Penultimate chapter to this story is here. Things are coming to a head and you have to find out how it ended. Now as for the disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 12
Resolution
"At long last, the day has finally arrived." Miles away from the boundaries of Konoha was Madara Uchiha. "That dreadful village will finally be burned to the ground." His eagerness to fulfill that statement was apparent.
"It would've already begun if you didn't make us wait." retorted Sasuke, standing not far away. The delay clearly annoyed him and had no problem saying so.
"Patience. Preparations were needed before we commenced." What Madara meant was that behind the Uchihas was a small army. More surprising was that they were the members of ROOT.
"To use our clan's bloodline limit in such a manner." The young Uchiha's distain was apparent. "Why bother using such trash? They'll merely get in the way."
"As much as you wish to deny it Sasuke, you can be beaten." A fierce glare was the only response that was given. "Having an entire village's shinobis focused on us would cause a sliver of uncertainty in us achieving our objective. Providing them with some cannon fodder for them to deal with will provide a distraction."
"As long as they don't get my way I could careless what happens to them." declared Sasuke. Refusing to wait any longer he headed toward Konoha. Moments later the controlled ROOT members would follow.
Remaining where he was standing, Madara couldn't contain delight he was feeling. "This shouldn't be long. There main weapon has already been removed." Letting out a small laugh he would disappear from the site.
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"No. It can't be." Standing in the hallway of a secluded part of Konoha hospital the members of Team Anko were just informed of the situation that had taken place in the tunnels underneath the village. "It's got to be some kind of trick." determined Sakura, still in denial of what she was just told.
"I wish that was the case." said a disheartened Tsunade. "When we got there it was already too late to do anything. He was too far gone." Even the sannin didn't want to admit it and having to say it out loud left a bad taste in her mouth. "We have to face the reality that Naruto is dead."
"What of his quick healing ability?" Kin inquired. "Shouldn't it have allowed him to recover or at least keep him alive long enough to get treatment?"
"Normally that would be the case but apparently things have changed." By the confused looks on the faces of those there, Tsunade elaborated. "Naruto's healing ability wasn't as quick as it usually was. Apparently it's been going on since the mission with the Akatsuki. Only he and Hinata knew about it."
"Fuck!" cursed Anko and followed it by slamming her fist against the wall. "What an idiot. Even knowing it was a trap He went after those bastards. What a stupid, valiant idiot." Clearly she was trying to maintain the tough persona that was customary for her.
All of them had trouble maintaining any type composure but were failing to do so. Despite this, Tsunade collected herself as best as she could. "While this might not be the best time, there are things that need to be discussed." There was no question what the Hokage was alluding to. "We need to be prepared." Tsunade had no doubt of what was likely to come.
"She's right." Anko supported. "Madara and Sasuke are determined to burn Konoha to the ground. Them appearing now it likely means that they're going to act."
"We need to put everyone on alert." Kin determined. "There's no telling when and how they're going to attack."
"What about-" Sakura couldn't even bring herself to say the rest. "Shouldn't we tell the others what happen?"
Knowing what her apprentice was referring to Tsunade shook her head. "Now's not the time. Telling everyone about Naruto dying will only distract them and this isn't the time for them to lose focus on what's to come. Besides…" Glancing over her shoulder she looked at the room that the body of the person in question was.
"…it's already created enough heartache. I'd like to prevent seeing more for a while longer." The remaining members of Team Anko didn't argue as they felt that perhaps that was the best decision to go with at the moment.
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As the conversation went on, Hinata sat silently in the room that was adjacent to them. She did nothing as she merely sat in a chair and stared almost blankly at what was before her. In front of the Hyuga was a hospital bed with the body of Naruto laid onto of it.
His body was covered by a white sheet with only the neck up was left exposed. For those unaware it would seem as though he was sleeping. That type of ignorance couldn't be used by the Hyuga as she had witnessed the incident that resulted in what had happened.
