Its been a while. Not going to bore you with a lot of excuses on what took me so long. That ain't why you clicked on this. I will say that the reviewers who wouldn't let me leave this alone are a good part of why we got this though. As usual I own de nada now lets go. Consider this my Christmas present to ya'll.

The remnants of the retrieval team continued to follow after the trail of their opponents. The sun was starting to set and had bathed the forest in a deep red. For the whole day the two groups of ninja had been playing this game of chase with each other. The Leaf were going to lose soon though. if they didn't do something. Once the Sound Nin slipped past the borders of the Land of Fire then the Leaf Shinobi wouldn't be allowed to chase after the other Ninja. Both sides were starting to feel the strain, as they had been pushing themselves all day. It was now a question of who could get to their target first. The Sound Four to the border and the safety of the Sound, or the Retrieval Squad would retake Sasuke back to the Leaf. Both sides had lost a number of members, and they were unsure how long this was going to go.

"They are up ahead." Neji reported the two Chunnin leaders.

Akamaru barked out an agreement from within Kiba's jacket.

"Good." Peter noted. "I'm getting tired of playing this game of follow the leader of theirs.

"There's only two of them left. I like those odds." Shikamaru noted optimistically. "Against the six of us. If we play this right, then the next time we meet we'll be able to wrap this up once and for all." The Nara theorized to the others.

"I'll say." Naruto chimed in. "Two against six? No sweat."

"What do you mean its two against six?" Kiba growled. Akamaru barked out his agreement from within the folds of his master's jacket.

"Oh sorry about that Akamaru your right." Shikamaru returned in an amused tone. "Its two against seven. I like those odds even better." The Nara actually sounded upbeat at the odds that he was presented with. Having 7 pieces on the board gave him a lot more options than he would otherwise have.

"Wait till they see our new technique, these clowns won't know what hit them right boy?" Kiba asked his partner.

"Don't worry about a thing. As soon as we catch up to them all I got to do is my shadow clone jutsu and the shows over." Naruto told the others confidently.

"Well that's comforting to know." Shikamaru returned dryly. The idea of relying on Naruto to finish the job was not one that he particularly relished.

"That's only if your clones can get their before I do." Choji challenged the blonde.

"All the same, we're working as team here right?" He reminded the two more impulsive members of their squad. "Just stick to the plan." He ordered.

"Oh, sure." An embarrassed Naruto returned.

"The most important thing is to at least get them in range before the sun goes down." Shikamaru continued.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Kiba asked with a grin. "Let's hit it." He suggested, as he increased his speed. The others nodded and followed after the wild boy. It took them a few more hours and the sun dropping the rest of the way into night.

"They are just ahead of us." Neji reported.

"Okay, everyone remembers the plan right?" Shikamaru questioned. He was still a bit annoyed that they hadn't managed to catch up with them again until now "We need to hit them fast and hard and distract them while Neji tries to get the coffin free from them. Its the best way to get this done quickly without having to worry about what other surprises they might have." The others nodded their heads in agreement. Peter looked over at his co-captain. "Are you sure about this? You won't be able to do much more than to direct us. This is the worse time for you to get involved in a fight." He reminded the other Chunnin. With a severe lack of shadows Shikamaru's jutsu's would be useless in this environment.

"Yeah I know." Shikamaru returned grimly. "If I thought that we had the time I might suggest that we wait until sunrise, but with Neji and you we have the advantage." He pointed out to his co-captain. "Besides, their getting farther away from the village." He reminded his partner.

"Maybe, but if we wait till sunrise we'll all be able to see and fight and all the shadows give you the advantage. We may be able to see them, but because we don't know what their skills are we don't know what they might try. They had people in the exam though. An exam that all of us at least got to the preliminary rounds. They likely watched our fights and were briefed on the ninja that they were likely to run into. What's more, it doesn't take much to keep rushing for the border while someone else slows you down, there's also the fact that if we wait we might get more backup."

"I don't like it, either way we play this we're going to lose." Shikamaru grumbled, as he tried to figure out the next move. They either tried a blind attack or they waited on the off chance for reinforcements and the ability to see. The problem with that plan though was that the reinforcements that came may not be theirs. The closer they got to the Sound Village, the more likely that Orochimaru would send some of his other ninja to bring them in.

"When you examined the battleground where they fought before, did you notice anything that would give us an idea as to what kind of skills that they might have?" Peter questioned hopefully.

"Nothing." Shikamaru admitted. "I don't think that they gave our people a whole lot of warning before they attacked though."

"So much for that hope." Peter fell silent as he tried to think of any other methods that they might have to figure out what they could do. They hadn't seen any special tools or weapons on either of the two which meant that they were probably ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu specialty types. Then again there could be another member capable of creating weapons like their spider guy could. Without more information they couldn't prepare any kind of counter for them.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Shikamaru finally asked the other members of the group. "We can either hit them now wait till we can all see."

"It could be dangerous." Neji noted to the others. "These ninja have obviously plotted their course out ahead of them. They have chosen the quickest and most efficient route between our two villages and seem to have a passing familiarity with the route despite the fact that it's not on any road. This means they may know of anything that could be dangerous. The question is, will Peter and I be spending more time rescuing you from yourselves than we will in retrieving Sasuke?" He questioned the others. "As the only members with night vision, we are the only ones that will have our usual reaction time."

