Chapter 34

Never in his long life had Kou felt such fear.

And that was truly saying something, since none had ever lived as long as him. Kou had lost track of the millennia long ago. Centuries passed in the blink of an eye. Mortal humans flourished and faded. War ravaged the land. Peace rebuilt it. War came to destroy it once more.

And everywhere there was death. Inescapable: cold and consuming death.

Kou feared it above all else.

And yet, being a duel-spirit, he had spent his entire life with one foot in the threshold of death. Ever it called to him, like a sweet melody in the distance. Ever he had evaded it, handing it the souls of others to loosen its grip on his own. But now, with his mortal body destroyed by the black flames of the accursed Uchiha, its hold on him was tighter than ever.

The instinct to survive was howling in his veins. It fueled strength into his limbs as he put all his knowledge of combat to use, fighting with a ravenous, fearsome desperation.

But a part of him knew it wouldn't be enough.

The man before him, so young that his age wasn't even worthy of measure in Kou's mind, parried every blow he was dealt with ease. His radiant face, tinted gold and brutal in its beauty, was set in determined sadness. And above his strong shoulders, shimmering in the still air of the veil, a set of enormous golden wings encircled them both. The soul of Naruto Uzumaki was the strongest, and most beautiful, that Kou had ever encountered.

He reacted just in time to block a slash of the boy's palm. Kou grit his teeth, resisting the urge to cry out in pain as golden sparks flashed off Naruto's skin and burned him. Everywhere the boy touched him, veins of bright flame appeared on his skin. And now, Kou noticed, the rivulets of flame were beginning to grow and connect.

Naruto's flames wrapped around his spirit in ribbons, breaking and binding it. Kou felt himself weakening at an alarming rate; smoke issuing out of his mouth and nose as the demonic energy in his spirit reacted to the purity of Naruto's power.

And suddenly Kou found himself remembering the beauty of the world when it was young. Seeing the open sea, spread out before his eyes. Feeling the surge of unnatural strength in his limbs for the first time. And how it had allowed him to sense, although distant, the power of the one who had awoken it in him. The one who had began it all.

"No," Kou hissed, his head wreathed in smoke. "I was there at the waking; I shall be there for the breaking."

He saw something in the Uzumaki boy's eyes flash, but he didn't stop to identify what it was. Instead, he roared loud enough to make his throat burn, redoubling his effort to destroy the towering beacon of light before him.

The boy hardly seemed fazed. He dug in his heels, mouth set in a grim line as he concentrated on defending himself.

But not attacking.

Something in Kou's soul wavered as he realized what he had seen in his opponent's eyes. It was something worse than hatred. For the emotion that gripped Naruto's eyes was pure, heart wrenching pity.

Kou felt the shadowy hands of death on him tighten, almost tripping him up.

This moment of weakness was all it took for Naruto to break through his defenses. In a swift, concise motion, Naruto stepped forwards and delivered two solid blows; one to Kou's diaphragm, the other to his exposed throat.

The world lurched and spun as Kou found himself thrown backwards, pain tearing through him in waves. Before Kou could recover and prepare himself for a counterattack, golden light once again surrounded him, and he found himself slammed with alarming force into the ground.

A weaker soul would have been shattered instantly by Naruto's strength. Kou's form merely shivered slightly, his hands pulling uselessly at the hand latched around his throat. Again he found himself staring into those eyes, deeper than oceans and many times as fearsome. Again, that dreaded fear gripped him tightly.

His strength would not be enough to save him this time, Kou instinctively knew. But he had other talents that might help even the odds: his manipulative mind and his ability to transform his surroundings inside the veil. It was not as strong as a genjutsu in the real world, but it might be enough to save him. Quickly forming a plan of attack, Kou began to speak.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Kou rasped around the hand clasped on his throat. "Look at what you have become. Feared by your friends, who begin to loathe obeying you. Feared by the people you swore to protect. You have murdered my children, Naruto Uzumaki, and now you intend to kill me too?"

As he spoke those last words, his face shimmered and transformed, until Naruto found himself staring not at Kou, but at Sasuke. Much to Kou's satisfaction, Naruto's expression wavered, and for the first time he looked uncertain.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance." Kou spat, mimicking Sasuke's icy tones surprisingly well. "Instead, I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life. It's so annoying. I should have killed you…"

The blond grit his teeth and gripped Kou's throat even tighter, cutting off his voice. Another sharp pang of fear shot through Kou, for he knew that, if he had a body, that grip would have snapped his neck. Remembering the rage that had roiled off the skin of the Jinchuuriki the day he had attacked Ino, Kou quickly changed his method. Still using Sasuke's face and voice, he continued.

