Chapter 11: 3/3
"...Screw you." her cheeks were red, but she quickly formed a hand seal "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" she summoned a water dragon that clashed against the Mud Wave, but it quickly dissolved after pushing Dosu's Mud Wave back a short distance 'Dammit!' she glanced up only to see that Dosu was gone "What the heck?"
"Not bad but water is weak against earth." a hand suddenly burst up from the ground and grabbed Ino by the ankle "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" the hand suddenly pulled Ino into the ground so that only her head was visible, and then Dosu himself appeared "Not bad, but in the end it was just a bad match up."
"Yeah you'd think so wouldn't you?" Ino shot him a grin suddenly dissolved into a puddle of water.
"A Water Clone? So that would mean-"
"Water Style: Ripping Torrent!" Ino suddenly charged at him from behind and launched a water jutsu at Dosu's face, only for him to dissolve into mud that caught her arm and rendered her trapped "Dammit, an Earth Style Shadow Clone?"
"You put up a good fight, but it's all over now." the real Dosu made himself known from his place atop the Mud Wave "You can't use any jutsu if you can't wield any hand signs, and you can't dodge my attacks if you're bound in place. You put up a good fight and your skills and strategy were rather impressive, but in the end I just had the better strategy."
"I wouldn't count me out just yet."
"We'll see about that. Earth Style: Mud Needle!" the Mud Wave formed a large jagged spike that shot forward at full speed, piercing Ino through the chest, only for her to suddenly dissolve into water.
"Another Water Clone?" Dosu looked around 'Nothing on the left, on the right, in front, behind, below, so that leaves… above!' his head snapped up 'Dammit, I won't be able to dodge this!'
"It's like Shino said before, you should always have an ace in the hole! Lightning Style: Purple Thunder!" Ino charged down from above and slammed a purple blast of lightning down onto the Mud Needle, shattering it in an instant, and then she slammed the blast into Dosu before he was able to react, sending him tumbling into the ground
Dosu pulled himself out of the ground and spat out some blood "You caught me off guard when I let my guard down, I guess you did have a better strategy."
"The element of surprise helps too." Ino held out a hand and helped Dosu to his feet "So you wanna keep going?"
"I simply wanted to test how far I had come after the past month of training, this just means that I have that much to improve on. I with draw from this match."
Genma studied both of them 'Water Style and Lightning Style on one side, Earth Style on the other, and both of them have a keen head for strategy. Not too shabby. Dosu has withdrawn, so the winner is Ino Yamanaka." this was met with cheers from the audience all around.
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Neji sat in his room in the medical bay, pondering the events that had taken place 'It's strange, but somehow I now feel at peace.'
That was when Tatsu made his way into the room "Lee asked me to come and check in on you after the ass kicking you got."
"Thank you for the sarcasm and concern, but I'm doing quite alright."
"Hey it's not like you don't deserve the sarcasm, not after the way you've been acting."
"I'm well aware of that, and don't worry I'm over that. Lord Hiashi came by a little while ago, during your match with Lee. I had always believed that those of us from the side branch of the Hyuga clan would never truly be free until the power of the Byakugan was sealed and our Curse Marks disappeared, but it would seem that my father thought differently. It's true that some things can never be changed, but still perhaps I've made too many blind assumptions about the way things are in the world. I thought that I had such a clear understanding of everything, I bore such an unwavering grudge against the main branch of my clan, and I never even questioned that. But I didn't know the truth, I just blamed fate and held onto my pointless grudge. But during our battle Naruto explained it to me, he told me that Lady Hinata was suffering just as much as I was, if not more so. He told me that to gain acceptance and respect he had been trying incredibly hard to change, and I hadn't even considered what Hinata was going through. He helped me to understand just how selfish and narrow minded I was being."
"Yeah I know, I was there and I heard everything."
"Naruto Uzumaki, there's something special about him."
"I know his destiny for a fact, and he's gonna be greater than all of us. Except me, maybe. I'm personally aiming for the top. Well I'm gonna head back up to the stadium, Naruto is supposed to go at it with Sasuke and there's no way in hell I'm missing that one."
"Do what you want, I would just like to be alone with my thoughts for the time being."
"Suit yourself." and so Tatsu left.
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Roars of approval filled everyone's ears as Naruto and Sasuke emerged. The crowd was already on the edge of their seats in wondrous anticipation. Who would win, would it be the underdog Naruto, or the prodigy and last of the great Uchiha clan, Sasuke? One thing was clear, the battle wouldn't end until both were completely drained or unconscious. Or both.