"Hinata." At the doorway was the Hyuga's father, Hiashi. He wasn't his usual stoic self as he was more somber. "The Hokage told me what happen." There wasn't any type of response from his daughter as she just remained the same way as he entered. "You shouldn't be here. Let me take you home."
"Home?" repeated Hinata with emotionless voice. She still hadn't looked at her father. "That'll cause me to remember what I lost."
In normal circumstances Hiashi might've reprimanded her for showing such weakness but refrained from doing so. Shifting his attention he glanced over to the body. "He willingly put himself into danger to save you. For that I'll be eternally grateful toward Naruto Uzumaki." Returning his attention to his daughter he saw that she was still state as he arrived. "Hinata, I must assist that that you are taken out of here."
Briefly the eldest Hyuga sibling looked at her father before returning her sights on the person before him. "What does it matter? The person that I loved before I even knew the word was killed before my eyes. He inspired me to become more than I thought I could be." Finally signs of emotion were being shown as she started to breakdown. "Now he's gone." Unable to contain it any further Hinata broke completely down and cried openly.
Hesitating for a moment, Hiashi went over and put a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder. Again he urged for Hinata to leave and this time she made no effort in resisting. They were making their way out of the hospital when an explosion occurred nearby. Hiashi reacted quickly and used the heavenly spin to protect him and Hinata from the falling debris.
That wouldn't be the only one as a number of other explosions occurred throughout Konoha. Amongst the confusion several masked shinobis swarmed in and started to attack anyone that they came across. Some were able to defend themselves but there were those who unfortunately weren't as lucky.
Some of them went after the two Hyugas but Hiashi stopped them with a few well placed gentle fist strikes. While he may have prevented that attempted assault, he hadn't noticed the other person sneaking up from behind and with short sword in hand planned on killing the easier target. Catching on to what was going on; Hiashi tried to counteract it but wouldn't make it in time.
The masked shinobi had their weapon poised to strike but before they could do so they were beaten to the punch as Hinata hit first with a chakra empowered palm thrust to the chest. There wasn't any reaction to the move until the masked shinobi crumbled to ground in a heap. It was clear that the person was dead.
Hinata stared down at the person with the same type of unemotional expression from before. "I can't die now. It would dishonor Naruto's sacrifice if I let that happen." This time the young Hyuga had a firm determination as she spoke.
Containing the relief that he was feeling, Hiashi went over to his daughter. We need to get to the compound. Have to get the rest of the Hyugas prepared." Not arguing, Hinata followed her father.
"I swear to you Naruto, I won't let everything you did to protect this village be for nothing. That's a promise."
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Nothingness. That was what Naruto encountered. There was no indication of top or bottom or wherever he was. Last thing he recalled before this was encountering both Madara and Sasuke with the latter once again attacking him from behind, looking at Hinata's tear stained then nothing.
"Is this death?" questioned Naruto out loud to himself.
"Not precisely." Appearing before the blond was a familiar large bare gate and on the other side was Kyuubi. Unlike previous interactions there was something off with the demon fox but its host couldn't put his finger on what that was. "This is the border between life and death. You're at the threshold of passing on."
"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's get back to the living." He tried his best but traces of concern were heard in Naruto's voice.
"Afraid that isn't possible." Before it could be asked what that meant, Kyuubi elaborated further. "Your body sustained severed injuries. Even with the quick healing it'll be impossible for you to recover. And as a result of the connection between us, I'll die as well."
On closer exception, Naruto noticed that demonic presence that was usually was felt from the biju was far weaker than usual. "So death is the only option?" The likelihood of that actually happening was really setting in for him.
"There's perhaps one alternative." voiced Kyuubi somewhat hesitantly. "I've already been mostly absorbed into you. If the process was completed then it might revive you."
"But wouldn't that essentially kill you?" Hearing the potential solution did bring some hope to Naruto but also cause some confusion. "I thought you wish to prolong your life as long as possible."
