XXV.

Heart beating fast, Naruto gives in to Kurama without hesitation. With a blood curdling scream, an overwhelming amount of chakra fills the air and his whiskers grow more pronounced on his cheeks. Looking up with a hot, boiling rage, he seethes. Clinging onto her lifeless hand in tears, he looks up.

"Naruto-kun! Please, calm down!" Shizune cries, her eyes softening. "I know how you feel, so please...!" He swipes her away with his claws. "How can I be calm?!" He roars, turning to her. "I won't let him lay another finger on baa-chan!" Growling, he swipes through the wooden door of her bedroom and out through the halls in one fell sweep. Breathing heavily, he runs on all fours akin to a fox, and rushes over to the office. Cooling himself down, the Kyuubi's powers lessen and he's back to himself in no time.

Naruto walks over to the main room and the council immediately looks at him.

"So, boy, spit it out," Danzo says, "we don't have all day."

"What the hell did you do to her!" he yelled. "I know you have something to do with this! Tsunade wouldn't overdose without a reason. She's really strong, she wouldn't be so weak as to give up like that!" Hinata, Sakura, and Sai exchange nervous glances. "The truth is, Namikaze," Danzo spat the last name like acid, "a brat like you isn't worthy to be a ninja. You're too emotional over the smallest of little things that no one but you cares about. Grow up and leave us alone." Naruto frowns, willing the tears away. He couldn't let himself get carried away. The council was here - they'd have to hear his case out, right? It's not they'd have some stranger magically become the hokage, anyway.

"You and your pathetic family are just the same. Your parents died because of that THING inside of you. You're lucky they loved you enough to die for you so carelessly."

"Just shut up! That doesn't matter! What are you gonna do to me?"

'I won't let him get away with this...' He growls, clenching his fists, claws sinking into his skin. The people in the room take a step back, seeing his eyes change color. "Ah," Danzo marvels, watching him transform right before his eyes. "So you ARE one of those fabled demons..." He smirks maliciously. "I've only heard about them from fairytales, but I - I never imagined that they were real. Hmm..." His eye flickers to the red aura off of the boy. "I can feel your hate seeping out of your skin...so tell me why you want to become the hokage, now?"

"W - well, I..." The blonde fumbles on the spot, flushing, "It's my dream, that's why!"

"That's right, you can't, can you? You're obviously too weak to inherit the title. You're all talk and little to no action..." Danzo walks around him like prey, staring him down with intent. "You can't even lift a boulder, you poor thing..."

"W - wha - ?! Hey! I so can! Just watch me!" Naruto avowed, pumping a fist into his chest. The "hokage" continues circling around him. "You're nothing without the Uchiha boy..." He watched with mild satisfaction as Naruto's face went pale."He's told me a lot about you..." He waltzes around him with mirth written right across his face. "How he has no need for you anymore... how you're nothing but weak. You'd never understand the pain of losing a lost one..."

"He has? I - I..." Naruto falters. 'I should've known...I'm so screwed.'

"Take him to the dungeons. That's an order." Two men restrain him in an iron-like grip and exit the hokage's office.

"As of now, I'm the hokage, so deal with it."

He slams the door behind them shut.

As the ROOT carry him away, Naruto stops struggling. It was all over. His whole life he'd train for the moment on the off chance that he'd lead the village. Now his goal in life seemed impossible. What was he to do, now? Without a dream, without a goal, without a purpose? All of that was taken away from him; leaving nary nothing behind. "Sorry, kid," One of the guards mutters, "didn't want ta have to do this. No hard feelings." Naruto's eyes darken as they enter inside a dark building to the side.

And then he was thrown into a cell.

Hinata stares after him with a look of forlorn. Glowering at the old man, she frowns in disapproval.

'How could you?!' She thinks, wanting to wrap her hands around his neck and choke him. How dare he just imprison him to who knows where! 'He has done nothing wrong...and yet, if I say anything, he'll hurt me just like Naruto-kun. I am completely powerless here...' Alas, it was not meant to be. The man had full control here, rendering her own squad useless. They stare with conflicted thoughts and feelings. 'I'm sorry I can't save you...'

'That baka...now he's got himself into a bigger mess. How am I gonna save him this time?' She huffs, facepalming. 'Of course he'll find a way out of this . That boy's Naruto Uzumaki! He may be a baka, but he's not TOO much of an idiot. Or, at least, I hope not... Let's just hope his brain is bigger than I think it is.'

