• • Disclaimer: Ya know I was kind a watch in Naruto and think in in my head if only things could go this way (you all know what I’m talking about XD) then I realized that it didn't happen that way. I almost began to wonder why but then (like the genius I am j/k) I realized that it's probably because I don't own the Naruto series...so there it is.

    Enjoy!

    Behind The Smile

    Chapter 3: Battle for Konoha

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    “Lets go.” A deep voice whispered throughout the hushed chatter. The edge of the forest obscured them from view as they made their way even closer to the large wall that was vital to Konoha Village's defense. A few were scurrying along the path, twenty at the most, all seemingly jittery yet cautions as they moved about.

    “Heh let’s see how they like this!” Exited, yet whispered chatter broke out between the men as one of them was in the action of adhering a sort of explosive to the wall. More of them were set up along the wall, adding the power of the chained explosions that would occur. As it seemed they had planted the last explosive, heads snapped towards the tree branches as they rustled abruptly. They did not see the kunai as it traveled from an unseen place at a great distance, burying itself into an unsuspecting victim.

    "Argh! My hand, my hand!" The man screamed as the kunai pierced his skin, embedding itself. It had gone to fast to be traced back to its thrower.

    “Where did that come from!” The panicked inquiries seemingly echoed between the different men as they restlessly moved around, eyes darting about. The stealthy attacker threw yet another kunai, its source yet again undetected as it hit the same man with excellent precision, right in the center of his head. His body froze strangely as his delirious eyes clumsily tried to look at the object in the middle of his head. It was then that he fell to the ground, lifeless. They jumped away from his body looking, all letting out more panicked shouts.

    “Men, keep your eyes open, try to find the son of a b***h!”

    It was then that more kunai came, one by one from different directions. The one who was doing this had unbelievable speed, that was assuming it was only one attacker. The kunais all hit the intended men in vital parts of their bodies, not one missing. More kunais came left and right, even from above, tearing skin down to the bone. Too fast for them to make a sound. Only thuds and the breaking of the twigs and leaves on the ground could be heard as more of the ninjas hit the ground.

    The small group that remained attempted to scatter, trepidation direction their actions now. But the attacker was too fast. No leaf rustled, no twig snapped, not even the wind was disturbed as the attacker came from hiding. All that could be seen was a blur as a figure jumped down from the trees, and with lightning fast speed took the remaining nin out one by one. Bones were broken quickly and efficiently, bodies slashed in such a quick fashion that no sound of pain could erupt from the ninja’s throats. All went still as the bodies fell to the ground around the attacker, creating a huge rush of leaves as they sprouted out from the pressure. They fell around the attacker as he proceeded to stay crouched.

    His head bowed down, bangs obscuring his eyes from view. He took a moment to still the beating of his heart, to control the shaking of his body. Slowly, forebodingly, he stood up, letting the shining light reveal his features. Handsome face, raven hair, he lifted his head up, revealing his cold, yet smoldering obsidian eyes.

    Uchiha Sasuke was furious.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    The slight breeze that had passed through the village gently lifted her hair up, letting it dance with its currents along with the ruffling of her clothing. Sakura's emerald eyes were focused on Tenten and Neji's flawless battle with the oncoming Sound ninjas. From her position atop one of the large lookout points situated on Konoha's walls, her view was able to stretch widely. The two shin obi seemed to be doing fine, no single nor group of enemies overpowering them.

    At that, she let her eyes transition to various area around her, the heights allowing her many vantage points. They fell on her comrades, scattered amongst the crowd of shin obi waiting on the other side of the village's entrance. They fell more specifically on her friends, friends that she had developed even stronger bonds with over the years. They were memories she would never forget.

    Her gaze halted, focusing on Uzumaki Naruto. Her best friend, left unrivaled to all. He was using the sleeves of his arm to clean a forehead protector, seemingly as a way to pass the time.

    As Sakura's eyes transitioned specifically to his forehead, it was clearly obvious that he already wore his, the insignia of the leaf clearly prominent. This simple confirmation confirmed the fact that protector grasped in his hands was none other than Uchiha Sasuke's. The scratch that adorned his discarded headband was prominent, brightly glaring with the reflection of the sun. That alone bore some part of Sasuke with it, along with a great deal of memories, maybe a reason as to why Naruto always kept it with him. Maybe a sort of symbol for hope, hope on something that still might not happen, even after all the years that had passed.

    Years passed since the disappearance of their former teammate, their friend.

    She clearly recalled the time when Naruto and others set off on a mission to find the Uchiha prodigy, and retrieve him, if at all possible, before he reached his destination at the time. Orochimaru. Before the "number one loud ninja" had left, he had given her a big grin, along with one of his signature poses as he promised to bring him back.

