Puppets of the Leaf
Chapter 15
By Riotv2
Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, looked around the village as it was fighting for it's very survival. Next to him Orochimaru, the orchestrator of the attack was laughing maniacally at the scene before him.
"Jiraiya…where is he?" Minato was looking longingly at the village he had given his life to defend once already.
The white-haired sannin instantly knew who his student was looking for. "That brat is just like his father. He ran off to fight a giant demon."
In the distance The Fourth could see two large forms dancing around a third as they fought. For a moment one of them leapt up into the air, and the breath caught in his throat as he recognized it as a giant fox.
"Is…is that…?"
Jiraiya looked over at the fight himself and began waving him arms frantically at his student. "No no no no, that's just a puppet. It even only has the one tail."
Minato looked confused for a moment. "Puppet? He's a Puppet User?"
Sarutobi laughed. "He picked up the technique in Suna when he was a kid. Actually he's become quite strong."
That brought a smile to the resurrected man. "He is…Are you teaching him then Sensei?"
Jiraiya let out a groan at the question, and seemed to shrink into himself. Sarutobi laughed harder.
"No, Naruto won't let him teach him anything, beyond letting him help with a few seals."
"Your brat thinks that summoning toads is a waste of his time."
Now Minato joined in with the Third. "In fact…" Sarutobi continued. "…he built that giant puppet to show up one of Jiraiya's larger summons."
Watching the three interact so casually while an invasion was under way, The Second Hokage leaned over to his brother. "I think we've been snubbed." The First could only nod with a smile on his face.
"I think we've had enough of this little reunion." Orochimaru walked over towards the First and Second Hokage, taking out two kunai with red tags attached to them. "It's time for you three to do what I summoned you for."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes at his old teammate. "Oh, you're still here?"
The Toad Sage's remark went ignored by his old teammate, as Orochimaru raised the kunai up behind the first two Hokage.
"Sorry Saru, I guess we're enemies this time…do what you have to."
"Yea, don't go easy on us now Old Man."
The Snake user thrust both kunai into the backs of their heads, the wounds closing instantly around them.
Suddenly their eyes took on blank stares and their posture lost any trace of their former personalities.
Minato watched this with a measured expression. "You summoned our souls back to this world so you could suppress them…keeping our abilities intact. Smart, insulting, but smart."
"Oh don't worry Minato-kun…I have something even better in store for you."
In a flash of movement, he had buried a third kunai into the fourths chest, this one with a black tag on it, the Kunai lodged in his heart, and unlike the other two who didn't seem to bat an eyelash, Minato was doubled over in pain as the hole closed around the weapon.
After a moment he regained his composure, and stood strait up. The others on the roof watched this expecting to see him take on a zombie-like state, as the first two had done, however the beloved hero of their village remained as he was.
"I wont grant you the gift of not knowing what you are about to do, Minato-kun. You will be aware of every life you take…starting with those two. This village, which once hailed you as a hero, will curse your name far worse than they have cursed mine."
Jiraiya seethed. What his old teammate had just done was beyond even what he thought he was capable of.
Sarutobi just shook his head. "Are you really that bitter that I didn't name you Hokage…or is this because his son has become just as big a pain in your ass as he was?"
All the leaf nin on the roof began to laugh at that, even Minato. "Has he? Now I'm really proud of that boy."
Orochimaru gritted his teeth in anger. "KILL THEM ALL!!" The first two Kages ran strait at the large group of leaf nin, causing the ANBU to scatter and Sarutobi to rush strait back at them.
Jiraya tried to follow, but was stopped when a hand clamped onto his shoulder. He turned to see Minato looking at him with a tear running down his face.
The Fourth held back his fist. "I'm sorry Sensei…"
Jiraiya could only nod as the fist flew at his face.
Deep in the forest surrounding the village, a large group of San Ninja knelt in a large circle around a seal that had been drawn on the ground. Each held a scroll and was focusing their chakra into the seal, while an Oto Nin oversaw the ritual.
A rustling in the bushes behind them caused the Sound nin to turn swiftly throwing a kunai into the foliage.
It was caught by an ANBU in a black hooded cloak.
The ninja got into a fighting stance, but relaxed when the man took off his mask revealing the glasses and white hair beneath.
"A bit jumpy are we?"
"Kabuto-sama!" The man snapped into a salute.
Orochimaru's chief servant stepped into the clearing and threw aside his cloak, exposing his stump of an arm to them.
"Is everything ready here?"
"Hai, we're just about ready to complete the summoning."
"Good, proceed."
The man nodded and turned to the Sand Ninja, who hadn't even flinched when Kabuto had shown up.
As one they all lifted their scrolls and slammed them into the ground at each point in the outer seal.
After a large eruption of smoke, a huge three headed snake thrashed it's way towards the village walls.
The tired Sand ninja got to their feet, planning to join in the assault, until Kabuto called out to them.
"Hold on, I need you all for one more summoning."
One of them stepped forward. "We won't have enough chakra for that."
Kabuto smiled. "Don't worry you won't need any, and it won't take but a moment."
The Sound spy, bit his lower lip and smeared the blood onto his palm, then preformed a few one-handed seals, and slammed his hand down onto the ground. A second explosion of smoke filled the forest, and a deep hissing sound ran out around them, followed by a deep angry voice.
"Orochimaru! Where are you!"
The smoke began to clear and the ninja gathered there saw that they were surrounded by the massive coils of a massive purple horned snake.
Kabuto bowed reverently to him. "Manda-samma…"
The king of all snakes focused on the tiny man. "Oh it's you…were is Orochimaru? He knows better than to summon me without an offering…"
"Of course my Lord, as his representative… I offer you these lives as a sacrifice to your greatness…" As the Medic said this he indicated the Sand and Sound ninja currently wetting themselves behind him.
Manda considered them. "They will do…for a start."
Kabuto just watched as the clearing filled with the sounds of battle and the screams of a slaughter.
Naruto was becoming frustrated.
It seemed that Shukaku had caught onto their plan, because he had switched back to using long ranged attacks to keep either Naruto or the Toad Boss, Gamabunto from getting too close. And all of Gammabunta's own long range attacks were getting intercepted by the Ichibi's Air Bullets.
