Chapter 36
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at Naruto and Hashirama. They were no longer laughing about the comparisons between him and Madara, but somehow their conversation had devolved into a semi-heated discussion about which one of their favorite food's was better. Naruto was currently trying to convince Hashirama that Ramen was way better than Mushroom mixed soup when Sasuke finally reached the limit of his patience and cleared his throat.
Naruto and Hashirma both looked at Sasuke as if to ask him 'What do you want?', but Sasuke ignored it and took full advantage of finally having their attention.
"What is our next move when it comes to Madara? He probably knows that his forces have been defeated by now and I highly doubt that he's going to waste his time sending anymore pawns here when the last group that he sent failed him. He's likely to come here himself, so how are we going to handle that if that happens?" Sasuke asked.
Sasuke made sure that the question was more directed towards Hashirama, but Naruto was either too dense to notice that or just didn't care, and spoke up.
"I still think that we should at least talk to him first. We might be able to avoid this entire war if we try to understand things from his perspective. It can't hurt to try right?" Naruto said.
Sasuke smacked his forehead at his friend's idiocy. He, Itachi and Obito had already told Naruto before that Madara was far beyond the 'Talk no Jutsu' phase, but once Naruto got an idea in his head, it was like talking to a brick wall.
"Naruto that idea is stupid, and it actually would hurt to try. There's no way that Madara would just stand there and have a conversation with us when he knows that you're the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki. He'd attack and try to take the Nine Tails by force before you even managed to get a word out to convince him otherwise" Sasuke said slowly trying to get his friend to understand what he was saying.
"But how would you know that for sure if we don't try?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing that Naruto was a lost cause. He then looked at Hashirama knowing that the First Hokage would surely understand and be on his side, but he was slightly worried when he saw the contemplative look on his face.
'He couldn't actually be considering Naruto's idea could he? No, there's no way the Village's First Hokage, the so called 'God of Shinobi' could ever consider going to talk to his greatest enemy and biggest rival. Ashura's incarnates can't all be dense can they?' Sasuke thought to himself, but his fears were confirmed when Hashirama spoke.
"I think that Naruto is right. Do you know where he could be right now?" Hashirama asked shocking Sasuke.
"He's at the Akatsuki Base that Itachi told us about. Sasuke knows where it is" Naruto answered.
"Perfect. Since we know where he is, then we can go talk to him. Just us three" Hashirama said.
Naruto gave Hashirama a nod in agreement glad that he was on his side, while Sasuke was still shocked into silence at his decision.
Seeing that there were no objections, Hashirama spoke again.
"We leave tonight. Don't worry Sasuke, I know that you have doubts about how this meeting will play out, but remember that I know Madara better than everyone here. He will listen to us, there's no guarantee that he'll talk back, but I promise you that he will listen. He also won't attack us... well at least not you two" Hashirama said with a small laugh.
Sasuke didn't find that laugh reassuring, but he was out numbered and he wasn't going to let Naruto go anywhere near Madara without him there. He sighed in acceptance.
"Fine, we'll leave later tonight when everyone's sleep. I'll fly us there with my Susanno to make the trip quicker" Sasuke said while running his hand through his hair.
"Good. Then it's decided, I'll see you two in a few hours in the Forest of Death. Be ready" Hashirama said as he walked away from the two teenagers.
After that Naruto left to go introduce Haku to his father, and Sasuke walked over to where Hinata was to inform her about what was going to happen later tonight. Sasuke didn't know what to expect, but one thing that he knew for sure was that this meeting with Madara would definitely dictate the future of the Shinobi World.
XxXxXx
Gaara was currently in his office going over the files of every shinobi in the Sand Village trying to determine which unit to put them in for the war.
He was named Commander-in-chief of the combat divisions for the war at the Kage Summit, so since then he was busy looking over the files of every shinobi. He had already finished assigning the shinobi from every other Great Nation to their groups. He had saved his own Village for last since he knew his Villagers, and thought that it wouldn't take much time to assign them, but there was an unpredicted distraction, making his work go slower.
"When are Shikamaru, Sai, Temari and Kankuro going to get back? Dinnertime is going be soon, and I have a feeling that I'm going to need help to get you out of your office" a voice whispered into his ear.
Ino, Sai and Shikamaru came to the Sand Village with him when the Kage Summit concluded.
