Author's note: I really have no real excuse for updating...two weeks late... except that school started, but even then I'm only taking two classes. Oh well. Sorry about the ungodly delay.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Spell/Technique"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else you accuse me of owning in terms of stuff that I do not own. HAH!


Siege of Oto

Naruto and Pein dropped to the ground nearly one hundred meters from the ending of the forest where it gave way to plains. Pein was rather surprised by this sudden halt, and quirked an eyebrow at the white haired teen in silent question.

The Black Mage's lips quirked up in a wry grin as he crouched low to the ground, setting one palm down flat on the earth. The land rumbled in dissension to the unspoken command, but finally gave in to the constructing force of the mana. Within a few moments, a rather large… insect… had been formed completely out of soil, clay, and bits of root and other matter caught in between.

It seemed like a disturbingly large wasp, easily over six feet in height, though it had four wings instead of the normal two. It hovered with an oddly soft buzzing noise, considering how much it had to weigh from being made out of rock, and was vertical in posture with its body curved so that the stinger was positioned forward. Its sharp mandibles snapped once or twice as if to test their strength, before it turned its head towards Naruto, gazing with soulless yellow compound eyes.

Pein was watching both insect and master rather cautiously at the moment, as one of his greatest phobias would be bugs. Anything that had an exoskeleton and liked to get into uncomfortable places just unsettled him, and this was a prime specimen. Unfortunately…his sandals weren't big enough to squish this one. Perhaps he should call for Konan to make a paper flyswatter the size of a sledgehammer to try and squish it?

Naruto, oddly enough, walked up to it and ran a calm hand over the wasp's head, eliciting a rather odd higher pitched buzzing before he spoke.

"I need you to capture someone by the name of Karin. She should be working in the laboratory or in the infirmary of the village, and is usually wearing a white lab coat, knee length khaki shorts, a white sleeveless top, and has glasses. Her hair is burgundy in color, and she wears it with one side long and straight, and the other short and choppy. If necessary, sting her to paralyze her and bring her back to me. Travel through the ground to avoid being caught."

The wasp, oddly enough, nodded its head (completely defying its anatomy, as it would be quite hard to nod when it lacked a neck) before sinking into the earth.

The white haired adolescent quirked a slight smirk before turning back to gaze at the suspiciously vacant open plains ahead of them. With a low chuckle, he raised a hand in the air and twisted it, calling forth a miniature swirling tornado. The storm compressed upon itself, molding into a new form and containing the chaotic winds.

Soon it calmed, the previously unrestrained element chained into the forms of a small puppy as well as a fluffy kitten. They, unlike their earthen insect counterpart, were a sandy brown in color with characterless blue eyes. They both looked up towards their leader with their heads cocked to the side in question, prompting the Black Mage to kneel down, stroking along their fur as he relayed his instructions to them.

"Wander throughout the village below us and tranquilize and capture any child the age of eleven or under. Bring them back to me as soon as possible, and do not be seen or caught. Feel free to simply allure them instead of outright attacking them. It is preferred to do it that way, if at all possible. Go."

The two nodded in unison, presenting quite a disconcerting image to the observing Pein who was sure that he was going to add soulless automatons to his list of things to destroy on sight.

With the orders given, Naruto stepped back and began walking around in a large circle, easily five hundred meters in diameter. Almost all trees near and inside the circle actually uprooted themselves and moved out, replanting in other areas and leaving a large grassy area mostly clear. Following his footsteps, a single blade of wind carved an unwavering line, clearly marking the boundaries of the area. As the blade of wind finished carving, it dissipated back into energy, the marking left in its wake over a foot deep and two inches wide.

He stepped back outside the circle and leaned his back against a nearby tree, resting his eyes after the slight exertion. He knew he was going to have to do much more, and very soon, so he treasured each moment of rest he could come across. Pein, however, had other ideas and stepped up beside him, clearing his throat before asking the most pertinent question that could come to mind.

"What the fuck?"

One amethyst eye opened lazily, gazing in apathy at the orange haired leader of Akatsuki before shutting. He spoke up from his resting place, voice void of inflection.

"Karin will be able to tell me the exact amount of people, as well as where they are, that do not want to stay in Oto. I refuse to kill those who do not deserve it. That is the same reason for the children being evacuated. The circle is to place the refugees during the fighting. I will protect them once they are all within the circle."

Pein blinked rapidly in surprise at the idea that one person would be able to protect an entire village's refugees while right next to the fighting itself, but let it slide… for now. He would get his answers, though. Just… as soon as he got the thoughts of the big wasp out of his head.

They stood there in somewhat companionable silence for nearly fifteen minutes before the ground rippled and split, as if a large bubble had been forced to the surface of a lake, exposing the wasp and the (notably not paralyzed) medic-nin, Karin.

The red haired woman seemed to be only in her late teens, oddly enough, and was around 5'5" tall. The six legs of the wasp were clasped around her arms and chest, preventing her from making hand seals or grabbing for a weapon, and yet she seemed quite calm. She alighted her red eyes upon the white haired Black Mage and raised one eyebrow quizzically, keenly observing him as a potential threat. After a few moments in which the wasp flew her to within six feet of Naruto and hovered, she spoke.

"I guess you're the one who kidnapped me?"

Naruto's lips twitched upwards in a slight smile as he moved from his resting place to a standing position, giving his reply.

