Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou

Tribute: Stormy Rebel. By the actions of a traitor, a unique bloodline awakens within the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. How far will fate be changed for Naruto Uzumaki now with the gift of Shoton (Crystal Release). How will the balance shift when powers beyond even the Akatsuki begin to stir. First fourteen chapters remain as they are in tribute to my late friend Stormy. Miss you amigo.

26. Conflict

K Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto

Co-author & Beta: Etheral-23

X ~ Authors' Note ~ X

So, some things worth mentioning before we start this off.

A lot of people only leave reviews with the overall message being 'your story is shit, fuck you'. Look, we appreciate constructive criticism, but THAT sort of messages are not constructive at all. It's petty and childish. If you don't like it, just leave. You're not forced to read it

Some people keep PMing us to give Naruto MASSIVE harems, to make more powerful than all others, and to bash a lot of characters. We are dead tired of seeing power fantasies like that, if that is what you like, then fine, to each their own.

But you WILL NOT find it here. EVER…

We HATE bashing. Let us be perfectly clear, there will be absolutely NO bashing. And NO harem

If you've seen the shipping brackets, THREE is the most we'll ever do. And it won't be some power fantasy just to have Naruto sleeping a lot of women

Look, we get it; we nearly delved into similar situations we are currently complaining in previous chapters, are we have long since changed that and fixed them. We have learnt with time, plans change, and so does the direction one want to take their work.

Some people complain about the number of OCs, and we agree. Too many OCs introduced quickly can be disorienting and is off putting for many people. But we just want to make clear the fic will be A LONG ONE, there will be time for development later for these characters, just give it time.

Which brings us to another thing; Development. A lot of people treat Naruto with worship to the point it gets ridiculous. As we said, they're already asking us for him to become more powerful than anyone.

And we are sorry to inform you that that's not going to happen.

We are trying an approach for something that WE want to write, that WE would like to see and hope others can find some enjoyment in it too.

Call it nerf, call it whatever you want. We don't care.

Part of that approach is making actually other characters have importance in the story, being if canon or OCs.

We want to write a journey of Naruto as a young man who learns, who discovers more of the world. He will meet people older, more experienced, stronger, and wiser. He will learn, he will approve of some things, he will disapprove of others. That's what a human being does. It's all part of his journey that will define him

A lot of people are interested in power alone, they care more for how strong Naruto becomes than the kind of person he grows up to be.

Will Naruto become a big badass with time? Yes, definitely. Will he become the strongest? No, he will not.

We believe in the concept of 'always someone better'. He will be good at some things that certain people aren't good at, just like other people will be good at some things he himself isn't.

A prime example is genjutsu, lots of people in the fandom thinks that just because of Kurama he's immune to it, when in the series it's been explicitly stated that he is quite vulnerable to it. Honestly, the only reason they won against Madara was because Madara seemingly forgot he can CONTROL AND SURPRESS KURAMA. And by what we've seen from Sasuke, his Sharingan can do it even if KURAMA IS SEALED.

That being said, we would like to one more point out something we stated in another note before, we want to make a huge expansion of the Naruto world, to make it feel more real and alive, delve into things that weren't delved into in the series. Taking inspiration from other series, as well as mythologies and legends, those are part of the reason this will be a long fic.

You are by no means forced to read this if this isn't what you want to read. If you've just come here to complain in a childish way, you will be ignored.

So, to those who like this fic, we just hope we can continue to make good work for you to enjoy.

X ~ Authors' note end ~ X

Conflict

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

By now Naruto's senses were used to sounds and smells of battle. The scent of sweat and blood in the air, the violent clash of weapons, the shouts of people, the smoke and fire.

But the scale of this... he had never been in anything like this.

War. They were experiencing war for the first time, in their own homeland, their own village. Their village was under direct assault, their people fighting to protect it while the enemy sought to destroy them. He didn't know how many of their own were dying right now, how many innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire...

He tightened the grip on his sword, fury surged through every part of his being, and he wanted to lash out at these people for bringing such pain to their home and their people. A pat on his shoulder from Sakura, along with a sympathetic look from her, made him understands right now he needed to calm down and think rationally. He sighed, venting a bit of his anger, and sheathed his blade before sealing it into a scroll. His attack against a much more experienced and skilled Jōnin showed him he wasn't ready for it, not yet.

As the battle continued around them, the natives of the Land of Fire were locked in a stare down against the invaders from Suna. He still couldn't believe the princess herself was here, giving Baki a look of righteous anger.

"You will pay" She swore with vengeance. "For all the lives claimed on this day"

Baki grunted as he stood up, he quickly looked at his students. "Go!" He needn't order them again; they became blurs as they jumped away from the arena. The Sand Jōnin gave the princess one last look before disappearing in a wind-shunshin.

"Tch" Maiyuri mouthed in annoyance before sheathing her katana. She gave one long look at the top of the arena, where she knew Hiruzen and the Mizukage were locked in combat against their foe. "Orochimaru…"

The genin tensed at the mention of his name, they looked over the roof above the Hokage stands, though they couldn't see its occupants clearly, they could something big was going.

"Orochimaru?" Haku muttered in shock, soon dread settled in as realization dawned on her. "The Kazekage isn't here is he?"

"Must be part of their plan" Sasuke reasoned.

"Or they have no idea" The princess countered, much to their surprise. "We can't discard the possibility that he is currently dead" She stated as a matter of fact, much to the shock of the young ninja beside her.

The ninja's leader was indisposed; their Jōnin commander most likely was organizing the defense. They needed someone to lead them on the front. "I must join the defense elsewhere" She sharply turned to face the young ninja. "Shinobi of Konoha!" She snapped authoritative.

Naruto didn't know why he suddenly stood at attention with the rest of his peers, Haku and Chojuro didn't respond to her voice like they did, they weren't bound to do so after all, but they couldn't help but feel a bit... awed at the person before them. There was something about this young woman, a force of authority, a charisma befitting royalty. Like one could follow her orders and it'd be the natural thing to do, knowing it would bring them victory. He'd seen it before; it was like the kind of respect and loyalty Jiji could command.

"I must go aid our forces" She looked at them in the eye. "Can I trust you to help your village as your duty dictate?"

It was the rosette that spoke for all of them; "Yes Maiyuri-sama, we will show these bastards not to mess with Konohagakure."

The princess nodded as she looked over to Naruto; "Uzumaki, you must stop the Sabaku no Gaara."

'Only a Jinchurriki can stop a Jinchurriki,' Naruto mentally mused; "Count on it!"

Maiyuri smiled. "Good" Drawing her blade a bit, she made a small cut on her finger, making it bleed. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Slamming her palm on the ground, a summoning array appeared on the ground.

A plume of white smoke bursted from it, it soon cleared, revealing a large brown stallion with a white patch of fur over its forehead and down to his muzzle. The crest of hair was a deep shining black; its hooves stomped on the ground with great strength, hot steamy breath escaping from its nostrils. Upon his back was a saddle decorated with crimson tassels.

The horse looked at the princess before taking a look at its surroundings. "Oh... Oh boy" The horse spoke with a clear male voice; he looked dryly at the princess. "A battle. You sneaked out from home and ended up on a BATTLE" He stressed the last word with annoyance and exasperation.

"You know me, 'Maru" She deftly mounted the great stallion. "Always looking for trouble"

The horse snorted. "More like trouble goes wherever you go"

"Don't get smart with me" Her gaze suddenly hardened. "Now" She patted his crest "We have a battle to wage my friend, are you ready?"

The horse smiled, showing all his teeth. "What kind of question is that? Ushiwakamaru is always ready to fight at your side!"

The princess laughed heartily. "Then let's show them why they making themselves enemies of the Land of Fire is to be the last mistake they'll ever make" She took a hold of the reins and snapped them, the sound of the motion nearly mimicking that of a whip. "Make your country proud!" She told the shinobi of Konoha before the horse suddenly stood on its hind legs, kicking the air and letting out a large neigh. "Hiyah!" Ushiwakamaru galloped with great speed, towards one of the walls. It jumped with such strength it made cracks on the ground, going over the top of the wall and disappearing from sight.

The group just stared at her departure. "Woah..." Tenten muttered. "Why can't princesses in stories be more like that..?"

"I know right!" Naruto blurted, too hyped to contain himself.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The snake Sannin chuckled as he eyed his former sensei, the Mizukage, and Kushina. Along with least a dozen Anbu with their commander at their front. The three of the remaining Sound Four guarded him while several of his ninja came to his aid. The three coffins he had summoned stood before him.

"You know, I had in mind for sensei to face the Hokages that came before him. Which would have included your husband Kushina-chan," Orochimaru smiled cruelly seeing the rage from the Uzumaki woman. "But your return to us and other… complications inspired me to make a slightly different choice..."

With a single hand sign, the left and right coffins bursted open. The Hokage's eyes widened in shock, while the rest of the people at his side gasped. "N-No... Not only you actually learned this technique" His fists shook with anger. "But you have the gall to use them as your puppets!"

From the coffins two figures were revealed, both were similar sets of armor used in the old clan wars era, but the similarities ended there. One was a tall and broad figured man with tanned skin and long dark hair. His armor was red and wore a black suit underneath. On his head was a hitai-ate of the Leaf.

The second figure painted a more different contrast. His skin was fair and his hair was white and spiky, while his armor was blue, it also had a distinctive white fur collar. Instead of a hitai-ate he wore a happuri face guard with the symbol of Konoha carved on the forehead. He had three red marks, a pair on his cheeks and another on his chin. His eyes were a striking red. Both men's skin looked like torn paper; the white of their eyes had gone dark.

Kushina let out a shocked breath, she had seen this figures in photos before, from Tsukiko and Tsunade on different occasions. Indeed, there couldn't be a person in the ninja world who's never seen nor heard of them before.

Before them stood Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, the First and Second Hokage.

'This could be trouble,' Mai glared as even her anger rose. "You violate dead from their sleep! You truly are a monster!"

A chuckled came from Orochimaru; "Oh I find it ironic that you call me a monster considering the things your country has done" His golden slit eyes gazed to Kushina; "And my present to you Kushina-chan."

The middle coffin bursted open as the Uzu matriarch's eyes widen slowly.

"You see, I originally wanted to bring back your dear husband, I thought it'd make for a heartwarming reunion" His snake eyes shined with cruel amusement. "But alas, the Shinigami keeps a tight hold on his soul, so summoning him turned out to be impossible" He chuckled. "Instead, I brought someone you have not seen in a long, long time..."

"No..." Kushina muttered to herself, feeling the tears drop from her eyes. "No, no, no, no, no" She couldn't believe it, she didn't want this to be true.

Inside the coffin was man with long red hair and a goatee. He wore a dark suit underneath a sleeveless closed jacket; it was red with swirly patterns at the end. The cheongsam he wore in life was absent, replaced by the attire he had died with, one specially made for war and large scale combat. On his forearms, shoulders and shins were metal plates of armor. He wore old style sandals on his feet, wrapping his ankles with straps. On back were two sheaths, the curved handles poking from his back, two wakizashi blades judging by the length. On his forehead with a hitai-ate with a swirly circle carved on it.

Yugao gasped in shock. "Is... Is that-?"

"The third Uzukage" Commander Fox answered grimly. "Daisuke Uzumaki..."

Kushina sobbed. "Dad..."

Daisuke's eyes slowly opened, he groaned as if awakening from slumber. "Ugh... What's happening?"

"This is Konoha" Hashirama muttered as he too came to his senses. "What's going on?"

"This technique" His brother muttered, looking at his hands. "Edo Tensei..."

Daisuke rubbed his eyes as he walked out of the coffin. Opening them he saw a much older Hiruzen with a grim mournful gaze; "My old friend..." The Sandaime said sadly.

The Uzukage looked at his sides, shocked at seeing the legends Tobirama and Hashirama standing beside him. The red eyes of the second Hokage glared back to a dark haired man with pale skin and snake-like eyes, knowing full well he was the one responsible for this.

Turning his eyes, he froze as he at the sight the red haired woman with tears that came from her eyes. "...I know your face... Kushina... My Kushina…"

Kushina nodded, managing to smile despite the tears running down her cheeks. Her emotions conflicted turned inside her like a raging sea. "Hi dad" She said with a breaking voice.

