Summery: "Uzumaki Naruto has resigned from the Shinobi Ranks. His whereabouts are unknown,"- They could only bow their heads in silent resignation. "He finally went," Neji sighed, "To Sasuke," In which Naruto leaves to find his true home. SasuNaru Eventual Mpreg
Warnings: Mpreg and other rated M things.
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
**This is, sadly (finally), the very last chapter. Thank you all for the wonderful support, critique, and compliments. You've all really pushed my through to the end of this.
Special thanks to these people (does anyone even read these?):
Cadywise, tsunade senju, femaleJoey, ikkasyll, feral93, 5Angel, ILOVEGAARA, narutoyaoifan, dragonfire04, Andoxchan, foxxy nine-tails, Chibi Tsuki Hikari, kai, DarkestFlameUchiha, Smileforthem, BadButt94, Atsu Tenshi, SasunaruLuv13, Iky, iamie, lauraninja998, iyfanatic, ppkitaa, Eisfuchs, .Kuraudoo., narutoluvr4evr, BloodyRedEntity, RobXmonXlover, omichiri6183, , Eriixangel, prettypurpletiger, Auzurite, 13am13i, AlchemyGaara, KyouyaxCloud, subakunogaara4evr, LoveUntilWeBleed, alicenwunderland505, Eternal Cosmos, Psychotic Sprite, tokyogirl10093, , mama-Ichigo, SayomiHayashi, azure sea, XMistressDevilx, carms-lain0582, Aiden Uzumaki, silver-eyed, Akane Moon, Little-monstr, Peace-Love-Yaoi, rokudaime09, zindiq, DarkEra'Ssnow, Secret-H, dazedeyes, narcoleptic86, plussizedangel, FizzyCherry, wolfpup0730, annavi33, Pseudoephedrine, Memoiikich, .Smiles., whiterose03, SolitaryLightning, jyannetto, Michiyami, Carollipop, sahisdabest, EienKohaku, RobbXmonXlover
Chapter 10 (Final): Family
Naruto whistled while he gathered his clothing from the ground- his boxers were actually up in a tree branch- and redressed while Sasuke watched him. Naruto imagined him smoking a cigarette, making him laugh to himself.
"Your ass is hot from this angle,"
It was so out of character for Sasuek to say that, that it made the blonde laughed even harder, wrestling his ANBU uniform vest on, wincing a little at the still-sore spots in his body. Still, it was a pleasant soreness.
"Get dressed. We have a war to finish,"
The Uchiha sat up and pulled the blonde down by the wrist, initiating a fierce kiss of clanging teeth and raw vigor.
"Indeed,"
They returned to the camp, where everyone was already settled.
The group's chatter died down a little as Naruto and Sasuke rejoined them, lecherous smirks and suspicious glances being shot their way. The blonde brushed them off, leading the Uchiha to a spot between Sai and Kakashi. They, along with Neji, were studying what Naruto assumed were war plans.
"That was quite the long bathroom break, Dickless," Sai teased.
"Oh, Sai- you're such a pervert!" Naruto laughed, giving him a look of open sincerity, "But I'd be too embarrassed to ever do anything dirty in the open forest,"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Voyeurism is too much for me!" the blonde confessed, cheeks and nose tainted with a light pink. He turned his face away from Sai and Kakashi to grin mischievously over his shoulder. The Uchiha snorted. Too much, my ass…
"I'd be more than willing to help you become more comforta-"
"That is highly ill advised," Suigetsu interrupted, plopping down next to a bemused Hyuuga. Juugo followed after him and the circle made room to accommodate the additional persons.
"Test a serpent's boundaries," the orange haired boy recited, "And its poisonous fangs will surly find you,"
Everyone nodded absently at the wise words, not really taking in their meaning- that Sasuke was obviously the serpent.
"Have you considered going into poetry after the war, Juugo?" Naruto asked with a smile, "You're so verbally eloquent that I just know you'll be good at it,"
He looked at Naruto before giving him a slow nod.
"I'll consider it,"
Sakura sighed wantonly, throwing her head back to look up at the evening sky. She reached a hand up, fingers stretched out.
