Death and destruction ravaged the streets of Konoha, both residents and invaders alike. While the shinobi of Konoha were protecting the streets and buildings below, the two pillars of the opposing forces were battling on top of the Kage's Observation roof.

Orochimaru was having the time of his life, he's relishing this moment because he has now reached his goal after years of planning. Meanwhile, Hiruzen was struck with grief, but also with the resolve to prove to Jiraiya, and everyone else, that he is better than he was the week prior. As men possessed, they both fought with the resolve to put the other one down.

Hiruzen fought with the same fervor and vigor that he had when he was younger, but not with the same strength.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was basking in the excitement and utter pleasure he had at being better than his old sensei.

The same sensei that he utterly hated.


He hated him because of how weak he was. He had admired his sensei back when he was younger. He looked up to him and was excited at having someone as strong as Hiruzen as his sensei.

But after his sensei took the hat, he changed.

He no longer was the same shinobi. The all-powerful man he once was. The God of Shinobi.

He had tossed away his strength.

As if he was embarrassed by it.

He drove to be the "grandfather" in Konoha.

Orochimaru had to be missing something. Some kind of factor that he's missing.

So he observed the civilians of Konoha. Trying to see what his sensei saw.

Months go by and he still doesn't see why. He just sees his sensei purposefully hiding his strength.

Then Orochimaru crossed a line.

He was overflowing with curiosity and so… he followed a civilian home.

This became a routine for him and not long after that, he didn't find a single thing.

So he crossed another line.

He decided that it had to be something within the people of Konoha.

Only he took it literally.

He sliced open one person, looking for something extraordinary within them but found nothing.

Another one and nothing. More and more he sliced until he noticed one thing, they were all different. Some stronger or weaker, some with more vitality or less, some with unique traits or with none. He was fascinated and excited about it. This is what his sensei probably saw in the citizens. He wanted to see the very best grow strong and one day surpass him.

But why is he hiding his strength then?

He asked his sensei what was the reason he was trying to hide his strength away.

Hiruzen told him that it was something he wanted to forget. The strength he achieved was needed during the war, but now they are in an era of peace. It's no longer needed.

Orochimaru felt disgusted. How can one just throw away everything they've earned throughout their life? Didn't he know how short and fragile it was?

Hiruzen asked him if he ever saw himself being Hokage. If he ever saw himself loving the people of Konoha more than anything. To be willing to risk his life for them.

Orochimaru told him that he wouldn't mind the benefits of being Hokage, letting Hiruzen know that he didn't care about the people of Konoha all that much.

He left shortly after and came back to his house.

He needed to think of everything.

But soon grew to hate the idea of giving up his choice, his dreams, His. Own. Life. for people he didn't care about.

And then he went too far.

He went back to one of the dissected bodies and began experimenting. Trying to find out if he could tweak his own body to be better. To be stronger. Then soon got a twisted thought.

Why tweak his own body, when he could just take over another's?

What would be necessary to perform a jutsu like that? Then he remembered.

He remembered Kato Dan's, Tsunade's boyfriend's, jutsu.

With a sinister smile, he began finding a way to transfer his soul into another's body, taking it for himself.

That's when Hiruzen finds him.

And he just… lets him go.

He lets him go.

Orochimaru hated him for being so weak. Here he was, slicing open his people and yet he did nothing. His sensei couldn't bring himself to fight him. Orochimaru felt even more betrayed and disgusted. He vowed to take revenge one day. On both Sarutobi, for letting himself become someone so weak, and the village that turned his idol into someone he could no longer recognize.

He left the village and devoted his life to mastering forbidden techniques, to become strong enough to take his revenge.


Orochimaru broke out of his musings, flashed through hand signs, and slammed his palms on the ground.

A black circle appeared on the ground and out came two coffins, with Hiruzen stopping the third. The coffins opened and showed the First and Second Hokage.

This won't be easy Hiruzen thought to himself.


Sakura felt as if her heart was in her throat. She, Naruto, and Pakkun were close enough to see the fight between Sasuke and Gaara. They saw the two prepare their attacks right before Gaara launched himself at Sasuke. Her eyes widened when she saw Sasuke's chidori flicker before fizzling out. As Sakura watched Gaara get closer, she could feel her heart racing. She had to do something to protect Sasuke from being killed. "Naruto! Grab Sasuke!"

"Got it!"

She ran forward and put herself between Sasuke and the attacker, while Naruto grabbed Sasuke and jumped to another tree branch further away. She felt pain shoot across her entire body before she was slammed into a tree. She let out a choked grunt and realized that she had been trapped by a sand claw courtesy of Gaara. Despite that, she had managed to save Sasuke, and that's all she cared about.

