Hokage! Past and Present! - 1

"What is this, Orochimaru?" Hiruzen's voice was low as his former pupil abandoned his disguise as the Kazekage. He held a kunai warningly to the Sandaime's throat, "How dare you return to this village after all that you have done!"

The snake sennin smirked widely, staring blankly ahead, "Oh, I think you know very well what all of this is, Hiruzen-sensei," Nearby, other Sound nin were approaching the rooftop of the stands, "It's time for you and this miserable village to die, but you don't need me to tell you that, do you?"

Hiruzen broke away from Orochimaru's hold, turning to face him, finally seeing through the lie of the Chunin Exam. It had only been a cover so that the snake sennin's plans could be set in motion and with no warning to Konoha either.

'Indeed, he is as cunning as ever…' Hiruzen cast aside his robe, staring at his former pupil, 'I could have ended this long ago and now I have no choice!'

The pale-faced shinobi observed his former teacher in amusement. He looked far less formidable than he remembered: resembling a short, stick-like creature in his black attire. He was certainly no longer a ninja in his prime years of life.

"This is the end for you," Orochimaru warned while four Oto ninja took their places at each of the four corners of the roof, "You knew that if I did not die by your hand that you would die by mine!"

Hiruzen closed his eyes, troubled by the memory of when he discovered that his most gifted pupil was experimenting with people all for the sake of creating new jutsu. He could not bring himself to kill him that day, even when given the opportunity.

"Four Flames Formation!" The four Sound ninja who had arrived used a powerful barrier jutsu that encompassed the entire building surrounding Orochimaru and the Hokage. ANBU guards scrambled up the stands from the battle below, able to sense that the Sandaime was in peril.

Hiruzen attacked first, forming familiar hand seals, "Katon: Karyu Endan!"

The Third spat out a vicious flamethrower that raked across the rooftop, incinerating tiles in its wake, and sped directly toward the snake sennin. Orochimaru had foreseen the attack and dodged with ease, greatly entertained by the Sandaime's hot-blooded assault.

Orochimaru's laughter filled the air as he avoided Hiruzen's volley of attacks with little effort. Outside the wall of the barrier, Black-Ops teams had descended frantically, fully aware of what the snake sennin's intentions were.

"Wait!" The ANBU captain halted a few paces from the barrier, as did most of his subordinates. One of his more eager warriors darted ahead without stopping and met the wall, slashing at it with his sword. He was in flames the next moment and dead soon after.

A grim expression was hidden behind the captain's mask, "This wall is impenetrable! We'll have to hold back until it comes down." His team agreed with him silently, but they too were still restless, desperate to help their Hokage.

Orochimaru paused, calculating his next move cautiously as the Sandaime attacked him again, "Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu!" The hail of shuriken Hiruzen had thrown multiplied into a storm of projectiles aimed expertly for his former student.

The snake sennin countered with a jutsu of his own, "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!"

A coffin rose up from the tiles in front of him, meeting the majority of the shuriken and halting them completely. The remainder of the projectiles soared past him harmlessly on either side and he proceeded with his jutsu, two more coffins rising up on either side of the first.

Hiruzen stared ahead in horror and watched as the containers opened. The previous Hokages of Konohagakure emerged from them and they were bewildered by their surroundings.

The Second turned to his older brother with a detached look of curiosity, "We have been summoned here, I see. The use of my forbidden technique is responsible for this."

The First turned to him, nodding, "Yup, this is all your fault, Tobirama. This kind of jutsu should never have landed in the wrong hands! Just who expects to accomplish anything by reanimating us?"

Both the first and second Hokages turned to the last of the trio who emerged from the center coffin with an adorable look of surprise on his face. He had a mop of golden hair and bright blue eyes that belied his youth.

The Fourth blinked while looking to his counterparts nearby, very confused, but managed a very bamboozled, "Well hello, gentlemen!"

They nodded to him in acknowledgment and the First spoke again, "Ah! So this is the Fourth Hokage! I am so glad the village has endured for so long!"

"Hashirama, surely you expected the Leaf Village to prosper?" Tobirama grumbled, embarrassed by his older brother's bubbly personality.

They were still unaware of the presence of the snake sennin who had summoned them. He waited behind them silently and readied three kunai with seals attached that would put them under his complete control.

Tobirama noted the Third ahead of them, "Hiruzen! Much time has passed since I last saw you…you must be a grandfather by now. Are you the one responsible for this?"

The Sandaime was white as a sheet upon seeing his old mentor, "I am not the one responsible for this, sensei! It must be undone quickly!"

Orochimaru moved ahead casually and stood between the first and second Hokages. He stabbed controller knives into their backs and took them over, 'It really is such a wondrous feeling! At long last I have the chance to wield the abilities of the past leaders of this village!'

He brought the third kunai down, aimed for the back of the Yondaime's neck, except that he suddenly wasn't there. In a surreal moment Orochimaru blundered with his strike and observed in outrage as his target, completely unaware of him, had abruptly moved with some aggravating speed to stand beside the Third Hokage.

ANBU watching from the outside were speechless at the sight.

Deciding to establish control over the Fourth later, Orochimaru turned to Hashirama and Tobirama behind him, prepared to puppet them into battle.

"Sarutobi-sama!" The Fourth always had possessed a great respect for the Third, "You don't look so well…what's happened? This reanimation technique is dangerous!" The blonde haired ninja looked over his shoulder and assessed the situation, "I see Orochimaru is here."

Hiruzen nodded to him, "Yes, this is his doing. I hope you'll forgive me for letting this happen…"

"You have nothing to ask forgiveness for, Hokage-sama," His voice lowered, "But I do believe a serious fight is now unavoidable."

Shouts came from outside the barrier and the ANBU turned to see Jiraiya approach them, his face red with fury, "I leave this village for one day of research and it falls to pieces!" He turned to the ANBU captain, "What's going on here?"

"It's Orochimaru, sir. He's trapped Hokage-sama inside of this barrier and it can't be breached," The captain reported, "Where have you been during all of this?"

"Trying to get back into this village," Jiraiya admitted, observing their surroundings, "The fighting's getting out of hand. It was like running through a funhouse just to reach the stadium-" He paused in his explanation as he saw a familiar face appear near the Third Hokage and he rushed up to the wall, despite the protests from the captain.

Jiraiya made sure not to touch the fiery barrier, unsure of how it worked, and stared ahead at the Yondaime who he had not seen since long before his actual death, "Minato!"

The Fourth responded to his name immediately and also moved to the wall, facing his teacher, "Jiraiya-sensei! I see through his plot!"

It was as if nothing between them had changed and Minato explained the situation, "Orochimaru intends to destroy our village through an outside invasion. He has also cornered Hokage-sama while others are distracted by battles. He has used a reanimation technique to revive myself, the Shodaime and the Nidaime. I think he is already controlling Hashirama and Tobirama, somehow."