    Soon after they sent Kakashi and some others to find them, who had not come back.

    Most of them were in critical condition, hurt badly, most of all, Naruto. And the one thing she had noticed, the first thing she had noticed as he was brought back unconscious to the gates, was that headband, scratch and all, clutched very securely in the confines of his hand. She had gotten mad at him, only consumed with the fact that he hadn't brought Sasuke back. Her behavior then was horrible, and she was thankful that now she had changed, or though she had. She had blamed Naruto, even though it clearly looked like he had tried. More than tried. He was on the brink of death.

    And when she had thought about that, about the fact that Naruto was still alive, not by luck, but by discontinuation of their fight, it gave her hope. It clearly hinted that Sasuke had let Naruto live, and because of that, she never gave up her hope of maybe seeing him again, of maybe all these plans working someday. She wanted to believe the bonds that were made between the three of them were still there, intact and holding on, hoping as she was.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo...

    The memory reflected in his deep cerulean eyes as he rubbed the headband with the sleeve of his shirt. The battle. Their last meeting. It would never be a distant memory, the image of a certain raven-haired boy would stay etched in his mind. The headband, the image, they belonged to a friend, a best friend, or more to say.. a former best friend.

    If he was there, right now, attacking the village…he would kill him… he had to. He would not let him betray them any further. Not the village, not the people, not their hearts. He couldn’t. He had to protect his precious people, even if it meant hurting one who was and maybe still is precious to him.

    Sasuke..

    He lifted up his head, his cerulean eyes burning.

    “Naruto!” The distant call from Neji awoke him from his thoughts, snapping his head to look through the open gates of Konoha.

    It was then that he lifted up his hands in a seal.

    “Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!” A vast amount of Naruto clones appeared and charged in the direction of Neji and Tenten to help them retreat as he started his attack. The two couldn’t relieve themselves as they mass amount of enemies charging towards them never dwindled .More just kept coming preventing their escape.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    Neji jumped back as he sliced another neck in one swift movement of his kunai. His was merciless, his attacks both precise and repetitive. He had to cover for Tenten too, whose skills did not lie in hand to hand combat. She was having trouble. Neji stole a glance back to the hundreds of Naruto coming, it would take a while for them to get there because they had to push through more nins who went past them.

    Tenten was exhausted, her body feeling like lead with each movement she made.

    “Tenten!” She looked over to Neji. He ducked and kicked another nin, immediately endiciating another. “Go back now, I can hold till Naruto gets here.” Right then and there she felt like slapping him. She let out a small haughty noise before continuing to fight. If Neji stayed she stayed.

    He sighed and kept on fighting.

    Naruto would have been there by now, but his progress was halted as a large body of enemies had come from the side, trying to stop them.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    Her complete attention had focused on them as she noticed the struggle and reigns on time. As she began to run, she pulled out a large windmill shuriken, taking a few more long strides before she jumped off the large Konoha wall. In midair, she threw the weapon, letting out a soft grunt as she did so. On its path the shuriken made it way down at an angle before straightening itself as it moved past the running Naruto's. It then made contact with the rows of Sound shin obi ahead of them, almost completely clearing a path to Neji and Tenten. Though the path was closing as more started to fill their places.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    Humorously, all the Naruto's yelled quick, but well felt thanks to her as they continued running. All the Naruto’slet out a battle cry as they pulled out kunai clashing with the Sound. The clones annihilated them. Piling over them. Puffs of smoke were seen as many Naruto also went down. The Sound weren’t amateurs either.

    All around Naruto there was fighting: His clones vs. the Sound nins. He took out a kunai and tossed it into a nins neck. As one charged up to him he ducked down, avoiding the punch, and swiftly came up, uppercutting the man in the process. He turned around to kick one in the gut, sending him flying into two others, knocking them down like dominos.

    Sakura did a few flips and landed before she landed on the ground.

    Just as she did, a big explosion was heard. Her head, along with thousands of others, snapped to where the sound came from. There was a big hole in the side of Konoha’s wall. Sound nin were piling in. The pink haired kunoichi did a few hand seals, seemingly disappearing, and most likely on a path towards the explosion.

    “Enough of this” The deep voice seemed to echo among the crowd of Sound ninjas. Soon cheers erupted as the armada's center parted way to a very tall, muscular man as he made his way to the front lines. A large sword of a weapon was balanced on his shoulder, its lengths wrapped in bandages. His burning crimson hair glistened in the glaring sun, his golden eyes holding nothing but coldness as they held the image of Naruto in their depths.

