I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 26:

"How many?" Suzume asked.

Subaru crossed his arms. "Three." Suzume nodded as began to make signs. Soon, three coffins appeared before them. The Rashomon around them finally fell to the Clone's attacks. Upon seeing the coffins, the Clone began to prepare himself for a drawn out battle. The covers of the coffins fell forward and several people on the battlefield looked on in horror, sadness, and anger.

They knew what Kabuto had done and they knew he was going to use them during this war. But that didn't stop them from hurting. It hurt them to see their loved ones like this. Choji and Shikamaru looked at Asuma with a mix of anger at Kabuto and sorrow for not being able to save him. The two looked at each other and agreed that this time, they'd save Asuma.

Gai, Lee, and Tenten knew who Hizashi was and even if they didn't, it was too easy to tell since he looked just like Hiashi. They made a silent pact to seal Hizashi before Neji joined them. They didn't want him to have to face his father.

Surprisingly, it was Kushina that stepped out of the third coffin like the Clone thought. It was a man with long sky-blue hair and dark green eyes. Only two people from Konoha knew who he was. "Dan," Tsunade whispered. Her eyes were wide. Jiraiya cursed. Kabuto must have gotten what he needed from Orochimaru since Dan's grave hadn't been among those desecrated.

"What is going on?" Dan asked.

"We brought you back!" Suzume sang. "And now you are going to get rid of everyone here!"

"Wha…?" Hizashi's question died as his body was forced to move. Gai intercepted Hizashi before he could reach Tenten. Shikamaru and Choji moved to do the same for Asuma, but the man dodge their attacks. Temari waved her fan and Asuma crossed his arms, taking the attack. It was clear that they were after Tenten in an attempt to free Kyoko.

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. "Barrier!" She pointed at Dan. The Clone didn't know why, but he obeyed her, surrounding Dan in a barrier. Tsunade stood up and walked over to the barrier. "I'm sorry Dan."

"I understand," Dan said. "This is the best way to prevent me from using my Spirit Transformation Jutsu." Tsunade nodded.

"That's no fun," Suzume said, appearing near Tsunade. She slammed a hand against Tsunade's chest. Tsunade went flying, only to have Jiraiya catch her. Suzume turned towards the barrier. "This will have to come down." She began to punch it.

"This is bad," Jiraiya said. "If she breaks that barrier, she'll use Dan to capture Naruto."

"That's right!" Subaru sent a kick at the two Sannin. Jiraiya grunted as he kept Tsunade from getting more wounded. He knew they were in the way. Neither had the strength to take on the twins. The Clone blocked Subaru's next attack. Subaru started laughing as he kept punching and kicking at the Clone. Suzume was doing the same to the barrier. Both the barrier and the Clone stood firm. But time was against them as the Clone was weakening. Subaru managed to land a hit sending the Clone to the ground. Subaru raised his chakra infused fist, ready to punch the Clone again, when his feet wouldn't move. Unable to take a step forward, Subaru looked down. Ice covered his feet.

"We got here in time," Nagato said.

"So it seems," Itachi said. Kurama helped Jiraiya and Tsunade to their feet. The Clone with them walked over to Suzume and grabbed her by her hair and yanked her away from the barrier. She let out a yelp before tossing a ring at the Clone. The Clone moved his head, easily dodging it.

"Dammit!" Subaru yelled. "This stupid ice won't melt!" He hit the ice with a fist of fire, but nothing happened.

"Your flames are too weak," Nagato said, walking towards Subaru. The closer he got to Subaru the more the ice grew. Subaru let out a howl as it encased his body, stopping before his head.

"You bastard!" Subaru yelled. "I'll kill you!"

"You won't," Nagato said. The ice shot up, covering Subaru's head. He then turned towards Suzume. The Clone stepped away from Suzume when the ice made its way towards them. Suzume saw it coming and summoned a Rashomon gate. She jumped away before summoning hundreds of snakes. They lashed out at Nagato, but they only froze before falling to the ground and shattering. The ice grabbed her arm and yanked her down, trying to freeze her to the ground. In a desperate act, Suzume bit her finger and slammed it against the ice. Nagato's attack froze as two puffs of smoke appeared. Nagato readied himself to face the two new Reincarnations when his eyes widened. Two red-headed women stepped out of the smoke. Aya dropped down and freed Suzume from the ice. She began to heal her while Fuso stared down at Nagato.

"Mother," Nagato called.

