Author's Note: Here you are, folks. This chapter's a whopping 14,699 words. How's that for longer chapters?

It is very important that you read the Author's Note at the bottom of the page. VERY important. I'd go so far as to say you least owe me that.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my friend OGAFazer89AC, for all the help he's given me with this story. Whether or not it's pointing out grammatical flaws, or odd plot choices, he's helped me make this story the best it can be. He was my first friend on the site, and he shall remain my best friend on the site. This chapter's dedicated to you, man!

Here are the songs you need to worry about this chapter. There a lot, but of course, it's because a lot shit happens this time around:

(1): /watch?v=xvvfore2IEg

(2): /watch?v=BGprYcLIyEM

(3): /watch?v=TM8IzC5wZIs

(4): /watch?v=1Ngf6uKNsiU

(5): /watch?v=oicuSMWMn_A


"Okay, let's see how you handle this!"

Naruto threw the Rasenshuriken with great force, closing the gap between him and Renjishi in mere seconds. Before it struck the massive puppet, however, Renjishi opened its maw, and a length of scroll came tumbling out. Several symbols appeared just before the Rasenshuriken struck it, and Naruto watched as the explosion was drawn into the scroll before being sealed inside.

"You'll have to try harder than that, boy!" Monzaemon shouted, as the puppet grabbed the scroll with both hands. "We'll see how you like your own attack thrown back at you!"

The scroll began to glow, and Naruto raced towards Gaara. He did not know if his shield of sand could hold up to an attack like that. It had been a wise move. The scroll erupted with blue light, and a beam of incredibly potent chakra shot towards them like a bolt of lightning. Naruto's speed surpassed it, and he grabbed Gaara and jumped away before the beam hollowed out a great portion of the side of the mountain.

Monzaemon laughed as Naruto and Gaara rolled to a halt. "Such a pity you failed. I'm truly impressed by that technique's power. It—" The mountain beneath him began to glow, and the puppet's red eyes glowed with surprise. It wheeled around.

(1)

Naruto came rushing up the other side of the mountain, another Rasenshuriken in hand. He hopped into the hand of a clone that ran beside him, who threw the original Naruto straight up in the air, high above Renjishi. The puppet opened its mouth to try and seal the attack away once again, but it was too slow.

'He must have left a clone with the Kazekage, while he himself disappeared underground," Monzaemon thought to himself, as the scroll came pouring out from Renjishi's mouth again. The attack bit right through the paper, and continued with no lost momentum.

The Rasenshuriken descended into Renjishi's wooden jaws silently, and it wasn't until it was buried in the puppet's stomach when it exploded. Naruto was thrown higher into the air by the shockwave, and his clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Gaara's sand reached around behind him, and helped guide him towards a safe landing.

The puppet twitched and convulsed as Naruto landed beside Gaara. The Kazekage's face was as stoic as ever, but Naruto could see intrigue plastered in those eyes. He smiled cheekily, polishing his knuckles on his chest.

"Impressed?" he asked.

Gaara almost rolled his eyes. "I wasn't aware Sage Mode bestowed an ego alongside its combative benefits."

"Yeah, you're impressed," Naruto replied, laughing. "Now all we have to is finish this thing off, and we can get straight to Monzaemon himself."

"That will not be necessary," he heard Gaara say, pointing ahead of them.

Naruto turned to look at the peak. Indeed Renjishi had generally survived the attack, as Naruto had expected, though it was heavily damaged. But as it creaked and moaned, standing back at full height, the puppet began to repair itself. Complicated machinery from hidden folds welded and screwed back together what they could, and chakra itself what they could not. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Monzaemon's chakra signature was starting to get stronger.

And then, just as the puppet had fully repaired itself, the Puppet Master himself appeared within Renjishi's own body, suspended in its torso.

"It seems we have garnered more attention," Gaara said in a hushed voice, watching Monzaemon carefully. From what he had been told, this Monzaemon looked different from when he had attacked the village initially. Gears and pumps and wooden cranks looked brand new, and well-polished as he removed himself from his puppet's core.

Monzaemon noticed Gaara staring at him. "I've had plenty of time to make the necessary repairs, seeing as your own village is woefully ill-equipped to deal with someone like me. Such a pity the Sand has fallen like this."

He turned to Naruto, and again he saw that strange glint in his burning red eyes. "So, Naruto—are you here to kill me? To strike me down?"

"You bet!" Naruto shouted back. "I'll stop you, easy!"

Monzaemon's face contorted into anger. "I did not ask you if you would 'stop' me, boy. I asked if you will kill me, as you said you would. Do you not remember? Come and kill what cannot die. Do you stand by this? I want to hear your answer!"

Naruto's face was drawn, and he said nothing. Monzaemon's eyes flashed with rage, but it quickly faded. "Do not disappoint me, Naruto."

The mountain began to shake, and Renjishi began to rise into the air, pushing itself higher and higher with powerful arms. Rock suddenly burst from the very peak of the mountain, revealing a pair of legs hidden inside. The Puppet leaped into the air, and landed on the slope. Rocks and sand rolled past it, and dust poured from the peak where it had emerged.

"Renjishi is the closest I ever got to creating the perfect puppet," Monzaemon explained, "although I was never able to design smaller models that met my standards. Still, you will find this puppet much harder to destroy than any of those that came before."

"Will you shut up!?"

Naruto was suddenly by his side, a massive Rasengan spinning in his hand. His hand was only inches away from Monzaemon's body, but with a twitch of his fingers, Renjishi tugged against its own strings pulling him back inside its body. Naruto cursed under his breath, and went after him.

Despite its great size, this puppet was extremely fast, racing up and down the mountain side, taking boulders into its hands, and throwing them at Naruto, who dodged each and every one of them. Gaara's sand followed close behind in thin streaks, edging closer and closer. The puppet switched directions, running away from the side of the mountain, and back out onto the desert. Gaara's sand followed suit, as did Naruto.

Renjishi suddenly jumped into the air again, escaping Gaara's grasp by the width of a hair. As it spun in midair, its leg began to glow with concentrated chakra, and it hammered down on Gaara's sand with great force, pushing straight through and heading for Naruto. He quickly summoned a shadow clone, who threw him out of the way, just as the massive puppet collided with the ground.

The puppet's fingers folded together into conical shapes, metal drills that spun rapidly in its arms. The puppet punched the rock beneath it, deepening the hold it had made, before disappearing inside the earth.

Gaara and Naruto immediately jumped apart from one another, forcing Monzaemon to choose only one target. Yet with Naruto's Sage Mode, and Gaara's sand, they both detected two chakra signatures beneath them, and rolled out of the way just as Renjishi's massive arms burst forth, having separated from the main torso.

As the drills spun, hidden compartments opened up alongside its serrated edges, and thousands of senbon rained down on them.

Gaara felt chills run up his spine as his sand protected him. One of the only valuable pieces of knowledge he had gained about Monzaemon had been that the Puppet Master loathed all weapons, and had never designed any of his puppets to have them, unless they were actually defensive mechanisms repurposed. It seems that he had added more to his puppets than just repairs. To go against everything he had once stood for…had their village truly caused this?

The arms in front of Naruto and Gaara began to transform. First, wooden panels flicked open on all sides, and began to fold in complex patterns over one another. Separate arms and legs appeared, and within seconds, two separate puppets stood before them.

There was more rumbling underneath their feet, and the rest of Renjishi leaped into the air. The puppet's legs had split in half, and traveled up the side of the torso, becoming new arms. Monzaemon himself wore the puppet like a suit of armor, manipulating the controls from inside. Using the puppet's new hands, he controlled the puppets that now stood between him and Gaara and Naruto.

"I want your answer, Naruto!" Monzaemon screamed, as he launched his two puppets towards them with frightening speed. A large sword emerged from their arms, and began to glow with Monzaemon's chakra. One cleaved right through Gaara's sand, going after the Kazekage directly, while Naruto and the other puppet began to duel one another.

Naruto jumped backwards as the puppet slammed its sword into the sand in front of him. As it was pulling the blade back out, compartments in its shoulders popped open, launching dozens of paper bombs at him. Speeding along the ground, Naruto felt the explosions inch closer and closer to him, before they finally ran out. But by then, the puppet itself was after him again, thrusting the sword towards his heart. Naruto barely moved out of the way, and reared back his fist. With the power of Sage Mode at his side, his punch flung the puppet back like a ragdoll.

Gaara's puppet was too busy dealing with the shield of sand to stop the other one from slamming into it, and they both tumbled across the sand. Monzaemon immediately forced them back on their feet, and once again they were after Naruto and the Kazekage.