Both Naruto and Gamabunta came at him from different, nearly opposite sides, hoping to overwhelm him. However the sand demon simply responded by shoopint two blasts of air at them, one from his mouth and a second from another mouth that formed on his back.
Hinata and his clones, meanwhile, were hanging on for dear life, each disguised clone anchoring himself, as well as Hinata, to the puppet with their own chakra strings. Naruto risked a glance down at them, and caught sight of a large plume of smoke coming from beyond the outer wall to the north.
"What's going on over there?"
Hinata had her bloodline activated before he finished the sentence. She focused her sight on that direction, and let out a gasp.
"S…snakes…there are giant snakes attacking the village!"
"What?! Hey, Toad Boss…you hear that?"
Gammabunta was currently leaping at Gaara with his sword, this time managing to catch him in the shoulder. The blow left the arm dangling by a few threads of sand.
Once he landed on the other side he leapt up again, and spun to look in the direction of the smoke.
Naruto had absolutely no idea that a frog could growl.
"I know that devil!" he said as he landed. "It's one of Orochimaru's summons."
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Orochimaru…that bastard!"
"Jiraiya's busy, and I don't think anyone else in this village can fight something that size…" The toad was torn between the fight here, and the other opponents waiting for him.
Naruto nodded. "OK, go…I'll deal with Gaara until you get back!"
Gamabunta looked at the boy, an image of another man settling over him for a moment before fading again.
"Yea…I'll be back after I deal with him."
With another leap and another blast of water for good measure, the giant toad raced away to the north.
The attack was again intercepted by one of Shukaku's Air Bullets, the collision creating a monsoon in the surrounding area.
Naruto didn't hesitate.
Screaming his defiance at the monster, he rushed right through the storm at the raccoon, ducking, rather than leaping, under the damaged arm as it tried to swat at him. As he passed under the limb, he whipped his tail up into the shoulder .
The impact smashed through the, slowly, regenerating wound and finished what the Toad Boss had started.
The overly large arm fell to the ground with a loud crash, dissolving back into loose sand.
Shukaku, however, seemed to take no notice, as he whipped his own tail around and into the side of the fox puppet, sending it rolling across the ground.
The two disguised clones wrapped themselves around Hinata and took the brunt of the impact as they fell, dispelling them both and leaving her relatively unharmed. Naruto also wasn't seriously injured, as he had managed to anchor himself to the puppet. Though he was breathing heavily and he had a gash above one eye that bled into his vision.
The boy wiped away the blood, as he tried to get the puppet upright again, despite the damage it may have taken, and was mildly surprised to see that Hinata had climbed back onto the puppet with him.
Before he could object, or even think about it, the overgrown raccoon continued it's assault.
'Sauske' exploded into flame as a Sound nin managed to stab him in the back. The man was consumed by the fire and began to flail around in pain and terror until the real Sasuke sent him over the railing and down into the arena with a kick to his back.
"That should do it here…" Sakura said as she stood up from where she had been bandaging the arm of a civilian.
The two of them had continued to carry out their orders, despite the disappearance of their teammate. The fact that they had been left behind while he went off to fight the Sand's demon had pissed Sasuke off immensely. Fortunately there were plenty of Sound Ninja for him to take it out on. Though, the mark on his neck would not stop throbbing.
They both looked around for more enemies, but as far as they could tell, there were none left in their immediate area. Sasuke, let his Sharringan fade to conserve his chakra, and swayed a bit from the vertigo he experienced as a result of his now reduced vision. Sakura was also feeling the results of the long battle. She had been healing not just the civilians, but also any Leaf Nin she came across that needed it, an act that had actually saved the life of one Chunnin. Still, with her limited reserves, she was practically running on empty.
They were still looking around when a presence dropped down behind them.
As one they both turned, driving a kunai each into the person, only for them to bounce off of a solid object with a distinctive metallic clang.
From around the other side of the large object, their sensei poked his head out and gave them that familiar eye-smile. "Yo…" he greeted them as if they all had just gone through a team training exercise rather than fighting for the survival of their village. "…how are you two holding up?"
Sakura fell gracelessly to the floor, while Sasuke supported his weight on his knees, both looked as though they were having a heart attack.
"Well…it looks like the area's secured for now." He motioned them along after him as he made his way towards a group of other leaf nin who stood against the railing not far off. They were all looking in the direction of the path that Shukaku had taken through the village.
"Sensei…is Naruto going to be ok fighting that thing?" Sakura asked, worried for their friend.
It took a moment for him to answer, a fact that neither of them failed to notice. "Yes…I think he will."
The girl still didn't look convinced. "The Toad Summon he went with was personal summon of the Fourth Hokage. It must have been summoned by Jiraiya of the Sannin…who was the Fourths teacher. They should be able to handle it together."
'…right…?'
Jiraiya and his old student charged at one another, both hands held back with a small sphere of swirling light held in each. They both thrust outward at the same time and their attacks met in a thundering clash of light and sound.
When the initial shock-wave subsided the two men were still standing there pressing their four Rasengan together, the sound they were creating similar to thousands of nails on a chalk board, carried for over a mile.
Despite the overwhelming situation they found themselves in, despite the fact the Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was trying to end the life of a man who had been a father to him, albeit against his will, both men were smiling.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi, who hadn't even spared them a glance and summoned Enma, the monkey king was now using the ape's staff from to ward off the attacks of the First Hokage, while the Second Hokage was chasing around what was left of the ANBU forces.
Sarutobi leapt backward, attempting to put some distance between them and thrust outward, the staff seeming to stretch. It shot towards the First Hokage, who ducked aside and was grabbed by the back of his armor when an arm grew out of the side of the pole.
Without stopping, and carrying the First along with it, the pole continued onward to hit the back of the Seconds knee.
The ANBU scattered when the blow caused him to lose his balance and stumble. The man turned around just in time to collide with his brother, who had come along for the ride.
The two armor clad Kage rolled and tumbled for a moment but quickly untangled themselves. Their faces a complete blank.
Orochimaru looked at the brothers with an exasperated sigh, then back at the Fourth and Jiraiya, still trying to out Rasengan one another. Their smiles made him sick. Holding out his arm, towards them, several snakes flew out and hit the Fourth in the back.
