There was a sudden lurch as both Naruto and Sasuke were yanked into the air by a very frazzled looking Rainbow Dash. The sky boomed overhead and she spun, barely avoiding having her wings pierced by a volley of razor sharp kunai. They shot into the sky, charging through the sheets of rain that fell from the heavens, and landed roughly at the very edge of where the forest changed from bone to wood. Under the shelter of the ancient forest Karin tended to an unconscious Lee, and beckoned the three over to join her.
"What a nightmare, you totally owe me a preening for that, look at my wings!" Rainbow Dash protested, her feathers were out of place from the wind, and the rain made her look half-drowned and pathetic.
"You did great though, the storm is amazing, and you got Tsunade and Jiraiya to us in time." Naruto praised weakly from where he lay on the ground. "I'm out of chakra though, so it's up to them from here."
"I still can't walk." Sasuke grumbled, "and I'm running low on chakra myself. I think it'd be best if we just returned to the village. It's two on one for them anyways right?"
"I can probably heal you, Sasuke, but restoring chakra is another thing all together." Karin said, moving to check the two new arrivals over. "I've done what I could for Lee, he just needs to sleep it off."
With a few grumbles and complaints Sasuke was thrown onto Naruto's back, and Lee was draped unceremoniously over the remaining pegasus. The four ninja and the pony began a very long, slow, cold and wet walk home.
O~O~O~O~O
Thunder boomed as the combatants stared each other down. "My old teammates, so nice of you to come all this way just to see me." Orochimaru mocked.
"Enough of this. We aren't here for a reunion. You've been a twisted bastard for a long time, and we've overlooked it because of our past. But you've gone too far, attacking Konoha, trying to kill our teacher!" Jiraiya shouted over the rain, his expression serious.
"I've heard about some of your experiments. As a medic I can't stay idle while you torture and murder in pursuit of your dreams. Your death is long overdue." Tsunade said, her calm face belying her inner rage. She had spoken with Karin, intrigued by her natural healing abilities, that both woman had seemingly inherited from the Uzumaki clan. Eventually her knowledge of Orochimaru's projects came up.
"What would either of you know of dreams? Both of you turned your back on yours while I worked tirelessly towards immortality. For years you wasted your lives pursuing ridiculous hobbies and pass-times, while I only grew in strength. I have become strong in my absence, while your ties to the village have eroded the warriors you once were." Orochimaru taunted, beginning to make hand signs.
The other two Sanin followed suit, and with triple cries of "Summoning technique!" the three bosses of Toad, Slug, and Snake joined the showdown.
"So it has come to this at last." Gamabunta grumbled, his hand immediately moving to his tanto.
"At your side Milady." Katsuyu said, as Tsunade leapt to her head.
"Orochimaru!" Manda bellowed, towering over both Gamabunta and Katsuyu. "I see why I have been summoned. I will relish finally ending that pathetic toad, his death will serve as half of my 100 sacrifices this day."
With no obvious signal all three Summons leapt right into battle, Gamabunta drawing and resheathing his colossal blade in strikes invisible to the untrained eye. Manda dodged with all the grace of the king of snakes, and trees of bone collapsed around him.
The sky cracked again, and within the span of the flash of lightning Manda struck, forcing the Boss of Toads back through the deadly forest. Gamabunta grimaced as the bones pierced into him as his passage shattered the false plants, and strained his muscles to keep the Snake's mouth open.
Jiraiya took the opportunity to leap onto the head of the snake, rushing down its length to battle with Orochimaru alone. As soon as the slippery Sanin was in sight he launched into hand seals, an spat gouts of fire that vaporized the rain as they rocketed through the air. Orochimaru dodged with inhuman grace, his arms and legs and even his neck extending to strike Jiraiya from afar.
Both Sanin leapt airborne as Katsuyu attacked with a shower of acid, which coated the great purple snake and ate away at its hardened scales. Rather than risking landing on the serpent, both Sanin allowed themselves to fall to the muddy ground below. They were soon joined as Tsunade shot from the 'forest' arm cocked to deliver a deadly blow to Orochimaru's chest. He dodged by a hair's breadth, leaning back out of the strike, and then substituting with a large splinter of bone to avoid Jiraiya's Rasengan follow-up.
