Disclaimer: still don't own Naruto. Nor do I own any of the works mentioned or referenced in this chapter.

The New Nightmare

Konoha, Hokage's office
Minutes before Kyuubi's arrival

Minato's shout cut through the cries of fear and denial the news had caused, "We don't have time to argue! Yamamoto, organise the genin squads and get the civilians to the shelters. Ikari, have the ANBU scatter around the village wall and scout to the edge of the seal web, make sure no one is using this to sneak up on us. Orochimaru, take Anko, Rei, Andoryuu, Asuka and Yuuno. Engage with Summons before it gets into the valley and starts bombarding us. Sarutobi, take two long range teams and give the summons what support you can. Hiashi, keep your…"

Orochimaru raced from the room to gather her force. Anko, Asuka and Yuuno were at the main assembly point, responding to the emergency alert now spreading through Konoha. Rei and Andoryuu had genin squads and took precious moments to collect. Still, in just under six minutes the redhead arrived on the ridge east of Konoha. It was there they beheld the might of the Kyuubi.

Despite the aura of malevolent chakra they had been sensing since leaving Konoha's walls the beast was smaller than Orochimaru had expected. Oh it was undeniably huge, half as large again as any boss summons, but it was still far from the mountain sized colossus the stories told of. Nor was it solid chakra, formless and invulnerable. It was a physical being. They could hurt it.

The ninja spread out to give their summons room before beginning to call forth their allies.

Orochimaru gathered seventy percent of her available chakra, more than sufficient for a boss, and projected her request into the jutsu. Given the horrible situation and the snakes opinion of her, Orochimaru was not hopeful of getting much.

When he learned of Orochimaru's curse Manda decreed that, sacrifices or no sacrifices, he would not fight for a little girl. Manda couldn't revoke the contract or order this clan not to help the 'disgrace to serpents and ninja alike.' However he had threatened to kill any of his clan if he discovered they had aided Orochimaru. Fortunately the snake boss's authority was far from uncontested and Orochimaru found his call answered by Lirian, one of the snake lieutenants.

Orochimaru chuckled, 'Should have known she would answer. She always disagreed with Manda about how things should be run.' Around the gigantic snake were six smaller, although still huge, serpents. Direct children of Lirian most likely. Looking to either side she saw the other summons that had come to the aid of Konoha.

To her left an exhausted but proud Anko stood atop the head of Vaarsuvius, another of the snake lieutenants. 'Vaarsuvius is Manda's favourite, if he's here then he must be using this as his opening bid for power. To bad he is as bloodthirsty and condescending as his father.'

Beyond Anko stood Byakko, the tiger boss. The white and black tiger was the largest summons ever called to battle, but even so Rei's ally looked small compared to the Fox.

On the end of the line Yuuno, the least experienced of the summoners, had been joined by a trio of giant ferrets, none large enough to be a boss or even a lieutenant. Still in this battle any help would be worth its weight in gold.

To the right Andoryuu had brought forth Jorougumo the spider boss. Despite the snakes and spiders both having an unsavoury reputation in Konoha the spider queen was almost the polar opposite of Manda. That said, rumour had it that she made demands of her male summoner almost as outrageous as the snakes payment of snackrifices.

On the other side of Andoryuu was a huge ape with Asuka perched on one shoulder. Orochimaru had never come into contact with the apes or their summoner so didn't know who this creature was. But it was clearly a boss and the metallic look of the giant's fur was encouraging.

Seeing the creatures arrayed before it the Kyuubi roared in challenge. The titans of Konoha charged.

XXXXXX

Byakko met Kyuubi head on and they began trading claw swipes of terrible force. The tiger was smaller, but more solidly built and the two proved equal. Jorougumo leapt far to the side, launching a stream of webbing at the fox's tails and immobilising many. The ape circled round the duelling beasts before moving in to grasp two of Kyuubi's tails. Anchoring itself to the ground with its hind feet it heaved, pulling the fox off balance.

