Why, hello there.

Thank you to 8dragon8, breezygirl541, NaruHina0, TheAngelinDarkness and miyako_mizuki96 for guessing the correct Harry Potter reference.

Thank you to narulover693 for correctly guessing the Wicked reference too!

I truly appreciate all of the reading that you – the readers – do, and am so grateful that 'The Jinchuuriki Alliance' is among the books you read. Thank you.

Also, in a couple of hours I am about to go on a road trip with my best friend!

This contains the Jinchuuriki, all of them, and I hope you enjoy it, everyone has been very excited for this chapter and have been anticipating it. Thank you.

It is slightly longer than my usual chapters, it just turned out that way, so I hope you enjoy it even more!

Have fun reading Chapter 25!

~ Wolfie

________________________________________

'Cause we could be immortals, immortals,

Just not for long, for long,

And live with me forever now, you pull the blackout curtains down,

Just not for long, for long,

'Cause we could be immortals

~ Immortals by Fall Out Boy

The Jinchuuriki Alliance (Naruto Fanfic) Chapter 25 - The Jinchuuriki Summit

Naruto awoke on a blindingly sunny morning, with the rays of sunlight hitting his face and making him groan. There was a faint buzzing sound coming from the direction of his right ear. Bzzzz...

The blonde sighed and smacked the side of his head, successfully squashing the bug. He grimaced and opened his eyes, noncommittally wiping his hand on the wall, leaving a smudge of disgusting liquid and insect.

Naruto had gotten discharged from the hospital a few days ago, whereas Sasuke had gotten discharged later. Naruto's healing had worked in his favour again.

Because it was the day of the festival.

The day of the Summit. The Jinchuuriki Summit.

The young Uzumaki sat up and let his eyes travel around the room in groggy confusion. Suddenly, his mind adjusted and became aware of the events of the day.

It was nine o'clock in the morning; Naruto had allowed himself to sleep in for a couple of hours, because like a child, he wanted to be fully rested up for the meeting. It was hard to fathom that Uzumaki Naruto, was still only thirteen years old, and he was about to begin a revolution – if he were to be non-egotistical.

He cracked a small smile and yawned as he stood up, stalking off to the bathroom and getting ready.

The Hanami Festival would begin promptly at five o'clock in the afternoon, lasting throughout the rest of the day and most of the night, meaning that Naruto had plenty of time to prepare for both; festival and meeting.

Figuring that he would have to have an alibi – of sorts – to not arise suspicion (he was just taking extra precautions) he decided to create a shadow clone and that clone will be at the festival, while the real him would be out of the village.

This gave Gaara and Fuu ideas as well. Since Gaara wasn't sure about telling Temari and Kankurou about their plans yet, he decided to make a sand clone to be with his immediate family while the real him would be with Naruto and the other Jinchuuriki.

Fuu was slightly different, since her teammates – Moka and Miharu – had an idea that something was going on, but weren't going to push her to tell them, they agreed to help her fabricate the truth while there was a clone in her place as well.

This way, only elite Jounins or the Hokage would be able to tell the difference between the real Jinchuuriki's and their clones, everyone else would be fooled.

Naruto, Fuu and Gaara had explained and discussed this, it was the best way possible to make sure that no one knew that they were gone. They would walk out of the gates of the village, in plain sight, using a Henge (Transformation) jutsu and transform back when they were close enough to the Valley of the End.

It was a simple enough plan, but they had to complete it first, for it to work.

~*~*~

It was five o'clock.

The festival had started and Naruto's teammates were standing outside Naruto's apartment door.

Naruto was staring at himself in the mirror, he let the colour orange back into his life and grinned at the black and orange yukata he was wearing. Well, more accurately, the clone was wearing the black and orange yukata.

He didn't feel the need to buy a yukata if he was only going to use it today, so he simply made a shadow clone and made it transform into himself wearing an orange and black yukata. What? He was money efficient.

He heard the knock and nodded at his clone to open the door.

"Naruto! You look pretty good!" Sakura smiled. The clone grinned at her and took her appearance in, she was wearing a red yukata with pink sakura petals in the design, her hair was up in a complicated-looking bun and held up with red chopsticks.

