Author's Note: First of all, a big thank you to all who have favorited, followed, and/or reviewed since my last 'acknowledgement'. I've been putting this off for so long, and I apologize for that. Now I'm responding to all reviews since chapter nine, so if you just want to read, you'll have to skip quite a bit.
Also, a big thank you to Grace of Hearts and Lonely Athena for beta-ing this chapter. For all of you who don't know, Lonely Athena has actually translated the prologue and chapter 1 of this story into spanish, just in case you were interested. Check out both of their profiles!
Theunfunny9— Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Kyong Kybis— Thanks for the awesome review! Don't worry. Believe it or not, Team Seven actually isn't overpowered. You'll find out what I mean soon enough.
Infernezor— I'm glad you liked my characterization of the Sage. In a response to your question: the white room amplifies every aspect of the sage's power, allowing him to preform feats that are otherwise impossible anywhere else. Bending time and reality (although he has a slight control over reality with Banbatsu Sōzo with his Rinnegan outside of the room) are thus possible for the sage when he's in the room.
E3-FantasyandReality— Thanks for the encouragement. Good luck with your story as well!
LadyAngel123— Yes, I'm sorry... I do agree that I completely screwed you over by waiting a month to post and not finally initiating the time-travel, but I'm glad that you understand my reasoning. I have indeed initiated the time-travel. Enjoy!
bon123— 'Evil' you say? Yes indeed! Keep in mind that I'm a seventeen-year-old male who wastes quite a bit of time on violent video games. I'm also a big fan of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series in which he is totally fearless in killing off his main characters (or, short of that, his protagonists). Compared to my idol in writing, I actually consider myself to be quite mild...
Lonely Athena— Yes, the bubble is still protecting them, but it's also slowing them down. They're like sitting ducks for Tsukuyomi to swoop in on.
krynny— Thank you! I'm glad you appreciate my story!
imsabbel— Congratulations for being the only one to notice something off with the Naruto-Nagato scene. Keep in mind though, Naruto's rage wasn't due to his despair entirely. He's grown stronger than that...
willam and jack and jake— Thanks for reviewing every chapter! Yeah, I also thought that Sakura as a mistress of the elements would be really cool. But then I read the latest manga... I think I'm going to let her have that power in my story, but I'm going to make her work for it. Otherwise, she'd be completely overpowered instead of only slightly overpowered.
semaxx3— So Naruto getting the power of a bijuu and a new sage-mode isn't original enough? All right, it's ON! I'm taking that as a challenge to give Naruto some incredibly awesome—but at the same time believable—new ability!
Leandryn— Yeah... You're not the only one I've gotten that from. I promise you that I'll do my best to make the story move faster.
shadowmarialove— Thank you? I'm not so sure what was funny about the last chapter though... I think I kind of failed with Sasuke's POV. I'm glad you thought otherwise though!
LimitedEternity— Yes, they're being robbed of their afterlife as well. Sucks, I know. I'm actually quite surprised that I've never seen any other author of a time-travel story address who's present in the time-traveler's afterlife. It seemed a bit too important to ignore. And thanks! Giving Sakura elemental mastery was actually done on a random whim of mine.
risen truth ruthless lies— Thank you! Also, good luck with your new story!
Battle neurosis— Sorry for the cliffhanger, but at the time, that was literally all that I had written down. I don't exactly write ahead... I'm pretty sure my muse hates me.
xdevil-childx— Thanks! Enjoy with this chapter!
suicune4ever— I'm going to be upfront with you. No, Naruto will never see his parents again. Yes, I'm being incredibly cruel to Naruto, but I want him to be real as a character. I want him to suffer so that you, as a reader, can empathize with him and cheer him on in the coming wars. So far, it looks like 'mission accomplished' to me. Don't worry though. I hate depressing stuff almost as much as you do. The atmosphere will get lighter soon enough.
dayfox96— *Smirks* Yes, cliffhangers are annoying, aren't they? I'll try not to do it too much.
Kinunatzs— You do realize that Naruto doesn't know any sealing right now. That'll change when he meets the Uzumaki. (Come on! Who honestly didn't see that coming?)
Grace of Hearts— Thanks Grace! I do try.
Vicky Gonzal— Thank you! I was going for an overall dramatic story.
kkrar00— Well, I'm updating now... I'm glad you like it!
Guest— Thanks! Updating as I type! :)
daniel— I pulled a Kishimoto? Yeah, I guess I did... I'll try not to do that anymore.
PensiveProsperity— Well, I'm glad that you like the story!
Madararennigan— Thankfully, my AP Exams are OVER! Updates might not be guaranteed though. I'm pretty much writing my story from scratch as no one has completely set the standard for a time-travel to the Clan Wars.
MugetsuIchigo— I feel ya. APs are like leeches with how they suck our lifeblood till we're dry.
martian-general-bookworm— Thanks! Me too!
Indicud— You have a good idea with Shippuden-like filler arcs, but I'm probably just going to do little flashbacks within each chapter instead of actual filler arcs.
Mallari— I actually had to go to a russian translation website for your review. So, in response: Спасибо за вашу поддержку!
DarkinocensDLT— Thanks! I did work hard to write this.
fanfic drawer— I'm glad you get that the training was entirely necessary to the story. It's all action from here on out! *whips out a katana from nowhere* Let's get this party started!
FF-loverHP1— Thank you.
Namikaze-Uzumaki-Naruto— Thanks!
OregonDucks— No, he won't. I'm making the chakra-chains for the Uzumaki a specifically feminine power. He will learn their sealing though.
ElementalKitsune— To be honest, I have NO idea how I'm going to portray this. It'll be like writing my own book— a daunting task to say the least. Thanks for the compliment!
thekidwhohastoas— Yes, I could, but I'm not going to. (props to you for seeing that hidden potential though) In my mind, the sage is a bit too proficient at sealing to mess up that badly.
XT3100— The age-old question of peace... I think I could have done better, but I appreciate the encouragement. And while you may think so, I'm not ready to write my own book just yet.
Lightning X678— Don't worry, I didn't overpower them.
RefleR— Fine... *grumbles* I guess I'll stop.
igotmoneymoney—Thank you!
yukina-kun— I promise you I won't abandon this story.
Killijimaru— I'm glad you think so.
SilverIcy— *looks proud of himself* Thank you! I paid extra-special attention to my action scenes.
Dimension Distorter— They're not gonna make ripples in the time-stream, they're gonna cause a freaking tsunami. It's gonna be sweeet!
bostafu—Yes, Naruto does have enough insane abilities already. I'm glad you can see that.