With all Kyuubi's weapons occupied the smaller summons swarmed forward, snakes lashing out to inject poison into legs and underbelly while the ferrets scrambled onto the behemoths back and began digging for the spine with tooth and claw. The summoners unleashed their own barrage, those with chakra to spare using jutsu while the others made do with tagged kunai. For a moment it actually seemed they might prevail.

Then the Kyuubi countered. Fire exploded into being along its tails, immolating the webbing restringing them although the great ape took little heed of the fire writhing in its fists. The tails lashed out, smashing the ferrets from Kyuubi's back before launching a fusillade of fireballs at the snakes and summoners forcing them to withdraw.

Before any of them could recover the tails swept back, attacking, not the ape itself, but the ground under it. Robbed of its leverage it could do nothing as the tails seized it and catapulted it forward towards Byakko. Both bosses went tumbling away.

Sensing a chance for unmatched glory Vaarsuvius lunged for Kyuubi's throat, eager to prove himself a match of any boss. With a speed that should be impossible for such a colossal being the nine-tail's head snapped round. Jaws larger than a house closed around the snake's skull. And crushed. Snapping its head back Kyuubi flung Vaarsuvius into the air, where a fire sheathed tail impaled him, roasting the snake from the inside.

Summons are very, very hard to kill. Not just because of their size and power but because de-summoning wipes away a lot of damage. Thus even fatal wounds like having a skull stove in were unlikely to permanently kill. However even this immense durability has limits. The charred body fell to the ground. Dead creatures didn't return to their home plain.

Despite its many wounds and the tons of lethal poison flowing through it the Kyuubi roared in triumph at its kill. Then it looked to the bosses rising before it… and grinned.

Once more the titans charged.

XXXXXX

Sarutobi's force arrived on the ridge several minutes after the summons engaged. The Third Hokage had delayed carrying out his orders to ask his successor a question.

"What about you Minato? Its not like you to lead from the back. Where will you be?"

The look Minato gave Sarutobi was one of adamant determination and deadly seriousness, "Finishing a weapon to win this fight."

That disturbed Sarutobi greatly. He knew of only a handful of jutsu that stood any chance of stopping a Bijuu and all were suicide moves. Better than the alternative though. Bijuu had been defeated before, even killed on one occasion, but only by selling the lives of whole armies to slowly exhaust them. It had taken the combined might of five ninja clans, over fifteen hundred ninja, to beat back the four tails. Could even Konoha, strongest of the great villages, stop the nine tails? Especially given how weak they were from the last war.

He put such though from his mind as the battle came into sight. A great ape was grappling with Kyuubi, trying to rip the larger creatures jaw off. The fox's tails were occupied duelling a spider. Three snakes had wrapped themselves around one foreleg while the other was nailed to the ground with stone pillars.

Off to the side a tiger was struggling to rise, its shoulders and forelegs a mass of cut and burnt flesh. Beside it a ferret flashed out of existence, its wound too severe for it to continue.

"Remember, aim for its eyes and any open wounds and make sure you don't hit a friendly."

Putting actions to words the old man dug into his immense range of jutsu for a long range lightning technique. None of the other elements would be effective at such range and getting closer at this stage was far too risky.
"Raiton: Heaven's Javelin!"

XXXXXX

As the last of the summons, the great armoured ape admitted defeat and de-summoned. Orochimaru took stock of her battered force. Losses had been heavy, both on summons and summoners. One boss, a lieutenant and three warriors along with two of their summoners. Even if they lost nothing else today they had been struck a heavy blow.

Orochimaru signalled to the others to withdraw. They had delayed for as long as they could, or so she thought.

Behind them Kyuubi roared triumphantly to the heavens, its cry changing to a scream as nine bolts of lightning impacted its eye. Another nine bolts followed, but more raggedly as each ninja completed their jutsu as fast as possible.

Writhing in agony, Kyuubi turned to the source of its pain. And leapt. Orochimaru watched in horror as only eight ninja scattered, her sensei standing his ground and calmly going through hand signs as hundreds of tons of demonic flesh bore down on him. A moment before the colossal maw crashed home the old man thrust one hand forward and yelled, "Raiton: Plasma Lance!"