"Yes. I have one request and one question for you. Which would you like to hear first?"

The med-nin's eyes narrowed in suspicion before she spoke, her arms tensing in case she needed to fight.

"The question."

Not even batting an eye at the rigidity of his captive, he replied.

"Do you enjoy working for Orochimaru?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard, and her eyes widened in surprise before narrowing once again in further suspicion. Discreetly attempting to move an arm, she realized the insect had her quite constricted, and she gave up on that avenue of escape for the moment and answered.

"Orochimaru-sama has allowed me to progress far in my studies as a med-nin, perhaps surpassing his late servant, Kabuto."

The Black Mage's eyes glinted in slight amusement, before he reiterated his question.

"Yes, that's all well and good, but do you enjoy working for him? Your answer will dictate whether your lifespan will be measured in decades or minutes."

Her eyes became slits in suppressed fury, as well as fear. Would he really kill her? Who was he, anyway, to be asking about Orochimaru like that? She started to channel her chakra to attempt to strengthen her muscles in a desperate bid for escape, and spoke the answer she hoped would throw him off long enough for her to attack. It didn't hurt that it was the truth, either.

"No. He is a nightmare given flesh, using human lives as mere playthings for his sick and twisted experiments. The only thing I can do for my patients is make their deaths as painless as possible, and to lace their injections with painkillers to prevent some of the suffering."

She thrashed momentarily in the grasp of the insect, who had yet to tighten its legs around her, cracking the earthen formation of one of its legs before something subdued her. Laughter.

Pein also looked up from his place hidden in the trees at the odd sound. It was musical, almost. Not quite the thing to be heard from an S-rank nuke-nin. He might have to subtract points on the application for that…nuke-nin are supposed to have maniacal laughter, not musical.

Getting his laughter under control, Naruto broke out into a wide smile, showing off his teeth as the plush doll within his arms grinned in tandem at the still bound med-nin.

"Good. It seems you will not die by my hand today. Now, if I may make my request, Karin-san?"

The redhead could only nod numbly in shock. She had been…spared? By a supposedly merciless nuke-nin? Before she could wrap her mind around that, he had already spoken again.

"I need you to use your ability, which has been noted in the Bingo Book, by the way, to search out chakra signatures giving off certain emotions. I'm looking for resentment, hopelessness, and hatred in a combination that is indicative of people who are held within Oto against their will, or stay only for fear of their life."

Karin blinked rapidly before tilting her head to the side, reanalyzing the teen in front of her, as she clearly mustn't have heard that right. Noticing her confusion, he reiterated.

"I want you to search for people within Oto who do not wish to be in Oto and are held against their will, or only stay for fear that they will be hunted down and experimented on or killed."

The word 'experiment' seemed to break her out of her reverie, and she seemed to realize something. She spoke up, her voice filled with determination and steel as she tried not to get her hopes too high.

"You're going to… rescue them? How? If you have a good chance of succeeding, I'll do it. Anything to help them."

After outlining that he would be protecting them while he laid siege to the village itself, she was hard pressed to either crack up in hysterics, or break down crying in despair that her savior was a lunatic. Until, of course, he responded that it was quite easy for him to create the automaton which had captured her without being sensed at all. Then she started taking him a bit more seriously. She was released from the bondage of the wasp, and was lead to the ring in the earth where he would be protecting the refugees. Already over fifty children lay there, asleep and hidden within the shade of multiple trees that had stayed within the circle purely for the protection from the sun. She was rather surprised at how he was able to evacuate fifty children while talking to her, but then she noticed a small kitten and a small puppy appearing and dropping off sedated children before disappearing once again. Raising the obvious question, she got a rather odd answer.

"They are creations of wind and air, able to disperse and reappear at whim, carrying others with them. The wasp was a creation of earth and rock, capable of melting into the planet and moving others through the soil."

Finally agreeing to the plan, she set herself into the standard chakra-gathering stance, one hand forming into a Ram seal as her eyes closed. To others, it seemed as if she were meditating, but from her perspective, everything changed.

The world faded away, leaving nothing but beacons of energy lighting up the void. The compressed sun of Naruto was almost blinding to her senses, the violet light almost obscuring an entire village of ninjas below them, but she was able to circumvent it. She scouted along the glowing blue orbs of the village of Oto, tapping each one with her senses to 'feel' the emotions emanating from the beacons. Much to her chagrin, and slight resentment, she could find only a few aside from prisoners of war who truly didn't want to be in the village. Out of the eight thousand living within the village, only two hundred and fifty or so wished to be anywhere but there.

Opening her eyes, she realized an hour had passed in the real world, a consequence of going through eight thousand chakra signatures. She made sure to mark the chosen ones in her mind for later viewing, and stretched out as she strode up to the Black Mage.

Naruto was currently musing upon the idea of creating the army he would need to lay siege to the village itself. It would be absolute suicide to attempt to take on a village without backup, after all. He had his eyes closed, and held both arms in front of him, about a foot apart as several spheres of colored energy rotated around his head slowly. He halted the creation process as he noticed Karin heading towards him, and tilted his head politely to her in greeting, awaiting her report. The only outward sign that he was annoyed with the information given was a slight sneer on his face, though inside he was positively seething. When he spoke, his voice had a heavy undercurrent of malice, and his eyes snapped open, revealing the now brightly glowing amethyst irises, shocking both Pein and Karin.

