Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 70: Losing

"Can we really trust him?" The Raikage asked as Yuki finished explaining what Itachi planned on doing.

"I would trust him with my life." Yuki replied firmly, slightly annoyed that they still had doubts about him.

Tsunade simply looked down to the desk, realizing how many dark secrets were kept from her despite her status as the Hokage. Shikaku was also shocked to hear that Itachi was actually on their side. Everybody's belief of what was the truth became shaken by Yuki's story. She knew that Itachi wanted to preserve the prestige of his clan's name, but Yuki believed that there was no longer any point in protecting it as the sole survivor, Sasuke, had no intention in preserving its loyalty to Konohagakure.

"That's all we can do anyways." Tsunade finally concluded.

Yuki was relieved by her answer. As they all came to an agreement that they would put their trust in Itachi to put an end to the reincarnation jutsus, the fights against those reincarnations was still going on. Shikaku updated her on the status of each division. Naruto or one of his clones had arrived to most battlefield, allowing for the Allied Army to distinguish between friend and foe. Meanwhile, some shinobis became isolated from their division as they were fighting against the enemy. Because of the large scale of the war, it was nearly impossible to reach out to everyone to allow for orders of regrouping to be given. While trying to figure out what the next course of action would be, Inoichi informed them that the Medical Team had reached out to them.

"Sakura just asked for some help as someone is using a snow jutsu in one of the Medical Tents."

"Snow jutsu?" Yuki asked as she stood up right away from her seat.

"Because it reminded her of you, she asked for your backup." Inoichi explained. "Kiba is also facing someone who is controlling thunderstorms. Ino-Shika-Cho are confronted by someone with power over the rain. From their description, it looks like it is all the same person."

"So this person is able to use a clone jutsu that is just as powerful as Naruto and can control weather at will?" Tsunade asked as she summed up the information provided.

Inoichi nodded still trying to comprehend what was being reported by the various battlefields.

"Let me head to each location and figure out what's going on." Yuki said. "I don't remember such a human being existing, nor reading about someone who can control the weather to such extent."

She then teleported herself, first, to the Medical Unit where Sakura was facing a snowstorm. As Yuki appeared, she realized that their enemy was a child, not much older than 5 or 6 years old. He didn't look threatening, but as he danced around, snow kept falling from the sky in lumps that could crush someone's bone. She didn't recognize him. He had no traits that allowed her to tell which clan he belonged to either. Sakura exchanged looks with Yuki and the two of them charged at the kid, trying to stop him from moving. However, he was agile enough to escape their attack. He moved a little further away from them and continued his little dance. Suddenly, he rushed towards them and flicked their foreheads.

"Yota!" Sakura exclaimed.

It was a familiar name to Yuki too. There was no way Yuki wouldn't remember someone she had encountered in her lifetime. Her memory had always been good when it came to people, not to mention someone who was a friend. Yota was a kid that she encountered back in Konohagakure as a child herself. She was training and somehow ran into him. A lot of images came back into Yuki's mind at that moment. She looked at Sakura who nodded as she remembered them too. They were friends before they even knew it. They just couldn't remember it. It wasn't just them. Naruto, Kiba, Ino, Choji and Shikamaru were part of the group too. As they found out about it, Yuki quickly communicated telepathically with Naruto.

"Naruto, we just ran into Yota, multiple one that is."

"I am fighting against Yota as well." He said. "I'm sure I'm fighting the real one. He's whistling that melody."

"So the ones in front of us..." Yuki began as she realized they were just White Zetsus.

Without further delay, she used her lightning spear to kill it. It pained her to do so as their reunion was so quick, but it wasn't the real Yota anyways. She relayed the message to Shikamaru and Kiba and urged them to kill the impostors as well. She, then, flashed herself to where Naruto was and met up with the real Yota. He was indeed whistling the tune that they had once taught him. Naruto exchanged looks with Yuki and she prepared to seal Yota. As his movements were impeded, he relayed his last thoughts to them all.

