards, but him and Naruto had enjoyed ribbing the silver-haired jonin about his age recently. It was the only thing that got a rise out of the laid back man, besides messing with his porn, and neither he nor Naruto had a death wish.

"Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō!"

Wood branches erupted from the ground to completely envelope the Sound-nin. The shinobi cried out in alarm as he was encased in a wooden prison. Yamato concentrated and the wooden prison started to constrict. The prison imploded before the Sound-nin could even scream.

"All done," Yamato smiled at Kakashi.

"Hmm," the silver-haired jonin grunted unhappily.

Neji was surprised when his opponent charged him head on. Obviously, this loser of a shinobi didn't recognize the activated Byakugan or he wouldn't dare face off against a Hyuuga in a Taijutsu battle.

The man came on in a series of quick and precise punches and kicks. The Sound-nin was obviously skilled in taijutsu. Every hit was well aimed and had a fair amount of strength behind the attacks. The Sound-nin was likely a Taijutsu master. He could probably give most shinobi a lot of trouble in a close range fight, but Neji was a Hyuuga, and a prodigy at that. The Hyuuga easily blocked and parried all of the attacks.

The Sound-nin's movements slowed after his initial assault and he jumped back from his opponent and took up a defensive stance. The Hyuuga prodigy figured the man was surprised that none of his attacks landed and he was growing suspicious of the white-eyed Leaf-nin. The cautious posture almost made Neji smirk. This guy had obviously chosen the wrong opponent for his combat style. The fight was over before it began.

They needed to buy time, so Neji took a page from Rock Lee's book and used a move he never thought he would. The Hyuuga took up a defensive stance with one hand behind his back, held up his other hand toward the shinobi, and motioned the guy to attack him. I'm so glad Guy-sensei isn't here to see this, Neji mentally sweat dropped, or he would never live the Youthful move down and would have to go into exile from Konoha.

As expected, the action irritated his opponent enough to attack him again. Of course it did, it irritated the hell out of him when Lee did to him. The Sound-nin made his best effort to strike Neji, but the Byakugan saw through every move. With his nearly 360 vision, Neji was also keeping track of Kakashi and Yamato's fight, making sure no one approached Sakura and Sai, and watched as Ino rapidly approached the area, all while blocking his opponent with one hand.

In their mostly one-sided taijutsu battle the pair had maneuvered away from the rest of the shinobi, although they were still in line-of-sight, even for normal eyes.

The Sound-nin was clearly getting irate at his failure to strike someone half his age with his preferred specialty. If the man didn't allow himself to get so distracted by anger he would try something else, specialty or not, like launching some ninjutsu, or even a genjutsu against his opponent. Not like any of it was going to work on a Hyuuga anyway, but the man didn't know it was useless, and Neji found that slightly amusing.

The Sound-nin jumped back from him again and almost growled.

"Who the hell are you?" he snarled in frustration.

In reality, the fight had not being going on that long. The man should have far more control over his anger than that. He obviously wasn't used to being outclassed.

Neji considered irritating the man even further. The Sound-nin was too easily distracted for a shinobi and it would be his downfall, but other enemies were starting to close in on their position. Kakashi and Yamato had dispatched their opponents and were starting to engage new Sound-nin. What caught the Hyuuga's attention was an enemy stealthily coming into range of the Leaf-nin. Neji could tell by his chakra signature that the man was using some sort of genjutsu to try to stealth his way by the group. Kakashi wasn't using his Sharingan yet, he probably wouldn't get snuck up on anyway, but the invisible shinobi wasn't heading for Kakashi or Yamato.

His target was likely Sai, standing protectively in front of Sakura and the prostrate Naruto. Sai was a skilled assassin sure, but he wasn't a close range fighter and a scuffle so close would only distract Sakura. It was time to dispatch this poor excuse for a shinobi and move on.

Not bothering to answer the Sound-nin's question, Neji focused chakra into his palms and dropped into the Gentle First fighting stance. The Sound-nin's eyes went wide as Neji charged him for the first time. The Hyuuga ducked under a punch aim at his head. The offensive move left an opening and Neji stuck with his open palm. The gentle tap hit the man in the side and he staggered back in pain. The Sound-nin was clearly surprised at the amount of agony such a slight blow caused. Too easily distracted, Neji thought again. The Hyuuga took the obvious opening and struck him firmly over the heart with one hand, and then right in the head with the other.

