Oh boy. Sorry about the wait. Epic writer's block! Well I'm over it, and here, my dears, is the update! Please enjoy. We're getting near the end of the story here!

Also, if you would like, check out some awesome and epic fanart for this fic by the talented dazynl8 up at dazynl8. deviantart art/a-hokage-s-family-411633114. Naruto's family never looked so cute:)

Chapter 40: Faces

Yuki blinked, then blinked again. She found herself in a dark room, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the flickering candle light. "Aya-sensei?" she croaked, her throat parched.

She saw a pair of eyes flickering in the half-darkness. "Yuki-chan," Aya whispered, weariness evident in her voice. Yuki could dimly see Aya tapping on the wall of the earthen hut with a stick before the walls sunk back into the ground. Yuki felt herself shivering in the suddenly cool autumnal air.

To her left, the sun was setting over the blood-red sea, and to her right, the full moon was rising, red and full like a ripe pomegranate. Arranged all around them were the members of the Uchiha branch family, waiting in silent anticipation.

"Water?" Yuki croaked, feeling like her throat was on fire. Someone handed her a cup. Woozily, she took it and gulped, little rivulets of water trickling down her chin. After her thirst was quenched, she noticed that the glass felt awkward in her hands, as if it didn't quite…fit. For the first time, she noticed that her fingernails stretched out several inches and curled in and up over themselves, like the nails of wealthy, idle women. Nails that took several years to grow. Her heart sank at that thought.

"How long was I gone?" Yuki asked anxiously, searching for her sensei and not finding her anywhere.

An older woman sat next to her, with white hair and fine lines around her eyes. Yuki didn't recognize her. "We were gone for about five days, Yuki-chan," she said.

"But—who are you?"

The woman laughed, a crystalline sound that was all-too-familiar. "I suppose I didn't tell you. You've only aged five years during the ceremony, but I've aged twice that."

"Aya? It's you," Yuki breathed. The once young Aya now looked ten years older. Yuki looked at the gray streaks in Aya's black, frizzy hair and frowned. "I'm so sorry—I didn't know!" Yuki cried.

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for? I knew what I was getting into, and so did you. Here, check yourself out!" Aya replied with her usual, chipper tone.

A woman with cinnamon colored skin handed Yuki a polished copper mirror. She gazed into it, the low light of the setting sun and the rising moon reflecting off of its surface. When Yuki caught sight of herself, she gasped: her face had lost any visages of baby fat, making her look even older than even her previous, precocious features. Strangest of all, her typically short, spiky hair now hung down to her waist in long black waves. She looked down at the ends of her hair in disbelief, before realizing with further shock that she was literally bulging out of her clothing. Her chest was…huge. How was she supposed to fight with those…things hanging out?

Aya grinned as she caught Yuki's horrified gaze. "Looks like we need to rustle up some new clothes for you before we go into battle."

Yuki blinked. "Battle. We're going...?"

"As soon as we get you dressed properly, Yuki-chan."

Yuki blinked. "I don't suppose I have time for a hair cut, but these freaky nails have got to go."

"Yes, of course! We'll have to do it quickly though." She rested a hand on Yuki's shoulder almost apologetically. "I'm sorry you can't rest more, but tonight is the full moon." When Aya saw Yuki's noncomprehending gaze, she explained, "The Slaughter is making his move tonight."

Yuki stood up roughly from her seated position, ignoring the dancing stars in her vision. "Then there's no time to waste then. Let's hurry."

#

Sasuke gazed out of what seemed like another man's eyes, trapped in his own body and powerless to stop his treacherous limbs form making the hand-signs for the naraka path. Purple fire spit up from the earth, and from its center a demon's head emerged. Its gapping maw opened, and from its depths zombies emerged, one after the other, until about a dozen stood around the ruins of the battlefield. "Go now," his lips muttered in a voice wholly unlike his own, "and throw up a barrier around this site. Can't have any back-up arriving just yet!"

Just as they lurched off to do his bidding, Naruto returned, his eyes flashing with orange light. "Madara."