Fuso smiled at him. "Nagato." She walked toward him and opened her arms, taking him in for a hug. "I've come to save you. You don't have to follow these bad people anymore."

Aya looked up from healing Suzume and looked around. "Karin! Where is Karin?"

"They locked her up in Konoha," Suzume lied, before biting back down on Aya's arm.

"Fuso, we have to save Karin too," Aya begged.

"You're wrong!" Nagato yelled. "Karin and I are not being held against our wills!"

Fuso looked at Nagato with sadness in her eyes. "The jutsu is so strong. Don't worry. Once we are away from here, I'll break it. We can be a family again."

"I'm sorry mom," Nagato said. Ice rose up Fuso's arm from where Nagato held it. She gasped and tried to stop it from spreading. "My family is waiting for me at home, waiting for me to bring news of Konoha's victory." Tears rolled down his face as he used the last of his chakra to encase Fuso in ice. Itachi put a hand on his shoulder as Nagato cried.

"No, this can't be," Aya cried. "I… I have to save them."

"I'll help you," Suzume said. She made a few hand signs before placing a hand on Aya's shoulder. Aya let out a scream as her body began to change. The Clone looked at Aya, a memory coming to his mind of Arashi Fuma. But this was different. Aya hadn't fused with anyone else, but her body had changed enough that she was barely recognizable. It was clear that Suzume had made that creature the other Clone had killed. "Now then, free Subaru please." Aya let out a roar as she charged at Subaru. Nagato raised a hand to freeze Aya, but his lack of chakra didn't stand a chance. Itachi tried to activate his Amaterasu, but his Sharingan flickered out. He too didn't have enough chakra left. Aya managed to break Nagato's ice enough to get Subaru's head free. Subaru coughed as he began to breathe once more. Aya then moved to free Fuso. This time, the Clone moved to intervene. He had a feeling that if Fuso got free, Aya would fuse with her. Subaru used this distraction to enter Sage Mode. The ice shattered, shards flying towards Nagato and Itachi. Kurama moved forward, a shield of fire protecting them.

"Sage Mode?" Kurama asked. "No, it's different."

"I'm a Snake Sage," Subaru boasted. "Father wasn't able to become one, but I did!" He slammed his hands into the ground. It shook as several large snakes appeared. Everyone looked at the snakes unsure if they could defeat them. The ones with the most chakra left were the Clone, Temari, Kankuro, and Kurama. The Clone was busy fighting Aya while trying to maintain the barrier Dan was behind. Temari was helping to hold off Asuma while Kankuro was busy making sure no one got to Kyoko. That left Kurama to face the snakes. He looked at them grimly.

'If only I could enter Sage Mode as well,' Kurama thought. He dodged a snake coming at him. 'I'll have to unseal it.' He grabbed the sleeve of his left arm and ribbed it off. An Anbu seal was revealed. He got it after the merger which meant he didn't have as much chakra save up as the others. He prayed that it would be enough as the blood on his finger broke the seal.

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Bee awoke to the ground shaking. He growled as he hadn't been able to sleep for more than five minutes. It wasn't enough to restore his chakra to take on whomever had caused the earthquake. Neji and Shino were helping steady some of the more heavily injured. Moegi prayed that her dome would be able to hold up against the attacks on it. The ground shook again and she heard something cracking. She added more chakra to her dome, but it wasn't enough. No one in the dome had enough chakra to help her. The dome blasted open and Neji spun quickly, protecting those closest to him. Shino's bugs took the hit as he protected Kiba and those nearest to him. Udon created a water shield. It protected those behind him while he was hit by a few rocks. Konohamaru had to help him up. He checked his teammate's wounds, glad they weren't too bad. Everyone turned to see Gari step through the hole in the dome. Bee threw a punch at Gari, but Gari intercepted, blasting him backwards into the other side of the wall. Neji was Gari's next target. Neji managed to pull upon his remaining chakra to lessen the damage from the explosion. Shino's bugs died when he was targeted next. With them down, the only ones able to fight were Konohamaru and Kiba whose wounds wouldn't allow for much. Gari raised a hand only for a black fox to come out of nowhere and bite his arm off.

Kakashi and Sasuke carefully looked over Bee, Neji, and Shino as Naruto glared at Gari. "Kuro, get him out of here." The fox nodded, spitting out the arm before charging at Gari. Gari tried to grab at Kuro, but a white fox joined the fray, knocking Gari's hand away. The two dragged Gari away. Naruto slammed a hand down and summoned Gamakichi. "I need you to take as many of them as you can to safety."