"Hokage, if I may," Sai begins, but is interrupted mid sentence. Sakura, Hinata, and Sai spin around to see a shadow behind the hokage's office entrance. Kakashi bursts through the doors, staring at everyone with a chuckle.

"So! What did I miss?" He claps his hands together, and Danzo takes a step forward. "Ah, just in time, Hatake. Of course you would come ten minutes too late. I'm your hokage now, and I'm afraid that one of your students is permanently expelled." Seeing his body stiffen, he clarifies, "Naruto Uzumaki is on a death sentence...he'll be spending the next few weeks rotting in that jail cell of his before I officially behead him."

'No...it can't be? Minato's son is here?!'

"So you're saying he's in prison right at this moment?" Kakashi exclaims, all the possibilities soaring through his head. What the hell was this man thinking?! "Yes...alive and kicking in the dungeons. However, it is off limits to anyone aside from me who dare enters there uninvited. Try going in there and I will have my ANBU kill you without restraint. I'm warning you, now, lowlife." Kakashi snaps out of his composed shell almost soon as it started. Maybe it was fatherly instinct within him, but he couldn't just let his student, let alone Naruto Uzumaki, die because an old man says so!

"Don't you do anything to him you hear m-!"

Sai silences him by pulling out his scroll from behind and drawing a zipper over his mouth; shutting his mouth. Kakashi makes 'mmph!' noises, but he is utterly powerless here. "You just had your neck saved, jounin." Danzo

"I'm firing you. If you can't even control yourself, how could you ever lead your own team? Yamato." In a POOF! of smoke, an ANBU wearing a cat mask appears; armor and all. "Hai."

"While I interrogate this man, I want you to lead Team Seven. Could you do that for me?"

"On your orders." The man behind the mask avows, bowing before him as if he were nothing but a god. Kakashi screams in complaint, but even he can't go against the hokage."Everything's going to be alright..." A cloaked figure appears in the doorway, his robes swishing behind him in the wind. "Leave this to me. If I must," the man turns to Danzo, "hokage-sama?"

"Hmm? What do you want?" The hokage raises a suspicious eyebrow at the stranger.

"I'd like to see the prisoner for myself."

A few days had past since then.

The blonde was slowly losing grip with reality, coming to terms that maybe he had lost sense of his humanity. A hero? Pshhh. At the time, the idea sounded perfect but it seemed so far fetched, now. He'd be executed soon; it would only a matter of time. The water trickles down from the ceiling. He could've sworn he heard rats squeak every now and then, but then again, maybe his mind was really playing tricks on him. Naruto honestly didn't know at this point. He jolts once he hears one of the dungeon's doors creak open, and a figure walking with a candle over to him.

From the light of their candle, Naruto caught a good glimpse of their face.

"I - Iruka-sensei? What're you doin' here? I thought," he pauses, "I thought you were dead."

"We all did..." The now older man chuckles, walking over to his cell and examines the bars. 'They really were serious about this...'

"But, as you can see..." The Umino removes his blindfolds and faces his former student. "My vision is impaired." Even though he opened his eyes, they were glazed over and he had a cane in front of him. "As you've probably heard, three years ago your teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, had left the village. And Sakura Haruno was there at the scene. He killed me." Naruto's eyes widened. That didn't sound like Sasuke. Even if the guy was an asshole, he wouldn't kill unless he had to. How desperate could he be? "I don't think the boy had the heart to do it...so he put up a stunt in front of Sakura-san. He placed a genjutsu on me and your teammate and left. My eyes couldn't handle his overwhelming power...it was almost inhuman of how much power he had. As a result, I lost my eyesight." He gestures to his eyes and smiles. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you any sooner..." The blonde gapes like a dead goldfish.

"Here...I figured you might want this." Iruka outstetches a hand through the bars and offers him some ramen. Naruto looks down at the familiar bowl glumly. Snapping open the chopsticks, he starts slurping some noodles. "None of this is your fault..."

"Who are ya kidding? Of course it is. If it wasn't for me, Tsunade-baa-chan would be alive right now. I could've saved her! But, I was too late..." He looks at his lap, eyes tearing up as he thought more and more about his failure. If he had succeeded, then none of this would've happened. That bastard would still be here, and the hokage would be alive... But he had made a grave mistake. "Are you hearing yourself right now? What happened to that blonde boy I used to know? The one who wanted to lead the village someday?"

