Chapter 37: Unraveling

His hands were still shaking, fingers slightly trembling against Naruto's best effort.

It was better now; a bit of the tension had started to leave him. He wasn't sure his knees would support him yet, however. The sound of blood splattering still rang in his ears, and cerulean eyes refused to look behind him...at the crimson mess from where the sound of drops falling still echoed.

"I've never seen a guy who could kill with so little hesitation..." Shikamaru's voice was still shaky. "Even Sasuke could be in trouble."

The blond bit back a snarky retort; he didn't need to be told that. Not at all. The two corpses that could barely even be called that was all Naruto needed to be convinced of it. Because yes, they may have all been forced to take a life already, but this...this was different. Every single time that final step was taken because their safety was in the line in one way or another, always the last resort to finish a fight. This, on the other hand...this was just slaughter. Killing for the sake of killing. And he could feel the bile rising on his throat.

"You remember when we met him in the hospital?" It didn't feel like the Nara was actually looking for an answer, so Naruto kept quiet, listening to his classmate continue. "That time...he threatened to kill us, but he didn't do it. It was a perfect chance, but he wasn't even concerned by our presence."

"We..." His voice was hoarse as the blond forced his words out. "...aren't enough."

"Right now, the only one who can make him experience what he wants is..."

"It's Sasuke."

And if the redhead's actions back when they first met were anything to go by, probably Kagome-chan as well. Would the supervisors still intervene if a match looked like it would gonna end in somebody's death? The bastard was just too proud to give up without a fight. He should know, countless times the prankster had baited the Uchiha by insulting his pride, and despite the girl's constant warnings about the Suna genin, his childhood friend had still agreed with going on with the exam instead of throwing the match. If Sasuke insisted on getting back up...no...even if it became clear he was going to lose...would anyone here be able to stop Gaara in the first place?

"Shikamaru!" He was standing up now, voice firm once again. "I'm going to find Kakashi-sensei!"

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'll...stop this fight!"

His legs were already sending him flying through the steps, in the opposite direction of the participants' balcony. Sasuke's instructions to keep the little heiress company were forgotten in his haste to basically save the bastard's life. Shikamaru's complaints fell on deaf ears as he followed behind.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Naruto-kun!" Lee's unexpected appearance barely registered.

"Huh?" Kakashi-sensei's visible eye blinked slowly. "What's up?"

"Sensei! Stop this fight, right now!" Judging by the look some people were giving him, Naruto probably looked crazed. He did not care. "He's totally different from us! He's not normal!"

"Naruto...what are you talking about?"

"He lives to kill others!" Frustration was making things harder to explain. "It doesn't matter, at this rate...!"

Silence had fallen over that part of the audience. Of course, it had. They were all too confused; none of them had any idea of what was going on, of the urgency to stop before things went too far. But Kakashi-sensei should understand; he should know him well enough by now to know he was not exaggerating.

"Well...don't worry too much." His teacher's answer was as laidback as always. "You don't think my training to those two was lackluster, do you?"

Wha...

This...this wasn't about training. It had nothing to do with how useful were his annoying methods or not. Gaara was different, in a league of his own. His mere existence differed from everyone else; the way he reveled in the violence was...

Vile threatened to rise back up in his throat; a part of him could vaguely understand it. In his blurry, incomplete memories, Naruto could remember the monster inside of him enjoying himself, reveling in the destruction it caused by tainting his hands with crimson. But Naruto was different; he had pushed it back, and even now, he had no desire to use the fox's chakra or come anywhere close to becoming the demon caged inside of him.

Gaara of the Desert had clearly accepted it, though.

"Sensei?" Sakura-chan intervened from her seat. That it was only now that he noticed she was here said a lot about his mental state. "What do you mean about your training?"

"Wanna know?"

"Look, we don't have time for this!" Why was he not paying attention?!

"Be quiet and watch him." This time, his tone was entirely different from the lazy way he'd spoken before. "You'll be surprised."

