Thanks for being patient with the uploads. The recent chapters are difficult to write because they have overarching effects on the story, so I have to be careful what I say and when I say it so I don't box myself in. With that being said, the next chapter is written and just needs editing. Chapter 26 has also been started but I'm just not done with it yet. Also just to clarify Naruto's situation, his chakra coils have been healed/stimulated to be healed, but his bones had to be rebroken to do it. So his arm and leg are still broken, and they don't know how long it will take to heal, but it will heal, according to Tsunade.

I would also just like to add, that while obviously Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke are quite a bit stronger than canon, they are still children, and a child can only develop so much, so they're faster and stronger, but not magically Kage level strength. Also, Gaara is quite a bit stronger too, because it doesn't make sense for somebody to be beaten by Genin Naruto (amped as he was) and then suddenly be the Kazekage. His power level (in my opinion) fluctuates a lot based on the plot, and here I'm just trying to make him consistently towards the stronger end of what he's shown to do. So please no "but Naruto beat Gaara in canon and lost here even though he's stronger, that makes no sense". This isn't canon, you can find that on Netflix or less reputable websites if you want.

—-

—-

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The Kyuubi growled behind the bars. Naruto sat up and looked at the massive chakra beast. Naruto had steadily earned the title of Konoha's most unpredictable ninja. In six months, there was little doubt that anyone else in the village could compete with him for it. Still, what he did next came as a shock, even to himself.

He laughed.

The village was on fire, his arm and leg were broken, his best friends were about to fight an unstable jinchuuriki, he was facing down the nine tailed fox - who was clearly grumpy- and he was laughing. Hysterical laughter that started in his throat and was nearly splitting open his side after a few moments. Bent over in pain, holding his stomach, he laughed until he was out of breath.

He plopped over on his side, splashing in the water of his mindscape. The Nine tailed fox had been breathing heavier and heavier. His anger was becoming so palpable it began to weigh down even on Naruto, despite the boy's familiarity with his presence.. The blond pushed himself to his feet, and dusted himself off exaggeratedly.

"What are you so upset about, Furball?" He asked with a huge grin.

"You came into my seal with that annoying laugh. You woke me up from the most peaceful sleep I've had since we met." The Fox huffed.

Naruto laughed again, this one much more under control. "Yeah I guess that makes sense, I'd be pissed too." He admitted, chuckling. He felt lighter than he had in a long while. "I've just been a little down the last month. I forgot how good it felt to have our chakra flowing so smoothly."

"Our chakra? You dare compare that light breeze you call chakra to mine?"

"Oh c'mon Fox, I'm not that far behind you!" Naruto said. The Kyuubi's eyes burned through him. "Okay fine. Maybe I have a little ways to go." Naruto admitted, "but I'm catching up fast!"

The fox only continued to stare at Naruto, and the genin began laughing again. "Yeah, yeah." Naruto said. "I know… I'm actually here to ask for your help." Naruto's voice turned serious. "Konoha is under attack by the Sand village, and Orochimaru." He'd felt a glimpse of the Snake's chakra before he passed out. That was a signature that would be hard to forget. "My best friends are fighting the container of the One-Tail. The same one who broke my arm and destroyed my leg." Naruto's eyes were focused intently on the bottom of the cage.

"I need to be strong enough to protect them. I need to be strong enough to protect the village and everybody in it." He looked up at the Nine Tails, and there was a fire burning in his eyes that brought a wave of nostalgia to the beast.

The fox pondered the boy and his words for several moments before speaking. "If it is as grave as you say, then why do you waste time here, when all your problems are out there?"

Naruto clenched his fists. "Because I'm not strong enough, not yet. I need your help." He admitted.

"Yet you don't just take my chakra by force like normal."

"I need more. If Orochimaru really is out there, one tail won't be enough. You know I can't control more than that though." His voice got quiet. "I need your help."

The Kyuubi laughed a deep, hearty chuckle. "My puny jailer, the one who's going to be the Hokage someday, needs my help?" The fox laughed again. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I need it." Naruto said. The Fox huffed. "And like it or not we're in this together. That makes us partners doesn't it?" He asked. The fox was reminded of that day 6 years ago, when Naruto had first entered the seal.

"We are not. I did not choose to be sealed inside of you."

