Such an existence.
Naruto questioned the world. Why does one really exist? For what purpose is a warrior born?
At the very beginning of his journey, Naruto thought he existed to prove everyone wrong and surpass every expectation, become stronger and stronger, be recognised.
Ultimately, he wanted to become the Hokage. A shinobi so loved and praised, and yet so feared and deadly in the eyes of the nation's enemies. To create a desirable world, where pain and suffering could be excluded from everyone's daily meal. Perhaps his vision was a little myopic. He only ever dreamt of the village and thought of protecting his shinobi's and fellow villagers, but after becoming one with so much strength and power, he saw things a lot differently.
Peace is here, but one should never so be naïve. And for that reason, his precious friend spent so much time away scouting and roaming the lands in search of any and all potential threats. Peace really couldn't be trusted; especially considering the fact that their land had bred so many misguided felons.
Let's create peace.
But let's prepare for war while we are at it.
Perhaps the world can never truly know peace, because we are all just humans. Perhaps in time, everything would fall into place. Peace wasn't so far out of their reach.
Maybe if he allowed himself believe and dream a little more… maybe then everything would fall into place.
until
Naruto's sleepy form slowly gained consciousness, a tired groan escaping his lips, his eyelids damp from being shut slowly opened up while his senses tuned up to the presence of chakra, swirling and moving, invisible to the naked eyes. A persisting feeling.
The lighting in the room wavered and continuously transitioned between dim and bright, the night was dark but the lightning in the sky brought about a feeling of danger and a flickering bright sense of dread that would send most animals seeking for shelter.
Between the flickering brightness and dimness, Naruto rubbed his eyelids with his right arm as he raised his head from the desk he had been sleeping on. The sound of thunder and lightning in the sky etched a deeply confused look on his whiskered face.
As the dampness on his eyelids slowly gave away to his clothed arm, he recognized a confusing familiar feeling perpetrating the entirety of the room. He could feel chakra being released from his body at a very slow pace, almost as slow as when he was stuck in a cave with the Konoha 12 on the Sasuke rescue mission. His body glowed a bright yellow color for a second as the Kyubi's chakra flowed into his coils in an attempt to shake him out of the daze of confusion.
Moving his head to the left, he saw a chakra manifestation of the Kyubi rising from his shoulders and glaring intensely at the chakra rising and escaping from the room.
"Naruto… our chakra is being absorbed!"
'What..!' Naruto eyes abruptly snapped open and with it all former traces of unclarity gone.
Placing a hand on the desk, he helped himself up to his feet while gazing out the window. For the first time he fully grasped the unfriendly sounds of the thunder and the sight of the electricity appearing up in the sky every few seconds. He couldn't understand what was happening so he immediately reached the handle of the window, gasping it and trying to slide the window open when the handle suddenly broke off.
He glanced at the handle in his hand, the metal compressed tightly as he noticed how weak his body felt. The chakra leaving his body probably had something to do with that.
'Break it' The Kyubi advised as Naruto backhanded the windows frame watching as it immediately was sent spiraling into the sky, the part of the building holding it in place also crumbling and breaking apart as Naruto gasped his head in pain.
'You cannot control your strength right now. Just keep moving'
Naruto grimaced, the day was quickly turning into shit. Right from the moment he agreed to take a shift and do Hokage paper work for Kakashi-Sensi, to dealing with Shikamaru's remarks about how he has to sign this and sign that and stamp so many papers because he was filling in as the Hokage probably for the rest of the week and how when Kakashi steps down, he will have to do a better work than all the previous Hokages.
As Naruto descended from the Hokage's tower, he landed on the roof a smaller building and proceeded to jump on several rooftops before stopping abruptly.
He felt strange, and his ability to sense chakra and emotion in his base form, while not as powerful as it would be in his other forms still left Naruto at least on par with his cousins chakra sensory ability, and given that, it was weird that he couldn't make out any feeling of life in the perimeter around him. He felt skirmish, as if he was in a pool, almost struggling to swim.
The air was dense and the winds were picking up. It felt like a cataclysmic event was heading in Konoha's direction. And yet, he could not feel any life, any emotion in the direction he was heading. What did that mean.? Shutting his eyes for an instance, he opened them to reveal toad-like horizontal irises with orange pigmentations around each of his eyes. He stared ahead intensely, trying to sense the existence of life beyond the now intensified feeling of chakra in the air. Instead of sensing the presence of a healthy number of Konoha citizens like he would feel any other day and time, his senses could not tread past the feeling of chakra all around him.
Naruto shut his eyes tightly, letting his senses extend beyond his immediate reach and cover the entirety of the village and even beyond. He needed to refine his control and listen for anyone, anything.
And then it came to him.
He began to feel the continuous disappearing presence of life; all traces being converted into the chakra presence that drowned his vicinity. As if someone was taking all of the chakra around and having the means the bypass even the physical bodies of the individuals and just convert them to chakra.
He could feel even his Sennin Modo being absorbed as subtle traces of yellow chakra escaped the surface of his skin. He bit his teeth angrily as he began trying to reabsorb more Senjutsu chakra from his surrounding to keep his Sage Mode active.
His chakra was a lot denser and predefined that most, hence he could see its form rise clearly and float up into the sky.
