'We don't stand a chance.' Ino thought.
Nagato's power, combined with the Nine-Tails' might, was an awe-inspiring spectacle.
"No running away." Nagato said, and something spread around the entire area.
The pressure in the air increased.
Golden chakra built coiled upon itself, gathering within Nagato.
"Now… I would suggest you protect the jinchuuriki." He said softly.
There was a rumbling sound.
Earth came first.
"GET BEHIND US!" Naruto called out to the others.
Hanabi and Ino erected the first layers of barriers.
Wind came second.
Anko slapped her hands together. Snakes erupted from her, wrapping around all of them in a sphere before turning to a strange metal alloy.
Water came third.
Shisui's Susanoo rose around them. Itachi's own surrounded it, an added layer of protection.
Fire came fourth.
Sasuke gathered nature energy and sent it directly through the dual-layered Susanoo.
Lightning came last.
Naruto's entire body glowed. He was no Sakura, but he could still absorb part of whatever came through. Hopefully.
"Divine Judgment."
The world flashed white, as light erupted from the floor.
It came up from between the clouds.
And Nagato didn't let go.
The pressure continued to build upon them, until both Shisui and Itachi slowly but surely began to strain, despite the nature-enhanced Susanoo.
Naruto looked to his right. Something dark was swirling around them, and something was pressing down on them, too.
Beams of superheated light made it almost impossible to see what was happening, exactly.
Naruto's chakra coils were so full they felt close to bursting. He slammed his hands together, expelling it.
It didn't seem like it would be enough.
Their first layers of defense were slowly withering away.
"Sasuke!" Anko roared. "I'll handle the energy gathering!"
Sasuke nodded. Anko couldn't really use it in battle, but standing still and expanding it right away, she could manage.
"Susanoo!" Sasuke bellowed and the pink, tanuki-shaped chakra giant erected itself around them. "Shield of Shukaku!"
The Nine-Tails was the strongest offensive force in the world.
The One-Tail was one of the strongest defensive forces on earth. And so was Susanoo.
It would have to do.
Violent, twisting columns of chakra rose up through the floor, down from the cloudless skies. The wind picked up, howling and becoming a veritable storm; lightning struck. The flames became an inferno, one that the shattering boulders of earth and cutting waters didn't manage to douse.
The seven ninja planted their feet, and let out deafening roars.
The jutsu was a terrible, annihilating work of art. Nagato was glowing, brighter than anything they could remember seeing.
They held.
Even then, their bodies shook from the strain. And so did Uzushiogakure.
Light and power winked out.
Nagato's onslaught stopped as abruptly as it had come.
It left nothing but ruin.
But they were still standing.
Sasuke coughed and fell to his knees, on the already reforming floor.
"Sasuke!" Itachi called out .
"I'm fine, I'm fine." He breathed out, looking at the end of his rope. "I just need… a minute to recover from this."
"A… minute…?" Itachi looked at Nagato. This might well have been an hour. And considering Sasuke was one of the strongest in their group…
"…We'll buy you that minute." Shisui decided, and Anko grinned at him.
Itachi didn't look nearly as confident in their chances, but he stepped next to his cousin anyway. He nodded at Shisui, once.
Their Susanoo rose together, shaping into one; red armor over green body.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!"
It shielded all of them, pulling them up in the air.
Anko summoned two clones, and they channeled nature energy through it. The Susanoo itself had no risk of turning to stone, so they simply focused on gathering as much of the power as they could.
Naruto hung in midair, outside of the spectral shape.
"I'll handle the close-range combat, then." Naruto said. "Make sure not to let him get too close to you, still."
Nagato could still absorb Senjutsu chakra, up to a certain level.
Itachi knew it as well.
The four armed Susanoo was an imposing sight.
Inside it, Naruto could see Hanabi readying her bow. Ino was weaving through a multitude of jutsu, trying to find something, anything that would affect Nagato.
But if none of Shisui's illusions did the trick, he knew she was going to have a lot of trouble.
And Naruto wondered if all of this, all of their preparations, would be enough.
"Senjutsu, then…?" Nagato said softly. "As you wish. I shall break your defenses, then."
It happened in a blink.
There was an explosion of red and gold energy; something thick and heavy that went high up in the blue sky. A pillar of ominous chakra.
Once it cleared, Nagato was obscured.
What was left was a shimmering golden avatar of the Nine-Tails, bearing black spikes along its body and the Rinnegan.
"Oh, hell." Anko muttered. Hanabi glanced at her.
"What — What…?" Ino seemed just as pale. "How do we…?"
"Same as before." Hanabi said firmly, despite how hard she bit her lip.
Sasuke nodded, letting the One-Tail's chakra slowly twist into something he could use as his own.
"…Nothing changes." Shisui nodded slowly.
Despite what Karin had said earlier…
The Nine-Tails was pretty firmly under Nagato's control, this much was clear to Naruto.
He assumed that the Beast took a lot of effort for Nagato to keep under his thrall, and that — along with the presence of three Sharingan users — prevented Nagato from bringing out the five other Bijū in his possession.
This on its own had been reason enough to justify bringing the Uchiha along. Now, Naruto wondered if…
There was a mighty roar and a beam of bright light.
Naruto pushed his Storm cloak a little bit further, and threw himself aside to dodge the crimson chakra laser that erupted from the creature. It tore through the air itself, and the heat left in its wake was scorching.
With a screech, the Nine-Tails threw itself into motion, its nine tails batting furiously behind it; a Beast of old.
The Susanoo slammed into a brutal grapple, its four arms barely managing to restrain the Fox's sheer power. And already, it was being pushed back by the snarling monstrosity.
A tail whipped, sweeping low like the hand of a god.
The Fox pulled. The Susanoo crashed into the floor and the Nine-Tails followed.
Naruto threw himself forward.
Five more tails burst from seemingly nowhere, pinning the Susanoo's legs and three of its arms.
Naruto dashed forward and slid underneath the Fox, a blur of energy.
Hands glowing with shimmering blue, he broke the tails' hold on the chakra warrior by draining their powerful energy.
The Fox snarled and bit the Susanoo's thigh instead, and the chakra construct was breaking under its sharp claws. All four of the guardian's now free arms were already trying to pry its jaws open.
Naruto extended his hand above him, pulling as much chakra as he could… and trying not to get crushed by the strongest of the Bijuu's sheer mass. How could a chakra construct be so damn heavy…?
Something was forming in the Beast's mouth, something powerful—
A Tailed Beast Bomb. Naruto summoned Wind, Lightning and Fire to his leg. They howled, burned and thrummed with power.
"Rising Dragon." He roared, straining with the effort.
Naruto pushed from the floor.
The rising kick barely lifted the Beast in the air.
The Nine-Tails' mighty jaws would have been enough to break through the Majestic Susanoo's leg on its own. But a Tailed Beast Bomb, this close…?
The Susanoo's shape changed into something more… feminine? It was hard to describe. Naruto blinked. He recognized this chakra. One of the giant's hands extended in a strange shape.
And the Nine-Tails stilled for a moment.
"Mind Art: Mind Body Freeze!"
It was Ino. He could almost feel her strain. The Bijūdama still continued to form in the massive jaws.
There was no time for Naruto to freeze as well.
His chakra pooled toward his now extended hands. It gathered, a wave of sudden, powerful energy.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Gravity changed its course in a cone above Naruto, and the Beast that Nagato had become was sent flying high up. Its Bijuudama went flying off course entirely. Naruto could only hope it would dispel before hitting Earth.
Nagato clapped his hands inside the Fox. Gravity resumed with a terrible sound.
The Fox came back down. If anything, the creature seemed to weigh more than normal. A lot more. Naruto leaped away.
It slammed back to the floor, shattering it and pressing down on the Susanoo. The whole structure seemed to tilt.
Naruto summoned his forged bow. Purple chakra exploded around him, gathering around both of his arms. He was surrounded by a raging violet storm.
Naruto summoned the arrow he had Created for this particular occasion.
'Hama Yumi: Sealing Arrow!'
Naruto nocked it and let go.
Nagato was too perceptive not to notice what he was intending to do, however. The fox jumped.
The Susanoo's form flickered again, its bristle-like hair changing once more.
All of its four arms split into a multitude of smaller cannons.
"Flaming Arrow Warheads!"
A cluster of missiles launched from the cannons, locking onto the Fox's form.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The wall of impenetrable force stopped both jutsu short. The Nine-Tails slammed back into the fortress again, its sheer weight making it buckle. It screeched, a sound that made Naruto wince.
The Susanoo was crushed under it, its four arms trying to shake the Beast off. A violent wave of chakra erupted from the conflict, a hundred coils of power.
Every hair on Naruto's arm bristled.
The Fox began spinning, its tails wrapping around it, a true maelstrom of power.
"Howling Ring!"
Naruto threw himself off what was once the upper part of the city, something that was closer to a platform than anything else, at this point.
He hung in midair, trying to find something, anything.
There were bolts of red lightning, scarlet bursts of violent chakra as the Nine-Tails spun and howled its rage. For a moment, Naruto was worried. There was no way he could stop it from grinding the chakra giant down.
All the same, the Susanoo's chakra erupted around itself, changing once more, equally familiar. It was released in a sudden burst. And then the Susanoo began spinning as well, the opposite way, shrouded in three colors.
"Heavenly Rotation!"
The two powerful forces clashed in a mighty explosion, and although the Susanoo's own technique was undoubtedly the weaker of the two, it proved to be enough for them to hold on a little while longer. The Susanoo was pushed away.
"Summoning Art!"
Something erupted from the Susanoo's now loose, flowing sleeves. A true swarm of wasps that Naruto absently remembered he had Created for Hanabi, a long while ago.
The chakra-eating wasp swarm crashed into the Nine-Tails. They were buzzing angrily, and clinging to the Fox's face, trying to force their way in.
"Shinra Tensei!" He called again, sounding irritated, this time. The Fox was standing still.
The Susanoo rushed forward, its initial steps making the floor shake, and it changed again, throwing itself in the air, wings extended. This was Shisui, Naruto could tell.
Chakra coalesced around its right hand, searing the Susanoo's fingertips.
"Sea-Parting Drill!"
The very moment Nagato's jutsu fell away, Shisui's drill slammed into him.
The Nine-Tails' shape began falling apart, starting from where the drill hit. With a growl, Nagato extended his hand.
"Preta Path!"
Senjutsu-enhanced or not, Nagato still absorbed enough of the weapon to destabilize it. That meant he couldn't absorb much more of this for a moment.
Right after, the Nine-Tails' back split open, and a cluster of missiles rushed out of its back, aimed at the Susanoo.
Naruto blurred forward, sword flashing purple.
There was the sound of a sword flashing many times.
Naruto came to a stop on the other side, and the missiles fell away, all of them cut in two.
"No matter how many of you there are…" Nagato began. "The end result will be the same. Gather like the ants you are, or crawl away if you wish."
The Nine-Tails jumped away once more. It hung there, floating in midair.
The Fox roared. Chakra began to pool into its mouth. He was going for a Tailed Beast Bomb again. A powerful one. Its mouth spread impossibly wide.
Crimson eyes opened again, and with a shattering scream, the ball of deadly chakra shot out, aimed at the Susanoo.
Naruto pulled a scroll out and held it out in front of him.
He brandished it in front of him, as though he were about to perform an exorcism. His other hand, he extended as well, and a shimmering blue wall raised in front of him.
The heat became heavier, cloying, as the ball of chakra filled Naruto's vision.
Using the Preta Path's ability, Naruto began absorbing the chakra coming from the deadly orb.
The Susanoo's four arms extended, holding the deadly sphere at bay, in the meantime.
Naruto's chakra coils seemed to strain from the power of it.
The rest of the chakra, he sealed into the scroll itself.
"Tailed Beast Chakra Sealing Method!" Naruto called, breathing out.
Too surprised by the fact that the entire Bomb had been swallowed, Nagato didn't react in time to Naruto's high-powered Banshō Ten'in. The Nine-Tails was pulled back to the platform.
Naruto jumped back, passing through the Susanoo. He nodded to Sasuke and Itachi.
"Susanoo: Hinokagutsuchi!" Itachi called.
A wall of black flame erupted in front of the Nine-Tails, before exploding into innumerable spikes of it.
And more of them.
And more of them.
Nagato focused his own Preta shield in front of him, absorbing the ever-rising flames.
Then he blinked. Uchiha Sasuke was not inside the Susanoo anymore.
"What?" Nagato blinked, his voice still amplified by the Nine-Tails' form.
Naruto's role hadn't been to handle the melee combat, not really. There was no fighting a natural disaster with your fists. No, his role had been to look for an opening.
For Sasuke and him.
And Ino had provided that by making Nagato believe that Sasuke had been there and oh, there was no need to make sure of it again. How she had managed to trick someone like Nagato was something Naruto couldn't wrap his head around. But it was a reminder that despite his impossible shows of power... he was not a god.
"Sealing Art: Sword of Totsuka!" Two voices called together.
The sword that belonged to Itachi, carried by both Sasuke and Naruto and enhanced with nature energy, cut through the Nine-Tails body, before Nagato could muster the effort to absorb it again.
The fact it was not something the Rinnegan had created could only help, here.
The Nine-Tails began to be pulled away into the blade.
Nagato roared.
Chakra built up, faster than the Sword of Totsuka could seal away.
He was... breaking free.
A lot of the Fox's chakra was expanded this way. But still... Nagato was brute-forcing his way out of the Sword of Totsuka.
Instead of standing here, gaping like a fish the way he wanted to... Naruto leapt out of the way, pulling Sasuke with him.
The others were too close, he realized. Not even the ethereal warrior would be enough. He held back a scream, one that would be pointless.
Shisui realized it too, and he tried to restrain the fury of the strongest tailed beast. It was going to be a losing battle. But looking at the others, despite his very conflicted feelings about a few of them…
Shisui found it in his heart to give this his all.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"Susanoo: Deity and Beast Reflection!" Uchiha Shisui roared.
The shimmering green shield of chakra barely appeared in time. Then another layer of it. Then another one…
Naruto thought his eardrums had burst.
He and Sasuke had been further away from it, and even from there…
No time for that. They picked themselves up and began rushing back to the fight.
The blast had used up an enormous amount of chakra, Nine-Tails or not.
Uzushiogakure was reforming from close to nothing, starting from its center.
And to his relief, Naruto could still sense all of them. Shisui's strongest defense had protected them.
But it was made startlingly clear that he would not be able to continue fighting. His chakra was weak.
Shisui was likely down for the count, slipping in and out of consciousness.
And that meant there would be no more Majestic Susanoo.
Naruto saw them in the distance, and his guess proved to be right. The green layer of chakra around them slowly was slowly fading away. And in front of them...
Nagato, still shrouded in the powerful gold cloak, extended his hand.
It turned into a cannon. Then four more arms exploded from his shoulders.
He began to aim.
The next instant, five beams of bright, blue light erupted from the hands.
With his left hand, Nagato weaved a seal.
And five beams became twenty.
One Susanoo, whether it was a Complete one or not… would not cut it here.
Anko knew it, too.
Moving as though she were in a frenzy, her chakra exploding to life, she did her best to match the assault.
"We're not done yet!" Anko roared. "You think we're going to be wiped out by the likes of you?!"
More arms erupted from the Susanoo, and Itachi, now the only person maintaining it, strained as well.
"Asura Path: Bright Lance!"
Anko roared and let loose an equal number of red beams.
The rain of beams met a rain of beams, erupting, dissolving like windblown vapor caught in a storm; uncountable explosions of light. A massive pulse of blue and red chakra shot out.
And Nagato channeled more power.
Anko couldn't manage to push back anymore.
Nagato was busy with winning the one-sided struggle. It was the sort of opening they had needed.
Sasuke and Naruto rushed toward him, dragging Lightning, Wind and Fire with them.
And they carried blades they had Created for the express purpose of sealing Nagato.
Sunbreaker and Palemoon.
Centuries ago, the Sage had sealed the Ten-Tails away.
They would have to do the same. The Totsuka blade didn't cut it. Hopefully, this one would.
Bony protrusions appeared on Nagato's body, and more cannons broke through his skin.
Closer.
Both Sasuke and Naruto extended their senses, desperately weaving through the projectiles aimed at them, flickering in and out of the roaring coils of energy that turned the air around them to heavy heat.
Closer.
Spikes of red chakra erupted in front of them.
Cursing, Naruto raised both of them up in the air using a burst of Wind. He used his Quickening jutsu on Sasuke, as well.
Missiles fell upon him, from his blind spot.
Sasuke summoned a wave of scorching flame with nothing more than a twist of his fingers, and even the explosions that resulted from the collision were contained.
Closer. They were so damn close.
They raised their weapons.
Nagato turned around, facing them. Arms made out of golden chakra exploded out of him and grabbed their weapons in a tight hold.
"What—" Sasuke jumped back, narrowly avoiding the extra pair of arms that sprang from the floor.
"What the Rinnegan makes… the Rinnegan can unmake." Nagato said evenly.
Naruto dodged under the man's decapitating strike.
Behind him, the red Susanoo fell to its knees. Anko was staring blearily. She was out of chakra too.
They were collapsing like a house of cards. The Susanoo fell away entirely.
"All bonds shall break before the Rinnegan." Nagato quoted mockingly.
Naruto had heard this somewhere, he was sure of it.
The chakra arms twisted and Sasuke and Naruto's weapons shattered.
Naruto gritted his teeth and discarded a few other plans.
They needed-
A wall of black flames erupted in between them and Nagato.
-A moment of distraction.
Once Nagato dispelled it, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Itachi.
Naruto's sealing arrow missed the man.
So did Ino and Hanabi's Wind and Earth combination.
The spikes that erupted from the floor, their speed enhanced by Wind, still were not fast enough to catch him. But they made Nagato move.
And take his eyes off the others.
Sasuke attacked, summoning a sword of flame. His first slice went over Nagato's head. Naruto went low.
Black spikes erupted from the man's body, blocking Naruto's strike entirely.
Nagato's hand grabbed Sasuke. He grinned.
"Now, for the One-Tails—"
Sasuke exploded.
Or rather, Itachi's clone, disguised as Sasuke, exploded.
Before Sasuke had practiced this bait and switch strategy with Toru… he had practiced it with Itachi.
Nagato slided backwards, and Itachi was upon him, a sword of black flames extending from his hand. In front of him, Sasuke mirrored him, white fire dancing along his blade.
Two arms sprouted from Nagato's shoulders, and one of them impaled Itachi through the heart.
He dispelled in a flock of ravens. A wind-enhanced arrow struck through it, destroying Nagato's hand. Courtesy of Hanabi.
Nagato grunted.
Ino's distraction fell away.
The sword of black flames crumbled to nothing, and from its embers, the real Itachi finally revealed himself.
"What." Nagato growled.
The next instant, the Sword of Totsuka finally reached Nagato.
This time, Nagato didn't manage to catch it before it struck him.
"Apparently, one of Shisui's illusions still worked on you." Itachi said.
He disappeared into it.
The rest of them watched incredulously.
With something so… simple?
Itachi shrugged, looking somewhat sheepish himself.
"…Is it done…?" Hanabi asked.
Ino held a half-tiger seal, her other hand busy with steadying Anko.
"I can't feel his presence anymore."
Itachi was breathing hard. And he also was not saying anything.
Once the smoke cleared from the air, several things became obvious to Naruto.
The first thing was that most of the others were not in any sort of fighting shape anymore.
Itachi seemed to be on his last legs, in need of both healing… and chakra. None of those Naruto could provide efficiently.
Ino was standing defiantly, but her slight tremble, despite her normal-looking chakra levels indicated that she was in no shape to fight… or to receive more chakra. Naruto forced his thoughts about Sakura's fate away.
Hanabi looked ready to go on. And Sasuke even more so.
Both Shisui and Anko were out of commission entirely.
Naruto was no Karin, and he was no Sakura either. He couldn't heal them half as quickly or as efficiently as the both of them together could. But he made sure to patch them up as well as he could.
Second thing was… They were higher up in the air now. Higher than they had been a minute ago.
And breathing was becoming harder. The cold was penetrating, up here, despite the sun that seemed to be looming closer and closer.
And finally, Nagato was gone entirely. His jutsu, the one preventing them from leaving, had disappeared as well.
He was alive, though.
That was bad.
The fortress continued to rise, higher and higher.
Nagato was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing the others slowly having more and more trouble breathing and simply… being, Naruto understood what Nagato was doing.
He was raising the fortress to outer space. Higher up, almost all of them would die quickly. And he counted on Naruto, at least, to stay here and fight.
Because it would be next to impossible for them to come back here again, after today.
How Nagato could do such a thing from where he was sealed… Naruto couldn't say.
Naruto didn't have enough strength to counter the Nine-Tails' incredible might. Not with only the small fraction of its power that he held. But this, along with his Uzumaki constitution, made him able to stay on his feet.
At least, he figured that was it.
Because Sasuke, unlike the others, was managing too. And he would do so for a while, Naruto knew.
Which meant Nagato could, as well. And if this alone didn't kill the others… Nagato definitely would, now.
The seal that held him was breaking already. Itachi gave them a grim nod. The pressure in the air was increasing again, as an ominous chakra slowly made its presence known again. And they couldn't predict where or when Nagato would appear.
More of them would die.
First would come Anko and Shisui, undoubtedly. Then Itachi.
More of them would die.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, and for a moment, they peered into each other's heart; true understanding.
About what needed to be done.
Better two than seven.
Sasuke went to Itachi; Naruto went to Ino and Hanabi.
"I don't think we can handle being there for long." The latter began, shivering. Her breathing was getting more ragged by the minute, despite still being in fighting shape.
Ino knew it too, but didn't say anything.
"I know." Naruto nodded.
"What do we do…?" Ino asked them. "Do you think the seals you and… Karin designed might be enough…?"
"No." Naruto shook his head. "Not right now. Not like that. And none of the weapons, either. We saw that already."
Silence stretched.
"What do we do, then...?" Ino asked again.
Naruto closed his eyes.
"I'm staying." Naruto finally said.
"No!"
"Me and Sasuke can withstand the void of space." Naruto said. "For a while at least. It's pretty clear that you can't."
"Why?!" Ino asked. "We can get down to Earth again and find a way to defend from there. We did impossible things… many, many times over."
"…Probably not this time." Hanabi admitted. She could only imagine the sort of power that Nagato was intending to use.
They didn't know what his Kinjutsu was, exactly, but six Bijū...
"The weapon is likely a cannon… A laser." Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Or something to that effect. A bomb, perhaps."
Six Bijū...
"I assume Nagato can make good on his threat from here easily. We still have nothing strong enough to withstand it, and we don't know which Village he's going to be aiming at, anyway. There are too many options, and the area that he might cover with such an attack is simply too wide." Naruto finished.
"Even then!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm staying here." Naruto shook his head.
"Why…?"
"I think I'll manage." He just said.
"Have you lost your mind?!" She screamed. "Have we fought the same battle?! Which part of this looks like something you can handle on your own?!"
He smiled.
"I think I see things a bit more clearly, after fighting him. He's not invincible. But... he wants us to believe so." Naruto said.
And Nagato had burned through a lot of chakra, already. But then again... he held the Nine-Tails.
Ino said nothing.
"And today's the only time we'll get this chance. Besides… I promised the Nine-Tails, long ago." Naruto finished. "I don't think I'm getting out of that one so easily." He laughed.
Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to come back here after today. At least, not like this. Nagato would only grow stronger… and stronger, as he got used to his power. One month had already been too much.
And he knew that none of the others were fast enough... or durable enough to handle Nagato fighting seriously. Not that he was so sure about his own chances, or Sasuke's.
"Then we'll stay here with you, at least! " Ino said. "We'll fight until the end!"
"…That is a guaranteed death."
"And what you're about to do isn't?!" Ino shot back in answer. "I'm a ninja. I'll choose how I die, at least!"
Naruto looked into her eyes, and saw a similar resolve in Hanabi's.
He thought quickly.
Karin… Sakura, he wouldn't have managed to talk sense into. Same thing with Anko.
But he knew that Hanabi, at least, could be reasoned with. Naruto sent a thought to her.
Naruto explained what they needed to do. What she needed to do.
She went through all the emotions he had expected. Denial. Then anger. Then bargaining. Sadness.
And finally… acceptance.
"It's true… that I can only move forward because all of you are there, with me." Naruto finally said, looking as though he relented.
Ino smiled, looking much too relieved for someone who was certain to die as well.
"Then that means…?" She began.
"Everything worked out until now thanks to all of you." Naruto continued. "I wish I could have told…"
"They knew." Hanabi finished, her eyes looking a bit wet. Ino nodded in confirmation.
He smiled brightly. "I'm glad, then."
Naruto's chakra flared around him.
"I love you, you know that, right?" Naruto asked Ino.
"Of course I do." She grinned. "Don't sound so defeated, though. We'll pull through."
Naruto smiled, a bit sadly now. He was resolute.
His hand rose and he caressed the side of Ino's face, gently.
"You fought well Ino." He said quietly. "So well. All of you."
"…Naruto?" Ino asked.
"I could never have asked for anything like what we have." Naruto smiled brightly.
He turned around.
"And Hanabi… I never even told you."
"…Don't. Please." She said quietly. "Not now."
"Got it." Naruto smiled. "Sorry, but it seems like you're part of the deviant sex group, at this point."
Hanabi was crying.
…I'm not saying shit unless you come back.
Take good care of yourself and them, alright…? Naruto asked. In case…
Yes.
A bit further away, Sasuke gave Naruto a pained look. He broke his rod in three pieces. He put one part in the unconscious Shisui's palm.
Hanabi disappeared with the sound of thunder.
"What…? Naruto?" Ino asked, confused.
No answer came.
He simply gazed at her.
"Naruto..?" Ino asked again, anger rising.
"I'm sorry, Ino." He smiled. "There's no need for you to die too."
Realization and horror shone bright in her eyes.
"Don't you fucking—"
Her scream echoed through the bond.
Naruto closed it, feeling its pulsing throb at the back of his mind.
"Bye, Ino."
Hanabi summoned Ino away, and back to Earth.
Anko and Shisui's unconscious forms warped away as well.
The Marks never held here, and they had no way of coming back.
Sasuke smiled at Itachi, who was barely standing on his feet. He wouldn't be able to handle any more. He was as strong as it got, but he was still a man.
"Sasuke…" Itachi shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I think you should go." Sasuke said.
"I couldn't be prouder of you, little brother." Itachi smiled sadly. "But if you're staying, I'm staying. We are shinobi, both of us."
"Yes." Sasuke weeped. "I guess we are."
Sasuke blurred forward, catching him off guard. He tried to punch his older brother in the gut, but Itachi still managed to parry the blow.
Naruto was already behind him, and when Itachi whirled around, Sasuke forced the receiver in his hand.
"I'm sorry, Itachi, but… I guess that's the last time."
"Don't! Sasuk—"
Itachi's betrayed look was the last thing Naruto and Sasuke both saw before he was warped away.
Sasuke wiped his tears away.
"It had to be done, right?" He asked Naruto.
"Yes." He smiled sadly.
Naruto clamped down on his bond with Ino — who was angrily trying to reach him — again.
"I hope you have a solid plan." Sasuke grunted. "The first few didn't work so well."
"A plan...?" Naruto teased. "I thought we were making it up as we went!"
Sasuke scoffed, somewhat amused. Naruto had something, then.
"Well... Time to kill a god, then." Naruto said, stretching his limbs. He paused. "Huh. You're wearing this, still...?"
This being the silver bar necklace the artisans of Isago had given them, so long ago. On that desert mission that turned out... bad.
"...Some days." Sasuke shrugged. "Today felt like one of these. Don't you think so...?"
"...No." Naruto carefully hid his matching necklace away. Sasuke caught the motion and snorted. Something soft passed through his eyes.
"It feels like we're missing someone, doesn't it..?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto laughed. He cleared his throat.
"My name is Uchiha Toru, and I'll be your guide to the void of space, along with my crew-mates, the handsome Uchiha Sasuke and the… somewhat large Uzumaki Naruto. Our trip won't be a long one. You can just call me Toru-sama for the few minutes we will spend together."
Sasuke sniffled, but when Naruto turned to look at him, there were no tears in sight.
"…Allergies, really? So close to the scary void of space…?" Naruto grinned.
"…You got that right." Sasuke chuckled.
Something passed through them.
Their bond snapped back into place, and identical swords appeared in their hands. Both of them instantly understood their shared artifact's ability.
Naruto told him what they were going for through the link.
There was a terrible sound. Like the fabric of reality tearing itself open.
A rift in space opened.
Nagato slowly drifted toward them.
The three strongest men in the world gathered.