'With my current strength, this was the best I could have done.' Sakura internally monologued, 'I wish I could've done more, I wish I could've been stronger. But I'm not. I was too scared.'

"Urgh!" The pinkette cried out in pain. The sand claw tightened itself to the tree, putting a lot of pressure on the girl's body.

His eyes widened with surprise and he stopped, seeing her sacrifice. Naruto, still holding Sasuke, looked back at her in shock. Sakura looked into Naruto's eyes, 'It's okay.' She gave him a small smile before she fell unconscious.

"Sakura!"

"She'll be fine," Sasuke grunted out. "Look at him." Naruto scrunched up his face in disgust at Sasuke's cruelty but complied and turned to face Gaara. He lay on the ground, clutching his head, his face contorted in pain. He was trembling and his breathing was labored. "He's vulnerable. If we attack him now, the jutsu will drop and Sakura will get freed."

"I'll go, you've done enough Sasuke."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "No, I'll attack him. You have to save Sakura if it's the last thing you do. Once you've got her, I want you to take her and flee as fast as you can. I'll try to hold him here as long as I can."

"Sasuke-"

"I lost everything once." He said in a haunted yet rageful tone. "I don't ever want to feel or see that again. My trusted comrades falling right in front of me."

Naruto frowned at Sasuke. "Recover your strength. This guy's crazy and if he's anything like me, we might need it." Naruto stated in a hard tone

Sasuke continued to glare… but nodded his head in the end. "Just don't die or get caught before I recover enough."

Naruto grinned before he leaned Sasuke against a tree. "You got it."

He jumped away from the tree branch onto one in Gaara's peripheral vision. "You! Where is Sasuke Uchiha? Where'd he run off to?" He shouted out in a maniacal voice.

Naruto closed his eyes before he inhaled deeply, gathering up all the anxiety and fear he felt at having to face an opponent like this, and exhaled it all out slowly. He couldn't afford to have anything holding him back. Not in this fight.' I have to either finish this fight quickly or drag it out until Sasuke's ready to fight again. Sakura's life is on the line.'

His eyes shot open as he jumped forward, straight at the transformed Gaara. He cocked his fist back but his advance was halted by Gaara's sand. Gaara held his arm out, creating a large sand arm that caught Naruto in midair. "You think you can stop me? You are nothing!" He flung his arm to the side and sent Naruto rocketing several yards away. "You are weak!" He yelled as he launched himself forward. "You are nothing more than a bug to me!" Gaara was right atop Naruto now. He pulled his arm back and created a large clawed hand. "And I kill bugs that think they can stand up to me!" He pulled his arm down with as much force as he could, creating four deep gashes in Naruto's back.

"Argh!" Naruto cried out in pain.

Naruto was slammed against a forest tree, making him fall on his stomach. He gets up, bruised and bleeding but determined to keep Gaara busy and from finding Sasuke.

"Hey! I'm still here! Ya, sand bastard!" Naruto yelled into the air. His head was dizzy and his ears were ringing but he just tried his best to ignore it.

Gaara lands behind him loudly. "You're still alive? Well, you're stronger than I initially thought, but you're still nothing more than a nuisance to me."

'Okay, just distract. Just gotta distract him.' Gaara crossed his hands before he flung them forward, sending clumps of sand hurtling toward Naruto. Instead of frowning or jumping away, Naruto smirked and crossed his fingers. 'For the greatest prankster in Konoha? Distractions are my specialty. Hehehe.'

The area around the two boys suddenly became engulfed in smoke. Gaara's ears were assaulted by the continuous sound of clones dispelling. He grew irritated at not being able to see what was going on around him. He poured a chunk of his chakra into his sand and created small sand mouths all over his body. "Wind Style: Sand Storm Devastation!" All the mouths inhaled deep breaths of air before they violently blew it out, blowing back the cloud of smoke and destroying all the clones Naruto had created.

'Damn it!'


'Shukaku, what have you done to this poor boy?' Hagoromo thought to himself as he watched everything play out from within Naruto's mindscape. 'We must help this poor child. He was a victim in all this. I can't believe Shukaku managed to fall this low.' He let out a sigh of disappointment and sorrow as he held out his hand. A black orb flew into it and transformed itself into a staff. He tapped the water, sending more chakra through Naruto, and used the principles of Ninshu to send Naruto a message.