"Oh" He breathed in awe, his eyes full of love as a smile formed on his lips. "Ryujin, Seiryū and all the dragon gods... Look at you, you're so beautiful" He looked at her warmly, feeling joy at seeing his daughter, nostalgia from those days gone by in which she was just a little girl, and indeed, it literally felt like just yesterday she was a small child. He also felt sadness and regret at not being there for her, for not having been as close to her as a father should be. "Oh if your mother could see you now"

Her tears flowed with even greater strength. "I... I'm so happy to see you 'ttebane"

"I am happy to see you again my child. Though I wish the circumstances weren't like this" Daisuke looked at her a bit longer before casting a furious glare at the man responsible for his return. "Orochimaru... are you truly behind all this?"

"I am just following my own ambitions, Daisuke-dono" The snake sannin replied with a thoughtless shrug, as he literally could see nothing wrong with his actions.

The Uzukage scowled darkly. "To think a student of Hiruzen could fall so low"

Tobirama eyed the snake man with disgust. "I never thought someone trained by my own student to have become a traitor like you"

Hashirama for his part gave the resurrected Uzumaki a curious glance. "Daisuke" He mused. "Are you... Eiichi's grandson? If so, you're Tsukiko's descendant aren't you"

The late Uzukage blinked over to the Shodaime; "Yes Hashirama-Dono, Eiichi Uzumaki was my grandfather. Which also makes my daughter Tsukiko's descendant; she helped raise Kushina when my wife died."

"A pity I never couldn't bring out her soul," Orochimaru said with genuine disappointment; "Tsukiko-Dono's knowledge was beyond invaluable. No matter how hard I tried, it always failed."

'Thank the gods for that, or we truly would have been doomed,' Hiruzen mentally shuddered.

A confused Hashirama looked to Daisuke's daughter who was trying to gather herself; "Young lady, how fairs Uzushio?"

As she rubbed and blinked back her tears, Kushina's voice came out hoarse as she spoke "Uzushio... Was destroyed..."

Both brothers gasped in horror. Uzu... destroyed? No, that couldn't be true. Uzushio had existed long before Konoha was founded, their cousins had been there when the Senju most needed them, the masters of fūinjutsu were great warriors, their home island a prosperous city protected by the whirlpools surrounding their lands.

Daisuke's head hung mournfully. "It's true..." He whispered. His fist tightened. "We fought with all our hearts to protect our home but... in the end Uzu still fell"

"That second Shinobi war had spread our forces thin. By the time we sent forces, the island nation was no more," Hiruzen spoke quietly. "Tsukiko-sama had died a few days before the attack. They no doubt waited for that moment because they feared her, even as sick as she was."

Hashirama only closed his eyes, his fists clinched tightly; "I'm so sorry... Mito..." He whispered quietly. Had he not died when he did, perhaps things would have been different.

The Sandaime Uzukage glared hatefully back to Orochimaru; "If you think I will strike down my own daughter snake I will skin you myself," Rage boiled through every word.

Amusement shined in the snake Sannin's eyes "I expect none the less from an Uzu. The value of family had always defined your clan... But you truly believe you can defy my control?" Orochimaru chuckled cruelly.

"You clearly don't understand us Uzumaki" He said passionately. "Even in death, our spirit remains strong!"

"True" The snake sannin muttered, tapping his chin. "The willpower of you three is remarkably strong" His expression brightened as if suddenly having an idea. "But how about if I suppress your emotions with this?" He pulled out three kunai; at the end of each was a paper with seals written on them.

Daisuke's eyes widened the matrix of those seals...

He felt his body tense, Daisuke struggled to move but found it very difficult. The shaking form of the other reanimated Kages indicated they were going through the same. The snake sannin was holding up a pair of fingers.

"Recognized these seals don't you?" Orochimaru smirked. "Designed to suppress all emotion and personality. On chakra constructs like your current bodies, the effect would be instantaneous. Now, stay still..."

"Stop him!" Hiruzen commanded his soldiers.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FATHER!" Kushina roared as she dashed forward with the Anbu behind her. Every ounce of her being wanted nothing more than to slaughter the traitorous man.

"You really know how to be an evil son of a bitch don't you...?" A calm deep male voice spoke above all of them.

Sharply turning his head, Orochimaru saw a figure looming over him, overshadowed by the giant sphere of spiraling energy which was aimed directly at him, it seemed to grow larger but it was in fact coming straight at him.

Odama Rasengan!

The snake sannin and Sound four quickly jumped away, the attack collided with the roof with tremendous force, shocking the entire structure and sending broke tiles and debris flying everywhere. The reanimated Kages were flown back with the shock-wave.

The energy dissipated, and Jiraiya landed soundly on the now broken section of the roof. He smirked, pleased with the results. "Man I just love doing a good entrance" He gave a salute to the Uzukage who was now stood back up. "Yo, Daisuke-dono, good to see you"

Daisuke sighed. "You haven't changed at all Jiraiya"

The toad sage scratched his nose. "Well you know-WOAH!" He ducked when a giant tree-trunk came out of the roof, nearly spearing him.

"Sorry!" Hashirama shouted. "My body's acting on his own!"

"Anbu with me! We must free the souls of our late friends," Hiruzen ordered as he looked to Mai; "Mizukage-dono..."

"I will aid you," she said without hesitation; "Shinobi of Kiri!" Her voice rang out seemingly everywhere. "Aid our Konoha comrades!"

Daisuke's eyes widen with visible shock before his daughter tackled him and Shunshined them both from the roof.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Appearing inside the stadium, the late Uzukage gave his daughter an understanding look after he gazed around his new surroundings. "Yes, better to split us up and get us away from Orochimaru"

Kushina distanced herself from him, there was no telling when the Edo Tensei would act up and force him to attack her. Right now his will was the only thing holding him back, but eventually the constant push of the jutsu which brought him would become too much.

"There is another reason to why I brought you here. There is someone I want you to meet" She spoke softly before loudly calling. "Naruto!"

The young Jinchuuriki was about to join his friends and comrades who were currently running up the walls to reunite with their teachers. He looked back when he heard his mother's voice calling for him, he saw her in the middle of the arena, standing next to red-haired man who looked... strange, his skin and eyes were all wrong. Was he another Uzumaki?

Up in the stands, Saito glanced briefly at the arena; he makes a double take when he sees someone who's been long dead standing right there. "T-That can't be..." Samenosuke followed his gaze and gasped.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Landing over one of the great walls, Lyn arrived to see even more battle taking place. But one thing stood out for the wild haired Uzumaki as she felt a long lost chakra signature.

"Shit!" She swore in distress. "Daisuke-sama!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto soon walked down from the walls, ignoring his friends' calling for him. He approached his mother, giving her a brief worried look before looking at the strange man in confusion. "W-What's going?" He asked. "Who is he?"

Kushina placed her hands over his shoulders. "This is Naruto... he is my son"

The blond Uzumaki saw the strange man freeze up as his eyes widen in sheer shock; "S... Son... you have a son," the man said breathlessly.

Kushina nodded quickly as she looked down to Naruto; "Sochi... This is your grandfather, Daisuke Uzumaki."

At that moment, the world around them seemed to go away, there was nothing no battle, no sound of fighting of any kind. There was nothing but them and the ground of the arena beneath their feet.

Naruto's breath hitched on his throat. He felt like the day he had met his mother for the first time, when she came back to be with him, so they could be a family. A thousand questions swirled on his head; he wanted to talk to him about so many things.

But... something was wrong. Why did his grandfather look like that?

He finally settled on one simple question. "H-How?"

Daisuke stared at him for a moment, taking in the sight of his grandson, committing every single detail in his memory so he could return with them to the afterlife. "A forbidden technique that uses the dead as slaves" He looked down unto his hands. "This... is just temporary"

Cerulean orbs widen as his mind summed up the answer which made his gnash his teeth; "Orochimaru..."

The Uzukage nodded; "Yes, currently I am fighting his jutsu with my will so he can't me control yet..." He couldn't stop the tears forming from his eyes; "But to see my daughter again. And my now my grandson..."

"Daisuke-Sama!"

His head shifted as two men appeared on the arena floor with absolute shock in their eyes. Even grown he knew these lads; "Saito... Samenosuke... You're all alive."

"Yes uncle" the normally emotionally controlled swordsman's voice began to crack.

Samenosuke smiled widely, pressing a hand over the head of a young red headed girl he had brought with him. "And this is Karin-chan, she's Kirika-chan's daughter!"

"Ah" Daisuke smiled warmly. "You have your father's eyes. My wife had similar eyes, a trait from their side of the family. I'm happy to see you inherited it"

Karin blushed and looked down. "T-Thank you sir"

"I'm here too!" A female voice shouted; they see a wild haired woman wearing intricate clothes with armor with a naginata strapped to her back, running towards them.

"Lyn-chan!" Samenosuke spreads his arms, a wide smile on his face. "You finally made it!"

"Sorry it took so long" She scratched her head while smiling sheepishly. "Hey kid, I'm Lyn" She waved cheerfully at him. Naruto stared at the newcomer with squinting eyes. Man, he was meeting all sorts of people lately...

"You can get to know her better later" Kushina pointedly said. "This is one in a lifetime opportunity to speak with your grandfather" She ignored the very presence of the woman who just arrived.

"You're just mad my breasts are bigger now..." The wild haired Uzumaki grumbled.

"38C THANK YOU!" Kushina fired back with several tick marks on her head.

Daisuke only face palmed while Naruto had a disturbed look on his face; "I did not need to know that..."

"...Well I haven't missed much," Daisuke snorted turning to the wild haired Uzu woman; "Hello Lyn."

The woman's blue eyes shine with excitement and joy at seeing the revered leader of their clan once more. She could only convey her emotions in a way that felt natural to her. She closes her eyes and gave a peace sign. "Sup!" She smiled, showing all her teeth. Naruto had seen that smile before, it was one the same smile he would do. The same his own mother often gave, as well as Samenosuke. Uncle Saito was very controlled, but he liked to imagine it wouldn't be beyond him in certain moments.

Though by the looks his mother kept giving the newcomer, maybe he should keep to himself about how similar to the too appeared to be in that regard.

"It's so good to be among family again" Lyn exclaimed cheerfully. "Am I right, Daisuke-sama?"

The Uzukage only chuckled before letting a heartfelt joyous laugh; "I am so grateful, the Uzu bloodline has survived with you all. And more importantly, our family is restored." His gaze went back to his grandson; "Naruto..."

The blond stood a bit straighter as he looked at his mother's father; "Yes sir?"

"There are so many things I want ask you" His voice was filled with loving affection for the boy he just met. "About your life, who your friends are, what your goals are… But that's not enough, nor is it nearly enough time for us to truly know each other. For that I am sorry"

Naruto could only stare at his grandfather. This man before him who once gave everything to protect his home, he just seemed so... tall. Not in a literal sense, but he felt awed at being before someone he knew was a great man. Daisuke shined with an aura of wisdom and kindness, much like he often felt about Hiruzen.

It was natural he supposed, this was his jiji too as well...

"Sorry?" He repeated softly.

"I couldn't save Uzu" He spoke with regret, and his family felt a twinge of sadness in their hearts at how he spoke about their lost home. "I couldn't save our family. I just... I just can't stop thinking about how different things would be like. Maybe I could be with you and Kushina" He said with longing, as if witnessing a beautiful dream. "Laugh with you, train with you, teach you all I knew. Be a true father and grandfather to you both" He formed a humorless half-crooked smile on his lips. "I did a poor job while alive..."

Kushina took a step forward; her heart nearly broke at hearing those words. "No, dad, no" She vigorously shook her head. "You-"

"Kushina" Though his words were soft, they carried an authority only a parent could command. "This is the only time I'd be able to meet you, hopefully for a very, very long time. So please, I ask that you let me say my peace" Her daughter jerkily nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as much as I should have" He said. "When Manami died, a part of me died as well. I tried being a good father, a good clan leader, a good Kage. I tried to be so many things at once..." He bowed his head towards his daughter. "Forgive me, if I ever made you feel neglected"

At those Kushina took a few steps forward; "Let me say this to you, while what time you have here. I never once hated you. I knew when mom died you buried yourself in your duties; you were trying to cope with the pain. But the small moments we did have together were enough for me."

His lower lip quivered slightly at his daughter's words; "you sound just like Manami. 'If love is there, that's all that matters' as she said..."

