Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! The last chapter was pretty brutal, and if you saw it coming, congratulations, if not then I threw you for a loop. Anyways, the War Arc is now coming to a close, though this story is still far from over. Just to answer a few questions that came up in the reviews: No, this will not be a Naru/Hina pairing, however, there will be another girl in Naruto's future. It's still somewhat undecided as to who it will end up being, but rest assured I won't let him end the tale alone.


Chapter 16

Consuming Regret


Blood. Gore. It was everywhere across the battlefield, the Sannin noticed as he slowly and carefully approached his kneeling protégé. The former sector of the village that the blonde shinobi had sealed off in an effort to buy Jiraiya time to deal with Orochimaru no longer stood as it once had. Nearly every building in the vicinity had been collapsed at some point, with only one or two of the smaller ones actually remaining standing, the rest either used as collateral damage in an attack or destroyed in the aftermath of one. The old, white haired Sage had seen many battlefields, and partaken in just as many as he'd seen, yet this on surprised even him.

As he walked across it, the large broad shouldered man clutched the stump that had become his left arm, gritting his teeth at the pain the recent wound caused. Though he had managed to defeat and kill his former teammate and friend, it had not come without a great cost, as the Snake Summoner had managed to get off one final attack with his Kusangi Blade, slicing the man's left arm off just under his shoulder itself. Jiraiya had since cleaned and cauterized the wound, cleaning it as best he could, but the Toad Sage already knew there was no hope of recovery from a wound like this. Orochimaru had truly given him something to remember him by in their final moments.

But with his death, Otogakure was sure to surrender, bringing about an end to all the conflict, at least for now. Konohagakure, though it hadn't lost any of its truest heavy hitting shinobi, had still lost a decent amount of their normal forces, and as such many families in the village would need time to heal, mourn, and rebuild. And that is what they would do, they'd done it before, and Kami knew that the village would rebuild again. Jiraiya shook his head slowly as he walked through the battered village of Oto that had become Naruto's battleground, absentmindedly stepping over the body of one of Orochimaru's Lieutenants, Jirōbō, if he remembered the man's name correctly from the briefing.

Moving through the remnants of the village, the Toad Sage came across a large crater, and as he walked along the edge of it he whistled slightly, noticing yet another mangled body inside of where the epicenter of the blast had been. Naruto had certainly done a number on his enemies, it seemed, so why couldn't he find the blonde, or his girlfriend, for that matter? The two had promised that they would come to reinforce him as he fought Orochimaru once they finished up with the man's bodyguards, but they had never shown up. As Jiraiya came up and over a small hill, the answer to all his questions would be revealed.

Before the large man's frame had crossed the crest of the hill, his eyes had widened fully, his legs already moving into a quick sprint as he sped towards the kneeling figure of his Godson, his pulsing chakra telling him all he needed to know, but he still prayed that his senses were wrong as he came upon them, Naruto not even bothering to look at him, his body unflinching in the late afternoon rain. Jiraiya stopped a few short feet away from him, taking in his surroundings in a combination of horror and amazement. Some very large level jutsu had been thrown around here, the residual chakra was still in the air, making it heavy and obese, almost like a smog obstructing one's breath. There was the faintest hint of demonic chakra, but not nearly enough to have even been the release of a single tail.

The Toad Sage approached the blonde slowly, doing his best to ignore the mutilated and tortured corpses were laying nearby, placing his right hand on the blonde Jounin's left shoulder, squeezing it softly and doing his best to comfort the young man just by being there for him. He knew that at a time like this, Naruto wasn't even going to listen to a single word he said, his body having muted itself to the outside as he held what had become his entire world in his arms. For as much as the white haired man had teased him about it, he knew that the blonde had truly loved the woman he held in his arms, and for all he knew, and all he had experienced, there was nothing he could do or say to fully comfort him.