Unknown Shinobi— Finals are over and I'm typing away. Enjoy!
Anbu Codename-Kuro— ^_^
The Clan Wars
Chapter 9: Darkness
"Sasuke! Duck!" Said Uchiha complied as that bitch of a moon goddess spin-kicked the chakra bubble again, this time almost to its breaking point. Her foot passed millimeters away from Sasuke's head, but thankfully despite the forceful bending the bubble would not break. With another zap of golden chakra, she was forced back yet again.
Sasuke glared at the sage, who was desperately trying to maintain their protective golden barrier. "Why aren't we moving!" he demanded.
The sage grimaced with Naruto's face. It was an odd expression for Naruto, almost as if he had eaten a bad bowl of ramen...
"That's it!" shouted the Sennin, sounding thoroughly annoyed. "I'm destroying the bubble!"
Sasuke and Sakura both looked at the sage like he was crazy. "What?!" they screamed.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Nagato was having a very bad day. He had been perfectly content in the afterlife. Sure, he was alone in that accursed gourd, but he had all these wonderful dreams. Dreams about things like being with Konan, Yahiko, and Jiraya-sensei, just like old times. Dreams of a world in which his parents never died. Dreams of a world in which war never existed, where there was no need for shinobi. But most of all, fleeting images of true peace. Of course, he of all people knew that the good things never lasted, not even in death.
Somehow, the Shinigami himself had managed to pry his very soul out from inside the confines of the Sword of Totsuka. Why? Because the Death God needed him to deal with a certain blond jinchuuriki (no direct divine interference and all). And for the millionth time in his existence, Nagato wondered why the world couldn't just save itself.
Now here he was standing in front of a Kyuubified Naruto, wondering how he could force his demonic junior to accept his destiny as the savior of the world—as the true Child of Prophecy—without having his own vulnerable soul torn to shreds.
The red-haired Uzumaki descendent was ripped from his thoughts when a one-tailed Naruto barreled past him, leaving wisps of that corrosive red chakra in his wake. Nagato was barely able to avoid him, using his Rinnegan for all it was worth to twist out of Naruto's way at the last possible moment. Damn, that boy was fast! His speed had increased to the point where he was nearly a blur when he moved!
"Naruto! Snap out of it!" Nagato pleaded, turning to face the blond behind him. Having his fellow disciple slaughter him in a berserker rage would most certainly not guide Naruto down the path towards true peace. Unfortunately, the rampaging Uzumaki paid him no heed and attacked with a clawed-swipe to his head. Nagato ducked with a frustrated growl and shoved his open palms into Naruto's unprotected chest.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The former Akatsuki member saw and felt everything in slow motion. First a shock-wave originated from his palms and radiated around Naruto's body. The laws of physics unravelled and gravity faded to a mere memory. It lingered for a moment before it blasted the Jinchuuriki clear across his own mindscape, slamming his body into one of the walls next to the Kyuubi's cage before peeling him off and dropping him to the ground with an audible thud.
As he stood there watching, Nagato could feel his Rinnegan tugging for energy—for a near unrestricted access to his chakra. If he were he alive, his use of the dōjutsu would have drained his body of all vitality without reserve, leaving him emaciated and weak: a shadow man he once was. But now, he was dead, and the ripple-eyes feasted upon the raw power of his pure soul. Death had freed him of his physical constraints.
He watched carefully as Naruto pushed himself up off of the ground. The Nine-tails was stirring in his cage next to him, but Nagato just ignored it. He knew that the beast wouldn't be able to interfere, even if it was so inclined. The Eight-Trigrams Seal on the door of the cage was virtually unbreakable—especially from the inside—unless one had the key. Although he knew that Naruto had somehow obtained the key due to his use of that strange golden chakra in their last battle, the boy was in no state to be able to use it now.
Naruto threw back his head and roared his fury, showing off his elongated canines in the process. "Uuoooaaaaaahh!" The very ground trembled at the bestial sound and a small shock-wave played at Nagato's hair, forcing him to squint his eyes.
The Rinnegan bearer flinched despite himself. He had faced Naruto in his rampaging nine-tails state an very nearly prevailed, but something just felt off about his transformation this time, even though Naruto was only in his one-tailed state. His very aura felt darker—even more malevolent than the last time.
It shouldn't have even been possible for Naruto to lose control of the Kyuubi's chakra in the way that he had and yet, when Jiraya's younger student learned of his separation from those he loved even in death, he was pushed over the edge in absolute rage.
No, Naruto was the man who stood in front of his sensei's murderer and forgiven him. For anyone else, it would have been virtually impossible to ignore their entire body practically screaming for revenge the way he knew that Naruto's was. Jiraya-sensei's last disciple would not lose control like this, not for anything. Something else was definitely at work here. But no matter what it was Nagato would find it, and crush it!
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Are you crazy!?" Sakura shrieked. Sasuke had to admit to himself, his banshee-of-a-teammate had a point. After all, what kind of an idiot would throw away their only form of protection against an insane rampaging goddess? Said goddess was gone for the moment—probably to lick her wounds—but she would definitely be back to stop them.
The ancient sage twisted Naruto's features into a wide, beaming grin. "Have been for a long time Sakura-chan! After all, you'd have to be completely insane to ever think up chakra theory!" Sakura glowered at Naruto's face, which were still twisted into a mocking grin. She didn't seem to be reassured at all, and for that matter, neither was Sasuke.
"... But can't you see it?" Sasuke felt the need to point out.
Naruto's eyes blinked a few times in confusion. "Yes, but—"
"So wouldn't the ability to see chakra make it significantly easier to grasp the concept?"
And thus, Naruto's facial features contorted into a pout. "Little brat! Taking away my thunder!" he muttered under his breath. Then, they all heard a strange whooshing noise. Almost immediately, Naruto's eyes sharpened and all playfulness evaporated as the sage tensed the body under his possession. Then the moon started to glow, almost trembling with latent power. 'Shit!'
"Brace yourselves," he ordered. "Tsukuyomi-chan's coming back."
Sasuke bit back a curse. Why wouldn't that insane immortal just get out of their way? Did she want the world to explode again? The Uchiha clan had always paid their respects to Tsukuyomi, the moon goddess. But now, Sasuke was starting to have daydreams of testing his sword on her... Could a goddess even bleed?
Off to the side in their protective bubble, Sakura was still unconvinced of her relative safety. "YOU'D BETTER NOT BREAK THE BUBBLE!" she screamed. Sasuke innocently pondered the possibilities of Sakura shouting the goddess to death, but immediately stiffened as said woman turned a death-glare on him. The Uchiha sincerely hoped that she had not picked up mind-reading from anyone. That would just be troublesome...