Genma stepped forward "Ready?" he received two grins "Begin!"
"Naruto!" Sasuke thrusted his fist forward.
"Sasuke!" Naruto thrusted his own fist forward.
Sasuke blocked Naruto's fist.
Naruto blocked Sasuke's fist.
Sasuke swung his leg at Naruto's side.
Naruto blocked the kick, then swung Sasuke around by the leg.
Sasuke stopped himself with his hands and kicked Naruto in the face.
Naruto rebounded in mid-air, then charged with a fist thrusted forward.
Sasuke blocked the attack and flipped Naruto over his shoulder, sending him to the ground.
Naruto was quick to raise his guard and block the next onslaught of punches.
Sasuke was quick to kick him back "Don't tell me you're giving up."
"Not by a long shot!" Naruto was quick to fire a barrage of shuriken "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he then used the shuriken as cover himself and fire off a barrage of clones.
"Looks like you haven't been wasting your time this past month. But just to warn you, neither have I." Sasuke leapt above the shuriken but found his landing space covered with clones 'Crap, I can't tell the clones from the original even with my Sharingan. Guess I'll have to get rid of them until one one's left.' he felt something wrap around his ankles "Crap."
The clones formed a human ladder, using it to grab hold of Sasuke's feet while he was still in the air. The clone-ladder rotated, slinging Sasuke through the air towards one of the walls.
Sasuke found he couldn't dislodge them 'Naruto, he must be using chakra to keep his grip on them.' no matter what he did, he found he couldn't move Naruto. He slammed into the wall not too hard, but found it was still enough to rattle his teeth. Sasuke quickly shook off the collision, but then he saw a cloud of orange coming at him "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"NA-RU-TO! Uzumaki Barrage!" the clones plummeted.
"Wanna bet?" Sasuke formed several hand seals "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he unleashed a ball of light, dissipating several clones in various puffs of white smoke. Then he leapt high into the air and launched a different set of hand seals "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" he launched a large fire dragon, blasting every remaining clone present.
Naruto himself tumbled into a bush, upside down.
Sasuke rolled back down to the ground and landed on one knee "Sorry Naruto, so much for your clones."
"Wanna bet?" Naruto was about to create more clones, but stopped "Sasuke."
"Yeah." Sasuke activated his Sharingan, dispelling the genjutsu around him.
'Kurama!'
"Right!" Kurama quickly dispelled the genjutsu for him.
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Tatsu was quick to realize that the genjutsu was flooding the arena "Ino. Lee."
"Right." they all released it simultaneously.
"Get ready." then Tatsu himself leapt down into the arena "Guys, we've got a problem. Gaara's missing, last I sensed he was out in the forest-" he was cut off when Sasuke himself took off running in the opposite direction "Sasuke!"
"I'll track down Gaara and stall him!" Sasuke called "You guys get a squad and come back me up when you get the chance!" and he disappeared from beyond the arena walls.
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Up in the Kage box, revealing himself to have killed the Fourth Kazekage, Orochimaru took Sarutobi hostage and had his personal bodyguards, the Sound Four, Jirobo, Kidomaru, Sakon and Tayuya, establish a barrier using Four Flames Formation so nobody would interfere.
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"That's a barrier jutsu." Guy noted.
Kakashi nodded "They outwitted the Anbu Black Ops, and the Anbu are supposed to be the best." then he saw an Anbu appear in front of him.
"Why are you doing this? Lord Hokage's in danger!"
The Anbu formed a hand seal, and several Sound Ninja appeared by his side from within the stands.
"What a nuisance." Kakashi muttered.
Guy nodded "An enemy masquerading as Anbu Black Ops, so he was using genjutsu."
"Yes, there's no mistake."
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The Hidden Leaf gate was quickly crushed by a gigantic snake summoned by the Hidden Sound and Hidden Sand forces.
The invasion had begun.
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Tatsu led Naruto up into the stands and rendezvoused with the jonin "Kakashi! Guy! Hayate-sensei!"
Then Hayate appeared "Tatsu." then he saw several large summoning snakes "Quite a few of them from the look of it."
"We've been careless." Guy noted "And now even Lord Hokage… Guys look, there inside the barrier."
Tatsu looked and froze "Orochimaru. Great, that's another problem. Guys, Gaara's missing."
"Where was his last known position?" asked Kakashi.
"From what I sensed, somewhere in the forest outside the village." Tatsu then promptly blitzed over and punched out 3 enemy ninja in a matter of seconds "Ino, Lee, back me up."
