Chapter Fifty-Three

Kakashi checked his gear as he prepared to head into the field again. Exhaustion was starting to wear at him; he barely slept in the past twenty-four hours. While Naruto and Hinata getting married provided a mild boost to spirts, Kakashi's mind wandered to his wife and unborn child at Mount Myoboku. Stop shitting yourself. Get this done right and you get to see them again!

"Kakashi," Lord Fifth spoke as she, Minato, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura walked into his tent.

"Lord Hokage," he rose and bowed.

"Kakashi, we're well past military formalities," Kushina chided, "We're less than twenty-four hours to the Eye of the Moon opening."

"I'll be leaving to assist the evacuation shortly," he interjected.

"We have a special assignment," Minato added, "One that we need you specifically for."

"Oh?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow over his one remaining eye.

"Hinata, Sakura, and I will be taking Sasuke, Orochimaru, and the reanimated Kages to try and stop Madara when he arrives," Naruto looked away to something unseen, his normal blue sapphire eyes turning a luminous, pale shade of blue, "which won't be long now."

"And what am I supposed to do now?" he pointed to his left eye socket, now absent its Sharringan, "I'm no longer the copycat ninja."

Unexpectedly, Naruto began glowing brilliant orange and reached out with his right hand, cupping it over the empty socket, blinding Kakashi temporarily with the surge of warm brightness. When he opened his eyes again, Kakashi took a moment to focus his vision, "What the hell, Naruto!" He stepped back and blinked, realizing he was seeing out of both eyes. "What the!" he looked down at his hands, testing to see that he was, in fact, seeing normal vision from both eyes. "What did you do?"

"Just a little trick that this form of Sage mode seems to have," Naruto shrugged, completely oblivious to the effect the change had on Kakashi – he had not seen naturally out of his left eye in almost twenty years.

"Now that we're done with that," Kushina spoke, "are you ready to get back in the fray?'

"Yes," he nodded, still incredulous to have his eye back. "What's the assignment."

"We're going after Obito," Minato said grimly.

"Divide and conquer?" He eyed Minato and Kushina skeptically. "That's going to be dangerous, hardly a task for the Hokage."

"There are times when the Hokage's life don't matter, Kakashi," Kushina stared at her husband and then the ground, "My predecessors are reminders of that fact." Her face softened as she stared at him, "Something I'm sure you'll learn before long."

Kushina implied he'd be her likely successor one day. While he didn't exactly savor the thought of replacing her or Minato after watching both of them struggle with the task of leading the village, he was grateful that they had such faith in his abilities. "Why Obito?" he asked, returning his focus. "Why not concentrate everything on Madara?"

"A promise Rin forced on Naruto and Minato," Hinata spoke up, her voice small, hinting she was trying to be delicate on the subject.

Kakashi eyed Minato and Naruto with slight skepticism, "You really believe that was real, what you saw?"

"Every bit as much as the conversation you had with your father, Kakashi," Kushina spoke up. "I located file four-hundred-forty-four when we were salvaging the archives. "What he said would be there was there."

Well, now I feel like an ass. "So, he died a hero disguised as a coward," Kakashi spoke incredulous. He couldn't have been sure if what he'd experienced during his near-death was real or an elaborate hallucination.

"Moreover," Sakura added, "the reanimated Lord Third confirmed the story, along with his regrets."

"But why now, when everything is riding on us stopping Madara?" Kakashi asked. He looked at his watch, midnight, now October 9th.

"Partially, we don't want this happening again," Kushina crossed her arms, "especially with what future implications are in play."

"Future?" he asked, not following.

"Kakashi," Kushina spoke with a pause, "When Naruto and Hinata read the tablet and spoke with the Sages, Kaguya was building massed armies of these Zetsu things when she already had most of the world under the influence of the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

The hairs on the back of his neck slowly stood at tiptoe at what she was saying, "You think there are more than just her?"

"We can't ignore the possibility that it plays into why Himawari came back in time." Naruto stared as his eyes revered back to their normal configuration. "Otherwise, why intervene in the Chunin exams, or offer to intervene in saving Rin and Obito if it was just about giving me a happier life?"

Kakashi turned back to Kushina, "You do realize, Obito might be beyond saving, just like Sasuke might be?"