"Naruto," Kou said as soothingly as he could while his windpipe was being crushed. "Isn't that enough now? Aren't you tired of hurting me?"

Naruto pulled his hand back sharply, stepping away from Kou so quickly that he almost stumbled. The shining form of his wings and the golden light that surrounded him dimmed. His eyebrows pulled together, pain in his eyes.

"You're not Sasuke." Naruto whispered, his hoarse voice barely audible.

Kou felt a soaring rush of triumph as he sat up, subtly changing the illusion so that the face he wore became younger, more open and trusting.

"Yes I am," Kou said, fighting the urge to smirk when his mimicry of a young boy's voice made Naruto shudder. By the time Kou stood up, he had completed his illusion. He now stood before Naruto as a young Sasuke, no more than seven years old. Kou tilted his head slightly, repeating, "Aren't you tired of hurting me? Can't you stop now?"

"I'm not hurting you." Naruto's eyes were glazed, unfocused. He was already falling into the net of illusion Kou had carefully laid.

"But you are." The illusionary child Sasuke said, his voice teary. "You've hurt so many people, Naruto nii-san. It makes me hurt here."

The boy lay a small hand over his heart, frowning.

Naruto couldn't reply, his mind numb. He knew that this was simply a trick Kou was playing, trying to weaken him – and it was working. He was poking at the most vulnerable parts of Naruto's armor, playing his insecurities and fears against his affections. His body tensed when the child held out his hand.

"I'll forgive you," Kou whispered from under his illusion. "If you come with me now. You don't belong in the world anymore, Naruto nii-san. You're too good for it. Too strong. Let's go together, Naruto, and we can rest. You must be so tired of protecting people all the times, getting hurt for them, risking your life for them. Haven't you done enough? Haven't you sacrificed enough?"

The air behind Kou shimmered, and four figures appeared. Two tears slid down Naruto's cheeks as he stared at the figures of his parents, who stood hand in hand beside a smiling Lord Jiraiya. And beside them, under a tangled mass of gravity-defying yellow hair and a dirty orange jumpsuit, was his younger self. His former sensei, a symbol of what he had lost: his parents, a symbol of what he could never have. And himself, his own childhood: his innocence.

The greatest sacrifices Naruto had made, the sources of his greatest pain, stood before him.

It was this that seemed to finally shatter Naruto's strength. Kou's illusion, and his words, had torn the bandage off an old wound that was so painful it nearly crippled Naruto. His lips parted but he couldn't speak, his eyes swimming with hurt.

Even though Naruto knew it was illusion, he felt his arm lifting, one hand unconsciously reaching for his parents. Looking on the brink of tears, the illusionary Kushina lifted her arms too, mimicking the gesture.

Kou felt a twinge of sorrow quickly followed by fear. He hadn't meant for the illusion to respond to the boy. Kou cursed himself for forgetting that Naruto was also a duel-spirit, and he too could manipulate the world within the veil.

Spurred by this thought, Kou decided that now was his chance to attack. He formed a dagger out of his own malice and fear, and still wearing the guise of a boy-Sasuke, he screamed and rushed at the Sage. As he did so, the illusionary figures vanished, fading away into the pale air.

Naruto continued to stare at the space were they had vanished, half-heartedly blocking the dagger. It missed its initial target – his chest – but it still struck him, slashing through his shield of energy in a shower of sparks. Naruto's heart was wavering, and his power with it.

Sensing that victory was suddenly in his grasp, Kou slashed wildly with his dagger, a wide smile playing across the borrowed face he wore. Naruto continued to deflect his attacks with a weak, unfocused aura. Kou managed to land several more blows, damaging Naruto significantly.

Kou's spirit was soaring. He was going to win.

He fixed his aim once again on Naruto's chest, swinging his dagger down with all his might. He cried out in shock when the weapon was suddenly knocked out of his hand. And then Naruto's hands were cradling either side of his face, his blue eyes swimming with intense emotion. Kou knew that it was the illusion of Sasuke that Naruto directed this emotion at, but even so, he found himself rooted to the spot and shivering under that look.

Then Naruto spoke, in a voice softer than Kou would have thought him capable of, and it was filled with such profound sorrow that it shattered the illusion around them instantly.

"You killed me."

Those three words echoed around them a thousand times, vibrating so deeply that Kou felt them in his bones. His teeth clenching, Kou suddenly realized that even the illusion of the child he had cloaked himself with was gone. But still Naruto held him gently, and Kou was unable to move.

