Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. With all of the quarantining, Naruto inspired me to paint graffiti all over my local monuments in a fit of boredom. Now I have a misdemeanor. Thanks anime.

-Inspiring most of my bad life decisions since 1999.

Chapter 80: To The Bitter End

A plan coming together had never been so dangerous.

The entire point of getting Orochimaru to fully transform was so he could find the location of his seal. He'd seen it, just for an instant. Much like Naruto, Orochimaru had placed it directly across his belly. Normally, that would have made for a great target. But Orochimaru's belly was now covered by a hard shell.

Finding a way to screw with the seal, the bulk of his plan, had become that much more complicated.

Jiraiya struggled to maintain his distance from Orochimaru. His old friend had taken things to the next level in transforming into the Sanbi in order to fully crush him. He could hear Orochimaru crashing through the forest behind him, feel the ground shake as trees fell and the mammoth body of the transformed jinchuuriki.

'Son of a bitch,' Jiraiya thought to himself as he continued to try and stay ahead of the destruction behind him, 'How is he so fast when he's so big!?'

Turning to try and stop Orochimaru physically wasn't an option. That left him with limited options. As he worked through a few hand-signs to make his next move, Orochimaru rumbled through the area he'd been in.

Curled into a ball, Orochimaru utilized the spiked shell of the Sanbi to flatten the forest, clearing a massive straight line in the path of his choosing.

Just before he overtook Jiraiya, a massive puff of smoke signaled the arrival of the toad sannin's summoned savior.

The body of the Sanbi found itself stopped cold by the webbed hands of Mt. Myoboku's boss toad.

Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, wiping away a bead of worried sweat as his old friend struggled against Orochimaru's tailed beast form, "Sorry about the timing on that one, 'Bunta."

"You idiot!" Gamabunta scolded, audibly straining to hold Sanbi-Orochimaru back, "Your plan... was to summon me the moment he transformed! What happened to that?"

Jiraiya didn't have much of an excuse. The gameplan for how he would tackle Orochimaru one-on-one had been laid out days ago, "What can I say? I guess I got caught up in the moment."

"'Caught up in the moment,' he says," Gamabunta parroted tauntingly, "Feh!"

With a great bellow of force, Gamabunta reared back and tossed Sanbi-Orochimaru clear over his head. Sanbi-Orochimaru's shell hit the ground with an earth-shaking crash, bouncing him just high enough in the air for him to unball his body and land on his feet.

If Orochimaru was surprised by the new arrival, he didn't show it.

"Ah, Gamabunta," Orochimaru said, as though he were greeting an old friend, and not an adversary in a fight to the death, "It's been so long. You look well. As well as one can look when they're getting on in years."

Gamabunta let out a snort at the attempt at an insult. Toad elders lived for centuries, "We can't all hijack the bodies of little boys and girls to keep ourselves young and spry. Some of us are willing to make do with the natural process of aging."

"And some of us endeavor to become the masters of nature," Orochimaru said, while chuckling. His usual disturbing laughter made that much more potent in the body of the Sanbi. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The body of the Sanbi itself began to retract and expand, pulling all of its limbs into its shell. the unnatural-looking occurrence grew even odder, when from the top of the shell where the head was, Orochimaru seemed to shed the shell.

The massive, spiky, gray body of a snake wriggled its way out of the carcass of what Jiraiya and Gamabunta thought had been the Sanbi. Orochimaru rose to his full height in this form, unfurling a jagged hood around his head, revealing three tails moving him along on the ground.

The pipe in Gamabunta's mouth nearly fell. Just when they thought there was nothing else Orochimaru was capable of that could surprise them...

"You... how?" It was the only thing Gamabunta could find himself able to say.

Orochimaru took great pleasure in the grizzled toad's reaction to his form, "This body is still a vessel. One that I can experiment on and modify to my liking. As powerful as the Sanbi is, it doesn't really mesh with my aesthetic, does it?" He asked, rhetorically, "Kukukukuku... well, at least it didn't."

This was not the Sanbi. Orochimaru's tailed beast form was a perversion of what the creature had been. He couldn't even be bothered to respect the creature he had managed to enslave. He simply stripped its power and threw it around as he saw fit.

Jiraiya slowly shook his head in disbelief, "Orochimaru, how could you do this? Just what the hell is it that you want!?" He bellowed angrily.

"What I want has never changed, Jiraiya!" Orochimaru crowed victoriously, "If anything, my aims have merely evolved!"

Jiraiya could agree with that. Orochimaru's aims had evolved, as well as the means he was willing to take to obtain them - into ever more sinister and depraved extensions of the original selfish desire.

Orochimaru continued to bemoan his plight, "The current system of shinobi is so limiting for men of vision like myself. In order to gain the freedom to do as I wish, it must be done away with. As long as it exists there will always be lapdogs like you, willing to pursue me because men of influence have a problem with my methods."

People like him? People with standards and morals? People that were sick of seeing their friends, their villages victimized by this serpent who kept slipping between the cracks?

"It's because you're a monster!" Jiraiya shouted back heatedly, "You let yourself become a monster! And for what!? Because dying scares you!?"

Hiruzen used to tell Jiraiya to look at Orochimaru to see what a shinobi is supposed to be. The old man had been half-right. Orochimaru embodied the darker, more selfish aspects of what those in their profession could slip to.

It was infuriating, and it wouldn't have been so much so if Orochimaru would have just acknowledged how horrible he was. He knew it. He delighted in it, in fact. He had always enjoyed being that person, holding that reputation out of the three of them between himself, Jiraiya, and Tsunade.

This needed to happen. It needed to end. Jiraiya could no longer stand the sight of what had become of his former comrade. Doing away with Sanbi-Orochimaru was long overdue, no matter what it took from him. Jiraiya wasn't certain how long Gamabunta could stay summoned, and he expected the battle to be intense enough to shorten that time frame. The sooner they got things over with, the better.

Gamabunta flicked the hilt of his tanto, brandishing the silver of the blade into the frigid open air. As the sound of sliding steel rang out, Sanbi-Orochimaru moved in an instant.

Gamabunta and Jiraiya watched him move, but both were left stunned when he wound up behind them regardless. Gamabunta spun around, swinging his tanto once he realized his position had been compromised, but by the time he turned, Sanbi-Orochimaru's massive body was gone again.

As a measure of self-preservation, Gamabunta leapt high into the air to get a bird's eye view of the battlefield, lest he find himself caught from behind for the third time in one day.

"How is he faster than Manda!?" Gamabunta cried out. Once he eyed Sanbi-Orochimaru's form slithering across the snowy, forested landscape, he took close aim and formed a tiger seal, "Suiton: Teppoudama (Water Release: Gunshot)!"

A massive ball of water shot out of his mouth with a moist shockwave around his lips. It wasn't a direct hit, but it hit the ground close enough that it partially exploded on Sanbi-Orochimaru.