"Did I hear something about plans after the war?" she called over the group, "I'm definitely going on a long vacation with no work, no trouble, and no boys,"
"I'll second that!" Ino laughed.
Naruto's eyes shifted testily to Sasuke, watching him lean back on one hand and gaze in boredom at the surrounding trees. The blonde had no idea what the course would be once Madara was defeated. Would they find a peaceful secluded place to raise the baby? Would the Uchiha leave him and his child behind to go on a long pointless journey out of restlessness? It was hard for an active shinobi to settle down, since it was ingrained in their nature to be constantly active. Would Sasuke get cold feet and run away?
The blonde frowned as Sasuke stood, motioning towards the members of Taka. It was time for them to go back to Madara's group for the final battle.
They were to act as Madara's pawns until the very last second- right when they had the Uchiha beside them. It would be Sasuke's duty to give the signal, and the combined forces would attack, taking them all- hopefully- down.
Everyone else would wait- using one of Kakashi's own tactics to hide in the rocks that made the cave walls- the Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu, or Earth Type: Inner Decapitation Skill*. Madara had essentially moved the statue from one cave to another- though Naruto supposed it was the most practical location since the man probably lacked the large facilities to hold it. Even with Kabuto's knowledge of all of Orochimaru's hideouts, they probably weren't spacious enough. Even the one Naruto had seen had been too small.
Sasuke's fingers lingered in the blonde's hair intimately before he disappeared. It was a silent 'Stay alive or else'. Naruto smiled.
"Seriously- you guys are disgusting," Deidara snorted, "Did you see the way the looked at each other? It's so romantic, I could barf,"
"I think it's cute," Ino grinned.
Tsunade rolled her eyes and stood, pulling her sleeves up to the crooks of her elbows.
"It's time to get going guys. Enough of this prating- we have work to do,"
Naruto stood as well, stomach tightening as he thought of what they were all about to jump into. He studied the faces of his comrades- new, old, reestablished. Ino and Sakura were pulling on gloves and Kakashi was reading his book- though the blonde could sense the tension overtaking the man's body.
Pein nodded politely towards him. When Naruto got to Itachi, their eyes locked- and he would never know how a blind man knew when someone was looking silently at him- but something on the Uchiha's face told Naruto this was going to be a gruesome battle. Like he already knew how it was all going to end.
"Move out-" Tsunade and Gaara snapped in unison.
…
The cave was extremely dark, and that could have something to do with the fact that Naruto was currently buried in rock. He didn't know how Kakashi could stand being sealed up- it was near impossible to breathe and then there were the bugs.
What happened next would be a mystery to him until the battle was long over and the survivors who were close enough to the surface could explain. But most of those ended up seriously injured due to the explosion.
Naruto gasped as an earsplitting roar came vibrating through the earth, along with an earthquake's worth of rumbling. The rock around him crumbled, and feared for a moment that he was going to be trapped in a cave-in. The stone pushed against and into him, bruising his arms and ribs with their inflexibility. Using his toad sage training to sense the area around him, Naruto quickly performed the necessary hand seals to teleport himself to solid, open ground.
The scenery was just as difficult to make out- with all of the smoke and dirt flying. His ears were ringing.
We were found out.
Naruto checked the damage of his person, glad nothing was broken- he had been deep enough from the outside to get a more cushioned impact. But there were others less lucky.
Someone used a mysterious wind technique- maybe Itachi or even Madara- and the thick dust cleared out of the mouth of the cave. The whole tunnel had been widened in every direction. Somehow- Madara had known they were going to be hidden within and had gouged at least nine feet of hard rock away. It all lay in crumbles, and Naruto was sure there were people underneath it all.
"I'm disappointed, Sasuke," an unfamiliar voice- filled with mock resentment- bounded around the area, "You tried tricked me. You didn't honestly think you keep something hidden from me, did you? After all, I do have eyes everywhere,"
Naruto saw him- a man he had once assumed was Tobi, the comic relief of the serious organization, though that role actually belonged to Deidara. He was tall and broad in the shoulders, had short dark hair, and wore a mask- different from the first mask Naruto had seen.