"I don't understand." Kou said.

The great Sage slowly shook his golden head, his eyes still fixed on Kou. And although he didn't speak, Kou suddenly heard Naruto's voice in his head. It rattled inside his skull, petrifying his senses as it gripped him from within.

"You were there for the waking." Naruto's voice whispered. "But you won't be there for the breaking. Your time has come. Sleep now, Kou."

And then, with a roar like that of a mighty beast, the golden light once again flared to life around Naruto, brighter than before. "I'm stronger than you. Your tricks won't work, Kou."

Again, Naruto's voice sounded inside his head, and Kou felt his will fading, overpowered by that rumbling voice. "Sleep now. Goodbye, Kou."

Naruto stepped forward, and after a moment of hesitation, embraced Kou tightly. Kou screamed as Naruto's light surrounded him, searing his demon-tainted soul. Fire began to lick across his skin once more, turning him to ash. When Naruto made to pull away, Kou snared the front of his draping red robe and held it fast.

"If I must die," He snarled, "So must you."

Using every last bit of strength he possessed, he reached back – and plunged one of the spikes that protruded from his skin into Naruto's stomach. The blond flinched in pain but didn't cry out. He didn't even bother to pull the horn-like thing from himself, because his power dissolved it within seconds.

Kou let out a cry of utter despair as he saw his last resort vanishing within the golden light. And he then felt it: a hook around his stomach, pulling him backwards. It was too strong to fight. Yet still he howled and wriggled against it, clawing desperately at the devastatingly handsome young man who stood watching him sadly.

Naruto raised his arm slowly, much like he had done when he reached towards the illusionary parents Kou had created. But this time, his hand was wreathed in flames, which condensed into a spinning ball of energy. It vanished for a moment when Naruto closed his fist around it, and then he threw it towards Kou.

Kou's eyes, filled with terror, met Naruto's deep blue ones. And it was in that brief second that sudden peace washed over him, and Naruto's voice sounded in his head one final time.

"Sleep."

And then the ball of golden energy hit Kou squarely in the chest. His spirit immediately shattered into a thousand pieces, which were easily swept up by the cold hands of death. And then there was only darkness.

Kou was no more.

Naruto sighed, watching as the last fragments of Kou's soul vanished. For a time he stood quite still, his tired hands feeling at the damage to the living shield of energy he had used to defeat Kou. It was more heavily marred than he had realized. But the most painful injury had come from Kou's illusions, rather than his blows.

Exhaustedly, Naruto retracted the damaged fragments of his soul. Feeling weaker than he had felt before, he made to return to his body, only to freeze. Just like when he had found himself there earlier in the day, creeping shadows rose up around him, blocking out the pale light as they came steadily closer to him.

"No," Naruto whispered.

He forced himself to turn, fighting the sensation of many hands pulling him in the other direction, towards death. Towards peace and silence and family. No more fighting. No more pain.

Naruto stopped and glanced over his shoulder, staring at the shadows behind him. As he looked, the shadows parted and a shining doorway appeared. The light coming from it was warm and friendly like sunshine, and a pleasant, somehow familiar scent wafted from it.

Without consciously deciding to do so, Naruto found himself taking a step towards the door. And then another. A soft whispering of voices reached his ears, and they seemed to be encouraging him and calling his name.

"It can't be a coincidence that I've been here twice today." He muttered to himself. "Maybe…it's my time."

Naruto knew that, any other day, he would have thrown off the hands that held him and marched back towards life without a second thought. He had so many things to do, so many reasons to live. But at that moment, he was so desperately exhausted, so incredibly twisted with sorrow, that all he wanted was to fade away into that warm glow of death, and be at peace evermore.

The hands around him tightened, the whispering voices rising in an excited crescendo of noise. Naruto took several more steps forward before he suddenly stopped, glancing down at his chest.

Blooming warmth was spreading above his heart, and he thought he recognized it. The familiarity of it couldn't be mistaken. Sasuke was with his body, waiting for him to come home.

Without another thought, Naruto turned away from the door and began marching back towards his body. Suddenly the voices were no longer pleasant. They howled and shrieked like a group of people slowly dying. The hands were tearing at him, pulling chunks of his spirit away. The sensation was horrifying. Naruto had to resist the urge to go chasing after the pieces of himself that were being stolen: the pieces of his soul that were already dead.

