YES! Everyone I'm back! Sorry for not updating for a while. Life hasn't been as simple as I thought it would be...but everything's okay! So I want to let everyone know that my writing would be coming to a close with these next epic chapters, so hold on to your seats! (If you don't think it is, then you really don't know any humor) And let this be an early Christmas gift to everyone! Hope finals went well for those who had taken it.

Note: These chapters have been inspired and corrected and helped by the_ninja_that_failed. So make sure you thank this author!

Chapter 25: Changing the Tides of War

"Jagger!" Shadow shouted as he charged towards the fallen brother.

Shadow gently placed Naruto to the ground before side-tackling Sasuke in order to catch Jagger.

"Jagger! Jagger!" Shadow whispered in his brother's ear. "Hey…come on. Wake up, Jagger."

Jagger lies motionless in Shadow's arms as he kept shaking him awake.

"It's no use…he's out…" Naruto said as he slowly got to his feet.

"He can't be dead…he can't…" Shadow growled lowly as his entire body began to shake uncontrollably with rage.

"I said he's out. I didn't say that he was dead…You can feel his pulse, can't you?"

Shadow placed a finger against Jagger's throat and felt his heart beating softly and slowly. "Yeah…but it's getting weaker."

"I can take care of that." Naruto formed a cross with his fingers. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A smoke appeared besides Naruto, where an exact clone of him materialized. The clone walked up to Shadow and lifted Jagger to his feet while slinging his arm over his shoulder.

"I may not be a medical ninja, but I can take Jagger to Tsunade. She'll heal him as much as she can." the cloned Naruto said.

"I'll come along…" Razorclaw croaked as he finally limped on his good feet towards the ninja. "He'll need someone to watch over him if an assassin comes after his head."

Shadow nodded his head and turned to see Sasuke preparing another strike at them.

"Go…now!" he commanded coldly.

The Naruto clone and Razorclaw (with Jagger) sprinted through the woods towards the Village. Shadow stepped forwards towards Sasuke before Naruto stopped him by extending his arm. He looked at his golden-haired brother in confusion. Raising an eyebrow to question Naruto's motives, he continued to stare at his older brother.

"Let me handle Sasuke." Naruto said as he placed his entire body in front of Shadow in order to avoid any protest, or objection.

Following his brother's explanation, Shadow nodded his head and stalked forward to Kabuto. "Whatever you say, Naruto-niisan."

Unaware of the constant earthquakes created by the three massive creatures above, the four ninjas stood in place as they each prepared for the great battle ahead. The fight began with Kabuto summoning another snake and Naruto lunging at Sasuke with his spiraling Rasengan.

Lasers whizzed slightly by us as we continued to close the distance between us and our destroyed headquarters. Odd leaped onto one of the Krabs and fired upon the Tarantulas below. Yumi and Aelita teamed up to dematerialized the Creepers and the Mantas above the roof of the old factory. As for Franz and Jeremie, they were constantly opening fire on the Kankrelots from the covering of a stone wall formed by one of those bodyguards that Shadow had assigned to me. I heard that he was a Demon Brother named Dragger. It's not like I know what "Demon Brothers" are or what they are doing, but I trust that they happen to be on our side at the moment. Simultaneously, I had scaled up the structure of the bridge in order to reach one of the enormous arms of the Kolossus.

'Man…this isn't good…' What? The jump or the fall? 'Both!' Then just jump! 'Want to switch?'

Shakingly leaning over the edge of the rail, I leaped and stretched my hand outward to grasp onto one of the bulging artillery on the Kolossus. Grunting from the sudden impact, I waited a while to calm down my system before finally pulling myself up towards the central command center. Once I had stabilized my footing at the peak of the Kolossus's shoulder, I searched around for an opening into the command center.

'Where is it? It's got to be somewhere around here.'