"And I didn't choose to be stuck with you either, you stupid fox!" Naruto yelled, exasperated. "I didn't choose to be treated so badly, or to be forced to leave the village just so that I could grow up and survive!" There was pain in his voice. Chakra began to leak unconsciously from his system, responding to his emotions. "I didn't choose to be selected as the village's weapon! To be looked at and only see the beast sealed within me!" His voice was becoming hoarse from emotion. He grabbed his chest, balling his black shirt into his fist "And you didn't choose to have your freedom stolen, we both got dealt shitty hands!"

Naruto breathed heavily, calming enough to speak rather than yell. His eyes glistened with tears. "So why are we on opposing sides! I thought we had a connection! One nobody else could understand." His chakra was flowing freely now. It was warmth, and it was brightness. As he spoke, the dark room of the sewer that was his mental landscape began to lighten up, ever so slightly. "We are the only two who truly understand what the other is going through. Not even the other Jinchuuriki can understand me the way you can. From the moment you were sealed inside of me, we both lost our freedom, and we both were condemned to a life of solitude." Naruto ground out, and the lighting flickered minutely.

"But there's one thing, above all else, that I've learned." His chakra flowed into the water below him, and it rose the level of it outside the cage, bringing him closer to the foxes eye level. "Just because life dealt you a shitty hand, doesn't mean you have to accept it. Just because we are stuck in this situation, doesn't mean we have to be miserable. You can always make things better. Always." He was staring the fox in the eyes now. The determination was one often seen in Naruto. Perhaps it was a defining feature of his. Still, the fox was surprised by the tenacity of the look. The light within the mindscape was bright now, lit up like the Hokage's office on a sunny day.

"All you—... all we have to do is decide. Decide if we're going to let the seal that ties us together ruin us. Divide us. Cause us to fight until one of us dies." He pointed at the Kyuubi, and his chakra welled forward, surrounding the fox in an invisible blanket. There wasn't any intent to harm in it though, the fox noticed. It was almost… comforting. Trying to protect him? What a foolish notion.

"I already made my decision," Naruto said, and the light in the seal reached its peak, lit up like the Fire Country sun at noon on a summer day, when it was so hot that you had to be inside to be comfortable. "What's yours gonna be?"

The Nine tailed fox, most powerful of all the bijuu, looked down at the preteen who not only stood bravely before him, but dared raise himself up to his height. The little brat was doing it again without even knowing it. How was he able to wield ninshu without being taught? This time though it was more than just a faint feeling. He could see the kid's memories. Like a fuzzy video, where the sound was distorted. That was how he knew he wasn't lying, when he otherwise would accuse him.

"Before I answer your question, Brat, answer one for me first." Naruto nodded, though the fox intended to ask regardless of permission. "By your own words, the village shunned you. Cast you out. Condemned you. All because of me. And not only do you wish to protect and save them all, but you wish to do it with my help? Why?"

Naruto chuckled, though it was drier and had a sharper edge this time. The lights in the seal dimmed, but his chakra continued to wash over the space. "Because I was given a chance. By Jiji, and Teuchi, and Iruka-sensei. Then Jiraiya." A tear fell down Naruto's cheek. "He showed me what it was like to live. What happened when there was no hate to receive. To have a family." He sniffled. "It changed me. I went from having to act happy to actually feeling happy. The hate I didn't even know I had started to go away." Naruto smiled.

"I was given a chance, one I never thought I'd have, because people started believing in me." He reached out a hand, palm up in offering, a huge grin on his face and tears still in his eyes. "Let me be the first to believe in you."

The Fox's giant eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. Not just in this moment, or from Naruto, but ever. He was being recognized by the very person who jailed him, as more than just a beast. It was almost as if Naruto was recognizing him as an equal. The thought nearly made him scoff. The words the boy had spoken though, weren't far off the mark. The chakra he was feeling, the memories he was seeing. It was all very similar. They'd both gone down the same road, but his feelings had turned to hate after hundreds of years, where Naruto's had turned into determination.

"Even if I wanted to, Naruto," The boy's eyes widened minutely. The fox never called him by his name. "And I'd love to put that damn Tanuki in his place, I cannot help. The seal the Hokage put on me is a filter, but it uses your will as the catalyst. It is not me that corrupts, besides the words I whisper in your ear." The fox lifted its head up for the first time. "Power itself corrupts. It corrodes the mind and the will. That is why humans have been corrupted. My chakra is the most powerful on this earth. Wielding it is no small feat. If you want the power, you will have to be strong enough, both physically and spiritually, to wield it yourself." The Kyuubi explained. "I cannot help you, but I will not fight you either. Not this time at least."