Cerulean eyes forcefully focused on the area below. Only to almost freeze at the sight of the solid-looking ball of sand...what the hell had happened there? The redhead had vanished from the arena; was he actually inside that thing? Not that it made any difference, of course. But Sasuke was making his way towards...the wall?

The Uchiha was racing up the wall, only to stop halfway through and take a weird stance. A confused frown made its way to his face as the other boy simply remained still for a few seconds with absolutely nothing happening. Or at least, that was until a bright blue glow and a loud sound began to resound across the arena.

"No way..." Lee's weird teacher's voice trailed off. " Is that..."

"The reason I personally trained Sasuke is," Kakashi seemed to smirk from behind his mask. "because he is the same time as me."

The glow had grown brighter along with the sound, and there were pieces of the wall falling apart under the place his left arm was placed. The noise was getting louder by the second.

"I see..." Gai-sensei's disbelief was bleeding through his words. "So that's why you only tried in taijutsu and had him greatly raise his speed. For you to teach him Konoha's number one technician, copy ninja Kakashi's sole, original technique..."

"Yep."

Naruto knew what it was; he had seen it before, if only once. Back in Wave, during the fight that ended with all three of them covered in blood. The same attack his teacher used to put the final nail in Zabuza's coffin. A jutsu created by a jounin, a former ANBU according to Kagome's info, and yet...

And yet, Uchiha Sasuke had already mastered it.

"Is something the matter, Kagome-sama?"

Yes.

Yes, there was something wrong.

That feeling, that exact same feeling of wrongness that had assaulted her the night before, refused to leave her. Instead, it seemed to grow worse by the second. Even the sight of the Chidori in Sasuke's hand did little to comfort her...still, she forced her lips to form a smile.

"None at all..." Her voice was steady, but the heiress wasn't sure she was fooling anyone here. "Also...this fight probably won't last much longer."

"This sound..." The fake monk trailed off. "Is it that technique?"

"Yes," she said, not bothering to try and pretend not to understand what they were talking about. "The theory is not that complicated, just a simple stab, really...but the Chidori is definitively effective."

"Wait, that thing is supposed to be a high-level technique, isn't it?" Sango's question showed what was likely the first time she saw pure amazement in any of the Taisho's expressions so far.

"Kakashi-sensei's signature move." Kagome nodded. "Apart from the sharingan, of course."

It wasn't the fact that they knew about the jutsu what was making her wary. She'd be far more surprised if they didn't. They had to have informants all over, and copy ninja Kakashi was a well known name to anyone who checked the Bingo book. She wasn't revealing a thing, not really. But something was wrong.

She could feel her own reiki begin to stir.

Was it because of Gaara?

The boy was unstable; she'd that the day before. Her reiki also reacted almost strongly whenever it looked like the beast inside him was beginning to stir. It was the same with Naruto too. This could be the reason behind her uneasiness.

But it was not.

Somehow, Kagome knew it was not, and it took all the self-control she had to let her hands relax as she leaned her elbows on the railing when Sasuke began to sprint. Sharingan eyes guided his movements, spikes of sand narrowly missing him even as his hand pierced the shield.

"It can't be..."The Suna kunoichi's voice was barely audible. "Gaara's absolute defense has been..."

Not yet. Things weren't safe yet.

"Aaaaaarhg!" Gaara's shriek froze her blood. "Blood...my...my blood!"

Nails dug into her palms as Sasuke struggled to pull his arm away from the sand sphere because it wasn't letting go, and he really needed to get away from that place.

Lightning shone from inside the sphere, another scream following as finally, the sand let go of the Uchiha's arm. The boy jumped back, right hand holding his left, and...and something came out after him.

"He-hey, Miroku..." Sango's usually confident voice broke off. "What the hell is that?"

"I...I fear I'm not sure, my dear Sango."

"Has he transformed..." Gaara's teammate, Temari, had rushed to the railing. She probably wasn't even aware she was speaking out loud and confirming the Higurashi's fears with every word. "It looks like he's been wounded, but this has never..."

"We..." Kagome faltered. "We need to stop this...now."