"Naruto what do you think?" Shikamaru asked the blonde.

"You're asking him?" Kiba asked in disbelief.

"I say we go in there right now and beat them up." Naruto yelled back at the Nara.

The tactician nodded and seemed to be lost in thought. "We'll hold back for now, if it's okay with you Peter? Let's hit them when we have the best chance for success."

"So what made you decide to hold back?" Kiba asked.

"Naruto did." Shikamaru admitted to the others sheepishly. "Naruto is one of the most impulsive people that I've ever known. It usually lets him walk into traps."

Kiba snickered at that. "So basically you chose to wait because Naruto said go?"

"Pretty much." Shikamaru admitted with an embarrassed grin. The others all let out their own chuckles while Naruto spluttered at the Nara indignantly. "There's a time to press your advantage and there's a time to hold back. These guys are skilled and smart let's not play into their hands any more than we already have." He reasoned to them stoically. The group quickly calmed down and continued on through the night in silence. Doing their best to keep pace with the remaining Sound Ninja that had one of their comrades with them. They also were doing their best not to think about the comrades that they had already left behind

It wasn't until the morning when Sound Ninja were forced to stop, that the group was able to prepare and make their next move. Once the group got in range the Sound Ninja noticed them and turned to face them. The Sound ninja saw that their trackers had once again found them. They saw that there was the orange clad idiot in the lead, the shadow user, the fatso, and the dog boy. "And of course, now that we need them there's no sign of Jirōbō or Kidōmaru." Tayua seethed in anger, at yet another delay for them. They were already behind schedule with all of the delays that they had been forced to take. First Sasuke had taken his time getting to them, then there was the Jonnin that had stumbled across them, then there had been all the traps they had been forced to set, then there had been the two now three different times that these Leaf brat losers that had been chasing them had caught up with them. They should have already managed to deliver the Uchiha boy, instead of stuck here facing off with a bunch of wannabe ninja barely out of the academy.

"Sorry just us." Naruto returned unrepentantly from the front of the pack of ninja with a smirk.

"Well them and us." Peter added, as he and Neji dropped in behind the pair, effectively boxing the Sound Shinobi in. "No offense and all, but we're getting a little tired of this whole follow the leader game you've led us on for the past 24 hours. It's time to end this. Besides, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think a round of keep away would be a lot more fun than follow the leader. What do you guys think?" He asked his squad mates.

"I am in agreement." Neji noted.

"You know I'm always in for one of your games Peter." Kiba growled.

"I'm in." Choji agreed.

"You got my vote." Naruto added.

"Sure why not? It might be a good way to pass the time." Shikamaru agreed lazily.

Sakon glared at the group angrily. He did not enjoy the casual way that these ninja talked about them, particularly when he considered them to be nothing but trash when compared to his own skills. "Who needs those guys?" He questioned confidently. "I can handle these guys myself. Just keep your eye on the spider and the Hyugga." He told his teammate, even as he launched himself at the larger group.

"Damn, I was hoping that they would want to talk it out some." Peter muttered, as he watched the Sound Ninja close the distance. As long as they stayed firm though, it was less likely that they would manage to get away with Sasuke. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shikamaru launched themselves over Naruto's head. Only to get knocked to the side contemptuously.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Choji called out, as one of his arms shot out to intercept the incoming figure. Sakon twisted in the air and performed a series of strikes that caused the boy to withdraw his arm and cradle it in surprise. "Be careful Naruto. He nearly broke my fingers." Choji warned the blonde.

While his friends had shielded him Naruto had formed a shadow clone and had begun to work on forming a Rasengen

Tayua watched in disbelief at the amount of power that the boy before them had. It was an impressive display of chakra.

Sakon sneered as he twisted and caught the arm of the blonde. "How are you supposed to use it, if you can't even throw it?" He demanded of the boy whose attack had gone right over his shoulder and faded into nothingness.

Naruto grunted, as he tried to pull himself free. "Hurry up Kiba!" He shouted.

"Tunneling fang." A recovered Kiba called, as he came back at the pair. The attack surprised Sakon as he hadn't thought that they would use such a brutal attack while one of their own was so close by. The attack then drilled right through the blonde who disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the Sound Ninja nearly didn't have enough time to duck beneath the attack.

"Another shadow clone!" The boy questioned. He then turned back to see that ninja was still tearing towards his teammate and Sasuke. He couldn't believe he had allowed himself to be outmaneuvered like that by some Leaf Trash.

Tayua got ready to move out of the way of the incoming attack intent on taking Saasuke with her when suddenly she couldn't move. "What hit me?" She demanded as she tried to turn her body around.

"It's called the shadow possession jutsu." Shikamaru explained smugly.

"And we'll be taking that." Peter added as a THWIP! sound came from behind and a webline snatched the casket away from her and Neji caught the casket that Peter had snagged.

"Tayua, don't just stand there get him." Sakon snarled, as he watched them manage to get the casket. While this was happening Kiba altered course and landed on an overhead tree branch. "Get out of the way." Sakon ordered, suddenly desperate as he saw his teammate was moving to get in his path instead of trying to get to the casket. They couldn't change course in midair like Kidamaru could, and were going to slam right into each other. The girl suddenly changed her posture, but the pair went tumbling from slamming into each other like a pair of rank amateurs.

