Hey guys, sorry for the wait I promise you it will be worth it. By the way I finally watched The Last: Naruto the movie and its was worth the watch I recommend it to any and all NaruHina fans and just Naruto fans in general. Now I know some of you have been asking if I were to implement anything from the movie into this story like say…the children, the Tenseigan,…hmm…you'll just have to wait and see! Now on with the story!

"This" is talking/techniques

"This" is Shenron

"This" is Biju

"This" is thought

Chapter 14:

"Katon: Gouka Mekyaku (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)!"

A mighty inferno burned through the forest, the mighty flames eating away at the nature without mercy along with any life that got in it's way, animal and shinobi alike.

Uchiha Madara allowed his Rinnegan-powered eyes to glance along the battlefield, his expression stoic and unreadable.

"I'll admit, your tenacity is quite admirable but what did you think you would accomplish?" asked the ancient Uchiha who turned his attention to the highest chakra signature in the vicinity. "Well, are you going to answer me, Uchiha Sasuke?"

A badly damaged Sasuke could only growl loudly at his ancestor, Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly as he vainly tried to place the Juubi Jinchuuriki under genjutsu.

Sasuke and his squad had arrived to back up the division as ordered and were making quite the difference on the battlefield, taking out any Zetsu clone in their path with relative ease. It seemed like things were going in favor of the alliance.

And then Madara decided to show up.

Needless to say, the tables were turned very quickly as the resurrected shinobi demolished the battalion of ninja that stupidly got in his way. Now the group was cut down to a quarter of their original numbers and was soon to start dropping more if something wasn't planned in the next few seconds.

"Sasuke," The Uchiha turned to see an extremely exhausted Sakura limping towards him, her Sozo Saisei (Creation Rebirth) having been activated some time ago during the start of the battle which explained her exhaustion.

"Sakura, how are the others?" Sasuke asked, readying himself to rush at Madara again.

"Our numbers have been cut severely; it would be best if we called for a tactical retreat." She answered, almost desperately giving him pause.

The young Uchiha gave his longtime teammate a long look before looking back at the Konoha founder who gave him an infuriatingly smug expression.

"You know we won't be able to do that with him here and with our remaining numbers. He'd hunt us down like animals in our condition." Sasuke stated somberly.

"Are you sure that's not just your pride talking?"

Sasuke glanced over to see Hinata approaching him from behind Sakura.

"Be smart about this Uchiha, if we continue this battle it will lead to our deaths or capture. The alliance, even if I don't want to admit it, can't afford to lose you. Think like a leader and what your subordinates must be going through."

Sasuke knew that Hinata had a point, maybe they could get away but it would cost them a lot of good ninja.

"But we would lose more if we stay and fight." Sasuke thought in anger and guilt but he knew what the best course of action was here, it was much too obvious.

"Fine," Sasuke turned to what remained of his battalion; out of the two hundred shinobi that he lead only about fifty remained and he knew that he may lose much more. "Everyone, fall back immediately!"

The group of ninja didn't need to be told twice, immediately running in the opposite direction pumping as much chakra as they could through their legs in order to go faster. However, unlike his subordinates, Sasuke didn't move from his position.

"Sasuke what are you doing!? We need to leave now!" Sakura called from across the damaged battlefield as she and Hinata were planning to retreat as well until both noticed their leader not following suit.

The young Uchiha only gave the two young women a glance before setting his eyes on his smirking ancestor while holding his chokuto defensively.

"Go back to base; I'll handle things from here." Sasuke stated

Both Kunoichi gave him disbelieving looks that soon settled into lividness.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Hinata exclaimed, activating her Byakugan to emphasize her anger.

"Don't do this Sasuke, I-the alliance needs you now more than ever. Don't throw it all away by facing him alone!" Sakura pleaded, tears running down her face.

Sasuke read through Sakura's statement clearly, 'You're all I have left.' It was true, Naruto's banishment and subsequent disappearance coupled with Kakashi being K.I.A. had left Sakura overly distraught and clingy when it came to him as he was not only someone she loved but was the last reminder of Team Seven.

However, that was also more than enough reason for him to do this alone.

"Sakura, this battle is my responsibility." Sasuke started as his eyes slowly began to seep blood, his focus directly on Madara whose guard came up knowing what his descendent was planning. "He is the reason for many atrocities in the world, the catalyst that set off multiple tragedies including mine and Naruto's!"

Both girls flinched at hearing the name of the missing Jinchuuriki while the ancient Uchiha's interest visibly peaked.

