DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, Naruto speaking to Kurama, etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

A/N: There are some nasty scenes in here. I'd like to think that I don't go into gratuitous detail of violence, but I wanted to let anyone squeamish know in case you wanted to skip this, or just read the ending.

BTW, things get interesting after this!

"Naruto, stop! You are not thinking straight and need to get that shit off your leg!"

Pandemonium was ATTEMPTING to reign down on Konoha. Orochi-fucking-maru's big snakes were seemingly stuck outside the village gates, but easily visible. Repeatedly, they were trying to crash through the village walls and looked very angry.

Angry gigantic snakes!

Naruto had never seen some of them (other than in the Forest of Death,) but had heard of the summons attacking during the Chunin Finals from Shikamaru. His father had told him about their appearance in his first life.

In their past lives, Shikamaru and Naru had been on their mission to stop Sasuke (who was following Gaara - and probably the unspoken and ridiculously ordered mission from Kakashi to stop a jinchuuriki, like herself. Initially, she didn't realize that was what she was tasked with back then.) Naruto had only seen the devastation wreaked upon the rest of her village by Orochimaru's summons after the fact.

So far the barriers that she and Jiraiya had put up were holding.

So much had already gone wrong with their plans or had altered from the past, and Naru could only pray that the Hokage was alright inside that purple barrier so far. She had to get there. Shikamaru was there, or he should be!

"Orochimaru must be losing his freaking mind,'' Naruto whimpered to herself as she hid behind a dumpster in an alley, trying to think of anything other than what she had to do. She just needed a few seconds to get the rest of the molten rock that had hit her leg off. "FUUUUUUCK!" she cried out, unable to control her voice as she dug her kunai deeply into her thigh then calf.

A few more stabs and slashes and the black stuff was off. She cried out again when she poured a disinfectant that she had in the medkit Yoshino gave her over the new wounds. As her leg began slowly knitting itself together in the areas she'd just opened up to air, she struggled to get up, trying to ignore the blood and blisters all over her calf, especially. The lava had burned right through her sandal. Her clothes were in tatters. "I might really scar this time, eh, Kurama?" She ducked as a Sound shinobi tried to sloppily grab her. Before he could successfully yell for his compatriots - and oh, he was trying - she grabbed and stabbed him in the ass and shoulder before limping and hopping off toward the Hokage on one leg.

Realizing how long this would take her, she made as many Kage Bunshins as she could at the moment; the pain in her leg was really a bitch to deal with right now. It was messing with her chakra control. Naruto's internal order while making the clones was to exchange places with the real her over and over again until she was near the Hokage since she wasn't exactly fast on her feet. The other thing was for them to keep their heads up to take-down any infiltrators, and watch out for, especially, the people she loved the most.

Call her selfish, but she didn't want to lose anyone important to her this time.

Just as she'd made her way closer to the Hokage - and for fuck's sake! Jiraiya and Gamaken were in the barrier with him! - the largest snake summons crashed through the village wall. Naruto grunted as she sloppily sunshinned nearly in front of them. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" She clumsily dodged one nasty strike after another while waiting for Gamabunta to show up and hopefully bring friends, only to fall when something poked her deep in the wound she was trying to ignore.

She shrieked out a cry, and her fall was stopped by a giant toad that had appeared underneath her.

And Gamabunta bought Kichi and Hiro with him!

Naruto held herself onto the Toad Chief with chakra, scooching back up to right herself 9on her knees) as she began yelling to him and the others. "We need to take these fuckers down! What happened to Ma and Pa?! I lost them!"

"Quiet, Naruto," Gamabunta ordered. "Pa said you were hurt and you need to heal!" He took a giant flying leap, bringing his gigantic sword down on one of the snake summons, forcing it to dispel back to Ryuchi Cave or whatever hell it came from. Gamakichi and Hiro were taking on the summons with the three heads. "Just hold on!"

