"Speech"

'Thought

Flashback (())

Disclaimer: I do not own in anyway Naruto. If I did the ending wouldn't have been so horrible.


His body ached.

His headache had long ago transitioned in to a full blown migraine and his clothes were ripped in too many places to possible count. He was far more tired than he had ever been before and every breath was a struggle to maintain. Tremors of fire rippled through his body as his overstressed chakra coils struggled to maintain the corrosive power of the nine tailed fox pumping through his body.

But despite it all he stood tall.

The blond glared his now bright red eyes across the span of the forest at the hulking figure standing before him. The Ichibi stood far beyond the great height of the famed leaf village trees. It's yellow and black eyes were filled to the brim with malice and spoke of the hatred lurking deep with in the depths of the beast. Sand constantly ran over it's form in an ever moving sea of gold. Paws tipped with claws the size of a horse scratched at the dirt as it shifted it's weight back on to it's hind legs. A monster near the size of a mountain. A beast from children's stories and legends.

It would be an impressive sight if it wasn't trying to kill him.

"I asked you a question!"

Or so annoying. The gennin thought with a grimace.

"Well Shuurai." Naruto began as he looked down at the summon he stood over. "How's this for a dire situation and a worthy foe?"

The great reptile beneath his feet rolled it's two large red eyes up to stare at him. A deep growl from the pit of it's chest rumbled through the boy's body. Naruto glanced down unimpressed despite the threatening sound. He spread his arms out akimbo to the proud creature he had brought on to the battlefield.

The drake, a direct descendent of the dragons that had once ruled over the entire planet in ancient times, was a monster in it's own right. Sinuous and deadly with muscles packed tightly beneath a leathery hide. The black beast with two neon blue stripes running down either side of it's body hunched over even further as it took in a deep breath.

"What? I told you guys I got in to quite a bit of trouble." The gennin exclaimed with a gesture towards the bijuu standing across from them. "It's a key part of my charm."

The near tree length pink tongue sneaked out to taste the air as the summon rolled it's eyes down to the adversary standing before it. The Ichibi had not moved at all from it's position, instead choosing to glare hatefully at the latest distraction from it's fun. The drake parted it's lips and revealed two rows of dagger shaped teeth, the tips needle fine despite the width of each ivory spear.

"A worthy foe indeed." The deep voice of the summon, Shuurai, rumbled in return. "And such a strange creature to say the least."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the response before a small grin split his face. "You have no idea who that is huh?"

The summon's eyes returned to the blond. Naruto's grin went even wider.

"That's the Ichibi." He informed the great reptile. "One of the nine bijuu."

The wind carried his declaration like a kite with a broken string.

"The Ichibi?" The summon questioned after a full three seconds of silence. "A bijuu."

Naruto nodded slowly in response. The summon's eyes snapped back down to the great sand creature glaring back at him. There was another moment of silence before a deep hissing sound flowed free of the drake's lips. It took the blond a second longer than it should have for him to recognize the sound for a chuckle of mirth.

"A far more worthy foe than I originally could have ever received. You were indeed in your rights to call for me."

The blond's grin faded as he shrugged. "Well, I figured it would be wrong to summon your older brother or father. You should get first dibs after all."

A sound of agreement met him in return.

"Plus your brother is kind of a dick."

Another sound of agreement.

"HEY! Stop ignoring me. "

Naruto frowned. Gods but he was annoying.

"You know what!" The Ichibi shouted as it adjusted it's weight again. "I don't care who you are anymore. I'm just gonna kill you now!"

"Well at least he was straight forward with it." The blond muttered as he hunched even closer to the hide of his summon.

Taking a deep breath the blond closed his eyes and focused as deeply as he could to draw out just a bit more of the nine tailed foxes chakra through the small opening provided for him by the overlapping seal. Strangling the gasp of pain that threatened to rip free of his mouth the gennin gathered the wild and destructive energy and forced it to spread through out his abused chakra coils.

Please don't let this kill me...