"Now it's our turn." Peter declared, as the group of Leaf Ninja took off heading back towards the leaf village.

"That was great plan you guys." Choji congratulated the two leaders.

"Thanks." Shikamaru returned smugly. "Just as I thought, they left themselves wide open. Sometimes being so sure of your own strength can be a weak spot." He told the others sagely.

"Indeed." Neji agreed, impressed with the way that the plan had worked. He could now accept that the two squad leaders were more than worthy of their ranks. He was sure that he would never have been able to come up with such an impressive plan that would have used all of their individual abilities in such a seamless manner. He was unsure if his own Sensei would have managed to come up with such a plan. Considering that the man was one of the top ninja in Konoha that really said something. "Sometimes overconfidence can be as big if not bigger weakness as any chink in your armor."

"Well whatever, it worked." Naruto told the strategist.

"It's about teamwork Naruto." The Nara tried to explain to the other ninja. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If we just work together nothing can stop us."

"All for one and one for all." Peter told his friend.

"Right Gotchya." Naruto returned.

"You think its going to be that easy!" They heard shouted at them from behind as they felt a spike in the chakra behind them and sensed that at least one of the Sound Ninja was now chasing them.

"He's fast." Peter noted, as he sensed that their opponent was closing the distance with them already, despite having been left sprawled on a tree branch.

"Then we'll just have to pick up our speed." Shikamaru returned.

"Oh man, I was afraid you were going to say that Shikamaru." Choji grumbled to his teammate.

"Neji take the middle position, Choji cover our six, Kiba you've got twelve, Naruto take the three and I'll take the nine. Peter you take the overhead." Shikamaru ordered. The remnants of the retrieval squad quickly too their assigned positions, even as they kept leaping from tree to tree. "Neji, keep your eyes open I doubt that we've seen the last of those guys."

"Indeed, one of them is already following after us. There is something strange about his chakra though." Neji warned them.

"Then we better try and be ready for anything." Shikamaru returned to them grimly.

They were interrupted as Akamaru barked at them along the trail that they were taking. "Once you've set the bombs get moving." Kiba told his partner who was positioning a series of paper bombs on a tree. Knowing where the enemy's path it was easy to set up a trap like this. It was also less time consuming than some of the traps that they had set up for the Leaf Ninja. The dog barked a confirmation back at his master as the ninja all continued in their withdrawal.

A moment later Sakon was coming through and found himself the victim of a series of paper bombs. "Oh no!" The boy shouted, as he realized the danger. He had been so intent on following the Leaf Ninja Trash that he hadn't even noticed his surroundings.

"He fell for it." Naruto cheered, as they paused for a moment to see the results of the explosion.

"Good job buddy." Kiba told his pup, as it headed towards them.

While they were waiting on the Ninja hound, the Leaf Ninja looked at the falling trees smoke and fire that were left from their trap. It was pure chaos where the traps had been set. That was why they were more than a little surprised to see the boy that had rushed into it leaping out of it with only slightly singed clothes.

"Don't you mess with me!" The Sound Ninja snarled, as he bounced between the trees, strange marking showing up all over his body.

A surprised Akamaru stumbled and fell down.

"That's the last time you'll bark at me mutt." Sakon sneered as he sent ninja wire out of his wrist and tied Akamaru to the branch he had fallen on. "You won't get away." Sakon promised as he rushed towards the hound. The killer intent coming off him was a definite sign as to what he intended.

"Not this time you don't." Peter shouted, as a 20x20 web wall appeared between the Sound Ninja and the ninja hound. Sakon twisted in the air so that he hit it feet first and used it as a spring board to bounce back at another tree. He then raced up it. While that was happening Kiba managed to free Akamaru from the wire another paper bomb went off and a stunned Kiba began falling. Peter managed to snag him with a web line and haul the pair to his side. "Shikamaru plot us a course out of here." He ordered as he hefted his old classmate and his partner. The bombs while a good delaying tactic were now working against them as much as they were for them.

"I don't think so." Sakon snarled as he appeared by Neji and knocked him away from Naruto. "Sasuke is ours." He declared, glaring at the group of pathetic Leaf Trash that dared to interfere with them. He was tired of playing around with these jokes of ninja. "Besides, why do you even want to bring him back? He abandoned you and your loser village." He reminded them.

"Oh that's easy." Peter returned, as he glared at the tattooed ninja. "We're not bringing him back out of any sense of friendship or anything. Well Naruto and I aren't at least." He added to him. "He hurt our teammate that means that he's going to pay for what he did."

"If it was any ninja except Sasuke, I would understand this, however Lord Orochimaru has decided that he's important." Salon tried to reason with the group leaders. "He is to be the next vessel for my Lord. You might even think of it as the worst type of punishment that a person could have. To have their entire body taken over by another until there is nothing left of the original." He goaded the group.

Peter had a flash of the black creature that he sometimes did. "Sorry, but that's just too quick for my tastes." He explained to him.

"Then how about you back off now, before any more of your little friends get hurt." Sakon threatened.

"Not today." Shikamaru returned.

"Ahhh." A voice screamed, as the other Sound Ninja broke through the branches and hurled themselves at the group. "Your mine now." She spat at the group.

"Great this just keeps getting better." Shikamaru grumbled. "Now we got the other one to deal with."