Naruto simply sat in the dirt, Kaze no Karitoriki laying in the dirt, having been dropped there haphazardly by the blonde in his rush. His clothes, once pristine and new, were in tatters around his defined body, splattered with the blood of his fallen enemies, and caked in places from the mud he had been sitting in. The long blue scarf he wore around his waist, the same one he had taken from Konoharmu's lifeless body as he held the boy in his arms as he breathed his last, now had a few more tatters and tears in it, the blonde shinobi would have to get it repaired again.

In his arms, Naruto clutched the soulless form that had once been the vibrant and obnoxious Tayuya. The former Oto shinobi he had fallen head over heels for, irrevocably and irreversibly in love with. He had closed her eyes some time before, and if one were to only see the once gorgeous woman's face, it would almost appear as if she were sleeping. Unfortunately, this was an impossible task for the blonde, his eyes almost always being drawn back to the small, fist sized hole that marked her left breast, directly over where her heart had been. That had been the instrument of the redhead's destruction, really.

Her heart had let her forgive her sister for all of her transgressions against her, and in one final moment, Tayuya had wanted to be nothing more than sisters with Guren again, remembering the blissful times that the two had spent together when they were younger. It hadn't been to be though, and Guren, ever the ruthless warrior had seen her opening and struck without remorse, killing her only family and kin left that she had in the world. There had been a scream, but it was unknown if it came from Tayuya or Guren, or perhaps it had originated from both of them in the same instant, no one would ever know. And really, it didn't matter, because while Guren had killed her own sister in cold blood, the woman lie dead a short distance away. Naruto had personally seen to her demise.

The blonde almost flinched when he felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder, but he only just managed to keep his bearing, not that he cared or was actively even trying anymore. All of his attention was focused on the woman in his arms as he sat there on his knees, desperately hoping that she would wake up and call him 'Shithead', just one last time, that this was some sort of elaborate joke, though he knew deep in his heart of hearts that wasn't the case. His love, his Tayuya was gone, and it was his fault. He hadn't been fast enough, hadn't been strong enough to kill his enemies quickly and return to her.

As his thoughts began to regress into those of anger, Naruto raised his head back, his normally vibrant hair falling back behind his head as he opened his mouth, his cobalt blue eyes staring into the clouds overhead, the rain striking his iris's themselves, but he no longer cared. The blonde wanted to cry, but no tears would come anymore, they'd stopped hours ago. He opened his mouth to scream, to curse the world, so question Kami himself, but no sound left his lips. The Last Uzumaki, with all his enemies dead at his feet, with victory on his lips, knelt on the ground, a broken man.


Flashback

The blonde had only just come into contact with Sakon/Udon, throwing several kunai around the man and beginning to flash to them, when he heard the scream. Flashing a safe distance away from the Oto Shinobi, Naruto turned his head over his shoulder, and in seemingly slow motion, his bangs brushing across his face, his eyes widening in horror, his blood running cold, the Last Uzumaki's body tensed, his heart feeling as though he had taken one of Kakashi's Raikiri's straight through it. At the opposite end of the barrier was a kneeling Tayuya, with her older sister Guren kneeling in front of the redhead, only mere inches away. Naruto himself screamed out her name in anguish, flashing forward as fast as he could as his love fell, slipping from the outstretched hand of her sister.

Everything was moving in slow motion for Naruto as he flashed to Tayuya, already creating several clones in his wake to occupy his enemies as he caught her as the redhead fell, her face filling his vision as he desperately tried to keep her from falling asleep. Naruto couldn't remember what he said as he held her in his trembling arms, or how he tried to comfort her in her final moments as he held her. He flashed them a small distance away from the ongoing battle between his clones, creating more of them to fill his absence as he fought desperately with himself to keep from shaking, urgently trying to perform first aid, and cursing himself for not knowing medical Ninjutsu.

Naruto was pulled from his efforts when a kunai pierced his army of Kage Bunshin, impacting deeply inside the lower left of his back, causing the blonde to scream out in pain and anguish, the scream turning into a moan as he pulled his gaze from Tayuya's wound and perceiving for the first time that she wasn't breathing, and likely hadn't been for several minutes. Noticing that her heart was no longer beating, and knowing that it would never do such again. Her eyes were unblinking, her usually vibrant brown orbs now a mere shadow of themselves, so dark and dull and empty. It was more than the blonde could take. The final realization that Tayuya was gone struck him like a train…

And it had broken him.