The changes to each area the chakra touched were near instantaneous. Across his face his whisker like birth marks began to darken and spread while the nails of both his hands and feet began to extend and form claws. A dull ache in his gums signaled the growth of fangs and a deep burning sensation in his muscles was followed by the slight and unexpected growth.

Forcing his eyes, with their now cat like pupils, open the blond shrugged his migrane away as best as he could as the world around him was suddenly awash in color and sounds. The vibrant sights and thick smells caused his migrane to nearly double in intensity as his senses began to overload on the Kyuubi's dark chakra. But despite it all the boy pushed onward.

Just one more battle. One more and than I can rest... Hopefully.

A warning growl drew his attention back to the present in time to focus on the task at hand as the Ichibi leaned forward before beginning to suck a massive amount of air in to it's gullet. The blond grimaced as he realized it for the start of a ninjutsu and began to form his own hand seals in preparation for a counter attack.

"You ready Shuurai?" Naruto shouted as the first of the bijuu reared back on to it's hind legs.

The summon snorted as it hunched lower to the ground and opened the two flaps of skin near it's neck. "Does it matter?"

"Nope." Naruto intoned with a small grin as he forced the Kyuubi's powerful chakra in to his own wind natured attack. "Just thought I'd ask for the sake of politeness."


"A marvelous sight." Sarutobi intoned with a soft smile on his face despite the numerous scratches and wounds on his person. "Wouldn't you agree?"

The sannin gritted his teeth in response to the question. A hiss of irritation flooded the now silent rooftop as he looked out in to the forest surrounding the leaf village where the two titanic creatures had began to do battle. From his position standing behind the first and second Hokage's the traitor snake summoner clenched his fist in frustration. This was certainly not how he had planned for the Ichibi's appearance to play out.

"What. Is. That?!" His response was more a demand than question. Sarutobi's smile only grew a little wider.

"A summon of course." The Sandaime responded matter of fact like. "Or at least that's what I'd like to believe given the giant cloud of smoke that preluded it's appearance."

"I've never seen anything like that before. What is it?!"

"No clue." The older man replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "I didn't bother to ask the summoner for a name. Rather fascinating creature though. Looks like a lizard but is, as you can see, far more useful than your normal reptile."

On cue the entire village was treated to the sight of the reptile in question suddenly slithering to the side with a powerful push of it's legs before the skin flaps on it's head glowed a brilliant blue and a lighting ninjutsu shot forward in a sharp bolt. A crack of thunder filled the air from the force it detonated on to the Ichibi's side. But other than briefly knock the bijuu of guard the attack seemingly did nothing as the ever moving sand that formed the beast's body quickly flowed over the little damage made.

"I don't think it will actually manage to beat the bijuu. Given the size and power difference." The Hokage intoned. "But I dare say it will more than do to hold it off until Jiraiya or one of the other countermeasures can get in to place."

The older man turned his attention back to his former student. "Which means you'll little trump card will fall long before it breaches the village walls."

Orochimaru's gaze met his old teacher before he hissed again in frustration.

"Not if I go out there and kill everyone personally." A sinister smirk split his face. "Or perhaps I'll just use Manda to kill everyone in this forsaken village?"

"That implies you'll be leaving this roof alive." Sarutobi calmly countered despite the outright threat to his village. "But we both know that won't be happening." The Hokage punctuated the statement by gripping his own summon turned staff tightly before slamming it down on to the roof to punctuate his statement.

"Your rather confident for a fossil well past his prime." Orochimaru snarked. "I'm going to savor the last few moments of your life Sarutobi-sensei."

The Hokage snorted. "You've been declaring your intention to kill me for well over an hour now but so far all you've done is hide behind my two former teachers like the little coward that you are. When will you ever get it through your thick skull? You can't beat me boy."

That seemed to set the snake Sannin off.

In two seconds flat the pale shinobi had raced past his silent sentries and halved the distance between them. Sarutobi was more than ready and inhaled deeply as he formed a half seal with his left hand and took a hard step forward.

Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Projectile)

The steam of fire rushed across the expanse like a river running down hill. Orochimaru didn't pause for a second in his advancement, instead simply swerving to the left and out of the path. The sannin exploded forward in to another gear before stopping on a dime less than two steps away form his former teacher. Orochimaru spun tightly to his right before he launched off heel kick with his left foot directed at the Hokage's head.