"I cannot allow him to get away with all the trouble his manipulative words caused the world." The blood began to trail down Sasuke's face. "He has brought shame to the Uchiha and he will pay for it with his life! Amateratsu (Heavenly Illumination)!"

The mighty black flames erupted from out of nowhere onto Madara's shoulder, however the flames didn't seem to bother him at all despite the obvious flesh that was burning away.

"You still don't get it do you, foolish child." Madara said uncaringly, ignoring Sasuke's growl of frustration. "Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

The gravity jutsu blew out the flames as if it were a lit candle.

"Damn!" Sasuke growled

"Although I am curious about your earlier comment; Uzumaki Naruto is the missing Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi's Yin half am I right?" Madara asked

"How do you know about him?" Hinata demanded

Madara spared her a glance and smirked.

"Don't insult me by thinking that my knowledge is limited when it comes to recent events." He retorted smugly, crossing his arms. "Zetsu has been spying on the Shinobi World since his creation under my orders."

The three Konoha shinobi weren't surprised by the revelation having already been informed of this information by the plant-like Akatsuki member himself.

"So the bastard watched the battle between Naruto and me, so what? What is your point?" Sasuke questioned

"You know where I'm going with this, Sasuke." Madara stated forcefully making the younger Uchiha flinch. "You stand there and act as if I'm the only one here who has a history of manipulation and betrayal."

"If you come to think about it my young descendent, we're not that different."

"I'm nothing like you!" Sasuke exclaimed, his Mangekyo spinning violently.

"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Madara retorted, uncrossing his arms.

Then, quicker than anyone could react, the ancient Uchiha moved with a speed thought impossible appearing in front of Sasuke and lifting him by the neck.

"We betrayed our best friends, abandoned Konoha for our own selfish goals, replaced our eyes with those of our siblings to protect ourselves from everlasting darkness." Madara threw Sasuke in the air but kept his arm outstretched. "So tell me, if I'm a disgrace to the Uchiha name what does that make you?"

"Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

An almighty force slammed into Sasuke sending him careening through the remains of the forest.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, sprinting in the direction of her beloved, Hinata reluctantly following after her.

Madara didn't bother to stop them but instead vanished with an enhanced Shunshin (Body Flicker).

Sasuke groaned, rubbing his head in annoyance as his vision came back into focus.

"Damn it, I let my guard down."

Sasuke got to his feet and proceeded to take in his surroundings.

A near roar of frustration almost left his throat but he suppressed it.

"Bastard! Of all places to send me!"

Sasuke had landed on top of the head of Senju Hashirama's statue in the Valley of The End.

"I see you're enjoying the change of scenery."

The younger Uchiha turned around to see the former Uchiha head standing on his own monument taking in the surroundings as well.

"It's nostalgic isn't it?" Madara began, walking towards the edge of the statue. "To think the battles that changed both our lives occurred right here in this very place."

"Don't compare me to you!" Sasuke roared

Madara let out an annoyed sigh and turned fully to his fellow clansmen. In a blink of an eye, the Juubi Jinchuuriki had slipped through Sasuke's guard, sending a crushing blow to the gut with his knee.

Sasuke folded in on the appendage, spitting blood as he fell forward. But Madara grabbed the younger man by his neck and jumped off the monument while holding Sasuke in front of him clearly intending to smash him into the ground below.

"Your denial is truly annoying!" Madara spat, throwing his descendent forward, leaving it impossible for him to recover due to the added speed to the fall.

"Damn!" Sasuke exclaimed as he slammed into the ground, the concussive damaging the surrounding area including the two giant monuments and speeding up the water flow.

This was the scene that Sakura and Hinata ran into with expressions of worry and frustration respectively.

Madara, sensing their chakra signatures, turned in their direction with a condescending smirk on his face.

"Well this I quite the amusing turn of events." He said, flying in the air to meet them eye to eye from their place on the cliff. "I expected the two of you to report back to your HQ and lick your wounds like all the others. However, it seems you're both quite the courageous pair of Kunoichi, something I can respect despite the foolish reasons as to why you would face me."

Sakura flared her chakra to the point that it was visible in her fists while Hinata activated her dojutsu complimenting them with her lion-shaped chakra surrounding her hands.

"Even if fighting you is a foolish notion, I'll fight you to my last breath to protect my comrades!" Sakura exclaimed, getting into a fighting stance

Hinata nodded in agreement.

"She's right, despite how I feel about the Uchiha and Sakura as well they're still Konoha shinobi and it's my duty to fight alongside them and protect them."

"And besides," She thought to herself, a small smile grazing her face. "I know that's what you would want, Naruto."