Naruto wordlessly created one more clone of himself, somberly passing the body of his deceased lover into its arms before he turned around, facing his final three enemies. The blonde began walking towards them, the two figures standing side by side as they waited, watching the approaching man with apprehension. This was a completely different man than the one that they had started the fight with, and both had already known he was quite dangerous. But the Last Uzumaki seemed changed somehow as he approached him, the death of his girlfriend having affected him greatly.

It wasn't like it was written in books or the movies he had seen. There was no pause in the battle as he had one final heartfelt goodbye with her. She hadn't coughed through her words, yet managed to get out a final confession, there was nothing. Tayuya's death had been over before either of them knew it, and he had spent the entire time desperately trying to revive her, and all to no avail. He had no time to grieve, there were still enemies he needed to deal with, and to the blonde, both were equally guilty in the death of his beloved. He would make them pay the price in blood.

As he talked closer to Guren and Sakon/Ukon, the blonde's eyes flashed a murderous red briefly, his self-control only just holding back his righteous fury. His fists, clenching and unclenching, hard enough to briefly draw blood in his palms before his healing factor cleared them up. He'd make these two pay. He no longer cared about holding back out of concern for others. These Oto shinobi were dead men walking even if they didn't know it yet.

Naruto flashed to the kunai that had been placed around the two, his sword falling easily into his grasp as he appeared and disappeared around them, the cold, icy look never leaving his features. Guren was the first to begin sustaining damage as various cuts began appearing over her body, though they were still quite shallow due to her crystal armor. The blonde apparently was focusing his attacks on them one at a time, focusing his rage and hurt onto a single target, the object of which soon would no longer be standing. Sakon/Ukon picked up on this almost immediately, Ukon separating from his brother and hiding back in the ground, Sakon beginning to gain some distance between the two as their comrade was assaulted.

Before Guren had the chance to increase her defense or fight back, several versions of the blonde shinobi appeared around her, another two immediately grabbing ahold of her arms, and through a clever application of chakra, grounded themselves, and completely rooted the Kunoichi in place. The purple haired kin-slayer never stood a chance from the coming assault. The clones around her began flashing through their hand seals, each one beginning to mold their chakra as the woman began crying out in pain from the original's assault on her body.

Naruto appeared before her, grabbing hold of her arm before flashing behind her, bringing the offending limb with him, pulling it down in a sickening show of strength, smiling at the distinctive snapping noise it made when broken. The blonde then reappeared in front of the woman who had killed his beloved, striking out with his left foot and impacting her right kneecap, bending it inwards and reveling in the woman's scream of pain. He flashed to her side, gripping her restrained arm and delivered a crushing palm strike to the rear of her elbow, grinning as the blood from the wound splashed upon the ground. Naruto moved slowly around behind her, kicking out her remaining leg and sent the woman crashing to the ground, before he appeared directly in front of the fallen kunoichi.

He reached down, gripping her chin softly in his hand before he raised it up, caressing her cheek almost as he would have his precious Tayuya, before Kaze no Karitoriki flashed across her eyes, cutting both of her black orbs across the center, blinding the girl for what would be the rest of her life. Before she could scream, the blonde Jounin had crouched down in front of the woman, covering her mouth and talking in a low tone that came out as more of a growl than anything else.

"Guren… Tayuya was able to forgive you for everything you had done to her. But me? I don't think that I can. Because she asked me to, I allowed her to fight you, so she could come to terms with her past. But me? I don't think I can forgive you for this…" The blonde trailed off as he stood, flashing away to face Sakon as the five clones surrounding the fallen and blind woman called out in complete unison the name of their technique, their range so close and their opponent so broken that there was no possible way for her to escape. "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!)"