"Naruto-kun! So nice of you to come!" Madara chimed.

From a small corner of his mind, Sasuke clawed wildly at the walls around his consciousness. Was Sakura all right? Madara had just struck the battlefield with a fire katon. Even now, Sasuke could smell the acrid stench rising up out of the charred earth.

"Sasuke, I know you're in there. I want you to know, Sakura is okay!"

"Well isn't that sweet."

Ignoring Madara's sardonic comment, Naruto continued, "You need to fight the bastard, Sasuke! You're stronger than this. Don't let him take over your body!"

Madara shrugged. "Oh Sasuke can hear you all right, but I'm afraid big bad Madara is here to stay." He grinned at that. "But enough of your pointless banter, Naruto-kun. I want to see how your jutsu has improved, now that you are Hokage!" Madara chortled and, with the force of shinra tensei, drew Naruto in with the force of his magnetic pull.

But Naruto was familiar with this jutsu, having encountered it before. As Naruto funneled a monstrous amount of chakra into his feet, he couldn't help but be grateful to Sasuke, who forced him to train until the had mastered his defense against the rinnegan's attack. Naruto dispelled a nearby clone and activated Sage Mode, just as he was finally drawn into Madara's range. Chidori crackled all around Madara's hands, but Naruto was ready, defending himself with a rapid set of taijutsu until he had created some distance between himself and his opponent.

He's just playing with me, Naruto thought. His senses sharp in Sage Mode, he felt out with his chakra and sensed Sakura, still out of harm's way. Around them, he could feel a fair number of the undead arranging themselves in a circle around the circumference of the clearing. It was strange sensing their chakra, as it was not truly alive like normal chakra, but flowed almost like a dark absence of energy that would be easy to miss if one was not looking for it.

On the edges of the clearing, he could sense a group of ANBU, but he was having trouble getting a clear reading on their chakra. Damn it, I told them I didn't need back-up. It was probably Ino's idea... However, Naruto no longer had time to think, because at that moment Madara dematerialized in a swirl. In response, Naruto threw out a handful of kunai with the hirashin seal and waited for Madara to return. He's not the only one who can use a transport jutsu...

Naruto could feel Madara's return before he could see him, and hirashined out of the way accordingly. To Sakura's eyes, it looked like two twin shadows were flitting over the battlefield, swirls of black and gold. Suddenly, she felt something move behind her and rolled out of the way—just in time to avoid a kunai to the back, courtesy of Madara. Sakura looked up at Sasuke's face, his purple ringed eyes looking down at her with another man's soul in them, and she trembled—remembering the last time, so many years ago, when Sasuke had come so close to killing her in such an eerily similar way. Her blood turned cold. She knew that if she didn't do something she was going to die, because Sasuke—no, Madara— was hovering over her, his eyes whirling in black commas, and in his hand was a katana with chidori running along its length.

But all the feeling left her body as she looked up at the figure of her husband, lightning in his hands chirping like a flock of deranged birds, looking down at her in utter disgust.

"Sasuke," she whispered, eyes wide in shock. It's genjutsu you idiot! She shouted at herself Fight back! Fight! But despite her inner voice, she could only look on in fear as the sword came down on her, aimed at her heart—

She felt strong arms around her then, and a rush of air. "Naruto," she whispered weakly, overcome by a strong sense of deja vu.

"Sakura! Are you okay?"

Naruto put her down. She was shaking, but she nodded her head. "I'm fine. I just got caught up in a genjutsu. I let my guard down," she replied in a quavering voice.

"Sakura-chan, find some cover and this time stay sharp. Watch out, Madara's released more zombies around the perimeter. Go!" he shouted as he ran for Madara.

Sakura wanted to argue, but she knew that he was right. She was useless in this battle. The best thing to do would be to let Naruto handle the situation. She would heal him at the end of the battle. That would be how she would make herself useful. She hated it, and she felt weak, and useless, but she wasn't stupid. She laced a protective hand around her belly and ran.

