Next chapter! Number 15! Yay!

Midnight: Kira will DEFINITELY assist in the butt whooping. Thanks for reviewing!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. OC s are mine.

!WARNING! This is NOT, I repeat, NOT the last chapter! REMEMBER that! And there is a little mistake in the end because, once again, I didn't do my research before planning out this scene and I have no desire to change it because its AWESOME!

Chapter 15: Confront one's fears

Setting: Konoha

Time: seconds after last chapter, two days before the full moon.

"Kukukuku…Look, Sasuke, at the little birds that have fallen into my nest. Did you like that, birdies? How was your untimely demise?" The gravelly voice echoed around the clearing, causing Kabuto to freeze as he waited for certain death.

Kabuto gulped and struggled to turn his head to look up at the person who had abandoned him months before. Kabuto hated to say it, but he thought that the man might just have gotten uglier since he last saw him.

"O-Orochimaru. What a coincidence to meet here." Kabuto said, putting a fake smile on his face as he tried to think of a way out.

"Kabuto-san. I've been looking for you. What a nice vest you've got there." Orochimaru laughed as Kabuto cringed at those words, knowing what was to come.

Suddenly, Jin and Toboe leapt up and ran, leaving the two behind as they fled. Orochimaru's laughter echoed around the clearing as he insulted them. "So now its only two. Stupid boys should have known I'd find them sooner or later.

Kabuto felt rage fill his body at Jin and Toboe's betrayal. Suddenly his head ached, and Kira's voice spilled into his mind. "Don't be angry! I told them to get Naruto and Sakura to take care of Sasuke! They're going to get Tsunade-sama if they can find her! They'll come back to help!"

Kabuto grunted his acknowledgement. "So what are we going to do? Die for them?" He could feel Kira's apprehension at the question, and then her anger when he said that they would die. She stood up quickly, having released the genjutsu.

"Do you not have more faith in yourself? Remember what Tsunade-sama said! The power to believe in yourself will change your faith! Don't EVER give up, Kabuto!" Kabuto could feel the urgency behind her words, the trust she placed in them and even the fear that he would give up.

His trust strengthened and he replied, "Right. What's the plan?"

Kabuto's trust wavered again when she laughed weakly and muttered, "I have no idea…"

Orochimaru stopped the heart-to-heart with an angry, "Don't ignore me. I'll deal out your deaths soon enough."

Kira defied him. "Yeah right, ya fruitcake! We don't have time to put you guys in timeout."

Sasuke attacked, anger clearly on his face. A chidori on his right hand, he raced across the earth towards Kira. Before he knew what had happened, Kira evaded the chidori and threw him into a tree. The chidori splintered the tree, and Sasuke turned to glare at the girl. He growled, "Fight me bitch."

Kira sniffed disdainfully at the boy and turned her head back towards Orochimaru. "I don't fight those who are beneath me. You're more trouble than you're worth. Get out of my sight."

Kabuto winced at the heated words, and Sasuke growled angrily. He charged up the chidori again, only to have Orochimaru say, "Enough. Save your energy. The fox is coming."

Sasuke ignored his master, and began his charge at Kira. Suddenly, a Rasengan slammed into his side, the orange-clad shinobi just seconds behind the thrown chakra. Sasuke crashed into another tree, while Naruto landed beside Kabuto and Sakura landed on his other side. Jin and Toboe were seconds behind, grins on their faces. Naruto walked up towards Sasuke. "Nya, lookat 'im, Sakura-chan. What a lazy bum."

Sakura glanced over at Naruto and grinned. "You're right. And doesn't he know that that pale white color does nothing for him? Ino would be horrified by his terrible fashion sense."

Kabuto snorted as the jibs obviously made their mark on the former Konoha genin. Sasuke glared hatefully at the two grinning shinobi and then growled, "You are so dead, Naruto."

Naruto laughed innocently and turned to Sakura. "Should we fight him?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. He can't beat the two of us. Just like the legendary Sannin. Orochimaru will never be able to beat Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya." The two did the 'nice guy' pose, and then told Sasuke to go to the plain. He agreed, and the three vanished.

Kabuto looked towards Orochimaru, who had a disgusted look on his face. The snake-man turned to Kabuto and said, "Your time is up!"

Orochimaru formed a few seals and muttered gleefully. "I'll show you a new jutsu that I created. I got the idea from an annoying blonde bimbo that Sasuke told me about." Suddenly, Orochimaru's body vanished, and his voice echoed through Kabuto's head. 'You no longer have control over your body, Kabuto. Now, I'll kill your disgusting friends with your body, and make them have to kill YOU to get rid of me…'

Kira and Toboe looked concerned at Kabuto's strange words. "K-Kabuto? W-why are you talking like that? Y-you sound like Orochimaru…" Toboe's words trailed off when the three saw Kabuto's eyes. They were Orochimaru's.

"Aw shit. Just what we need…" Kira muttered as she slammed her mind into Kabuto's, trying to force the snake-man out of his body.