The sage was unperturbed. "This is our only option. I have all but exhausted my strength with the seal." Naruto's head turned as the oldest man alive looked at the horror-struck medic clasped to his arm. He offered her a sad but reassuring smile. Then turning to the Uchiha on his other side he said, "I'm sending you two down first. Naruto and I will follow after I deal with Tsukuyomi-chan."
Sasuke was hesitant, despite the obvious confidence the sage projected. "I should stay with you," he decided. Sakura didn't agree. "No way! I am not going to leave everyone behind! I'm also stayi—"
"ENOUGH! Both of you will obey me because there is more at stake here than your own petty rules of never leaving a comrade behind! When the barrier is dismantled, the two of you will go on without me and Naruto," Naruto's eyes turned icy-blue, "because the world comes first! Only we can prepare for the coming storm."
The sage was at a standoff with his two students for a moment, daring them to challenge him. Eventually Sasuke gritted his teeth and bowed his head in defeat. "It shall be as you say, Sennin-sama," he ground out, obviously not liking the fact. What about Naruto? It was his body that the sage had commandeered after all. The sage looked solemly at the Uchiha for a moment, seemingly answering his questions with his determined gaze. Then he turned towards Sakura whose viridian eyes were getting watery.
"Hai, Sennin-sama," she finally replied with a wavering voice. This really wasn't fair to her. Hell, it wasn't fair to any of them, but it needed to be done. Then the rosette engulfed the sage in a hug, surprising him.
"You'd better be right behind us with Naruto and Kurama!" she whispered fiercely into his ear. The God of Shinobi just smiled warmly. In many ways, Sakura was like a mother to the rest of the group. This was just her showing her protective side. "I'll do my best," he whispered back, returning her embrace.
Then the Sennin pushed Sakura and Sasuke away from him. The two ninja floated apart for a moment before latching their fingers onto each other's arms. Blue stared into black and green unflinchingly. Then the sage slammed his closed fists together in front of him. "KEKKAI!" he roared, channelling staggering amounts of chakra through his fists.
A wall of golden chakra rapidly formed within the bubble, separating the sage and Naruto from Sasuke and Sakura. Then a strange new barrier started shimmering in blue around Sakura and Sasuke, flickering in and out of existence with the pulse of a heatbeat. With a final push, the Uchiha and the medic broke off into their own bubble and floated away.
The Sage of Six Paths watched for a moment before turning towards the rapidly approaching threat. Tsukuyomi would never harm them! He would destroy her before he allowed that to happen, old friend or not. No one touches his kids. She would not pass!
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Nagato vaulted up by a good dozen feet, barely dodging another one of Naruto's strikes, which in turn caused the jinchuuriki's clawed-hand to completely demolish the wall that had been behind him. The former Rain-shinobi had to admit, this was getting rather difficult. Not only was Naruto steadily getting stronger and faster—despite remaining exclusively in his one-tailed form—but the Rinnegan-bearer was starting to sense the presence of something absolutely foul.
The only one who had ever induced in him anything close to this sensation before had been that one-eyed shinobi whom he knew as Madara Uchiha, the man who would rule the world. But even he paled in comparison to the sheer malevolence that this presence radiated. This felt like an evil beyond the capacity of any mere mortal.
The red-head landed lightly on the balls of his feet, warily eyeing the Kyuubified Naruto—although he wasn't entirely sure that the blond's current state was solely due to the Nine-tails anymore—as the demonic boy wrenched his hand from the pile of rubble that use to be a rather impressively-built wall.
That was something else that surprised Nagato. He hadn't expected Naruto's mind to appear so... sophisticated. Surrounding the Kyuubi's gigantic cage was an even more enormous labyrinth, the complexity of which Nagato couldn't even begin to grasp.
While he had the upmost faith in Naruto as his fellow disciple, Nagato would freely admit that Naruto wasn't the brightest kid he had ever met. That title belonged to one Itachi Uchiha. Almost in a direct contrast, his blond junior was brash, impulsive, and incredibly blunt. No, sadly Naruto was not the sharpest kunai in the pouch.
That said, it wasn't as if Naruto didn't have any natural talent at all; he was a shinobi graced with what was probably the largest untapped natural reserve of chakra on the planet! However, Nagato knew that the blond wasn't entirely dependent on his monstrously, practically bijuu-level chakra reserves. According to his operatives in the Hidden Leaf Village, the kid had actually managed to master the Shadow Clone—a jōnin-level technique—when he was a snotty-nosed student of the Academy in a mere few hours!
That same boy had even managed to surpass Jiraya-sensei, astonishingly succeeding where the Toad-Sage, one of the Legendary Three, had failed by achieving a perfect Sage-Mode. Hell, the kid had even managed to beat not only the Six Paths of Pain single-handedly, but he had even managed to survive a battle against the true Pain!
While it was true that sometimes Naruto wouldn't be able to grasp a concept immediately, he had an unnerving knack for achieving the impossible. It was almost like his mind worked in reverse, allowing him to grasp unbelievably difficult concepts—such as the shadow-clone jutsu and sage-mode—while completely screwing him over on things as simple as a basic clone jutsu or rudimentary Algebra. Now though, he just hoped that the rampaging Leaf shinobi could use that hidden talent of his to somehow break away from that suffocating fury that enveloped him.
Nagato froze as an incredibly cold sensation suddenly overtook him. He watched warily as the rampaging jinchuuriki in front of him finally ripped his arm from the rubble and rose to his feet. Then Naruto turned around. Nagato was stunned. 'H-His eyes! What's wrong with his eyes?!'
Naruto's eyes were no longer that piercing cerulean-blue that they once were, or even the scarlet-red of the Kyuubi. They didn't even boast the burnished-gold of sage-mode. No... Now they were completely black. A void.
Soulless.
"Naruto... What's happening to you?" Nagato asked, despairing that he really had no idea what course of action to take. Was that dark presence he felt really controlling Naruto, the shinobi with the indomitable will?
The blond just snarled at his question, flashing his impressively long fangs in the process. Sighing internally, the reserructed Rain-Shinobi leaned into his defensive crouch; he really couldn't afford to take any chances now. If he was defeated here, his very existence would be compromised.
With a petrifying roar, Naruto attacked in a burst of speed, slashing and pummeling anything that got in between him and his prey. As a man, Nagato had been rather gravely injured during his confrontation with Hanzō and those damnable Root Anbu of Konoha, an explosion rendering his legs nearly useless.