Shikamaru was assigned to go with him because he was considered the second greatest strategist in the shinobi world behind his father, so Tsunade assigned him to help Gaara with assigning the other shinobi to their groups. Gaara was grateful for this decision, because Shikamaru was a big reason why he was done assigning the shinobi from every other Village so fast. He had given him the day off because he felt confident in his ability to assign the Sand Shinobi by himself.
Sai came with him, because he was eager to explore his new friendship with Gaara, and he also wanted to help the war effort in any way he could. Tsunade gave him permission because made the trip faster with his Jutsu. Gaara really was grateful that they didn't have to walk to Suna. Instead, they traveled comfortably on the back of a giant bird that Sai had drawn.
Ino came because of Gaara's personal request. He wasn't quite content with the short time they spent together in the Leaf, and with the War looming on the Shinobi World, he wanted Ino by his side at all times to make sure that she was safe. Tsunade agreed to Gaara's request, but not without a fair amount of teasing that the Redhead was forced to endure.
Hearing her whisper, Gaara moved his teal eyes from the file of a random shinobi and into the deep blue orbs of Ino's eyes.
"I don't know when they are going to get back. They were given the day off, and you were as well. I don't know why you didn't go out with them" Gaara said with his usual emotionless voice.
"I wanted to stay here with you, so that you wouldn't be overly worried about any of the male Villagers hitting on me. You're girlfriend is a very attractive woman, you know?" Ino said with a cocky smile.
"She's very modest as well" Gaara said with a smirk and Ino could see the amusement in his eyes before he returned back the file that he was reading.
Ino could tell that Gaara was a little stressed from all the work that he was doing and could use a break, but she knew that he would never admit to such a thing and continue to overwork himself.
Ino thought for a moment on how to get Gaara to relax for once, and a few seconds later a devious smile adorned her face as she got an idea.
She slowly pushed Gaara's chair back and climbed into his lap, making Gaara freeze and instantly stop what he was working on to give Ino his full attention. He watched as she placed one hand on his chest and the other on the back of his neck as she settled herself on top of him.
Ino watched in satisfaction as the color Gaara's face slowly changed until it was matching the color of his hair. The expression on his face was priceless and Ino would've laughed if she wasn't so focused right now.
Gaara's throat was dry as the desert he lived in, and his mind refused to work anymore, but he was determined to speak, so he opened his mouth and hoped for the best.
"I-Ino what are you doing?" Gaara stuttered in a hoarse voice as his eyes unconsciously roamed Ino's body and he licked his lips. Ino was satisfied at the reaction.
"You deserve a break from all this work, and I know a perfect way to take your mind off of everything" Ino said as she closed the distance between them and kissed him teasingly to see what his response would be.
"This is it young Gaara! It's finally time to mark your mate and claim her as forever yours. Don't screw this up" Shukaku said.
Gaara was vaguely aware that the Bijuu was saying something to him, but he was much to focused on Ino to care about the One Tail at the moment.
Acting off Instinct alone, he wrapped his arms tightly around Ino and pulled her closer to him as their lips fought for dominance.
Ino's eyes widened as she wasn't quite expecting this from Gaara, but she slowly closed her eyes and gave into the passionate kiss.
Soon the kisses began to get more and more heated, but neither seemed to mind, until Gaara's Sand ripped off Ino's clothes. Gaara pulled away horrified when he noticed what happened. He blushed at the sight of Ino in just her purple bra and panties, and looked away as he began to apologize.
"I'm sorry. My Sand acts on its own sometimes. I didn't mean to- MMM" Gaara started but he was cut off my Ino pressing her lips to his again.
When she pulled away, Gaara gasped at the look in her eyes. They were clouded in lust and love for him. He was stuck in a trance for a moment causing Ino to giggle. She hadn't planned for this to progress like this, but she wasn't going to stop now. She spoke to snap him out of his trance.
"I don't think it's fair if you're the only one with clothes on" Ino said as she stood up and removed her bra and panties before looking at Gaara expectantly.
As if hearing Ino's words, Gaara's sand quickly disrobed him, leaving Gaara completely naked. Gaara didn't have time to think about how his sand managed to do this, as Ino sat back in his lap as soon as he was naked.
Gaara decided then and there to stop thinking and just go with it. Gaara would remember this as one of the best decisions that he's ever made as he and Ino joined their bodies together as one.
