An: I'm terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I could tell you a bunch of excuse but will settle for one in that I was hoping for a little insight into the Kazekage's fighting style after he appeared in the manga as one Kabuto's resurrected army. In any case it became apparent if I waited much longer months would go by. So sorry and I'll save my other excuses for next time but hopefully the wait between won't be as long so they won't be needed. Also thanks to everyone that takes the time to review they truly making writing well worth the effort.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit

Chapter 7: Beauty and the Beast

Sakura peeked out from a corner to see if the street was clear. Finding no sign of enemy shinobi she was about to dart across it to the next back-alley on their way to the Hokage monument when Naruto grabbed her wrist pulling her back. She fell back into his chest placing a hand on it and was surprised at just how toned it was. Pushing such thoughts aside she was about to ask him why he stopped her. But she stopped when he raised a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet. He created a shadow clone that mirrored her action of peeking out onto the street. It then darted across only for it to take a kunai in the side of the head. She could hear the cursing of the Sound-nin that were laying in wait.

Naruto though didn't hesitate, pulling her along behind him due to the strong grip he had on her wrist. She could hear the Sound shinobi scrambling to follow after them. One of them had just reached the corner they had been hiding behind when Naruto darted down another back-alley easily navigating the labyrinth as if he'd ran it hundreds of times. Skidding to a halt, he fell to the ground and rolled to his side hitting a window that was at floor level. It opened inwards allowing Naruto to fall into the basement level of the building. Sakura immediately followed suit and was surprised that when the window shut behind her it did so quietly. She also was surprised to find that instead of hitting a hard floor her fall had been cushioned by an old mattress.

Before she could puzzle out why, Naruto pulled her back towards him as he pressed his back against the wall beneath the window they had used to enter. She heard the sound of footsteps as they continued down the alley. As they faded off into the distance she waited till she couldn't hear them to pull away from Naruto. The blonde quickly made his way towards the back of the room where a small arched opening appeared in the brick wall. At first she thought it was a fireplace but rejected that idea since she couldn't imagine one in the dingy basement that they now resided in.

Looking back out the window, she noticed that the edges had been taped off which was why it had shut silently. The mattress they had landed on didn't look out of place since lots of odds and ends appeared to have been stored there. But its position to cushion their fall was suspect.

Moving up to him as he pulled things out of the arch she asked, "How'd you know about that ambush?"

Naruto didn't stop moving stuff as he replied, "Usually when I got into trouble whenever I was chased this way the chunin after me would set up ambushes there. This is one of my escape routes when my pranks generated too much heat."

Sakura frowned asking, "You broke in here?"

"I guess," Naruto said, "But the window's lock was already broken. And the old man that lives upstairs never comes down here. Plus, I originally entered here from this way." He emphasized his point by pulling back a wooden plank to show a hole in the floor that seemed to descend downwards at an angle.

"Where's this go?"

"To some tunnels," Naruto answered backing down the hole carefully. Just before the darkness of the tunnel swallowed him up he said, "Be careful. It'll be a lot easier to climb down using chakra but sometimes the ground gives way."

Sakura nodded climbing down in a hunched and backward fashion similarly to how Naruto had. After passing the foundation of the building the ground turned from concrete to dirt and much as Naruto had warned it became a lot harder to move as the dirt kept shifting beneath her. Eventually her feet touched stone and she realized she must be at the tunnel. She looked over her shoulder to get an idea of how far the fall was when her hand slipped causing the dirt it had been resting on to begin a mini avalanche.

The unexpected movement caused her to lose her balance causing her chakra to falter. Falling out of the hole she expected a painful meeting with the ground and closed her eyes. However it never happened as she landed in Naruto's outstretched arms as he caught her. She opened her eyes immediately spotting where she fell from and saw that it wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared only being a few feet above her head.

Realizing she was being held in Naruto's arms she blushed saying, "Thanks, Naruto. I'm alright, you can put me down."

He nodded his face coloring slightly as well before complying with her request. Once both her feet were on the ground she asked, "Where are we?"

"I'm not really sure," Naruto admitted as he began walking down the tunnel after cracking a glow rod so that the chemicals mixed giving off a green light. "But if we follow this tunnel to the end, we'll end up coming out a few blocks from the Hokage Monument."

As they walked she noticed that on the sides of the tunnels were doors, many of them which had the type of tape usually used to cordon off crime scenes. Curious she asked, "What's behind the doors?"

"I don't know," Naruto answered, "I usually tried to spend as little time as possible down here."

"Why? I think it would be fun to explore down here a little bit."

"It might have been if I wasn't down here by myself," he said missing the frown that appeared on her face as a result of his words. "But I also get the feeling that whatever did happen down here wasn't very good." He shivered a little almost as if he could sense whatever misdeeds had happened in the dark tunnels. Sakura could feel it slightly as well now that it had been pointed out, but felt it was blunted somewhat by Naruto's presence. As if to further prove her theory correct he said, his tone conveying the smile on his face, "Plus, whenever I used this tunnel to lose the people chasing me. I was afraid if I took too long down here Iruka-sensei would manage to find me somehow. I'm still not sure how he was always the only one to catch me."

Sakura smiled picturing the many times when Iruka would return to the classroom with a trussed up Naruto. But the smile faded as she came to the conclusion that it may have been because he was one of the only people not to write Naruto off. The tunnel split into three directions causing her to ask, "Which way?"

Naruto motioned with the glow stick to the path on the right. Despite her coming to respect Naruto greatly a part of her was afraid he'd get them lost down there. However, as they entered the path she caught a cartoonish drawing of the Hokage Monument on the wall showing her that Naruto had at least mapped out where the paths went. That made her sad, since as she had said earlier it would have been neat to explore them in a childish adventure. But she knew Naruto had done so in planning out a prank campaign so as to not have his very existence denied.

She shook such thoughts off before they could depress her since despite her belief that the Hokage monument would be secure. There was a slim chance that by the time they emerged from the tunnel things may have gone from bad to worse.

Sasuke leapt back as another blast from the boy with strange tube nozzles embedded in his hands. The one bandaged like a burn victim said, "Another miss, are you even trying Zaku."

"I'm just playing with him. Dosu," Zaku said with a dismissive tone. "Don't want to kill this punk too quickly now, do I?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the trivializing way Zaku spoke of him.

The kunoichi let her opinion be known saying, "Quit messing around. Lord Orochimaru said not to underestimate him."

Zaku took his eyes off of Sasuke to retort which proved to be a mistake as Sasuke body-flickered in front of him. He caught Zaku in the chest with a kick that launched him backwards. Sasuke smiled at the look of surprise that appeared on the kunoichi's face, but jumped back when he noticed that Dosu had revealed some sort of gauntlet on his right arm.