The force of the impact pushed him forward, causing their attacks to slip. The Fourth let out a painful scream as the Sannin's twin spheres impaled his shoulder and stomach. After only a second, which seemed like an eternity for the aging ninja, he was blown away in an erratic spin to smack into a giant tree which had sprouted as per the First Hokage.
"Minato!" Jiraiya rushed towards his student's side either not hearing or ignoring the pounding laughter of his old teammate.
The Fourth's body had been decimated by the attack. His entire arm, as well as most of his midsection had been destroyed. Pain was clearly written across Minato's face, but even as Jiraiya approached he could see that the damage was repairing itself at a rapid pace. He slowed to a stop as his student rose to his feet, clearly as surprised as he was.
"Kukukuku…you see Jiraiya? You cannot win this fight…any wounds you inflict upon them will only regenerate…the Leaf will fall." The snake carried off into another fit of laughter. Minato, with a tired pained look on his face, prepared to continue their fight, when Orochimaru called him to stop.
"Minato-kun, I have something for you...I hope you appreciate all the trouble I went through to find all of these."
The sannin opened his mouth and a snake slithered out of his mouth, depositing a rolled up bundle in his waiting hand then returned to the man's body.
"At first Iwa was very reluctant to let these go...but after I explained that they would be used to bring the Leaf to it's knees...well they were only too happy to donate them."
Orochimaru tossed the object to the Fourth, who had started to tremble at what he suspected was within the bundle. He carefully began to unroll the fabric, and his eyes widened with fear, not for himself, but for all those he held dear to him, who, in all likely hood, were about to die.
"You...bastard..."
Hinata could see the strain on Naruto as he was trying to get his puppet moving again. Through her family's bloodline, she knew that he would soon run out of chakra, a thing that hadn't seemed possible, knowing what massive stores he seemed to have.
But now, he was already beginning to tremble with the effort of calling on as much as he could manage.
"Hinata-chan..."
His voice, grave and low, caught her by surprise.
"I don't know how much longer this can go on...I need you to get out of here...I'll try to keep him here as long as I can, but I need you to let everyone you can find know that...he'll probably attack again soon..."
The words echoed in the back of her mind. 'He'll hold him for as...Naruto-kun...'
She was still thinking about it when they were violently thrown sideways as Naruto dodged another attack. The move punctuated by a loud crack coming from the shoulder joint of his puppet, where Shukaku's attack had landed the hardest.
She shook herself free of the possibility that Naruto would lose, and placed her hands in a seal focusing all of her chakra into her hands. She then, hesitantly reached out and placed them on his back, transferring all of the chakra that she could to him.
Naruto was trying to determine what Shukaku's next attack would be. When he didn't hear Hinata respond to him, he assumed that she had gone. However he instead felt a light pressure on his back, accompanied by a warm feeling spreading out through his body.
"Y...You can win N..Naruto-k...kun..."
Hinata was giving him her chakra...she still had faith that he would win...
The demon threw another swipe at them with his tail, which Naruto leaped over and rushed at the demon, screaming a challenge, intent on going after Gaara directly.
Shukaku stood watching the fox puppet approach, unmoving, unyielding...then he ducked.
Naruto's scream died in his throat, as he watched the demon smiling up at him from below, it's body more like fluid than sand at the moment. For a brief moment, he saw Gaara clearly on the top of the monster's head, and knew this was the best shot he had. He couldn't waste in. The whip like tail of Fox once again came down on the demon, aiming directly for the sleeping Jinchuriki, only to be caught by a large wave of sand that quickly solidified into the arm that had been destroyed by Hinata's father.
Shukaku's laughter echoed through the clearing as he yanked downward, slamming the fox into the ground and snapping the tail off in the process at it's root. The shoulder joint, damaged earlier by the demon, shattered and the limb flew off spinning as it went.
Dazed, Naruto looked around him for a Hinata. She had managed to cling to the puppet, but seemed to be nursing her arm, which was bent slightly at an odd angle in the middle of her forearm, as she lay shaking and crying across the twisted neck of the puppet. Naruto tried to crawl towards her, but was stopped as pain lanced up through his leg.
Looking down he saw a jagged piece of wood sticking out through his thigh.
Shukaku was dancing wildly around what was now a far larger clearing in the forest outside the besieged village, swinging the tail around like a trophy.
His antics died as he focused on them once more.
Naruto felt weak. The chakra that Hinata had given to him, used up. He had never been this close to complete chakra exhaustion in his life. His head swam with the blood loss from his leg, and Hinata didn't look as though she could get away now. He couldn't tell how great the damage to his puppet was, even if he had the chakra to move it again. Which he knew he didn't.
He had failed...his sensei...his friends...his village. He had failed them all.
"...I'm...sorry..." Darkness closed in and he was swallowed in sweet peaceful oblivion.
A giant purple head fell to the ground alongside the still twitching body of the three headed snake it had been attached to. Gamabunta wiped his sword clean on one of the flags worn by the serpent, and exhaled a puff of smoke as he was cheered by those few Leaf Ninja in the area.
The toad boss turned back in the direction of the battle he had just left. He still wasn't that sure about leaving the kid to take on Shukaku alone, but at the time there had been little choice.
Besides, the Gaki had a lot of his father in him. That much was clear from the beginning. Gamabunta didn't need Jiraiya to confirm it. He would've recognized the son of his friend anywhere.
As he put his sword away the sound of Shukaku laughing began to carry towards him from the distance. It could only mean trouble for the kid.
He crouched low and leapt into the air, going back to help, but was grabbed from below when a long thick object wrapped around itself around the lower half of his body, dragging him down just outside the ruined wall of the village.
As soon as he hit the ground, the object began to entangle him in it's monstrous embrace. Amidst his struggling, Gamabunta locked eyes with the last being he ever expected to see again.
"SsSsSsSs....Had I known that you would be here...I would not have required any sacrifices. I would have gladly killed you for free, Toad."
"It's good to..ACK!...see you too, Manda..."
The snake began to squeeze tighter drawing a strangled cry from his victim.
Gamabunta dropped his pipe, which bounced off the thick scales of the snake and rolled down to rest on the ground next to them.
Seeing the brush catch fire from it's large embers, the toad boss sucked in as much air as his crushed lungs were able with the snake crushing the life out of him.
For his part, Manda was rearing upward and unhinging his jaw, preparing to swallow the toad whole.
