Kiba alerts Hinata, as he's being taken away, that there are only a few fighters left. He warns her that if she fights Gaara, she has to give up immediately or she could be killed. He also tells her to give up if paired against Neji, because Neji already has issues with her. Just then, the board shows the next fight...Hinata vs. Neji. Just how far will Hinata go to prove herself?

Naruto wants Kakashi to train him, but Kakashi has other plans. Ebisu arrives to an unhappy Naruto and makes a deal with him. If Naruto can get away from Ebisu, he'll make Kakashi train him. Naruto decides to accept Ebisu's challenge, but can he win?

Due to the events with Gamabunta, Naruto is now stuck in the hospital. Shikamaru unexpectedly pays him a visit, saying the two of them are the types who never get girls to visit them. Meanwhile, Gaara approaches an unconscious Rock Lee, with the full intention of taking his life. Luckily for Lee, Naruto and Shikamaru are there to protect him. However, can they save even themselves after learning Gaara's shocking secret? What is it that Naruto has realized about Gaara?

Shikamaru takes on Temari, only he doesn't want to fight. Can the lazy Shikamaru even last the round? Or is there more to Shikamaru than meets the eye?

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun are being chased down by several Sound ninja. Shikamaru decides to stop and try to hold them off so the others can catch up to Sasuke without fear of pursuit. Shikamaru is the logical choice because of his Shadow Possession Jutsu...needless to say, Shikamaru's not too thrilled by this.

As Sasuke is about to be defeated, Naruto and Sakura show up to save him. With this Gaara begins to have flashbacks of his childhood. What happened in Gaara's past to make him experience so much suffering?

Kakashi takes on Itachi, with both of them using the Sharingan. However, Kakashi soon realizes that he stands no chance against the legendary ninja. Itachi reveals that he has not come for his little brother, but instead he's come to do something else...abduct Naruto, and Kyubi as well!

After passing stage one of the training, Naruto moves into stage two: power training. Jiraiya realizes that, like him, Naruto has a hard time concentrating, so he paints a spiral in the palm of Naruto's hand to help him to focus. With the aid of the spiral and a quick flashback to Iruka-sensei, Naruto completes stage two. Meanwhile, Tsunade's luck has become uncommonly good, which worries her. After being talked into sightseeing by her assistant, Tsunade meets Orochimaru...and she doesn't look at all pleased.

With Tsunade still paralized with fear and Naruto being a low level ninja, it is up to Shizune and Jiraiya to defeat Kabuto and Orochimaru. Orochimaru and Kabuto summon two giant snakes while Jiraiya summons Gamakichi, who does nothing. Naruto tries to help Jiraya, but he too only summons a small frog that also does nothing. Orochimaru and Kabuto attack and Shizune is easily defeated. Naruto tries Rasengan but fails. Can he master the technique before Kabuto does anything to Tsunade? How far will he go to master it?

As Lee decides whether or not to go through with the operation, Gai decides to give him some motivation. Meanwhile, Tsunade frantically struggles to increase the operation's success rate.

In pursuit of the Sound Ninja, Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru strike at dawn to retrieve Sasuke and bring him back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

While Naruto is busy underwater, Sasuke remembers the fateful day in which his clan was killed. He remembers why Itachi spared his life, and why Itachi did what what he did. Now, in order to gain the same power as his brother, he must kill his closest friend...Naruto!

Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya end up in a town that is even worse than the one they were chased out of. Jiraiya heads off and leaves Naruto and Sakura to get some food. Along the way they find the ninja that attacked them before, but things are not as clearcut as they might seem.

Naruto is having trouble with the two brothers and Iruka is having his share of difficulties with Mizuki! Iruka struggles to try and get the old Mizuki back but he doesn't have much success.... Meanwhile, when things are looking bleak for Naruto, can 3 friendly Ninja save the day?

With the group trapped, Shino makes a deal to trade the Bikouchuu for Hinata. Unfortunately for the opponents, Hinata got away, making the deal worthless! They begin to attack but can Hinata show up to save the day?

When Naruto returns from a mission, he discovers that Lee has set up a Dojo and is desperate for a challenger. When Gai discovers nobody has challenged him he steps up to the plate! However, a last minute change in plans throws changes everything, and when an imposter joins the fray, chaos ensues....

Naruto and the members of Team 8 head into Yakumo's house to find her with Kurenai. It is revealed that a mysterious entity might be behind all this. Can the group discover the truth in time?

Ran wants to kill Menma, upon seeing the mark on his arm, but Neji stands in the way, saying it would be unfair to kill a criminal without any memories of his crimes. Ran finally agrees and performs surgery on Menma, saving his life, but the villagers aren’t as happy. Are they prepared for when foreign shinobi group comes for a second attack?