XxXxXx
Shikamaru, Sai and the Sand Siblings returned to the Kazekage tower for Dinner. They had spent the day in the Village with Kankuro trying to help Sai make friends and Temari making Shikamaru go with her to every single clothing store in Suna.
As they approached office to get Gaara and Ino for dinner they were starting to hear noises coming from the inside. Temari and Shikamaru felt a blush cover their faces when they realized what the noises were. Kankuro burst out laughing when he figured it out, and Sai just looked at them all in confusion when they stopped walking.
"What's the matter? I know you hear the noises coming from inside the office. Shouldn't we go make sure that they're alright?" Sai asked.
"I mean you could go in there if you want, but I'm not sure that Gaara would appreciate it very much. There's a good chance that he'd attack you for interrupting" Kankuro said still laughing until Temari punched his shoulder.
"Why would he be mad at me coming to check on him? What would I be interrupting?" Sai asked with confusion clear in his voice.
Shikamaru sighed and placed a hand on Sai's shoulder.
"It'd be to troublesome to explain to you what their doing right now, so instead of talking about it, how about we just start dinner without them. I'll tell them to explain it to you when they come down to join us" Shikamaru said.
Sai looked skeptical, but nodded his agreement as Shikamaru quickly led him, Temari and Kankuro to kitchen and away from Gaara's office. Sai would be sure to ask Gaara and Ino about it later.
XxXxXx
Elsewhere, Kabuto was in the Sand Village disguised as a Sand Shinobi so that he could gather DNA samples for more Edo Tensei shinobi.
Madara had sent him to Suna immediately after he told him that their forces were overpowered and sealed away, and Kabuto couldn't be happier to obey the intimidating Uchiha.
Kabuto felt nothing less then uneasy around the man, and he knew that if he made one mistake, or said the wrong thing around him then he was as good as dead.
He was also able to think more clearly without the overwhelming presence of Madara looming behind him, so he was able to realize that it was impossible for Sasuke to have been the one who resurrected the previous four Hokage. Kabuto may have been busy with training Hinata, but he often peeped in on Sasuke's training sessions with Orochimaru and he didn't remember Orochimaru teaching Sasuke any forbidden jutsu. Not to mention the fact that all of the Hokage were sealed in the Reaper, so one would have to free them from there in order to use them, and even Kabuto himself didn't know how to do that.
These thoughts led Kabuto to the conclusion that Orochimaru was somehow still alive, and his thoughts were confirmed when he saw him fighting against Nagato.
That in itself wasn't all that surprising to Kabuto since he knew that his master was adept in surviving any encounter; the thing that bothered Kabuto is that Orochimaru was now back on the side of Konoha.
He had never expected that to happen, and now he was technically fighting in a war against his master. Kabuto didn't like that thought at all, but he couldn't just turn against Madara, he wasn't the suicidal type.
Kabuto decided that he just had to do what Madara commanded for now, and bide his time until either the man was defeated by someone else or he came up with a plan to kill the man himself.
Now that he knew that Orochimaru was still alive, Kabuto's purpose shifted back to serving him, and making sure that he achieved all of his ambitions.
'This certainly complicates things' Kabuto thought to himself as he continued to gather DNA samples of past Sand Shinobi and brainstormed different ways to defeat the all powerful Uchiha.
XxXxXx
After Naruto introduced Haku to him, Minato walked over to where his former students were conversing with Gai. When they noticed his approach, Minato could see the beads of sweat beginning to form on Obito's face.
"Loud Fourth! It's truly great to see you again. You've maintained your youthful appearance, and your power is even more amazing then I remember it being" Gai said with a blinding smile.
"Hello Gai. I see that you haven't changed much from the time that I was alive" Minato said with a smile.
"Really!? You really think that I've retained that much of my youthful energy?" Gai asked with tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Uhh yes?" Minato said starting to get uncomfortable.
"Thank you so much Lord Fourth! That's the nicest thing that anyone has said to me all year. Hopefully Kakashi and Obito can learn more manners from you" Gai said furiously wiping his eyes to get rid of the tears.
"Speaking of Kakashi and Obito, I'd like to talk to my former students alone if you don't mind" Minato said.
Gai nodded and gave Obito and Kakashi a thumbs up before walking away. Leaving three of the former members of Team Minato alone. Minato placed his hands on their shoulders and teleported them to the Hokage Mountain so that they'd be able to talk without any unwanted attention.
"Start explaining" Minato said as he looked at Obito.