"Right." Ino and Lee joined him and took manji formation, punching out enemy ninja one after another as they neared him.
"Tatsu." Hayate spoke up "Listen up, I'm giving you a mission. Release the genjutsu on Shikamaru. You'll have to be careful, it's your first A-rank mission since you went to the Land of Waves. Sasuke's currently chasing after Gaara, right?"
"I get where you're going." Tatsu turned to his comrades "Ino, we'll go back up Sasuke. Lee, wake Shikamaru and get to evacuating the civilians in the village."
'I feel uneasy about Gaara.' Kakashi cut his thumb and placed his hand down "Summoning Jutsu!" he summoned a small dog "Listen carefully Tatsu, Pakkun here will track down Sasuke by scent."
"...Okay." he looked at Pakkun "Hey."
"Okay it's time, release the genjutsu on Shikamaru."
"You heard him."
"I'm on it." Ino made her way over to Shikamaru, only to see his eyebrow twitch "...I shouldn't even be surprised at this point."
"I've got him." Pakkun then bit down on Shikamaru's leg.
After about 3 seconds, Shikamaru bolted up and started yelling and thrashing his leg around in an attempt to get Pakkun off "Ow ow ow ow ow!"
"Why were you pretending to be asleep?" asked Ino.
"I didn't want to get involved." Shikamaru started stretching Pakkun's mouth out "Just give me a break, I couldn't care less about Sasuke." then he got bitten by Pakkun on his hand.
"You don't have to, you and Lee head out into the village and start evacuating the civilians. I'm going with Naruto, Pakkun and Ino to back Sasuke up." Tatsu told him, just as he saw a Sound ninja appear behind them "Look out!"
Lee quickly punched him out "There's your exit, now get going and good luck!" and he quickly grabbed Shikamaru and dragged him out into the village.
"Alright, let's go." Tatsu quickly led Naruto and Ino out into the village, not noticing Shino and Dosu disappear amongst the chaos.
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Sasuke raced through the forest at full speed, but stopped when he saw something 'Sand on the ground, Gaara must really be out of it after that fight with Tatsu. Come to think of it, I did noticed something off about the chakra he was using. I can't waste time, I've gotta move.'
Then he went on his way again.
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Orochimaru finally began his battle with Sarutobi, who'd been his mentor before becoming Hokage, with both displaying powerful techniques that the observing ANBU could describe as a Kage-level battle.
Orochimaru then used the Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation, to summon Sarutobi's predecessors: Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage and the inventor of the Reanimation Jutsu.
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Tatsu led Naruto, Ino and Pakkun through the forest "Remember guys, when we find Sasuke don't charge straight into battle. Fall back with Sasuke and formulate a plan, I'll hold them off so you guys can retreat. Gaara's still hurt so it shouldn't be too bad."
"But how could he still be injured?" asked Naruto "I mean sure you beat him bad but it should've healed by now."
"That's the point of my Tenseigan Chakra Mode, it burns through my chakra really fast but I recover it quickly, and the chakra used to inflict the wound stays in the wound, greatly nullifying any healing abilities, Tailed Beast or not. Ino, if you want I'll explain that later but for now let's focus on the task at hand. By this point, he's probably close to transforming again. Pakkun, they're suppressing their chakra so I can't sense them. Where are they and how long will it take us to reach them?"
Pakkun shrugged "I don't know, probably a while if they keep moving at this pace."
"This isn't good. Guys, we're gonna have to pick up the pace if we wanna reach them before Sasuke gets himself killed. That, and we've got a problem. There are 8 ninja tailing us from behind- Wait, no it's more like 9 following us. I don't think they've discovered our location yet, we've gotta lose them." he stopped them.
"What's the deal?" asked Naruto "Why are we stopping?"
"Zip it and follow me." Pakkun slowly backtracked "We're going back over our footprints, if we pull this off then we'll seem to disappear."
"Is this really gonna do anything? I mean, they'd have to be pretty lame ninja if this throws them off our trail."
"It'll help buy us some time, that's all we need now but if our pursuers get impatient, succumb to the thrill of the chase and lose sight of our tracks then I certainly won't complain."
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After awhile, the Sound Ninja showed up and found that the tracks left by Tatsu and the others just stopped.
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Pakkun sniffed out that they were coming again "This isn't good, they're definitely back on our trail."
"Chance are they're all chunin or higher, if they catch us we'll probably be killed." Tatsu noted.
