What, Over Already?

Naruto growled and got down on all fours, his tails made out of bubbling orange chakra swaying ominously. There was such power radiating from his small body that it was altering the flow of air, whipping up a miniature sandstorm around him…

"What is tha— gyaaaah!"

What ensues is a gruesome scene of such graphic violence that it cannot be shown on live television or even put into words. The author sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and hopes the reader or viewer can forgive them. While we wait for Naruto to exhaust himself with his bloody carnage, please enjoy this picture of a nice, Norwegian boat:

Boat.jpg

…

In Demon Fox mode, with his chakra pathway system filled to the brim with potent Tailed Beast Chakra, Naruto could momentarily surpass the Fourth Raikage's top speed. Within seconds, the three members of the wandering ninja clan were lying flat on their backs coughing out blood, every single bone in their bodies reduced to fragments.

All things considered, they didn't even come close to making Sakura's list of the top ten strongest shinobi she'd ever fought. The only reason they'd given Team Kakashi so much trouble at first was their clever use of misdirection. That smoke bomb wasn't for dramatic flair or special effects to use in the background while they struck a Ginyuu Force/Super Sentai-style pose on entry— the colourful smoke was actually poison gas, the cowards!

"It's over, Naruto! You can stop now, you've already won!" Sakura called out to him. "I'm not really hurt, see?"

But past four tails, the current Naruto was not able to maintain his consciousness…

"Sakura!" hollered Kakashi. "Get away from Naruto! He's not in his right mind!"

Towards the end of last summer, not long after the mysterious pale-skinned, horned stranger with the Byakugan had attacked the village, Jiraiya had come to see Kakashi. He had asked that Naruto be placed in his care, so that he may prepare the boy for what lay ahead. At the time, Kakashi had refused, since Naruto had expressed his unwillingness to part with his friends— but twice now, Naruto had lost control of the Demon Fox sealed within him.

Once this mission was over, Kakashi thought to himself, it would be time for Team 7 to say goodbye to their little orange ball of fighting spirit and energy. As he was, Naruto was a threat to himself and everyone around him…

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you, Naruto?" said Sakura soothingly, holding out her hand. "You wouldn't hurt your—"

Instinctively remembering the pink-haired girl as the one who just had attacked him from behind, Naruto abruptly lashed out with his tails. The blow sent Sakura sailing into the sea, but thanks to her Sharingan's insight, she had at least managed to greatly reduce the impact by jumping backwards just in time.

"I'll remember this, Naruto!" shouted Sakura angrily, spitting out a stream of salty seawater as her head popped out of the water. "I'll zip my top all the way up for a month, you bastard! …ouch, my arms…"

This was Sakura's idea of a punishment— no more walking around with her cleavage out! Even if it was the middle of summer and she got sweaty boob rash, she wouldn't show a centimetre of skin, just to spite Naruto!

Eventually, with two and a half pairs of Sharingan working together, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi managed to calm down Naruto by abusing their combined administrative privileges over Tailed Beasts, even though they hadn't unlocked Mangekyō yet.

The exhausted Naruto immediately fell unconscious upon falling out of Demon Fox Mode, his body resorting to a reparative coma to fix all the damage that had been done to it. While the Nine-Tails' chakra was full of regenerative life energy, the Fox's fury also gave it corrosive properties. Whenever Naruto forcefully circulated the chakra that leaked out of his seal, his body would undergo a rapid cycle of destruction-reconstruction— and given there was only a finite number of times a cell could divide, this was effectively prematurely ageing him…

"Kakashi-sensei, your arm!" gasped Sakura in alarm, once she had calmed down enough. "You need treatment!"

Kakashi was breathing erratically after having used up so much chakra, and his left arm hung stiffly to his side.

"My arm can wait," Kakashi said stoically. "Take care of Naruto first— if you can help his regeneration, it'll ease the strain on his body."

Sakura nodded, and her palms lit up with greenish Yang chakra.

"Did you manage to copy your opponent's petrifaction technique with your Sharingan, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as she began treating Naruto. "Seems like a useful trick to learn."

Kakashi shook his head— he hadn't seen any hand signs, and his opponent seemed to have relied on his gauntlet to produce this petrifying effect. Said gauntlet presently lied in pieces thanks to Naruto, so… so much for that.

Hearing the crunch of footsteps in the sand approaching, Kakashi turned around. It was Captain Korega, who had fled into the forest along with the two princes and his soldiers when the fighting had started.

"Lord shinobi, a moment, please?" said Captain Korega with a great deal more respect than he'd initially shown Team Kakashi. "I think a change of plans might be in order…"

Having personally witnessed the three shinobi of the wandering ninja clan tear through his troops like rice paper, Captain Korega had based his escape plan around the fact the enemy was unbeatable. Even with Team Kakashi on his side, what could one man and three brats do against such monsters? But now that the three principal threats had been eliminated by the clearly superior Leaf shinobi, it stood to reason that they'd be able to decimate the Land of Moon's soldiers just as easily!

"If we strike under the cover of night," he proposed, "we could take Prime Minister Shabadaba's head. Once the ringleader falls, the rebel forces will fall in line."

Kakashi shook his head. He was pretty much out of chakra, and with so little chakra running through his system, he was only as strong and fast as a mere Olympic-class athlete.

"Sasuke and I can take care of them easily, Kakashi-sensei," proposed Sakura. "I'll pull a Chūnin exams on 'em."

"You can use that sort of wide-scale Jutsu by yourself?" asked Kakashi, slightly taken aback. "In that case… don't let your guard down even for a second, even if you're facing regular people. Understood?"

Sakura nodded, then turned to the captain.

"Captain Korega, gather all the soldiers you have under your command," she said authoritatively. "I'm going to need someone to tie up all the unconscious soldiers once I'm through with them…"