Obito gulped nervously before he obeyed his sensei and recalled the story of his life after his supposed 'death'. He told him everything from Madara saving him to being there when Rin died to unleashing the Nine Tails on Konoha.
Minato didn't speak at all during the story and when Obito was done he didn't speak for a moment, but when he did, it wasn't towards Obito.
"Okay now your turn Kakashi" Minato said with his voice leaving no room for argument. Kakashi looked at him surprised for a moment, before he obeyed as well.
He told them about his shame over the fact that he was unable to save any of his teammates, the habit of being late that he picked up to honor Obito's memory, his constant visits to the Konoha killed in action shrine, to him being the leader of Team 7, and finally to the most recent development of his girlfriend being pregnant with his son. The last one making shocked expressions appear on both Obito and Minato's faces.
"Congratulations Kakashi. Fatherhood is a scary thing, but I'm sure that you'll be great at it since you are a prodigy at everything else" Minato said reassuringly since he was the first to recover from Kakashi's news. Obito recovered after hearing his sensei's words.
"Yeah uh Congratulations. I just hope the kid takes more after his mother when it comes to his personality. You were a prude as a kid" Obito said with a smirk. Kakashi just decided to act like he didn't hear him, and spoke.
"It seems like there's only one male member of Team Minato that can't get a girl to like them. That's unfortunate isn't it sensei? He'll never know what it's like to be with a woman" Kakashi asked mockingly.
"Now you hold on a minute, I am more than capable of getting a female if I wanted one. You understand that Kakashi?" Obito asked walking towards the masked nin.
"Did you hear that Sensei? I could've sworn that I heard the voice of a virgin somewhere around here" Kakashi said looking around.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Obito yelled in outrage.
Minato chuckled at the familiarity of the situation, with Kakashi teasing Obito and Obito trying to start a fight with him.
"Alright, enough you two. Obito, while I may not approve of your life choices, I can't completely blame you for your decisions. It's my fault as a sensei that I couldn't find you, and because of my inability to do so, Madara was able to manipulate you and how you view the world. I also blame myself for Rin's death. I shouldn't of let them go by themselves and when I learned that Rin got captured, I sent Kakashi alone when I should've went with him. I just hope that you two can forgive me for my faults as a sensei" Minato said.
Obito and Kakashi stopped arguing and looked at each other in confusion at their sensei's words.
"What did you say?" They asked simultaneously.
Minato opened his mouth to repeat what he said, but he was stopped by Kakashi.
"Don't repeat it, we heard you. It's just that we couldn't believe it. Do you honestly believe that any of what happened was your fault?" Kakashi asked.
"Sure you wasn't there to save Rin or I, but that was because you were busy doing other things that benefited the Village. You can't blame yourself for what happened when you wasn't even aware of what was going on" Obito said.
Minato was surprised. He looked at the two men that he used to train when they were kids and gave them both a genuine smile.
"Thank you for that. Now that we got that out of the way, I'd like to meet the woman that's pregnant with your child Kakashi" Minato said.
"Yeah, Me too. I have to see who managed to tame someone like you" Obito said with a smirk.
Kakashi rolled his eyes but none the less agreed, and with that, the three males left the Hokage Mountain and headed back towards the village in search of Hanare.
XxXxXx
Later that night, Hashirama met Naruto and Sasuke in the Forest of Death. They had agreed to meet there because of the fact that no one ever went there, so their departure would go unnoticed. It was Hashirama's idea, however, he had not factored in the overwhelming size of Sasuke's Perfect Susanno.
"Alright Sasuke, activate your Susanno so that we can fly over to Madara's location. We have to be discreet about this if we don't want the others to wake up and follow our chakra trail" Hashirama said.
Sasuke just sighed and tried one last time to talk Naruto and Hashirama out of their plan of talking to Madara.
"We don't have to do this. We can still go back to the Uchiha District and think of a plan that actually has a chance of working. What do you say?" Sasuke asked but his plea fell on deaf ears as Naruto and Hashirama both gave him blank stares.
Sasuke sighed in defeat before rolling his eyes and motioned for Naruto and Hashirama to get close to him. As soon as they got close enough, Sasuke activated his Mangekyou and summoned the Susanno.
Naruto looked on in amazement as the Avatar grew in size until it dwarfed even the tallest tree in the Forest of Death. He could see the entire Village from his vantage point.