Naruto panicked, trying to refine his sensory ability but the more he sensed, the more he felt robbed of hope.
He had fallen asleep abruptly in the Hokage's office but he remembered Shikamaru being in there with him and now, he couldn't get a read on his chakra.
Sakura was supposed to be at the Hospital which wasn't far from the Hokage's building, he couldn't feel the presence of her Chakra.
Hundreds of citizens, tourists and Shinobi's strolled the streets everyday but now, the streets were empty. Naruto gasped, and slowly fell on his knees, his eyes widening with hopelessness in the unknown he had stumbled into. Through it all, he continued to extend his sense's, trying to bypass the floating orbs of chakra, taking his limit further even as tears came out of his eyes and despair ate at him.
'Someone has to be alive…' words escaped Naruto's lips; he didn't understand how he could still have hope when the truth was so obvious. The Sage Mode was never wrong, if he reinforced it with the Kyubi's chakra, he will surely be able sense even further, perhaps even being able to sense two villages away and more, but
What's the use?
Konoha, the people…. All gone.
Naruto slowly released the wide reach of his sensory abilities, slowly drawing a map of the energy signatures he felt in his mind as the range shrunk down.
So much chakra, .. Everything leaving, disappearing into the sky. Almost like judgement day came upon his world, and it forcefully reaped the world of every energy source.
If that was the case, then the weather was indeed warranted.
Looking up to the sky, he felt even more destruct by the gloom and depressing atmosphere. Land that once flourished with citizens, cheerful once, a land that had forgotten war even though it happened only so recent. Naruto felt strange.
The night was so dark, the winds were beginning to pick up and the lighting were become ever frequent. This feeling was unrivalled, he had lost everything and anyone. People were getting sucked into something he knew nothing about, and yet he stood alone. Watching silently, unsure if he should do anything.
Could he do anything.?
Naruto's fist tightened, his eyes gaining back its orange pigment as he drew chakra not only from Nature, but from all the chakra floating around, perhaps, any chakra in the surrounding qualified as Nature's, He didn't care.
Immediately he was back on his feet, his bandaged hand glowing yellow and shinning brighter than a thousand explosions as he motioned his fist down towards the roof of the building he was standing upon, a gesture that would no doubt erase the entirety of Konoha from the surface of the World in a manner that Pein's Almighty Push will never be able accomplish, but slightly before Naruto's fist could make contact, he paused.
He could feel it, life. He could feel his own chakra trying to preserve that very existence as it threatened to fade away, and then it all came back to him. Memories, how could he had forgotten?
"Naruto"
The voice of the Kyubi snapped him out of his musings as the Kyubi fixed him a sympathetic stare in his mindscape.
"Can you not feel it? Hinata is alive…"
And with those words, the building on which Naruto stood upon exploded in a brilliant shower of debris, the explosion tearing deep into the ground while destroying several surrounding buildings. Even as he held his fist from making contact, the raw energy coursing through his bandaged fist was more than enough to create an impact even without contact.
Naruto stared intensely, unconsciously raising his hands to his face has he watched the yellow chakra continue to float out of his skin. He had a large enough pool of Chakra, and mixed with the Kyubi's, he had enough Chakra to power the entire allied shinobi force. He also had a pool of self-replenishing chakra from other the tailed beasts. In his battle with Sasuke, his longtime rival had pointed out that he only possessed little amounts of the individual tailed beast chakras.
Sasuke was right, but even while the percentage was low, they could never be completely extinguished which means even if he used it all, it would replenish with his Chakra later on, a truth that seems to be very useful, and may come in handy in this dire affair that has been forced upon the world. Survival was now Naruto's main concern, but not his survival.
'Hinata' Naruto whispered as a sudden flash of light appeared before him. Holding Hinata in his arms was a clone of Naruto's. its skin glowing brightly as Naruto started at his clone who was shrouded in the six paths energy, yellow orbs escaped the surface of its skin, just as it did Naruto's.
Naruto smiled as he looked at the bundle in the clone's hands, covered in black material that pulsed with an energy he was most familiar with.
'I tried everything I could to stop her chakra from being absorbed. I gave her Kurama's chakra but it was absorbed in seconds, and the more I gave her, the faster it was absorbed. The only thing left to do was to shroud her in a truth-seeking orb'.
The real Naruto felt proud, his clones were truly 'him'. He didn't think he could make a truth-seeking orb become so flat and silk like that it became cloth, but to save Hinata, perhaps no application of his abilities was out of reach.
'Naruto-kun' ... Naruto smiled; she still had the energy to talk.
'I -. I - I -. I can't see, it's so dark' she whispered and tears threatened to escape the edge of Naruto's eyes.
'It's the truth-seeking orb dear, we are going to be okay, … Please, just hold on' Naruto said to her as he gently rubbed his hands on the cloth like truth-seeking orb. Naruto crouched down, he and his clone knew that if they lingered around any longer, they would also be turned into chakra and sucked up into the sky…
How were they going to escape this Armageddon.?
He knew the truth-seeking orb prevented chakra from being instantly absorbed. So, he couldn't just cover himself up with it and wait for whatever is happening to stop, since he didn't even know if it would stop at all.
