Chapter 1
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
"Shannaro!"
Three voices intertwined as their owners finally triumphed over the greatest threat the Elemental Nations has ever faced.
Pale, royal lavender Byakugan eyes helplessly stared in hatred at the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura as the sun and moon reached out to forever shatter her dreams of eternal peace. "Im…possible. For me, the mother of all chakra, to lose against the wretched offspring of Hagoromo." Alabaster fists, capable of ending all of existence, tightly clenched as she bitterly railed against her oncoming defeat. Suddenly, just as she felt Naruto and Sasuke grip her shoulders, her desperate all-seeing eyes came upon her only path of freedom.
"If my fate is to once again be sealed…"
"RIKUDŌ: CHIBAKU TENSEI!"
"THEN I SHALL AT LEAST CHOOSE MY PRISON!"
The instant Naruto and Sasuke finished the strongest sealing jutsu, a giant black sphere of impossible gravitational power emerged, forcing even Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra, up into the sky.
The earth tore itself asunder and distant mountain ranges violently hurtled up towards the Rabbit Goddess, forming a giant prison not unlike the distant moon in space.
"Finally, it's done." Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all relaxed when they saw Kaguya about to be completely hidden from view.
But suddenly, the enormous ball of compressed earth and stone suddenly trembled, causing bits of rocks to tumble to the ground.
However, none of them noticed the tremor since the unbreakable prison was already shaking from all of the tons of earth to begin with.
That didn't last long.
With a last burst of her godly chakra, Kaguya forced her prison between dimensions towards the quartet, who only now began to realize something was wrong when she abruptly disappeared into nothing.
"What the…"
Naruto, still garbed in both Kurama's and the Rikudō Sennin's Yang chakra, uttered before widening his crossed eyes in shock when Kaguya's prison appeared not twenty feet above him.
"Oi, Sasuke! Why the hell is she…AHHHH!"
Then before Sasuke's shocked mystic eyes, a scene unpleasantly reminding him of when Madara absorbed the God Tree into himself occurred right before him to his only friend.
But it was what he heard and saw that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.
Except unlike the mad Uchiha Naruto, the same person who never allowed others to see his suffering, was screaming out in terrifying agony, an ugly grimace fixed on his whiskered visage, as what was equivalent to an entire world's worth of chakra forced itself into the seal that currently contained the Yin half of Kurama.
"Kurama, what…the hell is going on in there!" Focusing on his mindscape, a kneeling Naruto bore witness to what equated to a second moon forcing its way into the Kyuubi's cage, the bars that once held back the fox beginning to crumble and shatter under its impossible weight and presence. And the only thing preventing his chakra pathways from outright shattering was a giant nine-tailed fox with dark russet fur desperately pushing against Kaguya's prison, only allowing the foreign object to slowly enter as the seal attempted to readjust itself.
"Hold on brat! Just hold on a little longer! Kaguya must have used the last burst of chakra under her control to teleport herself into your seal!
"I…see." A crimson eye twitched. "NO I DON'T! HOW THE HELL DID SHE DO THAT AND OWOWOWOW…"
"SHUT IT BRAT, I'M A LITTLE BUSY OVER HERE! AND HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT SUPER GRANNY OVER HERE DID?!" Kurama ferociously roared as he was steadily pushed back further into the seal by the moon.
"…!" Naruto didn't bother to answer back as he was forced back into the real world from a sudden jerk on the back of his shredded jacket. The first thing he saw and felt was solid stone as his face bounced off of Hashirama's arm. Arms trembling, he shakily pulled himself back on his feet, only to feel a sinking feeling that had nothing to do with Kaguya in his stomach when saw his brother in arms, Sasuke Uchiha, stand opposite of him.
With a Chidori chirping on his hand.
Over Fifty Years Later
In the Uchiha compound laid a dying man with pitch-black hair and streaks of silver running through it, inky eyes, and a black crescent-moon on his left palm. Beside him knelt two people: a woman with pink hair, startling green eyes, and a fading violet diamond on her forehead and a youthful-looking man with sun-kissed blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, three strange birthmarks on each cheek that resembled whiskers, and a sun mark on his right palm. These three were the legendary Team 7 of Konoha: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto.
"Naruto, Sakura…" coughed one of the last Uchiha. "I am about to die…and there is something I must do," Sasuke grunted.
"Sasuke, please, we've went over this over and over again. With the Six Paths Power, you can still live for a few more years with your wife, your daughter! Don't do this." Naruto retorted with Sakura in background shedding tears and yet with an oddly determined look.
"Even after all these years, you're still a dobe." Sasuke chuckled quietly. "Do you think I'm so blind as to not see your suffering during and after your time as the Nanadaime Hokage? You, who has sacrificed the rest of your immortal life to live in agony to seal away the two most powerful entities of the Shinobi world, Kaguya Otsutsuki and the Juubi no Kitsune as your body is constantly broken down and reformed! Don't think we haven't noticed you constantly traveling and looking over the Eastern Sea. I am not doing this out of a sense of duty, I am giving you my Six Paths chakra as my Hokage, my comrade, my brother, and my first and best friend to cease, even if temporarily, your pain so that you can, for the first time, experience a life of painless happiness!" Sasuke demanded.