Gamabunta landed and peered over in the direction his attack had landed. Once the boss toad had definitively returned to the ground, he was back within reach of the predatory jinchuuriki after him.

Sanbi-Orochimaru burst from the ground, mouth wide open. But it was a play straight out of his old enemy Manda's book. Gamabunta turned his tanto upside-down and jammed it right down the throat of the emerging serpent.

However, Jiraiya, still in Sage Mode, could feel the presence of Orochimaru still slithering about, "'Bunta, that's not-!"

"Hurk!" Gamabunta let out a sharp grunt as a pair of fangs sank into his side. Looking down and over at the place of the injury, he saw Sanbi-Orochimaru, jaw unhinged.

"Why, Gamabunta," Orochimaru taunted with his mouth full, "I do believe you've killed one of my tails."

True enough, at the end of Orochimaru's body, there was one tail shorter than the other two, steadily growing to match the rest in size. Cutting off one of the tails not only meant that Sanbi-Orochimaru could simply grow it back, it made it possible for the severed tail to become a mindless copy.

Even if Orochimaru had only been a jinchuuriki for a month, it was likely he'd been studying them for years. Jiraiya had as well, for training Naruto, but he'd stuck to more conventional knowledge to help his student along. Innovation was for when one had a full scope of what was already possible.

Or... for madmen like Orochimaru, it was entirely possible that he'd skipped steps. Whatever steps existed for something so undefined, anyway.

It was widely accepted that the Sanbi was the most docile of the nine tailed beasts. With the special qualities of Orochimaru's host to control the creature, that gave the man a blank slate to do with the power what he wished.

Jiraiya winced at the suffering of his friend. There was no doubt Orochimaru had injected Gamabunta with some heinous sort of venom when he bit him. Gamabunta needed to be tended to, and quickly. There was no need to subject the boss toad to anymore danger.

"'Bunta, go home!" With a hand-seal, Jiraiya released Gamabunta from his summoning before he could be challenged about it.

Jiraiya knew he would hear about it later... if he survived, but it was for Gamabunta's own good.

Under the veil of smoke created by Gamabunta's departure, Jiraiya dropped down onto Orochimaru's head, forming a massive Rasengan, larger than his entire body, "Senpou: Chou Odama Rasengan (Sage Art: Ultra Great Ball Spiraling Sphere)!"

It had almost worked once when Orochimaru had been in human form. This time, he was a far bigger target, with much more to aim at, and Jiraiya had the advantage of falling down on him when he couldn't see it coming.

...At least, he thought he did.

As Jiraiya fell, he wound up hitting nothing. No part of Sanbi-Orochimaru was underneath him, and he landed cleanly on the ground, ridding himself of the chakra-draining Rasengan in his possession. How could something so large move so fast?

'Screw this,' Jiraiya thought to himself, pressing his palms together, "Kekkai: Tengai Houjin (Barrier: Canopy Method Formation)," With a barrier enacted that would tell him when anything got close, and the reaction time provided by Sage Mode, he would be damned if he'd let Orochimaru get off a surprise attack on him.

Only, nothing happened. No attack from Orochimaru ever came. Jiraiya extended the keen senses of Sage Mode to locate Orochimaru, getting a bead on his sizable chakra signature over 2 kilometers away.

Jiraiya looked in the offending direction curiously, "Why would he retreat? He's winning."

Jiraiya was poisoned. His support was gone. It didn't make any sense.

The answer came quickly when he felt a significant upward spike of Orochimaru's concentrated chakra.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!"

A Tailed Beast Ball was being charged... and he was the target.

XxX

On cliff face overlooking the snowy, forested valley where he'd been fighting Jiraiya, Orochimaru cackled at his first practical application of a Tailed Beast Ball in combat.

One of the first thing Orochimaru mastered upon taking control of the Sanbi was learning to create a Tailed Beast Ball. Seeing as how he had full access to the Sanbi's chakra right out of the gate, all he had to do was learn to balance the chakra ratio needed to create a stable attack.

Such a thing was child's play for him. It didn't take very long at all to find the right combination he needed. Still though, he had never utilized the technique in battle – until now.

Sanbi-Orochimaru's mouth was wide open, with a dark, glowing dark ball of chakra pulsing in the space of his open maw. Swallowing the Tailed Beast Ball whole, his cheeks expanded before he spat the finished object forth.

It shot forth like a cannonball, tearing through the forest until it reached its destination, where it then detonated. Where there had once been a lush pine forest, there was now a massive smoking crater. Orochimaru couldn't have been happier about it.

"Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku! Outstanding!" The man who was more serpent than human crowed in delight.

While the Tailed Beast Ball wasn't quite as aesthetic as he would have liked his jutsu to be, the destruction it caused more than made up for how unsightly it was. Effective was effective.

Had a Tailed Beast Ball been necessary? Probably not. Orochimaru had a tendency to play with his food. It was a bad habit, yes. One that had not been worked out of him in almost five decades of experience as a shinobi.

In this case, though, Orochimaru didn't see it as a bad thing. His playing around wasn't done to draw the battle with Jiraiya out. If anything, what he'd done could be constituted as overkill.

"Thank you for coming, Jiraiya," Sanbi-Orochimaru said in parting, though the subject of the remark was unable to hear him, "I'm so glad I got to share this with you."

No matter how far he got away from those days in Konoha, there would always be a piece of him that would remember the good times there. Jiraiya was involved in many of those good times. But those were in the past; behind him. What seemed to lie ahead was bright from Orochimaru's point of view.

…Or at least it was grey, because he was all of a sudden looking up at the cloudy sky. And then he saw the ground, just before he was slammed to it, hard. And then, again, and one last time as well.

Feeling that he had been grabbed by one of his tails, Sanbi-Orochimaru writhed the other two to try and swat at his assailant, eventually shedding his skin to escape. Rearing around with a hiss to take note of his new enemy, he only got the sight of his old skin being thrown in his face for the trouble.

The punch to the head that followed knocked him clear off of the cliffside he'd been observing his Tailed Beast Ball from.

He'd never gotten a look at just who had done the deed, but there was only one person he knew of capable of doing such a thing, while also being small enough to escape his sight.

Tsunade landed on the ground and stared coldly out at the frosty expanse she'd sent Orochimaru plunging out into. The wind howled around her as she exhaled sharply, her breath visible in the air.

With that handled, at least temporarily, she turned her concern to Jiraiya. She hadn't been able to reach Orochimaru before he fired a Tailed Beast Ball, but she had definitely seen the effects of it. She doubted anyone within at least a day's traveling distance of ground zero could have missed it.

Jiraiya was tough and versatile, but there wasn't anything she could think of that could stand up to the force of a detonating Tailed Beast Ball. Even so, it was harder to believe that it had finished him off. Not if she didn't see the body first.

"Come on, you old goat..." Tsunade muttered to herself, fists clenched, "I swear to God, if you're dead..."

