Chapter 18: Of Storms

"For each thorn, there's a rosebud... For each twilight - a dawn... For each trial - the strength to carry on, For each storm cloud - a rainbow... For each shadow - the sun... For each parting - sweet memories when sorrow is done." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Naruto & Hinata

"Everyone listen before you make any other moves to attack!" Kakashi announces, getting everyone's attention. His gaze rests back on the masked man as the pieces of his identity slowly start to click together.

"I've been watching the way you attack for awhile even before this, learning how that ability of yours works. I'm sure of it now that you warp various parts of your body about to be attacked to that other dimension. Your sharingan eye...when did you get it?" He questions.

"...You've already worked out my true identity as your old teammate Obito so why ask such a silly question you already know the answer to Kakashi?" Obito scoffs, eyes narrowing.

Naruto glances back to Kakashi, frowning at the way he stiffens. Whatever memory is returning back must be harsh, stained with a grisliness and ugliness he could never bring himself to fully bury.

"The Kannabi Bridge mission we did during the Third Shinobi World War; you survived that mission this whole time? Why did you never come back to Konoha if you were alive all these years?" Kakashi mutters.

"I imagine it was out of revenge and working on the creating of this supposed Eye of The Moon Plan I've heard whispered about by the Zetsu." Neji considers aloud.

Obito looks towards him then as if noticing his presence for the first time, arching a brow.

"You work things out fast Neji Hyuga. This Eye of The Moon Plan isn't just for my benefit though, it will help you all. It will finally put an end to these cycles of war and most importantly, death." He gestures grandly with his arms to them.

He points first at Neji, eyes dancing with amusement. "While I'm creating this world to bring back Rin who was taken from me far too soon, it will be a world that everyone is a 'winner' per say. For you Neji, I'm sure you would like to be in a world where your Father Hizashi is alive once more. Where you are no longer chained into living and serving the will and demands of the Main family of your clan."

"How does one 'win' in such a case when you leave them no choice in the matter?!" Neji sharply questions him back.

Obito scowls, ignoring his question and Naruto feels heat encase and prickle his skin as his gaze moves on to Hinata. Absently, he tugs her closer and he feels the bounding of her heartbeat rush against his chest.

He laughs sourly at their pointed closeness, whether of envy or bitterness he can't be sure as crimson eyes gleam with subdued rage. "I'm sure you Hinata would like a world where you and Naruto are free from the burdens of war, of Naruto being Konoha's jinchuriki and you being your clan's Heiress. A world where your Mother is alive to watch you and your sister grow up and your Father never treated you so harshly enough to cast you aside..."

"It won't make a difference what anyone says to him at this point. He's been thoroughly corrupted by the real Madara who is fighting with the other Kage. We can get rid of him together before he does anything worse." Kurama jumps in at sensing Naruto's anger simmering.

"Enough!" Naruto snaps, launching forward creating a Rasengan in his hands.

Obito leaps back, sending out an array of black receivers. He hears behind him as they pierce into B and Gyuki, creating a shadow clone as soon as one of Gyuki's tentacles comes up to protect him and Hinata.

"Stay back here Hinata, based on what Kakashi-sensei mentioned about Obito's eye, I know how we can properly land a hit on him!" Naruto voices to her softly before his clone moves forward to be the first distraction.

'Is Kakashi-sensei in the right mental state to fully be of help though?' Hinata wonders, peering back to the man.

Because even though his assumption was correct in the way Obito warps objects (having securely warped Naruto's clone to the other dimension), his haunted look grows worse as Naruto's rasengan causes the final cracks in Obito's mask to break apart fully revealing his face.

The area becomes painfully silent, Neji maneuvering himself back beside her.

"Going by Gai and Kakashi-sensei's expressions this must be an old classmate of theirs." He whispers and Hinata mutely nods, pursing her lips.

Naruto dispels his clone, standing on her opposite side. "I don't like how Kakashi-sensei is looking right now guys..."