"Two hundred and fifty are worth saving, then. The rest have made their decision to be protected by an abomination of the human race. They are deserving of their fate if they choose that form of protection. The children are all evacuated, and will be waking up within half an hour. One moment while I create…chauffeurs… for our new refugees."

His inward hatred towards the inhabitants of the village was made truly apparent when he simply stomped the ground with one foot, causing a battalion of one hundred stone wasps to arise from the earth. Pein was shaking in the tree he was sitting in, alerting Karin to his presence, consequently leading to her rounding on him and casting a sealless Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique) by lowering her glasses and glaring at the Akatsuki leader. He shrugged off the attack with minimal effort, though he was forced to drop from his hiding spot and introduce himself to the med-nin. She was rather apathetic to the whole 'leader of an S-class organization', preferring a quiet lab or hospital to the spotlight of being a known organization. She gave a rather vicious grin, though, when she learned that this was started as an operation to assassinate Orochimaru and get his Akatsuki ring back.

After getting locations of the chakra signatures from Karin, he sent his wasps to capture and return, sending them through the ground once again. He beckoned Karin and Pein to follow him as he stepped into the ring upon the ground, careful to not brush the edge itself which was copied by the other two. He headed towards a grove of trees where the children had been left, and sat down with a slight smile on his face, waiting for them to awaken. To pass the time, he picked up the Kyuubi and sat him on the ground, talking to the plush doll for the first time in front of the other two.

"Kyuu-kun… how many soldiers out of the other elements should I mold? I want to make sure it's not a total slaughter."

The fox barked out a laugh, surprising both the other nins before speaking up.

"I'd say… fifty of each element used mainly as supporting fire. You and me, brat, are going to be the main force."

The white haired teen gave a malevolent laugh before speaking up again.

"Any parameters you would like to impose upon this siege?"

The doll grinned wide, showing each of its pointy teeth.

"No more than 40 percent power used by either of us, not counting the soldiers."

Naruto snickered good naturedly before supplying his own, starting a ping pong battle of regulations.

"No form larger than ten feet at head height."

"No forbidden skills until Orochimaru shows up."

"No consuming your own youki to use as a high powered beam."

"Why?"

"You can cut through the Hokage Monument with that. It'd be hard to tell how many you killed since the bodies would be vaporized."

"Good point. No absolute murder to the point where there's nothing left of them."

"No on-site torture for answers. It would be detrimental to the kill count."

"What should the final attack be?"

"Ooh, I'm thinking something… out of this world."

Both snickered at the lame pun before collecting themselves. Karin and Pein were both stunned through shock and disbelief at some of the rules that they were implementing. Rules! For a siege! How bizarre!

The ground rumbled angrily, waking up some of the children who looked around, bewildered and terrified as a hundred enormous earthen wasps emerged from the ground, carrying two to three passengers each and dropping them into the circle before sinking into the ground. The mana used to animate them streamed back into Naruto through ribbons of purple mist.

Refreshed after regaining his energy from the animation, the Black Mage turned to the assorted children, prisoners of war, family members held through blackmail, and other reluctant citizens of Oto with a slight grin on his face. The faces he saw were a nice combination of surprise and fear, as quite a few nins knew him from the Bingo Book. Karin was heading from person to person, running a diagnostic technique over them to make sure they were okay. Utilizing what little bedside manner she contained, she comforted children and injured persons alike, though her smile was quite strained and her cheeks twitched from having to smile for so long. Waiting for her to check the last of their number, he smiled sadly as she began to heal the more injured prisoners and maltreated and malnourished children. He cleared his throat to gather attention back to himself before speaking in a clear tone.

"I apologize for the rather… hostile… way you were all retrieved. However, time is of the essence, and I would rather you not put up a fuss and gather attention, causing Otogakure to be aware of what I'm about to do. After the attack is over, I will personally escort everyone around the Elemental Countries until they find a place to stay, as an apology for most likely destroying all belongings and money. You will all be quite sufficiently protected while I am fighting, and, though you will be able to see the fighting, you won't be able to be harmed or harm others outside this circular area. All sound will also be cut off. The only reason you will be able to see is so that you aren't held in suspense, though I strongly suggest that the children do not watch. Brutal will not begin to describe what will happen."

Nonplussed was the general mood, with many staring at him uncomprehendingly. Shrugging them off, he gestured for Pein and Karin to stay within the circle before stepping out of it. Almost as an afterthought, he looked back to the refugees as he had already began calling them, and ran a hand through his hair, flicking his head towards them. Several small seeds glinted in the sunlight as they landed, growing into a large field of edible items.

The colors and tastes were off, of course, looking more like a horror show or an exhibit of demonic plants than a field of other fruits and vegetables. The taste… he still had yet to get the electrified glass taste out of them. He supposed they'd have to make do.

To cover the human need to keep hydrated, he summoned several hundred globules of water, keeping them afloat in the air and allowing them to constantly absorb more water from the atmosphere for a refill.

The refugees (and, indeed, both Karin and Pein) were surprised at this feat. Nobody had ever said anything about him being able to grow things similar to the First Hokage's bloodline!