    “Souto, we don't know where the real one is." Souto let out a small, amused grunt as he continued to train his eyes ahead of him, grasping the sight of a single Naruto surrounded by a mass armada of Naruto’s. His fighting style alone diverse him from the rest of the clones. Souto held his gaze as he continued to walk forwards. His steps were calm, the grim smirk never leaving his face. He tightened his grip on his blade as he neared, drawing on speed not expected with such a huge weapon, he swung the enormous sword horizontally.

    It was followed by brief, cut off grunts from the Naruto clones as a large cloud of white smoke hailed in the air from the Naruto clones as they disappeared. Souto continued to do this, easily, calmly as he never took his eyes off a certain Naruto. Big group by group, the Naruto's went down, and as he neared closer, it was then that the Naruto he his gaze was focused on turned to look at him from his battling.

    It was then that Souto disappeared, reappearing in front of Naruto as he aimed a simple punch. The blonde ninja swiftly brought up his hands to block, immediately disappearing as Souto aimed another. Souto stood up tall, transitioning his eyes to look at Naruto as he appeared not to far away.

    His cerulean eyes were trained on Souto, though they were slightly squinted as if he was pain. Another moment passed before Souto slowly started walking towards him. Confidently almost.

    His cerulean eyes were trained on the man as he continued to stand still, speculative eyes watching his every move. Just as soon Souto disappeared. Immediately Naruto brought out his own kunai, positioning it right in front of his abdomen. He did just in time as Souto appeared before him, swinging his large sword horizontally. Though blocked with the tiny kunai, the force of the blow sent Naruto flying a few yards back, and he expertly executed a small flip, landing atop the soles of his feet.

    His fiery gaze transitioned to the battle cries of the Sound Shin obi as they ran past into the gates of Konoha, being met with the defenses right at its entrance. An agitated grunt escaped his lips as he did so. He had wanted to prolong that as long as possible, but this guy. He let his eyes travel back to the lone Sound shin obi standing before him. He focused on him, even with the tempting distraction of the never-ending crowd of Sound shin obi advancing on Konoha. Time was something he did not have.

    “It’s time to meet your end boy.”

    Naruto's fists clenched together tightly.

    "I have a name...” He couldn’t help as his eyes glanced at the oncoming Sound Shin obi one last time before refocusing on Souto. “Uzumaki Naruto..the future Hokage of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.. Remember that when you fall.”

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    The unshed whispers from the large group of villagers echoed within the concrete walls of the narrow passage, dimly lit by the suspended and hanging lamps from atop the ceiling.

    Her calm, yet slightly worried pearl eyes glanced behind her every now and then, at the crowd behind her. Behind her followed a large group of younger ninjas, mainly genin, and also higher level shin obi like herself that made sure this retreat took place safely.

    Every now and then a large rumble would shake the area, evidence to the battling outside, and catalyst to the slight dust and small particles of debree falling from the old structure.

    Konohamaru's determined eyes looked ahead of him as he continued to walk. Moegi and Udon were on either side of him, their worried gazes focusing on him.

    "Do you think Naruto-kun is going to be all right? Moegi, worried, voiced her inquiry. Udon nodded his head in agreement.

    "He's going become the next Hokage.." Konohamaru started. "He won't die. There's no way he ever could."

    "Yea he's too strong." Udon added.

    "And brave." Moegi added in last.

    Hinata kept her eyes focused ahead even as she heard their small conversation.

    Naruto-kun

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    The yellow-colored, spiked strands of his hair slightly swayed before he took his first running step towards his enemy. The speed in which he advanced was very great, his eyes calm, yet impatient all the same. Hand reaching into the confines of his weapons pouch, his fingers slid into a small handful of small shuriken stars. This transaction was barely noticeable as threw his arms towards Souto, letting the stars travel towards him.

    The Sound Shin obi simply held out his right hand as the miniscule hole in the middle of his palm produced magnified air and sound, proceeding to blow that stars in Naruto's direction. The said ninja swiftly side-cart wheeled, mid-way catching the stars again as he did so. Though even as he barely managed to finish his movement, Souto was already upon him, already in the motion of swinging his sword down. Naruto had no time to dodge as the sword sliced through him.

    It was then that a small puff of smoke emerged, leaving a half cut log to fall towards the ground.

    "Humph." His amused grunt almost hid his slight annoyance.

    As a foot collided with the back of his head, Souto flew forward. Mid-air he easily reached his hand out towards the ground, digging his fist within to stop himself. His body flipped over into a crouched position as he ruined the ground beneath him before coming to a complete halt. Before he had time to fully stand, Naruto was already upon the crimson-haired ninja, digging a fist into his abdomen. He then aimed a kick, only for Souto to bring up his arms, blocking the foot from making contact with his head. In response to his attack, Souto swiftly moved his fist in to make contact with Naruto's face.

