Love Never Dies
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Well, we've arrived at the battle chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it because even I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. Sadly, I can't promise or how quickly updates will come due to my schedule. Though I have no intention of abandoning this story.
Chapter Notation: I'm quite proud of this battle chapter, but certain liberties had to be taken for the sake of the plot. So if you see something 'wrong' about a Jutsu's applications or think of a reason why something 'wouldn't work', that was probably done on purpose. Happy reading.
Chapter 34
"Go!" Sasuke looks at Hinata. "Run! We'll take care of him."
Hinata had never been more torn in all her life. Her instinct as a Leaf Ninja told her to join the fight, but her maternal instincts were telling her to get out of there.
"You know, I have to admit, I don't think that I've ever seen this before." Madara laughs from a few hundred feet away. "A Hyuga woman marrying into our Clan. Though it does raise some interesting possibilities."
Running was looking more appealing, but Hinata wasn't foolish enough to believe that this distance would be enough to save anyone. The only thing that would save people was the luck of the draw, if Madara truly felt like starting a slaughter.
Zetsu rolls his eyes at Madara. "Capture the Nine Tails!" It was the Black Zetsu.
Obito had told them all about the different Zetsu. This was the one that they most had to worry about.
Madara smirks as he explains a sea of flames from his mouth. It was so large and hot that it went almost everywhere. The screams were almost enough to sink even the best trained ninjas to their knees.
"AHHH!" Again and again, they ring throughout the wedding venue. "SOMEONE HELP!"
The stench was makes Hinata want to wretch, but she somehow manages to keep running on her feet. A feat which was not as easy as it should have been. Her pregnancy was growing more obvious these days thanks to an increasingly soft belly.
"Kisame!" Hinata hears Itachi's voice echo throughout the village. "NOW!"
Before she had a chance to ask what Itachi meant by that, Hinata feels herself get scooped up into the air by her husband and Garuda. How Sasuke had managed to summon the hawk so quickly was anyone's guess, but it was a good thing he did.
"Got it!" Kisame smirks as he expels a huge wave of water from his mouth. "All you other amateur water style users had better fall in line after me!"
Oh. So that's it. The former Akatsuki was going to try to put out the fire. Quite clever.
"Not bad." Madara chuckles. "Though I'm afraid that you'll all have to do better than that." He looks around. "The Nine Tails will be mine and we will continue with the Eye of Moon Plan."
He smirks at them as he creates chains and they hurl themselves straight at Kisame. "Sasuke, we can't." She couldn't just let Madara capture Kisame in those chains.
Whatever they were, it was obvious that they weren't normal ones. Hinata Flickers herself near them and hurls seemingly every kunai in her arsenal at them to knock them off target. One thing was sure, she didn't want to touch them.
Click. Clang. Boom! It worked though and sends the chains flying back, but in hindsight it wasn't her wisest move.
"Well, you're a brave one." Madara laughs as he forms a mighty fist made out of chakra. "It's such a shame to kill the bride on her wedding day, but if you insist." The Susanoo's fist goes flying at Hinata, only to be blocked by another one.
"Damn it!" This one was purple and from Sasuke. "Hinata, he could have handled himself. You shouldn't have put yourself in harm's way like that!"
Right. Her lover also had the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan now. Sasuke could make a Susanoo, but would it be any match for Madara's in the long run?
"I'm sorry, but he's got the strongest affinity for water on our side!" Which would come in handy against the likes of Madara Uchiha. "I had to."
Suigetsu fumes at that. "Excuse me?" Right. Well, she'd apologize to Suigetsu later, if they made it through the way. "I know you didn't just say that fish face was stronger than me!"
That's when he does something reckless. He charges straight at Madara with his sword drawn and his arm expanded beyond all reasonable limits.
"Paper Chakram!" It was Konan who likely saved his life by blocking him. "You wouldn't survive attacking him directly. Almost no one would."
"Sasuke, add to your Susanoo." Itachi looks at him. "We can provide protection for our comrades." As if to prove his point, Itachi conjures a great beast made out of orange chakra and the other Uchiha brother nods.
Obito chuckles and shakes his head. "The kids are making me look bad and I can't have that. Kamui." He teleports to Madara and engages him with his fists.
The suicidal nature of the move must have shocked Madara, Hinata muses. They didn't have much time though. They had to do something to stop Madara and there was still Zetsu to consider.
"Sasuke, I need you to get me close to Black Zetsu." Hinata looks at him.
Faster and faster, Obito pounds his fists into Madara and tries to avoid the other man. It was probably only the fact that he had charged at the elder Uchiha in such a stupid fashion that was keeping him from unleashing his more deadly Jutsus.
"I won't let it happen again." Obito is only vaguely aware of Kakashi's voice in the background as he fights for his life.