"I...I dunno..." He says self cautiously, eyes averting to his lap.

"Look at me, Naruto," Naruto looks up and feels sad all over again. Guilt and regret weighing down on him

"Don't lose hope." Iruka shakes his shoulders, brown eyes gazing into him. "It may seem dark right now, but I promise you, there is always a light out the end of the tunnel. Someday you might find yours..." Stepping away, he salutes to his favorite student.

"Remember what I said."

That night, the Uzumaki twists and turns in his sleep. Constantly thinking about one thing or the other. It didn't help matter that the cot he was sleeping on wasn't by any means comfortable. He ended up curling himself in a ball, trying to sleep in the cold, even though all of his limbs felt icy to the touch.

XXX

"H - Hina-chan?" There she was. Standing before him with a wicked smirk on her face.

"Face it, Naruto-kun. We've all grown up and we grew to like you. You were always such a dimwitted kid and even now you still are. But, we all loved you for that. That's why each and every one of us befriended you. Because you were a hero in our eyes without knowing about what you carried inside of you. Now that the truth is out in the open, though…" She laughs, an unnatural smile crossing her face. "Why'd any of your friends want to be with a monster like you, anyway?" Suddenly, her face morphs into Sakura's and all his other friends-excluding Sakura-surrounded him in a circle. "You lied to us…betrayed us...and left us all behind. What kind of friend is that, anyway?" The faces sing-songed all around him. "STOP IT!" He screams, trying to run away from them. But, they followed and laughed, as he trips over himself and falls facefirst into the abyss of darkness.

"Demon!"

"He's a Monster!"

"Stay away from him!"

"Traitor!"

And last of all, the face of his best friend. "You fool..." He lifts him up from the floor and frowns, "Look at you; you look like a mess."

"Sasuke," Naruto wipes his tears away, eyes softening, "Y - you're really here?" The Uchiha nods. "Yeah. Sorry for calling you out here like this. You see, this is only temporary." He glances around and starts again. 'That's weird...he almost never talks to me first. What's he got to say this time?' Naruto's eyes twitch, and he crosses his arms. Sasuke shifts his weight between his feet awkwardly.

"I - it's not important, actually, but...I want you to know something before I go." Embarrassed, he sighs, and looks at the confused boy."Don't make me say it again! Once is already enough. But, I..." He clasps Naruto's hands and stands before him, a broken man. "Ever since that time when we were kids, and even now..."

"I liked you."

"When you said we were like brothers. Maybe we were. But, you were never like Itachi, so I didn't see you that way."

"Sasuke! You're - you're really here..." Naruto stands before him; without even thinking he throws his arms around the other boy. "Holy crap! Like, hey, how's it goin', dude?" He punches his shoulder lightly, laughing. "You're so annoying..." Sasuke smirks, holding onto him, "Happy to see me, huh?"

"Heck yeah I am! I've waited so long just ta see ya for myself. Sakura-chan's gonna be so happy once she hears about this! I promised."

'Too bad I'm stuck here...' He adds in darkly to himself. "Where the fuck were you, Sasuke?!" He shouts, eyes narrowing on his teammate. "That doesn't matter...It's not in my place to say." Sasuke shoves him away, and looks away, with a clouded expression. "We're running out of time. My communication with you is cutting off. Tell Sensei I..." His image glitches for a second and then reappears; only partly.

"No, you're my friend! I'm gonna save you, I swear!" The Uzumaki cuts him off midsentence with a pout. Sasuke steps closer, until they're only inches apart. Naruto blushes, unsure of what to do. "I'll find you someday." He presses his forehead against the blonde's, "I will."

Sasuke smiles down at him, but then feels a killing intent from behind his back. Letting go of the angel in his arms, he turns to face Orochimaru. "Hurry!" Snakes curl up around his arm, swallowing him into the darkness. Until the whole void is filled with snakes, and Naruto awakens in a cold sweat.

XXX

The Uzumaki wakes up, all of his sheets soaked wet along with his body. A weird sensation envelops him then and there; sending tingles up his spine. A foreign chakra presence enters inside his head, until it makes itself audibly clear.

"Hey, you there! I'm breaking us out of here."

