"So what you're telling me," Tsunade reiterated, her arms crossed, "is that you just happened upon Naruto and Sasuke's unconscious bodies along with Kabuto trapped in a powerful genjutsu?"
"That seems to be the story we're going with." Akira laughed nervously. Here they were, back in the building where the kages had agreed to hold their all-day meeting. In the least, this one was in Konoha. Raidou and Iruka had only just left, and Akira did not want to risk saying anything they may hear.
"Sasuke has been heavily sedated for any medical procedures and is currently under heavy guard," Kakashi stepped in. "Naruto and Anko have been hospitalized, as well. Anko is weak, but stable, and Naruto is fine. Akira did well with healing him. It's just for protective measures at this point."
Tsunade nodded her approval. "I commend you and your team for getting Anko back safely and for capturing both Sasuke and Kabuto." She paused before turning to the Hyuuga girl. "And Akira…"
Akira braced herself.
"Don't ever fucking do that again!"
"Yes, hokage-sama," Akira squeaked, her tone tiny and meek. Admittedly, although she was glad to have done it, it had been wrong of her to just run out. She should have waited and asked permission to go with Kakashi's team, but she hadn't been thinking anything beyond "Itachi's alive" at the time.
"Kakashi, I expect a full report later," Tsunade stated. Kakashi nodded his acknowledgement. "The other kages will be pleased to know Sasuke is in our custody, and, with Kabuto out of the picture, the only one left to fight is Madara."
"But he still has the power of all the other biju that he's captured," Kakashi pointed out. "Plus the White Zetsu army."
"Speaking of which!" Tsunade interjected. "The lab finished analyzing the results from one of the White Zetsu bodies left behind after an attack."
"And?"
"Our analysis, which occurred partly thanks to Sakura's help, found that Madara created the creatures by cloning the cells of the first hokage, my grandfather. We suspect that was how Madara managed to multiply so many creatures and keep his body alive for this long."
"Would this mean that they're also able to use the first hokage's techniques?"
"We believe so," Tsunade confirmed. "It's something we should all keep in mind. Perhaps, with further research, it may help us figure out a faster way to defeat them."
"What about Naruto and the eight tails?" Akira inquired. "Akatsuki knows about the island now, so where are they going to go?"
Tsunade sighed. "For the time being, Naruto is under medical supervision and temporary restraint."
"Granny, this is really unnecessary!"
The moment Tsunade, Kakashi, and Akira entered into the room, Naruto already begged his case. Clearly, the space hadn't been initially intended as a private hospital room, but the kages had done an impressive job converting it.
The room was tiny, maybe half the size of a typical bedroom and likely used for storage at one point. The door they walked through was the only entrance, and, although the lighting was passable, no windows were present to allow for natural light or potential escape attempts. Unless Naruto intended to make a great deal of noise, he was stuck here.
"Why do I have to be restrained?" Although Akira understood the hokage's reasoning, she did pity the boy. They'd already passed an array of guards at the door. In addition to a complete lack of privacy, he was tied to the makeshift hospital bed with chakra-infused restraints.
"It's for your own safety, Naruto," the hokage answered stiffly. "We can't have you running off again like you did on the island."
"Naruto, it's okay-o!" Akira quirked an eyebrow at the muscular dark-skinned man at Naruto's bedside. The eight-tails jinchuriki, according to Tsunade. His presence reminded her of the raikage only more… free? Nonetheless, with five people in the room, especially one of the eight-tail's physique, things were unpleasantly cramped.
"Killer B has agreed to guard you," Tsunade continued. "Only the kages and those accompanying them are aware of your current location, and we'd like to keep it that way."
"But what about when Madara attacks? I can't just sit here through that!"
"We will discuss that when it happens," Tsunade sounded annoyed. "That's final. I don't want to hear another word from you about the subject, Naruto!"
"Yes, Granny Tsunade…" His capitulation surprised everyone, but Akira's blood ran cold at the jinchuriki's next question. "What about Sasuke? You said he was captured with me."
"You were both found unconscious, and Kabuto was in a genjutsu," Tsunade replied, and, for the briefest moment, her gaze flickered to Akira. "We believe that you and Sasuke were the ones who managed to do this."
It was a lie, and everyone except Naruto and Killer B knew it.
"But Kurama doesn't use genjutsu and hasn't told me anything!" Naruto protested. "All I remember is passing out!"
Itachi's consciousness probably used the sharignan to keep the Kyuubi quiet about anything involving him in Naruto's head.
Only a person bearing the sharignan could control the Kyuubi, and Itachi certainly fell into that category. But didn't that also mean Itachi's consciousness had been stuck in there with Naruto's mother and father?
Before Akira could ponder that last thought too deeply, someone else spoke, breaking the Hyuuga girl from her trance.
"Perhaps it was Sasuke who put him in the genjutsu and you just don't remember helping," Kakashi offered. Naruto vehemently shook his head.
"Something doesn't add up!" he insisted, and at this point Akira couldn't take it anymore.
"Tsunade-sama?" Despite the heat of the moment, amber eyes turned to her. "May I leave the room?" The hokage didn't look surprised. More than likely, she knew why.
"Kakashi." The copy nin's half-lidded gaze lolled toward her. "Please escort Akira back to the meeting room. I'm sure the others are eager to hear your report on what happened."
Kakashi obeyed.
"So…" her escort trailed off. They were alone now in the safety of an empty hallway. "Want to tell me what that was all about?"
"You mean with Naruto?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"What actually happened in that cave," Kakashi specified. Akira instinctively tensed. "We both know Naruto and Sasuke weren't the ones to take down Kabuto."
"It was Itachi!" Akira blurted. Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow.
"He didn't include it in the memory transfer to me, but he apparently gave Naruto a portion of his power, which only a life-threatening situation could trigger, like with Kabuto." Her eyes were downcast. "It made Naruto turn into Itachi for as long as that power would allow."
"So he was the one to put Kabuto in that genjutsu?"
Akira nodded. "Izanami, he called it. A jutsu to determine one's fate. Apparently Kabuto can only come out of it when he admits his own mistakes. Until then, he's stuck in an endless loop."
Kakashi laughed, ever so slightly.
"Tsunade was right. It was incredibly reckless of you to go out there."
"I was," she admitted, "but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten there in time to see Itachi before he faded back into Naruto."
"I guess it all worked out then."
He didn't need to tell her that she had more than just her to protect. She knew that. But he understood the burning desire of wanting to be reunited with lost loved ones—Kakashi understood that only too well.
"I'll explain the matter privately to Tsunade in my own report. I see no point in the other kages learning about your or Itachi's involvement."
Akira's shoulders sagged with relief.
"Thank you, Kakashi."
Zuzuzuzuzuzu
Somehow, the moment Tobi heard the trademark sound of Zetsu's entrance, he just knew it was going to be bad news.
"Kabuto failed," Black Zetsu informed. "Sasuke's been captured by the Leaf."