"Hurry up and get above the clouds, so that we won't be seen" Hashirama said, but Sasuke was already in the air doing just that. He was a shinobi after all, so he knew the importance of stealth.
Once they were safely out of the Village, Hashirama and Naruto relaxed. A few hours passed of Hashirama and Naruto small talk before Sasuke looked back at them for a moment and interrupted.
"We'll be landing in five minutes, Madara has also activated his Susanno and is flying to intercept us as I tell you this. So I ask this question with the upmost urgency, do either of you know what you're going to say to him when we land?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto and Hashirama looked at each other before they looked back at Sasuke.
"I'll figure it out when we get there" The two Ashura incarnates said simultaneously causing Sasuke to growl in annoyance.
"Of course you will" Sasuke said before he caught sight of a blue figure out in the distance.
Sasuke quickly changed their direction of flight and headed towards the ground just in case there would be some kind of confrontation. Sasuke landed first and then a few moments later another Susanno nearly identical to his, the only difference being the blue color instead of the purple color, landed in front of them. There, Madara Uchiha was with his two Rinnegan eyes shining a vibrant purple and an almost happy smirk on his face.
"When I was brought back to life the last person I expected to see was you Hashirama, but I'm glad that you're here as well. Maybe now we can pick up where we left off all those years ago" Madara said eyes focused on Hashirama.
"Madara, we did not come here to fight. We just wanted to talk to you" Hashirama replied.
Madara raised his eyebrow in disbelief at his old friend's words. He couldn't believe that they had actually traveled all the way from the relative safety of the leaf, just to talk to him, the person who planned to imprison the entire world an in everlasting Genjutsu.
"That is such an idiotic idea. It's been so long that I had forgotten how your mind works sometimes. What makes you think that we have anything that we need to talk about?" Madara asked as he looked around and finally noticed the two teenagers that accompanied his former best friend and long time rival.
Hashirama chuckled nervously and Madara rolled his eyes at his antics. It seemed that somethings never changed, but when he felt the presence inside of Naruto he smirked, satisfied that the Nine Tails was within his grasp. He was going to attack so that he could take it, but he was too curious about the Uchiha that was with them. He looked almost exactly like his brother Izuna Uchiha and that unnerved him.
"I see that you've brought the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki here for me, but who's the Uchiha Boy? He's seems to have unlocked his Eternal Mangekyou and his Susanno is almost a carbon copy of mine" Madara asked looking at Sasuke who returned his glare unflinchingly.
Madara was amused by Sasuke's refusal to back down from making eye contact with him, and he was inwardly impressed at the young Uchiha.
Sasuke tightened his grip on Kusanagi as he continued to look into the eyes of his killer in his past life. A few moments of silence passed before he opened his mouth to speak.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha, one of the last survivors of the great Uchiha Clan. I am also the only one out of us that said that this was a bad idea, but now that we're here, I dare you to make a move towards us. I promise you that it'll be the last thing that you'll ever do" Sasuke said as he continued to glare at Madara.
"Oh it's a promise is it? That's tough talk from a brat. Would you like to back it up" Madara asked with a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms.
"Go ahead and make a move. I'm ready anytime you are" Sasuke replied evenly.
The two Uchiha's entered a standoff where both were glaring at each other as if daring the other to make the first move. Sasuke moved an inch and just like that, both he and Madara's Susanno swords were drawn and pointed at each other hovering only an inch or so in front of their faces. Neither Sasuke nor Madara blinked or backed away, they just continued to size each other up, with their chakra swirling violently around them.
Seeing that the situation was quickly devolving into a fight that they didn't come for, Naruto and Hashirama both spoke up to try to put an end the Uchiha staring contest.
"Madara enough, we just wanted to talk to you" Hashirama said.
"Yeah Sasuke, stop trying to start a fight with this guy. Let's just give him a chance to explain himself" Naruto said.
'Enough? Since when has Hashirama ever told me what to do? And a chance to explain myself? The Jinchuuriki has obviously lost his mind. I don't need to explain my actions to anyone, let alone two brats and an depressed idiot. This discussion will only end in me obtaining the Nine Tails and killing everyone else. Though, I'll be sure to enjoy my fight with Hashirama before I seal him away' Madara thought to himself.
'Those idiots. Don't they realize that Madara can't be reasoned with. Why don't they understand that he'll attack us as soon as this so called conversation has concluded. Am I really the only one with common sense?' Sasuke thought to himself.
