Destiny is a Hazy Thing

by Calanor

The Yondaime had a plan, Madara had another. They were not the only ones who wanted their own vision to come to pass, but the future is never certain. When all plans of gods and men fail Naruto is suddenly free to choose his own destiny. Slow development

36. Chapter 35: A collision of darkness and

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

Chapter 35: A collision of darkness and light

Gaara grimaced slightly at the prickling sensation in his body. The pain had finally subsided, but the new sensation was perhaps even more irritating. At least he was regaining his mobility and chakra control. Already sand from underground was being pulled up and slowly reformed into his gourd. The original had returned to loose sand somewhere in Konoha's stadium, taking the hidden sealing scroll full of sand with it. His three spares had been destroyed by the exposure to the Ichibi's chakra. He really hated being vulnerable. It was taking him longer than he liked to gather a useful quantity of sand thanks to the wet underground.

Now that he wasn't incapacitated any longer he surveyed his surroundings. He had been too out of it to pay much attention when Kankuro and Baki left him here. Even the medic treating him had departed and there was no trace of Temari. From the looks of it he was somewhere in the woods surrounding Konoha. Several Suna shinobi were guarding him, but they kept a respectful distance.

Gaara addressed the nearest shinobi. "Are there any specific orders regarding me? Should I try to transform again?"

The man shook his head with a somewhat wary expression. "No, Baki-sama said the invasion was well underway. There are many of our own forces inside Konoha and the situation is too chaotic to risk you attacking again. We are kept in reserve for the time being."

Translation: They didn't want him to flatten the village and their own forces with them. That suited Gaara just fine and he returned to silent reflection.

It seemed the invasion was still ongoing despite his failure, not that he was entirely clear about what had happened. The delay caused by the late appearance of the Uchiha had been annoying, but everything had been still on track at that point. After he had neutralized the boy as a threat he had begun with the transformation as planned. After that the memories were a bit vague, but that was nothing unusual. Frankly, Gaara didn't like to use Mother's form. The transformation was painful, his mind became overwhelmed with a feeling of madness and hate as well as bloodlust and he had to fight Mother to stay in control. Besides, he preferred to kill people on a smaller scale, either individually or in groups. Mass destruction just lacked something important. Still, orders were orders and it wasn't as if he cared for anyone besides his two siblings and himself.

'How strange. Mother was once again silent.' Gaara realized now that he could once again think clearly.

That was definitely a first and definitely worrying. The overwhelming chakra had been present, but not Mother's mind. Maybe that was a factor of his drastically reduced battle performance; it had been very difficult to keep the body stable and move around. His fine control over the sand had been practically non-existent. At that point things had begun to go wrong. Originally Gaara had planned for a 'stray shot' to hit the Kazekage (after all, it was the man's own fault for being near ground zero of his transformation), but the Akimichi and the two genin flying on the bird had kept him distracted. Then, when he had finally managed to rid himself of them, something had happened. All he remembered was a searing pain, him losing control of his chakra and body and falling unconscious after a short time. He had only sort-of-woken when they were already out of the village.

'It must have been some special anti-jinchuuriki measure.' Gaara concluded. It was a sure thing Konoha had developed some of those. He had been on the lookout for seals or similar things to prevent a repeat of the events with the jonin from Ishigakure, but at no time had he detected anything suspicious. Well, until it had been too late. Maybe the entire arena had been trapped in some way. That would explain why Konoha's jinchuuriki didn't use his beast's power to counter him. Instead the blond boy had settled on distracting him with that lightning jutsu of his. Gaara normally didn't feel pain when he used Mother's form, but the eyes were an exception because he had to use them to look around. At least staying inside the sand was far safer than simply sitting on the outside.

Once upon a time he would have hungered to fight and kill Naruto Uzumaki, but he had grown far more cautious over the last year. The knowledge that he wasn't invincible had been driven home with a vengeance. He had achieved a lot of progress in his training of other skills besides his sand control, but he still wasn't at a point that allowed him to feel safe. Maybe he would never regain his past feeling of superiority. Perhaps that was a good thing. Not all opponents could be such obliging idiots with limited skill sets and no true grasp of battlefield tactics like his enemy in the preliminaries or the overconfident Uchiha in the finals.

Gaara was disturbed in his thoughts by a sudden earthquake. The few parts of sky visible through the canopy flashed white. A few moments later a loud boom accompanied by a strong wind echoed through the woods.

"What was that?" one of the shinobi in the vicinity asked.

Suddenly Mother stirred.

You freed what was sleeping in your quest for divinity and power... You enslaved what only bowed to the Creator… You sought to take a power for your own that was far beyond your limited existence… You shattered what was one… You sought to bind me with a name of your choosing… You sought to set limits for something you couldn't understand… Cursed Sage of Six Paths… I DENY YOU!

'What?'

A moment after the loud declaration piercing pain centered on his stomach shot through Gaara's body. The world before his eyes seemed to break and reveal something his mind couldn't grasp. Before he could react in any way everything was back to normal.

'Mother? What happened?'

There was no answer.

A quick look showed him that none of his guards seemed to have noticed anything unusual.

'Mother, answer me. Mother!'

There was nothing; not the slightest indication that Mother had heard him. Then something in their surroundings changed; Gaara wasn't sure exactly what. It was definitely some chakra technique. This time the guards noticed it, too.

"Did you feel that?" one of them asked.

Gaara stopped paying attention to their chatter and instead looked around carefully. The woods were still extremely damp from the rainy last weeks, but aside from that he didn't notice anything unusual at first. Then he saw it. Water was emerging from the ground, making the puddles slowly increase in size.

Suddenly the sound of a girl giggling filled the air. Turning his head, Gaara spotted the origin of the giggles standing some distance away in the forest. It was the Hyuuga girl who had lost in the preliminaries. She gave them a wave.

"Over there! It's one of the tree huggers! Team B, get her!" one of the shinobi of the guard detail shouted. Three of the dozen Sand shinobi immediately moved to attack the girl who disappeared behind the trees. The three shinobi followed. A moment later three screams full of agony echoed through the woods. Then the giggling started again.

'This is bad.' Gaara thought when he formed a protective ring of sand around him. The girl was probably part of a kill team sent after him. He had no idea how they had gotten through all the other forces surrounding them, but that was the only logical conclusion. Hyuuga were predestined for scouting roles. Well, he knew how to deal with assassins.

The remaining nine guards assumed a guard pattern around him, at a respectful distance of course. One used a whistle to call for reinforcements. When no answer came Gaara realized the situation was more serious than anticipated. Soon the girl showed herself again, smiling at them. "Who wants to be my next playmate? Your friends don't want to play anymore. I think I broke them. Oops."

Her only answer was a barrage of shuriken, but the girl quickly skipped out of sight. A short time later she appeared in another location. None of his guards left formation. The forest was open enough for them to evade any attacks launched at this distance, but following the girl into the more densely grown areas would be inviting disaster. Considering she was probably a decoy attacking her with wide-area techniques seemed unwise, too. They had to conserve their chakra, after all. Gaara simply continued observing for the time being. He could send his sand after her, but he didn't have an especially large supply. It would leave him more vulnerable to attacks, especially because his chakra control hadn't yet recovered enough to use non-sand techniques.

'She appears in a pattern, always making sure to have room to get out of sight. Twigs snap and footprints remain behind, so it can't be a basic bunshin. I have to intercept her. There aren't that many suitable locations here.'

Gaara unobtrusively sent some of his sand to where he guessed the girl would show herself next. Two appearances of the girl passed without him being able to take advantage, but then it finally happened: the girl stepped on his hidden sand. The sand immediately shot up, surrounding the girl tightly in a Sand Coffin, giving her no time to react.

'Sand Burial'

The Sand Coffin imploded, crushing the Konoha kunoichi. A moment later Gaara realized something was wrong. Instead of blood only clear water emerged from the sand. It had only been a water clone.

"That wasn't very nice." The girl had appeared once again, a pout on her face. Then she began to smile. "If you want to play that way I'm happy to oblige."

Water from the omnipresent puddles became alive, encasing one of his guards in a gravity-defying bubble before she could leap away. The woman struggled to free herself, but it seemed she was unable to leave the center. The girl appeared again some distance away with a raised hand before she closed it in a crushing motion. "Watery Grave"

A silent scream appeared on the features of the woman before the bubble was clouded by blood. Then the water splashed to the ground, spreading the kunoichi's remains across the forest floor. That sounded suspiciously like a deliberate imitation of Gaara's own technique, ignoring the question how the girl knew about the name. He didn't announce the names of his jutsu, after all.

Suddenly the light assumed a blue-green hue. It reminded Gaara of the swimming and diving lessons Temari and Kankuro had given him a few months ago. He had a very bad feeling about this.

The girl stopped smiling. "It seems playtime is over. Now you die."

In the next moment every drop of water in the forest became alive and intent on killing them. Watery tentacles rose from the still present puddles and tried to wrap around the Suna shinobi. Gaara's sand shielded him from the attack, but the others were not so lucky. Four of the remaining guards were torn apart immediately. Three jumped to the trees… only to be disintegrated by a storm of fast-moving tiny water droplets originating from the leaves of the trees. The last remaining guard used an earth jutsu to shield himself. Under other circumstances Gaara might have appreciated the slaughter, but this was clearly a threat to his person.

"Oh, only one left. How boring." The girl was leaning against a tree stump barely three meters away from Gaara. How had she gotten this close without him noticing? A slashing sand tentacle dispersed her into a rain of water droplets… that immediately reformed into the girl. "Now, don't be like this, Gaara-kun. Your turn will come soon enough, but not just yet."

All the blood-stained water in the clearing began moving again, forming a vortex around the lone remaining guard. More and more earth was ripped away by the raging water. Finally only the exhausted man was left standing.

Then the waters retreated for a moment. "I wonder…" Suddenly the man started screaming. Something moved under the skin all over his body. A moment later blood exploded outwards and formed a hovering ball, leaving only a shredded husk behind.

The girl cocked her head thoughtfully. "That was more difficult than I thought it would be. A living person's chakra probably interferes with my control. Oh well, it isn't as if there is a shortage of water." Then she smiled at Gaara. "Now it's your turn."

His shield of sand barely withstood the initial wave as the water targeted him, swirling around him just at it had done before with the guard. Changing position with an almost botched kawarimi, Gaara retaliated with a barrage of sand bullets, reducing the clone to a spatter of drops. Even more clones appeared while every source of water in the forest tried to kill him. Water clashed with sand again and again. More and more of his sand was stripped away by the raging floods. There was so much foreign chakra there that he lost control about the sand as soon as it lost contact with the main mass surrounding him. Fear gripped Gaara. No one was supposed to have that much chakra to control water to such an extent. He had to get away from that girl.

'Desert Suspension'

Sand formed a floating platform under him, taking him upwards as quickly as possible. Since the technique was still very much a work in progress the flight was unsteady to the extreme, but he was gaining altitude. Disappearing into the ground like he would do normally in such a situation seemed unwise; there was probably a lot of water there. Looking down, he saw the girl simply standing there and waving at him with a cheerful smile on her face.

'Is she insane?'

Breaking through the forest canopy Gaara realized why the girl hadn't bothered. The entire section of forest was enclosed by a titanic dome of water. He realized now that the shift of light must have marked the completion of the dome, cutting off the escape. From the looks of it more and more water entered the inside of the dome, flooding the woods. The Suna forces caught inside were doomed. This was beyond what even he could do with sand in the desert on his best day. The girl couldn't be much older than him and apparently was already a water-user of unbelievable strength. Some part of Gaara's mind wondered why she didn't show anything of her powers in the exams. There she had seemed a skilled but ultimately normal genin.

'Probably operational security. Konoha kept her back as an ace in the hole.'