"Even after all this time, you're still going on about this." Naruto's closed his eyes as he resorted to his Hokage voice. "Sasuke, I have already said no. The last thing I want is to have your pinkeyes in my head." Sasuke glared up at his friend before uncharacteristically chuckling.
"Damnit, how long have I told you that they're not pinkeyes. To think that the eyes that could alter the reality of the world is still being called pinkeyes by a Hokage, what have I done wrong?" The three burst into laughter as they knew this would be the last they would ever share joy as a team.
Too soon however, Sasuke was reduced to a coughing mess as he once again tried to persuade his blonde friend. "Naruto, listen. You know why you must take my eyes. You know that the Elemental Nations have changed, for better or worse. There is no longer a need for such power in the new society, not with everyone across the land being so goody goody towards one another. Even the shinobi way is dying out and we all can see that it might die out. It can be seen everywhere. Last year, only two children signed up for the Shinobi Academy and even then, they soon dropped out to become something else. The new Hokage is a joke compared to past Hokages." The three looked at each other sadly as the way of life they grew up with was dying out.
"Naruto, what Sasuke said is all true, and you know it. The last shinobi that could be considered true shinobi was our children's generation. The shinobi will soon cease to exist after our children pass on, but you...you will forever exist as the last shinobi. So take it, take the gift that he is offering, even if it's just a way to remind you of us after we pass on." Sakura softly said as she held her husband's hand.
Naruto struggled for a few moments with his emotions, and the wracking pain that swept through him didn't help. Soon he came to his decision as he bowed his head.
"Do it. Do it before I change my mind." A soft whisper that could barely be heard made its way to the now smiling couple.
The next thing he felt was the slap of a paper on his neck and with his fading vision, was a sad smile on his friend's face.
"Thank you, dobe. Now us three will forever be together." Sasuke whispered. As Naruto lost consciousness, he looked back to his wife's face to see two tracks of tears spilling out from her eyes, wondering just how he had ever been so foolish to constantly reject her when they were young. "It's time Sakura. Despite the scarce time we have been together, I have always loved you and Sarada, my two most beautiful Himes. See you on the other side." Sasuke said with an eye smile reminiscent of their sensei Hatake Kakashi.
"I know, Sasuke-kun." Sakura smiled.
One Hour Later
As Naruto regained consciousness, he realized that all he could see was black. But what worried him the most was that even in his mindscape, everything was dark. As he panicked, he yelled out in his mind, "Kurama, what the hell happened to me?"
"Brat, calm down! You're currently wearing a blind-fold while your body and mind are merely reconstructing themselves to better fit the new power your two friends put in your body." Kurama grumbled at the loud voice of his human friend.
"So it's done. How are they?" Naruto thought sadly.
"Yes it is, but you should pay attention, the pinky is trying to talk to you."
"Naruto? You with us?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura, is he alright?" Naruto asked worriedly.
"Sasuke-kun is still alive, but he is fading fast." Sakura stated with a tone of finality.
A few moments passed until Naruto broke the silence and bluntly said, "You two are dying."
Sakura looked up, the diamond that was always present on her forehead-gone. "You always were blunt, weren't you." she mused, slumping down towards the barely breathing Sasuke, "But yes, we won't be in the world much longer. I'm sorry Naruto, but it seems that this is one journey we three can't go on together." Sakura weakly smiled as she rapidly aged without the effects of the seal on her forehead.
Naruto, despite not being able to see them, could sense the emotions coming from the two, sputtering as their souls slowly began to depart from their bodies. Kneeling in front of them, bloody tears slowly staining the bandage over his eyes red before creeping down his whiskered cheeks.
"Goodbye Sasuke...Sakura. You two will forever be in my heart."
That night, a keening cry echoed throughout the whole of Konoha as Naruto lamented the loss of two of its legends, and more importantly his dearest friends.
A few minutes passed before Naruto tore the cloth from his eyes, silvery purple eyes almost boring through the wooden wall of the house as he stumbled back to his feet before shunshin'ing away from the village and into the wilderness. Inside the seal, Kurama winced, feeling the burning anguish that coursed through his host's veins. Not since the loss of his wife ten years ago did he feel such pain from the usually joyful blond knucklehead, and although he would never admit it, it pained
30 Years Later
Naruto stood at the edge of Kirigakure no Sato with near invisible storage seals running up and down both of his arms in a white trench coat with the kanji for Nanadaime Hokage sewn on it in red and a large scroll on the back of his hip. As he looked into the endless blue sea with his cerulean eyes, he thought about everything that happened since the end of the 4th Shinobi War. From the defeat, sealing, and absorption of Kaguya, his marriage with Hinata, becoming the Nanadaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and finally the exchange of eyes with Sasuke.
