Author's Note: Chapter 21 for your viewing pleasure. Please review and tell me your thoughts on the final battle and anything else you can think of. I always reply to reviews. Thanks everyone!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 21 – To Kill A God
They arrived in time to see Sasuke lift his hand to the thunderous sky and cast the lightning downward. Hinata and Kakashi halted along side her to marvel at Sasuke's ultimate jutsu. Never had she seen the elements commanded in such a way. Sakura winced, expecting debris to launch in their direction, but it never happened. When she opened her eyes again, Madara had claimed the attack as his own and hurled it back toward it's originator.
The kunoichi had seen Naruto, in his sage mode, charge in heedless of the danger to himself to the defense of his friend.
"How can I become Hokage if I can't even save one friend?"
'Naruto...This would be a much better world if there were more like you.' She smiled, 'But then, there never could be anyone like you.' The lightning streaked towards her teammates and the flash it emitted temporarily blinded her. By the time her sight returned, Naruto and Sasuke remained unharmed.
At first Sakura was confused by what happened, but the grunt from her right helped her put the pieces together. Kakashi must have used his Kamui and opened a dimensional rift that swallowed the devastating jutsu. The copy nin must be on the brink of chakra exhaustion. Even after fighting for hours against Zetsu and his horde, he still managed to have enough energy to use the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Although, it obviously taxed him to do so. His posture was hunched, his breathing ragged, and his hand covered his left eye which was bleeding freely. The kunoichi went to him and attempted to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't a normal injury. Damage caused by internal chakra couldn't be healed as easily by external chakra. Eventually, her sensei waved her off, most likely to conserve what little chakra she had.
Sakura looked back to where her old teammates still stood. That Sasuke had returned to help them caused her to give a brief sigh in relief. Ever the genius, the raven-haired shinobi had already locked eyes with Kakashi, recognizing him as their savior. She saw them nod to each other in mutual respect before returning their attention to the source of all of their problems.
Naruto, on the other hand, still looked bewildered that he hadn't been struck by the colossal lightning bolt. When he turned and met her eye, she saw his face light up as it always did when he saw her. Aside from bruises and scratches, he didn't appear to be seriously harmed. A huge weight she didn't even realize she was carrying seemed to lift from her.
"What's the status here?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke was the first to reply. "Worse than you might think. Not only is he nearly impossible to hit, but even if an attack lands it doesn't phase him."
"What do you mean?" Hinata questioned.
"He somehow combined Orochimaru's mind transfer with the Edo-Tensei. Naruto hit him dead on with his Rasengan and he just stood up like it was nothing. He's basically been toying with us this whole time."
"Edo-Tensei? It seems the Second Hokage's jutsu will never stop haunting us."
"Wait, so Madara's soul is inside of a dead body? Whose body?" Sakura questioned.
"Whose indeed. I thought you of all people would recognize it, Kakashi." Madara quipped before removing his mask.
The blood drained from the copy-nin's face. That hair, that face, that eye. "Obito- It can't be."
The dead man chuckled, "I wouldn't dream of inhabiting any body other than an Uchiha. Unfortunately, Konoha is rather diligent about disposing of ninja who are killed in action, particularly those of a clan as prestigious as ours. It seems they grew a little too lax during the Third Shinobi War."
Kakashi's knuckles went white as he clenched his fist, "Damn you, Madara."
The last of the Akatsuki smiled before shrugging, "I was only borrowing his body until my preparations for Itachi were complete. However, now that your student here killed him, I've been forced to change my plans." His eye hungrily found Sasuke's as he finished his sentence.
"I won't let you have him." Naruto said defiantly, "He's my friend."
"And how many friends have you brought to die for you, Naruto?" The ancient Uchiha interrupted impatiently.
The blonde looked down in shame, "Too many have died already. I won't let you kill anyone else."
Madara stared hard at his target before replying. "I don't know what world you live in, but in this world, I hold all the cards. In this world, Naruto, I am a god."
As Sakura's eyes hovered on her newly admitted love, she couldn't help but see the gleam in his eye. She had seen that look before. The blonde had worn it many times before right before pulling off one of his crazy stunts. Naruto had an idea.
"Sasuke, how do you kill a god?" Naruto said with a grin.
The Uchiha nearly snorted, "You can't, dobe, they're immortal."
"Exactly." Leaving his friend slightly confused, he connected his fingers to perform his signature jutsu. "Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two hundred sage clones popped into existence, each one with toad-like eyes and a wide grin as large as the original's. Naruto ordered his copies to attack and they did as commanded. Some began creating Rasengans, while others threw a wave of kunai. Madara released a wall of chakra that halted the projectiles and blew any nearby clones away. The Akatsuki made it look like child's play as he took out the sage doppelgangers one by one. One of the clones managed to stick a kunai in his back, but was immediately back-handed and had no time to enjoy his 'victory.'