"Well, it might be an unknown jutsu, however, it looks like Sasuke-san has things under..."

"It's not that!" The heiress interrupted the fake monk. "It's not just him. At this rate, we will all..."

Her words died on her tongue as the sand began to collapse on itself. Blood was spilling from Gaara's arm along with pieces of his broken armor. Was this it? No. There was something crawling up her spine, and she couldn't shake it yet.

"I knew it, a wound!" Temari's shock had to be making her forget where she was. "The cocoon was broken while he was still incomplete!"

Kagome felt the foreign chakra before she saw the white feathers falling in front of her eyes. Her hand formed the seal to dispel the genjutsu before her brain could even process the implication of what was happening. This was no longer a part of the exam, so Higurashi Kagome simply jumped down, taking advantage of her momentum to roll and continue running towards the Uchiha.

"Kagome..."

"Let me see." She cut the boy, trying to get a better look at his wound.

Before anything else could be said. The sound of an explosion rang in her ears. Smoke covered the stadium's balcony where the leaders of the villages were supposed to be seated.

Shit...

This was it, wasn't it?

The bad feeling she hadn't been able to get rid off.

They were still far away, but she could hear the sound of other explosions detonating outside the arena. Blurs of movement from the stationed ANBU and their enemies were hard to follow as they jumped across the seats. A group had managed to make their way to the roof. From where she was, though, Kagome couldn't really see a thing. So it was Suna then. Suna was the one behind this...and if she had to bet, Orochimaru was likely pulling at the strings.

It wasn't the rouge Sannin in front of them; instead, it was the rest of Gaara's team along with their instructor.

"Gaara, the plan." The older man was looking at the redhead's wound, blood steadily dripping down.

"I knew it!"

"Fool!" Unsurprisingly, there was little care in his voice. "Trying to transform into your complete form before the signal!"

"He's experiencing the side effects. It's impossible to proceed now." The Suna kunoichi interrupted.

"Then, what are we supposed to do?!" Kankurou's scream had a hint of hysteria to it. "Do it without Gaara?!"

The picture couldn't be clearer, Konoha was being betrayed by their long-time allies, and Kagome would've burst out laughing at the irony if she and her few precious people weren't caught in the literal middle of the stupid attack.

"Abort the mission." Ok, that was good. It had to be. "You guys and Gaara, retreat."

"What about you?!"

"I'll join the battle, go!"

She could feel Sasuke stiffen beside her, even as she moved his hand away from his wound. Reiki already dancing on her fingertips as her jutsu began to heal the damage. There was no point in not healing him; this injury was not bad enough to justify retreating into a shelter. Honestly, there was no way they could get themselves out of whatever pandemonium this was turning into."

"Am I right in thinking we don't have a protocol for this in place?" Her voice was a bit more bitter than she would've liked as she looked at the proctor.

"Not really," the man scoffed. "Sorry, but the chuunin exam is over. You two go and pursue Gaara and the others. You're already at chuunin level; if you're a Konoha shinobi, then make yourselves useful."

"Let's go, then," Sasuke stood up.

With a nod, they were sprinting up the walls, the bad feeling growing inside her as the young heiress forced herself to keep going forward. Gaze straight ahead, expertly pushing away her worry about Naruto. For all of the training they'd done together, Kagome was almost certain the boy failed in repelling the genjutsu. In all likelihood, he was still unconscious inside the arena that was filled with Suna traitors. It would be alright; Kakashi-sensei was more than capable, and there had to be at least a couple more talented jounin instructors that threw off the illusion and were protecting the audience. Now, if only she knew just where n the stadium the blond ended up in, the girl might've been able to make herself believe that.

"I'll take a wild guess and say this is the cause of your bad feeling." Sasuke's voice came from her right.

"Likely."

"Great, so now we have to risk our necks to protect this shithole."

"Can't be helped." It wasn't like the small heiress was all that happy with it either. If we don't do this, we're going to look suspicious; especially after our performances."

"There were eyes inside that cocoon..." The Uchiha trailed off. "Eyes that weren't his."

"They kept talking about a transformation."