However, he refused to dwell on their deaths, rather choosing to remember them when they were alive.
"Naruto, you sure about this? If you do this and you ever come back, no one will remember or even recognize you." Kurama said.
"I'm fine Kurama. I have packed more than enough ramen and weapons…"
"That's not what I meant brat. I'm asking whether…" Kurama said.
"Stop, I have thought about this for a long time. Despite my occasional immature acts, I am not the boy that I was during the 4th Shinobi War; I am far from being as naïve as I was back then. I have seen thousands of shinobi be crushed under giant meteors. I have brought peace to the Elemental Nations as the Child of Prophecy. I became the Hokage of Konoha. I have even become immortal and have outlived all of my loved ones. There is nothing left for me in the Elemental Nations and my existence as a shinobi only reminds others of past shinobi wars. Besides Kurama, I thought you of all would want to leave this place, since you have already been everywhere and don't want to become a tool of others." Naruto remarked.
"Tch, whatever, I was just making sure you had no regrets since it would be annoying to hear you complaining about home." Kurama said.
"Hn, love you too furball." Naruto thought back.
"Humph, I guess anything is fine as long you don't get us killed in our journey. Anyways, your other…tenant is starting to wake up." Kurama said in a worried tone.
"Think she will be a problem?" Naruto shot back with narrowed eyes.
"If you mean whether she will wake up in the middle of the sea…that is a very real possibility. So what will you do? Stay here and possibly lose control, or lose control in the middle of the sea with no land in sight?" Kurama asked.
"My decision remains the same. Besides, it's not as if it's decided that I will lose control!" Naruto said.
"Well said Naruto, you are truly the Child of Prophecy and Hero of the 4th and Last Shinobi War." Said a voice behind Naruto.
"Oi, Hagoromo-san, what did I say about suddenly talking behind my back." Naruto exclaimed, turning around to see the Rikudo no Sennin, Hagoromo Otsutsuki.
"I see that you are going with your plan on leaving the Elemental Nations? If so, I have some knowledge to share with you, along with two gifts." Hagoromo said. "First, you must know of the time/space barrier around the Elemental Nations that stretch into the sea. It is because of this barrier, that there has been no visitors from outside the Elemental Nations."
"So this means…" Naruto said
"Yes, once you cross the barrier, you can never return to the Elemental Nations. Not even the Hiraishin no Jutsu or the Kamui can guarantee your return due to the nature of the barrier. Should you try it, you might just get tossed into the void and forever drift between dimensions before landing in a random world. In fact, there was a group of explorers who left soon after my creation of Ninshu around 1000 years ago." Hagoromo said as he watched Naruto gulp nervously; he had been obviously planning on doing something of the sort in the future.
"Now for my gifts. My first gift is a complete list of Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu that the Elemental Nations has ever created. However, you must train in them in order to master them. As for my second gift, I will strengthen the seal on my mother, Kaguya. With this, she will remain sealed for at most another 3 years. This means that although you won't be able to access her chakra, she will not be able to influence you. Because of this, your body will no longer try to forcibly breakdown and reform. Instead, as you fight, your cells will constantly evolve, becoming closer and closer to a form that can handle your power." Hagoromo said as he poked Naruto's head, instantly transferring huge amounts of knowledge as well as strengthening part of the seal that kept Kaguya dormant.
While also transferring the last of his inheritance into him.
Shaking his head to get rid of the stars that had flashed in his eyes, Naruto asked, "Thanks old man. So this means that I have no limits AND I have all the time in the world to become stronger?"
"Yes, however, you will have to constantly train; they won't evolve on their own. At the same time, once the three years are up, you will have to be strong enough to withstand Kaguya's chakra and influence, otherwise she will resurrect and at that time, there will be nobody to stop her."
"Don't worry, it won't happen." Naruto exclaimed. "At least, I won't be alone on this journey." Naruto said.
"I guess you won't. Take care of Kurama, will you. He always was the stubbornest of his siblings, and yet the most sensitive out of all of them." Hagoromo said with a smile.
"Of course…after all, he's my lifelong friend and partner." Naruto said with a good guy pose that would do Guy proud. However, the melancholy that lurked beneath his azure orbs did not escape the God of Shinobi.
"I can only hope you will one day heal and that you find somebody that can bring you happiness…son." Hagoromo inwardly sighed, guilt eating at him as he remembered the day the presence of Kaguya forced Naruto onto the immortal path.
"I believe you. Now it is time for you to go. Remember to train with all of your powers, and good luck." Hagoromo said with a smile as he slowly faded from the Elemental Nations, never to be see again.
"Goodbye Hagoromo-san/Otou-sama." Naruto and Kurama said one last time.
Just as he disappeared, his voice rang out one last time, just barely audible to the two, "Oh, and Naruto...Happy 100th Birthday."
Naruto sadly stared at where the first God of Shinobi disappeared with a few tears in his eyes before wiping them away.
"So even you have faded away…"
"Come on brat, let's go." Kurama voiced out.
"Yeah."