I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

I've been looking forward to finally publishing this particular chapter, and I had a lot of fun (probably more than necessary) writing it. It's probably one of my favourites and you will soon find out why :)

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Naruko's eyes narrowed as shinobi and civilian alike fell asleep around her — genjutsu. Thanks to being bonded with a Bijuu, she was immune to genjutsu, and thus had no need to learn how to detect or release herself from it. Casting a quick look around, she found that all the Kage were awake — expected, but it still gave her a sense of relief. Over at the spectator stand, all shinobi ranked Chuunin and above had realized it was a genjutsu and released themselves. Naruko was pleased to see that Sakura was the only shinobi below Chuunin still awake; genjutsu had always been the pinkette's forte.

And then there was a miniature explosion, and a large plume of smoke rose from the Kage stand. Naruko, Sasuke, Kakashi and Gai jerked around to look at the source of the noise.

'Shit,' Gaara cursed. 'The operation's started. And I completely forgot to warn Naruko...' He briefly closed his eyes with a sigh. 'That's what happens when you reunite with people you love after so long, I suppose.' He glanced up at his siblings, who met his eyes and gave him identical, imperceptible nods. His eyes moved to the spectator stands and found his sensei — Baki — who also gave him a nod. 'Well, I guess I should be thankful I managed to convince some people, at the very least. It'll help Konoha in repelling the forces.'

"Hokage-sama!" Gai shouted as he and Kakashi made to head towards the site of explosion, but were cut off by three ANBU.

"Leave it to us!" one of them called as the cloaked and masked figures darted to the right, joined by more and more ANBU.

Naruko glanced first at them, and then at the two Jonin. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun, and it appeared Sakura was heading over her way. The blonde quickly turned to Shikamaru, who had fallen under the genjutsu— her eye twitched. "Shikamaru," she growled quietly, "you... are you sleeping to avoid conflict?" she hissed almost incredulously. It seemed her friend's laziness had absolutely no limits; she would tolerate it if only he could deduce when was an appropriate time to laze around and when wasn't. Having Konoha invaded definitely fell under the inappropriate circumstances.

"Incoming chakra signatures, and lots of them," Kurama warned. Naruko's jaw clenched; she sensed a faint Killing Intent emanating from the Kage rooftop. Steeling herself, she remembered her brothers were more than capable of taking care of themselves. As was the Old Man. She had to focus on what was right in front of her.

At that moment, Sakura and Pakkun arrived. "So here's a rundown of what Kakashi-sensei told me," the pinkette began, "Suna and Oto are invading Konoha, but here's where it gets a little bit confusing: apparently Suna was divided on it or maybe there are rebels? Dunno, but we can see them fighting each other."

Naruko paused, and then smiled, her eyes drifting down to her redheaded brother who had used his sand to shield himself, Genma and Sasuke from stray weapons. He was also using spare sand to knock out various Oto and Suna shinobi — taking care to avoid those on his side — and did his best refrain from permanently incapacitating unless there was no other option.

'You're the best, Gaa-chan.' Naruko looked back up at Sakura, and frowned at the lack of another presence. "Where's Fuu?"

"She went to the infirmary with Hinata," Sakura answered. "They went to see if the Genin were affected the genjutsu, and if any of them were capable enough to— Naruko, look out!"

The pure fear in her voice had Naruko acting instinctively; the Adamantine Sealing Chains lashed out from her back and slammed the Oto nin into the wall behind her, knocking him out.

The pinkette released a shuddering sigh of relief. "Handy indeed," she murmured, remembering her teammate's words back in the Forest of Death, when she had used her bloodline for the first time since Wave.

Naruko hummed in agreement. Her eyes scanned the arena, and suddenly locked eyes with her jinchuuriki-brother's biological sister. Temari's teal eyes held a sort of hidden apology, and the younger blonde nodded back at her in understanding. Kankuro joined his sister at the railing; it became a silent understanding between the three of them as they launched over the metal and landed in the arena.

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"Kazekage," A growled dangerously, "what is going on?"

The Kazekage simply looked at him. "This does not concern you, Raikage-dono," he said in fake politeness. 'Having three Kage here complicates the plan. I did not account for their presence... especially the Raikage's.' He narrowed his eyes as he heard the two Suna bodyguards that went ahead being swiftly eliminated by the ANBU squad that had showed up; it was time to act.

Faster than the Third Hokage could comprehend — he had let himself get rusty in his old age, it seemed — the Kazekage suddenly had him in a chokehold with a kunai to his jugular. Taking the Hokage with him, the Kazekage made to jump through the cloud of dust when a hard metal rod slammed into his shoulder, causing a muffled cry to escape. A large fist covered in blue lightning slammed into the roof in quick succession to the staff strike, just a few inches from where he was standing, forcing the Kazekage to move out of the way.

He whirled around and saw the Fourth Mizukage standing there, his fuchsia eyes shining against the billowing grey smoke. "So this was your plan, Kazekage-sama?" he asked with an eerie calm. "To invade Konoha during the Chuunin Exams?"

A stood up, standing opposite Yagura with only the two Kage between them. "Did you think it would be wise to attack when there were three Kage present, especially when two are interested in building an alliance with Konoha?" the young Raikage demanded.

"A little rash," Utakata murmured from his observant perch on a higher tier. Bee, standing a little bit behind him, reached forward to slap his head. The brunette whirled at him with an indignant protest on his lips, but stopped when he saw the agreeing grin on Bee's face. Rolling his eyes, the Kiri shinobi returned his attention to the confrontation between the four Kage.

The Kazekage glared. "I did not account for either of your presences beforehand," he said in a-matter-of-fact tone. "But that does not matter; I will deal with you accordingly."

Yagura silently tucked his staff under his left arm and raised his right hand in a Ram sign, his eyes holding a challenge he knew the Kazekage would not back down from.

"It's finally our time to come on the scene."

"We've been transformed for such a long time, I'm totally pent-up with frustration."

"You guys smell all sweaty."

"Come on, we're all comrades, right?"

Yagura narrowed his eyes slightly at the four voices that came from the corners of the roof. His eyes flickered to Utakata who was crouched on the tier above them; the brunette signalled four ninja, all from Otogakure.

"Do it," the Kazekage rasped.

Instantly, the four Oto ninja chanted at the same time, "Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!"

A dark barrier was constructed around the rooftop, and Yagura hid a grimace when he saw an ANBU Black Op be set on fire upon coming in contact with the barrier. Yagura took in the current situation; the Takikage had been taken somewhere by his bodyguards. A was apparently allied with him for this battle, so his speed and brute force would help give them the upper hand. But to have outwitted Konoha's famed ANBU... these were no ordinary ninja. Killer Bee and Utakata were above, ready to give them support at any notice.

"I didn't expect Suna to betray Konoha," Hiruzen commented, glaring at the Kazekage who was still holding him hostage.

"The treaty was simply a camouflage to make the enemy let down their guard," the white-robed man answered plainly. "The petty little battle game ends now. From this point on, the course of history will change."

The shorter man's glare intensified. "Are you saying that you're starting a war?"

"That's right," the Kazekage answered, and Yagura could hear the malicious smile hiding behind the white cloth that covered everything but his eyes.

Though he felt hot anger swelling in his stomach, Hiruzen remained calm. "One should avoid resolution through armed force, and rather seek a solution through negotiations. There's still time, Kazekage-sama."

'Oh my lanta,' Yagura blinked, 'is this why they call him the Professor?'

"Looks like it," Isobu agreed, amused. "He could be killed at any moment with a flick of the wrist, and yet he lectures his younger fellow Kage on diplomacy."

The Kazekage simply closed his eyes and chuckled derisively. "Perhaps one gets addicted to peace as one grows older..." His eyes snapped open with a baleful gleam in his eyes. "Sarutobi-sensei."

The Hokage's eyes widened. "You're..."

Just then, Utakata's head jerked around. 'Huge boa,' he internally gawked at the three snakes — or was it a three-headed snake? — that he could see writhing in the outskirts of Konoha. It had brought down a section of the wall separating the village from the expansive forest, but the ninja on patrol had already started attacking it. It seemed Konoha was well-prepared for attacks, despite the era of tentative peace they lived in.

