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

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 27:

Kurama's body slammed into the Clone, knocking it out of the Aya's attack. The snake then lunged at them, attempting to swallow them. Kurama and the Clone grab a fang and kept its jaw from shutting. Aya used that time to free Fuso. Just as the Clone predicted, they fused together, Fuso's face appearing on the back of Aya's head and the creature's mass expanding. The Clone was about to just let Kurama deal with the snake when another "Real" Clone threw a Sage-Mode Punch at the creature. Kurama and the Clone had forgotten about his presence since he had disappeared after Nagato froze Subaru. It stood over the creature with a Rasenshuriken.

Kurama turned to the Clone at his side. "It looks like he has that handled." The Clone turned to look at Kurama with blood-red eyes. Kurama flinched. The Clone smirked before it removed one of its hands from a fang and shoved Kurama backwards. Kurama landed on his feet and looked up in mild horror as the snake swallowed the Clone. He cursed as the snake turned back towards him. It began to move towards him before it suddenly froze. Kurama raised an eyebrow before the snake let out a pain-filled hiss. Everyone watched as the snake exploded from the inside. The Clone stepped through the rainfall of blood as if it was nothing.

Wanting revenge, another snake lunged at the Clone. A clawed hand sent a blast of wind towards the snake. The snake hissed as it was chopped to pieces. The Clone turned to the next snake and charged at it. Kurama's eyes widened as red chakra leaked off of the Clone's body. It let out a cry as it started punching the snake. Once the snake was down, it turned its gaze to Subaru. Letting out a roar, everyone watched the Clone's skin begin to burn off. The Konoha shinobi shivered. They had seen this before, but it never happened after Naruto and Kurama became friends. It was clear that the Clone wasn't in control of its demonic chakra.

Kurama didn't like what he was seeing. Before, when he still hated Naruto, he didn't care that his demonic chakra hurt him. In fact, he enjoyed seeing the blond in pain. Once they became friends, it stopped. Kurama reeled in his demonic chakra and only used it when Naruto was ready, the incident with Jiraiya being the exclusion. He glanced towards the sannin who was helping Tsunade to her feet. Jiraiya's eye met his and he nodded. Kurama flickered over to Jiraiya who handed him a seal. Neither knew if it would actually work, but both prayed it would.

Subaru took the charge headon. He let out a cry of pain only to smirk. He had his whip around one of the Clone's arms. The demonic chakra around the Clone vanished. Subaru slammed a fist into the Clone's chest. Blood dripped from the Clone's mouth, but he ignored it. He raised his own fist and punched Subaru in the face. Subaru tightened his grip on his whip. He allowed himself to fall backwards, tugging the Clone with him. He then bit into the Clone's neck. The Clone let out a yell as a curse mark began to form. Subaru yanked his whip free and kicked the Clone, sending it flying into the barrier holding Dan. A crack in the barrier formed.

The Clone responsible for the barrier quickly fixed it, stopping Dan's jutsu mid-seal. Suzume pouted. It would have made things easier if Dan had been freed. She took out a small scroll on her belt. Putting some of her blood on the seal to break it, four Chakra Rings appeared. She put the scroll back on her belt before throwing one of the rings at the Clone. It dodge. The ring swerved and hit the barrier, but it simply bounced off. Suzume frowned. Subaru was busy taking care of that other Clone so she should take on this one. But Kurama, Itachi, Nagato, and Jiraiya could back them up even if they didn't have a lot of chakra left. Suzume needed someone else to hold them back. She grinned. Kabuto was going to hate her for this, but she didn't really care.

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Kabuto sneezed. He glared at the board. So many pieces were already gone. He felt the ground shake and he looked up to see the three remaining coffins he'd been saving disappear. He cursed, knowing the twins had to be involved. Tapping into Hizashi's eyes, he saw the coffins appear in front of Suzume. He shook his head. It didn't matter. Ending things quicker would be better. Kabuto stood up and walked over deeper into the cave. A giant tube filled with a dark liquid was hidden in the darkness. He stepped up to it, shoved the lid to the side and gazed at its contents. Kabuto's eyes peered into the squirming mass, an evil grin appearing on his face.