Neji was moving to his next target before his opponent's body hit the ground.

The Hyuuga neared the genjutsu user as he was closing in on Sai. Not bothering to wait and see if the pale shinobi spotted the stealthy figure or not, he focused his chakra into his right hand and released it in a burst.

"Hakke Kūshō!"

The invisible Sound-nin was plucked off his feet and hurled into a nearby tree with tremendous force. The tree splintered in protest at the impact and the now visible shinobi slid to the ground in a limp pile.

Sai look unsurprised by the action, whether he knew the shinobi was there or just didn't show his surprise, was anyone's guess.

So much damage in the chest! Sakura thought with despair. No! Don't you dare choke up! I can do this. You can't treat the concussion, chakra exhaustion, damage to the chakra pathways, or blood loss here. The cuts and broken humerus aren't fatal. Just steady the broken ribs so they don't puncture the lungs, ease the pressure in the lungs, and then get the hell out of here. Right!

The kunoichi gathered her chakra and sent it out into Naruto to begin the healing process. Instead of her chakra infusing with the patient like she was expecting, pain lanced up her arms. The pink-haired kunoichi gasped and had to break the connection. She grabbed her right arm as she felt the muscles spasm.

Sai looked down at the kunoichi's pain filled gasp in time to see her pull away and grip her arm.

"The hell?" she ground out.

"What's wrong?" her companion asked calmly.

"I don't know," she answered back.

Sakura brought her hands up to Naruto's chest and very slowly sent a small amount of her chakra into him. She felt the same resistance, but this time the feeling was uncomfortable and not painful. She slowly increased the amount of chakra until the pain spiked again and cut the connection. The pink-haired kunoichi felt the first tinge of panic set in.

I can't heal him if I can't send out my chakra! And if I don't do something now, he'll die before we can even reach Konoha. What should I do?

"Calm down, Sakura," she mumbled to herself, "block out that it's Naruto. You're a medic, think like one!"

Forcing the panic down, Sakura unconsciously chewed on her bottom lip while she went through scenarios in her racing mind. She had to figure this out quickly. She would not let Naruto die. That was not an option.

Briefly, she saw Neji hurl a surprised Sound-nin into a tree with his Hakke Kūshō. That's it! She thought and ignored the rest of the fight again.

She remembered Neji telling her earlier about how Naruto's chakra seemed wrong and that the Kyuubi's chakra was mixing with his own. Normally, Naruto mostly sealed off the Kyuubi's chakra until he actively called it forth. The Kyuubi, in its desperation, must be putting forth a monumental amount of energy against that seal for the demon chakra to leak out like this. The demon chakra was sustaining his body, but it was also burning the blond up from the inside at the same time. It was also blocking her chakra. The demon chakra had helped her heal his body before, but she couldn't mix her chakra with the demon chakra, it was too overwhelming. If she couldn't connect with Naruto's chakra directly, she couldn't heal him.

The solution then, was to cut off the Kyuubi's chakra.

"Neji, when this is over I'm going to kiss you!" Sakura called out without thinking.

Sakura reached into her hip pack and pulled out a small scroll case. The kunoichi flung the contents out to get what she needed, not caring as the rest of the papers scattered on the ground. Good, I still have two of these, she almost sighed in relief.

She looked down at the two paper seals in her hand. They were designed to cut off the Kyuubi's chakra from Naruto in case he started to lose control of himself. Kakashi had given these to her years ago, apparently Jiraiya had given him the design, but she never thought she'd ever have to use them. Especially after Naruto gained control over the Kyuubi and was able to seal off the malicious side of the fox's chakra, there had never been a need. The blond shinobi insisted she keep them anyway, all of Team Kakashi had them, if fact. You never know when or what you might need it for, he had told her.

"Good thinking, idiot," Sakura said kindly.