Gaara loaded some extra chakra into his sand, hurling chunks of them like projectiles into the puppet's joints. The puppet slowed for a moment, and it was all the time Gaara needed. He slammed his palms onto the ground, and waves of the desert came crashing against the puppet, again and again. Bits of wood and metal clinked against Monzaemon's armor, and he scowled in anger. The puppet used a burst of chakra to push the sand away and jumped backwards, putting some distance between them. Monzaemon considered it for a moment, and suddenly switched targets, sending both puppets after Naruto while he dealt with Gaara himself.

The two Kazekage clashed violently; Monzaemon punched straight through Gaara's initial tendril of sand, before being stopped by the rest of it, and a huge amount of dust was kicked into the air. Monzaemon tried to grab onto Gaara, but the sand kept pushing his hands away. Frustrated, Monzaemon stomped his foot against the ground, pushing his heel into the desert. He spread the puppet's arms wide, and metal panels spread out in a wide arc, covering both Gaara's front and sides. He tried to back away, but a metal spike emerged from the ground behind him, stabbing him through the chest.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, before he realized that the Kazekage's chakra wasn't fading away. The Gaara in front of him began to melt; and Naruto realized that he had been nothing but sand. He searched out for the real Gaara, but it was hard to concentrate as he ducked out of the way of a blow to his head. Another tried to thrust its sword into the ground in front of Naruto, to force him to jump away backwards, but Naruto saw through Monzaemon's ruse. He sidestepped the attack, and grabbed onto the blade, concentrating his Sage chakra into the length of the blade. Surprisingly, his gamble paid off; the puppet tried to pull away, and when Monzaemon had removed his chakra threads from the puppet, aware that it was a lost cause, the wood and metal slowly turned to stone, and with the last of his strength, Naruto threw it towards the other puppet.

The sword's chakra widened at the tip of the sword, drilling through the rock before it could do any damage. However, the dust and small pieces of stone worked as an effective smokescreen, blanketing the surrounding area.

Huge sandy jaws suddenly emerged from ground beneath the other puppet, clamping across it before Monzaemon could pull it back. It struggled against the sand, pushing chakra through its body to try and escape, but Gaara forced more of his own chakra into the sand, overpowering the puppet, and adding more sand every second. The spikes of sand suddenly exploded at the tip, forcing even more spikes through the puppet's body. They then burst, spreading in all directions, and the puppet was practically obliterated, collapsing to the ground in dozens of pieces.

"You two make quite the team," Monzaemon was forced to admit, watching the two carefully. Naruto's Sage Mode had faded away, and he was breathing heavily from the stress. Gaara, while covered with dirt and sand, looked relatively unscathed. He delighted watching their eyes flicker with surprise, as the two puppets they had just destroyed began to reform themselves in front of them. Monzaemon dragged them back to the main body with two threads, and in several seconds, the complete Renjishi stood towering over them once more.

"I'll ask again: where the hell does this guy get all his chakra?" Naruto whispered to Gaara, wiping some sweat from his brow.

"And I will answer again: I do not know." Gaara replied back, as Renjishi came charging forward. The both prepared for an attack, but the massive puppet simply leaped above them, heading for the entrance that had been opened into the depths of his mountain. They suddenly realized how far they had traveled in the midst of their battle, as they were now quite a ways away from the mountain.

As he watched him leave, Naruto sighed. "Man, this is gonna suck."

"He will likely have traps scattered in those caves," Gaara thought, eyes narrowed.

"I know. That's why it'll suck." The blonde formed a hand sign, and three clones popped up around him. "I'm gonna leave these guys behind, so that hopefully by the time we find him, I can use Sage Mode again."

Gaara nodded in agreement, formed a platform of sand for them to stand on, and they raced off towards Monzaemon's mountain. The Sabakusentō. The belly of the beast.


By the time they reached the Sabakusentō, the way inside had been shut to them. Gaara did not let that stop them, however. He found sand in the minutest cracks and wedges of the rock and earth in front of him, and with great concentration forced them out into the desert air. The changes in mass forced the rock into collapsing in on itself, and the way inside was open to them once again.

Utter blackness stood before them. As they stepped inside, Gaara's sand began to scout ahead, forming a light dusting on the sides of the walls and along the floor, hunting for signs of Monzaemon or any traps that might be waiting for them. Naruto, who was still waiting for his clone to gather enough natural energy, could only rely on Gaara's quick reflexes to save him, as he quickly learned that the traps were extraordinarily advanced, more so than what he was able to detect in the gloom of the mountain's depths.

Several chakra threads suddenly laced themselves in front of him, crude bombs fastened to them. The explosion was far closer to reaching him than he would have liked, but Gaara's sand protected him from the brunt of the blast, and he only received a slight feeling of pressure against his body.

"You two seem alike, I should think," they heard Monzaemon say, his voice bouncing off the walls in all directions. Naruto spun around to try and locate the Puppet Master, but the earth and rock played tricks on his ears. Monzaemon's voice was both a whisper and a shout, booming and hissing in his mind as one. "So very similar, and yet so different at the same time. I know the stink of death, and I only smell it on one of you."

His shrill voice cackled in the darkness. Naruto frowned, always disdaining playing his word games.

"Gaara-sama, you are no stranger to murder, aren't you? You understand its bitterness, the smell that seeps into your blood that you cannot wash off, no matter how many times you try. You understand the work of a Kazekage."

"But so do I, if you have forgotten," he continued. "But do you understand what it feels like to see your life's work turned against you? To see such a beautiful thing, something to protect those you hold dear, without bringing danger against you, turned into a tool for war and death?"

"Do not lecture me on how to guide my people," Gaara growled. "You, who has betrayed everything he ever stood for, for the sake of a petty revenge."

The current Kazekage took a deep breath, horrid memories rushing to the surface. "I am aware, of what the taste of death feels like on your lips. I had killed many when I was younger, blind to what I was truly doing."

"Disgusting hypocrite," Monzaemon shot back, the echoes taunting and jeering and mocking. "To denounce me, when you yourself murdered countless people. Innocents, I imagine. Your eyes do not lie to me, Gaara-sama."

And so Gaara closed them. It helped to push the memories away, forcing them to crawl back into the dark corners of his mind. "There are few in the world of the shinobi who are truly innocent."

Monzaemon laughed at that. He laughed long and loudly, and the darkness of the caves surrounding them transformed the sound into something evil, and filled with malice. But Naruto heard more, though he dare not say so, for fear that he was only hearing things. Naruto heard a pang of guilt.

"Too right! We all have our dark little secrets, don't we? Hmmm, I wonder what you have to hide from us, Naruto? Such an idealist. Are you innocent, or do you lie just like the rest of us? Tell yourself that what you do is right and just?"

Naruto's legs suddenly felt weak beneath him. In the dark of the cave, he saw something move in front of him. Gaara must have pressed on ahead, eager to find their foe.

He quickened his pace, hoping to catch up to him. "Gaara, wait up!" he called. "Hey, wait up, will you?"

The footsteps grew dimmer, and Naruto suddenly raced ahead, gripped by fear. His eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, and when he had caught up, it was not Gaara he saw in front of him.

"…Hinata?"

She did not answer him, only moved forward without a sound. Her tiny feet padded against the ground with little effort, as calm as midnight snowfall.

Naruto stepped forward, hesitantly. He did not command his arm to reach out to her, but still that is what it did, and he lightly grasped her shoulder, turning her around. "Hinata, is that—"

(2)

He drew back in horror. Only a skull stared back at him, with blank sockets of black anger. It screeched in his face, and flitted away like the last of a candle's light, and Naruto realized he was alone.

His fingers groped in the dark, looking for something to lean on as he calmed himself down.

Let her go.

The voice was back, and it scared him. Like liquid evil, it poured hateful words into his ear, lapping at his sanity.

Let her go!

The voice was getting louder, and Naruto's vision began to blur. He wiped blood from his eyes that was not there, stumbled over boulders that were not in his way, and saw things he was not meant to see.

A woman lay before him, covered in grime and dried blood. Even from where he stood, he could hear her ragged breaths burst from gasping lungs. His mind fell away, and he wanted to help her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leaning down. He offered her a comforting hand, and the woman accepted it gratefully. Her flesh felt horribly cold, and Naruto began to feel the ice creep up his fingers. She turned to him, and where there was meant to be a face, there was nothing. Features drifted in and out of Naruto's vision, but never settled into one. They were always changing, shifting before he could discern them or recognize them. A face he would never know.