While they were busy preventing their minds from melting, Naruto raised a hand and used his index finger to trace several glyphs and runes he learned from his grimoire in the air, using them to assist in channeling his power. The very fabric of reality seemed to pucker before smoothing out again, and a very faint silvery barrier erected itself in the trench dug by the wind knife. Using his finger again, he wrote letters backwards in the air to allow them to read, and wrote: "Using the void from between the stars in the nighttime sky, I have crafted a wall. If one were to throw a weapon, use a ninjutsu, or attempt a genjutsu, they would need to bypass the vacuum and lack of gravity of space, thus an impenetrable barrier, but it does allow you to see, though you cannot hear or anything else. You are all enclosed in a sphere, completely separate from the air far above you, the ground far below you, or even me out here."

With his protection sustained, he turned to face the open plains once again, and waved his hand in a shooing gesture. Pure white embers scattered in a cone formation, setting the plains ablaze with a wash of heat and light. As the fire burned its way through the plains, he began to gather his mana for an immense spell. He enlarged Kyuubi to ten feet at the head before writing dozens glyphs and runes in the air to assist him in splitting his mana evenly.

Blazing like a violet lamp in an evening sky (though it was only barely noon) with his hair floating about him like tendrils of an affectionate plant, he sliced his right hand through the air, discharging all the accumulated mana.

From the ground arose fifty spiders of earth, towering at a height of ten feet with a legspan (front to back) of over thirty feet. Capable of spinning webs of slick mud, injecting molten magma for venom, and merging/emerging from the ground at will, they were his primary ground force.

From the air coalesced a collection of fifty moths and butterflies of wind. Their wingspan of over twelve feet was capable of stirring up gusts seeded with blades of wind, able to shed wind blade "scales" off their wings, and able to reform and disperse at will. They were his supporting air force.

From water in the air itself, fifty serpentine insects came into being. They were nearly ten feet long each from tail to tip, shaped vaguely eel-like, and had six legs upon their underside. They were able to embrace and crush those caught within their bodies, and used their small legs to inject part of their body into their target to attack them from within. They were tertiary air force.

From lightning came fifty vaguely humanoid aberrations. Eight feet tall, and boasting an unnaturally long arm length to near where their 'knees' would be, they were agile and quick, supporting ground fire.

From frost came the most deadly of the air force. Fifty wasps crafted out of crystalline shards, and capable of 'spitting' globs of liquid frost (no matter how paradoxical it sounded) at a distance of twenty feet, as well as being able to reform if shattered.

From flame came the tertiary ground force. Fifty large slugs, measuring about six feet long and three feet high, were crafted out of liquid and gelatinous flame. They oozed trails of fire along their path, and were able to 'spit' globs of liquid flame at a distance of twenty feet.

Finally, from nature came the medical crew. Fifty vaguely humanoid shapes with willowy body forms and lanky figures crafted out of a very violently poisonous herb. They were to cultivate the land while fighting, making sure that the battlefield was not desecrated by the battle, and ensuring that no matter what, new life would always grow even after such a disaster. Should they be attacked while attempting their duty, they would retaliate with lethal venoms that oozed from every pore of their body.

Naruto would be casting utility spells, sand magic, and non elemental abilities, as his threads of mana set aside for each other element were currently in use to keep the army sustained.

Three hundred and fifty two troops, fighting against nearly eight thousand ninjas.

You really had to pity Oto at this point.

The Black Mage rested his back against Kyuubi for a moment, breathing heavily from exerting so much mana at once. He caught his breath after but a few moments, and turned to the charred plains, and raised a single hand.

"Kyuubi, use your youki to blast into the village! Earth spiders, stand by to intercept first wave of reactionary ninja! Lightning dancers, infiltrate through the hole and destroy their communications! Water insects, pollute and poison their water supply! Everyone else, stand by to assist the earth spiders!"

With a collective stomp (or nod, from the air units), the plush doll collected crimson youki to the tip of each one of his tails before pointing them at an angle and blasting a hole down into the ground, easily over twenty feet wide and thirty tall. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel became instant glass from the high heat coming from the youki as it ate away at the metal 'roof' of Otogakure, punching through the layers in seconds.

Clearly, Oto wasn't built to withstand a Bijuu attack.

Immediately alarms began to blare from the newly opened entrance, and several squads of Chuunin, a few Jounin, and an ANBU squad who had apparently been nearby flooded out of the hole. Their sandals began to melt upon the still heated glass surfaces of the tunnel, but they trudged on regardless, sealing for ninjutsu, genjutsu, and preparing weapons as they ran to the light.

They were met by two spiders stationed at the entrance grabbing two nins each and biting them viciously, using their claw-tipped legs to slash and stab at the one they weren't currently injecting full of magma. Humanoid elementals of lightning jumped, tumbled and skittered through the glass tunnel, shocking and numbing those who got too close as 80 percent of the lightning force surged down into Oto to shut down all electrical systems.

60 percent of the water squad floated serenely after them, intent on diseasing any liquid supplies within the village. Along their way to the reservoir and other bodies of water, they caught, strangled, crushed, and killed any in their path.

The earth above the 'roof' of the village began to… sublime for lack of a better word. It simply disintegrated into sand which floated lazily into the air, slowly obscuring the sun.

Within ten minutes, the plains had become a one hundred foot hole from repeated youki blasts into Otogakure, and counterattacks from the village were expected at any second. Suddenly, from the back, a volley of kunai broke through the tree cover, having been thrown by a squad of ninja who had sneaked out of a different exit and come to flank. Unfortunately, they either disregarded or didn't see the floating cloud of sand in the sky which intercepted the weapons, deflecting them into the ground before launching a counterattack in the form of a localized sandstorm.

