Chapter 11: Konoha no more
Due to massive reviews and views in the last chapter, two things are happening here. 1: Due to most of everyone aside from only a few, I won't kill off everyone in Konoha. and 2: Well you'll have to get to the end to see that.
Enjoy.
It didn't take long for word to reach all around the elemental nations of what happened to Oto. News of the White Fox and his partner the Kyuubi no Kitsune destroying the entire area shocked and terrified everyone all throughout the lands. All except for Kusa, who still saw him as a true hero. The bingo book was updated for the White Fox from an SS rank ninja to the only SSS rank ninja with a 'Run on sight' description in the books history. All throughout the nations, the Kage's were preparing for an attack out of both paranoia and fear of being in the same state as Otogakure.
Konoha wasn't fairing too well though. Only the Rookie 9, Sakura, their Jounin sensei's, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Danzo knew what he was going to do next. And if Sasuke, all of Oto, Kumo and Ame, and Orochimaru could stop him when they were at their strongest, then what chance did Konoha have right now. They all knew that Naruto was a man of his word and that he would come back here, ready t burn it to the ground. The only question was, what to do now?
Danzo was convicted of treason towards Konoha by supplying information to Orochimaru and his forces, so that was one taken care of. Jiraiya and Kakashi had been working tirelessly on a way to stop Naruto when he arrives with seals like how the forth defeated the fox the first time. The jounin sensei's were preparing as best as they could while also trying and failing to convince their former students to join them in preparation for Naruto's arrival. The Rookie 9 plus Sakura had all but given up. After hearing Naruto's promise of burning the entire village to the ground, coupled with the fact that he still believed they attended that celebration all those years ago of his banishment, the will to fight was completely gone from them all. For Sakura, she had lost both her teammates and friends, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. Hinata had lost the love of her life and saw that he had a family, the one dream she fought desperately for only to have it ripped from her. Shikamaru and Choji felt as if the only thing to do now was just spend as much time together watching the clouds than anything else now. Kiba and Akamaru just stayed with their family and hoped that it would be quick. Ino had spent her time with Sakura because she didn't want to be alone. Tenten and Neji stayed together and promised to meet each other in the afterlife. Shino was at peace with what he knew would happen and awaited the end. Lee merely meditated as he focused on simply how to be better than now if he reincarnates.
The night after the news of Oto's destruction, they all met at training ground seven one last time. It wasn't to plan some sort of attack or even get ready to face Naruto, it was just to say goodbye.
"I'm really gonna miss all of you." Ino said to them with a tear in her eye.
"Yeah. Me too." Shikamaru spoke up. "At least when this is all over, it won't ever be troublesome ever again."
"Ain't that the truth." Kiba said with a smirk, the first he's done in a few days.
"I just hope that when Naruto does show up, he'll at least make it quick for us. Not like we really deserve it." Tenten spoke up with her head down. Neji held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"We'll be together for it. I promise." He said to her, looking the girl he loves in the eyes.
"Wow. And here I thought a guy like Neji didn't actually love anyone." A new yet familiar voice broke them from their thoughts. They all turned to the direction of the voice and saw, to their surprise and near horror, Naruto Uzumaki, standing with his wife next to him. "Hey guys. Been awhile, hasn't it?"
To say that they were all tense was an understatement. They were terrified at why he was here in front of them. Thanks to Shikamaru, he had already deduced that that woman was indeed the Kyuubi in a sort of human form, and that thought made them even more fearful. They all took a step back as Naruto tilted his head a bit and raised an eyebrow.
"You all seem defensive for some reason." He started. "You all can calm down, if I wanted all of you dead I would've just done it by now." This had a small reaction as most of them relaxed a bit, but were still shaken and tense. "I only came here because I wanted to warn all of you to leave Konoha before noon tomorrow."
They all went wide eyed at what he said and a whirlwind of questions were asked, or shouted. Naruto didn't bother to answer the meaningless ones and instead answered one that was asked the most. Why? Why them?