'It would be easy to fly up to the moon and escape whatever this is' Naruto thought …
'You will be converted to a mass of chakra the instant you reach cloud level' The Kyubi interjected, it made perfect sense, seeing as the chakra was being sucked into the sky, obviously, above sky level, there was something , someone , a creature of unknown origins, or a tool that's sucking the chakra out of the world.
'Another option would be teleportation' Naruto thought...
'You have been able to pull teleportation off just once against the Raikage, and the distance you covered was at best, a few meters, your speed is outstanding but can you outrun whatever is sucking our Chakra?' The Kyubi once again contributed his two cents, it does seem as if hope is dwindling.
Another option that came to Naruto's mind would be to play Chakra Tug of War. But Naruto had no idea of what was at the other end of the chakra sucking movement being made , he could easily try his best to stay alive and also preserve Hinata's existence by absorbing the energy around him with Sage Mode and using it to stay alive while the chakra In the surrounding continues to get drained. But there was a problem.
However long the draining goes for, at some point, his chakra will be all that's left in the surrounding, leaving him as the only target left for absorption. The only focus left. But if it turns out that he does survive, and the chakra absorption does stop, he would be left alive with whatever orchestrated this massive onslaught.
And there's also the fact that this person has got a good hour plus and several shinobi villages chakra worth of land masses on him. Even if he absorbed chakra continually, there was no way he would absorb more chakra than the unknown assailant, giving that he was an hour late to the feast.
Besides that, even if he does, and arrives at a level far beyond his current level and is able to destroy whatever is at the end of this mass genocide, he was sure he would be left alone with Hinata in the world, being alone, even if it's with the Love of his life will eventually have drawbacks as they both won't have friends, family and loved once to share moments with any longer.
'Naruto' Naruto turned, till he was staring at the massive form of the Kyubi in his mindscape.
'This power in the air, no matter how large it seems is nothing compared to what has already been taken. We cannot stay and wait around for whoever this enemy is to finish taking what he wants' Kurama spoke, giving a very frank analysis of their current predicament.
Naruto knew his tailed friend was right, 'Do we fight ...?' He questioned.
There was actually no way that was a possibility, and Naruto knew. yet why did he ask ...? Perhaps what is believed as desperation does come to hunt us all, except this time, it was even worse than it was during the Ninja war. At least then, they knew who their enemies were.
'Waiting for a fight is not advisable. We need to escape this space. The world as it is, is already doomed.'
'The World …?' Naruto questioned.
Surely, there had to be places far out of his sensory range that still flourished and glowed with human life…. But what if there wasn't?
Escaping this space, or rather, the Dimension, was something out of Naruto's skill range.
But he was no stranger to the how!
Being an Hokage candidate, the best choice of his generation to take on the responsibility of maintaining peace, a sage, a son, a student and a friend to three ninja's hailed for having the ability to affect space to a certain extent, Naruto was no stranger to vast expanse of time research, the horde of unproved but potentially possibilities.
Now Naruto was by no means a genius. Quite the contrary, he was possibly the one student with the lowest scores in the Ninja Academy history, but when your dream requires you to be knowledgeable and powerful to lead tranquility, then studying everything placed in your front was a small price to pay. He had studied, practiced and undergone rigorous training after the Great Ninja War to further solidify his ambition.
He had trained in many styles, studied several ninja theories on varying topics and looked at many collected data. He knew a lot about the musings of researchers in their quest to tear through the fabric of time. He also observed that Sasuke didn't tear through time when he used his Rinnegan abilities, he simply created portals for travel.
Besides, tearing the worlds fabric was somewhat uncalled for.
Kakashi also created portals to dimensions with Kamui, His Fathers Flying Thunder God Technique allowed him to enter a dimensional void instantly and exist wherever he had a marker. The technique was still confined your travel to wherever your marker was, there was no opening doors or portals to unknow places like Sasuke could do. Besides, all these techniques don't cut through space and allow you to go back in time or ahead.
One other person that affected space was Might Guy. During his Hokage training, Guy told him about how the Eight Gates had powered him up against Madara to an extent that his physical attacks were able to wrap space, leaving Madara unable to create better defense against his attacks.
Naruto knew that all his Transformations greatly increased his physical strength, his most notable output of which was when he punched a hole in the moon against Toreni. And even then, he held back so much, by making the attack in his base form, wouldn't do any good destroying the moon. And now that Kurama mentioned escaping space, this had officially gone beyond his greatest feats.
But the Kyubi was right.
Naruto got back to his feet; the time for thinking was over.
Natural energy was the energy available in the atmosphere and earth, in other words, every free-flowing chakra flowing and unbound was within his reach. To make use of this Senjutsu chakra, one had to create a perfect balance of spiritual energy, physical energy and natural energy in their bodies.
Perhaps it could also be said that the absorber of the natural energy greatly determined how much he one could take, the Kyubi, being a being with massive chakra capacity was able to absorb all the available natural energy around him during their battle with Sasuke.
During the climax of the war, Naruto was able to effortlessly slip in and out of Sage Modo almost effortlessly, and was also able to retain the state for longer periods because he had achieved a better chakra equilibrium.
