The Fox, the Hawk, and the Raccoon Dog

Only a few minutes after leaving Shikamaru to deal with Kankuro, Sasuke caught sight of Temari's giant fan through the leaves.

"We're close," he snarled, pouring on extra speed. Naruto accelerated next to him, and as they flew through the canopy Sasuke saw that Temari was slowing down. He bounced off another large branch and readied his chakra, hands crashing together to form the familiar seals. "Fire release: Grand-"

"Kamaitachi!"

The gust of wind hit Sasuke mid jump and threw him back, sending him tumbling to the ground. He groaned but hopped to his feet - nothing was seriously hurt.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

Narutos flooded the area around Sasuke, shielding him from any more attacks. But Temari hesitated for only a moment before unleashing another Kamaitachi, destroying most of the clones before they had a chance to react.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted from above him. "I'll take Temari! You have to keep going after Gaara! He's getting away!"

Sasuke stared incredulously up towards the branches, where Gaara's body was surrounded by sand. The sand had wrapped around him and formed maybe six tentacle like legs, which were busy carrying him through the treetops.

Sasuke shook his head. "It has to be you," he said. "You have the best chance of beating him." He stared straight at Temari. The girl was avoiding looking him in the eyes, though Sasuke doubted it would've made much of a difference. He hadn't found the time to focus on genjutsu. If - When he got out of this, he'd ask Sakura to help him.

...

Ask Sakura to help him? Something was seriously wrong.

Sasuke was yanked back to reality as Temari wound up for another strike - but the instant before she unleashed, a white blur flew through the air and knocked the fan out of her hands.

"Neither of you will fight here," Neji said coldly. His feet were stuck to the bottom of a branch, and he was watching Temari closely with bulging, too-white eyes. "She's mine."

Temari snarled and grabbed her fan, swinging it, but Neji was gone in an instant, charging towards the Sand girl with chakra coated palms. Naruto dropped down next to Sasuke and the Uchiha boy grabbed his friend, dragging him past the fight. Temari tried to send an attack their way, but Neji was pressing her, forcing her to keep her defense up.

Naruto and Sasuke sprinted after Gaara's body. The sand was actually moving him along quite quickly, and it had a bit of a head start. Naruto and Sasuke however, were ninja, and within a few moments they were there.

Sasuke leapt forward, a kunai in hand. If the sand was occupied with moving Gaara like that maybe it wouldn't be able to -

A large sand tentacle knocked him out of the air, and he hit a large branch with a particularly loud thud. Sasuke groaned. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Dozens of Narutos sprang towards Gaara, but the sand had stopped moving now and was devoting its energy to defending Gaara instead of moving him. A single swipe destroyed a good chunk of the attacking Narutos, leaving the rest to find less direct ways past Gaara's defenses.

Sasuke cursed and got to his feet, bringing his hands together in seals. "Fire release: Dragon's Breath Jutsu!"

Fire exploded from his mouth in a spray like pattern, a large cone shape. The sand formed a makeshift wall, but it was too little too late - it was still recovering from Naruto's strikes, and the fire blew past the weak defenses it mustered.

Gaara screamed as the fire reached him, waking up from his semi-coma. The sand around him began twisting itself around his body, forming...things. Sasuke dodged under a strike from an enormous sand arm and leapt away, as Naruto landed in front of him, hands together.

The arm shot towards the orange clad genin, but Naruto stood his ground, going through hand seals as fast as he could manage. Sasuke could see them clearly: Tiger, horse, boar, ram, rat, snake -

"Needle Jizo Jutsu!"

Naruto's signature spiky blonde hair elongated with unnatural speed, wrapping itself around him like a protective barrier. The sand hand hit it hard but Naruto stayed firmly rooted to one spot - he must've been using the tree climbing technique.

Failing to knock Naruto away, the hand attempted to grab him. It closed around his hair covered body but quickly recoiled, and Gaara let out a yowl of pain that was only partly human.

With the Sharingan, Sasuke could see Naruto melding more chakra. "Hell Needle jutsu!"

The extra hair ripped from his head and shot towards Gaara at incredible speeds. The red haired genin was forced to leap from his perch, and the movement allowed Sasuke to get a good look at him.

Gaara was nearly completely covered in sand, which formed some kind of bizarre armor around him. It took the shape of a raccoon dog, complete with a tail and ears. Even his eyes had changed - they were yellow now, with square pupils.

Definitely a Jinchuuriki. Shit.