Sasuke stared in confusion as Dosu simply flicked it with his finger. Concentrating wondering what was supposed to be happening. He thought he detected waves emanating from it, which suddenly took on a concentrated drill like shape as it approached him. Although having trouble following it, he sensed the attack as it attempted to burrow itself into his right ear. Rolling to his left, he sprung up into a crouched position.

He took some satisfaction in the surprised look that appeared beneath Dosu's wrapped countenance. Standing and feeling emboldened at the small fear he detected rolling off the three since in the handful of minutes since their appearance they had yet to land a significant hit on him. He could almost hear Dosu thinking, "How'd he avoid it? It must have been a fluke."

This time Dosu hit his arm harder which made the waves even easier to see for Sasuke, even if they seemed to flicker in and out of his vision. This time he waited until the last minute to avoid them and instead of leaping away launched himself towards Dosu and Kin.

Kin responded throwing two handfuls of Senbon at him. He easily dodged the projectiles noticing the bells at the end of them. He also picked up the hint of wires tied to them as they passed. Guessing that her jutsu would focus around sound as well he grabbed the wires while the senbon were still in the air. Yanking them, he caused the senbon to reverse course much to Kin's surprise. She managed to avoid them, but it provided Sasuke the time he needed to concentrate on Dosu.

Dosu had just canceled his jutsu when Sasuke closed with him. He was going to hit the Melody Arm again deciding to use a more powerful attack and one less reliant on accuracy then his Vibrating Sound Drill. Sasuke however prevented him from doing wrapping his hand around the wrist of Dosu's left hand and holding it in place. Dosu tried to swing his right in order to hit Sasuke with the weapon to get it to vibrate. But Sasuke caught that arm as well above the elbow. He then lashed out with a knee burying it into Dosu's stomach. As the Sound-nin bent forward Sasuke became aware of both his teammates targeting him from behind.

Kin threw her senbon which Zaku aided by firing a concentrated blast from his Wind Tunnels. The blast caused Kin's senbon to move even faster. Sasuke cursed, but calmed as strangely everything seemed to slowdown. Leaping out of the way the air propelled senbon ripped through Dosu's body effortlessly burying themselves in the forest behind him.

Sasuke realized that in that moment he had fully achieved Sharingan, or at least the first stages of it. He also realized it was also why he had been able to see Dosu's jutsu. He received confirmation when after he landed Kin took a step back saying, "What's with his eyes?"

Smugly Sasuke said, "Impressive no? This is the blood limit of the Uchiha."

"We were told you didn't have the ability to use Sharingan," Zaku stated his earlier confidence fading.

"True, but I simply hadn't unlocked it yet. As thanks for helping me do so I'll let you leave here with your lives." Sending a look at Dosu's corpse, he added, "That's more then I can say for some."

Zaku raised his hands pointing them at Sasuke as he shouted, "Fuck you! We're Lord Orochimaru's chosen, there's no way I'd back down to a bitch like you." He then let rip with both nozzles in a blast that tore up the ground as it traveled towards the smirking Uchiha.

When the blast hit the area it obscured both of the Sound-nins' vision of Sasuke. When the dust cleared nothing but blasted earth remained. Zaku was about to fire an insult but was caught by surprise by a fist that erupted from the earth. Caught in the chin by it he was lifted into the air, but Sasuke grabbed him by the ankle pulling him down into his waiting knee, which caught him along the stomach. Bent forward by the attack Sasuke wrapped his hands around Zaku's head and giving it a twist he snapped his neck.

As Zaku's corpse hit the ground Sasuke directed his attention to Kin who looked torn between fleeing and attacking. Before she could come to a decision though, she was caught in the giant fireball that Sasuke directed towards her. Badly burned, she attempted to crawl away from Sasuke who seemed content to let her do so. Spotting a man entering the training field she called out, "Lord Orochimaru help me."

However Orochimaru walked past her without sparing her a second look as he said, "Well done Sasuke."

"Aren't you going to help her?" Sasuke asked.

"Why," Orochimaru responded amused, "She's served her purpose which was to test you enough to unlock those magnificent eyes. The question is. What are you going to do?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man realizing the game the Sannin was playing. If he left her alive and she received medical attention, even if Sasuke stayed in the Leaf his name would be tarnished, since it was probably obvious to the girl that they had previous dealings with one another. Left with one recourse, he reached into his pouch and with an absentminded flick of his wrist sent the kunai he had pulled directly into the girl's right eye socket.

Orochimaru looked behind his shoulder enjoying the sight of the betrayed expression frozen on Kin's corpse. Turning back to Sasuke, he smiled before saying, "A wise decision. It leaves you with more options in the end, doesn't it?" Chuckling sinisterly he continued, "So does this mean after helping you to unlock those eyes that you may reject whatever I plan to offer."

"I suppose that depends on what it is you are offering, and the price," Sasuke said keeping his guard up.

"What I offer is power," Orochimaru said stepping towards Sasuke who took a step back due to the Killing Intent the Snake Sannin began releasing. "Hahaha, is that how you plan to face Itachi, a scared rabbit ready to bolt in the face of a stronger predator."

Sasuke was about to fire a retort despite his shaking knees but was interrupted by a voice that he recognized, although it sounded far more serious than when he had last heard it, say, "Picking on fresh out of the Academy genin. My how the mighty have fallen, Orochimaru."

A dark smile appeared on Orochimaru's face as he turned to face his old teammate. "Jiraiya, and here I thought you lost my trail after I left the Akatsuki. Or, is it just my bad luck to find you back in your old stomping grounds?"

"Let's say we cut the small talk," Jiraiya said.

"Very well old friend," Orochimaru replied his smile never leaving his face. Directing his gaze to Sasuke he added, "Run along now little rabbit. I'll deal with you at a later date."

Sasuke bristled at Orochimaru words, but feeling the power rolling off the two men knew even with the Sharingan he wouldn't last more than a handful of seconds. Jiraiya took his eyes off of his old friend long enough to say, "You heard him, head to the Monument to help protect it. The counter-attack should already be under way."

Sasuke stood still a few moments longer trying to read the older man. He wondered briefly how much Jiraiya had heard. Although he could see some suspicion in the man's eyes, he believed that Jiraiya had only caught the tail end of their conversation otherwise the last place he would want him is near the civilians of the village. Confident of his reasoning, Sasuke nodded to the man before taking off.

Jiraiya frowned as the boy left the training field. Although the three dead Sound-nin helped ease the suspicion he felt, it didn't completely remove it. He only wished he had arrived before Orochimaru had begun releasing his KI and revealed his presence. Vowing to keep an eye on the boy, he faced Orochimaru and prepared to correct the mistake his teacher had made in letting the Snake Sannin escape.

Sarutobi battered the floating blade away with Enma but cursed as another split open the throat of one of his Anbu. Jumping back with the three remaining men, he spared a moment to search for Gaara to find him still among the living as well. Something he was beginning to doubt about the man they faced.

