Here's chapter 25. This pretty action packed and probably my favorite chapter to write so far. Hope you enjoy it, leave a review either way, and thanks for all the support!

The one tailed beast.

Its head rose up over even the highest level of the arena's awnings. In fact, a shinobi standing on top of the tallest building in Konoha wouldn't even be eye level with it. Gaara sat on top of its head, half submerged in the sand that made up its body. The density and maliciousness of the chakra was devastating, even to some of the chunin and jonin in the arena.

A majority of the ninja still around the arena froze, even if only for a moment, in the awe of the sheer power before them. There were three who couldn't afford too. They were only three genin who had consistently trained with or around tailed beast chakra. There was also the small matter that they simply would have been crushed by Shukaku if they had paused in awe of the beast.

—

—

Naruto had been finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to the power that he was using. It wanted him to cut loose, but he'd learned long ago that despite the power he'd be able to use, it meant nothing if he couldn't control it. Power was nothing without control. Then, there was the matter of Sasuke. That mark that spread over his face wasn't good. It was a boost for him, without a doubt, but there was a cost. He was more powerful, and less like himself. Bloodthirsty would be the best way that Naruto could describe it. Truthfully, he could only compare it to what he felt when they fought Orochimaru. Half as strong and half as vile, but still ten times worse than Sasuke on even his bad days. The days where he was haunted by the ghosts of his family members. Or even worse, by the one that still lived.

Hinata, he was happy to observe in between dodges and powerful jutsu, was holding her own just fine. She slipped in and out of sight seamlessly. It would seem she was all but forgotten, perhaps even had fled. Then she would strike, usually in defense of one of her teammates. She'd already saved Naruto from two brutal attacks. She was, perhaps, the only defense Sasuke had at this point. The young Uchiha seemed to have lost his cool entirely and was attacking with reckless abandon. For a person with a dojutsu that predicted and countered others, that was incredibly foolish and wholly unlike him. Naruto would leave it to Hinata to help him though, her own dojutsu was perfect for it, after all.

There were no whispers in Naruto's head, despite the fact that he'd been holding the fox's cloak for several minutes. In the past, this would be near his limit with one tail. Two tails was a lot more difficult to control, but he felt unbridled power in exchange for his fortitude. He'd already laid several haymakers on Gaara, the last one nearly shattering his sand armor. The sand's jinchuuriki had let the sand reform and expand, till all but his lower legs were covered and taking the form of the one tail. It seemed this was his version of the red chakra cloak.

Much like Sasuke's boost, the power Gaara received was a boon in one aspect, but detrimental in another. His wind and sand jutsu became stronger and faster, but his automatic defense stopped forming. Team 7 continued battling with him. They were wearing him down, slowly. Sasuke's fire gave the sand an eerie red glow, his lightning crackling it apart. Naruto's water slogged it down and his wind sliced through it. Hinata's juuken dismantled it, cutting off its chakra flow. And still Gaara stood. He was a truly powerful opponent.

The real issue began, when Sasuke charged another Chidori up. Naruto and Hinata knew he shouldn't be rushing blindly, sharingan or not. All they could do was try and help him. A chain shot out of Naruto's hand, orange instead of the customary gold, and blazing fast. It locked itself around Gaara's ankle. The sand immediately responded to the boy's will, but Hinata was there, striking at it, allowing Naruto's chain to do its work. It pulled Gaara off balance, and that was all the time Sasuke needed. He wouldn't be able to get a truly clean strike in. It was rare for that to happen in a battle of higher level shinobi, and that was the only way to describe what was happening.

The chidori pierced through Gaara's sand, clipping through his side, no doubt punching something of a hole in it. Gaara screamed as Sasuke escaped. It was bloodcurdling, worse than before. The voice shifted, turned into more of a howl, and suddenly it wasn't Gaara anymore. Naruto's chain was crushed, and Hinata had to make her way quickly out of immediate range.

The sand that was beginning to build up in the arena's battlefield began to retract, all of it racing towards Gaara, enveloping him in the process. It didn't form a sphere this time though. It began to rise, becoming exponentially faster and forming seemingly out of thin air. The weight of the chakra in the air reached a peak, its presence suffocating.