"I'm w-worried…" the woman whimpered, as Naruto stepped back. "My daughter…she's in danger."

"Who? Who are you talking about?"

"My daughter," the woman repeated, urgent. "Please, you must help my daughter in any way you can! She's such a pretty thing, so kind and polite…I could not bear to…"

The woman coughed, and coughed some more. There was a bulge in her throat, and an object appeared in her mouth. She spat it on the ground, and did not bother with a second glance. Naruto looked with frightful eyes, and recognized the object as his own headband.

His heart thudded in his chest, and his lungs grew tight within his body. "W-who's your daughter?" he asked again, no longer sure he wanted to hear the answer. "M-maybe I can…help her…"

"You must save my daughter!" the woman shrieked, lurching for his clothes. Her fingers dug into his skin, painfully. "You cannot let her die!" Tears fell from colorless eyes, eyes Naruto did not know he could see. She wept in his arms, repeating that phrase as many times as her throat could stand it. Naruto's own was stopped; there were no words.

Let her go.

And then she was gone, as quickly as she had come. Naruto knew the woman and did not at the same time, and his mind quarreled to find the answer. He heard screams, and the sound of battle, yet none of his other senses offered more clarity. He blinked, and nearly ran into Gaara's back.

"Be careful," the Kazekage reminded him. "One wrong step is a good way to get ourselves killed down here."

Naruto blinked. As they walked, he stared into his own hands. There were no longer covered in blood, the voice no longer whispered dark things into his ear. Had it all been a dream, some waking nightmare? Or was it something else, something Monzaemon had orchestrated just the same as he made his wooden men dance?

"The boy is right, Naruto!" Monzaemon called to them cheerfully. "You never know what crawls around in the black. These caves have a way of…playing tricks with your mind. You learn things about yourself that you might never have known…and so do I." His laughter filled the air with sound, and never did Naruto feel so strained.

"I do not like the feel of his voice," Gaara commented, and Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Do you know what he's talking about, Naruto?" Gaara asked.

Naruto turned to answer, but it was Hinata who stared back at him, in Gaara's body. Those eyes, with just that tinge of lavender, looked at him, accusingly. She shimmered, even though there was no light in the dank of the caves, and if Naruto tried to reach out and touch her, she fluttered like the wind.

"Do you know what he's talking about, Naruto-kun?" she asked again, her eyes pleading. "What could he know th-that I don't?"

Naruto's tongue welled up in his mouth. "Hinata…I don't really know how I'm supposed to tell you. You see, I—"

What does he know, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, louder this time. "What does he know? What does know, what does he know?"

Let her go.

Naruto pounded his fists against his head, trying to force the voice out of his head. He pounded until his knuckles bled, bled blood that was not his own.

Hinata became Hiashi, and the cold eyes of the Hyūga turned even colder. "I will not allow you to murder my daughter, just as you murdered my wife." He was holding a kunai, and he raised it above his head.

Somehow, Naruto had fallen down, and he held his hands in front of him, pitifully. "I...I didn't!" he insisted. "Please, I never would have—"

"Do not lie!" Hiashi's voice turned deep, and scorn-filled. His eyes glowed red, and rows of sharp teeth dangled from his open mouth. "You and the demon within are one and the same! It is better to rid the world of its evil, than allow it to remain in such a weak boy, someone who cannot even control its power."

The kunai turned into a massive claw, and Hiashi's hair flew wildly about him, into nine writhing tails. His clothes and skin ripped open as he grew into the Kyūbi stood over its corpse, glaring at the boy in front of him.

"Better to rid the world of our evil than allow it to remain in such a weak boy, someone who cannot even control our power." The voice was not only his own. Naruto heard Hiashi's, Hinata's, and the woman from before, all howling at him. He squeezed his eyes shut as the Kyūbi plunged its claw towards Naruto's heart.

'I love you, Naruto-kun…never forget that.'

Hinata was not bloody, nor did she look as fallow as before. Her skin glowed with health, and she offered Naruto one of those smiles that made his heart sing. This was the Hinata he knew, the Hinata he was beginning to…

Naruto's eyes flew open, and he rolled out of the way before the claw pierced his heart. It dug into his shoulder, and he cried out in pain, latching onto the claw. The burst of pain brought him back.

The Kyūbi disappeared, replaced by nothing more than a common puppet, clattering its teeth in front of him. From its open mouth, a strange-smelling gas spewed forth, and as Naruto breathed in, the puppet's visage shifted.

He looked down. Where a giant claw should have been, there was a rusty blade, attached to the puppet's arm. Rage filled Naruto's body, and he grabbed onto the sword plunged into his shoulder. His palms bled, but Naruto did not feel the pain. With a heave, he forced the sword out, and the puppet stumbled back several feet. It came rushing back towards him, but Naruto was ready.

A kunai appeared in his hand, and with a powerful stroke, snapped the blade clean in two. The puppet launched several shuriken from its arm, but Naruto knocked them aside. He threw his hands together, and summoned a shadow clone to his side.

The puppet retreated, crawling back into the safety of the dark, but Naruto chased after him, the Rasengan that filled his hand lighting the way. The distance between himself and the puppet grew, and so did Naruto's frustration.

He reached into his pouch, pulling out a small scroll with his other hand. When he released the seal, a larger scroll thumped against the ground, and Naruto rubbed his hand in his shoulder, and flung the blood where he had left the larger scroll. In a puff of smoke, one of Naruto's clones appeared, with the distinctive markings of Sage Mode around his eyes. Naruto released the clone, and was filled with power.

He dug in his heels, and caught the fleeing puppet as it crawled against a wall. The Rasengan in his hand suddenly grew larger than his entire body, and with a feral cry, he forced it on top of the puppet.

The rock in front of them disintegrated, just as the puppet did, and Naruto heard a rumble as the rest began to collapse. With another push, the Rasengan actually pushed through the rock, and Naruto was thrown into the battle.

He was suddenly in a massive cavern, older than anything he could think of. Alongside the stalagmites and stalactites, hundreds of puppets could be seen, of all shapes and sizes. He glanced alongside the walls, looking curiously at the teal-colored mineral that dotted the rock. It seemed to glow, and not because of the blazing torches the stood nearby.

And in the middle of it all, stood Gaara. Many of the puppets were trying to breach his defense, and it was only through the hardest concentration that he was not being overwhelmed.

Naruto's mind raced. He wiped more blood on his hand, and slammed his palm into the ground.

"Summoning jutsu!" he cried.

Smoke billowed in front of him, and Gamakichi appeared, who immediately turned around to look for his summoner.

"Heya, Naruto!" he said cheerfully. "Need my help, eh?"

Naruto nodded urgently. "You bet. We need to get Gaara out of there, and fast!"

He jumped onto Gamakichi's back, and felt the toad under his feet already at work, molding chakra in his massive stomach. Naruto did the same, mixing it with wind chakra as Gamakichi worked with water.

The both spewed their chakra out from their mouths at the same time, and the entire cavern was blanketed in a massive concussive force. Every one of the puppets were thrown back against the wall, some of the weaker or older puppets crushed from the impact.

Gaara opened his eyes. "Naruto…I am glad to see you."

"You have any idea what happened?" the blonde asked, rushing up next to his friend. "A bunch of really weird stuff happened to me."

"I turned around at some point, and you were no longer there. I searched for you with my sand, but these puppets encountered me first, and eventually forced me in here."

He cocked his head to one side. "Was it a Genjutsu?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Maybe, but I don't think so. There was another puppet that nearly got me, and there was this gas that was coming out of his mouth. Once I beat it, I didn't have that weird stuff happen anymore."

"It was more than likely a hallucinogenic toxin, absorbed through the lungs," Gaara guessed. "It used to be a tool used by our village, before it was outlawed for the gruesome side effects upon prolonged exposure. Perhaps Monzaemon created it before he realized what it could be used for."

And then Naruto remembered. "Where is Monzy, anyway? I didn't seem him on my way here. Do you want me to look for him?"

Gaara looked to the roof of the cavern. "That will not be necessary."

Naruto's eyes rose to the ceiling, and just as Gaara said, there was Monzaemon, floating above them. His eyes were closed, and literally hundreds of threads spun from every corner of his body, controlling the puppets that were starting to recover.

"You did better than I expected, Naruto," Monzaemon said, with eyes still closed. "I must say, your will is strong. Do you have an answer for me yet?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Naruto demanded.