Sakura brought one of the seals to Naruto's shoulder and hesitated. Kakashi had done this too him once, under completely different circumstance true, but she had never had to place any restraints on the blond before. Don't be silly, she told herself. She wasn't sealing him, just the demon chakra in order to help him. But still - still – his body could start to shut down without the demon chakra sustaining it. She would have to be quick and accurate in stabilizing his breathing once she placed this seal or he would die.

She had to admit to herself that she was scared. Terrified even. Naruto could die if she placed this on him and she wasn't skilled enough to save him. His entire future would then be gone. His chance to be Hokage and any possibility at all of them being together would vanish. He would never surprise her by meeting her on her lunch breaks anymore. Never sit around with her and laze away the boring days. His smile would never brighten up her bad moods again. He would never make her laugh again and make her feel like she was worthwhile, just for being her.

Suddenly, a life without her blond idiot seemed bleary and dull. All her earlier worries about responsibility seemed feeble against the thought of being alone the rest of her life. Naruto was her constant companion. The one person in her life that she could always depend on. She realized she wanted, no need, him in her life.

Sakura looked down at her shaking hand holding the seal just above Naruto's still form.

These hands give life to people, she heard his voice in her mind.

Naruto had said that to her – to her. He had complete faith in her abilities. He always had, even when she doubted herself, he never did. He believed in her after everything and now he desperately needed those abilities. Naruto believed in her. Believed. In. Her. And damn it all, if she wasn't determined to deliver.

That realization bloomed a new kind of strength and determination in Sakura she had never experienced before. What is this feeling? She wondered in awe staring down at her hand. She felt like she could accomplish anything he believed she could do.

"Bear with this for a little while Naruto," her voice was steady as she spoke.

Kakashi saw Neji attack the invisible Sound-nin from the corner of his eye while simultaneously dodging a kunai. The weapon uselessly hit the tree beside him. Well, here we go finally. I guess it's time to get serious.

The silver-haired jonin reached up and straightened the Konoha Hitai-ate to reveal the black pinwheels in the red iris of his left eye. Kakashi gathered his chakra and sprang towards his opponent in a blur. Showing great agility, he sidestepped a defensive kick, and launched a kick of his own. The chakra-enhanced kick caught the Sound-nin in the middle and sent him flying backward to tumble into another enemy shinobi.

"Neji, when this is over I'm going to kiss you!" Sakura's voice rang out from behind the silver-haired jonin.

Neji, who had been moving to rejoin Kakashi, stumbled in his sprint. The Hyuuga recovered with the next step, but it was the single most ungraceful move he had ever witnessed from the agile boy and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh.

"Che," Neji scoffed looking a bit flustered.

The Hyuuga didn't say anymore and Kakashi forced down another laugh at the kid's embarrassed look. The next time Neji joined in on the old man joke at his expense, he was so going to remember this moment.

"Sakura!" someone called, as the pink-haired kunoichi was about to place the seal against the jinchuriki's shoulder.

Sakura looked up in time to see Ino land besides her. The platinum blonde kicked up dirt as she skidded to a halt. She looked out of breath, but immediately knelt down on the other side of Naruto. She could see Ino's practiced eye scanning the jinchuriki's condition even as she spoke.

"Shikamaru sent me ahead to see if you needed help. Hinata said Naruto's chakra was messed up, or something, and it had her worried. The others are heading off another patrol trying to pin you guys in," Ino reported a bit breathless.

Sakura merely nodded at Ino's explanation. Just like Shikamaru to cover all the bases at once. Any annoyance she might have felt with Ino over the last couple of weeks vanished. The platinum blonde's battle medic skills were welcome right now, it would make what she was about to do that much faster, and that meant they could evacuate that much quicker.

"She's right. The Kyuubi's chakra is keeping him alive, but it's blocking me, I'm going to seal it off completely."

Ino's eyes went wide at that.

"Won't that kill him?" asked the platinum blonde.

Sakura shook her head at her friend.

"Not if we work fast enough. I know what I'm doing. As soon as I place this seal work on the bruising to his lungs, I'll take care of the rest."

Ino nodded her head in agreement. Sakura sounded so confident at the moment she had no doubt her friend knew what she was doing. This was her area of expertise after all. The platinum blonde brought her hands to hover above the jinchuriki's chest in preparation.