This wouldn't be enough, though, she thought. How Orochimaru had summoned what Naruto could only hope was the entirety of large snakes from Ryuchi Cave, she had no idea! Were some of them normal but way overgrown snakes, or could he actually be using THIS much chakra to keep all these summons here?!

Did they work differently from the way summons did with her and the toads? Could there be another summoner aside from the traitor and Anko? "Let's ignite this bitch, Bunta!"

"You said it, Naru-chan. Sake after this is over, right?" the huge toad responded as he swiped his sword at a snake.

"Right!" She put both of her hands on Bunta's head and concentrated her chakra. "Katon: Endan," Naru hissed, using Kurama's chakra to blow an enormous fireball - chakra coating her lungs, throat, and mouth first this time: she would never forget the painful first lesson from back in Wave - along with Bunta's oil, although his oil was delivered in bullets the way her fire was supposed to be. She hadn't gotten the hang of that yet. The combo burnt one summons to ashes and another one poofed away.

"Dammit, Naruto, that was my summons!" Anko screamed at her from nearby on the ground.

"Gah! I'm sorry!

The appearance of battle toads had sent Kakashi scrambling in the right direction to find his wife. He'd almost assassinated the nurse who let her walk out in the condition she was in. He'd killed six Sound nins by the time Gai caught up to him.

"Youthful or not, we should have canceled these exams," Gai shouted as he put the fear of green into a handful of Sound nins, pounding them into unconsciousness, then tying them up with ninja wire before throwing them down into a nearby basement.

"What are the other Kages doing? Have they chosen sides?" Kakashi hollered back as he made a clone and used a Rakiri between them to stop several more Sound nins. A kunai's wide course through another shinobi's gut meant the end of the last invader of the group. He knew that if the other villages chose to move against them at this time, Konoha would really be fucked.

Gai ran alongside him, and as grateful as Kakashi was for that, he needed to get closer to Naruto.

"Pakura-sama mummified someone who tried to grab her. She's ordered her people to fight with Konoha, and I believe she, herself, is helping, although her guards were trying to stop her. Mizukage-sama..." he tried to continue but stopped in shock at seeing a barrage of ice fly in front of them. Kakashi and he had grabbed each other to stop one another's momentum, and their actions had almost sent them barrelling into a volley of ice spikes.

Haku looked at the silver-haired Jonin in shock, remembering him very well. "GO, we're trying to help," he yelled as he slid down the now ice-covered street, chasing the remaining two ugly Sound nins that tried to grab his Kage. He didn't bother to see what the Copy Ninja and the... Green Man would do; he only yelled for his master. "Two to go, Zabuza-sama."

As Zabuza ran across the side of a building to avoid Haku's ice, he jumped over the alleyway the two Leaf Jonin were in. His eyes widened at seeing both of them, but he just kept on running, his Kubikiribōchō held in both hands over one shoulder. Kakashi realized just how different the nin looked in a standard Kiri Jonin uniform and without a mask. Gai wanted to follow them, but Kakashi had a hunch that they were not going to cause further trouble. Plus he had to get to his wife; he couldn't lose her after losing nearly everyone else.

"Are the toads Naruto-hime's or Jiraiya-sama's?"

"I saw Naruto on one," Kakashi said darkly. "I didn't see Jiraiya."

They dodged around an Akimichi's giant fist that came down, bringing down a shop along with it. Shikaku skidded to a stop in front of them. "Kakashi, I want you to see if you can bring down that barrier! Orochimaru's in there with a team holding it up, with the Hokage, Jiraiya, and the first Hokages," he continued without explaining further. The man would see what was nearly unbelievable for himself when he got there. "Gai, get to the North Gate. They haven't managed to bring down any other walls!"

Before they could move, Kakashi took down another Sound ninja that had stumbled into their little conference. "STOP," he yelled at his comrades, grabbing Gai by the spandex between the two sides of his Jonin vest. "I've seen this guy. He might be wearing a Sound headband, but he's Iwa: I'm sure of it!"