But as a soul, Nagato could move like the wind, as if his injury was just a bad dream. He ducked and weaved in and out of Naruto's attacks like they were nothing, never once letting the blond touch him, but also never moving out of range. He wanted to keep Naruto occupied by fighting him because the longer Naruto was busy, the more time Nagato had to figure out whatever the hell was going on. Then he could save Naruto from that corrupting darkness defiling his very soul.
That was what Nagato was fighting right now: Naruto's soul. After all, what else could exist inside of his mindscape aside from his mind and soul? Well, besides the Kyuubi of course. Now all the redhead had to do was make sure he didn't injure Naruto too much; he wasn't entirely sure that a soul could heal like a body could.
Naruto then made the mistake of overextending his reach in one of his clawed thrusts, barely missing his intended target as the redhead twisted out of the way. The former Akatsuki member immediately grabbed Naruto's forearm in his ironclad grip, absolutely refusing to let go. Naruto struggled like a beast, clawing, kicking and biting. But Nagato dodged his junior's attempts at release like they were the attacks of a Genin fresh out of the Academy.
It was far to easy to predict Naruto's movements when he was in this state; he moved like an animal and he appeared to think like one as well. That said, Naruto also had the overwhelming physical strength of the Kyuubi at his disposal, and Nagato was having quite the time trying to maintain his grip without getting his guts spilled across the floor.
"Rrraaaaaahhhhh!" Nagato flinched at the unexpected roar, and that proved to be a nearly fatal mistake. Naruto slipped in past his guard and drove his chakra-laden fist deep into his gut. The Rinnegan bearer was immediately immobilized by the crippling pain; it was like his organs were being rearranged and shredded at the same time! Naruto remained in that position for a moment, seemingly enjoying the stunned pain playing across his opponent's face. He grinned savagely.
'D-Damn! Just one punch... Such power!' Then Nagato coughed up his own blood as the blond jinchuuriki slowly withdrew his fist and cocked it in preparation for yet another blow. But Nagato never let go of the blond's arm. He would save Naruto! He would—
Without warning, a fist collided into Naruto's face, practically rearranging the bone-structure before sending him crashing headfirst through a wall. From the sounds of it, the blond must have demolished several more walls in his involuntary flight before he finally rolled to a stop out of sight. Nagato shakily looked up at his rescuer from where Naruto had dropped him.
He didn't really know what to think. On one hand, he had definitely needed the help, but whoever this was had been utterly ruthless in dealing with his fellow disciple. Nagato didn't want to kill Naruto! But once he finally managed to look up, he froze. There was no way... This just wasn't possible...
A giant of a man garbed in green with a red vest stood poised protectively over Nagato, as if he feared that the jinchuuriki could recover from that punch like it was nothing. Wild white, spiky hair was tied back into a ponytail that dropped down to the man's waist. White hair...
"J-Jiraya-sensei," Nagato whispered, as if saying his name any louder would make him disappear.
Jiraya, Toad Sage of the Dentetsu no Sannin was back from the dead.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The Sage of Six Paths was once hailed as the Savior: leader of all mankind. He was the ripple-eyed hero who defeated the monstrous Juubi, the man who guarded the Power of Creation, a man blessed by the gods themselves. That is, until his death.
After his death, he was the sole cause of the Shinobi Clan Wars, the world's greatest series of wars in all of history. With a few words, the Rikudō Sennin had burned that fragile peace he had so painstakingly built over the course of his lifetime to the ground. His last words doomed the world to the chaos of war, and it's eventual annihilation. But that was only one of the reasons that the gods no longer supported him. Only one of the reasons they now hunted him.
The other reason was the Juubi, the great Ten-Tailed beast of destruction: his greatest mistake. Combining their very essence, the Council of the Gods blessed the man who would become the Sage of Six Paths with two priceless treasures, all to be able to combat and eventually destroy the Ten-Tailed Beast. The first boon they granted involved his mortal body. He was, after all, merely a mortal. Together, the gods poured their essence into his body, improving and rebuilding every cell until he was no longer entirely human.
They unmade his mortal container, stripping his very soul bare of the weak flesh, blood and bone that once sheathed it. Then they coated his vulnerable being with their essence, their power, enhancing his body in their own image, making him the world's first demigod.
He was stronger, faster, smarter. Every bone was tougher, every muscle far more adroit. Even his skin became virtually impenetrable. He was the perfect weapon, but his soul remained that of a mortal. After all, only mortals were permitted to directly interfere with worldly affairs.
The second divine treasure that the immortals gifted to the man was his eyes—his body alone would never have been enough to prevail over that rampaging beast. The priest's transformed body would only allow him to survive the beast's onslaught. His eyes however would let him dominate it.
The Juubi was a monster able to use a strange form of life-energy called "chakra" in absurd amounts. Every human had a miniscule amount which they carried with them throughout their lives, and even the gods carried this very same energy within them, although in far greater amounts than the mortals. To destroy the Juubi, the Gods dictated that the mortal before them needed to be able to sense this life-energy; so they altered his eyes.
The eyes of heaven, the orbs which held the Secrets of Creation. The Rinnegan, eyes of the Six Paths. It was in these eyes that the gods transfered a portion of their true powers. It was the Rinnegan that made the man an ascended being, one of the few creatures besides the gods themselves that could hope to destroy the Juubi. With the ripple-eyes of the Heavens, he had the power to once and for all annihilate the rampaging monster!
Except that he didn't.
The mortal prevailed in his final confrontation with the beast, both of them nearly collapsing after weeks of continuous battle. But in the end, that... that human went back on the oath he swore. Instead of erasing the monster from the plane of Creation as he was charged, he took it upon himself to split it, tearing its gargantuan life-force from its body and dividing it. That which was once one great being was split into nine: the nine tailed-beasts. He called them his 'children' and treated them as such. Blasphemy! He even preserved the Juubi's body by sealing it in a floating sphere of rock!
The actions taken by the Sage of Six Paths were nothing short of treason to the Divine Council.
But the gods could not do anything against him—they were forbidden from interfering directly in the mortal world. So they waited; they waited patiently for his death, for his deliciously mortal soul to come into their grasp. But the man disappointed them even in that regard.
Shortly following his death, the man's soul did not follow the path that all human souls followed. No, he had the audacity to defy his fate. The soul of the man whom the mortals knew as the great Rikudō Sennin fled into a dimension of his own design, escaping the wrath of the gods. And so they waited.