Karin's eyes widen along with the others seeing light shine through the crack of Daisuke's body. "His soul's at peace... The Edo Tensei is breaking."

Daisuke's expression was one of serenity, he finally let go of all the pains and failures of his life, knowing his family would pull through. The spirit of Uzu lived on.

'No... Not yet' He willed his soul to remain anchored, there was still something he needed to do. "Naruto" His voice carried a renewed strength. "As your grandfather, there is something I must tell you"

The blonde boy, looking with wide eyes at the shining form of his grandfather, nodded stiffly.

"Life is unfair" Daisuke said. "It's full hardships and disappointment, and filled with people who'd want nothing more but to take away others' happiness for whatever reason" He closed his eyes. "I failed to save Uzu; our family was wounded, robbed from our ancestral home, our proud legacy broken... Life will try and take from you at any turn" Violet eyes suddenly snapped open, shining with pride while a joyous smile formed on his lips. "But that doesn't mean life has broken you!"

The Uzumaki looked at him in awe.

"We are Uzumaki damn it! When life pushes we push back until fate itself gives up in sheer exasperation!" He banged a fist to his chest. "Such has it's been since the dragon clans first found us and shared with us their fire! It's that same spark we all carry to this day, surging inside us like a violent sea, a fierce whirlpool which flows ever on-wards!"

"The spirit of all the Uzumaki live inside you, all of you, they are the ones who give us the strength to triumph over anything life throws at us! In this sordid lives of us ninjas, remember that we Uzumaki, no matter the distance between us, will always have each other's back!"

Naruto slowly felt his lips twist into a happy smile, feeling his grandfather's word reach deep inside of him. Kushina's hand grasped his shoulder while she smiled and cried.

"So even if you find yourself alone, staring down in the face of darkness while placing everything on the line!" His eyes closed while his smile widened, showing all his teeth. He raised his hand in a peace sign. "Don't forget to smile!"

Tears fell down his eyes; he clenched a hand over his chest, feeling overwhelmed and so deeply touched by his grandfather's love. "I-I will!" He swore; giving him the largest smile he could muster. "I will grandpa!"

Daisuke smiled proudly at them, engraving the sight of his family on his memory to carry to the afterlife. 'Manami, I'll be coming home. Wait for me...'

Suddenly, he feels something pierce his back, he couldn't feel pain, but the feeling of an arm breaking through his boy and pressing something inside him was incredibly disturbing. The Uzumakis present gasp seeing an Oto Nin had his hand through the Uzukage's back.

"Orochimaru-sama will not let you go so easily," the masked man said in a dark tone.

The shinobi jumped back, watching with a pleased grin, the talisman he buried inside the reanimated Kage's torso is covered completely as the body regenerated.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Orochimaru jumped away, avoiding the sweeping strike of the enlarged form of Enma's adamantine staff shape. He slithered in between one of the many trees summoned by the reanimated Shodai, placing more obstacles in between him and his former teacher. He smirked as he felt the talisman be placed inside one of his Edo Tensei Having taken advantage of the chaos and confusion around him; he had given one of the seals to one of his shinobi as they came to aid him.

He laughed softly as he raised a pair of fingers.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Daisuke's body stopped shining, the scarred tears on his skin vanished and the color of his eyes turned white. His visage became expressionless, devoid of any kind of emotion.

"Shit!" Kushina swore in rage. "Orochimaru's control talisman!"

Samenosuke jumped, launching a barrage of kunai which impaled them upon the Oto Nin with merciless accuracy, ending his life as many of these pierced many vital organs.

Saito was soon beside Kushina who gnashed her teeth in rage. Her father, who had just found peace and would return to the dead, was now a slave to Orochimaru's will. Her rage was nearly beyond her control till Saito grabbed her arm; "Calm down! This is how that snake wants you to act!"

Lyn brandished her naginata. "Don't think that'll make this situation any different" She nodded towards Daisuke, who took out the wakizashi form his back and dexterity twirled them in his hands.

"Naruto, I want you to go back with the others and regroup, I'll handle your grandfather" She ordered her son.

"But mom-" He tried to argue. Seeing his grandfather like this pained him, he wanted to do something.

"Right now you're needed elsewhere, don't argue with me young man" She seethed through clenched teeth as she drew her sword. "Go!"

Reluctantly, Naruto nodded and quickly ran back towards his friends to regroup. Not before casting a worried glace at his relatives and quickly praying they would be okay.

"Samenosuke!" Saito called.

Without any other words, his cousin understood. "Got it!" He threw several kunai around Daisuke's feet. A sealing array formed around them, trapping the Uzukage in a barrier.

Daisuke's wakizashi became aligned with seals. He suddenly spun on his feet like a whirlpool, his blades piercing through the barrier like glass, destroying the sealing array around him.

"...Right I forgot" The earring wearing Uzumaki muttered. "Daisuke-Sama's a badass"

Kushina tried to think of a strategy to deal with her father, calling upon all the knowledge she had about his skills. As a puppet currently on auto-pilot, his skills and strategic thinking would be severely limit, but the variety of techniques available to him would still act up as a part of the defense mechanism of the Edo Tensei, so that meant-

Another snake bursting through the walls of the arena, surrounding the roof where the Kages were fighting, distracted her momentarily. She saw the snake move above the bodies of its fallen kin, moving to strike when a great ball of magma exploded on its face, sending the creature down. She didn't see it crash, but the plum of dust and smoke signaled it had crashed against several buildings.

She cursed once more. "At this rate the village will be torn up"

"We might be able to help with that" Lyn called. "Saito and I have big summons, we can help deal with the snakes around the village"

"Think you can take Daisuke-sama on your own?" The swordsman asked, his hazel eyes remained focused on the form of Daisuke who was currently waiting for them to make the next move.

Samenosuke smirked, twirling a kunai on his finger. "Who says she'll be alone?"

For a brief moment Kushina smirked before getting serious again; "Saito, Lyn."

Wordlessly the two vanished leaving the two to face the late Uzukage; "Thank you Samenosuke-kun."

The roguish man smirked; "As if I ever let our beloved beautiful hime alone to face and set free Daisuke-sama."

"I am still not going to sleep with you..."

"Damn it."

XxX ~ Naruto ~ XxX

Making quick time leaping on rooftops, dealing with one or two enemy ninja along the way, Naruto found Kakashi with the other Jounin senseis and the others facing down some Oto and Suna on the streets. Sakura was using her monster strength to slam an Oto Nin through a wall. "There's no end to these bastards!"

Hinata shielded her sister as she sidestepped the attack from one of the Sound ninja and quickly launched various finger strikes in quick succession across his torso. The ninja fell unconscious not a second after.

It was all becoming too much for Hanabi, the sight of people dying, the sounds of battle. Where had all her training gone? She was supposed to be the heir to the Hyuuga clan, she had to be strong and fight, she had to-

A blur appeared before her, and a large Suna-nin appeared before her with, sword in hand.

Hanabi gasped in terror, feeling her entire body seize.

"Got'cha!" He raised his blade.

The small Hyuuga closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Naruto came down from above, delivering a devastating sweeping kick over the ninja's head, burying his body on the ground. "Got you first you son of a bitch!" Naruto fired back stabbing a crystal kunai into the man's chest and through his heart killing him.

Hanabi kept her eyes closed till feeling two hands on her shoulders; "You okay half-pint?" Blinking her eyes open, the Hyuuga saw a blond teen with whisker marks on his cheek. She knew who this was since her sister been following this weird blond guy for years.

It was then her mind processed what he called her; "Who you calling a half-pint!" Hanabi's eyes twitched as she growled.

"Naruto," Kakashi's voice as calm as ever despite slamming a knee into an enemy ninja's stomach; "So glad you could drop in." and then casually snapped the man's neck.

Sakura sighed in relief upon seeing the blond, Karin landed right beside them, Sasuke dodged several attack from an Oto Nin be he thrusted a kunai into a Suna Nin's neck; "Dobe, where the hell have you been?"

"Got lost on the road of life Teme, and you?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at that. "I have taught you well"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, while Asuma only chuckled with amusement.

"Look, it's a long story" The blonde sighed. "I'll fill you in later. Right now I'll just say today's been... weird"

"That's putting it mildly..." Haku muttered as she threw an oto-nin over her shoulder and through a window.

A group of fine ninjas of Sound charged at the group, when a blur dashed in between them at high speed. Soujiro suddenly appeared facing back to them, his ponytail fluttering with the sudden stop of his movement. He twirled his blade and sheathed it, the enemy ninja suddenly fell to the ground as many wounds burst opened on their bodies.

"The battle keeps escalating" He softly muttered, completely calmed even in this situation. "I give it a few hours before the entire village is reduced to rubble" He said matter of factly.

"Like hell we will let that happen," Ino said dodging a kunai from a Sand ninja before said ninja was flattened by an enlarged fist from Chouji.

Naruto's cerulean orbs gaze upwards seeing Genryu still fighting that giant purple snake through the air. He looked back to his sensei; "I have to find Gaara!"

"Not alone you're not" Kakashi said in an authoritative tone. "Gaara is crazy and he's a jinchuuriki, that a terribly dangerous combination. Sakura, Sasuke you go with him" The two nodded. "Take more people with you, the rest of us will help against the invasion"

"You'll need trackers to find him" Kiba smirked as he rubbed his nose. "Team Eight is happy to help" Shino merely pushed up his dark glasses and Hinata nodded a bit hesitantly.

The Copy Ninja shared a look with Kurenai, the genjutsu mistress nodded. "Alright" Kakashi said. "Take them with you"

Hinata held her hands in front of her chest, looking at Hanabi. She couldn't leave her sister alone, but... the others might need her, she couldn't turn her back on this mission, not in a time like this. "I..."

"Go with them, Hinata" The strong voice of her father took her by surprise. They saw him approaching them, and surprisingly, Lee, Neji and Yugito were with them. "I'll keep your sister safe"

Kouhei looked at them perplexed. "What are you doing here? You guys shouldn't be fighting after the pounding you took in the exams" They were bandaged and tired for gods' sake.

"I unfortunately couldn't convince them to stay behind" Hiashi sighed with slight exasperation. "And things are too chaotic for them to get to a safe place right now"

Tenten snorted; "Those two have always been stubborn."

Karin adjusted her glasses; "Quickly you two, bite my arm." She said as she rolled up a sleeve. She stopped noticing a few very odd looks her way while both Neji and Lee lightly blush.

"Um... I don't know you that well." Lee said embarrassed

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke rolled their eyes; "Karin-chan's chakra is unique. It heals you when you bite her," Naruto explained.

"I would say that is an odd power..." Neji slowly commented. "But I suppose it'd be foolish of me not to expect even stranger things during the course of my career as a ninja"

"Now you're learning" Kakashi said cheerfully.

Sighing, Neji walked over the spectacle wearing Uzumaki, took a hold of her arm and bit. Karin groaned as his teeth sunk into her skin. Neji's eyes widened when he felt a foreign source of chakra entering his own pathway, it was... revitalizing, invigorating even. He could feel the aches and bruises left from his battle against Sakura healing quickly.

He looked at his hands in awe. "Amazing..."

Karin rolled her other sleeve. "Your turn" She said to Lee.

"It is much unyouthful to bite a lady" The taijutsu fighter said.

"Well actually-" Kakashi started, but Kurenai slapped him on the arm and glared at him.

"Lee, my most youthful student!" Gai passionately exclaimed. "You want to defend the village do you not?!" His student nodded vigorously. "Then bite this youthful flower!"

"Well that was just said..." Tenten deadpanned.

Lee soon bite into Karin's arm, this time her groan sounded a bit like a moan, much to the discomfort of the others.

"Yoooosh!" Lee jumped up and down with new found energy. "I am ready to fight tooth and nail for the village!"

Karin sighed; she could deal with the pain. Giving Yugito a look, she began loosening her collar and revealed a large part of her neck. "Here"

The jinchuuriki of the Nibi gave her a long look, no doubt baffled by the place Karin had chosen for her to bite. "...You're serious"

"Oh shut up and bite my neck" Karin rolled her eyes.

'That sounded so wrong,' Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke mentally muttered.

Heaving a sigh the Kumo kunoichi bit into Karin's neck, she soon felt her aches and pains leaving her body as her energy returned. Yugito nodded to the spectacle wearing redhead; "Thanks. Naruto, I'm coming with you for Gaara."