Objective:

Defeat Gaara, Jinchuriki of the One-Tail


"So, you're the Jinchuriki of the One-tail?" Naruto asked aloud, resulting in a temporary seize fire from Gaara. Naruto noticed this too. "Guess what,"


*Nine-tails Chakra mode: Activated*


"You're looking at a Jinchuriki too pal. I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." He spoke with red-slitted eyes.


Sasuke widened his eyes as he heard what Naruto had said. He was close enough to hear everything, but far and hidden away enough to not be spotted. "Jinchuriki? Nine-Tails? What are they talking about?" Then it clicked. Sasuke activated his sharingan and peeked around the tree he was hiding behind. He was determined to clarify his suspicions.

Red-slitted eyes.

Whiskered cheeks.

Canines.

All the characteristics the Nine-Tailed Fox was supposed to have. So how did Naruto get these?

Then it made sense.

Power of Human Sacrifice.

He thought they were just myths. Rumors, folklore, exaggerated stories. But they're real.

And Naruto was one of them.

That's how Haku was defeated by Naruto. That's the reason he gets those red-slitted eyes. That's the reason for-.

For all the hate Naruto got.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

He and Naruto were both shunned by the majority of Konoha's residents. For something they could not control. The circumstances were the same, so how come one loved the village while the other held no love for it?

Forgiveness.

Naruto forgave them for their wrongs. While Sasuke grew cold. Naruto could've used his anger against the Village, he would've had every right in Sasuke's eyes… and yet he used that anger to protect the people who scorned him.

Even now, Naruto is fighting what essentially is an evil copy of himself to protect the village, but most importantly his teammates and friends. When all he had received at first were harsh words and contempt.

So why does he fight for them?


Naruto tried surrounding Gaara with clones once again. He had them all pounce on him at once. He couldn't give Gaara breathing room, couldn't give him time to prepare a jutsu or attack. For every clone Gaara got rid of, Naruto replaced it with two more. Gaara couldn't get a chance to mold his chakra to perform his Sand Storm Devastation because he was interrupted every time he tried.


*Nine-Tails Chakra Mode: Deactivated*


The real Naruto took this chance to catch a quick break. He was thrilled with how he turned the tides. He looked back to where Sasuke was and wondered if Sasuke even needed to reenter the fight. 'Seems to be going-'

"I will not lose to a guy like him!"

Suddenly every single clone was dispelled by massive sand tendrils that all conjoined to make a behemoth. Shukaku was roaming the world once again.

"Damn it!" Naruto screamed in outrage. Just when he was getting the upper hand. Just when he might've followed the plan exactly as it was supposed to. Just when he was this close to proving his worth to his teammates, his luck always has to come and bite him in the ass. "I can't catch a break, can I? I have to do something about Gaara. Oh!" Naruto closed his eyes and channeled his chakra deep down, to where the seal was located. 'Alright you damn fox, give me more chakra!'

"Mmm? So my jailor wants chakra? Let's see how much you can handle!"


*Nine-Tails Chakra Mode: Activated*


Naruto threw his eyes open and tried to ignore the pain he felt as his chakra system was now being overloaded with bijuu chakra. Just when Naruto feels as if he's going to burst, the seal kicks in and cuts off the Nine-Tails's chakra.

"Hmm? You better be thankful brat, this seal is the only thing keeping me prisoner. But when this seal breaks, I'm going to rip apart your chakra system just to free myself."

Naruto was left panting as he was at his pain tolerance limit. He's never been in that much pain before. 'I'll have to really talk to Jiraiya about this.' Naruto breathed a few times, trying to get back to normal. After he accomplished his task, Naruto straightened up and bit his finger. 'I can't afford to mess up here. Not now.' Naruto made a few hand signs before he slammed his palm on the ground. 'Summoning Jutsu!'


Health… 241/300

Stamina… 164/220

Chakra… 400,400/200,200


Health…241/300

Stamina… 164/220

Chakra… 86,765/200,200


A big cloud of smoke erupted and dissipated quickly, revealing Gamabunta with Naruto atop his head.

"Huh? What's going on?" The boss toad quickly bellowed.

"Hey Boss-err, Chief Toad, sir? That guy over there is threatening the Leaf Village!"

"Is he now?" Gamabunta narrowed his eyes at the sand giant. He took a drag out of his pipe and exhaled it slowly. "Alright, let's make this quick. I was supposed to train Gamakichi."

"Yes sir!"

Gamabunta pulled his pipe out of his mouth and tossed it aside. It crashed on top of many trees but Gamabunta focused on the battle ahead. He grasped his tanto's handle and jumped at the behemoth.