His eyes instinctively moved down when he sensed two familiar chakra signatures flaring; Gaara and Naruko.

"What in the world is going on?" Sasuke Uchiha demanded, feeling confusion and wariness as beige filled his vision, the sand swirling in an agitated manner as it plucked shinobi left and right to hurl them into the air or knock them into walls. A flash of familiar orange caught his eye, and he whirled to see his teammate land with his opponent's teammates.

"Sasuke, you okay?" Naruko ran her eyes quickly over him before focusing on his face, and she visibly relaxed in relief when he nodded his head.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked again.

"Suna and Oto staged a combined invasion against Konoha." The answer came from Gaara. "But Suna was divided on this matter; as you can see, half of Suna is preoccupied fighting the other half, leaving only Oto to do the invading. I am on the side against the invasion, as are my siblings and my Jonin sensei."

"And I suppose you were the one who divided Suna?" Naruko asked with a smile playing her lips.

Gaara shrugged with a light smirk. "The Kazekage was not acting like himself. And he smelled... different. So was the feel of his chakra, and he couldn't control sand, either. But the most telling was that he attempted to be interested in what his children were doing. The real Kazekage never paid any of us a second glance."

"How did you get half of Suna to go against their Kazekage?" Genma couldn't help but ask.

Gaara's smirk widened. "Well, Baki-sensei had never really been all that convinced of the need to invade Konoha to begin with, and he agreed that the Kazekage had been acting oddly. As for my siblings... let's just say it's not exactly an unknown fact that all of the Kazekage's children quietly despise him, so the idea of going against our father's plans didn't bother them; in fact, I believe it pleased them. Besides, Temari and Kankuro prefer the action aspect of being a shinobi so in their eyes, they get to fight either way."

Naruko snorted lightly in amusement. "And that's how Gaara no Sabaku managed to get three influential shinobi to turn against their Kazekage, and convert half of Suna's forces."

"Gaara!" The redhead turned to see Temari motioning at him. "Come on, let's get out of here. The Konoha shinobi have it covered in this area; we need to stop the additional forces coming in from the forest."

Genma nearly spat out his senbon. "There's more?"

Gaara shot him a scathing look. "Of course. There weren't even that many Oto and Suna shinobi to begin with, so it makes sense for reinforcements to have a scheduled arrival. Thankfully, at least a third of those who will be summoned are on Konoha's side. They want to keep the peace, and believe it is the best course of action to go against their Kazekage, just this once."

"The people of the desert sure are bold," Genma murmured.

"Yes, we are," an amused voice answered, and the Jonin nearly choked on his senbon again. He turned around to see a very tall Suna Jonin with two distinctive red markings on the right side of his face. The rest of his head was covered by a turban-like head gear and a white cloth hung over the left side of his face. "The name's Baki," the Jonin told the proctor. "Jonin Sensei of the Fourth Kazekage's children."

"Wait, hold on," Genma's mind raced. "Weren't you—"

"Genma, if you don't want to end your shinobi career early, I suggest you put that senbon to use and start defending your village!"

Said Jonin nearly fell over in surprise as a familiar brunette landed beside him, sweep-kicking an Oto shinobi's feet from beneath him and slamming his katana handle into his temple, effectively knocking him out. "H-Hayate!" Genma blinked rapidly as the man's blade flashed in the blinding sunlight. "How— what— when—"

The Tokubetsu Jonin shot him an amused look. "That night, Baki kidnapped me and informed me of Suna's... predicament." He jerked his head over at Baki. 

Said Suna Jonin shrugged. "I was going to kill him, originally. But then I started having too much fun fighting him, and Gaara also told me that his only relative was a younger sister. I couldn't kill him with good conscience, so I made him create a blood clone and killed that instead. If I hadn't killed him, the shinobi who were on the side of the invasion would've grown suspicious."

Hayate rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "The plan was already underway, so there was no way we could stop the invasion; all we could was prepare for when it began. I agreed to wait with Baki and his team until the invasion commenced — after all, I am a Konoha shinobi, and so I intend to protect it with my dying breath."

Genma shook his head. "I can't even with you right now," he muttered. "Yugao is going to kill you for this little stunt."

Hayate winced. "Oh, believe me, I know. I'm actually hoping I can hide behind Naruko?" He looked hopefully at the whiskered Genin behind him.

"Sure," the blonde shrugged. "I mean, I didn't know you "died" since I was out of civilization — or what felt like it, anyway — for a month. But still, that's not very nice of you to make your long-time girlfriend think you died. And for an entire month, at that."

Hayate winced again, and dropped to the ground as he anticipated the blonde's kunai that flew behind him and dug deep into a Suna shinobi's eye, causing him to cry out in surprise and pain as he staggered back, clamping a hand over his bleeding face.

Gaara glared. "Please refrain from permanently damaging the Suna shinobi. We still need them to be of use to Suna for future missions and the like."

Naruko couldn't help but snicker a little at the utter seriousness in his voice, despite how he had referred to said shinobi as if they were marketing goods. "Sorry..." Privately, she thought Gaara sounded more like a Kage than Yagura ever did... she really needed to stop insulting her brother before he got the impression she didn't love him.

Genma rolled the senbon between his teeth for a moment before grinning. "On second thought, unless said lady in grieving molests you first and then kills you. Because, I mean—"

"Shut it!" Hayate snapped, heat creeping up his neck as Baki let out a rumbling laugh. Genma was grinning wickedly, undeterred by his comrade's disgruntled attitude.

Clearing his throat, Baki ordered his students, "Go to the borders of Konoha and do your best to do damage control or delay the reinforcements. Both Oto and Suna shinobi will be coming. You know the drill — knock out the Suna shinobi, eliminate the Oto."

"What about you, sensei?" Temari asked, with a rare — albeit minimal — amount of concern in her voice.

It seemed Suna treated their shinobi as more of soldiers than humans, Naruko mused, if their barely-surfacing emotions were anything to go by.

"I'll be suppressing these guys," their sensei answered, moving to flank Genma's other side. The Jonin bit down on his senbon and grinned at Baki, Hayate on his other side. This was going to be one hell of a team-up.

"Sasuke, Naruko." Both Genin glanced over at the proctor. "The Chuunin Exams end here. And no doubt, the both of you have already achieved Chuunin level. If you're a Konoha shinobi, then be of service to Konoha."

"In other words," a slow smile spread across Naruko's face, "destroy the reinforcements?"

"It'll just be a continuation of Phase 2," Sasuke commented.

Genma looked amused at the Uchiha's simplifying of the invasion, but nodded. "Go with Baki's team. Don't take more than you can handle; from here on, it's the real thing." He paused. "Take care of Naruko, Uchiha."

"Take care of yourself," Naruko muttered back her brother-figure, before allowing Sasuke to lead the way as he cleared the wall in one leap, the sound of clashing blades ringing out behind her. Her keen eyes sought out Shikamaru and Sakura; finding them, she motioned to join the pursuit.

"Whoa baby!" Kurama suddenly exclaimed, and Naruko nearly slipped off the roof she had just landed on. "This chakra... I'll never forget this chakra!" He remained quiet for a moment, so Naruko assumed he was either thinking or conversing with his Bijuu siblings. "Kit, here's quick rundown of what's happening," the fox said at last. "The past Hokage have been brought to life through Edo Tensei."

Naruko stiffened. 'Otou-san...?' she asked almost hesitantly, the word foreign on her tongue.

"Sarutobi managed to stop his reanimation, but the First and the Second are back. All three of your brothers are assisting him and the Raikage against Orochimaru."

Naruko bit down on the soft flesh of her inner cheek. 'Thanks for keeping me informed.'

"Why am I pulled into this?" Naruko tuned back into Shikamaru's typical half-assed complaints. "This is such a drag." But despite it, he kept pace with his three former classmates.

"What a shocker to discover that you do, in fact, lack motivation," Sasuke said wryly. "From what I heard, your final match performance was so incredibly riveting."

"What's with inviting the emo-boy? Remind me why he's here again?"

"I have a penchant for watching melodrama as a leisure activity," Sasuke drawled sarcastically.

"Is that so?" Sakura teased in a light tone. "Here's what I think — you were afraid Gaara, Shika or Kankuro would end up being alone with Naruko, and you aren't cool with that idea."