"Choji take over for Naruto." Peter ordered. The large boy nodded as he took the casket off of his friend.

"Naruto, give them the Shadow Clone Army, we'll try and get Sasuke out of here. No reason to lose him now." Peter reasoned with him.

Naruto smiled at that. The idea of taking on these two was very appealing to him. "Finally, I get to do the fighting." Naruto noted, as he passed Sasuke's Casket off to the others. "Make sure you collect the others on your way back, I'll catch up with the rest of you when I can." He promised them. The others nodded and took off while Naruto turned to face the pair.

"You really think leaving Naruto on his own was a smart thing to do?" Shikamaru questioned, as he looked over his shoulder for a moment to see the brightly colored figure. "I mean he's a good kid and all, and he's also a lot better than I thought, but can he really slow them down?"

"Naruto is more powerful and skilled than he likes to let on." Peter returned to him confidently. "Don't let him fool you. Besides, it was either that, or someone else had to do it."

"Fine." Shikamaru returned as they continued on.

Naruto grinned at the pair of Sound Ninja. "So I finally get my chance to show you guys up." He drew a kunai blade and twirled it a few times before he tightened his grip on the weapon. "So who wants to go first?" He demanded of the pair.

"We don't have time for this." Sakon growled at his teammate. "If they want to trade roles so badly though, then let's see how they like it. Deal with this pest and then join up with me. By the time you get there I should have managed to either retrieve Sasuke or dealt with some more of the guards. Don't disappoint me like the others have." He ordered the redhead. "I doubt that Lord Orochimaru is going to be pleased as it is Tayua."

"Yeah, yeah just hurry it up I've got this wuss." The redhead returned, as she reached into her tool belt and withdrew a metal object. The foul mouthed Kunoichi smirked as she looked at the ninja. "So you're the newest sacrificial lamb for these bunch of bastards. I got to tell you, I'm going to have fun ripping you apart piece by piece you little rodent." She assured the blonde. "I'm going to end this in a flash." As the girl spoke, Naruto saw the familiar signs of a curse tattoo activating on the redhead. It was like there were zig sag marks running all across her face and arms. It was similar in a way to the strange markings that Sassuke had that time that he attacked Peter.

The girl went through a series of hand signs. "Summoning jutsu!" Tayuya called, and a large cloud of smoke blocked them from view of each other.

When the cloud cleared, Naruto saw three giant creatures standing behind the redhead. "What the heck are those things?" Naruto shouted in shock, as his eyes got big and stared at the creatures that all looked like they were as tall as at least two or three of the tallest adults. Their arms were covered in muscles as thick as Naruto was tall. One of them appeared to be covered in bandages with pins sticking out of its face and sharpened wooden stakes tied to its arms like claws. Another had bright pink flesh and wrappings around its eyes and a mouth that was sewn shut. The final member was dark skinned with a head full of hair and carried a club nearly that was bigger than Naruto was.

"Allow me to play the melody of death." Tayuya informed him with a sinister grin stretching across her face, as she held her flute near her mouth. She'd seen this one fight, he was a close range fighting moronic one trick pony who used shadow clones. What's more, he didn't use them very effectively as he didn't seem to have the brains to command them, nor did he have the Taijutsu skills to make him a threat. She was going to enjoy crushing this little blonde idiot beneath her feet.

Naruto smiled confidently at the redhead. "You think that those things scare me?" He scoffed at her. "Let me show you what a real giant summon is." He bragged, as he bit into his thumb and went through the required hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" He called out, as he slammed his hand on the tree branch and a seal appeared beneath his hand and a large cloud of smoke appeared.

"That little idiot has a contract?" Tayua thought in shock. She hadn't thought that it was possible that any of these leaf babies would have something like that, least of all this one. This was a development that was a major surprise for her.

When the smoke cleared the two ninja stared in disbelief at what had been summoned. "Gamakichi! Naruto exclaimed in shock and disappointment." What are you doing here?" He demanded of him.

"Hey ya kid, long time no see." Gamakichi replied to the blonde ninja giving him a wave of greeting."

"Where's the boss?" Naruto returned to him impatiently. "Where's Gamabunta? I need his help." He pleaded of the toad that only came up to about his knees.

"He was busy so he sent me along to check on things Naruto." Gamakichi explained to the suddenly nervous Gennin. "So what's up?" He asked casually.

"They're what's up!" Naruto shouted as he jabbed his finger at the three giants that were still standing at attention behind Tayuya.

Gamakichi turned to look at the group, and his eyes actually widened in shock as he jumped behind his summoner. "This could be a problem." He admitted to the blonde nervously.

The redhead threw her head back and laughed at the Leaf Ninja and his companion harshly. "This is your super powerful summon?" She shot at him mockingly. "This is going to be even easier than I thought you moronic piece of Leaf Trash." She jeered, as she looked at the pair. "You idiots are going to make this too easy for me." She declared, as she brought her flute up to her lips and began to play a tune that seemed to set the three figures behind her into action.

The three creatures leaped into the air, and came down towards Naruto and Gamakichi. Naruto grabbed the toad up in his arms and leaped out of the way. The branch shuddered under the force and weight of the blow. Naruto swallowed nervously, as he looked at the spot where he had been standing. The branch creaked for a moment before it snapped and began to tumble towards the ground.

