[A/N] I would like to, once again thank Isafish, Nyabi, and SithLordNilis for beta reading this chapter and the last.

NaruHina: I wasn't aware of her being a character before now, so no, she was just an OC. As for everything else, you know what, fuck it. Just for shits and giggles, I will guarantee you right now that Hinata and Sasuke will not be married by the end of this story.


Victor unsealed a table and a pair of chairs from a scroll. He sat down and put the revolver on the table, waiting for Kushina to be seated as well.

"You honestly expect me to play this fucking game of chance?" she demanded.

"Yes," Victor shot back. "Either you play or the seal will kill you. It's very simple. Whichever one of us walks away alive wins. Now sit down"

She finally did, sitting down with a grim expression.

"Now, I think we should have a referee, don't you? Naruto, could you serve in that capacity?"

"Of course I could," Naruto said as walked up to the table. Next to him were Xael and a woman with red eyes, glasses, and red hair in the same style as Xael's. "More introductions," he said. "My wife, Karin Uzumki, and my daughter, Xael Uzumaki." He glanced at Hinata as he said this, seeing her eyes widen slightly, growing watery.

Karin gave a small bend of her neck, keeping it just within courtesy for the people in front of her. Xael curtsied, though the smirk she wore made the sincerity of it debatable.

Xael looked at Kushina. "Please dad, can I cut her head off?" She smiled with delight.

Naruto laughed. "How many times must I tell you? In time, you might. But for now, you may not." She sulked at his answer.

"I will regulate the game," Naruto said. "Should the rules of the challenge be broken, I will step in as needed."

"We all know the rules. One bullet in the chamber," Victor said. He pulled a single bullet from his coat and loaded it into the gun, spinning the cylinder and quickly snapping it into place. "Now that that's out of the way," he said. He placed the gun to his head, pulling the trigger.

The gun clicked and Victor smiled. He put the gun back down on the table. Without hesitation, she stood and aimed the gun at Victor's head. Neither flinched as she pulled the trigger five times in rapid succession.


"Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if Uzushio had never been destroyed?" Naruto asked.

"Many times," Victor said. "But every time I do, I remind myself that if it had not happened, I also would never had been betrayed and my life would have been completely different. Life can't be undone, Naruto. It can't be changed. So worry about plans to rebuild our homeland. And then, one day, when everything we have to do here in Konoha is done, we will have again what was stolen."


Victor began clapping as blood dripped from his forehead. "Congratulations. You cheated and still lost."

"What?" Kushina asked. "How?"

"It's called a blank. And since those can still be lethal from point blank range, I'm glad parts of my skull were ripped out. The sides of my head are still bone, but the top and a large part of my face are all metal. It's why the plastic seal didn't kill me. But you cheated...which means you lose."

The marking moved up Kushina's arm like liquid ink, suddenly forcing a scream from her as she clawed at her arm.

"You have twenty-four hours, dear sister. And then the seal will kill you. Get your affairs in order before the pain becomes too crippling for you to move. Come, Naruto. Let's go home."

Each of them disappeared in a Shunshin.


Laughter filled the room, drowned in the halls by music and the partying of the young, as Victor stood in his office. He was hunched over, laughing uncontrollably while Naruto, Xael, Karin, Orochimaru, and Koyuki watched on.

"That dumb bitch made my life so much easier without even putting any risk on me!" Victor shouted. "This is perfect. Did you see the look in those people's eyes? So many of the shinobi saw how little honor she had, and how badly it fucked her over. This is going to be so much fun!"

"Sir, you have a visitor," Inari said as he entered the room.

"Oh? And who would it be? Show them in."

Inari stepped aside, allowing Minato to enter the office.

Victor grinned. "And what brings my brother-in-law to my humble abode?"

"I want you to spare Kushina," Minato said.

"Spare her? It can't be done. She knew what she agreed to. Her fate is her own fault."

"Please. I'll do anything. There has to be a way."