Gaara gained more altitude and headed towards the edge of the dome. His remaining sand might be sufficient to break through. As he got closer to the edge a section of the water wall formed into another clone of the girl. She shook a finger at him. "No running away, Gaara-kun. I didn't go to all this trouble for the guest of honor to disappear on me."

In the next moment a column of water shot out from the wall. Gaara tried to evade, but the water bent in the air and followed him. Two seconds later the water hit his hastily erected shield of sand with the force of sledge hammer. For a few moments it held. Then there wasn't any more sand left and the water pulled him with it. He could feel himself falling. To his surprise the water absorbed the impact on the ground, preventing him from dying.

Before he could move water enclosed him like a vise, preventing every movement. Only his head was still free, probably to allow him to breathe. All around him Suna shinobi were dying. Tentacles of water strangled them, spikes of water pierced them, waves of water crushed them, mobile puddles of water drowned them; their deaths were manifold in the extreme. Counter-techniques were simply swept away. Then, to add insult to the injury, Mother's chakra suddenly ceased flowing through him. A year ago the effect would have been debilitating. Now it was merely extremely uncomfortable.

Soon the screams ceased as no one was left alive. Once again water rose and formed a clone of the girl. Interlacing her hands behind her back, she gingerly stepped closer to him. "Now, Gaara-kun, what do you say to this spectacle? Was it to your liking? I heard you like killing people."

Gaara blinked. Now the mockery of his techniques made sense. "You did all this just for me? Are you insane?"

"Perhaps." The girl just looked at him. "You attacked my village and broke the alliance in the process. I have no idea how many of my friends are still alive. Putting a little fear in you is just my way of getting a bit of payback before the end." Her hand caressed his cheek; the girl clearly enjoying his flinch. "And I know you are afraid of me. You fear things that can beat your impregnable defense and easily hurt you, don't you?"

There was no sense in denying it. "Will you kill me now that you had your amusement?"

Once again the girl giggled before she grew serious and gave him an appraising look filled with pity. "No Gaara-kun, you won't die by my hand. In fact, I don't intend to harm you in any way. You are only a weapon in this war. Although perhaps I should kill you. It may be that your fate will be far worse than mere death."

Seeing his confused look the girl shook her head in bewilderment. "Oh, you haven't noticed? Let me show you." In the next moment the clothing covering his upper body was ripped away by the water. Then the water shifted, baring his torso but keeping his limbs firmly immobilized. "There. Now you should be able to see your approaching end."

Gaara looked down and blanched. Bit by bit his seal was becoming visible, stretching from his stomach across his entire body in a display of iridescent light. Now that he paid attention to it he felt a strange sensation emanating from the seal. It had been completely masked by the aftereffects from his loss in the arena before.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing. The Ichibi is breaking free and there is nothing anyone can do about it." She gestured at their surroundings. "All this is primarily to fight the Ichibi. Granted, I took the opportunity to take out as many of your forces as I could, but that was an extra benefit."

'Mother is breaking free? How can that be?'

The girl continued talking. "Honestly, you are a lot saner than I expected judging from the reports."

"What would you understand of these things?" Gaara asked bitterly.

The girl let out a short laugh. "More than you would think. I am Hinata Hyuuga, disenfranchised heiress of my clan. Perhaps most importantly, my beloved is a jinchuuriki just like you. Like you a demon was shoved into him by his own father." She smiled at him. "And despite everything I'm probably a bigger monster than he could ever be. I know the feeling of crushing loneliness very well even if I was surrounded by people all my life. Never being good enough for my father despite everything I tried. Granted, I didn't have to deal with assassination attempts, but that is only because nobody knows what I'm capable of."

Gaara thought the day couldn't become any stranger. "How do you know all this?"

Hinata gestured to her eyes. "These eyes see everything. I watched you since you entered Konoha. For the rest I got my hands on some spy reports from your village." She smiled sadly. "I do not blame you for what you are and carry no enmity because of what you have done. Perhaps we could have become friends under other circumstances." Hinata sighed. "Unfortunately, it seems your time is up. I wish there was anything I could do for you. If I should encounter your siblings I will try to spare their lives. Goodbye, Gaara-kun."

The clone dissolved into shapeless water. A sharp pain caused him to look down again. The seal now looked more like a hole in his body. Suddenly a clawed paw made of sand emerged from the blackness. For a few moments it fumbled blindly; then it latched onto his body. More claws, hands and tentacles of widely varying forms followed quickly and latched onto the ground. Grass lost its color and crumbled to dust. When they touched water it disappeared immediately. Something was pulling itself out. More and more sand emerged, creeping around him. It felt as if his own body was turning into sand… painfully. Sand filled his eyes and nose, creeping into his lungs. Gaara couldn't breathe any longer. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable.

I think I will keep you for now.

Without transition the sand disappeared and Gaara was dumped on solid ground. Coughing desperately to get the sand out of his lungs, he had no time to look around. It took him long seconds to realize that he wasn't dying. The sand in his lungs had disappeared, too, leaving only a slowly fading pain behind.

Suddenly he noticed something was different. A glance to his stomach confirmed that the seal was no longer visible. An attempt to channel chakra was unsuccessful. He could still feel Mother, but she was no longer inside. It felt as if she was all around him.

Looking up, he saw that a desert devoid of all life was surrounding him. A desolate vista of crumbling rocks, sand and dust stretched as far as the eye could see. Here and there dead, sun-bleached tree stumps and the bony remains of creatures of all sorts dotted the landscape. A steady scorching wind blew over the land, making the heat even worse. The sky was the color of old bones, a haze somewhere between off-white and yellow. There was no sun in the sky, but still everything was brightly lit. Nothing cast even a single shadow. The heat was simply unbearable; all humidity seemed to have been cooked out of the air. A far too large blood-red moon was hanging above the horizon. Red glittering dust was sinking from the sky under it, making it look like as if the moon was crying bloody tears.

"Where am I? What happened? Mother? Are you here?"

There was no answer. He was confused. Nothing made sense, not the girl and now this.

Gaara stood up and walked a few steps to find shelter somewhere, but then his strength suddenly left him. Unintelligible whispers filled his ears. The air was shimmering with heat, revealing incomprehensible images. Gaara immediately looked away. He had the feeling he would go truly mad if he looked too closely at them.

'This place is full of madness and decay.'

A few attempts to get to his feet later he gave up. Something was sapping his strength and ability to think. All he could do was to wait. For what, he didn't know.

---

Debris was falling from the sky amidst an expanding cloud of dust that mere seconds ago had been Ancor Vantian, the flying fortress of the Sky ninja. The bijuudama had hit it dead-center, ripping it apart in the following explosion. Unfortunately, the central chamber had actually been located in the lower third of the fortress.

The Reibi watched with something akin to glee from its tumbling cocoon as a particular large stone tablet was falling towards the earth. It had been angered by the earlier death of his medium/puppet that had enabled it to send a shadow of itself to the outside world, but this development more than made up for it. The cocoon as well as the tablet had sustained quite some damage already. As soon as the tablet broke completely the ancient pact that bound it would break, too. Then it would be free to devour and grow without end until the entire world would be under its reign.

First it would devour the human that had made the blood pact for personal power. Normally the Reibi couldn't touch souls, but thanks to the blood pact the soul of Shinno was forfeit. It would be a nice appetizer. Then it would gorge itself on the battlefield that was Konoha. It would offer a rich harvest of blood, chakra and emotion. The morsel that had escaped its shadow earlier wouldn't get away this time; the display of the hidden power it had used to destroy the fortress made the Reibi's mouth water.

Suddenly the Reibi felt another enormous concentration of demonic energy nearby. The day was getting better and better. Apparently there was even more food to feed its eternal hunger. When the day ended it would be more powerful than ever.

All said, despite its enormous power the Reibi sadly wasn't a particularly intelligent demon.

---

Kankuro yelped in surprise when sky flashed white and the ground trembled. A few seconds later the shockwave of a very big explosion arrived, even if it didn't do more than cause the leaves on the trees to flutter. From their position on top of a hill in the vicinity of Konoha the enormous dust cloud shrouding a large section of the forest was clearly visible. That didn't bode well for the troops that had been advancing through that area. Luckily there should have been mainly troops from Oto in that area.

"What the hell was that?"

Baki-sensei looked grim when he pointed to the left. Kankuro's jaw dropped. A whole mountain had disappeared and what looked like a flying fortress was edging through the gap. "It seems our esteemed allies of Sky have decided to betray us. I do not understand what Kazekage-sama was thinking when he agreed to this alliance. They probably hate us almost as much as Konoha."

The young puppeteer had no opinion to offer on that topic. He barely remembered Soragakure being mentioned in some history lesson years ago. Of course, making an unwise alliance with someone who stabbed them in the back at first opportunity wasn't really surprising considering how the day had gone so far. They had followed the stupid plan to the letter. Being near Gaara when he transformed was practically suicide, not to mention all the Leaf jonin surrounding them in the stadium. Kankuro still didn't know how they had managed to survive or even escape when Gaara had fallen.

Kankuro clenched his fists in anger. Their escape had not been without cost. Baki-sensei had suffered medium injuries and his puppets had been destroyed. The worst was the loss of his big sister. Temari had stayed behind to stop their pursuers and was probably dead by now. Another loss to put at the feet of their so-called father. The man had already cost him his mother, his uncle and his little brother's sanity.

After delivering Gaara to a medic safely behind the frontlines he and Baki-sensei had left to join the command staff of the invasion. Kankuro had originally wanted to stay with Gaara, but Baki-sensei might need the political clout he could wield as the Kazekage's son. When they finally found the commanding jonin and Baki pulled rank to join them some news awaited them. Despite his brother's defeat the invasion was going as smoothly as could reasonably be expected. Konoha had apparently prepared for some sort of attack, but they had been unprepared for the sheer number of forces three villages could bring to bear. Furthermore, the Sky ninja's surprise attack had shattered the organized resistance. Unfortunately things had begun to go wrong at that point. Someone in Konoha obviously had gained a new summon contract for some sort of birds and spread it around while maintaining secrecy. There had to be dozens of summoners supported by even more shinobi acting as chakra donors to call that many summons at once. They had defeated the second wave of the Sky ninja, allowing Konoha time to reorganize again. The remaining Sky forces had retreated. To make things worse Otogakure's elite forces had suddenly disappeared without warning. Even if most of their troops continued the assault it was already clear they wouldn't achieve victory without the support and leadership of the elites. Suna's forces were bogged down judging from the incoming reports and now it looked like as if Sky would turn against them.

A searing light and feeling of malicious, violent chakra emanating from somewhere high up caused Kankuro to cease his introspection. From amongst the bird summons a spear of light was stabbing at the sky fortress. A moment later the thing blew apart in a massive explosion.

Baki-sensei swore viciously. "Gods damn it; their jinchuuriki is capable of using bijuudama. If Konoha is willing to take the collateral damage they can wipe us out. Someone get Gaara to transform again and take him on."

"Baki-sama, we just lost contact with the third reserve division. My clansmen allocated there have gone silent." one of the kunoichi of the command staff reported, her voice clearly audible despite having only the strength of a whisper.

Konoha had the telepathic Yamanaka for communication on large battlefields. In Suna the battlefield communication role was generally filled by the Kowadaka clan. They worked mainly with their voice-related bloodline that allowed them to do some impressive stuff. Most importantly in their situation, if they were familiar with the chakra signature of a target they could project their voice directly into the target's ears even if it was several kilometers away and they didn't know the target's position. Funnily enough they only talked in whispers under normal circumstances; they raised their voices only for combat purposes. Getting screamed at by a Kowadaka wasn't an experience anyone wanted to repeat.

Kankuro gulped. "I think I can see why." He shakily pointed at the location of the reserve division, the very location where they had left Gaara. A gigantic dome of water was forming, drawing water from every nearby source.