He never expected his prey to be able to fight back.
Gamabunta exhaled a small amount of oil at the open mouth of his rival. At the foul taste, Manda convulsed wildly, loosening his grip in the process.
Gamabunta began to thrash around trying to free himself, and after a moment he was able to hop free and spewed out more oil, coating the snake all over with it. He then picked up his pipe and stood holding it up in his left hand, while his right hung limply at a severe angle.
"Manda..."
The snake snapped it's focus on him.
"...burn in hell, snake." He tossed the pipe at his nemesis, and the oil caught fire instantly, engulfing him in a wildly writhing screaming blaze. Gamabunta just stood watching for a moment before picking up his sword from where it had fallen and slammed it down into the snakes head, causing it to vanish in a ploom of smoke.
He breathed heavily in relief. "Next time, Snake." Then out of energy himself, he too disappeared.
Minato's body seemed to be acting on it's own. He watched, resignedly as his own hands placed two exploding tags on the tightly wrapped bundle. He preformed a quick seal then threw the package up into the air as high as he could.
Dread overcame the Leaf Ninja who were beginning to understand, but all prayed that they were wrong...they weren't.
The bundle exploded, sending the contents flying out in all directions. Some of the Leaf Ninja tried to dodge/deflect the projectiles. While others hid behind whatever cover they could find. One unlucky ANBU caught three of the objects with his chest and neck, and fell over lifelessly.
One such object thudded down into the ground at Jiraiya's feet. He picked it up and, upon closer examination he found it to be an oddly shaped kunai, with a three-pronged blade and a complicated multi-layered seal on the grip.
There were hundreds of them scattered around the roof. The entire area inside the barrier had just become a killing field.
He tossed aside the knife, and began his own set of seals, before clapping his hands together, and pressing them into the ground, calling everyone to gather around him.
The ANBU were too slow. The First flash of light was quickly followed by a scream, and shocked cries of disbelief. Then another flash and a second scream, then another....and another.
Jiraiya cursed as his Jutsu took effect, like before the surface of the roof began to melt into a swampy water and swallowed the Fourths famed Kunai.
The floor re-solidified and left an area roughly half the size of the area where there were no more kunai and so where the Fourths Hirashin no longer worked.
The Third smiled at his student, a smile, Orochimaru noted, that was mirrored by the Fourth. He looked briefly at the first two Hokage's who had been standing off to the side, and the brothers threw themselves back into battle, while the Fourth joined them in combating the two powerful Ninja and three remaining ANBU.
Switching tact this time, the Fourth went after his predecessor, while the First battled with Jiraiya The second grabbed one ANBU by his face hard enough to shatter his mask and slammed him bodily into another, while the remaining one used his broken katanna to keep him at bay long enough for the others to recover and rejoin the fight.
As if on a whim Orochimaru picked up one of the stray Hiraishin kunai and with a casual air, tossed it near the unmasked ANBU. Sarutobi was momentarily blinded as a bright flash indicated the activation of the Fourth's signature Jutsu.
The ANBU didn't even scream as his throat was cut.
The fighters used the distraction to switch opponents, as Jiraiya once again took on his student and the Third pulled the First away from the ANBU, who he now noticed wore plain white masks, that might have been any of a dozen animals, and both, like the others, carried broken swords.
'...ROOT?...'
As the fighting continued, Orochimaru noticed that Jiraiya had the palms of his hands pressed together, while using his feet to ward off the Fourth. What exactly he was doing, he could not tell, but it mattered little after the Fourth stabbed him in the stomach with a normal kunai.
At least it didn't matter until the Toad Sage burst into smoke.
'...Kage-Bunshin?'
Jiraiya watched his clone get destroyed from up on a branch of the giant tree, while a second came, seemingly out of nowhere to take up the fight. His hands were still pressed together, and he let out a huge sigh.
It had been a long time since he had been forced to go this far to win a fight, but still, a perverse sense of pride filled him that it was his own student that made him do so.
Below, Orochimaru watched the real Jiraiya out of the corner of his eye, while the Fourth fought a clone.
'What are you up to, pervert?'
Kakashi turned towards the barrier in which, presumably, the Third was still fighting with the snake traitor.
He wasn't sure what had drawn his attention, but there was a very faint sound, like a buzzing vibration in the air, that was both familiar and nearly unknown, as if he only knew the feeling from a half remembered dream. None of the others seemed to even be aware of it.
"Sensei? What is it?" His two students were following his gaze, along with the other Jonin and Chunin.
His visible eye narrowed as he examined the roof of the building above them. There was something...a feeling there...he stretched out with all of his senses, trying to pin it down.
There were several powerful presences up there, he mentally began to count them off.
'...That's the Third...and Jiraiya-samma....the traitor...those two are unknown, but...that one...I...'
Suddenly a bright yellowish light illuminated the interior of the barrier, followed moments later by another.
Kakashi's eyes widened with shock. The pieces all seemed to fit with one impossible conclusion.
"Sensei!"
Without waiting for the others, nor even an explanation, he took off running up the side of the wall towards the roof, his two students trailing behind him and Kurenai, Asuma and Gai bringing up the rear.
Kakashi took a running leap, forcing so much chakra into his feet, that he blew a hole into the side of the building and came to rest next to a cloaked ANBU member standing at the edge of the barrier.
What he saw inside the barrier...shook him to the core.
A man, someone he had looked up to, who had been like a father to him after his own had died, the person who had taught him what it meant o be a ninja, the same man he saw every day in the face of is own student, who had given his life to defend their village, from a rampaging demon, stood not twelve feet from him, His white cloak fluttering heroically in the wind.
It was an image that was burned into his mind. The last time he had seen the man he had been standing in that same pose atop the head of the toad boss, Gammabunta, about to face the Fox.
"...Minato-sensei..."
And in a flash of light he was gone, streaking across the roof towards Orochimaru, and Kakashi was sure it would be the end of the traitor, until the Fourth stopped well short of the criminal and killed two Leaf ANBU with a single pass of his distinctive kunai.
He watched the last three remaining ANBU gather near Jiraiya, as he preformed his Swamp of the under world.
"Sensei...what...?" He was in shock. His friend, his hero, had just killed fellow Leaf Ninja.