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The shinobi closest to Suzume took a few steps back, wondering what Suzume was up to now. When the three coffins appeared from the smoke, Kurama and Itachi knew who she had summoned. Anger radiated off of them as the three coffins opened, showing them how right they were. Two pairs of black eyes opened while a pair of violet ones did the same. The Barrier Clone's eyes darkened as its Demonic Chakra began to leak out of his body. Suzume looked to the other Clone who was clearly too busy fighting the Curse Mark to notice Fugaku, Mikoto, and Kushina standing less than twenty feet away. The three Reincarnated Shinobi ran out of their coffins towards their opponent while Suzume charged at the Barrier Clone. The Barrier Clone's Demonic Chakra slammed into her. Suzume raised her arms, protecting her face from the burn. She let out a cry and jumped backwards. She couldn't get closer. Tossing another ring, it clanged against the Demonic Chakra, melting from its heat. She frowned. This wasn't going to be easy.

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Nagato hadn't expected Mikoto to charge at him. He thought she'd attack Jiraiya in order to get at Tsunade. He didn't know much about the Uchiha, but it was clear that she was at least at Chunin level, maybe even Jonin. Of the three summoned, it was clear she was the weakest. After her kick missed, she jumped back and pulled out a bunch of shuriken. Mikoto began her Shurikenjutsu by threading wire through them, creating a net of shuriken. Nagato had to admit that the technique wasn't that bad. He created some Ice Needles and sent them at the shuriken, but the chakra embedded in the shuriken smacked through the needles. Nagato surrounded himself in ice, soon hearing the shuriken net slam into it. Chips of his ice broke off, scratching him. He didn't know how long the ice would protect him from greater harm. He also knew that his chakra was too low for him to really fight Mikoto.

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Itachi met Fugaku in hand-to-hand combat. He knew his father was strong since he was the leader of the Uchiha Clan. What was surprising was the Mangekyo Sharingan spinning in his eyes. Itachi knew Fugaku had knowledge that a greater form of the Sharingan existed, but he didn't know his father had achieved it. It made him wonder just whom he lost. Shaking his head, Itachi focused on the man before him. It was going to be a deadly fight.

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Kurama jumped backwards, dodging another punch from Kushina. The woman seemed to be just as strong as Sakura. The only good thing was that Kushina could not tape into the Nine Tails' chakra since she died after he'd been removed from her. This meant her punches were less deadly than when she'd been alive. However, there was one thing Kurama was worried about. Kushina had Adamantine Sealing Chains. She could use them to restrain and subdue him. He glanced at Kyoko. He wondered if Orochimaru had somehow gotten that ability from Kushina and placed it in the young girl. Her chains seemed to be just as strong as Kushina's.

Kurama jumped to the right, nearly slamming into Itachi. The raven looked over his shoulder at his husband. The two nodded before they switched places. Kurama caught Fugaku's wrist while Itachi grabbed Kushina's. Mirroring each other's moves, the two slammed a fist into their opponent's stomach. Kurama's fist met a chakra barrier. His eyes widened. Grabbing Itachi, he jumped away to see a Susano began to grow around Fugaku. Kushina was hit by the Susano, but she didn't really react. It was clear that Kabuto had taken away her emotions.

"He even has a Susano," Itachi said in surprise.

"I'm guessing you had no idea about this," Kurama said. Itachi nodded. "This isn't good. Not many jutsus work against a Susano and Kushina still has her chains. The combination of those two things are deadly. They may use that to get to Naruto. If that happens, this battle will end in not only Konoha's defeat, but the entire world will be in Kabuto's hands."

"Are her chains really that strong?" Itachi asked.