"My time amongst the living will end today either way. At least this way I can make it matter." Apparently the demon fox had given this a lot of thought. "Whether you want to go through with this is your decision. Be warn though, taking so much chakra may cause unexpected side effects. Decide quickly."
Focus was placed entirely on Naruto as he had to choose something that'll have major ramifications. "I've decided."
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"This is insane." That was the universal thought about what was going on. Complete chaos was transpiring throughout Konoha as the remnants of ROOT were attacking the village at random locations. Konoha shinobi fought back but were struggling to hold them off. That included the members of the former Team Asuma. "We should join up with some other squad. Will help improve the odds of us surviving." considered Ino.
"Ask and you shall receive." The three members of Team Anko appeared before them and by their disheveled appearance they had their own confrontations. "Good to see that you haven't died yet." Anko complimented in a somewhat roundabout way. "Apparently you're having your own share of problem here."
"That's an understatement." remarked Choji. He kept an eye on the area to make sure that there wouldn't be any ambushes. It was then that the Akimichi noticed something. "Where's Naruto?"
There was the adverting of the eyes from the recently arrived teams as none of them gave an immediate answer. "He's taking care of something important somewhere else." Sakura hastily informed. While saying it she couldn't look her friends in the eye. None of them found it strange but Shikamaru was giving her a suspicious look.
"Let's focus on the now." Kin was quick to redirect the conversation elsewhere. "Any ideas on how this should be handled?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Ino remarked. "There's something wrong with these guys. It's as though they don't care what happens to them."
What was said by his friend/teammate caused Shikamaru to think of a possible cause to what was going on. Performing a shadow bind jutsu he stretched his shadow to one of the approaching ROOT shinobis, stopping them in their tracks. "Ino, see what's going on in this guy's head."
Doing as she was asked the Yamanaka used her family ability and forced her subconscious into the person's mind. After a few minutes she returned to her body. "He's under some kind of genjutsu. The caster was Madara Uchiha and Sasuke was with him. They turned them into mindless weapons so they could use the confusion to kill the Hokage." The little mind trip must've been an unpleasant one as Ino tried to shake off the feeling that came from it.
"We need to alert the Hokage about this." determined Choji that was shared by all of them. "But what do that these guys? There under the power of a genjutsu."
Out of nowhere Anko stabbed the ROOT shinobi in the temple with a kunai. "We kill them." stated the jonin calmly as she let the now dead person fall lifelessly to the ground. "They've already betrayed Konoha and such a crime should be punished accordingly. The least we can do is making it quick."
There was no complaint from Sakura and Kin but that had mostly to do with recent events. As for the other members there, they were somewhat apprehensive but make a case about it. "Hokage needs to be informed of what was discovered. Let's get going." Following Anko's lead, the other members of the people there joined her, all of them knowing the importance of their mission.
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"Lady Tsunade, I implore you to let us take you to a more secure location." On top of the Hokage tower was the Fifth Hokage. Standing protectively around her were some of the most trusted ANBU and some of them were suggesting for relocation. All the requests were met on deaf ears as Tsunade stared stoically at the carnage before her. "Please, Hokage. We need to get you to safety."
"Safety?" Tsunade repeated without turning away from what was going on. "You want me to hideaway while my village and its people are being attacked?" Turning around she gave all of them a stare that helped to reinforce the reason why she was one of the legendary sannin. "So many people have laid their lives on the line to protect what Konoha stood for and I won't disgrace their sacrifices by hiding."
"Those are profound words." Appearing on the same rooftop of the Hokage was the two remaining Uchihas. "They're fitting final words." The ANBU immediately went after them but were swiftly taken cared off by a combination of fire jutsus and katana attacks. Most of them were killed but the ones who survived, they were in no condition to fight. "Tsunade Senju. You're the last member of the legendary sannin. Soon you'll be joining your fallen companions."