That's when leaves start swirling around his opponent and Obito blinks. Kakashi was helping him. The Death Mirage Jutsu. Kakashi was making Madara see his greatest fear.
A simple technique as far as power went, but an effective one from a psychological standpoint. Obito could only wonder what exactly Madara was seeing that was causing his eyes to widen like that, but he didn't have long to ponder it.
A flash of blue out of the corner of his eye told him that the Hyuga woman had decided to strike. Lion shaped chakra was now surrounding Hinata's hand as she strikes Black Zetsu.
"So that's her game." He chuckles. "She wants to drain his chakra."
It seemed there might be benefits of having a Hyuga woman in their Clan after all. She was hardly alone though. The other ninjas were now joining the fray, particularly her family. All of them coming at Zetsu at once must have surprised him.
"Take this!" Jugo's arm suddenly stretches and becomes a chain, wrapping around the Black Zetsu's neck.
A fact causes the other man's head to be severed from his body. "He can survive being bisected!" Obito knew that Jugo needed to be warned.
Indeed. That's exactly what happened as Black Zetsu uses his will to turn their comrades against each other. Jugo once more becomes a slave to his bloodlust.
"You need to cool the hell down!" Suigetsu fires off two water guns. "All of you!"
One aims at Jugo and the other at Madara. Clearly, the former was intended to shock the normally gentle giant back into his senses. The later though was vicious. It blasts part of Madara's face off.
The gruesome result was enough to stun even Obito. Seeing that much blood and the muscles of his face without skin was disturbing, but Madara's healing rates were inhumane and he was still trapped inside that Genjutsu. Kakashi had always been a clever one.
It was complete and utter chaos. So naturally Naruto had to go and be stupid. "Kurama, give me a hand!" At some point, he must have summoned his Nine Tailed Fox because he was now charging straight to the pieces of Zetsu. Yes, pieces.
"Obito, can you seal him in the Moon?" He looks at the other Uchiha hopefully.
Obito nods grimly at that. "I can, but Naruto will need to get him there." Well, that was good. If there was one thing the blond was good at, it was overdoing it.
Naruto was already in Sage Mode and Kurama apparently didn't mind helping him in the slightest. What they didn't count on was the White Zetsu appearing out of nowhere.
"I won't let you hurt him!" He looks at the Black Zetsu. "Tastes my spores!"
Sasuke had heard about that technique, but it was too late to avoid it. The spores went flying and he could see the white substance attaching to several people. Once his chakra was severed though, that wouldn't be an issue.
"Naruto, let Hinata get a strike in!" So that's exactly what happened.
The idiot moved out of the way and Hinata put those twin lions of hers to good work. She slams them straight into both of their chests and afterwards, Kurama and Naruto send them both flying straight to the Moon with one final strike.
"SEAL IT!" Sasuke glares at Obito. "Now!"
So that's exactly what he did. That was one problem down. The white substance was even beginning to recede. Now, they just had to figure out a way to kill Madara Uchiha for once and for all.
Speaking of which, it looked like he was slowly coming out of the trance Kakashi put him in. "You bastard!" He glares at him. "How dare you make me see my brother's death again!"
That was as low blow, but Sasuke breathes Amaterasu into the air. He was going to have to take him out with one strike while the other man was raging or at least that was his plan.
Madara was too smart for that and jumps in front of him only for his eyes widen in horror. "Izuna?" He must have been dazed and confused perhaps. Was the family resemblance really that strong?
"Brother?" Sasuke blinks.
He couldn't believe he was doing this, but it might be easier to kill him this way. Madara looks around and stares when his eyes settle on Hinata's stomach. Alright. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure how he felt where this was going.
"This was your wedding and your wife is pregnant?" He looks genuinely horrified. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Itachi makes his way over to them almost faster than the eye could see. "He might." He shakes his head. "I won't though. Tsukuyomi!"
Gods and Goddesses only knew what his brother was making Madara see. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter though.
"Everyone get out of the way." He grimaces. "This time there won't be anything to resurrect!" Sasuke would make sure of that much.
They all do precisely that, even Hinata. Good. He could do this with a clear conscience. There was no need for anyone to go with Madara straight to…wherever he had come from.
Sasuke didn't want to believe it was actually Hell. His affection for 'Izuna' had been sincere, if nothing else.
He summons the Kirin. "It's time to end this!" The Amaterasu flames had created the perfect clouds to make his lightning strike. One that hurtles towards the ground almost faster than Sasuke's keen eyes could follow.
The shape of a dragon was visible for the briefest of moments as he strikes straight into Madara. The boom that sounds throughout the village was enough to make Sasuke wince as every trance of the other Uchiha was wiped out by lightning.
"He lived like a dragon." He shakes his head. "So he died like a dragon."