Tsunade kept up the pressure on the snake Sanin, forcing him farther and farther from the clashing titans in the clearing. Gamabunta had forced Manda back, and small slugs crawled across him, healing the minor injuries. They clashed, blade to fang, with strikes that put the bolts high above to shame in speed, as Katsuyu supported with gouts of acid.
Striking wide around the Toad Boss, Manda darted passed and closed in on the Slug summons, coiling around her and biting down. With a small shriek of pain the Slug burst into hundreds of smaller ones, scattering out of the crushing grip and filling the Snake boss's maw. Those caught quickly expended all of their chakra creating a thick adhesive mucous before dispelling. On the other side of the clearing the remaining slugs gathered together and reformed into a noticeably smaller Katsuyu.
Manda thrashed in rage as his mouth was sealed shut, and Gamabunta renewed his assault, forcing the serpent to dodge the deadly swipes of the Toad Boss's colossal Tanto. Katsuyu continued the assault of acid and eventually Manda surged forward in a pain-blind rage, darting past a sword strike and tackling into the toad. Gamabunta grunted with strain as his webbed feet dug into the swampy ground, grabbing hold of the horn-like projections on Manda's head and holding the beast in place. Jiraiya, spotting an opportunity, broke from the fight against Orochimaru and thrust a beach-ball sized Rasengan into the Snake boss's eye.
If Manda could speak the screech of rage would have deafened those present, as it broke from the Toad boss's hold and uncoiled Thrashing wildly around the crater he began slamming the soft ground with his head and tail, attempting to crush the impudent little human that dared wound him so. Not once in his pain addled state did it occur to him to swallow his pride and retreat.
Tsunade ran up the back of Gamabunta and leapt from the amphibian's head, approaching the snake from his new blind spot, and delivering a solid strike with all of her colossal strength. With a crash the serpent fell, finding itself impaled through the head upon a jagged spire of bone that remained among the devastation. His tantrum continued for a tense moment, until at last the coils of the former Snake Boss drew in around the pillar of bone and grew still.
"A fitting monument for the end of the Snake king. His tyranny at last comes to an end." Gamabunta grumbled, looking on as the rain poured down over the fallen snake. He raised the flask at his side in a drink to his fallen foe, a rivalry that spanned decades had at last reached an end.
Orochimaru raged from where Jiraiya was keeping him from assisting his summon. Manda had been a mighty tool, if expensive to barter the services of. In the end the serpent had chosen to remain at the Sanin's side not from loyalty, but from arrogance, and it had cost the prideful fool his death. The Snake Sanin himself considered retreat, but seeing both remaining Sanin relatively uninjured, he knew that option was off the table completely.
The remaining summons dispelled in puffs of smoke, they were tired and would be of little use against the small and slipper Orochimaru. Instead, Jiraiya and Tsunade prepared to face their former teammate alone.
"There won't be any holding back in this battle." Jiraiya said, summoning two old-looking toads to his side.
"Every blow will be fatal." Tsunade agreed, flaring her chakra.
"Only the strongest techniques will matter." Orochimaru called, running through numerous hand signs.
"And all of them will shake the earth and heavens." Jiraiya said, as both toads leapt up onto his shoulders.
"Jiraiya boy, are you sure you're finally ready to do this?" the toad simply referred to as 'Ma', asked.
"It's been a long time coming, he's been our responsibility all along." The toad Sanin answered as his eyelids took on a red hue and his nose expanded and became warty.
"I should have done this years ago Orochimaru, what's a few more years off my life to see you dead?" Tsunade said casually as the seal on her forehead flared to life.
"I'll show you the results of pursuing your dream! My ultimate technique lets me transcend the essence of serpents, and become a Dragon God!" Orochimaru shouted, as his body contorted and began to grow.
"Sage Mode!"
"Strength of a Hundred!"
"Eight Branches!"
From within the desolate bone-yard a massive eight headed serpent rose up, towering over the body of Manda. Eight tails thrashed behind it, carving the land asunder and ripping trees, both wood and bone, from the ground. With a collective roar the beast challenged all of creation to defy it.