There was a flash to put even true lightning to shame. Even through closed eyelids Orochimaru could see the bones of her forearm. When the light and sound died away she rushed to Sarutobi's side as he slumped to the ground. Above them the fox staggered, its charge stopped dead even as its head vaporised.

"Sensei? Are you alright?" Her only answer was a tired nod.

Hearing a distinctive hissing the small ninja looked up, to where Kyuubi's neck was regrowing. After a second she shook herself, grabbed the old man and ran, racing for the transient safety of Konoha's wall. A moment later the others joined them. In her head Orochimaru was counting. At forty-two a deafening roar sounded before the fox, healed of all its many wounds, crested the ridge.

"Does nothing stop that thing?"

"Eventually."

The somewhat recovered ninja extricated himself from the girl's grasp and began running with the others.

"The scrolls say that it took an army a day and a night to wear down the Yonbi. Till the very end no wound lasted more than a few moments."

Dozens of thin streams of fire flew overhead, raining down on the outskirts of Konoha.

"I only hope we delayed it long enough…"

XXXXXX

In years to come the Hokage would often think back to the many acts of heroism that day. The lives given to slow Kyuubi's seemingly unstoppable advance. From the famous actions of great names…

Koga Inuzuka, flanked by his faithful hounds Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, grinned as he went through hand seals. With a pulse of chakra the three vanished into a cloud of smoke. When it cleared they had been replaced with a monster. The Cerberus's three heads growling at the fox before it.

A hundred feet ahead of the monstrous hound a squad of chunin were volleying tagged kunai at the colossus. Suddenly a pair of tails, wreathed in flame, swung down at them.

With a roar the great hound leapt forward, the chakra inherent in its form throwing it into a spin and transforming it into a drill of phenomenal power. The descending tails meet rising fangs. Blood, fur and flesh exploded as the Cerberus eviscerated its way along the tails.

The fox cried out and turned to face the hound as it landed. After shaking its three heads to clear the dizziness the hound leapt once more, aiming for its foes throat. One huge paw rose and fell, deflecting the tooth tipped projectile even as it was shredded.

Crashing into the ground before Kyuubi the Cerberus slowly struggled to its feet. Too slowly, as the great maw descended. Closed. Crushed.

… to the anonymous efforts of unknown ninja.

Nanashi saw a medic treating a fallen shinobi as a wall of fire fell upon them. Rushing forward he was just barely in time to halt the blaze with a Fire Wall jutsu. The wall trembled as it assimilated staggering amounts of energy.

Having removed a shard of half-burnt wood from his patient's leg the medic-nin nodded to their rescuer before grabbing the man beneath him and running.

Unable to move while maintaining the jutsu Nanashi could only pray that his chakra held out longer than the assault.

A prayer that was not answered.

He would marvel at the desperate tactics employed and techniques used, some carefully considered…

Makoto signalled to his team to move forward. Kyuubi was heavily favouring its left foreleg after Inuzuka-sama's attack and they intended to take advantage of that.

Using the latest jutsu barrage as cover three members closed within a few dozen feet of Kyuubi's right paw. Positioning themselves around it they flashed through seals and struck the ground. A trio of sharpened stone pillars shot from the ground at an angle, piercing the giant leg at almost the same point, nailing the beast to the ground.

The forth team member stopped some way back, unrolling and activating a large water storage scroll. Marshalling her energies she began the long chain of hand signs for the Water Dragon, finishing just as her team mates launched their pillars. The dragon flew forward, its creator rushing in its wake. As the mass of water impacted at the spot the pillars met a second jutsu, Binding Water, reached out, turning tons of liquid into highly viscous sludge.

Seeing a tail come round to defend the entrapped limb the team withdrew. Satisfied that even if there work only held a few moments, it was still a few moments in which the demon's advance had been halted.

…others, last second improvisations:

Ryoga Body Flickered out as Kyuubi's paw came smashing down, carving yet another clearing through the forest. He landed next to a team just beginning to move as a shadow fell across them. Looking up he saw teeth larger than he was descending towards him. With no time to escape he slammed a foot into the ground, "Doton: Earth Dome!"

