Warning:This chapter contains violence, please do not continue reading if this upsets you. Maybe I should also warn you that this chapter is stupidly long...
Chapter twenty five– Gravity
Gravity is the force that attracts two bodies toward each other, the force that causes apples to fall toward the ground and the planets to orbit the sun. The more massive an object is, the stronger its gravitational pull.
The two bijū made quick work of the tent.
The canvas was being forcibly stretched outwards from the sheer size of the two demons.
The sound of tearing sent shivers up Madara's back, and looking up he watched as the tent broke and collapsed. Dirt and dust flew violently up into the air, making it hard to see.
Madara could only stare at the two gigantic creatures standing proud and furious in front of them—their presence both magnificent and terrifying all at once.
The insect bijū had to be the Seven Tails, at least that's how many tails it had. The other had 'only' six.
What had Naruto called the seven tailed demon again? Chōm? Chōmie? Chōma? Madara wasn't sure, but he knew the Six Tails was named Saiken.
The camp was slowly being filled with screams of terror and shouts all around them.
Enemy ninja came running out of their tents, and the moment they spotted the two demons a lot of them turned tail and ran for it.
Unfortunately though, the majority of them were not cowards. Before Madara was certain what had happened they were already surrounded.
Great.
With his heart in his throat Madara looked to Sasuke in worry. His companion looked confident, but there was still a small sneer on his face as he looked up at the creatures. He was not heeding their spectators any attention at all.
"What a failure…" Madara muttered exasperatedly. If they got out of this it would be one for the record books.
The demons roared into the sky with ringing sounds. The slimy substance making up the Six Tails was dripping onto the ground from its body, while the insect bijū took flight upwards.
The Uchiha leader took in the overflowing power of these chakra monsters. They were larger than any building in Konoha —maybe even at the height of the Hokage Mountain— and there was such killing intent coming from them that anyone within a mile's distance would be able to feel them.
It was such a hopeless situation, but despite that Madara finally felt his mind starting up again.
This was just another battle. This was just another enemy. If anything, this would be one of the more interesting battles he'd ever been in.
The old sense of excitement in the face of death and destruction was coming back to him. When his mind focused, his fingers flexed and his whole body itched to slice, tear and hack at his enemy.
A feeling that had once been so frequent, but he now hadn't felt since the old days fighting against Hashirama.
It had been too long, and Madara smiled.
His whole body was filled with adrenaline— it was flowing into every pore— and his breathing quickened to the beat of his speeding heart.
It was the assurance that while his life was in utter peril, he was still alive.
Still able to fight, and still able to win.
The feeling was overwhelming, and if he didn't have more important matters to attend to, Madara would have laughed. In fact, he let a small chuckle escape through his dry lips.
"Now I recognise you."
Madara glanced sideways to the source of the voice, catching Sasuke looking straight back at him.
"Heh, you seem just as ready for this as I am." Retorted Madara, noticing how Sasuke's shoulders were relaxed and his usually emotionless face filled with determination. "Let's get rid of these beasts."
Raising his kama and pointing it in the direction of the Six Tails, he noticed that Sasuke suddenly tensed. Following was a stream of curses.
The Uchiha leader gave a quick curious glance in his companion's direction.
"I can't kill them." Sasuke growled his fists clenched. He looked like he'd been frozen in place.
The look of incomprehension on Madara's face was enough for Sasuke to continue. "I can't go against Naruto's command. She has restricted me from killing the demons. In other words, I can only harm, not kill."
Well, that didn't make sense at all.
Was he concerned about Naruto's feelings? Or was it an actual physical restriction?
From the forest a golden flash flew out from the leaves. Her long blond hair swirling behind her as she fell through the air, Naruto was already in Bijū Mode, clearly well aware of what had just occurred after Sasuke had dispelled her Kage Bunshin in a kunai Henge.
Their human opponents all turned around as they felt her chakra storming towards them.
A few shouted in panic as they recognised the blonde, while the rest was giving orders. None of which were successful as Naruto blasted her way through the horde of enemies.
Right behind her came Kurou with a wild look in his eyes. In the next moment they were surrounded by six glowing Naruto clones. All of them staring daggers at the enemy rebels who were recreating a half circle around them. The rest of circle was being blocked by two bijū and Black Zetsu.
The real Naruto glared at their main foe and just like Sasuke, ignored the human threats.
She stood next to Sasuke, her eyes hard with determination, already in Sage Mode and Bijū Mode combined.
This was the Naruto he admired, the Naruto who took no bullshit and did whatever the hell she wanted. In a fight her mind was set, not floundering and worrying about things he couldn't guess.
When they were fighting, Madara felt he could understand her—feel some of the pain brewing right under the surface of those storming blue eyes.
If he hadn't experienced her passionate touches, he would always think there was nothing close to the likes of the sight of Naruto fighting.
Who would ever have guessed a small blonde woman could ever be on the same level as himself and Hashirama? It had certainly been an eye opener for Madara.
"I can feel Hashirama, Shin and Izumi. They'll be here soon, but first we need to split up." Naruto said without taking her eyes off Black Zetsu. He was grinning widely at her arrival, using his hostage's hand to trail down the side of the jar like object the bijū had been trapped inside earlier.
"Kurou and Madara, you need to distract the rebels. Sasuke and I will deal with Saiken and Chōmei, before we take Black Zetsu."
Ah! Chōmei, that was its name.
"Naruto! They're too much for you. This isn't like with the Yonbi, these guys are being controlled. You can see the Sharingan in their eyes," Kurou exclaimed, pointing to the bijū who had yet to attack.
"I can see that." Stated Naruto and rolled her eyes.
"This would be easy if Naruto wasn't restricting me." Sasuke huffed while clutching his chokutō tightly.
"We're not killing them! They're not in control of themselves, just like Katsu." Naruto hissed looking pointedly at the creatures in front of them.
With a sigh Madara got ready to do as told, no matter how little he liked it, Naruto was right.
Someone needed to keep the coast clear for those fighting the bijū, and clearly Naruto thought he was the best option for that role. Sasuke on the other hand was to do the toughest fights together with her.
He wasn't annoyed, no, not at all…
Madara smiled widely to their enemies while Kurou fell in step with him. They noticed how their opponents were checking them out with weary eyes. Madara knew that they knew who he was. It made him a little less annoyed, and he eagerly got ready for his first attacker.
Letting his frustration out on them seemed like a very good idea right now.
Three ninja were running as hard as they possibly could. They had already heard the crashing sounds of a battle up ahead behind the mountain pass and were pretty sure that was where they were needed.
For every rushed step they were closer to where there was obviously a very violent battle taking place.
About ten minutes ago, when they were closing in on the mountain pass, they had gotten a close look at the first explosion. It had been very easy, since the top of the mountain they were headed for had been blown off.
The only reason they were still alive was because Izumi had spotted the attack and had thrown herself over her two comrades, forcing them down to the ground, before the ground shaking explosion went off.
They had been littered in stone, boulders and gravel. But Hashirama had been fast and covered all three of them with his wood shelter technique before they could get crushed by the deadly landslip.
"Run faster, Shin-san!" Shouted Hashirama as a spray of smoke toppled over them on their way through fallen boulders and dust.
"We're almost there now." Exclaimed Shin breathlessly as they broke through the roughest terrain. The Nara really should work more on his stamina, out of the three of them he was both the slowest and the one most tired.
But those thought fled his mind, and in a daze he stopped in his tracks the moment the scene before them came into view.
A huge golden fox had its claws fastened to the stomach of a gigantic insect. A little away a white snail like creature was battling against a violet Susanoo.
It was enough to make them all halt.
Looking closer they noticed all the fallen bodies on the battle field too.
A large number of ninja looked bloody and dead, but a little ahead a ferocious battle was taking place. There were only humans in that fight as far as they could see, but they were still far enough away to be uncertain.