"Fucking troublesome," Shikaku cursed, "CHANGE OF PLANS! Kakashi: barrier! Gai, I want you backing up and watching Naru-chan, got it?! Do not let them take her!" Gai took off running. "This is an order, Hatake. My son was headed straight for Naruto and we've already got plenty of other forces there. Break that barrier and use any methods necessary to stop Orochimaru and the resurrected Hokage. If you can't break the barrier, do what needs to be done." He gave Kakashi a dark look that the Copy Nin didn't wish to interpret. The Jonin Commander and his team took off in a run, Akimichi Chouza almost immediately expanding his entire body as he successfully sent two invaders flying into his sensei's spikes of hair that were represented on the Hokage Mountain with his now-enormous bo staff.

Gamabunta was the last to dispel after all of the snake summons were taken care of. As Naruto fell to the ground, someone immediately had his arm around her neck, and she felt woozy when a second shinobi put something over her nose and mouth. Kakashi, she desperately thought, trying to stay alert, flip the guy over her back, and not breathe in any more of whatever she had. She was blindsided by what felt like a concrete wall of green that pushed all of the air out of her lungs. "Gai-san?" she eventually asked.

"Ha Ha Ha! That's right, my rival's beautiful blossom! Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey at your service, your beck, and call!" He didn't hear Naruto groan as she ran her chakra through her body even faster to get rid of whatever she'd breathed in. A little drugged for a moment, she almost laughed when she saw that Shikamaru had just shadow strangled several people, including the two who had grabbed her. I must be losing it or was drugged more than I thought. "Thank you, you two." Many chakra signatures were rapidly extinguishing and falling away around her, but thankfully so far, no one that she knew well had been killed. There were a few people that she felt were civilian-level in the village, but she had to ignore them for now. She had to get to Jiji, but even more so to Jiraiya. She hobbled up to the barrier.

"Don't touch it, you crazy woman: the barrier's made of some kind of poisonous chakra! And you are in so much trouble!"

Naruto's eyes opened wide and she nearly took a step back. Kakashi was here, ripping her a new one. He was incredibly fierce and very put out with her.

"Sorry, Kakashi," she said looking into the barrier. Jiraiya and the Hokage were not quite holding their own against the first two Hokages and Orochimaru, and no matter what her grandfather and... real grandfather did, the two reanimated Hokages would just go from being ripped up or burned pieces of ash to being their overpowering selves again! Plus Orochimaru was there, mainly just fucking laughing, but also being his asshole snakey self.

She moved closer to the barrier again and was driven to go in. A third coffin was sticking over halfway out of the ground, and Naruto knew exactly who it belonged to. She took a shaky breath before limp-running to Shikamaru. That coffin was calling to her. No... It was calling to Kurama. The rest of Kurama's chakra was in there with her father.

...However that worked: she didn't really want to know.

"Where's Ino?" Naru asked while using a chakra-enhanced punch to nearly take a guy's head off who had run straight toward her. She followed through by kicking the shit out of one of his henchmen, then punching the other in the balls from her prone position: the kick had sent her reeling to the ground in pain. Thankfully, Shikamaru was shadow-strangling the shit out of the remaining shinobi that had attacked them.

None of these new guys were wearing uniforms or hitai-ates, and Naruto only remembered two of their chakra signatures - but that was from her first life in the Fourth Shinobi War.

She would've been saddened by it, but they were attacking her home! Choji appeared beside her; Ino was in his giant hand.

"Got here as soon as we could," the Akimichi heir panted. "A bunch of us Genin were rounded up and ordered to stay away!"

"It was bullshit!" Ino added. She looked behind her and saw another one of Sai's giant golems come down through the trees behind them. "We got away as soon as we were sure the kids and civilians were safe! How did you know where to go, Shikamaru?!" the blonde heiress asked angrily.

"Lucked out. Ready to try it, Naru-chan?"

"Ready," Naruto said, already having her clones limp around (pretty quickly, though.) slapping everyone she could find that was friendly. Gaara appeared in front of her. Gai tried to shield her from him, but she told him that he was her trusted friend. Kankuro and Temari were right behind him.

