"Hurry up Chōji, I can't hold them forever!" Shikamaru shouted at his teammate. The young Nara genius was holding a group of Suna shinobi in his shadow possession technique and his chakra was quickly disappearing from the constant use of the jutsu.

The Akimichi boy focused his chakra and his arm grew exponentially. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Chōji shouted as he swiped his triple sized arm to dispose of the enemy ninja. He launched them into side of a building and they dropped in a heap on the ground.

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief as his shadow returned to his body. "Nice work Chōji."

Chōji smiled. "Thanks Shikamaru, but you're the one who thought of the plan. I just followed your orders."

Shikamaru shrugged. "You act like trapping them in my shadow was difficult. Suna obviously didn't do their research, our Ino-Shika-Cho formation is very well documented."

Chōji nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. But where is Ino? I hope she's okay."

"Before everything started, I saw her sitting with her dad. I'm sure she's fine with him."

The hefty Akimichi boy nodded again. He looked around at the devastation around them. Buildings were damaged, villagers were hiding in rubble or running towards the Hokage Mountain for shelter in the catacombs. Chōji couldn't help the solemn look on his face.

"Is this what war feels like, Shikamaru?"

The Nara boy noticed the look on his teammate's face, he couldn't blame Chōji for asking that type of question. They were only genin, fresh genin at that, and barely had the life experience to handle the situation like this. In the academy, Iruka taught them the history of war and how it shaped the present they were living in. Shikamaru felt the same as Chōji did. "I don't know buddy, but we'll get through it. No matter what we'll get through it."

A sudden earthquake shook the ground and the two male members of Team Ten looked around to see what was happening. A giant snake was thrown over the buildings of the village and slammed into the Hokage Mountain, then an equal sized red toad jumped in and shoved a massive sasumata into the snake's neck and snapping it. Atop the giant toad summon was a white-haired man that seemed to be shouting out orders to the toad. The toad nodded and jumped into his next battle.

"What was that?!"

"Everyone's pulling out all the stops for this. Honestly, this is such a drag."

-Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru-

Both men had discarded the ceremonial robes and stood in their battle attire. Sarutobi's black jumpsuit consisted of mesh armor on the lower parts of his limbs, with a green gauntlet that covered most of his right arm, and he also wore a green armored hood with a bandanna-like forehead protector over this tied with two long straps. Orochimaru retained his original attire.

The former master and student charged at one another, Sarutobi pulled out a single shuriken and chucked it at Orochimaru. He executed a series of hand seals and dozens upon dozens of more shurikens appeared and were launched at the Snake Sannin.

"Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Orochimaru went through a series of hand seals of his own. "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!" (Summoning: Reanimation)

A wood coffin began to emerge from the tile surface that was quickly followed by a second that shielded Orochimaru from the hundreds of shuriken. Hiruzen realized what was happeningand went through another set of hand signs, he channeled more chakra into this just to make sure the third one didn't deploy. Much to his relief, it did not.

Orochimaru chuckled sinisterly as he peered between the two coffins. "Hm. It seems you were able to stop the third one. No matter, the end result will be the same."

The nails holding coffins shut burst out and the covers slowly fell off to reveal the two things he had summoned. Stepping out from the darkness of the shadows, wearing their respective red and blue battle armor they were buried in, came the First and Second Hokage. The formerly deceased looked up and saw the man they had left to protect the village now an old man.

"It's been a long time, eh monkey?" The Second rhetorically asked in a monotone voice.

"Oh, it's you…you've grown quite old Sarutobi." The First said in a similar tone.

"Never would I have thought I'd be meeting you two in a situation like this. It is unfortunate…but prepare for your defeat."

The Nidaime turned and looked at Orochimaru. "Edo Tensei huh? So, this youngster was the one to use my forbidden jutsu. He's quite something."

The Shodaime kept his eyes on the Sandaime. "If that is true Sarutobi, then I guess it means we'll be fighting against you. This really is unfortunate."

Orochimaru pushed the coffins to the side and approached the two legendary Hokage with a talisman attached to a kunai in each hand. "How about you save the old folks chat for the afterlife and get down to business shall we?" The Snake fazed his hands into the back of the two Hokage's heads.

"No matter how much the world changes and grows, the fighting will never cease it seems." The Shodaime muttered as he felt his consciousness be taken from him.

"Do what you must, monkey." The Nidaime called out to his former student as he lost control over himself.

Sarutobi felt the anger grow within him. "Using the dead as your personal tools, will you stop at nothing Orochimaru?"

The Snake Sannin chuckled again. "You know that I won't."

The Edo Tensei binds the soul of a deceased person into a living vessel, restoring them to act upon the summoners will. It was originally created by the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju, but he declared it a forbidden technique due to its high cost and how horrible it could be used if it fell into the wrong hands. The summoner needs the DNA of the person they want to resurrect and a living/willing sacrifice to bind the deceased soul in to. Both of which are not easy things to accomplish.

Sarutobi began to analyze the condition of his previous leaders. 'They look just as good now as they did back then. It seems Orochimaru already purified them and returned them to their former glory. But how much so? I can't imagine Orochimaru fully reviving them both. Lord First could have easily broken free of the control and overwhelmed Orochimaru just by flexing his chakra. And Lord Second was the jutsu's creator, I have no doubt he implanted a failsafe if it were ever used on himself. I think it's safe to assume they are not at full strength. But this is still a problem for me, even a half power the two brothers were not easy to fight.'

"I felt like this was the right thing to do, Sarutobi sensei. I wanted to share this feeling I have."

"What feeling is that?"

"The happiness and sense of accomplishment to hurt the one you used to call master. I thought it'd be fitting to share the same experience of pleasure. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Sandaime began uncharacteristically snarling as his anger over took him. The aging man charged head first into the battle with his predecessors. He prepped himself to perform a jutsu. Orochimaru held a hand sign that signaled for his puppets to counter.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!" (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb)

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Style: Water Wall)

While fire was spit in the shape of a dragon from the Sandaime's, water fell freely from the Nidaime's mouth, true to the jutsu's name. The resounding clash between fire and water resulted in a cancelation of both techniques.

'Just what you'd expect from a former Hokage, using a high a level water technique and creating the water for it.' Sarutobi thought to himself.