"Tsunade-hime..." A voice croaked faintly nearby.

Tsunade turned to find Jiraiya standing there, looking a complete mess. His face was concealed by the still intact mask from the Uzumaki Clan Temple, but his clothes were torn and singed. He was covered in burns and blood. Most notably, his left hand was gone entirely, dripping blood from a hastily wrapped bandage.

Only Sage Mode and Jiraiya's own innate toughness had kept him standing and moving forward by that point.

Tsunade was horrified at the sight of him and immediately launched into fixing the most severe of wounds that she could see. Jiraiya nearly collapsed against her, using her body to keep himself upright as healing hands put him back together.

It wasn't the first time Tsunade had the life of a white-haired man who was important to her in her hands. This time, however, she was able to deal with the severest traumas dealt to Jiraiya, keeping him alive enough to speak to him familiarly.

Tsunade proceeded to chide him, "You were coming up here to keep fighting him, weren't you?" Jiraiya didn't answer at first. Not with words, anyway, merely grunting in return, "Dumbass. How did you even survive that?"

A bit of brashness had returned to Jiraiya's demeanor, "I was training Naruto to use his tailed beast chakra. You think this is the first time I've had a Tailed Beast Bomb fired at me?" His bravado faded when he looked down at his newly missing left hand, "...Never had to avoid one that big before though."

He had clearly paid the price for it. Had Tsunade not been there, Jiraiya was heading for what likely would have been his certain death.

Tsunade finished up quickly enough, giving his worst wounds a once-over, where he then stopped her. Even if she had given Orochimaru a clean knock, he would be resurfacing any moment.

"How did you get here?" Jiraiya asked while there was a temporary lull.

Tsunade suddenly gave Jiraiya a sideways glance, "You had your team tracking him. You weren't worried about anyone tracking you."

His team...

"Tenzo... Anko..."

With the ferocity of his fight with Orochimaru, it had slipped his mind that his compatriots had been left with their own troubles.

Tsunade huffed, "That's why I'm late. I had to bail your little trump card out of trouble, then send Shizune after the other," She gestured down below where trees were growing out of the ground, restricting a struggling Orochimaru, "This one wasted all of his chakra subduing the fake jinchuuriki."

There Tenzo was, alive and well, working to restrict Sanbi-Orochimaru with his vaunted Mokuton.

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile, "Huh. I'll be damned."

Tenzo had been his first, best plan to help deal with Orochimaru. When he'd had to break off to stop the horde of pseudo-jinchuriki after them, that left Jiraiya having to rely on his backup plans - none of which had paid off. Now there was a pretty good chance once again that they could pull this off. It was enough to brighten the mood, despite the desperate moment.

His smile quickly fell when he looked over at Tsunade again and saw the pure anger in the woman's eyes. Never had he been so thankful he'd been wearing the Uzumaki Clan mask, so that Tsunade didn't see the reaction on his face.

She may have healed him, but she was not happy with him. He could only imagine how mad she would have been if he wasn't so filthy she couldn't see the physical effects of Orochimaru's poisoning. They didn't have the time for her to deal with that, and there was no need to have that hanging in the air.

"You selfish son of a bitch..." Tsunade seethed.

Jiraiya could take a guess at why she was upset, "Tsunade-."

"No, fuck you," The medic cut him off, not allowing him the chance to try and make excuses for keeping her out of the loop, "You think you have the right to keep that you're going after Orochimaru to yourself?"

Jiraiya hadn't told her. Hiruzen hadn't told her. She'd had an idea the entire time. It was common knowledge amongst higher-up shinobi about Orochimaru's recent actions. Jiraiya's sudden departure from the village was timely, considering the summit Hiruzen had been called to. It told her something was being done to try and help Konoha save some face on the world stage.

If the Hokage was going to the table with the Fire Daimyo and the head samurai of Tetsu no Kuni, he needed something to hand them that showed they were cleaning up one of the biggest messes in their history. Orochimaru's head on a silver platter would serve nicely.

It didn't hurt that she'd also found Orochimaru's last student had conveniently vanished on a clandestine mission at the exact same time.

In the end, it had been a hunch, but one with enough elements to give her reason to consider following Jiraiya. She felt fortunate and enraged at the same time when her theory had been proven correct.

Jiraiya, to his credit, seemed remorseful at leaving her out, "You never seem to want to be involved with Konoha business, hime."

Tsunade sneered at that excuse. He was right, and yet oh so wrong at the same time, "It's not just Konoha business. It's my business too," she declared, "I'm just as responsible for the evil shit Orochimaru got up to as you or sensei."

Jiraiya shook his head, a bark of empty laughter escaping him, "You can't put that on yourself. You weren't there."

Tsunade's fury froze over like water in the frigid environment they found themselves in. She smiled over at Jiraiya bitterly, "That's right. I wasn't there. One less set of eyes on him. One less person that could stop him, when there were only three others at the time who could have done it in the first place."

Hiruzen had lacked the stomach to do what had been needed - to kill the monster that his precious student had become. Jiraiya had lacked the resolve to so much as fight against Orochimaru when his treachery had become known.

Tsunade would not have shared either of their weaknesses. She would have fought, and she would have done so with the intent to put him down for good.

Tsunade let out a deep sigh, her brown eyes sorrowful as she spoke, "And now, look at him. Look at us. The Legendary Sannin - Konoha's greatest living legacy of screwups."

"I mean, now that Danzo's dead... yeah, probably," Jiraiya joked, trying to bring a bit of levity to the proceedings, "...So, we really doing this?"

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, "If you even suggest that I leave, I'll deal with you before I deal with him."

Jiraiya wasn't going to question the assistance again. Not only because of how intent Tsunade seemed, but because it wasn't like he had been winning up until Tsunade's intervention. He'd been keeping pace by the skin of his teeth. Orochimaru's strength was overwhelming. Even with Tenzo's Mokuton, he couldn't seem to restrain Orochimaru.

"One more thing," Tsunade said, before they went to rejoin the fight, "Don't think I didn't notice."

"Huh?" Jiraiya said, confusedly.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him and pointed to the leg of his tattered pants, where he had been bitten by Orochimaru's snake. The skin surrounding the wound had a green tint to it.

"Oh..." Jiraiya droned, realizing that he hadn't been as sly as he would have liked, "Whoops."

"Just hold out for a bit longer idiot," Tsunade said, her gaze softening for a moment, "I'll fix you just as soon as we get a moment."

But first, they had a rabid dog to put down. If the two of them were there, they would fight Orochimaru together. Whatever it took.

XxX

Tenzo found it ironic that the power forcefully instilled in him by Orochimaru as an experiment was being used to bring about the man's demise. He'd been waiting his entire life for the chance to get even, and he couldn't help but feel a thrilling rush pass through him at the idea.

It would have been something worth smiling over... if he were actually winning.