"Now that is what I was waiting to hear!" Victor yelled, pounding a fist on his desk. His face was wrinkled in a wicked smile. "Anything. You would do anything to save her. Endure any suffering, give any treasure, sell your own soul! Bring your parents back to life and sell them down the river without a second thought just to give her a shot! There is one way. One way to give your wife a chance. You must convince me to offer her a rematch. She will play the same game, this time fairly. But I don't want to offer her a rematch. I love my sister, but I don't want to keep playing this game with her. So the question is, what are you willing to surrender to give her that chance? Just a chance? How far will you go?"

Minato glared at him. "What do you want?"

Victor chuckled. "I've got the perfect seal to ensure you uphold your end. Now, as for my price."


Minato sat in his office with the other Kage, Tsunade, Jiraiya, the elder toads, and Sasuke Uchiha.

"You can't do this, Minato!" Jiraiya said. "What he's asking, there's no telling what he'll do with it."

"I don't have a choice. It's either this or let Kushina die. You've seen the seal, Jiraiya. We call ourselves sealing masters, but he's been learning from the original notes of the Uzumaki. He helped design the Hiraishin seals and helped me create the Rasengan. There is no way to circumvent the seal and no way that she will survive it. It's already worked it's way up her arm, turning the cells cancerous but keeping them from dividing just yet. In eighteen hours, it will spread to her brain and force her insides to replicate until her skin and bones can't contain it. So I'm giving him what he wants. All I ask now, is that when he goes to claim it, you defend the village. I also humbly request the help of the other Kage. Please. I beg you. Kill me if you have to when the time comes, but please stop him. I can't make you help, but please consider it. Now then, if you'll all excuse me, I have a council to disband."


He moved through the concrete halls, his attention on a row of prison cells ahead. Their doors were open, not something that surprised him. Most prisoners could come and go from the cells as they pleased, if the others left them capable of moving. He walked to one, greeted by a disgusting sight and foul smell.

A blonde man was laying on the ground. His clothes were ripped, his feet cut off, and he was covered in what Victor new were bodily fluids.

"Hello Deidara," he said. He grabbed Deidara's hand and looked at the palm. "Those disgusting fuckers usually start cutting off parts at the hands, not the feet. I suppose they did find a use for your hands though." There was little to no reaction from the aged former Akatsuki member. "I know what you've been through. You've seen my legs and arms. But I'm the one that put you in here. I hope you hold no ill will towards me. You wanted to kill my nephew and niece. And for that, I put you, and what little of the Akatsuki I left alive, in the Twenty-Year Prison. But it's amazing, the rules you can circumvent when you own the place, and everyone who works here remembers what you did to survive it. How would you like to leave this place?"

At the mention of release, of salvation, Deidara's eyes focused and looked up at Victor. "Yes, please," was all he managed.

"Good. Now let's go find the Uchiha. I'm going to need his eyes."


Victor walked slowly through the hospital until he came to the room he wanted. His knuckles rapped against the door and he entered to see Kushina laying in a bed with Kimiko standing at her side.

"What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?" Kushina asked.

He took on a sorry expression, looking meager and apologetic. "I came to talk. Nothing more."

Kimiko walked over and stood close. "I'm not sure you coming here is a good idea. She puts on a strong face, but that seal has her in too much pain to move."

"I know. And that's why I'm here. I want to be worthy of your love, and hers, if she will give it to me. I know I can't change her fate, but I want to give my sister the chance to meet it instead. After what she tried to do today, I hope it shows why I fear for you, but I told you before, I don't want her dead. Will you please let me have the chance to still have my sister's love?"

Kimiko was quiet before nodding and stepping aside. He moved closer, looking at Kushina with the same sorrowful expression.

"I am sorry it came to this, sister. I really was hoping that we could make amends. But even after thirty years, all the suffering I endured, I came back to find my family wanted me dead. You chose this, but I'm still sorry. Nothing will ever change how much I still love you, not even your hatred for me. To show that, I'm here to offer you another chance." He walked up to her and took her hand, though the flesh looked dead. "I, Victor Uzumaki, offer a rematch to my challenger."

The seal immediately regressed, leaving her skin smooth and clean. He knelt down, placing his forehead to her hand.