"Where are Karui, Samui, and Omoi?" Sakura asked.

"Helping where they can, our Raikage might be an ass, but we don't abandon our friends when they need us"

Asuma snapped an Oto Nin's neck; "Glad to hear it. But you know he will probably bitch you guys out. Considering our villages are not exactly friendly"

Yugito just snorted as she waved it off. "Not the first time, damn sure won't be the last."

"Alright then," Kakashi nodded; "Yugito you go with Team 7 and 8, rest of us will do what we can here."

"I would like to accompany them as well" Haku took a step forward before looking at her master. "If that is alright"

The Swordsman of the Mist shrugged. "Ain't see any problem with that"

"Hey, the more the merrier" Naruto smiled that confident smile of his. "Speaking of" Biting into his thumb, he drew blood and slammed his hand on the floor. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A plume of smoke later and from there emerged the ruby scaled Hien. "Oh" He took notice to the state of the village. "This could be problematic"

"...I was hoping for something bigger" Naruto muttered in disappointment.

Karin rolled her eyes. "Dumb ass" And soon did the process of the summoning technique. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" From the spoke appeared a small dragon the size of Hien, only this one was covered in azure scales.

"Karin-sama" Yasu, the small blue dragon, bowed his head. "I'm ready to help"

She blushed noticing the look Naruto was giving her. "Hey, I just gave chakra to three people. What's your excuse?!"

Kakashi sighed dryly; "You guys just go, the rest of us will handle things here."

"Hai!" The two teams with Karin, Yugito, and Haku and the summons vanished via shunshin.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Appearing on a rooftop, the group looks around. Kiba growls; "What the hell was this all for?!" Akamaru barked a few times on his master's head.

"Worry about it later," Shino remarked as calm as ever; "We need to track Gaara."

"The host of Shukaku," Hein muttered to himself, Naruto having told him about the jinchuuriki during the month of training.

"Yeah, think their planning on him letting his Bijuu loose," Naruto said grimly.

"And he really hates Kurama," Matatabi brought up to her host. "He's insane and dangerous as it is, when he smells Naruto it will get much worse."

They jumped through from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the battles going all around the city. They cringed when they saw the great silver dragon crash on the ground over several houses with Manda. They trashed and snapped their jaws at each other, making the ground tremble with their struggle.

It did not stop the ninja from fighting, nor the other great snakes wreaking havoc upon the village. There were Akimichi who grew to giant size, helping their allies bring down the snakes. But it was a heavy struggle.

"This is horrible..." Sakura muttered. "The village..."

"Can be rebuilt" Shino interrupted. "They're just buildings, as long as the people are safe that is all that matters"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah... yeah you're right"

"Kiba" Naruto turned to the Inuzuka. "You have Gaara's scent?"

"Yeah" He nodded. "It's that way" He pointed slightly left to their current course, towards the great walls of the village.

With a nod, the group picked up the pace in order to intercept Gaara and his siblings.

Naruto could not stop thinking about his fellow jinchuuriki. If Gaara released the Shukaku then only devastation would follow... Gaara would unleash something that would threaten the lives of all his friends and comrades, of the entire village.

It weighted heavily on him, but he couldn't deny the possibility that they might have to kill Gaara. It was the reasonable thing to do in a situation like this right?

An image came to his mind; it was himself as a child, crying as everyone stared at him with those hateful eyes. Then another appeared, it was Gaara, alone like he was, crying as well. But while he slowly became surrounded by friends and family, Iruka, Hiruzen, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, the other teams, his mother... Gaara remained alone.

He would have been just like Gaara had he not found those people who would become so dear to him.

It wasn't fair...

XxX ~ Kushina ~ XxX

Samenosuke was sent flying till a golden chain stopped him from slamming into an arena wall. The roguish man huffs; "As I said... Daisuke-sama is a badass."

Kushina hurled her chain and threw Samenosuke through the air, this time the wild-haired Uzumaki had much control over his flight, he gracefully twirled in the air and landed right behind Daisuke.

"At the same time!" Kushina cried, running a hand over her katana and activating the seals on it. The kanji shined a bright red before the blade was set ablaze with flames.

The roguish Uzumaki pulled out various Kunai's with explosives. "Got it!"

Kushina slowly made a crescent moon motion with her blade, and let out a cry as she brought down her blade, launching an arc of pure fire straight at the possessed form of her father. Samenosuke threw his kunai in a large barrage, the seals on them already shining even before they teach their target.

Daisuke automatically raised his fingers.

The blast collided against him the same time as did the kunai, the resulting explosion sent dust and pieces of rock flying away, engulfing his form in a blaze of fire. Kushina and Samenosuke shielded their faces from the blast's wind.

"Quickly!" She called to her cousin. "Before he regenerates-!" Her words died in her mouth as the smoke cleared.

Daisuke remained; his body wasn't regenerating for there was nothing to regenerate. With a single hand seal he had allied force a full seal array around him, protecting him in a shimmering barrier which had shielded the explosion with little effort.

"...I forgot how good dad is with barriers"

Samenosuke slouched forward with a dry gaze; "Oh this will be a lovely day."

The female Uzumaki beside him remained quiet as she tried remembering what Tsukiko had taught her about barrier seals and counter-barrier seals. 'Ugh I am going to need a lot of Sake after this dattebane.'

"Don't worry hime!" Samenosuke, ever the optimist, tried to keep their spirits high. "As long as we attack from both sides we'll have him on the ropes. "Sides, if memory serves, Daisuke-sama didn't have a lot of ranged techniques"

The moment, the very second Samenosuke finished saying that, the reanimated Daisuke clashed his wakizashi against one another, releasing a shower of sparks. The blades immediately were shrouded in flames, and they just kept growing bigger.

Daisuke began to spin in place, the flames danced around him like a sort of flaming whirlpool. They kept growing stronger, becoming a thick pillar of fire. The flames began taking shape, extending upwards as the tower of flames split into two roaring dragons.

Samenosuke had a starry look on his eyes. "Ohhhh that's the Twin Dragon Missile technique!"

Kushina's eye twitched. "This is a highly dangerous A-rank fire technique!" She slammed her hand on the ground and made various hand signs. She formed a barrier, than added another layer, then another, and another, she kept adding layers to her layer until she was sure they could resist the incoming strike. Samenosuke quickly mimicked her and began doing barriers of his own.

One of the dragons' shot towards Kushina, and the other towards Samenosuke. The dragons collided against the shimmering barriers, resulting in a huge blast of flames which engulfed the entire arena floor into a raging inferno.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

The battle on the roof froze seeing two dragons of flame forming and goes for the attack. Tayuya could not stop herself; "Did you fucking see that?!"

"The Twin Dragon Missile jutsu. One of Daisuke-Dono's signature techniques," Orochimaru smirked while fighting his former sensei. "A flame jutsu that could rival an Uchiha's."

The Shodai ducked as a stream of lava came from the Mizukage. The auburn haired woman lightly huffed; "Never thought I would actually fight Hashirama Senju..."

"Never thought I'd see a woman become a Kage" He smiled cheerfully.

His instincts suddenly screamed danger, he nervously sweatdropped when he felt various sources of killing intent aimed at him, all coming from women. The Mizukage was exuding a particular dark aura.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She whispered in a dark voice.

Tobirama rolled his eyes and muttered something about his brother's unstoppable big mouth.

"Oh dear, I-I-I uh I didn't meant it like that!" He hurriedly said.

Immediately the aura vanished as Mei smiled; "Thank you."

Hashirama mentally sighed; 'And I thought Mito could be scary when angry.' Granted neither his wife nor this lady Kage could hold a candle to Tsukiko-sama when she was actually angry. But all females were dangerous creatures as far as he was concerned.

Meanwhile, the younger brother of the Senju faced against the Anbu and Jiraiya. The Second Hokage wasn't actually trying to fight them mind you, but his body could only resist the compulsions of the Edo Tensei so much, the irony of being manipulated by the very technique he created wasn't lost to him. But thankfully he had been doing a good job in avoiding those 'Oto nin' which had been given the talisman to manipulate them, Konoha's Anbu were also making sure they wouldn't get close to them.

His body reacted the moment his senses detected the blaze of fire coming closer from behind his back. With a sweeping motion from his hand, Tobirama created a strong current of water which put out the flames.

"Tch" Jiraiya grimaced, seeing his technique fail. "Sensei wasn't kidding when he told us stories about you. That water manipulation is sure impressive, no handsigns, no visible bodies of water for you to draw out the element, just the movements of your limbs"

"You are also Sarutobi's student," Tobirama spoke as he attacked with his water jutsu.

Jiraiya leaped over the avoiding the attack; "Yep, but unlike my former friend back there I stayed true to Konoha."

"I am glad to hear it, and I apologize. I should never have made this blasted reanimation jutsu," the Nidaime growled, angry at himself.

Yugao huffed behind her mask as she landed beside Jiraiya; "No apologies needed Nidaime-sama, we will make certain you and brother along with the Uzukage are at rest."

"Our bodies currently are chakra constructs" The second Hokage said. "Though I suspect they are still susceptible to the workings of our previous biology, your best option would be to seal us"

The toad sage let out a confident smile. "Don't worry; even if sensei and Kushina are busy, I'm more than enough to seal you"

"Don't get too confident" Tobirama scolded with narrowed eyes. "I will most likely defend myself with defensive water techniques; therefore you need to catch me by surprise"

Jiraiya bit back a sigh. 'I'm being scolded by sensei's sensei...'

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Orochimaru only chuckled as he dodged several strikes from his former Sensei's staff; "My you gotten a step slow haven't you?"

The Sandaime said nothing as he continued his assault. He spun Enma with great dexterity over his head; the staff grew several feet in length as it moved to strike in a sweeping motion. Orochimaru smirked as he contorted his body, doing some very snake like movements to duck underneath the attack.

Hiruzen reached into his pouch and threw several kunai at him. The snake sannin with just two handsigns covered his chakra into wind and blew a gust strong enough that stopped them in their tracks, it was then he saw the paper bombs strapped to them burning.

He jumped away, shielding his face from the blast. His instincts screamed danger and Orochimaru saw Hiruzen jumping through the smoke, Enma's staff form having grown at least twice its width. With a cry, the Sandaime slammed down his staff, but Orochimaru was faster and managed to literally slide away, his lower body merging into a snake like tail, the staff cracked the roof with its pressure.

But Hiruzen wasn't done, his staff slimmed down almost instantly, used it to propel itself towards his former student. He launched a series of kicks towards Orochimaru, he despite being pushed back by the sudden attack managed to block them with swift defensive movements, shielding himself from the strikes with his forearms. Hiruzen spun in midair, twirling his staff and sending and upper strike with connected with Orochimaru's chin, sending the snake flying back.

He rolled on the ground as he feel, but quickly stood up and rubbed his chin. "Hmph" He grunted as he stared maliciously at the old Kage. It would seem he'd need a weapon of his own to match his. Opening his jaws wide, more than it was possible for a human, he regurgitated until a weapon's handle came out from his throat. Grasping it, the snake sannin pulled out a long jian blade.

A wide eye appeared on the end of Enma's staff form, the monkey king stared incredulously at the blade in Orochimaru's grasp. "That sword..." He muttered in astonishment. "That's Kusanagi, the Storm God Susanoo's blade" Hiruzen gasped in shock at this revelation. Enma growled in fury, his staff form shaking. "Where in Sun Wukong's tail did you find that weapon, snake?!"

"A good question, one I'm not compelled to answer" Orochimaru smirked, hearing Enma snarl back; "All I will say is one can find anything if they look hard enough."

"Are you still searching for immortality?"

The snake Sannin only tilted his head at his Hiruzen to his question; "You already know the answer to that sensei. Oh I should show you how far I have come."

Reaching to his face, Sarutobi's and Enma's single eye on the staff widen as Orochimaru ripped off the skin. Both felt their blood turning cold as now the visage of a child staring back at them.

A soft chuckle soon became crazed laughter; "Oh the look on you faces! Hahahaha!"

"You complete it," Hiruzen said whispered in dreaded.

Hiruzen tightened his fist. He should have taken out Orochimaru a long time ago, when he first saw the horrible things he had done to those poor children. He cursed his heart for still seeing, partly, Orochimaru as that talented little boy he had taken as a student long ago...