"How is this possible?"
"Itachi."
"What?"
"He left a piece of himself in Naruto, set to activate in a time of crisis. Apparently the battle with Pein wasn't dire enough. It went off during Naruto and Sasuke's fight against Kabuto. The Leaf simply happened to capture Sasuke afterwards."
This wasn't good. Tobi hadn't just lost one pawn, he'd lost two. Not to mention, Kisame was still unconscious after his fight with Gai. And Sasuke… the boy would not be brainwashed easily by the Leaf—his hatred was too strong. But, at least for the time being, he was out of commission.
"We will have to expedite our processes," Tobi stated and then sighed. "I will rally the White Zetsu army. We attack the Allied Shinobi Forces at once."
Sasuke lost track of how many times he'd woken up this week feeling as if his head were split in half. In the least, he could see. Despite being in a dimly lit room, slivers of light peeked through in slits from a nearby window—a window with bars on it.
Wait a minute…
"Finally awake, eh, Uchiha?"
He knew that voice—Ibiki?
"So…" Sure enough, the scarred man's face came into view. "Despite your vows to destroy us, we managed to capture you."
Ignoring him, the Uchiha continued to look about the room. He was on a bed, of sorts. It was more like metal slab really. His hands and feet were tied with chakra-enforced restraints and there were seals and instruments displayed all over the room—instruments of torture.
It bothered Sasuke, not so much that he was captured, but rather that he didn't entirely remember what had happened. He'd teamed up with Naruto for convenience's sake with the full intentions of fighting him once Kabuto was taken out, but, somehow, that hadn't happened. How could he have been so careless as to allow Konoha to capture him?
"Where's Kabuto?" he settled for saying.
Ibiki gave a sarcastic huff, his look menacing. "I have no reason to tell you." But, somehow, if Sasuke stared long enough, he had a feeling that he would. And Ibiki did.
"It appears that whatever genjutsu you used on the man worked," he explained, not giving any major details. "And part of why I'm here," he began, eying a particular curved blade on the wall, "is to find out exactly how that is."
Sasuke wanted to tell his interrogator the futility of his actions, considering Sasuke honestly had no idea, but the Uchiha said nothing. He didn't respect this man. He didn't respect Konoha. Why should he tell them anything?
By now, Ibiki had removed that curved knife from the wall and held it near to the Uchiha's face, clearly intending to use it. Ibiki was looking at him, but not directly, so genjutsu was a no go. Sasuke braced himself but nothing happened.
Another presence entered the room.
"Ibiki, how is it?"
Tsunade.
The hokage was alone and looked serious, more serious than Ssauke had ever seen her.
"We were just about to get started," the scarred man said, not tearing his gaze away from wherever wasn't Sasuke's eyes. "You came in just in time to enjoy the show."
"I'd like to talk to him first." Sasuke wasn't surprised. This should be good. Likely Naruto would be mentioned in some way.
Ibiki said nothing. He didn't even look surprised. He just set down the knife and left the room as she asked. Now he was alone with the hokage. She was still hokage, right? Considering he'd killed the other one intended to take her place.
"I'll say this once, Sasuke," Tsunade began, and Sasuke noted that she, too, knew better than to look him in the eye. "If you cooperate with us, it will show in your sentence. I may not even ask Ibiki to continue."
Sasuke scoffed. By the looks of it, she expected him to.
"Why should I believe anything you people say?" Sasuke spat. "You're all liars."
She looked less surprised than he thought she would, admittedly.
"I know about your brother, Sasuke," she said instead, and although he wanted to raise an eyebrow, Sasuke fought to keep his expression straight. "I understand why you did what you did. Madara was manipulating you, manipulating your emotions."
"You understand nothing!" Sasuke snapped, and wished with all his might that he could be fighting this woman instead of just talking to her. His tone dropped at his next words.
"Madara wasn't manipulating me. I was glad to go along with it." Tsunade may have not been directly involved, but Sasuke still wished to kill her. To cleanse the Uchiha clan from her mind, just as he desired to do with the rest of the village.
"What Konoha did to the Uchiha clan was wrong," she emphasized, and Sasuke listened with little interest to what she said next. "But what you're doing will solve nothing. Attacking Konoha will not bring your family back!"
"And what? You think offering sympathy is going to make me change my mind?" This woman was worse to talk to than Naruto. At least Naruto was young and had an excuse for being stupid. She was old enough to where she should know better.
"We captured your team," Tsunade said, still not answering him directly. "The two males? They were caught impersonating the samurai."
"You may want to keep an eye on them. Juugo can get quite… difficult, when he's upset."
"And the girl? The one you tried to have Sakura kill? We have her, too. Ibiki has already gone through the process of questioning her."
Karin. Of course, she'd talk. Not that she knew much of anything, anyway.
"Was that how you found out about my brother?"
"Madara informed Naruto and Kakashi, who informed us," Tsunade stated. Sasuke turned his gaze away from trying to catch Tsunade's and instead turned his attention to the prison cell's—face it, that's what it was—stone ceiling. His expression oozed apathy.
"And you believed him." Sasuke chuckled, the most emotion she'd gotten out of him thus far. "You're no better, hokage."
She opened her mouth, probably intending to retort in some way, but she stopped short. It wasn't Sasuke who stopped her, though. A deep rumble shook the ground, probably the entire building. Even Sasuke could feel it, and, judging by the look on the hokage's face, she didn't know what it was, either.
"What the hell…?" Tsunade muttered.
Ten seconds later, the rumble grew stronger, and another person came tearing into the room. Both of their gazes flicked toward a chuunin, who couldn't be much older than Sasuke himself. Blood spattered his olive green flak jacket. Blood that may or may not have been his.
"We're being attacked!" the chuunin yelled. "It's the White Zetsu army! There's hundreds, no thousands of them!"
Sasuke smirked. Tsuande ignored him.
"I'll deal with you later," she hissed, her expression set in a frown.
Sasuke's smirk remained. Now she and the other kages had a much bigger problem to deal with. Still, that didn't answer his question.
How exactly had he gotten here?
The second Akira felt the earth begin to shake, she knew it couldn't be good.
The White Zetsus were attacking—all of them.
The camp containing the Allied Shinobi Forces was just around the corner, and, judging by what Akira could sense, most of the Zetsu weren't going after the kages. They were after the camp. Nonetheless, there were a few of them in the building.
She was lucky enough to still be with Kakashi when they ran into one, which the copy ninja swiftly took out with his Kamui. The attack sapped his energy, but Akira was there to catch him.
"It's happening." The Hyuuga girl nodded as she poured chakra into Kakashi via his shoulders while he knelt on the ground. "Madara's attacking."
Akira activated her byakugan and glanced around. Indeed, there were thousands of them, and they were killing shinobi left and right.
"The kages are already on their way out to give orders," Akira stated. Their presences were already on their way to the camp. "I'm sure they'll want you there, too. Tsunade wanted you in charge of a squadron. I'll find my way to the medical troupe."