The Mokuton was a powerful kekkei genkai. The Shodai Hokage had been known to be capable of suppressing tailed beasts. Thus, it was assumed that Tenzo could do the same, or at least perform well enough at the task that he could temporarily subdue one.

Tenzo readily admitted that his Mokuton techniques paled in comparison to the Shodai. Now, as he struggled against a Sanbi-Orochimaru who kept breaking the wooden stocks he kept forming to hold the massive serpent down, he knew for certain that his tailed beast suppression techniques did as well.

And yet, it was all he could do to try and restrain the enemy before him.

Sanbi-Orochimaru was wrapped in tree roots, holding him to the ground as ten massive spiked wood pillars encircled him. The palm of Tenzo's hand read with the kanji for 'sit', as chakra extended from him to Orochimaru.

"So, this is how you choose to die?" Orochimaru hissed as he continued fighting his way out of his captured state, "I would have figured a test subject of mine would have known better than to ever get anywhere near me again!"

Tenzo didn't rise at the attempt to set him off. His focus was solely on dealing with the Sanbi's tailed beast chakra. And yet, he was almost out of chakra to do so.

Tsunade had used some of her chakra to restore enough of his to allow him to be a viable contributor, but it took a considerable amount to maintain what he was doing for as long as he was doing it.

He was slipping, and Orochimaru would be out before he could stop him.

"Tsuutenkyaku (Heavenly Foot of Pain)!"

Tsunade dropped from the cliff above, delivering a falling axe kick that obliterated everything unfortunate enough to be beneath it, from the binding trees to the solid ground. Orochimaru, unfortunately, was not one of those things. In fact, the Sanbi was no longer in sight. The human Orochimaru marched out of the smoke and debris Tsunade caused.

"Ku-ku-ku-ku..." Orochimaru chuckled to himself, brushing himself off, "So many of you whose lives I've touched have come so far to see me. I'm touched. Who's next, I wonder?"

He sounded amused, but there was no mistaking the undertone of annoyance and anger in the man's voice.

Orochimaru had wanted to flex his muscles and settle an old score. He had been dragged into this troublesome fight against Jiraiya, who just wouldn't roll over and die. The toad sage had survived long enough for backup to arrive. Backup that Orochimaru had accounted for in Tenzo, and backup that he'd never imagined would find their way to the battlefield in Tsunade.

To his credit, Tenzo had no plans to back down from Orochimaru. The sannin was the target. They weren't leaving without confirming his death. Even if he fled, they would continue to pursue him to the ends of the planet. That had been the understanding he'd had when he'd been slated to go.

At that moment, Jiraiya appeared at Tenzo's side, putting a hand on the man's shoulder, "Thank you, Tenzo."

Tenzo didn't like the way Jiraiya had said that. The tone, it was all wrong. It wasn't a thank you like, 'Good job, but we still have more work to do,' it was the kind of thank you like, 'Thank you for all of your contributions. You owe me nothing else.'

To Tenzo's horror, Jiraiya confirmed this to him, "You're done here. Find Anko, find Shizune, and start heading back to Konoha."

"The mission-."

"-The mission will be seen through," Jiraiya said, "He's not leaving here alive, no matter what. I'll make damn sure of that."

Tenzo would have been lying if he didn't admit that he was concerned with that. The desire to see Orochimaru pay for his crimes had been the primary drive for him wanting to take part in the mission. Still, what concerned him more was the way Jiraiya had assured him that this would happen.

It sounded... final.

It was also an order from a superior. The ANBU in him wouldn't let him disobey.

Thus, with great apprehension, Tenzo departed, off to search for Anko and Shizune. That left the sannin alone – Orochimaru standing with Jiraiya at his front, and Tsunade at his back.

"I'm surprised you changed back, Orochimaru," Jiraiya taunted,"It seemed like you enjoyed being larger than life. What happened?"

Orochimaru figured that being so massive wouldn't matter against someone like Tsunade. In fact, being that much bigger was a liability if she'd already proven she could hit him, even as fast as he was. More size just meant a bigger target for her to cripple once her fists made contact. And when she hit him, there was no guarantee that he would be able to continue afterwards.

Orochimaru scoffed, "Believe me, Jiraiya. I don't need to be in my tailed beast form to be larger than life," He boasted, before taking on a tone of mocking concern, "But enough about me. How are you doing?"

Jiraiya glared from behind his mask and cut him off before he could say too much in front of Tsunade, "I've still got enough left to put you away."

Tsunade wasn't in any mood to talk, and without preamble, formed a snake seal with her hands, "Doton: Daichi Ganshou (Earth Release: Ground Bedrock)!"

Two gigantic walls of rock rose up and surrounded Orochimaru in an attempt to crush him. Orochimaru slithered out of harm's way before anything could befall him.

It was all a move to corral Orochimaru towards Jiraiya, who was prepared for his escape attempt, "Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!"

Jiraiya spat masses of oil from his mouth, igniting them on the way out to create flaming globs meant to catch Orochimaru in a barrage. Still, Orochimaru was too slippery. When it came to evasion, he was the best of the three of them at it, having come up with numerous modifications to his body to assist in his maneuverability.

Tsunade was second-best, however, by a close margin, and fearlessly charged into Jiraiya's flaming barrage from Orochimaru's blind spot to chase him down and bludgeon him. As she got danger close, Orochimaru's head turned nearly 180 degrees, the tip of the Kusanagi sword peeking from his mouth.

Tsunade ducked under the blade as Orochimaru took it into his hand. The two engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse that more closely resembled a dance of death through a storm of flames flying between them. Tsunade deftly dodged each attempt by Orochimaru to stab or slash at her.

She quickly turned her defense to offense on a dime, lashing out with swift punches and kicks, any one of which would leave Orochimaru splattered all over the wall of the nearby cliff.

Orochimaru eventually found himself pinned, his back against the wall. He defied gravity, rolling up the wall until planting the soles of his feet against it. He pressed his hands to the vertical surface, "Doton: Ganseki Kuzushi (Earth Release: Rock Collapse)!"

From the top of the cliff down, entire rock formations broke apart, with massive chunks coming down on their heads. It was as if the entire mountain was falling.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted as he watched from nearby. He charged forward as his old teammate was seemingly buried alive.

"Katon: Chuuku-en Joushou Kiryuu (Fire Release: Hollow Flame Updraft)!"

Jiraiya narrowly avoided a massive tower of fire that shot up from the ground. From a hidden location, Orochimaru bombarded him with underground attacks set to roast him alive.

Torrents of flame erupted upward from cracks in the ground that burst into full tunnels. The only warning he had to new hotspots was a moment of super-heating beneath his feet.

Meanwhile, within the avalanche zone, Tsunade protected herself by propping up a large piece of rock against what was left of the cliff wall. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the worst to pass before attempting to punch her way out.

