Two larger-than-life snakes circled Jiraiya, separating him from the others. They were tan and had black markings, much like the ones from the curse mark Sasuke had. "What's your real goal, Orochimaru?!" Jiraiya yelled up to the man, who was standing on one of the snakes' heads.

He chuckles, his voice raspy and sounding like two pieces of sand paper rubbing together. "Jiraiya, we both know what the real goal is—to heal my arms." Orochimaru's golden eyes flashed. "Or is it?" He looked down where Sakura and Sasuke were, Naruto beside them and attempting to conjure chakra to perform a summoning all the while stepsiding the occasional jabs Sakura made at him when her opponent engaging.

"Gahhh!" Naruto yelled, then slammed his palm into the earth. A small cloud came, revealing an orange toad that could fit in the palm of his hand. "You're not the big guy!"

"No," came the nasally, high-pitched voice, sounding highly offended, "Pops is out at the moment. So I came instead."

"What? You can't do anything, —ttebayo!" Naruto cried internally, thinking of other ways to help fight. He watched as Sakura almost nerve-rackingly stabbed Sasuke.

Sakura watched the interaction carefully, then turned back towards her fight. In the corner of her eye, she managed to catch a few moves while fighting Sasuke. Tsunade's apprentice was good, but Kabuto was better. He managed to use every one of her attacks against her, all while still under the effects of Tsunade's jutsu. However, even Sakura could tell that it was wearing off fast—unlike the chances of Kabuto winning.

Naruto had by then given up on summoning, and with Gamakichi, watched from the sideline. Slowly, he placed the toad down and crept into the fight, trying to make the advantage of two against one. "Sakura-chan, stop! Kakashi-sensei said we need teamwork, not fighting each other!"

"When did he ever pay attention to me? I am not obligated to listen to him, because he has never shown any sign of being a real sensei." Sakura grunted, her hair sticking to her neck from how sweaty she was.

Neither boys denied what she had said. They only dodged another sweep from her plant sword.

"Your sensei has ignored me for what he thinks I am: the direct descendant of the First Hokage." She struck again, and continued. "And that was his fatal mistake. I know what I truly am. I am a tool to be used at the disposal of Orochimaru. I will destroy Konohagakure."

Sasuke managed to glance in the corner of his sight to Tsunade, Shizune, and Kabuto. The assistant was immobilized, and Tsunade was kneeling, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the man's bloody hands. "Naruto," Sasuke barked. "Help the hag. I'll take on Sakura."

Instead of immediately going to help Shizune, Naruto stayed, now back on the sidelines. "Stop fighting Sasuke, Sakura-chan!" He ignored Gamakichi's protests and pleas to help the black-haired woman.

Sakura remained impassive and dodged a crude punch to her face. She glanced in the corner of her eye to the sword knocked out of her hands, then back to Sasuke, who stood there, panting and trying to regain his breath. "Do not speak, Naruto." She didn't bother to turn to look back; only stared at Sasuke.

"But Sakura-chan!" The blonde protested, then gritted his teeth when Kabuto laughed.

"You think you can convince her otherwise, even if she could hear you? She's a mindless, stupid tool, made only for the purpose of serving Lord Orochimaru!" The medic-nin lunged once again, his hand a bright blue, just barely glancing against the orange jumpsuit. Shizune was still trying to wipe the blood off of Tsunade and calm her.

"Sakura-chan can do it, dattebayo! And she's not dumb! She's one of my best friends and the smartest person I know; she was my first friend. She saved me from my darkness, even if she didn't know entirely what she was doing, —ttebayo!" Naruto breathed heavily, obviously tired. Suddenly, he began to see black that was starting to cover his sight. Not now! If I pass out, Baa-chan...Teme...Sakura-chan... He blinked, then shook his head. All the training with Pervy-Sage will have gone to waste if I can't defend them! I need more chakra! After dodging another kick, Naruto skidded away a few meters, putting his hands into a single hand sign in concentration. I might have just enough to make it...

Blue eyes snapped open in determination as he created another clone to assist him. "Alright, let's go, —ttebayo!" He instructed the clone to begin shooting out chakra from his hand onto the original's opened palm. He shut out the hysterical laughs from the grey-haired man and closed his eyes. I have to protect them, the same way Sakura-chan protected me for so many years! Naruto gritted his teeth until he felt the familiar sensation in his hand, and grinned, allowing the another clone to begin attacking Kabuto. One chance is all I've got!

As he and his clone tag-teamed the medic, Naruto finally managed to catch Kabuto off-guard, and hit him straight in the stomach, causing the medic's arms and legs to fly forward while the rest of his body flew the opposite way. "Rasengan!" Naruto's hand stayed on his stomach for a few more seconds before Kabuto completely crashed into the rubble behind him, a mouthful of blood leaking from his mouth due to the pure force.

"Heh." Naruto grinned and wiped his mouth with his orange sleeve. I did it! His grin fell when Kabuto began producing a green light from his hand, and then held it up to where the Rasengan had hit him.

"It wasn't my wide variety of jutsu," Kabuto started, "Nor did I have any sort of Kekkei Genkai Orochimaru was interested in. What he did want...was my incredible healing ability!" He smiled creepily as the outer layer of skin knitted itself back together. However, I won't be able to last much longer since the majority of my chakra went into healing that. Then, his smirk grew wider when Naruto dropped backwards on his back, coughing up blood.

This prompted Tsunade to finally move as she scurried towards the boy. Her eyebrows furrowed and she threw her green jacket off as she began scanning Naruto's body with her chakra. She gasped, then looked up sharply at the near-approaching medic. "When did you...?"

"As he hit me with his cursed Rasengan, I managed to shred a part of his heart muscles using my chakra scalpels." Kabuto took another step before grimacing, then gasping quietly as his glasses broke. That jutsu affected me more than I thought. Then, his knees buckled, and he face planted on the ground, breathing heavily. He chuckled. "It's too late. Poor Naruto-kun is dead."

Tsunade tried to steady her shaking hands, but couldn't bring them to a full stop as she sliced Naruto's undershirt down the middle, revealing his still chest. Her hand glowed a faint green as she started mending the muscle tissue. Please... She thought of Nawaki, and his bloody body after being sent to war when he was just a genin. Please. She thought of Dan, and how she couldn't shake the thought of his blood staining her hands when she couldn't save him. Please! She thought of what all three had in common: "I'm going to be Hokage one day!"

A movement jolted her from her thoughts. It was a hand...grabbing her necklace, which had been hanging over Naruto's face the whole time. "I earned it, dattebayo," he muttered, his eyes half-closed.

A solemn smile made its way to her lips as Tsunade pried his hand off her necklace and she stopped healing him. "Let it be a good luck charm for whoever wears it!" She unclasped it from her neck and clasped it around his, then kissed his forehead gently before she felt a heavy presence behind her, which only left her a split-second to decide...

What will Tsunade decide to do?!

Who will win?

What will happen to Sakura at the end of the battle?!