In a blink of an eye, Madara disappeared only to reappear behind Tsunade. His intention was clear. Just as he was about to strike however he was hit by one of the Hokage's empowered punches. The force behind it was enough to knock him back a couple feet. Only saving grace was that the punch hit the shoulder and not the masked face.
"You'll need to do better than that. I'm one of the sannin for a reason." Tsunade reminded bluntly. "I know about your ability to become intangible. Naruto told us everything." Readying herself, the Hokage clenched her fists.
Getting back to his feet and the arm lying limply at his side, Madara stared at the sannin through the sole eyehole of his mask. "He told you, didn't he?" he mockingly asked. Whipping the damaged arm outward a sickening snapping sound was heard as the elder Uchiha's arm was once again mobile. "That must've been a while ago. Considering that he's dead."
The remark was meant to cause Tsunade to get emotional and it proved successful as she couldn't even contained the anger at what was said. Fortunately she recognized what was trying to be done and refrained herself from attacking. Regaining most of her composure, she sensed something was trying to come up behind her.
From the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke charging at her with katana poised to strike. Tsunade tried to turn around but realized that she wouldn't react in time. Just before being struck though, a swarm of needles rained down that caused Sasuke to fallback. Appearing at the back of Tsunade was her first apprentice, Shizune who had another set of poison needles armed in the mechanism strapped to her arm.
"What are you doing here?" questioned Tsunade, never taking her eyes off either Uchiha. "I thought I told you to tend to as many wounded as possible."
"You did." Like with her sensei, Shizune kept an eye on the opposition. "However, I had an uneasy feeling so I rushed here as fast as possible. Apparently I was right and wasn't the only one." What she meant became clear as the members of Team Anko and Team Asuma arrived and had circled themselves around Tsunade and Shizune.
"Guess we're late for the party." remarked Anko with slight humor but that was brushed away and focused completely on the matter at hand. "At least we didn't miss out on all the fun."
Despite being outnumbered, neither Uchiha seemed to be bothered by it. "What loyal followers you have Tsunade." Madara mockingly complimented. "A shame though that such loyalty will result in more deaths." Both he and Sasuke started to make there way toward the Konoha shinobis who were prepared for what was to come.
A fight was inevitable but was prevented as a blinding flash of fiery red showed up. When it faded away it was revealed to be Naruto but was slightly different. His hair was longer that it reached down to the middle of his neck, the whisker marks on his cheeks were a bit darker and his blue eyes had a trace of red to them. "Hey there guys. Sorry for being late."
Shock and confusion was the shared feeling by those there. "N-Naruto?" spoke up Sakura, being the first one to regain the ability to speak. "Is that really you?"
The blond stared at his friend and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, it's me. Glad to see that all of you are all right."
"This can't be." muttered Sasuke. "I killed you. It's impossible for you to be alive." Was unknown whether he was trying to convince everyone or himself.
Turning his attention toward his former teammate, Naruto had an impassive expression. "What can I say? I'm tough to kill." Slowly he starting to walk over to him as a glare came over his face. "Can you say the same?" The meaning behind the question was apparent.
Not taking kindly to the obviously threat, Sasuke summoned his Mangekeyo Sharingan and closing the right eye sent an Amaterasu. The high-powered fire attack made its way toward Naruto who made no attempt to get out of the way despite the pleas from his friends. Meeting it head on, the Amaterasu quickly consumed the blond.
Even with blood pouring from his opened eye, Sasuke didn't hide the self-satisfaction for what he had done, not caring about the promises of revenge from the Hokage and the others. Strangely though, Madara showed no signs of being pleased.
"That taken cared of; it's time to end this." Sasuke started to make his way to the others. Gripping his katana he focused lightning chakra into it, planning on using it.
"You're right, Sasuke." commented a recognizable voice. Turning around to the Amaterasu, the black flames were slowly being overwhelmed by the same fiery red flames that were seen earlier. Moments later the red flames smothered the black flames and there stood Naruto, showing no harm. "This ends."