"If he is, I'll kill him, myself," Kushina replied with fiery determination. "He nearly took my son, my husband, and my future from me," tears leaked but she spoke on, "and I have no doubt the sweet boy I wanted my son to grow up to be like is dead – died in that cavern where he was crushed." Her hands tightened into fists, "I'm not hopeful of saving him, but I have to try. People who abandon their friends are worse than scum," she stared with tear-soaked eyes, "a brave shinobi once taught me that."

"All right," Kakashi straightened himself, "What's the plan?"

"Well you see," a familiar, bombastic voice called from the entrance to the tent. Might Guy smiled too wide for a man about to go on a suicide mission, "it goes like this…"

Hinata followed Naruto to the edge of camp, along with Sakura. While Madara and Ten-Tails were their primary concern, Hinata rubbed the sweat of her fingers as she thought more about the other loose-end she, Naruto, and Sakura intended to tie up - now with the Hokage's approval. She scanned outward with her Byakugan until she found Sasuke. His chakra network was slowly becoming more and more infiltrated by the chakra coming off the cursed seal in the back of his neck. As feared, it was starting to metastasize into the chakra node in his right lung. Hinata gripped the handle of her family's sword. You don't do this, he turns into a monster forever, and if you do this, you stand a reasonable chance that you kill him, instead.

She shook the thought away, there wasn't time to worry about it. If Sasuke was truly beyond saving, he'd consider it an act of mercy. Hinata had not doubts that Orochimaru intended to take the boy's body as his own. Just like with Obito, if they left this end loose, there was the real possibility they'd be back in this situation in a few years, or worse, pass the nightmare onto Himawari's generation.

"Lady Hinata, wait!" a familiar, troubled voice called after as they walked to the edge.

"Neji," she turned back to him, "what are you doing here? You're supposed to be with the others evacuating the villages ahead of Ten-Tails."

"I'm going with you!" he spoke suggesting he was not inviting protest.

"Neji, no way" she protested, "it's too dangerous!"

"Dammit, that's why I have to go with!"

"Neji," Sakura interjected, "We're about to do some incredibly stupid shit that could get some or all of us killed; that's why we're not letting you come along!"

"Goddammit, I swore an oath, as did my father, to protect you and everything you hold dear with my life if necessary!" He glared with his Byakugan fiercely, "Don't make me break that oath now of all times!"

"She's my wife now, Neji," Naruto added, trying to placate him, "Consider yourself released from that responsibility! It belongs to me, now!"

"NO IT DOESN'T!" he shouted at the top of his range, "I promised to protect her and everything she holds dear – that includes you, Naruto!"

"Neji, it's touching that you would do that…" Hinata started.

"I know about the photo, Hinata!" her heart jumped at the statement, "I know about everyone in it, and everyone who isn't in it! Father made me swear that I would do everything in my power to protect that future!"

"Neji…" Hinata paused. Father and mother aren't here, neither is Hanabi, and yet, none of them appear in the photo! Do they all die or were they just absent when we decided to have picture day?! She swallowed the rising bile in her throat as she imagined asking anyone else to take a fatal strike for her.

"Naruto, please," Neji pleaded, "Talk sense into her!"

"Neji, is this fair to Tenten if you come along and get killed?" he asked. Low blow, but an effective one.

"She already made peace with my death and my responsibility if it is necessary," he said.

"And if it turns out to not be necessary? What if you die, and it's meaningless?" Sakura chided.

"Hinata, Naruto," Neji stared at Hinata with his Byakugan burning, "if it came between that or Naruto dying," he turned to Naruto, "or Hinata dying if I'm not there," and he turned finally to Sakura, "or what about Sasuke!"

You can't keep living in fear of a future not yet written. "Neji," Hinata stared at her cousin-turned-brother, "promise me you're not coming out here with us to die."

"Promise!" he held out his hand, pinky finger extended.

Hinata hooked her finger around his, "Fine, then let's quit dawdling; we have a monster to stop!"