All he could hear at that moment was the hissing laughter of Orochimaru, who it seemed had caught sight of all those now watching. By now the others had caught up and they too now stood with mouths agape at the sight of the greatest hero in the history of the village, killing their own people.
"Y...Yondiame...sama...w...why..."
Sasuke and Sakura turned as one towards Shikamaru's sensei, Asuma, with shock on their faces, for they were too young to understand the full horror of what they were seeing. The hadn't, until now, known who the man in the white cloak was.
As Sasuke watched, he saw the other two former Hokage as well, and with a tight smile, activated his Sharringan, and began studying the fight with renewed interest, hoping to pick up a new technique that would help him kill his brother.
Kakashi also rounded on his friend, causing the man to drop his cigarette at the sudden movement, as Kakashi grabbed him by his vest and yanked him forward.
"NO!...My sensei would never kill a member of this village...whatever has happened, whatever Orochimaru has done...The Fourth Hokage is NOT A TRAITOR!"
The enraged Jonin gave Asuma a shove backward that was, perhaps a bit more forceful than it was meant to be, and turned back to the fight in time to see a cloud of smoke envelope Jiraiya, who had been up in a tree.
One of the nearby ANBU began filling them in on what had happened before they arrived.
Before the smoke had time to fully disperse on it's own, a blur raced out of it and towards the First and Second. Both were sent flying backwards towards the large tree.
Where they had stood previously, was Jiraiya, leaning forward so that his white mane of hair fell completely over his face. He held his two fists thrust outward, from where he hit the two Kage.
"Well...this is a fine mess we're in."
"It's been so long since you called us here, and now we need to fight against them of all people?!"
"Young man! What the hell have you been up too?!"
Jiraiya straitened out and his hair fell away to reveal two small frogs seemingly growing out of his shoulders. His face had also taken on a drastic change as it was now more amphibian in nature.
"Sorry guys it couldn't be helped. Orochimaru brought them back and is now controlling them."
The Snake Sannin gritted his teeth in annoyance. "...Sage Mode..." He had only ever seen this technique used once before, when Jiraiya had used it to save his life the day they had been dubbed the 'Sannin'.
Now he was no longer absolutely sure of victory, but he was sure enough.
"Orochimaru..." Said Jiraiya. "I've grown tired of watching you turn my student into a murdering puppet... I may not have the full measure of your techniques anymore...but I trained him...hell, I raised him since he was a kid...and I know his weaknesses."
This brought several gasps of shock from those watching, mostly that the legendary man in question even had any weaknesses.
Without further comment, the two frogs on his shoulders began to sing. Their combined song froze the Yellow Flash in place, His face, oddly serene even as his body struggled to break free of the technique.
Orochimaru was livid. '...dammit...a genjutsu...'
He started moving towards them, hoping to break his slave-weapon free before his old teammate could get to him. He wasn't fast enough.
As soon as the genjutsu had taken effect, Jiraiya had rushed to his side, a Rasengan in his hand.
"I'm sorry...son..." The Fourth only smiled as the shinning ball of swirling energy was thrust into his exposed chest, directly over his heart.
Before the technique could send him flying into the barrier, Jiraiya grabbed onto his arm, holding him in place as he continued to dig the sphere into his friends body. The Fourth let out a scream that was inhuman, and after a moment more the Toad Sage released the technique while it was still inside his body, blowing a hole out of his back.
Bits of dirt and other unidentifiable things pelted the Snake as he had been standing behind the Fourth at the time. Multiple horrified sounds came from everyone on the roof, even Orochimaru who reached down to yank a Kunai out of his leg.
His eyes widened visibly and his hand began to shake as he saw a black tag hanging off of the end.
The Fourth fell limply to the floor and Jiraiya released his sage form, sagging in exhaustion. It had been years since he had been this tired.
Orochimaru cast the Kunai aside and signaled to the other two kage. The First, without verbally responding, began a short series of seals. All around him, a strange darkness seemed to spread, drowning all of the light within it and blinding all of those present.
'...crap...' was Jiraiya's only response.
Then as quickly as it had spread, the Darkness receded back to its source before vanishing all together. Jiraiya looked to the First to see both him and the Second held from behind by two copies of the Third. Their bodies were shaking and soon dissolved into the corpses of two Sound ninja.
Jiraiya looked towards his sensei who was holding a complicated seal in front of him. The seal was all too familiar to him.
"You didn't..."
The shirts of the two clones had ripped away to leave a seal on their abdomens in the shape of a spiral.
"There was no other way Jiraiya..It has to be done."
The Third pointed the seal at Orochimaru as another clone leapt up behind him. The clone grabbed him in the same way the others had their targets, and after a moment his shirt ripped as well.
"Can you see it yet Orochimaru...can you see what awaits us?"
His eyes opened wide as the spectral form of the Shini-gami appeard before him.
Then he began to laugh.
His mouth opened wide and another Orochimaru slithered his way out of him. The first Orochimaru turned to mud.
Sarutobi's eyes grew wide."...No..."
All three clones vanished as one, and the aging Hokage gripped his body as he fell over in pain. The two remaining ANBU rushed to his side.
"HOKAGE-SAMA!"
"It...cannot be helped...Jiraiya..I leave him...to ...you..."
The white haired man nodded, though he knew he was in no shape to match his old teammate.
"Actually...I think I'll handle it if you don't mind, Ero-Sensei."
All eyes were drawn to where the Fourth was now rising to his feet. The hole in his body was nearly done regenerating and he flexed his hands and arms as if testing the extent of his newly healed injuries.
"It is my job as Hokage after all."
Jiraiya could only nod in awe at his student.
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, the Fourth grinned evilly at Orochimaru, who had back up to the far side of the roof. With his last step he accidentally kicked over a kunai that was sticking out of the ground. It clattered to the floor and he realized his mistake.
The Fourth vanished in a flash of yellow light.
All those present were unprepared for what happened next. As Orochimaru came flying towards Jiraiya only to be blasted aside in another burst of light, and again a moment later by another.
This went on for nearly three full minutes, and all those watching could only laugh in growing excitement as Orochimaru was manhandled all around the interior of the barrier in a strange game of pinball.
For the two younger members of team seven it was something right out of a history book, literally the only lecture that all of them had paid attention to was the one about this man.