"Thanks, Akira." Chakra now restored, Kakashi stood back to his feet. "Which direction are they in?"
"Just follow the kages. You can't miss them."
Kakashi gave her a slight nod, and, with that, he was off.
As Akira watched his presence disappear from sight, another detail crossed her mind—not Naruto, who she knew would be safe with Killer B, but Sasuke.
She didn't know exactly where he was, but she knew he was in the building, too. Frankly, Tsunade hadn't told her where exactly he was, and she didn't have time to scan each person with her byakugan.
He's already secure, Akira told herself, but something in her didn't believe it. As much as she didn't like it, there was nothing she could do. The most she could do now was find the medical tent and participate there.
Kakashi bolted through the nearest exit, which happened to be a window, only to see Killer B and Naruto, both activated in their brightly-colored beast modes and looking ready to fight.
"Kakashi-sensei!" the blonde called. Kakshi turned. "What's going on?"
"Madara's attacking again! This time with even more!" His gaze flicked to Killer B. The rapper must have released Naruto right after the attack. It was against orders, but Kakashi was certainly glad he'd done it.
"And the kages?" Naruto inquired.
"Already on their way."
"It's okay-o, Naruto," Killer B said, repeating a previous line. "Whatever this Madara has in store, you and I can take it."
But, it appeared he'd spoken too soon.
They made it to the shinobi camp, somehow. For once it seemed Naruto and B were not Madara's targets, but rather everyone else was. Kakashi could smell it, the death all around. Many shinobi had already fallen from the surprise attack.
"What the hell is Madara's plan if he isn't after us anymore?" Naruto questioned, also noting the obvious lack of attacks directed at them.
"I don't know," Kakashi admitted, but his question was quickly answered.
A familiar chakra presence sprang to life on everyone's radar. The three of them in particular looked up to see Madara in the distance, dressed in his new black cloak and most recent mask, standing in the highest place the camp would allow: the flagpole atop the kage's tent. None of the kages were in there, but the area looked grand enough to be reserved for them.
He started executing hand signs. They were too far away to hear him speak, but with his sharingan, Kakashi could read his lips.
"I may not be able to complete the Moon's Eye Plan without the Kyuubi and the Hachibi," Kakashi read, "but I can still do this?" He ended the sentence with a question, despite that not having been Madara's exact tone. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but he soon found out. The ground began to shake again, but not from the White Zetsu.
"Summoning jutsu!" Madara jumped to the ground, one of his gloves missing and his right hand pressed to the ground. With no one to stop him, creatures began to appear one by one in puffs of gray smoke—it was the biju.
"No way…" Naruto's eyes were wide. First, Shukaku. Kakashi could only imagine how Gaara felt, seeing that from an outsider's perspective. Then the two tails. Three. Four. Five. Six. And Seven.
They were doomed. Combined with the White Zetsus, this was going to be a bloodbath.
As if it were planned, several of the White Zetsus turned from the shinobi they were attacking and began heading for Naruto and B.
"He's probably sending them to attack you two so you can't help with fighting the other biju!" Kakashi warned. His sharingan spun, emphasizing his words. He didn't have long to explain, because Naruto and B already had to defend themselves.
A clump of White Zetsus, probably four or five of them, tackled B from all directions, even below. The jinchuriki's knives came out, balanced in different places on his body, including his mouth. Within seconds, the Kumo nin set to work on slicing anything that dared lay a hand on him.
Naruto spun a rasengan with a clone he summoned, and, before Kakashi could see anymore, one of the White Zetsus attacked him head on. Kakashi dodged the attack and whipped out a kunai.
They can likely also use a portion of the first hokage's technique, Kakashi thought, reminding himself of Tsunade's words. It felt a bit like fighting Yamato.
"Kakashi, go! Get to the kages!" Naruto yelled. "B and I will be fine here!" But, just as he spoke, another White Zetsu approached him from behind, and Naruto didn't realize it. The copy nin opened his mouth to warn him, but his words fell short. Worse yet, he didn't have enough time use his mangekyou.
The strike was just about to land, but the White Zetsu stopped. Kakashi didn't understand what had happened, and neither did Naruto. The White Zetsu split in half, and it wasn't until both pieces of the plant creature fell to the ground that Kakashi laid eyes on a familiar figure holding a blade. Lightning surrounded him, and it wasn't from Kakashi.
"Sasuke?!" By now, Naruto had turned around. His eyes were wide. Even B took notice of the young Uchiha, but another barrage of White Zetsus quickly distracted him, disallowing any time to process.
Three White Zetsus turned to attack Sasuke. Without having to raise his blade, lightning surrounding the Uchiha crackled once again and the resulting shockwave knocked his attackers back.
"How did you escape?" Kakashi demanded, but rather than being able to interrogate the boy standing still, he was forced to block another attack from a stray Zetsu before catapulting over another and landing on a third.
Sasuke chuckled, but this time his smile wasn't insane as it had been before.
"I finally figured it out," he said, and Kakashi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, confused by the boy's words, "why I'm here."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto interjected. His clone from the last rasengan had already dissipated, likely to save chakra. Despite the fight, his eyes were on Sasuke.
"It was Itachi." For a moment, Kakashi feared he may have been conscious during Akira's little reunion with the boy's brother. "It was Itachi," he said again, "who defeated Kabuto. He believed in Naruto enough to give him some of his power to defeat Kabuto and thus defend Konoha."
"And what about it?" Kakashi countered, pushing the boy to find out more. Surely, if he knew about Akira, he would have mentioned it by now.
"He knocked me out," Sasuke continued, shuffling back to avoid a White Zetsu attack, then slicing the thing with his blade when it charged forward again, "in order to do it."
How is this any different from how Itachi treated you your entire life? Kakashi wondered, but knew better than to actually say.
"If Itachi believed in Naruto enough to save me, enough to save the village, then perhaps I can, too."
"That doesn't answer my question as to how you escaped." If Kakashi had been able to catch Sasuke's glance, he would have frowned. "You could still be working with Madara."
Sasuke said nothing and threw his blade in Kakashi's direction, but not with the intention to strike his former teacher. The weapon hit a White Zetsu approaching Kakashi from behind that Kakashi hadn't sensed. Kakashi used his kunai to slice another Zetsu attempting the same thing, only this time, he was ready.
"A chuunin came in to warn Tsunade about the Zetsu attack," Sasuke said, rushing forward to retrieve his sword then continue slicing before any other White Zetsu could get to it. "I managed to catch his gaze and control him to let me out after Tsunade left."
"Granny must've been too concerned with the attack," Naruto murmured, his mind connecting the pieces.
"Guess we don't have choice," Kakashi sighed, simultaneously dodging another Zetsu attack.
"I'm willing to help on one condition." Kakashi waited, expecting something big. Then, Sasuke said, "I want to be the one to fight Madara."