Neither he or Madara paid attention to what Hashirama and Naruto had said as they continued to glare at one another.
After a few more moments of an intense stare down between Sasuke and Madara; Madara decided that he would humor Hashirama since he hadn't seen him in such a long time. He was in a good mood.
"Fine Hashirama, I promise that I'll have this little discussion with you and the two teenagers, but only if Sasuke here, deactivates his Sharingan" Madara said.
Hashirama and Naruto gave Madara a grateful look while Sasuke looked at Madara as if the man had grown a second head.
"Are you insane? Do you really think that I'd deactivate my Sharingan while knowing that I can be in danger at any moment. You must be even more insane then I originally believed" Sasuke said.
"What's wrong Sasuke? Don't trust me to keep my word?" Madara taunted.
"No I don't. That shouldn't be a surprise to you" Sasuke snapped back. Madara clicked his teeth and shook his head in disappointment.
"You should know as well as I do that an Uchiha never goes back on their word. That's something that has been engraved in the clan since before my time. I'm sure that you were taught that as well" Madara said.
Sasuke frowned. He had been taught that, but Madara only promised to have the discussion with them. He didn't promise that he wouldn't attack them, and that was a chance that Sasuke couldn't take.
"I'll agree to your terms if you agree to mine" Sasuke said.
Madara looked at Sasuke for a moment partially impressed that the teen had enough guts to tell him such a thing, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Very well, state your stipulation" Madara said.
Sasuke thought for a moment for something that would even out the odds if a fight were to break out. He knew his stipulation when he remembered the dangers of the the purple eyes Madara had.
"Deactivate your Rinnegan" Sasuke said.
"Sorry but that is impossible because it cannot be deactivated. The Rinnegan is the ultimate Dojutsu and is incapable of ever being released. Once you achieve the eye, you're stuck with it. Anything else?" Madara asked.
Sasuke once again thought for a moment. If he couldn't power Madara down to his level then maybe he could insure that he wouldn't attack them.
"I want you to swear on your Uchiha name that you won't attack us when the conversation is over. That you'll just let us leave when we finish saying what we have to say" Sasuke said.
Madara went quiet in thought and the other three men all looked at him apprehensively as they waited on his response.
Madara was planning on attacking them when the conversation concluded, but he was far too interested in Sasuke to kill him at that moment. He could afford to wait, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he achieved his goals anyway, so he had nothing to lose by making the promise to Sasuke.
After a few more moments of going over every possible scenario in his head, Madara responded.
"I, Madara Uchiha, swear on my Uchiha name that I will not attack anyone of you when this conversation is over tonight..." Madara said making Hashirama smile at him and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, but Sasuke could tell that the man wasn't done.
"...But I also promise that the next time I cross paths with any of you, will be the day that you all die" Madara finished. Hashirama's smile turned into a small frown and Naruto's eyes narrowed at Madara.
Sasuke nodded in acceptance knowing that it was the best case scenario that he could hope for, and simultaneously the two Uchiha deactivated their Susanno, with Sasuke deactiving his Sharingan completely.
Madara casually sat down with his arm on his knee as he relaxed himself. Now that he had promised that he wouldn't attack, he knew that they wouldn't attack him either, so he decided to get comfortable if he was going to listen to whatever they had to say to him.
"Okay now that that's out of the way, lets talk. We have much to discuss" Hashirama said while sitting down next to Madara as if they hadn't tried to kill each other multiple times.
The weirdest thing to Sasuke was that Madara didn't even seem to mind Hashirama's close proximity to him, even though he had casually said that he still planned on killing them all the next time he saw them.
He concluded that Madara and Hashirama acted far too much like he and Naruto did, but that probably started off as an Ashura/Indra thing originally, so maybe it was just imprinted in their DNA.
"Speak your mind Hashirama, and do try to get to the point. I don't want to hear any usual mindless babble from you" Madara said causing Hashirama to look at him in shock before he pouted.
"Is it really mindless?" Hashirama asked with a pout as a storm cloud seemed to float above him. Naruto gently patted his back for comfort.
Madara let out a smirk at the familiar scene of Hashirama pouting before he decided to ignore him completely and turn his head back towards Sasuke, who had opted to remain standing.
"So since we decided to have this conversation and I have a feeling that you're the only one other than me here with a functioning brain; I have a question to ask you" Madara said.