"Hiruzen, I need you to listen to me very carefully" Enma whispered into his ear. "I know it is hard for you, but you need to cast aside any love you still have for him and kill him. That weapon in his hand..." The old Kage's eyes shifted to the longsword. "Is a blade crafted and wielded by gods, much like the legendary Ruji Jingu Bang or the Vajra. The fact that Orochimaru hasn't used it to finish this fight already means that he himself hasn't figured out how to draw out its true powers" The monkey king grimly stated. "If allowed, then Orochimaru will one day find out, and he shall become an even greater threat"

"Immortality is ever closer to my grasp" The child's lips twisted into a demented smile before Orochimaru ripped the skin off his face once more, revealing his real visage. "But it is still not enough..."

"And destroying our village will help you achieve it?!" Hiruzen fiercely demanded.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Believe it or not sensei, while it is true I am enjoying this, my role in this invasion is strictly business"

"And you betrayed your employers by killing their Kage" The Sandaime accused.

"True, but never did I said it was just Suna whom I had made a deal"

XxX ~ Saito ~ XxX

A Suna Nin screamed as a katana slashed through his right shoulder to the left of his hip. Blood sprayed the surroundings as the man fell to the ground dead. The Uzumaki swordsman did not even glance at him as he continued his aid of Konoha.

"It's one man, just kill already!" An angry Oto Nin roared.

Saito's wolf-like hazel eyes narrowed; "Foolish..."

With a battle cry, several Sound ninja charged at him, Saito stood with his katana held tightly, ready to strike. When a stream of fire passed right by his feet and exploded in a wall of flames which quickly immolated the enemy, the roaring flames drowned their cries of pain.

"Hehe" Lyn giggle as she held her naginata, the blade's tip buried on the ground where the trail of fire came from. "Shame I can't show Kushina how awesome my fire is"

Saito sighed. "You can continue your 'rivalry'" The air quotations weren't done, but they were implied. "Later. Right now, we need to help the village"

She laughed. "Well, should be fun to see some of their faces when they see what I'll bring to the table"

Without another world, both Saito and Lyn bit their thumbs and slammed their hands on the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Two massive plumes of smoke erupted as a few shinobi stopped; "Well what the hell took so long! It's been ages Lyn!"

A Konoha Nin paled as the smoked cleared; "A giant fox!"

"And a wolf!" Another shouted on a rooftop.

Indeed, from the smoke two giant summons, bigger than a two story house, appeared. One was a great timber wolf, its face was carried a number of scars. While the other summon was a creature which usually had a negative look from Konoha's population to say the least.

It was a great fox, a black fox to be precise, its eyes shined with excitement while the wolf remained stoic.

The wolves ears stood as he sniffed, turning his giant head, he saw many snakes across the village, he even saw Genryu fighting against Manda. "So, we are to participate in a war it seems"

The fox laughed with a feminine voice. "Why it's been some time since I last fought in one!" She run her tongue over her teeth. "I hunger for snake!"

Lyn jumped over her head and grinned at her. "Well you're in lack Yuri, there's plenty to eat!"

Saito looked down to his summoning; "Genjou, we are in need of you strength."

"As if you have to ask old friend. It would be a pleasure to tear these serpents to shreds."

Yuri looked up whistling; "Wow! I kept hearing Genryu and Manda really hated each other. But it's a lot different when finally seeing it."

On a rooftop Ibiki appeared via shunshin with several others; "Well this got interesting."

"We really taking the help of this stranger?!" A ninja of Konoha said in disbelief. "And with a fox no less?!"

He suddenly gasped in horror and jumped back a large black furred snout came close to him.

"Want to repeat that to my face, whelp?"

Lyn glared back at the men; "Alright asshats listen up! Yuri and the fox clan have ZERO connection to the Bijuu 'Kyuubi no Kitsune'. And if you don't believe that and try something to my partner here, I will gladly cut your balls off and feed them to ya!" She shrugged. "Or just let Yuri-chan eat you."

The large black fox snorted.

"Heh" The interrogation expert let out an amused laugh. "A bit of advice people, a war is not exactly the time to be picky about your allies"

"Hehehehe" The sadistic giggling of his fellow Special Jōnin made quite a few of their comrades take a step back. "I like the cut off jib" Anko smirked sadistically.

"Of course you would..."

"Alright Yuri-chan!" Lyn grin, thrusting her naginata forward. "Here we go!"

The black fox smirked predatorily and jump, her leap clearing quite the distance. She landed atop one of the giant snakes, crushing it underneath her claws and sinking her fangs on its neck.

The wolf boss needed no words as he moved like the wind itself before clamping his massive jaws down upon two snakes. Saito landed beside Ibiki and Anko; "Are you two acting commanders?"

"From this division, at least"

"Genjou and Yuri can handle things here, which area needs the most help?"

Anko tilted her head; "Uh who are you and why haven't I flirted with you yet?"

That got a sigh out of a few along with Ibiki. "his name is Saito Uzumaki, and you can flirt later." He turned to the swordsman "The eastern side of the village needs a hand. Suna Nin have pinned down our men, we were heading there," Ibiki spoke up.

Saito nodded. "Lead the way"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Haaah!" Tenten launched a barrage of kunai with explosive tags an incoming wave of smaller snakes. The bombs tore them to pieces. Yet more kept coming. "There's no end to them..."

The ground shook, and various houses collapses when great snakes began to surround them. There were six on total; they easily moved through the rubble and tore apart any building on their path.

"Form up!" Kakashi shouted; their group huddled up together in a circle, the adults standing on the fright while the younger ninja remained behind them.

"What we have we here?" One of the giant snakes hissed playfully. "Cornered prey it seems"

Another flicked its long forked tongue. "I bet they taste delicious"

A dark scowl formed on Kurenai's face. "You will not touch our students" Asuma clashes his knives together, Zabuza dragged his sword over the ground while Gai and Hiashi took on a fighting stance.

Kakashi lifted his hand, chakra gathered on his palm and soon it began crackling with lighting. "Let's show them why they shouldn't mess with Konoha"

With a roar, the snakes charged, but the Jōnin met them head on courageously.

With a loud cry, and a massive aura of killing intent, Zabuza jumped at the gaping maw of the snake coming at him. One single slash from Kubikiribocho was all it took to sever the upper side of its head from its body.

The green beast of Konoha leaped with so much force the ground beneath his feet cracked, Gai spun so fast his body became a blur, and delivered a devastating sweeping kick at the a snake's muzzle, throwing its head back. The mighty vertebrae of the giant serpent at the base of its neck snapped due to the sheer force.

Asuma jumped the moment the snake's head impacted over the ground where he once stood, chakra flowed through his knives, extending to the point they became huge energy blades. He dived towards the snake, crossing his arms, and with a double sweeping motion he severe its head.

The Genjutsu mistress did not move out of the way from the charging snake. She merely did a series of handsigns and the snake collapsed on the ground trashing as it screamed in utter terror. With another few handsigns, she slammed her hands on the ground, the earth cracked in a straight line until it reached the great serpent. Its trashing stopped when a huge earth spike pierce its brain.

Hiashi calmly walked towards a snake, not minding that this one leapt at him with its jaws open wide, seeking to devour him in one gulp. The Hyuuga leader's eyes snapped open, his Byakugan activated. The moment its jaws were upon him, he began spinning at great velocity, his chakra projected outwards and began solidifying in a swirling barrage of energy. The Kaiten expanded inside the snake's mouth, destroying its inner muscles and fangs, the technique just kept expanding more and more until its jaw snapped open.

Kakashi slammed his hand downwards, arcs of lightning streamed from his palm with great ferocity, nearly mimicking the sound of a thousand birds. His Sharingan focused on the snake, it slithered over the ground charging at him. "Raikiri!" He 'rode the lightning' so to speak, the currents of electricity boosted his speed tremendously. His famed technique pierced right through the snake's maw and into its trough, tearing and seeing flesh and bone on his path. He bursted through the end of the snake's tail, covered in blood, while the snake's body was split in two.

The genin could only stare.

"Holy shit..." Ino muttered with wide eyes.

"W-We still have a long way to go eh?" Kouhei muttered while a bead of sweat rolled down his head.

Zabuza looked dryly at the silver haired Jounin; "You did hold back when we fought on the bridge."

"Oh no, I was at my wits in facing you, promise," Kakashi only eye-smiled.

'Bullshit,' the swordsman mental grumbled as he turned to the Genin; "You jack assess done gawking yet?"

"Uh, the young red haired guy with the sword is gone," Hanabi spoke up.

Ino looked around; "Soujiro-Kun!"

An Oto Nin screamed as he free fall off a roof after being slashed in half in front of the blond hitting the ground dead. Looking down the young Uzumaki swordsman blinked; "Sorry Ino-San."

The Yamanaka paled at the sight of the corpse. "You're brutal..."

The genjutsu mistress sighed. "Young man you shouldn't separate from the group"

"My apologies" He bowed. "I saw an enemy so I moved to cut him down. I am not used to fighting in large groups"

"Well if you want to stay alive kid then you better do as we say" Asuma spoke. "You have skill and you're calm and level headed, but I can tell you lack experience in large scales battles, never let your guard down"

"I understand" He nodded. "Danger can come from literally any-"

The ground burst open, and behind the building he was on appeared a giant snake. Soujiro gasped in shock at the sight and took a step back. The snake coiled its body and lunged at him.

"Soujiro-kun!" Kakashi shouted in fright. Damn it he was too far away from him!

"Shit!" Zabuza swore, the others tried to move but it the snake was too close to the boy.

Soujiro closed his eyes... and the snake's head suddenly feel to the ground, severed by a blade of wind. Its corpse fell to the ground over some debris, blood pooling around it.

"Hmph can't believe Lyn left me behind to deal with some punks. Tch, that woman" A female voice said, opening his eyes, Soujiro saw a familiar sight. Messy blonde hair, mocha tanned skin, teal eyes. A one-sleeved light blue robe with wave and wide motifs and a katana in her hand.

"What the-?" Shikamaru muttered. "Who is she?"

Zabuza openly whistled at her. Damn, now that's one hot dame, buxom and with some exotic looks to plus.

"Kya-san..." Soujiro muttered in disbelief.

"Next time, don't drop your guard boy" She said disinterestedly as she placed her blade into the sheath on her back.

"Y-Yes" He bowed to her. "T-Thank you so much!"

"Hey kid," Zabuza got their attention; "Who's the hottie?"

"This is cousin Lyn's girlfriend, Kya Namikaze." The entire area went silent; "Uh did I say something wrong?"

"N-Namikaze?" Kurenai stuttered in astonishment. "As in, like the Yondaime's family?"

"Impossible" Kakashi muttered to himself as walked closer to the group, his eye were wide with disbelief. "Minato-sensei said the Namikaze clan mostly died out, they spread too much as due to their nomadic nature and fell to many enemies"

"'Mostly died out' is an apt term" The blonde woman said as she stepped down from the roof with Soujiro. "I came here because my... partner decided I should meet another from my clan who lives here"

"Oh that's wonderful!" Ino gushed.

Chouji smiled heartily. "Yeah, Naruto's gonna thrilled" him and the other rookie Genin having learned about Naruto's father during the month prior.

"Hmph" The mocha skin beauty did not seem overly excited at the prospect.

"There you are," Saito, Ibiki, Anko appear with several shinobi following. The tall swordsman gave a nod to the Namikaze woman; "Kya-San."

"Saito" She nodded back. "Where is Lyn?"

"She's with Genjou and Yuri."

"Figures…"

Ibiki looked to Kakashi; "The eastern side is in trouble."

The Copy Ninja pondered for moment before looking at his comrades, he exchanged a silent message with them with only a look. "Very well" Kakashi replied. "We shall join you at the east"

And so they departed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, the vantage point of their tall jumps allowed them to truly grasp the scale of the battlefield. They saw the ninja of Konoha bravely fighting against enemy ninja and the giant snake, giant Akimichi were wrestling down the great serpents, with Choza among them.

They even saw giant summons, unfamiliar to most of them, aiding in the fight. A giant black fox and a giant wolf, which were tearing the snakes to pieces.

"That's my partner Genjou, the wolf chief" Saito explained. "The fox is Yuri, the fox chief"

"And my trusty partner!" An exuberant voice exclaimed as they saw a wild red haired woman with a naginata joining them. "Missed me hun?" She winked at Kya.