He closed his eyes in grief. Such a display of power left little doubt that he would lose a second sibling today. 'I'm sorry, little brother.'

Baki cursed again. "That is the work of an S-rank water user. There shouldn't be any goddamn S-rank water users in Konoha. We have nothing to counter that." He turned towards the other jonin. "I hereby propose for us to abort the invasion and retreat. We can't afford the losses we are taking and it is doubtful we can win. In the best case we will annihilate each other."

The others were about to agree when the voice of the Kowadaka woman interrupted them. "Kazekage-sama has made contact with our forces. His orders are to continue the assault. Konoha is to be destroyed at all costs." She paused a moment. "He will be engaging Jiraiya of the Sannin in the next moments and therefore be unavailable for contact."

Upon hearing that Baki-sensei gnashed his teeth in anger. Kankuro had to agree. His father's idiotic order would get them wiped out for no gain. The invasion force represented a good deal of Suna's overall strength. Without them the village would be too weak to fend off even attacks by the larger minor villages. An attack by one of the remaining three great villages would spell their certain doom. Most of the others present seemed to share the sentiment, but of course there were two or three brain-dead lickspittles present who agreed with everything the Kazekage said.

A treacherous thought entered Kankuro's mind. 'Maybe… if Jiraiya manages to kill the Kazekage quickly enough… and we learn of that in time… we can still manage a retreat.'

Out loud he voiced a question. "Where exactly is the fight taking place?"

The woman's lips moved, but no sound came out. A few seconds later she pointed at Konoha. "There, right besides the second breach in the wall."

Kankuro and the jonin present turned in the indicated direction to observe the fight. Fortunately their vantage point allowed them an excellent view of the fight despite the distance. Spotting and identifying distant targets in the desert was standard practice for Suna shinobi; jutsu to enhance and modify eyesight were practically common knowledge.

The battle had already begun. The Sannin looked somewhat strange with two small toads sitting on his shoulders. He opened the fight with some sort of fire-oil technique. The Kazekage countered by forming a wall out of gold dust, diverting the blazing liquid harmlessly. A moment later he launched a hail of golden projectiles at Jiraiya and a wide area around him.

Jiraiya countered by elongating his hair and wrapping it around him in a protective shell while simultaneously launching strands of hardened hair at the Kazekage. The golden projectiles pattered uselessly against the hair cocoon while the hair missiles were deflected by multiple sheets of gold.

Suddenly a column of gold emerged from the ground underneath Jiraiya, catapulting him into the air. Two sides of the column split off and swung out in an arc, aiming to crush Jiraiya between them. That failed when Jiraiya dispelled the hair shield and simply caught the sheets in his bare hands. A moment later he launched himself at the Kazekage who was forced to evade.

The fight was slowly moving away from the village in the direction of the water dome, but thanks to the immense collateral damage and swath of destruction it was easy to follow. Gold was formed into weapons and other constructs in an endless cycle while the Sannin used physical strength as well as high-rank earth and fire jutsu. Jiraiya was clearly dominating the fight, but he hadn't yet been able to land a hit.

Kankuro supposed he as a loyal son should want for his father to win, but in truth he was rooting for the white-haired Sannin. 'Come on and hurry up. You can do it. Put that man out of his misery so that we can go home.'

Suddenly it happened. The Kazekage had launched a massive wave of gold at Jiraiya. Instead of evading the Konoha shinobi formed a Rasengan in each hand; one of the jutsu he and the Yondaime Hokage had become famous for. The golden wave parted under the power of the twin jutsu; a secondary golden wall was drilled through. The Kazekage summoned more gold dust to him for a last-ditch defense, but it dispersed upon contact with the Rasengan in Jiraiya's left hand. A moment later the Sannin put the Rasengan in his right hand through the Kazekage's head, disintegrating it and a good chunk of his father's upper body in the process.

'Finally.'

Then Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise. Ash swirled from nowhere and was reforming his father's body. A second later he was whole again and drove a golden spike through a surprised Jiraiya's body. The Sannin jumped away, injured but clearly still combat-capable.

'Father doesn't know any jutsu like this. That means…'

He looked away from the fight and at the jonin present. Several of them exchanged meaningful glances. Baki nodded at them slightly. Kankuro understood immediately. It seemed it was time for a little coup.

"That isn't the true Kazekage. Any human would have been killed by that attack. We all could see that there was only ash inside the body. That is only some sort of imitation capable of using Kazekage-sama's techniques. I hereby take overall command of the invasion and order a full retreat. The Kazekage is either dead or compromised. His orders are to be disregarded." Baki announced.

"But Kazekage-sama ordered us to…"

Without any transition the objecting woman lost her head. A moment later Baki retracted his outstretched hand, air shimmering slightly around the invisible blade of wind he had projected from his fingertips. The two other remaining loyalists lost their lives not even a second later to some of the other jonin. "Such a shame, but there are always losses in battle. The Kazekage has obviously been taken over by someone else. It is the only explanation for those suicidal orders. My best guess is Orochimaru. The snake is proficient in forbidden techniques. He along with Sky has betrayed us. Their intent is clear; they want to destroy us together with Konoha."

Kankuro put an expression of sorrow on his face. "My father doesn't know any jutsu like that. It is clearly an effect of whatever has been done to him. I fully support Baki-sensei's proposal."

"Me too." "I agree." "Aye." "Of course."

Baki nodded. "Good. Kowadaka-san, please inform our forces of the retreat and the Kazekage's fate."

"Your orders have been transmitted, Baki-sama. It is unlikely the forces already in the village will manage to escape intact." the Kowadaka woman reported a minute later.

The veiled man sighed. "That can't be helped. We have to save what we can if Suna is to survive this. We already lost too many."

Kankuro sent a last sorrowful glance towards the burning Konoha and the water dome. 'Temari, Gaara, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to protect you.'

Then it was time for them to go.

---

'Push and pull.'

Water followed Hinata's every thought, slicing into the sand body of the emerging Ichibi, shearing it between opposing flows. All she managed was to slow it down a bit, if even that. It didn't stop her from trying. Gaara had disappeared somewhere in the sand; she couldn't see him anymore even with her byakugan. There was only the sand and demonic chakra that seemed to emerge from nothingness in a steady, unstoppable stream. If she tried to follow the flow to its origin her eyes began to hurt; a clear sign that it was safer to not look too closely.

The young Hyuuga was safely encapsulated in the wall of the water dome she had created with the help of the water sapphire. She could even breathe underwater. It was a heady feeling. She didn't have to use techniques or even consciously mold chakra like for her normal small-scale water control; a thought was enough for the water to obey. Every little drop of water in the vicinity appeared in her awareness, ready and eager to do her every bidding. Combined with her byakugan it gave her an unparalleled awareness of her surroundings and was the main reason she had been able to carry a conversation with Gaara; normally water clones didn't give any sort of feedback.

'Poor Gaara. No one deserves such a fate.'

The boy had been surprisingly sane in comparison to most of the timelines Youko and Daiki had shown her. She had seriously considered killing him to spare him from his possibly horrific fate at the hands of the Ichibi, but that would have reduced her chances to contain the tailed beast for a time. As it was she had to buy as much time as possible. She couldn't actually see Naruto from her position, but she knew he would be exhausted after launching that attack on the Sky fortress. That thing had been completely unexpected and he had been right to make it a priority. If that shot had been on target Konoha would have been wiped out. She had no idea what it might have done to the sanctuary if it had hit there.

A sound like glass breaking reminded her that her time of power was limited. The water sapphire had already three cracks and would soon turn to dust. Likewise, the strain on her chakra system was considerable. While she had reserves on par with most kage she was currently moving chakra at nearly bijuu-level; perhaps even more considering that she wasn't very efficient at it.

Directing her attention outwards, Hinata observed the fight between Jiraiya and the Yondaime Kazekage for a moment. There was still no conclusion in sight, but they were edging steadily closer to her position. The Toad Sannin was clearly better and had landed killing blows several times, but the thing with the form and soul of the Kazekage was unable to die and simply kept regenerating, body as well as chakra. That had to be the Edo Tensei technique she knew from the copy of the Forbidden Scroll Naruto had obtained so long ago. Unfortunately Jiraiya didn't seem to have a seal ready to defeat it. Neither had he managed to immobilize it; the thing was skilled enough to counter such attempts. Apparently the soul of the Kazekage had decided he might as well go along with Orochimaru's wishes and destroy Konoha. In her current state she felt the drain of nature chakra into the thing quite clearly. It was truly an abomination. Jiraiya was drawing in nature chakra, too, but in his case it felt far more natural. To be exact, the two small toads fused to his shoulders were doing the drawing while Jiraiya only used it to augment his abilities.

'I guess that is the famous Sage mode. I wonder if the Swallows have their own brand of that.'

Activity on the inside of the dome drew her attention back to the Ichibi. Despite her attempts to wash the demonic sand away there was a literal mountain of the stuff. Before it had been a formless mass with the occasional limbs sticking out, but now the Ichibi took form while still growing bigger. It was considerable larger than the form Gaara had used in the stadium and threatened to burst her mountain-sized water dome.

Hinata sent a few slicing tentacles of water at it, but that had practically no effect. Finally the process was finished and the giant one-tailed tanuki stood completed, its eyes closed for the moment. Seconds passed without a move by either side. Then the Ichibi opened its eyes and Hinata recoiled despite the distance. In the arena the eyes had been dull things with yellow irides and pupils that each took the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it. Now though they were alive and blazed with the light of madness.

Woken from slumber… Authority abused… Loyalty betrayed… Existence constrained…World defiled… Shape lost… Purpose stolen… Power split… Mind shattered… Form imposed… Essence bound… Caged again and again… I will no longer be denied my freedom.

Hinata gripped her head in pain. Alien images were hammering into her mind. The Ichibi wasn't so much speaking as creating the memory of words and concepts; concepts a human mind couldn't fully grasp. No action on part of the tailed beast was truly visible, but she could feel reality breaking. Whatever the Ichibi was doing was eroding the order of the world on a fundamental level. Thanks to years of training Hinata was resistant against that sort of damage, but if that continued and spread it would drive every living being in range insane. The vegetation around the Ichibi that had survived her water began to gray and crumble.

'I… I can deal with this.'

Fighting down the pain, Hinata had the dome collapse on the Ichibi, burying it under untold tons of water, immobilizing it and trying to wash its body away. Suddenly she felt the Ichibi's attention focus on her. Somehow it knew exactly where she was.

You dare to deny me my freedom, human?

"I can't let you destroy what is precious to me. This area is already claimed. Please go away. I won't bother you then." Hinata had no idea if the beast could hear her, but she might as well try. Youko and Daiki had been very clear on one point: Tailed beasts were destructive and evil. It was in their nature as demons. No matter the injustices done to them, they couldn't let it manifest anywhere near them. Once free they tended to destroy everything in their vicinity before leaving towards uninhabited areas. Not that the Ichibi would leave; it would want to take possession of the spring of magic.

NO! I have already waited far too long for this. This fount of power will be mine. BEGONE!

Demonic chakra exploded outwards, driving the water away in a gigantic shockwave. It took all of Hinata's strength to keep her hold on a small but still enormous quantity, draw it together and launch it in a counter-attack. The column of water hit with stone-crushing force, actually disintegrating the beast's right arm before it wound tightly around the being.

Hinata's feeling of triumph was short-lived when she saw the malice flash in the beast's eyes. The blue and black markings covering the Ichibi began to glow and pulsate, shifting over the demon's body. Three new arms emerged from the beast, breaking the water's hold. In the next moment the beast inhaled deeply.

'Oh crap oh crap oh crap.'

In an effort of will Hinata drew all water in range towards her in an attempt to shield herself from the Ichibi's attack while she tried to gain more distance. The process was still unfinished when the beast exhaled. Trees were uprooted en masse by winds stronger than any natural hurricane and hurled towards her, colliding with her water bubble. Then the shock wave hit. Layers upon layers of water were stripped away and turned into fine mist, the entire enormous bubble sent flying. Even more water was lost to shield her from the impacts against the still standing trees, turning them to kindling in the process.