Now he had the chakra of all nine bijuu's, added to his base chakra that exceeded crippling heights, it could be said that if there was ever Bijuu sized natural energy in the atmosphere, Naruto would be more than able to absorb a huge chunk of it.
Except this time, to guarantee their survival, a portion of it would not be enough, he had to absorb a lot more than his chakra reserves could hold and that much chakra easily scaled above bijuu level. He also knew that absorbed natural energy is only depleted when its used, so he could successfully store all this energy and it would become a part of his chakra network if it wasn't deplete it.
But to absorb this energy, he would need to possess similar chakra holding capacity, which he had. And he knew that any part of it he couldn't store in his own chakra reserves would be passed on to the the Kyubi because of how his seal worked, hence, more of the reason why he couldn't lose in this chakra tug of war.
Naruto's features showed hesitation. His journey had suddenly reached a frightening crossroads. He had seen transcendent beings from his world, and what kept him apart from them was a pair of special eyes and a level of chakra that defied reasoning. These transcendent beings all being born out of necessity.
The zeal to survive that they possessed, added to their staggering ideas and determination to shape the world into the image they saw fit was perhaps the one and most important component that helped breach the commonness of the simple man, and helped them become God like.
Now he was well aware of the fact that while his eyes morphing into a Rinnegan would never become a thing, what made him stand out was his abnormally huge chakra reserves. As a kid, even without drawing on the Kyubi's chakra, he had been able to create as much as a thousand clones. He had become a lot more powerful even after the war and ultimately held even more chakra.
And now…
Naruto grimaced, surely absorbing so much chakra would change him. He would go well beyond his current most powerful state and reach beyond. Whatever would emerge from the ashes of this land would be a different Naruto. This was a frightening thought, but he truly had no choice.
Naruto's senses sharpened as he shifted his focus completely on absorption, unbound chakra that floated slowly were floating up into the sky began splitting apart, some parts continuing its journey up while the other parts descended down below, getting absorbed into Naruto.
As his body absorbed, his mind questioned…
How was he going to shift through space? How does one without a Rinnegan or Sharingan rip through space?
Was there any hope ?. Attain all the power you could in this world and there still will be certain things you cannot do. Try and overcome every obstacle in your path and later come to the realization that there's that one thing you cannot get past. Perhaps, the life of a man was always going to be bounded within confines.
Naruto took a deep breath as chakra flowed into his form, surely, he was reaching a higher state of mind and power with each passing second, but what could he do to leave this place behind ?
"N- Naru- Na" Naruto's thoughts were abruptly shut off as Hinata tried calling out, her voice soft and weak, making Naruto turn around to face his clone immediately.
He stretched his arms out, letting his clone gently place Hinata's shrouded form in his arm. Naruto's soft gaze landed on her shrouded form willing the truth-seeking orb she was cloaked in to open up slowly to reveal the topper most portion of Hinata's body.
Naruto's soft gaze caught her featureless white eyes, her face quickly becoming pale as chakra slowly began to escape the surface of her skin. She was almost unprotected from the chakra absorption because of the exposure but still, Naruto smiled, tears slowly streaming from his eyes as he whispered.
"Together to the end…" Naruto's clone took a step backwards, watching with a smile as the originals foot lighted up, his Ninja boots beginning to glow as he slowly elevated with Hinata in his arms.
Her form began to glow blue as Naruto allowed the excess energy that flowed within him to protect her form. His eyes stared longingly into Hinata's. Memories flashed slowly in his eyes, he had spent his childhood running after Saukra, being turned down so many times, feeling like he had to gain everyone's acknowledgement and become stronger with each passing moment. All so because he wanted to protect those precious to him. He and his peers had taken on the mission to retrieve Sasuke, a fellow comrade that Naruto felt the first true bonds of brotherhood with.
Really, he had experienced a lot, meeting with his parents, fighting alongside his Father and Idol, saving the world from a depraved Mother, training, training and training…. But.
Hinata's hand slowly rose up to caress Naruto's chick, her fingers gently stroking the whisker marks on his teary face. He saw her face go from pale to the brightest of colors, maybe it was due to the chakra cloak that surrounded her, but nevertheless, he could have sworn that her smile illuminated the very chakra cloak. So impossibly unreal, is this what love makes you feel?
'Perhaps', Naruto answered inwardly.
"Your smile has illuminated the path" Naruto whispered high enough for Hinata to hear. Maybe not the best time for verbal tics but it was going to escape his mouth anyways.
"Believe it!" Naruto continued.
"You've brought me from the edge of despair, your presence alone has allowed me to win impossible battles and your love has taken me to impossible heights" Naruto closed his eyes, more tears spilling as their forms continued to ascend. He could see flashes of his life so far, his battle with Pein, the moment Hinata came to the rescue, the time during the war when Neji had died and he was about to fall into despair, the time he ripped a hole in the moon to fight for her love and the sake of the world .
But really, which came first? Hinata or the World?
And now the world was no more, but she still remained with him. Her eyes closing slowly as she fell into the vast embrace of a dreamland that Naruto hoped was peaceful. Naruto wanted to grasp her finger from sliding down in cheeks in her unconscious state but he had both arms already wrapped around her, holding her tight.