"Do not try and change the subject. Why are you so insistent on refusing to admit the obvious? You have killed before, yet it fills you with disdain. Do you even have the stomach to do what is necessary? Was I mistaken in placing my trust in you?"

These cryptic words filled Naruto with more questions than answers, but he forced himself to look back to the puppets, which were starting to charge towards them.

Naruto felt something odd permeate throughout his entire body. Sage Mode granted him the ability to detect the chakra signatures of anyone he wished, yet as he ducked under a puppet's arm, before demolishing it with one kick, he felt Monzaemon's presence all around him, even in the rock that surrounded them. He shot a glance in Gaara's direction, and from the way the Kazekage looked at him, he wasn't alone in his suspicion.

"What the heck did you get me into, Naruto?" Gamakichi asked, kicking one of the puppets into several others with a powerful leg. He was nearly carved into by a larger puppet with a chakra blade in the shape of a scythe, but Naruto was able to stop the attack.

"You get out of here, Gamakichi!" Naruto grunted, pushing the puppet back. "We only needed to get Gaara free; there's too many things for you to keep track of here, so just go ahead and leave! Gamabunta would never forgive me if I let you get hurt."

Gamakichi wanted to continue arguing, but the look in Naruto's golden eyes allowed no room for argument, and he nodded grimly, wishing Naruto and Gaara luck before he disappeared.

(3)

Naruto's concentration was spread far too thin. Even though most of these puppets were unfinished, from what he could tell at least, the sheer number of them combined with Monzaemon's natural talent proved to be a daunting task to handle even a few, and there were a few hundred. Two jumped in front of him, and Naruto kicked them away, only to be blasted with chakra from behind, smashing him into several more of the puppets. They lifted their weapons, ready to strike, but Gaara's sand came racing over, and pulled Naruto to safety.

"Get clear, Gaara!" Naruto warned, summoning two shadow clones. The distinct hum of the Rasenshuriken rang around the room like a war cry, and as he flung the projectile headlong into the horde of puppets before them, the teal-colored mineral reflected the light, making it shine.

Monzaemon attempted to pull as many puppets away from the devastating attack as he could, but had forgotten how fast the attack traveled. More than a third of the puppets were decimated, wiped away like they had never existed. Monzaemon's exquisite craftsmanship and the puppets' durability meant little when faced with such power. When the attack exploded, even more puppets were taken down, shattered into thousands of pieces.

Naruto did not even stop to examine the damage he had caused. He leapt high into the air, another Rasenshuriken spinning his hand. He moved for Monzaemon, but as he drew close, Monzaemon opened his eyes.

Gaara had continued to assault the remaining puppets, tendrils of sand snaking out and crushing any puppet he could find, but the din beneath faded away from Naruto's ears. The edges of his vision began to blur, and the only thing he could see and hear quickly, was the Puppet Master before him, staring curiously with those red eyes.

"Killing me is the only way to save your friend's village," Monzaemon said, softly. "You hide from the truth like a child; face it like a man! The only way to save your life, and hundreds of others, is to take my own!"

Naruto roared in anger, and hurled the Rasenshuriken towards him. Monzaemon instantly dropped the threads from every single one of his puppets, concentrating the chakra for his own need to move out of the way, which he did by inches. As he moved, Naruto noticed something inserted into the small of his back, a metal tube of some kind. A glance passed between them, and Naruto fell back to the ground, where Gaara had taken advantage of the puppets' weakness to destroy many more of them. Now, less than half of Monzaemon's experiments remained.

But as he joined the Kazekage in the center of the room, he felt weak in the knees. Gaara looked even worse, and was breathing heavily. He had not sustained any damage, and Gaara rarely moved during the battle, so why did he look so exhausted?

Monzaemon laughed from his perch. "You appear to be growing tired, Gaara-sama. I don't think you can go on for much longer!"

"Gaara, are you alright?" Naruto asked, bending over to help him back to his feet.

"I feel…weak…" Gaara muttered, licking some sweat away from his brow. "My chakra…I'm using more than what I intend."

"You are probably not used to the sensation," Monzaemon explained. "It's quite taxing, to be sure. I barely survived when I first arrived; you remind me of myself when I first found this mountain."

Naruto was confused. "What are you talking about!" he shouted up to him. "What are you doing to Gaara?"

Monzaemon hooted again, sneering. "It is nothing that I am doing myself, Naruto. This is from the mountain itself."

"Liar!" Naruto roared, baring his teeth. "Why should we believe someone who uses tricks all the time?"

"Oh, maybe because this 'liar' is telling the truth, you half-wit." Monzaemon sighed, spreading his arms. "When I first arrived here, I thought I had found a safe haven, somewhere where I could continue my work in peace and quiet, not to be bothered by the outside world. As it was, I was right in finding this place, but my solitude came at a cost."

He looked around, his red eyes lingering on the teal minerals that dotted the cavern. "As I dug the corridors and rooms for my stay here, I realized that I was losing my chakra far faster than usual. There were a few times that I had been close to death, yet I could never understand why."

Naruto's eyes darted around the room. Where was he going with this? The mineral seemed nothing special. But wait…he looked closer. A torch had been destroyed during their battle, yet the glow remained, an eerie green light dancing across that corner of the cavern.

"Perhaps you are not as stupid as I originally thought," Monzaemon said, noticing Naruto's curiosity. "You are correct in your assumptions. This gemstone, of which the mountain has plenty, is stealing your chakra away from you."

Naruto was stunned, and even the Kazekage's eyes widened in surprise. "What…what is this stuff?" Naruto asked, feeling weaker even as Monzaemon spoke.

The Puppet Master shrugged. "I am not sure. I have attempted to study it, but my puppetry was always first priority, so I never looked into it as much as I could have. Even now, it steals my chakra as well. But my brief research did provide some very interesting discoveries. You see, I have discovered a way to take my chakra back."

He threw his head back and laughed gleefully, delighting in Naruto's and Gaara's shock. "The gemstones don't just steal the chakra away. They hold it, keeping it stored away until no more will be absorbed. Decades of my chakra suctioned away, without me even realizing it. But I have learned of a way to absorb the chakra from the gemstones, and the chakra is surged back into me." He pointed to the tube behind his back, and Naruto could even make out the green glow he had seen earlier.

Everything made sense now. Monzaemon was able to use so much chakra, because he literally had dozens of years of access to his own chakra, like an unending supply. It explained why they grew weaker, while he remained strong. It explained why he could control so many puppets at once, without straining his body. It explained how he had been able to take down Sunagakure entirely by himself.

"It's a strange feeling, having an infinite amount of chakra!" Monzaemon said aloud, flexing his fingers and watching them move. "I have escaped death once…and yet this pulls me from its influence further still. To fight without worry of dying—it is an interesting experience, to say the least."

Naruto bit his lip. There was no way they could outlast him, even after all the fighting he had done already. If he had only half as much chakra as he claimed, Naruto and Gaara would be dead long before Monzaemon himself would weaken. Perhaps they could destroy him outright, but that was proving harder than originally thought.

Or, maybe it was something else.

Naruto refused to truly admit to his own deeds, of what he had been accused of doing to Hinata's mother. A part of him, in the deep recesses of his mind, refused to believe it. And if it truly was a lie, of which Naruto hoped it was, than had Naruto ever truly killed someone? The very second of doubt it took to consider the notion proved his point.

Zabuza and Haku….Pain….even Kakuzu had truly been finished off by Kakashi. All of the deadliest fights in his shinobi career, he had handed the hardest task to others, or other circumstances forced themselves inside.

But wait…there had been that shinobi in the Land of Rivers. What was his name? Naruto was pained to have forgotten, like he was insulting his memory. He remembered the Rasengan diving into the man's stomach, scattering blood all over the surrounding area, and the queasiness he had felt for hours afterwards. But what he remembered most, out of anything else, was the look in the man's eyes before he died. It was what he wanted. In his eyes, there had been nothing else to live for.

And now, he felt a strangely similar feeling when he looked into Monzaemon's eyes.

"Naruto, snap out of it!"

Monzaemon had resumed attacking them with his remaining puppets. Naruto ducked underneath a wide swing meant to cut off his head, and demolished the puppet with the flat of his hand, slamming it into another. From his perch in the ceiling of the cave, Monzaemon watched Naruto carefully. The boy was using a technique he was not familiar with, a technique that greatly increased his strength and speed.

But he could not last forever.