"What?" Sasuke lost his footing and nearly fell to his death — or at least towards the loss of his walking ability — had it not been for Naruko's quick reflexes when she grabbed the collar of his shirt. The Uchiha came back up spluttering and as red as his favourite snack, Sakura and Shikamaru both smirking at him. The Sand Siblings were a few steps ahead of them, and didn't even bother looking behind them.

Sakura giggled at her teammate's sudden lack of coherency. "Well, either way, it can't be helped — right after you jumped down, Naru, Kaka-sensei gave us our first A-ranked mission since Wave. It has the same objective as yours and Sasuke's, but directed at myself and Shikamaru."

"Well technically," Sasuke grunted, "I'm working under Genma's orders."

Naruko sighed. "Both Jonin had the same objective, so it doesn't matter who issued what. Let's just hurry up before those snakes destroy the entirety of the wall. The Chuunin Exams were held on the opposite side of the borders, so we have to move fast."

"Fast question," Shikamaru interrupted, "is that redheaded guy your friend?"

Naruko's eyes didn't stray from the distant figures of the three foreign shinobi. "He's an keystone of my past... and someone I've never been able to let go of." She paused before musing aloud, "He holds me close to his heart, just as I do for him."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly at the cryptic and suggestive answer, while Shikamaru only gave her a nod in acknowledgement. Sakura tapped his shoulder, and Sasuke sent more chakra to his feet, propelling him ahead to where Naruko was. The blonde was travelling faster than all of them; she already had practice when she pulled pranks and had to run away from shinobi, but now she had a real incentive, it was getting harder and harder to stay beside her.

Pakkun suddenly barked out, "There are eight people in two squads on our tail. No, there's one more... there are nine people following us."

"C'mon, already?" Shikamaru grumbled. "We haven't even left the village. Give me a break."

"We don't have time to deal with them," Naruko growled through gritted teeth.

"Normally, I would suggest an ambush, but we're in the middle of a village and there's not much to work with here," Sakura sighed. "Besides, even if we did have secret traps or passages or any of the classic mystery novel shidings, Orochimaru would probably know about it, seeing as he is a former Konoha shinobi. So that approach won't work on his henchmen."

Naruko and Sasuke exchanged an amused look that said, 'And there's our strategist.'

Shikamaru's teeth snapped together with a soft click. "Well, there's only one thing we can do now — a diversion in the guise of an ambush. One person will remain, pretend to ambush, and delay the pursuers."

"In other words," Sakura murmured, "bait."

"Right," Shikamaru confirmed, "if we delay them, the others will be able to get to the borders easier. But everyone capable is busy at the arena with the other Suna and Oto ninja where the invading forces are. So the bait will be without backup, and considering the level of shinobi chasing us, there's a fairly high chance that..." he hesitated, though his voice was hard as steel, "they'll die."

All four Genin slowed to a stop after Shikamaru's declaration. They were silent for a while; who were they going to leave behind? For Team 7, the answer had always been clear: no one was left behind. To do that would make you worse than scum — it was a lesson that had been drilled into them from day one, and one they all took to heart. But ignoring Shikamaru's plan would mean leaving themselves as easy pickings for Orochimaru's henchmen. And for the bait to have such a low likelihood of surviving... death had never seemed to close and real before. Even during the C-turned-B-rank mission, Kakashi had been there to protect his team. But now they were alone; four Genin and one ninja hound. Who would they sacrifice? And could they live with themselves afterwards? To have to tell a family that their child had died within Konoha's walls because they stayed behind to let the others go on, even when they knew there was no certainty for them to live another day?

But, as Kakashi constantly reminded them, each one of them had a role to play. A team drew on each other for strength. And that was why no one was to be left behind. But in such a situation as this, what was the right answer?

No one knew.

"So... who's going to do it?" Shikamaru broke the heavy silence.

Naruko exhaled through her nose and squared her shoulders. "I'll do it." She wasn't surprised when Sasuke's head snapped around to glare at her as Sakura's eyes widened. She could even feel Shikamaru's surprised gaze at her back, and Pakkun's wary eyes. She smiled tightly at her friends, "No one will miss me if I don't return," she said quietly. "You're the only son of the clan head," she told Shikamaru, "and you have parents to return to," she said gently to Sakura. But with Sasuke... her eyes softened. "You know better than anyone that there is something only you can do."

Sasuke clenched his jaw, but before he could say a word, Sakura's fist came and swung down on Naruko's head — hard. "Idiot," the pinkette seethed, though her beryl eyes were covered with a film of tears she refused to shed, "did you even think of your team in that little analysis of yours? Didn't you ever think we'd miss you if you didn't return?"

Naruko could only stare at her teammate numbly.

"And what about Kaka-sensei?" Sakura continued. "He's your brother. You're his sister. And Ibiki, Anko, Hayate, Genma... you knew them all, didn't you? The same way you knew Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei and Gai-sensei. You also have people back in the village who love you. Maybe not a lot, but enough that you can't just throw your life away like that."

"But I won't let you throw your lives away for mine," Naruko responded quietly.

"Pup," Pakkun finally spoke up, addressing the blonde. "I can't force you to do anything — in the end it will be your choice. But, I do know for a fact that it would kill Kakashi if you died. You and I know he already lost so much before he even turned fifteen... he opened up his life and his heart to you. If he loses you... he may revert back to the way he was when his team died." (1)

Naruko closed her eyes, biting her lip. She only opened her eyes when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Sasuke looking at her intensely.

"I'm going to be selfish today, and make this one request: please don't make me lose someone precious to me again, either," the Uchiha almost pleaded in a voice soft enough that only Naruko could hear.

The blonde looked at him for a moment before sighing and lowering her head in defeat. "Man... you guys sure know how to guilt-trip someone."

Shikamaru smirked to himself before heaving a sigh. "Well, looks like I'll be the bait, then."

"Why you?" Naruko demanded immediately.

"It's better than being wiped out, right?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Besides, Team 7 has a dynamic no one in our graduating class can even hope to replicate. InoShikaCho's dynamic is one passed down since sixteen generations ago." (2) He smiled lazily at them. "But yours is something new and unique to only you three. It's a drag, but among us, the only one who is equal to playing the bait and who has a possibility of surviving..." He flipped over their heads and landed on the side of the roof behind Naruko, "is me."

He straightened up, glancing back over at them one last time. "The Shadow Possession Jutsu was originally intended as a delay tactic, so..." He shrugged, shifting his eyes forward. "Well, I'll catch up later. Now get going."

His nonchalant tone did little to relax them, but the determination underlying his words was all they needed to start moving again.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Team 7, Shikamaru and Pakkun turned to see Temari no Sabaku land beside the Nara, slinging her fan down and slamming it firmly onto the roof.

"You?" Shikamaru asked incredulously.

Temari shot him an annoyed look. "Hey, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm helpless, you know. Damned lazy, chauvinistic Konoha shinobi," she muttered the last part under her breath.

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Sakura looked over her shoulder, to where the two boys were barely visible. "Your brothers are still going ahead."

Temari sighed forcefully. "We realized you stopped, and Gaara sensed chakra signatures tailing us. Figured you were trying to find a tactic to delay them, so I told them I'd double back to check on you. I'll stay with the lazyass, so the rest of you go on with Gaara and Kankuro."

The blonde nodded. "Thank you." She quickly moved to press a hand to Shikamaru's back, right between the shoulder blades. The boy stiffened as he felt something dissolve through his fishnet shirt and stick to his skin like some sort of inky webbing.

"It's a chakra storage seal," Naruko informed him, smoothing the paper.

Ah — so it was ink.

"I know you're low on chakra from your earlier match. If you run too low, send a little chakra to the middle of your back here," she pressed her palm hard against where she had placed the seal, "and it'll release the chakra into your system. But Temari should be enough backup."

Naruko peeled off the now-blank paper talisman and tucked it into her hip pouch. She cleared the short space that separated her from her team, and looked back. "We're all counting on you," she said as light-heartedly as she could, to which the Nara responded by raising his right hand as both an acknowledgement and a farewell.

Naruko turned to her teammates, and saw the same internal conflict as she had; this was going against everything Kakashi had taught them. But they had no choice; as shinobi, most choices they had to make were rarely the easy or fun kind. But then again, they were the ones who had chosen this occupation, hadn't they?

