Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, wouldn't they have at least kissed by now? –Looks at episode three- Oh… well, believe me, if I owned it, it would be pay per view because the kissing wouldn't stop there.

Author's Note: I'm sorry if the battle scene is kind of stupid. My computer broke and I needed a new one so I couldn't update this as quickly as I would have liked. I promise after this chapter, they get much better. Well, there's one last battle scene and then it's back to the village. But by Chapter Fourteen, we'll have some nice angst in the Hidden Leaf. And yes, there will be some Yaoi too.

Chapter Twelve:

I had played right into their hands. They knew what I was planning all along, and I let myself be manipulated. They had me right where they wanted me.

Orochimaru took my shock and decided it would be time to strike. He did a hand sign. "Multiple Striking Shadow Snake Jutsu!" Four huge snakes shot out from his hand. They were jet black, and they were heading straight to me.

I couldn't move, I was in so much shock. The surrounded me, and slithered in a circle around me. One decided to take it's chance and strike, lunging towards me at the center of their circle. I jumped up, and rolled outside their circle. I made a hand sign.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I yelled. A ball that resembled a large rasengan surrounded the snakes. It wasn't chakra, though, it was wind, making a prison that they couldn't escape from.

With the snakes subdued, I turned my attention to my opponents. Kabuto charged at me, with his palm glowing a light blue. I knew what that meant - he was going to use taijutsu. I had to stay long range and use long range attacks. I jumped back, landing on the branch of the only tree in the entire clearing.

"I'm getting tired of this, Orochimaru," Itachi said. The bastard sounded bored! He looked at me in the tree. "Fire Style: Roaring Flame Sphere!" Sasuke used that jutsu before! While Sasuke's was only about the size of a rasengan usually, this one was the size of a meteor! Before it could hit the tree, I escaped. The ball obliterated the tree.

Itachi stepped forward. "Kabuto," he began, "Step down.." Kabuto looked from Itachi to Naruto to Orochimaru before retreating to his master. Itachi turned back to me. "You won't get out of this alive." He did another hand sign. "Water Style: Typhoon Jutsu."

I did a similar hand sign before saying, "Wind Style: Tornado Jutsu." Two tornados appeared, one made out of wind that I summoned, and one made out of water that he summoned. They were about the same size, and they met in the middle of our battlefield, colliding in a spectacular burst of air and water.

"You beat me last time," I growled, "but not again."

Naruto, I heard a voice say. But it wasn't outloud, it was within me. You cannot beat the three of them without some help.It was the Nine-Tailed Fox.

What do you mean? I asked it.

Let me take control of your body for a bit. I can use my immense chakra to destroy them.

I'm not stupid! I yelled at it. I know what you're capable of.

I will only release my Four Tailed Form. You will be surrounded by solid chakra. My will will be strong enough to fight them, but weak enough to submit to you if you wish to take over. I won't be the full-fledged fox.

No! I yelled. I'm not letting you out! I shut the fox out, focusing on Itachi. But part of me thought that I would need the fox's help at some point or another.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" There were hundreds of me surrounding Itachi, and we all began the rasengan. Two of us charged at him, but he grabbed both by their wrists before any damage could be done. While he was preoccupied, the others ran in towards Itachi to destroy him with rasengan. He swung my two clones by their wrists, effectively eliminating the threats of the other clones. He then threw the two he used as weapons to the ground, destroying the last of my shadow clones.

"Nice try, Uzumaki," he drawled, "but you'll need to do better if you wish to survive."

The first thought that came to my mind was to summon Gamabunta, but then I remembered that he had died. Gama could probably help, but he's grieving. I can't do that to him now. Plus, there was a good chance he wouldn't make it out of here either.

The thought of letting the fox take over crossed my mind again. But I couldn't do it. If I gave him an inch, he'd take a mile. I couldn't free him. Not until it was life or death.

"You think that's all I've got?" I asked. "You haven't seen nothing yet!"

Orochimaru stepped forward. "Itachi," he began, "this is taking too long. I'm going to finish him right now." Itachi moved - it looked more like he teleported - back to where Kabuto was. Orochimaru licked his lips and stared at me. He bit his thumb and put it to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation."

Four boxes rose out of the ground in front of Orochimaru - two on his left, and two on his right. I could distinctly hear Kabuto chuckling. The boxes - which I now realized were coffins - opened up, revealing four men.

"First Lord Hokage," Orochimaru said, as the man in the coffin on the far left stepped forward. "Second Lord Hokage," he continued, as the second Hokage began to stepp out of his coffin. "Third Lord Hokage," he said. It was the only Hokage I knew in person, and he stepped out. "Fourth Lord Hokage," he said with a mischievous smile. The fourth Hokage stepped out of the coffin and looked at me. The four looked around.