"Hn. Go ahead and ask, but don't expect me to give you any information that you could use to harm us with" Sasuke said.
Madara smirked, expecting a comment like that, before he spoke up again.
"Why is it that I feel an undeniable connection between you and I. Like a strange sense of familiarity that I can't quite put my finger on. It's almost like I know you" Madara said.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. It would've been unnoticeable to anyone else, but Madara caught it.
"Judging by you're reaction to my question, you seem to know the reason why this is. I would be grateful if you'd tell me. It would get rid of this nagging feeling that I'm experiencing" Madara said.
Sasuke thought for a moment about whether or not he should tell him, but before he could reach a solid conclusion, Naruto spoke up.
"You have that feeling because you and Sasuke are both incarnates of the Sage of Six Paths oldest son, Indra Otsutsuki" Naruto said.
Sasuke gave Naruto his fiercest glare to silence him from revealing more information, but unfortunately Naruto wasn't the only one willing to discuss this topic with Madara.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Madara. We are all reincarnations of the Sage of Six Paths two children. You and Sasuke are Indra incarnates and Naruto and I are Ashura incarnates. It's the main reason why we can never seem to see eye to eye despite the fact that we're so close" Hashirama said.
Madara looked confused and gave Sasuke a look that said 'Explain'. Sasuke sighed not believing that he'd have to explain this story to Madara of all the people. The same person who took his own sword and killed him with it. Sasuke then spent the next ten minutes telling Madara the same story that he told Hashirama. When he finished the story, Madara looked more than a little skeptical and that annoyed Sasuke.
"What I say is true, but you don't have to believe us. Just feel out your chakra and you'll see for yourself" Sasuke said with a shrug.
Madara cautiously did as he was instructed and soon enough he could feel a person being manifested out of his chakra. He looked back to see the person that looked eerily similar to himself and immediately knew that that was Indra Otsutsuki, but this revelation just filled him with more questions.
"Wait, so your basically me?" Madara asked looking at Sasuke.
"Hn. I wouldn't say it quite like that, we may share a bond far beyond blood ties because of our status as Indra's incarnates, but I wouldn't go as far as to say we're anywhere close to being the same person" Sasuke said.
"In any case, if we're both Indra incarnates then why are you not on my side? I know that somewhere inside you, you can understand me and agree with my methods, so why do you still fight with the idiots?" Madara asked.
"HEY!" Naruto and Hashirama yelled at the same time, but both Sasuke and Madara ignored them.
"Its not that I don't understand your methods, it's just that I have people that I want to protect, and if I help you achieve your goal then there's a good chance that they could get hurt in the process. I don't want that, so I can't let you win" Sasuke said. Madara scoffed.
"You haven't severed your bonds with them yet? How did you obtain such power without sacrificing someone that you love? We both know that that is the only way for an Uchiha to reach the level of power that we have" Madara said.
"I've lost more than you'll ever know Madara. I'm tired of losing people close to me, and I refuse to stand idly by and watch it happen again" Sasuke said as a little bit of emotion laced his voice.
"I see. It's unfortunate that we can't see eye to eye and band together as Indra incarnates. We'd truly be an unstoppable force and we'd finally be able to bring peace to the world. There would be no more senseless fighting, no more worlds where children have to fight and die for their clans and villages but you want to stop all of that because of the fact that your unwilling to sever your bonds" Madara said.
Madara's words shocked both Naruto and Sasuke because they didn't think that Madara would care about anyone else.
"But your goal is to trap everyone in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. How can you say that you want to help the world if that Jutsu would just imprison everyone in it and force them into an eternal Genjutsu?" Naruto asked.
"That's just it Jinchuuriki. No one would ever die, and the only thing that they would know is their idea of a perfect existence. It would be like everyone's own personal paradise. The only person that will be left is me. I will live in this flawed world by myself while the rest of humanity enjoys their days in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. A few people may have to be sacrificed but it's for the greater good, if people wanna hate me for it then so be it" Madara said.
Hashirama looked at Madara in shock. This was the first time that he had ever heard of Madara's plan, but the fact that he was planning on being alone, while the rest of humanity lived out their perfect realities showed that Madara wasn't nearly as evil as Tobirama or most people thought.
In many ways, he was still that boy that he used to skip stones and dream of a better world with. The harshness of the world just forced him to think that he needed to go to the extremes to achieve such things.