Madara scoffed

"Your petty talks of comradery are almost sickening to me; allow me to put the two of you in your place."

However, before he could follow through with the threat, a giant skeletal hand covered in purple chakra grabbed him tightly and held him in place.

"You won't touch them as long as I breathe." Sasuke stated, breathing heavily with blood tripping down his head.

At the same time the two Kunoichi charged the man with war cries.

"Tch, weak, Shinra Tensei!"

The force of the jutsu was enough to loosen the grip of the Susano'o, allowing for a quick dodge.

"I'll give you this much; you're persistent." Madara said, still floating in the air. "However,"

He flashed through handseals,

"Persistence does not equate to ability! Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bullet)!"

A massive flame shaped like a dragon's head rained down towards the two Kunoichi. Sasuke was quick on the up take and managed to get both girls into his Susano'o before any harm could come to them.

"You two alright?" He asked

"We're fine, thank you Sasuke." Sakura replied, sighing in relief

Madara let out a sigh of annoyance and began to lower himself down towards the waterfall landing directly in front of the two monuments.

"I grow tired of this nonsense," He began, his voice echoing through the valley. "Due to this circumstance I'm feeling generous enough to allow all three of you to walk away now while you still have a chance."

The three shinobi looked surprised for a moment before schooling their features once more.

"If not," Madara said, lowering his head his eyes shadowed over. "Come and face your end like a true shinobi!"

His Rinnegan flashed menacingly at the three young adults whose expressions were unreadable.

"It doesn't matter," Sakura thought, clenching her fists tightly

"Whether we run or stay," Hinata thought, narrowing her eyes

"He'll kill us anyway." Sasuke thought, growling

It was clear as day to all of them; Madara will not truly let them go. The ultimatum was just an indirect way of saying 'the easy way or the hard way'.

"However," They all glared hard at their adversary. "I'll be damned if I did go down without making him work for it!"

They all jumped down the cliff, hitting the water, and sprinting towards the Uchiha menace unafraid of the inevitable outcome.

"JUST LIKE NARUTO WOULD!"

Sasuke jumped in the air, drawing his blade and channeling lightning chakra through it. Madara formed his staff and blocked the oncoming blow with ease.

"Is that all?" The ancient Uchiha questioned

"NOT EVEN CLOSE!"

Madara's eyes widened as Sakura came from his left with speed he hadn't seen from the girl previously never mind the fact that her fist was overloaded with chakra. Sasuke, seeing what his teammate was planning, quickly disengaged from Madara and got the hell out of the way.

"SHANNARO!"

Sakura landed a clean his on the surprised Jinchuuriki's abdomen, crushing his ribs and rupturing several organs the concussive force of the blow took a huge chunk of stone from his monument. However, despite the damage, the almighty Uchiha held his ground.

"Y-you little brat!" Madara growled, losing his composure for a moment and smacked Sakura hard enough to send her flying into the cliff side. Of course her will power kept her from losing consciousness much to the Uchiha's frustration.

"H-HINATA DO IT NOW!"

Madara cursed but it was too late, the young Hyuga was already upon him.

"You're in the field of my divination." Hinata whispered menacingly.

"Damn it!"

"Hakke: Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms)!"

"two palms,"

"four palms,"

"eight palms,"

"sixteen palms,"

"thirty-two palms,"

Hinata almost faltered due to the speed and finesse required for the jutsu.

"Keep going Hyuga!" Sasuke shouted, seeing her slow down. "Do it for Naruto!"

That one statement made Hinata steel herself once more, unconsciously awakening her lion fists with new found determination.

"SIXTY-FOUR PALMS!"

All blows landed cleanly, combined with the Juho Soshiken (Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists) the damage done to Madara's chakra network was extensive and would take time to heal.

Time that Sasuke would not allow.

"That's it," Sasuke muttered, his Susano'o forming around him, placing a flaming arrow onto it's crossbow. "You're done,"

The arrow was launched and Madara was too stunned to react in time to counter it. He was hit dead center in the gut and was finally sent flying towards the waterfall.

"D-damn you brats," Madara cried, still flying back unable to stop himself due to his body's condition. "O-once I've healed, I won't hold b-"

Madara flew into the waterfall but oddly enough his voice stopped and even more odd was the fact that there was no crash, no sound to determine where the man had landed.

Just silence,

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What the hell?"

"Sasuke!"

The confused Uchiha turned to see both his subordinates stopping behind him.

"What happened, where is he?" Hinata questioned, using her Byakugan to scan the area.