"Okay… I hope you still have some energy left." Hashirama said staring at the insect who could be no one less than the seven tailed demon. Chōmei had managed to shake loose from Kurama, and was now trying to fly out of reach.
The airborne demon tried to jump the nine tailed fox demon. The fox missed when it clawed at the Seven Tails in retaliation, and landed hard back on its two hind legs. As a result, it felt like an earthquake shook the earth from the sheer weight of the Kyūbi hitting theground.
"Who are we fighting exactly?" Shin asked feeling sweat gathering on his brow; this time it wasn't from his laziness when it came to stamina training.
"The nine tailed fox is Naruto. Or, I mean she has the nine tailed fox sealed inside of her, so it's the two other demons we're up against," explained Hashirama hurriedly.
Izumi and Shin looked surprised at each other, both shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. The Hokage noticed this, and his eyes narrowed.
"If you're going to chicken out, please stay out of the way at least," said Hashirama bitingly to his two subordinates.
"No, we're with you, Hokage-sama," Izumi said, taking out her katana. "I'm just not sure how much of a difference I'll make in this battle." She added sounding quite annoyed about that fact.
Madara was taken by surprised when two ninja appeared on either side of him. Quickly he jumped just as they both sliced down at him. It made one of them get a nasty cut when his comrade's blade went straight down at him instead of Madara.
The blood of the open wound splashed on his sandal clad feet as Madara kicked the other one hard in the chest, while he had been distracted by what he had done.
As the man fell backwards, Madara picked up the sword of the one already down, balancing it in his hand; he aimed quickly and threw it at the man trying to get back on his feet. It lodged deeply into the guy's skull. His eyes glazed over and he died instantaneously.
Using the same sword he finished the job on the one still barely breathing.
Man, it had been a long time since a battle had been this intense. The fight the previous day couldn't really compare.
Though he'd ended up in such an embarrassing situation, he had not once felt the rush the way he did right now. This was fast paced, with a variation of opponents; the other battle had been dragged out for so long they eventually got the better of him. Not today though, he didn't make the same mistakes twice.
The Uchiha leader had no plans what so ever of taking hostages or finding out what situation they were in, before killing them. So he cut, and they bled both blood and tears as he came for them.
It surprised him somewhat that Kurou had much of the same temper as himself when it came to fighting. They were quite the team as they took down enemy combatants one after the other.
The Uchiha and Uzumaki had a compatible fighting style, and their opponents had realized this pretty quickly.
It had taken some effort on their enemy's side, but Kurou had eventually been separated from Madara. He was fighting together with two Naruto clones though, so Madara wasn't too concerned.
The only reason he didn't want the red head to die was because of his citizenship. Uzu would go nuts if two of their main family members went down within a few months of staying in Konoha.
He ducked as an axe swung towards him, getting a few strands of his hair cut off in the process. With lightning fast reflexes he caught the handle as the weapon as it flew over his head, stopping it in its tracks and forcing it out of the wielder's hand.
"Nice axe. I'm gonna keep this." He stated, and used the same weapon to cut off the guy's arm.
The scream that followed was cut short when Madara kicked him in the face and efficiently snapped his neck. Turning away from the soon to be cooling corpse he focused on the next enemy.
Inwardly he sighed in resignation. The brat couldn't be older than eleven. It was a shame the boy wouldn't see his next birthday.
He had light brown hair and large green eyes staring in horror at Madara as if he was the Shinigami. As the kid looked up at him, he trembled so badly the boy couldn't even aim the kunai he was throwing. They went far off the mark, and the one he did manage to aim correctly was easily deflected with Madara's newly acquired axe.
Still, he didn't run. Madara snorted at the child's stupidity as he walked closer and closer, but he couldn't fault his bravery.
Maybe he'd just cripple him; no one needed a handicapped ninja after all. He'd probably be better at sharpening kunai than throwing them anyway. You didn't need feet for that sort of thing.
In the end the boy died, but not from the damage Madara inflicted on him, but from a falling bijū later in the battle which crushed his already broken body.
Kurou heard shouting, and while he fought against his enemies he saw from the corner of his eye a new battle breaking out not too far away from them.
The Hokage and two Konoha ninja had entered the battlefield, and Kurou felt relief as Hashirama killed off four ninja with one Mokuton attack. A little up ahead of him he could see Madara efficiently waltz his enemies through the dance of death. Very efficiently too.
They were all trying to save their chakra in case Naruto couldn't deal with the bijū, so they relied on taijutsu as much as possible.
In that moment Madara jumped, avoiding the blade of an enemy ninja who missed, and hit his comrade instead.
Kurou didn't bother to watch the rest. One of the Naruto clones were suddenly thrown back and dispelled from a lightning jutsu it hadn't been able to avoid. It was more than enough to keep him focused on his battle.
It had taken their group about ten minutes to break through the large group of ninja and get up to where Kurou was battling one too many enemies at once.
He had a nasty gash across his cheek and was bleeding profusely from his left arm.
The Naruto clones had either gone by being dispelled, or were in pursuit of some fleeing ninja with long range attacks aiming at Madara's back. The remaining Uzumaki had therefore suddenly found himself overpowered.
"Hold on, Kurou-san!" Hashirama shouted, using Mokuton to make spears shoot up from the ground around the red head. One of his attackers was caught, but five others jumped away in time.
Kurou collapsed when Izumi was only a couple metres away.
From afar they could see Madara come towards them. He didn't have any pursuers, but the speed of which he was running made it obvious he was in a hurry to reach the rest of the group.
While Hashirama hurried over to Kurou, Izumi and Shin started taking care of the Uzumaki's attackers.
Shin trapped one in his shadow technique, while Izumi slit his throat. The young woman ducked as a shuriken was thrown at her, and engaged her next opponent just as Madara reached them.
"Is he alive?" asked the Uchiha leader.
"Yeah, it's just blood loss. The gash he has on his arms and cheek made him bled a lot which is the reason he fainted, he is already-" Madara didn't hear the rest as Saiken and Sasuke came hurtling amongst them.
The demon very agitated as it attacked Sasuke with spurts of a sticky white substance.
"Get away!" Shouted Sasuke as he protected himself just in time with what was very obviously the skeleton of a Susanoo.
So Naruto was right, he was an Uchiha…
Madara slipped between the spears sticking up from the ground to meet the disoriented eyes of Kurou looking up at him. "You go and help Izumi and Shin. I'll get Kurou out of here. Your power can come in better use here. They're good with water and fire," Madarasaid as he bent down next to Kurou.
Hashirama nodded while the Uchiha leader placed Kurou's arm over his shoulder and jumped out of the cluster of spikes.
He wasn't sure where to place Kurou, leaving him on the edges of the battlefield wasn't much better than leaving the Uzumaki amongst the spikes. "I'm fine, Madara-san. I was just unlucky, and I can still fight," Kurou said when they had gotten away from the battle.
"Are you sure?" Madara asked, letting Kurou lean on his own feet checking to see if he could at least stand on his own.
"Hashirama-dono fixed up the worst. I'm fine." Said Kurou and touched his bloodstained cheek. That gash was definitely going to leave a scar.
The ground started shaking again, and looking over his shoulder Madara saw Saiken spray Naruto and Kurama in puffy gas and syrupy liquid. It obscured their view, and neither of them could see what was happening to Naruto and Kurama.
After a few moments Madara started growing concerned by the lack of activity over there, but then a roar echoed through the battlefield. "Fucking hell! You're going to pay for that, Saiken! When you get your brain back I'm going to kick your ass!" The fox shouted in fury. His booming voice so loud and sudden it took them slightly by surprise.
While the jinchūriki and her tenant were still inside that cloud, they were clearly blinded, and Hashirama was still occupied with his fight. However, with the exception of Naruto, they could all see the Bijū Bomb being formed in Chōmei's mouth.
It was directed directly at where Hashirama and the rest were fighting. Madara let go of Kurou completely and ran forwards.