"W - what. Wait, who are you?"

"Now's not the time for that...see that hole over there? That crack between the wall? That's your exit...follow that and you'll be just fine."

"Thanks." He hurries to the spot they mentioned, where hay is covered haphazardly. Between the rocks in his way, he pushed those aside with the help of his excess chakra until it's completely cleared. Seeing the light from outside, he crawls out with a puff of relief. 'Wow, they were right...' It was dark outside, but he was finally free! No old man to stop him now! "Go into the woods. I'll be waiting for you there. And hurry! Before the guards catch on!"

'Got it...'

'Was that really him?' Sasuke has a hand on his face, recalling the events previously. He could've sworn he saw the face of his long lost friend in his dreams. But, he, too, was self aware of what was going on just as he was. This wasn't just some offhand coincidence. It seemed far fetched, but maybe that was really him in the flesh. 'This is stupid. Of course that clumsy ninja is gone. What was I thinking?' he stands up from his futon and stretches. Seeing how his master almost never got any sleep, he wouldn't be surprised if he had him work overtime just to satisfy his needs.

'If he was really with the Akatsuki three years ago, then I'd have seen him by now...but that moron is nowhere to be found. No matter how far I look. But, I know he's out there, he said so himself.' Slipping on his white yukata and a purple wrap around his middle he takes a few swift stride to place a hand on the knob. Before he heads out the door, he faces his makeshift shrine and eyes the statue. With a curt bow, he hoists his blade and leaves his room in one piece.

...

Sasuke sharpens his blade, using polish to clean it's rusty edges, as he sat on the table. He feels something sting, and looks at man behind the glasses, who is inserting questionable fluids into a syringe, squirting some of it out.

"You're not done, yet..." Kabuto injects the vaccine into his arm with a mad glint behind those glasses, and Sasuke flinches on impact. The Yakushi eyes him like a prize, licking his lips as it fills up with his delicious blood. "You're the perfect specimen, you know that...?" He says with desire laden in his voice, biting the shell of his ear. Sasuke rolls his eyes and looks away, unimpressed; growing accustomed to his pedophilic tendancies."Giving your body over to my master is very noble of you, Sasuke-kun. How do you feel?"

"Nothing..." The Uchiha crosses his arms . And it was true. There was nothing to lose from it, no, not even his body. In the end, he would gain the power to defeat his brother and fool the old ninja when the time was right. Yes. That was the plan.

"I - I see." Kabuto's hand hesitates as he cleans his wound with a cloth. He stands up and walks over to his shelf, skimming through some things before bringing an object out. "Well, hurry along to Orochimaru-sama. Oh, and Sasuke-kun," he fetches over a vial to him, which the Uchiha catches. "It's a little...something." The experimenter winks . A simple fetch side quest, huh? Frowning, Sasuke casts one last glare his way and stomps out of the room, down the stony hallways, and over to the throne room. "Ah, Sasuke-kun~" Orochimaru purrs, a smile dancing on his lips, "How nice to see you again...fufufufu..." The brat tosses a vial over to him, to which the snake sannin catches."Here, Kabuto wanted to give you this."

"Ah, yes, this will be very helpful for later, thank you." He pockets it into his clothes and hums. "What d'you want?"

"Straight to the point; I like that. But, no need to be so uptight about it! This is going to be so much fun." Seeing him glare daggers at him, he adds in, "Oh, come on! The clock is ticking, you know~. The time has almost come...you'll have no choice but to pay your end of the bargain. It was our deal, after all."

"I know..." Sasuke murmurs, "but not yet. There are still some things I have to do."

'Like finding that usuratonkachi, for starters.' The golden eyed man relents after awhile. In the end, it was only about when. Timing meant everything, but, if he really wanted to, then, so be it. "Alright. You're still not ripe, yet, anyway, so there's no harm done...for now I'll let you live, boy. There's no point in picking a green fruit, as they say."

"Hmph." Orochimaru gives him the side eye and slinks away. Getting the message, Sasuke follows after him. The sound of their footsteps fills the otherwise silent void as they head outside to the Sound's training grounds. "Are you ready for your next session of training?" Orochimaru questions with a small smile, watching his subject bemusedly. "Yes," and then adds in a reluctant, "master."