The floating blades which looked like starfish except each tip ended in a sharp edge continued to fly about the man in a dizzying pattern. Sarutobi had only heard of the man's ability to use his Wind natured chakra in such a way. What made him difficult to fight was that his control was good enough that the man could be fighting one of them while the blades kept the others busy.

The Kazekage smiled as he said, "What I would give to have faced you in your prime. Sadly you appear to be but a sad shadow of your former self."

Sarutobi felt his men stiffen at the insult but reassured them saying, "Don't lose your heads or you'll lose your lives." The Anbu surrounding him calmed so Sarutobi replied to the Kazekage, "Such meaningless taunts have no place on the battlefield. It only further underscores your own lack of ability as a Kage."

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes and Sarutobi fought down a smile since as he just proved taunts did have a place on the battlefield despite his words. The Kazekage was about to charge them when sand erupted from beneath the roof tiles all around him.

Gaara had taken his time in slowly moving his sand beneath the tiles of the castle roof that the battle had moved to. His father tried to escape it, but surrounded by it as he was his chances to do so were virtually zero. Knowing this the man directed his floating blades at his son but Gaara's automatic defense easily blocked the attacks and absorbed the blades into the sand. Leaving only his face visible Gaara raised the Sand Coffin into the air, before saying, "Surrender or I'll crush you."

"Go to hell."

"You first," Gaara replied closing his hand into a fist. The sand covered his father's face before crushing the man it held. However, almost immediately Gaara knew something was wrong when no blood came pouring out of it. His surprise grew when one of the blades his Sand defense had caught and had since dropped to the ground flew into the air catching him in the chest. The blow hit hard enough to send him flying back but his sand armor prevented it from piercing his flesh. But it did cause him to lose his concentration enough that the sand surrounding his father in the air fell away enough for him to pull free.

The Kazekage's body was mangled as he stood the best he could while the damage repaired itself. When he was finally able to stand normally Sarutobi said, "I see, so Orochimaru has made you into a simple doll for his use."

Gaara pulled the blade from his chest before having his sand crush it into a lump of metal asking, "What do you mean?"

"The Second Hokage created a jutsu that could resurrect the dead. But he found it to be too much of a blasphemy so made it a forbidden jutsu."

"He naturally only did this after using it several times against his enemies," the Kazekage said.

Sighing Sarutobi admitted, "True I'm afraid and now it seems Orochimaru has mastered it as well."

Gaara stared at his father asking, "Is this why you started us on this path of war with Konoha?"

"No, that was of my own desire to destroy this village. Don't you understand Gaara? Peace is an illusion. Hatred doesn't simply fade away. All it took to get the people of Suna behind this invasion was to mention we'd finally get the chance to avenge the defeat we suffered during the Second Shinobi World War. Most of the active shinobi weren't even alive during that time but still they didn't refuse." Gaara stared impassively at him before shaking his head at his father's words causing the man to ask, "What?"

"Your daughter didn't want anything to do with this invasion. She simply went along with it because that is what duty demanded."

"A good soldier," the Kazekage said dismissively.

"I pity you," Gaara replied causing the man to glare at his son. "You learn that you caused your child pain and all you can say positive about her is related to military terms. You lost your humanity long before becoming a victim of this jutsu. It'll be a mercy to put you down like the animal you are."

"Well said," Sarutobi supplied standing next to Gaara. "Sadly, doing so will prove to be most difficult."

"Tell me what needs to be done," Gaara said his sand rising from its gourde to do its part in sending his father soul screaming into the afterlife.

Konohamaru needed to pee. After being evacuated to the shelter Iruka had told them to remain in the rooms they had been escorted too. He made a mental note that when he became Hokage to include a bathroom area. Moving to the door, he opened it to find Iruka standing in the hallway looking worried. Although the teacher had told his students it was a drill Konohamaru was positive that something major was happening in the village. But that took a back seat to the fact that he really needed to pee.

As he approached his teacher the man turned saying, "Konohamaru, you need to stay inside the room."

"I really have to go," Konohamaru said being joined by his two friends.

"I'm afraid you'll have to hold it," Iruka replied.

"I can't," he said running down the hall in the opposite direction. His journey for a bathroom came to an abrupt end when he bumped into someone.

Staring up he saw a woman in a trench coat who stared down at him before asking, "Where do you think you're going."

"To the bathroom."

"Sorry kid, hold it like a big boy," Anko said noticing Iruka heading her way with two other brats in tow. Helping him back up she said, "You shouldn't need to hold it much longer though."

Ibiki was directing Konoha's counter attack from the central command center. "Tell the Inuzuka to move into sector twelve. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio has pushed the enemy they faced there. We'll catch them in a pincer movement."

"Right away sir," the chunin he was talking to said before relaying the message.

Ibiki frowned though as things were progressing almost too well for his liking. The enemy was falling back on all fronts and although the Hokage was fighting an undead Kazekage. He had little doubt that the Hokage would triumph. But he just couldn't get rid of this uneasy feeling that he had. He knew it centered on what Jiraiya had said about Orochimaru being behind the invasion. The thing bothering him was if the Snake Sannin had returned, then why hadn't he been prepared for any of the village's protocols?

He had just arrived to an answer when four individuals dropped into the courtyard that housed the rooms where the civilians were evacuated too. Cursing he called out, "Get some men back to the civilian shelters."

No sooner had Anko opened her mouth to the kid that had bumped into her then did one of the walls in the room she was guarding explode. Cursing she threw the door to the room open to reveal dead and hurt civilians. Standing in the hole were four kids only slightly older than many of the kids that had participated in the Chunin Exams. Not giving them time to react to her presence she charged at them causing them to scatter backwards into the courtyard. Directing her gaze to the high walls that surrounded it she saw that the chunin who were supposed to be on guard were all dead.

Growling at the people standing in front of her, she said, "You are going to pay for targeting the people of this village." Anko felt Iruka coming up behind her so she said, "Get back inside Iruka. I'll handle this."

"I've left Kotetsu and Izumo in charge of guarding the civilians. You're going to need help taking on these guys if they were able to get past the shinobi guarding the perimeter."

One of the four shinobi a young man with light purple hair stepped forward saying, "This is all the defenders this place has? How pathetic, Lord Orochimaru made it sound like getting in here and killing the civilians was going to be hard."

"Orochimaru," Anko said her voice lowering and getting dangerous, "He's behind this invasion."

Her anger rose when the invaders ignored her question instead a red head said, "Who the fuck cares how hard it was to get in here. Let's just kill these rats and get the job done. We couldn't disable the cameras because Orochimaru wanted the Hokage to see his precious villagers being killed."

"I doubt that geezer is going to survive his fight with the Kazekage," a boy with six arms said with a manic grin in place, "But I agree with Tayuya, let's get on with it."