With over two hundred mph winds.

The sand grains were flaying flesh, clothing, armor, and trees alike.

The retaliatory army had arrived, and it came in with ninjutsu blazing.

The battlefield was full of chaos. With their flank protected by a flaying sandstorm, the elemental army struck in organized squads to crush the resistance, utilizing each squad to the best of its ability. Naruto was in the thick of it, his sand protecting and fighting for him alternately. Sand spines erupted from a very thin layer on the ground, impaling feet and hindering movement. Spikes of sand coalesced from the cloud and fired at high speeds, causing nins to have to avoid them and possibly fall prey to another soldier's attack.

Finally, a squad of Oto Jounin cooperated with each other and combined four Doton: Retsudotensho (Earth Element: Split Earth Turn Around Palm), squishing two earth spiders, shattering three frost wasps, and smothering a flame slug. Unfortunately for them, the wasps simply reformed from the shards, the earth spiders absorbed the earth used against them and got bigger, and the flame slug just pulled itself back together and began gnawing on a nin's foot.

With elemental techniques firmly being resisted by the elemental army, the nins resorted to their specialty.

Sound style ninjutsu.

Fracturing waves of sound echoed across the battlefield in cone areas of effect, cracking and breaking parts of the soldiers off, only for them to be reattached by the nature medics and bound with elastic vines while the wound healed.

In retaliation to the technique that almost harmed his army, Naruto caused the cloud of sand to rain javelins of hardened sand. They passed harmlessly through his soldiers, save for the frost wasps (but he didn't care, they just repaired themselves from the shattered pieces anyway), but were greatly effective against the human opposition.

Clearly they didn't enjoy being impaled like a butterfly on a pin.

Kyuubi, recovering from the compressed youki blasts that started the entire encounter, leapt from squad to squad of enemy resistance, biting, clawing, and pounding with his tails. Every now and then he'd toss a ball of chaotic youki from the tip of one of his tails, the corrosive (and highly toxic) energy decaying and corrupting flesh, soil, or armor wherever it touched.

Within thirty minutes of decimating the squads that were sent (sporadically) directly into his encampment of almost three hundred soldiers, the Otokage had finally showed up to prevent more losses.

Current Deaths:

Naruto – 15 (3 frost wasps melted, 8 flame slugs dispersed into earth, and 4 medics burned alive)

Otogakure – A little over three hundred.

Following Orochimaru to the battlefield was his Sound Five (complete with Kimimaro who had one foot in the grave), as well as Uchiha Sasuke.

Oddly enough, their Cursed Seals were their downfall when they had to pause while activating them, leaving them as prime targets for anything mobile. Kimimaro took a little while longer to die, simply because his Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse) bloodline severely strengthened his skeletal structure. An earth spider had to bite him and inject him full of magma, liquefying him from the inside out before he finally died.

Orochimaru and Sasuke were quite shocked, seeing the Otokage's vanguard get killed within the first forty five seconds of combat simply because they couldn't activate their Cursed Seals on the move. Apparently soulless constructs were less forgiving for dramatic tension than human opponents who would wait for obligatory power-up sequences.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, choosing in a rare moment of intelligence to stand back and watch his mentor and his 'nemesis' participate in combat. The legion of elemental soldiers split before Orochimaru without him even needing to attack, leading the Snake Sannin to believe (correctly) that Naruto was controlling them, even if it was only by a little bit.

As soon as an opportunity presented itself, a blurred seal sequence lead into a Shikumi no Jutsu (Death Forseeing Technique). The powerful illusion disoriented the Black Mage for but a moment as he broke it effortlessly, but the moment was all the Snake Sannin needed to lunge forward, non-magical replica of the Kusanagi in hand and land a glancing blow off the white haired teen's shoulder, cutting into the sand-cloth a bit.

In revenge, several spines and spikes of sand exploded into existence at point blank, forcing Orochimaru to jump back to avoid being impaled. The Black Mage turned to face him before deliberately closing his eyes, arms above his head as violet energy pulsed into being once again. Out of the (relatively clear, minus the sand cloud) sky rained balls of nonelemental energy and globs of virulent toxin. The white spheres and amorphous green sludge hailed down all around the battlefield, with the nonelemental energy exploding into pure force on contact, while the goo splattered and corroded onto anything it touched.

His eyes still closed, the grass around his feet (what little of it there was) began to wilt and Orochimaru felt a peculiar tingling sensation dancing across his skin. Disregarding it, he launched into more ninjutsu, throwing fire, wind, and earth techniques primarily. Wind blades were deflected and dispersed, the flames smothered by sand, and the earth chunks sublimed to feed the sand cloud.

Naruto's face twisted slightly into a scowl, the sand freezing into place for a moment before all it erupted into a forest of spines and spikes all around the battlefield. The elemental constructs, bound to his will, immediately switched tactics to the new battlefield before the forest of sand had stopped forming.

Sasuke hopped backwards to continue watching, copying all of the jutsu Orochimaru was using and cheering on the inside that the 'dobe' was at least good enough to get his mentor to dig into the stuff he hadn't been taught yet.

The Snake Sannin wasn't out of tricks yet, and began summoning swarms of snakes from his sleeves to combat the sand manipulating menace, only to have the summoned animals smothered, crushed, or simply blocked by the sand. The only warning for the counterattack was the sandstorm blocking the flank stilling before it whipped into a frenzied fury towards Orochimaru.