"Excellent. Let's get started then, shall we?" A dark energy envelops the former legendary ninja, and a large snake forms out of thin air. "This is my pet snake, Manda. He won't bite..." Orochimaru stands beside it, stroking it softly. 'It's a summon...! That thing is giant. I won't stand a chance at this rate!' All he has are a few techniques, but not enough to defeat the monster entirely. And Kakashi had only taught him the basics of chidori, but nothing more than that. He might end up as mush if he so much as slipped.

"Where'd you get it? Tell me!" He urges, buying some time to thoroughly think of a strategy. They didn't call him a prodigy for nothing, after all. "...At Ryuchi Cave. Why? You interested?" His master slithers away, grinning toothily from the sidelines. 'Far from it,' Sasuke shakes his head, 'I can do this all on my own, no sweat. Stupid Naruto. I don't need friends...' Holding out his blade, he waits for an opening. The snake lunges at him, but he leaps aside. It's head crashes against the rock hard ground instead; causing it to crack in the process. But it's saber sharp tooth had flung out of it's mouth and had hit him from behind mid battle. Holding his shoulder, Sasuke hisses and stumbles back; wounded.

'He's doing a number on me...! But not so fast.' He takes the fang and flings it back, but it's scale had deflected it. If something like that and kunai couldn't work against the feral beast; then he was doomed. Against all odds, he had brought out his blade.

"CHIDORI!" He screams, launching himself at the monster and about ready to stab it. But, it's tail had whacked him back, sending him him flying. Sprawled on the floor, he coughs and stands back up; wiping blood in the process. 'Damn him! I have no choice but to give in...' Black flames devour his body and his eyes thin into snake-like slits. His skin turns grey and wings erupt from his back; resembling a snake. The Snake Sannin cackled with glee at how his future body was faring against the beast. He licks his lips with a glint in his snake eyes, 'He's just the one I want, I'm certain...His body is all mine...'

Sasuke whirls around, but it's all too late. The ginormous monstrosity swallows him whole.

'It's as I thought!' Down into the stomach he goes, feeling acid burn his skin. He eyes it's insides with distaste; before jumping straight back into action so that he won't materialize into nothing but flesh and bone. Using a spare shruiken from his master, he does a spin attack and slices off the snake from the inside out. Dismembering it, it's body falls apart and he's out of the stomach, alive. Alive, yes, but slimy. And sticky. And...scrumptious. At least in Orochimaru's eyes.

'THAT BRAT! He just killed my one very own summon! Hmm...no matter. I'll just reanimate him, no worries.'

"Y - you were supposed to fight him! Not kill him. I specifically told you not to, boy!" He snaps. "Well I did my job, didn't I?" Sasuke shrugged, smirking. "Is that it? Or is that all you've got against me?" Orochimaru was fuming inside. How dare he taunt him like this; especially at his worst! Brushing it aside, he steps aside and crosses his arms, grumbling. "W - well, I must say. You have done well to best against my most powerful asset..." Pacing back and forth, he relents with a crooked smile.

"Do you want to know why I favor you above all others?"

"It is because you belong to me, Sasuke. You are all mine. You are the very essence to the Sound. Without you as an ally, then my nation would be as good as dead."

"Hn." Sasuke grunts, looking the slightest bit thankful. "You were atop a mountain of corpses, all for the sake of my cause. If it weren't for you, I'd..." He rubs both sides of his face and gushes, swaying his hips with love in his eyes; if the nosebleed and blush were anything to go off by. The Uchiha pushes him away. "Can I go, now? I've got things to do..." The Uchiha taps his foot impatiently, looking extremely uncomfortable. Seeing this, "Of course, Sasuke-kun. Just remember that you're welcome here anytime. Fufufufu~!"

"Before I go," He scratches the back of his head, picking up on Naruto's old habits. "I think that thing poisoned me..." He reveals his bare shoulder and Orochimaru can barely hold in a squeal. His perfect, supple skin. He couldn't wai to suckle on it and -! Ahem. He was getting off track here. There were more important matters at hand. Like how his Sasuke was suffering from his snake's venom. "Ah, I see. Well, I have just the thing for you." He grasps the sides of his face and shove a bottle into his mouth. Sasuke chokes, but the snake sannin coaxes it into his throat and he swallows the antidote.

"Easy, easy. Take it like the slave that you are, brat..."

