This chapter is a meeting between Katsumi and Sasushi. Also some of the Chunin Exam finals. Hope you like it. I don't own either Naruto or DBZ. This story is brought to you by a Twenty-four and twenty year old Christians.

Ch. 9 Finals & The Invasion

"I'm gonna hang out with Kiba." The young blonde said, walking towards the Inuzuka compound.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Katsumi said as she went off to another direction.

"Where are you going to go anyway?" Naruto asked.

"I've already set up my meeting with Dillon," she said with a no-nonsense tone, "We're going to meet by the K.I.A. Memorial Stone, and don't even think about trying to butt in on this. I have to do it alone."

"What if he's set up a trap for you?"

"He won't. He knows I can sense the presence of others. He won't try anything. He's not stupid."

"I know, but still... I can't help but worry. You're the only family I have." he said with a somber tone.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

…

Sasushi was waiting next to the stone looking over the names of the people that had died in battle.
"I didn't tell Kakashi that Obito's alive. Mostly because I don't know how he would feel hearing that.", he heard Katsumi say from ten feet away. He turned around to meet her eyes. "Why did you join Orochimaru? You know as well as I do if he found out about where we came from he'd want to take over our world. So why? Why are you following him?"

He did not say instead he began to channel chakara with a series of seals. She stood at the ready, kunai drawn, she would be ready for anything he threw at her. However, she was not ready for this.

"He saved me from my father." he said. But his voice wasn't human. It was different. And it hit her.
"You're molding chakra to become a tongue." she pointed out.

"You are correct. He saved me after I lost my tongue though."

"Why did he save you? I want to know."

"It is a long story, but I have the time and chakra to tell it." (AN: If you want to know his story, check

out Sasushi's Lost Days. Coming soon.)

"Now I understand. It's sad really. But something doesn't feel right though." She thought to herself as she walked the streets of Konaha. The sky had turned orange from the setting of the sun, and she heard a voice that lifted up her spirits.

"Katsumi! You wanna hit the ramen stand?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, Naruto. Hello Master Jiraiya. It's good to see you." she said politely.

"Don't call me that, it makes me feel old. I heard you went to see that boy from your world. How did it go?" he asked.

"It didn't go like I had expected to. It turns out that Orochimaru saved his life."

"What!?" they both chorused.

"I know, and something just feels off to me. I think the snake may have set it up, taken his father's

place."

"I wouldn't put it pass him, but let's not focus on that. For now let's get something to eat. Tomorrow's the final exam you know." the Toad Sage said with a smile on his face.

The finalist all stood proud as the crowds of people cheered seeing such promising shinobi in the arena. "Katsumi," she heard Temari next to her. "Thank you for helping Garra with his seal."

"Anytime. And I hate to be the one to say this but I don't sense your father next to the Hokage. It's Orochimaru." she said with sadness in her voice. She knew what this meant. The Kazekage is dead.

"What?"

"The first match is Hinata VS Sakura." They heard their new proctor say. Everyone left the arena as the two took their positions.

"Remember, we can go all out. Katsumi will heal us in the end." Hinata said.

"I know, I've learned a lot from her over the last couple of months. You ready Hinata?"

"Ready...BEGIN" the proctor called out. The battle was intense. Gentle fist strikes, punches and kicks were being blocked and or dodged. In the end, experience triumphed over the pinked haired girl.

"Winner, Hyuga Hinata." The proctor announced. Katsumi went down to the girls with Naruto and they took them up to the box where they were at.

"I got them. Get to your match." Naruto said. She knew he was right. He could handle it himself. She just wanted to put off the match, and she knew that if she wanted to win, she had to go out there and fight.

'Be careful Amanda. He has both earth and lightning natures', she thought to herself. She made her way to the arena and saw him, standing across from her. "Are you sure you want to go through with this Sasushi?" she asked. It wasn't a taunt though. She wasn't scared either. She was concerned for him. He nodded his head in confirmation.

"Alright, ready. AND BEGIN!"

Sasushi began by throwing kunai at Katsumi, but the redhead dodged at speeds that left an afterimage behind.

"Behind you." she whispered. He went for a kill strike only to see that she dodged again. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want me to start breaking a sweat. I haven't even taken my weights off yet."

'She'll wish she did.' Sasushi said in his mind. He gathered chakra to create the same lightning, earth ninjutsu combination that took out Lee. She went into the air and stayed up there knowing that it would have taken her out of the fight if she stayed on the ground.

'I'll have to end this quickly.' She gathered up ki in her right index and middle fingers.

'It can't be... That takes too long to make. I'll simply dodge it when she launches it.'

"Makankosappo!" She screamed launching the spiraling beam towards her enemy. He dodged it, causing a crater to form on the ground where he once stood. He threw a kunai at the tired girl, and it struck true. Then he heard a pop.

"Oh." he said realizing that it was a shadow clone. He can't say much without a tongue, but that was one word he can say.

"Not bad, huh?" she said from behind the boy. "Shadow clones are really nice when it comes to faking out the enemy." she punched him hard as she started to take off the weights. 'Just can't let him know that it took a lot of chakara to do all that.'

'That obviously took a lot of chakra. I can still win this. I just have to stay on the defensive until the signal. But still...'

It was at that moment that the signal for the attack was sounded. She had to act fast. She had to get to the Hokage and help him fight the Snake Sanin, but she was stopped by Sasushi, and another sound ninja that she did not know.

"You know Lord Orochimaru's orders. We either take her to have a curse mark placed on her, or we kill her." the lackey said. Sasushi only nodded.

"Oh no, I'd rather die than to have a curse mark on me." She said defiantly holding her ground seeing the barrier forming to keep everyone out of the fight between the two shinobi inside. 'No, they're ruining everything I've planned for. I was going to help the Hokage. Now I have to deal with these two… and something tells me this is not going to end well.'