Chakra hardened earth rose around him. After a moment the world shook. Then tumbled. Something corrosive touched the edge of his dome. Even stronger than steel and inches thick his defence would last only seconds. 'Oh kami did it actually eat me? I need to get out of here!'

Concentrating he called upon his secondary affinity and gathered wind around his hand. Making the needed seals he called out, "Futon: Shieldbreaker!" His right forearm was encased in a spinning drill of wind. It wasn't the rasengan but it was the best he had.

Making a guess of which way was down he leapt, wind drill extended before him. As he moved the chakra holding the crumbling earth dome together faded and the structure disintegrated, even as one side was shredded by the wind technique. Burning demonic chakra surrounded him as his jutsu tunnelled its way through impossibly thick muscles.

As he began to wonder if he would run out of chakra before he was roasted Ryoga felt the resistance before him vanish. He burst from the side Kyuubi's throat, catapulting into open air.

Reminisce with others about the fears they faced. The terror of a raw recruit…

Newly promoted chunin Kuwabara trembled as the stared at the unholy colossus outside the wall. Its mere presence was a crushing weight. How could they to stand against a demon such as this? No wound stopped it. No defence withstood it. Men sold their lives just to delay it for a few seconds. He trembled as the urge to flee all but overwhelmed him.

The rest of his team formed up around him on the wall. In each face he saw his own fear echoed. But he also saw determination. Even if he fled they would stay, and die all the quicker for his absence. His thoughts turned to his family, cowering in the shelter along with the families of his team mates and the ninja who had already fallen.

He turned back to face the demon as it moved ever closer to the walls. He would stand. For his family who were counting on him to defend them. For his comrades who depended on him to support them against the greatest foe any of them ever had or ever would face. And for the village to whom he owed so much.

Yes, he would stand.

…and the helplessness of those fated to watch.

Hiashi Hyuga focused his Byakugan on the distant battle. He was stationed at the entrance to one of the shelters, ready to seal it shut should Kyuubi get inside the wall. It gave many hope to know that the Hokage was so sure of victory that he chose to keep one of Konoha's strongest clans away from the battle so they would be ready to defend the weakened village. But still it pained the young clan head to stand aside while his comrades fought.

His clan would doubtless gain much honour and prestige in the coming years from being the most active of the clans but greater would be the personal shame they all felt from doing nothing while the city they had sworn to protect burned. But the Hokage had given them their orders and they would carry them out.

So many paid the ultimate price as they slowed Kyuubi's advance to a crawl. For more than an hour they had engaged the beast, blasting, cutting, dodging and dying. Till finally salvation arrived.

Minato flashed into existence on the wall, a newborn child in his arms, on his back a scroll containing the greatest sealing array ever devised.

The man sighed as he set up the scroll. He was more than willing to make any sacrifice for the village but he had never dreamed he would need to ask such a sacrifice of his son. To be robbed of both parents and saddled with so heavy a burden within hours of coming into the world? He could only hope his wishes were honoured and Naruto would have the support he respect he deserved.

As the Kyuubi drew within a hundred yards of the wall Minato, The Yellow Flash, Fourth Hokage, activated the seal.

End of Chapter

AN: Well I finally got it working.
I think I now understand why no one else seems to have written a Kyuubi battle, its damned boring. At least if you use canon.
After writing it out a few times and failing miserably to like the result I decided to change Kyuubi, rather than having a sentient mass of energy destroying everything it comes into contact with I made it a physical creature. A very, very powerful one but still a flesh and blood being. This way the ninja actually have something to fight.
I also ended up editing out most of the blow by blow combat, it just got too repetitive.

Anyway I hope you like the result and I thank you for your patience. Next chapter I finally get to what this whole story was supposed to be about, Team 7 getting first hand experience of just what jutsu can do!

Oh I also put in a bunch of cameos, mostly for my own amusement, see if you can spot them all ;)

Reviews are always welcome.