Kakashi had tears growing at the sight, as did many of those who were around for the Rock-leaf war.
As the multiple flashes of light grew in intensity, all over the village, Ninja of both sides stopped fighting to watch the strange fireworks, and only a few realized their significance.
However, all those who were fighting to defend their village and loved ones, gained a renewed sense of courage and their hearts were lifted almost as one, and began fighting back with a determination that shattered what was left of the resolve of their attackers.
Jiraiya who had taken a seat on the broken tiles of the roof, smiled in glee as Orochimaru flew towards him and was then slammed down into the roof, causing a large crater, under the heal of the Yellow Flash who was now standing over him, with wisps of yellow energy clinging to his body. His foot was still planted into the pale mans gut.
Cheers rang up all over the roof as Minato glared down at the twitching form of their enemy.
"All of your plans have failed...you are defeated and the Leaf still stands. When will you learn that you cannot extinguish the will of fire that burns within this place?"
Orochimaru, with much difficulty tilted his head and looked around him at the crowd that had gathered, however none noticed him meeting the eyes of his four subordinates.
Jiraiya joined his student and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Go on Minato...finish it...for his sake as well as that of the village."
The Fourth looked down on him again as if considering that very action. The shook his head.
"No...he will stand trial first."
With that he wiped a small amount of the man's blood onto his hand and began a long complicated series of seals, that even Jiraiya lost track of.
Everyone present was so mesmerized by their savior that they missed the small hand sign that Orochimaru was trying to make.
Minato finished his seals and his right hand began to glow with an intense bluish light. Finally Jiraiya realized what his student was intending. "Are you sure about that...after all he's done..."
"I;m sure."
Minato raised his hand and leaned down intending to press the technique onto his foes head and then gripped his chest as pain with his other.
"K...kai..."
He stumbled back and was supported by Jiraiya
Orochimaru let out a rasping laugh, which was quickly choked out in pain as he released the hand sign he had formed.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Minato Namikaze pushed away from his sensei and fell across the prone snake user. There was a small blue flash and they both lay still.
Jiraiya rolled his student off of his old teammate, and held him tenderly up on his bent knee.
"What happened...Minato?"
*cough* "He...released... the summoning..."
First Jiraiya's eyes opened wide then closed in grief as he realized he would watch his student die for the second time.
He looked towards Orochimaru only to see him staring vacantly up at the sky. His mouth open in a silent scream as long lines of seals extending out from where the Fourth had gripped his forehead. They entwined themselves around his entire body, along his chakra pathways that ran throughout his broken body.
When they had finished covering his coils, the seals lost their glow and remained in place on his skin, sealing all of the snakes chakra away within his own body, forever.
This was an ancient, painful technique to endure, however it wouldn't kill the person it was used on. The point was to force them to live. And had thus far only been used this one time in the history of the village. Thus was the severity of the threat he posed.
The barrier around them began to waver and them collapsed as the area was engulfed in smoke. Jiraiya felt four presences run by in the cover of the smoke, but with all they had been through, he didn't even try to stop them from taking Orochimaru.
Several of those watching tried to follow but were blocked my a massive wall of webbing that had been erected by a boy with six arms.
Then they were gone. Those who had watched the titanic battle gathered around the two fallen Hokage.
Kakashi knelt down beside his sensei, and placed trembling hands on his arm.
"...M...Minato-sensei..."
The Yondiame, who's skin had taken on a deathly gray color looked up at him and smiled warmly.
"Kakashi...given up on being an ANBU?" The Jonin matched his smile, though none could tell, and the Fourth looked over his shoulder catching a glimpse of his two students.
"And those are your students?" The two began to figit under his gaze. He looked around as if looking for something.
"...only two...?"
Kakashi's visible eye widened and he turned so sharply that Sakura flinched.
"Both of you, get Naruto over here NOW!"
Neither moved, not exactly understanding what was going on, He was about to repeat it when he felt a restraining hand on his arm.
"No...there isn't... time...Kakashi..."
"But..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"I... would love... to see him...grown...but not...like this..." Kakashi took his hand in his, and the fingers began to crumble. Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut against the image. When he opened them again a single tear rolled down his cheek.
"...With...you as his...teacher...I...know he...must be...strong..."
Sakura leaned in close to Sasuke. "What are they talking about? What would Kakashi-sensei want us to get Naruto?"
Sasuke let the questions go without comment as he gazed down at the two, or more specifically at the Fourth Hokage. At his fading yellow hair, and deep blue eyes.
It began to dawn on him. "...oh..."
"When...he is...ready..."
"I know Sensei...I still have it safe." He paused for a moment, then continued in a soft gentle voice. "He looks just like you, you know." then he laughed. "But he gets all of his personality from his mother."
This caused him to let out a laugh, that was followed by a coughing fit, which caused his decay to hasten.
The Fourth focused on the view presented to him of his village. Now broken and still smoking in a few places, but the sun was now shining down on his face, and to Kakashi, it seemed he had never been more at peace, nor so full of pride at the beauty of his home.
"I'm...glad...that I... had... this... time........."
He never finished his sentence.
The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, dissolved into dust and ash and, taken by the wind was scattered across the village, he had given his life, twice, to defend.
Kakashi, his two students, and Jiraiya bowed their heads in silent prayer, before being pulled back to their thoughts.
"HOKAGE-SAMA!"
The two older ninja looked on in horror at the still from of the Third.
'...so...this is what death is like..." *drip*
Naruto felt a cool wet spot on his cheek. Curiously, he wiped the water off of his face and opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized they were closed.
He took in his surroundings, and found that he was in some sort of tunnel, water leaked in from above, though he couldn't see quite from where. His first thought was that he had fallen into some kind of sewer or emergency tunnel that ran under the village.
Naruto slowly got to his feet and, was somewhat surprised that he could do so, when only moments ago he had been barley able to raise his own head.
Then a horrifying thought intruded on his mind. 'How long have I been down here?'
As he walked in search of a way out he also checked himself over for injuries...and found not even a single scratch, nor even a spec of dirt. That was strange in itself, considering he seemed to be underground. And then there was his stamina...he could still feel the fatigue of chakra exhaustion, or rather he knew he could still feel it, but in a sort of detached way. As if it were a sound carrying from a long distance.