"Do you blame me for everything that happened afterwards?" Kakashi asks his old teammate head on and Naruto winces at the brokenness of his voice, the few pictures he and Hinata found of students from Kakashi-sensei's Academy years were the same jounin sensei they had now.

And in the rare photo he found of his Dad during his time as an instructor before becoming the Fourth Hokage, this man before him now was one of his students.

Once bright-eyed and excited for missions before life as a shinobi stained and burned that all away.

"Of course. You're the one who let Rin die after all by your own hand! However, you and all of this world will disappear soon enough." Obito spits, vitriol lacing every word.

He doesn't wait for any of them respond, hands moving to his lips.

"Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!"

A vortex of bright orange-red flames swirls towards them, Naruto using Kurama's tails to block the brunt of the attack.

"Gai-sensei, help Kakashi-sensei snap out of it!" Neji orders quickly, Gai already moving into action.

"I see you're having fun Obito toying around with your old classmates and some fresh faces." A new person joins the fray as the smog from the fire dissipates.

Hinata activates her byakugan, glancing back to Naruto with a tiny nod confirming the owner of the voice.

Obito now stands beside the true Madara.

-X-

Sakura

"Where were you?!"

Lady Shizune and Nanami barely contain the veiled frustration out of their voices and she can't blame either of them, her discussion with Lady Tsunade went on for far too long in her being away from the medical tents.

She pats at her pocket for perhaps the 10th time, still feeling the vial she entrusted her with strapped in.

"Lady Tsunade headed off to fight with the other Kage. She entrusted me with one of her final works of medicine before war broke out." Sakura gives for a way of explanation.

The other medical nin further back give a mix of skeptical looks to full out annoyed looks, it doesn't make complete sense considering most believed Tsunade had already left for the battlefield hours ago...

She ignores their looks, washing her hands and strapping back on a medical gown. She will do what she can here at the tents until the time comes for her to join her sensei out on the field as well.

"There's been more earthquakes going on. I'm scared for my grandchildren and my daughter. I know they've been moved back to the safe zone, but is that area even safe now? I should've moved faster to be with them and now I'm taking up a cot that could be used for an injured shinobi from the frontlines." An elderly woman asks, watery turquoise eyes looking to Sakura for an answer as she approaches her. A hematoma rests under her eye from where she slipped and fell trying to get out of her crushed in house, skin torn and flapping in the faint breeze.

"The most important thing is that they're in that evacuated zone and not anywhere near the battlefield. We'll get you stitched up and then over to them as soon as we can." Sakura explains, cleansing and numbing the spot with an injection of lidocaine before start on the needlework.

The woman's shoulders ease up giving Sakura the best smile she can despite the circumstances. "You definitely need more medical nin here Dear, even the ones from the other nations aren't enough or don't have your skilled knowledge. Hell, even the more shady and unscrupulous folks who only worked in the black market or underground circuits could be of help with this being a war that affects everyone."

Sakura pauses, taking in the latter part of her statement. 'The shady and unscrupulous folks...'

Lady Tsunade never discussed with her much medical shinobi who did corrupt business like those who sold the corpses of prominent shinobi that were listed in the Bingo Books or sold organs to desperate individuals in poorer villages, it wasn't an issue to focus on learning when too many other things were going on within the village that needed their attention more.

But she's sure she has crossed paths with one of them at least, it isn't often one meets someone who has medical skills that go beyond the basic textbook and clinical knowledge.

And then like the thunder striking outside, the flash of one man comes to mind.

"Kabuto." Sakura whispers under her breath.

"Sorry, what was that Dear?" The woman questions and Sakura quickly shakes her head that she was just muttering to herself.

'It's him, it must be him that's behind the rise of all these dead shinobi coming back. Though I have no idea where he is and it would be foolish to try and take him on alone.' Sakura sighs.

She could team up with one of her fellow classmates, but even then it would be dangerous and her strength plus her poisons may not be enough alone especially if he had built up an immunity to the poisons she used.

'Sasuke could take him on.' Another thought niggles through and anger burns at her for even thinking of him at a time like this.

She has no idea where he is at either.