"I'm telling all of you not out of friendship or anything of the sort, but because my wife convinced me to." Naruto said to them while Kurama stood next to him. "She convinced me that not everyone in this village deserves what's coming to them.
They all tensed at his words, but something wasn't right here. Why was he warning them now of all times? Why give them this in advance if he wasn't doing this as a friend? They had so many questions but Naruto was in no mood to answer them. He turned around to walk away along with Kurama only to be stopped by a certain, lavender haired girl.
"Naruto-kun! Wait!" Hinata spoke up as she went over to the now stopped Naruto.
Kurama knew what was about to happen. Unlike Naruto at the time of his younger years, she picked up on the Hyuuga girls crush on her blond vessel. She knew that this girl simply couldn't live without her precious 'Naruto-kun'. Her dream most likely to be with him and marry him, only for that dream to be absolutely shattered into a million pieces by Kurama. The Kyuubi no Kitsune took Hinata's dream away from her and the girl would do anything to get it back. Anything.
"Hinata." Naruto spoke before turning to the still girl. He looked at her with a stern yet soft look in his eyes that she didn't recognize as a monster or demon that everyone had always kept calling him beforehand. But as a man who was going to say something she didn't want to hear. Taking a deep breath, Naruto spoke to her. "I'm sorry Hinata. But we can't... I can't be with you. My heart belongs to Kurama, my wife, my love." He held out his hand to the demoness and she took it with a gentle hand. "I'm sorry, but this is who my heart belongs to. Her and my children are the most important thing in my life. Goodbye Hinata."
"B-b-but, N-N-N-Naru-t-to." She stuttered out as the tears in her eyes fell in droves. "I l-l-love y-you."
"I know." He started to her. "But I can't return that love the way you want me to. This is all I can give you. Go and live. For me."
Before any of them could say anything, Naruto and Kurama were gone in a red flamed shunshin. Leaving a sobbing Hinata along with an equally distraught group right behind her.
The next day, 11:50
Kakashi was sitting in his chair inside his home and looked onto the rest of the village from his window. After word got out on Oto, he knew that the days of Konoha were truly numbered. Not by an army or some kind of powerful alliance, but by a single individual. An individual that Kakashi himself had tried and failed to help all those years ago. An individual that had every right to want Konoha to be an exact same crater-sized hole just like Otogakure. Naruto Uzumaki. He was coming back here and he was going to do what he promised to do.
Burn Konoha to the ground.
Kakashi knew that he was a man of his word, and knew that this was indeed the end. Especially after he got a letter from someone in an obvious henge telling him that at noon tomorrow, the village would be no more. Of course Kakashi brought this to the council and got the response he knew would happen. Panic, outrage, wanting to bolster the Leaf's defenses, call upon someone for assistance, anything. That of coarse was the civilian side and elders while the shinobi side wanted to evacuate the village and save as many people as possible. Enraged by the lack of integrity, Danzo, who pulled many strings and favors to be released, seized the opportunity to take the position of Hokage from the former Jounin. A task that proved too easy when Kakashi practically threw the hat towards the old man and stepped down, not just from the Hokage position, but also as a shinobi in general. He left the chamber after convincing most of the clan heads that this was something they weren't going to win. The original Ino-Shika-Cho stepped down as well along with Tsume Inuzuka and Shibi Aburame. Of course Hiashi wasn't going to let one little demon brat and his apparent 'whore' of a wive intimidate him, so he stayed to reap the rewards of Naruto's defeat. Danzo would've marked them as missing nin, but he had preparation to do and a blond weapon to leash in the morning. Jiraiya had tried and failed to convince them to stay and fight for their home, but they all felt the same guilt from what was coming and decided to cut their losses.
