I've had this chapter planned for days now. Glad I finally get to write it...although you guys are probably gonna be pissed at me. Try not to worry, though; I have a plan, derived from my infamous Bullshit no Jutsu!

Not that everything in canon wasn't cooked up with that exact same technique.

Review response time!

1. draven32: Most of them, maybe, but there's one important one who intends to be a little more proactive. Not that you'll know that, since I didn't write it, but I was a bit focused on the fighting. And, yeah, the intention is to showcase that there's a reason Kurama can't reliably be controlled, even inside of a Jinchuriki.

2. animeficfan: You'll be happy then...maybe. I won't tell you what to be.

3. Ordo-Silver: There are times when de-escalation of violence is more prudent, and it'd be acceptable to talk your enemies into peace. This isn't one of those times; Naruto and Yagura are both strong-willed, and ready to die for the causes they believe in. Neither one will back down until one or both of them are dead.

4. OneLunchMan: Wow, maybe I should get myself checked for ESP? Nah, I figured that since you've liked the previous parts of the story so much, you'd enjoy that one too. I hate to see how this one's revelation goes over on you, though...oh well. Trust that I know (vaguely) what I'm writing?

Let's get this trainwreck moving.

The metal of their weapons clashed against one another, neither giving way to the other's power. Silently, as he wove back and forth before continuing to strike, Naruto weighed his options. His Suiton and Katon techniques were out of the question; Yagura, as the Sanbi Jinchuriki, had a level of mastery over water like Gaara's inhuman control over sand. Now, with the Mizukage at the height of his power, attempting to subvert that would be suicidal. Raiton techniques were his best bet in this situation, but he had very few of those available. The Raigen'ya required him to get a hand on Yagura, and the Chidori was too risky to attempt wielding against an enemy with enhanced reflexes. That left a couple other options, but those required a few more hand seals than he had time for.

Yagura's reflexes had caught up to Naruto since the Sanbi's recession, and the blond hated it. He'd liked Yagura better when the younger man had been unable to keep up...but Naruto continued thinking. Their Kenjutsu skills were practically even, though the advantage went to Yagura for the moment as Naruto's falx was sealed into its smaller form. Linked to the Kyuubi's withdrawn chakra, it would stay that way until the next time his inner demon gave him its power. His only consolation, in that regard, was that his opponent couldn't use a Biju's power either.

That left very few options. He could keep up the Kenjutsu match until Yagura tired, trusting that his familial-inherited stamina would allow him to outlast the Mizukage, he could start using his Futon techniques...or he could start resorting to Fuinjutsu. He couldn't direct their fight to any of the territory surrounding them, lest they endanger more people, but both men could feel the eyes of ninja on either side watching them. It was slightly unnerving, but Naruto managed to block it out. It was just like the Chunin Exams, and his first-round bout against Neji that had ended with the Hyuuga's hospitalization, soon followed by the invasion of Konoha. The only difference was that the stakes were higher, and he was fighting in foreign land.

This was the battle that would decide the fate of Kirigakure.

"Ninjutsu?" Yagura asked.

"Sure. Might as well do you the courtesy of outclassing you cleanly." Naruto grinned.

Stowing their weapons on their backs, they both had reason to feel confident; Ninjutsu was the most chakra-intensive of the ninja arts, and a Jinchuriki's normal chakra was far more potent than a generic ninja's. It also meant that their control was much more unstable, as the Biju's chakra would bolster their host's reserves to staggering heights. Any techniques that the two began to throw were likely to have a large area of effect, and a sizable knockback as well.

Both men wove through their hand seals, thought Naruto was a touch faster.

"Futon: Kamisori-Fu!"

"Suiton: Dangan Rendan!"

Naruto took the first of the series of water bullets in his chest as it exploded, ruining his clothing once again. Yagura managed to avoid most of the wind attack that Naruto had sent after him, though a shallow cut that ran along his forearm was a sign that he'd at least managed to do something.

"Come on...how many times am I gonna have to buy a new shirt and jacket? This is ridiculous."