The bomb was released only a second later, and it flew straight for Hashirama, who was trying desperately to form his Wooden Golem. As the bijū attack propelled forwards it destroyed the ground in its wake. The Hokage who had to get rid of his enemy first before dealing with the Bijū Bomb knew they were in trouble.
He was being too slow, and the bomb was on them so fast Madara couldn't even blink before it hit them.
Or nearly hit them.
An elastic arm of yellow flames flashed out from the cloud of smoke. It was so fast that it had time to stretch all the way from the battle between the two bijū over to Hashirama's battleground. The arm hit the attack in the side, effectively redirecting the enormous black ball, which would have surely flattened everyone within range, in a different direction.
Hashirama's company was left untouched but shaky in the knees as the orb of energy about forty times their size barely missed them.
Madara didn't get any peace of mind though, because while his childhood friend was safe, it was now heading straight for Kurou instead.
It was on pure instinct that he had already started running back where he'd come from, forcing his feet to a speed he didn't know he possessed.
His Susanoo activated without Madara having truly registered it. Instead of aiming at the Bijū Bomb, the chakra giant threw itself forwards and got Kurou out of the way just in time.
He panicked right after though, because the attack hit his Susanoo's upper body. The Uchiha leader was still attached to the feet of the giant, and had no time to deactivate the thing before the Bijū Bomb dragged the Susanoo and him with it.
It happened so fast Madara was already flying away together with the still unreleased Bijū Bomb before he got an idea of just how screwed he was.
"This is bad!" Was all he had time to think, and already he had been brought over a hundred metres away, before the bomb went off with a bone crushing force.
"Madara!"
Kurou stood in shock as the Uchiha leader, who had just saved his life, was swallowed in the massive explosion. The red head was thrown back from the pressure, and landed hard on his back. It was enough to knock his breath out for several seconds.
Further away Naruto broke free from the cloud of smoke and stormed across the now unrecognisable landscape.
Sasuke was now dealing with the bijū alone, but Hashirama was fast to come over and help out while the blonde ran in the opposite direction. He had used his Wooden Golem to protect himself and his comrades, but some of their enemies had been far from lucky.
The last of their enemies were staring in shock at the huge crater the Bijū Bomb had left behind. Both awestruck and terrified at how the attack had felt up close. One of their own had been caught up in the blast, and there was no trace of him now.
Izumi took advantage of this. Before two of the ones closest to her knew she had moved at all, they were dead.
"This was never in the job description. We should all get a pay raise when this is over." The Uchiha woman said after getting rid of the last of the rebels.
"Yeah," was all Shin could reply, looking towards the smoking crater where Naruto had just disappeared into.
"Thank God Hokage-sama protected us." Said Izumi uncertainly, looking up at Shin and biting her lip.
In the meanwhile Kurou was making his way towards the crater, the combination of blood loss and smoke inhalation making his brain fuzzy all over again.
He was feeling incredibly guilty, and still couldn't comprehend that Uchiha Madara had just risked his life for him.
Falling to his knees at the crater's edge he called out to them. "Naruto! Madara-san!" He shouted in a cracked and hoarse voice—sounding curiously a lot like Black Zetsu.
There was no answer at first, but through the dust he could see a light growing stronger. About half a minute later Naruto came running up the rough crater side with Madara supported at her side.
She ran past the Uzumaki and out of the smoke filled area, making Kurou nervous. With shaky legs he got up again, following Naruto's blazing chakra signature to find out if Madara's rash bravery had made him pay the ultimate price.
She laid Madara down carefully while checking his condition. The feared Uchiha soldier was covered in blood and scrapes, but was miraculously still in one piece. He must have kept the blue Susanoo activated when the explosion went off, protecting him from being blown into dust.
Naruto checked his pulse. She then continued by starting CPR, her hands quickly moving to his chest, and starting compressions.
Kurou was running now, his own injuries forgotten even though he was still coughing like a chimney. He must have inhaled a lot of smoke, because he felt absolutely terrible.
Naruto was breathing air into his lungs while Madara remained unconscious when Kurou reached them.
During the third round Madara finally started coughing, soot and dirt being expelled from his mouth.
He turned over to his side, knocking away Naruto who was half lying over him while working. He vomited violently while clutching his throat with bloodied hands.
"Fine... I'm fine." Madara croaked and moved his hand as if to wave her away. Naruto touched his shoulder. As he looked up at her, he was engulfed in reddish chakra as the blonde forced it into him.
"Take it easy." She said sternly and looked over at the battle still being fought at the other end of the battlefield. "Both of you," she added and turned to Kurou with a pointed look.
Reaching out, she touched Kurou too. The chakra flowing through him revived him like nothing else ever had.
They both watched as Naruto took off, running back to join the battle.
"Why are you doing this? I thought your style was to act from the shadows?" Naruto demanded stonily. It was just a clone, and it was standing a good distance away from Black Zetsu. She was trying to figure out what he was plotting. Right now she needed answers, and the slimy creature was going to answer her whether he wanted to or not.
The creature smiled wickedly with Katsu's mouth. "Oh, that's easy human. You need to be removed. I don't appreciate your influence. The fact that you knew about my existence is also a factor." He croaked, the red swirling eyes intent on the blonde.
"What would my death accomplish? And why do you have Saiken and Chōmei doing the work? How did you even get them?!" She continued asking. Wanting very badly to know how on earth he had managed to keep them secret from her. She hadn't felt them at all until their sudden appearance. Maybe they'd been summoned?
"Well, the bijū were easy enough. I had already taken care of the heavy lifting years ago, now I'm just recording the show. You might remember the Three Tails rampaging through the villages close to the boarders of the Land of Water? Well, I made sure that happened. And of course the Yuki clan suspected Uzushiogakure for that. Who else had the skills to pull it off? I got them to trust me by giving inside information about Uzu. It was easy getting in. Those barriers the Uzumaki put up are only designed for humans with chakra. So I got the scroll on how to seal a bijū from there. You might remember it, you and Uzumaki Mito were sent to retrieve it after all." Croaked the creature, and Naruto felt her hands start sweating.
She remembered clearly how she'd infiltrating the rebels' base while Mito distracted the rest. She recalled how they'd found Sarutobi Ren, but not the scroll. The mission had been a failure back then, but now she knew it was on a much larger scale than Naruto had imagined.
"I gave it to them and pointed them in the right direction of the Six and Seven Tails. The rest you see here." Explained Black Zetsu and raised his arms while gesturing to the battle all around them.
Chōmei flew past the clone, followed closely by an enraged Kurama who had just been blinded long enough by the Seven Tails' powder to get a horn cut into his side.
The earth rumbled as the two bijū fell to the ground.
"You're not the only one that needs to be killed. Madara and Hashirama need to go too. Then their souls will be reborn, and I can undo your work more easily. This reincarnation of Indra was perfect for the job until you started getting involved. That has to be undone." Black Zetsu told her, seemingly perfectly fine with sharing his plans.
Clearly the creature was very confident with the outcome of this battle. There's no other way he'd gloat like this if he wasn't. Naruto could recall how the creature had changed while he was attached to Kaguya in the other time line, and he was giving her a repeat show of that attitude right now.
"I see, so you're grumpy because I messed up your plan to bring back Kaguya. I've been gathering everyone together despite all the wars you've made sure broke out."
"Whole plan? No, no. You've just put it off a little longer then I planned, but I can be patient." Answered Black Zetsu. His attention flashed briefly to Saiken who was being restrained by Sasuke from rampaging all over Hashirama and his crew.
"Yes, I seriously hope you can be patient, because we'll be sealing your sorry ass for the rest of eternity. Maybe you should have thought to bring a book with you here today. You'll need it for the rest of time," Snapped the clone heatedly.
"Hah! As if you'd be able to do something like that. Even if by some miracle you did manage to seal me, there's no way I wouldn't find a way out. You're just a floundering fish playing into the palm of my hand. I mean, look around you. At your best you still have yet to get close to me." He eagerly replied with a cackling so menacing it sent shivers down her spine.