Hiruzen was thrown on top of a wooden platform that Hashirama made. He quickly stood up but the platform began to grow wooden pillars up its sides. 'Wooden Prison Jutsu!' Hiruzen thought with a scowl. "Enma!"

"Got it!"

Hiruzen began spinning Enma in his Admantine Staff form at an insane speed that it cleanly broke through Hashirama's Wood Style with ease. Now free, he leaped away from the two Hokages in an attempt to get space.

But Edo Tobirama wouldn't let him get space.

He shot the Old Monkey down with a Water Style: Water Bullet jutsu, he barely managed to graze him on his left side. Hiruzen landed with a grunt of pain before he had to roll forward, barely escaping from Hashirama's wooden tendrils that nearly grabbed him. He was forced to continue backpedaling lest he get caught. With each side-step, each dodge, and each cut he received, he felt his anger begin to rise to levels he thought he had barricaded away.

The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi hid away from his title as The God of Shinobi wasn't what everyone thought.

It wasn't because he got soft, or because he wanted to be seen as the Grandfather of Konoha, or because he wanted to leave behind his old title.

No. The real reason was that back then, back when he was in his prime, back when everyone feared and respected him, back when he WAS The God of Shinobi, he had a terrible temper and no self-control.

He had just lost both his senseis, Hashirama and Tobirama, and suddenly had the Hokage position handed to him. It was during the First Great Shinobi War when every major and minor village was involved in some way or another, and it was still going on. Both of his senseis, two great men and shinobi, died because of these Shinobi wars, and if he didn't do something about it, more like them would die.

So he did something.

Something to know about Hiruzen is that he had a terrible temper back when he was a child. Hiruzen learned how to control and use that anger because of Tobirama-sensei, but it was always still there. Every. Single. Bit. Of. It.

Hiruzen used his anger to help bring an end to the First Shinobi War. What Jiraiya said in the hospital was true. The Second Kazekage did propose an end to the World War, and Hiruzen jumped at the chance for the war to be over. But what Jiraiya didn't know, was that the other three Kages were not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Not until Hiruzen personally showed them why they should.

After that meeting was over, all five Kages elected that further meetings should be held in a neutral place where fighting would be forbidden.

Ever since that war, Hiruzen had been a short-fused, rage-filled leader and foe.

Up until that one night.

Hiruzen was in a fight with his wife, Biwako Sarutobi. She was born into a traditional civilian family and as such she was raised to be kind and considerate. That was the reason she was arguing with her husband. He had been neglecting his son, Asuma, for far too long, and due to that, he went to join the Guardian Ninjas, the protectors of the Daiymo. During part of the screaming match, Biwako had called him a "Terrible excuse for a father!"

And he slapped her.

Afterward, Hiruzen was left staring at his hand in horror. He immediately apologized and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'msorry. I'msosorry." He whispered over and over again. "You're right. I am a terrible excuse for a father. And a husband. I'll do better. I swear it."

Biwako soothed him down but was still feeling conflicted and terrified inside. "Okay, I believe you… but I think I should be at my mother's for a couple of days."

Hiruzen softly tightened his hold on his wife as he nodded into her neck. "I understand." He truly felt disgusting. He'd bury this anger of his and this time, he'd make sure it won't be coming back. Ever since that day, Hiruzen has never reached the anger that the 'God of Shinobi' wielded… until today.

A crack sounded within Hiruzen's mind before he let out the most furious and powerful yell he had ever uttered. It was more than enough to stop Orochimaru in his tracks. Was that his old sensei's tone? 'Surely not.' He convinced himself.

Up until Hiruzen quickly freed himself and disposed of the two reincarnated Hokages, all in less than five moves.

The battle raged on with the two reanimated Hokages and Orochimaru versus the rage-filled, aged God of Shinobi. One will be dying by the end of the match.


"Jump!" Naruto yelled in panic as a Wind Style: Giant Air Bullet came right for them.

"I know!" The Chief Toad yelled as he launched high into the air.

With them now in the air, Shukaku, who had been awakened earlier, continued his assault by sending two more giant air bullets. Gamabunta saw and only had time to react to one. He threw a water bullet at the first, but the second one hit.

"Hang on kid!" Gamabunta yelled, preparing himself for a harsh landing. He got up a second later, grunting and groaning. "Hey kid, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine chief."

"Good. I can't take any more damage otherwise I'll have to dispel."

"Dispel? Why? How am I supposed to fight this guy without you chief?"