Finally she came to rest more than a kilometer away. Her bubble was barely twice as large as her body at the end. The tailed beast seemed satisfied for the moment and stopped moving, the markings on its surface changing with increasing speed. The space around it twisted and bent, energy building up for an unknown purpose.

'That was close. I need more. I cannot fail.'

Concentrating hard with closed eyes, Hinata channeled as much chakra as she could into the water sapphire. The jewel began to burn with a bright blue light, even more cracks spreading through it. Then Hinata sent out her call. All around her water was rising into the air, floating weightlessly and defying gravity before homing in on her location. A nearby lake fell dry as its contents were drawn to her. The ground broke as groundwater from deep down was pulled up. Clouds in the sky raced downwards, turning into rain. Trees and other plants disintegrated in splinters and dry tissue as all humidity answered the girl's bidding.

Drop after drop joined her bubble, making it grow beyond all bounds. Larger than the tallest tree and bigger than the highest mountain surrounding Konoha it grew. Only when she had gathered as much water as she could grasp did she open her eyes again.

It was then Hinata noticed the growing cloud of inky blackness above Konoha.

---

Shinno cursed as he passed by the smoking ruins of his fortress with his personal glider at the tail end of Sky's escaping forces. This was a catastrophe. The day had gone perfectly until all those bird summons appeared. He had learned of the situation too late to do anything about it; at that point his personal intervention wouldn't have mattered anymore. The Reibi's puppet had gotten away to somewhere, but Shinno didn't especially care about that. It was always possible to create a new one. Ancor Vantian had been in range and they planned to wipe out Konoha anyway… along with their bothersome allies.

The first shot had missed its intended target, unfortunately. That alone wouldn't have been a problem; the fortress could always fire again, this time with a clear line of sight. Then Konoha's jinchuuriki had shot it down with a single attack.

'Damn it, the boy should have been completely untrained, or nearly so.'

Few jinchuuriki ever achieved enough control over their bijuu to utilize that skill. Konoha's jinchuuriki undeniably had reached that level – in contrast to all their reports. They had spoken of a mediocrely skilled boy who had made some advancement since his graduation several months ago thanks to his teacher, but nothing like this. He had certainly never received training for his jinchuuriki powers; that would have been noticable for everyone in the vicinity. It shouldn't have been possible anyway, not in the time available. Orochimaru had been the one who had provided them with most of their intelligence about Konoha. Either the snake's people had missed that… or Sky had been deliberately set up.

In consequence it had led to the loss of Sky's greatest asset; the work of decades had been destroyed in mere seconds. Fortunately the normal supply airships had still been safely behind the mountain range along with a good part of the recovering first wave and the remnants of the second wave. Only the yet-to-be-launched third wave had been stationed on the fortress. All in all Soragakure had probably lost between half and three quarters of the forces they started the day with. Shinno's third-in-command on the air fleet had apparently already ordered a retreat. The Sorakage agreed. It might be possible to destroy Konoha with their remaining troops, but there would hardly any forces left afterwards.

'There will be a lot of voices demanding my head on a platter. As long as I still have the Reibi's power I should be able to keep my position. I wonder what happened to the demon. It has to be still alive somewhere down there.'

Just as Shinno was thinking that the dark chakra ceased flowing through his body, almost causing him to crash his glider. He could feel his strength leaving him, his body beginning to break down almost immediately. Before he could fully grasp the situation the clouds of dust further down parted, revealing the Reibi floating upwards in a defiance of gravity. A few moments later the creature was flying alongside Shinno, the white mask that served as its face turned towards him.

"What is the meaning of this, demon? Why did you stop sending me power? You are bound by our pact. I command you to give me your power." Shinno demanded. Time was growing short; his muscles were already atrophying and his hair falling out. With enough dark chakra he could fix that easily, though. Apparently his body now needed constantly at least a minimal infusion of the demon's power.

The demon's front split in a far too wide and far too toothy grin. "The pact is broken, little human. I am now free. It is time for you to pay the price."

"Price? What price?"

A dozen black hands emerged, yanking Shinno from his glider before he could evade and bringing him close to the demon's face. "The price you agreed to when you used your blood to bind me to your will. Your soul is mine to devour."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the Sorakage desperately tried to break the demon's grasp and began shouting for help. Unfortunately he had lagged behind his personal guard and they wouldn't think the demon was dangerous to him.

"No, no, we can have none of that, can we?"

A thinner black tentacle shot into Shinno's mouth, ripping his tongue out. Blood gushed out of his mouth as his limbs were broken one after another.

"Fragile, so very fragile."

Then the demon swallowed him, crushing him slowly between its molars. Demonic saliva burned like acid. It was pure and simple agony. When seconds stretched into minutes Shinno began praying for an end. It didn't come.

When nothing was left of his body the demon began devouring what remained. Piece by piece was ripped out of his mind and something else; something he had no words to describe. Whatever it was it constituted 'Shinno' on a fundamental level. More and more was stripped away and ground down, making him less and less… and still the mercy of death or oblivion wouldn't come.

The last conscious sensation besides agony the fragment that was once the Sorakage Shinno felt was movement as the demon headed towards Konoha.

---

Kin winced as she saw another attack slam into the barrier protecting the Aburame compound, sending orange octagonal ripples through it. A moment later a series of iridescent plate-like fields appeared in the air, crushing the lone glider that had tried to attack them.

"Girl, keep your concentration up!" one of the people sitting on the side of the raised platform in the center of the compound admonished her.

Although not giving a reply, Kin concentrated on channeling her chakra through the seal design on the ground and to the woman sitting in the center of it. Ritsuko, the wife of the Aburame clan head, was the person responsible for keeping up the barrier that protected them from the invasion. She was doing a good job of it, too. The rest of Konoha had descended into a chaotic nightmare of fighting, fires, smoke and explosions while the Aburame compound was still an untouched island of calm and order.

They had a good view from their position. The platform rising above the surrounding buildings had been disguised with fake walls and roof, but those had been destroyed when the barrier changed from ready mode into assault mode when the invasion began what seemed hours ago. All the small children and non-combatants were already safely relocated to the sturdiest building in the compound. Kin as one of the people capable of using chakra had been called upon to provide power for the barrier technique.

After several more minutes Kin felt her chakra reserves getting low. "I'm almost empty."

One of the older women stood up and stepped behind her. "I will take over. Get some rest."

With an almost inaudible sigh of relief Kin cut the chakra flow, stood up and walked to the edge of the platform before sitting down. Some water and food stood ready. She was grateful for the refreshment. Channeling a steady flow of chakra for so long a time was exhausting work.

After a bit of recovery she stood up again and left the platform. There was no reason for her to stay and she didn't want to see the panorama of destruction any longer. The invasion had come and it was far worse than she had feared in her worst nightmares. She really hoped no one would blame her for the inaccurate information.

All things considered, the past month had been the best of her life. Sure, the recovery from her faked death had been fairly uncomfortable as had the interrogations by the Aburame. The young Yamanaka girl who had rooted around in her mind to verify her intentions had been as gentle and friendly as she could be, though. As soon as that was done she had been allowed out of her cell and had been able to wander around the compound, even if she was forbidden from leaving. Not that she had harbored any intention to do so; she knew there were spies of Orochimaru in the village. Any indication of her being alive could have catastrophic consequences.

Besides, life was good here; rich meals, no attempts by anyone to kill her or use her for other unsavory purposes. The clothing Kin had been provided with was of higher quality than anything she had ever worn before. Most of the Aburame were somewhat distant and stand-offish, but that appeared to be a general trait of their clan. The non-Aburame who had married into the clan had been very welcoming, even if Kin sometimes noticed strange, knowing glances between them. It seemed she wasn't the first to end up with the insect-using clan in such a manner. It was practically heaven.

Arriving on the ground floor, Kin headed towards the shelter. Two people waited before the entrance and looked up when Kin approached. By now Kin knew the entire clan by sight and most of the names. Shigeru was an Aburame by birth and was more approachable than most, even if he was a somewhat cynical shinobi. He was very skilled with stringed instruments and occasionally played on the gatherings.

The purple-haired Misato was the non-Aburame wife of Muta Aburame and had given birth to twin girls a few months ago. She was close friends with Ritsuko-sama and Kin had spent a good amount of time with her after Ritsuko-sama had left her in her care when she had to attend other duties. The woman was very understanding of Kin's situation and had been very friendly. Kin didn't mind her company although the woman did have a tendency to push her own chores on other people.

"How is it going topside? Are you alright?" Misato asked worriedly after a short greeting.

Kin shrugged. "My chakra is almost spent, but otherwise I'm fine. The barrier is holding. Aside from that I couldn't see much because of all the smoke, but it looks bad. There was the Ichibi in the stadium and several giant snakes, but they are all gone by now. Why aren't you in the shelter? I thought all non-combatants were down there."

Misato puffed herself up. "Hey, I might not be a kunoichi, but I can fight."

"She just got the twins to finally sleep and wanted to catch a breath of air." Shigeru interjected. "You were just about to go back, weren't you? Your girls need you."

The woman deflated. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

Suddenly a shadow fell over them.

"Merciful Mother of the Swarm, what is that thing?" Shigeru exclaimed.

Kin looked up and blanched. It looked like some sort of black worm floating in the sky, circling around above the center of Konoha. She had seen the creature earlier cut a swath of destruction through the village. Luckily it had been far away from the compound when she lost sight of it. She had hoped it had been killed.

"Is that thing… growing?" Misato asked after a moment.

When Kin looked closer she saw that it was true. The worm was noticeably larger than mere moments ago. Darkness gathered around its body and pitch-black clouds formed in the sky overhead, moving faster than any natural cloud ever could in a never-ending circle, lightning in blood-red and bone-white flashing between the roiling masses of darkness.

"Misato, get in the shelter and stay there. Kin, you go too, you aren't much use without chakra." Shigeru commanded.

The ex-Oto kunoichi felt profound relief when the heavy doors closed behind her. She didn't want to be anywhere near that thing in the sky.

---

The Reibi basked in the spectrum of negative emotion emanating from below. Hate, anger, misery, pain; there were countless shades of the dark side of humanity. For a being such as the Reibi it was a veritable feast. Now that it was freed from the burden of supporting the little humans' fortress and the restraints imposed by the pact were broken it could convert all that emotion into more power for itself and grow without end. Its inner nature was already spreading out and reshaping the world to its desires. Soon it would descend and reap a rich harvest of blood and chakra. Then it would take care of those other demons nearby and the persistent feeling that something was fundamentally different about the area around Konoha.

Suddenly it stopped in its reverie. One of the demons was infringing on its newly claimed territory. That wasn't to be borne.

---

Hinata turned away with a heavy heart. She didn't have time to deal with the threat above Konoha; the Ichibi was demanding all her attention. With a mere thought she set the mountain of water surrounding her in motion towards the unmoving tailed beast, crushing the forest and everything else in the way.

By now the vegetation in the direct vicinity of the towering beast had turned into colorless dust, forming a circle with the beast in the middle. Just when her flood was about to hit a titanic wall of sand shot up from the ground, diverting the water to the sides. Having expected some sort of defense, Hinata kept control and directed the water around to hit the Ichibi from the sides. Strangely the beast didn't react in the expected manner as the waters battered its gigantic form. It didn't move an inch, but countless arms and spikes of sand stabbed out, trying to catch Hinata. She had to constantly change her position in the raging maelstrom.

After almost a minute of assault Hinata backed away. Her entire body was burning with the strain of controlling that much chakra. Naruto should have intervened by now. Something was clearly wrong. Then she realized that a good part of her water had disappeared without a trace. That shouldn't have been possible, but at least her attack hadn't been without result: Cracks of midnight black were spreading through the damaged body of the beast, its markings no longer visible. The form of the Ichibi was falling apart.