But the Second wasn't done there. Using the leftover water that he created, the reanimated man funneled his chakra into it again. "Suiton: Suiryūdan!" (Water Style: Water Dragon Missile)

Sarutobi decided he should provide some of his own element to counter this technique. Going through even more hand seals, the Third spat mud from his mouth. "Doton: Doryūkei!" (Earth Style: Mud Wall)

The water dragon shot towards the growing mud wall and collided with great force but did little to cause any damage to the wall or Sarutobi. Now that the wall of earth had been created and practically nullifying any jutsu the Second could use, Orochimaru felt like it was time to introduce the Shodaime to this battle of master and student. The reanimated man held a single hand seal that caused Sarutobi to clench.

'That seal…this is his secret technique! Countering with elemental jutsus won't do anymore!' Sarutobi had no other choice but to bring his summon to the battlefield.

"Mokuton: Jukai Kōton!" (Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence)

Branches began to rise from under the tiles of the lookout tower and grew into trees that quickly turned into a forest that spread throughout the entire barrier that entrapped them. Sarutobi was able to outrun the fast spreading wood for a few seconds to make the necessary for his summoning but he was quickly caught and wrapped up in the branches. Struggling against the branches strength, Sarutobi bit his thumb and placed his hand on a branch.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Out from the sudden burst of smoke came the monkey king, Enma. The white furred and long, untamed white-haired monkey looked down and instantly figured out why his long-time friend had summoned him. "So, it's come down to this eh? Sarutobi, you are pathetic for not killing him when you had the chance. All of this could have been avoided if you realized what he was doing sooner."

"Enma!" Sarutobi yelled in full seriousness, catching the summon's attention. "Adamantine staff!"

Enma nodded and held a hand seal. "Gotcha…transform!" Using the transformation technique, the monkey king transformed into a black staff with yellow ends. The staff smacked into the branches that bound the Sandaime and easily freed him. The aging Hokage grabbed the staff and jumped down to ground level.

Orochimaru smirked. "Things are finally getting interesting, wouldn't you say Sarutobi sensei?" The Sannin opened his mouth and a brown snake covered in slime came slithering out of his throat. The snake went straight as a line as it, too, opened its mouth and a sword came out of the snake's mouth. Orochimaru gripped the hilt and shook off the slime, the snake returning to Orochimaru's body.

'The sword of Kusanagi, eh? Enma is gonna be sore after this one.' Sarutobi twirled the staff around and slammed it on the ground to show dominance, though he had a bit of trouble. 'Ugh, I didn't think Nyoibo could be so heavy…'

Sarutobi charged at Orochimaru and his two former teachers. He clashed his Nyoibo with Orochimaru's Kusanagi, Enma even protruded his entire head out of the tip of the staff to try and attack Orochimaru. But the monkey king never was able to get close enough to the Snake, the two Hokage kicked the Third Hokage away.

Orochimaru licked his lips with his long-gated, pointed tongue. "For you to come charging in without any shadow clones is truly disappointing, your age is going to be more of a factor in this battle then I planned for. Oh well, better for me."

Suddenly, explosive tags that were placed on the Shodaime and Nidaime's ankles hit the end of their time and exploded. Orochimaru remained unfazed by this. It didn't matter what his former teacher did to damage the two Hokage, they would regenerate just as fast.

Sarutobi looked on in frustration. 'I figured as much, they'll just repair themselves from the damage I cause. And if my memory serves me right, they won't disappear until the caster of the jutsu dispels them. If I want a one-on-one fight with Orochimaru then I'll have to deal with their trapped souls…the only jutsu that can seal away souls is the Yondaime's. There's no other way…I'll have to take all three of them with me.'

Sarutobi clasped his hands together as he prepared himself for the jutsu that would end this battle once and for all. He prayed his predecessors would forgive him for dealing with such an absolute ending.

"Hehehe, even you, one who has held the title of 'God of Shinobi' can't even defeat Father Time. I've never seen you strain so much." Orochimaru reached up and dug his nails under the skin of his face. "It's really quite pitiful." The skin was ripped away and revealed a new face that the Sandaime had never seen before. It was a face of a beautiful young woman.

Sarutobi held back his shock. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Is it that hard to figure out? It's me. I'm Orochimaru."

A single of Enma opened itself on the staff to witness the situation. "He's finally done it…"

"You've…achieved that kinjutsu?!" (Forbidden Jutsus)

'Orochimaru' chuckled again. "It's been more than ten years since I left the village, I've suffered quite a bit."

Sarutobi scowled hard at what his former student was implying. The night Orochimaru left the village was still fresh in the Sandaime's mind. Reports of multiple missing chūnin, jōnin, and even ANBU had been made and there was only one suspect. Orochimaru. They were able to track him down after hours of searching but were not prepared for what was beyond the door. After they burst through the door, every single one of them was utterly horrified by what they saw. Dozens of dead bodies of the missing shinobi that were either laid up on wooden slabs against the walls or just simply laid on the ground with white sheets overtop of them, each one with hours of experimentation done on them. All in the name of immortality.

"Your twisted ideology is the very reason I never selected you to replace me. You are far from the young boy met and mentored for so long."

"Are we feeling a hint of nostalgia? That's what I intended when kept my old self on the surface. With this immortality jutsu, I bind my soul into a new body and anchor myself in this world forever. It must feel quite depressing to grow old? I can simply look at you and feel it deeply. You will die here…and I will obtain a younger, stronger body. One with sight far beyond my own."

Sarutobi remained silent as he scanned over Orochimaru's words, only to come the conclusion on who Orochimaru was talking about. "I see…so Sasuke Uchiha is your target."

"Hehehe. Exactly right, it's Sasuke. But I won't lie, the young Naruto Uzumaki would sure make for a promising subject."

Sarutobi tried his damnedest to not lose his composure. "If you so much as get near Naruto-"

"Don't worry about me taking your precious jinchūriki. It took a long time for you to mold him into what you wanted, I applaud you for that. But while the prospect of having the Nine-Tailed Beast under my control sounds greatly enticing, the power I can achieve with the Sharingan will surpass that of the bijū. But if the opportunity arises, I will not hesitate to make him mine. Just like Sasuke!"