And considering what they knew, Temari's slip of the tongue could only have one possible implication. Memories of crimson chakra coming out and covering the form of her childhood friend assaulted her for a second before she pushed them back. If this so-called transformation was allowed to go through, and if the fear of his teammates was any indication...Naruto's loss of control would not be able to be comparable...the danger they were about to go in was not something she wanted to think off.

"We have to get to him before they can continue with that technique!" The Kyuubi had been thought of as a natural disaster...what would this beast be like? "We can't risk fighting whatever monster he's caging!"

Tension was rising through her. The silhouettes of the Suna team could already be seen through the branches in front of them. The redhead was still being carried between the older teens. No matter what, they had to finish this as fast as possible.

"I'll finish my fight." Sasuke's words left no room to argue. "Can you get rid of the other two?"

"I'll catch up to you as soon as I can."

This was...way worse than they had expected.

Miroku's grip tightened around his teammate, even as curses ran through his mind at the sight of the little heiress they were supposed to shadow jumping over the wall of the stadium in pursuit of the Suna genins. With only the Uchiha for backup. Against someone who was clearly instrumental in this attempted coup.

Fuck, this was bad.

Wam crimson drops poured on him, his instructor coldly dispatched the shinobi that had been targeting Sango. While the girl did manage to cancel the genjutsu, she'd been distracted by the explosions on the roof to notice the attackers aiming for her. Hence, why the fake monk tackled her.

"So, Suna was the one who allied with Oto." His voice was light, a direct contrast to the words he said.

"This is all Orochimaru?"

"Most likely." Amethyst eyes roamed through the arena as he stood up. "What are our orders?"

"Get my idiot of a brother to wake up." Sesshoumaru didn't hesitate. "And go after those two; it was not Konoha the one who broke the treaties."

And even if there had been no treaties between them, the Suna symbol carved in the protectors who just tried to kill them was undeniable. After such an attempt, any and all possibilities of their leaders taking a neutral stance vanished. No, in front of such an insult, the Taishos would hit back, and it would be painful for all those who opposed them.

"And you?" Sango asked

Golden eyes flickered to where the heads of their clan were stepping out of a cloud of smoke. Despite the corpses that could already be seen around them, not a drop of crimson tainted their clothes. It didn't take too much to realize they shared their heir's thoughts about it.

"I'll dispose of the trash."

It only took a second for them to move; completely ignoring the small bouts of fighting he could see spread throughout the stadiums, the fake monk concentrated on the well known chakra signature of his friend. They knew something else had to be going on, but somehow, the idea of a head-on attack in the middle of the exam was not a possibility that came to his mind. Maybe it wasn't just Inuyasha who was still too naive.

"There he is!"

His gaze followed Sango's. Sesshoumaru-sama had been right; the boy had been unable to dispel the jutsu in time and was now lying face down on the stairs.

Miroku didn't bother to hide his sympathetic wince as he went to wake the silver-haired Taisho. Their supervisor was going to force the boy to tend to gardens for months at the least...maybe even years after not only losing his fight but also failing in dispelling the illusion. Regardless, they had a new mission, and they had no time to be wasted here. Sure, Miroku didn't manage to see the little heiress' real talents; her speed was not something she kept a secret, though. If the Uchiha was capable of keeping even half of the speed he'd used during his match, then catching up to them was going to become a tight race.

"What the..." Inuyasha started, golden eyes looking around.

"It was Suna; they allied with Oto and created a wide-range genjutsu." Sango offered a concise summary to the Taisho. "Kagome-san and Sasuke-san went after Gaara and his team. We're being sent to follow them."

"Shit, right." His teammate was already up again. "Where did they go?"

"Over the walls, they'll look for the closest access point to the outer walls of the village."

"What are we facing, Miroku?"

Taking a second, the con artist thought back to the fight.

It all came crashing down after the redhead had closed himself inside that cocoon. And there was also that..thing...that came out of it, that arm-like thing...it wasn't something Miroku had ever heard about before. And out of all the things that had happened, that was what the Higurashi heiress had had the strongest reaction against...