Sarutobi didn't bat an eye as he simply adjusted his staff to intercept the offending limb before a simple body flicker brought him in to range to swing his weapon forward like a bat. With inhuman agility Orochimaru pulled back his leg and dropped in to a crouch before balancing on two hands as he swept his right foot across the ground. Sarutobi hopped nimbly as he adjusted his grip on his staff and brought it down rapidly towards the sannin's skull.

The sannin avoided that too, spiraling off to the right like a sidewinder as the force from the staff's impact cracked the rooftop tiles beneath their feet. In one smooth motion the sannin rose to his feet before thrusting his head forward. The Hokage bit his lip in a grimace as he leaned to the side in order to avoid the sharp blade that extended beyond reasonable doubt.

The sword of Kusunagi. Sarutobi thought with a grimace as he took a hurried step back as the blade retracted. I had honestly forgotten it.

The old Hokage watched with disgust as the sannin regurgitated the hilt of the famed sword before giving it a few practice swings.

"You've certainly remained quick in your old age Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru taunted as he twirled the blade in a circle with a flick of his right wrist. "I expected to have skewered you through by now."

"Happy to disappoint." Hiruzen replied with a snort. "I see you still have that blade in your possession. Such a shame."

"Oh? Worried." The long haired shinobi questioned as he slid his right foot back and dropped in to a shallow crouch. "I would be too."

"Disappointed." Hiruzen replied with a shake of his head as he eyed the jian the sannin had moved over his head. "Such a beautiful blade is wasted on someone like you."

The sannin only allowed a sinister grin to spread across his face. "Funny, I said the same thing about this excuse of a village many times before. Until I learned better that is."

The Hokage said nothing more in turn, his only response being to raise the fingers of his left hand to his lips.

Fuuton: Shinkuu Gyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)

The sannin rapidly retreated as three bullets of wind chakra slammed in to the area he had previously stood. With startling agility Orochimaru dashed from side to side as the evaded the ninjutsu assault of his former teacher. Sarutobi grimaced as the snake sannin closed in on him again, dropping his hand in favor of moving his staff in to a defensive position.

He's using his youth and strength against me. The old shinobi reasoned as he spread his legs in to a stronger base and raised his staff to block the descending slash. Even he isn't arrogant enough to get in to a full out ninjutsu battle with me.

As frustrating as it was to admit a part of the Sandaime couldn't help but feel a little impressed with his old pupil's reasoning. It was just like Orochimaru, who in his youth was a shinobi prodigy, to focus on a weakness that he could exploit in as opposed to flashier techniques like others where prone to do. A part of him was pleasantly surprised that at least some of his teaching had been hammered in to the man. The other part was disgusted that he would even consider being proud.

Leaning back to allow the sannin to press in further Sarutobi launched forward a kick that knocked the snake summoner away and allowed for him to clear some space. Another half seal later and a fire ball burst free in to the space between them. Sarutobi body flickered away as the sannin swept his sword through the flames. The sannin hissed in amusement before starting his own shushin to give chase.

"Enma!" Sarutobi barked as he slammed his staff down and began to run through a chain of seals.

"Right!" The summon turned staff barked as it sprouted two arms on either side to stop the sannin's advance cold. Orochimaru scowled in irritation as the monkey king grabbed each arm at the wrist as a tail wrapped tightly around his neck.

"I'm going to tear you in to two pieces you little shit." The summon declared as it's face spouted on the staff's surface. "Like we should have done years ago!"

Orochimaru snorted as best as he could as he eyed his sensei out the corner of his right eye. With a sneer of irritation he released his sword to fall tip first in to the rooftop as he tilted his head back just in time for the Hokage to finish his chain of seals. Sarutobi took a large hop to the side before following it with a quick hop backwards in order to give himself the proper angle for his next technique.

