Naruto and its characters belong to Misashi Kishimoto.
Sayuri and other characters that have not and will not appear on the show or manga are completely original.
Thank you and enjoy!
A.N. Remember, if you have not read the manga there will be spoilers in this chapter!
Hashirama smiled as the blonde birthday boy spoke. "I do listen to the Third and Kakashi-sensei! I respect them too! And he's here so you can ask him, now!" Sarutobi chuckled as his body gradually began to fall apart too. "Oh! And what's up with the Three Shinobi Taboos!? I learned a lot when I was with Pervy-sensei! Apparently there's a lot you can't do when it comes to the taboos, but among the three ninja's I think Pervy-sensei was the coolest! He's the best! I've only just turned 17 today so there's not much I know about girls or alcohol! But mom told me to look for a girl as great as she is..." Hinode smiled a bright light surrounding her body, sharp eyes noticing the blonde's gaze flicker over to the pink haired female behind him. "I'm working on that!" He laughed.
"Anyway! Not everything's going the way mom told me! But I'm trying my best! I've got a dream...I want to be Hokage just like you, dad, maybe even better! I will become one though!" Tears began rolling down his face as Minato's soul started floating upwards. "So tell mom over there, won't you...To not worry about me! I'm doing...very well!"
"Got it..." Minato's voice echoed around Naruto. "I'll tell her everything."
Friend
"Well then, I'll leave the rest to you, Kakashi, Sakura, Sayuri, Sasuke, Naruto." the Third grinned as a bright, warm, yellow light surrounded him and the remaining Kage, seemingly being absorbed into the sky.
"So I guess, things got cleared up between Madara, Hinode, and you brother. Let's do as Saru says, and leave the rest to the next generation." Said Tobirama who turned to his brother.
Hashirama wiped his tears away and turned to Hinode. "I guess my brother is right. Hinode, how do you feel?"
Hinode glanced down at Madara, and looked back to Hashirama. "I feel...better…? It is strange, but I think they will be fine." she spoke gesturing towards Naruto and Sasuke.
"Oh?" Hashirama smiled. "Well then, lets leave it to them."
"Right." The two turned to the boys and smiled at them before their souls shot up to the sky.
Sayuri gasped, drawing a hand to her head, disoriented by the ordeal. Opening her eyes she fell back onto her bottom when she saw that Madara's body was next to her. Take care of yourself, Sayuri. She heard Hinode's voice echo in her head. Still a bit in shock the girl pushed herself up and turned to the tailed beasts who celebrated behind her.
The nine beasts happily discussed plans about where they would go, coming to an abrupt halt when Kurama failed to come up with something for himself. "Well..." Hagoromo spoke. "Naruto has a little bit of everyone's chakra in him...he can become a meeting place of sorts for all of you, when you want to come together." He eyes Kurama, who stared back questioning. "Kurama, you can stay with Naruto to manage the meetings. Do you object?"
"Uh...well..." the nine tails began. "If it can't be helped." he huffed, feigning annoyance. Naruto on the other hand grinned and laughed at Kurama's antics.
"What about you two?" Hagoromo turned his attention to the boys. "Have you two changed your answers."
"Nope!" Naruto replied. "Mine's the same, but there's something I need to tell you, old man...and it might hurt but...I'm glad I had Kushina Uzumaki as a mom!" They all looked at Naruto as he continued. "Kaguya was different from all the others I've fought...it was like she didn't have a heat." he finished, looking off to the side.
"My mother was once revered as a goddess, but something in her changed when she took a bite out of that fruit." Hagormo explained, recalling his now sealed mother. "But you are not like her." Hagormo smiled. "You have all of the tailed beasts chakra, but you will not turn into my mother. Now all that's left is to undo the Tsukuyomi, and free all of the people here."
"How will you do that?" Sayuri asked as she walked closer to them, putting some distance between herself and Madara.
"All we need is to get Naruto, who has all of the chakras from the tailed beasts, and Sasuke to undo the jutsu." replied Hagromo, who turned to the Uchiha. "How about your, Sasuke...what will you do."
"Let me see..." Sayuri frowned at the slight change in Sasuke's tone. "First, I will put the Gokage out of their misery."
"What did you just say, Sasuke!?" Kakashi nearly growled.
"Also, tailed beasts, you will be put under my power until I no longer need you!"
Kurama went from offended to angered in less than a second. "What did you say to me, you bra-!" The fox was about to squish Sasuke's with his hand but stopped mid way, body quivering, and eyes reflecting the sharingan. I can't move…!