Madara was standing on the Kuchiyose Gedo Mazo*, gazing down at them. Naruto warily looked around to find anyone else on his side that could help.
Kisame was there- blinking dirt away and heaving his sword on his shoulder, a feral grin on his face. He was one to love action. Kabuto was more or less beside Madara, looking more- literally- like Orochimaru than Naruto remembered. The serpentine eyes reminded the blonde of the feel of the Sannin's kisses to his hands, making him shiver.
Then, there was Hidan and Kakuzu already prepared for a battle, shouting taunts at the piles of rock as if expecting someone to come flying out of them. Which, did happen- Rock Lee blasted his way out, indecently landing a Lotus kick to Hidan's face. The war was on.
The green beast's battle cry had triggered something, and suddenly there were leaf nin popping out of the rubble like daisies*, though most less vigorous than Lee had. Naruto glanced around, found Sai holding up a limp Kankuro, Gaara moving the fallen sand and rock away to the best to his abilities, and Tsunade already becoming medical assistance.
"Pein-" Madara called fondly, "I thought we had a partnership. But here you are, attacking me for no good reason at all. I feel betrayed. Are you intending to start a war?"
Pein stood silently, Sasuke and Itachi already at his side, calmly staring up at the eldest Uchiha. Karin bit her lip and searched around the cave and found Naruto. She ran over to the blonde and gripped his arm.
"You intend to start the war, Madara,"
"Oh, that's right," he laughed, "It wasn't me raving about peace all the time. And look at that- the little Uchiha brothers have kissed and made up,"
Sasuke glared, but stood firmly next to Itachi, stubborn and strong willed.
"And you've brought me the last two Jinchuuriki,"
It was then Naruto remembered Killer Bee and found his hulking figure hunched over in the center of the statue's two hands. He had passed out, but otherwise appeared alive. Naruto felt eyes on him and glanced around. Madara was gazing intently at him- along with a good bit of the others. The blonde, subtly defiant, looked back at the Uchiha in the eyes, going against what he was taught when fighting an Uchiha and testing the man's tolerance for the small rebellion.
"It is nice to finally meet you, Madara,"
That was the last thing Naruto managed to say before the actual battle began. There was a battle cry- from Hidan- and the first weapon was thrown (for Lee's kick wasn't technically a weapon- or even intentional). It all became a blur- Shikamaru's team quickly isolated the blonde Jashin worshiper from his partner, who suddenly found himself surrounded by Lee, Neji, and Kakashi.
It didn't appear anyone- except Kankuro- was actually injured beyond a few bumps and bruises.
Everyone had expected Itachi to join the fight against Madara, but he quickly stepped down when Naruto reached Sasuke's side and retreated to Deidara facing off a grinning Kisame.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke muttered to Naruto angrily, "Go back to Tsunade and stay out of-"
The sound of his blonde companion laughing shut him up, and Sasuke watched as he fluidly slid into an offensive stance with more ease than the Uchiha liked. The idea of Naruto being a practiced killer was somewhat disturbing.
"I know little about Madara's abilities- he has kept himself a mystery," Pein admitted quietly to them as the old Uchiha stood, waiting for his enemies to strike first. Kabuto took this moment to leave his leader's side, swooping to the ground to take on a furious Sakura. Medic nin versus medic nin.
Naruto got tired of waiting pretty quickly- for his technique had improved but his patience hadn't- and cut a zigzag path up the statue, nothing but a white blur to the on-lookers. Sasuke sighed, irked at the blonde's recklessness and braced himself to have to come to his rescue.
Madara was prepared- Naruto went right through him when a poison tipped kunai came slashing through the air. Trying to gain the upper ground, a near impossible feat with the older man, Naruto stubbornly stayed within arms reach, sweeping a leg at Madara's ankles. He dodged effortlessly.
Pein was suddenly there, in front of Naruto, Rinnegan glowing dangerously.
