//------------------------------// // Flipping Tables // Story: Friendship Contract // by Demeristraz //------------------------------// With a flash of magic, a pair of massive orange wings appeared upon the sides of the Ixion. A single mighty flap and the ship went airborne. Genin scrambled about on its deck as it began to circle the village. "Hard to port Scootaloo, our quarry has been spotted heading for the north wall. We'll drop off team seven and then join the battle!" Sweetie yelled as the ship pulled into a swooping dive, the genin anchoring their feet to the deck with chakra. The ship pulled up in time for its hull to scrape over the treetops as they chased their prey out of the village. "We'll take it from here, the rest of you go defend the village." Naruto called over the rushing wind, he and Sasuke approaching the edge of the ship. "I'll stick with the ship, I'm no match for someone like Gaara." Sakura called, getting nods from the boys. "I'll join you two, Kankuro is my opponent, after all." Shino spoke up, moving to join the other two genin at the side of the ship. With a parting wave to the crew the three leapt. O~O~O~O~O "So... After all these years we meet in battle once more. I finally get to correct the mistake I made so long ago, Orochimaru." Saruitobi said, staring down his wayward student. Beside him stood Princess Luna, looking less impressive in broad daylight. "Luna, as always you are too impulsive." Princess Celestia called, from outside the large barrier. "Go and help the other ninja then, I shall aid the Third in dealing with this serpent." Luna said casually, the area within the barrier beginning to darken. "I could disable the barrier if you like." Celestia replied, raising an eyebrow. "Do not bother, it is the snake that is locked in here with us." Luna said dismissively, and Celestia went out to aid the village. O~O~O~O~O The Ixion flew low over the village, cannons firing rapidly upon the invading forces, barrages of fire blew apart enemy formations, concussive bursts of lightning left enemies dazed and unconscious, and frigid blasts of ice trapped victims in makeshift prisons. On the deck Sweetie shouted orders, as Shikamaru played an advising role in their defensive plan. Kiba, Lee, and Sakura stood ready to repel boarders as the others manned the cannons. The first wave was upon them within minutes of their assault, five sound ninja leapt from a nearby rooftop, clinging to the hull with chakra, and scaling the ship to the deck. The first to leap up was met with a spinning kick by Lee, and with a shout battle was joined. Kiba and Akamaru took two, tag teaming them and covering eachother's weaknesses in ways their opponents couldn't match. Within moments their opponents were unceremoniously thrown overboard, one of them bouncing painfully off a massive orange wing. Lee's first opponent was sent flying before the battle could even begin, and his second barely lasted much longer, but for every squad of opponents struck down by cannon fire a few slipped past and on to the ship. The three konoha ninja kept pace, knowing the difference in the overall battle the ship was making every second it kept up the assault. Soon, however, it appeared the invaders realized the same thing, and ship was rocked hard when a truly monstrous summoned snake lashed out and wrapped the Ixion in a crushing embrace. In a rush the upper deck was flooded with ninja who used the serpent as a ladder. Lee's response was a resounding cry, as his leg weights came off and his first three gates opened. In a flurry of speed the boarding party was decimated, their bodies rag dolling as they flew overboard. Lee collapsed near the stairs to the lower deck, his body unable to keep up with the strain. "There's more coming up! We need to get out of here!" Sweetie's voice rang out over the now silent deck. "That snake is holding us down, we can't move like this!" came Scootaloo's reponse. The silence was broken by Sakura, rushing up to the bow of the ship and the great snake's head. "GET!" she yelled, dodging a snap of its massive jaws and punching it between the eyes. "OFF!" She yelled again, another blow pounding its head. "MY!" she threw a kick, cracking the teeth in its mouth as its head was knocked sideways. "SHIP!" with a final cry and a chakra charged strike she delivered a punishing uppercut to the head of the serpent, the snake relented with a defeated roar, letting go of the ship and flailing around wildly before unsummoning itself. "The ship's too damaged, we need to take it back to Equestria!" Apple Bloom shouted, running up onto the deck. "If we're going down, we're taking something big out with us!" Shouted Sweetie Belle in response, gazing about over the battle field as they took to higher air. In the distance a massive hydra-like snake was wreaking havoc on the buildings of Konoha's merchant district, elsewhere giant toads fought other summons attempting to enter the village. "There! Prepare