HQ was suddenly thrown into chaos.
Things were fine one moment, everyone relaxed. The hospital was half-empty, minor cases healed completely or sent home to finish recovering. Almost two-thirds of the medics were already gone.
The next moment, bodies started flying through through the air. Some were flung by energy blasts, and others by gusts of powerful wind. The ground shook and quaked from the impact of powerful blows. Fires sprang to life and roared all around, some of the flames black.
Frightened genin, new to the battlefield, froze in place with fear. Battle weary chunin and jonin did what they could, but this opponent was something else.
The five Kage emerged from the destruction, protecting their forces, and ready to take Madara on themselves.
Madara laughed at them.
Naruto and Sakura had retrieved the scroll and decided to return to Sasuke immediately rather than rest at the abandoned base. They filled their packs with any other useful supplies and headed out.
Naruto suddenly realized something was wrong. Very wrong. His clone at HQ dispersed, sending him its last image of the ground underneath him opening. The clone sacrificed itself to save those around him from falling onto the spikes below.
He gathered nature energy and saw the undead Madara's assault on HQ. Her turned to Sakura, his eyes screaming.
"Madara," Sakura whispered, and Naruto nodded. They agreed to separate after a brief discussion.
Naruto went straight to HQ to fight Madara. Sakura went straight to Sasuke to bring him back with her to HQ. They would all fight together.
Obito retreated from the shrine a moment after appearing behind Sasuke. The moment he began to materialize was the moment the four former Hokage appeared from the fluttering papers around the four Zetsu. The fifth Zetsu was being taken over by the newly revived Orochimaru. This was a truly troubling development for him.
He still needed Sasuke's eyes but subduing him just got a lot more challenging. He was better off finding the missing pink-haired girl and using her to get to him.
Safely away from detection by the six in the shrine, Obito began searching out her chakra.
Sasuke faced the four Hokage, the sheer amount of their chakra swirling through the air hiding the blip that was Obito's. He didn't realize the man was there at all.
He focused on asking his rehearsed questions. He braced himself for their answers.
His barrier that shielded him from Naruto's sight was preventing him from sensing anything outside. He and the Kage were unaware of what was taking place at HQ.
He let Orochimaru start talking, working hard to keep Tobirama from leaving and appealing to the others to help Sasuke as he now was.
When the four finished their arguing and finally agreed, Sasuke spoke.
The Allied HQ was in complete shambles. The five kage managed to get Madara far enough away for some of the shinobi to begin rescue efforts. All long-distance fighters were with the Kage acting as support.
Sai was doing both.
His ink clone flew on an ink bird, mind-linked to one of Ino's kin so his view could be relayed to the support team.
His real body was picking up pieces of rubble. His real mind was…difficult for him to describe. If it were a painting, it would be jagged and disjointed lines. Was this what panic felt like?
He didn't have a book or friend to consult, but he found that he did not want to pause digging to find one.
What he found he wanted more than anything was to find Ino. She was in the building that was now the rubble he dug through.
Naruto made an army of clones as he approached, going all out. The nine-tails clock engulfed them all. They scattered, some going to help those still at HQ and most encircling Madara.
The fact that this Madara was undead raised more questions than it answered. He was certain that the Madara he had been tracking was not present.
That meant Sasuke and Sakura could still be in danger.
He should have left a clone with Sakura!
And sent one to Sasuke while he was at it.
Hindsight was 20/20 because he could have left a marked kunai with each of them and used his father's jutsu to be at their sides in a flash.
He could do nothing now but have faith in them. He needed to focus on the fight at hand for the sake of those in front of him.
Sakura raced back to where she left Sasuke, trying to push her senses out to catch any hint of danger and feel for Sasuke. She didn't know what she would do if he wasn't there.
She popped another soldier pill and pushed herself harder. She had to get to Sasuke as soon as possible; he would be able to teleport them to Naruto's location.
If only she had learned that technique herself! It certainly would have saved her a lot of time now.
She mulled over what Naruto had said, that the Madara attacking HQ was not the Madara they knew.
Unless the Madara they had been fighting killed himself and arranged to be brought back?
What a strange strategy. She wanted to dismiss the idea but could not yet. She would find out one way or another soon enough.
She reached inward and felt for the Yin seal, checking its progress. She was so close now!
She was thankful she hadn't released it earlier in the week; once it was complete the effects would be much stronger now than they would have even a few days prior.
She was speeding along, oblivious to her surroundings, partly due to checking the seal and partly in a sacrifice for increased speed.
She did not see the trap until she was in it.
Obito had expected more of a fight from her, but he was not complaining. He simply set up a wire trap ahead of her and watched her run into it.
She struggled, tightly bound, but tried desperately to loose a hand to free herself with.
He felt like a spider descending its web towards its prey. Her struggling brought a smile to his lips. This was inevitable.
She would make Sasuke suffer like he had.
Sasuke would watch his female teammate, who he cared about deeply, die while he was unable to do anything.
Obito could show him some mercy by letting him live to see the Infinite Tsukuyomi, reunited with her as he himself would be reunited with Rin, but no.
Sasuke betrayed him one too many times to be given mercy. He would bleed out after Obito took his eyes, never to see her again in this life or the perfect world Obito would usher in.
He hit her pressure point, knocking her out.
He kept her bound and held her bridal style as he activated his kamui.
Sasuke listened to the First Hokage's entire story.
He closed his eyes at the end, taking it all in and ruminating over what it meant to be a shinobi, a Hokage, and part of a village by the one who founded his former home. He thought carefully about everything Itachi had done in his life, and all the words his brother spoke to him before and after he died. He thought about his former team, what they meant to him and the part they all played in village life. He thought of Danzo and the elders, weighing what he knew of them and their motives with what the Third Hokage had said.
He accepted the truth as they told it to him.
It would not be easy though to take that truth and live with it.
As he saw it, he had only three real options.
He could be a true shadow of fire, a Hokage like none before him who would do whatever it took to ensure peace, even if it meant he was hated and alone for his whole life, however long it was he could extend that life. It would mean an end to the cycle of violence the First Hokage tried and failed to eradicate. It would also mean killing Naruto and Sakura, perhaps Kakashi as well, so he could truly be alone. They would never let him take this option so long as they lived. He doubted his brother would like that, but it would honor Itachi's efforts to bring peace.
He could be the unseen hand of the Hokage, like Danzo had tried to be, but succeed where Danzo failed. He would do the dirty work like Danzo but would not allow innocents to die like the man had, when he used the Uchiha to fulfil his pursuit of power. This option did not eliminate the cycle of violence, but he could use his power to weaken it in favor of Konoha. This option permitted Naruto and Sakura to stay in his life. Perhaps the dobe would become Hokage like he always said, and Sasuke would be his extension in the shadows. This option might have pleased his older brother the most.
The final option he could think of was either the best one or the worst. He could eliminate the most powerful shinobi from all nations like he had in mind for the first option, but instead of becoming Hokage, he would die. This option meant he could not personally ensure the cycle of violence stopped, but it gave those left behind a clean slate. It would mean there were no more Uchiha once he eliminated Madara and himself, breaking their curse of hatred. Naruto and Sakura would be the ones he entrusted to rebuild once he was gone. Perhaps Itachi would agree with him that this was for the best, even if Itachi would have preferred he live.
Before he could decide, Madara appeared before him, holding Sakura's limp body in his arms.