"I can only take one more hit from that guy. Man that guy is strong, I think he broke something with just that attack. And I don't know how you're going to win without me but if I get dispelled, you're gonna have to. It'll be all up to you to find a way to defeat this guy if I go kid. But I'm not planning on leaving just yet. I have to get my payback first. But start coming up with a plan just in case."

"Okay." Naruto quickly opened his hud to see what else he had in his arsenal.


Jutsus

➤➤Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu - Mastered Mastery 0%

➤➤Substitution Jutsu - Basic Mastery 75%

➤➤Transformation Jutsu - Advanced Mastery 80%

➤➤➤Sexy Jutsu - Mastered Mastery 0%

➤➤Clone Jutsu - Basic Mastery 0%

➤➤Sensory - Basic Mastery 5%

➤➤Lightning Ball Jutsu - Basic Mastery 1%

➤➤Summoning Jutsu - Advanced Mastery 0%

➤➤Rasengan - Basic Mastery 0%

Chakra Control

➤➤Leaf Concentration - Mastery 100%

➤➤Tree Climbing - Mastery 100%

➤➤Water Walking - Mastery 100%


'None of these are long-range or useful except the Lightning Ball Jutsu.'

"Hang on kid!" Gamabunta yelled before he leaped forward.

'Err! I should have trained more with the Lightning Jutsu! Okay, calm down. Just figure out how it's supposed to work now. You got this Naruto.'

"Finally, we have you, You are terrible at building up chakra and at controlling it and you only manage to make one clone while wasting so much more chakra in the process. In fact, with that amount of chakra, Sakura and Sasuke would be able to produce ten."

'That's it.'

"Hey, kid! I'm going to get close! You're gonna have to figure out a way to wake him up!"

Naruto snapped out of his thinking and nodded his head. "Got it!"

Gamabunta jumped and landed right in front of Shukaku. "Now!"

'Bird, Snake, Monkey, Ram!'

"Lightning Style: Lightning Ball Jutsu!"


Chakra… 86,765/200,200


Chakra… 56,431/200,200


One giant ball of lightning was brought to life hovering five feet above Naruto's head. "Ahh!" Naruto yelled as he pointed his hands down, aiming the Ram hand sign at the red-haired boy.

"No!" The sand bijuu yelled out. "I just got here!" The ball of lightning moved slowly, giving Shukaku a chance to stop the attack. The bijuu transformed his hand into a sand blade. He quickly stabbed Gamabunta in the gut, making him flinch forward, knocking Naruto's jutsu off target.

"Woah!" Naruto yelled as he and his jutsu swerved.

Gaara's eyes widened in pain as, although knocked off target, Naruto's Lightning Ball still managed to sizzle Gaara's arm. Gaara cried out in pain and Shukaku whined out in disappointment before he was forcefully suppressed by Gaara's now awake mind.


Lightning Ball Jutsu Basic Mastery 50%


"Ergh!" The Chief Toad groaned as he stumbled back.

"Chief! Are you okay?"

"No, The sand rat stabbed my gut."

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just have to dispel now."

"So now I have to take it from here?" Naruto wasn't confident in his ability to face off against Gaara. Not in this state.

"Kid, you don't have much of a choice. Sorry I couldn't help ya more."

Naruto sighed. "You did more than enough Chief." The giant toad dispelled, making Naruto fall until he safely landed on a tree branch. "Okay, I got rid of Gaara's bijuu. Now it's just Gaara. Err! How the hell am I supposed to take him on now? I have to be super close to use the Lightning Ball jutsu, and I need time to make the jutsu in the first place! Why'd my skill in lighting jutsus suck! Why couldn't I have been more like-!"

"Like Sasuke!" Naruto remembered. Sasuke should've been more than recovered by now. 'I gotta go get him!' Naruto said to himself. He turned around and began tree-hopping back to Sasuke's location. 'I need his help.'


Sasuke was now recovered but he was lost in thought. He was spiraling. He was thinking of countless ways his life could play out from here. Trying to figure out which one was the most optimal to get the outcomes he desired.

Until Naruto landed right in front of him.

"Sasuke, c'mon I need your help. This guy is too tough for me to beat him alone." Naruto spoke as he kept a visual on Gaara. "He's heading toward the village. C'mon. We have to stop him." Naruto stuck his hand out, waiting for Sasuke to accept it.

At this point, Naruto still has nothing but respect and jealousy for Sasuke's strength. So he cast aside his ego and asked Sasuke for help, Sasuke couldn't believe it.

When had Naruto grown and matured so much?