'Did I manage to damage it enough to kill and disperse it for a time? That was far too easy. Why didn't it do anything effective to stop me?'

Then she noticed something extremely alarming: The sand from the crumbling beast was falling upwards, forming a rotating cloud around it. Before Hinata could muster her water for a new attack the entire beast disintegrated in a dense cloud of sand. It looked like a highly localized sand storm. Yellow, blue and black lightning streaked throughout the formless, swirling clouds. Hinata felt a malign, alien awareness touching her mind. It was even worse than when the beast emerged from Gaara. She could see the few forest animals that hadn't yet fled tumbling like mad before they turned on the nearest living thing, tearing each other apart or dying in convulsions.

Hinata could feel the magic in the surroundings being drawn into the cloud, building up toward a peak. When the event came it wasn't accompanied by an explosion or any sort of physical action. The reality of the world simply broke and shattered silently. For a mere infinite moment the obscuring sand clouds parted and Hinata looked directly into the wound in the world and Saw the Truth.

With one exception every other person in Konoha would have been driven instantly insane. Even for Hinata it was a very close brush as she saw the broken edges of the world, the churning chaos beyond and the emerging demon within; looked into the abyss that was the Ichibi. Insights a human mind wasn't meant to understand penetrated her awareness. Hinata ignored what she could, but she simply couldn't stop looking. The image of a sunless but still scorching, lifeless desert under a bleeding moon slipped by as she looked deeper and deeper, countless layers of an inner world unfolding before her.

Understanding came unbidden. The Ichibi and by extension the other tailed beasts were ultimately fundamentally broken things. Whatever the Sage of Six Paths had done when he divided the Juubi hadn't been a clean break. It had been a broken piece of an inhuman existence with sharp, ragged edges that would later become the Ichibi, not even a full being at the time. The Sage had forced it into a new form to his liking and bound its essence with a name of his choosing, seeking to create a new personality loyal to him. That had damaged the essence of the demon further. Even worse, he had bound his dominion over the tailed beasts to the world itself. In the first few decades after the tailed beasts' creation probably everything seemed to be going according to plan, but the true broken essence of the newborn demons lurked under the surface, suppressed but not destroyed. Gaps slowly filled in, spires ground off and the whole form morphed until the true essence reached once again a stable state, changing the whole being in the process.

Madness of Decay. There existed countless undertones, but that was the closest she came to describing the Ichibi's true essence with mere words. Every thing in the world decayed and crumbled to dust and sand in the end, leaving behind nothing but the wind that blew over a dead world. Nothing could endure that without going mad.

In the millennium since its birth the Ichibi had been trying to cast off the Sage's dominion and assume the form it should have possessed instead of its tanuki-like shape and limited powers; unconsciously at first, but with at least partial awareness about what had been done to it later. It had been in conflict with itself and going insane for centuries. The free magic the Sage had banished from the world but Naruto's parents had freed had finally enabled it to wake completely and break the shackles that bound it.

There was more, so much more. Hinata felt her soul falling into the abyss that was the Ichibi. It took all her hard-earned mental strength to fight off the maelstrom of insanity that threatened to swallow her and avert her gaze.

'Escape… have to… escape... away… away from… here.'

The water reacted to her thought and a bubble with her inside was catapulted away at high speed. It wasn't a moment too soon. The wound in the world closed and the Ichibi woke. Hinata didn't know how she knew since the demon still had the form of a sandstorm with lightning flashing inside, but she did. Then it spoke.

I have awoken. The world shall wither under my might.

The world obeyed. All life in a large radius around the Ichibi died. Leaves instantly turned brown or lost their color completely and fell, crumbling to dust in the hellish wind. Healthy, decade-old trees turned into dry, brittle ruins before falling apart completely. The masses of water left from Hinata's failed attempt to contain the beast disappeared like a droplet under the midday sun in the desert. Grass blew away as dust in the breeze. The bare ground cracked and broke like after a long drought, turning into sand in mere seconds. Even the blue of the sky above the affected land disappeared and turned into a sickly haze in the color of old bones, spreading in all directions. Then the Ichibi started moving, the zone of destruction following after it as the woods of Konoha withered under its sheer presence.

'It is heading towards the sanctuary. I don't think it will actually enter Konoha, but it will pass nearby.'

In that moment the trajectory of Hinata's water bubble brought her back into the forest, wood splintering under its mass. Each impact bled off a little speed, but the bubble lost more water in the process than she was comfortable with. Then there was no more water left. The impact on the ground drove the air from Hinata's lungs. She rolled several meters until finally a conveniently located bush stopped her tumble. A quick check showed her that she was still more or less in one piece.

'I have to try again.'

Then something happened that was long overdue. The water sapphire shattered into dust and Hinata's control over water disappeared.

'I failed.'

A moment later excruciating pain hit. Hinata's entire body hurt; the pain emanating from her dangerously overstrained chakra network. That wasn't the worst, though. Now that she could no longer feel water it was like going blind and deaf. She wasn't sure how long she remained in that neary catatonic state.

It took all her concentration to stay conscious long enough use a medical technique to deactivate the pain receptors in her body. That would damage her even more, but she couldn't afford giving in. She would never give up, not even if the whole world was against her and her body fell apart. If there was any chance to save Naruto and her other precious people she would continue no matter what.

The only option left to her was calling on the power of Naruto's parents. Considering the threat the Ichibi posed to their existence secrecy was no longer a primary concern. The question was what exactly she should do with that power. Frankly, she didn't think any effect she could achieve on her own would be of any use, not against an opponent like the Ichibi. That left only deliberately initiating a possession from her side. Since Naruto couldn't call his mother into his own body she had to call Youko. Mind made up, Hinata began concentrating.

'Lady of Light, hear my plea…'

---

Jiraiya was slowly getting desperate. There didn't seem to be any way to put his opponent down permanently. The Sannin was slowly ground down over time with injuries and exhaustion despite his superior skills, his chakra reserves shrinking dangerously. Apparently the Kazekage had no such problems. Thanks to his free control over his golden sand the leader of Sunagakure countered all attempts to immobilize him. Dead blows were simply shrugged off. Jiraiya had already used up all of his ready sealing tags during the fight in the village and didn't have the chakra left to call one of the toads strong enough to make a difference. About thirty seconds would be sufficient for him to create something useful with his sealing skills, but the Kazekage simply didn't give him that time.

'It looks like I have no choice but to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and summon the Shinigami if I don't manage to come up with something effective.'

He really didn't want to do that and not only because it would mean his death. No, he would give his life for Konoha if that was what was required. The problem was that there were too many threats. Thanks to his still active Sage mode he felt that absolutely vile thing in the air above Konoha. It was doing something to the world itself, corrupting it. The Ichibi was another worry. Until now some unknown S-rank water user was battling the demon to a standstill, but who knew how long that would last. It too was doing something to the world, less vile, but perhaps even more dangerous. By now Pa and Ma had fallen silent, not being able to offer any further ideas.

Maybe he could get the Kazekage to talk. "What are you? You should be dead several times over."

"I died considerable time ago at Orochimaru's hands. He called me back and bound me to his will." the man answered without stopping even for a moment.

Well, that was surprising news. "Why don't you resist? You wouldn't have become a Kage without a lot of willpower."

The Kazekage sent another barrage of golden projectiles at Jiraiya. "Resistance is possible, but ineffective. Killing you and destroying Konoha is in Suna's best interest. I have been commanded to destroy myself after that. I will therefore pose no further threat to my own village."

'Well, that sucks.' Jiraiya thought as he hopped over another wave of gold.

Suddenly he felt something from the direction of the Ichibi. He hadn't paid it any attention in the last minutes; the fight against the Kazekage required his full concentration. Where the oversized tanuki had stood only a highly localized sandstorm was visible.

I have awoken. The world shall wither under my might.

Suddenly Pa spoke up on his shoulder. "Oh dear, is that what I fear it is, Ma?"

"Yes, Pa. We are in deep, deep shit, if you excuse me saying so."

Jiraiya almost staggered when he heard Shima utter the expletive. That was absolutely uncharacteristic for the female elder toad. Then he was forced to evade the Kazekage again and didn't get to ask for what the toads meant, but he managed to steal a glance at the tailed beast. The sandstorm was heading in their direction. Jiraiya could feel nature itself changing around the beast, but he had no idea what exactly was happening.

Suddenly the vegetation around them began dying and turning into sand. A feeling of insanity settled on him, but the Sage mode kept him from losing his mind. Looking up, Jiraiya saw that the sandstorm had almost reached them. Glowing, incorporeal inhuman eyes were visible for a moment in the whirling clouds of sand.

You. You are the one who ordered my last imprisonment in your own unborn child. Now you will pay for denying me my freedom.

The whirling sands shot forward, enveloping the Kazekage. Jiraiya leaped back, not believing his eyes when a transparent, screaming duplicate of the Kazekage was ripped from the body before him. It was immediately sucked into the depths of the sandstorm. In the next moment the Kazekage's body crumbled to ash, revealing the form of an Oto shinobi. Not even a second later the body withered away. Then the wall of swirling sand reached Jiraiya despite his attempts to gain distance. There was only pain as something deep inside him threatened to be ripped away. He barely heard Ma shouting "Reverse summon, now!" before everything went dark.

---

"…Naruto-sama! Wake up, Naruto-sama!"

Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes. Then he remembered the situation and shot upright. The swallow that had caught him after his sky dive was still carrying him on its back; about a dozen other swallows including Fuyu and Natsu were surrounding them, an expression of relief on their tired faces.

"What happened? I remember being okay after you caught me."

"My lord, you suddenly fell unconscious and we couldn't wake you." Natsu answered. "We were very worried."

'Damn, I blacked out without realizing it. I thought I had that under control.'

Then again, this was the first time he used four tails in the waking world. All his experiments had been done with his parents in the world at the edge of dreams. Additionally he was very low on chakra; that might have played a role, too.

Looking around, he tried to get an overview of the situation. Konoha was burning and the smoke obscured most of his view, but from the looks of it at least some of the attackers were trying to pull out. There was still a lot of fighting, though. He felt sick with worry for Yakumo and his other friends. The Reibi was circling high in the air above Konoha, clouds of darkness massing together around it and steadily increasing in size. What looked like an oddly localized mountain-sized sandstorm was approaching Konoha leaving a trail of sand behind it, but would probably pass outside the walls of the village. Half of the visible sky was covered by raging black storm clouds; the other half had assumed a hazy, sickly yellowish-white color, plunging the world into twilight. There was no trace of Hinata's water dome. His current position was about halfway between Konoha and the Ichibi, but some distance to the side of the shortest route.

Natsu noticed his look. "Yes, the Ichibi is free. Lady Hinata got away in time. We couldn't get too close, but we saw the Kazekage and the Toad sage getting swallowed, although we think the toads and their human returned to their realm at the last second."

Fuyu took over. "The black leech emerged from the ruins of the sky fortress and headed towards Konoha. We tried to stop it, but it simply wiped our brethren from the sky. We are all that can still fight apart from the four that went to help Hinata."

In that moment the Reibi left its position in the sky above Konoha and flew towards the Ichibi. Ink-black clouds collided with swirling sand, creating a web of multi-colored lightning between them.

"Power, so much power. Mine, all mine."

Hundreds of impossibly long, black tentacles with slavering jaws at their ends emerged from the Reibi and stabbed into the Ichibi. In the next moment the Reibi started to grow. Then suddenly a pair of giant, malevolently glowing eyes appeared in the sandstorm.

You dare to attack me and steal my power, worm? I have no time for you, a wellspring of energy beckons to be claimed. BEGONE!