"Everyone... When I met you all, it was so fun. We were so little. You've all grown up so much. I'm so happy to have been able to see you all again. I'm truly very happy."

"I'm so sorry Yota..." They heard Sakura say.

"Don't be sorry, that's because I was already dead when I met everyone. This time, don't forget me, alright?"

With those words, Yuki's seal was complete and Yota was now buried in a snow globe. Yuki bit her lip as she reminded herself of the days they had with Yota. They were the happiest days in her childhood. They also were the happiest day Naruto had. They just couldn't remember those days. Now that they could, they were the most painful days to remember. Yota was the first person they failed to save in their lives. Yota was well aware of the pain it would bring them and decided to alter their memories so that he would become non-existent to them. Because of that, they forgot that they were once friends. Fate still brought everyone back together. However, Yota became a forgotten memory. She was thankful he brought those memories back to them as he reappeared despite the pain that came along.

The nature of the war didn't allow them to stay and mourn the loss of their friend much longer. Yuki and Naruto quickly joined up with different divisions who was facing more reincarnations than anticipated. It seemed as though Kabuto, the one who controlled them, had released even more reincarnations onto the battlefield. Yuki joined up with Gaara's division as they were the one who seemingly had to most enemies at their tails. Meanwhile Naruto joined up with Kakashi's division to finish off the remaining reincarnations.

As she arrived, the enemies were trying to remove the seals on already incapacitated former Kages. Yuki came in time just to stop them from doing so. She then used a large scale ice jutsu to stop many from being able to move, giving just enough time for the sealing team to get to each and everyone of them.

"You could have used that earlier." Onoki said as he floated his way next to her.

"They weren't the most nimble ninjas, that's why it worked." Yuki said with a smirk on her face.

As they believed they had a moment to breathe and to relax, Yuki sensed an immense source of chakra appear just a few yards away from them. She quickly entered her sage mode and summoned Kiku to her side. She knew there was no other way. Alarmed by her sudden reaction, Gaara quickly headed over and asked:

"What is it?"

"Someone crazy powerful just appeared. I just don't know who..." Yuki said as her sharingans took place in her eyes.

Gaara ordered everyone to back away. He didn't want lives to be lost unnecessarily. He also ordered the Communication team to let the headquarters know of the current situation. As they began reporting back, the shinobis who still hadn't had the time to move back were hit out of nowhere and killed instantly. A dark figure appeared within the chaos.

"That's Madara." Onoki said. "I recognize him. I've fought against him before. There's no doubt about it."

"He's a reincarnation..." Yuki murmured.

Things weren't adding up. If the real Madara was dead, who was the masked man? She quickly relayed the new intelligence to Inoichi so that everyone could be made aware of the false identity of the masked man. Naruto and Bee were then ordered to go after that man. The real Madara kept going on his rampage as he fought the thousands allied shinobis without blinking an eye. He gave very little care about their lives. He seemed to find joy in mass murdering. Gaara and Yuki were trying their best to use protective jutsus to prevent as many deaths as possible. However, they both found it hard to keep up with him. The only way seemed to occupy his attention so that he wouldn't go after the others.

"We need to send Tsunade-sama and the Raikage over there." Inoichi then communicated with Yuki.

"Are you telling me to come back to the headquarters live?" Yuki asked as she used a water jutsu to stop Madara's fireballs from hitting the Allied Shinobis.

"It's the fastest way." He replied.

"What about the Mizukage?" She then asked.

"Genma's team are on it. Although they aren't as proficient as you are in the Flying Thunder God Technique, they can manage together." Inoichi explained.

Yuki looked at Gaara and gave him a nod as to tell him that she would be back soon. She flashed herself to the headquarters and quickly grabbed onto Tsunade and A. Without further delay, she appeared at the scene where Madara continuously destroyed everything that he could. Just a few seconds later, the Mizukage along with Genma, Raido and Iwashi appeared. Yuki and Tsunade quickly rushed over to Gaara and Onoki as they got injured during the time they were travelling across the lands to get here. It was only a few seconds, but they were already injured to the point that without treatment, they could no longer move. As Tsunade took over the healing, Yuki headed out to assist the Raikage and Mizukage in their fight against Madara.