Naruto was essentially unaffected by it, shrouded as he was. Hinata and Sasuke showed a clear hitch, whether it was physical or in their attitudes Naruto couldn't tell. He was so attuned to them by now that it was all the same to him. It took all of seconds for the bijuu to fully form, filling up a large portion of the arena. It brought one great arm down on Sasuke, but he and his team were already moving.

"Guys," Naruto said. "You've gotta get me up to its head. I have to get to Gaara." His voice husky from his own bijuu's influence, Hinata nodded at him. Sasuke didn't say a word, his eyes focused on Shukaku. Naruto knew he could trust him though, with or without the mark, Sasuke would always have his back.

They ran up the side of the arena, gaining some much needed height. Shukaku inhaled a great deal of oxygen and smacked his own gut to shoot out a massive air bullet. They scattered to dodge, and a sizable chunk of the arena stands were completely obliterated. Several shinobi from either side, some still cowering in fear, were caught in the technique.

As they worked their way up to the awning that covered the stadium, another massive wind bullet smashed through, ripping a portion of the roof off. The three dodged again, together this time, slipped into a well practiced maneuver, long since memorized. Naruto leapt as high as he could, Sasuke stepped near Hinata. Hinata gave Sasuke a chakra aided boost, propelling him towards Naruto. Naruto caught Sasuke by the arms, linking the two together. The red chakra burned Sasuke's skin, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through it. Sasuke spun around Naruto like a pivot point, and then transferred all his momentum to the blond, flinging him at Gaara. Just before they let go, there was a moment of eye contact. It said so much, and yet, for the first time in years, Naruto felt Sasuke was hiding something from him. Then they separated, and the thought was quickly flushed from his mind by the rush of the wind.

He hurtled through the air, straight at Gaara, who appeared to be asleep, slumped over as he was on Shukaku's head. A giant sand arm came up to swat him away. He channeled wind chakra to his hands, and it beckoned at his call. His impromptu use of his element propelled him up just enough to avoid being swatted like a fly. He began to descend upon Gaara, but his trajectory was off now. He was going to land several steps behind him, instead of face to face. That would bring the sand into play, he didn't like those odds while surrounded by it, cloaked in 2 tails or not.

It was in the moment before he passed over Gaara that the thought came to his head. During one of their visits to Mt. Myoboku, Jiriaya had run off on a mission. It was Naruto's first time there after finding out about his father. He asked the toads about him, and they'd responded with some great stories. His favorite had been from Gamabunta, who begrudgingly told Naruto about how his father had summoned him to squash the nine tailed fox the night he was born. He thought that made his dad pretty badass, to stand up to a bijuu that was terrifying everyone and his first thought was to just squash it.

Naruto had never summoned Gamabunta before, but as Jiraiya always said, there's no time like the present. He bit his finger, splaying the blood across his other digits. The first jutsu he'd ever mastered. Memories flashed through his mind as he ran through the hand signs, well worn muscle memory completing them so fast he really couldn't even see. He channeled a massive amount of chakra. So much he was sure he'd be exhausted without at least a little help from the fox.

"Summoning jutsu:" the moment he was directly above Gaara, he let out a shout. "BRING DOWN THE HOUSE!" the jutsu completed, a summoning seal spreading out over thin air. A gigantic puff of smoke emerged, and a massive gust of pressured wind as the air was displaced by something huge.

The sound of a tailed beast being squashed down is not what Naruto expected it to be. Just like a lot of shifting sand. He supposed it would be different for each beast.

"What? Huh?" Gamabunta said. "Is this Shukaku? Jiraiya? Jiraiya!"

The tailed beast struggled, but Gamabunta held fast on top of him, despite his confusion.

"No time to explain, Boss. I'll apologize later!" Naruto said from on top of him. His chakra cloak had receded, apparently expending enough chakra to cancel it. He could still fight though. He had too.

The giant toad took in the situation with deceptively sharp eyes. "If Shukaku's host is asleep he needs to be awakened, that will send him back to his seal." He said, urgently. Naruto seemed to understand, and flickered off the great Toads head without any more delay.

On the ground, Naruto reassembled with his teammates, their timing impeccable as always.

"We gotta wake Gaara up!" Naruto said, urgently. He rushed at the boy, as the Beast struggled and howled. His chakra seemed to boost him past his limits. He'd hit Gaara with all he had before, and it hadn't been enough. This time, he would make sure it was.