He willed the truth-seeking orb to completely shroud her form as he whispered, … Who knows, maybe she could still hear him ... or not. But he needed to say it….
"I love you…. Hyuga Hinata"
He had stopped crying, his eyes now filled with hope and determination.
"I don't know what exists out there, or if there's any life beyond what we can see or feel but I know for a fact that It is only through the eyes of others that our lives have any meaning. And now, it's only through your eyes that my world has meaning".
Naruto's form continued to ascend so far up to the sky that wave upon wave of chakra could be seen floating around him, his chakra and the chakra he was absorbing were in a constant tug of war with whatever was absorbing chakra in the sky.
He couldn't see what it was or where it was, but he could feel that the chakra being absorbed didn't stay up in the sky, it vanished. And if he stayed any longer, he and Hinata too would both vanish also. But no, never.
Naruto wondered where they'll end up if he played his cards right and managed to pull a dimensional jump. The land of the Toads? The Land of some other slightly smaller or larger Summoning creature? It didn't help that those lands were in fact an extension of the Shinobi lands. Everything could also have been absorbed there.
Naruto wasn't sure how to go about shifting between different dimensions, but he somehow knew he had the capabilities. For the title of the Hokage, he had trained and worked his ass off to unbelievable extents, and now had enough awareness of the length and limits of his powers.
Now armed with the chakra of eight other bijuu's, he knew the possibilities and limitations of each and every one.
The Bijuu's were all insanely powerful creatures, but of them all, only two had the potentials to perform a dimensional leap and they were the Kyubi's chakra and Ichibis. The Ichibi's chakra unknown to many, could be beautifully described as a seal masters dream, it was chakra that was powerful and complex enough to create seals of many kinds which are even capable of trapping Madara's limbo clone, a clone that existed in another dimension entirely. On the other hand, with the Kyubi's chakra, he had somehow been able to teleport. A feat that he had managed to pull off when he first obtained the ability to enter the Kyubi chakra cloak.
Hence, there was a possibility that combining both powers could potentially allow him harness and navigate the vast expanse of space but of cos, this was clearly based on assumptions. But this was no time for planning every detail. Not that he had ever been good at that anyways …
Naruto's form had now reached desired altitude, lightning and thunder raged above him, a cataclysmic weather that had never been seen before hung above their world, yet Naruto cradled the woman in his arms closer and whispered softly, "Hinata, I'll take you to a new place, where the skies are just as bright, and the moon doesn't house a thousand-year-old powerful hag, and hopefully, someplace where there is no war" He smiled.
"And if there's war there, then we'll make our own peace" Naruto smiled softly, as his body glowed brighter and brighter, the influx of hundreds of nations worth of Nature chakra circulating within his body mixing with his base chakra and that wasn't all. This was just the Natural energy he had been able to accumulate within his own reserves, the vast majority that he wasn't able to retain was still housed with the Kyubi inside is seal.
The sky became overly illuminated, the clouds giving away to the power coming out of Naruto.
"Now" Naruto whispered, and as if on que, his clone knelt and placed his palms on the ground, creating a complex array of seals that wrapped onto the surface of the ground, spreading out quickly as it propagated continuously in a bluish hue.
Naruto didn't know how the Flying Thunder God's dimensional barrier worked, but he was sure that what he had created just now out of necessity would be more than enough. The array glowed a bright blue as the Ichibi's chakra activated the array, creating more and more arrays and complexities as the chakra began spreading even further before stopping. It glowed brighter now.
"One down" The Kyubi whispered to him.
Naruto's clone promptly popped out of existence, the nature energy that it had gathered rose up into the sky becoming one with Naruto as he readied himself for his only chance to escape the faith that had befallen his world.
He closed his eyes tightly, entering his mindscape. Perhaps, one final visit wouldn't hurt.
He grimaced as he walked forward. One foot step after the other, perhaps on another day a look of surprise would have been painted all over his face, but right now, all he could do was smile at the sight before his eyes.
"It seems all that Nature energy I've been gathering found a place to settle" Naruto grinned as he walked closer to the Kyubi who now stood at a height that would no doubt tower over the tallest of mountains he had ever seen. The beast stood several times larger than he originally was and even larger than he was when he absorbed all the available Natural energy in the surrounding during Naruto's battle with Sasuke. Each Tail was swollen big, flowing and glowing with yellow energy courtesy of all the chakra Naruto had absorbed from the environment.
Kurama wasn't really one for fuzzy emotional talks of reassurance but he recognized the situation, even more displeasing than the Fourth Shinobi War and everything it entailed. Having lived for so long he had never experienced such an event so foreign and even more threatening than the emergence of the Rabbit Goddess. At this point he couldn't be sure, but he felt what Naruto felt.
Truly the lands had been cleared of life, devoid of human live and his inability to establish a communication with his fellow Bijuu brethren's through Naruto's mental link bothered him. Moments ago, while Naruto called on the powers of the Ichibi, he had expected to hear the loud and noisy voice of said Bijuu while Naruto utilized his chakra, but there was nothing.
"It seems like it's just us" Kyubi said as he stretched his arm out, tightening and closing his clawed fist as he prepared for perhaps his last fist bump with his lifelong partner.