By the time the flames on her body would die down, there would be nothing left but a burnt and charred husk of a body, small evidence of multiple broken bones covering her body, and little image of small cuts crisscrossing over her. The body itself would be completely unrecognizable in the state it was in. In the end, no one would mourn the death of Guren, final user of her families Crystal Release Kekkie Genkai, Lieutenant to Orochimaru. She wouldn't even get a grave, not enough left of her body for a crow to feed upon. Naruto cared little, he was already locked into combat with Sakon, though in his ruthless state it was evident he was merely toying with his enemy.

Sakon had given up on the fight, he knew he had lost the moment Guren was torn apart. The entire Sound Four/Five would end up being killed by this man. In hindsight, they should have known they had no chance of winning. The blonde menace had killed Kimimaro, after all, a man who had taken all four of the sound shinobi on at once and still come out on top, they never stood a chance. But Sakon had to fight, he had no choice. The barrier the brat had set up was still running, and he had no idea when or if it would fall. So there he was, currently lunging and swinging at the Konoha Ninja in a frenzied manner, for all the good it did.

He didn't even register the first blow that struck him, Naruto's family blade slashing through his arm like it was butter on a hot day, the volatile nature of wind chakra flashing about the blade. Sakon's arm fell dully to the side, the monster that remained of the former man looking at it briefly before crying out in pain as his black blood spurted from the wound. "Don't worry, I'll cauterize it for you." Naruto whispered, his voice somehow carrying on the breeze that generated from his incredible speed, the man himself appearing on the left side of the brown skinned man, his second level curse seal keeping him on his feet.

"Katon: Hi no ken. (Fire Release: Fist of Fire.)." The flames burst into a quick existence on Naruto's left fist, his right still clutching his blade as he forced his burning fist into Sakon's appendage, just above his elbow. The smell of burning flesh pierced his nose as he did so, and the sound of Sakon screaming in pain filled his ears, but still he refused to stop, continuing to pour chakra into the double edged jutsu. The blonde Jounin flashed behind Sakon, unsealing a Fuuma Shuriken and catching the spinning ring in his hand, launching it at the wounded man, catching him straight in the back, causing him to stumble forward as he took the impact.

The blonde shinobi wasted no time, allowing his opponent to suffer just enough before a new attack would pierce him, letting him recover just enough before a new blade or fist would strike him, forcing him into more pain, again and again. Sakon stood, finally after bearing so many attacks, his body battered, defiantly rising to face his enemy, before he felt a sharp sting on his left leg, catching only a small glimpse of Kaze no Karitoriki flashing before his eyes as he fell. Naruto stood in front of the man, glaring down at his final opponent, his sword held tightly in his hand, blood still dripping from its perfectly finished blade. The two stood for a moment, before the ruthless shinobi of Konohagakure raised his sword above his head in a slow and showy motion, flashing the blade down in an arc and separating the man's head from his shoulders.

All was quiet for a mere second as the blonde stood, absentmindedly noting that he was beginning to get quite wet from the rain. And as the decapitated head of Sakon rolled off of the roof, Ukon made his move against the Last Uzumaki, his level two cursed seal allowing his demonic looking body to easily merge with Naruto's, the disfigured man wasting do words as he began to destroy his adversary at a molecular level, decomposing his composition down to the core. Naruto, however, simply looked over to the head that had grown out of his shoulder, seemingly not the least bit surprised, as he calmly took his katana in a reverse grip, and stabbed it brutally through his stomach, twisting it as he did so.

Ukon cried out in pain while the blonde he was symbiotically attached to merely gave a grunt of pain. Naruto had all the Intel he needed from his dearly departed, he knew that when Ukon finally attacked him and showed himself by connecting their bodies, he was most vulnerable. No one would have expected him to attack his enemy at the expense of himself, but here he was, the blonde didn't believe he had anything to lose anymore. As Ukon disconnected himself from the blonde killer, he didn't even have time to run, Naruto had grabbed the man's skull in one hand, dropping his sword and slowly forming a Rasengan in his other. He didn't say a word as he brought the two together in the center of his body, never blinking as the bits of blood, brain, and bone splattered across his features. His feelings were shut off.

