Chapter 23 you guys!

To my guest, you did not have to wait that long! I am back!

Alic

His head was pounding, giving off terribly confusing images. He couldn't get his tired eyes to focus long enough to survey his surroundings. If he had to guess, Ranginui has dazed him and he was still in the other world with his brother... His brother!

Alic shot bolt right, immediately regretting such a force of movement. He clutched his head, groaning. A heavy weight crushed his chest making air whoosh out his mouth. Cough after cough to retrieve lost breath almost made Alic miss the small sobs and tears at his clothed chest. A mop of black met him, not in its usual confines on top neatly of its owner's head. He had to carefully blink to refocus sight. Ezraeil was the weight, the sobs, and the tears. How did his youngest brother get to the Nether?

"I thought you were dead." He didn't recognize that gravelly tone nor why it thought he was dead. "You just. You didn't move for so long, older brother." The Hebrew was so clear and fluent it could only belong to three people, and one of them did not speak. The other two do not call him older brother.

"Ez-Ezraeil?" His voice was strange as well, not being used in quite sometime, how much he could not gage.

"Anaru is awake, has been, I thought you were dead." His cries never once ceased, making his sentences strangled making it nearly impossible to understand.

"I'm not dead, but... you. You speak?" Alic was flabbergasted, it hadn't been since ancient Greek times that he had the pleasure of speaking with his young brother.

"Eima ran off, no one could stop her because no one knew! She went to face Anaru's Father alone! I haven't been able to sense her for hours! I can't even sense Uncle Poseidon or Zeus!" He carried on, but Alic could not hear past his tears. He could make out key words like 'mother' and 'uncle' but past that he wasn't sure he knew what was being conversed.

"Where's your brother?" He pat Ezraeil on the, a gesture loved by him and known to calm him immensely.

"I am right here." He failed to notice his brother was in fact sulking by the sofa Alic lied on. He was curled up with his knees to his chest, head on folded arms on top of his legs. His wild hair seemed so much more tamed than when he last saw him. Small cuts littered the scantly clad boy. Some fresh, some starting to heal. It was an unusual situation.

Anaru had a knack for keeping his skin as smooth, if not smoother, than his mothers, taking great pride in his child like shape. Why were there cuts all over him like that? Had his Father done that?

"Anaru-." Ezraeil moved off his brother so the other could cautiously approach his other brother.

"Don't." Anaru growled filling the air with a dark unhappiness.

"Anaru. He did this?"

Anaru refused to answer. Alic sat next to his brother as Ezraeil brought over some sort of human bandages. Alic started cleaning the wounds before prompting Anaru to properly seal them off. Anaru didn't acknowledge he heard a word. So he tied the cloth on some of the larger gashes then pulled both children into his lap.

"Mother is fine. I promise you this." Ezraeil was first to hug his brother back.

"How do you know?" Anaru sniffed, curling into his caretaker.

"Because she is our mother. She just will be." He knew without a shadow of doubt that his mother was in good hands.

Ereshkigal

"Dear, would you please relax?"

"No way, Eima! This is too much fun! Chase me, Alic!"

"Chase yourself."

"Eima! Tell him to chase me!"

"Alic, indulge your brother."

"Fine."

The sun felt like pure bliss on her skin. She sat gently on the picnic blanket letting the cool breeze flow through her loose locks. Her emerald irises watched as her eldest reluctantly stood to follow after his brother. Her middle child had his head on her lap, enjoying the sun bathing nap. She had laced together daisies and out a crown on each of her sons. Ezraeil loved it, saying he was Persephone, Alic didn't seem to mind, her middle would protest greatly once conscious.

"Eima, look!" She turned to Ezraeil on Alic's shoulders. "I'm so tall!" She gave a chuckle, looking down at the waking child.

"Mmph. You guys are loud." He sat up, sleepily rubbing his eye while grumbling in Maori.

"And you have strange sleeping habits." Alic muttered.

"As do you." Ereshkigal laughed.

"Eima! What did they say?" Ezraeil frowned.

"That they are some of the strangest boys known to Gods." Ezraeil laughed, squirming to be put down. He ran over to Anaru, tackling him to the blanket. The two grunted and wrestled till Alic picked both up, effectively separating the two.