And so he started running, back towards life and the man who he knew needed him. He ran, and death ran beside him, moaning and crying and whispering in his mind. Tempting him to lie down and let death carry him away.

"Your mother is waiting," it whispered. "Your father with understand. You have been marked by death since the day you were born."

"No!" Naruto yelled, holding his hands over his ears as he ran towards his body. "Not yet!"

The howling grew shriller still, and the shadows suddenly solidified and became corpses. Naruto refused to look at them, knowing that they would all take on the forms of people he knew if he did. But he could smell their rotting flesh, hear the sound of their bones clicking and snapping as their cold hands reached for him.

And then his body was in sight, laying spread eagle on the pale version of the mountain plateau. With a final surge, he sprinted towards it and dove – but not before one of the hands of the dead that pursued him snatched something and tore it away.

He leapt into his body, but before he returned to it completely he glanced back at the corpses. They stood in a throng, watching him silently. But it was the one who stood at the forefront, grasping the wriggling shard of his soul, which immediately stood out.

Her long red hair shone like a flame amongst the other dead. The flesh had rotted away from her beautiful face, her empty eye sockets fixed on her son. As he watched, Naruto's mother lifted the piece of his soul that she had captured to her decomposing lips, and with a low snarl, bit into it and tore it in two.

Naruto felt it as vividly as if she had sunk her teeth into his arm. Crying in pain and disgust, he sank into his body, turning away from death and the horrors it had sent after him when he'd refused to go with it.

Still shuddering, and already feeling the burning pain that encompassed his entire body, Naruto vanished into the light of day.

Death would have to wait for him a little longer.

Sasuke knelt over Naruto's body, hardly daring to breathe as he stared down at the blond.

It had already been well over ten minutes since Kurama had relinquished control of Naruto's body, and still the Sage had not returned. Silence pressed around Sasuke heavily, broken only by the occasional gust of wind that carried the sound of distant voices from far down the mountain.

Sasuke had briefly considered carrying Naruto down the mountain to Sakura, but he found himself unable to move. And so he knelt beside Naruto, one trembling hand resting over his heart, watching with his sharingan as the Jinchuuriki's chakra worked to heal him.

It seemed a losing battle to Sasuke, but still he remained fixed in place, watching Naruto's chakra flickering meekly. His injuries were so severe, and his chakra so diminished, that the healing was taking much longer than usual. So much so that he had barely healed at all. His burnt skin still oozed with blood and clear liquid, raw and painful looking. Deep claw marks and bites covered most of his torso, and many of the deeper wounds he had sustained in his first fight with Kou had reopened. Blood pooled around them, soaking Sasuke's pants and rippling around his knees.

And still he did not move.

He kept his hand over Naruto's heart, feeling for his heartbeat. Waiting for his eyes to open, for his booming laugh to shatter the hushed stillness. Waiting for the man he loved to return.

The seconds seemed to tick by impossibly slow. Days had passed since Naruto had gone back into the veil. Years, even.

"Maybe," Whispered a small, nagging part of Sasuke's brain. "He isn't coming back."

Sasuke shook his head sharply, and in doing so something else suddenly captured his attention. He stared at the collapsed entrance to the cave, his stomach dipping icily as he saw familiar flashes of black through the cracks in the rock.

The black amaterasu flames were spreading.

A bead of nervous sweat rolled down Sasuke's forehead. He looked back at Naruto – and nearly jumped out of his skin in shock. Blue eyes were staring back at him, eyes so full of empty despair that Sasuke barely recognized them.

Naruto inhaled one long, shaking breath that rattled in his throat. But he didn't release it, fearing that it would come out as a scream if he did. The pain was intense, but Naruto pushed it out of his mind.

Like a sleepwalker, he slowly pulled himself into a seated position, fresh scabs cracking on his skin. Just as slowly, he raised his right hand, fingers splayed towards the flames creeping out of the cave. For a moment, nothing happened. And then, Naruto released the breath he had been holding, and the black flames flickered once – and faded.

Sasuke's eyes widened, realization hitting him at the same time he lunged forward to catch Naruto, who suddenly fell back again. Naruto's abilities as a Sage allowed him to pull natural chakra out of the world around him. He had simply extinguished the flames by pulling all the chakra out of them, like depriving a normal flame of oxygen.

Naruto's bloody hand suddenly gripped the nape of Sasuke's neck, tight enough to bruise. His blue eyes were wild, searching, and still full to the brim with sadness so raw, it pulled tears from Sasuke's eyes. And then he realized that Naruto was also crying, silent tears pouring down his burnt cheeks.