"Konohagakure has gotten weak, sending a child to fight me." Madara said noticing Yuki going after him.

"You are underestimating all of us." The Raikage said as he used his speed to his advantage and tried to take Madara by surprise.

Yuki tried to confuse Madara even further with her own Flying Thunder God Technique. He recognized the technique right away as he knew the Second Hokage far too well.

"I haven't seen that technique in a while. I must say, you are much more proficient than Tobirama was. You are an Uchiha as well." He said as he opened his arms as if he was welcoming her.

"The new generation learn from the previous and they also learn not to make the same mistake." She replied as she trapped him in an ice-like dome, similar to what Haku used to create the illusion of infinite images. "And you are mistaken, I am not an Uchiha."

Throughout the years, Yuki learned many techniques and adapted many to her own advantage. She didn't know how, but she usually managed to master every technique there was to learn. Some called them a genius, others believed it was kind of freaky that she could do so. Nonetheless, so far, it has helped both her and her village. The ice, however, was not enough to stop Madara who melted it with a large scale fire jutsu, directed in all four cardinal points. The Kages and Yuki rushed to create a huge water fortress to stop the fire from injuring the shinobis who were still trying to escape the scene as they were instructed by their respective leaders.

Madara stretched his neck a bit and told Yuki:

"Those eyes don't lie though. They are yours and reflect the history of the Uchiha Clan. I won't kill a fellow clan member, but don't stand in my way. Swords are blind and ruthless."

As he finished those words, he weaved signs with his hands that Yuki recognized as the ones that would allow for...

"That's my grandfather's technique." Tsunade said as the ground beneath their feet began to shake and roots rose from it.

Everyone tried hard to maintain their balance as the ground became covered in roots. They weren't just roots. They were trees where flowers grew on. As Onoki recovered from his injuries, he was able to levitate himself and quickly headed for Madara, hoping to be able to stop him while he was preoccupied with creating this gigantic forest. Ultimately, he failed and, instead, Madara planted an attack on them as the flowers bloomed and released a toxic pollen into the air. There was no doubt that inhaling any of that poison would lead to a complete knock out. They couldn't afford that. Gaara looked over at Yuki as he rose above the pollen widespread, creating a sand island in the air. The other Kages quickly went onto it to avoid breathing in any toxins. Onoki had been knocked down by Madara just earlier and was unable to use his levitation at that point. He might have had a few broken bones as well. Yuki quickly teleported herself to him and then them both to where Gaara was. Tsunade tended to Onoki wounds once again as the others looked at the new landscape that had just been created in front of their eyes.

Yuki bit her lip. They knew they only had to hold out until the reincarnation jutsu would be over, but it wasn't an easy task. Sacrifices had to be made in order to drag out time. She couldn't help but wonder if Itachi would be able to make it in time. So many lives had already been taken. How many more would be lost if the battle kept being dragged out? In that moment of pondering, Madara attacked them from a blind spot as he unleashed his Susano. As they all fell to the ground, he set the forest on fire. As oxygen ran low and poison filled the air, one by one, they lost consciousness. Yuki was the last one standing. She was still managing to hold her breath. She had done it before for such a long period of time. She could do it again. She tried to put out the fire, but it became hard for her to infuse chakra to do so. Kiku had also left her side as they landed back into the man-made forest. She was, therefore, no longer in her sage mode. As she kneeled down, Madara approached her and looked at her in the eyes. She could tell he was trying to change her mind. She tried to fight it. However, she wasn't that strong anymore. She couldn't win against someone whose eyes had been trained for years and years, seeing and experiencing all sort of things. She was no match more him. As she kept fighting despite slowly losing herself, her sight became blurry and all her senses became numb to the surrounding environment.

End of Chapter 70

Again, thank you for reading this chapter!

xox

Krystal