Naruto and Hinata teleported the eclectic group of living and undead members to a familiar landmark – the northern entrance to the Valley of the End. Just to the south were dueling statues of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha divided by a waterfall and the river that ran between them. Even with some distance to; Naruto could feel Ten-Tails shaking the ground as it stomped in its deadly path towards Konoha. Hell of a place to have this fight! The irony wasn't lost on Naruto; over a hundred years ago, Lord First and Great Grandmother Mito faced off against Madara who at that time had controlled Nine-Tails. And here we all gather again, one big, happy family!

"This place sucks!" Kyuubi murmured in his head.

"It's the last great obstacle between here and home, my friend," Naruto replied aloud, "After that, it's all open ground, and we might need every inch of it."

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Sasuke asked in his deadpan voice. Naruto wanted to believe it was his old friend having a moment of lucidity, but he didn't trust for a moment that it was actually Sasuke talking.

"Just me, myself, and I," he tried laughing off the conversation, but Sasuke remained deadpan as ever, his Rinnegan eyes glowing malevolent in the predawn morning. "You remember the plan?" Naruto asked.

"Just don't get in my way, loser."

"Jeez, you'd think a second personality would have softened him up a bit, ya know!" Lord Tobrima and Hashirama cracked a grin on their cracked faces. Even Orochimaru grinned, but Naruto felt the stone sink in his stomach. The earth quaked even harder, and finally Ten-Tails came into natural sight. The beast evoked memories of the Chunin Exams where Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, and he all faced off against Shukaku. This thing was easily four times its size and sporting twenty-seven jagged tails that looked like the razor-like claws of the Satori-demon in the Box of Infinite Bliss. In the name of all things holy; how the hell could you have ever existed?

As the beast approached, Naruto closed his eyes and began to concentrate, focusing nature chakra, Kyuubi's chakra, and the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths. Naruto opened his eyes, focusing his altered Byakugan vision, sensing for the slightest shift in the different planes. As expected, Obito stood atop the lumbering mountain that was Ten-Tails. Naruto also sensed the White Zetsu bonded to his right side as well as the faint corona of an a dimensional-shift surrounding him.

So, that's how you did it! Naruto often wondered how Obito had bypassed the seals surrounding the safehouse the night he was born, how he'd absorbed certain attack with seemingly no ill-effect if he saw them. Rinnegan gave him a significant advantage beyond predicting attacks, it could bend existence to a degree, and Naruto could see it now thanks to his enhanced vision.

The earth shook again and another fearsome presence approached. Madara Uchiha approached like an arrow loosed from a bow, heading straight for Obito. "Now!" Naruto shouted, letting loose three lightning releases to the sky – Dad's signal.

Minato saw the signal and concentrated, focusing on the Thunder God Mark he'd left on Obito's left cheek the last time. Here goes! Minato summoned nature chakra, ending his Toad Sage Mode. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," Kushina took one hand.

"Ready," Kakashi took the other.

"I was born ready!" Might Guy grabbed Kakashi and Kushina's free hands.

"Here goes!" Minato pulled the group through the bright flash, and Obito filled his vision. "You never did watch the back door, son!" Minato planted a flying sidekick squarely into Obito's back as the group came out of warp. As Minato kicked, he tossed a marked shuriken into the distance.

Before Minato could move again, Madara filled his vision. Even reanimated imperfect, the man stood tall as Minato with a dark, imposing presence about him. "Goddammit!" the man's red, lifeless eyes burned with anger. Minato braced for an attack, only to see Madara seize Obito by the neck. "You little snot-nosed idiot!" The undead Uchiha patriarch roared, "I left you everything, and you still couldn't get it right!"

"Ma-Master!" Obito stared with abject horror as the Zetsu creature unbonded from him, standing like a hollow human shell.

Minato held out the signal for everyone to hold their position as he felt the sickening sensation of toad-oil forming in the back of his throat. Jiraiya was fairly sure this attack had been near-fatal to the Zetsu before, but now would be the test as he took aim.

"You couldn't kill Minato!" Madara boomed, "You couldn't even get all the Tailed-Beasts! I should have just sacrificed Rin after I bonded her to Three-Tails! At least she knew how to fucking die!" What!

"WHAT!" Obito gasped, just as surprised as Minato.

"Who do you think convinced the Swordsmen of the Mist to kidnap Rin?" Madara growled. "Who do you think let you know she was in trouble, hoping to have you witness her lose control of Three-Tails and force Kakashi and Minato kill her!" He grinned, "I didn't count on her being smarter than you, much less having the courage to sacrifice herself the way you never could!"

The son of a bitch was playing us all, just like Himawari said! Naruto and his team appeared in a bright flash, and Minato spat out his toad oil bullets onto the White Zetsu on cue. "DIE!" Naruto shot a fiery tail at the mutated creature, incinerating it into charred carbon. Hinata meanwhile charged at Madara as the man plucked the purple Rinnegan from Obito's left eye socket. Hinata brandished the Staff of the Moon in one hand and the flaming Hyūga Clan blade in the other. Naruto gave chase, as well as Might Guy and Neji.

"Sensei!" Obito called aloud as something black and oily covered the younger man's pallid skin on the left side of his body. By the shivering motion of his body, Obito was clearly not in control.

Minato activated the seal on Obito's cheek, and Obito vanished in a flash. "Minato?!" Kushina stared.

"Time to see if we can save him!" He took her and Kakashi by the hands.

"I'm going, too!" Sakura grabbed onto Kakashi's shoulders, and they all vanished.

Hinata whipped attacks charged with Gentle-Fist chakra, and Madara dipped and dodged every best effort to lock him down. The bastard is fast! There was a bright flash in the back of her visual field, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Might Guy were now in the fray. This is definitely not going according to plan! Even with the four of them, Madara matched any attack with ease.

"Enough of this!" Guy Sensei began building his chakra to inhuman levels.

"GUY, NO!" Hinata screamed, knowing all too well what he was doing.

"SENSEI, NO!" Neji screamed as well. Father had told them the story of Might Duy's sacrifice, as had Guy Sensei. Madara's eyes popped open wide as a flaming dragon formed around the man.

"AHHHHHHH!" Guy's flaming form rammed into Madara, sending him flying into the air. "DIIIIIIEEEE!" Guy shouted as the elder Uchiha went flying.

"Hinata, what's wrong!" Naruto was at her side, the whole event had taken mere seconds.

"Na-Naruto!" she pointed a shaky finger at Guy, the flames now burning out, along with his chakra network.

"I'm sorry," the hellfire around the man extinguished itself as he began smoldering, "Tell Lee and Tenten," he stared at Neji, "I'm sorry!" He collapsed to his knees, "I did… it… for… all of you! And… the village!"

"Hinata!" Naruto snatched her wrist, and they both sprinted to the disintegrating Guy. "Help me!" Naruto focused his chakra, desperately willing the man to remain on this side. Hinata joined the desperate struggle to save Guy Sensei.

Kushina stood face to face with Obito, holding a kunai in one hand and one of her adamantine chains in another. Every fiber in her body called for her to wrap the chain around his neck and crush the man's neck.

"Kushina, please!" he pointed to the purple mass that was the Rinnegan in his right eye. For a moment, she saw the scared look of a young genin uncertain about his first mission with her husband. "Hurry, before he gets it!"

He wants me to?! Kushina didn't need further prompting; she rammed the Kunai into Obito's right eye, destroying the Rinnegan.

"FOOL!" the oily black coating on the left side of Obito's face spoke, "We'll just get one from Orochimaru's sex toy!"

"NO!" Obito wailed as the black creature ejected itself from Obito.

Obito fell to his knees, sobbing, "What have I done!"

"Obito," she spoke, holding a hand out to Kakashi and her husband, beckoning them to not attack. The younger shinobi stared up with his mangled face, tears and snot streaming from his eyes and nose. "You have much to answer for," she said stern but controlled.

"Don't let him get Sasuke's Rinnegan!" he heaved, clearly in pain.

"We know about the Eye of the Moon," Kakashi chastised him.

"You don't understand!" he wheezed, blood now dripping from his mouth. Sakura ran to his side with some reluctance, and she worked quickly to stabilize him. "If he uses a mismatched… Rinnegan…" he wheezed.

"What Obito, what?!" Minato demanded.

"The Infinite Tsukuyomi will form imperfect!" he howled. "Everyone will be trapped in nightmares instead of dreams!" he sobbed, "EVERYONE WILL DIE!"

"Oh my god!" Kushina stared back up at the towering hulk of Ten-Tails, watching Madara jetting back to the top of the beast.

Naruto was so focused on saving Might Guy that he didn't notice Madara's return. SHIT! Naruto fully expected to be struck down. He did not expect Madara to instead charge at Sasuke. "Sorry, kid, I need this!" Madara snatched the Rinnegan from Sasuke's right eye.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" he screeched as Madara flung Sasuke to the side like a diver tossing an oyster after extracting a pearl.

As Naruto struggled to hold Guy together, he sensed a renewed power emanating off the man as his skin turned pallid, and an oily black stain crawled up Ten-Tails and up Madara's back. Naruto sensed the incoming attack, "NEJI, GET SASUKE!" he shouted.

Neji got up from his knees, sprinted to the fallen shinobi, and dragged him to the group. Naruto frantically pulled everyone into a group hug and teleported them back to the clearing below. There wasn't a second to breathe. From Ten-Tails, Naruto sensed the rain of black spikes coming down. If I bat them away, we lose Guy!

Hinata must have sensed his thoughts as she stood to protect him and Guy. Honey, NO!

Another body rose above Hinata, arms spread out in a flaming phoenix. The rain of spikes fell, blotting out the mid-morning light and there was a bright series of flashes, forcing Naruto to close his eyes. When they reopened, Naruto was supremely surprised to see he was uninjured, and Guy was stable.

His eyes turned, seeing Hinata on her knees and Neji standing over her. "Oh my god! HINATA!" Naruto stumbled as he half-ran, half-crawled to his wife.

"I'm… all right…" she heaved in exhaustion, "I'm… all right… no one is going to die…" she fell over into Naruto's arms.

Neji stared incredulous. "Na-Naruto! Did she just…" he stared incredulous at the array of destruction around the group.

"I guess," he ran fingers through her silken hair, "she didn't need us to save her!" Naruto squeezed her close to him, grateful for her strength.

The rain of spikes from Ten-Tails was almost on top of them as day turned to night. "Oh shit!" Sakura said as she stared in horror.

A firm hand shoved her aside into Kakashi's arms, and a yellow-green glow enveloped her. The sound of metal striking metal filled Sakura's head like a hellish thunderstorm as she screamed, another set of arms enfolding her as her mother had that terrible night.

A terrible ringing filled her ears as the roar ended, and Sakura found herself enfolded by Lord Kushina, Lord Minato, and Kakashi. Chains sprouting from Kushina's back formed a barrier that had deflected away the spikes. As the barrier fell, Sakura took in the horrifying sight – Obito impaled like a pin cushion. "Obito," Kushina groaned as she untangled herself from the group. Everyone ran towards the stricken Shinobi.

"Hang on!" Sakura called out as she began charging her healing jutsu.

"Don't bother," Obito said with a blood wheeze. "I've been dead a long time; I just didn't know it…"

"Obito, stop talking, damn you!" Kushina pleaded.

"For what little it's worth," Obito sighed, growing weaker, "I'm sorry, Kushina, Minato." Sakura knew his death was imminent, no matter what she did. That didn't stop her from trying, nevertheless. "I… I really thought…"

"She's waiting for you," Minato spoke, holding his fallen student. "Go to her." Minato spoke with tears streaming from his eyes.

"Tell that son of yours," he gurgled as blood and foam spilled from his mouth, "He'd better become Hokage, or I'll come back to haunt him!" Obito managed a laugh and a smile through blood. He turned his gaze to Kakashi, "Good-bye, old friend!" Sakura felt the sickening sensation of the man's chakra slip, and Obito expired in her arms. So much death, for what? She sighed as what had once been a man became the last casualty of the Third Shinobi War.

Author's notes: Hello, everyone, and thank you for reading. For everyone stateside, I hope you had a great thanksgiving. For everyone who voted in the poll, thank you for the input, and I assure you I'll make the most of that decision. I hope you all are healthy and safe wherever you are, and I give thanks for all the support and interest this story project has attracted since it started over a year ago.

A special thank you goes to my ever-suffering wife, who was patient with my writing this chapter and every other chapter. Love you always!

See you all next chapter, believe it!