"You'll have to get by us," Iruka said challengingly.

"You make it sound like it'll be fucking difficult," the one called Tayuya said. As she spoke black marks began spreading over her body which also began to appear on her companions.

"Shit," Anko cursed dropping into a run to close with the invaders believing she understood why her curse mark was reacting to the four kids. Focusing on the boy with purple hair she lashed out with a kick. However, an arm appeared from out of the boys shoulder catching it. With her leg held in place the boy struck her in the stomach and despite only hitting her once she felt as if he had connected dozens of times. He let go of her leg allowing her to stumble backwards and she tried to raise her guard expecting a second attack, which she received, except not from the boy in front of her, but from the side by one with his hair styled into a Mohawk. The boy shoulder tackled her from the side hitting her hard enough that she bounced along the concrete. She came to a rest after smashing into a wall.

Anko got up unsteadily but managed to block the next kick from the purple haired boy who had sprinted after her by raising her arm. But she was caught by surprise as a hand appeared from the leg grabbing a hold of her arm so that when the boy pulled his leg away she was tossed across the courtyard right into the path of the boy she was beginning to think of as Mohawk. He hit her in the chest in midair with a palm strike that sent her right back at the purple haired boy who hit her in the back with a kick that felt like it connected multiple times again.

Anko was ready though as she flew back to Mohawk and grabbing ahold of his outstretched hand pulled herself out of the way of the attack and connected with his chest with both of her feet. Flipping off of him, Anko frowned when she landed on her feet and noticed that the boy had only stumbled backwards a few feet. Getting ready for the boy's next attack she spared a moment to see how well Iruka was faring.

Iruka blocked a kick from the kunoichi Tayuya making sure to keep close to her as to prevent her from playing her flute. She had already tried to place him in a genjutsu but Iruka had shaken off the effects before the six arm boy she had called Kidoumaru could take advantage. He was keeping close to the girl also in hopes of preventing the boy from using his webs to immobilize him. It was a strategy that appeared to be working since the boy abandoned his position to close with him after spiting some golden webs into his hands that appeared to harden into knives.

Tayuya used Kidoumaru's jumping into the fray as the opening she needed to leap away. While in mid-air though she was forced to use her flute to block the kunai the chunin she had fought threw at her. She exploded into a flurry of curses when the knife buried itself into the musical instrument creating another hole which would prevent her from casting genjutsu since they all worked on specific melodies. Tossing it away she said, "There's no way you're only a fucking chunin."

Iruka smiled and after kicking away Kidoumaru said, "You're right. I'm also a teacher."

Tayuya growled angrily but Kidoumaru created some distance from the teacher since he seemed no longer interested in remaining close to Tayuya since he destroyed her flute and means of casting genjutsu. It was a mistake the man wouldn't get to make twice as the boy planned to pick away at his defenses using his long range attacks already feeling the effects as his enjoyment of the battle caused him to go into his Curse Mark Level Two state.

"Go help the others," Kidoumaru said using his webs to lift himself into the air.

Tayuya bristled at the boy commanding her since she was viewed as the second strongest of the Sound Four. But was forced to admit without her flute and forced to rely on Taijutsu was at a disadvantage. She nodded, moving off to help the other two that were having a harder time now that Anko seemed to have relaxed and gotten her measure of her opponents' abilities.

Kidoumaru smiled after creating a bow from his spider silk saying, "She's never going to forgive me for ordering her around like that. I'm going to have to make your death nice and slow for the aggravation I'm going to experience for it."

Despite himself Iruka smiled as he thought, "Good. The longer you take killing me the more time reinforcements have to arrive. Not that I plan on dying." Iruka began calculating how fast the bow would be able to launch the arrows he expected to be coming his way soon based on its length in order to avoid slipping into what was commonly called the no avoidance zone. It was basically the distance between two people in which a person couldn't react fast enough to dodge. He frowned though when Kidoumaru fell back even further not understanding what the boy was planning.

He received his answer when the boy hovering in midair by two stands of his thread made a web between two of his hands while biting the thumb of a third said, "Now let's invite one more guest to the party," before summoning a giant spider which landed in front of the stunned teacher. "Now try not to die too quickly," Kidoumaru said cutting one of the threads holding him in the air to swing to the wall of the courtyard and taking up aim at the teacher waited for the opening his summons would make for him.

"Hold still damn you," Jiraiya shouted as Orochimaru slithered away from him avoiding his hair in its Wild Lion's Mane form as it tried to grab ahold of his slippery opponent.

Slithering around the training grounds Orochimaru chuckled as he heard the frustration in Jiraiya's voice. Coming to a stop as his old friends hair returned to normal the Snake Sannin said, "What's the matter Jiraiya, your age catching up to you?"

"Not at all old friend," Jiraiya said his tone jovial despite how serious he was taking his opponent, "I'm simply warming up for when you decide to get serious as well."

"Ah, well then let me kill you and move on then," Orochimaru said charging at his old teammate. He lashed out with a kick which Jiraiya blocked by raising his arm up. Before Jiraiya could respond in kind Orochimaru flipped backwards landing on all fours and from his mouth it appeared thousands of snakes sprouted out.

The snakes slithered around the ground towards Jiraiya who shouted, "Hell Needles." His hair wrapped around him in a variation of his Needle Jizo. When he was completely covered, it produced a volley of hardened hair follicles that began shredding the approaching wall of snakes.

Orochimaru was forced to slither away quickly as his jutsu was defeated by Jiraiya. He took a moment to look where Jiraiya had been standing to find him gone. Looking forward he was surprised to find Jiraiya had body flickered in front of him and was charging him with a Rasengan. His eyes widened in shock as Jiraiya shouted, "Got you," as he plunged the jutsu into his stomach.

Jiraiya felt no satisfaction as his jutsu tore into his old teammates gut as Orochimaru's mouth opened wide to scream. However, he knew something was amiss when the mouth just kept widening and a whole new Orochimaru slithered out. The skin he had just shed blew apart as the Rasengan released its energy.

Straightening his stance Jiraiya watched as the slimy Orochimaru got back to his feet with a sinister smile on his face. Already analyzing what he witnessed Jiraiya said, "That was no simple body replacement jutsu. My attack connected this is something else."

"Very astute Jiraiya," Orochimaru said his tone sounding both mocking and praising at the same time.

Not finding any sign of damage to his ex-teammate, Jiraiya arrived at one conclusion saying, "This isn't your true form or body. Just what have you done to yourself?"

"Would you like to see," Orochimaru said reaching to his face. Pulling the flesh away, he revealed the features of an attractive woman although her full-bodied face appeared to look rather unnatural on Orochimaru's frame.

"You monster," Jiraiya said.