"What did you do to me?" The Uchiha stares at him akin to fascination and horror. "Y - you're not trying to possess me, are you?"

"What? Nonsense. I'm healing you. Now that, you know..." He caps the bottle and tosses it aside, "You're in my hands, I can't just compromise all that and let you die a terrible death. Sweet dreams..."

It was time.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Danzo opens the door to the dungeons, internally cackling with glee. 'I'm not a chicken. I will face you.' The blonde scoots over to the bars, watching closely as a dark figure holding a lantern steps closer and closer to him. 'I'm not gonna die here.'

"I know you're in here, boy...it's only a matter of time before you die..." He squints through the darkness, trying to see a blonde head of hair, but it was all fruitless. The prisoners in their cells cowered and backed away into a corner. "Dammit, where are you?! I've waited so long for this moment!" The Uzumaki takes a shaky breath and stands up in chains, facing the light from behind his chakra blindfolds.

"Oops. My bad. Ya got me." Naruto opens his arms, hand and foot cuffs clinking. Danzo turns to him and smirks.

"Follow me, blind brat." The "hokage" unlocks the door with a key and yanks the boy out, forcibly grabbing onto him and dragging him away. Naruto can't see a thing, but by the sound of things, he was outside on the streets where the villagers were chatting about themselves. Danzo stops both of them and cuffs him to the pole; removing his blindfolds. Now that the blonde can see the world, and blinks.

"Wait here...I'm going to host your funeral. You're welcome, brat."

'Well. That sounds reassuring.'

"You're doin' great, Kit! One down, two more to go." Naruto exhales. Things were going according to plan. By the look of things, the old man was going to see the error of his ways soon enough.

He vaguely feels himself forced down to bend over. Danzo had his cane to his back, smiling at him like he's won the lottery. "Namikaze, this is Shi. Shi, this is Namikaze. He will be the end to your means." A masked man brings out an axe from behind him, and passerby stare in shock. "You were doomed from the start, you monster. This is your punishment..." Right as the axe was about to slice his head, a POOF! of smoke cleared the scene. Coughing, Danzo narrows his eyes and sees that he has disappeared out of thin air! "Wha - What is the meaning of this?" The "hokage" stares, aghast, as the brat had outsmarted him yet again!

"I guess you've outdone yourself this time, you ugly bastard!" Someone jabs beside the hokage. Danzo stumbles over, stunned. 'He cloned himself! Tsk. I should've known.'

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Performing the hand signals, thousands of Narutos appear out of thin air, all attacking Shimura like no tomorrow. The main Naruto stands tall throughout the crowd. "As you all know, one day I will come back. Stronger than ever!" He pumps a fist to his chest, a fierce light in his eyes. "Not even this guy can stop me!" He sighs, speaking in a voice with such ferocity that it surprises everyone around him. "You people live under this man, under the pretense that he will lead your village. That is a lie. A true hokage cares for their people, being with them every step of the way. Death is inevitable, but it is the hard truth of the shinobi world, I realized. I almost died here today, all for the sake of you guys. But if we don't take a stand and fight for what we believe in, then nothing is gonna happen. Over the years, I lost something important ta me. A friend. I promised Sakura-chan that, no matter what, I'd save him, even if it meant breaking all the bones in my body!" His eyes lowered to the ground, and he hesitates,

"But, then, I realized something. I'd always have him there, that without him...I felt nothin' but pain. I think that's when I knew...that I understood him, for the first time in a long time. His name is Sasuke Uchiha."

A hush fell over the villagers, all of them sharing knowing glances their way. "Just like the village, I will bring him back!" He swore, with such ferocity that all of them felt moved by his words.

The crowd cheers loud for the hero, lifting him in the air and screaming. The other half turns to the self-proclaimed leader and throws food at the headsman who runs away. The spare executioners retreat along with him. All of the Naruto grinned, creating a ception of laughing Narutos, which was quite the sight to see. Danzo, having had enough of his dignity humiliated, thought it smart to go against the brat.

"That's quite enough! As your hokage, I cannot simply allow this to happen! Look at you, flocking off to a peasant boy! Please, he cannot lead you properly like I. All of you, who dare to laugh at me, shall be exterminated!"

The cloaked figure in the crowd smiles, clapping along with the others. 'I knew you could do it, Naruto...Good luck.'

Naruto salutes one last time before disappearing in a POOF! of smoke.