Leaning down until their foreheads were touching, Sasuke gently kissed the blond, trying to soothe him. Naruto's breath was strained and shuddering, his entire body convulsing with pain as he finally spoke, his voice a hoarse, scraping whisper.

"You killed me." He wept, holding Sasuke still tighter, his hands desperate and bruising. "You killed me."

Sasuke shook his head, wrapping his arms around Naruto and pulling him closer, trying to shield him from the pain. "I didn't, dobe." He whispered, kissing Naruto again. "You're alive. You're here with me."

Naruto seemed oblivious to his voice and his embrace, his mind focused on nightmares than danced before his waking eyes. He clung desperately to Sasuke, who grit his teeth against the pain. Several more tears fell from Naruto's eyes, clinging to the thick fan of his eyelashes.

"There for the breaking." Naruto mumbled. "There for the waking."

"Naruto," Sasuke called, his voice cracking with emotion. "Naruto, come back to me. Wake up!"

Fear gripped him tighter than Naruto did. Fear that the Naruto who had returned was not the same one who had left. Fear that he would never come back. Fear that he was damaged beyond repair, that he had finally broken this time.

Sasuke swooped down and kissed Naruto again, harder this time. And then he kissed every inch of Naruto's face, not caring that his burnt skin was sticky with blood and tears. And between each kiss he called Naruto's name, becoming more desperate every time he received no response.

And then the grip at his neck loosened fractionally. Sasuke snapped his head back so that his eyes were level with Naruto's.

Those blue eyes focused on him for the first time, but they seemed cavernously empty, and still chilled by the sadness that was obviously tearing at Naruto's heart.

"Sasuke," He whispered in the same hoarse voice. "How much have we sacrificed…for this world…how much have we lost?"

"It doesn't matter." Sasuke said, shaking his head forcefully. "We still have each other, don't we?"

Naruto frowned, pulling his hand away from Sasuke's neck to sweep it through his dirty hair. "Death," He croaked, "Wasn't going to let me go this time. I'm hurt, Sasuke. Worse than I've ever been before. My soul was hurt…my heart…almost couldn't come back. Death wanted me…and I wanted to go."

Sasuke smoothed his trembling hands through golden hair, swallowing twice to find his voice. "But you came back. You're here now, Naruto."

The blond nodded slowly, sweeping his hand back around to Sasuke's neck gently. "I came back for you."

His expression crumpling with pain, Sasuke could only nod and place a few more frantic kisses on Naruto's lips. But he could sense that Naruto was fading again, and nothing he could do would stop it. Naruto pulled him down roughly, so that his lips rested against Sasuke's ear, his voice sinking into the marrow of Sasuke's bones.

"You killed me, Sasuke." Naruto whispered, "But I still love you."

Then Naruto was overcome by the pain and fell unconscious, his eyelids closing over his tormented eyes.

Sasuke continued to hold him tightly, rocking back and forth. Though he didn't know the reason why Naruto felt the sudden urge to repeat that phrase, he felt that he understood. For even now, as he felt the man whom he loved clinging desperately to life, he felt that he too was on the brink of oblivion. He felt as if he had died a thousand deaths in pursuit of the beautiful, brilliant light he held in his arms.

His breath was hot and wet against Naruto's neck as he replied, "You killed me, too. But you were also the one who brought me back to life."

When no response came from the unconscious Jinchuuriki, Sasuke hastened to hoist him up. His legs almost buckled, sore and cramped from kneeling for so long. Naruto was also heavier than Sasuke had expected, but he adjusted quickly and made off for the path that led down the mountain. He half ran, half slid down the rocky slope, going faster than he should through the clouds.

As soon as he could hear voices, Sasuke started yelling, not caring at all who heard him or who saw him in such a pathetic state. All that mattered was the man in his arms, whose chakra flickered weakly.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, his voice hoarse with tears and emotion. "Sakura, I need you!"

He burst out of the trees that surrounded the path and fell on the rock, slick with blood. But he barely noticed. Within seconds he was on his feet again, running forward blindly, refusing to tear his gaze away from Naruto's face.

"Sakura!" He screamed again, more desperately this time. "SAKURA!"

He was vaguely aware of people around him, voices tumbling past his ears in an incomprehensible babble. It was only when a familiar flash of pink caught his eye that Sasuke stopped running and looked up.

Sakura was running towards him as quickly as she could, her face drained of colour but firmly set. "Put him down," She called, as she got closer.