Unable to escape, he weathered the flaying sand particles, splitting his body along his mouth and emerging from it without a scratch on him before sinking into the ground, using the Hiru Bansho: Boka no Jutsu (Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique) to escape the deadly storm.

As he resurfaced behind the Black Mage, he stabbed upward, hoping to skewer the pest through the ribcage, but the sword in his hand was caught and shattered into small metal slivers by compacted sand.

While gawking at his ruined weapon (only for a moment), he was caught off guard as a spike of hardened sand impaled him through the gut, only for 'Orochimaru' to have been an earth clone.

Speaking aloud, somehow heard over the chaos of the ongoing battle, Naruto made his observation.

"You seem to be more of a cockroach than a snake, Orochimaru. Shall we find out if you'll live for fourteen days without your head?"

Infuriated by the slight against his title, Orochimaru (hidden amongst the chaos) bit his thumb and swiped it down his arm, over the snake summoning tattoo.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)"

A huge poof of smoke (causing Naruto to ponder on how exactly the smoke is produced) distracted nobody but the human resistance, ensuring more casualties as the elemental automatons had no use for curiosity or surprise.

Kyuubi, attracted by the scent of snake as well as the giant puff of smoke, lumbered over to stand by Naruto as they awaited Orochimaru to finally come out of the cloud of smoke. That man had far too much love for dramatic suspense.

"Kyuu-kun… Orochimaru is here, which means Forbidden Magic is legal. How's your kill count?"

The fox snorted at this, grinning blood drenched teeth (with an arm stuck in between two of them that the fox somehow couldn't get out) before replying.

"Your elemental army has taken out about a thousand, but you've taken about fifty casualties. I've taken out five hundred or so. You?"

The Black Mage, appraising Manda (who had finally shown himself from the cloud of smoke) replied almost absentmindedly.

"Three hundred and fifty or so. That sandstorm is pretty vicious, you know. After I kill Orochimaru, though, I'm going to start using the good stuff. Should we count them as kills for both of us, since you're helping me channel the magic?"

The fox nodded in assent before bounding off to up his kill rate a bit more, leaving Naruto to deal with the snake boss and its summoner. Manda was even more displeased than normal to be summoned in a battlefield of monsters of all things, and clearly made it known in a booming voice.

"Orochimaru, you idiot! THERE IS NOTHING TO BE SACRIFICED HERE BUT THAT ONE BRAT!"

Attempting to placate his arrogant and stubborn summon, the Snake summoner attempted to bargain.

"Just take him out and I'll summon you in an orphanage. A large orphanage."

This offer apparently pleased the snake boss, who tilted his head in contemplation (consequently almost making his summoner slide off his head) before nodding (almost flinging his summoner off at the same time. Almost).

Their coordination finally established, they turned to the Black Mage, only to find a mongoose crafted out of the entire sand cloud staring back at them with soulless eyes. It was at this point that Manda would have started sweating, should he have the glands to sweat.

The fight between the two started viciously, with the mongoose lunging at speeds unheard of for a behemoth of those proportions, only to hit air as Manda narrowly dodged the attack of his race's mortal enemy. Orochimaru, however, was knocked off, finally, from the high speed duel taking place, but was able to land safely on the ground via using his tongue as a grappling hook on nearby trees to swing to safety.

As soon as he was landed safely, though, he was in quite a dilemma; a murderous Black Mage facing him with five orbs of nonelemental energy swirling above his head, picking up centrifugal force while his fingernails oozed corrosive green slime. With his replacement Kusanagi destroyed, he had no alternative but to fight the white haired teen in hand to hand, blocking against Naruto's forearms and elbows to prevent being splashed or struck with the toxic liquid.

One of the orbs of white light flung itself at him when he was unprepared, the explosion of concussive force ripping off a leg, which was easily regenerated via shedding his skin. He was quite a bit more careful of those pretty lights after that. They traded blows, with the sand clothing of the Black Mage absorbing most of the blunt force of the punches and kicks, though a rib or two might have been bruised. The injuries he sustained, however, were healed by his passive use of the Drain spell upon the environment. Orochimaru was far worse off, as his normal advantage of extreme body flexibility over his foes was stripped from him, as the teen's natural flexibility was on par with his own modified body.

Taking a chance, Naruto inhaled deeply and breathed out a toxic cloud of air, causing the top layers of skin on the Snake Summoner who had been buffeted by it to rapidly decay. The pain from the nerves screaming at him caused Orochimaru to make a tactical retreat and lick his wounds.


A little ways away…

Jiraiya, Tenten, and Ino were currently on patrol near Oto territory, and had felt the commotion coming from near Otogakure, and thus had felt the need to investigate. What they were ready for was Bijuu attack, kamikaze bombing, or experimental summoning seals. What they were not ready for was seeing an army of monstrous aberrations waging war on Oto shinobi with a not-so familiar white head of hair at the center facing off against a definitely familiar black head of hair. When a green cloud of mist puffed out of white-hair and hit black-hair, causing black-hair to scream in agony and retreat while his face was peeling away, they got a bit concerned, not to mention suspicious. Who could be able to cause Orochimaru to run away in terror, screaming like a little girl?

Besides the Girl Scouts, of course. Their cookie selling gimmicks would make the poor Snake summoner terrified.