    The slight trickle of blood that traveled from his lips did not halt the jinchuriki as he aimed one of his own punches. Souto caught his fist holding it in place, and did so with Naruto's other fist as he executed yet another punch. With both his fists trapped, Naruto waited not even a second before immediately, and with inhumane speed brining up both his legs. Using the momentum and leverage his trapped hands provided, he shoved the soles of his feet towards his enemy, digging them into the Sound shin obi’s face.

    The power of the blow sent Souto towards the ground, and caused his to roll a few times before he regained his composure, stopping himself. Obviously upset, Souto disappeared only to reappear in front of Naruto, his long since discarded blade once again in his hands, and swinging down at Naruto.

    Another sliced log fell to the ground.

    He looked above to see Naruto coming down on him with a chakra filled punch. His fist made contact, slightly knocking Souto off balance. In his rage, he swung his sword down, only for that Naruto to become another log. His large sword thudded as it hit the ground.

    His eyes widened as he felt a searing pain in his back. The feeling spread throughout him, ending at his abdomen. He looked down to see a hand protruding from his chest with blazing chakra surrounding it.

    "I don't have time for you." He calmly, yet unhappily said. Souto gasped in pain as Naruto fully tool his arm out from his body, the blonde ninja's arm still outstretched as the ransengan began to fade away.

    “Damn y-you..” The Sound shin obi fell to the ground, his gaze still focused on Naruto, who had already began to hastily make his was towards the Konoha gates.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    An armada of Sound ninjas were piling I through the large gap that now adorned Konoha's walls. Reigning in with a storm of mass murder and destruction. Kakashi and Might Guy were the only Leaf shin obi there to meet them head on.

    Gai's immense speed and hand-to-hand combat skills allowed him to take out many quickly, and effortlessly. He jumped up, executing a spin kick that sent a single shin obi flying into a small group. Immediately he dropped to the ground, avoiding a line of weapons. He let out a trademark, effortless battle cry as he shoved his palm into another ninja.

    It was then that his gaze transitioned to Kakashi.

    "Twenty-five!"

    Kakashi didn't glance at him, his demeanor and appearance calm as he still continued to read his book amidst the fighting. As a pair of shin obi came at him, he simply tossed two kunai in their direction with excellent precision.

    "Thirty-two"

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    The situation was not that great over at Konoha's entrance. The first line of defense had done very well at first, but the numbers proved to be overwhelming, and order was lost. Both Leaf and Sound were starting to scatter throughout the village. There were many casualties on both sides.

    A lone group of shin obi broke away from the crowd, their intentions unknown. The group was met by a big shadow of a black hand, stopping them in their tracks. No struggling freed them from its grasp, the hand had slowly started to travel upwards, finding the perfect place for suffocation.

    Shikamaru's eyes transitioned to the blonde kunoichi a small distance away from him before making his way towards her.

    ..ooo000ooo000ooo..

    When she arrived she was shocked at the massacre of Leaf and Sound nins. They were all spread out, not organized in any way, and the Sound had gotten dangerously close to the civilians, who were now in open space. Hinata and the other Jounins and Chuunins with here were with her. This included Naruto, who didn't look to have been there long. Almost immediately he spotted her, and he fought his way over to her.

    “Sakura-chan. Are you doing all right?"

    "Mum." Satisfied, Naruto glanced at her once more before making his way back over to Hinata, where he stood by, almost protectively, and fought.

    Her emerald eyes followed his movements, a small grin making its way to her face.

    Sakura uppercutted a nin into the air then jumped up, landing on top of him with both feet digging the nin into the ground. When she heard screaming her head snapped over to the scared civilians. There were too many Sound shin obis to take out one by one. With a small battle cry, she slammed her fist into the ground.

    Immediately the earth all around her fist broke up, the pressure in which her hand collided caused a large expanse of its rocks to erupt, engulfing the large group of ninjas. What she didn't notice were the explosive tags all around the area, which were ignited by the force of her attack. She let out a troubled gasp as she noticed the large catalyst explosion traveling towards the civilians.

    Hinata immediately made her way in front of the group. Without a word, she brought up her chakra filled hands, moving her arms in pattern-like recesetations.

    "Hinata-chan!" Naruto called her name, worry evident in his voice.

    Trails of chakra were left behind her hand movements, seemingly disappearing almost instantly. She then started to move her hands in the same spherical motion faster and faster.

    More!

    With her speed, the chakra trails seemed to stay visible, creating what looked to be a sort of barrier. And when it had looked like the explosion had made contact, it was forced to divert its trail as the chakra blocked passage further. The civilians were too scared and disgruntled for cheering, they immediately continued on the path they were, letting the other Leaf shin obi lead them to safety.

    Thanks for reading!

    Sorry for the lame ending XD Yea..Next chapter be prepared for unexpected confrontations, the works.