"She was able to restrain and subdue me completely with them," Kurama said. "Naruto is stronger than me, so I don't really know, but if I had to guess, she'd be able to stop him if she doesn't go all out from the beginning." Kurama was going to say more, but Kushina charged at them. Itachi threw up his own Susano. It wavered a bit since he didn't have enough chakra to hold it for long. Kurama grabbed his hand and passed some chakra over to him to solidify it. But even his chakra reserves were low. It was the first time Kurama had felt so weak. He was used to having a lot of chakra. Being human wasn't as fun as Kurama thought it would be. He glanced at Itachi. He wasn't going to lose him, even if it cost him his life.

"Kurama?" Itachi asked. "What are you doing?" Itachi felt the strange aura surrounding his husband.

"Forgive me," was all Kurama said before he let go of Itachi's hand. He left the protection of the Susano and charged at Fugaku and Kushina. Itachi's eyes widened. His Sharingan saw what Kurama was planning. He yelled Kurama's name, catching the attention of everyone around him. All fights seemed to stop as Kurama's body began to light up. The light was blinding, causing everyone to close their eyes. Itachi tried to keep his open, but he couldn't, tears already rolling down his face. He wasn't sure if it was from the light or from what he knew was going to happen.

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Karin's eyes widened when she felt Kurama's chakra vanish. She cried as she called out his name. Suigetsu did his best to comfort her, not really knowing what was going on. Gaara felt a pain in his heart and looked out the window. He couldn't see anything from here, but he could tell that something was definitely wrong. Ino looked confused as well. The clone that was with them however, seemed to understand what Karin was feeling, tears rolling down his face.

"What is going on?" Ino asked.

"He's… he's gone," Karin barely managed to say.

Suigetsu was almost too afraid to ask. "Who? Who's gone?"

"Kurama," Karin said.

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All of the clones around Konoha felt it. They stumbled a bit, but they were able to keep up the barrier. That didn't stop them from crying.

The clones inside of the Uzumaki Compound reacted in similar ways. Hinata and Sakura cried when a clone told them what Kurama had done. A looked towards the battlefield, a frown on his face.

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Bee felt it and informed Kakashi and Neji. The two wanted to rejoin the fight, but Bee stopped them. They weren't fit enough to fight. Konohamaru yelled at Bee, but Moegi silenced him. Everyone knew they would only get in the way.

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Kabuto was confused, angry, and crying out in pain. He had been watching the fight through Dan's eyes when light had suddenly blinded him. He healed the damage to his eyes then linked himself back to Dan. A smile appeared on his face when he saw that two people had appeared while he'd been blind. A smile had also suddenly appeared on Karin, all of the Naruto clones, and Bee' faces as they realized how wrong they had been.

Naruto and Sasuke had teleported right in front of Kurama. Without a second to think about what was happening, Naruto managed to reverse what Kurama had started. He glared at the man. "What the hell were you trying to do?" He smacked the red-head. "Since when did you learn how to blow yourself up? Who do you think you are? Deidara?"

Itachi couldn't help but smile. Sasuke looked from the blond to the red-head, to his brother and then back at the blond. He could only guess what Kurama had tried to do and he wasn't sure how to react. He did however react to the punch Kushina tried to hit Naruto with. He grabbed her wrist and slammed her into the ground. Naruto, Kurama, and Itachi instantly go into their battle stances.

Naruto's eyes looked down at his mother's form. "Mom." He then looked to see Mikoto fighting Nagato and Fugaku getting up from the ground. It seems the Susano doesn't protect against bright lights. He then took in the forms of his friends, Tsunade, Jiraiya, the rest of the reincarnated shinobi, as well as Kyoko and the twins. He frowned. His Clones should have been able to deal with most of the enemy.

"Hello again, Naruto-kun," Suzume said. "And Sasuke-kun, it is nice to meet you!"

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm Orochimaru's daughter," Suzume said. She pointed at Subaru. "And that is my brother."

Sasuke nearly gagged. He didn't know Orochimaru had children. "Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you about them," Naruto said. Sasuke glared at the blond. Naruto raised his hands in defense. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kushina threw him off of her. He landed on his feet. "We can argue about this later. Right now, we have to stop our parents."