The first head lashed downwards, fast as a strike of lighting, and decimated the ground around it. Tsunade dodged, and countered with a kick, the years of stored chakra surging through her powering her strength. The scales of the 'dragon god' cracked under the force, and a punch sent the beast reeling. A second head came downwards, maw wide and fangs dripping poison. With a casual gesture the legendary medic caught the strike, the ground buckling around her feet from the impact. Her hand dripped blood as she rested a foot on the serpent's lower jaw, wedging the mouth open, as a series of quick punches 'defanged' the head.
It reared back, hissing at the pain of losing its teeth, as another two heads moved in on her. Grabbing one of the dislodged fangs, as long as her arm and dripping purple poison into the puddles around her, she leapt into the air. A downwards kick sent the first head slamming into the mud, its eyes crossed from the impact to its skull. With a spin she threw the fang with all of her strength, sending it into the open mouth of the second striking snake, and lodging it firmly within its brain.
With that final head unmoving she leapt to its neck and ran towards the junction of the great beast, the three recovering heads behind her were slow to follow.
A head reared up and spat gouts of poison at Jiraiya, who darted among the cratered battlefield dodging the projectiles and other striking heads. From his shoulders Ma and Pa spat fire and oil into the faces of those who struck too close, the rain spreading the flames across the eyes of the furious snake. A quick genjutsu from Ma made one of the striking snake heads slam into the swampy ground in front of the Sanin. With a few hand signs the ground softened further, drawing the head into the muck where the neck thrashed in fury. Another set of hand signs and a stomp, and the ground hardened, trapping the head beneath the ground.
Two more heads struck at him, while the third remained behind, spitting globs of purple sludge. He leapt over the first, and punched the second aside, seeing the cracks in the scales as the natural energy around his fist do its job. Rushing the dazed foe, he drew several prepared seals and stuck them along the length of the head. A single chakra suppressing seal wouldn't hold the beast, but two dozen should keep it down.
The spitting head hissed and prepared another volley, as both Jiraiya and the toad elders made a rapid series of hand signs. With a deep breath, the volley of poison sludge was overwhelmed by a gout of fire, oil and wind. The firestorm shot into the serpent's open mouth, and reduced the head into a thrashing immolated husk.
The final head surged, and broke free of the ground, only to be met by a Rasengan bigger than Jiraiya himself. As it slumped to the ground defeated, he turned and ran to where the bodies joined, to meet up with Tsunade, and end this chapter on their lives.
O~O~O~O~O
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood upon the 'shoulders' of the great beast, behind them Massive spines rose up into the air, and beyond them eight tails continued to thrash. Three large heads turned to cast a baleful glare upon them. "This is over Orochimaru, your dream falls short, here and now, and we'll ensure your legacy burns along with you." Tsunade called, the markings that covered her body glowed in response.
"You have accomplished Nothing!" A voice roared from the three heads. "All that I have wrought upon this world cannot be undone. The scars will remain, and through them the people will know of my existence! Eventually one will rise to follow in my footsteps!"
As the remaining heads moved to strike, the two toad elders began croaking, casting them into a genjutsu. Suddenly the eight-headed serpent found all eight sets of eyes awake and aware, and every head trapped within the gates of a wall. "Genjutsu!" He hissed, the massive surge of chakra from the 'Eight Branches' technique threw his delicate control out of balance, and he struggled to dispel the illusion.
Within the circular wall stood a samurai in regal armor, hefting a large and deadly sword. Despite how he struggled he could not break free as the samurai strode forward, and he screamed in rage as one by one cleaved each head from his body.
"A poetic end, don't you think?" Jiraiya asked to his companion, as she hefted the ceremonial sword of the toads. Before them the headless remains of their former teammate fell to the ground, as the tails finally ceased their thrashing. In the sky above the rain ceased, and light began to shine down on the desolate ground below.
With the death of its controller, the great serpent glowed and cracked, as if burning away from the inside, and steadily the ashes blew away on the wind. Within minutes the body was gone, leaving the two surviving Sanin standing at the centre of a wasteland of ash and bone and craters. The spire holding the body of Manda remained a sole highpoint, towering up like royalty over a kingdom of death.
