This is a rewrite of the story 'Naruto the Pokémon Master'. So, take two, I suppose.
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Naruto sighed in sadness as he sat on a small hillside, looking over the battle-scarred field in front of him.
The battle was long and arduous, and a part of him was very glad that it was over, since it was at least ten years in the making.
Because ten years ago, almost to the day, the Third Great Ninja War started, with a reanimated Madara almost killing the blonde before his father, also reanimated, saved him.
The following ten years were spent in smaller skirmishes, since the Shinobi Alliance simply wasn't strong enough to effectively combat Madara and the reanimated ninja, while Madara himself still needed the Hachibi and Kyuubi. And during those ten years Naruto changed a lot, some would even say for the better.
He had figured that Sage Mode was the best option for fighting Madara on as even a footing as possible, so he dedicated himself to perfecting it even further than he already had. He decreased the time required for him to stay still to gather the natural energies of the environment while at the same time increasing the duration, worked with his physical and chakra abilities while in it and created a ton of new jutsu specifically for it. He had even, with help from his father and Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, learned the Hiraishin no Jutsu.
And all that led to the final battle, where many ninja had lost their lives, including his old friend-turned enemy-turned something he wasn't quite sure of Sasuke Uchiha, his old master Orochimaru, the Hachibi Jinchuriki Killer Bee, and various others on their side. On the enemy's side, the only one they had managed to kill, and the only one they needed to, was Madara.
However, before they could do that, Madara had managed to gain the power of an old legend, the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya Ootsosuki, who was apparently the actual first user of chakra, and mother of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, who felt it prudent to appear in the battle as well, on Naruto's side, allowing him to unlock the powers of a true Sage of Nature itself. The blonde was sure he would be disastrously outclassed without the old Sage's powers added to his own.
So here he was, sitting on a hillside, contemplating ten years' worth of fighting, while his long hair fluttered in the wind. His look had been another thing to change during the years. He was now wearing a black robe with gold highlights on it, fastened with a crimson silk belt inscribed with storage seals on the back, completely covering his form, with his old Toad Sage cloak over that, now modified to include sleeves. He had leather boots on his feet, hand guards with golden storage seals and a necklace made of six magatama around his neck. In his hands he was clutching a long staff with a circular head with six rings attached to it.
"Have you decided then, young one?" He turned to the side to see the spectral image of the old Sage looking at him fondly. The old man had figured Naruto would be just about ready for a change, so he offered to open a dimensional rift to a completely random reality. That was two days ago, days Naruto spent on the hillside unmoving, just thinking. About his life, goals, future. And finally, he came to a decision.
"Hm." He stood up, stretching his muscles and glancing towards the five people that were walking towards him. "Yes. I have. You can start now, old man." The Sage nodded before making a few gestures with his hands, which caused a swirling purple tear in reality to manifest.
"Naruto!" He turned to Tsunade Senju, his Godmother and Hokage, a woman that considered him a mix between her deceased little brother and deceased lover, Sabaku no Gaara, his best friend who used to house the Ichibi, now Kage of his own village, Sakura Haruno, his second original teammate and medic, apprentice of Tsunade, Kiba Inuzuka, a man he had formed a somewhat tentative friendship during the last few years, but who could still annoy him immensely when given half the chance, and Hinata Hyūga, the woman that claimed to love him several times over the years.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked him with a bit of worry in her voice. "What is that?"
"Exactly what it looks like. A tear in reality leading to another dimension, which I will use to leave this one for good."
"But why? The war is finally over; we can go on with rebuilding our lives." Tsunade's eyes, as well as the eyes of all females in the group were watering now.
"You can still go on with that, just without me. Somehow, I doubt there will be much of a difference."
"What are you talking about? You're a hero, everyone loves you." Gaara muttered.
"Do they?" He glanced over at the tents of the Shinobi Alliance, who were beginning preparations to go to their own villages in a day or two. "I cannot bring myself to believe that. My powers will make me a target, a weapon to be used in yet another war, and that is something I will not allow."
"What happened to you? You used to be so sure of your way of peace!" Yelled his former teammate. "If you show them the way, people will follow it. That's what you told me, isn't it?"
"And once I did indeed believe that. But I fear this world may be unsuited for peace. I may be wrong, of course. I do not intend to find out." He turned to the portal again.
"So you're just gonna leave? Just like that?" The Inuzuka heir yelled. "What about Hinata?"
"What about her?" He glanced at them both with a raised eyebrow.
"You were supposed to marry her!"
"Was I? And why is that? So you two could go behind my back in a rather poor attempt at an affair? Oh come now, don't act so surprised, most everybody knows about that already, and even if it were a complete secret, it would not stay that way, especially not to me." He chuckled at their surprised look. "Hinata, honestly, I do not love you, nor would I ever, even if I were inclined to stay. You are simply not my type. A fact I assume you know, seeing your current choice of companion." He motioned to the Inuzuka. "So, in conclusion, there is nothing any of you could do to make me stay. I am leaving. Goodbye." He turned and walked through the portal, which closed behind him.
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I was watching the Pokémon anime again lately and, after reading through my old story I realized that I didn't set an actual goal for Naruto, nor did he behave like he wanted to be a Pokémon Master. So I decided to rewrite this story completely. Some things will stay the same, but not a whole lot of them. So Naruto will now become a Pokémon Sage, and I must admit I was influenced by Palace Maven Spenser when I was thinking this up, so yes, he'll be getting a Venusaur to ride around on, probably soon.
As noted, the original story will be taken down, but I'll be keeping it on my computer. Call it sentiment.
Cheers, thanks for listening. Reading. Whatever.