Naruto dropped the lifeless husk of a body that had been Ukon, kicking it away in anger before his clone dropped next to him, having stayed out of range of the entire fight. The broken blonde man looked to his right, taking the body of his beloved in his arms as the clone dispersed. He brought his hand up to her face, slowly brushing a small strand of her beautiful red hair out of her face and behind her ear, like he had so many times before. Even in death, she was the most gorgeous woman he had laid eyes upon.

Naruto never noticed that he had collapsed to his knees, the entire rest of the world forgotten as he desperately held onto the one person in the world he had come to love more than life itself.

End Flashback


Hatake Kakashi, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, known under such monikers as 'Copy-Cat-Kakashi' and 'Kakashi of the Sharingan', rubbed his temples in frustration. It had been roughly a month sense the fall of Otogakure, bringing about the end of the insurrection of Oto/Taki/Kusa to a close, and the war to an end. The village had taken some hits during the conflict, most notably the death of the Sandaime Hokage and that of Team Ebisu, one of the triggering events of the war, but they had come out on top, and had even managed to take down one of their most longstanding adversaries, Orochimaru.

This wasn't to come without a price though, as Jiraiya had lost his arm in the conflict, and then there was Naruto… The masked Jounin sighed softly, he knew the pain of tragedy and loss quite well, and before he had been pulled from his self-induced self-hatred and loathing by the responsibilities thrust upon him as the Hokage. It had been a good thing, in hindsight, for him to take up this job. It finally got his mind off of the past, on onto the present, and the future. It was because of his newfound insight that he was worried for the son of his mentor, and the whole reason he had actually noticed.

The masked Hokage had to do something about the young man, he knew that. Naruto had personally requested to be reinstated as an ANBU, he wanted his old mask back, his division too. The boy believed that he had lost everything, no matter how much his few friends tried to tell him otherwise. That was when Jiraiya had come forth with his plan. The old Toad Sage may have been crippled, for even the legendary medic that was Tsunade could do nothing for a completely severed limb, could still offer his services as a sensei, and he wanted to take Naruto to Mt. Myōboku, to train him in the sage arts with the Toads.

Jiraiya was of the belief that the serenity of the summon's mountain and the training itself might be able to push Naruto out of the state he had been in, and while it certainly wouldn't return him to his normal state overnight, it could start him on the long road to self-redemption. As it was, the blonde was chomping at the bits to be assigned on missions, and while he made it clear he was displeased with being assigned anything other than an A or S-Ranked missions, he still went about them with his usual professional measure. In a professional sense, Naruto's mission mindset was still sound, but it was his resting mind that was the cause for worry.

Naruto wasn't sleeping, anyone could confirm that. He was always training, somehow, somewhere. Even now, the blonde was out with Gai and his own protégé, Rock Lee, and was putting their stamina to the test. The blonde was running himself into the ground until he could barely stand, and when he physically couldn't train, the Last Uzumaki spent his time at the memorial stone, staring at many of the names that he himself had personally carved into it. Every shinobi or kunoichi that had died under his command, he had carved their name into the stone. Every Genin, barely out of the academy that had been sent to the front and killed, Naruto had been the one to inform their parents and family. The blonde felt it was his duty to do so, he had been their commander, and they were his responsibility.

So, Naruto trained. And then he trained some more, and then he visited the memorial stone, and then he trained again. If he wasn't training he was mourning, or he was on a mission. The man was sinking, Kakashi could tell, he had been there himself. Going on missions, killing all those who opposed him, Naruto was in the beginning stages of losing his humanity. The loss of Tayuya had crushed him beyond belief, and the young man hadn't exactly been in the best state beforehand. The praise he received for his efforts during the war hadn't helped, either. For as much as people praised him, all he could see was that he failed to protect those closest to him.