"Eh?"
"He's one of the people who helped destroy my clan. Unlike Itachi, he enjoyed it," Sasuke stated, his expression stoic. "He may have told me the truth about Itachi, but the Uchiha clan can never be purified as long as he survives."
"You can't fight him alone Sasuke!"
"Watch me." The Uchiha's crimson eyes narrowed. Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh again.
"He's right, Sasuke," Kakashi seconded. This time he threw a kunai at a White Zetsu's head to stop it from fully emerging from the ground. "I'm sure Naruto will be happy to let you to deliver the finishing blow, but you can't fight Madara alone."
Kakashi executed the hand signs for his raikiri and charged at another cluster of Zetsus, successfully killing each one within proximity. "I won't stop you, but you have to let Naruto come with you."
The Uchiha scoffed, but he didn't protest.
"Then I guess this means we're coming with you to find the kages?" Naruto guessed, his expression hopeful. All eyes turned to B next, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the conversation.
"I'll be fine here, Naruto," the jinchuriki assured, "Bro will certainly want to give me the iron claw for allowing both of us to be separated again, but go fight the big bad dude. I have faith in you, man!"
Sasuke's expression remained stoic, but Naruto brightened.
"Thanks, B!"
With that, the men of Team Seven were off. They reached the kages in a matter of minutes, but, needless to say, no one was happy to see Sasuke.
"What the hell is he doing here?!" The raikage bellowed. He turned to the hokage, his face in a furious glare. "Tsunade! I thought you said you captured this criminal!"
"She did. I escaped."
"Why you..." Both the raikage's tone and his chakra bubbled with rage.
"He's agreed to help us fight Madara," Kakashi explained. "Naruto will be with him at all times."
"And me!" All eyes turned as another figure approached them, a figure with chin-length pink. Their former red-clad teammate now donned black clothes beneath her standard olive green flak jacket. Mifune, the only non-kage, was, at best, confused.
"Sakura!" Tsunade did not sound pleased. "I told you to go to the medical tents and help the wounded!"
"I sensed your chakra, Sasuke-kun," she said, turning to the Uchiha. "I don't know if I'll be able to forgive you yet for all you've done, but if you're going to fight Madara with Naruto, I want to help."
No one said anything. Screams of chaos echoed throughout the area. The kages needed to organize as soon as possible.
"This is preposterous—" the tsuchikage began, but Sasuke cut him off, too.
"I've been training with Madara for the last three months," he informed, his tone deadpan. "I know his weaknesses, or at least I know them better than any of you, who have only fought him since this invasion began."
"Kakashi, you seem awfully convinced of this boy's new intentions despite him trying to kill you multiple times," the mizukage remarked, hand on her hip and her only visible green eye narrowed suspiciously.
"He's had plenty of chances to kill me and try to capture Naruto or the eight-tails since escaping," Kakashi explained, although his tone was far more respectful than Sasuke's had been. "If he was going to try anything, he would have done it by now. It was only since after his fight with Kabuto that Sasuke decided to reconsider his values."
Nobody looked happy about it, but no one could think of a valid counter argument, either.
"Every team needs a healer," the mizukage spoke up, stepping forward so that she was closer to the hokage. "If I recall, Tsunade, you were the one to advocate for this policy in your youth."
The hokage looked away, probably remembering Dan, who had been one of her main supporters. But time was wasting, and they needed to move.
"We'll take care of the biju," Tsunade decided, and although the raikage especially did not look pleased, he didn't argue. "Kakashi, your team has already been decided. I will instruct you as we go along."
"Yes, hokage-sama."
"And, Naruto…" she trailed off. The boy met her gaze with hopeful blue eyes. "Be careful."
From the moment Akira reached the medical tent, she knew this was not going to be an easy time. She used her byakugan to avoid any major Zetsu attacks on the way, but now life was about to get interesting, and not in the fun way. Not that treating injured or dying people was at all fun, but work here was going to be dissatisfying at best with how many wounded were coming in.
"Akira!" Shizune's tone greeted the Hyuuga girl the second she walked in. "I'm so glad to see you! We could really use your help!" The hokage's assistant stood over a brown-haired chuunin. He was covered in burns, likely a victim in some sort of explosion or a fire jutsu gone wrong.
With the biju attacking, there were so many people in critical condition, even more than when the invasion began.
At Shizune's instruction, Akira set to work in one of the more neglected corners of the room. She didn't recognize her first patient immediately, but the second she leaned in to further view his injuries, she knew—through the multiple sets of broken bones, including both arms and legs, that tell-tale chestnut hair, and most of all that chakra.
This is one of Danzou's underlings. One of the ones who had tried to kill her and would have been successful, too, if not for Neji. Akira glanced at the stretcher beside him. Sure enough, his Aburame friend was there, too.
She didn't know anything about them aside from who they worked for and what they had tried to do, and now it was her job to heal them. But, before her hesitation could become apparent, another nurse chimed in.
"Be careful not to touch that man's skin!" Makoto's youngest sister Megumi spoke up as she healed a Suna woman two stretchers over. "That dark-haired man is an Aburame, and his skin is poisonous!"
Akira remembered, but she dared not say it, which left her with two choices: move onto another patient and let these two be treated by someone else and possibly die, or disregard her feelings and do her job.
Akira's face set in a determined expression as her hands lit up with healing chakra.
Who was she kidding? Friends, enemies—it didn't matter. These people needed help and that was exactly what she was going to do.
"Stick to your formations, people!" the tsuchikage barked. "The only chance we have at winning this war is if we all work together!"
Intelligence was already working with Yamanaka Inoichi at the helm on a method to seal the beasts, even if it was only temporary. They didn't have time to find compatible human vessels at this point. They would have to think of something else and fast.
Kakashi was in charge of the Third Division short-to-mid-range battle division. To match with their abilities, the Kumo ninja Darui was in charge of the First Division mid-range battle division, and Iwa ninja Kitsuchi was in charge of the Second Division short-range battle tactics.
Shizune supervised the Medical Division, where Kakashi was confident Akira had managed to successfully join. Not having Sakura there would certainly be a disadvantage, but if she could help keep Naruto and Sasuke alive during their fight against Madara, all would be worth it.
The Kiri ninja Ao, one of the mizukage's bodyguards if Kakashi remembered correctly, was in charge of the sensor division. They were mostly assigned to fight the remaining White Zetsus and prevent any more surprise attacks.
Kankuro, at Gaara's request, was in charge of the Surprise Attack Division, which would be especially important in sealing the biju once they managed to figure out a way, assuming they actually could. But, among all of the intelligence squadrons of the five villages, Kakashi had a feeling they would think of something.
Unsurprisingly, Gaara stood command of the Fourth Divison's long range attacks, his proxy being Nara Shikamaru, who was nothing but helpful when it came to long range attacks thanks to his clan's shadow possession jutsu.