In the midst of the rockslide, numerous small snakes coated in Orochimaru's chakra started working their way through the fallen rocks all around her. Tsunade's eyes went wide, and she hurried with her escape, barreling her way through the remains of the cliff with her fists.

It was during this time that she discovered paper tags attached to a considerable amount of the rubble, likely placed there by Orochimaru's snakes before they made their way to her. Tsunade quickly drew her own blood and summoned hastily as the tags burned down, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!"

She covered herself in summoned slugs as a protective measure just before the explosive notes burned down and detonated.

*BOOM!*

The field of rubble was pulverized by a chain of massive explosions. Orochimaru's best efforts to divide Jiraiya and Tsunade before conquering them simultaneously seemed to be working.

From his hiding place, Orochimaru smirked to himself. His former teammates were good - some of the best, in fact. But of the three of them, he had always been superior. Not too long ago, if they had come at him together, they would have had a chance to overwhelm him. Now though? Even together, their best wasn't good enough.

As he continued to come up with a new approach to take with the battle, the rocks surrounding him on all sides began to change to a softer, fleshy material that his feet began to sink into. He was almost unable to free his hands before they too became trapped.

"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari (Summoning: Toad Mouth Trap)!" Jiraiya emerged from one of the tunnels that had now also become covered in the same fleshy material.

Orochimaru bared his teeth angrily, "What in the-?"

"Ah, so you stayed close to the tunnels after all?" Jiraiya asked as he climbed his way out, "Wow, that's a greenhorn move. You should have known better than that, pal."

Orochimaru let the chakra of the Sanbi flow through him, activating his jinchuuriki chakra cloak, "Damn you."

Jiraiya was quick to lunge, his fingertips burning with chakra, "Ah-ah! No more of that! Gogyo-!" Before he could connect, Orochimaru extended his neck and bit down on Jiraiya's, "Guh..."

"Now, now, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said, his fangs sunke into his old friend's neck, "What did you think you were going to accomplish? Cut me off from the Sanbi?" He laughed, "I know the Five Elements Sealing method as well. I also know the unsealing method!"

"Funny that you mention that," Jiraiya chuckled, "...Because that's what I was going for. But... you should always have a backup plan."

A red small toad poked its head out of Jiraiya's vest. In its mouth was a cylinder with a seal kanji on it. Orochimaru's eyes went wide as the creature made eye contact with him and took the seal out of its mouth.

"Kekkai: Gama Hyourou (Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison)!"

The barrier gourd toad wrapped its tongue around Orochimaru and dragged him inside of its mouth, Jiraiya laughing all the way as he was brought along for the ride as well.

Both combatants separated once inside of the toad's stomach. The environment inside the toad's stomach was a cavernous chamber, including a lake of gastric acid, along with shores around the edges, and formations sticking out of the fluid.

Orochimaru didn't like the idea of finding out how potent that acid was.

Jiraiya's continued laughter sounding out over the disjointed croaking he could hear inside of the toad's gullet only made Orochimaru more furious. How? How had Jiraiya managed to turn the tide? Even with Tsunade's arrival, they still hadn't been able to topple him. Now, Jiraiya had trapped him on a battlefield of his own liking.

In the end, he found his cool, figuring that everything would be fine. Though it was less than desirable, Jiraiya was still weakened from his poisoning. Orochimaru still had an abundance of chakra, and with Yukimaru's young, healthy body, he had no shortage of stamina. If it came to a battle of attrition, Jiraiya could not defeat him.

"I don't see what's so funny, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said, arms crossed and grinning as calmed down. He was still in control, "Even if you trap me here, do you think this will hold me for long?"

At that, Jiraiya stopped laughing, "No, but it's not meant to," His face turned deadly serious, "This ends here."

Orochimaru scoffed at the bravado, "You would have been better off leaving me to Tsunade alone," He said, looking up at the presumed entrance of the toad prison, "I know she's still alive. It will take more than what I did to her to keep her down."

'Jiraiya' smirked and uncharacteristically placed a hand on 'his' hip, "Aw. That's sweet of you to actually give me some credit."

In a puff of smoke, 'Jiraiya' dropped a henge, changing back into the proper appearance of Tsunade.

A well-disguised bait and switch. Just because Jiraiya's techniques had been used didn't mean it had to be Jiraiya who came to face him directly. None of Jiraiya's signature moves that had been performed in that previous moment had been anything that he needed to be right in front of Orochimaru to do. Tsunade's henge had also been tremendous, and the attempt at the Five Elements Seal had been an ingenious touch to sell it just that much more.

As Orochimaru watched Tsunade brush away the blood at her neck from his bite, he found it in him to find humor in the situation. His teammates, for as predictable as they seemed, always seemed to find some way to surprise him.

"So, it's you and not Jiraiya. This doesn't change anything but the order," Orochimaru insisted. "It just means that now, I can deal with the healthier opponent first and finish off the wounded animal later."

Tsunade frowned at that, "Jiraiya's not that bad off. He helped me get you here, didn't he?"

At that, Orochimaru began to laugh, "Oh... Sage Mode must have made him hardier than I could have imagined," He turned his head up to the ceiling as he continued to cackle, "I poisoned him, Tsunade! The concoction was quite potent, if I do say so myself. You don't have the materials needed to heal him! Not with the little boost of the Sanbi's chakra I added!"

Tsunade glared at him, but as the echoing sound of croaking rang out through the stomach prison, her hateful expression turned to one of victory. What had previously been aimless croaking turned to harmonized sound, like singing.

"What?" Orochimaru didn't understand at first, until everything around him began to change.

The croaking permeated his eardrums – it was the only thing he could hear. Four massive toads, all clad in samurai armor surrounded him. All of them held up a single hand in his direction, webbed palms pointed at him. Orochimaru found himself unable to move as a small barrier held him in place.

He felt detached from himself, and that was when he began to panic, "No..." Orochimaru whispered, trying and failing to do anything for himself, "NOOOOO!"

He couldn't brute force his way out of it, as he was unable to tap into the Sanbi's chakra. Whatever this genjutsu was, he couldn't break it. He was trapped.

It couldn't be. Not after all of this. After everything he'd done, all he'd accomplished, all of the carefully laid plans that it had taken to obtain the kind of body he needed – he could finally have utilized the Sharingan in this body.

After all of that, he'd been brought low by his teammates. The perverted lapdog and the degenerate gambler. Two lushes with more failures and regrets in their lives than successes.

He had always been the one with the drive to better himself. He had always been the one willing to do what was needed to push the limits of human capability. He was better than both of them. He knew it, and they knew it.

And in the end, what had it mattered?

Nothing.

XxX

In the process of trapping Orochimaru within Jiraiya's genjutsu, Tsunade also found herself ensnared by the same technique used against their former teammate. Thankfully, the jutsu by itself didn't hurt.

When he'd managed to get in touch with her during Orochimaru's twin bombardment, he hadn't had time to say much, only to give a loose description of his plan.