Now, Kakashi stood there at his door to leave and looks at the clock. 11:53. Seven minutes left. He took one last look at the room he had called home for all his left and saw the picture of him and team seven. This caused him to shed a tear in his eye as he took the headband off and placed it near the picture. Grabbing a dark blue bandanna, he tied it to cover his sharingan eye and left in civilian clothes to the north gate. There waiting for him was Sakura, all of the rookie nine, their Jounin sensei's and parents, the clan heads and the one's with them that saw reason over a false sense of victory, Konohamuru Corps, Iruka, and the Ichiraku's. They left with only two minutes left until the end with a myriad of emotions. Sorrow, shame, anger, fear, hope. All of these and more as they were farther and farther away from Konoha.
30 seconds left.
Naruto and Kurama made their way to the front gates of Konoha while being met with several Anbu, Root, and shinobi of all kinds even Jiraiya. They stared lazily at them all while each carried a scroll in their hands.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" Danzo started in an authoritative tone. "You have made a grave mistake brat."
25 seconds left.
"You come to destroy the Leaf village, but it is you who shall be destroyed and tamed as Konoha's ultimate weapon."
15 seconds.
"It is over you demon. All you will be useful for is being our weapon and showing our enemies that the infamous White Fox bends to our rule!"
10.
The shinobi were getting ready.
9.
Jiraiya was preparing the seal he painstakingly made to stop both Naruto and the Kyuubi.
8.
Root Anbu were prepared to sacrifice themselves for Danzo-sama's rule.
7.
The civilians hid in their homes but knew that their village was strong to take anything.
6.
Naruto and Kurama unfurled their respective scrolls and unsealed them.
5.
Everyone looked on in shock at the barley alive snake Sannin and their precious Uchiha.
4.
Both Kurama and Naruto flung the two past the forces in front of them and into the road for everyone to see.
3.
Naruto donned his mask and smirked at the shocked and horrified faces of the people that started to make their way outside to see the bodies.
2.
Kurama started to laugh at them all.
1.
Danzo turned around towards the two only to feel like he was staring death right in the eyes.
0.
And that was when all hell broke loose as explosions rocked the very foundation of the Leaf. First, it was the academy and Hokage tower set in a fiery blaze, then various areas around the village. Next was the Hokage mountain as each head exploded, letting a black liquid ooze out of the mountain and cover all of the village in a matter of seconds. Danzo looked horrified as he and everyone else realized something about this liquid all too late.
It was flammable.
The next explosion was a big one as it came from both Orochimaru and Sasuke as the two had explosive's all throughout their clothed bodies. They exploded in a fiery and gory mess that ignited the substance and the fire started to spread like was panic and screaming as the entire village was being consumed by the red flames. It didn't help once Kurama changed into her fox form and fired a Bijuu bomb directly in the center of the village, setting the entire place ablaze even further in black and red hellscape. Just as Danzo and the remaining forces were about to make their move against Naruto in retaliation, the gates suddenly closed on them. All of the gates, trapping them in the growing inferno.
People scratching and clawing and begging whatever Kami they worshiped to come and save them. But the only thing being heard was the screams from every single person living in the village. Men, women, children, everyone. No one was safe from the fire and nothing was working in putting them out. Water did nothing. Earth crumbled before the flames. Wind only made the fire surge into the air. Even the toad Gamabunta was no match for the flames as he was quickly consumed by the fires and taken down with a loud 'poof' sound.
Naruto and Kurama, back in her human form, watched the smoke and flames stretch up the walls of Konoha's gate. They listened to the sounds of screams as they got lower and lower by the minute. They didn't even bother staying as they knew the demonic fire would not stop until all life within the walls of Konoha was no more. They walked away from the still burning village hand in hand and shunshined back to their home, to be with their children now that the nightmare of Konoha was finally over.
And done. Man that was oddly satisfying. Ending it like this. It was poetic in my opinion. Also that second thing I mentioned earlier in this chapter,
the next chapter is the end of this story.
Yep. This fic comes to a close in the next chapter. I've said all I need to say and tied up most loose ends.
Until the last chapter...
PEACE!