Naruto nodded in understanding. Just the two of them, he had the chakra of all other tailed beast present, but their consciousness which was usually achieved through his mental link with them was massively unresponsive. It was saddening.
Naruto tightened his fist also. Raising his bandaged arm up to the Kyubi's fist which loomed over him. His fist touched the Kyubi's, his face contorting into a displeased scowl as insane amounts of power flowed into his coils.
His raw chakra, and senin mode chakra he had managed to hold in his reserves, which was already so much that the chakra could be seen floating around him, now mixed with the Kyubi's own reserves of Natural energy and Bijuu chakra.
Enormous proportions indeed!
A scream perpetuated the skies, an unstable shock wave pushing apart the clouds, clearing all traces of the impeding storm. Within it, Naruto's form was shrouded by Nature Energy, his chakra had become so dense. Almost like Kaguya's emergence, he could be seen, arms still cradling the protected form of his lover.
He looked the almost the same, but striking differences could be spotted. The bandages on his right arm had all but disintegrated leaving the arm spotless and pale. His eye balls had become a glowing yellow with black horizontal irises.
His top had been destroyed leaving his upper body unprotected, but that was all for naught as yellow chakra poured out of him. Wrapping all over his body as horns made out of chakra protruded from his forehead, a necklace holding six magatama formed around his neck and before him, a chakra rod materialized along with nine truth seeking orbs floating silently behind his back.
Uzumaki Naruto had achieved a level of higher understanding and enlightenment. Just like Kaguya Otsutsuki, perhaps on a varying degree, he had become transcendent. He looked down at the bundle in his arms, and down to the seal that his clone had inscribed on the floor earlier. Now with a new level of awareness, he couldn't help but admire his handwork and have a little faith.
The seal that had been able to trap Madara's limbo clone was closely related to this one. Its implementation was of the same principle, but instead of trapping something in another plane, this one acted as a foothold between his world and a different plane. He had no idea where.
Now he had a door, and he needed to go through it. So firmly, he held Hinata even closer, as the yellow chakra shrouding his body charged up more and more. Sparks formed in the air as he prepared. His body took off once again, except this time in supersonic speeds as he flew high above the atmosphere seemingly not bothered by the chakra absorption threat, and in less than a second, he could make out the sight of his world.
Devoid of life…...
In a world where ninjas strive, survival was a critical mission every day. In times of war the lands were stained with blood and gore, a sight that struck different ideas into the minds of friends and foes alike. The people had grown tired of fighting, but the fighting had to continue in order to protect what they felt was most dear to them.
Be it by gold, or entitlement, wars were waged and, in the ashes, some sought to build a better world. It didn't matter if this peace was a dream, or submission through obsession, it didn't matter how many had to be sacrificed. They were simply causalities. From this basis, men had sought power through whatever means possible and some had even gone on to obtain Godlike powers.
Perhaps, it could be said that men like Uchiha Madara and Obito Uchiha cared for peace, even if they sought to create it in the most twisted of methods. It could also be said that Uzumaki Naruto genuinely cared for the lives of all, and truly wanted to create a world where wars and bloodshed were nonexistent. But it wasn't for this reason that he had gone beyond his limits.
Rapture had come calling for his world after all.
With no one left to care about, the concept of saving a dying world was irrelevant. But the concept of protecting her sparked life into his eyes. And so, he chose.
This was for hope, and love.
Naruto's body turned till he was facing the earth. He could feel his dimensional seal on the ground hundreds of miles below, and in a second, his form was inches away from the seal.
"Leap of faith…
Everything went black.
- In a faraway land -
"You and Me after" ….
"You and Me before" … Naruto whispered, pained grunts escaping his lips as his glowing eyes focused on Hinata. His arms brushed over the silk-like black material that covered and protected her. It resonated and pulsed with energy as he brushed over it.
Naruto was in pain; space travel was taking its toll on him and he didn't know how much time he had left or if he would survive at all…
But…
A transcendent being he had become, but death still called to him. Still so human ?
Naruto wondered, but he quickly pushed the thoughts away. He was on his knees, Hinata in his arms, beneath them was the largest seal array to be ever summoned. Glowing blue, it spanned miles and miles and it pulsed with his power. Perhaps not the most subtle of entrances, Afterall, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't known for withholding.
But there was a problem with this. His senses were on high alert and Naruto could feel that he had indefinitely announced his presence, the presence of a God. His body may be weak, but the power soaring through his veins spoke volumes of madness.
He was in the dark with no knowledge of wherever they had landed, but ultimately, he felt joy because he could feel the presence of life. In this strange land that they had landed, he could feel the presence of existence, civilization, power and nature.
Shifting through space like he had done had surely come with a price, while he had gained a new ability, his preparation had left him vulnerable but said preparation was the only reason his body wasn't already ripped apart from such high-level movement.
Naruto tried getting on his feet only for his knee to give out. His glowing form shimmered down.
Naruto was in severe pain.
He set Hinata on the floor, placing his hand on her chest as the silky formed truth-seeking orb on her body began unwrapping, creating an opening and allowing her features to be seen. Naruto looked at her, marveling in the sight even through all the pain he felt. Her skin looked almost as pale as his. Being wrapped in the truth-seeking orb had indeed protected her from being converted into chakra and getting absorbed, but the close proximity of her body to his while he was absorbing several Biju level worth of chakra had definitely changed her.
