CHAPTER RATING: T

Chapter 39: The Final Act, Part IV-A: The Festival of Lights

Sakura opened her eyes; she was caught by surprise when she found herself sitting on her bed, gazing blankly at the floor. She raised her arms and found that she was wearing a dark indigo kimono.

But…Wasn't I just…

It seemed like it was all a dream. As if nothing had happened.

"Sakura!" Ino's voice shot out from the hallway into her room. "Sakura! Are you ready?!" Ino rushed into the room before Sakura found the time to answer. "Geez! There you go again! Why do you just space out? Are you ready?"

What the hell is going on? What happened to Sasuke?

Sakura blinked a few times before she answered. "W-Where are we going again?"

"Don't act like you don't know! Ino jumped towards her and hugged her. She pulled away and gave her best friend a warm smile. "Tonight is the Festival of Lights!" She grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her up to her feet. "We're going to meet Shikamaru and Naruto!"

Sakura shook her head a bit before she gained her wits to reply. "R-Right. I'm ready." They walked together to the festival grounds. Konoha was decorated with hanging paper lanterns on every store, stand, and structure. The warm auras from the lanterns gathered in the sky, and from a distance, it looked as if Konoha was…

…As if Konoha was…on fire.

"Sakura-chan!" Her concentration broke with Naruto's voice. Naruto was also dressed in a kimono, styled like his usual colors: black and orange. When she looked up, her worries disappeared. "Sakura-chan…You're beautiful." He said in a single breath.

"Well…Enjoy yourselves." Shikamaru stated. He turned and began walking towards the festival stands. Ino smiled and winked at Sakura before she caught up to him, and wrapped her arms around his.

"Well…Shall we?" Naruto asked Sakura with an extended hand. Sakura felt blood rush to her face; she took her hand, and moved closer to him, as he wrapped his arm around her.

They slowly walked together; it seemed as if hours had passed within minutes. The sky was blue, when Sakura noticed the time.

"Hey! You two lovers!" A stall owner shouted to them. Sakura and Naruto turned towards him, a grizzled old man with a large scruffy beard. "Two dollars, and your deepest wish will come true!" Sakura looked at Naruto in confusion. "Come on! It can't hurt, right?"

"Well, I guess not." Naruto handed the money over to the stall owner, who handed over a lantern that resembled a small hot air balloon, and a small piece of paper. Naruto looked at the components. "How does this work?"

"It's easy!" The stall owner assured him. "Just write your wish on the piece of paper, attach it to the lantern, light the candle, and let the wind carry your wishes!"

"Thank you." Naruto nodded. He handed a brush to Sakura, dripping with ink. "Here you go, Sakura-chan. You can go first."

Sakura smiled, took the brush and began writing.

"WAIT-!" The stall owner shouted. "You can't let anyone see what you wrote! Or else the wish won't come true!"

"Okay. Don't look, Naruto." Sakura smiled.

"Alright." Naruto shrugged as he turned away.

Sakura leaned the parchment against the stall, and began to write onto it.

Her hands moved with her thoughts.

I…Want…To…

Everything stopped in a single moment. The parchment caught fire, and the world seemed to go black. Sakura was surrounded by darkness, and it seemed like nothing could save her.

She felt the stillness in the air; the world lost all sense of reality. In the torturous solitude of the dark reality that she faced, she could hear every single heartbeat. Her panicked heart started beating faster, and faster. The sound of her own heart became louder, and louder.

Then the world went silent.

Sakura's body felt cold…as cold as Death itself.

Chapter 39: The Final Act, Part IV-B: Unleashed

Naruto stood tall, his body rejuvenated by the power of the Nine-Tails. A red mist hovered around his body. He slow stepped towards Sasuke, his eyes, still possessed with the scarlet color, and the black cross. Naruto opened his right hand, in the middle of his palm, energy began to gather. The chakra began to swirl like the Rasengan.

But it was different.

After a short time swirling, the ball of blue energy became tainted with a dark violet, and compressed itself within his hand. Karin stared at him with panic and shock in her eyes.