The puppets focused more onto Naruto, attacking him from all sides. He blocked each and every one of their attacks, but Monzaemon could see him begin to strain. In the meantime, Gaara was trying to help his friend, tossing puppets aside to give him some breathing room. But he was moving slower than Naruto was, as even though he had a very large amount of chakra himself, he did not have his friend's gargantuan supply. More and more puppets began to gang up on Naruto, until they swarmed all over him.

They never lasted long. Naruto would reduce them to dust before they could do any real damage, but he felt the last of his Sage chakra begin to fade away. He had a little left, and needed to use it for something that counted.

With a powerful cry, Naruto suddenly leaped high into the air. While in midair, he summoned two shadow clones, and prepared a final Rasenshuriken. It smashed against the ground, and a huge amount of Monzaemon's puppets were engulfed in the explosion.

His chakra was spent. The markings around his eyes disappeared, and Naruto plummeted to the ground, unable to control his descent. Gaara caught him before he hit the ground, and laid him down beside him.

"H-how many did I get?" Naruto asked, breathing heavily.

Gaara took a look around. "Only a few remain. I will handle this, Naruto, while you rest."

He rose his hands above his shoulders, and the entire cavern began to quake. Monzaemon struggled to stay in his place, as the stalactites around him shook.

Gaara's face contorted in concentration, as he slowly formed his hands into fists. Ear splitting cracks echoed against the walls, and the earth fell around them. He meant to bring the entire cavern down on them.

Huge chunks of rock plummeted toward the ground, more than enough to smash what little remained of Monzaemon's army to pieces. Monzaemon tried to move them out of the way, and he succeeded in getting most of them to safety.

Only Gaara never meant to hit the puppets.

Just before they hit the ground, wisps of sand rose up and caught the rocks, before hurling them back towards Monzaemon, with incredible speed. Gaara's eyes were squeezed shut as he felt his chakra levels lower ever further, but he did not let up.

Monzaemon tried to force a few puppets between them, to force them to take the brunt of the attack, but they did not even slow Gaara down. They plowed right through the puppets, and hit their target dead on.

The damage was less than Monzaemon had expected, until he realized that he could no longer move. The sand that had covered the rock now covered him, and the chakra it was infused with prevented him from reconnecting any of his puppet threads.

Sand began to collect in Gaara's hand, in the shape of a spear. Monzaemon recognized the attack from before, and struggled even harder to escape his prison.

Naruto looked up to Gaara's face. There was a hard look in his eyes, a look he was all too familiar with. This was for everyone Monzaemon had murdered, everyone Gaara had been helpless to save.

Gaara's sand hurled the spear so hard and fast, there was an audible sound as it cracked across the air like a whip. It plunged through Monzaemon's body in an instant, and he cried out in surprise.

But Gaara was no fool. If Monzaemon had learned to preserve his body by turning it into a puppet, simply destroying his body would not be enough. He saw something fly out of the puppet, what must have been what kept Monzaemon alive, but he would get to that later. The sand collected even more of the original puppet body, hardening all around him.

"Sabaku Sōtaisō," he whispered, as the sand crushed the body beneath it, sealing it away. Wood splintered and metal bent, and then there was silence.

"Hey…you got him!" Naruto said, suddenly wobbling to his feet.

"Do not forget, Naruto, only his puppet body has been destroyed. Sasori also used this technique, and was able to move his life into any one of his puppets. Monzaemon could be hiding in any one of these."

Naruto looked around. There were several puppets that looked like they were intact enough for Monzaemon to be hiding in them. "Then let's just destroy them all!"

He and Gaara went to work, crushing any puppet they could find. Gaara tried to preserve his strength, but the puppets were resilient, and only a certain amount of chakra put into the attack would be enough to destroy them completely. Naruto was handling himself fine enough, but he could see Gaara beginning to slow.

"You need to rest," he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You've done enough. I think I can handle the rest of this."

Gaara looked to his sides. "Are there…even any puppets left?"

He was right. They had destroyed all of the remaining puppets Monzaemon could have used. So then where was—

The ground beneath them suddenly collapsed. Two hands of wrought iron appeared on either side of Gaara, and immediately his shield rushed to his aid, blocking the hands before they could crush him. He could feel the pressure as they pushed against his shield, and when the hands started to push closer. He tried to resist, but he had been fighting for so long, and his chakra levels were spread too thin.

Gaara's body disappeared between the hands, only to emerge seconds later, unmoving.

"Gaara!" Naruto screamed, as the Kazekage was tossed aside, rolling head over heel until his skull bounced against the wall of the cave. He did not move.

"That will get him out of the way until I take care of you!" The ground opened further, and Renjishi reappeared, with Monzaemon inside. "What a foolish mistake, forgetting about our old friend here."

He saw Naruto glaring at him, and laughed. "Should you be surprised? He's weak, just like his entire village! Just like those friends of yours. They didn't last very long, though I'll admit they put up more of a fight than I expected."

Naruto's blood ran cold. He was lying. He had to be. Hinata and the others couldn't be…

"Do you think I am lying?" Monzaemon asked, as if he could see Naruto's thoughts. "Or deep down, do you know I am right? That girl with those hideous colorless eyes lasted longer than most, but still, she was far too weak to stand against me."

"You're lying!" Naruto growled. He tried to run over to Gaara, but Monzaemon slapped him away like a fly. Blood ran into the corner of his mouth.

"I WANT YOUR ANSWER!" the Puppet master suddenly roared, his red eyes glowing. "You will not deny me any longer! Do you have what it takes? Can you do what is necessary? I want to hear your answer, Naruto!"

The air suddenly changed, and Monzaemon felt a chill run through his body, even through his unfeeling, wooden body. He looked at Naruto, and red eyes were met with red.

"You're…lying…" Naruto said, through gritted teeth as he tried to hold onto his control. That evil chakra burned deep within him, desperate to rise to the surface, but he pushed it back down with all his might. He would not lose control. He mustn't.

There was a loud crack, and both Naruto and Monzaemon turned to the source. An area of the gemstones that held Monzaemon's chakra was split wide open, falling to the ground. Strange blue wisps floated away from the remains, before disappearing into the air.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. With as much control as he could muster, he allowed a little more of the Kyūbi's chakra to rise to the surface. Another crack, and the gemstone was split even wider. More chakra evaporated, but this time it was violent, like a controlled explosion. A shard bulleted through the cavern, and scraped across Renjishi's body, leaving a deep gash, and Naruto was struck with an idea.

His eyes met with Monzaemon's once more, and there was a strange look in his eyes. He smiled, almost tenderly. "I dare you to try it."

Naruto shot off like a rocket, towards the closest deposit of the mineral he could find. Behind him, he heard the rumbling as Monzaemon chased after him, closer and closer.

The sound suddenly stopped, and Naruto glanced behind him to see a large amount of sand holding Monzaemon back.

"Hurry!" Gaara called out, holding his shoulder. "I will hold him back as long as I can!"

Naruto nodded, and leaped into the air, getting as far away from Monzaemon as he could. He found a deposit of the gemstone and closed his eyes. Stone became metal, and the sounds of battle calmed. Only the sound of dripping water could be heard.

"Get out here!" Naruto demanded, pointing at the ground in front of him. There was a deep rumbling sound, and it stomped closer and closer until the Kyūbi's massive form was visible in the dull light.

"I need your chakra to beat this guy, now!" Naruto said, holding out his hand like the Kyūbi could just hand the chakra over that way.

And to his surprise, the Kyūbi laughed softly. "VERY WELL."

Naruto was confused. "What? That's it? No arguing, no telling me that I'll pay for using your chakra like any old ninja tool?"

"I'LL ADMIT, I AM IMPRESSED. YOUR WILLINGNESS TO KILL THIS MAN HAS ME…INTRIGUED."

Naruto turned away, putting his eyes to the ground. "…he said he hurt Hinata. I want to get out here so I can make sure she's alright. He's lying, I know he is."

"YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR THAT GIRL, WOULDN'T YOU?"

There was a dangerous sound to the Kyūbi's voice as he asked that, and Naruto felt a horrible chill run up and down his spine. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but he did not like the tone in its voice the slightest bit. It would have to wait until later.

He was suddenly brought back into the real world, and he felt a surge of power as the Kyūbi allowed it free access to his chakra.

The sound was unimaginable, like a war was erupting around them. The stones hissed and screeched, turning blood red before exploding with violent power. The shards whistled past him, even cutting him in several places including a deep one on his leg, but Naruto did his best to ignore it. Monzaemon tried to force Renjishi through the storm, but a huge chunk suddenly fell from the ceiling, and the puppet's leg was pinned underneath.