Concealing her chakra as best she could, she found another hiding spot and laced it with genjutsu. She wasn't sure if it would be enough against Madara, but it was better than nothing. She gazed back at the field and watched as Madara and Naruto seemed to be staring each other down. Oh no, Sakura inwardly moaned, is he caught in an illusion?

But just as she was about to jump to his rescue, one of Naruto's clones leapt onto the field and dissolved himself. The extra jolt of Sage Mode chakra drew the Hokage out of the illusion. Naruto laughed harshly. "No one's been able to use genjutsu on me once I mastered the Kyubi mode."

Madara gave him a mock bow. "They don't call me the founder of the Uchiha for nothing."

"Kurama says you can save your breath. That trick isn't going to work on me again."

Naruto vanished in a yellow flash and Madara followed suit. Sakura squinted, but she couldn't follow the movement of the ninja at all. It was faster than the speed of light itself, she mused.

For some reason, Madara began laughing to himself, and the two paused in their airy dance to glare at each other. "What's so funny, asshole?" Naruto shouted.

"I was just thinking. What are you going to do if you ever catch me? Use your love-no-jutsu to force me to return Sasuke?"

"I hadn't gotten that far," Naruto growled. "First, I was going to kick your ass, and then I was going to shove your dirty consciousness out of Sasuke's body!"

Madara laughed again, the chilling, evil sound sending icy arrows into Sakura's guts. "Let me propose a solution then. Because to be honest, I tire of this dance. Why don't I gather a big old chidori in my hand, and you do your rasengan thing, and we'll end it all here? It will feel all nostalgic almost. What do you say?"

Naruto exhaled sharply. He began forming a rasengan in his palm, than disappeared in a yellow flash.

Don't do it, Naruto! It's a trap! Sakura wanted to shout. She bit her fingernails and watched as Naruto winked back into existence with a giant rasengan in his hand. Sasuke's face twisted in a cruel snarl and gathered his own, epic chadori in his palms, and when the two jutsu met, insane colored sparks flew over the field, blinding Sakura. But as she squinted, she could see another Naruto materialize behind Madara, a rasenshuriken whirling on his outstretched arm. A clone! But which one is the real Naruto?

The rasenshuriken was released, and the field became an explosion of multicolored light, reds and whites and blues shrouded in electric black, colors more vibrant and terrifying than anything Sakura had ever seen. When the dust cleared, Madara stood, standing alone and laughing hysterically to himself.

"Naruto-kun! Those were both clones, eh? Where's the real one?"

A hand erupted from the earth with another rasenshuriken in its open palm directly under Madara. There was another blinding, hellish burst of light, and this time when the smoke dissipated, Naruto and Madara stood facing each other once more.

"That was very clever work there, Naruto-kun, hiding yourself under the earth and using your clones to attack."

"Don't patronize me," Naruto spat. "You just wanted to see if you could pull off shinra tense, chidori, and using the sharingan aspect of your jutsu at the same time."

Madara waved with mock modesty. "I always was an overachiever. Well, it has been fun playing with you and trying out my new jutsu, but I'm afraid it's time to end this little charade, wouldn't you say?"

"I couldn't agree more," Naruto growled.

"But before we go at it again," Madara laughed, "let me just dispel one teensy tiny genjutsu. Oh, this is rich." Madara made a few hand-signs, and all at once, Naruto's Sage Mode senses perked up.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted. "You've just cast another genjutsu. I told you, those aren't going to work on me!"

Madara chortled. "Go on, ask your precious little fox if I'm kidding you or not."

In a moment, the blood drained from Naruto's face. "Hoshiko-chan...no..."

"That's right my little Hokage, your precious Hoshiko-chan, along with Sasuke's other brat, are currently being surrounded by zombies. Now the question is, would you like me to slaughter them in front of you, or would you prefer it if they watched you die first? You see, I would have said something sooner, but I honestly couldn't come up with an answer to my conundrum myself. I'm just not sure which option would be more entertaining!"