The last and final division, Fifth Division, specifically named the Special Attack Division, the samurai leader Mifune was in charge of. It mostly consisted of samurai and any descent swordsmen the five villages had to offer, excluding those already assigned to other divisions, such as Omoi and Karui, who Kakashi remembered painfully from Sai's description of when Naruto had taken a serious beating.
Considering he was most familiar with it, Gaara's Long Range Division was in charge of subduing Shukaku, the one-tailed demon. The kazekage had been especially solemn in expressing his desire to do so, and no one argued.
The raikage led the attack on the two-tailed demon Matabi, along with Darui's First Division and Killer B, who had been discovered after decimating any White Zetsu he could find.
There had been some squabbling on where to put Killer B in all this, but it was agreed as quickly as possible that he worked best with the raikage. If they were successful quickly, they would be able to assist any other division in need.
In turn, the Iron Daimyo's Special Attack Division and the mizukage claimed the three-tails Isobu, formerly sealed in Akatsuki-controlled yondaime mizukage. Likely, the current mizukage wanted to even the score.
Kakashi's division, to break up the consistent village-biju mold, was assigned the four-tails Son Goku. For this, Kakashi was especially grateful to have Gai on his side, even without ninjutsu. Luckily enough, Lee was in his group, too.
The tsuchikage and Kitsuchi's Second Division claimed the five-tails Kokuo, another former beast of Iwagakure, once again going to with mold of matching villages and biju.
Tsunade and a portion of Ao's sensor division claimed the six-tails Saiken. With the biju being a slug, it made sense for Tsunade to claim that one, despite the biju being initially sealed in the Kiri ninja Utakata.
Lastly, Kankuro's Surprise Attack Division was in charge of subduing the seven-tails Choumei. There was no one from Takigakure in their midst, but, based on the knowledge they had, the kages were especially conscious of this biju's unique ability to fly.
The most they could do was pick off each of Madara's weapons. Sadly, the man knew a thing about how to divide and conquer. Hopefully, their efforts would be enough to assist the newly united Team Seven in defeating Madara.
But for the time being, Kakashi thought, we are to subdue our assigned beasts by any means necessary.
A part of Sasuke couldn't believe this was actually happening. Admittedly, a part of him had always known he would fight Madara, preferably to the death, in order to cleanse the Uchiha name, but he never thought it would be like this, and he certainly hadn't anticipated it to be this soon.
On the way to find Madara, Sasuke informed them of everything he could think of regarding the man. His space-time ninjutsu, teleportation abilities and, most of all, the amount of time he could turn intangible.
"Objects can only pass through him for five minutes," Sasuke had told them. "So any attack executed directly after that amount of time will affect him. Madara cannot be allowed any time to recover."
Hopefully, they would listen.
Sakura had barely said a word to him since they'd taken off, aside from the occasional "Hm" or "Roger" as he discussed what he knew about Madara's abilities. She spoke when they exchanged ideas and settled on a strategy, but her demeanor was strictly professional. To her credit, the girl certainly cried a lot less than Sasuke thought she would since being around him again.
Now, here they were. It had been surprisingly easy to find Madara. Almost too easy, like he was waiting for them. Considering the man, he probably had.
Madara hadn't strayed far from the kage's tent since releasing the biju on the unsuspecting victims of the Allied Shinobi Forces camp, which only reinforced Sasuke's theory that Madara was waiting for them.
"Well, well, well…." Tobi sounded amused as the three of them skidded to a stop beneath the cliff where he stood, looking down on them both literally and figuratively. "If it isn't the new sannin."
Both the man's sharingan and his newly transplanted rinnegan were clearly visible. Something about the differing colors sent chills up Sasuke's spine. Not that he felt scared—it was just odd.
Their current battleground was rocky and mountainous, unlike the grassy and much flatter terrain of the camp area. There were a lot more places to get hurt around here.
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stood in a line with Sakura in the middle. They exchanged looks and a then brief nod, which turned into each of them biting their thumbs and kneeling to the ground.
"Summoning jutsu!"
A toad. A slug. A snake. All of their summons were gigantic, just like Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru's. Madara jumped down from his perch on the cliff, revealing the Gunbai Uchiwa fan he'd been hiding behind his back: the true Uchiha Madara's trademark weapon.
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk as his eyes formed the six-sided star of his Amaterasu. Susanoo materialized around him as Naruto's tailed beast chakra glowed yellow. In turn, Sakura's byakugou seal formed a diamond on her forehead before spreading rapidly across the rest of her face.
"And so it begins." Madara grinned menacingly.
"This man is stable!" Akira called. The nurse beside her, a reddish blonde named Gina, nodded in acknowledgement as Akira moved onto the next unattended patient.
Akira couldn't remember how many people that had been. They'd lost a good number to grievous injuries and a few unexplained causes, but they'd been able to rescue others.
Those with less grievous injuries were in one part of the tent, sorted by injury type and level of severity, while the more life-threatening cases were nearer to where Akira was in what most would call an "Intensive Care Unit." Thankfully, with medics from all five major villages, they weren't short-staffed, but Konoha medics typically knew the most, thanks to Tsunade's influence.
Her next patient was a man from Kumo with short black hair and a blue hitiate worn like a bandana, which clashed with the white tattered Kumo flak jacket. A projectile from one of the biju had stabbed him clean through, gradually staining his white clothing red.
Akira heard from one of the field medics that Naruto was fighting Madara. That much hadn't surprised her until the medic added that Sakura and Sasuke accompanied him.
At first, her mind rejected the notion. Had the boy really changed his ways so quickly? He'd teamed up with Naruto during his fight with Kabuto, which was certainly a step in the right direction, but one fight didn't fully explain the boy's sudden change of heart. Had he even changed at all? Did he and Madara have something else planned?
Now finished healing the Kumo shinobi, Akira moved onto another man covered in blood with severe head trauma. But even with healing chakra pouring through her fingers, Akira's mind raced.
Sasuke had been unconscious when she arrived at the cave, but he could have briefly seen his brother before passing out. Naruto had turned into Itachi—assuming Sasuke's change of heart was genuine, had it really just taken a glimpse of his brother's face to repaint the boy's heart a brighter color?
It was certainly meant more than hearing stories from a man that nobody trusted. Maybe he really had changed.
Hearing battle updates was a bit less disturbing for Akira after that, especially those involving the newly united Team Seven. The biju continued to wreak havoc around them, but a barrier team outside the hospital managed to keep them guarded with a group jutsu.
One of the former members from Sasuke's team, Karin, even escaped her imprisonment to come help them. The situation began unpleasantly, considering the break out and a bit with the girl complaining that she didn't just want to sit and rot in a jail cell like Juugo and Suigetsu, but Karin had continued to say that since a Leaf konoichi had saved her life, she was willing to help, too.
Through some miracle, Shizune complied, although Akira did catch the woman whispering to another nearby nurse to keep an eye on the redhead, who Akira found out shortly after was of Uzumaki heritage.