When Jiraiya pulled out his handy telescope (10x magnification for those really good close up shots of cleavage) to figure out who white-hair was, he grinned, causing Tenten and Ino to both question his sanity until he spoke.

"Naruto's kicking Orochimaru's ass!"

Both were slightly doubtful of this, until they both looked through the telescope as well. Tenten, with her sharp eyesight, was able to pick up something else.

"Hey, look! There's…refugees I think. Behind that wall that flickers a light silver every now and then!"

Jiraiya, after looking, confirmed that there were, indeed, refugees. Coming to a conclusion, they quickly departed towards the refugees to make sure they were all okay, as well as hopefully get a grasp of what was going on.

As they sidled up to the wall, they noticed there was a doctor or a laboratory assistant performing triage on what looked to be quite a few Konoha nin who were MIA, as well as nins from other countries as well. Ino immediately started going through hand seals for a medic technique, before Jiraiya stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, before speaking.

"There's a barrier here, and it's nothing I've ever seen before. We can't go in until whoever made it lowers it."

Taking out a large scroll, the Toad Sannin started writing a message across it that asked who put the barrier up, and if they needed any help with medical needs. Karin, who hadn't noticed them until they were right outside the barrier, scrawled a reply in the ground that Naruto made the barrier, and that they did need medical help, badly. Karin was running low on chakra and several of the prisoners of war would die within a few hours without additional help.

Right before they were about to doodle a reply, an arrogant voice sounded from behind them.

"Hn. Weak Konoha nins, here?"

All three turned around to come face to face with Uchiha Sasuke. Ino, her fury sparked at being unable to help those in need didn't even bother with 'witty banter' and simply stomped the ground with a variant of Tsunade's Super Strength technique, creating a deep chasm and shattering the ground around them in a large area to change up the battlefield. Tenten immediately plucked several senbon from special pockets inside her sleeves and pants that had a disproportionate amount of weapons for their small sizes, charged them with electricity and flung them with deadly accuracy at the Uchiha.

Sasuke, surprised that they didn't wish to banter with him, jumped up to avoid being caught in the collateral of the ground shifting, but was nailed in the calf with an electrified senbon, though he was able to avoid all the others. He pulled the needle out, blinked rapidly as he realized his calf was numb from the specific voltage channeled through the needle before staring back at them, his two tomoe (in each eye) Sharingan swirling sluggishly.

Before he could come up with another 'witty' comment, the two women attacked in perfect synchronization, careful to not use any specific taijutsu style or use ninjutsu/genjutsu. They relied on chakra manipulation (Ino with the strength technique) or elemental manipulation (Tenten with her lightning elemental affinity and metal weapons) so that the bloodline couldn't copy their techniques.

Ino took to the ground, bouncing off the rubble of the rocks stirred by her stomp, executing a chaotic form of taijutsu used by stringing together random moves that she learned through the years, augmented with the strength technique. Realizing that she'll end up harming the environment more often than hitting Sasuke, she switched to using Chakra no Mesu (Chakra Scalpels), and switching from strong, straight attacks to more agile swipes.

Tenten, using chakra strings attached to senbon needles, was raining electrified needles from every direction, using her incredible hand-eye coordination to control up to ten needles per finger. She would have started pulling bombs, kusari-gama, katanas, and possibly a large mallet or two out of her pockets if she felt she would have a better chance to hit the wayward Uchiha with them instead.

Unfortunately, it seems Orochimaru had trained Sasuke intensely in…flexibility. Lots of flexibility. If nothing else, let it be said that the Snake Sannin is the best at flexibility, and thus taught it to his… apprentice. Or at least tried to. He had good flexibility, but lacked the body modifications that Orochimaru had, thus putting him at just below the amount a good gymnast would have, and much less than a contortionist.

He was able to (by using his Sharingan) predict and avoid most strikes, however. The numb calf muscle was hindering his movement, but he was working around it.


With Naruto…

Chasing the fleeing Orochimaru through the forest, he caught up with him near the sealed sphere housing the refugees. He also took note of the Toad Sannin who was observing the barrier as well as Ino and Tenten double teaming Sasuke. Getting fed up with the Snake Sannin's ability to shed his skin, he reached into thin air and withdrew the modified original Kusanagi, aiming for a final shot against the Snake Sannin with his own weapon.

Instead of the original shape of a hiltless sword, he had molded the shape into a double ended javelin with lethally poisoned tips indicative of the Kusanagi. It was about seven feet from tip to tip and was well balanced for both melee combat and for throwing.

He just needed a distraction…

As if a light clicked in his head, an absolutely diabolical smile split his face, instantly setting Jiraiya on edge.

Schooling his face into the appropriate role to play for this distraction, he called out in a breathy, flirty voice.

"Sasuke-kuuuuun! Your knight with shining hair has come to rescue you from the evil clutches of Orochi-baka! Come with me and let us run off into the sunset, so that I can bed you!"

This, of course, confused and horrified Sasuke (though only for the reason that the Curse Seal was only designed to make him submit to Orochimaru, as he apparently had no qualms about going with the much, much older man), and positively enraged the Snake Sannin. After all, he did a lot of planning to get Sasuke's body in his clutches, there's no way he's going to lose his prize for some walk-in with shiny hair! Before he could charge the Black Mage in a murderous frenzy, though, he was impaled like a butterfly on a pin by the poisoned javelin through his chest. The length of the weapon prevented him from shedding his skin, as it would have to be removed to heal the damage.