After that, the light bulb went off. Sasuke now understood why Naruto fought for those who scorned him in the past.

Because he still cares about them, regardless of what they've done to him in the past. Naruto understood why they did. It was the Nine-Tail's actions they hated, it was just unfortunate that he was its jinchuriki. Sasuke now realized how emotionally mature Naruto had to be to do that. He was forced to mature rapidly because the other option wasn't one Naruto wanted to take. He didn't want to give up on life.

There and then, Sasuke mentally promised himself that he would be there for him if Naruto ever needed him. This world needs more good-natured people like him.

So he took his hand.


His anger was boiling within him like never before, but Hiruzen wasn't in his younger body. He allowed his body to get old and rusty, he allowed himself to be weak. And he used that anger to fuel him beyond what his body was capable of.

But he knew he was fighting time as well as his foes.

Undead Shinobi who never tired, his old student's strength rivaled his own, and Father Time all stood in his way. But his village was on the line, so he put his life on the line to protect his village. His people.

He made the tiger hand sign before a darkness that blinded everyone soon enveloped the area. "Bringer-of-Darkness."

"Hmhmhm,' Orochimaru mentally chuckled. 'What does that Old Monkey have planned-"

Orochimaru was cut off as he suddenly felt a cold feeling through his stomach. The genjutsu wore off and it revealed an exhausted yet still angry Hiruzen and the two reanimated Hokages, who were now falling apart.

'Damn this old and godforsaken body of mine! I… I don't have enough strength to' He panted. 'To take Orochimaru's soul too… haaah, haaah, haaah… but I must try. For my village. For my people!'

Hiruzen tugged on Orochimaru's soul as much as he could and when he felt as if his hold on Orochimaru's soul was about to slip, Hiruzen had the reaper slice off what he could bring with him.

"What have you done to me!?" He yelled out in pain as he watched his hands slowly turn dark gray and lifeless.

Hiruzen, now on death's door, gazed into Orochimaru's eyes. His mind was already foggy. He wasn't all there and his mind was thinking about his younger days, when he had everything.

His son truly loved and adored him. His wife wasn't afraid of him. And his genin admired him and everything. He truly had it all.

"You're not my Orochimaru," Hiruzen spoke as his eyes glazed over.

Orochimaru felt a piece of him hurt at his sensei's words, but it was overpowered by the rage and disgust he felt at his sensei. He quickly killed that part of him that was hurt by his words. His last bit of innocence.

"Drop the barrier! Get me out of here. We're retreating!"


They were now in the forest of Konoha. 'We're almost out of here.' Orochimaru thought to himself.

Just when they think they've gotten away, A blur appears out of nowhere and kicks Orochimaru directly in the back, sending him flying forward.

Loud but brief fighting could be heard before it was deathly quiet once again.

He struggled to his feet before he turned around and saw Jiraiya there, with Ma and Pa on his shoulders giving him Sage Mode.

"Really Jiraiya? Sage mode for little Ol' me?"

"I just needed the speed boost. I know how fast and how often you run when you lose." Jiraiya makes a large, almost as tall as the surrounding trees, rasengan. It was packed with the remaining senjutsu chakra he had left.

"You won't be able to kill me Jiraiya."

Jiraiya, on his part, merely smirked before he let out a chuckle. "Wanna bet on that?"

He then slammed the rasengan down. Grinding his former teammate and friend into a fine mist.

Now left alone, Jiraiya looked over to the behemoth that was the One-Tails. "Alright. Ma, Pa, you ready for a fight against a bijuu?"

"I'm up for it. How about you Ma?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was planning on making Caterpillar Stew tonight."

Jiraiya turned green while Pa grinned widely. "Oh, Ma don't be such a downer. If we don't finish in time then we can just go out and eat at the new restaurant that opened nearby."

"Oh, alright. It has been a while since we went out to eat."

"I'll even buy you you're favorite! Grasshoppers and Crickets covered inground-upp beetles!"

Jiraiya was trying his best to ignore what the two toads were talking about, but since they were on his shoulders, he wasn't able to do a good job. He almost puked but he forced it down.

"Alright, enough. Let's just go fight the bijuu." After they got close, they noticed that Naruto and Sasuke were fighting against the now-awake Gaara. "Hmm. Let's sit back and watch the kids."

"You sure they won't get hurt?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, we're here if they need us. Just keep Sage Mode running and we'll be able to make it in time."

"I'm guessing you've taken a liking to one of the boys down there?" Pa asked.

"Yeah, the blonde one. He's Minato's kid."