"You look beautiful Sakura!" He told her, she blushed and waved her hand in dismissal.

"I know I do. Come on, let's go Sasuke!" Sakura said.

Naruto (clone) turned to look at Sasuke, he was wearing a plain navy blue yukata and nodded to Naruto in greeting.

"Let's go." Sasuke told him.

"Okay." The clone of Naruto shut the door, making sure his real version heard the door close. "How are your injuries?"

Team 7 (with a clone) walked away from Naruto's apartment and away from the real Naruto.

The clone glanced back at his apartment, knowing what will happen with his real version.

"Naruto! Hurry up!"

The clone turned, "Ah! Wait up!" He ran towards his teammates, leaving the sight of the apartment, with one thought in mind.

'Good luck, Naruto.'

~*~*~

Naruto (real one) was wearing the same yukata that his clone was wearing.

He stared at himself in the mirror and exhaled.

"I know everyone is going to be there, but what if they don't like it? What if the plan crashes and messes up?" Naruto spoke out loud.

Gaara stepped out of the shadows of Naruto's room. "It won't, so don't get anxious." He had a blank but somehow also incredulous face on.

"Ha," Naruto scoffed. "Easier said than done."

The redhead walked towards the blonde, and without hesitation rested a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder as Naruto stared at Gaara in the mirror and Gaara stared at Naruto.

"Don't be stupid." He said in monotone, letting his hand fall from Naruto's shoulder to his side.

Naruto cracked a grin and laughed, turning to face the other way to walk away, but paused and took in Gaara's appearance. "You look good."

And it was true. Gaara was wearing a red and black yukata which matched his hair. The same blood red crimson which adorned his head was on his yukata.

"Thank you." Gaara replied curtly. "So do you."

Naruto grinned, "Thanks! Now come on, we don't have much time."

"Where's Fuu?" Gaara questioned as they started walking out of the apartment.

Naruto shut his door and locked it. "We're meeting her there, she's going early to open the statue."

They both silently walked out of the apartment complex and towards the Konoha Gates.

It took about 10 minutes for them to feel glad that there were many people walking in and out of the gates, leaving Kotetsu and Izumo to barely glance around at the guests who were coming for the festival. They exchanged glances and quickly transformed into two different civilians.

Naruto changed into a brown-haired, green eyed, whisker-less boy of about the same age as himself, and motioned for Gaara to do the same. Gaara transformed into a boy of the same age with black hair and blue eyes.

They glanced at each other and nodded slightly, walking towards the gates and inhaling sharply.

"Hey! You two!"

They both froze and their minds raced about what they should do, what they could do.

'Dammit.' Gaara simply cursed.

Naruto's heart was beating in his brain and slowly, he gulped and turned around to face Kotetsu who was sitting at the gate-keepers seats. Izumo was busy writing something.

"A-Ah, yes?" Naruto stuttered and smiled awkwardly.

'We're screwed. We are so screwed.' He chanted in his head.

Gaara was trying to keep himself from twitching and turned away, leaving the talking to Naruto, otherwise he would probably raise more suspicion.

Kotetsu grinned and leaned his head in his hands. "Hope you enjoyed your stay in Konoha." He tilted his head and smiled with his eyes closed.

The two Jinchuuriki let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

Gaara curtly nodded his head and Naruto smiled in relief. "Of course, hope to see you again soon." He replied.

They both quickly walked out of the gates and let out a sigh of ease.

"I was about to throw something at him and run." Gaara muttered.

Naruto stared at him and a chuckle erupted from his throat as he stared at his companion. "You never cease to amuse me, Gaara." The said boy raised a non-existent eyebrow at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

They both undid the jutsus and walked forward, quickly setting off into a run when the amount of people around them lessened.

It didn't take long for them to arrive to their destination. Throughout the whole travel there, they had been silent, their brains thinking about all of the possibilities of what could happen.

Naruto had let a shadow clone to check out Hashirama Senju's statue before the plans were made, because Kurama told him about it. He knew that there was a blood seal which was fixed to only accept his father's blood, but thankfully because of the biological connection between them, he was able to open it as well. Seems like his father either did that intentionally, or it was a mistake on his part, hopefully the former.