Around him the tunnel steadily grew bigger until he found himself in some kind of junction. The tunnel opened into a large room, whose walls reached up into the empty black void above.
He wandered into the center of the room still looking upward, scanning the blackness for any trace of light that might point to a way out, and lost his footing when he slipped on a wet patch of floor and landed in a big puddle of water.
Mentally cursing his own clumsiness he began to shake out his long sleeves to rid them of the heavy liquid.
He tried to stand again only to loose his footing a second time, and landed face first in the water.
He was about to try again when he felt something strange come over him. He was beginning to feel slightly more energized, as if he'd just taken half a soldier pill. The sensation felt as far away as the exhaustion had a minute ago, but he could definitely tell that something was happening.
He examined the water he was laying in. It seemed thick and almost oily, but still it was undeniably clean and even pure somehow. He scooped a small amount into his hands and watched as it was absorbed into his skin, and he felt another small spike in his energy.
"What is this stuff?"
"HAHAHAHA!" there was a resounding laughter throughout the room and Naruto flew to his feet reaching for one of his scroll pouches, only to find nothing, not even a kunai. All of his weapons and tools were gone.
"You really are a fool, Boy."
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Behind him he could hear the sound of something sharp being dragged across the stone floor. He slowly turned to see nothing, not even the other side of the large room, everything on that side of the room seemed to be swallowed up in darkness.
Naruto walked forward tentatively, wishing for at least the reassuring feel of a kunai in his hand, instead he could only ball up his fist, holding them so tightly his nails drew blood from his palms.
Ahead he caught the small glint as the low light in the room, he still couldn't identify the source, reflected off of something.
A few more steps and he could see a large opening in the wall, and as he drew closer still he found that it was covered with bars.
The sheer size of the barred door made him feel small ind insignificant. He stopped moving as he saw something on the other side shift. He squinted into the shadows beyond, unwilling to move closer, but still wanting to know what was in there.
"Tell me, Boy, are all humans so pathetic or just you?"
The deep malice filled voice came from beyond the bars.
"Who...what are you?"
"...Just you then..."
Naruto was growing angry at the insults. "What the hell are you going on about?"
*sigh* "The Ichibi, Boy. Shukaku...can you not even defeat a weakling like him by yourself?!"
"Shukaku..you mean Gaara's demon?"
"Not quite so dumb after all..."
Naruto gritted his teeth. He'd just had enough.
The blond strode towards the bars, heedless of the feeling that he should be running from this person...thing?...rather than confronting it.
"That's it! I've about had it with yo..WOAH!"
The boy barely hopped back in time when a large red, wickedly clawed hand came down right where he had been standing. The hand...paw?...was slowly drawn back into the bars, it's claws leaving deep gashed in the stone floor.
As the blond stared at the marks he was aware of a slight burning sensation on his stomach, but as the burning sensation faded, so too did the scratches in the floor.
He looked again into the darkness behind the bars, a thought occurring to him, as he felt the anger of the thing all around him.
"Where am I?"
"Currently?...in a clearing outside of your village, laying on your broken puppet, but if you mean this place...your stomach." Naruto was in shock. "Or more specifically, inside the chakra pathways that surround your stomach."
The boy placed his hand over his midsection, right over where he had felt the burning feeling, which must have been the gouges on the floor.
Damage to the floor...to his chakra coils...on his stomach right where the seal...
"...The Kyuubi..."
"Took you long enough, Brat." Slowly the beast emerged from the shadows, or did the shadows recede fro him, he couldn't be sure. All he did know was that he was now staring at the most feared beast in existence...and it lived in his stomach.
Naruto burst out laughing, much to the Demons ire,
As his anger grew, so too did the reddish light withing the cage. After a moment the demon slammed his fist against the cage, causing Naruto to grip his stomach as if someone had just kicked him.
"I did not bring you here to mock me, Brat!"
That sobered the boy. " 'Brought me!?' What the hell do you mean brought me!?"
"You nearly got us both KILLED!" The echo of the snarling tone carried throughout the room.
"What more do you expect me to do?! I didn't exactly thing I'd be needing to put weapons in that puppet for the exam finals!"
The fox settled down a bit.
"What can you do?"
Naruto grew sullen, and tapped the dry floor with his foot.
"Not much...I'm about out of chakra. I couldn't even get my puppet moving again, even if it's still in one piece, which I doubt."
The demon paused as if considering something, though Naruto got the distinctive impression that the fox was just suppressing a smile.
"If you had more chakra...could you win?"
"Where the hell am I supposed to get more chakra?"
"COULD YOU WIN?!"
Naruto nearly leapt backward and began nodding furiously.
"So be it then."
Without warning, a thick red mist began leaking out of the bars, while a red liquid began to bubble up from the ground.
"Woah! What the hell is this?!"
"You'd better not fail, Boy. If we die, I'm dragging you to hell with me."
The mist over took him, and his skin felt as if it were on fire. He fell to his knees convulsing wildly, wracked with pain he didn't notice the red liquid begin to cover him until it overtook his head.
His vision was filled with red that faded to white, and he vanished from the tunnel chamber.
From withing the cage, the fox allowed a low rumbling laughter to escape his lips.
A scream filled his ears as the white faded from his vision. At first he thought is was Shukaku again, but it was too small a sound, too human. He heard it again and instantly he knew.
"...Hinata-chan..."
Naruto focused his attention on the monster that stood nearby. In his massive hand he held Hinata up by her broken arm, dangling her helplessly as a child would a small toy. He laughed, obviously amused by the girls pain.
As he watched, Naruto gripped the wood still sticking out of his leg and yanked it free, not noticing the wound stitching itself back together again. He stood and flexed his hands, looking idly at the claws that had grown on his nails.
He had never felt stronger, a red aura covered him from head to toe, and he vaguely remembered feeling something like this before. Once, in what almost seemed another life, he had experienced something similar, but could not remember where.
He stared up at the demon tormenting his friend, and gritted his teeth, sharp fangs bit into his lips and he tasted blood. He looked around him at what was left of his puppet. It was missing it's tail, and front leg, It was covered in cracks of splintered wood, but still might be sturdy enough to move.
He'd find out one way or the other.
He channeled the strange red chakra into his hands and out through them towards the connection points of his puppet.