Naruto stripped from the destroyed clothing, his scars revealed to the world once more. Layered muscles rippled underneath his skin, faded pink- and off-white marks denoting most of the places he'd been struck. The most visual were the two holes in his chest, one directly over the right lung and one at his solar plexus. There was also the one around his left arm, a full ring that the Mizukage looked at with a puzzled expression.

"This is what happens when a village doesn't trust its Kage." Naruto said, preparing himself. "Distrust breeds disloyalty. Disloyalty breeds dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction leads to suffering...though, in the end, I think they suffered more than I did. There's one thing I learned from the Kyuubi, only one, but it's the most important lesson of all."

His gathering chakra metered out, and he made the hand signs for his jutsu.

"Sometimes, in life, you have to kill. Sometimes, that killing is a chore. Sometimes, it's just a part of the mission. Sometimes, you might even get to do it for fun. But the best kind of killing happens when you get to hear your victim beg and scream for mercy...and I don't care who you are, or what your rank is. You'll be begging for death by the time I'm done with you."

"Maybe, if all you do is continue talking." The Mizukage countered. "Death would be a mercy, compared to that."

"Raiton: Futago Hebi."

A large snake came from each of Naruto's hands before they burrowed underground, the aptly-named Twin Snake technique beginning its work.

"Katon: Goukyaku." The Grand Fireball was massive, nearly four times as tall as Yagura.

"Kin: Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The massive summoning of clones left Naruto's chakra store vulnerable, but gave the Futago Hebi nearly unlimited cover to strike with.

"Suiton: Sui-"

The jutsu was interrupted, water coming out of the Mizukage's mouth as he gasped in pain when the first of the twin snakes struck. Immediately followed by the second of the pair, the technique finished.

"Rasengan!" Naruto revved up his father's second signature technique, but when Yagura was struck, he melted into water.

"A Mizu Bunshin...behind cover of the Goukyaku."

"Correct." Yagura's voice came from behind him, and Naruto caught the kunai with the palm of his hand.

"Can't get away now, you slippery son of a bitch." The blond grinned, and a new Rasengan went straight into Yagura's chest.

Though the Mizukage flipped over backward, when he stood again, the wound was fully healed.

"Oh, son of a bitch. Alright, fine."

Chakra chains exploded up from the earth, but Yagura managed to move around every one, nearly managing to land a hit on Naruto before the Konoha-nin could drop his control of the chains and dodge the blow.

"I liked you better when I was faster than you."

"Terribly sorry, but I like myself better like this. Suiton: Dainami!"

The Great Wave rose up from offshore, in the same place where the Ichibi had called forth its massive ball of sand, and Naruto winced; there was no way that wouldn't cause a huge amount of collateral. He couldn't see how thick it was, but from the height alone he could tell that it was an army-destroying technique.

The Kazekage claimed...what was it? Something like, 'I am invincible as long as I have sand?' Well, the same applies to me. As long as I have water, I cannot lose."

"Bullshit." Naruto charged headlong into the attack, Yagura at its base, intending to cause the technique to go off prematurely.

His plan succeeded, the wave crashing down before it grew any larger, and sweeping up plenty of the metal tools that Naruto had dropped earlier in the fight.

Naruto's second Dai Raigen'ya of the day shot through the ocean water without remorse, racking Yagura's body with pain. Soon enough, the water subsided, leaving both ninja winded and unprepared for the continuation of their fight.

"Futon: Kamaitachi!" The Wind Scythe cut across their battlefield, buffeting Yagura into the cracked husk of a tree.

"Suiton: Issen Senbon!" A thousand water needles shot forward, and while Naruto managed to dodge most of them, he was struck by more than a few. The wounds healed over quickly, but Naruto still grunted from the exertion and the pain.

"Katon: Hono no Kozui!"

The sand and grass all around them caught fire, a disproportionate inferno shooting up around them. Calling forth a single shadow clone, and activating the Kato Hikari no Jutsu, Naruto's clone ran forward when the flames went out. While the real Naruto was invisible, more clones came out from their various henge to attack, and when Yagura took a lethal blow...he dissolved into water once again. Something connected with the blond's back, negating his invisibility technique and knocking him to the ground. His back against the fresh-burned earth, he saw the real Yagura standing over him.