The only thing that eased their conscience was that Shikamaru wasn't alone. Even if he only had another Genin with him, and one that he didn't know at that, it was better than no one at all.

So with simultaneous determined nods, Team 7 and Pakkun started on their way again.

Fifteen minutes later, they were quickly closing in both the Suna shinobi and the border. Naruko couldn't help smiling when a tendril of sand whisked out and wrapped around Kankuro's torso, hoisting him into the air and dropping him onto another sand platform. Gaara was a jinchuuriki, after all, and he had the stamina and the chakra reserves to show it. Even if Kankuro hadn't done his match, he wouldn't be able to keep up with a jinchuuriki on a mission for long.

Flipping off the roof and to the ground, Sasuke quickly scanned his surroundings — they were at the very edge of the village, a few meters away from the border that separated Konoha from the expansive forest they were known for. The forest was at his back, while the two Sand Siblings were closer to the village. Sasuke glanced behind his shoulder again, and couldn't help the small quirk of his lips. Ah, this brought back memories; some dreadful — read: catching Tora — and of course, the happier but also questionably moralistic — read: chasing a certain grey-haired Jonin who had a penchant for being unforgivably late with Naruko's prankster traps set up everywhere until he fell to his knees begging for mercy.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here?"

Naruko instantly straightened up as the mischief dropped from her face. "We have orders from Kakashi Hatake and Genma Shiranui to come here. The heart of the combined invasion is in the Chuunin Exam arena, however according to these two," she gestured to Gaara and Kankuro, "there are even more reinforcements on the way. Kakashi-sensei and Genma gave us an A-rank mission: subdue or delay the reinforcements."

"Very funny, kid," the Jonin said sarcastically. "Three Genin would never be sent to—"

"Yuri." The Jonin turned to see Ibiki Morino coming up to them, and gave him a nod. "It's alright, I know this child. And besides, they are here under orders from their superiors, and I know for a fact they are more than capable of handling this mission. And we need all the help we can get, if the amount of incoming chakra signatures are any indication." He then turned curious eyes on the Suna Genin. "But if Suna is invading Konoha, why are you two here?"

Kankuro crossed his arms. "Suna's divided on the matter," he answered. "Half of Suna is for, and half of Suna is against. I'm on the against side, so I've got the same objective as them," he jerked a thumb over at Team 7.

Naruko's ears twitched and she shot a look at Gaara, who nodded back at her. The redhead then announced in his usual monotone, "No time for debates; here they come."

Kankuro instantly yanked on the bandages covering his strangely-shaped object, and the cloth rapidly circled in the air until the mysterious package was revealed — a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid puppet with jagged teeth and a spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides. It was connected to Kankuro's fingers via chakra strings.

Sakura's eyes widened in delight. "A puppet! You're a puppet master!"

Kankuro shot her an amused smirk. "Yeah, and this is my trump card, Karasu."

"Wait, so all three Sand Siblings are long-range fighters?" Naruko blinked. "Isn't that a little... I don't know, unbalanced, since none of you do well in close-range combat?" Gaara cleared his throat pointedly, and Naruko rolled her eyes. "The only reason you know is because I forced you to, so I wouldn't get all high-and-mighty about that."

"Oh shi— uh, I mean shoot!" Sasuke corrected himself as he ducked under a kunai thrown at his face, twisting his body around so he could easily catch the weapon. The Uchiha straightened up, switching his grip on the kunai so the handle was facing the shinobi in front of him, as if he was intending to give it back. "Please, not the face. The ladies dig the face," Sasuke informed him in the amused-yet-apathetic voice that only an Uchiha could pull off.

"Ah — they finally arrived," Gaara simply noted as his sand platform moved forward to engage the shinobi who were scaling the wall at an alarming speed. Ibiki rolled his eyes at Team 7 and went back to his post to bark orders at his subordinates.

Sakura turned to slam her head onto a nearby tree trunk while Naruko exhaled with forced calm, reaching over to grab the front of Sasuke's shirt. "Alright you teme," she glared at his irritatingly-smug smirk, "first of all: you can swear; our beloved sensei isn't here to tell us off. And secondly: from what I've seen in the Academy, I regrettably confirm  — with the danger of inflating that ego of yours — that the ladies do indeed dig your face, as you so eloquently put it, but—"

"But dammit, you're a shinobi and you ain't gonna stay flawless forever and personally, thank Kami for that!" Sakura called over. "I can't be on a team with a male who is more beautiful than I am," she joked.

Naruko snorted. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Also, can you even call those shrieking banshees "ladies"? No, never mind — did you have to say that with a straight face? Good lanta, there's no limit to your Uchiha-ness, is there?"

Sasuke smirked, peering down at his shorter teammate. "So... you admit you find me attractive, then?"

Naruko punched his chest, causing him to stumble back a step or two, laughing softly. "In your dreams, you ninnyhammer!"

"You don't get a lot of "ninnyhammer" these days," Sasuke said thoughtfully before calmly side-stepping to let the shuriken pass him by. Sighing in mock-despair, Sasuke reiterated, "What did I just say?" He motioned to the weapons embedded in the tree trunk behind him, which had been aimed at his temple, eye and neck. "Not the face, man— hey! Who's side are you on?" Sasuke demanded, holding a hand to the cheek that Naruko had punched, and none too gently, either.

"The one who doesn't spout about their attractiveness in the middle of a battle," Naruko grinned wickedly. "And relax, it wasn't like I chopped off your limb. I simply gave you a blemish..." her grin widened even more, if that was at all possible. "Now your face isn't so "diggable" anymore."

"Ouch," the Uchiha muttered half-heartedly, rubbing his cheek. "I guess I had that one coming."

"Hell yeah, you did," Sakura chuckled. "You were practically asking for it."

"Are you three always like this?" Kankuro questioned, tone nearing disbelief.

Sakura chuckled again, this time sheepishly as she brought up her right hand to rub the back of her neck — a habit she had picked up from Naruko, which Gaara also recognized. "Probably? We don't really know, because in the field or off-duty, we're pretty much always together. We don't really notice the way we act."

"So in other words... you're a package deal?"

Naruko grinned. "You want to fight the Uchiha survivor? You get to fight the Uzumaki and the Haruno, too. You want Haruno to babysit your kids? Sorry, you got saddled with the Uchiha and Uzumaki as well."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura didn't bother to hide her snickers; they were too true for them to even think of denying.

"Oi, Gaara, don't you even think about— Farquaad," Naruko cursed. "Sakura, Sasuke, stay here and cover Kankuro in case someone disables his puppet or tries to get into close-range combat. I'm going after the sand-loving rodent."

"And why are you going after him alone?" Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Naruko's eyes twinkled. "Who said I was alone?" She lifted her finger skyward, where a white-and-green figure was flying overhead. "I have her, and the three of us work together like a well-oiled machine."

Sakura frowned, and looked over at Sasuke. "I don't like this one bit." The Uchiha glanced at the incoming forces, to Gaara, then Fuu, then at Naruko, and finally at Sakura with a pointed look in his eyes. The pinkette sighed. "Alright then... but just don't do anything stupid, Naruko. We all know you're the one who brings out the stupid in Team 7," she grinned.

Naruko scoffed, waving her off. "I'm hurt you think of me in such a way, Sakura-chan."

"Exhibit A: Sasuke Uchiha," the pinkette deadpanned before promptly shielding herself behind a tree when a Suna shinobi released a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough. "Right, well that's your cue to leave." Sakura shot her teammate a salute as she waited for the C-rank jutsu to blow itself out. The instant it did, she darted out to engage the perpetrator in chakra-enhanced taijutsu. The boy — he wasn't really old enough to be classified as a man — clearly wasn't expecting the pinkette to rush in head-on, and barely blocked a chakra-enhanced punch; Sakura had gotten the idea in the heat of the moment in Phase 2, but then she found out it was uncannily similar to the famed Slug Princess' unique taijutsu style. And from there, she had progressed beyond her initial plans.

Kankuro tilted his head with a somewhat impressed look before launching his puppet at an Oto shinobi who had slipped past the patrol shinobi. After all, it would be stupid have Karasu attack Suna shinobi who were fairly acquainted with their own village's Puppet Corps.