Sakura took another deep breath and this time, without hesitation, placed the seal against bare skin.

The reaction was immediate. The tingling wrongness, which she had ignored in her haste, melted away. Ino's hands immediately started to glow as a look of concentration washed over her face.

Naruto started gasping for real now, his injured lungs struggling to function. In his unconscious struggle to breath, Sakura saw blood trickle from the corner of the jinchuriki's mouth. The pink-haired kunoichi had the urge to wrap her arms around the blond to try to ease him through the suffering, but she had a job to do first.

Green light enfolded Sakura's hands and she brought them to Naruto's side.

Kakashi glanced back at Sakura real quick. Sakura and Ino wore matching looks of concentration. He wasn't sure where Ino had come from, but with the two of them, he knew they shouldn't take long to stabilize the jinchuriki. Then they could deal with these Sound-nin, that sprung up like rats, properly. He would have to thank Shikamaru later.

Yamato, Neji, and he were keeping the Sound-nin at bay even with limiting their ninjutsu, while Sai was helping to cause mayhem with his long-range attacks. The Hyuuga was especially useful in this situation as he could fight in a confined space and that Gentle Fist jutsu of his rendered opponents immobile with only a few well-placed hits.

The Hyuuga prodigy was doing that just now. Sai sent out a flock of his small birds into a group of Sound-nin and when the birds exploded the shinobi were caught off guard in the confusion. Neji made use of the opening. He jumped right into the middle of the group and, with hands glowing faintly blue, started to strike out at anything that moved. The combined attack effectively took down the group in seconds. The silver-haired jonin was going to have to remember how well Sai and Neji's skills complemented each other.

Neji struck down the last opponent and came to a halt in his dance like taijutsu. Off to his left, and out of sight for normal vision, a Sound-nin stepped around a tree and launched an attack at the Hyuuga's back. A large fireball formed mid-air and was sent his direction. The Hyuuga wasted no in performing the Hakkeshō Kaiten.

The intense fire hit the rotating chakra and seared the ground and trees around Neji, but couldn't penetrate the shield.

Kakashi looked over to Yamato and the younger man nodded. That fire user was going to have to go down first before he started using large-scale fire jutsu.

The Wood user went through a set of hand seals.

"Doton: Iwagakure no Jutsu," he called then sunk down into the ground and disappeared.

Neji attempted to move closer to Kakashi to secure their defense, but something with a lot of chakra came soaring his way. He dodged on instinct and took up the Hyuuga stance when he came to a halt. The human shaped puppet mocked him dangling there with its soulless eyes.

We'll see how that puppeteer likes it when I slice through that doll's chakra strings. The doll would drop like a dead weight once that happened and unfortunately for the puppet's master, he could see the chakra strings easily with the Byakugan.

Kakashi leapt and spun around the trees as it seemed every Sound-nin present threw kunai, senbon, hell even smaller ninjutsu, everything they had at him. As he flipped through the air an uneasy feeling started to seep into the jonin. Nothing was large scaled, but damn it all if the constant attack didn't keep him constantly moving and something didn't sit right about the situation.

Hurry the hell up Tenzo! The silver-haired jonin mentally yelled.

Neji focused chakra into his palms and prepared to cut the doll's strings - and then take out the puppeteer. The Hyuuga prodigy was forced to dodge a series of small, erratic fireballs though, before he could slice the glowing strings. That annoying fire user! The Hakkeshō Kaiten used a lot of chakra and he had a feeling he was going to need those reserves before this was over, so he physically dodged the fire instead of wasting the chakra. There was no pattern to the fireballs, however, and the unpredictability made it hard to dodge, if not for the Byakugan and his agility.

Kakashi, also on the receiving end of that erratic fire, dodged for all he was worth. Itachi had given him plenty of practice at dodging this particular jutsu though, so he knew he would be all right. The unease in the pit of his stomach grew as Neji and he were forced farther from Sai and Sakura.

Finally, finally he saw Yamato start to slowly rise out of the ground behind that fire using shinobi.

