I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.


Cost of Winning

Ryuu blinked as his clone's memories returned. He growled in annoyance. They had been so close. But it seemed they had failed after all. Ryuu ducked under a bone spike from Kaguya then flew sideways as she drove another at him. His clones dive bombed her from behind, a few managing to land a punch or kick, one even managing to split her back open with his tanto, but then the bone spikes sticking out of her back extended, impaling and destroying those clones too as her back mended itself.

She began to fly around, slaughtering Naruto's clones, chasing him as his clones tried to slow her down. It was no use. She was to powerful. Suddenly, Ryuu sensed Obito's chakra and spun to look just as they reappeared. Obito landed on his hands and knees, Sakura landed on one knee, and Sasuke landed on his feet.

"It's Sasuke!" a Naruto clone shouted.

"Well I'll be damned," Ryuu grinned flying toward them as Sasuke sprinted away from the other two to join in the fight.

Just as Ryuu landed, however, he heard Naruto shout and Sasuke skidded to a stop. Ryuu did as well, spinning. Naruto was wrapped in Kaguya's hair with a bone spike through his abdomen. Time seemed to slow. Naruto's skin began to crack and turn to ash. Then, just as he began to crumble, he exploded into a cloud of smoke. Kaguya drew back in surprise, then looked around. Ryuu grinned, turning and sprinting to Obito and Sakura, resting his hand on Obito's shoulder and transferring him some chakra.

"Thanks," Obito said standing as Naruto landed in front of Sasuke.

"Now that Sasuke's back, this is going to get ugly," Ryuu said. "She's going to try and kill us all at once."

"Agreed," Obito nodded. "We should be ready for anything."

Kaguya spread her arms and suddenly, gravity hurt. Ryuu and Obito crashed to the ground, Sakura doing the same. Ryuu looked around, seeing Naruto's clones falling, exploding against the tiny pyramids that made up the ground. They were compacted into stone, not sand as Ryuu's clone had thought. Gravity was ridiculously powerful here. Even Kaguya was on her hands and knees, struggling not to fall flat. Just as Naruto crashed down beside Sasuke, Kaguya began to raise her hand. Ryuu tried to stand but could barely move. Obito was struggling to move as well. And the others. Hinata was fighting desperately to move so she could shield Naruto. Ryuu knew that if anyone had the determination to save him, it was her. But he couldn't let her. Naruto would never forgive him.

Kaguya raised her other hand, a bone spike extending from it and aimed at Sasuke. Ryuu's eyes widened. She was going to kill both. There was no way to stop both. Not without a sacrifice. She fired, the spikes streaking through the air. Naruto and Sasuke threw themselves away from each other, barely avoiding the spikes. They wouldn't be able to forever, though. And this time, they were flat on the ground, unable to move. Suddenly, Obito was running past Ryuu. He was slow, barely able to move, but he was running. Kakashi was running too. Ryuu tried to stand. He couldn't. He was too heavy. Kakashi would be fine. Obito would never let him die. But Obito would still die. Rin would never forgive Ryuu for letting him die just after they were brought together again. Ryuu looked to Fu. She was watching him. She knew. They both knew what he was going to do. She smiled, tears falling from her eyes. And she nodded.

"Fifth Gate of Pain, open!" Ryuu shouted pushing himself up just as Obito and Kakashi stopped in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

Sure enough, Obito instantly activated Kamui to save Kakashi.

"Tobi..." Ryuu began, sprinting forward.

"I know," Tobi said, opening from around Ryuu's head, allowing him to see fully. "It's time to repay my debt. I'm glad I was able to be your friend Ryuu."

"Same," Ryuu nodded, using the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing in a flash of light.

Just as Obito finished sending the spike that would have killed Kakashi away, just as his was about to impale him, Ryuu appeared in a flash of light, shouldering Obito aside. The spike drilled itself through his abdomen and he fell to his knees, the fifth gate closing and blood spraying out of his mouth. Everyone froze, staring at him.

"You...but...why?" Obito breathed. "Why save me? After everything I've done!"

"Because you still haven't gotten a second chance," Ryuu said. "Besides, Rin would kill me if I let you die."

"But...why sacrifice yourself?" Obito asked.

"Because winning comes a cost," Ryuu said simply.

Suddenly, Sasuke was beside Kaguya, attacking her. Just as suddenly, everyone had been transported to the same dimension where Obito had opened rifts to search for Sasuke. Kaguya shot into the air, avoiding Sasuke who stopped, turning back to Ryuu.

"Sorry Sasuke," Ryuu smiled. "Looks like you're on your own."

Naruto suddenly shouted in rage, flying into the air after Kaguya, attacking her as fast as he could as Sasuke walked back over.

"You don't have to go," Sasuke said. "You could use your Mangekyo Sharingan to make it so you are immune to the jutsu."

"I could," Ryuu smiled nodding. "But using that ability now would kill me anyway. Besides, this way it's painless."

The others all arrived a moment later, tears in all of their eyes.

"You'd better stop her Sasuke," Ryuu said. "Don't let me die for nothing. And tell Naruto he'd better become Hokage before Obito, otherwise he'll be taking orders from a kid."

"Hey, I'm not really a kid you know!" Obito snapped but smiled all the same.

"I'm sorry you had to sacrifice yourself," Hinata said, tears streaming down her face.

"What, you think it'd be better if you did it?" Ryuu smiled. "No. It's better this way. I was never going to survive this war. My body's already running on borrowed time. My ability to rewrite reality shortens my lifespan. A lot. I had maybe a year left, after bringing back Obito and Rin."

"But...you could have lived longer," Hinata said. "You could have been with Fu for real."

"Like I said, this is the cost of winning," Ryuu said. "Someone had to die. And this way, I can be with Fu. Forever."

His left hand suddenly crumbled into dust and his smile faded.

"I better do this fast," Ryuu said, holding a hand over his eyes then over Kakashi's.

When he dropped his hand, Kakashi had two Sharingan in place of his normal eyes.

"They'll disappear when Kaguya dies," Ryuu warned. "Under no circumstance are you allowed to rewrite history. It'll kill you before your genjutsu can even turn real. Sasuke."

He held out his hand and Sasuke walked forward, resting his in it. A moment later, Ryuu had his pointer and middle finger on Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke's eyes widened and Ryuu let his arm drop.

"That's about it I guess," Ryuu sighed, his entire right arm crumbling. "I'll be watching everyone."

"I'll see you on the other side Ryuu," Fu smiled, placing her hands on either side of his face.

He smiled and she leaned forward, kissing him. However, the moment she made contact, he disintegrated.


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