the prime cannon, fire everything we've got at that hydra!" "There's enough magic on bored to fly for almost a month!" Scootaloo argued, turning the bow of the boat towards the rampaging monster. "I know! But we won't be flying again anytime soon with this much damage. Charge the cannon and fire!" Sweetie Belle ordered. At the head of the ship, the ornamental Alicorn's horn began to glow. O~O~O~O~O In the forests on the outskirts of Konoha, Naruto and Sasuke closed in on their chosen opponent. Shino had diverted from them, choosing instead to stay behind and fight Kankuro. Ahead in a clearing Gaara stood on a branch, leaning against a tree and panting as he was slowly engulfed by a monstrosity of sand. "Gaara! We were getting worried about you, when you ran off like that." Naruto said casually. "Never... Never has anyone made me bleed... I have killed countless ninja, survived hundreds of assassination attempts by my own village... never have I experienced this feeling." Gaara said, his voice barely keeping stable. Naruto flinched at the life those words revealed. "You don't have to go through with his Gaara. Whatever the plan is, you don't have to fight your friends." Naruto tried to reason with him. "I don't have friends. I am a monster! This is what I am inside, this is what I must become, to kill all of Konoha and prove my existence!" He roared, sand moving to engulf him further. With a shrill screech he lunged at the two Konoha ninja, now a monstrous tanuki of sand, lashing out with elongated arms and a tail. Each swat was strong enough to tear through tree trunks, and when Naruto tried to defend a single backhand cracked a Twilight bubble, shattering it against the tree twenty meters away. The boys of team seven changed tactics, one gaining the enraged beat's attention while the other peppered it with attacks, switching roles as the monstrosity changed targets. With a furious roar Gaara's sand body swelled, and began firing air bullets at the surrounding forest, tearing small branches and bark from trees as they passed. Sasuke managed to dodge behind a thicker tree, Naruto took one to the chest and was rewarded with his Shining Armor, even at full power, being shredded like rice paper. Naruto growled as he rose to his feet, for the third time today drawing on the Kyuubi's orange chakra, he drew a kunai and exhaled, forming a solid blade of deadly wind. Elsewhere Sasuke darted from his hiding place, his seal active to its first level. He too drew his sword, and with a hiss it sprung to life with lightning chakra. O~O~O~O~O Orochimaru was put on the defensive immediately, while Luna appeared to be weaker in the daylight, she was still far from a pushover. Still the Snake Sanin managed to gain enough breathing room to perform a technique that would change the tide of battle. With a long stream of hand signs three coffins began to rise from the ground. "I have some old friends of yours that would like to see you again, Sarutobi." He mocked. "We must stop that third coffin!" The Third Hokage yelled, even as the first two rose to their full height. Luna immediately shot out a burst of lightning, which punched through the heavy wood of the coffin, obliterating the delicate ritual. "The first two will still be enough!" Orochimaru growled, completing his technique, he drew two seal-laden tags and pushed them forward, reviving and taking control of the first two Hokages. Luna noticed the grim look on the Hokages face, and reflected it on her own, sneering in disgust at the act of desecration. "Enough, Ye Thinks Thyself Powerful? We Shall Show Ye the Meaning of Such a Word!" She cried in a booming voice, even as a massive tree burst from the rooftops. Luna was unimpressed, being capable of such feats using earth pony magic. Instead she called in the newly formed shadows, and cloaked herself in their protective embrace. Where before she was a beautiful Alicorn, smaller and more delicate than her older sister, she now stood tall and proud, equally as beautiful but with an intimidating presence. With a massive surge of magic the area within the barrier changed. Darkness permeated the air until the view of the outside world was cut off, replaced instead by a million pinpricks of light. "Behold my Domain! Compared to the Night Sky, Thou Art Insignificant, a Tiny Speck on the Surface of a Tiny Planet!" The two reanimated Hokages rushed in to fight Sarutobi, their combat taking them into the branches of the massive tree, dancing in and out of close combat and exchanging techniques in the twinkling star-light. Orochimaru made to attack his chosen opponent, and ran through appropriate hand seals to blow her away with a gust of wind, when he was suddenly forced to frantically dodge. The sky was falling. O~O~O~O~O Naruto and Sasuke fell into a groove, harassing and harrying their opponents around the forest, cutting and slicing away at any sand based appendage that rose to meet them. The beast still raged, and