"Sarutobi," the First Hokage said. "It's been a long time."

"Orochimaru!" The Third Hokage said in a calm rage, "how dare you use this jutsu again to force us to fight." He looked at who he was to be facing. "And against Naruto Uzumaki, no less."

The Fourth Hokage looked up sharply. "Naruto," he began.

"And using the Fourth to fight his own son," The Third Hokage continued. "You're a monster."

The Fourth Hokage's son? I was...the son...of the Fourth Hokage? That explains why the pervy sage compared me to him. And why we had the same hair and eyes. Come to think of it, it made perfect sense. But I couldn't believe it. Of all the times to be paralyzed by shock, this was by far the worst.

"Naruto," The Fourth Hokage said again.

"Shut up, you fool," Orochimaru hissed. He took out four kunai and stuck them in the backs of the Hokage. Their appearances were the same as theirs when they died, but they looked more...dull. They seemed to be washed out in grey.

The Hokage looked at me.

"I'm sorry, son," The Fourth Hokage said before charging at me with a kunai.

"Dad?" I asked. I was barely able to dodge before he got me. The Third Hokage came behind me to attack, but I jumped again. But the Second Hokage was right behind me, and he struck me to the ground.

I got back up. "Orochimaru," I said, "you're using the Hokage to fight me. You must be a coward."

He snarled at me. "You can't bait me, brat!" he yelled. The Hokage began to converge, so I did my shadow clone jutsu. We split up, hoping to confuse the Hokage. One of me - a clone - began the rasengan against the First Hokage.

"Forgive me," I said before striking him in the gut. He flew back, hitting the ground. Another clone of mine did the same to the Second Hokage. The third caught on, and he caught my wrist before throwing me into the ground. The two clones who defeated the first two Hokage helped me do an Uzumaki Barrage, but the Third Hokage once again evaded.

Meanwhile, the real me was continuing to dodge the moves of the Fourth Hokage - my dad. I couldn't bring myself to hurt him, even if he was dead. I couldn't do it. I had just found him, and I couldn't do it. He began the rasengan and charged at me. I decided to use a ransengan to counter, and our rasengan collided.

After a brief stalemate, we were both pushed back far. My clones facing the Third Hokage were defeated, leaving the Third and Fourth Hokage teaming up against me.

"Wind Style: Whirlwind Ball Jutsu!" I yelled, and the ball of wind surrounded the Hokage. The Third Hokage used a fire style jutsu to disrupt it, though, and they were freed. They came at me. "Wind Style: Tornado Jutsu!" I yelled, and a tornado began around the Hokage. One of my jutsu had to succeed against them. They were thrown out of the tornado, and they landed next to the First and Second Hokage. "Take that, Orochimaru."

He smiled, and the Four Hokage all got up, as if I hadn't even hit them. My chakra was getting low, and I wouldn't be able to fight for much longer. I drew upon much of the Nine-Tailed Chakra, but I knew it wouldn't be enough for much. I felt the red chakra empower me, and I did another hand sign.

"Wind Style: Shuriken Tornado!" I was swept up in the familiar wind of the tornado and let out many shuriken, hoping they would hit the mark. As the tornado died, I realized that the sheer speed of the shuriken couldn't be avoided, as each of the Hokage had at least two shuriken in them. The First had two, the Second had three, the third had two, and the Fourth had four.

"You won't be able to hurt them, fool," Orochimaru hissed. The Four Hokage pulled the shuriken out, and threw them to the ground. I growled, before realizing that I needed much more help from the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Fine, I said. I'll do it. You can take over for now. But so help me, if you do ANYTHING...

Don't worry, it said. You'll thank me for this later.

I felt the red chakra swallow me up, as I became the fox. My body became a mere exoskeleton, as the fox's chakra became solid around me. The fox was in control now.

Orochimaru and Kabuto looked shocked. The four Hokage were just as shocked. Itachi, of course, was emotionless, but even I can tell he hadn't anticipated it.

I snarled again, before leaping in the air. The four Hokage were now on defense, and I had them right where I wanted them. Using jutsu would be hard because my hands were now used as paws, but it was doable. I don't know where the jutsu came from, but instinct had me do four unfamiliar hand signs.

"Demon Style: Demon Death Dance Jutsu!" I roared. Chakra exploded out of me, and I raced toward the Hokage. They all dodged, but the area that I had hit became a huge crater. I turned around to face the Hokage and Orochimaru.

He was upset, which meant that he was losing. He then settled on a smile, as the four Hokage all preformed the same hand sign.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" they yelled, and millions of shadow clones surrounded me. I could tell this would be hard, but doable. As they converged, I noticed something.