Kya narrowed her eyes at her. "You left me behind"

"Had to see family," Lyn said quietly. "And you are going to see Naruto after we beat the shit out of these pansies out of here," she spoke again with finality.

The buxom Namikaze only made a throaty noise as they kept leaping from roof to roof. Beside her father and cousin Neji, Hanabi only looked around the village she loved solemnly. Corpses from both sides lying on the street with bodies of civilians caught in the crossfire also dead. Buildings burning or destroyed, lives snuffed out...

"Why..." Everyone heard the young Hyuuga girl spoke up quietly.

"Because of the ambition of a few" Asuma spoke, it was clear he was resigning in his anger. The same anger they were all feeling.

"What will happen between Konoha and Suna after this?" Chouji asked worriedly.

Anko sighed, surprisingly looking rather solemn, quite a contrast with the crazy instructor they were familiar with. "Wish I knew what to tell you kiddos..."

Before they could progress further Hiashi had spoken to a Chunin to get his youngest daughter away from here and to safety. While the young Kunoichi in training wanted to stay, she knew she was not ready for all this so she quietly complied.

Once they neared the eastern side of the village, they noticed their own forces standing behind a barricade of stone lifted by earth jutsu, as well as composed by broken rubble. Behind the barricade stood dozens and dozens of their ninja, among them the Jōnin commander Shukaku.

The earthen wall trembled with explosions but they withstood, the combined forces of Suna and Oto were attacking from the other side.

"The snakes at Konaji district were defeated" A chūnin informed Shikaku. "It was that... black fox sir" She finished uncomfortably.

"Never thought I'd see the day where a giant fox would be helping Konoha" The Nara head muttered; the whole situation was one huge troublesome mess. He noticed the arrival of their reinforcements. "About time you people got here"

"We got a bit caught up" Kakashi said in jest before quickly turning serious. "What's the situation?"

"Oto and Suna are holding up with their barricade across the district" Shikaku informed. "They are amassing, seems like they're prepping their forces to make one large push to crush our defenses" He grimaced. "Those giant snakes did a number on other fronts, but at least the Akimichi and giant summons are managing to hold them back, finally..."

"Heeey, you made it guys" The genin saw the young shinobi from Kumo approaching them. "Good to see you're not dead yet"

Hearing Omoi's voice made Ino sigh relief having met and befriended the Kumo bunch when with Sakura. But soon sweat dropped as Karui slapped him in the back of the head; "Think positive jackass!"

While looking a bit rough with sweat and blood on their bodies, the three Kumo Nin were alright. Samui sighed before turning her cold blue eyes to Karin; "I'm glad you're okay."

"That makes two of us, you guys injured?"

Karui snorted with a hand on his hip; "Haven't met a decent swordsman among these assholes."

That made the Yamanaka heiress sweatdrop; "Priorities please..."

"Do we have a plan to counterattack?" Kurenai asked their commander.

"Right now Oto and Suna are well entrenched" Shikaku explained. "I'm coordinating with other forces to surround them, but unfortunately many are busy with other fights all over the village. And the Hokage is still fighting Orochimaru" He tapped his bearded chin. "We lack the necessary firepower for a direct assault"

"You're suggesting we hold position?" Zabuza asked.

"For the moment at least, we have little choice, the Akimichi who can turn giant are still busy with the snakes, and until we can get a better mobility we-"

The ground shook.

"Shit!" A Jōnin swore as he pressed his hands over the ground, feeling seismic movements. "We have another one incoming!"

"Get the defenses ready!" The commander shouted.

Peering through a small hole in the barricade, Lee observed as a large plume of dust rose across the district behind the enemy's trenches. It was a great black snake, a cobra to be precise.

It rose until it was various meters in the air, it took a deep breath, and suddenly exhaled huge amount of scorching flames which traveled across the street, aiming directly at Konoha's barricade.

"Everybody down!"

The huddled across the wall, this shook as the flames collided; they could feel the heat as the flames passed over the barricade's top. The genin huddled together as they kept their heads down.

The snake chuckled maliciously and slithered across the street at great speed, his large body unharmed even as it passed over the flames of the scorching street.

The Konoha ninja stared in horror as the snake's head rose above their wall, fire already gathering on his maw while aiming at them.

Suddenly, the neigh of a horse was heard, and a mighty steed trampled down over the cobra's head, driving the snake to the ground. The still flaming floor cracked under the pressure, and the slash of a blade was heard.

The ninja stared at each other in shock. "Was that-?" They quickly put out the flames over the wall and stood over it and other close buildings to take a better look.

Standing atop the snake's corpse was a great horse, while on the flames stood young woman with soft pink hair and a katana in hand, the fires licked across her skin but they didn't seem to harm her.

"Princess Maiyuri!" A Konoha ninja yelled out.

Samui only looked wide eyed in shock while Omoi's lollipop fell from his mouth. Karui was much more vocal; "What the fuck is your country's princess doing here!?"

The Jōnin commander stood over the barricade, "Maiyuri-hime!" Shikaku shouted; the heiress to the Land of Fire shifted her gaze towards him. "The situation is too dangerous, fall back!"

"He says after she just killed a giant snake..." Tenten muttered to herself incredulously.

"I will not stand idly by as my people fight for their lives!" The princess shouted back.

Shikaku scowled in irritation. "Tch, that girl..." Asuma sighed, feeling his pain. The princess was a handful ever since she was little, oh he remembered well from his days on the Guardian Ninja.

Across the battlefield, the shinobi of Oto and Suna stared in disbelief. "The Fire Daimyo's daughter is here?" One of them muttered.

"This is perfect" A sound ninja smirked. "We can take the princess for ransom; his father is bound to pay a fortune for her"

"Can we do it?" Another sand ninja said nervously. "I heard some things about their princess; she's not some delicate flower they say..."

"Bah, those are just over inflated rumors. We must capture her immediately; clear the fires so we can-"

Suddenly, the princess held her katana; this one shimmered with the reflection of the sun and the flames. One sweeping motion of her weapon set loose a barrage of wind which instantly doused the flames on its path. It collided with buildings and eventually their own barricade, sending strong gusts of wind right above their heads.

The Suna Nin slowly gave a dry gaze to the Oto Nin; "You were saying?"

"Shinobi of Suna!" The princess bellowed her voice mighty and full of authority. "Your Kage is dead!" She announced.

Cries of disbelief ran across the battlefield.

"What?!"

"How can this be?!"

"Did lord Rasa fall against the Hokage?!"

"He has been slain, not by one of our own, but by the very people who call themselves your allies!" She jammed a finger at their direction. "Orochimaru impersonated your leader! And he has been found dead in the deserts of your nation, betrayed by that snake!"

Ninjas of Suna angrily turned to their so called 'allies'. "Is this true?!"

"Of course not! Don't believe a word she says!"

"Whether you believe me or not is unimportant!" Maiyuri continued. "If you choose to remain with this foolish war, I swear to you that you shall only find death!" She pointed her blade at them. "So I offer you this choice, take your dead and your wounded, return to your village, or face the wrath of our fires!"

For what felt like an eternity, there was only silence on the battlefield. The princess's words echoed in the mind of all those present. Could they risk it? The shinobi of Suna wondered. They have sacrificed so much for this mission, to bring prosperity to their village.

...Yet staring at the corpses of their fallen and this news of their beloved Kazekage dead, they asked themselves if it had truly been worth it. They had completely destroyed an alliance, one that was slowly draining the wealth of their village, but in exchange they had once more made themselves enemies of people who had come to them with the offer of peace, something so rare and treasured in the world of ninja.

Staring at the resolute green eyes of the princess, at the resolute faces of the ninja of Konoha, they knew this was a battle they could not win.

Slowly, the shinobi of Suna turned and began to leave the ninja of Oto.

"Wait!" One of the sound ninja cried in disbelief. "Where are you going?!"

A Suna Nin stopped while not looking back; "If what the princess said is true. Orochimaru has made an enemy of Sunagakure. But our senseless betrayal of an ally this day, and our own daimyo's actions, may have doomed our village all together. There is no further reason to spill blood here, and I am done watching my friends die." They all soon left, leaping from building to building. There was nothing left for them here…

"Well that thinned the herd," Kakashi spoke up.

Zabuza chuckled sinisterly as he grabbed the handle of his blade; Asuma smirked and brandished his knives. "Your orders?" He asked Shikaku.

"Remember to let some alive, we need them for questioning"

The shinobi of Konoha grinned like hungry wolves while the Oto-nin cowered at the sight of the disadvantageous position they found themselves in.

Maiyuri mounted her trusty companion. "Shinobi of Konoha!" The princess of Fire lifted her blade high. "Let us take drive back this scum!"

They raised their fists in the air, shouting valiantly. A proclamation of victory. And so they charged.

"S-Shit!" One of the Sound ninja swore. "Attack damn it! Attack!"

Several of their ninja on their barricade did a series of hand signs at the same time. "Earth Style!" They cried. "Earth Dragon Bullet!"

Earth and stone shifted before them, conglomerating and taking the shape of a roaring dragon, it shot forth directly towards the riding princess.

Maiyuri's eyes narrowed. She squatted over her sit and sheathed her blade. With a strong jump, she leaped several feat forwards and landed on the ground with a spin, her heels digging into the earth as she stopped in a stance, rearing her arms back with her fists closed.

"Sōkotsu!" As soon as the dragon was within her reach, she thrusted her fists forward into its snout. The moment her attack made collision the earth dragon shattered, the shock-wave of the impact continued forward, destroying the rest of the technique from head to tail.

The Oto Nin could only watch in horror as the ninja of Konoha so too shrugged off and countered any technique they launched at them. The last thing many of them saw was their enemies jumping over their wall, and the sun being reflected on the princess's sword.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Just die already you weakling coward!" Manda roared as both he and Genryu once more battled in the sky above Konoha, the snake tightly coiled around his opponent's body. "Your kind disgraces itself by aiding those wretched humans!"

"My only disgrace is that I should have killed you decades ago!" The silver dragon breathed out a stream of fire.

Manda let go of his tight hold over the dragon's body, dropping the earth to evade his fire. He crashed atop several buildings and slithered away as Genryu directed his flames at him.

Grabbing a pile of debris with his tail, Manda flung the rock and pieces of broken buildings to the dragon at great speed. Genryu serpentine his way in the air to avoid the debris, was losing his balance when one huge chunk of rock managed to collide against his belly. Manda did not let him recover and flung more and more debris at him.

Hindered by the barrage, Genryu was forced to the ground. Manda swiftly moved towards him, baring his fangs. He snapped at him the moment he was within his striking distance, buy Genryu quickly moved his head and neck out of the way. At one of Manda's attempted bites, he quickly grabbed a hold of the snake with his claws and drove him to the ground, he roared before biting into his neck.

Manda trashed in pain as the fangs pierced through his hard scales and drew blood. His tail lashed out like a whip at Genryu's face, making the dragon roar in pain and let go. The great snake quickly coiled his body and slapped him away with the majority of his body.

The two quickly moved away from each other, gaining distance to recover their breaths.

"You accuse me of disgrace by aiding humans Manda" The silver dragon snarled. "Your words reek with hypocrisy. Are you not helping Orochimaru?"

Manda hissed in rage. "Do not mistake my pact with Orochimaru with that servitude those clans call 'contract'" He spat out in disgust. "Our interests currently overlap, that is why I choose to come here with my great kin. This disgusting human village shall be our nest"

"It is not servitude Manda" Genryu defended proudly. "But trust between my clan and the Uzumaki, who we see as our close kin"

"Then you are blind Genryu!" The great serpent shouted. "What have humans done for us animals?! Or have you forgotten how they drove many of the clans from their homes?! Have you forgotten how they hunted your race for power?!"

The dragon remained silent, velvet eyes closed for a moment of contemplation. When he opened them, the entire snake saw was a resolute iron will. "There is still a chance, for beast and humankind, to truly live together in harmony. That we dragons have sworn" He snarled at Manda. "Something your treacherous ancestors have long since forgotten..."

The giant purple snake snorted. "Foolish, so foolish" He smirked mockingly at him. "I dream of the day when your naive ideal dies, to see all that pathetic Tsukiko did for your human pets be for naught"

Genryu let out a roar of pure rage, shaking the terrain around him and letting out shock-waves. Manda's smirk grew wider, knowing he had hit a particularly sensitive spot. "Don't you dare even say my sister's name! You are unworthy of it!"