"Transform into me. Take this toad. Go with whatever happens after that. You'll know when it's over."

She certainly did know when it was over, because it caught her too. She didn't even know Jiraiya knew any genjutsu that powerful.

It made more sense when she was freed from the jutsu and saw herself looking up at two small, elderly toads positioned on her chest, smiling at her.

One was male and green in color, with white hair, thick eyebrows, and a goatee. He wore a brown little cloak. The other was female, with purple-greyish hair and a dark grey cloak.

"So, yer Tsunade?" The male toad said, "Been hearin' 'boutcha for years from little Jiraiya-chan. This is Shima. You can call me Fukasaku."

They got off of her, allowing Tsunade to sit up and start getting to her feet, "I take it you two were the toads croaking I heard in the stomach prison."

Shima nodded, "Jiraiya-chan was a real mess when he summoned us. So rude too. No time for pleasantries. Just demandin' we sing. Have'ta discipline that boy later when he's not in such a sensitive moment."

'Sensitive moment?' Tsunade thought to herself, turning her head.

Not too far away, Jiraiya was on his knees, standing over the body of a motionless Orochimaru. Three massive stone swords were fatally stabbed deep into his body, pinning it to the ground. Jiraiya leaned against a fourth that was in his grasp.

Tsunade walked over, stopping right behind Jiraiya. Her eyes were locked on Orochimaru, much like Jiraiya's.

Deep down, as much of a monster as she knew he'd become, as much of a problem for the world as large as he'd turned himself into, they couldn't help but see the boy they'd first been teamed up with decades prior. In lives full of hardship, there had been good times together.

Then, they all went their separate ways, and everything seemed to fall apart for them individually. The Second Shinobi World War was their turning point. After the loss to Hanzo, Jiraiya stayed in Amegakure to train those children. This task kept him away for years. Tsunade and Orochimaru returned home, where Nawaki and Dan died, sending Tsunade into her spiral and eventually away from the village.

That left Orochimaru alone, with no one to keep him from staring into the abyss he seemed so enamored with. Hiruzen was busy being a wartime Hokage. He couldn't keep an eye on his full-grown student, who was also one of his finest shinobi, at all times.

From there, it was just a matter of time. Had they been there, could things have been different? Or would Orochimaru always become what he became?

In the end, it was easier to just mark it down as another regret between the two of them.

Tsunade put a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya didn't acknowledge her until she spoke, "Is he-?"

"-I think so," Jiraiya said, preempting her, "Have to make sure though."

With great effort, Jiraiya stood up. His body was barely usable at this point. Tsunade could see that Sage Mode was the only thing keeping him going. She put a hand over his before he could lift his final stone sword from the ground.

When he looked over at her, Tsunade to reach out and touch his mask-covered face. The two stared at each other before Jiraiya finally nodded.

Together, they lifted the stone sword and brought it down on Orochimaru's neck.

XxX

(Some Time Later – Hi no Kuni – Konohagakure no Sato)

The Hokage escort party set out from the Capital shortly after the Hokage's meeting with the Fire Daimyo, and returned to Konoha by nightfall. Barely 16 hours later, Naruto found himself called to the Hokage's office.

He assumed it would be for a briefing, and walked into the building a bit nervous, as he hadn't even started on his mission report. His nervousness turned to confusion when he found Sasuke already there, waiting outside.

"What are you doing here, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he approached the angry young man.

Sasuke ceased staring off into the distance to halfway turn and regard Naruto, "I was asked to come by the Hokage."

'Him too?' Naruto thought to himself before saying anything else, "And you did? I thought you were still pissed off."

"I am still pissed off," Sasuke clarified, scoffing as he turned away and started heading inside, "Let's get this over with."

"It's not like you had to wait for me..."

Naruto though, could tell what was going on without too much being said. Sasuke didn't want to be anywhere near the Hokage. Whether out of disgust for the man's failure to preserve his clan, or the fear that he might be angry enough to lash out at the village's leader if left alone with him for long enough, he didn't know.

Naruto showing up was the kick in the rear that prompted Sasuke to go inside, in order to save face. Had he not arrived, Sasuke likely would have remained there debating on whether to go in or return home until someone else had gotten his attention.

The two proceeded in silence until they stood in front of the Hokage's office.

"Come in."

Both boys looked at one another, utterly unsurprised that the old man knew they were there. Even if he didn't have ANBU watching over him, they didn't put it past him to be aware of their presence, given his Telescope Jutsu. They were both well aware of the crystal ball he used to observe villagers from time to time.

Upon entering, they were met with the same sight that every other shinobi likely associated with the Hokage – the wizened old man garbed in his robes, seated behind his desk as he handled his administrative work. He smiled warmly at Naruto and Sasuke. One returned the sentiment, the other did not.

"Hey, Sarutobi-jiji!" Naruto greeted brightly. His mood quickly dropped when he noticed the gloomy aura radiating off of Sasuke, "Uh, why did you call us both here?"

Hiruzen looked between the two of them, his smile fading; possibly because of Sasuke's demeanor, or because he had serious business to talk about, "Because this involves Akatsuki, and applies to the two of you."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, curiously wondering just what the problem was this time.

Hiruzen let out a tired sigh. It had been a long night after returning to the village. He hadn't gotten the chance to get to sleep, given what he'd been greeted with immediately upon returning.

"It seems Sabaku no Gaara has been captured by our friend Uchiha Madara," He revealed to the chunin pair.

"That guy is not our friend," Naruto asserted, remembering his previous run-ins with Gaara. Even so, Naruto could admit that he was strong. So strong that it was hard to believe he'd been captured without causing serious casualties.

"Nor, do I believe, are we referring to the real Uchiha Madara," Hiruzen replied, "That isn't stopping Sunagakure from leveling accusations our way."

Sasuke spoke up with a bitter tone, "Tch. What accusations? I'm the only Uchiha who's been associated with this village in ten years," And at that time, he was wondering to himself whether or not it would remain that way.

Hiruzen laced his fingers together, elbows set on his desk, "Cutting to the short of it, they're demanding access for an investigation," He gestured his head to the surlier of his two shinobi, "That would be the reason Sasuke-kun is here."

"I don't have anything to do with Gaara or Madara," Sasuke said, feeling angrier the more he heard.

Hiruzen tried to keep a calming tone without being patronizing, "I know that. You know that. Everyone privy to this information knows that," He told Sasuke, "Sunagakure probably knows. But they're angry and paranoid. To that end, they want access to the Uchiha Clan District."

Sasuke's eyes went wide in shock before his face twisted in rage. Naruto understood.

Naruto hadn't even had his clan grounds for very long, and it was a pale comparison to what was probably in Uzushiogakure, but it was still the only part of his lineage he had access to. No one was just going to walk in there and have their run of the place. Not if he was around. No member of any clan in Konoha or anywhere else would have allowed such a thing.