He wasn't the first to arrive though. Hinata was. She had always been the most observant amongst their team. Always there when they needed her. She slipped into a stance he'd only seen from Neji and other Hyuga.

"Gentle Fist: Eight trigrams, Thirty-two palms!" She struck out with extreme speed, landing 32 pinpoint strikes on the boy. She huffed out a half grunt half yell, finishing her jutsu. The sand making up Shukaku's body melted into useless dunes as the host awakened. Gaara's eyes opened. They opened and Hinata wasn't moving. There was sweat on her red face. She needed time to recover. Time Gaara wasn't willing to give. Hinata had over exerted herself. She was open to attack. Gaara's hand began to move.

Naruto wouldn't let it happen. Would not. Gaara could crush Naruto's bones until there was nothing but dust. He could destroy the arena and a chunk of the village. He wouldn't let him hurt his team. His family. He moved, faster than he'd ever moved before without the Fox's help. His chakra molded and locked into position perfectly, enhancing his body and propelling him forward. He channeled a large amount of it to his hand. There was no time to test if it would work now that he had his control back. He'd make it work.

In one instant, Gaara was lifting his hand, the grains of the sand responding quickly. Naruto saw it so clearly he could have counted the sand grains. He brought his own hand up, his father's original jutsu swirling violently to life in his hand.

"RASENGAN!"

The jutsu impacted Gaara right in the chest, and Naruto let it explode. The redhead flew backwards, slamming into the mass of sand behind him. Smoke curled off of Naruto's hand, where it was held in the air.

"N-Naruto—" Hinata started. She was cut off by the sands beginning to shift again. She turned to look at the blond, but he disappeared from right in front of her. Then Gaara came floating out of the dunes. The look on his face was one of defeat. He was wrapped nearly head to toe in chakra chains. The sand had gone still.

In the moment that Naruto's chakra wrapped Gaara up tight, Gaara felt warmth like none he'd ever experienced before. The chakra invaded his system, but not like a virus. It was as if light was overtaking the darkness in a room. It swarmed his system. A genjutsu? Could someone like them even do a genjutsu?

Something clicked, and his eyes went wide. He saw… images. Memories. Feelings. Sitting in the rain outside a food vendor. Villagers whispering and moving out of his way like he had the plague. Classmates making fun of him. Seeing other students with their happy families. Loneliness. Pain. So familiar. But they weren't his memories. They weren't his but they were so similar it was like he was living them all over again. Then there was a shift.

The owner of the shop gave him free ramen and a blanket. His sensei ruffled his hair. That wasn't his sensei. Classmates laughed with him. Toads cared for him. The Uchiha boy, they had an understanding. The large man with long white hair told him he loved him. Love? He wasn't loved though. He couldn't be. He was a monster, his existence could only be proven by erasing others. He couldn't be appreciated except for the power he held. But the feeling was there. It was real. He saw them, all the people that cared for him, and then they were standing with Uzumaki. Were these his memories? But how? How did he get all that when they had started the same? When they were the same.

Just as it was with the Nine Tails, when Gaara saw Naruto's memories, the same was true for Naruto. He saw the same darkness that he had felt for the first seven years of his life, but there was no shift. The hole got deeper and darker, until he couldn't even feel what was real anymore. Nobody reached out to offer ramen. Nobody taught him. Nobody took him out of the village. Nobody befriended him. Nobody cared for him. He stayed lonely, and began killing. That's all he was good for anyway.

No! He's not a monster!

He blinked, and when his eyes opened he saw Gaara, and he understood what he was seeing. When he looked into the boys quivering eyes, he saw what could have been without all the people who cared for him. He saw what he could have become, would have become, and his heart broke for the boy in front of him.

The sound of a thousand birds screaming cut off his thoughts. Sasuke was already rushing at Gaara with lightning enhanced speed. The look in his red eyes… He was going to kill Gaara. Gaara didn't deserve that. Not truly. He'd done a lot of bad, but who wouldn't be driven crazy under the circumstances. Sasuke wasn't thinking straight either, with the curse mark. He wouldn't let his friend kill a captured enemy. Not when there was another way.

Naruto lunged in front of Gaara with his hands held up. Sasuke continued to race towards him, and for a split second, Naruto wasn't sure he would stop. Then Sasuke slammed on the brakes, sliding nearly into Naruto.