Orochimaru's features returned to that of his original face and signaled for the First Hokage to create more Mokuton that enveloped the entirety of the barrier. Sarutobi was swept away from the attacking branches but Enma encased his companion in a cage of multiple staffs to protect him. Sarutobi took a moment to survey his options. He already concluded that this battle wouldn't end until the Shodaime and Nidaime were dealt with, even then Orochimaru himself was going to be rather difficult to defeat in his current state.

It was time for the reaper to come take his next victims.

The cage disappeared and Sarutobi landed on a single branch, crossing his fingers as he did so. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Two clones came forth and all three executed the same series of hand seals. A translucent, gaunt specter, with a demonic visage, appeared behind Sarutobi that towered over him. It possessed long, shaggy, white hair from which two red horns protruded from, as well as purple tinted skin. It was draped in a large white kimono and held a set of prayer beads. Being held in its mouth by its sharp, jagged teeth was a small tanto. Suspended in front of the translucent figure was a blue human shaped visage.

Sarutobi noticed Orochimaru's lack of reaction and glanced back at the demonic visage. 'This must be the Shinigami that Minato spoke about. I must be the only one who can see him because I cast the jutsu.'

Orochimaru chuckled, he showed confidence despite not recognizing the series of hand seals the Sandaime was doing. "It doesn't mater what you do, it's too late, I've already won. Konoha will fall and burn to ash."

"This village is my home Orochimaru! As Hokage, it is my duty to be the main pillar of the house that protects her and pass on the Will of Fire to the next generation! It won't be easy for you to take Konoha down!"

The Shodaime went through a set of hand signs. "Kokuangyo no Jutsu!" (Infinite Darkness Jutsu) A veil of darkness was cast of the battlefield and the genjutsu blinded the Sandaime. Dealing a series of heavy blows to the Sandaime, the Shodaime and Nidaime moved about the darkness without detection.

"Haha…then I'll break that pillar and burn down the house!"

"Even if you kill me, the beam will not break!" Sarutobi defiantly yelled, recovering from the pain of his injuries. "I am the Sandaime! No matter how much you target the Leaf, there will always be a new Hokage to inherit the Will of Fire that I leave behind!"

All three forms of Sarutobi slammed their respective hands together and left themselves open to a attack, an opening that his opponents did not let close. Just as another invisible strike was about to hit, the clones grabbed ahold of the darkness with all their might.

"Come forth!" The clones yelled in unison.

Grunting in severe pain and blood free falling from the clones' mouth, the hand of the Shinigami passed through the clones' stomachs and grabbed the souls of the reanimated Hokage. The illusion of darkness was instantly lifted as the two Hokage's began to break apart and fade away.

"S-Sorry Sarutobi…" The First Hokage stammered out. His body fell back and broke apart, revealing the unnamed sacrifice that Orochimaru used to reanimate the deceased Kage.

"It seems we caused you a lot of trouble, eh monkey?" The Second Hokage held a proud smirk that his former student was able to defeat him and his elder brother and release them from the curse.

Orochimaru looked on in shock. 'What jutsu is this?! The darkness is gone!'

Sarutobi shed a single tear before he finished what he started. The Shinigami ripped the souls out of the bodies and sealed them inside the clones with the Eight Trigram Seal. The clones burst and disappeared from the stress, thus transferring the seals to the real Sarutobi. The Third stuck out his hand and Enma came flying to his side.

"It's time to end this, Orochimaru!"

Sarutobi jumped towards his former student, determined to end this battle once and for all. The two exchanged sword and staff as they danced around the overgrown forest. Sarutobi was able to disarm Orochimaru and get in close enough to grab ahold of him. The Shinigami had already fazed its hand through the Third and instantly attached itself to the Snake's soul.

It was then Orochimaru could finally see what Sarutobi had done. Suspended behind his former teacher was the Shinigami, the reaper of death. Looking down, Orochimaru saw Sarutobi's clothes had been ripped open and, imprinted like a tattoo, was the exact same seal that he had saw on Naruto's stomach when he tried to seal the Kyuubi away from him. Orochimaru tried to escape but his body was not responding to his commands.

"W-What is going on?! What are you doing to me old man?!"

Sarutobi heaved in and out, the stress of the jutsu was setting in. He wasn't sure he had the strength to finish Orochimaru off. "For this jutsu to work, you need to hand your soul over to death. It's a fūinjutsu that you pay for with your life. Once I complete the seal, my soul will be consumed simultaneously with yours and we will both die. Ironically, Death will have saved Konoha for a second time."

Orochimaru instantly pieced it together. "This jutsu sealed even the Kyuubi?!"

"Yes…and we will both go the way of the Fourth!"

Sarutobi put forth everything he possible had and continuously pulled Orochimaru's soul out of his body, the Snake was not going to go down easily. Unleashing all his willpower, Orochimaru fought hard to rake his soul back into his body. It was a stalemate. One that would not last for long.

"It seems you don't have the strength to finish me off." Orochimaru chuckled, despite his situation and half his soul in the reaper's hands. "I can outlast what little time you have left, and the village will fall. It's hopeless for you, Sarutobi sensei!"

As much the Sandaime hated to see it but Orochimaru was very, very right. He wasn't in the best condition when the first started to begin with, he simply didn't have the strength to fight against Orochimaru much longer. Sarutobi could feel his grip on the Snake slipping, any more and he'd lose it all.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

A third party scream surprised both Sarutobi and Orochimaru, they both turned their attention to the source. Forcing his continuously burning hands through the purple barrier and ripping it apart was Jiraiya. It seemed he had returned some time ago and figured out a way to beat the barrier. Both parties knew exactly how he did it, the two toads on his shoulders were a dead giveaway.

"C'mon lad, ye almost got it!" The female toad croaked.

"Ma! Get ready for a fight!"

Jiraiya let out another fierce scream to will himself through the barrier, practically blowing a large hole in the wall. The sudden tear caused a ripple effect and the entire box disappeared, allowing more shinobi gain access to their battlefield. Sarutobi saw his moment and he took it, he knew this wouldn't kill Orochimaru but seeing Jiraiya in his sage mode gave the old man the confidence that Orochimaru would not leave alive.