Even if the Uchiha seemed to have the advantage back then.

"The puppeteer will likely have infused all of his weapons with poison, so we'll have to make sure to keep as much distance from him as we can. The girl, on the other hand, is probably better at far range. Close in on her as soon as possible." Miroku kept the instructions going while he tried to track the heiress' chakra. "Well, there's a chance we won't have to deal with them by the time we reach them.

"As for Gaara..." Because somehow, Miroku had a feeling him they would fight no matter what. "He'll only use sand, keep your eyes in that thing, but we should all be fast enough to keep away from the worst of his attacks. Nothing purely physical will work, though. We might need to use the Tessaiga if the sand turns into the cocoon thing again."

"Great," Inuyasha groaned. "All that, while babysitting."

"Will it really be so bad?" The weapon's specialist tried to soothe their teammate's nerves. "Sasuke-san did manage to injure him, and Kagome-san is in better shape than she was back during the prelims."

"Sango is right," Miroku added before the other boy could protest. "In this situation, they may very well be a valuable asset."

"Guess we'll find out in a minute."

I told you so...

...was probably not a phrase that would be useful right about now. And really, the person that should hear those words was not close by at the moment either. Thinking about it, Kakashi's mood was not the best for him to keep making jokes like that. Honestly, all of his focus should be on the enemies moving all around him and the one ally he had covering his back. His worry for his two brats who'd been sent to follow after someone who was important enough to have them escape instead of risking losing him in the middle of the attack was expertly pushed to the back of his mind. The two would be fine together; they would keep each other alive. And right now, he had other things that needed his attention.

Warm blood sprayed his skin.

Corpses were falling around them, and he could hear the high-pitched scream of a teen behind him. Fuck, did one of the genins actually remained conscious? The last thing Gai and him needed was to have to guard a moving target and make their jobs harder...

Another body fell to the floor. The familiar sound of flesh hitting the ground reaching his ears before his gaze moved to survey the situation that almost made him let out a string of curses.

"That's a large number..."

"It's not just that..." Gai's characteristic volume was gone. "Look at the roof of the central watchtower."

"A barrier..." The former ANBU could feel his face paling. "and...Orochimaru!"

Panic flooded him as his eye moved to search for the boy who'd been literally marked as a target.

He was not there.

Of course, he wasn't there. And looking at the participant's balcony, neither was Kagome. In the place of his kids, Kakashi could see the Taisho team racing out the stairs and jumping over the walls of the stadium. Shit, Hayate must've gotten them to follow the Suna genins. Chasing after such an unknown risk was something the Higurashi heiress would never agree to, and no matter how invested Sasuke was in the fight, he would never place the girl in danger. If they left the arena, it was because they were ordered to by someone of a higher rank... Later, he would make sure to question what on earth made the chuunin think it was a good idea to sent two potential targets after an unknown enemy with Orochimaru still on the loose?

Those two would not be alone though, the Taisho trio was obviously chasing after them. So far, there was nothing to say that their interest in his student was particularly harmful. Ironically, it might work in their favor now that they were after Gaara, though, considering his luck, Kakashi would rather not risk his brats.

Another scream had him running. Kunais flying through his fingers as they pierced the skulls of the Oto nin who'd come to take the place of the fallen Suna traitors.

"Haruno, stay like that and don't move." His tone wasn't too comforting, but such a thing hardly mattered. "I'll even the odds."

Bitter thoughts ran across his mind as crimson painted his hands. This was exactly the kind of scenario he'd wanted to avoid, but he supposed it was far too late for wishful thinking. At least, he'd try to keep their hands as clean as he could by getting rid of the small fries here.

"Damn it," Gai cursed out loud. "I'm concerned about Hokage-sama."

"Let the ANBU handle what's going on above, besides..." At this point, the jounin wasn't sure for whose sake his words were. "Hokage-sama isn't someone that will be easily taken down."

"But..."

"After all, that person is Konoha's Hokage."