They came in waves. When the first wave had pinned me to the ground, they exploded, courtesy of paper bombs on each of their backs. It barely phased me. But as more and more waves of shadow clones did the same thing, my power whittled away, until finally, the four original Hokage were left. They converged on me in my weakened state, and exploded just the same.

They were pawns in Orochimaru's game. I felt the Nine-Tails chakra fade, as I returned to my normal state. I was too weak and beat up to do anything, and I was at the mercy of Orochimaru, who had taken out his Sword of Kusanagi, and had it pointed at me.

"This is the end for you, Naruto Uzumaki," Orochimaru said. He licked his lips. Man, that was getting annoying!

"STOP!" I heard two people scream at once. In between me and Orochimaru were Sakura and Sasuke, kunai in hand.

"If you want to kill Naruto," Sakura began.

"You have to get through us," Sasuke said.

"S-Sasuke," I said.

Chapter Twelve

Part Two:

Sakura Haruno had never been the strongest ninja. But, she was a quick thinker, and she excersized perfect chakra control. She was a brilliant kunoichi in many ways.

However, her training left a large gap in her ninjutsu - she only knew basic ninjutsu. She would need to learn new techniques if she stood a chance at being any help in her missions. Sakura knew this, and so did her mother.

Today, they were down at breakfast. Sakura's father had left the house early, leaving the two women alone.

"Sakura," her mother began. Sakura looked up. "I want to show you something."

That's how the two ended up by the river in the Hidden Leaf Village. Sakura honestly had no idea what was going on, but she didn't really have anything to do, so she just decided to go along with it.

"So what is it you want to show me?" she asked, obviously bored.

"I want to show you the secrets of the Haruno clan."

"But, Mom, we don't have a clan," she argued.

"That's where you're wrong," her mother told her. "Sakura, sit down."

"The Haruno Clan was once a major clan in the Village Hidden in the Rocks in the Land of Earth. Before the First Great Shinobi War, the Tsuchikage at the time decided to use our clan as weapons. We had a strong kekkei genkai, the ability to bend the Earth to our will. Some of the clan was unhappy being used as a weapon, so we fled the village.

"The village sent shinobi after our people during the exodus, and we were split. There are few members of the clan left, most of them having fled to the Land of Water. Your great-grandfather and your great-grandmother, along with three others, came to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and were accepted as refugees.

"Now, I will show you how to use our kekkei genkai. I've waited so long because it doesn't fully mature until the age of fifteen. Do you understand everything I've told you?"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Sakura asked, somewhat angrily. "I have a right to know what happened to my family!"

"Your father and I agreed that we wouldn't tell you until you could use the kekkei genkai, called Earth Puppetry," her mother said. "That's why I brought you out here."

So this was why her father and mother never taught her any advanced jutsu. That's why whenever Sakura asked what her elemental release was, her parents would overlook it.

Maybe I'm not as useless as I thought. Maybe if I learn how to use this Earth Puppetry, I could be of some use in my squad.

"How do I use this 'Earth Puppetry'?" she asked her mother.

OoOoOoOoO

"Sakura!" came the yell of a certain brunette academy student.

"What do you want, Konohamaru?" she asked him. "I'm in a rush."

"I just wanted to know if you've seen Naruto anywhere," he told the pink haired beauty.

"I-I can't-he's on a mission," she managed to choke out. She couldn't quite tell him that Naruto left the village and should be considered a missing ninja right about now. That wouldn't go over well.

"Well, where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to see Lord Hokage," she told him. "I'm requesting a special mission. Why do you need to see Naruto?" she asked.

"Udon, Moegi and I graduated the academy today!" he said, excited. "I wanted to show him my cool new headband."

"That's good for you," she said. "Who's your sensei?"

"Ebisu," he told the girl. "I wish we had a better teacher."

"It's been nice talking to you, Konohamaru, but I'm really in a rush," she told him, before rushing off.

"But," he began after she left, "you dropped your weapon pouch. I guess I'll have to return it."

OoOoOoOoO

"I know Naruto has left the village," Jiraya told Sakura after she burst into his office.

Okay, time to backtrack. Sakura came with the intention of requesting a mission - to bring back Naruto and Sasuke. Jiraya was none too surprised that the teens had fled the village, but he insisted they weren't missing ninja.

"Listen," he began, "Naruto was a student of mine. I know he and Sasuke left the village without permission. But if I said that, he'd be breaking the law, and he could be put to death if he returned. That's why, when I was informed of this development, I faked a mission that I supposedly sent them on."

"But Lord Hokage!" Sakura yelled. "That's illegal! And even if what they did is now legal, you need someone to bring them back."

"And you're going to do this all by yourself?" Jiraya asked.