Naruko smiled with a sisterly pride as Sakura easily kept up with her opponent, and was about to head over to Gaara when a hand closed on her wrist.

"Naruko, wait."

She turned back to see her dark-haired teammate, and found herself slightly taken aback at the concern shining in his obsidian eyes; he wasn't even trying to hide it. He seemed to be searching for something in her face; all the previous mirth and even the hidden twinkle in his eyes she had discovered in their very early Genin days had been snuffed out, showing her just how serious he was about this.

"Be careful," Sasuke murmured at last.

Naruko flashed him a slightly strained smile. "When am I not?" she joked.

Sasuke frowned. "I mean it, Naruko," he stressed. When Naruko furrowed her brow as a silent query of 'Why are you so worried?', his eyebrows drew together ever-so-slightly. "There's a lot of them, and they could be Chuunin or higher. Our skill levels might be around theirs, thanks to our advanced training, but they're bound to have a lot more experience than we do. And..." Sasuke hesitated, "and I won't be there to watch your back."

Naruko's lips curled up in a half-smile. "Does that scare you, teme?" It was a gentle question, not a jibe. Sasuke didn't answer, but the look in his eyes was more than enough answer. The smile turned gentle with understanding. "I know you're always watching. That's why I make it my job to always cover your back..." Unable to resist one last playful tease, she added, "because you're always too busy watching mine."

Sasuke released her wrist with a slightly miffed look. "Am not, dobe." But he recognized the affection hidden in her eyes and was smiling back at her — as much as an Uchiha could, anyway.

The blonde smirked at him before all the mirth disappeared from her face. "Not that she needs it, but take care of Sakura for me, ne?"

He didn't miss a beat; "Only if you promise to take care of yourself."

Naruko smiled softly at him, and held out two fingers. Sasuke looked at her in surprise, but held out his own fingers to complete the Seal of Reconciliation.

Sasuke had instinctively used the Seal of Reconciliation the first time he was the only one close enough to do anything about Naruko's dangerous flare of Bijuu chakra, and since any other kind of physical contact was a little too much for his emo-ness, he had settled for grabbing two of her fingers in his. Now, it represented a promise — neither of them were alone anymore.

"I promise," Naruko whispered.

Sasuke dipped his head in an imperceptible nod. "I promise," he echoed.

Naruko flashed him her infamous Uzumaki Grin, and instantly disappeared. "I can't believe you two started the party without me," she complained as she appeared between her siblings, who were shooting sticky strings and sand, respectively.

Fuu snorted. "Didn't want to break you and your boyfriend up," she answered, hands forming into the Tiger seal before she clapped her hands together, opening her mouth to exhale a large quantity of luminous fine powder. "Hiden: Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!"

"He's not my boyfriend," Naruko snapped back as she instantly rushed at the shinobi under the blinding cover of her sister's signature jutsu, knocking them out with swift chops to the neck or winding them with solid punches to the solar plexus.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Gaara called as he dug his fingers into the earth, allowing sand to spring up from the ground in the shape of hands, immobilizing multiple shinobi. "Try not to permanently disable them!" he called as another pair of arms rose up from behind him, flinging back the shinobi that had managed to get past the trio.

Alarmed cries came from the shinobi as they flew through the air. Naruko ran at Fuu who cupped her hands, boosting her blonde sister into the air where she drew the Nietono no Shana and cut down two Oto shinobi before landing on Gaara's back, vaulting off him and back into the air. Fuu threw a paper talisman at her, which she caught between her pointer and middle finger with her left hand at the same time her right hand slashed quick, precise strikes at three of the remaining four shinobi Gaara had hurtled into the air for her, slapping the talisman on the fourth. He fell to the ground, twitching as electricity crackled around his prone form.

Naruko landed back onto the ground, flanked by Gaara and Fuu. "Since when do you carry seals around with you?" she asked with a surprised, yet pleased smile.

"Since my seal-nut of a sister wasn't around to magically whip them up for me anymore," Fuu answered with a grin. "Do you know how annoying it is to buy lots of things and then realize you don't have a storage seal on you?"

Gaara snorted. "Aside from your shopping sprees, I'd say that was nicely done. I see we're still as synchronized as ever."

"We never lost it," Naruko answered dismissively as her nodachi blade lit up with flames. 'This is a great time as any to test it out.' Kurama hummed in agreement, obviously excited.

"Holy chalupas!" Fuu exclaimed as her sister suddenly became a yellow flash, a trail of fire in her wake as she darted from one end of the field to another. Gaara smothered a laugh at the looks of pure disbelief from Konoha, Suna and Oto shinobi alike.

"Great Blade of Crimson!" Naruko's voice called out over the clashing of blades, battle cries and pounding feet. She swung her nodachi horizontally, the flames that had previously been coating the blade shooting off in an expanding arc-shaped wave of fire. She watched in fascination as it swept over the shinobi; she recognized the symptoms of heat exhaustion in the aftermath of the jutsu. Predictably, the Suna shinobi fared better than the Oto shinobi, though not by much. The flame was fueled by a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, after all.

Shaking his head, Gaara took advantage of their stupefied state upon seeing what looked like a reincarnation of the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze himself, and trapped as many shinobi's feet as he could with his sand. Fuu shot out her sticky strings and bound shinobi by groups of threes or fours to the numerous trees surrounding the area, while Naruko took care of the rest with her waves fo fire.

"They just keep coming!" Naruko complained at the third wave of shinobi coming out. "Who is summoning them and from where in the damn forest? And how do the villages have this many shinobi? I swear even Konoha doesn't have this many... also, where the hell are the ANBU when you actually need them?"

"I believe they're busy trying to save the Hokage," Kurama answered blandly. "Either that or they're keeping the invading shinobi from running rampant on killing sprees through the civilian districts."

Naruko muttered under her breath, sweeping her nodachi horizontally across the sky to down a considerable portion of shinobi. "How do I do fireballs...?" Naruko frowned at her nodachi, but shrugged. She'd train with Kurama later; after all, it had taken her a month to master Great Blade of Crimson. It was surprisingly harder than she had anticipated, because it required you to focus, have a strong intent and imagination to actually form the spell while simultaneously drawing on the correct amount of a Bijuu's chakra.

"You know, if you condensed the chakra more, it would bee like a legitimate blade of fire that could strike someone and deal some real damage," Kurama informed her. "You could even set someone on fire, behead them, cut off their limbs, slice them in half... blades of fire do so much more than give someone heat exhaustion when properly condensed."

'Yes, but I don't want to permanently incapacitate them,' Naruko answered, not at all bothered by her Bijuu's gory suggestions. 'Not unless the only shinobi in the area are from Oto.'

Kurama grumbled and reluctantly acquiesced. Naruko turned her attention to her siblings, who were moving in tandem — Fuu was flinging shinobi at Gaara so he could knock them out while he did the same to Fuu, who effortlessly caught the shinobi with her strings and attach them to tree trunks. Naruko grinned when they noticed her watching and Fuu threw a paintbrush and two blank paper slips her way. The Uzumaki swiftly sketched her Paralysis seals with an edge of Lightning chakra. Two Suna shinobi had slipped past Gaara and Fuu and were heading straight for her from opposite directions; Naruko dropped to a crouch at the last minute, sweeping her leg in a full 360-spin, knocking them both on their fronts so she could slap the seals she had just drawn onto their thoracic spines.

Naruko smiled a little too happily — ah, fūinjutsu. What a wonderful ninja art.

"Kankuro, move!"

Naruko and Gaara whirled around at the same time, and Naruko's eyes widened when she saw Kankuro turn at the sound of his sister's voice. Temari and Shikamaru had evidently dealt with their pursuers, and had finally caught up to them. Unfortunately, the warning shout backfired and broke Kankuro's concentration; he was too slow to dodge the Oto nin who managed to get close enough to drive a kunai into the puppeteer's stomach, burying it up to its hilt. Kankuro's eyes went wide with surprise and pain, and he tensed a moment before blood spilled from his mouth and he crumpled to the ground.

"Kankuro!"

Sasuke was instantly onto the shinobi, slamming his knee into his torso and roundhouse-kicking his jaw with enough force to fly him over to Sakura, who met him with a ready fist. There was a sickening crunch as her punch broke his nose. Sakura's left leg shot up and kicked him back over to Sasuke, whose right hand was bright with the beginnings of a Lightning-based jutsu while the telltale chirping of birds filled the air.