"You mean you can't find him? How is that possible?" Sakura asked, shocked

Hinata shook her head negatively.

"I'm not sure, he should have landed behind the-wait what is that!?"

Hinata's outburst made the two team seven members flinch.

"What do you see, Hinata?" Sasuke asked

"In the center of the waterfall is a huge concentration of chakra and I can see remnants of…Naruto's chakra!"

Hinata started sprinting towards the strange phenomenon before Sasuke could say anything.

"Hinata wait! Damn, Sakura let's go!"

They both quickly followed after their teammate quickly catching up to her.

"Hinata what are you trying to do?" Sakura asked

"If I can get a closer look at whatever this is we may be able to determine where Naruto's location might be!" Hinata answered

They all came to a stop directly in front of the waterfall.

"Can you see anything?" Sasuke asked

"I-It's incredible, almost like some sort of door way." Hinata said, clearly mesmerized

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned

"I can see a trail of Naruto's chakra going through here not just passing by it. The same can be said for Madara although his trail is still fresh."

"I see," Sasuke said, weighing his options before coming to a conclusion. "We should report this back to HQ, the R&D can come down here and check whatever this is out."

"I also see remnants of your chakra here too, Uchiha," Hinata stated in monotone completely ignoring Sasuke's order. "If I remember correctly, the report of the battle between you and Naruto ended with a jutsu clash between your Chidori and his Rasengan while you were both in an enhanced state caused by the Curse Seal and Kyuubi's chakra respectively."

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization,

"We created this," He whispered "And when he disappeared…..DAMN!"

Sasuke fell to his knees, a look of grief on his face.

"It was my fault, he must've come back here when he was excommunicated and went through that thing for whatever reason. Now he can be anywhere and now Madara is closer to him and his half of the Kyuubi."

Sasuke got back on his feet, his eyes narrowed.

"Screw my last order; we're going after him now."

Hinata smiled

"For once we agree on something, Uchiha."

Sakura was a bit more apprehensive.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean we don't even know where this will take us or if Naruto survived."

"That's a risk we're going to have to take." Sasuke said turning to both girls. "Grab on to each other, we don't know what will happen once we go through and it'll be best if we stick together."

Despite her reluctance, Sakura grabbed on to his hand while Hinata grabbed the other.

"Ready?"

They nodded

"GO!"

They sprinted, there was a flash of light, and just like that the Valley was once again silent with only the roar of the waterfall filling the sky.

The war was won; a long era of peace would envelop the Shinobi World but at the cost of three promising ninja.

At least that was the story told through the ages.

"Gohan, another one to your left!" Naruto called out as he smashed the head of another proto-android that was stupid enough to get in his way.

"Got it!" Gohan said, snapping back his leg, taking out the oncoming threats mechanical skull.

After the first two machines confirmed their identities, an army of androids appeared from every corner in the now deserted area surrounding the teens completely. Of course, it was obvious by this point that these machines were faulty and unreliable compared to the numbered models of the past.

In other words, cannon fodder.

This made the clean-up job relatively easy for the two fighters as they hardly put an any effort in dismantling them but that wasn't the part that was on their minds…

"Where did these things come from? I thought you said Trunks and Krillin destroyed Gero's bunker years ago." Naruto said as he slammed a Rasengan into the torso of one android that ended up crashing through a line of them due to the jutsu's after effects.

"They did," Gohan replied, destroying a few more with some well-placed ki blasts. "Looks like Gero was more resourceful than we thought."

They continued to fight off the machine army but it was obvious they weren't going to get anywhere by being subtle.

"Hey this is taking too long; let's try getting them in one spot and let loose." Naruto suggested

Gohan nodded and both flew into the air with the androids quickly followed suit.

"Ready, Naruto?" Gohan asked, cupping his hands to his side

"Whenever you are." Naruto replied, mimicking the stance.

The androids were gathering up in a single area, a perfect target.

"Try to leave a few intact; Bulma needs to analyze them." Gohan advised,

"Right, let's do this!"

"Right, Go!"

"Kamehameha (Turtle Destructive Wave)!"

The twin white-blue beams of ki enveloped the machinery blowing away all but a few. Both young men grinned at each other and gave thumbs up on a job well done.

"Well that was easy," Naruto said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah that was, a bit too easy if you ask me." Gohan stated with narrowed eyes

"Why do you say that?"

Gohan pointed down at the remains of a few androids.

"Let's take these back to Capsule Corp. I get the feeling that we'll get answers there."