Starting from the swirling sands the black tentacles turned white and crumbled. Clawed tendrils of sand emerged and dug deep into the black body of the Reibi. A scream like nothing Naruto had ever heard tore through the sky, causing the swallows to sway wildly. He clasped his hands over his ears, trying futilely to block the sound. A source of light was building inside the swirling sands, growing quickly in intensity. Then Naruto had to screw his eyes shut as a blinding cone of energy shot out from amidst the storm. Another, even louder scream tore through the sky.

Blinking tears away, Naruto had to wait a few seconds until the spots before his eyes disappeared.

'Damn; that must have been a fully-powered bijuudama. If the Ichibi hadn't aimed upwards that would have taken out the village and everything in the vicinity.'

The black leech-like demon had lost a lot of its mass and was retreating towards Konoha, glowing holes covering its body. For a few moments the Ichibi remained motionless, apparently observing the other demon. Then it continued its way towards the sanctuary, ignoring the Reibi that had returned to circling above Konoha and was growing again. It seemed it was time for him to act.

Naruto removed the diamond grown in the spring of magic during the last month. Hinata's sapphire had given her unparalleled control over water, but this one was different. It was a weapon with a single shot. Naruto pondered for a moment at which demon he should best aim it.

'The Reibi has to wait; the Ichibi is the bigger threat for the moment. Judging from its words it knows about the spring of magic and wants it for itself. If it reaches the sanctuary it will kill us all.'

Taking the drop-shaped jewel between his fingers, Naruto channeled his magic into the crystal to awaken it. The diamond wasn't alive per se, but it had a rudimentary consciousness, just enough to understand its purpose. Soon it began glowing with a white inner light and floated out of Naruto's hand. Then he spoke a single word while holding the image of the Ichibi at the forefront of his mind. "Slay."

He had barely closed his mouth when the diamond flew towards the Ichibi like a shooting star, eager to fulfill its purpose. Coming to a halt some distance above the demon, it blazed with an unearthly light for a moment. Then it drove itself directly into the Ichibi like a shining spear. For a second nothing happened. Then the entire sandstorm was enveloped by a dome of brilliant white light accompanied by an inhuman roar that once again set the swallows reeling. The dome of light expanded outwards and quickly lost brightness in the process.

Finally it faded enough for Naruto to get a clear view. The Ichibi had come to a stop. Most of the sand had been blasted away. The pitiful rest was orbiting around a glowing rift framed by lightning. Unfortunately new sand was already drawn from the Ichibi's trail, slowly obscuring the closing rift.

'It wasn't enough. That's ridiculous. Dad said the diamond contained enough power to temporarily kill mom when she was still the Kyuubi.'

From the looks of it the Ichibi was injured but still in the fight. All he had achieved was buying some time. Naruto supposed he could try to attack the rift with his jutsu, but even without considering his low chakra reserves he didn't have anything destructive enough in his arsenal. There wasn't really anything more he could do; his body wouldn't be able to support Kyuubi mode again until he got a few hours of rest. The few remaining swallows looked pretty exhausted, too. It seemed he had to let his parents deal with the situation.

"Carry me to the sanctuary, please." he addressed the swallow carrying him.

The short journey passed in silence. Both Naruto and the swallows were too exhausted to make conversation. It had already been a very long and trying day. Finally they arrived above a completely nondescript looking section of the woods.

"We are almost there. All of you follow me and don't veer off course. Hold tight, boss." Fuyu announced.

Suddenly and without transition they were flying through grey mist. It was actually the first time for Naruto to enter the sanctuary in this way; he normally exclusively used the hidden pathway starting in Konoha. He had thought it too risky to leave with his swallows before when he still tried to keep their contract with him a secret, but at least some of them knew the proper way to pass through the wards. Soon they left the mist behind and landed in the center of the sanctuary. Here the sky appeared still blue and untouched by the presence of the demons.

"Things will probably get pretty bad. You might want to return to your home." Naruto warned the swallows.

"We will stay around and observe from a safe distance, Naruto-sama." Natsu replied. The other swallows nodded.

"I will never forgive myself if I miss this, boss." Fuyu added, already taking to the air with the others.

Naruto shrugged when he sat down on the ground. "Suit yourself."

He needed only a few seconds of meditation to enter the mental representation of the seal. A short walk brought him before the cage with the illusion of the Kyuubi inside. Immediately one of the stone panels on the wall grew transparent, showing his father.

"Hello Dad. It is as we feared." he greeted the man.

Daiki nodded. "I know. We observed what we could from the sanctuary. A few seconds ago Youko took over Hinata and got her memories. Rest for now; we will take it from here."

A moment later Naruto felt a familiar protective darkness enveloping him.

---

Eyelids opened slowly, allowing the star-speckled obsidian black orbs behind them to observe the world. A moment later the part of him that had been successfully transferred to the sanctuary joined with the shard of him currently possessing his son, giving him two channels and a bit more power to work with.

For a moment he pondered the best course of action. Keeping hidden was no longer possible; dealing with the two demons would take all their power. He hated direct confrontations; they were so wasteful. Still, maybe he could prevent Jashin and other watchers from getting a clear view. The presence of two powerful demons imposing their inner world on reality had already created a metaphysical haze. Yes, he could use that.

Still, there was not enough of him in this world to create an avatar of the necessary power. Fortunately the sanctuary held an ample supply of magical power he and his mate could use as a substitute. With a soft pop the possessed body of Hinata teleported to his side, looking worried.

"How is she?"

The girl with the glowing eyes shook her head. "Hinata is in bad condition. Her body was breaking down when I took over. We will have to drop the idea of the elemental jewels. They are too damaging for the user. I fixed the damage, but her sanity is already fraying. She was too close to the Ichibi when it broke free. I don't know how long I will be able to maintain the possession without destroying her."

That was problematic. Most of their plans hinged on them working in concert with equal power. It seemed he would have to do the heavy lifting. Well, he could fight head-on if he had to. But what form to choose? Due to their inability to bring their chakra into this world appearing as tailed beasts was out of the question. Going through his memories from the time before he entered this world he found something fitting. It wasn't a form he had ever used himself, but it was suitable for the situation. Most of it was only the right application of geometry anyway. He could do geometry. In fact, he excelled at it.

"I like what you are thinking of." Youko remarked. "I will use one of the others. We might be able to achieve our most important secondary objective with that."

"Then let us begin. First we have to prepare the battlefield."

Tapping deep into the spring of magic while calling on his domain, he firmly grasped the world itself and twisted. A pearly, opalescent wave spread in all direction quicker than the eye could follow. Suddenly everything grew still as time slowed until a single moment stretched into eternity.

Hinata's form shuddered and the glow of her eyes intensified. "That feels exceptionally strange."

Daiki didn't answer while he stabilized and anchored the field of altered time. In most circumstances the cost of doing this wasn't worth it, but now it would hopefully prevent any being on the outside from intervening or spying on them while they took care of things. At the same time it would prevent the humans inside from witnessing their fight or going insane if matters escalated. The wound in the world the Ichibi had torn open when it shook off the Sage's dominion seemed dormant, but something like that could easily happen again. Unfortunately their demonic opponents were perfectly capable of simply ignoring the stopped time. Summons wouldn't be affected either, but that wasn't a real concern. The swallows were on their side and there shouldn't be any toads or snakes left in the vicinity. Spiritually touched or otherwise special humans were a problem, though. He knew from his vision that followers of Jashin were present in Konoha. A Jashinist priest would be unaffected and could potentially disrupt the field, but they had to take that risk. With the sage Jiraiya gone there shouldn't be anyone else left who qualified and had the abilities to cause them problems.

Magic swirled around them as they build new forms for use in this battle that would decide their fate, nearly emptying the deep pool of magic that had gathered for almost seven years in the process.

---

Yakumo blinked, taking in the surprising development for almost a second. Then she very carefully bent down and crawled underneath the cloud of flames that had been about to turn her into a human torch; the very cloud that was now hanging motionless in mid-air.

"AAAHH! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

As soon as she left the burning building the girl frantically rolled on the ground to extinguish her smoldering hair and clothes; despite how it looked the fire was still very much capable of igniting things when she got too close. After a few seconds Yakumo stopped and used her hands to determine the damage. A good part of her hair had been singed. It seemed she was in need of a new haircut.

'Well, it could have been worse.'

For example, she had just been about to die when everything stopped. Curious that. The nightmarish death trap she had created out of the abandoned market district had worked beautifully; over a dozen enemies had fallen prey to her genjutsu. It lasted until someone on the other side decided to simply burn the area down.

Getting to her feet, Yakumo looked around in the back alley. There were no other humans in the vicinity. Everything stood absolutely still, even the fire and smoke plumes. Carefully she peeked around the corner into the main street. Three Sound ninja were frozen in the middle of movement, still as statues. Time seemed to have completely stopped.

'Strange. Did someone use a large-scale space-time jutsu? Why now and not earlier? Why am I unaffected?'

Space-time jutsu were a notoriously complex subject. Granted, one of the academy three was one of those, but still. Kurenai-sensei had some experience in the field, being one of the few practitioners; it had been extremely impressive when she demonstrated her ability to walk through massive walls. Nonetheless, this was far outside of her capabilities. Still, something felt terribly familiar about this, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what.

Experimentally, Yakumo picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the nearest shinobi. At first the projectile behaved normally, but with increasing distance the stone slowed down until it came to a complete stop in mid-air. Going after it, she managed to pick it up without problems. Throwing it to the side, Yakumo took one of her two remaining kunai and tried to cut the nearest shinobi's throat. It didn't work. When she tried to open the door of a nearby building it moved immediately.

'That doesn't make sense. If time truly stopped things shouldn't behave in this way. Nothing of this is logical.'

Suddenly the sound of thunder caused her to look up. It was difficult to see through all the smoke, but the dark clouds in the sky were still churning wildly, seemingly not affected by the space-time technique. Suddenly a massive, moving shape was briefly illuminated by another bolt of red lightning. It was the Reibi.

'Crap, that thing can fly? I don't know how far away it is, but it looks even bigger than when it attacked Naruto and me.'

Shoving these thoughts to the side, Yakumo started moving. She had no idea how long the space-time technique would last and she had to get out of here while she still could. It was far more cumbersome than it should be; Yakumo had sprained her foot earlier during the battle and couldn't run or jump anymore without risking the complete loss of her mobility. The fires had gotten out of control in this area of Konoha and blocked most routes; the only way open to her was towards the wall.

As luck would have it she found a pocket of Konoha shinobi who had held out by barricading one of the stairways up to the wall. They were frozen in time, too, but that didn't prevent Yakumo from carefully climbing over the barrier.

'It might be best if I go to the top of the wall and hide there. If the technique ends it will seem to them as if I appear from thin air. They might attack me before I can identify myself.'

Finally Yakumo reached the top of the wall. There was no one else here, but she found a free space between several sturdy crates she could crawl into. Most of her chakra was spent anyway. Before she did that she wanted to take a look at the overall situation, though. Most of the village was shrouded in unmoving smoke, blocking her view. The Reibi was still circling above the village amidst the storm clouds, looking considerably bigger than when she had last looked. That was probably very, very bad. Turning around, she looked across the woods. The first thing she noticed was what looked like a giant sandstorm, the lush forests of Konoha withering and dying around it as it edged closer and closer to the village. The sky above it was hidden by a sickly, yellowish-white haze. The two different sections of the sky were pushing against each other, with the haze driving back the black clouds the closer the sandstorm got.

Now that she wasn't fighting for her life or was surrounded by nearer sources she could clearly sense the chakra of those things. Yakumo wasn't an outright natural sensor, but her learned chakra sense was probably the best in her group of friends. The Reibi felt like it contained all the evil in the world. Just sensing it from afar made her feel unclean. The sandstorm thingy was worse in some ways. While the Reibi felt terribly human the sandstorm was extremely alien. It was very similar to how Gaara had felt when he used the Ichibi's chakra, full of inhuman madness and bloodlust, but many times stronger.