Kakashi blinked slowly, opening his visible eye before he signed off on the request Jiraiya had made. Naruto would go to Mt. Myōboku, under orders from the Hokage himself, and he was not to return until he had mastered Senjutsu and was of clear mind and body, under Jiraiya's discretion. Now, all that was left was to break the news to the blonde that he would be leaving in a week, the man stood up, vanishing from his office in the swirl of a shunshin.

He already knew where the mourning blonde would be.


Flashback

The funeral for Tayuya hadn't been very large, with less than thirty in attendance, far smaller than the large funerals of the Hokage and Konohamaru. Tayuya hadn't made a lot of friends during her stay in Konoha, but dammit if she wasn't respected. During the war she had shown her true colors and full allegiance to the Leaf, and for most that was enough. In attendance to the small ceremony was the Hokage Himself, having become somewhat found of the foul mouthed kunoichi, and there were also the full teams of Squads Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten, all of who had worked with her at some point during the war.

Surprisingly, Mitarashi Anko showed up as well, the two having become fast friends after an initial scuffle. There were others around as well, friends, acquaintances here and there, with Naruto himself standing center and front. There had been a few speeches, as was custom in Konoha, but Naruto himself hadn't been able to find his voice during the ordeal. When it came time to light her pyre though, the Lone Uzumaki had approached the casket alone, placing the small obsidian flute he had gotten her mere days ago in her soft, cold hands, before he took a few steps back, flashing his hands through seals through tear stained eyes, calling out his jutsu in a voice barely above a whisper. "Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Majestic Destroying Flame!), exhaling a long, constant stream of white-hot fire, lighting the pyre alight, a flame which would burn fiercely despite the falling rain.

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching the fire burn. It was over a day though, as the funeral had started in the early morning, and he hadn't finally dragged himself away from the ashes until the following night, making his way to the funeral stone and staring at it for what felt as hours, until he could finally bring himself to stab his kunai into the stone, carving her name slowly and eloquently into it, apologizing to her from beyond the grave the whole time. With every letter crying out her name in anguish, every syllable filled with regret for not being able to save her.

As he stepped slightly back and choked back his tears, he apologized one final time before he finally turned and left the area. He had work to do.

End Flashback


Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as his Hokage joined him, standing in front of the Konoha Memorial Stone, neither acknowledging the others presences, for now both content to stand in a comfortable silence. Kakashi allowed himself to slightly regress into the state he had formerly been in, mourning for the loss of all of his fallen comrades for several minutes as he stood next to the son and legacy of his Sensei. He signed softly under his mask, before he pulled his familiar orange book out from his pocket and began to speak, though the blonde next to him remained silent, his arms crossed over his chest, like a silent sentinel of the monument.

"In the shinobi world, those that break the written and unwritten rules are deemed trash... but be that as it may, those that would disregard their comrades so easily are even worse than trash. And those who don't have the decency to respect the memories of their comrades are the worst. I really am... Shinobi trash. But the one thing I still learned is this. That void is something that everyone helps you fill. Just because you face adversity and hardships, is no reason to give up on this world. A person willing to throw away all those memories... of their friends and comrades, will never find peace of mind. Resorting to something like that isn't going to bury that hole. If you persevere and endure, someone will be there to support you, always. You just have to find them."

The masked man looked down at the slightly shorter blonde, happy to see that his words were apparently registering with the boy, as he was now looking Kakashi dead in the eye, though he still wasn't talking, prompting the Hokage to continue. "I've been around longer than you have, Naruto, and I've seen my share of troubles. You're not the only one who knows what it's like to lose somebody." The man let out a quick sigh, turning the page of his book as he did so. "It looks like neither of us has led a charming life, have we? Still, it's not that bad. At least you and I have been lucky enough to find new comrades to help fill the void."