Sasuke hastened to kneel, allowing Naruto to rest as comfortably as possible on the damp rocks. But he would not release his hold on the blond, cradling his head and shoulders against his torso. A few seconds later, Sasuke realized that Sakura was there, and she was speaking.

"You have to let him go, Sasuke."

He could only shake his head in response, his mind numb from shock. He reached across Naruto to grasp one of Sakura's healing hands tightly, placing it over Naruto's heart. Kakashi rushed over to them anxiously, crouching down near Naruto's head.

At last team seven was reunited.

Sakura had to bite her lip hard to resist the urge to weep.

"He came back for me, Sakura." Sasuke whispered, so that the other shinobi clustering around them couldn't hear. "He should have died today. But he came back for me. He said -" Here his voice broke, eyes glistening with pending tears, "He said that I killed him. I killed him."

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before placing a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sakura's lip trembled so violently that it tore where her teeth held it, but still she held back her tears.

"I understand, Sasuke-kun." She said soothingly. "I'll heal him the best I can. But we need to get him back to the village as quickly as possible."

Kakashi nodded curtly, tearing himself away from the tight knot of his former team to give orders to the other Leaf shinobi, who clustered around nervously. Ino and Hinata were both crying, hands covering their mouths. Shikamaru was pale, mouth set in a grim line as he stared blankly at the unmoving Sage. Captain Yamato's entire face shone with nervous sweat. Akamaru whimpered, leaning against Kiba's side.

"I need some of you who aren't injured to go on ahead." Kakashi said, his usually lackadaisical attitude sharpened by concern. "Return to the village as quickly as possible and tell the Hokage what has happened. Send out a medical squad to meet the rest of us halfway there."

Several of the shinobi nodded in agreement and made off immediately, but none of the Konoha Eleven went with them, even though only Shikamaru was seriously injured. They stood in a tight group, offering support through soft words and gentle hands. Eventually, Ino went to Sakura's aid, adding her healing strength. But still Naruto would not stir, and his wounds did not seem to get any better.

Sweat dripped from Sakura's forehead as she muttered irately, "His soul is damaged, and his internal injuries are severe."

Ino nodded, eyes tracing over the strong arms that had come to her rescue and held her tightly not long ago. "Damage to the spirit is nearly impossible to heal, Sakura-chan." She whispered. "It will suck out all our strength."

Sakura nodded in agreement, and the two medical kunoichi refocused their energy on healing Naruto's other wounds. But still, progress was slow, and after an hour of laboring over him Naruto hardly looked better than he had before.

"Shouldn't Kurama be helping to heal him?" Sakura cried out, exhaustion and worry combining into a nauseating pit in her gut. She cast an accusing look towards Naruto's stomach, where she imagined the fox was sleeping soundly and peacefully.

Sasuke spoke for the first time in almost an hour, shaking his head. "Their souls are tied together, like their chakra. If Naruto is dying…so is Kurama."

Breathless silence met his words. For a few minutes, they all stared at Naruto, as if they expected him to suddenly leap up, laughing, and declare that he had been fine all along. But the blond remained still, his chest barely rising, and one hand still firmly grasping the back of Sasuke's neck.

"There's nothing else we can do here." Kakashi said suddenly, making them all jump. "Let's go back to the village. Naruto and Kurama will have to heal themselves."

They all nodded in unison, and then they all moved at once. Kiba and Yamato supported Shikamaru under the arms, hauling him up from the rock he had been perching on. Hinata retrieved their scattered belongings and shoved them all into a larger pack before slinging them over her back. Ino wiped her eyes before walking over to talk with Shikamaru.

Without a word, Sasuke picked Naruto up. Sakura stood up beside him, looking at Sasuke's face anxiously. "Are you sure you're alright, Sasuke?" She asked nervously. "He's heavier than he looks, and you haven't eaten or slept properly for days."

Sasuke nodded grimly.

Hesitantly Sakura continued. "Let us know if you need a break, if he gets too heavy for you."

Sasuke merely nodded again. He didn't bother telling Sakura that Naruto could weigh as much as one of the Hokage's figureheads, and it still wouldn't make a difference. At least for now, Sasuke could not bear the idea of being parted from him.

And so they made off down the mountain slowly, passing crumbling buildings that had seemed so beautiful only hours before. Pillars of black smoke rose up into the low clouds, marking the piles of burning corpses that had been the Kou's victims. They walked like a funeral procession, with Sasuke in the lead carrying Naruto.

They descended down into the trees. Behind them, the thick clouds lowered, swathing the silent mountain and all its dead. Preserving a scene that only the living would remember.