"Move." He said in a single monotone voice. Karin shook her head in fearful defiance.

"P-Please…Naruto…Don't do anymore. Please don't kill Sasuke…I-I'll leave, we'll leave. And you'll never see us again." She pleaded.

"MOVE!" He ordered again. Karin refused to budge, instead, she threw herself onto Sasuke, covering him up even more.

"If you kill him, please, kill me first!"

Naruto paused. He raised his left hand, and took hold of her shirt. His grip tightened and he began to pull her off. He flinched as he noticed a gathering of blue energy in Sasuke's hand.

Before he could react, the energy shot out from his hand, it pierced the chakra ball that Naruto held. Naruto's eyes shot open as he noticed it. The ball began to convulse, as if it was an erratic heartbeat. Without warning, the ball exploded.

Sasuke immediately wrapped his arms around Karin, and turned away from the blast; the shockwave that resulted pushed Sasuke and Karin even further back into the desert. They landed into the soft dunes that had been formed by Sakura's unnatural southern wind.

Naruto felt the shockwave push against his chest, sending himself back towards the forests of Konoha. He shattered the trunks of the charred forests with his body. The trees fell from the impact. When he finally stopped, he stepped up to his feet, and found that he had felt no pain through the entire encounter.

He ran forward to the clearing, his mind focused on Sakura.

…

"…Karin…G-Get out of here." Sasuke managed to say in desperate breathes.

"Sasuke! Don't talk that way! I'm not going to leave you here to die." Karin replied.

"Karin…Listen to me!...Naruto wants to kill me…He has to kill me. That's it. If you leave, he won't hurt you…Please, for me, leave." He ordered again.

"No!...Sasuke, I haven't shown you this yet…But…" Karin rolled up her long sleeve shirt, and revealed a scarred arm, riddled with bite marks. She brought it up to his mouth and looked at him sternly. "…Bite down, it'll heal you...But don't bite down too long. We can both get out of here. Please." Sasuke opened his mouth, and bit down sharply at Karin's flesh.

A bright green aura began to emit from both of their bodies. Karin could feel her chakra leaking out of herself. Sasuke could feel strength returning to him; his wounds began to close, and his body began to heal miraculously. "S-Sasuke…wait…you're biting down too…" Sasuke bit down harder, showing no signs of letting up. His wounds had completely healed, Karin began to feel numb, her eyes began to close, and her body fell limp.

"Sasuke…Why…?" She asked in desperation. "I…I told me that you would never-"

"You shouldn't be surprised." Sasuke said coldly as he returned to his feet, feeling rejuvenated. "I told you once that I would sacrifice anything to achieve my goal. And you are one of those things that I need to sacrifice. But I'll make sure that it wasn't a wasted effort."

"Sasuke…I thought that I was special to you…" Karin shut her eyes; Sasuke let her words fade into the distance as he walked away.

…

Naruto rushed back to Sakura at a sprinter's pace. He came to the edge of the charred forest, and was relieved to find that she remained unharmed, no major scarring or bleeding, he was unsure as to why she was safe, but felt that it had something to do with the Nine-Tails. Naruto lowered himself down to his knees and felt her pulse, it was faint, he rested his hand on her cheek, and was shocked to feel how cold she was.

"Naruto!" A voice within him echoed. "If you want to save Sakura, do exactly as I say." Naruto listened intently. "Place your forehead against Sakura's." Naruto nodded, he removed his forehead protector, cuppted her cheeks with his hands, and rested his forehead against hers.

The Nine-Tails continued to speak. "The Jinchuuriki, and the Tailed-Beasts have a special connection. When we have a mutual…'understanding'…The Jinchuuriki will never fall prey to any form of Genjutsu. Now, focus your chakra into Sakura." Naruto closed his ees and did as he was told. He felt a small surge of energy leave him.

Only moments later, Sakura's eyes shot open as she gasped for air. Her eyes took a while to focus, and when they did, she was met with a crimson-eyed Naruto.

