A faceoff between a man and an army. A heroic battle between the great devil reborn, Uchiha Madara, and the Shinobi Alliance who defended the weak against the tyranny of evil. A touching scene, for sure.

Madara smiled bitterly. Although he was disquieted that the common footsoldier was so weak one of his punches would break their spine, he supposed that not everyone had the privilege of being born in a warring era. Still, old habits die hard, and he could feel his blood pump in his veins, his heart quickening its pace as the metaphorical drums of war started pounding.

He stepped. The Shinobi Alliance tensed. Madara's heart thumped harder.

Step.

"He's coming! Don't look into his eyes!"

Oonoki, this damned snot-nosed brat, who made a name for himself as fence-sitter. One of the few remnants of a dead era. Madara smirked. At least, he should hand it to him for having the tenacity and resilience of a cockroach.

With a burst of speed, the ground split in two and a huge storm of dust was kicked up. Madara crossed the distance separating the two sides at unbelievable speeds. He landed a kick on the first Shinobi, the man's internal organs bursting from his back like a putrid fleshy flower blooming.

Madara spun and backhanded the next greenhorn, and felt the bone structure of the poor chap's face collapse under his unyielding might. So brittle. So this was what this era was coming to, huh?

He had some more fun dancing, though how pitiful a dance it was, compared to the grand ones he used to have with Hashirama.

He avoided a sword strike and grabbed the neck of the closest Shinobi.

"Do you want to dance too?" The sword fell from the former Iwa-nin's grip.

Fingers clutched at his hand, clawing at it like a kitten. He applied more pressure and could feel the muscles begin to tear and the windpipe crushing.

He allowed himself to be lifted in the air by a gust of wind (since when had someone managed to sneak up on him?) since it would allow him to reassess the situation and go through the next phase of the battle.

"Don't underestimate me! Naruto, are you done yet?!" Temari shouted.

The boy with blonde hair and tremendous Chakra reserves, from what he could sense (though Tobirama was always the better sensor, his clansmen would curse him for many ambushes and deceitful tricks he used. Izuna...) closed his eyes as he tried to mould some Chakra.

"Not yet! I'm completely spent!"

"Spent? You're an Uzumaki!" The girl said despondently.

Madara paused in his handsigns for the Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer. He locked the tiger seal but did not channel the chakra required for the technique's completion.

"Uzumaki? Kindred to Uzumaki Mito? You look nothing like her," Madara said, trying to look for the fabled crimson mane of the descendants of this clan.

"You know Uzumaki Mito? My mother told me about her, 'ttebayo."

"Naruto. Don't talk to him." Gaara warned sternly.

"No, Kazekage-dono. We might gain some time this way yet," Oonoki, the sly brat, rebutted.

He heard both Kage discussing in whispers but to his attuned and acute hearing, it sounded as loud as shouting. Madara let them be, the ploys and plots of ants did little to offset the course of the moon. Of the Eternal Moon hanging over their heads.

"Knew her? She was the best seal master I have had the pleasure of coming across. And kinky in bed, to boot." he added, just to provoke the boy.

The boy looked up and glared at him. "Hey, don't talk smack 'bout my ancestors, asshole!"

Madara laughed and slapped his forehead in his mirth "Hah! You're a little spitfire like her, alright. Beyond her calm exterior, she was a tigress. Hashirama could vouch for that."

His hand slid down his face and rested on the lower part to hide a smile. "So little Uzumaki, do you want to dance? Tsukuyomi."

The world distorted and they found themselves in a clan compound. The former Uchiha clan compound, to be exact. From the warring clan era. How nostalgic. Why did his subconscious choose to bring him here? Still, Madara took it in stride.

"What's this place? It looks old..." Naruto asked, tense, but still looking around with a childlike wonder. Madara would humor him before testing his battle skills.

"Fifty years ago, give or take. There was no such notion as Shinobi Alliance, and villages where people from different clans could cohabit in peace, was a pipe dream at best. Shinobi were nothing more than tools for murder, caught in a political struggle whose scope escaped their grasp."

"I don't understand." Naruto shook his head.

"Here, let me show you. The story begins near a lake in-between the Uchiha and Senju clan compounds. A story of two foolish boys who had already lost too much, and would lose so much more in the years to come. A story of two kindred souls united by their same dream of peace."