The two toad elders unsummoned, and the markings on Tsunade's body withdrew into the seal on her forehead. "Five years of stored chakra... who knows how many years off my life." She said, gazing down at her slightly withered hands. They would recover, in time, but she was certain she had aged years. "It was worth all of it to end that monster's madness."
"We have a village to return to Princess." Jiraiya said, gesturing towards Konoha.
"I hate you seeing me like this." Tsunade grumbled, falling into step beside her remaining teammate.
"You still look as beautiful as ever." Jiraiya said, for once not making any lecherous attempts.
O~O~O~O~O
The aftermath of the 'Sasuke Rescue' mission, as Naruto called it, was surprisingly light. To the ninja council, it was merely the response to another attack by Orochimaru, who orchestrated the kidnapping of their last Uchiha. Sasuke was found to be entirely not at fault, after blurring the truth a smidge, and after a brief stay at the hospital to fix his legs, was let off scot free. Well, mostly...
The moment he was released from the hospital a very irate cyan pegasus informed him that he'd be preening her wings for a month as payment for 'pulling their flanks from the fire.' When he complained about it not being Naruto's responsibility, the blonde merely shurgged and said "Summoner's privilege."
Naruto was reprimanded for overusing the Kyuubi's chakra, after it was discovered that doing so had severely strained his coils. He of course shrugged it off and escaped the hospital within minutes of being admitted. A gentle reminder that he had hit a solid object at the speed of sound and not only survived, but recovered in a week, kept the doctors off of his back.
Lee was recovering nicely from a concussion, and vowed to train even harder in the future.
Jiraiya and Tsunade both spent nearly a week in the bars, both mourning and celebrating, sharing stories of their youth and accomplishments.
Sakura had immediately cornered her teacher and demanded remedial lessons, the subject being Earth techniques.
O~O~O~O~O
"Kakashi!" Sakura called, finally tracking her teacher to the memorial stone. "You know a lot of techniques right?"
"Hmm? Oh, Sakura, we aren't meeting today, the boys are still recovering." Kakashi said, turning from the monument.
"I know, they fought a real monster on that mission, which is why I want to get stronger. Do you know of any techniques that increase your mass without increasing your size?" Sakura asked hopefully.
Kakashi pondered a moment, running through his mental library of stolen techniques. "I know of one, the increased weight is a side effect though, that most ninja struggle to work around, why?"
"I have this idea for a new fighting style, what's the technique?" Sakura asked, positively giddy at hitting pay-dirt.
"It's called the Earth Spear technique. You run earth chakra through either part of all of your body, hardening it but increasing its weight. The more chakra you put into it, the harder it gets, but the heavier it gets. When a ninja uses it to its full extent, even Gai couldn't manage a jogging pace." Kakashi replied.
"Teach me!" Sakrua's eyes lit up, this was better than she could ever have asked for.
O~O~O~O~O
A week had passed, and the boys had both recovered and begun training once more. Jiraiya had analyzed Sasuke's modified seal and came to a startling conclusion. Team seven gathered around to hear the news.
"The old seal worked a lot like Tsunade's, storing chakra over time to be used as a reserve for later. The added aggression is a result of chemical imbalances, as you know. The new seal, however, does a few things differently. Most notably, the pill you took was likely enzymes that the seal was specifically designed to absorb. Doing so cancelled the death sentence over your head, but also caused some odd effects..." The Sanin said, getting nods so far.
"Here's the weird part. Those enzymes naturally draw Nature Energy from the environment and store it within the seal." Seeing he had lost his audience he explained. "Nature Energy exists in all environments, and is produced by all living things. Part of becoming a sage is learning how to draw it in from your environment. Using a mixture of regular chakra and natural energy is what gives rise to sage techniques."
"Now the tricky thing is, natural energy is a mixture of thousands of types, so you normally have to be trained to draw in a specific one. The toads, for example, use special oil to help sages get a feel for a specific brand of energy, which gives rise to toad sage abilities, and appearance. Those enzymes in your seal? They draw in a mixture, unrefined nature chakra, so when you open the seal enough it will flood your system and change your appearance, but not in the right way. That's why you get weird hand/wings." He continued.
"Alright, so where did Orochimaru find these enzymes, there's got to be a large source of them, because each of those sound ninja changed in different ways." Sakura pointed out.