Karin's heal bite jutsu in particular was a huge help in healing some of their more critical cases. It took a massive tax on the Uzumaki girl's chakra, but one of the other nurses, one from Kumo no less, allowed Karin some of her chakra so that she could keep going. After that, things ran smoothly until their next unexpected visitor—a visitor far more alarming than Karin.
A hooded figure entered the area, and at first no one thought anything of it. Just another ninja mostly covered up due to some injury or a bloodline limit. Then someone recognized the intruder's chakra, and everything stopped.
"Kabuto…" Akira breathed. Sure enough, there he was, wearing that odd hooded cloak with the red snake-like eyes.
All heads, or at least those that could, turned to the man entering the massive tent. Shizune was the first to take action, throwing a cloud of poisoned senbon she'd been storing Kami only knew where. He deflected the needles with ease using his navel snake and proceeded to slither toward the nearest unattended patient.
Akira's mind reeled even more than during the field medic's revelation about Sasuke.
How had he escaped Itachi's illusion?
No one moved as Kabuto stepped closer to the unattended patient. With both his legs broken, although he couldn't move, he tried to. He was a leaf chuunin, probably in his late twenties, with fear written plainly on his face as he attempted to wriggle away, but to no avail.
Akira was in the middle of sealing a wound on her current patient's midsection and risked letting him bleed to death if she stopped. Most of the nurses around her were in similar situations, and those who weren't froze with fear.
Kabuto's hands lit up with chakra, but it was green. The chuunin with two broken legs braced for an attack that never came. Instead, the snake-like creature was healing him.
A collective sigh sounded throughout the area.
Kabuto had decided to help them, and they didn't have the time to argue why.
Itachi must have changed him, too. Akira shook her head as a small smile formed on her lips. She'd initially considered Kabuto beyond helping with how much he'd willingly deformed his mind and body to become more like the corrupt snake sannin. Clearly, she was wrong. Even people like him had the capacity to change, even if it took a massive genjutsu to gain perspective. Whatever truth Kabuto learned through Izanami had led to a positive conclusion.
Karin especially disliked the idea of working with Kabuto again. Itachi's knowledge told Akira that he'd been one of the main people to torture the girl amid Orochimaru's crazy array of science experiments using human test subjects.
At this, Akira felt a pang of sympathy for the Uzumaki. Frankly, she wasn't the only one who resented the idea of working with Kabuto. But, after exhausting herself from yet another heal bite and having no one available to help restore her chakra, the redhead capitulated.
Kakashi panted as he surveyed the area, the tomoe of his sharingan spinning and his chakra reserves drained. He'd already used Kamui twice without any sort of chakra replenishment. Saying he was completely exhausted would be an understatement.
None of the ninjutsu or even genjutsu had worked so far on this thing. Kisame had somehow managed to beat this demon's jinchuriki, but Kakashi had no idea how.
Out of the twenty-five men and women assigned to him, fifteen ninja were left standing, including himself. Six of them were already dead, for sure. Out of the remaining four missing in action, a field medic had come in to transfer two of their injured to the medical tent, and the other two were still on the battleground, either unconscious, dead, or close to it.
This was a nightmare. Even worse than he'd imagined.
Come on, intelligence, Kakashi thought, sweat brimming his brow as he concentrated, his natural eye still closed. There had to be something they could do. Anything.
"Kakashi!" As if he could sense the man's emotions, his longtime rival spoke up, flashing him a shining smile followed by a thumbs up. "Do not lose heart! We will win this battle yet!"
Kakashi wished he could agree with the man. Gai and Lee remained alive, but that wouldn't last long if they didn't think of something fast. Kakashi wasn't afraid to die, he just didn't wish for any of them to die in vain.
And, somehow, his wish was granted.
"Kakashi!" a new voice, but not one that was human, appeared. Kakashi's gaze descended to the ground to see a smaller version of Katsuyu.
"Please tell me this is good news," the copy ninja said, fighting to keep his tone from wavering.
"The Intelligence team has come up with a way to seal the bests!"
Oh thank, Kami. Although it wasn't anything concrete, at least it was something.
"How does it work?" Kakashi inquired.
The slug started retching. Although Gai drew back at the sight, Kakashi understood immediately. The retching continued for another few seconds before the slug threw up, of all things, a scroll.
"This should work, at least for now!" Katsuyu said. "The beast has to stay in one place for three minutes for the seal to work properly."
"Three minutes?!" Kakashi echoed, his surprise evident.
There was no way. What technique could anyone possibly have that would work against a biju for that long? But, rather than expressing this, Kakashi simply nodded and recovered with his next words.
"What are the seals required?"
As Katsuyu told him, Kakashi was also relieved to find that, as long as there were more than three people present to donate chakra, the sealing process would work. It wasn't meant to be permanent, but, in the least, it wouldn't cost anyone his or her life like it had with the Fourth hokage.
"I will tell the others," Kakashi promised.
"And another thing!" Kakashi almost didn't want to hear the slug's words, but, once it spoke, Kakashi was glad he did. "I'm here to help heal your injured! I can only help one at a time, but who would you say is in the most critical state?"
Leave it to Tsunade. Although he couldn't show it visibly, considering the ongoing battle, a huge part of him was relieved.
"Those two men back there," Kakashi replied, pointing to their fallen comrades. At least one of which was still breathing, judging by all the squirming he had been doing. "Thank you."
"Happy to help!" the slug replied and then disappeared into said direction.
Kakashi turned back to the rest of his team. They were scattered, but if he talked loudly enough, they should be able to hear him.
"Everyone!" Kakashi called, and those who physically could turned to listen. "You're going to want to hear this…"
A scream in the form of a battle cry tore through the air as Sakura Haruno punched the ground, causing earth and rock to split and fly in all directions. Madara stood mere meters away, his gunbai ready to absorb the chakra from her attack. But, rather than give him the chakra to turn the energy from her punch into a wind attack, she directed her anger to the ground and allowed the environment to do the fighting for her.
They still hadn't managed to attack him consecutively for five minutes. No matter what the three of them attempted, they just couldn't get close enough.
Naruto stood on his toad and formed the hand sign for another kage bunshin, which, when it attacked, even in perfect tandem with Sasuke, Madara avoided them with ease and teleported away long enough to recover.
"This isn't working," Sakura growled. Every strategy they used had fallen flat, and the three of them could not afford to lose this battle.
Sasuke performed the hand sign for a fire jutsu, his sharignan tracing Madara's movement. Just as the man reappeared where his sharignan predicted, Sasuke released his fury in the form of the Uchiha's clan's prized Gougakyuu no jutsu. Although Madara had been standing in the middle of the giant fireball, he remained unharmed.
That it, until Sasuke activated his Amaterasu on top of it. It was slight, but the edge of the man's uniform caught fire until he teleported again.
That's it, Sasuke thought, smiling to himself. He had to tell Naruto and Sakura.