"Chidori!" Sasuke roared as he ran to meet the shinobi's body. The ninja, with blood pouring down his face, futilely grabbed at a kunai and stabbed it into Sasuke's shoulder at the same time the Uchiha's jutsu pierced his chest. Sasuke kicked the shinobi's now-dead body off his arm, and dropped to wipe his blood onto the grass.

So there was something new to learn today: a Chuunin is no match for a furious Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. The poor guy was just lucky Naruko wasn't there, too.

Naruko grimaced; it seemed they would be having a talk about first kills later. For now, Sasuke appeared to be unfazed — probably the adrenaline and the anger. Sakura was already crouching beside Kankuro, her hands coated in green and pressed firmly against the wound. Temari's fan was held like a shield as she covered both Sakura and her brother, while Shikamaru and Hinata — when did the Hyuuga join them? — aided Sasuke in apprehending those who somehow made it past the jinchuuriki triplets and the Jonin on patrol duty.

Temari tensed as she felt demonic chakra pulsating in regular bursts. She slowly turned to see a very familiar scene — her youngest brother standing in the middle of a miniature sandstorm, but his pale eyes were fixed on Kankuro. The sand was slowly accumulating on Gaara's body, and the redhead shuddered before releasing a blood-curdling howl. The sand's speed increased and large appendages slowly morphed from Gaara's own limbs, coloured beige with a black pattern unique to the One-Tailed Raccoon.

"Oh, he did not." Temari turned to see the blonde whiskered Leaf Genin beside her, scowling up at her struggling redheaded brother. "Why, that son of a half-blood prince!" She glanced at the eldest child of the Fourth Kazekage. "No offense meant to your mother. I'm sure she was a lovely woman."

"Well... this should be interesting..." Kurama blinked a little warily. "Shukaku's coming out to play." He paused. "I don't think he should be coming out to play."

'Ya think?' Naruko said dryly. "Ibiki!" she hollered, and the Jonin blinked before looking at her. "Get everyone out the immediate vicinity! Now!"

The head of T&I blinked again before nodding sharply, and barked orders were soon flying from his mouth. The Jonin and Chuunin didn't hesitate to obey him; the demonic chakra was flaring in a dangerous, uncontrolled fashion, and at any rate, it was looking more and more like a repeat of thirteen years ago, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Except this time, there was no Fourth Hokage to save them.

"Naruko!" Gaara's voice came out strangled, caught between his own and the Bijuu's. "Do it! Do it now!"

"Um, do... do we have a problem?" Hinata asked a little nervously.

"No," Naruko sighed irritably. "He has a problem. I'm just the idiot who keeps getting into one."

"You got that part right," Sasuke smirked. "Only, you keep getting into those problems because you're the one who causes them in the first place."

"My, how typical of you, you heartless piece of meat and bones," Naruko teased.

"Naruko!" Sakura's voice snapped. "I don't know if you've noticed, but your friend is turning into a Bijuu. Or at least, I think that's what's happening." The uncertainty in her voice disappeared as she added, "I don't think now is a great time for you two to be flirting! Besides, I've got a patient who needs to get off the battlefield so I'm going to need to borrow your boyfriend."

"We're not flirting!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "And I'm Tsunade Senju. Now get over here, Sasuke."

Naruko gently pushed her teammate. "Go on. I can handle Gaara; I've done this before." She turned her gaze upward to where Fuu was hovering. "Take care of them for me, Fuu," she called. The green-haired girl looked down and gave her a thumbs-up before flying down and grabbing Temari. Sasuke grasped Naruko's two fingers in his own and then left to help pick up Kankuro to take him someplace safer.

With her teammates, sibling and the Konoha shinobi out of the danger zone, Naruko turned her full attention onto her brother. Sealing her nodachi away — she didn't want to seriously harm Gaara — Naruko bit the pad of her thumb and slammed it onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

And just like before, Gamakichi appeared. "Hey Naru, what's—"

"Sand Shuriken!"

Naruko grabbed the small orange toad and leapt out of the way. Landing safely out of range, the blonde checked on her summon. "You doing okay, Gamakichi? Sorry about that. But I just need to know, can you do any attacks?"

"Sorry Naru," Gamakichi said apologetically. He turned in Naruko's arms to appraise Gaara. "You would be better off with the Chief."

Naruko groaned; last time she did that, she was knocked out for three days. "Right, well, thanks. You wanna stick around or go back?"

"I'll stick around," Gamakichi said. "I ain't letting my partner do this alone. Besides, I might get some experience or something... I dunno, something Pops always says the younger toads need more of."

Naruko couldn't help smiling and carefully placed him on her shoulder. "Okay, you stay there. If it gets too dangerous, I'm sending you back." Her eyes drifted over to her brother. "But I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that, though." Her hands rose into a cross sign, and multiple Shadow Clones popped into existence. She needed to buy some time to get ready for the moves she had been working on.

Gaara's transformed cheeks bulged. "Infinite Sandstorm Devastation!" A sandstorm burst from his mouths, consisting of wind mixed with his chakra-laced sand.

Naruko's lips thinned as she sent her Adamantine Sealing Chains flying out from her back. Some wrapped around Gaara as a temporary immobilizing technique while the rest slammed into the ground, chakra filling up the gaps and creating a barrier. She wasn't sure how long it would last while facing off with Gaara since she hadn't used her kekkei genkai as she would've liked, but at least this way, no one else was going to get dragged in. This was her brother, and that meant this was her fight.

From within the Chuunin Exam arena, Kakashi's eye widened when he saw the familiar barrier, and his mind instantly took him back to the night when he lost his sensei and the only mother-figure he had ever known. 'Naruko!'

The girl chewed on her lip. 'I don't want to hurt him too badly, but I have to subdue him.' She ran through the information Ritsu had drilled into her during the early, happier days. Her eyes went wide as they zeroed in on the base of the tail. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Flanked by her clones, the kunoichi started to run at her fellow jinchuuriki. Gaara — or Gaakaku, as they called him the first time Shukaku tried to overtake him — continued hurling Sand Shuriken at her. With her clones, Naruko was able to remain unscathed as she vaulted into the air and used the surrounding trees around her to dodge and shield herself.

A flash of orange and navy blue caught her eye, and she felt the familiar weight resettle onto her shoulder. She lifted her hand, "Kai."

The Konoha shinobi and Temari braced themselves at the following tremors at the explosion. Temari's eyes were wide, "She used the toad to stick a kunai with an explosive tag at the base of the tail while she drew his attention."

"I'm taking a wild guess and saying that's his weak spot," Sasuke mused.

Fuu nodded. "He's not injured, but he can't absorb the impact." Suddenly her jaw went slack as she watched her sister's next move.

"What. The. Hell?" Sakura all but screeched, having joined them at the wall after stabilizing the older male of the Sand Siblings. "I can handle her fighting with fire, but how, why and where in the name of Kami do you get purple fire?"

And indeed, amethyst-coloured flames were dancing around Naruko's fists. From where she had been hiding in the higher-up tree branches during the explosion, the kunoichi started throwing the uniquely-coloured flames at her fellow jinchuuriki. Gaakaku dodged them initially, but they followed his every movement until they finally made impact with his sand-body. Because of this, he was also unable to dodge the tendril of purple flames that shot out from the flaming orb that hovered between Naruko's palms; it wrapped around him and flung him into a nearby tree. 

The flames' colour apparently signified a unique property — in this case, purple represented sticky fire, since Gaakaku was visibly struggling to get off the tree. Eventually, he gave a loud roar and slammed his fist into the wood, splintering it. Bark stuck to his back, but he was no longer tied down.

Fuu sighed, equally flummoxed. "I have no idea what kind of mutant she is, but if it works, I'm not questioning anything anymore."

Sasuke stared, and then sat down cross-legged exactly where he was. "I need comfort food," was all he said as explanation, pulling out a bag of tomatoes from his hip pouch. He bit into it, but at his teammate's stare, obligingly pulled out a box of her favourite pickled plums. "Umeboshi?" he offered. And, as predicted, Sakura instantly took them and started to snack.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Are you... okay?"