In that moment Kurama was thrown backwards right on the clone, making it dispel while the real Naruto cursed as she fell hard onto the ground.
Chōmei had unleashed a Bijū Bomb while Kurama did the same. They had been so close to one another that when the two prematurely released attacks were fired, they clashed which caused them both of them to fall back.
It was so difficult to attack the bijū without killing them. Out of all of them, Kurama was the only one with flashy and deadly attacks. It forced them to use demon taijutsu, which translated into clawing, biting and hard hits.
Chōmei on the other hand had blinding power attacks, horns that hurt quite a bit to get hit by, and chakra threads that sucked out your chakra.
Naruto let Kurama retreat into her while she got her breath back, realizing this was not the way to fight the other bijū. The Seven Tails had to be restrained, and for that she needed another sort of attack mode.
She had landed very close to Black Zetsu, and his last words were seriously making her furious.
"You think this is our best?" Naruto muttered as she brushed off some dust from her shoulder and straightened her top. "You clearly have no idea who we are Black Zetsu. I've been trying to go easy on Chōmei and Saiken because I'm afraid they'll get killed if I don't." Naruto told him angrily.
Sasuke back flipped to avoid Saiken's attack and kept going until he was close to where Naruto stood.
He looked curiously back at Naruto who was still slowly getting to her feet.
About three hundred metres behind them, Madara and Kurou were making their way back to the main battle. They watched closely as the flames around Naruto started changing and an odd pressure was being issued from Sasuke.
Kurou was still coughing, but was following their movement like a hunter after their prey.
Naruto grasped the clip of her armour which was situated at her shoulders and opened up the knot which kept the Konoha uniform in place.
It fell with a clank to the ground as she freed herself from its restraint.
Next she started taking off the black gloves Hashirama had given her for her twenty-first birthday, which was only a couple of months ago. They were given to her so Naruto would stop using up all her bandage every time she wrapped her hands. She had worn them ever since.
One glove dropped next to the armour, then the next.
Kurou was wondering how the hell Naruto could be so carefree while in the presence of all this destruction. But her movements were drawing everyone's eyes.
Even the few still standing rebels who was nursing their own wounds on the sidelines.
Sasuke was somehow reading something in her movements, since he let his shoulders relax and he straightened up.
Some sort of message had passed between them, and the small smirk growing on Sasuke's face said it was either something very outrageous or very destructive.
Her gaze was fixed on Black Zetsu as her fisted hand hit the palm of the other. "Yosh, Sasuke! Let's finish this, dattebyo!"
"Hn." He replied.
Kurou gasped as he noticed how things were altering. The destroyed and beaten ground they were standing on was suddenly being regenerated. The damaged earth which had turned black and grey from the previous attacks started healing, going rich brown and gaining moisture. The trees at the edge of the battlefield started leaning towards them, their leaves growing greener. Even the air was refreshing, becoming warm and comfortable as the dust was blown away. But the environment wasn't the only thing changing.
Madara had seen much of this before: how the jinchūriki's chakra had such a strong life force it could make flowers bloom in an instant, but what he hadn't seen was how Naruto was changing.
Her hair, which had always been a bit too bright, was turning brighter. Despite already being a glowing lantern of chakra, the light intensified and changed, becoming cooler and closer to white than yellow. Despite the change in warm tones, Madara was convinced he was looking at the sun, and not his Naruto.
Her skin became more tan, and her Bijū Mode rapidly changed pattern.
Kurou and Madara were behind them, so they had a good view of how the black pattern on Naruto morphed and changed appearance. Tomoe appeared on her back as black globes grew into existence behind her.
Kurou gasped as a dark staff was protruded from her hand. It was as if she had been hiding it up her sleeve, but they had both watched as the thing came straight out from her right wrist.
Sasuke was another matter. While Naruto grew brighter, he grew equally as dark. A pressure that couldn't be seen but instead felt was issuing from his very being.
It was very similar to what the bijū could do, but at the same time it was different. The air was filled with crackling energy and pressure, which made no one in doubt of Sasuke's capability. The reason Naruto had gone to this man for help was becoming painfully obvious.
The only change Madara could pin point was his skin that looked a tone lighter.
And then he activated his violet Susanoo. The bright and warm flame that was Naruto twisted and violently merged with the cold chakra of Sasuke. It was like a struggle between their chakra, as Sasuke's Susanoo slowly engulfed Naruto, seemingly winning.
"Let's finish this," Naruto said to Sasuke who didn't bother replying. "Chōmei first. He's faster than Saiken."
Kurama returned from within Naruto, this time larger than before. The blonde held out her fist to Sasuke, and in a sign of camaraderie he let his own fisted hand bump against hers.
A strangled sound erupted from Madara as the Nine Tailed Fox was quickly being clad in a Susanoo armour.
"Shit..." breathed Shin. It was followed by a deep sigh as they watched.
"That was what I was going to say," answered Izumi, looking curiously up at the battle ready giants.
A tail swished down towards the spectators, and none of them had time to run or avoid the humongous tail coming down on them. They waited for the pain, but it never came.
When Hashirama opened his eyes the first thing he was confronted with was light. There was so much of it that it was hard to see anything else. It took him about five seconds to realize they were inside the Kyūbi's chakra. There was just enough time to come to that conclusion before the fox jumped high into the air.
The movement rocked through the fox and made everyone tense. Hashirama was quite shocked about how high the Nine Tails could leap from the ground; they were higher up than the Kyūbi was tall.
He connected with Chōmei and bit into its left wing. Using its own weight, Kurama forced the insect formed creature down.
From their left Saiken was coming at full speed towards them, the beast surprisingly fast for a snail.
But using the Seven Tails like a bat, Kurama hit home run on the snail. The mountains around them shook and rocks started falling in the far distance. Naruto and Kurama didn't let them rest though. Sasuke wordlessly created an enormous blade in Kuruma's left hand.
The gigantic fox with all its inhabitants rose up into the air once again when the bijū jumped and swung the Susanoo sword hard into Chōmei's tails, cutting off two in one go. The screech from the seven tailed beast was horrible. Naruto shivered at the sound.
"If we want to win this, we have to go harder on them, Naruto." Sasuke sternly stated, his activated eyes staring hard at her. She seemed conflicted by this statement, but nodded reluctantly.
Next they headed for Saiken and successfully trapped him with Kurama's sharp claws. They were instantly sprayed with a violent gas attack, and Kurama was forced backwards.
The gas was clearly poisonous, because all of them felt the heaviness the moment the gas hit the air.
"Naruto, I think I have to seriously harm, Saiken. He is too good at keeping his distance. We can't take him down in close combat." Kurama stated reluctantly.
Naruto closed her eyes and furrowed her brow while she thought fast. She didn't find a better solution though, and answered in a sad tone. "Fine."
Sasuke didn't need any more confirmation, and jumped out of the fox's chakra.
As he left he took the Susanoo protection with him and ran towards Saiken. He was instantly sprayed, but still he kept running on. It was almost like Sasuke was immune to the poison.
His Susanoo sliced its blade towards Saiken, but with two of his tails the Six Tails managed to stop Sasuke from getting a hit in.
The demon then realized what was truly going on when he spotted the Bijū Bomb Naruto fired at him. Sasuke had been the distraction while Naruto prepared.
The slimy demon was thrown to the ground, and just like Madara had been before, was dragged backwards until it was far away.
The next moment an ear splitting explosion rocked the ground.
Hashirama was still in awe at the efficiency of Naruto and Sasuke's team work. They had barely shared a single word while they fought, and yet they seemed to know exactly what the other was going to do next.
The mysterious Uchiha came up to Naruto while she let Kurama merge into her again. The dispelling of her chakra mode was quite abrupt. The five passengers riding inside the Kyūbi chakra suddenly found themselves in a free fall. As they landed hard many metresdown, Sasuke was already running towards Black Zetsu with Naruto hot on his heels.