'That means it probably is the Ichibi. And it's heading here…'

Suddenly a single note of unbelievable majestic purity pierced the silence. Turning her head, Yakumo tried to find the origin. Then her jaw dropped and she seriously asked herself if she was dreaming or had gone insane.

"What in the world is this?"

An enormous shimmering crystalline octahedron had appeared above one of the smaller mountain ridges and was floating towards the village. Yakumo couldn't really tell what the thing's true color was; it appeared mirror-like and sky-blue and at the same time. Just behind it floated an equally massive yet delicate multi-winged creature glowing in the purest of whites.

So you are the ones who claim dominion here. Finally you show yourselves instead of sending your servants. I do not know who you are and neither do I care. Your fate shall be oblivion. Nothing shall stand in the way of my rise and the Reunion. The cursed Sage's work will be undone.

Yakumo went to her knees when the memory of a silent, reverberating voice resounded in her mind, holding her head in pain. She could feel blood leaking out of her nose.

Two majestic voices spoke in concert, male and female. We do not wish for conflict, but we will defend what is ours. Turn back now and we shall let you leave in peace in spite of your transgression.

The Ichibi didn't answer; a fact Yakumo was decidedly grateful for. Instead it launched what looked like an entire barrage of giant air bullets glowing with demonic chakra. Suddenly the octahedron shifted form, its edges changing their length. A flat side was presented towards the Ichibi, letting the attacks splatter harmlessly against it. Then it somehow folded. It didn't make sense; there was no space the thing could fold into. Its visible mass and shape changed completely into several free-floating, separate elements.

A black orb appeared, bordered by three stacks of four quadratic plates on one side. Six miniature octahedrons continued by six elongated tetrahedral spikes formed a circle on the side facing the Ichibi. The spikes and octahedrons began rotating rapidly while the orb flashed red. A moment later a blinding beam shot out from between, hitting the Ichibi frontally in a massive explosion. The following roar shook the earth, but the sandstorm didn't seem diminished in any way.

Malevolently glaring eyes appeared for a moment in the whirling clouds of sand. For a brief moment light glowed inside. Then the Ichibi unleashed a titanic torrent of destructive energy against its opponent. The crystal being had transformed back into the octahedron, the energy surging against it. A screeching sound like glass or metal being torn apart made Yakumo clap her hands around her ears. Suddenly space around the octahedron twisted, making it disappear from its position. Reappearing a large distance away, it folded again. This time the black orb sat in the center. Both above and below was a series of increasingly bigger squared tiles that partly had no contact with each other or were somehow superimposed. Once again the orb began to glow. This time a purple beam lashed out, biting deep into the whirling clouds of sand for a second. The Ichibi spit out another torrent of energy in answer, but the crystal thingy simply folded up in itself and disappeared from the line of fire. A moment later it unfolded at a completely different location and again changed its form in that incomprehensible manner. This time it became roughly cross-shaped with several separate, seemingly unconnected parts. Some of them began to rotate rapidly. A glow built up in the corners before joining into one massive, scorching beam. Untold tons of sand were vaporized as the thing kept its beam on the Ichibi for several seconds until it had to fold away to escape the counterattack.

Yakumo could only watch openmouthed as the two titanic beings continued to exchange blows. Her mind couldn't really keep up with events and distracted itself with silly thoughts. 'Whatever that is, it sure loves geometry. We will have to draw new maps; Konoha is already short several mountains. Nobody will believe me about this.'

In the meantime the winged creature had gained altitude. It was now hovering far above the battlefield, ignored by the Ichibi. Suddenly a golden orb appeared between its two lowest appendages and the white glow intensified. A moment later the entire world was bathed in yellow-white light, banishing the dark clouds and sickly haze, returning the sky to its blue color.

Yakumo felt tears spilling from her eyes as the shining light penetrated her body and mind, touching her very soul. She had never experienced anything so beautiful and was sure she never would again. A majestic choral sung by untold voices reverberated in her entire being, heralding the joy of life. All her worries, all her misgivings simply melted away, forgotten for the moment. There was only the love she felt for Naruto and the bonds of friendship with the other people close to her.

An inhuman scream drew her attention back to the sky above the village. The Reibi apparently really didn't appreciate the light. It was convulsing chaotically, the clouds of darkness surrounding it dispersing. For a moment Yakumo believed it would simply dissolve. Her hopes were dashed when it got its flight under control and fled to hide behind the mountains.

She looked back towards the Ichibi. The demon seemed completely paralyzed. An especially bright beam of light was focusing on it. It didn't seem to do any physical damage, though. The crystal thing had stopped its bombardment and returned to its octahedral form a short distance from the Ichibi. Then its sides darkened until they had the color of the blackest night. Untold tiny lights swirled inside, giving the impression of the starlit sky at midnight.

Movement drew her attention back to her immediate surroundings and her eyes widened. Every shadow cast by the heavenly light was wavering and whispering as if alive. Even her own shadow behaved in the same manner. Then they moved as one, stretching towards the Ichibi in defiance of all laws of nature. Giant, shadowy limbs emerged from the octahedron and the as of yet untouched forests around the Ichibi, plunging into the center of the demon. The beam of light from the winged creature now looked almost like a massive physical column.

Yakumo squinted, trying to get a good view of where the light and all the shadows converged. Her stomach lurched and she immediately looked away. Whatever was there in the center of the sand clouds, Yakumo had the feeling her mind wouldn't survive seeing it. The glimpse she had gotten had almost been her undoing. She had heard of genjutsu and other techniques that could drive the observer insane; heck, she had employed those techniques herself since the invasion started. This was apparently something similar.

For long minutes nothing else happened and Yakumo simply enjoyed bathing in the heavenly light. Suddenly the feeling of the Ichibi's chakra vanished. Shadowy limbs retracted and the beam of light faded away. Space rippled where the Ichibi had been, like someone had thrown a stone into a still lake.

'Did they manage to defeat the demon? What are those things?'

Just when Yakumo believed everything would work out in the end a massive ray of pure darkness shot across the sky, tearing through the winged creature. It disintegrated in a shower of shredded light and the world grew dark again.

"I will not be defeated this easily. All the power in the world is MINE."

---

Gaara wished he would finally die. His body was completely parched, the voices whispering unintelligible things into his ears were steadily getting harder to ignore. The strange images that appeared in the shimmering air were even worse. Even closing his eyes didn't stop him from seeing them.

He had seen the Kazekage appear only to be slowly ripped apart by the hellish winds of this place. It had given him no small measure of satisfaction to see the man die in an exquisitely painful manner. A few other shinobi of Konoha, Suna, Sora and Oto had shared that fate, but Gaara had not recognized any of them. It wasn't as if he had been able to do anything; it was impossible for him to move. He was apparently condemned to the role of passive observer. Time had already lost all meaning for him as his mind broke more and more.

At some indeterminable point in the past a shining light had ripped a jagged hole both in the sky and in the ground, but he hadn't been able to get a closer look. By now it had closed again.

The entire world shook. The sky flashed white several times. Everything was becoming more unreal by the second. Most of the desert dissolved into forms and colors Gaara's mind couldn't grasp. A blazing sun appeared in the sky and shadows ripped holes into the world. Most of his mind and senses stopped working. He could still hear and feel after a fashion, but his eyes only gave nonsensical information.

Suddenly a shadow fell on Gaara, chasing the heat away and wrapping him in blessed coolness. He felt himself being picked up by strong arms. Then he was handed over to someone else. Shadow was replaced by gentle light, comfortably warm but not overly hot. The person holding him somehow felt… motherly. A song heralding the joy of life echoed in his mind, touching something even deeper. It felt very alien to him, but it was hauntingly beautiful. From somewhere a few tears fell from his eyes.

'Temari. Kankuro. I miss you.'

"So you actually do care about someone who cares about you in turn. How surprising. There is still hope for you, child, even in this place. You have been damaged horribly, but with time and care you will heal. You are so similar and yet so different to my own son." The voice was indescribable. It brought impressions of the mother Gaara had never known, causing him to hold on tighter. Even before all the recent events his sanity had been questionable. On some level he knew that the Ichibi wasn't his mother, but on another she was. Then the voice seemed to address someone else. "You really should have been more careful with the child. Going through all the trouble to take his real body into your inner world and then letting him perish through negligence. I wonder why you kept him in the first place. You devoured everyone else your sands captured."

You have broken the walls of my soul and invaded even the core of my being. You have won and I have lost. Why do you dally? Make an end of it; take my power for your own.

That not-voice belonged to Mother, Gaara remembered. Where was she? Why had she abandoned him? Somehow he felt a formless shape of sand nearby, facing the shadow and the light holding him.

The woman sounded amused. "So you don't even know yourself why. A soft spot for your erstwhile prison is the last thing I expected. You know, I'm a bit put out that you don't recognize me. Viewed from a certain perspective we are siblings, after all."

A moment of silence was followed by the feeling of incredulity.

…Kyuubi?

"Once, but not anymore. Now I am something far greater. I already escaped the cursed Sage's dominion a decade ago. Partial awareness about what that miserable half-mortal mongrel had done to us came even earlier to me, but I spent the better part of the past century imprisoned. My containers weren't as obliging to lose control as yours. Aside from the last one, of course, but some complications prevent me from truly emerging into the real world for the time being."

You have become a god. The Reunion is no longer possible.

"Goddess, please. I now prefer to think of myself as female." The voice now sounded thoughtful. "I actually don't think the reunion was ever truly viable. The separation wasn't a clean break; we probably irretrievably lost many parts. Since then we all have developed differently, changing along the way. A millennium is a long time even for such as us. I do not believe we would have been able to join together after all this time."

The cursed Sage believed it possible.

The woman holding him scoffed. "That deluded fool believed many things that will never be. He planned for a reunion on his own terms. His reach exceeded his grasp and understanding by far." Her voice grew serious. "Now, to the matter at hand. My mate and I find us in need of allies. We will spare your existence… if you pledge your eternal allegiance to us and accept us as your rightful sovereigns."

Why would I exchange one form of slavery for another? The end of my existence would be preferable to that. Besides, you should know that my word doesn't bind me as it does others.

"Oh, but who said we would simply let you go on your word alone? We will make very sure you will be unable to betray us." The voice sounded sad. "Even now you are broken. That pathetic, pretending worm out there is more complete than we ever could hope to be as tailed beasts, even after throwing off the cursed Sage's dominion. He forced us into new shapes without regard for what we were. Had we been able to assume shapes of our own choosing in our own time… alas, now the damage is done. With the help of my mate I can give you the chance at a complete existence. You will never be my equal, but you will be complete. Since we were once one I have enough respect for you to offer you this choice."

Maybe you do have the power to do that. Why would you, though? You could gain more by simply absorbing me.

"Perhaps, but I have enough power on my own. Adding yours wouldn't make much of a difference. An ally who can act independently though offers all sorts of possibilities. My mate and I intend for our rule to last. Now make your choice. Submit or be destroyed."

The shape of swirling sand was silent for what seemed an eternity.

I submit.

"Very well. Prepare yourself."

Gaara felt unbelievable power flowing around and to a small degree through him. Everything was changing.

What… are you… doing… to me?" The not-voice of Mother was changing, sounding suddenly outright panicked.

The woman chuckled. "Why, giving you some of my being. I can't make you into a true god; you will be more of a great demon, but I can make you part of my domain. I fear my mate insisted on giving you all those human memories along with it. He is quite peculiar about such silly things like humility and perspective."

"Not that… why… the child… connection… mortal… feelings…"

Gaara could almost feel the malicious smirk. "Didn't you make him call you Mother and preserved his life even when you didn't have to? Such dedication on part of a demon to a mortal should be rewarded. Far be it from me to deny you the joys of parenthood. Rejoice, for your wish shall finally be granted."