Suddenly, a metal tube snaked out from underneath the puppet's body, heading straight for Naruto. Gaara tried to stop it, but it managed to slip past, and Naruto was too busy to see it coming. It connected to the back of his skull, and Naruto felt a feeling of calm wash over him.

"Turn around, boy."

Naruto suddenly realized that the sounds around him were gone, replaced by a serene silence. He did as he was bid, and was surprised to see Monzaemon standing in front of him. His body was not covered with the old gears and pumps, and to his biggest surprise, his eyes were a soft brown, not the hard, gleaming red.

"What is this? You won't get away with this!" Naruto started after Monzaemon, but the Puppet Master did not seem concerned, and that made him stop and stare. "…where am I?"

"I hit you with another dose of the gas," Monzaemon explained, "So that we may speak in private. It seems you have succeeded."

Naruto said nothing.

"Did you know how angry I was with my village, when I was told that they had betrayed my trust, and turned to making puppets a tool of war instead of a tool for peace? I…I wanted to kill them all, to make them pay for what they had done to me and my work…for betraying me."

And then he looked at Naruto, and the hateful, taunting man was gone. Instead, there was someone who had been broken, and used. Naruto was more confused than ever, until he realized what Monzaemon had said.

"Did you say…when you were told?" Naruto asked.

Monzaemon nodded slowly. "A man came to my mountain, and told me what happened to Sunagakure. I was angry, unbearably so, but I still loved my village. I would not betray them, and destroy everything I once stood for. The Sand had left me behind, but I…I was okay with that. The masked man was not."

Naruto felt another chill, and his heart skipped a beat. That could only mean…

"I do not know what he did to me, nor can I help you with who he is, but is was through his will that I attacked the Sand. I was overcome by my hatred, as I am even now. I felt like I could not control my own body, as I cannot even now. My hatred was all I knew, and is all I know."

He smiled, and those soft brown eyes regarded Naruto with a resignation. "But then you came along. I knew you would be the one who could help me. I may have been consumed by my hatred, but deep down, further than hate can ever go, I knew you would be the one to help me. The one who would kill me."

Naruto's eyes widened. He stammered for a response, but the words caught in his throat.

"Do you have an answer for me, Naruto? Will you do what is necessary, and let an old man rest?"

"B-but people should know about this!" Naruto said, finding his voice. "If you couldn't help but—"

"They will know no such thing!" Monzaemon barked. He took a deep breath. "They have been through enough as it is. I will become a villain to the Sand's eyes if they are given peace. Even now, I can protect them. What is dead may never die, Naruto. I died a long time ago. You are simply letting me go."

The Monzaemon before him began to fade away, and Naruto was suddenly thrown back into the chaos of the mountain's heart. Monzaemon behind him screamed in anger, and he glanced back. His eyes were red again, burning with hate. But even then, Naruto could have sworn he saw the real Monzaemon deep beneath.

He turned back to his task, and forced even more chakra into the gemstones. He could hear Gaara shouting behind him, forcing what little chakra he had left into protecting Naruto from being crushed by the rocks above. A chain reaction suddenly burst to life, and violent explosions traveled up the wall of the cavern, heading straight for where Monzaemon's tube granted him access to his stolen chakra. The pipe burst, and Monzaemon screamed with a horrible screech. Red light poured from open wounds, and his entire body began to shake and convulse.

Naruto felt that something very bad was about to happen, and scrambled to find Gaara. He found the Kazekage leaning against a rock, and hoisted an arm over his shoulder. "We've got to get out of here!" Naruto shouted. "This whole place is gonna go!"

He raced for a hole that had opened nearby, leading back into the tunnel they had entered through. As the cavern grew smaller and smaller behind him, Naruto felt the urge to look back one last time.

Monzaemon's body was glowing even brighter than before, and Naruto could only see his face for a split second before it was consumed by the explosions around him. He looked Naruto right in the eye, and smiled. Those red eyes, filled with an unimaginable hatred, faded into a soft brown, before he closed them for the last time.

The red light suddenly overtook him, and Naruto pumped his legs as fast as he could, running with Gaara in tow as he raced to escape the collapse of the entire mountain. He could feel the heat of the chakra following closely after him, even gaining on him, but he dare not let it catch him. It might be alright for Naruto himself, but there was no telling how Gaara would fare.

And then, they were free. Naruto could see the light of dawn glinting ahead, and he forced his legs to move even faster. The moment they leaped outside, Naruto pulled Gaara to the side, throwing them both to the ground just as the chakra burst forth behind them, pouring out of the tunnel. He felt the ground begin to shake, and knew that even now they were not safe. He picked Gaara up again, and raced as far away from the mountain as he could.

They were a great distance away before Naruto dared turn around. The entire mountain was bathed with red chakra, like a second sun on the desert's horizon. There was a sudden boom, and the chakra shot into the sky from its peak, like the eruption of a volcano. It rose higher and higher into the air, until Naruto could no longer see it through the clouds. His eyes scanned at ground level before him, and he saw the chakra heading his way. Naruto did not know how the chakra was moving along the ground, but he knew that it was heading straight for them, as well as back towards where Kakashi was.

With what little chakra he had left, Naruto summoned both Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, to carry Gaara and himself across the desert. Naruto feared for the worst the closer they got to where they had left Kakashi, and raced ahead to beat the stream of chakra behind them.

But they found him safe and sound, leaning against a rock, breathing softly. The only thing that seemed to have kept him awake was his worry for Naruto and Gaara, for when he saw the two of them coming his way, he smiled through his mask, and let unconsciousness take him once again. There was another explosion as the chakra stopped short of reaching them, and Naruto sighed in relief.

He stepped forward, hoisted him up into his arms, and set him down on Gamatatsu's back. Gaara had fallen into unconsciousness during the journey, so Naruto made the journey back to the sand in silence, with only the desert winds and the rising sun to keep him company.


They arrived back at Sunagakure slower than Naruto would have liked. The toads were faster than running on foot, especially with both Kakashi and Gaara unable to run with him, but not as fast as Gaara had been himself. The Kazekage had not yet woken, and neither had Kakashi.

Several Suna shinobi rushed over to greet him, having watched over the gate to the village to keep an eye on the horizon. When they saw Naruto returning, with Gaara unmoving, they raced down to meet them, fearing the worst for their leader. But when Naruto showed that no harm had come to their Kazekage, they smiled warmly, and roused up a cheer. Naruto heard it bounce of the walls of the entrance to the village, and stepped inside to see hundreds of Sunagakure citizens screaming and laughing, embracing one another for the safe return of all those who risked their lives.

He laid Gaara and Kakashi near the entrance, thanking his toads before allowing them to go home. Shikamaru and Temari stood nearby, speaking in hushed tones. Naruto walked over to them.

Shikamaru looked terrible, covered head to toe with grime and dried sweat. There was a dark look in his eyes, and he held a cloth to his side, crusted with dried blood, but he was alive, and Naruto was grateful to see it.

Temari opened and closed her mouth several times, unsure of what to say. "Does this mean…does this mean you—"

"Yeah," Naruto replied softly. "He's gone."

"And Gaara?"

Naruto pointed behind him, and Temari rushed over to check on her brother. Naruto turned back to Shikamaru.

"You guys do okay?"

Shikamaru looked to walls, the beams of sunlight beginning to spout over their edge. "Not as well as I would have liked. I can't imagine what might of happened had you and Kakashi gotten hurt."

"How is everyone? Is Hinata okay? And Sakura-chan?"

Shikamaru would not meet Naruto's eyes. They just seemed to sag inside his skull, world-weary and ashamed. Naruto did not move for a second. "Shikamaru…what's wrong? Did something happen?"

His friend bit his lip, and feebly pointed behind him, fighting back something inside himself. Naruto did not realize how roughly he had pushed Shikamaru aside. He did not realize how fast his legs moved as he raced through the village. He did not see the looks on the villager's faces as he raced past them, refusing to look at him or even acknowledge his presence.

His heart pounded in his chest, tightening in his throat and making it hard to breathe. Over and over he told himself that he would not find what he feared. He chanted it again and again until he turned that last corner, and saw her, unmoving.

"No…" he managed to whisper quietly, before rushing over.

Sakura sat hunched over Hinata, a faint glow in her hands. The light faded every few seconds, but Sakura would try again, and again, sobbing quietly. Over in the corner, Naruto saw someone he never expected to see.

Kiba sat hunched over against a fallen building, everything below his neck covered with a sheet, and there was rag hanging over the left side of his face. Blood was crusted all over, but he was breathing, however little. Akamaru laid down close by, whimpering.