Again there was shock by what happen and even Madara was unable to hide his own surprise. "I-Im-Impossible." stuttered Sasuke. "You should've been consumed by Amaterasu to smoldering ashes."
"Maybe you're not as impressive as you professed to be." Fueled by anger from the insult and again not killing his adversary, Sasuke charged at him, intended to finish the job. Thrusting the katana forward it was going to pierce Naruto in the heart but was stopped inches from the target.
The cause was again the fiery flames. This time though it formed into a pair of tails that were attached to Naruto. One of them held the arm that the weapon was in and the other was wrapped around the Uchiha's waist. With the tails Sasuke was lifted up into the air.
"You've done so many unspeakable things Sasuke. All to avenge what was done to the rest of your family." As Naruto talked there was a condemning tone in his voice. "This is something that is long overdue." Following that statement four more fiery red tails joined the previous two. Three of them around the other arm and legs of the Uchiha and tightened their grips on the limbs.
Having an idea what was going to happen; Sasuke created a Chidori and channeled it through his body. The attack would prove to be ineffective as the lightning did nothing to his bonds. He increased the voltage but the result was still the same. "Do you really think that this will stop me?" questioned Sasuke. "I won't stop until I get the vengeance that my family and I deserve." He was trying to be defiant but there was a hint of concern in his voice.
"It's the same story with you." With an expression that was a mixture of pity and resolve the last free tail that was attached to Naruto started to wrap itself around Sasuke's head. "Unfortunately, you're quest for vengeance will end unfulfilled."
Wrapping the tail securely around his head, Naruto had the tails holding it and the other limbs pull outward and torn them clean off the Uchiha's body. "Then there was one" Naruto declared as he dropped the now dismembered body of Sasuke fall to the ground.
With that obstacle out of the way his attention was turned toward Madara who during the entire incident had stood by in shock. "You shouldn't be able to access the nine-tailed fox's chakra in such a manner. How is this possible?"
Naruto started to slowly make his way to the former leader of the Akatsuki. "Explaining anything will be pointless. Seeing as how you'll soon be dead." By his tone there was absolute certainly in that statement.
As he made his way toward him, a feeling that Madara hadn't felt for quite some time resurfaced. That being fear. Ideas flooded his head as he tried to think of a plan to get out of this. When a possible resolution came some of that lost reassurance returned.
Activating his own Mangekeyo Sharingan he directed a mental jutsu on the opposition before him. "This is perfect. I'll take control of the demon and use it to destroy everything." Madara's self boasting was halted when Naruto started laughing.
"Sorry. Not going to work." Using the momentary surprise to his advantage, Naruto sped forward and grabbed Madara by his masked face. "Let's take this elsewhere." In a flash the two vanished before the eyes of the Hokage, teammates and friends.
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Miles away from Konoha the two of them appeared with Naruto shoving Madara away from him. Recovering his bearings the Uchiha took in what just happen. "That was the Hiraishin. How could you learn such a technique and why didn't my mind control work?"
"My, aren't you inquisitive." While Naruto was pleasant it was clear that he wasn't letting his guard down. "To answer both questions, you can thank Kyuubi. He really didn't like you." Although vague, Madara was able to piece things together from that explanation.
"You completely absorbed the nine-tailed fox." The disbelief was evident in his voice. "I thought that Kyuubi would preserve his life at all cost. To think that the strongest of the bijus would do such a thing is surprising."
"The absorption was inevitable. It was just decided that it was for a purpose." As though acting on their accord the chakra tails that Naruto had were moving around. "Because of it I'm now able to use my father's technique as it originally required more chakra that I had." Almost with a sinister smile he again began to make his way forward. "Let see what else this newfound ability can do."
The feeling of fear return and then some as Madara was unsure how handle this unforeseen predicament. While he might've hated to admit it but retreating was becoming a strong option. Deciding, he started to dematerialize but was stopped when two of the chakra tails reached out and wrapped around Madara's body. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to phase through them like he normally would.