"Seal!"

The Shinigami took the tanto out its mouth and brought it down with a great speed. The part of the soul Sarutobi had been able to drag out of Orochimaru's body was instantly sealed away inside of Sarutobi.

Orochimaru immediately felt what had been done to him. "My arms! I can't move my arms!"

Sarutobi held a content smile as he fell back to the ground, allowing the jutsu's fatal side effect take its course. Orochimaru wasn't sure what he should do. Jiraiya and other countless Konoha shinobi were quickly closing in on him, his invasion was a sure failure because of said shinobi were coming after him, and he couldn't move his arms.

The four figures that held the barrier up returned to their master's side. Three men and a female: One with six arms, one with two heads, a very large man, and a red-headed female. They surrounded Orochimaru to protect him in his weakened state.

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya screamed as he jumped into the air, coming in for a killing blow on all five of them.

Suddenly, a cloaked figure appeared next to Orochimaru and grabbed ahold of him. The four others that surrounded them backed into the two and, in one giant burst of white smoke, they all disappeared. Jiraiya slammed into the ground and dispersed the smoke from the shockwave of his landing. They were all gone.

Jiraiya couldn't believe it, he honestly didn't think what he was looking at was real. Throughout everything that Jiraiya had been through in his life, his master was always a constant that he could count on. Even despite the lies and deception over the recent years, Jiraiya never thought his relationship with Sarutobi was irreparable and that they'd get back to the way things used to be. Now, there was no chance at ever learning anything more from him.

The Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was dead.

-With Temari-

The eldest of the three Suna siblings had no idea what to do, she was nearly having a panic attack as she continued to run as fast as she could with her younger brother was draped around her shoulders. And the fact that Kankurō stayed behind to hold off any resistance chasing them was weighing on her mind heavily as well. Her brother was strong but if a jōnin came to that girl's aid then…well, Temari didn't want to think about that.

Temari was barely able to make it out of the area before she had to duck into some alleys to avoid being seen by both Konoha and Suna shinobi, she was honestly more worried about her comrades finding out about her plan to get Gaara out of there over fighting a defending shinobi. The three of them would be branded traitors and would be properly executed for their betrayal with no argument from their father, hell he'd probably be the one to suggest the idea. Timing her movements perfectly, Temari was able to get over the village wall and hopefully disappear into the forest until the invasion was over.

"Uhhhhuhhhh…"

Temari stopped all movements and looked at her groaning brother. Gaara had been mostly quiet during their hast escape. The mental strain of the beast trying to take over was something that zapped Gaara of all his energy. The last time the beast was this close to being set free Gaara was left in a near unconscious state for a few days.

"Gaara," the dirty blonde began, "how are you-"

"Why…why did you stop me?"

"What do you mean why? We needed to get you out of there!"

A single eye of Gaara opened to reveal the eye of the Shukaku. "Mother is not happy, Mother is angry!" The red-haired jinchūriki forcefully grabbed Temari's throat and slowly lifted her off the ground. "You will pay for angering Mother with your life!"

A large amount of sand erupted from the gourd on Gaara's back, and just like before, encased half his body in a monstrous form. The large sand arm slammed Temari against a tree and bound against it with his sand. The poor girl was knocked unconscious from the impact.

The sudden sound of a pair of feet landing on a nearby branch drew Gaara's attention away from his elder sister to that of Sakura Haruno. She had been following for quite some time and had finally caught up to her opponent. Her face showed resolve and determination, but her eyes showed the extreme fear she felt.

Gaara smiled wickedly, his growing incisor teeth coming into view. "Are you afraid of me? Of my existence?"

Sakura wasn't sure how to respond, she wasn't sure if she should. She felt like any words that would leave her mouth would simply anger this guy more. Frankly, she didn't know what to say.

The lack of a response issued Gaara to launch his overgrown sand arm at Sakura. The pinkette quickly dodged and jumped to another branch, she dashed through the trees until she was sure Gaara had not tracked her moments. Another game of hide-and-seek.

"What's the matter?! Do you fear my existence that much to cause you to run?! After chasing me all the way out here, you still can't face me?!"

Sakura slowly breathed in and out, trying to figure out the mechanics of the sand manipulation. Right now, Gaara only had a large arm of sand that spread up to the side of his face and a larger tail that sprouted from his gourd. He was the same as before. She watched from her vantage point as Gaara began to frustratingly lay waste to the landscape, analyzing the movements of the sand and possible weak points.

Then Sakura saw her opening. The base of the arm and shoulder, the armpit. She drew a kunai from her holster and pulled out an explosive tag from her back pouch. She wrapped the tag around the handle. She knew there was no way she'd be able to hit the exact spot she needed to cause damage, she'd have to get in close. Sakura held a hand sign.

'It's time a used one of plans that Kurenai sensei and Hinata helped me think of to beat Neji.'

"Chōshinka!" (Butterfly Needle Fire)

Gaara continued to destroy the land around him but stopped when he noticed an influx of pink winged butterflies, there was so many that the semi-transformed boy was surrounded. Gaara roared as he slashed his sand claw at the butterflies around him, but his attack fazed right through it. He was so caught up in his rage that he failed to notice the kunai flying in from the crowd of creatures and strike him directly in the armpit.

As if it were a flip of a switch, the pink butterflies all turned into explosive tags and every single one of them erupted in one massive explosion that was felt a good distance away. Falling out of the black smoke cloud, the damaged, semi-transformed Gaara hit the ground with a thud. The large sand arm clung to its master's body by a few strands while the rest of his body was covered with burns.

Sakura landed on a branch that was closer to the ground. "I may be terrified of you, but I need to prove to myself and to my teammates that I can fight. I can't rely on them forever if I ever want to be a great ninja."

Gaara eyes reopened with extreme fury, spinning into the eyes of the Shukaku. The sand enveloped Gaara's entire upper body, only leaving from the knees down uncovered. "My existence will prevail over your worth!"

As if receiving some boost in power, Gaara burst up from the ground and practically flew towards Sakura at such a high rate of speed. The pink-haired kunoichi was just able to jump out of the way as the sand blur collided with the branch and smashing it to splinters. Sakura went to land on another branch but misjudged her positioning and her foot slipped on contact. She was able to stay upright but the extra second she needed to regain her balance proved to be critical.