Naruto could feel the power of nature coursing through her, at this point, her life span was really debatable at this point. Almost as if his urge to protect her had resulted in her becoming a new being. She had been never being ordinary to him, but now, it had gone to literal terms.
"Hinata.. wake up" Naruto whispered.
Her eyelids twitched a couple of times before opening to reveal featureless pupils. Her long hair had fallen past her shoulder till it rested on the ground. Tears escaped Naruto's eyes as he gently stroked her cheek.
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Naruto didn't know how to break the news of their travel to her. He wanted to let her know that even if they had lost so much, they still had each other. Lives were lost, people wiped out. But they were here together.
Suddenly Naruto felt so weak, pain like never before, indescribable, he wanted to speak but before even a word could escape his mouth, the world froze. His glowing pupils shifted, rapidly contorting to all possible angles as Naruto searched for any anomalies.
He felt his heart rate slow down, obviously, the power coursing within his veins were not going to settle without a backlash. Hundreds of Toads had tried to harness the power of Nature in Mount Motoko, but evidently, the majority of them transformed into stone statues because they couldn't quite maintain the balance that comes with having such power.
The same was happening to Naruto now, having absorbed such mass of chakra and subjecting himself to insane space travel; things were staring to go downhill. His blood circulation had lowered, he wasn't becoming a stone because his body wasn't entirely foreign to such power since he had been put through so many power related strains.
One time the Kyubi had been ripped entirely out of him, another time he been provided with a fraction of the powers of all the Bijuu's and also gifted with the Yang power of the six paths. Safe to say, his body wasn't the usual Shinobi's body. Perhaps he wouldn't be transformed into stone, but all his bodily functions were slowly shutting down.
His breathing was declining, and his skin was starting to pale even more, like a corpse.
Furthermore, his escape through space made his body vulnerable to the effects of absorbing such huge amounts of chakra. Maybe his body would have been able handle the effects normally, Afterall, Obito didn't become paste even after sealing the Ten Tails in himself, he only became weakened after experiencing the strain of having said power brutally removed from his body.
In Naruto's case, he had been weakened when he lost a substantial amount chakra from the teleportation. He didn't become a stone statue, but his body state mimicked one. Seizing all living functions to a bare impossible minimum, his body sought to create and attain balance with the power coursing in his veins. He was practically dead now, a corpse cradling the body of his alive lover.
Everything was frozen.
In his inner world, Naruto awakened.
He stared down at Hinata's form watching with panic as her form cracked slightly, like a glass mirror breaking apart. Her pale skin glowed brightly; he felt the sensation of heat. More tears escaped his eyes as realization came to him. Still he refused to let go of Hinata's body. Her form cracked into more and more pieces as he cried on.
His surrounding had morphed into nothingness. He was all alone, no signs of the Kyubi nearby. He wondered why he didn't have his Tailed friend with him here. He had been alone for most of his life but this new feeling still felt foreign. He had managed to hold on tight to the memory of Hinata, but this memory was fragile indeed.
The memory was bringing him pain, and the more he held her close the more he felt hope that perhaps he would wake up one day. Maybe he would wake up to her.? How was she doing in the real world? Had she taken his body to somewhere safe? Was it safe for her?
Naruto cried. Slowly whispering incantations and burning the sight into his brain. Every emotion counted, every feeling of hurt and brokenness he felt. He could never let go of this woman.
"Please stay with me. Even if none of this is real… "Naruto whispered through the tears. His knees buckling as he completely slipped to his ankles. He looked up, grimacing slightly, there was nothing. And then he his line of sight descended slowly till his eyes met that of another.
Through it all, he could see another.
Slowly, footsteps after footstep, a man walked towards Naruto. His hair dark and body clad in with high collared black robes with gold trims along with a large flowing white material draped around his torso.
Naruto watched the stranger approach him; he didn't seem to be at all concerned even with the fact that this man didn't belong in here. What did his presence mean though?
Did something happen that separated him from Hinata?
"Is she with me out there" Naruto wondered as he returned to looking at Hinata's cracked form.
The dark-haired man wondered if they were alike, cursed, but that seemed unlikely. Where was he from? He felt different, perhaps someone from the past? Then someone with such level of raw power ought to have been mentioned in the history books? Perhaps he came from sometime in the future?
'Did you come to kill me?' Zeref wondered?
'Am I already dead in your time? Did E.N.D kill me?' Zeref paused … 'Should I kill you? 'Zeref pondered but as he looked into the eyes of the warrior in front of him, Zeref saw someone who genuinely didn't care about him. Perhaps such a man could be useful to him?
"Who is she?" Zeref finally asked.
Naruto kept his eyes on the cracked Hinata. Who was she really? It seemed like he was forgetting something each and every time her body cracked.
"A memory I'm trying to hold on to" Naruto replied. More cracks spreading.
"Her name is…... Hyuga ...? ...? Hinata ...?" He knew she was precious to him but he was beginning to forget quite a lot of things.
"This world that your mind has conjured up seems to be rejecting you" The notion was strange.