Once the connection was made, the demonic chakra began to flow through the strings and into the puppet, filling it with it's potency, as water fills a bucket.
He felt the chakra fill his puppet to the brim, he felt connected to it in a way that he never had before.
Shukaku stopped his torture of the small girl when he felt a familiar feeling come over him. He looked around him seeking it's source, and was drawn by an increasingly angry malice behind him. It was that annoying kid... still alive and on his feet.
He was generating that awful chakra.
And then he understood, that chakra, both similar and yet far more potent than his own, was also demonic. This boy had a demon inside him as well, and for a moment Shukaku relished the thought of killing another demon container and consuming the demons power for himself.
Until he recognized just who's chakra that was.
Now he only thought of escaping.
Slowly the Fox Puppet pushed itself up on it's single front leg. It faltered, then a mass of chakra shot out of the joint and connected to the fallen limb from where it sat a few yards away.
Naruto pulled hard on the chakra and the leg was pulled along with it to connect back to the joint it had been separated from. He brought the fox to it's full height, and glared menacingly at Shukaku.
The Youki danced along the wooden sides of the puppet, burning off the paint, and singeing it a dark bloody red. The chakra surged at the rear of it's new host and sprouted a tail made of the evil chakra...then a second.
Shukaku's gold eyes met the now crimson eyes of the Leaf Jinchuriki, and he knew fear.
"Let...her...go..." the soft spoken command caused him to tremble.
"K...Kyuubi...sama..."
Holding onto the girl for whatever protection she might provide, the sand-demon fired two blasts of air at the other demonic boy.
In response, the two tails lifted up and folded over him like a shield. The chakra tails seemed to cut through the attacks, with no effect to their target.
The demon's eyes widened.
"Now...my turn."
The Fox lurched forward, faster, than before, and slammed right into the demon, knocking the wounded the wounded Hinata free of it's grip. The fox pinned the sand demon to the ground, and it's two tails stabbed down into Shukaku's massive body. The tails pinned the monster to the ground, and the Kyuubi's chakra seemed to counteract the other chakra contained within the sand.
Hinata fell free towards the ground, and was caught by a string of red chakra, which which swung her up to rest in the arms of the young puppeteer.
Naruto knelt down to examine the girl as she cradled her broken arm. It looked as though the shoulder had also been dislocated by the monster.
He placed the, thankfully, unconscious girl down on the puppet and stared at the still sleeping Gaara "Wakey...wakey..."
Naruto pushed off of the puppet falling towards the boy, with his fist held back.
Sand tried to intercept him, only to offer minimal resistance, as the cloak of red chakra seemed to rip right through it like paper.
Before his feet touched down his fist slammed into the side of the boy's head, launching him free of the sand that had him buried from the waist down. Gaara rolled, across the head of the demon for a moment before latching on to the surface. He raised his head and stared open-mouthed at him.
Through his connection to Shukaku he had seen the entire fight. He had seen what the Kyuubi Jinchuriki had done, to him and to his demon prisoner. He knew what terrible power the boy was capable of, and he also knew that Naruto had first seen to the safety of the white-eyed girl, before finishing them off.
It confused and scared him at the same time. That one so powerful, could care so much about another, it was an alien concept to him.
Shukaku was livid, in all his years trapped within Gaara, he never thought he would encounter the most powerful of the tailed beasts like this. He could feel his consciousness being pulled back behind his seal now that the boy was awake. He could only stare at the wooden fox that now stood atop his sand body.
To his absolute horror, the blue wooden eyes of the puppet bled to a deep crimson, and moved to stare at him. He saw mirth in those eyes, and as his mind was trapped once again in the deepest recesses of Gaara's mind, he could hear the Demon Fox laughing.
Gaara gripped his head as his demon was trapped again, His bod began to writhe in pain as the chakra that had been inside the sand was reabsorbed.
Naruto likewise, was doubled over with pain as the Kyuubi's chakra was absorbed back into the seal.
Without the chakra to support it, the sand body of Shukaku, began to dissolve into an avalanche of sand, sending the two boys rolling across the ground, along with the Fox puppet and a still unconscious Hinata.
The Sand Nin just lay there unable to move. The chakra exhaustion had set in now and he was helpless. His head rolled to the side, he no longer even had the strength to hold it up.
He focused on movement a short distance away. He blinked to clear his vision and saw the blond boy crawling towards him.
'...still he comes...' Panic began to set in.
"Get back! Leave me alo..."
Naruto stopped at a small pile of sand half way between the two, and brushed away the sand from Hinata's face, while he checked for a pulse. It found it, beating strong and steadily, and he exhaled a sigh of relief then collapsed lifelessly next to her on the ground.
"How...how were you able to defeat Shukaku?"
Naruto looked back at his fellow demon container. "I...had...no choice." He gulped down a ragged breath. "It...was him or...my home."
The two boys lapsed into silence, and a very short while later, two ANBU, along with the two branch members of the Hyuuga clan from earlier, arrived on the scene. The two ANBU immediately tended to the two Jinchuriki, while the two Hyuuga carried Hinata to the hospital.
The one with a bear mask placed a tag of some kind onto Gaara's head, and took him into custody.
"Uzumaki-san are you injured?"
The ANBU nearest him, a kunoichi with purple hair and a cat mask, looked into his eyes looking for his pupil dilation.
He shook his head to indicate that he wasn't. "The...village..."
"I's over. We've pushed them all back. Rest, I'll get you to the hospital."
Naruto smiled and closed his eyes. The hospital...he hated it there, but just this once...he wasn't going to argue.
'...I did it...they're safe...Chiyo-sensei...I...did...it...'
The two ANBU gathered up their charges, and turned to look up at the mountain of sand as a section shifted and fell away to reveal a large wooden blue eye staring lifelessly at nothing.
AN: I'm sorry about the overlong delay in getting this up. The computer that contained it was holding it hostage, and it took Ibiki and a team of interrogation specialists to get it out. May it rest in peaces.
Any way I've had a lot of changes in my life since I posted the last chapter. I got married, I moved...yeah my life isn't the same, but still this story will continue. Wait till you see what happens.
I thought the scene with the Fourth and Kakashi after the fight with Orochimaru was my favorite in this story so far, what do you think?
R&R