"My will, huh? You might have the strongest chakra in the world, Fox. But nobody has a stronger and more stubborn will than me, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki!" He gave the Kyuubi a smile so big his eyes squeezed shut, and an exaggerated thumbs up.

"Very well then, Naruto Uzumaki. Do not embarrass me, or I will eat you." Then the Fox pushed chakra through the seal, sending Naruto back to consciousness. Before Naruto was gone though, their chakra connected. The link that Naruto had been unknowingly telegraphing to the fox became a two way tunnel. In that single moment, Naruto saw into the heart of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.

He saw the old wrinkly man with purple ringed eyes, smiling down on him. He felt the love the Kyuubi had for the man. Then the feelings turned dark. He felt all the hatred the fox had built over the years. Unbearable hatred that nearly drove him mad. So much hatred. So much loneliness.

And suddenly, he was looking down at himself from the Kyuubi's eyes. He felt a strange sense of nostalgia, and possibly the slightest glimmer of hope, buried beneath all the hate and rage, and even indifference. He felt it all in an instant, and he couldn't help but let his jaw drop open. Internally though, he smiled. There was hope for the fox yet. He was sure of it, and he wouldn't give up on him.

Naruto awoke on the cool concrete ground of the arena. He felt so alive. He was lovingly reminded by his arm and leg that living people felt pain. The nerves sent their signals to his brain, and he flinched. His sensory abilities flooded his senses again. He was getting overwhelmed by it all. He took a deep breath, and pushed all of it to the side as best as he could. This was the moment of truth.

He drew on the near infinite well sitting just underneath the surface inside of him. The fox's chakra was eager as always to filter through the seal, to corrode it and set itself free. He took a deep breath, and steeled himself. His will controlled it. He would not give in. Soon a bubbling red cloak surrounded him. It was calmer than normal though, less chaotic. He felt more control than he ever had before.

The pain that came with it was excruciating, but he bit down and endured. His chakra coils burned as they expanded and solidified. His bones made connections and grew. All the work Tsunade had done to set him up to heal properly was finished. Several months worth of healing done in moments. It hurt, but it felt so good. For the first time in a month, he was whole.

A toothy grin lit up his face as he channeled chakra, and it jumped at his direction. Less than a thought was all it took to turn it to his natural element. The wind sent to his arm and leg spiraled and sliced through the casts so cleanly they took a full second and a shake for them to fall off his body. He flexed his ankle and hand, feeling the returned strength. Then he turned to the arena. A second tail formed behind him as he shot through the air like a bullet to help his team.

—

Sasuke was bleeding from his thigh. He'd suffered worse of course, but it would need attention. The pain he felt when he put weight on it was loud in his mind. It was also entirely drowned out by his anger.

The arena erupted into chaos when Gaara came out of his domed defense. Sasuke did not care. All he cared about was putting down the beast in front of him. As he watched, Gaara formed a giant arm of sand. Sasuke rushed him anyway.

The sand arm was faster than he'd anticipated, and though his sharingan saw the movement, he was not prepared to dodge that sort of speed. He was smacked away by the large appendage, careening towards the arena wall. Before he could smash into it, a hand on his back steadied and brought him to a halt. When they slid to a stop, he turned enough to see who it was. Hinata stood there firmly, veins bulging around her eyes.

He gave her a nod in thanks, and turned back to Gaara. As they watched, the sand grew up Gaara's shoulder to his neck. The boy fell to one knee holding his head in pain again. Sasuke saw his opportunity.

'You're weak.' The voice in his head whispered. It was louder now than it had been in the past. He shook it off and threw three kunai at Gaara. They were blocked by the boy's jonin sensei.

'You lack power.' Sasuke growled and made to sprint at the two sand shinobi. A figure flickered in front of him before he could move though. It was a masked shinobi, a member of Konoha's anbu. The masked nin's build was familiar. So was his chakra flow.

"You won't touch these Genin. Your battle is with me." The ANBU member said. He withdrew the long katana from his back. Sasuke smirked. It seemed Sensei had been there to watch them. Hinata wore a similar look on her face.

"Hyuga-San, Uchiha-San. Your mission is to hold off Gaara until I can suppress him." The ANBU said without taking his eyes off the sand jonin. Then he was gone in a flash, the sound of metal colliding with metal following him.

'You're always being saved by somebody else.'

Sasuke grunted, and clenched his fists. It was just a voice in his head. It's not real. It's not Itachi.

'You lack the power and the conviction necessary. You don't have enough hatred. You will fail.'