Kyuubi, having sensed he would be needed for something fun, bounded out of the undergrowth just as Orochimaru pulled off his last resort: attempt to take either Sasuke or Naruto's body as his own.

"Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation)"

Perception of the world faded to black for the two targeted by the ability as the soul of Orochimaru discarded its mortal coil, appearing in all its glory. It looked to be in the form of a large snake (go figure) made up of many smaller snakes, which were obviously the souls of those he had body jumped. He charged forward, attempting to force one of the two into submission, but failed horribly when a single word split the silence, heard even by those not experiencing the hostile body takeover.

"Flare"

Nonelemental energy gathered around the soul, forcing it to enter the visible spectrum before the energy forced its way into the soul-body, destabilizing while inside and destroying the Snake Summoner's soul entirely, leaving absolutely nothing left from the unstable energy.

As Sasuke was in shock that his mentor had just been… not killed… but completely erased from existence, Naruto took that time to spit a large glob of corrosive liquid directly onto the wayward Uchiha's crotch, preventing any new Uchiha children.

Naruto turned to Kyuubi with a rather malicious grin on his face, savoring the screams of the one person to truly harm him before speaking above the high pitched shrieking.

"Kyuu-kun, I believe that we are done here. Preparations for the final attack!"

The fox doll nodded, laughing loudly as the Black Mage hopped onto his back. They set off at a blurring pace, air knives carving a deep trench all around the battlefield, but excluding the current refugee encampment. Making sure to capture all borders of Otogakure, they arrived back at the starting point within ten minutes, listening to the continuing sounds of battle with the elemental automatons.

Not letting Jiraiya even say a word, he began drawing glyphs and runes in the air at a hasty pace, erecting another barrier via space/time. The sheer amount of manipulation required to create this new barrier made the fabric of reality bunch up uncontrollably for a split second before smoothing out as the unbreakable barrier was set below, on either side, and in a ring far up into the sky, through the atmosphere.

The first barrier around the refugees dropped, allowing Ino to assist Karin in stabilizing and healing the patients who were still wounded, though everyone still conscious turned to look at the Black Mage when power began rolling off of him.

Purple energy so dark and concentrated that it appeared black was emanating off of him like a beacon, raising off of him in a mist and further concentrating in the air around him. His eyes glowed brightly in the afternoon sunlight, his clothing whipping about in an unknown gale as his hair started rising, not to float behind him, but to fly straight up from the energy gathering.

Balls of multicolored light, attracted by the familiar feeling, coalesced into familiar humanoids, their souls allowed to be in the real world for a time due to the sheer power of this last spell.

As a twinkling light began to grow in the sky, Naruto began to sing an ancient song that his guardian once sung as a lullaby.

"Ieyui…"

Kyuubi came in, recognizing the melody.

"Nobomenu..."

Both sang in synch.

"Renmiri..."

The twinkling was growing brighter, as the shape turned spherical and became almost a second sun.

"Yojuyogo..."

As the falling meteor entered the atmosphere, catching flame, Lulu and the others joined in the song.

"Hasatekanae..."

With a sense of finality, they all ended the song, ending it just before the meteor slammed into the remains of Otogakure, obliterating it.

"Kutamae…"

All watched in absolute awe, even Sasuke stopped screaming to stare in dumbfounded shock as the action registered in their mind.

Naruto had fucking pulled a star from the sky and had it destroy a village.

As their minds attempted to reboot from the Blue Screen of Death that caused, Naruto turned to Lulu and the others with a weary smile on his face, murmuring a "Lulu-okaa-san…" before falling against Kyuubi, who pulled him up and set him on the fox's back.

The ghostly woman as well as all of her friends gave fond smiles to the exhausted Black Mage, watching in slight awe as the last of the blonde hairs on his scalp drained of all color, becoming the same dead bone white as the rest. She bent down and gave her apprentice a kiss on the forehead, murmuring a simple "I'll always love you, Naruto-kun…" before they all faded away, proud smiles the last to disappear.

The Black Mage, too exhausted from the ordeal to do much else, broke his barrier and pulled back all the threads of his magic, restoring him to somewhat working order. He drew his hand through his completely white hair, flinging a large assortment of seeds into the air, which was then carried via a strong breeze to pepper the devastated area, devoid of all life after impact. He sent a strong pulse of mana through the seeds, jolting them into growth so that the area would not be lifeless for too many years, before turning a weary eye to the refugees who had finally rebooted their minds. Tilting his head to them, he spoke.

"We will rest tonight and allow those of you with debilitating wounds to be healed to somewhat mobility so that we can leave tomorrow to escort you back to your home villages. Please tell the children, when they wake up, that they no longer have to go back to Otogakure. If you need me, I'll be sleeping on Kyuubi."

Making sure to pluck the Akatsuki ring from the obliterated Orochimaru, the plush doll and Black Mage headed off to a quiet spot in the grove of trees, laying down amidst the children after cleaning off the blood with a quick water spell.

Pein, who had stayed undetected from Jiraiya, sat in a branch and leaned against the trunk of the tree above Naruto, shaking his head in numb amusement as he mused to himself.

'And to think, he just wanted the hat.'


Author's Note: It was kinda fun to write this, I have to admit. It was hard for me to get into the correct mindset for a real war-style fight, though, and I'm sure I probably didn't do as well as others could.