"Naruto, press sage chakra into Katsu. It might force Black Zetsu to lose hold of Katsu. Then Black Zetsu will be free to seal." Sasuke explained as he twirled around a fiery attack from the black creature. Black Zetsu was finally starting to look nervous.
Sasuke substituted with a boulder lying not too far ahead, and then another even closer to their target. He was so fast it was hard to keep track of his location.
Naruto was very fast, but slower than Sasuke. When the Uchiha finally reached Black Zetsu, the little demon was using Katsu's Sharingan to track their movements. It was also why he was able to avoid Sasuke's aggressive chokutō slash.
Sasuke engaged him in close combat while Naruto caught up and stopped a few metres away from the battling figures. It didn't take too long before the Uchiha retreated from a fireball technique from Black Zetsu's mouth.
He jumped back and landed smoothly next to Naruto. "Could you?" She asked quickly, and Sasuke nodded before focusing on Black Zetsu again.
The wind had blown his hair back, and the Rinnegan was shown clearly for Black Zetsu. He took a step back when he recognised the pattern, shock clear in his tense posture.
Naruto turned sideways towards Sasuke, raising her fist as if to hit him.
Her comrade wasn't paying attention to her. Just as her fist was about to smack hard into Sasuke's shoulder he disappeared. In his place stood Black Zetsu just as Naruto made bone cracking contact.
In intense concentration she pumped nature chakra into the creature.
Black Zetsu hissed and jumped away, but as he landed he stumbled and they could easily see how the ink blotch was leaking away from Katsu.
"Hn, that worked on White Zetsu too. It seems they have some common weakness at least." Said Sasuke, curiously watching as Black Zetsu fought furiously to keep control of his hostage without success.
He was still half submerged, but was losing the fight. With a furious look at Naruto and Sasuke he clapped Katsu's hands together.
"Fine, but I'll have one more task for them to do before I leave. Chōmei! Saiken!" Black Zetsu shouted the last word as he slowly ebbed from Katsu.
The blonde looked horrified as Katsu was now partly freed. The evil creature had taken the eyeballs with him. Left behind were the empty and bleeding sockets where Katsu's eyes used to be. That devil must have ripped out Katsu's original eyes and replaced them with Indra's.
The small hold he still had on Katsu was seemingly enough, because Saiken gave a loud roar, and started creating a Bijū Bomb aimed at them.
Sasuke looked quickly at Naruto before hurrying to redirect the attack.
Chōmei who had been lying in pain about a kilometer away stood abruptly. Spreading its wings it flew fast up into the air. Its mouth was open wide, creating a black Bijū Bomb. It made a sound so crushing it shook them to their very core.
"No!" Naruto cried as she took off after him.
She didn't have time to secure Katsu to a safe location, so the unconscious man fell limp into a heap on the ground, while Naruto flew after the seven tailed demon.
Instinctively she knew what Black Zetsu had commanded it to do.
The Bijū Bomb was being aimed towards Konoha. And while it was a day's march for everyone on foot, the attack Chōmei had released could reach Kohona instantly—especially from such a great height.
"What the hell? Since when could captain Naruto fly?" Asked Shin looking seriously shaken.
True enough; the five standing in the back could see Naruto flying at full speed after Chōmei. The odd black orbs behind her following as if they were attached.
"That has to make travelling so much easier. No wonder she has been to so many places." Said Izumi thoughtfully while Hashirama looked back at her in exasperation.
While the others followed Naruto's movements, the Uchiha leader had spotted another problem. "He's escaping!" Madara cried pointing towards Black Zetsu who was slowly sinking into the earth.
"Oh, no, he won't!" Shouted Hashirama, and together the two men ran towards the creature. The Hokage clapped his hands together, and trees shot up from the ground.
"It's a root prison, wherever he is, I'll be able to sense and restrain him. Madara!" Hashirama shouted, and the Uchiha shot past the Hokage and activated his Susanoo.
Cutting into the earth with his blue glowing blade, he cracked the ground apart.
A shout of fury was heard from underneath the earth.
Above them a rush of wind made everyone loose balance. Naruto was using pure chakra to restrain the Bijū Bomb she had reached just in the nick of time.
To their left Sasuke's Susanoo was forcing the Bijū Bomb from Saiken off course, and it flew just to behind them.
"GYAH!" Naruto screamed painfully, feeling soaring pain seep into her arms from holding onto the hot glowing orb.
Quickly the golden shape of Kurama suddenly re-emerged from within her for a third time. The gigantic fox was holding onto the attack with his claws and tails, and with a furious push, redirected the bomb northwards.
The two Bijū Bombs collided, and the air pressure was enough to knock everyone still on the ground off their feet.
Sasuke was sprinting towards them just as Black Zetsu shot up from the ground.
The Uchiha disappeared and came up right next to Black Zetsu, and with blinding speed he slashed directly down the head of the creature. However the blade went straight through as the oddity split himself in two.
Half of Black Zetsu flew forwards, taking advantage of Sasuke's opening after the failed attack at his life.
His hand flew forwards so fast even Sasuke had a hard time keeping up with the movement. If he hadn't jumped backwards he would have had Black Zetsu's hand straight through his chest.
The other part of Black Zetsu wrapped itself around Sasuke's feet, holding him in place. Black lightning erupted all over Sasuke's body just as the rest of the ink blotch tried again to pierce through his chest. It fried the restraining creature so much that he was forced to let go.
Hashirama was already right behind Black Zetsu, making roots shoot up his body, but like true ink, the creature melted around the wood attack, dripping back to the earth.
At the same time, Shin was dragging Katsu out of harm's way with the help of Izumi. They had picked a bad direction though, since they were in the wrong spot when the insect bijū fell from the air. The control Black Zetsu had on it having been removed. They both looked up in horror, and in unison they both stopped breathing. Izumi screamed shrilly as the wings were just about to hit them.
"Mokuton!" Cried Hashirama, and a wooden cage covered them just as the beast fell straight on them once, before rolling limply away.
Trees and rocks were smashed by the immense weight, but the wooden cocoon protecting Izumi, Katsu and Shin had held.
They looked a bit shaken, but otherwise okay when Hashirama released them.
Black Zetsu disappeared again underneath the ground, but with Hashirama's guidance Madara found the correct place to cut into the earth with his Susanoo. They needed to keep him in place until Naruto and Sasuke had time to return.
Kurou came running towards them, his eyes determined while he smeared the blood from his upper arm over his fingers. "I won't let you escape Zetsu!" He shouted and stopped while he was still about twenty metres away.
The red head looked more than past his limit, but despite that he was smiling broadly. His bloody hand hit the ground with a loud smack, a winning gleam in his eyes as he shouted. "Barrier surface!"
Naruto who was flying at full speed towards them and Sasuke who was teleporting to get back to Black Zetsu looked down in unison.
They all watched as fuinjutsu inscriptions flew out from underneath Kurou's hand and reached outwards. The ground over the whole area glowed once, and when the light faded there was a slight distortion of the ground. It was as if there was a thin film separating their feet from the earth beneath them.
"Try sneaking away now you fucking devil. You can't access the ground anymore. I've sealed away you escape route!" Gloated Kurou with a satisfied smirk, the effect was slightly ruined when he tripped while getting back on his feet.
What this indicated swiftly dawned on all of them at the same time. "You're the boss Kurou!"Naruto shouted as she leaned against the body of Chōmei. It had landed very close to Black Zetsu and she was quickly making sure he wasn't dead.
The demon was knocked out, but would heal with time. Hopefully.
Black Zetsu must also have realised just how screwed he was. He looked wide eyed around, meeting the eyes of Madara in front of him and Hashirama behind. "This… You'll regret this. Madara, I've told you what she is, you can't tru-"
"Shut the fuck up. There's nothing that can save you this time."