"N-Naruto?" She said in subtle fear.

"Sakura-chan, are you feeling alrgith?"

"Y-Yeah." Her voice relaxed when she heard his familiar voice. "Naruto…What happened to you?" Her hand reached up and rested on his cheek. He brought his hand and held onto hers.

"It's Kurama. He's given me access to his power. With this, I should be able to defeat Sasuke." His expression sunk again. "Sakura-chan…I'll try my best not to kill-"

"Naruto." She said sternly. "Do what you have to do…If you have to kill him. If you have to pulverize him into dust, if you have to burn him into ash, it doesn't matter. Just stop him."

He closed his eyes and nodded.

"Stay behind cover." He whispered. "Stay safe. I'll be back soon."

Sakra gazed towards the desert, and noticed a brilliant green aura that contrasted itself against the golden dunes.

"Naruto, what's that?" She asked.

Naruto turned around, and gazed with worry as he felt Karin's chakra quickly depleting. Without a word, he shot up to his feet and sprinted towards the green light. He felt two chakra bodies emitting energy from the source of light. Panic fell upon him when he noticed that the light was becoming dimmer, and one of the chakra sources…One of the people there…was dying.

He wouldn't…

Rage filled him as he came closer; with anger feeding his movements, he took to the air, and threw a fist towards Sasuke's face while descending. Sasuke immediately picked up on Naruto's prescence, and jumped back.

Naruto was shocked at the sight that he gazed upon. Karin was lying down in the sand, motionless. He sensed no chakra from her body at all, something that tore at him deeply-no matter what she had done to him in the past.

"How could you do this?! TO HER?!" He shouted.

"You would never understand, Naruto." Sasuke turned and smirked at him with a new found vigor. "Of all the people I have ever encountered, she was the one who knew me best. She knew what I wanted, what I was willing to sacrifice for it. Everything I did, she never objected to, she'd do anything I'd ask…As if she was drawn to me against her own free will."

"How could you sacrifice someone that you love?!"

"LOVE?! Who said that it had ANYTHING! to do with love?!" Sasuke laughted heartily at this own words. "You naive little boy. She would do anything I asked for. She was just another pawn in my entire plan."

Naruto's fist tightened as Sasuke spoke. "If you don't believe me, look at her. She wanted to be sacrificed, so much so, that she died with a smile on her face."

Naruto paused to look over at Karin. Her expression revealed anguish, not happiness.

"How could you do this? Are people just sacrifices to you?!" Naruto shouted in growing anger.

"You don't get it, do you? When a man is driven to a goal, he will achieve that goal no matter what the cost! The end always justifies the means!"

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Naruto shouted with a booming voice. "IT NEVER DOES!" He jumped towards the sky, and descended upon Sasuke, pulling back his fist, he delivered a punch that could shatter boulders to Sasuke's face.

Sasuke readied himself, and caught Naruto's fist with an open palm. He raised his own fist, and attacked, only to have Naruto catch his fist as well. They pushed against each other, neither one giving an inch.

"What happened to you? When was your mind corrupted so much to blind you from this evil?" Naruto asked

"I lost my sight when I found outh the truth." Sasuke replied. He brought his knee towards Naruto's mid-section. Who responded by jumping upwards, and using his knee for leverage, jumped over Sasuke, and turned to face him again.

"Sasuke…We were like brothers."

"Don't give me that shit! You don't know what it's like to lose a brother!" Sasuke took off again, and raised his hand once more. Naruto met Sasuke's charge with his own, going in shoulder first, he tackled Sasuke to the ground.

His hands firmly gripped Sasuke's collar, with Sasuke taking in deep breaths to regain the wind that was knocked out of him, Naruto reared his head back, and forcefully brought it down while pulling Sasuke up. He attacked Sasuke with a concussion-causing headbutt that blurred Sasuke's vision. Naruto stared angrily into his eyes.