Naruto gave a hand-signal, and a handful of his clones flashed out of sight to defend his daughter and her comrades. "How about," Naruto replied in a deathly quiet voice, "I just kill you myself—right here, right now."

Sakura gasped from her hiding place and felt with her own, albeit rudimentary sensorial capabilities. She could feel her daughter's chakra now that the genjutsu had been dispersed. She drew herself up to her knees, her eyes wide with horror But before she could leave her hiding spot, one of Naruto's clone's hirashined over to her. "Sakura," he murmured quietly, "please stay put. I'll deal with this. I don't want you to get hurt, too."

"Damn it Naruto!" she hissed. "My kid is out there too!"

"Sakura," he whispered, "I don't want anything to happen to your baby. You are here primarily as a medic. Please stay safe, so that if there are any casualties..." He let his sentence trail off, and in her mind's eye, she saw her own precious Saki, injured and bleeding on the battlefield with no one to heal her, because her mother had been too pigheaded to listen to her Hokage.

"I'll stay put," Sakura rasped, tears welling in her eyes.

The clone spared her a sad smile, then flashed out of existence, and Sakura found herself squeezing her eyes shut and praying to the gods she barely believed in to please, please, keep the children safe.

#

Back in the center of the battle field, Naruto glowered at Madara, who stood across from him, still laughing his head off. With his sensory capabilities, he could sense his clones reaching the children just in time as zombie hordes closed in on them. Without further thought, Naruto lunged forward, the killing intent radiating off of him in waves.

He struck out at the Uchiha with all the strength that was expected of a Hokage, but with each blow, Madara simply dematerialized his body at will. Growling, Naruto increased his attack speed, but it seemed like no matter how fast he struck at him, Madara easily outmaneuvered him.

His clones where all tied up at the moment defending the children—had this all been a part of Madara's plan, to siphon off the clones that he depended on in battle, then engage him in close combat so that he couldn't form any more? But Naruto had plenty of chakra, and he could easily form more clones as soon as he got some distance between himself and Madara.

However, as soon as Naruto tried to retract his hand from Madara's dematerialized body, his enemy solidified his flesh and caught Naruto's fist neatly in his stomach. Without any hesitation, Madara took a senbone and pieced Naruto's wrist before releasing him once again.

Breathing heavily, Naruto backed away from Madara and ripped out the senbone from his arm. "You think something like that will stop me? You bastard!"

Madara cackled at this. "Actually, I think it will..."

Suddenly, the surroundings became hazy to Naruto. He clenched his teeth, but suddenly felt weak, and stumbled. "What the..."

"You see, Naruto-kun," Madara purred as he activated the naraka path, causing the fiery demon head to emerge from the ground once more, "I developed a special poison just for you. It's really an amazing brew, if I do say so myself. It causes the Kyubi chakra to devour the chakra of its host, almost like an autoimmune disease. I hope it feels terrible."

Naruto sunk down to his knees, crying out in pain. Madara resumed his monologue, "And now, dear, dear Hokage, allow me to end your sad and pitiful life with this humble kunai. Turns out that darling Hoshiko-chan will watch her father die before her own untimely—"

At that moment, Sakura was a blur of pink as she picked up Naruto, deposited him by the edge of the clearing with a clone of her own, and stood to face Madara herself.

No more running. No more hiding. I will face him myself.

"Sasuke!" Sakura roared, gathering chakra in her fists. "Sasuke, you need to wake up NOW!" She pounded the earth, and as the tears streamed down her face, she shouted, "Sasuke! Sasuke, you idiot, I'm pregnant!"

#

She hoped that she had at least upset Madara's footing with her attack. But as the smoke cleared, she could see that it had done nothing to affect Madara's balance at all, and now, it seemed as though he was levitating. She stared at his face, transfixed: Sasuke's face all twisted and hijacked by some psycho ghost, her lover, her husband, the father of her children.

How could he? And as Sakura had this thought, she wasn't sure who she was truly referring too, whether it was Madara or Sasuke she was more enraged at. She felt anger pumping through her, making her blood run as hot as a raging fire.