Naruto and Sasuke came running towards Black Zetsu. He was surrounded on four sides, plus the ground was no longer accessible.
Never had he wished more than anything that he was able to fly.
They stormed towards Black Zetsu from each side while Madara and Hashirama held him in place. Though his face was so hard to read, they all knew without a doubt that Black Zetsu was terrified.
Naruto and Sasuke stretched out their hand, the blonde with her right, the raven haired with his left, and hit each of Black Zetsu's shoulders at the same moment.
Madara and Hashirama jumped backwards, not sure what would happen, but they had both felt the immense pressure of what the duo was doing.
"SEAL!" They screamed together, Naruto with such fury it was making her voice crack, and Sasuke with hatred etched in every syllable.
The creature's eyes widened as the two closest jumped away again, and for a moment it looked like whatever they had done didn't work.
"Wh-" Madara started to say, but before he could finish a scream pierced through the air.
With his hand clutching his chest the ground underneath Black Zetsu's feet started cracking up. The seal Kurou had placed on the ground broke and an intense vacuum grew from where Black Zetsu was standing.
"Get away!" Cried Naruto, her hand flew out as she motioned for them to do as she said.
None of them needed to be told twice.
Hashirama ran over to Shin, Izumi and Katsu, throwing the unconscious Uchiha over his shoulder and bolted with his two subordinates away. Madara was hesitating, because neither Naruto nor Sasuke was leaving.
The earth was shaking now, the cracks growing deeper before breaking free from the ground and sucked towards Black Zetsu.
"YOU! You!" cried Black Zetsu repeatedly, his voice so different now from how Madara was used to hearing him. "What did you…! How did you know! You are nothing compared to me! This can't end like this! Mother… Mother!" the creature cried in agony.
"Yes. Say hi to your mother from us, Black Zetsu. Tell her we made sure she can never come back, and that she's not welcome to try." Said Sasuke. He was following the movement of the earth closely, but also relishing in the sight of the creature being sealed.
"Yeah, you should thank us. We just made sure you would stay by your mother's side for the rest of eternity." Added Naruto, and finally they both turned and ran.
Sasuke had switched with a huge boulder up ahead, and was already far away while Naruto caught up with Madara. Together the two of them sprinted after the rest of the company.
"Further!" Shouted Naruto as Hashirama came into view while sheltering behind the side of a mountain. "This whole place will be dragged into the Chibaku Tensei!"
Madara looked over his shoulder, and was struck dumb by the rapid alteration to the landscape.
Black Zetsu was no longer visible underneath the rocks attaching themselves to him. Pieces of rocks were submersing him in a tightly packed group of boulders.
The ground no longer had cracks, but huge missing patches which were being ripped out of the ground, following after Black Zetsu as if he was a magnet.
"Damn." Said Izumi while looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.
Behind them the sound of cracking stone made them all cringe, but their course didn't falter.
Almost three kilometer away they stopped, and Naruto turned around and looked up.
There, high up in the air, was a huge globe of rocks. Naruto looked searchingly at it, but as a small smile lighted up her face, they watched as the huge gathering rocks flew upwards like a meteorite.
Sasuke came up behind them, watching the rock flying higher and higher.
"Huh, I never thought of that… We might get a second moon now…" Naruto mused, scratching the back of her head uncertainly.
"Dobe." Said Sasuke and rolled his eyes.
For a moment Naruto looked oddly back at him, like she couldn't believe he had called her something so offensive.
A smile grew on her lips and she gave a loud carefree laugh. A laugh Madara thought he'd never heard before.
"Teme."
"So… Did we win? It's over right?" Asked Hashirama, trying without succeeding to look through the massive amount of swarming dust.
Naruto started laughing for real now, bending down and resting her hands on her knees while her body shook.
"What's so funny?" Asked Hashirama curiously, but the corners of his lips were twitching upwards.
Sasuke chuckled and waved his hand.
"We… We…" Naruto tried to say. There were tears in the corner of her eyes now, but Hashirama was uncertain if they were from laughing or something else.
"We did it." Finished Sasuke for her.
They all looked up at the sky, where sure enough, a second moon was still floating high above them.
"I'm sure the gravitation of the moon will force them together. Don't worry, you didn't break your word, dobe. He will be next to his mother for the rest of eternity."
This time there was a self-satisfied smirk on his face, and swiftly Naruto straightened up and smiled so warmly she could just as well be shining.
"I'm so… happy." Naruto murmured, drying the wetness underneath her eyes away.
"Now what are we going to do with this mess?" Asked Madara pointing to the destruction they had left behind.
The dust was finally starting to go away, falling peacefully back down to the earth.
There was a huge crater the size of Konoha there now. Up from the mountain pass there was water leaking over the edge and falling pathetically down into the crater.
"Hm… If we change the stream going from Lake Karonichi we can fill this crater up with water… It would be a lake… A deep lake." Said Hashirama thoughtfully, and they all turned to look at him.
"But it would need a name. What about… the lake of bravery, power, sacrifice and devotion, the water which witnessed the end of the struggle between chakra and man!" Cried Hashirama as if it was the brightest idea he'd ever come up with.
"That's an idiotic name. It's the worst you've come up with so far." Said Madara, rolling his eyes. As if on cue, Hashirama started pouting.
"Fucking hell, Hashirama! I can't believe you're still doing crap like that! You need to overcome this neurosis of yours!" The Uchiha leader shouted and pointed at his friend.
"Fine. What would you call it then?" Asked Hashirama still looking depressed.
He looked back at the destruction, the broken mountainside and the huge void of earth sloping down. His eyes trailed back to Naruto who seemed lost to the discussion.
Her eyes had a faraway look, as if she wasn't with them at all. Sasuke stood next to her, seemingly in deep thought too, but for a moment they met each other's gaze.
Again, it was like they knew what the other was thinking, because Sasuke nodded and they both looked away.
"Lake of the End." Madara proclaimed and turned away from the blonde.
"I like that." Said Kurou while holding his bleeding arm. "This certainly felt like some sort of ending."
"That's… Stupid." Muttered Hashirama, folding his arms across his chest. He looked more like an overgrown up child than the Hokage.
"You need to learn how to deal with rejection!" Shouted Madara.
"I like it too. While your suggestion Hokage-sama, was stupid." Said Izumi with an air of knowing. Shin seemed indifferent, he was still watching the ball of rock far up in the sky.
Sasuke and Naruto on the other hand were looking oddly at Madara.
"Lake… of the End?" Naruto slowly enunciated, her heart making an odd skip in her chest. The blonde looked at Sasuke who seemed just as surprised by that name as she was. And then she was laughing again.
"What? It's better than Hashirama's idea! Why are you… Stop laughing, Naruto!" Madara growled. He was almost pouting as much as Hashirama.
Naruto got her act together, but still giggling she addressed Madara. "It's a great name. Truly."
Sasuke had crossed his arms with an air of thoughtfulness about him. "Almost like Valley of the End..."
"That's even better." Said Izumi nodding seriously to Sasuke. "But can that classify as a valley?" She asked aloud, but no one had the answer for that.
They all turned quiet, looking over at the crater before them.
Naruto started walking towards it, even though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to. Maybe she needed to confirm for herself that it was over. Finally. That they had done it.
The others mutely followed after her, looking curiously around to see the damage the Chibaku Tensei had caused to the once rich forest area.
It was completely unrecognisable.
When they reached the middle of the crater Naruto halted. She looked up to the cloudless sky and the now small spot up there.
From what she could see it was about half the size of the moon. Probably a result of Sasuke being an Edo Tensei, and in theory his powers weren't complete. But it was enough for this. Enough to rid the world of Black Zetsu.
They had no idea how long they stood there, but after a while Izumi and Hashirama lay down on the ground. The Hokage placed the still unconscious Katsu carefully next to him before falling back on his butt.
