Okay guys...I'm sorry this update took so long, and I'm sorry if this chapter's bad. I just don't have enough time to write all this stuff down. But remember..."It is far easier to word it weird and then fix it in editing, than trying to remember it long enough to word it right." - Words of a very wise person right there.

You can look forward to more of what's happening between Sasuke and Kakashi when I update later. Way later probably.

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Naruto staggered along the dirt road heading toward certain nowhere. He grabbed his cut arm, and fought back the pain by biting his lip and cursing under his breath. "Damn it." He stopped to lean against a tree and get some air into his lungs. He was still pretty beat up from the fight with Madara. Madara was dead, but Naruto wasn't much better off. He had to wait for Madara to let his guard down. True, his ultimate plan was brilliant, but it came with a great price. Naruto hadn't expected it to go that far with Madara. Almost all of the Kyuubi chakra supply had been cut off from him, and what little of its power that was left seeped out to heal his cuts, but was pushed back by the seal the Five Kages had put on him. The Seal worked like a taser, every time you did something wrong, you were basically punished and told not to do so with an electric shock. It was almost like the device they put on him while he was in the Land of Snow. Naruto tried desperately to break the seal, but unfortunately, but he hadn't the faintest idea about seals—especially ones put on him by the Five Kages. "Damn it," he muttered again.

Naruto put his back to the tree and slid down it to a sitting position and brought his knees up to his chest. There wasn't much he could do to help himself now. He just really hoped the Leaf was okay, especially if Sasuke was going there…

Two days earlier

Naruto fell over on the ground and coughed up an immense amount of blood. The foot Madara just planted in his stomach didn't do much to help the cause. "Y-you bastard!" Madara screamed as Naruto watched him sputtered out the words through a split lip and the blood dripping down from his eyes. Naruto smirked and choked as Madara hit him yet again, obviously angered by the smile Naruto produced in a time like this. "You good for nothing, son-of-a-." Madara stopped and watched Naruto collapse. Zetsu walked over to Madara. "Madara-sama," he started, "I believe the Jinchuuriki is unconscious. Let us take him before he wakes up. We cannot very well perform the extraction if he is struggling," Zetsu paused and nudged Naruto with his foot, then let out a sigh of relief when he saw the blonde was still breathing, "or dead." A sigh came from the Uchiha. "Very well, Zetsu." Madara picked up Naruto and threw him over his shoulder, and headed back to the base.

Once they reached the hideout, Madara set Naruto down and summoned the Demonic Beast Statue. Madara breathed heavily and fell over, exhausted. Summoning was not something he should have been doing after a fight. "Zetsu, do you have any idea where Sasuke is? He should have been here to do the summoning." "No, Madara-sama, I believe he left to complete some research." "Damn that Uchiha brat," Madara whispered. Sasuke was supposed to replace Nagato, as Nagato was only Madara's pawn. Madara jumped onto the one of the fingers of the statue and began the extraction. Three days was a long time to be sitting here. At last, at last I will have control over the world. A feeling of pride bubbled in his chest and a grin almost split his face. Zetsu looked at him strangely. He knew Madara had been borderline insane lately, and it was scaring him. The screams at night, the laughs, and eyes that would stare you down if you dared to mention anything about his current state of mind—all due to this Eye of the Moon Plan he had been rattling on about. Zetsu's eyes snapped open when he heard Madara snicker deviously. "Not so fast, bastard." Madara's eyes opened to the half-lidded point and a toothy grin etched on his face. "I see the Kyuubi is taking over your body, Naruto-san." It was true…Madara knew he was screwed. He had to give Naruto credit; it was hard to stick it out after a fight with him. The red chakra enveloped Naruto's entire body, and three tails had already formed. As Naruto lunged towards him, Madara couldn't help but think as to how closed he had been to world domination.

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Naruto and Madara lay in the crater that had once been the hideout. Naruto staggered to his knees and crawled over to Madara, who was pooling in his own blood but still barely alive.

"Where…is…Sas-" Naruto paused. It hurt to say his name.

"Sasuke?" Madara finished, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I don't know where Sasuke is." Naruto's face fell. "But I do know, that he thinks you're dead."

"What? Why?"

"Because I told him so!" Madara bellowed, coughing up blood as he laughed at Naruto's lack of intelligence. "Because I told him so. Because he thinks you're dead, he has stopped going after the Leaf Village, hmm?" Madara laughed again. "So if you go after him," he sneered, "he's bound to go after your friends, your senseis, and he won't stop until he finds you." Naruto felt guilt clot in his throat. "Make a choice, Naruto-kun. Would you want to please yourself and find the Sasuke you desire, or protect the ones you love? Hmm?" Madara sputtered blood, and he knew he was near the end. "Hmm, Naruto-san?" Madara paused. "Sasuke-kun," he chuckled, "you know Sasuke-kun. He'll go see if you really are dead, and if you can sell it, he will leave the Leaf alone. Otherwise," Madara sighed and remembered the 'avenger' attitude of his nephew. "Otherwise, he will not stop."

Naruto jerked back tears and breathed between sobs. "I myself, Naruto-san, do not wish to see the destruction of the Leaf, as it is my home Village. And I do not wish to see the possible death of Sasuke-kun. Use this technique to create a fake you with a shadow clone." Madara passed Naruto a scroll. "You have remained strong, and you have beaten me with your abilities. I congratulate you, Naruto, but how well will you do against Sasuke?" Madara's voice hissed off on the last syllable of Sasuke's name, and his neck went limp, allowing his head to tilt sideways indicating he was dead.

Naruto stood and took the scroll Madara had given him in hand, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With the Naruto clone standing next to him, he performed the seals on the scroll and allowed the clone to drop 'dead.' Naruto turned towards the woods and headed as far away from the Village as possible.