Hagoromo watched the entire event unfold, not in the least bit surprised. "He put them all under his influence with a mere glance..." Turning to the blonde Hagoromo sighed. "Naruto, you are the only one I can leave this to now. Unfortunately I can't be of any help as I have reached my limit. I cannot stay any longer."
"Yeah..." Naruto nodded. "I'm really sorry old man, but I assure one thing," Hagormo tilted his head wondering just what Naruto was thinking. "...It won't be anything like your children. I am not Ashura and Sasuke is not Indra!"
"Sasuke! Are you trying to say that you still want revenge!?" Kakashi demanded from the boy. Holding the silver haired jounin, Sakura called out to the boy in worry.
"No." Sasuke replied. "Sure in the past all I wanted was revenge but now, what I want is to destroy and rebuild." at the questioning glares he received, Sasuke explained. "I want to rebuild a new world for us, one that can't be tainted by darkness."
"That's impossible!" Sayuri yelled. "You'd be taking people's lives away from them, their decisions wouldn't be their own! You'd be doing just what Madara had wanted to do, except now we'd have you and not Kaguya to answer to!"
Sasuke shook his head at the brunette. "You don't understand now, but you will soon enough!" He clapped his hands together and without a second thought activated his rinnegan. "Chibaku Tensei!" The ground suddenly broke apart. Sayuri, Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura all jumped out of the way as the tailed beasts were sealed in the rubble, all nine floating up into the air. "I've learned how to control the rinnegan better from our last battle, and now all of my obstacles are gone, well..." he paused and turned to his old teammate. "All except you, Naruto."
Looking at the nine floating orbs of rock Hagoromo was reminded of his sons. "Things never turn out the way one wants...Even now that I divide my power between Indra and Ashura, the outcome remains the same."
"No!" Naruto countered. "This whole sibling rivalry ends today!" The sun illuminated the area completely now, the sky above was a bright blue. A really nice day in fact. "Release the tailed beast, will ya." Naruto asked Sasuke. "They just got their freedom, and it's probably because I've gotten to know them, but I know they won't be doing anything evil."
Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, you still don't understand, do you?" at the blonde's raised eyebrows he elaborated. "You are now the Jinchuuriki of all the tailed beasts, it goes without saying that you have their chakra, and I will destroy every last bit of it." Naruto only glared as Sasuke continued. "That means you're dead, Naruto. If we are going to do things the way the sage says, we don't need you to undo the justsu. I'll just use the tailed beasts I captured, I'll be keeping them alive until then."
"There's no way in hell, I'll let you do that!" Naruto growled.
Sasuke 'humphed' and turned away. "Let's go some place else...I'm sure you what I'm talking about."
"WAIT! SASUKE!" Kakashi pushed himself forward but couldn't take any more than a single step before he fell forward.
"Sensei!" the two girls called out, but it was Sakura who reached him, Sayuri being a bit further away from the group. Looking down at her teacher, then back at Sasuke, Sakura began to cry before her eyes turned hard. "Sasuke!" the boy didn't turn to her but stopped walking away. "I...I know there's nothing I can do to stop this but...I still care about you! And I never thought you'd turn out this way! I couldn't be there for you when you needed help...or even stop you from going down that path...all I could do was just sit there and cry. It was disgraceful, really..." Sakura looked down at her hands for a moment. "You never really paid much attention to me any way, but…" she paused, biting her lip, she glanced over at Sayuri and turned back to Sasuke. "...But please, think about us all for a moment! If any of us have a place in that heart of yours, please, please don't do this! If we're all together again, I'm sure we can go back to the old days!"
Sayuri's eyes widened when Sasuke looked at the medic for a second. Sakura gasped quietly, before her eyes closed, and her body fell to the side. Anger boiled in the pit of her stomach, Sayuri felt her palms become sweaty, as she clenched and unclenched them. She heard Sasuke's foot steps once again, and she bit her lip, blue and red eyes on the rosette.
"How dare you!?" She yelled, the anger evident in her voice, eyes down cast. "What ever genjutsu you put Sakura under, undo it now!" her hands were balled into very tight fists, it was taking everything in her to keep from beating the Uchiha, or at least try to. "This isn't right, you can still stop, let the tailed beasts go, undo the jutsu and we'll all find a way to keep this from happening again." She bit her lip trying to keep her voice steady. "You don't need to do this again. You already tried it once your way, and it didn't work. What makes you think that this will be any different. Killing Naruto, will bring you nothing but pain. And you know very well that, that's not what Itachi-" She paused, eyes wide. Fingers touched her chin, tilting her head up to meet sharingan and rinnegan eyes.