While he was dodging the fireballs, Neji could see him and Kakashi being driven apart and, he clenched his jaw in frustration, could only watch as the puppet found a new target.

"Got it! Great job Ino, Sai," Sakura finally looked up at her teammate, "let's go!"

Sai looked down at the pink-haired kunoichi and nodded. Ino sighed in exhaustion and slumped tiredly back on her heels.

Sai brought his brush to the parchment, but was forced to abandon the move.

Light flashed off the sharp side of a blade as a puppet came flying down at Sai. The pale shinobi dodge purposely to the left trying to lead it away from Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi and Ino gasped in surprise, both had been focusing on their healing jutsu and largely blocking out the fight, trusting the others to keep them safe.

Sai finally drew on the paper in quick, precise strokes and made a one-handed seal.

"Ninpo: Chōjū Giga," he muttered.

Twins snakes, made of ink, shot out of the paper and wrapped around the doll, trapping it in place.

Yamato rose up from the ground right behind the fire using Sound-nin.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" the unaware Sound-nin yelled.

Another volley of sporadic fireballs went flying at Kakashi and Neji.

Time to end this, Yamato thought. The Wood user, as stealthily as he could, brought a kunai up to the side of the shinobi's neck. He thrust the weapon inwards suddenly, intending to plunge it right into the side of the Sound-nin's throat.

Yamato's eyes went wide is surprise when the shinobi was jerked upwards out of his grasp before the blade connected. His eyes followed his target up, but he couldn't see anything suspending the enemy shinobi.

"Fūton: Daitoppa," an unfamiliar voice shouted and in that moment, Yamato knew he had walked right into a set up.

A condensed gale force wind shot from the mouth of a nearby shinobi. There was no time to erect a wooden barrier before it hit. The wood user felt his feet leave the ground as the jutsu slammed into him.

Kakashi, still dodging the fire attack, saw Yamato hurled through the air by a shinobi who, up until now, had not used any ninjutsu. God dammit, he mentally yelled. They had been overly cautious trying to protect Sakura and Naruto and had walked right into this trap by doing so.

Sai prepared to make his next move against the enemy puppet. He would constrict the snakes and break the doll to bits, then carry Naruto and the girls away from here - when all of the tension in the doll suddenly went slack. The thing fell lifelessly in his constricting snakes and for the first time that night, the pale shinobi's eyes went wide at the unexpected move. What in the world?

Sai might not be able to see what was going on, but Neji's eyes sure could. Driven away from the group by the joint attack of Sound-nin, Neji watched in horror as the trap sprung around them and he was powerless to do anything from this distance.

The rain of fireballs ended just as he watched Yamato thrown through the air into a tree like a rag doll.

The bright chakra puppet strings snapped from the doll Sai currently held in place, leaving it a useless hunk of wood and steel. The strings didn't retract back to the puppeteer, though, and instead coiled around a new target like living vines, unseen by everyone else except Neji.

"No!" the Hyuuga prodigy yelled without even realizing it.

Sakura, whose attention was on the doll Sai had trapped, looked down in shock as the unmoving figure below her stirred. The pink-haired kunoichi and Ino both jumped in surprise when Naruto, who should still be unconscious even after the first aid, sat up suddenly. The jinchuriki's head was bowed forward and his blonde hair was obscuring his eyes. The almost unnatural pose sent a cold chill up Sakura's spine.

"N… Naruto?" she stuttered.

The blond didn't answer her. The kunoichi reached out a tentative hand toward the jinchuriki.

"Back away!" Sakura heard Neji yell.

She had never heard the Hyuuga sound so frantic before. The open fear in his usually stoic voice drew Ino's attention to Neji as well. The pink-haired kunoichi looked up to see Neji ram his hand into the side of a Sound-nin's neck. The Hyuuga wasn't normally so clumsy with his Gentle Fist strikes and the feeling that something was really wrong washed over Sakura like a tidal wave.

The kunoichi turned just in time to see Naruto, head still bowed unnaturally, reach out with both hands to grab her and Ino by the neck.

TBC…

Thank you for all the lovely reviews for the last chapter! Your comments really are an inspiration and fuel for my muses, I tell you. So… feel free to use the review button below for comments, ideas, or questions!