The Uchiha called her name. With her slug summons, she could get the message to Naruto without him having to yell their strategy for Madara to hear. Thankfully, she heard him, and within seconds, the pink-haired girl was by his side.
"What?" Her jade-colored eyes glinted in annoyance, but at least she was there.
"I have an idea."
She looked surprised as he explained it to her.
"Are you sure that will work?" Her expression turned quizzical.
"No," he answered honestly. But if anyone could pull it off, it was Naruto.
"Okay then…" Jumping into the air toward the spiky-haired blonde, she obeyed and passed the message onto Naruto.
To ensure the elder Uchiha remained distracted, Sasuke used a lightning jutsu, which bounced off the man's gunbai like any other attack. The fan converted his lightning into wind chakra, serving as both the perfect shield and defense. Then Sasuke had to dodge.
The younger Uchiha kept this up as long as he could, shoving attack after attack. He couldn't maintain the constant attacks for five minutes straight, but that was where Naruto came in, along with three of his clones and a blade-wielding toad.
The toad slashed at the much smaller man, an attack that would have landed had Madara not gone intangible. Naruto's clones attempted an attack from behind, but Madara struck them both before they could touch him. The clones dissipated into chakra-filled clouds of smoke.
Next came Sakura, using one of the few remaining cliffs as leverage to spring toward them, but she too passed through the man. She recovered quickly, landing on her feet in a defensive stance before charging back in to throw another set of punches. All of them missed, and, with a single swipe of his weapon, Tobi's converted wind jutsu crashed Sakura into the opposing cliff side.
Their time was almost up. Now it was Sasuke's turn.
He charged in headfirst. An oddly Naruto-like move, all things considered. Lightning dancing off his blade in blue streaks of electricity. Even if Madara dodged everything, it would be worth it, because…
The Uchiha trailed off his thought process, but smirked when he saw Naruto, the real Naruto, along with one of his clones, approaching the elder Uchiha from the rear.
Sasuke pushed the evil man back with a final surge of lightning. Madara fell into the two glowing yellow figures, but, rather than passing through them, he was solid. Not wasting a second, Naruto, likely the clone, pulled the man into a full nelson and the other jumped into the air, landing on the cliff above them.
Five minutes was up. They didn't have long to act, and anything they did now had to count.
Next came Sakura, who recovered quickly from her crash into the cliff side thanks to the stored chakra from her forehead marking. She sped toward the former Akatsuki leader, her fist raised, while Naruto kept him grounded there.
Her arm cocked back. Both of Tobi's eyes widened, but he had no chance of pulling her into an illusion, because she wasn't looking anywhere near his eyes. Her target was just below the man's sternum, which the pink-haired kunoichi struck with all her might.
"SHANAROOOO!"
The clone holding the Uchiha burst into a cloud of smoke from the force of the hit. This time it Madara went crashing into the opposite cliff side. His mask cracked ever so slightly near the top, but Sasuke didn't care enough to see the man's face. He just wanted him dead.
Naruto spun another beast mode rasengan as he waited above where the elder landed. Before Madara could think about recovering, Sasuke sheathed his blade and did the same with his chidori as he and Naruto charged for the same target.
Once again, it hit. Dust and debris flew in every direction, even more so than when Sakura had punched the ground. By the time everything cleared, Madara slumped against the wall of the canyon. An impact circle surrounded his figure.
"Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun!"
Out of habit, Sasuke turned to see what was going on. His attention drew to a small slug that had latched itself onto the pink-haired girl's shoulder: a slug that she hadn't summoned.
"Almost all of the beasts have been temporary sealed!" she revealed, her expression jovial. "All remaining forces are pooling to take down the last one!"
"Which is it?" Naruto inquired. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Of course, the dobe would be curious about that irrelevant detail…
"The five tails!"
Sasuke's lips twisted into a cocky smile as he redrew his sword and pointed it at the elder Uchiha. With one more additional step, Sasuke drew close enough to hold the blade to the man's throat.
"Hear that, Madara?" Sasuke taunted. "Your army failed, and the biju are all but finished."
The man chuckled. The younger Uchiha frowned. Judging by Naruto's silence behind him, his former teammate didn't like the sound of it, either.
"I'm not done yet!" the Uchiha declared, and, with gloved hands, formed a final hand sign. He began to teleport, which would have been an instantaneous sight for anyone without the sharingan. But, thanks to his kekki genkai, Sasuke witnessed the event in slow motion, and, before Madara could fully disappear, Sasuke activated Amaterasu.
The flames teleported into the portal with him, and, when he reappeared, the black flames on his uniform noticeably startled him. Sakura seized the moment to attack the man one last time. Some of the black fire got on her gloves when she sent the Uchiha flying. To stop the girl from losing her hand, Sasuke extinguished the fire.
Their enemy, on the other hand, lay face down on the ground, onyx tongues still consuming his figure.
"Yes, you are," Sasuke retorted, and, with a final glare, the black flames flared and ate what was left of the man more hungrily.
The three of them stood there in silence for what felt like forever. Even after there was nothing left to observe, they lingered. Then, Sakura spoke.
"So, is he… gone?" she managed.
Neither he nor Naruto replied. Naruto formed a hand sign and closed his eyes to concentrate. Sasuke knew he was a shit sensor, but he'd mentioned something about being able to sense negative intent, which was probably what he was doing.
The jinchuriki opened his eyes, and then deactivated his beast mode. He looked like the old Naruto again, although his clothes were far more tattered.
"He's gone," the blonde confirmed, and Sakura let out a yelp of victory. "I don't sense a thing."
Each of their summons disappeared in a puff of smoke.
By the time they returned to the village, the last biju had been effectively sealed. The tsuchikage floated in the air, actually seeming at an average person's height for once. He clutched the final sealing scroll with a triumphant look on his face.
It felt surreal when Akira the news.
Madara was defeated. Team Seven had done it, and the Allied Shinobi Forces had successfully sealed all of the tailed demons. The White Zetsus even ceased their attacks and were retreating.
Whoops of celebration sounded around the medical tent, overwhelming the cries of pain from those still suffering. Shizune yelled at a few people to get back to work, but even she smiled.
"I can't believe they did it," Karin muttered beside her. With her chakra practically depleted, she'd resorted to helping Akira wrap bandages. She certainly complained a lot, but she knew what she was doing.
"Naruto-kun is the best!" Akira recognized Makoto's other sister Aya this time, as she grinned with a dreamy look on her face.
"Enough!" Shizune called, and somehow, the room went silent. "I need some of you to go out and help the wounded who haven't been transported here."
And to help with some of the dead, Akira knew she also meant, but had the discretion not to say. Through some miracle, Akira was assigned to one of these groups. Along with a Kumo kunoichi named Ran and a Suna girl named Ameno, the three of them headed to the main source of the action.