The Goddess laughed, feeling the breeze once more.

Her body was sore. Any small movement felt like a never-ending hell. It was nice to just lie on the dirt without a care. They had done the impossible and she deserved to not move for an hour. No healing herself, no speech, nothing to obscure the serenity of this moment. Bask in their glory.

She could sense them all with no interruption. Zeus and Hera were by Poseidon to her north, the eight tails moving away from the destruction site, and God with a few of her angels by the humans. A few of the other Gods were helping Tsunade, picking the humans out the soils. But silence surrounded the four on the ground, a soft breeze caressing the hair and skin. Craning her neck was the most painful physical experience she'd endured. Naruto at her left smiling at the warm sun. His mother sat with his head on her lap, fingers stroking blond spikes. Sasuke was less than enthused, choosing to lie at her right, a bit of dried blood on his scowling face. Ereshkigal looked back towards the sky, a smile of her own forming.

"If that is not the most reckless display of showboating," Zeus sat by her head, a tired Hera leaning on his arm. Poseidon had joined them to, but next to his nephew, poking his ribs to check the damage.

"You know that hurts, stop causing unnecessary discomfort." Sasuke groaned, too worn out to fight back.

"Just making sure you are you." His uncle flopped down, long hair falling into Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke attempted to swat it away but was met by a startling, sharp soreness in his arm. "You are the worst."

It was noiseless once more. Sakura closed her eyes in hopes to replenish her energy.

"Your sons are-." Hera started.

"Can wait. I cannot stand." Sakura struggled to look at her human. "You are you, right?"

Sasuke kept his eyes sealed, the rise and fall of his chest her only indication he had not passed. "I think so. Susano'o's power is no longer around."

"But why?" Zeus piped up from behind his sexualized book.

Sasuke thought. "His family was in danger, I was the best way to execute his vendetta."

Ereshkigal smiled again. "Now that he is free, he and his siblings shall be reborn."

Sasuke grunted back. Sakura sat up with trouble only to topple onto Sasuke's evidently broken ribs. "That really hurts."

"My apologizes, but." She couldn't help it. They had won. Ranginui was dismembered and limbs incinerated, soul being taken on by the ever-calm Madara. Madara was the only one next to Sakura who could posses such a being without being overtaken. Uranus' soul has slipped off, surely a problem for another day. For now, the Mesopotamian Goddess wanted nothing more than to kiss Sasuke senseless. And senseless was how she did do it. He never once complained. As far as Sasuke thought, he had earned such a display of affection. Even if he wanted her off, he didn't have the strength to move her.

"Let's go home." Ereshkigal whispered.

"Aa."

"Eima!" The sudden invasion of sound was not unwelcomed. She had missed that voice, that sweet melodic wave of her youngest son's cry. Although aching, Sakura limped to her baby, feeling Kakashi's hand under her arm to help steady her. He carefully hugged his mother as if knowing she hurt. Choked out cries as he coughed and sobbed.

"My son. Oh my baby." Sakura fell to the ground, scooping the boy into her arms and kissing every space on his face. Alic stood next to them only to be dragged down by his mother into the, now, group embrace. "My boys." She kissed both boys relentlessly. "You're safe." The pair laughed, hugging and kissing her back. They released her to attack their father-like figures, Zeus and Poseidon.

Anaru looked sullen, straying from the fray, blazing irises down casted. Her anger rose at the sight of her middle child. Tattered cloth barely covering his marred skin, hair tangled, dried tears streaked on his cheeks.

Wobbly, Sakura made her way to him. "Anaru." He did not acknowledge her. "Anaru." She gave more sternly only to be ignored. She snarled. Before her judgment could tell her not to, she had backhanded her child, angry growls rumbling from her heaving chest. She then yanked him into her arms, fresh tears leaving both parties. "Never. Never do this to your family and me again do you understand? I thought I lost you. What would I do then? I was so afraid. Don't do this to me ever again." Anaru just nodded. "My darling boy. I love you. Don't ever think otherwise."

Anaru sobbed, clinging to his mother. "I love you so much."

Short chapter today

Longer chapter will be posted later on Monday. I squeezed Chapter 24, 25, and 26 into just one large epilogue.

So final Chapter soon!