"That's enough." she heard him say before everything around her turned black. His eyes were the only thing she could see in the deep void he had sucked her in.
"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled.
Ignoring the blonde, Sasuke kept his eyes on Sayuri whose half lidded gaze was still on him. He felt her body quiver and smirked. She was trying to fight the genjutsu...something they both knew was impossible for her. No matter how much stronger she got, genjutsu would never be her forte. "Try to understand." he whispered, knowing that she was listening. In a matter of seconds her eyes closed, and her body went limp. Catching her before she fell, he placed her on the ground, facing up.
"Sasuke..." Kakashi who had watched it all pleaded. "Sakura just wants the old team seven again. She cares for you so much that she cries when she thinks about everything you've done!"
Sasuke leapt onto one of the several rocks, putting enough distance between him and his ex-team as possible. "She's dreaming if she thinks we can go back to before. There is no before, only next. What's done is done, I won't go back to how things used to be, because I've changed! That's something that none of you seem to understand."
Kakashi shifted his gaze to the brunette on the ground. "And what about Sayuri?"
"What about her!?"
"She has been the one person that understood exactly what you were going through, and she didn't turn out like you. She doesn't think like you, and doesn't believe that what you're doing now is right. She knows very well that things cannot go back to how they were, yet she still gave you an out and tried to reason with you. She wasn't dreaming of the old team she was giving you a real alternative."
Sasuke looked down at his feet, hesitation overtaking him for a moment. Taking a deep breath he looked over his shoulder and smirked. "She can give me all the opportunities she wants, it still doesn't change the fact that I don't want to go back. I don't need opportunities for peace, I need results and my way will get us there." He cast one last glance at Sayuri before looking forward. "I'm leaving Naruto, don't fall behind."
Naruto gritted his teeth and growled in frustration. That bastard! Naruto thought as he looked from the Sakura to Sayuri. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" The silver haired ninja looked up when he heard his name. "I made a promise to Sakura, that I'd definitely bring Sasuke back."
"Naruto..." his teacher started in concern.
"Sensei, you know how I work, don't you?" Naruto continued, completely focused. "I'll be back! Take care of them for me!" With that being said, the blonde ninja sped off following Sasuke's trail.
Hagoromo floated closer to Sayuri, one of gudoudama slipping away, easily sliding under her, extending in shape and picking her up. Turning to Kakashi, who had turned Sakura over and placed a hand on her, the Sage laid the 15 year old down on his other side. The elder looked at the rocks in which the tailed beasts were being held in, then at the damage. He sighed as he scanned over the area, taking note of Madara's dead body and finally the three ninja on the ground. He felt for the two girls, he really did.
In the past he had seen to it that his children grew up loved. As they grew up, he watched his eldest and most detached, son finally make a connection with someone only to have them taken away from him. He watched how he descended down a dark path and how difficult it was for him to carry on. After his passing and his children as well, he watched the same cycle playing out over and over again, it really did pain him to see his own son and his incarnate suffer in such a way.
"Love is a complicated thing." Hagoromo said solemnly. "I have seen the varying types of love, and to what extremes it can come to...going so far as to turning to hate. The Sasuke, we see today is the result of the love he lost in the past, the same went for Madara."
"Are you trying to say that Sasuke and Madara have similar fates?" Kakashi turned to the sage.
"False...Unlike Madara, Sasuke still has one person he still care for and loves but he keeps pushing them away, and going to extremes to keep that person safe." Hagoromo watched the slumbering Marihasha below him. "While it is true that this love he feels is different from the one that he felt for his family, it is his very family that is holding him back." Turning to blue sky Hagoromo smiled. "I gave the two of them the power so that they can learn, and hopefully not make the same mistakes as those in the past. The past is there as a reminder for change, and I am hoping that this time around, hate will transform into love...Or perhaps I should say that I hope the two boys find and regain their lost love. For both of them to realize, that it is acceptable to let themselves be loved and to love back."
Kakashi sat silent for a minute and slowly nodded his head. "Yes...I hope so too."
XXX
Both boys stood on opposite sides of each other atop of the heads of Madara and Hashirama. A gentle breeze carried leaves across the empty space between them, ruffling their hair in the process. The water from the river beside them rushed forward, turning into a water fall as the water fell off the side of the cliff. The sound of the rushing water echoed through out the Valley of The End.
Naruto was he first to break the silence between the two with a small chuckle. "I knew you'd come here. This is the place where we had our first real fight. Right, Sasuke?"