It couldn't be him. He's been gone. 5 years he's been gone. It can't be him.

'You'll never be strong enough.'

"Shut. UP!" Sasuke shouted. His face was twisted into something visceral. Hinata looked at him confused, but he didn't even notice. He charged blindly at Gaara again. The result was no different. The crazed Sand Jinchuuriki used whatever that giant sand arm was to smack him away. He hurtled towards another wall of the arena. Hinata moved but wasn't fast enough to catch him. He saw a red blur streaking out of the corner of his eyes, but his sharingan wasn't fast enough to keep up with it. His momentum was stopped abruptly, and everything became clear. Naruto. The blur was Naruto. That's who caught him.

'Saved again before you can even land a hit. Pity'

Sasuke grunted through the voice that was poisoning his mind, and tried to focus on Naruto.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, rushing up to them. "How? Your injuries…"

He smiled at her, a bright grin that lit up her world, even if he did have sharper fangs than usual. "Yeah… the fox and I have a tentative agreement." He glanced at Gaara, and the light in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly. "I couldn't let you guys face him alone."

"It won't matter how many of you there are. Mother will have your blood!" Gaara said. His voice was borderline hysterical. The giant arm had grown up over his face now. His right eye had changed coloring. A yellow star sat where the pupil otherwise would.

The giant sand arm slashed through the air at them. Hinata dropped into a stance to prepare to stop it. Sasuke stumbled briefly as his support disappeared. Before the sand arm could reach Hinata, it exploded. In its place was Naruto, standing with a fist out. Two tails of red chakra flickered behind him.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else, Gaara. Least of all my team." Naruto said. His voice was more hoarse than normal, but more powerful too. Everything about him was more defined. His whiskers darker, teeth sharper, hair wilder, and his eyes… His eyes were bright red and slitted. He'd briefly been in two tails before, but he'd never been able to sustain it, let alone with the control he was showing now.

"It's not up to you who I hurt. You can't stop me. I have to prove my existence!" Gaara's voice was beginning to sound less like him and more like something… more primal. Similar to Naruto's but entirely different

"I don't care what you think, I won't let it happen." Naruto said, and then he was gone in a flash.

Sasuke could barely follow Naruto's movements as he attacked Gaara. Where did all this speed come from? This power? Did the Nine tails really give him this much power?

'How naive of you. This only scratches the surface of what he can do. You've fallen behind so much Sasuke. Set me free and let me give you some of my power so you can catch up.'

Sasuke tried to fight the voice in his head, but as he watched Naruto fight in a way that put him to shame, he struggled. He remembered, vividly, the feeling of Itachi putting him in the Tsukiyomi. Of watching him murder their entire clan. Their family. Then he remembered the feeling against the Sound ninja in the forest. How absolutely strong and powerful he felt. Like he could take on the world. Like he could take on Itachi. He finally stopped struggling, his will power fading as the curse mark flushed chakra into his system. Black flames grew over his face as the curse mark spread, and he smirked.

—

Jiraiya sat outside the purple barrier, desperately inking materials to try and find a way through it. Orochimaru was in there, and he'd be damned if he was going to let him get away this time. As he worked, the giant snake smashed through the wall. Judging by the sounds, Tsunade had met it there shortly after.

He just wasn't quick enough. He'd spent a fair amount of time going over sealing and its techniques while training Naruto over the last half decade or so. But it wasn't enough. He wasn't Minato or Kushina. He couldn't do things on the fly like this, even after all these years. He was skilled, but he just didn't have their talent.

His sensei could handle himself, he knew that. He wasn't the Hokage for nothing, and he'd earned all the nicknames he'd been given. He was old though, and Orochimaru was devious. Not to mention that sensei had a soft sport for him, even now. He had to get in there and help. He kept working, hoping that his idea would pay off.

And then Orochimaru performed a summoning jutsu. There were no snakes, however. No metal gates. Instead, a coffin slowly rose from the ground. Please, not the edo tensei, anything but that. The first coffin revealed the number one labeled on it, and Jiraiya swore. A second coffin began rising, with "Second" written on it, and Jiraiya doubled his pace. A third coffin began rising, and Jiraiya froze. It couldn't be. Not him. Anybody but him. They wouldn't stand a chance if Minato was revived. How the hell did Orochimaru even get his DNA.

His fears were quelled when Sarutobi performed an Earth jutsu and held onto the jutsu long enough for it to fail. Jiraiya let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding, but still stared at Orochimaru. How could he dare try something so sick. The coffin lids fell open, and the village's founders, the first two Hokage, were revealed. Sarutobi-sensei never looked so old. The lines on his face seemed to deepen, as did his frown. The disappointment and sadness he showed was immense.