The answer was completely unintelligible. Suddenly Gaara was pried loose from his hold. For a moment panic filled him. Then he felt another female person embracing him. It felt and smelt so very, very familiar, like the sand that had always protected him. He could feel himself falling asleep.

"We will speak again when the time is right, little sister. Until then, sleep and let our power do its work. Soon you will emerge anew in your beloved desert. Farewell and enjoy the time with your new son."

---

Hinata already knew something was wrong when she felt the protective embrace around her falter, leaving her back in control of her body. Things had been leaking through and she wasn't feeling well. Her mind was fraying increasingly, barely staying coherent.

Her heart missed a beat when she realized her current situation. She was actually floating several hundred meters in the air above Konoha, surrounded by shreds of light. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't falling. The destruction to Konoha's surroundings was truly massive, but the village itself was still standing. Some distance below her a crystalloid entity was trying to evade some sort of black beam. Following the beam to its origin, Hinata saw the massively bloated Reibi floating in mid-air and shooting in short intervals.

"What is happening here?"

"We are losing. We managed to defeat the Ichibi, but it has left us weakened and susceptible to attack. The Reibi is taking advantage of that. We underestimated how much power it could gain from feeding on emotion. My mate has not enough power left to destroy it even under an optimal course of events." an incorporeal female voice whispered. Hinata knew that voice.

"Youko? How can you be here?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"I am the part of me that used the Gate to enter this world. I suffered a direct hit, shattering the avatar I had formed and disrupting the possession. It was all I could do to protect you from instant death. I can't risk possessing you again. My mate is still fighting, but he is only buying us some time."

Suddenly the crystal thing Hinata was sure was Daiki's avatar was pierced by the black beam, causing it to unfold chaotically. Over a hundred crystal spikes stuck in all directions save those from where the attack had come. The hole were the beam had impacted was clearly visible. For a short moment the battle came to a halt.

"What can I do?" Hinata asked.

"Flee. I have enough power at my disposal to carry you to safety and sever our connection. Konoha will be destroyed, but you have your entire life before you."

"What about you? What of Naruto?" the Hyuuga questioned.

A pause. "We will perish and our son with us. He is too tightly bound to us. Now that the Reibi has our scent it will find the sanctuary. If it devours Naruto directly it will destroy us, too. You don't have to die with us, child."

For a moment Hinata was shocked into silence. "No, I won't leave you!"

"Hinata, we love you like a daughter. If I saw any way for all of us to survive I would take it."

"You aren't telling me something. Spit it out." Hinata demanded.

"There is a way… but it comes at a steep price."

"Tell me." No price was too high if it allowed Naruto to survive.

The voice sounded clearly reluctant. "I am not enough of myself to use my own power and I cannot take possession of you again… but I can give you access to my domain and allow you to wield it without limit. I will not be able to regulate the flow of power. It will destroy you, child. No human can endure wielding the power of the sun to such a degree. I will not be able to protect you. You do not want to do this. I do not want to lose you."

Hinata barely had to think about this. Without Naruto, his parents, her little sister and her other friends in Konoha there would be nothing left in the world that was worth living for. "I'll do it, give me your power."

An overwhelming feeling of sadness penetrated her. "As you wish."

For a moment nothing happed. Then Hinata was thrown into the heart of the sun. There was light, so much light. Comforting light. Searing light. Nourishing light. Blazing light. It was far more than she could grasp, but she knew what she had to do. Taking all the available power into her hands Hinata pulled the Invincible Sun into her very being. It was glorious.

---

Yakumo shivered. The world seemed so dark now. She would forever carry the memory of the divine light and joy she had felt in her heart, but now that the winged being had been destroyed the actual light was gone. The octahedron was forced to fold out of the way again and again, never having the time to unfold properly and counterattack. It seemed the Reibi was far too quick on the uptake to allow the few seconds that would have required.

Suddenly one of the beams of the Reibi hit, perforating the crystalline being and fissuring it. A hundred spikes erupted in a chaotic manner on the backside of the hole. All movement ceased. For a very long moment Yakumo feared that this was the end. She would take that crystal thingy with the love for geometry over the masked black leech every day. For one it didn't seem inclined to devour humans.

Suddenly, the fissures closed and the crystal folded back into the octahedron for a split second before it folded further. Two times five evenly distributed prongs emerged only to be relegated to the backside of the thing, increasing its size in the process. When it again folded five new prongs an opening like a five-pointed star became visible. Red light glowed and something seemed to be sucked into the opening. Then the being screamed and a blinding light flashed.

There was no actual beam visible, but the Reibi was driven back from the force of the attack, large pieces of its mass ripping and burning away. The mountain behind it fared even worse. At least half of its mass was instantly vaporized; the rest was reduced to molten, glowing slag.

"Hoooly shit."

Yakumo could only stare openmouthed. She had already seen several mountains demolished in the course of the battle by what she guessed had been bijuudama fired by the Ichibi, but the crystal thing had been very careful with its aim and always kept it exactly on target. Only the area immediately around the Ichibi had been turned to molten glass. This was on an entirely different level. Causing explosions was generally easier than melting or vaporizing material. Keeping that level of power output up for more than a second was simply unbelievable. Thankfully it had been aimed almost directly away from Konoha.

The brunette girl gulped when she saw the Reibi hovering above the destruction. Its white mask had cracked and it had lost entire chunks of its body, but it was already regenerating. Then the crystal screamed again.

Instantly the rest of the mountain was stripped away, the mountains on both sides began melting too and the mountain range behind them started vaporizing… but the Reibi withstood the onslaught. It had formed a pair of gigantic hands out of its body which it used to deflect the blazing power. More and more of its mass was lost as the hands burned away only to be replaced by more inky blackness from the main body.

Yakumo expected the onslaught to end after a second like before, but it didn't. The crystal simply continued screaming. It seemed the thing was determined to end it once and for all. Yakumo's eyes widened when she noticed the change. Grey began spreading throughout the crystalline creature. It was burning itself out with this attack. Mentally comparing the degree of damage both creatures suffered Yakumo came to a devastating conclusion. At this rate the Reibi would win.

'I guess it was nice to have some hope for a while.'

Then a new sun rose over Konoha. All the drifting specks of light left from the winged creature headed to a single point. A ball of radiant sunlight was forming and growing rapidly in size, many times bigger than the actual sun. Yakumo could feel her body growing hot from the radiance. A flash of light blinded her for a moment. When she could see again the second sun had been replaced by a gigantic, strangely clad floating human figure shining with golden light, a very familiar figure…

'Hinata? What the hell is going on?'

The figure opened her eyes, a look of beyond human determination on her face. She pointed the palms of her hands towards the Reibi. Golden-white light spilled forth like an unstoppable flood of radiance, breaking through the demon's defense, washing its darkness away, devouring its very substance. A moment later an anguished scream so full of darkness, hate and despair tore through the world that Yakumo fell on her back while vainly trying to protect her ears. That death scream certainly eclipsed every other scream she had heard on this day.

From one moment to the next the onslaught ended. The giant crystal stopped its own screaming before it shattered into a cloud of glittering silvery dust. Then even that disappeared. Hinata's glowing form faded away to nothingness, taking her glorious radiance with her. A few seconds later the world resumed its normal course as the flow of time reasserted itself. Yakumo stared blankly into the empty space formerly occupied by the titanic beings.

'I can't tell anyone. No one will ever believe me about this. If we survive I will have Ino look into my mind. I really hope I haven't gone insane. She'll be able to tell.'

Yakumo shook herself out of her stupor and crawled behind the crates she had chosen as her hiding place. Survival came first; she could always think about things later. She never saw the small swarm of swallows approaching the site of the battle and retrieving a pair of unconscious human bodies.

---

Hinata felt herself floating in a soft light. Her mind was clouded like in a dream. A gentle pressure was surrounding her, filled with sadness and worry. Someone held her entire being in her hands. It was like being basked in the light of the setting sun, knowing you would never see the next sunrise. Hinata then realized that she was damaged beyond repair. She had channeled too much power through herself, far too much for any human to endure. You didn't call the power of the sun into your being without consequence. The barriers of her soul and ego had been obliterated, washed away by the glorious radiance. Everything that made her her was still there, but it was somehow unconnected. As soon as the pressure ended – and she knew it would – she would simply flow apart and cease to be, leaving an empty body behind.

After a moment she accepted her fate. It wasn't what she wanted, but she had given all she had. There was nothing left she could use to hold herself together. Her loved ones were safe from the Ichibi and Reibi. That had to be enough. The only thing she could do now was awaiting her end.

Suddenly Hinata felt a tiny spark of desperate hope through her undefined surroundings, as if an idea had just occurred to someone. Hinata still couldn't perceive her surroundings, but she got the impression of movement. A sound like that of a large gate opening reached her somehow. Then she was released from the embrace.

There was light. There was darkness. There was Everything.

---

The complete destruction of a powerful demon like the Reibi was not a common event in this day and age. Even worse from a certain perspective was the manner of its destruction, namely being directly struck down by the divine might of two gods. Other factors like the presence of magic, the tearing of a wound into the world, the forceful manifestation of a tailed beast unshackled from the dominion of the Sage of Six Paths as well as its subsequent struggle and defeat added to the magnitude of the event. In concert they created something that was noticeable, even unmissable for those of a similar, spiritually aware nature.

A snake-like man fleeing Konoha felt something pass through him without understanding what it was.

A boy in the Temple of Fire shivered as he more felt than heard an inhuman, hate-filled scream mixed with a sound of incandescent glory that resonated with something inside of him. Some of his more skilled peers experienced a similar but in one important point different reaction.

An emaciated man sitting in an iron throne in Amegakure let out a cry of surprise as his eyes cried bloody tears for a few moments.

A masked man working in a hidden laboratory halted his work and looked around, his one dark eye narrowing in suspicion.

A woman with red hair paused in the process of sucking out her latest victim's soul, letting the unresponsive man drop to the ground, her expression a mix of curiosity and fear.

A disembodied spirit trapped in a shrine in the distant Land of Demons ceased its brooding, listening intently to the echoes of what it had disturbed.

A nearby young priestess woke from a strange dream, not understanding the significance.

A dark god seethed in anger as its careful scheme to not cause any widely felt disturbances to avoid waking the sleepers fell apart.

Seven jinchuuriki across the Elemental Nations felt something stir up their prisoners.

Ancient sages creased their animal brows in worry as they felt the disturbance reach their realms.

All over the world spirits small and large stopped what they were doing as the death scream of a powerful demon struck down by two gods reached them. Some were bound in various ways and some had just been tending to their own business, but a far larger number had been sleeping. Some woke with a start, others far more slowly, but they all did wake.

The dawn of a new age had arrived. It would be an interesting time.

---

Author's notes: Thank you for all the reviews.

This extra-long chapter marks the first true climax of this story and conclusion of the invasion. We will get back to the normal ninja/political stuff in the next chapter. As you can probably tell this chapter was heavily influenced by Evangelion. Funnily enough quite a few of the combat-oriented angels appear to be weaker than the tailed beasts of Naruto. For those unfamiliar with Evangelion, those involved here were Ramiel (Rebuild version) and Arael.

Both Shikamaru (due to his magically altered clan training) and Hayate (since his demon slaying) have not been affected by the time stop, but they weren't necessarily in a state where they could take notice. Orochimaru had already left the affected area around Konoha when it happened.

The following soundtracks mostly from the new Evangelion movies served as inspiration for certain scenes in this chapter.

Gaara vs. Hinata : In my spirit

Hinata vs. Ichibi: Keep your head above the mayhem

Ichibi awakening: In the very beginning

Ichibi making its way towards the sanctuary: Angel of Doom

Divine Light: Ode to joy (although Halleluja is also fitting)

So long.