Besides judging by the fact that Suna and Oto nins were falling around the Taisho clan's heir, it probably meant there was a good chance they may get some unexpected allies.

"Haruno!" He could not risk those two; he refused to. "Nullify the genjutsu and wake up Naruto and Shikamaru...I'm sending you on a mission right now. One that Naruto will be quite happy about it."

"Mission?" The pinkette looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "What do you mean?"

There was too much danger for his kids to keep going with that mission, but neither of his brats was the kind to run away from a fight without trying to win. And the only thing that would get them to turn back without any damage to their reputation would be an order from their direct supervisor.

"For the first time since Wave, he'll get to go on an A-rank mission."

"Wait, an A-rank?! We're nowhere near that level!" Kakashi could hear the fear in the genin's voice. "Also, in the middle of this situation..."

"Sasuke and Kagome are in pursuit of Gaara and the others from Suna." This team was way too improvised for his taste, but he did not have many options here. "Haruno, you need to nullify the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru and track down those two."

"But for that..." she trailed off. "Shouldn't I wake up Ino and Chouji, or someone else, so all of us can..."

"Most likely, shinobi from Oto and Suna have already entered the village." Did she have to keep going with those complaints? "With more than the basic four-man team, you lose speed, and it becomes harder to remain hidden. You should've learned that during patrol drills at the Academy, right?"

"Huh?" The girl was still confused. "But, four people...who's the other person?"

Taking advantage of a small respite, the jounin rushed through the hand seals. This was going to be a ragtag group at best, but Naruto should be able to handle most unexpected situations, and with this, Kakashi would be able to trust two out of the four members. Smoke burst in front of him, vanishing only to reveal the small pup he'd raised since he was a pup.

"This guy, Pakkun, will be able to track them down by their scent." Kakashi's words were somewhat hurried; he couldn't waste any time, though.

"Wait..." In any other situation, the jounin would've laughed at the expression on Haruno's face. "This little dog is the fourth person?!"

"Hey, missy!" The dog, at least, was having fun. "Don't call me a cute little doggie!"

"Ok, Haruno!" His yell stopped the incoming discussion. "Nullify the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru!"

This was not the time to waste answering questions. The longer the gap of time between them leaving, the harder it would be to catch up before a confrontation started. Because, of course, it had to be his two fastest kids the ones who were sent. Naruto's voice sounded groggy and confused as he woke, shortly after the Nara's boy's scream followed. Well, at least he felt a little more confident about the amount of trust he could put into the guy. For a genin strategist, pretending to have fallen prey to the illusion was probably one of the most logical courses of action. Shikamaru had used a lot of chakra, and his physical training seemed average at best. Keeping himself safe and out of the way to allow the jounins was the only way he could help right now.

"Naruto!" Haruno's scream forced him to look back. "Behind you!"

A green blur passed by his right, the echo of a body hitting the wall louder than should be possible. It had been a good idea to stick close to the taijutsu specialist, after all. The sound of the wall breaking as the jounin all but broke the ribs of the Oto nin reached him.

"What's going on?!" And, unsurprisingly, Naruto was entirely lost.

"Now, I'll reinstate your mission! Once you've heard it, escape through that hole..." A short pause, his hand pushed a kunai into the body of a Suna traitor; he adjusted his grip to stop it from slipping. "Chase after Sasuke and Kagome, join up with them, and stop them! Take them away to a secure location!"

"Wait! What happened to them?!"

"I'll explain as we go!" Finally, the pinkette seemed to get herself together.

Well, at least the girl's infatuation with the Uchiha heir was useful for something right now as the kunoichi forced the other two to move.

"Will they be alright?"

"Pakkun's with them; they should be fine..." He wasn't sure Gai believed him. Kakashi wasn't sure he believed himself either. "As long as they don't get too deep."

Oh, this was really getting exciting.

So much that Orochimaru didn't even mind the blood sluggishly dripping from his hand. He'd been worried the Taisho's presence would force him to change his plans, but even they hadn't been fast enough to kill the Suna nins sent after them and recover the old Hokage before the Sannin made it to the safety of his barrier.