"What's the matter? You're unable to phase through?" Naruto inquired in a mocking fashion. That would vanish as he reached into the eyehole in Madara's mask and plucked out his Sharingan eye. As with what happen with Danzo, he screamed as immense pain that he hadn't experienced in quite some time went through his body.
"This won't be needed anymore." With the Sharingan eye in hand, Naruto crushed it. Producing two more chakra tails to join the previous seven, he wrapped all nine of them around the sole remaining Uchiha was completely cocooned.
"Do you think that this'll stop me?" questioned Madara, slightly muffled due to the confinement. "I'll never die. I'm forever." He continued to struggle but his restraints weren't letting go.
"You're nothing more than a plague to this world and it's time for the disease to be dealt with." Without any hesitation Naruto use all the chakra tails to crush Madara in his containment as streams of blood. Not stopping there, a searing heat was being emitted from the tails and due to the connection the Uchiha was consumed in flames. Even though he was contained, his screams could still be heard as his body was being incinerated.
Keeping this up for a few minutes, Naruto let up on the flames. Removing the chakra tails he saw that all that remained of Madara were the charred fragments of his mask. When it was determined that the sole remaining Akatsuki member was dead, Naruto allowed the newly acquired chakra to disperse.
"Finally it's over." Naruto took one last look at his surroundings before glancing back toward the village. "All that's left is to clean up the mess." With a single hand sign he created multiple shadow clones. "You know what to do." Indeed the clones did as they and their creator vanished from the scene.
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Half an Hour Later…
As soon as the attempted destruction of Konoha started, it ended as quickly. Some of the shinobi that was loyal to the village as well as some of its villagers had unfortunately lost their lives. The opposing side suffered worse as every controlled ROOT members were wiped-out.
Most were eliminated by the Konoha forces but a good portion of them were taken out by one individual and his small battalion of clones. News about what happen quickly spread and soon everyone within the village knew what happened. Amongst them was a certain Hyuga who was running as fast as she could back to her home.
Hinata had her doubts of what she heard but she held onto that hope. She soon showed up and searched the place over. "Naruto, are you here?" Getting no response and finding the person in question, Hinata turned up empty-handed. Unable to help herself she started to cry. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."
"Now I wouldn't be so sure about that." disputed a familiar voice. Slowly Hinata looked up and saw standing at the doorway was a slightly battered Naruto. "Hope is a good thing to have."
Thinking that her eyes were playing tricks on her, Hinata wiped away the tears but the person she loved was still there. "N-Naruto? Is that really you?" She was starting to get choked up as she could barely get the words out. "How is it possible?"
Smiling slightly, Naruto made his way over to his girlfriend. "That's a long story and I'll explain everything." Standing before the Hyuga he stroked her cheek. "For now though I'm just glad that you and everyone are all right."
Hinata wasn't able to hold herself back any longer as she reached in and hugged Naruto which he gladly returned. "I thought I lost you." she muffled out as her head was pressed against the crook of his neck.
Trying to comfort her as much as possible, Naruto continued to embrace her. "Sorry for doing that to you. Promise you though that I won't leave you ever again." Although he could see he could tell that Hinata was crying again but this time they were tears of joy.
Right off I want to say that I know that the truth about who "Madara" is has been revealed in the manga but I decided to not change it because I already had a good portion of this story/series finished when it happened and it would've been more hassle then I would've cared for to try to change things now. Will also admit that I might've made Naruto a bit too powerful at the end but with this basically being the end to the conflicts that's been going on throughout the series I thought it was a good way to go and I think I was able to 'hold back' to a certain extent with how things have been going on in the manga recently.
Next chapter will be the epilogue. Don't expect anything massive as I hope to just wrap things up and not leave any loose ends. Shouldn't take long to be posted. Currently shooting for it to be out by late this month so be on the look out.