"He has to die, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, the chidori fizzling away. "Look what he's done to the village! Look what he did to YOU!" The boy was barely holding it together. His breathing was erratic, his voice strained.

"He's captured! It's over!" Naruto yelled back.

"I don't care! I won't let him hurt you again! I have to finish him now!"

"If he has to die then so do I, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "He's like me!" Then his voice turned to nothing more than a mumble, "he's like me. That's what I would have been. Without you." He let his emotions pour into his voice. He had to make Sasuke understand.

Sasuke's eyes softened from cold killer to standard anger. He took half a step back, conceding to his friend. He might be stubborn, but there wasn't a soul on earth more bull headed than Naruto.

Yamato-sensei came stumbling towards them, diffusing the situation. He was bleeding from several cuts. One of the slashes across his temple looked deep. It was probably the reason his mask was gone.

"Sensei? Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

The man nodded, still somewhat in his ANBU mindset, despite his lost mask. "I'm fine, Naruto. I wasn't able to defeat Gaara's sensei though." He took in the situation. "I will restrain Gaara. Get Sasuke away from here. Orochimaru is after him." His three genin nodded. Insubordinate as they might be outside of work, when they were on mission or in the thick of training, his team listened without a second thought.

Naruto waited for Yamato to call forth a wood cage, one that seemed to strain him greatly. While that happened, Sasuke's curse mark receded, and he nearly collapsed. With great effort, the Uchiha straightened.

"Hinata," Naruto said quietly. "take him to wherever they set up the medical tent, or to a bunker. I'm gonna stay and help sensei seal Gaara, he looks gassed."

Hinata shot him a look, but he rolled his eyes at her, letting her know he was fine. She took off with an arm wrapped around Sasuke's side.

Yamato's wood cage finished weaving itself around Gaara, and his wooden pillars rose to surround it. It should be easy enough for him to suppress the One tail now, but just to be sure, Naruto called forth a piece of paper from his storage seal on his thigh. A quick application of chakra, and a newly made seal spread over it. It was one he spent hours developing while he lay in the hospital.

He placed it on Gaara's forehead, and the boy slumped over again. This time though, the sleep would not bring forth the bijuu. The seal would knock him out and suppress it all at once. Paired with his sensei's jutsu, it would be plenty safe. He unwrapped his chains from Gaara, and smiled at his sensei.

"Well done, Naruto. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but quite frankly, I don't think you can surprise me anymore." Yamato said.

"Sensei, I'm gonna be honest. That's probably the dumbest thing you've ever said. Even worse than the time you said sushi was better than ramen." Naruto said with a chuckle.

He would have loved for that to be the end of it. For everything to wrap up and to go home with his team and rest. Now that the arena wasn't flooded with tailed beast chakra, his sensory ability was lighting up and feeding him information. There was one chakra signature that he would always recognize above all others, and it was in trouble.

—

Jiraiya was struggling. The two Hokage were clearly trying their best to hold back, but they were still Hokage. The reanimation jutsu wasn't perfect, they could do their best to fight it, but their full attention was still on him. If they could be put down by conventional means, he likely would have won already. Seeing that sealing was his only chance to stop them though, he was struggling. He could catch one of them in a seal, but never long enough to place a permanent one on them. They either broke out of it themselves, or the other would do it for them.

His chakra was draining too fast. He'd used too many techniques to try and keep them separated. There was no end in sight either, without being able to see what was going on with Orochimaru and Sensei.

So he did what he'd always done. What he'd done in two great wars, and countless missions. Against Kage and Hanzo and S ranks. He fought. He'd taken punch after punch and kick after kick, having to let some through his guard to conserve chakra. He would fight until he couldn't anymore, and if he went down fighting two Kage? Well, so be it. Maybe Tsunade would cry over his grave. That would be nice.

He truly did not see this ending well. Kakashi and Gai could help perhaps, but last he'd seen, they were busy fighting a dozen jonin that were trying to get at Naruto's team. Speaking of the little chaos inducing Uzumaki, it wasn't easy to fight while worrying about him. Naruto housed the village's tailed beast, true, but that didn't mean he was ready to fight one. He trusted Naruto, but he was still scared for him.

At some point he heard Gamabunta shout his name, and although he let a smile slip onto his face, he couldn't afford to take his eyes off his opponents. Then, with relief, he felt the chakra of the tailed beasts recede. With that relief, came his first mistake.