"I'm pregnant, you asshole!" Sakura wailed, shaking her fist at the sky. Once the words were out of her mouth, they sounded silly, but she didn't care. She was too angry and terrified to care. She looked at Sasuke beseechingly, silently pleading with him to please, snap out of it!

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Madara's cruel smirk and cold eyes shifted. She thought she saw distress flicker across his eyes. Suddenly, he began to wail, his form writhing in the air like a salted slug. "No! Impossible! Stay back!" the insane man shouted, hurtling back to the ground and collapsing onto his knees, cradling his head in his hands.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" she shouted, wanting to run over to him, but afraid for her life and the life of the unborn child: so instead she stayed rooted to the spot and watched in terrified fascination as Madara fought the consciousness within himself.

Finally, his body panting heavily, he looked up into Sakura's face, and she could clearly see that it was Sasuke. She wasn't sure how she knew, only that the lines of his face, and the light in his eyes, and the familiar curve of his trembling mouth were uniquely his. She knew them better than she knew the forms of her own face. "Sasuke..." she whispered, staggering forward.

"Sakura!" he cried hoarsely. "Sakura—activate the death seal."

"What? No!" Sakura shouted, horrified. "Didn't you hear what I just said? You're going to be a father again!" Her hand clutched her belly and she looked at him imploringly. "You've got to fight him—"

"Sakura," Sasuke panted, his hands clawing at the ground, "I can't. I can't hold him for much longer. Sakura, please! Listen to me—"

"NO! You will listen to ME! You can fight him Sasuke! You have to. Do it for your children!" she wailed, her voice breaking. "I believe in you!"

Sasuke began convulsing, and using every ounce of strength, managed to ground out in what was little more than a croak, "Sakura. I can't... Sakura, he's going to just kill you. He's going to murder everyone in Konoha—" Sasuke collapsed and moaned, but forced himself to rise again on his elbows and looked up at Sakura plaintively. "I love you Sakura. Please, kill me," he whispered before groaning and clutching his head, shaking on the muddy ground like an epileptic patient.

Sakura just stared at him in mute horror. She hadn't been able to kill him all those years ago, when he had been a criminal, and he had almost killed her for her inaction. But she would never be able to kill him: not then, not now—not ever.

"Sasuke!" she roared, her resolve strengthening, "I will not kill you! I love you! You're everything to me Sasuke..." she concluded softly, her eyes tearing as she met Sasuke's gaze.

Killing him would be like destroying herself: it was impossible.

Sakura clenched her hands into tight fists and strengthened her resolve. Banishing all terror, fear and grief from her voice, she shouted, "You have to fight Madara, Sasuke!"

"Sakura," he wheezed, coughing up blood in between words, "please. Use the death seal. Now!" he screamed, desperation cracking his voice.

Sakura shook her head and planted her feet. "No." Her eyes filled with water, the color of the dew glinting off green spring grass after a long rain. "I won't fight you, Sasuke. If you don't throw off Madara, he's going to kill me and your unborn baby."

Sasuke's eyes darted frantically to hers as he tried to speak. "Sakura! No! Please—"

A wail of pain left his throat, and he shuddered on the ground once more. And when he rose, the contours of his face were twisted in an unfamiliar scowl.

"Death seal? How the hell did you hide that one from me…? Tricky little Sasuke, you always did like to hold cards up your sleeve. Just like Itachi-kun. But no matter. I assume you," he gestured to Sakura, "hold the key to the seal, from your little conversation. So I'll just have to kill you and assuage myself of any threat from that silly little seal." He cackled at this, a terrible sound that made Sakura's stomach roil. He withdrew a kunai from his robe, its end dripping from a purple poison. "Watch now, Sasuke-kun, as I kill your wife and your unborn baby with your own two hands."

"Sasuke! Fight him! Fight!" Sakura screeched, motionless and transfixed as Madara rose from the ground.

Madara grimaced and rushed towards her, aiming the kunai straight for her heart.

Thanks for reading and happy new year. Please, review:)