The storm that formed Sasuke's Kirin still raged above them, matching the atmosphere of the battle below. The real Naruto ran up to the rest of the leaf nin, followed by Sasuke, and asked, "Where's Shikamaru?" His eyes were back to their usual blue. He must have used all of his Sage chakra on those clones.
"He said he had a plan and that the rest of us should go ahead and join up with you." Hinata answered.
The blonde appeared worried about the genius, but soon enough he again focused on the group in front of him. "Okay. If he has a plan, then that usually means bad news for whoever he's up against. What about Chouji and Kiba? They were with you when my clone disappeared."
"I sent them on an errand back to the village. Call it a back up plan for Shikamaru." Kakashi responded with a wink to Sakura.
Naruto turned to the oldest member of the group. "Can you do that dimension jutsu again?"
Kakashi hesitated before answering, "Maybe. I think I have enough chakra to do so, but I'm not sure how much more my Sharingan can take. Assuming I don't die of chakra exhaustion, I would risk losing my Sharingan altogether."
"Can you do it?" The authority with which Naruto spoke was so different than the blonde's usual care-free voice. He truly sounded like a leader. He made you want to do your best, made you succeed where otherwise you would have failed.
The copy nin stood straight and nodded, "Yes, I can do it. I hope you know what you are doing, Naruto. We're only going to get one chance at this. If he evades the rift, I won't be able to do it a second time."
"Let me worry about that."
Some profound understanding seem to occur in Sakura's sensei. "Naruto, you cannot do this."
Sakura looked to the blonde, unwilling to accept the truth she knew in her heart. "What's he talking about Naruto?"
The usually quite Hinata spoke, "He's going to sacrifice himself."
Sakura was hard-pressed to hold back the wave of emotions inside of her. She felt like her body was a dam holding back the mighty force of the water at bay. However, without Naruto as her support, a crack appeared in her defense, allowing some of the turmoil free.
His eyes never left Kakashi. "I'm the one he wants. When he comes for me, he'll be vulnerable."
"Naruto-" She started.
"Sasuke landed the first blow when he almost took the Fox. It'll work, I know it will."
The copy-nin placed his hand on the sage's shoulder, "Even if that's true, The cost is too high."
"One ninja is a small price to pay to be rid of Madara."
"You are more than just a ninja, Naruto. You are a symbol to our village." Kakashi replied.
The jinchuuriki shrugged, "Whatever I am, I have to end this."
"Naruto, you can't be serious!" "Sakura screamed. The crack in her emotional wall became a gap, letting a high-pressure stream of stress and disbelief through. "You never give up! You'll find a way, you always do!"
"I have. This is the only way, Sakura." The blonde replied as a gust of wind swept the area. Several cries rang out as a dozen clones were wiped from the face of the earth in a giant swell of flame. Already, almost half of the original two hundred clones had been vanquished. More copies of the blonde shinobi swarmed the ancient Uchiha, hiding him from sight once more.
Hinata noticed the quickly dwindling number of clones. "Naruto, whatever you plan to do, we're running out of time."
He nodded, "You're right. Keep an eye on that cousin of yours for me."
"I will." The Hyuuga heiress approached and embraced him. "Thank you, Naruto."
Returning the hug, the blonde asked, "For what?"
"Peace." She answered softly. Sakura knew she meant more than the end of the war. The orange clad shinobi had brought the kunoichi inner peace as well, and that was just as important.
Naruto released Hinata and turned to Sasuke, "Well? Any last words, teme?"
With his usual arrogant smirk he responded, "I guess we'll never know who's stronger, eh, dobe?"
The blonde smiled, "You were always stronger. Do you remember, Sasuke, back then when we were learning the tree climbing exercise? I was always jealous that I had to work my ass off to do what came naturally to you."
Her other teammate nodded, "I was worried that you were gaining on me. We sharpened each other, like iron sharpens iron."
"You always drove me to push myself to my limit. In the end, it still wasn't enough. I'd have died a dozen times against you if it hadn't been for this." Naruto ,said placing his hand over the Kitsune's seal.
The Uchiha shrugged, "We all use the tools we are given. I trained myself to use my Sharingan, and you trained to use the Demon's chakra.
Sakura watched the exchange with joy in her heart; the dam momentarily forgotten. In that moment, with Naruto and Sasuke quibbling over who was stronger, Team Seven was what it used to be.
"Take care of Sakura-chan for me, will ya?"
"She can take care of herself now, ya know."
"I know, but an extra set of eyes wouldn't hurt."
Sasuke caved, "I'll do what I can."