"I can only take those that are ok with getting jostled," Gamakichi remarked. "Those that can't would be in danger of their wounds getting worse."

Naruto cursed before he spotted Moegi. He walked over to her. "I won't question why you are here instead of back in Konoha, but I need you to keep healing everyone." He patted her shoulder. Moegi felt Naruto's chakra instantaneously. It spread through her body, healing her and increasing the little chakra reserves she had left. It was more than she was used to, so Naruto sealed some of it. "When you need more, break that seal. Also…" He handed her a scroll. "This will summon a clone of mine in Sage Mode." Moegi nodded. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto helped get the wounded onto Gamakichi's back. Kakashi used chakra strings to keep everyone on him. He was going with them. Sasuke and Naruto stayed behind, looking after those that couldn't be moved.

"What should we do?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll heal them enough to be moved," Naruto said. He sat down. "But I'll need you to watch my back as it will take awhile." Sasuke nodded. Naruto waved a few signs as his chakra spiked. Red lines went to each person, encircling them. The chakra surrounded all of them, slowly healing them. Sasuke watched in amazement while keeping an eye out for enemies. It wasn't long before Gari returned. Sasuke hoped Kuro and Shiro were ok. He knew that Naruto would take their deaths hard. Luckily, he could see they were fine. They chased after Gari who was running back towards the dome. He was missing an arm as well as pieces of his shoulder and side. It was healing, just slower than normal.

Sasuke pulled out a seal, knowing he'd have to be the one to fully stop Gari. Shiro caught up to Gari and knocked him down. Kuro joined him and the two kept biting at him. Sasuke walked towards them, careful to not startle them. Kuro growled but Shiro purred. He backed up to allow Sasuke close enough to place the seal into Gari's partially destroyed body. Kuro let out a bark before jumping back as the black lines spread. Sasuke took out a scroll and sealed the sacrifice inside. Kuro circled him, unsure what to do. Shiro made a noise and Sasuke gave him a pat. Kuro growled and Shiro yipped at him. They then disappeared, leaving Sasuke to walk back to Naruto alone.

"It shouldn't take much longer," Naruto said. Sasuke frowned. Naruto was sweating. It was clear that he was struggling to control so much chakra. It was taking a huge toll on his body. Sasuke also knew that nothing he said would make Naruto stop. He took out the scroll that had a Naruto clone still sealed inside of it. He broke the seal and his guess that it was in Sage Mode was correct. Raising a kunai, Sasuke stabbed the clone. It dissipated, its chakra going back to Naruto. Naruto couldn't help but smile while simultaneously being mad that Sasuke didn't just tell it to dissipate. He still received the memory of the clone being stabbed. The chakra the clone had was enough to finish healing everyone. Naruto fell backwards into Sasuke's leg. He grinned at the raven who rolled his eyes. "No, we have to get them back to Konoha."

"I can summon a giant hawk," Sasuke said. "But the question is how would it transport all of these people."

"I could seal them in a scroll like I do with my clones," Naruto offered. "I'd send a clone with them to break the seal once they are safe."

"That would take too much of your chakra," Sasuke said. "You don't have much left."

Naruto frowned. He knew this was true. All of his chakra from his Anbu seal to his Sage Mode Clones were gone. He'd only get more back if he got rid of the other Sage Mode Clones, but they were protecting Konoha with their barrier. There was still one option though. He stood up. "I think it's time." He lifted his shirt off and let it drop to the ground. Sasuke watched the seal of the Great Fire Heavenly Prison Jutsu appear. It flared, pain clear on Naruto's face as he broke it. Sasuke stepped back as the chakra shot up. It was enough that Sasuke could barely breathe. Naruto managed to reign in most of it. He made another Real Clone before sealing the injured into a scroll. The Clone took it and turned to Sasuke. Sasuke summoned a large Hawk who allowed the Clone to climb on its back. They watched the hawk fly away, carrying the lives of several shinobi with it.

"Are you ok?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Naruto lied. Sasuke glared at him. "It hurts a little since it is more chakra than I'm used to."

"Can you reseal some of it?"

"I might be able to, but I'd rather not risk it. I'll need all of the chakra to take on my mother and future in-laws." He played with his ring a little. It was enough to make Sasuke smile.

"Then we better get going. It would be rude to keep them waiting."

Naruto grinned. "I wouldn't want that." He took Sasuke's hand and they disappeared in a blast of red.