"Oh, I've been wondering what that little tadpole has been up to. Minato told us that Kushina had gotten pregnant a while before he died, and we haven't heard a word about it since." Ma sadly stated.

"Yeah, the old man wanted a tight lip about Naruto's heritage. I always disagreed with that… guess I'll tell him soon. He deserves to know about Minato and Kushina."

"Shh! I want to see how this battle plays out!" Pa excitably shouted. "He better be a toad summoner Jiraiya-boy! I'll break your arm if he isn't!"

"He is, he is!" He knew Pa meant what he said. "Now shh! Watch the fight!"


Naruto and Sasuke are running toward where the now-awakened Gaara is. He was awake, but he was still in his Shukaku form.

Naruto told Sasuke not to kill him. He wanted to know what made him turn out the way he was. What made him this unhinged? Naruto had to know so that he wouldn't go down that same path. He didn't want to end up like Gaara, not like how he is now.

"Alright Sasuke, we have to get Gaara out of that thing."

"How are we going to get up there?"

Naruto wordlessly created a shadow clone and used it to throw himself up high in the air. "That's how."

"Great, and how am I going to get up there?"

"I'll give you a clone so he can make extras for you."

"Okay, what do we do when we get close?"

"I'll get Gaara's attention on me, then you come up behind him and use your chidori on him, but don't kill him."

"Why not? He's the enemy?"

"Because…" Naruto hesitated. "Because he's like me. He's a jinchuriki-."

"I know, I heard you guys when you guys were talking."

"You did?!"

"Yeah, you were yelling,"

"And you're okay with me being a jinchuriki?"

"I'm… still handling it. "

"Good still handling it? Or bad still handling it?"

"...good still handling it. I don't understand everything, so you might have to explain it all to me from the beginning, but I understand that you and the Nine-Tails are not the same."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief but he couldn't express it fully. They still fought ahead of them after all. "Glad to hear, but we gotta focus on Gaara. We're almost there."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed. "I recovered more chakra than I thought I would, but I don't have enough to help with the distraction part. I only have enough for a low-powered chidori."

"That's fine, I'll take care of the rest. I still have,"


Chakra… 56,331/200,200


"Quite an amount of chakra."

"Really?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "How much chakra do you have?"

"Well, jinchuriki's have a lot of chakra. Me and Gaara are proof. My chakra control stinks though."

"Well, I could've told you that part," Sasuke quipped. "But you want to save Gaara just because you are both jinchuriki?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah. I want to save him… but first, we have to beat him."

Sakura was still in danger. She was Naruto's priority. The second reason was that Gaara was a danger to the village. If they didn't stop him here and now, who knows what kind of damage he could do to the village?

A large sand arm suddenly slammed down on the ground a couple of feet in front of them. "Where do you think you're going?!" Gaara yelled in a maniacal tone.

"Yeah, I can see why you want to save him." Sasuke sarcastically quipped.

"Tch. Just get started on the clone hopping!" Naruto yelled as he split off from Sasuke. He jumped up a flight of his clones and got close to Gaara's face. "Over here ya sand bastard!"

Gaara tried to quickly smack Naruto out of the sky, but his sand behemoth was too slow. With Gaara's attention now locked on Naruto, Sasuke used this chance to high and close. One, two, three. Clone after clone. Sasuke was pushing his legs to the limit with how fast he was trying to scale up the bijuu. When he made it above the giant's shoulder, Sasuke nodded to a clone. The clone nodded back, grabbed Sasuke's ankles, and rocketed him toward Gaara.

"Ox → Rabbit → Monkey," He held his hand out to his side. "Chidori!"

Gaara turned around, having finally heard Sasuke, and soon screamed out in pain as Sasuke had barely nicked his shoulder. But that nick was still a deep wound.

The sand behemoth suddenly began crumbling. With chakra no longer being pumped through the sand, nothing was holding it together. Naruto let out a sigh as he safely lowered himself, creating a clone to help slow down his momentum briefly.

Unlike Naruto, Gaara's bijuu didn't grant him a healing factor. He healed like a regular person would. Instead, all it gave him was greater durability, massive chakra reserves, and sand manipulation. So he could only take so much damage before his body gave out. And he reached his limit.

While Naruto safely fell to the ground, Sasuke and Gaara both fell out of the sky and fell through the trees before they hit the ground.

'Ughhhh. That hurt.'

Sasuke quickly got up and reached into his weapons pouch but Naruto landed right in front of him. He held his hands out in an attempt to stop Sasuke from doing anything to Gaara. "Hey. I said not to kill him. I want to know. I need to know."