"Now Jiraiya I assure you she…"

"No, to rob the world of such beauty is too unforgiveable," Jiraiya said. "I'll be sure to send you to hell, if only to protect any more fair maidens from falling victim to that jutsu."

"You just can't help falling into that fool routine of yours, can you?" Orochimaru asked after reapplying his normal face.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm being completely serious," Jiraiya said indignity.

"I doubt that." Giving an evil smile Orochimaru said, "I know how to really get you motivated though." Before Jiraiya could ask what Orochimaru what he meant the man disappeared into the ground. It then began rumbling before rupturing as a giant snake shot from out of it. But instead of targeting Jiraiya the snake quickly slithered towards Konoha.

"Dammit," Jiraiya cursed giving chase as the last place he wanted to engage in a full on battle with his fellow Sannin was in the middle of the Leaf Village.

Sakura and Naruto arrived at the stairwell that lead to the evacuation shelters only to find the familiar structure to be littered with a few dead chunin. Naruto could sense the worry that was emanating from Sakura since her parents should be up ahead. He placed a hand on her shoulder saying, "You can stay here Sakura."

Sakura could almost hear the, "just in case," Naruto's sentence called for. But she shook her head saying, "I'm sure the other defenders stopped whoever made it this far." Naruto nodded, as she turned to look at him and she could see the worry he felt for her. She smiled to reassure him she was fine but nevertheless allowed him to take point on the journey up the stairs.

As they walked cautiously, Sakura remembered all the times they had taken the stairs during their time in the Academy. Back then it had been simply a precaution the instructors took much like how they had fire drills. Sakura remembered that during those times many of the girls would ask Sasuke if he'd protect them in a real emergency. Naturally he blew them off, simply continuing on up the stairs causing the many girls to fawn over how cool he was. Sadly she was as guilty of that as the others.

She remembered how once when she had been the one to ask Sasuke it had been Naruto who said he would protect her. All the other girls had laughed at her since only the dead last would come to her rescue. She frowned as she recalled that instead of focusing on the fact that unlike the other girls she had someone come forward claiming to be willing to protect her. She had viewed the event as another of Naruto's attempts to get between her and Sasuke. Causing Sakura to deliver a punch to the top of his skull telling him that he was the absolute last person she wanted coming to her rescue.

Now though she realized how lucky she was even back then to have someone like Naruto interested in her. Looking back on the memories she had of Sasuke's many rebukes to her advances, if they could truly be called rebukes, she realized that unlike the other girls that when Sasuke would ignore them she never had that moment of rejection where she wondered what was wrong with her. Thinking of the time Ino had asked as they were on the stairs by running in front of him and holding out her arms hoping to get an actual answer from him. But Sasuke had simply walked around with his hands in his pockets not even bothering to slow down. Sakura had seen a moment of insecurity in her ex-bestfriend's eyes as the object of her affection walked past. However, Sakura never was really given the chance to feel her own eat away at her after a rejection because Naruto was always there to soften the blow by quickly proclaiming how much he liked her.

They passed another corpse and the grisly sight forced her to stop her reminiscing. Approaching the top of the stairs they could hear the sounds of shinobi clashing. Naruto was about to charge up the last few steps, intent on helping whoever was fighting, but Sakura grabbed his hand before he could take off yelling. He turned back to ask her what was wrong but she held a finger up in front of her mouth shushing him. She then pulled him after her running up the wall to look in on the courtyard.

She gasped at the dead lookouts she found up there but moved on to focus on the grounds in front of the shelters. She was surprised to find that all the dead bodies appeared to be the result of the four creatures that were fighting the two remaining Leaf shinobi. She figured the giant spider attacking the male shinobi was a summons but what the other were she couldn't truly fathom as they appeared to be demons of some sort.

The male Leaf shinobi avoided an arrow that shot from beneath their vantage point and she guessed there may have been a fifth opponent in the enclosed area. She almost gasped as the arrow nearly hit the man but he managed to avoid it at the last second. The shinobi took a moment to glare at the person who fired the arrow revealing the man to be Iruka.

Sakura felt Naruto tense but he apparently realized why she didn't want them to go charging in as he asked his voice hushed, "What are we going to do Sakura?"

Sakura felt the pressure of Naruto's belief in her but vowing to prove herself worthy of it began to analyze what she had thus far seen. Guessing that the spider was being used as a means of distraction so that the bowman could catch Iruka unaware she asked, "Naruto, do you think you can summon Gamabunta?"

Naruto looked away saying, "No…I need to get rid of most of my chakra before I can do that."

Realizing that he was referring to his need to use the Kyuubi's chakra even though he hadn't come out and said it, she asked, "Oh…Well do you think you can summon something big enough to take out that spider?"

He was obviously surprised at her not commenting on how backwards his need to bleed off most of his chakra had sounded. But he responded with a nod. Smiling she said, "Good, then here's what we're going to do."

Iruka cursed as he needed to avoid another arrow. Directing his glare at Kidoumaru he thought he caught sight of two heads peeking over the edge of the cliff into the area. Before he could give too much thought to the matter he was forced to leap away as the spider opened its mouth to roar at him as it charged. He was vaguely aware of Kidoumaru taking up aim at him again while he was in the air. Cursing that his inattention had probably given the sound-nin the moment he was looking for he only hoped he had bought reinforcements enough time that the two remaining chunin and Anko could hold them off until they arrived.

He closed his eyes picturing the many students he had guided on their path to shinobihood not surprised that his mind ended on Naruto whom he was sure had probably the most promising career ahead of him despite what his grades had suggested. The image was so vivid he could almost hear the boy shouting, "Summoning Jutsu."

Frowning since he wondered why he would imagine Naruto shouting that as he opened his eyes only to see a giant cloud of smoke appearing in the air. From the smoke came an orange and blue blur which smashed right into the back of the spider. He turned his attention towards Kidoumaru who appeared just as surprised at the turn of events as Iruka which explained why the young man almost didn't sense Sakura who was running down the rock wall until she was right behind him. The Sound-nin did sense the attack at the last moment though and turned to face her receiving a punch to his face that caused the sound-nin to fall towards the ground. He recovered in midair though turning his fall into a graceful landing.

The dust settled around where the spider had been to show Naruto and an orange and blue toad with a necklace whose medallion's kanji read loyalty on it, standing atop of a very smushed spider. "Kyodaigumo," Kidoumaru shouted angrily taking aim at the toad after forming a new arrow with a thread attached to it.

When the Sound-nin fired his arrow the summons that Jiraiya usually traveled with jumped into the air in hopes of avoiding it. However the arrow curved up wards tracking them which caused Naruto to say, "Dispel yourself," as he leapt off of its head. The smoke of the toad doing exactly that obscured Naruto from view so that Kidoumaru couldn't zero in on him.

Sakura having landed next to Iruka shouted, "Now Naruto."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," was the reply from the cloud surprising Kidoumaru as hundreds of blonde boys appeared from the smoke landing in between him and the chunin and pinked haired girl.