Sasuke leapt forwards, and the thing that used to be Gaara attempted to swat him out of the air. This time though, Sasuke was expecting it - he flipped in midair and pushed off the thing's forearm with his hands. The motion sent him flying towards Gaara's head (for it was still Gaara's head, if only partially) and he managed to kick the sand genin hard across the face. Gaara's neck cracked and jerked at an odd angle...but the boy only grinned and laughed, the sand wrenching it back into place.

Then Naruto stuck an explosive note under it's tail, and it screamed in pain. Tiny packs of sand whistled through the air and Sasuke was forced to leap back, twisting unnaturally to avoid being hit.

Even with his Sharingan, he wasn't able to dodge everything. Sand hit him in the shoulder and sent him spinning, but he managed to land on a branch and avoid any serious energy.

Naruto's hands were trapped by twin tendrils of sand, and he was kicking more away even as they tried to claw his eyes out. Sasuke was beside his friend in an instant, kicking away one tendril and slicing through another with a well placed chop. Naruto broke free and both fell back.

"He's not going wear down is he?" Sasuke asked as they hid behind a tree. "He's just going to keep getting stronger."

Naruto nodded grimly. "When you take the power...it's like nothing you've ever experienced. And the longer it goes, the more control the demon gets, and-"

"It's a cycle," Sasuke finished. Naruto nodded, and Sasuke peeked out from behind the tree. Gaara was currently clutching his head and moaning about blood - something about his mother too, which seriously freaked Sasuke out. "Well then," he said, "we'll just have to hit him as hard as we can and hope that we take him out before he gets too strong."

Naruto nodded. "I'm still not too great with the ninjutsu that pervy old man taught me, but if you back me up I might be able to hit him with some taijutsu."

"Go," Sasuke said, already readying another fire release. "I'll support you. Don't be afraid to fall back if he starts overwhelming you."

Naruto grinned. "Remember who you're talking to here. I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He formed a hand seal, and suddenly dozens of him were charging Gaara, screaming at the top of their lungs. "I'm the one doing the overwhelming."

Sasuke leapt into the air and felt his mouth fill with chakra. "Fire Release: Firefly Swarm Jutsu!" Tiny embers shot from his mouth, and Sasuke sagged as the chakra seeped out of him.

It was a chakra intensive technique, one that Kakashi had taught him, but it was damn useful. The embers were actually tightly condensed fireballs - while not explosive, they generated extreme heat. And at higher levels he would be able to control the embers direction, allowing them to encircle an opponent, but at this level it took too much chakra to even generate the embers, much less control them.

The embers hit Gaara in his sand arm, causing large pieces to slag off as Gaara roared in pain. Naruto's horde wasn't far behind, kicking and punching at the thing wherever they got the chance. Gaara was forced back by the barrage but quickly recovered, swatting Narutos left and right.

Sasuke stood despite his shaking legs and tried to form another jutsu. He was tired - and the curse seal on his neck was aching. He slapped it irritably and that seemed to dull the pain a bit.

After a moment he realized he wasn't going to be of much use without chakra, and so he grabbed a small soldier pill and popped it in. Kakashi had said relying too much on soldier pills were dangerous (eating too many seemed to cause everything from fever to visual hallucinations) But Sasuke figured that now was as good a time as any. Strength surged back into his body and he pressed his hands together again. Naruto was in the process of wrestling with Gaara's giant sand arm but it was a losing battle.

Sasuke pressed his hands together and drew back his head. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!" A volley of small fireballs shot from his mouth, and Sasuke's hands flashed down to his weapons pouch, grabbing a few shuriken before flicking them into the flames.

Gaara knocked the first one away only a moment after slamming Naruto into a tree, but the next two caught him in the chest. The sand absorbed most of the blows, but Sasuke saw the exposed flesh char and Gaara stumbled back, eyes wide.

"Go!" Sasuke roared, launching himself towards Gaara. Naruto followed suit behind him but suddenly there was an enormous puff of smoke and Sasuke hit a solid wall of sand.

He looked up.

Gaara's body was completely covered in Sand, forming a complete raccoon dog that stood hundreds of feet tall. The thing cackled madly, looking down at his new arms. "Oh yes...yes!"

"Naruto..." Sasuke said, backing up slowly in an attempt to get a better look at the thing's face. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea," Naruto said with a gulp. They both looked at each other, and shrugged.