"I sure hope you got yourself some new tricks since last time Naruto." Gamakichi told the blonde worriedly, as he stared at the spot that they had just been at. "Because you're really going to need everything that you can think of to beat this one. And considering it's you, well this could be bad." He observed to him in a rather matter of fact way.

"Hey! Thanks for the vote of confidence." Naruto grumbled at the insult, as he stared at the creatures as he tried to come up with a plan that would get him out of this mess alive now that his first one had proved to be something of a flop. He placed his hands together. "Shadow clone jutsu." He called and several copies of him puffed into existence. "Let's go guys." He ordered as the army of clones.

"Right." They echoed, as they all began rushing towards the creatures.

I think I'll hide for now. Gamakichi told Naruto as he leaped into the branches into relative safety.

What followed was a slaughter of his various clones. The three giants moved with a speed that was equal to that of any ninja at least at Chunnin level, and they seemed to appear and reappear all over the place using either their limbs or weapons to shear through the giant tree limbs that were at least as thick as Naruto was tall. The boy yelped as he was forced to keep moving as the giants shattered a tree near him. "This is insane." Naruto complained, as he tried to think of a counter for the summons that the girl was using. If it was Peter, he would have met them head on and come up with some trick to have them beat their heads in themselves, Shikamaru would have probably figured some smart trick or trap which would make them useless. Unfortunately he wasn't either of the Chunnin, and he needed another method to fight these things. He looked around desperately as he sent another wave of the clones at the creatures. "Come on, come on think." Naruto muttered, as he disappeared into the brush as he tried to think of what he could do to these things. He glanced over at the redheaded girl who was almost casually standing there and playing on her flute as they tore through his clones with ease. She was using her flute to control the giants somehow. He wondered how she was managing it. He jumped out of the brush and charged at her. "Let's see how you like being attacked!" He shouted, as he threw his shuriken at the girl.

Tayuya stopped blowing on her flute and contemptuously blocked the incoming blades with the flute. She then began blowing out another tune and the giants renewed their attack on the clones. "Why don't you try and throw one of those now worm." She challenged the blonde confidently.

"Well since you asked me to." Naruto returned to her. "Shadow clone jutsu." This time somewhere between a hundred and two hundred clones now surrounded the Sound Kunoichi and her summons.

"No way." Tayuya muttered in stunned surprise as she looked around at the sea of orange and yellow that now had her surrounded. "This is impossible." She complained, as she looked around at the army that was now surrounding her. The amount of power it required for one to create a few shadow clones was staggering. One would need to be on the level of the Sannin or a Kage to be able to create this sort of army though.

"All Direction Shuriken!" The mass of copies shouted in unison, as they each drew a handful of shuriken and threw the weapons at the Sound Kunoichi.

Tayuya blew a new tune out, and the giants switched from offense to defense as they surrounded her in a manji formation. The giants took the hundreds of blades to their bodies, not even flinching as the blades sank into them. "Alright, I was almost impressed there for a second." The redhead mocked, as she noticed that not a single one of the blades had managed to bypass her wall of flesh. "Please tell me you have something besides that shadow clone to fight with. You're beginning to bore me." She complained to the blonde. "Then again, what else should someone expect from a moron like you?"

"Don't you even dare think of counting me out yet." Naruto snarled at her.

"Time to finish this." Tayuya declared, as she changed the tune again. The giants seemed to become faster as if they had been given a new power. The giants were coming right at him. Naruto back flipped on the branch he was on. He managed to get on the other side of the branch and the giants sailed over him. He rose back up, only to see the creatures were already coming back around for another go at him. The one with the club was leading. Naruto summoned another clone and began his next idea for fighting these things.

'What is that little fool doing?' Tayuya wondered as she saw the boy was just standing there mainly out of sight. It looked like he was trying to do something new. Not that it mattered. A waste like him wasn't going to manage to come up with anything that her giants couldn't deal with.

Naruto watched as the giants got closer and closer. He then leaped into the air and extended his hand towards the club. "Rasengan!" He shouted, as he came up against the tip of the club. The attack drilled all the way through the club, and then continued on through the arm blowing the limb off of the giant off.

"What was that?" Tayuya demanded in shock, as she stared at her giant. Possibly one of her best combat units had just been crushed by the worm before her. She hadn't known that the boy had that kind of power in him. What's more, she didn't know what that attack really was. It was like nothing that she had ever seen before. It looks like the runt was a lot better than any of them had expected if he was able to pull that one off. "Okay, so you've been holding that trick in reserve." The red head acknowledged grudgingly. "It doesn't matter how many hidden tricks like that you have, your still going down you pest." She changed her tune again and the bandaged one appeared behind the blonde.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto called, as several dozen Naruto's appeared between them. The axe kick that the giant creature used blew through all of the clones and just barely missed hitting the ninja. Naruto tried throwing a series of blades at the kunoichi, but the clawed giant appeared and managed to block the blades. The now one armed giant was also starting to rise to its feet, as she got a feel for the new balance of her creature. Naruto was forced to move as the giants began a new series of assaults that forced him to keep moving as every time he thought he was managing to get away another one was there to launch an attack him again. Naruto was being run ragged, as the figures kept bashing through the various trees around them. They finally paused, and Naruto bent over gasping for breath. He looked over at the giants, and realized that he had been herded into the middle of the three giants who were now standing in a circle around him waiting for their next command. "Oh man." He complained, as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this mess.