Anko planted her fist firmly in Tayuya's stomach; she then grabbed the transformed girl by the horn and threw her towards her two teammates neither of whom tried to catch her. Using the confusion the sudden appearance of an army of blondes bought her. She quickly jumped away from her opponents to regroup along with Iruka and the two genin.

"Saved by genin," Anko said with a hint of mortification, "I'm never going to live this down."

"Hey lady you could always go back to fighting those three by yourself since we were only trying to save Iruka-sensei," Naruto shot back.

"Oh, aren't you a feisty thing. Maybe I can show you how appreciative a beautiful woman like me can be later," Anko teased in a way that made Naruto blush even though he didn't really understand what she was talking about.

Sakura did though, saying, "Isn't it kind of sad for an old lady like you to be hitting on a boy his age?"

"Old lady," Anko said indignantly, "why you little brat..."

"Not to interrupt but don't you think we have more pressing concerns," Iruka interrupted with a tight smile despite the grave situation. As although he could have been imagining it he thought he heard jealousy in Sakura's voice during her response to Anko's teasing.

Anko let the matter drop instead focusing on the four Sound-nin that had spent the few moments regrouping themselves as well. "What are they?" Sakura asked focusing on them as well.

"Don't let their appearances fool you," Anko said all traces of the slight animosity between them forgotten, "they are human. They're just using some jutsu provided to them by Orochimaru that gives them a boost in power."

Sakura nodded before saying, "How long have they been like that?"

"About ten minutes, why?" Anko asked not seeing how it mattered.

"Well if it's like most jutsu that temporarily boosts abilities then there has to be a point in which they'll revert to normal. All we have to do is push them to that point at which time they'll probably be pretty weak. Naruto."

"Right," the army of clones responded not needing to be told what their role was to be. They quickly charged the four Sound-nin who although fighting defensively were proving to be quite capable.

"Not bad pinky," Anko said surprised at the girl coming up with such a clever strategy. Not being able to prevent herself from teasing the girl a little she said, "Maybe I'll let you watch me and your boyfriend."

"Yo…you…you…pervert," Sakura said blushing a deep shade of crimson.

Anko laughed mischievously taking off to help the blonde army saying, "Come on Iruka. Let's show these brats we aren't ready to be put out to pasture just yet."

She leapt into the fray followed by Iruka who with the help of the clones were quickly driving the Sound-nin back and away from the frightened civilians.

Jiraiya had managed to get in front of the snake Orochimaru had summoned but far closer to the edge of the training fields then he would have liked. As the snake appeared from the woods he cast the Swamp of the Underworld Jutsu. The ground beneath the fast moving creature liquefied trapping it almost instantly. But it opened its mouth and Orochimaru launched from it landing safely on the still solid ground in front of Jiraiya.

"Persistent aren't you," Orochimaru said his insufferable smile annoying Jiraiya.

"Like I'd let you rampage inside Konoha to your heart's content," Jiraiya countered.

"Too bad and I was hoping to see Sarutobi one last time before he died."

"Enough of that, besides you'll be dead long before him," Jiraiya retorted dropping into his stance.

"Jiraiya, Jiraiya, do you honestly think you are capable of killing me," Orochimaru said releasing his killing intent.

"Knock it off," Jiraiya said, "I'm not some punk kid that you can intimidate."

Before Orochimaru could respond though a chakra signature that every person of Konoha recognized suddenly flared into existence. Jiraiya turned towards it shocked thinking, "It can't be…"

Orochimaru used the moment to charge Jiraiya saying, "Perhaps it's not me that you should be worried about rampaging in the village. If I'm right he's right near the evacuation shelter."

Jiraiya deflected Orochimaru's attack before striking him in the side of the head. As his old teammate stumbled back Jiraiya said, "That just means I can't fool around with you anymore." The Toad Sage then quickly closed with Orochimaru who tried to ensnare him with the snakes that sprouted from his sleeve. Leaping away Jiraiya cursed that beating Orochimaru wasn't going to be easy while he thought, "Please let the seal hold."

Shikamaru had feigned sleep when he felt the stirrings of the genjutsu begin to affect him. After the sudden removal of the Sand-nin from the arena he had been aiding the defenders by setting up ambushes using his shadow technique. He was hiding behind a corner when a patrol tried to attack Asuma from behind. Quickly catching them, he waited until his sensei noticed them before releasing them as Asuma plowed into their midst. As the last one fell the man said, "Thanks Shikamaru. It's almost enough to make me forget your forfeiting your match."

"Aw come on Asuma."

"Forget it, I plan to work you guys double hard from here on out," Asuma said but smiled at the look of abject horror on his student's face.

Before Shikamaru could try and change his teacher's mind a dead Sound-nin landed next to them followed by the man that killed him. "Looks like the arena is secured Kakashi," Asuma said as the jounin joined them while pulling down his headband.

"Yeah," Kakashi said disinterestedly worrying about the fate of his team. Gazing over the arena and not seeing any sign of pink he guessed that Sakura had fallen back on the guidelines that all available genin try and make it to the evacuation shelters unless directed not to by a superior. He had seen his students among the spectators but considering that they appeared to be on a date had decided to let them be.

"Should we go help the Hokage," Kakashi asked directing his attention to the roof of the castle where he was fighting the Kazekage.

His choice of destinations was made for him when a chakra he felt thirteen years previously engulfed the area in its oppressive feeling. "Kakashi," Asuma said his tone sounding slightly panicked.

"Yeah," Kakashi said quickly taking off hoping the worse hadn't happened and the Kyuubi hadn't escaped.

Ibiki had breathed a little easier when the two genin appeared. As when the teams pushing the invaders back had tried to head to the monument to reinforce it a number of enemies had apparently snuck in behind them in order to delay their return. But despite that the two genin appeared to have tipped things in Anko and the chunin's whose name escaped him favor. As the army of clones with the three other shinobi's helped began to force the group he was calling the Sound Four back. He began to believe that everything would be okay after all. Then the pink haired girl went down, and although he wasn't sure what had happened to her, after that happened all hell broke loose as the clones to a single person stopped to stare at the shivering girl. One of them broke away to check on her and then the kid with the Mohawk broke through the stunned clones line to trap him and the girl in some large rock dome. Meanwhile his teammates also took advantage by dispelling as many of them as they could before moving on to Anko and the chunin.

That was when he lost his visual of the area as the sudden surge in chakra blew out his cameras plunging his screens into static. But the feeling of the vile chakra that swept over the area caused him to worry that the civilians' savior was also going to be the thing behind their deaths.