"Protecting a Jinchuuriki now, Pein? You're a changed man,"
The Akatsuki leader didn't respond, instead opting for doing a series of hand signs before a fury of gravitational force that sent them- Naruto and Madara- flying in opposite directions. The blonde realized he knew as little about Pein as he did Madara.
"Five minutes," Sasuke told Naruto when he landed on his feet again, "Back before all of this, Konan told us that Madara has control over time space and can only remain intangible for five minutes,"
"So if we keep up a relentless attack for five minutes straight, one of us can land him with a final blow,"
"My Chidori,"
"No way! My Rasengan is definitely better,"
Sasuke growled, trying to get it across Naruto's mind that now was not the time to argue about who got the final shot.
"You idiot- you need all of your chakra so you can keep throwing shadow clones at him for the next five minutes,"
The blonde grinned grimly, and nodded, knowing the window to stand around and talk had long been closed.
"Okay-" Naruto breathed deeply, letting his hands fall comfortably in the overused, memorized hand sign. He murmured the jutsu, and felt a tug on his chakra reserve as his strength strained like a muscle to accommodate the hundreds of Naruto replicas that poofed into existence.
They launched themselves in pods- three or four at a time- relentlessly and recklessly using lethal attacks, all of which Madara dodged. Pein joined, using his vast array of extensive knowledge.
Like most ninja, Naruto always compared combat to a fast, twisted dance, flowing between the two parties like memorized choreography- steps like one, two, three, a battle was like attack, block, improvise. But Madara seemed to make it his personal goal to make that muscle memorized, inner rhythm impossible. The old Uchiha's style was choppy and randomized- completely ignoring Naruto's advances so that he was the leader and the blonde was the follower.
Still, if it kept him busy for the next five minutes, Naruto wouldn't complain.
Pein wasn't having much more luck. He was constantly trying to land a hit to the man while simultaneously dodging Naruto's wayward clones- only Madara refused to stay solid, dammit.
Naruto's clones were being cut through so easily, he had to keep summoning more, and it had only been a few minutes. The blonde allowed himself to fall back to find a place to sit and meditate so that the natural energy from sage training would help in generating the Kage Bushins.
Sasuke was hovering on the sidelines, waiting for the opening to appear. Naruto grimaced. This was really way too troublesome.
He listened to the sounds coming from his comrades as he stilled his body, hearing Sakura's battle cries and Lee's exuberance. They were comforting in their own way, even though both Kabuto and Kakuzu had the upper hand. Then there was Itachi and Kisame, who hadn't even begun fighting yet and seemed to be content with the superficial conversation they were tossing around.
"Would you like to know Konan's final words, Pein?" Madara patronized, "She's quite beautiful when she can't talk,"
The provocation worked, and Pein's speed faltered. Madara jumped at it, swiping away the five clones that had him surrounded like flies, embedding a dagger deep in the man's right shoulder.
Naruto jumped to his feet- sage meditation forgotten, though he had already reached the level anyways- and made to go to Pein's rescue, but Sasuke held an arm out.
Pein hunched over and let a gurgled noise escape his throat, but he stayed on his feet.
"Your mouth is not fit to speak of her," he finally gasped out, despairingly ripping the knife from his body and making a slicing arch at the mocking Uchiha. Madara laughed and swung a kick to Pein's abdomen, sending the man into a cave wall. Naruto's clones were back on him in a second.
Drawing up all of his strength, Naruto began to form Rasen-Shuriken, his hundreds of clones following his suit. He felt the strain on his body and the hot chakra burning the palm of his hand. As a last minute decision, Naruto filtered some of the Kyuubi's own chakra into the attack, aimed at the lording Madara, and let it loose.
The cave shuttered and moaned at the impact of all of the tight balls of chakra exploding and expanding. The blonde gasped as his clones faded, sucking the energy out of him with each one gone. The aftermath lasted at least two minutes, and Naruto watched through glazed eyes as Sasuke's hand lit up- much like his had- and charged at the befuddled and jarred man.