Inside the statue, there was a room which was mostly empty except for a large round table which had chairs around it. It had 10 chairs before, but one of them weren't needed so Naruto (clone) threw it away.

Of course if everything went well, they could perhaps... put something more in the room? Fuu had said that they might as well make it a secret hideout of theirs whenever the Jinchuuriki met up, so it wasn't a bad idea.

"We're here." Gaara exhaled and looked at the giant statue.

Breathe.

The statue of Hashirama Senju was massive. Opposite it was the infamous Uchiha Madara, also in statue form. They were finally in the Valley of the End, and the sheer adrenaline and anxiousness the Naruto was feeling was enough to overwhelm him. But he didn't want it to.

He suddenly felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Gaara didn't have to say anything, he just stood silently and rested his palm on the blonde's shoulder. Naruto raised his own hand and gripped Gaara's quietly, held it tightly and then let it go, walking forward.

Gaara stared at Naruto's back. He knew that the blonde was a bit nervous, after all, he was basically the founder of the group, and he had the most to worry about. But he didn't want him to shoulder all of the tension and pressure, so he tried to help as much as he could. Letting a quiet smile adorn his face, he followed his leader.

Naruto had given Fuu a bit of his blood to open the door before he arrived with, so he expected all of the Jinchuuriki except himself and Gaara to already be inside. Fuu liked to arrive early, and Naruto knew this, so he set up in advance.

Biting his finger and sliding it across the door, the blood glowed for a second and then the door slid open with a rough grinding.

Walking inside with Gaara following suit, he entered the room and was greeted by Fuu's grinning face, Utakata's nod and Yagura's smirk, as well as many other unfamiliar faces.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto stepped forward and took his seat on one of the nine seats around the large round table.

"Shall we begin?" Naruto tilted his head, a small smirk on his face.

"I guess we should start with introductions." Gaara stated. "I am Gaara of the Sand, Genin of Suna, Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi." He started off. He was number one, it was only logical for him to begin.

'My real name is Shukaku.' They all heard his voice, it startled many of them and left others surprised.

"I'm Yugito Nii," The elegant blonde-haired woman gave a smile. "Jounin of Kumo, Jinchuuriki of Nibi."

'Hello there, my name is Matatabi.' The feminine voice was respectful, a perfect match for the proud and poised Yugito.

"My name is Yagura, Mizukage of the Mist." He paused, crossing his arms, "I hold Sanbi."

'Hello.' The quiet voice of Isobu was particularly timid. 'I'm Isobu.' He referred himself as 'boku', which was commonly used by young males, which was interesting.

"I'm Roshi, formerly of Iwa." The red-haired man waved, he was an older man, probably about forty years old. "I have Yonbi."

'My name is Son Goku; if you can, don't refer to me as Yonbi or Four-Tails.' Son Goku was a prideful beast. 'Please.' He added with some thought. He detested not being called by his proper and real name.

"Han," the tall man greeted, he was easily a head taller than Killer Bee (which was saying something). "Iwagakure, I have the Gobi."

'Kokuo.' Kokuo seemed to be a quiet and reserved beast.

Utakata smiled, "I'm Utakata, ex-missing ninja of Kiri, Jinchuuriki of Rokubi."

'Hi, I'm Saiken, hope we can be friends.' Definitely kind.

Fuu instantly grinned since it was her turn. "Hi! I'm Fuu! Genin of Takigakure, holder of Nanabi!" She gave a friendly wave and giggled.

'I'm Lucky Seven Chomei! Hope we can get along!' Chomei seemed to have a happy-go-lucky personality, which matched Fuu's exactly. What a match made in heaven.

"Yo, I'm Killer Bee!" Bee instantly animatedly used his arms as Yugito sighed, giving him an evil eye. Bee froze and laughed awkwardly. "I hold number eight, the Hachibi." He snuck a glance at the relieved Yugito. "Bro." She groaned.

'I'm Gyuki, the Biju of this idiot.' Gyuki seemed to be quite pleased that Bee didn't rap, (from what Naruto knew, Bee always rapped. He may or may not have been thankful that he didn't just now.)