Sakon blocked Anko's kick only to be kicked in the knee by a clone buckling it from under him. From his kneeling position Anko's next attack an uppercut to his chin launched him into the air. Luckily for him Tayuya threw a clone at the woman preventing her from following up. Rolling to his feet he used the few moments of time he had to continue to analyze his opponents' strategy. Kidoumaru threw a dagger made of his golden web at the exposed back of the pink haired genin that had arrived with the Blonde as she fought Jiroubou. Suddenly a blonde appeared taking the hit before dispelling. Although it was an act he was sure the clones would do for any of the Leaf-nin there had been something frantic in its need to protect her. Thinking along that line he noticed that many of the clones were grouped around her much more so then any of the other shinobi.

Charging through the clones Sakon closed with Kidoumaru and after reaching him as his opponents seemed to be all clones at the moment helped the six-armed boy drive them back enough that he could say, "Summon one of your poisonous spiders and send it after the pink-haired girl."

"Sure but why," Kidoumaru asked not sure what Sakon's plan was.

"Just do it," was the response Sakon gave him as he began moving towards Jiroubou. The pink-haired girl pulled back as he approached obvious respecting the fact that with two of them there she was at a disadvantage even with the clones.

Reaching Jiroubou, after smashing a clone's head into the ground, he said, "Watch for pinkie to go down."

"Why?"

"Because if I'm right it'll flush the bastard behind these clones out and I want you to trap him," Sakon said.

Sakura leapt back as the Sound-nin linked up with the one she had been fighting. Not ready to take them both on she was wondering at just how long they could possibly last in their current form. Especially in light of the fact that she was nearing her limit. She had quickly discovered that her ability to use chakra to strengthen her blows really wasn't as developed as she could have hoped. Using it against Naruto in a spar was one thing and even then her skill with it had been hit or miss. But it was almost impossible in a true battle situation. Jiraiya just wasn't able to provide her with the insights she needed to master it since his only input was she needed to gather and release it perfectly. Strangely when the one Sound-nin had hurt Naruto it had almost been second nature for her to send the man into orbit.

She pulled back far enough to catch her breath a moment and to gage where she could do the most good when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking down she saw a spider almost as big as her fist latched to her leg. She brushed it off and it disappeared into smoke before she could bring her foot down on it. She felt the toxin spreading through her body causing her to grab her stomach in pain as the muscles there contracted painfully. Moaning weakly she collapsed unaware that a clone saw her do so and was dispelled spreading the knowledge that Sakura had been felled throughout the army.

Naruto wasn't aware of how he knew but he suddenly felt overcome by the feeling that Sakura had been hurt. Instinctively knowing which way to look he found her lying on the ground shivering as if she was cold. He ran towards her seeing the angry looking insect bite on her leg. Directing his gaze to the six arm freak he knew the bastard was the one behind it especially by the all too pleased way he was staring at him. As he held Sakura to him due to a sudden strong fit of shivers the sun was blocked out as a dome of rock appeared around him.

From inside he got the strange sensation of his army of clone being wiped out as well as the Sound-nin taking up positions around the dome. He heard as the purple haired boy called Sakon said, "Now let's see how well you two do on your own."

As the sounds of battle picked up again Jiroubou said smugly, "Apparently not so well." Naruto though focused on Sakura who seemed to be getting weaker. He became aware of Jiroubou talking to him when the boy said, "Man I'm going to gorge myself on your chakra. It's a pity you have so much because pinkie in her weakened state probably isn't going to last nearly as long as you. The only question is what's going to kill her first having her chakra sucked dry or the poison."

Naruto looked at her frantically and moved towards the wall of the dome where he tried to form a Rasengan hoping that even if he hadn't mastered it he could use it to escape. Sadly as soon as it began to form it seemed to be sucked away by the wall. Cursing it felt like a knife stabbed through his heart as Sakura weakly mumbled, "Naruto…"

She was apparently loud enough for Jiroubou to hear as he said, "Aw, how sweet she must be calling out to you. Too bad she seems to be placing her hopes in a weak piece of trash like…What!"

Naruto didn't know what gave way only that the pain and anger of failing Sakura seemed to cause some sudden upsurge in power. It was accompanied by a desire to destroy the source of the taunts and throwing a punch at the wall was surprised as it exploded outwards followed by a claw that caught Jiroubou in the chest picking him up and smashing him into the rock wall behind him causing a portion of it to collapse.

Iruka spun away from Sakon who had hit him and tripped over Anko who had skidded along the ground behind him from a kick by Tayuya. Both Sound-nin jumped away landing on either side of Kidoumaru who taking aim with his bow directed the two arrows it held at them as they helped each other up. He was about to fire when the Kyuubi's chakra enveloped the area. To Iruka who directed his attention towards the dome it appeared as if the fox's head was appearing above the dome. A hole then exploded out of it followed by a claw which carried away the screaming sound-nin.

Before anyone could react Naruto appeared behind the Leaf-nin depositing Sakura near the entrance to the hole the Sound Four had blown in the shelter. Iruka noticed that some of the civilians looking through it watching the battle backed up in fright. He set her down gently before walking back towards the remaining Sound-nin passing Iruka along the way, who said, "Naruto…"

"It's me, Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied his voice sounding deeper and menacing, "Please see to Sakura."

"Naruto, you can't take them on by yourself," he tried to reason.

Naruto dropped into a crouch and Iruka stepped back seeing a chakra tail appear as a fox-like shroud appeared around him as he said, "I'm not going to take them on. I'm going to kill them."

"Oh yeah kid try it," Sakon said trying to sound braver then he felt as even only Orochimaru had ever put out such a potent and ominous chakra.

Naruto took off running on all fours as the three Sound-nin reacted. Kidoumaru fired his bow, while Sakon and Tayuya braced themselves for his attack. Sakon could even feel his brother preparing to leave his body to add his strength to the fray. Naruto charged head on at the arrow and to everyone's surprise disappeared just as it was about to hit him. He reappeared suddenly right next to Sakon in the air and delivered a kick to the side of his head that sent him flying. Tayuya tried to leap away but was caught as Naruto extended his arm and the chakra shot away from it grabbing her. The red chakra claw slammed her against the wall of the courtyard and then with a wave of his arm he dragged her across it cutting a furrow as he went before tossing her away.

Kidoumaru had pulled six-blades to plunge them into Naruto while his back was turned. But Naruto avoided it by spinning away causing the Sound-nin to bury them into the ground. A red claw wrapped around his chest pinning his arms and then Naruto pulled him towards him before glaring into the boy's eyes. All Kidoumaru saw was death in the red pupils as the Naruto growled, "You hurt Sakura." He then slowly raised his other fist and began punching him in the face repeatedly.

Sakon felt as if a sledge hammer had been taken to his skull. He felt someone help him to his feet and recognized his brother's voice as he said, "Get inside Sakon. We're getting out of here."

Weakly Sakon said, "Lord Orochimaru is not going to be happy that we failed."