In a fight between upper level shinobi, the best of the best, you were going to get hit. That doesn't mean you made a mistake though, sometimes you get punched in the face to avoid a kunai or a dragon made out of water. A mistake could kill you. More often than not, the first to make a mistake would be the loser. The kunai that buried itself in Jiraiya's leg was a mistake. Leave it to the Nidaime to capitalize on his less than momentary lapse in intensity.

Jiraiya fell to a knee, and got kicked in the face. He managed to turn the momentum into a flip, landing on his feet. He was on the defense now though. More and more blows were making it through his defense. He blocked and ducked and dodged until finally, the First Hokage caught him with a solid kick to the chest. It knocked him off his feet, and out of the stands. He fell 50 feet to the arena battlefield below, the wind knocked out of him.

This wasn't his first rodeo, the distance the blow had given him was the silver lining that was ever present, if a little thin. From his back, he ran through hand seals, holding the tiger to finish. The flames he spewed weren't his strongest, but it bought him precious time as the shinobi of the past dodged it by instinct.

He sprung to his feet, and used two more hand signs. Tsunade was too far away to help him at the moment, but he hadn't fought alongside her in a long time anyway. He used fire chakra to seal the cut in his leg. The pain was intense, it almost made him flinch, and it would leave an ugly scar. It wasn't his first though, and hopefully, it wouldn't be his last.

The two Kage stood before him, but Tobirama Senju wasn't one to let things sit idly. A wind jutsu flew at him, a blade plenty strong to sever him in half. He called forth a flame bullet, shooting it straight through the middle of the blade. The fire chakra's strength against wind was enough, and the bullet destroyed the blade, and gained some strength, though it lost momentum. The Nidaime was a step ahead of him though, and he realized his mistake.

A water dragon was bearing down on him. He'd been baited into using fire, and now he wasn't in any position to use an earth jutsu to block. He was good, but he couldn't flip his chakra's nature that fast. If he used an earth wall it would be too late.

The dragon hit his fire bullet, and his jutsu was destroyed. The massive size of the dragon meant it didn't even slow down. He was in trouble. Surviving this attack wouldn't be guaranteed. He could maybe summon a toad, but he wouldn't be able to build enough chakra fast enough to summon one large enough. He'd just have to channel his chakra to strengthen his body, and hope for the best.

Just before the water dragon smashed into him, two more masses of water smashed into it. The three dragons exploded, a rain of mist and water droplets exploding into the air. Where the hell had that come from? The mist cleared in just a few seconds, and he nearly laughed. Leave it to Naruto to save him.

The blond's chakra chains wrapped around the first and second Hokage, holding them tight. Well, his clone's chains wrapped around them. Several clones actually. Or maybe the real one was in there too? It was getting hard for him to tell these days. A small hand clapped down on his shoulder. He turned to see a blinding smile.

"Pervy Sage, you weren't gonna let that hit you right? You had a plan?" Naruto said.

This time, Jiraiya did chuckle, nervously at first, but turning it into the false bravado he was known for. "Of course, Gaki. I'm the great toad sage Jiraiya! I always have a plan!" He struck a basic pose, too tired and sore to do anything else.

Naruto's chains snaked out from his back, as he rolled his eyes. Three each wound themselves around the Hokage, aiding his clones techniques. Only the faces of the First and Second could be seen at this point.

"Ah, this is your Uzumaki charge?" The Second asked. Jiraiya nodded. "He is the one that was using the Nine-Tails chakra." Jiraiya didn't bother answering this time. The Nidaime was the strongest sensor Konoha had ever had.

"So the Fourth was an Uzumaki?" The first Hokage asked, gleefully, as if he wasn't bound by sealing chains.

Naruto was the one to answer. He shook his head, his long blond hair flicking back and forth as he did so. "Nope, dad wasn't from a clan. My mom was the Uzumaki. I got his hair and her bijuu." Naruto laughed nervously. He'd heard stories about the two from both Jiraiya and the Old Man. Being that his dream was to be Hokage, they were kind of his heroes.

"Ah, maybe it's a Hokage thing to marry an Uzumaki then. Perhaps it's our fate?" Hashirama said.