"Starting to catch on aren't you?" Tayuya mocked, as she stood on an overhead branch and looked down on the helpless shinobi. "It's time for you to hear the last song that you'll ever hear." She proclaimed confidently, as she brought the flute up to her lips again for her newest song. "This particular little number is one that no one who's heard me play it has ever survived." She informed him.

"Then I just won't listen to it." Naruto returned to her stubbornly.

"You really think it's that easy?" Tayuya demanded of him in annoyance. "I'll show you the true power that I have." Her eyes flashed darkly in anger at the boy, as her grip on her flute tightened. She started playing her chosen tune, and the creatures lunged at Naruto. Naruto dodged the clawed one, but his relief was short lived as the armless one managed to get behind him and kick at him sending him flying straight towards the one armed one that punched him. Naruto was then batted back and forth between the giants for a minute before he was slammed into a tree.

Naruto groaned as he pushed himself out of the tree. That had hurt. It was going to take his healing powers a minute or two to repair the damage that was done to him. Unless that damn fox decided to give him a boost, he was in some serious trouble. Each of these things was at least as strong as the snakes that Orochimaru used. He was able to take them one on one, but he had never imagined that he would find himself in a fight where he was going to have to fight three such physically powerful opponents at the same time.

"Huh, that was even easier than I thought it would be." Tayuya scoffed at the downed figure.

"I'm not out yet." Naruto returned weakly.

"Please Leaf Trash, you're finished. Just as I knew that a little worm like you would be." Tayuya mocked him. "And once I'm done with you I'm going to head out after the other loser teammates of yours and finish them off." She boasted at him as she sneered down at him in disgust.

"No." Naruto growled back at her. "You won't, you're going to leave my friends alone." He climbed somewhat shakily back to his feet, and glared defiantly at the redhead. "If you ever come near my precious people, then you've got to go through me first." Naruto's features took on a more feral appearance as he glared at her, and his chakra spiked and became visible.

"So you still have some fight in you huh?" Tayuya asked, as she brought the flute back to her lips and the giants each raised a leg before sending them crashing down on the ninja. "I'm going to squash you like the bug that you are." She declared. There was a thudding sound, and Tayuya paused in disbelief as the dust settled. The younger ninja was somehow holding all of the limbs back with just his raw strength and chakra. Not even that idiot fatso Jirōbō who was physically the strongest of their group had never managed to do that.

Naruto groaned as he fought against the raw power that the giants were using to try and crush him. He wasn't ready to give up just yet though. They had all sacrificed too much for him to let something like this to get in the way. Lee and Haku could be dead for all he knew, no way was he going to give up without risking as much as they had. With a heave he began pushing back, and slowly but surely the limbs started raising into the air.

"No way, that's impossible." Tayuya complained, refusing to believe her eyes as she watched the attack being pushed away. "There's no way that a runt like you has that much power."

"When it comes to protecting my friends, I have all the power that I'll ever need." Naruto grunted back to her.

"Oh yeah, well maybe it's time for me to change your tune on that. In fact I know just the tune to change things up for you." Tayuya growled at him. "Ninth Passage: Demon Revolution." She called, as she began playing another tune on her flute. The giants leaped away from him, and they all forced their mouths open and a strange mist in the shape of giant worms spewed from each of their mouths. They were topped by heads that had giant fangs that were chomping away.

Naruto threw his blades at them, but watched in disbelief as the weapons sailed through them as if they weren't even there. "You got to be kidding me." Naruto complained, as he saw that his attack had no effect on the strange creatures. "What are those things?" He demanded, even as they began homing in on him. Naruto began moving through the trees to try stay out of range. He cried out as one of the creatures actually passed through a tree and bit down on his leg. He leaped back and saw some of his energy stay in the creatures mouth. "Some sort of chakra eater?" He mused, as he looked at the strange thing. While the bite hadn't left any kind of mark on him, he felt weak from where he had been bitten. Whatever those things were, he didn't want them to take another bite of him.

What followed was a game of chase, as Naruto was forced to run all over the place as the creatures followed him around. If it was just one then he might be okay, but with there being three of them he kept getting distracted and then attacked from the giant creatures on teeth. He needed something that would counter this move of hers or he was going to be a goner. He summoned more clones and each of them led the creatures off as he tried to think of what he could do next. With a sigh he decided to do what he normally did. Hit them until they couldn't move anymore. He ran at another one of the creatures.

Tayuya smirked as she saw that the blonde had come out of the brush. It seemed that the rat was finally going to try and do something.

Naruto ran at one of the creatures. The creature turned as he was heading at it and the worm moved towards him. Naruto summoned a clone and it pushed him out of the way. The serpent bit down and the chakra drained into the apparition before the clone disappeared with a puff of smoke. Naruto climbed up on the back of the armless giant. He then made a face at Tayuya. "Come and get me!" He challenged waving his butt at her. Tayuya scowled as she looked upon the ninja. The other two giants moved in and the spirit eaters all at Naruto as the same time. The Shinobi made a hand sign and he disappeared.