Now though, Tsukuyomi had her chance! She would crush this pathetic human soul that had betrayed them all! She would obliterate him, even if he was once her only love. Because she was a goddess, above petty emotions such as sentimentality.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The Sage of Six Paths watched sadly as two of the teenagers under his care floated down towards the earth. He knew they would be fine, those kids knew how to take care of themselves, but he still couldn't help but feel a bit of fatherly concern. Would their landing be fine? Would the bubble burn up in the atmosphere? How would they find him again? But the ancient man had faith. Those two were two of his successors; they could handle whatever this would had to throw at them. They would be alright.
He was interrupted from his thoughts as the moon started to change color. That sphere of rock which once glowed a lovely ivory color rapidly deteriorated to an angry blood-red. The sage suddenly realized that the earth was completely blocking the sun's light. But without the sun...
"ARE YOU READY, SENNIN-SAMA?!"
By the gods...
Without the sun, Tsukuyomi had nothing to keep herself restrained. It was only under Amaterasu-sama's watchful eye that Tsukuyomi obeyed the Divine Mandates. Without her... But the again, who was he to criticize for disobeying the rules?
Through Naruto's eyes, the sage watched as the moon goddess flew towards him at a frightening pace. Her expression was absolutely sadistic, the kind of visage one would expect to see on the face of a serial killer. She was totally insane. There was a very real reason that humans attributed madness to the moon. Not because it housed the body of the greatest demon in all of creation, but because its guardian was the very difinition of bipolar.
There were suspicions, just rumors really, that the goddess alternated between different aspects, her relative sanity directly correlating with the phases of the moon. The fuller the moon was, the more... stable she was, as if Amaterasu-sama's reflected sunlight helped to calm her. But now, there was a bloody lunar eclipse, an even worse time than the new moon! A time in which Tsukuyomi went absolutely mad with bloodlust.
The night of the red moon.
Like a wraith out of the darkness, the goddess materialized in front of the sage's bubble. "I really don't like this mortal skin you're wearing, little sage," Tsukuyomi whined with a pout, her lip puffing out slightly. Her expression might have even been cute if that look in her eyes wasn't so damn terrifying. "The old you was so much handsomer!" she purred seductively as she tauntingly floated in circles around him.
Her physical appearance was disturbingly different now, seemingly celebrating the color red. Tsukuyomi's long hair, which was once a glossy black, had transformed to a sickly red. Her eyes weren't that much better off. Those silverly orbs were... tainted. There was no other word to describe it. Her eyes—formerly unblemished silvery perfection—were now invaded by swirls of red and black.
In a way, it was fascinating to watch as the colors battled for supremacy what he assumed to be her pupils, but to his dismay, the silver was losing. The madness was taking its hold, rooting itself firmly in her mind. Even her once beautiful silvery kimono was defiled, spattered with red in patterns that looked suspiciously like the spray of blood. The Sennin sighed to himself. Why couldn't anything be easy?
Looking the goddess in the eyes, he said, "Our discussion is over, Tsukuyomi. We are passing with or without your permission!"
"Awww! Call me chan!" she whined, totally disregarding the fact that the object of her attention was glaring daggers at her.
The sage's stony expression never left Naruto's face. "I think not! Now move!"
She lifted her eyebrows at that, rather surprised at his blatant disobedience. Even when he was alive, the little sage had never openly defied the gods. His splitting of the Juubi had been unauthorized, but the man had been prudent enough not to disobey them to their faces.
The only reason he had managed to create the abominations known as the Tailed-Beasts was because the Council had forbidden direct divine intervention on Earth. Otherwise, he would have been stopped immediately and his soul banished to the deepest pits of Hell for his treachery. Yes, he was always a careful and calculating man. So why was he suddenly throwing his caution to the wind?
Contrary to popular belief, whenever Tsukuyomi had her... episodes, she retained every iota of her natural—or rather, divine—intelligence. In many ways, she could actually be considered brighter during her more eccentric states of mind simply because her mind worked differently.
Her critical thinking and problem-solving were completely rearranged, processing in revolutionary ways that no one else could ever begin to imagine. Although, she didn't really need any of her warped brain-capacity to notice that the other two mortal worms weren't with the little sage. Any idiot could've seen that!
"You know," she began mockingly, dancing near the edge of the barrier's attack range, playing with it as she darted in and back out again. "I bet I could get to them before you could."
The color fled from Naruto's face, leaving his skin an unnatural pallor of white. "You wouldn't dare!" the sage whispered harshly.
"Oh?" Tsukuyomi responded, her mouth curving up with a vicious smile. "But you know that I would."
Suddenly, the goddess darted around him, placing herself between the bubble and that blue-green planet. Turning around momentarily, she grinned in all her savage glory. "Don't worry little sage. I leave their parts for you to bury!" And she sped off towards the planet where she assumed the other two mortals were heading. She was going to have so much fun!
The sage was at her heels in an instant. He roared, "TSUKUYOMI!"
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Jiraya-sensei?" Nagato whispered again. Even in the afterlife before Itachi had sealed him in the Sword of Totsuka, Nagato had never seen the man. In fact, Nagato didn't see anyone in the afterlife. He knew exactly why, though: he was being punished. He was in his own personal hell of solitude, a place with only his thoughts to echo around in his mind. What else would suffice for living as a harbinger of war and destruction? He could handle any kind of torture, but solitude was its own kind of hell.
For over a year his soul had wandered in that eternal night, a night devoid of even the faintest stars. A barren field of rock and dust loomed before him, never ending, never changing. Darkness reigned in this strange land. But then came that pull, that tugging that latched on to his very soul, giving him no choice but to comply. That was when he was resurrected alongside Itachi Uchiha, all to capture a certain blond jinchuuriki.
As outlandish as the entire situation had been at the time, Nagato knew that it was entirely plausible. He had made sure to do quite a bit of research on Orochimaru before allowing that snake anywhere near the Akatsuki. If the Edo-Tensei had been perfected by him, who was to say that no one had taken advantage of his research after his death? He wasn't entirely certain, but his money was on that spectacled bastard that always hovered near the snake.
Shortly after his latest interaction with the world of the living, he was torn from the mortal plane yet again, but this time he had been sealed, potentially forever. But at least that gourd was more comfortable than that eternal night, blessing him with those shifting dreams. And then the Shinigami, Lord of Death and of the Dead, had pried his soul from the Sword of Totsuka and demanded that Nagato be of service to him. Not being in any position to object, Nagato relented and followed the Shinigami's orders. Apparently, the Death God viewed Naruto's mission as vital to the continuation to the great flow of life and had sent Nagato to explain to Naruto his... circumstances.