And he showed him the meeting between then-Madara and then-Hashirama. Naruto watched in silence as he heard them share tips for skipping rocks and saw them lying on the grass, panting with exertion once they were done.

Then the scene morphed, and it was the other boy hanging onto Young Madara for dear life, clutching him like he was the last lifeline preventing him from being swept away.

"Dead! They're both dead! My baby brothers… Madara, what should I do? W-What, I… I only have Tobirama left."

Young Madara clenched his jaw. "We're at war, Hashirama. From the moment they learned to hold a kunai, they were deemed fit to be sent to the battlefield. It is regretful, but not unexpected."

Hashirama's limp hands fell, his face painted with a look of disbelief. "You don't mean that. Madara? Madara! I lost two brothers in the span of as many years!"

Young Madara's face contorted in grief and he lashed out, punching Hashirama so hard he could feel the recoil from the punch. Hashirama shook the cobwebs out of his head, the punch having sent him sprawling to the ground.

"And I lost three brothers! Three little brothers, one of whom was four! How do you think I feel?! How much of a failure of a big brother am I not to be able to protect my own little brothers?! Why… Why does it hurt so much?" Tears were now freely falling from Young Madara's eyes.

Hashirama regained his wits and punched the soil, his tremendous strength making the ground nearly cave in. "Damn it! Damn it all! Why do we all have to suffer? Why can't there be goddamn peace?! Sometimes, I wonder if peace is an illusion."

Hah, how funny. Madara had lost all will to dance. Instead, a new goal had replaced the previous one. He wanted to show Naruto the thoughts which led him to deem this world a failure, and how nobody could coexist in peace. The necessity of his plan for real peace.

Flash forward to a scene which was struck in his head; a scene which nothing could erase. The scene of his brother being mortally wounded.

"IZUNA!"

Young Madara supported his brother's weight with his own, securing his arm around his shoulders.

The next moments were a confusing blur. "There can be peace!" Hashirama extended a hand. Young Madara stepped forward once before his brother's voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Don't trust them! D-Did you forget everyone they killed?!"

Torn between his best friend and his baby brother, Madara decided to flee.

The scene morphed, and they were back in the clan compound. Izuna was lying on a futon, a wet cloth covering his eyes.

"Nii-san. Please take my eyes."

"Izuna, no, no, baby brother, please don't say that. We'll find a solution, and you'll be as good as new. I promise. When did I ever lie to you?" Shinobi are liars, and trained to detect lies. Both knew there was no solution. You can't heal a destroyed liver.

Izuna laughed bitterly before coughing a mouthful of blood. He grinned through bloody teeth. "He got me good, right? Guess I was cocky till the end. He always was the better Shinobi."

Young Madara's vision was blurred with tears. They dripped down his cheeks and hit Izuna's face. Then, Izuna began to shiver uncontrollably, his body temperature dropping at an alarming rate and his skin taking on a waxy pallor.

"Izuna, Izu-akanbo, no, stay with me. If you're not here. W-What! Peace?" What is peace good for if you're not here?

"Mada-nii, I don't want to die. Please. It's so cold. Please."

The hand Madara was holding tightly finally became totally limp. Madara let it rest aside, gingerly placing it down. He removed the cloth from his brother's eyes, and nearly hurled at the expression of terror and pain on his brother's face. Madara kissed the cold, clammy forehead. He used a nifty Chakra manipulation technique to put all the distorted muscles back into a proper resting position.

Now, his brother simply looked as if he were sleeping. A long rest, from which he would never wake. He was probably in a better world than here. Madara's head bowed as he let the last tears drop, until his eyes were dry. Then he looked up, watching the ceiling. He opened his mouth. A soft exhale came out. His hands narrowed and his eyes tightened with an unholy hatred.

Young Madara screamed, a wail of a wounded animal, laden with sorrow and tinted with insanity. He did not stop until his voice was raw and his throat aching. That's when, Older Madara analyzed retrospectively, the paradigm shifted for him.

There was a long silence as the figures all disappeared and they were now standing on a barren field reminiscent of the desert they were standing on before the Tsukuyomi. "So you see, young Uzumaki. Peace is impossible. As long as men exist, there will always be strife. There is no escape from power struggles, war, and ultimately death. Hatred breeds hatred."

Madara looked to the side, expecting to see either vehement denial, or most probably, the boy's acceptance. Madara had manipulated Obito this way. To his surprise, the boy was neither angry nor resigned. To his utter shock Naruto was crying.

Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "That's so sad. That's too sad, old man Madara. What the hell, you were only trying to protect your precious people! It's not fair!"

Madara smiled bitterly. "Life is not fair. The sooner you learn this fact, the better."

Naruto wiped at his eyes again. "Deep down, you're not a bad guy. You remind me of Zabuza and Haku."

Madara raised a brow. The names did not ring any bell. Maybe it was after his era. Naruto explained to him then what happened, and Madara took it in stride. Tragic, but such was the destiny of Shinobi. Two names lost to history; lost to hatred.

"Why do you think you can break this cycle? Many better men have tried, and ultimately failed." Madara was honestly curious. What could one mere boy hope to accomplish?

"Because I promised it to Ero-sennin! Because it's my Nindo! And I never go back on my promises, you'd better fucking believe it, you damn old geezer!"

Madara couldn't help it and burst out laughing. This little imbecilic brat, he reminded him so much of Hashirama it physically hurt. Madara scoffed and hid his face by looking aside to hide his smile. After all, he was trying to play the villain here.

"As a token of gratitude for reminding me of better times, I will give you a two days reprieve. Gather your forces and we'll meet here again. The might of a God, or the will of a Dreamer, let's see which is stronger."

Then, as if it were a dream all along, the scene disappeared, and they were back in the desert where the Shinobi Alliance stood.

Without a word, Madara disappeared, melting into the ground.

"Naruto! What happened?!"

(Two days later)

Madara smiled as he saw that the number of opponents had doubled, and most importantly, the quality had skyrocketed.

"The Five Kage. Oh, Uchiha Obito's Sharingan. Hatake Kakashi, I take it?"

Kakashi tensed, but still, he stepped forward, lifting the headband covering his Sharingan eye and closing his other eye. He looked into Madara's spinning Sharingan, and unconsciously his slouched posture straightened slightly.

"Uchiha Madara," Kakashi droned, "I was always told the dead should stay dead."

Madara scoffed, "Death is naught but a setback. I had an interesting talk with your student."

Kakashi tensed immediately, as he did whenever one of his students was entangled in a situation way over their head. "Which one? I'd bring to your attention that I have three."

Madara stepped forward at a leisurely pace. "You should know which one. He looks just like his father, and has his mother's fiery personality. A shame they had to die."

Kakashi's Sharingan eye narrowed. "Had to? They were murdered. Nobody has to be murdered."

"As were all my siblings and my own parents. Alas, this is the fate given to those blessed enough to be born in our age. An age I am about to end. Now."

Madara stopped walking when he stood within ten meters of Kakashi. Madara glanced around, and not seeing a familiar mop of blond hair, frowned.

"I don't see the young Uzumaki."

"Ah… He's busy," Kakashi withdrew a kunai and a bunch of Shuriken from his pouch and threw them with deadly accuracy at Madara, point-blank range. Madara seal-leassly substituted with a Kunoichi two hundred meters from there. The girl was skewered by the lethal weapons. She was barely sixteen.

Kakashi did not have the time to curse before a huge blow from a blade-handling purple figure sent dozens of Ninja flying. Susanoo.

After two dozen minutes of dancing and using a lot of Jutsu from his vast repertoire, and having fun beating the five Kage black and blue, Madara sighed in aggravation.

"This is getting tedious," he closed his eyes and focused on the link he had to the Nine-tails. A visible red link in the shape of a chain materialized. Madara grabbed it with one hand and pulled.

And there stood Naruto, looking around disoriented. He finally locked eyes with Madara and when he saw the morphing Sharingan pattern, he looked down immediately.

"Since I had not seen you, I wondered where you were. I despise being made to wait."

"I was told to wait and only step in if the situation gets out of hand."

Madara cocked his head. "Does this look out of hand to you?" Madara gestured to the battlefield grandly.

Corpses. Mountains of corpses, rivers of blood flowing between the mounds. Naruto's eyes widened in horror and shock.

"This is not Tsukuyomi," Madara said truthfully, "It's a shame. If only you came here sooner, this could have been avoided."

Madara pointed at two corpses in particular. Tsunade's, mutilated beyond belief. Kakashi's, who died with his throat cut open and both arms missing. Naruto fell to his knees and threw up. Tears were staining his face and snot dripped down his nose.