Raiton: Gian (Lightning Release: False Darkness)

The lightning style technique erupted from the Hokage's mouth with the force of a cannon and raced across the distance between them. Orochimaru snarled as he opened his mouth wide and formed half seals with both hands. Enma could only watch in surprise and disgust as two hands reached the corners of the snake sannin's mouth before pushing outward. With one chakra infused tug a new Orochimaru sprouted free of his suspended body like a snake shrugging away lose skin.

"What?!" It was all the Hokage could manage as he blinked away the dots in his eyes from the bright lightning ninjutsu. With a wide gaze he watched as his now slime covered student spiraled on to the ground and slithered away from his loyal summon, completely avoiding his ninjutsu as it struck his now useless body. Orochimaru chuckled gleefully as he made space between himself and Enma, delighting in the shocked gazes of his two combatants.

"Come now sensei. Did you really think it would be that easy?" The snake summoner mocked as he rose to his feet.

Sarutobi composed himself before giving a shake of his head in disappointment.

"What have you done to yourself you stupid child." The disgust he felt evident in his tone.

Orochimaru grinned. "I've become better. Better than you ever were old fool."


Naruto held on for dear life as his summon was thrown backwards by the force of the Ichibi's massive wind ninjutsu. Shuurai grunted as his sharp claws dug in to the ground in an attempt to slow down the backward momentum, kicking up dirt and uprooting trees as the massive reptile's form crashed through the legendary forest.

The drake's deep growl reverberated through the blond's form as the summon finally managed to come to a stop. Naruto panted as he struggled to pull himself to his feet, his clothes and skin torn in various places from the after effects of the violent wind technique. Without taking a glance he was sure his summon was in just as much if not more trouble than he was, having been the direct recipient of many of the attacks.

"This isn't going well." The blond announced blandly.

The silence his summon replied with said more than enough.

And I'm more than useless here. Naruto thought with a grimace. My ninjutsu arsenal is limited and molding the Kyuubi's chakra in to something useable has been a damn chore.

Truth to be told the blond knew how much trouble he would be in when he originally used the summoning technique. But considering the fact that the emergence of the Ichibi had practically crushed him and his fellow leaf gennin under the sudden mass of growing sand the young shinobi didn't have much of an option. That being said the battle was turning out just about how he envisioned it would when he bit his right thumb.

Naruto and Shuurai were at a major disadvantage. Despite the fact that Shuurai was an exceptionally large summon the fact remained that the two were still sorely lacking in the size department compared to the bijuu they were currently facing. In addition, any damage that the duo had actually managed to inflict had been easily wiped away by the ever present moving sand, which Naruto could see clearly acted much like it did when the bijuu was trapped inside of it's host.

On top of all that Naruto and the summon hadn't had any real practice with one another and couldn't be counted on for anything that remotely resembled being in sync. In fact all the blond had managed to do at this point was negate some of the Ichibi's own attacks using his lone mass are ninjutsu. That being the only reason the two hadn't been swarmed under and completely crushed by the sand at this point.

"Any ideas?" The drake gruffly questioned as it watched their adversary, which had taken to hopping up and down in obvious excitement. "Because I'm out of tricks here."

No. But there was no way in hell Naruto was going to admit that. "Maybe, thinking on something."

Just where in the hell was that back up Kakashi promised?

That's relying on someone else to save you a voice in the blond's head cautioned. Didn't he say he would stand as best as he could on his own power from now on? For all he knew the person who had been sent to aid him could be lying dead along the way. Maybe the summon smashed him trying to evade a previous attack or perhaps one of the massive wind ninjutsu the Ichibi seemed to be able to summon up at will had sliced him up in to little bits.

Either way I'm on my own.

"Head's up!" The drake declared before it bodily leaped to the right. Naruto gritted his teeth and anchored himself tight to the summon with chakra as his stomach rose and fell with the sudden evasion. A wave of sand had ripped through the area they had previously been occupying, towering high in to the sky as it rushed by with the force of a geyser erupting from the ground.

The blond wince as he saw a few of the proud trees uprooted by the force. Hopefully the other leaf gennin had long since vacated the area, if they were even still alive that is. Naruto snorted nearly as soon as the idea had passed his head, there was no way in hell any of them had the presence of mind to evacuate an obviously hostile area except for maybe the cowardly Nara. No way in hell Uchiha didn't stick around.