"Ino, I need you to focus," Shikamaru said calmly. Choji and the others were basically guarding them, and ANBU was either taking on anyone unknown to them or chasing Sound nin through the village and outside of the Gates. "I'm going to use our technique and add Naru's chakra so you can speak to everyone. Tell them to get back from the West side of the barrier." He turned to his sister and spoke just over a whisper, "I hope this will work like it did in the war."

"By now, I know your chakra inside out," Naru said, readying herself. "We'll be fine." She closed her eyes and put her hand on Shikamaru, carefully funneling chakra into him, keeping it tamped down to just a trickle. Ino had looked bewildered but willing to try, and that's all that Naru and Shika could hope for.

Ino put her hand against Shikamaru's head this time; it was similar to their clans' combined jutsu but different. And oddly enough, it was familiar for some reason. She could begin to feel the people she needed to talk to, but Shikamaru jumped away, panting.

"Oh gods, Shikamaru, are you alright?" Naru asked, feeling horrible. They'd done the chakra sharing before, just the two of them time and time again over the years, but something hadn't worked when trying it with Ino! She never wanted to hurt her big brother!

"I'm fine. Really, Naruto." Shikamaru said as he took another look around. Aside from what was going on inside the barrier, things were really calming down. Orochimaru finally looked very concerned about that. "But something didn't work. Your chakra... well, his, wasn't right. It was too... Troublesome. Too confined, I guess, to reach Ino."

"Plan two then," Naru said, getting herself ready with a little talk to her foxy friend in her mindscape.

"I'm in the mood for snake, Naruto." Naruto nodded her head once at her bijuu, hoping this would work. "I'd say version two to be safe." Kurama frowned even more at his host and partner, "stay away from that fool, Hashirama, and his Mokuton."

"What a... Fuck," Shikamaru cursed before grabbing Gaara and pulling him back by his gourd. He whispered something to him, and Gaara nodded in agreement, although he gave Naruto a seriously skeptical look.

"Be careful, Uzumaki," the redhead said. The entire area went black after Gaara grabbed all of those along the West wall of the barrier - plus Gai - and pulled them away with his sand. Shikamaru's Big Fucking Darkness - he'd finally decided upon a name - left all within its grasp unable to move or see almost anything, other than the light of a purple barrier, and suddenly appearing red hot chakra.

...In the form of a fox.

Kabuto found it relatively easy to escape once his master's plan was enacted. With the date for the Finals of the Chunin Selection Exam nearing, Kabuto had been moved to a cell underneath the city. As a spy and as the favored servant of Orochimaru-sama, he knew exactly where he was, and only found it surprising that he'd been moved so close to the hospital that he'd worked at for such a long time. He guessed that since he had never been caught or had memories observed by the Yamanakas of him walking these very dark hallways, the Konoha nins didn't believe that he was familiar with them.

Yet he was.

Still, he would be careful. Although it was quite easy to imagine that all Leaf nins were simply sloppy since so many were, he knew that there were some who could also be setting him up. Catching him working his way through the underground tunnels would prove him a spy, and Ibiki's reputation proved that he was no fool.

The worst thing about the new cell had been its complete lack of light throughout much of the day, unless his captors were present, and brought in a lantern. It amazed him how careless the Chunin guards could be as they discussed how Senju Tsunade had been back in the city for some time, exploits with women he didn't want to hear about, and bets on the Finals as the days progressed. Had they not given away that today was "the big day" as they put it, he may have lost some track of time in his dark cell.

However, when they scurried away like frightened rabbits at the sound of a village-wide alarm, leaving their lantern behind, Kabuto used a chakra scalpel to cut through the seals and locks on his cell door. No other alarm rang, and he made his way toward the nearest exit, through the hospital.

What he found there was quite interesting. A postoperative Sasuke Uchiha was arguing and being held back by the Senju's apprentice, Shizune.