"You feel so much pain on the outside that your body shut off itself and your mind is desperately trying to hold on to a memory. "Zeref was truly impressed with this man's ability to protect himself.
Naruto wondered what was real. Or maybe he was just confused with some parts of it. He knew he had arrived in a new world with Her in his arms. He woke her up and then he was here.
What happened ...?
"I wonder if she is somewhere out there?" Naruto asked.
"Maybe if you woke up, you'd see thing clearly. The way it really is "Zeref replied, he felt like he knew where the conversation was going.
"Perhaps it doesn't matter" Naruto looked down at Hinata, "I know she's not real, I just wish we could have spent more time together. The real her" Naruto's voice was dim, as he spoke Hinata's body shattered completely into pieces floating around, relieving his form of the weight and giving him strength to stand to his feet.
His mind had shut down his body to protect him from the physical pain, but even here, he still wallowed in it, so much that he actively rejected the illusions he had imposed subconsciously upon himself. If only he could wake up, but his body had yet to fully create a peaceful balance for all the power he had absorbed.
Teleportation, or whatever he had done had taken him quite a distance, it was a journey of through worlds and he had completed it in a second. He body, no matter how strong it had become, no matter what form of energy it now inhabited had been tarnished and had now become vulnerable to the effects of chakra absorption. He was a statue in all but appearance.
"I wonder if I can piece together everything that has happened since my body shutting down" Naruto walked closer to Zeref, "But it's a shame that I won't be able to survive this ordeal. It would take a while for my body to heal "He stated as If he was challenging Zeref.
"I know a mage ", Zeref paused and then a smile graced his features. Perhaps he had found another trump, maybe someone to join his army, or just someone who could perhaps walk through the world with him.
"I know someone who can enchant your body and allow you live again. Perhaps in pain, but you will live again if you so please" He stated. Naruto was now in front of him, standing at a taller height than Zeref, pale skin, short blond hair and glowing light blue eyes; a sight that was almost majestic.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto introduced.
"Will you pledge loyalty to me?" Zeref questioned and almost immediately, black magic rose forth from the ground, swallowing Naruto's form.
The curse of contradiction was acting up!
Zeref panicked, his curse had followed him to the ends of the world and even inside this man's mind. It appeared that he had already killed the man's mind before he even got to recruit him.
How pathetic. Not just a lost body, but now a destroyed mind. A waste.
Zeref's eye teared as he turned around, not bothering to look at the body of the man that he was just about to recruit. Perhaps he'd tell Irene not to bother enchanting the man's body any longer.
It was possible that his mind was now lost forever… Trapped in the torment of his unstable magic.
Zeref took a step forward and another step and then….
"For as long as I please, I would follow you … "
Impossible
Zeref immediately snapped his attention back to the darkness enveloping the blond, watching as the man casually walked through the dark mist. His glowing blue eyes indicating that even if he was weak and in a vegetative body, he was still indeed powerful.
Unable to conceal the excitement and Joy of the thought of someone being powerful enough to not die in his mist, Zeref busted out in full blown laughter. More dark mist escaping his body and tearing into the surroundings.
Still Naruto walked through the storm, his body glowing on and off ever slightly as he moved through it till, he was back standing with Zeref with an outstretched hand.
"Zeref. Zeref Dragneel "
Zeref shook his hand.
…
Zeref continued to walk slowly as he moved towards the blond. The man's form was in an entirely different state from when they met in the mindscape. His body laid down in what was clearly the center of a very large rune array.
The dark-haired man continued walking forward, keeping his focus on the ground as he studied the seal patterns on the floor, very unfamiliar and yet so mesmerising. He felt as if he knew of the capabilities of this pattern, was it a time travel construct or something else? The visage was why he wondered and pondered if this man was from another time entirely.
Naruto's pale skin looked almost royal and almost like a corpse at the same time. He would have been confused as one and probably buried if he had been found by anyone else, but Zeref could feel power coursing through the seal and through the man's veins. Clearly, he was responsible for it.
It didn't matter, Naruto's body was in agony of some sort that Zeref thought had to do with travelling through space or time. And what's more is that the man was able to shake off his death wave like it was nothing. Albeit being that it occurred inside the man's mind, the very idea still intrigued Zeref.
"Irene, please enchant his body, you may not be able to take all his pain away but allow him to live" Zeref ordered. "I fear that this man could be a torn in our side later on but the thought of having him join us really amazes me".
"Still treating it all as a game?" The woman known as Irene smiled before raising up her wooden staff. "Very well then, your highness. Let's take this man…. Downtown".
"Enchant…"
Author's note
Thanks for making it this far. To summarise, this is a story where Naruto had to flee to another world because the shinobi world had become uninhabitable. At the very start of the story, shinobi bodies and chakra were getting absorbed by an unknown entity which left Naruto with no other choice than to flee, but first, he had to absorb all the energy he could in order to ensure a safe arrival in a new world.
On arriving at said new world with Hinata in his arms, Naruto would now face the backlash of having absorbed so much chakra which would reduce him to a corpse like state (as opposed to becoming a toad statue).
This vegetative state would blur out the happenings in the real world as he would be trapped in his mind only to be offered a way out by the black mage himself.