Return Of The Flash

Chapter 18

The shock of Naruto's lightning was enough to throw Gaara back several feet, light burns appearing on the places that weren't shielded by his sand. Gaara sat up groaning, putting both of his hands on either side of his head. Naruto knew well enough what was going on, and this was his chance to stop it. Just as he was about to rush at Gaara, four figures dropped between the two of them, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes. The eyes narrowed further when two more figures jumped right in front of him.

Sasuke saw the genjutsu and easily dispelled it, wondering what the hell was going on. He then set his eyes on the arena, seeing Naruto face off against all the three siblings?

Sasuke frowned, looking around. The entire population of the audience seemed to have fallen asleep, most likely the result of a genjutsu. Looking back at the field, he made a split-second decision and jumped off, landing right in front of Naruto and dropping into his stance. 'I may not know what is going on, but I'll be dammed if I let you fight all of them alone! You already have stolen one of my fights, I won't let you do it again!'

Genma was not entirely surprised when the invasion began. The senior shinobi had been briefed upon the invasion by the Sandaime, so they already had their orders on what to do. Genma looked at Naruto, who was in a fighting stance against the sand siblings and a jonin, most likely their sensei. He chewed on the senbon he always kept in his mouth. 'Considering what I've seen up until now, Naruto could easily hold his own against those. But it's better not to take chances!'

He jumped in front of Naruto as well, noting with slight surprise that the Uchiha arrived as well. 'Good, I wouldn't mind some extra backup, especially an Uchiha.' He took his stance as well, facing the four sand shinobi.

Baki sweated a bit as he looked at his opponents. A jonin of Konoha, one who he could likely take on and win, but he wasn't sure if his students could win against the other two.

He wasn't that much worried about the Uchiha. While he had won his fight in the prelims, he had shown nothing special over there. If Temari and Kankuro were to team up, they could likely defeat him. But it was the blonde that he was most worried about.

The cold, azure eyes that reminded him of a legendary shinobi of the past. Those eyes contained no mercy, only cold deadliness that could kill you in the blink of an eye. Uzumaki Naruto had just become a major obstacle in their plans. With the Hiraishin no jutsu, Namikaze Minato had finished off a thousand of Iwa's shinobi in mere seconds, single-handedly securing Konoha's victory of the third great shinobi war. Baki had no doubt that his son could do the same. He had almost defeated Gaara, and would likely have if the signal for the invasion hadn't been given and he hadn't interfered. They would have to tread carefully.

Looking back at Gaara, he noted the various burns on him that were healing slowly, but surely. A bad sign, considering that the redhead was clutching his head, no doubt fighting an inner debate. "Temari, Kankuro," he spoke in a low voice. Once he had their attention, he said, "Gaara's a vital part of the invasion. But right now, he can't fight. Take him to a secure place until he heals and recovers his chakra. Once he is fully recovered, resume your mission."

Kankuro nodded and picked Gaara up, "Understood." Temari nervously glanced at the opposing side, specifically at Naruto. For the last two days, she had spent most of her time thinking on what she would do if she and Naruto faced each other in the invasion. After much thought and deliberation, she had come to the conclusion that she won't be able to bring herself to kill Naruto. Her feelings for the blonde were only growing. She pushed back her tears on seeing him now; his eyes were colder than what they had been two days ago. She could see no hesitation in them, only iron-hard resolve.

Kankuro nudged her, "Let's go, Temari." Steeling her own resolve, she nodded and they both jumped over the stadium walls, heading into the forests of Konoha.