Orochimaru-sama could be described as being fond of the Senju princess, something that made Kabuto unhappy. He would respect his feelings, though. Orochimaru-sama had even spoken favorably of Kato Shizune, which meant that she was special. He didn't like that, either.

The Uchiha seemed just as testy as he'd heard about, perhaps especially because of his hospital confinement and the fresh bandages he was sporting. Orochimaru-sama would be most interested to learn that he'd obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan, although Kabuto really had to wonder about whether or not it weakened his Lord's soon-to-be vessel.

Once the Mangekyo had shown itself, Shizune became incensed, and Sasuke had passed out, blood running down his face.

Orochimaru-sama knew more about the Mangekyo than he did, and he was sure that he'd share at least some of that information with him when he reported in. Getting back to Orochimaru's side was first priority; they could always take Sasuke later.

Sorry, Sasuke-kun. I'll be back for you sooner rather than later, and bring some interesting comrades for you to meet!

Kabuto stopped on the way toward the barrier his master was in to grab a cloak that had been hung on a line to dry. He sighed in disappointment, remembering that he had to free Karin, and hoped that she was still in the last location he'd heard about while in his dark prison. At least she'd be of help in finding certain chakra signatures that needed to be dealt with as they took over the village.

When Shikamaru's Big Fucking Darkness finally dropped, allowing everyone to move again, it dropped with a bang. Flying through the barrier with horrific Killing Intent and a long snarl that made several shinobi lose what was in their bladders or bowels was a rampaging jinchuuriki, a blood-red and black fox with a spine on her back and giant skull on her head.

Arms or tails from the jinchuuriki were sprouting up from the ground she was knelt on like a wild animal. Naruto's hair was flying in the air and cloaked in blood-red chakra from underneath and behind the fox's skull. The multiple hands burned and squeezed through Orochimaru's accomplices, killing them all too slowly. As Asuma and Gai, along with more than a platoon's worth of ANBU, ran and jutsu-ed their way toward the Hokage and Jiraiya, Kakashi took down one of Orochimaru's clones with a Chidori. While running toward the Hokage, Kakashi glanced over and saw that the Nara heir, his younger brother-in-law by a decade, was holding the resurrected Senju brothers in place as he shadow strangled a pink Oto kunoichi's head right off. Naruto's jinchuuriki friend from Suna had both Kage up to their necks in sand and was attempting to seal them away.

Naruto took another swipe at the real Orochimaru and howled, unaware of just how feral she'd gone. She'd hit the real him several times and the fucker just kept getting back up or vomiting up another fresh Orochimaru to try to get away! With Shikamaru and Gaara holding back the Kage, who seemed just fine with being sealed by the latter, she continued trying - but only somewhat succeeding - in killing Orochimaru's bodies.

It would be so much easier if everyone else just got the fuck out of her way!

Jiraiya was down and Gamaken was nowhere to be seen. The snake freak managed to summon Manda, who sent her form flying backward as he struck her. The demonic chakra burned away Orochimaru's familiar, and Naruto was so angry that she didn't realize that she'd been knocked through the ground and into her father's coffin even when a very familiar sound came from behind her, as she'd manically ripped Orochimaru's head off for the fourth time.

The sound she'd ignored? It was a Rasengan.

The Sandaime Hokage sighed in pain and anguish, unsure of what to do for the moment as hell continued to be unleashed around him. It was difficult to move when a jinchuuriki spewing demonic chakra was moving at the speed of a Jonin over the relatively small area, sprouting up tails here and there as she went nuts.

And he was so damn old and worn from his fight with his former student, sensei, and sensei's brother. "She's gone, Kakashi. I need you to put her down: only your evolved Sharingan can do it."

Kakashi looked in disbelief at his Kage. He wanted him to kill Naruto, his precious little wife, who hadn't touched them? Who was fighting like crazy and avoiding all of them?! As he considered how to escape with her after giving the man a friendly Chidori-sendoff, a heavy single hand fell on his and the old Kage's shoulders each.