"It won't work. I've connected my mind to his body. No one has EVER broken this jutsu. Attack me, and you attack Kabuto." Kabuto felt his mouth moving against his will. What should he do?

---

Sakura watched as Sasuke glared at his former friends. She didn't know what to do, but Naruto had told her how he'd fought Sasuke, and she decided she would never give up. Soon, the three began their attacks, two against one. Sasuke immediately summoned Manda, and to his surprise, Naruto summoned Gamabunta and Sakura summoned Katsuya. (A/N Ew…. why a slug? Who would WANT to summon that? They're so gross…) The clash of the three former friends began.

---

Kabuto felt himself giving up as he watched Jin and Toboe and Kira be beaten by Orochimaru. The three were exhausted, and Kabuto guessed that Kira's pesky, annoying, stupid lung wound had reopened a bit because she had begun coughing again, and he saw her discretely wipe blood from her lips. Orochimaru was ecstatic; he was enjoying this immensely.

Stepping back, the three glared at Orochimaru/Kabuto. Orochimaru chuckled. "Kira…now do you want to join me? I'll make you even stronger than you are, you know."

Kira spat, her disgust evident on her face. Glaring at the snake-man sans Kabuto, she made her answer clear. "There is no way in hell I'm joining you, you puffed up fruitcake. I don't care what you'll give, obviously I won't want what you offered last time."

Orochimaru sighed breathily. "Then I suppose I will kill you then. You could have pleaded for Konoha, or your friends' lifes. But no, a selfish little girl like you would never think of anyone but yourself."

Kira's eyes turned to slits and she activated her Kekkei Genkai. The red burning in her eyes, she grunted at Jin and Toboe. "Start that move. I'll catch up in a second." They nodded, and grinned as they pulled out kunai and shuriken and began their descent towards Orochimaru.

Kabuto cringed. 'Please remember that this is MY body, not Orochimaru's…' he thought balefully as Orochimaru laughed.

Kira began a sequence of seals that Kabuto did NOT want to see. 'Oh shit…not that one…' Kabuto/Orochimaru watched as chakra poured out of the girl as she completed the seals.

She breathed in deeply and then yelled, "Iugum Ninjutsu!" Four puffs of smoke appeared around her to reveal Ichi, Ni, San, and Yon. Kabuto winced when the body of Suzaku flashed before his eyes.

'I'm so dead…' Kabuto thought. Orochimaru noticed this thought and looked closer at the girls. Their white eyes met his and he realized something Kabuto didn't.

'Kabuto…their only shadow-bunshin. Not real like Kage-bunshin.' Orochimaru laughed at Kabuto.

Suddenly, Jin and Toboe appeared from behind Orochimaru and the four girls began their attack. Orochiamru skillfully blocked everything. Using Sen'eitajashu (Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hand), Orochimaru's snakes slammed into Jin and Toboe, poisoning them with their bites and knocking them out. Only Kira was left.

"Yon! Heal them, now!" Kira frantically ordered the bunshin as she turned back to Kabuto/Orochimaru. Orochimaru's eyes widened when Yon began extracting the poison.

"So that's the only one that's 'real,' am I right Kira?" Orochimaru laughed when Kira glared at him.

-flashback-

"It takes a large amount of chakra to create four different people. Each girl is her own person, with her own techniques and ideas. However, this technique plays to Kira's strengths. She's good with leadership in a group, and works well with people she knows. These people are simply part of her, but taken out of the curse seal that hinders her, but strengthens her chakra the day of the full moon. She created this technique, and it can neither be copied or beaten."

-end flashback-

Kabuto realized that Kira couldn't create all of the girls until the day of the full moon, so she had chosen the one with the healing powers as her 'real' bunshin. However, he still wasn't looking forward to being attacked by Kira when she was using her Kekkei Genkai.

Orochimaru looked up from the boys to see Kira shaking with anger, her chakra powering up again because of it. Her eyes turned red again, and Kabuto realized she was going to use some of the attacks that she'd used on the ninja from the forest. He gulped audibly and then struggled to focus when he realized something else.

HE gulped. Not Orochimaru, but Kabuto. Orochimaru/Kabuto stared as Kira started glittering with chakra. "You are so DEAD Orochimaru!" She screamed as she began her attack.

Kabuto slammed Orochimaru out of his body. Orochimaru's body slipped out of a tree and landed, his soul in its rightful place. Kabuto yelped, "Kira don't kill me! Stop!"

Kira glanced up, and grinned. "I thought scaring you out of your wits might work." Suddenly, coughs wracked her body and she fell to her knees. "Ow…"

Kabuto knelt beside her and said "Hold on. I'll finish the fruitcake and then I'll heal you, got it?" At her understanding nod, Kabuto picked her up and placed her next to Jin and Toboe, who were both still out cold and Yon, who was trying to heal them. Kabuto turned to Yon. "They should be fine. You got enough of the poison out so it won't kill them." She nodded, her pale eyes wide, and disappeared back into the curse seal to join her sisters.

