"Then … you're planning to capture the Naruto and kill him?" Tenten demanded, placing herself between her dear friend and the man threatening him. "What the hell makes you think we're gonna let you do that?"
"You are incapable of preventing me from accomplishing my mission." Itachi informed the girl. "My mission here solely concerns Naruto Uzumaki; I have no particular reason to harm the rest of you. However if you stand between me and my objective, then you will die. Stand aside."
"Go to hell." Tenten snarled, not budging an inch from her position between Naruto and the man who had apparently come to take Naruto to his death.
"I will fight alongside Naruto-kun with all the youthful power Gai-sensei has instilled in me!" Lee placed himself at Tenten's side, ready for battle.
"Naruto Uzumaki is a shinobi of Konoha." Masaru declared as he stepped forward. "It is our duty to fight alongside him in this battle."
"The outcome of this battle has already been determined." Neji added resolutely as he stepped forward. "If it is my destiny to die this day, then I choose to die fighting alongside my comrades like a true shinobi."
After a few seconds of hesitation, Maeko grumbled, "To hell with it," and the temperamental girl took her place at the side of her fellow Konoha ninjas. "Naruto's an annoying little moron and I don't like him." The girl declared before turning her attention fully on Itachi. "But everyone would get pissed off at me if I tried to stay out of this fight. Besides, you're an asshole who killed his own family, so I don't think you'd really let us go even if we weren't in your way."
For the briefest of moments, Naruto could have sworn he saw a smile on Itachi's face, but when he blinked and checked again the Uchiha rogue was wearing his usual stoic expression. "Very well then, if you stand in my way then I will show you no mercy." Itachi's hands blurred through a quick series of seals as the Uchiha rogue took a deep breath, and the half dozen genin scattered as he unleashed a massive fireball in their direction.