When Naruto didn't take the news as well as he had hoped, the Shinigami had thankfully sent Nagato a backup: Jiraya-sensei. The former Akatsuki puppet-leader could practically feel the power of the Lord of the Dead oozing from his former sensei. It wasn't chakra though, it was a far subtler power. It was almost as if this new aura that Jiraya-sensei was releasing wasn't entirely that of a mortal soul. The white-haired man before him burned with the power of the dead, the power of the Shinigami.
Jiraya never even turned around, ever vigilant as he scanned the walls that he had punched Naruto through. "Nagato, get up," he barked, the command in his voice made obvious by his harsh tone. Nagato immediately pushed himself off of the floor, wincing as the pain Naruto's fist had caused shot up throughout his abdomen. Damn, why was Naruto suddenly so powerful? What was with those ebony eyes of his? No... ebony was shiny. Naruto's eyes were more like the complete absence of color.
His eyes were a void.
"Did the Shinigami send you too?" Nagato questioned. He didn't see any other way another dead man could show up in Naruto's mindscape. Not only that, but Jiraya-sensei reeked of the Shinigami's chakra, as if the god had kept him by his side. All in all, Nagato was really just looking for an excuse to talk.
"Yeah," Jiraya answered simply, his white spiky hair shifting in an unfelt breeze. "He thought you'd run into something that you couldn't handle." The Sannin risked a glance behind himself, where Nagato stood with shaky feet. "Looks like he was right."
"Don't be ridiculous," Nagato scoffed after an uncomfortable silence. "I can handle Naruto!" That was a blatant lie; nothing could really handle Naruto, but Nagato didn't want the conversation to end with just a few spoken sentences. He'd longed to see his sensei ever since he had died in his resurrection of most of Konoha, and maybe even before then. He just felt so guilty and he didn't know if he could ever apologize for what he did. In this instance, peace between them seemed impossible.
"That wasn't Naruto," Jiraya responded, almost offhandedly. The man seemed to either be oblivious to or ignoring Nagato's blundering attempts at a conversation, only responding with short and precise answers.
"... Come again?" Nagato was fairly certain that his rampaging opponent was indeed Uzumaki Naruto. Blond hair? Check. Whiskered cheeks? Check. Blue eyes? Check. Well, no. Not blue eyes, but they used to be blue. So yes, that was an affirmative. Nagato was interrupted in his mental check-list when Jiraya decided to respond in earnest.
"You heard me. That wasn't Naruto at all. He's being controlled. And by the way," Jiraya said, now turning fully to face his former student, "who did you in? Last I checked, you were the most powerful ninja alive. Head of the Akatsuki at that!" The Toad Sage's voice turned hard at the end, causing Nagato to look at the floor guiltily.
"So you haven't forgiven me then?" he murmured. He didn't really expect Jiraya to forgive a man like him, a murderer. He'd just always hoped. At least he knew now.
Jiraya turned back around towards the gaping hole in the wall. "It was never about forgiving you, Nagato." Nagato looked down at the floor in shame. So he really was unforgivable. So much that forgiving him wasn't even an option for Jiraya-sensei. "I've-," Jiraya sighed. "I've already forgiven you. I did a long time ago. But I was just... disappointed. I was so, so disappointed in the actions you've taken."
Nagato felt his heart seize up at that. He knew he deserved it, but why did that crushing guilt and shame hurt so much? He was happy that sensei forgave him, but that did nothing to assuage his guilt. If anything, Jiraya-sensei's forgiveness made it hurt even more. Even worse was the fact that the man who had saved his life, who had built him up, was disappointed in him. Perhaps this was why shinobi were supposed to suppress their emotions. His own turbulent feelings were making him feel dizzy and weak, like that broken child whom Konan and Yahiko found in Ame all those years ago. It hurt.
"But then I heard about what happened in the Leaf through the soul of a passing Konoha Shinobi. So Naruto got to you when I couldn't, huh? Cheeky little brat, always looking to surpass the master. Although, I thought that Naruto left you alive... Thank you, Nagato... I'm glad that you were the one to teach him about pain, even if it was through my own death."
"Sensei..." Nagato whispered. He had never expected to be forgiven for his actions, but here sensei was telling him that he'd done so a long time ago. It was incomprehensible. He just couldn't understand how sensei could so easily forgive someone who'd taken his life. Hell, he was thanking him! Did he not care that he was murdered and left to rot in the watery depths of Ame? But nonetheless, some of that hurt in his soul disappeared. Sensei didn't hate him!
"That's enough for now, kid. We'll talk after we pry whatever that was off of Naruto's soul."
Jiraya's words jolted Nagato from his thoughts and he regarded the jagged hole warily; his own indecision would have to be addressed later. Naruto was definitely stronger than him now, and possibly even stronger than Jiraya-sensei. Both of them would need to work together to bring the jinchuuriki down in his berserker fury. He had no idea how they were going to do it without inflicting some kind of injury on Naruto.
Killing-intent suddenly washed over the pair. Images of bloody and gory deaths filled their mind: fleeting sensations of pain beyond imagining. Their visions were slowly tinted with red. A killing-intent this powerful... A bloodlust that could freeze one of the Dentetsu no Sannin and a Rinnegan user in place... This sensation was far, far worse than the Kyuubi's rage had ever been, which was quite the feat as Nagato had faced the Kyuubi right up until it was about to be fully released. This wasn't just intent, it was an omen of a bloody and violent end.
The ruins of the wall suddenly exploded outward, forcing Nagato and Jiraya to jump back several yards in order to avoid the débris. As the dust cleared, a creature of the dark manifested before them. Snarling with a deep guttural growl, it advanced.
Naruto was back... but he wasn't the same Naruto. The voids in his eyes no longer clung to the shadows.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"TSUKUYOMI! DON'T! YOU! DARE!" The insane immortal just ignored her pursuer, losing herself in the thrill of the hunt. In the past, Tsukuyomi would have been delighted with the amount of attention the sage was paying her, murderous or not, but things had changed. She was no longer the naive young goddess she had been when they first met. She was no longer enamored by his charms. He was a traitor, plain and simple. Killing his successors just so happened to be the best way to make him suffer the consequences of his actions.
"TSUKUYOMI!" The queen of the moon risked a glance behind her. She and the little sage had been racing at incredibly high speeds for the past hour (those pathetic mortals must have gotten quite the head-start). What the sage had in power with his bubble of pure golden chakra, Tsukuyomi more that made up for with her superior speed and mobility.
While he had to shred through the random space-rocks that crossed his path, Tsukuyomi would merely shift in her trajectory, avoiding them by a hairs-breath each time in a show of fluid grace and flexibility. In a way, Tsukuyomi pitied the little sage. After all, who would want to be in the body of a mortal when the gods had granted them a body of such perfection? He really shouldn't have betrayed them.