"Nothing will change." Sasuke replied. "You will lose today, just like back then."
"Well, I'm not going to lose to you again." Naruto countered, pointing a finger at him. "And I won't let you do as you please either." He tilted his head to the side and smirked. "Oh, and I sure as hell won't let you become Hokage! You don't even really know what that means!"
Another breeze blew by, a bit colder than before. "I told you...A revolution. My definition of Hokage isn't the same as yours."
"Let me tell you what your brother said!" The blonde stepped forward. "It's not that if you become Hokage everyone will acknowledge you, it's the ones who are acknowledged that become Hokage."
"I realized that a long time ago. I didn't even need my brother's words to figure that out. Either way our answers are very different. So before we fight, I'll just make this clear…" It was Sasuke's turn to step forward. "I'll teach you my meaning of what a Hokage really is." Sasuke stated back at Naruto's stern gaze with much indifference. "My brother's life was what led me to this answer. Everything in the name of protecting Konohagakure, this nation..." he gestured to all around him. "He chose to sacrifice his own family, and in the end himself, for the good of the village. I guess you could say that was the start of it all. Up until then, what exactly were we protecting?"
Naruto stood silent as Sasuke continued. "Our predecessors once said, 'A village is a place where familes, and all kinds of people gather together to avoid killing each other.' Itachi chose to carry that burden all on his own, and I finally understand." Sasuke closed his eyes, the memory of his brother still paining him. "He had to live in darkness, people treated him like a criminal...a traitor...He shouldered all of theses feelings himself, but even so, he chose to protect Konoha from the shadows." In his mind he saw his older brother standing alone in the rain. "It's someone like him that should have been Hokage. Not someone chosen by the people." He opened his eyes, his black meeting Naruto's blue. "But rather one who will take that hatred without complaint. And then I began to understand Itachi's actions. Why he chose to protect the village. But he made one mistake. And that was leaving, me in the dark. I'm sure he did it to make sure I wouldn't be so full of hate. But..." He looked down, towards the falling water. "I'm not him." His fists clenched at his sides. "My father, mother, and brother...I didn't have anyone I could call family..." He looked back at Naruto. "I am alone. And that's why I can shoulder this hate all by myself." Naruto frowned, but decided to keep quiet and let Sasuke go on. "I will deal with it all alone. All these problems we face, I'll come up with solutions. Judgments and executions, I'll do all of it. I'll make sure that all this hate is focused on myself alone. And this will unify the villages. Hate will never disappear." Sasuke paused for a moment glancing off to the side as if considering his words. "The Hokage that I speak of is someone that can shine light on all the dark that exists in this world...one that can go through it all and survive."
"And what!?" Naruto growled, completely angry at the Uchiha by now. "Did you think that everyone would just go 'Yeah!'!?"
"Like I said, I don't care what anyone thinks. And I now have the power to do what I want."
Naruto's own fists clenched at his sides. "Funny, how you say you're all alone, but you've never actually been alone." Sasuke rose a brow at Naruto who glared daggers at the teen. "You had so many people surrounding you, trying to love you but you never let them...like Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. And you know what, bastard!? Whether you liked it or not, you fell in love!" He pointed an accusing finger at the dark haired teen. "Your brother didn't just leave you alone, he left you Sayuri! And you've been dragging her into this mess regardless of how alone you think you are!" He lowered his arm taking a good look at his friends shocked expression. "That's right! I know about you two! I figured it out during the fight with Kaguya! You are connected, and do you actually believe that she'll let you go on with your crazy plan!? Because that's what it is! It's crazy!" Naruto took a deep breath, watching as Sasuke ground his teeth. "There are things that you just can't do alone! Something, that I thought you figured out when we fought Kaguya!"
"Sayuri and I may be connected, but if you really figured it out, like you said you did, then you'd know that we'll never be able to be together." At that Naruto's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "The Sage told me all about how her past lives as well as mine, met only for her to end up dead in the end. It never worked out for us and it never will...So I will become the darkness that will unify all the villages! And in doing so, it will keep Sayuri safe and away from me. To do so, I will destroy the past. Starting with the Hokage, and finishing with the tailed beasts."
Naruto ground his teeth. "That's rich coming from you! You're the one that couldn't forget completely about your brother! It was because of Itachi that you ended up becoming what you are today!"
"Itachi's..." Sasuke paused searching fro the right words. "Now a phantom of the past to me. I will start everything anew from this point forward. And that will begin once I kill you. You'll be the last offering to my brother."