"Suna Shuriken!"

A barrage of shurikens made completely sand were launched out of Gaara's arm of sand, they covered such a large area that Sakura was virtually trapped. She crossed her arms over her face and closed her eyes as she braced for impact.

"Tajū Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

A sudden burst of white smoke clouded Sakura's position just as the sand projectiles came crashing in. Sakura opened her eyes to see a wall made of multiple Naruto clones. The sand shurikens must have been strong because the clones were disappearing on impact.

"Now Sasuke!"

The black-haired Uchiha jumped out from behind a tree with the hand seals already completed, his Sharingan in full view. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The ball of fire was shot from Sasuke's mouth and Gaara decided to take the blow head-on, knowing full well the sand could take the heat and flames.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and moved to his teammate's position. Naruto dispersed the remaining clones and looked back at Sakura. "You good, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Yeah, thanks you guys. But how'd you find me?"

Naruto tapped his nose, but it was Sasuke who answered. "We were able to track you by smell through most of the village, but we lost it when we hit the forest. That explosion told us where you were."

Sakura nodded again. She stood up to her full height and dusted herself off. "I'm glad you guys are here, I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to beat this guy by myself. He's something else."

Sasuke couldn't help but grunt in agreement. "Yeah, I know. Our fight might've ended quick, but I had to go all-out from the beginning just to get passed his defense."

Naruto looked over Gaara's semi transformed state and had an inclination about what was going on. Naruto could feel the Kyuubi stir deep inside him, it seemed the beast was preparing himself for a fight. But that's not the only thing Naruto could feel, he felt something else when he looked into Gaara's demonic, sad eyes. All too familiar feelings.

Loneliness and betrayal.

Those sad eyes told Naruto a very lot about Gaara, something he didn't notice during their first meeting. The Kyuubi was right. Him and Gaara are the same. Not only in man and monster but they both knew what loneliness and betrayal was like. Two feelings that can lead a person down a very dark path. But there was a difference between him and Gaara. Naruto's dark path was dimly lit by a silver lining of a promise to protect people important to him.

'Hey furball, what am I looking at here?'

The Kyuubi shifted behind his cage. "This is the Ichibi beginning his transformation. The boy is allowing the Shukaku to influence him, if he is not stopped then he will enter the full Tailed Beast state."

'So, the full One-Tail will come out?'

"Yes. But so long as the boy does not fall asleep then he will keep control."

'Fall asleep?'

"As the jinchūriki of the Ichibi, that boy has never had a full night's sleep in his life. The Ichibi torments the host with murderous thoughts. The Shukaku can freely take over his host during a deep slumber. The fact that this boy calls him 'Mother' makes me believe he's bought into the Shukaku's 'kill all humans' mantra."

'Right…'

"But be careful Kit, this isn't a normal opponent. This is a Tailed Beast, even if it is the One-Tail, do not underestimate him. The Ichibi's power trumps that of the Sannin."

Naruto let out a long-gated breath. "Look alive guys, this one isn't going to be easy."

Sakura and Sasuke moved up and stood next to Naruto as they readied themselves for the fight. They both knew Naruto was serious, he normally wasn't one to say something like that. He was the confident one, never one to give the enemy the edge. Even in the face of a Sannin, Naruto's confidence did not wavier. If he was serious now then this was going to be a tough fight.

"Break him down, Sasuke. Tell us what you see."

The Uchiha nodded. He refocused his chakra to his eyes and his Sharingan went into full swing. "The sand he's surrounded himself with is coated with chakra, and a lot of it. He's distributing his chakra equally throughout the sand so any damage can be repaired quickly. But this chakra is not his own, I don't recognize it from my fight with him. It's all coming from his stomach."

"He has a second chakra source?" Sakura questioned.

"Yeah. And it's strong too, it's also probably the reason he looks like that right now."

"We either need to find a weakness in the sand or generate an attack strong enough to break through it. He's faster than before, it's gonna take all three of us. Also, he bound that girl to the tree, we should save her as well." Sakura added.

A memory triggered in Naruto's mind. A combined attack with all three of them, he done that already with his clones when he fought the Lingering Will. He used a Katon, Doton, and Fūton in tandem with each other, flaming rocks going as fast as the wind could carry them. It didn't do much damage, besides knock off one of the spikes on his helmet.

Gaara was growing impatient. "What's the matter? Do all three of you fear me that much?! C'mon! I want to feel my existence!" He threw his arms forward. "Suna Shuriken!"

Another barrage of sand projectiles were launched, Team Seven was forced to jump out of the way and on separate branches. Sakura and Sasuke landed on the same branch while Naruto landed in front of the bound Suna kunoichi, Temari was her name if he remembered correctly. He sunk his hands into the sand and tried to rip the sand grip off her, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, he could feel the sand tightening.

"Naruto! Look out!"

Naruto had no time to dodge and was roughly hit with Gaara's sand tail, throwing him through the air. He crashed through tree branches until he hit a main trunk. He groaned as he tried to shake off the pain. "You're tightening the sand around your own comrade?"

Gaara's fangs bared in full view with his mad smile. "She angered Mother, I could not let that stand. You should know what that's like!"

Naruto cracked his neck and he jumped to a higher branch. "Sasuke, get that lightning jutsu ready!" He crossed his fingers and created three shadow clones. "Sakura, toss as my explosive kunai you have!" All three clones went through the same hand seals. "Kazakiri no Jutsu!" (Wind Burst Technique)

As lightning arched from Sasuke's outstretched palm, Sakura hastily grabbed as many kunai and explosive tags she had from her pouch, which amounted to seven kunai and four tags. Two or three were already put together. She realized what Naruto had planned and simply tossed them all in the air.

The large burst of wind came in from behind Naruto and swept all the equipment towards Gaara. Once they were close enough, the explosive tags went off and covered the surrounding area with smoke. Sasuke used the diversion and charged in with his Chidori ready to strike.

"Chidori!"

Shooting out through the opposite end, Sasuke landed on branch as the lightning died down. He immediately fell to one knee, his Sharingan fading from sight. "That…was my limit."