And now...

Now, he could revel in the shock and anger burning in his former teacher's eyes.

"I know you're not the type of man to act solely on vengeance." The old man's voice was firm, anger tightly held inside. "You have neither goals nor reasons."

"Hmm, perhaps, but I do have one goal...well, you could say..." Orochimaru trailed off. "I enjoy watching things in motion. It's dull when things are at a standstill, isn't it?

"A stopped windmill isn't worth watching, you know...though, sometimes it's good, because of the anticipation, you see. Anyway, right now, I want to make that windmill spin again...with the crumbling Konoha as the wind."

"You're the same as always."

"Hey!" Tension filled him for a second. "Open a path, will you?"

In less than a second, a loud crash echoed as a massive amount of chakra washed against the barrier. The bright energy dissipated around it, momentarily blinding him to the General of the Taisho clan slowly walking towards them, a faint scowl on his face. His posture was almost playful while the silver-haired shinobi hummed out loud. The Taisho matriarch calmly walked behind him, fan in hand, covering her face. Not a drop of blood could be seen on their clothes.

"Now, this is an issue." Taisho Toga muttered.

"So, you will interfere."

"Well, considering we were attacked, us falling back would not be a smart decision." There was a smile on his face now. Like he wasn't in the middle of a coup.

"Can you break it?" One of the ANBU crowding the barrier asked.

"Hmm, in theory, sure. But only if you want me to be the one to kill Sandaime-dono instead." The man shrugged. "If I use any more power, I fear the Hokage won't be able to move away far enough. Maybe with enough time and repeated attacks."

"But..!"

"It's alright. In fact, it's better this way." There was relief in the old man's voice. "This is a fight I should do on my own...better yet...will you listen to a request of mine and direct your attacks to protect my people?"

"If that is your wish." The Taisho matriarch did not hesitate. "Then, we shall comply with our treaties. Let's go, darling, it would seem some pest control is needed."

"Don't bite the dust yet, Hokage-dono."

"You sure that's what you want, old man?" Orochimaru couldn't help but laugh as his former teacher got rid of his outer robes. "You'd have better luck braving that attack."

With one look, his four subordinate lifted their secondary barrier, effectively trapping them inside.

"Looks like I won't be able to escape easily."

"As if you intended to," the rogue Sannin scoffed. "Why would you send them away if that was the case."

Ah, now, this was what he wanted. A chance to be the one to kill his former master, the teacher who'd foolishly allowed the peace to dull his senses. There, in front of him, the old man was now fully dressed for his funeral.

Their moves were simultaneous, racing towards each other, hands weaving through hand seals in the space it took to breathe. A hundred shuriken rained down on him.

So foolish.

So naive.

The first coffin rose through the ground, easily blocking the projectiles, closely followed by the second. Though it would seem his old teacher was not entirely useless yet, as the third one was unable to get out. Oh well, that was fine, either way. Those two would be more than enough. Something twisted and sweet flowed through him at the shock and anger that shone in the Sandaime Hokage's eyes as the coffins opened. The shocked yells of the ANBU stuck outside the barriers as powerless spectators were music to his ears.

"It's been a long time, eh Saru?" The silver-haired, reanimated corpse spoke first.

"Oh, it's you..." The Shodaime Hokage added. "You've grown old, haven't you, Sarutobi?"

"I would not have thought I would meet with you two siblings again in a situation like this..." Hatred was seeping into Sarutobi-sensei's words. "It is regrettable...please, make preparations to be defeated...Shodaime-sama, Nidaime-sama!"

A/N: So...my internet connection seems to be failing at random times of the day...sorry for the delay guys, hopefully it gets back to normal soon enough.

And finally, things are crashing down. I ended up changing the format for these chapters to try and keep the flow of the action moving effectively and without having to go back in time several times. Hopefully, this works as I intended and doesn't backfires...honestly, this part lasted more than I remembered in the manga, a lot more flashbacks too.

Hope you guys liked it and thank you so much for reading. Any and all review/criticism/comment is greatly appreciated.