Instead of dwelling on it any further she focuses on finishing up the old woman's stitches and moving her over to the recovery wing before checking on how everyone else is doing.

Nobody seems to be in immediate need of assistance and she uses this as an opportunity to check out the maps.

'If I had to go on a hunch, Kabuto would be using one of Orochimaru's old hideouts or be close by one. He would use one that isn't well known to even the most experienced tracker shinobi, most likely near the Mountain's Graveyard forests and caves.' Sakura determines.

"What are you looking into?" Nanami asks from her side, jolting her from her thoughts.

Obsidian eyes narrow just a fraction at her silence and she imagines both her and Hakui want to scold her for how distant and scatter-brained she has seemed as of late.

"I just wanted to look into the direction the enemy is coming from, the particular landmarks they would have to cross to get into Konoha." She lies.

Nanami crosses her arms, onyx eyes gleaming a shade darker in suspicion. "Are you sure it isn't to look into where Sasuke has gone?"

Her stomach churns hearing his name aloud, heart skittering though she keeps her well-practiced neutral expression. "What do you mean?"

A biting laugh erupts out of her, scoffing at her behavior. "You can drop the act you know. Motoi, the patient you bandaged up the other day said he was nearby the tents. He saw him leaving through the forests looking surprisingly a bit bruised up. What was it Sakura, a mini lovers rendezvous with the traitor while loyal Konoha shinobi were dying just a few feet away?"

'Shit, I hadn't thought anyone saw that. I tried to move us as far as away from the tents as possible.' Sakura curses internally.

That hadn't been enough.

And fury she has buried down blazes forward, stepping forward until she is right in Nanami's face. "If you must know he was trying to kill me and I moved him away from the tents to prevent him from attacking anyone else."

Nanami's smirk melts, shifting uncomfortably back hitting the side of the tent. The wind howls louder outside and icy goosebumps run over her sensing another turning point in the battle as smoke litters the night sky. "Oh, I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not, but that isn't important right now!" Sakura hisses, mind moving quickly through the next steps she needs to get ready for.

She looks at the maps then back to her, nodding to herself what she plans to do, must do.

'Kabuto, like Orochimaru, desires power. The one power they never got was Sasuke's.'

She will have to gamble that Sasuke will be there as well sensing he is behind the resurrections too and that maybe he hates Kabuto enough too to aid her in killing him.

"Tell Lady Shizune I am leaving to execute the 2nd part of Lady Tsunade's goals. After that, I am heading straight for the battlefield to help the injured!"

-X-

Kakashi

'He's alive.'

The nightmares, the questioning of himself and his shinobi creed, the walks to the memorial stone every morning to honor him and Rin...

This whole time Obito has been plotting for Konoha's destruction, planning to place them all into a fake world.

His mind clouds over with the memories, shaking them away to no avail.

"At least tell me more on what caused you to come to this decision; you owe me that explanation." He remarks, dodging each of his attacks.

Obito says nothing for a moment before letting out an exhausted sigh, tired of seemingly repeating himself.

"How hard is it for you to understand Kakashi? You took Rin from me right before my eyes. This world is too corrupted, too stained with constant wars and skirmishes. Once the Eye of the Moon plan is complete, all those worries and more will cease to exist." He explains.

"Do you really think people would want that? That you could be happy in a world where you don't have free will and everything is fake? Including Rin?" Kakashi questions him back.

Obito's expression becomes vicious at him even mentioning Rin's name before he calms himself and shrugs, it doesn't matter if people don't want this. They'll come to love it in time anyways when their dead loved ones are back alive too.

"I didn't expect you to understand." He sneers, voice laced with all the derision he's has built up for him and Konoha since that fateful mission.

He launches forward with a bombardment of shuriken, enough to tear into his vest before he uses the ground to create a wall between them.

"Don't think you could ever get away so easily." Obito mocks him, slipping straight through the dirt wall.

Kakashi's attention briefly turns to Naruto and Hinata, Hinata directing him on where his shadow clone should move to stop the killing blows both Madara and Obito prepare to do.

'Protect everyone, don't leave any of your teammates behind!'