"She'll have me, old man!" came the voice of a new genin at the doorway.

"Konohamaru!" Sakura yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"You dropped your weapons pouch, so I thought I'd bring it to you." He handed Sakura the pouch. Jiraya was glaring at the kid.

"Listen, kid, I'm not your grandfather. You can't burst in on my meetings calling me 'old man' like you did with Sarutobi Sensei. It's disrespectful."

"Naruto calls you the pervy sage," Sakura muttered, eliciting a glare from Jiraya.

"So I'm supposed to send a chunin and a genin on an A ranked mission all alone?" he asked.

"I'm great at camouflage," Konohamaru bragged. "We could probably find them and stay hidden long enough to bring them back."

"Fine," Jiraya said. "But I'm putting another chunin on your team - Shikamaru Nara."

"You can't!" Sakura yelled. "The only person who could reach those two are me." After a mock cough from the brunette behind her, she added, "and Konohamaru."

"Lord knows why," Jiraya sighed, "but fine. You have two weeks to bring Naruto and Sasuke back."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Sakura said. "Konohamaru, meet me at the gate in half an hour."

OoOoOoOoO

"I can't believe we woke up late!" she yelled. "We'll never catch up to Naruto and Kabuto now! For all we know, they've found Sasuke already and are looking for us!"

"We can catch up," Konohamaru told her. "Remember, they have to stop to fight Kabuto before coming back."

"Let's just pack up and get going," Sakura sulked. "If Naruto needed our help, we're of no use here."

They packed up and headed towards the general direction that Naruto and Kabuto headed in. Naruto's plan to pretend to be Orochimaru to get Kabuto to lead him to Sasuke was smart. But they didn't count on falling behind after the first night because of oversleeping.

After about an hour of traveling, the two were lost.

"We'll never find them!" Sakura yelled in exasperation. "It's over."

Before Konohamaru could respond, they saw an orange flash in the trees - the glow of fire.

"Sakura," Konohamaru began, "you don't think Naruto got into a fight, do you?"

"Let's go check," she said.

They headed towards the direction of the flash, to the outskirts of a clearing. She saw four coffins above the ground in front of Orochimaru. Behind him were Kabuto and...Itachi? And Naruto was battling them all alone!

"We have to help him," she said.

"No, wait," Konohamaru said. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a rustling bush about twenty meters away.

"Let's check it out," Sakura said. "For all we know, it's a trap to distract Naruto from the battle."

As the two shinobi skirted around the clearing, the finally found the bush, and someone hiding in it. The person was too engrossed in watching the battle, as Naruto fought off the First and Second Hokage who appeared with the Third and Fourth from the coffins.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled before Konohamaru could silence her. Luckily, no one in the battle heard over the noise of the fighting.

Sasuke turned his head. "Sakura! Konohamaru! What are you doing here?"

"We've been looking for you with Naruto," Sakura told him. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been following you guys, knowing that you'd lead me to Itachi. And I was right."

"How long have you -" Sakura began.

"I've been following you since the Sound Village. I've been watching the battle since the beginning."

"And you haven't helped Naruto?" she asked.

"When he needs help, I'll help him. It's best not to give up the element of surprise," he said plainly.

"We need to help him," she said, as Naruto turned into a red, fox-like creature. "We'll probably need more help than just ourselves. Konohamaru, go back to the village to get reinforcements."

"But what about-" he began to protest.

"Sasuke and I will hold them off. Request Lord Hokage, Lady Tsunade, and Might Guy. Tell them Orochimaru and Itachi are here."

Konohamaru pouted before leaving to get help. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura watched millions of Hokage shadow clones converge on Naruto, before blowing up. It seemed like forever until the original four latched onto Naruto and blew up, throwing him back into the ground.

The coffins turned to dust as Orochimaru stepped forward with a sword in his hand. "This is the end for you, Naruto Uzumaki," he said, licking his lips.

"Now!" Sasuke yelled, and we appeared in between the sannin and our teammate, kunai in hand.

"If you want to kill Naruto," Sakura began.

"You have to get through us," Sasuke said.

"S-Sasuke," Naruto whispered before passing out.

Author's Note: Okay, I know this wasn't exactly an amazing chapter, and I know that I made it a little weird with Sakura's new jutsu and stuff. If anything's unclear, leave a review and I'll try to fix it. Even if it's to just tell me how awful this chapter was, I love reviews. Favorites and alerts are like meat to my Naruto, but reviews are like ramen. And I'm really hungry right now.

Also, I think we're past the half way point here. There will be less action after the next chapter and there will be more angst/drama and a lot more romance. So please don't be discouraged by this awful chapter. Even if you guys deserve more after waiting such a long time for it.