CHAPTER 9

The new Obito easily broke the barrier created by the four Hokage, making everyone more uneasy. Hashirama and Tobirama's clones disappeared in front of Madara since their originals lost control of the barrier, leaving Misaki alone with him. As the last clone puffed away, Madara took advantage of her shock and reached out to grab her but before he did, Misaki teleported to his front.

Madara sighed but stood in his sitting position. "You have a bigger fish to fry and I'm done waiting for Hashirama." He said before standing up and jumping in front of the running Hashirama who was on his way to deal with the Ten Tails. Misaki emitted a long breath she'd been holding unconsciously.

Misaki caught sight of Obito going after Naruto and Sasuke, the four Hokage moving in front of him to stop him. They attacked the jinchuriki to analyse the enemy's moves and abilities, knowing that they couldn't die since they were reanimations. Unable to stay with the rest of the shinobi, she run towards them. "I don't know if I'll be much help or I'll be on the way but please count with me." She said out loud without taking her eyes of the enemy when she reached the Hokage.

"Misaki-chan," Tobirama started. "none of our ninjutsu or taijutsu attacks have any effect while the attacks Obito uses with the Truth Seeking balls around him nullifies all ninjutsu and stop the regenerating process, Minato has already lost one arm for good." He informed her. At that moment Gamakichi threw one his Syrup Gun jutsu at Obito who blocked it with one of his Seeking Balls. "My summoning time is up and I need to leave. Sorry about this." He apologised before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

However, the sticky liquid the toad from Mount Myōboku had thrown at Obito wasn't nullified and part of the sphere had melted. Misaki looked at Naruto and he nodded. He'd also realised Sage jutsu had an effect on the jinchuriki. They both concentrated on gathering the nature energy around them. Minato also picked up on that and asked Obito about his previous dream of becoming a Hokage to distract him.

Naruto activated his Sage Mode first and created a Rasengan while she still worked on hers. Tobirama teleported Naruto to Obito and managed a direct hit on Obito's back causing a lot of damage this time. "How? I thought ninjutsu didn't work on him." Sasuke asked.

"It seems we have found Obito's weaknesses." Misaki answered with her eyes still closed. "While ninjutsu has no effect, Sage Mode does. Naruto mastered it in Mount Myōboku with the toads, and I master it in Shikkotsu Forest." Misaki replied opening her eyes which now had a blue pigmentation around them as she finally activated her Sage mode.

"Sage moves will work!" Naruto yelled as he and Tobirama came back to their positions. "The Ten Tails uses Nature Energy so it seems we can counter it with Nature Energy ourselves. Are you ready Misaki sensei?" he asked while he started creating another Rasengan.

"Yes, I hope I can match my chakra ratio to yours." Misaki breathed the Fire Style: Fireball into it causing it to turn black and be surrounded by a ring of flames. Tobirama then transported Naruto back to the jinchuuriki.

"Hell Fire: Rasengan!" Naruto slammed the flame-covered Rasengan into the enemy causing a blazing maelstrom of fire, reducing the part of Obito's chest to ashes.

"Yes!" Naruto screamed before returning after a second later thanks to Tobirama. "He will definitely feel that one!"

However, Misaki felt Obito's chakra returning to normal. "Don't celebrate just yet, Naruto." She said while watching Obito stand up as if nothing had happened.

"Give up now and you'll be saved. You'll entered a dream where there will be no more suffering." Obito announced. The survivors around them looked at each other.

"If you succumb to genjutsu, you're no different from being dead!" Hashirama yelled at everyone.

A giant tree shot out to the sky as the roots expanded and took shinobi one by one and draining them of chakra until they die. Everyone started running in panic. "Oh no, this is the Divine Tree, Ten Tails' final form." Hashirama added. More branches kept coming up and reaching for them. Misaki was able to avoid them using her flicker technique but when she managed to clear of the danger she was surrounded by dead shinobi.

"It doesn't matter what you try anymore. The time to enter the moonlit dream world nears." Obito said.

Naruto and Sasuke striked together before Naruto linked his chakra with Obito's and it became a tug-of-war. Together, everyone won and extracted the Tailed Beasts right out of Obito.

As Obito remained on the floor but still alive, Sasuke run with his sword in hand ready to deliver the final blow. Misaki and Naruto run after him. "Sasuke, wait!" they both yelled.

At that moment, Kakashi suddenly returned from the other dimension and appeared over Obito. "Sorry for appearing all of a sudden but Obito was once my friend and classmate. So please let me take responsability for him." As he was about to strike with his kunai, Minato teleported next to him and grabbed his arm. Misaki followed suit a second later, standing opposite Minato and Kakashi.