'A substitution, what was the point of that?' The redhead wondered. She watched in shock as her creatures began thrashing around. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. 'What had he done?' She suddenly realized the creatures were feeding off of each other. Her armless giant fell to the ground, all of its energy was now spent and divided between the other two. 'Damn it, she hadn't ever thought of what might happen if the creatures fed off of each other because she had never thought herself stupid enough to do such a thing." The blonde had tricked her into doing just that though and cost her one of her giants. She looked her remaining summons over. One had lost its arm the other had been drained off all of its energy that left just one more that was still at full combat readiness. Very reluctantly the Kunoichi lowered the flute from her lips and surveyed the battlefield. "Fine, you want to do this the hard way then lets do it you bastard." She snarled, as she twirled her flute in her hands a few times. She then banished the giants away and charged at Naruto herself. "I'm going to tear you apart with my bare hands." She proclaimed.

"Not if I get you first." Naruto returned to her confidently as he charged at her as well.

Tayuya led with her flute while Naruto led with his kunai. The two metal weapons clanged against each other shooting sparks off as they connected. Tayuya smirked as she ducked under his sloppy roundhouse and performed an uppercut to his gut that caused the boy to fall to his knee in surprise and pain.

"Don't think that just because I'm a girl I'm going to be a pushover." Tayuya snarled, as she knocked the boy away.

Naruto chuckled a bit as he tumbled around before landing on his feet. "Is that the best you got? Sakura-Chan hits me harder than that all the time." He explained to her dismissively.

"You're comparing me to that weakling?" Tayuya demanded, as she thought of the pink haired kunoichi that had been a part of the Chunnin Exams. Kabuto had read them all of the files on ninja that they were likely to meet during this mission. He was particularly worried about the cell that this group came from. Mainly because their Jonnin Instructors were amongst the top ninja in the village. It seemed Copy Cat Kakashi, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, and the Former Fire Guardian had trained halfway decent shinobi. Well decent enough for Leaf Ninja that is. A decent Leaf Ninja was still no match for her though. She was going to prove it by crushing this little weakling beneath her.

The pair resumed their fight. Naruto was struggling to keep up with the girl. The girl had at least a couple years of experience on him and was forcing him to stay mainly one the defensive as they moved back and forth around the tree. Naruto would kick out and Tayuya would catch the leg. He would punch and he was just as likely to get thrown back as he was to have his stopped. Naruto scowled in frustration while Tayuya smirked at him smugly as they traded blows. She punched him in the chest sending him sliding back.

Naruto summoned a new group of clones. He jumped on the back of one and then came down with an over hand punch that came at an unexpected angle and sent Tayuya flying while she was in the air the other clones quickly moved in beneath her. Na-Ru-To! They shouted as they each performed a high kick that sent her flying high into the air. The blonde didn't even notice as the redhead began changing while she knocked higher and higher into the air. "Uzamaki Barrage!" Another Naruto shouted as came down to deliver the final blow that would knock her back to the ground.

Tayuya's hand shot out and caught his arm. Naruto gaped as he stared at the girl. Her skin had turned dark gray, her hair was now somewhat ragged looking, and her eyes had gotten hollow and turned an unholy yellow. The pair twisted in the air, and Naruto found himself on the bottom. "I can't believe you made me switch to the second stage of the seal." The girl spat, as she punched with more force than even Sakura, and sent Naruto slamming back down and through some smaller tree branches before he smashed into one of the larger ones and came to a stop. Tayuya smirked as she landed lightly on her feet.

"I got you now." Gamakichi shouted as he released a nearby branch that came flying at the Sound Ninja.

The girl didn't even hesitate as her hand came up and shattered the branch. The girl blurred and appeared behind he toad and grabbed him up in one hand. "Get out of here you slime." She snarled, as she threw the Toad high into the air.

"Sorry Naruto." Gamakichi shouted as he went sailing away from the battlefield.

"And now it's time to finish this." The Kunoichi declared as she leaped into the air and started coming down. It was obvious that she intended to break Naruto in two. The Leaf Gennin was just too tired to care though. He had run through the day, had his chakra absorbed twice, and been making shadow clones near constantly for the past ten to fifteen minutes. He needed a moment to catch his breath. A moment that was going to cost him. He closed his eyes and hoped he could take the blow. There was a sudden gust of wind and Tayuya went flying to the side.

Naruto opened his eyes in surprise and saw a figure standing over him protectively. They were wearing a purple shirt with a light leather apron, over that covering their chest they had a red sash tied around that, and then a skirt. He looked down at the shapely legs then looked up and gulped at the distinctive four blonde pony tails that jutted out of the woman's head and the headband that was worn as a collar, but could also double as a mask to filter out sand if need be, It was Temari of the Sand. In her hands she was holding her war fan. Naruto knew from personal experience just how dangerous she was with that weapon.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto demanded, as he finally forced himself to his feet. "I don't have time for a rematch with you. I'm busy with her." He explained waving towards the demonic looking Sound Ninja.

"You mean you're busy losing." Temari returned to him curtly. "As for why I'm here, my mission is to provide assistance and support for you and your team so that you can complete whatever mission it is that you have." She explained to him. "You do remember that we're allied villages now right?" She asked, looking at him like a particularly slow child.

"Uh we are?" Naruto returned to her slightly confused at what she was going on about.

"How did I lose to such an idiot like you?" Temari growled, as she glared at the boy. Oh yeah because only you would come up with hairbrained ideas like the one that you did." She noted with sarcastic cynicism. "Yes we're allies. Don't you bother reading the reports about who you're at peace with?" She demanded of him.