"I LOST YOU!" He shouted. Blood ran down their foreheads in a crimson stream. Their visions blurred with a red tint. Sasuke turned Naruto over onto his back, and jumped up to his feet, he readied his fist, and brought it down towards Naruto's face.

Naruto shifted his head, evading Sasuke's strike, and rolled away. He stood up to his feet again; a red aura began to engulf his body. In response, Sasuke straightened his posture, and spat on the ground.

Naruto felt Sasuke's Chakra growing. A violet aura began from his feet, and engulfed his body.

"You think you're the only one with a demonic presence at your command?" Sasuke smirked. "I'll show you Itachi's final gift to me…And it's even stronger than before."

Naruto charged forward, they clashed in a display of brilliant colors. Naruto delivered a kick to Sasuke's side, his leg was caught quickly, and he was tossed towards the sky. Sasuke met Naruto in the air, and began a barrage of attacks to his chest. With every strike, he felt the air being ejected from his lungs. Sasuke drove him further down until a human sized crater dented the ground.

Naruto rose from the hole, and charged forward. His own image began to morph as he moved. Instead of a red aura, it was as if Naruto was on fire, hues of orange and yellow trailed his every footstep. He met Sasuke with a shoulder block, jumped forward, and with forceful kick, sent Sasuke hundreds of feet back.

"Now we can do it, Naruto." He heard the Nine-Tails.

Naruto took his instructions, and jumped high into the air. An effigy of the Nine-Tails summoned itself behind Naruto as he held his hands close together. A ball of energy formed between his hands, a purple ball of pure chakra that began to compress.

"Bijūdama!"(Tailed-Beast Ball). The ball of energy grew exponentially, and exploded out of his hands. It landed directly on Sasuke, creating a huge shockwave that pushed sand all around the point of impact. Naruto looked around. It looked as if the forest they had emerged from had never even existed. The sands blew with the wind, causing an unnatural sandstorm that disturbed his vision.

When he opened his eyes, he fell to the ground in disbelief.

Where Sasuke stood, there was a gigantic violet demon. It looked like a skeletal being with horns. Naruto watched in awe as it ganined a layer of muscle, making it appear human. His eyes widened as it changed once more. It obtained a cloak that wrapped around its body. It's eyes shined in a deep blacknedd that loomed inside the cloak, surrounded by what seemed like the skull of a bird. In its left hand, it wielded a bow, with a small buckler attached, everything was colored a deep violet.

It moved slowly with deadly intent, reached for the bow string, and pulled it back. With a single release, an arrow shot forth towards Naruto.

Panic registered in his mind, Naruto lost the strength in his legs, and watched in fear as the giant arrow flew towards him.

"Now is the time, Naruto. It is our only choice."

,,,

He looked up and found himself sitting in the familiar green-tinted room with a pitch black ceiling. Behind the six-gated prison, the Nine-Tails sat patiently.

"Break the Seal" He commanded.

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. His body levitated towards the seal as he placed his hand on it, and grasped it tightly.

"I've got no choice. I'm sorry Mom…I'm sorry Dad. I'm sorry that all you did was for nothing…But this is my only choice."

He swiftly pulled off the seal, and watched with uncertainty as the gates opened, and flew back up into the darkness.

"I give you my word; you will not regret this."

…

The arrow flew towards Naruto; it struck the sand and forced the grains of the desert to shoot up into the air once more.

Sasuke heard a monstrous roar in the vortex of sand.

When the air cleared, he was just as shocked as Naruto had been.

Kurama had been unleashed.

A/N: You may be wondering why, since I've never done it before is there a part "A" and part "B"? Well, that's because I wanted to make them separate, but part A wouln't be big enough to be on its own.

Some notes for this chapter:

-Don't expect every chapter to be this long. But you should already know that.

-Naruto's Bijūdama, was taken from the video game. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3.; since I have yet to see it in the Anime.

-There may be tons, and tons of grammatical errors and spelling errors, it's pretty late as I'm finishing this. (12:06 AM Central Time)

Thanks for reading!