Naruto and Sakura landed next to the reeling Uchiha. Sakura looked over Sasuke to make sure he wasn't injured. "Are you okay, Sasuke?"

"I'm fine." He heaved. "That was my second Chidori today, I'm nearly out of chakra now."

"Did you get him?" Naruto asked, keeping his eyes on the disappearing smoke cloud. The clearing smoke revealed that Sasuke did, indeed, hit his target, and then some from the looks of it. An entire arm was missing as half of the monstrous face was falling apart. "Yeah, you got him alright."

Gaara feel to a knee as he tried to hold himself up with his other arm. 'That's the second time I've been hit with that jutsu. The sand isn't responding to my commands…I can't believe it.' "There's no way I'm going to lose to people like you!"

Large amounts of sand suddenly enveloped Gaara as an even larger creature began to form. As if the ground was its burrow, a sandy-brown tanuki with dark blue markings crawled out and towered over the landscape. Team Seven had to jump away so they wouldn't be immediately stepped on.

"Wha…what is that?" Sasuke questioned absentmindedly. Sakura was too bewildered to say anything.

Naruto was prepared to see the beast but still was wrapping his mind around the situation. 'This…is the Ichibi. The monster inside Gaara…'

The racoon looking bijū glanced down at his opponents as he aimed his arm towards them. 'To think I was forced to go into this form, but it doesn't matter, this is the end.'

Sand began to surround Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Sakura and Sasuke were losing their minds as the sand clouded their vision, Naruto, on the other hand, was calmly going through a series of hand seals. He really hoped he wouldn't mess this up, this was the first time he'd be summoning something this big.

"Sabaku Kyū!" (Sand Coffin)

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Saving all three of the genin from certain death was an equally sized rusty red toad with a large blue happi vest, a dosu blade on his hip, and pipe between its bright red lips. Sakura and Sasuke looked around and realized they were no longer in the forest but high above it.

"Naruto, that you up there?"

"Yeah, it's me. My teammates are up here too. Sorry to bother ya chief toad but I didn't have much choice."

"I can see that. That's Shukaku, the sand spirit. What on earth ya doing fighting something like this?"

"The village is under attack, he's apart of the invading force."

The toad hummed in agreement. "Makes sense. Gamaken was summoned not too long ago, and Lord Fukasaku told me about your fight against that Orochimaru fellow. But that didn't answer my question. Why are you fighting this particular spirit?"

Naruto looked across the way, he was still able to see the loneliness in Gaara's transformed eyes. "You know why."

The toad blew out a large puff of smoke. "I suppose I do. And I suppose you know fighting this thing is practically suicide on my part. But you are one of my henchmen, even though we haven't signed the deal over a cup of sake, I suppose I'll help ya."

Naruto smirked. "Thanks, Gamabunta. We'll seal the deal after this is all over."

"Tell ya friends to hold on tight!"

Gripping with everything they had, Naruto and Sasuke clung to the top of Gamabunta's head, while Sakura grabbed ahold of both her teammates, as he charged at the Ichibi. The large toad drew his blade and, using all his might, slashed through the Ichibi's right arm. Despite slicing the arm clean off, Gamabunta couldn't keep a hold on his blade and it went twirling in the air before cementing itself in the ground. The Ichibi's arm hit the ground just as hard and fell apart.

Gamabunta slid to a stop, feeling the trees being crunched under his weight. 'What a guy…he's so tough and heavy I could barely swing my dagger through him. I need to end this quick, the landscape is gonna start changing.'

Sasuke could only blink in amazement, he was blown away by what was transpiring. This battle was unlike anything he had ever seen. To think Naruto was capable of summoning such a fighter. "You have a plan for everything, don't you, Naruto?"

The blonde in question looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "My summoning contract with the toads wasn't easy to get, y'know. I had to earn it. Besides, I treat it as a last resort, I've never summoned a toad as big as the chief before. It took me forever just to learn the damn technique in the first place."

"You had trouble learning this jutsu?" Sasuke couldn't picture that, Naruto took to all ninjutsu naturally.

"That was before I figured out my shadow clone memory trick, I can learn any technique in the fraction of the time." Naruto noticed Sakura was shaking. It looked like she was trying to hold onto anything but Gamabunta. "Are you okay, Sakura?"

"O-Oh I'm fine!" Sakura dismissed the question by waving her hand in defense, as if she did something wrong. "I-I-'m just, uh, trying not to grab this t-toad's head too hard!" Sakura went to pat Gamabunta's but her hand barely made contact, and when it did she shivered and shot her hand back to safety.

Despite the situation at hand, both Naruto and Sasuke looked at Sakura incredulously. "Really Sakura? A fear of frogs?" The Uchiha questioned.

"Don't mock me!"

"I'm with Sasuke on this one. There are so many other things to be scared of, snakes for ex-"

"D-Don't get me started on snakes!" Sakura's cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

"Quit squabbling you three! Pay attention to the fight at hand!" Gamabunta yelled out from underneath.

All three genin turned their attention back towards the monster that was their opponent. Rising out the Ichibi's head was the jinchūriki of the bijū, Gaara, only his top half was sticking out of the head. It seemed his eyes had rolled to the back of his head because all any of them could see was the whites of his eyes. "You're fun…you're really fun, Naruto Uzumaki!" He put his hands together to create a seal. "Thank you for entertaining me for so long, I'll reward you by showing you the full power of the Sand Demon!"

"So…that's the medium, huh…"

"The medium?" Sakura questioned.

"That's a name for those who've had a spirit such as the Shukaku sealed in them. Another name you might've heard of is jinchūriki, that's a more common name. Regardless, take a look under his eyes, those bags show heavy insomnia."

"Insomnia?"

"Those possessed by the Sand Demon, Shukaku, become so sleep deprived that they never get a decent night's sleep in their life. From my understanding, it's out of terror. If they sleep, their sanity is eaten away by the spirit bit by bit until it's gone completely. Because the medium suffers from lack of sleep, their mental state becomes quite unstable. But while the medium's awake, the Shukaku's power is naturally suppressed."

"So, we can't let him fall asleep. The beast will take over once he does. This isn't good…" Naruto already had prior knowledge to this from the Kyuubi but that didn't matter much now.

