Over.

It was over.

All those trials and tribulations; change of hearts; the discoveries of strength had led to this. They...They had won. The five great shinobi nations had won the war.

The war was over!

The ten tailed beast had vanished – reduced to dust maybe? After the onslaught it faced, that seemed to be the most likely solution: nothing could have possibly survived after the damage unleashed by the chūnin who had once been referred to as the rookie nine.

But let's not forget about the two genins who had played particularly large parts in taking down the monster. Naruto and Sasuke – the boys who had considered each other many different things over the years. Grievances, friends, rivals, enemies. And now allies, it appeared.

So much about Sasuke had changed when he was on the path of darkness to the point where he was beyond the brink of insanity; beyond redemption. Even a certain knuckle-head ninja had realized that it was far too late to attempt to bring his best friend back to the place the blond called home, what with crimes so dreadful that none would be able to find it in their hearts to forgive the sinner. The only possible solution Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who'd dedicated his life to fulfilling his dream of attaining the title 'hokage', could come to was to take the avenger's life and lose his own in the process.

Yet here was that very same madman who'd cried out to the world that he would massacre everyone of them, just as his clan had been slaughtered. Here he was standing side by side by with his old team-mates, comrades in arms once more. Here he was, a changed man.

On the surface at least.

Many in the alliance were unsure of Sasuke's true motive. Something was clearly up but whether it would mean trouble was another question entirely. That could wait for now though – he'd helped enough.

"Guys, we've won!"

Chouji's voice boomed and resounded across the clearing allowing almost every shinobi to hear at least an echo of the fact. After a few moments of silence set aside for the realisation to sink in, the new Nara clan head gave out a few slow claps prompting others to join and before long, rounds of applause spread through the alliance like wildfire. Cheers and shouts drowned out everything else so if one were to attempt to converse properly, their words would fall upon deaf ears.

Ino ran up to her team-mates and pulled them into a group hug. Hinata and Shino watched as Kiba let out an exclamation of joy with Akamaru barking cheerfully. Team 7...Team 7 weren't quite sure what to do. Things were still a bit too tense for out right celebration as a team, even if Naruto attempted a similar act to Ino. The nervous look from Sakura directed at Sasuke and the latter's reluctance to allow the act of physical contact more than showed that the Uzumaki may have acted a bit too quickly, not that he cared. He was just happy to have his friend back with them after so long.

Not every team was as fortunate as these, however. Team Guy would now forever be incomplete without Neji Hyūga. With the time allotted by the lack of an imminent threat, a green jumpsuit clad ninja began to search for his fallen comrade's corpse in the hopes to take it back to the Leaf Village and give the jōnin a proper burial. He searched high and low, not wanting to leave his friend behind but to no avail. There was no body. No bodies. Why couldn't he find any at all?

A hand on his shoulder. "Lee..." The sorrow in Tenten's eyes was raw, undisguised. "He would have been burnt up by the ten tails' attack. Naruto could only protect those still alive." There was no bringing Neji back and he would have wanted the jinchūriki to conserve his efforts to save those he still could rather than waste chakra on the sentiment of bringing back a body. Lee nodded in understanding, even if he wished that hadn't been the outcome.

Just because there were no bodies didn't mean that there was no trace of the battle remaining: blood had seeped into the ground below the remaining soldiers' feet, threatening to stain the earth for a good while. A reminder of how close the world had come to succumbing to an illusion that would make them lose sight of everything they worked for and achieved. All of their hopes and dreams. All of their loved ones.

How they so nearly lost all of that.

Nobody was actually sure that Madara was dead. Or incapacitated or whatever word should be deemed appropriate considering he was dead to begin with. There were some who were weary of this fact and some who were unsure what had happened but decided to assume that he'd been dealt with. So much smoke had plagued the land that some of the later acts of bravery were hard to catch unless the jutsus used were particularly flashy.

It didn't really matter what had happened to the Uchiha many supposed; his plans revolved around using the power of the ancient beast that had just been defeated and without it, there was little he could do. Sure he was a dangerous adversary capable of causing much more damage than had already been dealt but with what motive? If he were to turn the elemental nations into a living hell, that wouldn't achieve what he saught to accomplish. There was no reason to strike.

Speaking of Uchihas, a much younger one shoved his rival's arm off his shoulder, not appreciating the affection shown by the gesture. After an exchange of heated glares, Naruto walked forward to speak to Sai who was just up ahead. Even if Team 7 was back, he couldn't leave out the painter who had been Sasuke's replacement for the last year or so.

That just left Sakura and Sasuke together. The kunoichi was unsure of what to say or do: they had tried to kill each other. The war did not change this fact. Sakura had attempted to kill the man she held affections for in cold blood and he returned the favour. In reality they should still have held animosity but the fact that they'd just fought side by side whilst protecting one another made things complicated. There were a dozen things running through the girl's mind that she wanted oh so desperately to ask but the words wouldn't come out. Communicating had been easy whilst fighting; they had a common goal then. Nothing was forcing them to converse now.

Noise still surging throughout the alliance, Sakura decided that she should just be content with the way things were and that Sasuke's bonds with everybody including herself would work themselves out over time. She gazed around her, watching all of the happy faces as well as the ones filled with pain and loss. Katsuyu had already healed most people's wounds so there wasn't much work for the medic to do, giving her the opportunity to let out a sigh of relief and just let herself relax before approaching somebody.

Actually, it might have been a good idea to heal the orange-clad ninja. Naruto was still exhausted from lending his chakra out to their allies, a fact made clear by the weariness as he conversed with Sai. Sakura would attend to him once they'd finished. Instead, she turned around to see the comrades behind her.

They were making so much noise. So much the sannin's disciple could hardly hear herself think. She tried to see if she could make out at least one vocal exchange but the words all muddled together into an inaudible mess. Except... There was something Sakura could make out. Not words but a sound, a familiar ones. Birds. Hundreds, no – thousands of them. Hundreds and thousands of bird.

One thousand birds.

A/N: So I have another fic I updated once in about 3/4 months.

MY FOLLOWERS ARE GOING TO LOVE ME.

Anyway, had this idea for a while and after the latest chapter (and a new chapter of a really awesome fanfic being released and inspiring me to write), I couldn't resist. First Naruto fanfic whoo~

Reviews would be much appreciated, including contructive critisism. Hope you guys enjoy this story! I wonder if anyone will guess what's about to happen.