Seeing the two previous Hokage kicked Jiraiya into gear. Three on one against Kage level opponents would be too much for Hiruzen this far past his prime. He hoped his series of tags would work. It was based off of Naruto's sealing chains, the ones that could disrupt chakra flow. If he could just modify them to stick to the barrier long enough to work then he could help.

Time passed faster than he would have liked. Sensei was talking, as were the Hokage and Orochimaru. Then the fighting started. There were bright flashes of fire and the sound of rushing water, a massive wall grew out of the ground. Jiraiya worked through it all. It was only when trees began to grow out of, well, everything, that Jiraiya looked up. Sensei was trapped. It was now or never.

He stuck the tags in their four spots on the barrier and flared his chakra, channeling it through them. They hummed with power. The symbols grew dangerously bright, and then the barrier began to fade. It took all of 2 or 3 seconds before it was gone. There was no time to test it. He lunged through the barrier. There was no strange sensation like he might have expected. He didn't catch on fire. He was just suddenly inside of it. The tags hummed louder and began to leak smoke, and then they failed. The opening in the barrier closed, and he was locked in.

Relief ran through him when he saw Sarutobi break through the trees, his trusted summons Enma in hand. He could afford the few moments he would need to break the barrier then. He pulled out his remaining four tags he'd taken the precious time to ink. Be prepared for anything, he'd always told Naruto, and now his advice would pay off.

With a flick of the wrist, the four paper tags moved unnaturally quickly through the air. A flash of purple hair and orange eyes came and went in an instant. They stuck on the corner of the barrier right in front of one of Orochimaru's henchmen.

"Sensei!" He shouted, channeling chakra into the tags.

As usual though, Hiruzen was a half step ahead of him, already finishing seals for a fire jutsu. White hot balls of flame streaked through the freshly opened barrier, and exploded inside the small pocket. To the credit of the sound ninja, he held the barrier until the second ball of flame made contact, before dropping the jutsu and body flickering away, smoke trailing him. The whole barrier flickered out of existence. The barrier that, somehow, had been supporting a large portion of the First Hokage's Mokuton.

The forest that had grown into the barrier didn't last long without its support. Tree trunks as large as those in the forest of death began to fall. The weight of them all crashing down on the roof of the arena. It was too much, and it caved in, falling into the stands below. The several shinobi doing battle in that section grabbed the comrades that they could and high tailed it out of there. Luckily, civilians and genin had already been funneled out of the arena and towards the shelters.

Jiraiya, having still been near the edge of the barrier, leapt away to the side and dodged a majority of the debris. His sensei, however, was not so lucky. Sarutobi was still in the thick of the woods, and although it was a clear spot, he was still surrounded. Despite all they had been through, Jiraiya was still surprised when Hiruzen managed to cut through all the remnants of his own teachers' jutsu. When the dust and debris settled, there was a ten foot radius around him of only sawdust and wood chips.

His predecessors didn't make nearly the effort that he did to cut through it all. Instead, their bodies were reforming not too far away. Naturally, Orochimaru managed to slip through it all, and rose up out of the ground and through the trees without a scratch on him.

"Jiraiya," Sarutobi said. "Why would you disrupt the barrier. It was containing the damage from our fight."

"The civilians and genin are out, and you can't take on all three of them. Not when you're holding back because of him."

"Orochimaru is my mistake, not yours."

"I know, I'll let you take care of him, I'm just here to buy you the time you need."

Sarutobi nodded slowly at the only student who still carried his will of fire. "Very well. Tobirama hasn't used Hiraishin and Hashirama's mokuton isn't near as powerful. They are but shells of their former power." He put his hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. "Still, do not take them lightly."

Jiraiya nodded back in understanding. The Edo Tensei was already a difficult jutsu to stomach, let alone when it was used to pit long since passed sensei against their former students. It was a strong technique though, nobody could question that. The Nidaime wouldn't have bothered to invent it otherwise. The reanimated shinobi couldn't die, nor would they run out of chakra. It was a small consolation that they weren't as powerful as when they had still walked the Earth.

Sarutobi flickered away, the clash of metal signaling that he was dueling with Orochimaru yet again. The first and second hokage shifted to help their jutsu caster, and it was Jiraiya's time to act yet again. He cut them off, leveling the first with a kick to the chest, and the second with a small fireball.