"We need comfort food," was all Sakura said in response.

The kunoichi looked over at Hinata, who was giggling. The Hyuuga patted her shoulder, "They're in what I like to call "Calm Insane Mode". It's where they're either so frustrated, exasperated or angry that they become calm and start snacking. Everyone on Team 7 has boxes of each other's comfort food just for situations like this. I find it funny and a little sweet."

Fuu was finding herself endlessly amused by these Konoha shinobi. "What usually triggers this Calm Insane Mode?"

Hinata thought about it for a moment. "Well, when Naruko does something stupid yet ingenious or pulls off an unorthodox move that would not work for anyone except her. For Kakashi-sensei, it's when he's either early or on time, and that really freaks them out. Sakura, it'd be her causing mass property damage when she accidentally puts too much chakra into her taijutsu, because she's self-learning. For Sasuke, it's when he's incredibly arrogant and he does his own thing even though his teammates warned him against it. So he does it anyway, and Naruko and Sakura give up and become commentators as they eat while he suffers the consequences."

"Sounds like them," Fuu snickered. "Wait, since Naruko's favourite food is ramen... do they all carry instant ramen cups with them?"

"Sasuke always does," Hinata nodded, "but Kakashi-sensei and Sakura carry daifuku instead. It's her second favourite."

There was another loud roar that drew their attention, and both Temari and Fuu gasped at the sudden influx of demonic chakra. "It finally emerged," Temari breathed in horrified awe.

'Oh shit.' Naruko's eyes widened. 'Shit shit shit shit shit!'

"Yugito is going to pump your mouth full of soap and force your mouth closed for a good hour before washing it out, and repeating the process... how many times did you swear? Six times? She's going to repeat that process six times," Kurama drawled.

'Not the time!' Naruko all but screamed at her tenant. 'I swear he hasn't gotten this far since he first came to the Base.'

"Looks like he's super attached to his brother, then."

Naruko grit her teeth and bit the pad of her thumb again. "Gamakichi, vouch for me, yeah?" At the small toad's nod, the kunoichi smiled. "Alright then, let's do this one more time; Summoning Jutsu!"

There was an even larger puff of smoke, and a massive rusty-red-coloured toad appeared in the forest, towering well above the trees. The markings around his eyes, lips and chest were a brighter red, and he had a scar over his left eye. He was wearing a large blue happi vest with the kanji "蝦" on the back, and a massive dosu blade was sheathed at his hip. Between his massive lips was a kiseru pipe.

"You continue to give me such pleasure..." Shukaku's hollow voice murmured as his bright yellow eyes narrowed at the massive summon.

"Naruko..." Sasuke dropped his tomato, and even Ibiki was looking at the Chief Toad in wonder. His onyx eyes found the bright yellow and orange standing proudly atop the toad's head. "What in the world...?"

"Hey 'Bunta," Naruko crouched down to pat the toad's head. "Mind lending me a hand in this fight?"

"That looks like... Shukaku of the Sand," Gamabunta murmured. He instantly remembered the night Minato Namikaze had summoned him to fight against the Kyuubi; now he had to fight the Ichibi for Minato's daughter, eh? History repeats itself indeed.

"You might as well, Pops," Gamakichi said cheerfully from his favourite perch on Naruko's head. "She saved me from that guy, you know."

"Is that so?" Gamabunta mused, his eyes narrowing at the Bijuu. "Well then kid... I'll work with you this time," the Chief Toad announced as he drew his dosu blade and crouched low to launch himself at the Bijuu, stabbing the weapon deep into Shukaku's shoulder. He pushed off the Bijuu, severing the sand limb as he lifted into the air. The dosu blade slammed into the ground, creating even larger tremors that had the spectators ducking for cover. Shukaku's right arm fell shortly after and disintegrated into sand.

"He's heavy," Gamabunta frowned. "I could barely dig my dagger into him."

Naruko was about to respond when she saw Gaara's eyelids falling. "Oh hell no!" she shouted. "Gaara, don't you dare fall asleep on me!"

"Fall asleep?" Sakura repeated. "What does she mean by that?"

Temari winced. "If one sleeps, Shukaku will slowly eat away at their personality, and eventually that person is no longer himself."

Naruko cursed loud and long in her mind as Gaara's eyelids fully closed thanks to the Feigning Sleep Jutsu. Almost instantly, Shukaku bellowed, "I'm finally free!"

"Water Style: Water Bullet!" Gamabunta spat a large glob of water at the Bijuu, who countered it with a Wind Bullet. The two cancelled each other out, but Shukaku continued to assault the airborne toad with more Wind Bullets, all of which were expertly countered with Water Bullets.

"Chief, can you get us closer? I need to wake Gaara up before Shukaku gets even more powerful." Naruko silently added, 'And I'm forced to call out Kurama.'

"I mean, I would be more than happy to—"

'I'm trying not to wipe out Konoha by giving every living person there a heart attack, alright?'

Kurama snorted. "Sure. As if you don't already do that by yourself."

Gamabunta obliged; when he descended, he slammed his hands onto Shukaku's shoulders to hold him in place.

"Wake up, you redheaded peasant!" Naruko shouted as she descended on him, smashing her fist across his face. Skidding down Shukaku's cheek, the blonde grit her teeth and ran back up to the now-awake jinchuuriki. Gaara was looking down at her somewhat dazedly as she approached at a rapid pace. Naruko cursed when the sand held her back from punching him again. 

'One more, just one more hit!' Realizing she wasn't going to win against the sand, and that Gaara was once more on the precipice of sleep, Naruko desperately lunged forward and slammed her forehead against Gaara's.

Almost instantly, Shukaku reacted by whipping his tail around and slamming it into the toad's chest. The Uzumaki was thrown off, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for the impact that never came; she instead slammed into something considerably softer than a tree trunk. The Uzumaki looked behind her to see Sasuke's face twisted into a grimace; he had broken her fall. It didn't take her long to check him over — ribs were fine and he was a little winded. But a question remained: how had he gotten to her?

Naruko blinked when she realized the Adamantine Sealing Chains barrier was gone, and had probably fallen long ago. "Oh, that does it," she growled under her breath as she stood back up. The blonde glared at the towering Bijuu who was regenerating his missing limb before opening her mouth and roaring, "SHUKAKU YOU MISERABLE AND IMBECILIC ONE-TAILED RODENT!"

Kurama whistled. "Now you've done it, Kit."

The massive Bijuu whirled around at the insult. "Naruko Uzumaki, show some respect to your elders!" he snarled.

A blonde blur suddenly appeared atop a tree, her azure-blue eyes alight with fury that changed it into a frightening shade of electric-blue. "The day I show you any respect will be the day when you can actually get a damn hold of yourself!"

"Hey, I'm trying to protect both you and Cub," Shukaku snapped, anger sizzling slightly as his vision cleared enough. Damn, it was always hard when he was provoked into transforming. "And this is the thanks I get." He actually looked somewhat miffed at the girl's words.

"Protect us from what? Konoha?" It was safe to say Naruko was left bewildered by the reasoning the raccoon gave. "Because in case you haven't noticed, we're doing a damn good job of driving back Oto and half of Suna."

Shukaku blinked. "How do you know that?"

Naruko let out a yell of frustration, on the verge of tearing her hair out at the half-witted raccoon. "Because I make observations while you think with your sand!"

"Well that quick thinking is usually needed when your observations get us into trouble!" Shukaku retorted, said sand swirling around Naruko's waist and gently picking her up to bring her closer to the Bijuu.

By now, most everyone had realized the One-Tailed Raccoon had been released, and were now reduced to being spectators of the strange exchange between the Konoha Genin and the Bijuu. The deafening silence only made their exchange all the more louder. The Suna shinobi were in varying stages of shock and bewilderment, having been exposed to the devastating amount of damage and bloodshed this particular Bijuu could bring. The Konoha and Oto shinobi were, understandably, confused, but those who knew Naruko personally — the Rookie 9, a majority of the T&I Department and the ANBU — were either on the verge of facepalming or simply amused.

The Mizukage was snickering loudly while his bodyguard was massaging the bridge of his nose, and the Raikage's bodyguard was laughing uproariously. Needless to say, they were drawing a lot of strange looks, but they didn't care one bit.