"We don't have much choice guys, we should ambush them." Naruto decided
"No chance, they're Orochimaru's henchmen and they're all jonin level. It won't work. Sure an ambush is a key battle tactic and can be very beneficial, but for it to work there have to be 2 conditions met. First, the ninja on the run has to be completely quiet and must find the enemy first. Second, they have to be able to catch the pursuers off guard at a location where they can do a lot of damage fast and conceal themselves just as fast. Only under those conditions can an ambush actually work. The first one isn't so hard since Pakkun's nose can sniff them out, and the second one looks like it's in our favor since we know our village's geography like the backs of our hands. But don't forget that Orochimaru originally came from the Hidden Leaf so we're out of luck on the second one. Our pursuers have studied the layouts of this village, and we've gotta assume they've been put through simulated practice for this invasion. On top of that, they've probably mastered the pursuit jutsu."
"So they know all the cards we're holding?" Ino guessed.
"We've gotta assume that. Besides, our enemy is probably a special unit put together specifically for this. We're just a bunch of genin and a dog. Tactics are about clearly grasping a tough situation and simulating the best plan possible, and right now there's only one plan that makes sense."
"And that is?" asked Naruto.
"A diversion that only looks like an ambush, so one of us will have to stay behind and slow them down."
"Like a decoy?" Ino guessed.
"Exactly, if one of us can delay them then they shouldn't be able to find the rest. We can escape, although the one who acts as a decoy will probably die. Then again, that's what war is about. So here's the deal, I'll be the one who-"
"No, I'll do it."
Naruto gaped at her "Ino, you can't! You'll be killed!"
"Come on, do you really think I'm just some weak fangirl who can't throw a punch? I've been training with Tatsu for this past month, I've grown up a lot." she leapt back "Besides, Shikamaru isn't the only one with a head for strategy."
"Hey! Are you saying I'm not smart?"
'Pretty much, yeah. Come on Naruto, you know that's not what I'm saying. You guys have a way better chance of stopping Gaara than I do, but I'll do everything I can to slow them down and buy you guys some time."
"Alright." Tatsu finally spoke "We'll leave it to you. Come on Naruto, let's get going. Ino, we're counting on you." and he took, with Naruto in tow.
Ino found herself alone, and within minutes she could hear them coming 'Alright get ready girl, they're coming.'
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Hayate quickly cut down several enemies with his Crescent Moon Dance, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine 'Tatsu, please be careful.' then he suddenly coughed up blood.
"Hayate!" Asuma quickly came to his aid and caught him as collapsed.
"I'm sorry… take care… of everyone…" then Hayate passed out.
'Damn, of all the times for his sickness to catch up to him.'
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"Well well." the Sound ninja found a terrified-looking Ino backed up against a tree "Look what we have here, a little Leaf sapling and doesn't she look damn cute." this caused her to shrink back "Well you must be the little diversion your team left behind, so sad that we've gotta kill such a cutie." a kunai slid out of his sleeve and he held it up "Now then, do you want pleasure before death or just death?"
Ino faked trembling, then smiled dangerously and quickly formed a hand seal before they could react, the action followed by a series of huge explosions, then a huge crash and crunch right before a section of tree came into view.
"A trap! Scatter!" they spread out, breaking their formation, only for a new arrival to flash from the bushes, kunai and shuriken flying from it. The group avoided for the most part, but one guy wasn't so lucky and a kunai caught him in the chest, knocking him off his feet as it tore straight through his body and burst out the other side, eventually stopping in a tree behind the guy.
Even as the guy fell, the blur used his corpse like a springboard to leap into the air, throwing around more kunai that wounded two and hobbled another.
The group began rallying and focused their attacks on the interloper.
This didn't pan out since a fist crashed into the hobbler's face, which shattered under the force of the hit, slamming him into the trees hard enough to shatter it. The blur then flew at the leader.
Unfortunately, the leader wasn't as slow as the others since he saw the oncoming fist with just enough time to twist out of the way, seize the limb and hurl the blur into the air, over towards where Ino was still crouching against the tree.
The figure passed right through Ino like she didn't exist, then cried out as she struck the tree.
The leader felt his blood boil "So a clone huh? You used a clone to distract us while you set off the traps and attacked from the sidelines. Impressive girl, but not good enough." he grabbed Ino by the front of her shirt and lifted her "Now what're you gonna do?"
Ino drove her shin into the man's crotch, causing him to drop her and double over and clutch his damaged goods.
He never even noticed as Ino's fist crashed into the back of his head, knocking him out.
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Tatsu sensed the explosions and looked back 'Come on Ino, you can do this. Naruto, let's pick up the pace."