"Madara..." Hashirama whispered.
Sasuke was shocked at how similar his and Madara's thought process was. At one point in time, Sasuke had been exactly what Madara was. He wanted peace so badly that he was willing to force it on everyone, even if that meant that he wouldn't get to enjoy it himself.
"Shut it Hashirama. I don't need nor want your pity" Madara said.
"But you don't have to be alone. We can find another way to achieve peace. The threat of this war alone has caused the Five Great Shinobi Nations to form an alliance just so that we can stand a chance against you. This could be the start of a peaceful shinobi world for the future, and when I take over as Hokage, I know that I'll do the best that I can to make sure that they're is no more fighting, and I know that Sasuke and our friends will be right by side. If anyone tries something then we'll just kick their ass and force them to be good" Naruto said.
Madara smirked and almost laughed at Naruto's childish and naive way of thinking.
"It may be true that the shinobi nations have formed an alliance to deal with me, but what do you think will happen after the conclusion of the war? The alliance will immediately cease, and then it'll be a mad scramble for all the spoils of war, which could lead to more conflict between the Villages. It's a never ending cycle of violence that won't stop by simply 'kicking the ass' of everyone not willing to comply with your peace" Madara said.
"That's why we can work together. With both sets of the Indra and Ashura pairings working together there's bound to be something that we can do that can achieve our goals" Hashirama said as he looked at his friend hopefully.
Madara looked away from Hashirama and was quiet for a long time. He seemed to be in deep thought and for a moment, Sasuke had a slight amount of hope that Madara would give it a chance, and abandon his plan.
Madara looked back at his only friend and Hashirama could see the slight amount of regret in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but it is too late for something like that to work. More drastic measures have to be taken, no matter the costs" Madara said to Hashirama before he looked to Sasuke and Naruto.
"You have both shown me your guts, and I can say with the upmost sincerity that I respect you, however, I will still need to extract the Nine Tails from you Naruto. I hope you survive to see paradise, but if not then I will give you a proper burial. Sasuke, I hope that you will not intervene, but if you insist on getting in my way then I will have to kill you as well. It's unfortunate that it has to come to this, but I have simply ran out of options" Madara said.
Sasuke, Naruto and Hashirama all gave Madara solemn looks before Hashirma placed a hand on Madara's shoulder and squeezed it before he got up and walked towards Sasuke and Naruto.
"Just think about what we said Madara. We're here to help you" Hashirama said as he nodded at Sasuke.
Sasuke activated his Mangekyou and soon his purple Susanno stood tall in the empty field where the conversation took place. Naruto, Hashirama and Sasuke were all in the head crest, but Madara's eyes were locked on to Sasuke's.
The two stared at each other for a few moments silently having a battle of wills before Sasuke's chakra flared and the Susanno took off back in the direction of Konoha.
Madara just watched fly away with endless thoughts on his brain. He soon activated his own Susanno and flew back towards his base to go over their conversation thoroughly. There were a lot of new developments that he had to think about.
TBC
Shinobi Saiyan- Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! I know you PM'ed me asking for more Madara scenes and I hope I didn't disappoint.
The Unkown Uchia- I have no plans to end it in the next few chapters.
Dominiknoxi- I'm glad that you improve of Sasuke now lol and yeah I've always thought that Kirin was super OP so I made it super OP in my fic. Thank for the compliments on the Sannin scenes, I'm just glad that I could write them in a way that people enjoy. And thank you for the love from the Philippines! That means a lot! I'll make sure that I never keep y'all waiting too long for an update again without some sort of notice.
Shikara Gizzel- Hizashi never died and to be honest I forgot all about Dan. Oops lol and I thought that Izuna died during the Senju/Uchiha feud before the leaf was founded? I don't think his body would be in the leaf village right? You can correct me if I'm wrong.
That one Kitsune- Its nice hearing that my story is capable of improving your mood when you're having a bad day. Thank you for all the support and I actually just found out yesterday that I did pretty well on my finals. Thank you! And I love all of y'all as well! Without you there's no guarantee I would've made it to 36 chapters.
Antex- The Legendary Zoroark- I have to add at least a little comedy in every chapter lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Splaaash-attack- Thank you! I hope you enjoyed it!
Please don't be shy to say what you feel and don't be nervous to send your suggestions. If you don't want to review them then my PMs are also open. Please continue to Read and Review- Dishon 3