Naruko was glaring heatedly at the raccoon. "As I recall, I was the one who specifically requested that you not cause problems when none yet existed!"

Shukaku suddenly adopted a fake-innocent expression. "Who, moi? Why, the only trouble I've caused is collateral damage when ridding this planet of a few... humans. Namely the ones who reside in the same village my cute little cub does. But only because they did more than deserve it."

Naruko facepalmed. "You do realize Suna shinobi are here, yes?"

"Ah, well," Shukaku shrugged, "now they'll be aware of their flaws, and the consequences I will be more than happy to carry out. Honestly... humans. I detest them," he growled.

"Well, hate to break it to you Shukaku, but around 90% of the world is inhabited by humans," the girl said dryly. "The other 10% would be wilderness and animals. What do you even have against humans, anyway? You lived with nine of them — three of which are the most aggravating on this planet, and even that's an understatement — for quite a few years."

"Humans are devious and deceitful. And most importantly... stupid."

"Then it's a wonder you don't get along with them, Shukaku," Naruko deadpanned.

Yagura was doubled over, trembling with his mouth open in silent, suppressed laughter. "I have never been prouder of that little fox," he announced quietly to Utakata, who snickered.

"Ugh... what the hell... how is that girl not dead yet?" Kankuro's voice mumbled. Temari turned to see her brother propping himself up by the elbows; the puppeteer winced as Sakura applied a bit more pressure to his healing wound than necessary. "I don't want her dead, of course... but you have to at least admit that you also want to know how she can get away with all this and live to tell the tale."

"Remind me where Naruko was when the Kyuubi was attacking Konoha?" Anko commented to Kakashi, amused. The Jonin Sensei merely groaned, rubbing the area between his eyes. This girl would be the death of him; he just knew it.

"Wait, hang on," Temari was rather understandably dumbfounded. "Is she... scolding... a Bijuu?"

The surrounding shinobi tuned back in to the argument; "You can have fun all you wish, but that does not give you a license to destroy my home! Or Suna, for that matter... dammit Shukaku, you know better than this!"

"Naruko, stop bullying me~" Shukaku all but whined, causing all the Suna shinobi to almost faint in pure shock.

"I am not bullying you!" Naruko cried in exasperation. "Kami, Shukaku, you're such a child! Let go of Gaara, now. Or do I need to call Kurama out here?"

"No!" Shukaku squawked. "Don't let him out! Don't let him out!"

Naruko raised an expectant brow. "So will you release him? Because I'll have you know I have no qualms whatsoever about summoning him out here. And I'm sure he would love the opportunity to chew you out himself, in person."

"You're damn right I would!" Kurama cackled in her mindscape.

"But it hurts!"

A twinge of sympathy flashed across Naruko's face. She shifted out of the sand's hold, leaping to land on the raccoon's nose — she stifled a giggle when he went cross-eyed in an attempt to look at her — and rubbed the spot between his eyes. "I know," she cooed soothingly, a stark contrast from the screaming girl who had savagely ripped into him with her words. "And I'll try my best to fix your seal. But you still have to at least try to rein in your bloodthirsty nature, you know. Even if Gaara's emotions rage as high as a teenage girl going through puberty on steroids, that doesn't mean you can just take over. Besides, I don't think it helps him in being accepted by Suna... like, at all..." Naruko couldn't help sweatdropping at the mere thought.

Shukaku pouted. "Fine... but only for you, kit."

Naruko paused. "Does that mean you're going to wake him up or I have to? Because I don't quite fancy smashing my head against his again." A cheeky grin spread across her face. "Although I'm sure you would love to take on the role of Gaa-chan's mother and wake him up with cooings and kisses. After all—"

"Kurama," Shukaku suddenly ground out through gritted teeth, his amber eyes narrowing. "Do control your host's insolence so I can concentrate."

Kurama's lips curled into a smirk. "Kit."

"What?" Naruko drawled.

"Control your insolence. The raccoon is concentrating."

Naruko felt a smirk pull at her lips at the faint mocking lacing her Bijuu's words. She knew they were both more than amused by the situation.

"Gamakichi, let's head home," Gamabunta sighed. The smaller toad acquiesced, and the two left in a puff of smoke back to Mount Myōboku.

The sand fell away as Shukaku's demonic presence dissipated. The redhead started to fall; after all, Bijuu were rather large. Naruko instantly launched out of the safety of the trees and grabbed her brother, landing lightly on the ground. 

She knelt down and laid Gaara down on the grass, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and leaning up his upper body against her shoulder. "Hey," Naruko smiled softly when Gaara's eyes cracked open.

Gaara only groaned, bringing up his hands to cover his eyes. "The light... it's so bright."

Naruko giggled. "Well, it is the sun," she reminded him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he answered hoarsely.

"Okaa-san would hit you for that kind of language," Naruko said absent-mindedly. She turned at the footsteps and saw Sasuke, who was holding a bottle of water. Smiling gratefully at him, she uncapped it and brought it to the redhead's lips. "If you don't drink this willingly I will—" Naruko blinked as Gaara practically inhaled the water. "Never mind..."

Gaara sighed and relaxed against his sister, feeling vibrations in the ground that signified people dropping down from the wall that bordered Konoha. Four pairs of feet ran over to them, but he ignored them. "I can't believe I just transformed," he murmured. "I swear I had a better handle on that..." He allowed Naruko to pull him to his feet, swaying a little. "Ugh, I haven't gotten that far in so long. No wonder my head feels like it got battered like a piñata."

"To be fair," Naruko reasoned as Sakura moved forward to press glowing palms to Gaara's temples, "you only flipped out because you saw Kankuro get gutted like a fish." She didn't miss the startled looks the middle child of the Sand Siblings shot her.

Gaara glared at her. "Another thing: did you have to smash my head so hard? You actually drew blood!"

"Hey, it's a double-edged sword," Naruko pointed to her injury that was a twin to Gaara's. "Hurt like hell for me, too. You think I actually enjoyed that?"

Gaara shot her a deadpan look. "Considering how much you loved sparring, yes."

Naruko rolled her eyes with a grin, and squatted down so she was facing Gaara's stomach. "Hey, Shukaku. I want you to know that I do love you and all since you're a part of my family too and I kinda grew up with you, but if I hear of you taking over Gaa-chan again when he's not in a life-or-death situation, the next time I get my hands on you I am going to throttle you, and then some. Are we clear?"

There was silence, and then a meek, "Yes."

Naruko grinned. "Good. Thank you, Shukaku." She stood back up and grasped Gaara's hand. "I want you to come with me when you're done checking with your siblings and whatever else you need to do. I think I'm finished with the modifications to your seal."

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OMAKE 1:

"So... I'm not entirely sure I want to ask this, but what happened to all the Oto shinobi?" Yagura asked as he looked around. "I can only see Konoha and Suna shinobi, as well as the other Genin who came for the Chuunin Exams. But there's not a single Oto hitai-ate to be seen."

Fuu looked bored. "All of them dead..."

A ribbon of fire fluttered around Naruko's fingertips, an identical bored look on her face as she drawled, "...all by me..."

"...just like you're about to be," Gaara finished, a claw of sand rising up and crushing air in an overly-dramatic fashion.

Team 7 sweatdropped while the Sand Siblings shivered slightly.

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OMAKE 2:

Naruko paused as another Suna shinobi flung by her head, courtesy of her brother. "This is very boring," she announced randomly. These shinobi were probably low Chuunin-level; the Jonin were most likely back at the arena.

"And how do you suppose we make things more fun?" Gaara drawled.

Naruko grinned and flung out her arms as she started to wave them in a sort of impromptu little dance. "Supercalifragilistic—"

"—expiali...nano," Fuu giggled while Gaara simply hummed along.

(A/N: Skip ahead to 0:28 for a visual; Naruko is Tony, Fuu is Dr Strange and Gaara is Bruce)

https://youtu.be/xgvRF_B6de0

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(1) According to the internet, Kakashi Hatake was fourteen when Naruto Uzumaki was born

(2) According to Narutopedia, Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza were part of the 15th generation InoShikaCho, making Ino, Shikamaru and Choji the 16th generation

A/N: That moment of the gag reel has always been my favourite and I don't know why but it just is :)