"You said that you think of my little brother like your own..." Itachi said to Naruto with a small smile. "Then I will leave him to you."
"I'm not going to let you!" Naruto replied, recalling Itachi's words. "Everything I've learned so far, I learned from the people of the past! Things like failing and thinking of what to do the next time are all of what they taught me!"
XXX
"Sage!" Kakashi turned to watch as Hagoromo's chakra slowly began to fade.
"It looks like my time is just about up." Said the man as he watched the silver haired ninja.
"What..." Kakashi started. "What should I do?" He had run out things to say to Sasuke to keep him from going down the wrong path. At this point he felt pretty much useless.
"Just believe." Hagoromo replied, trying to ease the man. "There is nothing more we can do now."
Kakashi balled his fists at his lap and turned back to the two girls he had sat up against a boulder. Is that really all I can do!? Kakashi bit his lip and closed his eyes. Girls...I'm sorry.
Watching the man carefully, Hagoromo recalled the moment when he had met the two boys. Both standing up and looking him in the eye as they answered his final question.
"What will you boys do? And what will happen? It's all up to the two of you." Naruto smiled at the man while Sasuke looked on with a small frown.
"Well, Sasuke and I aren't really brothers but...I'm sure we'd be able to be friends again."
"Just when I was beginning to think that I was all alone after Itachi died, I found out that I was wrong… That's why I have to kill Naruto, no matter what it takes."
Looking at the two boys and marveling at their differences, Hagoromo choose to ask. "Why Sasuke?" to Naruto and "Why Naruto?" to Sasuke.
"We're pretty good pals!" Naruto replied with a grin.
"Because, that guy's the closets thing to a best friend I've ever had."
XXX
Naruto and Sasuke watched each other carefully. Once again the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the rushing water. Suddenly both shifted their feet at the same time before leaping towards one another, fists pulled back.
XXX
Kakashi's eyes widened, feeling the rise in chakra. "Is all of that really coming from them!?" Kakashi asked Sage who only nodded in response. "This is insane! They're going to kill each other!" Kakashi stood up but Hagoromo's palm stopped him from going further.
"You have to let them settle things on their own. You will not always be there to help them."
"But..." Hagoromo's stern gaze stopped Kakashi short. The ground bellow them trembled just then, the sound of a distant explosion caught their attention. Above them the floating rocks that held the trapped tailed beasts inside suddenly sped off one by one in the direction of the fight. "What are they doing!?"
Just then, as if hearing his question a bright large cloud appeared in the sky, lighting striking the ground where ever it could reach, before a loud rumbling sound echoed throughout the area until it sent a large rush of wind all around them. All around him boulders were sent flying away from them. Kakashi leaned over the girls trying to shield them from stray debris. The roots that held his fellow ninja shook, making the pods that hung off of them shake with them.
The dust around them started to settle long after the ground stopped shaking. Kakashi looked all around him just as Hagoromo vanished. "This is all coming from those two…?" Kakashi asked himself. Two small gasps caught his attention just then. Sakura and Sayuri had both woken up with a start. Sakura quickly looked down at herself touching her abdomen, making sure that it did not have a gaping hole through it. Sayuri slowly shifted her eyes left to right, the sight of the total destruction leaving her with an uncomfortables feeling.
"Is it...evening…?" Sayuri asked, still slightly out of it. The sun had moved a considerable amount from the time she had last seen it.
"Where are Naruto and Sasuke!?" Sakura asked turning to their teacher in alarm.
"They're probably having their last fight. To finally settle all their issues." Kakashi replied.
Sayuri turned her head to the general direction of the fight so quickly, Kakashi thought she might hurt her neck. "Well from what it feels like the two just might kill each other!" Sayuri pushed her self up and stepped forward surprising the two shinobi behind her. Her eyes shifted from their red and blue color to a dark and light green.
Watching Sayuri's body stiffen, Kakashi stood up helping Sakura in the process. "What's wrong?"
"There was a large burst of energy and then it suddenly vanished!"
Sakura gasped, drawing her hands to her chest. "Are Naruto..." she watched Sayuri waiting for a response. "...and Sasuke…?"
"Hold on..." Sayuri mumbled as she concentrated. "No...I can still sense them but their chakra is really weak...We need to move!" Sayuri ordered and pushed her self forward. Alarmed Kakashi and Sakura quickly followed behind.
A.N.
This is it, one more chapter to go. I'm finishing that one up, and I already have some of the first chapter for the next series complete. Thank you for all of your support. And please review!