"You idiot, only two of the four Hokage have done that." Tobirama said. A dark cloud appeared over Hashirama, and his eyes drooped. Tobirama rolled his eyes. Before anybody could say anything else though, both the First and Second Hokage's gaze snapped upward. Naruto's wasn't far behind.

Orochimaru was standing at the top of the arena wall, hand in a half ram seal. His gaze was set upon the Hokage. Naruto began to strain.

"Pervy Sage, he's forcing them to fight my jutsu. You have to seal them, now!" Naruto yelled.

Jiriaya was upon the second Hokage in a split second, a massive scroll out, hand flying over it to seal him. He wasn't going fast enough though. Naruto let out a yell, and his eyes turned red. The chains coming out of him changed from gold to orange, the chakra spreading down the chains until they were completely transformed into the dark orange color. A red cloak began to flicker around Naruto as he fought to keep the reanimated Hokage sealed in place.

Jiraiya rushed through the seal as calmly as possible. Panicking caused mistakes, and that couldn't be afforded. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. A tail formed behind Naruto. Thirty. Forty. A Second Tail. He heard Naruto yell in exertion. Fifty Seconds. A minute.

"Done!" Jiraiya yelled. Naruto's chains shifted enough for him to attach the seal to Tobirama. It was a large and complex thing, one that should be strong enough to seal the Second permanently. The seal spread from the scroll out and encompassed the second. The jutsu was complete.

"SHIT!" Jiraiya heard Naruto yell. There was a small boom as the First Hokage's chakra pushed the chains off him. The chakra chains dissolved all at once, the shadow clones dispersing.

The First took a step towards them, seemingly straining to stop himself. He took a second step. His chakra was massive and dense, not unlike a tailed beasts. Jiraiya rushed in front of Naruto. He wouldn't let him get hurt. Hashirama took a third step, and then he froze. Black writing appeared around him on the ground. 8 individual sections interwoven to create a circle. The seal led off in a line towards…

"This is—" Hashirama said.

"Mito's jutsu. Grandmother made sure I learned at least some Uzumaki techniques." Tsunade said. Her hand was placed on the ground, her chakra powering the jutsu.

"Tsuna," Hashirama said, his back turned to her. "It's good to hear your voice. I'm so happy to see you defending the village. You're carrying on my Will of Fire, I'm so proud of you." Hashirama said, and a tear leaked out of his left eye. Tsunade didn't respond. She too had tears in her eyes.

Jiraiya moved to Hashirama, withdrawing another scroll. He gave Tsunade a genuine smile.

Naruto whipped his head around to where Orochimaru had been standing. There was a frown on the snake's face. It didn't last long. A long black rod came shooting at him. Orochimaru spun around and blocked it, but it extended, driving him all the way down to the arena floor. Hiruzen was on him quickly, and the two engaged in a battle of their famed weapons. The clash was probably only 30 seconds, but to Naruto, watching it felt like forever. It was like every time they made a move, they were silently countering 5 others. Like a whole other fight was happening in the flashes between attacks, but only in their minds. It was a chess match as much as it was a physical bout.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the Third Hokage disarmed his student. The blade went end over end behind Orochimaru. Hiruzen planted his staff in the ground, and went at Orochimaru with his fists. A few blows exchanged, and they locked arms, switching places. Orochimaru smiled at his former sensei, and the Hokage smiled right back, much to his confusion.

"You always did have a hard time seeing the bigger picture, Orochimaru. You always thought it was just you versus your opponent." Hiruzen said. "You never could see anybody else as a partner, only as disposable or beneath you."

"And you, Sensei, could never get to the point. What are you going on about this time, hmm?" Orochimaru said.

"I'm not sure, maybe I'm going senile in my old age. What do you think, Enma?" Hiruzen smiled, and Orochimaru's eyes went wide. Enma already had him in his grip though, arms locked underneath Orochimaru's and up behind the snake's head, holding him in place.

"Short sighted and predictable." Hiruzen spat. "I thought I taught you better than that." The elderly Hokage began to run through hand seals he had committed to memory 13 years ago. As he did so, Orochimaru called upon his own chakra, and subtly moved his fingers.

Naruto saw it all happen. He didn't even have time to think. Two tails surged to three in an instant, and he lunged. The ground underneath him exploded, raining dirt all over Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hashirama. The sealing was so close to being complete, Jiraiya couldn't look away from his task. Tsunade could see it clearly though.