the environment around them was torn asunder in collateral damage. It had grown bigger, as time went on, now the size of a one story building, claws and tail swiping away with reckless fury. Naruto dodged another swipe, rolling to the forest floor as the tree he was previously perched on was uprooted from the impact. He rolled into another leap as the ground gave out from beneath him, revealing a deadly sinkhole that threatened to suck him in. On the other side of the clearing Sasuke parried with a fanged sand appendage that flailed wildly from where it was rooted in the ground. The ground itself was turning against the ninja, and they were racing against the clock to put down their opponent. Already it had rooted itself, and refused to be moved any further. The ground had quickly become a sandy wasteland, with arms and claws like the one Sasuke battled against reaching up at them whenever they stood on a perch too long. The Tanuki's main arms, the ones attached to his body, would reach out and smash away nearby trees, the debris quickly dragged below the surface to deny the ninja safe haven. When Naruto or Sasuke moved too far out of the monster's reach, it would inhale sharply and pepper the surrounding canopies with lethally fast bullets of air. The beast swatted away Naruto a final time, peering around in anticipation of Sasuke's responding attack. When none came it prepared to switch to long range. Dozens of mouths opened up all over its body, drawing gallons of air from the environment and saturating it with wind chakra. In a near suicidal move, Sasuke leaped from his hiding spot among the debris and landed on the beast. With a few quick hand signs the last Uchiha blew fire into an inhaling mouth, and kicked off, letting the resulting explosion carry him far away. He was caught mid flight and pulled to the safety of the trees by his teammate, burnt and injured but wearing a satisfied smirk as he looked back at the crater left behind. The smirk faded as the land heaved, and began to flow like rivers towards the center of the devastation. O~O~O~O~O Orochimaru dodged, like he had never dodged before as searing points of light fell around him. Each one plummeted at different speeds, plummeting downwards but never seeming to touch the ground. He had attempted an earth technique, and watched with morbid fascination as the stars tore through it without regard for its presence. The curious nature of the technique was ignored, he had to remain focused, darting in and out of the falling stars and again closing in on his prey. Each time he closed in she would disappear into the inky blackness that permeated the area. He did not know if she was teleporting or simply masking her presence, but as yet he had not been able to get in range to use his taijutsu or his legendary sword, and it was beginning to tire his patience. Finally he managed to catch a break, finding a gap in the seemingly random pattern of falling death, and flipping through hand signs, a searing gout of fire flew from his mouth, closing in on the Alicorn Princess. She concentrated for a moment, grabbing the abundance of shadows and moulding it into a shape. The blast dissipated harmlessly on some sort of invisible mass before it could reach her. The mass then opened its eyes and roared. The Snake Sanin resumed dodging, now realizing the mass wasn't invisible, it merely matched the scenery. It seemed to be a bear, the borders of its existence marked out by bright points of light upon an inky black backdrop. It stood several orders of magnitude larger than him, with massive fangs and claws of crackling energy. If Orochimaru doubted the ground was truly there anymore, seeing the odd behavior of the stars, the doubt was quashed when he felt the roof beneath him rumble with each step the creature took. The rumbling was echoed from behind him and to his right, two quick glances showed two more creatures, equally as big. A scorpion and a lion stalked towards him. O~O~O~O~O Naruto sent several clones running with Sasuke to get him to safety, leaving him to shudder in terror at the monstrosity before him. Gaara had done some sort of ability that put him to sleep, leaving the beast within in total control. It stood nearly as tall as the Hokage's tower, made entirely out of sand and chakra. Gaara stood atop its forehead, asleep and wobbling as the great Tanuki roared and cheered at its freedom. Naruto mentally ran through his list of abilities and the abilities of his friends for anything that could deal with such a creature. He drew a blank, only the Kyuubi fought on this scale, and he was certain the Tankui before him was already sealed. He'd have to wake up Gaara, but getting up there seemed impossible. He was jolted out of his musings by a presence alighting on his branch. "Hello my faithful summoner, how fairs the defensive efforts?" Celestia asked, seemingly unphased by the monster before her. "I enjoyed your fight with Neji, although