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu!" (Play Possum Jutsu)

Gaara's eyelids shut the second he finished uttering the words as his upper body went limp, he had fallen into a deep, heavy slumber. The eyes of the Ichibi spun into greater life as the beast roared with a mighty screech.

"I'm free! I'm finally out!" The Ichibi locked eyes with Gamabunta. "And there's someone I want to kill right off the bat! HIYAHOOOO!" The beast raised his lone arm and smacked his belly. "Fūton: Renkūdan!"(Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet)

"We're gonna jump!" The massive toad used his long legs to launch himself over the fast-incoming bullet of wind that destroyed the landscape as it passed by. Gamabunta noticed that the Ichibi was about to hit his stomach again, meaning another wind bullet was coming.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" (Water Style: Gunshot)

"Renkūdan!"

The bullet of wind shot from the Shukaku's mouth collided with the bullet of water that was shot from Gamabunta's mouth. The ensuing blast resulted in a heavy down pour on the surrounding environment, both Sasuke and Sakura were reminded of a storm. But blasting again was Shukaku and Gamabunta wasn't prepared for it, the wind bullet hit the toad dead center.

"HIYAHOO! I did it! I killed him! I killed him!"

Gamabunta hit the ground hard, Team Seven was somehow able to hang on during the crash from such a high height. Out of sheer luck, Gamabunta was able to fall next to his blade. He helped himself back to his feet with it. "Damn that one hurt! He pumped a lot of chakra into that one!"

"Are you alright, Chief?!" Naruto yelled out.

Gamabunta groaned as he felt his legs give out from under him, he didn't think he got hit that hard. "I'll be okay…but I think I'm done here. I haven't hadn't to fight like this in a long time."

Naruto nodded in understanding, despite feeling a sense of dread that they'd have to face this thing without him. "It's okay chief, we'll figure something out."

"What are we supposed to do?" Sakura questioned, she didn't see how they were going to fight this thing without the help of Gamabunta.

"Wake up the medium. Do that and he'll take back over."

"How?" Sasuke questioned further.

"Do I have to think of everything for you kids?! Get in close while his guard is down and punch the guy or something. I don't care, just wake him up! Good luck Naruto." With those parting words, Gamabunta disappeared in a giant plume of smoke. Team Seven fell back to the ground and were left alone to deal with this monster.

Naruto looked back at his two teammates, Sakura was fear stricken and Sasuke was trying to figure out what to do next. He couldn't think of anything; how could he think of anything? Their opponent was a freaking bijū, one of the strongest beings in the world. What were three genin going to do against a foe like that?

The best overall option was to retreat and wait for backup, assuming there was backup on the way. Team Seven wasn't all that far from the village but they were a good distance away that the Shukaku wasn't considered an immediate threat. And the situation inside the village, itself, was another factor, if there were still enemy shinobi inside the walls then dealing with an outside threat was not top priority. Another option was to summon a second toad to pick up where Gamabunta left off, but Naruto dismissed that plan. Gamabunta was the strongest of the boss summons on Mount Myōboku, only Fukasaku was considered stronger than him. And if he didn't have the strength to handle Orochimaru then what chance did he have against a tailed beast? There was only thing left…

"I think it's time you whistled, Kit."

Naruto slowly breathed in through his nose and let out the same breath through his mouth, calming his mind for the ensuing chaos. He held out his hand. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

Both Sakura and Sasuke heard Naruto speak softly to himself, neither of them were sure if he was talking to them or not. Then they heard him whistle, it wasn't a hard or screeching sound but soft and harmonic. A whistle that jogged Sakura's memory because it was the very same melody she had in her head when she woke up after her match with Neji.

'Did…Naruto do that?'

A bright flash light momentarily blinded the pair. Once the light disappeared, Sakura and Sasuke saw Naruto now holding a straight, black bladed katana with an orange tassel on the bottom of the hilt that resembled a fox.

"You guys need to go back to the village and get help…I'll hold this thing off while you guys get away."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at Naruto completely shocked, to even suggest the idea of one of them staying back was asinine. "W-What are you saying? You'll be killed!" Sakura screamed.

"Maybe…but if you guys get away then I'll fine with it. I have to be the one to beat him."

"What the hell is the matter with you, Naruto?! Why does have to be you?!" Sasuke yelled out. He wasn't sure why he was so angry. The only reasons that made sense were that he was angry that Naruto thought he was so strong that he didn't need help beating this spirit or that he simply didn't want his friend to face such a foe alone.

"Because me and Gaara are the same, two pieces cut from the same cloth. I didn't realize it before, but I was just one more bad day away from turning into what he is right now."

The two could feel the emotion and desperate truth behind Naruto's words. Sakura didn't understand. "What…what do you mean?"

Naruto turned his head and looked over his shoulder, showing off his scarlet, red eyes and darkening whisker marks. "I'm a jinchūriki too. I had the Kyuubi no Yoko sealed in me the day was born by the Fourth Hokage…and from then on I was branded a monster…just like Gaara."

It instantly clicked in both Sasuke and Sakura's mind, a lot of questions were finally answered about their blonde teammate. The stares. The names. The isolation. The special treatment by the Sandaime. Sakura felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes while Sasuke couldn't help but feel guilty.

Naruto saw his two dear teammate's reaction to this heavy news and felt like he wouldn't be able to handle their next words. He turned back forward. "Stay safe you guys." With those words, Naruto charged.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed.

"HIYAHOO! Let's get one more!"

The Ichibi slammed his massive arm of sand on the ground to crush the puny blonde that was rushing towards him. He had complete confidence that he squashed Naruto, but he was surprised to Naruto running up his arm with great speed.

"Boy you're quick!" The Shukaku focused the sand on his arm to create tentacles and a series of other obstacles to slow Naruto down enough so he could be trapped and killed.

Naruto noticed the incoming attacks and readied Tojin to protect himself. The first was just a straight wall of sand that Tojin had no problem slicing through. The sand burst as Naruto powered through the cut-up sand wall.

Jump.

As if he was acting on pure instinct alone, Naruto jumped over the low incoming attack.

Slide.

Naruto landed running and immediately went into a single knee slide that dodged the attack completely.