"Kakashi! Where the hell have you been? Obito returned long ago and I was sick worried!" Misaki screamed at him with tears in the corner of her eyes. Kakashi was taken aback at the sudden outburst while Minato chuckled but he took a small step away from her.

"Women of this time really do have a temper, maybe even worse than Kushina…" Minato said but Misaki looked at him through narrow slits. "Nothing, nothing." he said holding his hand up.

"I'm sorry, Misaki. I didn't have enough chakra until now to leave the other dimension. I didn't mean for you to worry about me. But I'm glad you're here now." Kakashi looked up at her with remorse. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Even though they were in the middle of the war and their odds were at disadvantage, Misaki couldn't help the cheerful feeling by just being close to Kakashi.

"Naruto, go and help Lord First in sealing Madara away. We'll deal with Obito." Minato instructed. Naruto did as he was told and left to face Madara.

"A jinchuriki always dies after the Tailed Beast is extracted from them…." Minato whispered sadly.

"Obito…" Misaki said looking at the unmoving man.

"Misa- Misaki, don't give me that look. You're big brown eyes always reminded me of Rin, and right now, it's too painful to watch." Obito said turning his head away. "Rin…" he murmured after a moment. Rin was the kunoichi in Team Misato, and the girl the young Obito always tried to impress.

From the corner of her eye, Misaki noticed Sasuke summoning his hawk. "Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?" She asked.

"I'll go to Madara as well. I have a feeling Naruto won't be able to do the job by himself." He answered.

"Then I'm coming with you." She said making the hand signs for the summoning jutsu. However, before she casted the jutsu, Sasuke spoke. "Wait. There's no need to waste your chakra, we can fly together on Garuda's back."

Taken aback at Sasuke's suggestion, it took her a few seconds to react while Sasuke looked uncomfortable. Even him seemed surprised at hearing his own words.

"T-Thank you, Sasuke-kun." Misaki said with a smile. Memories of Sasuke when he was a happy kid flooded her mind while they flew towards Madara's location.

"Misaki-chan! It's so good to see you." Mikoto, Itachi and Sasuke's mom, greeted her as she approached their home. She was leaving their house and was holding little Sasuke's hand, who was almost 5 years old. Sasuke took a few seconds to recognise her but when he did, his eyes lit up.

"Misaki-neechan!" He exclaimed before letting go of her mother's hand and running towards her.

"Sasuke-kun! You've grown so much." Misaki kneeled on the floor with open arms in time to catch the running kid and cuddle him.

"Ah, I can't wait to see my grandchildren…" Mikoto murmured.

"Don't encourage her. She's not an Uchiha, and as the lead family of the clan, our children have a responsibility." Fugaku, Mikoto's husband, complained as he also exited the house on his way to the Police headquarters.

"Dear, don't say such rude things. Our kids are free to be with the women they'd love, regardless of their clan." Misaki didn't understand what the couple were really arguing about.

"Hey, I'm only 10 years old. Don't you think is a bit too early to talk about grandchildren, mother?" Itachi said as he jumped from his bedroom window which was just above the main entrance. When his eyes found Misaki's, his eyes lit up but in a more intense way than his younger brother's did. Mikoto smiled while she observed them.

"I don't think so, son." She replied.

"I'm glad your home. It's been a long year since you've been gone. How was your training with Jiraiya-sama?" Itachi asked Misaki while walking closer to her.

"It was great when Jiraiya-sensei wasn't on his 'research' missions but I'll tell you all about it while we have some dango. What do you say?"

"I want to come with!" Sasuke yelled before Itachi could reply. Misaki looked a Mikoto for approval.

"Alright, Sasuke. But be a good boy, ok?" Mikoto told her younger son. "You don't mind taking care of Sasuke for a while, don't you Misaki-chan?"

"Of course not. I'll take care of him and I won't let anything happen to him, that's a promise." Misaki said while smiling at Sasuke and holding onto his hand.

"There's something different about Madara." Misaki said when they arrived. Madara had his eyes closed while he spoke to Hashirama.

"These two polar opposites operating together that give rise to all things in this universe…" The Uchiha was saying, to her surprise, Misaki could see that Madara had somehow been revived and had some of the First Hokage's cells attached to his chest. "Hashirama, do you remember me telling this long ago in front of the Uchiha Stone Tablet? That the inscription on the stones says, when two opposite sides cooperate, you have true happiness. But I also told you it could be interpreted differently. The one who obtains both Uchiha and Senju powers can attain true power. Don't you think it could be read that way as well?"

Misaki felt both Sasuke and Hashirama glancing at her while she kept her eyes on Madara. What kind of power was he talking about? Would she be able to tap into this power with her Senju lineage and the Uchiha cells she acquired from Tetsuya?