many feel you could have been less boastful." "The goal was to show off why I deserve to be promoted, an inspirational struggle against overwhelming odds would have entertained the crowd no doubt, but that would have shown I can barely hold my own against a talented genin. Honestly I don't like being so hard on that guy, but he is a real arrogant jerk, and it's not like he's the only one to have lost his parents protecting the village." Naruto said, before remembering where he was. "Anyways what are you doing here? Is everything okay in the village?" "I completely agree, and will report as such to the Hokage." Celestia said, "Speaking of, Luna is aiding the Hokage, she asked me to help out as well, but everything seems to be well in hand. Aside from this of course. It is a Biju yes? Like the Kyuubi I believe. Not as well sealed as yours obviously." "Gaara's up there, I need to wake him up to stop this thing. Think you can keep it from killing me while I get up there and smack him awake?" Naruto asked. "I think I can manage." Celestia replied with a grin. "You may wish to look away though." From the forest north of Konoha, the sun rose a second time that day. O~O~O~O~O Within the barrier Orochimaru was caught between a rock and a hard place. The rain of stars continued, seemingly doing no harm to the beasts that fought against him. Despite their size they struck with a ferocity matching the animals they represented, and even calling the two revived Hokage's back to aid him only allowed him slight breathing room. The Ursa was currently bound in massive roots, which were slowly being eroded by the astral rain, and the First and Second Hokage fought valiantly against the Scorpio off to one side. Leaping away from another swipe by the Leo, he performed a summoning. "Orochimaru! How dare you summon ME for your pathetic revenge attempt!" Came a bellowing voice, as the snake boss himself rose to full height within the barrier. As large as the living constellations were, Manda towered over even them. "Bring me victory and you may devour anyone you find within the village!" Orochmaru ordered, directing his summon to break the barrier from the inside, he had attempted to dispell the technique himself, but whatever Luna had done prevented him from communicating with his elite guard. With a crash Manda threw himself at the edge of the field, roaring as the falling stars seared his scales. With a swat of his tail he batted aside the Leo, and crashed against the boundary a second time. This time it broke, sending light into the arena and disrupting Luna's spells. The scenery faded, and with it the astral rain. The constellations roared feeling the light leech away at the magic holding them together. With a final surge they pounced, the Ursa ripping from his bonds to land on Orochimaru himself, the Scorpio and Leo each pinning a Hokage. As the light burned away at them the points of illumination collapsed inwards, becoming a black hole and drawing in their surroundings. The previous Hokages made no noise as they were drawn into the void, but Orochimaru screamed and struggled, his arms caught within the inescapable pull. In a final act of desperation he spat up his sword, and with a sweep of his neck lopped off his arms, breaking free of the gravity well and darting at his former master. Catching him off guard he managed to run the Third through, not a fatal wound but he hoped the poison of the blade would finish the old man off. As Konoha ninja closed in on the group through the crashing barrier, his elite guard leapt to his aid and helped cover his escape. The invasion was a failure as far as he was concerned. O~O~O~O~O In the market district a happily rampaging three headed snake summon was suddenly struck by a little beam from a flying ship. A beam that marked the charging of a laser. Before any of its three heads could fathom what was going on a wave of force hit it, square in the neck where the three heads converged. Back, the force pushed it, passed the ruined market district. Back passed the walls of the city, passed the wrecked forest that it had rampaged through, passed the summoning sight where the little sound ninja had called upon it. On and on it tumbled as the beam continued pushing, until it rolled like a wound up ball of yarn out into the middle of a lake. The spell then dissipated, allowing it to sink to the bottom, where it disappeared in a puff of smoke. O~O~O~O~O In the forest North of Konoha the sun rose a second time. Celestia rose into the air, shining with a blinding radiance as she gathered power. The Tanuki raged, seeing a creature step forward to challenge his freedom, and made to swat the pesky little thing. In a single display of raw power a cone of light shot forward, engulfing the entirety of the mass of living sand. In the forest North of Konoha stood a new monument, a Tanki the size of the Hokage's tower, made entirely out of glass. A redheaded boy stood napping on its forehead.