Sakura did not even hear him approach, and she jumped in her skin when he lightly touched her shoulder. Her eyes met his, and Naruto Uzumaki's heart split in half. He couldn't even say anything, his tongue dried and swollen in his mouth.

"Sh-she was protecting Kankurō…" Sakura said softly, the green glow in her hands lighting up again, only to disappear seconds later. "There was an explosion…Kiba came out of nowhere, and he took m-most of the blast, but th-then the building started to come d-down, and there was nothing he could d-do…"

She started to cry. Naruto did not reach out to comfort her; he only stared at Hinata, wishing her eyes would open any second. He flinched when Sakura touched his hand, squeezing it gently.

"I'm s-sorry, Naruto…she's gone."

The light died in his eyes. "No…please, don't say that, Sakura-chan…don't say that!" His voice was shrill, and broken. He reached over to touch Hinata's cheek, and shuddered at the cold.

His nightmare had come true. Even after all this time, it came back to him clearly. Before he had awoken, he had cradled Hinata's tiny frame in his arms, rocked her back and forth, and howled into the sky, cursing whoever might be listening.

And so he did again.

He could not bear to hold her. The hardness of her skin disgusted him, and at the same time he feared he could never let go. Hot tears blinded him, spilling down his cheeks and splashing against Hinata's face.

"Please, Hinata…don't leave me…don't go…"

Let her go.

His eyes widened, and the tears halted. Hiashi was standing in front of him, shaking his head sadly.

'Do you see what has happened? If only you had done as I asked, my daughter would not have died. Why didn't you let her go?'

The words were cruel, and they laughed cruelly at him, mocking the girl he held in his arms, and his inability to save her. The called him weak, and foolish. They reminded him that a monster would never find love.

"N-no…"

His voice had been so soft, Sakura had almost not heard him. She leaned in closer, and reached out to touch him, but Naruto disentangled him from her hand.

"No…I won't let her go."

He laid her down against the ground. Before Sakura realized what he was doing, two shadow clones appeared on either side of her, and they started to drag her away. Even though she was looking at his back, she could see the glow emanating from his hands.

"Stop it, Naruto! You can't help her!" She turned to the others nearby. "Please, somebody stop him!" The clones held her fast, and she couldn't land a solid hit on either of them. She watched on, desperately calling out for Naruto to stop before he hurt himself.

Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat, ignoring how she looked, and concentrating on healing her. His hands glowed brightly, and the wound started to close, if only a little, and for a moment, Naruto had hope. He forced as much chakra as he could, to try and speed up the process.

But then, a terrible feeling grasped his heart, and he watched his hands go from green, to red. The wounds began to fester and open, and Naruto was forced to stop.

He stared at his hands. What was going on? He had gained control over the Kyūbi's chakra! He was sure of it! Naruto tried again, focusing with all he could, but again the chakra glowed with a foul red, and Hinata began to bleed once again. He tried several more times, pushing Sakura's pleas out of his mind, and each time, Hinata looked worse and worse. By now a large portion of the tainted chakra was forced into her body, and Naruto had to stop.

"No!" he suddenly shouted, pounding the ground with his hands. "No! No! NO! NO!"

Only then did he hear the laughing. That cruel, deep sound. Huge red eyes stared down at him, and rows of razor sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness of his cave.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, NARUTO? YOU SEEM TROUBLED." He threw his massive head back and laughed again.

"Wh-what's going on?" Naruto asked feebly, his legs wobbling underneath him. "What are you doing?"

The Kyūbi feigned ignorance. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. IS YOUR CHAKRA CONTROL UNABLE TO HOLD MY OWN CHAKRA BACK? BUT, YOU HAD GAINED SUCH MASTERY OVER IT. OR…DID YOU?"

Naruto froze. The Kyūbi laughed again, and suddenly it all made sense. Naruto never learned to hold back the Kyūbi's chakra, never learned how to properly heal someone. The Kyūbi had lied to him, and allowed him to think he had learned to control it. Now there was nothing he could do.

His body suddenly became too heavy for his legs to support him, and he fell to his knees. He stared at the ground with unfeeling, deadened eyes, as the Kyūbi laughed and laughed.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER BOY? I THOUGHT YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO PROTECT HER? HOW CAN YOU PROTECT HER NOW, NARUTO? HOW CAN YOU?"

(4)

"Naruto will save her, because you will not get in his way. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Naruto felt a warmth throughout his whole body, like the light of the sun, or the strength of someone's arms around you. It lifted his spirits, and gave him a feeling of hope. Suddenly, huge streams of yellow chakra erupted from his body, wrapping around the Kyūbi, and pinning him to the floor. Naruto took a closer look, and saw that the chakra resembled chains, preventing the Kyūbi from moving.

"WHAT? THIS CAN'T BE!" The Kyūbi seemed to be genuinely frightened, and struggled against the bonds that held him fast.

Naruto heard the voice again, soft and sweet. "He won't stop you, Naruto. Go ahead…I know you can do it."

The cage in front of him started to fade away, and Naruto's vision blurred. Before it all faded away completely, he saw someone standing in front of him, but could not see who. They held a hand to their heart, and smiled at him.

"Who…are you?" Naruto asked.

"Someone who loves you," the voce said softly.

And then Naruto was back, hunched over Hinata's body. His hands began to glow, and this time, there was no foulness in the air. The chakra was his, and his alone.

With a surge of hope, Naruto began pumping every bit of his chakra into his hands, and Hinata's entire body began to glow. He remembered Sakura's words, that you cannot force medicinal chakra into healing through sheer quantity of chakra, and did his best to forget about that. Perhaps if he used enough…

"STOP IT, BOY! THE GIRL IS DEAD. YOU'LL ONLY KILL YOURSELF IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!"

Naruto suddenly felt a burst of pain spread through his entire body. It rattled in his skull, and it felt like his bones were shattering, but he ignored the pain.

"NARUTO, PLEASE STOP!" Sakura was screaming at the top of her lungs now, until her voice grew hoarse and her lips cracked open. "PLEASE!"

Another wash of pain, and Naruto nearly doubled over. He did not stop, only increased the amount of chakra he pushed through his hands. Hinata's blood began to fade away, and her wounds began to heal.

"WE BOTH DIE IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! LET HER GO!" The Kyūbi shouted, his voice booming in Naruto's ears. He suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood, and it spilled over Hinata's body, dripping onto the sand. His vision began to fade.

And yet, Naruto Uzumaki could not help but smile. "No," he said. "I'm going to save her."

"WHY WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR THIS GIRL'S? WHY WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SACRIFCE YOUR LIFE, AND ALL YOUR DREAMS, FOR THIS ONE, WEAK LITTLE HUMAN?" The Kyūbi was at a complete loss for words, stunning at Naruto's sheer defiance.

Naruto looked at her. Even though they were closed, he could feel Hinata's eyes upon him. The sun would look beautiful in those eyes of hers, he thought, just as everything started to turn black. The fire in his heart snuffed out, and his body felt cold. The clones that had dragged Sakura way suddenly disappeared, and she ran towards him, screaming.

He looked to the sun, and relished the feeling of warmth across his face. "Because…I love her."

His body fell to the ground, beside Hinata's. He did not move.

Sakura fell to her knees, picking up Naruto's body and shaking him. She screamed at him, hit him, her tears fell onto his jacket, but he said nothing. He saw nothing. He felt nothing. Even as the sun shined down upon him.

The other villagers crowded around. One bent to try and comfort Sakura, but she angrily slapped them away. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of her own crying. That is, until a tiny voice pierced through the silence. Sakura's eyes widened in amazement when the voice spoke again.

"Naruto…kun?"


Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

The sound of the clock on the wall was agonizing. It reminded her that time was passing, more than she cared to see go. It reminded her that the world would move on, even though her own was laid in front of her, still and quiet. It reminded her that every second that passed, was another second that Naruto Uzumaki did not wake, and was not there beside her.

They had arrived back at the Leaf Village several days ago. It was hard to have watched both Gaara and Kakashi wake, asking where Naruto had gone. Harder still to show them. Kakashi had knelt down by his side, a calloused hand grazing his cheek. Gaara did not move, but the look in his eyes was almost unbearable. He had looked scared, and ashamed that they were was nothing he could do.

Kakashi's ninken had carried back both Naruto and Kiba. The Inuzuka had woken once or twice along the way, and both times had flown into a rage when he saw the body next to him, before passing out again. It only served to remind her what had happened, and she would cry again, for hours on end.