Shin and Kurou along with Madara copied his movement. Exhaustion was starting to creep up on them, the day's activity finally settled into their minds. An intense satisfaction of getting out of there alive gave them the need to just sit and watch the world pass by, knowing they were still a part of it.
Eventually Naruto looked up at Sasuke, and her eyes were again void of laugher. Madara shifted where he sat, wondering what was going to happen now.
"Well… Here we are Sasuke. In the Valley of the End. I promised you we would settle this once we got rid of Black Zetsu. You haven't attacked yet, are you still decided?" Asked Naruto, her hand combing through her hair while Sasuke looked mutely back at her.
"… I'm not sure." Answered Sasuke and shook his head from side to side. The tension which had temporarily faded during and after the defeat of Black Zetsu returned at full force.
"You know now, and yet…" Sasuke stopped talking, seemingly trying to find the right words.
He turned his back to the others, and the two walked a little away, but not so far that Madara couldn't hear them if he really tried.
"Even though you've lost just as much as me, you took a different path…" The words were a bit stifled, and Madara suspected he didn't like talking so close to them. Maybe he just didn't really like to talk, period.
"I have… There's no one here. You, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei… The village. It's Konoha, but not my Konoha." Answered Naruto, and all the spectators tried curiously to hear better what was being said. Luckily, they all had the wits to try and do it discreetly.
"Losing everyone… I think I also lost some of myself. I had Kurama of course, and he helped the best he could… But there was nothing anymore. Even changing time doesn't really help me. Mito is dead, so Tsunade baa-chan will never be born now… Jiji is here, but it's not the same. And yet…" she looked back at Madara before her eyes trailed over to Kurou and Hashirama.
The three mentioned people were looking pointedly away of course.
"I have precious people here too. Another purpose to fight for." She added sheepishly. "And all this time I've fought for you too. To make sure you one day can be happy."
The young man seemed to think hard over her words, turning them over in his head before replying. "Hmm… I see..." Sasuke took a deep breath, and with a slow movement he laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
She looked curiously down at it, wondering if he'd suddenly strangle her if she wasn't on guard.
What he said though was the last thing she expected.
"If I leave… You have to do it. You have to change the system. If I lay my faith in you, do you promise me to see it through? So no one has to grow up like I did. Or like you." The words were quiet, and said in a monotonous and flat voice.
Naruto seemed to have stopped breathing, her cerulean eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her lower lip started shaking slightly as she understood where he was going with this.
"You had lost all hope in me, hadn't you? But I call you dobe for a reason you know. Because of you I can't do it my way anymore. So I might as well let you give it a go. You've always been the second best after all." He said with some humour in his eyes.
The picture was so out of character for Naruto that she didn't know how to react at first. But then she registered what he'd said.
"Teme!" The blonde shouted and hit him hard on the shoulder. Even back by the rest of the group they heard the small laugh from Sasuke.
"I will. I promise to never let what happened repeat itself. That's a promise of two lifetimes." Naruto said and gave the peace sign while smiling wide.
Sasuke's eyes went sad, he looked long at Naruto and then closed his eyes.
"Then release the Edo Tensei. It's time for me to go where I belong." Said Sasuke after what felt like an eternity to Madara.
"Sa...suke..." Naruto whimpered. Before either of them knew it, she'd she moved, hugging Sasuke tightly. She buried her head into the white wide collared shirt he was wearing.
Sasuke looked very out of place, but after a couple of moments he hesitantly let his arms reach around her shoulders, hugging her as closely as he could.
Naruto felt as if she had problems breathing, and it wasn't because of the hard grip Sasuke had on her.
She let herself feel it for the first time just how much she had missed Sasuke. Take in how much he had defined her as a person, and how at the end of the day Sasuke would always be her precious person.
It was odd how hunting Black Zetsu had made her lose her road so much. She had once claimed she would never give up, but for a while now she had…
Eventually she let go of him and stepped back, their eyes never leaving one another. Honestly, the both of them had forgotten their audience. The immensity of what was transpiring between them blocking out everything else.
"I guess you haven't changed that much after all." Said Sasuke, his arms still lingering on her shoulders before letting them drop to his side. "Release the Edo Tensei, Naruto."
The jinchūriki hesitated, and looked away. "You'll go away… I won't see you ever again. At least not the you like you are now."
"You will." Said Sasuke with absolute certainty. "We all die eventually. But at least now I can make sure we don't die together. If I killed you… The last of me would have gone with you. I think that's why I wanted you gone in the first place. If there's one thing I've learned from this little trip back in time, it is that there are worse fates than what happened to me."
Naruto cringed at those words. It wasn't like she hadn't managed. She had just stumbled a few times on her way.
She wondered what Sasuke had seen these past couple of days. What could possibly have changed his mind? Her brow furrowed.
Back before this whole mess started, she had been Sasuke's only friend. Even during the war she'd felt that bond. Who knew what would have happened if they had won.
Would they understand each other the way they do now?
She started going through hand signs slowly, trying to drag it out just a little longer before she lost him. Again. For the third time.
While she worked Sasuke did nothing but watch her, and she looked back.
At the final sign her resolve wavered, her hand shook violently, but with an effort she didn't know she had in her, she pressed through. "Release."
A silence as heavy as the Chibaku Tensei settled between them. Her friend swallowed, and it broke Naruto's heart to watch him.
In a way, Naruto was certain that in that moment, and just that single moment, they understood each other perfectly. They were both finally home.
As a result her mouth started spilling out all the things she wished she could have told him sooner. She spewed them all.
"I… I wish I could have seen everybody again. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to come here at all. That I'd truly died with you and the others… I miss you. I miss you all!" She stopped talking as a series of tearless sobs escaped her throat. Sasuke stepped away, surprised from the heartfelt words escaping from Naruto's most hidden chamber of regrets.
"It's so unfair…" She sobbed through her tears. "Why does it always have to be me? Can't anyone… else… I've been exiled from my own time… I'll never see anyone again. It won't be the same." She said as Sasuke's soul started separating from the body he had been borrowing.
With his eyes fixed on her he smiled. Truly smiled. Wider and more carefree than Naruto had ever seen him in her life.
"You're strong, Naruto. Be the unpredictable knuckle headed kunoichi we all love. And when you're old and tired of life, we'll see each other again. Live Naruto, I think you've earned it." He said, and in the last moments before his soul separated from his body, he poked her forehead with two fingers.
Naruto barely registered the limp and dead body falling to the ground, the body of master Yasu which lay cold and still while Sasuke parted from his temporary host.
Madara felt gloomy and depressed listening to Naruto. Seeing her this torn up didn't sit well with him. So weak and desperate. It was beyond what his stomach could take.
He'd never known. Never guessed anything of this magnitude. Even though he was unsure what exactly this was, he was pretty sure Sasuke was dying. Making the last thread of Naruto's old bonds tear apart.
Sighing heavily he looked sideways, and spotted a sobbing Hashirama being entirely too emotional.
Clenching his fists, Madara looked up at the sudden exclamation coming from Naruto.
Hashirama and Madara gasped as the scenery changed. Kurou actually gave a small shout of shock and backed up together with Shin and Izumi.
Naruto and the departing Sasuke looked confused from side to side. "What is going on?" Asked Hashirama looking towards the many glowing lights all around them.
"How?" Asked Naruto looking back at Sasuke. "You're not depa-" She stopped mid-sentence, and the reason for that was clear.
Everywhere around them a large number of glowing lights was appearing.
Thousands of them.
Hashirama was already on his feet, walking backwards. He was both alarmed and out of his depths with what was happening. Madara came closer to Naruto just as Sasuke's half floating body moved down to the ground again. He was smiling as he looked to the lights.
"It looks like you'll get your wish fulfilled, Naruto." He said calmly.
Naruto didn't answer, she had put her hands over her mouth in shock as she recognised the lights. She recognised their chakra as if she'd felt them yesterday.
They took shape, as they surrounded them.
