Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.

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Chapter Seventy-Eight

Heartbreak

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Kakashi laughed as Rin took a familiar stance.

"YOOOOUUUUTH!"

"Oh, Kami!" Kakashi snorted. "He still does that, you know."

"No way!" Ren giggled, throwing herself onto the settee and snuggling into Kakashi's side. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and let her reach up to pull down his mask, revealing the face that he had kept concealed since he could walk.

"You really are handsome." Rin whispered before her lips met his. The kiss wasn't one filled with passion and lust, but was far more satisfying, conveying compassion, love and care.

After a long moment, the need to breath finally proved more important and they seperated, resting their foreheads against each other.

"Kakashi, I…" Rin began before a crack appeared. Both of them stared at the jagged red line hovering in mid-air and Rin gasped.

"This isn't real!"

Kakashi's eyes widened in horror and he pulled off the patch covering his Sharingan eye, turning to fix his gaze on Rin even as a second crack, then a third appeared.

"Kakashi!" Rin whispered. "I… I'm sorry."

As the cracks propogated, Rin pulled his eyepatch back down over his eye, then kissed him again.

"I'm sorry." She wispered. "I'm…"

The world shattered and fell away, revealing the battlefield that Kakashi thought he had left behind months ago.

A battlefield illuminated by a moon that was losing its red tinge.

Kakashi stared at the moon, understanding what had happened, then he roared in anguish even as the night sky was split by a blast of power beyond anything he had seen before.

"RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!"

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Gaara knelt by the low table, careful not to crease his Kimono, and began the motions for the tea ceremony while his mother watched him proudly. With efficient yet flowing moves, honed by practice, Gaara moved through the ritual stages of the first and simplest of the tea ceremonies, the bonryaku temae, as his siblings, sensei and mother all watched.

When Gaara passed the bowl to Mifune, the older man responded with a deeper-than-normal bow which Gaara returned, glowing inside at the evidence that he had met the standards his sensei commanded and would soon move on to the more complex forms. When Mifune passed the bowl to Karura, their fingers touched for a moment, causing Karura's cheeks to shade slightly. For a moment, Gaara was conflicted about what he saw, then he glanced at his siblings, both of whom were watching with approval and he relaxed slightly.

If his mother and his Sensei were indeed interested in each other, then he would do whatever he could to help them. Mifune-Sensei had saved his life, taught him how to define himself as himself and not as a monster, while his mother was the one who had brought him into the world…

Gaara's thoughts came to a sudden stop as the far wall suddenly split, allowing red light to spill into the tea room. Another crack appeared in the floor, followed by a third that somehow stretched across the room without touching the edges.

"Sensei? Mother? What is happening?" Gaara asked, panic rising inside him.

His brother seemed to shatter into red flecks and Gaara reflexively reached out to pull metal to him, any metal he could use to try and stop whatever was happening, but even as he did so, his mother fragmented and shattered, followed by the tea-room, landing him back on the battlefield, staring up at the moon that was fading from red to white.

"No…" He whimpered. "No… it was just an illusion… no… No! NO!"

Gaara stared around in near-panic, then he screamed as the sky lit up.

"MOOOOTHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!"

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"Five chocolate puddings for table three!" Kin called and Choji waved acknowledgement through the serving hatch.

Kin took the brief respite to look around at the bustling restaurant with a sense of deep satisfaction. It had been hard work, but between her and Choji, they had earned enough money to open their own business, one which was almost constantly visited by the other members of the Rookie 12 and their families.

Kin rubbed at her slightly-expanded abdomen with a small smile. The injuries she had taken during her time serving Orochimaru had put an end to any hope that she could have children, until Tsunade had examined her and found a way to repair some of the damage, allowing her to regain a small portion of her natural fertility. Coupled with her nightly "exercises" (which both she and her husband enjoyed, each trying their best to make sure the other one enjoyed it more), she had missed three of her periods and was now starting to show signs, although Shizune had already confirmed her pregnancy and that she was going to give her beloved a son and heir.

"Food up!"

Kin picked up the tray and with a Kunoichi's grace, she almost danced between the tables to where Team Ten was sitting with the Ambassador from the Land of Iron, Temari.

Temujin gave her a nod of thanks as she placed the pudding in front of him and Kin's smile widened. Had she not already married her perfect man, the foreigner might have been an acceptable option for romance, but she…

The table suddenly cracked in half and Kin gasped as a red light poured out of it, then another crack sounded as the people eating around her suddenly began shattering into clouds of red shards.

"Choji!" She screamed as the entire restaurant broke apart and she found herself staring into the sky as the unmistakable feeling of a breaking genjutsu shivered through her.

"Choji!" She whispered, then she dropped to her knees, cradling her face in her hands as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Choji-kun… choji…"

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Konan knew instantly what it meant when a thin red line appeared in the wall and she turned to embrace Yahiko as tightly as she could.

"Konan?"

"I miss you, and I always will." Konan whispered. "But this isn't real and it's breaking."

Yahiko nodded slowly and returned her embrace.

"I understand." He murmured. "But please do me a favor. Live. Live for me, don't try to join me yet. When it is your time, I'll be waiting for you. I promise."

Konan froze as the implications sank in.

