I DON'T OWN NARUTO IN ANY WAY. ALL RIGHTS GO TO KISHIMOTO.

'Yes' - Thoughts

"Yes" - Speech

"YES" - Scream

"yes" - whisper

"Yes" - Mysterious characters/ Bijuu speech/Emphasis

CHAPTER 2: Release

After experiencing the heartwarming reunion, Kakashi finally butted in on the conversation.

"Well, I'm delighted with how things turned out but don't forget about the rest of your comrades. They're still trapped in the Divine Tree. God knows how long it'll take them to turn into Zetsus. We better hurry" Kakashi chuckled mentally picturing a Zetsu with Tsunade's abnormally large breasts. He really was the world's biggest closet perv.

Naruto had a gleam in his deep blue eyes and donned an evil grin. "Yeah, let's save them quick. They'll be so indebted to me, I'll definitely get a reward. I'd then make them to pay for my ramen when we get back." Seeing as he hadn't visited Ichiraku Ramen in about two weeks (longest he's gone without his miracle food since his training trip with Jiraiya). Because of the predicament, he now had an immense craving of miso charsiu ramen.

He could picture himself eating a whole boat-load of ramen and forcing Tsunade to pay for it. 'That'd teach Baa-chan from being stingy with her cash' giggled Naruto in his mind.

After Sakura gave Naruto and Sasuke the green light to get up, the Jinchuuriki stretched his aching joints. Suddenly his usually tanned complexion went pale and let out a blood-curdling scream, making everyone including the usually stoic Uchiha jump in fright.

The knuckle-head ninja had just remembered he had lost his right arm. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! I CAN'T MAKE HAND SIGNS ANYMORE WITHOUT A RIGHT HAND! WHAT DO WE DO NOW? ARE WE GOING TO BE THE ONLY FOUR HUMANS LEFT ALIVE?! I STILL HAVEN'T LEARNED ICHIRAKU'S SECRET RECIPE. FUCK! DOES THIS MEAN I WON'T BE ABLE TO EAT RAMEN AGAIN?"

He dramatically put his hands onto his cheeks and let out another scream of despair (picture Kevin from Home Alone). His dream of laughing at a depressed Tsunade after having schemed away all her money for food was crumbling before his eyes.

But now an even bigger problem than ramen popped into his head (impossible right?). 'Wait... If we're the only humans left hmm...' Naruto turned to look at Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura. He knew he had to act swiftly.

He shot up his arms with lightning quick speed and declared "I call dibs on Sakura-chan. Kakashi, Sasuke... you guys figure something out yourselves."

Sakura blushed crimson red, her face shining like a beacon. A vein was throbbing on her head. She was shaking with rage as Naruto continued rambling, slowly but surely losing his sanity. Sakura sauntered leisurely towards the blonde that was so engrossed in his ideas about what type of names his and Sakura's children were going to be called, he hadn't noticed the she-devil looming behind him.

"SHANARO!" she snapped and Naruto recieved a heavy right hook directly on his jaw bone. "I'm not an item BAKA! And I'm one million percent not marrying you. Who the fuck wants to have kids named after ramen flavours?" huffed Sakura, her rage slowly subsiding as she witnessed the sight of Naruto lying on the ground.

Naruto got back on his feet, winced and rubbed his newly obtained injury. "Come on Sakura-chan, don't you think Pulled Pork and Spicy Beef are cute names? hehe."

Sakura raised her fist surging with rage again. A demonic aura surrounded her which promptly shut Naruto up.

Kakashi sweat-dropped and sighed. 'I guess some things stay the same, no matter how much time passes.'

Sasuke was pondering all the methods that could be used to free the people from the Infinite Tsukuyomi ever since Naruto's dissent from sanity. He didn't particularly fancy being in a relationship with Kakashi since every respectable man has to bow down before the rules of dibs and Naruto had acted quickest. Just thinking about an image of Kakashi in a wedding dress walking down the aisle towards him sent shivers down his spine.