"One of us can't live while the other does as well. Those are the rules of the game. But I don't want you to die. This rematch is the most I can offer you. All I wanted was your love, the love of my family, and our legacy. It's all I've wanted." He began to sob. "But all the things I've survived to get here; I don't want to die. I don't want to die. So you're going to have to. I just want you to not hate me in the end."

"Get the fuck off your knees and away from me you bastard," Kushina said venomously.

He looked up at her, his eyes red and his face stained with tears. "What?"

"I'll take your rematch, and I'll play your sick game, but I will still hate you even after you die. Now get the fuck out of here."

"Why? I did nothing wrong, so why do you hate me so much? This is your cruel answer?" Victor closed his eyes and stood up, nodding. "Same game, same place, same time. I'm sorry I wasn't able to change your heart. I love you, my sister." He turned and walked to Kimiko.

"I understand why you love them, but why do you want to stay with them? Are they the ones who will sacrifice themselves for you with no fear?" He left the room without another word, feeling Kushina glaring at him. But as he closed the door behind him, his face was split in a cruel grin.


The night air bit at Kushina. Her eyes snapped open at the feeling. She looked at the window, now open to the darkness. It seemed watery, like ink flowing through the air.

A hand reached from the dark, grabbing the window frame. Victor pulled himself inside, his bare feet landing softly on the tile floor.

"What are you doing here?" she snarled, sitting up in her bed. "I already agreed to play your game."

He stood tall, shadows wrapping around his body as dark robes. "I came to show you something. Put aside your hate for one night. No one is watching and I have no other plans. Just please, walk with me. At least join me with a painted smile." He held a hand out for her.

She glared at him, slowly standing. "What do you want to show me? The sooner I see it, the sooner you leave, right?"

He nodded, a small smile stretching his lips. His arm swept out towards the window. The wall faded and the darkness was burned away. Kushina stood at his side as the hospital disappeared.

"This is a dream, isn't it," she said, standing above the clouds.

"Yes. A dream I crafted, just like your nightmares over the years." He could feel her eyes boring into him. "All that time you said I was insane, I had just made you a part of my game." An Island formed below them. The Island of Uzushio. "When we first came to Konoha, I tried to make you afraid of the place and it's people, make you hate them. You saw it as hating your saviors for no real reason, trying to overcome it. When I realized it, I tried playing on your guilt for killing our mother and leaving our home to burn. I never realized that it was just too late. You were right. I've been playing on people's fears, infesting their nightmares to divide them."

Victor sat down,looking down longingly.

"I knew it. What do you have planned? Why come back and do all this?"

"For Kimiko. While you were in that coma, I passed on what secrets I could. And if I die, Naruto will continue. I trained her how to use the chains. She is strong. Stronger than either of us ever were, and only Naruto can rival her power. She can't be contained by your lies anymore. Even if I die, I'll make sure she is never bound or chained. Even if I wanted to, there is nothing that either of us could do to stop it now. Now hush. Enjoy the moment. This is the last time I'll be in your dreams, and it should be a happy dream."


A crowd gathered much more than before as Victor once again set up the table and chairs and laid the gun down. They watched as Kushina sat across from him, ready to take this rematch that would determine her fate.

Naruto and his family were standing to the side, again acting as mediators.

"Are you ready to play, little sister?" Victor asked.

"Yes. Let's get this over with."

He nodded and showed off the bullet he was loading into the gun; that, this time, it was not a blank. He spun the cylinder and snapped it into place. Without hesitation, he pushed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, sighing in relief as the gun clicked.

Once again, he put the gun down and pushed it to Kushina. This time, he saw hesitation in her eyes.

"Have you ever really played this game before?" he asked. She shook her head 'no'. "Give me your hand," he said gently, softly grabbing her hand and pulling it to him. He placed the gun in her hand. "Take a deep breath. Say a prayer to yourself, if you hold any belief. Take the gun, and count to three."

She slowly moved the gun to her head, placing the barrel to her skin. She took a breath.

"Close your eyes. Sometimes it helps," Victor said.

Kushina paused, her breathing hitched. She thought about what he had said, how many times he had played this game. That he was still sitting here. "You've never lost, have you."

Victor closed his eyes. "No. I haven't."

She nodded, closing her own eyes. She began to count, and, as she reached three, pulled the trigger.