'I'm out of ideas," Sasuke said. "Maybe if we get to the head we can stab it's eyes." The thing was barely paying any attention to them anymore - it was still cackling and talking about how it was going to murder them in increasingly creative ways.

"How would we get up there?" Naruto asked. "You're not thinking we should scale it are you?"

"Unless you have another way," Sasuke said, pushing his chakra towards his feet. "Hopefully it's too slow to tear us to pieces like he's describing."

"No, wait," Naruto said. "I...might be able to get us up there."

"Gonna need more than a might, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, his face shifting from uneasy to determined in a moment. "I never really managed it before...but if there was ever the time to pull a miracle out of my ass..." he bit his thumb, drawing blood, and formed several hand seals. He pressed his hands to the earth, and took a deep breath. "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke, and suddenly Sasuke was eye level with the sand monster.

He let out a curse and looked down. He and Naruto were standing on an enormous orange head that looked like it belonged to a...frog?

Naruto whooped. "I did it! Oh hell yeah I did it!" Sasuke stared in amazement around him. With this thing on their side they actually had a fighting chance. Maybe if-

"Hey, what the hell is this?" The frog said from below them. His voice caused his entire head to vibrate, and Sasuke had to make a conscious effort to stay standing. "You! Punks! Why are you on my head?" He paused for a moment. "Did that perverted geezer put you up there?"

"What? No!" Naruto said, sliding down the frog's head so he was in front of one enormous eye. "I summoned you!" He pointed at the sand monster. "Now fight that for me!"

The frog gave him a long stare. "Fight Shukaku? For a little kid who lies? Fat chance."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Oh come on...

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "I'm not a liar! I summoned you, you piece of shit toad! Now fight for me!"

The frog laughed. "The Boss Toad Gamabunta fights for no man if he doesn't want to, got that kid? You want your head ripped off?" He bellowed, and Naruto was thrown flat by the force of his voice. "Eh?"

Naruto, taken surprised by the sudden display of force, decided to apologize. "I'm...sorry...Boss Toad..."

Gamabunta chuckled. "Ah, calm down. I'll make you minion! You should be honored."

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah! And since I'm your underling you should fight to protect me right?"

This time Gamabunta's laugh was booming. "You're persistent, you know that punk? We haven't even shared sake yet, you're not family..."

Sasuke smacked his forehead with his palm. "This is going to take forever..." he muttered, rooting around in his pack as Naruto launched into some half-assed excuse about not being old enough to drink.

Sasuke yanked a vial, about the size of a kunai, out of his bag. He uncapped it and slid down to where Naruto was standing, showing some of it into the blonde genin's mouth. "Drink." Naruto spluttered a bit but swallowed, immediately making a face.

"Ew. What's that?"

"Sake," Sasuke said, tossing the rest of the vial into Gamabunta's mouth. The toad looked at him curiously. "Sakura mentioned that alcohol was good for cleaning wounds and there's been a ton of it lying around the Uchiha compound since...for years."

Gamabunta laughed again, another boom that felt like an earthquake. "I like you son...I like you."

He pulled a sword out of his sheath and shifted into position. "Very well. As you are now my loyal underling and loving family, I'll fight for you."

"It's about time!" Shukaku roared. Sasuke peered at the top of his head, where something was emerging from the sand. Gaara's torso?

"Oh shit..." Gamabunta said. "This isn't good..."

"What isn't?" Naruto asked. "What's happening?"

"Shukaku's full powers are kept in check by it's host," Gamabunta explained, "up until it's host falls asleep. Then it takes control." Sasuke saw Gaara perform a knockout jutsu on himself, and Shukaku...changed. The air around him began to shift until he was covered in a fine mist, shimmering oddly as the sand monster moved. A wave of killing intent nearly knocked Sasuke over, but somehow he stood. It was more powerful than Orochimaru's had been, but less concentrated, less...inhuman.

Hm. That had troubling implications.

"All right!" Shukaku laughed, looking down at his hands. "Finally free! Let's do this!"

"Hold on..." Gamabunta muttered as Shukaku began forming hand seals. Sasuke immediately pushed chakra to his feet and stuck to the toad's head.

"I'm just glad he decided to sit around and wait for us to finish our argument like that," Naruto said. "Made everything a lot easier."

"Shukaku wouldn't attack an enemy while they were distracted," Gamabunta said. "He kills for the sport of it, not just for the sake of killing. That's also why he's got the kid exposed like that, instead of hiding him somewhere in his body."

"What do we do?" Sasuke asked.