More or less, that was one of the few things Obito had taught him.

He thinks then of Sakura, of the myriad of poisons she's been building up and mixing together in preparation for these very days before them.

"Should I be wearing a mask over this one?" Kakashi jokes, keeping towards the back of Sakura's miniature laboratory.

She looks up from her microscope with an arched brow and amused smile. "Right, if you were so afraid you wouldn't have made the journey here sensei. Besides, to handle these specimens you need gloves more than anything. Oh, and to be near a handwashing station if worse comes to worse!"

Above him shines plants of sharp magentas and electric yellows to the subdued pastel blue and whites of the lilies of the valley and violets. Next to them are bottled specimens of exotic sea creatures and insects with pointed legs and stringy arms.

Things he would normally not place himself in the room with willingly.

Her expression softens at seeing him look around, gesturing for him to follow her deeper into the seeming maze. In the span of just a few short weeks, Sakura has turned this once abandoned storage area of the hospital into her own workshop.

"Are you sure you want to apply the use of these items in the war? No offense Kakashi, but I don't take you to be an expert in the field of toxins or even the use of how each of these creatures can affect the human body like a virus. You have to be very careful handling even the tiniest of creatures here." Sakura questions, jade orbs studying him to see how truly serious he is.

Kakashi nods, ignoring the knot that shifts down his chest. "I wouldn't have come here if I didn't know the risks."

Plus, that is exactly why he came here. Nobody would expect him to use this as an option of attacking.

"Alright, let me lead you to what we previously discussed then." Sakura states, taking them down two more aisles before they stop at a collection of caterpillars.

"I collected research from the Aburame family in regards to these insects in particular. A majority of them were either collected from various journeys they've done throughout the other nations on missions or were created in the sense through cross-breeding to create a more powerful insect." Sakura reviews over, pointing to the one he had first shown interest in.

From far away it looked like a fuzzy leaf or even a fluffy bird.

Sakura watches his gaze, smirk etching her lips. "Quite the name it has, doesn't it? The puss caterpillar; that which skin looks soft hides a thread of toxic spines."

"I'm ending this Kakashi, I'll make you suffer through the same pain you gave me in your final moments!" Obito snaps, aiming for his chest.

Another memory pushes up, one of the last conversations he had with him.

"For what it's worth, I don't think it was stupid of your Father to go back to protect his teammates even if it costed them the mission." Obito mentions.

He kicks off-handedly at the pebbles beneath them, sunset beating on their backs.

Kakashi half-hears him, ready to tune him out completely that this will be another one of his silly remarks in trying to look cool for Rin until he goes on.

"Seriously Kakashi! It's the shinobi that would willingly leave their teammates behind or the students assigned to them that are the scum of this earth."

He launches a lightning cutter before the metal can pierce his skin, finding his resolve.

"I remember all the lessons you gave me in the past Obito. The ones I disregarded at the time that I now follow and have passed on to the next generation of shinobi." Kakashi states, straightening himself.

No matter how much it hurts or Naruto tries to step in, he alone will kill Obito and end his path of revenge.

-X-

Hinata

'Something is happening in every direction.'

And she hardly feels of help with one of Naruto's clones guarding her from the main action.

A great roar cuts through the air, stronger than any of the past tremors and shockwaves. As much as their sensei along with Naruto and B have been on the offensive, once the smoke clears a one-eyed creature looms over.

"The Ten-Tails." Hinata murmurs.

Neji places a hand on her shoulder and she follows his stare over the jagged earth to the forces mobilizing and gathering down below.

"We need to let Naruto and the others handle this area, we can be of use further below." He remarks, tugging at her to follow.

She gives one last look to the original Naruto, her voice trapped in her throat only able to mouth the words 'I love you' to him.

He gives her a warm smile despite this chaos surrounding them, repeating them back just loud enough for her to hear over the swirls of noise.

Neji nudges her gently and she nods, forcing herself to look away and steady her hands.

On ground level the beast looks impossibly massive, body the color of oak with thorny tails and teeth that look sharp enough to cut through glass. Hiashi gives them one look over to ensure neither of them are injured before they get into position beside him.