Sasuke stared into his eyes for a couple of seconds. "Fine."

Naruto smiled as he patted Sasuke on the shoulder. "Thanks. You should go get Sakura-chan. She should be free now."

Sasuke nodded, peeked over Naruto's shoulder, and looked back into Naruto's eyes. "Do what you have to do with him. Even if you like it or not."

Naruto let out a sigh before he nodded. "I know."

He then walks over and talks with Gaara. They talk about how he was treated. Neglected. Abused. And about the assassination attempts on his life since he was just a kid.

But most importantly, the voices in his head. This part sent a chill down Naruto's spine.

He knew that the fox talking to him was a bad thing, but he didn't think that the ramifications of that were this dire. He needed to go find Jiraiya and tell him ASAP.

But then Gaara continued. The voices in his head drove him crazy, but the single action that pushed him over the line was that the one person Gaara trusted and loved unconditionally betrayed him and also tried to kill him. He was just like the rest. If that one person, the one with such a gentle and caring demeanor, could hate him and want him dead, then there truly is nothing for Gaara to live for other than himself.

So that's how Gaara lived.

After Gaara told the story of his life, he stared emotionless into Naruto's eyes. Silently waiting to see what Naruto wanted to do now.

"I'm not the one who can tell you how to live Gaara, only you can decide that. But I do hope you can learn to let others in. I'll even be your first friend so you can see that this world isn't as cruel and harsh as you think." He held his hand out.

Naruto saw Gaara's arm twitch but a chime distracted him.


Chakra… 31/200,200


'Ugh, again-?'

Gaara watched with a hint of curiosity as the blonde passed out and fell into the ground face-first. He could only manage to make his finger twitch but it was just enough to manipulate his sand. He slowly wrapped his hand around the passed-out boy. He raised him off of the ground and gently turned him onto his back before slowly lowering him back to the ground.

"So he's my first friend…"


"Naruto-boy is more than worthy enough to align himself with the Toads," Ma stated with a proud smile.

"Good. Glad to hear that." Jiraiya said with a smile. He was silent for a moment while the back of his mind came up with an idea. "Hey, think he'll be strong enough to be a Sage?"

"Jiraiya! He's just a kid!" Ma yelled in indignation.

"I'm talking about when he gets older Ma! Of course, he isn't ready to handle it now! I was asking if you guys thought he would be able to master Senjutsu later!"

While Ma and Jiraiya were bickering, Pa gave Jiraiya's question some thought. 'Hmm, I wonder… Let's take a look at the boy's chakra reserves.'

"And another thing-!" Ma turned to face Pa with a perplexed look. "Pa, what are ya doing in Sage Mode?"

"I'm sensing young Naruto's chakra reserves."

Ma's face took on one of understanding while Jiraiya's took on a perplexed one. "But wouldn't it be a waste to sense his chakra reserves now? He just got done with a big battle."

"Jiraiya-boy, ya still much to learn about senjutsu chakra. When in Sage Mode, one of the things ya can do is sense the chakra pools regardless if they've exhausted their own or not."

"Hmm, Naruto-boy's chakra reserves are quite remarkable. He'll be able to learn Sage Mode when he's older. Just be sure to teach him how to control his chakra better and he should be good Jiraiya-boy."

"Got it."


kasicair: The first part was basically whining mixed in with weak criticism so I'll improve where the criticism is true. The rest is whining so I'm not even paying attention to all that.

Well, that's my opinion and impression of this story. Read it for yourself and who knows? Maybe you will like it more than me.

This I agree with. You should always read and make you're own opinions and impressions instead of following others mindlessly. That's bad, don't do that.

Thanks for taking the time to review but please put actual criticism on how I can improve my story instead of just whining that it's not good. For example, tell me what you didn't like and then give me ideas on how I can fix it. Please and thank you.

OtsutsukiMitra: I only revealed it to Kakashi o_o. Besides, if I didn't, Naruto would've progressed more slowly because he's just as dumb as canon Naruto. I don't know why everyone is acting as if he was a genius like Sasuke. It took almost the entirety of Shippuden before Naruto created the Rasengan with just one hand, like how it was supposed to be used. And all Naruto needed to do was train his chakra control and his efficiency with 1 jutsu. But he didn't for whatever reason.

Horusra: He will with time. I'd say in the next couple of chapters actually.

2BeDamned: Thanks for that man, but it's okay. Just enjoy the story, I'll worry about the reviews.

And to all the other nice reviewers, Thanks for the positive reviews!