I roamed slowly around the area, but was careful not to lose my footing. My eyes darting frantically for the entrance as I kept my ears on constant alert for any sudden movement. Suddenly, I jerked forward and nearly lost my grip if I hadn't hooked a line tightly on the end of an artillery laser. Slamming against the side of the Kolossus and dangling upside down, I noticed that the Kolossus was on the move.

'Not good! XANA's already releasing the Kolossus?'

Trying futilely to untie the grappling line, I noticed a slight glimpse of a dark, metallic door to my left. Releasing my hold on the rope, I allowed myself to continue dangling freely.

'So that's where you're hiding…' How'd you expect us to reach it? It's approximately 10 meters away… 'Hm…let's try this.'

Forcing chakra into my hands, I swung my feet to gain some momentum towards the door. The first attempt was too close, but the rope was too short.

'Guess this isn't going to work…' Try again, but this time…use my chakra.

With brute force, I swung myself again while pulling on Fang's chakra. Unfortunately, the rope snapped and I felt myself plummeting downwards. Panicking, I tried to slow my momentum down by grasping onto any bulging surface of the Kolossus. Luckily, I had formed enough chakra in my hand from Fang that it prevented me from crashing down to my grave. I swung myself upwards and smashed through the door. Releasing a breath of relief, I rushed through the corridor to XANA.

'Game over, XANA…'

"Sasuke!" Naruto roared with a charged, spinning Rasengan.

"Chidori!" Sasuke countered with his chidori, ignoring Naruto's scream.

Both skidded a few feet away before ramming at each other again. The impact would have blasted anyone or anything within a 20-feet radius into oblivion, which was fortunate for Shadow. Naruto sidestepped Sasuke's sword lunge and landed a grazed left hook against Sasuke's temple. In turn, Sasuke backpedaled and kicked Naruto across the field. Recovering from the counter, Naruto darted his eyes to view Shadow and saw a mass of shinobis heading in his brother's direction.

"Shadow!" Naruto shouted, but was interrupted when Sasuke charged at him headfirst.

They both hurtled towards the forest and out of the open battlefield.

"Shadow!" Naruto yelled before disappearing from sight.

Shadow smashed through the ground, creating a massive crater as Kabuto kneeled softly downward next to him. Painfully picking himself up, Shadow panted heavily and stared deathly at his opponent.

"Is this how strong you really are? Cause it's pathetic…and a waste of my time. A student of the past Hokages is at this level? Pathetic…you're weaker than I had expected." Kabuto scorned.

Shadow slowly controlled his breathing while healing the chakra lines that Kabuto had cut off with his medical jutsu. Concentrating on Kabuto's weak points, he studied each one, but was still baffled.

"He has many weak points opened, but…it looks like he trained his reflexes to defend them. So why are they all opened? He's smart…but he has something under his sleeve. If it so happens that he does have something under his sleeve, then this battle wouldn't end too well…not with my limiter still on the max." Shadow thought to himself.

"Shadow!" Shadow heard Naruto shout desperately.

Turning to look in Naruto's direction, I saw the shocked look in his eyes as he was hurtled out of the playing field.

"What's he…" Shadow thought before realization struck him.

Appearing suddenly before him in a mass circle were the people whom he thought would never ever see again. Scanning each face around him, Shadow stared in confusion and surprise. Their eyes were clouded with pitch darkness, their limbs clung to their sides like soulless puppets, and their speech was still the same as it was before in his past. Shadow stared at one particular shinobi in the eye with confusion and plea.

"You can't be…you…" Shadow thought to himself.

"Shadow…" the shinobi groaned. "Please…stop us."

"Zabuza…" Shadow whispered.

Turning his rage at Kabuto, he snarled with anger. "What did you…"

"I've only brought back a few friends and invited them to the party. Hope you don't mind." Kabuto smirked in a malice response.

"I'm going to tear your throat out!" Shadow roared and lunged for Kabuto.

Little did he know, a dark figure appeared simultaneously behind him with a blade in full swing.