In a quick movement Madara stole Hashirama's Sage jutsu chakra since Hashirama was unable to move due to the rods attached to his body. At that moment, Sasuke took the opportunity to attack with his katana.

"This is the perfect time to kill you since you're flesh and blood." Sasuke said menacingly as he marched forward. Even though Madara had his eyes still closed, he managed to evade every single one of Sasuke's strikes. Misaki jumped in and with her katana, they both made combination attacks against the enemy.

"I can feel it, the power behind your eyes, the Uchiha power but… you're not an Uchiha and you don't have the sharingan." Madara told her while dodging her attacks. "How is that possible? Maybe I'll take one of your eyes to see what lies behind them, for my other eye, I will take Sasuke's. However, I must do something else now." Madara said before taking throwing a powerful kick against her stomach which sent her backwards and taking Sasuke down with her. Madara then run off towards the Tailed Beasts that were fred earlier.

"Where did he go?" Sasuke asked as he helped her stand back up.

"I think he's after the power of the Tailed Beasts. Let's free Hashirama-sama from those rods and then we can go after him." Misaki approached the First Hokage but Sasuke went after Madara without waiting for her. "Agh, Sasuke-kun… he just couldn't wait a few minutes."

"Wait. Don't touch these rods. They will drain you from your chakra." Hashirama told her.

"I think I can manage if I use of my jutsu, they nullified other jutsu." She closed her eyes in concentration and worked on gathering her chakra but suddenly she felt a chilled run through her spine. Misaki gasped loudly.

"What is it, Misaki-chan?"

"I wasn't paying attention earlier but now… no… No way!" She yelled opening her eyes. "Naruto… his chakra is fading away… Madara must've got to him and Sasuke is on his way to him now. I need to get to them." She turned away from Hashirama and started running towards Sasuke. As she run she summoned her eagle and flew as fast as she could go. When she was getting closer to Madara's location, she noticed Tobirama on the floor with black rods stuck to his body and making him unable to move in the same way his older brother had been. Then, Sasuke, who was flying on his hawk above him jumped down and ready to strike with his katana. However, at the time he was inches away from Madara, some form of invisible field stopped him on his tracks on froze him on the spot. Madara took the katana from him and before Misaki could blink, he had stabbed Sasuke's chest with it.

Noooo! Misaki yelled in her mind because the rest of her body, including her mouth, had been paralyzed with the shock. She was supposed to protect Itachi's younger brother and yet, she had let his mad man thrust his sword into Sasuke right before her eyes. Anger built up quickly inside of her, her chakra bursting from her body and turning into a red fire cloak. She drew her katana and with a chakra enhanced push she propelled herself towards Madara but his blue Susanoo materialised and grabbed her whole body.

"That was some impressive speed. And here I thought Tobirama was the fastest. It's good you made the error of announcing your arrival like a big red neon sign." Madara started laughing but stopped dead with he noticed that the Susanoo's hand around Misaki was starting to melt. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Tobirama, is she a relative of yours?" Tobirama gasped before he could stop himself then grinded his teeth. Madara eyed him before looking back a Misaki. "Excellent. I was just telling Tobirama here how unsatisfying was to skewed him with these rods since he's only a reanimation, his body doesn't feel any pain. But killing one of his relatives, like he killed my little brother, will give me more pleasure."

"Madara, stop it. Don't go any further!" Tobirama complained as he tried to move but to no avail.

Misaki felt the hold of the Susanoo turn a bit loose but at the same time she noticed Sasuke's chakra fading into almost nothing. She turned to look at Sasuke's body, he was facing down on the ground, the back of his shirt was covered in blood. He was looking back at her but the light in his eyes had already faded away. "Madara…" Misaki spoke while slowly turning to face the Uchiha. "You're going to pay for what you've do-" She couldn't finish the last word because blood sputtered from her mouth and the air from her lungs had disappeared. Her eyes widened then turned to look down. Madara had just stabbed her in the chest with her own katana as well.

Strangely, she didn't feel any pain. It was quite the opposite, her whole body had gone numb and her vision started to fade. Madara's Susanoo let go of her body and as she fell onto the floor, the katana withdrew from her body. Misaki's eyes rolled inside their sockets before her body hit the ground.

Lying there, her legs or arms didn't seem to respond to her will to move. She could feel her heartbeat in the back of her ears, its unsteady pounding seemed to beat in slow motion.

Dudum, duh… dum...

The beating got louder and louder, the interval between each other longer each time. The hairs on her arms stood to attention, a chill run down her spine. She tried but couldn't keep her eyes fixed on the enemy in front of her as he walked away from the three bodies he'd just butchered.

Dudum, duh… dum… duh-