Naruto felt all eyes on him. He was the instigator, the person who started everything, the person who joined the Jinchuuriki. He smirked and looked at each Jinchuuriki.

"My name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, and I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." He addressed each person in the room, leaving Kyuubi to introduce himself.

'As you all know, I am the Kyuubi, my real name is Kurama. It's great to see you all again.' Kurama was feeling a sense of... happiness, and thrill, in meeting all of his family again.

Naruto sat down on the round table, allowing everyone else to follow his lead.

"I'm glad everyone managed to come. Welcome." He smiled widely.

Fuu laughed and grinned, Gaara lowered his head and a small smile played upon his lips, Bee thrust his fist into the air, Yugito crossed her arms and smiled, Han's face was covered, but his eyes were calm and peaceful, a small glint sparkling, Roshi placed his hands behind his head, and Utakata exchanged a glance with Yagura who was setting hands on the table and smirked.

Naruto raised his head and looked at each one of his, his family. Which they were, because they were all the same. They all knew the pain and sacrifice of being a Jinchuuriki. They were family.

"Welcome to the first Jinchuuriki Summit."

In that moment.

That single moment. After Naruto spoke those words. Each and every person in that room, all the Jinchuuriki's smiled, smirked, or gave an expression which made Naruto almost come to tears.

They weren't alone anymore.

No, they had each other.

Everything is going to change.

Things couldn't stay the way they were.

Because they were all important.

And hell, they all had the ability to be invincible.

They were a group.

They were a team.

They were a family.

~*~*~

They had talked for a couple of hours, first just getting over the initial joy of meeting other Jinchuuriki's, then congratulating Naruto on his idea of getting the Jinchuuriki's together (to which he blushed and shook his head, only saying he was glad it actually turned out so well.)

The Summit was a beginning and was used to gain introductions and a brief idea of what they were going to do in the future.

They all learnt many things from each other.

The Jinchuuriki walked out of the statue with Naruto swiping his bloody finger across the wall. Yagura was chatting to Roshi as Utakata exchanged a couple of tips to Han, while Fuu was talking animatedly to Yugito, who was smiling and glancing at Killer Bee who tried to crack Gaara's emotionless expression with his horrible raps.

Gaara would have almost laughed at Bee if not Naruto letting out a strangled cry and clutched Yagura's arm. The whole group instantly froze and Gaara and Fuu held the blonde up.

"Naruto!"

"Are you okay?"

The rest of the Jinchuuriki stood their guard in case they were going to be attacked.

Yugito raised her hand and shut her eyes, "I don't sense anything." She confirmed.

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's nothing here. You all should go."

Roshi scoffed, "What do you mean go? There's something wrong, tell us so we can help."

The blonde Uzumaki bit his lip, "My shadow clone was dispelled."

Gaara and Fuu's eyes snapped to his. "What happened? How was it dispelled?"

The Jinchuuriki felt a cold wind rush past them, until they noticed blood red chakra seeping out of Naruto's skin, not enough to be dangerous, but enough for Gaara to flinch when it stung his skin and draw his hand away from his blonde friend.

Naruto growled, lowering his head enough for his eyes to be the most prominent feature on his face. The whiskers on his face grew deeper and jagged, almost seeming to be moving. Naruto's teeth were clenched, his mouth opening slightly to make way for the fangs to be sticking out.

Naruto was angry. His team was attacked, ambushed, while in the middle of the festival, in a less-busy area of the festival, but with civilians nevertheless.

The atmosphere grew stuffy and hot, the cold wind had gone and now only the chakra bubbled slightly, representing Naruto's emotions; his anger, his resentment, his fear.

His pupils flashed red. His eyes became animalistic as he growled.

"Orochimaru."

OMAKE! (Short Omake as to not ruin the tension)

"Orochimaru."

As Naruto clenched his teeth and spat out the snake sannin's name, a few people behind him gave each other questioning looks.

"Orochimaru?" Han asked.

"Who the hell is that?" Yugito questioned silently.

"That's a shit name." Roshi scoffed.

Fuu lowered her head. "Orochi-moo-moo." She whispered.

Gaara just tried to hold in a laugh.