Large chunks of rocks fell in scattered areas across the cave, and Naruto hoped everyone was okay. The back of the cave was the first to collapse, having gotten the worst of Naruto's impact, and the plummeting stone fell on top of the sealing statue, breaking bits of its face and hands away. Naruto wondered what would happen to the trapped Bijuu if it crumbled to dust.
The smoke from the dirt faded and a screaming silence seemed to fill the hollow. Naruto squinted up to the top of the statue.
The sound of chirping birds dying away rang in Naruto's ears as he watched Madara twitch, Sasuke's fist protruding from his chest, almost an exact replica of Naruto and Sasuke's battle in the Valley of the End. Naruto wanted to rejoice.
But something about the way Kabuto smiled, something in the eerie chill sneaking up Naruto's spine.
His eyes frantically darted back to Madara to the sound of breaking bones to see his figure turning into a white mass of clay. He thought of looking accusingly at Deidara in his confusion, but as the white ooze melted around Sasuke's arm, it began to take the white side of Zetsu.
It became clear to Naruto then, as he scoured the area with his senses, that Madara was no where to be found- most likely not even in the same dimension.
Zetsu found the black half of himself and motioned to his subordinates- the ones still standing. Kabuto and Kakuzu sneered at Naruto as they passed him, leaving everyone in a suspended state of shock. They seemed to warp, bending around the edges, and disappeared from the cave.
They were frozen- because really, what else could they do? The war that they had planned to end today was only just beginning. They had failed.
With a resigned sigh, Naruto walked up behind Sasuke and placed a heavy hand on his slouched shoulder.
"He's gone Sasuke,"
The Uchiha seemed to be in some form of denial. He couldn't accept that they had done all of this for nothing. But it wasn't all bad, Naruto noted as he looked around; Hidan and Kisame were finished.
"Sasuke," Deidara called from across the cave.
Naruto felt that familiar chill return to slowly creep through his legs and up his back- he knew that tone of voice. He had heard in Tsunade's before telling him of Jiraiya's death. Because death was that tone.
He and the youngest Uchiha turned as one to face the blonde artist and saw him standing over the collapsed figure of Itachi.
Naruto had to close his eyes to block the image out- and instead wished he had covered his ears when a muffled groan escaped Sasuke's mouth. The Uchiha ripped away and stooped over his elder brother's body.
"Kisame- he…" Deidara cleared his throat and tried again, "Itachi asked Kisame to be the one to kill him. It wasn't my place to interfere,"
Their downcast eyes traveled a few feet over to see the shark man among the rocks, his own sword deep in the confines of his chest. He had struck Itachi down and killed himself afterwards. The man had been trained by his village to be the one to terminate his team, but they guessed his partnership with Itachi had been something deeper. Something noble.
Sasuke allowed himself to fall to his knees so he could touch Itachi's face. He didn't understand the suffocating pain in his chest when the man had been dying anyways. They hadn't even had the time to completely heal the wounds of their twisted past, and here he was- crying. The wet trails on his pale cheeks felt heavy, and there Naruto was, right next to him, saying it was all right to mourn- always there because that was just the way he was.
Everyone was polite enough to exit the cave while Sasuke and Naruto stayed behind and wept in private.
Tsunade and Sakura helped lift the fallen bodies, Pein's injured one among them, and prepared for the long journey ahead- literally and figuratively.
As Sasuke rose to depart and return to Ame, he felt a burning pain in his eyes that had nothing to do with the tears.
…
They returned to Ame with the intentions of sending a letter to Suna and Konoha, explaining that they were under a threat and needed to make war preparations- make an emergency evacuation route, set up curfew, and tighten border security. There wasn't anything they could do with Madara- no leads, no plan of action. For the time being, they could only wait and do their best to protect the Leaf Village.
"And with my official retirement forms sent, I hereby appoint Uzumaki Naruto as my successor," Tsunade finished, watching the messenger falcon fly southeast to Konoha.
Naruto frowned as his peers smiled expectantly at him. It was Sasuke, Team Kakashi, Ino, and the Taka group in the room, and they were all pleased- except Sasuke and his company- to hear Tsunade finally say what they had all known for a while.