She absently twisted past the latest meteoroid in her path. No less than three seconds later, she heard a thundering crash as the sage behind her presumably smashed the poor rock to oblivion, but she never looked back. Hopefully the rock would slow him down long enough so that she wouldn't have to listen to his screaming. It was getting to be sooo annoying!
The moon goddess then started to brainstorm on how best to slaughter those two mortals. Beheading was rather satisfying, but it was a bit too messy for her tastes. She didn't want to be caught in the spray when she cut off their heads. Or she could just stab them through the heart, but then there was the fact that she didn't actually have a weapon with her. That damnable sage's arrival had been totally unexpected, so she hadn't had the time to grab one! If she did want to get up close and personal with her attacks, the blood was going to be unavoidable.
While Tsukuyomi wasn't afraid of blood, she wasn't particularly fond of it either. Around a thousand years prior, a large group of those idiotic mortals had gotten it in their heads that if they offered her human blood as a sacrifice on the night of the full-moon, she would grant them supernatural powers. Hah! After the sage's betrayal, the divine council would never trust a human again.
Nonetheless, the immortal possessed one of their bodies to witness the proceedings, as the ceremony was in her honor. Unfortunately for her, the entire event was absolutely disgusting! By no means was Tsukuyomi squeamish, but after that night she developed a healthy distaste for mortal anatomy. Whenever she killed after that, she preferred to do it quickly, if only to avoid the gore that always followed. The stuff never failed to get in her hair!
After several more minutes of cruising through the thermosphere, the goddess lucked out. It was those two mortals! She couldn't really help herself when she looked over her shoulder and shouted to the man behind her, "I think they'd look better without their arms! Won't hacking their limbs off be fun? If you want, we could even tear those insects apart!" The sage replied with a scream of murderous fury. Oh, he seemed to be very attached to these particular mortals. If Tsukuyomi played her cards right, this could be a blast!
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Sakura wasn't normally one to panic. She was the successor of one of the Dentetsu no Sannin, Tsunade Senju, and her rather violent teacher had drilled her early in her training to keep a clear head at all times. After all, it wouldn't do if the Hokage's apprentice made a fool of herself.
At certain points during the war, such as when several of Kabuto's reanimations including a certain Gekko Hayate had broken into the Medical Corps and made off with scrolls containing some of the most powerful shinobi that the Alliance had managed to seal, she nearly lost it, but in the end Sakura always kept a clear head. She was Sakura Haruno, the successor of the Godaime! She would not panic!
But now, Sakura was definitely panicking.
Sennin-sama was off in Naruto's body fighting a goddess! How could she possibly relax when about a million things could go wrong? Maybe Naruto would accidentally retake control of his body in the middle of their fight, and Tsukuyomi would would slaughter them! Or maybe that lunatic wasn't alone and Sennin-sama would be outnumbered! Damn it, she knew that leaving those three behind—Kurama was pretty much family by now—was a bad idea!
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Sasuke seemed to notice his teammate's discomfort as they sped towards the lower levels of the earth's atmosphere. The girl was practically quivering! To anyone else, it would have looked like Sakura was scared, but Sasuke knew better. The woman at his side was not trembling from fear, it was quite the opposite actually.
Sakura was shaking with absolute rage: rage that Tsukuyomi had dared to attack her loved ones, rage that the goddess had forced them to separate. If there was one thing that Sasuke consciously took pains never to provoke, it was Sakura's anger. Once she went over the edge, there was no going back.
'Damn you Tsukuyomi! I'll have my revenge for the situation you've put me in!'
BOOM!
Swiftly turning his head, Sasuke turned his body, positioning himself between Sakura and the origin of the sound. Or at least he tired to. The woman wouldn't stop squirming!
"Get off me Sasuke! I can take care of myself!" she snapped at him. Didn't she know that she was making his job infinitely more difficult by struggling? He just knew that Naruto would have his hide if anything happened to Sakura, but that wasn't to say that he wasn't concerned for her safety as well. He just had a more... roundabout way of expressing it.
"Sakura! Stop struggling!" he commanded fruitlessly. Whatever it was that made that noise, it was moving fast. That thunderous sound a few moments ago was definitely a sonic-boom. He'd learned to recognize them in his few training sessions with Juugo. But here, in the outer reaches of the atmosphere, only one person could move that fast.
Tsukuyomi.
Damn it all! Was the sage dead along with that fox? Was Naruto dead? Sasuke didn't even want to think about it. There was no way that the blond idiot would let himself die! Besides, he had to focus on getting Sakura and himself to the ground in one piece. He didn't know the specifics, but it looked like the earth was a no-fly-zone for the gods. If they could just land-
"Mortals~!" Tsukuyomi sang suddenly as she appeared out of nowhere. A few seconds later, the rush of sound and debris that should have announced her presence followed. Was the goddess really that fast that she could outrun sound? But if she was faster than sound, then what was that boom from earlier? Could it be that she was just playing with them? Either way, Sasuke didn't like what she seemed capable of.
The queen of the moon seemed... different. Her once-beautiful silvery kimono was completely stained in red, as if she had slaughtered a pig above herself and let the blood drip down. It just looked messy, with silver spotted with red. Her eyes were just as intimidating, having changed color from the purest silver to a startling scarlet-red with black swirls.
Corrupted.
Her hair was a fiery red that Sasuke could have honestly mistaken for the color of one of his more advanced Katon jutsu. It was actually quite similar to the color of chakra flames. Sasuke didn't exactly know if that was a good thing or not.
A quick glance to his left revealed Sakura defiantly glaring at the immortal. This could potentially end in their slaughter if the rosette lost her head.
"Sooooo," the insane immortal drawled carelessly, licking her lips in anticipation. Sasuke and Sakura both narrowed their eyes at her tone. "Which of you two insects wants to die first?"
Not even bothering to wait for an answer, the goddess then tensed her right hand, clenching her fingers around an invisible ball until the space between glowed with a strange red light. It didn't behave like chakra though. Chakra was more... alive. Chakra flickered and flared even under the control of the most skilled user. The light coating Tsukuyomi's hand was still, almost dead.
The power of a god...
Brandishing the red light like a weapon, Tsukuyomi charged, and all hell broke loose.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
***A Few Hours Later***
It was the night of the lunar eclipse, and Hashirama Senju was currently on his favorite log, the one by the river that he and Madara always use to play next to. Running a clan could be quite hectic, so he would often take little brakes and run up here to think, just staring at the water swirling in the river. Without fail, his thoughts always turned to the Uchiha who once called him a friend. Hashirama desperately wanted to stop this foolish vendetta between their clans before something truly irreversible happened - and he wasn't alone in that notion - but Madara just wouldn't listen to reason!