"Maa, maa! You're not thinking about hurting my little Naru-chan, are you, Hiruzen-sama?"

Both men nearly fell to their knees, each staggering at least a little. In the midst of the disaster and carnage whipping around them, the Yondaime Hokage had somehow broken free from his coffin. The Sandaime tried to use his staff to knock away his successor, but Minato simply batted it away.

"I think you might be getting a little too old for this," he said sassily. "Wouldn't you say so, Kashi-kun?" Kakashi only stared at his sensei wide-eyed, unsure of whether he was friend or foe, and if he'd ever have the heart to put the man back into the ground. Minato seemed to understand and reached up to ruffle thick silver hair. "Don't worry, I'm on your side."

In less than a heartbeat, he was gone. Lord First and Second had broken free of their attempted sealings, although Senju Tobirama was complaining about it as he threw incredibly powerful water jutsus at the shinobi in the area.

"Oh, look, Tobi! It's Naruto-san!" Hashirama said cheerily as he used his Mokuton to create giant flowers. The ground came undone all around them with a loud crack, but Minato had already teleported to each of them, pulling out the Shodai's controlling kunai that forced him to do Orochimaru's bidding after doing the same to the Nidaime who was closer. The Senjus then fell to the ground. The crater they were in shook and caved in on itself again, but it wasn't either of the Senju brothers or Naruto that had cracked the earth the last two times. No, it was the Shodai's granddaughter, who now stood staring, gaping at the man she'd only recently learned was her son.

"Tsu?" Hashirama called as sand gathered further and further around him and his brother. "Nade-chan! It's me: your grandfather! Get over here! I'll be going back to your grandmother again!"

"Ano, excuse me, Tsunade-hime," Minato said, wondering why in the world the Slug Sannin, someone he'd never been particularly close to, was looking at him the way she was. He looked past the Senju and saw his daughter losing her marbles. "NARUTO!" Minato called out angrily, pulsing some of the Kyuubi's chakra as he did so. His little girl really needed to settle down.

Naruto came to a halt, growling and searching for her prey. She had lost it because of that disgusting Manda!

She was going to feast on Manda's bones! How dare he get in the way of her pursuit of Orochimaru?! Her prey!

"Calm down, idiot. Someone shitty wants to talk to you."

Seconds later, her jinchuuriki cloak fell, and so did Naruto. She was held up before she hit the ground, her leg sizzling and her seal absolutely on fire.

She cursed, once again feeling tired, and attempted to shake her hair out of her face. The bright blonde hair in her eyes wasn't hers, though.

Minato whispered close to her ear something that he hoped only the two of them would understand. "Kurama-san's eager to get his other half back, ne?" He smiled at his shocked daughter and held her closely as she went limp in his arms with tears in her eyes. He turned to lay her in front of the oddly silent Tsunade-hime as he put his fingers to the ground. It seemed that Orochimaru was already long gone. Detecting other known enemies on the move, he called out, "Kakashi, you're with me!"

Minato grabbed his slack-jawed, masked student and flashed away.

Naruto sighed and frowned, utter exhaustion creeping up on her as Tsunade finished healing her leg. For some reason, her grandmother was furiously scowling at the Hokage, and baa-chan's Killing Intent was still strong. Wincing at the remaining pain in her leg, Naru knew she was definitely going to be left with a scar. She looked up at where her father and husband had just disappeared from and sighed.

"Duty is always first, eh, Tou-san?"

"I'm out of time, Kabuto!"

"Hold on, Orochimaru-sama!"

"Stop," Orochimaru ordered. That fucking Namikaze jinchuuriki had nearly driven him to the very brink of death!

The Snake Sannin glared at Karin, who had been unsuccessful in healing him when he bit her, before looking back at his apprentice. "You will have to do, Kabuto." He reared back, displeased with the delighted but perverted smile on his new vessel's face, before sinking his teeth into Kabuto's neck.