Capsule Corporation: 1 hour later

Bulma's eyes were narrowed in concentration as she analyzed the data she received from the dismantled android lying on her research table which was surrounded by Gohan, Naruto, Vegeta, and Trunks who was looking at the machine with child-like wonder.

"So Bulma, what do you think?" Gohan asked his long-time friend.

Bulma crossed her arms and made a thinking pose while humming.

"You were right to be concerned Gohan." Bulma began, letting her arms drop to her sides. "These models were nowhere near the strength of Gero's regulars. In fact I doubt they could have been a threat to your father twenty years ago let alone today."

"So who would send out such crappy works of machinery to attack us?" Naruto questioned, irritated.

An unexpected voice answered his question

"It's not who tried to attack you but what."

The group turned to the voice and Bulma smiled lightly.

"What can you tell us about this, #16?"

Android #16 hadn't changed much over the years besides a change of armor color, now steel black rather than lime green, he still bore the Capsule Corp logo, and his power supply had been upgraded continuously by Bulma in order for him to be of use in battle and keep up with the others.

The gentle giant turned his attention to his mechanic with an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

"What's up, Big Guy?" Naruto asked in concern

#16 continued to stare, keeping silent, his eyes flashing as he went through his data banks.

"I will explain what I know of this incident. But first I must tell you of my original purpose."

This caught all of their attention; they were all confused seeing as the robotic being made it clear what his mission was years ago.

"Interesting, wasn't your original mission to destroy Kakarot for what he did to your foolish creator's army when he was a child?" Vegeta asked, leaning against the wall arms crossed.

#16 nodded in affirmative.

"Yes that was still the primary mission however I had a larger purpose than most of my brethren. I was part of Dr. Gero's contingency plan."

"Contingency plan? What do you mean?" Gohan asked

"I along with three other earlier model androids were to be programmed by Dr. Gero's Super Computer, a computer with an artificial intelligence made to believe it is the doctor, to be part of one super android in the scenario that Son Goku destroyed 'Project Cell'."

The others were understandably dumbfounded by Gero's ingenuity, to think that the sly old bastard thought that far ahead.

"Heh, the old man wasn't much of a fighter but his genius is truly remarkable." Vegeta commented

"Wait a sec, then why were you activated if you were meant to be a plan B?" Naruto asked, seeing as how he hadn't appeared yet at that point.

"#17 and #18 did not heed Dr. Gero's order to leave me in my stasis pod before they killed him. I was above ground in the main lab for repairs at the time so it was simply coincidence."

A thought struck Gohan at that moment.

"Wait didn't you say that the contingency plan would be activated if Cell was killed by dad? But I killed him wouldn't that be some sort of loophole?"

"You're of Son Goku's blood that is enough for activation." #16 said

Gohan sighed in annoyance

"Of course it is."

"So what happens now?" Bulma asked, looking over the proto-android on her table. "Can you stop the other numbered models from activating?"

#16 shook his head

"My sensors indicate that they have already been activated and are now in hiding. I cannot detect them any further."

The others stood in silence for a moment.

"Ambush," Naruto and Vegeta muttered together.

Everyone nodded

"They can strike at any time the best thing for us to do is warn the others and keep our senses on high alert." Gohan ordered

"Right," the others chorused

With that said everyone began to go their separate ways for the day keeping their eyes and ears open for the inevitable danger that was lurking in the shadows.

Videl was annoyed here she was trying to figure out the two new enigmas that transferred to her school and then she got an emergency call from the police chief to go to the hospital at two in the morning! Apparently some sort of phenomenon occurred earlier in the day but she wasn't caught up on the details.

"So what is going on here?" Videl asked, clearly annoyed

"Oh hello there Videl, glad you came." The Chief said, walking up to the teen. "Here is the report that was sent in a few hours ago. We were hoping you can get some answers."

Videl read over the report, her eyes widening with every word she read over.

"Are you sure this is accurate and not some stupid hoax?" Videl asked

"Trust me Videl; I saw it with my own eyes. It was quite the spectacle." The Chief answered

The young crime-fighter nodded still trying to wrap her head around the situation.

"Which room is it?"

"305, its just around the corner."

Videl nodded, walking towards the room. It didn't take her long until she was in front of the door. Without a moment's hesitation she swung the door open and glanced inside.

On the three beds lied three battle damaged and unconscious shinobi.

And I'm cutting it off right here, gotta love those cliffhangers huh? Just throwing this out there if you need a mental image of how the Proto-Androids look, look up the generic enemies in DBZ: Sagas. So Happy Belated New Year to all and I'll return in May with chapter 15; until then later.