"For now? Dodge!" Gamabunta shouted as Shukaku spat enormous gusts of air at them. He leapt into the air and the sudden wind knocked bot Sasuke and Naruto flat.

The Toad landed behind Shukaku, swinging it's massive sword with such force that it literally tore the trees from the ground below it. It slammed into Shukaku's back with a deafeningly loud slap, but Shukaku knocked it away with his tail.

"You have to wake up the host!" Gamabunta roared. He blocked a second strike from Shukaku's tail and then cut an air bullet in half with his sword - the resulting gale tore Naruto from the Toad's head, and Sasuke only barely managed to grab his friend's ankle before he was sent tumbling to the ground below.

"Got it!" Sasuke shouted, pulling Naruto back to safety. "Get in close!"

Gamabunta leapt again, but this time instead of going up he went forward. Naruto readied himself (how he was still able to even move after pulling off such a massive summon, Sasuke had no idea) and suddenly they were there. Gamabunta sunk his blade into Shukaku's stomach and Sasuke and Naruto were in the air, soaring towards Gaara. They hit Shukaku's sandy head with dull thumps, and immediately sand began to wrap around them - but without even having to speak they leapt to the side, switching places and knocking the sand away.

Below the Shukaku was laying a beating down on Gamabunta, not even bothering to pull the sword out of his gut. But Sasuke had no time to focus on the fight happening below them - he and Naruto were fighting their way through a forest of sand tentacles as they made their way towards Gaara. Every time they shattered one two more rose to attack them, and it looked like they weren't going to be able to do it.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. "Use the fox!"

Naruto looked at him incredulously. "What?"

"Do it!" Sasuke shouted, cutting another tentacle in half. "Think of Konoha!"

Naruto's eyes closed, and suddenly the sand around them was thrown away. Orange light surrounded Sasuke's friend, forcing the sand beneath his feet to actually recoil. It was still Naruto's eyes though - for now, at least, his friend was still in control.

Sasuke and Naruto charged forward, and time seemed to slow down. Their fists connected with Gaara's head simultaneously, and then Sasuke was falling...

Falling...

Falling...

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya slammed his fist into the Second Hokage's chest, and the cloth surrounding it unraveled, wrapping itself around the Second Hokage's body. "Thank you," the dead Hokage said as the sealing completed, binding his body and mind.

Jiraiya cast a tired glance around him. Two cloth wrapped bundles, containing the First and Second Hokage's bodies respectively. Kurenai was slumped unconscious up against a wall -Jiraiya thanked the Gods for that woman, he never would've been able to seal the Hokages without her. He hadn't had the chance to go Sage Mode, and even with the Hokages calling their attacks out to him the fight had pushed him to his limits.

But this wasn't over yet. He still had to find the Third Hokage...

"Ah, there you are," Orochimaru said from behind him.

Jiraiya looked towards where the voice had come from. Orochimaru stood on the ruins of a building, a smug smile on his face, black hair blowing in the wind. He chuckled to himself. "I have a present for you, old friend."

And then he threw the Third Hokage's head at Jiraiya's feet.

Jiraiya sank to his knees. "How..."

Orochimaru chuckled again, but suddenly he pressed a hand to his side, face twisting painfully. He regained his composure after a moment, but there was blood dripping from his side. "The old fool attempted to save a young child caught up in the fighting. It made quite the opening."

"Monster..." Jiraiya said, getting to his feet and pressing his hands together. "You're going to die for this!"

Orochimaru shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't have any intention of dieing at your hands, old friend, or at all, if truth be told. And I'm smart enough to know that if we fought now, I'd most likely lose." He shrugged. "I got what I came for. I killed the Third. I'll take my leave now."

And suddenly Orochimaru vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone," Jiraiya spat. In the distance, the enormous sand monster that had been fighting Gamabunta dissolved. The sounds of fighting had stopped, and Jiraiya knew that the Sound forces had pulled a retreat along with their master. Sand would surrender now that Gaara was down. "We won..." Jiraiya said sadly. "We won."

Maybe, he thought, if he said it enough, he'd start believing it.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: And another arc comes to a close. Next up is the reconstruction of Konoha, which will in fact be an arc, though with a bit less fighting.

And yes, the Third is dead and Orochimaru still has his arms. You didn't think all the changes would be positive did you? All in all, the invasion was short this go round and fewer Konoha ninja were killed at the cost of much more structural damage, and more civilian deaths. And of course, Orochimaru.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing!