Uchiha Sasuke lay humbled and broken, unable to move. He could only watch as the opponent that had broken him and the comrade who had humbled him fought for the fate of Konoha. Naruto - the dead last - was unleashing an unholy torrent of ninjutsu at the monster that Gaara had become. Hundreds of bunshin, swarming and firing off combination ninjutsu towards the sand demon, causing ripples and waves of power to wash over the forest, over him.

The demon responded in kind. Cackling, wild laughter belied the devastating nature of the torrents of air that it fired at Naruto. They tore through the forest, ripping trees from the ground with consummate, sickening ease.

He couldn't even find it in himself to be angry - not any more. His eyes could pick out the practice in Naruto's movements, the experience the quality of his ninjutsu proved. Uzumaki Naruto was what Sasuke strove to be - he had worked himself to the bone and reforged himself into a true shinobi. The kind of warrior that could issue justice.

Becoming a shinobi had the cruellest of lessons for Sasuke. He had been placed on a pedestal that he hadn't earned by those around him with such conviction, he'd begun to believe it himself. That you had been arrogant was a lesson shinobi usually only learnt in death.

He had been lucky enough to have a team that meant he'd lived both of his brushes with it. They had become a strange little family, Team 7. Sakura who had begun by fawning over him but through her own struggles was now beginning to forge herself into a true Kunoichi. Sai, who seemed emotionless but had somehow managed to connect with him in a way that nobody else had.

They had put their lives on the line to save him and he knew he would do the same for them. The only thing more unconscionable than allowing Itachi to escape justice for slaughtering his birth family would be allowing the same to happen to his adoptive one. They had lit a match in the shadow, a light so faint and precious that even a faint breath could extinguish it.

He would keep it burning, even if it cost him his life. Even if it cost him his revenge.

Footsteps arrived beside him and he tensed, ready to use the last moments of his life to combat a new foe but relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Kami, Sasuke - what the hell happened?"

It was Ino, bruised and breathless but otherwise unharmed. With her was the Inuzuka girl - Hana. Good. They finished the siblings. Now we just have to hope Naruto can hold off Gaara until-

He coughed, warm blood hitting the ground beside him.

"Right," Hana said, business-like. "Let's get you stable so we can help Naruto."

"No!" He spluttered with such force it brought on a coughing fit that sent pain lancing through him. "Any of us would be in the way! Take a look - they're fighting on another level right now."

Both glanced towards the fight and he could see the familiar mix of fear and helplessness as they watched Naruto go up against the monstrosity. He had felt it and he knew they did, too.

"We can't just let him fight Gaara alone like that - I know Naruto's the best one for it but-"

"Leave me," he said, with far more conviction than he felt. "Go and find Jonin help for him - it's the only way we can help now."

The words burned at his pride as he said them, hurting almost as much as his actual injury. But his pride had held him back for too long. It had tainted his thinking for far too long. Out of any of them, he could have been of use in this fight. He could have made a difference. Naruto was fighting to protect him because he was too weak and full of pride to even listen.

Hana stared at him, expression unreadable and then glanced towards the fight.

"No."

"What? It's the only way!"

"If you don't get treatment, you'll die Uchiha! You might not care but I'd never forgive myself if I left you here to bleed out in the forest. He'd never forgive me either." She scowled. "Ino, I know you have some medical training - I'm going to need your help to stabilise Sasuke before we can even think about moving him."

"But Naruto-" the Yamanaka started, uncertain, but Hana shut down the protest.

"Naruto will hold out against that thing for as long as we damn well need him to!" She snapped, green chakra bubbling to life around her hands before she pressed them to her chest and she forced a grin. "Put some damn trust in him. He knows we're here and that's all the information he needs. Naruto won't go down and even if he does, he'll take that red-haired bastard with him."

Ino nodded, and Sasuke felt the world begin to dim as warm chakra began to seep through him. It was oddly comforting. He wanted to protest, to force them to go and find help. Naruto shouldn't have to put his life on the line for him and his idiotic pride. He wanted... to- He wanted- fight, he wanted to...

Darkness took him.

* * *

Sarutobi gasped for breath and hauled himself to his feet once more. Blood seeped from wounds on his head and chest, battle-dress tattered and scorched. He chanced a glance to the side, where Jiraiya was fighting a three on one battle against the other three Hokage. That boy really had been his greatest feat as a shinobi. How he wished he had invested more in Jiraiya and Tsunade and far less in the half-man before him that he had once loved like a son.

When Orochimaru had first activated the Edo Tensei successfully, cold fear had gripped him. He and Jiraiya were old, and their resurrected opponents looked and felt in their prime. However, it had quickly become clear that their power whilst being controlled by Orochimaru, while fearsome, was nothing like the power each man had wielded in life.

Furthermore, when Orochimaru was unable to concentrate on the control of the former Hokage, they weakened even further. A plan was formed in which Jiraiya would keep the attention of the Kage whilst he dealt with his former student. When Orochimaru fell, his summons would as well.

He had misjudged his own abilities. Orochimaru outclassed him significantly and the fight had moved ever closer to the realms of being toyed with and humiliated in opposition to actual combat. Jiraiya on the other hand had fought magnificently, using his sage jutsu to meet the three kage in front of him as an equal. That was a fight that would go down in legend without a doubt. The mighty Jiraiya of the Sannin who fought the three greatest Hokage ever to live all at once and the old man, past his prime who failed to defeat their summoner.

"So Sarutobi-sensei, how long do you think we should keep this charade going for? Do I wait until Jiraiya-kun is utterly exhausted and unable to resist when I cut his throat? Or do I wait for just long enough that he still has some belief that he can defeat me so that I can watch it vanish from his eyes?" The man's face twisted into an even more gruesome smirk. "Perhaps instead I keep you alive for long enough to watch his precious student squeeze the life from him before I do the same to you." He laughed. "Poetic, is it not?"

Sarutobi steeled himself and a familiar feeling surged through him at Orochimaru's words. Will. Conviction. The surety that no matter how the odds were stacked, he would not allow his village or its people to come to harm. Just the thought summoned strength almost not his own. It was not much at his age, but it was enough for this.

It was not Jiraiya's time yet. It was not his village's time.

It was his.

"You seem to be labouring under the assumption that I am out of this fight," his eyes glinted, cold iron erasing all trace of the sympathy and guilt that he felt for his former student. They narrowed. "A dangerous mistake."

Orochimaru's head keeled back and a cackle filled the ears of the Third. Genuine amusement. Old he may be, but Hiruzen Sarutobi still held the title of Hokage. He was being underestimated. Good.

Sarutobi began flashing through hand-seals. He had made a point to learn these and practice them as he began to grow old. The ninjutsu he was about to perform was an ultimate final gambit for facing an enemy that was overwhelmingly strong and it didn't care for age so long as you had the chakra to perform it. That it could be used to seal a bijuu or its chakra was an added benefit. An extra layer of protection.

Orochimaru quirked his eyebrow but, arrogance surging thanks to his assumed superiority, he did nothing but watch. Sarutobi almost smirked. Instead, keeping the final hand-seal held, he doggedly muttered "Fuiinjutsu: Shiki Fuiin."

He felt an overwhelming draw of chakra, almost more than he could take and his surrounding darkened to an unbelievable degree. Had he been fighting alone, he might not have succeeded as he would need to use Kage Bunshin to restrain the Kage. As it was, Jiraiya knew enough of fuiinjutsu to take care of the Hokage once their summoner was defeated.

In the pitch dark behind him, a looming figure began to fade into existence. Dead-looking and smiling, holding a single blade between grinning, rotted teeth. The shinigami - invisible to all but him. All he had to do now was get close and the God of Death would do the rest. It knew his intent and it thirsted for the souls promised for its appearance.

Across from him, Orochimaru laughed again. He couldn't see. He had assumed his jutsu had failed. That he was out of chakra. That he had won.

This time, Sarutobi did smirk and with a final surge of power and life, flung himself at the man he had once loved like a son. Orochimaru delivered a savage kick to his stomach, knocking the wind from him, but the damage was done. The man let out a desperate, terrified gasp as the shinigami claimed what was his in his hands and began to pull at his very soul.

"It's over," he rasped at the Sannin, who for the first time had genuine fear written across his face, "the shinigami will claim both our souls and the terror and pain you have brought the world will end. You have failed, Orochimaru. As a student, as a shinobi and in your quest for immortality. All your ventures are dust cast to the wind by this old man's hand."

"I succeeded in killing you!" He spat back but Sarutobi just smiled serenely in response.

"This is a death I would choose a thousand times over. Protecting my village, my people one last time before my body can protect no more. Your part in it was of no significance and you will go down in history as a minor traitor that was killed by an old man. You have come to nothing, you-"

But he was cut off, as Orochimaru's sword that he had discarded at some point during the battle plunged through the Sannin's eye socket. It was held by a dark figure standing over them. Without warning, Sarutobi's jutsu collapsed without its target and the shinigami howled in frustration, disappearing back to the realm of the dead.

The Third Hokage, exhausted, fell to the floor and rolled over to greet his saviour.

"Danzou?" He whispered, feeling true surprise for the first time in a long time.

"I am sorry, old friend. I have always seen you as a brother in arms, an equal. But your weakness has brought Konoha to its knees. It's time this village had a strong Hokage once again."

Sarutobi could hear Jiraiya's hoarse cry in the distance, heavy in despair. He still had to seal the Hokage Orochimaru had summoned - he would not be able to save him. Pain surged through his chest as Danzou slowly ran him through. He reached up and grasped Danzou's hand as firmly as he could in his last moments and looked up into the visible eye of his assassin.

A single tear welled in its corner and Sarutobi smiled at his oldest surviving friend.

"For Konoha," he whispered, his world dimming and the light leaving his eyes.

"For Konoha." Danzou echoed.

A hundred thousand battles over nearly a century had forged Sarutobi Hiruzen into the God of Shinobi, the ultimate warrior and protector. He could see each of them now, the losses more keenly than the victories. But also he saw those he had saved, the children he had seen grow into fine shinobi or citizens of the Leaf. He saw each celebration and smiling face his sacrifices and the sacrifices of his shinobi had allowed in all his years.

He saw Uzumaki Naruto, standing firm and proud despite everything he'd had to face, ready to protect Konoha and knew with iron-clad certainty that no matter what Danzou intended, that his Will of Fire had been passed on to Konoha's next generation. The Will that had been passed to him decades ago by his predecessors.

And then, the Third Hokage saw no more.

* * *

Naruto stood astride Gamabunta, the Chief Toad Summon, as the wind whipped around him, his final card finally in play. Gamabunta was very nearly equal to the demon across from them in size, and one of his webbed limbs rested upon an enormous blade at his hip. Across from him Gaa- no, the Ichibi grinned malevolently in his direction. Every bone and muscle in him ached, screaming at him to stop. But he wouldn't. He couldn't.

"I'm pretty much spent, Gamabunta - sorry for summoning you, I had no choice." He said between breaths, watching for any sign that the beast across from them was getting ready to launch another attack.

"Don't sweat it, kid, we have an agreement after all," Gamabunta's low booming voice rumbled in reply and Naruto grinned. "Still," the toad began again, "for you to have done so much without summoning me is pretty damn impressive."

"It doesn't seem like I've done much at all since he transformed," he answered.

"Don't be fooled. The Ichibi is not loose from his vessel - the play-possum technique the Suna-brat has used to bring out his demon is only temporary and he can only access so much of his power," Gamabunta quirked an eyebrow at him, "or did you think a fledgeling like you could actually go toe to toe with a fully realised bijuu?"

Naruto didn't answer and Gamabunta scoffed. "No kid but you've done a fine job of draining his reserves from what I can tell. What do you say we put this thing down for good?"

"Sounds good to me - you got a plan?"

The toad grunted in affirmation. "Hit it with everything you've got - your most destructive attack. We need to damage it so much that the chakra he needs to replenish himself is too much. He's hiding his vessel right now. We need to get to this Gaara, and wake him up."

"Got it. Cover me as I go in?" He asked, and the chief nodded with a grin.

Naruto took a breath and pulled yet more power from the pool the Fox was providing for him. The usual whispers and temptations were once more strangely absent as power flowed through him - the bastard must really want the other bijuu put down. He felt the power and strength flow but at this point in the fight, his exhaustion remained. His body had almost nothing left to give and he knew full well that he was drawing on far more of the Kyuubi's chakra than he could actually cope with safely.

He ignored all of it and leapt from the Toad, dashing across the forest canopy straight at the Ichibi. It made to attack him but Gamabunta leapt over him, sword removing the limb that would have reduced him to a bloody pulp and it collapsed into a shower of sand. He made the hand-seal for Kage Bunshin and forced as much of his chakra as he could manage into preparing the ninjutsu.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

All around them Naruto's exploded into existence - hundreds of them, all with violently rotating spheres of blue in their hands. Rasengan barrage. They hurled themselves at the bijuu, who was so busy attacking Gamabunta that he had stopped paying attention at all to Naruto right up until the first of his clones made an impact and the Rasengan's chakra exploded into a violent sand-filled mist.

And then the rest began to strike and Ichibi howled. Explosion after explosion began to erupt all over the beast's body and it began to stagger around the forest as volleys of Naruto bunshin focused on different areas of its body. They started with its legs and the base of its tail, before working their way upwards, a devastating salvo of firepower that laid the Ichibi low. Its sand armour was being reduced to a pale imitation of what it had been and limbs lay scattered across the forest floor as mountains of sand, desperately trying to reform.

Suddenly, Gamabunta leapt into the air and spat a torrent of thick, viscous oil all over the shattered body of the Ichibi even as the bunshin continued their assault.

"Light him up, kid!" Gamabunta yelled and Naruto grinned a tired grin and formed the hand seal for a weak Katon jutsu. It wouldn't take much, after all. He fired the ember towards the Ichibi and a cavernous wall of flame erupted into life where the bijuu had once been, a raging inferno that burnt nearly white-hot. Naruto watched, wide-eyed as the Ichibi squirmed and screamed and writhed in agony within.

"Keep your guard up," the toad shouted over the roaring flames, "he'll keep his host alive inside, and the bijuu won't leave this world unless Gaara does. Be ready to wake him up!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and forced himself to watch the grisly sight, waiting for even a hint that Gaara still lived inside. The flames began to recede quickly - toad oil burnt hot and fast. The clearing left behind by the inferno was a blackened husk and smoke wandered idly upwards from soot-covered tree stumps.

The world without warning had been cast into silence, all the wildlife long since fled and the now absent sounds of battle still rang in his mind making the eerie quiet ring all the louder around him. In the centre of it all, a sphere - half-cracked glass, still soft and burning orange at the edge and half scorched sand - protected Gaara, whose own sand armour was blacked and crumbling.

The redhead stood inside it, eyes closed. Still sleeping. Naruto wanted to join him, to do anything other than move. He started walking. Each leaden, dragged footstep took him closer and closer. And around him, Gaara's sand began moving. At first, only a few grains, that slowly grew into a trickle, which built into a winding, creeping stream.

He reached Gaara, heartbeat exploding in his ears and body ready to finally give out. He cocked back a fist to deliver the blow that would wake the jinchuuriki and end this fight and swore violently when the stream of sand clasped his wrists. It wasn't so tight that it could damage him but no matter how much he fought against it he couldn't break its hold.

He summoned the last of his chakra, every scrap of energy he could manage and formed it into one final bunshin that weakly puffed into life beside Gaara.

"For Konoha," he ground out, and the Bunshin slugged Gaara squarely in the jaw. The Suna ninja fell limply to the floor but so did the remaining sand around them, ninjutsu finally broken - Gaara, unconscious.

Naruto dropped to his knees in relief, staying awake for just long enough to make sure that it really was over and to see Gamabunta disappear in a hazy explosion of smoke.