There was life still in him, Tsunade had told them when they had finally returned. They had waited at the gate to give a hero's welcome, unprepared for what they saw. Tsunade had spent hours poring over Naruto's condition, and she finally came to the conclusion that Naruto was not dead. But he did not react to anything they tried to say to him, and his eyes remained closed. He was in a comatose state, and nothing any of them tried would work. It should have relieved her, to know that Naruto had not left this world, but she felt no comfort in her heart.

Hinata Hyūga sat with Naruto Uzumaki in front of her, and Kiba Inuzuka at her back. Both slept peacefully, but only one was guaranteed to wake. She remembered when Tsunade had told her that there was a chance that Naruto might never wake up, and now it was all she could think of.

They were giving a speech today, holding a celebration to honor Naruto's, and Kiba's, and all of their sacrifices. Naruto had saved another village, this time not his own, with the help of the Kazekage, and nearly the entire village had shown up, even those who still only had a grudging acceptance for the boy. Gaara had desperately wanted to attend, to visit his dear friend and thank him, but his duties to his own village kept him confined in Sunagakure. He could only send a letter, to be opened when Naruto awoke. Even though it was sealed, Hinata could see the stains that dotted its surface from where he had been crying.

(5)

She reached out with a tiny hand, and stoked a whiskered cheek, clinging to the hope that her touch might wake him. Each time, she drew away disappointed. Hinata hadn't left his bedside since, sleeping on the floor, and taking any scrap of food one of the nurses managed to push to her. They dared not ask her to leave.

"Why…" she quietly asked herself, hand wrapped around his own. "Why do I always h-have to be so weak? If I had been stronger, you w-wouldn't have had to save me, and you wouldn't be…you wouldn't be…" She did not finish her sentence, fearing that if she said it aloud, she could no longer deny it.

"As long as I have people like you, there's nothing for me to be afraid of."

It was Naruto's voice she heard, yet his lips had not moved. And then she remembered. When Naruto had returned to the village from his mission, and he had walked her home, he had confided in her his fears of the coming war, and the fear that he might lose his friends. She remembered his smile, and his promise that perhaps as long as he had people like her, there was nothing to be afraid of.

And as she stared into his face, peaceful and serene, she felt that very fear begin to fade away. Naruto had not left her, not yet. And as long as he was beside her, there was nothing she should be afraid of. A time would come when he would open his eyes, and they would be together again.

His hand suddenly felt warm, and Hinata rubbed her fingers across his. There was a dream she had been having, for the past few nights, and as the warmth tickled her arm, she remembered the dream once again.

She was walking alone, in a dark, lonely place. No matter how long she moved forward, she never seemed to go anywhere, and she began to grow afraid. She would run, this way and that way, trying to find a way out. The first few times, she would fail, and wake up in a cold sweat, in the dark of the hospital. But last night, the dream had not ended that way. A light appeared to her, soft and far away, but there. The light grew as she stepped closer, and she felt calm. There was a voice, and Hinata instantly recognized it as Naruto's.

She asked why he would come to this dark and lonely place, all for the sake of her. She could not begin to fathom why he would, until she heard his laughter, and he told her that it was because he loved her.

Hinata had lain down with Naruto that morning, unable to cope that it had only been a dream. She laid down beside him, stroked his hair, and kissed his cheek. Others had come and gone, nearly half the village at one point or another, but Hinata barely noticed.

But this time she did. The footsteps rang as loud as the clash of metal in her ears, and she stood to greet their newest visitor. Her breath caught in her throat, as her eyes met Hiashi's.

He looked awkward standing there, lacking the grace and imminence he usually carried with him as the head of the Hyūga clan. He fumbled with his robes, and could barely meet Hinata's gaze.

"I…I came to see Naruto," he said finally, his voice low and humble. Hinata stared at him curiously, but to her own surprise, she moved aside, and let him approach.

Hiashi sat down where Hinata had been, and looked at Naruto's face. He reached out with a hand, but drew back, as if he did not know what he could or should do. With a sigh of resignation, he let it fall to his lap.

"Tsunade-sama told me what happened, what Naruto did…and what you did."

"I should have been stronger," Hinata said firmly, looking not at her father, but at Naruto. "Maybe if I had been stronger, Naruto-kun would not be here. Maybe we would still—"

"You are not weak, Hinata."

The urgency in his voice surprised Hinata, though she said nothing. Hiashi was watching her, studying her features. "You are not the weak one in this family, Hinata."

He turned back to Hinata, and this time he felt sure of hand. He clasped the top of Naruto's head, burying his fingers in a bed of golden hair, like a father would a son. "This boy…I am finally starting to realize how wrong I was about him, and about you."

Hiashi stood, to his full height ,and offered Naruto a small smile, before looking to his daughter. "The love you have for the boy…it was wrong of me to step in the way. He gave you strength, just as you give me mine. I have done terrible things in recent times, and I do not expect you to forgive me."

When he took a step forward, Hinata took a step back. He was initially surprised, but that quickly faded. "Maybe the time will never come. But that does not mean I cannot begin making amends. You are strong, Hinata, truly…it was my weakness that held you back from your true potential."

Hinata looked down. He had offered her a hand. "There is no doubt in my mind that Naruto will awake someday. He is far too curious a boy to let his story end here."

And for the first time since she had woken up that dawn in Sunagakure, Hinata smiled. But the smile was reserved for Naruto. She firmly pushed Hiashi's hand away, but conceded in following him out the door. She hesitated when they stepped through, turning to look back at Naruto and Kiba.

Kiba was sleeping peacefully, even snoring a little, but Naruto did not make a sound. That did not stop Hinata from hearing his voice, wishing her luck, and telling her that he would always believe in her.

She rushed back over to his bed, leaned over, and planted a soft kiss against his lips. One last tear fell from Hinata's eyes, trailing down her cheek and splashing against Naruto's own as sunlight poured into the room, bathing Naruto in its warm glow. She wiped her eyes, smiled again, and followed her father out of the room.

'I'll wait for you, Naruto-kun…I'll wait as long as it takes.'

END OF BOOK TWO


Author's Note: So there you have it. So many questions that have yet to be answered, so many emotions...quite the roller coaster ride, yes? And perhaps a little bittersweet. Feel free to PM me if anything's confusing.

For those who were around for Book One, you'll know what's coming. It's time to take a step back and reflect, and begin planning the third book. That may take a month, or more, or less, but I will be back eventually. I need to sort out the plot for that book, and it might take a while. I'm also going to list the story as complete, until Book Three is ready to begin, just like I did last time with Book One's ending.

There's a few things I'd like to tell you. As an apology for these chapters taking so long, I have new chapters for both Collateral Luck, and Naruto: The Reruns!, and I encourage you to check them both out. They're both more humor oriented, and may be updated more frequently while I break from Entwined.

Now, I like to think I've been a good writer to you guys. My update schedule is fast to say the least (far faster than pretty much everyone else, to say the most), and it's always a lot of content. I love replying to your reviews, and hope to get to know many more of you in the future. I'd like to think I've treated you well, and as such, I think it's fair to ask for a few things, if only every now and then.

-First off, I'd like you to read my other stories if you haven't yet. This isn't the only story I'm proud of, and when most people only read the Opus Magnus, it can be a little disheartening, you know? I'm quite proud of all of the other three, and since this story won't be updated for a while, why not go see if there's something else that can occupy your time?

-Secondly, I have a new goal to share with you. First and foremost, as I have said before, I want to make this the best story for you, since you're the most important. However, I now have a new goal I have set for myself, and I need your help.

I want this story to be in the Top Five Naruto Fanfictions. Yes, you read that correctly. I mean, only FOUR out of the top 10 are even fucking finished, and leaving a story unfinished is the cardinal sin for Fanfiction, at least to me. In order to reach that goal, it means at least 8,000 reviews, or over 5,500 for the top 10. I'm not demanding that all of you review every chapter, but seriously, if you only reviewed every 4 chapters, we'd get 1K additional reviews per 10 chapters. There are over 450 people who have followed/favorited the story, and I'm lucky to get around 20 reviews a chapter. This is me, a 20 year old college student, who's given you a new chapter every four days like clockwork without any worthwhile compensation other than what you have to say, asking for your help. To those that have reviewed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To those that haven't, well...I hope that changes soon enough.

So that's what I hope the future of Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate to be, and I hope you'll help make it a reality. We got around 70 reviews when Book One ended. How about we at least double that, as a favor to me? Pretty please with a ramen on top?

Until next time, bitches.