The Godaime pulled a small scroll from his back pouch, tossing it to the blonde shinobi who deftly caught it, looking at his superior questioningly, thought the man had already begun to walk away, and raising one hand over his shoulder in farewell as he left the Last Uzumaki with one last piece of sagely advice from a fellow broken man. "If comrades that you trust gather around you, hope itself can take physical form and become visible. That's what I believe..." Leaving the blonde along with his thoughts as he opened the scroll, reading it quickly before he burned it in his fingers, turning to stare back at the singular name on the memorial stone that seemed to scream at him above all the others.

"…Tayuya…"


The week had passed somewhat quickly for the Blonde Jounin, and it wasn't long before he found himself standing once again in the office of his Hokage. Beside him stood the broad frame of his Godfather, Jiraiya, the man having adapted quite well to his handicap, even sparring against his young protégé once and managing to hold his own despite his disability. Naruto hadn't said anything yet, but he was glad that the old man was doing alright, the Toad Sage was the closest thing he had to a father, and he didn't know if he would have been able to weather the death of both Tayuya and Jiraiya. As it was, he was only just holding himself together.

The blonde sighed as he listened to all of the people in the room converse about the best way to go about this training that he was supposed to undertake, and honestly it was quite irritating to say the least. To have others dictate your future is just… unsettling and belittling in its own way. That isn't to say he wasn't looking forward to getting knee deep into some hardcore training, but he would rather have done it of his own accord instead of having it decided of his own accord. He was an advocate of following orders, but everything had its extent. And with everything that had been happening recently his patience was beginning to run thin.

Naruto inhaled sharply and then exhaled the same way, calming himself and clearing his mind. It wouldn't do to lose his cool here, not now. Maybe not ever. He had come this far in life by enduring, and he would continue on, enduring everything that was thrown at him. The blonde was pulled from his musings, thinking on everything that happened over the last few months, when the Summon Toad Shima, one of the two Great Toad Sages addressed him, speaking in the odd, shrill yet croaking voice that only a toad is capable of producing.

"Are yah ready to go, Naruto-boy, Jiraiya-boy?" And then, after receiving a short nod from the two of them, she quickly flashed through the seals for the reverse summoning technique, the trio of Naruto, Jiraiya, and herself all disappearing in a short puff of smoke, leaving the Hokage's office bare except for the man sitting behind his desk, who merely gave one of his trademark eye smiles to the seemingly empty room, pulling out his all too familiar small orange book.

As the Hokage began turning the pages of it with one hand, absentmindedly reading through the novel he had read multiple times before, he sighed softly. The blonde shinobi under his charge was already quite strong, really he had proven that fact alone time and time again, constantly taking on opponents who were considerably stronger than he was. Naruto had also proven that not only could he kill his enemies, but he was quite capable in subduing them without eliminating them, as well. Hell, the young man's submission list included not only a Jinchuriki, but a full-fledged rampaging Bijuu! Then you had his kill listing of at least two S-Class threats, Shimura Danzo and Akasuna no Sasori, respectively, as well as who knows how many other Jounin and under level ninja during the war.

But for as strong as he was, the old Hatake was convinced that he wasn't strong enough to face the enemies that would soon be coming after him, and the demon sealed inside of him. The Akatsuki had been confirmed to all be high level threats, with each member being an S-Class missing Nin, powerful in their own right. Only a few members themselves had been confirmed through visual contact or the spy network that Jiraiya maintained, including Sasori, now deceased, Diedara of Iwagakure, and there was rumor that even Uchiha Itachi had joined up with the organization. Then there was the strange enigma that was the man in the orange mask, of who the leaf had nothing on.

Things were definitely going to be interesting in the coming months, that's for sure.


Author's Note:

Hey guys, bit of a shorter chapter here today, nothing too exciting on, just tying up the War Arc, and beginning the buildup for the next one. The next chapter will contain a time skip, nothing huge, only a few months or so, so don't freak out. And for those of you wondering, yes Tayuya is 100% dead. She will not be coming back to life through Pain or anything like that. There will be another woman in Naruto's life, but considering that I'm just flying by the seat of my pants on creating this fic, I haven't completely decided on who it'll be yet. Guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out.

That's all I got. Out.