"Tsunade and her apprentices are going to make occasional trips to search Orochimaru's old bases, when her duties as Hokage allow her to. She offered for you to come along with her, Sakura." Jiraiya said, turning to the pink haired girl.
"In the mean time, you, Sasuke, have a tremendous opportunity ahead of you. Theoretically, if you use the seal enough, and focus on the nature energy, you should be able to isolate a pure strain and learn to draw that in on your own. It'll have limitations, more than most sage arts, but it does seem possible." Jiraiya concluded.
The three chuunin went back to training, each of them thinking of their future.
O~O~O~O~O
A month had passed, Sakura stood in an abandoned training ground, shattered rocks surrounding her. Her skin had taken on a dark tanned appearance, clashing heavily with her pink hair, but she had long ago cast away the importance of appearance for a serious ninja. She felt the flow of her chakra as it moved within her, isolating and converting it into earth chakra subconsciously. She felt the weight of the technique at its lowest setting settle on her, quickly becoming second nature, like a minor version of Lee and his ankle weights.
To her right a slab of solid rock rose up, and she met it with a punch. Mid swing she pulsed her chakra, and for the split second that her fist impacted the rock the weight of her forearm increased. The result was a massive increase in momentum, leaving the slab of rock to splinter on impact. The arm retracted, returning to its original weight just as quickly, as the pinkette ran through her entire taijustu kata, using the rock as a punching bag. When it was demolished she fell to the ground panting, as Kakashi entered the clearing.
"Looks like five hundred pounds is my limit right now." She sighed, as her teacher handed her a bottle of water. "I can go higher, but not within the timeframe of a single hit. I'd have to slow my strikes, and that would leave an opening. You're right though, defensively this technique is amazing, I can become as hard as diamond, but immobile."
"That's also its weakness remember, lighting techniques will punch right through you." Kakashi reminded her. "Now, I believe we need to gather to see the Hokage. We're already two hours late." He eye-smiled.
O~O~O~O~O
Tsunade grumbled as Kakashi finally decided to show up. It was bad enough that he had this terrible habit, but now he was dragging his students down with him. "I've called you here to discuss your plans for the future. Jiraiya has petitioned for a three year training trip to teach Naruto to better control the Kyuubi. I feel no need to hide from you the fact that this is also to distract the Akatsuki, who have began to move."
Jiraiya grinned, already planning trips to the most famous bath-houses in the land.
"I'll agree to this so long as we do the trip in Equestria." Naruto replied, causing the adults to look up in surprise. "With those seals Pinky created, we can all go there, and spend the entire three years training in peace. Akatsuki won't be able to find us there."
"I'll be going too, if that's alright." Sasuke added, getting a nod from Kakashi. "I need some time alone to train, and Equestria has plenty of open space, and friendly locals."
"And you, Sakura? I am officially offering you the chance to train under me, as well as a place on my team dismantling Orochimaru's old bases." Tsunade said, turning to the pink haired girl, who was looking quite disheveled from training.
"Thank you, lady Hokage, but I must decline." She said, to the adults shock. "I've found my own path to power, and I hope to pursue it in Equestria, like the boys."
"Well then, I still expect Fluttershy to arrive for her lessons, she will assist in the missions as well, as my apprentice." Tsunade grumbled. Getting frantic nods from Naruto. "Very well then, you're all dismissed for the next three years. Jiraiya, you can go with them or not, it's your choice."
O~O~O~O~O
The next day found the three chuunin gathered at the centre of Ponyville, each packed for a long journey. "Well, this is goodbye for now. Celestia has called me to Canterlot, she wants me to begin training on 'pony arts', yin and yang chakra it seems."
"I'm heading into the wilderness, some place with lots of rocks to continue my training. No doubt I'll stumble into something, knowing our luck on missions." Sakura said, smiling at her two closest friends.
"I'm headed to the far mountain ranges. Dash told me of her old friend Gilda, a griffon. She spoke of Highperch, their city in the mountains. It seems like a perfect place to train." Saskue grinned.
"If they don't kill you." Naruto snorted. "Good luck to both of you. I'll meet you back here in three years."
The three all placed their hands together, and then broke to walk their separate ways.