"Now you know what it's like to watch as the people you hold dearest die, and you're powerless to stop it."

Naruto's frame shook, and he was wracked with sobs. He punched the ground weakly.

"I know! I know what it's like! Do you know how many precious people I lost?! Ero-sennin, Sandaime-jiji, now even Tsunade-baachan and Kaka-sensei!"

"Not nearly enough, or you would not say such inanities. Now you feel exactly how I did when Izuna died. Or not, it seems rather lacking, does it not?"

Madara brought a Katana to his hand using the powers of the Rinnegan. Focusing on another link, this one blue, he grabbed it and pulled. Uchiha Sasuke was brought here, only to be skewered by Madara's katana. The blade sank in his chest and pierced his heart. Sasuke had the presence of mind to grab it but it had already done his job, so preventing it to go further was futile. Sasuke jerked once, looking around in disbelief, before his glassy eyes fell down to the blade. His head lolled to the side and onyx eyed watched disbelieving blue ones.

"Naruto…" He said before his body sagged, the blade sliding in as it slipped through bloody, limp fingers, and the sword sank in until the cold hilt rested against Sasuke's cooling chest.

"Now you feel what it's like to watch your brother die in your arms, while you're not quick enough to stop it. Do you realize now, how futile it all is? Young Uzumaki, look up. See the moon. What a beautiful red moon it is..."

In his lethargic state, Naruto looked up and the moon seemed to glow red. Red, like the blood soaking the ground. Like the one which dripped from the corner of Sasuke's mouth and joined the puddles of crimson liquid underfoot. Red, like Madara's spinning Sharingan eyes.

Naruto screamed.

(In the real world)

Naruto was standing transfixed, a look of disbelief on his pale face. He seemed to be in a kind of catatonic state, and nothing could snap him out of his daze.

Tsunade went to Kakashi's side. "Kakashi! What's going on?! Is this Tsukuyomi again?"

"It's not Tsukuyomi. It's another grade of technique, much higher. I can't break it. How is it going on your side?"

"Bad. Since Madara pulled Naruto through space through whatever means, things took a turn for the worse. Half our army is unconscious, uncapacitated, or dead, the rest dispirited. We need time to regroup and strategize. Can you bring us some?"

Kakashi nodded grimly and focused Chakra on his Sharingan eye. "Kamui!"

The space around Madara distorted, but something happened before he disappeared. Another portal appeared around the listless Naruto and sucked him in, too, under Kakashi and Tsunade's disbelieving eyes.

"Kakashi! What happened?!" Tsunade shouted in fright, shaking the taller man like a ragdoll.

Kakashi tried to focus but he could not come to a logical conclusion.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But. If they are connected somehow through a technique which warps reality… Kotoamatsukami?"

"Kotoamatsukami?" Tsunade remembered a report she read. She released Kakashi.

"Maybe. Maybe something else altogether. But it seems their Chakra network is intertwined, so Naruto was pulled inside since Kamui could not distinguish between them."

Tsunade bit her lip. "Is there a risk?"

Kakashi closed his eyes. "I would say no, however if they are linked in some way, with both of their colossal Chakra capacities… Kamui was always made to switch from dimension to dimension for one person, not two persons with Bijuu-class Chakra capacities to boot. The dimensional matrix might get unstable."

"Which means?" Tsunade asked, not liking what the consequences might be.

"There is a possibility they will out come here. There is a possibility the exit point will be the moon. There is a possibility it will be the heart of a volcano. There is a possibility it won't even be in this Earth anymore, or in this universe altogether. It's all a huge gamble at this point."

"Then stop it!" Tsunade screamed, pacing around, about to either throttle him or punch the nearest mountain into oblivion.

"There's nothing I can do!" Kakashi shouted uncharacteristically, running a hand through his white hair. It's times like it he felt every single year of his career weigh down on it. "Forcing the cancellation in such an unstable state could mean I'd rip both of them to shreds, and Naruto's not immortal like Madara. I can't - no - I won't risk it."

"A gamble. Kakashi… You know I always sucked at gambling. And I made the call."

Kakashi sighed, something like lead weighing his gut. "Then let's hope for once you get a lucky streak."

Madara was floating in a huge black space, a body weight pressed against him. The Uzumaki brat.