Manda only chuckled maliciously as he turned the proverbial knife; "What angers you most? How Tsukiko died pathetically from a weak disease, or that both the Uzumaki and Uzushio were destroyed so easily?"

That sent the great dragon into a blind rage as he breathed an even bigger stream of fire at his enemy.

Genryu roared and roared, pouring every ounce of his anger into his flames to the point they obscured his vision. Only when he couldn't keep up due to his lack of breath did he stop. He gasped for breath and watched as the flames burned over the street... yet there was no sign of Manda, only one great hole in the ground.

His eyes winded in shock, instincts screamed at him to move. But it was too late, Manda bursted from the ground and wrapped his much thicker body around the dragon's, twisting so painfully Genryu could only struggle.

"Yes..." He seethed in twisted delight. "Let your last breath escape your lips... I want to see you die!" He tightened his hold, making Genryu roar in pain.

Even though Manda was taking his time to slowly crush the dragon, savoring every second of it, he took notice of the large shadow that appeared over them. He looked up to see a dark figure right underneath the sun, toad-like in shape. He could clearly make out the giant blade which reflected the sun's light.

Manda was forced to let Genryu go and slithered away quickly, narrowly escaping the giant tanto which buried itself on the spot where he once was.

"Hope you don't mind if I join old friend" Gamabunta, the toad chief, smiled at the silver dragon.

The toad chief took his tanto from the ground as Manda hissed; "Come to die amphibian?"

"And here I was going to smack that pervert for summoning while I was napping. I've been waiting to make that snake-skin wallet I've always wanted," Gamabunta snorted.

Genryu took several calming breaths as he looked to his longtime comrade; "Appreciated old friend."

"It better be! You should know better than let that pathetic excuse of a reptile get you riled up like that!"

"What did you say!?" Manda snarled.

That was true and the dragon boss knew it. Normally he was much calmer in battle than this. But then again, he was always over emotional when someone brought up Tsukiko in any kind of negative light. Genryu refocused his attention on the great snake. "Surrender Manda, you are outnumbered, and more of your kin fall as the battle continues"

The purple snake hissed in anger, beady eyes slowly shifted to the corners of the village. It felt like a stab in the gut, but the cursed dragon was right. Yuri and Ganjou had joined the fray, they were helping the humans who could grow giant sized to take out his kin with greater efficiently and savagery.

Orochimaru was still locked in combat against his teacher, of that he was sure. Oto-nin was running away from the Konoha forces, many of their own captured or dead. And he barely saw a few score of Suna ninja still present in the village.

It made his blood boil with rage... but they had lost.

"This is not the end of it" Manda hissed. "I swear"

And with that, he disappeared in a great burst of smoke.

Gamabunta scoffed; "Once a coward, always a coward."

"I will revel in the day one of us kills that bastard," Genryu snarled.

The old toad gazed his eyes about the village. "This place is a damn mess. But we can't leave just yet."

True enough, other snakes were still fighting even with their chief gone from the field. And they couldn't well let Ganjou and Yuri have all the fun. "Who the hell summoned those two anyway?"

"Hell if I know," Gamabunta shrugged; "But nice to see those lazy bums are pitching in."

"We can hear you!" The giant wolf and fox yelled at the toad. "Old drunk," Yuri snapped further.

"Who you calling a drunk! Want me to make pelts out of you!"

'Ah definitely like old times,' Genryu rolled his eyes.

XxX ~ Naruto ~ XxX

Team 7 and 8 with Karin, Haku, and Yugito keep their pace steady as they make near the forest. "The scent is getting stronger!" Kiba spoke up. Hein and Yasu both agreed as they sat on their summoner's shoulders.

All soon came to a stop as Baki appeared in front of them; "That is far enough. You will not get to Gaara."

Naruto was about to speak until Kuroreimei appeared in front of the Genin staring down Baki. The raven haired woman's locks flutter in the wind, dark eyes stare intently at the Suna Nin. "You kids alright?"

The blonde Uzumaki smirked. "Ain't nothing holding us back"

She smiled at his spirit. "Good answer. Go on ahead, I'll take care of this guy"

The young shinobi gave curt nod as they resumed their hunt for Gaara into the forest. "You are no citizen of Konoha or a Shinobi. Why step into a conflict that you have business in?" Baki asked in a blank tone.

"Because I see something special in that kid, something I have not seen in a long, long time" She stated. "So, you could say I'm interested in his development…"

The world was changing again. And from the result of today's battle, she'd finally decided whether it was time for her to act or not.

Her body became shrouded in flames, and Baki's eyes widened.

XxX ~ Kushina ~ XxX

Sweat dripped from her forehead due to the heat of the flames covering the arena. Even though their barriers held, her father's fire technique sure was something else... They had to seal him and rejoin the others quickly.

But how? Kushina looked her father, still safe behind the barrier he himself had erected. Right now they were at a stalemate. Gods the look of his unfeeling eyes unnerved her so much, how he was just... gone. There was no humanity left in that possessed state, he didn't react to anything they said, only countered what they-

Wait...

"Samenosuke!" Kushina shouted. "Do you know any earth technique to travel underground?!"

"I do!" He answered.

"Get your counter-barrier seals ready, get close to him from under the earth and use them, I'll trap him with my chains!"

"Uh..." He looked unsure. "I don't think that's gonna work, what with you SHOUTING the plan out loud!"

"He doesn't understand what we're saying! Look at him!" She pointed at the emotionless face of her father. "That state makes him obedient, but it robs pretty much all of his cognitive abilities! He can see and hear, but only follows the commands 'attack and counter'! He can hear us but doesn't understand a single thing we say!"

A light bulb went on in Samenosuke's head; "Oh... I got it now!"

"Get ready!" The roguish man went through several hand seals. "GO!"

Kushina quickly pulled out a scroll; it unraveled and wrapped itself around her. The kanji for the words 'Fire' and 'Resistance' repeated itself multiple times over the paper, the words shined along with rest of the sealing parameters. The scrolls burned and the seals were engraved on her skin. They continued shining like burns before fading.

She didn't have long, so she had to move quickly. Letting down the barrier and jumped high, her father's attention was now on her, allowing Samenosuke to open a hole in the ground and enter unnoticed.

She dragged her fingers over the flat side of her blade, channeling wind chakra, and let out a series of air strikes directly at him, yet his barrier held on. Daisuke swiped his wakizashi, commanding the flames of the arena to rise in the shape of dragons, directly at her.

Kushina grunted as golden chains sprouted from her back, they formed a protective shield around her. As the dragon heads collided she could feel the remains of the fire pass through, licking at her skin, but thankfully her temporary boosted resistance to fire allowed her to handle the heat. With a quick series of hand seals, she moved the chains out of the way and spews a large torrent of water at her father, it clashed against the barrier, dousing the fires around him.

This was just what they needed.

Samenosuke jumped out of the ground behind him, safe now that the flames weren't a problem, he had two kunai linked together by a thread with seals tag on it. He threw the kunai at the same time, pulled by the thread clashing against the barrier, the kunai spun around it, wrapping the seals around it.

The wild haired Uzumaki joined his hands and with a single commanded activated them.

The seal tags shined, disrupting the barrier and making it dissolve.

Now vulnerable, Kushina's chains shot forward and captured her father in a tight hold, pulling his limbs as far as possible and stopping his hands from making any kind of hand sign. She landed on the ground before him.

She buried her hand through her father's chest she pulled out the kunai with the control seal. Tossing it to Samenosuke he burned away the seal. Life returned to Daisuke's eyes, he blinked several times before seeing his daughter in front of him; "Kushina?"

Sweat dripped from his daughter's face as she weakly smiled; "Hey dad..."

Hearing a thud behind him, the Uzukage turned his head seeing Samenosuke flat on his back. Complete exhaustion evident on the lad. He also took in account of the golden chains that held him. "Our clans' chains…" He smiled proudly at her. "How much have you grown"

She returned his smile. "I trained a lot to make our family proud"

"You did my child, you did" Daisuke gazes to the roof, where the other battle was still taking place. "Orochimaru," the man seethed.

"Well get him for this" She swore.

Looking back down he smiled warmly at his daughter. "I know you will, honey" Like before, his body began to glow, the paper like substance that composed his body disintegrated in the air. "You will have to do it on your own"

"It's okay" Kushina said with soft smile. "You already did so much..."

Her father grinned as his body was half way gone; "Tell my grandson, no matter what... I am proud of him... And you, as well." In that moment the Uzukage vanished from the earth.

The golden chains retracted. The Uzu woman's eyes were shadowed by her hair. Sitting up, Samenosuke's eyes were also hidden as both felt their rage boiling through their veins.

"Come on" He said as he stood up and dusted himself off. He looked at Kushina with vengeance in his eyes. "Nobody does this to our family"

Kushina looked at him with steely resolution and nodded. They looked at the battle ongoing battle at the roof and jumped, becoming blurs of high speed movement as they hurried to help the others.

XxX ~ on the roof ~ XxX

Jirōbō growled beside Kidōmaru who both were fending off attacks from several Anbu; "They're like annoying ants!"

The multi-armed man beside him rolled his eyes; "If you got time to complain, you can fight."

"And who the hell were those guys who killed Ukon and Sakon!?"

"Doesn't matter now!" Tayuya growled, narrowly back flipped to avoid multiple kunai thrown at her. "Just focus on these assholes!" She reached for her flute. "Jirōbō, give me a barrier!"

The large bellied member of the Sound Four jumped back, Kidōmaru joining him, and slammed his hands on the ground. Dirt and rock gathered from underneath the roof's tiles, quickly solidifying into a dome.

"I'm going to summon my Doki" She said, bringing her lips close to her mouth, the marks of Orochimaru's gift spreading over her skin. "Keep them back"

The moment she began blowing into the flute, something went wrong. A golden chain tore a hole right through the earthen dome, much to their shock, it shot forth with such speed Jirōbō could only gawk as the chain pierced his stomach.

It was followed by another, then another, more and more chains broke through the wall and impaled the tallest of the Sound Four. Blood dripped from his mouth, his body had been pierced through numerous areas, arms, legs, stomach, and chest.

Then the chains pulled, and he was flung from inside the wall, making a whole through it in the process. Tayuya and Kidōmaru didn't have time to react when five spheres filled with bomb tags were thrown inside.

The blast reduced the dome to smithereens, with the two Sound Four being flown back with tremendous force. Their bodies suffering from severe burns, yet miraculously they were still alive, albeit in a world of pain.

Tayuya landed painfully with her face down. She raised her head, her face was bloodied and burnt, a constant ringing played on her ears while her vision was blurry. She managed to focus enough to see her flute before her, it was cracked, now doubt a result of the explosion. She shakily extended her arm, fighting through the agony of moving it, reaching forward to grasp it.

Her fingers barely managed to touch the flute when a foot stepped over it. The flute split in two when the foot applied enough force.

Tayuya raised her fear stricken eyes to see a redheaded woman, a different shade of red than hears, looming before her. Cold rage filled shadowed velvet orbs that glared down at her with pure murderous intent. Her life was going to end here, right now, and she knew it. Kushina did not give the girl a chance to even beg as she ran her sword through the young teen's skull.

Peering over to the six armed boy, she saw his neck being snapped from behind courtesy of an angry Samenosuke. Pulling out her sword, both Uzumakis turn their eyes towards their real target of their anger.

"Hey kids!" They heard the Toad Sage shout from one of the corners of the roof. They turn to see Jiraiya narrowly dodging a highly pressured stream of water, which sliced off a whole section of the building. "You brat are mad at the snake, I get that, I'm mad too!" He jumped back until he was next to them. "But we first need to seal away the old Hokage's here, I can't get a seal ready with him constantly attacking" He shifts his eyes to Kushina. "We need your chains"

"You have the chakra chains of your clan?!" The Second Hokage shouted as he overhead. "Yes, perfect! Use them to restrain me!" His expression morphed into one of struggle as he suddenly went through a series of hand signs. "Quickly!" He slammed his hands on the ground, sending a great wave of water right at them.