"That jutsu makes you invisible, but it doesn't change the way light bends around you. Using it in a fire-lit area was a careless mistake when your enemy is alert."

"Goddammit...could've had you, too. Next time we meet, I'll remember not to use those diversionary Katon jutsu again."

"When I see you in the afterlife, I'll be sure to tell you the state of the world. Don't feel too bad. The life of shinobi is deception, and you were out-deceived. You've pushed me farther than anyone else before now, however. Take some measure of pride in that, with death."

Yagura raised his staff to strike, with Naruto on his knees, and the blonde Jinchuriki closed his eyes.

Sorry, Kakashi. Sorry, Sasuke. Sorry, Sakura.

"May the grave bring you the peace that no shinobi ever find in life." The Mizukage offered.

Sorry, Tenten. Sorry, Gaara. Sorry, Rei-chan and Kouga-kun.

Naruto tilted his head forward, cracking one eye open to look at Yagura before closing it again.

Sorry, Hiruzen-jiji. Sorry, Tsunade obaa-chan.

"Make it a clean cut, will you?"

Sorry, otou-san, okaa-san. Sorry, Oboro obaa-chan. Sorry, Josuke-jiji.

"Of course. You deserve nothing but respect, and honor. I will give you a quick death."

Sorry, Ero-sennin.

He was almost out of chakra, absolutely without enough to cast a jutsu strong enough to overcome Yagura. If he had just killed Utakata...no, there was no point in thinking about, 'what if,' situations now. It was over and done with. Yagura had won.

Sorry, Tayuya.

"Goodbye, Uzumaki Naruto."

He heard a scream, the sound of metal hitting flesh, and blood sprayed across his face...not his. Not his blood, not his body, not his voice.

"Sorry, piss-brain. You're not going anywhere without me."

His eyes snapped open, and he saw the hooked end of Yagura's staff deep in Tayuya's ribcage.

"Tayuya?"

"I was going to tell you, after the rebellion was over...I made up my mind. I wanted to be with you anyway, in spite of everything. I love you." She coughed, a new splash of blood hitting Naruto's face. "Sorry I didn't have the guts to make up my mind before now."

She slid off the staff, her back tearing open as the hook passed through it, and into Naruto's arms. As she fell, her lips brushed his, and for the first time in his life Naruto found that he didn't have anything to respond to her with. Even if he could have, there was no way she would have heard it. Her body was still warm, but Naruto had seen enough corpses to know.

Something inside of him was broken.

The monotonous dripping sound that Naruto had come to associate with his mind's inner workings, which took the form of a sewer system, had never felt so hollow. Walking without purpose, he wandered his way into the Kyuubi's chamber. The water beneath him had become blood-red, the demon seething in rage; their mental states were connected, so the Biju processed all the emotions that Naruto's brain was too numb to handle at the moment.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip, drip, dripping blood. Just like it was leaking from her chin.

"There's only one way to save her." It said, looking at him with vengeance in its eyes.

"How?" There was no hope in his eyes, only fear. Only pain.

"You have to use my power. You have to undo the seal...but there are consequences."

"I don't care." There was a sudden edge to Naruto's voice. He didn't care if it was a trick, and he didn't care about the consequences. He would do anything.

"Remove the seal, and you can save her. Remove the seal, and you damn yourself to my corruption. Every time you use my power, you will lose part of yourself to me, until all that remains is an empty vessel for my rage and hatred...unless you somehow become able to make me submit to you. Not that it'll happen in your lifetime." And on the day that Naruto failed to do that, it would have a human body and be able to eat ramen in the flesh. Finally, Kurama could have both freedom, and ramen. That day would be the most glorious one of its life.

"For her..." Anything. She had told him she loved him. Mei's words came back to his mind:

"Regrets, like death, are something that plague every ninja throughout their life. If she dies tomorrow, I know you'll regret not having loved her in the time you had her."