"Is it… are you actually… here?"

Yahiko smiled as he stepped away from her, red lines starting to surround him.

"That doesn't matter now." He said, tears trickling down his cheeks. "Live for me and when we meet again, I will be eager to hear all of your tales…"

The world broke and Konan dropped to her knees, her body shaking with sorrow and heartbreak.

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Hiashi flowed through his Katas, but something felt wrong, something that had felt that way before his eldest daughter's marriage.

"Father?"

Hiashi slowed his movements and turned to face his youngest daughter…

…who hadn't aged in the past six months!

"This is a genjutsu." Hiashi realized. "A strong one, or I would have already seen through it."

Hanabi stared at him, then nodded even as red lines appeared around her.

"I am sorry." Hiashi stated as he dropped into the basic stance of the Jyuuken…

…as the world shattered and reformed around him.

Hiashi looked round at the scorch-marks and severed limbs before nodding in grim satisfaction.

"I see that the Uzumaki were busy while the rest of us were… distracted."

Hiashi strode forwards, his stoic expression showing nothing of the turbulent emotions raging in his heart.

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Danzo bowed to Itachi, who nodded in return.

"Welcome back to Konoha, Danzo-sama." Itachi said, motioning for Danzo to take a seat. Danzo glanced round the office as he did so, noting with amusement how the communication-portraits had been placed in slight recesses so that seal-enhanced wooden shutters could be slid across to ensure privacy.

He would have to copy the design for when he returned.

"It is good to be here once more, Itachi-Dono." Danzo replied.

"Let us get the business out of the way first." Itachi said, to Danzo's mental approval. "One of the Uzumaki, Hoki, has expressed a desire to move to Uzushiogakure."

Danzo's breath almost caught in his throat. Uzumaki Hoki was an adopted member of the Uzumaki Clan, but he was one of the Guyver users. If he moved to Uzu, then his children would inherit the Guyver and Uzu would both grow stronger and, due to the mental links he had heard rumors about, closer still to Konoha.

"I can see no reason to refuse such a request." Danzo said and Itachi's lips twitched slightly.

"Excellent. Next on the list is…"

Itachi paused as a red crack split the air between them and Danzo stared in shock at the anomaly.

"What is that?" He whispered, pulling himself out of his chair and reaching out with his cane to tap it…

…and the world shattered around him, leaving him sitting behind his desk in Uzu with the moon shining in through the window.

"What. The. Hell?" He whispered. "A Genjutsu? But for how long?"

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"Wow."

Itachi lay on his bed, exhausted. The celebrations had been exhausting by themselves, but the honeymoon had been even moreso.

"Hmmmm." Hana moaned in satisfaction. "Oh, I liked that."

Itachi smiled as he ran his hand down his wife's gloriously nude body, feeling her shift to push againt his fingers.

"I hope Hiruzen's holding up." He mused.

"He's experienced." Hana giggled. "He'll be fine until we get back."

Itachi tilted his head slightly to kiss Hana's forehead.

"I still don't know what I did to deserve someone as kind and understanding as you…" He began.

"Not to mention smoking hot." Hana giggled.

"…but I thank the Kamis every day for it." Itachi finished as his other hand was captured by Hana and moved to somewhere rather warm.

"I don't care what happens, we are not leaving this bed before noon." Itachi decided and Hana nodded in agreement, then Itachi froze.

"What is it?" Hana asked and Itachi sat up, one hand darting under the pillow to pull out a sheathed tanto. Hana rolled over and her gaze was arrested by the red line running across the ceiling.

"What's that?"

"I don't know…" Itachi said, activating his Sharingan, "But it reminds me of… No!"

"What?"

"I can see the world through the crack!" Itachi cursed. "The real world!"

The fake world shattered around them and Itachi was alone.

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Bee stared in horror at the line in the air.

"Gyuki, please tell me it ain't right / Ths life is a lie by Madara's might?"

The Biju inside the seal twitched and Bee dropped his microphone, ignoring the puzzled silence that had descended on his audence.

"Damn." He whispered as his rhymes deserted him. "Damn."

The world reformed around him and he sank to his knees.

"Damn."

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Hiruzen adjusted his hat and leaned back in the comfortable deck chair, watching as the squealing teen-aged girls splashed each other.

He had decided to take the vacation and had traveled to the seaside town that Jiraiya had recommended, where he was quickly adopted as an honorary uncle or grandpa by almost half of the village. His old position as Hokage didn't matter, here he was only Old Man Hiruzen.

"Hey, Pops?"

Hiruzen turned and smiled at the sight of his son and daughter-in-law walking towards him across the beach, clad in shorts and T-shirts rather than their usual outfits. Kurenai held a young child in her arms and Asuma nodded to him.

"We thought we'd introduce you to your grandchild."

Hiruzen pulled himself out of the deckchair and stepped forwards with a smile, then he halted as he spotted a red line cutting through the waves, a line totally ignored by the young women playing in the surf.

"Madara." He deduced, feeling a cold rage bubble up and the world shattered around him.

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Jiraiya looked at the log that he was snuggling up to, then around at the slowly-waking shinobi.

"NOOOOOOO!" He screamed. "MY RESEARCH!"