That idiot Uchiha seemed to think that he would be betraying his clan by stopping the war between them! Well, it wasn't entirely his fault. That bastard brother of his, Izuna, kept whispering in his ear. Things like how many Uchiha the Senju slaughtered in the last battle. Things like how the Uchiha clan would never forgive him if he stopped. Hashirama had on more than one occasion spied on the Uchiha grounds in hopes of discovering a mutual desire for peace between himself and Madara, and it was then that he heard Izuna poisoning his brother's mind with lies.
If Izuna wasn't there, the war could have ended years ago. He was the spearhead of the more aggressive sect in the Uchiha clan, always pressuring Madara to be on the offensive against the Senju, promoting preemptive strikes and encouraging their genocide. That bastard!
The wood-style user paused in though as a bright light flashed across the night sky, completely obscuring the stars, and to some extent, even the moon. It almost looked like a meteor, with the way flames seemed to trail behind it. He was content just to wonder at its majesty, even though it looked like it was going to impact. It honestly didn't look that big, and no one really lived where it was going to crash.
Then he gaped in shock as the meteor stalled, now suspended directly above the river. With a thunderous clap, it split into three with two of the pieces going east and north while the third piece shot straight towards the river at incredible speeds. Looking a bit more closely as the chuck fell for a few thousand feet, Hashirama realized that it didn't look like a meteor at all. Yes, it was flaming, but it wasn't a rock. Whatever it was, it appeared to be sheathed in golden chakra. How would something from space have any access to chakra?
The Senju clan head ignored the thought and leaped to his feet to get a closer look, disturbing his straight black hair behind him in the process. This could be a potentially threatening situation, and whatever happened, he had to be ready. He shifted into his battle stance, completely prepared to activate his sage-mode at a moment's notice. In a few more seconds, the object fell until it was merely a few hundred feet above the ground. What Hashirama was expecting was for the pice of debris to tear straight through the water of the Naka River and bury itself in the riverbed, causing a miniature tsunami in the process. However, reality promptly stuck it to his assumptions.
For whatever reason, the water rose up to meet the object like a living tendril, increasing the distance between the surface of impact and the riverbed. There was a tremendous splash as it crashed down into its own personal pillar of water, which happened to be enough to fully stop its descent before it reached the riverbed. All this time, a certain Senju had only one thought... 'How. The. Hell?!'
When the waters subsided, Hashirama immediately rushed over atop the water to where he had seen the object fall. By the looks of the landing, it had to be intact. When he was standing over the impact-zone, he saw it floating back up. No, not it. She. That thing that fell from the sky was a girl!
Now, being a clan head, Hashirama was far to busy to learn much about the opposite gender. But even so, he knew that it wasn't natural to have pink hair. Seriously, pink hair!
He carefully stooped over and reached into the water, grasping her hand, and pulled her bridal-style into her arms. She seemed harmless enough at the moment, given that she was out-cold, but appearances could be deceiving. The moment their skin touched the pink-haired woman appeared to flinch, but she relaxed after a few seconds.
At least she was breathing properly, even if she did look utterly exhausted. He didn't want to know how Mito would react to him preforming mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on another woman, especially one as... unique as the woman in his arms. Shaking his head to ward off evil thoughts, he headed back to the Senju Clan compound. Hopefully, one of his subordinates would be able to understand what had just happened a bit better than he just did...
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Note: So I've given you another cliffhanger. Sue me. (Kidding, please don't) This is actually quite integral to my next chapter in which everyone will start in the wars. So yes, I did leave you all hanging again. Just rejoice that this time-travel crap is finally over with. Frankly, I absolutely loathed writing this chapter, and it might have shown a bit with my word-choice in some areas.
So, the major points of this chapter:
Jiraya: Come on. It was Nagato vs Naruto. How could I resist throwing him into the fray, especially when Kabuto couldn't reanimate him in Canon? I also felt that if anyone besides Naruto's parents could truly banish the darkness in Naruto's heart, it was Jiraya. Yes, I could have picked Iruka, but Iruka isn't insanely powerful and he doesn't have a connection with Nagato.
And more than that, Jiraya finally gets the chance to see how far Naruto's grown.
Tsukuyomi: What is her history with the sage? Why does she seem so mad at him, to the point of wanting to dismember his students? Here's what I can tell you about her. She was raised by the sun goddess, Amaterasu, whom she affectionately refers to as her big sister. She wasn't intended to become the moon goddess because there wasn't suppose to be a moon in the first place. It was intended that she succeed Amaterasu for the divine throne in the sun palace. So yeah, she's a bit peeved at the sage for forcing her into the position of jail-keeper for the Juubi when she was meant to be the head-honcho of the heavens.
Naruto: What exactly is wrong with him? Why is he acting like he has the self-control of a toddler? All that I'm going to say on this subject is that it's connected to the main antagonist. It's still too early to introduce him/her/it (that's right, no clues for you!), so that entire scene was a vague hint at the level of control that the darkness could achieve over the protagonists if they were vulnerable.
And before anyone asks, I'm just gonna say this.
No, the sage was not prioritizing Sakura and Sasuke's safety over that of Naruto and Kurama. He was confident in his abilities to hold Tsukuyomi at bay while Sasuke and Sakura escaped. Then he could just jump down to earth, the land forbidden to the gods. Obviously, the plan didn't work out as Tsukuyomi just ignored him and went after the other two...
Now what happened to him? You'll find out in the next chapter.
Now, Hashirama. I refuse to say anything about him yet... Trust me, you will agree with my decision in the next chapter. But I will say this. Hashirama WILL be with Mito. Nothing will change my mind about that. They're as cemented as Kushina and Minato are in their relationship.
Also, I've got a wonderful story to recommend to all of you:
Story Recommendation:
This story is definitely the most under-appreciated story I've ever seen. It's called My Priest, My Son? by my friend Grace of Hearts. Yes, it is an after-the-war story, but it is not just fluff. There is a healthy mix of action and adventure as well. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it's the best story of its kind that I've ever read. Well, here's the summary so you lovely readers don't have to look it up yourselves.
Fifteen years ago, Naruto made an unsightly promise to Priestess Shion. The result of that promise came back to haunt him the day of his children's graduation from the academy, and stirs up trouble with his dream of becoming a shinobi. Meanwhile, dark forces from the past are stretching out over the ninja world once again. Could Naruto's priest-born son unconsciously be the cause?
You guys should all check it out. I promise you won't be disappointed!
Anyway, until next time!