The Ichibi chuckled gleefully. "Fun! FUN! FUUUUUN!"

The summon growled again as the insane bijuu began to stomp around in enjoyment. Naruto himself gritted his teeth in frustration. The bastard of a monster is just toying with us, and there was nothing we can do about it. And all the while that stupid sand kid just sleeps his way through everything-

The words cut off just as soon as they passed through his mind.

Sleeping. Through. Everything.

"THAT'S IT!" The blond literally shouted as he threw his hands in to the air.

"What?!" The summon questioned at once. "What do you see?"

"The Suna jinchuuriki!" Naruto proclaimed as he took a strong step forward and pointed towards the large sand monster. "The other boy like me. He's on the damn thing's back!"

The summon shot it's glace over to the spot where the boy was pointing, it's keen eyes zeroing in on the human half submerged from the bijuu's back. "What about the human?"

"He's sleeping. But it was noted earlier that all of the Suna jinchuuriki's so far have insomnia because of incomplete seals." Naruto explained in a rush. "This is why! If he sleeps it comes out. So he must be forbidden from doing so."

The summon rumbled and flicked it's tongue as it too began to connect the dots. "A technique that forces sleep."

"I was worried about trying to kill him before." Naruto declared. "As hard as that would have been to manage with him already half a monster by the time I came along I was also worried that killing him would set the Ichibi free." After all, just because the Kyuubi would die with him didn't mean every other bijuu had the same restrictions. It wouldn't surprise him to find out the bijuu purposely presented the boy as a target for that reason.

"But you don't have to worry about that." Shuurai finished with a half growl. "If you could just wake him up..."

"Then I'm sure that damn thing will fall apart." Naruto exclaimed with a clap. "That technique was probably made specifically for something like this invasion. But it wouldn't do to have that crazy jinchuuriki use it against his own village at will."

Shuurai bobbed his head once. "It has to have a fail safe for overriding it."

"And when in doubt. Punch someone."

The summon's maw re-arranged in to something resembling a grin. "That probably works too."

"Right. Now the only question was how to wake him up."

And it was a heavy question that they desperately needed to answer. So far all the damage done to the hulking creature had proved ineffective. And the monster it's self was far more powerful and much faster than they had originally assumed. So how would you manage to get close enough to a creature made of sand that could control sand? Let alone get to a relatively small spot on it's body in order to wake up the homicidal child attached to it's body.

The two came up with the same troublesome answer.

"Naruto." The drake growled low. "Get ready."

The blond didn't have to ask what the summon had planned. Instead he simply crouched low on to the reptile's head and closed his eyes. Focusing the corrosive chakra of the nine tails to move towards his lower body. He would only get one shot at this. Shuurai's life would be at stake and in order to survive the summon would need to dispel as soon as he had finished his part. Which meant that no matter what happend Naruto would be left alone with no way to summon again for help. His body wouldn't be able to channel the necessary amount of chakra to summon for Shuurai's brother or father. The effort would kill him long before he could finish the hand seals.

"I'm ready." The blond leaf gennin said quietly, his words still clearly heard despite the low tone.

The summon shifted to paw at the ground before pointing it's body to the now approaching Ichibi. It slammed it's massive tail in to the ground once with the force that sound like a massive explosion. Naruto flinched at the sound but remained steady in his position, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Naruto." The drake rumbled as it's large muscles tensed beneath it's scaly hide. "If this works... You owe me a drink."

The blond blinked.

"And just to let you know in advance, I need several barrels of the stuff."

Naruto opened his mouth once before snapping it close. A shake of his head was followed by a heavy sigh.

"I'll steal it from the damn distillery if I have too."

The summon growled what sounded oddly like a chuckle as it scratched at the ground like a bull. Naruto inhaled deeply before expelling it slowly. A half second later and they were off, Shuurai flashing across the ground at near double the speed he had showed up to that point. So fast was his sudden sprint that the Ichibi stopped cold, it's large black and yellow eyes blinking in surprise.