"Sorry, Lord First, Lord Second. I can't let you interfere with sensei's fight. It's an inner team conflict. No outside influences." Jiraiya said.

The second Hokage's body became whole again, smoke wafting off his shoulders. "You are young Saru's student as well?" He asked.

"Yeah, me and the snake over there. And your grand niece."

"Tsuna's your teammate?" Hashirama said, standing up. "Where is she?" A resounding boom sounded out from across the village, a minor earthquake erupting from a punch. "Ah I see. I knew she'd get her mother's strength." He chuckled

"You're telling me," Jiraiya said, dodging a punch from the second Hokage. "You should've seen the punch she laid on me after she caught me…" He was interrupted by the first Hokage approaching him with taijutsu, and now he was defending against two Kage at once, too busy to continue with his story. There was an exchange of blows, ending with Jiraiya using a cross block to deflect a power kick from the first, that sent him sliding back.

"Tell me, why has Hiruzen not passed that godforsaken hat?" Tobirama asked. "Certainly there have been plenty of candidates?"

Jiraiya pulled some tagged kunai, seemingly out of nowhere. "He has… He did. My student was the Fourth."

"There's a fourth!?" Hashirama asked, an almost childlike surprise showing on his face.

" 'Was', elder Brother." Tobirama turned back to Jiraiya. "What happened?"

Jiraiya's brain was engaged in the conversation, but like any high level ninja, that was only the surface of it. The underneath, his subconscious and a great deal of his conscious thought, was taken up by the fight. Analyzing the jutsu, and what they were capable of. Lining that up and comparing it to what he had read and heard about each. Calculating what would and wouldn't work without even trying. He'd done this dance a hundred, maybe a thousand times. It was like second nature to him.

"There was an attack. The nine tailed fox was set loose on the village. He sacrificed himself to seal it away in his own son. He wanted to preserve the balance of power" Jiraiya said. The sadness in his voice and body language was clear to the two Hokage. He used that moment to throw his exploding kunai. The headbands might have signaled Leaf, but this was his village, and he would do what he must to protect it, even from them. He was sure they would understand.

Well worn hand signs were sped through, and an earth dragon ripped through the ground and carried the second Hokage off. Without a single beat missed he shifted hand seals and lunged at the first Hokage. His hair whipped out and grew in length, wrapping itself around Hashirama. A final three hand signs and carefully controlled chakra, and sealing script spread down his hair from his head, locking the first Hokage into place.

"This is an Uzumaki technique." Hashirama questioned.

Jiraiya nodded, "I am the guardian of one of the last. He was kind enough to let me learn a few."

Hashirama frowned at that, the implications running deep. "I am sorry to hear that. And I am sorry about your student. It's a difficult thing to lose one younger than you. That you invested so much time into, and passed your Will of Fire on to. Protecting the younger generation is why we founded the village in the first place."

Their conversation was interrupted by the second Hokage making himself known, a slicing water jutsu cutting through Jiraiya's hair, ending the sealing technique that he was sure wasn't truly holding the First at bay.

More blows were exchanged between the three, debris being flung up left and right from their powerful movements. The jutsu used stayed compact, meant to damage one rather than an entire battlefield, and for that, Jiraiya was grateful. He was beginning to wear down though, ever so slowly. He wouldn't have time to call upon the toads and enter sage mode, not if he was going to keep these two distracted. He had no idea what was going on with Sensei and Orochimaru, but neither had interrupted his fight. He could only imagine they were still going at it. He was racking his brain for ideas when it happened, and even the first two Hokage froze.

The one tailed beast had appeared. Fully formed. It was like that night all over again for Konoha. A nightmare many had experienced, brought to life yet again. It towered above them all, and they stared for a moment. Then, just when everybody thought the chunin exams couldn't get any more dramatic, a little blond genin wrapped in red chakra shook the world.

"BRING DOWN THE HOUSE!"

Before everybody gets all upset, Naruto and Kurama won't be all buddy buddy right away, the hatred of the fox will take a while to win over, if he manages it at all, as it should, I'm just trying to provide a little more development to that aspect than the original series did. Maybe I'm overdoing it, I'm a bit of a sucker for emotional speeches as you can tell, but it feels right as I write it.

Also I know the reanimated Kage don't talk after Orochimaru does the kunai in the head thing, but I like it better that they do so I've changed that, they just can't control their movements, much like Kabuto's version in the war arc, but it's still not "perfected" so they aren't as close to full power.