The sand blew gently in the wind adding to the uneasy silence in the air. Naruto breathed heavily and rapidly as he stared into Orochimaru's snake pupils, his stone-faced grin not budging even with Gaara's sand pressed against his neck.
"Come now, don't be surprised…" Orochimaru said as he broke the silence with a chuckle.
"How?" Naruto said in shock.
"You didn't think we used all of that nine-tails energy we extracted from your little girl for nothing did you?" Kabuto asked
"The regenerative powers of Kurama are really something; I've read about it but to actually be regenerated fully from just my head and chest… amazing." Orochimaru said.
"Explain why I shouldn't kill you both right now." Gaara interjected.
"Hmmm, the sand jinchuriki. Interesting." Orochimaru said, looking towards Gaara.
"I'll tell you why, because you can't." Orochimaru said as he quickly moved behind Gaara and kicking him and sending him flying into the sand mound before quickly retreating back to where Kabuto was standing.
"Gaara!" Naruto called out
"Ignore that weak pest Naruto, this is between you and I." Orochimaru said, facing Naruto once more.
"You bastard." Naruto grunted out.
"Wolves, please remove the other insects please." Orochimaru said as the 8 members all went after Sakura, Sasuke and Killer Bee.
"Naruto, we can take these guys. You need to finish this!" Sasuke said, blocking kunai with his sword
"Naruto! I love you! Don't give up!" Sakura said, executing a backflip and kicking one of the Wolves with her boot.
"You can do it man!" Killer Bee said, trying to swipe off the ninja climbing onto the Jinchuriki.
Naruto looked at his friends being attacking right in front of him, he couldn't help them.. he had to beat Orochimaru.
Naruto turned back to face Orochimaru, a red aura surrounding the both of them.
"You. For everything you've done… everyone you've hurt… every life you've ruined… I will KILL YOU!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards Orochimaru at blinding speeds, kicking up huge tidal waves of sand in his wake.
"Such power, you will be an impressive kill." Orochimaru smiled as he rushed forwards.
"Face it Hana, your Dad's dead!" One of the children in the bunker said,.
"No he's not!" Hana said, clutching her knee's to her chest as tears threatened to fall.
"Dead Dad! – Dead Dad! – Dead Dad!" The three boys chanted in unison.
Just before they could utter out a second cry, they felt themselves become paralysed.
"What's going on!?" One boy asked.
"It's called Shadow-Possession jutsu and no, you can get out of it." A voice called out from behind the boys.
"Let us go Maito!" One of the boys called out
"I'll let you go if you dimwits leave the girl alone." The person known as Maito gently uttered.
"Fine, just let us go!" The apparent leader said, struggling.
"You're all pathetic, picking on an innocent girl who's going through more than you'll ever know. If I even see you around her again I won't be so forgiving." Maito said as the boys regained control of their muscles and moved off, revealing a child the same age as her with a small spiked bun.
"Hey, you alright?" Maito asked, crouching down so that he was level with Hana.
Hana reached out and pulled Maito into a tight hug, letting the remaining tears fall down onto his shoulder.
"Thank you, you're really nice." Hana said, giggling through her tears.
"Don't worry about it, they deserved it." Maito said, joining Hana's laughter with his own.
Hana released him and stared into his eye, "They called you Maito, is that your name?" Hana asked.
"Yeah. Maito Nara, nice to meet ya." Maito said, extending his hand.
"Hana Uzumaki." She smiled, shaking his hand.
"Yeah I know you, everyone does." Maito said, sitting down with his legs crossed.
"What do you mean?" Hana asked, moving her knee's from her chest before sitting next to Maito.
"You're the Hokage's daughter, remember?" Maito said.
"Oh, I guess you're right." Hana giggled.
There was a small pause between the two as their eyes met once more.
"Maito?" Hana asked.
"Mmm?" Maito responded.
"Do you think my Dad's okay?" Hana asked, looking deep into his dark grey eyes.
Maito sighed as he shuffled over towards Hana and pulled out a Shogi piece from his pocket.
"What's that?" Hana asked.
"It's a piece from a game called Shogi, I play it with my Dad a lot. This is my lucky piece, do you know what role this piece plays?" Maito asked.
"Ummmm… the… guy?" Hana obviously guessed.
Maito chuckled, "No, this is the king, sort of like your Dad."
"What do you mean?" Hana asked.
"Well, just like the King, your Dad's the leader. See, the king has this special ability. He can rally his troops and perform extraordinary things when they're all by his side." Maito said.
"Really?" Hana asked.
"Yep. So as long as we believe in your Dad, we'll be at his side and he'll be able to do extraordinary things. Get it?" Maito said with a smile on his face.
Hana nodded, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Here, you should take this." Maito said, giving Hana his lucky Shogi piece.
"But isn't this your lucky piece?" Hana asked.
"Yeah, but as long as you hold this your Dad will be fine, promise." Maito said with a smile.
Hana smiled as she hugged the boy once more, she let a few more tears gently descend down her cheeks before letting go of the boy, Maito stood up and began to make his way back across the room.
"Maito?" Hana gently called out, getting the boys attention.
Maito looked over towards Hana, seeing a blush evident on her face, "What's up?" He asked.
"Could you… stay with me? I don't want to be alone." Hana said.
Maito smiled and nodded, "I understand, do you want a drink of water?" he asked.
"Yes please." Hana said, a smile appeared on her face as she gripped the Shogi piece tighter.
"Rasengan!" Naruto bellowed as he connected the concentrated impact of chakra right next to the rock Orochimaru impacted into.
"Where did that sudden burst of power come from?" Orochimaru said out loud as he sent out ore serpents from under his robe.
Orochimaru used the time he had bought himself in order to pierce the top layer of skin on his thumb.
"No, he can't be summoning him!" Sasuke said as he dodged the Wolf solder's attack and observed Orochimaru.
"You're not getting out that easy you Snake!" Naruto said as he bit down on his thumb as well.
"SUMMONING JUTSU!" They both bellowed.