For Sasuke though, the entire section of the village that had served as the Uchiha Clan District... it wasn't Sasuke's home, so much as it was a tomb, preserved by him in remembrance of his lost clan. Outrage was the only response a reasonable individual could have ever anticipated from such a demand.

With his tumultuous emotions over what had gone down with Itachi, and what Sasuke had learned about just why his older brother had slain their clan, it was the worst possible time for Sasuke's frame of mind for Suna to try and throw any political weight around; whatever they felt they may have had.

If anyone agreed to this, and tried to enforce this on Sasuke's watch, they had best be prepared for things to burn as a result.

Hiruzen made sure he was looking Sasuke in his eyes when he continued to speak, "The response has already been sent back. They are entitled to nothing, and so nothing is what they will receive from us."

It was important that Sasuke know he wasn't against him; that no one in the village was against him. The boy's loyalties were precarious, with good reason, honestly. He needed to know there were people he could trust... even if the Hokage himself didn't qualify as one of those people.

It seemed though, that Naruto was one of those people, "Fuck them! No way!" Naruto's outburst seemed to stop Sasuke's building rage, "Sasuke's been here for years, and never saw that Madara bastard before until we were stuck in Iwa. Besides, haven't we been sharing everything we have on Akatsuki with all of the hidden villages?"

Hiruzen smiled bitterly, "Again, you and I know that it's everything. But what we know, and what they believe are not in alignment. I feel this will be the last straw between our two villages."

Somehow, Naruto sticking up for him got Sasuke to calm down, even if it was just a pinch, "And you called us here to tell us first?" Sasuke asked.

Hiruzen shook his head and stood from behind his desk, walking up to the window overlooking the village. It was one of his favorite views. It reminded him of why he did his job, "You are not the first I've told about this. I've already informed all of the necessary parties needed to begin preparing for war."

In reality, preparations had been taking place for weeks. Ever since the events at Sora-ku, Hiruzen had always accounted for the possibility that war would occur. It had been too long since the villages had butted heads in earnest. Even for the men who had already experienced the horrors of the Third Shinobi World War, and in Onoki's case, even the second, it seemed all too easy to forget those terrible days.

"I summoned you two here to let you know as a courtesy," Hiruzen continued, "The two of you are heavily involved in the affairs that led to this."

Sasuke's sharp eyes noticed the wince that Naruto tried and failed to hide. Something to keep in mind to bring up later.

"You're promoting me?" Naruto asked, trying to let a little hope leak into his voice.

"Not yet," Hiruzen said, turning around to smile a bit at Naruto, before returning his gaze to the village, "But I expect to do so soon. Even if it weren't for the trial period I set you on, I have a feeling we'd have need to fast-track a promotion during the war. You will be very important in the coming days. Both of you."

XxX

Upon leaving the Hokage's office, and the building altogether, Sasuke quickly set himself upon Naruto, before the latter could leave and return to his own business for the day.

"You think this is our fault, don't you?"

Naruto stopped just before entering his clan grounds as Sasuke engaged him in conversation. Just the fact that it was such a rarity prompted Naruto to respond, even though he didn't want to.

"Isn't it?" Naruto said, "Before we went to save Yugito from Akatsuki, I don't even remember any rumblings about war."

The day they got the information, instead of just leaving Killer B to it, Naruto decided to play the hero. He got Neji, Shikamaru, and even Sasuke involved in a cross-country mission of the highest danger and importance. In the end, yes, they had saved a jinchuuriki. Yes, they had smoothed over things with Kumo for the time being. But in the end, it had exposed Konoha to two more enemies and left them vulnerable.

From there... everything transpired as it had.

Sasuke, though, wanted to punch Naruto for being dumb, "Please. You've been gone for years, running the Fire Daimyo's errands. Trust me when I say, things were never square between the villages. Ever."

If it wasn't this, it would have been something else. Hiruzen was a Hokage that desired peace between the villages. To that end, he would give the other hidden villages an inch while they would take as close to a mile as they could get away with. Konoha was powerful. It could afford such. But between Sasuke and Naruto, it was the kind of juicy bait that couldn't be ignored by opportunistic villages. It was the bridge too far. And everything since then had simply showed Suna how patient he had been.

Nothing. They would receive nothing for their previous treachery in trying to target whoever survived the Sora-ku battle. They would receive nothing for trying and failing to poach Tsunade months prior. They would receive nothing for already receiving everything that Konoha had on Akatsuki, and yet demanding a further concession they had no right to in regards to investigating them.

"I would get you thinking the way you are if it were Iwa that Konoha was about to fight," Sasuke said, "We tore into them. But it's Suna. Konoha didn't do anything to Suna. If anything comes from that, it's not your fault, it's not my fault. Got it?"

"That doesn't make it any better," Naruto replied.

"Yeah?" Sasuke prompted, "Well, you're not going to just roll over and not fight when the time comes either. So make your peace with it soon, because it's the only kind of peace you're going to see for a while."

'Wow. What a nice guy,' Naruto thought to himself in annoyance. A war wasn't his idea of a good time, and he needed more than a day to come to terms with the fact that he was about to fight one, "You should try to make your own too," He shot back, receiving a challenging look from the Uchiha, "You know what I'm talking about, Sasuke."

Sasuke's thorny defenses immediately went up, "So now you're telling me how to feel?" He snapped.

Anger from others was something Naruto had long since been accustomed to dealing with, "I'm not telling you how to feel about anything," He said, at a standoff with his former classmate, "...You know what your problem is?"

A sneer came to Sasuke's lip, "I'm sure you're going to tell me," He taunted.

Naruto ignored him and barreled forward, "You're the kind of guy who needs a target," He said, "When you trained yourself, the only thing you ever cared about was being stronger than Itachi."

"What's your point?"

"After Sora-ku, before that chump in the mask told you about your brother and your clan, how did you feel without Itachi to chase? Without killing him as your reason for waking up in the morning."

At that, Sasuke stopped and honestly contemplated the question. It wasn't an easy thing to look back on, but Naruto had a habit of making him consider the difficult side of things,

Sasuke had filled himself with hate for the better part of a decade. When he'd finally gotten his hands on the source of all of that hate, in the moment it felt amazing - the most accomplished he'd ever felt in his life.

And yet, in the days that followed, he didn't even have the time to savor the accomplishment. After returning from his capture in Iwa, he'd felt empty; aimless. He'd spent so much time dwelling on what he needed to do to kill Itachi, wrapping himself up in that goal and so utterly defining his entire existence through it that he never thought beyond it.

And then, finding out that everything that had befallen his clan had not been of Itachi's solo doing, that someone had prompted him to murder the Uchiha Clan... and that this man was dead as well...

There was no straightforward target for him any longer.