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Ino ducked a punch, blocked a knee, then launched an uppercut, feeling the Sound ninja's jaw shatter beneath her fist 'Got him!'
He fell, motionless.
'Is he dead? I know the others are injured, but…'
The two in front of her backed away nervously "How's a girl like you this powerful? It's just not fair!"
"I had a good teacher. Besides, how am I the one not being fair when you guys are outnumbering me? Man, Orochimaru needs better help." two of Ino's clones burst from the bushes.
Both men swiped and lost their concentration on Ino as they advanced.
The clones vanished, but before either Sound ninja could do anything, Ino smashed their heads together, causing them to drop out cold. Ino herself then dropped to her knees 'Okay, they're gone and I'm exhausted. Then again, I was using so much of my chakra to augment my muscles and I'm not exactly big in terms of reserves. I've really gotta thank Tatsu and the others for that. Still, I don't have enough in me for a long fight. I've really gotta work on that."
A cold edge laid itself against her throat "Too bad you'll never get the chance."
'Wait, there were originally 9- Dammit, the lookout! The one who usually stays back for this kind of situation. I was careless.'
"Never forget your enemy will always keep one man in reserve, now you die." the blade pressed harder against her throat, with a scream filling the forest.
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Pakkun took a whiff "Huh, looks like those ninja aren't chasing us anymore."
Tatsu smirked "Looks like Ino pulled through like I thought. I never doubted you for a second. We're half done, now we've gotta catch up to Sasuke before he gets killed. Come on Sasuke, just hang in there.'
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"Earth Style: Boulder Fist!"
Ino suddenly found the ninja holding her hostage on the ground with a hole in his chest 'What the-?'
"You… traitor…" the man spat out before dying.
"I was never a traitor." another voice retorted "I just realized what it meant to fight for a side that's worth fighting for."
Ino looked up "You…"
"For the 7th time, and I've been counting, my name is Dosu. I would've been here sooner, but I was a little sidetracked. Still though, you did well."
"Thanks, but I'm pretty much spent." then she passed out from exhaustion.
"Take a break, you earned it."
"Yes she did."
Dosu turned to see Asuma standing on a branch behind him "You're her sensei."
"I am, and I should thank you for saving her today and for last month."
"No thanks necessary, just repaying my debt to Tatsu and Sasuke. Now I think you should take care of her, I'm going to join up with Tatsu and the others."
"Right." Asuma quickly took Ino on his back and took off.
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"Hurry!" by this point, Temari and Kankuro were supporting a wounded Gaara as they retreated through the forest.
Kankuro glanced back 'What a pest?'
'We have even more pursuers? Two, no three. Kankuro, we've gotta go faster!"
"Okay okay."
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Sasuke was chasing after them, not too far behind 'Forget it, there's no way I'm letting you get away!'
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Tatsu led Naruto and Pakkun through the forest 'Whatever you do Sasuke, just make sure you don't get killed.'
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Temari stopped the group and checked something 'I see…'
"Well Temari, what's up?" asked Kankuro.
"He's close, very close."
"I knew it, what do we do?"
Temari pulled out some wire "Leave everything to me."
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Sasuke leapt across the forest, setting off a Paper Bomb in the process, along with several more following, forcing him to retreat upwards 'Well that was close.'
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Tatsu stopped the group "Must be some tripwire traps, they're probably trying to slow Sasuke down."
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The Hokage battle royale began, with Hashirama's Wood Style giving him and Tobirama the advantage over Sarutobi, who was quick to summon the Monkey King Enma to help him in the one-sided battle as Orochimaru brought out his Sword of Kusanagi.
During the fight, Sarutobi learned that ninja brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu were immune to any normal form of attack and regenerated from any injury dealt to them.
At the time, Orochimaru explained his desire to become immortal and know every form of ninjutsu, then decided to reveal the fruits of his labors by peeling away his face, revealing the face of a young woman whose body he now occupied.
A/N:
The biggest revision to this chapter was expanding on the Naruto vs Neji fight. I originally rushed it big time because I really wanted to get it over with and get to the fight between Tatsu vs Lee, the highlight of this chapter in my opinion. I also got to actually write out the potential Ino vs Dosu fight I originally completely glossed over, but here I actually enjoyed writing.
The Tatsu vs Lee fight was meant to expand on their past a little, showing how they became friends and rivals and how Tatsu's influence made Lee a somewhat different character from canon.
Tantrum is a reference to How I Met Your Mother, mainly because I'm absolutely in love with that show.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone