Era Chapter 24: Ragnarok, a naruto fanfic

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but this chapter ends the major storyline of this simple fanfiction (and to do that it has to be unusually large). I hope that it does not disappoint; while I think the final revelation flows easily from the text, it may not be as complex as some of you were expecting. There were a number of comments that make a legitimate point that I want to respond to somewhat for all readers, but I'll place this after the story.

Also, this chapter does contain the promised Hinata and Neji fight. It may help to read it slower, as the battle doesn't flow between paragraphs as well as some of my others. I had it in mind in animated form, to be honest with you. Of course, that isn't all this chapter has in store for you...

Chapter Twenty Four: Ragnarok

Again the Samurai Kage slashed, and again Sasuke wove away from the blow. As the battle had continued to rage he had patiently and consistently been evading his opponent, waiting for the old man to grow short on breath. It had not been going long, but a smirk was already building on the elderly samurai's face.

They parted, Sasuke's opponent panting slightly and leaning on his blade. Sasuke slid a kunai to his hand, but did not begin his attack when the Samurai Kage pulled something unknown from a pouch. It was a small vial of a liquid that the elderly man downed in a single gulp. He laughed slightly.

"That drug is the most potent battle enhancer Ragnarok Incorporated can provide," he snickered. "It actually improves the synaptic speed, and momentarily makes the body ignore injury and fatigue." Bringing his blade to bear, he continued to laugh.

He did not notice the battles going on all about the city around them as forces clashed. He did not notice the line of samurai watching him, stiff-backed and tight-lipped. He did not notice the dangerous fire that was continually building in Sasuke's eyes; had he seen it, perhaps he would have fled.

But he attacked, again and again. He never succeeded in striking his opponent, but also never let up in the slightest. When he began to grow weary he drank another vial. As the battle went on, the light in Sasuke's eyes continued to grow.

From the sidelines, one of the samurai wearing a blue outfit shivered. He was the chosen warrior after the champion that had been defeated by the other two shinobi. All his life he had dreamed of becoming a samurai, of being trained by the Samurai Kage and of destroying the shinobi world. Finally he had become a samurai, powerful and fearless.

And he was afraid. He sensed something within Sasuke that sent a shiver up his spine. There was incredible destruction there, destruction that was being held at bay by something he did not understand. His master, who he had formerly considered so powerful, would be utterly consumed by this burning flame. If Sasuke ever decided to unleash it, everything would be over.

Leaping back, the Samurai Kage focused and began a technique. Violent winds began to surge around him, creating a shield that appeared to hold Sasuke at bay. He remained where he was, the winds blowing his cloak and hair back. A vortex of power appeared above the Samurai Kage's hand.

"This technique is of such terrible power," he called through the winds, voice distorted, "that it requires a terrible sacrifice. Witness that sacrifice!" Drawing his blade, the Samurai Kage cast it into the vortex. In an instant the steel shattered, and raw power exploded.

The building was torn apart, sending shrapnel flying in every direction and demolishing nearby buildings. Protected by his sphere of wind, the Samurai Kage merely drifted to the ground unharmed, grinning just slightly. All of the other samurai leapt agilely, evading the rubble and landing lightly in a row, exactly as they had stood before. Moments later, Sasuke emerged from the shadows completely unharmed, his back to the line of samurai.

"You still live?" The Samurai Kage seemed shocked, as if such a thing was not even close to the realm of possibility. "Then, shinobi, it is time for you to die!"

Abruptly several of the samurai moved, attacking Sasuke from behind. They grabbed his arms and legs, propelling him across the ruins of the building and pinning him, face up, to a particularly large rock. Grinning maniacally, the Samurai Kage pulled a knife from one of his sandals and began walking toward the bound shinobi, who struggled against his captors in vain.

"The mighty shinobi is finally laid low, eh? You are strong, perhaps as strong as three of my samurai, but you cannot best all four in a contest of strength. Without your darkness to hide in, you are no more than a man, like all the rest of us. And, as I said earlier, it is time for you to die." The knife rose, then plummeted toward Sasuke's heart.

"I will not allow this!" Another hand closed over the Samurai Kage's wrist before it could complete its swing. The samurai in blue had moved from the line, and now held his master's arm fast, preventing his final blow. All of the samurai, those holding Sasuke and those in the line, gasped in shock.

"What are you doing, you fool?" the Samurai Kage demanded. "This disobedience is the ultimate dishonor!"

"You dare to speak of honor?" the younger samurai cried. "You have been nothing but dishonorable since you began fighting this shinobi! If this is what you truly are, then I will have nothing of it!"

"Kill him!" the Samurai Kage roared to the others in the line. All of them began to reach for their blades, but hesitated, shuddering at the conflict of interest. Still struggling against his master, the younger samurai glanced at the others one by one. As each met his gaze, each relaxed his grip on his blade and returned to his position.

Eventually the older man's drugs began to wear off, and he was thrown back by his apprentice. When he hit the ground, he crumpled, and though he returned to his feet he did not seem as if he would attack again.

"Are you unharmed?" the samurai asked, turning to the shinobi. He froze before he spoke or moved any further. The four samurai holding him had drawn their blades, and all four katanas were poised to kill him.

"Move and we slaughter him instantly!" one of them cried roughly. "That goes for the rest of you, too!"

"The Samurai Kage had the right idea!" another barked. "To fight these monsters, we must fight using their own treachery against them!"

"Join us!" the third called. "Together we can usher in an era of samurai!"

"No." The samurai in blue barely whispered the word. It was not an act of defiance, but a simple statement of the truth. His eyes were slightly blank, fixed upon the eyes of the shinobi pinned against the rock. Those eyes that had burned with such fire before were now lifeless.

In one instant it happened. All four of the shinobi fell away, falling to the ground, trailing blood but already dead. The body they had been holding had already shattered to ashes. Sasuke appeared directly behind the samurai like a shadow, eyes burning darkly. A shudder passed through the line of samurai as they began to grasp all that had happened.

"You have a good heart," Sasuke said softly to the samurai's back.

"Please, Sasuke-dono," the man implored him, turning with a slight bow. "I wish to appease my honor by slaying my master, but he is your opponent alone. To interfere with the battle before one has been defeated would be most dishono-"

Sasuke's flickered away, appearing before the Samurai Kage and smashing a palm into his chest. The man was flung backward, crashing into a building. He staggered to his feet, but could barely lean against the concrete.

"He has been defeated," Sasuke answered, reappearing before the startled samurai. "There is no dishonor in finishing what is already inevitable. I must go."

"We do not wish to delay you." Again the samurai gave a slight bow.

"Leave the city," the shinobi ordered them, even as he began to move away. "If you do not do battle, you will not be harmed. After all that must be completed has been finished, then we will discuss peace." Sasuke vanished into the darkness.

The Hyuga and Ragnarok Clans faced off on opposite sides of the street. Though the latter group was much larger, they seemed more than slightly disturbed by Neji's arrival. Only the leader seemed unmoved, still swiftly creating seals on the street before him. As the others hadn't attacked yet, Neji continued to speak to Hinata.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" She nodded with a slight smile. "It will be interesting to see how you have progressed."

"Is everything at home still alright?"

"As well as can be expected. How are you?"

"Well... I..." Hinata glanced to the side, and Neji instantly noticed. Before he could say anything else, however, their opponents attacked.

Pulling several knives, the leader struck them across his seals and sent them tumbling into the air. There were four, Neji saw instantly, one for each of the others, and each knife was now bound by further seals. Two of the Ragnarok Clan instantly hurled their blades; Hinata grabbed hers by the handle and Neji calmly stopped his between two fingers.

Both knives exploded the next second, but passed through nothing but air. The Hyugas were already racing across the street toward their opponents. One of them bolted in the opposite direction, aiming to clothesline them both, but was easily flowed around by the two without slowing. Neji and the first of the Ragnarok members clashed, neither connecting.

Narrowing her eyes, the other warrior began shifting her hands before her, in constant motion as Neji merely watched and waited. Eventually she struck at him in a series of swift punches, only to find each and every one evaded. Neji flipped over her the next second, kicking her from behind. She whirled, both fists moving for him. His hands came up, blocking each with a flat palm.

Hinata ducked beneath a slashing blade and immediately flipped away to avoid the kick of the completely armored opponent. While flipping, she noticed that the leader was flipping through the same katas he had before launching his seals toward her earlier, this time focused on Neji. Sliding a kunai out of her sleeve, she hurled it directly into the center of his workings, hoping it would throw him off. He hissed in surprise, and instantly shifted the technique he was using.

The next time Neji did not both to dodge, and his opponent's fists struck him. They bounced off like pebbles, and for a moment she paused in shock. Energy wasn't moving to her fists anymore... why wouldn't it- her bewilderment was ended when Neji smacked a hand onto her forehead.

Abruptly the kunai jerked off the ground, seals covering it, and flew toward Hinata. She jerked to the side, catching the blade as it moved past and then hurling it back. The leader's eyes widened slightly, but he managed to catch the blade before it struck him. It began to burn, but before it exploded he changed hand signs again, and the seals on it shifted to make the weapon harmless.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Hinata realized the armored warrior was attacking from behind, blade in hand. She wasn't going to be able to dodge... but she didn't need to, as one second later Neji caught her around the waist, pulling her back away from the slash. After it passed over her, Hinata struck back, kicking the armored warrior away from them both.

She landed, and the next instant Neji used her as leverage to kick in midair. To his surprise, the warrior he had struck at caught his leg and jerked. Hinata gasped as she realized that he intended to smash Neji head first into the concrete, but was forced to leap away to evade a massive fist coming her direction the next second.

Neji rocketed toward the ground, but at the last second put his hands out, catching himself and stopping his momentum instantly. His free leg struck back, sharply cracking against his opponent's head. The movement made his opponent lose his grip, and Neji flipped back to his feet, striking the enemy warrior's chest with a palm the next instant.

Again the armored warrior struck at Hinata, barely missing as her target wove to the side. She tried to strike again, but the Hyuga had already struck back. Her hand collided with the front of the heavy armor and stopped cold. Across the battlefield, Neji glanced back to Hinata, realizing her attack had been stopped.

"Is that all?" the voice from within the armor mocked. "Do you really think that your soft styled techniques are going to be able to hurt me?"

Closing her eyes, Hinata extended her chakra beyond her hand. It passed through her opponent's armor, striking the heart. The suit of armor remained standing, lifeless, until Hinata withdrew her hand and it crashed forward. From across the battlefield, Neji smirked just slightly.

The next instant he was forced to leap into the air to evade long tendrils of seals that tried to snap around his legs. Even after he jumped, however, they followed him up, barely catching his ankles. Neji's jump was halted, and blade-like formations of seals sliced at him from every direction.

Just before they struck, Neji whirled, chakra flying from his body. The blade-like seals connected and were shredded, the seals binding his legs snapped and fell to the ground lifelessly. Ending his spin, Neji hurled several shuriken toward the leader. He abandoned his seal workings and leapt away barely in time.

"Behind you!" Hinata called, but a moment too late. Massive arms clamped around Sasuke, pinning his arms to his sides. The giant of a warrior crashed to the ground, still holding his prisoner firmly, then began to squeeze.

"You guys are slippery punks," he growled. "This time, though, you're not gonna get away from me until I crush the life out of you."

"Actually, I was waiting for an opportunity like this," Neji told him. "At least sixty of your chakra points are in direct contact with min-"

"Shut up!" the Rangarok Clan member tightened his grip, making Neji gasp just slightly in pain. "You're going to die, and you know it!"

At that moment Neji turned to glance at him, and there was a disturbing smirk upon his face. Chakra pulsed from his Byukagen, and then exploded from his back. The massive warrior seemed to be ripped apart from within, so quickly he did not even bleed. Neji landed lightly on his feet as the suit fell to the ground behind him. He glanced at the leader, still shifting through hand seals, and dropped into his fighting stance.

"Too late!" the leader abruptly smirked. He ceased his hand seals and pushed his glasses up his face in a decidedly Matthew-esque gesture. "We have all sorts of information about your clan, enough to know that you are of the Branch of the Hyuga Clan... and what that means." Nej returned his gaze coldly. "Your seal was particularly difficult to break into, but I suppose that's to be expected for something that causes instant death and can't be removed. Now die!"

The large circle of seals about the leader of the group pulsed with energy and began to glow. Their light flashed across the street, striking Neji directly in the forehead. He stumbled backward... and caught himself with his other foot. Calmly his gaze flickered back up to his opponent, and he smirked just slightly.

"Imp... impossible!"

"Nothing but death can remove the seal, but I learned long ago that not everything is that simple." Neji told him. "Fare well." At that moment Hinata dropped down behind the leader of the Ragnarok Clan, her hand lightly touching his back. For a moment his face remained in a stunned position, then he pitched forward, blood welling up in his mouth.

"You appear to have developed well," Neji told her. The street around them was heavily damaged and littered with bodies, leaving only the two of them standing facing each other. "I do not regret counting you a member of my family."

"Thanks." Before she could say more, a wave of chakra appeared on the edge of her senses, dozens of bodies leaping through the city toward them. She glanced back to Neji. "Should we fight them, too?"

"No," he answered. "That won't be necessary."

Sakura hurled another shuriken, forcing her attacker to stop his charge momentarily. That was her last one, she realized. Already she just wanted to fall down and lie still; her body was burning with pain. That wasn't an option right now, though. Thus far she had been able to hold off the enemy assassins by fighting a battle of few encounters and running when possible, but they were surrounded in a clearing, now.

Another wave leapt toward them, and she backed up involuntarily. She bumped into Ino, who had done exactly the same thing. They glanced at one another nervously, then prepared for the strike. Nearby, Matthew staggered to his feet. He didn't have to calculate the odds to know that this was it unless a new quantity was introduced.

Suddenly something in the clearing shifted. The shadows began to change, and Sakura realized that they were moving up her leg. She hadn't expect a jutsu like this... it was definitely over. Chakra bent the shadows up all three of them, surrounding them entirely. Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the end.

Violent winds rushed past her, chilling her to the bone but not actually touching her body. Then the darkness around her faded, and she opened her eyes in shock. The assassins who had been leaping at her lay in a crumpled heap at the edge of the clearing. Immediately she glanced behind her, toward the source of the interference.

At just that moment Temari snapped her fan shut. Shikamaru, on a branch above her, leaning against the trunk, took his hands out of a seal and put them in his pockets.

"You didn't think we were going to let you fight an army by yourselves, did you?" Temari grinned. "Hidden Sand is here."

Before they could speak any further, another group of assassins burst into the clearing. They were quite clearly aimed toward Shikamaru and Temari, but neither of them did anything. As the group began to reach for weapons, the earth beneath them exploded like liquid. It wrapped into the air, completely encasing the attacking warriors in their positions. Moments later a warrior clad in a brown flak jacket stepped up onto the small hill.

"Hidden Stone is here."

Several shinobi emerged from the shadows behind him, slashing with long, pole-like weapons. At the same time another set of warriors charged into the clearing, katanas ringing from their sheaths. Just as they rose up behind the Stone warrior, the entire group crumpled in midair, crashing to the rock pile below. The samurai charging at the wounded shinobi were abruptly swept by a blast of frigid air, all of them freezing in their places.

Shadows melted away from the forest, and a warrior with burning black eyes became visible, two fingers raised to his face. "Hidden Mist is here."

Ending his stream of freezing breath, a warrior with light blue hair landed beside Matthew. "Hidden Cloud is here."

"Do you think I should tell them Hidden Leaf is here?" Ino muttered over her should to Sakura. "I'm getting the urge to."

"I know. Do you think they rehearsed that beforehand?"

"If the pattern holds," Matthew interrupted them, "we'll be seeing more of your allies when that miniature army reaches us." They followed his pointing finger with their eyes to the large group that was charging all the shinobi within the clearing.

Blurring almost to the point of being invisible, a warrior skidded between the three of them and the approaching warriors. It spun a low kick to the ground, not striking anything but generating a massive burst of wind that knocked the attackers off their feet. They had not hit the ground before a cry was heard from the side, and a storm of weapons flashed through the group with lethal effect.

They glanced to the side to see Tenten return her scrolls to their places, but their gaze was quickly drawn elsewhere. Finishing his spin, the warrior before them turned to the group, one hand still raised. Lee gave them a slight smile. "Hidden Leaf is here."

He did not look like a revolutionary. The man sitting calmly in the empty office was quite average, and would not have merited a second glance on a normal street. His suit was neat and well-ironed; his figure was decent but obviously aging. Many called faces similar to his fatherly. Indeed, he was often known as Father.

Reports as of late had been most troubling, but ultimately irrelevant. He continued to tap his fingers against each other, considering the empty office before him as he pondered the situation. It appeared that Matthew was still quite at large, and that his wife had been killed. Currently he and a few of the accursed shinobi had been located in a small forest not far from the city. Forces were targeting them, but the man seriously doubted that he would be killed by them.

His eventual death, however, was far more certain. No member of his clan would survive the purge that would surely sweep over this city. When the time came, they would crush Matthew with all the rest. But in that very action they would complete his plan.

No part of him truly believed that he could defeat the shinobi of the world. They were the military of every country, the driving force behind all wars, men walking among insects. It was not possible to kill all of them, even with all the forces he had carefully cultivated. A smile worked its way across his lips, and he began to grin. Why should he destroy individuals when he could destroy the very system that created them? He did not hate those individuals, he hated the shinobi way of life. A system that created merciless, inhuman killers... if he had to be destroyed along with it, so be it.

Even now his plan was reaching its final stage. The ultimate battle was being waged, and his forces would soon spill all their blood on the city streets. But, so like the namesake of his organization, their deaths would signify the ending of this cycle of history and the ultimate victory of his plan.

He knew shinobi. He knew their ways far better than he wished to understand anything so terribly corrupt. They would be victorious on the military plane, yes, but the political fallout would be their doom. Nation would take up sword against nation, and they would fight to the death in the very streets where they had soon recently been victorious. Shinobi were always itching to fight one another, and this time the result would be a bloodbath. Whether they killed him as well did not matter, for he would die knowing that the shinobi way of life would destroy itself forever.

The seeds had been planted in all the nations. It had taken him a long time indeed to make them understand, for they still viewed the shinobi as their armies. But many of them now understood that this weapon was too dangerous, and would destroy them if allowed to grow any longer. None of them knew of all he had done, but they would welcome it when this cancer was blotted from the earth. Certainly, some would survive, but they would be subjugated by the governments, made into a feeble shadow of what they once were. This era was about to come crashing to an end...

"Sir!" An aide emerged from the doorway before him, and the Father glowered at the man. "Sir, less than twenty seconds ago five shinobi entered this very building! It seems that they're coming for you directly; the Seven are already in place if you intend to escape."

"It will not be necessary," the man waved a hand in dismissal. "A mere five shinobi do not stand a chance of reaching me if they begin from the bottom. This building is filled with floor upon floor of the greatest of our warriors; I sincerely doubt these five will even reach the Seven."

"Well, we didn't reach the Seven, whoever they are." The aide had spoken, but his voice had changed dramatically. Both of his eyes had rolled back in his head. Startled, the mastermind pushed himself back in his chair as the aide continued speaking. "But regardless, we're already here."

The next moment the man collapsed to the floor. What little light there was in the room was abruptly quenched, and shadows covered everything. Where the aide had stood was the silhouette of a person; squinting, the Father realized she was only a young girl. No... she was much older, but she seemed small and frail. She entered, and four shadows slipped after her. Each of the people entering the room was dressed exactly alike: long robes and a broad, circular hat.

"You may know who we are," the man in the middle of the group said. He propped back his hat slightly, revealing a face that looked as though it often held a grin, though now it was completely serious. "We are called the Kages, or the shadows. We are the champions of each of the five great shinobi villages."

"And so you come at last," he nodded to them, eyes narrow. "To kill me, I presume? Killing is what you're here for after all, isn't it?"

"You are not worth death," the Kazekage intoned. His eyes spoke of a contained bloodlust, sending a chill down the Father's spine.

"No," the Tsuchikage agreed, flipping back a lock of her short brown hair, "we are here for a different reason. At long last we understand what you have been trying to destroy: the shinobi world."

"And destroy it I will," he returned levelly. So they had figured it out. No matter, events were beyond their control.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," the Hokage cut him off before he could think any further. "The five of us are here not because it takes all five to kill you. We are here because we stand together in the face of the destruction you represent. And however you think you can stop us, you will be fighting far more than merely one village. You are fighting us all."

The only response was the beginning of a laugh. Slowly the Father's head turned his slightly, his eyes vacant, laughing softly. Could they actually control their forces enough to prevent the plan? Was it possible he had overestimated and that all of this would come to naught? "Never!" he abruptly cried. "Never! You shall all perish!" He bolted out of his chair and rushed across the room, leaping through the massive glass window. None of the Kages moved as they watched him fall from the building.

"Do you trust your man to do the job?" the Raikage asked roughly. Naruto nodded with a slight smile on his face.

"As I would trust myself."

Wind rushed past his face, pushing tears out of the eyes of the man called Father. He continued to plummet down toward the ground, which grew to meet him at a startling rate. As he fell, a grin began to work its way across his face.

They had let him go. The fools had truly believed he was committing suicide. Well, it would be their loss. Even if they did not destroy one another, and he had blocked all other possibilities from his mind, he would be free to attack them again. All it would take were a few lies in the right ears, a few well-placed rumors. One way or another, it would be crushed.

There. One of the Seven was vaulting up the side of the building to catch him and render the long fall harmless. He had trained all of them himself, and judged them to be the most powerful of all his forces. In them was his hope for the utter destruction of shinobi: they represented the epitome of his dream, of all that he had spent his life to create.

Abruptly he realized that something was wrong, even as he was gently caught and continued to drop to the ground at a steadily slowing rate. Where were the other six? The ground at the base of the building was littered with seven suited bodies that he abruptly recognized as the Seven. Who, then-

Sasuke landed on the ground lightly, just as the man in his arms gave a loud cry. Eyes not even flickering, he smashed the Father into the side of the building, pinning him there at eye level, his feet dangling off the ground.

"We shinobi have a gift for you," he said softly. "It is one that we feel is worthy of the war you have waged." Abruptly his dark eyes blazed red. His pupils expanded, becoming terrible three pointed stars that seemed to burn into the Father's vision. For a moment he was falling, falling through time, and then suddenly he was spinning in darkness.

"This is the record of a battle that took place not long ago," a voice whispered at the edge of his consciousness. "Bear witness to it."

"Who are you?" The leader of the Seven folded his arms and frowned sternly at the intruder. Behind him, the other six members of the elite glanced at this newcomer with varied levels of hatred or amusement. They were spread about the base of the building, awaiting their orders or the arrival of their master.

The man who had approached did not answer. Uchiha Sasuke was not even looking at the Seven; his eyes were closed and his arms folded within his long black cloak. He did not speak, even as the group circled around him.

"I guess you aren't anyone, then," the leader smirked. "But let me tell you who we are. Father has called us the Ultimate Seven. Our true name is the Anti-Shinobi, the warriors that will be your doom and the destruction of all your kind."

At just that moment a blade slid between Sasuke's shoulder blades, erupting out his chest in a shower of ashes. The rest of his body dissipated the next moment, his true form appearing directly behind the anti-shinobi who had struck him. He glanced up, his eyes burning with a terrible fire, and then he struck, backhanding entirely through his opponent's body.

Even as the first of the anti-shinobi fell, Sasuke was whirling away, evading the attacks of the others. He had barely landed when the three anti-shinobi nearest him attacked at once. Without giving any ground he struck back, his eyes spinning with the Sharingan. None of the attacks struck him, and he remained exactly where he had stood before.

Another of the anti-shinobi struck the next moment, slashing directly at Sasuke with a long katana. Without blinking Sasuke grabbed his opponent's blade, jerking it in the opposite direction and decapitating him in one stroke. The others were attacking from behind, and Sasuke whirled to them, dropping the fallen anti-shinobi.

One of his fingers abruptly lit afire with blue flame, and he ended the first of his opponent's lives with it instantly. Another struck at him from the left, and Sasuke batted him aside, the blow sending the anti-shinobi flipping through the air to crash into the building several stories above.

Sasuke froze as he felt cold metal on his throat. Behind him, one of the anti-shinobi held a thin blade at his neck. Instantly he jerked it back, intending to end his target's life. One moment Sasuke was there before him, and the next he stood behind him, his own kunai at the anti-shinobi's neck. Moments later he collapsed to the ground as well.

Dozens of suited men abruptly began appearing, surrounding Sasuke in a broad circle. They continued to build around him, all moving in identical ways, all not quite moving to attack. Sasuke's gaze snapped directly over his shoulder to meet the eyes of the anti-shinobi behind him who was working the illusion. Abruptly his clones leaped out of his control, piling onto the creator of the illusion from all sides. The next second they exploded, creating an inferno that raged past Sasuke and blew his cloak and hair behind him but did not touch him.

The last of the anti-shinobi was in the air, fist raised and flying toward Sasuke's back. Calmly, and seemingly in slow motion he turned. Blue and black energy raged in one of his hands, forming a chaotic sphere that Sasuke plunged into his opponent. Chakra obliterated the last of the anti-shinobientirely.

Lowering his arm, Sasuke began to move away. He was halted by a faint cough, and glanced behind him calmly. One of the anti-shinobi still lived, and was looking up at Sasuke with dying eyes.

"Who..." he gasped for breath, "who are you?"

"I am a shinobi."

Then everything faded into darkness... and the Father cried out, beginning to weep at what he had seen. Terrible... so terrib-

The man who had approached did not answer...

Glass shattered overhead, and five cloaked forms burst into the sky. They dropped toward the ground swiftly, all landing quite softly in a semi-circle behind Sasuke. He turned and left the Father partially embedded in the wall, eyes open but unseeing, lips babbling incoherently.

"Is it done?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke merely nodded.

"What will happen to him?" the Mizukage asked.

"He will live," Sasuke told her. "At least until his body runs out of nutrients. Until then, he will relive my battle, exactly as we had agreed." He glanced up at the assembled body of shinobi, some of the most powerful warriors in the world. "Is the battle over? I have other business to take care of here."

"You may go," Naruto grinned at him just slightly. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun." Bowing slightly, Sasuke faded into the shadows. The remaining five stood silently for a moment, then Naruto glanced at them. "We have much to discuss, don't we? Will you do the honors, Raikage-san?"

"If you insist." The man tossed two scrolls into the air. Above the group they opened, pages curling around the five shinobi in broad arcs. There was a flash of chakra, and then there was only the sound of the wind.

The shinobi camp had been made in the forest, primarily because it seemed the easiest place. All five major villages had already been represented, and several others had quickly appeared. There was still fighting going on elsewhere in the city, and one larger battle to the west, but most of the shinobi were all relaxing and nursing wounds. At the edge of the city a hospital had been commandeered by the shinobi for those critically injured.

In the center of the grand encampment sat the original camp, looking much the same as it had before. Sakura and Ino both reclined on opposite sides of what had formerly been their fire. A medical shinobi from Hidden Stone had healed their wounds, but the jutsu left both of them feeling sluggish.

Not so Matthew, who was currently some distance away, intensely discussing the finer points of chakra-based health care with the shinobi who had healed them. There was silence around the camp site for some time, then several shinobi approached them.

"The battle is mostly done," Tenten announced, leaning against a mushroom stalk nearby. "Enough that we decided to call it a day, anyway."

"That's nice," Ino answered, not really caring much more than that.

"Are you doing alright?" Lee sat down on a log around the former fire, glancing at them. Sakura glanced at him with bleary eyes, then glanced again. She sat up, blinking rapidly.

"I'm just fine, Lee-kun," she eventually greeted him. "I didn't know you were here."

"Almost everyone is," he answered. "How long has it been since we had a real chance to talk... four, five years?"

"Longer than that. Wow, you re-"

"Hey." Shikamaru's voice interrupted the conversation as he landed beside the group. He was addressing Tenten, who raised an eyebrow questioning. "Is Chouji-kun here with the rest of the Hidden Leaf army?"

She shook her head. "He was doing spy work far south, didn't think he'd get here in time for the main attack. He might be around, but I can't help you."

"Don't worry about it," he shrugged, though his bored expression saddened slightly. "I'll run into him eventually, I'm sure." Raising two fingers, he vanished in a shower of sand. Hinata emerged quietly from another part of the forest not long after, taking her place around the fire without comment.

"Yo," Lee greeted her with a friendly smile. "Glad to see you're doing fine."

"Hello, Lee-san," she smiled in return. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Yeah, me too. It turned out to be the perfect way to see how well all my recent training has been paying off."

"Speaking of that," Ino spoke up, eyeing Lee with a raised eyebrow, "since when have you grown your hair out long like that? It looks a lot nicer than that silly bowl-cut you had last time I saw you."

"Now what would Gai-sama think if he could hear you?" Lee asked her reprovingly. "I have half a mind to cut it back just for that comment."

"No, don't do that," Sakura shook her head. "It looks really good, actually." She extended a hand toward one of Lee's dark locks-

"Hey, now, hands off." Tenten's arms slipped around Lee's neck from behind, halting Sakura's hand in its place. Very quickly Sakura pulled her hand back and sat on it, glancing to the side as if nothing at all had happened.

"You two," Neji snapped in passing. "Not in public. Do you have any idea how disconcerting that is, being your former teammate?"

"Sorry, sorry." Lee and Tenten vanished entirely and Neji continued walking, face as dour as usual. Hinata thought she saw the faintest of smiles in his eyes, however. That left only the three of them sitting in a rough triangle. In retrospect she realized that was somewhat ironic: this entire business was ending with the same people it had began with. Of course, it wasn't really over, but she couldn't escape the feeling.

"I can't believe that was really Lee-kun," Sakura muttered.

"I know," Ino agreed whole-heartedly. "It's been ages since I last really saw him, since he spends all his time not on assignment training."

"Not entirely training, evidently," Sakura glanced to the side as if suspicious. "But man, he really changed. I mean, somewhere along the line he got decent fashion-sense, long hair and good looks. And he sort of grew into those caterpillar eyebrows, too, didn't he?"

"But, of course, he's taken now. I hadn't even heard about it, that's really weird."

"Yeah, those things just sneak up on you when you don't see someone for a long time. I'm sure it would have been obvious if I'd been there, though."

"Well, duh," Ino rolled her eyes, "falling in love is a pretty obvious thing. It isn't like it just happens around you during a mission or something. Seems like all the good guys get taken."

"Sasuke-kun isn't, though," Sakura whispered with a mischevious glance.

"Not for long!" Ino shot back.

"Oh, really? Wel- wait a sec, where is Sasuke-kun?"

Both of them paused, glancing at one another. They searched about the massive camp for a moment, but couldn't find the cloaked shinobi anywhere.

"Do you really think..."

"Could Sasuke-kun have been..."

"The hospital!" they cried at once. But before they moved both of them stopped at exactly the same time, strange expressions on their faces.

"You know," Sakura mused. "I was talking without really thinking about what I was saying, more out of habit than anything else. But, when I really think about it, I'd rather not try to find Sasuke. I'm sure he's fine, and he'd probably just get annoyed again."

"I know what you mean." Ino sighed and glanced into the trees overhead. "Actually, I think I'll help Shikamaru-san try to find Chouji-san. I haven't talked to him in years."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all. Do you think we can find him without getting into an argument?"

"Oh, you're on."

They left the campfire, where Hinata hadn't moved from her spot, smiling slightly. Two other pairs of eyes watched them move away. As Sakura and Ino moved to the west, they had to get through a crowd of girls moving in the opposite direction, saying something about rumors that Sasuke had been critically injured. By the time they were out of sight there were nearly a dozen of them, all racing each other to the hospital.

"In all likelihood," Lee shook his head in slight amusement, "Sasuke-kun barely got a scratch. They're wasting their time at the hospital."

"Probably, but they'll just try to find him elsewhere," Tenten pointed out, leaning her head on his shoulder. "They won't give up until they know for certain."

"Wow. I really would have thought they'd have left that behind them decades ago. I'm glad you did." His arm around her shoulder squeezed just slightly.

"Me too, Lee," Tenten smiled. "Me too. I kind of have to wonder, though: why did you grow your hair out long? I'm not critical - it looks nice - but I'm curious."

"This?" Lee glanced at a lock of it as if it was completely foreign to him. "I think I just never bothered to cut it while I was training. When someone is serious about training, that kind of thing falls by the wayside."

"At least you bathed," Tenten laughed. Lee's laughter joined hers.

"Well, I still have to deal with other people, don't I? But actually, I'm going to be very glad to just relax for a while after all this. The past years have been nothing but training, then that one complicated mission, and now this whole mess. While this blows over, I doubt I'm going to have to do very much, and that's going to be nice."

"We've certainly been working long enough. I'll be looking forward to this."

Holding his head for a moment to stabilize himself, Matthew forced himself to continue writing. This was the part of his job that he'd always hated the worst, and now he was doing it almost constantly. Instead of dealing in life, he was being forced to deal constantly in death. Before him was a great deal of impromptu data, scribbled on small scraps of paper.

Deaths. There had been dozens of deaths in the massive battle, a painful number of them shinobi. Even those fighting for the opposite side often had family and, by the Hokage's orders, they had to be notified as well. So it became his task to compile a complete list of deaths, and also write letters to the families on the side.

Or lend chakra for an operation, or contribute to a tricky case, or handle the many nervous visitors, or pretty much do whatever. Though there was some order about the simple hospital, it was pretty loose. In any case, he was merely a volunteer, so no one was going to rag on him too heavily. As it had turned out, the shinobi he had been talking to was one of those that had been put in charge of the collective hospital. Their conversation had naturally taken them back to it, and he'd offered to do whatever he could.

Which had him writing letters to the families of the dead. He'd gotten to help with a few operations, but he'd been mostly needed here. Even shinobi, he had come to realize, worried about their loved ones and panicked when their status was unknown. Very human characteristics, he reflected.

"Um, Matthew-san?" The quiet voice intruded on his thoughts, but he didn't mind. Glancing up, he saw the medical shinobi he had spoken to before in one of the corridors. "Do you have any idea why there would be a mob of women, all from Hidden Leaf, rushing toward the hospital?"

Blinking in surprise, Matthew got up and glanced out the window. Sure enough, there was a pretty big group running toward them, Ino and Sakura leading the bunch. Rolling his eyes, Matthew threw up his hands.

"I could give you a pretty good conjecture. I'll handle this mess; you do something important."

She blinked strikingly yellow eyes, then nodded and vanished into another one of the corridors. Returning to his desk, Matthew hastily began to appear incredibly engrossed in his work. Not that it would really change anything, but he felt that the futile action did him a bit of psychological good.

The foyer door opened, and did not close immediately. He did not bother to glance up, and hastened his writing speed. It seemed that multiple individuals were entering, if the door was still open. Their footsteps seemed irregular, as if they were walking against each other, not to a similar location. Definitely the mob, then.

A larger woman managed to get into the room first, just before numerous other girls stumbled in behind her. They all appeared to be slightly out of breath.

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" another gasped, pushing the first person aside.

"Is he alright?" a voice cried from the back.

"Has he been admitted to the hospital?" another asked, capturing the front.

"Will he be alright?" Another woman demanded. "How long will it take for him to recover?"

"We heard he was placed in intensive care!"

"Sasuke?" Matthew let himself appear somewhat surprised. "No, no. He isn't in intensive care. In fact, he isn't even," he paused briefly, glancing to the side, "conscious. He didn't take any critical physical damage, but he used enough chakra that he won't be awake for a few days, at the very least."

"Thank you!" the first girl beamed, relief evident on her face. "Could you give him this rose when he wakes up and tell him it was from me?"

"Oh, and mine!"

"Me too!"

"Me! Me!"

"Sure." Matthew shrugged, setting the plethora of flowers and other items neatly at the side of his desk. "I'll be sure to tell you the moment he wakes up." Slowly the women filtered away, most of them with longing glances down the hospital corridors. Eventually all of them were gone. Silence reigned in the hospital, broken only by the scratching of Matthew's pen on his paper.

With a subtle movement he brushed the presents from the table and into his trash can beside the desk. He pushed up his glasses, which reflected so that his eyes were completely invisible when he turned around just slightly in his chair.

"It helps when you tell me about these things beforehand."

Through the door directly behind Matthew, Sasuke materialized on the bed, chakra unweaving around him. He was sitting calmly, his arms folded and his eyes closed. At that moment they opened, swiftly and clearly.

"Thank you, Matthew-san."

"I suppose you'd like me to list you as occupying the room," Matthew turned back around, continuing his work. "That's workable, and I can probably manage to get you classified so that visitations are not permitted. It won't matter greatly, though, as I imagine we'll be leaving this building before too long. By the way," he added, even as he started another letter, "she's on the roof."

With a slight smirk, Sasuke vanished from the bed. At his desk, Matthew permitted himself a slight smile.

A puff of chakra announced Sasuke's arrival on the rooftop. It was a fairly high building, surrounded by the broad, clear sky. Sasuke's gaze instantly moved to Hinata's slender form at the far side of the roof. Silently he crossed the distance between them and stopped just behind her. Having sensed him long ago, she turned toward him with the scarcest of smiles.

"Did everything work out?" she asked him quietly.

"Matthew-san caught on very quickly. Until we leave, I'll be officially unconscious due to chakra depletion and unable to see anyone. I sincerely doubt you are counted in that number."

Hinata didn't answer him. She was wonderfully glad he was safe, but she knew that he would assume as much and that saying so would be pointless. Instead she just hugged him, and he hugged her back gently. It accomplished much the same thing.

"You?" he asked. "I didn't get to ask you before how the battle went for you."

"I had a few wounds, but it was nothing that Matthew-san couldn't heal fairly easily. I'm just fine," she murmured, resting her head on his chest. "Just fine."

For a long time they didn't move, not needing or wanting to. Eventually Sasuke kissed her softly, and they remained embraced there for some time longer. Suddenly chakra swept across the roof beside them, making them part and glance up. In the wake of the wind pulled by the chakra stood Neji, standing with his arms folded and his hair flying wildly to the side.

There was a long pause. Sasuke and Hinata remained where they were, watching Neji, whose eyes revealed absolutely nothing. Silence continued to stretch, and eventually Neji stepped forward.

"I was going to ask Hinata-chan if she needed somewhere to camp, but I think I'll just be on my way." His words broke the tension, and Hinata smiled gently at him. Sasuke gave him a polite nod. Turning away from them, Neji stepped to the edge of the roof, looking out over the city. "The Hyuga and the Uchiha clans are going to be reunited, it seems. The two of you have my blessing, in any case. And now," he gave them a slight bow, "I believe that my presence would be better served elsewhere."

White energy leaped from the roof, surrounding him, and when it faded Hyuga Neji was gone.

Wordlessly Gaara surveyed the city from his perch atop one of the remaining standing buildings. Blocks upon blocks had been decimated, stretching into the distance. There were hundreds of casualties, mostly in the attacking armies but far too many from the shinobi villages. His own losses had been relatively light; he had made certain of that.

Medics were picking through the rubble, trying to find the dying before it was too late. They seemed very isolated amid the remains of the carnage. Any civilians who had stayed in the city were quivering in fear within their homes, unable to move.

News of the utter destruction of this city would spread over the world like wildfire. Politicians would all immediately begin playing off it, but he had already taken steps to prevent any true damage. Still, by common word of mouth the story would pass, growing and twisting as it went. What would it become at the ends of the earth? It could be that despite their best efforts, the word shinobi would again become a shadowy threat used to frighten children.

He let a slight sigh escape his lips, assuming that it would go mostly unheard. "Mostly," because the Hokage had just landed silently on the roof behind him.

"We will be departing soon," Naruto said softly. "Konoha will throw open its doors for the shinobi of the world. Our actions that are soon to come will be perhaps more crucial than what has already taken place." Wordlessly Gaara nodded his assent. Naruto stepped to the edge of the roof as well, and both of them surveyed the devastation beneath. A very long silence passed between them.

"In the camps they are rejoicing." Gaara's voice was emotionless and inflectionless. "Many do not understand that our work is hardly completed."

"Yes, there is still great work to be done," Naruto admitted. His gaze focused on the horizon, and he smiled just slightly. "But it's over."

Please note that there is an Epilogue as well, to be posted after the usual interval. It is about the size of a normal chapter and will bring resolution to a lot of things that aren't seen in this chapter.

A number of reviewers (all anonymous) mentioned that they felt the relationship between Hinata and Sasuke was rushed, once it got underway. After some thought, I think this boils down to different beliefs about people and relationships in general, but I'll try to respond. It probably won't make you agree with me, but at least it might help you understand where I'm coming from a bit.

Their relationship currently is further than just one that has been starting. For one, they've known each other for several decades at least, if only as friends. Sasuke noted Hinata primarily because she was one of the few that wasn't interested in him and she somewhat noticed him because he was on Naruto's team. Given the amount of time that has passed, I assumed they would have worked at least a few missions together simply based on chance and the limited number of shinobi. All of this goes to a very new phase during this story, in which Sakura and Ino basically force them to be closer. During this time, as you've seen, Hinata realizes that she's in love with Sasuke. So by this point she's more or less accepting of her feelings. As for Sasuke... well, his emotional silence is part of this story. Hinata's uncertainty wouldn't have been the same if you could have seen his thoughts. Thus now that the obstacles in their way have finally been removed, things aren't as uncomfortable as a standard relationship could be.

All of that having been said, I might be wrong and moved too quickly, and I'll keep what you said in mind for future fanfiction, if there is any. I hope you'll all enjoy that aspect of this story anyway.