"Who am I supposed to be mad at now?" Sasuke said reservedly, staring down at his hands where he clinched his fists, "Itachi is dead. The elder that gave Itachi the order to kill our clan is dead. And the Hokage... "

Naruto used Sasuke trailing off as the excuse to cut his line of thinking before it went to darker places, "Who says you have to be mad at anyone?"

It was a quick interjection, and one that prompted the explosive reaction from Sasuke that Naruto expected.

Sasuke glared hatefully at the seemingly innocuous question, "My entire clan was wiped out. Am I supposed to just let that go?" Naruto just stood there and let him vent. Sasuke was an emotional individual, despite how he tried to carry himself around others. The more he bottled things up, the worse they were when he finally let them out, "But I don't... I don't know who to blame! I don't know who to go after! There's no one in my reach to take this out on! And no one even knows what really happened!"

But, with what they were now aware of, would the world knowing the truth about Itachi and the Uchiha Clan even make it any better?

Naruto leaned against one of the massive torii gates marking the entrance to the Uzumaki Clan grounds, "Normally, I'm all for the truth. But I've been thinking about this too," He said, crossing his arms, a thoughtful look on his face, "...At this point, it's like, what do you put more stock in?"

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke retorted in confusion.

Naruto decided to continue digging his hole, offering his two cents, "If the truth stays hidden, your clan's massacre stays a tragedy, and Itachi is a criminal in death. If the truth comes out, Itachi is a hero, but your clan will be seen as traitors, won't they?"

That bit of disclosure gave Sasuke pause, "...Is that why you haven't told anyone?" He eventually asked quietly.

Naruto shook his head in the negative, "It's not my place to talk about. It wasn't my clan. It wasn't my family. It was yours," He said, smiling as empty a smile as Sasuke had ever seen on him, "I never had a family, but even I know that certain things aren't anyone else's business."

"Hn," Was Sasuke's only response. With that, he fell into step with Naruto as he kept heading toward his clan grounds to take stock of his progress on renovating.

This was how it had been since graduation for the two of them. After leaving the Academy, for some reason, they had been remarkably good at understanding each other. They had their similarities, but their differences far outweighed them. Even so, even with the extent of their rivalry, their past use of one another as a measuring stick, they had a rapport that even they couldn't explain.

Naruto loved Team 10 more than anything. And Ino was the closest person in the world to him, but there were things that she would never understand about what motivated him, and why he would do certain things he did. Sasuke would never question his actions, as if he understood why Naruto was willing to march into the teeth of Akatsuki or whatever enemy pursued him at any time. Sasuke could see that Naruto had a chip on his shoulder, that he had something to prove, to himself and to others, much like himself. That, and Naruto's efforts to do so garnered more respect from Sasuke than he had given anyone else.

Sasuke's closest friends were in Team 7. Kakashi was the closest thing to a father figure he was willing to accept since the death of his real parents. Yet, if he were to speak with them about the things he spoke to Naruto about, and voice the opinions to them that he voiced to Naruto, they would try to steer him in a direction that they felt would keep him safe. It was why he never told them anything personal. Sasuke never liked taking orders or being dictated to. Naruto never did so. Naruto usually understood him. Even when he didn't, he never tried to influence Sasuke's decisions. He merely sat and listened, offering his own perspective at the most.

They were friends. Good friends. Even if they oftentimes wanted to punch the other in the face.

Sasuke simply wandered around with Naruto while he went through a checklist on things that still needed to be worked on. There was something about being there that left Sasuke feeling at peace. Perhaps it was how quiet it was. Maybe it was the fact that Naruto was the only Uzumaki Clan member in Konoha, yet he was putting in the work to rebuild his clan piece-by-piece.

That latter idea made him think. His thoughts were temporarily interrupted when Naruto spoke up.

"Hey," Naruto said, getting Sasuke's attention as he continued going through his checklist of things that needed to be done, "Why did the elders think the Uchiha Clan caused the Kyuubi attack?"

"A strong enough Sharingan can control tailed beasts," Sasuke said.

"Wow," Naruto replied automatically before what Sasuke said sank in. He gazed up from his list, eyebrow raised, "Wait, what do you mean, strong enough?"

Despite fighting Itachi before, and considering Sasuke a rival, Naruto didn't know much information about the Sharingan, other than that it could copy jutsu, and could trap someone in a genjutsu with eye contact. It had rarely come up in his life.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked at Naruto, mildly amused when Naruto averted his gaze, as though Sasuke would cast a genjutsu on him, "A Sharingan matures with time and training. Each eye can develop three tomoe. That's a fully mature Sharingan, but it's possible to go beyond that."

"How?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto blankly, "You don't want to know," At that, the pattern of his Sharingan changed entirely, "...Trust me."

Naruto remembered when he saw the difference in Sasuke's Sharingan when they'd almost fought atop the Hokage Monument, "So, you-?"

"Mangekyou Sharingan," Sasuke interrupted in explanation, "I don't know why I'm telling you this. I haven't told anyone about this. But, you've already seen it, so..."

Maybe Naruto had, but he hadn't known what he'd been seeing at the time. And with everything else that had been going on in the moment, he'd almost forgotten about it.

Naruto let what Sasuke had just said sink in. He was the only one who knew about Sasuke's boosted Sharingan. Not Sakura. Not Kakashi. Not Chouji. Not the Hokage. Just him. And he seemed okay with it.

How much did Sasuke trust him for that to be his reaction?

Well, to be fair, Naruto did trust Sasuke enough to tell him about the Kyuubi months before. Then again, since that time, Sasuke had heard Naruto and others close to him repeatedly declare his status as a jinchuuriki as the worst-kept secret in the history of Konoha.

So the two of them had faith in one another.

Even if Sasuke didn't believe in Konoha so strongly, at least he could admit to himself that he believed in Naruto. And it was then that he realized what a terrifying prospect that was.

'God, help me...' Sasuke thought to himself.

Jutsu List

Katon: Chuuku-en Joushou Kiryuu (Fire Release: Hollow Flame Updraft). A-rank ninjutsu. Offensive. Mid-range. The user carves several channels through the ground with their chakra, before pushing fire through them, either one at a time, or in any number. A dangerous, destructive technique that can be used as an effective trap, surprise attack, or a move for corralling a target.

And that's the chapter, everyone.

The vast majority of this one was the fight against Orochimaru, which I hope I did well.

It's hard to write multiple major fights for Orochimaru in one story, because for a guy that spent most of his life learning as many jutsu as he could, we never see him use many of them, or a real variety of them. I guess that territory comes with having his arms rendered useless within the early portion of canon. Doesn't make it any better for people like me though.

Anywho, war clouds are rolling in, and what of the jinchuuriki and tailed beasts? At this point, Yugito, Killer B, Fuu, and Naruto are the only ones left affiliated with hidden villages, and with the death of Orochimaru, the Sanbi is unaccounted for.

This is all I've got for you this time, guys. Until the next time.

Kenchi out.