Orochimaru was calling his sword back, and it was headed straight for Hiruzen. Naruto never even thought. He saw the sword move, and he moved faster. That's why he was surprised when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see the sword of Kusanagi buried up to its hilt in his sternum.

"Oh…" Naruto said, and then he collapsed sideways.

Tsunade saw the blade enter Naruto. The boy's momentum moved it offline. Instead of striking Hiruzen through the back, it clipped through his left forearm, preventing him from finishing his jutsu. Tsunade screamed.

As Tsunade screamed, Jiraiya placed the seal on Hashirama, not waiting to see if it worked, and turned. His eyes scanned the field as he sprinted, looking for what had caused Tsunade to have that reaction. He saw Naruto, laying on the ground with a blade in his chest. His vision went red. It couldn't be. He let out a visceral roar.

Jiraiya whipped his head up at Orochimaru, who'd slipped out of Enma's grip during the commotion. He charged him in rage.

Yamato was extremely proud of Naruto. When the third Hokage had assigned him as a jonin sensei, he was wholly unsure of it. The fact that Kakashi had recommended him, made him feel slightly better. And then he met his team. They were already strong, they already got along. He just had to help mold them a little bit this way, and a little bit that. Teach them discipline. Teach them how to be Shinobi of the Leaf, not just powerful ninja.

He would be the first to admit that they'd done way more than their fair share of the work. Not only that, but they had taken him into their circle. Accepted him and trusted him. It would have been easy for them to just see him as a teacher, a means to an end. That was never who Naruto was going to be though. The blond had broken down walls he didn't even know he had, and a few that the ANBU had put there. There was something special about the boy.

When he watched Orochimaru, the man that had tormented his dreams for years, put his blade through Naruto's chest, he lost it. He left his post, and sprinted for the boy. Jiraiya beat him there, unsurprisingly, and immediately turned and rushed Orochimaru. Yamato slid to a stop on his knees next to Naruto. He tried to roll him over, but the Kyuubi's chakra burned his skin before he could even touch him. Why wasn't the chakra receding?

He called forth a jutsu, turning his arm to wood, but a hand stopped him. Tsunade.

"Don't. The beast's chakra has healing properties. You need to pull the blade out. It's poisoned. So strongly not even I can heal it." She said.

"So what are you saying?" Yamato snapped.

"I'm saying, we have to hope the Nine tails chakra will be enough to save him."

"That's it? That's all you're going to do?" Yamato asked, uncharacteristically insubordinate to a higher ranking ninja.

"No. I'm going to go kill Orochimaru." She clipped. And then she too was gone, chasing after the snake.

Sasuke arrived a moment after Hinata did. He hadn't known what had caused her to run off, but he'd pushed the medic tending to his wounds away, and chased her. It hadn't been long until he saw. Naruto, lifeless on the ground. No. Not again.

He got to him as Yamato-sensei finished pulling it out of his chest. The wound closed, but the chakra cloak didn't dissipate, and Naruto didn't move. Hinata assured them through sobs that his heart was still beating though. Sasuke felt the curse mark take over him again, but he was so far past exhaustion that his body couldn't take it, and he passed out. The last thing he remembered was a whisper in his ear as he looked down on his best friend's limp body.

'You lacked the power to save him.'

Poor Naruto just keeps getting the crap kicked out of him. Rest assured (since some of you are too impatient to wait for the next chapter and assume that Naruto will die or never be the same and will threaten to stop reading) he will survive and still be a shinobi. Certainly there will be complications, whether physical, on his chakra, or mentally, but I don't want to spoil any more than I already have, so I won't tell you.

4 tailed Naruto's skin was too tough for the blade to pierce, that's the version two cloak though, which seems to have more physical alterations than three tails does, so that's why it's able to cut into him.

Still working on Chapter 26 so I can't say for sure when it's coming out. There have been so many spelling, grammar, and minor detail errors in the previous couple of chapters that I want to make sure I'm doing a better job of editing them, which sometimes takes another full session or two of writing, which can span a week or two. I apologize for that but I just don't enjoy putting out bad work (bad being relative to what I am capable of writing of course.)

Finally, it's looking like the timeskip will be in the next 1-4 chapters, I still haven't determined entirely how much I want to write about what happens after the canon Konoha crush arc, but there will be some similarities between canon and some big changes.