"Since Itachi is gone and we need you now more than ever, you and Sasuke will return with us, correct?" the old woman rambled.
A tense silence stretched across the room until Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her chair, the legs scraping the hardwood floor. Naruto looked away from the curious gazes fixated on him. Why were they all looking at him? Sasuke was the one who made the decisions.
"No," the blonde sighed, "Sasuke and I will probably never return to the Leaf Village. I can't accept the position. I am in no place to be anyone's Hokage- what with the baby and the whole, you know, ditching the village for a criminal,"
There was nothing to argue; Naruto had made it clear that he would only ever be where his Uchiha was. Konoha was no longer an option for them- hadn't been since Sasuke had set foot outside of it with his revenge as the destination. Naruto guessed that once Madara was defeated, he and Sasuke would find a new place- whether they build it themselves or simply discover it- to raise their child and live out the rest of their lives in simplicity. The blonde had never really considered giving up his life as a shinobi, and didn't think the life would ever leave him, but if Sasuke wanted, he would never pick up a shuriken again.
"Hey- speaking of, have you decided what to name him?" Ino asked, pushing the present topic aside for one less heavy. Naruto glanced over to Sasuke who was seated by the window, a bundle of baby in his arms.
"Tsutunai?" Naruto suggested with a laugh, for it meant 'unlucky'- and there was nothing less lucky than being born in the middle of a war to a pair of violent males who were completely incompetent to raising a kid. Karin snorted.
"More like Miracle- Kiseki," she said with a roll of her eyes. Her glasses were missing, having been broken during the fight.
"I think he is very Rakki-" lucky, Juugo insisted calmly, "He has strong, determined parents who will make sure he is raised in a peaceful world,"
Everyone took that one in, letting the name roll around in their minds and off their tongues, tasting at it to see if the flavor matched. Naruto thought about it, but shook his head, having already decided. When everyone's voices died down, the blonde cleared his throat.
"I'm retiring for the night. Would you guys mind going?"
They all filed out, taking their time to leave. Sakura seemed suspiciously wet around the eyes, but Naruto decided not to comment. Juugo was the last to leave, holding out a piece of paper with sloppy, scrawled writing on it.
"I thought about what you said- about considering poetry after all of this. I wrote this while thinking of you and all you've done for Karin, Suigetsu, and I,"
Naruto reached for the paper, his eyes reading the lines as Juugo quietly left and closed the door behind him.
Scarred and Calloused
Our hearts of War to be.
We forgot how to Love-
Forgot how to See.
Blind to our own Bond-
For there was no Blood in common;
We've all grown fond,
Of the Feelings you stir.
A toast to the Family
When we pretend House-
For Pretend became Reality
And stubbornly-
With Eyes clouded Over,
I glimpse Family.
The blonde smiled a little, before swetting the paper down on his and Sasuke's bed, mind going back to his baby's name.
"Itachi," he stated quietly, watching Sasuke for a reaction.
The Uchiha seemed to mull at it slowly, before giving a small nod, letting his fingers pet at his child's downy red hair. Sasuke secretly prayed it would darken to at least a deep auburn, but the short little strands were a bright, almost orange shade. Orange! It's what he got for reproducing with Naruto- leave it him to bring a ginger Uchiha into the world.
"Itachi," Sasuke whispered as Naruto crossed the room. Tiny eyelids fluttered, and peeked open hesitantly and Naruto basked. A ginger Uchiha. At least this little Itachi had the black eyes.
"He's beautiful," the blonde pseudo-mother breathed, kissing the corner of Sasuke's mouth and bending down to kiss Itachi's forehead.
"Yeah,"
Naruto smiled, Juugo's words still echoing through his mind as he gave the poem a sideways glance.
With Eyes clouded over,
"I glimpse family,"
End.
*The technique Kakashi used on Sasuke in like, the first five episodes. You know the one.
*Japanese name for the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path
*You all noticed the Mulan reference.
The end, guys! No more, I'm afraid. This is the final chapter, no epilogue, no sequal.~ Thank you so much for all of the support.
Cannibal.