The space cracked, white streaks appearing, as if they were cracks on an egg. It seemed this pocket dimension was getting unstable. Then the environment began to lose in coherence, and Madara felt a strong pulling sensation in his navel. He had confidence that he could survive anything, yet he did not live that long without being cautious.

He grabbed onto Naruto who had also begun to get pulled in another direction. He could use him as a meat shield if worse came to shove. What he didn't expect was that the pull in opposite directions was so strong, he had to release his hold lest he lost his arm, or worse his body got torn in two. It seemed they were destined to go out at different places.

When the dimension finally broke down, Madara heard the sound of waves crashing against a cliff. Seagulls were doing their peculiar crying out. The seaside? What in the world…

"Out! Out of the way, dammit! You, what are you doing standing there?! Scientist incoming!"

A woman called out, trying to get him to move. Now, Madara was standing on a vast plain, so there was plenty of space for her to go around him, yet she staunchly refused to do so, expecting Madara to move out of the way. It was a… novel experience, to say the least.

"Sharingan," Madara said, looking into her eyes. The hypnosis worked and Madara asked her a few questions.

"West Blue. It seems I am in the Elemental Nations no more."

The "scientist" began to shake, before she managed to break from the hypnosis. Oh? Strong-willed woman, it seemed. Once she did, she glared at him and jabbed a finger in his face, pushing on his cheek. He let her do so, resisting his first instinct to tear her off her offending appendage.

"Listen here. When a person tells you to move, it's not polite to just stare at their face. If you can't, or won't move, just say so. Don't just gawk at me like a creep. Do I have something on my face? Or you just think I'm pretty? I've got a husband and a young daughter, so even though you're kinda cute, I'll have to decline any advance."

Madara threw his head back and laughed. This was very refreshing. Once he had his mirth under control, he cocked his head and spoke.

"Woman. What is your name?"

"Woman? This rude assh…. Nico Olvia." She said, taking in a deep breath to calm her raised temper.

"Nico Olvia. I think we will be good friends."

"Well, I for one, don't. And you're still standing in my way AND staring at me creepily. Can you be more obnoxious?"

Madara snorted. He let her through and tailed her to the village, a mere shadow creeping in.

"Oi! Oi! Are ya ok? You're not dead? I see your chest moving, and you're not sleeping since you swallow way too much for someone in an unconscious state."

Naruto opened his eyes with a start. He was lying on a bed in a strange place. It looked like a room in some kind of fancy palace. A fancy hospital room.

"Welcome to Mary Geoise. The name's Bubble, the personal physician of King Dazrow, whose garden we found you in. Now, can you tell me how in the fuck you managed to land there of all places?"

Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to remember the events leading there. Everything was clear, until he reached the part where he stood in a place filled with corpses. He shivered.

"I don't remember the last few hours," he admitted the truth.

"Anterograde amnesia?" Bubble made some scrawls in a notebook she was carrying, her pink curly hair bobbing with her mumbling. Her chestnut eyes focused on his face again.

"Have you been drugged? Took some pills?"

"Soldier pills?" Naruto asked in confusion. Bubble rolled her eyes. "I'd assume not. You don't drink either?"

Naruto shook his head. "There was a war, I couldn't afford to. And the first and last time I did was when my… mentor was still alive."

Bubble clucked her tongue. She felt for him, but what could she do? Offer false condolences?

"Well, consider yourself lucky I found you. If you were still in the battlefield, you would have died. You were in a coma for three days. Look, the night is still young and the moon is high but I need to take a blood sample."

Naruto's stomach lurched at the word moon. He did not know why but he really disliked that word. Meanwhile Bubble took a syringe and took Naruto's arm in her hands. After disinfecting a little with a cotton swabbed with disinfectant, she plunged the needle in and took one vialful. Only two more.

Naruto began to shake when he saw the blood in the container. Red, blood, the moon. Kakashi, Tsunade, Izuna, Sasuke.

[What a beautiful red moon]

"Boy, stay with me. How many fingers do I have. Shit, he's getting pale."

Bubble grabbed a dendenmushi on her desk, "Oi, I'm gonna need some epinephrine and an I.V. bag. His airwaves are constricted so he needs myorelaxants, bring also all kinds of spasmolytics and - no there is no protocol, and if you don't bring everything right about now, I'm shoving the entire shelf WITH all the goddamn protocols up your ass."

Naruto fainted.

"Fuck." Bubble cursed.