Another loud cry came from the distance as one clone with an Oodama Rasengan charged Madara. The Uchiha raised his hand to cast another fireball, but his arm was seized by a second and third clone. The clone with the Rasengan leaped into the air and attacked the masked shinobi and the attached clones. The copies were blown away as the Akatsuki leader was knocked back. The remaining forty or so clones didn't give him the luxury to return to his feet before continuing their attack.
Realizing that time was running out Sasuke held out his arm, "Good luck...brother."
Naruto smiled before grasping his forearm, "Thanks, Sasuke."
Kakashi walked up to the pair and again placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You may never get to fulfill your dream of becoming Hokage, but the whole village will acknowledge you for this, I promise, Naruto-sama." The jounin bowed before the teenager. Sakura was awed by the amount of respect shown by their sensei. Adding the 'Sama' honorific to Naruto's name implied that he held a higher status than the ex-ANBU member. The only person that she could think of that the copy-nin had used that phrase on was the Hokage. Combined with the bow, it was obvious that the leader of Team Seven held his student in the highest regard. One breach in her wall led to several as her emotions became harder and harder to keep under control.
Naruto was beaming from ear to ear. At least he had enough sense to bow in return before replying, "Thank you, sensei. I never could have gotten this far without you."
His eyes glanced at Sakura as he finished speaking. Kakashi chuckled, "Go ahead, I need to focus anyway."
As he slowly walked towards her, her heart rate sped up. Despite all the feelings welling up inside of her, she couldn't get any words to come out of her mouth. After a small awkward silence, Naruto raised his hand to scratch the back of his head. "Sakura-chan, I'd give almost anything to spend more time with you."
Her dam crumbled. Unleashing all of her thoughts at once, she bounded into his arms and hugged him for all she was worth. Words still escaped her as they held one another. She finally stuttered out the only thing that came to mind, "So, I must be a pretty good catch then, huh?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it like-Ack!" Sakura had tightened her grip on him to the point she could feel the tension in his bones. "Yeah, you are."
"That's better." She said innocently as she loosened her grip to more comforting level. They should have had so much more time together. If only Madara didn't force this ultimatum on him, and worse, if only she had noticed her feelings for him sooner. She should have noticed so long ago.
Flashback – (Shippuuden Episode 74: Sakura's Apartment – What the Heart Wants)
Sakura returned to her apartment after dropping off more of her homemade soldier pills for Naruto to help with his rigorous training with Kakashi and Yamato. She sat on her legs on her bed and observed the crescent moon out her window. "The moon is so pretty."
She sighed. The breeze picked up and knocked over a photo on her night stand. Leaning over to pick it up, she noticed it was the photo they took of Team Seven so long ago. Her memories swam of her and her teammates. She remembered when he had been the first to climb to the top branch in the tree climbing exercise. Naruto had been so proud of her, even going so far as to call her the girl of his dreams. Sasuke merely looked shocked that she was capable of completing something before he could.
Next came a more recent memory of her conversation with Iruka, her old academy teacher. 'Everyone's changing,' he had said. He's right, we have all changed. Naruto's pursuing Sasuke-kun and undergoing training that no one else could do.
'The only things I can do are small and insignificant.' She thought, not for the first time.
Yamato's voice came back to her. 'It's not the size of what you do for him that matters. What really matters are your feelings for Naruto.'
She looked back and forth between the images of Naruto and Sasuke. 'Who do I really love? Who is my most precious person? Tears began to streak down her face as she posed the difficult questions to herself. A shooting star zoomed through the night sky. She wondered if Naruto was watching as well.
End Flashback
She should have noticed back then, but she crunched her emotions down time and time again, putting everything else before it, assuming there would always be time for romance later. Now here she was, in the arms of the man she realized she loved, ans she was about to lose him. "I'm so proud of you, Naruto-kun. I know your clueless at times, and loud, and obnoxious-"
"Hey!"
"But I love you. God, I love you." She finished.
Naruto smiled, "If I lived a thousand years, I'd never get sick of hearing you say that." He was pleasantly interrupted as her lips met his in a fiery kiss. Sakura poured all of herself into the kiss, expressing her fears, her anger, and most importantly, her love.
"Or that." Time stopped for the two of them. Despite the chaos around them, her man looked completely at ease.
The moment was interrupted as one of his clones landed harshly next to the couple. It took only a few seconds for it to vanish in a puff of smoke, but it was more than long enough to permanently imprint the image of the blonde's dying face in her mind. The reminder of what was about to occur shook her from her reverie. Sakura unconsciously squeezed him tighter.
….
The swirl of chakra was astounding. Naruto and his bright, warm energy clashed with the dark power of the Akatsuki, creating a rainbow of colors in the sky like fireworks that only she could see. Through her Byakugan, the atmosphere was luminous as Madara and the clones exchanged blows. One of the sapphire clones was swallowed by the Uchiha's overwhelming strength.