The teams were intermingled now. Most of the injured gathered in one area, making it easier for medical teams such as theirs. Akira couldn't remember how many medics were sent out in groups of three like them—half a dozen at least. Kabuto and Karin remained in medical tent, where Shizune could keep an eye on them.
Upon their arrival to the scene, any joy Akira felt at their victory was short-lived as she surveyed the carnage around them. The first person Akira recognized was Hinata, but her heart only dropped further when she recognized a limp Neji Hyuuga in her arms.
Momentarily forgetting her mission, Akira bolted over, earning her an annoyed, "Hey!" from the Kumo kunoichi named Ran.
Akira hadn't heard her as she elbowed her way through the crowd only to sink to her knees beside the sobbing Hyuuga girl. Multiple stakes of wood, undoubtedly from a White Zetsu, impaled the Hyuuga boy through his chest. There were more than Akira could count. She searched for any signs of life, any sort of hope that Neji might have survived, but she found none.
He was gone.
"H-he saved me," Hinata stuttered between sobs. "T-this is my fault…"
Sorrow gripped her heart, but Akira said nothing as she placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. The girl had already been forced to wait far too long to grieve for her cousin. She didn't need to deal with another person's hysterics right now. Nonetheless, tears slipped down Akira's cheeks, as well.
Wiping her eyes on a pastel-colored sleeve, Akira gave Hinata's shoulder a final squeeze before rejoining her temporary team. And, after seeing what had happened, neither of them questioned a thing.
First Itachi, and now Neji… Akira didn't want to know who was next.
Clearly, she hadn't been the only one to lose someone that day. Countless shinobi wailed in pain over loved ones bodies, as Hinata had been. Some were celebrating, but far more ninja were mourning.
Akira discovered another devastating loss when she visited Kakashi's squadron. Although she hadn't known the individual particularly well, both Kakashi and Lee had.
Gai-sensei lay motionless on the ground, eyes rolled to the back of his head and expression forever sealed in a look of rage. Lee sobbed over his body while Tenten knelt beside him, looking broken as well. Akira didn't know if they knew about Neji yet, but she knew it wouldn't help.
In order to keep the four tails in place long enough to seal him, Gai had opened the eighth gate, and, as the man's father had once done, or so Kakashi told her in passing, he died saving his comrades. They hadn't been the first to seal their biju, but they hadn't been the last, either.
It made sense now. It made why Itachi had become a pacifist, despite his need to continue fighting. Itachi had been four when he was first been exposed to these kinds of horrors. Akira was almost in her twenties and nothing could have prepared her for something like this.
With a hand on her stomach and her thoughts elsewhere, Akira took another long look at what peace had cost them.
Something rustled. Cloth probably. Everything hurt as mismatched eyes opened, finding only darkness, save for a single, tri-colored face of black, white, and green with glowing yellow eyes. Somehow amid it all, Tobi found his voice.
"How am I alive?" It felt like a repeat of what Kisame had said to him, but Tobi said it anyway. It felt like he'd been crushed by that boulder and put back together all over again.
The Uchiha couldn't remember the last time he'd been in this much pain. They'd failed. The Mooneye Plan, the biju, Kabuto—even Sasuke.
Beside him, Tobi hadn't noticed at first, but Kisame was there, halfway across the room, lying unconscious on the same stretcher he'd left him on.
The shark would not be pleased when he awoke to hear about all the action he missed, but that was hardly Obito's concern right now. Zetsu, apparently the black one this time, hadn't answered his question.
"I used your idea," the creature began, "to utilize one of my white halves as a decoy. Before Sasuke caught you on fire with Amaterasu, I switched you with one of my White Clones."
"You disobeyed my orders."
"I saved your life!"
The room went silent. Then, Tobi responded.
"Thank you, Zetsu," he said quietly. He should be dead. Just like that time with the boulder, he should be dead. But he wasn't. His life was lucky in all the wrong places—the worst kind.
"The world thinks you're gone," Black Zetsu stated. His white half had been oddly silent. Probably traumatized after watching so many of his identical comrades die.
"Let them." The last thing he wanted to think about right now was the world. Thanks to his failure to complete the Mooneye Plan, he'd never get to see Rin again. Despite how much it hurt, the Uchiha rolled onto his side.
"What of the White Zetsu army?"
"We have maybe two hundred left? Dunno, didn't count. The Allied Shinobi Forces and especially the eight-tails were quite effective in taking those out."
Of course, they had been. He managed to take more than a few with him, and, in the least, that brought the man some comfort. They'd been friends for so long that the Uchiha had nearly forgotten how to be grateful.
"I wish to rest, at least for now," Tobi announced. He rolled back onto his other side to face Zetsu and at least allow the creature that iota of respect. "If you choose to go anywhere, please ensure no one who spots you remains alive."
Both Black and White Zetsu scoffed this time. The most reaction he'd gotten so far from the latter.
"You're funny," Black Zetsu deadpanned, formed a hand sign, and sank out of sight into the floor. Now, Tobi was alone, or at least as alone as he could be having to hear Kisame's shallow breathing every second.
Funny, he may be, but a shinobi had to be alive to be funny.
It was nearly impossible for Konohagakure to sleep that night. Between vigils for the dead, celebrations, rebuilding, no vacancy hotel rooms, and overcrowded hospitals, it seemed everyone in the Land of Fire just couldn't stay still.
Akira returned to what was left of the Hyuuga compound to find, through some miracle, Taisou was still alive.
Kaname and Eri were with Makoto's family and would likely stay there for a few days until Tsunade could transport them, along with the countless others who had lost their homes and worst of all family members, to a new temporary location.
After all her work today, Akira had been given the night off, which, to be perfectly honest, she didn't consider fully fair. Hundreds of other nurses and healers had worked just as hard as she and others were still volunteering to work the night shift.
However, with how exhausted she felt and how bad Akira knew overworking herself would be for her babies, she accepted, and the first place she found herself was back at Taisou's.
It felt like the time when she'd shown up on Kaname's doorstep, only this time, she wasn't lugging a dead body. Admittedly, she was still covered in blood. With no apartment left, she had nowhere to shower.
All she wanted to see was her family, and the second the door opened to reveal her uncle's face, she tackled the man in an embrace. For a moment, they just stood there, hugging.
So many others hadn't been this lucky. Hinata hadn't. Lee hadn't. Even Naruto. He'd gotten back Sasuke, in a sense, but there were trials the Uchiha would have to face. Akira didn't want to think about what would happen to Konoha once the truth of the Uchiha clan got out. Itachi would be rolling over in his grave.
Despite everything—all the pain, the bloodshed, and even the triumph, here she was.
This was home.
This chapter took WAAAY longer to edit than I intended. It's my longest one yet and the longest one I will ever write. Hopefully the ending made sense. I took a few creative liberties. The invasion may be done, but I have a few things left up my sleeve. Thank you for reading!
Also, extra note, apologies about the chapter accidentally getting posted twice. Two wonderful readers were kind enough to point it out to me. Sorry about that!