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Too bad." the shinobi with Sasushi said charging at her. Just one of them by themselves was hand full enough for her to take out. But both of them working together made it more difficult to get herself together and come up with a plan of attack.

…

After what felt like an eternity of fighting, Katsumi lay on the ground panting heavily with a kunai to her throat. "Please...Dillon...Don't...Do this." she said between pants.

"Common Sasushi, we have an entire village to decimate after you kill her." the shinobi said.

Kakashi was watching the fight. He could not believe that she wanted him to give him one more chance if she died by his own hand. 'Amanda, what are you thinking. Just because you knew each other from college, doesn't mean that he'll spare your life.'

"Dillon, please." she said as a tear threatened to run down her cheek. It was at that moment that he made his choice.

He threw his kunai at the shinobi who jumped out of the way. "You're dead Sasushi!" He exclaimed.

"No, it's you who's dead." Sasushi said, forming a chakra tongue for a few seconds to give him that message. He grabbed something from his pouch and gave it to her. It was a chakra pill.

"Thanks. I don't think I can get through the rest of the day on my own power." she said taking the pill and feeling energized. He nodded in acknowledgment.

"What do you think you're doing!?" he screamed.

"It appears he's changing sides. You had me worried there." Kakashi said to the boy. He eye smiled at him, and Sasushi nodded in acknowledgment.

"Glad to see you Sensei." Katsumi said getting into a defensive stance.

"Can you get to the Hokage?"

"No. My original plan was to join the Hokage before the field was created. I can't bypass that with a seal. And Naruto is busy with Gaara. And Jiraiya is pushing back the invading forces." she said relaying what she knew.

"Alright then, let's get rid of these punks." Kakashi said getting a nod of confirmation from the other two.

"Glad you're on our side. But so our guys don't try to kill you on accident." She said pulling out a Konoha headband. "I had this just in case you 'said' yes." His smile was showing through his mask. He took off his Sound headband and put on the Leaf headband.

"Let's do this."

It took a long time before the invasion ended. Sasushi turned himself in and offered information in exchange to join Konoha, Kakashi and Katsumi giving him a good reference. Many lost their lives that day on both sides, and the Hokage was one of them. He used the Reaper Death Seal in order to defeat his student. But Orochimaru did not die. His arms were sealed though. Just like in canon. Exactly what she did not want.

"I hope Gaara likes what I got him when he gets home." Katsumi said from her room.

"What'd you get him?" Naruto asked.

"I gave him a bed and blankets in a scroll. I told him not to to open it until he got home." she said coming out in a black kimono with a purple trim.

"Nice. It's not your fault you know. You didn't know that you were going to be stopped by Sasushi and that other guy. I don't blame you for what happened to the old man." Naruto said, comforting his sister in everything but blood. She started to tear up at that. He was one of the only people to ever care about Naruto growing up, and now he's gone. And she felt terrible about it.

"I still wish I could've done something to have saved him. Like we did with Zabuza and Haku."

"You were able to anticipate what was going to happen next with that. But when Dillon came in, he changed the entire exam. And he knew you were going to help the old man and stopped you from doing so."

"Something I should've anticipated."

"But you didn't."

"And it's my fault!"

"No it's not! So stop saying it's your fault! You can't stop every bad thing from happening. But can learn from what has happened, and try to improve yourself." There was silence all throughout the two apartments. She knew he was right. They were only human after all.

"I guess if this was a fanfiction, this would be character development." she said with a smile.

"Yeah, it would, and if this was a fanfiction someone would be knocking right about now." No sooner had he said that, there was a knock at the door.

"Okay, that's just creepy." Katsumi said before answering the door. "Hey Dillon. I'm glad you're here. Did you finish moving in?" she asked to which he nodded.

"Sorry to hear about your tongue. And Ino told me to tell you, that they're going to take you shopping to get you some new clothing." he blanched. Sasushi blanching as well.

"Oh yeah, I've been invited to help out, since I know you better than the others. That's why she asked me to help. I'll make it as painless as possible. Consider it a thank you for not killing me." She smiled, to which he nodded in thanks. He like many other men, did not like shopping.

"Oh, and we'll install your seals to bring down the walls after the Service." Naruto said before walking out the door.

"So, what next?" Ino asked after they finished shopping for new clothes for Sasushi. He still wore his mask, but he now wore a short weighted shinobi top with turtle gi pants and boots. He also still wore

the purple rope bracelet on his wrist.

"I'm going with Master Jiraiya to find Tsunade. She's been chosen to become the next Hokage. If she doesn't then it'll be Danzo, and I would rather betray the village than to have him as Hokage. I would need more training before I could kill him. He was the one that pushed Itachi to wipe out his clan." she said offhandedly.

She had only recently allowed Ino into the fold. She knew that she'd have to include Sasuke soon. But she was afraid that he would betray the village and share the information with Orochimaru. The entire world would be screwed then. And who knew how many other worlds theirs were connected to.

"That's intense. Does Sasuke know?"

"No, and he won't know until I feel he's ready. Or he'll find out on his own if he runs off."

"Hey, you ready to go?" Jiraiya called out.

"I'm ready, Master Jiraiya."

"Don't call me that, it makes me feel old." Jiraiya said, slightly bummed out.

"At least I don't call you 'Pervy Sage'." she said to which she won the argument.

"Let's go before Itachi shows up." Naruto said not wanting Kakashi and the others to have to deal with the Jinchuriki hunters, especially Zabuza. She did not want him to get killed.

"Ready Sasushi?" Katsumi asked. He nodded, and they left.

And that is the chapter. Next time they meet Itachi. And that is not going to be pretty. Please review, and God bless you.