"Perhaps," Ukon said but seeing as more and more blood began spattering from Kidoumaru's face due to the punishment the blonde was delivering added, "But the worse he can do is kill us. Staying here means we're certainly going to die." Sakon nodded and merged with his brother's body vowing next time they met the boy was going to pay for this defeat.

Iruka watched as Anko looked Sakura over saying, "It's definitely a poison. My guess is a spider of the Widow family except way more potent than most."

"Damn will the Hospital have an antidote?"

"Hard to say. They'll have to narrow it down and at the rate this shit is attacking her system she'll be dead and if that happens…" Anko said trailing off just as Naruto captured Kidoumaru. She winced as he began hitting the boy over and over. Staring up at him she said, "If pinkie dies who knows what'll happen."

"He's in control," Iruka said but worried as Naruto didn't stop.

"For how long?" Anko countered reaching into her pouch considering taking the boy out.

Iruka glared at her but could sense more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra bleeding out no doubt being fueled by Naruto's anger. His eyes went wide he realized the best way to control the situation. Taking off he ran towards his former student shouting, "Naruto stop. If he's the one that poisoned her there's a chance he has an antidote."

Naruto stopped mid-swing and Kidoumaru despite how swollen his face was took the lifeline Iruka had extended saying, "I have one."

Naruto brought the boy's face closer to his growling out, "You better not be lying."

"I'm not….I swear," the Sound-nin said feeling the desire to empty his bladder at the threat or more fitting promise of pain the boy would no doubt deliver if he was lying.

Naruto marched them towards Sakura before forcing him to his knees his red chakra still swirling around him. He then said, "Give it to her."

Kidoumaru shakily reached into his ninja pouch procuring a vile of a clear liquid. Anko took it from him and pulling out a kit ran a quick test to make sure it was legitimate. Satisfied that at the very least it wouldn't make Sakura worse she filled a syringe and injected it into the wound. Almost immediately the angry looking purple veins surrounding it began to recede, causing Kidoumaru to say, "See."

"Yeah," Naruto said before smashing his fist into the boys head sending him into unconsciousness. Seeing Sakura breathing easier Naruto felt his chakra draining away and collapsed to his knees next to her feeling tears entering his vision.

As Naruto knelt next to Sakura fighting the urge to cry in front of so many people, Iruka directed his gaze to the hole filled with curious civilians and hoped that they didn't take their recent exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra as a sign that they were right in their past treatment of the boy.

Jiraiya was breathing hard as he leaned against a collapsed wall his battle with Orochimaru having entered the village proper. He took some pleasure in seeing the smug look that seemed to be a constant fixture on his fellow Sannin's face was now gone replaced by a haggard one.

"I…I can see why they called you the town's madman," Orochimaru said his breathing sounding raspy as he panted his hands on his knees.

"Save your flattery," Jiraiya said pushing off the wall and running at his opponent. He was almost out of chakra but knew that Orochimaru was as well. He knew one well placed jutsu by either of them would most likely decide the victor.

Orochimaru straightened deflecting Jiraiya's punch while allowing Jiraiya to push him back. Too tired to adequately defend himself from Jiraiya's assault, it was all that he could do to prevent the Toad Sannin from landing a solid blow.

Jiraiya feinted a punch, and when Orochimaru went to block it grabbed his arm and spinning tossed him into a wall. Orochimaru slid down it slowly and Jiraiya saw his chance reaching his hand back to form a Rasengan.

"You…you don't want to do that," Orochimaru said weakly.

"True, but it needs to be done. You're no longer are fit to remain in this world."

"Not what I mean Jiraiya," Orochimaru said pointing towards one of the roofs.

Jiraiya followed it to see the Third and a young boy looking bloodied and battered against a fresh looking Kazekage. "No way is the Kazekage strong enough to beat Sarutobi-sensei even at his advanced age."

Chuckling Orochimaru said, "He is if he can't be killed."

Jiraiya tensed about to plunge his jutsu into his old friend prompting Orochimaru to say, "I wouldn't do that as I said. Because then who is going to cancel the jutsu and that would leave Sarutobi with only one way to permanently defeat the Kazekage."

Jiraiya glared at him saying, "End it."

"I will once you swear to let me go."

Sarutobi felt the Kyuubi's chakra but refused to believe the seal had failed. He was quickly able to determine that the amount he felt paled in comparison to the night thirteen years ago. Still in the back of his mind he hoped that Naruto's lot in life wasn't about to get worse.

He battered away another of the spinning blades only to have to raise Enma again as the Kazekage caught it and tried to bury it in his skull. Parrying the red-headed man they fought for position as they each tried to overpower the other. Sadly in that particular test of might he was coming out the loser until the Kazekage was forced to leap back before being caught in Gaara's sand.

Landing the two remaining blades the Kazekage had moved about him erratically giving neither Gaara nor Sarutobi a clear opening in which to strike. But before the Kazekage could attack again his skin began flaking away.

"I see, I guess my usefulness is at an end," the Kazekage said staring at his hands as pieces of him began flecking off. Directing his gaze to his son, the man that cursed him with the life of a jinchuriki said, "Gaara you have become strong. I'm curious to see if this new outlook on life lasts in the face of the challenges this invasion will raise."

"Thanks to his actions, Sand and Leaf will remain at peace," Sarutobi said.

"Will it? I'm afraid hatred can't be so easily erased. Eventually it'll boil over again."

"Then I'll be there to stop it," Gaara said calmly.

The Kazekage's eyes widened in shock as for a moment as he thought he saw his wife in the cloud of sand that was swirling around Gaara expecting another attack. In many respects he realized that his wife's curse had come to pass as her son had defeated him and the Sunagakure that had caused him to seal Shukaku into Gaara. Bowing his head in defeat the Fourth Kazekage said, "Very well Gaara. Then build a village in which hate doesn't exist as the Fifth Kazekage." As his existence faded the shocked look that appeared on Gaara's face brought a measure of peace to the man's soul. He may not have been much of a father or husband, but at lease he felt somewhat secure in knowing that the village he had sacrificed everything for was in worthy hands.

Jiraiya stared out over the outer wall of the village. His gaze hadn't moved from the spot where Orochimaru had disappeared into the woods. It had been over half an hour when an Anbu appeared behind him kneeling.

"What is it?" he asked his voice sounding tired.

"Our scouts have returned and it appears that Sand is approaching."

"I see. Does the Hokage have a plan?"

"He does, but he wants you to remain here and if he doesn't return you are to take over the title of Hokage."

Jiraiya shook his head before saying, "Then let's both hope he makes it back."

AN2: Again sorry for the long wait. I also would like to take this moment to thank Agent G who helped flush out my idea of having the Kazekage as the one that Sarutobi fought by suggesting that Orochimaru used Impure World Resurrection. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next won't be as long in the making. Sincerely your humble author S. o. t. A.