"Don't let anything happening around you distract you! We will show these two the strength of the Hyuga Clan and the power of every last nation here!" He bellows.

"Right!" Neji and Hinata yell back in unison.

Madara and Obito meanwhile ride above, surmising each attack and blow while they themselves try to bend the monster's wrath to their will.

"All of your attacks are futile; I'll show you just how far apart in power you all are compared to the Ten-Tails!" Madara yells out into the fray, the beast's mouth opening forming a reddish-black orb.

It fires off a series of Tailed Beast Balls, each blast scorching the nearby forests and lakes dry and turning to dust towns hundreds of miles away.

One of them heads right for Konoha's headquarters, where Ao is...

'Don't think about it.' Hinata reminds herself, putting her palms up to deflect the wooden spikes that get too close to the medical nin trying to get the seriously wounded or dead.

"I'm here." Naruto abruptly voices by her ear, determined grin nodding to all their allies before back to her.

Obito sees them too, commanding the beast's hand to pinpoint straight for them.

Wooden spikes rocket forward, horror chilling her skin in painful realization.

'We won't be able to block those in time!'

Neji is the first to stand, prepared to use his body as a shield for both her and Naruto.

"No!" Hinata cries out, squeezing her eyes shut not to see the impact of the points tearing straight through him.

But when she opens her eyes Neji still stands, vision blurring seeing her Father instead on the ground. The jagged thorns protrude out of him in every direction, blood forming a circle underneath him.

Tears sting her eyes before she can blink them away, coming too fast to control as she runs over to him.

"Father, stay with me! Don't close your eyes, don't focus on the pain." Hinata begs, grasping at his hand. His blood smears onto her clothes staining her in crimson and a sob erupts when he laughs weakly.

"Hinata, I don't have much time left. Let me impart some final words of advice to you, Neji, and Naruto." He states gently.

His stare goes first to Neji, seemingly surprised to see the teardrops running down his cheeks. "Neji, I'm sorry I never told you the truth regarding Hizashi sooner. You mean so much to me not just as my nephew, but as a son. Please watch over Hinata and Hanabi."

"I will." Neji promises.

Hiashi looks over to Naruto next, even now his stare makes him straighten up.

"Naruto even before you realized it, I saw you loved my daughter; I give you my blessing to marry her. Never forget you are loved and you are the hope to so many people here. You will bring peace to the nations no matter how hard the struggle is to get there."

Naruto manages a nod, eyes turning misty as he grits his teeth silently in a mix of sadness and rage.

Hiashi peers back up to Hinata then, thumbing at tears she can't stop.

"Hinata, my eldest. I'm sorry for how brutal my training was to both you and Hanabi. Your kindness and resolve has always been your strength so never let anyone tell you otherwise. I never said enough how proud of your progress I was, that your confidence was growing, that you shined and matured in ways I once never thought possible." He begins.

His eyes start to dull to gray, blood pooling in his mouth faster and he pushes himself up just slightly to properly finish.

"I love you; both you and Hanabi. I'm sorry I never said it enough..." He whispers, voice falling away.

"We already knew Father." Hinata murmurs as his body goes limp in her arms.

And behind her she faintly hears Obito's delighted snicker, that this is what it means to fall into despair.

-x-

It doesn't surprise me some of you surmised I would pick Hiashi instead of Neji, it was hard to write that final section out and hopefully it might've brought a tear or two to your eyes! The war isn't over yet though! Punishments for all the villains hasn't yet been dueled out. This includes Sasuke as I still plan for Naruto to be the one to give him harsher punishment for his actions (He was so lenient in canon, hell he was lenient with every villain really!)

Off topic: So my brother who has never watched Naruto is finally watching it now going through Part 1. When I asked him who his favorite character was so far he said Sasuke which caused me to give him the side eye lol! He asked me not to spoil him on what happens to Sasuke later so I'm curious if he'll change his mind on that as he goes through the later arcs.

Let me know your thoughts!

Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!