Acting quickly, the Uzumakis and the sannin slammed their hands on the ground, erecting a strong barrier which shielded them, yet the torrent continued on, unrelenting. Kushina focused her chains into the barrier, synchronizing her chakra with it, each tip of the chains spreading kanjis over the barriers surface.

"We'll keep the barrier!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "Go!"

And so Kushina pushed, the tips of the chains actually spreading the barrier forward, cutting a path into the torrent of waver. She fought against the current with strong steps, pouring more and more of her strength until she finally broke into a run, her chains pushing the barrier further until she reached the Nidaime.

She stood a few feet away from him, where the current was at its weakest, and finally allowed her chains to punch through the barrier and wrap themselves around the Nidaime.

Tobirama nodded approvingly; "Good, now seal me and go for Hashirama." His body tried moving, fighting against the chains but he could not budge them. "Once we're no longer factors, put an end to this!"

Kushina nodded as she looked to Jiraiya who was already crafting the seal they needed. Samenosuke kicked a stray Oto Nin who tried attacking the Gama Sannin; throwing a kunai with an explosive seal it stabbed the man. He did not have a second before exploding and taking two of his comrades with him to hell.

The Nidaime kept his eyes on the Uzu woman holding him. "You know... You remind me of her a bit" He said. "Of Tsukiko. That woman was an inspiration for my brother and me" He said with respect. "It's in your eyes; she had that same look of determination"

"Thank you" Kushina said with great gratitude, to be said she reminded someone of the woman who had been so important to her was something she could take great pride on.

"Your clan is strong, child" Tobirama smiled at her. "Uzumaki don't give up easily, many must be out there, waiting for the day to return home"

The redhead smiled; "I would love for my son to see that. To see Uzushio restored."

"If there is a way. I pray that it happens."

Jiraiya let out a deep breath; "Got it done."

"Then seal me and then seal my brother" The second Hokage sighs self-dejectedly. "I can't believe I ever thought this was a good idea. But... at a time of war, immortal fighters who would be more than happy to protect your village beyond the grave sounded ideal. I know I would have been first in line to volunteer, as would have many other brave shinobi I knew"

"We should have erased it from the big scroll" Kushina lamented.

"Don't" Tobirama quickly said, much to their surprise. "It's too late now, yes, the knowledge has spread into less than noble hands. But you can use what I wrote down to try and find any weakness and ways to counter this technique"

Both reluctantly nodded; "We will."

"Good, now get to work."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry" Hashirama kept apologizing with shame in his voice as he punched and kicked away any Anbu that got close. He dodged the wind blade of a bird-masked Anbu and kicked the ninja in the stomach. "Sorry" He caught the blade of another ninja in his hands and broke it, he sent a flurry of punches, building his way up to his chin where he finished with an uppercut. "Sorry"

Without looking, he caught by the throat a lizard masked Anbu which tried to sneak up behind him. "Gah!" The Anbu gagged. "Just want you to know... I'm your fan Shodai-sama!"

"Thanks... Sorry" He muttered regretfully before slamming him face first into the ground.

"He's kicking our asses," Tenzou said as held his ribs. He looked to Commander Fox and the Mizukage who both looked like they've had better days. "Sir, next plan?"

The auburn haired kage lightly chuckled; "One thing I can say about this village is that it's never dull." She blinked in surprised when Kushina and Jiraiya leaped over beside them. "Welcome... Think we can try to take turns? See who gets their backside handed to them worse?"

A snorted laugh came from the Uzu woman. She was starting to like this Kage lady.

"I have a seal ready, we took down the Nidaime, now let's get our Shodai some rest eh?" Jiraiya stuck his thumb to Hashirama who easily caught Yugao's surprise attack and threw her their way.

Kushina caught her via a golden chain which was taken noticeably the late Senju; "Young lady, would you be so kind as to use those on me please!?" He asked with desperation in his voice-

"A little eager for it huh Shodai-sama?" Kushina couldn't help but smirk teasingly. "I wonder if you like Uzumaki woman using their chains on you."

Hashirama somehow paled and looked horror-struck. "Oh gods, Mito actually told you?!"

What followed were the most uncomfortable five silent seconds in the history of ever.

"...You forget you heard that" The First Hokage commanded.

"I can't..!" Kushina was nearly sobbing, now unable to get out the image of Mito-baachan being into... stuff, out of her mind.

Mei dryly glared at Jiraiya who was writing furiously on a notebook. "I heard you were pervert, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt... Not anymore."

"I have to correct you young lady," Jiraiya said seriously. "I am not a pervert... I am a SUPER PERVERT!" His voice echoed throughout the area.

Again what followed was a very uncomfortable silence for five seconds.

Hashirama's shoulders dropped as an aura of depression loomed over him; "I see the weirdos have gotten worse in the village."

"Look who's talking! I don't want to hear it from you dattebane!" Kushina screeched.

"Just seal me already!"

"Fine, fine, geez!"

Her chains shot forward, only to be deflected by thick trees which emerged from the roof.

"I feel like I should remind you that my body won't make it easy if I can see you attack me!"

"Give me a break; it's been a long day!" The Uzumaki woman angrily responded. She channeled her wind chakra through her chains; these began spinning while wrapped under a sharp coat of turbulent winds. They dug through the trees like drills and headed right for the Hokage.

But Hashirama saw it coming, so his body jumped, evading the chains. He leaped through the trees he had summoned, going straight for the group. They tensed but did not move.

"What are doing?! Move!" If they didn't move he'd hurt them!

When he was just a mere feet away from them, his body froze. A seal shined right underneath his feet, and threads of pure chakra wrapped themselves around him. Kushina wasted no time and reinforced the effect by wrapping her chains around him.

The first Hokage looked down at the seal; they must have set it up when his view had been blocked by the trees. He smiled widely at them. "Clever kids!"

A large collective sigh came from the Anbu and Mizukage; "Finally," an Anbu in an eagle mask slouched forward.

Yugao bowed respectfully to the Shodai; "You can rest now Shodai-sama. We will handle Orochimaru." She winced slightly, holding her side.

Hashirama nodded as he looked to Kushina; "Your father?"

"...At peace," she said quietly.

"I am glad. Take care of yourselves and this village, that is all I ask," the first Hokage smiled.

Jiraiya placed the seal tag on Hashirama, causing his entire body to be shrouded on papers as Kushina released her chains. Though will still not released, the first Hokage of Konoha was at last in a state where he couldn't not be controlled nor be made to harm anyone.

"Come on" Kushina said with an edge in her voice. "We've got a snake to skin"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Orochimaru frowned as he beheaded a Kiri Jounin. 'They have sealed Hashirama and Tobirama, and Daisuke has passed on.' Absently he saw the corpses of his remaining 'elite' sound four. Ugh, useless. The snake sannin back flipped, evading from a fire jutsu from his former sensei.

"It's over, Orochimaru. Suna is gone, your remaining forces are being cut down, and even Manda has left you," Hiruzen spoke coldly. Knowing of the Suna's actions via Inoichi's mental communication.

Golden slit orbs only narrowed, this entire operation had been a spectacular mess. He thought he had planned accordingly to the new developments with Kushina's return, but the arrival of these newcomer with giant summon capabilities and high combat skills... unknown factors which had costed him greatly in the end.

And his so called 'ally' in this had done a poor job in providing him the necessary support and intelligence. Danzo had proven himself to be very unreliable during the entire assault. At least he could take comfort in knowing a viper nestled in Konoha, right underneath their noses, and they had no idea.

Yet that fact could not quell the rage he was feeling. The thought of being defeated by these ingrates... Orochimaru knew he had to bide his time and prepare. The Uzumaki boy would perhaps be beyond his reach, but he'd find another way to find the secrets behind his Shoton techniques and how the bloodline came to be.

But Sasuke... Yes, there was still the chance of claiming him.

His eyes shifted as he saw more people approaching, his former teammate, the Mizukage, Kushina, the Anbu Commander.

The Uzu woman's eyes showing nothing but absolute burning rage. As if she believed she could kill him, hmph! Kushina was gifted, highly skilled, Orochimaru could acknowledge that. But she would never be his equal.

Said Uzumaki woman landed beside Hiruzen with Mei and Commander Fox. Kushina notice the Sandaime breathing heavily; "You okay?"

"I am getting too old for this..."

"If you'd keep up with your training you wouldn't be" Came Enma's disapproving voice from his staff form.

"Oh I'm sorry" Hiruzen snappily retorted. "But did you forget that, unlike beasts, humans don't get to live for hundreds of years with barely aging?"

"We can, a bit" Samenosuke raised his hand, earning a few glares, mainly from the Hokage. "Sorry..."

The snake sannin couldn't help but sigh at the display. "You lot look like a bunch of clowns when you argue..." Orochimaru humorlessly drawled.

"...The only thing I want to hear from you is screaming when I skin you alive," Kushina seethed. "You go after my son; you violate the dead by summoning my father, and the Shodai and Nidaime. You attacked Konoha, your former home!"

"If you're trying to bring notions that I should feel ashamed of my actions this day, you would be disappointed my dear." Orochimaru said blankly. "Whatever feelings I once had for this place faded long ago."

"Yes..." Hiruzen sighed heavily, heart full of regret. "Along with the Orochimaru who was once my student" He gripped his staff tighter. His gaze hardened as he took a stance "It ends now" His voice was that of a hardened veteran, speaking with finality.

"For today at least" Reaching into his clothes, the snake sannin pulled out a smoke bomb. "But I promise you, sensei" He sneered. "This is far from over..." He threw the bomb, and enveloped a large portion of the roof into a cloud of smoke.

The shinobi coughed and shielded her eyes. Blindly, Kushina gripped her sword and channeled her chakra; with a wide swing she launched a blade of wind which cleared part of the smoke around them. Now able to see a bit better, Kushina did a pair of hand signs and blew a strong gust of wind, clearing the smoke before them.

Orochimaru wasn't there anymore.

"Fuck!" She cursed. "We almost had him!"

The Mizukage frowned along with the Hokage as Enma returned to his monkey form; "I am growing tired of this fool escaping from our grasp Sarutobi," the great ape growled.

"We are in agreement old friend."

"Hokage-sama" Commander Fox took a step forward. "Your orders?"

The aged Kage took a deep breath. "Help the rest of our forces around the village. Any Sound Ninja you find alive must be captured for interrogation. We need to know how they breached our defenses"

"At once" With a nod, the commander turned to the direct his underlings.

He turned to a Jōnin of the Leaf. "Get me a Yamanaka, I need to check our current status with Shikaku and coordinate our forces"

"Hai," the jounin shunshins away.

"Apologies Mizukage-Dono for bringing you into this," Hiruzen looked over to the young woman.

Mei waved it off; "It's fine. Besides, allies help each other." She paused before frowning; "Sunagakure?"

Kushina sighed; "A political shitstorm any way you look at it."

"Agreed," the Sandaime rubbed his face with his hand; "Once this mess is over I will have to speak with the daimyo."

"Oh boy..." Jiraiya scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm certainly thankful I won't be the one to tell him we couldn't get his daughter to evacuate"

"It's worse..." Hiruzen droned. "She actually joined the fight"

"Owww" Kushina winced. "Akiha-sama won't be happy"

"I actually have a report about that Hokage-sama" A chūnin said as he approached, Yamanaka most like, if the color of his eyes and hair was any indication. "Maiyuri-hime was of great help, she rallied our forces against a great number of Sound Ninja. She even managed to make Suna turn tail and leave"

"Huh..." Kushina blinked owlishly. "And this is the same girl I remember playing with dolls when she was little?" She whistles. "My how she must have grown"

"She has spirit," Enma spoke up looking out at the village; "Your princess will make a fine ruler one day."

"If her recklessness doesn't kill her first," Hiruzen huffed. His face grew stern; "Where is Naruto?"

"Kakashi had Team 7 and 8 with Kiri kunoichi Haku Yuki and Kumo Jinchurriki Yugito Nii hunt for Gaara," the Chūnin spoke up.

The Uzu woman turned sharply to her former student; "Neko you're with me."

"Hai sensei." Yugao nodded as the two women leaped off the roof.

"No without me!" Samenosuke yelled as he followed.

Hiruzen sighed along with Jiraiya while Mei smirked; "For their child, a parent would face all the forces in hell itself," she muttered.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

And that's a wrap folk. Originally we were going to also add the fight with Gaara, but it got too long so we split it and decided to save it for the next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it.