Naruto grimaced as he recalled the folders that were waiting in his apartment to be read. He hadn't had a lot of time to do that since he had been away a lot on a lot of missions recently. First there had been the one to find Granny Tsunade, then there had been that race, and now there was this one. He suppose he should get Sakura and Peter to work with him to figure out just what it was that he actually needed to know in those reports. "I've been busy." He grumbled back at her lamely, as he drew a new kunai out. He was running low on the blades, he was going to have to start using shadow clone kunai if this fight went much longer.

"Right." Temari returned to him unbelievingly. She then turned her attention back to Tayuaya who had managed to scramble back onto a tree. "Can we out aside any problems we have until after this one is finished?" She asked idly.

"Fine." Naruto agreed, somewhat relieved that there was someone else here. While he didn't doubt that he could have eventually beaten this kunoichi she was tough. There was also the fact that she was maybe even better at Taijutsu than Sasuke or Neji.

"If you want to wait while I do this, its fine. I'll take care of this for you." Temaris added somewhat mockingly as she narrowed her eyes on Tayuya who scowled back at her in return.

"You think that a couple of scratches like these are going to slow me down?" Naruto asked her with a confident smirk. "Then you don't know me at all. I'm going to take her down. Believe It." He proclaimed to her.

Temari scoffed at him. "Well I'll believe it when I see it." She told him, as she began walking towards the other Kunoichi and unfurled her fan to its full length.

Tayuya smirked as she looked down at the pair. "So this time you're on the Leaf's side huh? You guys are all over the place." She scoffed at the new arrival, and then began to play a new tune.

"She can summon some really mean giants, and do some other freaky things with that flute." Naruto warned.

"Yes, most likely create even more advanced versions of those sound oriented Genjutsu's that the Sound Village is becoming so well known for as well." Temari added, as she quickly analyzed the girl. She then pulled the fan back. "Cyclone Scythe Jutsu." She called, as she sent a new blast of wind rocketing towards the redhead.

Naruto could only stare in disbelief as he saw that the blast of wind tore through the trees slicing through them as if they weren't even there and moving towards Tayuya. The blast actually sliced the metal flute she was holding in at least two different spots. The Sound Ninja was forced to drop her instrumental weapon and hide. When the dust finally settled, the Sand and Leaf Shinobi looked around for the Sound Ninja.

"Is she gone?" Naruto asked, as he looked around for any signs of the arrogant redhead. He couldn't believe that she would have run away after one attack no matter how brutal it was.

"Unknown." Temaru returned as she scanned the trees looking for any sign of their opponent. "Since I'm new to this fight think you can explain the situation to me. Give me an analysis of her skills and battle style?" She requested of the blonde.

"Analysis?" Naruto asked dumbly.

Temari gritted her teeth at the idiot that she was being forced to work with. If it wasn't for the fact that Garra liked him so much and she knew just how powerful he was she would have sent him on while she finished this fight. "Yes, as in what can she do and how does she fight?" She asked as she dumbed the question down for him. Hopefully he would be able to understand what she was saying.

Naruto nodded as he comprehended what she was asking. "She likes to fight from far away and use these giants. That doesn't mean she can't do the physical part though." He added with a grimace, as he thought of some of his injuries. "None of her jutsus seemed to be close range though." He added after a moment of thought.

"Depending on her skill with Genjutsu then that's likely to be the one most likely for her to use." Temari observed. "As long as you stay close and stay quiet I'll be able to counteract the jutsu." That wasn't exactly true since she needed to know the direction that the tune was coming from and the more she heard from the flute the more likely it was that she would fall under its spell. She didn't add in the fact that if their opponent decided to get close she was going to need him to act as the physical side of their defense.

"Can you throw me using that?" Naruto asked curiously, nodding to the fan. "Maybe if I can draw her out and attack me then you can finish her off. We might even be able to trick her if we used a lot of my clones." He suggested his eyes lighting up as he came up with a plan.

Temari paused as she thought that strategy through. It seemed that the other blonde might not be nearly as hopeless as she thought he was. While not the best option, it was a good strategy when you considered just what it was that the boy knew about her skills and abilities. Give him a few years to outgrow his idiocy, and he might be able to at least hold a conversation with her that she wouldn't be wishing for a kunai. She had a better strategy on how to counteract the other kunoichi though. Biting her thumb, she smeared some blood on her fan. "Summoning: Blade Dance!" She called out, as a small weasel riding a sickle appeared and rode the wind currents that came with this swing of her fan. The wind tore all the tree around them within a hundred yards apart and when the wind had finally died down they could see the fallen body of Tayuya.

Naruto swallowed nervously as he saw the damage the girl had done with that one attack. It had literally changed the entire landscape of the battle. It didn't have the raw power of the Rasengan, but it was more than capable of getting the job done though. He was kind of glad she hadn't used that attack during the exams.

"And that' how you do it." Temari explained with a smirk. She was somewhat impressed with the results of the blast as she had never tried it in the woods before.

Naruto smiled at her. "That's awesome." He congratulated her. "Are you ready to head out after the rest of those jerks?"

Temari chuckled a bit. He was extremely single minded, if he wasn't so hyperactive he might have made a fair sand ninja. "Come on, we better find the other members of your squad." She told him.