Redirect and uppercut.

Naruto gripped Tojin tighter so that he wouldn't lose the sword during his counterattacks for the next sand attacks coming. A tentacle of sand was coming at Naruto from his left and his right. He jabbed the left one with the blunt part of the blade to simply redirect the sand and moved into the right position to uppercut the other tentacle in half with the sharp side. Now it was an open path straight to the head.

Realizing that his sand was doing nothing, the Ichibi threw his entire arm up into the air to launch Naruto off him. The sand spirit was quick to the draw and slammed his massive hand against his stomach.

"Renkūdan!"

Realizing there was no way to get out of the way of the fast-incoming wind bullet, Naruto braced himself for impact. He knew he was done. If Gamabunta could only take one of those and be out of commission, then what chance did he have?

Channel your chakra and swing.

Naruto gripped the hilt as hard as he could and funneled all the chakra he had into Tojin, causing the blade to glow brightly. He swung it with all his might and shot a crescent wave of energy that collided with the wind bullet. The resulting explosion gave Naruto the cover to throw Tojin like a kunai without detection, the Ichibi was completely unaware of the sword until it pierced Gaara in the right shoulder.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The boy screamed awake.

"AW! C'mon! I just got here!" The Ichibi's screech completely drowned out Gaara's as his consciousness was forced back into suppression.

Gaara shakily gripped the blade, attempting to pull it out, but even that caused greater pain. His right arm was useless to him now, he couldn't form the other half of the hand seal to bring the Ichibi back out. But he still held the form, there was chance.

Naruto was in a freefall towards Gaara, it was time to end this once and for all. He reared his fist back as he continuously fell closer. Coming within striking range, Naruto was suddenly stopped by sand wrapping around him. Mere inches away from landing the final blow. The stop was rough enough to untie Naruto's hitaiate, allowing to freefall to the ground.

Gaara stared at Naruto square in his scarlet eyes. "You're going to be killed by me! My existence will continue because of your death!"

Willing all his strength, Naruto used the only mobile part of his body. His head.

"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!"

The crack that echoed was heard all the down to where Sakura and Sasuke were watching, which was a good few hundred feet or so. They could even see the blood begin to flow from the point of impact. The sand manifestation of the Ichibi began to crumble and break apart into minute grains of dirt that became apart of the earth, even the sand binding Temari to the tree fell apart. Naruto and Gaara crashed through branches as they, too, fell back to the earth.

Gaara was fortunate enough that the katana did not plunge itself any further through him as he went through countless twigs and brush before landing roughly on his back. He laid on the ground, already going numb to the pain from the foreign object that was in the right side of his chest. He slowly rolled his head to the side to see Naruto crawling towards him on his hands and knees, determined to finish what had been started.

"D…Don't come any closer!"

The blood dripped off Naruto's face and he continued to crawl.

Kill him.

They were the same, two young boys scorned by their past because they were 'chosen' to be the 'heroes' of their villages.

Put an end to his suffering.

Even now, Naruto could see the loneliness behind the fear in Gaara's eyes. He knew he was going to die. Alone. In a forest of a completely different land. Was that what was to come when war came their way? For him? His friends? That didn't feel right.

It doesn't matter what's right, all that matters is the next kill.

He's felt unnecessary his whole life, an existence that would be 'extinguished' if he didn't prove worth through merciless killing. Nothing more but of a tool of war. Naruto thought they were the same, they were in a lot of ways. It wasn't quite it though. The worst apart about the whole thing was he knew the same pain.

Naruto willed himself to his feet and gripped the hilt of Tojin, slowly extracting the blade from Gaara's body. He held it in an underhanded position as he brought his other hand to steady his aim. He moved the tip of the blade over the intended target: the jugular.

Naruto raised the katana straight up.

"My existence won't be put out!"

Put him out.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed as he plunged the sword down.

Gaara closed his eyes as he waited for the release of death. Instead he felt drips of a liquid hit his face. Rain? No, the skies were clear. It had to be the blood splatter from his neck opening. The only logical explanation. Out of habit, Gaara opened his eyes to see that the blade missed its mark and had been embedded into the ground next to his neck. The liquid hitting his face was falling out of Naruto's two-color shifting eyes.

He was crying.

"Being alone…feeling incomplete…betrayed by the one you loved most…that pain you feel, I get it. But for the people I hold close to my heart…it doesn't matter who you are or what we both feel…if you hurt them…I will kill you."

Gaara could only stare at the blonde. "What…? All of this, for others? Why?"

"Because they stopped me from feeling alone…I have something to fight for because they were there for me…even when I didn't want them too. It was hell…but they've gotten me through it all…"

Gaara felt everything going black, he was utter drained and exhausted. 'Love…that's why he's so strong…'

Naruto watched Gaara's eyes roll to the back of his head and pass out, he almost was jealous. He wanted to rest like that. Tojin let out a harmonic, melodic tune before fading away back to wherever it is the katana goes. The events of the entire day began to catch up to Naruto as he, too, felt drained, fighting a bijū would certainly do that. He began to fall back as his legs to give out, maybe he would rest like Gaara.

Sasuke was quick to catch his teammate. "That's enough, Naruto..."

Naruto tiredly looked at the Uchiha. "Where's Sakura?"

"I'm here." Sakura said as she knelt on the other side and helped Sasuke hold their teammate.

"You're both out of chakra…you did it. You beat him." Sasuke acknowledged, this was something far beyond he was able to do. How Naruto was able to do it, he hadn't a clue.

"You're…really strong Naruto." Sakura was just as flabbergasted as Sasuke, she had never seen anything like what Naruto just did.

Naruto chuckled slightly, a small smile gracing his features. "…Is that so…"

Suddenly, Kankurō landed next to the unconscious Gaara with Temari draped over his shoulder, all the while having that puppet strapped to his back. He was hesitating to reach for his brother.

Sasuke and Sakura both readied themselves to fight.

"Stop…" Naruto spoke up. "Get out of here. Now"

Kankurō wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away. He hastily grabbed ahold of Gaara and held on tight before jumping away. Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto for an explanation but they were surprised to see that he was sound sleep in their arms.

Sasuke could only smirk while Sakura smiled fondly.