She shifted her gaze to Sakura and Naruto holding one another. The blonde's light blue chakra and the kunoichi's sage green chakra combined into a beautiful aqua like that of the ocean. Even their chakra fit perfectly together. Sometimes Hinata wished that others could see the world the way the Hyuuga could. Seeing the way chakra moved brought a whole different perspective to the way she viewed the world.
….
"Naruto, times running out." Sasuke said, interrupting the moment.
The blonde sighed, "I know." Reluctantly, he slowly let go of the pink-haired ninja, giving her one final kiss on the forehead.
He only made it a couple of steps before Sakura spoke up, "Naruto..." He paused. "Wherever you're going..." Even the battle became silent in anticipation of her words, "Kick his ass."
Naruto's lips curled up in a grin. Without turning back, he held out his left hand and gave her a thumbs up. He returned his full attention to Madara in time to see him single-handedly holding the last of his clones in the air by the throat. The Akatsuki's eye was seething raw hatred; there would be no more stalling. Madara tightened his grip, and with a choking gasp, his victim vanished.
The two ninja stood motionless staring at each other for several moments, neither saying a word. Finally, Naruto created a Rasengan and began to jog forward, slowly at first, but gaining speed. Madara also began to close the distance between them. When he reached a sprint, the adrenaline coursing through him gave the perception of time slowing around him. His footsteps seemed to echo around him and his mind was racing with what he assumed would be his last thoughts.
He knew his teammates were watching him for what would be the last time. 'Sasuke, you will always be the closest thing I have to a brother, and Hinata a sister. 'Kakashi-sensei, some of the best times I've ever had have been at your side in the heat of battle and learning from you.' His final thought was of her. 'Sakura-chan, I hope you can find happiness. I love you.'
In the periphery of his vision, he thought he saw something move. Taking a quick glance, he could have sworn he saw Aki, the sorceress who first told him of what was to come. She made no move and said nothing, but somehow he knew that she was glad for the way events turned out; that in the end, he would succeed in ridding the world of Madara Uchiha.
Nearly upon his enemy, Naruto ducked his outreached hand and slammed the blue orb of chakra into the dead man's chest. Despite tearing into his flesh, Madara felt no pain as he reached down and grabbed the jinchuuriki by throat as he had his clone moments ago. The feral scream he let out rang through the forest, but he forced himself to keep pushing more power into his jutsu.
"Why don't you just give up?" Madara asked, "You cannot win."
Memories of his master, Jiraiya, and his namesake plagued his mind.
Flashback (Shippuuden Episode 128: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja)
The smoke bombs ignited, obscuring the nearby area. The slight advantage proved futile, as he still was unable to get past his enemy's defenses. When the haze cleared, the leaf nin was kneeling at the feet of his opponent.
"Give it up." the black clad warrior ordered.
Gasping for breath, the shinobi managed to speak, "May I say one thing?"
"I don't care to listen!" His opponent shouted before rushing forward with a kunai, pinning him to a tree. "Die already!"
"Give up..." the clone grumbled, before dispersing from the wound. The enemy ninja's eyes shot open as he realized his error. The real warrior lifted his arm before finishing his advice. "Give up on me giving up!" The downward chop struck his opponent in the back of the neck, knocking him to the ground.
Unable to rise, the defeated ninja said, "Even if you bring me down, another assassin will attack the village." With a wounded chuckle, he continued, "As long as we are cursed to live in this ninja world, there will be no peace."
The leaf nin remained unphased by his words. "Then, I will break that curse! If there is such a thing as peace, I'll seize it! I'll never give up!"
Awed by the victor's determination, the black clad shinobi asked, "Who are you?"
Before responding, The warrior from the village hidden in the leaves extended his hand to help his opponent to his feet. "My name, is Naruto."
End Flashback
Naruto gritted his teeth, "Give up, on me giving up!"
He saw the rift created by his sensei open just a few feet behind the ancient Uchiha. Urging himself to ignore the pain, Naruto pressed on, slowly pushing Madara back toward the portal. The blonde could feel the Fox being ripped from the seal. Blood poured from his chin, but he continued anyway. Six more inches, then six more, only two feet to go.
Looking again toward his goal, he noticed the portal decrease in size. Kakashi was running out of chakra, he had to hurry. 'One more push, come on. You've never quit your whole life, don't start now. With a final cry, he shoved with all of his might and the both of them tumbled through the rift together and into darkness.
Author's Note: And there it is! Madara and Naruto are gone! Exciting twist, right? The prophecy came true, in a way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. There will be one more chapter and most likely an epilogue. PLEASE REVIEW! The next chapter will be especially hard as I will be trying to close any loopholes that may exist. If you have any questions about the story, or suggestions, or praise, or even constructive criticism, I would greatly appreciate you leaving a review! I respond to all reviews and I check my email often.
Thanks everyone!
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