Her mum and dad were the first she noticed, since they were standing very close to her and Sasuke.
Then she spotted Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji, Sai, Captain Yamato, Shino, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Iruka, Konohamaru, Killer B, A, Itachi, Nagato, Obito, Lee, TenTen, Neji and so many more.
More people than she knew herself, but was sure, at some point, that she had felt their chakra.
Most of them were wearing the headband with the word 'Shinobi' engraved into the metal.
Naruto couldn't speak as the souls of her mother ran towards her.
"Naruto!" She shouted, and Naruto stretched out her hand towards her but it slid right through her.
Naruto wasn't dead, so she couldn't touch her mother's soul. However, she did feel her mother's fast flowing and whirling chakra signature embrace her hand were they should have been touching.
"Mum?" She whispered with an effort.
"We're so proud of you, Naruto." Said Minato as he stepped next to Kushina.
"You have been so lonely, Naruto. I am so sorry you have to go through this. So we came to show you our appreciation. All of us came to see you one last time, Naruto. These are everyone whose heart you've touched. Everyone who loves you, dattebane!" Said Kushina tearing up as well.
"Everyone..." She whispered looking wide eyed up at the thousands of glowing people who had gathered in the valley.
"Yes, the Sage of the Six Paths thought he owed you this much. You know, for ripping you out of time and space like that at the last moment during our fight with Kaguya." Said a calm voice, and a silver haired masked man stepped up next to her dad.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" She shouted in excitement. She was so happy, beyond ecstatic at seeing them again.
"Naruto, never change. Stay yourself and never lose hope." Said Sakura who stopped next to Kakashi.
"Sakura-chan..."
"We don't have much time. All of this was sort of a team effort, Hagoromo-sama was very helpful to tell us how this worked. He couldn't come himself though. To simplify it, we're using you and Sasuke to anchor us to the earth for a little while. We've saved up chakra for a while now, but we thought we'd let you finish the task first." Said Jiraiya who had his hands on his hips, grinning widely from ear to ear as their eyes met.
"Ero-sennin! You're here, I..." Naruto stuttered and felt entirely too overwhelmed to make sense of what was happening.
"The Allied Shinobi Forces, and even Haku and Zabuza are here." Sasuke said pointing towards one of the many people amongst the crowd. "But there's not much time, we will all leave soon."
"Stay strong, brat." Added Jiraiya as the people started glowing fiercely. Naruto wanted to reach out and hug every single one of these people, even A who was standing together with rubber man.
"We are with you Naruto-chan!" Shouted the Kumo ninja Omoi, for once very optimistic as he waved to her.
"Keep it up! You're already the best Kage the Five Great Nations has ever seen!" They heard Tsunade exclaim.
Naruto actually gaped as she looked over at Tsunade, her eyes wide. "Baa-chan! I'm so sorry… Mito… Mito?" She said confused as the very familiar shape of her late best friend stepped up from the crowd. Hashirama started stammering in shock at the sight of his dead wife smiling to all of them.
"I don't regret it, Naruto. I'll see you again one day, but make sure it's not too soon okay?" She said teasingly from next to Tsunade.
"How can you both be here? How can all of you be here?" Asked Naruto so shocked she felt like throwing up.
"It's the same way you could summon Sasuke. In the afterlife there's no such thing as time, but to be summoned to the earth you need an anchor. Everyone here has been in touch with your chakra, Naruto. Some by being hit, some by having it shared, and chakra is what we used as the anchor. Anyone can be summoned back at any point in time but you need an anchor. The most usual is DNA and that is only required after one is born and the reason people confuses the edo tensei with being a technique to summon the dead, instead of what it truly is which is the technique to summon souls which is waiting in another dimension. Everyone is at one point born, Naruto. Maybe not into the same person they were in the other time line, but Tsunade for example will probably be born at some later point in time, to different parents and under a different name. But her soul will be born, just not the way you remembered her. We've been planning it for a while now." Explained her father with a wistful smile.
"Why didn't you warn me?!" Naruto asked Sasuke breathlessly.
"Honestly, I didn't remember while I was in that earthbound body. The last thing I remember was the fight with Kaguya." He said and shrugged. "I remember now though…"
Naruto knew she was smiling, but in general she was lost to her own reactions. It felt as if she was outside her own body.
Like she was soaring.
"We believe in you, baka!" Shouted Kiba while the ever silent Shino waved from next to him and Hinata cheered. They looked truly happy, not angry at all for all the changes she'd done.
"Remember, you need to let others help you. Don't try to do everything alone. You can only achieve your goals together with your friends, Naruto." Said the deep and calm voice of Itachi's soul. He was smiling and looking at her from next to the young looking Obito and the serious Konan.
They both nodded, and Obito whooped and gave her a thumbs up.
"Keep your courage up. And the babes will flock! Awheeee!" Rapped killer B terribly.
"Never doubt yourself!" It was to Naruto's surprise Kabuto who said this.
Everyone started shouting encouraging words as Naruto noticed they were becoming more and more transparent. They were already departing to the afterlife again.
The tearing inside her was both breaking apart and healing at the same time. Was there such a thing as being utterly broken and fixed at the same time?
Team Seven came forwards and stood in front of her, all three of them glowing and more transparent than ever.
It was hard to see their expressions clearly, but Naruto was staring so intently at them it was impossible for her to miss how they looked back at her.
"We love you, Naruto." Said Sakura crying hard, but smiling proudly.
"Don't forget us or your promise." Said Sasuke and nodded to her.
"We'll be with you in your heart, rooting for you always. So please do not feel guilty, you've already saved us." Said Kakashi in the end, his words sounding like nothing more than a weak echo as the lights went out and they disappeared completely.
Still the sound of her teacher's voice rang inside her head even after they were gone.
The area turned back into the rocky deep crater, still swirling with dust and no lights was to be seen.
Only the dead body of master Yasu was left behind, and the small group of seven ninja and one unconscious one was standing behind her in shocked silence.
It contrasted vastly to the huge group of people who'd been there only moments before.
The Hokage was trying to absorb it all, the souls encouraging shouts. Naruto's explanations and pain. He studied the back of her head where she stood motionlessly and alone.
Both men stepped forwards at the same time as Naruto finally collapsed. Her body was shaking violently as she cried her heart out at last. While her face was covered in her hands she succumbed to her own agony. Her desperate longing for those she'd lost.
They looked hopelessly on, knowing there was nothing they could do or say to ease her suffering, and that all they could do was be there.
Doing their best to make her understand there was still someone who loved her left in this world. People who counted and needed her.
But Naruto was lost to them in that moment. She gave no regards to the confused expressions they shared, or the small twitch in Katsu's hand as he started gaining his consciousness again, nor the finally comprehending light in Hashirama's eyes.
Right then, all she could do was let herself mourn what would never be.
Author Note: Thank you so much for reading everyone! The chapter had been beta'd by Jayden-the-Jaded who as always has done a wonderful job.
Warning: Loooong rant ahead.
It's a long time since last update, but in return I give you a very long one! I went a bit overboard with this chapter. I think the fight itself is like, one and a half chapter on it's own, and I just had to have the last scene included. It's over 13 000 words in total, and I really hope the fighting scene didn't bore you all to sleep… But you know, it's the final show down, and I had to make it big right? … Right?
But speaking of chapters, there's only two left of this story now!
The last is already written and is more or less ready, it just needs a few tweaks and then it's finished. Which means I've only got one more chapter to write before this is all wrapped up! That is if there's nothing I feel should be added. Or maybe I'll just make a stupidly long chapter again.
Holy crap, for a while now it felt like I'd never get to the finish line… But well, if all goes as planned there really isn't much left to write.
PS: I know how cheesy the last scene is, and yes, it was on purpose. It was one of the scenes I had planned from the beginning. I just had to drag Naruto through the mud first. I was going for bitter sweet. They use the same technique Hagoromo use to summon the past kages to the earth after their death.