He turned to his former teacher and said "Sensei, I believe I've found a way to undo the genjutsu." Kakashi was thrilled that he had been called sensei again, further cementing the fact the old stone-hearted Sasuke was long dead.

He, however, was even happier that Sasuke had thought of a way to undo the jutsu. He also didn't fancy the idea of being together with Sasuke either. "Let's hear it then." beamed the copy ninja behind his trademark mask.

"Naruto and I would've been able to undo the jutsu easily by ourselves if we had both arms but since we both lost one each, we need to form the hand sign with my right arm and his left simultaneously. That should be able to dispell the genjutsu." Sasuke stated.

Naruto thought for a moment. "Who would've thought teamwork was the answer to free everyone. How ironic seeing as we just finished a fight that could've resulted in both our deaths." Naruto gave Sasuke one of his trademark grins.

Sasuke smirked. "I went easy on you, dobe. I'll guarentee my victory next time."

Naruto returned the smirk back. "Next time we fight, I'll beat you up so bad you'll be on your knees begging me to become your sensei, teme. But that's got to wait, we have to save everyone else first or else they won't be able see you calling me sensei."

Sakura face palmed. "Boys and their stupid competitiveness. Why do they push themselves so much? Ugh."

The journey back to the site of the Juubi Tree was held in comfortable silence,taking in the natural sunlight and light breeze. Today's weather matched the positive mood perfectly.

They arrived at the destined location in relatively short time. The destruction had formed a crater with the Tree being in the centre of it. This allowed Team 7 to stand on a tall hill, overlooking the whole warzone.

It was approaching sunset, therefore the sun was blazing behind them, illuminating them in a warm, bright coat of light. This made them seem like holy entities, which of course was partially true especially in Naruto and Sasuke's seeing as they had Ashura and Indra chakra manifesting in their bodies.

The duo joined hands. They spared each other a quick glance, then counted down in unison.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"RELEASE!"

The tree stood unharmed for a moment before suddenly it swayed left and fell. The magnitude of the impact was surreal. The shockwaves could be felt throughout the Earth since the roots themselves were interconnected to the planets core.

The two shinobi gave each other a proud look after witnessing the collapse. Kakashi and Sakura sprinted down to the pods that had everyone trapped inside to tend to the severly injured.

"We done well Sasuke." said Naruto quietly, his vision slowly fading.

We sure did... nii-san" Sasuke whispered back. He had finally gotten over Itachi's death, freeing himself from his dark past. Even though Itachi was dead, Sasuke has finally found someone who loved him in a brotherly way equally, Uzumaki Naruto.

'He really does have a special ability to connect with people's hearts.' Sasuke thought. He too was losing conscienceness fast.

The two shinobi blacked out once again, only this time they had the identical look on their faces. The widest genuine smiles plastered on both their faces when they collapsed on the floor in a heap, their blissful facial features never changing even after they crashed face first into the hardened dirt they had previously been standing on.

They truly were alike when you look underneath the underneath.

That's chapter 2 folks! Hope you's are enjoying the story. I'd like to thank everyone who has taken their time to read it. If you guys have any complaints, ideas, thoughts on the story, improvents or have found any spelling errors I'd appreciate it. I will reply personally to every single review and that's a guarentee.

I also made the paragraphs shorter since I find it easier, especially while using a phone. Please let me know what's your opinion on this cos this could just be me that enjoys shorter paragraphs haha

For those that got Sakura questioning why boys push themselves so far, fair play lads. It's a little reference to the show where she asks Ino why boys push themselves so far, pretty self-explanatory lol

I'm from Ireland so the English spelling here if probs different from American English e.g Grey-Gray. I apoligize if this triggers some Americans, it's just how I've been raised to spell words.

Would yous like me to include more japanese in the story. For example, instead of release I'd put "KAI!" Also on that topic, should I throw in Naruto's -ttebayo after his sentences. It'd be a chore but I'm willing to do it if it's wanted hehe

Once again, thanks for reading this, it means a lot :))