"Eh?"

The drake slammed in to the bijuu with the power of a dozen freight trains. The force of the collision was so great the ground at impact splintered in every direction for over a mile out as a thud that sounded more like a thunderclap rang out past the village. The Ichibi yelped, caught completely off guard, as it's body was forcefully pushed back and nearly knocked completely over by the smaller creature.

"Naruto!" Shuurai shouted as the drake reached out with both of it's claws to grab a hold of the creature. "Now!"

The summon didn't need to bother with it's demand.

Naruto had leaped clear seconds before the collision occurred, his body transitioning in to a blast of red chakra as he body flickered forward and on to the back of the bijuu. The blond landed on one knee, the chakra of the nine tails keeping him from sinking down on instinct, before his head snapped up to find his target. There, about twenty meters away from where he was, sat the unconscious body of the Kazekage's youngest son, his arms hanging low at his side.

The blond gennin rose to his feet and rushed forward in one smooth motion as the large pop of his summon dispelling met his ears. Red eyes darted all around as the sand making up the bijuu's body began to rise up in response to the sudden threat. A tendril of shot forward like a viper and tangled it's self around his right ankle, attempting to pull him down.

"No!" The blond snarled as another wrapped around his opposite leg at the thigh followed closely by a third grabbing for his waist. "No damn it!"

He was not going to die here.

With a roar of fury the blond channeled the remaining chakra of the nine tails in his system down to his legs before firing off the strongest shushin of his young life. The flame like chakra surged forward with the visage of a snarling fox as it forcefully ripped the sand away from his body. The blond was off in a blur of pure speed that made him dizzy and nearly gave him whiplash. In less than two full seconds the leaf gennin came to a stop within arm's reach of his target, his right fist already pulled back behind his head.

"WAKE UP DAMN IT!" The blond yelled in desperation as his arm rocketed forward in to a textbook haymaker despite the sand attempting to pull him under.

The blow landed with a heavy thud as the boy's hand broke under the force. Sabuka no Garra's head was snapped forcefully to the side and spittle was thrown from his mouth as his eyes were forced open. A strangled gasp of pain flew from the sand-nin as his jaw cracked in a fissure.

"No!" The Ichibi shouted as it felt it's connection to the outside world forcefully broken. "I just came out to pl-"

Yes! The blond thought in triumph as the oppressive chakra of the bijuu was ripped away as abruptly as it had originally came. Elation began to run through the gennin as the sand wrapped around him began to loosen it's grip. With a pull of his tired leg muscles the blond pushed himself back out of the sudden hole he had been pulled in to. His gambit had seemingly paid off.

"W-What?!" The sand gennin barely managed with his mangled jaw as he swung his head back around, his eyes wild as he tried to catch up with the current events. Startled green focused in on to the grinning blond half submerged in sand before him. "You!"

Naruto stiffend as the sand around him came to life again at a gesture from the other jinchuuriki. Fury and desperation rose up in spades. This son of a bitch was not about to take away his hard earned victory with a last minute heave.

"Shut the fuck up!" The gennin declared as he swung around his opposite hand in to another punch.

This one landed home as well and knocked the sand ninja's head back in the other direction, breaking his concentration. The grin sprang back to life as the sand ninja fell back in his own sand hole, conscious but unable to rise again. Joy surged back in to his body at the sight of his downed opponent. Victory was in the air and the taste was sweet.

Everything was right with the world at that moment. Without even bother to look the boy was sure the battle in the village was on it's last legs and that soon the invaders would be on their way with their tails between their legs. He knew that Orochimaru's plan for the leaf destruction would fall on this day along with the Ichibi. Nothing would get in his way from helping to see this victory through. Nothing.

Except for maybe the fact that the massive sand creature was beginning to rapidly fall apart beneath his feet without the bijuu's chakra to hold it together in a corporeal form.

"Aww shit." The blond deadpanned as he felt himself slide underneath the sea of gold, his sight blacking out as he lost consciousness.

It would be his luck to up and die just as things were finally looking up.

Fuck life.