Kabuto turned to Orochimaru, who was still under the influence of the broken Ninjutsu. The golden-eyed man smiled evilly and said, "My, you have gotten strong. Stronger then I had ever hoped. No one has ever done that before. Now-" Orochimaru was cut off when Kabuto walked forward to grab the man's arms.

"You are not leaving this clearing again. I'm not letting you kill one more person." Kabuto's eyes glowed red as his bad blood rose to the surface. His chakra levels soared. Orochimaru froze when the Shinigami, the Death God, rose behind Kabuto. He realized that Kabuto was willing to give his life for the village, just like the Hokages. Orochimaru screamed with anger when the arm of the Shinigami began reaching through Kabuto to slide into Orochimaru.

"I'll never die! It won't work! Sarutobi failed and so will you! You'll never win!" Orochimaru glared at the silver-haired shinobi and quickly created seals for Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Kū no Tachi, or Kusanagi Sword: Long Sword of the Heavens. The glowing blue sword slid out of the snake's mouth in Orochimaru towards Kabuto's heart.

Suddenly, a hand pulled the sword to the side, to hit nothing but air. Orochimaru's eyes flicked towards the person. It was Kira. Orochimaru saw her lying on the ground, with a seal created to form a Kage-bunshin. Kira-bunshin held the sword away from Kabuto while Kabuto continued to pull Orochimaru's soul from his body.

Kabuto laughed, his breath coming short. "I'll…never win? I think I already have, Orochimaru…a shinobi's true strength will manifest when protecting something important, isn't that right? I've become truly strong, and that's all you need to know."

Kabuto had heard about the technique from Orochimaru, and then studied it with Tsunade to understand it better. Now, after all his work, he would use it against his former master to save the village he had come to love.

---

Tsunade looked up when a messenger came running through her door. "Tsunade-sama! Please, you must hurry! Orochimaru has been found!"

She jumped up from her desk to shout, "Where?"

The messenger started shaking, his nerves broken by the stress. "Nasu Toboe and Koizumi Jin reported him. They said that, uh, Tabanachi Kira and Yakushi Kabuto were holding him back. Uchiha Sasuke has also been found. Toboe and Jin found Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura and took them with them to deal with Sasuke. The three have been found fighting about four miles away. We have dispatched ANBU to assist. But we haven't found Orochimaru or the other four Chuunin."

Tsunade swore as she grabbed her jacket and raced towards the gates. She found Rina and asked, "Where are they?"

Rina answered quickly in a strained voice, one arm was in a sling. "About two miles out in that direction."

Tsunade nodded and ran, hoping that she would arrive before any deaths occurred.

Finally, she landed near a tree that was splintered. She looked past the tree and nearly screamed in horror at the sight of Kabuto, the Shinigami, Orochimaru, Kira, Jin, and Toboe. She knew that she was too late.

---

Orochimaru's screams echoed as Kabuto detached his soul from the body he had been living in. Orochimaru's body landed on the ground while a seal carved itself on Kabuto's stomach. The Shinigami faded away as the silver-haired boy fell towards the ground, a scream locked in Tsunade's throat.

---

Sasuke laughed crazily as he upped his curse seal. The wings protruding from his back, he attacked Sakura and Naruto, both of whom were tired. Naruto was in his one-tailed Kyuubi transformation, the one that let him keep his mind. Sakura was still using her chakra scalpels, but mostly her insane strength to hit Sasuke.

Suddenly, a scream ripped from Sasuke's lips as the curse seal faded, returning him to his true form. 'W-what? Where's all my power? What happened?' he thought as he struggled to use the seal again.

Sakura landed beside him, looked at his neck and then turned to Naruto. "The seal is gone."

Naruto's red eyes widened as he replied intelligently, "Huh?"

"The seal is gone." Sakura patiently repeated.

Naruto released the chakra, and landed next to Sakura. Scrunching his forehead in thought, he whispered, "But that means…that Orochimaru is dead. But who would have killed him? Only Kabuto and Kira have enough power to do that…"

The two looked up simultaneously and shouted in panic, "Kabuto! And Kira! They could be dead!"

Naruto growled and then slammed his fist into the back of Sasuke's neck. Once the boy was knocked out, Naruto took out cord and tied Sasuke up. Sakura shook her. "That won't hold him, you know."

Naruto grinned. "But this will." Placing his finger along the cord, Naruto released some Kyuubi chakra. "If I seal the cord with this, it can't be broken unless I, the Kyuubi's vessel, takes it back." Sakura nodded her approval.

"Quick thinking. Let's go." The two raced off, leaving the duck butt emo behind to be taken by the ANBU that were stationed around the area.

---

Tsunade's scream echoed around the clearing. The Kira-bunshin looked over her shoulder to see the devastated Hokage as Kabuto's body hit the ground. Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared, engulfing the body. When it cleared, nothing was left.

---

Cliffhanger…

Muhahahaha. REMEMBER! This isn't the last chapter. Stay tuned!

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MWAHs to y'all