The soon-to-be Mizukage was right. He regretted not having lived with his feelings more open, regretted not trusting Tayuya enough to believe that she wouldn't end up hurting him. He regretted that he'd given up so easily, and accepted death, even as he knew she was watching...and most of all, he regretted that she had chosen to die in his place. Unbidden, the world around him changed:

Two trails lay before the boy. The first, on his left, was illuminated by the dying firelight. It led to Konoha...home. It led to warmth, and love, and family. It led to friendship, kindness, and the welcome of a heroic man who had come to gain and lose so much. It led to power, unity, and peace. Tayuya was not by his side.

Unlike his first choice, the path on his right was one in darkness that led to the seal placed over the Kyuubi's cage. It led to cold, the dark, the unknown. It lead to the road of death, that he might become the grim successor to his father's title, "Bishounen Shinigami." It led to places Naruto could not see, did not know, did not want to know. It led to violence and terror, to hatred and pain It led to fear, it lead to suffering, it lead to sacrifice.

The boy didn't know who asked, barely aware that it was happening at all...but when it spoke, he listened.

"Two roads lay before you," it said to him, just as it had been told many years ago, "and you must choose one."

The monster on the edge of his senses was formless, shapeless...yet contained. What he failed to realize was that it was only a mirror.

"Do you choose the path of light, the path you know, the path of protection? Or will you follow me into shadow, no matter where I may lead?"

Before that voice had spoken, he never would have known his answer, but as soon as its questions ended he understood the answer he had known all along.

"For her." The beast and he were one, and he hungered.

Naruto's hands went to the padlock of the cage.

He never even saw the seal hit the ground.

"Zenton: Kensetsu."

As Naruto vanished from his mindscape, the last chakra-based vestiges of his parents reappeared to reattach the seal.

"You wouldn't dare. Waste the final remains of your chakra, and give up the chance to see your son? Pathetic. Besides, I've already cast the technique."

A third, unseen person's hand moved forward, putting the paper marker back in place, vanishing forever from the mindscape of the young ninja.

This world wasn't finished with Uzumaki Naruto yet.

As Naruto moved back into the world of the living, he saw what the Kyuubi had meant when it had cast a jutsu named, "Construct." Four of Naruto's own chakra chains held Yagura spread-eagled in the air, and the falx on his back came forward before increasing in size.

The chains drained Yagura's chakra and kept him perfectly immobilized, unable to cast any jutsu.

"Your death will give her life." Naruto intoned, blood shining on his face in the early dusk. "Your death will give this land life."

The fire had been taken out of him.

This was not Naruto.

"One for the village...the village you served, the village you failed. Jakirigakure no Sato." He swung, and Yagura's left arm was gone before he could register it.

"Two for the people...the people you murdered, the people you betrayed. The innocent lives lost in your madness." The right leg was cut off next, Yagura's body beginning to tear in half from the strain.

"Three for the land...the land you broke, the land that trusted you, the land you call your home." A chain wrapped around the Mizukage's middle, holding him still as his right arm was cut off.

"Four for myself. I, the one who fought you. I, the one who should have died. I, the one who will kill you." With a cry of pain, Yagura lost his final limb, leaving nothing but a torso and head.

It was over, and the whole world knew it. Tayuya's death in his place had broken Naruto enough that he would kill his enemy mercilessly. Looking at the scene before them, they knew Kirigakure's future; the rebels had won.

"And five...for her. To her, I owe my life. To her, I owe everything. To her, who I'll be joining soon." Yagura stared at Naruto the entire time, and the blond kept eye contact without flinching. He had no conscience in this moment; the Mizukage's death would never haunt his dreams.

"For her, the only one I love."

The blade swung true, and Yagura's severed head tumbled to the ground. His eyes still open as the light began to leave them, and a calm expression on his face; this was the fate of all ninja, in the end. Death was their reward, the final gift in their life of killing was to be killed.

Naruto opened his mouth to scream, but a demonic roar came out instead.

As night continued to fall, the last of the light vanishing over the horizon, rain began to pour down.